Tag: upphovsrätt

Kim Dotcom och Megaupload har synat amerikanarnas hand

Han åker över till USA frivilligt om vissa krav uppfylls, bland annat vill han att pengar släpps fria så att han kan betala advokaterna som hanterar hans försvar och att han ska få en rättvis rättegång. Nu kom bollen hastigt och lustigt över på amerikanarnas planhalva, jag har ingen aning om hur de kommer att reagera men försvaret verkar spela på att motståndarna inte har något som kommer att hålla i en rättegång.

Läs mer:

  • Kim Dotcom Offers To Come To The US, If DOJ Releases Funds For Legal Defense | Techdirt

    This is an interesting move, because it’s entirely possible that the DOJ will call his bluff here. Certainly, some of the strength in Dotcom’s case is that he wasn’t violating New Zealand law (which is required for the extradition to take place). A fight in a US court, against the DOJ, is a much tougher proposition — and a very risky bet. There are a lot of reasons why Dotcom may have a strong case, but the DOJ rarely loses. It happens, but it’s rare. Even in extreme cases, the DOJ is pretty good at railroading those they indict to “plea” out of a case rather than face a full trial.

  • Megaupload’s Kim Dotcom Offers to Surrender to the FBI, at a Price | Threat Level | Wired.com

    The ever-provocative Dotcom tweeted Wednesday: “Hey DOJ, we will go to the US. No need for extradition. We want bail, funds unfrozen for lawyers & living expenses.”

    The German filesharing tycoon and his co-accused have a legal team comprising 25 lawyers in four countries working on their individual cases as well as that of Megaupload the company. According to Megaupload’s U.S. lead lawyer, Ira Rothken, none of the legal team has been paid yet.

    But Rothken would not confirm or deny if a deal was in the making, telling Wired, “We will not comment one way or another on the involving private discussions between counsel or whether such discussions even occurred.”

  • Kim Dotcom Will Go to the US in Exchange for Legal Funds | TorrentFreak

    Just hours after his extradition hearing was delayed until 2013, Kim Dotcom is offering the US Government an unusual deal. Growing tired of the “dirty games” being played, Megaupload’s founder says he will voluntarily go to the US if he and his colleagues are promised a fair trial and money to pay their legal and living expenses.

Musikfildelning är INTE ett problem, det är en ursäkt

Lång artikel om hur internet har förändrat allt inom musikbranschen. Nyttig läsning!

Music Piracy Is NOT a Problem, It’s an Excuse | TorrentFreak

Ny ‘svart lista’ från USA

Nu får länder se till att ha sin lagstiftning och polisapparat uppdaterad och rustad till tänderna, annars kan man hamna på en ny svart lista som USA ska hålla: länder som är “cybersecurity concerns”

Countries That Don’t Put In Place Copyright Regimes The US Likes May Be Deemed ‘Cybersecurity Concerns’ | Techdirt

This seems to suggest that the State Department can now shame entire countries claiming they’re a “cybersecurity concern” if the reality is that their copyright enforcement efforts are more lax. With such a broad definition, it seems like just about any country could be blamed if they don’t magically somehow stop the “negative impact” of file sharing.

Megaupload vinner ett stort slag i kriget mot amerikanska staten

En Nyzeeländsk domare har beordrat amerikanska staten att lämna över kopior på all bevisning man har till den förvarande sidan, något som de har vägrat att göra. Detta är anmärkningsvärt då det är svårt att förvara sig om man inte vet vad motståndarsidan kommer att använda för bevisning. USA har hävdat att man inte har rätt att se bevisning i ett utlämningsärende, något den Nzeeländske domaren nu har sagt nej till och man har 21 dagar på sig att lämna över alla dokument man har i ärendet.

Much of today’s ruling looks into procedural issues, but Judge Harvey also makes some interesting remarks on the way the U.S. is handling this case. He notes that if the U.S. has its way the extradition process would be merely “administrative”, as opposed to “judicial”. This would interfere with the rights of the accused, who according to Judge Harvey should have the right to review the evidence so they can argue against it.

“In my view there must be fairness and the hearing and balance must be struck, otherwise the record of case becomes dominant virtually to the exclusion of everything else and places the extradition process in danger of becoming an administrative one rather than judicial,” the verdict reads.

The Judge further grants disclosure of evidence related to all the criminal charges, and notes that the allegations of the U.S. Government are rather complex. For example, the authorities are applying civil copyright concepts in a criminal context. Furthermore, he notes that the copyright infringement changes are the cornerstone, in the sense that the money laundering, wire fraud and racketeering charges are all based on the alleged copyright infringements.

“There is a complex factual matrix and justiciable issues are complicated by the fact that the United States is attempting to utilize concepts from the civil copyright context as a basis for the application of criminal copyright liability which necessitates a consideration of principles such as the dual use of technology or what they described as significant non-infringing use,” Judge Harvey writes.

