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  1. Members of the parliament in Kazakhstan have proposed the establishment of a state register for cryptocurrency farms operating in the country. Alarmed by the growing consumption of energy in the sector, the lawmakers also want to charge miners a higher price for the electricity they use. Mazhilis Members Want Miners in Kazakhstan to Register With Government, Pay More for Power A group of deputies from the Mazhilis, the lower house of Kazakhstan’s bicameral legislature, have voiced concerns over the growing electricity demand. The parliamentarians believe the surge is due to the influx of crypto mining companies into the country, attracted by its low energy prices. Members of the People’s Party of Kazakhstan have put forward proposals to deal with the escalating situation. According to a report by Tengrinews, the lawmakers have urged Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar to create a special register for crypto farms that mint digital currencies in the country. Zhambyl Ahmetbekov, one of the deputies, noted that the increasing number of mining entities moving to the Central Asian nation significantly affects the volume of available energy. Foreign miners consume enormous amounts of electricity but they receive their revenues abroad, bringing no benefit to Kazakhstan, he pointed out, further stating: In this regard, it is proposed to create a legislative register to account for the so-called mining farms and introduce a special increased electricity tariff for them. Besides the higher electricity rate, the Mazhilis members have also called for the reintroduction of differentiated tariffs for the respective time zones of the day. Thus, prices will take into account peak hours of consumption and grid loads. The proposals come after Kazakhstan’s energy minister Magzum Mirzagaliev revealed that power consumption this year jumped by 7% in comparison with 2020. “This is a very big increase,” the official said at a press conference last week, making it clear that the government is considering restrictions on mining facilities. The spike in demand is largely due to the growing number of data centers devoted to cryptocurrency mining, Mirzagaliev told reporters. At the same time, he stressed that Kazakhstan needs to develop its crypto mining sector and announced the country intends to build new power plants with a combined 3,000-megawatt capacity in the next five years. Amid an ongoing crackdown on bitcoin mining and other crypto-related activities in China, the region of Central Asia has attracted many businesses from the industry with its cheap energy. However, in Kazakhstan miners compete for electricity with other industries and households, which is worrying authorities in Nur-Sultan. In June of this year, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a law amending the country’s legislation “on taxes and other obligatory payments to the budget.” The bill, adopted in parliament earlier that month, introduced a surcharge of 1 Kazakhstani tenge (approx. $0.0023) per kilowatt-hour used by cryptocurrency miners. The new fee will be imposed on Jan. 1, 2022.
  2. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler says that the SEC has no plan to ban cryptocurrencies as China has done. He noted that it would be up to Congress to make such a decision. Recently, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell similarly said that the Fed had no intention to ban or limit the use of cryptocurrencies. SEC Won’t Ban Cryptocurrencies The chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, answered a question about whether there is a plan to ban cryptocurrency during a hearing before the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services Tuesday. The four-hour virtual hearing titled “Oversight of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: Wall Street’s Cop Is Finally Back on the Beat” was hosted by Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters and Ranking Member Patrick McHenry. During the meeting, Rep. Ted Budd from North Carolina asked Gensler if he had any plans to ban cryptocurrencies. The congressman began by stating: “China has been on a warpath against cryptocurrencies, it seems since 2013. We’ve seen them implement bans on mining, initial coin offerings [ICOs], cryptocurrency exchanges, and their most recent move, an outright ban on cryptocurrencies themselves.” Congressman Budd asked: “Chairman, do you support what China has done, and is the SEC planning on implementing similar bans?” Gensler replied: I’m familiar with a number of the things that you mentioned in terms of the People’s Republic of China. I think our approach is really quite different. “It’s a matter of how do we get this field within the investor and consumer protection that we have, and also working with bank regulators and others,” the SEC chairman continued. He also stressed the need to ensure that the Treasury Department has crypto within anti-money laundering (AML) laws and tax compliance, adding that there is also “the financial stability issue that stablecoins could raise.” Since Gensler did not directly respond about any plans to ban crypto, Rep. Budd reiterated his question: “But no bans that you are interested in implementing via the SEC as China has done, really to funnel everyone through their own digital currency?” The SEC chairman replied: No, that would be up to Congress. “We have been working with the authority you’ve given us,” Gensler clarified. He added that many tokens do meet the tests of being a security, emphasizing that it is important to “bring them within the investor protection remit of the SEC.” Recently. Rep. Budd also asked Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell whether the Fed had any plans to ban cryptocurrency. Powell similarly said there was no intention to ban or limit the use of cryptocurrencies.
  3. A coordinated strike involving Europol, Interpol, and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has led to the arrest of two “prolific” ransomware operators allegedly responsible for ransom demands of up to 70 million euros. In addition, $1.3 million in cryptocurrencies were seized. Ransomware Operators Arrested, Crypto Seized The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) announced Monday: Two prolific ransomware operators suspected of carrying out a string of attacks, demanding ransoms of up to EUR 70 million [$81 million], have been arrested in Ukraine. The arrests followed “a coordinated strike between the French National Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie Nationale), the Ukrainian National Police (ĐĐ°Ń†Ń–ĐŸĐœĐ°Đ»ŃŒĐœĐ° ĐżĐŸĐ»Ń–Ń†Ń–Ń ĐŁĐșŃ€Đ°Ń—ĐœĐž) and the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), with the coordination of Europol and Interpol,” the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) explained. The arrests took place on Sept. 28. The authorities conducted seven property searches. They seized $375,000 in cash, two luxury vehicles worth 217,000 euros, and $1.3 million in cryptocurrencies. Europol detailed: The organized crime group is suspected of having committed a string of targeted attacks against very large industrial groups in Europe and North America from April 2020 onwards. “The criminals would deploy malware and steal sensitive data from these companies, before encrypting their files,” Europol continued. “They would then proceed to offer a decryption key in return for a ransom payment of several millions of euros, threatening to leak the stolen data on the dark web should their demands not be met.”
  4. The U.S. has launched the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, an initiative of the Department of Justice (DOJ), to tackle and prosecute “criminal misuses of cryptocurrency, particularly crimes committed by virtual currency exchanges, mixing and tumbling services, and money laundering.” U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said, “The point is to protect consumers.” DOJ’s New Crypto Enforcement Initiative U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced the creation of a National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) during a virtual speech at the Aspen Cyber Summit Wednesday. The aim of the initiative is “to tackle complex investigations and prosecutions of criminal misuses of cryptocurrency, particularly crimes committed by virtual currency exchanges, mixing and tumbling services, and money laundering infrastructure actors,” the Department of Justice subsequently detailed. “The team will also assist in tracing and recovery of assets lost to fraud and extortion, including cryptocurrency payments to ransomware groups.” Monaco was quoted as saying: We are today launching the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team. We won’t hesitate to go after laundering platforms and are drawing on cyber experts and prosecutors, and money laundering experts. The goal of the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement initiative is to “strengthen” the ability of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to disable financial markets that allow cybercriminals to “flourish.” The team will include anti-money laundering and cybersecurity experts. Monaco said: Cryptocurrency exchanges want to be the banks of the future. Well, we need to make sure that folks can have confidence when they’re using these systems and we need to be poised to root out abuse. The point is to protect consumers. The deputy attorney general also announced another DOJ initiative Wednesday. The new civil cyber fraud initiative will “use civil enforcement tools to pursue companies, those who are government contractors, who receive federal funds, when they fail to follow recommended cybersecurity standards,” she detailed. “For too long, companies have chosen silence under the mistaken belief that it’s less risky to hide a breach than to bring it forward and report it. That changes today.” Last week, President Joe Biden said that the U.S. was bringing together 30 countries this month to tackle cybercrime issues, including the “illicit use of cryptocurrencies.”
