# articles

feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=131142
title: Squawkr Alerts You When a Pirated Movie Leaks Online
uri: Squawkr-Alerts-You-When-a-Pirated-Movie-Leaks-Online
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/yDA-8JDyoFw/
content:
<p><img src="media/eaf32e75.squa.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/squa.jpg" alt="squa" width="275" height="92" class="alignright size-full wp-image-131248">Unlike official distribution channels, pirate sites don&#8217;t have fixed calendar showing when a certain film will leak online. </p>
<p>Instead, pirates and pirate watchers can be found regularly browsing their favorite websites, to see if something of interest appears. A cumbersome task, although it does have its charms. </p>
<p>With <a href="https://squawkr.io">Squawkr</a>, however, movie fans now have the option to outsource this manual search labor. Instead, they just make a list of their most anticipated titles. Squawkr will then send an alert once a scene release becomes available. </p>
<p>TorrentFreak reached out to Jakob, the developer of the site, who says that the simplicity of the platform is one of its main selling points. </p>
<p>&#8220;I wanted to make Squawkr simple and easy to use, while being a powerful tool. It&#8217;s very intuitive. Just log in, start adding movies and get notified. That&#8217;s it,&#8221; Jacob says.</p>
<p>The idea for Squawkr started about a year ago, when Jacob used to spend many hours searching for high-quality leaks, often without luck.</p>
<p>&#8220;Torrent sites are flooded with Cam rips and WEB-DLs, which is fine for people who like to watch those. But for someone who enjoys true HD movies, it can be a bit of a pain to go through all the crap, just to find the needle in the haystack.&#8221; </p>
<p>Since he couldn&#8217;t develop in PHP, Ajax and jQuery, the first six months were put into mastering the basic coding skills. Jakob then spent another half year improving the functionality and design.</p>
<p>The result is what people see today, and it&#8217;s indeed quite intuitive. After logging in users can start adding movie titles, which is pretty much all there is to it.  </p>
<p><center><strong>Adding a movie to the watchlist</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/d9e9ff70.squaw.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/squaw.png" alt="squaw" width="600" height="469" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-131246"></center></p>
<p>The site is focused on high-quality releases, mostly BluRay and DVD rips, and allows users to distinguish between 720p and 1080p quality. Other formats, such as WEB-DLs, could follow in the future if there is a high demand, but these will always be separate from the core experience.</p>
<p>After a movie is added to the watchlist Squawkr regularly polls the <a href="http://predb.me/">PreDB</a> database of scene releases. When a movie is available in the desired format, the service sends a notification via email. </p>
<p><center><strong>An email alert!</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/9403ca3c.squamail.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/squamail.png" alt="squamail" width="600" height="453" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-131247" srcset="https://torrentfreak.com/images/squamail.png 600w, https://torrentfreak.com/images/squamail-200x150.png 200w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px"></center></p>
<p>What started as a relatively small coding challenge has now turned into something more serious. After receiving positive feedback and requests from early users in the <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Piracy/">Piracy</a> and <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/HTPC/">HTPC</a> subreddits, Jakob started to add more features.</p>
<p>PushBullet and Pushover notifications were introduced, for example, as well as a notifications archive where people can keep track of the alerts. </p>
<p>Another advantage is that the site is free to use, and that&#8217;s not going to change anytime soon. That said, donations are always welcome.  </p>
<p>As for the legal side, Jakob is aware of the risks. He consulted a lawyer before going live with the service, who advised him to be cautious. However, since there are no links to any pirated files on the site, no real problems are expected in his home country of Denmark.</p>
<p>Jakob prefers to focus on the positive instead. He hopes that a lot of people will appreciate his work. In a way, he is doling out gifts on a daily basis, which is a good fit for the festive season.</p>
<p>&#8220;When you receive Squawkr notifications about your most anticipated movies from your watchlist, it&#8217;s like receiving a little present in your inbox. It&#8217;s fun,&#8221; he concludes.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=131349
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week – 11/28/16
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-11-28-16
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/qrjeRDlO7lU/
content:
<p><img src="media/5b1cd75e.benhur.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/benhur.jpg" alt="benhur" width="300" height="167" class="alignright size-full wp-image-131355">This week we have three newcomers in our chart. </p>
<p>Ben Hur is the most downloaded movie.</p>
<p>The data for our weekly download chart is estimated by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only. All the movies in the list are Web-DL/Webrip/HDRip/BDrip/DVDrip unless stated otherwise.</p>
<p><a href="http://TorrentFreak.com/category/dvdrip/feed/"><strong>RSS feed</strong></a> for the weekly movie download chart.</p>
<table class="css hover">
<thead>
<tr>
<th width="12%"><strong>Ranking</strong></th>
<th width="15%"><strong>(<a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-pirated-movies-week-112116/">last week</a>)</strong></th>
<th><strong>Movie</strong></th>
<th width="18%"><strong>IMDb Rating / Trailer</strong></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tfoot>
<tr>
<td colspan="4">torrentfreak.com</td>
</tr>
</tfoot>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>1</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="">Ben Hur</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2788732/">7.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPOamb6d_20">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/petes-dragon-torrent-downloads/">Pete&#8217;s Dragon</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2788732/">7.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPOamb6d_20">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="">Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them</a> (TS)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2788732/">7.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPOamb6d_20">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/snowden-torrent-downloads/">Snowden</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3774114/">7.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KyltHXrxVk">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(7)</td>
<td><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/doctor-strange-torrent-downloads/">Doctor Strange</a> (Cam/TS)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1211837">8.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSzx-zryEgM">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/suicide-squad-torrent-downloads/">Suicide Squad</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1386697/">6.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmRih_VtVAs">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/jason-bourne-torrent-downloads/">Jason Bourne</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4196776/">7.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4gJsKZvqE4">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="">Sausage Party</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2005151/">7.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rwh9c_E3dJk">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(7)</td>
<td><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/war-dogs-torrent-downloads/">War Dogs</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2005151/">7.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rwh9c_E3dJk">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(6)</td>
<td><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/bfg-torrent-downloads/">The BFG</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3691740/">6.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frGSzFj10p4">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=131250
title: IPTV: Mass Piracy That’s Flying Largely Under The Radar
uri: IPTV-Mass-Piracy-That-s-Flying-Largely-Under-The-Radar
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/IGLV6WqTUjI/
content:
<p>Anyone with a Kodi setup understands how it works. Download the software, install a bunch of third party addons, and enjoy TV shows, sports, movies and PPVs, all for free.</p>
<p>While millions have fun doing just that, even the leading experts in Kodi setups acknowledge that they are limited by the content being provided by third parties. Sometimes the quality is good and the service is reliable, but at the other extremes people can spend more time getting stuff to work than actually watching and relaxing.</p>
<p>For those who simply can&#8217;t stand this kind of messing around, going legit is the sensible option. Subscribe to a big TV package with a local provider, pay for all the sports and PPVs, tack on the movie package, throw in Netflix for good measure, and then sit back and enjoy the ride. Trouble is, it costs a fortune.</p>
<p>However, somewhere in the middle lies a third way. It&#8217;s a lurking piracy monster that is getting very little press.</p>
<p>IPTV is short for Internet Protocol television, which is a fancy way of describing TV content that&#8217;s streamed over the Internet rather than via terrestrial, satellite, or cable formats. That said, thinking this is all IPTV has to offer would be a big mistake.</p>
<p>We aren&#8217;t going to name names, but the service shown to TF this week boasts more than 3,000 live and premium TV channels from all over the world, many of them in HD quality. Apparently a bigger package of more than 4,000 channels is also available if you really want to gorge on media.</p>
<p>Streamed over the web, the channels can be viewed on a range of devices, from VLC Media Player on PC, through to Android and Apple apps. However, the jewel in the crown is a tiny little device called a Mag Box.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/fce26798.magbox254.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/magbox254.jpg"><img src="media/3fa24d13.magbox254.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/magbox254.jpg" alt="magbox254" width="600" height="652" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-131251"></a></center></p>
<p>A Mag Box is a cheap Linux-based box that plugs into any modern TV and utterly transforms the way streaming pirate content is consumed. Instead of reams of text in a VLC playlist, for example, Mag Boxes and an appropriate IPTV service are almost indistinguishable from the real deal.</p>
<p>Channels are presented in Electronic Program Guide format (EPG) and switching from one to another is achieved in fractions of a second. Poor photography skills (and dodgy Christmas wallpaper aside), the menus are very well presented.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/3a9e1a00.IPTV-1.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/IPTV-1.png"><img src="media/b9299b1e.IPTV-1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/IPTV-1.png" alt="iptv-1" width="600" height="335" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-131254"></a></center></p>
<p>As shown in the image above, when a channel is selected a moving preview appears in the window on the right. Under that sits an EPG covering the next few hours which allows for planning ahead. Also accessible are full channel EPG views that are easily as good as many commercial offerings.</p>
<p>But while at first glance these services seem dedicated to only live TV (albeit on any channel you could imagine, anywhere in the world), many have another trick up their sleeve. The service we saw also carries hundreds of the latest movies, up to 4K in resolution and even in 3D. They too can be accessed from professional looking menus and play, interruption free, every single time.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/5d36a7f6.IPTV-4.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/IPTV-4.png"><img src="media/d05de33b.IPTV-4.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/IPTV-4.png" alt="iptv-4" width="600" height="345" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-131256"></a></center></p>
<p>Also on offer is a massive &#8216;catch-up&#8217; service which provides all the latest episodes of the most popular shows on-demand. Shows appear to be available minutes after airing and can be paused and skipped within a convenient media player setup.</p>
<p>Instead of using dedicated hardware, many IPTV users also use Kodi to view these kinds of streams. There are plenty of tutorials available online which detail how to activate the PVR component of the popular media player to access these kinds of services. However, from what we&#8217;ve seen so far, the Mag Box experience is head and shoulders above everything else.</p>
<p>So what&#8217;s stopping everyone from dumping torrents and web-based streaming services and jumping over to premium IPTV products right now? Well, it&#8217;s the same old story &#8211; cost. </p>
<p>Like a good VPN service, a decent IPTV service costs money &#8211; a few dollars, pounds, or euros per month. Depending on what they&#8217;re offering, Netflix-style deals are possible but for those who simply must have everything, it&#8217;s closer to double that price per month, or less if one subscribes for a whole year.</p>
<p>That being said, as we&#8217;ve seen before in many areas of piracy, these pirate IPTV services offer massively more bang for your buck than official offerings. The only practical problem is that there aren&#8217;t enough hours in a lifetime to watch everything they have to offer. The selection is bewildering.</p>
<p>Needless to say, these services are definitely illegal, certainly when it comes down to offering them to the public. Whether it&#8217;s illegal for users to watch these streams is down to individual countries&#8217; laws, but on the whole the legal system is untested in both Europe and the United States so prosecutions seem unlikely, at least for now.</p>
<p><em>The video embedded below shows a similar IPTV service to the one seen by TF. It is not the actual provider and we certainly don&#8217;t endorse any of these products</em></p>
<p><center><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RFhp3zoL9_w" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=131386
title: UK Police “Don’t Anticipate” Working With Copyright Troll Partner
uri: UK-Police-Don-t-Anticipate-Working-With-Copyright-Troll-Partne
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/H88W2mR9H7k/
content:
<p><a href="media/bc6e239e.cityoflondonpolice.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/cityoflondonpolice.jpg"><img src="media/31176dbb.cityoflondonpolice.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cityoflondonpolice.jpg" alt="cityoflondonpolice" width="200" height="82" class="alignright size-full wp-image-71397"></a>People familiar with file-sharing settlement <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/sky-will-hand-over-customer-data-in-movie-piracy-case-150310/">schemes in the UK</a> are likely to have heard of Robert Croucher.</p>
<p>This businessman is a partner of German-based monitoring company Maverick Eye, who in turn are deeply involved with notorious copyright trolling organization Guardaley. Together, these companies have sent countless thousands of so-called &#8216;pay-up-or-else&#8217; letters to alleged file-sharers all around the globe. The stated aim is the protection of copyright but the end result is a profitable business.</p>
<p>Earlier this year, Robert Croucher was involved in an unfortunate incident outside Raffles, an exclusive London club. He ended up pleading guilty to assaulting an Uber driver and was sentenced to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/copyright-troll-partner-kicked-uber-driver-in-the-head-160923/">five months in prison</a>.</p>
<p>Last week, however, Croucher sent out a press release in which he explained that he himself had been the victim, and after an appeal had <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/jailed-copyright-troll-partner-claims-to-be-fundraiser-for-pipcu-161124/">been released</a> 16 days into his sentence.</p>
<p>Of greater interest to observers were new claims made by Croucher in respect of his anti-piracy work. His suggestion was that he&#8217;d now become involved in doing some work to raise funding for PIPCU, the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit. For clarity, here&#8217;s the relevant section of the release, verbatim.</p>
<p>&#8220;These revelations are made public this week as Mr. Croucher reveals his work on a private funding initiative for the City of London Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit and other law enforcement agencies worldwide to combat digital piracy,&#8221; the release read.</p>
<p>Intrigued, we contact Croucher&#8217;s company Hatton &#038; Berkeley for clarification.</p>
<p>&#8220;Press will receive further information this week regarding private funding of law enforcement agencies,&#8221; the company said.</p>
<p>After publishing our piece, Croucher himself got in touch. </p>
<p>&#8220;For avoidance of doubt, &#8216;I do not fund&#8217; or have ever stated that &#8216;I am to fund PIPCU’,&#8221; he wrote, questioning our interpretation of his statement.</p>
<p>So again, we tried to find out what else &#8220;[working] on a private funding initiative for the City of London Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit&#8221; might mean.</p>
<p>With no response, I suggested to Mr Croucher that if he&#8217;s indeed working on a private funding initiative, then it might be fair to say that he&#8217;s somehow facilitating or enabling the raising of funds &#8211; or at least that&#8217;s the impression he&#8217;d been trying to give.</p>
<p>Another statement from his company noted that &#8220;years of [Croucher&#8217;s] work on copyright protection and law enforcement financing was significantly undermined&#8221; while he was in prison. If we received information on what this meant, we were happy to update the article, we told him. No response was received. Another avenue, however, proved a little more fruitful.</p>
<p>Last week we also sought comment from PIPCU on their relationship with Mr Croucher and this morning they were kind enough to send a response. It doesn&#8217;t shine much light on what &#8216;private funding initiative&#8217; Croucher is talking about, but it certainly clarifies the position of the police.</p>
<p>&#8220;The City of London Police’s Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit works in partnership with the creative industries as part of our work to fight intellectual property crime.  As part of this work we engage with many organizations whose interests mesh with our own,&#8221; a PIPCU spokesperson told TF.</p>
<p>&#8220;Hatton &#038; Berkley is a firm we have met with but we do not have any current arrangements in place to work with them nor do we anticipate working with them in the future. We do not receive any funding from Hatton &#038; Berkley.&#8221;</p>
<p>Clearly, the impression of some type of working relationship with PIPCU would add credibility to the anti-piracy work being undertaken by Mr Croucher. However, that can currently only be interpreted through the vagaries of carefully worded press releases that promote discussion but reveal very little meat on the bone.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=131361
title: Google Asked to Remove a Billion “Pirate” Search Results in a Year
uri: Google-Asked-to-Remove-a-Billion-Pirate-Search-Results-in-a-Year
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/BonoUl9NT2o/
content:
<p><img src="media/3a6fa524.google-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/google-bay.jpg" alt="google-bay" width="200" height="177" class="alignright size-full wp-image-21875">Copyright holders continue to flood Google with DMCA takedown requests, targeting “pirate links” in the company’s search results.</p>
<p>In recent years the number of notices has exploded, breaking record after record.</p>
<p>This week TorrentFreak crunched the numbers in Google’s <a href="https://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/copyright/explore/?">Transparency Report</a> and found that over the past 12 months Google has been asked to remove over a billion links to allegedly infringing pages, 1,007,741,143 to be precise.</p>
<p>More than 90 percent of the links, 908,237,861 were in fact removed. The rest of the reported links were rejected because they were invalid, not infringing, or duplicates of earlier requests. </p>
<p>In total, Google has now processed just over two billion allegedly infringing URLs from 945,000 different domains. </p>
<p>That the second billion took only a year, compared to several years for the first, shows how rapidly the volume of takedown requests is expanding. At the current rate, another billion will be added by the end of next summer.</p>
<p>Most requests, over 50 million, were sent in for the website 4shared.com. However, according to the site&#8217;s operators many of the reported URLs point to the same files, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/4shared-copyright-holders-abuse-googles-dmca-takedown-system-161123/">inflating the actual volume</a> of infringing content.</p>
<p><center><strong>Google takerdown requests over time</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/a9bef8d7.googletwobillion.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/googletwobillion.png" alt="googletwobillion" width="595" height="233" class="alignright size-full wp-image-131364"></center></p>
<p>The surge in takedown notices was also placed on the political agenda. In the UK, for example, proposed amendments to the UK&#8217;s Digital Economy Bill propose fines for search engines that fail to properly target piracy.</p>
<p>At the same time, the U.S. Government is considering changing the current takedown requirements. </p>
<p>The Copyright Office launched a public consultation in order to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of the current DMCA provisions. This review is still ongoing and was <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/u-s-copyright-office-undecided-about-future-of-dmca-takedowns-161114/">extended</a> earlier this month.</p>
<p>Thus far the consultation already triggered heavy criticism of the DMCA process from various copyright groups. However, according to Google itself, the current system is working just fine.</p>
<p>“The notice-and-takedown process has been an effective and efficient way to address online infringement,” the company informed the Copyright Office earlier this year.</p>
<p>“The increasing volume of URLs removed from Search each year demonstrates that rightsholders are finding the notice-and-takedown process worthwhile, efficient, and scalable to their needs.”</p>
<p>While Google believes that the millions of reported URLs per day are a sign that the DMCA takedown process is working correctly, rightsholders see it as a signal of an unbeatable game of whack-a-mole.</p>
<p>Various copyright holders and industry groups have asked the Government for broad revisions. </p>
<p>Among other things they want advanced technologies and processes to ensure that infringing content doesn’t reappear elsewhere once it’s removed, a so-called “notice and stay down” approach.</p>
<p>For now, however, nothing has changed, so it is expected that the number of reported pirate links will continue to increase.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=131423
title: Police Shut Down France’s Largest Pirate Site
uri: Police-Shut-Down-France-s-Largest-Pirate-Site
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/1cuwcDb_dT4/
content:
<p><img src="media/fa97a7bc.zonetelechar.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/zonetelechar.png" alt="zonetelechar" width="275" height="83" class="alignright size-full wp-image-131427">After seizing several servers of the popular private music tracker <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/what-cd-shuts-down-following-reported-raids-in-france-161117/">What.cd two weeks ago</a>, the French military police have now caught an even bigger fish, Zone-Telechargement.com.</p>
<p>With millions of regular visitors, Zone-Telechargement was ranked the <a href="http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/zone-telechargement.com#trafficstats">11th</a> most-visited website in the entirety of France.</p>
<p>Telechargement is French for &#8220;download,&#8221; and the site offered direct downloads of a wide variety of pirated content, including films, series, games, and music. However, yesterday afternoon the site suddenly became inaccessible. </p>
<p>After some confusion, the French Gendarmerie took credit <a href="https://twitter.com/Gendarmerie/status/803277163168468998/photo/1">on Twitter</a>, stating that an investigation had concluded that the download portal caused rightsholders 75 million euros in losses. </p>
<p><center><strong>Gendarmerie Nationale Tweet</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/8d7fab76.telechargementtweet.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/telechargementtweet.jpg" alt="telechargementtweet" width="500" height="391" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-131428"></center></p>
<p>Founded in 2011, Zone-Telechargement&#8217;s popularity soared after the shutdown of Megaupload, which was also hugely popular in France until its shutdown early 2012. </p>
<p>Interestingly, it appears that the site wasn&#8217;t the only target yesterday. DL-Protect, another large direct-download site and the 19th most popular website in France according to Alexa, also went down. </p>
<p>While the police only mentioned one site, <a href="https://www.zataz.com/zone-telechargement-dl-protect-fermes/">Zataz</a> reports that this direct download site was targeted by the police as well. In common with the action against What.cd, French music industry group SACEM also played a role in yesterday&#8217;s actions.</p>
<p>The police have yet to issue a full press statement on their investigation, but thus far no arrests have been announced. SACEM informs TorrentFreak that they will issue a comment later today. </p>
<p>With two prominent shutdowns in one month, it&#8217;s quite clear that the Gendarmerie&#8217;s cybercrime division and SACAM have online piracy high on their agenda.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=131442
title: Antigua & Barbuda Threatens to Punish U.S. With Piracy Free-For-All
uri: Antigua-Barbuda-Threatens-to-Punish-U-S-With-Piracy-Free-For-All
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Z77O4wOIYYs/
content:
<p><a href="media/bf524f61.pirate-running.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-running.jpg"><img src="media/f2bfe741.pirate-running.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-running.jpg" alt="pirate-running" width="222" height="204" class="alignright size-full wp-image-78717"></a>For years, the small Caribbean country of Antigua and Barbuda had a flourishing gambling industry, with an estimated 5% of all countrymen working in gambling-related companies.</p>
<p>However, measures taken by central, regional and local authorities in the US seriously affected the cross-border supply of gambling services, with Antigua’s High Commissioner to London stating that they had subsequently shrunk &#8220;to virtually nothing.”</p>
<p>In desperation, Antigua filed a <a href="https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/cases_e/ds285_e.htm">dispute</a> at the World Trade Organization (WTO), <a href="http://www.antiguawto.com/WTODispPg.html">which it won</a>. A 2005 ruling by the WTO found that denying Antiguan gambling companies access to the US market violated free-trade.</p>
<p>In 2007 the WTO ramped up the pressure, granting Antigua the right to suspend U.S. IP rights up to $21 million annually. With little progress made in the dispute, in 2013 Antigua <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/antigua-government-set-to-launch-pirate-website-to-punish-united-states-130124/">threatened</a> to launch its own &#8216;pirate&#8217; site, which prompted a sharp response from the US.</p>
<p>“If Antigua actually proceeds with a plan for its government to authorize the theft of intellectual property, it would only serve to hurt Antigua’s own interests,” the U.S warned.</p>
<p>After three years without such a site appearing, a release from the WTO&#8217;s Dispute Settlement Board (DSB) indicates that Antigua and Barbuda has finally run out of patience and is ready to suspend protection of US intellectual property rights. A letter from a government representative to the WTO explains the situation.</p>
<p>&#8220;It has been 12 long years since an Arbitration panel, established under the rules and procedures of this body, issued a decision that found the United States of America in violation of international obligations under the General Agreement on Trade in Services.</p>
<p>&#8220;Over that entire 12-year period, my small country with a Gross Domestic Product of just $1 billion has been deprived of trade revenues which now exceed $250 million. For my country’s tiny economy, $250 million is a meaningful sum of money,&#8221; the statement reads.</p>
<p>Pointing out that $250m represents only 0.0003% of just one year of GDP for the US, the letter adds that over the past 12 years, the US has enjoyed a trade surplus with Antigua and Barbuda of more than $1 billion.</p>
<p>&#8220;Over all this time my government has patiently engaged in good faith consultations with the Government of the United States in the genuine hope that the harm done to our economy by US action would be repaired through a settlement that recognizes justice and fairness.</p>
<p>&#8220;Alas,  the  US  has  not  been  able  to  propose  terms  for  a  settlement  that  would  even remotely compensate for the harm that has been done to our economy and continues to impact it negatively.&#8221;</p>
<p>The statement from Antigua and Barbuda adds that while the US continues to defy WTO rulings, it remains the most active user of the institution’s Dispute Settlement System, something which threatens to undermine the integrity of the WTO.</p>
<p>&#8220;[T]he protracted failure by the US to settle this matter, despite the fact that it is not compliant with WTO rules, has the potential to collapse confidence in the efficacy and credibility of the rules-based trading system.</p>
<p>&#8220;Antigua and Barbuda, one of the smallest economies in the world is yet to reap any benefit from  having prevailed  against the  United  States through  the rulings  and recommendations of the DSB,&#8221; it adds.</p>
<p>In a final warning that the gloves are about to come off, the statement concludes that time is running out and in a matter of weeks, unless something is done, United States intellectual property will receive no protection </p>
<p>&#8220;My government has almost exhausted its patient efforts to reach a settlement with the US.  This is regrettable since, on our side, we have always conducted our relations with the US at a high level of regard and cooperation.</p>
<p>&#8220;We advise this body that we are now engaged in a final effort with representatives of the US Trade Representative’s Office to reach an agreed settlement. We hope that a sense of right will prevail. But, we cannot go beyond the end of this year.</p>
<p>&#8220;In  light  of  the  above, Antigua  and  Barbuda now informs the DSB that, if  an appropriate and beneficial settlement is not reached with the US by year-end, the government will be compelled to take action to enforce the suspension of copyright on the sale of US intellectual property, consistent with the award of the DSB.&#8221;</p>
<p>The United States says it remains committed to resolving the matter but is &#8220;disappointed that Antigua and Barbuda had characterized the US as having acted in bad faith when the US had taken a constructive approach to resolving the matter.&#8221;</p>
<p>The US said it had put forward a package of concessions but Antigua and Barbuda are the only WTO member blocking the proposals.</p>
<p>Attorney Mark Mendel, a lawyer in Ireland who previously led the fight for Antigua at the WTO, informs TorrentFreak that a number of options remain open for the Carribean country.</p>
<p>&#8220;A couple of years back, when Antigua last came very close to implementing the remedies given them by the WTO, we had identified a significant number of areas where the suspension of United States intellectual property rights would, we had assessed, have had the desired effect,&#8221; Mendel explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;By &#8216;desired effect&#8217;, I mean the purpose of the remedies as given in the WTO rules &#8211; to put substantial domestic pressure on a recalcitrant government from a completely &#8216;innocent&#8217; sector of the economy so as to encourage the government to comply with WTO rulings or at least agree a reasonable settlement.  Since that time, all of those very well considered options exist, as do a few more that might even be more promising.&#8221;</p>
<p>Mendel says that since the remedies have been approved by the WTO, technically there will be no &#8216;pirating&#8217;, and whatever the Antigua and Barbuda government decides to do will be in compliance with the law.</p>
<p>&#8220;The only party in violation of International obligations in this dispute is the United States and I have all confidence that Antigua will continue to conduct itself in accordance with the agreed rule of law,&#8221; Mendel concludes.</p>
<p>The next meeting of the WTO&#8217;s Dispute Settlement Board is scheduled for mid-December. Whether any progress will be made to end the 12-year dispute remains to be seen but if not, 2017 could be an eventful one for pirates of the Carribean. </p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<p>The full letter Antigua &#038; Barbuda sent to the WTO is available <a href="media/15de823e.antigua-dsb-statement.pdf" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/antigua-dsb-statement.pdf">here (pdf)</a>.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=131461
title: UK ISPs to Start Sending ‘Piracy Alerts’ Soon
uri: UK-ISPs-to-Start-Sending-Piracy-Alerts-Soon
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/61vGUPCYunI/
content:
<p><img src="media/4d28e669.uk-flag.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/uk-flag.jpg" alt="uk-flag" width="200" height="179" class="alignright size-full wp-image-86005">In an effort to curb online piracy, the movie and music industries reached an agreement with the UK’s leading ISPs to send warnings to alleged copyright infringers.</p>
<p>Mimicking its American counterpart, the copyright alert program will monitor the illegal file-sharing habits of UK citizens with a strong focus on repeat infringers.</p>
<p>The piracy alerts program is part of the larger Creative Content UK (CCUK) initiative which already introduced several anti-piracy <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/uk-anti-piracy-education-campaign-launched-quietly-151201/">PR campaigns</a>, targeted at the general public as well as <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/anti-piracy-education-enters-uk-classrooms-160104/">the classroom</a>.</p>
<p>The plan to send out email alerts was first announced several years ago when we <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/how-uk-piracy-warnings-work-140517/">discussed it in detail</a>, but it took some time to get everything ready. This week, a spokesperson from CCUK&#8217;s &#8220;Get it Right From a Genuine Site&#8221; <a href="https://www.getitrightfromagenuinesite.org/">campaign</a> informed us that it will go live in first few months of 2017.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s likely that ISPs and copyright holders needed to fine-tune their systems to get going, but the general purpose of the campaign remains the same. This means that the focus lies on education. </p>
<p>While it may be quite scary for people to see that their piracy habits are being tracked and reported, the campaign stresses that they prefer the carrot over the stick. </p>
<p>&#8220;Educational emails will help account owners and others who use their accounts to do the right thing and get their content from legitimate sources,&#8221; the spokesperson informed us. </p>
<p>The alert emails will be similar to what we&#8217;ve seen in the United States, except that there are no direct punishments tied to them. They will, however, list details about the pirated files that were shared and how this can be prevented in the future.</p>
<p>&#8220;As well as providing links to help the customer find legal sources of content in future, the email will direct the user to further resources to answer any questions they may have about how the information was obtained and how to make sure their account is not used to infringe content again,&#8221; we were told.  </p>
<p>&#8220;We realize that some people might not realize their account has been used to share files, for example if their children have been illicitly downloading content and then sharing it without their parent’s knowledge.&#8221;</p>
<p>Pointing people towards one of the many legal alternatives is a central goal, through which CCUK hopes to decrease piracy rates over time.</p>
<p>The &#8220;Get it Right From a Genuine Site&#8221; team is confident that they can drive some significant change. Several benchmark measurements were taken prior to the campaign, so its effectiveness can be properly measured once it&#8217;s underway.</p>
<p>Talks about this type of alert system have been on the agenda for almost a decade. Ironically, however, now that it&#8217;s getting close to finally being implemented, P2P file-sharing is on the decline. </p>
<p>Over the past years, most pirates in the UK have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/streaming-sites-dominate-movie-and-tv-show-piracy-160727/">shifted</a> towards direct download and streaming services. Since the copyright alerts only target P2P sharing, it will have less of an impact today than it would have a few years ago.</p>
<p>To what degree the new anti-piracy campaign will convert pirates into paying customers has yet to be seen. In any case, it won’t pass by unnoticed.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=131459
title: Court Awards Damages Following Bogus DMCA Takedowns
uri: Court-Awards-Damages-Following-Bogus-DMCA-Takedowns
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Lpr-00yKtAE/
content:
<p><a href="media/b9f3b5ba.sadyoutube.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/sadyoutube.jpg"><img src="media/34e023fb.sadyoutube.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/sadyoutube.jpg" alt="sadyoutube" width="275" height="196" class="alignright size-full wp-image-117196"></a>Every hour of every day, millions of DMCA-style takedown notices flood into service providers all over the globe. Google alone has <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/google-asked-to-remove-a-billion-pirate-search-results-in-a-year-161128/">received a billion</a> in the past 12 months.</p>
<p>While the majority of these notices comply with the law, a percentage are duplicates, erroneous, or flat-out malicious. Until recently, however, no one had ever been held to account for sending bad notices, but a case in Canada has changed that.</p>
<p><em>Whyte Potter-Mäl c Topdawg Entertainment Inc.</em> is a curious case that has its roots back in 2011 when rapper Jonathan Emile asked fellow rapper and songwriter Kendrick Lamar to contribute to the track &#8216;Heaven Help Dem&#8217;. Lamar agreed and provided a verse in 2012.</p>
<p>&#8220;We sent [Lamar] an email outlining what we wanted to do and they got us on the phone and said they were feeling it and that they would go ahead and do the song,&#8221; Emile told <a href="http://www.billboard.com/articles/business/7587881/canadian-rapper-jonathan-emile-suit-against-kendrick-lamar-top-dawg-entertainment-prove-point">Billboard</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;We paid Kendrick Lamar for a feature, and once we paid them, they basically stopped communicating with us altogether. It was understood that we’d take care of the paperwork with the lawyers, so we paid them and they basically disappeared&#8230; we couldn’t get in contact, so I just continued producing my album and with the verbal agreement we had, and we put out the song in 2015.&#8221;</p>
<p>Heaven Help Dem was supposed to be the lead track on Emile&#8217;s debut album, but instead it was quickly pulled from YouTube, iTunes, Soundcloud and other sites following bogus copyright claims from Lamar&#8217;s label Top Dawg Entertainment Inc., Interscope Records and Universal Music Group.</p>
<p>Emile says that after going back and forth with the labels, they realized that they had no right to take the track down. By then, however, the damage had been done and all momentum to promote the song had been lost. Also faced with the prospect of fans believing that he had stolen the verse from Lamar, Emile decided to take the labels to court in Canada. </p>
<p>In a case before the small claims division of the Court of Quebec, Emile asked for a token amount in damages &#8211; just CAD$15,000 &#8211; after the labels removed his work from the Internet for two months after bogus copyright claims. None appeared in court to defend themselves and Emile won by default.</p>
<p>&#8220;It’s only after the intervention of this lawyer that the song was reinstated on the social media,&#8221; the Court&#8217;s <a href="http://www.canlii.org/en/qc/qccq/doc/2016/2016qccq11725/2016qccq11725.html">judgment</a> reads.</p>
<p>&#8220;While the song was down, and even after it was reinstated, it is clear from the evidence provided that the incomes of the Plaintiff and his reputation was negatively affected from the false report of the Defendants.&#8221;</p>
<p>In most cases there would be earlier rulings to look back on, but the Montreal Court said that it was unable to find anything similar on file. Instead, it used Copyright Act to determine an appropriate damages award.</p>
<p>&#8220;In these circumstances, and after reviewing sections <a href="http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/laws/stat/rsc-1985-c-c-42/latest/rsc-1985-c-c-42.html#sec28.1_smooth">28.1</a>, <a href="http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/laws/stat/rsc-1985-c-c-42/latest/rsc-1985-c-c-42.html#sec28.2_smooth">28.2</a>, <a href="http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/laws/stat/rsc-1985-c-c-42/latest/rsc-1985-c-c-42.html#sec34_smooth">34</a> of the Copyright Act, sections <a href="http://www.canlii.org/en/qc/laws/stat/cqlr-c-c-12/latest/cqlr-c-c-12.html#sec6_smooth">6</a> and <a href="http://www.canlii.org/en/qc/laws/stat/cqlr-c-c-12/latest/cqlr-c-c-12.html#sec49_smooth">49</a> of the Charter of human rights and freedoms and the Cinar judgment [<a href="http://www.canlii.org/en/qc/qccq/doc/2016/2016qccq11725/2016qccq11725.html#_ftn1">1</a>] from the Supreme Court, the Court will allow the discretionary amount of $5,000 as moral and material damages to be solidarily paid by the Defendants and an additional amount of $1,000 per Defendant as punitive damages,&#8221; the Court ruled.</p>
