Category: media

For the first time, some major concert promoters are videotaping big concerts and releasing them on the internet as file-shares. “The Vans Warped Tour will distribute DVD-quality tour footage of such indie acts as Sugarcult and Bad Religion for download each day using Altnet, a digital content distributor. Altnet has business and financial ties to Kazaa’s owner, Sharman Networks. Beginning with today’s tour kick-off in Houston, alternative music fans can purchase downloads and burn video singles from the Warped Tour Web site or from file-sharing networks. Pricing has yet to be set.”

The US Senate passed a bill this week that would deal harshly with anyone using camcorders to videotape movies in theatres. “The U.S. Customs Department has estimated that such “warez” distribution groups are responsible for 95 percent of all pirated material available online. Those found guilty would face up to three years in prison for a first offense, or five years if it was done for profit. Repeat offenders could spend 10 years behind bars.”

The US Senate moved aggressively this week to toughen copyright enforcement. “The Senate introduced the Induce Act, which critics say would ban file-sharing networks and stymie the introduction of any technology that could be used to copy and distribute copyright work. In addition, the Senate passed the Pirate Act, which would make it easier for the feds to go after file swappers. And on Friday, it passed a bill that would throw anyone caught videotaping a movie in theater into prison for up to three to 10 years.”

“A public interest group asked the Federal Election Commission yesterday to keep Michael Moore from running ads for his new movie after July, arguing they would violate campaign finance laws by bashing President Bush.”

The Federal Election Commission has declined to rule on “whether so-called documentary films are exempt from federal restrictions on political ads.” Pro-Republican groups are asking that ads for Michael Moore’s move Farenheit 911 be classed as political lobbying and that ads for the film be treated as political speech.

Two things are making Hollywood actors cranky this summer: “reality TV and DVDs – too new to have been fully absorbed into business as usual. The former is putting actors and writers out of work, and the latter is filling the coffers of the studios, to the consternation of the talent.”

A proposal in the US Senate extends copyright responsibility to tech companies that enable file-sharers to download copyrighted material. “In a prepared statement, Senator Orrin Hatch compared peer-to-peer networks, which allow people to exchange any digital content over their computers, to villains of literature and film, including a character in the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang who lured youngsters into danger with false promises of free lollipops. He said the networks should be held liable for creating technologies that enable often unwitting consumers to house pirated materials on their computers.”

The US Senate has passed a measure that would increase fines for broadcast indecency. “Under the new measure, the maximum fine would increase to as much as $275,000 for each indecent incident. The fines would keep increasing per incident until a maximum fine of $3million a day was reached. The US House of Representatives passed a similar bill in March that set fines for indecency at $500,000.”

“Top US Senate leaders from both parties have launched an assault on online music and video file-sharing services, introducing legislation that makes anyone who ‘induces’ illegal copying just as liable for breaking copyright law as someone who makes the copies.” This significantly expands copyright liability beyond the actual copyright violators.

“Over Hollywood’s long-standing objections, some members of Congress are endorsing legislation that would allow DVDs to be “sanitized” — stripped of scenes that parents don’t want their children to see or hear — without first requiring the consent of studios or directors. To the movie studios, the bill is merely the most outrageous of a wave of anti-indecency legislation moving through Congress.”