# articles

feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=107637
title: Pirate Bay Was Worth Doing Prison Time For, Co-Founder Says
uri: Pirate-Bay-Was-Worth-Doing-Prison-Time-For-Co-Founder-Says
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/8jVDKHVScig/
content:
<p><img src="media/6ae5a612.fredrik-neij.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/fredrik-neij.jpg" alt="fredrik-neij" width="250" height="236" class="alignright size-full wp-image-99649">Fredrik Neij, one of The Pirate Bay’s co-founders, was released early last month after serving a 10-month prison sentence for his involvement with the site. </p>
<p>A few days ago Fredrik arrived back home in Laos, where he&#8217;s enjoying his family and an unlimited stock of beer to get his liver back on track.</p>
<p>TF had the chance to catch up with the Swede to see how prison life treated him and the answers we received may surprise some. While it&#8217;s never fun to be locked up, Fredrik says it was worth doing time for The Pirate Bay. </p>
<p>&#8220;Things were not too bad in prison,&#8221; Fredrik tells TF. &#8220;It was well worth doing prison time for The Pirate Bay, when you consider how much the site means to people,&#8221; Fredrik says.</p>
<p>The prisons in Sweden are nothing like those seen in Hollywood blockbusters. He had plenty of space and privacy and no bars on the door. </p>
<p>&#8220;Like most people I only knew about prisons from American movies. Now that I have some firsthand experience I am happy to say it&#8217;s quite different. Unlike the barred cages for two persons in the movies, here I have my own private room that&#8217;s 10 square meters, with a real door and no bars on the window.&#8221; </p>
<p>Fredrik compares his cell to a cabin on a cruise ship, but one with a shitty view. Instead of seeing beautiful coastlines and picturesque bays, he was looking at a prison wall with barbed wire on top, and agricultural fields in the distance.</p>
<p>The cell itself had a private toilet and shower as well as some space for personal items. There were two bulletin boards as well, one with photos of his kids and family and another one for all the fan mail he received. </p>
<p>Although the prison management denied him access to his classic 8-bit Nintendo console, there was plenty of entertainment around. The room came equipped with a Samsung smart TV and Fredrik was also allowed to have newer game consoles. </p>
<p>As a Sci-Fi addict, Fredrik was also happy that &#8220;some people&#8221; managed to smuggle digital content inside.</p>
<p>&#8220;I watched a lot of TV-series and movies on smuggled in USB sticks and MicroSD cards, which is a nice way to kill some time, watching Archer, Futurama, Firefly and other Sci-Fi,&#8221; Fredrik says. </p>
<p>On the music front Pirate Bay&#8217;s co-founder was thrown back two decades, spinning CDs in an ancient Discman. Music he actually had to pay for.</p>
<p>&#8220;Listening to music on a Discman gave me flashbacks to how life was before MP3s, with short battery-life and having to change CD to listen to different artists. Also it was probably the first legal music I bought this millennium.&#8221;</p>
<p>The lockup hours were between 7am and 7pm and inmates were allowed to put out their own lights, so games could be played all night. During weekdays Fredrik had to work for three hours as well, putting pieces of wood into a laser etching machine.</p>
<p>The best times of the week were without a doubt the visiting hours, especially when they overlapped with work. Talking to friends and family was a welcome distraction, either in person or on the phone, which Fredrik could have in his room a few times per week.</p>
<p>There were also a lot of people writing in. Not just with words of support, but also to keep him updated on news in the real world, including TF articles.</p>
<p>&#8220;To keep up to date with the outside world, friends and family sent me newspapers, magazines and printouts of online media such as TorrentFreak! I also spent a lot of time reading all news-clippings, books and tech- science- and computer magazines I received from fans.&#8221;</p>
<p>Fredrik was locked up in the medium security prison in Skänninge where he was the only convict doing time for a &#8220;virtual&#8221; crime.</p>
<p>&#8220;Most other guys were in for drug-related offenses, robberies, manslaughter, aggravated assault. No-one had ever heard of someone being placed at that prison for such a low severity, nonviolent, white-collar crime as &#8216;assisted copyright infringement,&#8217; but I guess the MAFIAA get what they pay for,&#8221; he says.</p>
<p>Surprisingly enough, Fredrik could cope relatively well without 24/7 access to a keyboard and the Internet.</p>
<p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t miss computers and the Internet as much as I would have expected. I mostly just missed having instant access to information like I am used to. Inside I used TEXT-TV and newscasts instead of web-sites, </p>
<p>&#8220;You only notice how dependent we are on the Internet when are forced off it and have to do things like it was the early 90s again,&#8221; Fredrik adds.</p>
<p>Looking ahead Fredrik is hoping to catch up life where he left off.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s great to be back home with the kids. Family aside I was mostly looking forward to catching up on Doctor Who and Archer. And to put an end to my liver&#8217;s well deserved vacation with a large beer!&#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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=107777
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week – 07/06/15
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-07-06-15
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/vLnTeG4thWU/
content:
<p><img src="media/3516e203.mm1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mm1.jpg" alt="mm" width="300" height="207" class="alignright size-full wp-image-107520">This week we have three newcomers and one returnee in our chart.</p>
<p>Mad Max: Fury Road is the most downloaded movie for the second week in a row.</p>
<p>The data for our weekly download chart is estimated by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only. All the movies in the list are 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-062915/">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>(1)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mad_max_fury_road/?">Mad Max: Fury Road</a> (WEB-DL)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1392190/">8.5</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjBb4SZ0F6Q">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jurassic_world/">Jurassic World</a> (TS)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0369610/">7.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFinNxS5KN4">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_longest_ride">The Longest Ride</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2726560/">7.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUS_Q7FsfqU">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/minions/">Minions</a> (TS) </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2293640/">7.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfql_DoHRKc">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cinderella_2013/">Cinderella</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1661199/">7.3</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRuHM6rLSF8">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/get_hard/">Get Hard</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2561572/">6.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEqrpuU9fYI">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/home_2015/">Home</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2224026/">6.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyqZf8LiWvM">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(8)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kingsman_the_secret_service/">Kingsman: The Secret Service</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2802144/">8.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl8F-8tR8to">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/spy_2015/">Spy</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3079380/">7.5</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltijEmlyqlg">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(back)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/furious_7/">Furious 7</a> (HDrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2820852/">7.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Skpu5HaVkOc">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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=107775
title: ‘Pirate’ Site Admin Ordered to Pay Hollywood $12.8m
uri: Pirate-Site-Admin-Ordered-to-Pay-Hollywood-12-8m
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/D0UjxiLexTs/
content:
<p><img src="media/0fdc72be.warez.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/warez.jpg" width="200" height="139" class="alignright">In an October 2014 <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/riaa-pirate-bay-attacks-fundamental-human-rights-141028/">submission</a> to the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), the RIAA bemoaned the existence of several leading &#8216;pirate&#8217; sites.</p>
<p>All the big named sites were present, including the notorious Pirate Bay and KickassTorrents, but also mentioned was <a href="http://forum.wawa-mania.ec/">Wawa-Mania</a>, a million member strong ‘warez’ forum specializing in a broad range of ‘pirate’ content.</p>
<p>Founded in 2006 by Dimitri Mader, Wawa-Mania became an extremely popular site and in 2009 the Frenchman was detained by the authorities after the Association Against Audiovisual Piracy (ALPA) identified more than 3,600 films being made available via the site without permission.</p>
<p>The case rolled on and in April this year Mader <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/sentenced-to-jail-warez-operator-faces-30m-damages-claim-150410/">was sentenced</a> to a year in jail and was fined 20,000 euros for his role on the site. He wasn&#8217;t present at the hearing &#8211; the 26-year-old remained at home in the Philippines with his family.</p>
<p>Having established the Frenchman&#8217;s guilt, the courts were left to decide how much Mader should pay in damages to plaintiffs including Columbia Pictures, Disney, Paramount, Tristar, Universal, Twentieth Century Fox and Warner Bros.</p>
<p>Following deliberations July 2, 2015, TorrentFreak has now obtained a copy of the ruling and for Mader it will make particularly tough reading.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/7f090b85.mader-tv5.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mader-tv5.jpg" width="550" height="305" class="aligncenter"></center></p>
<p>In varying amounts, each video rightsholder claimed damages per infringing copy, in some cases 5 euros per unit and up to 15 euros per unit in others. In respect of music, claims varied between a few cents per track up to a couple of euros per album/unit. For software, Microsoft claimed a flat sum of one million euros.</p>
<p>Noting that the technological environment made it &#8220;particularly difficult&#8221; to assess precise damages, the court still held that Wawa-Mania enabled &#8220;millions of acts&#8221; of infringement. In the end the final awards aren&#8217;t quite the $30m in damages that were predicted earlier but it&#8217;s nevertheless a punishing schedule.</p>
<p>€ 2,725,260 for Twentieth Century Fox Film ($3,015,813)<br>
€ 1,998,849 for Disney Enterprises ($2,211,956)<br>
€ 1,838,401 for Columbia Pictures ($2,034,402)<br>
€ 1,796,027 for Universal City Studios ($1,987,510)<br>
