|
Keep up to date with what's happening in the legal front. News and discussion regarding peer-to-peer lawsuits and piracy cases, as well as changes in the legislation that reflect the lives of consumers of the digital age.
|
Most recent news articles related to this topic
|
 |
Last December legislation was introduced in the US House of Representives that would increase penalties for both commercial and personal copyright violations and create a new IP enforcement ...
Date: 9 May 2008 16:05 | 13 comments
|
| |
 |
The MPAA has announced that is suing the infamous torrent tracker The Pirate Bay for $15.4 million USD citing "damages suffered" from 4 movies and 13 TV episodes uploaded to the tracker.
...
Date: 8 May 2008 22:05 | 21 comments
|
| |
 |
Just a few weeks ago BitTorrent site TorrentSpy was shut down by parent company Valance Media LLC, replaced with a message explaining that the owners "feel compelled to provide the ultimate ...
Date: 8 May 2008 16:05 | 14 comments
|
| |
 |
Last week Google received a DMCA Takedown Notice in regard to a relatively obscure project called coreavc-for-linux. The notice, which can be read in its entirety on the Chilling Effects website, ...
Date: 5 May 2008 16:05 | 5 comments
|
| |
 |
In a recent court ruling, songwriters could be owed upwards of $100 million in recovering costs for online performances. A court ruled that songwriters should in fact be paid more for their ...
Date: 1 May 2008 18:05 | 1 comment
|
| |
 |
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has suffered another legal setback after a judge denied a ruling in a music piracy case this week. The judge ruled that "the sole act of ...
Date: 30 Apr 2008 22:04 | 48 comments
|
| |
 |
The Ireland's largest internet service provider Eircom has stood up against the five big record companies. Eircom was sued by the Irish RIAA for allowing illegal sharing to happen in their networks. ...
Date: 24 Apr 2008 13:04 | 5 comments
|
| |
 |
Alcatel-Lucent has begun court proceedings for its lawsuit against Microsoft, complaining that Microsoft's Xbox game systems violates one of the company's 1993 patents "relating to the code ...
Date: 23 Apr 2008 20:04 | 29 comments
|
| |
|
In a situation that should crush the credibility of the ongoing court case, it has been revealed that police officer Jim Keyzer, the "star" witness in the investigation against the The Pirate ...
Date: 21 Apr 2008 17:04 | 11 comments
|
| |
|
After having access to their site blocked in February, the infamous torrent tracker The Pirate Bay is fighting back against the group that forced the block, threatening to sue the music industry ...
Date: 16 Apr 2008 21:04 | 15 comments
|
| |
Less than 2 months ago
|
 |
Microsoft Corp. has revealed that it will appeal a jury verdict on Friday that ordered it to pay $367.4 million to Alcatel-Lucent for two offenses of patent infringement. Meanwhile the company ...
Date: 6 Apr 2008 01:04
|
| |
|
After what the IFPI calls a successful operation to Block The Pirate Bay in Denmark, they've decided to try to do the same in Sweden. The IFPI has decided to force Swedish Internet Service Providers ...
Date: 28 Mar 2008 05:03 | 13 comments
|
| |
 |
The popular Chinese movie download site Jeboo has filed a lawsuit against the MPA for libel . The statement in question implies that Jeboo admitted to piracy as part of a past legal settlement. ...
Date: 27 Mar 2008 18:03 | 8 comments
|
| |
|
TorrentSpy, formerly one of the most popular BitTorrent sites on the Internet, has been permanently shut down. After two years of court room drama, TorrentSpy lost the case against MPAA in last ...
Date: 27 Mar 2008 13:03 | 22 comments
|
| |
 |
The BBC has reported that its English-language Website seems to be available to Internet users in China after years of it being blocked in the country.
For the time being, the BBC says stories ...
Date: 25 Mar 2008 18:03 | 4 comments
|
| |
 |
At a panel discussion called 'Mobility, Ubiquity and Monetizing Music,' which will be held tomorrow at the SXSW (South By Southwest) Music And Media Conference in Austin Texas, the focus is ...
