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Wildfires in Southern California

Angeles National Forest, in the hills outside of Los Angeles currently has several wildfires tearing through it, the largest of which - named the Station Fire - has so far burned over 140,000 acres, destroyed nearly 100 structures, and claimed the lives of two firefighters whose vehicle fell from a road into a steep canyon. Evacuation orders are in place for thousands in communities around the city, and residents of Los Angeles itself are contending with thick smoke and ash hanging in the air, causing air quality to drop to unhealthful levels in many parts. Currently, the Station Fire is estimated to be 22% contained, and favorable weather appears to be aiding the efforts of the firefighters.
1. Smoke from the Station Fire rises over downtown Los Angeles Monday, Aug. 31, 2009. (AP Photo/Jon Vidar)
2. Smoke billows from the Station Fire in Los Angeles in this image taken from NASA's Terra satellite August 30, 2009. (REUTERS/NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, MISR Team)
3. A Los Angeles County fire fighter monitors hot spots as he fights the Station Fire August 30, 2009 in Acton, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
4. A backfire burns near homes during the Station Fire in La Crescenta, California, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
5. A vehicle travels past a wall of flames at the Station Fire in the Acton, California area north of Los Angeles, August 30, 2009. (REUTERS/Gene Blevins)
6. Los Angeles County Sheriff deputies and residents help evacuate horses as the Station fire burns in the hills above Acton, California on Sunday, Aug. 30, 2009. (AP Photo/Dan Steinberg)
7. A modified Martin Mars seaplane tanker aircraft drops water trying to contain a fire threat to a historic observatory on Mount Wilson northeast of Los Angeles on Tuesday, Sept. 01, 2009. Mount Wilson is home not only to the observatory but numerous television, radio and cell phone antennas serving the metropolitan area. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
8. A U.S. Forest Service hotshot wipes his face while taking a break from fighting the the Station Fire August 31, 2009 in Tujunga, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
9. A large cloud of smoke from the Station Fire is seen above Angeles National Forest as the blaze marches westward towards the communities of Sunland and Tujanga on August 31, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
10. Smoke, ashes and embers fly into the air from a canyon just off Highway 2 in the Angeles National Forest Friday, Aug. 28, 2009 near La Canada Flintridge, California. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
11. The Los Angeles skyline is obscured by smoke from the Station Fire north of the city August 31, 2009. (REUTERS/Freds Prouser)
12. Firefighters look for hotspots on a burnt landscape in the Acton area in California on August 31, 2009. (REUTERS/Gene Blevins)
13. Firefighters take a break during the Station Fire in La Crescenta, California, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
14. Charred trees are silhouetted by the glow of the Station Fire August 30, 2009 in Acton, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
15. A firefighter photographs caged tigers awaiting transport in a trailer as workers and volunteers evacuate animals from the Wildlife Waystation in Little Tujunga Canyon as the Station Fire draws nearer on September 1, 2009 near Tujunga, California. The wildlife sanctuary houses a large number of tigers, lions, bears, chimpanzees, mountain lions and numerous other animals in the brush-covered mountains outside of the city. (David McNew/Getty Images)
16. Smoke rises and ashes glow on hills that burned during the Station fire in the Acton area of Los Angeles, California August 30, 2009. (REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni)
17. Julie Garcia, 59, and her daughter Jessi Garcia, 19, hug each other on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009 after seeing their home destroyed by the Station Fire that swept through their neighborhood on La Paloma Canyon Road at Vogel Flat in Tujunga, California (AP Photo/Los Angeles Times, Irfan Khan)
18. A helicopter is just visible before large clouds of smoke from the Station Fire above Angeles National Forest on August 31, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
19. A motorcycle burns during the Station Fire in the Big Tujunga area of Los Angeles, California August 29, 2009. (REUTERS/Gene Blevins)
20. A helicopter carrying water passes in front of the sun as it flies over a residential area during the Station Fire in La Crescenta, California, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
21. A firefighter looks out from the fire break that kept a fire in the Deukmejian Wilderness Park, background, from jumping into a neighborhood in the La Crescenta section of Glendale, California on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
22. Sitting on a roof, two residents watch a wildfire burn during the Station Fire in La Crescenta, California, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
23. Ted Hamm uses a firehose to mop up hot spots after the Station Fire swept through his property August 30, 2009 in Acton, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
24. Mushrooming clouds rise to sky as the Station Fire gradually marches west towards the communities of Acton Agua, Dulce, and Sunland Tujanga on August 31, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
25. Firefighters work a threatened house in the La Crescenta section of Glendale, California, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
26. Melted metal from a vehicle that burned during the Station Fire is seen in the Tujunga area of Los Angeles, California September 1, 2009. (REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni)
27. A smoke cloud raises from the wildfires near Mount Wilson in Los Angeles, on Monday, Aug. 31, 2009. (AP Photo/Hector Mata)
28. Fire fighters walk through thick smoke from the Station Fire August 30, 2009 in Acton, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
29. The sun sets in a red sky as smoke from a wildfire enshrouds Los Angeles, California on September 1, 2009. (GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images)
30. A deer walks through charred forest on Mount Gleason in the Angeles National Forest August 31, 2009 near Acton, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
31. Firefighters start a controlled burn during the Station Fire in the Angeles National Forest beside the suburb of Glendale on the outskirts of Los Angeles city on September 1, 2009. `(MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images)
32. Spot fires glow after the Station Fire burned through August 30, 2009 in Acton, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
33. A small unknown structure burns during the Station Fire in the Big Tujunga canyon area of Los Angeles, California August 29, 2009. (REUTERS/Gene Blevins)
34. Parts of the front of this vehicle melted during the Station Fire in the Tujunga area of Los Angeles, California September 1, 2009. (REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni)
35. The ruins of a home or vacaton cabin, destroyed in the Station fire in an area known as Stonyvale in Big Tujunga Canyon in the Angeles National Forest northwest of the city of Los Angeles, seen Tuesday morning, Sept. 1, 2009. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
36. Firefighters climb up a hill during the Station Fire in La Crescenta, California, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
37. U.S. Forest Service firefighters monitor a backfire on August 31, 2009 in La Crescenta, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
38. From a lakeside dock in Yucaipa Regional Park, the McHenry family cheers as a Sikorsky S64 Sky Crane firefighting helicopter goes "in the dip" for another load of water in Yucaipa, California on Tuesday, Sept 1, 2009. The parents and their son spent the night camping in the park after receiving a mandatory evacuation order from their nearby home. (AP Photo/Los Angeles Times, Don Bartletti)
39. A DC-10 converted to an air tanker drops fire retardant as the Station fire burns in the hills above Acton, California on Monday, Aug. 31, 2009. (AP Photo/Dan Steinberg)
40. The Station Fire moves through brush September 1, 2009 in Sylmar, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
41. Firefighters monitor a fire as it burns near the suburb of Glendale on the outskirts of Los Angeles city on September 1, 2009. (MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images)

