News written by James Delahunty (August, 2004)

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts will be supplying eligible voters with secure DVD players to prevent piracy. The academy have made a deal with Cinea, to distribute its SV300 DVD players. The SV300 can play encrypted discs using a security system called S-View. The system was developed to help movie and TV producers secure their content both at production and post-production stages. Only authorized persons can access the protected content.

Distributing protected DVDs to voters is a top priority of the entertainment industry now in their battle against Piracy. The MPAA tried to ban DVD Screeners last year as DVD copying has become very easy, and each year pirated DVD screeners emerged. "We are very pleased to be working with Cinea to give our members the opportunity to receive secure screeners. The British academy takes the threat of piracy very seriously, and we welcome any solution that can reduce the risk of unauthorized copying,"said the chairman of the academy's film committee, David Parfitt in a statement.

The Orange British Academy Film Awards will take place on February 12th.

Source:
News.com

Dutch anti-piracy foundation, Brein, has sent an injunction to shareconnector.com demanding that they stop offering eD2K links within 5 days. Managing director of Stichting Brein, Tim Kuik, confirmed that the creators of the site have received the injunction and that they had already had contact with them. If shareconnector do not remove the eD2K links, then the site owners may be sued. Shareconnector however seem determined to stand their ground in this quote from Adi, the founder of shareconnector.

"First off all the news is real. Secondly chill down and relax because ShareConnector is not going to be shut down by anyone. BREIN is a pathetic private organization that tries to scare ed2k sites away. Not us!

At the moment there isn't much to say and on Monday we will hear more from our lawyer. I will make an announcement when we know more."

Hosting Company Mindlab also received an injunction and a spokesman is quoted as saying "We contacted our lawyer and will decide on Monday what to do".

It is still unclear whether eD2K links actually break any copyright laws. These links are not direct links to content, but are references to files on the donkey network. Basically, they are just a quick link to files you could simply find by searching using one of the many donkey network clients.

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It seems that Cogeco, a Canadian ISP has begun sending its users warnings about their activities on P2P networks. The strange fact is, the warnings appear to be under DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) laws, which are U.S. laws, not Canadian laws. The BT tracker that seems to be gaining attention is the Swedish suprnova.org tracker. The emails also encourage the ISP's to limit users from accessing suprnova.org.

These actions can be compared to those taken in European countries for about the past year. Basically, someone affiliated with the MPAA or other anti-piracy organizations would begin a download on a P2P network, then record all the IP's it downloads from. After recording all the data it needs, it would continue to send the information the ISP, hoping that they will deal with the issue. However, there are some complications too. For example, some networks like the donkey network, trade files in small parts and in no particular order. In other words, you may be downloading the end of the file first. Whether you have the full file or not, as long as you have just one part, your client will be able to upload to other users. So would the MPAA ever take you to court for sharing a part of a movie, that is only a couple of MB's and pretty much completely useless without all the other parts?

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Later this week, Microsoft is expected to enter the music downloading market with the launch of the MSN music. The launch will coincide with the launch of Windows Media Player 10. The MSN music service is expected to be a major competitor of Apple's iTunes service, which currently makes 70% of online download sales. Apparently, Windows Media Player 10 will feature a built in music store, which obviously has some windows users worried.

Regulators in the EU are already looking at the launch of the MSN music service with some suspicion. It appears Microsoft may be attempting to use its dominance in the Operating System market to promote its music store. In the United States already, Microsoft were ordered to remove a link which brought users through Internet Explorer to a Microsoft branded CD store. Microsoft Windows comes bundled with Windows Media Player, so it seems that in newer versions of the Windows operating system, you could say it becomes bundled with an online music store instead.

The music downloads will come in the Windows Media Audio format and can be played on any Windows machine and some portable devices. They are expected to cost about $0.99 per track. MSN music will first launch on Thursday 2nd September.

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Today, the trade group representing the U.S. music industry filed lawsuits against 744 P2P users. They claim these users used P2P networks like Kazaa, Grokster, Limewire and eDonkey to share copyrighted music illegally. This brings the total number of users sued to 4749. It appears the RIAA must be still in shock and very frustrated at recent court rulings that backed up the legality of P2P networks. The RIAA are blaming P2P file sharers for a massive decline in music sales over past years.