€ 1,618,388 for Paramount Pictures ($1,790,932)<br>
€ 1,224,348 for Warner Bros. ($1,354,881)<br>
€ 434,699 for Tristar Pictures ($481,044)<br>
€ 2,691,670 for <a href="https://www.sacem.fr/">SACEM</a> ($2,978,642)<br>
€ 527,675 for <a href="http://www.scpp.fr/SCPP/">SCPP</a> ($583,933)<br>
€ 684,067 for Microsoft ($756,998)<br>
€ 67,395 for Marc Dorcel ($74,580)</p>
<p>&#8220;Counterfeiters maintain that they act in the interests of dissemination of culture, while the analysis of lists of works in the record shows, obviously, a very piecemeal approach to musical culture or global film,&#8221; the ruling reads.</p>
<p>&#8220;But the imbalances created by downloading this type of work affect not only this but even more generally on all the works including those whose success is not immediate or massive. It is therefore appropriate to recognize significant financial damages and allocate damages accordingly within the limits of the requests by different civil parties.&#8221;</p>
<p>TorrenFreak has contacted Dimitri Mader and will update this article with his comments in due course. For now, Wawa-Mania remains operational.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=107819
title: Israeli Court Lifts Ineffective Popcorn Time Ban
uri: Israeli-Court-Lifts-Ineffective-Popcorn-Time-Ban
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/c3Tzium0C_c/
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">Branded a “Netflix for Pirates,” the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popcorn_Time">Popcorn Time</a> app quickly gathered a user base of millions of people over the past year.</p>
<p>The application has some of the major media giants shaking in their boots, including Netflix which sees the pirate app as a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/netflix-sees-popcorn-time-as-a-serious-competitor-150121/">serious competitor</a>.</p>
<p>In Israel, local anti-piracy group<a href="https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%96%D7%99%D7%A8%22%D7%94"> ZIRA</a> took several Internet providers to court this year, with the goal to have several prominent Popcorn Time sites blocked. This effort resulted in an initial success when a preliminary injunction was <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/court-orders-israeli-isps-to-block-popcorn-time-websites-150521/">granted</a> in May. </p>
<p>However, after a careful review the Tel Aviv court has now reversed this decision. One of the arguments of the court is that blocking Popcorn Time domain names is relatively ineffective. </p>
<p>The court concluded that since the developers of the software can&#8217;t be tracked down, there&#8217;s nothing that prohibits them from launching new websites to render the blockade useless.</p>
<p>&#8220;Therefore, blockage or shutting down Popcorn Time sites does not guarantee that the application can no longer be downloaded,&#8221; <a href="http://www.themarker.com/technation/1.2676582">the judgment</a> reads.</p>
<p>In addition, the court points out that Popcorn Time applications that have been downloaded already will continue to work, even if the sites are blocked.</p>
<p>&#8220;This shows that the benefit of the requested measures is minimal, if any,&#8221; the verdict notes.</p>
<p>The Internet providers who protested the blocking requests further argued that the blockades would require a lot of resources and hurt their image, which the court largely agreed with.	 </p>
<p>&#8220;The cost of making ISPs some kind of censorship authority is at least equivalent, if not higher, than the cost of copyright infringement,&#8221; the verdict reads, mentioning that free competition and freedom of speech may be at risk.</p>
<p>Finally, the court gave ZIRA a slap on the wrist by pointing out that the requested blockade wasn&#8217;t as urgent as the copyright holders claimed, since Popcorn Time has been around for a long time.</p>
<p>&#8220;These sites, which presumably were visible to everyone, have been online for a long time. Given that, it seems that the applicant delayed the submission of the application which contradicts their urgency claim on the requested preliminary measures&#8221;, the judgment reads.</p>
<p>The outcome is a blow for ZIRA and the copyright holders they represent. </p>
<p>In addition to the negative outcome, the court also ordered the anti-piracy group to pay $1,060 to cover the legal fees of one ISP. The other ISPs settled the fees in question out of court.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=107790
title: David Guetta: Piracy Brings Fans to My Concerts
uri: David-Guetta-Piracy-Brings-Fans-to-My-Concerts
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/tT2qCCNxhxo/
content:
<p><img src="media/8c2dc54e.guetta.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/guetta.jpg" alt="guetta" width="278" height="210" class="alignright size-full wp-image-107807">In recent years numerous studies have shown that music pirates <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/file-sharers-buy-30-more-music-than-non-p2p-peers-121015/">spend more </a>money on legal purchases, including concert tickets and merchandise, compared to their non-sharing counterparts.</p>
<p>There are <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/music-pirates-are-cheapskates-some-of-them-130210/">exceptions</a> to this rule, but it&#8217;s <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/riaa-pirates-are-bigger-music-fans-than-average-consumers-121113/">hard to deny</a> that there are plenty of pirates among the music industry&#8217;s most loyal customers. </p>
<p>This positive outlook on the piracy phenomenon is also shared by one the world&#8217;s top DJs, Frenchman David Guetta. In a recent interview with the BBC he suggests that unauthorized file-sharing actually helps to bring people to his concerts.</p>
<p>&#8220;I just want people to have access to my music. If there was no piracy, why can I sell out 20,000 people every in Brazil?&#8221; Guetta says. </p>
<p>&#8220;Is it because of how many records we sold in the shops? Of course not.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Frenchman, who previously opted to give music away for free to solve the piracy issue, doesn&#8217;t mind getting paid of course. In an ideal world every listener would pay something, but this isn&#8217;t a very realistic option. </p>
<p>Piracy is here to stay, so musicians better make use of it and enjoy the benefits it has to offer.</p>
<p>&#8220;I wish that every person who&#8217;s listening to my music would send me a little check. That would make me a very rich person, that would be wonderful. But at the same time this is impossible,&#8221; Guetta says. </p>
<p>&#8220;You can&#8217;t fight progress, so you better embrace it,&#8221; he adds.</p>
<p>With a net worth estimated at <a href="http://www.forbes.com/profile/david-guetta/">dozens of millions</a> it&#8217;s easy talk for the financially independent Frenchman. Smaller artists, however, may be more worried when they see their work being pirated. </p>
<p>Still, the point Guetta makes is universal. Piracy often serves as promotion for artists who can grow their user-base at a rapid pace and earn more revenue through live performances and merchandise. </p>
<p>Like most other artists Guetta wants as many people as possible to hear his music. If this means that some will take it without paying directly, that&#8217;s still better than not being heard at all. </p>
<p><center><strong>Guetta on piracy</strong><br></br></center><center><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_KyEV8KYDTY?rel=0&amp;controls=0&amp;showinfo=0" 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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=107847
title: TPP: U.S. May Not Force DMCA on Other Countries
uri: TPP-U-S-May-Accept-Partners-Own-ISP-Liability-Frameworks
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/XMGkc8rHxgg/
content:
<p><img src="media/c07eb200.tpp.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/tpp.png" width="177" height="200" class="alignright">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. The aim is to ease trade in goods and services, encourage investment, and forge understandings across a wide range of policy issues.</p>
<p>The TPP contains a chapter on intellectual property issues such as copyright, trademarks and patents. However, the developing agreement is highly secretive with drafts never being released to the public &#8211; officially at least. That all changed in 2013 when Wikileaks breached the agreement&#8217;s security cordon with the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/first-leaked-tpp-chapter-evokes-memories-of-sopa-131113/">publishing of a draft</a> relating to IP issues.</p>
<p>Since then there have been several leaks, including a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/leaked-tpp-draft-reveals-tough-anti-piracy-measures-141016/">notable one</a> in October 2014, again courtesy of Wikileaks. Last month Politico <a href="http://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2015/06/tpp-deal-leaked-pharma-000126">obtained</a> a more recent draft dated May 2015 but did not publish the full document. However, the <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/07/new-leaked-tpp-chapter-reveals-countries-converging-anti-user-copyright">Electronic Frontier Foundation</a> now says it has been briefed on its contents.</p>
<p>The EFF reports that while the text on DRM circumvention and copyright term remain largely unchanged, progress appears to have been made in the area of intermediary liability. This relates to the immunity afforded to service providers in respect of copyright infringement claims, provided they adhere to a set of requirements establishing their &#8216;safe harbor&#8217;.</p>
<p>In this area the most famous framework is that outlined by the United States&#8217; Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), whereby Internet companies such as ISPs and platform providers such as Google and YouTube respond to takedown requests from third parties to avoid being held liable for the infringements of others.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/leaked-tpp-draft-reveals-tough-anti-piracy-measures-141016/">outlined</a> in last year&#8217;s leak, the TPP&#8217;s ISP liability section mimics the DMCA, which prompted concern that partners could be forced to impose tougher regimes than those already in place. However, according to the EFF there appears to be a softening of position which could allow countries to stick to existing frameworks.</p>
<p>&#8220;The latest leak suggests that the U.S. is now likely to accommodate at least some of these existing intermediary liability regimes, rather than forcing a carbon-copy of the failed DMCA on its TPP partners,&#8221; EFF Senior Global Policy Analyst Jeremy Malcolm writes.</p>
<p>&#8220;The text does enforce a more generalized model of limitation of liability for intermediaries for third party content, and imposes a range of conditions before they qualify for that protection.</p>
<p>&#8220;But those conditions are now broad enough to accommodate a Japanese-style system in which a self-regulatory authority, formed by intermediaries and rightsholders with government involvement, is required to verify notices of claimed infringement before they are acted on.&#8221;</p>
<p>Also of interest is the approach taken towards Canada, a country placed as one of the leading opponents of many of the U.S. proposals. As concern mounts that the TPP agreement could challenge the country&#8217;s recently revamped copyright law and its notice-and-notice (as opposed to notice-and-takedown) system, the EFF reports leeway in negotiations.</p>
