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TorrentFreak, Techdirt Censored by Anti-Piracy Outfit on Google
Techdirt, a well-read news website made a rather surprising discovery recently. It turns out, both Techdirt and TorrentFreak were both the target of a DMCA takedown of their articles discussing, ironically enough, bogus takedown notices. News story updated. See below. Censorship by copyright is a topic that is discussed off and on over the years.
TorrentFreak, Techdirt Reinstated, Armovore Apologizes
An anti-piracy company is in damage control after it says that the URLs that were the subject of a DMCA takedown on Google were removed by mistake. The URLs have since been reinstated. Last night, we reported on the DMCA takedown of two URLs on Google . One of those URLs led to a TorrentFreak article while the other led to a Techdirt article. Today, we are learning about what happened and why these two sites were the subject of a DMCA takedown. On Techdirt, Anti-Piracy company Armovore apologized to Techdirt saying:
Microsoft, Google, and Netflix have proposed a standard for copy-protected Web video, but HTML editor Ian Hickson has dealt it a serious blow by calling it impractical and "unethical." "I believe this proposal is unethical and that we should not pursue it," Hickson said in a mailing list message this week. "The proposal...does not provide robust content protection, so it would not address this use case even if it wasn't unethical," he added. The Web video DRM debate--and this one isn't the first--shows the difficulties of reconciling open standards with the constraints of the commercial video industry. Expect more tensions as the the video industry tries to capitalize on the pervasiveness of the Web. Web technologies such as Hypertext Markup Language have progressed rapidly in recent years, and one headline HTML5 feature lets Web pages include streaming video and audio.
Standards leader blasts HTML5 video copy protection
Sony Music’s CEO of international business said in a recent interview that the Internet is a blessing for the music industry. Nevertheless, there are still problems that have to be overcome, such as restrictive copyright enforcement by music rights collecting agencies. The Sony boss says that YouTube revenue running into the millions is being lost because German rights group GEMA’s policies prevent artist videos from being shown online in the country. For years the music industry has blamed Internet piracy for all their troubles.
Sony Music Boss: Censored YouTube Videos Cost Us Millions
Responding to a question asking what film directors think when people torrent their work, filmmaker Heather Ferreira responded with an unusual tirade against the MPAA. According to her, the movie industry group is a censorship outfit that restricts the creative freedom of filmmakers. As such, the MPAA is hurting the film business more than file-sharers do.
Filmmaker: MPAA Is a Censorship Group, Go Torrent!
The censorship of The Pirate Bay, which is slowly spreading to ISPs all around Europe, is designed to reduce the availability of unauthorized media, but the site also allows artists without a corporation-backed delivery mechanism to self publish to the world. However, since blockades are a blunt instrument, their work is being wiped out too. On this basis, the legality of a recent Pirate Bay blockade is now being questioned. During May 2011, the Copyright Information and Anti-Piracy Centre (CIAPC) and the Finnish branch of the music industry group IFPI filed a lawsuit at the District Court of Helsinki. The groups demanded that local ISP Elisa should start blocking The Pirate Bay in order to protect the copyrights of their members. While Elisa initially refused, a subsequent court order in October 2011 forced them to comply and last month it was initiated.
Pirate Bay ISP Block Challenged For Censoring Lawful Content
Belgian music rights group SABAM has a serious headache looming. Following a complaint filed by an artist back in 2004, a judge began investigating the group’s finances. His findings mean that SABAM will now face court accused of falsifying accounts to cover up bribe payments, abuse of trust, copyright fraud and embezzlement. In 2004, a Belgian composer filed a complaint against local music rights group SABAM. Philippe Delhaye, an associate member of SABAM, claimed that there had been “breaches” in the correct payment of his royalties.
SABAM Charged With Copyright Fraud, Embezzlement, Money Laundering
BitTorrent Piracy Doesn’t Affect US Box Office Returns, Study Finds
A new academic paper by researchers from the University of Minnesota and Wellesley College has examined the link between BitTorrent downloads and box office returns. Contrary to what’s often claimed by the movie industry, the researchers conclude that there is no evidence that BitTorrent piracy hurts US box office returns. Internationally, there is a link between downloads and revenues, which the researchers attribute to long release windows. With their unconditional support for SOPA, PIPA and ACTA, Hollywood is pressing hard for new legislation to curb piracy.
Reel Piracy: The Effect of Online Film Piracy on International Box Office Sales
Brett Danaher Wellesley College - Department of Economics Joel Waldfogel University of Minnesota - Twin Cities - Carlson School of Management; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); University of Minnesota - Twin Cities - Department of Economics January 16, 2012 Abstract: Hollywood films are generally released first in the United States and then later abroad, with some variation in lags across films and countries. With the growth in movie piracy since the appearance of BitTorrent in 2003, films have become available through illegal piracy immediately after release in the US, while they are not available for legal viewing abroad until their foreign premieres in each country.