<p>Speaking with <a href="http://www.canadianlawyermag.com/legalfeeds/3539/montreal-musician-wins-small-claim-against-record-labels.html">Legal Feeds</a>, IP expert Noel Courage said he&#8217;d never seen a case where someone had been sued over a takedown notice.</p>
<p>“The Court seemed to say that the takedown affected the moral rights of the musician’s work or performance,” he said.</p>
<p>“Moral rights are the musician’s rights to the integrity of a work. These rights can be infringed if the work is modified without consent, and prejudices the musician’s reputation or honour. This is the first I have heard of the use of moral rights in response to a web music takedown.”</p>
<p>While the Court&#8217;s decision will be welcomed by those who believe the DMCA is too often used as a weapon, Courage said that the case doesn&#8217;t set a strong precedent due to it being heard before a low-level court.</p>
<p>However, “it may give companies pause before giving takedown notices.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gLbqQSrOS7c" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=131504
title: Spain Announces New Campaign to Fight Internet Piracy
uri: Spain-Announces-New-Campaign-to-Fight-Internet-Piracy
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/BkNL4eGueXI/
content:
<p><a href="media/2afc6514.spain-flag.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/spain-flag.jpg"><img src="media/31a0f46d.spain-flag.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/spain-flag.jpg" alt="spain-flag" width="200" height="133" class="alignright size-full wp-image-22866"></a>As residents know already and visitors soon learn, the tackling of piracy and counterfeiting isn&#8217;t a high priority in Spain. From the fake luxury goods on the streets to openly sold pirate TV services, the sixth most populated country in Europe often has other things on its mind.</p>
<p>This week, however, the government said it would re-focus attention on piracy and a number of related issues, including reform of compensation for private copying and tax breaks for live entertainment.</p>
<p>In an announcement before the Congressional Culture Committee, Iñigo Méndez de Vigo, Minister of Education, Culture and Sports, presented the government&#8217;s &#8216;Culture 20/20 Plan&#8217;, the successor to its Strategic Plan for Culture.</p>
<p>Among a basket of cultural-focused measures sits the creation of a special prosecutor&#8217;s office, dedicated to fighting piracy and other intellectual property-related offenses.</p>
<p>The Minister said that strengthening the fight against piracy, both online and offline, is an existing project receiving new life as one of the 20/20 Plan&#8217;s key objectives.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s an old project with the Ministry of Justice and a clear signal that we&#8217;re serious,&#8221; he said, adding that the government will boost its human resources and technological means to tackle the problem at hand.</p>
<p>Turning to Internet piracy in particular, the Minister said that between 2012 and 2016 there had been 491 requests to remove illegal content from websites, almost all of which had been resolved. He reported that just over 50 sites had ceased their activities and 200 more had removed illegal content to move into compliance.</p>
<p>While there was no mention of any warning notice campaigns, such as the one underway in the United States and another <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/uk-isps-to-start-sending-piracy-alerts-soon-161130/">preparing for launch</a> in the UK, Spain plans to run anti-piracy awareness campaigns, both in the media and in classrooms. </p>
<p>&#8220;[We will] raise awareness among schoolchildren to respect property, protect creators and expand cultural heritage,&#8221; the Minister <a href="http://www.diariodeleon.es/noticias/cultura/cultura-crea-fiscalia-perseguir-pirateria_1118676.html">said</a>. </p>
<p>&#8220;We have to achieve a great sensibility, mainly in the schools, so that the children understand that when they are illegally downloading a song they are stealing. It is an issue of education and awareness in which we will take advantage of the fact that Education and Culture are under the same jurisdiction.&#8221;</p>
<p>Also on the agenda is &#8220;urgent&#8221; reform of <a href="https://www.euractiv.com/section/innovation-industry/opinion/private-copying-in-spain-a-slap-in-the-face-for-authors/">unpopular</a> private copying rules and a <a href="http://www.elconfidencial.com/cultura/2016-11-29/mendez-de-vigo-fiscalia-pirateria-comision-cultura_1296991/">promise</a> to &#8220;respond in a balanced manner to the needs of consumers and the different sectors involved.&#8221;</p>
<p>If economic conditions allow, the government also wants to reduce VAT on live entertainment from the current 21% to just 10%.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=131347
title: Free TV-Show Streaming Hurts Online Sales, Research Finds
uri: Free-TV-Show-Streaming-Hurts-Online-Sales-Research-Finds
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/eO2WBpLmKQA/
content:
<p><img src="media/468f0769.streamingkey.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/streamingkey.jpg" alt="streamingkey" width="250" height="167" class="alignright size-full wp-image-125426">Over the past decade, TV and movie companies have taken part in a massive experiment in which they&#8217;ve had to reinvent their business models, adopting to rapidly changing demands from consumers. </p>
<p>The first wave of change was triggered by BitTorrent, which allowed downloading huge video files with ease, something that wasn&#8217;t possible before. </p>
<p>The movie industry responded by offering their own online video download options, and with bandwidth getting cheaper and more readily available, streaming services soon followed. </p>
<p>However, having legal options available is just a tiny part of the puzzle. The next challenge is to set them up in a way so that people will actually use them, while optimizing revenue long-term. For example, should you allow people to stream your content for free online?</p>
<p>A new study by Carnegie Mellon University researchers aims to provide some empirical evidence on this issue. Using streaming and sales data for the popular show Downton Abbey, provided by PBS, they estimate the impact of free streaming on direct download (EST) sales. </p>
<p>The results, published <a href="http://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2016/EBusiness/Presentations/7/">in a paper</a> for the upcoming International Conference on Information Systems, show that legal streaming options can hurt download sales significantly. </p>
<p>The researchers were able to estimate the impact in a natural experiment, since PBS was required to pull the free streams for all episodes at the same time. This means that some were streamable for more than a month, while others only for a week, or two. </p>
<p><center><strong>PBS&#8217; free treaming window for Downton Abbey season 5</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/fa2dd617.pbswindow.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pbswindow.jpg" alt="pbswindow" width="500" height="246" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-131519"></center></p>
<p>In addition, they had sales data for several seasons, allowing them to make an alternative comparison between years, where the streaming windows varied. In both cases, they show that free streaming cannibalizes download sales.</p>
<p>&#8220;Our analysis in our primary specification indicates that availability in the free streaming window reduces EST sales by 8.4%. Using an alternative specification we find that free availability reduces EST sales by 9.9%,&#8221; they write. </p>
<p>The negative effect is not unexpected. However, it doesn&#8217;t mean that it is wrong to offer free streaming in the long run, as there are several positive side-effects. That&#8217;s where the puzzle starts to get complicated. </p>
<p>&#8220;For example, free streaming platforms owned by the broadcast network can draw new users to the platform, providing the network with valuable data about its viewers, and a stronger platform as consumers switch from consumption through broadcast television to online stream,&#8221; the researchers note. </p>
<p>&#8220;Networks also benefit from advertising sponsorship on their streaming channels. Streaming platforms may also enable customer discovery of other shows, or increase overall consumer goodwill,&#8221; they add.</p>
<p>And then there&#8217;s still piracy. </p>
<p>While unathorized downloads and streams weren&#8217;t factored into this study, the researchers point out that previous research has shown that making content legally available decreases demand for piracy. </p>
<p>For example, a 2015 study revealed that ABC&#8217;s decision to add their content to Hulu reduced piracy for this content. This shows that legal streaming may also have a positive long-term effect by decreasing people&#8217;s piracy habits. </p>
<p>Although the current results are important from a managerial perspective, it might just leave more questions than it answered. In any case, the puzzle of how to offer video content while maximizing revenues in the long run, is far from solved.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=131640
title: Steal This Show S02E07: The Early Days of Private Trackers
uri: Steal-This-Show-S02E07-The-Early-Days-of-Private-Trackers
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/vp_jGjl3hXU/
content:
<p><strong><sup><em>If you enjoy this episode, consider becoming a patron and getting involved with the show. <a href="https://patreon.com/user?u=4275705">Check out Steal This Show&#8217;s Patreon campaign</a>: support us and get all kinds of&nbsp;fantastic benefits!</em></sup></strong></p>
<p><img src="media/e051b784.grey-lodge.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/grey-lodge.jpg" alt="grey-lodge" width="300" height="206" class="alignright size-full wp-image-131644">In this episode we hear from Joe Matheny, one of the founders of the underground private torrent tracker The Grey Lodge.</p>
<p>Before it shut down, the site was used by millions of people per month in their quest to uncover the esoteric, strange and the downright weird. </p>
<p>Today we discuss the challenges of running a private underground tracker from the earliest days of BitTorrent, how even weirdos eventually get pursued by the MPAA, and how the demise of indie trackers from Grey Lodge to What.CD mean a net loss for our culture.</p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<p><a href="https://stealthisshow.com">Steal This Show</a> aims to release bi-weekly episodes featuring insiders discussing copyright and file-sharing news. It complements our regular reporting by adding more room for opinion, commentary, and analysis. </p>
<p>The guests for our news discussions will vary, and we&#8217;ll aim to introduce voices from different backgrounds and persuasions. In addition to news, STS will also produce features interviewing some of the great innovators and minds. </p>
<p><strong>Host:</strong> Jamie King</p>
<p><strong>Guest:</strong> Joe Matheny</p>
<p><center><iframe width="100%" height="180px" src="//stealthisshow.com/?lpe-frame=1&#038;lpe-season=2&#038;lpe-episode=07" frameborder="0"></iframe></center></p>
<p><strong>Produced </strong> <em>by </em>Jamie King<br>
<strong>Edited &#038; Mixed</strong> <em>by</em> Riley Byrne<br>
<strong>Original Music</strong> <em>by</em> David Triana<br>
<strong>Web Production</strong> <em>by</em> Siraje Amarniss</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=131522
title: Court Overturns ‘Pirate’ Site Blockade Based on EU Ruling
uri: Court-Overturns-Pirate-Site-Blockade-Based-on-EU-Ruling
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/trfLS9Zjh90/
content:
<p>Early November, police in Italy targeted <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/court-orders-landmark-mass-blocking-of-152-pirate-sites-161108/">more than 150 sites</a> involved in the unauthorized streaming of movies and sports.</p>
<p>The Special Units of the Guardia di Finanza obtained a mass injunction from a judge in Rome, heralding the largest ever blocking operation in the country.</p>
<p>At the time, Fulvia Sarzana, a lawyer specializing in Internet and copyright disputes, described the move as &#8220;sensational.&#8221; Since then he&#8217;s been defending one of the sites targeted by the sweeping action and now reports success thanks to an EU ruling.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.kisstube.tv/cinema/full-movies/">Kisstube.tv</a> is a site that acts an index for movies hosted elsewhere. A cursory skim through its archives reveals plenty of content in both Italian and English, mainly stored on YouTube.</p>
<p>According to Sarzana, until the action last month Kisstube had never received any infringement complaints. Nevertheless, it found itself blocked along with dozens of other sites without any pre-action discussion.</p>
<p>After being hired by Kisstube, Sarzana took the <a href="http://www.lidis.it/en/embedding-not-copyright-infringement-romes-court-appeal-stated">site&#8217;s case</a> to the Rome Court of Appeal, arguing that it should have never been ordered to be blocked. At first view and perhaps surprisingly, the Court agreed and overturned the injunction against the site. So what was its reasoning?</p>
<p>Like many other similar sites, Kisstube hosts none of its own content. The site embeds videos that are stored elsewhere, on hosting platforms such as YouTube.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Kisstube portal links to YouTube, where there is the Content ID system and a notice and takedown system, just as there is a notice and takedown system on the Kisstube site,&#8221; Sarzana informs TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>&#8220;I do not know whether they are copyrighted films and allowed on YouTube, but in this case it should have been YouTube that removed any pirated movies. The site that embeds the content can not be held responsible.&#8221;</p>
<p>In handing down its decision the Court of Appeals considered two rulings from the European Court of Justice.</p>
<p>The first involved water filtering company BestWater International, who accused two men of copyright infringement after they embedded a Bestwater promotional video in their website in a YouTube frame. Even though the video had been uploaded to YouTube without Bestwater&#8217;s permission, the Court found that embedding the content in a third-party site <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/embedding-copyright-infringement-eu-court-rules-141025/">did not amount to infringement</a>.</p>
<p>The second more <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/eu-court-not-for-profit-hyperlinking-usually-not-infringement-160908/">recent case</a> involved Dutch blog GeenStijl.nl, which published an article linking to leaked Playboy photos which were stored on file-hosting site FileFactory.</p>
<p>&#8220;I do not like mass-blocking and am convinced that before a judge you can always explain your case,&#8221; Sarzana told TF following his win for KissTube.</p>
<p>However, the lawyer says that the future may be more complex. New rules under discussion have the potential to limit the freedoms of sites that rely on user-uploaded content. </p>
<p>&#8220;My fear is that the new EU rules on copyright <a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:52016PC0593&#038;from=EN">under discussion</a> are trying to put rules in place which would prohibit any type of linking and embedding to overcome the protection that the EU Court of Justice has guaranteed UGC portals like Youtube,&#8221; Sarzana concludes.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=128609
title: What.cd is Dead, But The Torrent Hydra Lives on
uri: What-cd-is-Dead-But-The-Torrent-Hydra-Lives-on
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/oQ9ZZBYYEi4/
content:
<p><img src="media/68ff8de5.what.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/what.jpg" alt="what" width="220" height="78" class="alignright size-full wp-image-27967">During the fall of 2007, tens of thousands of passionate music fans mourned <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/oinkcd-servers-raided-admin-arrested/">the loss</a> of the private music tracker OiNK.</p>
<p>One of the many avid users of the site was &#8216;WhatMan,&#8217; who instead of crying in a corner decided to team up with others and build a new music tracker for all OiNK refugees.</p>
<p>“I felt sick to my stomach all morning,” WhatMan said at the time. </p>
<p>“We plan to grow into a large tracker – probably not as large as OiNK, and not as open, but eventually I would like to support at least a hundred thousand users,” he added.</p>
<p>This vision came to pass. Nine years later What.cd had more than 144,000 users, who together amassed 2,675,120 torrents, featuring 885,556 artists. Several users equated it to the Library of Alexandria for digital music.</p>
<p>Two weeks ago this library was <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/what-cd-shuts-down-following-reported-raids-in-france-161117/">burnt to the ground</a>. French military police raided the site&#8217;s hosting company and took twelve servers, after which the What.cd team decided to pull the plug for good. </p>
<p>Over the years, What.cd&#8217;s music collection had outgrown that of its predecessor many times over but in a matter of a few hours, everything was gone. Or was it?</p>
<p>Soon after the shutdown, discussions began on other private trackers and elsewhere. Most people agreed that a new tracker should follow the path What.cd took nine years ago, and after the weekend was over, several alternatives were already up and running. </p>
<p>One of the new trackers is PassTheHeadphones (PTH), a name that&#8217;s obviously inspired by the PassThePopcorn site. As is often the case with private trackers, getting on board isn&#8217;t easy. At the time of writing the membership is capped at 10,000 users, but it&#8217;s expected that many more will follow. </p>
<p>According to one of the recruitment threads on a private tracker, the site is run by familiar faces in the community. </p>
<p>&#8220;Pass The Headphones is a new music tracker that aims to fill the void left in the wake of what.cd shutting down. Run by some familiar faces in the private tracker community, security is at the top of the list of priorities,&#8221; the message reads. </p>
<p>The rate at which PTH has been building its music library is impressive. The site is quickly closing in on its 200,000th torrent, which is the same number the original OiNK tracker had at its height. </p>
<p><center><strong>PTH</strong><br></center><center><a href="media/9138dde7.pthst.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/pthst.jpg"><img src="media/a9081647.pthst.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pthst.jpg" alt="pthst" width="600" height="389" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-131656"></a></center></p>
<p>Another popular new tracker is Apollo, which was first launched with the name Xanax. This tracker has more users than PTH, but fewer torrents, at least when we last saw the stats. </p>
<p>Both PTH and Apollo run on the Gazelle tracker software, which was originally developed by the What.cd team. The same goes for other, smaller trackers that appeared recently, including the properly named NotWhat.cd tracker that surfaced a few days ago. </p>
<p>The NotWhat team says they&#8217;ve postponed their launch in order to beef up security. According to the site&#8217;s staff, security of the userbase and infrastructure is their top priority.</p>
<p>&#8220;The time has been spent securing the Gazelle codebase, securing the server infrastructure and minimizing personally identifiable information. NotWhat.cd DOES NOT store IRC IP logs, user access logs are wiped on a regular basis and our staff members are vetted, trusted members of the community,&#8221; they announced.</p>
<p>These precautions are not unwarranted and something NoStream.co, another aspiring What.cd replacement, learned the hard way. </p>
<p>This new tracker was compromised last week. All users were promoted to sysop and soon after emails of users started <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/trackers/comments/5ey20n/nostream_emails_leaked/">leaking online</a>. As a result, Nostream was forced to throw in the towel after a few days. </p>
<p>While it&#8217;s too early to call winners or losers, it&#8217;s clear that history is repeating itself. You can shut down the largest digital music library in the world but as a result, several new ones have been created, which may grow to become even bigger than the original.</p>
<p>A few years ago <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/what-cd-bittorrent-tracker-breaks-a-million-torrents-101222/">WhatMan told TorrentFreak</a> that he was happy to see other trackers using Gazelle. It seems fitting to repeat this as the final words today, to complete the circle.</p>
<p>“It gives me great pleasure to see other trackers running on our code. By releasing the Gazelle frontend and the Ocelot tracker, our goal was to make it easier for admins to run large sites and for users to download content,” WhatMan said at the time. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=131530
title: Mandatory Piracy Filters May Violate EU Law, Scholars Warn
uri: Mandatory-Piracy-Filters-May-Violate-EU-Law-Scholars-Warn
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/AwUKcw3zZKk/
content:
<p><img src="media/ededf114.upload.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/upload.jpg" alt="upload" width="180" height="125" class="alignright size-full wp-image-70533">Last September, the European Commission published its <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/eu-proposes-mandatory-piracy-filters-for-online-services-160914/">long-awaited proposal</a> to modernize EU copyright law. Among other things, it will require online services to do more to fight piracy.</p>
<p>Specifically, Article 13 of the proposed Copyright Directive requires online services to monitor and filter pirated content, in collaboration with rightsholders. </p>
<p>This means that online services, which deal with large volumes of user-uploaded content, must use fingerprinting or other detection mechanisms to block copyright infringing files.</p>
<p>“The Commission proposal obliges such service providers to take appropriate and proportionate measures to ensure the protection of user-uploaded works, for example by putting in place content recognition technologies,” the Commission explained.</p>
<p>The Commission stressed that the changes are needed to reinforce the negotiating position of copyright holders, so they can sign licensing agreements with services that provide access to user-uploaded content.</p>
<p>However, the proposal is drawing wide criticism from the public, digital rights activists, and legal scholars. Just recently, a group of legal experts bundled several of their main concerns in a <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2875296">paper</a>. </p>
<p>TorrentFreak spoke with <a href="http://www.southampton.ac.uk/law/about/staff/sophie_stalla.page">Dr. Sophie Stalla-Bourdillon</a>, Associate Professor in IT and IP law at the University of Southampton, who is one of the authors of the paper.</p>
<p>Stalla-Bourdillon and her colleagues warn that, in its current form, the proposal goes against existing EU law. </p>
<p>For one, the general obligation to monitor the content that users are transmitting, directly opposes Article 15 of the <a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32000L0031:en:HTML">E-Commerce Directive</a>. This article prohibits general monitoring obligations for service providers.</p>
<p>&#8220;Such an obligation [to monitor contents] goes against Article 15 of the E-commerce Directive, which prevents Member States from imposing upon intermediary providers general monitoring obligations,&#8221; she notes.  </p>
<p>More importantly, the legal scholars also note that the filtering requirement also contradict Articles 8 and 11 of the <a href="media/5a77c1db.text_en.pdf" data-original-source="http://www.europarl.europa.eu/charter/pdf/text_en.pdf">EU Charter</a> of Fundamental Rights. These articles protect people&#8217;s freedom of expression and access to information, as well as their personal data.</p>
<p>Both articles were also cited in the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/eu-court-bans-anti-piracy-filters-on-hosting-services-120216/">Netlog filtering case</a> that went before the EU Court of Justice (CJEU) a few years ago. At the time, the Court held that requiring an online platform to install broad piracy filters is incompatible with EU law.</p>
<p>In the proposed Copyright Directive the filters will be put in place in collaboration with rightsholders. However, that doesn&#8217;t change the fact that the human rights dimension is largely ignored.</p>
<p>&#8220;Requiring that filtering systems be put in place in collaboration with rightholders is not enough to eliminate these human rights challenges,&#8221; Stalla-Bourdillon says.</p>
<p>&#8220;The CJEU did not imply in Netlog that if the database of protected works was produced in collaboration with rightholders themselves, the general obligation to monitor imposed upon the service provider would thus be transformed into a permissible, special obligation to monitor.&#8221; </p>
<p>With their paper, the researchers are making a case for a complete re-assessment of the filtering requirement. They ask the EU Commission to carefully look at the new requirements, and make sure that they are in line with existing case law and legislation. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=131576
title: SACEM Provides Details on Recent Torrent Site Raids in France
uri: SACEM-Provides-Details-on-Recent-Torrent-Site-Raids-in-France
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/URX6jXNJMv4/
content:
<p>Two weeks ago and seemingly out of the blue, popular private music tracker What.cd <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/what-cd-shuts-down-following-reported-raids-in-france-161117/">went offline</a>. French military police targeted some of the site&#8217;s infrastructure at hosting provider OVH and the site responded by deleting itself.</p>
<p>The news came as a huge disappointment to the site&#8217;s users and the wider torrent community as a whole, but French police weren&#8217;t done yet.</p>
<p>In a follow-up action, French Gendarmerie <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/police-shut-down-frances-largest-pirate-site161129/">targeted</a> Zone-Telechargement (Download Zone), the country&#8217;s largest pirate site and 11th most-visited website in the region overall. That site went down too, closely followed by affiliated DDL site, DL-Protect.</p>
<p>Behind all of these actions is <a href="https://www.sacem.fr/en">SACEM</a>, the Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers of Music. This industry group has a mandate to collect and distribute royalties while protecting the copyrights of its members. And according to its general secretary, they&#8217;re only just getting started.</p>
<p>In an interview with French news site <a href="http://www.lemonde.fr/pixels/article/2016/11/29/zone-telechargement-pour-la-sacem-il-n-y-a-plus-d-impunite-pour-les-pirates_5040509_4408996.html">Le Monde</a>, David El Sayegh said that SACEM and the police hadn&#8217;t &#8220;just woken up&#8221; to pirate sites operating in France. The actions against both What.cd and Zone-Telechargement were the result of a &#8220;long process and meticulous work.&#8221;</p>
<p>The SACEM chief said the investigation into the two million direct download link Zone-Telechargement began two years ago in partnership with another local anti-piracy outfit. It turned up a lot of useful information.</p>
<p>&#8220;We filed a complaint in 2014, joined by ALPA (French Association for the Fight against Piracy). This process was to identify accounts, assets, servers and advertising agencies. It&#8217;s always quite a complex and sophisticated system, they are large investigations,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>&#8220;There were many advertisements on the site, often pornographic. [Zone-Telechargement] generated at least 1.5 million euros in sales per year, with offshore accounts located in Malta, Cyprus and Belize.&#8221;</p>
<p>David El Sayegh said that rightsholders were looking at damages of more than<br>
75 million euros but the operators of the site were no longer resident in France. That didn&#8217;t stop their arrests, however. Seven people were arrested on Monday in France and Andorra, with police there calling the action &#8216;<a href="http://www.policia.ad/premsa/2016/2016_11_28_20h30.html">Operation Gervais</a>&#8216;.</p>
<p>&#8220;The two administrators, arrested by international mandates, had left France to settle in Andorra. Large seizures of assets were carried out: luxury cars, real estate, and savings accounts,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>The Gendarmerie confirmed the seizure of 450,000 euros and two cars and said that the men, both aged 24, were &#8220;repeat offenders.&#8221; Authorities in Andorra confirmed that 250,000 euros across several accounts had been frozen.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are looking at a case of counterfeiting for profit, on a large scale,&#8221; El Sayegh continued. &#8220;These people do not pay taxes, they do not pay the rightful rightsholders, they do not respect anything. They have developed a very organized and sophisticated mechanism to voluntarily operate outside the law.&#8221;</p>
<p>With the site targeted in France and its operators arrested in Andorra, the operation spread further afield. SACEM says that servers were also seized in Germany and as far away as Iceland, a country often associated with high levels of privacy.</p>
<p>Of course, the recent shutdowns were very unpopular with users, but El Sayegh said that the law is on SACEM&#8217;s side.</p>
<p>&#8220;These are counterfeit business activities, these are people who have grown rich on the backs of creators. They make millions without paying one euro to creators. They are thugs who should not have the compassion of one person, and who will answer for their acts before justice.&#8221;</p>
<p>But while harshly criticizing site operators, El Sayegh tone was a little more moderate when speaking of their users. He asked them to consider how creators are to earn a living in the face of piracy but suggested that they&#8217;re only chasing the bigger fish.</p>
<p>&#8220;The challenge is mainly to stop those who trade works. But the objective above all is to attack the evil at its source, and the administrators of the pirate sites,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>Other unnamed targets are also in SACEM&#8217;s sights. However, it seems unlikely that many sites will continue their stay in France following the events of the past couple of weeks.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=131553
title: Ten Years in Jail For UK Internet Pirates: How the New Bill Reads
uri: Ten-Years-in-Jail-For-UK-Internet-Pirates-How-the-New-Bill-Reads
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/_RHKjAfhzo8/
content:
<p><a href="media/5d2dadcb.parliament.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/parliament.jpg"><img src="media/322b8853.parliament.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/parliament.jpg" alt="parliament" width="180" height="135" class="alignright size-full wp-image-82702"></a>This week, Members of Parliament debated the Report stage and <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2016/september/commons-digital-economy-bill/">Third Reading</a> of the Digital Economy Bill in the House of Commons. The bill is broad in scope and has the ability to upset Internet users in a number of ways.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/nov/23/censor-non-conventional-sex-acts-online-internet-pornography?CMP=twt_a-technology_b-gdntech">reported by The Guardian</a> this week, if the bill passes web users in the UK will be banned from websites which portray certain sex acts, all of which are entirely legal between consenting adults in the country. Websites which fail to stop UK residents from viewing such content <a href="https://www.openrightsgroup.org/campaigns/digital-economy-bill-hub/stop-uk-censorship-of-legal-content">will be blocked</a>.</p>
<p>Here at TF we&#8217;ve been keeping an eye on the proposed changes to the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA) which will affect people who share copyrighted content online. </p>
<p>As previously reported, the government&#8217;s main aim is to harmonize penalties for offline infringements with those carried out online, chiefly by upping the maximum penalty from <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/uk-bill-introduces-10-year-prison-sentence-for-online-pirates-160706/">two to ten years in prison</a>. The latest bill published this week puts some additional meat on the bones.</p>
<p>As things stand under current law, <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/48/section/107">section 107</a> (criminal liability for making or dealing with infringing articles) reads as follows:</p>
<blockquote><p><em>(2A) A person who infringes copyright in a work by communicating the work to the public —</p>
<p>(a) in the course of a business, or</p>
<p>(b) otherwise than in the course of a business to such an extent as to affect prejudicially the owner of the copyright,</p>
<p>commits an offense if he knows or has reason to believe that, by doing so, he is infringing copyright in that work.</em></p></blockquote>
<p>The latest draft amendment makes no mention of carrying out infringement during the course of business. Instead, for a person to be held criminally liable for distribution (such as uploading), they only need to have reason to believe something infringes copyright while making a personal gain, a gain for someone else, or exposing a copyright owner to the mere risk of loss.</p>
<blockquote><p><em>(2A) A person (“P”) who infringes copyright in a work by communicating the work to the public commits an offense if P —</p>
<p>(a) knows or has reason to believe that P is infringing copyright in the work, and<br>
(b) either —<br>
(i) intends to make a gain for P or another person, or<br>
(ii) knows or has reason to believe that communicating the work to the public  will cause loss to the owner of the copyright, or will expose the owner of the copyright to a risk of loss.</em></p></blockquote>
<p>In this context, the words &#8216;gain&#8217; and &#8216;loss&#8217; are very important. For the avoidance of doubt, the draft sets the bar as low as it can practically go.</p>
<blockquote><p><em>(2B) For the purposes of subsection (2A) —<br>
(a) “gain” and “loss” —<br>
(i) extend only to gain or loss in money, and<br>
(ii) include  any  such  gain  or loss  whether  temporary  or<br>
permanent, and<br>
(b) “loss” includes a loss by not getting what one might get.</em></p></blockquote>
<p>Similar amendments are proposed for section 198 of the CDPA, which deals with &#8216;Criminal liability for making, dealing with or using illicit recordings&#8217;. </p>
<p>&#8220;These are recordings made without the consent of the performer (i.e. piracy or bootlegging). Bootlegging is the recording, duplication and sale of a performance such as a live concert stage performance without the permission of the performer,&#8221; a <a href="http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/h_to_k/intellectual_property_crime/">description</a> from the Crown Prosecution Service reads.</p>
<p>Like the amendments to section 107, gone are the references in <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/48/section/198">current legislation</a> to offenses carried out in the course of a business. Instead, the wording closely follows the section detailed above.</p>
<blockquote><p><em>(1A) A person (“P”) who infringes a performer’s making available right in a recording commits an offense if P —</p>
<p>(a) knows or has reason to believe that P is infringing the right, and<br>
(b)either—<br>
(i) intends to make a gain for P or another person, or<br>
(ii) knows or has reason to believe that infringing the right will cause loss  to  the  owner  of  the  right, or expose the owner of the right to a risk of loss.</em></p></blockquote>
<p>In common with the amendments to section 107, to be found criminally liable an infringer will only need to expose a rightsholder to the risk of loss, not an actual loss. </p>
<p>While at several points MPs have insisted that these legislative amendments won&#8217;t target the man in the street or the casual file-sharer, there appears to be nothing in the above that excludes a person who shares a single movie, song, or indeed bootleg recording, from being branded a criminal by the state.</p>
<p>The full draft bill can be downloaded <a href="media/1f3f7881.17080.pdf" data-original-source="http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/lbill/2016-2017/0080/17080.pdf">here</a> <em>(pdf, 180 pages)</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=131420
title: Alphareign: DHT Search Engine Takes Public Torrents Private
uri: Alphareign-DHT-Search-Engine-Takes-Public-Torrents-Private
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/q0FKISWHmCs/
content:
<p><img src="media/ee7a80a3.ar.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ar.png" alt="ar" width="186" height="71" class="alignright size-full wp-image-131601">For well over a decade, there&#8217;s been a clear distinction between public indexes and private trackers in the torrent community. </p>
<p>The first are open to anyone, and prominently visible in general search engines. The latter prefer to keep a lower profile, and often require users to maintain a healthy share ratio. </p>
<p>In recent weeks, an odd newcomer appeared online that is neither public nor private, according to the established definitions. </p>
<p><a href="https://alphareign.se/">AlphaReign.se</a> is a new site that allows users to find torrents gathered from BitTorrent&#8217;s &#8216;trackerless&#8217; Distributed Hash Table, or DHT for short. While we have seen DHT search engines before, this one requires an account to gain access.</p>
<p>Private, in this case, is relative, as the operator has publicly shared an <a href="https://alphareign.se/invite/5807f7b36f5cf">invite</a> link that allows anyone to join. However, there is a good reason why this roadblock was put in place.</p>
<p>&#8220;The main reason is that if we have a login, we can keep torrents from being indexed by search engines and thus DMCA&#8217;d much less frequently. We can also block abusive users,&#8221; AlphaReign&#8217;s Prefinem tells TorrentFreak. </p>
<p>&#8220;While it does create a barrier to entry, we feel the increased control will help us last longer than traditional torrent search engines,&#8221; he adds.</p>
<p><center><strong>AR&#8217;s login</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/371b9251.alphareignlogin.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/alphareignlogin.png" alt="alphareignlogin" width="500" height="388" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-131600"></center></p>
<p>This is quite an interesting development. Most public torrent sites work very hard to be visible in regular torrent search engines in order to drive more traffic to the site. AlphaReign, however, appears to give priority to fending off takedown requests. </p>
<p>For the operator, the DHT search engine is a culmination of previous experiments. In the past, he coded more traditional torrent indexes that relied on trackers, but these often shut down.</p>
<p>&#8220;With the new AlphaReign, I wanted to build a search engine that didn&#8217;t rely on trackers since these can be taken offline,&#8221; Prefinem says.</p>
<p>Another advantage is that he no longer has to scrape torrents from external sites. Instead, he crawls the open DHT network for new content and adds this to his existing search index. </p>
<p>At the time of writing, AlphaReign lists 5.7 million public torrents. Aside from having to login, the site functions like a regular search engine, listing magnet links in the results instead of torrents.</p>
<p><center><strong>AR&#8217;s search results</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/ada991bd.ARsearch.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ARsearch.png" alt="arsearch" width="600" height="208" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-131618"></center></p>
<p>The site&#8217;s operator notes that the site is still a work in progress, but thus far feedback on sites such as <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/torrents/comments/5bpbsu/feedback_requested_new_torrent_site/">Reddit</a> has been positive. </p>
<p>In the future, he hopes to expand AlphaReign with new software that allows users to search the DHT network on their own devices, with help from peers. Such a system would remain online, even if the website itself goes down.    </p>
<p>&#8220;This is a long-term goal, but one I believe is necessary for torrents to stay alive. Think of it as like a Tor node, that passes DHT queries in-between all the nodes and each node runs an independent search engine that can be queried by anyone,&#8221; Prefinem explains. </p>
<p>Regular readers may notice that AlphaReign shows a lot of similarities with the defunct DHT search engine <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/strike-public-tracker-dht-searches-presented-cleanly-150321/">Strike</a>. However, Prefinem assures us that it was developed from scratch. In fact, he had never even heard of Strike until this week.</p>
<p>It will be interesting to see how a private DHT search engine will perform in the long run and whether the operator will achieve his goals. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=131674
title: Aussie Celebrities Join Campaign to Oppose Fair Use
uri: Aussie-Celebrities-Join-Campaign-to-Oppose-Fair-Use
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/saEL-LxmCUs/
content:
<p><img src="media/53490471.aus.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/aus.jpg" width="250" height="159" alt="" class="alignright size-large">Earlier this year, the Australian Government’s Productivity Commission published a Draft Report on Intellectual Property Arrangements. It recommended various amendments to local copyright law.</p>
<p>As previously <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/aussie-gov-agency-endorses-vpn-use-to-reduce-piracy-160429/">reported</a>, the Commission suggested allowing the use of VPNs and similar technologies to enable consumers to bypass restrictive geo-blocking. It also tabled proposals to lower the length of time content remains protected by copyright and suggested the introduction of fair use exceptions.</p>
<p>Australia currently employs a &#8220;fair dealing&#8221; approach. Specific exemptions for research or study, criticism or review, parody or satire, news reporting and certain use within legal circles are available. Under a &#8220;fair use&#8221; arrangement, it&#8217;s envisioned that a use would not necessarily have to fall into the categories above to be fair.</p>
<p>&#8220;This is one of the key benefits of fair use. Unlike the fair dealing provisions, fair use is not limited to a set of prescribed purposes,&#8221; the Australian Law Reform Commission <a href="https://www.alrc.gov.au/publications/4-case-fair-use-australia/what-fair-use">explains</a>.</p>
<p>While the Commission insists that under &#8220;fair use&#8221; it will still be possible to outlaw instances where infringement undermines the ordinary exploitation of a work, copyright holders are not convinced. They see the introduction of fair use as an erosion of their rights.</p>
