Danish Man Turns Himself In for Copying DVDs

Police raid Kim Dotcom's fortified mansion

(NEWSER) - New Zealand police raided the fortified mansion of Megaupload founder "Kim Dotcom" today, and the arrest did not go smoothly. Police tell the AFP that when they arrived, Dotcom, who is also known as Kim Schmitz, "retreated into the house and activated a number of electronic locking mechanisms," eventually barricading himself inside a safe room police had to cut their way into. Once inside, they found Dotcom, 37, near what looked like a sawed-off shotgun. More»

Artist tried to conceal mistake with false evidence

(NEWSER) - An unexpected twist in the Shepard Fairey copyright fight: The artist admits that he lied about which AP photo he used for his Obama Hope poster and submitted fake evidence to support his claim. His lawyers have now dropped him as the legal fight continues. "I am very sorry to have hurt and disappointed colleagues, friends, and family," said Fairey, who added that his actions shouldn't detract from the larger issue of an artist's right to fair use. More»

(NEWSER) - France’s constitutional council today shot down the country’s newly minted “three strikes” law against Internet piracy, Ars Technica reports. The council said the law, which set up an administrative body to punish pirates, violated basic principles of French law, assigning essentially judicial duties to a non-judicial body, and putting the burden of proof on the accused, not the accusers. More»

(NEWSER) - One of the men convicted in the Pirate Bay file-sharing case is demanding a retrial, claiming that the judge is in cahoots with copyright-protection organizations, the Local of Sweden reports. Judge Tomas Norstrom acknowledges being a member of such groups but denies any conflict of interest. Last week, he found four men guilty of making copyrighted files available for downloading on their website. More»

Industry fears revenue meltdown as watching pirated video online goes mainstream

(NEWSER) - The rise of video streaming sites has defeated movie studios' toughest anti-piracy efforts, the New York Times reports. Consumers can watch copyrighted material online—often from sites hosted in countries with slack anti-piracy rules—more easily than ever. The industry estimates "digital theft" now accounts for 40% of all its lost revenue. More»