Date: 13 Mar 2008 20:03 | 22 comments
|
| |
|
According to the Irish Examiner on Tuesday, the Irish arms of the four largest record companies in the world are taking the largest Internet Service Provider (ISP) in Ireland to the High Court. ...
Date: 11 Mar 2008 16:03 | 8 comments
|
| |
 |
Although nothing official has been decided, while speaking at a the Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society last week FCC chairman Kevin Martin indicated he's troubled by Comcast's ...
Date: 11 Mar 2008 05:03 | 14 comments
|
| |
Less than 3 months ago
|
 |
Members of the Motion Picture Association (MPA) have settled an Internet piracy case with Chinese company Beijing Jeboo Interactive Science & Technology Co. The five Hollywood studios had accused ...
Date: 6 Mar 2008 21:03 | 5 comments
|
| |
 |
The RIAA is trying to convince the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), which is responsible for setting the mechanical (automatic) royalty rates paid for music publication, that the flat rate ...
Date: 4 Mar 2008 07:03 | 9 comments
|
| |
 |
The giant Chinese search engine Baidu has been sued again, this time by a local music industry group, marking the second time in the last month that the search engine finds itself in legal trouble.
...
Date: 2 Mar 2008 23:03 | 3 comments
|
| |
 |
You have to give it to Comcast. They're nothing if not consistent. When they've been asked to reveal specifics of their controversial "network management" techniques that have BitTorrent using ...
Date: 27 Feb 2008 05:02 | 24 comments
|
| |
 |
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said today that "The commission is ready, willing and able to step in if necessary to correct any practices that are ongoing today." He made the statement at today's ...
Date: 26 Feb 2008 03:02 | 6 comments
|
| |
 |
If you'd like a ringside seat to a FCC hearing on ISP network management and happen to be in the Boston area on Monday you're in luck. There's a hearing scheduled for 11:00 in the morning at ...
Date: 25 Feb 2008 05:02 | 5 comments
|
| |
|
Jello Biafra, the former Dead Kennedys lead singer, recently had a few choice words for the RIAA, going as far as to say that the group reminds him of the mafia.
“I have two different opinions ...
Date: 23 Feb 2008 23:02 | 18 comments
|
| |
|
It turns out the British government isn't actually considering a three-strikes plan for dealing with internet pirates. According to Andy Burnham, culture secretary, suggestions to force ISP ...
Date: 23 Feb 2008 08:02 | 4 comments
|
| |
|
Pretend you're a representative for the RIAA and you're tired of taking on file sharers in court, and of course as always you're looking to make your problems somebody else's responsibility. ...
Date: 22 Feb 2008 03:02 | 22 comments
|
| |
 |
Anyone who read the IFPI's annual report on the state of the music industry when it was released in January would have already been aware that their stated goal for this year was to hold ISPs ...
Date: 19 Feb 2008 05:02 | 3 comments
|
| |
 |
Much like songwriter and Congressman Sonny Bono did in the U.S. several years ago, EU Commissioner Charlie McCreevy is championing an extension to copyright terms. Not surprisingly his stated ...
Date: 18 Feb 2008 05:02 | 14 comments
|
| |
 |
Rapidshare has announced that it will indeed be appealing a recent German court ruling which has the potential to have the gigantic file hosting site shut down.
Last month the court ruled ...
Date: 16 Feb 2008 23:02 | 7 comments
|
| |
 |
The Software & Information Industry Association (SIAA) has named several eBay sellers in lawsuits aimed at discouraging the sale of pirate software on the Internet auction giant. The nine lawsuits ...
Date: 16 Feb 2008 00:02 | 4 comments
|
| |
|
In a 80 page filing with the FCC, Comcast attempted to explain why there's nothing wrong with the "network management" practices that spurred a number of complaints to agency regulators. The ...
Date: 14 Feb 2008 04:02 | 18 comments
|
| |
|
On February 26 the FCC will hold and open hearing at Harvard Law School where commissioners "will hear from expert panelists regarding broadband network management practices," according to an ...
