File-Sharing

Analysis: Three Strikes Strikes Out - The End of ISP Policing?

Authored by Paul Sweeting on April 11, 2008 - 10:30am.

You can forget about French president Nicolas Sarkozy's original proposal for policing piracy on the Internet becoming a model for the rest of Europe. Not only has the plan been dropped from the French Parliament's current legislative agenda, but the European Parliament this week approved a resolution harshly denouncing a lynch-pin of the French plan: the proposal to require ISPs to monitor their subscribers' Internet use and cut off those found repeatedly to be downloading illegal copyrighted material.

Let Them Have Content, Say Studios to BitTorrent

Authored by Michael Cai on February 26, 2007 - 10:20am.

After much anticipation and some expected delays (convincing content providers to use a new platform is very time consuming, if you have not heard), BitTorrent is finally launching it's entertainment network. We [Parks Associates] are believers in P2P content delivery, be it P2P download or P2P streaming, and it's great to see major content providers finally embracing it. In a recently published report on Internet video, Parks Associates wrote:

Report: Movie File-Sharing on the Rise Among Americans

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 24, 2007 - 11:33am.

Toronto, Canada - Twenty million Americans downloaded a movie off the Internet in the past month, with 80% of these reporting that they only use file-sharing sites -- a figure that doubled between 2005 and 2006, according to a report from market research firm Solutions Research Group.

Norwegian Teen First to be Charged With Illegal File-Sharing

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 8, 2007 - 8:53am.

Rogaland, Norway - A sixteen-year-old has become the first citizen of Norway to be charged with copyright infringement for illegal file-sharing, the country's Aftenposten newspaper reported.

tags: IFPI | File-Sharing | Norway | Direct Connect |

File-Sharing Firm BitTorrent Acquires uTorrent

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 8, 2006 - 1:57pm.

San Francisco - A week after announcing that it has landed $20 million in new funding, BitTorrent, a provider of peer-to-peer file-sharing technology, said on Friday that it has paid an undisclosed amount to acquire uTorrent, a lightweight implementation of the BitTorrent protocol.

Wired News: Interview with BitTorrent Creator Bram Cohen

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 4, 2006 - 3:33pm.

San Francisco - Wired News on Monday featured an interview with Bram Cohen, developer of the BitTorrent peer-to-peer file-sharing application. Contrary to reports last week that Cohen is leaving the company -- which accompanied news that BitTorrent had raised $20 million in new financing and signed new deals with networks and studios -- Cohen told Wired News he's staying at BitTorrent. He also confirmed that content from studios and networks distributed on BitTorrent will be protected by Windows DRM. "We're going to see everything continue to become more web-based, and the special status of high-quality video files and other large files as somehow different will go away. The current limitations on distributing them will cease to exist," Cohen told Wired News.

Spanish Judge Rules "Personal Use" Downloaders Aren't Criminals

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 6, 2006 - 7:36pm.

London - A judge in Spain has ruled that those who download free music off the Internet for personal use are not criminals, The Register reported. Judge Paz Aldecoa, of Santander in northern Spain, called file-sharing "a practiced behavior where the aim is not to gain wealth but to obtain private copies."

Swedish Courts Dole Out First File-Sharing Fines

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 20, 2006 - 2:07pm.

London - Two Swedish men who uploaded movies and music to the Internet were convicted and fined by Swedish courts this week, according to The Register, which cited a report from Swedish site The Local. In the first case in Sweden where someone was fined for music file-sharing, a 44-year-old man from Boras paid an undisclosed sum for making songs available from artists including the Eurythmics and Roxette. In a separate case, a 32-year-old man from Norrkoping was convicted and fined for posting a Swedish film online. The cases are of note because both convictions came as a result of supporting evidence consisting of an IP address linked to a file-sharing network, which a Swedish judge in a case in September ruled was insufficient to prove guilt.

Intent MediaWorks Raises $1.2 Million in First Round

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 12, 2006 - 1:00pm.

Atlanta - Intent MediaWorks Inc., an Atlanta-based digital media distribution company, has raised $1.2 million in its first round of venture capital, Private Equity Week reported on Wednesday, citing a regulatory filing. Investors in the deal include Menemsha Capital Partners and IMW Partners, the report said. Founded in October 2003, Intent MediaWorks offers technology that supports legal, secure file trading, "turning each file into a marketing tool for the copyright owner." The company's technology is designed to work with major Peer-to-Peer (P2P) file-trading networks, web-based communities as well as email and RSS.

