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Netflix, Amazon, and Hollywood Studios Shut Down Dragon Box (arstechnica.com)

The entertainment industry has shut down Dragon Media Inc.'s "Dragon Box" device, which connects to TVs and lets users watch video without a cable TV or streaming service subscription. According to Ars Technica, the company has "agreed to shut down the Dragon Box services and pay $14.5 million in damages to plaintiffs from the entertainment industry." From the report: Dragon Media was sued in January 2018 by Netflix, Amazon, Columbia Pictures, Disney, Paramount Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal, and Warner Bros. Dragon Media's lawyer initially predicted that the lawsuit would backfire on the entertainment industry, but the Dragon Box maker must have decided it had little chance of winning at trial. The plaintiffs and defendant filed a proposed settlement Monday at U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

The settlement requires Dragon Media to "cease all operation of the Dragon Box system" and related services within five days. Under the settlement, "[j]udgment shall be entered against Defendants and in favor of Plaintiffs on Plaintiffs' claims of copyright infringement, and damages shall be awarded to Plaintiffs in the amount of U.S. $14,500,000," the document says. Dragon Media, Dragon Media owner Paul Christoforo, and reseller Jeff Williams "[s]hall be further enjoined from operating any website, system, software, or service that is substantially similar to the Dragon Box service," the settlement says. The settlement also prohibits the defendants from making its source code or other technology available to others.

54 comments

  1. What was this? by jwhyche · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Was this just another box that streams torrents off the net and pretends that it was legal?

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    I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.
    1. Re:What was this? by Xenx · · Score: 1

      Pretty much.

    2. Re: What was this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      It was legal, thatâ(TM)s the problem

    3. Re:What was this? by DerekLyons · · Score: 1

      Was this just another box that streams torrents off the net and pretends that it was legal?

      Pretty much. Though more accurately they tried to pretend that providing hardware and software to do while charging a fee for the same was legal.

      Did they honestly think their defense ("Honest Your Honor - the customer pushes the buttons to activate our systems, it's Not Our Fault") was gonna fly? How do people this clueless manage to walk and breathe at the same time?

    4. Re:What was this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't understand.
      Only in the US is a link considered anything they want it to be.
      Surely the businees is modeled by lawyers expecting extra-territorial mafia tactics
      Software in one non-extradition country, backups in a 3rd.
      served in another, then via another with a splash screen saying you are now in the jurisdiction of say Sweden. and redirecting you to Somalia. I think all Hollywood directors and MPAA need a Somalia holiday to serve warrants etc.
      Licence in another
      source in another (with a non-payment clause)
      Money collected in another.
      Commission paid for the business model to a US trust.

      Slysoft/Redfox had the right idea, and piratebay has learned to be resiliant. this only hurts the lazy and dumb ones.

    5. Re: What was this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Still not mentioning what it was, nor how it was legal, yet modded Interesting.

    6. Re: What was this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Legal or not, civil remedies can and do exist for companies being infringed. Exactly what happened here.

    7. Re:What was this? by jwhyche · · Score: 2

      I'm not sure they where that clueless. Their business motto was probably along the lines of, "Lets toss this out there and milk the masses for as much free money as we can before they shut us down." I doubt any one, other than those that bought it, though that this was legal.

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      I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.
  2. Settle this? by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

    Dragon Media's lawyer initially predicted that the lawsuit would backfire on the entertainment industry, but the Dragon Box maker must have decided it had little chance of winning at trial.

    "Hmmmm," thought the lawyer. "If we sue, people will get mad at us, and pirate more, leading to a bigger settlement from Dragon Box."

    Who at DB thought this strategy might work?

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    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    1. Re:Settle this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      no one. thats why they settled.

    2. Re: Settle this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh well people are afraid of lawyers so, ya know, giving lawyers undue grief is a common thing /s*

      *sarcasm tag used for clarity, sarcasm, and/or irony, depending on your local terminology, irregardless.

    3. Re:Settle this? by hey! · · Score: 4, Insightful

      There's no indication that anyone at DB actually believed they could win. You can't take a lawyer's public statement as representative of what he's saying to his client or what the client himself thinks.

      If I were to hazard a guess, I suspect the people behind this were gambling that they could fly under the radar screen long enough to make a quick buck then close up shop. It's not like it takes a lot of up front investment to throw open source software onto a commodity set top box and then point it at some servers tracking pirated content.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    4. Re:Settle this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who at DB thought this strategy might work? THIS GUY: https://encyclopediadramatica.rs/Paul_Christoforo

  3. It Was Far More Than A Torrent Streamer by dryriver · · Score: 5, Funny

    Designed by Bruce Lee before his death, and kept in a secret vault since, Dragon Box was capable of turning Hollywood films with American actors into Chinese films with Chinese actors. Its a shame they shut it down. Rumors are that Ghandi, before his death, also designed a similar box. This one turns Hollywood movies into Bollywood action movies as you watch them. Look what the box does to a typical Woody Allen film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    --
    Why did the chicken cross the road? Because Elon Musk put an AI chip in its head.
    1. Re:It Was Far More Than A Torrent Streamer by Xenx · · Score: 1

      I don't know whether to love you or hate you for that... probably both.

