Thousands of internet users have been told they'll be taken to court unless they pay hundreds of pounds for illegally downloading and sharing hardcore porn movies.

more at BBC

By GARY GENTILE, AP Business Writer


LOS ANGELES - BitTorrent Inc., makers of a technology often used to trade pirated copies of Hollywood movies, is launching a Web site that will sell downloads of films and TV shows licensed from the studios.

The BitTorrent Entertainment Network was set to launch Monday with films from Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Lionsgate and episodes of TV shows such as "24" and "Punk'd."

The service is squarely aimed at young men and boys who regularly use BitTorrent to trade pirated versions of the same films and who more often watch such files on their computer instead of on a big screen TV in the living room.


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Ode to the R.I.A.A.

Ever since I phased out my career as a Broadway arranger and conductor, I’ve tried to keep my toe in the showbiz world in my own peculiar way: I write new, tech-industry lyrics to old melodies.

Here’s my very latest. It’s a special tribute to the R.I.A.A., the Recording Industry Association of America - the organization of the record companies who’ve decided to fight music piracy by filing lawsuits. It goes to the tune of the Village People song “Y.M.C.A.” Ready? Cue the disco drums!

Continues at: »pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/

Hollywood's Public Enemy No. 1 strikes again:

The Pirate Bay, in response to overwhelming demand from its users,
mentions in a blog posting that they have added TV shows to their
lineup. The full story at »www.slyck.com/story1345.html

Is the Kazaa name capable of making a comeback or has it already seen the end of line?

»news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5220406.stm

Sharman Networks, who had sued p2pnet.net for libel
over a comment one of their readers made concerning
Nikki Hemming, now appears to have dropped all
claims made against the p2p news site:

»p2pnet.net/story/9333

The recorded music industry's trade group has asked internet service providers (ISPs) to freeze the accounts of customers who illegally fileshare.

The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) has written to Tiscali and Cable & Wireless asking them to suspend 59 accounts for "illegal filesharing".

Until now, the BPI has focused on individuals, rather than other firms.

The ISPs should now "put their houses in order and pull the plug on these people", said the BPI.

more at BBC News

TorrentSpy.com and its parent company Valence Media filed additional court documents this week, naming the person the companies claim breached their business systems to gather evidence for the Motion Picture Association of America.

The latest court filings include a statement by Robert Anderson, a resident of Vancouver, Canada, who claims that the MPAA contacted him in June 2005 to provide information on TorrentSpy.com. The Web site allows BitTorrent users to search through files that are being offered by others online, including illegal copies of music and movies. The MPAA sued the Web site in February for contributing to copyright infringement.

more at securityfocus.com

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has renegotiated its terms with PACT, a UK trade organisation that represents the commercial interests of independent feature film, TV, and animation companies.

This means that it is legally able to go ahead with its Peer to Peer based iPlayer service due to be launched later this year, which will see programs only owned partly by the BBC shown on its service straight after they have been broadcast, and up to seven days later.

more at theregister

UK music fans no longer face the threat of prosecution for copying their own CDs on to PCs or MP3 players, as long as the songs are only for personal use.

Peter Jamieson, chairman of the British Phonographic Industry, said consumers would only be penalised if they made duplicates of songs for other people.

Currently anyone transferring music to portable devices breaks copyright laws.

The music industry has traditionally turned a blind eye, however, in favour of targeting "professional" pirates.

more at BBC News

Britons using bargain music download website allofmp3.com have been warned that they are breaking the law.

Record industry trade association the BPI said consumers were breaking UK copyright law because allofmp3.com was not licensed to sell recordings.

The Russia-based site, which offers albums to download for as little as £1, claims to be licensed.

The BPI said it planned to sue allofmp3.com in the UK courts but that users would not be prosecuted.

more at BBC News

Nowadays, it seems as though a new video crops up daily that catches fire and spreads wildly among everyone tuned into the Internet.

Just recently, Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert took center stage.

Cyber vandals have attacked the website of the Swedish police, presumably in response to the Pirate Bay bust, forcing it to shut down. Police said the site was taken offline after it was overloaded by net data. »news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5041848.stm

By Adam Livingstone

Newsnight's ubergeek talks to BitTorrent inventor Bram Cohen and finds him distinctly equivocal about fears of a two speed internet.

more at BBC News

»news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4875142.stm

The music industry has launched a fresh legal assault on people accused of illegal file-sharing.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) is taking legal action against nearly 2,000 song-swappers in 10 countries.

By Alasdair Sandford

French MPs who have already voted once to legalise the online sharing of music and films are to consider the matter again next week.

In December they backed a move to allow internet users to download as much material as they want in exchange for a small fee.

A man accused of uploading a copy of the biopic film Walk the Line has been charged with copyright infringement.

Luis Ochoa, 25, of Corona, California, faces up to a year in jail and a fine, if found guilty.

Prosecutors say Mr Ochoa uploaded a "screener" version of the Oscar- nominated film, which was intended for an Academy voter.

Mr Ochoa was arrested after the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) set up a web sting, they added.

more at BBC News

By John Oates

The French courts have ruled that using peer-to-peer networks (P2P), providing you are doing so for personal rather than commercial reasons, is legal. The decision comes just as the French Parliament meets to discuss whether internet users should pay a voluntary tax or surcharge of �5 a month to use P2P networks.

The decision was actually made back in December but has only just been made public.

more at theregister.co.uk

Seven Star Wars fans have admitted copying Revenge of the Sith a week before its cinema release.

They admitted piracy charges after copying and passing a DVD copy of the movie among them last May.

The six US men and one woman also pleaded guilty to criminal conduct in allowing an eighth person to obtain the film and upload it onto the internet.

They each face a maximum penalty of a $100,000 (£56,000) fine and one year in jail when sentenced on 12 April.

more at BBC News

The UK music industry has won a landmark court case in its fight against illegal online music sharing.

High Court judges ordered two men to pay the British Phonographic Industry between £1,500 and £5,000 for making thousands of songs available online.