It therefore came as a big surprise to hear that Ethan Applen, director of technology and business strategy at Warner Bros., stated at NewTeeVee’s Video Rights Roundtable that P2P technology doesn’t deserve to be blamed for the fact that some people use it to download copyright infringing content.

“In terms of our own view, we think P2P gets vilified. It’s just a technology. CNN used it for Inauguration coverage. It can be used for piracy, but as a technology, I think it has a lot of advantages to it,” Applen said, adding that “P2P works really well at delivering an entire season or the entire run of a show.”

Applen’s comments are at odds with the legal strategies of the Hollywood studio, where its lawyers continue to blame the providers of technology for the activities of their users. If Warner Bros. indeed believes that P2P technology is not the villain, then they should inform their lawyers or withdraw from the court cases they are currently involved in.

Applen appeared together with Bram Cohen in the roundtable session, where worryingly some of the attendees admitted hating the BitTorrent inventor for creating his famous file transfer protocol. Aside from praising P2P for its speedy delivery of TV-shows, Applen also mentioned that it is a good marketing tool.

This is no surprise as a Warner Bros. executive previously admitted to leaking a pilot of Pushing Daisies on BitTorrent in order to “help the cause”.

Bram Cohen himself also gave several example of how ‘unauthorized sharing’ via BitTorrent may have helped content creators. He mentioned that the leak of an unfinished copy of X-Men Origins: Wolverine might have boosted interest in the film, and he noted that BitTorrent may have also helped the anime business to grow.

Despite all the positive comments on the use of BitTorrent and P2P in general by this Warner Bros. executive, we can’t help wondering why they are still pouring millions into ridiculous anti-P2P lawsuits that haven’t decreased piracy a single bit.

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

Now, it seems, the Man has stuck it to both her and her not-for-profit events.

Ms Lover had arranged a couple of Halloween meals to take place in her house (’somewhere’ in Kilburn, North London) for this coming Friday and Saturday, with a seemingly-appropriate Harry Potter theme.

Rather than just sit-down-and-eat, Ms Lover had some elaborate plans for diners. Following a journey down Diagon Alley, a password would be given to the Fat Lady to gain entrance. Then how about some lovely Butterbeer along with Dumbledore’s favorite sweets, lemon sherbets and mint humbugs, and a nice starter of pumpkin soup with Witches hat pumpkin pasties?

Or would the whole thing be more creative with the addition of Lord Voldemort lawyers from the movie industry?

In a letter addressed to Ms Marmite Lover (yes Warner, of course that’s her real name), the company’s European Legal and Business Affairs division explains that although the company is “delighted” that she is such a fan of the Harry Potter series, “unfortunately your proposed use of the Harry Potter Properties…without our consent would amount to an infringement of Warner’s rights.”

The lawyers then asked Ms Lover to confirm that the nights were now canceled, although noting that they had no problem if she held a “generic wizard” night.

“I’ve written back, saying that I’ve changed the title of the event to Generic Wizard night,” writes Ms Lover. “But I added that J.K. Rowling herself, having at one time been a struggling single parent, and having donated to the National Council of One Parent Families, would probably approve of a single mother being entrepreneurial and creative.”

Do Warner own the rights. Yes. Can they do this legally? Of course. Should they? Absolutely, as long as they don’t mind coming over as petty, trivial and small minded, with a penchant for stifling creativity.

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

In the press release, both groups gave a positive outlook to the deal. “The Pirate Bay team has built an exciting and powerful media platform that complements Warner Bros’s mission to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful,” said Jim Kjeyzer, Chief Executive Officer of Warner Bros.”

Pirate Bay co-founder Gottfrid Svartholm was similarly forward looking saying “Our community has played a vital role in changing the way that people consume media, creating a new hip culture. By joining forces with Warner Bros, we can benefit from its global reach and technology leadership to deliver a more comprehensive entertainment experience for our users and to create new opportunities for our partners.”

A press conference will be held later today to discuss the finer aspects of the acquisition. The conference will be broadcasted live on the Internet and details for access to the webcast are included in the press release.

How the Pirate Bay’s users will deal with this deal is the only wild-card. Will it be another Exeem, or will it blossom into something powerful and progressive. Only time will tell.

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

Pirate Bay’s Peter Sunde (brokep) said in a response to the unusual move by the officer: “He [Keyzer] confirmed that he is an employee there [Warner Bros'] and we can’t see it in any other way than this being the reward for work well done from the new employer of the police, the entertainment industry”

In the days to come new information surfaced, as it became clear that Keyzer was not quitting his police job, but that he was only hired by Warner Bros. for six months. Unsurprisingly, the rumors that the job at the movie studio was a reward for his investigation into The Pirate Bay, became even stronger.

In a short statement, Warner Bros. state that the investigator was not employed or paid by the movie studio while he was still working on the case. A spokesman says the claims of the policeman having affected the investigation for his own ends is pure speculation.

Warner Bros. refuses to comment on questions regarding the job and salary negotiations, which must have started before the investigation came to an end. This is not the first time the copyright industry has hired filesharing investigators from the police, and in some cases the job negotiations indeed began while the investigations were still ongoing.

According to prosecutor, HÃ¥kan Roswall, this is exactly what the Swedish anti-piracy organization AntipiratbyrÃ¥n did a couple of years ago. “That policeman was recruited during the investigation as well, so this is nothing unusual. He testified at the trial and the court didn’t take that into consideration,” Roswall said.

When asked why these companies are so interested in hiring the police investigators, Roswall said: “Because they are exceptionally skilled people.”

“It could be seen as a positive thing that the policeman has worked for Warner. That will broaden his competence in filesharing cases.” he added. Perhaps The Pirate Bay should hire an IT-forensics specialist from the police as well?

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

Warner Bros president Kevin Tsujihara thinks that his company can fight the increasing losses that piracy “caused”, by offering their customers the option to download movies and TV-shows legally.

“If we can convert 5, 10 or 15 percent of the illegal downloaders into consumers of our product, that is significant.”

The new service will start this summer.

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.

Article from: TorrentFreak, check out our new blog at FreakBits.