Hollywood isn’t taking the threat of online piracy lightly. A coalition of 30 entertainment companies — including Disney, Amazon, and Netflix — have created a new group to fight hackers looking to steal content.
The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment, unveiled on Tuesday, said it will conduct research and work with law enforcement to “curtail illegal pirate enterprises,” through a number of ways. One weapon in its arsenal will be civil litigation, used to target copyright violators.
ACE will also lean on anti-piracy measures from the Motion Picture Association of America, and work with search engines like Google and broadband providers to curb piracy.
“Despite all of the progress we’ve made as an industry, piracy continues to threaten the rights of the storytellers at the heart of the entertainment business,” said Chadwick Ho, a Senior Vice President at Hulu, in a statement. “We are proud to be part of the ACE coalition and help strengthen the fight against content theft globally.”
The increasing ubiquity of online entertainment has been both a blessing and a curse to the industry. There are nearly 500 services worldwide to watch TV or movies legally online, but there were more than 5 billion downloads of pirated content in 2016, according to ACE.
That’s serious money going out the window. In the U.S., more than 5 million jobs and $1.2 trillion are tied to the creative sector, according to the International Intellectual Property Alliance.
“The theft and illegal distribution of copyrighted content impacts our business, the creative community, and the consumer viewing experience,” said Leah Weil, Senior Executive Vice President at Sony Pictures Entertainment, in a statement. “As the landscape of the industry evolves, the range and threat of piracy expands with it. We look forward to working with our industry colleagues from around the globe to address this urgent issue.”
The full list of ACE members is a who’s who of the entertainment industry: Amazon, AMC Networks, BBC Worldwide, Bell Canada and Bell Media, Canal+ Group, CBS, Constantin Film, Foxtel, Grupo Globo, HBO, Hulu, Lionsgate, MGM, Millennium Media, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Paramount Pictures, SF Studios, Sky, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Star India, Studio Babelsberg, STX Entertainment, Telemundo, Televisa, Twentieth Century Fox, Univision Communications, Village Roadshow, the Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros. Entertainment.
Nude Photo Hacks: From Leslie Jones to WWE's Paige (Photos)
Sadly, numerous female celebrities have been attacked by hackers, who stole personal information as well as sexually explicit photos from their phones and computers.
Jones is the latest victim of nude photo hackers, with her personal website being vandalized and several explicit photos posted before the site was taken down
The Department of Homeland Security has opened an investigation into the hack, which many believe was perpetrated by a fan of former Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos, who was banned from Twitter after his "targeted abuse" of the comedian.
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Scarlett Johansson
"The Avengers" star has been the victim of hackers multiple times. Nude photos of the actress were released online in 2011 and again in the massive 2014 hack.
The perpetrator in the 2011 incident was eventually sentenced to 10 years in prison.
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Jennifer Lawrence
Lawrence was among the most high-profile victims of the 2014 hack. She came out strongly against those who viewed the pictures, saying doing so was "a sex crime."
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Kaley Cuoco
"The Big Bang Theory" star was also caught up in the 2014 hack, and took it in stride with a cheeky Instagram post.
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Selena Gomez
The 2014 hack immediately drew the attention of the FBI, which began investigating the event that claimed over 100 victims, most of them celebrities.
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Kirsten Dunst
Pennsylvania resident Ryan Collins was eventually captured and charged with illegally accessing the Google and Apple accounts of numerous celebrities, though their identities weren't made public.
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Kate Upton
Collins eventually pleaded guilty to one count of unauthorized access to a protected computer to obtain information, receiving an 18-month prison sentence in the plea deal.
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Rihanna
Collins was not the only one charged in the hack. Edward Majerczyk of Chicago was also arrested in connection with the data breach.
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Meagan Good
Majerczyk faced the same charge as Collins: one count of unauthorized access to a protected computer.
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Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Majerczyk pleaded guilty to the charge in July 2016. The maximum sentence for the charge of unauthorized access to a protected computer is five years.
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Kim Kardashian
In January 2017, Majerczyk received a sentence of nine months in jail as part of a plea deal. Majerczyk also was ordered to pay $5,700 in restitution for counseling services for one unnamed celebrity because of the harm caused by the hack.
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Paige
WWE Divas star Paige stated on Twitter that "personal and private" photos of her had been stolen and leaked online in March 2017. The leak is possibly part of a reportedly larger hack affecting several celebrity women. Like other victims of the apparent larger leak, photos of Paige, whose real name is Saraya-Jade Bevis, appeared on the website Celebrity Jihad.
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Some of the most infamous breaches of sensitive celebrity data — and what happened to the perpetrators
Sadly, numerous female celebrities have been attacked by hackers, who stole personal information as well as sexually explicit photos from their phones and computers.