TorrentFreak Email Update |
- Music Linking Site Raided By Dept. of Homeland Security / ICE
- Dutch Artist Unions Call Government to Legalize File-Sharing
- Hurt Locker Makers Sue Lawyer Who Helped ‘BitTorrent’ Defendants
| Music Linking Site Raided By Dept. of Homeland Security / ICE Posted: 25 Nov 2010 04:00 AM PST A large file-sharing link site dedicated to rap and hiphop music and news has been raided by the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The servers of RapGodFathers, a site with close to 150,000 members, were seized and moves put in place to take over its domain name. Following raids earlier in the year which took out several sites and domain names connected to the streaming of Hollywood movies, we can now report fresh Department of Homeland Security / Immigration and Customs Enforcement action against a site in the music sector. Acting on a search warrant issued on 23rd November and signed by United States Magistrate Judge Jeff Kaplan, DHS and ICE agents arrived at a Dallas datacenter Tuesday with orders to take down the 146,500 member RapGodFathers site (RGF), seize its servers and gather evidence on its owners, administrators and moderators. The site had been in operation since 2005 and the authorities were authorized to take evidence relating to all activities right back to April 1st of that year. “We only link to mixtapes, albums in the hiphop/rap genre,” a senior staff member told TorrentFreak this morning. “Lots of those mixtapes help new artists become much bigger for example Drake, Chamillionaire, Wiz Khalifa. It also gives the users to listen to an album before buying it to judge the quality. Almost 99% of the time if people on RGF liked the album and posted positive comments, that given artist had a big success.” RGF carries no direct downloads and hosts no copyright material itself but instead links to file-hosting websites such as RapidShare and MegaUpload. TorrentFreak was informed that while the site had received DMCA takedown requests in the past, this was a fairly rare event and there was certainly nothing to indicate the authorities might be interested in the site. “We ALWAYS removed links connected with any DMCA requests so this is a big surprise to us and our host because we collaborated to get all the links removed asap,” our source added. In common with previous raids where U.S. authorities have taken control of domain names, the staffer at RapGodFathers believes the same is now happening to them. “Our domain name is being seized. It's blocked now with the registrar (Namecheap).” RGF are now trying to get back on their feet with a new domain name, are keeping people informed via their Twitter and Facebook accounts and are hoping that someone with hosting outside the United States will get in touch. If the message wasn’t clear previously, it should be by now. File-sharing link sites that remain in the United States or have their domains registered there should be prepared for trouble, even if they believe they are DMCA compliant. Article from: TorrentFreak. |
| Dutch Artist Unions Call Government to Legalize File-Sharing Posted: 24 Nov 2010 10:26 AM PST A strong coalition of two Dutch artists unions and the local consumer watchdog have submitted a proposal to permanently legalize file-sharing of music and movies. In exchange, the parties call for a levy on MP3-players and other devices that can play and record movies and music. In the future, this has to be changed to a general levy on Internet subscriptions.
This is a bad idea, according to the consumer watchdog artists unions. Instead, they have issued a counterproposal that would eventually legalize both the uploading and downloading of movies and music entirely. “The parties find it essential to protect the freedom of consumers on the Internet and to ensure that the rights of artists are respected. A necessary condition for the adoption of the proposal is that the technologies used will not infringe on the rights of consumers,” the press statement reads. Legalizing ‘illicit’ file-sharing would happen in two stages. The existing levy on blank media such as CDs and DVDs will be replaced by a levy on devices that can play an record movies and music. This includes, but is not limited to mobile phones, MP3-players and TVs. The average levy would be around 5 euros per device, and the money collected should be fairly divided among artists and other rightsholders. The proposal does not apply to other digital files such as games, software and books. In the future, when file-sharing is even more dominant than it is now, this levy should be changed into a general Internet levy which will completely legalize the uploading and downloading of movies and music for personal use. Commercial copyright infringement will remain illegal according to the proposal. The proposal is an interesting one, especially coming from the artists themselves, but it also raises many questions. The proposal is quite vague about how the collected money should be divided. Also, it avoids the important issue that people who are not downloading at all will end up paying more for their mobile phones and TVs. The proposal will undoubtedly meet some resistance from music retailers such as Apple, who will lose millions in revenue if it was adopted. That said, it’s good to see that the unions and the consumer watchdog are at least thinking about alternative solutions. Article from: TorrentFreak. |
| Hurt Locker Makers Sue Lawyer Who Helped ‘BitTorrent’ Defendants Posted: 24 Nov 2010 05:22 AM PST Graham Syfert, the lawyer who offered self-help to alleged BitTorrent downloaders of films such as Far Cry and The Hurt Locker, has been sued by the makers of the latter movie. On behalf of Voltage Pictures, the US Copyright Group (USCG) is seeking sanctions against Syfert and demand $5000 for the 'work' the self-help forms have caused them. in reponse, Syfert has requested sanctions against the plaintiffs because their filing is "completely insane."
