Piracy watchdog Nexicon has found the ultimate way to turn piracy into profit for the fresh copyright holders added to their clientele. They offer alleged file-sharers the chance to settle for $10 per downloaded song or an equal amount for a pirated movie. If you decide not to settle, they promise to bankrupt you in court.
The Dutch anti-piracy outfit BREIN has summoned The Pirate Bay’s founders to court through Twitter and Facebook. Emboldened by recent events in Sweden, BREIN is demanding a total blackout of the site in the Netherlands and has scheduled a court hearing for July 21st.
Just days after ISPs in Spain confirmed talks with the music and movie industry had ended without success, entertainment companies have now backed away from their “3 strikes” demands after it became clear the Spanish government does not support their plan. They will go after 200 BitTorrent sites instead.
Yesterday from the Palace of Versailles, Nicolas Sarkozy became the first president to address Parliament in 150 years. He took the opportunity to show his determination over the proposed HADOPI legislation, promising that he will “go all the way” to enforce law on the Internet.
Just days after Norway’s data protection department told ISPs they must delete all personal IP address-related data three weeks after collection, it’s now become safer than ever to be a file-sharer in Norway. The only law firm with a license to track pirates has just seen it expire and it won’t be renewed.
Earlier this year Ireland’s RIAA, IRMA, and the country’s largest ISP, Eircom, reached private agreement to implement 3 strikes and disconnections for alleged pirates. At concerns that this would place Eircom at a competitive disadvantage, part of the deal would see IRMA go after Ireland’s other ISPs too. IRMA kept their promise.
The two million dollar fine handed out to Jammie Thomas by a Minnesota jury this week hasn’t done the music industry’s image much good. While lawyers and high level managers at the major labels cracked open the Champagne, artists such as Moby and Radiohead shook their heads in shame at what the music world has become.
The Swedish Supreme Administrative Court has ruled that collecting and storing IP addresses is in violation of the Personal Data Act. But as some celebrate this ruling as the death of the notorious IPRED anti-piracy legislation, the truth is a little more sobering.
A major online warez release group has been severely disrupted after a police and music industry investigation. A contender for the most prolific in its field, the group has suffered arrests, with the latest coming yesterday after police and the BPI conducted an early morning raid.
After several victories in Danish courts, the entertainment industry is now trying to get The Pirate Bay blocked in Norway. The country’s largest Internet provider ‘Telenor’ is now being dragged to court by IFPI, after it refused an earlier request to disable customer access to the world’s most prominent tracker.
Several studios are currently taking legal action against Australian ISP iiNet. They accuse iiNet of failing to take steps to stop its subscribers from sharing files by disconnecting them from the Internet. Now iiNet has been ordered to hand over the personal details and logs relating to twenty alleged pirates, to anti-piracy group AFACT.