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When Pirates Become Copyright Cash Cows

Copyright laws were once written to allow content creators to protect their work, but at an increasing rate copyright is used to carefully extract money from file-sharers. Some tracking companies go as far as leasing copyrights, with the sole intent of setting up a ‘honey pot’ for pirates.

In the past months we’ve seen that the RIAA has won two prominent lawsuits, raking in $1.92 million and $675,000 respectively. At the same time and outside of the spotlights, thousands of file-sharers were contacted in what can only be described as a pirate ‘honey pot.’

Meet Digiprotect, the pirate tracking company that earned its marks tracking down ‘adult’ pirates, but branched out to protecting the works of all sorts of copyright holders. Over the years the company has perfected its pirate tracking tactics to guarantee maximum profits.

Although most companies operating in the same realm try to fly under the radar as much as possible, Digiprotect’s account manager Thomas Hein is more vocal about their business strategies. In an interview he gave a while ago he explains how his company leases copyrights so they can trap potential downloaders.

“We get the legal rights from the companies to distribute these movies to stores, and with these rights we can sue illegal downloaders. Then we take legal action in every country possible, concentrating on the places where such action will be profitable,” Hein says.

So Digiprotect acquires the right to distribute movies, music or games from the rights holders, which they then share on various P2P networks. All they have to do is wait for people to take the bait. If someone tries to download the file they collect the IP-address and initiate legal action through one of their befriended law firms.

That is, if it’s profitable, otherwise Digiprotect can’t afford to protect the copyright holder’s rights, as Hein explains.

“No one working for DigiProtect has a fixed salary. If we make money, everybody makes money. If we don’t, nobody does. This means the lawyers, sales people and customers. It’s all about how much money can be recouped and then sharing it.”

Indeed, it’s all about the money.

“Our success rate is high enough to make good money for everybody,” Hein says, “and it’s also high enough to deter people from stealing content in the future. But we have to be careful about the amount of damages we ask for.”

So how does one go about making ‘good money’? Apparently it’s not only important where you sue people, but also the amount of damages you claim.

“We try to find a figure that covers our costs and pays money to our licensors, which is usually around 500 Euro ($700). Other firms are going for huge amounts of money, and the judges don’t like it. If the judges feel you’re being greedy, they won’t rule in your favor.”

Yes, you’re reading it right. The damage figures are not based on any actual losses, they are carefully calculated to guarantee maximum profits for all parties, except the alleged pirate of course. We can’t help but wonder who the real thieves are here…

Written by Ernesto

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