jimmyLi's blog

BitTorrent is used by millions of people every day, even in places where you wouldn’t really expect. New data suggests that employees at the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division are sharing movies and TV-shows with the rest of the world. Is the FBI gathering information on BitTorrent users, or could it be that the feds harbor in-house pirates? Online piracy is a serious crime according to the FBI. Over the past years the FBI has been involved in many piracy related cases. The high-profile Megaupload investigation for example, where a federal agent used an “undercover computer” to browse the file-hosting site. In this light it is quite a surprise that some employees at the FBI appear to be sharing copyrighted material out in the open, through BitTorrent. Based on public data from BitTorrent monitoring company ScanEye we found several BitTorrent “pirates” linked to IP-addresses that are registered to FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division. ...

While organisations like the MPAA and RIAA get a lot of press for lobbying governments into taking down music and movie related file sharing sites, the US authorities have been targeting a new kind of piracy as well – app piracy. In a single swipe, the US government has taken down three websites involved with the distribution of copyright protected applications. These include: applanet.net, appbucket.net and snappzmarket.com. Visiting those pages now gives you the simple message below: This wasn’t just some local scuffle however. Most of the servers operating these websites were found to be overseas, so it ended up taking internaional cooperation to take them offline. Assistant attorney general Lanny Breur came forward to comment (via Wired ): “Software apps have become an increasingly essential part of our nation’s economy and creative culture, and the Criminal Division is committed to working with our law enforcement partners to protect the creators of these apps...

SOPA si PIPA (Stop Online Piracy Act si Protect IP Act) sunt doua proiecte de lege elaborate la presiunile (financiare) ale caselor de discuri si studiourilor de filme care, sub pretextul ca lupta impotriva pirateriei, duceau Internet-ul intr-o noua era a cenzurii. Si asta pentru ca tot controlul se facea la nivel de provider de net. Acestia, de teama unor amenzi consistente, erau obligati sa taie accesul oricariu site sau utilizator ce era acuzat de incalcarea drepturilor de autor. Si asta fara a se pronunta vreo sentinta sau a se face vreo investigatie. Acuzarea era suficienta. Iar masura se aplica nu numai celor ce incalcau direct, ci si celor ce faceau orice trimitere sau mentiune a unui site de acest gen. Aceste legi urmau sa fie votate in congresul Statelor Unite saptamana viitoare, insa protestul de zilele trecute ce a cuprins intreg Internet-ul, in cadrul caruia peste 10 000 de site-uri si-au suspendat activitatea, si peste sapte milioane de utilizatori au semnat o petitie ...