<p>For example, Foxtel says that fair use would introduce &#8220;significant and unnecessary uncertainty into Australian law&#8221; while undermining copyright protection that&#8217;s essential for &#8220;protecting investment in Australia‘s cultural industries.”</p>
<p>As 2016 enters its final weeks, momentum against fair use is building. A new campaign launched by the Copyright Agency alongside royalties and anti-piracy group <a href="http://apraamcos.com.au">APRA AMCOS</a> hopes to convince lawmakers that culture itself is under threat.</p>
<p>The campaign comes in two slightly different flavors &#8220;This Song Changed My Life&#8221; and &#8220;This Book Changed My Life.&#8221; It has many Australian celebrities uploading short videos to the <a href="http://www.changedmylife.com.au/">campaign site</a> in which they explain how songs and books changed their lives.</p>
<p>&#8220;Your choices around how you access creative content can have a real impact. Books, songs, plays, movies, art and even poems are powered by copyright. Copyright helps take our Australian voices, our unique take on life, to the world,&#8221; the campaign notes read.</p>
<p>&#8220;You can show your respect for creators by pledging to pay for the creations you love, asking before you use other people’s creative work, crediting creators for their work and letting others know that it’s important to you. By showing your respect in this way, you can help an author, musician or artist to keep creating amazing and powerful works for us to enjoy.&#8221;</p>
<p>For royalties outfit the Copyright Agency, the introduction of fair use could mean a significant reduction in revenues. Currently the agency collects between AUS$17 and AUS$30 per student per year when teachers copy and share content with their students. Under fair use, arguably that same freedom could be obtained for free.</p>
<p>Author and TV personality Tara Moss told News.com.au that the introduction of fair use would mean that creators have to go to court to protect their rights.</p>
<p>“Court battles are not something most authors can afford, and history tells us that a lot of this style of fair use benefits big companies the most, including tech companies, while smaller businesses and individuals, including writers, lose their rights to fair compensation,” she <a href="http://www.news.com.au/technology/home-entertainment/australian-celebrities-join-the-copyright-war-amid-debate-over-fair-use-provisions/news-story/0d76b323afbf1413ca37c4295d46262c">said</a>.</p>
<p>Following the publication of the government’s Productivity Commission draft in April, the final report detailing all of the proposed changes to copyright law is currently with the government. It&#8217;s expected to be tabled in parliament during the first quarter of 2017.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=131669
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week – 12/05/16
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-12-05-16
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/wTgwVv2VZUM/
content:
<p><img src="media/5b1cd75e.benhur.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/benhur.jpg" alt="benhur" width="300" height="167" class="alignright size-full wp-image-131355">This week we have four newcomers in our chart. </p>
<p>Ben Hur is the most downloaded movie for the second week in a row.</p>
<p>The data for our weekly download chart is estimated by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only. All the movies in the list are Web-DL/Webrip/HDRip/BDrip/DVDrip unless stated otherwise.</p>
<p><a href="http://TorrentFreak.com/category/dvdrip/feed/"><strong>RSS feed</strong></a> for the weekly movie download chart.</p>
<h5>This week&#8217;s most downloaded movies are:</h5>
<table class="css hover">
<thead>
<tr>
<th width="12%"><strong>Movie Rank</strong></th>
<th width="15%"><strong>Rank <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-pirated-movies-week-112816/">last week</a></strong></th>
<th><strong>Movie name</strong></th>
<th width="18%"><strong>IMDb Rating / Trailer</strong></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tfoot>
<tr>
<td colspan="4">Most downloaded movies via torrents</td>
</tr>
</tfoot>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>1</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/ben-hur-torrent-downloads/">Ben Hur</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2638144/">5.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLJdzky63BA">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://torrentfreak.com/inferno-torrent-downloads/">Inferno</a> (subbed HDrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3062096/">6.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RH2BD49sEZI">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/fantastic-beasts-find-torrent-downloads/">Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them</a> (TS)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3183660/">7.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vso5o11LuGU">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/petes-dragon-torrent-downloads/">Pete&#8217;s Dragon</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2788732/">7.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPOamb6d_20">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://torrentfreak.com/accountant-torrent-downloads/">The Accountant</a> (subbed HDrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2140479/">7.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBfsgcswlYQ">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/sully-torrent-downloads/">Sully</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3263904/">7.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjKEXxO2KNE">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/doctor-strange-torrent-downloads/">Doctor Strange</a> (Cam/TS)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1211837">8.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSzx-zryEgM">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/snowden-torrent-downloads/">Snowden</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3774114/">7.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KyltHXrxVk">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(6)</td>
<td><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/suicide-squad-torrent-downloads/">Suicide Squad</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1386697/">6.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmRih_VtVAs">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/storks-torrent-downloads/">Storks</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4624424/">7.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ubGgmaexv8">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=131676
title: 4shared’s Piracy ‘Fingerprint’ Tool Helps to Reduce Takedown Notices
uri: 4shared-s-Piracy-Fingerprint-Tool-Helps-to-Reduce-Takedown-Not
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/SBrnKcMWlZ4/
content:
<p><img src="media/6466fd63.4shared-1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/4shared-1.jpg" alt="4shared" width="277" height="91" class="alignright size-full wp-image-118093">With millions of regular visitors, both via the web and through mobile apps, <a href="http://www.4shared.com/">4shared</a> is one of the largest file-sharing services. </p>
<p>As with many other sites in this niche, copyright holders often complain about the pirated files that are available on the site. Interestingly, however, most complaints are sent to Google.</p>
<p>Over the past several years the search engine has received a massive <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/google-asked-to-remove-50-million-4shared-links-161104/">50 million</a> takedown requests for 4shared URLs alone. 4shared itself, which has a DMCA takedown procedure in place, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/4shared-copyright-holders-abuse-googles-dmca-takedown-system-161123/">receives only a fraction</a> of this number.</p>
<p>Speaking with TorrentFreak, 4shared says that it is trying to do its best to keep rightsholders happy. They have provided several with a direct-delete account, so they can take infringing files offline as quickly as possible.</p>
<p>In addition, 4shared is using the fingerprinting software <a href="http://echoprint.me/">Echoprint</a> to detect and remove pirated files from its service. This helped the file-hosting site to reduce the number of takedown requests they receive significantly.</p>
<p>&#8220;This is our latest and the most efficient system for taking down copyrighted audio files,&#8221; 4shared&#8217;s Mike tells us.</p>
<p>&#8220;We can see that the volume of removal requests keeps reducing from month to month. It has already reached approximately 6,000 per month, which is fifteen times less that the 90,000 monthly requests we received at the beginning of 2015.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><strong>Takedown requests 4shared received</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/f194ba5f.4sharedtakedown.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/4sharedtakedown.jpg" alt="4sharedtakedown" width="564" height="270" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-131713"></center></p>
<p>While 4shared has been using the content recognition software for quite a while already, not all copyright holders are eager to use it. Several large industry groups such as IFPI refuse to provide 4shared with fingerprint data. </p>
<p>As a result, the file-hosting service decided to build its own database based on the takedown notices they receive.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are gathering the data this way, because IFPI declines our request to provide &#8216;fingerprints&#8217; upfront,&#8221; Mike says. </p>
<p>&#8220;Currently we are building the database for the audio content recognition system from direct ban link submissions and the DMCA notices that IFPI and several other major organizations send.&#8221;</p>
<p>When a takedown noticed arrives, 4shared &#8220;fingerprints&#8221; the audio file which is then added to the database. If someone then tries to upload the same file again, an error message occurs. </p>
<p>4shared doesn&#8217;t understand why rightsholders are unwilling to submit the data themselves. There is no need to share actual audio files, they stress, as the fingerprinting data can be easily extracted using a standalone software tool.</p>
<p>The file-hosting service hopes that copyright holders will realize the potential of the system. Not only is it more accurate than the current takedown efforts, but it can also save them a lot of time and money.</p>
<p>&#8220;In my opinion, the amount of effort for creating &#8216;fingerprints&#8217; and uploading to 4shared&#8217;s audio recognition database is comparable, or even less, than the amount of effort and the cost of maintaining numerous agents and developing robots that collect lists of links for the direct ban requests or complaints they send,&#8221; Mike concludes. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=131741
title: Pirate Bay Blocking Case Heads Back to Court in Sweden
uri: Pirate-Bay-Blocking-Case-Heads-Back-to-Court-in-Sweden
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/SR4BM-0-oUQ/
content:
<p><a href="media/bfddc9cc.tpb3.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/tpb3.png"><img src="media/7e02aab6.tpb3.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpb3.png" alt="tpb" width="230" height="243" class="alignright size-full wp-image-106334"></a>Of all websites in the piracy landscape, few can claim to be as hounded as The Pirate Bay (TPB). Due to its resilience and refusal to step into line, the site has been at the core of dozens of direct and indirect court cases for more than a decade.</p>
<p>Today, another process gets underway, with yet another Internet service provider arguing that it should not be held responsible for the actions of The Pirate Bay, or its pirating users.</p>
<p>The case has its roots back in 2014, when Universal Music, Sony Music, Warner Music, Nordisk Film and the Swedish Film Industry teamed up in a lawsuit designed to force Swedish ISP Bredbandsbolaget (Broadband Company) to block the site.</p>
<p>The rightsholders argued that Bredbandsbolaget should be held liable unless it blocked TPB, but the ISP refused to comply. It stated that its only role is to provide customers with Internet access while facilitating the free flow of information.</p>
<p>The case originally went to trial at the Stockholm District Court last October. In line with several other similar rulings elsewhere in Europe, the ISP was expected to lose its case. Instead, it <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/no-pirate-bay-blockade-in-sweden-court-rules-151127/">prevailed</a>, with the District Court concluding that Bredbandsbolaget&#8217;s actions in facilitating access to the site did not amount to participation in a crime under Swedish law.</p>
<p>Of course, the rightsholders inevitably filed an <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/swedish-pirate-bay-blocking-decision-will-go-to-appeal-151130/">appeal</a> and today, almost exactly a year later, the parties are set to face off again in a brand new, dedicated venue.</p>
<p>Since September 2016, Sweden has had two new courts. The Patent and Market Court and the Patent and Market Court of Appeal are specialist courts dedicated to tackling intellectual property, competition, and marketing law matters.</p>
<p>The Patent and Market Court is a division of Stockholm District Court while the Patent and Market Court of Appeal is a division of the Svea Court of Appeal. Today&#8217;s Pirate Bay case will be heard at the <a href="http://www.domstol.se/Om-Sveriges-Domstolar/Domstolarna/Patent--och-marknadsdomstolarna/">latter</a>.</p>
<p>Bredbandsbolaget&#8217;s position remains unchanged. The ISP wants to remain a neutral supplier of Internet connectivity and is alarmed at the prospect of being held liable for any content passing through its infrastructure. While today the discussion is about copyrighted movies, TV shows and music, tomorrow it could be about other offenses allegedly carried out online. The scope is enormous.</p>
<p>Per Strömbäck, representing the copyright holders, told <a href="http://www.idg.se/2.1085/1.671282/bredbandsbolaget-domstol-blockera">IDG</a> that ISPs like Bredbandsbolaget have knowledge of infringing acts but choose to do nothing about them. This is something the content companies want to change.</p>
<p>&#8220;We want to get to a point where a court can order an Internet service provider to block subscribers from accessing an illegal site. The telecom companies will not make that decision themselves,&#8221; he says.</p>
<p>A defeat for Bredbandsbolaget in this appeal could have far-reaching consequences. As seen in other countries around Europe, once rightsholders succeed in getting one site blocked, the floodgates open with dozens, perhaps hundreds, of similar requests to block additional domains.</p>
<p>The case begins today and is expected to conclude on Thursday.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=131725
title: Court: ‘Falsely’ Accused ‘Movie Pirate’ Deserves $17K Compensation
uri: Court-Falsely-Accused-Movie-Pirate-Deserves-17K-Compensa
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/oAPWn1muHJc/
content:
<p><img src="media/17a592c8.trollsign.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/trollsign.jpg" alt="trollsign" width="250" height="167" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108977">For more than half a decade so-called “copyright trolling” cases have been keeping the U.S. judicial system busy.</p>
<p>While new lawsuits are still being filed on a weekly basis, there are signs that some judges are growing tired of the practice and becoming increasingly skeptical of the claims made by copyright holders.</p>
<p>In Oregon, a federal recently dismissed a complaint filed by the makers of the Adam Sandler movie <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3203616/">The Cobbler</a>. The judge <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/judge-dismisses-movie-piracy-case-ip-address-doesnt-prove-anything-160627/">dismissed</a> a direct infringement complaint against an alleged movie pirate from the outset, as it was clear that the defendant wasn&#8217;t the infringer.</p>
<p>The defendant in question, Thomas Gonzales, operates an adult foster care home where several people had access to the Internet. The filmmakers were aware of this and during a hearing their counsel admitted that any guest could have downloaded the film.</p>
<p>Still, the filmmakers decided to move their case ahead, and for this decision they may now have to pay. After the case was dismissed, the wrongfully accused &#8216;pirate&#8217; asked to be compensated for the fees he incurred during his defense.</p>
<p>In a findings and recommendations filing published last Friday (<a href="media/095a9d16.gonzalesfindings.pdf" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/gonzalesfindings.pdf">pdf</a>), Magistrate Judge Stacie Beckerman concludes that the filmmakers went too far.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Court finds that once Plaintiff learned that the alleged infringement was taking place at an adult group care home at which Gonzales did not reside, Plaintiff’s continued pursuit of Gonzales for copyright infringement was objectively unreasonable,&#8221; Judge Beckerman writes.</p>
<p>Gonzales argued that the filmmakers are using these lawsuits to pressure people into expensive settlements. While the plaintiffs deny that money is a goal for them, the court shares the defendant&#8217;s view.</p>
<p>The &#8220;overaggressive&#8221; tactics of the filmmakers warrant a fees award, Judge Beckerman writes in her recommendation.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Court shares Gonzales’ concern that Plaintiff is motivated, at least in large part, by extracting large settlements from individual consumers prior to any meaningful litigation. </p>
<p>&#8220;On balance, the Court has concerns about the motivation behind Plaintiff’s overaggressive litigation of this case and other cases, and that factor weighs in favor of fee shifting.&#8221; </p>
<p>Copyright holders often argue that damages awards are needed to deter the defendant and other pirates from infringing. In this case, however, the tables are turned. </p>
<p>The Court states that a fees award in favor or the wrongfully accused defendant should deter the filmmakers and other &#8216;copyright trolls&#8217; from dragging people into copyright lawsuits without any factual evidence.</p>
<p>&#8220;Compensating Gonzales will encourage future defendants with valid defenses to litigate those defenses, even if the litigation is expensive,&#8221; Judge Beckerman writes. </p>
<p>&#8220;Conversely, and perhaps more importantly, awarding fees to Gonzales should deter Plaintiff in the future from continuing its overaggressive pursuit of alleged infringers without a reasonable factual basis.&#8221; </p>
<p><center><img src="media/6bdb649d.gonza.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/gonza.png" alt="gonza" width="589" height="202" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-131739"></center></p>
<p>All in all the Magistrate Judge concludes that Gonzales deserves compensation. She recommends that the court awards $17,222 in attorney fees as well as $255 in other expenses. </p>
<p>The filmmakers now have two weeks to object to the recommendations and findings, which means that the damages are not final yet. However, as <a href="https://dietrolldie.com/2016/12/05/or-court-bt-copyright-troll-tactics-overly-aggressive-awards-defendant-17k-in-fees-315-cv-00866/">DieTrollDie notes</a>, such an objection could also mean that they would end up paying more.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=131784
title: Court: Usenet Provider is Not Liable for Piracy
uri: Court-Usenet-Provider-is-Not-Liable-for-Piracy
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/ccCG4I8X0R4/
content:
<p><img src="media/18851468.usenet.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/usenet.jpg" alt="usenet" width="250" height="168" class="alignright size-full wp-image-119213">In 2009, Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN, representing the movie and music industries, took <a href="http://www.news-service.com/">News-Service Europe</a> (NSE) &#8211; one of Europe&#8217;s largest Usenet providers at the time &#8211; to court.</p>
<p>BREIN argued that NSE must delete all infringing content from its servers, and in 2011 the Court of Amsterdam <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/major-usenet-provider-ordered-to-remove-all-infringing-content-110929/">sided</a> with the copyright holders.</p>
<p>In its initial verdict, the Court concluded that NSE willingly facilitated copyright infringement through its services. As a result, the company was ordered to remove all copyrighted content and filter future posts for possible copyright infringements. </p>
<p>According to the Usenet provider, this filtering requirement would be too costly to operate. It therefore saw no other option than to shut down its services while the appeal was pending.</p>
<p>After several years of litigation and two interim decisions, the Amsterdam appeals court reached a final decision in the case this week. </p>
<p>The overall conclusion is that NSE is not directly or indirectly liable for copyright infringements that take place through its service. However, the Usenet provider is required to offer a fast and effective notice and takedown procedure (NTD), possibly with additional measures. </p>
<p>NSE is happy with the verdict which it characterizes as a big win.</p>
<p>&#8220;We see the outcome as a total victory. The court of appeal completely destroys the earlier verdict. NSE did not infringe copyright and is not liable for copyright infringement,&#8221; NSE CEO Patrick Schreurs informs TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>The takedown requirement is a moot point, according to NSE, which states that they already had this in place before they shut down. </p>
<p>&#8220;The fact that we do need to implement a NTD is void. Even before the lawsuit started, NSE already offered an effective NTD-procedure. The Court of Appeal even considered in an earlier interim judgment that NSE&#8217;s NTD-procedure is sufficient,&#8221; Schreurs notes.</p>
<p><a href="http://stichtingbrein.nl/">BREIN</a> had hoped for a better outcome but is happy with the takedown requirements the court included. The anti-piracy group also highlights that the judgment allows for possible additional measures, which could include a filter.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are disappointed that NSE is not deemed to infringe but we feel vindicated because of the recognition of this objective,&#8221; BREIN Director Tim Kuik told TorrentFreak. </p>
<p>&#8220;Let&#8217;s face it: People take subscriptions to download from Usenet because of the availability of infringing content. If that availability is lacking then the viability of this business model built on illegal use disappears,&#8221; he added.</p>
<p>An earlier court decision found that a proactive piracy filter would go against the ban on general monitoring requirements. However, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/mandatory-piracy-filters-may-violate-eu-law-scholars-warn-161203/">new copyright proposals</a> put forward by the European Commission could change this position.</p>
<p>While the verdict offers reassurance for the Usenet industry, it also provides rightsholders with a clear precedent to demand a proper takedown procedure. BREIN intends to keep a close eye on other Usenet providers, and won&#8217;t rule out future legal action. </p>
<p>&#8220;We will work with rights holders and vendors to determine whether Usenet providers are up to par. As in the case at hand, we are always willing to look for cooperation. However, if we find providers that are unwilling to come to an understanding and live up to their responsibilities then we will take them to court,&#8221; Kuik says.</p>
<p>Both parties still have the option to take the case to the Supreme Court, but this hasn&#8217;t been decided yet.</p>
<p>NSE itself did clearly state that it&#8217;s not relaunching its Usenet service. It could, however, start a separate case to ask for compensation for the losses suffered as a result of the shutdown, something BREIN also mentioned in court.</p>
<p>NSE CEO Patrick Schreurs couldn&#8217;t confirm or deny this but noted that the case isn&#8217;t over just yet. </p>
<p>&#8220;All I can say right now is that this isn&#8217;t the end,&#8221; he told us.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=131799
title: IFPI Sneers at YouTube’s $1 Billion Music Industry Revenue Payout
uri: IFPI-Sneers-at-YouTube-s-1-Billion-Music-Industry-Revenue-Payout
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/XOuY1N8xL4A/
content:
<p><a href="media/b9f3b5ba.sadyoutube.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/sadyoutube.jpg"><img src="media/34e023fb.sadyoutube.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/sadyoutube.jpg" alt="sadyoutube" width="275" height="196" class="alignright size-full wp-image-117196"></a>YouTube is one of the most popular sites on the Internet so when owners Google make an announcement about revenues, people tend to sit up and listen.</p>
<p>Yesterday, via its official YouTube <a href="https://youtube.googleblog.com/2016/12/a-billion-reasons-to-celebrate-music-on.html">blog</a>, Google said that there were &#8220;a billion reasons to celebrate music&#8221; on YouTube.</p>
<p>&#8220;Last year was a bright one for music — after several tough years of declining revenues, the industry started growing again, spurred in large part by the growth of music streaming subscriptions,&#8221; YouTube Chief Business Officer Robert Kyncl wrote.</p>
<p>&#8220;This year, the industry has even more reasons to be optimistic. Even as music subscriptions have been growing faster than any other subscription type, advertising is another powerful driver of revenue. In fact, in the last 12 months, YouTube has paid out over $1 billion to the music industry from advertising alone, demonstrating that multiple experiences and models are succeeding alongside each other.&#8221;</p>
<p>In ordinary circumstances a company paying a trading partner a billion dollars worth of spoils would definitely be a reason for celebration. However, the relationship between YouTube and the labels is both uneasy and fractured, so IFPI openly poured cold water all over the hosting platform&#8217;s party instead.</p>
<p>“Google has today issued more unexplained numbers on what it claims YouTube pays the music industry.  The announcement gives little reason to celebrate, however,&#8221; IFPI began.</p>
<p>&#8220;With 800 million music users worldwide, YouTube is generating revenues of just over US$1 per user for the entire year.  This pales in comparison to the revenue generated by other services, ranging from Apple to Deezer to Spotify. For example, in 2015 Spotify alone paid record labels some US$2 billion, equivalent to an estimated US$18 per user.&#8221;</p>
<p>While on the surface this appears to be a business problem, IFPI and its member labels see things differently. They believe this is a legislative issue, one borne out of YouTube&#8217;s apparent exploitation of the DMCA and similar frameworks which offer the platform safe harbor when users upload infringing content.</p>
<p>While Apple, Deezer and Spotify must pay out huge sums to license and distribute music (Spotify is said to part with <a href="http://fortune.com/2016/05/24/spotify-financials/">85 cents</a> for every dollar in revenue), YouTube can sit back and allow its users to upload &#8216;pirate&#8217; music instead. It pays nothing for this content but still places ads alongside to generate revenue, the labels say.</p>
<p>YouTube correctly argues that the DMCA protects it under these circumstances and when copyright holders ask for content to be taken down, it acts quickly. YouTube also correctly notes that its Content ID fingerprinting system already goes above and beyond what is required of it under the law and is in itself a great system to help copyright holders generate revenue.</p>
<p>The labels, however, see this whole setup as a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/riaa-says-youtube-is-running-a-dmca-protection-racket-160412/">protection racket</a>, one in which YouTube gets the content for nothing and as a result is free to offer poor rates when the industry comes begging for licensing fees.</p>
<p>“YouTube, the world’s largest on-demand music service, is not paying artists and producers anything like a fair rate for music,&#8221; IFPI said last night.</p>
<p>&#8220;This highlights more than ever the need for legislative action to address the &#8216;value gap&#8217; that is denying music rights holders a fair return for their work.”  </p>
<p>What IFPI and its recording label members want are changes in the law which will effectively force YouTube to pay a fair price for the content from which it generates revenue.</p>
<p>In the United States, the labels want the DMCA tightened. In Europe, all eyes are on Article 13 (<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/eu-proposes-mandatory-piracy-filters-for-online-services-160914/">1</a>,<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/mandatory-piracy-filters-may-violate-eu-law-scholars-warn-161203/">2</a>)of the proposed Copyright Directive which would require online services to monitor and filter pirated content.</p>
<p>Whether the labels will get their way will remain to be seen, but this kind of legislative change has the potential to shake up the entire Internet, with far-reaching effects that go way beyond music. Expect more battles &#8211; and mudslinging &#8211; as the months and years unfold. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=131839
title: Denuvo Removed From Doom After Game Gets Cracked
uri: Denuvo-Removed-From-Doom-After-Game-Gets-Cracked
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/hHtpUuesO7M/
content:
<p><a href="media/05d838b7.denuvo.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/denuvo.jpg"><img src="media/fe5f698e.denuvo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/denuvo.jpg" alt="denuvo" width="210" height="109" class="alignright size-full wp-image-116067"></a>With piracy now an accepted part of video game culture, the main aim of developers is to stop their games leaking in the early days, weeks and months following their launch.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s suggested that this piracy-free window of opportunity might allow the bigger and more ambitious titles to recoup much of the money spent creating them. No surprise then that companies are offering solutions to achieve that aim.</p>
<p>The main technology facilitating this breathing space today is Denuvo. This anti-tamper technology sits on top of other DRM, making the majority of games completely uncrackable. However, in more recent months, Denuvo protection has come under fire from a group calling itself CPY.</p>
<p>As a result, more and more Denuvo-protected games are appearing free-to-play online, having had their protections circumvented. But as pirates celebrate, something unexpected is happening. Having been cracked by CPY, some games are having Denuvo removed by their developers.</p>
<p>The latest case involves first-person shooter, Doom. As one of 2016&#8217;s biggest AAA releases, Doom is a highly desirable title so it was no surprise it was protected by Denuvo following its release in May. </p>
<p>However, the game was cracked relatively quickly by CPY and began appearing on piracy networks early September. Now developer Bethesda has <a href="http://www.dsogaming.com/news/bethesda-has-removed-the-denuvo-anti-tamper-tech-from-doom/">removed</a> Denuvo from the game altogether.</p>
<p><center><b>NFO file from CPY announcing their defeat of Doom&#8217;s protection</b><a href="media/14421201.doom-nfo.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/doom-nfo.png"><img src="media/d26a3492.doom-nfo.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/doom-nfo.png" alt="doom-nfo" width="591" height="916" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-131844"></a></center></p>
<p>If one looks at the situation logically, it makes some sense that after Denuvo has served its main purpose, it&#8217;s technically no longer needed and can be removed. However, after paying out for Denuvo protection (which is rumored to cost upwards of hundreds of thousands of dollars per game), why would developers like Bethesda just not leave it intact?</p>
<p>For some time there have been theories that some kind of refund might be available to developers if Denuvo protection fails to live up to its billing. Some meat has now been put on the bones of that suggestion by a Reddit user who claims to be a games developer at a company using Denuvo.</p>
<p>&#8220;Game dev here, I work for a large studio that started using Denuvo recently. I&#8217;m neutral on piracy and pirate TV shows a lot, so don&#8217;t give me a hard time, certainly not here to judge,&#8221; he wrote in a <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/CrackWatch/comments/5h2czr/denuvo_removed_from_doom_with_latest_update/dawxzzn/">post</a> a few hours ago.</p>
<p>&#8220;I do want to explain what happened here. Denuvo Software Solutions offers a guarantee, if your Denuvo game is cracked within a certain time (3 months is normal), you do not have to pay for Denuvo. Part of claiming the refund is you must remove Denuvo from your game.&#8221;</p>
<p>In the case of Doom, Denuvo was cracked by CPY four months after release but since it&#8217;s one of the bigger titles, it&#8217;s conceivable that a longer period could still be eligible for some kind of refund. Ultimately, Denuvo claims that its protection pays for itself so when a game appears online too soon, it may not have reached its goals.</p>
<p>&#8220;One of the reasons why the management of my company used it, they think it is a no lose situation. I personally think it is more nuanced,&#8221; the developer explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;Denuvo is expensive and my management think we lose a fortune to piracy because the industry inflates the figures as I think most of you all know. My management buy in to the inflated figures and Denuvo Software Solutions of course uses them also.</p>
<p>&#8220;Obviously I&#8217;m just a developer so not aware of the numbers but eventually I&#8217;ll find out if Denuvo helped, my educated guess is that it won&#8217;t help improve sales figures as much as the management hope. To protect a AAA game, Denuvo charge high 7 figure sums,&#8221; he concludes.</p>
<p>Last month, Denuvo was also removed from the adventure game &#8216;Inside&#8217;. That title was released in July but was cracked by CPY in just six weeks, the fastest <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/denuvo-weakens-after-inside-cracked-in-record-time-160824/">Denuvo defeat</a> on record.</p>
<p>With two titles setting the trend and another on the horizon, we shouldn&#8217;t have to wait long to see if a pattern emerges. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided was released in August and exactly three months later it was cracked by CPY. If the pattern follows, Denuvo should disappear from that title in a couple of months.</p>
<p>How all of this will affect Denuvo&#8217;s sales remains to be seen since the company&#8217;s protection, while still formidable, is not the titan it once was. It does, however, still cover those crucial early months pretty well and that&#8217;s probably acceptable to most of those involved.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=131856
title: Selling Media Players With Pirate Add-ons is Illegal, Says Top EU Adviser
uri: Selling-Media-Players-With-Pirate-Add-ons-is-Illegal-Says-Top-EU-Advi
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/IueNZf91rN8/
content:
<p><img src="media/5f9796f8.movies1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/movies1.jpg" alt="movies" width="200" height="135" class="alignright size-full wp-image-105597">Online streaming continues to gain in popularity, both from authorized and pirate sources.</p>
<p>Particularly popular are Kodi-powered applications or set-top boxes. While Kodi itself is a neutral platform, there are <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-kodi-add-ons-gain-massive-popularity-161007/">lots of add-ons</a> available that turn it into a pirate’s heaven.</p>
<p>In Europe, the European Court of Justice is currently handling a landmark case that should provide more clarity on the legality of set-top boxes that are sold with &#8220;links&#8221; to infringing content.</p>
<p>The issue was raised in a case between Dutch anti-piracy group <a href="http://stichtingbrein.nl/">BREIN</a> and the <a href="http://www.filmspeler.nl/nl/">Filmspeler.nl</a> store, which sells “piracy configured” media players. While these devices don’t ‘host’ any infringing content, they ship with add-ons that make it very easy to watch infringing content.</p>
<p>The Dutch District Court <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/is-streaming-pirated-movies-illegal-eu-court-to-decide-151012/">referred</a> the case to the EU Court of Justice, and today Advocate General (AG) Campos Sánchez-Bordona issued his <a href="http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?text=&#038;docid=186069&#038;pageIndex=0&#038;doclang=EN&#038;mode=req&#038;dir=&#038;occ=first&#038;part=1&#038;cid=1540819">recommendation</a> to the Court.</p>
<p>Filmspeler previously argued that there is no communication to the public or crucial intervention from their side, since these pirate add-ons are already publicly available. The AG, however, rejected those arguments.</p>
<p>The AG notes that Filmspeler owner Mr. Wullems knowingly added infringing add-ons to XBMC (Kodi) devices, with hyperlinks to content published by 1Channel, Glow movies HD, Go Movies, Icefilms, Much Movies, Istream, Simply Movies, Simply Player, YIFY Movies HD, Ororo.tv and Teledunet.com.</p>
<p>&#8220;Mr. Wullems installed on the user interface of the XBMC software add-ons with hyperlinks to websites providing unrestricted access to copyright-protected works,&#8221; the AG writes, adding that it was in part motivated by profit.</p>
<p>Among other things, Filmspeler advertised its media players as a tool for people to watch the latest movies and TV-series, without having to pay. </p>
<p>The AG therefore concludes that selling a media player with the knowledge that it links to infringing material, constitutes a “communication to the public,” which makes it copyright infringing. </p>
<p>The recommendation draws a lot of prarllels with the GS Media case, where the EU Court of Justice ruled that businisses that knowingly post hyperlinks to infringing works on a website, are breaking the law.</p>
<p>Whether the users of these devices are also acting unlawfully is a different question. According to the AG it would be logical to conclude that, when offering devices with pirate add-ons is illegal, using them would be too. </p>
<p>&#8220;In my opinion, if the key factor, in the case of a person who inserts a hyperlink without pursuing a profit, is knowledge [&#8230;] that the protected work is available on the internet unlawfully, it would be difficult not to extend that criterion to a person who merely makes use of that hyperlink, also without pursuing a profit.&#8221;</p>
<p>That said, if the users in question are not aware that the content is from an unauthorized source, they should not be liable for copyright infringement.</p>
<p>&#8220;Excusable ignorance or reasonable lack of knowledge, on the part of the end user, of the fact that no such authorisation exists could, undoubtedly, exempt the user from liability,&#8221; the AG adds.</p>
<p>Liability aside, the AG stresses that this doesn&#8217;t mean that streaming copyrighted material is a &#8220;lawful use&#8221; exception under Article 5(5) of the &#8220;InfoSoc&#8221; Directive. It therefore doesn&#8217;t change the legality of selling pre-loaded media players.</p>
<p>The Advocate General’s advice is often crucial, but not binding. It is expected that the EU Court of Justice will issue its final verdict in this case early next year.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=131872
title: UK Government Spied on BitTorrent Users – in Planes
uri: UK-Government-Spied-on-BitTorrent-Users-in-Planes
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/exsClL_pUJI/
content:
<p><a href="media/5f0dfd25.spy.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/spy.jpg"><img src="media/3d881413.spy.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/spy.jpg" alt="spy" width="200" height="177" class="alignright size-full wp-image-39770"></a>Privacy ( or the lack of it) is one of the enduring hot topics of recent years and something which most acutely affects those who spend a lot of time online.</p>
<p>For the average Internet user sitting at home or work, this roughly means that little to no privacy can be counted upon unless encryption is deployed, and even then there are no guarantees.</p>
<p>Largely thanks to the revelations of Edward Snowden, it is now broadly confirmed that if governments can spy on our communications, they will do so, no matter where they take place. Of course, that&#8217;s no surprise to generally better informed BitTorrent users, but even they might be shocked to learn where file-sharers have been monitored.</p>
<p>This week, <a href="https://theintercept.com/2016/12/07/american-and-british-spy-agencies-targeted-in-flight-mobile-phone-use/">The Intercept</a> and Le Monde published details of &#8220;Southwinds&#8221;, a UK-government program used to gather all the cellular activity, voice calls and data transfers onboard commercial aircraft.</p>
<p>In a 2012 presentation, Government Communications Headquarters (or GCHQ as it&#8217;s better known) mentioned the capabilities of the program.</p>
<p>&#8220;The data was collected &#8216;in near real time&#8217; and an aircraft could be &#8216;tracked&#8217; every two minutes,&#8221; the publication revealed.</p>
<p>&#8220;To spy on a telephone, all that was required was that the aircraft be cruising at an altitude above 10,000 feet. Secret aerial stations on the ground could intercept the signal as it transited through a satellite.&#8221;</p>
<p>According to GCHQ, it was able to track telephones that were merely switched on. This, combined with flight lists and airline data, was enough to identify the passenger with the phone.</p>
<p>One of the surveillance programs (called &#8220;Thieving Magpie&#8221;) was accompanied by a presentation. One slide showed how the GSM system works on an Air France flight while another revealed that GCHQ was able to identify Blackberry PIN numbers from captured data. But that&#8217;s not all.</p>
<p>&#8220;If [passengers] use data, we can also recover email addresses, Facebook IDs, Skype addresses etc,&#8221; one slide reads. </p>
<p>GCHQ noted that data usage on planes was largely as expected but with a few notable exceptions. Apparently, as they were sweeping for information, the UK government&#8217;s top snoopers came across BitTorrent users more than 10,000ft up in the air.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/632bb939.gchq-torrent.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/gchq-torrent.png"><img src="media/497ad06f.gchq-torrent.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/gchq-torrent.png" alt="gchq-torrent" width="650" height="484" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-131887" srcset="https://torrentfreak.com/images/gchq-torrent.png 650w, https://torrentfreak.com/images/gchq-torrent-200x150.png 200w" sizes="(max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px"></a></center></p>
