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Looks like more high quality video will be coming to p2p networks pretty soon:
WASHINGTON (AFP) - A US appeals court struck down a regulation requiring makers of television sets to be equipped with technology to prevent unauthorized copying and distribution of digital broadcasts.

The rule would have required new TV sets designed for digital broadcasts to have anti-copy technology to prevent consumers from making copies and transmitting the broadcasts via the Internet.

In a case pitting the entertainment industry against a coalition of others supporting free use of technology, the US Court of Appeals in Washington said the Federal Communications Commission had no authority to implement such a rule.
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man they try everything dont they?
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LONDON (Reuters) - Four Britons were jailed on Friday for being part of a global gang described as "Robin Hoods" who stole expensive software from rich companies and gave it away for free over the Internet.

The group, described by prosecutors as "sad individuals" who spent their lives in front of computers, were said to have cost firms such as Microsoft Corp. millions of dollars in profit and enraged its chairman, Bill Gates.

Prosecutors told London's Old Bailey criminal court that the four men, motivated by a hatred of software companies, were the key players in an international ring called DrinkorDie.com, said to be one of the world's most sophisticated Web piracy groups.

The gang allowed Internet surfers to download new software for free, often before it came on the market, including the Windows 95 operating system two weeks before it was released.

"They think of themselves like latter day Robin Hoods or sea pirates like Johnny Depp in the film 'Pirates of the Caribbean'," said prosecuting lawyer Bruce Houlder.

He said the gang -- corporate executives, university administrators and IT managers -- were just "plain thieves."

The prosecution followed what Houlder described as a groundbreaking crackdown on Web piracy and unprecedented cooperation between U.S and British authorities, which had led to 70 suspects in 12 countries being arrested.

Often using moles in large corporations, the group cracked security codes for Norton Antivirus, Microsoft's Word and Excel products, and also pirated games and design programs.

"The cost of their activities run into very many millions in lost profit ... the losses are incalculable," Houlder said.

"But they also caused people to lose their jobs. They were not motivated by profit but by a dislike of the software industry and the kudos they received by being the first to offer new programs for free."

On Friday, London banker Alex Bell, 29, of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, was jailed for two-and-a-half years and Steven Dowd, 39, was given a two-year prison sentence.

Mark Vent, 31, a computer network administrator, was jailed for 18 months and Andrew Eardley, 35, a computer systems manager, was given an 18-month suspended prison sentence.

Dowd and Bell were found guilty. Eardley and Vent pleaded guilty.

"They see themselves as stars, night time tappers of keyboards," Houlder told the court. "You might feel that their lives are rather sad, living as they do for very large parts of their days and nights in a virtual world, in front of a computer monitor, cocooned from existence."

By Michael Holden
London
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I just read this at boycott-riaa: "The Australian Attorney-General's Department is conducting a review on exceptions to copyright law. Currently Australia allows 4 specific 'fair dealing' exceptions (research or study; criticism or review; reporting of news; and professional advice given by a legal practitioner, patent attorney, or trade marks attorney - it's technically illegal here to convert songs from CD to MP3, or to record a TV show unless it's a live broadcast). They have published a request for public submissions (.pdf or .doc) on whether to expand this list, or adopt an open-ended 'fair use' policy similar to that used in the US and allow the courts to decide if any particular use of copyrighted material should be excepted from copyright law. As we're getting our own version of the DMCA thanks to the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement, if something isn't done to broaden copyright exceptions we'll end up with even more draconian copyright restrictions than the US."
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Thanx to slashdot.org & also boycott-riaa that's where i found the story.
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moongirl wrote:..., including the Windows 95 operating system two weeks before it was released.
Surely that's got to be a mistake??? Hardly anyone had a fast enough connection to download a whole OS in a reasonable timescale at the time win95 was released. If it's right, I'm amazed.
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p2p-sharing-rules wrote:I just read this at boycott-riaa: "The Australian Attorney-General's Department is conducting a review on exceptions to copyright law. Currently Australia allows 4 specific 'fair dealing' exceptions (research or study; criticism or review; reporting of news; and professional advice given by a legal practitioner, patent attorney, or trade marks attorney - it's technically illegal here to convert songs from CD to MP3, or to record a TV show unless it's a live broadcast). They have published a request for public submissions (.pdf or .doc) on whether to expand this list, or adopt an open-ended 'fair use' policy similar to that used in the US and allow the courts to decide if any particular use of copyrighted material should be excepted from copyright law. As we're getting our own version of the DMCA thanks to the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement, if something isn't done to broaden copyright exceptions we'll end up with even more draconian copyright restrictions than the US."
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Thanx to slashdot.org & also boycott-riaa that's where i found the story.
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:-k

