# articles

feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111520
title: Ford, Toyota, Nissan, Microsoft ‘Shamed’ as Piracy Sponsors
uri: Ford-Toyota-Nissan-Microsoft-Shamed-as-Piracy-Sponsors
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/DONsWrmwQ3k/
content:
<p><img src="media/a8150ccb.ford-logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ford-logo.jpg" alt="ford-logo" width="180" height="135" class="alignright size-full wp-image-111526">As part of increasing efforts by the world&#8217;s largest entertainment companies to crack down on Internet piracy, various initiatives are seeking to deprive so-called &#8216;pirate&#8217; sites of their income.</p>
<p>In addition to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/paypal-visa-and-mastercard-discuss-pirate-site-blacklist-150911/">making it difficult</a> for sites to process payments using credit card companies such as Visa and Mastercard, and receive and pay out funds using PayPal, pressure is also being applied to advertisers. Since many sites rely on advertising for much of their income the theory is that once those funds dry up, sites will begin to close.</p>
<p>The latest country indicating a readiness to take action on this front is Russia. Despite having a reputation for harboring dozens of large unlicensed sites, the Russian government says it is now preparing to &#8216;out&#8217; some of the world&#8217;s largest companies as sponsors of piracy portals.</p>
<p>In the weeks to come the Ministry of Communications says it will publish a list of 100 companies that often advertise on pirate sites but in the meantime has provided a small sample of the kind of international businesses people should expect to find on the list.</p>
<p>Car manufacturers including Toyota, Nissan, Ford, Mazda and Volvo are all being accused of being pirate sponsors by the government, alongside technology giant Microsoft and personal grooming product company Gillette.</p>
<p>&#8220;We encourage people to come to their senses. Brands are proud of the fact that they are white and fluffy. We will publish a list of all those who advertise on pirate sites,&#8221; <a href="http://izvestia.ru/news/592315">says</a> Deputy Communications Minister Alexei Volin.</p>
<p>The Ministry says that together with representatives from the media industry it will create a &#8220;board of shame&#8221; which will publicize the names of companies who fail to pull their ads from sites.</p>
<p>The revelations were made during the &#8216;Cinema Expo&#8217; film industry conference in St. Petersburg this week, where it was claimed that advertisers such as those detailed above are pumping in excess of $70m per year into local unlicensed sites.</p>
<p>In order to stop ads from reaching such sites in future, the government says it is ready to draw up a list of &#8216;banned&#8217; domains.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are ready to take responsibility and to establish a commission at the Ministry, which, at the request of holders, will make sites blacklisted,&#8221; Minister Volin said.</p>
<p>A new industry group called &#8220;Media&#8221; formed by the Russian Association of Electronic Communications says it will then negotiate with agencies to stop them placing ads on sites appearing on the blacklist.</p>
<p>&#8220;If we can agree with the agencies, the pirate business will die by itself,&#8221; says Media chief Marina Surygina.</p>
<p>While the government and local industry may indeed succeed in forcing large companies to withdraw their support for pirate sites, there are plenty of smaller operations that are only too willing to take up the slack.</p>
<p>Emails recently <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/plenty-of-ad-networks-still-love-pirate-sites-150926/">obtained by TorrentFreak</a> reveal that several ad networks are proudly promoting their partnerships with pirate sites and are very happy to take on more.</p>
<p>It has to be said, however, that the products these networks help advertise have much less kudos than those advertised by the companies detailed above. Ads for Ford cars are much more desirable than the typical &#8216;male enhancement&#8217; offer, and Gillette definitely offers a better kind of close-shave than the kind associated with a barrage of aggressive popups.</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> Alexey Byrdin of the Internet-Video Association informs TF that the pursuit of advertisers will be aggressive.</p>
<p>&#8220;Our &#8216;follow the money&#8217; initiative was supported and announced by deputy minister Volin. We have detailed research on brand advertising on pirate sites including all campaign details, URLs, agencies etc,&#8221; Byrdin says.</p>
<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re going to go all the way with these brands and reveal either their hypocrisy or negligence.&#8221;</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111506
title: Comcast User Hit With 112 DMCA Notices in 48 Hours
uri: Comcast-User-Hit-With-112-DMCA-Notices-in-48-Hours
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Ed8C0pkxlM8/
content:
<p><img src="media/9a0f7d19.comcast-new.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/comcast-new.png" width="200" height="110" class="alignright">Every day, DMCA-style notices are sent to regular Internet users who use BitTorrent to share copyrighted material. These notices are delivered to users&#8217; Internet service providers who pass them on in the hope that customers correct their behavior.</p>
<p>The most well-known notice system in operation in the United States is the so-called &#8220;six strikes&#8221; scheme, in which the leading recording labels and movie studios send educational warning notices to presumed pirates. Not surprisingly, six-strikes refers to users receiving a maximum of six notices. However, content providers outside the scheme are not bound by its rules &#8211; sometimes to the extreme.</p>
<p>According to a lawsuit filed this week in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania (<a href="media/6dd3b7dd.rottenc.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/rottenc.pdf">pdf</a>), one unlucky Comcast user was subjected not only to a barrage of copyright notices on an unprecedented scale, but during one of the narrowest time frames yet.</p>
<p>The complaint comes from Rotten Records who state that the account holder behind a single Comcast IP address used BitTorrent to share the discography of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_Fashion_Disco">Dog Fashion Disco</a>, a long-since defunct metal band previously known as Hug the Retard.</p>
<p>&#8220;Defendant distributed all of the pieces of the Infringing Files allowing others to assemble them into a playable audio file,&#8221; Rotten Records&#8217; attorney Flynn Wirkus Young explain.</p>
<p>Considering Rotten Records have been working with Rightscorp on other cases this year, it will come as no surprise that the anti-piracy outfit is also involved in this one. And boy have they been busy tracking this particular user. In a single 48 hour period, Rightscorp hammered the Comcast subscriber with more than two DMCA notices every hour over a single torrent.</p>
<p>&#8220;Rightscorp sent Defendant 112 notices via Defendant’s ISP Comcast from June 15, 2015 to June 17, 2015 demanding that Defendant stop illegally distributing Plaintiff’s work,&#8221; the lawsuit reads.</p>
<p>&#8220;Defendant ignored each and every notice and continued to illegally distribute Plaintiff’s work.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><img src="media/3aa6960d.112-notices.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/112-notices.png" alt="112-notices" width="600" height="169" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-111579"></center></p>
<p>While it&#8217;s clear that the John Doe behind IP address 67.165.102.115 shouldn&#8217;t have been sharing the works in question (if he indeed was the culprit and not someone else), the suggestion to the Court that he or she systematically ignored 112 demands to stop infringing copyright is stretching the bounds of reasonable to say the least.</p>
<p><img src="media/fbb32cb9.trolloridiot.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/trolloridiot.png" alt="trolloridiot" width="180" height="135" class="alignright size-full wp-image-68500">In fact, Court documents state that after infringement began sometime on June 15, the latest infringement took place on June 16 at 11:49am, meaning that the defendant may well have acted on Rightscorp&#8217;s notices within 24 hours &#8211; and that&#8217;s presuming that Comcast passed them on right away, or even at all.</p>
<p>Either way, the attempt here is to portray the defendant as someone who had zero respect for Rotten Record&#8217;s rights, even after being warned by Rightscorp more than a hundred and ten times. Trouble is, all of those notices covered an alleged infringing period of less than 36 hours &#8211; hardly a reasonable time in which to react.</p>
<p>Still, it&#8217;s unlikely the Court will be particularly interested and will probably issue an order for Comcast to hand over their subscriber&#8217;s identity so he or she can be targeted by Rotten Records for a cash settlement.</p>
<p>Rotten has targeted Comcast users on several earlier occasions, despite being able to sue the subscribers of any service provider. Notably, while Comcast does indeed pass on Rightscorp&#8217;s DMCA takedown notices, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/comcast-kills-business-model-of-piracy-monitoring-and-settlement-firm-131206/">it strips the cash settlement demand</a> from the bottom.</p>
<p>One has to wonder whether Rightscorp and its client are trying to send the ISP a message with <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/comcast-users-sued-after-ignoring-piracy-notices-150516/">these lawsuits</a>.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111585
title: Copyright Trolls Announce UK ‘Anti-Piracy’ Invasion
uri: Copyright-Trolls-Announce-UK-Anti-Piracy-Invasion
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/iadVgAL4BMs/
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">So-called copyright trolls were a common occurrence in the UK half a decade ago, when many Internet subscribers received settlement demands for allegedly downloading pirated files. </p>
<p>After one of the key players <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACS:Law">went bankrupt</a> the focus shifted to other countries, but now they&#8217;re back. One of the best known trolling outfits has just announced the largest anti-piracy push in the UK for many years.</p>
<p>The renewed efforts began earlier this year when the makers of &#8220;The Company You Keep&#8221; began demanding cash from many <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/sky-will-hand-over-customer-data-in-movie-piracy-case-150310/">Sky Broadband customers</a>.  </p>
<p>This action was spearheaded by <a href="http://www.maverickeye.de/">Maverick Eye</a>, a German outfit that tracks and monitors BitTorrent piracy data that forms the basis of these campaigns. Today, the company says that this was just the beginning. </p>
<p>Framed as one of the largest anti-piracy campaigns in history, Maverick Eye says it teamed up with law firm Hatton &#038; Berkeley and other key players to launch a new wave of settlement demands.   </p>
<p>&#8220;Since July this year, Hatton &#038; Berkeley and Maverick Eye have been busy working with producers, lawyers, key industry figures, investors, partners, and supporters to develop a program to protect the industry and defend the UK cinema against rampant piracy online,&#8221; Maverick Eye says.  </p>
<p>&#8220;The entertainment industry can expect even more from these experts as they continue the fight against piracy in the UK.&#8221;</p>
<p>The companies have yet to announce which copyright holders are involved, but Maverick Eye is already working with the makers of the movies Dallas Buyers Club, The Cobbler and Survivor in other countries. </p>
<p>Most recently, they supported a series of lawsuits against <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/dallas-buyers-club-jumps-on-the-popcorn-time-lawsuit-bandwagon-150922/">several Popcorn Time users</a> in the U.S., and they also targeted BitTorrent users in <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/canadian-court-slaps-restrictions-on-copyright-trolling-140221/">Canada</a> and <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/iinet-loses-dallas-buyers-club-piracy-case-150407/">Australia</a>.</p>
<p>Hatton &#038; Berkeley commonly offers administrative services and says it will provide &#8220;essential infrastructure&#8221; for the UK anti-piracy campaign.</p>
<p>&#8220;Hatton and Berkeley stands alongside our colleagues in an international operation that has so far yielded drastic reductions in streaming, torrenting and illegal downloads across Europe,&#8221; the company announces.</p>
<p>In the UK it is relatively easy for copyright holders to obtain the personal details of thousands of subscribers at once, which means that tens of thousands of people could be at risk of being targeted.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111446
title: Torrent Sites Remove Millions of Links to Pirate Content
uri: Torrent-Sites-Remove-Millions-of-Links-to-Pirate-Content
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/WqQ2New6UIU/
content:
<p><img src="media/c7105c3f.delete.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/delete.jpg" alt="delete" width="200" height="141" class="alignright size-full wp-image-78884">Entertainment industry groups including the RIAA and MPAA view BitTorrent sites as a major threat. The owners of most BitTorrent sites, however, believe they do nothing wrong. </p>
<p>While it’s common knowledge that The Pirate Bay refuses to remove any torrents, all of the other major BitTorrent sites do honor DMCA-style takedown requests. </p>
<p>Several copyright holders make use of these takedown services to remove infringing content, resulting in tens of thousands of takedown requests per month. </p>
<p><a href="http://bitsnoop.com/">Bitsnoop</a> is one of the prime targets. The site boasts one of the largest torrent databases on the Internet, more than 24 million files in total. This number could have been higher though, as the site has complied with 2,220,099 takedown requests over the years. </p>
<p>The overview below shows that most of the takedown notices received by Bitsnoop were sent by Remove Your Media. Other prominent names such as the RIAA and Microsoft also appear in the list of top senders. </p>
<p><center><img src="media/95e3ab9f.snoopdown.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/snoopdown.png" alt="snoopdown" width="600" height="326" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-111543"></center></p>
<p>As one of the largest torrent sites, <a href="http://kat.cr">KickassTorrents</a> (KAT) is also frequently contacted by copyright holders. </p>
<p>The site doesn&#8217;t list as many torrents as Bitsnoop does, but with tens of thousands of takedown notices per month it receives its fair share of takedown requests. </p>
<p>The KAT team informs TF that they removed 26,060 torrents over the past month, and a total of 856,463 since they started counting. </p>
<p>Torrent sites are not the only ones targeted. Copyright holders also ask Google to indirectly remove access to infringing torrents that appear in its search results. Interestingly, Google receives more requests for Bitsnoop and KAT than the sites themselves do. </p>
<p>Google&#8217;s transparency report currently lists 3,902,882 Bitsnoop URLs and several million for KickassTorrents&#8217; most recent domain names.  The people at TorrentTags noticed this as well and recently published some <a href="http://stats.torrenttags.com/?menu=public">additional insights</a> from their own database.  </p>
<p>Despite the proper takedown policies it&#8217;s hard for torrent sites to escape criticism. On the one hand users complain that their torrents are vanishing. On the other, copyright holders are not happy with the constant stream of newly uploaded torrents. </p>
<p>Not all torrent sites are happy with the takedown procedure either. <a href="http://extratorrent.cc/">ExtraTorrent</a> doesn&#8217;t keep track of the number of takedown requests the site receives, but the operator informs TF that many contain errors or include links that point to different domains. </p>
<p>Still, most torrent sites feel obligated to accept takedown notices and will continue to do so in order to avoid further trouble. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111515
title: Anti-Piracy Activities Get VPNs Banned at Torrent Sites
uri: Anti-Piracy-Activities-Get-VPNs-Banned-at-Torrent-Sites
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/LHP2iSsG_k8/
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">For the privacy-conscious Internet user, VPNs and similar services are now considered must-have tools. In addition to providing much needed security, VPNs also allow users to side-step geo-blocking technology, a useful ability for today&#8217;s global web-trotter.</p>
<p>While VPNs are often associated with file-sharing activity, it may be of interest to learn that they are also used by groups looking to crack down on the practice. Just like file-sharers it appears that anti-piracy groups prefer to work undetected, as events during the past few days have shown.</p>
<p>Earlier this week while doing our usual sweep of the world&#8217;s leading torrent sites, it became evident that at least two popular portals were refusing to load. Finding no complaints that the sites were down, we were able to access them via publicly accessible proxies and as a result thought no more of it.</p>
<p>A day later, however, comments began to surface on Twitter that some VPN users were having problems accessing certain torrent sites. Sure enough, after we disabled our VPN the affected sites sprang into action. Shortly after, reader emails to TF revealed that other users were experiencing similar problems.</p>
<p>Eager to learn more, TF opened up a dialog with one of the affected sites and in return for granting complete anonymity, its operator agreed to tell us what had been happening.</p>
<p>&#8220;The IP range you mentioned was used for massive DMCA crawling and thus it&#8217;s been blocked,&#8221; the admin told us.</p>
<p>Intrigued, we asked the operator more questions. How do DMCA crawlers manifest themselves? Are they easy to spot and deal with?</p>
<p>&#8220;If you see 15,000 requests from the same IP address after integrity checks on the IP&#8217;s browsers for the day, you can safely assume its a [DMCA] bot,&#8221; the admin said.</p>
<p>From the above we now know that anti-piracy bots use commercial VPN services, but do they also access the sites by other means?</p>
<p>&#8220;They mostly use rented dedicated servers. But sometimes I&#8217;ve even caught them using Hola VPN,&#8221; our source adds. Interestingly, it appears that the anti-piracy activities were directed through the IP addresses of Hola users <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/hola-vpn-sells-users-bandwidth-150528/">without them knowing</a>.</p>
<p>Once spotted the IP addresses used by the aggressive bots are banned. The site admin wouldn&#8217;t tell TF how his system works. However, he did disclose that sizable computing resources are deployed to deal with the issue and that the intelligence gathered proves extremely useful.</p>
<p>Of course, just because an IP address is banned at a torrent site it doesn&#8217;t necessarily follow that a similar anti-DMCA system is being deployed. IP addresses are often excluded after being linked to users uploading spam, fakes and malware. Additionally, users can share IP addresses, particularly in the case of VPNs. Nevertheless, the banning of DMCA notice-senders is a documented phenomenon.</p>
<p>Earlier this month Jonathan Bailey at Plagiarism Today revealed his frustrations when attempting to get so-called &#8220;revenge porn&#8221; removed from various sites.</p>
<p>&#8220;Once you file your copyright or other notice of abuse, the host, rather than remove the material at question, simply blocks you, the submitter, from accessing the site,&#8221; Bailey <a href="https://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2015/09/08/how-unethical-hosts-fake-dmca-compliance/">explains</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;This is most commonly done by blocking your IP address. This means, when you come back to check and see if the site’s content is down, it appears that the content, and maybe the entire site, is offline. However, in reality, the rest of the world can view the content, it’s just you that can’t see it,&#8221; he notes.</p>
<p>Perhaps unsurprisingly, Bailey advises a simple way of regaining access to a site using these methods.</p>
<p>&#8220;I keep subscriptions with multiple VPN providers that give access to over a hundred potential IP addresses that I can use to get around such tactics,&#8221; he reveals.</p>
<p>The good news for both file-sharers and anti-piracy groups alike is that IP address blocks like these don&#8217;t last forever. The site we spoke with said that blocks on the VPN range we inquired about had already been removed. Still, the cat and mouse game is likely to continue.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111171
title: Thousands of “Spies” Are Watching Trackerless Torrents
uri: Thousands-of-Spies-Are-Watching-Trackerless-Torrents
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/TcEjoSAd784/
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">The beauty of BitTorrent is that thousands of people can share a single file simultaneously to speed up downloading. In order for this to work, trackers announce the IP-addresses of all file-sharers in public. </p>
<p>The downside of this approach is that anyone can see who&#8217;s sharing a particular file. It&#8217;s not even required for monitoring outfits to actively participate.</p>
<p>This &#8216;vulnerability&#8217; is used by dozens of tracking companies around the world, some of which send file-sharers warning letters, or worse. However, the &#8220;spies&#8221; are not just getting info from trackers, they also use BitTorrent&#8217;s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainline_DHT">DHT</a>. </p>
<p>Through DHT, BitTorrent users share IP-addresses with other peers. Thus far, little was known about the volume of monitoring through DHT, but research from <a href="http://www.peersm.com/">Peersm&#8217;s</a> Aymeric Vitte shows that it&#8217;s rampant.</p>
<p>Through various experiments Vitte consistently ran into hundreds of thousands of IP-addresses that show clear signs of spying behavior. </p>
<p>The spies are not hard to find and many monitor pretty much all torrents hashes they can find. Blocking them is not straightforward though, as they frequently rotate IP-addresses and pollute swarms. </p>
<p>&#8220;The spies are organized to monitor automatically whatever exists in the BitTorrent network, they are easy to find but difficult to follow since they might change their IP addresses and are polluting the DHT with existing peers not related to monitoring activities,&#8221; Vitte <a href="https://gist.github.com/Ayms/f2da9f860775ead2066e">writes</a>.</p>
<p>The research further found that not all spies are actively monitoring BitTorrent transfers. Vitte makes a distinction between level 1 and level 2 spies, for example. </p>
<p>The first group is the largest and spreads IP-addresses of random peers and the more dangerous level 2 spies, which are used to connect file-sharers to the latter group. They respond automatically, and even return peers for torrents that don&#8217;t exist.</p>
<p>The level 2 spies are the data collectors, some if which use quickly changing IP-addresses. They pretend to offer a certain file and wait for BitTorrent users to connect to them. </p>
<p>The image below shows how rapidly the spies were discovered in one of the experiments and how quickly they rotate IP-addresses. </p>
<p><center><img src="media/f8b16c75.spiedbt.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/spiedbt.png" alt="spiedbt" width="600" height="335" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-111622"></center></p>
<p>Interestingly, only very few of the level 2 spies actually accept data from an alleged pirate, meaning that most can&#8217;t proof without a doubt that pirates really shared something (e.g. they could just be checking a torrent without downloading). </p>
<p>According to Vitte, this could be used by accused pirates as a defense. </p>
<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s why people who receive settlement demands while using only DHT should challenge this, and ask precisely what proves that they downloaded a file,&#8221; he says.</p>
<p>After months of research and several experiments Vitte found that there are roughly 3,000 dangerous spies. These include known anti-piracy outfits such as Trident Media Guard, but also unnamed spies that use rotating third party IPs so they are harder to track. </p>
<p>Since many monitoring outfits constantly change their IP-addresses, static blocklists are useless. At TF we are no fans of blocklists in general, but Vitte believes that the dynamic blocklist he has developed provides decent protection, with near instant updates. </p>
<p>This (paid) blocklist is part of the Open Source <a href="http://torrent-live.org/?content">Torrent-Live client</a> which has several built in optimizations to prevent people from monitoring downloads. People can also use it to built and maintain a custom blocklist.</p>
<p>In his research paper Vitte further <a href="http://gist.github.com/Ayms/f2da9f860775ead2066e#toward-a-new-or-modified-bittorrent-protocol">proposes</a> several changes to the BitTorrent protocol which aim to make it harder to spy on users. He hopes other developers will pick this up to protect users from excessive monitoring.</p>
<p>Another option to stop the monitoring is to use an anonymous VPN service or proxy, which hides ones actual IP-address.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111463
title: The Confessions of a Camming Movie Pirate
uri: The-Confessions-of-a-Camming-Movie-Pirate
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/w3aHHCAJVwI/
content:
<p>Last week TF published an interview with Philip Danks, the West Midlands man handed the toughest ever UK sentence for recording a movie in a cinema and uploading it to the Internet. After receiving 33 months for his crimes, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/piracy-isnt-worth-the-risk-of-prison-freed-cammer-says-150927/">Danks&#8217; message</a> was one of caution.</p>
<p>“Simply put, prison isn’t worth the kudos you get from being the first to leak a movie, stay away from it all and be happy with your family!” he said last week.</p>
<p>But despite the words of warning, what Danks did is still pretty intriguing. So-called &#8216;movie camming&#8217; is not only very dangerous but also shrouded in mystery. So what made this guy do what he did?</p>
<p>&#8220;My original motivation was to be the first to get a copy of a film worldwide, which would certainly drag thousands of new unique visitors to my website (Bit Buddy), increasing members and site activity, as at the time there was just over 200 members which is extremely small,&#8221; Danks informs TF.</p>
<p>&#8220;I decided on Fast 6 due to the popularity and demand for the film as it was by far the most highly anticipated and eagerly awaited film. It was hugely popular and I knew demand would be high for that film.&#8221;</p>
<p>After settling on a film to &#8216;cam&#8217;, Danks had to pick a location. In the end he chose a Showcase cinema, located not far from his Walsall home in central England.</p>
<p><center><br>
<h5>Showcase &#8211; Walsall</h5>
<p><img src="media/8acaf658.showcase-walsall.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/showcase-walsall.png" alt="showcase-walsall" width="600" height="369" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-111609"></center></p>
<p>&#8220;The cinema I chose was my local cinema just 4 &#8211; 5 miles away, and I chose the first available viewing with tickets available. I only decided on the day that I would do it, so it was spur and heat of the moment thing,&#8221; he explains.</p>
<p><strong>Equipment</strong></p>
<p>&#8220;I went into town and brought a second hand camcorder from a pawn shop for £70, however it only had a 60 minute battery life and I had to return to get a better camcorder. The second one I chose had brilliant reviews online for battery life and quality, so I chose that one for £80.&#8221;</p>
<p>The digital camera had no storage medium, so to capture the whole thing in decent quality Danks had to spend a little extra on 16GB SD card. However, other problems quickly raised their head and would need attention if his cover wasn&#8217;t to be immediately blown.</p>
<p>&#8220;I realized quite quickly that the device was extremely visible in the dark, so I covered all LED lights with insulation tape,&#8221; Danks says.</p>
<p>Also proving troublesome was the brightness of the camera&#8217;s LCD screen. Covering that so early on would mean that focusing on the cinema screen would be a hit-and-miss affair and at worse a complete disaster. Danks decided to take the risk on the initial focusing setup and then used a small black bag to cover the LCD.</p>
<p><strong>Location and position</strong></p>
<p>As anyone who has watched a &#8216;cam&#8217; copy will know, the positioning of the &#8216;cammer&#8217; is vital to a decent recording. Too far to the left or right of the big screen and angles can creep in. Too far forward or back raises other issues, including other movie goers causing annoying black silhouettes every time they move in front of the camera.</p>
<p>To avoid the latter and of course detection, Danks decided to enroll some accomplices.</p>
<p>&#8220;I decided that a few friends in front, to the side and to the back of me, was enough cover to keep the staff from seeing me, so I invited a few friends along, one of which was Michael Bell, my co-defendant,&#8221; Danks says.</p>
<p>&#8220;I got the focus right while the camcorder was in my lap, meaning I could hold it with my legs and keep it fairly steady, also providing a little more cover from staff as I looked like I just had my hands in my lap.&#8221;</p>
<p>For readers putting themselves in Danks&#8217; shoes, fear of getting caught during the next two hours would probably be high on the list of emotions. However, Danks says he wasn&#8217;t really concerned about being discovered and was more interested in the end result.</p>
<p>&#8220;While I was actually recording my only thoughts were whether or not the quality would be good enough for a release, and if the sound would be in sync with the video. I blocked out any thoughts of getting caught and just got on with the job at hand,&#8221; he explains.</p>
<p><strong>The Great Escape</strong></p>
<p>Soon enough the movie was over. Danks hadn&#8217;t been caught in the act but there was still a possibility that he&#8217;d been monitored and a welcoming party was waiting for him in the cinema lobby. With that in mind, he set about mitigating the risks.</p>
<p>&#8220;As soon as the movie was over I concealed the camcorder down my trousers and the memory chip was hidden in a separate place &#8211; in my sock. I knew cinema staff could not perform a search without a police officer present,&#8221; he says.</p>
<p>But what if staff were outside ready to give him a hard time? Danks had thought about that too and already had an escape strategy in mind.</p>
<p>&#8220;I planned to simply run if I got caught. I know that any attempt to detain me without the authorities would be unlawful arrest and kidnap, so that was no concern,&#8221; he says.</p>
<p>In the event his exit from the cinema was trouble free. All that remained was to get the video off the card and onto the Internet.</p>
<p><strong>Conversion and uploading</strong></p>
<p>&#8220;I had an SD card reader on my laptop, so transferring the file was no issue, although encoding was. I had problems with audio synchronization and had to adjust the sound offset by around 0.8s to get it just right after conversion to AVI,&#8221; he recalls. </p>
<p>&#8220;Another problem I ran into was file size. Because the movie was so long the total file was around 6GB separated into 1GB chunks, so I first had to use a video joiner to combine all the chunks in the right order before I could compress and reduce the final size. In total it took over six hours to convert and upload the file for the first person apart from me to have a copy.&#8221;</p>
<p>The whole point of recording Fast 6 was for Danks to be able to claim first place in the race to upload the movie to the Internet and he wanted his own site, Bit Buddy, to share in the glory.</p>
<p>&#8220;I decided to first upload the movie to Bit Buddy, date stamps would then prove my site was the first in the world to have a real copy. I then decided the best place for it to be picked up was on 1337x.org, KickAssTorrents and ThePirateBay, because I know dump sites scrape all three on a regular basis,&#8221; he says.</p>
<p>&#8220;Afterwards I simply went to sleep, but by this time it was 6am and I was back up at 10am to check on things. The amount of visitors to my site caused it to crash my home servers (three of them) because I simply wasn&#8217;t prepared for the traffic.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>So far so good</strong></p>
<p>Danks says that in the aftermath he felt happy with what he&#8217;d done. The movie had been recorded, he hadn&#8217;t been caught, and his site had been placed on the map. That desire to be first had paid off with the feelings he&#8217;d expected.</p>
<p>&#8220;The next day I felt great. I felt like I had achieved something, something no one else could do, and that was get the tightest film of the year security-wise and plaster it over the Internet. By the time I checked it lunch time it had around 50,000 seeders and was on every worthy site going, so I was very proud,&#8221; he recalls.</p>
<p><strong>Game over</strong></p>
<p>As detailed in our <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/five-undercover-police-cars-sent-to-arrest-single-alleged-movie-pirate-130525/">earlier article</a>, the Federation Against Copyright Theft had been watching Danks&#8217; activities online. That led to an oversized police response and his subsequent arrest.</p>
<p>&#8220;It was only five days later when I was arrested that it dawned on me and I realized how much trouble I was in. However at the time I just simply didn&#8217;t care, I had one up on the fatcats in Hollywood and that was all I was bothered about,&#8221; he recalls.</p>
<p>&#8220;It wasn&#8217;t until over a year later when I was actually in court that I realized I was facing a lengthy custodial sentence for what I had done, and that the Hollywood fatcats had actually beaten me at my own game.</p>
<p>&#8220;Going to prison is technically the ultimate punishment, and that&#8217;s what they did to me. So really I was the one who lost out long term, losing my home, my job, my car and my freedom. That&#8217;s not winning.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>Moving on</strong></p>
<p>Danks is now out of prison and on license, which means he has to be home by 7pm and cannot leave again until 7am. He spends his free time programming and playing poker in an attempt to build up his funds to pre-prison levels. And, since there has been so much interest in his case, he&#8217;s also hoping to <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/gt53dqtc">commit his experiences to film</a> via his own documentary.</p>
<p>Unless someone already in the field is interested in working with him, in which case TF will be happy to forward their details.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111663
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week – 10/05/15
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-10-05-15
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/shBWibmGy3s/
content:
<p><img src="media/232f34d6.jurass.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/jurass.jpg" alt="jurass" width="300" height="216" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108092">This week we have three newcomers in our chart. </p>
<p>Jurassic World 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 BD/DVDrips 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="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-movies-of-the-week-092815/">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="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jurassic_world/">Jurassic World</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0369610/">7.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFinNxS5KN4">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/tomorrowland_2015/">Tomorrowland</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1964418/">6.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWZ7O-RrATY">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/terminator_genisys/">Terminator Genisys</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1340138/">6.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62E4FJTwSuc">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/san_andreas/">San Andreas</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2126355/">6.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23VflsU3kZE">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/avengers_age_of_ultron/">Avengers: Age of Ultron</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2395427/">7.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmeOjFno6Do">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/southpaw_2015/">Southpaw</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1798684/">7.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh2ebPxhoLs">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/minions/">Minions</a> (Webrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2293640/">6.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfql_DoHRKc">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(6)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mission_impossible_rogue_nation/">Mission: Impossible &#8211; Rogue Nation</a> (HDRip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2381249/">7.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-qBD17wwrQ">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(9)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/magic_mike_xxl/">Magic Mike XXL</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2268016/?">5.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLoyU3xYwbs">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/inside_out_2015/">Inside Out</a> (HDrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2096673/">8.5</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seMwpP0yeu4">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111667
title: Megaupload Accuses U.S. of Unfair Tactics, Seeks Stay
uri: Megaupload-Accuses-U-S-of-Unfair-Tactics-Seeks-Stay
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/WvKDIdB8v3g/
content:
<p><img src="media/66633aca.dotcom-laptop.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/dotcom-laptop.jpg" width="233" height="170" class="alignright">After suffering ten postponements the extradition hearing of Kim Dotcom, Mathias Ortmann, Finn Batato and Bram van der Kolk was never likely to be a smooth, straightforward affair, even when it <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/kim-dotcom-extradition-hearing-gets-underway-150921/">eventually got underway</a> in the Auckland District Court.</p>
<p>The first few days of the hearing were spent by Crown lawyer Christine Gordon QC, who has been acting on behalf the U.S., painting a highly negative picture of the quartet. <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/u-s-uncovers-kim-dotcoms-self-incriminating-skype-calls-150924/">Incriminating correspondence</a>, culled from their Skype accounts, suggested that there had been knowledge of infringement, she claimed.</p>
<p>After the U.S. finally wrapped up its case last Thursday, Judge Dawson was asked to decide when several applications filed by Dotcom&#8217;s team to drop the hearing would be heard. Would it be appropriate to deal with them before the accused took the stand to fight the extradition, or at another time?</p>
<p>In the event Judge Dawson decided that the stay applications &#8211; which cover the U.S. freeze on Dotcom&#8217;s funds and other &#8216;unreasonable&#8217; behavior, plus allegations of abuse of process by Crown lawyers &#8211; should be heard first. </p>
<p>During this morning’s session defense attorney Grant Illingworth QC motivated the request to stay the case.  Illingworth told the Court that due to the ongoing U.S.-ordered freeze on his clients’ funds (and the prospect that any funds sent to the U.S. would have the same fate), they are unable to retain experts on U.S. law.</p>
<p>&#8220;We say the issue is that they cannot use restrained funds to pay experts in US law, if those experts are not New Zealand citizens,&#8221; Illingworth <a href="http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/dotcom-lawyers-maintain-case-unfair-2015100512">said</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;Access to such expertise is necessary but being prevented by the US. It means not having the ability to call evidence but also the ability to get advice so counsel can present their case.&#8221;</p>
<p>Illingworth said the unfair tactics amounted to an abuse of process which has reduced New Zealand-based lawyers to a position of dealing with U.S. law on a &#8220;guess work&#8221; basis which could leave them open to accusations of being both negligent and incompetent.</p>
<p>&#8220;In any other case we would seek expert advice,&#8221; Illingworth said, but in this situation obtaining that is proving impossible. No defense means that the hearing is fundamentally unfair, he argued.</p>
<p>In this afternoon&#8217;s session, attention turned to claims by the United States that Bram van der Kolk uploaded a pre-release copy of the Liam Neeson movie &#8216;Taken&#8217; to Megaupload and shared links with friends.</p>
<p>The U.S. says that nine people downloaded the thriller but lawyers for Van Der Kolk insist that whatever the case, the movie was not &#8216;pre-release&#8217; since it was already <a href="https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/liam-neeson-hit-movie-taken-focus-of-kim-dotcom-extradition-proceedings-avid-060a2b340101010501010f1013-000000-41140b2dd4df0094-826b0060dd44-a8b1">available in more than two dozen countries</a> during 2008. The movie was premiered in the United States during 2009. Pre-release movie piracy is a criminal offense under U.S. law.</p>
<p>The extradition hearing is now in its third week and is expected to last another three, but that could change. If the applications currently being heard are successful, the Judge could order a new case or might even stay the extradition hearing altogether.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111671
title: RIAA Labels Want $22 Million Piracy Damages From MP3Skull
uri: RIAA-Labels-Want-22-Million-Piracy-Damages-From-MP3Skull
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/dbTv4ElS1cY/
content:
<p><img src="media/f6100d5b.skull1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/skull1.jpg" alt="skull" width="180" height="71" class="alignright size-full wp-image-104587">Earlier this year a coalition of record labels including Capitol Records, Sony Music, Warner Bros. Records and Universal Music Group filed a lawsuit against MP3Skull. </p>
<p>With millions of visitors per month the MP3 download site had been one of the prime sources of pirated music for a long time. </p>
<p>Several months have passed since the RIAA members submitted their complaint and since the owners of MP3Skull failed to respond, the labels are now asking for a default judgement.  </p>
