Advanced Television

Piracy

UAE pirate faces $1m fine for illegal TV downloads

An Emirati Internet pirate apprehended by Abu Dhabi police for downloading and distributing subscription TV content is facing a fine of nearly $1 million. The Arabian Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAA) filed a complaint on behalf of pay-TV network OSN with Abu Dhabi police and a local Emirati citizen was arrested on 802 counts of piracy violations. […]

December 21, 2011

Wyden introduces alternative anti-piracy bill

Senator Ron Wyden has now introduced the Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade (OPEN) Act which is proposed as an alternative to tougher anti-piracy bills, such as the Senate’s Protect IP Act and the House’s Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). Senators Jerry Moran and Maria Cantwell have signed on as co-sponsors. “The OPEN act […]

December 20, 2011By Colin Mann

US: ‘Wolverine uploader’ jailed

Gilberto Sanchez, who uploaded a pirated copy of Fox’s superhero movie “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” has been sentenced to one year in federal prison. Sanchez pleaded guilty in March 2011 to uploading a “workprint” copy of the film to the site Megaupload.com in March 2009, approximately a month prior to the film’s theatrical release. He further […]

December 20, 2011

China video sites piracy spat

China’s two largest video-streaming sites, Tudou and Youku are heading for court after Tudou announced that it is taking action – together with its license partner Cti TV – over alleged piracy of a popular TV series on Youku. The Tudou claim relates to a chat show hosted by model and actress Dee Hsu to […]

December 16, 2011

Net giants back ‘rogue sites’ Act

A coalition of nine of the largest Internet companies is backing the Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade (OPEN) Act, the anti-piracy measure proposed last week by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore) and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif). “We write today to express our support for the legislation you are developing,” states an open letter to […]

December 15, 2011By Colin Mann

Techs ads attack US anti-piracy bills

Following the launch earlier in December of an ad campaign in support of support of the Stop Online Piracy Act and the PROTECT IP Act  from Creative America, the grass-roots coalition uniting those who value American creativity and innovation in the fight against content theft, a collection of technology industry luminaries is planning a campaign […]

December 14, 2011By Colin Mann

MPAA’s Dodd: Hollywood is pro-Internet

MPAA Chairman and CEO Senator Chris Dodd has reaffirmed the entertainment community’s commitment to both free speech and the fight against criminals who steal online content. In remarks to Washington, DC think-tank the Center for American Progress, Senator Dodd said that creative technology and creative content were “absolutely essential to each other” and that those […]

December 14, 2011By Colin Mann

Police raid Sydney pirate pay-TV outfit

Police have raided the Australian arm of an alleged global piracy outfit that they say sold A$500 set-top boxes and unlicensed pay TV subscription packages offering 1000 channels for A$90 a month. The police brief alleges that the shop, trading as L&D LED Signs, is part of a global piracy operation worth A$150 million a […]

December 14, 2011

MPAA: Google’s “hyperbole”

The war of words continues between the movie lobby and Internet interests over proposed anti-piracy legislation, with Michael O’Leary, Senior Executive Vice President for Global Policy and External Affairs at the Motion Picture Association of America rounding on Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt’s comments delivered at the Economic Club of Washington DC. “Today, Google Executive […]

December 13, 2011By Colin Mann

Internet Society joins opposition to Stop Online Piracy Act

The Board of Trustees of Internet policy, technology standards, and future development leadership source the Internet Society has expressed concern with a number of US legislative proposals that would mandate DNS blocking and filtering by ISPs to protect the interests of copyright holders. While the Internet Society agrees that combating illicit online activity is an […]

December 13, 2011By Colin Mann