MetaFilter posts tagged with MPAA

DOWNLOADING IS WRONG

azarbayejani — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 06:06:43 -0800

A new trojan is on the loose. It doesn't install any harmful adware/spyware, but does block both mininova and the Pirate Bay.

Real Relevant?

shunshine — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 14:56:08 -0800

Considering DVDs seem a bit long in the tooth, this recent foray into the world of DVD ripping seemed a thinly veiled attempt to pick a fight with the MPAA. After invoking the Glaser Doctrine this morning, guess they got what they wanted. Hate, hate, HATE or tolerate the company, they've pulled a couple interesting stunts. Of course the widely-used, DMCA-breaking DeCSS method of ripping has been around for years, but was apparently made possible by RealNetworks itself in 1999. Their new, (purportedly) legal route was inspired by this suit won against the DVD CCA last year. Talk about a 10-year plan!

The best defense is a good offense

mullingitover — Thu, 29 May 2008 12:05:12 -0800

Internet television host Revision3 was the victim of a denial of service attack this weekend. The source of the attack? None other than RIAA and MPAA-funded MediaDefender.

ARTISTdirect MediaDefender

East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 09:16:35 -0800

Anti-Piracy agents MediaDefender have 700MiB of juicy internal emails leaked on BitTorrent; are in trouble.

"The Following PREVIEW Has Been Approved ONLY for age-appropriate internet users."

pwb503 — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 14:07:07 -0800

Nearly all movie trailers shown in theaters, and on the web, come with a so-called green tag, saying they are approved for all audiences, or a red tag, saying they are approved for only restricted audiences. Since 2000, many theaters will not run red tag trailers; Warner Brothers will not make red tag trailers, and Universal Pictures has not ran one in theaters since "American Pie" in 1999. Wishing to show audiences more "edgy" previews, the producers are looking to the internet.

Rob Zombie’s “Halloween” remake became the first to display a new yellow tag, signaling that the movie was rated PG-13 or above, and the preview was “approved only for age-appropriate Internet users” — mandatd by the MPAA as visitors to sites either frequented mainly by grown-ups (as determined by Nielsen's Web Demographic reports) or accessible only between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m.

This August’s “Superbad” (autoplay music...) has an R-rated, red tag internet trailer, which MPAA regulations require a viewer to pass an age-verification test, in which the viewer 17 and older has to match their name, birthday and ZIP code against public government records on file." [via nytimes.com]

Well you ain't never caugh a rabbit, and you ain't no friend of mine!

phaedon — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 09:05:40 -0800

"For me, it's a great victory to have a big red box, the first red box in any studio feature." Move over, Todd Solondz, the previously Untitled Dakota Fanning Rape Project is headed for Sundance. This film is not yet rated.

Button, Button, Who's Got the Button (So We Can Put Them in Jail)?

jonp72 — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 13:28:16 -0800

Permission to Innovate? How the Record Industry Is Like 17th-Century French Buttonmakers A corporate consultant blog makes a weird but compelling argument that the RIAA and MPAA are forcibly imposing a draconian 17th-century business model on the 21st century.

This Film is Not Yet Rated

spock — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 10:04:16 -0800

This Film is Not Yet Rated (SFW trailer) and a hilarious (audio NSFW) version. (2:05) "How does one follow-up an Oscar-nominated documentary (2004's Twist of Faith) about sexual abuse perpetrated by members of the Catholic Church? If you're Kirby Dick, you deliver another exposé of institutionalized misconduct by taking direct aim at the ratings system of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA)." Interviews with the director, Kirby Dick: 1,2,3. Not available on DVD until January '07, but the Amazon Reader Reviews are worth a look see.

Be thrifty, kind and a good MPAA brainwashing canidate.

IronLizard — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 21:46:10 -0800

The MPAA has come up with a new way to stop pirating early (PDF), let the scoutmasters drill it into the kids while their brains are still malleable. via

Doesn't matter if you're a grandma, or a 7-year-old girl ...

WCityMike — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 19:59:18 -0800

"Don't Download This Song." A free, and rather hilarious, download from "Weird Al" Yankovic done in the 'charity gospel' "We are the World" style, including a few gems in the lyrics like "even Lars Ulrich knows it's wrong." Direct MP3 link. Music video evidently coming shortly.

Glickman v. Barlow

Mwongozi — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 08:59:56 -0800

Dan Glickman, president of the MPAA, and John Perry Barlow, Greatful Dead lyricist and co-founder of the EFF, debate movie piracy in this interview (RealVideo) on the BBC's "Click".

Google maps 37Signals with Flickr iPod.

loquacious — Mon, 05 Jun 2006 09:06:07 -0800

Cory Doctorow visits a Radio Shack. via keswick and MeCha

A deterrent?

plenty — Mon, 07 Nov 2005 06:23:29 -0800

Hong Kong court jails man for creating and posting torrents.

le sigh

sourbrew — Sun, 15 May 2005 18:54:25 -0800

Le Sigh - ShunTv joins the ranks. I found this through metafilter users.... would like to lament shun with metafilter users. As MPAA expands into prosecuting tv viewers.

You can run, but you can't hide

mathowie — Thu, 10 Feb 2005 19:34:29 -0800

LokiTorrent was a popular spot to get movies and they even put up a fight against the recent crackdown, raising thousands in a legal defense fund. Today, it seems the MPAA won, forcing the owner to shut down. That's understandable and I'm not surprised, but they've gone a bit further than I expected, turning the site into a big scary ad against filesharing and warning that you're next. Even worse, the old owner is turning the logs over to the MPAA, for them to go after folks.

