TorrentFreak

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.

Megaupload has strengthened its demand to have the criminal indictment against the company thrown out by the court, thus ending the case. The United States Government told the court last week that it fears the end of the Megaupload prosecution if the judge makes the ‘wrong’ decision, and these words are now being used against it. In a new brief submitted to the Virginia District Court, Megaupload’s lawyers argue that the Government admits that it may not have a case.

Following the release of their white paper earlier today, Megaupload lawyer Robert Amsterdam considers the current political situation in the United States, one in which the interests of powerful corporations are deemed to be of greater importance than the rights of individuals. The U.S. government’s attack on Megaupload bears all the hallmarks of a “Digital Gitmo”, Amsterdam argues, one which shares an absence of rule of law with its physical, Cuba-based namesake.

Megaupload’s legal team are not restricting their fight with the U.S. Government only to the courts. Today they published a detailed white paper accusing the White House of selling out to corporate interests, particularly Hollywood. “The message is clear. The White House is for sale. More and more of our rights are eroding away to protect the interests of large corporations and their billionaire shareholders,” Dotcom summarizes.

It’s been revealed that one of the computer accounts used regularly by the alleged hackers in the ongoing Gottfrid Svartholm case belonged to Monique Wadsted, a lawyer who represented the entertainment companies in the original Pirate Bay trial. Accounts including Wadsted’s were allegedly manipulated to gain deeper access to IT systems. In the meantime, suspects say they are reluctant to speak for fear of Hells Angels reprisals.

Norway has moved an important – some say unstoppable – step towards legislative change that will enable the aggressive tackling of online copyright infringement. Proposed amendments to the Copyright Act, which will make it easier for rightsholders to monitor file-sharers and have sites such as The Pirate Bay blocked at the ISP level, received broad support in parliament this week and look almost certain to be passed into law.

Swedish authorities have filed a motion at the District Court of Stockholm on behalf of the entertainment industries, demanding the seizure of two Pirate Bay domain names. In addition to the Swedish-based .se domain the motion also includes the new Icelandic .is TLD. In a rapid response, The Pirate Bay has just switched to a fresh domain, ThePirateBay.sx, registered in the northeastern Caribbean island of Sint Maarten.