3 Count: Pirate Ads

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

1: Obama’s Commerce Secretary Talks Tough on Music Piracy

First off today, in a sign of what may be to come, Gary Locke, the Commerce Department Director gave a speech to Belmont University in Nashville where he said that piracy is “just an issue of right and wrong” and that copyright issues were “a fundamental issue of America’s economic competitiveness.” He also said that there needs to be greater effort spent on fighting repeat infringers, hinting at the possibility of greater ISP involvement in copyright enforcement.

2: Disney, Warner Bros. Sue to Stop Advertising on Pirate Websites

Next up today, several major copyright holders have filed suit against Triton Media, claiming that the company provides advertising consulting and referrals at least 9 different sites that trade in pirated downloads. The case is somewhat similar to a 2004 one in which Perfect 10 sued Mastercard and Visa for providing “transactional support” to several pirate sites but that case was thrown out after the porn company failed to prove liability. Warner and Disney, who are among the defendants plaintiffs, are hoping to have better luck in a case that could have far-reaching implications, including Google Adsense.

3: Second Newspaper Chain Joins Copyright Trolling Operation

Finally today, Righthaven, the company that was set up to file lawsuits on behalf of the Las Vegas Review-Journal has now taken on a new client. WEHCO Media, which controls some 28 newspapers, has signed on to the controversial service, which has filed suits against a hundred bloggers and webmasters it accues of republishing content from the Review-Journal. The company routinely sends demand letters to sites republishing content they’ve purchased the rights to and demand $75,000 but usually settle for only a few thousand dollars.

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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