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According to TorrentFreak (TF) entertainment coalitions such as the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) are continuing to threaten developers of Kodi addons:
The MPA, Netflix, Amazon, and dozens of other content companies are ramping up the pressure on a third-party Kodi addon developer. Last year, JSergio123 was warned by the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment to cease his activities and sign a confidential settlement agreement. He did not and now he's coming under pressure to comply. But what are ACE's demands?
[...] JSergio123's reluctance to sign an agreement with ACE hasn't gone unnoticed by the anti-piracy group. In a letter dated March 5, 2018 and signed by Kelly Klaus of US-based lawfirm Munger, Tolles & Olson, the developer is reminded of what transpired last year and what is expected of him moving forward.
"I understand that ACE counsel have discussed with you various of your "Addon" software applications and related software and services, including URLResolver (collectively, the "[redacted] Addons") and other actions you have undertaken to induce and contribute to the mass infringement of the ACE members' copyrighted works," Klaus writes. "I also understand that ACE counsel have provided you with a proposed settlement agreement, pursuant to which you would end your infringing activities and provide cooperation and other consideration in exchange for ACE agreeing not to pursue legal action against you arising out of your infringing activities. To date, you have not signed the settlement agreement."
JSergio123's precise reasons for not signing the settlement agreement aren't being made public. However, TorrentFreak understands that some of the terms presented to addon developers last year have caused considerable concern. In some cases they are difficult to meet, not to mention unpalatable to the people involved. They include promises to ensure that specified addons and indeed any developed in the future can no longer infringe copyright. For those that scrape third-party sources, this could prove impossible to absolutely guarantee. This could effectively put developers out of the addon game – legitimate or otherwise – for good. TF is also informed that ACE demanded a high-level of cooperation, including that the developers should supply what amounts to a full confession, detailing all the projects they've been involved in, past and present.
Meanwhile, Dish Network is continuing to pursue a lawsuit against TVAddons and ZemTV.
Related: MPAA Chief Focuses Attention on the Kodi Platform
Kodi Panic in the UK and Popularity in North America
Kodi Add-on Library "TVAddons" Disappears After Lawsuit
Hollywood Strikes Back Against Illegal Streaming Kodi Add-Ons
Kodi Returns to its Roots With an Xbox One Release
Two New Lawsuits Against Makers of "Pirate Streaming Devices"
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Thursday March 08 2018, @06:05PM (16 children)
It seems to me that it's a bad idea to get involved with projects like this if you live in the US or some other western nations, where you can easily be targeted by a lawsuit like this. But if the developer lives in someplace like Ukraine or Kenya or wherever, what could they do?
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 08 2018, @06:14PM
A man could be heard delivering a spectacular speech about freedom, justice, and oppression. If one were to listen more closely, they would notice that the speech was about how women maliciously oppress men and violate their rights daily. Below the speaker, as well as the only other one present, was a naked woman; she had been savagely beaten and raped, but was still hanging on to her life by a thread. As the man continued delivering his speech, it happened.
Blood. The woman had coughed up blood, interrupting the man's legendary speech. Impossible. The man had thought he was being overly magnanimous by letting the woman off with only a brutal raping and beating, but she did not seem to care about the man's immense kindness! She was still trying to oppress him! Anger welled up within the man to such an extent that it was as if nuclear bombs were detonating in his brain. The man realized he had to correct this injustice, here and now!
The man readied himself; he was battling against a great evil, and as such, needed to be more cautious than ever. His fist slowly rose into the air. Finally, the fist - which embodied the very concept of justice itself - slammed down like a meteor on the woman's head. Then, it happened again. She broke. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again...
No one would ever again see the oppressor, as her body had become utterly unrecognizable. What they would see, however, is a man who valiantly stood up for his freedoms.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 08 2018, @06:19PM (5 children)
Seal Team 6!
Ok ok bad joke, the gov would never deploy such valuable assets for something so mundane, they'd need to catch a violent terrorist / drug lord / dictator to sell it.
