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Court holds European ISPs can't be forced to filter traffic, users free to fly the jolly roger

James Trew — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 18:12:00 EST

It's been a sliver under a month since UK ISP British Telecom was ordered to cut all ties to filesharing site Newzbin 2. Now, a European court decision deals a counter blow to media owners by denying their demands to hustle ISPs into tracking freeloading downloaders. Specifically, the court held that it was illegal to force an ISP to install and maintain a system filtering all of its traffic as it could infringe customer privacy rights. While the decision will prove unpopular in big-wig boardrooms, joe public will no doubt be pleased with the court's upholding of both net neutrality, and of course not having to shred quite as many strongly worded letters from his or her ISP.

Court holds European ISPs can't be forced to filter traffic, users free to fly the jolly roger originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Nov 2011 18:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ISP's agree on Copyright Alert System, plan to notify you to death for piracy infringements

Darren Murph — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 09:12:00 EST

Too little, too late, we're afraid. For the past decade or so, the RIAA (amongst others) have spent every waking hour figuring out how to best sue and frighten every internet-connected human that even dares think about an illegal download. Now that said practice has failed miserably, it's finally resorting to something sensible. The entity announced today that AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Cablevision have teamed up with the RIAA and MPAA in order to agree upon a six-stage notification system that'll electronically alert internet users whenever their account is used for wrongful downloading. It's actually not all that much different than the systems that have been in place at Suddenlink for what feels like eons, but at least this creates a standard protocol that the whole lot can adhere to. Oh, and before you ask -- under no circumstances will any of these notices result in termination of your broadband connection. There's no way an ISP would agree to such a thing, and indeed, they haven't here. The full run-down can be delved into below, but it's worth noting that no extra "watching" procedures are being put into place; your ISP will only drop you a line if a content overlord asks 'em to. Good times, no?

Continue reading ISP's agree on Copyright Alert System, plan to notify you to death for piracy infringements

ISP's agree on Copyright Alert System, plan to notify you to death for piracy infringements originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jul 2011 09:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Poll: Are you renting / buying more or less Blu-ray discs these days?

Richard Lawler — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 14:01:00 EST

Even as the supply of great Blu-ray discs continues to increase, so do the competing ways to get movies, even in HD. So we're wondering if the advent of streaming and downloading is cutting into your disc based movie habits yet, or if you're still addicted to those old platters. Let know how it's going in the poll results and comments below.

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Poll: Are you renting / buying more or less Blu-ray discs these days? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 27 Mar 2011 14:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bizarre survey finds digital copy preferable to downloading

Darren Murph — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 18:40:00 EST

Maybe we're just off our rocker, but we can't figure out what NPD Group hoped to actually discover from this here survey to save our lives. Apparently these folks asked around 1,500 movie buyers (read: clearly not movie thieves) if they preferred purchasing a video that included digital copy or simply downloading it from the internet. Shocker: 79% said they favored the digital copy, while only 21% confessed that they'd rather get a low quality rip from a shady website that could potentially infect their computer with some rare strain of virus. Seriously, what's the point? If you're buying a film in the first place, why wouldn't you want the studio to do the hard work for you and include a portable copy? At any rate, this groundbreaking poll also revealed that 38% of those interested in digital copy "appreciated having a physical disc as a backup," while 27% admitted that they would be "more inclined to buy a portable device in order to take advantage of the digital copy feature." Moral of the story? Let us know, will you?

Filed under: Industry, Blu-ray, Other formats, Internet

Bizarre survey finds digital copy preferable to downloading originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 14 Dec 2008 18:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MPAA admits it overstated the effects of college piracy, times it made a beer run

Nilay Patel — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 16:04:00 EST

The MPAA has never been too high on college kids -- remember the dishonor roll? -- but it looks like Hollywood set is bummed about not being invited to that last kegger, because the MPAA is now admitting that it drastically overstated the effect of college downloading in previous studies. Back in 2005, the MPAA claimed that a whopping 44 percent of revenue losses came directly at the hands of carefree coeds nationwide, and used that number to pressure colleges into enforcing harsher downloading policies and even propose legislation currently before Congress that would tie federal education funds to copyright enforcement requirements. We're not sure why the industry is now backing off that 44 percent number, but it's now saying that "human error" resulted in a miscalculation, and the revenue loss from college piracy is more like 15 percent -- a number which is further disputed by campus IT groups, who say it should be more like three percent. Of course, while it's good to see the MPAA take an upfront stance on this, simply admitting you're sleazy doesn't actually wipe the slime off, so let's see how the industry approaches future studies, shall we?

