Posts Tagged ‘DRM and Other Evil’

A new form of DRM developed in Germany alters words, punctuation and other text elements so that every consumer receives a unique version of an eBook. By examining these "text watermarks", copies that end up on the Internet can be traced back to the people who bought and allegedly pirated them. The project is a collaboration between researchers, the book industry and the Government and ... Full story

In ever-more futile efforts to ‘fix’ piracy, lots of methods have been tried, and it’s doubtful there are very many left, except the obvious one of giving consumers what they want. Now the UK Intellectual Property Office has given almost £200,000 to two new projects that will almost certainly fail.Source: UK Government ‘Wastes’ £200k on New Anti-Piracy Tech Full story

The latest attempt by YoYo Games to stop unauthorized users of their popular GameMaker software has sadly backfired. A new DRM system,which replaces game graphics with skulls and crossbones, became a little overzealous to say the least. Not only did it mess around with user-created graphics in pirated versions of the software, but also replaced those in fully paid-up and free versions too, leading to ... Full story

If a copyright holder has a problem with content hosted on a website they are perfectly entitled to issue a copyright takedown request. Publisher Pearson did just that, after a 279-word list from one of its works dating back to 1974 appeared on an education blog. But rather than speak to the blog owner, Pearson DMCA'd its hosting provider instead. The end result was that ... Full story

DRM systems in the digital media world are nothing new and are utilized extensively in the music, movie and video games industries. Now, after applying four years ago, a company has this week obtained a patent for a DRM system that aims to stop future owners of 3D printers from printing whatever they like. The dream of downloading a new pair of sneakers or even ... Full story

Police in Sweden are warning Internet users not to send money to criminals trying to extort money from alleged file-sharers. The sophisticated scam began when unsuspecting cell phone users browsed an infected website which somehow extracted information from their devices. This was followed up by a mailed allegation of copyright infringement and a cash demand for between 90 and 195 euros to be paid into ... Full story

Due to court imposed blockades hundreds of thousands of Pirate Bay users rely on proxy websites to access their favorite BitTorrent site. However, starting three days ago several of the most popular proxies turned evil, only allowing users to download torrents if they agreed to install crapware. The Pirate Bay team is not happy with this move and has threatened to retaliate.Source: Pirate Bay ... Full story

BitTorrent Inc., the company behind the BitTorrent protocol and the world famous uTorrent client, has taken legal action against a company attempting to trade on the company's brand. In a lawsuit against a German-based company calling itself BitTorrent Marketing GMBH, US-based BitTorrent Inc. is claiming damages for trademark infringement, unfair competition and cybersquatting.Source: BitTorrent Inc Takes Legal Action Against Download Scammers Full story

During the past several weeks, with blockades of The Pirate Bay biting in both the Netherlands and the UK, sites which facilitate access to the world's most famous torrent site have been popping up in their dozens. However, not all of these sites have users' best interests at heart. Several, flying in the face of the very fiber of The Pirate Bay, have had the ... Full story

Criminals are attempting to extort Internet users by claiming there could be financial implications for those who used file-sharing site Megaupload for infringing activities. For the past several days a fake law firm claiming to act on behalf of entertainment companies such as Universal, Sony, EMI and Paramount has been claiming cash settlements from innocent victims.Source: Criminals Target Megaupload Users With Fake Settlement Demands... Full story