3 Count: Piracy Spokesperson

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1: RIAA Wants Infamous File-Sharer to Campaign Against Piracy

First off today, David Kravets at Wired reports that famed file sharer Jammie Thomas-Rasset was approached by the record labels with a proposition to receive a reduction in the damages she owes in exchange for her becoming a spokesperson for the RIAA and their anti-piracy efforts.

Thomas-Rasset was one of thousands of file sharers to be sued by the RIAA during a five-year campaign in the 2000s but she was the first to fight back and take her case to court. However, a jury found her liable for the file sharing and handed down a judgment of $222,000 in damages for the 24 songs in the trial. That judgment was recently upheld by the Supreme Court when it declined to hear the case.

The RIAA, however, recently offered her a chance to reduce the damages in exchange for serving as a spokesperson. No specific amount was listed but Thomas-Rasset has said that she’s not interested and would rather go bankrupt. The RIAA also said that they had sought several other resolutions including donations to charities and non-financial solutions, all of which have been rejected.

2: Amazon Fights $2.4 Million Tax Levy on Blank CDs

Next up today, Eriq Gardner at The Hollywood Reporter Esquire reports that Amazon is continuing its fight against some €1.6 million ($2.4 million) in levies Austria says that it owes for its sale of blank CDs and other writable media.

The levies are placed on a variety of writable media as a means to repay copyright holders for copying that will take place on them. Though not all countries in the EU have such levies, Austria does.

Amazon, after receiving its bill, challenged it in the courts and the European Court of Justice as ruled that the matter needs to return to Austrian courts as EU rules don’t say whether the levies are legal or not, setting the stage for the dispute to drag out even farther.

3: Eidos Disables Your Guns in iOS Deus Ex, If Your Device is Jailbroken

Finally today, Mike Fahey at Kotaku reports that video game maker Eidos released an iOS version of its popular Deus Ex franchise yesterday but much of the attention has been focused on the game’s digital rights management (DRM) scheme.

The game, named “Deus Ex: The Fall”, has a special protection built into it that prevents users from firing their guns, a core component of the game, on devices that are jailbroken. This includes individuals who use jailbroken devices but purchased the game legally.

Gamers are angry that there was no warning in the app store and many customers who bought the game are unable to effectively play it due to the protection. Eidos has not responded to the complaints.

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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