Date: 13 Feb 2008 02:02 | 11 comments
|
| |
|
A wireless device which would use the so-called "white spaces" between broadcast television channels for wireless communication has failed FCC testing.
This is the second test and second ...
Date: 13 Feb 2008 01:02 | 3 comments
|
| |
 |
Christian Riesen (aka Simon Moon), the admin of the late eDonkey link site, was found guilty of copyright infringement in Swiss district court of Frauenburg. Almost four years after Sharereactor.com ...
Date: 12 Feb 2008 12:02 | 9 comments
|
| |
|
It appears like British officials are looking to follow French President Nicolas Sarkozy's lead and consider putting illegal downloaders on warning with a "three strikes" law. The proposed law ...
Date: 12 Feb 2008 06:02 | 54 comments
|
| |
|
Although Tele2, Denmark's largest ISP, was recently forced to block all access to the notorious torrent site The Pirate Bay, it seems once again the admin team over at TPB are having the last laugh.
...
Date: 11 Feb 2008 20:02 | 7 comments
|
| |
 |
According to court papers filed late last week, the electronics manufacturing giant Samsung has had a class action lawsuit filed against it by early adopters of the BDP-1200 Blu-ray player which ...
Date: 11 Feb 2008 19:02 | 20 comments
|
| |
Less than 6 months ago
|
 |
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), which among other things is responsible for enforcing federal antitrust laws, is apparently suspicious of record labels intentions with respect to a new ...
Date: 8 Feb 2008 04:02 | 3 comments
|
| |
|
In an effort to fight back against the recent Danish ISP Block of its site, The Pirate Bay has launched jesperbay.org as a countermeasure.
The new site, named after the boss of the Danish ...
Date: 7 Feb 2008 19:02 | 39 comments
|
| |
 |
As patent reform legislation makes its way through the U.S. Congress the reaction from EFF activists has been generally positive. However, that may be changing now that they've examined a Senate ...
Date: 6 Feb 2008 19:02 | 11 comments
|
| |
|
Yet another defendant in a RIAA file sharing lawsuit has decided to fight back. On behalf of his client Rolando Armurao, who is accused of illegally distribution of more than 500 songs using ...
Date: 6 Feb 2008 04:02 | 9 comments
|
| |
 |
Despite being found not guilty in a previous case, China's most used Internet search site Baidu is in legal trouble again.
Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, and Warner Music Group have all ...
Date: 5 Feb 2008 20:02 | 10 comments
|
| |
 |
As Swedish government is suing and Danish Tele2 operator is blocking The Pirate Bay, Finland joins the Scandinavian group of anti-piracy pacesetters. The IFPI Finland is considering a civil ...
Date: 5 Feb 2008 11:02 | 13 comments
|
| |
 |
Still after three months since the police shut down OiNK, Alan Ellis, the admin of OiNK, is in custody. Today, for the second time, the bail date of Alan Ellis was extended, until May 6th. The ...
Date: 5 Feb 2008 09:02 | 6 comments
|
| |
 |
Xunlei, one of the largest download service providers in China has today announced that they have lost a piracy suit brought forward by the Shanghai Youdu Broadband Technology Co.(Youdu) and ...
Date: 3 Feb 2008 23:02 | 1 comment
|
| |
 |
On Thursday TiVo won a major appeals court battle that may give them more leverage in licensing their software to cable and satellite providers. The ruling, upholding a lower court decision ...
Date: 2 Feb 2008 08:02 | 7 comments
|
| |
 |
Finnish Christian Democratic Party wants preliminary inspection for video games. However, even though video games are not included in the Finnish law describing obligatory preliminary inspections, ...
Date: 1 Feb 2008 14:02 | 45 comments
|
| |
|
Today was the first day in court for the lawsuit against Pirate Bay. The prosecutor set charges for four persons responsible for Pirate Bay's activities. Three of the accused, Fredrik Neij, ...
Date: 31 Jan 2008 12:01 | 19 comments
|
| |
 |
U2 manager Paul McGuinness recently made a big impression at the MIDEM music industry convention in Cannes by calling out everyone from ISPs to customers. Sounding much like he was reading talking ...
