Displaying items by tag: Legal

The term privacy has come to mean a great many things in the last few years. To some the idea of privacy is being able to do or say certain things without the fear of anyone finding out. Most people like to know that what they do on their own time is their business. Where things get a little muddy is when people liken the desire for privacy with a desire to hide wrongdoing. This belief couldn’t be farther from the truth . It is not just that it is wrong, but it is also dangerous. To imply that anyone that wants to have privacy is somehow hiding something illegal sets a dangerous precedent. Keeping this mentality alive will allow for a further erosion of peoples’ rights and grants very worrying powers to agencies that are there to protect, not to oppress.

Published in Editorials

The idea of copyright was and is a good thing. Being able to temporarily protect your artistic investment is never wrong. The problem comes when the copyright holders get greedy or feel that their copyright grants them special rights and powers. This is the situation we have with the current copyright cartel… I mean groups. They feel that they have powers that are not, in any way, part of the copyright laws and legal protections. They also feel like they exist in a special world that grants them more rights than anyone else.

Published in News

If you have been following news about piracy, copyright, or indeed almost anything you will know that the copyright industry often employs some rather shady methods to get their way. One of the shadiest methods is the demand letter. If you are not familiar with this term let us explain (if you are bear with us): a demand letter is when a legal firm tries to tie IP addresses they have identified to actual ISP subscribers. They send large numbers of subpoenas to ISPs asking that they put the two together so that they (the law firm) can then send a settlement letter demanding money from the alleged pirate.

Published in News

There is no shortage of jokes about ignorance in big business and government, but there are times when some of the things that are really said just sound stupid. Recently members of the Hollywood Cartel decided that Google fiber will lead to an increase in piracy. Their reasoning is a “survey” that was conducted on illegal file haring as it relates to Google Fiber s that came up with some rather interesting numbers (they are magical). Fortunately for anyone wanting a laugh, it was leaked to the gang at TorrentFreak

Published in News

The US patent system is broken. There is not really much more to say about that it is and has been broken for many years and probably will continue to be broken for many years to come. Now why am I bringing this up? Well in looking over the way patents are filed, processed, and approved you will find that there are a large number of patents that are essentially the same thing just with a little twist. This type of patent allows for someone to put a legal hold on a very broad concept and then comeback and sue someone at a later date. Over the last few years we have watched a number of companies work the system with this type of patent and worse.

Published in Editorials

In one of the dumbest moves I have seen a court make in some time it is now possible for a copyright holder to go after the company that registered a domain name if that name is used for piracy. The logic behind this decision escapes me and will most people that put any thought to it. However the copyright industry is boasting about how this gives them new tools to combat piracy.

Published in News
Wednesday, 29 October 2014 10:31

RIAA claims piracy is an "assault on our humanity"

It would seem that the guys over at the Recording Industry Artists of America have lost their collective minds. In a recent rant they are actually trying to claim that sites like The Pirate Bay are an “assault on our humanity”. To (intentionally) quote a great line from The Princess Bride: “I do not think it means what you think it means”. The last time I checked copyright law was not a protected “right” in any form of the constitution. Freedom of speech/expression is as it the right against unlawful search and seizure (which the blind copyright letters violate).

Published in News

Kim Dotcom has faced a series of setbacks in his defense against the US copyright lobby. Incensed that the original suit did not impoverish Dotcom as they had hoped the US copyright industry has continually sought to identify where Dotcom has been getting the money that he appears to throw around. Their thinking is that this money had to be from Mega Upload and therefore they are entitled to seize it as part of their continued siege campaign that has been hidden as a copyright lawsuit.

Published in News
Friday, 19 September 2014 20:29

The MPAA Is Putting Out a Very Bad Message

There is a subtle art to influencing people’s opinions and the way that a particular topic is viewed. We have seen multiple attempts at this, some good, some bad. For the marketing savvy it seems that nothing they (or their charges) say can ever be negative. For those that are… less competent the message come out all wrong and often changes the intended push into something very negative. The MPAA and others in the anti-piracy community seem to be in the latter group.

Published in News

Ever since the take down of Napster the copyright industry has taken a much more aggressive stance on piracy. This stance had taken the form of new laws, increased lobbying and a push to make ISPs responsible for policing everyone’s activities on the internet. They have even sought for, and are still trying to get, trade agreements that allow the US to push their laws onto other countries in the form ACTA and the TPP. Now all of these measures have their seedier side to them, but so far none are exactly illegal (immoral and potentially unethical? That is another question)… At least not until you start looking at some of the trials and arrests that have happened in the last few years.

Published in News
Page 2 of 15