  5. On October 5, the youth fashion and retail brand Pacsun announced the company is now accepting cryptocurrencies via Bitpay’s payment services. Pacsun says the company has a youthful audience that is “very tech-oriented” and the firm has seen an “increasing desire towards cryptocurrency.” Pacific Sunwear of California Goes Crypto The American retail clothing brand, Pacific Sunwear of California, LLC, otherwise known as Pacsun, is now supporting crypto-asset acceptance. Founded in 1982, Pacsun has roughly 400 stores in all 50 states and in Puerto Rico. “Pacsun prides itself on learning from its core consumer of Gen Z. With cryptocurrency being one of the major trends currently among that audience,” the company’s crypto acceptance announcement says. The company has partnered with the crypto payments firm Bitpay and disclosed it will accept 11 different crypto assets including bitcoin (BTC), bitcoin cash (BCH), ethereum (ETH), wrapped bitcoin (WBTC), dogecoin (DOGE), and litecoin (LTC). Five different stablecoins pegged to the U.S. dollar will also be accepted by Pacsun. “With digital sales doubling since last year, we understand the continued importance of creating an exceptional online shopping experience for our customers,” Brie Olson, the president of Pacsun said in a statement. “It’s incredible to pave the way for the fashion and retail industry, being the first to offer cryptocurrency payments through Bitpay, and we anticipate many other companies following suit considering the ease it brings to the checkout process.” Pacsun ‘Sees an Increasing Desire Towards Cryptocurrency,’ Fashion Chain Believes It’s Critical to Keep With Lifestyle Trends The announcement also notes that Pacsun believes it’s “just as critical” to keep up with the fashion trends as it is for them to keep up with lifestyle trends. The company has noticed these trends when they launched their new Pacsun Kids line of products alongside a collaboration with the ROBLOX metaverse. “Pacsun shares our goal to let everyone live life on crypto making them a natural addition to our growing list of top brands adopting cryptocurrency,” Stephen Pair, the co-founder and CEO of Bitpay remarked. Pacsun co-CEO Michael Relich explained that Gen Z is the company’s primary consumer and the demographic is “very tech-oriented.” Relich said that the firm dedicates a lot of time and effort to “align with their lifestyles and resonate with them on a more personal level.” Pacsun has witnessed demand from the young generations who want to pay for goods and services using digital currencies. “Seeing their increasing desire towards cryptocurrency, it was clear that we needed to adjust and offer Bitpay as another payment option, to further instill their confidence in us as one of their go-to retailers that truly listens,” Relich concluded.
  6. The Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has disclosed that at least 6,000 users were victims of a hacking campaign to gain unauthorized access to the accounts of Coinbase customers. The hackers also took advantage of a flaw in Coinbase’s SMS Account Recovery process to gain access to user accounts. Cryptocurrencies of at Least 6,000 Coinbase Customers Stolen by Hackers Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase reportedly informed over 6,000 customers this week that their accounts had been compromised and funds were removed. A copy of the letter is posted on the website of California’s Attorney General. In the letter, the exchange explained: Unfortunately, between March and May 20, 2021, you were a victim of a third-party campaign to gain unauthorized access to the accounts of Coinbase customers and move customer funds off the Coinbase platform. At least 6,000 Coinbase customers had funds removed from their accounts, including you. In order to access a user account at Coinbase, the hackers needed to know the email addresses, passwords, and phone numbers linked to the accounts, and have access to a personal email inbox, the company said. “This type of campaign typically involves phishing attacks or other social engineering techniques to trick a victim into unknowingly disclosing login credentials to a bad actor.” Coinbase further explained that “for customers who use SMS texts for two-factor authentication, the third party took advantage of a flaw in Coinbase’s SMS Account Recovery process in order to receive an SMS two-factor authentication token and gain access to your account.” The exchange noted that once the hackers got into the affected user accounts, they were “able to transfer your funds to crypto wallets unassociated with Coinbase.” The letter also noted that Coinbase updated its SMS Account Recovery protocols as soon as it learned of the issue, adding: We will be depositing funds into your account equal to the value of the currency improperly removed from your account at the time of the incident. Some customers have already been reimbursed — we will ensure all customers affected receive the full value of what you lost. You should see this reflected in your account no later than today. The Nasdaq-listed crypto exchange also said that it is conducting an internal investigation into this incident and the company is working closely with law enforcement to find the individuals behind this hack. Nonetheless, Coinbase insisted, “We have not found any evidence that these third parties obtained [user] information from Coinbase itself.”
  7. An accused pirate has asked a Texas federal court to dismiss a copyright lawsuit filed by Malibu Media. The adult entertainment company, which has sued thousands of people over the years, is currently suspended by California's Franchise Tax Board. The defense argues that, due to this suspension, the company is not allowed to maintain a lawsuit. In recent years, adult entertainment outfit Malibu Media has often been described as a copyright-trolling operation. The company, known for its popular “X-Art” brand, has gone after thousands of alleged file-sharers in U.S. courts, collecting millions of dollars in settlements. Not too long ago Malibu was one of the most active anti-piracy litigants in the U.S., but in recent years this activity ground to a halt. At the time of writing, only a handful of older cases remain active. John Doe Fights Back These remaining cases include one where the accused file-sharer went on the offense. The “John Doe” defendant filed a long list of counterclaims against Malibu Media, accusing the company of abuse of process, among other things. An amended response to Malibu’s complaint, filed earlier this week, also sums up a list of defenses. Fifteen in total. These include misuse of copyright, fair use, unclean hands, and excessive damages. “Plaintiff does not enforce its alleged copyrights to protect the market for its works or to further the useful arts and sciences,” John Doe writes, referring to the purpose of copyright as defined in the US Constitution. “Rather, Plaintiff monetizes its alleged copyrights through coercive and needless litigation and by extracting settlements from that litigation disproportionate to the minimal value of Plaintiff’s works.” Corporate Status (Still) Suspended These defenses were also part of the original response that was filed months ago. What’s new, however, is that John Doe also argues that Malibu Media can’t be involved in a lawsuit, as its corporate status is suspended. “Plaintiff lacks the capacity to sue. Specifically, Plaintiff is suspended in its state of incorporation, California. Under California law, a suspended corporation cannot maintain a lawsuit,” the defense writes. This suspension over tax deficiencies came to the forefront a few months ago. In June, the court allowed Malibu to get their paperwork in order and get the suspension lifted within 30 days but, apparently, that didn’t happen. At the time of writing, California’s Franchise Tax Board continues to list Malibu Media’s status as suspended. More Suspensions It’s not entirely clear what the issue is but Malibu’s CEO Colette Pelissier is no stranger to this type of problem. One of her other companies, Colette Productions, has been suspended in California over tax troubles since 2019. In addition, Colette Holdings and Colette Properties are suspended as well. Previously, the John Doe defendant asked to freeze Malibu’s assets, so potential attorneys’ fees would be secured in case of a win. In addition, the defendant filed a request to add Malibu’s CEO to the lawsuit. Both of these requests failed. With the amended answer the case will now move forward. And after spending more than two years in court, the accused file-sharer still hopes to come out of this with a victory.
