News Roundup - December 2010

1. Images: See YouTube's new 'experimental homepage'
2. Porn Site Says Revealing Takedown Notices Infringe Copyright
3. EFF Demands Copyright Troll Pay for Suing Democratic Underground
4. ISP 3 Strikes Anti-Piracy Strategy Rewarded By Big Four Music Service
5. Wikileaks Cable Shows US Involvement in Swedish Anti-Piracy Efforts
6. Google in 'better' copyright protection vow
7. Viacom Says YouTube Ruling Will ‘Completely Destroy’ Copyright
8. BBC iPlayer international subscription service first headed to iPad
9. RapidShare Gets 150,000 Euro Copyright Infringement Fine
10. Apple patents glasses-free, multi-viewer 3D
11. Netflix strikes deal to stream first-run movies, elbows in on the pay TV release window

And finally - for the last post of 2010 here's the Top 10 YouTube Videos For 2010 as compiled by NPR. Happy New Year!

News Roundup - November 2010

1. Supreme Court Won’t Hear RIAA File Sharing Case
2. Start-up pitches low-cost no-glasses 3D for iPad
3. YouTube shakes hands with French artists
4. EU Parliament backs ACTA with few reservations
5. Indian piracy arrests bother Bollywood BitTorrenters
6. The Pirate Bay Appeal Verdict: Guilty Again
7. Dutch Artist Unions Call Government to Legalize File-Sharing
8. No Ghostriding Allowed on Army’s SFW YouTube
9. Content 'made available' in jurisdiction where server is located
10. The real cost of free: a response
11. Google signs French book deal
12. Harry Potter studio to investigate Deathly Hallows leak
13. Google takes indirect jab at China over Internet limits
14. Hulu Plus now available on Roku boxes for $7.99 per month
15. ACTA draft falls from skies
16. Usenet Community Not Guilty Of Copyright Infringement
17. Irish Government Wants File-Sharing Compromise, or Legislation Will Follow
18. Hulu CEO: New ad innovations offer more choice to TV watchers
19. Man Fined For Publishing Links To Legal Sports Broadcast
20. European Commissioner Lambasts ‘Copyright Middlemen’
21. Government announces new IP law review
22. The government shouldn't hang on Google's every word
23. Cooks Source Copyright Infringement Becomes an Internet Meme
24. Cable Subscribers Flee, But Is Internet To Blame?
25. EC lobs grenades at copyright's Ancien Régime
26. Lessig calls on WIPO to lead copyright reform
27. Time Warner CEO: New movies to your living room for $50 by mid-2011
28. World's dumbest file-sharer guilty for third time
29. 'Pervy' private chat case springs back into life
30. Google needs to flag up terror videos
31. YouTube Yanks Jihadi Videos; Terror Wannabes Mildly Inconvenienced
32. Testy Turkey re-blocks YouTube over naughty hotel romp clip
33. Web filtering, the Scottish startup and the wrath of UK teenagers
34. Anti-Piracy Tool For Cinemas Will Recognize Emotions
35. "An Anonymous, Offline, Peer To Peer File-Sharing Network In Public Space"
36. RIAA and Anonymous sites both downed by DDoS assaults
37. Hollywood ruling sends piracy chill through Google
38. YouTube founder quits
39. BBC Builders: Vicky Spengler prototypes the future of TV

News Roundup - October 2010

1. Online TV spats mean fewer free shows on Web
2. LimeWire Shuts Down After Losing Court Battle With The RIAA
3. German court sets file sharing damages at €15, not €300
4. LimeWire: will users turn to legal alternatives?
5. YouTube's Chad Hurley to step down as chief executive
6. Scholars Say International Property Accord Needs Senate Approval
7. The $105 Fix That Could Protect You From Copyright-Troll Lawsuits
8. Broadcast networks blocking Google TV's access to shows on their Websites
9. Leaked Letter Exposes Sarkozy’s Repressive Anti-Piracy Agenda
10. Cinema iPhone pirate escapes jail in test case appeal
11. Google must name YouTube cyber bullies
12. Pirates In The Sky: Filesharers Want To Build Weather-Balloon-Hosted Download Site
13. Legal P2P venture fails
14. Google to digitize Dead Sea Scrolls
15. YouTube clasps naked dancer to bosom
16. Record companies lose illegal download case
17. Harry Hill takes his comedy online
18. EFF backs political site's Righthaven counter-suit

Attack A.C.T.A.