<p><a href="http://www.lemonde.fr/pixels/article/2016/12/07/britain-has-spent-years-spying-on-israel-s-leaders_5044899_4408996.html">Approached</a> for comment, GCHQ gave little away.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is long standing policy that we do not comment on intelligence matters. Furthermore, all of GCHQ’s work is carried out in accordance with a strict legal and policy framework, which ensures that our activities are authorized, necessary and proportionate, and that there is rigorous oversight, including from the Secretary of State, the Interception and Intelligence Services Commissioners and the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee.</p>
<p>&#8220;All our operational processes rigorously support this position. In addition, the UK’s interception regime is entirely compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights,&#8221; GCHQ said.</p>
<p>The legality of Britain&#8217;s spying will be of little comfort to the millions of innocents caught up in the dragnet. However, for those paying extortionate rates to torrent from planes that are literally in the cloud, it might be cheaper (and less conspicuous) to do so from home in future.</p>
<p>The full slideshow is available <a href="media/27bbb7db.Thieving-Magpie-Using-on-board-GSM-GPRS-services.pdf" data-original-source="https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3229456/Thieving-Magpie-Using-on-board-GSM-GPRS-services.pdf">here</a>.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=131919
title: Movie Pirate Sites Disappear From Google’s Search Results
uri: Movie-Pirate-Sites-Disappear-From-Google-s-Search-Results
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/ecFgpOCRWkE/
content:
<p><img src="media/2ca46867.google-water.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/google-water.png" alt="google-water" width="250" height="153" class="alignright size-full wp-image-89037">In recent years various copyright holder groups have said that Google isn’t doing enough to limit piracy, demanding more stringent measures.</p>
<p>One of the suggestions often made is to remove &#8220;known&#8221; copyright-infringing sites from search results. </p>
<p>While Google has categorically rejected these requests, several prominent pirate sites have mysteriously vanished from Google&#8217;s index over the past several days. </p>
<p>This includes <a href="http://fmovies.to/">Fmovies.to</a>, which is a popular streaming portal that allows users to stream the latest movies and TV-shows for free. A <a href="https://www.google.com/?#q=site:fmovies.to">search for fmovies.to</a> shows that the site&#8217;s URLs are no longer indexed. </p>
<p>A search for the keyword Fmovies now puts the unrelated site Fmovies.io at the top of the results.</p>
<p><center><strong>Fmovies.to search</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/0b31ff68.fmovies.to_.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/fmovies.to_.png" alt="fmovies-to" width="500" height="137" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-131922"></center></p>
<p>The same has happened to Fmovies&#8217; competitor <a href="http://123movies.gs/">123movies</a>, whose oficial 123movies.is and 123movies.cz domains are <a href="media/439a2518.123movies.is_.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/123movies.is_.png">no longer listed</a>. The top result for 123movies now points to 123movies.net instead, which is operated by different people.</p>
<p>Adding to the trouble, the site&#8217;s <a href="http://facebook.com/123movies.to">official Facebook page</a> was completely removed as well recently. </p>
<p>At the moment we have no information to indicate that the removals are copyright related. In fact, considering Google&#8217;s previous stance it seems unlikely that it would start removing pirates site from its indexes voluntarily. </p>
<p>However, it&#8217;s clear that something&#8217;s going on. </p>
<p>In addition to the two streaming sites, the popular YouTube MP3 conversion tool <a href="http://www.youtube-mp3.org/">YouTube-MP3.org</a> has also vanished from Google&#8217;s search results. </p>
<p>This site has previously been warned by Google for violating YouTube&#8217;s TOS. It is currently being sued by the major record labels, but hasn&#8217;t been found guilty by a court of law yet. </p>
<p>For several years, YouTube-MP3 has been the top result for many YouTube MP3 related searches but as of this week it&#8217;s no longer indexed by Google at all.</p>
<p><center><strong>YouTube-MP3.org search</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/e2a5da2f.youtubemp3.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/youtubemp3.png" alt="youtubemp3" width="500" height="135" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-131926"></center></p>
<p>We reached out to Google for a comment on our findings but we hadn&#8217;t received a response at the time of publication.</p>
<p>The most likely explanation is that Google found the sites guilty of some sort of violation and were removed as some kind of penalty. What type of violation that might be remains a mystery for now.</p>
<p>Alternatively, there may have been a court order we haven&#8217;t heard about, but there is no evidence in that direction.</p>
<p>While all affected sites are still indexed by other search engines such as Bing and DuckDuckGo, the removal is likely to hurt their traffic quite a bit, at least in the short term.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=131916
title: BREIN Settles With Private Torrent Tracker Uploaders
uri: BREIN-Settles-With-Private-Torrent-Tracker-Uploaders
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/4BjdiVqwsNI/
content:
<p><img src="media/4838a439.upload.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/upload.png" alt="upload" width="240" height="164" class="alignright size-full wp-image-114664">Dutch anti-piracy outfit BREIN is continuing its crackdown on uploaders at various file-sharing sites and services.</p>
<p>Over the past months, BREIN has focused heavily on catching individual uploaders, whether through Usenet, BitTorrent, Facebook, or other platforms.</p>
<p>This week the anti-piracy group announced that it had chalked up yet another victory. This time it involves members of a local private torrent tracker, two of which also ran an unlicensed Internet radio station.</p>
<p>After <a href="http://stichtingbrein.nl/nieuws.php?id=431">obtaining</a> two ex parte orders from a local court, BREIN settled with eight uploaders for a total of 60,000 euros. In addition, the unnamed private torrent tracker was shut down.</p>
<p>The court&#8217;s documents reveal that the site was mainly targeting a Dutch audience. There was a heavy focus on local content but also subtitled Hollywood movies, such as The Good Dinosaur and Kindergarten Cop 2. </p>
<p>In addition, two uploaders were also DJ&#8217;ing at an unlicensed Internet radio station. This radio station was shut down as well. </p>
<p>According to BREIN, part of the settlement sum may be canceled based on personal circumstances of the uploaders, if they stick to their agreement and stay out of trouble. </p>
<p>Also, the DJs were encouraged to take a look at the websites of local performance rights organizations &#8220;where they can purchase a license for their hobby.&#8221;</p>
<p>This case is not the only recent action, TorrentFreak has learned. BREIN also settled with the operator of the Usenet forum <a href="http://basf1.net/">BasF1</a> for 7,500 euros, as a message on the site explains.</p>
<p>While the shutdown of smaller sites has a very limited effect on piracy on a broader level, one of BREIN&#8217;s main goals is to remind pirates that they are vulnerable. In the near future, it plans to reach out to a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/breins-new-torrent-piracy-crackdown-results-in-first-settlement-161117/">broader group of pirates</a>, which should push up the numbers significantly.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=131910
title: Unknowingly Linking to Infringing Content is Still Infringement, Court Rules
uri: Unknowingly-Linking-to-Infringing-Content-is-Still-Infringement-Court
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Q44hiJvyYNU/
content:
<p><img src="media/b6dc4ae5.http-link-hyperlink.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/http-link-hyperlink.jpg" width="250" height="198" alt="" class="alignright size-large">In 2011, Dutch blog GeenStijl.nl published an article which linking to leaked Playboy photos which were stored on third-party hosting sites. Playboy publisher Sanoma said this amounted to infringement. </p>
<p>The European Court of Justice was asked to rule on whether the links posted by GeenStijl amounted to a ‘communication to the public’ under Article 3(1) of the EU Copyright Directive and therefore a copyright infringement.</p>
<p>In September the ECJ handed down its <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/eu-court-not-for-profit-hyperlinking-usually-not-infringement-160908/">decision</a> which drew a line in the sand between for-profit and not-for-profit linking. </p>
<p>Generally, a person who posts a casual link to a work freely available on another website isn&#8217;t expected to conduct research to find out whether the copyright holder has granted permission for that work to be there.</p>
<p>On the other hand, those who post a link within a commercial context are expected to carry out the “checks necessary” to ensure that the linked work has not been illegally published, the ECJ says.</p>
<p>The EU ruling has now been applied in a German case. It involved a photographer who discovered that one of his Creative Commons-licensed images had been posted on a website without the correct attribution. The photographer also found a third-party site that was linking to the infringing image.</p>
<p>Leipzig law firm Spirit Legal LLP says it represented the photographer in a case against the third-party site to discover how the ECJ&#8217;s earlier ruling would be applied under German law.</p>
<p>In a ruling handed down in November but just published by the law firm, the Hamburg Regional Court found that while the original publication of the image amounted to infringement, the operator of the third-party site that published the link to the image was also liable for infringement.</p>
<p>In part, liability was determined from the conclusion that the link communicated the infringing image to a &#8220;new audience,&#8221; outside that intended by the copyright holder.</p>
<p>On the commercial aspect previously cited by the ECJ, the Court found that no profit needed to be generated from the specific link, only that there was a general intent to benefit from the link on the site as a whole. Since that was the case, the website owner was responsible for carrying out the &#8220;checks necessary&#8221; to ensure that the image wasn&#8217;t infringing.</p>
<p>Finding the operator of the third-party website liable for infringement, the Court ordered him to cease providing a link to the photographer&#8217;s image or face a fine.</p>
<p>Dr. Jonas Kahl, a lawyer with <a href="https://www.spiritlegal.com/de/aktuelles/details/landgericht-hamburg-bestaetigt-als-erstes-deutsches-gericht-wer-einen-link-auf-eine-seite-mit-geklauten-bildern-setzt-haftet-weg.html">Spirit Legal</a>, says the ruling is important for anyone with online commercial interests.</p>
<p>&#8220;[T]he decision of the Hamburg Regional Court represents a massive tightening of their inspection obligations and their liability in itself,&#8221; Dr. Kahl explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;In order to exclude the possibility of a copyright infringement, in the future you should check, before each linking, whether the page operator has the necessary rights for the photos published there. If this is not the case, you should not link, if you do not want to take a liability risk.&#8221;</p>
<p>The full ruling is available here <em>(<a href="media/012b2020.LG20Hamburg20Beschluss20vom2018.11.20162031020O2040216.pdf" data-original-source="https://www.spiritlegal.com/files/userdata_global/downloads/LG%20Hamburg,%20Beschluss%20vom%2018.11.2016,%20310%20O%2040216.pdf">PDF</a>, German)</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=131823
title: Alleged KickassTorrents Owner Leaves Prison for Hospital
uri: Alleged-KickassTorrents-Owner-Leaves-Prison-for-Hospital
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/EfK8MfX5-Oc/
content:
<p><img src="media/75141223.kickasstorrents_500x500-300x300.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/kickasstorrents_500x500-300x300.png" alt="kickasstorrents_500x500" width="222" height="222" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-96995" srcset="https://torrentfreak.com/images/kickasstorrents_500x500-300x300.png 300w, https://torrentfreak.com/images/kickasstorrents_500x500-150x150.png 150w, https://torrentfreak.com/images/kickasstorrents_500x500.png 500w" sizes="(max-width: 222px) 100vw, 222px">Four months ago Polish law enforcement officers <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/feds-seize-kickasstorrents-domains-charge-owner-160720/">arrested Artem Vaulin</a>, the alleged founder of KickassTorrents, who’s been held in a local prison since.</p>
<p>Polish authorities acted on a criminal complaint from the U.S. Government, which accused him of criminal copyright infringement and money laundering.</p>
<p>Over the past few weeks, Vaulin has been fighting a U.S. extradition request. However, facing serious back problems, he was recently transferred to a hospital for treatment and further research.  </p>
<p>Initially, the court ruled that the health problems weren&#8217;t serious enough, but the prison director later decided that his facility doesn&#8217;t have the means for adequate treatment</p>
<p>According to defense attorney Aleksander Emil Kowzan, Vaulin&#8217;s back problems are severe. He further notes that several of the upcoming extradition hearings are postponed for now. </p>
<p>&#8220;The hearings that were scheduled for the coming days are canceled. Due to the state of his health, our client can not be transported to court,&#8221; Vaulin&#8217;s lawyer <a href="http://tvn24bis.pl/z-kraju,74/proces-ekstradycyjny-wlasciciela-kickass-torrents,697795.html">told</a> the Polish press agency.</p>
<p>&#8220;Doctors have no doubt that surgery is necessary. What&#8217;s more, there is a slight paralysis, loss of sensation in the lower limb,&#8221; he added.</p>
<p>The defense team has asked an expert to determine whether their client is fit enough to take part in future hearings of his case. If not, they must look for alternative solutions. One thought that was raised is to hold the hearings at the hospital. </p>
<p>Despite his health problems, Polish authorities are keeping a close eye on the alleged KickassTorrent owner. Vaulin is continuously guarded by four officers, two outside and two inside his room.</p>
<p>This is a violation of his rights, according to the defense team, who plan to file a complaint with the ombudsman. The fact that the alleged KickassTorrent operator is cuffed to his bed at night is particularly worrying.</p>
<p>&#8220;Mr. Vaulin is under constant supervision of four officers &#8211; two in the room and two in the front hall. At night, when there are no doctors, there is &#8211; in our opinion &#8211; a shameful situation. He is handcuffed to the bed.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;This is strongly opposed by the doctors, who explained that this might cause nerve damage,&#8221; Vaulin&#8217;s lawyer added.</p>
<p>Over the past months, Vaulin&#8217;s lawyers have pointed out several human rights <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/alleged-kickasstorrents-owner-stays-in-prison-court-rules-161002/">violations</a>. In addition to the current situation, he was also unable to meet with his U.S. counsel to prepare his defense. </p>
<p>For now, Vaulin remains at the hospital. Previously, the court prolonged his custody until mid-February, but if the case is delayed there could be a further extension.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=131782
title: BBC Scrambles to Plug Planet Earth II Finale Leak
uri: BBC-Scrambles-to-Plug-Planet-Earth-II-Finale-Leak
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/PRdJ3XQ3zYU/
content:
<p><a href="media/f6f5b72a.bbc.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/bbc.jpg"><img src="media/3e5e7f06.bbc.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/bbc.jpg" alt="bbc" width="250" height="86" class="alignright size-full wp-image-12438"></a>For those who&#8217;ve keenly followed the past five weekly episodes of the BBC&#8217;s Planet Earth II series, it&#8217;s been a magical experience. In a world obsessed with the monotony of reality TV, Sunday nights in the UK have rarely been so awe-inspiring.</p>
<p>But while UK license-payers have been enjoying early access to the show, those elsewhere will have to wait for the show&#8217;s appearance on regular TV. The United States, for example, must wait until January 2017 to experience its wonders on BBC America. Unless they have access to the Internet, of course.</p>
<p>Ever since the first episode&#8217;s debut on BBC, each installment of the series has been uploaded to torrent and streaming sites after airing. However, more than a week ago someone obtained a copy of the series on Blu-ray and uploaded every episode to the Internet, including the season finale &#8220;Cities&#8221; which airs tonight.</p>
<p>As can be seen from the image below, one of the copies was sourced from an official Blu-ray disc before its official release, produced and distributed by BBC Worldwide.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/cbf7b3e1.pe2.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/pe2.png"><img src="media/00b4d81c.pe2.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pe2.png" alt="pe2" width="650" height="578" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-131850"></a></center></p>
<p>The hand-written label suggests that the copy might have been destined for semi-private Russian tracker <a href="https://hdclub.org/details.php?id=26756">HD Club</a>, although it&#8217;s possible more copies were available elsewhere.</p>
<p>While an early leak of an episode of Game of Thrones, for example, would have made worldwide headlines, the leak of Planet Earth II before its finale has been more low key. However, behind the scenes the BBC has been furiously trying to protect the show.</p>
<p>Since <a href="https://lumendatabase.org/notices/13461155">November 7</a>, the day after the first episode aired, US-based anti-piracy company MarkMonitor has been regularly sending notices to Google which target many thousands of copies of the show on hundreds of file-sharing sites.</p>
<p>Up until the last day of November these notices targeted only copies of shows that had already aired, but following the leak of the Blu-ray (which contains the season finale), things got more serious. The first takedown send to Google in December targeted nearly 400 URLs, a tiny sample of which can be seen below.</p>
<p><center><b>A handful of the takedowns sent to Google</b><a href="media/21ea5810.pe2-sample.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/pe2-sample.png"><img src="media/d90c5ce1.pe2-sample.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pe2-sample.png" alt="pe2-sample" width="650" height="416" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-131853"></a></center></p>
<p>On December 2, another <a href="https://lumendatabase.org/notices/13472995">485 URLs</a> were hit by the BBC, <a href="https://lumendatabase.org/notices/13485779">562</a> two days later, and a further <a href="https://lumendatabase.org/notices/13492731">456</a> the day after that, adding to the many thousands already sent.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak spoke with BBC Worldwide to find out more about their efforts to keep Planet Earth&#8217;s finale fresh but perhaps understandably they didn&#8217;t want to say too much.</p>
<p>&#8220;Piracy is illegal wherever and whenever it happens – before or after a programme is broadcast,&#8221; Dan Phelan, BBC Worldwide&#8217;s Head of Communications, told TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>&#8220;We take it seriously whatever the source and will work hard to get it taken down.&#8221;</p>
<p>But while the BBC are unquestionably doing just that, once again there appears to be an issue with pirates fulfilling unmet demand. Planet Earth II won&#8217;t get released on TV in the states until January 28, 2017, which considering the massive buzz around the show online, undoubtedly means that some will choose to pirate instead.</p>
<p><center><b>An image from Planet Earth II&#8217;s &#8220;Cities&#8221; finale</b><a href="media/47c74e4e.pe2-cities.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/pe2-cities.png"><img src="media/446d2457.pe2-cities.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pe2-cities.png" alt="pe2-cities" width="650" height="333" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-131858"></a></center></p>
<p>Of course, there are many avenues to do that (such as torrents and illicit streaming) but some are taking a third approach.</p>
<p>In common with all big shows on the BBC, Planet Earth II appears on the corporation&#8217;s iPlayer service, both live and in catch-up form after airing. The iPlayer tries to keep foreign users out but in reality, the use of VPNs and even some easily installed browser plug-ins can easily circumvent the measures in place.</p>
<p>The Planet Earth II finale &#8220;Cities&#8221; will air on BBC1 at 8pm tonight. For those looking for a more permanent keepsake, the Blu-ray is also now officially on sale.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=131841
title: ISPs: Blocking The Pirate Bay is Dangerous Censorship
uri: ISPs-Blocking-The-Pirate-Bay-is-Dangerous-Censorship
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/zUPxooHOsxo/
content:
<p><img src="media/932e6d7d.thepirate-e1470829181981.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/thepirate-e1470829181981.jpg" alt="thepirate" width="220" height="206" class="alignright size-full wp-image-116122">The Pirate Bay is without doubt the most censored website on the Internet. </p>
<p>Countries all around the world have ordered Internet providers to block subscriber access to the torrent site, with Europe being at the forefront. </p>
<p>This week copyright holders and ISPs <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-blocking-case-heads-back-to-court-in-sweden-161206/">went to court</a> in Sweden, as part of a prolonged legal battle to have the site blocked on its home turf. </p>
<p>Two years ago Universal Music, Sony Music, Warner Music, Nordisk Film and the Swedish Film Industry filed a lawsuit to force Swedish ISP Bredbandsbolaget to block access to The Pirate Bay and Swefilmer.</p>
<p>The rightsholders argued that the ISP is liable for the copyright infringements of its customers if it fails to implement a blockade. However, the Stockholm District Court <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/no-pirate-bay-blockade-in-sweden-court-rules-151127/">disagreed</a> and sided with the Internet provider in its ruling late last year. </p>
<p>Now, both parties have argued their case before the Appeals Court. A final decision will be issued at a later date, but Bredbandsbolaget and fellow ISP Telenor warn that a blocking requirement will have serious implications.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is a dangerous path to go down, which forces Internet providers to monitor and evaluate content on the Internet and block websites with illegal content in order to avoid becoming accomplices,&#8221; the companies write in a joint statement. </p>
<p>Copyright holders have pointed out that similar orders were issued in neighboring countries, but the ISPs stress that a mandatory block will be an unprecedented form of censorship under Swedish law.</p>
<p>&#8220;The copyright holders argue that the blockades they request are similar to those in neighboring Nordic countries. But with the legislation we have in Sweden, it means rightsholders&#8217; demands require a form of censorship that has no equivalent in any other EU country.&#8221;</p>
<p>The ISPs hope that the Court of Appeal will come to the same conclusion as the District Court; that ISPs which merely provide access to the Internet are not complicit in crimes that are committed by their customers.</p>
<p>While Bredbandsbolaget and Telenor don&#8217;t expect that the case will go to the Supreme Court, they believe that the rightsholders will try to convince lawmakers to make blocking requests easier. This is not the right way to go, they say.</p>
<p>&#8220;We don&#8217;t think that tougher legislation and blocking requirements are an effective way to stop the illegal distribution of copyrighted works on the Internet,&#8221; the ISPs note.</p>
<p>Instead, they urge media companies and Internet providers to start collaborating to come to effective and mutually agreeable solutions. Thus far, they have shown little interest in doing that, the ISPs note.</p>
<p>&#8220;We hope that the rightholders will be more open to dialogue when this lawsuit is over,&#8221; they conclude.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=131974
title: Court Orders French ISPs to Block (Dead) Torrent Sites
uri: Court-Orders-French-ISPs-to-Block-(Dead)-Torrent-Sites
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/mQEZC-36Kcs/
content:
<p><img src="media/43240eea.franceflag.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/franceflag.png" alt="franceflag" width="277" height="182" class="alignright size-full wp-image-131983">Blocking pirate sites has become a common tool for copyright holders to address piracy concerns, especially in Europe. </p>
<p>This is also true in France, where The Pirate Bay was one of the first targets <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/court-orders-french-isps-block-pirate-bay-141204/">two years ago</a>, but not the last.</p>
<p>This weekend, news broke that the French Civil Society of Phonographic Producers (SCPP) has managed to obtain a new injunction to stop local ISPs from providing access to four new torrent sites. The order covers LimeTorrents, TorrentHound, TorrentReactor, TorrentFunk and nearly two dozen dedicated proxy sites.</p>
<p>NextINpact <a href="http://www.nexinpact.com/">reports</a> that the music association was granted the injunction several months ago, but it has only just been made public. </p>
<p>The order states that the four sites are assisting users to access copyrighted works without permission. According to the court, this was clear &#8220;because the term torrents refers to an illegal downloading activity.&#8221; </p>
<p>The latter point goes quite far since there are also plenty of legitimate uses for torrents. Nonetheless, the injunction stands. </p>
<p>In its defense, Internet provider Free argued that blocking sites was ineffective. While the court acknowledged that it wasn&#8217;t a silver bullet, it noted that it&#8217;s one of the few tools rightsholders have to address the problem.</p>
<p>The latest decision also includes a crucial difference compared to previous orders. The music group is required to pay the costs for the blocking, as they are the ones who benefit from it.</p>
<p>This cost issue makes these blocks less appealing to rightsholders and SCPP has already announced that it will appeal this part of the order.</p>
<p>When doing so, the music group can also scrap at least two of the sites in question, as these have been &#8216;dead&#8217; for a while. </p>
<p>Both TorrentReactor and TorrentHound closed their doors months ago, and TorrentFunk has also been missing in action for a few days. Right now, LimeTorrents is the only site in the case that&#8217;s still operational.</p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<p><em>The full list of domains covered in the order (<a href="media/81ecae21.decision-non-signee.pdf" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/decision-non-signee.pdf">pdf</a>) is as follows.</p>
<p><strong>Main domains</strong></p>
<p>torrentreactor.com<br>
torrenthound.com<br>
limetorrents.cc<br>
torrentfunk.com </p>
<p><strong>Mirrors</strong></p>
<p>torrentreactor.net<br>
torrentreactor.site<br>
torrentreactor.in<br>
thepiratebay.cool/torrent-hound<br>
torrenthound.cc<br>
torrenthound.ru<br>
torrenthound.se<br>
limetorrents.in<br>
limetorrents.ws<br>
limetorrents.info<br>
limetorrents.site<br>
limetorrents.com<br>
limetorrents.co<br>
limetor.co<br>
limetor.com<br>
limetor.net<br>
torrentfunk.ee<br>
torrentfunk.in<br>
torrentfunk.xyz </em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=131976
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week – 12/12/16
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-12-12-16
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Pti-jgmb4N4/
content:
<p><img src="media/4debe623.The-Magnificent-Seven.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/The-Magnificent-Seven.jpg" alt="the-magnificent-seven" width="300" height="172" class="alignright size-full wp-image-132001">This week we have three newcomers in our chart. </p>
<p>The Magnificent Seven is the most downloaded movie.</p>
<p>The data for our weekly download chart is estimated by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only. All the movies in the list are Web-DL/Webrip/HDRip/BDrip/DVDrip unless stated otherwise.</p>
<p><a href="http://TorrentFreak.com/category/dvdrip/feed/"><strong>RSS feed</strong></a> for the weekly movie download chart.</p>
<h5>This week&#8217;s most downloaded movies are:</h5>
<table class="css hover">
<thead>
<tr>
<th width="12%"><strong>Movie Rank</strong></th>
<th width="15%"><strong>Rank <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-pirated-movies-week-120516/">last week</a></strong></th>
<th><strong>Movie name</strong></th>
<th width="18%"><strong>IMDb Rating / Trailer</strong></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tfoot>
<tr>
<td colspan="4">Most downloaded movies via torrents</td>
</tr>
</tfoot>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>1</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/magnificent-seven-torrent-downloads/">The Magnificent Seven</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2404435/">7.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-RBA0xoaWU">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/spectral-torrent-downloads/">Spectral</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2106651/">6.5</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmC3ZhIHHi4">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://torrentfreak.com/inferno-torrent-downloads/">Inferno</a> (subbed HDrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3062096/">6.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RH2BD49sEZI">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/ben-hur-torrent-downloads/">Ben Hur</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2638144/">5.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLJdzky63BA">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(8)</td>
<td><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/snowden-torrent-downloads/">Snowden</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3774114/">7.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KyltHXrxVk">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://torrentfreak.com/accountant-torrent-downloads/">The Accountant</a> (subbed HDrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2140479/">7.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBfsgcswlYQ">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/fantastic-beasts-find-torrent-downloads/">Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them</a> (TS)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3183660/">7.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vso5o11LuGU">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(7)</td>
<td><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/doctor-strange-torrent-downloads/">Doctor Strange</a> (HDTS)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1211837">8.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSzx-zryEgM">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(6)</td>
<td><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/sully-torrent-downloads/">Sully</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3263904/">7.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjKEXxO2KNE">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/moana-torrent-downloads/">Moana</a> (HDTS)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3521164/">8.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKFuXETZUsI">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=131970
title: UK Jails Pirate IPTV Box Supplier For Four Years
uri: UK-Jails-Pirate-IPTV-Box-Supplier-For-Four-Years
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/tbqMAgF5Xqk/
content:
<p><a href="media/096bd33d.streamingkey.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/streamingkey.jpg"><img src="media/468f0769.streamingkey.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/streamingkey.jpg" alt="streamingkey" width="250" height="167" class="alignright size-full wp-image-125426"></a>While many Internet users are happy to use the web to access movies, TV shows, music and sports streams, millions are now doing so from the comfort of their living rooms.</p>
<p>Amazon&#8217;s Fire TV and various Android and Linux devices are all capable of supplying legitimate content, but all have a darker side. With the right know-how and a few tweaks here and there, these cheap pieces of hardware can open a whole new world of pirate streaming.</p>
<p>As a result, a massive black market of suppliers has sprung up worldwide. There are basically two approaches. The first involves the legal Kodi media player and <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-kodi-add-ons-gain-massive-popularity-161007/">third-party addons</a>. The second involves professional (but illegal) IPTV services as detailed in our <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/iptv-mass-piracy-thats-flying-largely-under-the-radar-161127/">earlier article</a>, either piped through Kodi or dedicated Linux-powered devices.</p>
<p>Over the past couple of years, the UK&#8217;s Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) has targeted individuals selling these kinds of devices and services, but the first convictions have taken a while to arrive. Two have now been delivered and they send a message to people offering these devices in a commercial context.</p>
<p>After initially involving PIPCU, the prosecution of Terry O’Reilly, 53, and Will O’Leary, 43, was brought by The Premier League, the top professional league for football in the UK. It was alleged that the pair had been selling piracy-configured devices to both pubs and consumers.</p>
<p>In addition to other media, the devices were able to show Premier League football matches transmitted by foreign channels, a particularly sensitive issue for The Premier League.</p>
<p>In the UK, football is subject to something known as the &#8220;3pm Blackout&#8221; or &#8220;Closed Period,&#8221; which bans live football from TV between 2:45pm and 5:15pm on a Saturday. The ban is designed to encourage match attendance but foreign channels do not abide by the rules. Using either modified Kodi installations or Linux-powered set-top IP boxes, these matches are freely available in the UK.</p>
<p>The case against O’Leary and O’Reilly was heard at Nottingham Crown Court where both were accused of Conspiracy to Defraud. Speaking with TorrentFreak this morning, a FACT spokesperson confirmed that the pair not only supplied the hardware and software, but were also involved in providing the unauthorized streams.</p>
<p>O&#8217;Reilly, 53, of Liverpool, was accused of selling 1,200 devices. He was found guilty of two charges of Conspiracy to Defraud and jailed for four years.</p>
<p>O&#8217;Leary, 43, of Coddington, Nottinghamshire, was described as a &#8220;reseller&#8221; of around 300 devices. Commonly, re-sellers purchase access to an already available service and then offer their own customers the same product (sometimes rebranded) while making a profit or earning commission.</p>
<p>O&#8217;Leary admitted one charge of Conspiracy to Defraud and was handed a two-year sentence, suspended for a year.</p>
<p>&#8220;This case is particularly important as it is the first involving sellers of so-called IPTV devices which enable people to watch illegal content,&#8221; says Premier League Director of Legal Services, Kevin Plumb.</p>
<p>&#8220;The courts have provided a clear message: this is against the law and selling systems which allow people to watch unauthorized Premier League broadcasts is a form of mass piracy and is sufficiently serious to warrant a custodial sentence.&#8221;</p>
<p>FACT Director General, Kieron Sharp also placed emphasis on the importance of the case in acting as a warning to individuals who sell such devices.</p>
<p>“The sale and distribution of these boxes, which are loaded with infringing apps and add-ons allowing access to copyrighted content, is a criminal offense and the repercussions could result in years behind bars,&#8221; Sharp said.</p>
<p>In September, the IP Crime Report 2015/16 <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/uk-ip-crime-report-2016-reveals-iptvkodi-piracy-as-growing-threat-160929/">cited</a> IPTV and modified Kodi installations as a growing threat. FACT said tackling them would become one of its top priorities.</p>
<p>“In the last year FACT has worked with a wide range of partners and law enforcement bodies to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/police-raid-pirate-android-box-sellers-six-arrested-160318/">tackle individuals</a> and <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-android-tv-box-sellers-raided-by-police-150612/">disrupt businesses</a> selling illegal IPTV boxes. Enforcement action has been widespread across the UK with numerous ongoing investigations,” FACT said. </p>
<p>In response to the convictions of O’Leary and O’Reilly, The Premier League said that there can now be &#8220;no doubt for consumers that these systems are illegal.&#8221; However, it remains unclear whether using such devices for streaming in a private setting constitutes a crime.</p>
<p>The Premier League and broadcasting partner Sky don&#8217;t make any effort to target individual consumers who watch these broadcasts but the same cannot be said about device sellers and their commercial customers. Several cases against pubs have gone to court and now The Premier League and FACT have a conviction against suppliers under their belts.</p>
<p>Finally, it will be interesting to see if the convictions of O’Leary and O’Reilly have an effect on the case <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/man-likely-to-sacrifice-himself-testing-streaming-piracy-limits-160925/">pending in Middlesborough</a> against Brian ‘Tomo’ Thompson. He was previously raided by police and Trading Standards after selling “fully loaded” Android boxes from his shop.</p>
<p>Crucially, however, Thompson wasn&#8217;t involved in the supply of the streams, only the hardware and software. That could be all-important for the UK market for pre-configured Kodi-powered devices.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=132042
title: ‘Unfounded Piracy Claims Shouldn’t Lead to Internet Cut-offs’
uri: Unfounded-Piracy-Claims-Shouldn-t-Lead-to-Internet-Cut-offs
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/d0DmdnpD7qc/
content:
<p><img src="media/f2bfe741.pirate-running.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-running.jpg" alt="pirate-running" width="222" height="204" class="alignright size-full wp-image-78717">Last December a Virginia federal jury ruled that Internet provider Cox Communications was responsible for the copyright infringements of its subscribers.</p>
<p>The ISP <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/cox-has-no-dmca-safe-harbor-protection-judge-rules-151124/">lost its safe harbor</a> protection because it failed to properly terminate the accounts of repeat infringers, and was <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/cox-is-liable-for-pirating-subscribers-ordered-to-pay-25-million-151217/">found guilty</a> of willful contributory copyright infringement.</p>
<p>Hoping to overturn the $25 million verdict in favor of music publisher BMG Rights Management, Cox <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/cox-files-appeal-to-overturn-25-million-piracy-verdict-161110/">filed </a>an appeal. Thus far it has received <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/widespread-protest-against-dangerous-repeat-infringer-piracy-verdict-161115/">support</a> from several industry associations, academic institutions, and also the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).</p>
<p>This week the EFF is again stressing the importance of the case. According to the digital rights group, copyright holders shouldn&#8217;t have the power to cut off people&#8217;s Internet based on &#8220;claims&#8221; of copyright infringement.</p>
<p>&#8220;No one should have to fear losing their internet connection because of unfounded accusations,&#8221; EFF&#8217;s Kerry Sheehan <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/12/music-industry-shouldnt-be-able-cut-your-internet-access">writes</a>.</p>
<p>The EFF acknowledges that the DMCA law requires Internet providers to have a repeat infringer policy in place. However, the law doesn&#8217;t say that one-sided piracy allegations are sufficient. </p>
<p>That is, however, what Judge O’Grady concluded in his verdict late last year. This is a worrying development according to the EFF, who warn that the ruling can be abused by copyright holders.</p>
<p>&#8220;In giving rightsholders the ability to determine for themselves who counts as a &#8216;repeat infringer,&#8217; Judge O’Grady created a powerful tool they can use to pressure ISPs to comply with their copyright enforcement schemes.  </p>
<p>&#8220;And they get an extra boon as well — they can shake down Internet subscribers for settlement fees with threats that they’ll lose their internet access,&#8221; Sheehan adds.</p>
<p>The EFF points out that recent history has shown that allegations from copyright holders are not always accurate. And even if the right IP-address is tracked down, that doesn&#8217;t mean that the account holder is the one who shared infringing material. </p>
<p>Who is a repeat infringer and who isn&#8217;t shouldn&#8217;t be defined by piracy monitoring outfits that make their money by flagging people. It should be for the court to decide.</p>
<p>&#8220;The only way to reliably determine when a subscriber is a repeat infringer is when that person has been found by a court of law to have repeatedly committed copyright infringement,&#8221; Sheehan writes. </p>
<p>If the current verdict stands ISPs will be held liable for allegedly pirating subscribers, because copyright holders say so. This goes too far, the EFF argues, and may lead to broad monitoring and filtering practices.</p>
<p>The EFF hopes that the appeal court will recognize this threat and make Internet disconnections a measure of last resort, not standard practice.</p>
<p>&#8220;Like &#8216;cutting off someone’s water,&#8217; terminating someone’s internet connection should be, at least, a measure of last resort. As Cox’s appeal continues, we hope this time the court gets it right,&#8221; Sheehan concludes.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=132046
title: NO. The Grand Tour is NOT The Most Pirated TV-Show in History.
