Month: January 2017

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Every now and then it can be quite amusing to look back at some of the anti-piracy campaigns deployed by rightholders in the past. Especially, when contrasted with newer initiatives.

Last week we reported on a new UK campaign where suspected pirates will get an “educational alert” in the mail if they are ‘caught’ sharing infringing content using BitTorrent.

The initiative breaks with the more aggressive traditions of scaring pirates with high fines, and rewarding snitches who tell on them, although there are still some remnants of this around.

How different was this in the early ’90s when the (now defunct) European Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) ran a controversial series of ads, warning pirates of potential jail time.

In an attempt to connect with a predominantly young audience, ELSPA also promoted a series of cartoon PSAs in UK computer magazines.

These ads informed readers that “piracy is theft” and encouraged them to report suspicious behavior to the Federation Against Software Theft (FAST). In return, the informants could look forward to a £1,000 reward.

The cartoons showed teens how they could report suspicious software sellers at a local market, or even teachers who dare to allow students to make copies.

Or what about friends, who ‘gang up’ on people so they can score a sizable reward? It was all possible, if the cartoons were to believed.

If ELSPA’s goal was to be noticed, the ads were definitely successful. Soon after the first ones were placed, angry parents started writing letters to computer magazines, including this one Commodore Format received in the early ’90s.

“I would like to strongly object to the advert which appeared in your magazine,” a concerned parent wrote.

“It encourages young, vulnerable children to think that a phone call will lead to £1,000 very easily. It has caused a lot of ill feeling where I live between boys who were friends and then fell out, and thought this was a way to get back at one boy causing unnecessary upset to the families.”

ELSPA responded in the magazine and argued that these types of ads were needed to counter the growing threat of piracy. While the organization suggested that the cartoons were instrumental in lowering piracy rates, we now know that it certainly didn’t stop the copying.

Not even SIIA’s Don’t Copy that Floppy!, one of the all-time anti-piracy classics that turns 25 this year, could manage that.

In the years that followed many similar campaigns were launched, some more aggressive than others. And while the “piracy is theft” mantra is still in circulation, the general sense is that a ‘scare approach’ is not all that productive.

Perhaps this is one of the reasons why the latest UK anti-piracy effort relies more on carrots than sticks. Whether that will be successful has yet to be seen, but it’s certainly less “amusing.”

You know who…

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The advertising images published here were sourced from WoS, where you can find some more examples. The Commodore Format scan is courtesy of the CF Archive.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.

LGs G6 wird wohl mit einem digitalen Assistenten erscheinen. Welcher es sein wird, ist noch unklar. Im Vorfeld soll LG sowohl mit Google als auch mit Amazon verhandelt haben. Für LG gab es einen klaren Favoriten. (LG, Smartphone)

Google will WLAN-Tethering mit einem Android-Smartphone komfortabler machen. Ein Smartphone kann automatisch einen WLAN-Hotspot für andere Geräte bereitstellen. Dabei soll keine lästige Kennworteingabe erforderlich sein. (Smartphone, Google)

Das Bundesland Baden-Württemberg will den Aufbau neuer Mobilfunkmasten unterstützen. Mobilfunkunternehmen sollen Unterstützung bei der Suche nach Standorten für die Antennen erhalten. Damit sollen zügig Funklöcher geschlossen werden. (5G, Mobilfunk)

From welcoming new pirated arrivals to the unwelcomed uncertainty of the PS4 Pro, read the news roundup for the week ending January 22, 2017

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This week marked the five year anniversary of the SOPA/PIPA blackouts, an important occasion for free Internet advocates everywhere.

The event was less well-received by those on the ‘losing’ side, with copyright advocate David Newhoff describing the anti-SOPA campaign as “one of the most effective fake news stories of all time.”

Newhoff is one of the many thousands of members that make up the powerful and growing Copyright Alliance. Formed in 2007 in direct opposition to the EFF, Public Knowledge and Consumer Electronics Association, this anti-piracy group claims to represent the interests of more than 1.8 million creators and 13,000 organizations in the United States.

They include 350 record labels (RIAA), six movie studios (MPAA), two sports leagues including the NBA, not to mention 3,000 music publishers. It is an anti-piracy juggernaut that demands attention.

Interestingly, what happened after the SOPA protests is that rather than hearing fierce anti-piracy rhetoric directly from the likes of the MPAA and RIAA, one was more likely to hear it from Copyright Alliance members, Newhoff in particular.

In many respects, people like Newhoff have become a more common conduit for major copyright holder complaints. Meanwhile, the websites of the MPAA and RIAA have remained largely conflict-free, with the battle at least partially transferred to the Copyright Alliance.

This week the Alliance asked supporters to participate in a survey. The group provided little detail but with a title of “512 Study” it was clearly targeted at section 512 of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act which covers copyright takedown notices and service provider liability.

Reform of the DMCA is a hot topic but it appears that the Copyright Alliance expects copyright holders to be taking down content from the Internet for some time to come. Questions included:

– Have you ever monitored the internet for copyright infringement of your work?
– Have you ever found infringing copies of your work online?
– Which websites have you found infringing copies of your work on?
– How do you monitor infringement of your work online?
– How often do you monitor for infringement of your work online?
– On average, how many hours weekly do you spend monitoring for infringement of your work online?

At this point in the survey, it became clear that the Copyright Alliance was guiding respondents towards the notion that the DMCA takedown process can be somewhat laborious, which indeed it may well be. With that in mind, it was no surprise when question 14 asked the following:

If the Copyright Alliance does create its own anti-piracy service, it will join dozens, perhaps hundreds of others, operating in the same space. Currently it’s a flourishing business but ironically, if the Copyright Alliance gets its way, takedowns could become less prevalent in the future.

The U.S. Government’s Copyright Office is in the middle of a consultation which seeks guidance on the future of the DMCA’s takedown process and safe harbor for service providers.

Groups like the Copyright Alliance want a “takedown, staydown” regime, to ensure that, once deleted, content doesn’t pop up elsewhere. Opponents believe such a mechanism would be impractical and could stifle free speech.

Whatever the outcome, there will still be significant demand for a takedown service, should the Copyright Alliance choose to form one. And, with potentially close to a couple of million creators to represent, it could be very busy indeed.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.

Still und leise steigt erstmals ein bekannter Mainboard-Hersteller in den Markt für Bastelcomputer ein und will mit dem Raspberry Pi konkurrieren. Die Technik klingt interessant, zur Software fehlen aber jegliche Informationen. (Bastelrechner, Asus)

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