UK ISPs Agree To Help Tackle Music Piracy

Category: Copyright Infringers
Posted: July 24, 2008 03:48PM
Author: Ben Grantham

The BPI (who represent the Britsh music industry) have agreed on a plan with six leading UK ISPs, which will lead to thousands of net users suspected of illegally sharing music receiving warning letters. The six ISPs who have agreed to co-operate are BT, Orange, Virgin, Tiscali, BSkyB and The Carphone Warehouse. Customers of those ISPs who are alleged of sharing music illegally by the BPI can expect to find warning letters coming to their doors, though there doesn't appear to be any threat of legal action attached to such letters. Consultation has also been under way, which suggests among other things, that serial file sharers could have traffic management imposed on their connections. The BPI itself has gone as far as to suggest a three strike system that would see internet connections cut off for persistent pirates. Is this deal with ISPs a sign that more serious measures will soon be implemented, and is this the right path for the music industry and ISPs to be taking? We'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter.

Rambus Sues Nvidia

Category: Memory, Copyright Infringers, General News
Posted: July 15, 2008 03:49PM
Author: ClayMeow

You may remember Rambus for its RDRAM memory, which debuted in 1999 but quickly faded with the success of DDR. Rambus hasn't faded, however, as the company holds several patents that it licenses out to companies such as Intel, AMD, Infineon, Sony, and Toshiba. One company that it hasn't licensed to is Nvidia and Rambus claims that Nvidia is infringing upon 17 of its patents, filing suit last week. We'll have to wait and see how this will affect Nvidia.

Apple Signs Visual Voice Mail License

Category: Mobile, Copyright Infringers
Posted: June 16, 2008 05:14PM
Author: ClayMeow

In December, Klausner Technologies sued Apple and AT&T for patent infringement revolving around the iPhone's visual voice mail system that allows users to selectively listen to voice mails instead of having to sift through each one in order. Apple has decided to settle the suit, paying Klausner an undisclosed amount to license the technology. Apple joins AT&T, eBay, AOL and Vonage as licensees.

TorrentSpy Fined $110 Million

Category: Copyright Infringers
Posted: May 8, 2008 08:13AM
Author: Ben Grantham

File sharing portal TorrentSpy has been ordered to pay $110 million to the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) for copyright infringement. The District Judge ruled that TorrentSpy should pay $30,000 for each of the 3,699 infringements shown and comes after the site was shut down on March 24th. The fact that the judgment is so large should send a strong message to other similar sites and highlight that what they do is illegal, at least that is what I imagine the MPAA is hoping. TorrentSpy's parent company and owners have filed for bankruptcy. This latest development cements the increasingly hostility that BitTorrent sites have been facing, though some notable examples (The Pirate Bay) still survive and have even re-opened after periods of downtime (Demonoid).

Ultra Lawsuit: US Commision goes to investigate!

Category: Copyright Infringers
Posted: May 6, 2008 04:36AM
Author: kingdingeling

We have another update on the Ultra lawsuit for you (Original OCC news post, update)! Ultra sued its competitors because they were importing power supplies that were not licensed under its own patent, so the US International Trade Commission (ITC) has launched investigations. This gives the whole news post a more serious basis, as it was regarded as a joke by many! The patent in question (see the update post for more information on it) was originally issued to TigerDirect co-founder Carl Fiorentino in September 2004, but he assigned it to Ultra products in 2006. A target date for the completion of the investigation will be issued within 45 days, the ITC said. Watch for more news on this as the investigation commences!

Demonoid Back Online

Category: Copyright Infringers
Posted: April 14, 2008 06:45AM
Author: Ben Grantham

The Demonoid BitTorrent tracker was forced offline last November as a result of actions taken by the CRIA (Canadian Recording Industry Association). Now site admin and owner "Deimos" has handed over control to "Umlauf" and the site is apparently back up and fully operational. When the site went offline it was suspected that further Canadian based hosting of the tracker wouldn't be possible and this seems to have rung true, with all site hosting now based in the Ukraine. Previously, Demonoid had been one of a number of very popular BitTorrent sites, partly due to its nature as a semi-public tracker (memberships and ratios are maintained unlike fully public trackers). It would seem site admins have managed to preserve all members accounts previously held and also keep track of ratios held.

