This weeks Movie Giveaway winner is
Membership ID#56925389
Sign-up for the next Movie Giveaway

Newest InternetMovies.com
Special/Investigative Report
1.Bit Torrent
A new method of P2P file-sharing has emerged in BitTorrent. The system is community based as you upload parts of the file you are downloading to others who are downloading the same file. Another good thing? It supports resume! One last thing, it's open source!

Kazaa parent forms P2P alliance

Sharman Networks, the parent company of the popular P2P client KaZaA and Altnet have formed an alliance aimed to protect and promote P2P networks. This alliance, the Digital Computing Industry Association (DCIA), which is being headed by Martin Laferty, has the goal of bringing a broad range of companies into its alliance including software companies, internet service providers, movie studios, and recording companies.

According to the articles:

'Sharman, which is based in Australia, is the parent company of Kazaa, one of the most popular online file-swapping services. Altnet is a subsidiary of Brilliant Digital Entertainment. Earlier this month, in an attempt to diminish piracy, the two companies jointly released a new bundle of file-swapping software that includes components of a high-security peer-to-peer network, and a program that pays users to be a part of it.'

'Although peer-to-peer networks have soared in popularity, they've also drawn lawsuits from record and movie companies who say they provide an easy method for people to freely trade unauthorized copies of songs and films. Peer-to-peer companies including Aimster, Napster and Scour have all found themselves on the losing end of entertainment industry lawsuits.'
(Read More)

File-swap firms form lobbying group

Some internet file-trading companies in Europe are banding together to form a lobbying group to fight against the ever-increasing pressure put on by groups such as the International Federation for the Phonetic Industries (IFPI) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). This alliance, as well as the Digital Computing Industry Association (DCIA) in America, are coming about around the same time. It should prove useful to have groups like these not just in America but in Europe as well. These groups are determined to get the voice of Peer-2-Peer developers as well as users heard.

According to the articles:

"The move is the latest sign that file-sharing outfits, which until recently operated far away from the public eye to avoid litigation, intend to fight for their right to distribute software that enables computer users to share files online.

Media and software companies say the technology is a threat to their business because it lets users exchange copyright-protected materials such as video games, music, film and software for free.

Last week, file-sharing companies Grokster and LimeWire said that, along with an unspecified number of rival companies, they were in the process of forming a lobbying entity to convince the U.S. Congress of their legitimacy."
(Read More)

Court: Anonymous P2P no defense

An appeal in the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago was denied for the file-swapping program called Madster. Madster's key defense was that users could encrypt the files they were sharing over America Online's AOL Instant Messenger client and therefore the content of the files would not be known. This defense did not pan out too well as the tactic was called a form of "willful blindness".

"One who, knowingly or strongly suspecting that he is involved in shady dealings, takes steps to ensure that he does not acquire full or exact knowledge of the nature and extent of those dealings, is held to have criminal intent," the panel wrote in the 23-page decision.

This may not be the end of Madster though explains Tim Wu, an associate professor at the University of Virginia Law School.

"I wouldn't say it's the end of the road for (Madster), but one of the things that makes it tough is that the (court) is highly critical of the willful blindness approach to running these sorts of companies," Wu said, "suggests that deliberately creating something beyond your control is not going to get you out of copyright infringement."
(Read More)

A call for worldwide action on spam

International legislation on criminalizing spam was the topic being discussed Tuesday by Industry leaders and politicians from the United States, Europe, and Australia. Unwanted spam which amounts to about 50% of e-mail is a serious problem which requires global recognition. The aim is to create international regulations making unsolicited e-mails a crime. Spammers could just move to servers in other countries which is why there is a great need for global legislations.

"Spam is not just a U.K. or European problem," said U.K. E-commerce Minister Stephen Timms, in his opening address here at a summit on spam. "Most spam comes from outside. A lot of it comes from the U.S. Hopefully, it's possible for us to come up with an EU/U.S. solution from our discussions today," he said.

According to the articles:

"Lawmakers, consumer advocates and Internet industry executives gathered for the latest in a string of scheduled discussions on harmonizing international laws to cut back on spam, which now accounts for nearly half of all global e-mail.

Spam has become a hot-button issue for politicians and business executives who worry that unless it's criminalized, spamming could become an increasingly costly nuisance for companies and individuals."
(Read More)

P2P's little secret

"File swappers hoping to share music and other works online without exposing their identity to the prying eyes of copyright enforcers face a tough choice."
(Read More)

Covert online sleuths hired to pursue copyright violators

"They are Hollywood's digital detectives, Nashville's electronic enforcers. With names like Overpeer and MediaDefender, a handful of Internet security companies serve as copyright cops, patrolling the Web for illegally traded movies and songs."
(Read More)