WebProNews

China Focused On Piracy In Internet Cafes

Beijing courts are pledging higher fines for Internet cafes that allow users to violate copyright laws by illegally downloading movies.The Beijing High People's Court promised harsher penalties would be introduced after three local courts heard cases involving Internet cafes and copyright infringement. In one case, Chinese producer Huayi Brothers, won its lawsuit against three Internet cafes.

Chinese Olympics Site Accused Of Game Thefts

Online Flash games appearing on the Beijing 2008 site may have been appropriated from at least one other designer after one game maker found his had been pirated.

UK Tells ISPs To Get Tough On Piracy

Internet service providers in the UK must take tougher measures to prevent illegal downloading or face legal sanctions the government has warned.Andy Burnham, the culture secretary, told Internet service providers he would introduce legislation in April of next year if they did not voluntarily take action to reduce online piracy.

MPA Sues Chinese Web Site Over Piracy

Six members of the Motion Picture Association (MPA) have filed copyright infringement suits against Chinese file-sharing company Xunlei Networking Technology and are seeking 7 million yuan ($1 million). The company is partially owned by Google who has had its fair share of copyright battles in the U.S.The MPA is also asking for a public admission of the copyright infringement and a promise from Xunlei to halt any future infringements.

UK Internet Users Could Be Banned For Illegal Downloads

Internet users in the UK who go online and illegally download music and movies could have their Internet access revoked according to plans the government is considering. A draft proposal says that Internet service providers would have to monitor users who accessed pirated content through their accounts. The government says that plans are in an early stage and it is working on final regulations. Six million users a year are estimated to download files illegally in the UK and music and film companies say it is costing them millions in lost revenue annually.

China To Crackdown On Podcasting, Web Video

The Chinese government says it is cracking down on Internet-based audio-visual programming like podcast and video-sharing sites to ensure content doesn't pollute the spiritual and cultural ideals of the country. And yeah, that includes pirates, too. That the expanded measures against user-generated media come just months before the Beijing Olympics is just a coincidence.Right?

MPAA Wrong On Piracy Prevalence

The Motion Picture Association of America is the latest poster child for reasons not to trust research put out by entities with vested interests in the results of the research. The MPAA is having to send out word that their previous estimates of movie piracy on college campuses were a bit overstated—by a factor of three.

French, Canadians, (Mark) Cuban Go After P2P

Torrents and peer-to-peer networks have had a rough couple of weeks lately. In addition to Cox and Comcast's recent blocking of torrent sites, file-sharing has been under assault in France and Canada, not to mention from billionaire Mark Cuban.

Google Video Crocked For Film Piracy, Again

The National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) did some more surfing on Google Video and found 300 films readily available to visitors.

Porn Picks Bone With Torrents

It's hard to have sympathy for a dirty, exploitative medium when the producers of it cry foul over piracy – after all dirty is as dirty does, and karma can be your friend or your enemy. But at the same time, copyrights are copyrights and are intended to protect the truly artful from thieves as much as they protect the scummy.