TorrentFreak Email Update |
| ISP To Challenge Pirate Bay Blocking Order In The Supreme Court Posted: 16 Jun 2012 03:32 AM PDT
The action, against Finnish ISP Elisa, required a total blockade of The Pirate Bay and was yet another example of rightsholders attempting to shift the burden for copyright enforcement onto third parties in the technology sector. But unlike ISPs overseas such as Virgin Media and O2 in the UK, who recently blocked The Pirate Bay without even attempting a fight, Elisa was bullish from the start, describing the censorship strategy as “flawed.” Elisa’s fight, however, had only just begun. In October 2011, the Helsinki District Court ordered the ISP to block the domain names and IP-addresses of the world's most-visited torrent site. Elisa immediately announced an appeal, but in the meantime would still have to block The Pirate Bay or face a 100,000 euro fine.
“It is legally very complex and difficult, so it is necessary to receive a preliminary ruling from the Supreme Court,” Elisa Business Director Henri Korpi said in a statement. “We attach importance to intellectual property rights and the players should focus on measures that can truly reduce piracy in practice by distributing content on the web at a reasonable price and at the same time as the rest of their distribution.” Elisa’s attitude of getting to the root of the problem rather than blocking it is shared by UK business ISP Fluidata. Yesterday their account manager Andi Soric wrote about the out-of-date and precarious position of the recording industry’s business model. “Self-made artists can now upload audio and use media platforms such as YouTube and MySpace to broadcast their talent to millions of people at virtually no cost,” Soric wrote. “In my view, this can only be positive for music and society as a whole and makes you wonder how many stars have been missed in the last 50 years due to the costs attached to recording and distributing music.” But even though systems like BitTorrent have driven distribution costs down to virtually nil, artists hoping to use torrent sites like The Pirate Bay as a springboard are increasingly finding their paths blocked by the recording and movie industries. That negative position will only get worse in the months to come. Source: ISP To Challenge Pirate Bay Blocking Order In The Supreme Court
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| How Long Before VPNs Become Illegal? Posted: 15 Jun 2012 10:59 AM PDT
The freedom, privacy and relative anonymity that people experience today will only be short-lived if the copyright lobby and intelligence agencies have their way. In the U.S. there is CISPA, a bill that would put an end to people’s privacy on the Internet by allowing companies to spy on Internet users. Despite fierce opposition from the online community, the bill was approved by the House of Representatives in April. Another example of increased monitoring in the US is the “six-strikes” anti-piracy agreement, in which alleged 'pirates' will be tracked down and punished as part of an agreement ISPs signed with the MPAA and RIAA. In the U.K. there are similar developments. Not only are there plans to monitor and warn file-sharers, a draft of the ‘Communications Data Bill’ that was posted yesterday shows that the U.K. government wants to monitor and store the Internet activity of its citizens. A scary prospect for many, but as always there are plenty of ways to circumvent these spying efforts. Privacy conscious Internet users could simply switch to one of the many VPN providers and bypass all of the above. Since VPN providers in the U.S. and many other countries are not required to log any user information (some do), these users can’t be easily monitored. But for how long? Research has shown that people are increasingly turning to these anonymity services, partly in response to new surveillance initiatives. Millions already hide behind VPNs when they go online and this number will only increase in the coming years. Intelligence agencies and the copyright lobby are not happy with this development, and it would come as no surprise if they began lobbying for a ban on VPN usage. After all, these pesky VPN users are obstructing the law. “If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear,” they’ll say, adding that your car also requires a readable license plate. While a ban on VPNs might sound rigorous, it’s by no means unthinkable. In Iran, where a quarter of all Internet subscribers use VPNs, the government has already announced a crackdown on privacy-enhancing tools that bypass local law. Luckily for privacy advocates, however, not all is lost. The architecture of the Internet is flexible so even in the event VPNs were banned there would still be alternatives to guarantee people’s privacy. But there is little doubt that there will be a huge fight over these issues in the years to come. So for now, enjoy your privacy for as long as it lasts. Source: How Long Before VPNs Become Illegal?
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During May 2011, the Copyright Information and Anti-Piracy Centre (CIAPC) and the Finnish branch of IFPI announced that they had 
Yesterday, Elisa received yet another blow. The Court of Appeal rejected the ISP’s application and upheld the District Court’s ruling from October 26 2011. The Pirate Bay will remain blocked to all Elisa customers, at least for now, but the road doesn’t end here. The ISP has announced that will take its case all the way to the country’s Supreme Court.
In the coming decade there will be an avalanche of initiatives to regulate and monitor the Internet. | 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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