"The anti-piracy campaign was … not exactly subtle. Its spots ran before movies in theaters and on home media from 2004–2008. One shows a teen girl clicking a big green "Download" button on a website promising "Feature Films"—but when she does so, large white text jumps onto a black backdrop: "You wouldn't steal a car." The text looks like it was applied with spray paint and a stencil.
What font is this? The site Fonts in Use suggests it was FF Confidential, designed by Just van Rossum in 1992.
Melissa Lewis, a reporter at the Center for Investigative Reporting, noticed Fonts in Use's identification, and she remembered that noted "computer person" Parker Higgins had been digging into the "very similar (font) Xband Rough." Lewis contacted van Rossum, who confirmed that Xband Rough was a clone of FF Confidential. "It's just been around forever and is ubiquitous," Lewis writes.
Picking up on these inquiries, a tinkerer going by the handle "Rib" then dug into a PDF from the anti-piracy campaign's archived website. A tool called FontForge indicated that the notable "spray-painted" font used in the PDF was, in fact, XBand Rough.
Van Rossum—who is the brother of Guido van Rossum, creator of the Python programming language—told TorrentFreak that he knew the anti-piracy campaign had used his font, and he knew that the Xband Rough clone existed. He did not know that the industry group had used the knock-off version in its campaign, but he found it "hilarious." Van Rossum, reached for comment by Ars, declined to comment."
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/04/you-wouldnt-steal-a-car-anti-piracy-campaign-may-have-used-pirated-fonts/
https://nextcloud.com/blog/crowe-greece-nextcloud-success-story/
Abmahngefahr durch Likes: US-Gericht wertet Social-Media-Interaktionen als Piraterie-Beweis
DANKE!!!
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