Entertainment industry wins big victory in its effort to censor the Net in the UK

A victory for them maybe, but it does nothing to stop people despising them.

File-sharing site The Pirate Bay must be blocked by UK internet service providers, the High Court has ruled.

The Swedish website hosts links to download mostly pirated free music and video.

Sky, Everything Everywhere, TalkTalk, O2 and Virgin Media must all prevent their users from accessing the site.

Read more here.

Latest attempt by governments to control the Internet: CISPA

The House of Representatives passed cybersecurity legislation Thursday aimed at protecting American companies from hackers who steal intellectual property.

The bill passed 248 to 168, largely along party lines, despite the Obama administration's threats to veto the bill and its claims that the bill falls short in protecting civil liberties

I don't believe for a second the aim of bills and laws like this are solely for the reasons stated. Can't have all this unbridled free speech, now can we...

Read more here.

British Home Secretary Theresa May puts out for the Americans

Home Secretary Theresa May has approved the extradition to the US of a student accused of copyright infringement.

The US authorities say 23-year-old Sheffield student Richard O'Dwyer's TVShack website hosted links to pirated films and television programmes.

Best bullshit:

A spokesman said Mrs May had "carefully considered all relevant matters" before signing the order.

Yes, she carefully read the "do it or else" letter she received...

Read more here.

The Music Industry's latest bit to rule the Internet in Canada

When Bill C-32 was first introduced, Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore famously characterized opponents as radical extremists. As the hearing on the bill nears its conclusion, it has become apparent that the only radical extremism are music industry proposals that are so over-the-top that they have managed to make the digital lock rules look tame by comparison (which may have been the intent). For Canadian concerned with copyright and the Internet, this really is the final call as the bill will go to clause-by-clause review next week.

Read more here.

EU court to rule on ACTA

The European Union's highest court has been asked to rule on the legality of a controversial anti-piracy agreement.

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (Acta) has been criticised by rights campaigners who argue it could stifle free expression on the internet.

EU trade head Karel De Gucht said the court will be asked to clarify whether the treaty complied with "the EU's fundamental rights and freedoms".

The agreement has so far been signed by 22 EU member states.

Thousands protest ACTA in Europe

Another sleazy attempt by governments and corporations to control the Internet. They were hoping no one would notice...

Thousands of people have taken part in co-ordinated protests across Europe in opposition to a controversial anti-piracy agreement.

Significant marches were held in Germany, Poland and the Netherlands against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (Acta).

Around 200 protesters gathered in central London outside the offices of several major rights holders.

Demonstrators argued that Acta will limit freedom of speech online.

Read more here.

Countering the recording industry written "Bill C-11 Is No SOPA" bullsh*t

Michael Geitst to the rescue as always:

Barry Sookman, lawyer and registered lobbyist for the Canadian Recording Industry Association (now Music Canada), the Motion Pictures Association - Canada, and Canadian Publishers Council, has an op-ed in the National Post claiming that concerns that proposed amendments to Bill C-11 could result in SOPA-style rules in Canada are the stuff of wild claims and hysteria.

The short response is that Sookman's column - along with his clients - downplay the dramatic impact of their proposed amendments. Their proposed amendments to C-11 would radically alter the bill by constraining consumer provisions, heaping greater liability risk on Internet companies, and introducing website blocking and Internet termination to Canada. Several of these provisions are very similar in approach to SOPA in the U.S. and the comparison is both apt and accurate. Moreover, the column leaves the false impression that Bill C-11's digital lock rules are standard when they are widely opposed by numerous stakeholders that Sookman would not dare to call anti-copyright.

There is much more to take issue with in the column and I've done so in paragraph-by-paragraph format below. Sookman's column is posted in italics and my response immediately follows:

Read more here.

MPAA just doesn't understand the Internet

To them, it's all about control...

The MPAA's O'Leary concedes that the industry was out-manned and outgunned in cyberspace. He says the MPAA "is [undergoing] a process of education, a process of getting a much, much greater presence in the online environment. This was a fight on a platform we're not at this point comfortable with, and we were going up against an opponent that controls that platform."

Read more here.

More government moves to control the Internet, this time called ACTA

Sopa and Pipa might be on hold for the time-being, but there is a greater threat looming. It's called the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) and it's an international agreement that aims to establish multinational standards on intellectual property rights enforcement.

