In April we reported that the U.S. Copyright Group had filed lawsuits against 50,000 pirates, each alleged of downloading a number of films including “Steam Experiment,” “Far Cry,” “Uncross the Stars,” “Gray Man” and “Call of the Wild 3D.”
The Group has now demanded that Time Warner Cable, one of the largest ISPs in the U.S., hand over the identity of 2000 alleged pirates, and Time Warner has declined, saying it is too expensive, and “exceeds their current staffing capabilities.”
The ISP says it would cost them about $45 USD each to send out the info on all the requests.
“Time Warner Cable does not have enough employees to respond to these requests. In a typical month, the company receives an average of 567 IP lookup requests, nearly all of them coming from law enforcement. These lookup requests involve everything from suicide threats to child abduction to terrorist activity,” each of which takes “immediate priority” over copyright infringement cases.
The ISP’s Subpoena Compliance team is currently only a five-man team and in addition to the “priority” requests, they can handle 28 non-critical subpoenas per month. The U.S. Copyright Group has so far asked for 809, just this month.
Result for: time warner cable
Time Warner Cable has announced the launch of free Wi-Fi for New York City subscribers.
Additionally, TWC has partnered with Cablevision to offer thousands of free Wi-Fi hotspots in NYC, as well. Wi-Fi is now available in Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island, western Brooklyn, Mt. Vernon, parts of the Hudson Valley region, and Bergen and Hudson Counties in New Jersey. Long Island, parts of New Jersey and Connecticut, Westchester, Rockland, Northern Hudson Valley, the Bronx, and Brooklyn will be available through the partnership.
Adds Howard Szarfarc, Executive Vice President for TWC NYC: “Our sophisticated network is a combination of wireless and wireline services, bringing a wide spectrum of products and services to our customers. This free new Wi-Fi option adds another dimension for Road Runner customers, bringing even more convenience. Road Runner customers can experience a fast, simple and easy connection from their laptops or portable Wi-Fi-enabled devices in Time Warner Cable Wi-Fi zones, meeting their growing need for mobility.”
To use the Wi-Fi, “Time Warner Cable customers must be signed up for Road Runner high-speed online service. Customers who use laptops and Wi-Fi-enabled devices can log on to Wi-Fi by entering their Road Runner user ID and password through a simple sign-on screen. The quickest way to obtain or reset log-in and password information is at home, at the computer, through Road Runner’s online support at www.rr.com. Additionally, customer login and account verification are available by calling Time Warner Cable Wi-Fi Support at 1-877-895-WIFI (9434),” reads the press release.
Result for: time warner cable
According to industry sources, the DirecTV Group is currently in talks with both TBS and TNT about offering their TV content online.
If the deal goes through, satellite subscribers would be able to watch the cable content on their PCs or TVs via the Internet, on demand.
The deal has not been made of yet, and is still in negotiations, say the anonymous sources, via Yahoo Tech.
Just recently, Time Warner Cable announced it had deals with 12 cable networks to have their content on the Internet.
The 12 networks are TBS, TNT and HBO; CBS Corp.’s CBS network; Syfy from General Electric Co.’s NBC Universal; BBC America, Cablevision Systems Corp.’s AMC, WE tv, IFC, Sundance, Discovery Communications LLC’s Discovery and the Smithsonian Channel.
