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Lionsgate Sues Limetorrents, Played.to, and Others Over Expendables 3 Leak
hypnosec writes Lionsgate, the film company in charge of distribution for Expendables 3, has filed a lawsuit against unknown individuals who shared a DVD-level copy of the movie and six file-sharing sites known to have the links through which copies of the movies are being downloaded illegally. An advance copy of Expendables 3 was leaked online in July, and it was downloaded as many as 180,000 times in just 24 hours. The movie, which is releasing on August 15, is said to have crossed two million downloads already.
In addition to the lawsuit, the Dept. of Homeland Security is on the case.
The reproduction and distribution of copyright material is a criminal as well as a civil matter. ICE is tasked with investigating copyright infringement in the US. The fact that they are now under the umbrella of the DHS is just sensationalism.
Of course it can be stolen.
The simplest case: you have only one manuscript and no back ups, I steal it, it is gone.
Then you've stolen a piece of physical property - not intellectual property...
The complex case: I destroy your ability to market it, make money from it, use it as you feel fit. Your option to use your 'property' in a way you can use 'property' is gone, hence: it is stolen. And funnily it is worse than stolen, as I can not even give it back to you.
What you describe is not theft - it's a form of obstruction. If it were actually property - it would be perfectly possible to return it - and by your own words it isn't. Again, copyright/trademark infringement is not theft, no matter how the *AA keep repeating it.
It's a civil matter.
- This sig deliberately left blank. Nothing to see, move along.