Media Maverick

Black musicians and piracy: Friends or foes?

NEW YORK -- The sun has just come up outside the hallowed Apollo Theater in Harlem, and Lord "Black Jesus" Harrison is doing what he often does on Saturdays: selling CDs of his rap group, Harlem 6.

"We're distributing online and on the streets," Harrison said in a baritone voice on the awakening street. "People got to know who you are... all the greatest did this: NWA, Wu-Tang Clan, this guy 50 Cent."

As his eyes scan the street for potential buyers, Harrison is talking piracy now, and his rapid-fire speech slows to hammer home each point.

"I take more

Netflix powers up PAC to boost Washington profile

Netflix has formed a political action committee called Flixpac, records show.

Under federal election rules, PACs are allowed to make donations directly to federal candidates of up to $5,000 per election.

The formation of Flixpac is just the latest sign that the technology sector is raising its profile on Capitol Hill. The news about Flixpac was first reported by Politico.

Politico wrote that Netflix's lobbying costs have gone from $20,000 in 2009 to $500,000 last year. The documents that Netflix filed with the government for its PAC were signed by Christopher Libertelli, hired in December as more

Lawyer who defended YouTube against Viacom joins MegaUpload defense

MegaUpload is loading up on high-profile lawyers.

The cyberlocker service has added Andrew Schapiro, the attorney who led the YouTube defense that won summary judgment in the video-sharing service's initial copyright trial against Viacom, MegaUpload attorney Ira Rothken told CNET today.

Schapiro is part of Los Angeles-based Quinn Emanuel Urguhart & Sullivan, which MegaUpload hired to represent the company against criminal copyright charges. Rothken is a well-known Silicon Valley lawyer and the man who is also leading MegaUpload's worldwide defense.

Rothken called Quinn Emanuel "one of the best law firms in the country."

The United States alleges that MegaUpload's leadership, more

Viacom wins second round of copyright battle against YouTube

Viacom has won an appeal in its copyright lawsuit against Google's YouTube, according to court documents.

The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals sent the case back to a lower court to determine whether YouTube purposely ignored the infringing material that was posted to the site.

The decision is a setback for technology companies. It negates an earlier decision that set a favorable precedent about responsibility for policing Web sites. But today's decision more

Post-SOPA surprise: Common ground for tech, big media

A spirit of cooperation appears to be rising in the technology and entertainment sectors regarding antipiracy efforts.

Three months after the defeat of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), leaders from both sides say they wish to work together to forge a new response to illegal file sharing. No kidding -- there's even talk about trying to once again pass antipiracy legislation.

Though skeptics predict all these kumbaya feelings will quickly turn to bitterness, there's no mistaking that detente is in the air.

On Tuesday, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), one of the lawmakers who helped kill SOPA, said more

Paramount to rent movies via YouTube, Google Play

Paramount has agreed to give YouTube and Google Play access to 500 movies for rental, the companies announced today.

What's that you say? Haven't their parent companies fought one of the Web's nastiest copyright battles for the last five years? Viacom sued Google and YouTube in 2007 alleging that they encouraged users to pirate Viacom's TV shows and films. YouTube won the first round in federal district court but Viacom has appealed.

Viacom has actually done business with Google for years, and some of the company's content has been available on Android and YouTube for more

EMI, Grooveshark's only major label, tears up contract

EMI, one of the four top record companies and home to such acts as The Beatles and Coldplay, has terminated its music-licensing agreement with Grooveshark, a well-known music-sharing service, CNET has learned.

Court documents filed in New York state court reveal that the recorded-music division of EMI alleges Grooveshark has failed to meet the financial obligations of the agreement. In January, EMI's publishing arm filed suit against Grooveshark for breach of contract.

Grooveshark is a music service that provides free access to songs by enabling users to post their own music to the site. The company issued a response more

U.S. tells court MegaUpload users are out of luck

Blame MegaUpload, if you stored legal documents on the cyberlocker service and now may not be allowed to retrieve them, according to the U.S. government.

Neil MacBride, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia who in January shut down MegaUpload, after accusing founder Kim DotCom and six other company managers of criminal copyright violations, asked a federal court in documents filed last night to deny a request for a protective order filed by Carpathia Hosting, which houses MegaUpload's user data.

Carpathia wants the court to help pay the costs of preserving MegaUpload's data, which more

Netflix at risk again, Barclays says and downgrades shares

Netflix has appeared to claw its way back from a turbulent 2011, but Barclays is warning of new threats in the company's future.

In a report issued today, Barclays analyst Anthony DiClemente downgraded Netflix's stock to a hold rating. Much of what's giving DiClemente the heebie jeebies about Netflix shares we've heard before: Amazon is adding more and more titles to the company's Prime streaming-video library, the costs of acquiring content are skyrocketing, and there are more competitors in the United States and in overseas markets.

But dig into DiClemente's numbers a little and more

MPAA to court: Don't give MegaUpload its servers back

The trade group for the top Hollywood film studios told a federal court that it opposes any plan that would allow MegaUpload to buy back its servers.

That unyielding stance position could hurt MegaUpload's efforts to retrieve its servers, which company lawyer Ira Rothken said it needs to defend itself. In January, the United States filed criminal copyright charges against the cyberlocker service, founder Kim DotCom and other managers. DotCom and six others are expected to fight U.S. attempts to extradite them to this country.

The Motion Picture Association of America laid out its position in an 8-page more