<p>In their motion filed last Friday at a Florida District Court, the record labels describe MP3Skull as a notorious pirate site that promotes copyright infringement on a commercial scale.</p>
<p>&#8220;Defendants designed, promote, support and maintain the MP3Skull website for the well-known, express and overarching purpose of reproducing, distributing, performing and otherwise exploiting unlimited copies of Plaintiffs’ sound recordings without any authorization or license.</p>
<p>&#8220;By providing to the public the fruits of Plaintiffs’ investment of money, labor and expertise, MP3Skull has become one of the most notorious pirate websites in the world,&#8221; the labels add (<a href="media/c6a0bfa1.mp3prop.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mp3prop.pdf">pdf</a>). </p>
<p>Besides offering a comprehensive database of links to music tracks, the labels also accuse the site’s operators of actively promoting piracy through social media. Among other things, MP3Skull helped users to find pirated tracks after copyright holders removed links from the site.</p>
<p>Based on the blatant piracy carried out by operators and users, the labels argue that MP3Skull is liable for willful copyright infringement. </p>
<p>Listing 148 music tracks as evidence, the companies ask for the maximum $150,000 in statutory damages for each, bringing the total to more than $22 million. </p>
<p>&#8220;Under these egregious circumstances, Plaintiffs should be awarded statutory damages in the full amount of $150,000 for each of the 148 works identified in the Complaint, for a total of $22,200,000,&#8221; the motion reads. </p>
<p>In addition the RIAA labels request a permanent injunction to make it harder for MP3Skull from continuing to operate the site. The proposed injunction (<a href="media/c6a0bfa1.mp3prop.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mp3prop.pdf">pdf</a>) prevents domain name registrars and registries form providing services to MP3Skull and orders the transfer of existing domains to the copyright holders.</p>
<p>While a default judgment would be a big hit to the site, most damage has already been done. Last year MP3Skull was listed among the 500 most-visited websites on the Internet according to Alexa, but after Google downranked the site it quickly lost its traffic. </p>
<p><center><img src="media/2ea76ebd.alexskull.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/alexskull.jpg" alt="alexskull" width="650" height="294" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-111679"></center></p>
<p>The site subsequently hopped from domain to domain and is currently operating from the .ninja TLD with only a fraction of the number of users it had before.  </p>
<p>Given that MP3Juices failed to appear before the court it&#8217;s likely that the District Court will approve the proposed default judgment. Whether the record labels will ever see a penny of the claimed millions is doubtful though, as the true owners of the MP3Skull site remain unknown.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111710
title: Google Must Expose eBook Pirate, Court Rules
uri: Google-Must-Expose-eBook-Pirate-Court-Rules
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/lXdOmzspfkA/
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">Earlier this year the General Publishers Group (GAU) discovered that several eBooks belonging to its members were being sold illegally on Google Play. </p>
<p>Using the handle Flamanca Hollanda / Dragonletebooks, a Google Play &#8216;publisher&#8217; was selling eBooks far below the regular price.</p>
<p>The publishers reached out to local anti-piracy group BREIN, who successfully asked Google to remove the files. However, Google refused to a separate request to identify the account holder.</p>
<p>Citing privacy concerns, Google noted that it would not hand over any data without a court order, which is a common stance for the company. This left BREIN with little other alternative than to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/google-taken-to-court-to-uncloak-ebook-pirates-150915/">take the case to court</a>.</p>
<p>Yesterday a <a href="http://uitspraken.rechtspraak.nl/inziendocument?id=ECLI:NL:RBDHA:2015:11408">The Hague Court ruled</a> that Google must hand over the personal details tied to the Google Play account as well as the Google account that was used to sign up. </p>
<p>The data includes the IP-address, home address, names, emails and bank account information, even if the person <a href="http://tweakers.net/nieuws/105620/google-verliest-van-brein-in-zaak-over-data-van-verkoper-illegale-e-books.html">resides outside</a> the European Union.</p>
<p>In its defense, Google had argued that BREIN&#8217;s request could violate international privacy laws, if the account holder turns out to be foreign. However, the court noted that it could not be the case that possible international violations prevent Dutch law from being applied. </p>
<p>The court further concluded that in this case the rights of copyright holders outweigh other rights, such as freedom of expression. However, the affected user will be given the opportunity to appeal the handover within two weeks, which the court will then review separately.  </p>
<p>The order opens the door for BREIN and Dutch copyright holders to police Google Play and other online services more aggressively. </p>
<p>In the past BREIN has <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/payment-provider-hands-over-name-of-torrent-site-owner-110927/">succeeded</a> in obtaining the personal details of torrent site owners from hosting providers and payment providers, often without a direct court order.  </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111724
title: Pirate Bay Domains Clash Set For Court of Appeal
uri: Pirate-Bay-Domains-Clash-Set-For-Court-of-Appeal
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/cn9D_4yGSVc/
content:
<p><img src="media/9484b25e.tpb-logo.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/tpb-logo.jpg" width="222" height="198" class="alignright">In 2013, famous anti-piracy prosecutor Fredrik Ingblad <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-moves-to-sx-as-prosecutor-files-motion-to-seize-domains-130430/">filed a motion</a> targeting ThePirateBay.se (the site’s main domain) and PirateBay.se (a lesser used alternative).</p>
<p>Rather than take on the site itself, Ingblad filed a complaint against Punkt SE (IIS), the organization responsible for Sweden’s top level .SE domain.</p>
<p>Ingbland argued that since The Pirate Bay is an illegal operation, the site&#8217;s domains are tools used to infringe copyright. The prosecutor said that as the supplier and controller of those domains, IIS should be held liable for the copyright infringements associated with them.</p>
<p>Not surprisingly, IIS held the position that a registry should not be held liable for infringement and that any decision on the fate of a domain should be decided by the courts. As such, IIS flat-out refused to suspend Pirate Bay&#8217;s domains.</p>
<p>The case was finally heard <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/fate-of-pirate-bay-domains-hang-in-the-balance-150421/">this April</a> and in May the Stockholm District Court <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/key-pirate-bay-domains-must-be-seized-court-rules-150519/">ruled</a> that The Pirate Bay should forfeit its Sweden-based domains, ThePirateBay.se and PirateBay.se. However, when considering his long-term aspirations beyond the Pirate Bay, the victory for the prosecutor lacked suitable punch.</p>
<p>All along, IIS said it understood the nature of The Pirate Bay and was prepared to take action against the site&#8217;s domains, if ordered to do so by a court. It&#8217;s a position taken by many organizations and companies, ISPs in particular, when asked to take anti-piracy actions in the absence of legal precedent.</p>
<p>Due to its refusal to terminate the Pirate Bay&#8217;s domains, the Stockholm Court found that IIS did indeed contribute to the copyright infringements of the site. However, as now explained by IIS counsel <a href="https://www.iis.se/blogg/pirate-bay-domen-overklagas/">Elisabeth Ekstrand</a>, it also noted the special circumstances of the case.</p>
<p>&#8220;[Unlike] an ISP that provides a service for financial gain, IIS has acted from a different point of view,&#8221; Ekstrand says.</p>
<p>&#8220;IIS has publicly announced and motivated its approach to the prosecutor’s motion, that is to say that we have no obligation to act but rather an obligation not to act without a direct order (for example, from a law enforcement agency).</p>
<p>&#8220;The statement is based on the view that the assignment of managing an important function in society does not include judging over whether an individual case can be considered illegal or not.&#8221;</p>
<p>Essentially, IIS believes that it wasn&#8217;t its responsibility to decide whether a domain should or should not be closed down and that requesting an official ruling from the court was the proper way of going about things. Ultimately the court agreed that the position taken by IIS was both legitimate and justified.</p>
<p>This meant that although The Pirate Bay&#8217;s domains were ordered to be seized, the case against IIS was rejected, with the District Court dismissing the prosecution’s case and awarding the registry close to $40,000 (SEK 332,000) in costs.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s now clear that the prosecution is unhappy with the outcome and will take the case to trial at the Court of Appeal. TorrentFreak has contacted Fredrik Ingblad in an effort to find out his precise grounds for appeal and will update this article when those arrive. </p>
<p>In the meantime, however, it seems likely that the prospect of heading to court each and every time the government wants to seize a &#8216;pirate&#8217; domain is proving too much of a headache.</p>
<p>As it stands today, IIS is considered to be acting reasonably when it refuses to suspend a domain without an explicit instruction from a court or the police, for example. And having gone down that road with The Pirate Bay once before (and being quite vocal while doing so), all the signs point to the registry applying similar standards in future.</p>
<p>&#8220;A decision in the Court of Appeals trumps a decision in the District Court, which can mean that we, or the prosecution depending on who &#8216;wins&#8217;, will get a stronger support for their way of looking at it,&#8221; Ekstrand concludes.</p>
<p>No date has yet been set for the trial.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111607
title: RIAA and MPAA Report Notorious Piracy Sites to U.S. Government
uri: RIAA-and-MPAA-Report-Notorious-Piracy-Sites-to-U-S-Government
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/DQCeU8efU8I/
content:
<p><img src="media/eba4c6a8.piratkeyb.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/piratkeyb.png" alt="piratkeyb" width="275" height="194" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108110">Responding to a request from the Office of the US Trade Representative (<a href="https://ustr.gov/">USTR</a>), the RIAA and MPAA have sent in their annual list of rogue websites.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak obtained a copy of the submissions in which the entertainment industry groups target a wide variety of websites they say are promoting the illegal distribution of music, movies and TV-shows.</p>
<p>The lists include torrent sites, linking sites, cyberlockers and unauthorized streaming services, which are primarily hosted outside the United States. According to the industry groups these sites are costing U.S. companies millions of dollars in revenue.</p>
<p>The MPAA points out that many sites directly compete with legal services and are &#8220;stealing&#8221; revenue from the people who created the content. </p>
<p>&#8220;Content thieves take advantage of a wide constellation of easy-to-use online technologies, such as direct download and streaming, to create sites and applications with the look and feel of legitimate content distributors,&#8221; MPAA&#8217;s Joanna McIntosh writes (<a href="media/a63db503.MPAA-USTR.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/MPAA-USTR.pdf">pdf</a>).</p>
<p>The pirates sites are often able to offer their services in relative anonymity hosted outside of the United States. As targeting them directly is problematic, MPAA says other service providers, such as search engines and hosting companies, should help out. </p>
<p>&#8220;All stakeholders in the Internet ecosystem – including hosting providers, advertising networks, payment processors, and search engines – should be actively seeking to reduce support for notoriously infringing sites such as those we have nominated in these comments,&#8221; McIntosh notes. </p>
<p>Among the sites listed by the MPAA (attached to this article) are familiar names such as The Pirate Bay, KickassTorrents and Torrentz. YTS.to is called out as well, and the Hollywood group mentions its connection to the release group formerly know as YIFY, as well as the popular Popcorn Time application. </p>
<p>The MPAA further highlights streaming sites including Primewire and Nowvideo, the popular Russian social network VK.com, and cyberlockers such as Putlocker and Uploaded. </p>
<p>Stressing the important of third-party services MPAA notes that domain name registrars can also be seen as possible &#8220;notorious markets.&#8221; It specifically calls out the Indian Public Domain Registry (PDR) which repeatedly refused to take action against pirate sites.</p>
<p>The responsibility of third party service providers is also highlighted in RIAA&#8217;s submission (<a href="media/e9749b3d.RIAA-USTR.odt" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/RIAA-USTR.odt">odt</a>). The group lists a total of 57 pirate websites, which in part overlaps with the MPAA. </p>
<p>The Pirate Bay and other popular torrent sites and cyberlockers are called out, as well as specialized music streaming and download sites such as MP3Skull, Stafaband and Albumkings. </p>
<p>In addition, the RIAA counters the argument of &#8220;apologists&#8221; who oppose stricter anti-piracy enforcement on the basis it could endanger freedom of expression.</p>
<p>&#8220;Many of those who profit from the status quo like to disguise their self-interest in rhetoric about free expression. It is long past time to end this dangerous charade. Defending the piracy of creative works in the name of freedom of expression is tantamount to foxes campaigning for open-range chickens,&#8221; RIAA&#8217;s Neil Turkewitz writes. </p>
<p>&#8220;Online enforcement efforts are complicated when intermediaries do not take adequate steps to ensure their services are not being used to facilitate copyright infringement, a problem compounded by the fact that some website operators and intermediaries operate anonymously and outside the boundaries of the law,&#8221; he adds.</p>
<p>One of the groups RIAA indirectly refers to as &#8220;apologists&#8221; is the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). </p>
<p>The civil rights group actively protests the MPAA and RIAA efforts and in their own submission to the USTR they warn that the obligations of third-party services such as domain name registrars is overstated. </p>
<p>According to the EFF, free speech is at risk when these companies respond to requests and complaints without a judicial order. The USTR already listed the Canadian domain registrar Tucows in its overview of notorious markets last year, a decision to which the EFF objects. </p>
<p>&#8220;We find it highly rash for the USTR to be calling for foreign domain name registrars to honor extra-judicial demands for the removal of domains, because it is obvious how such demands could backfire spectacularly against U.S. Internet companies, at the behest of foreign governments and special interests seeking to censor U.S. speech,&#8221; the EFF writes (<a href="media/8a6c682d.EFF-USTR.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/EFF-USTR.pdf">pdf</a>). </p>
<p>Below are the full lists as reported to the USTR by the MPAA and RIAA. These, and the other submissions will form the basis of the U.S. Government’s Special 301 Out-of-Cycle Review of Notorious Markets, which is expected to come out later this year.</p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<p><strong>MPAA&#8217;s list of notorious pirate sites (23)</strong></p>
<p><em>Extratorrent.cc<br>
Kat.cr<br>
Rutracker.org<br>
ThePirateBay.gd (in addition to .la, .mn, and .vg TLDs)<br>
Torrentz.eu<br>
Yts.to<br>
Letitbit.net<br>
Nowvideo.sx and the “Movshare Group” –<br>
Rapidgator.net –<br>
Uploaded.net<br>
Videomega.tv<br>
VK.com<br>
Cuevana.tv<br>
Kinogo.co<br>
Megafilmeshd.net<br>
Movie4k.to<br>
Pelis24.com<br>
Primewire.ag<br>
Putlocker.is<br>
Solarmovie.is<br>
Viooz.ac<br>
Watch32.is<br>
Watchseries.lt</em></p>
<p><strong>RIAA&#8217;s list of notorious pirate sites (57)<br>
</strong></p>
<p><em>Thepiratebay.gd<br>
Kat.cr<br>
Torrentz.eu<br>
Extratorrent.cc<br>
Bitsnoop.com<br>
Isohunt.to<br>
Cpasbien.pw<br>
Torrenthound.com<br>
Torrentdownloads.me<br>
Torrentreactor.com<br>
LimeTorrents.cc<br>
Torrents.net<br>
T411.in<br>
Sumotorrent.sx<br>
Seedpeer.eu<br>
VK.com<br>
MP3Skull<br>
Itemvn.com<br>
Stafaband.info<br>
Viperial.me<br>
Im1music.co<br>
Albumkings.co<br>
Newalbumreleases.net<br>
Warez-bb.org<br>
Israbox.info<br>
Bajui.com<br>
Goear.com<br>
Exvagos.com<br>
Degraca.org<br>
Sobaixar.com<br>
Ex.ua<br>
4shared.com<br>
uploaded.net<br>
Rapidgator.net<br>
Zippyshare.com<br>
Dopefile.com<br>
Chomikuj.pl<br>
Turbobit.net<br>
Hitfile.net<br>
Letitbit.net<br>
1fichier.com<br>
Uploadable.ch<br>
Share-online.biz<br>
Ulozto.cz<br>
Mp3va.com<br>
Soundsbox.com<br>
Iomoio.com<br>
Soundike.com<br>
Payplay.fm<br>
Mp3million.com<br>
Megaboon.com<br>
Melodishop.com<br>
Melodysale.com<br>
Mp3caprice.com<br>
Ivave.com<br>
Mediasack.com<br>
Goldenmp3.ru</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111755
title: New York Judge Puts Brakes on Copyright Troll Subpoenas
uri: New-York-Judge-Puts-Brakes-on-Copyright-Troll-Subpoenas
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/7LXKMKsa4HI/
content:
<p><img src="media/3017f788.pirate-card-150x150.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-card-150x150.jpg" width="150" height="150" class="alignright">For the past seven or eight years alleged file-sharers in the United States have found themselves at the mercy of so-called copyright trolls and right at the very forefront are those from the adult movie industry.</p>
<p>By a country mile, adult video outfit Malibu Media (X-Art) is the most litigious after <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/adult-movie-outfit-is-most-litigious-copyright-plaintiff-in-u-s-150812/">filing over 4,500 cases</a> in less than 4 years, but news coming out of New York should give this notorious troll pause for thought.</p>
<p>Events began in June when Malibu filed suit in the Eastern District of New York against a so-called John Doe defendant known only by his Verizon IP address, 98.116.160.61. The porn outfit claimed that the individual was responsible for 18 counts of copyright infringement between February and May 2015.</p>
<p>Early August the defendant received a letter from Verizon informing him that a subpoena had been received which required the ISP to identify the individual using the IP address on May 23, 2015. This caused the defendant to fight back.</p>
<p>&#8220;Since Defendant’s IP addresses were assigned dynamically by the ISP, even if Defendant was identified as the subscriber assigned the IP address, 98.116.160.61, at 03:31:54 on May 23, 2015, it doesn’t mean that Defendant is the same subscriber who was assigned the IP address at the other seventeen occasions,&#8221; the defendant&#8217;s motion to quash reads.</p>
<p>&#8220;If Defendant&#8217;s identifying information is given to Plaintiff, Plaintiff, as part of<br>
their business model, will seek settlements of thousands of dollars claiming Defendant’s responsibility for eighteen downloads of copyright protected works under the threat of litigation and public exposure with no serious intention of naming Defendant.&#8221;</p>
<p>Case specifics aside, the motion also contains broad allegations about Malibu Media&#8217;s entire business model, beginning with the manner in which it collects evidence on alleged infringers using BitTorrent networks.</p>
<p>Citing a University of Washington study which famously demonstrated a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/study-reveals-reckless-anti-piracy-antics-080605/">printer receiving a DMCA notice</a> for copyright infringement, the motion concludes that the techniques employed by Malibu for tracking down infringers are simply not up to the job. </p>
<p>&#8220;The research concludes that the common approach for identifying infringing users in the poplar BitTorrent file sharing network is not conclusive,&#8221; the motion notes.</p>
<p>&#8220;Even if Plaintiff could definitively trace the BitTorrent activity in question to the IP-registrant, Malibu conspicuously fails to present any evidence that John Doe either uploaded, downloaded, or even possessed а complete copyrighted video file.&#8221;</p>
<p>While detection is rightfully put under the spotlight, the filing places greater emphasis on the apparent extortion-like practices demonstrated by copyright trolls such as Malibu Media.</p>
<p>Citing the earlier words of Judge Harold Baer, the motion notes that &#8220;troll&#8221; cases not only risk the public embarrassment of a misidentified defendant, but also create the likelihood that he or she will be &#8220;coerced into an unjust settlement with the plaintiff to prevent the dissemination of publicity surrounding unfounded allegations.&#8221;</p>
<p>The motion continues by describing Malibu as an aggressive litigant which deliberately tries to embarrass and shame defendants in the aim of receiving cash payments.</p>
<p>&#8220;[Malibu] seeks quick, out-of-court settlements which, because they are hidden, raise serious questions about misuse of court procedure. Judges regularly complain about Malibu,&#8221; the motion <a href="media/775c71ff.malibu_doe_edny_150928Motion.pdf" data-original-source="http://beckermanlegal.com/Lawyer_Copyright_Internet_Law/malibu_doe_edny_150928Motion.pdf">reads</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;Malibu’s strategy and its business models are to extort, harass, and embarrass<br>
defendants to persuade defendants to pay settlements with plaintiffs instead of paying for legal assistance while attempting to keep their anonymity and defending against allegations which can greatly damage their reputations.&#8221;</p>
<p>Following receipt of the motion, yesterday Judge Steven I. Locke <a href="http://beckermanlegal.com/blog/">handed down his order</a> and it represents a potentially serious setback for Malibu.</p>
<p>&#8220;Because the arguments advanced in the Doe Defendant’s Motion to Quash raise serious questions as to whether good cause exists in these actions to permit the expedited pre-answer discovery provided for in the Court’s September 4, 2015 Order, the relief and directives provided for in that Order are stayed pending resolution of the Doe Defendant’s Motion to Quash,&#8221; Judge Locke <a href="media/665f5721.malibu_doe_edny_151006Order.pdf" data-original-source="http://beckermanlegal.com/Lawyer_Copyright_Internet_Law/malibu_doe_edny_151006Order.pdf">writes</a>.</p>
<p>If putting the brakes on one discovery subpoena wasn&#8217;t enough, the Judge&#8217;s order lists 19 other cases that are now the subject of an indefinite stay. However, as highlighted by FightCopyrightTrolls, the actual exposure <a href="http://fightcopyrighttrolls.com/2015/10/06/new-york-judge-stayed-subpoenas-in-20-malibu-media-cases/#more-11196">is much greater</a>, with a total of 88 subpoenas in the Eastern District now placed on hold.</p>
<p>As a result, ISPs are now under strict orders not to hand over the real identities of their subscribers until the Court gives the instruction following a ruling by Judge Locke. In the meantime, Malibu has until October 27 to respond to the Verizon user&#8217;s motion.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111790
title: Rightscorp Granted Australian Patent to Chase Pirates
uri: Rightscorp-Granted-Australian-Patent-to-Chase-Pirates
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/M6ePF11Yb3A/
content:
<p><img src="media/ea7c06f8.rightscorp.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/rightscorp.png" width="222" height="54" class="alignright">California-based anti-piracy outfit Rightscorp is known for its pursuit of Internet pirates in the United States.</p>
<p>The company tracks infringements on BitTorrent networks and sends DMCA-style notices to ISPs in the hope they forward them to their customers. These notices have a sting in the tail in the form of a settlement demand, currently set at $30.</p>
<p>This year Rightscorp also began getting involved in litigation, with clients using the company&#8217;s monitoring and data gathering capabilities as the basis for <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/comcast-user-hit-with-112-dmca-notices-in-48-hours-151002/">John Doe lawsuits</a>. In turn, these will almost certainly result in yet more (but substantially larger) cash settlements.</p>
<p>Rightscorp claims to have a sophisticated system which allows the anti-piracy outfit to profile Internet users and log them as repeat infringers. In fact, Rightscorp has even gone as far as <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/anti-piracy-chief-patents-pay-up-or-disconnect-scheme-121217/">patenting</a> its system (<a href="https://www.google.com/patents/EP2695099A4">1</a>,<a href="https://www.google.com/patents/WO2012135855A2">2</a>,<a href="https://www.google.com/patents/US20130097089">3</a>) in the United States.</p>
<p>It now transpires that the company has recently obtained a new patent (<a href="http://pericles.ipaustralia.gov.au/ols/auspat/applicationDetails.do?applicationNo=2012236069">2012236069</a>) from the Australian Patent Office, again titled &#8216;System to Identify Multiple Copyright Infringements&#8217;.</p>
<p><img src="media/6eae0604.rights-patent.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/rights-patent.png" alt="rights-patent" width="650" height="376" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-111800"></p>
<p>In a statement referencing comments by Attorney-General George Brandis that Australia is the &#8220;worst nation for piracy on the planet&#8221;, Rightscorp confirmed that the patent is the first registered to the company in Australia.</p>
<p>&#8220;There is a tremendous need in Australia for content protection. Our proven technology is effective, making it an ideal solution for artists and copyright holders in every region,&#8221; said CEO Christopher Sabec.</p>
<p>&#8220;Australia has been plagued by infringement over the years and is now taking key initiatives to curb piracy. We believe our technology will be an invaluable asset to the Australian entertainment industry.&#8221;</p>
<p>While Rightscorp has thus far refrained from announcing a full-on expansion into territories other than the U.S., the company did make a brief <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/canadian-govt-outlaws-bogus-piracy-notices-150112/">Canadian debut</a> in January. That foray was marked by erroneous claims from the company that Canadians could be &#8220;liable for up to $150,000 per infringement in civil penalties.&#8221;</p>
<p>The claim immediately attracted the negative attention of the Canadian government with a statement that Rightscorp notices were &#8220;misleading&#8221; and couldn&#8217;t be used to demand money from Canadians. Surprisingly, Rightscorp appear to have made a similar faux pas in Australia.</p>
<p>The company&#8217;s <a href="http://www.kcentv.com/story/30205793/rightscorp-granted-australian-patent-to-identify-multiple-copyright-infringements">press release</a> announcing the Australian patent loosely advises statutory penalties &#8220;up to $150,000 per infringement&#8221;. While this position correctly reflects the U.S. market it has the potential to cause confusion locally since Australia uses a different dollar and statutory damages for infringement do not exist.</p>
<p>Rightscorp clearly views its &#8220;repeat infringer&#8221; patents as valuable assets for the future but in the short term the system has the company entangled in a costly legal battle between music industry client BMG Rights Management and U.S. ISP Cox Communications.</p>
<p>Filed in 2014, the lawsuit centers around the claim that despite Rightscorp advising Cox that the ISP has hundreds of repeat infringers as customers, the ISP <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/cox-communications-sued-for-not-disconnecting-pirates-141128/">failed to disconnect them</a> from the Internet. The battle continues and it&#8217;s <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/cox-accuses-rightscorp-of-mass-copyright-infringement-150924/">starting to get ugly</a>.</p>
<p>Overall, Rightscorp sees disconnection of repeat infringers as the ultimate threat and one that can boost rates of settlement on its $30 &#8216;fine&#8217; system. The big question now is when or if the system will arrive on Aussie shores.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111844
title: Large Movie Distributor Grabs Popcorn Time Trademark
uri: Large-Movie-Distributor-Grabs-Popcorn-Time-Trademark
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/xwlHzcrHYEM/
content:
<p><img src="media/3b9dbdf1.popcornt.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/popcornt.png" alt="popcornt" width="237" height="106" class="alignright size-full wp-image-101106">In little more than a year <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popcorn_Time">Popcorn Time</a> has amassed millions of users by offering BitTorrent-powered streaming in an easy-to-use Netflix-style interface.</p>
<p>The term Popcorn Time itself has also become a widely recognizable &#8220;brand,&#8221; something that hasn&#8217;t gone unnoticed in the movie industry. </p>
<p>Various copyright holders and anti-piracy groups have targeted Popcorn Time, with varying success. However, a new effort from film distributor <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_FilmWorks">Dutch Filmworks</a> tops them all.</p>
<p>This June, Dutch Filmworks applied for Popcorn Time&#8217;s <a href="https://register.boip.int/bmbonline/details/trademark/show.do?markNumberType=REG&#038;markID=3469283">logo</a> and <a href="https://register.boip.int/bmbonline/details/trademark/show.do?markNumberType=REG&#038;markNumber=977448&#038;markID=3469282">word</a> trademarks at the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property, which officially approved the registration last month.</p>
<p>This means that the film distributor now owns the trademark to the term &#8220;Popcorn Time&#8221; in various categories including software, as well as the official logo pictured below. </p>
<p>An interesting move in a number of ways, not least since the logo wasn&#8217;t created by the company but by Popcorn Time&#8217;s developers. Also, the trademark application itself was submitted long after the application became known to the public. </p>
<p><center><strong>The logo trademark</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/3b11e86a.poptm.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/poptm.png" alt="poptm" width="585" height="385" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-111847"></center></p>
<p>The developers of the popular PopcornTime.io fork inform TorrentFreak that they are aware of the issue but choose not to do anything about it at the moment. In addition, they also highlight that Dutch Filmworks claim on the trademarks is rather dubious.</p>
<p>&#8220;What we find interesting is that they registered a trademark on something that&#8217;d already been around online for over a year and clearly wasn&#8217;t owned by them, and the fact that they happened to submit our logo and trademark it, even though they do not own copyright on it.&#8221; </p>
<p>Nevertheless, the developers don&#8217;t see the trademarks as an immediate threat to their software.</p>
<p>&#8220;For the most part, we are not worried. We are curious about what they think they&#8217;re doing though,&#8221; the Popcorn Time team notes. </p>
<p>A spokesperson for Dutch Filmworks informs TorrentFreak that they have no plans to actively enforce the trademarks &#8211; yet.</p>
<p>&#8220;We registered the Popcorn Time trademarks for the Benelux. Mainly because, to our surprise, it hadn&#8217;t been done by Popcorn Time itself,&#8221; Dutch Filmworks&#8217; spokesperson says. </p>
<p>&#8220;At this time we don&#8217;t plan to actively enforce the trademark. However, looking ahead to anticipated steps the Dutch government may take against streaming piracy, it seemed sensible to deprive them of the trademark rights in our market already.&#8221;</p>
<p>Needless to say, this is quite an innovative approach. Time will tell whether the trademarks will indeed help to stop the distribution of Popcorn Time in the future. </p>
<p>There&#8217;s also a separate Popcorn Time trademark application at U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. This was <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/developer-registers-popcorn-time-trademark-to-prevent-abuse-140919/">requested</a> last year by the developers of the aforementioned fork and is still pending.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111771
title: Megaupload Defendants Don’t Need Expert Witnesses, U.S. Argues
uri: Megaupload-Defendants-Don-t-Need-Expert-Witnesses-U-S-Argues
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Q2r03BPI104/
content:
<p><img src="media/5fd37436.megaupload.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/megaupload.jpg" alt="megaupload" width="180" height="154" class="alignright size-full wp-image-30407">This week the United States government continued its three-year-long effort to have Kim Dotcom, Mathias Ortmann, Finn Batato and Bram van der Kolk extradited to face multiple charges including copyright infringement, conspiracy, money laundering and racketeering.</p>
<p>For the past several days the main extradition hearing has been hold to allow Judge Nevin Dawson to hear applications from the men detailing why the full hearing should be delayed or even stayed indefinitely.</p>
<p>For someone who has often been associated with great wealth, it&#8217;s ironic that much of the argument this week has centered around Dotcom&#8217;s poor financial situation.</p>
<p>Dotcom took the stand for the first time yesterday, <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&#038;objectid=11525979">explaining</a> how in 2013 he&#8217;d sold his shares in Megaupload follow-up Mega for around $13m in order to fund his defense and then-fledgling <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/dotcoms-internet-party-fails-to-enter-new-zealand-parliament-140920/">Internet Party</a>. After various grabs by Hollywood on his funds and other living expenses, little now remains.</p>
<p>However, simple lack of funds is not the only obstacle faced by Dotcom. Thanks to an ongoing U.S.-ordered freeze on the Megaupload defendants&#8217; funds, any money freed to retain experts in the U.S. would be immediately seized. This means that appropriate experts cannot be hired and as a result the men are being <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/megaupload-accuses-u-s-of-unfair-tactics-seeks-stay-151005/">denied a fair extradition hearing</a>.</p>
<p>According to Dotcom&#8217;s lead lawyer, U.S.-based Ira Rothken, around $500,000 is needed to recruit U.S. experts in mass data storage and related technologies. However, even if that money was released it would take up to six months to prepare the experts to give evidence. Additional funds and time are needed, he argued.</p>
<p>But this morning in the North Shore District Court, Crown prosecutor Christine Gordon QC said that the Megaupload defendants actually need neither. Arguing on behalf of the United States, Gordon said that no amount of time and technical expertise could undo the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/megaupload-paid-prolific-pirates-thousands-in-rewards-u-s-says-150928/">incriminating Skype and email correspondence</a> presented earlier in the hearing.</p>
<p>One such discussion, between Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk, had the latter claiming that Megaupload&#8217;s growth was &#8220;mainly based on infringement anyway.” </p>
<p>The former operators of Megaupload believe that engaging a cloud storage expert would help their case but Gordon said that after paying known copyright infringers to upload illegal content, any testimony would be useless.</p>
<p>&#8220;No evidence about what other storage sites do destroys the evidence of what these individuals did and what they acknowledged to each other,&#8221; she <a href="http://home.nzcity.co.nz/news/article.aspx?id=214505&#038;cat=980&#038;fm=newsmain%2Cnarts">said</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;[A stay is] only justified in the clearest of cases, and this is not such a case.&#8221;</p>
<p>The hearing is set to continue next week. If a stay is not granted and Dotcom and colleagues are extradited and subsequently found guilty in the U.S., they face the possibility of decades in prison.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111909
title: KickassTorrents Warns Users of “Malicious” Copycats
uri: KickassTorrents-Warns-Users-of-Malicious-Copycats
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/dM9DseBQRqQ/
content:
<p><img src="media/80932f7c.kickasstorrents_500x5001.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/kickasstorrents_500x5001.png" alt="kickasstorrents_500x500" width="250" height="250" class="alignright size-full wp-image-99785">With millions of visitors per day KickassTorrents (KAT) is arguably the most visited torrent site on the Internet, outranking even the notorious Pirate Bay.</p>
<p>After several domain hops KAT has been operating from the <a href="https://kat.cr">KAT.cr</a> domain name. However, infrequent visitors have experienced trouble locating the site, as it <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/kickasstorrents-disappears-from-google-after-penalty-150718/">disappeared</a> from Google&#8217;s top search results.</p>
<p>Instead, entering the search terms “KickassTorrents” or “Kickass Torrents” lists several unofficial sites on top. While some of these sites are harmless proxies, others are outright scams.  </p>
<p>This week the KAT team warned its users to avoid visiting non-official sites as they are exploiting the Kickass brand for malicious purposes. </p>
<p>&#8220;We wanted to share our concerns with you,&#8221; KAT&#8217;s staff says, noting that the site has a great community which has become very popular over time.</p>
<p>&#8220;But here is the dark side of this popularity. While we are doing our best in order to keep our site nice and cozy there are bunch of lazy bastards who have simply decided to copycat us.&#8221;</p>
<p>The scam sites are trying to confuse unsuspected users by &#8220;stealing&#8221; the site&#8217;s design in order to scam people. According to the KAT team this includes password stealing and selling expensive subscriptions. </p>
<p>&#8220;Some of them are selling ridiculously expensive VPNs on our behalf, some are throwing malicious ads, some are trying to sell various subscriptions, others simply gathering user passwords and so on. All of them are trying to cheat people in various ways,&#8221; they note. </p>
<p>KAT doesn&#8217;t mention any sites in particular but the kickasstorrents.eu domain must be one of them. This site has risen to the top of Google&#8217;s search results and <a href="media/7b66ad36.rrWmQum.png" data-original-source="http://i.imgur.com/rrWmQum.png">prompts people</a> to download shady software or buy a VPN subscription.</p>
<p>The site&#8217;s operators say they are working on a solution to ban the impersonators and copycats, for example, by preventing malicious proxy sites from mirroring KAT&#8217;s contents. </p>
<p>For now, however, they advise users to remain vigilant and make sure to use the official Kat.cr address or one of the official proxies. Finally &#8211; and quite amusingly &#8211; users are also encouraged to report scammy sites to their hosting providers.</p>
<p>&#8220;You can even report those questionable sites to their hosting service providers,&#8221; the KAT team says. </p>
<p>This is not the first time that proxy sites and copycats have caused trouble. In recent years various anti-piracy measures have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/anti-piracy-measures-putting-internet-users-at-risk-150503/">made it harder</a> to access the original sites, creating opportunities for <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/torrent-site-proxies-rife-with-malware-injecting-scripts-150806/">malicious actors and scamvertisers</a>.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111936
title: Chrome and Firefox Block KickassTorrents Over “Harmful Programs”
uri: Chrome-and-Firefox-Block-KickassTorrents-Over-Harmful-Programs
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/h5eIHzHlWRI/
content:
<p><img src="media/80932f7c.kickasstorrents_500x5001.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/kickasstorrents_500x5001.png" alt="kickasstorrents_500x500" width="250" height="250" class="alignright size-full wp-image-99785">Starting a few hours ago Chrome and Firefox users are unable to access KickassTorrents (KAT) directly. </p>
<p>Instead of a page filled with the latest torrents, visitors now see an ominous red warning banner when they visit Kat.cr.</p>
<p>&#8220;The site ahead contains harmful programs,&#8221; Google Chrome informs its users.</p>
<p>&#8220;Attackers on kat.cr might attempt to trick you into installing programs that harm your browsing experience (for example, by changing your homepage or showing extra ads on sites you visit),&#8221; the warning adds.</p>
<p>Mozilla&#8217;s Firefox browser <a href="media/eda61d28.4JVCiYF.png" data-original-source="http://i.imgur.com/4JVCiYF.png">displays</a> a similar message</p>
<p><center><img src="media/c3c3da46.harm.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/harm.png" alt="harm" width="580" height="382" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-108067"></center></p>
<p>The warning messages are triggered by Google&#8217;s &#8220;<a href="https://www.google.com/intl/en/about/company/unwanted-software-policy.html">Unwanted Software</a>&#8221; scanner which <a href="https://www.google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?site=http%3A%2F%2Fkat.cr%2F&#038;client=googlechrome&#038;hl=en-US">flags websites</a> that pose a potential danger to visitors. Chrome and Firefox both use the service to prevent users from running into malicious software.</p>
<p>The policy applies to all websites but torrent sites are common targets of &#8216;unwanted software&#8217; distributors, according to Google. </p>
<p>The company further stresses that the warnings will automatically disappear when the flagged sites no longer violate Google&#8217;s policy.</p>
<p><center><strong>Kat.cr&#8217;s Safe Browsing <a href="https://www.google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?site=http%3A%2F%2Fkat.cr%2F&#038;client=googlechrome&#038;hl=en-US">diagnostics page</a></strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/1c8d1e3d.katmalware.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/katmalware.png" alt="katmalware" width="644" height="260" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-111942"></center></p>
<p>This is not the first time that the red warning banner has shown up at Kat.cr. The same happened <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/chrome-blocks-major-torrent-sites-over-harmful-programs-150710/">a few months ago</a> and at the time several other large torrent sites were also affected. </p>
