piracy

Android comes under fire from game developers on piracy

Madfinger Games recently lowered the price of its Dead Trigger game from $0.99 to free on the Google Play Store. The reason, it announced, was because of the "unbelievably high" amount of illegal downloads on Google's Android devices despite the game's inexpensive price, according to the Guardian.

Here's what Madfinger Games said on its Dead Trigger Facebook page:

Regarding price drop. HERE is our statement. The main reason: piracy rate on Android devices, that was unbelievably high. At first we intend to make this game available for as many people as possible - that'… Read more

Google must delete 'torrent' from autocomplete, court says

The French Supreme Court has ruled that Google may have to censor the words "torrent," "RapidShare," and "Megaupload" from its instant and autocomplete searches, according to TorrentFreak.

In its ongoing court case with French music industry group SNEP, Google has been accused of implicitly allowing copyright violations for not filtering out these words. The SNEP alleges that when users type in names of well-known musicians in Google search, file-sharing sites get added on with the autocomplete feature.

"We are disappointed by the court's ruling," a Google spokesperson told CNET. "Google … Read more

MegaUpload judge calls U.S. 'the enemy'

The judge overseeing the MegaUpload case in New Zealand doesn't sound like a supporter of the U.S. government's attempts to strengthen international copyright law.

According to a report in the New Zealand Herald, the United States is attempting to require New Zealand and other countries to adopt tougher copyright restrictions as part of a trade agreement and this prompted the judge to call the U.S. government "the enemy."

The Herald raised the question whether Harvey's comments were appropriate for the judge presiding over the MegaUpload case to make. According to a legal expert … Read more

Kim DotCom offers a travel deal to U.S. Justice Department

MegaUpload founder Kim DotCom has a proposition for the U.S. Justice Department, which is trying to extradite DotCom to the U.S. to face piracy charges.

He's offering to travel to the U.S. voluntarily -- provided federal authorities unfreeze his assets to cover his legal expenses and cost of living.

"Hey DOJ, we will go to the US. No need for extradition. We want bail, funds unfrozen for lawyers & living expenses," DotCom said in a tweet.

DotCom claims the cloud-storage locker was completely legitimate and protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. U.S. … Read more

Kim DotCom extradition hearing postponed until 2013

The extradition hearing for MegaUpload founder Kim DotCom has been postponed to next year over questions about the legality of evidence seized with search warrants later declared invalid.

The hearing, which was scheduled to occur in August 6, was delayed Tuesday by a New Zealand judge until March 2013.

DotCom attorney William Akel told Reuters the postponement was due to two judicial reviews currently under way regarding the search warrants and evidence disclosure.

"It was inevitable that the hearing for August was going to be vacated because we have two existing cases in the High Court," Akel said. … Read more

U.S. Attorney: Biden hands-off in MegaUpload bust

Vice President Joe Biden did not orchestrate the criminal case against MegaUpload, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Kim DotCom, the founder of MegaUpload, a cloud storage service accused of trafficking in pirated materials, said this week that he has proof Biden ordered the prosecution against him and six other MegaUpload managers.

"There was no White House involvement in the decision to charge this case," the office of Neil MacBride, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, wrote in an brief e-mail to CNET. MacBride is the federal prosecutor who filed a criminal … Read more

MPAA: Kim DotCom's conspiracy theories are bunk

The film industry is laughing at allegations made by Kim DotCom, the founder of accused pirate site MegaUpload.

DotCom claims leaders from the major Hollywood studios gathered last June in Washington to discuss MegaUpload with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden.

In an interview with TorrentFreak on Tuesday, DotCom produced White House records that showed some of the chiefs of the six largest film studios, including Brad Grey, CEO of Paramount Pictures, and Ron Meyer of Universal Studios, met with Biden at the White House on July 27, 2011. He noted that also in attendance was Mike Ellis, an executive … Read more

MegaUpload and the White House: A case of curious timing

MegaUpload founder Kim DotCom, a man indicted by the U.S. government for criminal copyright violations, conspiracy, money laundering and wire fraud, alleges that Vice President Joe Biden ordered a U.S. Attorney to pursue its aggressive case against him and his company.

If true, that shouldn't come as a big surprise to even the most casual follower of the antipiracy debate. (DotCom cited no evidence for his claim, telling the site TorrentFreak only that a "credible source" informed him Biden ordered the crackdown.)

Whether or not Biden was involved -- and my sources say he wasn'… Read more

Kim DotCom warrants invalid, New Zealand judge rules

The U.S. piracy case against MegaUpload founder Kim DotCom appears to have run aground, with a New Zealand court ruling that the search warrants issued in January were invalid.

New Zealand High Court Judge Helen Winkelmann ruled Thursday that the warrants did not adequately describe the offenses alleged, according to a report in the New Zealand Herald. "Indeed they fell well short of that," she said. "They were general warrants, and as such, are invalid.''

She also ruled that it was unlawful for the data confiscated in the raid to have been sent offshore, saying "… Read more