uri: NO-The-Grand-Tour-is-NOT-The-Most-Pirated-TV-Show-in-History
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/5TEjMR_CQ8I/
content:
<p><img src="media/73527ece.grandbollocks2.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/grandbollocks2.png" alt="grandbollocks2" width="275" height="196" class="alignright size-full wp-image-132072">Statistics are generally pretty boring, but when pirates come into play it&#8217;s an entirely different story. </p>
<p>Yesterday, numerous self-respecting news publications &#8216;reported&#8217; that Amazon&#8217;s Top Gear &#8216;inspired&#8217; series &#8220;The Grand Tour&#8221; is now the most pirated TV-show ever, beating Game of Thrones, which held this title for nearly a decade. </p>
<p>While it sounds exciting, it&#8217;s not really true. </p>
<p>Admittingly, collecting piracy statistics is far from an exact science. However, even when we look at publicly available data it&#8217;s obvious The Grand Tour is no competition for Game of Thrones. </p>
<p>The confusion started with a <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-4021280/Grand-Theft-Auto-Clarkson-s-TV-comeback-illegally-downloaded-history-viewers-pirating-episode-7-9million-times.html">report</a> from the bastion of quality news reporting, The Daily Mail. &#8220;Clarkson&#8217;s TV comeback becomes the most illegally downloaded show in history,&#8221; it claimed. </p>
<p>The report cites data from piracy monitoring firm MUSO and suggests that the first episode was illegally downloaded 7.9 million times. More than any other show in history, the company&#8217;s chief commercial officer claimed.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is the most illegally downloaded programme ever. It is off the scale in terms of volume. It has overtaken every big show, including Game Of Thrones, for the totals across different platforms,&#8221; MUSO&#8217;s Chris Elkins said.</p>
<p>While we&#8217;re not going to dispute this number directly, the &#8220;most downloaded&#8221; claim is nonsense. First of all, it would be virtually impossible for any new show to be the most downloaded ever if it&#8217;s up against those that have been available for years. </p>
<p>But, let&#8217;s assume that we&#8217;re talking about downloads on a weekly basis. Even then, the signs are pretty bad. Looking at the most recent list of most pirated TV-shows on The Pirate Bay shows that several other shows currently outrank The Grand Tour by a wide margin, The Walking Dead in particular.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/446d5472.grandbollocks1-e1481614358957.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/grandbollocks1-e1481614358957.png" alt="grandbollocks1" width="600" height="281" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-132073"></center></p>
<p>In addition, recent streaming data from several of the most popular streaming sites online places The Grand Tour behind The Walking Dead, which traditionally is far less popular than Game of Thrones.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak has kept a close eye on the most-shared torrents for The Grand Tour, which get roughly 20,000 people sharing simultaneously at their peak. Peanuts compared to Game of Thrones&#8217; record, which sits at over a quarter million. </p>
<p>Also, the claimed &#8220;record&#8221; number of downloads is significantly less than our <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/game-of-thrones-most-pirated-tv-show-of-2015/">14+ million</a> estimate for Game of Thrones last year. </p>
<p>Even Muso itself indirectly disputes its own claim, as the quoted 7.9 million figure for the Grand Tour is lower than an estimate it <a href="https://www.muso.com/magazine/television/australia-game-of-thrones/">previously gave</a> for Game of Thrones.</p>
<p>We asked Muso itself for clarification and it appears that there has been some misunderstanding. The spokesperson for the company suggests that The Grand Tour is &#8216;just&#8217; the most pirated UK TV show.</p>
<p>&#8220;Demand analysis across a three week monitoring period for episodes 1-3 of The Grand Tour placed it as having the highest volume of piracy views for a UK TV show in history, as well as the most piracy views in a debut season for a TV show.&#8221;</p>
<p>That sounds more like it. In addition, it&#8217;s probably also the most pirated TV show with the word &#8220;Grand&#8221; in the title, as well as the most illegally downloaded show about cars. </p>
<p>TorrentFreak asked the company for additional clarification on what data is covered in the 7.9 million estimate, as &#8220;piracy views&#8221; suggests that it&#8217;s about more than torrent downloads. It&#8217;s likely that MUSO also included a streaming estimate in its data, but at the time of publication we have yet to receive a response.</p>
<p>We don&#8217;t know whether MUSO was misquoted by The Daily Mail, but it&#8217;s safe to say that The Grand Tour still has a long way to go before it outpaces Game of Thrones, if it ever will.</p>
<p>Fake news anyone?</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=132044
title: US Government Publishes New Plan to Target Pirate Sites
uri: US-Government-Publishes-New-Plan-to-Target-Pirate-Sites
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/TRO5oRWBkTU/
content:
<p><a href="media/75d948cd.whitehouse-logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/whitehouse-logo.jpg"><img src="media/0601398b.whitehouse-logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/whitehouse-logo.jpg" alt="whitehouse-logo" width="250" height="170" class="alignright size-full wp-image-132093"></a>The Office of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC) has just released its Joint Strategic Plan (JSP) for Intellectual Property Enforcement, titled Supporting Innovation, Creativity &#038; Enterprise: Charting a Path Ahead.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Plan – which incorporates views from a variety of individual stakeholders across government, industry, educational institutions, trade organizations and public interest groups — offers a blueprint for the work to be carried out over the next three years by the Federal Government in support of a healthy and robust intellectual property enforcement policy environment,&#8221; a White House statement reads. </p>
<p>The plan has four stated goals:</p>
<p> &#8211; Enhance National understanding of the economic and social impacts flowing from misappropriation of trade secrets and the infringement of intellectual property rights</p>
<p>&#8211; Promote a safe and secure Internet by minimizing counterfeiting and IP-infringing activity online</p>
<p>&#8211; Secure and facilitate lawful trade</p>
<p>&#8211; Enhance domestic strategies and global collaboration in support of effective IP enforcement.</p>
<p>The 163-page report leaves few stones unturned, with Section 2 homing in on Internet piracy.</p>
<p><strong>Follow The Money</strong></p>
<p>While shutting down websites is often seen as the ultimate anti-piracy tool, more commonly authorities are targeting what they believe fuels online piracy &#8211; money. The report says that while original content is expensive to create, copies cost almost nothing, leading to large profits for pirates.</p>
<p>&#8220;An effective enforcement strategy against commercial-scale piracy and counterfeiting therefore, must target and dry up the illicit revenue flow of the actors engaged in commercial piracy online. That requires an examination of the revenue sources for commercial-scale pirates,&#8221; the report says.</p>
<p>&#8220;The operators of direct illicit download and streaming sites enjoy revenue through membership subscriptions serviced by way of credit card and similar payment-based transactions, as is the case with the sale and purchase of counterfeit goods, while the operators of torrent sites may rely more heavily on advertising revenue as the primary source of income.&#8221;  </p>
<p>To cut-off this revenue, the government foresees voluntary collaboration between payment processor networks, online advertisers, and the banking sector.</p>
<p><strong>Payment processors</strong></p>
<p>&#8220;All legitimate payment processors prohibit the use of their services and platforms for unlawful conduct, including IP-infringing activities. They do so by way of policy and contract through terms of use and other agreements applicable to their users,&#8221; the JSP says.</p>
<p>&#8220;Yet, notwithstanding these prohibitions, payment processor platforms continue to be exploited by illicit merchants of counterfeit products and infringing content.&#8221;</p>
<p>The government says that pirates and counterfeiters use a number of techniques to exploit payment processors and have deployed systems that can thwart &#8220;test&#8221; transactions conducted by rightsholders and other investigators. Furthermore, the fact that some credit card companies do not have direct contractual relationships with merchants, enables websites to continue doing business after payment processing rights have been terminated.</p>
<p>The JSP calls for more coordination between companies in the ecosystem, increased transparency, greater geographic scope, and bi-lateral engagements with other governments.</p>
<p>&#8220;IPEC and USPTO, with private sector input, will facilitate benchmarking studies of current voluntary initiatives designed to combat revenue flow to rogue sites to determine whether existing voluntary initiatives are functioning effectively, and thereby promote a robust, datadriven voluntary initiative environment,&#8221; the report adds.</p>
<p><strong>Advertising</strong></p>
<p>The JSP begins with the comment that &#8220;Ad revenue is the oxygen that content theft to breathe&#8221; and it&#8217;s clear that the government wants to asphyxiate pirate sites. It believes that up to 86% of download and streaming platforms rely on advertising for revenue and the sector needs to be cleaned up.</p>
<p>In common with payment processors, the report notes that legitimate ad networks also have policies in place to stop their services appearing on pirate sites. However, &#8220;sophisticated entities&#8221; dedicated to infringement can exploit loopholes, with some doing so to display &#8220;high-risk&#8221; ads that include malware, pop-unders and pixel stuffing.</p>
<p>Collaboration is already underway among industry players but the government wants to see more integration and cooperation, to stay ahead of the tactics allegedly employed by sites such as the defunct KickassTorrents, which is highlighted in the report.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/9153736f.kat-ad.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/kat-ad.png"><img src="media/4bad6af4.kat-ad.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/kat-ad.png" alt="kat-ad" width="650" height="546" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-132088"></a></center></p>
<p>&#8220;IPEC and the IPR Center (with its constituent law enforcement partners), along with other relevant Federal agencies, will convene the advertising industry to hear further about their voluntary efforts. The U.S. Interagency Strategic Planning Committees on IP Enforcement will assess opportunities to support efforts to combat the flow of ad revenue to criminals,&#8221; the JSP reads.</p>
<p>&#8220;As part of best practices and initiatives, advertising networks are encouraged<br>
to make appropriately generalized and anonymized data publicly available to permit study and analysis of illicit activity intercepted on their platforms and networks. Such data will allow study by public and private actors alike to identify patterns of behavior or tactics associated with illicit actors who seek to profit from ad revenue from content theft websites.&#8221; </p>
<p><strong>Domain hopping</strong></p>
<p>When pirate sites come under pressure from copyright holders, their domain names are often at risk of suspension or even seizure. This triggers a phenomenon known as domain hopping, a tactic most visibly employed by The Pirate Bay when it <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bays-domain-shuffle-come-full-circle-160520/">skipped all around the world</a> with domains registered in several different countries.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/50be9c89.tpb-hop.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/tpb-hop.png"><img src="media/694c6b83.tpb-hop.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpb-hop.png" alt="tpb-hop" width="650" height="329" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-132089"></a></center></p>
<p>&#8220;To evade law enforcement, bad actors will register the same or different domain name with different registrars. They then attempt to evade law enforcement by moving from one registrar to another, thus prolonging the so-called &#8216;whack-a-mole&#8217; pursuit. The result of this behavior is to drive up costs of time and resources spent on protecting intellectual property right,&#8221; the JSP notes.</p>
<p>The report adds that pirate sites are more likely to use ccTLDs (country code Top-Level Domains) than gTLDs (Generic Top-Level Domains) due to the way the former are administrated.</p>
<p>&#8220;The relationship between any given ccTLD administrator and its government will differ from case to case and may depend on complex and sensitive arrangements particular to the local political climate. Different ccTLD policies will reflect different approaches with respect to process for the suspension, transfer, or cancellation of a domain name registration,&#8221; it reads.</p>
<p>&#8220;Based on the most recent Notorious Markets lists available prior to issuance of this plan, ccTLDs comprise roughly half of all named &#8216;notorious&#8217; top-level domains.  Considering that ccTLDs are outnumbered by gTLDs in the domain name base by more than a 2-to-1 ratio, the frequency of bad faith ccTLD sites appear to be disproportionate in nature and worthy of further research and analysis.&#8221;</p>
<p>Once again, the US government calls for more cooperation alongside an investigation to assess the scope of &#8220;abusive domain name registration tactics and trend.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>Policies to improve DMCA takedown processes</strong></p>
<p>As widely documented, rightsholders are generally very unhappy with the current DMCA regime as they are forced to send <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/google-asked-to-remove-a-billion-pirate-search-results-in-a-year-161128/">millions of notices</a> every week to contain the flow of pirate content. Equally, service providers are also being placed under significant stress due to the processing of those same notices.</p>
<p>In its report, the government acknowledges the problems faced by both sides but indicates that the right discussions are already underway to address the issues.</p>
<p>&#8220;The continued development of private sector best practices, led through a multistakeholder process, may ease the burdens involved with the DMCA process for rights holders, Internet intermediaries, and users while decreasing infringing activity,&#8221; the report says.</p>
<p>&#8220;These best practices may focus on enhanced methods for identifying actionable infringement, preventing abuse of the system, establishing efficient takedown procedures, preventing the reappearance of previously removed infringing content, and providing opportunity for creators to assert their fair use rights.&#8221;</p>
<p>In summary, the government champions the Copyright Office&#8217;s <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/u-s-govt-reviews-impact-and-efficacy-of-dmca-safe-harbor-160105/">current evaluation</a> of Section 512 of the DMCA while calling for cooperation between stakeholders.</p>
<p><strong>Social Media</strong></p>
<p>The Joint Strategic Plan highlights the growing part social media has to play in the dissemination of infringing content, from driving traffic to websites selling illegal products, unlawful exploitation of third-party content, to suspect product reviews. Again, the solution can be found in collaboration, including with the public.</p>
<p>&#8220;[The government will] encourage the development of industry standards and best<br>
practices, through a multistakeholder process, to curb abuses of social media channels for illicit purposes, while protecting the rights of users to use those channels for non-infringing and other lawful activities,&#8221; it notes.</p>
<p>&#8220;One underutilized resource may be the users themselves, who may be in a<br>
position to report suspicious product offerings or other illicit activity, if provided a streamlined opportunity to do so, as some social media companies are beginning to explore.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>And finally &#8211; education</strong></p>
<p>The government believes that greater knowledge among the public of where it can obtain content legally will assist in reducing instances of online piracy.</p>
<p>&#8220;The U.S. Interagency Strategic Planning Committees on IP Enforcement, and other relevant Federal agencies, as appropriate, will assess opportunities to support public-private collaborative efforts aimed at increasing awareness of legal sources of copyrighted material online and educating users about the harmful impacts of digital piracy,&#8221; it concludes.</p>
<p>The full report is available here <em>(163 pages, <a href="media/60128294.eop_ipec_jointstrategicplan_hi-res.pdf" data-original-source="https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/IPEC/spotlight/eop_ipec_jointstrategicplan_hi-res.pdf">PDF</a>)</em> </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=132138
title: Music Industry Pressures Trump on Piracy Ahead of Silicon Valley Meeting
uri: Music-Industry-Pressures-Trump-on-Piracy-Ahead-of-Silicon-Valley-Meeti
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/V1hB6Znlb64/
content:
<p><a href="media/c4085613.trump.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/trump.png"><img src="media/d9c38786.trump.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/trump.png" alt="trump" width="225" height="158" class="alignright size-full wp-image-127309"></a>In a matter of weeks the United States will have a brand new president, so it&#8217;s now time to resign a bitter election battle to history and make plans for the future.</p>
<p>This afternoon, representatives of some of the most significant technology companies on the planet will meet with President-elect Donald Trump for a round-table discussion in New York.</p>
<p>Heading to Trump Tower will be Larry Page and Eric Schmidt of Google parent Alphabet, Tim Cook of Apple, Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook and Satya Nadella of Microsoft. According to the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/13/technology/when-trump-meets-tech-leaders-jobs-will-be-on-the-agenda.html?_r=0">New York Times</a>, the companies are keeping a low profile about the event, but with giants like IBM, Intel and Cisco also in attendance, flying under the radar just isn&#8217;t possible.</p>
<p>The meeting today clearly hasn&#8217;t gone unnoticed by America&#8217;s music industry either. Despite some attempts at building bridges with companies such as Google, there is a gaping chasm of understanding due to the manner in which platforms like YouTube are said to utilize music without properly compensating artists. The industry feels that Trump has a role to play in solving this problem.</p>
<p>In an open letter to president-elect Trump congratulating him on his election, the RIAA and an A to Z of music groups make it clear that he should keep them in mind when he meets with the technology giants this afternoon. Protection of their intellectual property is paramount, they argue.</p>
<p>&#8220;Congratulations on your election to serve as the 45th President of the United States. We look forward to working with you and your Administration on behalf of American music – one of our nation’s most valuable forms of art and intellectual property, and a powerful driver of high &#8211; quality U.S. jobs and exports,&#8221; they begin.</p>
<p>Pointing to a statement Trump issued earlier this year when he described intellectual property as &#8220;a driving force in today’s global economy of constant innovation&#8221; while calling for its protection, the groups paint themselves as sharing the president-elect&#8217;s goals.</p>
<p>&#8220;So much of what you wrote in your platform this summer about intellectual property and private property rights resonated with many of us,&#8221; they write, adding that they share the desire to take strong action to enforce intellectual property laws against infringers.</p>
<p>Noting that they&#8217;re aware of the meeting today, the music groups lay out the significance of their industry, claiming a $1.2m trillion contribution to the economy while supporting the jobs of 5.5 million Americans. However, they also remind America&#8217;s forthcoming new leader that some of the companies he will meet with today owe a great debt to the music industry.</p>
<p>&#8220;Indeed, many of today’s popular technology platforms owe much of their growth and success to music. Music is responsible for the most-followed accounts on Facebook and Twitter, the most-watched videos on YouTube, and is one of the most popular draws for phones and other personal devices,&#8221; they note.</p>
<p>The music groups say that such platforms thrive by delivering the work created by artists and many deserve to be commended for valuing and protecting the music industry. But while some have developed systems to &#8220;deter theft&#8221;, much more needs to be done.</p>
<p>&#8220;Search engines, user upload content platforms, hosting companies, and domain name registrars and registries should follow others’ example to effectively stop theft and assure fair payment,&#8221; they say.</p>
<p>&#8220;Further, there is a massive &#8216;value grab&#8217; as some of these corporations weaken intellectual property rights for America’s creators by exploiting <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/u-s-copyright-office-undecided-about-future-of-dmca-takedowns-161114/">legal loopholes</a> never intended for them – perversely abusing U.S. law to underpay music creators, thus harming one of America’s economic and job engines.</p>
<p>&#8220;Surely the world’s most sophisticated technology corporations can do better – by helping to prevent illegal access and paying fair market value for music with prices set by or based on the free market.&#8221;</p>
<p>All of these issues were covered by the Joint Strategic Plan for Intellectual Property Enforcement <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/us-government-publishes-new-plan-to-target-pirate-sites-161213/">released</a> by the Obama administration this week. At this point (and despite political differences) it seems unlikely that Trump will deviate far from its key goal of protecting American interests both domestically and overseas.</p>
<p>However, as the SOPA debate of almost five years ago brought sharply into focus, technology companies and the content industries might need each other to progress, but agreement on IP issues are usually tough to come by, especially when that involves <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/tech-companies-urge-trump-to-protect-dmca-safe-harbors-161118/">holding tech companies responsible</a> for the infringements of others. Trump certainly has a balancing act up ahead, but the music groups know which way they want him to go.</p>
<p>&#8220;Strong protection for intellectual property rights will assure growth in both creativity and technology, benefiting the American economy as a whole. We hope you will lead the effort to assure American creativity is encouraged, invested in, protected and fairly compensated in a manner that carries out the exclusive rights guaranteed in the Constitution to those who, with the genius of their mind, form the cultural identity of our great nation,&#8221; they conclude.</p>
<p>The original letter can be found here <em>(<a href="media/41f1470b.Letter-to-POTUSE-from-Music-Community-121316.pdf" data-original-source="http://www.riaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Letter-to-POTUSE-from-Music-Community-121316.pdf">pdf</a>)</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=132131
title: Court Protects BitTorrent Pirate From Overaggressive Filmmakers
uri: Court-Protects-BitTorrent-Pirate-From-Overaggressive-Filmmakers
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Gi0kDXf41Is/
content:
<p><img src="media/8108dd50.cobbler.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cobbler.jpg" alt="cobbler" width="275" height="223" class="alignright size-full wp-image-109549">In recent years, file-sharers around the world have been pressured to pay significant settlement fees, or face legal repercussions.</p>
<p>These so-called “copyright trolling” efforts have been a common occurrence in the United States for more than half a decade. </p>
<p>The makers of the Adam Sandler movie <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3203616/">The Cobbler</a> are one of the parties actively involved in these practices. In one of their Oregon cases they recently settled with local resident Santos Cerritos, after a lengthy legal back-and-forth.</p>
<p>Cerritos eventually agreed to pay the statutory minimum damages of $750 and reasonable attorney fees. A substantial amount, but better than the $150,000 maximum damages rightsholders often want. </p>
<p>However, when the filmmakers announced their fees demand things took a turn for the worse. They wanted Cerritos to pay for their entire legal bill of $17,348, which is many times more than the damage award itself.</p>
<p>The accused pirate protested this request in court and in a recent ruling Oregon Magistrate Judge Stacie Beckerman <a href="https://casetext.com/case/cobbler-nev-llc-v-cerritos">agreed</a> that the &#8220;fee-shifting&#8221; request is unreasonable.</p>
<p>The Judge notes that the damages amount in the settlement is already substantial and that it acts as a proper deterrent. That is enough. The defendant should not be required to fund the filmmakers&#8217; copyright enforcement actions.</p>
<p>&#8220;In light of the substantial financial penalty already imposed, an attorney fee award is not necessary to deter further infringement, nor is a fee award necessary to encourage Plaintiff to continue to protect its rights, where Plaintiff has been vigilant to date and has the resources to police their copyright,&#8221; Judge Beckerman writes. </p>
<p>In a critical note, the Judge adds that these BitTorrent cases are creating results that are not in line with the goals of the Copyright Act. Instead, the threat of unreasonably high damages creates an unequal and unfair bargaining position. </p>
<p>&#8220;For this Court to award Plaintiff its attorney&#8217;s fees in this case would only contribute to the continued overaggressive assertion and negotiation of these Copyright Act claims,&#8221; she notes.  </p>
<p>As a result of such overaggressive actions, several defendants have chosen not to defend themselves at all, opting for a default judgment instead. This isn&#8217;t purely in the interest of justice, but rather to exploit copyright law for commercial gain, the Judge suggests. </p>
<p>&#8220;A startling number of subscribers are failing to show up for Rule 45 depositions, and alleged infringers are more often than not choosing default judgments over litigation,&#8221; Judge Beckerman writes. </p>
<p>&#8220;By allowing this scenario to occur for several years now, the federal courts are not assisting in the administration of justice, but are instead enabling plaintiffs&#8217; counsel and their LLC clients to receive a financial windfall by exploiting copyright law.&#8221;</p>
<p>Another argument against the high demand for attorney fees is the fact that the filmmakers unnecessarily prolonged the case. The case could have been settled early, but the rightsholder refused to do so, likely for financial reasons.</p>
<p>Keeping Cerritos&#8217;  financial position in mind, Judge Backerman doesn&#8217;t see it as appropriate to leave the defendant with more than $17,000 in debt that could have been avoided with an early settlement.</p>
<p>&#8220;If the Court were to force Cerritos to pay Plaintiff&#8217;s counsel his fee of $17,348.60, it would take Cerritos and his family years and years to satisfy that debt. It is a debt that was avoidable had counsel working together cooperatively to resolve this case.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Judge therefore denies the motion for attorney fees. While admitting that piracy is a problem, she doesn&#8217;t believe that these high costs are a burden an individual downloader should carry. </p>
<p>&#8220;Online piracy is a serious problem that demands meaningful solutions. Plaintiff has every right to enforce the copyright it holds, but not to demand that individual consumers who downloaded a single movie pay more than their share of the problem,&#8221; Judge Beckerman concludes.</p>
<p>Although Cerritos still lost the case and still owes the $750 in damages and $525 in other costs, he will be pleased with this outcome. Others who are in the same position will be glad too. It presents another hurdle to the &#8216;copyright trolls&#8217; and makes it a little easier for their targets to fight similar demands.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=132200
title: The Pirate Bay and Other Pirate Sites Will Be Blocked in Australia
uri: The-Pirate-Bay-and-Other-Pirate-Sites-Will-Be-Blocked-in-Australia
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/HosjpZQhuJg/
content:
<p><a href="media/bfddc9cc.tpb3.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/tpb3.png"><img src="media/7e02aab6.tpb3.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpb3.png" alt="tpb" width="230" height="243" class="alignright size-full wp-image-106334"></a>It&#8217;s been several years in the making and a move that required legislative change and cooperation between rightsholders and ISPs, but Australians will soon be subjected to the site-blocking phenomenon.</p>
<p>Following a case brought by rightsholders including Roadshow Films, Foxtel, Disney, Paramount, Columbia, and 20th Century Fox, more than fifty Internet service providers Down Under are now required to start barring subscriber access to &#8216;pirate&#8217; sites.</p>
<p>In an order handed down a few hours ago, Justice John Nicholas of the Federal Court ruled that The Pirate Bay, Torrentz, TorrentHound, IsoHunt and streaming service SolarMovie will all have to be rendered inaccessible to consumers in Australia. The same applies to dozens of affiliated and non-affiliated proxy and mirror sites.</p>
<p>The decision, however, was not without its complications. <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/torrentz-shuts-down-largest-torrent-meta-search-engine-says-farewell-160805/">Torrentz</a>, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/torrenthound-shuts-down-another-big-torrent-site-bites-the-dust-160915/">TorrentHound</a>, and <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/solarmovie-disappears-following-kat-shutdown-160721/">Solarmovie</a> have all shut down since the beginning of the legal action.</p>
<p>In the end, the Judge concluded there was a risk that the platforms could rise again so agreed to a ban. However, a small number of inactive Pirate Bay proxies and mirrors were excluded as no evidence of infringing activity was presented against them in Court.</p>
<p>Ruling all of the remaining sites to based overseas and in breach of Australian copyright law, the Judge gave ISPs including Telstra, Optus, TPG and iiNet just 15 days to comply with the blocking order, meaning that the blocks could be put in place before the end of the year.</p>
<p>ISPs were given a choice over how to implement the blocks. The Judge said they must all take &#8220;reasonable&#8221; steps which include DNS blocking, IP address blocking (or IP re-routing), URL blocking, or &#8220;any alternative technical means&#8221; approved by a rightsholder.</p>
<p>The Judge also determined that when being denied access to a blocked site, consumers must be informed what is happening. As a result, ISPs will either have to redirect subscribers to a landing page or, alternatively, redirect them to a page put in place by rightsholders.</p>
<p>The big argument over who will pay for the blockades has also been settled. The Internet service providers will all have to foot the bill for putting their own blocking mechanisms in place but rightsholders must pay AUS$50 per domain moving forward. The rightsholders were also ordered to pay the ISPs&#8217; legal costs.</p>
<p>Today&#8217;s ruling and these initial blockades represent the beginning of mass site-blocking in Australia. Rightsholders re-attending Court to have more sites blocked is likely to become a regular occurrence in 2017 and beyond.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=132205
title: MPAA Takes Credit for The Shutdown of KickassTorrents
uri: MPAA-Takes-Credit-for-The-Shutdown-of-KickassTorrents
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/heRfZGR1xMQ/
content:
<p><img src="media/72da5504.dodd-laughing.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dodd-laughing.jpg" alt="dodd-laughing" width="200" height="214" class="alignright size-full wp-image-45463">This summer the U.S. Government <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/feds-seize-kickasstorrents-domains-charge-owner-160720/">shut down</a> KickassTorrents, which was then the largest torrent site on the Internet. </p>
<p>The complaint was the result of an elaborate FBI investigation, pointing out the Ukrainian Artem Vaulin as one of the alleged masterminds.</p>
<p>However, it turns out that it wasn&#8217;t just the U.S. Government who put the pieces together. There&#8217;s another major force behind the shutdown that hasn&#8217;t been mentioned thus far.</p>
<p>MPAA boss Chris Dodd suggests that the Hollywood group also played a key role in the case. Their international arm, the MPA, is headquartered in Europe from where it actively helped the U.S. authorities to shut down KickassTorrents.</p>
<p>&#8220;We have now established a global hub — an office in Brussels. It has been tremendously successful in closing down Kickass Torrents, the single largest pirate site in the world,&#8221; Dodd told Variety in an <a href="http://variety.com/2016/biz/news/chris-dodd-mpaa-donald-trump-hollywood-1201941615/">interview</a>. </p>
<p>The major movie studios have helped in similar criminal cases before, so this doesn&#8217;t come as a complete surprise. Generally speaking, however, the MPAA is not particularly open about the role it plays in federal investigations.</p>
<p>Although the takedown of KickassTorrents was a major success for Hollywood, piracy remains a problem. It&#8217;s even come to a point where Dodd himself is using the &#8220;hydra&#8221; terminology, which The Pirate Bay&#8217;s crew first <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-survival-the-way-of-the-hydra/">brought up </a> a <a href="http://piratbyran-in-eng.blogspot.co.uk/">decade</a> ago.</p>
<p>The MPAA says that successes are still being booked every day, but they require more sophisticated methods than were used in the past.</p>
<p>&#8220;We make great inroads, but it is a problem that isn’t going away. Some days I do feel it is hydra-headed. But in the past few years, we have developed a more sophisticated and efficient way of dealing with piracy issues.&#8221;</p>
<p>At the same time, however, the pirates are getting smarter as well. </p>
<p>Over the years operators of sites and services have found better ways to shield their themselves from law enforcement, while making it easier for their users to consume content. While Dodd has a positive outlook, he recognizes the challenges that lie ahead. </p>
<p>&#8220;I am feeling more optimistic, but the pirates are getting more sophisticated. Technology not only is increasing our opportunity for more people to consume our content, but technology is also making it possible for people to steal our content, and it is not insignificant,&#8221; he concludes. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=132134
title: KickassTorrents Brought Back to Life by Original Staffers
uri: KickassTorrents-Brought-Back-to-Life-by-Original-Staffers
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/zylCTy2H8z8/
content:
<p><img src="media/5a6ca898.kat.JPG" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/kat.JPG" alt="kat" width="215" height="144" class="alignright size-full wp-image-19182">A few months ago a criminal investegation by the U.S. Government <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/feds-seize-kickasstorrents-domains-charge-owner-160720/">brought down KickassTorrents</a>, the largest torrent site at the time. </p>
<p>As a result, millions of people were left without their favorite torrent site. This included a very active community of admins, moderators and forum members.</p>
<p>Shortly after the shutdown, several KAT-crew members regrouped in an effort to get the community part of the site back up. They launched the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/kickasstorrents-community-resurrects-without-torrents-160725/">Katcr.co</a> forum as their new home and hinted that torrents could come back too, in the future. </p>
<p>Today is the big day as Katcr.co (KATcr) has now launched a <a href="https://katcr.co/new/">fully operational torrent site</a>, which looks identical to its predecessor. The site starts with a clean user database but many members of the original staff are on board.</p>
<p>&#8220;The majority of our original Staff, Admins and Moderation team joined us after Kat.cr went down &#8211; which is something we&#8217;re very proud of. This shows the loyalty, dedication and real love for KAT that we all share,&#8221; The KATcr team told TorrentFreak. </p>
<p>At the original KAT, site administrators and crew were clearly separated from those who technically and financially ran the place. This means that the people in charge of KATcr didn’t have access to the original code and data.</p>
<p>Still, they managed to put together bits and pieces to make it look identical, so former KAT users should feel right at home. </p>
<p><center><strong>The new <a href="https://katcr.co/new/">Katcr.co</a></strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/55e62afc.katcr-e1481815288964.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/katcr-e1481815288964.png" alt="katcr" width="600" height="344" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-132244"></center></p>
<p>Perhaps just as importantly, many of the site&#8217;s renowned uploaders are also back. As a result, the site will be populated with a lot of fresh content right from the start. </p>
<p>&#8220;We have all our major uploaders on board and they continued to share tirelessly even before the torrent engines returned. The torrent community can continue to expect to see uploads from all the names they know and trust,&#8221; the KATcr crew says. </p>
<p><center><strong>Uploading to KATcr</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/e4f044bc.katupload-e1481815382611.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/katupload-e1481815382611.png" alt="katupload" width="600" height="482" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-132245"></center></p>
<p>Putting everything together took quite a bit of time, but the team wanted to make sure that everything is secure, which they are confident is the case now.</p>
<p>&#8220;In order to keep our members safe we chose to rebuild and keep only safe elements. Despite the fact that a rebuild took longer, the safety of our community comes first,&#8221; the KATcr crew told us.</p>
<p>While some might see it as a bold move to relaunch a site whose alleged operators are still wanted by the U.S. Government, the current staff sees no major legal issues ahead.</p>
<p>They point out that the site has a proper DMCA takedown procedure, just like YouTube, adding that they don&#8217;t store any copyrighted material on the site&#8217;s servers. </p>
<p>&#8220;KAT is a community-based forum and a torrent search engine. It&#8217;s the heart of who we are and that will never change. Despite opinions to the contrary, torrents are not illegal and we do not host any content. </p>
<p>&#8220;So long as Kickass Torrents continues to operate to the absolute letter of the law then we are most certainly not conducting criminal activities,&#8221; they note. </p>
<p>In a similar vein, the KATcr crew believes that the original operators of the site will walk free.</p>
<p>&#8220;We strongly believe the investigation carried out by Homeland Security and the IRS is unlawful in basis, targeting a foreign citizen and prosecuting them under US law. We have every confidence in the outcome of the pending legal action,&#8221; they say. </p>
<p>Over the past months, many KAT copies and mirrors emerged claiming to be the real reincarnation. In reality, the original site is still gone, but with many old staffers and uploaders onboard, KATcr might have some legs.</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> The site appears to have some technical issues, as it went down after a short while. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=132272
title: Pirate Bay & KickassTorrents Music Uploader Jailed For a Year
uri: Pirate-Bay-KickassTorrents-Music-Uploader-Jailed-For-a-Year
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Jo3EmrYjLag/
content:
<p>Following a joint investigation with licensing outfit PRS for Music, last September officers from the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) and Merseyside police <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/uk-police-arrest-prolific-pirate-bay-uploader-150903/">raided</a> an address in Everton, Liverpool.</p>
<p>They were looking for Wayne Evans, a local DJ who they believed was involved in the unlawful distribution of music online.</p>
<p>Known online as OldSkoolScouse, Evans uploaded packs of the UK’s current Top 40 Singles to torrent sites each week. They included at least 200 uploaded to KickassTorrents, which proved particularly popular with fans.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/afbb2d60.scouse-kickass.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/scouse-kickass.jpg" width="650" height="323" alt="" class="aligncenter size-large"></center></p>