  8. Cloudflare has booked a partial victory in a piracy lawsuit filed by several models whose photos leaked online. The CDN provider previously offered its proxying service to the now-defunct website 'Thothub'. The court agreed with Cloudflare that there's no evidence for direct infringement, but the contributory copyright infringement claim remains intact. Earlier this year Texas-based model Deniece Waidhofer sued Thothub for copyright infringement after the site’s users posted many of her ‘exclusive’ photos. While Cloudflare isn’t new to copyright infringement allegations, this case has proven to be more than a nuisance. The company previously countered the claims with a motion to dismiss but Waidhofer and her legal team didn’t back off. In an amended complaint some of the most egregious allegations against Cloudflare, including the RICO conspiracy, were dropped. However, the copyright infringement claims remained and with two new cosplay models joining the action, the list of defendants expanded. Cloudflare denied these new allegations and submitted a motion to dismiss the copyright infringement claims. In addition, the company filed a separate motion for sanctions, accusing the defendants of fabricating a fatally flawed ‘infringement’ theory. Court Hands Down Mixed Order This week, US District Court Judge Fernando M. Olguin reviewed Cloudflare’s motion and released a mixed order. Judge Olguin dismissed the direct copyright infringement claims against Cloudflare but denied the motion to dismiss the contributory copyright infringement allegations. The three models argued that Cloudflare directly infringed their rights by making copies of the copyrighted works on its servers and deliberately marketing its service to pirate sites. After reviewing the arguments from both sides, Judge Olguin concluded that the direct copyright infringement claim is ungrounded. Even if Cloudflare temporarily stored the infringing material, the models don’t allege any “volitional” conduct. In a copyright infringement context, volitional conduct refers to a causal link. This means that Cloudflare’s actions should be the cause of infringing activity. That didn’t become apparent from the models’ complaints. No Direct Infringement (for now) This failure to include a causal link also applies to other direct copyright infringement allegations. This includes the suggestion that Cloudflare marketed its service to pirate sites. Again, this claim wasn’t backed up properly. “In short, plaintiffs have failed to sufficiently allege that Cloudflare engaged in volitional conduct. The court will thus dismiss plaintiffs’ direct infringement claim with leave to amend,” the court rules. This means that Cloudflare has defeated the direct copyright infringement claims, for now. The models are allowed, however, to file an amended complaint to fix the shortcomings that were highlighted by the court. Contributory Infringement Remains Cloudflare further asked the court to dismiss the contributory copyright infringement claims. According to the models, the CDN provider knew that infringing material was being made available using its system but failed to “take simple measures” to prevent further damage. These allegations were heavily contested by Cloudflare but, for now, the court believes that the facts presented in the complaint are sufficient to move the case forward. “Although Cloudflare challenges the veracity of the allegations in the [first amended complaint], on a motion to dismiss, the court must accept the factual allegations of the complaint as true,” the court concludes. There were more setbacks for Cloudflare, as the court also denied its request to sanction the models and their legal team. The company accused the rightsholders of including unsubstantiated and false claims. However, the court believes that this type of request can be considered at a later stage. Thothub Operators and Advertisers The piracy claims are limited to Cloudflare. The advertising company MultiMedia, also known as Chaturbate, is also listed as a defendant. The court granted MultiMedia’s motions to dismiss the contributory copyright claims, also with the option to amend. The RICO claims against the advertiser are dismissed with prejudice, but unfair competition claims remain intact. Finally, the models failed to identify the “Does” behind the Thothub site, so all claims related to the site’s alleged operators have been dropped from the lawsuit.
  9. Link Global, a bitcoin mine operator in Canada, is facing a fine of up to $7 million for installing power plants to run its miners without government permission. The company installed several power plants without following legal procedures and alleges that, if the penalty is enforced, it will constitute a fatal blow to its finances. Link Global Facing Hefty Fine A bitcoin mine operator in Canada could be fined up to $7 million after setting up a mining operation with power plants without having permission from the government in Alberta. Link Global started operations in Alberta by setting up four gas generators at a site in Sturgeon County, near Edmonton, and also another mine in Kirkwall. According to reports, none of these sites complied with the rule of the Alberta Utilities Commission. The case was put in motion when neighboring communities complained about the noise the sites created. The authorities notified the company it did not comply with their requirements earlier this year, on August 25, and stopped operations of the two mining sites involved. Each of the sites had been operating for more than a year in those conditions. Two Types of Penalties, CEO Reassures Shareholders The Alberta Utilities Commission divides the penalties proposed into two major parts: the first one has to do with the benefits obtained for generating power. The institution alleges that damages in this regard amount to two million dollars. The other part has to do with the benefits obtained for mining bitcoin using this power. This amount goes up to five million, according to estimations. Link Global is contesting the fines, explaining that they are not based on the actual financial reports of the company. It is now relocating these bitcoin mining operations to other locations, to comply with current regulations. Stephen Jenkins, CEO of Link Global, declared to local media: Link has followed the orders issued by the AUC and believes that what enforcement staff is proposing is punitive 
 I apologize to our shareholders who do not deserve this. We will work tirelessly to ensure the outcome is positive. The company and its shareholders, which are in the process of building two new bitcoin mines in the region, will have to wait till October 14, where their destiny and the definitive fine will be decided in a hearing.
  10. A South African university, the University of Cape Town (UCT) has revealed it will commence blockchain and digital currency classes starting in November. According to the institution, students that enroll and complete the $693 six-week course will be issued a legal certificate. Better Understanding of Blockchain As explained on UCT’s website, students that successfully complete the short course will walk away with “an understanding of how blockchain technology fits into the existing financial systems.” They will also gain an understanding of “how applications such as bitcoin, ethereum, and other crypto-assets can be used.” Further, students enrolling in this course are expected to “investigate the ethical implications of investing in the crypto-asset industry.” They will also discover how ethics and governance can shape new financial infrastructure for the benefit of society. Importance of the Short Course In the course’s overview, the UCT explains why the university has now added blockchain and crypto education to its list of short courses. The overview states: It’s no longer enough to simply know about cryptocurrencies. With crypto-assets and blockchain technologies growing at unprecedented rates, professionals need the ability to analyse and understand how the latest developments in the finance industry will fundamentally change the way the financial system functions in the present and near-future. UCT, which is one of the first higher education institutions in Africa to offer blockchain and crypto lessons, adds that only “organisations that adapt their offerings to either compete with cryptocurrencies or offer services that support the industry are best positioned to take advantage of the rise of crypto assets.”
  11. Cybersecurity company Group-IB, which for several years has investigated hundreds of pirate sites and their connections to organized crime, is currently in the midst of a huge scandal in Russia. Company founder Ilya Sachkov was arrested by local security services this week under suspicion of treason and working with foreign intelligence services. For the past several years, major cybersecurity company Group-IB has been at the forefront of anti-piracy enforcement in Russia. In early 2019, the company was the first to report in detail on so-called ‘pirate CDNs’, specialist content delivery systems that service huge numbers of pirate streaming sites with tens of thousands of movies and TV shows plus supporting artwork and descriptions. Later that year, Dutch anti-piracy outfit BREIN, the Motion Picture Association (MPA), and the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment, took legal action against several of the operations listed in Group-IB’s reports. These included Moonwalk, a CDN suspected of supplying up to 80% of known Russian streaming portals. Now, however, Group-IB – which is a partner of both INTERPOL and Europol – has serious legal troubles of its own. Law Enforcement Search Group-IB’s Offices in Russia According to a statement issued by Group-IB, on Tuesday afternoon Russian law enforcement officers searched its Moscow office and left the same day. At the time the company said that the reasons for the search were unclear but reassured customers and partners that everything was operating as usual. “The decentralized infrastructure of Group-IB allows us to keep our customer’s data safe, maintain business operations and work without interruption across our offices in Russia and around the world,” the company said. With Group-IB’s top management and lawyers assessing the situation, the company remained quiet. However, in a fresh statement published Wednesday, Group-IB was able to supply additional information. Founder and CEO of Group-IB Arrested Group-IB announced that its lawyers were examining information provided by Moscow’s Lefortovo District Court relating to company founder Ilya Sachkov, who was reportedly arrested on Tuesday as part of the raids. A TASS news agency source reveals that the businessman was arrested under suspicion of compromising national security. “The Lefortovo District Court of Moscow ruled on September 28 to choose custody for a term until November 27 as a measure of restraint for Ilya K. Sachkov suspected of committing a crime stipulated under Article 275 of Russia’s Criminal Code (‘High treason’),” the source said. Sachkov Reportedly Denies Wrongdoing Sachkov’s case files are reportedly marked as ‘classified’ but according to a security agency source quoted by TASS, the 35-year-old denies wrongdoing. “He does not admit the guilt of high treason, which inflicted reputational and national harm to Russia’s interests, or that he cooperated with intelligence services of foreign states,” the source said. High treason carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison but Group-IB says it is “confident in the innocence” of its CEO and “his business integrity”. TorrentFreak requested additional information from Group-IB but the company declined to comment beyond its earlier statements.
