A massive movie piracy ring is being investigated, and the Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association is working behind the scenes. The Greater Toronto Area Federal Enforcement Section of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has partnered with the Toronto Police Service in a joint investigation. Ten search warrants have been executed at businesses operating at […]
Dutch anti-internet piracy group Brein and the US Motion Picture Association have teamed up to seize the domain names of 29 US-based websites that allow file sharing. The sites are focused on the Netherlands and facilitate the illegal sharing of films, TV series, music, games and digital books, according to Brein. “This year we have […]
Global trade association the Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA) has urged the US Department of Commerce and other government agencies to take concerted action to enhance effective online copyright protections. It contends that online piracy has put at risk future production by harming independents’ ability to recoup minimum guarantees. IFTA submitted the comments in […]
The first-ever Entertainment Content Protection Summit in Los Angeles saw keynote speaker Taylor Hackford describe piracy as one of the most threatening issues that has hit the movie industry in its entire history, and call Google an “enabler” of illegal downloading. Hackford, president of the Directors Guild of America, stressed the need to stop piracy, […]
Middle East pay-TV operator Orbit Showtime Network is about to initiate an improved conditional access system designed to disable an estimated five million pirates, many viewing on so-called Dreambox receivers. Owners of Dreambox units use the internet to update the latest pirate software to view encrypted programming. Orbit Showtime (OSN), which merged their rival services […]
Many illegal file sharers believe they are the ‘Robin Hoods of the digital age’ and are motivated by altruism and a desire for notoriety, according to analysis of people motivations illegally download digital media. The research by Joe Cox, from the University of Portsmouth Business School, is the first study to distinguish between the characteristics, […]
Google is to make major changes to the way it deals with copyright infringement on its search engine in the coming months, aimed at making it tougher for websites that flaunt the law and making it harder to find pirated content. Noting that there are more than one trillion unique URLs on the Web and […]
Orbit Showtime Network (OSN), the Dubai-based pay-TV satellite operator, is getting tough on pirates stealing its satellite signals. First attack is on so-called Dreambox users in the region, reckoned to measure in the tens of thousands. Updated “silicon secure” encryption software is now included in new set-top boxes being supplied by OSN, and a […]
A UK judge has dismissed an application by TV re-streaming site TVCatchup to throw out a copyright case brought against it by Britain’s broadcasters, saying that “the claim does have a real prospect of success”. The website has been re-streaming live TV channels for two years ago. ITV, Channel 4 and Five in June filed […]
Pirate Bay’s co-founders have lost their appeal against convictions for encouraging illegal filesharing, and have had their collective fine increased by $2 million to $6.5 million. A Swedish appeals court ruled that Fredrik Neij, Peter Sunde and Carl Lundstrom remain guilty of helping Pirate Bay users illicitly share copyrighted music and film content via their […]