Recently in movie/music piracy Category

By Mitch Bainwol and Cary Sherman

As many in the higher education community are well aware from news coverage here and elsewhere, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), on behalf of its member labels, recently initiated a new process for lawsuits against computer users who engage in illegal file-trafficking of copyrighted content on peer-to-peer (P2P) systems. In the new round of lawsuits, 400 of these legal actions were directed at college and university students around the country. The inclusion of so many students was unprecedented. Unfortunately, it was also necessary.

Continue reading "Explaining the Crackdown on Student Downloading"

More than one million counterfeit discs containing pirate music and films were seized by police in a major street operation in downtown Guatemala City it was revealed today.

Guatemalan National Police worked in coordination with the Attorney General's Office to launch a massive raid involving 560 officers on 9th February 2007. The officers raided 80 points of sale in the infamous 'Avenida 6' market.

"For the third year in a row, the U.S. government has placed Canada on its 'watch list' for a lack of IPR (intellectual-property rights) enforcement, which means this country is in the same company as notorious film-piracy hubs such as Lebanon, China, the Philippines and Russia."

Continue reading "Canada - King Of Pirates"

In November over 2m pirated CDs and DVDs were impounded from the streets of São Paulo, Brazil’s biggest market for illegal wares. The Association for the Defence of Intellectual Property estimates that the country’s annual trade in fake goods is worth $198m. Under pressure from international manufacturers, São Paulo’s mayor, Gilberto Kassab, has toughened the penalties for pirating. From October 30th sellers of illegal goods may lose their trade licences for up to ten years. In the past, they would merely lose their merchandise, so they could restock within days.

Schwarzenegger arrived in Beijing on Monday to start a six-day mission to promote California products and encourage Chinese officials to crack down on the piracy of copyrighted music, movies and software.

The governor will visit Shanghai and Hong Kong later in the week. In Hong Kong, he will kick off an anti-piracy public-service campaign starring himself and action star Jackie Chan.

Old as the Barbary Coast, New as the Internet - No black flags with skull and crossbones, no cutlasses, cannons, or daggers identify today’s pirates. You can’t see them coming; there’s no warning shot across your bow. Yet rest assured the pirates are out there because today there is plenty of gold (and platinum and diamonds) to be had. Today’s pirates operate not on the high seas but on the Internet, in illegal CD factories, distribution centers, and on the street. The pirate’s credo is still the same--why pay for it when it’s so easy to steal? The credo is as wrong as it ever was. Stealing is still illegal, unethical, and all too frequent in today’s digital age. That is why RIAA continues to fight music piracy.

By Thomas Mennecke -

Intellectual Property rights are a topic often discussed in file-sharing circles. Of course, the RIAA is holder of most of the Intellectual Property rights (90%) of music bought and sold in the world today. While the RIAA blames file-sharing as the root of its losses, it can take some comfort in knowing it’s not alone.

In fact, the RIAA isn't even close to being alone, as intellectual property theft has truly become an all-encompassing empire. Anything from drugs & medical equipment to computer equipment is a potential counterfeiting target.

How criminals make a killing on fake DVDs

By Stephanie Bell -

PARAMILITARY godfathers and crime bosses are now making more cash from pirate DVDs than drugs.

Loyalist and republican terrorists are raking in a fortune selling copies of Hollywood's latest blockbusters - often before their Northern Ireland releases.