Date: 31 Jan 2008 04:01 | 40 comments
|
| |
 |
During a recent Internet policy conference, Verizon Executive Vice President Tom Tauke spoke about his company's position on filtering customers' traffic for copyright violations. "From a business ...
Date: 31 Jan 2008 03:01 | 7 comments
|
| |
|
The European Court of Justice, the EU's top legal authority, sent a clear message to content owners that their exclusive right to distribute copyrighted works doesn't trump personal privacy ...
Date: 30 Jan 2008 02:01 | 8 comments
|
| |
|
Amid all the hype at the MIDEM music trade show in France around Qtrax's announcement of the free music service that wasn't, a more important story is emerging with the presentation by Jean ...
Date: 29 Jan 2008 07:01 | 16 comments
|
| |
|
This week Swedish officials plan to charge the individuals responsible for running Pirate Bay, a large torrent Tracker originally operated in that country, as accessories and conspirators in ...
Date: 28 Jan 2008 00:01 | 17 comments
|
| |
 |
Warner Music Group, one of the big four record labels, has announced that is suing the MP3 access service SeeqPod just days after signing a deal with the similar service Last.FM
For those ...
Date: 25 Jan 2008 23:01 | 7 comments
|
| |
|
The past eight years has been a struggle between the music industry and P2P downloads. Since Napster launched in 1999 and brought the peer-to-peer downloads to the mainstream, the International ...
Date: 25 Jan 2008 10:01 | 20 comments
|
| |
|
One of the FCC's most contreversial decisions last year was a rule banning contracts for cable providers to exclusively service entire buildings or complexes, with no choice given to the tenants. ...
Date: 24 Jan 2008 05:01 | 23 comments
|
| |
|
The E.U.'s CULT committee, responsible for on helping shape EU policy on issues related to culture and education, has decided not to include amendments drafted by the international recording ...
Date: 24 Jan 2008 04:01 | 5 comments
|
| |
 |
The MPAA is now backing away from statistics they began using in 2005 as a bullet point in their legal assault on college campuses. The study which generated the statistics claimed that 44% ...
Date: 23 Jan 2008 19:01 | 12 comments
|
| |
Less than a year ago
|
 |
A Pennsylvania woman, with the help of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), is taking Prince to court over his alleged involvement in a DMCA takedown request earlier this year. Although ...
Date: 30 Oct 2007 14:10 | 29 comments
|
| |
 |
YouTube, the world's largest video sharing site owned by Google Inc., has raised some eyebrows by banning the accounts of a group known as the Rational Response Squad after it complained that ...
Date: 23 Sep 2007 23:09 | 5 comments
|
| |
 |
After reading statements made by U.S. Register of Copyrights Marybeth Peters it shouldn't surprise anyone to find out that she's a self described luddite who doesn't even have a computer at ...
Date: 18 Sep 2007 00:09 | 5 comments
|
| |
 |
Viacom has backed down from a DMCA takedown notice over a video posted to YouTube by a school board candidate in North Carolina after he filed a counter-complaint stating that the content posted ...
Date: 14 Sep 2007 23:09 | 3 comments
|
| |
 |
California state Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has appealed a decision made last month by a federal judge that declared a law banning the sale of violent video games to minors unconstitutional. ...
Date: 6 Sep 2007 14:09 | 20 comments
|
| |
 |
Since the death of the commercial part of Google Video will render thousands and thousands of purchases useless, the Library of Congress will have no choice but to consider the matter when they ...
Date: 13 Aug 2007 14:08 | 4 comments
|
| |
|
Yesterday the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed suit against Universal Music Publishing Group, asking a federal court to protect the fair use and free speech rights of a mother who ...
Date: 25 Jul 2007 11:07 | 9 comments
|
| |
|
Uri Geller, who became famous as a "paranormalist" in the 1970's with an act that included bending spoons, supposedly with his mind, is at the middle of a controversy regarding YouTube and other ...