The true identities of the users being sued are unknown to the group so they are known as "John Doe" defendants. There were also suits against people who were identified but did not agree to an out-of-court settlement with the RIAA.

Source:
Reuters

Today the U.S. Department of Justice launched an assault on P2P filesharing. Using search warrants, they searched five homes and the offices of one ISP. This is the first time the department has applied such drastic measures against file sharers and comes shortly after courts ruled that P2P networks cannot be held responsible for copyright infringement. Attorney General John Ashcroft announced the raids today saying that individuals from Texas, New York and Wisconsin were under investigation. The Operation has been named Operation Digital Gridlock and is targeting the illegal sharing of movies, games, software and music.

This is not surprising however, as the U.S. Government seems to always have sided with the entertainment industry in the fight against P2P trading. Even a comprehensive study at Harvard revealed that P2P doesn't have much of an effect on sales.

"When online thieves illegally distribute copyrighted programs and products, they put the livelihoods of millions of hard-working Americans at risk and damage our economy,” Ashcroft said. "The Department of Justice is committed to enforcing intellectual property laws, and we will pursue those who steal copyrighted materials even when they try to hide behind the false anonymity of peer-to-peer networks." Ashcroft did not explain what he meant by false anonymity. They believe the individuals and the ISP were operating five P2P networks known as, The Underground Network.

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The owner of the UK's largest music venue has begun selling music downloads of live performances. Music from artists such as Dido and the Scissor Sisters will be available subject to the performer’s consent following a deal between the label and the Mean Fiddler. Downloads from the Reading and Leeds Festivals will be available this weekend on MeanTunes.com, however at this time, the domain does not work.

The service has been previewed with tracks from a James Taylor Quarter performance at London's Jazz Café. The tracks don't appear to have any content protection and are in MP3 format. They are being sold for £0.50 each currently but are expected to rise in price to between £0.99 and £1.50.

Source:
PC Pro

A group of labels plan to introduce a disc to the market later this year that will combine both CD and DVD technology. The group of labels also includes EMI Music, Sony, BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group, the worlds major recording labels. The labels plan to have a full normal CD album on one side and extra content such as DVD audio, lyrics, interviews etc on the other side. This comes at a time when traditional music sales are losing ground to file-swapping and legal download services. The discs will be available from October and should be compatible with most CD and DVD players.

DVD audio has been around now for a long time but never really took off in the music market yet. Tests conducted earlier this year showed that DualDiscs received an impressive response from consumers.

"By combining video, surround sound and Web connectivity in a single disc, we are presenting our artists with a broader palette to express their creative vision, while at the same time giving consumers what they told us they want--greater value driven by unique content that brings them closer to the artist," said a statement from CEO of Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Andrew Lack. "We're confident that this groundbreaking new initiative will help to re-energize traditional music retail."

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The European Commission will launch a probe into dealings between Microsoft and Time Warner to take giant ownership of ContentGuard, a US DRM company. The deal could lead to Microsoft extending its monopoly in the Operating Systems business, to the locks and keys used to protect distributed digital content.

"It appears to the Commission that the transaction might possibly create or strengthen a dominant position by Microsoft in the market for Digital Right Management (DRM) solutions," said the European Commissions office in a statement. The technology used by ContentGuard was devised by Xerox. Time Warner bought most of Xerox's share in April while Redmond increased its holding in the company. Sony is also a licensee. On January 6th 2005, the investigation report.

Source:
The Register

Yesterday, Sony revealed some details about the chips they will be using to power their upcoming Playstation Portable. The chipset includes the CPU, a 3D graphics engine, a media processor, a security processor and a power manager. The MIPS R4000-based CPU runs at 333MHz, its frontside bus runs at up to 166MHz, with both frequencies controlled by processor load and it contains a vector processing engine according to Sony chip designer Masanobu Okabe. The graphics sub-system will operate across a 512-bit bus and is capable of rendering 664m pixels per second and 35m polygons per second. The core operates at 166MHz and includes 2MB of integrated buffer DRAM and a further 2MB of embedded DRAM is dedicated to the main processor.