  12. In 2020, British singer-songwriter Eddy Grant filed a lawsuit against then-President Donald Trump over the unlicensed use of his 1982 song 'Electric Avenue'. Trump's lawyers attempted to have the copyright claim thrown out, claiming that any use of the song was protected under the doctrine of fair use. U.S. District Judge John Koeltl has now rejected that motion stating that the fair use factors weigh in favor of Grant. With the 2020 United States presidential election campaign in full swing, then-President Donald Trump seized every opportunity to paint Democratic opponent Joe Biden in an unfavorable light. Trump’s platform of choice was invariably Twitter, where in August 2020 he posted an animated video of a speedy train carrying his campaign logo ahead of Joe Biden on a railroad handcar, struggling to keep up. In the background played the 1982 hit ‘Electric Avenue’ by Eddy Grant. The furious British singer-songwriter responded by filing a lawsuit in a New York court, arguing that since Trump had not obtained permission to use the song, its use was an act of blatant copyright infringement. Trump’s Attempts to Have Lawsuit Dismissed In a motion to dismiss, Trump’s lawyers argued that use of the song was allowed under the doctrine of fair use, claiming that Grant created the work for the purposes of ‘musical entertainment’ and Trump used the work for ‘political commentary’. As such, the animation had a “fundamentally different and new purpose” and character from that of the song, meaning that any use was transformative. Trump’s team further argued that the quantity and quality of use of the song in the animation was de minimus since only 17.5% of the track was used. The motion further argued that since no licensing payments were generated, the animation posed “absolutely no threat” to Grant’s licensing opportunities or use of the song in derivative markets. Purpose and Character of the Use In an opinion and order handed down Tuesday by U.S. District Judge John Koeltl, it is revealed that the Court reviewed the animation and finds the arguments of Trump’s legal team largely unconvincing. First up, the purpose and character of the use. “The defendants argue that the video’s use of Electric Avenue was transformative as a matter of law because the video and the song serve different purposes. But the defendants’ argument misapprehends the focus of the transformative use inquiry,” Judge Koeltl writes. “While it is true that the animation is partisan political commentary and the song apparently is not, the inquiry does not focus exclusively on the character of the animation; rather, it focuses on the character of the animation’s use of Grant’s song.” In short, the animation’s political purpose does not automatically render the use of any non-political work transformative under fair use. Furthermore, the Judge notes that the best description of the use of Grant’s song is “wholesale copying” to support a political ad campaign and there was no attempt to modify the song or comment on the song or its author. “Moreover, the animation does not use Electric Avenue as a vehicle to deliver its satirical message, and it makes no effort to poke fun at the song or Grant,” the Judge adds, noting that the defendants have already admitted that the animation is satire, not a parody of Grant or the song, and have offered no justification for their “extensive borrowing”. The disconnect is so great, the Judge adds, that the animation could have used almost any other song to serve its entertainment goals. “The fair-use privilege under § 107 is not designed to protect lazy appropriators. Accordingly, the defendants cannot show that the video’s use of Electric Avenue was transformative as a matter of law,” he adds. Judge Koeltl also casts doubt on the claim that any use of the song was non-commercial, noting that the “crux of the profit/nonprofit distinction is not whether the sole motive of the use is monetary gain but whether the user stands to profit from exploitation of the copyrighted material without paying the customary price.” Noting that there is a well-established market for music licensing, the Judge writes that the defendants chose to gain an advantage by using Grant’s song without paying a licensing fee, meaning that the use was indeed commercial, despite the use being political. “Because the use was not transformative and appears at this stage to have been commercial, the first fair use factor favors the plaintiffs,” he concludes. Nature of the Work, Amount of Use Addressing the second fair use factor, where the Court is required to consider the nature of the copyrighted work, Judge Koeltl says that it’s clear that Electric Avenue is a creative work and therefore “closer to the core of intended copyright protection” and there is no dispute that the track is published and publicly available. When balancing both aspects, the nature of the song favors the plaintiffs. In respect of the third fair use factor (the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole), the Judge notes that the song plays for the majority of the animation, the excerpt used is of central importance to the original song, and the defendants have not explained any purpose for the copying. As a result, this weighs in favor of Grant. Effect of the Use on the Market for the Original The final fair use factor asks courts to consider the effect of the use on the potential market for the work that was copied, which requires the balancing of the benefit to the public if the use is permitted and effect on the copyright holder if the use is denied. Judge Koeltl concedes that the animation is no substitute for the song itself but acknowledges that the use of Electric Avenue may threaten Grant’s licensing markets. “It is plain that widespread, uncompensated use of Grant’s music in promotional videos – political or otherwise – would embolden would-be infringers and undermine Grant’s ability to obtain compensation in exchange for licensing his music,” he writes. Trump’s team argued that Grant offered no evidence that he intends to enter the market for licensing the music to promotional videos but according to the Judge, Grant bears no such burden – the plaintiffs do. “It is the defendants who bear the ultimate burden of showing a lack of market harm, and they cannot do so based simply on the allegations in the Complaint,” his opinion reads. Turning to the potential benefits to the public of allowing copying under fair use, the Judge notes that ridiculing and lampooning public figures is a rich part of the United States’ First Amendment tradition. However, denying Trump will not chill political satire, he simply needed to stay within the law. “Creators of satirical videos like the one at issue here must simply conform any use of copyrighted music with copyright law by, for example: paying for a license; obtaining the copyright owner’s permission; or ‘transforming’ the chosen song by altering it with ‘new expression, meaning, or message’. The creator of the video here did none of that,” he concludes. In summary, the Judge finds that each of the fair use factors weighs in favor of Grant. “The creator of the video here made a wholesale copy of a substantial portion of Grant’s music in order to make the animation more entertaining. The video did not parody the music or transform it in any way. The video’s overarching political purpose does not automatically make this use transformative, and the other fair use factors also favor the plaintiffs at this stage.” As a result, Judge Koeltl denies Trump’s motion to dismiss (pdf)
  13. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the country’s central bank, has formally approved two companies to provide crypto services. One is the brokerage arm of DBS, the largest bank in Singapore and Southeast Asia. The other is Independent Reserve, a crypto exchange and OTC trading desk. Singapore’s Central Bank Formally Approves DBS and Independent Reserve DBS Bank announced Friday that its brokerage arm, DBS Vickers (DBSV), “has received formal approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) under the Payment Services Act 2019 to provide digital payment token services as a Major Payment Institution.” The bank explained: “This will enable DBSV, as a member of DBS Digital Exchange (Ddex), to directly support asset managers and companies to trade in digital payment tokens through Ddex.” Eng-Kwok Seat Moey, head of Capital Markets at DBS and chair of the DBS Digital Exchange, commented: Having received formal regulatory approval from MAS, DBSV is now in a better position to support institutional and corporate investors in tapping into the growing potential of digital assets as an investment class. Since its launch in December as a member-only bourse, DBS Digital Exchange has been “growing very rapidly,” the bank said last month, adding that the platform expected the number of trading members to double by the end of December, and grow by 20-30% annually for the next three years. Another company, Independent Reserve, a crypto exchange and OTC trading desk, also announced Friday that it has gained “licensure approval” from the MAS. The exchange, established in Australia in 2013, provides SGD, AUD, USD, and NZD fiat-to-crypto trading pairs. The company wrote: Cryptocurrency exchange Independent Reserve has today received approval for a Major Payment Institution License in Singapore 
 to operate as a regulated provider for Digital Payment Token Services. Independent Reserve CEO Adrian Przelozny opined: “A well-regulated environment will benefit both investors and crypto industry stakeholders. With tailormade rules for the crypto industry, Singapore currently has the clearest and most detailed licensing requirements of any jurisdiction in Asia.” The exchange announced in August that it received an “in-principle approval” from the central bank. Since then, “we’ve seen an influx of retail and institutional investors,” said Raks Sondhi, Managing Director of Independent Reserve in Singapore.
