Archives

Date

FBI Arrests Suspected Hollywood Movie "Screener" Pirate

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 23, 2004 - 2:49am.
Los Angeles -- FBI agents have arrested an Illinois man they believe was responsible for posting several "screener" copies of Academy Award-nominated movies to the Internet, the Associated Press reported. Russell Sprague, 51, was scheduled in court Friday to face criminal copyright infringement charges, after a search warrant executed at his house Thursday turned up hundreds of copies of screeners, for films including "The Last Samurai" and "Shattered Glass." The FBI told AP these screeners have been traced back to Academy member and actor Carmine Caridi, who it was revealed several weeks ago was the source of the copy of "Something's Gotta Give" that was found online by Sony Pictures. Caridi, who has not been charged as of yet, told investigators he has mailed his screener movies to Sprague the past three years, believing he was simply a film buff. Caridi's attorney Richard Millard told the Los Angeles Times that Caridi, "was embarrassed to learn that his name was associated with the film that was being improperly distributed." The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) declared a ban on the distribution of screeners late last year, citing piracy concerns, but that ban was later overturned by a federal court order.
tags: Movies | Hollywood | FBI | Screener | Suspected |

Judge Says Kazaa Can Sue Record Labels for Copyright Infringement

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 23, 2004 - 2:47am.
Los Angeles -- A federal judge has cleared the way for file-sharing network Kazaa to pursue its own copyright infringement suit against the same record labels that have sued the company in an attempt to shut the service down. U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson said last week that Kazaa parent Sharman Networks may pursue its claims, which allege that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) used unlicensed versions of Kazaa to monitor the network for infringers; and also violated the Kazaa license agreement by sending Kazaa users unsolicited instant messages, and seeding the file-sharing network with bogus music files. "What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander," Michael Friedman, an attorney not involved with the case, commented to the Los Angeles Times.
tags: Copyright | Infringement | Judge | Kazaa |

Chief Commentator for MarketWatch.com Resigns Amid SEC Probe

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 23, 2004 - 2:47am.
San Francisco -- MarketWatch.com, a San Francisco-based multimedia publisher of business news and financial information, said on Thursday that Thom Calandra, the company's chief commentator and author of The Calandra Report, has resigned. Calandra is being informally investigated by the SEC relating to his trading practices dating back to October 2002. MarketWatch.com also said that it is conducting its own internal investigation to see if he violated company policy. "Thom was required to abide by our internal trading policies and fully disclose his activities to his readers and subscribers," said Larry Kramer, the chairman and CEO of MarketWatch. The company said that it is fully cooperating with the SEC in turning over pertinent documents and has terminated The Calandra Report. Subscribers will be given pro-rated refunds.
tags: SEC | Chief | Commentator | MarketWatch.com |

FBI Raids Programmer's House in "Half-Life 2" Code Theft Investigation

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 23, 2004 - 2:45am.
San Francisco -- In efforts to find those responsible stealing and posting online part of the code making up the anticipated PC game "Half-Life 2," the FBI raided San Francisco programmer Chris Toshok's home last week, seizing computer hardware and software, the BBC reported. Bellevue, Wash.-based Valve Software, which spent five years developing the game -- arguably the most popular title previewed at last year's Electronic Entertainment Expo -- said that the source code was stolen following an incident in September where the company's own servers were hacked. Toshok, who denied any wrongdoing, told the BBC the agents questioned him about a group called the Hungry Programmers, with whom he previously shared a house.
tags: FBI | Half-Life 2 | Theft Investigation |

Google Tests Online Social Networking Waters with Orkut.com

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 23, 2004 - 2:44am.
San Francisco -- Google quietly launched its own social networking site on Thursday, Orkut.com, in a potential bid to enter the burgeoning space occupied by sites like Friendster, Tribe.net and MySpace.com, CNET News.com reported. The site is an independent project of Google engineer Orkut Buyukkokten, who created it during the past several months utilizing the one day per week that Google asks its engineers to spend working on personal projects. However, the company said that Orkut.com is only affiliated with Google, and not an official Google feature at this time. "We're always looking at opportunities to expand our search products, but we currently have no plans in the social networking market," Google spokeswoman Eileen Rodriquez told News.com.
tags: Internet | Google | Website | Orkut.com |

Internet Portal Yahoo to Decamp from Nordic Region

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 23, 2004 - 2:42am.
Stockholm -- AFP reported on Friday that Internet portal Yahoo plans to shut its branch in Copenhagen and pull out of the Nordic region by month's end. The news echoes a similar report published in Danish daily Jyllands-Posten, which says that Yahoo has decided to lay off its 20 employees in Copenhagen and shut down operations there because the Nordic branch -- which covers Denmark, Norway and Sweden -- has been losing money. Yahoo's Danish branch reported a $3.6-million loss in 2002, twice the losses reported the year previous, Jyllands-Posten reported.
tags: Internet | Yahoo | Decamp | Nordic Region |

XM Satellite Radio to Sell 20 Million Shares

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 23, 2004 - 2:41am.
Washington -- XM Satellite Radio, a provider of satellite-delivered digital radio programming, said on Friday that it and certain of its shareholders will raise a total of $520 million through an offering of 20 million shares. The company, which is selling 7 million of the shares, with the remainder being sold by current stockholders, said that it will sell the shares for $26.50 each. In addition, one of the selling shareholders has granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to 3 million additional shares. The offering is expected to close on Jan. 28. Washington-based XM had more than 1.36 million subscribers at year's end.
tags: Satellite Radio | XM | Shares |