It is Friday again and that means that it is time for another episode of the Copyright 2.0 Show.

This week’s a show about site blocking, specifically blocking pirate sites. Not only do we have an update on SOPA and PIPA, but we also have news of The Pirate Bay being blocked in both the Netherlands and Finland. However, once we’re done with that we take another look at the idea of selling “used” music tracks and even a glance at the overall opinion of file sharing in the U.S.

All in all, this is an episode you do not want to miss so start your (legal) downloads!

This week’s stories include:

• Netherlands Moves to Block The Pirate Bay
• Pirate Bay Block in Finland Spawns DDOS Attacks
• Reddit Plans Major SOPA Protest
• Capitol Records Sues ReDigi Over “Used” Audio Files
• NinjaVideo.net Admin Sentenced
• Much, Much More!

You can download the MP3 file here (direct download). Those interested in subscribing to the show can do so via this feed.

Show Notes

About the Hosts

Jonathan Bailey

Jonathan Bailey (@plagiarismtoday) is the Webmaster and author of Plagiarism Today (Hint: You’re there now) and works as a copyright and plagiarism consultant. Though not an attorney, he has resolved over 700 cases of plagiarism involving his own work and has helped countless others protect their work and develop strategies for making their content work as hard as possible toward their goals.

Patrick O’Keefe

Patrick O’Keefe (@iFroggy) is the owner of the iFroggy Network, a network of websites covering various interests. He’s the author of the book “Managing Online Forums,” a practical guide to managing online communities and social spaces. He maintains a blog about online community management at ManagingCommunities.com and a personal blog at patrickokeefe.com.

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday.

1: Dutch Court Orders Companies To Block Pirate Bay

First off today, a Dutch court has ordered two of the country’s biggest ISPs, Ziggo and XS4ALL, to block subscriber access to The Pirate Bay. The action comes after a judge ruled that the reciprocal nature of Bittorrent makes it so that users can not merely download pirated content but must upload as well. In the Netherlands, downloading unlicensed content is legal but uploading it is not. The lawsuit, which was brought by the local anti-piracy outfit BREIN, may be appealed though the ISPs will have to comply with the order as it goes through. BREIN has also said it will be taking similar action against other ISPs in the country.

2: AP, NYTimes, McClatchy, Others Launch NewsRight Online Rights Clearinghouse

Next up today, the AP, New York Times and 26 other news organizations have formed a company named NewsRight to track, monitor and enforce copyright in news-related content. The company, which opened formally last week, is composed of 11 people and is said to be using technology to track news content, understand how it’s being used and, eventually, seek licensing agreements for it. According to a representative for the company, the first year will be spent mostly learning the market for this service with a focus on selling the data its content tracking can generate.

3: Reddit Going Dark for a Day to Protest SOPA Online Censorship Bill

Finally today, the popular social news site Reddit is planning to shut down for a period of 12 hours on January 18 in protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act. The act, which would make it possible for copyright holders to obtain court orders forcing ISPs to block access to “rogue” websites, has been the source of controversy online and the Reddit community has been instrumental in organizing opposition to it. Reddit is also attempting to get Google and other major sites to join them with the blackout.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.

Want the Full Story?

Tune in every Wednesday evening at 5 PM ET for the live recording of the Copyright 2.0 Show or wait and get the edited version Friday right here on Plagiarism Today.

The 3 Count Logo was created by Justin Goff and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday.

1: High Court Day 2: iiNet Says AFACT Lawsuit Inevitable

First off today, yesterday was day 2 in the Australian High Court trial between AFACT and iiNet. AFACT, a consortium of copyright holders, had sued local ISP iiNet claiming they had not done enough to stop infringement. Though iiNet won in both of the lower courts, the appeals court ruling opened the door to a “three strikes” system in the country. AFACT appealed the case to the High Court. The second day focused more on iiNet’s ability to control its customers actions and on AFACTs demands, with iiNet claiming that nothing short of terminating suspected repeat infringers would have been adequate to avoid a lawsuit. The case enters its third day today and is likely to continue next week.

2: Copyright Corruption Scandal Surrounds Anti-Piracy Campaign

Next up today, the Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN has found itself in the center of a controversy as composer Melchior Rietveldt is claiming that the group used his song without permission on various DVDs for the anti-piracy warnings. According to Rietveldt, he was paid to compose a song for an anti-piracy ad to be played at a film festival. However, BREIN (or another party) went on to use the work for warnings distributed on DVDs without any compensation. To make matters worse, a board member of Buma/Stemra (a royalty collection agency), Jochem Gerrits, offered to help but only if he could collect 33% of the earnings. Gerrits has since said his words were misinterpreted but has offered a temporary resignation. That being said, according to BREIN director Tim Kuik, the contract dispute does not actually involve the organization as it is not the distributor nor the client involved.

