... EU trade commissioner Karel De Gucht said on Wednesday that an opinion from the European court of justice would clear what he called the "fog of misinformation" surrounding the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.

Read full article.

[via DigitalTrends]

A file-sharing wizard's ridiculous rise and fall. A must read 5 page article on Megaupload and Kim Dotcom in Business Week.

[via boingboing]

The movie industry seems reluctant to alter its entrenched system of "windowing," a sequential release pattern that staggers movie release dates on various platforms, resulting in some viewers waiting months to see a movie already released in other locales.

Studios have long profited off each release window via licensing deals, using each window to build marketing power for the next. But this distribution strategy, analysts say, breeds piracy, and leads to more loss than gain in the long-term.

Read more.

Walt74 sez, "Today about 10.000 people protested the ACTA treaty in Berlin, people in whole Germany went on the streets, 50.000 altogether. Here are my pics from the protests in Berlin.

[via boingboing]

Germany was fully expected to agree to the treaty, but according to the BBC, it delayed signing to "give us time to carry out further discussions." The BBC adds that Latvia, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia have also delayed ratification.

Forbes reports that Germany's balk is a big deal.

"Germany is Europe's biggest economy, and if they refuse to sign this could spell the end for the international agreement, which touches on everything from online piracy to seed patents," reports Forbes.

Read full article.

According to the IIPA, the US core copyright industries – those that produce and provide business software, entertainment software, motion picture, television and home video entertainment, music, and book and journal publishing – remain important drivers of the US economy, contributing mightily to domestic growth and employment, including roughly 6.4 per cent to the US economy, nearly 5.1 million workers or five per cent of all US private sector jobs, and $134 billion annually in revenue from foreign sales and exports. “Increasing exports by reducing trade barriers like piracy and market access barriers is essential to our country’s economic well-being and long term growth,” argues IIPA Counsel.

IIPA recommends that 10 countries be placed on the Priority Watch List in 2012: Argentina, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, India, Indonesia, Russia, Thailand, and Ukraine.

Read full article. IIPA press release.

According to The Raw Story, it is a “peer-to-peer network protocol that enables computers to share files with thousands of others.”

For many this could be the solution movie and music pirates have been waiting for. Essentially it leaves no accountability for website owners.

While lawmakers are dreaming of a censored web, many believe Tribler will be a true nightmare for them.

According to Torrent Freak, the attempt to disconnect users from the Internet for “illegal” purposes will be foiled by the software that has been in the works for the past five years and will make it nearly “impossible” to stop file sharing. “The only way to take it down is to take the Internet down,” stated Doctor Pouwelse of Delft University of Technology to the Daily Mail.

Read full article.

Both shows have spawned "after shows," a growing television phenomenon dedicated to deconstructing that night's program, with tweets, Facebook posts and old-fashioned call-in questions from the audience. The Wall Street Journal reports.

After shows are an old-media solution to a new-media problem: they keep audiences and sponsors engaged with a network by joining in the online conversation, rather than competing with it for viewers' attention. The fact that the after shows are live adds another element of unscripted excitement.

... After shows are cheap to make and capitalize on the fact that more and more television watchers are what Nielsen calls "simultaneous users," 44% of whom look up information on the show they're watching. During the Super Bowl broadcast on Feb. 5, there were more than 12.2 million comments on the game posted to social-networking sites, a 578% increase over last year, according to Bluefin Labs, a research firm. Mobile apps like GetGlue, which now has two million users, allow people to "check in" to a television show, interact with other people who are watching, and accrue rewards from advertisers.

Read full article.

]]> tag:www.textually.org,2012:/tv//5.30225 2012-02-06T15:28:20Z 2012-02-06T15:31:33Z

According to The Guardian, The Pirate Party UK will join an international day of action against controversial copyright agreement ACTA on Saturday with protests planned for London, Glasgow and Nottingham. Pirate Party UK leader Loz Kaye said: "We saw what the combination of protest and political pressure achieved with the dropping of SOPA [the Stop Online Piracy Act]. "But the threats to digital rights and civil liberties aren't over. It's vital that we send a clear message that the people of Europe don't want ACTA." Read full article.

According to The Guardian, The Pirate Party UK will join an international day of action against controversial copyright agreement ACTA on Saturday with protests planned for London, Glasgow and Nottingham.

Pirate Party UK leader Loz Kaye said: "We saw what the combination of protest and political pressure achieved with the dropping of SOPA [the Stop Online Piracy Act].

"But the threats to digital rights and civil liberties aren't over. It's vital that we send a clear message that the people of Europe don't want ACTA."

Read full article.

