Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Take Aim at AI Freeloading
Over the past year, artificial intelligence enjoyed its mainstream breakthrough. The instant success of ChatGPT and follow-up releases of other large language model-based tools kickstarted what many believe is a new revolution. By now it is clear that AI offers endless possibilities. At the same time, however, it has ignited many new worries. Copyright holders, in particular, are concerned that their work is being used as training...
France: Streaming & DDL Piracy Fall But Cloud & Usenet Boosts Wipe Out Gains
For more than a decade, the French government has produced a report detailing the digital content consumption habits of French internet users. Currently produced by telecoms regulator Arcom, the content consumption barometer report quantifies consumption of major content categories including movies, TV shows, live sports broadcasts, music, video games, software, and audiobooks, among others. It aims to profile consumers of content,...
BeStreamWise ‘Piracy=Malware’ Campaign Site Blocked By Security Vendors
The launch of the BeStreamWise online anti-piracy campaign early October was preceded by action in the ‘real’ world. After being offered free lifetime subscriptions to a new streaming service from a pop-up stand in London’s Paddington Station, commuters were encouraged to sign up to ‘MalStreams’ using their real personal details. Shortly after, a ‘scam’ was revealed; MalStreams didn’t exist but participants had been given a valuable...
Music Piracy Remains a Widespread Problem, Particularly in Emerging Countries
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) presents itself as the voice of the global recording industry. The group represents roughly 8,000 members globally, ranging from smaller independent labels to the largest labels on the planet. Part of its mandate is to keep an eye on how the music industry evolves. This includes legal consumption as well as unauthorized offerings, more commonly known as music piracy....
Don’t Fuel the Copyright Troll Fire, Supreme Court Hears
Over the past several years we’ve covered dozens of copyright troll cases against tens of thousands of alleged copyright infringers. Our coverage mostly focuses on piracy-related cases, but there are other variants too. Outfits that target blogs and other websites for using photos without permission, for example. The definition of the term ‘copyright troll’ is fluid. In the file-sharing space it typically refers to parties that accuse...
Piracy Shield: IPTV Blocking Orders Apply to All DNS & VPN Providers
Italy’s Piracy Shield anti-piracy system reportedly launched last week, albeit in limited fashion. Whether the platform had any impact on pirate IPTV providers offering the big game last Friday is unclear but plans supporting a full-on assault are pressing ahead. Technical and Operational Requirements A new document released by AGCOM describes Piracy Shield as a “single technology platform with automated operation” and elsewhere as a...
