3 Count: Swiss Shutdown

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1: Charter’s Dodgy Takedown Claims Against the Major Labels Dismissed

First off today, Chris Cooke at Complete Music Update reports that a US court has rejected a counterclaim filed by the ISP Charter against the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) that alleged the RIAA submitted false Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notices.

The two sides are locked in a long-running legal battle over Charter’s response to DMCA notices with the RIAA saying that the ISP did not do enough to stop piracy on its service. However, after the labels amended their lawsuit to remove some 455 songs that they learned they did not own, Charter hit back with a counterclaim that the RIAA had filed false DMCA notices for those tracks.

However, the judge has tossed that claims saying that there is no evidence the labels knowingly misrepresented those 455 songs, meaning that it didn’t rise to the standard of negligence required to make such a mistaken notice actionable. Further, the judge said that 455 tracks were “not material” as they were just a small fraction of the 11,482 works in the case.

2: Canal and Kudelski shut Swiss Piracy Operation

Next up today, Julian Clover at BroadbandTV News reports that Canal+ Group and Kudelski Group, two media companies based in Switzerland, have shuttered a piracy service that was operating within their country.

KBoxServ was based in Canton of Vaud and had been supplying illegal streaming content to thousands of customers. At their peak, they had more than 77,000 TV episodes and some 7,000 movies. They operated by selling modified set top boxes for the cost of CHF 150 ($160) that gave unlimited access to that material.

Though the content was located on servers located throughout Europe, the companies were able to shutter the operation, making it the first such shutdown in Swiss history.

3: Tommy Tallarico Settles Copyright Dispute with Roblox Over ‘oof’ Sound

Finally today, Dean Takahashi at Venturebeat reports that Tommy Tallarico, the CEO of Intellivision Entertainment has settled a copyright dispute over the “oof” sound effect that has become a staple on the Roblox platform.

The story began in June 2019 when Tallarico claimed that Roblox users were using the sound effect without his permission. He claimed he created the effect for the game Messiah, which came out in 2000 and it found its way into some user-created games on Roblox and spread from there.

Though no lawsuit was filed, the two sides have reached a settlement. It is known that Tallarico still owns the sound effect in question and that it will disappear from Roblox. However, it will be restored for developers that license it. It will be available for purchase for roughly $1 in virtual currency. Tallarico himself has also become a Roblox developer and is offering four sound design libraries, each valued between $10 and $250. There is also “oof” merchandise available for sale.

The 3 Count Logo was created by Justin Goff and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

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