US be the root of a lot of restrictions aren't they?
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It looks like the :evil: RIAA found more people to sue. :roll:

RIAA Clamps Down on CD Pirate Retailers
May 16, 2005
Thomas Mennecke


Physical CD piracy losses, according to the RIAA’s conservative estimates, are placed somewhere in the 300 million dollar range. With little more than a mediocre computer, a CD burner, blank media and some motivation, just about anyone can start their own physical music piracy outlet for less than $500.00.

With such a minimal investment and a realistic potential for high financial return, a growing number of small retail establishments, which may be anything from a bodega to a magazine stand, are getting into the physical CD piracy market - with a bit of a twist.

What the RIAA finds particularly concerning is a growing shift in physical CD piracy production. Many small retail outlets are not relying on the high volume "commercial" pirates that produce tens and hundreds of thousands of illicit CDs. Instead, the RIAA has discovered a new, more elusive trend. Many retailers are simply creating their own pirated CD products “in house.â€
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Canadian Federal Appeals Court Upholds Privacy Rights - For Now
May 19, 2005
Thomas Mennecke


The Canadian Federal Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court's ruling, ruling the CRIA cannot force ISPs to divulge their customer's personal information. The Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) a consumer rights organization similar in nature to the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation), heralded this event as a "landmark privacy decision."

In February of 2004, the CRIA, an organization very similar to the RIAA, launch a lawsuit campaign aimed at P2P file traders. Like its RIAA counterpart, the CRIA targeted the FastTrack network. In total, the CRIA filed 29 lawsuits in Canadian Federal court. However, much like the RIAA, they could only identify the individuals by their Kazaa pseudonym and the matching IP (Internet Protocol) address.

In order to match the pseudonyms and IP addresses to actual individuals, the CRIA attempted to compel the associated ISPs to divulge their customer’s personal information. However the ISPs resisted, and the case winded up in Justice Konrad von Finckenstein's court. After three days of testimony on March 12-14, 2004, Judge von Finckenstein dismissed the case on March 30th, 2004. Justice Finckenstein dismissed the case because the CRIA failed to provide sufficient evidence. In addition, Judge Finckenstein found the CRIA's evidence was deficient in many other areas:

• CRIA’s evidence was mostly hearsay, when the individuals with specific knowledge were otherwise available to provide the evidence;

• CRIA provided no evidence that the allegedly infringing files were in fact copies of the plaintiffs’ sound recordings rather than “spoofâ€
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Court rules for German ISPs in P2P identities case
By Jan Libbenga
Published Tuesday 17th May 2005 15:39 GMT
ISPs in the state of Hamburg can't be forced to provide customer data to record companies, even when illegal copying is suspected, at least for now. The Higher Regional Court in Hamburg has ruled that there is no legal basis for demanding customer data. ISPs, the court argues, aren't part of the criminal act. They merely provide access to the web.

The Higher Regional Court overruled a earlier decision by the Hamburg District Court, which had granted record companies access to customer data after they discovered an FTP server where numbers by German band Rammstein could be downloaded for free. The District Court based its ruling on the German Copyright Act.

The Higher Regional Court in Hamburg, however, followed a similar ruling by judges of the federal state of Hesse. Here too the court rejected the claim by a music group to hand over the name of a customer who ran an illegal music server.

Experts believe that the setback for the record industry is only temporary as legislators in Germany are drafting a new Telemedia Act, granting the recording industry more freedom in obtaining data from internet service providers.

The developments in Germany are closely watched by experts in the Netherlands. There the Dutch Protection Rights Entertainment Industry Netherlands (BREIN) has just launched its largest round of lawsuits yet targeting 42 individuals suspected of illegally swapping copyrighted music. ®

source:theregister
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I know everybody already knows about Grokster losing their case in the Supreme Court,but since no one posted about it in p2p legal news i figured i would.