<p>Coincidentally, KAT&#8217;s operators just <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/kickasstorrents-warns-users-of-malicious-copycats-151009/">issued a warning</a> to avoid malicious copycat sites, which only adds to the confusion. This warning is unrelated to the alert triggered by Google. </p>
<p>Previously, the Chrome and Firefox warnings did indeed disappear after the affected websites disabled certain advertisements, so it&#8217;s likely that the current issue will also be resolved in due time. </p>
<p>Impatient or adventurous users who want to bypass the warning can do so by clicking the details link, <a href="https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/99020?hl=en">or disable</a> their browser&#8217;s malware warnings altogether, at their own risk.</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> The KAT team informs us that the bad advertiser has been removed, so the warning should disappear after Google reviews it. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111885
title: Slamdance Festival Co-Founder Has Creative Views on Piracy
uri: Slamdance-Festival-Co-Founder-Has-Creative-Views-on-Piracy
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/t5ZEFEzz8Xc/
content:
<p><img src="media/977f5972.mirvish.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mirvish.jpg" alt="mirvish" width="180" height="199" class="alignright size-full wp-image-111897">It was with interest that I read an article published this week by filmmaker and author <a href="http://danmirvish.com/Bio">Dan Mirvish</a>. Best known as the co-founder of the Slamdance Film Festival, Mirvish’s piece in the <a href="http://filmmakermagazine.com/">Filmmaker Magazine</a> begins with a level of honesty rarely seen in the piracy debate.</p>
<p>“If you’re like most young-ish filmmakers, you grew up and matured in an open source world of Napster, YouTube and BitTorrent,” Mirvish told his fellow filmmakers.</p>
<p>“Whether it was making mixtapes for your college girlfriend, or ripping CDs and DVDs with your film school pals, ‘appropriating media’ might have been a way of life for you to consume and share your favorite songs, films and TV.”</p>
<p>Mirvish appears to understand his audience and by not demonizing the &#8216;enemy&#8217; too much, he also opens the door to more creative anti-piracy thinking.</p>
<p>“As independent filmmakers, we have a more nuanced relationship with the pirates. As ‘gifted and misunderstood artists,’ we want to share our art with the world. So, the more people who see it, the merrier! And, as ‘content creators,’ we want to expand our personal branding and rack up our hits, clicks, tweets and swipes,” Mirvish continued.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://filmmakermagazine.com/95015-stealing-thunder/#.VhaMdyvW6mC">article</a>, which is dedicated to ways of dealing with piracy, is certainly interesting. At no point are Mirvish&#8217;s readers advised to hire a lawyer. Instead, the filmmaker focuses on how creators can try to make piracy work for them. </p>
<p>Speaking with TorrentFreak, Mirvish says that for years indie filmmakers have not only had to deal with getting screwed over by their distributors, but also having to contend with fans obtaining their content for free. But all is not lost.</p>
<p><strong>Another way</strong></p>
<p>&#8220;It gets very hard for indie filmmakers to raise money from investors if we can&#8217;t say with a straight face that there&#8217;s any hope of recouping that money,&#8221; Mirvish says.</p>
<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s why I&#8217;ve advocated more of a non-profit model for filmmaking that&#8217;s more in line with how society funds things like opera, symphony, community theater or public radio.  You don&#8217;t see Terry Gross complaining that her Fresh Air radio show is getting pirated!&#8221;</p>
<p>Mirvish says that public radio has found ways of raising money via pledge drive, corporate sponsorship and limited government support. As a result, nobody expects a &#8220;return&#8221; on that investment.</p>
<p>&#8220;So, with the advent of crowd-funding and non-profit fiscal sponsorship, that paradigm is <a href="http://www.indiewire.com/article/the-reason-kickstarter-is-a-game-changer-donating-is-better-than-investing-when-it-comes-to-the-arts">starting to work its way</a> into independent filmmaking. Once that happens, then piracy will simply become part of the distribution model, and the more of it, the better.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>Look back to move forward</strong></p>
<p>While still frustrated by seeing his movies pirated on a daily basis, many of Mirvish&#8217;s comments will sit nicely with pro-piracy advocates. Recalling business models of yesterday, Mirvish believes that solutions can be found to make the most of the current situation.</p>
<p>&#8220;Remember, for 65 years even TV shows were given away for free, over the airwaves, and the networks figured out how to make money through commercial time. Nobody called that piracy!&#8221; he says.</p>
<p>&#8220;So, another solution is just to build in more product integration and product placement into our films, no matter how &#8216;artsy&#8217; we&#8217;d like them to be.  In that regard, the more a film is pirated, the better it is for the corporate sponsors.  </p>
<p>&#8220;Every time someone watches &#8220;<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1109574/?ref_=nm_flmg_wr_1">Between Us</a>&#8221; and sees my characters drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon or driving a BMW, those companies are getting free advertising &#8211; regardless of whether the film is seen on a pirated site or through legitimate means. The challenge for me and other indie filmmakers is to quantify those eyeballs and charge appropriately for them on our next films.&#8221;</p>
<p>While the above strategies are certainly food for thought, Mirvish also has interesting views on how piracy can work for creators in other ways.</p>
<p><strong>It leaked already, make the most of it</strong></p>
<p>“My pal Richard Schenkman made a terrific film a few years ago called The Man from Earth that succeeded in getting a U.S. distribution deal from Starz/Anchor Bay. But a DVD screener got ripped and posted on torrent sites a couple weeks before the official release date,” he explains.</p>
<p>“From out of nowhere, the film jumped over 7,000 percent on IMDb’s MOVIEMeter, garnered an 8.8 rating and became a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/producer-thanks-pirates-for-stealing-his-film-071113/">bona fide viral hit</a>. Eventually, his film broke even financially, and he used its widespread fan base to finance a Kickstarter campaign for a TV series pilot.”</p>
<p>Other ideas from the filmmaker don&#8217;t involve taking content down, but leveraging the success of &#8216;pirate&#8217; versions of content to make money in other areas.</p>
<p>“Use the model that musicians have had to deal with since the age of Napster: If you can’t make money selling your music, then commodify your performances and pimp your merch,” he <a href="http://filmmakermagazine.com/95015-stealing-thunder/#.VhaMdyvW6mC">explains</a>.</p>
<p>“And if the pirates are showing your movie, then place your own ads for film-related T-shirts, DVDs and other fun extras. You can use Google ads as easily as Procter &#038; Gamble, so keyword and tag your ads so they’ll show up on piracy sites, and start pimpin’ your own merch. Ahoy, mateys, it’s the wave of the future!”</p>
<p>Advertising can be useful in other ways too. Instead of taking down unauthorized content from YouTube, for example, creators should consider monetizing it. He cites a company called Zefr which scours YouTube for infringing clips and instead of taking them down requests a <a href="http://www.thewrap.com/zefr-ceo-on-how-mayweather-pacquiao-fight-exposed-periscopes-copyright-problem-guest-blog/">portion of the advertising revenue</a>.</p>
<p>“Tubers keep their fun mashups, the studios and YouTube make money,” Mirvish notes.</p>
<p>While the approaches suggested by Mirvish aren&#8217;t going to be a good fit for all content creators, it certainly helps to turn some anti-piracy frustrations on their head.</p>
<p>In many respects if the pirates are doing well, then those following Mirvish’s suggestions have the potential to do well too. But only time will tell if these uneasy bedfellows can work together.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111701
title: Blizzard Nukes Popular HTML5 Version of StarCraft Game
uri: Blizzard-Nukes-Popular-HTML5-Version-of-StarCraft-Game
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/3TGduxPo_4s/
content:
<p><img src="media/3d4cd82b.starchtml5.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/starchtml5.jpg" alt="starchtml5" width="290" height="202" class="alignright size-full wp-image-111738">Browser-based copies of popular games, both new and old, have become quite popular over the years. </p>
<p>With Javascript and HTML5 it&#8217;s possible for &#8220;hobbyist&#8221; developers to mimic the look and gameplay of their favorite games and share them among friends and other enthusiasts. </p>
<p>The problem is that the use of trademarked names and copyrighted images generally isn&#8217;t accepted by large game companies such as Nintendo and Blizzard, who see it as direct competition. </p>
<p>Developer &#8220;<a href="https://github.com/gloomyson">Ryuta</a>&#8221; has just learned this the hard way after his HTML5 version of StarCraft was pulled offline. Ryuta hosted the game on GitHub and actively promoted it on <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10180209">Hacker News</a> last month. </p>
<p>While his work was praised, several commenters pointed out that its success would be short-lived because of the apparent copyright issues.   </p>
<p>&#8220;The Blizzard legal team will come knocking on your door very soon. If I were you and if you&#8217;re serious about continuing working on this, I would take this down immediately..,&#8221; one warned. </p>
<p>&#8220;I recommend you to remove all proprietary Blizzard graphics from GitHub and possibly just recreate the repository without it,&#8221; said another.</p>
<p>The warnings were not in vain. A few days ago Blizzard&#8217;s copyright protection partner Irdeto urged GitHub to remove the repository, as well as the 50 forks that were created from it. </p>
<p>&#8220;This repository is a blatant, direct, literal copy of the StarCraft software and is disturbing [sic] source code and artwork assets owned by Blizzard without permission,&#8221; they <a href="https://github.com/github/dmca/blob/master/2015-10-02-Blizzard.md">write</a>. </p>
<p>Fast forward and Blizzard indeed managed to <a href="https://github.com/gloomyson/StarCraft">take down the repository</a>. </p>
<p><center><img src="media/8e4b5887.github-dmca.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/github-dmca.png" alt="github-dmca" width="596" height="227" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-111816"></center></p>
<p>TF reached out to &#8220;Ryuta&#8221; who is disappointed that GitHub decided to take down the entire project, even the JavaScript files he spent hours on coding.</p>
<p>&#8220;Removing just the copyrighted assets is acceptable, but they shouldn&#8217;t have removed the whole project. The JavaScript code is written by me, they have no right to remove these files too,&#8221; Ryuta says.</p>
<p>The developer doesn&#8217;t think he&#8217;ll be able to get the files back on GitHub, but he is not giving up on the game just yet. </p>
<p>&#8220;It will be difficult to get my files back on GitHub, but I plan to continue developing the project and host it on my own site,&#8221; he explains.</p>
<p>Ryuta has no plans to monetize the browser game. He&#8217;s just a fan and simply created it because he loves Blizzard and StarCraft, and wanted to play it in the browser.</p>
<p>For now, however, play time has ended until the project is revived somewhere else. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111962
title: Leaked TPP Chapter Proposes Drastic Copyright Changes
uri: Leaked-TPP-Chapter-Proposes-Drastic-Copyright-Changes
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/lM5-wAUAhi4/
content:
<p><img src="media/db7b975c.copyright-branded.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/copyright-branded.jpg" alt="copyright-branded" width="250" height="164" class="alignright size-full wp-image-56211">The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a multinational trade agreement aimed at strengthening economic ties between the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Japan and eight other countries.</p>
<p>Earlier this week the participating countries agreed on the final text, and a few days later <a href="https://wikileaks.org/tpp-ip3/">Wikileaks published</a> a leaked copy of the intellectual property chapter, which has yet to be officially revealed. </p>
<p>The final version removes the uncertainties that were present in previous drafts and raises serious concerns among many copyright experts and activists. </p>
<p>If the agreement is ratified the copyright term will be set to the life of the author plus 70 years. This is already the case in the United States, but Canada will have to extend the current term by 20 years. </p>
<p>This is a step backward according to Canadian law professor <a href="http://www.michaelgeist.ca/2015/10/canada-caves-on-copyright-in-tpp-commits-to-longer-term-urge-isps-to-block-content/">Michael Geist</a>, who says that the change might cost the Canadian public more than $100 million per year.   </p>
<p>&#8220;Hundreds of well known Canadian authors and composers who died years ago will not have their work enter the public domain for decades,&#8221; Geist notes.</p>
<p>The TPP chapter also outlines how Internet services should deal with copyright infringement. It includes an ISP liability section which mimics the DMCA, but it leaves room for the Canadian notice-and-notice scheme to stay intact. </p>
<p>A more vague provision suggests that countries should encourage ISPs (including search engines and hosting services) to remove or disable content, if a court deems it to be copyright infringing. This means that foreign court orders could be applied to block content in other countries. </p>
<p>The above is worrisome, but the actual text specifies that countries should &#8220;induce&#8221; ISPs, not force them.  </p>
<p>In a similar vein, the agreement specifies that countries should offer ISPs &#8220;legal incentives&#8221; to &#8220;cooperate with copyright owners to deter the unauthorized storage and transmission of copyrighted materials&#8230;&#8221;</p>
<p>Again, this doesn&#8217;t mean that all ISPs have to monitor for copyright infringements, but it will &#8216;reward&#8217; those who do. </p>
<p>According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, who released a <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/10/final-leaked-tpp-text-all-we-feared">detailed analysis</a>, this effectively means that ISPs &#8220;are roped in as copyright enforcers.&#8221;</p>
<p>Another point of interest are the criminal sanctions for non-commercial copyright infringement TPP proposes, which currently don&#8217;t exist in many countries. This means that people may face jail time for copyright infringements without financial gain, as long as those infringements significantly impact copyright holders.</p>
<p>Finally, if TPP is ratified the circumvention of DRM will be banned as well. In addition, manufacturers will not be allowed to sell circumvention tools such as DVD or Blu-Ray rippers. </p>
<p>This means that Canada&#8217;s proposal to classify DRM-circumvention as fair use has failed, although the TPP allows countries to pass exceptions to allow non-infringing DRM circumvention. </p>
<p>While the TPP won&#8217;t end file-sharing or kill the Internet, as some suggest, it certainly puts the interests of large multinationals before those of the average citizen. As such, we can expect plenty of opposition leading up to the final votes.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111788
title: Game Makers Issue Torrent Site & Cloud Pirate Warning
uri: Game-Makers-Issue-Torrent-Site-Cloud-Pirate-Warning
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/LB52YsRe_q4/
content:
<p><img src="media/0459c9c3.gamingesa.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/gamingesa.png" alt="gamingesa" width="275" height="270" class="alignright size-full wp-image-111890">Along with the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/riaa-and-mpaa-report-notorious-piracy-sites-to-u-s-government-151007/">MPAA and RIAA</a> the Entertainment Software Association (<a href="http://www.theesa.com/">ESA</a>) submitted its overview of “notorious markets” to the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) this week.</p>
<p>These submissions help to guide the U.S. Government’s position toward foreign countries when it comes to copyright enforcement. </p>
<p>The ESA represents video game companies including Blizzard, EA, Nintendo, Playstation and Ubisoft. In its report the group lists various pirate sites which allow the public to download games for free. </p>
<p>Torrent sites are one of the most significant threats according to the ESA, with KickassTorrents being the major player. </p>
<p>&#8220;The &#8216;Kickass Torrents&#8217; torrent indexing site (kickass.to) has changed domains repeatedly in the recent past in response to enforcement efforts, and is currently accessible at the domain &#8216;kat.cr&#8217;,&#8221; the ESA writes.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is the most well-trafficked torrent indexing site in the world, and as its Alexa ranking indicates, one of the most popular websites of any kind on the Internet,&#8221; the group adds (<a href="media/323c3742.ESA_Notorious_Markets_2015.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ESA_Notorious_Markets_2015.pdf">pdf</a>).</p>
<p>Additional torrent sites referenced by the game companies are TorrentHound and Isohunt.to. Interestingly, other big players such as The Pirate Bay are not mentioned in the report. </p>
<p><center><img src="media/15c899cc.kickassgames.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/kickassgames.png" alt="kickassgames" width="600" height="263" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-111903"></center></p>
<p>The ESA also sees cyberlockers as piracy havens, with Rapidgator.net being the most trafficked site in this category. </p>
<p>&#8220;This site is notable for its extremely low global Alexa score, indicating a high volume of traffic. In August 2015, the site was responsible for hosting more than 43,000 infringing game-related files available for download by third parties,&#8221; the ESA notes. </p>
<p>The game companies welcome the assistance of the U.S. Government but point out that taking a website down doesn&#8217;t always have the desired effect. Last year the popular German language linking site Boerse.bz was <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/german-police-raid-121-homes-in-pirate-site-crackdown-141104/">raided</a> but today its successor Boerse.to is even more active than the previous version. </p>
<p>Finally, the ESA also highlights a relatively new trend in which &#8220;pirate servers&#8221; target subscription-based game services. These cloud-based games are less vulnerable to traditional forms of piracy but &#8220;rogue&#8221; servers emerged, which allow users to play the game for free.</p>
<p>&#8220;When users are diverted to play on such servers, game publishers are not able to monetize their online games as described above and thus face reduced opportunities to recoup their investment in creating the online game,&#8221; the ESA notes.</p>
<p>As an example the ESA lists Warmane.com, which allows 10,000 to 20,000 people per day to play World of Warcraft without paying the monthly subscription fee Blizzard requires. </p>
<p>Later this year the US Trade Representative will use the submissions of the MPAA and other parties to compile its final list of piracy havens. The U.S. Government will then alert the countries where &#8216;rogue&#8217; sites operate in the hope that local authorities take action.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111810
title: Movie Piracy Veteran Recalls 20 Years in The Scene
uri: Movie-Piracy-Veteran-Recalls-20-Years-in-The-Scene
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/5_R-PrBNIXw/
content:
<p><img src="media/252cbc34.matine-small.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/matine-small.jpg" alt="matine-small" width="180" height="180" class="alignright size-full wp-image-111829">Topsites are top-secret, high-speed servers used by piracy release groups and their affiliates for the storage and distribution of unauthorized copyrighted content. Together, these silicon-powered caches and their carbon-based operators form an entity known as The Scene.</p>
<p>Members of this tight-knit but sprawling network are known for their vigilance, and for good reason too. As the source of tens &#8211; maybe hundreds &#8211; of thousands of &#8216;pirate&#8217; releases every year, law enforcement has a keen interest in bringing them down. But for many the rewards of Scene life are well worth the risks. Twenty years ago, SaInT began taking lots of them.</p>
<p>&#8220;I started camming in the early 90s for a group called HBO (the founder of which ran a New York bootleg ring) and that&#8217;s when I learned the craft and understanding of a camcorder and its technology,&#8221; SaInT informs TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>SaInT received his first camera (a Sony) from a topsite affiliate but quality was lacking. Soon he upgraded to what he describes as &#8220;professional grade&#8221; Panasonic kit and after doing work for infamous release group <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/i-was-a-member-of-centropy-the-worlds-leading-movie-piracy-group-120526/">Centropy</a>, SaInT moved on to form another famous operation.</p>
<p>&#8220;At that point we knew we had it. I gathered one more person to the crew that I trusted, we will just call him Mr P for now. He helped find a few topsites and someone who could program and run our own sites and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BNC_%28software%29">BNC</a>s. Here, &#8216;MaTinE&#8217; was born.&#8221;</p>
<p>Until its demise just a couple of years ago, MaTinE was a big name. A cursory flip through most torrent sites reveals releases as current as 2013, but the group dates back to at least 2003 with the Internet debut of titles including Spy Kids 3D plus screener copies of Matrix Revolutions and a director&#8217;s cut of Alien.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/b0a175f4.matine-releases.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/matine-releases.jpg" alt="matine-releases" width="500" height="497" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-111832"></center></p>
<p>&#8220;We always recorded during matinee sessions after the early days as it was the safest rime to record. We didn&#8217;t just record here or there &#8211; every cameraman was taught how to choose theaters to record in and knew how to rotate to avoid the MPAA and the feds,&#8221; SaInT says.</p>
<p>&#8220;I was the first cameraman. When I mean cameraman I mean we didn&#8217;t use Asian silvers [pressed, pirate DVDs] off the street or crap recordings for our sources. We used our own high quality recordings with direct audio most of the time.&#8221;</p>
<p>MaTinE&#8217;s &#8216;direct audio&#8217; was often sourced from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5.1_Music_Disc">DTS discs</a>, a huge improvement over microphoned and audience-polluted &#8216;cam&#8217; soundtracks. But while DTS discs could be accessed for a while, those dried up too.</p>
<p>&#8220;Back in the day there was a tool to rip audio from the DTS discs used in theaters. Then all you had to do was sync the audio with the video. It wasn&#8217;t until later when DTS2 came out that everything was crushed for a while. Then people started recording audio from drive-in theaters as they broadcast that over private radio stations,&#8221; SaInT explains.</p>
<p>Soon MaTinE was establishing new suppliers and gaining access to coveted screeners, workprints and top-grade hardware. As it reached maturity a total of seven people were in the group. Each member had a precise job and each was dedicated to doing it well, SaInT included.</p>
<p>&#8220;For example, to get the best quality of a movie for a bright clear picture your lux levels on the camera needed to be right. To stop the flicker, i&#8217;d adjust the shutter speed one notch. To position a camera for a perfect image, i&#8217;d sit in the center back row with a large coke and no straw of course. Then sit the cam on the coke and adjust before the movie started.&#8221;</p>
<p>But while for MaTinE maintaining quality meant the rejection of foreign street-level sources, other Scene groups were still involved with piracy groups in the Far East. In fact, those Far East piracy groups needed video sources too and were prepared to enter mutual back-scratching arrangements with the Scene to get them.</p>
<p>&#8220;Most groups had ties to Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. They were your main source for the funding of projects or supply of equipment in return for allowing them to have your release early,&#8221; SaInT explains. The image below shows a 2004 appeal from MaTinE for the donation of camming equipment.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/8115216f.matine-cam.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/matine-cam.jpg" alt="matine-cam" width="592" height="253" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-111834"></center></p>
<p>SaInT says that at one point he was offered $3,000 each for the supply of movies on the day of their release but his only interest was to pursue the art of achieving the best possible quality. Inevitably, however, the lure of cash was too much for some, with tragic consequences.</p>
<p>Like those featuring MaTinE, Centropy and <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/canadian-movie-piracy-maven-sent-to-jail-100317/">maVen</a>, during the 2000s a VideoCD tag on an Internet movie release was a sign of quality. However, not all was well behind the scenes.</p>
<p>While SaInT concedes he was &#8220;cool&#8221; with a founding member of VideoCD, members of that group had been sending video to the Far East in return for cash, something generally frowned upon in the Scene. But worse still and without SaInT&#8217;s knowledge, other MaTinE members had also been selling the group&#8217;s content to VideoCD affiliates overseas. That was only discovered when a member of VideoCD was busted.</p>
<p>&#8220;The VideoCD arrest happened and we found ourselves in a problematic position. We didn&#8217;t know some of our members had been selling our releases off raw [large files, before compression] to VideoCD&#8217;s contact in Singapore,&#8221; he explains.</p>
<p><img src="media/6c040fd6.videocd-ascii.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/videocd-ascii.jpg" alt="videocd-ascii" width="200" height="211" class="alignright size-full wp-image-111836">&#8220;Briefly we shut down shop and me and the lead two others regrouped and corrected our issues. We had rules and selling our releases was one thing we didn&#8217;t allow, especially raw copies. We just wanted to be the fastest and most dominant release group of early releases.&#8221;</p>
<p>While MaTinE survived, there were casualties. SaInT recalls VideoCD members being arrested and given hefty sentences. Their seized computers led the authorities to more people which in turn led to more sites.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s obvious that VideoCD had allowed the feds in doors they could never enter before,&#8221; he notes.</p>
<p>MaTinE carried on until 2010, but then tragedy hit when one of their cammers was arrested for an unrelated but serious offense.</p>
<p>&#8220;His arrest wasn&#8217;t for recording but much worse. So, in fear of him using us as a bargaining chip, we dismantled and wiped his computer. After a period of time away we returned to hammer away again until the final blow in 2013.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>The beginning of the end</strong></p>
<p>After a few years away from the Scene, MaTinE returned to an Internet even more flooded with torrents and a climate in which every one of their releases found itself recoded and passed off as someone else&#8217;s work.</p>
<p>&#8220;No group back in the day could do that, in the Scene there were rules. So in our <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.nfo">NFO</a>s we denounced many groups because of this. We knew no one could compete,&#8221; SaInT says.</p>
<p>Then after a decade of excitement, pride, close shaves and then disappointment, two years ago SaInT himself ran into trouble. In a theater that shall remain nameless and with camera in hand, SaInT took his place for the umpteenth time to do what he did best. Then suddenly, during the screening, the police rushed him.</p>
<p>&#8220;I know what led them there. During the recording there was only one set of people. A lady stood up. Turning towards the doors at the back of theater, she spotted a glare off the camera lens. She alerted the lady up front who called the detectives,&#8221; he reveals.</p>
<p>It soon became evident that the police had been watching SaInT and another member for a couple of years, but up until that fateful day had drawn a blank due to the pair&#8217;s caution. Now they had what they needed to prosecute.</p>
<p>&#8220;I was charged on a count of recording a film under license without consent. All my property was confiscated and used to try and prove what movies I had recorded with that camera because each camera digital signatures each image uniquely,&#8221; he reveals. </p>
<p>&#8220;The studios tied a few movies in which [security] dots where missed or not taken out. I was handed down a small sentence without jail because my lawyer was able to show that they couldn&#8217;t prove directly that I recorded the movies.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><img src="media/99489412.dots1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dots1.jpg" alt="dots" width="600" height="450" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-111839"></center></p>
<p>After his arrest, SaInT says that big decisions had to be made. He&#8217;s vague as to what happened to MaTinE but hints that even today people are benefiting from the group. That being said, his personal involvement is over.</p>
<p>&#8220;I am keeping a good distance. I must for the sake of my freedom and my kids. I had a long run. 20 years is a long run. I can&#8217;t say that I will never do it again and won&#8217;t return to the Scene. But as of right now SaInT is retired and family driven.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>The future</strong></p>
<p>While SaInT might be out of the game he says that others trying to fill the gap should look back, not forward. </p>
<p>&#8220;No good low light cameras have been made in the past four years. Most are now focused on HD and Ultra 4k tech. Canon and Panasonic made the last good cams. Nothing under $1500 though,&#8221; he notes.</p>
<p>&#8220;To get Centropy and MaTinE quality you will need about $3500 or more. I won&#8217;t say which one but Canon released an HD camcorder that transfers movies via Bluetooth to a computer and has the best low light tech ever. It&#8217;s so good you can be in a pitch black room and see everything just fine with great picture quality. I have one in a closet right now with about $4k worth of accessories.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>Closing</strong></p>
<p>&#8220;I will always love early true copies of movies. I&#8217;ve seen the rise and fall of many great people in this race. I am proud I defined standards for the Scene and was a key player in doing so. I feel like a grandfather of the Scene honestly,&#8221; SaInT says.</p>
<p>&#8220;I have no respect for groups who can&#8217;t provide their own sources. In reality they&#8217;re not even groups, just lame thieves. I wish more groups would inspire themselves for the better, rather than faking it.&#8221; </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111980
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week – 10/12/15
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-10-12-15
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Debnohf_Px0/
content:
<p><img src="media/7d3a794e.southpaw.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/southpaw.jpg" alt="southpaw" width="300" height="190" class="alignright size-full wp-image-111983">This week we have four newcomers in our chart. </p>
<p>Southpaw 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 BD/DVDrips 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="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-movies-of-the-week-100515/">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>(6)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/southpaw_2015/">Southpaw</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1798684/">7.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh2ebPxhoLs">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jurassic_world/">Jurassic World</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0369610/">7.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFinNxS5KN4">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/terminator_genisys/">Terminator Genisys</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1340138/">6.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62E4FJTwSuc">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/pixels/">Pixels</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2120120/">5.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIOcWZOQL5M">trailer</a></td>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/paper_towns/">Paper Towns</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3622592/">6.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFGiHm5WMLk">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/tomorrowland_2015/">Tomorrowland</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1964418/">6.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWZ7O-RrATY">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dope_2015/">Dope</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3850214/">7.5</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L41xwM8tIRQ">trailer</a></td>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/knock_knock_2015/">Knock Knock</a> (HDRip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3605418/">5.5</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti6S3NZ5mKI">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/san_andreas/">San Andreas</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2126355/">6.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23VflsU3kZE">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/avengers_age_of_ultron/">Avengers: Age of Ultron</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2395427/">7.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmeOjFno6Do">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112001
title: Is Streaming Pirated Movies Illegal? EU Court to Decide
uri: Is-Streaming-Pirated-Movies-Illegal-EU-Court-to-Decide
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/o79hhvNJQKY/
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>Unlike traditional forms of downloading, however, in many countries the legality of viewing unauthorized streams remains unclear. </p>
<p>In the European Union this may change in the near future. Earlier this month a Dutch court <a href="http://uitspraken.rechtspraak.nl/inziendocument?id=ECLI:NL:RBMNE:2015:7192">referred</a> several streaming related questions to the EU Court of Justice. </p>
<p>The questions were raised in a case between Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN and the <a href="http://www.filmspeler.nl/">Filmspeler.nl</a> shop, which sells &#8220;piracy configured&#8221; media players. While these devices don&#8217;t host any infringing content, they ship with add-ons that make it very easy to watch infringing content. </p>
<p>While BREIN argues that this is illegal a local court is not yet convinced that it&#8217;s an offense under current law and wants Europe&#8217;s highest court to decide. </p>
<p>The first set of questions is closely tied to the case and asks whether selling pre-programmed media-players with links to pirate sources is permitted, and whether it matters if the add-ons are freely available, among other things. </p>
<p>These are important questions as pre-loaded boxes are commonly sold in the EU. Despite the legal uncertainty, this has already resulted in a <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-android-tv-box-sellers-raided-by-police-150612/">raid and arrest</a> by UK police earlier this year.</p>
<p>The second set of questions is even more crucial since it relates to streaming in general, which affects millions of users and large multinationals such as Google. Broadly translated, the court first asks the following question:</p>
<p>&#8220;Is it lawful under EU law to temporarily reproduce content through streaming if the content originates from a third-party website where it&#8217;s made available without permission?&#8221;</p>
<p>If this is not the case, then the EU Court of Justice is asked to clarify whether it violates the &#8220;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berne_three-step_test">three-step-test</a>&#8221; of the EU Copyright Directive. </p>
<p>The answers will be of interest to many stakeholders including Google who have a significant interest in streaming related issues because of YouTube, and members of the general public since streaming is so common now. </p>
<p>BREIN is happy with the court&#8217;s referral and hopes that the EU Court&#8217;s ruling will bring more clarity on the streaming issue. But for now, it doesn&#8217;t plan to stop going after sellers of pirate boxes.</p>
<p>&#8220;BREIN is pleased that more clarity will be given through these fundamental questions which in the current case law of the CJEU stay unanswered. Meanwhile BREIN persists in its approach towards traders of similar media-players with illegal preprogrammed software,&#8221; <a href="http://anti-piracy.nl/nieuws.php?id=363">the group notes</a>.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111987
title: Dallas Buyers Club Refuses to Give Up on Australia Piracy Battle
uri: Dallas-Buyers-Club-Refuses-to-Give-Up-on-Australia-Piracy-Battle
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/IikmWl5H1bw/
content:
<p><img src="media/d45c68ed.dallas.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dallas.jpg" alt="dallas" width="180" height="180" class="alignright size-full wp-image-83513">Back in April the company behind the movie Dallas Buyers Club (DBC) won the right to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/iinet-loses-dallas-buyers-club-piracy-case-150407/">obtain the personal details</a> of 4,726 individuals said to have downloaded and shared the hit movie in Australia.</p>
<p>As six Australian ISPs – iiNet, Internode, Dodo, Amnet, Adam Internet and Wideband Networks – prepared to hand over the information to DBC, Justice Nye Perram expressed concern over the conduct of the movie company in the United States.</p>
<p>So, to ensure that so-called &#8216;speculative invoicing&#8217; didn&#8217;t come to Oz, the judge asked DBC to provide details on how it would be approaching alleged infringers before he&#8217;d order the release of their personal details.</p>
<p>In June it was revealed that DBC wanted <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/trolls-want-to-interrogate-bittorrent-pirates-by-phone-150618/">to interrogate alleged infringers</a> using an aggressive telephone script backed up by a settlement letter which wrongfully implied that guilt of copyright infringement had already been established.</p>
<p>In a ruling handed down two months later, Justice Perram <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/dallas-buyers-club-ruling-devastates-copyright-trolling-down-under-150814/">expressed real concern</a> at the proposals of DBC and the company&#8217;s intentions to extract potentially large &#8216;fines&#8217; and damages from alleged infringers.</p>
<p>Much to the company&#8217;s disappointment he told DBC that it could claim for the price of the film and a proportion of the amount spent on tracking down an alleged infringer, but that&#8217;s it. And, to ensure that DBC didn&#8217;t go against his wishes, he ordered the film outfit to pay a AUS$600,000 bond before any subscriber information is released.</p>
<p>In September, DBC&#8217;s lawfirm in Australia said the company <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/no-dallas-buyers-club-piracy-appeal-in-oz-company-considering-options-150902/">wouldn&#8217;t appeal</a> the decision, but indicated that there might be another way to get the process moving again.</p>
<p>“We think there may be another way of achieving the outcome [we want] without having to go through an appeal,” said Michael Bradley of Marque Lawyers.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s taken more than a month but DBC&#8217;s latest ploy has now been made public. The movie outfit believes that if it can convince Justice Perram that his fears over the possible conduct of the company are misplaced, things may be able to move forward.</p>
<p>So, as a confidence-building measure, it&#8217;s believed that DBC will ask the court to release a limited number of alleged infringers&#8217; identities so that the judge can see for himself that the company can conduct itself properly.</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://www.itnews.com.au/news/dbc-pushing-for-472-account-details-to-trial-piracy-notices-410328">ITNews</a>, DBC will request the personal details of 10% of the original 4,726 subscribers in order to conduct a test-run of sorts. To reflect the change in numbers, DBC will ask for the bond to be dropped from AUS$600,000 to AUS$60,000.</p>
<p>However, it&#8217;s understood that DBC still wants to use the aggressive letter and telephone script revealed to the court earlier this year, which included demands for alleged infringers to reveal how much they earn. </p>
<p>How any of this can positively effect the judge&#8217;s current position that DBC can only claim for the cost of the movie plus damages is unclear. When approached for clarification DBC lawfirm Marque Lawyers refused to comment.</p>
<p>While it would be unwise to try and second-guess DBC, history shows us that the company is in the lawsuit business not only as a way of reducing piracy, but also as a means of making money. It&#8217;s certainly possible that DBC is scrambling to cover the already sizable costs it has incurred Down Under, but it&#8217;s not beyond the realm of possibility that it still has its eyes on a much bigger prize.</p>
<p>The company has already shown how aggressive it can be in the United States (such as demanding <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/dallas-buyers-club-wants-to-interrogate-suspected-pirates-150820/">two-hour depositions of alleged infringers</a>), so there&#8217;s absolutely no reason to think that it will go willingly light on Australians &#8211; unless it&#8217;s forced to by the court.</p>
<p>The good news for Australians is that Justice Perram &#8211; unlike most other judges in other jurisdictions &#8211; really seems to understand how &#8216;trolls&#8217; like DBC operate. A directions hearing will take place on November 2, let&#8217;s see what he has in store.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112005
title: Popcorn Time For Music Has Arrived!