]]> tag:www.textually.org,2012:/tv//5.30222 2012-02-06T08:52:13Z 2012-02-06T08:55:05Z

European activists who participated in American Internet protests last month learned that there was political power to be harnessed on the Web. Now they are putting that knowledge to use in an effort to defeat new global rules for intellectual property. The New York Times reports. In the U.S. protests , Web sites including Wikipedia went dark Jan. 18, and more than seven million people signed Google’s online petition opposing the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect Intellectual Property Act. Ultimately, even the bills’ sponsors in the U.S. Congress backed down under the onslaught of public criticism. The European activists are hoping to use similar pressure to stop the international Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement , or ACTA, which is meant to clamp down on illegal commerce in copyrighted and trademarked goods. Opponents say that it will erode Internet freedom and stifle innovation. About 1.5 million people have signed a Web petition calling for the European Parliament to reject ACTA, which some say is merely SOPA and PIPA on an international level. Thousands of people have turned out for demonstrations across Europe, with more scheduled for next Saturday. Read full article.

European activists who participated in American Internet protests last month learned that there was political power to be harnessed on the Web. Now they are putting that knowledge to use in an effort to defeat new global rules for intellectual property. The New York Times reports.

In the U.S. protests , Web sites including Wikipedia went dark Jan. 18, and more than seven million people signed Google’s online petition opposing the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect Intellectual Property Act. Ultimately, even the bills’ sponsors in the U.S. Congress backed down under the onslaught of public criticism.

The European activists are hoping to use similar pressure to stop the international Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement , or ACTA, which is meant to clamp down on illegal commerce in copyrighted and trademarked goods. Opponents say that it will erode Internet freedom and stifle innovation. About 1.5 million people have signed a Web petition calling for the European Parliament to reject ACTA, which some say is merely SOPA and PIPA on an international level. Thousands of people have turned out for demonstrations across Europe, with more scheduled for next Saturday.

Read full article.

]]> tag:www.textually.org,2012:/tv//5.30216 2012-02-03T12:40:08Z 2012-02-03T12:42:04Z

Super Bowl ad campaigns are going beyond the field- tapping into social media to leverage the millions of dollars spent on the 30-second or 60-second ads aired during the big game. Bobbi Rebell reports for Reuters video (2:17).

Super Bowl ad campaigns are going beyond the field- tapping into social media to leverage the millions of dollars spent on the 30-second or 60-second ads aired during the big game. Bobbi Rebell reports for Reuters video (2:17).]]> tag:www.textually.org,2012:/tv//5.30209 2012-02-02T15:29:28Z 2012-02-02T15:41:10Z

Access, an organisation that says it is a “new global movement for digital freedom”, has organised an international day against ACTA on February 11, hoping the world comes out in “an unprecedented showing of solidarity” against the treaty. TheNextWeb reports. Access already seen 331,976 people sign its Anti-ACTA petition and has gone one step further to assist in notifying its website visitors of protest events in their local area. The organization has begun listing Facebook events for each protest around the world, motioning for individuals to create their own and request for them to be added to the list. Read full article.

Access, an organisation that says it is a “new global movement for digital freedom”, has organised an international day against ACTA on February 11, hoping the world comes out in “an unprecedented showing of solidarity” against the treaty. TheNextWeb reports.

Access already seen 331,976 people sign its Anti-ACTA petition and has gone one step further to assist in notifying its website visitors of protest events in their local area. The organization has begun listing Facebook events for each protest around the world, motioning for individuals to create their own and request for them to be added to the list.

Read full article.

]]> tag:www.textually.org,2012:/tv//5.30204 2012-02-02T07:52:01Z 2012-02-02T07:55:29Z

Sweden’s Supreme Court just announced it won’t agree to hear an appeal by The Pirate Bay’s founders, meaning the jail sentences and fines imposed by the Swedish Court of Appeals will stand. In other words, Peter Sunde, Fredrik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm and Carl Lundström, who started file-sharing site The Pirate Bay in September 2003, face jail time and have to collectively pony up a fine of 46 million Swedish kronor (US$6.7 million). TIME Techland reports. In April 2009, The Pirate Bay’s founders were found guilty of abetting copyright infringement and sentenced to a year in prison, plus a fine of 30 million SEK (about US$4.2 million at the time). All four appealed, but the Swedish Appeals Court upheld the verdict in November 2010, decreasing the sentence’s jail times, but increasing the fine to 46 million SEK. The group then attempted to bring the case before Sweden’s Supreme Court, but found themselves rudderless this morning after the Supreme Court effectively waved the case off. Read full article.

Sweden’s Supreme Court just announced it won’t agree to hear an appeal by The Pirate Bay’s founders, meaning the jail sentences and fines imposed by the Swedish Court of Appeals will stand.

In other words, Peter Sunde, Fredrik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm and Carl Lundström, who started file-sharing site The Pirate Bay in September 2003, face jail time and have to collectively pony up a fine of 46 million Swedish kronor (US$6.7 million). TIME Techland reports.

In April 2009, The Pirate Bay’s founders were found guilty of abetting copyright infringement and sentenced to a year in prison, plus a fine of 30 million SEK (about US$4.2 million at the time). All four appealed, but the Swedish Appeals Court upheld the verdict in November 2010, decreasing the sentence’s jail times, but increasing the fine to 46 million SEK.

The group then attempted to bring the case before Sweden’s Supreme Court, but found themselves rudderless this morning after the Supreme Court effectively waved the case off.

Read full article.

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