No, instead ACE would just send a "tourist" to the country and take out a hit contract for probably less than it costs to have their lawyers send those threatening legal letters. As people who like to consider themselves civilized they rely on lawyers and bribery, but when push comes to shove they'll blame the dev for "forcing their hand." If the dev is lucky they'll just be targeted for harassment like getting cheap Korean knockoffs of "Taken" with little Kim shown in the corner reacting to the film.
(Score: 5, Informative) by DannyB on Thursday March 08 2018, @06:29PM (1 child)
These people know no bounds. Remember SOPA. They had congress bought and paid for -- until major web sites went dark and informed the public what was happening. Then, suddenly all congress critters were distancing themselves from SOPA. Most of the public had never heard of SOPA.
Then, based on timing, I think right after SOPA died, these people raided Kim Dot Com over MegaUpload. Private American companies getting foreign law enforcement to act in an outrageous way, without due process. Destroying his business. No compensation. I don't know if he ever got his servers and property back. Eventually NZ said it was all a mistake (or something like that). It went nowhere in the US. (I'm going from memory, so corrections are welcome.)
These people think it is everyone else's job to police their intellectual property. When they, themselves are unable to determine what is and is not an infringement, how to they expect other people to do so? (Example: they take down videos their own marketing arm uploaded as promotional material. They claim someone's nature recording of birds chirping infringes their music.)
If we sing a slaying song tonight, what tools will be used for the slaying?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 08 2018, @11:38PM
Nope. Kim Dotcom stoty is still not over yet. Some people really do not feel like admitting their mistakes. Besides, US got his assets, what's not to like?
https://torrentfreak.com/tag/kim-dotcom/ [torrentfreak.com]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Freeman on Thursday March 08 2018, @06:31PM (2 children)
You jest, but look what's Still Happening with Kim Dotcom.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 08 2018, @07:24PM
But they misfired badly or else kimmy would be sitting in gitmo.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 08 2018, @09:37PM
It is jesting but I was totally serious about corporations hiring intimidation / hit squads. Plenty of stories have come out over the years, at least they usually resort to quasi-legal harassment before real violence, but I'm sure that is merely a cost benefit analysis for those greedy assholes.
(Score: 4, Informative) by DannyB on Thursday March 08 2018, @06:23PM (8 children)
It seems he's being targeted with threats of lawsuits. An extortion attempt to get him to agree to future behavior and reveal all kinds of past behavior in exchange for not getting sued.
The real question that nobody seems to come right out and ask / state: Is JSergio123 developing something that is illegal, or that directly infringes copyright, or that has a primary purpose of infringing copyright?
(of course you could claim FTP and HTTP have a primary purpose of infringing copyright. But one can claim anything. Like being a stable genius.)
If we sing a slaying song tonight, what tools will be used for the slaying?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 08 2018, @06:51PM (5 children)
That's not the real question. Why should they be able to stop people from developing software even if it is mostly used for infringing upon copyright? How would that not be a violation of freedom of speech? Copyright takes a back seat to freedom of speech, as far as anyone sane is concerned.
And I don't see how it could possibly directly infringe upon someone's copyright at all, or be illegal in and of itself.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by DannyB on Thursday March 08 2018, @07:14PM
People are only realizing that copyright and free speech are not compatible.
That is an excellent point. It is the way that software is USED that matters. You say "even if it is mostly used for". But that could turn out to be true even if it was not designed for infringing uses. For example Bit Torrent. Designed to distribute large Linux distribution ISOs. But "mostly used for" something else.
BitTorrent would be the poster boy of what the copyright pigopolists want to destroy. And to make illegal even to develop. Yet has substantial non-infringing uses.
If we sing a slaying song tonight, what tools will be used for the slaying?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 08 2018, @08:33PM (3 children)
Good question; very easy answer! We just apply the same standard to firearm manufacturers. Either way, win-win!
(Score: 2) by choose another one on Thursday March 08 2018, @10:19PM (2 children)
Huh? Which firearms are mostly used for infringing upon copyright?