  14. A government agency in Uzbekistan has published a list of unauthorized crypto exchanges that residents of the country have been advised to avoid. The trading platforms collect personal data and bear no responsibility for the cryptocurrency transactions, officials have warned. Authorities in Uzbekistan Blacklist ‘Unofficial’ Crypto Exchanges The National Agency of Project Management under the President of Uzbekistan has identified a number of online platforms offering crypto trading services without authorization. During a monitoring campaign on the internet, the body registered an increase in activities of such “unofficial” digital asset exchanges. The entities behind them offer Uzbekistani citizens the option to buy, sell or trade crypto assets without having an office in the country. They are usually registered in other jurisdictions and their servers are located abroad, but at the same time they collect personal information from residents of the Central Asian republic, the agency said in a notice published on its website. Half a dozen crypto exchange websites targeting residents of Uzbekistan have been blacklisted: webmoneytashkent.com, wmztashkent.com, wm-torg.com, uzwmz.com, blockchainuz.com, and bitcointashkent.com. Similar services are offered through Telegram bots and groups as well. Their providers, the regulator noted, often remain completely anonymous and can quickly delete a channel. Officials have stressed that these kinds of platforms do not bear any legal responsibility for crypto transactions between various parties and cannot guarantee their legitimacy. Furthermore, they cannot ensure the proper storage of personal data or preservation of confidentiality. The announcement states: The Agency urges citizens to be as vigilant as possible, beware and not use services of such platforms, including so as not to become victims of fraud. Uzbekistan legalized crypto trading in 2018 but then in December 2019 authorities in Tashkent effectively banned residents from purchasing cryptocurrencies though they were allowed to sell. The National Agency of Project Management has now reminded the public that in accordance with the presidential decree “On measures to develop the digital economy in the Republic of Uzbekistan” and the country’s law “On licensing and notification procedures,” the establishment of cryptocurrency exchanges is subject to licensing. The government has tried to encourage certain crypto activities. In January 2020, Tashkent unveiled a plan to set up a national mining pool and the initiative was presented as a priority. The state also said it’s going to establish a licensed cryptocurrency exchange where miners will be able to sell their coins and promised to create a blockchain valley as well as introduce crypto tax exemptions. Uznex, a regulated trading platform operated by the South Korean entity Kobea Group, was launched later that month. However, in September this year, a high-ranking central bank official was quoted as saying that cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin will never be recognized as legal tender. Speaking to local media, deputy chairman of the Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan (CBU) Behzod Hamraev pointed out that unlike cryptocurrencies, the national fiat, the sum, is backed by the bank’s assets. He also expressed his opinion that bitcoin will never be equal to “world currencies” such as the dollar, euro, yen, and ruble.
  15. Argo Blockchain, a London-based cryptocurrency mining company, has announced an expansion of its mining capacity that will more than double its current hashrate. The expansion will be done through the acquisition of 20,000 S19J Pro bitcoin miners from Bitmain, which will be delivered in several installments. These miners will populate the facility the company plans to build in Texas next year. Argo Blockchain Expands Hashrate Argo Blockchain, a London-based crypto mining company, has announced the purchase of 20,000 mining machines to expand its capacity. This is part of the planned company expansion to West Texas, where it will build a mega-mining facility. The mining machines will be provided by Chinese manufacturer Bitmain in consecutive installments. This purchase agreement will allow Argo to more than double its current mining capacity, taking it to 3.7 exahash for Q3 2022, betting big on the future of Bitcoin as a network and a profitable asset. While the amount of the initial deposit for the purchase was not revealed, the company stated that it is being funded with cash reserves. Argo Blockchain has been quick in expanding its mining capacity. In February, it was estimated that the company had 787 petahash. Now the company estimates this number to have risen to 1.7 exahash in less than a year. Texas, a New Miner Mecca It is not strange that Argo picked Texas as the new destination for its upcoming mega-mining center. Texas has been in the sights of miners this year as a destination to settle after the Chinese government declared a cryptocurrency mining ban in several key provinces earlier this year. The key trait that Texas presents to miners is its relatively cheap power tariffs, due to the configuration of its power market. Texas has a deregulated power industry with lots of players in the game, which allows for more competition, and miners plan to take advantage of this in the future. In fact, Argo is just one of the mining companies that have revealed plans to build mining facilities in Texas. In April, mining firm Blockcap announced it was relocating its headquarters to Texas in the midst of a $75 million ASIC purchase. Riot Blockchain, another big cryptocurrency mining firm, bought Whinstone, an in-progress bitcoin mining center also in Texas, for $650 million.
  16. Russia has implemented a wide variety of anti-piracy laws and procedures in recent years. Thousands of copyright-infringing sites have been blocked and even app stores and search engines have to take action. However, according to the IIPA, which includes the MPA, RIAA, and other entertainment industry groups, Russia should do more. Over the past several years, Russia has introduced various anti-piracy laws and regulations. Pirate sites can be blocked through court orders, app stores have to take strict action against ‘pirate’ apps, search engines must swiftly block pirate sites, and even VPN services and proxies can be banned. The measures go far beyond what we see in most other countries but, according to US copyright holders, these still don’t go far enough. Online piracy and camcording in Russian movie theatres remain a significant problem. Copyright Groups Call Out Russia IIPA, which counts copyright groups including the MPA, RIAA, and ESA among its members, shared these and other concerns with the US Trade Representative as part of the annual review of Russia’s World Trade Organization (WTO) obligations. The submission highlights the progress that was made on the legislative front. New laws and procedures have made it harder for Russians to use pirate apps or sites. However, these measures have done little to stop the sites themselves, which often remain accessible abroad. “Unfortunately, American right holders continue to report that these procedures are being directed against the infringing activity of only users within Russia and are not being used against Russian sites and services catering to users outside the country,” IIPA writes. “Even the most effective takedown procedures and processes to disable access to websites can only slow piratical activities and have little lasting deterrent effect without civil, and especially criminal, prosecutions directed at commercial site operators and owners.” Criminal Prosecution IIPA calls for significant copyright enforcement improvements to tackle Russian pirate sites and services. In addition to blocking the platforms at the ISP level, the authorities should criminally prosecute their operators. The group provides several examples of sites that allegedly operate from Russia. Several of these also appear on the USTR’s annual list of notorious foreign markets. The movie industry highlights the St. Petersburg-based streaming site seasonvar.ru, which lists over 17,000 TV series on the site. In addition, Russia’s largest social network VK.com is called out as well. The software industry notes that Russia harbors the most game pirates of any country in the world, at least on P2P services. It mentions torrentdownloads.me, dirtywarez.com, and romtohome.com among the worst offenders. Music companies also see significant piracy troubles tracing back to Russia. This includes torrent sites, linking sites and cyberlockers. The Russia-based streamrippers Flvto.biz and 2Conv.com – which were sued in the US – are specifically called out. Finally, the publishing sector calls out Libgen and Sci-Hub as problematic sites. The latter was targeted in two US lawsuits but, despite two injunctions against the site, Sci-Hub remains freely accessible in most countries around the world. “In short, much more effective enforcement is needed against online piracy in Russia, particularly the long-identified pirate sites,” IIPA notes. Camcording Pirates In addition to criminal prosecutions against pirate sites and services, IIPA would also like to see tougher action against ‘camcording’ piracy. Every year, dozens of pirated movies are traced back to Russia. “Russia remains the home to some of the world’s most prolific criminal release groups of motion pictures,” IIPA notes, adding that in the past five years 253 films from MPA members were pirated from Russian theatres. These films eventually end up online, often with branding from gambling companies, who appear to see these releases as a great advertising venue. “Many of the release groups are connected to online gambling companies which pay for the recording of films in theatres in exchange for the inclusion of advertising for their services within the infringing copies.” IIPA hopes that the USTR will put these concerns on the diplomatic agenda. That said, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Russia points a finger back at the US, which remains the top traffic source for pirate sites.
