France Sees First Conviction Under New Anti-Piracy Law (CNET)
France assessed its first fine under Hadopi against a man found liable for failing to secure his Internet connection that was being used to illegally download copyrighted content.
Microsoft Finds New PCs in China Preinstalled with Malware (PCWorld)
An investigation by Microsoft revealed that brand-new laptop and desktop computers sold in China contained preinstalled malware embedded in counterfeit versions of Windows OS. While consumers in Western countries may not be vulnerable to that kind of tampering, they do face risks if they download counterfeit software from the Internet.
“Six Strikes” Internet Warning System Will Come to US this Year (Ars Technica)
Jill Lesser, head of the newly formed Center for Copyright Information, says the Copyright Alert System, commonly known as the “six strikes” anti-piracy program, is set to launch by the end of this year.
The 3 Myths Behind “Internet Pirates Always Win” (paidContent)
Michael Smith, an economist from Carnegie Mellon, argues that three myths are driving the popular notion that online piracy is inevitable and can’t be stopped.
Judge Suspends Google E-Book Litigation (Reuters)
An appeals court judge suspended trial court litigation involving Google and thousands of authors pending Google’s appeal of an order granting the authors class-action status in the case over Google’s plans to create the world’s largest digital books library.
Piracy May Be Commonplace, But Music’s Outlook is Improving (paidContent)
A recent report says more than three billion songs were downloaded illegally around the world via torrent in the first half of 2012, and while that is a huge number, it is likely shrinking and moving in the direction the industry wants.
Keith Kupferschmid is General Counsel and SVP, Intellectual Property Policy & Enforcement at SIIA.