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

MPAA admits it overstated the effects of college piracy, times it made a beer run originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Jan 2008 16:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ad-supported streaming to trump download-to-own content in 2008?

Darren Murph — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 04:04:00 EST

It's a notion that may surprise some folks at first listen, but truthfully, it tends to make sense. Download-to-own video didn't see stellar growth in 2007, and according to a number of industry execs on a panel at CES, content ~~guardians~~ distributors could be opting for ad-supported streaming to pull in revenue. According to Fox's Dan Fawcett, he thinks that "people like to watch on an impulse," and furthermore, he stated that these same folks "want to watch for free because they can get content for free via piracy." Granted, we'd say that's a fairly bold assertion to make, but it's not really that hard to understand why unattractive DRM-laced programming -- you know, the kind that can only be played back on certain players and whatnot -- isn't being accepted with open arms.

Filed under: Industry, Internet, New content

Ad-supported streaming to trump download-to-own content in 2008? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Jan 2008 04:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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RIAA not suing over CD ripping, still kinda being jerks about it

Nilay Patel — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 12:16:00 EST

Okay, so we've done some digging into the RIAA's lawsuit against Jeffery Howell, in which the industry is claiming that ripped MP3s are "unauthorized copies," and it turns out that Jeffery isn't actually being sued for ripping CDs, like the Washington Post and several other sources have reported, but for plain old illegal downloading. As we're all unfortunately aware, that's pretty standard stuff; the big change from previous downloading cases is the RIAA's newfound aggressiveness in calling MP3s ripped from legally owned CDs "unauthorized copies" -- something it's been doing quietly for a while, but now it looks like the gloves are off. While there's a pretty good argument for the legality of ripping under the market factor of fair use, it's never actually been ruled as such by a judge -- so paradoxically, the RIAA might be shooting itself in the foot here, because a judge wouldn't ever rule on it unless they argue that it's illegal. Looks like someone may end up being too clever for their own good, eh?

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

RIAA not suing over CD ripping, still kinda being jerks about it originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 30 Dec 2007 12:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jammie Thomas to appeal $222,000 RIAA file-sharing suit

Nilay Patel — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 04:27:00 EST

Nothing's been filed yet, but Jammie Thomas and her lawyer were on CNN today discussing that ridiculous $222,000 damage award for sharing songs on Kazaa and confirmed that they will, in fact, appeal. The exact nature of the appeal is still up in the air, but Thomas' lawyer says it'll have to do with whether or not Thomas actually transferred a song to another Kazaa user or just made it available on the network. That's a pretty unsettled part of the law and a fairly weak part of the RIAA's case, but we'll have to wait and see what the actual appeal says before we'll have an idea of how this will play out. Peep the full interview on CNN at the read link.

[Via TG Daily]

Filed under: Portable Audio

Jammie Thomas to appeal $222,000 RIAA file-sharing suit originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Oct 2007 04:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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RIAA wins first-ever file-sharing case to go to trial, awarded $222,000

Nilay Patel — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 18:21:00 EST

The first RIAA file-sharing case to go to trial just wrapped, and sadly, the outcome isn't a positive one. Regardless of the incredibly asinine and consumer-hostile comments made by Sony BMG's head of litigation the other day, the jury found Jammie Thomas, a single mother from Minnesota, liable for willful copyright infringement and awarded the RIAA plaintiffs $222,000 -- that's $9,250 for each of the 24 songs she was alleged to have made available on Kazaa, for those of you keeping track at home, and probably something like, oh, say, $222,000 more than she should have had to pay, since the RIAA plaintiffs weren't required to show that Thomas had a file-sharing program installed on her machine or that she was even the person using the Kazaa account in question. Of course, this is just one case and there's always the possibility of appeal, but anything that emboldens the RIAA's litigation team is never good for the general public.

