Following several legal setbacks, a Danish anti-piracy group which represents the music and movie industry, has announced that it will stop going after illegal file-sharers. The outfit came to this decision after it lost several court cases against alleged copyright infringers.
Earlier this year, the IFPI gave Norwegian ISP Telenor an ultimatum – block access to The Pirate Bay within days or get taken to court. Telenor refused, IFPI followed through with its threat and the case was heard earlier this month. The decision was announced today. IFPI lost the case and Telenor will not have to block The Pirate Bay.
Day thirteen of the trial between anti-piracy group AFACT and Aussie ISP iiNet. The ISP’s chief regulatory officer recalled difficulty with terms used by AFACT in their infringement notices and reiterated that the ISP would not forward them without a court order. AFACT submitted a draft ISP code of conduct in respect of dealing with malware.
European Internet users accused of illicit file-sharing will not be disconnected on the whims of the entertainment industries. After an all night session European Union lawmakers agreed on a compromise text. Those accused will be entitled to a “fair and impartial” procedure, which will include the right to be heard.
Day twelve of the trial between anti-piracy group AFACT and Aussie ISP iiNet. iiNet CEO Michael Malone was questioned by AFACT barrister Tony Bannon for the fourth consecutive day, this time about the world’s largest tracker, The Pirate Bay, and any actions the ISP had taken to block customer access to it.
Day eleven of the trial between anti-piracy group AFACT and Aussie ISP iiNet. The ISP’s CEO Michael Malone took the stand for the third day running and faced allegations that iiNet encouraged users to download music and TV shows, and actively pursued high bandwidth customers in order to boost company profits.
Day ten of the trial between anti-piracy group AFACT and Aussie ISP iiNet. AFACT barrister Tony Bannon seems to have difficulty in taking on board something that iiNet CEO Michael Malone has said dozens of times already. Yes, iiNet will happily disconnect copyright infringers, but not solely on the basis of an AFACT allegation.
Day nine of the trial between anti-piracy group AFACT and Aussie ISP iiNet. Today iiNet CEO Michael Malone was extensively cross-examined by AFACT’s senior counsel over his company’s piracy policy and moves he took to change that of Westnet, the ISP iiNet acquired in 2008.
In 2005, the MPAA initiated a crackdown on BitTorrent sites linking to TV shows. Among those was UK-Torrents, a site that was later reborn as secretive private tracker UK-T. Four years later and UK-T is gone for good, but with no official announcements the exact circumstances are still unclear.
Earlier this year, IFPI gave Norwegian ISP Telenor an ultimatum – block access to The Pirate Bay within 14 days or get taken to court. Telenor refused, IFPI made good on its word and the case was held earlier this month. The decision was due today but according to the judge, the decision will now be delayed until next week.
The Stockholm District Court has taken action against two founder members of The Pirate Bay. Gottfrid Svartholm and Fredrik Neij are now banned from operating the site and will have to pay fines of $71,000 each if they continue. This, despite the fact that they nor the site remain in Sweden.