PC Lightning Damage Forces Sweden to Drop File-Sharing Charges

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 5, 2006 - 3:28pm.

London - Lightning damage to the PC of a Swedish politician who admitted to being an avid file-swapper and encouraged others to do the same has forced Swedish authorities to drop copyright infringement charges against him, TheRegister reported. Ivan Wenster revealed his support for file-sharing in the wake of a raid on The Pirate Bay, a popular site for downloading free media files, by Swedish authorities. After legislation outlawing illicit downloading was passed in Sweden in July 2005, Wenster turned himself into authorities, and would have faced up to two years in jail. But the freak lightning incident that burned his PC intervened. "They laughed when I told them," Wenster told Swedish site The Local. "It was my children's and wife's PC, too."

Judge Grants Hollywood Victory in StreamCast File-Sharing Case

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 28, 2006 - 1:58pm.

Los Angeles - A federal judge has granted summary judgment in favor of the movie studios and record labels who sued file-sharing firm StreamCast Networks, distributors of the Morpheus peer-to-peer application, for copyright infringement. The ruling, which StreamCast may still appeal, is part of the aftermath of the landmark 2005 Supreme Court ruling that found providers of file-sharing software liable for copyright infringement committed by users. The Supreme Court sent that suit back to U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson, whose initial 2003 ruling in favor of StreamCast started the case on its way up the appeals process. Judge Wilson's ruling on Wednesday cited "overwhelming" evidence of StreamCast's "massive infringement." "No single court ruling solves piracy or can make up for several challenging years for the music community, but there's no doubt that that rules of the road for online music are better today than they were yesterday," said RIAA chairman and CEO Mitch Bainwol.

File-Sharing Network LimeWire Files Countersuit Against RIAA

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 27, 2006 - 6:08am.

San Francisco - LimeWire, a long-running peer-to-peer file-sharing service that was recently sued for copyright infringement by the major record labels, on Monday filed a countersuit alleging the labels have engaged in unfair business practices, CNET News.com reported. "Their goal was simple: to destroy any online music distribution service they did not own or control, or force such services to do business with them on exclusive and/or other anticompetitive terms," LimeWire says in its countersuit, which alleges the labels violated the Sherman Act and Clayton Act. "While most commercial illicit P2P networks have ultimately abided by the Supreme Court's unanimous decision, LimeWire is a conspicuous holdout," an RIAA representative told News.com. "A kitchen sink of frivolous charges doesn't change the law, the Supreme Court's ruling or the fact that LimeWire has built a business based on theft and continues to profit from it." Following the Supreme Court's file-sharing decision, the RIAA sent cease-and-desist letters to a number of file-sharing networks, including LimeWire; since that time, i2Hub, BearShare, iMesh, WinMX and eDonkey have all shut down their free file-sharing networks.

Justice Dept. Gets First BitTorrent-Related Piracy Conviction

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 18, 2006 - 1:29pm.

Washington - The U.S. Justice Department recently announced its first conviction on criminal copyright infringement charges related to the BitTorrent peer-to-peer file-sharing network. Scott R. McCausland, 24, of Erie, Pa. pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit copyright infringement and one count of criminal copyright infringement in violation of the Family Entertainment Copyright Act. McCausland admitted to his involvement with Elite Torrents, a BitTorrent tracker site that the Justice Dept. said at its prime claimed 133,000 members and hosted 2 million copies of pirated works. McCausland provided Elite Torrents with its copy of "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" six hours before it premiered in theaters -- a file that was downloaded more than 10,000 times in the following 24 hours. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania has scheduled a sentencing hearing for Dec. 12, where McCausland will face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Warner Licenses Tracks for Qtrax Ad-Supported, Free File-Sharing Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 18, 2006 - 1:25pm.