Disclaimer: Although this post was written by an attorney, it is not meant as legal advice or analysis and should not be taken as such.

Filed under: Portable Audio

RIAA wins first-ever file-sharing case to go to trial, awarded $222,000 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Oct 2007 18:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Know Your Rights: What to do when the RIAA comes calling

Nilay Patel — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 19:37:00 EST

Know Your Rights is Engadget's new technology law series, written by our own totally punk copyright attorney Nilay Patel. In it we'll try to answer some fundamental tech-law questions to help you stay out of trouble in this brave new world. Disclaimer: Although this post was written by an attorney, it is not meant as legal advice or analysis and should not be taken as such.

Preface: There's been a lot of discussion about the RIAA's, shall we say "controversial" (and we're being generous here) tactics in suing P2P users who download copyrighted content; especially this week, what with the EFF releasing its "RIAA v. The People: Four Years Later" report. But it's never been easy to find information about the nuts-and-bolts of what happens when you get that first letter from the RIAA. We're not going to get into our feelings about the RIAA and MPAA (you probably already know what we think), but since we've (read: Nilay) been involved in a couple successful defenses -- and a lot of unhappy settlements -- we thought we'd try and break down the process for you. We're not telling you how to avoid or get out of trouble with the RIAA, just how it is that trouble usually operates.

Help! I'm being sued by the RIAA!

Wow, bad luck for you. The RIAA really only sues about 6,000 people a year, mostly those who use FastTrack clients like Kazaa. Users of other networks have been sued, of course, but it's by far Kazaa users who get sued the most often, and generally those who have been unknowingly sharing files. That's a drop in the bucket compared the to estimated nine million people who use P2P software every month.

Continue reading Know Your Rights: What to do when the RIAA comes calling

Know Your Rights: What to do when the RIAA comes calling originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Aug 2007 19:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report shows adults biggest consumers of mobile games

Sean Cooper — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 17:36:00 EST

Middle aged gamers for teh win (or something)! The NPD Group is reporting that in an average month, 29 million cell owners play games on their mobile devices and more than 7 million download games -- though there isn't any mention of where they are downloading from. NPD further break this down with 29 percent downloaded by people aged 24 - 34, 27 by the 18 - 24 set, and 15 percent by the youngest group aged 13 - 17. No shocker here -- the oldest group typically has the means, a credit card to shop with, and depending on the career choice, time.

[Via mocoNews]

Filed under: Games, Studies

Report shows adults biggest consumers of mobile games originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Apr 2007 17:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Blockbuster in talks to buy Movielink

Evan Blass — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 11:42:00 EST

Ever since it began offering consumers the then-innovative option to have their DVD rentals delivered by US mail, Netflix has been a major pain in Blockbuster's ass. And just when the retail giant finally began to leverage its brick and mortar locations to offer its own online subscribers a sweeter deal, Netflix swoops in and announces it's Watch Now feature: free streaming flicks for all. So it didn't surprise us one bit to learn that the Wall Street Journal is reporting on talks between the rental stalwart and 'veteran' download service Movielink, a deal that, if closed, would give Blockbuster easy entry into the nascent and exciting world of internet-delivered video content. Giving some weight to this rumor is the fact that BB CEO John Antioco has already expressed interest in offering a so-called 'triple-play' -- wherein consumers can get their movies in-store, by mail, or online -- along with the ongoing pressure from investor and board member Carl Icahn to return the company to its glory days. Movielink -- which is jointly owned by the major studios -- is said to be on the table for only about $50 million, although its significance to Blockbuster is probably much greater than that valuation. Watch Now, TiVo with Unbox, BTEN, and now this potential pairing -- these are exciting times, people, and once all the dust settles in this battle to pwn digital downloading, it's the end who user who's gonna benefit most.

[Via ZatzNotFunny]

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Report: Blockbuster in talks to buy Movielink originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Mar 2007 11:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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