Court: Dutch Government is Liable For Controversial Piracy Claims

The Dutch Government is liable for statements made by Government officials which suggested that downloading movies and TV-shows from illegal sources was allowed. This is the result of a lawsuit filed by a Dutch filmmakers’ association, which hopes to receive compensation for the losses that were suffered.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons.

pirate-cardThe Netherlands has long been a relaive safe haven for pirating consumers.

Downloading movies without permission, regardless of the source, was not punishable by law according to Government officials.

This eventually changed in 2014 when the European Court of Justice spoke out against the tolerant stance.

As a result, the Dutch Government quickly outlawed unauthorized downloading. However, breaking the habits of a large section of the population proved difficult and until this day, local piracy rates have remained high.

In 2015, this prompted Dutch filmmakers’ association SEKAM to hold the Government responsible, demanding compensation for the piracy losses they suffered. This week, Court of The Hague ruled on the matter, partially agreeing with the filmmakers.

In its verdict, the Court reviewed statements made by several Government officials made prior to the downloading ban, including those from former State Secretary for Security and Justice Fred Teeven.

In these statements, the Government made it clear that downloading pirated content was allowed, something that runs contrary to EU law. The Court specifically highlights a press release from 2011 where this was made apparent.

Looking ahead at future policy, the press release noted that “downloading of copyright-protected works from evidently illegal sources will become unlawful, but not punishable.”

This clearly suggests that it was fine until then, according to the Court.

“The unmistakable message that is sent is that, at that moment, downloading from illegal sources in the Netherlands is absolutely allowed,” the Court writes in its verdict.

This is particularly problematic since these and other statements were made in the public domain with the goal to inform the public.

“Based on this message, expressed by the responsible Government official in the public domain and in the media, there will have been downloaders who assumed that downloading from illegal sources was permitted, whereas this was generally known to be forbidden in other EU member states,” the verdict reads.

As a result, the Government is liable for the statements, which opens the door to a damages claim.

While the Court sides with the filmmakers on this issue, Tweakers highlights that the Court doesn’t rule on whether the Government can also be held responsible for its lack of enforcement after the download ban in 2014. That would have to be determined in a civil case.

The filmmakers’ organization Sekam sees the verdict as a “strong signal,” NOS reports. The group now plans to enter into negotiations with the Government about possible compensation.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons.

AMD launches low-cost Athlon desktop chips with Zen CPU cores and Vega graphics

AMD is expanding its desktop processor lineup with a new set of low-cost, low-power processors. The new Athlon 200GE, Athlon 220GE, and Athlon 240GE are based on the same Zen architecture as AMD’s more powerful Ryzen CPUs. But these are budget ch…

AMD is expanding its desktop processor lineup with a new set of low-cost, low-power processors. The new Athlon 200GE, Athlon 220GE, and Athlon 240GE are based on the same Zen architecture as AMD’s more powerful Ryzen CPUs. But these are budget chips with prices starting at $55 for an entry-level model. The chips also have […]

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Google: Play Store könnte Belohnungsprogramm bekommen

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Amazon is updating its Fire tablet lineup with a new 2018 version of the Fire HD 8. For the most part… it’s a lot like last year’s model. But there are a few improvements. The new model supports larger microSD cards. It has a better f…

Amazon is updating its Fire tablet lineup with a new 2018 version of the Fire HD 8. For the most part… it’s a lot like last year’s model. But there are a few improvements. The new model supports larger microSD cards. It has a better front-facing camera. And it lets you interact with the Alexa […]

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Kranenburg: Deutsche Glasfaser kämpft mit Telekom um eine Gemeinde

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Xbox Adaptive Controller is now out—and we go hand, foot, fingers, and elbows-on

Plug-and-play for a whole new audience of gamer (within Xbox, Windows ecosystems).

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Enlarge / The brand-new Xbox Adaptive Controller, posing on top of its black-on-white gaming sibling, the Xbox One S console. (credit: Sam Machkovech)

Microsoft's newest game accessory, the Xbox Adaptive Controller, probably isn't for you. That's just an odds game, when counting the percentage of people who fall into the "limited mobility" camp that this strange, unique controller is aimed at.

But that's the incredible thing about the XAC: that it's targeting a particularly fractured audience. Limited mobility is a giant, vague category, after all, with so many physical ailments to account for (let alone psychological ones). And previous answers in the gaming sphere have typically been specialized, one-of-a-kind controllers for single hands, feet, heads, and more.

XAC wins out in an odd way: by leaving some major work in users' hands. This $99 lap-sized device is truly incomplete on its own, as it's designed from the ground up to require add-on joysticks, buttons, and more. As a result, there's no way to fully review the possibilities Microsoft's XAC opens up for disabled gamers. Still, we've put a retail unit through its paces to see what kind of accessibility canvas this revolutionary "controller" opens up—and exactly how it works—to help limited-mobility gamers and their caretakers decide if its functionality, ease-of-use, and practical cost is right for them.

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Breitbandausbau: Ex-Innenminister de Maizière berät die Telekom

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Die nächste Saison der Drone Racing League wird auch computergesteuerte Drohnen gegen Menschen für ein Millionenpreisgeld antreten lassen. Finanziert wird das Ereignis von Lockheed Martin - einem Hersteller von Militärflugzeugen. (Drohne, KI)

Logitech’s Apple Pencil alternative arrives for all on September 12

The stylus, previously only available to education customers, will cost $69.

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Enlarge (credit: Logitech)

Logitech came out with a more affordable alternative to the Apple Pencil earlier this year, alongside the 2018 iPad. However, the $49 Crayon stylus was restricted to education buyers, so only students and teachers could get their hands on one. Now, Logitech will make the Crayon stylus available to all customers—but at the slightly higher price of $69.

Apple showed off the Crayon at its spring event this year when it debuted a more affordable version of the iPad, which targeted schools and students with its $329 price tag. The stylus is made of aluminum and rubber, making it more durable than the Apple Pencil, and its flattened-oval design makes it easier to grip.

Inside the Crayon is Apple Pencil technology, including palm rejection and tilt recognition. However, it does not have the same pressure sensitivity features as the Apple Pencil, so it won't suit the needs of professional artists who use the iPad Pro as a creation tool. It should work well as a note-taking or basic sketching tool, though.

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Schadsoftware: Malware in Chrome-Erweiterung des Filehosters Mega

Bösartiger Code in der Chrome-Erweiterung des Filehosters Mega greift Zugangsdaten ab. Die Erweiterung wurde automatisch über den Chrome Web Store verteilt. Mittlerweile steht ein Update bereit. (Chrome Web Store, Browser)

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