For years, digital technology and the Internet have provided a virtual buffet of digital video, music, news and other content from which millions have feasted on for free.Whether it be downloading movies illegally on the Pirate Bay, ripping a movie rental from Netlix to a computer hard drive, republishing an unauthorized copy of a news photograph to the Web, or sharing music via peer-to-peer services, the people who create this content have begun to send a message: “no more free lunches.”Copyright owners around the globe have gone on the attack. They’re backing anti-piracy legislation in France and Sweden. They’re lobbying ISPs to crack down on customers who illegally share files in the United States. They’re pressuring hardware and software companies to prevent their products from being used as “pirate toolboxes.” They’re threatening legal action against Google and sites that aggregate news without permission. Perhaps the most dramatic example of the new resolve of copyright owners came on Friday, when a court in Sweden found the operators of the Pirate Bay, likely the best known hub for file sharing on the Web, guilty of violating copyright law. In a case that is sure to be appealed, the four men were sentenced to a year in jail and fined the equivalent of $3.6 million.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10222810-93.html
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