Web Sheriff
Web Sheriff is a UK-based anti-piracy company that specializes in providing services to protect intellectual property, copyright, and privacy rights. Founded in 2000 by John Giacobbi, an intellectual property lawyer, the company operates with two offices in the UK.
| Formation | 19 October 2000[1] |
|---|---|
| Founder | John Giacobbi |
| Registration no. | 04093131[1] |
| Purpose | Intellectual property rights |
| Headquarters | Template:Mf-adr[1] |
| Location |
|
Area served | International |
| Services | Copyright enforcement, digital rights management, website building, hosting and management, video editing |
| Owner | Web Sheriff Limited |
Director | John Edouard Giacobbi[1] |
Secretary | Robert Arthur Davage |
Employees | 20 |
| Website | websheriff |
Web Sheriff monitors various websites that host links to unauthorized downloads of music and films. It sends legal take-down notices to BitTorrent and other file-sharing sites in order to combat copyright infringement. The company is known for its “soft sell” approach in the anti-piracy industry, focusing on building relationships and using phone calls to address unauthorized links.[2][3][4]
Web Sheriff offers a range of copy protection services, including copyright infringement protection, libel prevention, cyber-bullying mitigation,[5][6] privacy issues related to social media, policing of trading sites, recovery of fraudulently registered domain names, and online security for concert tours. It utilizes proprietary software and web crawler programs to search the internet and employs human auditing to determine the nature of sites hosting copyrighted material.[7][8]
In its history, Web Sheriff has worked with notable clients such as Prince, Bryan Adams, and Axl Rose. The company was hired by Prince to protect his copyrights and remove unauthorized photos, videos, and music from platforms like YouTube, eBay, and The Pirate Bay. It successfully took down infringing content and shut down unauthorized merchandise-selling sites.[9][10][11]
References change
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "WEB SHERIFF LIMITED". Companies House UK. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
- ↑ Lewis, Randy (9 June 2011). "Piracy watchdog's mild bite". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
- ↑ "New Sheriff in Town" (PDF). Billboard Upfront. 1 July 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
- ↑ Daniels, Andrew (12 April 2011). "The Most Hated Man on the Internet". Men's Health. Retrieved 12 April 2011.
- ↑ "Noel Edmonds confronts Facebook troll". telegraph.co.uk. 1 April 2012. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
- ↑ Reeves, Philip (15 April 2012). "British Attempt to Squash Online Bullying". London: NPR. Retrieved 25 April 2012.
- ↑ Reinartz, Joe (10 March 2011). "Meet the Online Police". Pollstar. Retrieved 10 March 2011.
- ↑ "Web Sheriff Goes To The Mats Against Russian Clone". Encore. 4 July 2011. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
- ↑ Cooper, Duncan (25 April 2011). "Respect Yourself: Interview with the Web Sheriff". The Fader. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
- ↑ "Prince get tough on web pirates". BBC News. 13 September 2007. Retrieved 20 March 2010.
- ↑ "Prince gets tough online". BBC Radio 6. 13 September 2007. Retrieved 2 April 2010.