The attacks are thought to be a protest to upcoming anti-piracy legislation. The legislation, titled: Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), would establish international standards for intellectual property protection. The government planned to enact the legislation without surveying the public.

As of Monday the Polish Government’s website is still down. User’s attempting to enter the site saw a scrolling message from the attackers,“Hacked by the Polish Underground: Stop ACTA”.

It is not clear what the next step is for the Polish Government but Michal Boni, Poland’s digitisation minister, admitted there was “a need for dialogue and consultation here in Poland”.

The Polish government released this statement regarding the events:

“This morning the content on the www.kprm.gov.pl website was modified. As a result the server was switched off and secured. The site will be transferred to another server during the course of the day”.

Dotcom himself made over $41 million just last year. Claiming he had done nothing wrong, his attorney’s argued for his release on bail from a New Zealand jail however; prosecutors in the case consider him a significant flight risk due to his great wealth.

In the meantime, several other employees have had warrants issued by the United States in connection with the alleged copyright infringements . Estonia’s Andrus Nomm, and Germany’s Sven Echternach have been taken into custody however, a third man, Julius Bencko of Slovakia, is still sought in connection with the crimes.

Dotcom maintains that his site is perfectly legal and that he has done nothing wrong. He also claims that he was compliant with the FBI’s request that he shut down the site. Still, the court denies bail due to the millionaire’s reportedly “shady past” and his significant financial resources.

Despite calls that SOPA, for all intents and purposes, had been killed in the House of Representatives, the truth was that the harmful legislation had simply been put on the backburner.

Just ask Lamar Smith, SOPA author:

Stop Online Piracy Act Markup to Resume in February

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) today said that he expects the Committee to continue its markup of the Stop Online Piracy Act in February.

Chairman Smith: “To enact legislation that protects consumers, businesses and jobs from foreign thieves who steal America’s intellectual property, we will continue to bring together industry representatives and Members to find ways to combat online piracy.

“Due to the Republican and Democratic retreats taking place over the next two weeks, markup of the Stop Online Piracy Act is expected to resume in February.

“I am committed to continuing to work with my colleagues in the House and Senate to send a bipartisan bill to the White House that saves American jobs and protects intellectual property.”

The language coming out of Eric Cantor’s camp last weekend that prompted the “SOPA is dead” cries made a point to say the SOPA could be resurrected when a consensus was reached.

This is indeed a timely release from the congressman’s office, as we find ourselves on the eve of the internet-wide SOPA blackout. Wikipedia, reddit, and other sites will go dark for 24 hours. Google has announced that they will put up a link on their homepage voicing their opposition to SOPA and PIPA.

This news comes while the U.S. Congress continues to debate new legislation aimed at fighting piracy abroad. The 23 year olds attorney, Ben Cooper argues that O’Dwyer may not have been breaking the law. Cooper cites other notable sites who direct users to protected materials, namely Google and Yahoo.

The case should have interesting implications for the “Stop Online Piracy Act” and the “Protect-IP” bills.

[Source: Hollywood Reporter]

The group Arts +Labs, founding members include, AT&T, Viacom, NBC Universal, Cisco, Microsoft and the Songwriters Guild of America. The group says it aims to ensure that artists, creators and innovators can safely share their works through new online distribution channels while being fairly compensated.

Arts +Labs says its mission is to inform and educate people about the availability of legal, safe, affordable entertainment content on the Internet. The group will also raise awareness about viruses, malware, hack attacks, spam, illegal file sharing and other activity that threatens user’s Internet experience.

Arts +Labs is co-chaired by Mike McCurry, former White House press secretary to President Bill Clinton and public policy spokesperson Mark McKinnon, a former songwriter and newspaper editor. Rick Carnes, president of the Songwriter’s Guild of America, and Chuck swims, of the law firm Proskauser also have joined the group’s advisory board.

"Arts+Labs believes that quality content drives the Internet and that distribution of easily accessible, affordable content in the Internet age requires new business models," said Arts+Labs co-chair Mark McKinnon.

"We also strongly feel that every effort should be made to ensure that artists benefit from their creativity. Arts+Labs will work to ensure that consumers know where to access safe and legal online content while promoting artists’ and innovators’ ability to easily share their ingenuity through a range of new, online distribution channels with the confidence that their legal rights will be respected."
 

Internet service providers will send warning letters to users who are suspected of illegal file sharing. Around 6 million Britons are believed to have downloaded files illegally over the past year, costing the music and film industries millions in lost revenue.

The plan mirrors similar moves by France to convince Internet service providers to deal with copyright infringement on their networks and countries such as Australia, Demark, Japan and New Zealand are also considering such moves.

Under the government-backed deal, Virgin Media, BskyB, Carphone Warehouse, BT, Orange and Tiscali have agreed to help reduce the illegal sharing of content.

They will send letters to heavy downloaders of illegal content each week during a three-month trail, warning them they are being watched. The ISPs and content owners will then partner with media regulator Ofcom to create a Code of Practice on how to proceed if the letters are not effective.

Possible sanctions against illegal downloaders includes a three-strikes-and -you’re out warning, slowing access for illegal downloader’s, or filtering to block illegal songs from being downloaded.

"The UK agreement is a big step towards reaching a solution to online piracy, and it shows that the process of engaging ISPs that was set in motion in France last year is gathering real momentum internationally," said John Kennedy, the CEO of the IFPI body which oversees the music industry.