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Submission Summary: 0 pending, 111 declined, 20 accepted (131 total, 15.27% accepted)

Submission + - Crookes, RIAA, MPAA, ICE: 'linking is publishing' (p2pnet.net) 1

newtley writes: What do Canada's Wayne Crookes, the Big 4's RIAA, Hollywood's MPAA and brand new ICE agent Andrew Reynolds have in common? They all claim linking is the same as publishing. Crookes is using it to demand Canada's Supreme Court effectively shut down the net in Canada. With the RIAA and MPAA providing the 'initiative', the Obama government is using Andrews [read ICE — US Immigration and Customs Enforcement] to try to shut down innocent sites for, and on behalf of, Hollywood and Big Music. The sites are "accused of contributing to online piracy, and it was essential for the domain names to be seized without a trial and without giving the sites a chance to respond. Why? Such sites are destroying the US economy". Forget about legally appointed courts, proof or due process. Hollywood and Big Music rule.

Submission + - Operation Payback shuts down IFPI site (p2pnet.net)

newtley writes: Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony Music’s main IFPI (International Federation of Phonographic Industry) is down. Not coincidentally, here's an Operation Payback post on the fact The Pirate Bay crew lost their sentencing appeal: Dear IFPI, MAFIAA and other parasites, The recent verdict in the Swedish Appeal Court (ThePirateBay spectrial) provoked this statement from Operation: Payback. We emphasize our statement with a Distributed Denial-of-Service attack aimed at the IFPI's website.
Media

Submission + - Scientologists wearing yellow WWII Stars of David? (p2pnet.net)

newtley writes: "Scientology leader David Miscavige says he's "outraged". "Any and all CoS IP addresses are effectively banned on the Wikipedia, which in turn spells the end of the cult's use of it as a configurable propaganda and indoctrination engine," said p2pnet yesterday. Now, in the cult's Rant & Rave, Miscavige calls the ban a "despicable hate crime," and asks, "What's next, will Scientologists have to wear yellow, six-pointed stars on our clothing?" During World War II, Hitler forced Jewish men, women and children to wear a a yellow cloth star bearing the word Jude to brand them in the streets of Europe, and in the Nazi death camps."
Movies

Submission + - RIAA MediaSentry dead in US: alive in Australia (p2pnet.net)

newtley writes: "Disgraced and discredited 'private investigator' MediaSentry, fired by former patrons Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony Music and their RIAA, may be dead and buried in America, but it's alive and well, resurfacing in Australia where it's once again plying its trade, probably under new management. "I currently (but not for long) reside at a student dormitory ... in Brisbane, Australia, says a p2pnet reader, going on: Yesterday I got called into the Managers office because the network manager had been contacted by Mediasentry and emailed one of the generic copyright infringement emails as a result of me downloading Angels and Demons. Now instead of studying for my exams and working on my final assignments I must take time to find a place to live before the 29th of May (2009).""
Music

Submission + - RIAA victim Jammie Thomas gets a new lawyer! (p2pnet.net)

newtley writes: "Only days after learning Brian Toder, her previous legal representative, had decided discretion was the better part of valour, leaving her fend for herself against the RIAA, Jammie Thomas says another lawyer has come forward with an offer of pro bono help. He's K.A.D. Camara from Camara & Sibley in Houston, Texas, says Jammie. And, "He's the youngest person in history to graduate from Harvard Law school with honors," she points out. Nor will her trial — or, rather, her retrial — be delayed, as was expected. It'll now go forward in June 15, as slated. "I'm so happy !" — Jammie said. That didn't take long. :)"
Music

Submission + - MediaDefender buys $20M MidiaSentry for $136,000 (p2pnet.net)

newtley writes: "SafeNet paid $20 million for MediaSentry in 2005, but has just sold it to rival MediaDefender for a paltry $136,000, with a promise of more later. MediaSentry's new owner says the combinbation will allow it to, "dramatically expand its effectiveness". Is it time for an official government inquiry into MediaSentry and the RIAA? A Chicago student said she was planning on killing herself because the RIAA promising her she'd land in court unless she paid almost $10,000 to 'settle' an alleged copyright infringement. She, "couldn't sleep, couldn't study, couldn't live a normal life because of the worry". The RIAA 'evidence' came from MediaSentry, accused of operating illegally."
Music

Submission + - TechDirt's Masnick to Jim Griffin on WMG's Choruss (p2pnet.net)

newtley writes: "TechDirt's Mike Masnick writes the Warner Music Choruss licensing scheme amounts to a Bait-And-Switch operation. Not so, says Jim Griffin, the man charged to put it together. Masnick's story is "factually incorrect in every respect," he states. But, Griffin, "refused to name a single factual mistake," Masnick says, noting, "He fails to address the key problems that we outlined: 1. Why is this program even needed when plenty of musicians are coming up with business models that work today and don't need a new mandatory license (er... 'covenant not to sue') plan? 2. Why do we need a new bureaucracy and won't that divert funds? 3. Will the industry continue to try to shut down file sharing sites? 4. Will the industry continue to push a 3 strikes plan?"
Music