<p>&#8220;Interestingly, Canada&#8217;s system is not accommodated within the main text, but in a separate annex. The annex would exempt a country (such as Canada, implicitly) from the requirement to have a notice-and-takedown system provided that it already has a system in place requiring intermediaries to pass on notices of alleged infringement to their users,&#8221; the EFF explains.</p>
<p>However, the wiggle room does come at a cost. Countries in this position would be expected to impose secondary liability on intermediaries of services that are &#8220;primarily&#8221; used to enable copyright infringement. Search engines would also be required to remove cached copies of infringing items after their removal.</p>
<p>While the EFF raises concerns over the above, other proposals in the draft are given a cautious welcome.</p>
<p>TPP partners are now required to provide penalties against parties who knowingly file false takedown notices, equally those who file false counter-notices. Content taken down by a takedown notice must also be restored if a valid counter-notice is received.</p>
<p>Intermediaries will also be relieved that a failure to satisfy safe harbor conditions won&#8217;t automatically make them liable for infringement. Neither will safe harbor be reliant on intermediaries proactively monitoring uploads.</p>
<p>In conclusion, however, the EFF sees few reasons for optimism, noting that other threats in the IP chapter mean that the case for the group to fight the TPP &#8220;has never been more compelling.&#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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=107859
title: Popcorn Time Warns Users Against Malware and Scams
uri: Popcorn-Time-Warns-Users-Against-Malware-and-Scams
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/KxiPfC0aISY/
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 worldwide Popcorn Time is one of the most used pieces of software. </p>
<p>This success has also caught the attention of scammers, who launch rip-off sites to lure people into downloading malware or paying to obtain the client. </p>
<p>In recent months the developers of the original <a href="http://popcorntime.io">Popcorntime.io</a> fork have received numerous complaints about &#8220;unofficial&#8221; releases.</p>
<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve been dealing with reports about malware in Popcorn Time for a long time, and constant questions via email, Reddit or on our forums complaining about malware or other malicious copies,&#8221; the Popcorntime.io team informs TF.</p>
<p>&#8220;We felt it was time to publish a blog post about it in order to clear it up with a proper answer, and help prevent the constant questions so we can dedicate our time elsewhere.&#8221; </p>
<p>A search for &#8220;Popcorn Time&#8221; on Google does indeed return a long list of websites that contain shady links and popup ads. Also, there are sites that require people to pay or like them on Facebook, before allowing people to download anything.</p>
<p>Confusingly, all these Popcorn Time websites have more or less the same layout, so prospective users should tread carefully.</p>
<p>&#8220;&#8230;we warn you that we&#8217;re victims of our own success and you should always be careful: The &#8216;Popcorn Time&#8217; branding is used a lot by malicious people trying to surf the wave and make a profit,&#8221; Popcorntime.io <a href="https://blog.popcorntime.io/popcorn-time-and-the-competition/">explains</a>. </p>
<p>&#8220;This means you may find in some of these websites either non-working applications, which are simply a genuine waste of time and bandwidth, or &#8211; and this is worse &#8211; end up with viruses, adware or other trojan horses infecting your machine.&#8221;</p>
<p>In addition, the Popcorn Time team explains that they are not affiliated with the Porn Time app or the <a href="http://popcorn-time.se">Popcorn-Time.se</a> fork. While these clients are by no means harmful, the myriad of alternatives often causes confusion.</p>
<p>To point users in the right direction the Popcorntime.io developers have made a flow chart, which is featured below. Interestingly, the developers also list Netflix as an option for people who are willing to pay.  </p>
<p><center><strong>Popcorntime.io&#8217;s flow chart</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/1248b6df.popcornlegit.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/popcornlegit.png" alt="popcornlegit" width="1902" height="1851" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-107864"></center></p>
<p>Although it has to be said that there are several harmless Popcorn Time forks out there, including those listed earlier, the scammer problem is definitely a growing concern. </p>
<p>On that note, we also asked the Popcorntime.io team why they still use torrents from the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/eztv-shuts-down-after-hostile-takeover-150518/">compromised EZTV.ch site</a>. We were informed that they&#8217;re looking for a good alternative, without any signs of malware. They will use the hijacked site in the meantime.  </p>
<p>&#8220;While we&#8217;re working on moving we haven&#8217;t noticed any infected video from the compromised EZTV site and believe it to be acceptable while we work on finding the replacement rather than simply taking TV shows out of the application for the time being,&#8221; they inform TF. </p>
<p>Yet another pitfall to be on the lookout for.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=107885
title: Pirate Bay Damages Debt Doubles, No One Pays a Penny
uri: Pirate-Bay-Damages-Debt-Doubles-No-One-Pays-a-Penny
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/x5mHZ_mJdAA/
content:
<p><img src="media/3932f7e0.moneybanned.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/moneybanned.jpg" alt="moneybanned" width="180" height="171" class="alignright size-full wp-image-86198">Following their convictions for copyright infringement, Pirate Bay co-founders Gottfrid Svartholm and Fredrik Neij, former site spokesman Peter Sunde, and site financier Carl Lundström owed considerable amounts in damages.</p>
<p>After the 2008 appeal which resulted in reduced jail time but increased financial penalties, collectively the quartet owed 46 million kronor ($5.4m) to the movie and record company plaintiffs in the case. That amount has been accruing interest since the original shutdown of The Pirate Bay in May 2006.</p>
<p>By February 2012 the total owed had reached 73 million kronor. Now, more than nine years after the now-infamous raid, it stands at 86 million kronor, or $10 million. Very soon the amount will be double the original damages award.</p>
<p>While all have now completed their custodial sentences (Svartholm technically has a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-founder-still-wants-to-clear-his-name-150628/">few extra weeks</a>), neither has paid back a single penny of the money owed. This hardly comes as a surprise. While Svartholm and Neij have been less vocal, on a number of occasions Peter Sunde has made it clear that the money will never be repaid.</p>
<p><img src="media/7fc3d2c2.lundstrom.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/lundstrom.jpg" alt="lundstrom" width="175" height="186" class="alignright size-full wp-image-27598">Now, thanks to a visit to his home in Switzerland by Swedish newspaper <a href="http://www.expressen.se/nyheter/forsoker-gomma-arvet-undan-kronofogden/">Expressen</a>, Carl Lundström has broken his silence. The former multi-millionaire lives with his family in the town of Wetzikon located a few miles outside Zurich and he told the publication he enjoys his life there.</p>
<p>&#8220;I have it good in Switzerland,&#8221; Lundström said.</p>
<p>One of the reasons why the 55-year-old has avoided paying his debts is that in 2012 he filed for <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-still-hunting-for-cash-as-pirate-bay-financier-set-to-go-bankrupt-130610/">personal bankruptcy</a>. A year later he was declared bankrupt in Switzerland, despite allegations that the businessman had previously transferred all of his assets to his wife Bettina.</p>
<p>With the Motion Picture Association still keen to retrieve its cash, in 2013 the group admitted it was keeping a close eye on Lundström. But thus far it appears that effort is yet to bear fruit, with the Swede seemingly quite aware of his delicate situation.</p>
<p>Speaking on the doorstep of a several hundred square meter villa, Lundström &#8211; who made a small fortune in the 80s when the family crispbread business was sold for around 77 million kronor ($9m) &#8211; explained a little about his homing situation.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is my wife who rents two floors in this house. I&#8217;m just living here,&#8221; he explained.</p>
<p>And it appears that others around Lundström have also been make preparations to keep money away from copyright holders in the music and movie industries.</p>
<p>According to Expressen, Lundström&#8217;s mother Gwen Lundström recently passed away and in her Last Will and Testament she made it clear that any assets should transfer to her grandchildren. Additionally, specific clauses made it clear that any assets were not be used to pay legal debts.</p>
<p>Ultimately, however, Lundström refused to discuss his massive debts back in Sweden, smiling and answering a simple &#8220;No&#8221; when asked if he missed the country.</p>
<p>In a few months, the bailiffs will again start investigating Lundström to see if he has any assets but it seems unlikely anything will be found. Back in Sweden, movie studio Yellow Bird moved to have both Gottfrid Svartholm and Fredrik Neij declared bankrupt in <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/movie-studio-wants-to-bankrupt-pirate-bay-founder-120824/">2012</a> and 2013 but there was little to nothing to take.</p>
<p>Whether copyright holders will ever get to see a penny of the millions owed is up for debate, but it&#8217;s safe to say that there is no appetite among the &#8216;Pirate Bay Four&#8217; to run to Hollywood with bundles of cash.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=107900
title: Censoring Pirate Sites is Counterproductive, Research Finds
uri: Censoring-Pirate-Sites-is-Counterproductive-Research-Finds
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/rpQflSzoQb4/
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 operators to court, copyright holders are increasingly relying on Internet providers to block &#8216;pirate&#8217; domains.</p>
<p>Courts all around the world have ordered Internet providers to block subscriber access to various pirate sites, and in Italy this process is formalized through telecoms regulator AGCOM.</p>
<p>The idea behind these blockades is that they help to decrease online piracy. However, research increasingly suggests that this aim is not being fulfilled. In fact, a new study shows that blocking attempts may actually be counterproductive.</p>
<p>To find out whether blocking efforts are effective, University of Padua professor Giorgio Clemente decided to run a comprehensive analysis, comparing traffic data before and after the measures were implemented. </p>
<p>The research uses the same methodology as an earlier MPAA-commissioned study by <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/uk-site-blocking-gives-boost-to-pirate-linking-sites-150102/">Incopro</a> which examined UK blockades. However, instead of merely looking at the blocked domains, Professor Clemente also took domain name changes into account because site operators commonly switch domains to bypass censorship efforts.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/270906520/Italian-Blocking-Study">results</a> are quite revealing and show that Government-sanctioned blockades actually increase traffic to the targeted sites.</p>
