Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Copyright Cartel Uses Surveillance to Protect Its Monopoly, Distorts Privacy Laws

Because copyright, unlike privacy for example, is not a natural right

Rickard Falkvinge
Photo by T. M. Eckrich



Summary: Freedom and privacy continue to be compromised by the collective monopoly (or oligopoly) of copyright holders

THE TOO-BIG-TO-JAIL cartel, the one which is sometimes called the "copyright monopoly" (Rickard Falkvinge calls it that), is clearly above the law. It overrides and overwrites our laws. To name some of its latest mischiefs, which iophk made us aware of, it is now using collective accountability [1] for intimidation and harassment. Its propaganda efforts are further boosted by UCSF [2] and surveillance is now being used as a tool to protect the monopoly [3,4]. Privacy laws are almost being discarded in the UK [5-7] in order to accommodate this out-of-control monopoly, journalists are being threatened if they don't stick to the monopoly's party line [8], and lawsuits are being used to discourage acts of legitimate sharing [9] as long as the monopoly can claim that some proportion of the material is copyrighted (the monopoly is sometimes found to be responsible for planting such material as bait).



Techrights rarely delves into the field of copyright, but it is likely to do more of this in the future. Now more than ever before these matters are become closely intertwined with privacy and by extension with software freedom. Proprietary software helps the copyright monopoly not just by facilitating DRM but also by reporting on (ratting out) users. To fight the many injustices of the copyright cartel we need to encourage people to adopt Free software.

Related/contextual items from the news:



  1. Police Arrest Alleged Movie Pirate Again, Along With His Brother & Sister
    Back in May, police acting on behalf of the Federation Against Copyright Theft sent several police cars to arrest a single alleged movie cammer. But despite allocating significant resources, police have now dropped the charges. However, matters have actually taken a turn for the worse, with the police re-arresting the alleged cammer plus his brother and sister while investigating the online leak of another movie.


  2. Movie Piracy Hurts Health Research and Patient Care, UCSF Claims
    ...university falsely claims that using BitTorrent is considered a crime.


  3. Private Torrent Sites Run Their Own Mini-PRISM to Share Data on Users
    Last month TorrentFreak took a look at the information being held on users by the operators of private BitTorrent trackers. We questioned whether it was time to take another look at the way that data is being handled in order to better protect site members. In our second article on the issue we look not only at the data stored by individual trackers, but also claims that the information is being shared with dozens of other sites.


  4. Record labels ask broadband providers to collect data on illegal downloads


  5. Copyright Holders Want Voluntary UK Three-Strikes Anti-Piracy Scheme


  6. Music industry try to revive the Digital Economy Act
    There must be an election coming: the Prime Minister is listening to the demands of the music industry for new clampdowns on file sharing


  7. UK Gov's Latest Move on Copyright: Exactly Wrong
    Remember the Digital Economy Act? Surely one of the worst pieces of UK legislation passed - or rather, rammed through - in recent years, as readers may recall. This was inspired (if that's the right word) by the French Hadopi scheme brought in by Nicolas Sarkozy, whereby people were threatened with being disconnected from the Internet if they were accused of unauthorised sharing of digital files.


  8. Journalists Face Criminal Complaint For Mentioning Name of Pirate Site
    This week journalists faced an attack on their right to report following their publication of an article on piracy. The piece, an interview with the operator of an unauthorized ebook site, angered publishers when the reporters named the site in question. The editors of two publications were subsequently hit with a criminal complaint in which they were accused of assisting copyright infringement. Meanwhile the operator of the site informs TorrentFreak that they intend to go international.


  9. MPAA Wins Landmark Piracy Battle Against Hotfile
    The MPAA has scored an important victory against the file-hosting service Hotfile. The District Court of Florida entered a summary judgment against Hotfile noting that the cyberlocker failed to control the distribution of pirated movies through its service. The MPAA applauds the verdict and says it shows that Hotfile’s business model was built on “mass distribution of stolen content.”


Recent Techrights' Posts

IRC Proceedings: Saturday, August 30, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, August 30, 2025
Representing and Speaking for Animals
If I ever choose to take this matter to tribunal with animals-centric NGOs on my side, it'll get some press coverage for sure
The UEFI 9/11 - Part II - Campaign of Censorship and Defamation Against Critics
In dictatorships, humour serves an important role. It's tragic.
 
