Vinnik to Be ‘Hostage’ in US Amid Russia’s War in Ukraine, Greek Lawyer Says
If extradited to the United States, crypto exchange BTC-e’s alleged operator Alexander Vinnik will become a “hostage” due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, according to his Greek lawyer. France is likely to send the Russian back to Greece soon and Zoe Konstantopoulou is trying to prevent his subsequent transfer to U.S. custody. Alexander Vinnik’s Greek Defense Fights His Extradition to US A French court is expected to approve next...
Charles Schwab’s $655B Asset Management Arm to Start Trading Crypto-Related ETF This Week
Charles Schwab’s $655 billion asset management arm is launching its first crypto-related exchange-traded fund (ETF). The new fund is expected to start trading this week on the NYSE Arca exchange. Charles Schwab Launches Its First Crypto-Related ETF Schwab Asset Management, a subsidiary of The Charles Schwab Corp., announced last week the launch of the Schwab Crypto Thematic ETF (NYSE Arca: STCE), calling the new product “its first...
Illegal Blocking of Copyrighted Content to Be Punished Under Russian Draft Law
Given the phenomenal rate at which pirated content is uploaded and spread online, it’s no surprise that mistakes are made by those attempting to block or take it down. Even at a rate of 99% accuracy, well-intentioned takedown requests have the potential to cause damage to people that have nothing to do with piracy. Indeed, erroneous or malicious takedown and blocking requests can deny other copyright holders the ability to exercise...
“You Wouldn’t Steal…” Research Shows Why Many Anti-Piracy Messages Fail
Over the past decades, the entertainment industries have tried out numerous anti-piracy messages. One of the most iconic videos is without doubt the “You Wouldn’t Steal a Car” campaign, which proved to be a fertile breeding ground for memes, satire, and ridicule. The ‘You Wouldn’t’ video is an extreme example but anti-piracy messages on the whole often miss the mark. They tend to exaggerate losses, focus on external threats such as...
SmoothStreams IPTV Shut Down By MPA/ACE After Secret Legal Process
Pirate IPTV services disappear on a regular basis but when SmoothStreams.tv ran into trouble mid-July, there were ominous signs that this wasn’t just a regular technical problem. One early confusion was that not all of SmoothStreams’ channels had gone dark and presumably some kind of raid would’ve ensured a complete shutdown of the platform. Information obtained from a number of sources pulled us in two directions. One suggested that...