uri: Popcorn-Time-For-Music-Has-Arrived
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/NeimlUrfwUU/
content:
<p><img src="media/7abb2d22.cassette.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cassette.jpg" alt="cassette" width="200" height="150" class="alignright size-full wp-image-84245">Last month, news of an upcoming piece of music software began to cause waves in the media.</p>
<p>Cleverly marketed as the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/aurous-promises-to-be-a-popcorn-time-for-music-150911/">Popcorn Time for music</a>, Aurous promised to use the BitTorrent network to stream pirated music to the masses, for free.</p>
<p>This weekend the first version of the software <a href="https://aurous.me/">made it&#8217;s debut</a> and on first sight it looks great. The user-interface reminds one of other streaming apps such as Spotify and is free of advertisements. </p>
<p>However, after playing with the application for a little while the excitement quickly begins to fade. </p>
<p>The first thing that stands out is the limited content library. Many artists and tracks are absent, for example. In addition, the app doesn&#8217;t allow users to sort per album, artist, or create playlists. </p>
<p>On the technical side there&#8217;s an unpleasant surprise as well. For now, Aurous doesn&#8217;t use BitTorrent at all, instead it pulls MP3s from external services such as Pleer and VK.</p>
<p>Perhaps these issues will eventually be resolved in the future, but overall Aurous fails to impress. </p>
<p><center><strong>Aurous</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/2df94d8e.aurous1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/aurous1.png"><img src="media/2df94d8e.aurous1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/aurous1.png" alt="aurous1" width="650" height="288" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-112011"></a></center></p>
<p>The same is true for another player that launched previously, <a href="https://github.com/tchoulihan/torrenttunes-client">TorrentTunes</a>. The application, which also has a <a href="http://torrenttunes.ml/">web based player</a>, does use the BitTorrent network and allows people to stream music. </p>
<p>TorrentTunes also offers more advanced discovery options than Aurous. Technically everything seems to work fine and like Aurous the coding may be brilliant, but again there&#8217;s something crucial missing. </p>
<p>A competitive advantage, mostly in terms of content.</p>
<p>Popcorn Time became iconic because it offers an appealing and easy to use interface, but looks alone are not good enough to impress. The true power of Popcorn Time comes from the content, where it beats many legal streaming services including Netflix. </p>
<p><center><strong>TorrentTunes</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/26a9a039.torrenttunes.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/torrenttunes.jpg"><img src="media/26a9a039.torrenttunes.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/torrenttunes.jpg" alt="torrenttunes" width="650" height="416" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-112012"></a></center></p>
<p>Aurous and TorrentTunes may look nice and work well, but these &#8220;pirate&#8221; apps lose out to legal services such as Spotify when it comes to content. They even have a hard time beating YouTube.  </p>
<p>Even if the apps manage to catch up in terms of content there will be other issues, such as speed. Loading a track from a torrent file being shared by a handful of people is not going to be instant. </p>
<p>This doesn&#8217;t mean that both apps won&#8217;t get any users. There may still be plenty of interest, but it will be nothing compared to Popcorn Time&#8217;s &#8216;revolution.&#8217;</p>
<p>The crucial issue is that it&#8217;s harder for &#8220;pirate&#8221; music apps to stand out compared to legal alternatives. There&#8217;s simply not much room to improve other than the price tag. Perhaps this is something the movie industry should take note of.</p>
<p>So yes, the Popcorn Time for music has arrived. Only it arrived <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/spotify-an-alternative-to-music-piracy-090102/">more than half a decade ago</a>, and it&#8217;s called Spotify. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112003
title: Thousands of Torrent Site Proxies Disappear
uri: Thousands-of-Torrent-Site-Proxies-Disappear
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/nxUgUd9MDMg/
content:
<p><img src="media/6d8cdd88.dark-clouds.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dark-clouds.jpg" alt="dark-clouds" width="240" height="153" class="alignright size-full wp-image-46399">In many countries across the world including the UK, Italy, Denmark and France, the leading torrent sites are no longer freely accessible.</p>
<p>Instead, the sites are blocked following court orders requested by the music, movie and publishing industries. These blockades have become widespread, but the same is true for tools to circumvent them.</p>
<p>One of the most popular ways to unblock a site is by using a reverse proxy. These proxies &#8216;mirror&#8217; the original sites on a new domain name, making them accessible again. </p>
<p>In recent years these proxies have been popping up left and right, but a few days ago thousands suddenly disappeared. Instead of granting access to the blocked torrent sites the associated domain names are now listed for sale. </p>
<p>The list of vanished domains is long and includes the popular &#8220;piratelist.net&#8221; overview site, as well as proxies such as kickasstorrents.nu, yify.me, extratorrent.ch, 1337x.link, piratebay.onl and many others.</p>
<p><center><strong>Kickasstorrents.nu for sale</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/dab260fa.kickassnu.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/kickassnu.png" alt="kickassnu" width="633" height="224" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-112054"></center></p>
<p>Upon close inspection we found out that the affected sites are all connected to the same operation, which operated under the &#8220;<a href="http://proxyhouse.net/">ProxyHouse</a>&#8221; and &#8220;<a href="http://proxyads.net/">ProxyAds</a>&#8221; handles. Both of these sites are now listed for sale as well. </p>
<p>The total number of sites that have disappeared is huge. ProxyHouse could not be reached for comment but the operator previously informed TF that they manage proxies under thousands of different domains.</p>
<p>&#8220;At the moment, we are running over 17,000 proxy sites for KickassTorrents, ThePirateBay, YTS, ExtraTorrent and 1337x. By providing a lot of different domains, we are giving people the option to still access torrent sites,&#8221; ProxyHouse told us in August.</p>
<p>While the proxy sites have been useful to a lot of people, they also posed a risk. ProxyHouse added their own advertisements to the sites, which have been <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/torrent-site-proxies-rife-with-malware-injecting-scripts-150806/">linked to malware</a>. </p>
<p>It&#8217;s unclear why the ProxyHouse operation shut down all of a sudden. The sites were a thorn in the side of copyright holders, as it made their job of policing the Internet <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/google-dmca-notice-record-smashed-again-but-why-150906/">harder</a>, so it wouldn&#8217;t be a surprise if legal pressure played a role. </p>
<p>Despite the loss of thousands of proxies, there are still enough available to bypass most common blockades. In fact, most torrent site operators are happy to see them gone, as they believe that these &#8216;unauthorized&#8217; proxies were &#8216;stealing&#8217; their revenue. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112060
title: RUTracker “Lifetime Block” Lawsuit Filed By Music Industry
uri: RUTracker-Lifetime-Block-Lawsuit-Filed-By-Music-Industry
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/iBvm3M8zzr8/
content:
<p><img src="media/b0692145.rutracker1.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/rutracker1.jpg" width="250" height="95" class="alignright">Known as Torrents.ru before a controversial domain seizure in 2010, RUTracker.org is not only a very large torrent tracker but one of Russia&#8217;s most popular sites, period.</p>
<p>The site made the headlines last month when the National Federation of the Music Industry (NFMI), a group which counts Sony, Universal, Warner and EMI among its members, said it had been trying to have links to infringing content removed from the site.</p>
<p>According to NFMI CEO Leonid Agronov, his group tried to negotiate with RuTracker but that proved fruitless leaving legal action as the only option. However, in a public response at the end of September, a spokesperson for RuTracker <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/rutracker-says-copyright-holders-can-moderate-its-torrents-150929/">said</a> that the site was prepared to go to extraordinary lengths to prevent infringement.</p>
<p>“If there are many links [that breach copyright] we can give the rightsholders their own special account, and they can remove links that violate their rights. Similar to [the system available] on YouTube, for example,” the spokesperson said.</p>
<p>Despite RuTracker&#8217;s offer it never seemed likely that the record labels would enter into any kind of partnership with the site, even with an offer of support from government telecoms watchdog Roskomnadzor on the table.</p>
<p>That position was underlined last evening when NFMI confirmed it had filed a lawsuit against the site at the Moscow City Court.</p>
<p>&#8220;We have filed a lawsuit requesting a permanent blockade of RuTracker,&#8221; NFMI CEO Leonid Agronov <a href="http://ria.ru/">confirmed</a>.</p>
<p>The lawsuit demands a life-long ISP block of RuTracker, a request supported by <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/new-russian-anti-piracy-law-could-block-sites-forever-150425/">amendments to copyright law</a> passed earlier this year which allows for sites involved in &#8220;systematic infringement&#8221; to be blocked forever.</p>
<p>While the lawsuit is the first of its kind against a torrent site, NFMI filed a similar suit at the end of September against popular music streaming site Pleer.com. </p>
<p>Again, NFMI claims to have attempted negotiations with the portal but in common with the RuTracker situation, both cases are now before the court.</p>
<p>&#8220;We believe that the process will take one and a half to two months,&#8221; Agronova says.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112076
title: RIAA Sues ‘Popcorn Time for Music’
uri: RIAA-Sues-Popcorn-Time-for-Music
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/xlRgWjAqDDc/
content:
<p><img src="media/4b2dfa87.aurous.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/aurous.png" alt="aurous" width="174" height="62" class="alignright size-full wp-image-112078">Last Saturday saw the first public release of Aurous, a music player that taps into a library of pirated music. </p>
<p>Speaking with TorrentFreak, founder Andrew Sampson previously likened the app to Popcorn Time. This attracted quite a bit of attention from the media, as well as copyright holders.</p>
<p>The major record labels are not happy with the new pirate tool and they have wasted no time trying to take it down.</p>
<p>Today the RIAA filed a lawsuit at a Florida district court on behalf of several major labels including UMG and Sony Music. In the complaint they accuse Aurous and its developer of several counts of copyright infringement. </p>
<p>“This service is a flagrant example of a business model powered by copyright theft on a massive scale,&#8221; the RIAA says. </p>
<p>&#8220;Like Grokster, Limewire or Grooveshark, it is neither licensed nor legal.  We will not allow such a service to willfully trample the rights of music creators.”</p>
<p>The complaint (<a href="media/921636a7.Aurous-Complaint.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/Aurous-Complaint.pdf">pdf</a>) describes Aurous as an application that is mostly intended to pirate music. Instead of the planned BitTorrent integration, it uses the Russian pirate site Pleer as its main source.</p>
<p>&#8220;Pleer has been the subject of repeated copyright complaints by rights holders to the Russian government. Its home page brazenly offers free unauthorized downloads of major recording artists’ top tracks for the week, year, and all time,&#8221; the RIAA&#8217;s lawyers note.</p>
<p><center><strong>Aurous</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/2df94d8e.aurous1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/aurous1.png"><img src="media/2df94d8e.aurous1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/aurous1.png" alt="aurous1" width="650" height="288" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-112011"></a></center></p>
<p>The RIAA also references several comments the developer made in the media before the official launch, confirming that Aurous will be used to pirate music. After the debut of the alpha release, Aurous allegedly provided technical assistance to pirate specific tracks.</p>
<p>In addition, the complaint also mentions Sampson&#8217;s torrent search engine <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/strike-public-tracker-dht-searches-presented-cleanly-150321/">Strike</a>, which he released earlier this year.</p>
<p>&#8220;As a stand-alone search engine, Strike Search finds infringing content on BitTorrent but needs to be used with other software and services in order to download the content onto users’ computers,&#8221; the RIAA notes.</p>
<p>The complaint lists a total 20 popular tracks that are freely available through Aurous. This means that Sampson faces up to $3 million in statutory damages if the case goes to trial.</p>
<p>Finally, the RIAA requests a broad preliminary injunction which would prevent domain registrars, domain registries, hosting companies, advertisers and other third-party outfits from doing business with the site.</p>
<p>However, in comments posted to Twitter tonight, Sampson seems unfazed.</p>
<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t worry, we&#8217;re not going anywhere, empty lawsuits aren&#8217;t going to stop the innovation of the next best media player,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>&#8220;Hey @RIAA @UMG and everyone else, we challenge every CEO to an arm wrestling competition, we win you drop your empty suit.&#8221;</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112103
title: Online Piracy Drops in Australia, Thanks to Netflix
uri: Online-Piracy-Drops-in-Australia-Thanks-to-Netflix
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/G63WI30alvk/
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">Video streaming giant Netflix sees itself as one of the most prominent competitors to the many pirate sites and services that offer video content illegally.</p>
<p>In recent years the company revealed that it has seen a consistent <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/netflix-says-its-killing-bittorrent-traffic-130504/">piracy drop</a> in many countries soon after launch. </p>
<p>This Netflix effect now also appears to have hit Australia. The video streaming service launched early last year and new <a href="http://www.ipawareness.com.au/media-release/new-piracy-research-shows-fall-in-rates-following-a-range-of-measures-including-new-legislation">statistics</a> released by the IP Awareness Foundation show that online piracy has decreased since. </p>
<p>According to the most recent survey 25 percent of Australian adults aged 18-64 are self-confessed pirates, down from 29 percent in the previous year. This is the first decrease since the piracy boom started.</p>
<p>The drop is visible among both casual and persistent pirates, with the largest drop in the second group, as shown in the pie charts below.</p>
<p><center><strong>Aussie piracy drop</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/e9b85cf5.piratedrop.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/piratedrop.png" alt="piratedrop" width="600" height="343" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-112106"></center></p>
<p>It&#8217;s not all good news for copyright holders though. Among the remaining persistent pirates 40 percent say they are pirating more than last year. </p>
<p>In part the piracy decline can be attributed to Netflix. Without a direct causal relationship it&#8217;s tricky to draw strong conclusions, but the survey respondents who say they are pirating less cite legal alternatives as the main reason. </p>
<p>Moral considerations were also mentioned by the respondents, as well as legal ramifications. Overall, however, legal options have the biggest impact according to consumers. </p>
<p>IP Awareness Executive Director Lori Flekser is happy with the positive change but also tames some of the optimism. According to her a combination of positive and negative reinforcement is required to properly address the issue. </p>
<p>“Piracy has always needed a range of measures to tackle the problem as we all know there is no silver bullet,&#8221; Flesker says.  </p>
<p>&#8220;This fall in piracy rates is definitely largely attributable to the combination of the government’s new legislation, plus the ongoing efforts of the creative industries to continue delivering great content at accessible prices to Australian consumers,” she adds.</p>
<p>Piracy has been a hot topic in Australia and there are plans to block websites and warn frequent infringers in the near future. Time will tell whether this help to continue the current downward piracy trend. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112110
title: 2,800 Cloudflare IP Addresses Blocked By Court Order
uri: 2-800-Cloudflare-IP-Addresses-Blocked-By-Court-Order
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/z0XS5A3KylU/
content:
<p><img src="media/4a535cc9.cloudflare.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cloudflare.png" alt="cloudflare" width="275" height="188" class="alignright size-full wp-image-96401"> Otherwise known as the Stop Online Piracy Act, SOPA would have enabled U.S. authorities to have allegedly infringing websites blocked at the DNS level, thereby rendering them inaccessible.</p>
<p>In 2012 the proposals were met with outrage, especially by those in the tech community who feared that meddling with the very systems that keep the Internet running would eventually end in disaster.</p>
<p>The legislation never passed but nonetheless over the past three years many hundreds of websites have been blocked around the world. In fact, in some <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/record-labels-sue-new-grooveshark-seize-domains-150515/">recent cases</a> in the United States entertainment industry companies have achieved some of the things they claimed to need SOPA for.</p>
<p>So did any of this &#8220;break the Internet&#8221;? According to a piece <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/technology/256635-oops-dns-blocking-did-not-break-the-internet">published</a> in The Hill this week, absolutely not.</p>
<p>&#8220;[Policymakers] should not accept the falsehood that blocking a website or taking other actions to shut down infringing sites equates to an assault on the security and reliability of the Internet as a whole,&#8221; wrote Daniel Castro, vice president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.</p>
<p>&#8220;Instead, they should recognize that selective targeting of websites dedicated to infringement is an effective strategy to combat piracy, and encourage the recording industry, the film industry and online intermediaries to work in partnership to block, shut down and cut off revenue to these websites wherever possible.&#8221;</p>
<p>Mr Castro probably feels the Internet is unaffected by blocking since every website he accesses works just fine. However, new data on blocking activity elsewhere presents an altogether more worrying state of affairs.</p>
<p>In 2013, Russia activated a streamlined mechanism for having sites blocked at the ISP level. As a result many hundreds of sites have been rendered inaccessible to the public and some, such as torrent site RUTracker, are now facing the possibility of being <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/rutracker-lifetime-block-lawsuit-filed-by-music-industry-151013/">blocked forever</a>. But how has this affected the wider Internet?</p>
<p>Well, according to data obtained by web-blocking watchdog <a href="http://rublacklist.net/13108/">RUBlacklist</a>, those doing the blocking in Russia are using their powers to the full while having little concern for collateral damage. As a result more than a third of all IP addresses on the country&#8217;s website blocking list belong not to illegal services, but to US-based CDN company Cloudflare.</p>
<p>RUBlacklist says the numbers are significant. As of October 5, 2015, a total of 8,284 IP addresses were on the national blocklist but a head-shaking 2,831 of them &#8211; more than 34% &#8211; have been registered to Cloudflare.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/1d73c6e3.cloudflare-russia.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cloudflare-russia.png" alt="cloudflare-russia" width="600" height="328" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-112123"></center></p>
<p>The problem is due to how CDNs (Content Delivery Networks) like Cloudflare are setup. Instead of a site&#8217;s own IP address facing the world, once Cloudflare is deployed it is the service&#8217;s IP addresses that are seen in public.</p>
<p>Sadly, when a complaint is filed at the Moscow City Court, no one really cares whether the IP addresses belong to a legitimate service or not, or whether they stay on the blacklist even after they fall out of use.</p>
<p>&#8220;Roskomnadzor simply fills and fills its database of banned IP-addresses, risking blocking dozens if not hundreds of thousands of innocent websites,&#8221; RUBlacklist explains.</p>
<p>Of course, the blocking of Cloudflare and its customers is nothing new. Earlier this year innocent websites were <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-blockade-censors-cloudflare-customers-150424/">blocked in the UK</a> by ISP Sky simply because a Pirate Bay proxy was hosted behind the same IP-address.</p>
<p>But while the Sky problems were probably down to human error, the current over-blocking situation in Russia could have been avoided if concerns had been considered <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/scary-site-blocking-announcement-threatens-750000-sites-131231/">in December 2013</a>.</p>
<p>People knew Cloudflare was at risk then, yet no one appears to have taken the warnings seriously. In April 2014, Roskomnadzor admitted there was a problem but simply warned people not to use the service since Cloudflare didn&#8217;t respond to correspondence on the matter.</p>
<p>&#8220;CloudFlare representatives refused to cooperate and did not respond to the formal notices of Roskomnadzor,&#8221; the watchdog explained.</p>
<p>&#8220;In the absence of a reaction from CloudFlare many conscientious Internet resources using the CDN-service will be blocked by ISPs in Russia.&#8221;</p>
<p>But as the finger-pointing continues the people who really suffer are regular Internet users themselves. Fears that Joe Public would be caught in the copyright crossfire were just the kind of concerns that came to the forefront and fueled the SOPA protests.</p>
<p>Blocking might not have broken the Internet yet, but already parts of it need fixing. And, despite it all, the pirates continue their business largely as before.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112168
title: ISP Will Disconnect Pirates Following Hollywood Pressure
uri: ISP-Will-Disconnect-Pirates-Following-Hollywood-Pressure
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/T9pXOf_v47U/
content:
<p><img src="media/65e7c4f0.cord-cutting.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cord-cutting.png" alt="cord-cutting" width="200" height="160" class="alignright size-full wp-image-54112">Around the world Internet service providers are being placed under pressure to do something about the millions of customers who download and share copyright infringing content.</p>
<p>Major ISPs in the United States, for example, are currently participating in the so-called &#8220;six strikes&#8221; scheme operated by the major studios and recording labels. Under this project users are given up to six warnings before a range of measures are applied to their accounts.</p>
<p>The measures &#8211; which copyright holders insist need to be punitive &#8211; are problematic for ISPs. Consumers keep their companies and punishing them too hard isn&#8217;t good for business, especially since disappointed customers can simply sign up to a new provider.</p>
<p>However, according to a report coming out of Italy, a local ISP is so concerned about threats coming out of Hollywood it is now threatening to discard customers who download and share copyright infringing material.</p>
<p>According to news outlet <a href="http://www.repubblica.it/tecnologia/sicurezza/2015/10/14/news/provider_blocca_internet_per_pirateria_film_e_serie_tv-125068909/">Repubblica</a>, one of its readers who subscribes to an ISP in the north of the country received correspondence after being caught downloading movies and TV shows by various Hollywood studios.</p>
<p>&#8220;We have received numerous reports of misuse from multiple rights holders (Viacom, Paramount, MGM and other distribution companies) by direct means or from their legal offices,&#8221; the mail begins.</p>
<p>&#8220;They contain precise details about the material downloaded, download times, the IP address used, the ownership rights of the person making the report, contact details and valid certificate digital signatures plus confirmation of the authenticity of the sender and message content.&#8221;</p>
<p>Of course, these kinds of warning notices are nothing new and millions are sent every month. However, the ISP warns that if it does not take measures to stop the infringements, it could be considered &#8220;an accomplice to the offenses&#8221;. On that basis alone it must take action.</p>
<p>&#8220;We ask you to kindly give us feedback within 48 hours. In the case of failure [to respond] or incorrect feedback we&#8217;ll be forced to proceed with the cancellation of the service,&#8221; the correspondence concludes.</p>
<p>In a comment, copyright lawyer Guido Scorza said that while the ISP&#8217;s threats are unusual, they are permissible.</p>
<p>&#8220;The conduct of the provider is curious but not illegal. In the event that the ISP cancels the user agreement you could outline, however, an abuse of rights,&#8221; Scorza explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;Withdrawing unilaterally due to Internet problems is one thing, doing it because a third party claims that a customer is responsible for piracy is something else. Only a court can decide if a user is a pirate or not,&#8221; the lawyer says.</p>
<p>Repubblica hasn&#8217;t yet named the ISP in question but did speak to its CEO who told the publication that it receives hundreds of complaints from rightsholders and their lawfirms. The notice being sent out to subscribers underlines the company&#8217;s position.</p>
<p>&#8220;What is required now from us is to ensure that the connection is no longer used for illegal downloading activity and to protect the connection in the event that [the customer] is sure he has never downloaded anything,&#8221; it reads.</p>
<p>The question of ISP liability is a thorny one, but increasingly the world&#8217;s largest entertainment companies are moving towards an insistence that repeat infringers must be dealt with. Clearly some are taking those threats to their logical conclusion.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112157
title: Piracy Claims Are No Basis to Terminate Internet Accounts, Court Hears
uri: Piracy-Claims-Are-No-Basis-to-Terminate-Internet-Accounts-Court-Hears
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/iS11t8Zswzg/
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 year BMG Rights Management and Round Hill Music <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/cox-communications-sued-for-not-disconnecting-pirates-141128/">sued Cox Communications</a>, arguing that the ISP fails to terminate accounts that are frequently used to pirate content.</p>
<p>The case revolves around data gathered by anti-piracy outfit Rightscorp, which previously sent millions of infringement notices to Cox paired with a settlement request. </p>
<p>Cox chose not to forward these notices in order to protect its customers from &#8220;harassment.&#8221; The copyright holders now claim that this refusal is in violation of the DMCA, and have asked the court for a summary judgment arguing that the ISP failed to terminate repeat infringers. </p>
<p>This week digital rights groups Electronic Frontier Foundation (<a href="https://www.eff.org/">EFF</a>) and Public Knowledge (<a href="https://www.publicknowledge.org/">PK</a>) joined the case as interested parties. The groups teamed up to submit an amicus curiae brief outlining the possible negative consequences for consumers. </p>
<p>If Rightscorp and their clients have their way, ISPs would have to terminate subscriber accounts based on unverified evidence without any judicial oversight. </p>
<p>&#8220;It is simply unthinkable that a person could be deprived of a basic, vital service, practically essential to contemporary societal participation, based on nothing more than unadjudicated, unverified, unreliable allegations of civil wrongdoing,&#8221; EFF and PK write (pdf). </p>
<p>&#8220;But that is precisely what Plaintiffs seek in this case: disconnection of Internet service of &#8216;large numbers of subscribers&#8217; based on automatically generated, robosigned claims of copyright infringement.&#8221;</p>
<p>According to the groups the rightsholders rely on a false interpretation of the DMCA&#8217;s safe harbor provision, which is detrimental to the public interest. </p>
<p>Not only is there no legal requirement for ISPs to terminate accounts based on allegations from copyright holders, the notices themselves are lacking as well, the groups say. </p>
<p>They point out out that when a connection is used for copyright infringements, this doesn&#8217;t necessarily mean that the person who pays the bills is responsible. </p>
<p>&#8220;The notices identify not the person who allegedly infringed, but rather the person paying for the Internet connection through which the infringement allegedly occurred. Besides being legally wrong, it is concerningly bad policy to attribute the acts of a third party to the Internet connection subscriber.&#8221; </p>
<p>In addition, EFF and PK note that the infringement notices are bundled with settlement requests, which they liken to abusive debt collection practices. </p>
<p>The groups urge the court to keep the interests of Internet users in mind. If these notices indeed result in account terminations, many innocent subscribers may lose Internet access without any form of trial. </p>
<p>&#8220;Denying Cox [safe harbor] protection [&#8230;] would potentially open consumers up to extortive demands, declare them guilty as &#8216;repeat infringers&#8217; without trial or jury, and deny them access to a necessary service, perhaps innocently, perhaps without cause,&#8221; EFF and PK write. </p>
<p>Cox also submitted several counterarguments earlier. Among other things, the ISP highlights that Rightscorp&#8217;s evidence is not enough to prove copyright infringement. Additionally, Cox is not convinced that the plaintiffs are the proper rightsholder for all the works they cite.</p>
<p>Before moving forward, the Court still has to rule on whether EFF and PK&#8217;s brief will be accepted. What&#8217;s clear, however, is the case will have a strong impact on how ISPs handle copyright infringement notices in the future. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112202
title: RIAA Obtains Restraining Order Against Aurous
uri: RIAA-Obtains-Restraining-Order-Against-Aurous
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/zORVYGNlcgM/
content:
<p><img src="media/e2a8bd59.aurous.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/aurous.png" width="174" height="62" class="alignright">It&#8217;s been a week of drama for brand new music discovery tool Aurous. Just four days after its launch on Saturday the RIAA <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/riaa-sues-popcorn-time-for-music-151013/">sued the creator of the software</a> and demanding $3m for their trouble.</p>
<p>Legal paperwork has been steadily filed ever since, but today came the most significant development yet. Following a request from plaintiffs Atlantic Records, Warner Bros, UMG, Sony and Capital Records for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, a judge in a Florida district court has now issued his response.</p>
<p>In an order issued this morning, Judge Jose E. Martinez granted the labels&#8217; motion for a temporary restraining order.</p>
<p>&#8220;Defendants and their officers, agents, servants, employees, attorneys, and all persons who in active concert or participation with each or any of them, or who are aiding and abetting their conduct, are hereby RESTRAINED and ENJOINED until further Order of this Court,&#8221; Judge Martinez writes.</p>
<p>As a result, Sampson and everyone associated with the Aurous project are now forbidden from &#8220;infringing, or causing, enabling, facilitating, encouraging, promoting and inducing or participating in the infringement of, any of Plaintiffs&#8217; copyrights protected by the Copyright Act, whether now in existence or hereafter created.&#8221;</p>
<p>Those restrictions include, but are not limited to, any further making available of the Aurous software in any form. Sampson and his co-defendants are also restricted from transferring any domain names to third parties.</p>
<p>To protect Sampson in the event that he&#8217;s been wrongfully restrained by the court, the labels were ordered to post a bond of $5,000 as security for any costs or damages.</p>
<p>The request from the labels for a preliminary injunction was denied pending a maximum 30 minute hearing now scheduled for October 28, 2015.</p>
<p>&#8220;The parties shall confer prior to the hearing to determine how to split the allotted time. lf the parties are unable to agree on how to split the allotted time, the Court will decide how to split the allotted time,&#8221; the Judge warned.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s unclear whether Sampson has been served with a copy of the order already but in any event the Aurous software currently remains available via Aurous.me.</p>
<p>&#8220;Our legal team is actively working to secure our place in the music eco system,&#8221; Sampson said earlier today on Twitter. &#8220;Rest assured we want to be around a long time.&#8221; </p>
<p>At the moment the RIAA appears to have little interest in those efforts.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112136
title: BBC iPlayer Blocks UK VPN Servers Over Piracy Concerns
uri: BBC-iPlayer-Blocks-UK-VPN-Servers-Over-Piracy-Concerns
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/uoGjfUvAqoI/
content:
<p><img src="media/651e41d0.iplayerlogo.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/iplayerlogo.png" alt="iplayerlogo" width="250" height="197" class="alignright size-full wp-image-112138">The BBC&#8217;s online catchup service <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer">iPlayer</a> has been a great success, both in the UK and abroad. </p>
<p>While the service is intended for UK viewers, who have to pay a mandatory TV license, it&#8217;s also commonly used overseas. Recent research suggests that <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-33620341">60 million people</a> outside the UK access iPlayer through VPNs and other circumvention tools. </p>
<p>Traditionally the BBC hasn&#8217;t taken any measures to prevent unauthorized use, but this changed very recently. Over the past several days TF has received several reports from VPN users who can no longer access iPlayer from UK-based VPN servers. </p>
<p>&#8220;BBC iPlayer TV programmes are available to play in the UK only,&#8221; is the notice they receive instead. </p>
<p>This effectively stops foreigners and expats from accessing the service, but it also affects license paying UK citizens who use a VPN to browse the Internet securely. They will now have to disconnect their VPN if they want to access iPlayer. </p>
<p><center><br></br></center><center><a href="media/692d5208.iplayer.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/iplayer.jpg"><img src="media/692d5208.iplayer.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/iplayer.jpg" alt="iplayer" width="1078" height="596" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-112139"></a></center></p>
<p>The BBC informs TF that the VPN ban was implemented to keep iPlayer &#8216;pirates&#8217; at bay. The company is doing its best to keep company and school VPNs open but advises regular users to connect their VPN service in advance if they want to access iPlayer.</p>
<p>“We regularly make updates to our technology to help prevent access to BBC iPlayer from outside the UK which breaks our terms of use,&#8221; a BBC spokesperson tells us.</p>
<p>&#8220;BBC iPlayer is freely available to users across the UK without a VPN, and we also seek to ensure users of private VPNs such as those used by schools and companies in the UK have access.”</p>
<p>The BBC admits that this may affect privacy conscious UK license payers as well, but says it doesn&#8217;t have the ability to discriminate between legal and unauthorized VPN users. </p>
<p>Several VPN users are not happy with the change and have voiced their complaints. The issue is also causing concern among VPN providers, which are looking for options to circumvent the blockade. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ipvanish.com/">IPVanish</a> informs us that it has applied a &#8216;fix&#8217; which has solved the problem for now. Similarly, <a href="https://torguard.net/">TorGuard</a> offers customers a new UK IP-address upon request, which helps, at least temporarily. </p>
<p>&#8220;Let the game of whack-an-IP begin,&#8221; TorGuard’s Ben van der Pelt tells TF.</p>
<p>TorGuard is hugely disappointed with BBC&#8217;s broad blockade, and the fact that the broadcaster is willingly throwing many legitimate consumers under the bus. </p>
<p>&#8220;It amazes me that an increasing number of streaming services are willing to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of legitimate members over VPN usage. One can only assume this will hurt BBC iPlayer subscriber numbers as most people will simply look elsewhere,&#8221; Van der Pelt says.</p>
<p>In part the VPN blockade is being implemented to appease foreign broadcasters who buy programming from the BBC. If this content is easily available online foreign TV companies may lose part of their audience. </p>
<p>Earlier this year the BBC shut down its international version of iPlayer. This allowed people from oversees to access it for a small fee, but also caused concern among local rightsholders. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112148
title: With Dotcom Absent, Extradition Hearing Won’t End Today
uri: With-Dotcom-Absent-Extradition-Hearing-Won-t-End-Today
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/W_xCuIAAps0/
content:
<p><img src="media/5fd37436.megaupload.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/megaupload.jpg" alt="megaupload" width="180" height="154" class="alignright size-full wp-image-30407">It started off at a decent pace <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/kim-dotcom-extradition-hearing-gets-underway-150921/">a month ago</a> with regular newsworthy statements and events making the headlines, but his week the extradition hearing of Kim Dotcom appeared to drop into a much lower gear.</p>
<p>The hearing, which will determine whether Kim Dotcom, Mathias Ortmann, Finn Batato and Bram van der Kolk are extradited to the United States, got underway in September. However, legal argument has persistently bogged the hearing down, with <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/megaupload-accuses-u-s-of-unfair-tactics-seeks-stay-151005/">repeated claims</a> by the defendants that the U.S. government is doing everything possible to prevent them from engaging in a fair fight.</p>
<p>Proceedings should have drawn to a close today but given how things have played out, that definitely isn&#8217;t going to happen.</p>
<p>After claiming that the U.S. seizure of the defendants&#8217; funds made it impossible to hire expert witnesses in the United States, Dotcom&#8217;s lawyer Ron Mansfield asked the court to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/megaupload-defendants-dont-need-expert-witnesses-u-s-argues-151009/">consider submissions</a> as to why the case should be paused or even thrown out altogether. </p>
<p>While those have been underway for some days now, according to <a href="http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/dotcom-absent-as-trial-drags-on-2015101615#axzz3oiAngEst">3News</a> lawyers for Dotcom and his former associates are now expected to make further submissions on additional points. Allowing for a response from the Crown, that process could take several more weeks to complete.</p>
<p>As to when the hearing will end, that appears to be known by no one, including lawyers for Dotcom. Earlier today, Ron Mansfield QC filed submissions asking Judge Nevin Dawson for an indication of how long the case is likely to last. Dawson is reportedly due at a jury trial elsewhere early November but the extradition hearing is likely to last beyond then.</p>
<p>After being present mostly every step of the way, this week Kim Dotcom has been largely absent from proceedings. Earlier in the week it was reported that the Megaupload founder has been suffering from back pain and as a result didn&#8217;t turn up in court.</p>
<p>Today Dotcom was absent from court again, an event which prompted questions from Judge Dawson. Dotcom&#8217;s lawyer Ron Mansfield said his client had been awake all night with <a href="http://home.nzcity.co.nz/news/article.aspx?id=214940">back issues</a> that are &#8220;causing him significant grief&#8221;.</p>
<p>However, lawyer Grant Illingworth, who represents Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk, was present today. He warned the court that the U.S. interpretation of extradition law threatened to make Judge Nevin&#8217;s considerations almost irrelevant.</p>
<p>&#8220;[The U.S. is seeking to] reduce your honor&#8217;s role to a mere rubber-stamping exercise. The US [approach] would render the extradition process largely meaningless,&#8221; he <a href="http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/287205/us-tactics-make-dotcom-hearing-meaningless-lawyer">told</a> the Judge.</p>
<p>The hearing will now run into a fifth week.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112258
title: Is Bing Considered a Lower Piracy Threat Than Google?
