Peer-To-Peer News - The Week In Review - February 24th, ’24

[JackSpratts]

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February 24th, 2024















Cox Communications Wins Order Overturning $1 Billion US Copyright Verdict
Blake Brittain

Cox Communications [RIC:RIC:COXC.UL], the cable television and internet service provider, convinced a U.S. appeals court to throw out a $1 billion jury verdict in favor of several major record labels that had accused it of failing to curb user piracy, setting the stage for a new trial on the matter.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, ruled on Tuesday that the amount of damages was not justified and that a federal district court should hold a new trial to determine the appropriate amount.

A Virginia jury in 2019 found Cox, the largest unit of privately-owned Cox Enterprises, liable for its customers' violations of over 10,000 copyrights belonging to labels including Sony Music Entertainment (6758.T)

The labels' attorney Matt Oppenheim said that the appeals court "affirmed the jury’s verdict that Cox is a willful infringer," and that "the evidence of Cox's complete disregard for copyright law and copyright owners has not changed."

"A second jury will get to hear that same compelling evidence, and we fully expect it will render a significant verdict," Oppenheim said.

A spokesperson for Cox said that the company was pleased with the decision to set aside the verdict but disagreed with the ruling that it still infringed.

"Providing homes and businesses with the broadband service that so many depend on in their daily lives should not be a violation of copyright law," the spokesperson said.
More than 50 labels teamed up to sue Cox in 2018, in what was seen as a test of the obligations of internet service providers (ISPs) to thwart piracy.

The labels accused Cox of failing to address thousands of infringement notices, cut off access for repeat infringers, or take reasonable measures to deter pirates.

Atlanta-based Cox had told the 4th Circuit that upholding the verdict would force ISPs to boot households or businesses based on "isolated and potentially inaccurate allegations," or require intrusive oversight of customers' internet usage.

Other ISPs, including Charter Communications, Frontier Communications and Astound Broadband, formerly RCN, have also been sued by the record labels. The labels have since resolved their lawsuits against Charter and its subsidiary Bright House Networks.

Reporting by Blake Brittain; Editing by David Bario, Andrea Ricci, Chizu Nomiyama and Deepa Babington
https://www.reuters.com/legal/cox-co...ct-2024-02-20/





“We’re slowly going back to the pirating days”: Fans are Heartbroken Over Latest Status of Cillian Murphy’s Breakout Film ‘28 Days Later’

New Update on Cillian Murphy's 28 Days Later Is Disappointing for His Fans
Ankita

• There is a heartbreaking update on Cillian Murphy's 28 Days Later.
• Fans have expressed their disappointment regarding the update on social platform X.

Cillian Murphy does not seem to be ready to get off the headlines any time soon. No one is complaining; his fans are more than eager to get their hands on whatever they can learn about the actor and his past or forthcoming projects. Oppenheimer is his most recent collaboration with the 21st century’s leading filmmaker- Christopher Nolan. The movie has not only garnered praise for the actor but also effectively put him in the spotlight.

Not so long ago, Cillian Murphy’s Oppenheimer started a trend on the internet along with Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. Luckily for his fans, he already has one film lined up for release, and the announcement of the sequel to another of his movies has been made. However, there is a piece of news that his fans are understandably not taking too well.

Cillian Murphy is one of those Irish actors who have successfully established themselves as Hollywood actors. His breakthrough came with the movie 28 Days Later, which turned out to be a sleeper hit. Released in 2002, the post-apocalyptic horror movie followed a pandemic survivor named Jim, who is confused upon finding himself alone after waking up from a coma in London.

Murphy, who considered the movie to be deeper than a zombie or horror film, was surprised by the movie’s success. He was nominated for Best Newcomer at the 8th Empire Awards and Breakthrough Male Performance at the 2004 MTV Movie Awards.

As fate would have it, more than two decades later, the movie is getting a sequel. This brought it to the attention of Murphy’s fans, who might have missed watching it or wanted to refresh their memories. Unfortunately, they can no longer find it on streamers like Hulu or Disney Star (for Canada) anymore (via JoBlo). Additionally, the Blu-Ray is currently out of print.

This has led to fans’ disappointment, and they have not refrained from expressing it on X, as one of them wrote:

“We’re slowly going back to the pirating days that sparked the streaming era in the first place.”

Here is what some other fans had to say:

The disappointment is understandable considering 28 Days Later is considered one of the best horror movies to date, and streaming services taking the movie down without notice is not in the favour of the subscribers.

28 Weeks Later, a sequel to 28 Days Later was released in 2007. However, director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland were only attached to the 2007 movie as executive producers. Boyle will be directing the sequel 28 Years Later with Garland attached to write.

When asked if Cillian Murphy will be reprising his role as Jim in the upcoming movie, he told Variety:

“I can’t give much more at this point. But I’ve always said I would love to be involved because that movie changed everything for me and I have I have great affection for it and for those guys Alex [Garland] and Danny [Boyle]. I never watch my own films, except that one. It’s always on around Halloween and during the pandemic people were constantly sending me clips.”