Have I got my pirates confused again?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 08 2018, @11:39PM
"Software doesn't kill people, people with guns kill people. Software only abets copyright infringement, or goes all Blue Screen of Death on your life-support system. Letting die is not the same a killing."
(Score: 2) by dry on Friday March 09 2018, @03:43AM
Think about it. Armed crooks hold up a video store and kill the teller, take all the cash and a dozen DVD's. Now taking DVD's without paying is copyright infringement, especially when the cops catch the crooks watching the videos with friends. Now we have the serious crime of copyright infringement. Forget about the minor crimes of murder and armed robbery, those crooks used a gun to infringe copyright and are going to go to jail for a long time, don't even have to bother with the other minor charges.
Now that it has been shown that guns can result in copyright infringement, the *AA's are going to go up against the NRA, get the 2nd repealed and ban guns.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 08 2018, @07:10PM (1 child)
It doesn't matter whether you are right or not. It really doesn't matter at all. you must have deep pockets to face a lawsuits against such moguls.
Even if you are absolutely right and the judge rejects it immediately, you would have needed a lawyer. And in such case, it may be only the first of a long string of lawsuits. Let alone if judge accepts it and there is a trial, then you will have to face 10 years of appeals.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 09 2018, @10:10AM
This is why there is no justice. The rich guy is always right and you're always wrong.
Add to that anybody can sue anytime for any reason and we're all dead men walking.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 08 2018, @06:06PM
I'll start shedding tears for ACE as soon as they start lobbying for copyright reform 3-20 years seems like a good min/max for copyright expiration, with the default being 3 years and extensions required to get up to 20 years. If we had sane copyright limits Disney might actually have to produce decent content! Their current business model is vacuum up all the IP they can and pump out soft hitting mass appeal mush.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by bob_super on Thursday March 08 2018, @06:07PM (15 children)
Car manufacturers have still not signed the obvious pledge that their products will not be used for illegal activities.
Computer manufacturers have still not signed the obvious pledge that their products will not be used for illegal activities.
Dildo manufacturers have still not signed the obvious pledge that their products will not be used for illegal activities.
Gun manufacturers have still not signed the obvious pledge that their products will not be used for illegal activities.
Let's apply pressure on everyone to comply with our demands !
(Score: 3, Interesting) by DannyB on Thursday March 08 2018, @06:16PM (12 children)
Looking at your list. Why does Arizona have a limit of two (2) dildos per household, but no such limit on cars, computers or guns? Cars and Computers can be dangerous weapons. Just ask anyone who has been hit over the head with a computer.
But Kodi Addons, wow. This IS a serious danger to society. How many people per year die from Kodi Addons? (or from Disney movies?)
If we sing a slaying song tonight, what tools will be used for the slaying?
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday March 08 2018, @07:02PM
Kodi Addons should be honored because they strip away the ad-laden web interfaces of terror-supporting streaming sites!!!
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 08 2018, @07:22PM (4 children)
You must be kidding. Aren't you?
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Thursday March 08 2018, @07:55PM
Debunked here. [phoenixnewtimes.co] Though as a teenager living in Arizona I remember hearing it as well... Actually I think it was a cap on the possession of the number of porn videos one could possess. The main adult store in the Valley of the Sun, the Castle, was in rural Maricopa County between the borders of Tempe and Phoenix (back when there was actually space in between them) where supposedly the laws on that were not enforced.
However, in Texas, the sale of one is illegal. [state.tx.us] Though likely unenforceable now, to believe Wikipedia.
In Alabama, though, it is illegal and was upheld by the court. [wikipedia.org] You can own one, just not sell one. [findlaw.com]
This sig for rent.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday March 08 2018, @09:16PM (2 children)
I was not kidding. But, it looks like this may be debunked, if it ever was true [phoenixnewtimes.com].
I got it long ago from somewhere online. Googling just now, I can find multiple references. Whether it is actually true or not, I cannot say.
