NEWS The Pirate Bay takes on anti-piracy group for copying site
Swedish file-sharing site Te Pirate Bay will sue anti-piracy group Copyright Information and Anti- Piracy Centre (CIAPC) for copyright infringement, it told TorrentFreak on February 13.
CIAPC replicated Te Pirate Bay’s cascading style sheets, which create the look and feel of the site, and modified the site’s ship logo for its online campaign that encourages Internet users to search for copyrighted content on legal sites.
By copying Te Pirate Bay’s style sheets, CIAPC’s campaign site is a virtual replica of Te Pirate Bay website, although instead of hosting links to online content, it links to pages that show alternative legal sources for copyrighted material. CIAPC also altered Te Pirate Bay logo to create the image of a sinking ship.
CIAPC gained notoriety in 2012 when it seized a nine-year-old’s Winnie the Pooh laptop aſter she tried to download an album from Te Pirate Bay.
On its website, Te Pirate Bay says that anyone
found to be using content from its site without approval from its operators will be charged €5,000.
Its usage policy says: “Our site (and all of its contents) is free of charge for anyone for personal usage. Organisations (for instance, but not limited to, non-profit or companies) may use the system if they clear this with the system operators first.”
David Parrish, a senior associate at Nabarro in London, said that the contents of style sheets that are used to create the appearance of websites can be protected by copyright, and that if the case was brought in the UK, CIAPC could not use a parody defence.
He added that the damage caused to Te Pirate Bay by the CIAPC would be found to be insignificant.
He said: “If the court got as far as assessing the amount that should be paid to Te Pirate Bay for any infringement that was found, then I think that a court would probably find that any damages would be very small indeed.”
ICANN picks first URS provider US-based the National Arbitration
Forum
(NAF) has been picked as the first manager of the Uniform Rapid Suspension System (URS) in the new generic top-level domain (gTLD) space.
Te URS is a dispute-resolution system designed to resolve clear-cut cases of cybersquatting more quickly and cheaply than the current Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP).
On Wednesday, the Internet Corporation for
Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) said the US-based NAF had submitted an “outstanding” bid, meeting all requirements of the application process.
“Te company (NAF) has a proven track record boasting resolution of over 19,000 claims in 12+ years of administering UDRP cases. Additionally, FORUM (NAF) has already developed, and is currently operating a TLD-specific rapid relief system [for adult domain .xxx]”, ICANN said in a statement.
ICANN asked prospective arbitrators in September last year to apply to manage the URS, stating that each case should cost between $300 and $500. Te UDRP typically costs $1,500.
It is unclear how many applications ICANN received, but the World Intellectual Property
8
Organization, the leading UDRP provider, previously confirmed to TB&I that it had not applied.
ICANN confirmed on Wednesday that the NAF will be one of multiple URS providers, adding: “Te process will be similar to that of appointing UDRP providers in which consideration is given to achieving competitive provisioning and geographical spread of providers.”
Te URS will operate alongside the UDRP
but has been designed as a cheaper and faster alternative, given that rights owners are worried about increased cybersquatting with more than 1,400 new gTLDs going live this year.
Stéphane Van Gelder, chairman of Stéphane Van Gelder Consulting and formerly of Group NBT, said it was reassuring that ICANN had finally picked a URS provider.
“Along with the Trademark Clearinghouse, the URS is part of the set of rights protection mechanisms
specifically developed for new
gTLDs. Te brief for these systems is an ambitious one, made clear by the intense negotiations around what protections the Clearinghouse should provide. It's also been made evident by the problems ICANN encountered in finding someone capable of managing the URS at the intended price point.”
Trademarks Brands and the Internet Volume 2, Issue 1
He added: “Te NAF is a seasoned UDRP provider, so it obviously has the experience to handle the URS. Te fact that a player with extensive knowledge of domain name dispute resolution has agreed to take on URS service provision should be reassuring to rights owners."
Petter Rindforth, partner at Fenix Legal in Sweden, said the appointment was a “good decision and good start”, as the “NAF is known for handling disputes in a fast and legally safe way”.
Earlier this week, ICANN chief executive Fadi Chehadé said he was targeting April 23, 2013 as the “recommended” date for launching the first new gTLDs.
Following Chehadé’s announcement, it emerged that five branded gTLD bids had been withdrawn. Tree of
these—.gmc, .chevrolet and .cadillac
—belong to car manufacturer General Motors, with the remaining applications—.transformers and .thehartford—filed by Hasbro and Hartford Fire Insurance, respectively.
Until ICANN publishes the initial evaluation results, expected to be late March, applicants withdrawing their bids qualify for a 70 percent refund ($130,000) of the $185,000 application fee. Aſter results are posted, the refund is 50 percent.
www.worldipreview.com
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