Date: 9 Jul 2007 15:07 | 10 comments
|
| |
 |
National Public Radio (NPR) and a group of webcasters have filed for an emergency stay in the US District Court of the DC Circuit, looking for a delay on new royalty rates that will go into ...
Date: 2 Jun 2007 17:06 | 5 comments
|
| |
 |
The closely followed court case in Finland that will ultimately decide whether DVD movies can be legally copied for personal use or not, is heading to the Finnish Appeals Court.
Last week, ...
Date: 30 May 2007 12:05 | 5 comments
|
| |
|
The first man to be convicted of distributing movies illegally over the Internet using BitTorrent software, has appeared in Hong Kong's highest court on Wednesday to appeal the verdict. Chan ...
Date: 10 May 2007 19:05 | 8 comments
|
| |
Less than 2 years ago
|
 |
In a move that will emulate the DMCA, a new copyright legislation will be coming to Canada and could possibly be introduced as soon as this spring.
A Canadian law professor, Michael Geist, ...
Date: 16 Apr 2007 00:04 | 6 comments
|
| |
|
The European arm of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has shown its opposition for the IPRED2 directive that is being proposed to harmonize European copyright law. The group is concerned ...
Date: 13 Apr 2007 13:04
|
| |
|
Google Inc. has fired back at Viacom in the ongoing war of words between both. Managing Counsel Michael Kwun has called Viacom's $1 billion lawsuit against YouTube, "an attack on the way people ...
Date: 31 Mar 2007 18:03
|
| |
|
The National Football League (NFL) has gotten itself caught up in an online battle over a YouTube clip with Brooklyn Law School professor Wendy Seltzer, and has managed to violate the Digital ...
Date: 23 Mar 2007 04:03 | 13 comments
|
| |
 |
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has recently taken on several individuals that have abused the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's (DMCA) takedown notice process. The group recently ...
Date: 18 Mar 2007 22:03 | 2 comments
|
| |
 |
On Wednesday, the Copyright Office/Library of congress published its determination in the latest triennial exemption rule-making. Congress mandated that the register of copyrights revisit the ...
Date: 23 Nov 2006 01:11 | 44 comments
|
| |
More than 2 years ago
|
|
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is continuing its excellent work with the publication of its latest article, "Unintended Consequences: Seven Years under the DMCA". It is a collection ...
Date: 15 Apr 2006 18:04 | 40 comments
|
| |
 |
There is an alarming post over at videolan.org that discusses how the European Union Copyright Directive (EUCD), a European version of the U.S.' Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) will ...
Date: 5 Dec 2005 16:12 | 19 comments
|
| |
 |
Finnish Parliament approved today a controversial new copyright legislation, based on European Union's Copyright Directive (EUCD). The legislation sparked enormous opposition from worried citizens, ...
Date: 5 Oct 2005 09:10 | 64 comments
|
| |
 |
Wired has a very interesting article about how a major mobile phone and service provider in the United States has sent a cease and desist letter to a company that specializes in the sale of ...
Date: 5 Oct 2005 02:10 | 5 comments
|
| |
|
A U.S. appeals court has dealt a blow to the Entertainment Industry by ruling that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has overstepped its authority by attempting to force manufacturers ...
Date: 7 May 2005 12:05 | 8 comments
|
| |
 |
Some French news sources are reporting that the Paris Court of Appeals has granted UFC-Que Choisir (a French consumer protection organization), a prohibition on DVD copy protection devices, ...
Date: 25 Apr 2005 06:04 | 9 comments
|
| |
 |
The Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) is set to appear before Federal Court of Appeal in Toronto hoping to overturn a ruling in April 2004 that shielded file sharers from legal ...
Date: 19 Apr 2005 21:04 | 9 comments
|
| |
|
A French Appeals court has ruled in favour of a person who downloaded about 500 copies of movies off the Internet. This ruling was reached because the movies were seen as private copies which ...
Date: 16 Mar 2005 05:03 | 3 comments
|
| |
|
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said that regulators have overstepped their authority by imposing a rule they say would limit TV piracy on the Internet. "You crossed the line," ...
