Tag archive: piracy

Traditional entertainment corporations and the U.S. government rejoiced as the Internet felt the hard-handed impact of MegaUpload’s take-down. But a study released by DeepField Networks, titled “File Sharing in the Post MegaUpload Era,” has offered compelling data proving that the effect on file sharing was only temporary, and that the celebration among copyright advocates was entirely premature. MegaUpload formerly sat at the throne among… Read More

Database giant Oracle has rejected a court-ordered award of $272 million in damages from rival database vendor SAP, saying it would rather face another trial. The choice stretches out a dispute between the two companies that stretches all the way back to 2007—and could potentially be worth over a billion dollars to Oracle, if it's proven right. Back in 2010, a jury awarded Oracle a stunning $1.3 billion in damages in its suit against SAP.… Read More

There is no doubt that the move from vinyl to CD and now MP3 has compressed and degraded the quality of music we listen to on a daily basis. Neil Young is hoping to change this. In an interview at the D: Dive Into Media conference yesterday, Young was quite vocal and realistic about where the music industry is and where he'd like it to go. The singer/songwriter claims that MP3s only offer about 5 percent of the true sound bands and… Read More

It's a tough day to be a pirate. Sweden's Supreme Court decided today not to hear an appeal by The Pirate Bay's four founders, which means their sentences of fines and jail time, originally imposed in 2009, will stand. Peter Sunde, Fredrik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm, and Carl Lundström, who started The Pirate Bay in 2003, must together pay US$6.7 million (46 million Swedish kronor) in penalties, and serve months in prison.… Read More

In the wake of the takedown of file-sharing site MegaUpload (and the ripple effect to sites like FileSonic and Uploaded.to), another popular file-sharing site has gone dark. Ukrainian police today shut down the country's most popular file sharing site, Ex.ua, on grounds that it was illegally distributing copyrighted material, including music, videos, and movies. Ex.ua was founded in 2009, and unlike many file uploading services was free… Read More

The Dutch government is moving to crack down on illegal file-sharing, but it's going after Internet service providers rather than individual file-sharers. A new proposal, due to be submitted to the Dutch Parliament by the middle of the year, would make it illegal to provide access to Web sites and services that facilitate copyright infringement. If ISPs fail to comply, they would be subject to penalties of €10,000 a day, up to a maximum… Read More

If you belong to the group swept up by the FBI's swift shutdown of Megaupload, the Pirate Party wants you to help them sue. The Spanish branch of the Pirate Party announced a platform for persons or organizations affected by the closure to register complaints. The hope is that they can bring these complaints against the US and receive some justice. The effort is lead by the Spanish Pirates of Catalonia, followed by Pirate Parties… Read More

Last week, file sharing site Megaupload was shut down and its founder, Kim Dotcom, was arrested under charges of piracy and illegal activity. But, despite his nefarious reputation and $175 million net worth, Dotcom's real passion seems to be Call of Duty. On New Year's Eve just a few weeks ago, Dotcom (known as MEGARACER in the game) became the #1 ranked Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 player in the world. The video below shows the… Read More

Popular site MegaUpload was shut down by the US federal government today, which accused it of stealing $500 million in lost revenue from copyright holders. In retaliation, Anonymous has taken down a number websites, including: Universal Music Group Music Picture Association of America Recording Industry Association of America US Copyright Office Department of Justice The hacktivist group has issued DDoS attacks against these domains, all of… Read More

We’ve all undoubtedly suffered a bit due to the Wikipedia blackout today. The site has censored itself to give the Internet a test of what the consequences of SOPA/PIPA regulations could look like. And while it’s inarguably effective and has created something of a rally cry among devoted Web users, some take issue with the tactic—specifically, Wikipedia editors. “I think the Wikipedia blackout protest was a really bad idea,” editor Charles… Read More

Trying to carve out a space on the Internet is becoming difficult. A visual image of the Web is like globe with its seams literally bursting from the onslaught of content we’re producing. Retweets and reposts and likes and +1s are all virtually pushing against the surface and generously spilling over. So social platform creation comes with its pros and cons. On the plus side, you will always find a user base – even if it’s a (relatively) small… Read More

On a day when so much of the Internet is participating in a debate about the proposed U.S. SOPA and PIPA anti-piracy legislation, Sweden's torrent tracking site The Pirate Bay—one of the Internet's most infamous tools for setting hands on pirated copyrighted materials—has announced a new initiative called The Promo Bay. The Promo Bay invites independent artists—whether musicians, videographers, painters, cartoonists, comedians, or… Read More

When one sees the terms “copyright infringement” and “China,” the most common assumption is that any piracy is being committed by Chinese firms in violation of others' copyrights. Not so, in this case: as reported by the Chinese financial newspaper Caixin, a group of prominent Chinese authors has filed a formal suit against Apple, claiming the company's iBooks electronic book store is distributing their… Read More

The music industry has been forced to reinvent itself thanks to the Internet. Ever since Napster first appeared on the scene, consumers have been finding ways to get their music for free, at the detriment of recording labels and artists. One answer to this issue has been the subscription music model: Services like Spotify, Last.fm, MOG, and Rdio are compromises between a market that is searching for profit models and customers who simply won’t… Read More

The GoDaddy vs. The Web saga has come to a head. After a Reddit boycott went viral and the domain registration site earned the ire of the Internet, GoDaddy has officially switched its stance, claiming it opposes SOPA. Originally, the hosting and domain name service endorsed the new Internet regulations in the interest of fighting Web piracy. Unfortunately the Website’s users didn’t share the sentiment. Their content would suffer at the hands of… Read More