"http://www.justice.gov & universalmusic.com TANGO DOWN! You should have EXPECT US!" - AnonOps

"Anonymous's favorite weapon for these attacks is what's called for a "distributed denial of service" (DDoS) attack, which directs a flood of traffic to a website and temporarily crashes it by overwhelming its servers. It doesn't actually involve any hacking or security breaches.

The Anonymous attack came soon after the DOJ announced the indictment of seven individuals connected to Megaupload for allegedly operating an "international organized criminal enterprise responsible for massive worldwide online piracy of copyrighted works."" [CNN]

Federal prosecutors in Virginia say they have shut down one of the world's largest Internet file-sharing sites, Megaupload.com, and charged its founder and others with violating piracy laws.

An indictment accuses the company of costing copyright holders more than $500 million in lost revenue from pirated films and other content. -[New York Times]

Megupload is run by, no shit, CEO Swizz Beatz who recently helped create a video promoting the site with testimonials from the likes of Kanye West, Diddy, The Game, Ciara, and Alicia Keys. That video was controversially removed (by Universal) and then put back on YouTube in December (by Google). Universal Music Group and Megaupload are now suing each other, though it looks like that's the least of Megaupload's problems at the moment. Universal says the endorsements were "unauthorized". Watch the video in question below...

Continue reading "Megaupload shut down by the feds (not long after its public fight with Universal began)"

In response to a federal court's ruling that peer-to-peer service LimeWire and its operators are liable for inducement of widespread copyright theft, Mitch Bainwol, Chairman & CEO, offered the following comment:

"This definitive ruling is an extraordinary victory for the entire creative community. The court made clear that LimeWire was liable for inducing widespread copyright theft.

"LimeWire is one of the largest remaining commercial peer-to-peer services. Unlike other P2P services that negotiated licenses, imposed filters or otherwise chose to discontinue their illegal conduct following the Supreme Court's decision in the Grokster case, LimeWire instead thumbed its nose at the law and creators. The court's decision is an important milestone in the creative community's fight to reclaim the Internet as a platform for legitimate commerce. By finding LimeWire's CEO personally liable, in addition to his company, the court has sent a clear signal to those who think they can devise and profit from a piracy scheme that will escape accountability.

"We are gratified by the court's careful and thorough analysis of the facts and applicable law." [says the RIAA] (via)

"A federal judge has sentenced a man who pleaded guilty to leaking part of the Guns N' Roses album Chinese Democracy to a year's probation. Blogger Kevin Cogill will also serve two months of home confinement, subject his computers to government scrutiny, and record a public service announcement for the Industry Association of America." [LiveNews]

The music industry has lost more than 30 percent in sales since 2001 because of illegal downloading, a top industry official said Wednesday, giving evidence in a Swedish trial.

John Kennedy, the head of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, told the Stockholm District Court that Swedish site The Pirate Bay had become "the No. 1 source of illegal music," following court actions against two other popular file-sharing sites, Grokster and Kazaa.

"Over a period of time, piracy has done immense damage to the music industry," Kennedy said, adding that illegal Internet downloads had caused industry sales to tumble from $27 billion in 2001 to $18 billion in 2008.

Kennedy testified on behalf of a handful of record companies, including Sony BMG and EMI, which together with movie companies such as Universal and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. are seeking 117 million kronor ($13.2 million) in compensation and damages. [AP]

Skeletons @ Death By Audio, Jan 2, 2009 (thepiratehat)

Titus "Weezer" Andronicus @ Death By Audio, New Years Eve (thepiratehat)

today in NYC
* DANCE\
* One For The Team @ Cake Shop
* FOTP presents Yikes! @ Glasslands
* R. Stevie Moore & Chris Bolger @ Maxwell's
* Talibam! & Car Commercial @ Issue Project Room
* Regal Standard, Doug Gillard & Graham Smith @ Pianos

One For The Team are in town from Minneapolis to play Cake Shop on (coincedentally?) the same night one of their songs plays on MTV's The Real World Brooklyn... which premieres tonight.

Kenny Loggins was born today in 1948.

Tickets are on Am Ex presale for the Gaslight Anthem show at Webster Hall.

Downloads boost 2008 single sales.

"Apple said Tuesday that it would remove anticopying restrictions on all of the songs in its popular iTunes Store and allow record companies to set a range of prices for them."

Music Industry Ditches MP3-Snooping Security Firm.

RI judge hears arguments in music downloading case.

New Eminem and 50 Cent tracks are on the Internet.

Blitzen Trapper's new video for "Furr" below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Wednesday?"

* One ISP says RIAA must pay for piracy protection
* RIAA drops lawsuits; ISPs to battle file sharing
* RIAA's Cary Sherman says lawsuits were the only option
* RIAA president: No talk of blacklisting file sharers
* Podcast: RIAA shifts focus away from individual file sharers
* Copy of RIAA's new enforcement notice to ISPs
* Lawsuits or not, the RIAA still doesn't understand us
* Sources: RIAA budget will shrink soon
* Video: Will your ISP be 'asking' you to clean up your act?

Joe Biden (by Gizmodo)

"There's no question America looks like it'll be an exciting and interesting place under Barack Obama.

But it's starting to look a little scary for the online world.

Joe Biden is already cause for serious alarm, but now, will Google get an amazing foothold in the new White House?

And might RIAA boss Mitch Bainwol become Obama's CTO?

It's OK. Relax. We were just kidding about Bainwol. He voted for McCain, although you can bet he and other corporate entertainment cartel minions such as the MPAA's Dan Glickman are sleeping outside Obama's door, metaphorically speaking.