Date: 23 Feb 2005 13:02 | 2 comments
|
| |
|
Reports indicate that Denmark is to join Poland in opposition to the EU directive on software patents. Poland has blocked the formal adoption of the common position twice already. It is likely ...
Date: 1 Feb 2005 05:02
|
| |
|
As part of the free-trade agreement (that was signed today) between the United States and Australia, Australian government and the leading opposition party of the country have both accepted ...
Date: 3 Aug 2004 19:08 | 5 comments
|
| |
|
A new website, euro-copyrights.org, has been launched. The site aims to give a full picture of the EUCD's status in European Union member states and its implications across the Union.
The ...
Date: 8 Jun 2004 19:06 | 1 comment
|
| |
 |
Sharman Networks, the company who owns the file-sharing network Kazaa, has appealed the ruling given last week by Australian court that the raids made by the music industry to Sharman's offices ...
Date: 11 Mar 2004 18:03 | 1 comment
|
| |
|
European Parliament today voted to approve the proposed Directive on Intellectual Property Enforcement that gives copyright holders wide powers to attack against people who violate intellectual ...
Date: 9 Mar 2004 16:03 | 3 comments
|
| |
 |
Despite the fact that DVD-CCA dropped its case earlier this year against a California resident Andrew Bunner, he and EFF wanted to continue the case in appeals court to get court's opinion to ...
Date: 27 Feb 2004 18:02
|
| |
 |
Washington D.C. appeals court delivered a major blow to RIAA's legal tactics yesterday by making a decision that RIAA can't force ISPs to hand out their subscribers' personal information before ...
Date: 22 Dec 2003 12:12 | 3 comments
|
| |
|
Internet service provider SBC Communications and RIAA have attended a hearing to debate the legitimacy of subpoenas handed out by RIAA. RIAA asked the court to dismiss SBC's case entirely, while ...
Date: 22 Nov 2003 20:11 | 7 comments
|
| |
|
A new copyright law based on the requirements of the European Union Copyright Directive (EUCD) went into effect in the United Kingdom on Friday. The implementation of EUCD is considered to be ...
Date: 31 Oct 2003 19:10 | 1 comment
|
| |
|
The U.S. Librarian of Congress has denied most of the major requests for exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), and other organizations ...
Date: 29 Oct 2003 17:10 | 3 comments
|
| |
|
Los Angeles federal court has sped up the appeals process for the case where movie and recording industry (represented by their lobby groups, MPAA and RIAA) are against two FastTrack licensees: ...
Date: 18 Jul 2003 19:07 | 3 comments
|
| |
|
Development of one of the most popular freeware DVD backup tools, DVDFab, that allows backing up DVD-9 discs to two blank DVD-Rs, has been stopped.
The creator of the software, Joerg Plenert, ...
Date: 18 Jul 2003 19:07 | 19 comments
|
| |
|
Friday, 11th of July, was truly a sad day for Europe, free speech and fair use rights. The largest European Union member country, Germany, passed its own implementation of draconian DMCA-like ...
Date: 15 Jul 2003 06:07 | 8 comments
|
| |
|
Now once the EUCD legislation is starting to get implemented in various different European Union countries, people are beginning to wake up and oppose the changes. Unfortunately this is too ...
Date: 18 Jun 2003 19:06 | 3 comments
|
| |
|
The Recording Industry Association of America has admitted to sending at least two dozen DMCA case-and-desist letters last week to people who were sharing nothing illegal. RIAA claims the responsibility ...
Date: 13 May 2003 19:05 | 6 comments
|
| |
|
A federal appeals court has extended the 14-day deadline for Verizon to give up its subscriber's personal details to RIAA. The 14-day limit was set by a district court at the end of April.
...
Date: 11 May 2003 19:05 | 12 comments
|
| |
|
News.com has much more details about the controversial "Super-DMCA" legislation discussion that took off this week in various news sites, including ours.
The proposed "super-DMCA" is not ...
Date: 29 Mar 2003 10:03 | 7 comments
|
| |
|
