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Pirate Bay founders lose final appeal in Sweden, prison looms on the horizon
It looks like Pirate Bay's legal drama has finally come to a close in Sweden, where the Supreme Court today turned down the site's final appeal. At the center of the case are the file sharing site's founders -- Fredrik Neij, Peter Sunde and Carl Lundström -- who have been battling Swedish prosecutors for quite a few years now. After being convicted of facilitating copyright infringement, the trio was initially sentenced to prison. They appealed the ruling in 2010 and, though they failed to overturn it, managed to see their 12-month sentences reduced by between two and eight months. Today, though, their final attempts were shot down, with the Court's dismissal. The fines and prison terms remain the same: ten months for Neij, eight months for Sunde and four for Lundström. There's also a fourth co-founder involved, Gottfrid Svartholm, who has been absent from several hearings. Under today's ruling, his original 12-month sentence will stand, and the four men will have to pay a total of $6.8 million in damages. Because the case has dragged on for at least five years, however, there's a chance that the sentences could be reduced by 12 months (bringing them down to zero), as is common in the Swedish legal system. The decision on this matter, however, remains with the court. TorrentFreak reports that at least one defendant intends to appeal to the European Court of Justice, though the results wouldn't have any effect on Sweden's decision.
EU settles affairs with Microsoft, no fines this time
Momentous moment alert -- the EU has just closed the book on its lengthy investigation into potential Microsoft antitrust violations. Lasting through nearly the entire noughties, The European Commission's dissatisfaction with what it perceived as monopolistic practices from Redmond has resulted in some hefty fines over the years, but the conclusion to hostilities has been pleasingly amicable. In exchange for Microsoft's legally binding promise to offer up to 12 other browsers alongside its own, the European executive will give the company a clean bill of competition-friendly health. All this means is that the ballot screen will be around on Windows operating systems for at least the next five years (starting in mid-March 2010), which should give the EU plenty of time to think up the next batch of allegations to throw Microsoft's way.
FCC's Martin fines nine carriers on his way out the door
On the eve of his resignation, now-former FCC chairman Kevin Martin got in one last shot against nine of the biggest cable companies -- including Comcast, Time Warner, Cox and Charter -- to the tune of $25,000 each. Citing the MSOs (Multiple System Operators) for failing to respond to the FCC's investigation of how they moved channels from analog to digital tiers, additional fines were then added on, bringing the total damages to all nine companies to a cool $510,000. Top honors go to Time Warner, which racked up a $137,000 bill. Wielding his poisoned pen, Martin wrote that the actions of the MSOs "... exhibits contempt for the FCC's authority," and by forcing customers to pay for digital set-top boxes, "... customers have been receiving less from the cable companies but paying the same price." Strong words, but would we wouldn't expect anything less from the FCC chairman who oversaw some of the biggest changes in telco this country's seen.[Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]
Comcast blows off FCC inquisition, could face fines
Tsk, tsk. It seems that Comcast has all the time in the world to investigate just how high it should push cable rates, but not a moment to really sit down and answer questions from the FCC. Okay, so maybe that's a touch harsh, but it's really not far from the truth. It's stated that Comcast provided an "inadequate response" to a recent FCC request for "information on cable company policies as they switch to digital signals." As you could likely guess, Comcast isn't the only guilty party, but chairman Kevin Martin did pick on Comcast's "narrative" of a reply. Comcast alleges that fully completing the request would've required 1,500 man hours, and while we don't doubt the legitimacy of such a claim, we'd still probably think twice before pushing back a half-hearted response to the almighty Federal Communications Commission.[Image courtesy of JournalGroup]
Verizon facing fines for poor phone service, FiOS TV expansion partly to blame
Ruh roh. Seems that perpetual gripes down in Tampa Bay, Florida have finally amounted to something substantial. Just months after hearing a chorus of complaints about Verizon's lackluster customer service, we're now seeing that the carrier could face upwards of $6.5 million in fines for "willful and repeated lapses in Verizon's telephone service." Interestingly, it's reported that Verizon actually has fessed up to some service lapses, and it made a point to explain that it has been "simply overwhelmed with demand for the FiOS service." More specifically, it "acknowledged hiccups in repair service amid strong demand for its FiOS services," but has promised to bring things back up to par hastily. Tap the read link for more on the mess.
