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London Police Placing Anti-Piracy Warning Ads On Illegal Sites
mrspoonsi (2955715) writes "The City of London police has started placing banner advertisements on websites believed to be offering pirated content illegally. The messages, which will appear instead of paid-for ads, will ask users to close their web browsers. The move comes as part of a continuing effort to stop piracy sites from earning money through advertising. Police said the ads would make it harder for piracy site owners to make their pages look authentic. "When adverts from well known brands appear on illegal websites, they lend them a look of legitimacy and inadvertently fool consumers into thinking the site is authentic," said Detective Chief Inspector Andy Fyfe from the City of London Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (Pipcu). "This new initiative is another step forward for the unit in tackling IP crime and disrupting criminal profits. "Copyright infringing websites are making huge sums of money though advert placement, therefore disrupting advertising on these sites is crucial and this is why it is an integral part of Operation Creative.""
Piracy sites have found a way to get the Police to pay them money. Whatever war on copyright infringement there might have been, I think it's safe to say that it is over.
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
One thing I'd like to point out is that the City of London Police are not the same thing as the British Metropolitan Police. This was something that came up in an article a few months ago where the City of London Police were fighting against piracy. They're basically an area within London that has existed for hundreds of years under corporate rule.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C...
The City of London police are basically a corporate police force with an authority that does not go beyond the corporate-controlled City of London area.
This police bunch, it is worth noting, is the police force of the "square mile"
Indeed. To clarify, this is specifically the police force of the small area confusingly titled the "City of London" (AKA the "square mile"), i.e. the historic, tiny core of London, long-dominated by financial businesses, and not the police force of London as a whole.
In fact, the rest of London is served by the Metropolitan Police Service. Why would The City need its own special police force? Hmm...
which is pretty much run by private corporations, making this essentially a private police force in government-backed livery. It is not strange that it would be acting "proactive" and "innovative" and whatnot in furtherance of private corporate goals.
This article may also be of interest.
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
...take care of this nuisance. Who in their right mind allows third party sites to run in their browser anyway?
Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
Look, crimes actually CAN be committed using computers.
Don't believe me? Just ask anyone who has been hit over the head with a computer.
I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
Websites by themselves aren't "illegal". Using those terms gives undue legitimacy to copyright maximalists. What is meant here by "illegal" is that they host content which may be infringing on copyright.
"Here Lies Philip J. Fry, named for his uncle, to carry on his spirit"
Hey editors, the City of London Police is NOT the same as the London Police. To get a good understanding of the difference, please view The (secret) City of London, Part 1: History (less than 5 min) and then The (secret) City of London, Part 2: Government (less than 6 min).
JigJag
"The hallmark of humanity is the ability to move beyond sensory inputs" - Mary Helen Immordino-Yang
No one should confuse The City of London police for an actual police force as most people imagine them, either. They are a territorial force responsible for a tiny area of Greater London as a whole that measuring a little over square mile and consists of mostly financial institutions and only a few thousand actual residents. Still, owing to their location in The City, they have developed quite a reputation for fraud investigations and also incorporate a division dealing with Intellectual Property, so other than the jurisdictional issues of interfering with websites (or at least the ads displayed on them) that are most likely hosted outside The City they actually do have the means and backing to look into this kind of thing.
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
youporn, pornhub and redtube?
Real and respected brands in their field of business.
In related news: Who is surfing to such sites without AdBlocker and NoScript shields up?
bickerdyke
Wow so wrong it hurts.
Please check the official documents - the City of London Police force is run by the voting wards .... 21 of 25 wards are run by corporate voters .... 4 of 21 wards are run by actual residents. Oh and the 32,000 corporate voters out number the 7,000 residential voters.
PS In the UK it is the only local council that has a dedicated officer in parliment to remind parliment not to infringe upon the City of London and the only local council since 1969 that still allows for corporations to be considered voters.
it's silly for the state to jump in and spend so much time, effort, and money on what is essentially a failure of business to demonstrate to people that their content is worth purchasing. free market rules, y'all
Remember kids, if you're not paying for the service, YOU ARE THE PRODUCT THAT IS BEING SOLD.