Most recently, Acta made the headlines when online activists paralysed some of Poland's government sites to protest against Warsaw's plans to sign the international copyright treaty. They fear that it could lead to censorship on the web. Meanwhile Anonymous has announced over Twitter that it is planning a "huge operation soon" opposing Acta.

Wired.co.uk has created a handy guide to the agreement and how it might affect you. It's worth looking at the introductory video in this post to start with.

Read more here.

Latest in a long series of bids by the Entertainment Industry to control the Net delayed

It's only a tiny victory, but it's good to see those motherfuckers denied what they wanted in the blinding hurry they wanted it.

The US Congress has halted debate on two contested anti-online piracy bills.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid delayed a vote on the Protect IP Act (Pipa) scheduled for Tuesday.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith then said his panel would not consider the Stop Online Piracy Act (Sopa) until a compromise was reached.

The decisions follow protests by online encyclopaedia Wikipedia, and thousands of other websites, which went "dark" in protest for 24 hours earlier this week.

"In light of recent events, I have decided to postpone Tuesday's vote on the PROTECT IP Act," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, said in a statement on Friday.

Read more here.

Anonymous responds to the closing of Megaupload

SOPA/PIPA blackout helps eight US lawmakers see the light

After a 24-hour blackout, Wikipedia has returned to full working order but declared: "We're not done yet."

The site had blocked its content for 24 hours in protest at proposed anti-piracy legislation in the US.

The encyclopaedia said the site had been viewed 162 million times, with eight million people following instructions to contact politicians.

The protest led to eight US lawmakers withdrawing their support for the proposed bills.

Two of the bill's co-sponsors, Marco Rubio from Florida and Roy Blunt from Missouri, are among those who have withdrawn their support after "legitimate concerns".

But backers of the legislation, led by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), described the action as an "irresponsible" publicity "stunt".

Read more here.

The Day The LOLcats Died

MPAA reacts like a spoiled child over SOPA/PIPA protest

WAAAAAAAA, we might not get our way....

A so-called “blackout” is yet another gimmick, albeit a dangerous one, designed to punish elected and administration officials who are working diligently to protect American jobs from foreign criminals. It is our hope that the White House and the Congress will call on those who intend to stage this “blackout” to stop the hyperbole and PR stunts and engage in meaningful efforts to combat piracy.”

Best bullshit:

It is also an abuse of power given the freedoms these companies enjoy in the marketplace today.

They are clueless on the concept of irony.

Read more here.

Hitler Reacts to SOPA

Be a HERO and Help STOP SOPA Now!!

Entertainment industry suffers setback in efforts to control the Net in Europe

The European Court of Justice has ruled that content owners cannot ask ISPs to filter out illegal content.

The ruling could have implications for the creative industries as they attempt to crack down on piracy.

The court said that while content providers can ask ISPs to block specific sites, wider filtering was in breach of the E-Commerce Directive.

A Belgian court had previously ruled that a local rights holder could force an ISP to filter content.

Read more here.

SOPA, the Entertainment Industry's latest bid to rule the Net

Web firms including Google and Facebook have written to the US government in opposition to a proposed bill to combat piracy.

Alongside AOL, Twitter and eBay they claim that the Stop Online Privacy Act poses huge risks to the internet.

SOPA, supported by the music and film industries, aims to give new powers to content providers to help them take offending sites offline.

The US House of Representatives is due to debate the bill on 16 November.

The law would allow content owners to seek court orders to force internet service providers, search engines, payment processors and ad networks to block or cease business with websites linked to online piracy.

Read more here.

European Court of Justice to decide if the Entertainment Industry runs the Net

Soon the European Court of Justice will have to decide whether an Internet service provider can be forced by a music rights group to proactively filter all of its traffic – both inbound and outbound – for copyright infringements. As detailed in a new paper by intellectual property expert Cedric Manara, the notion is fraught with difficulties and the potential for collateral damage huge.

Read more here.

Obama stands for Net Neutrality

President Obama will veto an attempt to repeal the Federal Communications Commission’s net-neutrality rules if it passes the Senate, the White House said in a news release Tuesday.

“The Administration strongly opposes Senate passage of S.J. Res. 6, which would undermine a fundamental part of the nation’s Open Internet and innovation strategy — an enforceable, effective but flexible policy for keeping the Internet free and open,” the White House said.

The House approved a resolution to repeal the rules in April. The Senate version is sponsored by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) and has an additional 42 Republican co-sponsors. It has no Democratic co-sponsors.

Read more here.