But could either Do No evil Google boss Eric Schmidt, who "conveniently endorsed Obama," or another Google employee, Vint Cerf, be named? - wonders CNet News." [p2pnet]

A man accused of posting nine previously unreleased songs by the rock band Guns N' Roses on a website where they could be accessed by the public was arrested at his home early today on suspicion of violating federal copyright laws, authorities said.

Kevin Cogill, 27, is accused of posting the songs, which were being prepared for commercial release, on the Internet blog Antiquiet in June, according to an arrest affidavit. The site received so much traffic after the songs were posted that it crashed, the affidavit states. [LA Times]

Yo La Tengo @ McCarren Pool - Aug 24th (Ryan Muir/Metromix) (LOOK AT IT BIG)

today in NYC
* FREE STUFF
* The Game @ Irving Plaza
* Bango Benefit @ Bowery Ballroom
* Billy Idol @ Hammerstein Ballroom
* Rushmore (movie) & bands @ McCarren Pool
* Scribble Jam w/ Junk Science @ Knitting Factory
* long, free sets by Anthony Jeselnik & Kristen Schaal
* Dr. Dog, Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson & R Stevie Moore @ MHOW

I think the race is on to see who can play more NYC shows in 2008: Vivian Girls or Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson. It's a tight race.

Speaking of a tight race, Joe Biden and the RIAA = BFF and Madonna thinks McCain is like Hitler.

The above photo is another view of Sunday's final Pool Party.

What else?

not actual homeless man

"In a Manhattan case, Warner v. Berry, the RIAA sued a man who lives in a homeless shelter, leaving a copy of the summons and complaint not at the homeless shelter, but at an apartment the man had occupied in better times, and had long since vacated." [New York County Lawyer] (via Slashdot)

"The Washington-based Recording Industry Association of America lobbied on a bill to limit fees charged to Internet radio stations for music broadcasts and on efforts to limit copyright violations, especially overseas." [CNN/AP]

A WOMAN WHO WAS SUED by the record industry for alleged copyright infringement has struck back with a putative class-action lawsuit charging the Recording Industry Association of America with racketeering.

In a 108-page complaint filed in federal district court in Portland, Ore., former defendant Tanya Andersen alleges that the four major record labels conspired with investigative firm MediaSentry "to devise an investigation scheme that was both illegal and seriously flawed." [Media Post]

* How to save the record label (maybe)
* RIAA goes after more OSU students
* Universal Music Group to acquire Univision Music Group
* More teenagers ignoring CDs, report says
* Wagering on when iTunes will top Wal-Mart in music sales
* Apple is No.2 music seller in the US, and big in Europe too
* RIAA Training Video Leaked onto Torrent Sites

Some of the video below....

Continue reading "RIAA training videos, iTunes vs CDs, the music industry, etc"

Prepare to peel off your bumper stickers - the Recording Industry Ass. of America (RIAA) may disappear in a merger of trade groups, Variety reports.

According to the Hollywood trade paper, EMI has formally filed to leave the global trade body that represents sound recording owners, the IFPI (International Federation of Phonographic Industry), by 31 March. The IFPI has 1,400 members in 75 countries. [The Register]

The rest @ Something Awful

"He did have a Kazaa account but claims he had no idea his entire hard drive of about 2,000 1970s rock songs was being shared with the public." [The Arizona republic]

"Converting music CDs to audio files on a computer is unapproved and therefore illegal, the Recording Industry Association of America has said (PDF) in a brief ahead of a crucial Arizona lawsuit." [electronista]

DOWNLOAD: Cut Off Your Hands - You and I (MP3)

"French president Nicolas Sarkozy is endorsing a plan that would ban the provision of Internet access to file sharers caught pirating three times. The plan would use information from ISPs on "high-volume users" to find file sharers. Serial offenders would see their accounts suspended or terminated after their third strike. Music and film industries, naturally, are in favor of the plan." [Valleywag]

In the first US trial to challenge the illegal downloading of music on the Internet, a single mother from Minnesota was ordered Thursday to pay 220,000 dollars for sharing 24 songs online.
Jammie Thomas, 30, was the first among more than 26,000 people sued by the world's most powerful recording companies to refuse a settlement after being slapped with a lawsuit by the Recording Industry of America and six major music labels.

She turned down an offer to pay a few thousands dollars in fines and instead took the case to court.

Unlike some who insist on the right to share files over the Internet, Thomas says she was wrongfully targeted by SafeNet, a contractor employed by the recording industry to patrol the Internet for copyrighted material.

Her lawyer said earlier this week that she had racked up some 60,000 dollars in legal fees because she refused to be bullied.

And while Thomas insisted on the courthouse steps that she had never downloaded or uploaded music, her lawyer tried to convince jurors there was no way to prove who had uploaded songs on the Kazaa file sharing network.

A jury took just five hours to decide that evidence provided by the music labels showed otherwise and found Thomas guilty of copyright infringement, court records showed. [Breitbart]

Continue reading "RIAA wins $220,000 from single mother in 5 hours"

DULUTH, Minn. - An amateur musician and 11 other jurors were seated Tuesday in the trial of Jammie Thomas, accused by the recording industry of sharing music online in violation of copyrights.

Thomas, a 30-year-old mother of two, is the first of 26,000 people sued by the industry whose case has gone to trial. An industry group and three recording companies claim she illegally offered 1,702 songs for free on a file-sharing network.......Capitol Records Inc., Warner Bros. Records Inc. and Sony BMG are among the companies suing Thomas.....[Yahoo]

Dan Rather @ SXSW 2007

* Dan Rather making a stand with lawsuit
* Internal Emails of An RIAA Attack Dog Leaked
* Prince v. YouTube: A Violet Video Vendetta
* Richie Ramone Sues Over Song Downloads
* Verizon Re-enables Reggae Ringtones from Bob Marley