In recent years ‘watermarking’ has been expanded into the digital domain. All kinds of digital media can be quietly marked in order to identify the origins of the content, which has proven particularly useful with the ‘dots’ to be found in Hollywood movies. By tracking these marks within pirate copies of movies, studios are able to identify which theater they were ‘cammed’ in.

Digital watermarks can also provide much more person-specific information. Vendors of digital data, such as MP3 retailers, sometimes put watermarks into the media they sell in order to identify the original purchaser. The idea is that if people believe they can be identified as a ‘leaker’, then they are more likely to keep their content close to their chests.

Of course, despite the presence of watermarks, content still manages to leak online. However, the digital watermarks in consumer purchases rarely directly identify the original purchaser of the content, meaning that anti-piracy companies have to go through other processes to get their man. A cozy arrangement in the Netherlands tackles this problem with ease.

The new digital distribution deal for eBook merchants will see them ‘watermark’ unique codes into the digital eBooks they sell which will identify a specific transaction number. These transaction numbers will be linked directly to a specific customer account.

So far the process isn’t much out of the ordinary, but the new deal will also bridge the missing link between random-looking transaction numbers in a digital file on the Internet and a real person’s identity.

The agreement will see vendors connected to the eBoekhuis platform share previously-private customer data directly with copyright holders and anti-piracy group BREIN. This means that should digital books turn up on BitTorrent networks or Usenet for example, with a minimum of fuss BREIN will be able to match the embedded watermarks with the customer who bought them.

According to the document seen by EReaders.nl, eBook vendors will be required to store customer transaction data and make it available to BREIN and rightsholders for a minimum of two years.

The problematic sharing of customer information with a third-party (who could potentially sue them) will be solved by informing customers at the point of sale that their details may be shared with outsiders if their account is linked to abuse.

Whether customers will read the terms and conditions is open to debate, but if brought specifically and clearly to their attention it’s likely that many would think twice before parting with cash.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

Since then, slowly but surely IMAGiNE members have been charged with criminal copyright infringement and given sentences ranging from 23 months in prison up to an unprecedented five years.

Yesterday, 41-year-old Javier E. Ferrer, an IMAGiNE founder, was also brought to justice.

Ferrer’s downfall began on September 8th 2011 when Homeland Security Investigations agents raided his Florida home, seizing computers, cellphones and other evidence.

During the search Ferrer appears to have co-operated. Waiving his rights he said he had knowledge of IMAGiNE’s torrent site UnleashTheNet and admitted paying for a group server in France. Ferrer also revealed he had cammed movies at the Palm Harbor Movie Theater.

Court documents further reveal that the 41-year-old admitted to using the nickname “bigdaddykane” which HSI agents matched with a user of the same name on the UnleashTheNet forums.

That user was indeed Ferrer and on several occasions he had been seen discussing the camming of movies. During November 2010, Ferrer responded to a question asking him where he illegally recorded movies to which he answered that he had “done several already but I won’t give away the place.”

In January 2011, Ferrer was again making things worse for himself on the site’s forum, giving advice on how to hide a camcorder by putting it “inside a black sock with a hole at the end to let the lens out.”

Ferrer later admitted to being part of IMAGiNE between April 2010 and September 2011 and accepted that he had knowingly conspired to infringe copyright for private financial gain. He pleaded guilty to willfully infringing copyrights by distributing at least one copy of a copyrighted work being prepared for commercial distribution by making it available on a computer network accessible to the public.

The movies cammed and uploaded included Captain America: The First Avenger and Fright Night. Ferrer also admitted to being involved in selling early copies of movies to generate funds to pay for IMAGiNE’s servers in France. Copies of The Town, The Social Network and Fright Night were sold for $300, $400 and $200 respectively.

In September 2012, United States Attorney Neil H. MacBride filed charges in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia against Ferrer. In common with other members of IMAGiNE, Ferrer stood accused of Conspiracy to Commit Copyright Infringement. He pleaded guilty.

Ferrar was sentenced yesterday by Senior U.S. District Judge Henry C. Morgan in the Eastern District of Virginia. In addition to his 23 month prison term, Ferrer was sentenced to three years supervised release and ordered to pay $15,000 in restitution.

He is the fifth member of the group to be sentenced. In November 2012, Sean Lovelady of California, a site moderator, received a 23 month sentence and in the same month Willie Lambert of Pennsylvania, an administrator, received a 30 month prison sentence.

Later, 53-year-old group sysop Gregory Cherwonik of New York was jailed for 40 months. In 2010, Brad Newell, a cammer for the group, received a sentence of 48 months.

In January 2013, Jeramiah B. Perkins, the leader of IMAGiNE, was sentenced to 60 months in prison, the harshest sentence in history for a file-sharing offense.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

In a U.S. theater you need appendages of steel (or perhaps psychiatric help) to risk recording the video or sound of a Hollywood movie. Those caught, such as the individuals behind the IMAGiNE group, are treated extremely harshly indeed and years in prison can be the outcome.

While after-the-fact punishments are somewhat of a deterrent, the studios prefer to tackle the problem before it begins. To this end they encourage theater workers to remove any possible recording devices from movie-goers. Cell phones are sometimes temporarily confiscated and the use of night vision goggles to track down suspects during the show is becoming more common, particularly at premieres.