uri: Is-Bing-Considered-a-Lower-Piracy-Threat-Than-Google
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/JYqP9hgjdwc/
content:
<p><img src="media/63942d0e.bing-logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/bing-logo.jpg" alt="bing-logo" width="180" height="132" class="alignright size-full wp-image-90308">According to stats released by <a href="http://www.comscore.com/Insights/Market-Rankings/comScore-Releases-August-2015-U.S.-Desktop-Search-Engine-Rankings">comScore</a>, Google sites led the search market in August with 63.8 percent of search queries conducted.</p>
<p>Google&#8217;s dominance is hardly a surprise. In recent years &#8216;Google&#8217; has become a verb and many of the world&#8217;s Internet users have the site as their browsing homepage. However, there are other options, such as Microsoft&#8217;s Bing which took second place in comScore&#8217;s rankings with 20.6 percent of searches.</p>
<p>As market leaders both companies currently publish transparency reports and this week Microsoft issued an <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/about/corporatecitizenship/en-us/transparencyhub/crrr/">upgraded edition</a> which includes the number of copyright takedown requests it received during the first half of 2015.</p>
<p>&#8220;Links to webpages containing material that infringe the rights of copyright owners may be removed from our search results provided we receive a legally sufficient notice of infringement from an owner or an authorized agent acting on that owner’s behalf. The following numbers relate to requests to remove links to webpages from our Bing search engine results,&#8221; the company announced.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/8ba29cb1.microsoft-takedowns.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/microsoft-takedowns.png" alt="microsoft-takedowns" width="650" height="126" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-112261"></center></p>
<p>As seen in the image above, Microsoft received more than a million requests in the first six months of 2015 which in total demanded the takedown of 24.5 million URLs.</p>
<p>The tech giant rejected more than two million URLs for reasons unknown but it&#8217;s likely that a large proportion were duplicate entries. Microsoft also says that it tries to consider when potentially infringing content is allowed under the law. </p>
<p>&#8220;We are committed to freedom of expression and the rights of users to engage in uses that may be permissible under applicable copyright laws,&#8221; the company said.</p>
<p>But what is perhaps most interesting about Microsoft&#8217;s data is how it can be compared to Google&#8217;s.</p>
<p>To give an idea of scale, Bing indexes largely the same content as Google. However, while Bing receives an average of four million URL takedown requests per month, Google receives more than double &#8211; <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/google-asked-to-remove-18-pirate-links-every-second-150802/">sometimes treble</a> &#8211; that number every single week. </p>
<p>In fact, Google received 51,472,940 URL requests last month alone, a number that Bing will take around 12 months to match. So, unless Microsoft is making it difficult for copyright holders to complain (and there&#8217;s no indication that it is), the suggestion here is that copyright holders consider Bing a disproportionately lower piracy threat than its visitor numbers might indicate.</p>
<p>That&#8217;s also interesting when it comes to how Bing&#8217;s search features operate. While Google has been censoring its auto-suggest and auto-complete features for some time, Bing appears to be much less constrained. Entering the text &#8216;thep&#8217; happily completes to ThePirateBay.se and conveniently advises users that they&#8217;re accessing the official site.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/92aadb30.pirate-bing.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-bing.png" alt="pirate-bing" width="650" height="366" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-112265"></center></p>
<p>While it&#8217;s unlikely that the company is attempting to be &#8216;pirate friendly&#8217; with its auto-suggest, Microsoft has been under much less pressure than rival Google at the hands of Hollywood and the record labels. As a result it appears to be slipping somewhat (but not entirely) under the radar.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s also worth noting that Bing sometimes returns less results per site than Google. For example, Google reports 1,760,000 results for kat.cr while Bing offers just 1,220,000. On the other hand, Google reports 756,000 results for ExtraTorrent while Bing returns a bewildering 6,320,000.</p>
<p>Whether users searching for free content will begin to use Bing more often remains to be seen but one thing is for sure, browsing habits are very hard to break. On auto-pilot today this writer entered &#8216;bing&#8217; into the Google search box several times when &#8216;bing.com&#8217; directly would have sufficed. That&#8217;s never an issue with Google, ever.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112197
title: BitTorrent CEO: Citizen Privacy Trumps National Security
uri: BitTorrent-CEO-Citizen-Privacy-Trumps-National-Security
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Wg7MavpQNAQ/
content:
<p><img src="media/0fe14042.bittorrent-new-logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/bittorrent-new-logo.jpg" alt="bittorrent-new-logo" width="200" height="120" class="alignright size-full wp-image-30205">To the vast majority of technology enthusiasts the term &#8216;BitTorrent&#8217; means one thing &#8211; the sharing of large files with like-minded individuals quickly and freely across the Internet.</p>
<p>Often confused with the file-sharing protocol of the same name, the organization providing the tools for much of that sharing is technology company BitTorrent Inc. Indeed, BitTorrent Inc. currently employs the brains behind uTorrent, the most famous P2P file-sharing software in the world.</p>
<p>While public torrents are without doubt the major bread-winner for BitTorrent Inc, for the past two years the company has attempted to realign itself as a privacy-focused enterprise. In 2013 it even went as far as launching a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-mastermind-controversial-nsa-billboard-campaign-131008/">billboard campaign</a> to alert the public over the prying eyes of the National Security Agency.</p>
<p>This week during a series of conferences to promote development of companies in Latin America, BitTorrent Inc. CEO Eric Klinker reinforced his privacy agenda with a powerful message. According to Klinker, the privacy of the individual trumps even the security interests of nation states.</p>
<p>&#8220;I believe that the privacy of human beings is more important than the security of each country, but obviously governments tend to think differently and we respect the work they do,&#8221; Klinker <a href="http://www.lavanguardia.com/tecnologia/20151015/54438132750/director-bittorrent-la-seguridad-nacional-no-puede-acabar-con-la-privacidad.html">said</a>.</p>
<p>While noble, it&#8217;s a conflicting stance for the company to take. Its key products operate without any <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-doesnt-care-about-your-privacy-not-always-131013/">privacy protection whatsoever</a> and the company has even <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/utorrent-and-bittorrent-reject-high-risk-vpn-ads-130506/">rejected privacy services</a> seeking to partner with the business.</p>
<p>Still, Klinker insists that his company&#8217;s support of privacy dates way back.</p>
<p>&#8220;For many years BitTorrent has been on the side of privacy,&#8221; he told <a href="http://www.meetlatam.com">the conference</a>. &#8220;We have always believed that the Internet should be free and private, and that users should not have any fear of using it.&#8221;</p>
<p>Despite the wide open nature of torrent activity in general, it would be unfair to suggest that BitTorrent Inc. hasn&#8217;t been making privacy advances in other areas. Its chat application <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/bleep-bittorrent-unveils-serverless-chat-client-140730/">Bleep</a>, for example, which allows people to communicate without relaying messages through an intermediary.</p>
<p>&#8220;Most of the applications that we use today, like WhatsApp, send messages to an external server, this means that third parties can review the content and know with whom they&#8217;re talking,&#8221; Klinker explained.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s not that the Internet or the cloud aren&#8217;t safe, but a record always remains of who is speaking and what is being said. Maybe the information is not always important, but we still shouldn&#8217;t be exposed.&#8221;</p>
<p>And of course, BitTorrent Inc. also has its own Dropbox competitor, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-sync-1-4-140826/">Sync</a>. The tool has an enthusiastic following and just like Bleep, Sync allows people to communicate across devices without a middle man.</p>
<p>&#8220;Communication that is distributed through this software is more difficult to recover. Anyone who wants to spy on it would have it to do in a very specific way&#8221;, Klinker said.</p>
<p>In closing, BitTorrent Inc&#8217;s CEO said that the ultimate goal of his company is to help improve the Internet by making it possible for people to use technology without fear.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s of interest, then, that the most-requested feature for future versions of uTorrent is the <a href="https://utorrentideas.uservoice.com/forums/47263-%C2%B5torrent-for-windows">inclusion of privacy and encryption tools</a>. To date every one of those requests has been ignored.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112254
title: Tech Giants Defend Domain Registrars Against Piracy Claims
uri: Tech-Giants-Defend-Domain-Registrars-Against-Piracy-Claims
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/S-p8My3p9JE/
content:
<p><img src="media/41b54e5e.msfacebook.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/msfacebook.png" alt="msfacebook" width="200" height="171" class="alignright size-full wp-image-74423">Earlier this month several copyright holder groups submitted their overviews of &#8220;notorious markets&#8221; to the U.S. Trade Representative (<a href="https://ustr.gov/">USTR</a>).</p>
<p>The U.S. Government uses this input to provide an overview of threats to various copyright industries. The list usually includes well-known piracy sites such as The Pirate Bay, but last year it also <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/u-s-government-lists-top-torrent-sites-as-piracy-havens-150306/">mentioned</a> Canadian domain name registrar Tucows. </p>
<p>This year the MPAA and RIAA <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/riaa-and-mpaa-report-notorious-piracy-sites-to-u-s-government-151007/">kept up the pressure</a> with their latest submissions. Both groups again identified domain name registrars as possible piracy facilitators.</p>
<p>The inclusion of domain name registrars is a dangerous development according to the Computer &#038; Communications Industry Association (<a href="http://www.ccianet.org/about/members/">CCIA</a>), which counts Google, Facebook and Microsoft among its members. </p>
<p>The CCIA submitted a rebuttal to the USTR this week in which they outline their concerns. </p>
<p>&#8220;CCIA is deeply concerned with comments requesting that domain registrars be branded as &#8216;notorious markets&#8217; and included on USTR’s list of notorious markets,&#8221; the group writes. &#8220;Domain registrars are not notorious markets.&#8221; </p>
<p>The tech companies explain that third party service providers enjoy broad immunity from copyright infringement claims, as defined by U.S. law. </p>
<p>USTR&#8217;s decision to include domain registrars was based in misleading input from copyright holder groups, CCIA notes. Copyright holders argue that ICANN&#8217;s <a href="https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/approved-with-specs-2013-09-17-en">RAA agreement</a> requires registrars to take specific action against alleged abuse, but the tech companies refute that. </p>
<p>&#8220;Although some rightsholders have argued that ICANN should deputize registrars as copyright enforcement agents, USTR should not be giving credence, either directly or implicitly, to these misinterpretations of the RAA and the proper role of registrars,&#8221; they write. </p>
<p>The MPAA and RIAA went beyond domain registrars in their latest filings and also argued that other service providers should play a more active role in countering online piracy. This includes CCIA member Cloudflare, who has many &#8220;notorious&#8221; sites among their customers.</p>
<p>CCIA also opposes this request and warns against measures that would involve third-party companies in regulating and policing the Internet, drawing a comparison to the defeated SOPA and PIPA bills.</p>
<p>&#8220;Rightsholders have a wide variety of tools to reduce intellectual property infringement. USTR should not allow intellectual property enforcement efforts to interfere with fundamental  Internet infrastructure, or undermine the intermediary liability limitations that the U.S. Internet economy is built on. </p>
<p>&#8220;Domain registrars, and other third party online intermediaries, do not  belong on USTR’s notorious markets list,&#8221; CCIA concludes. </p>
<p>The rebuttal and other submissions will form the basis of the U.S. Government’s Special 301 Out-of-Cycle Review of Notorious Markets, which is expected to come out later this year.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112233
title: First Popcorn Time Pirates Settle With Movie Studio
uri: First-Popcorn-Time-Pirates-Settle-With-Movie-Studio
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/y6-tSG8IYTw/
content:
<p><img src="media/3b9dbdf1.popcornt.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/popcornt.png" alt="popcornt" width="237" height="106" class="alignright size-full wp-image-101106">Lawsuits against file-sharers are commonplace in the United States. Over a quarter million people have been accused in recent years, most after using standard BitTorrent clients.</p>
<p>The cases barely make the news anymore, but that changed this summer when the makers of several Hollywood films <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/movie-studio-sues-popcorn-time-users-in-the-u-s-150819/">targeted</a> a few dozen Popcorn Time users. </p>
<p>Since Popcorn Time also uses BitTorrent under the hood these &#8216;new&#8217; lawsuits follow the same path as previous ones. The filmmakers ask the court for a subpoena to identify the account holders, and then their lawyers approach the accused for a settlement.</p>
<p>This week the makers of the Adam Sandler movie <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3203616/">The Cobbler</a> announced that the first Popcorn Time users have begun to settle.</p>
<p>The company sued 11 alleged pirates in August and according to a recent court filing five have admitted guilt already. As is usual in these so-called &#8216;copyright troll&#8217; cases, the defendants chose to settle for an undisclosed amount.</p>
<p><center><strong>Status report</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/d2c0bd01.settle2.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/settle2.jpg" alt="settle" width="500" height="341" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-112239"></center></p>
<p>In a status report lawyer Carl Crowell, who represents The Cobbler&#8217;s makers and several other rightsholders, notes that the settlement figure is below the statutory minimum of $750.</p>
<p>&#8220;Plaintiff discloses that for each of the above listed defendants any settlement sums agreed on have been at or below minimum statutory damages with apportioned costs and fees,&#8221; Crowell writes.</p>
<p>The total figure may well exceed $1,000 though as it includes an undisclosed sum for attorney fees. </p>
<p>Traditionally, settlement offers in these type of cases have been around $3,000 per infringed work, although we have seen agreements detailing settlements <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/dallas-buyers-club-pirate-agrees-pay-14000-141112/">of up to $14,000</a>. </p>
<p>However, even at a substantially lower amount the litigation campaign can be quite profitable. Since the cases are built on boilerplate filings there&#8217;s relatively little work involved. </p>
<p>This standardized nature is also apparent from the permanent injunctions that were submitted to the court (e.g. <a href="media/9fc1e91d.doe10agreed.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/doe10agreed.pdf">pdf</a>), which are <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/court-order-forbids-poor-pirate-to-use-bittorrent-150526/">identical to those</a> in the standard BitTorrent cases. In fact, they reference &#8220;BitTorrent clients&#8221; instead of mentioning Popcorn Time specifically.</p>
<p>Given the early success, we can expect more Popcorn Time related lawsuits to surface during the coming months.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112100
title: Fighting an RIAA Piracy Lawsuit Might Sound Cool But..
uri: Fighting-an-RIAA-Piracy-Lawsuit-Might-Sound-Cool-But
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/tEqDKmhjNuw/
content:
<p><img src="media/4b2dfa87.aurous.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/aurous.png" alt="aurous" width="174" height="62" class="alignright size-full wp-image-112078">With its pretty interface there was never any doubt that brand new file-sharing app Aurous would be making headlines upon launch. It&#8217;s certainly lived up to that billing.</p>
<p>The software was <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/aurous-promises-to-be-a-popcorn-time-for-music-150911/">tested here at TF</a> a few weeks ago before it was available to the public. As a general rule we don&#8217;t &#8216;review&#8217; sites or software, however with Aurous things felt different. Call it gut instinct after years of writing about copyright issues but this one had newsworthy &#8211; and litigation &#8211; written all over it.</p>
<p>Sure enough, on Tuesday the RIAA sued Aurous and co-founder Andrew Sampson. There was no surprise in TF&#8217;s virtual newsroom, only a sense of inevitability followed by a simultaneous &#8220;that was quick&#8221;. And the RIAA was definitely quick. In the space of 72 hours they tested Aurous, analyzed its code and briefed their lawyers.</p>
<p>That said, preparation had been done. Like thousands of others the RIAA would&#8217;ve noticed Andrew Sampson&#8217;s <a href="https://andrew.im/">personal website</a> detailing the open source projects he has on the go. And when they were done reading that they no doubt moved to his very public <a href="https://github.com/Codeusa">Github</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Codeusa">Facebook pages</a>. Hell, the guy even has a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Sampson">Wikipedia page</a> dedicated to him.</p>
<p>So, unless the above amounts to seriously impressive decoy activity as part of a master plan in which Sampson leads the RIAA down a spectacular blind alley, we can presume that his true identity is well and truly out of the bag. And when you have the RIAA breathing down your neck, that must absolutely suck.</p>
<p>Yet aside from complying with a restraining order <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/riaa-obtains-restraining-order-against-aurous-151015/">handed down on Thursday</a>, Sampson seems totally unfazed. Maybe it&#8217;s his relatively tender age (he&#8217;s reportedly just 20) that gives him the strength to challenge the CEOs of the major labels to an <a href="https://twitter.com/aurousapp/status/654042284095340544">arm wrestling match</a> on Twitter. Maybe he&#8217;s insane. Maybe, just maybe, he knows something we don&#8217;t and he&#8217;s chuckling to himself right now.</p>
<p>If that&#8217;s the case, good for him I guess, but if not a miserable road lies ahead. Just thinking about what the Grooveshark guys had to go through year after year is stressful enough, not to mention the fact that Paul Geller, the company&#8217;s former EVP of Strategic Development, thinks Sampson&#8217;s fight &#8220;<a href="https://twitter.com/paulgeller/status/654679326948896768">won&#8217;t be pretty</a>&#8220;.</p>
<p>Worryingly Grooveshark had better odds of winning too. The service had a massive head start over Sampson, some licensing deals on board and significant dollars in the bank to put up a fight. Well, they started with dollars in the bank&#8230;&#8230;</p>
<p>And that&#8217;s the thing. To many the idea of fighting the mighty RIAA will have a romantic ring to it, like David bringing down Goliath, like Hannibal inflicting huge losses on the Romans. But these are people&#8217;s lives were talking about and in the case of Sampson (and if his date of birth is accurate) it&#8217;s a life that&#8217;s barely out of the starting blocks.</p>
<p>So why the concern over a person I know little about getting himself into a fight with the RIAA? Well, quite apart from the fact that history shows us that no file-sharing developer has ever got into a proper war with the RIAA and truly won, I can&#8217;t stop thinking about someone who i&#8217;ve been in touch with for a year or so now.</p>
<p>I need to protect his identity but let&#8217;s just say he&#8217;s one of several people facing serious copyright infringement charges that will almost certainly change their lives forever. In our last exchange he sounded absolutely broken and I have no doubt whatsoever that given the chance he would&#8217;ve done things differently. I&#8217;ve been wondering how much that option would be worth to him today &#8211; probably every penny he has.</p>
<p>Sure, being a disruptor and fixing broken business models is the stuff of heroes and by its nature involves many risks, but are those risks really worth taking at 20 years old in 2015? Against the RIAA? A group that knows almost everything there is to know about copyright infringement lawsuits and one that can easily outspend you even if they can&#8217;t win?</p>
<p>Make no mistake, unless the RIAA decides otherwise Sampson is in an unwinnable fight that no lawyer will ever be able to turn around. Even Mike Masnick <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20151015/14445532548/whatever-you-think-riaas-lawsuit-over-aurous-shouldnt-we-be-concerned-that-pretending-sopa-is-law.shtml">said as much</a> on Friday and that is not a good sign.</p>
<p>Importantly, though, there&#8217;s no shame in walking away from an unwinnable fight because by making a strategic withdrawal without your own blood being shed, you&#8217;ve actually won. There&#8217;ll be another way for a bright and talented guy like Sampson to achieve his aims, if he makes the right decisions now. </p>
<p>Good luck Andrew, you know it makes sense.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112302
title: Language Matters: All The Copyright Lobby’s Subtleties
uri: Language-Matters-All-The-Copyright-Lobby-s-Subtleties
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/9NEG7ApeSJY/
content:
<p><img src="media/db7b975c.copyright-branded.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/copyright-branded.jpg" alt="copyright-branded" width="250" height="164" class="alignright size-full wp-image-56211">We&#8217;ve discussed <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/language-matters-framing-the-copyright-monopoly-so-we-can-keep-our-liberties-130714/">industrial protectionism</a> and <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/when-youre-calling-culture-content-y-150830/">content vs container</a> before. To wrap up the theme, I&#8217;d like to look at the more subtle points of lobbyist language, which are just as devious &#8211; if you copy them, you&#8217;re working against your own liberties.</p>
<p>The copyright industry doesn&#8217;t just choose positive phrases to describe their specific &#8220;innovations&#8221;. They also try to establish sayings, phrases, and other combinations of words to make them uttered so often they become colloquilalisms, and yet, have very strong values embedded into them. This is very subtle, but just as important to understanding proper usage of the copyright monopoly, industrial protectionism, and digital restriction measures. It may not be those words that win the mindset, but the words in between &#8211; small words like left, right, black, and white.</p>
<p><strong>For example, let&#8217;s talk about the public domain. What happens when a piece of art falls into the public domain, as many do on January 1 every year?</strong></p>
<p>Let&#8217;s stop right there. Did you react to that sentence? Did you recognize it as obviously biased pro-copyright-industry lobbyist language? Odds are you didn&#8217;t, and yet it&#8217;s carefully crafted to describe the public domain as something starkly negative. This is how successful the copyright industry has been, and that&#8217;s how much of their language we need to change in reframing the debate.</p>
<p>Karl Fogel of Question Copyright <a href="https://twitter.com/qco/status/639171646969004033">tweeted</a> about this a while back, referencing Noel Taylor and pointing out something that&#8217;s obvious only when you see it. To understand how &#8220;a work falls into the public domain&#8221; paints the copyright monopoly as something good and essential, compare that common phrase with the following sentence, which is a much better way of putting it:</p>
<p>What happens when a piece of art is elevated to the public domain, as many are on January 1 every year?</p>
<p>Did you see the difference? It&#8217;s not in the key words, but rather <em>in between</em> them. It&#8217;s about the <em>direction</em> described for the public domain. Our language metaphors attach really strong value to whether an item loses height or climbs on a ladder &#8211; whether it <a href="https://xkcd.com/1133/">goes up</a> or down. The difference between &#8220;falls into&#8221; the public domain and &#8220;is elevated to&#8221; the public domain is essentially the difference between whether the public domain is figurative hell or heaven, respectively. (There&#8217;s another example right there: hell is assumed to be down, heaven assumed to be up, even though it&#8217;s not mentioned anywhere. Very very cultural.)</p>
<p>An even worse way of wording the event, which the copyright industry has sometimes used, is how a work &#8220;lapses into&#8221; the public domain. This may be technically correct, but when you observe it instead in terms of language value, the expression &#8220;lapsing into&#8221; is functionally equivalent to &#8220;being neglected into&#8221; the public domain. It sends a strong signal of worthlessness, when we know the opposite to be true: when a work is in the public domain, it can be built upon freely to create new art of the highest order. (See there? &#8220;Highest order&#8221;, again.)</p>
<p>This can also be used when describing Creative Commons licenses &#8211; and when listing them. We are conditioned to see the item listed as the top as the most coveted and covetable, no matter the context. Merely by listing the maximalist restrictions at the bottom, and then gradually ascending toward CC-Zero (public domain), iterating through gradually <em>higher</em> licenses (see?) until you reach CC-BY, and then the highest license, CC-Zero, at the very top. Just that mere illustration establishes a <em>mindset</em>, one that industry lobbyists have long mastered, and which we must too.</p>
<p>The copyright industry is really skilled at using language to stack the debate against the net and against liberties. When we copy their language, we lose our liberties.</p>
<p><center>
<div class="alignfull" style="border:2px solid #3F3F3F;width:100%;padding:15px;padding-top:8px;padding-bottom:4px;margin-top:20px;margin-bottom:10px;border-radius:10px">
<h3 style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:10px">
<div style="float:right;height:130px;width:39px;margin-left:20px;margin-right:10px"><img src="media/98818a80.Rick_Falkvinge_39x130.jpg" data-original-source="http://falkvinge.net/wp-content/themes/WpNewspaper/images/falkvinge/Rick_Falkvinge_39x130.jpg" style="border:none;-moz-box-shadow:none;-webkit-box-shadow:none" class="quimby_search_image"></div>
<p><span style="color:#3F3F3F;font-size:125%">About The</span> <span style="color:#FF3C78;font-size:125%">Author</span></p>
</h3>
<p style="font-family:PTSansRegular,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-weight:400;line-height:150%;margin-bottom:14px"><small>Rick Falkvinge is a regular columnist on TorrentFreak, sharing his thoughts every other week. He is the founder of the Swedish and first Pirate Party, a whisky aficionado, and a low-altitude motorcycle pilot. His blog at <a href="http://falkvinge.net">falkvinge.net</a> focuses on information policy.</small></p>
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<p><small>Book Falkvinge <a href="http://falkvinge.net/keynotes/">as speaker</a>?</small></p>
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<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112308
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week – 10/19/15
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-10-19-15
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/l1Su9F_InSM/
content:
<p><img src="media/b90e9bb5.dope.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dope.jpg" alt="dope" width="300" height="166" class="alignright size-full wp-image-112311">This week we have just one newcomer in our chart. </p>
<p>Dope 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 BD/DVDrips 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="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-movies-of-the-week-101215/">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>(7)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dope_2015/">Dope</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3850214/">7.5</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L41xwM8tIRQ">trailer</a></td>
<tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/southpaw_2015/">Southpaw</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1798684/">7.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh2ebPxhoLs">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/pixels/">Pixels</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2120120/">5.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIOcWZOQL5M">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(8)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/knock_knock_2015/">Knock Knock</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3605418/">5.5</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti6S3NZ5mKI">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jurassic_world/">Jurassic World</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0369610/">7.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFinNxS5KN4">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(6)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/tomorrowland_2015/">Tomorrowland</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1964418/">6.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWZ7O-RrATY">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/terminator_genisys/">Terminator Genisys</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1340138/">6.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62E4FJTwSuc">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/momentum_2015/">Momentum</a> (HDrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3181776/">5.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pbsqakNL1c">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/paper_towns/">Paper Towns</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3622592/">6.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFGiHm5WMLk">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(9)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/san_andreas/">San Andreas</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2126355/">6.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23VflsU3kZE">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112347
title: Dozens of Pirate Domains Quietly Added to UK ISP Blocklists
uri: Dozens-of-Pirate-Domains-Quietly-Added-to-UK-ISP-Blocklists
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/b7gAkYS2KyQ/
content:
<p><img src="media/a48beb7d.stopstop.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/stopstop.jpg" alt="stopstop" width="180" height="120" class="alignright size-full wp-image-81719">Following a series of High Court orders, six of the UK&#8217;s major ISPs are required to block access to dozens of the world’s largest torrent sites and streaming portals.</p>
<p>It all <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/uk-isps-must-censor-the-pirates-bay-high-court-rules-120430/">began in April 2012</a>, when member labels of the BPI moved to have the notorious Pirate Bay blocked by the country&#8217;s leading providers. Shortly after in July the same year, the MPA successfully argued that Usenet indexing site Newzbin2 should share an identical fate.</p>
<p>Some six months later, popular sites including Kickass, H33T and Fenopy were blocked too, with others such as Movie2K and EZTV joining them shortly after. And in July 2013 the Premier League joined the blockers, with a High Court order <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/uk-isps-ordered-to-block-firstrow-sports-streaming-site-130717/">against First Row Sports</a>.</p>
<p>Ever since, the MPA, BPI, Premier League, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/high-court-orders-uk-isps-to-block-ebook-sites-150527/">book publishers</a> and even <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/high-court-orders-isps-to-block-counterfeiting-websites-141017/">watchmakers</a> have been <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/record-labels-obtain-orders-to-block-21-torrent-sites-141023/">obtaining blocking orders</a> covering hundreds of URLs, in the hope that somehow this will prevent or at least reduce infringement of their rights.</p>
<p>Whether they actually achieve those aims is something rarely discussed but that&#8217;s not the only thing being kept quiet. On a regular basis the rightsholders listed above add new domains and new URLs to existing court orders which ISPs are obliged to comply with. No public announcements are made to advise the public, aside from the &#8216;page blocked&#8217; messages supplied by their ISPs.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, TorrentFreak has learned that October has been a particularly busy month on the web blocking front, with rightsholders adding dozens of domains to existing orders covering almost 90 URLs. They cover official sites, clones, fakes, proxies (general and dedicated) plus assorted mirrors.</p>
<p>On the torrent site front, Demonoid.ws (plus three Demonoid proxies operated by proxyunblocker.org), 7torrents.info, seventorrents.org, seventorrents.pro, soupbit.me, torrentalter.org and ez-torrents.com are now present on the list.</p>
<p>After their main sites were blocked in an earlier court order, several TorrentDay and TorrentButler proxies have also been targeted.</p>
<p>Unsurprisingly, Popcorn Time related domains also make an appearance including getpopcornti.me, popcorntime.is, popcorntime.party and popcorntime.re. </p>
<p>Targeting isoHunt, its clones, proxies and Popcorn Time-style software isoPlex, new URLs to be blocked include izohant.com, izohant.net, izohant.org, isohunters.com and several unblockers operated by unblockme and torrentunblock.com</p>
<p>Action has also been broad on the streaming front. Several PrimeWire related domains (primeseries.to, primewire.fr, primewire.is, primewire.org, primewire.sg, gxiso.com) are the main targets along with several Viooz and Vodly-related domains at viooz.ph, vodly.at, vodly.be and viooz.ac.wwwunblocker.com.</p>
<p>Other streaming related URLs added to the blocklist cover a range of main domains and proxies for letmewatchthis (.at and .link), several LosMovies proxies operated by TorrentProx.com, plus 10 movie25, movie2k and movie4k proxies hosted at ProxyKings.com.</p>
<p>The grouping of the domains and URLs above shows that copyright holders are continuing with <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/uk-isps-quietly-block-lists-of-pirate-bay-proxies-150310/">their strategy</a> of targeting not only main domains, but also any others that could facilitate access by another route. This ensures that copyright holder blocking measures deter not only casual pirates but also those a bit more determined to find an easy way around blockades. </p>
<p>In total around 90 URLs are covered by the latest action, all of which should be blocked by ISPs including Virgin, Sky, TalkTalk and O2 during the coming days.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112299
title: Money and Lawsuit Rumors Break Up Popcorn Time Team
uri: Money-and-Lawsuit-Rumors-Break-Up-Popcorn-Time-Team
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/YuMwmQnNkHg/
content:
<p><img src="media/3b9dbdf1.popcornt.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/popcornt.png" alt="popcornt" width="237" height="106" class="alignright size-full wp-image-101106">With millions of users <a href="https://popcorntime.io/">Popcorntime.io</a> is arguably the most-used Popcorn Time fork around. </p>
<p>The application is the top result when searching for Popcorn Time online, and two months ago the original developers gave it their blessing.</p>
<p>Behind the scenes, however, there have been serious disagreements over how the project should be managed. This weekend internal disputes reached a new high causing several key players to leave the team. </p>
<p>TF heard opinions from developers on both sides, who have a different take on how things unfolded, but the recent trouble began when rumors of a Hollywood lawsuit surfaced. </p>
<p>While there is no concrete evidence, several developers feared that Popcorn Time&#8217;s connection to the VPN.ht service posed a substantial risk. </p>
<p>VPN.ht was founded by Popcorn Time developers &#8216;Wally&#8217; and &#8216;phnz&#8217; who integrated it into Popcorn Time. This added a significant revenue stream, which legally speaking, could make the software a bigger target.</p>
<p>Responding to this threat a small group of developers, including &#8216;KsaRedFx,&#8217; suggested cutting all ties with the VPN and starting over. </p>
<p>&#8220;There was rumor of a lawsuit coming down the chain to Popcorn Time, specifically because of money made off of VPN.ht and its ties to us. It made us vulnerable. Some of the team opted to speak in private about either closing the project or cutting away from VPN.ht,&#8221; KsaRedFx tells TF.</p>
<p>The idea was to release a new Popcorn Time fork without any links to the commercial VPN. Starting over would also allow these developers to gain more power, as they had no control over the domain name and keys of the current project. </p>
<p>The plan was discussed among a small group of developers, but it didn&#8217;t take long before it leaked. When Wally and others learned about the planned fork they saw it as am aggressive takeover instead. </p>
<p>&#8220;KsaRedFx tried to take over the project without prior agreement. When he was not able to, he just wiped the mirrors,&#8221; Wally tells TF. </p>
<p>&#8220;All this started from an assumption that a lawsuit is near against phnz, but at the same time they wanted to release a fork and have the Popcorntime.io website announce that.&#8221;</p>
<p>As a result of the disagreement KsaRedFx&#8217;s access to Popcorn Time&#8217;s Slack and GitHub accounts was disabled. The same happened to developers who sided with him, while others left voluntarily. This means the team will now continue without a handful of its main contributors. </p>
<p>At the same time phnz, one of the VPN.ht founders, <a href="https://davidlemarier.ghost.io/leaving-popcorn-time/">stepped out as well</a>. He publicly announced his departure early yesterday. </p>