"One of the major problems that people encounter when trying to hire me on these cases, is that a settlement is approximately what an attorney would need to even begin a defense," Syfert told TorrentFreak at the time. The forms for pro se (self help) representation Syfert prepared include a Motion to Quash, Motion to Dismiss, Affidavit in Support and a Motion for Protective Support. All forms are fillable and are accompanied by detailed instructions of how they should be used. "My dream would be to have 10,000-20,000 people file all three documents to the lawyers and severely cripple the entire process and show them that you shouldn't be allowed to join so many defendants," Syfert informed TorrentFreak. Quite a few people have used the forms in recent months and in total 19 were submitted to the court. However, the defendants weren’t the only ones who took notice of the offer. The law firm behind the USCG lawsuits, Dunlap, Grubb and Weaver, was one of the first clients who bought a copy of the documents. And it didn’t stop there, as Syfert informed us that the law firm was not happy with the service he offered to the defendants. “After I put the forms up for sale, Jeff Weaver from Dunlap Grubb and Weaver gave me a call and threatened me with sanctions. This was back in September. He also purchased the form for $9.99 when it was on sale for a discount,” Syfert told TorrentFreak. “He threatened me, and everyone who is using my forms.” According to Syfert, the anti-piracy lawyer (Weaver) threatened to double the settlement requests for those who were using his forms. “Then he e-mails me a while later, advising me on the status of what he called my ‘clients’. They are not my clients, they are people who purchased forms. I do not provide assistance in filling any of these forms out,” Syfert explained. Syfert then flipped out and sent a ‘tongue in cheek’ email to Weaver asking them to offer him a $200,000 per year job, or contact someone who actually gives a fuck. “Hire me or eat shit,” he ended his email. Not the gentlest way to make a point, but the calls and emails did stop. That is, until two days ago. This Monday, Weaver emailed Syfert a motion he had just submitted to the court (on behalf of the makers of The Hurt Locker), requesting sanctions against him under federal law. “He says that the 19 cases of forms that have been currently filed cost them $5000 and he’s seeking those sanctions against me personally,” Syfert explained to TorrentFreak. “So I requested sanctions against them because this is completely insane,” Syfert added. “If 19 cases costs them $5000 in attorney time, I wonder how many cases it’d take before their business model crumbles. That is unless they are going to actually work for a living.” The two documents (embedded below) filed by both parties are currently awaiting a response from the court. Although the turn of events is certainly an entertaining one, it seems to be mostly a clash of lawyer’s egos, not something that will contribute anything substantial to the thousands of sued individuals. USCG (and thus Voltage Pictures) feels that Syfert is obstructing their money-making scheme, and ironically accuses Syfert of running his own money-making scheme with his self-help documents. The one positive note from all of this is that USCG are upset for a reason. Although all the motions to quash and motions for protective order, whether filed by an attorney or filed by a pro se defendant, have been denied repeatedly by the judges, the motions to dismiss have not. Defendants who filed a motion to dismiss for a lack of personal jurisdiction have been successful. This is not something USCG and their clients wanted to see because it means they potentially have to refile thousands of cases in other states. Needless to say, this is going to be an expensive endeavor, and thus a huge blow to their pay-up-or-else scheme. Motion filed by USCG representing Voltage Pictures
And the reply… Syfert’s reply
Article from: TorrentFreak. |
For years, downloading movies and music for personal use has been allowed under Dutch law, but the current Government has plans to change this.
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