  17. Italian soccer league Serie B has obtained an injunction aimed at preventing the illegal transmission of its soccer matches by illegal IPTV providers during the 21/22 season. The court order is 'dynamic', meaning that ISP blocking can be updated to address shifting IPTV infrastructure and emerging threats. Pirate IPTV services are a problem for many entertainment companies since they tend to offer premium products at a knock-down price. For just a few dollars, euros or pounds per month, users are spoiled for choice with movies, TV shows, live TV and more just a click away. One of the key concerns in Europe is the effect these services have on the TV market, especially live sports. To that end, entities such as England’s Premier League and Italy’s Serie A have applied for and won a series of court orders that compel the countries’ leading service providers to implement IP address blocking. The theory is that if pirate IPTV providers are less easy to use, people will migrate to legitimate services. In Italy, Serie A has obtained several orders over the past year alone, In June 2020, for example, the Court of Rome handed down an order that required local Internet service providers to block 56 servers connected to the supply of pirate IPTV services in Italy and overseas. Later that year, Cloudflare was required to block current and future domain names and IP addresses related to a specific pirate service, a ruling that was upheld on appeal. Serie B Launches Own Blocking Campaign Serie B (currently known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons) is the second-highest division in the Italian football system after Serie A. Its games are available via broadcasters including Sky Sport and DAZN but like its big brother Serie A, is also widely pirated on unlicensed platforms. In an effort to mitigate the threat, Serie B is now pursuing a familiar legal strategy. This morning the league reported success at the Court of Milan after the filing in recent days of a complaint centered on the activities of several as-yet-unnamed pirate IPTV providers. Serie B informed the Court that urgent action was required to prevent the continued unlawful distribution of its content online and to prevent further damage to its licensing deals with broadcasters and its commercial image overall. The football league asked the Court to order the immediate blocking of “16 telematic addresses” relating to the pirate IPTV providers. The specifics of this phrase are yet to be made public but it’s understood that the infrastructures of many providers were targeted within the application. The Court of Milan was happy to oblige. Yet Another ‘Dynamic’ Injunction The history of site and IP address blocking has been plagued by the ability of pirate sites and services to quickly adapt to the new environment. When one IP address or domain is blocked by ISPs, switching to others is trivial. Serie B doesn’t want that to be the case here. By obtaining a so-called ‘dynamic’ order from the Court, it now has greater flexibility to respond if the providers change the way they operate. New IP addresses and domains, for example, can be transmitted to ISPs for blocking, without the need for yet more legal action which is both expensive and time-consuming. Serie B president Mauro Balata welcomed the granting of the blocking injunction. “There is great satisfaction because of the serious damage suffered, the necessary protection of the product, and the role of exclusive licensees,” Balata said. “For this I thank the Court of Milan but also our television partners who intervened in support of the application, building real teamwork required for the successful outcome of the appeal.” The injunction will remain in place for the 2021/22 season and requires all major ISPs to implement blocking
  18. Dydx, a decentralized exchange, has seen its trading volumes explode in the last few days, surpassing other recognized decentralized exchanges like Uniswap and Pancakeswap. Some analysts have suggested this might be the result of the latest Chinese cryptocurrency ban causing China-based users to move their trading activities to these platforms. Dydx Bursts With Activity Dydx, a decentralized exchange that, unlike other similar platforms, offers an order book, has been bustling with activity during the last few days. The activity in the decentralized exchange has grown enormously, with volumes surpassing those of its decentralized rivals such as Uniswap and Pancakeswap. In fact, On September 26, dydx trading volumes surpassed those of Coinbase, achieving a big milestone for the platform. According to Antonio Juliano, Dydx’s founder, the exchange managed to move $3.68 billion on September 26, while Coinbase moved $3.61 billion on the same day. Dydx was originally based on Ethereum, but it has since included an L2 layer called Starkware, which allows for much cheaper fees offering the same functionality to its users. This has also caused the exchange to become popular, now being more appealing to everyday traders. Chinese Exodus to Decentralized Exchanges Due to the incredible growth in Dydx’s trading volumes, some analysts have declared that this might be the result of Chinese traders moving to decentralized alternatives after being abandoned by their centralized counterparts. This abandonment was motivated by the recent cryptocurrency ban that forced Asian exchanges to stop offering services to mainland China-based users. Decentralized exchanges are the best option for Chinese traders right now because they don’t enforce KYC policies for their customers. This means that traders can continue to keep holding and exchanging their assets without the risk of government intervention, and now, this trait is key for Chinese users. The value of dydx, the governance token of the exchange, has also been on a constant rise since it was awarded to its traders earlier this month. The token has gained more than 100% in just a month, and its price now hovers around the $24 mark. This means that the airdrop offered to traders is now worth more than double when it was awarded, with some traders now having obtained $900K worth of dydx.
  19. Bitbay has become a fully licensed cryptocurrency exchange in Estonia which introduced stricter rules for the industry last year. The European trading platform has recently passed an independent audit that confirmed its “solvency, security and fiscal responsibility.” Audit Examines AML and KYC Procedures at Bitbay Bitbay, a leading crypto trading platform in Europe, is now a fully licensed and regulated exchange under Estonia’s stringent regulations imposed last fall. The company has been audited by an independent third party which thoroughly examined its accounting practices, including anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) procedures. The inspection also verified the platform’s financial assets, including crypto and fiat funds, as well as the current state of user accounts. Income, revenue, and profit were analyzed too, and according to an announcement published on the exchange’s website on Wednesday, the audit has confirmed Bitbay is solvent, secure, and fiscally responsible. Estonia tightened its licensing regime for crypto service providers in late 2020 and they are now required to meet the same standards as traditional financial institutions under the country’s Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Act. In December, the Baltic nation’s Financial Intelligence Unit revoked more than 1,000 licenses previously issued to virtual currency firms. Bitbay referred to the successful audit as a milestone, not only for the exchange itself but also the crypto industry in general. The company noted that “regulation is fundamental to creating a secure future for digital money and cryptocurrency exchanges.” It insisted that “only by bringing cryptocurrency into the light will we be able to open it up for everyone,” emphasizing its commitment to work with authorities to “transform how deposits, trades, and tax flow transparently to, through and from crypto exchanges.” Bitbay further pointed out: For the million or so users on our platform across Europe, this certification should provide further comfort that their assets are in good hands. Bitbay also published key figures from its financial statement. According to the provided data, the company has generated €8,849,686 in net revenue between October 2019 and December 2020, resulting in a net profit of €6,491,835 after tax. Its share capital is €100,000. The crypto exchange was launched in Poland in 2014 but in the spring of 2018, it decided to leave its home country, citing difficulties with access to banking services. Bitbay announced a decision to move its exchange operations to Malta, another EU member state. The government of the “Blockchain Island” has been working to create a crypto-friendly business climate. Digital asset trading platform Crypto.com recently became the country’s first licensed exchange to offer bank transfers.
