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Virginia Court Says Comments on Yelp Should Not Be Squelched

Virginia Court Says Comments on Yelp Should Not Be Squelched

From: Public Citizen Press Office <pr***@*****en.org>
Subject: Court protects Yelp reviews
Date: January 2, 2013 12:54:37 PM EST

 
Virginia Court Says Comments on Yelp Should Not Be Squelched
Ruling Confirms That Injunction Against Negative Reviews Amounts to Censorship
Jan. 02, 2013
Contact: Jake Parent (202) 588-7779; Paul Alan Levy (202) 588-7725; for broadcast media, Barbara Holzer (202) 588-7716; for online journalists, Rachel Lewis (202) 588-7703
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a positive move for free speech on the Internet, a Virginia court has lifted an injunction against a woman who posted criticisms on Yelp about a contractor.
The court’s Dec. 28 decision was in response to an appeal filed by Public Citizen, along with the American Civil Liberties Union, to end a Fairfax County judge’s injunction against a woman who was being sued by someone about whom she made negative comments on the Internet review site Yelp. The groups said the injunction violated the First Amendment.
Jane Perez had been ordered to remove parts of a negative review she made about a contractor named Christopher Dietz. She also was barred from repeating those claims in other reviews. Public Citizen argued that the contractor could get damages if, after a full trial, a jury agrees that Perez made false claims about him that meet the standard for libel. Because such a process has not occurred, forcing Perez to remove her comments amounted to censorship.
“The decision confirms the importance of not shutting down public discussion on the Internet just because someone doesn’t like what’s being talked about,” said Paul Alan Levy, an attorney for Public Citizen. “Review sites like Yelp are vehicles for the free flow of ideas by helping consumers make informed decisions on how to spend their hard-earned dollars.”
To read the court’s decision and other case documents, please visit http://www.citizen.org/litigation/forms/cases/getlinkforcase.cfm?cID=794.
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Public Citizen is a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization that has worked to protect health, safety and democracy since 1971.
© 2012 Public Citizen • 1600 20th Street, NW / Washington, D.C. 20009

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Hollywood Studios Caught Pirating Movies on BitTorrent

“six strikes” copyright alerts plan

Hollywood Studios Caught Pirating Movies on BitTorrent

BitTorrent is used by millions of people every day, including people who work at major Hollywood studios. Those who are said to be suffering the most from online piracy are no stranger to sharing copyrighted files themselves. New data reveals that employees at Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., Disney, Sony Pictures and 20th Century Fox are openly pirating movies, games and other forms of entertainment while at work.
While Christmas is a time for sharing there are certain files that some people believe should be excluded from that experience.
For more than a decade the MPAA has waged war against “thieves” who dare to share their movies online. Online piracy is costing the creative industries billions of dollars in lost revenue, they say.
The Hollywood group is therefore one of the main facilitators of the “six strikes” copyright alerts plan that will begin in the coming year. The main goal of this plan is to educate members of the public about piracy, and point them to legal sources.
However, new data uncovered by TorrentFreak shows that the MPAA might want to start in-house, as plenty of copyrighted material is being shared by employees of major Hollywood studios. With help from BitTorrent monitoring company Scaneye we found that BitTorrent piracy is rampant in Hollywood.
Let’s take a look at some of the files these Hollywood studios are sharing, starting with Paramount Pictures. Keep in mind that what we show here is just a small fraction of the files that are actually being shared. It’s the tip of the iceberg.
Static IP-addresses registered to Paramount were associated (e.g.) with the downloading of a wide variety of content as can be seen below. The indie production Battle Force was one of the movies shared, as well as the Lionsgate film The Hunger Games. And what about Happy Feet, a movie distributed by competitor Warner Bros?’
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• Ernesto
• December 25, 2012
http://torrentfreak.com/hollywood-studios-caught-pirating-movies-on-bittorrent-121225/