Technologizer » file sharing

File Sharers Get Religious In Sweden

Ed Oswald — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 11:05:50 +0000

If there’s one thing you can say about chronic file-sharers, they have interesting ways of trying to legitimize their activities. The craziest example of this so far is a group of Swedish file sharers who have sucessfully petitioned the government to have file-sharing considered as a legitimate religion. Yep, you read that right.

The Church of Kopimism holds sacred the symbols Control-C and Control-V (for you non-keyboardists, thats the shortcuts for “copy” and “paste”.). It was originally organized by college student Isak Gerson in 2010, but the Swedish government rejected their attempts to be officially recognized twice before finally accepting them recently as an recognized religion, TorrentFreak reports.

No word on the reasons for the change of heart in Stockholm.

What does this mean? Gerson and his followers could now essentially petition the government for relief from religious persecution over its activities (read: file-sharing). It doesn’t make their activities legal, but it could certainly throw the authorities a curveball in dealing with anybody considered a “Kopimist.”

This is one of those stories where I’m almost speechless writing it. First off, what lame-brained government official approved of this? It’s a blatant attempt at circumventing the law. Second off, reading this guy’s comments to TorrentFreak I had a hard time not laughing. Here’s a gem:

“We confessional Kopimists have not only depended on each other in this struggle, but on everyone who is copying information. To everyone with an internet connection: Keep copying. Maintain hardline Kopimi.”

Ohhhkay. Swedish government. Congrats on giving people a legal way to break the law! Did this guy make similar statements in his petition to be recognized? Did you guys believe him? Apparently so!

Now don’t get me wrong, I think the hardline stance some have taken against file-sharing is not the right position. I do believe that P2P piracy is in part exacerbated by the entertainment industry’s overreach when it comes to copyright and control of it. At the same time, governments worldwide share a responsibility in enforcing the laws as they are now until they are changed.

This includes turning away people like Gerson who are obviously playing the system for the sole purpose of breaking the law. File sharing in no way is a religion. An addiction? That sounds more like it.

AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon May Start Punishing File Sharers

Jared Newman — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 17:53:39 +0000

People who illegally download movies and music may soon face more than just empty threats from their Internet service providers.

Some of the largest ISPs in the United States are close to agreements with the entertainment industry to crack down on piracy with stiffer punishments, according to CNet. Repeat offenders could face throttled bandwidth speeds or limited access to the Internet, or they may have to attend programs to learn about the subtleties of copyright law.

CNet’s unnamed sources say the agreement between ISPs and media companies isn’t a done deal yet. But their partnership, which was encouraged in part by the White House, could be announced as early as next month. AT&T, Verizon and Comcast are all reportedly involved.

The entertainment industry has wanted this approach to piracy for years. In 2008, the Recording Industry Association of America said it would stop suing individual file sharers and instead pursue a “graduated response,” in which Internet service providers would penalize offenders.

But the ISPs were reluctant to play ball. Some providers would send threatening letters to subscribers, but rarely would they take action. As DSL Reports notes, Cox Communications was the only major ISP that freely admitted to kicking repeat offenders off its network, and only in extreme situations after many warnings.

The rumored agreement between entertainment companies and ISPs would change all that, although it’s not quite the “three strikes” rule that we’ve seen in other countries such as France and Ireland. In the United States, ISPs will likely stop short of terminating users’ Internet connections completely.

If you’re a law-abiding citizen, there may some downsides. ISPs will reportedly share the cost of operating the program, and I’m guessing those costs will be passed on to subscribers. And as with any anti-piracy effort that relies on detecting IP addresses, there’s a risk of accusing innocent people who keep their Wi-Fi networks open, either intentionally or inadvertently.

But if the agreement goes through, the entertainment industry will celebrate it as another blow to piracy in the United States, following the shutdown of popular file-sharing service LimeWire. Some individual rights holders have also found success strong-arming file sharers with bulk lawsuits. It’s a tough time to be a pirate, even if the craftiest of file sharers will always find a way.