Gibson Files Lawsuit Against Rock Band and Guitar Hero

Category: Gaming, Copyright Infringers
Posted: March 24, 2008 11:15AM
Author: Carl Dunham

Friday (March 21) Gibson Guitar filed a lawsuit against Viacom INC, MTV networks, Harmonix and Electronic Arts. Gibson feels that the guitar controlers that are used to play the game violate Gibson's 1999 patent for a similar technology. Activision has already filed a preemptive suit against Gibson to declare its patent invalid. Activision legally licensed rights to model the controlers and guitars ingame from Gibson and feels that in waiting three years to file a lawsuit Gibson was allowing the use of this technology. It will be interesting to see how this pans out in the coming months with how popular Guitar Hero and Rock Band have become.

Comcast and BitTorrent = Interesting Relationship

Category: Internet, Copyright Infringers, General News
Posted: March 15, 2008 03:55PM
Author: kingdingeling

I'm sure you've heard of the controversy of Comcast, a large US based ISP, throttling bandwidth used by the Bittorrent network. Did you know that behind all the press and news stories, Comcast was actually talking to Bittorrent and giving them advice? Apparently some folks from Comcast were trying to negotiate something out with Bittorrent on how to solve the problem, that some folks from the network side of Comcast were trying to solve by throttling the bandwidth. Considering the fact that there are still talks between the two companies, Comcast users might soon be able to download legal torrents full throttle again.

Downloading Illegally In The UK? Cutting Net Access Considered

Category: Internet, Copyright Infringers
Posted: February 12, 2008 06:45PM
Author: Ben Grantham

BBC News -

Illegal downloading of Music, Movies and Applications has been big news for a long time now, with the entertainment industry consistently making claims as to how much money it is costing them in lost revenue (don't ask me how they estimate these things). With an estimated 6 million people a year in the UK said to be downloading files illegally, it is likely that you'll know someone that does. A draft document that has surfaced today has gone as far to suggest those caught illegally downloading should have their internet access blocked. The government is stressing that any proposals are still in early stages, but from what has been reported it seems Internet Services Providers would come under pressure to take more responsibility for the traffic that passes across their networks.

The ISP Association has already come back with a statement claiming data protection laws would prevent them from checking the content of packets passed over their networks, stating that "ISPs are no more able to inspect and filter every single packet passing across their network than the Post Office is able to open every envelope." Of course, the body which represents the UK record industry has a slightly different opinion on the matter. It says that ISPs have done very little to address illegal downloading and should stop hiding behind privacy issues and claims the problem is too complex to resolve. Either way, entertainment industry pressure is the likely cause for the goverment investigating such legislation.

Pirate Bay Owners Face Charges

Category: Internet, Copyright Infringers
Posted: January 31, 2008 12:53PM
Author: Ben Grantham

BBC News -

The Pirate Bay is well established as one of the most popular file-sharing sites on the net. Of course it doesn't actually host any of the files but rather hosts links to torrents which allow users to share files with each other. The site has been in trouble before, being temporarily shut down in May of 2006 by police. The Pirate Bay has now been charged with conspiracy to break copyright law in Sweden (where the site's servers are located).

There are four men facing the charges: Peter Sunde, Carl Lundstrom, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg and Frederik Neij. If the men are found guilty they could face a possible maximum of two years behind bars. The charges pertain to twenty pieces of music, four computer game files and nine movies. The site has been flippant about the trial, with statements suggesting no changes will be made to the site and that it plans to continue operating for many years to come.

$222,000 Award in RIAA Copyright Case Not Excessive, says DOJ

Category: Copyright Infringers, General News
Posted: December 4, 2007 09:30PM
Author: Dale Shuck

ComputerWorld -

Jamie Thomas, ordered to pay the RIAA for allegedly sharing 24 songs over a peer-to-peer network, lost an appeal in U.S District Court in Minnesota.  Thomas was challenging the constitutionality of the award, claiming the award was far in excess of any actual damages suffered by the music labels.  The DOJ dimissed Thomas' claims and said the statutory damages provision in the Copyright Act were crafted to ensure both a "compensatory and a deterrent purpose."

iPhone jailbreak for the masses released

Category: Mobile, Copyright Infringers
Posted: October 29, 2007 11:22AM
Author: kingdingeling

c|net - Hackers around the world have been working on unlocking the iPhone for a while, which has been partially successful, although illegal. Apple was going to offer third-party software support for the iPhone and iPod Touch as of early next year, however the hackers have released a software that lets users put applications on there already. The AppSnapp installer, as it's called, bypasses Apple's OS X 1.1.1 update, is probably the easiest way to unlock your iPhone, the others involved lots of complicated steps or additional scripts to open up the iPhone. Last week, Apple estimated that 250,000 iPhones were purchased with the intention of unlocking them for the use with other networks than AT&T.

