![]() ![]() I personally have lost both my parents and my little sister in 2015. Each part of our team has lost a dear member from his family. Since 2011 we have more than half million people died and over 5 million refugees. We are a group of computer science students from Syria, as you probably know Syria is having bad time for the last 5 years. A post on the site offers more details of what seems to be a “work” in progress, including a screenshot of the ransom note, which contains the following information about those who claim to be behind this: This really puts the “mal” in “malware,” since it makes a naked appeal to a victim’s worst nature. “If two or more people install this file and pay, we will decrypt your files for free”. Well, here we are, nearly in 2017, and ransomware is still with us - so much for tech progress - and new twists are still appearing, as the Guardian reported recently:Īny user who finds themselves infected with the Popcorn Time malware (named after, but unrelated to, the bittorrent client) is offered the ability to unlock their files for a cash payment, usually one bitcoin ($772.67/?613.20).īut they also have a second option, described by the developers as “the nasty way”: passing on a link to the malware. Even then, we noted it was nothing new, but that a further twist on the idea had appeared. Techdirt first wrote about ransomware back in 2010. Only a way to milk dollars in the name of the law.įiled Under: copyright, copyright trolls, kerry culpepper, popcorn time, showbox, terrarium, trademark, trademark abuse, use in commerce, yts There’s no respect for intellectual property in any of this. That isn’t exactly a consistent respect for intellectual property now, is it?īecause consistent and ethical application of the law is entirely besides the point. In other words, Culpepper appears to be perfectly willing to abuse trademark law in his efforts to enforce copyright law. ![]() ![]() The terms and actual content creators were already long using those marks, as were the holders of the social media accounts 42 Ventures is busy taking down. The idea I suppose is to try to claim that 42 Ventures is suddenly and recently using these marks in commerce, the only way it would have a valid trademark. 42 Ventures, however, stresses that it has its own legal “Popcorn Time” website at, which links to content from the YouTube channel Popcorned Planet.Īnd from there, we find that 42 Ventures has partnered with Andy Signore, who is behind Honest Trailers, among other things. Popcorn Time, Terrarium, and YTS have been using their brands for years, and could technically object to any enforcement efforts. The trademarks were only recently registered which brings up the issue of prior use. All trademarks are registered under the same description, “downloadable computer software for downloading and streaming multimedia content images, videos and audio.” The same description also applies to the pirate sites and apps. The current trademark portfolio of the company includes the popular brands “YTS,” “Popcorn Time,” and “Terrarium.” In addition, 42 Ventures also claimed the trademark for the Showbox arrow logo. Through the recently incorporate Hawaiian company 42 Ventures, he helped to register several piracy-related trademarks. You can see this in practice yet again, with Kerry Culpepper, Hawaiian IP attorney, deciding to register a bunch of trademarks for piracy related terms and then going around and shutting down accounts for “pirate” services on social media sites. The point is that it’s all a panoply of monied interests and shifting levels of ethics perfectly calibrated to let the copyright lawyer do as he or she pleases on any given day. Hell, some trolls, that would have you believe they are bullwarks against piracy, have been found out to have essentially committed and encouraged the very piracy they sued over themselves. Copyright trolls regularly skirt the law while claiming to fight for justice for copyright holders. ![]() One of the most consistent aspects of lawyers who crusade against copyright infringement is just how inconsistent their views on “the law” are. Update: This article was updated to remove a paragraph regarding events of a few years ago that was not central to the story here, and for which we have since learned there were additional details that have only now been shared with us. Wed, Apr 8th 2020 10:25pm - Timothy Geigner ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |