Los Angeles - The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors this week expanded the ordinance that allows for the county to shutter a property that becomes a "public nuisance," such as in gang or drug-related instances, to include properties used to illegally manufacture and sell recordings and audiovisual works. "This ordinance is an important milestone in our efforts to curb piracy in Los Angeles," said Dan Glickman, chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). "In its approval of this ordinance, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors have officially recognized that piracy isn't just an industry problem, but one that has a significant impact on the local economy as well."

Washington - The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved the PRO-IP Act, a bill pushed for by Hollywood studios that would beef up law enforcement dedicated to protecting intellectual property, as well as increase penalties for piracy. "We applaud the members of the House of Representatives for passing the PRO-IP Act, H.R. 4279," said Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) president Dan Glickman. "It is a comprehensive, bipartisan measure that will strengthen our nation's economy and generate more jobs for American workers by bolstering protections for intellectual property."

Beaverton, Ore. - Digital watermarking technology developer Digimarc (NASD: DMRC) said on Monday that it has licensed its patents to Media Sciences International (MSI), which provides forensic tracking services for secure distribution of promotional content to the major record labels. MSI's technology is currently used on over 5 million major label tracks to identify and track leaks of promotional, pre-release music.

New York - New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo on Monday introduced new legislation, endorsed by leaders of the New York State Senate and Assembly, that would increase penalties on those caught trying to record films in movie theaters for piracy purposes.

Shanghai - China’s online video game market is expanding rapidly, with sales forecasted to grow from $1.7 billion in 2007 to $6 billion in 2012, according to a survey released by Niko Partners today.
“This market is attractive because it is leading the way for online games,” said Lisa Cosmas Hanson, managing partner of Niko Partners, according to VentureBeat.

Washington - The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday approved the PRO-IP Act, a bill that would provide more resources for the government to combat intellectual property crimes, increase penalties, and create a White House-level position to coordinate efforts. The bill, which was already amended to remove a portion that would have penalized each track on compilation CDs as a separate infringement, will now move to a vote in the full House; a Senate version of the bill was introduced last fall.

Dublin - Ireland's largest Internet service provider, Eircom, has been sued by the major record labels under the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) on charges of aiding copyright infringement, RTE Business reported.

Prague - The Czech police, working with record label trade group the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), have shut down a computer server at the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic that hosted what they said was one of the largest collections of pre-release music in the world.

Los Angeles - The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) yesterday filed a federal copyright infringement suit against Pullmylink.com, saying the site "contributes to and profits from massive copyright infringement by identifying, posting, organizing and indexing links to infringing content found on the Internet." The site does not host content, but provides links in pop-up windows to third-party video sites where users have posted movies and TV shows.

Brussels - Members of the European Parliament voted 314 to 297 this week to approve a measure that asks member nations not to enact laws whose penalties would interrupt users' Internet access, such as France's recent policy that compels ISPs to disconnect the accounts of repeat file-swappers. The wording calls for the European Commission and member states to "avoid adopting measures conflicting with civil liberties and human rights and with the principles of proportionality, effectiveness and dissuasiveness, such as the interruption of Internet access."

Scottsdale, Ariz. - Propelled by the global expansion of broadband, expanding music catalogs and mobile music downloads, digital music sales will account for 40% of the total worldwide music market by 2012, up from 10% in 2007 and 6% in 2006, according to a report offered Wednesday by market research firm In-Stat.

Beijing - A Chinese court has agreed to hear two multi-million dollar copyright infringement claims brought by major record labels against Chinese search engine Baidu, and Web portal Sohu and its Sogou media search engine, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). The Beijing Intermediate People's Court will hear a $9 million claim against Baidu brought by Universal Music Group, Sony (NYSE: SNE) BMG and Warner Music (NYSE: WMG), who will argue that the search engine aids copyright infringement by providing "deep links" to unauthorized downloads on third-party sites.

Stockholm, Sweden - The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) yesterday filed a $2.5 million copyright infringement lawsuit in Sweden against The Pirate Bay, the notorious file-sharing tracker site. Pirate Bay co-founder Gorrfrid Warg responded to the lawsuit in Sweden's The Local thusly: "the record companies can go screw themselves."

Stockholm, Sweden - Culture and Justice ministers in Sweden have announced plans to introduce legislation that would force ISPs in the country to turn over the identities of suspected illegal file-swappers to copyright owners, the Associated Press reported.

Tokyo - Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun reports that four major ISP groups in the country have agreed to partner with copyright groups to develop a protocol for closing the accounts of subscribers who repeatedly engage in illegal file-sharing.

New York - Broadband provider Verizon (NYSE: VZ) will not be policing its own network for illegal filesharing and reports that a recent test it conducted revealed that the new P4P protocol provides a significant boost in download performance while simultaneously reducing network congestion.

London - Major record label EMI, whose new private equity owners had threatened to leave the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) trade group over costs associated with membership and the group's anti-piracy efforts, has decided to stick with the organization after a cost-saving plan was agreed upon.

Washington - A U.S. House subcommittee on Thursday approved a bill that would beef up the government's protection of intellectual property, after removing a controversial provision that would have increased penalties for pirated compilation CDs by allowing each track to figure as an infringement. The House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property passed the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2007 (PRO IP Act), which would create a White House-level Intellectual Property Enforcement Representative, and new division within the Department of Justice, in addition to raising financial penalties for copyright infringement.

London - The British government has threatened to enact legislation that would compel Internet service providers in the country to take actions to curb illegal file-sharing, if ISPs and entertainment industry interests cannot come up with voluntary policies by April 2009. "The prospect of legislation to ensure ISPs deal with illegal filesharing, and the proposals to beef up IP enforcement show that the government fully understands the importance of copyright to creators," said Geoff Taylor, CEO of the British Phonographic Institute (BPI), a record label trade group.