FC: MPAA tries to shut down illicit movie site -- based in Iran

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

[Next steps? MPAA files for injunction against dot-com registry Network 
Solutions, trying to get film88.com deleted. Or MPAA applies pressure, 
legal or extralegal, to the backbone providers carrying traffic to 
film88.com, asking them to blackhole that range of IP addresses. Or MPAA 
seeks help from Congress in requiring domain name registrars to delete 
names that have piracy as their "primary purpose." --Declan]

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From: "Paul Music" <pmusic () cox net>
To: "DeClan" <declan () well com>
Subject: Internet site beams U.S. movies, from Iran!
Date: Fri, 7 Jun 2002 03:33:04 -0500


ESCAPE FROM HOLLYWOOD
Internet site beams U.S. movies from Iran
Benny Evangelista, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, June 6, 2002

URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/06/06/BU154153.DTL

An Internet company that lets viewers watch pirated hits like "Harry 
Potter" and "The Mummy Returns" for $1.50 or less has set up shop in a 
place that might be out of the film industry's long reach -- Iran.

Film88.com, the apparent sequel to a similar Web venture called Movie88.com 
that was quickly shut down by Taiwanese authorities in February, is the 
latest example of Hollywood's increasing problems with online movie piracy.

Representatives of the Motion Picture Association said the international 
trade group is pursuing several legal avenues to pull the plug on Film88.com.

But legal and technology experts said Hollywood will be hard-pressed to 
reel in a Web site based in a country that is not a party to international 
copyright treaties and that has not had diplomatic ties to the United 
States since 1979. In fact, tensions surged again early this year when 
President Bush lumped Iran in with Iraq and North Korea as part of an "axis 
of evil."

"It will make it pretty near impossible," said Whitney Broussard, a 
copyright law attorney with Selverne, Mandelbaum & Mintz LLP of New York.

According to a note posted on the Web site, Film88.com is "operated by 
Broadband Universal Corp. Ltd. under the laws and jurisdiction of Iran, 
with our servers in Iran."

Film88.com streams full-length feature films via the Internet to a viewer's 
computer. The service requires a high-speed Web connection and RealNetworks 
Inc.'s RealPlayer multimedia playback program.

Although it's technically possible to save a streamed video, the process is 
difficult. And a note on Film88.com's site reads, "No downloading. 
Downloading will only create piracy. This is not our intention."

On Wednesday, the site featured "The Mummy Returns" and "Harry Potter and 
the Sorcerer's Stone" as free samples.

[...]




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