This week Hollywood revealed the latest results of an incentive scheme in the UK whereby cinema workers are rewarded for catching movie cammers and reporting them to the police.

“The rewards scheme is part of a wide-ranging theatrical protection programme, funded by UK film distributors via Film Distributors’ Association (FDA) since 2006,” FACT announced.

“It also provides vital extra resources for the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) to support cinema exhibitors’ staff training; an on-going supply of night vision devices to help cinema staff deter recording attempts in situ; and an education campaign including school resources on copyright.”

According to FACT, the campaign has been 100% successful.

“The impact of this programme may be measured by the fact that no pirated recordings were sourced to a UK cinema release in 2012,” the anti-piracy group reveals.

While that is indeed a great result, there are some interesting details that shine more light on the overall picture.

FACT says that during the fall/winter season, 13 cinema workers intercepted unauthorized cammings of the movies Skyfall, Ted, The Dark Knight Rises and The Hobbit. Of the total 12 incidents, six related to recordings of the movie Skyfall.

Cinema workers are encouraged to report every instance of camming to the police but to say that proved fruitful would be taking things a little too far.

Out of the dozen incidents just two led to suspects being arrested. FACT reports that the pair were later cautioned (slapped on the wrists by police and told to behave in future) and that three exclusion orders and one prohibited access order were issued.

So in stark contrast to punishments in the United States, of twelve UK camming cases just four individuals were banned from cinemas and zero people were prosecuted. So why the weak response?

The problem is legislation. The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 can not be used against a cammer unless there is proof that the recording was part of a commercial operation or that there was intent to later upload it. If someone is caught recording a film and claims to be doing so in order to watch it at home, nothing can be done.

The difficulties are further highlighted in an industry document obtained by TorrentFreak which details 50 camming incidents in UK cinemas during 2008. Police attended calls from staff on just two occasions, one of which resulted in a couple being cautioned. In the majority of cases people observed camming were approached by staff but simply left the building. Any attempt to hold a suspect could lead to accusations of unlawful detention.

So for now cinema workers are being incentivized to become voluntary members of Hollywood’s unofficial police force, monitoring for suspicious activity and interrupting the problem at its source.

In 2012 they were 100% successful which if studio figures are correct must have saved the UK cinema industry around £100m. For this great achievement 13 cinema workers were paid rewards of up to £700 each.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

A few months later confirmation arrived when the group was indicted by the U.S. Government.

In April, Jeramiah Perkins of Portsmouth, Va., Gregory Cherwonik of New York, Willie Lambert of Pennsylvania, and Sean Lovelady of California, were all arrested and charged with several counts of criminal copyright infringement.

Earlier this month Lovelady and Lambert received 23 and 30 month prison sentences respectively, and yesterday 53-year old Cherwonik was jailed for 40 months by Virginia District Court Judge Arenda Allen.

In addition, Cherwonik was ordered to pay $15,000 in restitution to the MPAA.

After he serves his prison sentence, Cherwonik will be placed on probation for three years during which time he will be forbidden from possessing any electronic device with the capability of reproducing and distributing copies of copyrighted materials.

The 40 month jail term is the longest for a file-sharing related case in the United States. According to the U.S government Cherwonik deserved a higher sentence than the previously convicted defendants. As a “sysop” he was higher in rank than Lambert and Lovelady who were “administrator” and “moderator” respectively.

Despite having a clean slate when it comes to criminal encounters with the law, the prosecution called for Cherwonik to be harshly punished, not least because he continued his work at IMAGiNE for more than a year after his house was first searched.

“Rather than use the search of his residence as a reason to reconsider his participation in the IMAGiNE Group and to end his role in the conspiracy to commit copyright crime, Defendant Cherwonik and his co-conspirators continued and accelerated their illegal conduct in defiance of the law,” United States Attorney Neil MacBride wrote to the court.

MacBride further cited a report, prepared on behalf of the major movie studios, which states that IMAGiNE was responsible for 41% of all instances of English language theatrical audio piracy from September 2009 to September 2011, which amounted to almost five times more releases than the next leading English language release group.

The report claims that the release group was so successful because of the “short latency periods between the theatrical release and their pirated release, their consistently good quality of audio captures, their high volume of releases, and their connection to international suppliers.”

IMAGiNE started their activities in 2009 and the feds started looking into the group early 2010 after they were tipped off by the MPAA.

In May 2010 investigators searched the home of Cherwonik, but the group continued to operate after that and even launched their own private BitTorrent tracker “UnleashTheNet” in the same year. Aside from releasing copyrighted films on their private tracker they also “capped” films at local movie theaters.

On the same day as Cherwonik’s sentencing a fifth IMAGiNE member also pleaded guilty. Javier Ferrer, 41, of New Port Richey, Florida, was not included in the original indictment but was charged September this year. Ferrer admitted to camming the movie “Fright Night” at a local movie theater and he will be sentenced March 2013.

The fourth member from the indictment, Jeramiah Perkins, is also scheduled to be sentenced early next year.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.