They have to file now. There is a good chance that in the near future at least one of the investigations will suspend their licenses or limit their ability to file copyright suits in bulk. There is also the possibility that the courts will start enforcing rules that would make it more expensive to abuse the system.
These guys are living in a dangerous area. They probably feel that going for broke immediately is their best option.
When Adler said the agreement is "one sided" he meant that publishers didn't get 100% of what the wanted. That is what they are used to getting and now consider getting everything they ask for a divine right.
I don't know what Judge Wright thinks about IP law. On the other hand I am certain that he is no fan of attorneys who lie to the court, present false evidence, and generally abuse the legal system.
The MPAA doesn't want to put popcorn industry out of business. They just want all of the profits from when people eat popcorn while watching movies. And since you really can't tell which popcorn is being while watching movies the only logical solution is to give the MPAA all of the profits from the popcorn industry. Besides, some of those people eating popcorn while not watching movies are probably drug users with the munchies; taking the money associated with illegal drugs is a service that the MPAA is willing to provide. But if the popcorn industry isn't profitable, don't blame the MPAA. It's the pirates' fault.
We really need copyfraud protections with real penalties. Anyone who tries to use copyright, trademark, or patent claims that are prima facie invalid should be required to pay the resulting legal fees.
You left out one more thing that DRM does:
(3) Costs real money.
DRM is the modern equivalent of snake oil. It costs a lot of money, does not live up to its claims, and may actually damage the health of your digital products.
The costs of come in two forms. Right up front, IP companies pay big bucks to the DRM/SnakeOil companies for licenses. Then there can be enormous ongoing costs that are hidden in categories such as technical support. One of my former students works in tech support management for a large gaming company. He said that over half of the tech support calls involve DRM-related issues. He also said that DRM considerations also prevent them from building a lot of useful diagnostics into their games, and it can be a lot harder to fix problems because many very simple fixes like re-installing or upgrading an old .dll file would bork the DRM.
Yeah, but it is a lot easier to blame pirates than it is to admit that your business model is flawed or that you totally missed the boat on changes in technology. If you are a studio exec you have to have some excuse to feed the shareholders. Pirates are an easy target, even if they aren't the real problem.
If by value you mean "how much is this going to increase profits for movie studios and the recording industry?" The answer is zero. The industry finally realized that it was not getting a positive roi on the money it put into lawsuits. The current industry strategy is to push off the monetary costs to others. In the case of 6 strikes the ISP's and the accused are paying for most of the cost. The ISP's agreed to this only after getting heavy pressure from the White House.
I have only heard of one person that has gotten a strike. One of my students told me about his uncle getting a strike notice. His uncle only has one computer which is wired directly to the cable modem; he has no wifi at all. His uncle doesn't torrent anything. His uncle's activities online are mainly poker, email, youtube, and following some sports teams. His uncle doesn't download any type of music, movies, or porn. He is a bit paranoid about getting viruses and only plays poker on one site that was recommended by a friend. And yet his uncle's ISP accused him of downloading hiphop.
Cinedgim did goof. They should have put the 7 minutes on Usenet instead. Apparently the studio execs still haven't realized that all the real pirates (and therefore a lot of their paying customers) have moved over to Usenet.
A lot of crack addicts will use as long as crack is available. If there is a cop standing there watching they will still be unable to resist the urge to partake.
I think the primaries in the Prenda saga are pretty much like crack addicts. They will keep filing mass copyright cases as long as they have their attorney licenses. They just can't help themselves. In fact, if they lose their law licenses I wouldn't be surprised to see them still try to file, perhaps using some washed-up lawyer or new law school graduate to do their dirty work.
Of course, I'm not sure Techdirt readers are much different. I keep swearing I am not going to read another story about Prenda. But when the next one appears I just have to peek. And then comment. Twice on the same article. I think I need an intervention.
I think $150,000 is the statutory amount. If someone didn't show up and the judge did the statutory rate that is likely the amount to be chosen. So it has at least plausible that they have gotten default a judgement in that amount.
Someone suggested that we treat members of congress like NASCAR drivers. Members of congress would have to ear decals of their sponsors. A million dollar contribution would be a 6 inch decal on the chest. 50K would be a button on the shoulder. My personal criticism of the plan is that congressmen aren't large enough to display all the decals they would need to wear.
Stores whine about customers just using them for window shopping and then going online for purchases. I am sure that happens sometimes. However I tend to do the opposite. I often go online while shopping in stores so that I can read the customer reviews about the products before I buy them in the store. Sometimes I look up items before going to the store. But more often I use either Google Goggles or the Amazon scanner app to scan the item and bring up the product.
Information online is usually much better and more significant than what I can learn reading the box or looking at a display item. Show tradition brick and mortar stores pay online sources when I make a local purchase based on reviews I read online?
It might be an easy way to stifle free speech you don't like.
Hmmmm.... Maybe I need to whip up a bot to artificially inflate Westboro Baptist Church page views. Nah... The more people that see their garbage the better. More harm is done to them by leaving their videos in place.
So do if I get a discount if I get information online and go to the store to make an actual purchase? It seems like I should because I am not bothering store personnel with questions. The store is benefiting from information I got elsewhere.
1) It is going to be very hard to demonstrate any actual financial losses resulting from copying because apparently there was no commercial market for the products in the first place. Of course with the wonderful, wacky world of statutory damages no one has to prove damages.
2) There may not be enough evidence to prove that Steel uploaded the videos, but there probably is enough evidence to justify asking him under oath whether he did upload it or knew who did. I sincerely hope that if that happens there is video in that court. Watching him squirm would be very entertaining.
