Neowin News Feed for: Anti-piracy

Amazon allegedly warns it'll "terminate" your account for screenshotting Prime Video

Sayan Sen — Tue, 13 May 2025 15:42:01 +0000

Amazon has allegedly started warning customers that it will "terminate" their accounts if they screenshot. Read more...

Nintendo may be banning Switch game cards used for piracy from going online

João Carrasqueira — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 16:16:02 +0000

Reports have surfaced stating that Nintendo might be preventing game cards used for pirating games from going online, thanks to unique identification numbers assigned to each game card. Read more...

Microsoft and Google will demote piracy search results in the UK

Florin Bodnarescu — Mon, 20 Feb 2017 21:46:01 +0000

In a deal between Microsoft, Google, the British Phonographic Industry and the Motion Picture Association, the search engine providers have vowed to demote piracy results in the UK by June 1, 2017. Read more...

Russian authorities and entertainment industry working on new anti-piracy laws

Paul Hill — Thu, 11 Aug 2016 06:00:01 +0000

Russian lawmakers and anti-piracy bodies are working on laws which will take protection away from social media sites over pirated content that users upload. The Civil Code protects them currently. Read more...

New report suggests operating system makers could block pirated content

Paul Hill — Thu, 04 Aug 2016 12:04:01 +0000

A new report published by two anti-piracy-focused outfits has made a suggestion that operating system makers should build blocks into their software to disable access to websites that enable piracy. Read more...

Foxtel and Village Roadshow seek to block Aussie access to The Pirate Bay

Boyd Chan — Sun, 21 Feb 2016 08:38:01 +0000

While efforts failed to devise a voluntary anti-piracy code in Australia, Foxtel and Village Roadshow have now sought to compel ISPs to block access to The Pirate Bay, IsoHunt and other sites. Read more...

German police searches 121 homes in piracy raid

Usama Jawad — Wed, 05 Nov 2014 18:50:01 +0000

The German police have carried out a massive anti-piracy raid with a considerable amount of storage media confiscated from the suspects of the 121 homes which were raided. Read more...

UK set to launch new anti-piracy campaign

Brockman Davis — Sat, 19 Jul 2014 03:52:28 +0000

Unlike the UK's 2010 Digital Economy Act, which wanted to shut off the Internet of "persistent pirates," the UK will begin to issue warnings to users that are suspected of pirating content. Read more...

UK Court orders blocking of more "illegal" websites

Steven Parker — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 11:38:51 +0000

The UK High Court strikes back: Following last years ruling that The Pirate Bay and its known addresses must be blocked by all major ISPs, the Court has now added three other sites to the ruling. Read more...

RIAA admits that SOPA & PIPA are useless

Tyler Holman — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 03:44:09 +0000

A recently leaked RIAA presentation says that legislation like SOPA and PIPA wouldn't have done much to combat piracy, even if they had passed, while blaming Google for the backlash against them. Read more...

FBI bringing anti-piracy logos to everything

Tyler Holman — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 17:51:33 +0000

That totally inaffective and annoying little logo you see at the start of movies is about to become a lot more common: the FBI is about to let anyone use its anti-piracy seal for anyone to use. Read more...

Fake anti-piracy warnings hitting UK users

Jake Durasamy — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 16:51:46 +0000

Fake anti-piracy warning emails are being sent to users with money requests in an attempt to profit from the UK Digital Economy Act's upcoming law that states users will be warned when pirating. Read more...

More anti-piracy warnings coming to DVDs and Blu-Rays

Andy Weir — Mon, 14 May 2012 07:36:35 +0000

If you love the anti-piracy warnings that come up before you can watch a movie or TV series that you've just paid for, you're in luck: two new unskippable notices are being rolled out right now! Read more...

Silent Xbox Live anti-piracy update is affecting legit gamers

Tim Schiesser — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 05:49:28 +0000

A silent update was pushed through Xbox Live earlier this week attempting to prevent pirates from playing burned copies of games. Good in principle, however the update is affecting legitimate gamers. Read more...