Apple refuses to accept cash for iPhone

Category: Mobile, Copyright Infringers, General News
Posted: October 27, 2007 09:02AM
Author: kingdingeling

Engadget - Apple's mobile phone, the iPhone, has caused some controversy among users, because of the Simlock and that it's only offered from one service provider. This sparked the hacking of the iPhone, to unlock it for the use with other providers than those selected by Apple. From the 1.4 million phones sold in Q4, Apple estimates 250.000 went to unlockers. To stop this from happening, Apple has introduced a somewhat intriguing measure. The iPhone can not be purchased with cash anymore, but only with credit or debit card, to "discourage unauthorized resellers". Going along with that, is a limit of only 2 iPhones per person.

News: RIAA Eyes Next Possible Targets: CD Burners, Radio Listeners

Category: Copyright Infringers, General News
Posted: October 9, 2007 07:54AM
Author: Josh Jones

Daily Tech - With the the recent landmark verdict that awarded the RIAA $222,000 in royalties, the RIAA is now using this precedent to turn its sights to other forms of copyright infringement, including people who burn CD's of music they have already purchased, and people who listen to a loud radio in a public place. Sounds farfetched, doesn't it? Think again. The RIAA and its British counter-part, the PRS, are seeking royalties from certain companies that allow their employees to listen to the radio loud enough for groups of people to hear it. Of course these goings on have the political crowd in a divide as well. Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA), a long-time proponent of fair use, says that the recent suit has gone way over the line, while the Bush administration says that the ruling is fair and a positive example of our nation's laws at work.

News: TorrentSpy begins weeding out copyright content

Category: Internet, Copyright Infringers
Posted: June 25, 2007 01:30PM
Author: Ben Grantham

c|net - TorrentSpy, the torrent-file search engine accused by Hollywood of aiding copyright violators, plans to remove links from its search results to pirated content using a new filtering system. FileRights is an automated filtering system created by some of TorrentSpy's founders, including Justin Bunnell, according to a statement released Monday. The technology uses "hash" values to automatically remove links to infringing works from search engines that subscribe to the service.

News: Leader of net piracy gang jailed

Category: Internet, Copyright Infringers, General News
Posted: June 25, 2007 08:22AM
Author: Ben Grantham

BBC News - A Briton has been jailed for 51 months after pleading guilty to software piracy charges in the US. From his Australia home Hew Griffiths led the DrinkOrDie piracy group which specialised in cracking protection codes on software, music and movies. The US Department of Justice estimated that DrinkOrDie created and spread more than $50m (£25m) of pirated goods. DrinkOrDie was broken up in 2001 following a series of raids co-ordinated by the DoJ.

News: AACS Remains Confident in Protecting HD DVD, Blu-ray Disc

Category: Music / Video Players, Copyright Infringers, General News
Posted: June 1, 2007 09:50AM
Author: Ben Grantham

DailyTech - Efforts that began in December 2006 and continued through February 2007 lead to the discovery of the Processing Key used to encrypt high-definition media with the Advanced Access Content System. The work of a small hacking community created essentially a silver bullet that was able to defeat the copy protection of all HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc media on the market at that time. The Advanced Access Content System Licensing Administration (AACS LA) acknowledged the effectiveness of the hack and began to enact measures to restore the integrity of its technology.

You can discuss this topic further HERE in the OCC Forums - jammin *News Editor*

News: Imeem Sued by Warner Music

Category: Internet, Copyright Infringers
Posted: May 16, 2007 11:13AM
Author: Ben Grantham

BetaNews - Warner Music Group has sued Imeem, claiming the social networking site is allowing its users to share content from the label without permission. The suit, filed in US District Court in Los Angeles, is asking for an injunction against the site as well as monetary damages. Each instance of a music video or song owned by WMG could cost the site as much as $150,000 if the courts rule in favor of the label. Warner also claims Imeem has done little to prevent its users from sharing content and is actively participating in the infringement.

News: BitTorrent Opens Online Store With Legal Movie, TV Show Downloads

Category: Internet, Copyright Infringers, General News
Posted: February 26, 2007 08:57PM
Author: Will French

DailyTech - BitTorrent today announced the launch of the BitTorrent Entertainment Network, featuring a comprehensive library of downloadable digital entertainment content from 20th Century Fox, Lions Gate, MTV Networks, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. and, the latest studio on the bandwagon, MGM. The BitTorrent community can rent movies, purchase television shows and music videos, and even publish and share their own content to be displayed alongside titles from the world’s largest studios.