<p>It appears that power, control and money play a central role in the breakup. KsaRedFx and other developers were not happy with the commercial angle the VPN introduced to the project but they say their critique wasn&#8217;t heard.</p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve always been quite verbose internally about my distaste for it. However they did not care,&#8221; KsaRedFx says, noting that he was never paid a penny for his work on Popcorn Time. </p>
<p>Wally disagrees and says that several developers received money indirectly, by working for the VPN. According to him, KsaRedFx was paid too. </p>
<p>Other than compensating developers for work on the VPN, some of the revenue was donated to Popcorn Time so it could be used to pay the server bills. </p>
<p>&#8220;Our goal was never to make money,&#8221; Wally says, adding that Popcorn Time remains free and that the VPN was launched to provide a service to those users who are interested in more privacy. </p>
<p>Sammuel86, who left as well, also cites the commercialization and possible legal implications as the main reason to walk out. However, there have been other disagreements in the past.</p>
<p>&#8220;Deep rifts had already been formed by this point in regards to how the servers were being handled and the metaphorical choke-hold a few of the members had on the project,&#8221; he says. </p>
<p>So where will PopcornTime.io go from here?</p>
<p>The remaining team plans to continue developing the application, even though some core developers have stepped away. This means that on the surface not much will change for its users. </p>
<p>The new fork which the disgruntled developers planned to release has been canceled however. Instead, the departing developers will move on to other projects, <a href="https://discuss.popcorntime.io/t/departure-from-project/52769">ending</a> their <a href="https://discuss.popcorntime.io/t/leaving-popcorn-time/52687">Popcorn Time involvement</a>.  </p>
<p>We haven&#8217;t been able to find any concrete leads on the rumored Hollywood lawsuit, so only time will tell if something&#8217;s brewing in the background.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112375
title: Police Seized a Torrent Proxy & 33K Users Kept Accessing it
uri: Police-Seized-a-Torrent-Proxy-33K-Users-Kept-Accessing-it
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/K6zvUHyP8q0/
content:
<p>In July 2013 a new anti-censorship service <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/unblock-torrent-sites-blocked-proxies-camerons-porn-filter-with-immunicity-130728/">arrived on the scene</a>. Targeted at users who found VPNs too expensive and Tor too slow, Immunicity provided free access to a wide range of blocked websites.</p>
<p>A year later and with support from Hollywood, City of London Police <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/uk-police-takes-down-proxy-service-over-piracy-concerns-140806/">arrested Immunicity’s then 20-year-old operator</a>. He&#8217;s still on police bail facing an uncertain future.</p>
<p>For many months the Immunicity website remained online but with a very much changed appearance. Gone was the advice on how to unblock sites such as The Pirate Bay to be replaced by a City of London Police banner explaining that the site was under criminal investigation.</p>
<p>Police previously <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/police-let-seized-pirate-domains-expire-some-up-for-sale-150704/">admitted</a> that they&#8217;d been logging traffic to that site (and many other seized sites for that matter) but recent developments indicate that they could&#8217;ve had access to more than straightforward visits to the Immunicity website. Here&#8217;s how.</p>
<p>Central to the Immunicity system was providing its users with access to a Proxy Auto-Config (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_auto-config">PAC</a>) file. Browsers are easily configured to use PAC files and in just a couple of minutes Immunicity users were able to download a custom PAC and begin opening blocked sites via the Immunicity.org domain.</p>
<p>However, police took effective control of that domain when they arrested its owner last year and while former users might have been disappointed that the service no longer worked as advertised, thousands left their browsers configured to continue using it. How do we know that? Well, the UK Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit no longer has control of the domain.</p>
<p>At the end of August activists from <a href="https://brasshorncommunications.uk/">Brass Horn Communications</a>, a non-profit entity which operates Tor exits and other anti-censorship systems such as <a href="http://PacketFlagon.is">Packetflagon</a>, managed to obtain the Immunicity domain. Until three days ago it displayed a modified version of the famous police seizure notice.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/a09b0fad.pipcu-immunicity.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pipcu-immunicity.png" alt="pipcu-immunicity" width="650" height="643" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-112391"></center></p>
<p>Speaking with TorrentFreak the operator of Brass Horn Communications says that since taking over the Immunicity domain it has become apparent that tens of thousands of former Immunicity users failed to remove the service&#8217;s PAC file from their browsers. This means that even after the police took control of Immunicity.org they continued to direct their traffic to the seized domain.</p>
<p>&#8220;More than a year [after the police raid] there were over 33k unique addresses still surrendering control of their operating systems / browsers (plus Steam, OS updates, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_Certificate_Status_Protocol">OCSP</a> / <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revocation_list">CRL requests</a> etc) over to the Immunicity Proxy Auto-Config file,&#8221; he reveals.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Police (or another malicious actor had they acquired the domain) could have done a lot of damage.&#8221;</p>
<p>We asked Brass Horn&#8217;s spokesperson about the best and worst case scenarios for the users whose browsers continued to access the Immunicity PAC file. The best case is that nothing happened, the worst is more complicated.</p>
<p>&#8220;We know that the Police were <a href="https://twitter.com/The_IPO/status/649894131716648960">monitoring the access logs</a> of the seized domains so in theory they could simply have monitored everyone who requested the PAC file and recorded that,&#8221; he explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;But they could have also published a PAC file that sent *all* traffic through a proxy under their control and gathered metadata. They would have been able to alter HTTP content in flight and monitor which IPs were going to which websites, even if they were over SSL. Granted they couldn&#8217;t see which URL was being visited but that&#8217;s besides the point.&#8221;</p>
<p>Brass Horn&#8217;s operator says people should be aware that while routing their traffic through third parties has the ability to decrease censorship efforts, there are always security considerations to keep in mind.</p>
<p>&#8220;People need to be aware of the risks of PAC proxies, VPNs etc (e.g. all their traffic is at the whim of the VPN / Proxy operator). With that said, Brass Horn Communications won&#8217;t surrender any domains and will be publishing DNSSEC records, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_DNS_record_types#TLSA">TLSA DNS</a> records and long lived <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_Strict_Transport_Security">HSTS headers</a> to hopefully break any seizures from having an effect.&#8221;</p>
<p>For now, however, Immunicity is in safe hands. Nevertheless, its new operator is advising former users to immediately delve into their browser settings to disable access to the old PAC file.</p>
<p>Full instructions on how to create and install a new PAC file are provided at <a href="https://immunicity.org/">Immunicity.org</a>, which is now a fully operational <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/takedown-resistant-hydra-proxy-launches-to-beat-censorship-150822/">PacketFlagon site-unblocking shard</a>. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112408
title: BrowserPopcorn Shut Down By the MPAA, Dev Says
uri: BrowserPopcorn-Shut-Down-By-the-MPAA-Dev-Says
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/9vTJv4-qmeo/
content:
<p>Last Friday, TorrentFreak was contacted by Milan Kragujević, a web developer with a brand new service up his sleeve. As the name implies, BrowserPopcorn.xyz looked very similar to the Popcorn Time application that has gained so much publicity in recent times. </p>
<p>In initial tests the site certainly worked very well too and for people looking for an easy, browser-based Popcorn Time-style experience, BrowserPopcorn offered everything.</p>
<p>We didn&#8217;t write about the project (more about why in a moment) but <a href="http://bgr.com/2015/10/19/popcorn-time-download-not-needed-browser-app/">others did</a>, enough to attract plenty of eyes over the weekend. According to its operator, that attention also extended to none other than the MPAA who he claims took down the service today.</p>
<p><center><br>
<h4>The greeting displayed on BrowserPopcorn.xyz</h4>
<p><img src="media/eb1b358c.mpaa-browser-popcorn.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mpaa-browser-popcorn.jpg" alt="mpaa-browser-popcorn" width="606" height="117" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-112409"></center></p>
<p>If true (Kragujević didn&#8217;t immediately respond to a request for comment), the news hardly comes as a surprise. While Popcorn Time itself is a thorn in the side of Hollywood, making the same kind of service available to anyone with a browser (BrowserPopcorn even worked nicely on Android) is something that the MPAA won&#8217;t tolerate if it can be avoided.</p>
<p>At this stage it&#8217;s unclear what tactics the MPAA employed to shutter the service although a tersely-worded email to its hosting provider could&#8217;ve easily done the trick.</p>
<p>In any event the MPAA will be pleased that the site has gone so quickly but it was only a matter of time before BrowserPopcorn collapsed under its own success. Taking nothing away from Kragujević who is both articulate, talented and apparently just 15-years-old, we know from experience that these kinds of projects need resources behind them to keep going. Here&#8217;s why.</p>
<p>While BrowserPopcorn looks and feels like Popcorn Time, uses the same YTS.to content, and is being presented in the media as Popcorn Time in a browser, the way the service works behind the scenes is notably different.</p>
<p>The Popcorn Time application has BitTorrent under the hood, meaning that users of the software use their own bandwidth (both upload and download) to distribute the content to each other. BrowserPopcorn relies on a different mechanism which means it operates more like YouTube, gobbling up bandwidth at an alarming rate while using centralized servers.</p>
<p>When we spoke with Kragujević again on Saturday he was operating six dedicated servers, each capable of serving around 200 users. Putting that into perspective, an article on the topic from us would&#8217;ve ensured that the site would&#8217;ve become overloaded within hours, minutes even.</p>
<p>At that point the story would be self-defeating, since the topic of discussion wouldn&#8217;t exist. That&#8217;s never popular with readers so we told Kragujević we&#8217;d skip for now. However, that doesn&#8217;t mean that BrowserPopcorn isn&#8217;t an interesting project.</p>
<p>&#8220;Basically, BrowserPopcorn is powered by <a href="http://torrentstream.me/">TorrentStream.me</a>. TorrentStream works by running an instance of <a href="https://github.com/asapach/peerflix-server">peerflix-server</a> (the same engine that Popcorn Time uses) and there is a PHP script which handles interfacing between node.js and the outside world,&#8221; Kragujević explained. </p>
<p>&#8220;When you request [a movie], the PHP script adds a torrent to peerflix-server and starts proxying the data from it to the user.&#8221;</p>
<p>And of course, this is where the whole things becomes extremely bandwidth hungry. A true BitTorrent-client-in-a-browser solution would actually be perfect for this application, but that has its own difficulties.</p>
<p>&#8220;This is not an in-browser solution as that is impossible currently,&#8221; Kragujević said.</p>
<p>&#8220;There are attempts, like <a href="https://webtorrent.io/">WebTorrent.io</a>, but that only works if the peers are running the same client and communicate with websockets. It has no support for standard torrent clients like Deluge, uTorrent, Transmission, Vuze, etc.&#8221;</p>
<p>Whether BrowserPopcorn will make a comeback remains to be seen, but in the meantime there are several other similar sites ready to take up the slack, including <a href="http://torba.se/">Torba.se</a> which has been around for some time already.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112357
title: MPAA Asks Government to Facilitate Private Anti-Piracy Deals
uri: MPAA-Asks-Government-to-Facilitate-Private-Anti-Piracy-Deals
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/owT16x98iOw/
content:
<p><img src="media/fdb36aee.mpaa-logo.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mpaa-logo.png" alt="mpaa-logo" width="259" height="170" class="alignright size-full wp-image-89856">Following the failed SOPA and PIPA bills, entertainment industry groups have switched their efforts away from legislation and towards voluntary cooperation with various stakeholders. </p>
<p>This has resulted in several agreements in which Internet providers, advertising agencies, payment processors and other companies are more actively involved in deterring piracy. </p>
<p>These deals have been encouraged and facilitated by the Obama administration, often outside public view. The Copyright Alert System, for example, was negotiated <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/ifpi-governments-should-push-for-3-strikes-anti-piracy-plans-130407/">with help</a> from Vice President Joe Biden.</p>
<p>In a letter sent to Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC) Daniel Marti this week, Hollywood&#8217;s MPAA points out the importance of the Government&#8217;s involvement in this matter. </p>
<p>&#8220;Encouraging industry players to work together has been one of the IPEC’s most valuable contributions to combating online copyright theft,&#8221; the MPAA writes (<a href="media/8ddb4aaa.IPEC-Strategic-Plan-10.16.15.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/IPEC-Strategic-Plan-10.16.15.pdf">pdf</a>).</p>
<p>However, aside from the successes there are other areas where the movie and music industries would like to see more significant progress. </p>
<p>Despite various lobbying efforts the movie studios haven&#8217;t been able to strike a satisfactory deal with the domain name industry, search engines and hosting companies.  </p>
<p>&#8220;&#8230;at least three areas have shown lagging progress: the use of domain names for unlawful conduct; the prevalence of piracy websites on the first pages of search results; and the use of data storage services to host websites trafficking in stolen content.&#8221; </p>
<p>To motivate various stakeholders to take action, the MPAA wants the U.S. Government to intervene. The Obama administration is currently working on a new Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement and the MPAA says that voluntary agreements should play a key role.</p>
<p>&#8220;We ask the IPEC to address each of these issues in the upcoming strategic plan, as well as to continue coordinating enforcement actions against those who engage in pervasive theft of copyrighted content,&#8221; the MPAA writes.</p>
<p>The movie studios provide a detailed overview of what needs to improve in all three areas, starting with domain name registrars and registries. </p>
<h4>Domain registrars and registries</h4>
<p>According to the MPAA, many domain name registrars and registries fail to live up to their contracts with ICANN, the main oversight body for the Internet’s global domain name system.</p>
<p>Several contract provisions require the companies to properly respond to abuse of domain names, including by sites that facilitate the sharing of copyrighted material, but thus far this has failed to yield satisfactory results.</p>
<p>&#8220;To date, however, registrars have failed to respect these provisions and ICANN has not enforced them, summarily rejecting nearly all complaints from rights holders,&#8221; the MPAA notes.</p>
<p>ICANN previously responded to the criticism by pointing out that it doesn&#8217;t plan to become the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/icann-refuses-to-play-piracy-police-150612/">Internet police</a> by regulating speech and content. However, the MPAA disagrees, and notes that ICANN should enforce its contracts. </p>
<p>&#8220;There is an immense difference between interfering with content, speech, or political freedom on the one hand, and enforcing contract provisions prohibiting unlawful conduct on the other,&#8221; the movie group writes. </p>
<h4>Search engines</h4>
<p>Cooperation with search engines is another hot issue. Despite repeated calls to take a tougher stance against piracy the MPAA says it hasn&#8217;t made adequate progress on this front.  </p>
<p>&#8220;Unfortunately, some search engines continue — through their search results, through suggested searches, and through sponsored advertising — to provide the pathway through which many users learn about and reach sites that engage in or facilitate online theft.&#8221;  </p>
<p>Ideally, Google and other search engines should demote infringing sites, promote legal services, and completely remove results for sites that have been found guilty by law. In addition, auto-complete suggestions should no longer feature terms that are associated with piracy. </p>
<p><center><strong>Search engine requirements</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/65e21d1f.mpaasearcg.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mpaasearcg.png" alt="mpaasearcg" width="567" height="291" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-112367"></center></p>
<p>The MPAA indirectly accuses search engines of facilitating and profiting from piracy, noting that they show no reluctance to act against other offensive material such as child porn or malware.</p>
<p>&#8220;What is important to recognize is that no company is above the law and no company should facilitate illegal behavior. Search engines frequently block and prioritize results when they decide it is in their interest — or in the public good — to do so.&#8221; </p>
<h4>Hosting and CDN services</h4>
<p>Finally, the Hollywood group would like to see more cooperation from various hosting services. There are still many companies that refuse to take action, despite their obligations under the DMCA. </p>
<p>&#8220;The lack of cooperation from these technology companies makes the job of enforcing rights far more difficult than it needs to be.&#8221;</p>
<p>In a similar vein the MPAA calls out content delivery networks including Cloudflare. These companies often offer services to pirate sites, but do very little to address copyright infringements.</p>
<p>&#8220;The most prominent example is the U.S. company Cloudflare. While these companies provide many valuable services to legitimate websites, they also provide them to sites dedicated to copyright theft,&#8221; the MPAA writes. </p>
<p>&#8220;These companies also too often refuse to enforce their own terms of service to cut off support for clearly illegal sites.&#8221;</p>
<p>Many of the suggestions put forward have been made in the past, so it&#8217;s doubtful that big changes will be made without an intervention. Previously, the MPAA suggested a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-tighten-the-law-to-force-voluntary-anti-piracy-cooperation-130822/">tightening of the law</a> to force voluntary agreements, which may remain one of the options.</p>
<p>The MPAA&#8217;s suggestions will be taken into consideration by Intellectual Property Czar Daniel Marti, who is expected to release the 2016 &#8211; 2019 Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement during the months to come.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112434
title: KickassTorrents Blocked Again Over “Harmful Programs”
uri: KickassTorrents-Blocked-Again-Over-Harmful-Programs
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/ZocVGPycD6I/
content:
<p><img src="media/80932f7c.kickasstorrents_500x5001.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/kickasstorrents_500x5001.png" alt="kickasstorrents_500x500" width="250" height="250" class="alignright size-full wp-image-99785">Starting a few hours ago Chrome and Firefox began blocking user access to KickassTorrents (<a href="https://kat.cr">KAT</a>) again. </p>
<p>Google&#8217;s safebrowsing algorithm flagged the website under its ‘unwanted software’ program, which is often triggered by malicious third-party advertising.</p>
<p>Instead of the usual homepage, visitors now see an ominous red warning banner when they enter Kat.cr into their browsers.</p>
<p>&#8220;The site ahead contains harmful programs,&#8221; Google Chrome informs its users.</p>
<p>&#8220;Attackers on kat.cr might attempt to trick you into installing programs that harm your browsing experience (for example, by changing your homepage or showing extra ads on sites you visit),&#8221; the warning adds.</p>
<p>Mozilla&#8217;s Firefox browser <a href="media/eda61d28.4JVCiYF.png" data-original-source="http://i.imgur.com/4JVCiYF.png">displays</a> a similar message</p>
<p><center><img src="media/c3c3da46.harm.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/harm.png" alt="harm" width="580" height="382" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-108067"></center></p>
<p>Google previously said that the &#8220;unwanted software&#8221; policy applies to all websites but added that torrent sites are common targets for &#8216;unwanted software&#8217; distributors. </p>
<p>The company further stressed that the warnings will automatically disappear when the flagged sites no longer violate Google&#8217;s policy.</p>
<p>According to Kat.cr&#8217;s safebrowsing page &#8220;attackers&#8221; might use the torrent site to trick visitors into installing programs that harm their browsing experience. In addition, KAT is believed to link to &#8220;dangerous websites.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><strong>Kat.cr&#8217;s Safe Browsing <a href="https://www.google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?site=http%3A%2F%2Fkat.cr%2F&#038;client=googlechrome&#038;hl=en-US">diagnostics page</a></strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/16859006.katdiagharm.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/katdiagharm.png" alt="katdiagharm" width="600" height="362" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-112435"></center></p>
<p>TF asked the KAT team for a comment and they informed us that this time the block may be a false positive. In any case, they are working hard to address the malware issues.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are working on the malware detection system and soon hope to get rid of the problem permanently,&#8221; the KAT teams says.</p>
<p>Two weeks ago, when the site was <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/chrome-and-firefox-block-kickasstorrents-over-harmful-programs-151009/">also flagged</a>, the operators were also quick to remove the malicious advertiser. Despite the swift response, it took more than two days before the site was unblocked on both Firefox and Chrome. </p>
<p>Impatient or adventurous users who want to bypass the warning can do so by clicking the details link, or <a href="https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/99020?hl=en">by disabling</a> their browser&#8217;s malware warnings altogether, at their own risk.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112429
title: Popcorn Time & YTS Global Outages Cause Concern
uri: Popcorn-Time-YTS-Global-Outages-Cause-Concern
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/MePWWpEvbV8/
content:
<p><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">This week a new service called BrowserPopcorn debuted and <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/browserpopcorn-shut-down-by-the-mpaa-151020/">then shutdown</a>. Just to get things absolutely clear, that has nothing whatsoever to do with today&#8217;s situation. With that out of the way, let&#8217;s move on.</p>
<p>As reported earlier this week, the main fork of Popcorn Time is undergoing transition. <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/lawsuit-rumors-break-up-popcorn-time-team-151019/">Disputes over money and power</a> have hit the project at its core. As a result key members have now left the project while others insist they will continue.</p>
<p><strong>Today&#8217;s Popcorn problems</strong></p>
<p>With that turmoil already concerning the community, this morning there are fresh issues making waves. Several hours ago the project&#8217;s official domain &#8211; PopcornTime.io &#8211; went completely offline.</p>
<p>The domain itself is owned by David Lemarier, aka &#8216;phnz&#8217;, one of the devs who left earlier this week. With that in mind it&#8217;s certainly possible (or even likely) that the outage is connected to his departure. While there are some reports that the domain is now slowly coming back online, the site itself is still accessible by <a href="http://45.33.69.37/">direct IP address</a>.</p>
<p>However, the outage is affecting more than just the Popcorn Time domain. For reasons that are not yet clear the project&#8217;s official <a href="https://www.facebook.com/PopcornTimeTv">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/popcorntimetv">Twitter</a> accounts (both named &#8216;popcorntimetv&#8217;) have also gone down, with the latter now complaining that it simply does not exist.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/93642be1.pop-twitter.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pop-twitter.jpg" alt="pop-twitter" width="646" height="298" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-112436"></center></p>
<p>But the problems go deeper still. An externally-hosted status page for PopcornTime.io reveals additional problems.</p>
<p>Not only are there issues with nameservers, the website and the forum, some of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application_programming_interface">APIs</a> on which the entire PopcornTime application relies are also non-functioning, causing the whole system to fall over.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/3783e97e.popcorn-status.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/popcorn-status.png" alt="popcorn-status" width="650" height="213" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-112439"></center></p>
<p>The reason the movie API is down is the issue currently causing most concern, since it&#8217;s likely to keep Popcorn Time offline, even when PopcornTime.io returns. Here&#8217;s why.</p>
<p><strong>The YTS (YIFY) connection</strong></p>
<p>Most if not all versions of Popcorn Time rely on a website called YTS.re for their movie libraries and if YTS has problems, Popcorn Time has problems too. At the time of writing and for the past several hours, YTS.to has been completely offline too, meaning that Popcorn Time is pretty much broken.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak contacted the admin of YTS (formerly known as YIFY) but did not immediately receive a response to our request for comment. However, when accessed directly, a public facing server operated by YTS does return the message &#8211; &#8220;Be Back Soon :)&#8221; &#8211; but it&#8217;s unclear if that relates directly to the current situation or is a generic downtime message.</p>
<p><strong>Conclusion</strong></p>
<p>At least for now it appears that the problems facing PopcornTime.io and its team are separate from the problems being experienced by YTS. However, due to PopcornTime&#8217;s reliance on YTS for content, the system falls down when the latter doesn&#8217;t function as it should.</p>
<p>More on the situation as we have it.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112468
title: Google Opposes Whole-Site Removal of “Pirate” Domains
uri: Google-Opposes-Whole-Site-Removal-of-Pirate-Domains
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/OY88qge_bXw/
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">In recent years the movie and music industries have continually pressured Google to take action against online piracy. </p>
<p>Ideally, groups including the MPAA and RIAA want search engines to remove clearly infringing websites from their search results entirely, especially if courts have previously found them to be acting illegally.</p>
<p>Just recently the MPAA <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-asks-government-to-facilitate-private-anti-piracy-deals-151020/">reiterated</a> this stance in recommendations to U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC) Daniel Marti. </p>
<p>However, Google disagrees and is now urging the Government not to facilitate or promote so-called &#8220;whole-site&#8221; removals. According to the search giant this may lead to overbroad censorship.  </p>
<p>&#8220;Unfortunately, whole-site removal is ineffective and can easily result in censorship of lawful material,&#8221; Google <a href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/286275022/TorrentFreak-Google-Comment-Development-of-the-Joint-Strategic-Plan-on-Intellectual-Property-Enforcement">writes</a>. </p>
<p>In its letter Google points out that blogging sites or social networks can contain infringing material, but that removing an entire site would also take down perfectly legitimate content.</p>
<p>The MPAA is probably not referring to blog platforms, but The Pirate Bay instead. However, according to Google the current DMCA takedown system is both effective and efficient enough to deal with all infringing content</p>
<p>&#8220;The DMCA provides copyright owners with an effective and efficient framework for removing any infringing page on a site,&#8221; Google stresses, noting that it has removed hundreds of millions of URLs already this year.</p>
<p>Removing or blocking entire websites might not only chill free speech but also prove counterproductive, Google says.</p>
<p>&#8220;Whole site removal would simply drive piracy to new domains, legitimate sites, and social networks,&#8221; the company notes, adding that copyright holders should go after the site&#8217;s revenue sources instead. </p>
<p>Another downside of whole-site removal is that the U.S. would send the wrong message to the rest of the world. </p>
<p>If the U.S. is prepared to censor entire websites based on copyright violations, then other regimes may find it easier to demand the same based on local laws. For example, by demanding the removal of news sites based on political statements, or insults to religion.   </p>
<p>&#8220;This would jeopardize free speech principles, emerging services, and the free flow of information online globally and in contexts far removed from copyright,&#8221; Google notes. </p>
<p>Instead of taking a repressive approach, the U.S. Government should address piracy in a more positive way by encouraging the development of legal alternatives. </p>
<p>&#8220;Piracy thrives when consumer demand goes unmet by legitimate supply,&#8221; Google writes. </p>
<p>&#8220;Online services like Google Play, Spotify, Netflix, and iTunes have demonstrated that the most effective way to combat piracy on the web is to offer attractive legal alternatives to consumers.&#8221; </p>
<p>Google&#8217;s letter will be taken into consideration by Intellectual Property Czar Daniel Marti, who is expected to release the 2016 – 2019 Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement during the months to come.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112456
title: Europe’s ‘Net Neutrality’ Could Allow Torrent and VPN Throttling
uri: Europe-s-Net-Neutrality-Could-Allow-Torrent-and-VPN-Throttling
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/me_sKkTtNf4/
content:
<p><img src="media/269797aa.throttle.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/throttle.jpg" alt="throttle" width="200" height="200" class="alignright size-full wp-image-8967">For several years politicians have debated on how Europe should approach net neutrality. </p>
<p>The results of these negotiations are included in the Telecoms Single Market (TSM) regulation, which will be voted on early next week. </p>
<p>If the European Parliament adopts the new rules they will become law, replacing existing network neutrality laws in member states of the EU. </p>
<p>This is a positive development for net neutrality supporters in countries where legislation is lacking, but not necessarily in the Netherlands, Slovenia and Norway, which already have strong rules in place.</p>
<p>Various <a href="https://savetheinternet.eu/">activist groups and experts</a> warn that there won&#8217;t be any real network neutrality if some crucial amendments fail to pass. These amendments will ensure that specific types of traffic aren&#8217;t throttled around the clock, for example. </p>
<p>The current language would allow ISPs to throttle BitTorrent traffic permanently if that would optimize overall &#8220;transmission quality.&#8221; This is not a far-fetched argument, since torrent traffic can be quite demanding on a network. </p>
<p><a href="https://law.stanford.edu/directory/barbara-van-schewick/">Barbara van Schewick</a>, Professor of Law and Director of Stanford Law School&#8217;s Center for Internet and Society, tells us that in its current form the net neutrality regulations pose a significant threat to file-sharing protocols and services. </p>
<p>&#8220;This is a real problem for P2P applications. ISPs regularly throttle or otherwise interfere with peer-to-peer file-sharing applications to manage congestion if they are not prevented from doing so by network neutrality rules,&#8221; van Schewick says.</p>
<p>&#8220;The provisions would allow ISPs to throttle or de-prioritize P2P file-sharing around the clock based on the &#8216;objective technical requirement&#8217; that P2P file-sharing is not sensitive to delay,&#8221; she adds. </p>
<p>This would lead to lower download speeds for average downloaders, for example. In addition, it would be troubling for P2P and BitTorrent-based real-time streaming services which are particularly sensitive to delays. </p>
<p>Besides file-sharing traffic the proposed legislation also allows Internet providers to interfere with encrypted traffic, including VPN connections. </p>
<p>Since encrypted traffic can&#8217;t be classified though deep packet inspection, ISPs may choose to de-prioritize it altogether.  </p>
<p>&#8220;Encryption makes it impossible to identify the type of application, so ISPs who implement that kind of traffic management have generally put encrypted traffic in the slow lane,&#8221; van Schewick explains. </p>
<p>&#8220;Even if an ISP wasn&#8217;t specifically targeting P2P file-sharing applications, this would hurt all P2P applications that encrypt their traffic,&#8221; she adds.</p>
<p>The concerns outlined above are shared by several Members of Parliament who have introduced amendments to fix the issues. However. in order to get them accepted they require support from the majority of Parliament.</p>
<p>To push them in the right direction, a coalition of digital rights groups have created the <a href="https://savetheinternet.eu/">SaveTheInternet</a> website where European citizens can share their concerns, encouraging their representatives to vote in favor of the amendments. </p>
<p>More information and comments on the European net neutrality rules are available <a href="https://medium.com/@schewick/europe-is-about-to-adopt-bad-net-neutrality-rules-here-s-how-to-fix-them-bbfa4d5df0c8#.omo6jlgc0">on Medium</a>. Next week we&#8217;ll know if the campaign helped, or if BitTorrent and VPN traffic are still at risk.  </p>
<p><center><img src="media/284e3fd0.netcount.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/netcount.png" alt="netcount" width="565" height="351" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-112508"></center></p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112526
title: Cash Bounties for Catching Cinema Pirates Doubles in UK
uri: Cash-Bounties-for-Catching-Cinema-Pirates-Doubles-in-UK
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/zgS988mB4zk/
content:
<p><img src="media/c9e6482e.cash1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cash1.jpg" alt="cash" width="200" height="121" class="alignright size-full wp-image-24443">The leaking of first-run movies onto the Internet continues to be a thorn in the side of Hollywood and its distribution partners around the world.</p>
<p>The studios themselves refuse to make their own content widely available on the day of release, which means that people who prefer their own homes over a cinema have only one (illegal) choice if they wish to view the latest movies quickly.</p>
<p>This unwelcome competition is something Hollywood is desperate to stamp out and increasingly it&#8217;s turning to workers in the movie chain to help it to do so. One of those efforts includes rewarding cinema staff for remaining vigilant during screenings in order to shut down so-called &#8216;cammers&#8217;.</p>
<p>In the UK cinema staff are motivated by cash rewards handed out by the Film Distributors’ Association and the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT). Together the groups have paid out <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/cinema-staff-catch-movie-cammers-pick-up-cash-rewards-150423/">thousands of pounds</a> to pirate-catchers and now they&#8217;re about to up the rewards considerably.</p>
<p>During a ceremony at Universal Pictures yesterday, the FDA and FACT announced the launch of an &#8220;enhanced rewards period&#8221; which will see cash payments to cinema workers doubled from £500 to £1000 for each thwarted attempt at unauthorized recording.</p>
<p>The period will run between 23rd October and 1st January 2016 and is set to coincide with a batch of new releases hitting UK cinema screens.</p>
<p>&#8220;From next week through to Christmas, the exceptional run of new releases is highly attractive both to mass-market cinemagoers and, regrettably also, to the networks of copyright pirates who persist in trying to rip off the creative industries and consumers,&#8221; says Mark Batey, Chief Executive of the Film Distributors&#8217; Association.</p>
<p>During yesterday&#8217;s event at Universal Pictures, more than a dozen UK cinema workers received awards for their vigilance earlier in the year. In all, 13 employees received a cash prize and a certificate after intervening against unauthorized cammings of Fast and Furious 7, Pitch Perfect 2 and Minions.</p>
<p>According to figures released by FACT, in total there were 11 incidents of which 10 were attended by police. Four of those incidents led to a formal caution and one incident led to two arrests.</p>
<p>“Detecting and disrupting illegal recording in cinemas is a key area of FACT’s work to protect the creative content that we all love,&#8221; says FACT Director General Kieron Sharp.</p>
<p>&#8220;Illegal camming is still the source of more than 90% of all pirated films and so our film protection programme is essential to protecting new releases and preventing criminal activity.&#8221;</p>
<p>Today&#8217;s rewards announcement coincides perfectly with the impending launch of upcoming James Bond blockbuster &#8216;Spectre&#8217;. The movie will enjoy its world premiere at London’s Royal Albert Hall on Monday and will be immediately released nationwide. FACT has <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/big-james-bond-spectre-piracy-threat-could-be-avoided-150923/">already indicated</a> that security of the movie will be intense, with night vision goggles deployed to catch would-be cammers.</p>