“The existence of criminal copyright charges is a keystone to providing the unlawful conduct element of the racketeering, money laundering and wire fraud charges.”

Megaupload Wins Crucial Evidence Disclosure Battle With US Govt. | TorrentFreak

Läckta TPP-dokument visar att USA vill ge enorma befogenheter till privata företag

Tidigare har raportering runt TPP mest handlat om IP-kapitlet (intelecual property) som har visat på att man återigen, precis som med ACTA, med hemliga förhandlingar försöker anta ett handelsavtal som får långtgående konsekvenser och bland annat inskränker våra fri- och rättigheter på internet.

Leaked TPP Proposal Reveals That US Wants To Give Multinational Companies Tremendous Power | Techdirt

It’s important to note that TPP covers a lot more than just intellectual property. We’ve mainly been focused on the IP chapter, but this leak covers other parts of the agreement. That doesn’t make it any less troubling. As is being reported, the proposals appears to completely contradict President Obama’s campaign promises, while also giving tremendous power to international companies.

Controversial Trade Pact Text Leaked, Shows U.S. Trade Officials Have Agreed to Terms That Undermine Obama Domestic Agenda

Although the TPP has been branded a “trade” agreement, the leaked text of the pact’s Investment Chapter shows that the TPP would:

  • Limit how U.S. federal and state officials could regulate foreign firms operating within U.S. boundaries, with requirements to provide them greater rights than domestic firms;
  • Extend the incentives for U.S. firms to offshore investment and jobs to lower-wage countries;
  • Establish a two-track legal system that gives foreign firms new rights to skirt U.S. courts and laws, directly sue the U.S. government before foreign tribunals and demand compensation for financial, health, environmental, land use and other laws they claim undermine their TPP privileges; and
  • Allow foreign firms to demand compensation for the costs of complying with U.S. financial or environmental regulations that apply equally to domestic and foreign firms.

Obama Trade Document Leaked, Revealing New Corporate Powers And Broken Campaign Promises

A critical document from President Barack Obama’s free trade negotiations with eight Pacific nations was leaked online early Wednesday morning, revealing that the administration intends to bestow radical new political powers upon multinational corporations, contradicting prior promises.

The leaked document has been posted on the website of Citizens Trade Campaign, a long-time critic of the administration’s trade objectives. The new leak follows substantial controversy surrounding the secrecy of the talks, in which some members of Congress have complained they are not being given the same access to trade documents that corporate officials receive.

Nya utvecklingar i Megaupload affären

Hur har ACTA förhandlats fram?

EDRi har publicerat fyra dokument som belyser hur förhandlingarna har framskridit och problemen EU har haft med de amerikanska positionerna.

ACTA: European Commission negotiation failures | EDRI

De förklarar även vad kommissionen har bett om och vad man fick:

What the EC asked for: What the EC got:
Transparency Some transparency for US companies, but nothing meaningful for European citizens and businesses.
Transparency EU Presidency actively choosing not to brief EU Member States.
No mandatory enforcement of intellectual property law by ISPs Mandatory obligations on states party to ACTA to encourage enforcement of intellectual property law by ISPs.
No change to substantive copyright law A further complication of EU law on copyright exceptions and limitations.
Prioritisation of health and safety issues in international cooperation Nothing.
Adequate environmental protection in the disposal of seized material A “safeguard” which creates no change to the status quo. In essence, nothing
Definitions of key terms in ACTA Nothing
Protection for geographical indications Nothing

Dokumenten visar dessutom hur kommissionen och EU-presidenten har vilselett parlamentet och EUs medborgare.

Loopia stänger ner parodisida

Parodisajt nersläckt efter stämning – P3 Nyheter

Greenpeace har skapat en satirsida om det finska Oljebolaget Neste Oil. Neste Oil har klagat hos Loopia som nu har blockerat sidan med hänvisning till upphovsrätten. Nesta Oil försöker även ta över domännamnet http://www.nestespoil.com/ via ett klagomål hos WIPO, World Intellectual Property Organization

Det finska oljebolaget Neste Oil, som är till hälften ägt av finska staten, menar att Greenpeace har kopierat flera delar av deras sajt. Bland annat ska de ha använt samma färger och liknande layout. Dessutom har de döpt om domänen från Neste oil till Nestespoil.

Frågan om att blockera sajter är kontroversiell. Tingsrätten kan fatta beslut om att en sajt ska blockeras men i det här fallet har webbhotellet Loopia valt att blockera sajten innan tingsrätten kommit med något beslut.

– För det första har vi bett Loopia att lägga upp sajten igen till det här har prövats, och för det andra så tittar vi på hur det ser ut juridiskt. Vi blev ganska tagna på sängen att det var så här lätt att stänga ner hemsidor utan att det ens har prövats, säger Patrik Eriksson på Greenpeace.

Neste Oil is trying to shut down Greenpeace’s Nestespoil.com website | Greenpeace Finland in English