<p>&#8220;The most important conclusion is that blocking access to websites increases their popularity,&#8221; Professor Clemente tells TF. &#8220;In particular, AGCOM helps to advertise pirated works, creating the classic and well-known Streisand effect.&#8221;</p>
<p>The data clearly shows that Italian search engine traffic to most of the targeted sites gets a boost, creating a consequent increase in piracy rather than a decline.</p>
<p>In many cases the websites simply switched to a new domain name to evade the blocking efforts. Cineblog01.net, for example, moved to a .li domain name and as a result of the attention the site received from the blocking efforts, search engine traffic spiked more than 1000%.</p>
<p>&#8220;AGCOM&#8217;s blocking measures have actually increased the site&#8217;s popularity, which went from 106,000 Italian search engine visitors in March 201 to 2,294,000 users a year later,&#8221; the report reads, adding that this caused a spike in piracy activity. </p>
<p>The same pattern was observed for other sites. Limetorrents, for example, saw Italian search engine traffic increase from 9,000 to 162,000 a few months later after, as shown below.</p>
<p><center><strong>Limetorrents traffic increase</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/641cdc02.limeagcom.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/limeagcom.jpg" alt="limeagcom" width="550" height="503" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-107930"></center></p>
<p>The measures also helped to promote previously unknown sites. TorrentDownloads had no Italian visits before the blocking measures but started to see traffic coming in after AGCOM put the site on its blocklist. </p>
<p>The full report lists a total of 27 sites which nearly all increased their visitor numbers. This leads to the overall conclusion that the time and money invested in the measures is wasted. </p>
<p>&#8220;The resources and energy which Internet providers put into the blocking efforts are completely unjustified, and so are the copyright protection activities of AGCOM, given the obvious ineffectiveness of the measures,&#8221; the report reads.</p>
<p>Professor Clemente notes that his research confirms a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/shutting-down-pirate-sites-is-ineffective-european-commission-finds-150514/">recent study</a> by the European Commission&#8217;s Joint Research Centre, which reached a similar conclusion regarding the shutdown of the popular movie streaming portal Kino.to</p>
<p>Italian lawyer Fulvio Sarzana, who represented the owners of several blocked websites, says the report confirms what many people already expected. </p>
<p>&#8220;The research by the University of Padua shows what everyone already knows: administrative copyright enforcement by blocking access to websites is an unnecessary and harmful waste time,&#8221; he tells TF.</p>
<p>The controversial AGCOM measures are up for a review at the Italian Constitutional Court later this year which will look at whether they limit people&#8217;s right to free expression. If the court rules the measures unlawful, Sarzana says that the affected sites may be entitled to a substantial damage claim for being unfairly blocked. </p>
<p>However, taking the results of Professor Clemente into consideration there&#8217;s little damage to complain about. </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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=107934
title: Prominent Legal Experts Rally Behind Megaupload
uri: Prominent-Legal-Experts-Rally-Behind-Megaupload
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/YbH2b52YzU8/
content:
<p><img src="media/9a9629f5.megaupload-logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/megaupload-logo.jpg" alt="megaupload-logo" width="225" height="188" class="alignright size-full wp-image-95191">Earlier this year the U.S. Government <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/u-s-government-wins-dozens-of-millions-from-kim-dotcom-150326/">won </a>its civil forfeiture case against Megaupload and Kim Dotcom. </p>
<p>As a result, the U.S. now owns Kim Dotcom&#8217;s bank accounts, cars, art and other property worth dozens of millions of dollars.</p>
<p>Last week Megaupload&#8217;s legal team <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/kim-dotcom-appeals-to-reclaim-mega-millions-from-u-s-150701/">filed</a> its appeal brief, hoping to undo the District Court&#8217;s decision, pointing out that the court denied the defendants’ basic rights and violated due process </p>
<p>According to the defense team the court was wrong to label Dotcom and his colleagues as <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/u-s-government-brands-kim-dotcom-fugitive-spies-others-141120/">fugitives,</a> a claim which is now supported by several legal experts.</p>
<p>A few hours ago the <a href="http://www.cato.org/">Cato Institute</a>, the <a href="http://www.nacdl.org/">National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers</a> and the <a href="https://www.ij.org/">Institute for Justice</a> submitted an independent brief in support of Megaupload.   </p>
<p>&#8220;&#8230; the federal government’s aggressive use of forfeiture poses a grave threat to property rights and can cause irreparable injury when property is forfeited without any hearing,&#8221; the groups write (<a href="media/45a86378.Mega-AmicusBrief.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/Mega-AmicusBrief.pdf">pdf</a>).</p>
<p>The legal experts sum up a variety of reasons why the Megaupload defendants should not be branded fugitives and note that the District Court&#8217;s decision is dangerous and unconstitutional.</p>
<p>&#8220;Stripping the claimants of their due process rights isn’t just unconstitutional, it’s dangerous. There’s a growing literature on the abuse of civil forfeiture and those abuses are directly tied to the protections given to the claimants here, as well as the ability of government officials to directly benefit from forfeitures,&#8221; they write. </p>
<p>Continuing their brief, the legal experts suggest the Department of Justice was not happy with how the case was proceeding, and that they went after the assets to turn the case in their favor.</p>
<p>&#8220;Not content to hold the best hand in this card game a U.S. Attorney’s office with extensive resources and privileges the government has decided that the other side should be forced to relinquish its chips before the game even begins.&#8221; </p>
<p>&#8220;This Court should not countenance such a gross violation of due process,&#8221; they add, asking the court to overturn the District Court decision.</p>
<p>Kim Dotcom is glad to see the support of the legal experts and is confident that his team will win the appeal.</p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m grateful for the support from these respected organizations. It is good to see that there are groups of legal experts in the United States that hold the Government to account and combat the abuse of power and prosecutorial overreach,&#8221; Dotcom tells TF.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=107947
title: “U.S. Copyright Group” Shuts Down Portugal’s Largest Pirate Site
uri: U-S-Copyright-Group-Shuts-Down-Portugal-s-Largest-Pirate-Site
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/3T5PZMaR0t4/
content:
<p><img src="media/ce50d342.babypirate.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/babypirate.jpg" alt="babypirate" width="222" height="179" class="alignright size-full wp-image-100720">Late last week file-sharing fans in Portugal received the worst possible news. WarezTuga, the country&#8217;s most popular &#8216;pirate&#8217; movie and TV show site, announced it was closing down with immediate effect.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is an extremely difficult decision for all of us, more than most can even imagine, but our work reached heights of popularity so high, it became absolutely impossible to continue to fight and to manage a project of such scale,&#8221; its operators announced.</p>
<p>While less well-known overseas, WarezTuga was a significant operation. In February it was one of the top 20 most popular sites in all of Portugal, jostling for position with giants including Twitter and Yahoo. Even today, with traffic plummeting due to the shutdown, WarezTuga is still the country&#8217;s 25th most trafficked domain. But that success didn&#8217;t come easily.</p>
<p>&#8220;Four years of struggle, sweat, dedication and sacrifice have now come to an end, but also years of pleasure, satisfaction and pride for what we have achieved together. We leave with a clear conscience, because we have achieved what we always dreamed about: to be an example, a reference, a statue of what can be achieved when the will power is infinite,&#8221; its operators said.</p>
<p>&#8220;In the end, we are proud to say that today we close wareztuga.tv willingly and we were those who resisted longer, despite all the external pressures.&#8221;</p>
<p>Now, however, more details are emerging which make it clear that while the shutdown might ultimately have been voluntary, the site had been under massive pressure from the movie industry both locally and in the United States.</p>
<p>Local anti-piracy group FEVIP (Portuguese Association of Audiovisual Works Defense) has now revealed it was behind the shutdown. Complaints were filed against WarezTuga in May 2014 by FEVIP and now-defunct anti-piracy outfit ACAPOR who were acting on behalf of companies in the United States.</p>
<p>However, there was a problem to overcome. As is becoming increasingly common with similar sites, WarezTuga used U.S.-based Cloudflare, a service which can shield the true location of a site&#8217;s servers. But as other sites are discovering, that protection is <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/cloudflare-reveals-pirate-site-locations-in-an-instant-150629/">easily unlocked</a> by filing a complaint with the CDN service.</p>
<p>With the site&#8217;s location known, FEVIP headed off to Romania where WarezTuga operated its servers. There a webhost known as Alistar-Security received threats from &#8220;representatives of a U.S. copyright group&#8221;. Unconfirmed, but almost certainly the MPAA and its affiliates.</p>
<p>What happened next is unclear but whatever it was seems to have seriously spooked the operators of WarezTuga. After operating under pressure since 2011, the operators took the decision to close down the site. FEVIP welcomed the move.</p>
<p>&#8220;It was the pirate site most used in Portugal; even if others arise, at least this site has been taken down,&#8221; FEVIP chief Paulo Santos <a href="http://exameinformatica.sapo.pt/noticias/internet/2015-07-06-Wareztuga-foi-a-industria-do-cinema-que-fechou-o-maior-site-pirata-de-Portugal">told</a> Exame Informática.</p>
<p>The shutdown of the site was bitter-sweet for Nuno Pereira, the former head of now-defunct anti-piracy group ACAPOR. The copyright group became one of WarezTuga&#8217;s most aggressive opponents but was <a href="http://abertoatedemadrugada.com/2014/05/presidente-da-acapor-defende.html">shut down</a> after the interests they represented &#8211; video rental outlets &#8211; became a thing of the past.</p>
<p>&#8220;It was the most important pirate site and the one we wanted to close down quickly, but it turned out it took more time to close,&#8221; Pereira said.</p>
<p>But while video rentals disappear into the Portuguese sunset, a new dawn of video consumption is appearing on the country&#8217;s horizon. After a long wait, Netflix will finally land on local shores in October and not a minute too soon for FEVIP&#8217;s Santos.</p>