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (A.C.T.A.) is a proposed multilateral treaty that aims to standardize the enforcement of intellectual property rights.

One of the key points of contention with the treaty is the level of secrecy that the talks are conducted under, and the lack of input from what the European Commission terms "civil society"[1]. According to the factsheet distributed on behalf of one of the A.C.T.A. negotiating parties, the agreement will not negatively impact individual's fundamental freedoms, or result in the harassment of consumers [2].

Dan Bull represents the anti-A.C.T.A. point of view in his own style below [3]:



While the methods of negotiation could be improved, it is desirable that something as amorphous as intellectual property rights enforcement is approached at the level of international cooperation. The major benefit of any kind of agreement such as A.C.T.A. is a perhaps a quantum of certainty that the law is sorely lacking right now, which would benefit both rights holders and content users alike.

Footnotes
1. http://ec.europa.eu/trade/creating-opportunities/trade-topics/intellectual-property/anti-counterfeiting/
2. http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2009/january/tradoc_142040.pdf
3. The Death of ACTA

News Roundup - September 2010

1. Blockbuster winds itself into Chapter 11
2. EU Parliament calls for pan-EU copyright law
3. Spanish court clears YouTube of copyright liability for uploaded videos
4. ACS:Law Anti-Piracy Law Firm Torn Apart By Leaked Emails
5. Supreme Court Eyeing RIAA ‘Innocent Infringer’ Case
6. Bill Would Give Justice Department Power to Shutter Piracy Sites WorldwideSwedish Pirate Party Runs Aground in Election

Funny Picture # 32

Funny copyright/piracy picture. Enjoy!

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Funny copyright/piracy picture. Enjoy!

Funny Picture # 30

Funny copyright/piracy picture. Enjoy!

News Roundup - August 2010

1. Prudish Google slammed for Aussie censorship
2. Internet Piracy Paranoia and the New Award Winning Thriller
3. Spotify-style streaming beats piracy, boosts sales - survey
4. Wikileaks clambers aboard Pirate Party network
5. ITV Player to go on PlayStation 3
6. Piracy Is Promotion, Says CEO of Porn Multinational
7. What Would God Say About File-Sharing?
8. TV Station Hosts Pirated Copy Of Fringe
9. Hollywood claims Aussie ISP promoted BitTorrent use
10. Perfect 10 served invalid DMCA notices on Google, says court
11. Pirate Party Ramps Up To Invade Swedish Politics

Funny Picture # 29

Funny copyright/piracy picture. Enjoy!

Funny Picture # 28

Funny copyright/piracy picture. Enjoy!
Check out other funny comics from the Joy of Tech

Funny Video # 4

Funny Picture # 27

Funny copyright/piracy picture. Enjoy! (It's an update to Funny Picture # 1)

Funny Picture # 26

Funny copyright/piracy picture. Enjoy!

Funny Picture # 25

Funny copyright/piracy picture. Enjoy!

News Roundup - July 2010

1. World’s First Pirate ISP Launches In Sweden
2. YouTube finally turning corner in online video advertising potential
3. The in-cinema iPhone app? Dial M for multiplex madness
4. Prince's war with iTunes plays into the hands of illegal filesharers
5. Judge Guts Whopping RIAA File Sharing Verdict
6. Australia unbans the internet
7. China confirms Google licence renewal
8. Internet television - to the living room?
9. Ridley Scott to crowdsource documentary via YouTube
10. 'The internet's completely over', declares petulant Prince
11. College students face file sharing penalties under new rules
12. Paywalled news will lose vital student numbers
13. US seizes pirate movie websites
14. US authorities shutdown websites accused of movie piracy
15. Fed-Busted Movie Site Informed Of Investigation Months Ago
16. Court to Consider Breaking Up Mass BitTorrent Lawsuits
17. Finns get a right to broadband – can we repeal the Digital Economy Act?
18. Hey, Clay Shirky – TV is just as valuable as the net

Funny Picture # 24

Funny copyright/piracy picture. Enjoy!

