Yeah right…
News comes this week that Limewire has lost a big, big lawsuit over in the states, where the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) took LW creators to court over copyright infringement on behalf of the four major music labels it represents. The exact value of the damages is not yet known – though it the RIAA is claiming many many million ($150k for every infringing work – of which there are several million…), but the result is definitely in – and Limewire has lost big-time.
However, the consequences seem likely to be dire not only for Limewire itself, but also peer to peer file-sharing in general, since it seems clear that such software now represents a serious legal liability…
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Another headline-grabbing chapter in the Swedish Pirate Bay trial (for previous coverage of this on our blog see the archive) – it turns out that the judge presiding over the trial is a member of the Swedish Copyright Association, as well as another powerful copyright group (see Guardian Tech for full details).
Apparently though this is not a conflict of interest according to the judge in question. Well that’s alright then, isn’t it… Though it’s exactly like having a Manchester United-supporting referee take charge of a Man U game. But nothing wrong there either, is there? Or maybe it’s like having the CEO of McDonalds giving advice on the health impact of fast-food – again, seems ok to me. (I should…
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One of the most high profile stories this week has been the verdict in the Swedish file-sharing Pirate Bay trial. The four defendants were ultimately found guilty on nearly half the charges brought against them, and given jail terms of up to a year as well as fines totalling £2.4m. One aspect which I think has fuelled media fascination is the attitude of the four who, to put it mildly, still don’t give a josh (they put it in slightly more anglo-saxon terms).
This lends the story quite a David vs. Goliath angle, as well as providing opportunity for headline grabbing statements such as made by one defendant, Peter Kolmisoppi, who held up an IOU in court and said it was…
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