<p>&#8220;Of course it would be desirable that the service had come much earlier, before everyone who uses the Internet modernly have sought alternatives. But it is likely to be a success, something seen immediately by the amount of attention that the Portugal arrival announcement has generated,&#8221; Santos <a href="http://tek.sapo.pt/noticias/internet/artigo/afastem_se_piratas_o_netflix_vai_chegar_a_portugal-1443776tek.html">says</a>.</p>
<p>But even as Netflix tries to take hold in a market free of WarezTuga, Santos says that the pirate vacuum might be filled sooner rather than later.</p>
<p>&#8220;Generally, for every hundred sites that close, there are 60 returning. These are averages that we know in the industry,&#8221; the FEVIP chief 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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=107984
title: MPAA Wants to Kill Domain Name Privacy, For Some
uri: MPAA-Wants-to-Kill-Domain-Name-Privacy-For-Some
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/AgR_k6xFJ-8/
content:
<p><img src="media/70f2a6a6.boxed.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/boxed.jpg" alt="boxed" width="222" height="178" class="alignright size-full wp-image-36576">A new <a href="media/61119ccf.ppsai-initial-05may15-en.pdf" data-original-source="https://gnso.icann.org/en/issues/raa/ppsai-initial-05may15-en.pdf">ICANN proposal</a> currently under review suggests various changes to how WHOIS protection services should operate. </p>
<p>The plans have <a href="https://www.respectourprivacy.com/">raised concerns</a> among registrars and consumer organizations who warn that it may put an end to private domain name registrations for some websites.</p>
<p>Copyright holders, on the other hand, have welcomed the proposed changes as they would help them to track down operators of pirate sites. Yesterday the MPAA submitted <a href="http://forum.icann.org/lists/comments-ppsai-initial-05may15/msg11391.html">its comments</a> to ICANN reiterating this stance.</p>
<p>In particular, the MPAA wants privacy protection services to hand over the registration information if a website owner is unresponsive to abuse complaints. These services should be required hand over the details without a court order or subpoena.</p>
<p>&#8220;In situations where clear and verifiable cases of abuse are found and direct communication with the customer of a privacy protection service is not possible, an effective and predictable framework to obtain contact details of the customer is required,&#8221; the MPAA&#8217;s Alex Deacon writes. </p>
<p>The Hollywood group stresses that it isn&#8217;t calling for an outright ban on WHOIS privacy protection for all commercial websites. However, the group does support ongoing discussions on the issue. </p>
<p>Many opponents of the  proposed changes warn that privacy limitations may make it easier for criminals to harass website owners. The MPAA turns the tables instead, arguing that consumers have the right to know who runs a commercial website. </p>
<p>&#8220;MPAA believes it is equally important to consider the privacy interests and rights of Internet users who interact with web sites, many using privacy protection services, on a daily basis. Users right to know the identity of commercial entities with whom they are transacting, is a foundational principle in consumer protection law,&#8221; Deacon notes.</p>
<p>In a separate blog post on the issue the MPAA complains that its stance on the domain name privacy issued has been mischaracterized. </p>
<p>&#8220;Unfortunately, in recent weeks there have been a growing number of assertions that have sought to mischaracterize the MPAA’s position on privacy and proxy services,&#8221; Deacon writes. </p>
<p>In a <a href="http://www.mpaa.org/ppsai/#.VZ4u0PmqpBd">blog post</a> the MPAA notes that it doesn&#8217;t object to legitimate use of privacy protection services at all, even for commercial services. In addition, it stresses that privacy protection services should not reveal any private information without solid evidence.   </p>
<p>However, they add that the new rules must &#8220;strike a balance&#8221; to ensure that individuals who use domain names for &#8220;illegal and abusive activity&#8221; can be easily exposed.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108008
title: Bitcoin Bounties Aim to Turn Pirates Into Snitches
uri: Bitcoin-Bounties-Aim-to-Turn-Pirates-Into-Snitches
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Q_NjPHguBWA/
content:
<p><img src="media/aae7b176.snitch.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/snitch.jpg" alt="snitch" width="180" height="165" class="alignright size-full wp-image-53823">While money may very well be the root of most evil, it&#8217;s still a commodity most people want to get their hands on. Trouble is, most financial systems rely on expensive middle-men who are always keen to retain a piece of the pie in return for their transactional skills.</p>
<p>For users of Bitcoin, however, things are somewhat different. The system relies on a peer-to-peer architecture which allows users to transact directly without needing an intermediary. And, of great value to privacy lovers, the system is somewhat less intrusive, unless users provide information about themselves as part of a purchase, for example.</p>
<p>These aspects have generated interest among those in the &#8216;pirate&#8217; community, with some torrent sites now accepting donations via Bitcoin donations instead of through the troublesome PayPal. However, a service currently being promoted by a technology company will see Bitcoin used in the fight against piracy instead.</p>
<p>The solution comes from South Africa-based <a href="http://custostech.com/">Custos Media Technologies</a> who say that for a fee they can embed a &#8220;digital alarm&#8221; into movies and music that can alert content owners when their material is uploaded to torrent sites or other file-sharing platforms.</p>
<p>Developed by researchers at Stellenbosch University, the CustosTech system aims to discourage leaks and reward those who find them while exploiting the publicly accessible information associated with Bitcoin.</p>
<p>The concept is fairly straightforward. Content creators are given the opportunity to embed a unique identifying watermark into a movie, music track or other digital content before they sell or loan it to a customer or client. One suggested use that may catch the industry&#8217;s eye is when so-called &#8216;screeners&#8217; are handed out to Academy members and critics.</p>
<p>However, instead of having a &#8220;For Your Consideration&#8221; watermark in the middle of the screen, protected movies in this scenario have a trick up their sleeve.</p>
<p>&#8220;Custos embeds watermarks into the analog and/or digital content of media items, which are imperceptible but difficult to remove. Each watermark contains a Bitcoin wallet, with a reward for anyone who anonymously claims it once the media has passed out of the control of the original recipient,&#8221; Custos explain.</p>
<p>&#8220;Media downloaders who want to search for such rewards (&#8216;bounty hunters&#8217;) can do so anonymously, from anywhere in the world. The moment a bounty is claimed – and by the nature of cryptocurrencies, this can only happen once – the transaction reflects on the blockchain, and Custos notifies the media provider of the incident, and to which recipient the content was originally licensed.&#8221;</p>
<p>In other words, when content appears on a site somewhere, the first person to download it, view the code, and report it via a special Custos tool, wins the Bitcoin bounty. It&#8217;s essentially a people-powered leak reporting system that could lead to a number of possibilities for the content provider.</p>
<p>&#8220;[The person to whom the content was originally given] could then be subject to financial or legal penalties, or to reduced access to future content,&#8221; Custos explain.</p>
<p>&#8220;In this manner, authorised media users are strongly discouraged from actively sharing files or carelessly leaking them, while at the same time, they need not be inconvenienced by cumbersome security measures.&#8221;</p>
<p>The company is marketing CustosTech as a system that &#8220;turns the downloaders against the uploaders&#8221; and in some ways it&#8217;s difficult to argue with the assertion. Whether the system will prove popular enough with &#8216;snitches&#8217; will remain to be seen &#8211; that will probably rely on the size of the &#8216;bounties&#8217; up for grabs.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108013
title: Pirate Bay Founders Acquitted in Criminal Copyright Case
uri: Pirate-Bay-Founders-Acquitted-in-Criminal-Copyright-Case
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/xjy0SDNSIXY/
content:
<p><img src="media/4e243e8b.tpb-logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpb-logo.jpg" alt="tpb-logo" width="222" height="198" class="alignright size-full wp-image-67837">There can be little doubt that The Pirate Bay is the most infamous torrent site of all time. Its attitude towards copyright and related laws has landed the site and its operators in endless legal trouble for more than a decade, conflict that continues today.</p>
<p>Following the convictions of The Pirate Bay Four &#8211; co-founders Gottfrid Svartholm and Fredrik Neij, former site spokesman Peter Sunde, and site financier Carl Lundström &#8211; most legal matters involving the site have been connected to local ISP blocking injunctions. Nevertheless, a separate legal process against the men themselves has persisted in Belgium.</p>
<p>Unusually, the case was based in criminal law, with Svartholm, Neij, Sunde and Lundström all standing accused of a range of crimes including criminal copyright infringement and abuse of electronic communications. However, the case itself has always experienced problems.</p>
<p>All four defendants deny having had anything to do with the site since its reported sale to a Seychelles-based company called Reservella in 2006. That has proven problematic, since the period in which the four allegedly committed the crimes detailed in the Belgian case spans September 2011 and November 2013.</p>
<p>Having failed to connect the quartet with the site&#8217;s operations during that period, the case has now fallen apart. Yesterday a judge at the Mechelse Court ruled that it could not be proven that the four were involved in the site during the period in question.</p>
<p>Indeed, for at least a year of that period, Svartholm was in jail in Sweden while connecting Lundström to the site a decade after his last involvement (which was purely financial) has always been somewhat ridiculous.</p>
<p>In the end, even the site&#8217;s anti-piracy adversaries in the case agreed with the decision.</p>
<p>&#8220;Technically speaking, we agree with the court,&#8221; <a href="http://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20150710_01771008">said</a> Olivier Maeterlinck, director of the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA).</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108065
title: Chrome Blocks Major Torrent Sites Over “Harmful Programs”
uri: Chrome-Blocks-Major-Torrent-Sites-Over-Harmful-Programs
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/0Igf0gNEgwA/
content:
<p><img src="media/53764347.chrome.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/chrome.jpg" alt="chrome" width="180" height="180" class="alignright size-full wp-image-100967">There&#8217;s a slight panic breaking out among Google Chrome users. Over the past few hours the browser has started to block access to several of the most <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">popular torrent sites</a> including KickassTorrents, Torrentz, ExtraTorrent and RARBG.</p>
