3 Count: More AI Issues

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1: Mark Zuckerberg Gave Meta’s Llama Team the OK to Train on Copyrighted Works, Filing Claims

First off today, Kyle Wiggers at TechCrunch reports that recently unredacted documents reveal that Meta knowingly used pirated content when training its Llama AI system.

The lawsuit was filed by authors alleging Meta of copyright infringement in training their AI systems. Meta, for their part, has argued that using copyrighted content for AI training is protected under fair use.

However, a document released in the case reveals that Meta deliberately used the LibGen library to train its AI systems. LibGen is known as a “shadow library” that hosts pirated content from various publishers. In addition to using pirated content, the new document reveals that Meta stripped copyright management information from the content it used, raising a separate copyright issue. Perhaps most controversial of all is that Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, approved the move.

2: Korean Broadcasters Sue Naver for Unauthorized Use of News Content in AI Training

Next up today, Hyun Ki at KoreaTechToday reports that South Korea’s leading broadcasters, KBS, MBC and SBS have filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Naver, accusing it of training AI systems on their content without permission.

The Korean Broadcasters Association represents the broadcasters. The lawsuit accuses Naver of using broadcaster content to train AI systems without a license. They are suing for both intellectual property violations and Unfair Competition Prevention Act violations.

The associations sent notices to Naver and other companies in December 2023 warning them that such training was not permitted. They claim that Naver never responded to their demands, prompting the lawsuit.

3: Man Jailed For Pirate IPTV Used By “Hundreds of Thousands” Had 2,000 Users

Finally today, Andy Maxwell at Torrentfreak writes that, in the UK, Gary McNally has been sentenced to two years and nine months in prison for his role in operating a pirate IPTV service.

McNally was arrested following raids in 2021. At the time, he was accused of running a pirate service with “hundreds of thousands of users.” However, the latest estimate of the number of users is just 2,000, at least a 50x reduction in the number of alleged users.

McNally was sentenced to prison for fraud charges related to the business. He was accused of operating the service between November 2017 and June 2020. According to prosecutors, he gained access to the content through a legitimate subscription that he then offered to others. There is no indication why the initial estimate was so far off.

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