<p>The anti-piracy group will be hoping that £1,000 will prove an exciting prospect for cinema workers around the country and enough to stop any leak of Spectre before its November 6 launch in the United States.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112464
title: Court to Decide Whether Sweden Blocks The Pirate Bay
uri: Court-to-Decide-Whether-Sweden-Blocks-The-Pirate-Bay
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Zdary6N5QYg/
content:
<p><img src="media/0e036607.pirate-bay.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-bay.jpg" width="200" height="207" class="alignright">Last November, Universal Music, Sony Music, Warner Music, Nordisk Film and the Swedish Film Industry teamed up against Swedish ISP Bredbandsbolaget (Broadband Company).</p>
<p>In a lawsuit filed at the Stockholm District Court, the entertainment industry plaintiffs argued that Bredbandsbolaget is liable for the Internet piracy carried out by its own subscribers. They say that if the ISP wants to free itself from blame, it should stop its customers accessing The Pirate Bay and streaming portal Swefilmer.</p>
<p>Bredbandsbolaget took just over a month <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/swedish-isp-refuses-to-block-the-pirate-bay-141217/">to reject</a> the demands of the entertainment industry groups, announcing that its only role is to provide customers with Internet access while facilitating the free-flow of information.</p>
<p>After a February 20, 2014 district court meeting between the parties concluded without consensus or formal agreement, a full trial was inevitable. That began yesterday in Stockholm, with Bredbandsbolaget facing off against a who&#8217;s who of movie and TV companies, local distributors, and the musical might of IFPI.</p>
<p>The plaintiffs&#8217; position is clear. By failing to block its subscribers from accessing the sites, Bredbandsbolaget itself is facilitating copyright infringement and therefore liable to pay damages to the entertainment companies. Previously this aspect of the law has only been tested against file-sharing services such as The Pirate Bay.</p>
<p>Needless to say, the ISP is concerned not only by the copyright implications, but also the thin end of the wedge in respect of other crimes.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is dangerous if we are sentenced as accomplices or participants to crimes committed online. In this case it is about copyright infringement, but it is difficult to logically explain why it would stop at that,&#8221; company spokesperson Aron Samuelsson <a href="http://www.aftonbladet.se/senastenytt/ttnyheter/inrikes/article21623184.ab">explains</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;If one takes the example of WikiLeaks one can easily argue that there is a spread of classified material taking place. Another parallel is on social media where there are threats, defamation and even copyright infringement. Do we have to act, even in those cases?&#8221;</p>
<p>Speaking on behalf of the plaintiffs, Per Strömbäck acknowledges the gravity of the case but dismisses fears that any ruling against the ISP will have wider implications.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is a question that must be taken seriously but in 13 other EU countries where rightsholders have won similar cases escalation hasn&#8217;t occurred,&#8221; Strömbäck says.</p>
<p>&#8220;This case applies specifically to copyright and it cannot be a surprise to anyone that there is an exceptionally large problem with copyright infringement online. We think it is reasonable for Swedish creators to have the same protection enjoyed by those neighboring countries.&#8221;</p>
<p>But while Strömbäck&#8217;s comments appear to limit the effect of the ruling in respect of other crimes, the scope in copyright remains enormous.</p>
<p>Should the court decide that Bredbandsbolaget is liable for infringements carried out by subscribers using The Pirate Bay, then by extension all local ISPs can be held liable in the same manner. Furthermore, if ISPs are liable for infringing Pirate Bay users, they can also be held liable for subscribers using every other unauthorized service.</p>
<p>This, of course, is where the floodgates open. If the plaintiffs prevail, all entertainment companies will be able to go to court in Sweden and demand that ISPs A to Z block file-sharing services 1 to 200 &#8211; and beyond. It&#8217;s a never-ending game that has seen hundreds of URLs blocked at the ISP level in the UK, mostly without any public scrutiny or oversight.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112584
title: Popcorn Time Chaos Triggers More Downtime
uri: Popcorn-Time-Chaos-Triggers-More-Downtime
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/-NsPYZRF8zs/
content:
<p><img src="media/3b9dbdf1.popcornt.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/popcornt.png" alt="popcornt" width="237" height="106" class="alignright size-full wp-image-101106">This week has descended into an incredible mess for Popcorn Time, and the end is still not in sight. </p>
<p>It began on Monday when news broke that several of the core developers had <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/lawsuit-rumors-break-up-popcorn-time-team-151019/">decided to leave</a> the PopcornTime.io project, fearing a possible lawsuit. </p>
<p>Soon after, the application&#8217;s .io domain name <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/popcorn-time-yts-global-outages-cause-concern-151021/">stopped working</a>, a domain that was controlled by one of the departed team members. Yesterday these issues seemed to be resolved but the comeback didn&#8217;t last long. </p>
<p>The Popcorn Time team has just informed TorrentFreak that they have lost control again. They put in a request to transfer <a href="https://popcorntime.io">the domain</a> to a new owner but their service provider Gandi.net just retracted the changes.</p>
<p>&#8220;In the last few days someone has been tempering with our infrastructure, mainly our DNS service, and we can&#8217;t convince our provider Gandi.net that we are us and want to stay online,&#8221; the Popcorn Time teams says. </p>
<p>The domain was supposed to be transferred to one of the remaining developers, who&#8217;s also a business associate of the current domain owner, but Gandi is refusing to cooperate. </p>
<p>As a result the infrastructure of the main Popcorn Time fork is no longer working, nor are people able to download new copies of the popular application. </p>
<p><center><img src="media/a6d1a1cc.popfail.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/popfail.png" alt="popfail" width="600" height="195" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-112586"></center></p>
<p>It&#8217;s unclear how long the problem will persist but the developers are not throwing in the towel just yet.</p>
<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re doing our best to maintain the service but today we can&#8217;t give any timeline of things getting better. Please hang on, we&#8217;re working day and night to get this sorted out,&#8221; they say.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, various other Popcorn Time developments are only complicating the situation. </p>
<p>Popular torrent site and release group YTS, also known as YIFY, has been <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/popcorn-time-yts-global-outages-cause-concern-151021/">down for days</a> as well. Since YTS is used as the main torrent resource by many Popcorn Time applications, these are also unable to stream movies. </p>
<p>Finally, there&#8217;s the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/browserpopcorn-shut-down-by-the-mpaa-151020/">Browser Popcorn</a> website, which gained mainstream attention over the past week. While this site has nothing to do with any of the applications, it does add to the chaos, resulting in inaccurate news reports all around.</p>
<p>It will probably take a few more days before the dust settles, or for everything to fall apart. Considering the turbulent events of the past few days, it could go either way. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112536
title: Pirate Party Beats Iceland’s Government Coalition in the Polls
uri: Pirate-Party-Beats-Iceland-s-Government-Coalition-in-the-Polls
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/hYicrmx8zQM/
content:
<p><img src="media/8bd18bcb.pirate-ice.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-ice.jpg" alt="pirate-ice" width="180" height="160" class="alignright size-full wp-image-103057">Founded in 2006 by Rick Falkvinge, the Pirate party movement has scored some significant victories over the years.</p>
<p>The greatest success is the continuing presence in the European Parliament, but in Iceland the <a href="http://www.piratar.is/">local Pirate Party</a> is writing history as well. </p>
<p>The Pirates have a great track record in Iceland <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-party-enters-icelands-national-parliament-after-historic-election-win-130428/">already</a>, with three members in the national Parliament. However, many more may join in the future as the Pirates have become the largest political party in the polls. </p>
<p>Earlier this year we already reported on this remarkable achievement. <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-party-becomes-icelands-most-popular-political-party-150319/">At the time</a> the Pirate Party had 23.9% of the polled votes, a number that has now grown to 34.2% in the last MMR survey.</p>
<p>According to the most recent polls the Pirate Party now has more support than the local coalition Government, which consists of the Independence Party (21.7%) and Progressive Party (10.4%).</p>
<p><center><strong>Pirates leading the polls</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/6c88bade.iceicepirate.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/iceicepirate.png" alt="iceicepirate" width="452" height="268" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-112559"></center></p>
<p>The continued rise is quite a success for a party that was founded just three years ago, and for now the upward trend continues.</p>
<p>TF spoke with Ásta Helgadóttir, Member of Parliament for the Icelandic Pirate Party, who believes that many people are fed up with the current state of politics. </p>
<p>&#8220;I believe people are tired of the old fashioned politics the old parties are practicing,&#8221; she says.</p>
<p>&#8220;We have been focusing on making decisions based on evidence, being honest when we make mistakes and ready to change our minds if that is needed. We have also been working on changing the system from within and demanding that the people in position of power are responsible for their actions.&#8221;</p>
<p>Unlike some outsiders believe, the Pirates are not a one issue party. The party is known to fight against increased censorship and protect freedom of speech, but also encourages transparency and involvement of citizens in political issues.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are working on taking our democratic system into the 21st century,&#8221; Ásta says. &#8220;The division between the executive and legislative should be much clearer than it is today, as ministers can and most often are also members of parliament now.&#8221;</p>
<p>This is just one of the many ideas the party is working on. While the current poll results are promising, it has to hold these for a while as the next elections are scheduled in 2017.  </p>
<p>While the Pirate Party may be more popular than the current government at the moment, it doesn&#8217;t mean that governing is a main goal. The Pirates just want to make sure that the status quo changes. </p>
<p>&#8220;We don&#8217;t really want to govern, but rather have the system working as a whole where everyone in it has responsibility for their actions.&#8221; </p>
<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know how realistic it is that we&#8217;ll form a government, only time will tell,&#8221; she concludes.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112544
title: Filmmaker Unions Want to Criminalize Streaming Piracy
uri: Filmmaker-Unions-Want-to-Criminalize-Streaming-Piracy
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/XuATyds39Xo/
content:
<p><img src="media/4f6f21d0.piracy-crime.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/piracy-crime.jpg" alt="piracy-crime" width="222" height="140" class="alignright size-full wp-image-80208">Under U.S. law streaming and file-sharing are seen as two different offenses. Not just from a technical point of view, but also in the way they are punished. </p>
<p>Streaming is categorized as a public performance instead of distribution, which can only be charged as a misdemeanor, not a felony. </p>
<p>Lawmakers tried to change this with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_S.978">Commercial Felony Streaming Act</a> in 2011, and later with the SOPA and PIPA bills. These bills were shelved after public outrage, with many people fearing that uploading copyrighted YouTube videos could possibly land them in jail.</p>
<p>As a result the gap between streaming and traditional file-sharing still remains today, However, several large filmmaker unions hope it will reappear on the political agenda soon. </p>
<p>This week Directors Guild of America, Inc. (<a href="http://www.dga.org/">DGA</a>) and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (<a href="http://iatse.net/">IATSE</a>) responded to a public consultation by U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC) Daniel Marti, who asked for comments on the new Intellectual Property Enforcement plan.</p>
<p>&#8220;Our members are clearly greatly harmed by copyright infringement and digital theft,&#8221; the unions write. &#8220;Digital theft erodes their ability to earn a living and feed their families, and it depletes the  vitality of their pension and health plans.&#8221; </p>
<p>Traditionally there has been a strong focus on P2P file-sharing piracy, but the unions write that streaming is slowly taking over. The problem, according to the unions, is that the law still sees it as a lesser offense.</p>
<p>&#8220;While illegal downloading of our members’ creative works remains the best known method of Internet theft, illegal Internet streaming has actually become the preferred viewing and listening experience,&#8221; they write. </p>
<p>&#8220;Unfortunately, the law has not kept pace with these new consumer habits. While illegal downloading and distribution is a felony, the illegal, willful, and commercial streaming of films, TV programs, and music remains only a misdemeanor.&#8221; </p>
<p>In their submission (<a href="media/75aaa239.f_2016_Joint_Strategic_Plan_on_IP_Enforcement-FINAL-10-16-15.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/DGA-IATSE-Submission_to_IPEC_re_Development_of_2016_Joint_Strategic_Plan_on_IP_Enforcement-FINAL-10-16-15.pdf">pdf</a>) the filmmaker unions refer to the failed Commercial Felony Streaming Act which would have leveled the playing field. According to them, this bill should be brought back to the table. </p>
<p>This would allow the Department of Justice to prosecute streaming pirates as well, which is not so straightforward at the moment. </p>
<p>&#8220;We believe that the law should reflect the reality of the digital world. Quite simply, The Commercial Felony Streaming Act would not have criminalized any behavior that was not already considered criminal.&#8221; </p>
<p>&#8220;Instead, it would have equalized the penalty so that digital thieves would not be free to steal content via streaming when they would be prosecuted as a felony were they to do so via a download.&#8221; </p>
<p>While the public may not like the proposed changes, there&#8217;s a good chance that they will indeed be introduced again. Last year the Obama administration hinted at a renewed <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/obama-administration-wants-criminalize-movie-streaming-140725/">effort</a> to criminalize streaming.</p>
<p>Any future bills will most likely be targeted at the operators of streaming services and sites, but depending on the exact language it could also affect a broader group of people.</p>
<p>In their letter the unions encourage the administration to continue this plan and integrate it into the 2016 – 2019 Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement, which will be released in a few months.</p>
<p>&#8220;We support the Administration’s determination that the law should be amended to address this issue and would work with the Administration to revitalize this legislation and bring it back to the forefront of the IP enforcement conversation,&#8221; they conclude.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112493
title: Ukraine Copyright Amendments Aim to Please United States
uri: Ukraine-Copyright-Amendments-Aim-to-Please-United-States
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/RVX1SMYgc1o/
content:
<p><img src="media/53fa5250.ustr.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/ustr.jpg" width="175" height="175" class="alignright">As reported last week, the RIAA and MPAA have recently made their <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/riaa-and-mpaa-report-notorious-piracy-sites-to-u-s-government-151007/">respective submissions</a> to the US Trade Representative, each detailing lists of the world&#8217;s &#8216;rogue sites&#8217; and &#8216;notorious markets&#8217;. Unsurprisingly, several are hosted in Ukraine.</p>
<p>The MPAA singled out two sites. First up Kinogo.co, a streaming links site that the industry group says enjoyed around 23.5 million visitors in August &#8217;15 alone. Also under fire was ExtraTorrent.cc, one of the world&#8217;s most popular torrent indexes. Hollywood happily piled on the drama.</p>
<p>&#8220;Extratorrent.cc claims astonishing piracy statistics: offering almost 1.4 million free files with sharing optimized through over 43 million seeders and more than 60 million leechers,&#8221; the MPAA wrote.</p>
<p>But it was the RIAA&#8217;s report that referenced the war-torn country most often. Ukraine-hosted piracy sites were mentioned several times, adding Torrentreactor.com, file-hosting giant EX.ua, NewAlbumReleases.net, MP3va.com, MP3caprice.com and Bajui.com to those already mentioned by the MPAA.</p>
<p>Current criticism is not dissimilar to that piled onto Ukraine in previous years, a situation that has landed the country on the USTR&#8217;s trading blacklist for its alleged trampling of U.S. intellectual property rights. However, it now appears that Ukraine wants to improve its standing with the United States.</p>
<p>According to an announcement from the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, a meeting of Ukraine&#8217;s Cabinet of Ministers on October 21 approved draft legislative amendments aimed at the &#8220;protection of copyright and related rights on the Internet.&#8221;</p>
<p>The amendments, which reportedly include &#8220;effective mechanisms&#8221; for combating online piracy, will be submitted shortly to the Supreme Council of Ukraine. According to the government the draft was developed &#8220;in consultation with representatives of business associations&#8221; and the owners of hosting providers.</p>
<p>The Ministry says that those consulted suggested the introduction of a number of tools designed to prevent the spread of pirated content. They include the &#8220;pre-trial deletion&#8221; and/or &#8220;restriction of access&#8221; to copyright-infringing content, which sounds a lot like DMCA-style takedowns and Russia-style site-blocking.</p>
<p>Also on the table are financial penalties, which could see services that fail to remove or block access to infringing content hit with fines of between 500 and 1,000 times minimum income levels. Similar fines are also on the table for services which fail to identify users who post copyright-infringing content.</p>
<p>Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade Yulia Kuznetsov said that the measures are essential for regaining the confidence of external trading partners.</p>
<p>&#8220;Copyright protection as a key asset in any business and is a prerequisite for attracting investment in Ukraine,&#8221; Kuznetsov said.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is therefore important to get rid of the dubious image the country has with its high levels of Internet piracy. This requires effective mechanisms for blocking pirated content. Such mechanisms are inherent in the bill. Their use will launch an effective fight against Internet piracy.&#8221;</p>
<p>That the measures are designed to warm relations with Hollywood, the record labels and their friends at the USTR, is made clear by Lena Minich, Director at the Department of Innovation and Intellectual Property.</p>
<p>&#8220;This bill is another step towards creating a favorable investment climate in Ukraine,&#8221; Minich said.</p>
<p>&#8220;Also, it will prevent the use of economic sanctions against Ukraine as a &#8216;priority country&#8217; in the [USTR&#8217;s] &#8216;Special 301 Report&#8217; and brings Ukraine&#8217;s legislation into line with EU countries.&#8221;</p>
<p>The bill is part of a package of intellectual property amendments which also aim to tackle patent trolling, rights in software development, plus issues with royalties and collection societies.</p>
<p>Whether the anti-piracy measures under consideration will be enough to appease the United States will remain to be seen. In the meantime, Ukraine remains on the USTR&#8217;s &#8216;naughty step&#8217; and the pressure continues.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112592
title: Ouch! Piracy Tracking Outfit Fails Embarrassingly
uri: Ouch-Piracy-Tracking-Outfit-Fails-Embarrassingly
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/tPSZtFQzSKo/
content:
<p><img src="media/e529c1fc.muso.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/muso.png" alt="muso" width="221" height="109" class="alignright size-full wp-image-112594">The anti-piracy business is booming, with thousands of companies making a decent living by helping rightsholders to protect their work.</p>
<p>London-based <a href="http://muso.com">MUSO</a> is one of these outfits. The company has been around for a long time and has evolved into one of the most active senders of DMCA notices to Google.</p>
<p>Just two years ago MUSO <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/uk-government-funds-anti-piracy-outfit-with-taxpayer-money-131031/">received a £250,000 &#8220;Smart Award&#8221;</a> grant from the UK Government’s Technology Strategy Board, to improve and expand its piracy tracking technologies.</p>
<p>Despite this cash injection MUSO&#8217;s data gathering technique is far from optimal. A few weeks ago, for example, we pointed out that many of the takedown notices it sends <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/anti-piracy-outfits-boost-numbers-with-bogus-takedown-notices-150628/">are bogus</a>. </p>
<p>In addition to sending takedown requests the company also collects file-sharing statistics, which they offer to copyright holders as business intelligence. Unfortunately, these systems are not without mistakes either. </p>
<p>A few days ago the following <a href="https://twitter.com/MUSOdotcom/status/654988986813952000">tweet</a> from MUSO&#8217;s official Twitter account caught our eye, announcing &#8220;<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3488710/">The Walk</a>&#8221; as the most uploaded film that week.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/79357971.musotweet.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/musotweet.png" alt="musotweet" width="571" height="180" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-112596"></center></p>
<p>To us this was quite a surprising result, because there are only a few low quality copies of The Walk on torrent sites. With just a <a href="media/2c2d7a8d.ytIdGO7.png" data-original-source="http://i.imgur.com/ytIdGO7.png">few hundred</a> people sharing, those are not popular at all compared to other pirated films. </p>
<p>So what happened here?</p>
<p>Well, after giving it some thought we realized that MUSO&#8217;s data gathering tool has omitted a crucial element. Instead of looking at entire filenames it appears to have checked the total uploads of all files with the words &#8220;The Walk&#8221; in there, while forgetting to filter out &#8220;-ing Dead.&#8221;</p>
<p>This means that in addition to the few thousand &#8220;The Walk&#8221; uploads last week, it also counted the millions of uploads of &#8220;The Walk/ing Dead.&#8221; This makes sense, since The Walking Dead was the most shared TV episode by far that week. </p>
<p>Ouch. </p>
<p>Of course mistakes can happen everywhere, especially with companies that have to rely on filters to sift through massive amounts of data. What&#8217;s most troubling though, is the fact that the result was proudly shared with the rest of the world, without a proper check. </p>
<p>Apparently nobody at MUSO noticed the error, and neither did any of their followers, as the tweet is still online after more than a week. </p>
<p>Whether anyone will walk the plank as a result of this embarrassing error is doubtful. However, we would argue that the Government&#8217;s &#8220;Smart Award&#8221; might not have been the best investment of UK tax payers&#8217; money.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112491
title: Inventor Files “First Run” Movie Patent to Beat Piracy
uri: Inventor-Files-First-Run-Movie-Patent-to-Beat-Piracy
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/QuaSBFwfehU/
content:
<p><img src="media/72ea8c10.cinema.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cinema.jpg" alt="cinema" width="200" height="143" class="alignright size-full wp-image-40568">If intellectual property rights advocates are to be believed, patents, trademarks and copyrights are the virtual backbones providing strength and support to billions of dollars in trade.</p>
<p>When people come up with great ideas, branding and products while protecting them via the above mechanisms, creators and society are much better off, they argue.</p>
<p>While the debate over that assertion will carry on indefinitely, an inventor in the United States believes that one of his ideas could actually help to protect products under copyright by providing a revolutionary new service to consumers. </p>
<p>Surprisingly simple in its goals, patent application US 14/668,983 describing &#8216;WebCinema&#8217; aims to change everything for Hollywood and its customers.</p>
<p>&#8220;The technology of WebCinema is an online viewing platform that allows the public to view first-run movies on internet-capable electronic devices. WebCinema transforms the current state of new-movie viewing technology by allowing consumers to have complete choice,&#8221; applicant Reilly Johnson explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;Technology now makes it possible for today&#8217;s modern society to have control, convenience and choice over their movie viewing options. WebCinema is not just a new and useful process for viewing first-run movies, it provides people with that control, convenience, and choice.&#8221;</p>
<p>Filed in March 2015 and <a href="http://www.google.com/patents/US20150281758">published</a> earlier this month, the application lacks the complex language often present in similar filings. However, what it lacks in gobbledygook it makes up for in common sense.</p>
<p>&#8220;The technology is an online viewing platform that allows first-run movies to be viewed on most electronic devices that have internet capability. This is not Netflix or Hulu, where the consumer is forced to wait for many months to view an anticipated movie. WebCinema is a new and useful process that enables the general public to completely control where and when they choose to conveniently watch new or currently released Hollywood-produced movies.&#8221;</p>
<p>In addition to offering convenience, Reilly Johnson believes that his &#8216;invention&#8217; can also help to protect copyrights. Citing the success of Popcorn Time, he says there is &#8220;logical evidence&#8221; that a system like WebCinema could help Hollywood to capture missing revenue.</p>
<p>&#8220;With having new-movies available online the day they&#8217;re released, &#8216;piraters&#8217; would have little incentive to steal movies. For these reasons, law-abiding consumers should be more likely to pay to view a new movie instead of risking the legal implications involved with accepting pirated materials,&#8221; Johnson explains.</p>
<p>But despite its reluctance to do so, it&#8217;s unthinkable that Hollywood hasn&#8217;t already considered its options when it comes to releasing first-run content in a timely manner. However, it has considerable obstacles to overcome if brand new movies are to appear online the same day they debut in cinemas.</p>
<p>For example, the companies running cinemas in the U.S. would be furious at the proposal &#8211; and they won&#8217;t be smiling after reading Johnson&#8217;s perception of their business premises either.</p>
<p>&#8220;[WebCinema] will eliminate the trip to the theater, the cost of gas, limited show times, standing in long lines on opening weekend, sold out showings, the outrageous cost of refreshments, using public restrooms [and] stepping on &#8216;sticky stuff&#8217;,&#8221; the inventor explains. But there&#8217;s more.</p>
<p>&#8220;[WebCinema will prevent customers] being forced into bad seats at a crowded theater, sitting in an unclean seat, being stepped on, endless previews, plus the annoying people talking behind you and texting in front of you!&#8221; he continues.</p>
<p>&#8220;WebCinema also eliminates some potential health hazards. The TV newsmagazine 20/20 (ABC, Mar. 7, 2014), reported that no laws exist requiring movie theaters to be cleaned. Investigators found numerous traces of bacteria related to food poisoning, feces, and staph. They also uncovered roaches, rodents, bedbugs, and used condoms!&#8221;</p>
<p>Gulp.</p>
<p>While the patent application appears to be little more than a collection of ideas (and ideas alone can&#8217;t be patented), it certainly describes a service that millions would subscribe to if the price was right.</p>
<p>However, no matter how inconvenient cinemas are viewed by some, it will be a long time before Hollywood throws the silver screen to the dogs. So, in the extremely unlikely event that Johnson&#8217;s application is granted, he shouldn&#8217;t expect to make any money off it anytime soon.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112621
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week – 10/26/15
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-10-26-15
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/K3u1r2gxrk0/
content:
<p><img src="media/bebf5f23.insideout.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/insideout.jpg" alt="insideout" width="300" height="204" class="alignright size-full wp-image-112636">This week we have four newcomers in our chart. </p>
<p>Inside out 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 BD/DVDrips 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="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-movies-of-the-week-101915/">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="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/inside_out_2015/">Inside Out</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2096673/">8.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seMwpP0yeu4">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hitman_agent_47/">Hitman Agent</a> (Subbed HDRip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2679042/">5.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alQlJDRnQkE">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/everest_2015/">Everest</a> (Subbed HDRip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2719848/">7.3</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOHS-mxn0RQ">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dope_2015/">Dope</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3850214/">7.5</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L41xwM8tIRQ">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jurassic_world/">Jurassic World</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0369610/">7.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFinNxS5KN4">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/southpaw_2015/">Southpaw</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1798684/">7.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh2ebPxhoLs">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/trainwreck/">Trainwreck </a> (HDRip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3152624/">6.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MxnhBPoIx4">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/knock_knock_2015/">Knock Knock</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3605418/">5.5</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti6S3NZ5mKI">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(6)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/tomorrowland_2015/">Tomorrowland</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1964418/">6.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWZ7O-RrATY">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/pixels/">Pixels</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2120120/">5.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIOcWZOQL5M">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112633
title: Copyright Trolls Begin Taking Finnish Pirates to Court
uri: Copyright-Trolls-Begin-Taking-Finnish-Pirates-to-Court
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/4PeCbAMQwNM/
content:
<p><img src="media/fe566856.finland1.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/finland1.jpg" width="200" height="143" class="alignright">So-called copyright trolls are operating on most continents in 2015 but their aims are all the same.</p>
<p>The name of the game is generating revenue via intimidation. Alleged file-sharers are warned that they have two choices &#8211; settle now for a relatively small sum or risk an escalation in court where costs will be much higher.</p>
<p>Many file-sharers call trolls&#8217; bluff at this point in the hope that the cases against them wither and die. Indeed, in some instances that&#8217;s exactly what happens. But actually taking cases to court is a powerful weapon for these companies since a poor outcome for a file-sharer has the effect of pressurizing others to settle early.</p>
<p>Over in Finland this precise strategy is being employed by Hedman Partners, a law firm acting on behalf of several movie, TV show and adult distributors. <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/file-sharing-copyright-trolls-invade-finland-140326/">Since last summer</a> the company has sent out thousands of settlement letters to alleged pirates, each demanding payments of between 600 and 3,000 euros.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s unclear how many recipients have paid up thus far but it will come as no surprise that some have ignored the warnings in the hope that the threats were hollow. Now the lawfirm says it will make an example of those who have failed to pay or are otherwise failing to engage with the law firm.</p>
<p>According to Hedman Partners lawyer Joni Hatanmaa, his company is now taking the first three cases against Finnish citizens to court. And, as previously promised, those individuals face the prospect of vastly increased costs.</p>
<p>Hatanmaa told <a href="http://m.digitoday.fi/yhteiskunta/2015/10/23/piratismikorvauksia-perineen-toimiston-ensimmaiset-jutut-oikeuteen/201513862/66">Digitoday</a> that the low settlement demands detailed above have now been replaced with compensation claims of between 1,500 and 10,000 euros. Those targeted by the law firm also face the prospect of extensive legal costs. Losing a case in Finland means that the defendant picks up the bill from both sides.</p>
<p>There is also the prospect of winning a case too, which could prove a major setback for the whole scheme in Finland.  However, it is likely that Hedman Partners will hand-pick the defendants with the weakest cases. In other jurisdictions, defendants who have already incriminated themselves have proven excellent targets and a clear win for the law firm will prove a great propaganda tool.</p>
<p>Also in the company&#8217;s favor is that under Finnish law the ISP account payer is presumed to the infringer, unless he or she can show that another user was to blame.</p>
<p>&#8220;The owner of the connection is always a party to the infringement and obliged to endure investigation of the matter and may be targeted with different legal measures,&#8221; the law firm explains.</p>
<p>Interestingly, in other countries trolls have often gone out of their way to explain that they only target the worst offenders, but Hatanmaa appears to be trying to send a different message. While the company is indeed going after serial pirates, he says that those with just a couple of downloads/uploads to their name are also on the radar and face potential court action.</p>
<p>&#8220;Among them are those who have shared a lot of our principals&#8217; movies, as well as those who have shared only two episodes,&#8221; Hatanmaa explains.</p>
<p>It appears that part of the strategy with these tests cases is to establish a precedent on the amount of compensation the court will award per file or number of files shared. That clarity, if in the law firm&#8217;s favor, would prove a valuable point of leverage in future.</p>
<p>And that will be needed. Hatanmaa suggests that the three cases currently being filed represent only the beginning and that more will be added in future.</p>
<p>Hedman Partners made headlines in 2014 when the company <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/hustler-hustles-tor-exit-node-operator-piracy-140901/">demanded a 600 euro settlement</a> (over the movie &#8216;This Ain&#8217;t Game Of Thrones XXX&#8217;) from Sebastian Mäki, a Finnish Tor exit-node operator and vice president of the local Pirate Party. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112640
title: Portugal Blocks Popular Torrent and Streaming Sites
uri: Portugal-Blocks-Popular-Torrent-and-Streaming-Sites
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/ZhCaUwTGVg8/
content:
<p><img src="media/07db73b3.stop-blocked.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/stop-blocked.jpg" alt="stop-blocked" width="200" height="168" class="alignright size-full wp-image-72076">Rather than taking site operators to court, copyright holders increasingly demand that Internet providers should block access to &#8216;pirate&#8217; domains instead. </p>
<p>As a result, courts all around the world have ordered ISPs to block subscriber access to various pirate sites. But there are other ways.</p>
<p>In Portugal a voluntary process has recently been formalized through <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/rapid-pirate-site-blocking-mechanism-introduced-by-portugal-150731/">an agreement</a> between several parties including the Ministry of Culture and the Association of Telecommunication Operators.</p>
<p>Earlier this year local Internet Providers were already ordered to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-will-blocked-portugal-150302/">block access</a> to The Pirate Bay and under the new agreement it would be possible to add new pirate sites without a court intervention.</p>
<p>This weekend the new site blocking mechanism was used for the first time, with ISPs adding 51 new domain names connected to copyright-infringing sites.</p>
<p>The list (posted in full below) includes popular torrent sites including as KickassTorrents (Kat.cr), ExtraTorrent, Isohunt, YTS and RARBG, as well as streaming portals and linking sites such as Dayt.se, Watchseries and Primewire. </p>
<p>In addition to several new targets, Pirate Bay&#8217;s alternative domain name thepiratebay.la and unofficial proxy piratebay.to were also added. Users who try to access any of the domain names now get a notice informing them that the site has been blocked.</p>
<p>&#8220;The site you try to access is blocked in compliance with a notification from the Regulatory Authority,&#8221; the translated message reads. </p>
<p>The 51 domain names are just the start, as the various parties previously announced that hundreds of sites will eventually be blocked. Under the agreement copyright holders can file two complaints each month, each of which can target up to 50 websites.  </p>