<p>In addition, Evans ran DeeJayPortal.co.uk, a website with a membership of more than 160,000 users which specialized in unlicensed a capella versions of famous tracks. Along with OldSkoolScouse.co.uk, another of Evans&#8217; domains, it currently displays a PIPCU seizure notice.</p>
<p>In October 2016, the 39-year-old appeared before Liverpool Crown Court, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-uploader-admits-copyright-infringement-fraud-161010/">pleading guilty</a> to two counts of distributing an article infringing copyright and one of possessing or controlling an article for use in fraud.</p>
<p>Since cases in the UK tend to be cherry-picked for their PR value, it was no surprise to learn that Evans was painted by the prosecution as a serious criminal.</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/everton-pirate-dj-jailed-sharing-12328255">Liverpool Echo</a>, the Top 40 packs were downloaded more than 523,000 times. There were almost 136,000 downloads of a capella tracks from DJPortal. </p>
<p>As a result, the Performing Rights Society for Music (PRS), which collects and distributes royalties on behalf of artists, estimated their losses at £1.054m for a single year period.</p>
<p>David Watson, defending, told the court that Evans hadn&#8217;t made much money from his file-sharing activities and that the estimates of PRS were just that, an estimate.</p>
<p>&#8220;These losses are necessarily speculative and difficult to quantify in this case, because not every illegal download leads to the loss of a legitimate sale,” Watson said.</p>
<p>The court heard how Evans had failed to obtain licenses from PRS for his online distribution. Of course, none would have been granted even if he&#8217;d asked, but that was beside the point.</p>
<p>Judge Robert Trevor-Jones accepted that Evans hadn&#8217;t been motivated by personal gain but said that the DJ knew what he was doing and the losses to PRS from his actions were significant.</p>
<p>“Given your intimate knowledge of the music industry I have no doubt that you would have been aware that what you were doing here was illegal,” he said.</p>
<p>Despite having no previous convictions, Evans was jailed for 12 months yesterday, a sentence the Judge believed would act as a &#8220;deterrent&#8221; to others.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=132356
title: Prenda Copyright Trolls Arrested and Charged With Fraud and Extortion
uri: Prenda-Copyright-Trolls-Arrested-and-Charged-With-Fraud-and-Extortion
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/vgJ569EhCcs/
content:
<p><a href="media/0ba3ba47.fbi-logo.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/fbi-logo.png" rel="attachment wp-att-108168"><img src="media/62ffe783.fbi-logo.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/fbi-logo.png" alt="fbi-logo" width="180" height="186" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108168"></a>In recent years copyright trolls have been accused of various dubious schemes and actions, but there&#8217;s one group that tops them all.</p>
<p><a href="http://torrentfreak.com/?s=prenda">Prenda</a> Law grabbed dozens of headlines, mostly surrounding negative court rulings over <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/prenda-spoofs-identity-wants-case-sealed-130815/">identity theft</a>, misrepresentation and even deception.</p>
<p>Most controversial was the shocking revelation that Prenda <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-helps-to-expose-copyright-troll-honeypot-130604/">uploaded their own torrents</a> to The Pirate Bay, creating a honeypot for the people they later sued over pirated downloads.</p>
<p>Today, this and other evidence was presented in a criminal indictment filed in the Minnesota District Court. The U.S. Government accuses Prenda principals John Steele and Paul Hansmeier of running a multimillion-dollar fraud and extortion operation. </p>
<p>That the case might go criminal first came to light when Pirate Bay co-founders Peter Sunde and Fredrik Neij <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/fbi-wants-pirate-bay-logs-to-expose-copyright-trolls-150703/">were approached</a> for information, but that was just the tip of the iceberg.</p>
<p>According to the indictment, the defendants earned millions of dollars in copyright lawsuit settlements from the public, by deceiving state and federal courts all over the country.</p>
<p>&#8220;In order to carry out the scheme, the defendants used sham entities to obtain copyrights to pornographic movies-some of which they filmed themselves &#8211; and then uploaded those movies to file-sharing websites in order to lure people to download the movies,&#8221; the indictment reads.</p>
<p>Through various companies, the goal of the conspiracy was to obtain the identities of alleged file-sharers of their pornographic films. As is common in these cases, that was achieved by obtaining a subpoena to compel ISPs to hand over personal details of subscribers.</p>
<p>This info was then used to extort the accused file-sharers, the Department of Justice alleges.</p>
<p>&#8220;After receiving this information, the defendants &#8211; through extortionate letters and phone calls &#8211; threatened the subscribers with enormous financial penalties and public embarrassment unless the subscribers agreed to pay a settlement, all thee while concealing their collusion in the alleged copyright infringement.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Pirate Bay plays an important role in this case. Not only were the founders of the site heard as witnesses, but the site was also named as part of Prenda&#8217;s honeypot scheme.</p>
<p>&#8220;Beginning in or about April 2011, defendants caused P.H. to upload their clients’ pornographic movies to BitTorrent file-sharing websites, including a website named the Pirate Bay, in order to entice people to download the movies and make it easier to catch those who attempted to obtain the movies. </p>
<p>&#8220;As defendants knew, the BitTorrent websites to which they uploaded their clients’ movies were specifically designed to allow users to share files, including movies, without paying any fees to the copyright holders,&#8221; the indictment adds.</p>
<p>The two Prenda principals have been arrested according to <a href="http://www.startribune.com/feds-charge-porn-troll-lawyers-in-major-fraud-extortion-case-in-minneapolis/407095106/">Star Tribune</a>, who broke the story. They are charged with 18 counts in total, including conspiracy to commit fraud, money laundering and perjury. </p>
<p>Prenda crossed many lines in their settlement schemes, so it can&#8217;t be easily compared to other &#8220;trolling&#8221; cases. However, there are several similar outfits that will be seriously concerned about this indictment and the possible jail sentences Prenda&#8217;s bosses face. </p>
<p>As it turns out, the U.S. Government realizes very well that &#8216;pirate chasers&#8217; are not above the law. </p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<p>A copy of the full indictment <a href="media/811ee49e.prendaindictment.pdf" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/prendaindictment.pdf">is available here</a>.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=132337
title: Popcorn Time Goes International With Multi-Language Dubbing
uri: Popcorn-Time-Goes-International-With-Multi-Language-Dubbing
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/lxwq9gACSOo/
content:
<p><a href="media/373f7cd8.popcorn.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/popcorn.png"><img src="media/b134dbd9.popcorn.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/popcorn.png" alt="popcorn" width="203" height="102" class="alignright size-full wp-image-89282"></a>After taking the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/open-source-torrent-streaming-a-netflix-for-pirates-140308/">world by storm</a> early 2014, Popcorn Time &#8211; the &#8216;Netflix for Pirates&#8217; &#8211; has had a relatively quiet 2016.</p>
<p>After building to a crescendo last year, the original fork of the open source project <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-we-shut-down-ytsyify-and-popcorn-time-151103/">went down</a> after being targeted by the MPAA, leaving others to continue the mission.</p>
<p>Having previously skipped from time4popcorn.eu and popcorn-time.se, one of the teams still pushing the Popcorn Time project along now operate from <a href="https://popcorn-time.to/">Popcorn-time.to</a>. This week they debuted a brand new feature in their latest beta that&#8217;s likely to make their software more appealing to an even broader audience.</p>
<p>&#8220;Most films are English speaking and most people around the globe do not speak English. Many people who studied English, do not master it well enough to enjoy a movie,&#8221; the team announced.</p>
<p>&#8220;Until now, we&#8217;ve provided a feature which allows the user to watch subtitles which are synced to the show, in the language he reads. But it&#8217;s not the same as hearing the texts in the language the user understands. It&#8217;s really less pleasing.&#8221;</p>
<p>To that end, the team have just added a new feature which adds dubbed audio in several languages to the library of movies available through the platform. French, Spanish, Italian, German and Portuguese are all supported.</p>
<p><center><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5QaNO4AF8pQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center></p>
<p>When we first heard that the team were overdubbing different audio tracks over existing torrents, it raised many questions over how this could be achieved from a technical standpoint. Was the audio being pulled in on-the-fly from other sources? If so, how was it being sync&#8217;d up with the video?</p>
<p>However, it turns out the team had an altogether more straightforward solution to the problem that in hindsight makes complete sense.</p>
<p>&#8220;Popcorn Time constantly searches the web for torrents of a movie with the required language already dubbed. The choice of movies is being increased by the minute,&#8221; the team told TF.</p>
<p>&#8220;Under the good old subtitles button, you&#8217;ll see a new dubbing selection button. Click it, make your choice and push play. It now proceeds normally. Popcorn Time will stream the movie instantly dubbed with the selected language.&#8221;</p>
<p>So, in basic terms, when a user selects a new language in the Popcorn Time interface the software begins to download a brand new torrent, one that already has their selected language as the only option. </p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s certainly good for children&#8217;s shows. The little ones can&#8217;t read yet. So work is done to provide dubbed movies in more languages. Dubbed children&#8217;s movies in German, Dutch, Greek, Estonian, Hebrew, Hungarian, Czech, Polish, Russian, Arabic are expected in the near future,&#8221; the team added.</p>
<p>The new feature is currently only available on desktop but an Android version is said to be coming soon.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=132294
title: Australia’s Pirate Site Blockade Boosts Demand For VPNs
uri: Australia-s-Pirate-Site-Blockade-Boosts-Demand-For-VPNs
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/pQAUgeZaYP0/
content:
<p><img src="media/7134d54c.blocktpb1-300x224.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/blocktpb1-300x224.jpg" alt="FCT ty" width="250" height="187" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-87047" srcset="https://torrentfreak.com/images/blocktpb1-300x224.jpg 300w, https://torrentfreak.com/images/blocktpb1-200x150.jpg 200w, https://torrentfreak.com/images/blocktpb1.jpg 614w" sizes="(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px">Australia has been called out as the world’s piracy capital for several years, a trend local copyright holders hope to curb now that several pirate sites have been ordered to be blocked.</p>
<p>Earlier this week the Federal Court <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-and-other-pirate-sites-will-be-blocked-in-australia-161215/">ruled in favor</a> of key movie industry players, ordering ISPs to block access to The Pirate Bay, Torrentz, TorrentHound, IsoHunt, SolarMovie, and proxy and mirror services.</p>
<p>The landmark decision will make it harder for torrent users Down Under to visit these sites, but it won&#8217;t be impossible. In fact, before the blocks are implemented many of them are already actively looking into countermeasures.</p>
<p>Depending on the blocking methods ISPs will use, bypassing them may be as easy as switching to an <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/search?ie=UTF-8&#038;q=alternative+dns">alternative DNS service</a>. Another option is to use <a href="https://www.torproject.org/download/download-easy.html.en">Tor</a>, or special &#8220;pirate browsers,&#8221; such as the one <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/piratesnoop-browser-unblocks-torrent-sites-150106/">RARBG launched</a> earlier.</p>
<p>Alternatively, a VPN service should also do the trick, as that will prevent ISPs from seeing users&#8217; traffic. </p>
<p>This <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-anonymous-review-160220/">VPN option</a> is in high demand in Australia. Data from Google Trends reveals that interest in anonymizing services has surged, with searches for “VPN” doubling right after the news broke on Thursday. </p>
<p><center><strong>Aussie VPN searches</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/c2ea7e89.vpnbump.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/vpnbump.png" alt="vpnbump" width="678" height="345" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-132298"></center></p>
<p>TF spoke to several VPN providers who confirm this observation. Many have noticed an increase in both traffic and sales from Down Under. </p>
<p>&#8220;We had nearly double the number of visitors from Australia yesterday,&#8221; <a href="https://www.expressvpn.com/">ExpressVPN</a>&#8216;s David Lang informed TF, adding that they have little faith in the effectiveness of the court order.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are opposed to Internet censorship in any form, and in this case, we doubt the ruling will have a significant impact on torrent usage in Australia.&#8221; </p>
<p>At <a href="https://torguard.net/">TorGuard</a>, Benjamin Van Pelt noticed a massive traffic boost too. </p>
<p>&#8220;Since the site blocking decision was made official we immediately began seeing a 100% increase in traffic from Australia. I fully expect this trend to continue and we have already begun adding bandwidth in our Sydney and Melbourne data centers to accommodate the influx,&#8221; he says.</p>
<p><center><strong>TorGuard&#8217;s traffic spike</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/0a17ee9a.torgtra-e1481927234396.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/torgtra-e1481927234396.png" alt="torgtra" width="600" height="201" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-132381"></center></p>
<p><a href="https://nordvpn.com/">NordVPN</a> observed a similar spike in traffic during the same period, which they see as a direct result of Thursday&#8217;s ruling. </p>
<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s 110% increase in new users over the past 24 hours from Australia. The court order made a strong impact and people are in search of privacy it seems,&#8221; Iggy Holzman of NordVPN told TF.</p>
<p>Finally, the same is happening at <a href="https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/">Private Internet Access</a>, where signups increased as well.</p>
<p>&#8220;After the news broke, we have definitely seen an increase in the region. I don&#8217;t have stats other than overall signups, but nonetheless, that number has increased.  Simultaneously, our analytics shows that Australia has increased more as well,&#8221; PIA&#8217;s Andrew Lee said.</p>
<p>It is safe to conclude that restricting people&#8217;s access to pirate sites is not going to change everyone&#8217;s piracy habits overnight. Looking at similar cases in the past, that doesn&#8217;t come as a surprise really. </p>
<p>Earlier this year, research from Carnegie Mellon University <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-site-blocking-boosts-interest-in-vpns-research-shows-200416/">showed</a> that the UK blocks reduced traffic to pirate sites, but that they also significantly increased people&#8217;s interest in VPN services.</p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<p><em>Disclaimer: PIA, NordVPN and ExpressVPN are TF sponsors. </em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=132039
title: ‘Screener Season’ is Here, But Where are the Piracy Leaks?
uri: Screener-Season-is-Here-But-Where-are-the-Piracy-Leaks
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/LbeA-s0NB9k/
content:
<p><img src="media/6ab00d3b.scr.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/scr.png" alt="scr" width="232" height="178" class="alignright size-full wp-image-132129">Pirated copies of the latest Hollywood movies leak all year round, often ripped from DVDs, Blu-rays or online streaming platforms. </p>
<p>Towards the end of the year, however, some real gems appear online in advance of their theatrical debut in what many have dubbed &#8220;screener season.&#8221;</p>
<p>Screeners are advance copies of recent movies which are generally sent out to critics and awards voters. These high-quality releases are subjected to intense security precautions by the studios, as they are highly sought after by online pirates.</p>
<p>Still, over the years hundreds of these screeners have leaked early. Most people probably remember last year&#8217;s <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/leaked-spectre-screener-completes-hollywoods-ruined-christmas-151225/">spree</a> of high profile screeners released by the Hive-CM8 group. These allegedly <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/warner-bros-claims-agency-ran-its-own-pirate-movie-site-161025/">came from</a> the talent agency Innovative Artists which was later sued by Warner Bros.</p>
<p>This year, however, things have been quiet on the screener front. While many have been <a href="http://www.awardscircuit.com/oscar-predictions/fyc-awards-season-tracker-2016-2017/">sent off</a> for review, the first have yet to leak to the public. That is, if they ever leak at all.</p>
<p><center><strong>2017 screeners?</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/82d1d192.screeners-e1481640110558.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/screeners-e1481640110558.jpg" alt="screeners" width="600" height="450" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-132127"></center></p>
<p>Looking at recent history, it&#8217;s almost unthinkable that no pirated screener copies will appear online. For more than a decade a healthy number have leaked from Hollywood&#8217;s own connections. </p>
<p>Below is an overview of the leaks per year, based on data from Oscar piracy watcher <a href="http://waxy.org/2016/01/pirating_the_oscars_2016/">Andy Baio</a>. These are only for movies that eventually received an Academy Awards nomination, so the actual number will be even higher.</p>
<p>The data clearly show that the major movie studios have managed to limit the leaks somewhat over the years, thanks to their increased security measures. But they&#8217;re far from perfect, as last year&#8217;s bump shows.</p>
<p><center><strong>Leaked screeners of Oscar nominated films per Oscar year</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/b3d88381.screener-e1481726481697.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/screener-e1481726481697.png" alt="screener" width="600" height="486" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-132194"></center></p>
<p>Although it&#8217;s still relatively early, Hollywood will be happy to hear that based on this data it has never taken so long before a screener has leaked online.</p>
<p>In all years that were previously documented the first leaked screener came out before December 16th. This means that today&#8217;s absence of 2017 screeners is definitely noteworthy.</p>
<p>That said, the bulk of the leaks are often published late December or in January, so it&#8217;s too early to draw any conclusions. Time will tell if there are going to be any presents for pirates this Christmas.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=132242
title: The Future of Aussie Pirate Site Blocking: Six Additional Facts
uri: The-Future-of-Aussie-Pirate-Site-Blocking-Six-Additional-Facts
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/lKVKjpO2H0g/
content:
<p><a href="media/c5e87d4f.aus.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/aus.jpg"><img src="media/dbb74c88.aus.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/aus.jpg" alt="aus" width="250" height="159" class="alignright size-full wp-image-96798"></a>It took a change in the law and significant effort from rightsholders but this week the Aussie content industry&#8217;s dreams of website blockades came to fruition.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-and-other-pirate-sites-will-be-blocked-in-australia-161215/">ruling</a> handed down by Justice John Nicholas of the Federal Court, The Pirate Bay, Torrentz, TorrentHound, IsoHunt, SolarMovie, and dozens of proxies and mirrors were ordered to be blocked by ISPs including Telstra, Optus, TPG and iiNet.</p>
<p>While this process has certainly taken a long time and been somewhat controversial, if nothing else the ruling of the Federal Court is comprehensive. It&#8217;s clear that every conceivable loophole has been closed to not only tackle fluid pirate sites but also to protect rightsholders and ISPs from liability.</p>
<p>Firstly, it&#8217;s worth pointing out that the Federal Court has stated clearly that all blocks can be challenged. Any website operator negatively affected by the blocks, whether that’s a &#8216;pirate&#8217; site owner or some ancillary actor, can appeal to the Court to have the block overturned.</p>
<p>They must provide evidence as to their status and the reasoning behind their request to qualify but that&#8217;s normal in any case. Of course, it&#8217;s extremely unlikely that any &#8220;overseas&#8221; pirate site operator will file an appeal but if an innocent party is affected, they have a chance to get things put right.</p>
<p>One of the lessons learned from injunctions in other jurisdictions is that when sites have been blocked, proxies, mirrors, and other workarounds have quickly appeared to evade the bans. The Australian court order deals with that eventuality in a very streamlined manner. </p>
<p>When copyright holders spot domains, URLs or IP addresses that facilitate access to blocked sites, they merely have to file an affidavit with the Court stating which locations the sites are attempting to operate from. The ISPs listed in the original court order will be required to block these new additions within 15 days.</p>
<p>In an effort towards balancing things up, the Court has also built in a mechanism designed to limit over-blocking.</p>
<p>If the copyright holders have a &#8220;good faith belief&#8221; that any target IP address, domain name or URL has permanently stopped infringing or facilitating the infringement of copyright, they must advise the ISPs within 15 days, in writing. From that point, ISPs will no longer have to block the locations in question. Whether copyright holders will advise ISPs promptly will remain to be seen, however.</p>
<p>Clearly, ISPs are required by law to block the domains detailed in the order. However, should they need to unblock them temporarily to maintain their regular systems or the blocking mechanism itself, that is permitted. Also, abandoning site-blocking in the face of a security threat is also allowed.</p>
<p>That being said, the ISPs can&#8217;t suspend blockades without taking action. In the event of a suspension, ISPs must advise the copyright holders of the issues being faced by 5:00pm of the next business day. They then have three days to reblock the sites or obtain permission for a further extension.</p>
<p>Finally, the blocking order handed down this week against The Pirate Bay and others is not indefinite. Initially, it will be in effect for a period of three years. However, six months before it&#8217;s due to expire the copyright holders can ask for an extension.</p>
<p>In common with having additional proxies, mirrors, and IP addresses added to the order, all they have to do is file an affidavit with the Court stating that the sites are still infringing. That should be enough to obtain a further three years&#8217; worth of blocking.</p>
<p>New injunctions will need to be obtained to block additional sites not mentioned in the original order but with a system as apparently streamlined as this, there doesn&#8217;t appear to be too many roadblocks ahead.</p>
<p><em>The full judgment can be found <a href="http://www.judgments.fedcourt.gov.au/judgments/Judgments/fca/single/2016/2016fca1503">here</a>.</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=132348
title: ExtraTorrent Takes on ‘Leeching’ Proxy Sites
uri: ExtraTorrent-Takes-on-Leeching-Proxy-Sites
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/XksicCSMC4Y/
content:
<p><img src="media/7d9eb520.extratorrent-1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/extratorrent-1.png" alt="extratorrent" width="250" height="76" class="alignright size-full wp-image-130488">In many countries arount the world, ISPs have been ordered to block pirates sites.</p>
<p>While these measures are somewhat effective, they also triggered the developments of proxy sites. These proxies allow people to access the blocked sites and effectively bypass the restrictions.</p>
<p>The copyright holders are obviously not happy with these workarounds. What&#8217;s less known, however, is that many operators of the original pirate sites would rather like to see them go as well. </p>
<p>At least, the proxy sites which they are not running themselves. </p>
<p>This is also true for <a href="http://extratorrent.cc/">ExtraTorrent</a>, one of the largest torrent indexes on the Internet. The site operates several proxies of its own, such as <a href="https://extra.to/">Extra.to</a>, but a lot of traffic goes to unofficial proxies as well. </p>
<p>Starting a few days ago, the torrent site changed the way its site content is loaded, hoping to make these proxies unusable.</p>
<p>&#8220;ExtraTorrent has built in protection against proxies who are stealing our traffic,&#8221; ExtraTorrent operator SaM tells TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>&#8220;So, no one can steal ExtraTorrent content again. Our traffic will be protected and our users will be safe from any harm they may get for accessing ET through any of those proxies,&#8221; SaM adds.</p>
<p>Part of the site&#8217;s content is now encrypted and will be decoded by users&#8217; browsers through JavaScript. This makes it harder for proxies to serve their content directly. Instead, many of these sites will show an error message instead.</p>
<p><center><strong><a href="https://extratorrent.pbproxy.red/">This</a> proxy shows an error</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/47da618a.eterror-e1482140551226.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/eterror-e1482140551226.png" alt="eterror" width="600" height="251" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-132393"></center></p>
<p>Official proxies will still work as usual, of course, but ExtraTorrent wants to block all leeching proxies that &#8220;steal&#8221; traffic and revenue.</p>
<p>&#8220;90 percent of the proxies are not working correctly anymore, and if some proxies are still working they will be dead soon,&#8221; SaM says. </p>
<p>While several proxies are indeed unusable now, <a href="https://extratorrent.stream/">others</a> may have found a bypass since they are still working. Then again, that&#8217;s not really a surprise as circumventing blockades is the core business of these sites. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=132386
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week – 12/19/16
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-12-19-16
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Mi6dIN8Ik-0/
content:
<p><img src="media/4debe623.The-Magnificent-Seven.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/The-Magnificent-Seven.jpg" alt="the-magnificent-seven" width="300" height="172" class="alignright size-full wp-image-132001">This week we have two newcomers in our chart. </p>
<p>The Magnificent Seven is the most downloaded movie for the second week in a row.</p>
<p>The data for our weekly download chart is estimated by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only. All the movies in the list are Web-DL/Webrip/HDRip/BDrip/DVDrip unless stated otherwise.</p>
<p><a href="http://TorrentFreak.com/category/dvdrip/feed/"><strong>RSS feed</strong></a> for the weekly movie download chart.</p>
<h5>This week&#8217;s most downloaded movies are:</h5>
<table class="css hover">
<thead>
<tr>
<th width="12%"><strong>Movie Rank</strong></th>
<th width="15%"><strong>Rank <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-pirated-movies-week-121216/">last week</a></strong></th>
<th><strong>Movie name</strong></th>
<th width="18%"><strong>IMDb Rating / Trailer</strong></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tfoot>
<tr>
<td colspan="4">Most downloaded movies via torrents</td>
</tr>
</tfoot>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>1</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/magnificent-seven-torrent-downloads/">The Magnificent Seven</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2404435/">7.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-RBA0xoaWU">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(6)</td>
<td><a href="http://torrentfreak.com/accountant-torrent-downloads/">The Accountant</a> (subbed HDrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2140479/">7.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBfsgcswlYQ">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href=" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3748528/">Rogue One: A Star Wars Story</a> (HDTS)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3748528/">8.3</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frdj1zb9sMY">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://torrentfreak.com/inferno-torrent-downloads/">Inferno</a> (subbed HDrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3062096/">6.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RH2BD49sEZI">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/spectral-torrent-downloads/">Spectral</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2106651/">6.5</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmC3ZhIHHi4">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(8)</td>
<td><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/doctor-strange-torrent-downloads/">Doctor Strange</a> (HDTS)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1211837">8.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSzx-zryEgM">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(10)</td>
<td><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/moana-torrent-downloads/">Moana</a> (HDTS)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3521164/">8.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKFuXETZUsI">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(9)</td>
<td><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/sully-torrent-downloads/">Sully</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3263904/">7.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjKEXxO2KNE">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/ben-hur-torrent-downloads/">Ben Hur</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2638144/">5.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLJdzky63BA">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2918606/">The Hollow Point</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2918606/">6.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQ895747WYA">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=132416
title: Denuvo: We Don’t Give Refunds When Games Get Cracked
uri: Denuvo-We-Don-t-Give-Refunds-When-Games-Get-Cracked
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/cXFveWoYZSs/
content:
<p><img src="media/d2c6b9d1.denuvo.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/denuvo.jpg" width="210" height="109" alt="" class="alignright size-large">First-person shooter Doom is among 2016’s biggest AAA releases. A highly desirable title with an outstanding back-story and pedigree, it was bound to be a target for pirates.</p>
<p>However, following its release in May, Doom did not immediately hit pirate networks. Like so many other big games, its makers had invested in anti-piracy technology supplied by Austria&#8217;s Denuvo Software Solutions.</p>
<p>In the end it took around four months for Doom to appear in unauthorized form after being cracked by scene group CPY. Then, earlier this month, developer Bethesda <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/denuvo-removed-from-doom-after-game-gets-cracked-161208/">removed Denuvo</a> from the game altogether.</p>
<p>This development triggered much speculation which was only intensified by claims from an alleged developer that Denuvo offers refunds to studios and publishers if their games are cracked within a set period.</p>
<p>&#8220;I do want to explain what happened here. Denuvo Software Solutions offers a guarantee, if your Denuvo game is cracked within a certain time (3 months is normal), you do not have to pay for Denuvo,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>While the iteration of Denuvo protecting Doom was cracked just outside this period, the dev&#8217;s claims seemed to make sense. The only point of a copy protection technology is to stop games getting pirated, if only for a short length of time, so some kind of guarantee would be a reasonable requirement.</p>
<p>However, in an interview with <a href="http://kotaku.com/denuvo-explains-why-doom-dropped-their-anti-piracy-tech-1790192362">Kotaku</a>, Denuvo co-founder Robert Hernandez said that the protection was removed from Doom because it had served its purpose. He also denied issuing refunds.</p>
<p>“The simple reason why Denuvo Anti Tamper was removed from Doom was because it had accomplished its purpose by keeping the game safe from piracy during the initial sales window,” Hernandez said.</p>
<p>“The protection on Doom held up for nearly four months, which is an impressive accomplishment for such a high-profile game.”</p>
<p>In that respect, Hernandez is absolutely right. A third of a year is a respectable period for a game developer to begin recovering its costs and a far cry from the &#8220;cracked before launch&#8221; situation the PC games market was suffering from a few years ago.</p>
<p>However, even with Denuvo having outlived its usefulness on Doom, Hernandez denied anyone at Bethesda was getting their money back.</p>
<p>“We can’t comment on our deals with specific customers, but we do not have any deals in place that offer refunds if a game is cracked within a specific time frame,” he said.</p>
<p>Of course, all of these kinds of statements are open to interpretation. Clearly, Denuvo has to perform and no developer in the world is going to pay for something that fails to live up to its billing of being able to protect the title during its launch period.</p>
<p>So, if there really aren&#8217;t any cash-back guarantees and no crystal balls, it seems reasonable to presume that Denuvo customers pay for its protection based on real-world performance.</p>
<p>Denuvo obviously isn&#8217;t sharing its deals in public, but protecting the first month would definitely be the most valuable option (and potentially most costly) for developers. A further couple of months of protection would be desirable too but as sales go up and the potential customer base diminishes, so does the value of paying for protection.</p>
<p>If we believe Denuvo that there are no refunds, there seems to be little value in buying six months worth of protection up front on a gamble. Paying by actual performance and longevity would make the most sense.</p>
<p>The developer who made the original claims about refunds did insist that studios would have to remove Denuvo from their games after they stopped paying for protection. At least in some form, this appears to have happened with Doom. After all, one of the supposed selling points of Denuvo is that it doesn&#8217;t hurt gaming performance, so if it&#8217;s been paid for already, why not simply leave it in place?</p>
<p>That being said, Hernandez told Kotaku that the removal was the publisher&#8217;s decision.</p>
<p>“[E]ach publisher is of course free to remove our anti tamper tech from their title once they feel the protection has achieved its purpose in protecting the initial sales window, or if they have other reasons for doing so, such as selling the title on DRM-free platforms,” he said.</p>
<p>Finally, what is perhaps most interesting about Denuvo is the fact that despite it being a little more vulnerable in recent months, it still generates plenty of discussion. That in itself shows that the technology is still an irritant to pirates and for games developers, that&#8217;s nearly always something worth paying for.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=132431
title: First Aussie Pirate Bay Block Gets Defeated in Seconds
uri: First-Aussie-Pirate-Bay-Block-Gets-Defeated-in-Seconds
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/YNmnKPVAft8/
content:
<p><a href="media/e8c727cd.blocktpb1.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/blocktpb1.jpg"><img src="media/7134d54c.blocktpb1-300x224.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/blocktpb1-300x224.jpg" alt="FCT ty" width="260" height="190" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-87047"></a>Following a case brought by rightsholders including Roadshow Films, Foxtel, Disney, Paramount, Columbia, and 20th Century Fox, more than fifty Internet service providers in Australia are <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-and-other-pirate-sites-will-be-blocked-in-australia-161215/">now required</a> to start barring subscriber access to selected ‘pirate’ sites.</p>
<p>In a ruling last week, the Federal Court decided that by the end of the year, The Pirate Bay, Torrentz, TorrentHound, IsoHunt and streaming service SolarMovie will all have to be rendered inaccessible to subscribers in Australia. The same also applies to dozens of proxy and mirror sites.</p>
<p>With just under two weeks before the deadline expires, ISP Telstra has decided to move quickly. During the past few hours the service provider began its blocking regime, starting with The Pirate Bay. As ordered by the Federal Court, visitors to the site are now being met by a landing page which explains why they can no longer access it.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/675cba11.aussie-denied.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/aussie-denied.png"><img src="media/f2314dbb.aussie-denied.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/aussie-denied.png" alt="aussie-denied" width="585" height="204" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-132436"></a></center></p>
<p>As previously <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/the-future-of-aussie-pirate-site-blocking-six-additional-facts-161218/">reported</a>, the order from the Court allows ISPs to choose how to implement the blockade, including DNS blocking, IP address blocking (or IP re-routing), URL blocking, or “any alternative technical means” approved by a rightsholder.</p>
<p>It appears that Telstra has chosen to implement a DNS block, the weakest option available. As a result, it is defeated in a matter of seconds with a just a few clicks and not a penny spent. Many users are already choosing to configure their computers to use <a href="https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns/">Google&#8217;s DNS</a> instead of Telstra&#8217;s, which simply means adding a few digits to a setting in Windows.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/1a8b2a20.google-dns-e1482224557712.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/google-dns-e1482224557712.png" alt="google-dns" width="600" height="481" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-132440"></center></p>
<p>Others are using <a href="https://use.opendns.com/">OpenDNS</a> since there is a belief that the Cisco-owned company logs less data than Google does. However, since accessing The Pirate Bay itself isn&#8217;t a crime, any data held in this circumstance is likely to hold little value.</p>
<p>Of course, those concerned about privacy can still turn to VPNs, which are already proving of <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/australias-pirate-site-blockade-boosts-demand-for-vpns-161217/">greater interest</a> to Australians since news of the court order landed last week. It&#8217;s also worth noting that while a simple DNS tweak defeat&#8217;s Telstra&#8217;s blocking efforts, other ISPs may choose a more secure option for which DNS won&#8217;t provide a solution. In that case a VPN is the only all-round secure option.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, as it stands today a head-shaking situation prevails. For years, rightsholders have lobbied for site-blocking in Australia. They even managed to have the law changed to allow it to happen. They then went to court and dragged themselves and ISPs through thousands of hours of legal work, culminating in the Federal Court itself ordering a blockade.</p>
<p>And Internet users got round it all in less time than it took to read this article.</p>
<p><center><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nD7Osy1zfgM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=132466
title: Nature Picks ‘Pirate’ in This Year’s Top People in Science
uri: Nature-Picks-Pirate-in-This-Year-s-Top-People-in-Science
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/-5nmdwJJ6Fg/
content:
<p><img src="media/9a4fa291.alexandra.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/alexandra.jpg" alt="alexandra" width="250" height="190" class="alignright size-full wp-image-132469">Last year, academic publisher Elsevier filed a <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/elsevier-cracks-down-on-pirated-scientific-articles-150609/">complaint</a> against Sci-Hub and several related &#8220;pirate&#8221; sites. </p>