If we sing a slaying song tonight, what tools will be used for the slaying?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 08 2018, @11:42PM (1 child)
Actually, the law read, "Only two dildos from the Great State of Arizona can be in the US Senate at any one time." Kind of a Flakey law, but there it is. Hope no one goes raising Cain over this.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 08 2018, @11:50PM
There. FTFY.
(Score: 3, Touché) by stretch611 on Thursday March 08 2018, @08:18PM (5 children)
Because stuffing 2 dildos in a person is a perfectly reasonable act.
However, 3 at a time is immoral and wrong. ;)
Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
(Score: 2) by Lester on Thursday March 08 2018, @09:57PM
Yeah. Two shoes is reasonable. Three is absurd, let alone two pairs.
(Score: 2) by choose another one on Thursday March 08 2018, @10:22PM (3 children)
Um, the post says _per household_ not per person.
Arguably two dildoes per three (or more) people is even more wrong...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 08 2018, @11:43PM (2 children)
2 per 3 can kind of work if double dildos count as one.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 09 2018, @12:42AM (1 child)
I wonder if anyone thought of creating a multi-dildo to get around such laws. A single device with multiple different business ends. Kind of like the charger cables which split into half a dozen different connectors.
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Friday March 09 2018, @04:06PM
Yes. We call it a kitty. [youtube.com]
This sig for rent.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Thursday March 08 2018, @10:45PM (1 child)
I suggest copyright and DRM are big issues precisely *because* no one dies if you "infringe".
As a result, it is hard to get "the masses" to care, until it is someone they know or something in which they, as an individual, get caught up.
When a person is eatened, they, and their friends become aware of the scale of the injustice/non relative threats compared to act.
Otherwise, meh, my torrenting.
Worse, the rigts holders do such a good job of the demonising that the people targeted are understood by the masses (even those that torrent) to be "really bad guys", who "deserve punishment".
Itis all a PR game, and the developers/ hackers / geeks are losing.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 09 2018, @03:00AM
> As a result, it is hard to get "the masses" to care, until it is someone they know or something in which they, as an individual, get caught up.
DRM also gets phased in gradually a little step at a tiime to prevent pushback, as we see in the Vulkan 1.1 spec, the UEFI spec , and the HTML5 spec. "no one" cares about specs. So DRM gets established there first to little resistence. Then comes a requirement for optional support, then mandatory support, then optional compliance, then mandatory compliance:
https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=18/03/07/2031207 [soylentnews.org]
http://techrights.org/wiki/index.php/UEFI [techrights.org]
https://www.techdirt.com/blog/?tag=eme [techdirt.com]
Computers that just anyone can program and a net where just anyone can publish rub very many powerful people and institutions the wrong way. They have been looking for decades for a way to roll back the world to a cnetralized, top-down broadcast model like with oldmedia.
In the 80s, most PCs had a programming environment available within a fraction of a second of flipping the power on. Now look at the barriers in place before you can even get started even with training languagres like Python. Look also at how oldmedia has been grinding away at the term 'hacker'. Mention 'hacking' to most people now and they'll get all upset and start asking about legality.
Besides, most of the public is already locked into Facebook. There they can be monitored in detail and rounded up at a later time when deemed expedient:
https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2017/02/08/police-mine-facebook-for-data-on-inauguration-protesters/ [sophos.com]
These are not sheep. Sheep have at least the protection of the flock. We're looking at hamster-like behavior and intelligence.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 08 2018, @06:42PM (2 children)
Either do your work anonymously, or you take your chances with the bounty hunters. There is nothing else you can do until the voters start to elect civilized humans into the government.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by DannyB on Thursday March 08 2018, @07:02PM
The so called civilized humans gradually become jaded by what goes on around them. Then they realize how profitable it is to participate in the corruption.
There needs to be less corruption, or more opportunity to participate in it.
If we sing a slaying song tonight, what tools will be used for the slaying?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by legont on Thursday March 08 2018, @07:11PM
There is a third choice - make it personal https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/2095852-altered-carbon [goodreads.com]
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.