3: EFF to Copyright Office: Let my Tablets, Consoles, and Phones Go!

Finally today, the EFF is preparing for the next round of Copyright Office hearings on DMCA exemptions and is hoping to expand on exemptions that it helped fight for in the last round. The DMCA prohibits the circumvention of DRM and other digital locks but provides exemptions where it is acceptable. To determine what exemptions are appropriate, the copyright office holds hearings every three years and rules on what new exemptions should be added. Last year, the EFF and other groups argued for an exemption to jailbreak phones and received it. However, the exemption didn’t cover the trafficking of the software to perform the jailbreak nor did it cover other commonly-jailbroken items such as tablets, video game consoles, etc. The EFF is hoping that, with this round, it can earn those exemptions as well.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.

Want the Full Story?

Tune in every Wednesday evening at 5 PM ET for the live recording of the Copyright 2.0 Show or wait and get the edited version Friday right here on Plagiarism Today.

The 3 Count Logo was created by Justin Goff and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday.

1: Google mulls divorcing U.S. Chamber of Commerce

First off today, Google is mulling leaving the Chamber of Commerce, one of the nation’s largest lobbying and trade groups, after the chamber came out in support of PROTECT IP and Stopping Online Piracy Act (SOPA), both of which are acts Google opposes and say threatens the Web due t their inclusion of Web filtering as a possible solution to copyright infringement. Also, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is also mulling parting ways with the Chamber of Commerce for the same reason. The threats of departure follow on the heels of Yahoo!, which quietly dropped its membership last month.

2: Major Usenet Provider Shuts Down Following Court Order

Next up today, Usenet provider News-Service.com is shutting down following a court order from Dutch court ordering the company to remove all infringing content from their servers. Unable to comply with the order, the company has ceased operation as it attempts to appeal the ruling. Though not a well-known company, News-Service.com is Europe’s largest Usenet provider and has many better-known resellers. The company was sued by the Dutch anti-piracy outfit BREIN for allegedly hosting infringing material and enabling piracy.

3: Sixth Judge Rules Against Righthaven

Finally today, in the Righthaven cases, a sixth judge has now ruled against the controversial Las Vegas company saying that they lacked the right to sue in their case, this one against NewsBlaze LLC, and have had the case dismissed. Righthaven came to prominence for suing bloggers and forum admins for illegally posting content from the Las Vegas Review-Journal and the Denver Post. Righthaven claimed that rights to the work were assigned to them but that was later found to be untrue, thus prompting the string of, at times costly, defeats.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.

Want the Full Story?

Tune in every Wednesday evening at 5 PM ET for the live recording of the Copyright 2.0 Show or wait and get the edited version Friday right here on Plagiarism Today.

The 3 Count Logo was created by Justin Goff and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday.

1: Dutch Government To Outlaw File-Sharing and Block The Pirate Bay

First off today, the Dutch government is proposing a major copyright reform that will, among other things, make it illegal to download copyrighted works without permission. Currently under Dutch law, only the uploading of copyrighted works is unlawful but the proposed legislation would change that. Also changed would be the removal of copyright levies currently imposed on blank media such as CDs and DVDs to reimburse copyright holders for personal copying. The Dutch government has said that they won’t be targeting file sharers directly, but will be using the law to block “pirate” websites.

2: Judge to Copyright Troll: Your “Business Model” Isn’t My Problem

Next up today, Righthaven, who has been filing lawsuits on behalf of the Denver Post and the Las Vegas Review Journal against a variety of webmasters and site owners, has dropped its case against Brian Hill, which they had accused of using a photo of a TSA patdown taken by the Denver Post. The case was dropped after the judge, John Kane, chastised Righthaven for not taking any steps to limit damages, such as filing a takedown notice or a cease and desist letter, and accused the group of using the courts as a business rather than as enforcement of copyright. However, Hill’s attorney, David Kerr, has said that, while he’s glad for the dismissal, he is going to press on with the case saying there are still other issues that need to be resolved.

3: Amazon Letter To Labels: Cloud Drive Locker Has Boosted MP3 Sales

Finally today, Amazon has fired another shot across the bow of record labels over its cloud music service, not only reiterating that it feels it doesn’t need licenses to stream customer’s own music from the Web, but that the introduction of their Cloud Player has increased MP3 sales on their site. Though they didn’t provide any figures in their letter, they did reiterate that they were not looking to sign any licensing deals currently though they did say that future planned additions to the player may require licenses and they are in negotiations for those. Big thanks to @ifroggy for the link!

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.

Want the Full Story?