  20. The president of El Salvador shared a video via the social media platform Twitter that said “First steps,” as the film shows ASIC bitcoin mining rigs being installed at a geothermal energy plant. The video shows containers that are emblazoned with the Salvadoran government logos and a large quantity of ASIC mining devices. The video has been viewed around 2 million times on Twitter, and Bukele’s video tweet has over 50K likes and over 12,000 retweets. While many bitcoin proponents said the mining facility was “impressive,” a few Salvadoran citizens complained about the use of energy. “So, there are centers to produce more energy, but to mine bitcoin,” one individual asked the Salvadoran president. “People who have been waiting for electricity for more than 30 years. Not that you would help those most in need? Hypocrite,” the person added. The video the Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele shared shows images of shipping containers with the Salvadoran government’s logo. A lot of people gave the woman flak for asking Bukele that question, but a number of people stuck up for her. “She just wonders, like any normal person,” another individual replied in Nayib Bukele’s tweet thread. “Why is there money to set up power plants for [bitcoin] mining and there is no money to supply the entire population. Before insulting people, make an argument,” the person added. Besides the introduction to volcano-powered bitcoin mining this past June, Bukele also discussed the subject in greater detail on an episode of “What Bitcoin Did.” ‘Very Clean Source of Energy With Almost No Downsides,’ Project Construction to Cost $480 Million The Salvadoran president told the host Peter McCormack about how “El Salvador has not been the country that’s recognised to be the first in innovation,” but he asked, “Why not this time?” The video shares images of workers installing ASIC bitcoin mining rigs. While Bukele stressed during his interview that geothermal energy was “a very, very clean source of energy” and that it has “almost no downsides,” the Salvadoran president did not go over the subject of specific Salvadorans not having access to electricity. “Currently, the electrification index is 83.4%” in El Salvador according to the latest statistics. Major urban areas in El Salvador have around 97% access to electricity, while ruralized regions in the country today show an electrification index estimate of around 72%. The video shows an aerial view of the volcano-powered bitcoin mining facility. El Salvador is the largest producer of geothermal energy in Central America and in July, the country suffered from a massive power outage. The Regional Operator Entity (EOR) based in El Salvador told the press that they witnessed a “load loss of 2,300 megawatts.” The power outage in El Salvador and other regions in Central America cost around $18.2 million from failures. “The demand we had at that time was around 8,300 megawatts in the Central American region. We have lost 30% of the electrical power load,” the EOR director, RenĂ© GonzĂĄlez, told reporters. When discussing the volcano bitcoin mining experiment with Peter McCormack, Bukele emphasized that the project will be costly. “It’s going to cost $480 million, so that’s going to be a legacy for the country because we are building infrastructure paid by bitcoin,” Bukele said in his interview. Alongside this, demand for electricity in El Salvador is expected to grow annually at a rate of 5% year-over-year.
  21. Internet provider Cox Communications believes that several record labels may have concealed key information at the 2019 piracy trial, which led to a $1 billion verdict. The ISP plans to ask the court to vacate the verdict because key copyright infringement evidence appears to have been recreated years after the alleged offenses took place. Internet provider Cox Communications has been on the sharp end of several piracy lawsuits in recent years. The biggest hit came three years ago when the Internet provider lost its legal battle against a group of major record labels. $1 Billion Verdict A Virginia jury held Cox liable for pirating subscribers because it failed to terminate accounts after repeated accusations, ordering the company to pay $1 billion in damages. This landmark ruling is currently under appeal. In addition, Cox plans to challenge the verdict through another route as well. A few days ago Cox’s attorneys asked for permission to intervene in the lawsuit several music companies filed against rival ISP Charter. This case is pretty similar to the Cox lawsuit. In both cases, the ISPs are accused of failing to disconnect subscribers who were repeatedly flagged as copyright infringers. The copyright infringement notices are key evidence in both cases. These notices were sent by MarkMonitor which monitored what pirated files were being shared through BitTorrent. To confirm that these files were indeed pirated, they were downloaded and verified by Audible Magic’s fingerprinting technology. Recreated Evidence? The allegedly infringing files were central to prove direct copyright infringement. During the Cox trial, the music companies presented a hard drive that contained the files, suggesting that those were the original songs that were pirated between 2012 and 2014. However, based on information that surfaced in the Charter lawsuit, Cox now believes that this hard drive evidence was recreated at a later date. This information wasn’t disclosed at trial and Cox accuses the music companies of misrepresenting key evidence. “[I]t appears that Plaintiffs failed to produce to Cox certain documents related to a key exhibit underlying Plaintiffs’ showing of direct infringement: A hard drive allegedly containing contemporaneously downloaded files that Plaintiffs claim were infringed by Cox’s subscribers. “Having concealed the nature of this exhibit, Plaintiffs misrepresented it at trial, where they ultimately obtained a $1 billion verdict,” Cox adds. Filed Downloaded in 2016? At the trial, Cox already tried to get more information on the origin of the files on the hard drive. The metadata showed that the drive itself was created in 2016, but witnesses suggested that the infringing files were original. However, based on evidence from the Charter case, Cox now believes that the files were not downloaded and verified when the infringement notices were sent, but years later. “[D]iscovery in this action has revealed a strong likelihood that Plaintiffs in Cox concealed materials and information that would have demonstrated that all the files on the hard drive were downloaded in 2016 — and not as contemporaneous verification of alleged infringement before the notices were sent between 2012 and 2014.” Cox is now asking the court for permission to intervene in the Charter lawsuit so it can obtain the required information, which is not publicly available. Vacate the $1 Billion Verdict The alleged misrepresentations harmed Cox’s trial defense, the ISP argues. The company plans to address this in a motion under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(3), where it will ask the court to vacate the $1 billion damages award. Rule 60 motions can be used in court to correct clear mistakes and omissions. In this case, Cox believes that the hard drive misrepresentations are sufficient to throw out the entire verdict.
  22. Pleasuredome, one of the world's most enduring ROM and emulation sites, has suddenly shut down after more than 15 years online. The torrent site first appeared in 2004 as the home of the MameFTP Group but over the weekend suddenly went offline, leaving thousands of users in the dark. Sources close to the site say there's "no drama" and quitting "while ahead" was the best option. Sometime in 2004, a new site appeared hoping to provide a better service to fans of the growing video emulation scene. Acting as both a source and index for ROM and losslessly compressed CHD files (for the MAME emulator), Pleasuredome made emulation resources more accessible, supported by a growing community. Right off the bat, Pleasuredome was billed as the home of the MameFTPGroup, a reference to the most popular emulator of the time and FTP, the-then favored format for file transfers. Pleasuredome listed plenty of FTP resources on its platform from around the world, from the United States and Canada through to Europe and Australia. The chart below shows how bandwidth-poor these servers were. In order to alleviate the pressure on these servers, users of Pleasuredome were initially encouraged to head off into the real world to obtain content on physical media to get started. Full sets – which could take many weeks to download from the site – could be obtained from so-called ‘burners‘, volunteers who were willing to give up their time and electricity to burn their collections of ROM binaries onto CD-ROMs. This service was free of charge for the people that requested them. More than 15 years ago the internet was clearly a different place bandwidth-wise and copyright issues connected to ROMs were almost unheard of too. Nevertheless, even in its early days Pleasuredome warned users that since it didn’t know its users, it was unable to assess any user’s legal rights to use downloaded ROMs. However, the site felt it could reassure people that (unlike today) copyright owners didn’t care about emulation. “[T]he original copyright owners aren’t usually too bothered about the free distribution of these ROMs because they have long since stopped making them any money, burners have supplied ROM sets to software houses and arcade manufacturers in the past,” a May 2004 statement noted. “For privacy reasons we will not disclose these companies, but needless to say, at least two of them are playing a big part in the software industry now, and one of them is an arcade manufacturer.” BitTorrent Made Itself Useful In an effort to reduce considerable bandwidth costs that couldn’t be offloaded to the ‘burning’ community, at some point Pleasuredome implemented a BitTorrent tracker, later preferring the Gazelle platform. This meant that content could be shared among site members using their bandwidth, rather than servers with a centralized bill. When considering a full Mameset with all CHDs can weigh in at hundreds of gigabytes, the savings would’ve been massive. Pleasuredome implemented strict sharing rules and anyone not playing ball found themselves excluded from the site. At some point, however, the site itself had to change the way it operated by excluding some content too. The tracker had a policy of only offering ROMs of games that weren’t officially available to buy so when gaming giants including Nintendo began filing lawsuits against ROM portals, Pleasuredome began banning its games from the site. Pleasuredome Shuts Down After more than 15 years online (and more a limited period before that under a different domain), Pleasuredome threw in the towel this weekend. Sometime on Sunday the site went dark before displaying a brief “Game Over” shutdown message at Pleasuredome.org.uk, the torrent site’s former domain. No warning was given and no explanation was offered for the closure. However, the site did provide a link to a Reddit post which also contains a chatbox. Someone claiming to be from the site’s moderation team provided a little more information on the site, stating that “all good things must come to an end.” “We decided PD had come to the end, it’s that simple, no drama, no issues. Simply ending the tracker, it was good while it lasted. It’s dead for good,” the poster advised. “Emulation will continue
 your hobby will go on. PD has transformed but the scene is still as active and alive as ever.” When a site goes down, talk automatically switches to whether there might be some kind of resurrection. Reading between the lines that isn’t being entirely ruled out but in respect of Pleasuredome at least, the end has been reached. “There is no chance the site will return in its old form. We had a good run and we decided it was the best time to end. To quit while we are ahead,” a statement reads. “There is no meaningful legal way transferring the site can be done. PD was a great site and the time is right for it to come to a meaningful close. Believe me, we will miss the community too, but it was the right time for all good things to come to an end.” But while the site has now slipped away to join thousands of others in the file-sharing graveyard, the team has provided a link to this page, which could prove useful to some.
