CyberLaw Blog

Archive for September, 2010

Commission takes UK to court over alleged privacy law failings: “The European Commission is taking the UK to court, claiming that UK law does not protect citizens’ privacy as strongly as EU laws demand. The case centres on the UK Government’s response to the Phorm web monitoring scandal.“

(Via OUT-LAW News.)

Your Quick Reference Guide to Current US BitTorrent Lawsuits: “If the dizzying array of movie producers, lawsuits, and law firms has your head spinning, don’t worry you’re not alone. We’ve put together a chart with all kinds of great info that will help you find information quick. Need to know what jurisdiction the Hurt Locker lawsuit is taking place in? What about the name of the Judge overseeing the Debbie Does Dallas litigation? It’s all right here, and hopefully will provide some good, quick insight into the nearly 20,000 John Does accused of copyright infringement.”

(Via Slyck.com File-Sharing News And Information.)

Names Will be Named in Debbie Does Dallas Lawsuits: “For those with spouses, mates, girlfriends or boyfriends, explaining a copyright infringement lawsuit is not an easy matter. If you’re busted because you uploaded The Hurt Locker, this isn’t the end of the world – just about anyone can understand that. If you’re busted for uploading Debbie Does Dallas, well it wont be the most pleasant conversation, but most couples will survive. If you’re caught sharing Kings of New York – well we can only sympathize with the poor bloke who has to convince his mate that a substantial demographic of heterosexuals help fuel this multi-billion dollar industry.”

(Via Slyck.com File-Sharing News And Information.)

At Least 40 John Does Strike Back Against the USCG: “Within the last few days, over 40 motions to quash have been filed by John Does accused of sharing ‘The Hurt Locker’ and ‘The Steam Experiment’. Other than Time Warner’s motion to quash, this move represents one of the largest counter-moves against the USCG (US Copyright Group).”

(Via Slyck.com File-Sharing News And Information.)

Hustler Targets 635 BitTorrent Users: “Just when you thought 20,000+ BitTorrent lawsuits wasn’t enough, 635 more are piled on. In a new round of lawsuits, LFP Internet Group (originally Larry Flynt Publications) filed their copyright complaint against the unnamed defendants for sharing the adult film ‘Barely Legal School Girls #6′. The complaint was filed in federal district court in Dallas Texas by Evan Stone, the same lawyer working on the Lucas Entertainment lawsuits.”

(Via Slyck.com File-Sharing News And Information.)

German Porn Producer Files 670 New BitTorrent Lawsuits: “There’s a secret war against alleged BitTorrent infringers going on that’s beginning to compare in scope with the USCG lawsuits. This pursuit, however, doesn’t focus on independent or artsy fartsy movies – these lawsuits are focused on adult movies allegedly shared via the BitTorrent protocol. Filed in US District Court in Dallas, 670 John Doe lawsuits were filed by Evan Stone on behalf of Mick Haig Productions, who own the copyright to the adult German film Der Gute Onkel.”

(Via Slyck.com File-Sharing News And Information.)

Privacy International Plans Legal Action Against ACS:Law: “Slyck first reported on Friday of a massive breach of security at the ACS:Law website. We witnessed, much to our astonishment, at least a partial exposure of the ACS:Law web server. Whoever administers their site appears to have made an amateur effort in its restoration. Unfortunately for Andrew Crossley and the rest of ACS:Law, the server was not configured to block public access to its structure. Worse, a backup file of the site dated August 24, 2010 was left on the web server.”

(Via Slyck.com File-Sharing News And Information.)

ISP Sky Broadband Cuts off ACS:Law: “In the wake of the epic email database breach which was first reported here on Slyck.com, the omnidirectional broadside against the anti-piracy law firm ACS:Law continues. The ISP Sky Broadband today stated they cut off further cooperation with ACS:Law due to the email breach and will only resume when proper security measures are taken. Although there’s still a mountain of information still under analysis, at least 4,000 Sky customers had their information leaked into the wild thanks to sloppy web server administration and the lack of data encryption procedures.”

(Via Slyck.com File-Sharing News And Information.)

Law firm could face first £500,000 data leak fine: “A law firm could be fined up to £500,000 by the Information Commissioner after the sensitive personal data of thousands of people was reportedly made public in error.“

(Via OUT-LAW News.)

Is Europe’s shield for web hosts corroding away?: “OPINION: A gap is emerging between the way similar laws are being interpreted in the US and Europe that presents a threat to web hosts. In Europe they are at greater risk of being saddled with liability for users’ copyright transgressions than in the US.“

(Via OUT-LAW News.)