All posts tagged: Piracy

‘What comes next?’: Fear grips Pakistani families of Somali piracy victims | Crime

‘What comes next?’: Fear grips Pakistani families of Somali piracy victims | Crime

Published by Sam Flores

Islamabad, Pakistan – When Ayesha Ameen was leaving her house last week for a chore, her three-year-old daughter Zimal tugged at her sleeve and asked if she was finally going to the airport to pick up her father. “How do you tell a three-year-old that her father is held captive and cannot come home?” Ayesha, 26, told Al Jazeera. “How can anybody answer that?” Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Zimal’s father, Ameen bin Shams, 29, has been held hostage on board an oil tanker off the coast of Somalia for nearly two weeks. He is among 10 Pakistani sailors in the 17-member crew of the MT Honour 25, seized by Somali pirates on April 21. Besides the Pakistani nationals, the ship’s crew consists of four Indonesians – including the MT Honour’s captain – as well as one each from Sri Lanka, Myanmar and India. Ameen’s daughter asks about him every day. His four-month-old son, Rahim, born on December 24, two weeks after Ameen left on his first merchant navy contract, has never met …

2 Cases Show Supreme Court Isn’t Holding ISPs Responsible for Piracy

2 Cases Show Supreme Court Isn’t Holding ISPs Responsible for Piracy

Published by skeptic

Two weeks ago, the Supreme Court ruled that ISP giant Cox Communications couldn’t be held liable for a billion-dollar judgment over music piracy in a case brought by Sony. On Tuesday, by sending another case back to a circuit court involving Grande Communications and music companies, including Sony, for reconsideration, the court seems to be reinforcing the idea that internet service providers can’t be held liable for their customers’ copyright infringement. The Supreme Court relied on the precedent from the first case to send the second back, reinforcing the earlier decision.  Grande Communications is a Texas-based subsidiary of Astound Business Solutions. A Sony Music representative didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.   The two cases back-to-back appear to suggest that copyright owners, like music companies, can’t expect to be compensated by broadband providers (including, presumably, wireless companies such as AT&T and Verizon) that have customers who engage in intellectual property theft across their networks.  What this means for ISPs and customers Eric Goldman, an associate dean for research and professor at Santa Clara University School …

High court makes it harder to sue internet providers for online piracy

High court makes it harder to sue internet providers for online piracy

Published by Sam Flores

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday made it harder for music and movie makers to sue for online piracy, ruling that internet providers are usually not liable for copyright infringement even if they know their users are downloading copyrighted works. In a 9-0 decision, the justices threw out Sony’s lawsuit and a $1-billion jury verdict against Cox Communications for copyright infringement. Lower courts upheld the lawsuit against Cox’s internet service for contributing to music piracy, which the company did little to stop. Sony’s lawyers pointed to hundreds of thousands of instances of Cox customers sharing copyrighted works. Put on notice, Cox did little to stop it, they said. But the high court said that is not enough to establish liability for copyright infringement, which remains a hot button issue in the music and film industries with the advent of AI tools that have spread the misuse of copyrighted content and sparked lawsuits between studios and AI companies. “Under our precedents, a company is not liable as a copyright infringer for merely providing a service to the …

The Piracy Problem Streaming Platforms Can’t Solve

The Piracy Problem Streaming Platforms Can’t Solve

Published by skeptic

“The trade-off isn’t only ethical or economic,” Andreaux adds. “It’s also about reliability, privacy and personal security.” Abed Kataya, digital content manager at SMEX, a Beirut-based digital rights organization focused on internet policy in the Middle East and North Africa, says piracy in the region is shaped less by culture than by structural barriers. “I see that piracy in MENA is not a cultural choice; rather, it has multiple layers,” Kataya tells WIRED Middle East. “First, when the internet spread across the region, as in many other regions, people thought everything on it was free,” Kataya says. “This perception was based on the nature of Web 1.0 and 2.0, and how the internet was presented to people.” Today, he says, structural barriers still lead many users towards illegal platforms. “Users began to watch online on unofficial streaming platforms for many reasons: lack of local platforms, inability to pay, bypassing censorship and, of course, to watch for free or at lower prices.” Payment access also remains a major factor. “Not to mention that many are unbanked, …

Cuban official accuses US of ‘piracy’ against sanctioned Caribbean island | Oil and Gas News

Cuban official accuses US of ‘piracy’ against sanctioned Caribbean island | Oil and Gas News

Published by Sam Flores

Ambassador Carlos de Cespedes says US pressure ‘will not subjugate’ Cuba as Venezuelan oil exports to island dry out. A Cuban diplomat has accused the United States of “international piracy”, as Washington continues to block Venezuelan oil from reaching the Caribbean island in the wake of the US military attack on the nation and abduction of President Nicolas Maduro. Carlos de Cespedes, Cuba’s ambassador to Colombia, told Al Jazeera on Saturday that the US is imposing a “marine siege” on the country. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list “Cuba is facing more powerful US threats than it has in the 67 years since the revolution,” de Cespedes said, referring to decades of punishing sanctions and military threats. “The US is carrying out international piracy in the Caribbean Sea that is restricting and blocking the arrival of oil to Cuba.” Since US forces abducted Venezuela’s Maduro earlier this month, the flow of oil from the country to Cuba has all but come to a halt. Venezuela has been the main oil supplier to Cuba …

Scientists Say: River Piracy

Scientists Say: River Piracy

Published by skeptic

basin: (in geology) A low-lying area, often below sea level. It collects water, which then deposits fine silt and other sediment on its bottom. Because it collects these materials, it’s sometimes referred to as a catchment or a drainage basin. climate: The weather conditions that typically exist in one area, in general, or over a long period. climate change: Long-term, significant change in the climate of Earth. It can happen naturally or in response to human activities, including the burning of fossil fuels and clearing of forests. downstream: Further on in the direction in which a stream is flowing or the path stream water takes as it flows towards a lake or sea. ecosystem: A group of interacting living organisms — including microorganisms, plants and animals — and their physical environment within a particular climate. Examples include tropical reefs, rainforests, alpine meadows and polar tundra. The term can also be applied to elements that make up some artificial environment, such as a company, classroom or the internet. freshwater: A noun or adjective that describes bodies …