Would you like some irony with that? The funny side of “piracy”

1. NBC to combat Internet piracy with unwatchable programming
2. Kid Rock Starves To Death
3. Prank Phone Call to the RIAA
4. The RIAA Prank
5. RIAA by Cracked
6. Very Elderly Woman Arrested For Copyright Piracy
7. 5 Insane File Sharing Panics from Before the Internet
8. The Pirate Bay by Cracked

But the true irony is found below at the Register - enjoy!
Hacker swipes details of 4m Pirate Bay users

Lobbying

Big media content producers have a lot of money (Disney has a market value of $65 Billion), and they have a real interest in protecting that money, so it should come as no surprise that if they can influence legislation in their favour then they will do it. With that in mind, check out Wired's article highlighting a new website that tracks political contributions and the legislation that it is tied to.

Hollywood, Big Software and Coal Miners Pros at Timely Political Donations
(LINK)

Funny Picture # 23

Funny copyright/piracy picture. Enjoy!

Scandals and Other News from the Pirate Party

German Pirate Party MP charged in child porn case
(LINK)

Flash mobs at German airports (34 pics)
(LINK)

Pirate Party to Run Pirate Bay from Swedish Parliament
(LINK)

ISP Filtering Faces Opposition

An Overview

Controversial Cyber Laws Around The World
(LINK)

The Land of Oz

Oz government sites floored in firewall protests
(LINK)
Minister: BitTorrent Will Not Be Blocked By Aussie Filter
(LINK)

Fortress Europa

France passes three-strikes bill
(LINK)

Humble Opinions

New web filter laws questioned by top child abuse cop
(LINK)
Could Internet filtering cause more harm than good?
(LINK)

Meanwhile in Asia

China secretly requires real names to post comments
(LINK)
Japanese mobile operators shout 'Avast' at piracy
(LINK)
Pakistan blocks YouTube website
(LINK)

Google Books - The Final Word For Now

Google-fixated EC chiefs ask Europe to revise copyright law
(LINK)

Net watchdog inserts self in Googlebooks pact
(LINK)
EFF, ACLU says Google Books will chill reading, speech
(LINK)

Authors Guild calls Amazon 'hypocritical'
(LINK)
Amazon Scoffs at Google’s Offer to Share Book Search Sales
(LINK)

Give Google a break!
(LINK)

Before Google Books, we took on-demand publishing to the streets
(LINK)

DIY Book Scanners Turn Your Books Into Bytes
(LINK)

Funny Video # 3

From last night's Colbert Report here is Stephen's interview with Cindy Cohn of the Electronic Frontier Foundation - topics included Hitler and Fair Use (seriously!). Enjoy!

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Electronic Frontier Foundation - Cindy Cohn
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Fox News

New Blog Poll plus Results

Old Blog Poll Result

The consensus from readers of the I-TV Law Blog seems to be in favour of amending existing laws to accommodate for the rise in internet television.

New Blog Poll

July's poll is inspired by the poll currently running on the St. Louis Post Dispatch's website (LINK), specifically relating to Hulu

So the question here is: Would you pay to watch internet television?

Results at the end of the month.

Funny Picture # 22

Funny copyright/piracy picture. Enjoy!

News Roundup - June 2010

1. Hulu to charge $10 for iPad and Playstation 3 TV
2. China threatens Google's internet licence over HK redirect
3. YouTube: HTML5 "does not yet meet all of our needs"
4. Google tries new approach in China
5. Pakistan to vet websites for blasphemy
6. YouTube fights off $1bn lawsuit from Viacom
7. England World Cup match drives dramatic rise in web streaming
8. UK internet audience rises by 1.9 million over last year
9. Web-savvy lawyers stand to gain online
10. “Damaging To Culture”, Online Library Smashed By Police
11. ‘Piracy Is Theft, Clean and Simple’ US Vice President Says
12. RapidShare Kills Reward Program Over Piracy Concerns
13. ASCAP Assails Free-Culture, Digital-Rights Groups
14. Copyright Czar Backs IP Enforcement, ‘Fair Use’
15. First RIAA File Sharing Trial Morphs Into Groundhog Day

Funny Picture # 21

Funny copyright/piracy picture. Enjoy!

