In a piece today in The Times, Sony boss Michael Lynton yet again champions 3 strikes for alleged pirates and states that combating piracy could add millions to the economy. He also says that due to piracy, in 2008 Hollywood made the lowest number of movies in the last decade. So where did its record earnings go?
A woman who operates the so-called Underground Restaurant from her London home has had a surprise threat from a movie company. The host of the party, known as Ms Marmite Lover, had arranged a Halloween party with a Harry Potter theme, but Warner Bros. took exception and sent their lawyers to turn her evening into a newt.
A shop assistant has received an apology from the UK’s Performing Rights Society. The PRS had threatened the 56 year-old grandmother with a “four figure” bill for singing in her shop to customers, but has now backed down from its initial big-sticked aggressive stance, and is now brandishing a big bunch of flowers.
BitTorrent sites are continuing to frustrate anti-piracy groups in Spain. They are not illegal under current law, but with a 3 strikes-style regime ruled out in the country, the entertainment industry feels it has no choice but to go after them. They are now placing their bets on thawing US relations and a subsequent change in the law.
The results of a new poll reveal the extent of opposition to Lord Mandelson’s proposals for tough sanctions against alleged file-sharers. The survey, commissioned by the Open Rights Group, shows that not only is the public in favor of due process, but a third would be much less likely to vote for political parties supporting these proposals.
The Commissioning Editor for Education at the UK’s Channel 4 will publish an essay tomorrow that is guaranteed to cause controversy. Noting that people will never go back to paying for music, Alice Taylor vehemently opposes plans to disconnect Internet users on a simple accusation, labeling the entities calling for it as “dying behemoths”.
Cineworld, the UK’s second largest multiplex cinema chain, says it provides an environment that makes cinema going a pleasurable experience, “which in turn encourages frequent return visits.” However, they have just alienated an award winning TV and radio broadcaster by refusing him entry because he had his laptop with him.
In recent weeks there has been a lot of debate about the UK government’s upcoming plans to disconnect alleged file-sharers from the Internet. Now, ISP TalkTalk enters the discussions saying that the proposed legislation is unworkable and that it “contradicts fundamental human rights.”
The Finnish Pirate Party has condemned a massive claim for damages against the operator of a file-sharing hub. The individual is facing a claim of 3.6m euros ($5.4m) from an anti-piracy group, this despite claims that there is no evidence of any specific infringements, merely high bandwidth usage on the individual’s ISP account.
Day eight of the trial between anti-piracy group AFACT and Aussie ISP iiNet. Today’s proceedings centered around the quality of the evidence supplied to the court by AFACT. It was ascertained that AFACT likely counted breaches more than once, with one of their lawyers admitting that one method used was not 100% accurate.
Earlier this year the Swedish Parliament passed the IPRED law, making it easier for copyright holders to obtain file-sharers’ details from ISPs. In the months that passed, no music and movie sharers were sued. Instead, the first IPRED case dealt with pirated ebooks, but this case has now been thrown out by the Appeal Court.
