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In June 2023, WesternRus announced to customers with regret that it would have to suspend its piracy operation. Given that WesternRus had profited handsomely from selling films – without bearing any costs of making them – what could possibly explain its sudden demise? According to WesternRus, its profitability had been... Read more
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Newly (and hastily) augmented with generative AI, Microsoft’s search engine, Bing, has been normalizing piracy, drumming up business for piracy rings, and instructing internet users how to access piracy sites in countries where they have been blocked pursuant to court orders. We’re used to such asshattery from Google and Facebook... Read more
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In August 2022, Meta launched an interactive AI tool called BlenderBot. As the name suggests, it generates text by remixing online content. In other words, it’s the latest Big Tech product built on infringement in the name of innovation. Comparing earlier language generators to BlenderBot, Vox reported it’s unbelievably crappy.... Read more
Slumming in the Reddit forum r/Piracy recently, we stumbled upon a surprising debate. “Is there anything you wouldn’t pirate?” suspicious_carl asked. The responding pirates fall into four categories. Only one is worth saving. Asshats Asshats revel in piracy as if it were merely mischief instead of causing a great deal... Read more
By Tom Galvin
Guest Contributor
For piracy to flourish, it requires more than crafty criminals and willing users. And its impact goes well beyond the harm it does to creators. Content theft is a $2.34 billion criminal ecosystem that mirrors the legitimate world of Netflix, Hulu, and Apple+. None of this is a shock to... Read more
By Justin Sanders
Another World IP Day – the annual celebration of intellectual property in all its forms – has come and gone. It offers an excellent reminder that intellectual property theft comes in many forms and that we shouldn’t forget about the lesser-known variations of piracy that fly under the radar. The... Read more
Big Tech companies have a knack for wielding the “free speech” argument as a shield to avoid tackling the systemic criminal behavior on their platforms. This tendency bleeds into the realms of copyright disputes and content protection, where Big Tech’s deep-pocketed, anti-copyright advocacy network often vilifies efforts to fight piracy... Read more
By Ruth Vitale
One of the most important lessons I have learned in my three-plus decades as a film executive is the importance of storytelling. The biggest budget and the most famous stars in the world will rarely save a film if the narrative is broken. If audiences cannot follow the story, the... Read more
By Ruth Vitale
YouTube is losing the battle against toxic content. A recent Wired article details the algorithmic tweaks that YouTube implemented after the 2017 mass-shooting in Las Vegas sparked a wave of false-flag videos on its platform. The terrible behavior of some of its users following a national tragedy compelled YouTube to embark on nothing... Read more
By Ruth Vitale
Talk about out of touch. Big Tech’s house is in shambles, shaken by scandals, and people all over the world are creating pressure to fix Silicon Valley’s lack of accountability. Yet the industry and its allies keep trying to duck the question and shift the blame. They will not stop... Read more