3 Count: Changing the Guard

Sherman's march to retirement...

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

1: Blizzard Beats “Cheat” Maker, Wins $8.5 Million Copyright Damages

First off today, Ernesto at Torrentfreak writes that Blizzard Entertainment has won a default judgment against Bossland, a German company that makes cheats for various Blizzard games.

Blizzard sued alleging that the company was violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) by reverse engineering their games and breaking their digital rights management protection. Bossland initially fought back against the case on the grounds of jurisdiction but, after the court ruled against them, Bossland simply stopped showing up in court.

While the court awarded Blizzard $8.5 million in damages they may have a tough time collecting. Since Bossland is located in Germany, Blizzard will need to go to that country to collect on the damages. However, a German court is unlikely to award them since Bossland was not part of the trial that awarded the damages.

2: Amazon bans “certain” media streamers, but are Kodi-loaded boxes barred?

Next up today, Kelly Fieash at Ars Technica UK reports that Amazon is clamping down on piracy steaming boxes sold on its service and has told its sellers it may destroy any inventory it has i its fulfillment centers.

At issue are streamers similar to the Kodi, which uses illegal channels to obtain video and stream it to a television. Recently a UK high court approved requiring ISPs to block servers for some of these streaming services and, sometime shortly after, Amazon updated its Europe Busines Solutions Agreement to bar such streamers from their store.

It’s currently unclear if the Kodi streamer itself is prohibited as the list of specific players is not publicly available.

3: Mitch Glazier Tapped to Succeed Cary Sherman as CEO of RIAA

Finally today, Ted Johnson at Variety reports that Cary Sherman, the CEO of the Recording Industry Artists of America (RIAA) will step down in January 2019 and, in his place, will be Mitch Glazier.

Sherman, who has served as the CEO for seven years, first joined the RIAA in 1997 as general counsel. Before that, he served as outside counsel to the RIAA. During his time at and with the organization, Sherman has been involved in everything from the 1995 Digital Performance Right in Sound Recordings Act, the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the Grokster case.

However, Glazier has been with the RIAA almost as long. Having started in 2000. Before then, he was chief counsel for intellectual property to the House Judiciary Committee.

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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