  23. The mayor of Miami, Florida, sees China’s cryptocurrency crackdown as “the turning point” that “creates an incredible opportunity for America.” He said: “Their loss is our gain and America can and will lead the future by providing a clean power home for bitcoin miners and all who are building on/with/for bitcoin.” Miami Mayor Sees US Benefiting From China’s Crypto Crackdown Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who has been trying to build his city into a bitcoin hub, sees the crypto crackdown by the Chinese government as an opportunity for his city and the U.S. He told Bloomberg: The turning point is now. It creates an incredible opportunity for America. Suarez commented on China’s crackdown this week: “China banning bitcoin is a massive mistake with impacts that will be felt for generations. Their loss is our gain and America can and will lead the future by providing a clean power home for bitcoin miners and all who are building on/with/for bitcoin.” The mayor of Miami is not the only politician who sees China’s crackdown on crypto as an opportunity for the U.S. “China’s authoritarian crackdown on crypto, including bitcoin, is a big opportunity for the U.S. It’s also a reminder of our huge structural advantage over China,” said Senator Pat Toomey. Congressman Patrick McHenry said, “China’s decision to restrict access presents a perfect opportunity for American leadership on cryptocurrency.” Mayor Suarez said earlier this week that he has been actively trying to convince cryptocurrency miners that South Florida offers great opportunities for mining, including clean energy options, such as nuclear, solar, and hydroelectric. He confirmed that he has spoken to the CEO of Florida Power & Light, Eric Silagy, about attracting crypto businesses to the area. He tweeted in May that the City of Miami “can mine bitcoin with clean nuclear energy provided by Florida Power & Light,” emphasizing: We want to be the crypto mining capital of the world and know it can be done sustainably and incorporate solar.
  24. Switzerland’s Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has approved the first Swiss crypto fund. It is managed by asset manager Crypto Finance and custodied by Seba Bank. “For the first time, FINMA has approved a Swiss fund that invests primarily in cryptoassets,” said the regulator. First Crypto Fund Approved Under Swiss Laws The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) announced Wednesday that it “has approved the first crypto fund according to Swiss law.” The regulator elaborated: For the first time, FINMA has approved a Swiss fund that invests primarily in cryptoassets. FINMA explained that the fund is called “Crypto Market Index Fund,” noting that it is “an investment fund according to Swiss law belonging to the category ‘other funds for alternative investments’ with particular risks.” The financial regulator added that there are some requirements tied to the approval. For example, the fund “may only invest in established cryptoassets with a sufficiently large trading volume.” In addition, the investments must be made through “established counterparties and platforms” based in member countries of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Crypto Finance (Asset Management) AG independently announced Wednesday the launch of the FINMA-approved Swiss crypto fund. It is administered by fund management company Pvb Pernet von Ballmoos AG, with Seba Bank AG as the custodian and Crypto Finance as the manager. Crypto Finance described: For Crypto Finance, as the first asset manager to launch a Swiss crypto asset investment fund, it is an exceptional achievement to launch this crypto investment fund together with strong Swiss partners. The fund is restricted to qualified investors, such as Swiss wealth management banks, asset managers, pension funds, and other professional investors, “who collectively manage several trillion CHF in assets,” Crypto Finance detailed, adding: This passive investment fund from Crypto Finance tracks the performance of the Crypto Market Index 10, which is administered by the SIX Swiss Exchange. According to the exchange’s website, “The objective of the SIX Crypto Market Index 10 is to reliably measure the performance of the largest and most liquid crypto assets and tokens and provide an investable benchmark for this asset class. The prices for the crypto assets and tokens are obtained from multiple crypto exchanges and trading venues.” Meanwhile, Seba Bank announced Tuesday that it “has been granted a license to act as a custodian bank for Swiss collective investment schemes pursuant to Art. 72 CISA (KAG).” The bank added, “This is the first license granted in Switzerland by the Swiss Financial Market Authority (FINMA) to a custodian bank focused on digital assets.”
  25. According to a report published by the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) and a group of central banks, digital currencies can lead to faster settlement and cheaper transfers. Moreover, the banking group leveraged a prototype that shows how money transfers can be done in seconds with very little processing fees. Inexpensive Transfers & Speed: Bank of International Settlements Report Says Digital Currencies Can Be More Effective During the second week of September, the head of the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub, BenoĂźt CƓurĂ©, explained that central banks need to act quickly in order to develop central bank digital currencies. CƓurĂ© stressed that a digital currency economy already exists and “CBDCs will take years to be rolled out.” Following CƓuré’s statements, BIS, alongside four central banks from the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, China, and Thailand, is embarking on a digital currency experiment. The banking group produced a prototype and published a report that detailed the group’s findings after testing the “multiple central bank digital currency bridge project (mBridge).” BĂ©nĂ©dicte Nolens, the head of the Hong Kong center of BIS Innovation Hub, explained that digital currencies can be more effective for the banking system and would be beneficial to the economy in general. “Enabling faster and cheaper cross-border wholesale payments, including to jurisdictions that don’t benefit from a vibrant correspondent banking system, would be positive for trade and economic development,” Nolens said in a statement published on Monday. The prototype used by the BIS researchers and collaborating central banks was built on Ethereum’s Hyperledger Besu blockchain. Banking Group Plans to Continue Distributed Ledger Technology Prototype Research Until a ‘Production-Ready’ Solution Is Created Testing showed that distributed ledger technology (DLT) cuts the cost of cross-border exchange by half and settlement speeds take mere seconds. The report said that the mBridge team aims to keep working on the DLT going forward. The group plans to address legal issues and jurisdiction hurdles in order to develop a “production-ready digital currency solution.” The mBridge project is being developed in the midst of China getting prepared to launch the digital yuan as the CBDC nears completion. The mBridge collaboration was previously dubbed “Project Inthanon-LionRock” and it was started by the Bank of Thailand and Hong Kong’s Monetary Authority. The two banks published joint research in 2020 after testing a number of technologies. The report notes that the DLT model research involved ten smaller bank branches from two different locations.
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