    2. Re:It Was Far More Than A Torrent Streamer by oogoliegoogolie · · Score: 1

      That clip was awesome! It's like an over the top, one man army 80's action flick but with more modern camera angles & slow-fast-mo clips. I never gave Bollywood movies much thought because everyone I watched for a bit was about some guy I dressed in gold singing to some girl, but I think I'll have to check them out after seeing this. I kid you not!

    3. Re:It Was Far More Than A Torrent Streamer by Hidyman · · Score: 1

      This is simply amazing. Black Panther and Aquaman better watch out.

      --
      You can't take the sky from me ...
    4. Re:It Was Far More Than A Torrent Streamer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My associations with films from India are of people clad in gold, stood on chariots, endlessly talking in the epic setting of two gigantic armies about to clash, in possibly many installments. They put the Bhagavad Gita on TV here (N-W Yurp) a ways back, so I saw it float by but never actually watched it.

      To me, this clip is riotously funny. But I wouldn't be surprised if this was serious fare for many in India. They have a... different visual language.

      Which is fine, really. It just goes to show that hollywood isn't the be-all end-all of visual storytelling.

    5. Re:It Was Far More Than A Torrent Streamer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are not being kidding, no way sir, velly good sir

    6. Re:It Was Far More Than A Torrent Streamer by EvilSS · · Score: 1

      Found the out of work Buzz Feed writer

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      I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
    7. Re:It Was Far More Than A Torrent Streamer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nothing better than an open handed slap followed by a good belt whipping.
      Well done.

    8. Re:It Was Far More Than A Torrent Streamer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      will you do the needful?

    9. Re:It Was Far More Than A Torrent Streamer by jwhyche · · Score: 2

      Indeed it was. That was probably one of the best bitch slaps I've seen on film. I will have to think about giving Bollywood movies a better chance. I really couldn't take that fight scene seriously, but I have the feeling that I wasn't supposed too. That being said I was far more entertained watching that few minutes that all the Hollywood dreck that has come out last year.

      --
      I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.
  4. The MAFIAA strike again! by WCMI92 · · Score: 0, Redundant

    The heads of the RIAA/MPAA should be sealed in prison.

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    Corporatism != Free Market
    1. Re: The MAFIAA strike again! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But it won't happen. RIAA/MPAA won. The internet has been changed. The whole world is adopting more and more draconian copyright laws. The genie has been forced back into the bottle. The 21st century yields to the 20th. Nothing you can do. How does it feel? Does it hurt? Is your life over because of this?

  5. Re:More free stuff please! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    Just like a plumber gets $1 every time a toilet he installed gets flushed and electricians get 10 cents every time a circuit they installed is used. What? No? Weird. Some people have to continue to work to get paid? Unreal.

  6. Second Verse Same As The First by DeWayneDurrett · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This is similar to Kodi, and how they tried to shut Kodi boxes down. Like a hydra this will multiply.

    1. Re: Second Verse Same As The First by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's what people said about torrents back in the days of Kazaa, etc. Although some people do still torrent, it's not like it was back then, with almost everyone on the planet seeding nonstop.

    2. Re: Second Verse Same As The First by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Back then there was no legal alternative to digital media. That was part of the argument, the business model is broken, you're not meeting the needs of the customer. They've fixed that a bit but the companies are still just as greedy.

      I've got Netflix. The other companies lost my business long ago and they're not going to get it back by trying to copy Netflix. $15 a month is enough to spend on that crap. Holywood just needs to accept it's not as relevant as it thought it was. Fuck the best films usually cut out their bullshit and are foreign.

      Actors should be struggling to survive and on the minimum wage like other artists. They're pathetic scum and professional liars. They like to think they do good. Fuck offm look at their bank accounts while they go parading around as peace ambassadors claiming you don't pay then enough and should also give your money to some random charity they're paid to support. Losers.

    3. Re: Second Verse Same As The First by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Most of them do struggle

    4. Re: Second Verse Same As The First by astrofurter · · Score: 1

      I, too, remember that time. The golden age of file sharing! A great flowering of culture, a time when technology really did increase human happiness.

      Then the spirit of freedom was crushed under the iron boot of the State, the old norms of class division and cultural impoverishment restored, that the few might again benefit at the expense of the many.

    5. Re:Second Verse Same As The First by JackieBrown · · Score: 1

      They were shutting down Kodi boxes being sold that had addons already installed pointing to copyrighting material.

      Even the Kodi folks were pushing for those boxes to be shut down or at least to have their trademarked name removed from the listing.

  7. I do my part by drinkypoo · · Score: 0

    I mark the "watch anything for free" boxes on my local CL as prohibited :p

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    1. Re:I do my part by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow, Marvel should base their next big comic book on you.

    2. Re:I do my part by drinkypoo · · Score: 0

      Wow, Marvel should base their next big comic book on you.

      Yeah, they could call me "looking for a fridge guy"

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  8. summary sucks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The entertainment industry has shut down Dragon Media Inc.'s "Dragon Box" device, which connects to TVs and lets users watch video without a cable TV or streaming service subscription.

