TorrentFreak

Last weekend, in response to a discussion surrounding a GigaOm article mentioning piracy, TorrentFreak published an opinion piece in which we argued that giving dissenting voices a say enriches debate. Today, Alex Swartsel of the MPAA responded to us and Techdirt (who had a different angle on the same GigaOm story) in a new article posted on the movie industry’s blog. Reality, it seems, can be a confusing concept.

It is no secret that the MPAA and RIAA spend millions in Washington to guarantee that their anti-piracy interests are secured. However, it turns out that not all the lobbying dollars go to secure the well-being of workers in the entertainment industry. The MPAA has also spent significant funds on the implementation of a Wall Street reform law, one that was proposed by the new MPAA CEO Chris Dodd when he was senator.

This week GigaOm’s NewTeeVee published a piece pointing out that in harsh economic climates people may decide to download movies for free instead of going to the theater or viewing them via VOD. The MPAA weren’t happy with the article, to the point where they managed to get GigaOm’s permission to publish a retaliatory guest post. Some didn’t like that, but I say: “Well done GigaOm!”

April this year six major movie studios filed a lawsuit against the quasi DVD-rental outfit Zediva. Under the flag of the MPAA, the studios labeled the new business as a “sham,” because it uses a clever way to bypass a licensing roadblock. U..S. District Court Judge John Walter agrees with the MPAA’s assesment and has [...]

In their ongoing battle with file-hosting service Hotfile, five MPAA studios have asked the court to disallow Hotfile access to information on their anti-piracy strategies. While drawing an analogy between copyright infringement and drug trafficking, the MPAA studios ask the court to handle their anti-piracy documents as trade secrets to prevent ‘pirates’ from getting even more sophisticated than they already are.

In the ongoing court battle against Hotfile and its founder Anton Titov, a key claim made against the cyberlocker by the MPAA has been tossed out by the judge. The assertion by the MPAA that Hotfile has been a primary infringer of copyright has been ruled out by Florida Federal Judge Adalberto Jordan. The claim [...]

A breakthrough coalition of the MPAA, RIAA and other copyright holders have signed an agreement with AT&T, Cablevision, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Verizon to curb piracy. Under the agreement the ISPs agree to send “copyright alerts” to subscribers whose Internet connections are used for copyright infringement. Repeated offenders will not be disconnected from the Internet, but could be slowed down instead.