<p>It accused the websites of making academic papers widely available to the public, without permission.</p>
<p>While <a href="http://www.sci-hub.cc/">Sci-Hub</a> is nothing like the average pirate site, it is just as illegal according to Elsevier’s legal team, which obtained a preliminary injunction from a New York District Court last fall.</p>
<p>The injunction ordered Sci-Hub’s founder Alexandra Elbakyan to quit offering access to any Elsevier content. However, this didn’t happen. </p>
<p>Instead of taking Sci-Hub down, the lawsuit and the associated media attention only helped the site grow. Just a few months ago we reported that its users were downloading <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/sci-hub-helps-science-pirates-to-download-100000s-of-papers-per-day-160229/">hundreds of thousands</a> of papers per day.</p>
<p>Elbakyan put her finger on one of the biggest frustrations of scientists; the fact that so much fundamental research is hidden behind a paywall, where only an elite group can access them.</p>
<p>While piracy is &#8216;not done&#8217; for most academics, at least until after they graduate, Sci-Hub has received a lot of support. This week the prestigious publication Nature even picked the site&#8217;s founder as one of the ten people that mattered in 2016.</p>
<p>&#8220;Few people support the fact that she acted illegally, but many see Sci-Hub as advancing the cause of the open-access movement, which holds that papers should be made (legally) free to read and reuse,&#8221; Nature <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/nature-s-10-1.21157#/elbakyan">writes</a>.  </p>
<p><center><img src="media/e09da4f5.sci-hublarge.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/sci-hublarge.jpg" alt="sci-hublarge" width="600" height="355" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-118525" srcset="https://torrentfreak.com/images/sci-hublarge.jpg 600w, https://torrentfreak.com/images/sci-hublarge-220x130.jpg 220w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px"></center></p>
<p>One of the open access supporters who praises Sci-Hub&#8217;s founder is Michael Eisen, a biologist at the University of California, Berkeley</p>
<p>“What she did is nothing short of awesome,” he tells Nature. “Lack of access to the scientific literature is a massive injustice, and she fixed it with one fell swoop.”</p>
<p>For now, Elbakyan doesn&#8217;t see any reason to stop what she&#8217;s doing. When Elsevier <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/elsevier-complaint-shuts-down-sci-hub-domain-name-160504/">shut down</a> Sci-Hub&#8217;s domain name, the site simply moved to a new one, continuing business as usual.</p>
<p>This stance is welcomed by many researchers, especially in developing countries where universities often don&#8217;t have the funds to pay for access to these papers. As such, Elbakyan believes she&#8217;s doing the right thing.</p>
<p>“Is there anything wrong or shameful in running a research-access website such as Sci-Hub? I think no, therefore I can be open about my activities,” she says.</p>
<p>At the same time, the pushback against Elsevier continues to grow. Just recently, Taiwanese Universities decided to <a href="http://technews.tw/2016/12/06/elsevier-sciencedirect-ntu-library/">cancel subscriptions</a> to its journals, stating that the costs are unreasonably high.</p>
<p>On the legal front, progress in the case between Sci-Hub and Elsevier has been slow. There&#8217;s a pre-trial conference scheduled for February next year, so it will take a few more months at least before that concludes.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the download counter at Sci-Hub keeps on spinning. Thus far, the site has served up 75 million downloads this year, which by one estimate is good for three percent of all science publisher downloads worldwide.</p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<div align="right"><sub><a href="media/382b167b.Alexandra_Elbakyan" data-original-source="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandra_Elbakyan">Credit: Alexandra&#8217;s photo</a></sub></div>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=132500
title: UK Police Arrest Man For Selling ‘Pirate’ Kodi Devices
uri: UK-Police-Arrest-Man-For-Selling-Pirate-Kodi-Devices
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/l2y_E54p1mk/
content:
<p><a href="media/db2234c1.ooberstick.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/ooberstick.jpg"><img src="media/2748a92c.ooberstick.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ooberstick.jpg" alt="ooberstick" width="237" height="147" class="alignright size-full wp-image-132506"></a>With more and more piracy websites getting blocked in the UK, set-top Android devices loaded with Kodi and third-party addons have become the next big thing.</p>
<p>When configured in the correct manner, these devices offer a bewildering amount of free content, including live TV, all the latest movies, PPVs and much more. People can easily set them up themselves, but others would rather pay someone else to do the work for them.</p>
<p>As a result, a whole cottage industry has sprung up in the UK, with people programming Firesticks and similar platforms to receive pirate content and selling them via eBay, Amazon, local papers and Facebook. They usually get sold for about double the price of the basic hardware but plenty of people manage to make more than £100 profit per device.</p>
<p>One of these outfits was known online as Oobersticks. The company offered relatively expensive devices containing a custom build of Kodi offering all the usual treats. TF is informed these boxes were shipped out only partly configured, with customers required to complete the final install themselves.</p>
<p>Although it&#8217;s unclear who placed it, an advert for the product which appeared over the summer explains the device&#8217;s capabilities.</p>
<p>&#8220;How many of you pay for Sky? BT? Netflix? Well with the OoberStick you don&#8217;t have to. It simply plugs into the HDMI port of your TV. You then have different sections,&#8221; the <a href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:e0AeP3j2lN0J:cambridge.deciland.com/ElectronicsForSale/OoberStick---Fully-Loaded-Free-Sky-Sports-Movies-TV-Netflix-Thousands-of-films-on-demand/517749.html+&#038;cd=5&#038;hl=en&#038;ct=clnk&#038;gl=us&#038;client=firefox-b">advert</a> reads.</p>
<p>&#8220;You have sport which not only has all Sky Sports channels and BT Sport. You can watch every single Premier League match. It has thousands of movies and tv shows. All in HD quality. It really is a fantastic piece of kit.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><a href="media/8c33174d.ooberstick-large.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/ooberstick-large.jpg"><img src="media/177d27fa.ooberstick-large.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ooberstick-large.jpg" alt="ooberstick-large" width="650" height="332" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-132508"></a></center></p>
<p>These promotional videos <a href="https://vimeo.com/167040392/d66f4edf97">1</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkJZX_Lyvgc&#038;feature=youtu.be">2</a> also suggest that the company may have offered (or at least resold) some kind of IPTV service. This week, however, it all came to an end.</p>
<p>On Tuesday morning last week at around 7:20am, police in Norfolk arrested a 32-year-old man who was a director of two companies connected with the sales of the devices. Around six officers attended, together with an individual representing Sky TV.</p>
<p>A source familiar with the situation, who spoke with TF on condition of anonymity, said that the police were looking for servers and potentially some kind of datacenter. The source also added that while computers, phones and other hardware were seized, the haul did not include any Android devices.</p>
<p>With a fraud and copyright infringement investigation underway, the man was eventually freed on police bail until a date in 2017. However, in addition to a police inquiry, he also has other issues to face.</p>
<p>Facebook is awash with complaints from unhappy Ooberstick customers, with many stating that the devices no longer work or otherwise failed to perform as advertised. A post (<a href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:F1HdS-frGO0J:forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php%3Ft%3D5573278+&#038;cd=15&#038;hl=en&#038;ct=clnk&#038;gl=us&#038;client=firefox-b">since deleted</a>) on MoneySavingExpert.com reveals delivery problems were also an issue.</p>
<p>&#8220;Placed an order with oober for the oobersupreme box in November. Still haven&#8217;t received my box. Emailed them at start of the week to find out where it is. Reply stated it will be with me by the end of this week. They have now taken websites offline and removed their Facebook page. Emails are also bouncing back,&#8221; it said.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak understands that due to Ooberstick&#8217;s owner being served with a cease and desist order from Sky, all of the websites and Facebook pages connected with the company had to be taken down. This has resulted in some customers feeling they&#8217;ve been left in the dark. Some have reportedly sent death threats to the man and his business partner. Even his wife and her grandchild have been threatened.</p>
<p>Contacted by TorrentFreak, the arrested man said that he was running what he believed to be an entirely legal business. He spoke on condition of anonymity due to concern over the death threats.</p>
<p>&#8220;I was running a successful business which was both VAT registered in the U.K. and with Worldpay as my payment merchant. For me to get both of those, those parties have to be sure that what I was doing was legal,&#8221; he says.</p>
<p>&#8220;I certainly thought what I was doing was legal. Streaming for the end user is legal as nothing is being downloaded. I do believe the EU court of law ruled on that.&#8221;</p>
<p>According to a local media <a href="http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/crime/north_walsham_man_arrested_over_alleged_tv_set_top_box_fraud_1_4822786">report</a>, some customers have been successful in getting money back from their banks. The arrested man said that other customers will be refunded in advance of the company going into liquidation. However, with a money laundering investigation underway, that may be more easily said than done.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=132522
title: Takedowns Notices Can’t Stop Unfinished ‘Mummy Trailer’ From Spreading
uri: Takedowns-Notices-Can-t-Stop-Unfinished-Mummy-Trailer-From-Spr
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/owYo3QQVwK4/
content:
<p><img src="media/993bdd4f.mummy-e1482320260516.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mummy-e1482320260516.jpg" alt="mummy" width="280" height="148" class="alignright size-full wp-image-132556">Yesterday morning very few people knew that a new version of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2345759/">The Mummy</a> will be on the big screen next summer. </p>
<p>That changed quickly when an unfinished trailer of the film was <a href="http://io9.gizmodo.com/listen-to-tom-cruise-scream-aimlessly-in-the-mummy-trai-1790313817">accidentally put online</a> by IMAX&#8217;s YouTube account. </p>
<p>As it turns out, the trailer where Tom Cruise is screaming without sound effects is quite an entertaining watch. Soon, the mistake was reposted all over the Internet, where it triggered a meme fest. </p>
<p>Great promotion for the film, one would think, but the bosses at Universal Pictures weren&#8217;t smiling. </p>
<p>The original video was promptly removed by IMAX and over at Universal, the anti-piracy team tried to stop the trailer from spreading by issuing various <a href="https://www.lumendatabase.org/notices/13561577">takedown notices</a>. </p>
<p>On Twitter alone, several people had their <a href="https://twitter.com/Babylonian/status/811290234273103872">postings removed</a> over copyright infringement claims. According to the movie studio, the &#8220;leaked&#8221; trailer is not for the public&#8217;s eyes.</p>
<p>&#8220;The uploaded trailer was a leaked version without sound fx. This was accidentally released online but is not intended to be available for public viewing. We have removed it from YouTube, but it is still populating on Twitter,&#8221; they write.</p>
<p><center><strong>A takedown notification <a href="https://twitter.com/Babylonian/">@Babylonian</a> received.</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/5de58e42.dmcamummy.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dmcamummy.jpg" alt="dmcamummy" width="480" height="232" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-132558"></center></p>
<p>As a result, many copies that were posted on Twitter, YouTube and elsewhere are <a href="https://twitter.com/asvpxmvzen/status/811274747795374082">no longer working</a>. However, there is so much interest in the trailer that Universal can&#8217;t really keep up. </p>
<p>For every video that&#8217;s pulled offline, several others appear elsewhere. It seems virtually impossible at this point to put the genie back in the bottle.</p>
<p>In fact, the trailer has become a fertile breeding ground for <a href="http://www.theverge.com/tldr/2016/12/20/14028240/mummy-reboot-bad-trailer-dmca-takedown-audio-meme">memes</a>, with people adding their own soundtrack or using Tom Cruise&#8217;s scream as the modern-day Wilhelm scream to pimp other videos. </p>
<p><center>               <a class="twitter-timeline"  href="https://twitter.com/search?q=mummy%20trailer" data-widget-id="811551932179480576"></a><br>
            <script>!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+"://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");</script></p>
<p>          </center></p>
<p>It&#8217;s unclear whether Universal Pictures plans to keep issuing takedown requests, but at this point it might be best to sit back and enjoy the free promotion. If so many people enjoy sharing a trailer, unfinished or not, that&#8217;s something to celebrate. </p>
<p>After all, when The Mummy eventually premieres in cinemas next summer, people will remember the video as a gift that put a smile on their face during the dark days before Christmas.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=132635
title: US Government Targets Pirate Bay and Other ‘Piracy Havens’
uri: US-Government-Targets-Pirate-Bay-and-Other-Piracy-Havens
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/KNKbBYXN76c/
content:
<p><img src="media/7b941d96.ustrb.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ustrb.jpg" alt="ustrb" width="277" height="172" class="alignright size-full wp-image-132637">In its yearly “Out-of-Cycle Review of Notorious Markets”, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has listed more than a dozen websites said to be involved in piracy and counterfeiting.</p>
<p>The overview is largely based on input from industry groups including the RIAA and MPAA, who submitted their recommendations a few weeks ago. </p>
<p>While the USTR admits that the list is not meant to reflect legal violations, the goal of the review is to motivate owners and foreign Governments to take appropriate action and reduce piracy.</p>
<p>“The United States encourages all responsible authorities to intensify efforts to combat piracy and counterfeiting, and to use the information contained in the Notorious Markets List to pursue legal actions where appropriate,” the USTR announced.   </p>
<p>As in previous years, The Pirate Bay remains one of the primary offenders. </p>
<p>According to the USTR, the site continues to facilitate downloading of copyright-infringing material. The Government further highlights the site’s resilience and &#8220;symbolic importance&#8221; as one of the longest-running pirate sites</p>
<p>&#8220;Despite enforcement actions around the world and drawn-out legal battles against its operators, The Pirate Bay is of symbolic importance as one of the longest-running and most vocal torrent sites for admittedly illegal downloads of movies, television, music, and other copyrighted content,&#8221; the report reads. </p>
<p><center><img src="media/65deac77.ustrtpb-e1482399414435.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ustrtpb-e1482399414435.png" alt="ustrtpb" width="540" height="338" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-132644"></center></p>
<p>Other prominent torrent sites mentioned in the review are ExtraTorrent, Rutorrent, RARBG, and 1337x.to.</p>
<p>For the first time, USTR has also included a stream ripping site; YouTube-MP3.org. While this phenomenon has been around for a decade, the report includes a special &#8220;issue focus&#8221; mentioning it as an emerging threat.</p>
<p>&#8220;Stream ripping is an emerging trend in digital copyright infringement that is increasingly causing substantial economic harm to music creators and undermining legitimate services,&#8221; the USTR writes. </p>
<p>The mention follows a report from earlier this year, which also highlighted concerns about stream ripping. Soon after, several major music labels filed a lawsuit against YouTube-MP3 in a U.S. federal court.</p>
<p>A few newcomers aside, the review is mostly made up of familiar names, including 4shared, Putlocker, Nowvideo, Rapidgator and Uploaded, as well as several non-English language piracy portals and counterfeiting platforms.</p>
<p>In addition to individual sites and services, the USTR notes that some hosting services have also become piracy havens. The report specifically calls out the Swiss company Private layer for hosting the-watch-series.to, projectfree-tv, using a legal loophole.</p>
<p>The U.S has urged Switzerland to implement new legislation to make it easier to take action against pirate sites, but this hasn&#8217;t happened thus far.</p>
<p>The full list of the notorious online pirate sites and services that are highlighted in the report (<a href="media/bfd307f6.2016-Out-of-Cycle-Review-Notorious-Markets.pdf" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/2016-Out-of-Cycle-Review-Notorious-Markets.pdf">pdf</a>) are included below. The complete overview also contains various e-commerce and counterfeiting sites, including Alibaba&#8217;s Taobao.com.</p>
<p>—</p>
<p><em>&#8211; 4shared.com<br>
&#8211; Beevideo.tv<br>
&#8211; Bookfi and Libgen<br>
&#8211; ExtraTorrent<br>
&#8211; Gongchang.com<br>
&#8211; Movshare group (allegedly operating Nowvideo.sx, Watchseriesfree.to, Videoweed.es, Novamov.com and others)<br>
&#8211; MP3va.com<br>
&#8211; Muaban.net<br>
&#8211; Myegy.to<br>
&#8211; Nanjing Imperiosus (domainerschoice.com)<br>
&#8211; Pobieramy24.pl, Darkwarez.pl, Catshare.net and Fileshark.pl<br>
&#8211; Private Layer hosted sites (including the-watch-series.to and projectfree-tv.to)<br>
&#8211; Putlocker<br>
&#8211; RARBG.to<br>
&#8211; Rutracker.org and Rapidgator.org<br>
&#8211; Taobao.com<br>
&#8211; The Pirate Bay<br>
&#8211; Uploaded.net<br>
&#8211; Vibbo.com<br>
&#8211; VK.com<br>
&#8211; Youtube-MP3.org</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=132621
title: Australian Govt Advisory Body Digs in Over Fair Use & Geo-Unblocking
uri: Australian-Govt-Advisory-Body-Digs-in-Over-Fair-Use-Geo-Unblocking
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/9aaNIKHhaz4/
content:
<p><a href="media/cdef4830.copyright-blood.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/copyright-blood.jpg"><img src="media/bd0abf4c.copyright-blood.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/copyright-blood.jpg" alt="copyright-blood" width="225" height="151" class="alignright size-full wp-image-120567"></a>Earlier this year, Australia&#8217;s Productivity Commission released a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/aussie-gov-agency-endorses-vpn-use-to-reduce-piracy-160429/">draft report</a> covering various aspects of the country&#8217;s intellectual property system.</p>
<p>Among the Commission&#8217;s recommendations was <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/aussie-gov-agency-endorses-vpn-use-to-reduce-piracy-160429/">advice to the government</a> that it should allow citizens to access geo-blocked content in order for them to obtain the best deals on international content.</p>
<p>“Geoblocking results in Australians paying higher prices (often for a lesser or later service) than consumers overseas,” the draft read.</p>
<p>The report also urged the introduction of fair use provisions into local copyright law instead of the current &#8220;fair dealing&#8221; arrangement.</p>
<p>&#8220;Australia’s copyright system has expanded over time, often with no transparent, evidence-based policy analysis demonstrating the need for, or quantum of, new rights. A new system of user rights, including the introduction of a broad, principles-based fair use exception, is needed to help address this imbalance,” the report said.</p>
<p>During the summer, copyright holders <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/fair-use-threatens-innovation-copyright-holders-warn-160708/">fought back</a>, claiming that fair use would have a negative effect on creation. Music group IFPI, for example, warned that fair use would threaten innovation and disadvantage creators while creating legal uncertainty.</p>
<p>&#8220;Licensing, not exceptions to copyright, drives innovation. Innovation is best achieved through licensing agreements between content owners and users, including technological innovators,” IFPI said. In December, similar arguments were presented in a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/aussie-celebrities-join-campaign-to-oppose-fair-use-161205/">new campaign</a> championed by local celebrities.</p>
<p>But in a final inquiry report sent to the government in September and published this week, the Commission&#8217;s position remains unmoved.</p>
<p>&#8220;Rights holders have argued against the adoption of fair use in Australia. They claim that by design, fair use is imprecise and would create significant legal uncertainty for both rightsholders and users. Initial uncertainty is not a compelling reason to eschew a fair use exception, especially if it serves to preserve poor policy outcomes,&#8221; the Commission writes.</p>
<p>&#8220;Australia’s current exceptions are themselves subject to legal uncertainty, and evidence suggests that fair use cases, as shown in the US, are more predictable than rights holders argue. Moreover, courts routinely apply principles-based law to new cases, such as in consumer and employment law, updating case law when the circumstances warrant doing so.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Commission says that over time, both rightsholders and users will become &#8220;increasingly comfortable&#8221; when making judgments over what is and is not fair use. In the event that Courts are called on to decide, four factors should be considered.</p>
<p>• the purpose and character of the use<br>
• the nature of the copyright material<br>
• the amount and substantiality of the part used<br>
• the effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyright material.</p>
<p>&#8220;Rights holders also argued fair use would significantly reduce their incentives to create and invest in new works, holding up Canada as an example. Some have proclaimed that fair use will equate with ‘free use’, particularly by the education sector. But these concerns are ill-founded and premised on flawed (and self-interested) assumptions,&#8221; the Commission writes.</p>
<p>&#8220;Indeed, rather than ignore the interests of rights holders, under fair use the effect on the rights holder is one of the factors to be considered. Where a use of copyright material harms a rights holder, the use is less likely to be considered fair. In the US, where fair use is long established, creative industries thrive.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><B>Fair Use recommedation from the Commission</b><a href="media/ae4b779c.recco-51.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/recco-51.png"><img src="media/be4994d1.recco-51.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/recco-51.png" alt="recco-51" width="650" height="174" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-132624"></a></center></p>
<p>And when it comes to allowing Australians unfettered access to legitimate content, the Commission remains equally unmoved. It notes that prompt access to reasonably priced content is vital in the fight against piracy and the government should change the law to make it clear to consumers that they have the right to obtain content from overseas, should that mean getting a better deal.</p>
<p>&#8220;Research consistently demonstrates that timely and cost effective access to<br>
copyright-protected works is the best way for industry to reduce online copyright<br>
infringement. Therefore, in addition to implementing a new exception for fair use, the Commission is recommending making it easier for users to access legitimate copyright-protected content,&#8221; the inquiry report reads.</p>
<p>&#8220;Studies show Australian consumers systematically pay higher prices for professional software, music, games and e-books than consumers in comparable overseas markets. While some digital savvy consumers are able to avoid these costs (such as through the use of proxy servers and Virtual Private Networks), most pay inflated prices for lower standard services and some will ultimately infringe.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Australian Government should make clear that it is not an infringement of Australia’s copyright system for consumers to circumvent geoblocking technology and should avoid international obligations that would preclude such practices,&#8221; it adds.</p>
<p><center><b>Anti-Geoblocking recommendation from the Commission</b><a href="media/12ccb99e.recco-52.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/recco-52.png"><img src="media/780098b4.recco-52.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/recco-52.png" alt="recco-52" width="650" height="216" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-132625"></a></center></p>
<p>The Intellectual Property Arrangements final inquiry report is available <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/intellectual-property/report">here</a>.</p>
<p><em>Note: An earlier version of this article referred to the Productivity Commission as an &#8220;agency&#8221;. That has been corrected to &#8220;advisory body&#8221;.</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=132277
title: I Know What You Downloaded on BitTorrent….
uri: I-Know-What-You-Downloaded-on-BitTorrent
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/9l9tHRX6NSU/
content:
<p><img src="media/3d881413.spy.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/spy.jpg" alt="spy" width="200" height="177" class="alignright size-full wp-image-39770">So what have you downloaded lately?</p>
<p>If you’re using BitTorrent without a VPN, proxy or seedbox, there’s a good chance that the rest of the world can see without asking.</p>
<p>Several companies have made it their job to monitor and report files that are shared through torrent sites. This is also how tens of thousands of people end up getting warnings in their mailboxes from copyright holders, or worse. </p>
<p>The public nature of people&#8217;s sharing habits was highlighted a few years ago by Youhavedownloaded.com, which has since been closed since. However, a similar service that cropped up recently is perhaps even more scary.</p>
<p>&#8216;<a href="http://iknowwhatyoudownload.com/en/contacts/">I Know What You Download</a>&#8216; monitors torrent traffic around the clock and makes everything public. This means that you can see what information they store on the IP-address you currently have. </p>
<p>The site currently has information on 460,000 torrents in its database plus 70 million unique IP-addresses captured during the last month alone. This makes it much larger than its predecessor.</p>
<p>If checking out your &#8216;own&#8217; downloads isn&#8217;t enough, the site also helps people to check what others have shared. Just enter any IP-address in the search box and you&#8217;re good to go. </p>
<p>Below, for example, we have a list of recent downloads shared by a random Google Fiber customer in Provo, Utah.</p>
<p><center><strong><strong>Random Google fiber user</strong></strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/3b570721.ipgoofib.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/ipgoofib.jpg"><img src="media/b4d46ec7.ipgoofib.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ipgoofib.jpg" alt="ipgoofib" width="600" height="335" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-132719"></a></center></p>
<p>In addition, the site offers a nifty <a href="http://iknowwhatyoudownload.com/en/link/">spy tool</a> where you can see what your friends are downloading, without knowing their IP-address. If someone clicks on a link you send them, their alleged download history shows up immediately, without the IP-address being exposed.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak got in touch with the people behind the site to find out more about this monitoring and spying service. The company informed us that the site helps to showcase their abilities to the various outfits they work with, including copyright holders. </p>
<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve set up the site for promotional purposes and as a demonstration of our capabilities,&#8221; Marketing director Andrey Rogov says.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are engaged in the distribution of information relating to torrent downloading activity to rightsholders, advertising platforms, law-enforcement and international organizations.&#8221; </p>
<p>The company offers API access to its data for interested parties and can also provide TCP dumps as extra proof that downloaded content is linked to a certain IP-address. </p>
<p>Of course, not everyone likes to see their information exposed on the site, especially if they haven&#8217;t downloaded content themselves. However, Rogov says that they generally don&#8217;t respond to removal requests from the public. </p>
<p>They do, in some cases, help individuals to remove their own content from public view if it&#8217;s being shared without permission. And they also assist organizations to understand how their network is used to pirate content.</p>
<p>&#8220;For example, we received a letter from a girl whose sexually explicit video had appeared on the Internet and had been widely spread over torrents sites. We helped her to remove public access to this content. </p>
<p>&#8220;We also respond to inquiries from some organizations. For example, Northeastern University asked us about torrent downloads from their IP-addresses,&#8221; Rogov explains.</p>
<p>For the public at large, however, the site should mainly be a reminder of how public BitTorrent is, and that everything you share is open for others to see.  </p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<p><em>Notes: As with all monitoring tools, the service probably isn&#8217;t always 100% accurate. For those who have dynamic IP-addresses the service might also show content that someone else has downloaded. VPN users will also notice a long list of downloads that are not theirs.</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=132699
title: vKontakte Responds to US Notorious Pirate Market Allegations
uri: vKontakte-Responds-to-US-Notorious-Pirate-Market-Allegations
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/dQh6Alh6ILA/
content:
<p><a href="media/3e3f1f7f.vk.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/vk.jpg"><img src="media/2dca634d.vk.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/vk.jpg" alt="vk" width="180" height="180" class="alignright size-full wp-image-72276" srcset="https://torrentfreak.com/images/vk.jpg 180w, https://torrentfreak.com/images/vk-150x150.jpg 150w" sizes="(max-width: 180px) 100vw, 180px"></a>Every year the United States Trade Representative calls on foreign countries to take action against a broad range of websites which are allegedly involved in copyright infringement. Perhaps understandably, The Pirate Bay is one of the most obvious platforms to appear in the USTR&#8217;s review but there are others that don&#8217;t fit the same profile.</p>
<p>One of those is Russian social networking giant vKontakte (VK). Like all platforms with millions of users contributing content on a daily basis, VK has to deal with allegations of copyright infringement. Traditionally, the most vocal critics have hailed from the music industry but in recent times VK has made its peace with several distributors <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vkontakt-universal-sign-anti-piracy-licensing-deal-160718/">via licensing deals</a>.</p>
<p>But despite these efforts, VK is apparently still falling short of the standards set by the United States government. In its yearly “Out-of-Cycle Review of Notorious Markets” report <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/us-government-targets-pirate-bay-and-other-piracy-havens-161221/">published this week</a>, the United States Trade Representative laid out the case against VK. </p>
<p>&#8220;Nominated again this year, VK is one of the most popular sites in the world and continues to operate as an extremely popular social networking site in Russia and neighboring countries. VK reportedly facilitates the distribution of copyright-infringing files,&#8221; the USTR wrote.</p>
<p>Noting the commercial and cultural value of social networking platforms that go about their business without infringing rightsholders&#8217; copyrights, the USTR said that VK&#8217;s recent steps to tackle piracy were &#8220;encouraging&#8221;.</p>
<p>VK has reached deals with major labels, taken steps taken to limit third-party applications dedicated to downloading infringing content, and experimented with fingerprinting technology, the USTR said. Even the RIAA said it was happy with VK, having taken the social network <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/riaa-cloudflare-shields-pirates-and-frustrates-blocking-efforts-161013/">off its list</a> in October.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, the mere fact that VK is on the USTR list again this cycle indicates that rightsholders outside the music industry are still complaining about the site. In its report, the USTR appeared to confirm it.</p>
<p>&#8220;Despite these positive signals, VK reportedly continues to be a hub of infringing activity and continues to be listed pending the institutionalization of appropriate  measures to promote respect on its platform for IPR of all right holders, not just those with whom it has contracts, that are comparable to those measures used by other social media sites,&#8221; the USTR said.</p>
<p>Given that during the summer vKontakte felt it was already time <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vkontakte-ceo-time-to-remove-us-from-pirate-blacklists-160724/">for it to be removed</a> from the United States&#8217; blacklist, TorrentFreak caught up with the social network to gauge its reaction to this week&#8217;s apparent snub from the USTR.</p>
<p>&#8220;VKontakte continues its proactive work on licensing all audio and video content available on the social network,&#8221; a VK spokesperson said.</p>
<p>&#8220;In 2016, the Company signed an agreement with the world’s leading international music rights holders, including Universal Music, Sony Music, Warner Music, The Orchard, Merlin Network and Believe Digital, among others. The music section of VK’s mobile app for iOS has been available to users since August 2016, after a two-year absence.&#8221;</p>
<p>Addressing the USTR&#8217;s claims over other contentious content still present on the platform, VK said that more progress would be made during 2017.</p>
<p>“Next year, the Company will continue its focus on signing up the remaining rights holders not covered by the previous agreements,&#8221; the company said.</p>
<p>The measured tone from VK shows an unexpected level of patience, particularly after being mentioned in the same breath as The Pirate Bay yet again and despite significant efforts to appease rightsholders. Will it have done enough by this time next year? Only time will tell.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=132705
title: China Shuts Down 290 Websites in Piracy Crackdown
uri: China-Shuts-Down-290-Websites-in-Piracy-Crackdown
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/qtWibFmhuAI/
content:
<p><a href="media/cf654c6a.piratekay.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/piratekay.jpg"><img src="media/0fe8e43a.piratekay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/piratekay.jpg" alt="piratekay" width="245" height="158" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108106"></a>On July 12, China&#8217;s State Copyright Administration and four other departments launched &#8220;Jian Wang 2016&#8221;, a program designed to crack down on Internet-based intellectual property infringement.</p>
<p>According to the government, JW2016 targeted the &#8220;unauthorized illegal spread&#8221; of film and television works, news and other digital literature in order to protect the rights and interests of rightsholders. The program also aimed to further regulate online music and cloud storage services.</p>
<p>The cloud storage impact was felt immediately, with many providers choosing to &#8220;voluntarily&#8221; close down in the face of government allegations of illegal activity. In October, one of the largest, Qihoo 360, said it would cease offering accounts to private citizens due to the service being used to spread pirated content and other &#8220;illegal information&#8221; which inflicted &#8220;huge harm on society&#8221;.</p>
<p>In a statement on the closure, the government said that Qihoo 360 will wipe all user data by February 2017, a move which reflects how much importance the &#8220;360 group of companies&#8217; attach to the protection of copyright works.&#8221;</p>
<p>This week, China&#8217;s National Copyright Administration announced new successes achieved by JW2016 during a five-month period. According to the department, the authorities handled 514 cases of online copyright infringement between July and November. Fines equal to almost $467,000 were handed down.</p>
<p>Others received a harsher treatment. According to the government, a total of 290 websites said to have engaged in Internet piracy were shut down. None of the sites said to have been closed are named in China&#8217;s official announcement.</p>
<p>&#8220;The State Copyright Administration has also supervised four batches of a total of 31 cases of copyright infringement, granting subsidies to local cases of more than 1.5 million yuan ($216,000),&#8221; the Administration said.</p>
<p>&#8220;At home and abroad, Jian Wang 2016 has had a very good effect. The initial results of copyright management on the Internet has greatly improved the environment for copyright and laid good foundations for further action.&#8221;</p>
<p>While China says it&#8217;s making progress on the copyright enforcement front, that hasn&#8217;t stopped it from being criticized by the United States.</p>
<p>In this week&#8217;s “Out-of-Cycle Review of Notorious Markets”, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) mentioned China in connection with a number of sites offering either pirate or counterfeit content, including the little-known-in-the-West &#8216;Beevideo&#8217;.</p>
<p>&#8220;BeeVideo is an application that facilitates the viewing of allegedly infringing movies and television shows on smart TVs through set-top boxes, and on mobile devices,&#8221; the USTR said.</p>
<p>&#8220;The app is available through the BeeVideo.tv website portal. BeeVideo has been downloaded more than  12  million times and once downloaded allegedly provides unlimited unauthorized access to infringing content. The developer and operator of BeeVideo is allegedly based in China.&#8221;</p>
<p>The USTR also called out China over Nanjing Imperiosus, a company that allegedly provides domain name registration services to around 2,300 illegal pharmacies. In a comment Thursday, the EFF said that while there may be issues with the sites themselves, domain registrars don&#8217;t host any content.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s true that domain names can sometimes point to content deemed unlawful, but so too, ironically, does the Notorious Markets List—as well as this blog post, for that matter,&#8221; the EFF <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/12/ustr-gets-piracy-website-listing-notoriously-wrong">said</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;Enforcing content laws against intermediaries who merely point to unlawful information is a never-ending and misdirected quest, in which freedom of expression is an inevitable casualty.&#8221;</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=132662
title: US Government Brands The Wrong “Putlocker” as Pirate Site
uri: US-Government-Brands-The-Wrong-Putlocker-as-Pirate-Site
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/xzqpBTjoWYI/
content:
<p><img src="media/9df6fa87.putlocker.bz_.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/putlocker.bz_.png" alt="putlocker.bz" width="250" height="72" class="alignright size-full wp-image-89139">With millions of monthly views, Putlocker is the go-to video streaming site for many people.</p>
<p>Earlier this year the site mysteriously disappeared, but after several weeks it eventually made a comeback on a new domain, Putlockers.ch. </p>
<p>As one of the largest &#8216;pirate sites&#8217; on the Internet, Putlocker is a thorn in the side of rightsholders, and this week the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) put it on its <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/us-government-targets-pirate-bay-and-other-piracy-havens-161221/">annual list of &#8220;notorious markets.&#8221;</a> At least, that was the goal. </p>
<p>In reality, the U.S. Government listed an unrelated domain with a similar but different name; Putlocker.ch (no &#8216;s&#8217; at the end). </p>
