file-sharing

The U.S. government has launched a major crackdown on online copyright infringement, seizing dozens of Web site domains linked to illegal file sharing and counterfeit goods.

The domains of torrent sites that link to illegal copies of music and movie files and sites that sell counterfeit goods were seized this week by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement division of the Department of Homeland Security. Visitors to such sites as Torrent-finder.com, 2009jerseys.com, and Dvdcollects.com found that their usual sites had been replaced by a message that said, "This domain name has been seized by ICE--Homeland Security … Read more

A setback in federal court last week appears to have prompted the law firm spearheading a litigation campaign against accused film pirates on behalf of independent movie studios to abandon a major part of its legal strategy, CNET has learned.

Dunlap, Grubb & Weaver, the law firm representing makers of such pics as "Far Cry" and Oscar-winner "The Hurt Locker," has filed copyright complaints against thousands of people from across the country this year and sought to pursue those cases in federal court in Washington, D.C., near its base of operations. Among the obstacles facing … Read more

The four largest recording companies claim in court papers that Lime Wire, the company behind the LimeWire file-sharing service, has thumbed its nose at a court injunction that requires the peer-to-peer network be shut down, CNET has learned.

"Defendants have demonstrated in no uncertain terms that they either will not or cannot do what the injunction commands," wrote lawyers working for the Recording Industry Association of America.

The RIAA, the trade group for the major labels, asked the court yesterday in a 20-page document to appoint a "receiver" to ensure that Lime Wire complies with the … Read more

After several blockbuster films have been leaked to the Web and generated lots of press for the movies, the public is increasingly suspicious about whether the studios are orchestrating the piracy.

The most recent example came Tuesday evening, when 36 minutes of the upcoming Warner Bros. Pictures film, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1," turned up on file-sharing services. Blogs and online forums overflowed with theories about who leaked the film. "It may be going a little bit too far to suggest that Warner Bros. leaked the film intentionally, but from a business perspective it … Read more

Lots of people accused of illegally sharing the Iraqi war film, "The Hurt Locker," and several other indie films have said this or something similar in e-mails to me. Indie studios this year began waging a litigation campaign against thousands of accused film pirates.

The courts have yet to decide who is legally responsible for copyright violations committed on an unprotected network, but some smaller Internet service providers don't seem to care. As far as they're concerned, if it'… Read more

Jammie Thomas-Rasset was supposed to lead the major labels into a trap.

Proponents of less restrictive copyright laws predicted that the decision by the four biggest record labels to drag a single mother of modest means into court for allegedly sharing music over the Web would lead them into a legal, political, and public relations killing field.

Since 2006, when Thomas-Rasset first refused to settle the copyright complaint brought against her by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the labels' trade group, her supporters said her case would illustrate how impossible it was to definitively prove who was sitting … Read more

Sometimes it feels like sharing a flash drive around an office is dangerous enough. The question is, do you feel lucky enough to trust one stuck in a public wall?

Aram Bartholl has begun installing USB "dead drops" throughout New York City as a living experiment in public data networks. Bartholl's an exhibiting German artist in residence at Eyebeam in New York City with numerous installation art projects under his belt. Currently, these dead drops are in five locations, with more to come.

"Dead drop" refers to a spy term for physical locations where information … Read more

NEW YORK--Last summer, Lime Wire began installing a secret upgrade to its software that enabled the company to shut down the peer-to-peer network whenever it wanted, music industry sources have confirmed.

The revelation was first reported Tuesday by PC Mag. According to the Web tech publication, reporters there were tipped off by a source on Monday night.

"LimeWire added the ability to send out messages to clients updating them with the location of their local peers via start-up scripts," PC Mag wrote, citing the anonymous source. "It will be these start-up scripts that will be disabled...largely … Read more

The end of Lime Wire as it has existed for years appears to be at hand.

U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood issued an injunction today against the company that operates the long popular file-sharing software LimeWire and orders managers there to disable "the searching, downloading, uploading, file trading...and/or all functionality" of the LimeWire software, Lime Wire announced.

In May, Wood, who serves the Southern District of New York, granted summary judgment in favor of the music industry's claims that Lime Group, parent of LimeWire software maker Lime Wire, and founder Mark Gorton committed copyright … Read more