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| Hollywood Has Ruined Relationship With ISP It Sued Over Piracy Posted: 07 Jun 2012 01:10 AM PDT In November 2008 and after three years of voluntary discussions that went nowhere, the Hollywood movie studios under the banner of the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) decided to would be a good business decision to sue ISP iiNet. Their aim was to hold the ISP responsible for the copyright infringements of its subscribers, an effort that ultimately failed in April this year. For two and a half years, iiNet – who never engaged in any wrongdoing – were distracted by this massive legal action. Many of their key staff had to take huge amounts of time out from their normal roles in order to fend off the Hollywood attack dogs. With the case now closed iiNet is getting back to its core business, but it’s apparent that the bad taste left behind after the earlier failed negotiations and subsequent legal action is going to take longer to go away. Reading through a blog post today by iiNet chief regulatory officer Steve Dalby, one has to wonder if the damage will ever be repaired. Dalby’s article precedes a closed-door meeting today between Australia’s major ISPs, AFACT and other rightsholders, a consumer group, the Internet Society of Australia and the government. The topic is once again online infringement and from Dalby’s tone today and comments he made previously, it’s clear that iiNet have already lost faith in the process. “I don't need a crystal ball to tell you that the likely conclusion will be negligible change; as has been the situation since the 2005 Australia – US free trade agreement was signed,” Dalby writes. “Little, if anything at all, is to be gained by engaging with rights holders for a commercial solution.” The notion that rights holders cannot be negotiated with towards any mutually useful end is hugely problematic. As highlighted yesterday by RIAA chief Cary Sherman, negotiated agreements are now high on the recording industry’s agenda for moving forward, with ISPs and search engines for example. But of course, the RIAA and its overseas counterparts haven’t yet sued an ISP in frustration after failing to get what they want, although publicly attacking Google is moving dangerously close to alienating a potentially useful partner. Hollywood has taken the nuclear option, however, and the results are visible on Dalby’s blog in black and white. “AFACT and other rights holder bodies don't care much for consumers. As you may have read, Neil Gane of AFACT thinks consumers are "unreasonable" to tell their suppliers of entertainment what they want. “Actually, AFACT don't have any customers in Australia, they are all in California, which unfortunately means that consumer pressure is unlikely to have much impact on their strategies. iiNet have suggested that they focus on what the market is demanding, but it's a waste of breath. Their masters have set the agenda and rights holders will only do their bidding. “A solution needs to be found but as far as AFACT goes, you might as well be talking to a brick wall,” Dalby continues. It seems then that having failed in four years of negotiations and more than two and a half years of litigation, the people the studios need onside have already lost faith in reaching a voluntary agreement second time around. That only leaves two options – having the law changed to favor Hollywood or giving those “unreasonable” consumers what they want. Place your bets gentlemen, please. Source: Hollywood Has Ruined Relationship With ISP It Sued Over Piracy
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| MPAA: Megaupload Users Can Have Their Files Back, But… Posted: 06 Jun 2012 01:50 PM PDT
Among these users are many people in the U.S. military who used the site to share pictures and videos with family. Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom previously informed TorrentFreak that least 15,634 soldiers had accounts at Megaupload, between them sharing hundreds of thousands of files. But as of January those files were rendered inaccessible and attempts by the parties involved to come to a solution have failed miserably. Last month one of Megaupload’s users, represented by the EFF, filed a motion asking the court to facilitate such a user data retrieval. Today, the MPAA filed a response to this motion in which they appear to be more open to the request. “The MPAA Members are sympathetic to legitimate users who may have relied on Megaupload to store their legitimately acquired or created data, although the Megaupload terms of use clearly disclaimed any guarantee of continued access to uploaded materials,” MPAA’s lawyers write. But along with this sympathy comes a caveat. The movie studios don’t want users to have access to copyright-infringing files. “If the Court is willing to consider allowing access for users such as Mr. Goodwin to allow retrieval of files, it is essential that the mechanism include a procedure that ensures that any materials the users access and copy or download are not files that have been illegally uploaded to their accounts.” In addition, the MPAA doesn’t want any Megaupload people to have access to the servers. “In no event should any Megaupload defendants or their representatives who have not generally appeared in this proceeding, and who are not subject to the control and supervision of the Court be allowed to access the Mega Servers under such a mechanism designed for the benefit of third-party Megaupload users.” Previously the MPAA said it was concerned that Megaupload would relaunch in a “foreign jurisdiction” should they regain access to their data. Considering the above, one has to wonder whether the MPAA is seriously concerned about returning data to Megaupload users. It is practically impossible to separate copyrighted from non-copyrighted files on the servers, and an administrative nightmare in waiting for anyone tasked with enforcing the MPAA’s wishes. With all the different states and wishes, there appears to be no other solution than for the court to decide what should happen to the data. Update: Meanwhile in New Zealand… Source: MPAA: Megaupload Users Can Have Their Files Back, But…
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In the wake of the January shutdown of Megaupload, many of the site's legitimate users complained that their personal files had been lost.| 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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