Disney Enterprises

Movie Studios Sue Australian ISP For Not Waving Magic Wand And Defeating Piracy — A few years ago, after realizing that blaming consumers wasn't a particularly effective strategy in covering up for the entertainment industry's own inability to adapt to a changing market, industry insiders chose a new strategy: blame ISPs. That sent them down a path of trying to force ISPs to do a variety of things, such as installing filters, policing their networks for copyright-infringing material and, of course, kicking users off their networks. In the mind of entertainment industry execs, a failure to do any of these things should be a crime. Note how the industry totally shifts responsibility here. Rather... [Tags: australian government, australian isp, century fox film corporation, copyright infringement, disney enterprises]

Studios Sue Oz ISP Over Allowing Piracy — Da Massive writes "Leading Hollywood film studios Village Roadshow, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros Entertainment, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation and Disney Enterprises are suing Australia's second largest ISP, iiNet, saying it's complicit in the infringement of their copyrighted material. According to a statement of claim, 'the ISP knows that there are a large number of customers who are engaging in continuing infringements of copyright by using BitTorrent file sharing technology.'"Read more of this story at Slashdot.... [Tags: century fox film corporation, disney, disney enterprises, fox film corporation, hollywood]

Seven Hollywood studios including Paramount, Sony, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal, Warner Bros and Disney have teamed up to sue iiNet, Australia’s third largest ISP. iiNet is accused of doing little to stop its subscribers from sharing copyright works via BitTorrent. The ISP denies the accusations. iiNet, one of Australia’s largest ISPs with over 1,400 staff, was the first company in the country to offer DSL speeds over 1.5 Mbit/s to the regular consumer market, and now offers speeds of up to 24 Mbit/s. These relatively healthy speeds have proven attractive to iiNet’s customers and in common with subscribers at other... [Tags: australian federation, century fox film corporation, chris chard, copyright infringement, copyright works]

Often, the court that hears your case can determine whether you win or lose. RealNetworks just improved its chances in a lawsuit against Hollywood studios over its recently launched RealDVD software. The software lets you rip DVDs to your computer so you can play movies from your hard drive or turn your PC into a digital media server. The suit was originally going to be heard in the Central District Court of California (Los Angeles), but the judge there ruled that the case be moved to the Northern District (Silicon Valley). Why? Because RealNetworks beat the studios to the... [Tags: central district court of california, century fox film corporation, columbia pictures, columbia pictures industries, digital copies]

Real Launches DVD Copying, Files Suit — RealNetworks announced the availability of its RealDVD DVD “storage” software, and doubled-down on the sure-to-be controversial product by pre-emptively announcing a lawsuit against the major Hollywood studios. From the press release: “In response to threats made by the major movie studios, RealNetworks this morning plans to file an action for a declaratory judgment against DVD Copy Control Association, Inc., Disney Enterprises, Inc., Paramount Pictures Corp., Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc., Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp., NBC Universal, Inc., Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., and Viacom, Inc., in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The lawsuit asks the... [Tags: declaratory judgment, disney enterprises, external storage, fox film corp, major hollywood studios]

RealNetworks Releases DVD Ripping Software — RealDVD, a legal program that allows consumers to burn an unlimited number of DVDs on up to five PCs, will go on sale today at www.realdvd.com for $29.95. I interviewed RealNetworks VP of Video Product and Development Jeff Chasen in the Beet offices earlier this month, where he gave me a demonstration of the program. The uploaded files are encrypted to prevent illegal sharing, but the five-PC rule makes it possible for users to grow their video library by uploading the DVDs of friends, or even DVDs of service like Netflix. Chasen assured me the service was lawful, citing... [Tags: blodget, chasen, declaratory judgment, disney enterprises, external hard drive]