(This post republished from Techland. Image from Flickr user Svadilfari.)

Box.net Gets Syncing

Harry McCracken — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 17:09:58 +0000

Box.net–the collaborative, file-sharing service for business that likes to position itself as a scrappy, cloud-based alternative to Microsoft’s SharePoint–is adding a syncing feature. Rather than having to upload and download documents in a browser, users will be be able to run an applet called Box Sync that shuttles files back and forth in the background, a la services such as SugarSync:

For now, the feature is only available for Windows (a Mac version is in the works) and only for subscribers who have a Business account, which costs $15 a month. (Box also has a free version with 1GB of storage.) Box Sync complements existing Box features such as its nifty Web-based file viewer.

One Virgin Music Store Dies. And Another Opens.

Harry McCracken — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:32:55 +0000

The timing must be coincidental, but file these two news stories under signs of the times: The last two Virgin Megastores in the U.S. finally closed yesterday–a development which wasn’t entirely due to the slow death of physical media, but was surely be remembered as a significant moment in the ongoing digitization of entertainment. And today, Virgin Media–a UK ISP, phone carrier, and TV provider that’s another arm of the far-flung, loosely-joined Virgin empire–is announcing what may be the first above-board music service that lets you pay a flat fee not only to stream all the music you like but also to download it in MP3 form and keep it, even if you cancel the service. The company has signed up Universal as a music provider, and says it’s working on getting other major music companies on board. It’s going to be available later this year in the UK. But in theory, anyhow, it’s the format of music service we’d all choose, given the opportunity.

What’s the catch? Well, the press release on the new service says this:

The new service reflects the shared commitment of Virgin Media and Universal Music to keep step with growing demand for online music in an increasingly digital world. In parallel, the two companies will be working together to protect Universal Music’s intellectual property and drive a material reduction in the unauthorized distribution of its repertoire across Virgin Media’s network.

This will involve implementing a range of different strategies to educate file sharers about online piracy and to raise awareness of legal alternatives. They include, as a last resort for persistent offenders, a temporary suspension of internet access. No customers will be permanently disconnected and the process will not depend on network monitoring or interception of customer traffic by Virgin Media.

Not explained: How Virgin can identify you as a file swapper and suspend your service if it isn’t watching your online activity in some fashion. I don’t have any sympathy for the plight of music thieves whose activities may be foiled by technological means. But I wouldn’t want to give Virgin Media my money as a customer without a clear idea of exactly how it’s identifying file sharers and interfering with their activities. Absent a clear explanation of what’s going on, there’s an Orwellian tinge to the idea. Call it Big Virgin is Watching You.

Does Piracy Make Music Better?

David Worthington — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 05:42:39 +0000

Sometimes roundabout logic does makes sense. A BBC feature article published today is arguing that illegal file sharing has exposed a generation of artists to a infinity of influences that makes today’s bands better, strengthening the music business.

Robin Pecknold, who is the lead singer of the band “Fleet Foxes,” told the BBC that file sharing helped him discover music that inspired him–music which he may not have otherwise heard. “As much music as musicians can hear, that will only make music richer as an art form,” Pecknold told the BBC.

I can’t argue with him (well, aside from the stealing part). The Internet has revolutionized music discovery. It is shocking that the music industry never envisioned that broader exposure to music through the Web could yield some positive developments. Where were the music lovers in the business when the industry stood opposed to the Web?

Don’t get me wrong, something had to be done about Napster. There was a substantial loss of intellectual property happening, and piracy is not excusable. However, there was another way: The industry could have embraced the medium instead of going to war with grannies.

That tactic has been successful before. DVDs are a good example of copyright holders working in partnership with technology companies. It’s an obvious conclusion, but the music industry has made some major missteps with how it has handled the Web. Maybe the pirate artists will help save it.