    Every PC that has been connected to a TV has let the users watch video without a cable TV or streaming service subscription.

    Your summary sucks slashdot.

  9. Re:More free stuff please! by ranton · · Score: 1

    Just like a plumber gets $1 every time a toilet he installed gets flushed and electricians get 10 cents every time a circuit they installed is used. What? No? Weird. Some people have to continue to work to get paid? Unreal.

    I wonder if after you retire you would be happy if your 401k went to $0 and/or your pension vanished. Because that is what would happen in a world where previous investment was worthless and continued work was the only way to make income.

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    -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
  10. Re: More free stuff please! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's the very definition of pay-per-view. And if you don't think pay-per-view applies to physical media like Bluray as well then you're kidding yourself - studios can blacklist keys for a given disc at any time of their choosing. It never was your property.

  11. Re: More free stuff please! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Of course the disc is your property, it's just the data on it is not and you have no intrinsic right to decrypt it outside of approved software.

    That your rights to the content are limited isn't really the point. It's still not pay per view because that implies it's metered or somehow linked to the number of plays.

  12. Wait what who? by MrLint · · Score: 1

    Is this the same rampaging jackass Paul Christoforo of the PAX twitter from 2012??
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    https://www.engadget.com/2011/...

    1. Re:Wait what who? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes! The very same! First thing I thought of when I saw the headline! YELLING AS ON THE INTERNET!!!

    2. Re:Wait what who? by SunTzuWarmaster · · Score: 1

      Wow.
      https://www.penny-arcade.com/r...
      https://www.penny-arcade.com/r...

      Gotta love Penny Arcade - " I will personally burn everything I’ve made to the fucking ground if I think I can catch them in the flames.". And its true!

      Nice to know that he stopped being mean to people via E-mail and started to make an automated-content-theft device. Really turned that one around.

  13. Re: More free stuff please! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why? Because it's exactly correct, and completely defeats the argument posed by the mafia shill?

  14. Re:More free stuff please! by Boronx · · Score: 1

    Because artists can't put money in a 401K?

  15. Re: More free stuff please! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Your analogy sucks balls. Hopefully you knew that because if not you are one dumb fuck.

  16. Re: More free stuff please! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's the very definition of pay-per-view. And if you don't think pay-per-view applies to physical media like Bluray as well then you're kidding yourself - studios can blacklist keys for a given disc at any time of their choosing. It never was your property.

    Studios can blacklist all they want - my blu-ray player is not Internet connected, so such blacklists will never be updated. I can see my movies till the physical media wears out.

  17. Re:More free stuff please! by Computershack · · Score: 1

    Not if they're not getting paid because nobody is making movies other than amateur ones any more as the levels of piracy get to the point it isn't worth it.

    --
    I only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't looking good either. - Scott Adams
  18. Re:More free stuff please! by ranton · · Score: 0

    Because artists can't put money in a 401K?

    You missed the point. The OP was implying that movie studios and other investors in movies shouldn't get royalties and other ongoing payments because they aren't performing any actual work after the movie is created. This is essentially the same as saying you shouldn't get dividends from stock you own because you aren't performing any actual work.

    So if this is how the world worked, the artist could put money in a 401k but it wouldn't matter because capital is worthless. Only labor would be worth anything. I know it is ridiculous, just like thinking movie studios should get paid royalties on existing work.

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    -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
  19. Re: More free stuff please! by ranton · · Score: 1

    Your analogy sucks balls. Hopefully you knew that because if not you are one dumb fuck.

    The OP implied movie investors should not get paid royalties because they aren't doing any actual work after the movie is produced.
    I compared that to the dividends and other returns you would get from your 401k, in which the 401k investment is analogous to the investment of producing a movie.

    How exactly does the analogy fall apart? If you don't think movie producers should continue to make money on their investment for years/decades after their initial investment, why should a 401k investor?

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    -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
  20. Re: More free stuff please! by ranton · · Score: 1

    No, because it implies all investment is worthless and only labor is worth anything. It really is a horrible analogy. In such a world capital would be worth next to nothing.

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    -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
  21. Locast by mspohr · · Score: 1

    Check out Locast.org
    https://www.nytimes.com/2019/0...

    They have an app for streaming local TV. Claim it's legal since they are a nonprofit and don't allow transmission beyond the local broadcast area.
    Should be interesting to watch.

    --
    I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
  22. Re: More free stuff please! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Not the original AC, but here's how your analogy falls apart:

    The 401k holder is in fact a part owner (stockholder) of the companies in his portfolio. Those companies ARE in fact producing a good or service. The companies are receiving revenue in furtherance of running that business. The only case where this would fall apart is for patent trolls, or other IP hoarders that produce nothing other than lawsuits protecting their IP. Your analogy is no different than saying a plumber is not entitled to his bill remittances for work performed just because he sent his apprentice to solder the pipe.

    Those little things called dividends are the profits earned by the companies in the due course of business. Capital gains/losses on sales of shares are in itself a type of business no different than if you bought a house and sold it later at a profit (or loss) because the street value changed during the period you owned it.