News Roundup - May 2010

1. Pakistan lifts Facebook ban but 'blasphemous' pages stay hidden
2. Did Twitter censor the #flotilla hashtag following the Israel attack?
3. Pay-per-click is the new online paradigm
4. Traditional DJs 'will survive internet radio revolution'
5. The Technology newsbucket: Hollywood can disable your TV, plus Twitter, Yahoo, Apple and other stories
6. IRMA Strongarms Mobile ISPs To Disconnect File-Sharers
7. MPAA Worries About Pirating U.S. Soldiers in Iraq
8. UK Pirates Allowed to Vote in Costumes
9. How Microsoft loses the TV space
10. MPAA, RIAA release most 'notorious' sites

Funny Picture # 20

Funny copyright/piracy picture. Enjoy!

Funny Video # 2

Check out this series of Hulu commercials (unfortunately embedding has been disabled so just click through the links)

1. The Initiative Chapter 1
2. Eliza's a Doll
3. Seth's Giggity Goo
4. The Leary Mission
5. Alec's Number 2

Funny Picture # 19

Funny copyright/piracy picture. Enjoy!

News Roundup - April 2010

1. US gov cries foul on MPAA piracy claims
2. France can control inheritance of IP right, says EU court
3. Students: All your intellectual property belong to us
4. Viacom: Google used piracy to coerce content owners
5. How YouTube made superstars out of everyday people
6. ACS:Law Anti-Piracy Hunt Takes Toll On Legal Profession
7. Liam Gallagher Hates Rock Stars Moaning about Piracy

Funny Video # 1

Online Piracy PSA - watch more funny videos

News Roundup - March 2010

1. Where does privacy fit in the online video revolution?
2. Ban on broadcasting parliamentary clips on YouTube could be lifted
3. Public Figures Protest Digital Economy Bill in Open Letter
4. ACTA Draft: No Internet for Copyright Scofflaws
5. Google flips switch on mobile YouTube banner ads
6. China warns Google over uncensored search threat
7. NZ internet filter goes live - gov forgets to tell public
8. President Obama Discusses Three Strikes Anti-Piracy Law
9. Piracy Rises In France Despite Three Strikes Law
10. Dutch Pirate Party Joins Election Race
11. YouTube: Auto-captions for everyone
12. Real Networks rolls over to Hollywood
13. LibDems back copyright takedowns
14. YouTube threatened by changes to Digital Economy Bill
15. Digital economy bill likely to be pushed through before election
16. Law firm investigated over claims that it bullied alleged filesharers

News Roundup - February 2010

1. Is copyright getting in the way of us preserving our history?
2. RapidShare Ordered To Proactively Filter Book Titles
3. Mandelson could decide length of internet suspensions for filesharers
4. New Zealand Introduces File-Sharing Amendment Bill
5. Piracy Isn’t Killing The Movie Industry, Greed Is
6. Feds Can Search, Seize P2P Files Without Warrant
7. Google shuts down music blogs without warning
8. Google and Yahoo! join Oz protests
9. Redbox, Warner Bros. cut deal, end lawsuit
10. France leapfrogs past Australia in Big Brother stakes
11. Illicit File-Sharing and Streaming of TV Shows Increases
12. Google executives convicted for autism video
13. Keith Urban Gets All Confused About Support For Downloading
14. Sony to revamp movie classics for 3D era
15. If Google Books deal is anticompetitive then DOJ is anti-knowledge
16. Opposition to digital economy bill grows
17. LG Shows How To Play Pirated Movies On TV
18. ‘Ink’ – The Movie That Blew Up On BitTorrent
19. Oscar Pirates, Fewer Films Leak Online This Year
20. Movie Studios Lose Landmark Case Against Aussie ISP
21. Police Arrest Several In File-Sharing Swoop
22. Newzbin Usenet Indexing Trial: Day One
23. Authors Guild: ‘To RIAA or Not to RIAA’
24. ‘Don’t Be Evil,’ Meet ‘Spy on Everyone’: How the NSA Deal Could Kill Google
25. Anti-RIAA Site Folds

Funny Picture # 18

Funny copyright/piracy picture. Enjoy!

Funny webcomics from xkcd

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Funny copyright/piracy picture. Enjoy!

Other things that have changed in the last decade.

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Funny copyright/piracy picture. Enjoy!

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Funny copyright/piracy picture. Enjoy!

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Funny copyright/piracy picture. Enjoy!

Funny Picture # 13

Funny copyright/piracy picture. Enjoy!

