3 Count: Political Prisoner

Jonathan BaileyMarch 27, 2012

2 minutes read

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

1: Kim Dotcom: The US Government is Wrong, Here’s Why

First off today, Ernesto at Torrentfreak is reporting that Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom has spoken out against the criminal case that saw him arrested and his site/assets seized. According to Dotcom, the case against him is “political” and at least some of the infringements listed in the indictment may not be infringements at all or may have serious jurisdictional issues. He also stated that Megaupload’s practice of removing links to files, not the files themselves, is common practice and compliant with the DMCA. He also said that movie studios and other rightsholders routinely worked with Megaupload to remove infringing content via a direct delete system, one that wasn’t required by the law. Dotcom’s extradition hearing is scheduled for August though, in the meantime, Dotcom is out on bail.

2: O2 Users “Downloading porn” are Exposed

Next up today, Sarah Coles at AOL Money writes that, in the UK, a judge has granted permission for Lindsay Honey, who works under the name Ben Dover, to receive the contact information for hundreds of suspected file sharers he believe downloaded one of his pornographic films illegally. Honey, who had actually filed over 13 movies but had 12 of the filings tossed due to ownership issues, will be able to contact the suspected pirates though the courts will restrict closely what the content of the letter is to ensure that it is not too threatening. 02, the ISP involved in the case, had fought to have the requests dismissed but others on its side heralded the restrictions by the court as a major victory for user privacy.

3: Warner Bros Wants Rights Fight With Superman Heirs Decided In Trial

Finally today, Deadline Hollywood is reporting that Warner Brothers has made a tactical move in its ongoing case against the heirs to Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel to try and force the case to be resolved in a high-stakes trial. The case has been ongoing for years and has Siegel’s heirs attempting to terminate agreements with Warner brothers as copyright law theoretically allows them to do. Through various court rulings, they’ve been able to terminate about half of the rights in Superman though Warner is now planning on appealing those rulings and moving things to a trial. If their heirs are successful, the rights will be terminated in 2013 though it will not have an impact on the upcoming Superman film.

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.