Vive la France?

As often as the Pirate Party of Sweden was condemned at the World Copyright Summit Tuesday, speakers heaped praise on the French government for passing the Creation and Internet law implementing a system of “graduated response” (i.e. “three-strikes”) to policing illegal file-sharing. “I strongly believe that if we’re going to be successful in this fast-paced Read More …

Pirates Ho!

In voting across the 27-nation European Union Sunday, the Pirate Party of Sweden claimed a single seat in the 785-member European Parliament, a body of dubious authority and popular indifference. But it just about took over the World Copyright Summit in Washington, DC Tuesday, a gathering of 500 or so lawyers, legislators and regulators from Read More …

Court in Pirate Bay case not biased, court in Pirate Bay case says

The judge who convicted  The Pirate BayFour, Tomas Norstrom, was not biased, as defendants charged in their appeal, according to the Stockholm District Court on which he sits. In a filing with the Svea Court of Appeal, which is hearing the case, the chief judge of the district court argued that Norstrom’s membership in several organizations that Read More …

Morning read: Jolly Roger flies in Europe, Copyright Summit in US

Hoist the Jolly Roger maties, the Pirate Party has claimed at least one of Sweden’s 20 seats in the European Parliament (and possibly two) as a result of thisweekend’s voting across the 27-nation bloc. The party, which ran on a platform of legalizing file-sharing and rolling back government surveillance powers, garnered 7.1% of the vote, Read More …

Blu-ray managed copy: wait for the Cliff Notes

Believe it or not–and I almost don’t–the Advanced Access Content System License Authority (AACS-LA) began posting the final license agreements for the DRM system used on Blu-ray Discs on its Web site late Friday. Nearly five years in the making, the final agreements include a mandatory management-copy provision, under which most Blu-ray discs must permit copies Read More …