02/05, 11:20pm
MarkMonitor key to US ISP 'six strikes' system
MarkMonitor, the company that has been named as the Center for Copyright Information (CCI) vanguard and copyright abuse sniffer, has flagged HBO.com as in violation of the DMCA for violations of its own content in an obvious failure of the system. The report sent to Google stated that HBO.com was using HBO's own cable content without permission. Additionally, the same automated report to the search engine named websites that were writing about HBO content, and thus clearly not violating "fair use" provisions of the law. The MarkMonitor system is the key to the upcoming "Six Strikes" copyright monitoring system that AT&T, Cablevision, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon have agreed to.
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01/11, 5:51pm
Mandatory viewing of anti-piracy video part of measures
Details on how Verizon will allegedly implement its "six-strikes" anti-piracy policy, set to roll out this year, have surfaced online. Warnings, bandwidth throttling, and obligatory viewings of an anti-piracy video will be applied to connections of alleged infringers, before their IP address will be passed over to the MPAA and RIAA, in order for legal action to take place.
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11/23, 7:44am
File-sharing musician speaks against lawsuits
The family of a 9-year-old file sharer in Finland was raided by police earlier this week. The seizure of equipment, including a Disney-branded laptop owned by the child, followed after the family's refusal to abide to Finnish anti-piracy group CIAPC's demands, and has now led to the musical artist to speak out against the legal action.
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11/15, 8:49pm
Verizon, Time Warner won't cut users after multiple copyright warnings
In a forum discussion organized by the Internet Society, the vice presidents of Verizon and Time Warner Cable declared that even after repeated notifications to customers suspected of violating copyright law, the cable companies won't perform any disconnections. The move could ease privacy and due process concerns about the Hollywood copyright holder and ISP co-managed Center for Copyright Information (CCI) overseeing the anti-piracy "six strikes" initiative.
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04/09, 8:10am
Netflix continues its political agenda
Netflix has formed a new political action group in an effort to gain more influence in Washington. Newly filed federal records
show that the new group, called FLIXPAC, can officially make political donations directly to federal candidates of up to $5,000 for each election cycle. Politico argues that it gives Netflix a way in which it can push its pro IP, anti-piracy agenda.
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03/15, 5:15am
Microsoft reaches nine digit deal with Uniloc
Microsoft has reached a settlement with Uniloc over its use of software activation that is rumored to be in excess of $100 million. An Australian inventor and co-founder of Uniloc, Ric Richardson, developed the patent for the software activation technology used in popular Microsoft products such as Office. After initially winning $388 million lawsuit against Microsoft in 2009, the result was later overturned on appeal. The case recently returned to the court in Rhode Island, though this time Microsoft agreed to settle before the case went further.
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12/19, 9:05pm
Senator Harry Reid pushes for quick vote
The US Senate is reportedly set to vote on the Protect IP Act on January 24, making it one of the first pieces of legislation to be put to a vote when the senators return from their holiday vacation. The controversial anti-piracy bill was said to be fast-tracked by Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat from Nevada.
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04/16, 7:30pm
NBC reconsiders iTunes
NBC is again considering distribution of its TV shows through the iTunes store, pending a more rigid anti-piracy stance. According to CNET, George Kliavkoff, chief digital officer for NBC Universal, says that digital piracy hurts the company to the point where it is not viable to distribute its content digitally. The statement comes after NBC Universal pulled shows such as Heroes and The Office from iTunes over a pricing dispute between itself and Apple.
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12/18, 5:25pm
HASP HL for Mac, Leopard
Information security firm Aladdin Knowledge Systems today announced that its Aladdin HASP HL for Mac software anti-piracy licensing USB key supports Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. The USB-based software copy protection scheme enables software publishers to enforce intellectual property protection and support custom licensing models while securely upgrading or downgrading licenses on keys in the field.
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11/29, 11:40am
EMI Scaling Back RIAA
Music label EMI could weaken the anti-piracy campaigns of both the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in the near future by reducing its financial help with both organizations, claims an anonymous insider speaking to Reuters. A recent acquisition of EMI by the private equity firm Terra Firma is known to have triggered a financial review that would reduce the millions of dollars that the label supplies to both groups.
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