U.S. Pirate IPTV Operator Faces $9 Million in Damages After Ghosting Hollywood Lawsuit
The Internet is littered with cheap IPTV services that offer access to a lot of content, for very little money. These deals often seem too good to be true, and in most cases they are, at least for those who prefer to stay on the right side of the law. The operators of these services often remain in the shadows, but anti-piracy groups are actively trying to pin them down. For example, members of the Alliance for Creativity and...
IPTV Anti-Piracy Demands Are Bad For ISPs, Spell Disaster for User Privacy & Security
In October 2022, over 100 rightsholders, powerful media groups, and various organizations, demanded decisive action from the European Commission to tackle IPTV piracy of live sports and similar events. Familiar names, including the MPA, UEFA, Premier League, Sky, beIN, LaLiga, and Serie A, demanded legislative change from the European Commission to ‘End Live Piracy Now’. That didn’t happen, and with no legislative instruments or...
Nintendo Wins Lawsuit Against Defiant ‘Pirate’ Streamer ‘EveryGameGuru’
For major companies like Nintendo, tackling online piracy isn’t just about punishing individual infringers; it’s about strategic deterrence. Filing lawsuits against casual gamers who may have made an isolated mistake is not a good look and could potentially backfire. Nintendo understands that and carefully picks its battles. The case against Jesse Keighin, better known under his gaming handle “EveryGameGuru” exemplifies this approach....
Global Piracy Injunction Targets VidSrc Domains, Hydra Regenerates in Russia
After calling out pirate sites including Vidsrc, HydraHD, and Cineby in a submission to the USTR’s Notorious Markets review, Hollywood’s next targets were put on notice. The MPA’s use of the term ‘hydra’ was a reference to sites that have a tendency to respawn and multiply in response to site blocking measures. In the case of VidSrc, a platform that excels at making piracy simple for many other sites reliant on its services, VidSrc...
Meta: Pirated Adult Film Downloads Were For “Personal Use,” Not AI Training
Over the past two years, rightsholders of all kinds have filed lawsuits against companies that develop AI models. With billions in potential damages at stake, these cases have also drawn the interest of Strike 3 Holdings. As the most prolific copyright litigant in the United States, the adult film producer has filed tens of thousands of lawsuits against alleged BitTorrent pirates. This summer it expanded its scope by taking aim at...
Broad Coalition Backs Record Labels in Supreme Court ISP Piracy Liability Battle
The Supreme Court case between several major record labels and Cox Communications is a landmark legal battle. The outcome will determine how Internet providers should deal with pirating subscribers on their networks. Should alleged pirates be disconnected from the Internet after repeated third-party allegations of copyright infringement? Or does that go too far? In its opening brief, Cox argued that the company should not be held...
