Score one for the big guy: The developers of Game Dev Tycoon, a video game simulating the process of making video games, have a pretty wicked sense of humor. The company, Greenheart Games, launched a “cracked” version of the game on torrent sites, and within in couple of hours of playing the game, something clever happens: Developer profits drop in the game until the game company goes bankrupt … due to piracy. Guess they have a point. (via The Verge)
Ever wanted to hear copyright issues discussed in a, say, Orwellian style? If so, watch this video about the new six-strike system a group of major ISPs are implementing starting today.
When SOPA-PIPA blew up, it was a transformative event. There were eight million e-mails [to elected representatives] in two days. People were dropping their names as co-sponsors within minutes, not hours.MPAA CEO Chris Dodd • Discussing the aftermath of the death of SOPA/PIPA during a speech at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on Tuesday night. While the former Democratic senator didn’t seem thrilled to discuss the topic, attendees seemed unwilling to let Dodd avoid the subject. Eventually, Dodd did say he felt that portrayals of the bills’ reach was “over the top”, but also said, in no uncertain terms, that they would not return in the future. “These bills are dead, they’re not coming back,” said Dodd, adding, “And they shouldn’t. I think we’re better served by sitting down [with the tech sector and SOPA opponents] and seeing what we agree on.” source
» It ain’t easy being rich: Oh wait, clearly, it is. In addition to the $5 million unfrozen by the New Zealand court, Dotcom has also been given permission to sell nine luxury vehicles; most notably, a custom modified 2009 Mercedes E500 and 2008 Rolls Royce Coupe. All of this, of course, is separate from a court ruling earlier this month which also granted Mr. Dotcom with a monthly stipend of $48,300 for living expenses, medical expenses, and legal fees. Our hearts go out to Kim Dotcom. Sounds like he’s really suffering.
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It turns out that the US judge handling the case has serious doubts whether it will ever go to trial due to a procedural error.
“I frankly don’t know that we are ever going to have a trial in this matter,” Judge O’Grady said as reported by the NZ Herald.
Judge O’Grady informed the FBI that Megaupload was never served with criminal charges, which is a requirement to start the trial. The origin of this problem is not merely a matter of oversight. Megaupload’s lawyer Ira Rothken says that unlike people, companies can’t be served outside US jurisdiction.
“My understanding as to why they haven’t done that is because they can’t. We don’t believe Megaupload can be served in a criminal matter because it is not located within the jurisdiction of the United States,” Rothken says.
Megaupload’s lawyer adds that he doesn’t understand why the US authorities weren’t aware of this problem before. As a result Judge O’Grady noted that Megaupload is “kind of hanging out there.”
Kim Dotcom in purgatory? Say it ain’t so!
News Corp is facing a new round of allegations, claiming the company promoted piracy, in the country where CEO Rupert Murdoch was born. According to the Australian Financial Times, a publication owned by News Corp-rival Fairfax, a four year investigation unearthed promotion of high-tech pirating of Austar and Optus broadcasts. When reached for comment, a spokeswoman for Australian Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said, “these are serious allegations, and any allegations of criminal activity should be referred to the Australian Federal Police for investigation.” (Photo by World Economic Forum) source
Hopefully that was a one-time experience that came from a lot of different things coming together where a lot of different people came to the conclusion that this was a terrible piece of legislation.RIAA head Cary Sherman • Discussing the experience of SOPA and his hopes that the mass online protests won’t repeat. Yeah, internet, we should prove him wrong — by, for example, spreading this quote!
» But only if you used Megaupload to store them. Megaupload wasn’t just a place to share pirated movies; it also served as webspace for people to store their personal documents, pictures, hard drive backups, and the like. But Megaupload didn’t actually own the servers on which its data was stored—they outsourced that two other companies. Now that Megaupload’s been shut down, its assets have been frozen, and so it can’t keep paying the storage centers their fee. So, according to a letter from the US Attorney’s Office, the two data centers could start deleting the data as soon as this Thursday. That would be a shame for many, many people (although it should have been clear from the outset that Megaupload wasn’t the wisest place to back up one’s data). An attorney for Megaupload says he’s “cautiously optimistic” that they’ll be able to keep the data from being erased.
so sad.
At the very least they could put up the MegaUpload music video (which we don’t recommend you watch because it’s a gratingly-catchy ditty that will be stuck in your skull for weeks). In related news, a couple similar sites, including Filesonic, have shut down, but MediaFire says it won’t because it has a business model that doesn’t favor piracy. (Context here.)
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Sorry I’m not sorry, Lamar Smith.
(the hill)
While that’s not a total death blow to the idea, it seems that us Internet types led the two bills to get a nice, long vacation. Adios, mofo.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation moved against a group of suspected online pirates Thursday, targeting the popular file-sharing website megaupload.com a day after Washington lawmakers were besieged by complaints about legislation designed to crack down on the online sharing of pirated copies of music, movies and other material, people familiar with the matter said.
Investigators said there was no connection between arrests in their two-year investigation and the political firestorm that erupted this week over a pending vote on the Stop Online Piracy Act.
This is a big deal, and even if it’s not related to SOPA, the timing certainly does a lot to put it on the minds of those worried about the law.
» A great breakdown: Mashable’s dissection of the entire SOPA bill, in case you haven’t read it, does wonders in terms of clearing up what on its face is a confusing piece of legislation. It’s a solid breakdown that cuts through the legalese.
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