Judge: IP-address does not identify person or bit-torrent pirate

The MPAA and RIAA's anti-piracy efforts are about to experience a setback due to a landmark ruling by a judge in New York, stating that an IP-address is not a person.

Judge Gary Brown of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York has made a ruling in one of the many mass Bit-Torrent lawsuits in the U.S.A. - he states categorically that an IP-address is not sufficient evidence to identify copyright infringers.

The judge states that this lack of specific evidence means that many alleged Bit-Torrent pirates have been wrongfully accused by copyright holders in the past.... read full article.

Music blog downed for a year by the Feds with no charge made

Who needs SOPA and PIPA when the government can take down a music website for a whole year with no charge and no copyright infringement?

The popular hip-hop music site, Dajaz1.com was taken down by the Feds for almost 13 months. No charge was ever filed as they were "waiting for proof of infringement".

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) took down the website stating that it linked to external pages that hosted unauthorized recordings of copyright material that could be downloaded for free.

The website was unavailable for just over a year as its administrator was embroiled in a legal debate over the alleged infringement charges... read full article.