The dedicated security engine will be used in attempt to prevent game piracy and protect the PSP from being hacked. Sony's other gaming consoles have all been hacked and modchips are used to bypass the security. Sony hopes this new technology will eliminate piracy of PSP games.

The PSP will support USB 2.0, MemoryStick and up to 32MB of DDR SDRAM. The PSP will feature a 4.3in, 480 x 272 widescreen LCD and will weigh 260g. It measures 17 x 7.4 x 2.3cm. It uses a 1.8GB optical disc called Universal Media Disc to store content.

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LiteOn IT is the biggest optical drive manufacturer in Taiwan. Currently LiteOn ships an average of 0.5m - 0.6m units each month. The company expects these shipments to grow to an average of 0.7m - 0.8m units in August, then to 0.9m - 1.0m each month next quarter. This means that next quarter, LiteOn IT may become the largest maker of DVD burners in the world.

The growth in shipments is partly due to an adequate supply of DVD burner chipsets from MediaTek, LiteOn IT indicated. Other DVD burner makers in Taiwan, including BenQ, Behavior Tech Computer (BTC), Quanta Storage and Accesstek, are considering adoption of Mediateks chipsets because the company offers lower prices than imported products and can act as a second source to secure stable supply. Mediatek recently began volume shipments of chipsets for use in 16x DVD burners, the company said.

Currently, the largest vendors of DVD burners are NEC with an average of 0.7m - 0.8m unit shipments per month. Hitachi-LG Data Storage come second with the same figures, followed by Pioneer in third place with an average of 0.6m - 0.7m unit shipments a month. LiteOn IT is in fourth place currently with an average of 0.5m - 0.6m unit shipments a month and in fifth place is BenQ with the same figures of shipments (See diagram on source).

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Police in Poland have broken up a piracy ring which consisted of at least 100 hackers. The group has been accused of selling pirates movies and music and has also been accused of hacking academic computer systems all over the world to store the material. Police spokeswoman Agata Salatka said, “They broke into the biggest systems they could find and set up 'warehouses' to store pirated games, films and music. They distributed the goods through the Internet, and also supplied bazaars with the latest hits -- even before their official premieres,”. This is one of Poland’s biggest piracy related busts. Salatka also said they had detained the ring leaders but wouldn’t give any details on them but did state that evidence was gathered on at least 100 people.

Poland has had much praise from anti-piracy groups worldwide in recent years. The country has tightened its copyright laws and its law enforcement is still challenging the piracy that flourished in the 1990’s. Despite this action, pirated movies, music, software and games are still being sold at bazaars in cities around the country.

International police blame eastern European manufacturing centers for contributing a huge part of the estimated $29 billion of pirated material in the year 2003 alone. In this raid, Polish police say that all suspects are over 18 years of age, some still only secondary school students. This is the latest raid in an on going International crack down on piracy.

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The MPAA has sued two chipmakers, Sigma Designs and MediaTek for allegedly selling DVD chips to companies that are breaking copy-protection rules. This is the second lawsuit to target DVD hardware makers in an effort to crack down on DVD players that differ from a Hollywood system of copy control features. The MPAA is accusing both companies of selling DVD-player chips that contain features not allowed under the general DVD technology license. The trade association said that the act "violated the license the chipmakers had to sign to build the DVD chips in the first place".

MPAA Chief Technology Counsel Dan Robbins, said in a statement, "Responsible corporate citizens honor the contracts they sign. There is no leniency for irresponsible companies that seek to circumvent the system and operate outside of the law". The lawsuits are the latest in an MPAA campaign aimed at hardware makers after seeing some success in stopping the spread of DVD Copying Software developed by 321 studios. The MPAA uses an in-house lab to disassemble DVD hardware and other products, to check if they comply with Hollywood requirements. The difference between these lawsuits and earlier lawsuits focused on DVD copying software is these cases don’t rest on copyright law but on the contracts used to control DVD technology itself.

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A new file downloading service called Ruckus is currently be tested by students at the Northern Illinois University. The service is being provided by Ruckus Network and was developed by a group of MIT students. Ruckus offers unlimited movies, music, tv shows, local content and community features to the students for free, both from major labels/studios and from indie artists. It will also have work by artists in your own college community.

