Too little, too late, we’re afraid. For the past decade or so, the RIAA (amongst others) have spent every waking hour figuring out how to best sue and frighten every internet-connected human that even dares think about an illegal download. Now that said practice has failed miserably, it’s finally resorting to something sensible. The entity announced today that AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Cablevision have teamed up with the RIAA and MPAA in order to agree upon a six-stage notification system that’ll electronically alert internet users whenever their account is used for wrongful downloading. It’s actually not all that much different than the systems that have been in place at Suddenlink for what feels like eons, but at least this creates a standard protocol that the whole lot can adhere to. Oh, and before you ask — under no circumstances will any of these notices result in termination of your broadband connection. There’s no way an ISP would agree to such a thing, and indeed, they haven’t here. The full run-down can be delved into below, but it’s worth noting that no extra “watching” procedures are being put into place; your ISP will only drop you a line if a content overlord asks ‘em to. Good times, no?

Continue reading ISP’s agree on Copyright Alert System, plan to notify you to death for piracy infringements

ISP’s agree on Copyright Alert System, plan to notify you to death for piracy infringements originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jul 2011 09:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pirate Bay on MPAA, RIAA most ‘notorious’ list
Entertainment trade groups release list of six “notorious” pirate Web sites, along with list of countries they say have inadequate intellectual-property protections.

Read more on CNET

More fallout from last week’s U.S. Government Accountability Office report on the entertainment industry’s piracy numbers. The gist of the report was that the government (and you and I) should never believe what the entertainment industry has to say again re: piracy because it was pulling data completely out of thin air. “Oh, 44 percent of all unauthorized file-sharing comes from universities, so you universities have to install filters to prevent students from downloading this and that, and we’ll need new laws passed to protect our dying business methods. Oh, wait, sorry, math error, that’s only 15 percent of unauthorized file-sharing. What, you want to know where we got these numbers from? Sorry, can’t tell you, trade secret, but please pass favorable legislation anyway, kthxbye.”

Somewhere in that rambling mess of dialogue is today’s story. The Motion Picture Association of America had refused to cooperate with the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s investigation into entertainment industry piracy figures. The GAO wanted to know how the movie industry came up with its doom-and-gloom numbers, but the MPAA said, “Nope, we’re not telling.”

What, the government is supposed to take the MPAA at its word? Ha!

Flickr’d

I don’t get it either, mister

There really isn’t any particular point to the following story other than to get you riled up as your begin your weekend. The U.S. government is actively trying to figure out how best to handle intellectual property rights, so it has asked the concerned parties to submit all sorts of information in order to better understand what’s going no. The person in charge of this is the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, and what the RIAA and MPAA have submitted borders on the insane. Well, it would border on the insane if it weren’t totally their modus operandi. The most glaring “suggestion”? That computer users install software that would scan the contents of their hard drives, looking for examples of “infringement.” If the software discovers what it thinks it infringement, bam! Deleted! I’d be surprised if this were the year 2001, but after so many years of insane RIAA/MPAA stories it’s hard to be shocked anymore.

The exact verbiage of the suggestion reads:

There are several technologies and methods that can be used by network administrators and providers…these include [consumer] tools for managing copyright infringement from the home (based on tools used to protect consumers from viruses and malware).

So, the same technology that protects you from Internet nonsense—”hey, knucklehead, that 1MB DVD rip of “Avatar” you’ve got there is a trojan, delete it—would instead be used to spy on you. A sort of, “Well, look at that, the new LCD Soundsystem album before its official release date? Where did you get that from? No worries, we’ll just delete it right now… OK, as you were.”

That’s not a world I want to live in.

Then again, this is a world where volcanoes are exploding left, right, and center; meteorites are falling from the sky; and Manchester City might actually get fourth place, so who knows what’s going on anymore.

The funniest is that the RIAA/MPAA expects federal agencies, like the FBI, to keep an eye out for pirates on opening weekend.

Yes, because our nation’s law enforcement officials have nothing better to do than make sure people aren’t recording Kick Ass for later CAM distribution…

Again, it would be funny if weren’t utterly predictable.

via Tom’s Guide

Flickr’d

You know how you read stories that say the U.S. loses X-amount of jobs per year due to piracy, or that this or that industry loses zillions of dollars per year because of piracy? The Government Accountability Office just released a new report [PDF alert!] that says that all of those reports are flawed and are completely worthless. In other words, the next time you hear the MPAA say “Downloading that DVD rip will ruin the movie industry” you can safely say, “Really? Where’s the proof?”

There’s a few things going on here. The MPAA and the like are quick to point to studies that show, for example, that the U.S. looses $200 billion per year because of piracy. That’s an old FBI study, but one that apparently nobody in the FBI can find any actual information about. Imagine writing a book report on a book that doesn’t exist—that’s sorta what Hollywood does when it cites said FBI study.

Another common flaw among these studies: they automatically assume that one download is equivalent to one lost sale. Just because some kid downloaded a Jay-Z album doesn’t mean he was ever going to buy that album in the first place. All that assumption does is heavily inflate the numbers, tilting them to the industry’s favor.

Just something to keep an eye out for.

This is a bit too much: the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA)—of which the infamous MPAA and RIAA are a part of—wants the US government to put Indonesia into a Section 301 watchlist. Why? The Indonesian government is encouraging the adoption of Free Open Source Software (FOSS) by government agencies. This, according to the IIPA:

…simply weakens the software industry and undermines its long-term competitiveness by creating an artificial preference for companies offering open source software and related services, even as it denies many legitimate companies access to the government market.

Rather than fostering a system that will allow users to benefit from the best solution available in the market, irrespective of the development model, it encourages a mindset that does not give due consideration to the value to intellectual creations.

As such, it fails to build respect for intellectual property rights and also limits the ability of government or public-sector customers (e.g., State-owned enterprise) to choose the best solutions.

Countries in the 301 watchlist are, in the words of The Guardian’s Bobbie Johnson, “enemies of capitalism”. That kind of stance makes sense against countries that promote the production of counterfeit goods, and there is where the IIPA’s argument would be reasonable.

By attacking the Indonesian government’s preference (not requirement) that its own agencies use FOSS, the IIPA comes off as ludicruous. The organization claims it wants to reduce copyright infringement on behalf of its members. So wouldn’t it encourage the adoption of open source? Available at much lower prices or even free, that kind of software would reduce the instances of infringement.

The whole thing seems crazy until you realize they’re simply trying to protect the bottom lines of big software companies, who stand to lose a lot if FOSS sees widespread adoption anywhere. I guess it’s easier for the IIPA to mislead, than for these companies to develop products that are genuinely worth their price.

Encouraging Open Source Could Land You in Trouble, When using open source makes you an enemy of the state

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