French anti-piracy firm Trident Media Guard hacked

Denis Wong — Wed, 18 May 2011 09:01:14 +0000

In the latest string of "vigilante" attacks conducted on both sides of the war between copyright enforcement bodies and those so-called pirates they aim to prosecute comes this latest attack against a firm hired by... Read more...

New Zealand government sneaks in anti-piracy law [Update]

Owen Williams — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 04:58:24 +0000

With the recent large earthquake that hit Christchurch, New Zealand, the country has been in a "state of emergency" for a prolonged period of time. Part of the powers the government receives while in this... Read more...

Microsoft protects nonprofit orgs from anti-piracy take down

Alan Cone — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 18:44:33 +0000

Microsoft has begun an effort to prevent governments from using laws regarding software piracy to take down nonprofit organizations in 12 countries, including Russia and China. In these tightly controlled countries, many use software piracy inquiries... Read more...

Could new government kill UK Digital Economy Bill?

Matthew Hopson — Fri, 14 May 2010 11:36:18 +0000

Speculation is mounting that the formation of the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government in the UK could lead to the controversial Digital Economy Bill, which amongst other things puts in place a three-strike anti-piracy... Read more...

Microsoft looking to "shake hackers and crackers off Microsoft products"

Tom Warren — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 09:19:58 +0000

Microsoft is looking to design new anti-hacking mechanisms and "hack detection" technologies for future Microsoft products according to a recent job posting. The job posting, which has been removed (google cache), details a new opportunity in... Read more...

Microsoft celebrates antipiracy day

Steven Parker — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 12:00:16 +0000

Microsoft has announced that today, October 21st 2008, is Global Anti-Piracy Day and will proceed with a simultaneous launch of education initiatives and enforcement actions in 48 countries on five continents to combat the sophisticated,... Read more...

Europe votes on anti-piracy laws

Tom Warren — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 09:09:05 +0000

Europeans suspected of putting movies and music on file-sharing networks could be thrown off the web under proposals before Brussels. The powers are in a raft of laws that aim to harmonise the regulations... Read more...

Microsoft to beef up anti-piracy checks in Vista SP1

Steven Parker — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 09:02:01 +0000

Microsoft will change the user experience of its automatic anti-piracy checks in Windows Vista and also make it harder for hackers to bypass the system in the first service pack for the OS due out... Read more...

France unveils anti-piracy plan

Sat, 24 Nov 2007 13:21:56 +0000

French web users caught pirating movies or music could soon be thrown offline. Those illegally sharing files will face the loss of their net access thanks to a newly-created anti-piracy body granted the wide-ranging powers.... Read more...

Anti-Piracy Lobby Urges Sweden To Take Down The Pirate Bay

Steven Parker — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 12:06:10 +0000

Several anti-piracy lobbyist organizations have joined forces in urging the Swedish authorities to take "swift and decisive action" against The Pirate Bay. The Pirate Bay laughed away this attempt, and assures its users that they... Read more...

Google Launches Anti-piracy Tool for YouTube

Daniel Fleshbourne — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 09:38:22 +0000

Months after promising tools that will help weed out copyrighted material on YouTube, Google today launched the beta of its YouTube Video Identification tool for pinpointing pirated content. "Video Identification is the next step in... Read more...

Microsoft CEO visits Vietnam to cement anti-piracy deal

Mon, 21 May 2007 17:56:53 +0000

After an agreement was signed requiring all of Vietnam's government offices to use licensed computer software, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said he sees "a prosperous future ahead for Vietnam, and the country is doing the... Read more...

Vista Anti-Piracy Will Drive People to Linux?

Steven Parker — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 09:57:07 +0000

Oh, the wicked 2007 predictions people make, just because it's the end of the year. The good folks over at IDC released their "Top 10 Predictions for Worldwide System Infrastructure Software, 2007." Overall, it's a... Read more...