Submission + - Will new RIAA tactic boost P2P file sharing? (p2pnet.net)

newtley writes: "The RIAA claim that it'll stop suing people may have serious consequences. For the RIAA. When it dropped its attack on seven University of Michigan students, Recording Industry vs The People wondered if the move was linked to three investigations, with MediaSentry as the target, before Michigan's Department of Labor and Economic Growth. Now, "LSA sophomore Erin Breisacher said she stopped downloading music illegally after hearing about the possibility of receiving a lawsuit, but now that the RIAA has stopped pursuing lawsuits she 'might start downloading again'," says the Michigan Daily, going on to quote LSA senior Chad Nihranz, as saying,"I figure, if there aren't as many lawsuits they will come out with more software to allow students to download more.""
Music

Submission + - W Street Journal confirms RIAA fired MediaSentry (p2pnet.net)

newtley writes: "The Wall Street Journal has confirmed p2pnet's report that the RIAA has fired MediaSentry. MediaSentry has been, "invading the privacy of people," says Recording Industry vs The People's Ray Beckerman in the WSJ, and, "They've been doing very sloppy work". He cites MediaSentry's practice of, "looking for available songs in people's filesharing folders, uploading them, and using those uploads in court as evidence of copyright violations." MediaSentry, "couldn't prove defendants had shared their files with anyone other than MediaSentry investigators.""
Government

Submission + - NDP leader Jack Layton woos P2P communities (p2pnet.net)

newtley writes: "The New Democrat's Jack Layton has become the first leader of a major Canadian political party to acknowledge the importance of the Internet during a federal election. He's using YouTube to carry his message specifically to the online community, launching it on p2pnet.net, the small, one-man digital media web site based on Vancouver Island, British Columba. "We don't want to see hidden fees and gouging and service slow-downs all in the interests of promoting the objectives of certain large corporations," Layton says in his YouTube video."
Communications

Submission + - New Comcast plan has 'disconnect user' option (p2pnet.net) 1

newtley writes: "Comcast's new people, not protocols scheme may mean high speed for some, but by no means all. It's also created a draconian 'disconnect' option for use against anyone who fails to toe the Comcast line. But, says Robb Topolski, the Net protocol expert who originally uncovered Comcast's blatant efforts to control its customers, the plan does offer key take-aways telling P2P users on Comcast how to do what they do without the risk of corporate interference."
Privacy

Submission + - Sonic advertising - like it or not (p2pnet.net) 1

newtley writes: "Advertisers are determined to get into your head by one means or another, and Holosonic Research Labs has found yet another way of invading your privacy in the name of forcing you pay attention. You're walking down a street in New York when all of a sudden, 'Who's that?' — whispers a woman's voice. 'Who's There?' No. You weren't having a schizoid episode. You were being subjected to 'sound in a narrow beam, just like light' without your permission. It was coming at you from a rooftop speaker 7 stories up. Don't want to be bombarded by sonic ads? Tough. Wear ear-plugs."
Music

Submission + - Is Shawn Fanning's Snocap melting? 1

newtley writes: Rumors are swirling about the pending demise of Napster creator Shawn Fanning's Snocap, says Michael Robertson, former MP3.com CEO who's now CEO of MP3tunes and founder and chairman of Linspire. "Articles mention a 'sale', but more likely it will be a shuttering and quiet bankruptcy," he believes. "Snocap represents a commonplace occurrence in the music business — an unprofitable retailer which withers and eventually dies."
Music

Submission + - RIAA uses local cops in Oregon fleamarket raid

newtley writes: "Fake cops employed by the RIAA started acting like real police officers quite a while ago, one of the earliest examples coming in Los Angeles in 2004. From a distance, the bust, "looked like classic LAPD, DEA or FBI work, right down to the black 'raid' vests the unit members wore," said the LA Weekly. That their yellow stenciled lettering read 'RIAA' instead of something from an official law-enforcement agency, "was lost on 55-year-old parking-lot attendant Ceasar Borrayo." But it's also SOP for the RIAA to tout genuine officers paid for entirely from citizen taxes as copyright cops. Police were used in an RIAA-inspired raid at two flea markets in Beaverton, Oregon. "Sgt. Paul Wandell, Beaverton police spokesman, said officers seized more than 50,000 items worth about $758,000," says The Oregonian. But this is merely the tiny tip of an iceberg of absolutely staggering dimensions, an example of the extent coming in a GrayZone report slugged RIAA Anti-Piracy Seizure Information."
Music

Submission + - Ohio U abandons students attacked by RIAA

newtley writes: "The University of Ohio was #1 on the RIAA hit list, but it caved in to RIAA intimidation. Now, "It appears that many institutions are simply prepared to wash their hands, refusing even to question the tactics of the industry," let alone giving students "meaningful legal assistance", says Ohio lawyer Joe Hazelbaker. He's written to OU associate director of legal affairs Barbara Nalazek saying, "Ohio University has an obligation to protect the privacy of its students and their records, which includes 'directory' information." And here's a letter universities whose students being attacked might want to consider."

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