Despite not owning a computer or even a router, a retired woman has been ordered by a court to pay compensation to a movie company. The woman had been pursued by a rightsholder who claimed she had illegally shared a violent movie about hooligans on the Internet, but the fact…
A judgment handed down by a German court against an open source software project is being described as "worrisome" by the company at the heart of the case. Appwork, the outfit behind the hugely popular JDownloader software, can be held liable for coding carried out by third-party contributors, even when…
Most Internet service providers log information about their users, such as when they use the service and the IP addresses they were allocated at the time. This information is useful for ISPs' housekeeping but it's also an invaluable resource for copyright trolls looking to track down file-sharers. Can an ISP…
In Germany several major Hollywood studios are cashing in on BitTorrent pirates, charging hundreds of euros for illegally downloaded movies and TV-shows. While the studios have the right to protect their work, the efforts are double-barreled as they regularly hit the most engaged fans who have few options to watch…