Bryan Ajuluchukwu is a freshman economics major at NIU and is currently testing the new service. He is just 1 of 170 students living on the third floor of Grant Towers who is testing Ruckus. Ajuluchukwu, said he would definitely recommend the service to other students stating "It was better than other programs because it’s legal. This is a good idea for the university to do for the students so we have some entertainment." According to Keith Kruchten, president of the Residence Hall Association, Ruckus will be available to residents in the third through sixth floors of all Grant Towers on Thursday.

From 12th-19th August, over 20 NIU community advisers and Grant Towers staff tested Ruckus followed by 700 students whom were added to the testing on the 19th. On September 1st about 2,500 students in all Grant Towers will have limited access to the network. The full model of Ruckus will be open to all Grant students in October.

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Macrovision, one of the world's leading copy protection providers, plans to add iPod and iTunes support to its software in Q4 according to mailings sent out with the company's CDS-300 version 7 beta release. The company is confident that it will be able to incorporate FairPlay support into its CDS-300 copy control mechanism. This report would suggest that Macrovision has licensed Apple's DRM technology or are very confident of doing so.

Macrovision wants to use this technology to provide iTunes ready compressed audio tracks as well as Windows Media Audio files in its CDS-300 copy protection mechanism. Real Networks also wanted to use FairPlay to open an online music store for iPod users. The Q4 update is also expected to include its RealTime DRM Encoding system, which will allow users to convert the disc's audio to FairPlay-protected AAC files, ATRAC 3 tracks or Windows Media Audio files.

Reaching an agreement with Apple will mean that copy protected CDs in the future will not leave iTunes users out and will give users the ability to choose an alternative to Microsoft software.

Source:
The Register

Assistant Attorney General for antitrust, Hewitt Pate, took a small swipe at the Pirate Act, a law that encourages federal prosecutors to sue copyright infringers. The recording industry has been pushing the Pirate Act as an attempt to deter file swappers on P2P networks out of fear of potential Government Lawsuits. Pate referred to the Pirate Act as "something that people should take with a grain of salt" at a conference held by the Progress & Freedom Foundation.

Pate said the Justice Department's position on the Pirate Act would appear in a task force's report that will be presented to Attorney General John Ashcroft this fall. The intellectual property task force was created by Ashcroft in March and is headed by David Israelite. Senior Vice President of Government Relations at the RIAA, Mitch Glazier said that Pate's comments "weren't that negative". He went on to say that if the Pirate Act becomes law, prosecutors would "now have a choice of how badly they want to hurt the violator."

Copyright Lawyers and lobbyists for peer-to-peer firms are alarmed by the Pirate Act. They have been watching the RIAA's action on P2P users very closely and fear the Justice Department could be more ambitious in the hunt for Copyright Infringers. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, showed his support for the Patriot Act stating, "Tens of thousands of continuing civil enforcement actions might be needed to generate the necessary deterrence, I doubt that any nongovernmental organization has the resources or moral authority to pursue such a campaign.". Federal Prosecutors can file charges against P2P users using the No Electronic Theft Act which passed in 1997. In 2002, a letter from Congressmen to Ashcroft requested the prosecution of Americans who "allow mass copying from their computer over peer-to-peer networks." Not one P2P Criminal Prosecution has taken place in the U.S.

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According to the British Phonographic Industry, music downloaders in the UK have purchased 2m tracks since January 1st. The organizations numbers also show that physical singles and album sales have grown in value between Q2 2003 and Q2 2004. Between January and June 2004, only 0.5m legal tracks were downloaded, but the figure has now grown to 2m in just 3 months since June.

Napster launched in the UK on May 20th followed by the launch of ITMS UK on June 15th, which basically explains the rise in download sales. About 200 single titles are available for purchase in stores in the UK at any given time, whereas the figure for the online world is 40,000 titles as it appears downloaders prefer to purchase individual tracks rather than a full album. Despite these numbers, the traditional market is not being affected. In fact, whilst quite understandably, vinyl and cassette revenues have fallen, CD sales are on the rise with the UK album market showing a 3.7% market growth between Q2 2003 and Q2 2004. Single sales have shown a 6.4% rise over the same period. If you compare the 12 months to June 2003 with June 2004 album sales showed a rise of 3.3% to £1.11bn while the whole music market was up 3% to just over £1.22bn.

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