News: A Closer Look at World Copyright Piracy

Category: Software, Copyright Infringers, General News
Posted: February 25, 2007 10:34AM
Author: Will French

DailyTech - Last week, the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) submitted recommendations to the Bush administration in its “Special 301” review of copyright piracy and market access problems around the world. The IIPA report recommended that 16 countries be placed on a “Priority Watch List,” for piracy offenses. Canada, Mexico and Israel joined China and Russia as countries severely plagued by piracy. “The annual Special 301 process continues to be the primary means for the U.S. copyright industries to advise U.S. government agencies about the principal impediments to adequate and effective protection in global markets,” noted Eric H. Smith of the IIPA. “Many of the key markets around the world that are infected with high levels of copyright piracy or deny effective market access to copyright industries.”

News: Microsoft Ordered to Pay $1.52 Billion for MP3 Patent Infringement

Category: Internet, Manufacturers, Copyright Infringers, General News
Posted: February 25, 2007 10:29AM
Author: Will French

DailyTech - Microsoft must pay $1.52 billion for infringing on two Alcatel-Lucent patents involving MP3, a San Diego federal jury ruled today. This is the first of six patent lawsuits brought by Paris-based telecom equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent. Microsoft intends to “seek relief from the trial court, and if necessary appeal. The lawsuit contends that Microsoft violated Alcatel-Lucent’s patents with its use of MP3 technology used to play music on Windows Media Player. Microsoft’s argument is that it legally licensed MP3 technology from the Fraunhofer Institute for $16 million.

News: AnyDVD HD Defeats HD DVD Copy Protection

Category: Optical Drives, Storage / Hard Drives, Copyright Infringers
Posted: February 19, 2007 04:40PM
Author: Will French

DailyTech - AnyDVD, a software favorite for DVD movie aficionados, has hit the HD era. SlySoft has quietly released AnyDVD HD over the weekend, offering similar decryption capabilities as its standard-definition version.

AnyDVD HD removes AACS encryption from HD DVDs, which will also allow the user to watch movies over a digital display connection without HDCP compliant graphics card and display. The software will also enable PowerDVD Ultra to run titles released by Studio Canal, The Weinstein Company, Kinowelt, Optimum Releasing—studios whose movies previously did not run on the PC player.

News: Google Accused of Helping Pirates

Category: Internet, Manufacturers, Copyright Infringers
Posted: February 17, 2007 09:26AM
Author: Scott Young

DailyTech - Google is coming under fire from big media studios who are accusing the search giant of aiding in film piracy. Setting this headline apart, however, is that the complaints aren’t over YouTube, but rather Google’s advertising. The Wall Street Journal reports that Brandon Drury and Luke Sample—who ran EasyDownloadCenter.com and TheDownloadPlace.com and are currently being sued by several Hollywood studios—got significant support from Google advertising. The two men said in sworn statements that Google offered them credit as an easy start to advertise on Google's search engine, and that the search company also suggested ad keywords such as "bootleg movie download," "pirated," and "download harry potter movie." According to the report, Google received $809,000 for its advertisements.  News of this has sent many media companies, including News Corp., Viacom, Sony, NBC Universal, Time Warner and Walt Disney, into an uproar. Google isn’t being accused of any illegal activity, at least in regards to this situation, but big executives and big lawyers of big media have filed complaints demanding that the Mountain View company pull all support for sites promoting illegal activity.

News: Romania Says "Piracy Built This Country"

Category: Copyright Infringers
Posted: February 4, 2007 11:29AM
Author: Scott Young

DailyTech - In the software industry, piracy results in the loss of billions of dollars every year. It is estimated that over 35% of all software installations worldwide are pirated (22% in North America). That number is even higher in China and Vietnam where software piracy is estimated at 90% and 92% respectively. In 2005, piracy cost the software industry $35 billion USD in lost revenue. Microsoft, which bets heavily on its Windows and Office software, is most often the target of pirates. Microsoft senior attorney Bonnie MacNaughton estimates that more than 33% of all Microsoft software is pirated. This comes as no surprise to Romanian President Traian Basescu. It is estimated that 70% of the software used in Romania is pirated -- and President Basescu is proud of it.