Suprnova.org is back... with a vengeance?!

insomnia_lj — Wed, 29 Dec 2004 18:06:40 -0800

Suprnova.org is back... with a vengeance?! It was just last week when suprnova.org, the most popular site online for finding BitTorrent downloads, shut down their site. The MPAA and RIAA crowed, but it appears the celebration was a tad premature. Suprnova's new site mentions a special announcement tomorrow at 9 PM GMT on NovaStream.org radio. Rumors suggest that it will introduce Exeem, a decentralized, BitTorrent-driven software client that turns every user into a tracker, removing the requirement for a centralized site such as suprnova, while providing users with easy searchability, the swarming powers of BitTorrent, and a network that is far harder to shut down.

Shut down those terrorists... er fans...

headspace — Mon, 26 Jul 2004 09:20:29 -0800

A threat to national security! Adam McGaughey, the owner of a Stargate fansite has been slapped with criminal charges (Criminal Copyright Infringement and Trafficking in Counterfeit Services) after being reported to the FBI by the MPAA for including Amazon links to encourage fans to purchase DVDs of the show. To build its case, the FBI invoked a provision of the USA Patriot Act to obtain financial records from his ISP. And, since he "conspired" with thousands of fans worldwide by providing these Amazon Market links, he could be facing up to 20 years in jail if the government invokes RICO.

Michael Moore's

heyadam — Mon, 14 Jun 2004 18:18:20 -0800

AP reports that Michael Moore's upcoming film "Fahrenheit 9/11" was given an 'R' rating today by the MPAA. The same MPAA that says violence is much more acceptable than sex. The same MPAA that has close ties to the FCC, running roughshod over First Ammendment freedoms. The same MPAA headed by Jack Valenti who played himself in Freakazoid! a cooky cartoon about superheroes that save Washington D.C. Email him if you disagree at jvalenti@mpaa.org or call the MPAA 818-995-6600 x396.

Government owned by corporations

giantkicks — Mon, 15 Mar 2004 23:31:22 -0800

Vans Stevenson, senior lobbyist for MPAA (the Motion Picture Association of America), was the last to revise a letter California State Attorney General Bill Lockyer is to distribute to other attorney generals. Lockyer is the president of the National Association of Attorneys General. - is your government owned? Lockyer receives thousands in campaign contributions from MPAA, RIAA, and '[via: The Register]..corporate and private donations from the major studios, including The Paramount Pictures Group, Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., Warner Bros PAC, AOL Time Warner. Senior executives, such as Alan Horn and Howard Welinsky, respectively CEO and senior VP at Warner Brothers..." Adam Eisgrau of P2P United said that "the draft attributed to the attorney general's office contains many significant factual errors, eyebrow-raising metadata, and articulates a very broad expansion in several important respects of product liability and consumer protection law that would have enormous effects..' It's in The NY Times. Slyck has the original document.

The MPAA speaks about Emanuel Goldstein.

Keyser Soze — Sun, 28 Dec 2003 03:27:14 -0800

The MPAA speaks about Emanuel Goldstein. For a very long time, the MPAA has been suing the website and magazine 2600 for posting the DeCSS source code on its website. This is a FAQ from the MPAA's homepage. The incredible irony in seeing the words "Emanuel Goldstein" mentioned brings to mind (obviously to many of you) 1984.

Priacry != Theft

Nauip — Mon, 17 Nov 2003 15:43:29 -0800

And the MPAA will 'up the ante' with the Artists' Rights and Theft Prevention Act. Increased jail time and fines for distribution of copyrighted works. And careful with that cam-phone in the theater, those and the screeners (leaked before they're commercially available) will get you the stiffest penalty.

For Your Inconsideration...

WolfDaddy — Thu, 02 Oct 2003 13:36:20 -0800

"I aim to close every kind of hole in the dike I can find on piracy," and with those words, MPAA demon Jack Valenti banned all DVD and VHS screeners of this years Oscar nominated films. File under "Throwing the baby out with the bathwater." Next up: Valenti plans to remove everyone's eyeballs with a rusty spoon.

Give respect, get respect

Down10 — Sun, 03 Aug 2003 11:32:53 -0800

"Movies: They're worth it!" In a move to educate those darn thieving kids and their evil P2P file-sharing networks which are used to trade ripped movies, the MPAA has launched a public service campaign to explain, in layman's terms, why violating their copyrights is wrong. …Yes, these are the same people who have just brought us an entire summer of bloated sequels, shameless celebrity vehicles and uninspired hack-work. Respect!

Access Denied: RIAA, MPAA Blocked From Techfocus

metameme — Sun, 20 Jul 2003 17:27:34 -0800

MPAA Blocked From Techfocus
:Effective immediately, the RIAA and MPAA will need to find another way to get to Techfocus. In response to their legal targeting of individual file-swappers, access from their known networks to this site has now been blocked. While it may still be possible for them to access Techfocus via address ranges which we're not aware of, they'll otherwise have to use non-RIAA and non-MPAA networks to view the site."

Digital TV is simple to pirate, right?

mathowie — Wed, 19 Feb 2003 16:08:35 -0800

Jack Valenti (head of the Motion Picture Association of America) has been quoted numerous times recently, saying "A 12-year-old, with a click of a mouse, can send a movie hurtling to all of the five continents". A graduate researcher at MIT set to test out the accuracy of the soundbite, with interesting results.