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NEWS ABOUT: file sharing

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 »

Rockers Form Group to Fight for Rights

Coalition aims to give UK bards more control over copyright

(Newser) - Dozens of British rock stars have joined together to form an organization that seeks more control over the music they create, the Guardian reports. The manifesto of the Featured Artists' Coalition calls for bands to have much more say over copyright—one of the issues that spurred founding members Radiohead... 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 »

Flickr Users Help ID Archival Photos

Historical archives find new life online

(Newser) - Flickr users are helping the Library of Congress identify photos in its historical archives, reports USA Today. So far, users have supplied information on 500 photos featured in Flickr's "The Commons" project, which drew 8.2 million views in just 6 months. Both partners are "stunned by the... More »

Pirate Bay Treasure: Total Web Encryption for Privacy

Project could protect all data exchanged between computers from prying eyes

(Newser) - The founders of hugely popular torrent site Pirate Bay have announced ambitious plans to develop technology to encrypt all web traffic to ensure users absolute privacy, reports NewTeeVee. "Transparent end-to-end encryption for the internet"—or IPETEE—would protect all information sent from or received by a PC, including... More »

Justice Breyer's Records Leaked in File-Sharing Snafu

Investment firm staffer leaked data with music

(Newser) - An employee at an investment firm made much more than music available when he used a company computer to access the file-sharing site Limewire, reports the Washington Post. He also made it possible for users to access records of 2,000 of the firm's clients—including Supreme Court Justice Stephen... More »

Piracy Police Accidentally Hit Non-Pirates

Internet TV network furious after misplaced denial of service attack

(Newser) - MediaDefender’s job is to hunt down pirates. The company specializes in seeding piracy sites with fake files, or “spoofs,” frustrating would-be media thieves. There’s just one problem: Its latest victim, Revision3 Corp, isn’t actually pirating anything. An Internet TV network, Revision3 was using file sharing... More »

Woman May Get New Trial in File-Sharing Conviction

Judge says he gave faulty instructions

(Newser) - The judge who presided over America's first music file-sharing trial might call for a do-over, the AP reports. A Minnesota mom was penalized $222,000 for illegal dowloads last fall, but the judge has since discovered that he may have issued faulty jury instructions. That's because a 1993 ruling said... More »

Planted on Networks, Phony Download Infects 500K PCs

Malware masquerading as media file seen widely on sharing sites like Limewire

(Newser) - Almost 500,000 people have unintentionally downloaded an adware bundle from file-sharing networks in the past week, security firm McAfee says, with ugly consequences. Disguised as a music file or popular movies, the phony file is circulating on the eDonkey and Limewire networks. It asks users to install a codec... More »

Virgin May Try '3 Strikes' for File Sharers

Copyright holders pressure British ISPs to unplug users

(Newser) - Virgin Media may become the second ISP to unplug users who share files illegally, the Register reports. The company is in talks with a UK record industry association over a  "three strikes" system, which would disconnect users who share copyright-infringing files after two warnings. "We are taking this... More »

In Surprise Turn, Verizon Embraces File Sharing

'The problem is not peer-to-peer technology, the problem is how you deploy it.'

(Newser) - Verizon announced today that it plans to use peer-to-peer software to speed the deployment of legitimate content over its networks, in a break from the industry’s usually negative stance towards file sharing, the AP reports. Working with a P2P company named Pando Networks, Verizon found that when an ISP... More »

FCC Ready to Defend Net Neutrality

Agency says it will step in to stop ISPs from blocking access

(Newser) - FCC boss Kevin Martin told a hearing yesterday that the government was "ready, willing, and able to step in" to stop Internet service providers from restricting traffic sent by rivals, the Wall Street Journal reports. Comcast is accused of acting improperly by slowing or blocking access to file-sharing sites.... More »

Microsoft Opens Game Creation to Users

Games made by gamers for gamers coming to XBox Live

(Newser) - Microsoft says it's going to bring democracy to video game creation and distribution, MSNBC reports. Microsoft's game-making kit has been a popular download, and the company is now introducing a way for gamers to share the games they make with millions of fellow enthusiasts. They plan to launch a YouTube-style... More »

Not So Fun to Stay on the Pirate Bay

Village People head up groups taking aim at file-sharing site

(Newser) - The Village People head a list of music industry has-beens pondering legal action against file-sharing site The Pirate Bay, after the service was indicted in Sweden for copyright infringement. The artists would join Prince, who’s been on the war path against the site for some time, reports Ars Technica. More »

UK File Pirates Could Lose Net Privileges

Proposed laws would disconnect illegal downloaders

(Newser) - Legislation proposed in the UK would disconnect from the Internet people who illegally download or share files. Under a plan to be recommended in a paper from the government's Department of Media, Culture and Sport, file pirates will face a "three strikes" policy—the first offense gets an email,... More »

A Good Day for EU File Sharers

Telecoms don't have to turn over personal data of illegal download suspects: court

(Newser) - The EU’s high court ruled today that telecommunications companies are not obligated to turn over the personal data of individuals suspected of illegally sharing copyrighted material online, the AP reports. The European Court of Justice said member nations could create laws allowing for the disclosure of file-sharers’ info in... More »

Qtrax Hits Snags

Startup promised free, legal, iPod-compatible downloads rom all the major labels

(Newser) - Startup Qtrax has been promising free, legal music downloads from all the major labels via an ad-supported site that was supposed to launch this morning. Too good to be true? Maybe. On the eve of its debut, things started to unravel, with Warner, Universal and EMI all denying agreements with... More »

Hollywood Had Math Wrong on College Movie Downloads

Study overestimated students' illegal grabs

(Newser) - College students aren't such movie thieves after all. Hollywood laid heavy blame for illegal downloading on colleges when a 2005 study alleged that 44% of domestic industry losses came from students downloading films. Now the industry has revised to 15%, citing "human error" in the study. Critics, however, say... More »

Pirate Bay Prepares for P2P Legal Battle

Copyright holders will finally get a shot at Swedish site

(Newser) - Wildly popular BitTorrent site The Pirate Bay will soon defend itself in court, after years of eluding international copyright interests, the Wall Street Journal reports. Swedish prosecutors will charge the site with “conspiracy to breach copyrights,” a technically-nuanced accusation that is heatedly disputed. The site itself hosts no... More »

FCC to Test 'Net Neutrality' in Comcast Case

Service provider faces investigation over claims of traffic-blocking

(Newser) - The Federal Communications Commission will investigate allegations Comcast hinders file sharing by blocking internet traffic for some users, the AP reports. Reports last year showed Comcast interfered with popular BitTorrent file-transfer protocol. Comcast has denied blocking data, rather claiming it delays such transfers to maximize network efficiency for all users.... More »

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