File Sharing

Kim DotCom is out on bail and the MegaUpload founder didn't waste time before going on a public relations offensive.

For the past month, DotCom has been locked up in a New Zealand jail after being accused by the United States government of criminal copyright violations, racketeering, and money laundering. U.S. officials say that MegaUpload cost copyright owners $500 million in damages and is part of the biggest online piracy case ever. They want DotCom to stand trial in this country.

Now, in an attempt to clear his name, DotCom is doing media interviews and telling his side … Read more

MegaUpload founder Kim DotCom could be headed back to jail.

Authorities in New Zealand are expected to appeal last week's decision to release DotCom on bail, according to TVNZ. The U.S. government alleges that DotCom was operating MegaUpload as one of the Web's biggest criminal copyright operations and indicted him last month. He was arrested on January 19 and since then has remained in police custody.

We're certainly getting a lesson in the Kiwi legal system and this much is clear: their wheels of justice grind just as slowly or slower than ours. The MegaUpload piracy … Read more

Foreclosures, bankruptcies, eviction notices, and tears.

That's the picture painted Thursday in a New York Times op-ed piece about a Hollywood film industry that is supposedly "contracting."

Hilary De Vries, a screenwriter and book author, writes about how Hollywood's middle class is hurting. We're not talking Brad and Angelina or Martin Scorsese. We're talking about the guy you might remember from a soap opera or the writing team for a lesser-known sitcom. De Vries offered anecdotes about how her neighbors--several cash-strapped actors and screenwriters--have lost homes to foreclosure. She described how popular eateries are … Read more

Kim DotCom, founder of cyberlocker MegaUpload, has been released on bail, according to media reports out of New Zealand.

After DotCom was indicted in the United States for criminal copyright violations and racketeering, he was arrested last month at the mansion he leases near Auckland, New Zealand, following a sensational police raid. Millions in cash, cars, and other possessions belonging to DotCom were seized.

Since then, two judges in New Zealand had denied his previous requests for bail. The judge who heard DotCom's request today, however, decided the defendant was not enough of a flight risk to keep in … Read more

China's government has raised the cap on the number of U.S. movies it allows to be screened in that country each year, according to the White House and the six major Hollywood film studios.

Negotiations between the U.S. and China have also yielded an agreement that will put a greater share of box-office revenues into the hands of U.S. filmmakers. This is only a marginal technology story because of the implications it has on online piracy.

The tech sector has long blasted Hollywood for not making films and TV shows more accessible at a more affordable … Read more

Fred Wilson, a well-known venture capitalist from New York, says he's in favor of creating a blacklist for Web sites found to traffic in pirated films, music, and other intellectual property.

The co-founder of Union Square Ventures told a gathering of media executives at the Paley Center for Media yesterday that he believes a good antipiracy measure would be for Google, Twitter, Facebook, and other major sites to issue warnings to people when they try to connect with a known pirate site.

Wilson favors establishing an independent group to create a "black and white list." "The … Read more

The $4.3 million New Zealand home owned by MegaUpload founder Kim DotCom was seized by police in that country today, according to published reports.

The home seized was not the grand $25 million mansion where the MegaUpload founder was living and had leased prior to his January 19 arrest by more than 70 police officers. He was prevented from buying that larger home because he failed to pass the "good character test" required for foreigners to buy property in New Zealand, numerous publications in that country are reporting tonight.

But DotCom, who the United States has accused … Read more

ReDigi, a music marketplace for used digital tracks, will have its day in court.

EMI, one of the top four record companies, alleged last month in a copyright complaint that ReDigi makes unauthorized copies of its songs to operate its music reselling business. EMI asked the court for a preliminary injunction, which would have forced ReDigi to shut down while the issue was decided in court, but the judge refused, according to a press release issued by ReDigi yesterday.

U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan said he is inclined to let the case go to trial because of the many &… Read more

Semi-automatic shotguns, body armor, and accusations of police brutality and acts of terrorism are common in stories about Mexico's drug wars or the fighting in Afghanistan.

So what are those terms doing in technology stories about copyright and online file sharing? A recent arrest of MegaUpload's founder by 70 armed police officers as well as cyber attacks on media executives and government officials by Anonymous indicates that the gloves have come off in the copyright conflict.

Against this backdrop, BTJunkie, one of the top BitTorrent index sites, has decided to shut down. BTJunkie posted a note on its … Read more