News Roundup - January 2010

1. Baidu gets out of jail free
2. Aussie censor balks at bijou boobs
3. Sky 3D to launch in April
4. Virgin Media to monitor music piracy
5. Copyright, companies, individuals and news: the rules of the road
6. Neutralize UK File-Sharing Legal Threats – Join TalkTalk
7. 3 Strikes Coming To The United States Via The Back Door?
8. Settlement Rejected in ‘Shocking’ RIAA File Sharing Verdict
9. Med Student Turns to Test-Prep Piracy
10. YouTube and Hulu dabble in for-pay vids
11. MPs frozen out of super-secret copyright talks
12. Piracy continues to cripple music industry as sales fall 10%
13. ‘Piracy Isn’t Killing Music’ Radiohead’s Guitarist Says
14. Pirates Are The Music Industry’s Most Valuable Customers
15. US Military BitTorrent Users Targeted By MPAA/RIAA
16. Court Reduces ‘Shocking’ File Sharing Award
17. Obama Supports $675K File Sharing Verdict
18. Government amends plan for ministerial power to change copyright law
19. Avatar expands 3D TV interest
20. China throws rotten tomatoes at IMDb
21. The truth about Guatemala's YouTube murder
22. Watching Porn Online More Acceptable Than Pirating Music
23. French 3 Strikes Group Unveils Copyright Infringing Logo
24. Group Needs Guns To Enforce Intellectual Property Rights
25. U.S. Courts Split on Internet Bans
26. Justices Block Same-Sex Marriage Trial on YouTube
27. Judge Slams MPAA ‘Cartel’ Allegations
28. ACLU challenges US laptop border searches
29. News Corp is foolish to block linking
30. Music Sales Increase In Sweden For First Time Since 2000
31. Europe’s Second Pirate MP Still Not in Office
32. China Blocks Wired.com With ‘Great Firewall’ - Updated
33. CES 2010: Sony to bring 3D concerts live to the living room
34. Spain seeks fast track for pirate site shutdowns
35. Tech vendors turn to Brussels as copyright levy talks fold
36. Prosecutors claim BitTorrent admin had $300K
37. France floats Google music-and-movie tax
38. Baidu launches (legal) online video company
39. Netflix imposes 28-day waiting period on Warner Bros. films
40. Prove Piracy Losses Says Digital Economy Bill Amendment
41. Furious Copyright Holder Harasses Torrent Site Admins
42. Senator Demands IP Treaty Details
43. Web Censor Seeks $2.2 Billion for China Hack
44. $675,000 RIAA File Sharing Verdict Is ‘Unreasonable’
45. Bono accuses ISPs of 'reverse Robin Hooding' over piracy
46. Stay away, Washington; Let "TV Everywhere" grow, evolve
47. USA: Internet media continue to evolve, old media flirt with extinction
48. Australian internet censorship - at last, the game version
49. Record Label Stops Signing Artists Because of Piracy
50. Money Expert: Industry Should Compete With Music Piracy
51. Six Ways File-Sharers Will Neutralize 3 Strikes

Funny Picture # 12

Funny copyright/piracy picture. Enjoy!

Funny Picture # 11

Funny copyright/piracy picture. Enjoy!

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Funny copyright/piracy picture. Enjoy!

Funny Picture # 9

Funny copyright/piracy picture. Enjoy!

oink criminal and now civil

Everything You Need To Refute a File-Sharing Legal Threat
OiNK Admin: Pink Palace Never Abused Copyrights
UK BitTorrent admin acquitted on fraud charge
Music Industry Set For Civil Action Against OiNK

google v china and the rest of the world

Google performs human rights U-turn, threatens China exit
China silent on Google, welcomes compliant internet firms
Google could be granted copyright immunity in UK law
Google to Stop Censoring Search Results in China After Hack Attack
Microsoft, German publishers hit Google with anti-trust suits
Yahoo!'s Chinese affiliate disowns parent for siding with Google
US will complain to China about Google hacking
Google investigates China staff over cyber attack
China hits back at US over internet censorship
Web censorship in China? Not a problem, says Bill Gates
Google apologises to Chinese writers

Funny Picture # 8

Funny copyright/piracy picture. Enjoy!

Funny Picture # 7

Funny copyright/piracy picture. Enjoy!

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Funny copyright/piracy picture. Enjoy!

Funny Picture # 5

Funny copyright/piracy picture. Enjoy!

Funny Picture # 4

Funny copyright/piracy picture. Enjoy!