News: Shrinkwrap Licenses: An Epidemic Of Lawsuits Waiting To Happen

Category: Copyright Infringers
Posted: February 4, 2007 11:12AM
Author: Scott Young

InformationWeek - Anybody who bothered to read a clickwrap or shrinkwrap agreement would never install any software, click on any link on the Web, open an account with anyone, or even shop at many retail stores. The terms of these agreements are onerous and ridiculous. We go along with the gag because we think nobody's paying any attention. But somebody's going to start paying attention soon, and when they do, the results will be disastrous for the electronic economy. Clickwrap and shrinkwrap agreements start with the phrase READ CAREFULLY, all in caps. The phrase means, "IGNORE THIS." That's because the small print is unchangeable and outrageous. Why read the "agreement" if you know that: 1) No sane person would agree to its text, and 2) Even if you disagree, no one will negotiate a better agreement with you?

News: Former Duracell Employee Stole Trade Secrets

Category: Copyright Infringers
Posted: February 4, 2007 11:09AM
Author: Scott Young

InformationWeek - A former Duracell employee pleaded guilty Friday to one count of stealing trade secrets from the battery company, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut said. Edward Grande waived indictment and pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Janet Hall in Bridgeport, Connecticut, U.S. Attorney Kevin O'Connor said in a statement. Grande, who had been employed as a cell development technologist at Duracell, faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Duracell Corp., which is based in Bethel, Conn., is a unit of Procter & Gamble Co. "While under employment with Duracell, Grande shared confidential corporate documents with external sources," P&G said in statement.

News: ID Theft Decreases in 2006

Category: Internet, Digital Photography/Video, Copyright Infringers
Posted: February 1, 2007 10:48PM
Author: Scott Young

BetaNews - Incidents of identity theft are decreasing, and the average loss as a result of fraud has dropped, a new study suggests. The improvement may reflect a higher awareness of the problem by consumers and businesses, say experts. A study released Thursday by Javelin Strategy & Research showed that Americans lost $49.3 billion during 2006 due to identity theft. While still a considerable amount of money, that is down 13 percent from $55.7 billion a year earlier.One out of every 27 Americans, or about 8.4 million, was a victim of some type of fraud. That too has decreased, from 8.9 in 2005, and 10.1 million three years ago. The average loss was $5,720, down from $6,278 a year ago.

News: iPhone Lawsuit On Hold

Category: Mobile, Manufacturers, Copyright Infringers
Posted: February 1, 2007 10:32PM
Author: Scott Young

InformationWeek - Apple and Cisco Systems are back at the bargaining table to try to settle differences over the use of the name iPhone. The networking equipment market leader filed suit against the iPod/Mac maker last month, claiming Apple infringed on Cisco's iPhone trademark. The suit was filed in federal court in Northern California one day after Apple unveiled its iPhone, a combination cellular phone-music player, at the Macworld conference in San Francisco. In a joint statement released late Wednesday, the two companies said they had agreed to extend the time Apple has to respond to the suit "to allow for discussions between the companies with the aim of reaching agreement on trademark rights and interoperability."

News: Half of pirated Vista is malware

Category: Operating Systems, Copyright Infringers
Posted: January 25, 2007 05:38PM
Author: Scott Young

InfoWorld - About half of the downloads claiming to be free versions of Microsoft's Vista operating system are actually malicious Trojan horse software, security vendor DriveSentry warned Thursday. With Vista's consumer launch just days away, hackers have been bombarding discussion boards with offers of "cracked" versions of Windows Vista, which are typically being distributed on peer-to-peer networks, said John Lynch, vice president of sales and marketing for DriveSentry. These posts offer downloads of the operating system that skip Vista's activation process, created by Microsoft to prevent users from running illegal copies.

Click HERE to discuss this in the OCC Forums. - sdy284 *News Editor*

News: 22% of Windows Installs Non-Genuine

Category: Operating Systems, OCC News, Copyright Infringers
Posted: January 23, 2007 08:40PM
Author: Scott Young

BetaNews - Microsoft disclosed Monday that over one in five Windows installations were deemed non-genuine through the company's Windows Genuine Advantage program, which requires users to validate their operating system before downloading updates from the company. Since WGA launched in July 2005, over 512 million users have attempted to validate their copy of Windows, Microsoft said. Of those, the non-genuine rate was 22.3 percent. 56,000 reports have been made by customers of counterfeit software, which grants that user a free replacement copy of Windows. While high, that number is less than the average software piracy rate around the world, according to the Business Software Alliance. The BSA reports that 35 percent of the world's software is pirated (22 percent in North America specifically), and a Yankee Group study noted that 55 percent of organizations report instances of counterfeit or pirated software.

Click HERE to discuss this in the OCC Forums - sdy284 *News Editor*