TorrentFreak

According to a submission made to the New Zealand government by the major studios, the mere threat of sending out an infringement warning halved movie piracy in less than a month. After years of battling for “3 strikes” the studios haven’t sent out a single warning, but nevertheless insist that to reduce piracy further they’ll have to send out thousands. The recording labels want to do the same at a greatly reduced cost, but the ISPs want to charge four times more than they do now.

Today marks the start of P2P network monitoring for New Zealand’s “3 strikes” anti-filesharing legislation. As the government is criticized for not launching their official information resource until next week, a Reddit user claims to be using a government network to share Miley Cyrus movies. As an ISP account holder itself, will the government get hit with the 3 strikes ban-hammer?

Three strikes laws, the fabled ‘golden bullet’ to deal with copyright infringement has taken a beating over the past year. The debate over the effectiveness has focused on three areas – proportionality, judicial oversight and accuracy – and more evidence keeps piling up against it. Opponents to three-strikes, or ‘Graduated Response’ laws have been boosted [...]

After extended legal battles, France’s President Sarkozy finally got his way. This year will see some of the most aggressive anti-piracy action against citizens which, if ministers are to be believed, will dramatically reduce online piracy. This might be possible, if the measures weren’t so easily circumvented.

Peter Mandelson confirmed yesterday that illicit file-sharers could have their Internet connections severed as part of the government’s aims to reduce piracy by 70% in 2 years. TalkTalk, the UK’s second largest ISP, is said to be dismayed at the decision and is now threatening legal action over what it claims is a breach of human rights.

In a great blow for consumers everywhere, the prospect of 3-strikes for copyright infringers has returned with a vengeance, as both the EU Council and French Constitutional court pushed forward with their respective legislation. HADOPI is alive, and the EU has shredded requirements for judicial oversight.

An increasing death-knell is sounding for Lord Mandelson’s proposals for 3-strikes Internet disconnections. The latest blow comes from the All Party Parliamentary Communications Group. After a consultation earlier this year, they have now published their response, and it’s not one favorable to ‘Darth Mandy’ and his plans.