Tune in every Wednesday evening at 6 PM ET for the live recording of the Copyright 2.0 Show or wait and get the edited version Friday right here on Plagiarism Today.

The 3 Count Logo was created by Justin Goff and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday.

1: Google Belgian Copyright Appeal May Decide Search Engines’ Fate in Europe

First off today Google is appealing a decision in Belgium in a case that could drastically change the way the search engine (and others like it) operate in Europe. The case found that Google News violated copyright law by linking to and posting short snippets from articles out of French and German language newspapers in Belgium as, according to the court, there were no fair use provisions for such a use. Google, which lost in the lower court, removed the newspapers involved but the papers came back and demanded 49.1 million euros for the time their content was available. The case could, potentially, end up before Europe’s highest court, thus creating a precedent that may have implications across the continent.

2: Ivi.tv’s Video Service Ordered Shut Down

Next up today, Ivi.tv, a video streaming service that allowed visitors to stream television content from various markets over the Web, has been ordered to shut down. The company claimed to have found a loophole in the law that allowed it to rebroadcast TV stations, claiming to be a cable system under copyright law. However, since Ivi.tv said that it didn’t qualify as such a service under the Communication’s Act, the judge ruled that it was not such a provider at all and ordered it to close its doors. Ivi.tv has said that it plans to appeal.

3: BREIN Seizes Warez Servers, Owners Seize Them Back, May Sue

Finally today, the Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN has suffered a setback in its case against the piracy topsite Swan. In January the group had seized the groups servers, however, the process was done without judicial oversight and now owners of the server has seized it back and contemplating a lawsuit against BREIN claiming the seizure to be unlawful. At least two members of the Dutch Parliament are also asking about the seizure, expressing concern that BREIN gained access to servers that had personal and business data on them without any kind of warrant.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.

Want the Full Story?

Tune in every Wednesday evening at 6 PM ET for the live recording of the Copyright 2.0 Show or wait and get the edited version Friday right here on Plagiarism Today.

The 3 Count Logo was created by Justin Goff and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday.

1: Google Gets Involved in BitTorrent Search Engine Lawsuit

First off today, Google has filed an amicus brief in the ISOHunt case, which is on appeal after the MPAA won in the district court against the Bittorrent tracker, claiming that the district court was right to rule against ISOHunt, but that it did so for the wrong reasons. According to Google, the lower court’s finding that ISOHunt was not eligible for safe harbor protection as it had ignored warnings that there was infringing material. However, Google worries that such a ruling could impact their business and, instead, believes that ISOHunt is liable because it induced copyright infringement, not because it ignored warnings. Google had sought permission from both sides to file the brief but the MPAA declined, though the court permitted the filing over their objections.

2: Google Must Continue to Fight Oracle’s Copyright Claims

Next up today, Google’s ongoing lawsuit with Oracle, which has Oracle accusing Google of inappropriately using JAVA code in Google’s Android operating system, must continue as the judge in the case denied Google’s request for a summary judgement. The judge said that there was not enough evidence for granting such a judgment at this time but denied it without prejudice, meaning that Google will be able to refile after discovery has been completed and additional evidence has been found.

3: BREIN Uses Court Win As Leverage To Wipe Out Usenet Sites

Finally today, the Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN has used its recent court victory over the Usenet site FTD to shut down another 11 such sites, these with a combined total of 900,000 members. BREIN, which won its case against FTD earlier this month, has been busy using the ruling to pressure other sites into closure and, according to their announcement, has been successful. However, there are significant questions about the applicability of the FTD ruling to these cases, which found FTD to be infringing because 13 members of the site also uploaded content to Usenet, and not merely point to it as the site was designed for.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.

Want the Full Story?

Tune in every Wednesday evening at 6 PM ET for the live recording of the Copyright 2.0 Show or wait and get the edited version Friday right here on Plagiarism Today.

The 3 Count Logo was created by Justin Goff and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday.

1: US Trade Agency Releases Final Text of ACTA

First off today the U.S. Trade Agency has released the final draft of the controversial ACTA treaty, which made only minor changes from the previous draft to put to rest a disagreement between EU and U.S. negotiators. The treaty will require nations to do border checks for copyright infringing works, provide means for protecting works online and include injunctions and fines as part of their enforcement measures. The U.S. has announced its intention to sign the agreement as an executive order, meaning without the approval of Congress, though constitutional scholars are questioning if that is possible.

2: Usenet Community Not Guilty Of Copyright Infringement

Next up today, the Usenet community site FTD won at least part of its appeal to Europe’s highest court. The court of the Hague ruled that the service was not liable for copyright infringement for making available copies of a movie by the studio Eyeworks, which had sued the Usenet service provider and won in the lower courts. The court found that FTD was not responsible for “spotting” where users notify each other of the availability of illegal files. However, the court did rule that FTD was liable for “stimulating” illegal uploads via its service. The court also reaffirmed that downloading content is not illegal for personal use in the Netherlands, the home country of FTD, but did say that such a law may violate EU law.

