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NEWS ABOUT: illegal downloading

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Avatar Tops List of Most Pirated Movies

'Dark Knight' and 'Transformers' aren't far behind

(Newser) - The 2009 3D blockbuster Avatar ranks No. 1 on the list of most pirated movies, reports MovieFone via TorrentFreak . Despite director James Cameron's prediction that 3D would discourage illegal copies, pirates still downloaded Avatar 21 million times. (It's still the highest-grossing movie of all time.) Runners-up for... More »

Javier Bardem Wants Treaty Against Movie Pirating

Oscar-winner appeals to UN for actors' rights

(AP) - In No Country For Old Men, Javier Bardem's character mercilessly collected unpaid debts with a deadly bolt gun. Thankfully, he toned down that approach a bit during his appearance today at the United Nations in Geneva, where he argued against the illegal downloading of movies. Bardem said downloading films... More »

Illegal Downloaders' Punishment: Slow Internet

Internet providers strike deal to penalize pirates

(Newser) - Media companies and Internet providers have agreed on a system to put the brakes on the service of users of illegal file-sharing services. The ISPs have agreed to alert customers up to six times if they believe their account is being used to illegally download music and movie, Reuters reports.... More »

New Law Makes Sharing Netflix Log-In Illegal In...

...Tennessee, the first state with an entertainment theft law

(AP) - Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam has signed into law a groundbreaking bill that makes it a crime to use a friend's login, even with permission, to listen to songs or watch movies from services such as Netflix or Rhapsody. The Tennessee measure was pushed by recording industry officials to try... More »

France Warns 100K Illegal Downloaders

Sarkozy's anti-piracy campaign gets into gear

(Newser) - France's campaign to stop illegal downloads is well under way, with the program nicknamed Big Brother sending out warning emails to 100,000 people so far, reports the Guardian . Repeat offenders—whose details are gleaned through service providers—face fines and banishment from the web for a year. It's a... More »

The Most Pirated Movies of 2010

'Avatar' still managed to make out OK

(Newser) - Avatar made more than $2.5 billion dollars worldwide—despite the fact that it was the most pirated movie of 2010. The details:
  1. Avatar (16.6 million illegal downloads)—Avatar also holds the record for most illegal downloads in a year. Last year's most pirated movie, Star Trek, was downloaded
... More »

Judge Kills Off LimeWire

File-sharing site ordered to permanently disable software

(Newser) - File-sharing site LimeWire has been effectively killed off by a court order. A federal judge has issued an injunction ordering the service to permanently disable its software and to end the sharing of unauthorized music files, the Wall Street Journal reports. The popular site was found liable for copyright infringement... More »

Look Out, Downloaders: It Now Pays to Sue You

Virginia lawfirm makes RIAA actions pale by comparison

(Newser) - The recent lawsuit against those who illegally downloaded the Hurt Locker is likely just a sign of things to come. But that's not because the movie industry has suddenly decided to go after pirates; it's because a group of lawyers—they go by the name the US Copyright Group—has... More »

To Save the Music Industry, Ban Music—and Whistling

The copyright arguments aren't going to stop until the day music dies

(Newser) - The music industry wants royalties for the 30-second previews on iTunes—which is "bullshit," writes Nicholas DeLeon for TechGear. It's yet another foolish move in the battle to save the music industry, complains DeLeon. Luckily, he has a "foolproof" way to do just that: Ban music, "... More »

Student Must Pay $675K for Illegal Downloads

(Newser) - A Boston graduate student must pay $675,000 to the music industry for illegally downloading 30 songs, a federal jury ordered today. Joel Tenenbaum, 25, essentially admitted yesterday to grabbing the music via file-sharing network KaZaA. The fine averages out to $22,500 per song—significantly less than the $80,... More »

Minnesota Mom Fined $1.9M for Illegal Music Downloads

Guilty verdict given in do-over of country's first file-sharing trial

(Newser) - A Minnesota woman has been fined $80,000 per song for each of 24 music files she illegally downloaded, CNN reports. The court ordered Jammie Thomas to pay $1.92 million to the Recording Industry of America. Her original trial—America's first for music file-sharing—granted the RIAA just $220,... More »

Danger Mouse's Latest Album a Blank CD

Producer pushes listeners to illegally download, burn songs

(Newser) - Legal wrangling reportedly led to the shelving of Danger Mouse’s latest album; now, instead of dropping Dark Night Of The Soul, the producer behind acclaimed Beatles/Jay-Z mash-up the Grey Album is releasing a book of photographs by director David Lynch—with a blank CD enclosed, XXL reports. “For... More »

Assembly Votes Surprise Non on French Web Piracy Law

(Newser) - The French legislature has put a stop—for now—to an anti-piracy law that would deny Internet access to repeat offenders, AFP reports. The law, a pet of President Nicolas Sarkozy, would deal the ultimate blow to illegal downloaders after three strikes, and replace the current regime of fines and... More »

France Plans to Monitor, Foil Illegal Downloaders

(Newser) - France is poised to enact a far-reaching crackdown on those who illegally download music and movies, the New York Times reports. A new law expected to be approved tomorrow allows the music and film industry to monitor the downloads of individual users and report any violations to a new copyright... More »

Pirated Wolverine Already Viewed by 1M

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"... More »

To Combat Digital Piracy, Try Stealing

Composer pitches real-world thievery to help raise awareness

(Newser) - A Hollywood composer wants you to stop illegally downloading music, and he's willing to put his freedom in jeopardy to make his point. Because the public doesn't seem to equate swapping digital files with stealing, Richard Gibbs is pushing for people to swipe other products in a nationwide "day... More »

Streaming Sites Thwart Studios' Piracy Crackdowns

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... More »

95% of Music Downloads Illegal: Industry

40B tracks shared illegally, group claims

(Newser) - Nearly all—95%—of music downloads globally are illegal, at least according to the industry, Techdirt reports. The numbers come from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and indicate that even a 25% increase in online music purchases last year couldn’t overcome the effects of piracy. According to... More »

Music Industry to Dump Download Lawsuits

RIAA takes new tack in battling online file sharing

(Newser) - After five years of suing everyone from single mothers to teenage girls for illegally sharing music files, the recording industry is dropping the legal campaign that has ensnared 35,000 individuals, the Wall Street Journal reports. Instead, an industry group is making deals with Internet-service providers to warn those sharing... More »

Northwestern Using Emails to Combat File Sharing

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’... More »

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