Items tagged with MPAA
Movie studios and content creators have taken a step towards crushing the add-on scene (or at least the illegal aspect of it) surrounding Kodi, a free and open-source media player developed by the XBMC Foundation. The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment, which is led by the MPAA and includes Netflix, Amazon, Disney, Warner Brothers, and several others among its members, has been sending cease and desist letters to certain add-on developers. This is a move that actually began earlier this year, with Dish Network filing multi-million dollar lawsuits against the TVAddons repository and Kodi add-on ZemTV. As a result, several add-on developers decided to leave the scene rather than face potentially...
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Ever since the Sony hack was unveiled, it's been clear that the movie studios haven't given up on SOPA, but an analysis of the MPAA's collective actions on the anti-piracy issue have unveiled plans that go far beyond simply sponsoring legislation or advocating for particular positions. Now, Google has announced it will fight to dismiss lawsuits filed by Mississippi's Attorney General Jim Hood, alleging that the AG in that state is acting as a paid, sponsored lackey of the movie industry. Understanding Project Goliath The collision between the MPAA and Google arises from a fundamental disagreement over what Google's role should be when it comes to piracy prevention and what powers...
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Google's efforts to thwart piracy and appease organizations like the Motion Pictures Association of America (MPAA) are pretty much non-stop. It involves removing millions of infringing links from search on a weekly basis, and more recently, Google tweaked its search algorithm to be better at downranking sites that receive a large number of valid DMCA notices. "We've now refined the signal in ways we expect to visibly affect the rankings of some of the most notorious sites," said Katherine Oyama, Google's Copyright Policy Counsel. "Sites with high numbers of removal notices may appear lower in search results. This ranking change helps users find legitimate, quality sources of content more easily."...
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When it comes to Google Glass there are some mixed emotions. While it is an interesting device, there are Google “Glass Haters” out there who are not comfortable with a device that can take pictures of them or record their actions being out in the open like that. But it is the device’s ability to record that has resulted in it being officially banned from movie theaters. The Motion Picture Association of America and the National Association of Theatre Owners announced that an update was made to its theatrical anti-theft policy to include wearable tech in its list of items banned. Image Source: Flickr (Michael Praetorius) “As part of our continued efforts...
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Kim Dotcom has a history of bad behavior that runs the gamut from computer fraud to insider trading and embezzlement. More recently, Dotcom ran Megaupload, a now defunct website that was once a popular portal for hosting files, especially copyrighted material, which is why the U.S. government shut it down in 2012. U.S. authorities are now trying to extradite Dotcom from New Zealand so that he can stand trial for various alleged crimes, and there will be a hearing on July 7 to see if that happens. In the meantime, Dotcom is fighting back with funds. Dotcom has put the word out that he's willing to pay $5 million to anyone with information on wrongdoing by the U.S. government related to the case(s)...
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Over the past 20 years, special effects houses (typically known as VFX studios) have risen from an occasional tool used in science fiction or fantasy movies to a mainstay of the entire industry. The term "VFX" refers to more than the use of Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) -- it also references live-action shots or green screen uses where actors are overlaid with real scenery or backgrounds that are filmed in different locations. Thus, even a movie that takes place in "real life" can rely heavily on VFX. Given that most Hollywood movies now rely so heavily on VFX, you'd think that VFX studios would be the toast of the town. Instead, they've been under increasingly desperate pressure. Rhythm and...
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Google has released a 26-page report detailing how it strives to balance the rights of copyright owners against fair use policies and individual users. The search giant has come under increasing fire from copyright owners over the past few years, and faced repeated accusations that it earns enormous amounts of money from the ads that run on pirate websites. Meanwhile, the company's YouTube takedown policy has been criticized at times from the other end, particularly when it's used to remove content that someone else found inconvenient, embarrassing, or just didn't like One of the changes Google made fairly recently was its agreement to begin de-ranking pages that attracted a high number...
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On any given day in the United States you will find a number of really, really terrible ideas being floated as smart decisions. Flying to Hawaii to give birth in the ocean surrounded by dolphins. A drunk man repeatedly directing traffic in midtown Manhattan. And, today, from the USA Intellectual Property Theft Commission, a 90 page report on the state of IP around the world, the dangers posed to American IP by the Internet, and one remarkable suggestion on how to fix the problem. Additionally, software can be written that will allow only authorized users to open files containing valuable information. If an unauthorized person accesses the information, a range of actions might then occur. For...
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Yesterday, we covered comments from the RIAA on how it believes courts have weakened the DMCA to the point of uselessness and why the organization supports the highly controversial E-PARASITE Act. It's not the first time we've covered the controversial legislation, but the leader of the RIAA, Cary Sherman, has weighed in with his own personal views and rebuttal. It's unusual for the head of the RIAA to directly confront such criticism, and it's worth revisiting the topic to evaluate his response. Sherman's argument rests on two premises. First, it should be unacceptable to any of us involved in legitimate commerce online that a rogue Web site based outside of the United States -- but hawking...
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It's no surprise that the RIAA is unhappy with the DMCA, given how fervently the organization supports the beautifully named E-PARASITE Act. However, a lawyer from the organization has shed new light on exactly why the recording industry (and presumably the MPAA as well) thinks the Digital Millenium Copyright Act is broken. "I think Congress got it right, but I think the courts are getting it wrong," Pariser said during a panel discussion at the NY Entertainment & Technology Law Conference. "I think the courts are interpreting Congress' statute in a manner that is entirely too restrictive of content owners' rights and too open to [Internet] service providers. "We might need to go to Congress...
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Taxpayers in the United States could soon be stuck footing the bill for some very costly copyright infringement enforcement. For those that don't know, the PROTECT IP Act (Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011 or Senate Bill S.968) is a piece of controversial legislation introduced on May 12, 2011 intended to force private ISPs, search engines and other parties to censor websites accused of facilitating copyright infringement. The bill is supported by a large number of infamous IP-protective agencies, including the MPAA, Viacom, SAG, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and others. The legislation is a re-write of the Combating Online Infringement...
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A number of venture capital firms and individuals have sent an open letter to Congress, asking the legislative body not to support the PROTECT IP (aka Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011, aka PIPA) bill. PIPA is a re-write of an earier bill, COICA, and is designed to give the US DOJ the power to seize a non-US website that breaks US law concerning copyrights. It states: "The Protect IP Act says that an "information location tool shall take technically feasible and reasonable measures, as expeditiously as possible, to remove or disable access to the Internet site associated with the domain name set forth in the order". In addition,...
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Earlier this week, we covered Amazon's announcement of its new 5GB Cloud Drive service. Amazon is pushing the free service as a "upload once, access anywhere" option that allows users to play the music they want, wherever they are. When questions of licensing were raised, Amazon spokesperson Cat Griffin told Ars Technica: "Cloud Player is an application that lets customers manage and play their own music. It's like any number of existing media management applications. We do not need a license to make Cloud Player available." The music industry isn't particularly happy with that answer, and neither are some of Amazon's competitors. Companies like Sony and Apple have been unable to reach mutually...
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It's been nearly a decade since the music industry declared war against file sharers via its controversial policy of suing individuals supposedly identified via their IP addresses. After all this time one would expect the various companies to present a consistent, united front. As a recent court filing against Limewire shows this is absolutely not the case. Last May, federal district court judge Kimba Wood granted the record industry's request for a summary judgement against Limewire. With their winning ticket in hand, the RIAA withdrew to contemplate the level of statutory and punitive damages it felt Limewire should pay. The recording studios have never been overly interested in due diligence...
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