3: South Park Sued for Infringing on Hit Viral Video

Finally today, South Park’s creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker were sued for copyright infringement over a 2007 episode entitled “Canada on Strike” where one of the characters Butters sang a song from the hit viral video “What What (In the Butt)”. The creator of the viral video, the singer Samwell, and the producers of the film, Brownmark Films, have sued South Park for “willful, intentional, and purposeful” copyright infringement and is seeking both an injunction and statutory damages.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.

Want the Full Story?

Tune in every Wednesday evening at 6 PM ET for the live recording of the Copyright 2.0 Show or wait and get the edited version Friday right here on Plagiarism Today.

The 3 Count Logo was created by Justin Goff and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday.

1: Steinbeck Family Lose Latest Round in Copyright Feud

First off today, John Steinbeck’s son and granddaughter have lost their latest battle over his copyrights. An Appeals Court ruled yesterday that the estate and all of his copyrights belong to Elaine Steinbeck, John Steinbeck’s third wife. This decision reaffirmed a lower court ruling on the subject. According to the plaintiffs, Elaine had not met her obligations to Steinbeck’s other heirs and was enriching herself unjustly on the royalties of Steinbeck’s popular works, which include The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden. According to the plaintiffs, they are considering what their next move will be.

2: Pirate Party Leader and Anti-Piracy Boss Clash in Twitter Fight

Next up today, in a very rare public spat, the head of the Dutch anti-piracy outfit BREIN, Tim Kuik, and head of the Dutch Pirate Party Samir Allioui, traded barbs via Twitter. The argument started after Kuik highlighted a Dutch newspaper article about why sharing copyrighted files was wrong. Allioui posted a rebuttal and directed it Kuik and the two began to trade barbs. The, at times vulgar, exchange ended with Kuik saying Allioui had sought a job from BREIN, something Allioui denies. The argument ended this morning, likely after a night’s rest, with Kuik saying that he was done with the “Claptrap party” and was moving on to “real work”.

3: Inflatable Giant Gorilla Attacks Google (for Copyright Infringement)–Scherba v. Google

Finally today Scherba Industries, a companies that makes inflatable gorillas is suing Google for copyright infringement. According to Scherba, Google ran an advertising campaign for its Adwords product that included an image of an inflatable gorilla that looked a great deal like Scherba’s. As a result, Scherba filed a copyright infringement suit against Google seeking a declaratory judgement, an injunction and damages.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.

Want the Full Story?

Tune in every Wednesday evening at 6 PM ET for the live recording of the Copyright 2.0 Show or wait and get the edited version Friday right here on Plagiarism Today.

The 3 Count Logo was created by Justin Goff and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday.

1: ACTA Text Shows US Caved in on Internet Provisions

First off today, more detailed analysis about the semi-final draft of the ACTA treaty are flowing in and the consensus seems to be that it isn’t as bad as feared and, for the most part, seems to be a case of the U.S. dropping many of its requests. Some of the earlier fears, such as three strikes requirements and stringent anti-DRM circumvention language were removed or blunted to the point of being left almost completely open. Despite the softer nature, the treaty does face several tough challenges as the EU Parliament has expressed concern over the treaty and Mexico’s legislature passed a non-binding resolution seeking to remove the country from the treaty until they can analyze it.

2: BREIN and Usenet Portal Face Off In Court Over Legality

Next up today, in the Netherlands the anti-piracy outfit BREIN is in court against the Usenet service FTD over FTD’s alleged copyright infringement. According to FTD, they are merely a service that helps users find content on Usenet but, according to BREIN, FTD’s publishing of locations to find infringing material is tantamount to publication itself. The latter is a similar line of legal logic that worked in another FTD case, this one with the movie studio Eyeworks. The appeal of the Eyeworks case will be heard this week as well.

3: NSA “Yelled” at France Over “Three-Strikes” Legislation

Finally today, it seems that the HADOPI “three strikes” law in France may have an additional critic, the NSA. According to a news report by Le Monde, the NSA “yelled” at their French counterparts over the law, which disconnects alleged file sharers after two warnings. According the report, the NSA was concerned it may increase the use of encryption, making it harder for them to monitor traffic.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.

Want the Full Story?

Tune in every Wednesday evening at 6 PM ET for the live recording of the Copyright 2.0 Show or wait and get the edited version Friday right here on Plagiarism Today.

The 3 Count Logo was created by Justin Goff and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.