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| Kiwi ISP Issues First Music Piracy ’3rd Strike’, Movie Biz Can’t Be Bothered Posted: 18 Apr 2012 01:45 AM PDT The Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Act 2011 had a tortuous path before implementation. Argument, counter-argument and intense lobbying from the copyright industries preceded its introduction in September last year. Its outward structure is simple. Internet users who are discovered uploading copyright material are first sent two warnings via their ISP. On receipt of a third, copyright holders can take the Internet account holder to the Copyright Tribunal where they face hefty fines. If entertainment industry lobbyists were to be believed the legislation couldn’t come soon enough since local artists were being seriously hurt by downloading. But it took a full two months for RIANZ – the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand – to deliver their first batch of just 75 warnings. All of them related to international artists and local artists were completely absent. Now, more than 6 months after the so-called ‘Skynet’ law was introduced, local ISP TelstraClear has confirmed that one of its customers is the unlucky recipient of a third and final “enforcement” warning, delivered on behalf of RIANZ. The alleged music pirate now has a week from the date of the notice to lodge a dispute. Failure to do so could lead the individual to be referred by RIANZ to the Copyright Tribunal for a punishment which could include a fine of up to $15,000. TelstraClear, an outspoken critic of the ’3 strikes’ legislation, confirmed that it had been receiving just 15 notices a week from RIANZ. Nevertheless, that’s a significant amount when compared to those sent to any and all ISPs by the movie industry. The MPAA-affiliated New Zealand Federation Against Copyright Theft (NZFACT) has sent a grand total of *zero* notices since the new law allowed it do so. There are a couple of theories as to why this is the case. NBR, who spoke with an industry source who did not wish to be identified, said the size of the market in New Zealand meant it was too small for Hollywood to bother sending notices. The other theory, which is connected to the first, is related to cost. When an ISP sends out a notice they can charge copyright holders a fee of $25. There is a further cost of $200 to take a case before the tribunal. With thousands of notices sent the costs would soon mount up. There is speculation that to overcome this cost-related problem, RIANZ have been monitoring file-sharing networks in order to work out who is doing the most infringing and targeting those users first. Proportionately, users will download more individual instances of music than they would movies, making them easier to spot on separate occasions. The $25 fee is currently being reviewed by the Economic Development Ministry which will have to decide if the level should be increased, reduced, or maintained. NZFACT boss Tony Eaton has asked for them to be thrown out completely, which suggests the movie industry might have more interest in sending notices if they become free. But according to a report out of the TelCon12 telecommunications conference in Auckland today, ISPs have been bemoaning the costs of preparing the system versus how things have turned out. “It's more complex than just, 'receive information, send notice'," TelstraClear's Oonagh McEldowney said, adding, “We're nowhere near recovering our setup costs." An industry source told TorrentFreak that the ISPs budgeted for many more thousands of notices to be pushed through in order to ensure their initial outlays on systems implementation were covered. Being left high, dry and out-of-pocket will not have been well-received. Update: Scott Bartlett, CEO of ISP Orcon, has confirmed his company has also sent out a ’3rd Strike’ notice. Source: Kiwi ISP Issues First Music Piracy ’3rd Strike’, Movie Biz Can’t Be Bothered
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| BitTorrent Troll Admits Its All About Making Even More Money Posted: 17 Apr 2012 12:59 PM PDT
By now it’s a well-trodden path – send out scary letters to alleged copyright infringers and ask for money to make mostly imaginary court cases go away. This controversial business is almost always conducted with a law firm front and center, who spend much of their public-facing time throwing around legal jargon and talking endlessly about infringed rights. But Lyndsay Honey, who became famous in the UK for his ‘gonzo‘ style movies which placed himself at the center of the action, seems to want to ‘keep it real’ by continuing the tradition of doing his own dirty work – and that includes speaking publicly about his latest attempt at monetizing porn. In an interview with Vice.com, Honey explains that due to “everything on the internet being free”, his income dropped by 90% in 2 years. This development didn’t go unnoticed by Revenue and Customs who apparently thought something underhand might be going on in Honey’s tax affairs. While noting that he assured them that wasn’t the case, Honey is clear about his motives for entering the ‘speculative invoicing’ market. “At the end of the day, if I can’t make money out of porn, the only way I can make money is to get to the people who are not buying it,” Honey explains. “I need to earn a living. I’m not a charity.” But while talking straight has its benefits, sometimes little nuggets of information leak out. From his own mouth it seems Honey isn’t that desperate for cash. After separating from his wife (their house went on the market for £2.5m), Honey now lives in a “beautiful apartment block” and goes on to admit that things are pretty good. “I still have a very nice lifestyle,” he told Vice. “When I say I’m skint, people say, ‘No, you’re not skint mate, it’s just now you’ve only got three cars instead of five.’” And even while claiming porn is “a sinking ship”, Honey admits that he’s still shooting movies (which of course someone must be able to sell) and to this day remains the highest earning porn star in the country. “I still do like, two or three shoots a week in porn for other people, so I literally just turn up, fuck someone and come home and it pays good money,” said Honey. As his venture into file-sharing settlements shows, Honey is trying squeeze every drop of revenue from the most popular items in his back catalog. His 2003 film Fancy an Indian is the movie that will appear in the letters going out later this year, but far from picking a title that hasn’t done well, the reverse is true. Honey says that Fancy An Indian and The XXX Factor are not only his most pirated titles, but also the ones he’s made the most money from. However, according to the 60-year-old, not all free content online is bad. Currently he’s working on a mockumentary (NSFW), apparently in the style of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Ironically, Lyndsay is giving it away for free to build an audience with the intention of later selling it to a TV company. But while an impoverished Honey isn’t an impression that springs from his interview, it may well be that getting even more rich from file-sharing settlements is something that will remain out of reach. Due to restrictions placed on his company by the High Court, the letters sent out to O2 customers will be much more tame than those previously sent out by ACS:Law. Furthermore, when people respond with a clear “I didn’t do it, and I don’t know who did,” Honey and his associates at Golden Eye may well have to accept that answer as final rather than bully them into submission. Internet users in the UK may have bent over initially for Andrew Crossley, but they’re better prepared for Ben Dover, there’s little doubt about that. Don’t give up your day job, Honey. Source: BitTorrent Troll Admits Its All About Making Even More Money
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Last month the UK High Court gave UK pornographer Lyndsay Honey (aka Ben Dover) and his company Golden Eye International a provisional | You are subscribed to email updates from TorrentFreak To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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