<p>All sites are added following complaints from copyright holders. The reported sites are investigated by local anti-piracy group MAPINET and will end up on the blocklist if there&#8217;s enough evidence of systematic infringing activity.</p>
<p><em>&#8212;-</p>
<p>The full list of blocked domain names, as reported by <a href="http://exameinformatica.sapo.pt/noticias/internet/2015-10-23-Sao-estes-os-51-maiores-sites-piratas-que-vao-ficar-bloqueados-em-Portugal">Exame Informatica</a>, is as follows. </p>
<p>&#8211; http://1337x.to<br>
&#8211; http://btrev.net/<br>
&#8211; http://clubedodownload.info/<br>
&#8211; http://dayt.se/<br>
&#8211; http://extratorrent.cc<br>
&#8211; http://forum-maximus.net/<br>
&#8211; http://gigatuga.com/<br>
&#8211; http://lusoshare.com/<br>
&#8211; http://megafilmeshd.net<br>
&#8211; http://moov7.net<br>
&#8211; http://osmetralhas.pt/<br>
&#8211; http://osreformados.com/index.php<br>
&#8211; http://piratatugafilmes.com/<br>
&#8211; http://poptuga.com/<br>
&#8211; http://ptxtuga.com/<br>
&#8211; http://revistas-jornais.blogspot.com<br>
&#8211; http://revistas-jornais.blogspot.pt/<br>
&#8211; http://seriestvix.tv<br>
&#8211; http://thewatchseries.to/<br>
&#8211; http://toppt.net/<br>
&#8211; http://torrentreactor.com<br>
&#8211; http://tuga.io/<br>
&#8211; http://tugaanimado.net/<br>
&#8211; http://tugaflix.com/<br>
&#8211; http://tugaoxe.com/<br>
&#8211; http://watchseries.lt<br>
&#8211; http://www.baixartv.com/<br>
&#8211; http://www.cinefilmesonline.net<br>
&#8211; http://www.elitedosfilmes.com/<br>
&#8211; http://www.filmesonline2.com<br>
&#8211; http://www.filmesonlinegratis.net<br>
&#8211; http://www.lusofilmesonline.com/<br>
&#8211; http://www.monova.org<br>
&#8211; http://www.primewire.ag<br>
&#8211; http://www.rpds-download.org/<br>
&#8211; http://www.scnsrc.me<br>
&#8211; http://www.seriesvideobb.com<br>
&#8211; http://www.sharetuga.com/<br>
&#8211; http://www.torrenthound.com<br>
&#8211; http://www.tuga-filmes.info/<br>
&#8211; http://www.warez-box.net/<br>
&#8211; http://www.watchseries.li<br>
&#8211; https://filmesonlineportugueses.wordpress.com/<br>
&#8211; https://isohunt.to<br>
&#8211; https://kat.cr<br>
&#8211; https://piratebay.to<br>
&#8211; https://rarbg.to<br>
&#8211; https://ratotv.net/<br>
&#8211; https://thepiratebay.la<br>
&#8211; https://yts.to<br>
&#8211; http://toppt.tv</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112661
title: YIFY / YTS May Be Gone For Good
uri: YIFY-YTS-May-Be-Gone-For-Good
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/JYbNarq4tLE/
content:
<p><img src="media/82494202.YTS.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/YTS.png" alt="YTS" width="211" height="91" class="alignright size-full wp-image-100810">In 2010 a fresh movie piracy brand started to conquer the Internet. Bypassing the so-called ‘Scene’, YIFY joined a new breed of release groups who publish their work directly to torrent sites.</p>
<p>In fact, YIFY, which later <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/yify-torrents-announces-retirement-of-yify-but-show-goes-on-140124/">rebranded</a> to YTS, started its own torrent website featuring high quality releases of the latest movies. </p>
<p>The group amassed a huge following and earlier this year its website generated <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/revealed-the-secrets-of-yify-torrents-network-140223/">millions</a> of pageviews per day. A true success story without any significant setbacks, until last week, when the website started serving a blank page out of nowhere. </p>
<p>The sudden disappearance is very unusual because the website had never suffered more than a few hours of downtime before.</p>
<p>Over the past several days we have tried to gather more information on what happened. However, the emails we sent to the group&#8217;s operator remained unanswered. This is atypical as YTS was known to be very responsive. </p>
<p>The lack of communication wasn&#8217;t limited to our emails either. We spoke to several insiders and other torrent site admins who regularly chatted or mailed with YTS, but they haven&#8217;t heard anything since last week either. </p>
<p>So what happened?</p>
<p>At this point we can rule out that the site is facing a DDoS attack or mere technical difficulties. Several impostors started rumors on Reddit and elsewhere to this effect but the claims are clearly false. </p>
<p>The same is true for any site that claims to be YTS&#8217;s official reincarnation. The YTS servers haven&#8217;t been raided and the domain name is working fine as well, so something else is up. </p>
<p>Interestingly, YTS&#8217;s disappearance coincides with the trouble at the main Popcorn Time fork, which <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/popcorn-time-chaos-triggers-more-downtime-151023/">shut down</a> last Friday after a troubling week. YTS worked with Popcorn Time in the past so perhaps there&#8217;s a link?</p>
<p>This theory can&#8217;t be substantiated either. All Popcorn Time developers we spoke with say they haven&#8217;t heard from the YTS operator either.</p>
<p>Despite the trouble &#8220;YIFY&#8221; remains one of the most searched-for terms on many torrent sites. Unsurprisingly, however, no new YIFY releases have come out since early last week, which is another hint that something&#8217;s not right. The entire YTS/YIFY operation has simply come to a halt.</p>
<p>For now we can only speculate as to what has happened, but based on our experience and the information we&#8217;ve gathered from various sources, it appears that YTS has deliberately gone dark. </p>
<p>It&#8217;s too early to draw any strong conclusions but it&#8217;s not looking good, and the chances are that YTS and YIFY may be gone for good. That would end a remarkable run for one of the greatest file-sharing icons of this decade. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112688
title: Orwell Estate Sends Copyright Takedown Over the Number “1984”
uri: Orwell-Estate-Sends-Copyright-Takedown-Over-the-Number-1984
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/jhqI_NOpBZI/
content:
<p><img src="media/04586d46.orwell1984.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/orwell1984.jpg" alt="orwell1984" width="222" height="209" class="alignright size-full wp-image-112692">George Orwell&#8217;s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four">Nineteen Eighty-Four</a> is a classic book that describes a rather dystopian future with surveillance and control as central themes. </p>
<p>The author himself passed away in 1950 and currently his rights are controlled and protected by the Orwell estate. </p>
<p>Ironically, the estate itself has gained a reputation for exerting tight control of copyrights and trademarks, surveilling the Internet for possible offenses. </p>
<p>This is something Internet radio host Josh Hadley has now experienced first hand. Hadley runs <a href="http://www.1201beyond.com/">1201 Beyond</a> where he gathers and distributes his shows and writings, among other things. </p>
<p>Before he had his own site and store Hadley used CafePress to sell T-shirts. Although he never sold any, the old store didn&#8217;t go unnoticed by the Orwell estate. </p>
<p>Last week he received a worrying email from CafePress informing him that one of his designs had been taken offline due to an alleged copyright violation. The design in question, as seen below, mentions the number sequence &#8220;1984.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><img src="media/89a83d52.cefepressta1984.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cefepressta1984.png" alt="cefepressta1984" width="506" height="353" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-112703"></center></p>
<p>According to the complaint the T-shirt design uses &#8220;George Orwell quotes,&#8221; but the only reference to the author are the numbers that make up the book&#8217;s title. </p>
<p>This appears to be a rather broad request, not least since copyright law does not protect book titles.</p>
<p><center><strong>The Orwell Estate complaint</strong></center><center><img src="media/8eeb28c5.cafepress-takedown.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cafepress-takedown.png" alt="cafepress-takedown" width="506" height="353" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-112697"></center></p>
<p>Hadley is offended by the request which he believes to be illegitimate and something George Orwell himself would not support.</p>
<p>&#8220;First off is the irony of the estate of George Orwell being all Orwellian but second is that you can&#8217;t copyright a number,&#8221; he tells TF. </p>
<p>&#8220;The US Copyright office has long since established this and second they are claiming I am using &#8216;quotes&#8217; from the book. Look at the image in question and tell me what &#8216;quotes&#8217; I used.&#8221; </p>
<p>CafePress has pulled the designs offline and they are now listed as &#8220;pending&#8221; in Hadley&#8217;s dashboard. In theory, he could appeal the takedown but he has no plans to do so. </p>
<p><center><img src="media/1d6dfd53.1984pending.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/1984pending.jpg" alt="1984pending" width="600" height="419" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-112693"></center></p>
<p>The Orwell estate maintains that the use of the image violates their rights, according to its literary executor Bill Hamilton. </p>
<p>&#8220;The estate has never licensed merchandising, nor have the licensees of the relevant film rights, under which merchandising usually comes. Some of the merchandising I asked to be taken down was in clear breach of copyright,&#8221; Hamilton tells TF.</p>
<p>Appreciating the irony of the whole situation, Hadley says he will reissue the T-shirt in his <a href="http://www.1201beyond.com/">new store</a> and won&#8217;t take any further abuse from the Orwell heirs. </p>
<p>&#8220;This is blatant abuse of the copyright system and more off it&#8217;s a ridiculous attempt to control something that needs no control.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;I am in the process of having this image retouched and added to the store on my current site as I will not allow this kind of abuse of authority to stand.&#8221;</p>
<p>Hadley is warned though, Big Brother is watching&#8230;</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112714
title: EU Adopts ‘Net Neutrality’ Rules, Keeps Loopholes Open
uri: EU-Adopts-Net-Neutrality-Rules-Keeps-Loopholes-Open
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/YSHSxp5rxgA/
content:
<p><img src="media/269797aa.throttle.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/throttle.jpg" alt="throttle" width="200" height="200" class="alignright size-full wp-image-8967">The European Parliament has debated the issue of net neutrality for several years. </p>
<p>The results of these negotiations were included in the Telecoms Single Market (TSM) regulation, which went to a vote this afternoon in Strasbourg.</p>
<p>With support of a majority the rules were passed, as expected. This means that the new rules will become law, replacing existing network neutrality laws in member states of the EU.</p>
<p>However, four proposed amendments that would close various loopholes all failed, much to the disappointment of net neutrality experts and activists. </p>
<p>As a result Europe&#8217;s &#8216;net neutrality&#8217; rules are rather week, allowing prioritized paid services (so-called fast lanes), and slowing down<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/europes-net-neutrality-could-allow-torrent-and-vpn-throttling-151022/"> of torrent and VPN traffic</a>, among other things. </p>
<p>This is especially disappointing for member states that have strong net neutrality rules in place, such as the Netherlands and Slovenia, as they may have to implement watered down versions now. </p>
<p>&#8220;The European Parliament has avoided making decisions on all crucial points,&#8221; Joe McNamee, Executive Director of European Digital Rights, comments on the decision. </p>
<p>&#8220;Now, national regulators will have to decide &#8211; on abuses imposed through &#8216;zero rating&#8217;, on rules on congestion management, on specialized services and so on,&#8221; he adds.</p>
<p>Julia Reda, MEP for the Pirate Party, is disappointed with the vote and hopes that Europeans will hold their elected representatives responsible. </p>
<p><center><img src="media/2a5d0a23.redanetneut.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/redanetneut.png" alt="redanetneut" width="582" height="223" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-112718"></center></p>
<p>Over the past several weeks many activist groups and digital rights experts supported the <a href="https://savetheinternet.eu/">SaveTheInternet</a> campaign which encouraged European citizens to share their concerns while asking their representatives to vote in favor of the amendments.</p>
<p>The efforts received widespread support, but not enough to have the majority of parliament members vote for the proposed changes. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112708
title: Aurous Offers to Shut Down But RIAA Isn’t Interested
uri: Aurous-Offers-to-Shut-Down-But-RIAA-Isn-t-Interested
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/A728XKnaqBw/
content:
<p><img src="media/e2a8bd59.aurous.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/aurous.png" width="174" height="62" class="alignright">It&#8217;s been an eventful month for music discovery tool Aurous. Within days of its October 10 launch, Aurous Group and developer Andrew Sampson were being sued by the RIAA.</p>
<p>“This service is a flagrant example of a business model powered by copyright theft on a massive scale,” the RIAA <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/riaa-sues-popcorn-time-for-music-151013/">said</a>.</p>
<p>Shortly after the labels demanded a temporary restraining order. The request, filed by plaintiffs Atlantic Records, Warner Bros, UMG, Sony and Capital Records, was quickly granted by a Florida district court.</p>
<p>Judge Jose E. Martinez declared that Sampson and everyone else associated with the Aurous project were forbidden from “infringing, or causing, enabling, facilitating, encouraging, promoting and inducing or participating in the infringement of, any of Plaintiffs’ copyrights protected by the Copyright Act, whether now in existence or hereafter created.”</p>
<p>Those restrictions including any further making available of the Aurous software in any form but there are now claims that Sampson has already breached the order.</p>
<p>According to a motion filed yesterday by the labels, on October 23 following a request from defendants&#8217; counsel, it was agreed that the defendants would be given more time (until November 13) to respond to the original complaint. In the meantime the temporary restraining order (TRO) would remain in force.</p>
<p>However, the RIAA says that less than two days after the extension was agreed, the defendants &#8220;flagrantly violated [the TRO], in the most damaging way possible.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;Shortly after 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 25, Defendants announced that they had publicly released the core &#8216;back-end&#8217; source code for Aurous, which contains the instructions for exactly how the Aurous software finds, retrieves, and downloads (copies) unauthorized copies of recorded music,&#8221; the labels write.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/8e8502bd.aurous-opensource.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/aurous-opensource.jpg" alt="aurous-opensource" width="480" height="261" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-112720"></center></p>
<p>&#8220;At 1:07 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday, Defendants sent a tweet from the official Aurous Twitter account announcing that Aurous was now an &#8216;open source project available on Github&#8217; and providing a link to the Aurous source code repository on the website GitHub.com.&#8221;</p>
<p>The tweet and Github posting have both since been removed. However, in their court filing the labels says that they managed to secure copies while characterizing the deletions as an attempt to destroy evidence.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/5c82954a.aurous-core-git.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/aurous-core-git.jpg" alt="aurous-core-git" width="600" height="481" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-112712"></center></p>
<p>Describing the &#8216;core&#8217; as the &#8220;critical &#8216;back-end&#8217; source code&#8221; powering Aurous, the labels say that by posting the code Sampson breached the terms of the TRO. Furthermore, the labels claim that the release proves that Sampson continued working on Aurous after the TRO was issued in an effort to improve its ability to retrieve and download infringing content.</p>
<p>&#8220;There can be no doubt that Defendants did so with the intent of releasing an improved version of the software to the public, notwithstanding this Court’s explicit and unambiguous prohibition against doing so,&#8221; they write.</p>
<p>Following the Github release the labels contacted Aurous demanding an end to the violation of the TRO. They also advised the music service that their consent to a delay for the preliminary injunction hearing should now be considered withdrawn.</p>
<p>Counsel for Aurous responded by noting that the breach of the TRO had been accidental and even offered to throw in the towel completely on behalf of his clients.</p>
<p>&#8220;Our clients are willing to transfer control of the Aurous domain and anything else you may require including closing the site and all operations (which may have been done already) provide access to their github and social media accounts as early as tomorrow if this proposed settlement can be kept forthwith,&#8221; Aurous counsel wrote in an email.</p>
<p>&#8220;Our clients have acted in good faith to uphold the proposed settlement agreement and not violate the TRO. Again this is only a misunderstanding that should be bridged in order to serve the best interests of all parties.&#8221;</p>
<p>In response the labels dismissed the offer, insisting that the breach had been both intentional and damaging.</p>
<p>&#8220;During the five hours or more that Defendants willfully made the core Aurous source code available to the public, while brazenly urging their Twitter followers and other members of the public to visit the repository where it was housed, an unknown number of third parties accessed and copied the source code,&#8221; the labels explain.</p>
<p>In the background of this current dispute is Aurous&#8217; response to the RIAA&#8217;s allegations that it offers an illegal service.</p>
<p>&#8220;The allegations that the purpose of this website is to pirate music is false<br>
and unfounded. Aurous exists for the purposes of bringing together multiple sites all with DMCA takedown capabilities and anti-piracy bylaws,&#8221; Aurous&#8217; counsel informed the court.</p>
<p>&#8220;Aurous in no way encourages, the downloading or playing of copyrighted music.<br>
Additionally, Defendant maintains a DMCA takedown email. To date, Plaintiff has not submitted any DMCA takedown requests, and simply initiated a lawsuit within days of the website’s publication.&#8221;</p>
<p>Aurous says that if the RIAA removed the illegal content from the third-party sites, the Aurous software would not be able to play it. It also claims that the source code released on Github was an old and obsolete version of the software. Nevertheless, the RIAA seems entirely disinterested and is currently overwhelming Aurous with its legal might.</p>
<p>As a result the labels are now asking for Aurous Group and Sampson to be held in contempt of court and punished via monetary sanctions. Perhaps of concern for those who downloaded it, the labels also ask the court to force the defendants to provide a &#8220;precise description of when, where, and to whom they disseminated the Aurous application and source code&#8221; after the TRO was granted October 15.</p>
<p>While the case is not over yet, the Aurous dream seems well and truly dead. All that remains is to discover how painful it will for those behind the project.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112748
title: Spotify Helps to Beat Music Piracy, European Commission Finds
uri: Spotify-Helps-to-Beat-Music-Piracy-European-Commission-Finds
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/suFpy895_V4/
content:
<p><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">When Spotify launched its first beta in the fall of 2008 we branded it “an alternative to music piracy.”</p>
<p>With the option to stream millions of tracks supported by an occasional ad, or free of ads for a small subscription fee, Spotify appeared to be a serious competitor to unauthorized downloading.</p>
<p>While there has been plenty of anecdotal support for this claim, actual research on the topic has been lacking. A new study published by the European Commission&#8217;s <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/">Joint Research Centre</a> aims to fill this gap. </p>
<p>In the study researchers Luis Aguiar (IPTS) and Joel Waldfogel (NBER) compare Spotify streaming data to download numbers from the 8,000 pirated artists on torrent sites, as well as legal digital track sales. </p>
<p>Based on this data the researchers conclude that Spotify has a clear displacement effect on piracy. For every 47 streams the number of illegal downloads decreases by one. </p>
<p>This is in line with comments from Spotify&#8217;s Daniel Ek, who previously argued that the streaming service helps to convert pirates into paying customers.</p>
<p>&#8220;According to these results, an additional 47 streams reduces by one the number of tracks obtained without payment,&#8221; the paper reads (<a href="media/dd98bcdb.JRC96951.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/JRC96951.pdf">pdf</a>).</p>
<p>&#8220;This piracy displacement is consistent with Ek’s claim that Spotify’s bundled offering harvests revenue from consumers who &#8211; or at least from consumption instances &#8211; were previously not generating revenue,&#8221; the researchers add. </p>
<p>While that&#8217;s good news for the music industry, it doesn&#8217;t necessarily mean that more revenue is being generated. In addition to piracy, streaming services also impact legal track sales on iTunes and other platforms. </p>
<p>According to the researchers, 137 Spotify streams reduce the number of individual digital track sales by one. Factoring in the revenue per stream and download, the overall impact is relatively neutral. </p>
<p>&#8220;Given the current industry’s revenue from track sales ($0.82 per sale) and the average payment received per stream ($0.007 per stream), our sales displacement estimates show that the losses from displaced sales are roughly outweighed by the gains in streaming revenue.&#8221; </p>
<p>&#8220;In other words, our analysis shows that interactive streaming appears to be revenue-neutral for the recorded music industry,&#8221; the researchers add.</p>
<p>More studies are needed to see how streaming services impact the music industry in the long run, but for now it&#8217;s safe to conclude that they do indeed help to beat online piracy, as often suggested. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112759
title: Legality of Voluntary ‘Pirate’ Site Blocking Regime Under Fire
uri: Legality-of-Voluntary-Pirate-Site-Blocking-Regime-Under-Fire
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/fJOs3CI1yvI/
content:
<p><img src="media/a8e15f5d.stop-blocked.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/stop-blocked.jpg" width="200" height="168" class="alignright">In September 2013, a coalition of Portuguese copyright trade groups <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/portugal-next-in-line-to-block-the-pirate-bay-130926/">announced</a> they would file for an injunction to prevent ISPs from providing access to The Pirate Bay. They argued it would not pose a problem, since ISPs already filter to prevent access to criminal content such as abusive images.</p>
<p>It took more than 18 months for the Association for Copyright Management, Producers and Publishers (GEDIPE) to get its way but eventually the Intellectual Property Court gave ISPs Vodafone, MEO and NOS just 30 days to block The Pirate Bay.</p>
<p>While GEDIPE had its victory, the battle was still not won. Each time the group needed a site blocked in future it would have to take ISPs to court, an expensive and time-consuming process. Warning that it would do so if necessary, GEDIPE advised ISPs to enter into discussions to form a voluntary site-blocking mechanism instead.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is time to sit down and negotiate blocking measures that don’t require the courts to get involved,” GEDIPE boss Paulo Santos <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-will-blocked-portugal-150302/">said</a>.</p>
<p>ISPs initially objected to the idea saying that legitimate content could become blocked without legal oversight. Nevertheless, by this summer they were singing a very different tune. </p>
<p>In July the Ministry of Culture announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding between its own General Inspection of Cultural Activities (IGAC), the Portuguese Association of Telecommunication Operators (APRITEL), various rightsholder groups, the body responsible for administering Portugal’s .PT domain and representatives from the advertising industry.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/rapid-pirate-site-blocking-mechanism-introduced-by-portugal-150731/">agreement</a> would see local anti-piracy group MAPINET filing copyright complaints with the Ministry of Culture which in turn would conduct an assessment and then order ISPs to block sites. Importantly, no expensive courtroom argument would take place and no legal judgments would be handed down.</p>
<p>This week the agreement began to bite when 51 domain names connected to sites including KickassTorrents (Kat.cr), ExtraTorrent, Isohunt, YTS and RARBG were <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/portugal-blocks-popular-torrent-and-streaming-sites-151026/">ordered to be blocked</a>. However, there are now concerns over the legality of the process.</p>
<p>Speaking with the <a href="http://economico.sapo.pt/noticias/operadores-bloqueiam-acesso-a-sites-piratas-de-filmes-e-series_232949.html">Economic Daily</a>, intellectual property law expert Leonor Chastre, a partner at the <a href="http://www.cuatrecasas.com/es/">Cuatrecasas, Gonçalves Pereira</a> lawfirm, says he has doubts over the agreement and the actions taken under it.</p>
<p>&#8220;There are a number of entities that have signed the memorandum but it does not legitimize the role of the two main entities [the government and MAPINET] so they will not be able to determine what is legal and illegal in this field. The latter is a private entity, susceptible to external influences. What is the representativeness of that association and what is its intention?&#8221; he questions.</p>
<p>The argument that only a court is able to decide on the legality of a site is a common one that has played out in countries across Europe. Prolonged legal battles on that very topic have taken place in the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/brein-takes-pirate-bay-blocking-case-supreme-court-140623/">Netherlands</a>, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-will-be-blocked-in-austria-150803/">Austria</a> and currently <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/court-to-decide-whether-sweden-blocks-the-pirate-bay-151023/">Sweden</a>, to name a few, so concerns that Portuguese authorities might be overstepping the mark are hardly a surprise.</p>
<p>Interestingly, MAPINET has a rather different perspective. The anti-piracy group says that laws already exist in the EU for blocking content when it&#8217;s deemed to be infringing copyright.</p>
<p>&#8220;The implementation of the E-Commerce Directive already includes procedures for removing illegal content,&#8221; MAPINET&#8217;s Miguel Carretas argues, adding that the purpose of the memorandum is to &#8220;regulate the application&#8221; of this legal provision.</p>
<p>&#8220;[ISPs] already had the power to block access to sites where illegitimacy is demonstrated,&#8221; Carretas says.</p>
<p>In response, Vodafone says that it &#8220;acts in accordance with the provisions of the law and the Memorandum of Understanding.&#8221; Other ISPs, MEO and Cabovisão, declined to comment.</p>
<p>The question now is how these concerns will develop. The most logical route for an intervention is for a site subjected to blocking to take the matter to court. That would be an expensive affair though and could involve challenging not only the government but also copyright holders and ISPs.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, a challenge is not without precedent. In 2013 Rapidgator was blocked in Italy following a broad crackdown on copyright infringement. The company hired local counsel to object and eventually <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/rapidgator-not-responsible-for-pirating-users-court-lifts-isp-blockade-130530/">won its case</a>.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112772
title: Dotcom’s Bid to Halt Extradition Hearing Fails, Defense Begins
uri: Dotcom-s-Bid-to-Halt-Extradition-Hearing-Fails-Defense-Begins
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/WSCdePTiGkY/
content:
<p><img src="media/9a9629f5.megaupload-logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/megaupload-logo.jpg" alt="megaupload-logo" width="250" height="208" class="alignright size-full wp-image-95191">It was an extremely long road up until that point, with multiple successive delays hindering progress, but last month saw Kim Dotcom&#8217;s extradition hearing finally <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/kim-dotcom-extradition-hearing-gets-underway-150921/">get underway</a>.</p>
<p>The hearing was expected to take around four weeks but earlier this month it became clear progress would not be so swift. After the U.S. had made its case to extradite Dotcom and former colleagues Mathias Ortmann, Finn Batato and Bram van der Kolk, the defendants repeatedly claimed that <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/megaupload-accuses-u-s-of-unfair-tactics-seeks-stay-151005/">the hearing was unfair</a>.</p>
<p>The United States had done everything possible to stop the quartet from mounting a proper defense, they argued, so the whole thing should be paused or even thrown out altogether following <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/megaupload-defendants-dont-need-expert-witnesses-u-s-argues-151009/">submissions to that effect</a>.</p>
<p>The hearing was due to end on October 16, despite Dotcom being absent <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/with-dotcom-absent-extradition-hearing-wont-end-today-151016/">due to pain</a> from an existing bad injury. That didn&#8217;t happen and today the court revealed that efforts to have the hearing thrown out had failed.</p>
<p>In a ruling released today, Judge Nevin Dawson said he would not hear full argument of the applications to have the extradition hearing brought to a close. </p>
<p>The defense wanted to show that the New Zealand government had acted illegally when they arrested Dotcom in 2012 but that was disallowed. The Judge gave no reasons why, only indicating he would reveal all when the hearing was completed.</p>
<p>As a result the defense will now begin stating its case on Monday but that hasn&#8217;t stopped a clearly irritated Dotcom airing his opinions in public.</p>
<p>&#8220;We will identify why the United States case is flawed. Sadly because of the limited focus of such an extradition hearing I can&#8217;t call the required and planned expert evidence to simply answer the incorrect factual assertions by the United States. The United States won&#8217;t permit [experts] to be paid,&#8221; Dotcom explained.</p>
<p>&#8220;The case will now turn on important legal argument. We outline this on Monday. However, when we enter the ring we do so to win. The obstacles the United States has put up to stop us from fighting back won&#8217;t stop us. We won&#8217;t be silenced by bullies!&#8221;</p>
<p>Dotcom&#8217;s entire future could hang on the outcome of this extradition hearing. If extradited and found guilty in the United States, he and his co-defendants face the possibility of decades in jail. Nevertheless, Dotcom seems up for the fight.</p>
<p>&#8220;I wish you could all be at my court hearing on Monday. It&#8217;s going to be good,&#8221; he concludes.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112775
title: Google Asked to Remove One Billion “Pirate” Search Results
uri: Google-Asked-to-Remove-One-Billion-Pirate-Search-Results
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/L1LvekxOyU8/
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">In recent years copyright holders have overloaded Google with DMCA takedown notices, targeting links to pirated content. </p>
<p>These requests have increased dramatically over the years. In 2008, the search engine received <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/google-takedown-notices-surge-140325/">only a few dozen</a> takedown notices during the entire year, but today it processes two million per day on average.</p>
<p>This week TorrentFreak crunched the numbers in Google&#8217;s <a href="http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/copyright/">Transparency Report</a> and found that since its publication Google has been asked to remove over 1,007,766,482 links to allegedly infringing webpages.</p>
<p>Indeed, that&#8217;s more than a billion reported URLs, a milestone Google crossed just a few days ago. </p>
<p>The number of notices continues to increase at a rapid pace as nearly half of the requests, 420 million, were submitted during the first months of 2015. The graph below illustrates this sharp rise in takedown notices.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/10024a27.go-billion.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/go-billion.png" alt="go-billion" width="540" height="276" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-112782"></center></p>
<p>While some notices identify pages that are not infringing, most are correct. These are then removed by Google and no longer appear in the search results. </p>
<p>The successful takedown notices are also factored into the Google&#8217;s search algorithms, where frequently targeted websites are downranked. </p>
<p>TorrentFreak asked Google for a comment on the most recent milestone but the company chose not to respond on the record.</p>
<p>In a submission to the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/google-opposes-whole-site-removal-of-pirate-domains-151021/">last week</a> Google stated that it has taken various measures to help copyright holders, including swift removals. </p>
<p>&#8220;We process more takedown notices, and faster, than any other search engine,&#8221; the search giant commented. </p>
<p>&#8220;We receive notices for a tiny fraction of everything we host and index, which nonetheless amounts to millions of copyright removal requests per week that are processed, on average, in under six hours.&#8221; </p>
<p>The company rejects broader actions, such as the removal of entire domain names, as this would prove counterproductive and lead to overbroad censorship.</p>
<p>Copyright holders, however, don&#8217;t share these concerns. Over the years groups such as the MPAA and RIAA have repeatedly argued that clearly infringing sites should be <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-asks-government-to-facilitate-private-anti-piracy-deals-151020/">barred</a> from Google&#8217;s index. In addition, they want Google to promote legal services.</p>
<p>While Google believes that the billion reported URLs are a sign that the DMCA takedown process is working properly, rightsholders see it as a signal of an unbeatable game of whack-a-mole.  </p>
<p>As this stalemate continues, we can expect the number of reported pages to continue to rise in the future, adding millions of new URLs on a daily basis. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=112786
title: Minister Asks Indian ISPs to Permanently Block Hundreds of ‘Pirate’ Sites
uri: 2015-10-29-
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/GfloBOUPDx0/
content:
<p><img src="media/f87ed88d.blocked.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/blocked.jpg" alt="blocked" width="150" height="150" class="alignright size-full wp-image-36254">For several years, filmmakers in India have sought to protect their content from unauthorized online distribution. That has mainly taken the form of so-called &#8216;John Doe&#8217; orders.</p>
<p>Back in May 2015 <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/india-orders-piracy-blackout-of-vimeo-pirate-bay-and-more-150508/">one such order</a> not only targeted The Pirate Bay, KickassTorrents, Torrentz and TorrentFunk, but also video streaming site Vimeo. As a result, local ISPs were given just 24 hours to stop their subscribers from accessing the sites.</p>
<p>While it seems relatively easy to obtain these kinds of court orders, they have to be obtained each time a film is released to the public. That clearly has cost implications for those obtaining the orders and in recent months there have been calls for a more suitable system to be put in place.</p>
<p>During a meeting yesterday between representatives from the film industry, government, police and ISPs, the discussion centered around the &#8220;grave threat&#8221; posed by online piracy and what actions can be taken against it.</p>
<p>Highlighting measures taken elsewhere, particularly in Europe, the notion of a national &#8216;pirate site&#8217; blacklist was put on the table. Information Technology Minister K.T. Rama Rao was also briefed on the actions being taken by City of London Police and was asked to consider similar measures.</p>
<p><Center><br>
<h5>A slide shown in India yesterday</h4>
<p><img src="media/2a026ee3.india-blocking.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/india-blocking.png" alt="india-blocking" width="600" height="309" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-112791"></center></p>
<p>Industry figures told the minister that piracy carried out on a core 240 websites costs them millions of dollars.</p>
<p>&#8220;If government could take action against all these websites, then piracy could be controlled,&#8221; said producer Suresh Babu.</p>
<p>The appeal appeared to resonate with Minister K.T. Rama Rao who responded with a promise of government action. He also called on the ISPs present to block the offending sites, which according to one report could number <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/ts-to-crack-down-on-film-piracy/article7816496.ece">1000</a>.</p>
<p>The ISPs are said to have responded positively with an indication that they wish to play no part in illegal activities. However, they also urged the government to provide clear official instructions detailing their requirements.</p>
<p>In response to the industry calls the Minister promised to react quickly, with the creation of a special police unit and action against the main sites within 30 days.</p>
<p>“Unlike before, piracy has taken new shape. Even educated professionals, engineering students are resorting to the crime of movie piracy which is not good for society. I’m happy that Mr KT Rao is seriously looking into the issue,” <a href="http://www.teluguodu.com/ktr-takes-steps-against-anti-piracy/">said</a> producer Suresh Babu.</p>
<p>It will be interesting to see how the Indian government will push through tough anti-piracy measures in such a short time-frame and how it will do so without punishing sites such as Vimeo who are clearly engaged in legitimate business.</p>
<p><center><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8_eSjrwmq5Q" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center></p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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