File sharing locker Hotfile has agreed to shut down, paying the MPAA $80 million in a settlement.

File sharing locker Hotfile has agreed to shut down, paying the MPAA $80 million in a settlement. It’s the final culmination of a lengthy battle that was set to go before a jury this week. [MPAA via GigaOM]

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BitTorrent traffic on the downswing in the US for the first time

For the first time, BitTorrent traffic has declined in the United States, a trend that is said to be caused by more available legal alternatives, such as Netflix, Amazon Instant Prime, and similar streaming and digital-download services. On the flip side, torrenting has continued to increase in Europe, and the most likely reason is similar, […]

The Content Industry Is Designing Anti-Piracy Lesson Plans for Kids

The Content Industry Is Designing Anti-Piracy Lesson Plans for Kids

This painfully reductive video obtained by Wired represents what the movie and recording industries want our kids to know about copyright. It does a really nice job of making "share" sound like a bad word.

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MPAA says search engines provide copyrighted content on non-piracy queries

The battle between the MPAA and related industry bodies and piracy has been a long one not likely to end any time soon. In a report the Motion Picture Association of America made public today, Google and other search engines were accused of helping facilitate piracy by providing links to copyrighted content for non-piracy related […]

This Is What the Copyright Alert System Looks Like in Action

By now, you’ve heard enough about the Copyright Alert System to know what it is and, perhaps, how useless it could be. But what the hell will it look like in reality? More »

What Is the Copyright Alert System?

The Copyright Alert System was conceived all the way back in 2011 as a new way to deal with seemingly unstoppable online piracy. It finally goes into effect today, and it will impact a huge portion of US Internet users. Sounds scary, but what is it, exactly? And what does it mean for you? More »

The MPAA Is Lobbying For an Army of Hollywood Drones. Wait. What?

You might not imagine the MPAA as a particularly drone-happy group, but new documents reveal that the actively lobbying the federal government for UAV drone use in domestic space. No, they aren’t building an army to track down pirates; they just want filmmakers to be able to shoot with them. More »

Movie studios’ automated takedown requests target legitimate links

In what may end up becoming a legendary moment of public embarrassment, several movie studios have issued DMCA takedown notices to Google for legitimate content, including official Facebook pages, Wikipedia entries, and legal copies of their own movies. This is the by-product of automated takedown requests submitted on behalf of the studios by YesItIs.org, which has since gone offline, indicating that perhaps the issue isn’t as straight-forward as it seems.

The takedown requests concern a mixture of both infringing and legitimate links, with the proportion of legitimate links being exceedingly high. Several movie studios are swept up in the takedown requests, including Lionsgate, BBC Films, 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures, Summit Entertainment, and Disney Pictures. Fortunately for them, Google has not censored most of the links.

Some examples include a takedown notice on behalf of Lionsgate, that, if it were followed through, would end with copies of Cabin in the Woods available via Blockbuster, iTunes, Comcast, and Amazon all being censored. This same sort of issue strikes the other studios, with other legitimate links including the Family Guy Wikipedia page, movie reviews on sites like The Independent and the Daily Mail, news pieces published on various websites, including CNET and Forbes, as well as links related to films other than the ones specified in the takedown notices.

There is speculation, however, that the takedown notices are not valid. The website YesItIs.org, which issued the takedown notices on behalf of the movie studios, now leads to a Go Daddy landing page. There’s no official word yet on whether the takedown notices were authorized, but if they weren’t, this is an excellent example of how the system can be abused by those with ill intent.

[via Torrent Freak]


Movie studios’ automated takedown requests target legitimate links is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Time Warner Cable and Verizon plan to redirect, throttle internet users accused of piracy (video)

Time Warner Cable and Verizon plan to temporarily redirect, throttle internet users accused of piracy video

We’ve been wondering what major American internet providers would do to thwart supposed pirates beyond nag them senseless; other than leaks surrounding AT&T’s reeducation process, we’ve mostly been left in the dark. There’s a better picture of the consequences now that Time Warner Cable and Verizon have unveiled their strategies at an Internet Society conference. Verizon’s approach is an attempt to straddle the line between angry media studios and the basic need to communicate: if copyright complaints reach the fifth or sixth notice, Verizon will throttle the connection for two to three days without instituting outright blocks. TWC’s method may be tougher to ignore — the cable provider will redirect claimed infringers to a custom page and restrict what they can visit. While it’s not clear just how limited access will be, it’s doubtful anyone will want to find out.

Not surprisingly, critics like the Electronic Frontier Foundation aren’t happy with the restrictions as a whole, and point to the Center for Copyright Information allegedly going back on its vows of impartiality — it notes that the anti-piracy initiative’s reviewer is a previous RIAA lobbying firm, and that many of the real technical details are partially censored despite promises of transparency. The Center hasn’t responded to those challenges, but we’re somewhat comforted when it claims there won’t be draconian attempts to catch everyone, at least not in the foreseeable future. We’d still be sure to lock down any WiFi hotspots to avoid false accusations; ignoring any ISP warnings could soon lead to more than just a sternly-worded message.

Continue reading Time Warner Cable and Verizon plan to redirect, throttle internet users accused of piracy (video)

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Time Warner Cable and Verizon plan to redirect, throttle internet users accused of piracy (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Nov 2012 15:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AT&T training document suggests ISPs are gearing up to beat piracy with internet restrictions

AT&T training document suggests ISPs are gearing up to beat piracy with internet restrictions

The fact that ISPs are working with the RIAA in a bid to squash piracy is far from new. A leaked document claiming to be AT&T training materials, however, suggests that the operator is about to stop talking, and start doing. According to TorrentFreak notifications will be sent out to customers on November 28th about the change in policy, with those suspected of illicit downloads receiving an email alerting them of the possible copyright infringement. We’d previously heard of a six-stage notification system, and this, too, is mentioned here with repeat offenders facing access to “many of the most frequently visited websites” restricted. Even stranger, is the talk of having to complete an online tutorial about copyright to get the restrictions lifted. As AT&T is part of the MPAA and RIAA-backed Center for Copyright Information, it’s likely that the other members (Verizon, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Cablevision), will be prepping similar plans. We’ve asked AT&T for confirmation directly, but for now keep an eye on the mail.

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AT&T training document suggests ISPs are gearing up to beat piracy with internet restrictions originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 13 Oct 2012 12:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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