3 Count: Awkward Silence

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

1: Google Spent $100 Million Defending Against Viacom’s $1 Billion Lawsuit

First off today, on an earnings call Google stated that it had spend some $100 million to fend off Viacom’s recent $1 billion copyright infringement lawsuit. The suit, which is under appeal after being dismissed before a trial, may still wind up costing Google even more as additional motions and other actions unfold. This news has raised questions about how much VIacom spent on the suit though that information is not known.

2: U.S. Authorities Shut Down WordPress Host With 73,000 Blogs

Next up today, the blog host Blogerty has been shut down by U.S. law enforcement officials, taking down some 73,000 blogs, though the reasons for the closure are not clear. Many suspect that it is due to copyright-related issues as the removal times out with an ongoing campaign against infringing websites but no proof of this has been presented and both law enforcement officials and the host are being quiet about the reason for the closure. The service, which lacked backups, is still down though linking to a forum threat about the closure.

3: Guns N’ Roses Uploader Laughs Last

Finally today, Kevin Cogill, who was convicted of leaking tracks from the latest Guns N’ Roses album, Chinese Democracy, has not had to fulfill at least one of the requirements of his plea deal. In the deal he was sentenced to home confinement and probation if he agreed to do a PSA on piracy. However, two years later, no PSA has been made and the court’s jurisdiction on the matter has ended. Citing “various elements” including production costs, the RIAA decided not to make a PSA using Cogill, effectively releasing him from that part of his deal.

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.

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