<p>Instead of a page filled with the latest torrents, visitors are presented with an ominous red warning banner.</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><center><img src="media/c3c3da46.harm.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/harm.png" alt="harm" width="644" height="424" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-108067"></center></p>
<p>Google doesn&#8217;t specify what the issue is with the sites in question. The &#8220;Safe Browsing&#8221; <a href="http://safebrowsing.clients.google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?site=http%3A%2F%2Fkat.cr%2F&#038;client=googlechrome&#038;hl=en-US">diagnostics pages</a> only list the sites as &#8220;suspicious&#8221; and note that &#8220;third parties can add malicious code to legitimate sites.&#8221; in some cases.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/f0d1849b.nomalice.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/nomalice.png" alt="nomalice" width="513" height="130" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-108083"></center></p>
<p>The owners of the sites in question are clueless about the source of the problem. RARBG&#8217;s operator informs TF that there is no additional information available in Google&#8217;s <a href="http://www.google.com/webmasters/">Webmaster tools</a> either.</p>
<p>&#8220;I hope Google comes to its senses and actually allows webmasters to see what the issue is in their webmasters tools,&#8221; RARBG&#8217;s operator informs us (<strong>update:</strong> after publication some more information did appear in webmaster tools).</p>
<p>ExtraTorrent is not aware of any issues either and notes that the malware Google reportedly <a href="http://safebrowsing.clients.google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?site=http%3A%2F%2Fextratorrent.cc%2F&#038;client=googlechrome&#038;hl=en-US">found</a> are false positives.</p>
<p>&#8220;There is no malicious software and you are still able to load ExtraTorrent in Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Chromium and other browsers,&#8221; the ExtraTorrent team says.</p>
<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ll contact Google to resolve the issue shortly,&#8221; they add. </p>
<p>Interestingly, several proxy sites, such as torrentz-proxy.com, still work fine and don&#8217;t show the warning screen in Google Chrome.  </p>
<p>Since Google doesn&#8217;t mention &#8220;malicious software&#8221; as the reason for the warning, it was most likely triggered by the &#8220;unsafe&#8221; ads many torrent sites run. These are typically linked to toolbar software or other unwanted programs.</p>
<p>We reached out to Google to find out more about the sudden torrent site blocks, but we have yet to receive a response.</p>
<p>Chrome 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">disable Chrome&#8217;s malware warnings</a> altogether.</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> Some people report that Firefox also started blocking access to several torrent sites. </p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> ExtraTorrent says it successfully resolved the issue with Google through webmaster tools. RARBG is also unblocked. </p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> Google didn&#8217;t comment on this specific situation and <a href="http://googleonlinesecurity.blogspot.nl/2015/02/more-protection-from-unwanted-software.html">referred</a> us to a recent blog post.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108019
title: “Petty Hollywood” Stops Pirate Admin From Going Home
uri: Petty-Hollywood-Stops-Pirate-Admin-From-Going-Home
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/0s6PtxvUzaw/
content:
<p><img src="media/d411ef84.dmitri.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dmitri.png" alt="dmitri" width="202" height="225" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108021">After launching his site Wawa-Mania in 2006, it took just three years for Dimitri Mader to attract the negative attention of the authorities. </p>
<p>After the Association Against Audiovisual Piracy (ALPA) identified more than 3,600 films being made available via the site without permission, Mader was detained in 2009.</p>
<p>This April, Mader was <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/sentenced-to-jail-warez-operator-faces-30m-damages-claim-150410/">sentenced to a year in jail</a> and was fined 20,000 euros for his role on the site. The 26-year-old heard the news from his home in the Philippines where he lives with his family.</p>
<p>Earlier this month the Frenchman was bracing for more bad news as a court deliberated on the damages he&#8217;d have to pay to mainly Hollywood companies. In the event, claims from Columbia Pictures, Disney, Paramount, Tristar, Universal, Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Bros and Microsoft were largely upheld by the court and Mader was <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-site-admin-ordered-to-pay-hollywood-12-8m-150706/">landed with a $17m bill</a>.</p>
<p>Following the ruling, TorrentFreak caught up with Mader. What&#8217;s it like to have a jail sentence pending in another country? How does one react to a multi-million dollar invoice landing on the table and how does that affect the future?</p>
<p>&#8220;First I smiled, the amount is far from what I expected,&#8221; Mader told TF.</p>
<p>&#8220;Then I realized that this penalty wasn&#8217;t designed to be a refund [to Hollywood] but only to scare, a final pettiness to make sure that I won&#8217;t have a life in France.&#8221;</p>
<p>The amount is certainly huge, even beyond the damages currently outstanding in the famous Pirate Bay case, and that&#8217;s with <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-damages-debt-doubles-no-one-pays-a-penny-150708/">nine years of accruing interest</a> tagged on.</p>
<p>But to anyone of limited means, a million dollars may as well be a billion dollars &#8211; the amount is never going to get paid. As a result, Mader says he will remove it from his thoughts.</p>
<p>&#8220;[The copyright holders] know that to get the full payment or even 10% of it is something impossible. I will just drop that from my mind, the criminal verdict is enough to cause worry,&#8221; he says.</p>
<p>&#8220;I won&#8217;t think about the penalty, it is just beyond any common sense. I will surely not [pay anything] and even if a new court makes the penalty lower, it won&#8217;t change anything. Five million, 15 million or 30 million. What&#8217;s the difference after all?&#8221;</p>
<p>Even if Mader manages to clear the damages from his mind, there is still the serious matter of the one year jail sentence handed down by a French court in April. Will he return home to face the music?</p>
<p>&#8220;Returning to France is complicated. I haven&#8217;t been back there for four years and now I need to provide some documents that I can&#8217;t get easily,&#8221; Mader says.</p>
<p>&#8220;After three years outside the country, you are automatically removed from the Social security system, it&#8217;s a whole process to get back on it and it can&#8217;t be done from here.&#8221;</p>
<p>And getting that sorted would be a priority. Mader has a wife and child in the Philippines and that only complicates matters when considering a return to France.</p>
<p>&#8220;I need also to provide papers for the registration of my wife and kid. It&#8217;s a mess. I can&#8217;t afford to leave them here alone and I have no guarantee that [French authorities] will let me leave once they have me,&#8221; he explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;I could become stuck and strangled with a 15 million euro penalty for a very long time before they allow me to leave again. Today I&#8217;m not really sure of any future, we&#8217;ll have to see what happens.&#8221;</p>
<p>Additionally, there&#8217;s the not insignificant matter of what happens to Wawa-Mania. The court wants the site closed down but Mader suggests its future could be the subject of a quid pro quo arrangement.</p>
<p>&#8220;[Its future] depends on the success of my new development and/or the possibility to come back to France as requested,&#8221; he says.</p>
<p>&#8220;If I can come back with my family, I will keep my word and definitely close the forum, no more games. The only thing I will do is to release my work and some part of the database. It can be useful to see how that worked and might help some people.&#8221;</p>
<p>While Mader faces an uncertain future, his parting comments paint an even more bleak picture for the destiny of the Internet.</p>
<p>&#8220;I have no doubt about what the Internet is going to be. A Web 3.0 fully under the control of a few IT giants, regulated by other corporations and government.</p>
<p>&#8220;They gonna tell you where to go, what to watch, what to listen to, what to read, what to think and, most importantly, where to enter your credit card number,&#8221; he warns.</p>
<p>&#8220;I will enjoy the small piece of freedom I have left to try something different, until nothing is possible anymore.&#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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=107959
title: CloudFlare Forced to Censor Anti-Censorship Site
uri: CloudFlare-Forced-to-Censor-Anti-Censorship-Site
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/0FrnqcZMON8/
content:
<p><img src="media/3e566119.notresolved.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/notresolved.png" alt="notresolved" width="275" height="166" class="alignright size-full wp-image-107961">Last May, Grooveshark <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/grooveshark-shuts-down-apologizes-to-the-riaa-150501/">shut down</a> after settling with the RIAA. However, within days a new site was <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/resurrected-grooveshark-is-actually-an-mp3juices-clone-150506/">launched</a> aiming to take its place.</p>
<p>The RIAA wasn’t happy with this development and quickly obtained an <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/record-labels-sue-new-grooveshark-seize-domains-150515/">injunction</a>, preventing various Internet service providers from offering their services to the site. </p>
<p>Through the lawsuit the companies hope to prevent further copyright infringements, but there is more at stake. Much more.</p>
<p>The case is also the first major test of how receptive the courts are to the notion of injunctions against hosting companies, domain name services, ISPs and search engines. </p>
<p>Fearing that these attempts may become commonplace several tech companies protested the injunction, including CloudFlare. The court order requires the CDN-service to ban all domain names that use the term &#8220;Grooveshark,&#8221; which the company believes is too broad. </p>
<p>This week CloudFlare informed the court that the order limits free-speech, impacting legitimate customers who use it for perfectly legitimate websites. </p>
<p>&#8220;CloudFlare has already been compelled by the injunction to deny service to at least one website that is plainly non-infringing, and to others that are arguably non-infringing and have no discernible connection with the Defendants in this case,&#8221; they write (<a href="media/b5dc708e.cloudcensor.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cloudcensor.pdf">pdf</a>). </p>
<p>&#8220;This harm to CloudFlare’s business and potentially to customer’s businesses, and to the free speech rights of its customers, will continue without a modification of the Preliminary Injunction.&#8221; </p>
<p>As an example, CloudFlare says it had to terminate the account of &#8220;groovesharkcensorship.cf,&#8221; a site which protested the broad injunction as the screenshot below shows. </p>
