Facebook fails to stop users from sharing pirated movies
San Francisco, July 16 : Several Facebook groups are sharing pirated Hollywood movies to hundred of thousands of users and the social media giant's automated software are unable to stop copyright infringements, the media reported.
According to the Business Insider, these Facebook groups make no attempt to conceal catalogs brimming with the latest blockbusters like "Ant Man and the Wasp" and "A Quiet Place."
"These groups, some of which are years old, exist despite Facebook's army of human content moderators and automated software meant to detect copyright-infringing content, raising questions about the effectiveness of Facebook's content-policing systems," the report said on Sunday.
Some of the group's titles are "Full HD English Movie" which has more than 134,000 members and "Free full movies 2018" that has 171,000 members.
A Facebook spokesperson was quoted as saying that "it wasn't the company's responsibility to take down such content unless asked to by the content's rights holders".
In its battle against pirated content, Facebook last year acquired a US-based startup Source3 to help it weed out pirated videos and other content that users share without permission.
"We're excited to work with the Source3 team and learn from the expertise they've built in intellectual property, trademarks and copyright. As always, we are focused on ensuring we serve our partners well," a Facebook spokesperson said at the time of the acquisition.
Facebook has been struggling to crack down on pirated content for a long time.
The company had in past announced "Rights Manager" technology to detect and remove video clips shared by people who do not have rights to the video.
According to the recent Facebook transparency report, it took down 2.8 million pieces of content based on approximately 370,000 user copyright reports in the second half of 2017.
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T'gana RTC strike: Talks between govt, employees successful
Hyderabad (PTI): Talks between employees of Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (RTC) who were on strike and the state government concluded successfully on Friday as the government agreed to the key demands of the workmen.
Following a day-long marathon of talks between the leaders of the employees' Joint Action Committee (JAC) and the cabinet sub-committee, the government announced after midnight that it acceded to the demands, including a merger of RTC with the government, 11 per cent pay revision and elections to the employees' unions.
A committee comprising officials and employee leaders would be appointed over the merger of RTC with the government, it said.
The RTC management has also agreed to address the remaining issues as well, an official release said.
The employees would call off their strike and the RTC buses would hit the roads shortly, it said.
The employees had been on an indefinite strike since April 22 over a series of demands, including the merger of RTC with the government.
Earlier in the day, a driver of the RTC, who attempted suicide on April 23 during the strike, died at a hospital here in the early hours of Friday.
Shankar Goud, a 55-year-old driver, set himself ablaze by pouring petrol at Narsampet in Warangal district when the employees were staging a protest on Thursday in support of their demands.
Goud suffered serious burns, was initially admitted to a state-run hospital in Warangal, and later shifted to a super-speciality hospital in Hyderabad for advanced treatment.
"He succumbed (to injuries) at about 1.30 am on Friday," a senior official said.
The driver’s body was taken to his relative’s village, Muttojipet in Warangal district, for funeral rites.
Tension prevailed in Muttojipet as his family members and RTC employees attempted to take the body to the Narsampet bus station, where he worked, to enable his colleagues to pay their last respects. However, police did not permit this, citing law-and-order concerns.
This led to a deadlock before the funeral could proceed.
Union Minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar criticised the Telangana government for not allowing the body to be taken to the Narsampet bus station.
Kumar, Minister of State (Home), visited Muttojipet village in Warangal district, where the funeral was held, and paid homage to Goud.
“They (family members) want to take the body to the bus depot for five minutes. Is the RTC bus depot in Pakistan or Bangladesh? They are emotionally attached to taking the body there. The government is hurting sentiments and creating fear among RTC employees,” Kumar told reporters.
He also expressed anger at the police for not allowing the body to be taken to the bus station and staged a protest, according to a release from his office.
RTC employees and BJP workers attempted to take the mortal remains in an ambulance to Narsampet, but were stopped by the police.
Later, after discussions with the police, the family members and RTC employees agreed to conduct the funeral in the village.
Sanjay Kumar, stating he would abide by the family’s decision, left the village after the funeral was conducted there.
Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar said an ex gratia of Rs 10 lakh, a house, and a government job would be provided to the kin of Goud.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy expressed shock over the employee’s death and conveyed deep condolences to the grieving family, according to the release.
The RTC employees’ JAC had earlier announced an agitation programme from April 24 to 29, including silent marches and submission of memorandums to MLAs and other leaders.