IBM Has Taken Control of GNOME
Don't expect a successor to be found any time soon
Links 31/08/2025: Google Gmail Data Breach and LF Puff Pieces for Pay
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
This is What Google News Has Become
Moments ago
The Slopfarm WebProNews Has Turned Google News Into a Laughing Stock Full of Plagiarism by Slop
If Google News dies of neglect, that's one thing. It's starting to seem like active neglect by Google is a form of participation.
Do What is Moral, as What's Legal Isn't Always Moral
Do what's objectively moral, no matter the costs and the risks
Slopwatch: Google News Assisting Plagiarism and Anti-Linux FUD, Serial Slopper Rips Off Linux-Centric Journalists
This makes the Web a much worse place and lessens the incentive to do journalism
Links 30/08/2025: NVIDIA Fakes Results to Hide a Bubble Already in Implosion Phase, Data Breaches Galore, Important Win for Workers' Union in Canada
Links for the day
In Kazakhstan, Yandex Estimated to be 20 Times Bigger Than Microsoft
Bing is measured as down this month
Shutterstock Not Enough? The Register MS Uses Slop Images in Articles (Seemingly More and More Over Time)
Cost-saving trajectory amid office shutdown?
Gemini Links 30/08/2025: Games, PostmarketOS, and Slop
Links for the day
Links 30/08/2025: Imgur Uproar and Many Ukraine Updates (Mediazona Reports Over 200,000 Russians Died for Putin)
Links for the day
How Not to Build Software
code forges that need a Web browser perhaps fill some 'niche' demand
GAFAM and "MATA"
The use of dark humour there hopefully helps illuminate what a lot of "modern" technology became like and how it interacts with human civilisation (to what ends and whose gain)
Birds Are Not "Pests and Vermin", Privacy is Not a Crime, and GNU/Linux is Not 'Hacking Platform'
I could not help but think of Free software analogies
The Sites Should Be Very Fast Again
That issue is now resolved
Flying in 2025
worse than ever before
Activists, Including Technical Activists, Need Not Pursue Affirmation
Techrights doesn't play or participate in a "popularity contest"
The UEFI 9/11 - Part III - Chaos is Scheduled to Happen Second Thursday of September (No Matter What the Microsofters Tell You)
The clock is ticking
Downplaying the Impact of "UEFI 9/11" is a Losing Strategy
we won't publish much whilst on holiday
Government Sites Should Run Free Software
Not proprietary bloatware with buzzwords
LLM Slopfarms Take No Breaks
When people run sites by bots they don't need to worry about "breaks"
GNOME Having a Meltdown Again
Thanks and farewell to Steven Deobald
Gemini Links 30/08/2025: Low Tech and Hunchbin 1.0.6
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, August 29, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, August 29, 2025
Financiers and Sponsors of the Slop Hype (Pyramid Scheme Waiting to End, Bubble That Will Inevitably Implode)
It's also burning the planet
Slopwatch: Fake Articles About "Linux", Google Helps Ponzi Schemes and Slopfarms in Google News
Slopfarms are a real pain
Gemini Links 29/08/2025: Retiring at 62 and URL Filtering HTTP(S) Proxy on Qubes OS
Links for the day
Links 29/08/2025: Lisa Cook Sues Convicted Felon and Backdoor Mandate in UK Resisted
Links for the day
Links 29/08/2025: Arti 1.5.0, War on Public Health (CDC), and Slop 'Bros' Made to Pay for Their Mass Plagiarism
Links for the day
No, 4Chan is Not Fighting for You by Lawyering Up Against Ofcom (UK)
Don't mistake proto-fascists for people who "fight for you". They don't.
In Many Places in the World Vista 11 "Market Share" is Going Down, Not Up
In some countries Windows is already down to third place or lower
More Microsoft-Connected Layoffs, at Least Third Time This Month! (Also Another Death on Campus)
Microsoft as a "gaming" company is where studios, projects, games, and even developers come to die
Slopwatch: Fake Articles About "Linux", Slop Images in VentureBeat, Linux Foundation Spam Made With LLM Slop and Slop Images
The only relief or upside - if any exists - is that the pace of slop was down a bit this week
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, August 28, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, August 28, 2025
Gemini Links 29/08/2025: Poems, Games, and Java 25 Performance
Links for the day