piracy

“A Nation Of Music Pirates”, Apparently Meeting At Children’s Birthday Parties

12:54PM Clem Bastow | There’s nothing the media loves more than a beat-up about online piracy – why, they even managed to turn the Underbelly fracas into an exposé about file-sharing – so it wasn’t like we were surprised when we read this morning of Australia’s apparent boom in music piracy. However, we were rather amused when they moved the story to the front page around lunchtime, and chose to illustrate it in this manner: Yes, it seems the worst offenders in this affront to artists’ rights are children who think Jack Sparrow is a pretty cool dude. Next time you see a six-year-old loitering in the Wiggles/Hi-5/Bindi Irwin section at HMV, crash tackle them – they’re probably on a reconnaissance mission for their illegal file-sharing ring, for which “Grade 1B” is just a shonky front. More »

Bang, Bang, You’re F–ked: “Nine Probes Underbelly Leaks”

11:59AM Clem Bastow | We’re not usually prone to repeating titles in full, but there was something about the phrase “Nine probes Underbelly leaks“, combined with a rather unpleasant photo of the real Carl Williams, that just had us thinking about bottoms and fingers and god knows what else happening in the back rooms of Nine. In any case, Channel Nine are – a little after the eight ball – investigating their own ranks after copies of Underbelly were distributed to people involved in the Melbourne gangland strife, which could lead to contempt of court issues if said people end up in the trial that led to the Victorian banning of the series in the first place. The Daily Telegraph has been told network bosses in Melbourne want to know how episodes of the 13-part series got into the hands of some of the underworld players portrayed in the series and the general public. … A spokeswoman for the station said two people had been questioned and denied making any copies available. She said only those involved in programming or selling the series were entitled to view episodes in a “controlled environment” and the network was not fearful of contempt charges. “No (we’re not fearful), but whoever is operating a black market should be. Nine continues to abide by the court order,” she said. Roberta Williams, the former wife of gangland kingpin Carl Williams, said she received nine episodes of the series complete with Underbelly promotional labels before it was aired interstate. You hear that, pirates? Nine says you should be FEARFUL! We bet whichever shady type has been diligently operating this black market Video Ezy is right now quaking in their boots. Although, perhaps they would be, if Nine threatened to re-launch Monster House and throw ‘persons of interest’ into a “hilarious” hidden camera routine with Rebel Wilson. More »

Innocent Data Entry Error Triples Reported College-Student Movie Piracy Numbers; MPAA Apologizes For Previous Call To Have All Universities Burned To The Ground

5:05AM Mark | Whoopsies! The MPAA admits that a 2005 study “incorrectly concluded” that movie piracy by college students is responsible for 44 percent of the industry’s domestic losses, claiming that a “data entry” error ever so slightly inflated the actual “key number” of 15 percent. [THR] Fox and The CW have joined CBS in announcing a more “targeted” approach to the strike-abbreviated pilot season, taking an opportunity to dump projects the networks either can’t or don’t want to make whenever the WGA and AMPTP reach a new deal. Additionally, ABC is threatening to lighten its script load by 30 percent. [Variety] [After the jump: Idol crushes rivals (again); studio speciality divisions dominate Oscar noms; Jericho finds a basic cable home.] More »

Lucky And Flo To Receive Malaysia’s Highest Honour

4:50AM Defamer Hollywood | We’re happy to report that Lucky and Flo, the two bacon-lovingest detectives in all of the MPAA, have nearly completed their Malaysian tour of duty, during which they uncovered millions of dollars worth of counterfeit DVDs while successfully evading the bounty hunters who sought to deliver their doggie heads on a plate. Unlike their annoying, Jason Lee-voiced big screen counterpart, however, these canine heroes are every bit the real deal, and the Malaysian government is throwing them a ceremony to show their gratitude: Two American sniffer dogs who found millions of pirated DVDs while on loan to Malaysian authorities will receive medals of honour when their six-month assignment ends next week, an official said Thursday. Black Labradors Lucky and Flo will be celebrated at an awards ceremony Monday before they return home to New York, said Nor Hayati Yahaya, the Motion Picture Association’s manager for Malaysia. More »

Warner Bros. Targets Movie-Plundering Canadians

6:20AM Defamer Hollywood | As do-gooding canine detectives Lucky and Flo crisscross Asia-Pacific, sniffing out tell-tale polycarbonates used in the multibillion dollar movie pirating industry, a menace of similarly devastating proportions lurks right outside our back door. That’s right: Canada, our “friendly” 49th-parallel-adjacent neighbour, some of whose citizens conceal their dastardly plans to plunder our precious commodity of easily digestible mass entertainment behind an unsettling wall of maple-syrup-decayed smiles: Asserting that our neighbours to the north have become major suppliers of pirated pics around the globe, Warner Bros. is taking the unprecedented step of cancelling all promotional and word of mouth screenings there until the Canadian government makes it illegal to take camcorders into theaters. According to Warners, more than 70% of all pirated Warners titles released over the past 18 months originated in Canada. More »

Fake Chinese ‘Spider-Man 3′ DVDs Delivering Poor Value For Black Market Dollar

6:42AM Defamer Hollywood | Just in case Sony’s statement dismissing a Reuters report that pirated copies of Spider-Man 3 had already hit the streets of Beijing weeks before the movie had even opened in the U.S., a follow-up report from the gullible news agency revealed that, unsurprisingly, what you see with Chinese DVD pirates is not always what you get: A copy bought for 10 yuan – a little over $1 – came with the vendor’s caveat that it was “not good quality”. When played in a DVD machine, the screen showed a 2001 television movie “Earth vs. The Spider” starring Dan Aykroyd as a detective investigating the case of a spider-like killer. [...] More »