Murphy went on to say that he has even shown the movies to his kids. He had discussed it with Boyle and Garland back in 2022. However, no official announcement of his involvement has been made yet.
https://fandomwire.com/were-slowly-g...28-days-later/





‘Kids Online Safety Act’ is a Trojan Horse For Digital Censorship
Yaël Ossowski

This week, a bipartisan cohort of US Senators unveiled a new version of the Kids Online Safety Act, a bill that aims to impose various restrictions and requirements on technology platforms used by both adults and minors.

Yaël Ossowski, deputy director of the Consumer Choice Center, a consumer advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. responded:

“This bill is constitutionally dubious and would create new powers that should frighten not only every parent but also every user of digital platforms such as social media. In writing new federal rules to “protect” kids online, the real effect will be to significantly degrade the experience for all users while putting their sensitive personal information at risk.”

The Consumer Choice Center believes strongly that if Congress were to pass such a bill, lawmakers would be aligning with the idea that the government should have the final say over young people’s access to the Internet, thus diminishing the role of parents in their kids’ lives.

“There are ways to protect kids online, but that begins at home with parental authority and supervision. It’s a false choice to accept the gatekeeping of an entire generation from technology that has become so integral to daily life and contributes to their development as responsible citizens,” added Ossowski.

Privacy and consumer advocates are sounding the alarm about what this law would mean in practice. Rules emanating from Washington granting “duty of care” to government officials will erode parental authority and consumer choice online. The bill seeks to control “design features” and limit developers’ inclusion of personalized recommendation systems, notifications, appearance-altering filters, and in-game purchases for apps used by minors. It’s a crackdown not just on features that work functionally for certain apps, but also on features that make them fun for users.

“KOSA is fundamentally wrong,” concluded Ossowski. “We as a society should trust that parents have the ultimate right to decide whether or not their children access certain websites or services, not indifferent government officials sitting in Washington. No one knows what is in the best interests of their child more than parents.”
https://consumerchoicecenter.org/kid...al-censorship/





Disney Strikes Deal for Sony to Take Over Its DVD, Blu-ray Disc Business
Rebecca Rubin

Disney is outsourcing a big piece of its home entertainment division to Sony Pictures Entertainment, which will manufacture, distribute and market the Mouse House’s DVDs and Blu-ray discs and other physical media.

As part of the deal, Sony will market, sell and distribute all Disney’s new releases and catalog titles on physical media to consumers through retailers and distributors in the U.S. and Canada. Disney will continue to manage its own digital media, like premium video-on-demand.

It’s unclear if this will result in layoffs at Disney. However, the studio is expected to conduct an internal assessment across all business functions that support physical entertainment amid the transition to Sony, according to sources familiar with the agreement.

According to Disney, the licensing model allows the studio to continue to offer films and TV shows through physical retailers and to respond to consumer demand more efficiently. The company said the shift is consistent with strategies it’s implemented companywide, as well as transitions in other markets.

Whatever the reasoning, physical disc sales have long been in decline — and they show no signs of rebounding amid the industry’s streaming boom. Revenue for physical media in the U.S. dropped 28%, to $754 million, in the first half of 2023, compared with $1.05 billion in the prior year, according to data from trade association DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group. It’s projected that 2024 will be the first year revenue drops below one billion dollars.

As a result, Best Buy discontinued sales of DVDs and Blu-ray discs in the store and online in early 2024. The move followed Netflix’s decision last September to shutter its DVD-by-mail service. Walmart, Amazon and Redbox are among the select major retailers to sell copies of “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “Avengers” or other Disney blockbusters.
https://variety.com/2024/film/news/d...ss-1235917294/





YouTube Dominates TV Streaming in US, Per Nielsen’s Latest Report
Lauren Forristal

Nielsen today released its January report on viewing usage across linear TV and streaming, which revealed that YouTube is once again the overall top streaming service in the U.S., with 8.6% of viewing on television screens. Netflix, meanwhile, saw 7.9% of TV usage. The new data points to YouTube’s dominance in the TV streaming arena and marks 12 consecutive months of the platform being in the top spot.

In a blog post celebrating the achievement, the Google-owned streaming service announced that viewers now watch a daily average of over 1 billion hours of YouTube content on their televisions, which could indicate that there’s a preference for user-generated videos among U.S. consumers rather than traditional TV shows. Sixty-one percent of Gen Z reported that they favor user-generated content over other content formats.

Plus, creators are seeing an increase in viewership come from TVs. According to the company, the number of top YouTubers that receive the most watch time on TVs has sky-rocketed by more than 400%. HopeScope, a creator who reviews viral products, notably saw a 172% jump in TV watch time in 2023. This could be good news for family-friendly YouTubers who have to compete with TikTok for kids’ attention. Children ages 4 through 18 spent a global average of 112 minutes daily on TikTok in 2023, per a recent study.

Although YouTube may have precedence in the living room, TikTok continues to dominate on mobile devices. The short-form video app recently began testing the ability for TikTokers to upload 30-minute videos, which could step on YouTube’s toes. TikTok also entered the spatial reality space, launching a native app on the Apple Vision Pro. Meanwhile, YouTube decided to not build a dedicated app for the device.

YouTube has reached a few other milestones in recent months, including the 100 million users who pay for YouTube Music and YouTube Premium. Additionally, YouTube TV now has more than 8 million subscribers and YouTube Shorts recently achieved over 70 billion daily views.
https://techcrunch.com/2024/02/20/yo...latest-report/
















Until next week,

- js.



















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