Matthew Arnold & Baldwin LLP | Giving you a lot more than just law... » software piracy

Microsoft sues Comet over reproduction of back-up copies of software for users

Paul Gershlick — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 17:29:30 +0000

Microsoft is suing Comet for alleged copyright infringement over what the software giant claims is nearly 100,000 counterfeit copies of Windows Vista and Windows XP recovery CDs. It has alleged that Comet made the copies before selling them to its customers. Comet argues that creating back-up CDs to go with each new Microsoft Operating System based computer is a legitimate right that cannot be contracted out of under European Union copyright law. Comet’s argument, however, may fall down over the fact that it made the copies rather than its customer. If the case makes it to a court decision, it will be interesting to see whether a court rules that back-up copies can only be made by a user and not someone supplying the software.

Oracle still wins copyright infringement case against SAP but award reduced on appeal from being largest ever

Simon Weinberg — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 11:19:56 +0000

A US appeals court has upheld Oracle’s court victory against SAP for copyright infringement, but the damages award has been reduced. Last year, Oracle had been awarded damages of US$1.3bn after successfully showing that a SAP subsidiary had unlawfully copied the software without buying the appropriate licences. That award had been the largest ever copyright infringement damages award, but it has now been reduced to US$272m after the court branded the original award “grossly excessive” given the actual impact on Oracle’s business.

European Commission publishes strategy for IP rights

Mark Weston — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 10:26:01 +0000

The European Commission has published its strategy for intellectual property rights. There are some common themes with the Hargreaves Digital Opportunity Report – in particular, ensuring that the economy is better equipped to adapt to the digital age. The Commission’s strategy includes:

Continued push for a single European Union patent system.
Modernisation of the European Community Trade Mark system. This would include speeding up the registration procedure and increasing certainty over what constitutes a registrable trade mark.
Creating a comprehensive framework for copyright in the digital single market. That would include multi-territorial collective management of copyright so that there would be online copyright licensing. There would also be a consultation on user-generated content to see if there should be more freedom for amateur producers of non-commercial film to be exempt when incorporating other copyright works. In addition, the Commission said it would propose a Directive on permitted uses of orphan works, and it actually proposed the Directive this at the same time as the strategy document.
Replacement of the Customs Regulation to strengthen enforcement of intellectual property rights. As with the orphan works proposal, this was also introduced at the same time as the publication of the strategy.

For more on the strategy, click here: http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/barnier/headlines/news/2011/05/20110524_en.htm.

European Commission updates counterfeit goods regulation to help rights holders better enforce rights

Paul Gershlick — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 07:56:56 +0000

The European Commission has published a proposed Regulation regarding the customs enforcement of intellectual property rights. If implemented, the Regulation would update the Counterfeit Goods Regulation 1383/2003/EC in the following ways:

The rights and procedures regarding seizing infringing material would extend from the current position which catches goods infringing patents, trade marks, copyright or design rights. It would also cover trade names and semiconductor topographies.
Parallel imported goods contrary to European Union law would also be seized.
A new quicker procedure would be established to enable customs authorities to deal with goods abandoned by their owner for destruction without having to go through formal legal proceedings if the owner does not object within a short period of time.
Have a new procedure whereby rights owners do not need to be involved with the destruction of small consignments.

Sony, pirates and Hotz stuff

Mark Weston — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 11:21:10 +0000

As an update to my story on 27 January about attempts to circumnavigate Sony’s copy protection systems on its PS3 consoles (here), Computer & Video Games magazine has just published an update from me (with a comparison to the earlier Nintendo action in the UK), which appears here.

The console-owner/hacker battle continues…

PlayStation is not for hacking – Sony files legal action

Mark Weston — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 17:47:07 +0000

Sony has filed proceedings in the Northern District Court of California against a number of hackers who published security codes for the PlayStation 3. The security codes effectively “sign” software, including pirated games, as being genuine, and allow that software to be used on the console. In the documents filed at the court, Sony argued that such actions were facilitating the distribution and effectiveness of pirate games. Those accused are confident that the proceedings will not be successful, and have denied that they support the piracy of video games.

Protection for Amazon’s Kindle hacked

Mark Weston — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 18:22:28 +0000

The digital rights management software for Amazon’s Kindle has been hacked. Kindle is a platform developed by Amazon for displaying e-books. The hack attack means that e-books stored on the reader can be transferred to other devices. DRM software is controversial. Rights holders see it as crucial to protecting their copyright material from illegal copying by users, whilst users find that it restricts them from the freedom to do what they want with content. The Kindle hack attack follows other recent DRM hacks, including the reverse engineering of Apple’s DRM software for its iTunes service.

Law firm criticised for tactics in sending thousands of letters to alleged copyright infringers

Mark Weston — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 21:30:57 +0000

A law firm which is sending letters to thousands of alleged illegal peer-to-peer file-sharers has been accused of scattergun tactics which affect many innocent Internet users. Which?, the consumer group, claims that many people wrongfully accused of sharing pornographic material have settled the cases for hundreds of pounds rather than risk losing for thousands in court and face the humiliation of their good names being affected. AC: Law, the law firm behind the legal actions, denies being aware of any innocent people who are involved. The letters from the law firm were sent on behalf of its clients, DigiProtect and MediaCat, which are licensees acting on behalf of computer games and porn film companies to collect royalties for them. According to the lawyer who represents some of the accused, many of them have never even heard of peer-to-peer file-sharing, and some of the people accused of downloading computer games say they have never played a video game in their life. One possible explanation for people’s computer connections being targeted is that many computers running on wi-fi connections do not password protect their connections.

Government goes for illegal P2P file-sharers with Digital Economy Bill…

Mark Weston — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:41:04 +0000

The Government has introduced its Digital Economy Bill in the Queen’s Speech. Amongst the changes to the law to be introduced by the Bill are provisions that could see illegal peer-to-peer file-sharers cut off from the Internet. The BPI – a body that represents the record industry – thinks that it is a good thing to protect the creative sector. However, The Open Rights Group is concerned that people could be stopped from engaging in everyday activities like shopping and social networking. In addition, the Government plans to introduce age ratings on all video games aimed at children aged 12 years or older.

Man sentenced to three years in jail for selling pirated software on eBay…

Paul Gershlick — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:04:45 +0000

A man has been sentenced to three years in jail for selling pirated software on eBay, the popular auction site. The US court also ordered Gregory Fair to pay Adobe Systems US$740,000. Undercover investigators had made several purchases from Fair after Adobe had reported their suspicions. This is living proof that people can get tracked down and sent to jail for conducting unlawful activity on the web.
BSA steps up efforts to stop pirated software…
The Business Software Alliance has dramatically increased the amount of take-down notices to people whom it believes is distributing pirated software. In the first six months of 2009, the BSA issued 2.4 million notices to people suspected of illegal file-sharing, more than triple the number that it issued in the corresponding period for 2008. It also targeted Internet auction sites after finding issues with nearly 20,000 auctions during the first half of 2009. The BSA claims that about two-fifths of all software on PCs are obtained illegally and publishers are being short-changed by about $53 billion by lost sales. It also warned that users of illegal software should be wary because viruses and other malicious software are often distributed with the pirated versions. The BSA is a group representing leading software licensors which collects underpaid licence fees on its members’ behalves.