<p>&#8220;The operator of Putlocker is believed to be based in Vietnam and appears to be taking actions to evade enforcement measures,&#8221; the USTR writes in its overview. </p>
<p>&#8220;For example, in 2016 Putlocker hopped domains from the country code top-level domain of Iceland (.is) to Switzerland (.ch) and started using reverse proxy services to obscure the location of its hosting provider.&#8221; </p>
<p><center><strong>That&#8217;s the wrong Putlocker domain&#8230;</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/a15739be.putlockerch.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/putlockerch.png" alt="putlockerch" width="535" height="244" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-132693"></center></p>
<p>TorrentFreak reached out to the owner of Putlocker.ch, a domain name that&#8217;s parked at SEDO and doesn&#8217;t link to any infringing content. </p>
<p>He explains that his company <a href="http://www.marshalldomains.com/">Marshall Domains LTD</a> specializes in buying domains names which are monetized through type-in traffic. They buy all sorts of names, with worried.com being one of their latest additions. </p>
<p>Clearly, Putlocker.ch is a good choice when it comes to type-in traffic, as it even confused the Trade Representative enough to include it in his notorious markets review.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, this is not the only unusual domain in the &#8216;notorious market&#8217; review. The USTR report also lists several domain names that are no longer operational. Yet, they are classified as some of the world&#8217;s worst piracy havens. </p>
<p>The Novamov.com domain for example, hasn&#8217;t been operational since January, almost a year. Instead, the site now redirects to Auroravid.to. Similarly, Divxstage.to, Videoweed.es and Movshare.net have been redirecting to other sites for months too. </p>
<p>And then there&#8217;s Nowdownload.ch, which has been parked for a while, serving no infringing content at all. </p>
<p>It almost seems like the USTR simply copied and pasted some of these URLs from last year&#8217;s report, without checking if they were still online. That wouldn&#8217;t be a surprise, as some of the other text is identical to last year as well. </p>
<p>Whatever the reason, it certainly is sloppy for a document which aims to urge foreign Governments to change their local laws. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=132724
title: Crazy Pirates Troll TorrentFreak With Bad Santa 2 Watermark
uri: Crazy-Pirates-Troll-TorrentFreak-With-Bad-Santa-2-Watermark
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/xugmCH5Ym4c/
content:
<p><a href="media/ca7a0a01.xmas-troll.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/xmas-troll.jpg"><img src="media/9f08e963.xmas-troll.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/xmas-troll.jpg" alt="xmas-troll" width="240" height="216" class="alignright size-full wp-image-132744"></a>Ho! Ho! Ho! Many happy returns and Merry Christmas to all our readers. It&#8217;s Christmas Day once again and it&#8217;s been a pretty eventful year in file-sharing and copyright.</p>
<p>While we wish things were different, there hasn&#8217;t been much positive news to report in 2016. There&#8217;s been the occasional ray of light here and there, but overall it&#8217;s been a cascade of negativity. Today, however, we promise not to spoil anyone&#8217;s Christmas lunch or well-deserved day off.</p>
<p>In fact, this morning we can confidently report that for at least the next 48 hours, no one will be fined, detained, arrested, extradited, or otherwise screwed around with by rightsholder groups and their affiliates. Instead, we have a rather crazy mystery to solve, one that we really hope you can help us solve.</p>
<p>On November 23, the movie Bad Santa 2 was released in the United States to a somewhat lukewarm reception. Despite the average reviews, it&#8217;s a Christmas movie so pirates were still looking for something seasonal to watch.</p>
<p>Three weeks ago a copy surfaced in Russia with local dubbing but this week pirates obliged with an English language edition of the Billy Bob Thornton movie. However, something embedded in one of the sundry copies left us both surprised and scratching our heads here at TF.</p>
<p>Within seconds of the movie starting and for the next couple of minutes, a giant watermark appears on screen. Filling the entire width of the print from border to border, the watermark then slowly makes its way up the screen until it disappears off the top.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/a90892df.santa-tf2.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/santa-tf2.png"><img src="media/547456f7.santa-tf2.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/santa-tf2.png" alt="santa-tf2" width="650" height="406" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-132738"></a></center></p>
<p>Of course, watermarks are usually put in place to indicate some kind of ownership. Studios use visible and invisible watermarks on screener copies of movies to literally stamp their name on pre-release versions of movies. However, we have absolutely no idea why someone would put our site name on a cam copy of a movie.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak spoke with releasers and even a couple of site operators to find out who might be behind this little surprise but we&#8217;ve had no success getting to the bottom of the mystery. It&#8217;s certainly possible that the &#8220;Streetcams&#8221; reference at the start of the watermark could hold the secret, but we&#8217;ve had no success in identifying who or what could be behind that particular brand either.</p>
<p>The watermark eventually scrolls away but at the end of the movie it reappears, beginning its journey from the bottom of the screen to the top in all its glory.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/65cdea37.santa-tf3.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/santa-tf3.png"><img src="media/9aad658a.santa-tf3.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/santa-tf3.png" alt="santa-tf3" width="650" height="406" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-132739"></a></center></p>
<p>From there, who knows where it goes but we are aware that the &#8220;streetcams&#8221; watermark has appeared elsewhere, although not with additional TorrentFreak branding. It&#8217;s more difficult to see when compared to Bad Santa 2, but here it is on a cam copy of the movie Shut In.</p>
<p><a href="media/d6c9da5d.shut-in.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/shut-in.png"><img src="media/d208612a.shut-in.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/shut-in.png" alt="shut-in" width="650" height="406" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-132740"></a></p>
<p>So with logs on the fire and gifts on the tree, can you help us solve this cam mystery?</p>
<p><em>Merry Christmas and other celebrations to all our readers</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=132713
title: Merry Christmas!.. Torrent Downloads and Takedowns
uri: Merry-Christmas-Torrent-Downloads-and-Takedowns
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/NcTRpqu8Ihs/
content:
<p><img src="media/7c87ce6e.christmas.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/christmas.jpg" alt="christmas" width="300" height="200" class="alignright size-full wp-image-132734">Around this time of the year, Christmas music is hard to escape, including on torrent sites.</p>
<p>While torrents may not be as popular as a few years ago, there are still plenty of people that use torrent sites to get the latest entertainment. </p>
<p>Christmas is a time for sharing, a mantra that suits BitTorrent pirates very well, and that shows. Over the past few days several Christmas compilations have populated Pirate Bay&#8217;s list of 100 most-shared music torrents.</p>
<p>At the time of writing &#8216;The Ultimate Christmas Music Compilation,&#8217; a homemade collection of 300 songs, is the most shared Christmas torrent. The torrent was first uploaded five years ago and is still very much alive. </p>
<p>As can be seen below, more than six hundred people are sharing it at the time of writing. For comparison, late October the same torrent only had a measly <a href="media/27f65ec7.christmastpb20oct.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/christmastpb20oct.png">thirteen active sharers</a>, barely enough to survive. </p>
<p><center><strong>It&#8217;s that time of the year&#8230;</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/e0e0b283.christmastpb23dec.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/christmastpb23dec.png" alt="christmastpb23dec" width="641" height="170" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-132751"></center></p>
<p>And there&#8217;s more Christmas music that moved up the ranks in recent days. </p>
<p>The Pirate Bay&#8217;s music top 100 also includes the torrents &#8216;100 Hits Christmas Legends (2010),&#8217; &#8216;Boney M &#8211; The 20 Greatest Christmas Songs,&#8217; NOW That&#8217;s What I Call Christmas [2014],&#8217; and &#8216;Pentatonix &#8211; A Pentatonix Christmas (2016)&#8217; to name a few.</p>
<p>But pirates are not the only ones who are watching torrent sites for Christmas themed music. Music industry groups do too. </p>
<p><center><strong>Christmas takedowns</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/5cea9dde.piratebaytakedown1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/piratebaytakedown1.png" alt="piratebaytakedown1" width="778" height="161" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-132755"></center></p>
<p>They are less appreciative of the sharing culture and have set out numerous &#8216;Christmas&#8217; takedown requests.</p>
<p>This week alone, Google received <a href="https://www.lumendatabase.org/notices/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&#038;sort_by=date_received+desc&#038;term=christmas+">thousands of takedown requests</a> mentioning the keyword Christmas. This includes takedown requests to remove various Pirate Bay results, of course, but also many other sites. </p>
<p>And not just for music either. Takedown requests are also going out for classic Christmas films such as <a href="https://lumendatabase.org/notices/13567728">Scrooged</a> (1988) and even the virtually unknown <a href="https://lumendatabase.org/notices/13568637">Santa Claws</a> (2014).</p>
<p>Christmas or not, it&#8217;s clear that the piracy whack-a-mole doesn&#8217;t stop. Pirates continue to share, and rightsholder groups counter this by sharing their takedown request in return.</p>
<p><em>Merry Christmas everyone!</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=132810
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week – 12/26/16
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-12-26-16
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/gBNz_mbs2zE/
content:
<p><img src="media/89afacc6.deepwaterho.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/deepwaterho.jpg" alt="deepwaterho" width="300" height="200" class="alignright size-full wp-image-132811">This week we have four newcomers in our chart. </p>
<p>Deepwater Horizon is the most downloaded movie.</p>
<p>The data for our weekly download chart is estimated by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only. All the movies in the list are Web-DL/Webrip/HDRip/BDrip/DVDrip unless stated otherwise.</p>
<p><a href="http://TorrentFreak.com/category/dvdrip/feed/"><strong>RSS feed</strong></a> for the weekly movie download chart.</p>
<h5>This week&#8217;s most downloaded movies are:</h5>
<table class="css hover">
<thead>
<tr>
<th width="12%"><strong>Movie Rank</strong></th>
<th width="15%"><strong>Rank <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-pirated-movies-week-121916/">last week</a></strong></th>
<th><strong>Movie name</strong></th>
<th width="18%"><strong>IMDb Rating / Trailer</strong></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tfoot>
<tr>
<td colspan="4">Most downloaded movies via torrents</td>
</tr>
</tfoot>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>1</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1860357/">Deepwater Horizon</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1860357/">7.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yASbM8M2vg">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href=" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3748528/">Rogue One: A Star Wars Story</a> (HDTS)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3748528/">8.3</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frdj1zb9sMY">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/magnificent-seven-torrent-downloads/">The Magnificent Seven</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2404435/">7.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-RBA0xoaWU">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://torrentfreak.com/accountant-torrent-downloads/">The Accountant</a> (subbed HDrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2140479/">7.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBfsgcswlYQ">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1798603/">Bad Santa 2</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1798603/">5.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmckiK-JvB8">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1472584/">Max Steel</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1472584/">4.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf4sa0BVJVw">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(6)</td>
<td><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/doctor-strange-torrent-downloads/">Doctor Strange</a> (HDTS)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1211837">8.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSzx-zryEgM">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://torrentfreak.com/inferno-torrent-downloads/">Inferno</a> (subbed HDrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3062096/">6.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RH2BD49sEZI">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1679335/">Trolls</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1679335/">6.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyjm5VQ11TQ">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(7)</td>
<td><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/moana-torrent-downloads/">Moana</a> (HDTS)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3521164/">8.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKFuXETZUsI">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=132406
title: ‘Game of Thrones’ Most Torrented TV-Show of 2016
uri: Game-of-Thrones-Most-Torrented-TV-Show-of-2016
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/fWKkn-j0t68/
content:
<p><img src="media/9fc504d2.got6.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/got6.jpg" alt="got6" width="250" height="188" class="alignright size-full wp-image-121258" srcset="https://torrentfreak.com/images/got6.jpg 250w, https://torrentfreak.com/images/got6-200x150.jpg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px">For several years in a row Game of Thrones has been the most pirated TV-show, and this year the interest is once again overwhelming.</p>
<p>Game of Thrones has the honor of becoming the most-downloaded TV show through BitTorrent for the fifth year in a row. </p>
<p>This means that its half-decade reign remains unchallenged, despite <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/no-the-grand-tour-is-not-the-most-pirated-tv-show-ever-161213/">reports to the contrary</a>. </p>
<p>Although there was no new swarm record, traffic-wise the interest was roughly on par with last year. The highest number of people actively sharing an episode across several torrents was 350,000 at its peak, this was right after the season finale came online. </p>
<p>This doesn&#8217;t necessarily mean that there&#8217;s no growth in piracy. A lot of people have made the switch from torrents to streaming sites over the past months, which likely had an impact on the numbers. </p>
<p>This year there&#8217;s also an important newcomer with the science-fiction western &#8216;Westworld.&#8217; The new show quickly gained popularity in pirate circles and is in third spot already, which is quite an achievement. </p>
<p>Finally, we see a continuation of the trend of downloaders showing an increased interest in high-quality video. In recent years, many pirates have moved from 480p copies to 720p and 1080p videos, in part thanks to better broadband availability. </p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<p>Below we have compiled a list of the most torrented TV-shows worldwide (single episode) for 2016, together with the traditional ratings in the US. The ranking is compiled by TorrentFreak based on several sources, including statistics reported by public BitTorrent trackers.</p>
<p><em>We have decided to stop reporting download estimates in our yearly top lists. Due to various changes in the torrent index/tracker landscape it&#8217;s become more challenging to monitor downloads, so a ranked overview makes most sense.</em></p>
<table class="css hover" summary="Most downloaded TV-shows on BitTorrent">
<caption><strong>Most downloaded TV-shows on BitTorrent, 2016<br></br></strong></caption>
<thead>
<tr>
<th width="12%"><strong>rank</strong></th>
<th width="12%"><strong>last year</strong></th>
<th width="76%"><strong>show</strong></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tfoot>
<tr>
<td colspan="3">torrentfreak.com</td>
</tr>
</tfoot>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>1</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_of_Thrones_(TV_series)">Game of Thrones</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Walking_Dead_(TV_series)">The Walking Dead</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westworld_(TV_series)">Westworld</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flash_(2014_TV_series)">The Flash</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrow_(TV_series)">Arrow</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Bang_Theory">The Big Bang Theory</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(7)</td>
<td align="left"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikings_(TV_series)">Vikings</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucifer_(TV_series)">Lucifer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(10)</td>
<td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suits_(TV_series)">Suits</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grand_Tour_(TV_series)">The Grand Tour</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=132433
title: Top Spotify Lawyer: Attracting Pirates is in Our DNA
uri: Top-Spotify-Lawyer-Attracting-Pirates-is-in-Our-DNA
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/qMnGbq0RUEU/
content:
<p><a href="media/f6de83fa.spotify.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/spotify.jpg"><img src="media/46b7618f.spotify.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/spotify.jpg" alt="spotify" width="200" height="125" class="alignright size-full wp-image-36278"></a>Almost eight years ago and just months after its release, TF published an <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/spotify-an-alternative-to-music-piracy-090102/">article</a> which pondered whether the fledgling Spotify service could become a true alternative to Internet piracy.</p>
<p>From the beginning, one of the key software engineers at Spotify has been Ludvig Strigeus, the creator of uTorrent, so clearly the company already knew a lot about file-sharers. In the early days the company was fairly open about its aim to provide an alternative to piracy, but perhaps one of the earliest indications of growing success came when early invites were shared among users of private torrent sites.</p>
<p>Today Spotify is indeed huge. The service has an estimated 100 million users, many of them taking advantage of its ad-supported free tier. This is the gateway for many subscribers, including millions of former and even current pirates who augment their sharing with the desirable service.</p>
<p>Over the years, Spotify has made no secret of its desire to recruit more pirates to its service. In 2014, Spotify Australia managing director Kate Vale said it was one of their key aims.</p>
<p>“People that are pirating music and not paying for it, they are the ones we want on our platform. It’s important for us to be reaching these individuals that have never paid for music before in their life, and get them onto a service that’s legal and gives money back to the rights holders,” Vale <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/spotify-wants-to-convert-more-music-pirates-140626/">said</a>.</p>
<p>Now, in a new interview with <a href="http://harvardjsel.com/2016/12/interview-with-spotify-general-counsel-horacio-gutierrez/">The Journal on Sports and Entertainment Law</a>, General Counsel of Spotify Horacio Gutierrez reveals just how deeply this philosophy runs in the company. It&#8217;s absolutely fundamental to its being, he explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;One of the things that inspired the creation of Spotify and is part of the DNA of the company from the day it launched (and remember the service was launched for the first time around 8 years ago) was addressing one of the biggest questions that everyone in the music industry had at the time — how would one tackle and combat online piracy in music?&#8221; Gutierrez says.</p>
<p>&#8220;Spotify was determined from the very beginning to provide a fully licensed, legal alternative for online music consumption that people would prefer over piracy.&#8221;</p>
<p>The signs that just might be possible came very early on. Just months after Spotify&#8217;s initial launch the quality of its service was celebrated on what was to become the world&#8217;s best music torrent site, What.cd.</p>
<p>“Honestly it’s going to be huge,&#8221; a What.cd user predicted in 2008.</p>
<p>&#8220;I’ve been browsing and playing from its seemingly endless music catalogue all afternoon, it loads as if it’s playing from local files, so fast, so easy. If it’s this great in such early beta stages then I can’t imagine where it&#8217;s going. I feel like buying another laptop to have permanently rigged.”</p>
<p>Of course, hardcore pirates aren&#8217;t always easily encouraged to part with their cash, so Spotify needed an equivalent to the no-cost approach of many torrent sites. That is still being achieved today via its ad-supported entry level, Gutierrez says.</p>
<p>&#8220;I think one just has to look at data to recognize that the freemium model for online music consumption works. Our free tier is a key to attracting users away from online piracy, and Spotify’s success is proof that the model works.</p>
<p>&#8220;We have data around the world that shows that it works, that in fact we are making inroads against piracy because we offer an ability for those users to have a better experience with higher quality content, variety richer catalogue, and a number of other user-minded features that make the experience much better for the user.&#8221;</p>
<p>Spotify&#8217;s general counsel says that the company is enjoying success, not only by bringing pirates onboard, but also by converting them to premium customers via a formula that benefits everyone in the industry.</p>
<p>&#8220;If you look at what has happened since the launch of the Spotify service, we have been incredibly successful on that score. Figures coming out the music industry show that after 15 years of revenue losses in music industry, the music industry is once again growing thanks to music streaming,&#8221; he concludes.</p>
<p>With the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/what-cd-shuts-down-following-reported-raids-in-france-161117/">shutdown of What.cd</a> in recent weeks, it&#8217;s likely that former users will be considering the Spotify option again this Christmas, if they aren&#8217;t customers already.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=132834
title: ExtraTorrent Under DDoS Attacks, Pirate Bay Down
uri: ExtraTorrent-Under-DDoS-Attacks-Pirate-Bay-Down
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/maSvVHicPjQ/
content:
<p><img src="media/7d9eb520.extratorrent-1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/extratorrent-1.png" alt="extratorrent" width="250" height="76" class="alignright size-full wp-image-130488">ExtraTorrent, one of the largest torrent sites on the Internet, just experienced one of the most turbulent weekends in its ten year history. </p>
<p>While many people were celebrating Christmas, the site&#8217;s operators were busy keeping the site online, after it was pounded by DDoS attacks. </p>
<p>&#8220;Extratorrent faced tons of cyberattacks over the last three days. Most of them were DDOS attacks. Cloudflare can&#8217;t help us because we get 40 to 50 million requests from the U.S. every hour!&#8221; ExtraTorrent&#8217;s SAM informed us. </p>
<p>To counter the attacks the site temporarily limited several functions to save resources. The login functionality for users is disabled, for example, as is the added protection against unofficial mirror and proxy sites. </p>
<p>Interestingly, this <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/extratorrent-takes-on-leeching-proxy-sites-161219/">added protection layer</a> may be the reason why the site is under attack. A few days ago ExtraTorrent received an email threatening attacks, if its operators didn&#8217;t remove the encryption within 24 hours.</p>
<p>&#8220;Some hours ago (12~?) Your main website was down for like 6-7? Minutes&#8230; It will happen again, for hours, days&#8230;IF you don&#8217;t remove the encoded stuff from your website and let proxy operators, like myself, do their job,&#8221; part of the email read.</p>
<p>The trouble started soon after this email was delivered, suggesting that the threats were real. For now, however, the torrent site has managed to keep the site afloat. This is in part due to the the measures it took in response.</p>
<p>&#8220;ExtraTorrent&#8217;s servers are still under high load but we have sufficient resources to keep it online. ET is the place to be!&#8221; SaM tells us.</p>
<p>ExtraTorrent is not the only site that has run into trouble lately. The Pirate Bay is also down at the time of writing. Users who try to access the site get a CloudFlare downtime warning, or a new <a href="media/70cbf25c.captcha.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/captcha.png">Captcha error</a>.</p>
<p><center><strong>ERROR for site owner: Stoken expired</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/d6537d38.captcha.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/captcha.png" alt="captcha" width="600" height="249" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-132844"></center></p>
<p>It&#8217;s unclear whether TPB is also dealing with ongoing DDoS attacks or whether their issues are of a different nature. The TPB team is aware of the problems and said that their technical crew will look into them as soon as they&#8217;ve woken up and had a beer.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=132524
title: Leading Kodi Addon Repository TV Addons Reveals Plans for 2017
uri: Leading-Kodi-Addon-Repository-TV-Addons-Reveals-Plans-for-2017
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Cj5p0Je-PhM/
content:
<p><img src="media/a26e938a.tvaddons.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/tvaddons.png" width="232" height="95" alt="" class="alignright size-large">By now, most readers will understand how the Kodi experience operates. The software itself is an entirely legal media player but one which can be augmented with various addons.</p>
<p>For millions of users, it is these addons that really give Kodi its spice. Created by third-party developers, these add-ons allow Kodi to serve a massive range of often pirated content, including movies, TV shows (both live and on demand), plus sports and PPVs.</p>
<p>TV Addons is one of the world&#8217;s largest repositories of Kodi addons. It is not affiliated with the creators of Kodi but has become host to some of the software&#8217;s most-used tools. As such, its popularity has <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-kodi-add-ons-gain-massive-popularity-161007/">soared</a> in recent months.</p>
<p>With Kodi add-ons now a major talking point around the world, TF caught up with  Eleazar from TV Addons to get his thoughts for 2017. </p>
<p>&#8220;We never intended our community to be considered to be a source for sketchy content. There are many popular addons that have been developed as a more convenient way to access legitimately licensed content,&#8221; he explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;Some of the best and most popular addons include USTVnow, FilmOn, BBC iPlayer and EarthCam. We make open source addons to make the viewing of online content feel more natural when you&#8217;re watching on your living room TV.&#8221;</p>
<p>While there doesn&#8217;t appear to be any intention of reducing the availability of the most popular and controversial addons, Eleazar says a greater emphasis will be placed on tools that don&#8217;t fall into potential legal gray areas. Accessibility will also be improved.</p>
<p>&#8220;In the New Year, we hope to boost the more legitimate type of addons, from both the development perspective and end user point of view. We&#8217;re also in the process of streamlining the entire Kodi addon experience, making it easier for everyone, with our new website design coming very, very soon,&#8221; he adds.</p>
<p>In addition to all the excitement over Kodi and its addons in 2016, there have been considerable amounts of bad news for people who have tried to monetize the experience. Hundreds of sellers of pre-configured Android devices have popped up on eBay, Amazon, and other marketplaces, promising free media for all. Some have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/man-likely-to-sacrifice-himself-testing-streaming-piracy-limits-160925/">been arrested</a>, particularly in the UK where there have been quite a few raids. Eleazar hopes there will be less of this in 2017.</p>
<p>&#8220;We really hope that people stop selling cheap pre-programmed Android TV devices. The main reason for our concern is the recent media attention these people have been getting. They are bundling Kodi addons with paid IPTV (something we are strongly against) and then getting busted for it and bringing negative attention to everyone,&#8221; he says.</p>
<p>&#8220;Secondly, in most cases, the kind of people who sell these devices aren&#8217;t the type of people who care about their reputations and thus end up making ridiculous promises to their customers, promises they will never be able to keep. People are maintaining addons for free, and profiteers are ruining it for everyone.&#8221;</p>
<p>Eleazar also has harsh words for the much of the hardware these suppliers sell to the public. Often of poor quality from the Far East, these devices can fail to live up to their billing. Better options are available for people to buy themselves, he says.</p>
<p>&#8220;If anyone is wondering what the best Kodi devices are, I&#8217;ll make it very clear. There&#8217;s no point in buying some cheap Chinese-manufactured no name device when you can buy much better devices manufactured by big electronics brands,&#8221; he advises.</p>
<p>&#8220;If you have no budget, the NVIDIA Shield TV is definitely the top choice. The second best choice would be the Xiaomi Mi Box, which sells for a mere $69 at Wal-Mart, and the third choice would be the Amazon Fire TV. Kodi can be installed to the first two in a few clicks through the Google Play Store, while it would need to be sideloaded to the Amazon Fire TV due to the lack of Android app store support.&#8221;</p>
<p>2017 is likely to be another big year for Kodi, its addons, and the streaming services that underpin them. As previously reported, the relationship between all three is somewhat uneasy, with the makers of Kodi and the operators of streaming sites both annoyed (<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/kodi-announces-legal-action-to-smash-piracy-links-160215/">1</a>,<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/streaming-cyberlockers-hate-pirate-kodi-add-ons-161126/">2</a>) at the creators of many addons.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, it seems the platform is here to stay &#8211; at least until the next big thing comes along.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=132772
title: New Tool Downloads Any Netflix Video Instantly
uri: New-Tool-Downloads-Any-Netflix-Video-Instantly
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/iQv6XhOHi3U/
content:
<p><img src="media/b310fc7c.netflix-logo.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/netflix-logo.png" alt="netflix-logo" width="200" height="121" class="alignright size-full wp-image-69714">A few weeks ago Netflix <a href="http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/11/netflixs-new-offline-mode-lets-you-download-shows-watch-them-offline/">announced</a> that it would allow users to download a small selection of videos for offline use, on mobile devices. </p>
<p>While this is a great step forward, there&#8217;s also a large group of users who would like to do the same with other videos on other operating systems. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.dvdvideosoft.com/free-netflix-downloader.htm">Free Netflix Downloader</a> is application that offers exactly this. Developed by DVDVideoSoft, it is the first Windows application that allows people to download Netflix videos to their computers through an easy-to-use interface.</p>
<p>After logging in to Netflix, users simply enter the video URL and &#8216;Free Netflix Downloader&#8217; then downloads any video in a few minutes. The tool also offers the option to convert the output files to AVI, MP3, or a version optimized for iPhone and iPad.</p>
<p>&#8220;This is the ONLY app in the world that can do this trick now!&#8221; DVDVideoSoft&#8217;s Alex informs TF.</p>
<p>The software supports multiple downloads at the same time and according to the developer, it is ideal for people who have slow Internet connections, among other things. </p>
<p>&#8220;[It is intended for] users with slow Internet connections, for those who like to store everything on their computer, for those who don’t have smart TVs; it’s also great for downloading a whole series season at a time,&#8221; Alex says.</p>
<p><center><strong>Free Netflix Downloader in action</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/174ec249.netflix-downloader.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/netflix-downloader.jpg" alt="netflix-downloader" width="708" height="346" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-132904"></center></p>
<p>While &#8216;Free Netflix Downloader&#8217; works as advertised, there is also a major drawback. The video quality appears to be rather low and certainly not what people are used to when watching Netflix. </p>
<p>The developers don&#8217;t go into detail on this issue but say higher quality video may follow later. However, it&#8217;s likely that Netflix&#8217;s higher resolution video is better protected, which makes it much harder to rip. </p>
<p>Finally, it should be stressed that people who use the tool might violate Netflix&#8217;s <a href="https://help.netflix.com/legal/termsofuse?locale=en&#038;docType=termsofuse">Terms of Service</a>, which forbids users to archive or download content without permission. This is also the main reason why Netflix and rightsholders are probably not too fond of the service.</p>
<p>For now, Free Netflix Downloader&#8217;s developers don&#8217;t anticipate any pushback from Netflix. However, they realize that this could change if their software becomes very popular in the future.</p>
<p>&#8220;Maybe if the program becomes very popular,&#8221; Alex says, but she also notes that Netflix just created its own downloader feature for mobile users. </p>
<p>For now, however, the tool is still freely available. More information on &#8216;Free Netflix Downloader&#8217; and its capabilities is available at DVDVideoSoft&#8217;s <a href="http://www.dvdvideosoft.com/free-netflix-downloader.htm">official site</a>. As always, those who are interested should proceed at their own risk. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=132884
title: Anti-Piracy Crusader’s Sex Engine is Now a Pirate Linking Site
uri: Anti-Piracy-Crusader-s-Sex-Engine-is-Now-a-Pirate-Linking-Site
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/-rHQ6_lPNfk/
content:
<p>In 2012, adult industry businessman Robert King embarked on a mission to destroy the &#8220;bad players&#8221; of the cyberlocker market. At the time, the Australian told TF that he would stop at nothing to rid the world of their influence.</p>
<p>“What I hope to achieve is very simple. I want to tear apart the illegal file locker industry by removing its supply of funds and then ultimately removing its supply of network connectivity,” King <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/one-man-army-on-a-mission-to-destroy-the-cyberlocker-market-120705/">said</a>.</p>
<p>“In the main file lockers are simply modern-day ‘fences’ of stolen goods. Just like a thief would take a stolen television or car radio to the pub and sell it for a few dollars, there are thousands of people around the world who take copyright content, upload it to an incentivized file locker, then get a few dollars to as much as $30 for 1000 downloads of that content.”</p>
<p>During the months that followed, King became one of the most hated people in the cyberlocker and linking-site sphere. Within three months of the launch of the campaign, King claimed to have shut down payment processing for more than <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/90-days-of-killing-cyberlockers-50-dead-more-than-500-injured-121006/">500 sites</a>.</p>
<p>For almost three more years, controversy continued to build but suddenly, in April 2015, King announced the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161103011327/http://stopfilelockers.com/">shutdown of the project</a>, declaring a victory of sorts. Today, however, an ironic situation of head-shaking proportions has emerged.</p>
<p>It appears to have begun during the summer when King told members of the <a href="http://gfy.com/fucking-around-and-program-discussion/1208011-node-xxx-porn-search-engine.html">GFY forum</a> (NSFW) that he&#8217;d begun work on a new search engine for porn.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/b8173c06.ak1.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/ak1.png"><img src="media/c9f46c47.ak1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ak1.png" alt="ak1" width="650" height="436" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-132903"></a></center></p>
<p>Exactly how Node.xxx started life isn&#8217;t clear (Wayback Machine has no archive) but there can be no doubt what purpose it is being put to today. The domain is serving up a fully-fledged pirate streaming link index catering for consumers of every TV show imaginable.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/be081d19.nodex3.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/nodex3.png"><img src="media/81207e2e.nodex3.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/nodex3.png" alt="nodex3" width="1297" height="759" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-132943" srcset="https://torrentfreak.com/images/nodex3.png 1297w, https://torrentfreak.com/images/nodex3-220x130.png 220w" sizes="(max-width: 1297px) 100vw, 1297px"></a></center></p>
<p>Aside from the mere existence of the site, perhaps the greatest irony is to be found in the places where Node.xxx-indexed TV shows are hosted. Yes, of course, they&#8217;re all hosted on cyberlocker sites, the same kind of sites King waged war on during his StopFileLockers campaign.</p>
<p><Center><a href="media/039c0dbb.nodex2.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/nodex2.png"><img src="media/5ddc4f9f.nodex2.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/nodex2.png" alt="nodex2" width="1217" height="717" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-132909" srcset="https://torrentfreak.com/images/nodex2.png 1217w, https://torrentfreak.com/images/nodex2-220x130.png 220w" sizes="(max-width: 1217px) 100vw, 1217px"></a></center></p>
<p>To give a specific example, <a href="http://node.xxx/link/openload.co/7659710">this page</a> (indexing Gangland Undercover) has a &#8220;Click Here to Play&#8221; button, which opens up the episode in question which had previously been uploaded to cyberlocker Openload. </p>
<p>For the avoidance of doubt, the Node.xxx domain was <a href="http://whois.domaintools.com/node.xxx">registered</a> by AdultKing (backup image <a href="media/7b6513be.node-domain.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/node-domain.png">here</a>) and uses sales@adultking.co.uk as the contact email.</p>
<p>The AdultKing.co.uk domain (<a href="http://whois.domaintools.com/adultking.co.uk">also owned by Robert King</a>) points to the same server as <a href="http://reverseip.domaintools.com/search/?q=adultking.com.au">AdultKing.com.au</a>, a domain which is owned and operated by Robert King&#8217;s Melbourne-based <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=Collins+Street+440+3000+Melbourne+%22robert+king%22&#038;ie=utf-8&#038;oe=utf-8&#038;client=firefox-b">company</a>, AdultKing PTY Ltd. </p>
<p>Domain-wise, however, that&#8217;s just the <a href="http://viewdns.info/reversewhois/?q=sales%40adultking.co.uk">tip of the iceberg</a> (<a href="http://archive.is/jXzIm">backup</a>) of those owned by AdultKing PTY, with Node.xxx nestled somewhere in the middle of a long list.</p>
<p>A <a href="http://archive.is/XYJCm">mirror</a> of Node.xxx (which in turn appears to be a clone of watchseriesgo.to) can be found here, should this mystery deepen with the mysterious taking down of the site following the publication of this article.</p>
<p>We&#8217;ve asked Robert King for a comment and will update when we receive a response. He has plenty of enemies so while there are other explanations, it&#8217;s possible that someone is having some excitement at his expense.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-anonymous-review-160220/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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