3 Count: Downward Trend

Trickle down piracy...

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1: Online Piracy Down as Streaming Takes Off

First off today, Colin Mann at Advanced Television reports that new research commissioned by the the UK’s Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has shown that the prominence of legitimate streaming services continues to rise in the country and, with it, piracy is declining.

According to the research, which was performed by Kantar Media, shows that 52 percent of all internet users in the country currently use some form of streaming media. Even better, the percentage of users who get their content exclusively from legal sources is up to 44 percent, a 3 percent increase, while those who pirate content saw a 3 percent decrease, down to 39 percent.

While the news is good, piracy remains a serious problem in the country. Kantar estimates that over 78 million music tracks and 50 million films/tv shows were accessed illegally in the UK over the last year. The report also says that roughly 5% of all users are exclusively consuming illegal content.

2: Apple Patent Could Shut Down Your Phone’s Cameras in Movie Theaters

Next up today, The Washington Post reports that Apple has been granted a patent that may be used to disable phone cameras when they are in theaters, concerts or other places where piracy may be an issue.

The patent, which was filed for in 2011, uses a series of infrared rays to send encoded data that temporarily shuts down the camera. This prevents both photo and video functionality. Apple intended the functionality to be used in places like movie theaters, museums and elsewhere that videotaping and photography is prohibited, but advocates worry it could be abused by governments and police to disable videotaping of their actions.

However, the technology may already be outdated. Since Apple filed for the patent it introduced iBeacons, which uses Bluetooth. This approach has far more flexibility in what it can do and how it works, meaning the use of infrared rays may already be outmoded.

3: How to Make Your Copyright-Infringing Game Legal Again

Finally today, Wesley Copeland at IGN reports that the video game CASE: Animatronics is back on Steam Greenlight after being originally taken down for alleged copyright violations of the popular Five Nights at Freddy’s game series. 

Five Nights at Freddy’s is a series of games by Scott Cawthorn that features the player trying to survive a series of nights while being attacked by a group of evil animatronics. PinkApp sought to create a game that was similar but, rather than using the button-pushing system of the original, wanted to make the game full 3D with roaming and hiding mechanics. Thus, CASE was born.

However, shortly after CASE appeared on Steam Greenlight, which allows users to vote on games they want to see sold on the Steam platform, Cawthorn filed a copyright notice against the game. However, PinkApp took the issues seriously and started work remodeling animatronics and redesigning rooms to look less like Cawthorn’s work. As a result, the game is now back on Steam Greenlight but, this time, with Cawthorn’s blessing.

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.

The 3 Count Logo was created by Justin Goff and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

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