The popular torrent site TorrentSpy has been ordered by a California court to track its visitors as part of a suit initiated by the MPAA (WARNNG: TorrentSpy contains pictures of bouncy females in various stages of clothing). According to TorrentSpy’s site: “We have spent the last year challenging their relentless Read more
(via Terra Nova) I missed this one during my travels, but I find it such a great story. A Florida law firm has initiated a class-action suit against Internet Gaming Entertainment (IGE), a gold farming company based in Hong Kong and Delaware. According to the plaintiff, one Mr Antonio Hernández, Read more
(via Rebecca Henderson) A cloud of shame has now descended upon the UK’s legal community. The Honourable Mr Justice Openshaw, a High Court judge hearing the Internet terrorism trial in London, has admitted that he did not understand what a web site was. According to Yahoo News, he told the Read more
(via David Berry) The BBC reports that AACS has vowed to fight against bloggers, aggregators, and all sort of users who have posted the now infamous key online. I must admit that my original scepticism has dissipated, and I cannot possibly believe that AACS would ever dream to take on Read more
The New York Times comments on a report by vidmeter.com about the popularity of user-generated content prevalent on YouTube as opposed to content owned by the creative industries. The report concludes that of the most popular videos, only 9% had been removed due to DMCA take-down requests, while those potentially Read more
There have been plenty of reports and commentary on Viacom v YouTube and Google, the mother of all copyright infringement suits at a whooping $1 billion USD. I didn’t want to comment on it until I got the chance to read the complaint. Google is being sued for pretty much Read more
You could not make up stories like these even if you tried. James Pacenza used to work for IBM until he got fired for participating in adult chat rooms. He now has sued IBM because he claims to be a sex addict and an Internet addict, and that under his Read more
Several recording companies have sued Russian site AllofMP3.com for copyright infringement. The site is not precisely a P2P sharing network, it is more analogous to “legal” download sites where users purchase individual songs and albums at amazingly low prizes. The problem is that the site does not pay royalties to Read more
It was inevitable. The popular online video repository YouTube has been sued for copyright infringement by Robert Tur, owner of Los Angeles News Service. Tur seems to be an experienced copyright litigator, and he is asking for $150,000 USD for each infringed work, and also is asking for an injunction Read more
(via Carolina Botero). Colombian pop superstar Shakira was involved in a brief IP-related scandal with regards to a song from her album Oral Fixation vol.2. The hit song is “Hips Don’t Lie” with Wyclef Jean, in which it is possible to hear a distinctive trumpet tune troughout the song, but Read more