TorrentFreak

Grooveshark’s lengthy legal battle with several of the world’s major recording labels, who accused the popular music streaming service of mass-copyright infringement, may soon come to an end. Several of the company’s (former) employees have agreed to a “consent judgment” which prohibits them from infringing the major labels’ copyrights or working with similar services in future. No settlement has been reached with the parent company yet, but the recent developments cast doubt over Grooveshark’s future.

In its quest to identify the owner of a file-sharing site, Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN pressured one of the largest banks in the Netherlands to hand over his or her personal details. In a decision this morning the Amsterdam Court said that while BREIN has a responsibility to enforce copyright on behalf of its members, the bank has a greater responsibility to protect its customers’ privacy.

In March, the Ninth Circuit declared that Canada-based BitTorrent search engine isoHunt is not entitled to protection under the safe harbor provisions of the DMCA due to its conduct many years ago. IsoHunt filed a petition for a rehearing before a jury, but yesterday a Ninth Circuit panel unanimously rejected it. Isohunt lawyer Ira Rothken informs TorrentFreak that the right to a jury trial is protected by the constitution and isoHunt is now in the process of requesting a Supreme Court review.

The organization responsible for Sweden’s top-level domain is facing court action after refusing to disable or seize two domains operated by The Pirate Bay. The Internet Infrastructure Foundation, the body that administers the .SE TLD and engages in projects to better the Internet, now faces a court showdown. The prosecution office is claiming that the foundation is guilty of assisting those who assist others to engage in copyright infringement.

Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom and his alleged co-conspirators have been thrown a lifeline in their ongoing extradition battle in New Zealand. Previously it was decided that Dotcom could not examine the mountains of evidence being withheld by U.S. authorities, but the Supreme Court has now granted an appeal, so the matter can be settled at the country’s highest court.

A Swedish Pirate Bay user who was accidentally caught sharing 57 movies during a friend’s house search will face prison time if the authorities get their way. The man was previously ordered to pay a fine, but the prosecutor has now submitted the case to the Supreme Court, hoping to get the man jailed. The prosecutor’s office says a prison sentence is needed so the police can legitimately raid the homes of file-sharers.

Mired in controversy since its inception but held up as an example by entertainment companies looking to spread the model worldwide, France’s Hadopi anti-piracy law now looks set to be scrapped. A just-published government-commissioned report recommends that the graduated response system, which promised fines and disconnections for errant file-sharers, should be shelved and replaced with 60 euro per time automated fines.