3 Count: Enjoining Abroad

Jonathan BaileyApril 25, 2014

2 minutes read

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

1: US Copyright Law Doesn’t Apply Worldwide, “DVD Ripper” Tells Court

First off today, Ernesto at Torrentfreak writes that Chines DVD ripping company DVDFab is asking a New York court to return its domains, social media accounts and payment processing claiming that the injunction was overly broad and impacts them even in countries where their product is legal.

DVDFab had its domains and many of its assets seized because DVD ripping technology, which breaks encryption on a DVD for the purpose of storing it on the user’s hard drive, is illegal in the United States. However, DVDFab claims that the injunction has prevented them from operating in other countries and are asking the court to limit the ruling to the U.S.

When the injunction was first handed down, it was done so by default because DVDFab did not respond. However, AACS, the organization that manages the DVD encryption software, notes that DVDFab has been in violation of the injunction since the beginning, switching to new domains and launching a new brand. Further, the AACS notes that all of the items seized were under U.S. jurisdiction at the time, including U.S. domains and social media accounts.

2: Pirate Download Ban: Dutch Politicians Rebel with Calls of ‘Leave Consumers Alone’

Next up today, Martin Gijzemijter at ZDNet reports that the Dutch Parliament has called for a debate with the Secretary of State for Justice and Security, Fred Teeven, regarding a recently-implemented ban on illegal downloading in the country.

Until recently, the downloading of illegal files, though not the uploading, was legal in the Netherlands. However, a European Court ruled that the country had to reverse that stance and Parliament quickly made an announcement that the downloading of infringing files is now also against the law.

However, now a majority of members in the Parliament are wanting to discuss the ban with Teeven, with at least one party saying that they would rather focus on ways to, “Eliminate the barriers between consumers and the legal supply of music, movies and TV shows.” They go on to say that they feel such bans are ineffective and that they wish to work on real solutions.

3: Nigeria: NCC Nabs 371 Suspected Book ‘Pirates’

Finally today, Adelanwa Bamgboye at All Africa reports that Nigeria, as part of its ongoing copyright crackdown has arrested some 371 suspected book pirates and announced the arrests on National Book Day, which was on April 23rd.

According to representatives, the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) made the arrests over the course of the year as part of their stepped up efforts to stop piracy. Those efforts have also resulted in the seizure of 18 containers of pirated works at various ports and a total of 5.8 million copyrighted works being confiscated, with an estimated value of N7 billion ($43 million).

The announcement was made at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization conference as part of Book Day celebrations.

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.