<p><center><strong>Groovesharkcensorship.cf, before CloudFlare took it offline</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/c2a360b6.censorcomplaint.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/censorcomplaint.png" alt="censorcomplaint" width="600" height="354" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-107962"></center></p>
<p>Under the injunction CloudFlare had no other option than to disable its services for the domain, rendering it inaccessible.</p>
<p>In an email, the company informed the affected user about its actions explaining that it&#8217;s not allowed to provide any services that use the Grooveshark trademark in a domain name.</p>
<p><center><strong>CloudFlare&#8217;s email</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/bfe78f22.censormail.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/censormail.png" alt="censormail" width="425" height="375" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-107963"></center></p>
<p>According to CloudFlare many other legitimate sites may be at risk of being censored if the broad injunction is upheld.</p>
<p>Despite these protests, the record labels maintain the position that the measures are “entirely appropriate.” They argue that it&#8217;s up to CloudFlare to determine whether a domain name is infringing, and consult the record labels if there&#8217;s any doubt. </p>
<p>For its part, CloudFlare wants the court to modify the injunction so that they only have to target domain names which the record labels point out to them, instead of banning the word Grooveshark altogether.</p>
<p>Shortly before publishing this article the court ruled (<a href="media/f81f978a.cloudorder.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cloudorder.pdf">pdf</a>) on the dispute, largely in favor of CloudFlare. </p>
<p>In a ruling issued a few hours ago District Court Judge Alison Nathan clarifies that CloudFlare is no longer required to ban all Grooveshark-related domains. Instead, the record labels must alert the company to possibly infringing sites. </p>
<p>However, Judge Nathan adds that if CloudFlare has knowledge of an infringing domain name it is required to take action on its own. </p>
<p>So, in the end it appears that the censored anti-censorship site has served its purpose. At the time of writing it still remains offline, but this may change during the coming hours.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=107999
title: Bogus “Copyright Trademark” Complaint Fails to Censor the BBC
uri: Bogus-Copyright-Trademark-Complaint-Fails-to-Censor-the-BBC
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/X_nFhe_Eepo/
content:
<p><img src="media/6cb6a973.censorship.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/censorship.jpg" alt="censorship" width="200" height="200" class="alignright size-full wp-image-47463">Google receives millions of requests every week to have links delisted from its search results, largely following claims from third parties that the referenced content infringes their rights.</p>
<p>While it&#8217;s difficult to say what proportion of these claims are erroneous or duplicate, it&#8217;s likely to run into thousands per month. Other claims, like the one we&#8217;re highlighting today, underline why we absolutely need <a href="http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/">Google&#8217;s Transparency Report</a> and the DMCA notice archive maintained by <a href="https://www.chillingeffects.org/">Chilling Effects</a>.</p>
<p>The episode began on July 1, 2015 when an individual contacted Google with a complaint about a page hosted by the BBC. Found <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/x-ray/2009/03/instant-mobility.shtml">here</a>, the page carries a news report from 2009 which reveals how a man called Kevin Collinson with two failed disability scooter businesses behind him was allegedly (and potentially illegally) running a third.</p>
<p>The article is a typical &#8220;rogue trader&#8221; affair, with tales of aggressive sales techniques, broken promises, faulty goods, out-of-pocket customers and companies that dissolve only to reappear debt-free shortly after. Unpleasant to say the least.</p>
<p>So what prompted the complaint to Google that was subsequently published on Chilling Effects? Well, it was sent to the search giant by a gentleman calling himself (you guessed it) Kevin Collinson. Nevertheless, the important thing is this &#8211; has the BBC infringed his rights? Collinson thinks so.</p>
<p><center><br>
<h5>The notice sent to Google by Collinson</h5>
<p><img src="media/a70654f2.collinson-dmca.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/collinson-dmca.png" alt="collinson-dmca" width="616" height="359" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-108026"></center></p>
<p>As highlighted by the image above, when asked for the source of the infringed material, Kevin Collinson links to a page on his domain kevincollinson.com. It contains the image below which apparently proves that Collinson owns a &#8220;copyright name trademark&#8221; to his own name, whatever one of those might be.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/f1869d67.copyright-trademark.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/copyright-trademark.png" alt="copyright-trademark" width="600" height="439" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-108001"></center></p>
<p>Reading between the lines, Collinson seems to suggest that since he has a trademark on his name (searches in <a href="https://www.ipo.gov.uk/tmtext/">UK databases</a> draw a blank incidentally), outlets such as the BBC aren&#8217;t allowed to report news containing his name. Complete nonsense of course, and Google hasn&#8217;t removed the page either.</p>
<p>That said, under UK law people are indeed allowed to trademark their names. </p>
<p>Perhaps surprisingly, trademark <a href="https://www.ipo.gov.uk/tmcase/Results/1/UK00002572177">UK00002572177</a> (<a href="https://www.ipo.gov.uk/tmcase/Results/4/EU009734096">EU009734096</a>) is registered to Wikileaks&#8217; Julian Assange and protects him in the areas of public speaking, news reporting, journalism, publication of texts, education and entertainment services.</p>
<p>Professor Stephen Hawking also has a couple of trademarks protecting his name. Coincidentally (and possibly of interest to Mr Collinson) one of those covers <a href="https://www.ipo.gov.uk/tmcase/Results/1/UK00003097043">mobility scooters and wheelchairs</a>.</p>
<p>KEVIN JOSEPH COLLINSON did not respond to TorrentFreak&#8217;s request for comment.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=107781
title: Free Music Streaming Site Revives Grooveshark Magic, And More
uri: Free-Music-Streaming-Site-Revives-Grooveshark-Magic-And-More
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/mZ8EJ6dnjyQ/
content:
<p><img src="media/9af9886a.streamsquid.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/streamsquid.png" alt="streamsquid" width="166" height="137" class="alignright size-full wp-image-107785">Earlier this year the long running lawsuit between the RIAA and music streaming service Grooveshark came to an abrupt end.</p>
<p>Facing hundreds of millions in damages, Grooveshark <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/grooveshark-shuts-down-apologizes-to-the-riaa-150501/">shut down</a> agreeing to pay the record labels $50 million. This was a huge blow to the site&#8217;s users, many of whom had spent years carefully curating their playlists. </p>
<p>Among the affected users was a group of music loving web developers including Ofir Yosef, Itzik Ben-Bassat and Ziv Waksman, who decided to come up with a solution without breaking the law.</p>
<p>&#8220;It was devastating at first as we thought that we&#8217;d lost our personal music hub. The huge effort that took many years to build and collect songs and playlists was gone in a single court decision,&#8221; Yosef tells TF.</p>
<p>The initial thought was that all playlists were gone forever. However, there was still a Grooveshark backup server online and Yosef and his team quickly secured all playlist data.</p>
<p>That&#8217;s when the real challenge stated. A collection of .XLS files is useless if they can&#8217;t be linked to the actual music track, so Yosef and his team started coding. Now, several weeks later <a href="http://streamsquid.com/">StreamSquid</a> was born.</p>
<p>&#8220;StreamSquid is a free music streaming service that lets you discover, create and share the music you love. It&#8217;s the easy way to play the music you want online, legally and free,&#8221; Yosef says. </p>
<p>&#8220;And now it also lets you import your lost Grooveshark music and start listening to it almost immediately,&#8221; he adds.</p>
<p>The service is indeed quite impressive considering that it&#8217;s a mashup of various sources. It has an intuitive user interface that makes it easy to discover and curate music. Grooveshark users will be delighted as well, as they can <a href="http://streamsquid.com/?type=gs">restore their old playlists</a> in one click.</p>
<p><center><strong>StreamSquid&#8217;s Grooveshark import</strong></center><center><img src="media/344b56f2.streamsquidimp.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/streamsquidimp.jpg" alt="streamsquidimp" width="529" height="296" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-107797"></center></p>
<p>To present the music in an appealing format, with album lists and prearranged playlists, StreamSquid partnered with Last.fm. In addition the site also allows users to easily discover related artists and browse through various top charts. </p>
<p>For the long-term StreamSquid is planning to add support for mobile listening as well, including apps, but currently the focus lies on implementing features to improve the general user experience.</p>
<p>&#8220;In the coming days and weeks we are going to add features like songs queues and listening history, which will allow users to arrange their daily music stream.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><br></br></center><center><img src="media/3dc1fb01.lamarsteam.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/lamarsteam.png" alt="lamarsteam" width="700" height="490" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-107787"></center></p>
<p>As for legality, StreamSquid doesn&#8217;t anticipate any problems. The service pulls its music from YouTube and SoundCloud and doesn&#8217;t host any media content on its servers. </p>
<p>&#8220;StreamSquid is legal. We use YouTube and SoundCloud APIs to stream music legally and meet all requirements and terms of services. Everything is double checked,&#8221; Yosef says.</p>
<p>Similar to Grooveshark, the service will remain free of charge. The self-funded team may consider adding monetization options in the future, such as offering links to Amazon and iTunes stores, but these will be aimed at adding value to the users.</p>
<p>Aside from the occasional bug StreamSquid seems to work rather well. And for former Grooveshark users it will be a welcome reunion with the tunes they deemed lost.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108032
title: Nintendo Shuts Down Browser Based Game Boy Emulator
uri: Nintendo-Shuts-Down-Browser-Based-Game-Boy-Emulator
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/3BjJSgkxPH0/
content:
<p><img src="media/a05f14e0.gameboyemulator.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/gameboyemulator.jpg" alt="gameboyemulator" width="275" height="172" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108034">Playing old console games through browser-based emulators is a niche pastime of some of the most dedicated gamers. </p>
<p>For Game Boy Advance fans there are a few websites that offer such a nostalgic trip down memory lane, free for all.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, Nintendo is less pleased with the fan-made projects. This week the company took down a popular Game Boy Advance emulator that was hosted on the developer platform GitHub.</p>