There are several businesses based on selling legislative data. I'm fine with that concept because the companies usually also provide some filtering and additional organizational tools. They are providing a useful service and should get paid for it if they want to be paid.
The distribution companies don't exactly have a monopoly right now, but it can be hard for small businesses and individuals to get their hands on the data in a useful form. Wiki-izing the legislative data would make it much more accessible and uniform.
There would still be a market for paid access to legislative data as long as the tools and filters were doing a good job. There might be some pressure to improve the quality of those tools to compete with the unfiltered data, but that is a good thing, at least for the public.
I would not be surprised to see the companies already in the business of selling the data try to block this effort. I would have a problem with that.
On the post: John Steele, Silent In Court, Keeps Talking To The Press; Says New Lawsuits Are Being Filed
These guys are living in a dangerous area. They probably feel that going for broke immediately is their best option.
On the post: Intellectual Property Owners Association Against Helping The Blind Because It Would 'Set A Dangerous Precedent'
On the post: John Steele Plans To Appeal Judge Wright's Order; Says Judge Is 'No Fan Of IP Law'
On the post: Copyright Trolls So Sloppy They Sue The Same Guy Multiple Times
Re: Re:
On the post: TV Syndication Company Attempts To Take Down Public Domain Content By Abusing Trademark Law
On the post: Tor Books UK Says Ditching DRM Showed No Increase In Piracy
(3) Costs real money.
DRM is the modern equivalent of snake oil. It costs a lot of money, does not live up to its claims, and may actually damage the health of your digital products.
The costs of come in two forms. Right up front, IP companies pay big bucks to the DRM/SnakeOil companies for licenses. Then there can be enormous ongoing costs that are hidden in categories such as technical support. One of my former students works in tech support management for a large gaming company. He said that over half of the tech support calls involve DRM-related issues. He also said that DRM considerations also prevent them from building a lot of useful diagnostics into their games, and it can be a lot harder to fix problems because many very simple fixes like re-installing or upgrading an old .dll file would bork the DRM.
On the post: Attempt To Trigger Six Strikes Comes Up Empty
Re: CD Sales Are Down Because Technology Changed
On the post: Attempt To Trigger Six Strikes Comes Up Empty
Re: Re:
On the post: Attempt To Trigger Six Strikes Comes Up Empty
On the post: Ridiculous: Short-Sighted, Anonymous Hollywood Exec Flips Out Over Using BitTorrent For Promotions
On the post: Thought Prenda Was Dead? No, It's Up To Its Old Tricks... And More
I think the primaries in the Prenda saga are pretty much like crack addicts. They will keep filing mass copyright cases as long as they have their attorney licenses. They just can't help themselves. In fact, if they lose their law licenses I wouldn't be surprised to see them still try to file, perhaps using some washed-up lawyer or new law school graduate to do their dirty work.
Of course, I'm not sure Techdirt readers are much different. I keep swearing I am not going to read another story about Prenda. But when the next one appears I just have to peek. And then comment. Twice on the same article. I think I need an intervention.
On the post: Thought Prenda Was Dead? No, It's Up To Its Old Tricks... And More
Re: I couldn't help but notice
On the post: When Corruption Fails: Hollywood Has 'Turned Off The Critical Thinking Functions Of Many Democrats'
Re: Feasible?
On the post: French Politician Wants To Limit How Cheaply Companies Can Sell Goods Online Compared to Physical Shop Prices
Information online is usually much better and more significant than what I can learn reading the box or looking at a display item. Show tradition brick and mortar stores pay online sources when I make a local purchase based on reviews I read online?
On the post: YouTube Takes Down Music Video For 'Terms Of Service' Violation; Refuses To Explain Or Put Back
Re: Interesting
Hmmmm.... Maybe I need to whip up a bot to artificially inflate Westboro Baptist Church page views. Nah... The more people that see their garbage the better. More harm is done to them by leaving their videos in place.
On the post: EA Labels President: DRM Is A Failed Strategy, But SimCity Didn't Have Any DRM
Re:
On the post: Dumb Policy: Store Charges $5 Just To Look At Goods, To Keep People From Looking And Then Buying Online
On the post: Lawyer Suggests That Prenda Law May Have Only 'Released' Movies It Sued Over As A Honeypot For Lawsuits
1) It is going to be very hard to demonstrate any actual financial losses resulting from copying because apparently there was no commercial market for the products in the first place. Of course with the wonderful, wacky world of statutory damages no one has to prove damages.
2) There may not be enough evidence to prove that Steel uploaded the videos, but there probably is enough evidence to justify asking him under oath whether he did upload it or knew who did. I sincerely hope that if that happens there is video in that court. Watching him squirm would be very entertaining.
On the post: Why Shouldn't New Legislative Data Flow Directly Into Wikipedia
The distribution companies don't exactly have a monopoly right now, but it can be hard for small businesses and individuals to get their hands on the data in a useful form. Wiki-izing the legislative data would make it much more accessible and uniform.
There would still be a market for paid access to legislative data as long as the tools and filters were doing a good job. There might be some pressure to improve the quality of those tools to compete with the unfiltered data, but that is a good thing, at least for the public.
I would not be surprised to see the companies already in the business of selling the data try to block this effort. I would have a problem with that.
On the post: Team Prenda Does Not Show Up In Court; Judge Is Not Amused
Re: WE'RE not amused, either, Mike.
Give us a break. This case is our version of porn.
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