" piracy

A decade after Metallica took on Napster, rapper Nicki Minaj has launched a silent protest against Web piracy.

"Like seriously, it's but so much a person can take," Minaj wrote Sunday on Twitter just prior to closing down her account, telling fans "Good f---ing bye," according to numerous reports.

The tantrum came after Minaj accused fan site NickiDaily.com of leaking several songs from her new album, "Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded," online. Minaj, whose first album, "Pink Friday," was considered a major commercial success last year, risks inviting the wrath of … Read more

ALEXANDRIA, Va.--Managers at Carpathia Hosting should have known their MegaUpload gravy train would roar off the tracks one day, according to a lawyer representing the U.S. government.

Since January, when the U.S. Department of Justice filed criminal copyright charges against MegaUpload, one of the world's most popular cyberlocker services, the private firm that hosted MegaUpload's servers has preserved user data on its own dime. During a hearing yesterday in U.S. District Court to decide what to do with MegaUpload's user data, Carpathia's lawyer told the judge that the federal government should pick … Read more

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 … Read more

A senior executive that Hollywood hired last year to be its chief technology policy officer has undergone a remarkable about-face: he now opposes the Stop Online Piracy Act.

Paul Brigner, who was until last month a senior vice president at the Motion Picture Association of America, has emerged as SOPA's latest critic. "I firmly believe that we should not be legislating technological mandates to protect copyright -- including SOPA and Protect IP," he says.

In a statement posted on CNET.com, Brigner says that his time at the MPAA -- which, more than any other advocacy group, … Read more

The Motion Picture Association of America believes there's still hope for the controversy-plagued Stop Online Piracy Act.

In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter that was published online today, MPAA chief Christopher Dodd said he was "confident" that President Obama was using his "good relationships in both communities" -- that is, Silicon Valley and Hollywood -- to advance SOPA.

When asked whether there are negotiations going on now, Dodd replied: "I'm confident that's the case, but I'm not going to go into more detail because obviously if I do, it becomes … Read more

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 … Read more

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 … Read more

The country's top Internet service providers, along with major film and recorded music companies, announced that they have hired the person who will oversee their joint antipiracy efforts, scheduled to begin this summer.

Earlier today, CNET reported that Jill Lesser, who is currently managing director of the Glover Park Group, a lobbying and public policy firm, was the leading candidate to run the Center for Copyright Information (CCI), the organization that will help support the antipiracy program known as graduated response.

The ISPs and entertainment companies confirmed that Lesser has been appointed executive director of CCI. They also said … Read more

MediaFire is no 'rogue' Web site and is not run by any criminal gang, says Tom Langridge, one of the co-founders of the file-hosting service.

In a letter to CNET, Langridge has responded to comments made on Friday by Alfred Perry, vice president of worldwide antipiracy for Paramount Pictures. Perry appeared on a panel during the On Copyright conference at Columbia University.

Perry told attendees that the studios "continue to make criminal referrals" to authorities regarding "rogue" cyberlockers. He also said that some sites that enable piracy are often operated by criminal gangs that oversee multiple … Read more