Lawsuit calls Microsoft's anti-piracy tool spyware

Thu, 29 Jun 2006 23:52:54 +0000

A computer user is suing Microsoft Corp. over the company's Windows Genuine Advantage anti-piracy tool, alleging that it violates laws against spyware. The suit by Los Angeles resident Brian Johnson, filed this week... Read more...

Anti-Piracy Company Backs 'Openness'

Mon, 06 Feb 2006 16:56:19 +0000

The company at the centre of a recent'e-scuffle' around DRM has pledged to be more open in its actions in thefuture. SunComm's MediaMax software was bundled on many popular Sony BMG musicCDs, including Kasabian and... Read more...

DVD Camps Agree Anti-Piracy Standard

Wed, 10 Aug 2005 19:44:04 +0000

The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) has announced that it has selected the Advanced Access Content System (AACS) as its protection scheme for next generation DVD media. The anti-piracy measures include a watermarking and digital... Read more...

Are Wine Users Just 'Whining' About Microsoft's Anti-Piracy

Fri, 18 Feb 2005 20:18:35 +0000

Or is Microsoft unfairly targeting and discriminating against customers attempting to run Windows programs on Unix and Linux? Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) program has had its share of critics. But this... Read more...

Microsoft Expands Windows Anti-Piracy Program

Thu, 28 Oct 2004 18:48:39 +0000

When it launched its "Windows Genuine Advantage" pilot program in September, Microsoft Corp. was hoping 20,000 customers would opt into the voluntary program, via which Microsoft checks whether customers are running counterfeit copies of Windows.... Read more...

Computers seized in anti-piracy sweep

Thu, 22 Apr 2004 23:29:09 +0000

Investigators seized 200 computers across the globe to break up online piracy networks that distribute copyrighted music, movies and software, the Justice Department said Thursday. The sweep, carried out in 27 U.S.... Read more...

HP printers have anti-piracy measures built in?

Sun, 18 Jan 2004 09:29:55 +0000

After the disclosure that Adobe's latest and greatest has measures built in to prevent currency copying, it would appear that other companies also have this. With a bit of prodding, M Smith found that HP... Read more...

Adobe Tests Anti-Piracy Technique

Sun, 06 Jul 2003 02:40:29 +0000

Adobe Systems Inc. has begun testing online activation of its Photoshop 7.0 application in Australia as a way of stemming the illegal use of its software. If the pilot is successful, and so far it... Read more...

New anti-piracy checks on Terminator 2 DVD

Wed, 02 Jul 2003 20:46:41 +0000

A recent reissue of the blockbuster Terminator 2 contains a DVD-ROM version of the movie with a new anti-piracy technique: 5-day viewing licenses issued over the Internet. The new digital rights management... Read more...

Music labels' latest anti-piracy trick: free tunes for a day!

Wed, 02 Oct 2002 14:15:57 +0000

In a fight to win back fans from the "gray zone" of online song-swapping services, the music industry is borrowing a trick from its nemeses: free music downloads. Unfortunatly, the program will be open... Read more...

Morpheus' new Anti-Piracy move

Sat, 16 Mar 2002 23:05:44 +0000

Morpheus MusicCity, a service that allows users to trade copyrighted songs and films, has quietly added an anti-piracy feature to its site, its first move to protect some artists from unlawful downloads of their music.... Read more...

BMG Will Replace Its First Anti-Piracy CD.

Mon, 19 Nov 2001 16:04:34 +0000

Spotted this over at CD Freaks. BMG will replace its anti-piracy cd of Natie Imbruglia's new album White Lilles Island with a non-anti-piracy copy after recieving a lot of angry feedback from its... Read more...

Universal; full steam ahead with anti-piracy CD's

Wed, 26 Sep 2001 14:10:47 +0000

Universal plans to start issuing CDs in October with software that prevents music from being digitally copied into computer files. Edgar Bronfman, Vivendi (Universal) vice chairman says, who's artists include U2, Eminem... Read more...