Piracy

Tue
21
Feb
John Lister's picture

Megaupload Boss Loses Extradition Appeal

Controversial file sharing site owner Kim Dotcom has come another step closer to being extradited to the United States. It comes despite a New Zealand court agreeing with one of Dotcom's key arguments against extradition. Dotcom, who changed his ... name from Kim Schmitz, was the man behind one of the biggest alleged piracy websites, "Megaupload." It was a site where users could upload files, either as a form of back-up, or as a way to share files with other people. Not surprisingly, many users found that Megaupload was an excellent way to illegally share copies of copyrighted music ... (view more)

Tue
31
Jan
John Lister's picture

Internet Piracy Warning Program Ditched

A controversial program of warning letters for suspected copyright infringers has been dropped. The organization behind it says it was a successful education program but critics say it failed to have much impact. The "Copyright Alert System" was set ... up by the Center for Copyright Information, made up of the main producers of TV shows, movies and music in the US. It struck a deal in 2013 with the five largest Internet providers to send up to six warnings to customers after the copyright holders made a complaint of alleged infringement. The precise format was up to the Internet firm, ... (view more)

Tue
06
Sep
John Lister's picture

Warner Bros Accused of Pirating Own Movies

An attempt to prevent the piracy of Warner Brothers movies has backfired, with several Warner Brothers official pages being reported in violation to Google. It appears to be an overzealous campaign by an agency hired to protect the company's ... copyright. The TorrentFreak site noticed the blunder while looking through a database of filings made to Google to report alleged breaches of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Such reports are designed to persuade Google to remove copyright-infringing sites from its search index. (Source: torrentfreak.com ) This doesn't remove the page ... (view more)

Wed
19
Aug
John Lister's picture

Windows 10 Scan-and-Block Piracy Fears May Be Unfounded

Some of the terms and conditions applying to Windows 10 users appear to give Microsoft permission to block software it suspects is illegal. However, it seems the clause may be a case of a careless cut-and-paste, rather than a firm policy. The text ... appears in the Microsoft Services Agreement. That's not strictly the terms and conditions of Windows 10 itself, but rather Microsoft's various online services. It's come to wider attention because so many of these services are used by apps built into Windows 10. Microsoft Can Block Games and Peripherals Among the agreement's clauses ... (view more)

Tue
24
Mar
John Lister's picture

Windows 10 Upgrade For Pirates: Applies Worldwide

Last week Microsoft confirmed it will give users running pirated copies of Windows 7 and 8.1 a free upgrade to Windows 10 . Now it's revealed that offer has a big restriction, one that may undermine the entire purpose of the move. Windows 10 Upgrade ... For All Applies Worldwide The initial announcement appeared as if the piracy offer would only apply to users in China. Since then, however, Microsoft has made some clarified two main points. One is that the offer will apply worldwide, and not just in China. The move was controversial enough in piracy-ridden China, and even more so in countries ... (view more)

Thu
19
Mar
John Lister's picture

Microsoft: Pirates Can Get Windows 10 For Free

Microsoft is offering Chinese users of pirated Windows software a free upgrade to Windows 10. It appears to be a case of profit over principle that may also have security benefits. Virtually all users of Windows 7 and 8.1 around the world will ... already qualify for a free upgrade to Windows 10 when it's released, something Microsoft now says will be "this summer." However, in most places that only applies to legitimate users. Things are very different in China, however, which has a combination of an increasingly wealthy tech-loving population and loose government policing of ... (view more)

Thu
19
Dec
Dennis Faas's picture

Man Fined $658,000 For Sharing One Movie Online

A Swedish man has been fined more than $600,000 for sharing a single movie online. However, the case is somewhat more complicated than it appears. The man, whose name is being kept secret by Sweden's Vastmanlands District Court, recently faced both ... criminal and civil charges. He was convicted of criminal copyright offenses for sharing a total of 517 movies on a site called 'Swebit'. Swebit is a file-sharing site. However, unlike many high-profile rivals -- such as The Pirate Bay -- Swebit requires users to register as members before they can share files. The court sentenced the man to 160 ... (view more)

Mon
02
Dec
Dennis Faas's picture

US Army Admits to Software Piracy, Pays $50M

The United States government has agreed to pay $50 million in compensation after effectively committing large-scale piracy. The problem? The US Army installed software on 9,000 military computers without a proper license. The software, which was ... produced by Texas-based firm Apptricity, was used to track the movement of troops and supplies in real time. The system allows staff to get a complete picture of everything they are tracking on a single screen, yet have the ability to drill down to fine detail -- such as finding which particular compartment in a vehicle or plane a specific item is ... (view more)

Wed
18
Sep
Dennis Faas's picture

Netflix Uses Piracy Sites When Choosing its Shows

Ever wonder how Netflix determines which movies and television shows to pick up? The video streaming company says it actually looks to piracy sites to help determine the content it makes available to its millions of users. According to Kerry ... Merryman, Netflix's European vice president of content acquisition, the firm often looks to piracy sites when making decisions about future content. "With the purchase of series, we look at what does well on piracy sites," Merryman told Dutch website Tweakers. Ironically, "Prison Break" Popular with Pirates When asked for an example of a show ... (view more)

Fri
13
Sep
Dennis Faas's picture

Pirates Spend More Cash On Legal Downloads: Survey

A new survey has found that people who regularly download pirated material spend more money on legitimate downloads than individuals who don't download pirated material. The same survey also revealed that about one in every four downloads breaches ... copyright in some way. The survey was carried out by a media company working for Ofcom, the United Kingdom's equivalent of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The researchers spoke to a total of 21,745 Britons over the course of a year. (Source: bbc.co.uk ) The figures are all based on survey responses rather than actual activity data, so ... (view more)

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