FCC gets around to proposing fines for E911 misses
The FCC's goal of 95 percent network compliance for enhanced 911 (E911) capability came and went long ago -- December 31, 2005, to be specific -- but like all good bureaucracies, it's just now taking the time to propose a few fines for the carriers that failed to comply. At the deadline, Alltel was apparently at 84 percent, US Cellular rocked out at 89 percent, Sprint came in at 81 percent, and future partner in marriage Nextel was at 74 percent, leaving significant swaths of their respective networks without the ability to locate subscribers in the event of an emergency. For their failures, Sprint Nextel's looking at about a $1.3 million slap on the wrist, Alltel can expect $1 million, and US Cellular about $500,000. Not enough to drive any of the three to the verge of bankruptcy -- and really, not enough for any of the three to even notice when the cash gets pulled out of the coffers. Way to be, FCC.[Via Phone Scoop]
ESRB does its job, industry discovers regulations
In early July 3D Realms received a violation notice from the ESRB, which has now precipitated one of the more public industry outcries against the ESRB. Scott Miller of 3D Realms spoke out against the industry regulator to The Hollywood Reporter after his company received "Internet Warning Notice" for 31 violations on their website. Miller was upset because he says his publishers handle all the rating stuff, so for the ESRB to send him a letter about violating rules because of old icons and no content descriptors made him feel like they were "sucker punching" game developers and that "The Dark Side is in control." 3D Realms' failure to comply would result in a $10,000 fine per violation.Miller has a laundry list of issues with the ESRB and the way they handled this situation, but the ESRB says they are simply enforcing the rules the industry placed upon itself. The ESRB's Patricia Vance says, "Unfortunately, due to 3D Realms' lack of experience submitting games to the ESRB, it would appear that they were unaware of the various industry guidelines in place and the consequences of not complying with those guidelines." Was that a Duke Nukem' Forever dig? We're sure there'll be more scuffles between developers and the ESRB. The same way the film industry has fights between directors/producers and the MPAA rating board. But the ESRB will pretty much tell you, it's either their way, the self-regulated way, or regulation will fall to the US government.[Via GamePolitics]
EU hits Microsoft with $357 million fine
Even though we've resigned ourselves to the fact that Windows Vista isn't coming out until it's good and ready, EU regulators aren't as forgiving as us when it comes to Microsoft playing the delay game, and have hit the software giant with a $357 million fine based on that 2004 anti-competition ruling. What's more, EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes has decided to slap the company with a three million euro-per-day fine starting on July 31st if the document disclosure stipulation of the original decision -- which requires Microsoft to make the Windows source code more accessible to rivals provide technical information to makers of competing server software -- has not been fulfilled. Redmond, for its part, claims that it has been fully cooperating with regulators; general counsel Brad Smith argues that the commission's original demand was too vague, and therefore the issue is not one of compliance but clarity. In the end, Microsoft can complain all day and night about unfair rulings and unclear requirements, but if it wants to continue having unfettered access to the lucrative European market, it seems the company has little choice but to toe the line on this one.
Swedish site offering insurance to content pirates
Here's an innovative business plan for you: start up an insurance company whose sole purpose is to cover your customers' fines should they get busted for illegal file sharing, thereby creating a clientele that by default is composed completely of criminals. Well believe it or not, a Swedish "entrepreneur" has begun to offer this very service to his fellow citizens -- for only $19 per year, Magnus Braath's company Tankafritt promises to pay any penalties incurred from crackdowns on your rampant piracy, and he'll even throw in a free T-shirt to help you glorify your outlaw status. (Yes, you guessed it, the shirt actually does read "I got convicted for file-sharing and all I got was this lousy T-shirt"). Braath claims that he started the business as a statement against recent changes in Swedish law that had the nerve to criminalize illegal downloading, and that low conviction rates and relatively minor fines will allow him to keep the venture financially solvent. Hey Magnus, if you're looking to expand your operation, we hear that Spain's just passed some legislation that will probably create quite the demand for your unique little service -- who knows, with some hard work and a bit of luck, you could end up becoming the Geico of software and content piracy.[Via Techdirt and Slashdot]
Despite warnings, more UK drivers caught using cellphones
While a number of studies have concluded that driving while using a cellphone can be dangerous, and many governments impose fines for driving-while-talking, the number of DWT cases prosecuted in the UK has actually risen by 75% in the past year. However, indications are that the rise may have less to do with chattier motorists than with stepped-up enforcement by police, including the use of tag-reading cameras. UK DWT fines are due to double, from £30 to £60 this year, so prosecutions may actually start to decline -- unless the chattering class of drivers is also price-insensitive.
