Category: Uncategorised

BlackBerry’s first Android smartphone is now available, and not surprisingly, the $699 BlackBerry Priv feels a bit like a mix between a classic BlackBerry phone and a modern Android device. It has a large touchscreen display, support for over a million Android apps, and decent camera. But it also has a physical keyboard that hides behind […]

Closer look at the BlackBerry Priv (video) is a post from: Liliputing

Gäste von Hotels der Kette Starwood sollten ihre Kreditkartenabrechnungen überprüfen: Kassensysteme in mehr als 50 Hotels in Nordamerika wurden mit einer Schadsoftware infiziert. (Security, Malware)

Keine Post für Werbeblocker: Yahoo will Adblock-Nutzer aussperren. Ein entsprechender Test läuft derzeit in den USA. (AdBlocker, Yahoo)

The Internet today is awash with millions of items of infringing content and links to the same and as long as Internet users have free will that position is unlikely to change.

Nevertheless, the situation for copyright holders is far from hopeless and those who feel their rights are being abused have remedies available. Provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act allow copyright owners to order hosts, websites and search engines to take down infringing content. And, to avoid being held liable, those providers must do so quickly.

However, copyright holders feel that the DMCA lets them down. They complain that despite sending millions of notices, sooner or later the same content reappears, having been reuploaded by humans or reindexed by automated systems. What is needed, they argue, is a system that requires content to remain down once it has been taken down.

The ‘Take Down, Stay Down’ movement even has its own website but campaigning for legislative change that erodes safe harbors for legitimate service providers is an extremely sensitive topic for all in the technology sector. Nevertheless, that’s what Hollywood and the major record labels want long-term.

So as companies including Google come under continued pressure to move towards a ‘take down, stay down’ response to copyright complaints, just how willing will they be to accommodate such a regime? Well, if comments made this week by a Google counsel are anything to go by, not very keen at all.

Speaking at the Academy of European Law’s Annual Copyright Conference, Google copyright counsel Cédric Manara poured cold water on the idea.

Manara told the conference that takedowns have a limited effect and when applied to search engines a ‘Take Down, Stay Down’ regime is “not a solution and just does not work,” IP Magazine reports.

Importantly, Manara explained that applying such a regime to search engines is problematic, since such intermediaries can’t block content they don’t host.

“The Internet is a game of ‘whack-a-mole’. Blocked and removed content will be reposted back online, which is a key problem. When one road is cut off, other roads will appear leading to other directions,” he said.

Also of interest is the whole concept of content staying down on a permanent basis following a copyright complaint. While content might be unauthorized today, it’s possible that it may not be so in the future. Equally, the process isn’t flexible enough to accommodate everyone’s legal status when it comes to using content.

“Take down stay down doesn’t understand an authorized user, so it can have an overreaching effect and go too far,” Manara said. “Additionally, stay down is forever, whereas copyright has a term.”

While it may not prove popular with frustrated copyright holders desperate to stop whacking moles, Manara has an excellent point. While Disney might be well within its rights to protect its content today, removing it from any number of providers on an infinite basis clearly has implications when such content falls into the public domain, for example.

Of course, stifling the future and legal use of copyright works probably isn’t what most small copyright holders are trying to achieve when they ask for content to stay down once taken down. However, the current conversation is very broad in scope and definitely has the potential to cause unintended consequences that some corporate giants will be happy to exploit.

As the discussion develops, Google and other stakeholders will be keen to tread very carefully.

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

Vaterschaftsurlaub für den Facebook-Gründer: Marc Zuckerberg will nach der Geburt seiner Tochter pausieren, um sich der Familie zu widmen. (Mark Zuckerberg, Soziales Netz)

Auch uns hat in dieser Woche der Terror in Paris beschäftigt. Wie kommunizieren die Attentäter? Und was kann Anonymous dagegen tun? Daneben gab es auch noch technische Themen - wie die Steam Machine und Star Wars Battlefront. Sieben Tage und viele Meldungen im Überblick. (Golem-Wochenrückblick, Steam)

Microsoft released Windows 1.0 on November 20th, 2015… which means Windows turns 30 today. It’s probably starting to think seriously about saving for retirement, realizing it can’t stay up as late as it used to, and noticing that it’s starting to put on a bit of weight even though its dietary habits haven’t changed much. […]

Microsoft Windows turns 30 is a post from: Liliputing

In less than two years Popcorn Time has become a piracy icon, offering free access to Hollywood’s latest blockbusters but without obtaining permission.

This popularity has triggered a wave of legal threats including a lawsuit against three developers filed in Canada last month.

Despite being a major target for copyright holders the rise of new Popcorn Time alternatives appears to be never-ending. For example, a few days ago another Popcorn Time-inspired website launched at Popa.cr.

While it’s visually similar to the application, the browser version operates more like a traditional streaming site with a Popcorn Time theme. Nevertheless, it was enough to attract the attention of the Motion Picture Association (MPA).

Just hours after the site was first advertised on Reddit its operator received an MPA letter, sent on behalf of several major Hollywood movie studios.

In the email the MPA’s Jan van Voorn puts the site operator on notice, alerting him to European jurisprudence under which he may be held liable for linking to pirated movies and TV-shows.

“Without prejudice to our contention that you are already well aware of the extensive infringements of copyright, this Notice fixes you with actual knowledge of facts and circumstances from which illegal activities […] are apparent,” Van Voorn writes.

The MPA’s email

Among other things the email mentions that Article 14 of the E-Commerce Directive requires sites to stop offering infringing material. In addition, the Hollywood group cites other recent cases supporting their claim.

Without making a specific threat the MPA demands that the site’s operators stop offering infringing material within 24 hours.

“This Notice requires you to immediately (within 24 hours) take effective measures to end and prevent further copyright infringement. All opportunities provided by the Website to download, stream or otherwise obtain access to the Entertainment Content should be disabled permanently,” the email reads.

The site’s operator was worried about the email, but wanted to continue the site nonetheless. However, after a few hours he apparently changed his mind informing us that it wasn’t worth the trouble.

As a result, Popa.cr shut down on Thursday, but not for long.

Instead of vanishing completely the original operator decided to sell the domain and site to someone else, who brought it back to life today. How long it will last remains to be seen but the relaunch only adds to Hollywood’s frustration.

The MPA informed TorrentFreak that the email they sent is part of an ongoing strategy to curb copyright infringement and encourage consumers to use legal sources. This means that Popa.cr’s new owner is likely to receive a similar threat, along with others who start similar sites.

And so the Whack-a-Mole continues.

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

It’s been about 5 years since Google largely stopped offering apps and services in China after refusing to comply with the Chinese government’s requests that the company censor search results. During that time Google’s Android has become the most popular smartphone operating system in countries around the world… including China. But most Android phones sold […]

Google Play heading to China in 2016? is a post from: Liliputing

Der Axel-Springer-Verlag geht juristisch gegen eine Werbeblocker-App für iPhones vor. Vor Gericht fiel ihm offenbar die Adblockersperre auf Bild.de vor die Füße. (Axel Springer, Firefox)