3 Count: Right to Despair

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

1: Apple Backs National Right-to-Repair Bill, Offering Parts, Manuals, and Tools

First off today, Kevin Purdy at Ars Technica reports that Apple has announced that it supports a nationwide right-to-repair law, saying that it would make its parts, tools and documents available to both third-party repair shops and customers.

Apple has long been one of the largest opponents of right-to-repair legislation, citing issues of safety and security. However, the company recently supported a California state right-to-repair law and now has stated that it would support a similar one on the federal level.

One of the obstacles supporters of a federal law cite is copyright, both in terms of copyright on the documentation and related to circumventing digital protections. An advocate for right-to-repair legislation said that they hope congressional intellectual property subcommittees will take up that issue this session.

2: ACE Shuts Down India Sports Piracy Site

Next up today, Colin Mann at Advanced Television reports that the anti-piracy group Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) has shuttered the India-based illegal streaming site watchwrestling.ai.

According to ACE’s press release, the site received more than 253 million visits in the past year and drew in viewers from all over the world, including the United States and the United Kingdom.

To secure the shutdown, ACE worked closely with the sports streaming service DAZN, which is also an ACE member. The site now redirects to the ACE website, specifically their page on legitimate sports streaming services.

3: Instagram and Facebook ‘Flag’ IPTV Searches Over Piracy Concerns

Finally today, Ernesto Van der Sar at Torrentfreak writes that Meta, the owners of Instagram and Facebook, have filed a response with the United States Trade Representative (USTR), attempting to rebut allegations that it is a “notorious market” for copyright and trademark infringing goods and services.

The USTR is undergoing its annual Special 301 process, which involves getting input from various rightsholders and trade groups on foreign countries and businesses that present copyright challenges. However, several of the filings have mentioned Meta-owned services, prompting this response from the company.

In its response, Meta highlighted anti-piracy tools that they operate, including a new “intervention” popup on questionable search terms, and said that it supports the Special 301 process but says it should only be used to target foreign countries and companies, not domestic ones.

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