3 Count: In Session

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

1: Can Congress Force Google to Remove Pirate Sites From Search?

First off today, in the U.S., the House Judiciary’s Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet has convened today and is holding hearings on piracy-related issues. With a long list of witnesses, the topic seems to be focused on how to deal with piracy, with acting Registrar of Copyrights, Maria A. Pallante, suggesting that Congress focus on “starving” pirate sites by cutting off advertising and other revenue streams. Others wondered if Congress could force Google to remove “rogue” sites from its index. The hearings are ongoing and further updates are very likely tomorrow.

2: iiNet Calls for Piracy Mediator

Next up today, Australian ISP iiNet, fresh off its victory over the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) in the courts, has created a proposal that it thinks will balance the interest of copyright holders and ISPs in the country. The proposal would call for an independent third party, possibly a government agency, to act as an intermediary between copyright holders, ISPs and consumers. This third party would be responsible for all communication between the three parties, thus ensuring privacy of information, and would be able to impose penalties on suspected file sharers but not as far as disconnecting them.

3: New York Man Guilty of Pirating ‘X-Men Origins’

Finally today, New York resident Gilberto Sanchez has plead guilty to one count of uploading a copyrighted work being prepared for commercial distribution, a crime that carries a maximum sentence of 3 years in prison and a fine of either 250,000 fine or twice the gross gain or gross loss attributable to the offense. According to Sanchez, he uploaded a copy of the movie “Wolverine” one month before its slated release date and promoted it on two sites. Sentencing for Sanchez is on September 19.

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.