Streaming Sites Thwart Studios' Piracy Crackdowns

He hopes to test-anti piracy law in court

(NEWSER) - A Danish man has reported himself to police for copying his DVD collection to his computer. Henrik Anderson is looking to test two contradictory Danish laws—one that allows the creation of "personal use" backup copies and another that prohibits the breaking of DRM, or digital rights management, to make such copies. 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»

Execs fear massive downloading will claw into box-office take

(NEWSER) - Canned Fox columnist Roger Friedman is in very good company—the unfinished copy of X-Men Origins: Wolverine has been downloaded more than a million downloads since it was leaked online, TorrentFreak reports. Execs are panicked by the leak—described by Gawker as the "biggest Hollywood crime of the decade"—although 40% of respondents in a TorrentFreak poll said it has made them more likely to see the movie in theaters. More»

Campus prefers education campaign to punishment

(NEWSER) - Northwestern University has a way to decrease peer-to-peer sharing of copyrighted files: send students emails. The system, called Be Aware You’re Uploading, delivers email notifications to active p2p users on the network, Ars Technica reports. BAYU has a successful track record of reducing p2p usage and copyright violations. It’s not a real punishment, but BAYU works by informing users oblivious to illegal uploading. More»

Landmark ruling holds it responsible for copyrighted videos

(NEWSER) - Google is responsible for all the copyrighted content its users post on YouTube, a German court ruled today, in a landmark decision that could have massive implications for online content. The court ordered Google to remove all copyrighted clips brought to its attention, rejecting the web giant's argument that it merely provided the framework for users to post content, Reuters reports. More»