Supreme Court Rules Against P2P Companies!
June 27, 2005
Thomas Mennecke


The United States Supreme Court, in a unanimous ruling, disagreed with two lower court rulings. Today’s opinion agrees with the MPAA and RIAA contention that P2P developers are responsible for the infringing activities of its users. The decision is a serious setback for commercial file-sharing companies, who were hoping a favorable Supreme Court decision would give the necessary leverage to negotiate a distribution agreement with the RIAA and MPAA.

With today's ruling reaffirming the rights of the RIAA and MPAA, these two organizations are now more secure then ever before in their distribution methods. This also leaves StreamCast and Grokster wide open for additional copyright infringement lawsuits.

StreamCast and Grokster, the two defendants named in the MGM lawsuit, have been fighting the movie and music industry for nearly 3 years.

At issue is whether StreamCast and Grokster, two distributors of P2P software, are guilty of contributory copyright infringement and vicarious copyright infringement.

In order to be liable for contributory copyright infringement, three criteria have to be met: (1) direct infringement by a primary infringer, (2) knowledge of the infringement, and (3) material contribution to the infringement.

Similarly, in order to be held liable for vicarious copyright infringement, a complainant must show that a violator met the following three criteria: (1) direct infringement by a primary party, (2) a direct financial benefit to the defendant, and (3) the right and ability to supervise the infringers.

The situation began in October of 2001 when the RIAA and MPAA filed suit against Grokster and StreamCast (then MusicCity.) Both organizations had been successful in shutting down centralized networks such as Napaster and Scour. However, this round of lawsuits would prove more challenging as the fundamental difference in network architecture would prove to be the turning point for StreamCast and Grokster.

Unlike Napster or Scour, which used centralized indexing servers to catalog files on their networks, StreamCast and Grokster are considered “decentralized.â€
Last edited by p2p-sharing-rules on Wed Jun 29, 2005 1:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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MPA Shuts Down Pirate Movie Website
June 29, 2005
Thomas Mennecke


The MPA, which operates as the international arm of the MPAA, continues its activities in Asia. Following its "Intellectual Property Rights" badge program to encourage Scouts in Hong Kong to respect copyrights, the MPA has thwarted an internet based movie distribution website in Indonesia. According to the MPA, TokoDVD.com was manufacturing and distributing pirated DVDs.

While this may seem like a routine "MPA assists local police, local police arrest suspect" story, there is a bit of a twist to this situation.

The MPA and Cyber Crimes division of POLDA (the Jakarta City Police) utilized a stand-alone workstation to investigate TokoDVD. A stand-alone computer is utilized as it isolates, at least in theory, the computer from any connection it may have with the police network.

Mr. Hartoyo Lupis, owner and manager of TokoDVD, caught onto the suspicious activity and struck back. Mr Lupis "hacked" (as the MPA calls it) into the police computer and infected it with a virus. Although Mr. Lupis may have perceived suspicious activity, it is not likely he realized just whom it was he had just hacked. The MPA states this was an attempt to identify the police investigator.

Armed with a new computer hacking charge against Mr. Lupis, the Jakarta Police had all the evidence they needed to not only raid, but also arrest Mr. Lupis. The arrest occurred just before midnight of the same day. According to the MPA, the Jakarta police seize his computer and approximately 5,000 pirated DVDs.

This action is only the second such raid taken against online DVD distributors who sell questionable content in Indonesia. The first raid occurred early this month, when Indonesian law enforcement shut down DVDclubhouse.net, which sold and rent pirated DVDs.

Mike Ellis, Senior Vice President and Regional Director, Asia-Pacific, MPA said, “Within the last six months, Indonesian law enforcement authorities have conducted the country’s first ever illegal DVD factory raid, first ever pirate website raids and closures, and targeted retail piracy in the country’s shopping malls. Indonesia’s increased pressure against illegal pirate websites sends a powerful message to copyright thieves in Indonesia and underscores the Government’s commitment to fighting intellectual property theft.â€
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Thanks Peter P.
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your welcome,Moon :wink:
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Kazaa ruling spurs industry in song-swapping fight - September 5, 2005
The music industry has vowed to pursue any company engaged in illegal file sharing after the Federal Court ruled that Sharman Networks was guilty of infringing artists' copyright through its Kazaa software.

