On advice from lawyers, I've censored this material off the post. However, Google maintains a list of over 100 sites that link to the Doom9 post, including one from Boing Boing.
Monday, April 30, 2007
AACS censors Pwned blog
I just censored Teque5's post about the AACS processing key. I received a legal threat from the AACS licensing authority, promising a lawsuit if I didn't removing the processing key and the link to the Doom9 forum.
DVD Ripping Ruled Legal?
In the closely watched Kaleidescape case, the court ruled that it is legal to rip DVDs to a central server.
The judge declared that "nothing in the [DVD CCA licensing] agreement prevents you from making copies of DVDs. Nothing requires that a DVD be present during playback."
But the CEPro article warns:
However, I'm a little confused. If the ruling doesn't mean that ripping DVDs is legal, then what does it mean? Note that in contrast to the CEPro article, the /. article claims that the ruling does legalize DVD ripping.
The judge declared that "nothing in the [DVD CCA licensing] agreement prevents you from making copies of DVDs. Nothing requires that a DVD be present during playback."
But the CEPro article warns:
Because of this ruling, the Judge did not have to get into copyright issues, so the Kaleidescape ruling has no copyright implications. It is not a statement on the legality of ripping DVDs.
However, I'm a little confused. If the ruling doesn't mean that ripping DVDs is legal, then what does it mean? Note that in contrast to the CEPro article, the /. article claims that the ruling does legalize DVD ripping.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
PWNED Blog Post Included in DMCA Takedown Request
See for yourself.
After following a Reddit link, I quickly saw that Teque5's post "Holy Grail Located: HD-DVD and BLU-RAY Processing Key Found" is included in a list of four different sites/posts that the AACS Licensing Administrator is targeting for the "Illegal Offering of Processing Key to Circumvent AACS Copyright Protection." Google is the recipient of the takedown request dated April 17, 2007 and all the other offending posts are part of the blogspot.com domain. At the time of this writing, the other three posts have been removed.
Google's letter to one of the bloggers says that Google will forcibly remove the offending posts by April 29th, but also inidicates that a counter-notification process is available.
The grinding irony here is that the DMCA takedown notice itself includes most of the processing key in the second URL.
After following a Reddit link, I quickly saw that Teque5's post "Holy Grail Located: HD-DVD and BLU-RAY Processing Key Found" is included in a list of four different sites/posts that the AACS Licensing Administrator is targeting for the "Illegal Offering of Processing Key to Circumvent AACS Copyright Protection." Google is the recipient of the takedown request dated April 17, 2007 and all the other offending posts are part of the blogspot.com domain. At the time of this writing, the other three posts have been removed.
Google's letter to one of the bloggers says that Google will forcibly remove the offending posts by April 29th, but also inidicates that a counter-notification process is available.
The grinding irony here is that the DMCA takedown notice itself includes most of the processing key in the second URL.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Film Lobbyist Jack Valenti Dies
Jack Valenti, known within the PWNED circle for describing the VCR as the Boston strangler of the American film producer, died on Thursday of complications arising from an earlier stroke. The powerful lobbyist has inspired a cornucopia of obituaries--some sweet with praise and others sizzling with the flavor of long latent controversy.
Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America from 1966 to 2004, is also remembered for having fathered the modern movie ratings system, acting as an advisor to Lyndon Johnson, and for being an irrepressably grandiloquent speaker.
Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America from 1966 to 2004, is also remembered for having fathered the modern movie ratings system, acting as an advisor to Lyndon Johnson, and for being an irrepressably grandiloquent speaker.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
New music distribution vendor gets partially shut down by RIAA
AnywhereCD is a new music distribution vendor that just started up in April. Here's how it works. You purchase a CD for $12. The CD is sent to you, and you are allowed to download a DRM free MP3 version of the CD you just bought. There is also a second option, and this is what got them in trouble. The second option is that you can decide to purchase just the MP3's for $3 less than adding on the CD. The RIAA filed a lawsuit against the company, and they caved in, dropping that option.
This is just another example of how the RIAA is shooting itself in the foot. Instead of shutting down this ingenious new music distribution ventures, they should embrace them, and work with the companies to maximize profit. The RIAA is still living in the 2oth century, and unless they warp into the 21st soon, they are going to be left behind.
This is just another example of how the RIAA is shooting itself in the foot. Instead of shutting down this ingenious new music distribution ventures, they should embrace them, and work with the companies to maximize profit. The RIAA is still living in the 2oth century, and unless they warp into the 21st soon, they are going to be left behind.
This is an interesting survey taken by p2pnet regarding what the public thinks about online music sharing. The poll surveyed over 1000 visitors to the website. The results are not unexpected. 94% of those surveyed replied that the RIAA's efforts to dissuade users from downloading music through lawsuits does not have a deterrent effect. Furthermore, more than 90% believe that music sharing does not negatively affect the recording industry. To bolster this view, an expert hired by the RIAA to analyze the effect on the industry reported that "Downloads have an effect on sales that is statistically indistinguishable from zero. Our estimates are inconsistent with claims that file sharing is the primary reason for the decline in music sales during our study period."
Although the results from this poll may be skewed because of the participant's anti-music industry views, it still has some merit. It demonstrates a majority of the public's view that music sharing is here to stay barring some different deterrent from the RIAA. However, with experts saying that music sharing does not affect the RIAA's bottom line, it will be hard to persuade this skeptical public to stop sharing.
Although the results from this poll may be skewed because of the participant's anti-music industry views, it still has some merit. It demonstrates a majority of the public's view that music sharing is here to stay barring some different deterrent from the RIAA. However, with experts saying that music sharing does not affect the RIAA's bottom line, it will be hard to persuade this skeptical public to stop sharing.
Yahoo! China found liable for linking to sites with "pirated" songs
The International Federation of Phonographic Industries sued Yahoo China because their search results linked a page with 229 pirated (whatever that means) songs and won. Today, the No. 2 Intermediate People's Court (China's, not Judge Wapner's) awarded $27,000 to the IFPI, which was much less than the $700,000 they asked for, but they were nonetheless found liable for linking to a third party site!
Yahoo plans to appeal, and the IFPI might, too! "We are considering our options with the damages, whether we will appeal or not," the federation's regional director said.
So let me get this straight... They might appeal to be awarded MORE damages?
Article on Newsvine
Yahoo plans to appeal, and the IFPI might, too! "We are considering our options with the damages, whether we will appeal or not," the federation's regional director said.
So let me get this straight... They might appeal to be awarded MORE damages?
Article on Newsvine
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