New York - Warner Music Group announced on Monday that it has licensed its tracks for streaming and limited downloading on Brilliant Technologies' Qtrax, an ad-supported free file-sharing network. Qtrax has also licensed songs from EMI, BMI and the Association of Independent Music. "The Qtrax service represents an innovative business model, one that offers our artists another way to reach fans using the potential of peer-to-peer technology while ensuring they are fairly compensated for the use of their work, said George White, senior vice president of strategy and product development for WMG. The Qtrax ad-supported file-sharing service -- which will use audio fingerprinting technology from Audible Magic to ensure only licensed tracks are shared -- is scheduled to launch in beta later this year.

Taiwan Song-Swapping Service Kuro Agrees to Shut Down, Pay Damages

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 15, 2006 - 11:28am.

London - The recording industry's campaign against illicit file-sharing sites claimed another victory this week, as Taiwan-based Kuro agreed to shut down and pay the industry unspecified damages for copyright infringement. Kuro, which counted an estimated 500,000 registered users for its commercial, subscription-based download service, announced plans to re-launch as a legitimate service that will compensate copyright holders.

eDonkey File-Sharing Service to Shut Down, Pay Labels $30 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 12, 2006 - 6:51pm.

Los Angeles - MetaMachine, operator of the eDonkey peer-to-peer file-sharing service, has agreed to pay $30 million to avoid copyright infringement litigation from the major record labels, the Associated Press reported. New York-based MetaMachine also agreed to immediately cease distribution of its eDonkey, eDonkey 2000, Overnet and other file-sharing applications, as well as take steps to prevent current eDonkey users from trading files with one another. Since the 2005 landmark Supreme Court decision that found providers of file-sharing software liable for copyright infringement committed by users, the recording industry has threatened litigation against the remaining popular free file-sharing networks. To date, BearShare, i2Hub, WinMX and Grokster have reached settlements with the record labels and shut down their peer-to-peer services. Holdouts include Soulseek and LimeWire, which was served a copyright infringement lawsuit by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) last month.

Allot ISP Software Throttles Encrypted BitTorrent Traffic

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 31, 2006 - 5:19pm.

San Francisco - Wired News reported on Thursday on a new service that allows ISPs to detect encrypted BitTorrent file-sharing traffic on their networks.

BearShare Launches Legal, Subscription-Based File-Sharing Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 17, 2006 - 1:26pm.

New York - MusicLab, a unit of peer-to-peer file-sharing software developer iMesh, announced on Thursday the beta launch of BearShare, its newly acquired file-sharing software that has been transformed into a legal peer-to-peer network.

Wired News: Sweden's The Pirate Bay Spawns Political Party

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 17, 2006 - 12:53pm.

Stockholm, Sweden - Wired News on Thursday published the second in a two-part series on Swedish file-sharing network The Pirate Bay, and the political party that has sprung up to defend free-file sharing in Swedish politics.

Wired News: Secrets of the Pirate Bay

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 16, 2006 - 3:10pm.

Malmo, Sweden - Wired News on Wednesday published a report that includes an interview with operators of The Pirate Bay, the Sweden-based BitTorrent tracker site that offers movies, music, games and other copyrighted material for free download.

Analysis: Three Strikes Strikes Out - The End of ISP Policing?

Let Them Have Content, Say Studios to BitTorrent

Report: Movie File-Sharing on the Rise Among Americans

Norwegian Teen First to be Charged With Illegal File-Sharing

File-Sharing Firm BitTorrent Acquires uTorrent

Wired News: Interview with BitTorrent Creator Bram Cohen

Spanish Judge Rules "Personal Use" Downloaders Aren't Criminals

Swedish Courts Dole Out First File-Sharing Fines

Intent MediaWorks Raises $1.2 Million in First Round

PC Lightning Damage Forces Sweden to Drop File-Sharing Charges

Judge Grants Hollywood Victory in StreamCast File-Sharing Case

File-Sharing Network LimeWire Files Countersuit Against RIAA

Justice Dept. Gets First BitTorrent-Related Piracy Conviction

Warner Licenses Tracks for Qtrax Ad-Supported, Free File-Sharing Service

Taiwan Song-Swapping Service Kuro Agrees to Shut Down, Pay Damages

eDonkey File-Sharing Service to Shut Down, Pay Labels $30 Million

Allot ISP Software Throttles Encrypted BitTorrent Traffic

BearShare Launches Legal, Subscription-Based File-Sharing Service

Wired News: Sweden's The Pirate Bay Spawns Political Party

Wired News: Secrets of the Pirate Bay

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