Millions of people worldwide use Kazaa to swap music files free of charge.

In the Federal Court yesterday, Justice Murray Wilcox ruled that Sharman had infringed record companies' copyright.

Justice Wilcox ordered the company to modify Kazaa so that users can access only licensed music files.

Sharman Networks also has to pay most of the other side's legal costs.

It says it will appeal against the decision.

The music industry has fought a long-running legal battle with file-sharing companies, arguing that they are breaking copyright laws by letting users swap songs over their peer-to-peer networks.

The general manager of Music Industry Piracy Investigations, Michael Speck, says he is "very happy" with the court's orders.

"This judgment is one of the most important achievements in the fight against music piracy anywhere," Mr Speck said in a statement.

"The court's decision confirms that people cannot build a business on stealing the creative work of others and profiting from it."

Mr Speck says the ruling is a warning to other file-sharing companies that they must be legitimate or get out of the industry.

"If you're out there ripping off music without permission and without payment you should sit up and take notice," he said.

"This judgment explodes the myth that illegal file sharing is simply part of the 'Internet revolution'.

It is nothing of the sort and the court's ruling confirms that people who misuse technology should not be able to profit from the creative work of others.

"Kazaa is not and has never been a legitimate player in the music industry."

Mr Speck says he believes the ruling will have other file-sharing companies thinking about changing their practices.

Some of Australia's largest music companies were among 30 organisations taking the legal action against Sharman and other companies associated with Kazaa.

They alleged the software was the biggest system of copyright infringement ever seen, cheating recording artists out of profits.
ABC News Online.


Court cases don't scare music file swappers away - September 6, 2005
Court cases don't scare music file swappers away
By Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY
Despite two huge court losses for file-sharing firms, unauthorized online song and movie swapping is at an all-time peak, says Internet measurement company BigChampagne.

"File sharing has never been more popular than it is now," says BigChampagne CEO Eric Garland. "People have heard all the legal threats and admonitions, but that's not enough. They don't believe it."

He says about 9.6 million people were logged onto sharing networks at any one time in August, up from 6.8 million the year before.

The recording industry has filed 14,000 copyright infringement lawsuits against song swappers in the last two years, at a time when more than 1 billion songs have been offered for trading each month on services such as Kazaa and eDonkey. The industry has also looked to the courts for relief.

On Monday, an Australian federal court judge ruled that Sharman Networks, Kazaa's parent firm, must install filters to prevent its software from being used for unauthorized sharing.

The ruling followed a U.S. Supreme Court decision in June that said software firms Grokster and StreamCast Networks, which operates the Morpheus service, could be held liable for their users' actions.

The Supreme Court decision hasn't curbed online swapping, and neither will the Australian court ruling, says Phil Leigh, an analyst at research firm Inside Digital Media. "A lot of college students still don't feel vulnerable at all," Leigh says.

The Australian decision is only enforceable there. Kazaa, meanwhile, is a global product whose popularity already had faded.

Once the most-used sharing software, it has been in steady decline. According to Internet research firm CacheLogic, Kazaa's market share tumbled to 9% in July from 24% a year earlier. Currently, eDonkey is the most popular sharing software, with a 50% market share, CacheLogic says.

Kazaa is bloated with too much backdoor, spyware-type advertising, Garland says. "People went elsewhere. A judgment might have been more meaningful a few years ago, when Kazaa was more popular."

Recording Industry Association of America CEO Mitch Bainwol said he is pleased with the Kazaa decision, which "reflects a growing, international chorus: Those who promote theft can be held accountable no matter how they may attempt to escape responsibility."

Garland says the industry should spend less time fighting the online pirates and more time turning them into paying customers.

Legitimate online music stores have taken off since Apple's popular iTunes site made its debut. But Garland says Apple and competitors Napster, RealNetworks and others could sell even more if they made their songs compatible with each other's systems.

Songs purchased at iTunes can't be transferred to non-Apple digital music players without some workarounds, and vice versa with songs from Napster. "The incompatibility is a nightmare for consumers," Garland says.
USA Today.
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