Piracy
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Warner Offering Free ‘Just Mercy’ Digital Rental to Promote Social Justice
Warner Bros. is making feature film Just Mercy available for free to stream on digital platforms through the month of June. The studio said the promotion is an attempt foster understanding as the country deals with civil unrest following the death of a black man — George Floyd — at the hands of Minneapolis police … Continue reading “Warner Offering Free ‘Just Mercy’ Digital Rental to Promote Social Justice”
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BET Unveils Programming to Address Systemic Racism, Violence Faced by Black People in America and Possible Solutions
ViacomCBS’ BET June 2 announced a series of programming addressing systemic racism, the violence faced by black people in America and the solutions it claims can help move the country forward. BET is utilizing its linear TV and over-the-top video platforms to deliver the programming. Scott Mills, president of BET, said the programming underscores a … Continue reading “BET Unveils Programming to Address Systemic Racism, Violence Faced by Black People in America and Possible Solutions”
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Parks: COVID-19 Driving Greater TVOD Use, Piracy Threat
As expected, with greater numbers of households spending time indoors due to the coronavirus, use of home entertainment options such as transactional VOD have spiked. In the quarter ended March 31, 14% of U.S. broadband households used a TVOD service over the past 30 days, a five-point increase from the previous year, according to new … Continue reading “Parks: COVID-19 Driving Greater TVOD Use, Piracy Threat”
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Fake News: Netflix Not Giving Away Free Passes During Pandemic
During any crisis there are scammers and thieves trying to take advantage of the gullibility some people feel, especially when quarantined in the home. One of the latest involves tweets, emails and texts being sent out claiming to come from Netflix offering limited free access to the SVOD service. It’s not true. Netflix is not … Continue reading “Fake News: Netflix Not Giving Away Free Passes During Pandemic”
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‘Game of Thrones’ Most Pirated TV Show in 2019
HBO may be back atop the industry when it comes to award nominations and wins, but the premium channel’s programming also has the distinction of being the top pirated. Citing data from file-sharing platform BitTorrent, separate site TorrentFreak said HBO’s fantasy series “Game of Thrones” was the most pirated TV show in 2019. That was … Continue reading “‘Game of Thrones’ Most Pirated TV Show in 2019”
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Guilty Pleas for Operators of Biggest Illegal Movie/TV Show Streaming Service in the U.S.
Two computer programmers in Las Vegas have pleaded guilty to multiple criminal copyright and money laundering charges related to operating one of the biggest illegal television show and movie streaming services in the United States. The shuttered services iStreamItAll and Jetflix combined had more content than Netflix, Amazon Prime Video or Hulu, according to the … Continue reading “Guilty Pleas for Operators of Biggest Illegal Movie/TV Show Streaming Service in the U.S.”
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Disney Dealing With Alleged Hacked Streaming Accounts
Disney is reportedly dealing with complaints from consumers alleging their Disney+ accounts have been hacked. The Disney+ SVOD service launched eight days ago with more than 10 million new registered accounts in the first 24+ hours of operation. As previously disclosed, the service encountered myriad technical issues at launch, with those issues now replaced by … Continue reading “Disney Dealing With Alleged Hacked Streaming Accounts”
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Anti-Piracy Group Adds Viacom, Comcast
The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment, an online anti-piracy coalition whose members include Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and major studios, has added Comcast and Viacom as members. While NBC Universal and Paramount Pictures were already ACE members, the addition of their parent companies will strengthen ACE’s comprehensive approach to disrupting a piracy ecosystem that harms creators, … Continue reading “Anti-Piracy Group Adds Viacom, Comcast”
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Free TV Streaming Service ‘Locast’ Fights Back Against Major Broadcasters With Countersuit
Locast, the free New York-based service that streams broadcast television feeds online, on Sept. 27 filed a lawsuit against NBC, CBS, Fox and ABC, alleging the major broadcasts colluded to undermine its business, among other claims. The service claims to have about 700,000 registered users/donors across 13 cities, including Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San … Continue reading “Free TV Streaming Service ‘Locast’ Fights Back Against Major Broadcasters With Countersuit”
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Congress Seeks Greater Copyright Protection for YouTube Videos
A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers has sent a letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai asking the tech giant to expand copyright infringement protections to a greater number of content creators. The letter, spearheaded by Senators Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.), co-chairs on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, addresses “YouTube Content ID,” … Continue reading “Congress Seeks Greater Copyright Protection for YouTube Videos”
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Eight Charged Operating Illegal Video Streaming Services in the U.S.
A federal grand jury in Las Vegas has returned indictments on eight individuals who allegedly operated two of the largest illegal movie streaming services in the country. According to the indictment, Kristopher Lee Dallmann, 36; Darryl Julius Polo, aka djppimp, 36; Douglas M. Courson, 59; Felipe Garcia, 37; Jared Edward Jaurequi, aka Jared Edwards, 38; … Continue reading “Eight Charged Operating Illegal Video Streaming Services in the U.S.”
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MovieLabs, Hollywood Studios Publish White Paper on Future of Media Creation
Motion Pictures Laboratories (MovieLabs), together with member studios, has published a white paper presenting an industry vision for the future of media creation technology by 2030. MovieLabs is a non-profit technology research lab jointly run by Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal Pictures, Walt Disney Pictures and Television, and Warner Bros. Entertainment. The paper, jointly … Continue reading “MovieLabs, Hollywood Studios Publish White Paper on Future of Media Creation”