<p>The website in question offered JavaScript-powered versions of many popular titles including Advance Wars, Dragon Ball Z, Super Mario Advance, Pokemon Emerald and The Sims 2.</p>
<p>While fans may like it, Nintendo sees the site as blatant copyright infringement.</p>
<p>&#8220;Nintendo requests that GitHub, Inc., disable public access to the web site at http://jsemu.github.io/gba/,&#8221; Nintendo writes in their <a href="https://github.com/github/dmca/blob/master/2015-07-06-nintendo.md">takedown notice</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;This web site provides access to unauthorized copies of Nintendo&#8217;s copyright-protected video games and videos making use of Nintendo’s copyrighted Pokémon characters and imagery in violation of Nintendo&#8217;s exclusive rights.&#8221; </p>
<p><center><strong>Nintendo&#8217;s takedown notice</strong></center><center><img src="media/b09bd8d7.nintendogit.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/nintendogit.jpg" alt="nintendogit" width="600" height="531" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-108035"></center></p>
<p>Shortly after GitHub received the takedown notice the Game Boy Advance emulator was <a href="http://jsemu.github.io/gba/">shut down</a>. The user who hosted the files also appears to have removed his GitHub account, possibly to avoid any further trouble. </p>
<p>The above means that nostalgic Game Boy Advance fans will have to dust off their old consoles again or find another way to play their classics.</p>
<p>Interestingly, the code for the Game Boy Emulator itself, without the pre-loaded games, is open source and still hosted <a href="https://github.com/taisel/IodineGBA">elsewhere on GitHub</a>. Several copies of the full site are also still floating around. </p>
<p>This is not the first time that Nintendo has gone after a Game Boy emulator. The same happened with the popular iOS application GBA4iOS, which the company <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/nintendo-nukes-hugely-popular-ios-game-boy-emulator-140514/">nuked in a similar fashion last year</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108088
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week – 07/13/15
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-07-13-15
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/IrVLT1-lisw/
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 only one newcomer 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-070615/">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>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jurassic_world/">Jurassic World</a> (TS/Subbed HDrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0369610/">7.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFinNxS5KN4">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(9)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/spy_2015/">Spy</a> (Subbed HDrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3079380/">7.5</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltijEmlyqlg">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(7)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/home_2015/">Home</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2224026/">6.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyqZf8LiWvM">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_longest_ride">The Longest Ride</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2726560/">7.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUS_Q7FsfqU">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mad_max_fury_road/?">Mad Max: Fury Road</a> (WEB-DL)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1392190/">8.5</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjBb4SZ0F6Q">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/minions/">Minions</a> (TS) </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2293640/">7.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfql_DoHRKc">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ted_2/">Ted 2</a> (Subbed HDrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2637276/">6.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3AVcCggRnU">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(6)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/get_hard/">Get Hard</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2561572/">6.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEqrpuU9fYI">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(10)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/furious_7/">Furious 7</a> (Subbed HDrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2820852/">7.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Skpu5HaVkOc">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cinderella_2013/">Cinderella</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1661199/">7.3</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRuHM6rLSF8">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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108097
title: Sky Customers Receive New Movie Piracy Threat Letters
uri: Sky-Customers-Receive-New-Movie-Piracy-Threat-Letters
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/hwQTM0IFQpM/
content:
<p><img src="media/85181ef2.sky.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/sky.jpg" width="180" height="108" class="alignright">Copyright trolls are companies that make a business out of monitoring file-sharing networks for illegal downloads and instead of trying to prevent them, try to cash in instead.</p>
<p>In letters sent to alleged file-sharers, copyright trolls use often complex and threatening language in order to imply something terrible will happen if recipients don&#8217;t pay between hundreds of pounds and thousands of dollars to make supposed lawsuits go away.</p>
<p>During September 2014, TorrentFreak became aware of a UK court case titled TCYK LLP v British Sky Broadcasting Ltd.  TCYK stands for The Company You Keep and is the title of a film of the same name directed and starring Robert Redford, appearing alongside Susan Sarandon and Shia LeBeouf.</p>
<p>In court, TCYK LLP forced Sky to hand over the names and addresses of subscribers alleged to have downloaded the movie without permission. Earlier this year the ISP warned affected subscribers of what might come next.</p>
<p>&#8220;It’s likely that TCYK LLC will contact you directly and may ask you to pay them compensation,” <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/sky-will-hand-over-customer-data-in-movie-piracy-case-150310/">Sky noted</a>.</p>
<p>Sky were correct on both counts. Before the weekend TorrentFreak obtained a copy of the letter now being sent out to Sky subscribers by TCYK. It&#8217;s the usual framework of veiled and direct threats, designed to intimidate users into handing over hard cash.</p>
<p>&#8220;Our forensic computer analyst has provided us with evidence that on the following UK date and time, [redacted by TF], all or part of the Work was made available from the internet protocol (or IP) address [redacted], specifically for the purpose of downloading by third parties,&#8221; the letter reads.</p>
<p>We have redacted the time and date to protect our source but it is noteworthy that the alleged offense was carried out more than two years ago in April 2013.</p>
<p>In a common feature of these claims, TCYK go on to admit that they have no proof that a specific person committed the offense and that they have simply targeted the bill payer instead. They then pressure that person to help them build a case.</p>
<p>&#8220;In the event that you were not responsible for the infringing acts outlined above because, for example, another member of your household was the user of the computer, you should make full disclosure to us of the other parties at your residence using your internet connection to make the Work available for download,&#8221; TCYK note.</p>
<p>&#8220;A failure to make such disclosure may lead to the claim being made against you with the court being asked to conclude, on the balance of probabilities that you were the user of the computer.&#8221;</p>
<p>Of course, no subscriber is under any obligation to tell TCYK anything and, as we have pointed out before, if the subscriber didn&#8217;t carry out the offense and did not authorize anyone using his connection to do so, he or she is not liable under the Copyright Act.</p>
<p>Also of note is that these days it&#8217;s common, considering access for both family and friends, for more than a dozen people to use a residential WiFi. It&#8217;s certainly possible (&#8220;on the balance of probabilities&#8221;) that a court would recognize that too.</p>
<p>Another common feature of UK cases (and upcoming <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/trolls-want-to-interrogate-bittorrent-pirates-by-phone-150618/">Aussie cases</a>) is that the courts ask trolls not to ask for money in their first letter. TCYK stick to that format but clearly advise that their next letter will contain a demand.</p>
<p>After inviting the letter recipient to confess (or snitch on someone else), TCYK says it will arrive at a settlement figure based on what it gets told.</p>
<p>&#8220;We will propose an appropriate figure to you in the subsequent letter after we have received your response to this letter and carefully considered its contents,&#8221; TCYK writes.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is therefore in your interests to respond to this letter, because a failure to do so may lead the claimant to invite you to pay a figure which is higher than the amount it might ask for if it is persuaded that any unlawful conduct has been inadvertent or minor.&#8221;</p>
<p>As always, letter recipients are invited to read the Speculative Invoicing Handbook (<em><a href="media/566a9660.The-Speculative-Invoicing-Handbook.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/static/The-Speculative-Invoicing-Handbook.pdf">pdf</a></em>) and remain acutely aware that <em>everything</em> revealed to companies like TCYK will be used as leverage against them.</p>
<p>The really wise advice is not to communicate with them at all. UK solicitor Michael Coyle from Lawdit Solicitors is again stepping up to the mark to defend those affected by this latest wave.</p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve been sent many emails from people who have received a letter of claim from TCYK. The letters are very similar in format to the letters sent in <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/received-a-piracy-letter-uk-solicitor-will-defend-you-for-free-150320/">previous campaigns</a> and once again assume that copyright infringement based on the identity of the person who pays the bill,&#8221; Coyle informs TF.</p>
<p>&#8220;TCYK has paid £32,000 in respect of Sky’s costs and their solicitors costs so that is a considerable sum to recover in terms of damages from those individuals. My advice is to decline to make a payment as copyright infringement cannot be established on the basis set out in the letter.&#8221;</p>
<p>Letter recipients in need of assistance should contact Michael at <a href="http://www.lawdit.co.uk/">Lawdit Solicitors</a>. A charitable donation to his <a href="http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserPage.action?userUrl=MichaelCoyle&#038;pageUrl=5">fund-raising campaign</a> will secure legal advice.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108094
title: Authors Guild: ISPs Should Monitor and Filter Pirated Content
uri: Authors-Guild-ISPs-Should-Monitor-and-Filter-Pirated-Content
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/xt42Nc2aMeI/
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">With a growing demand for digital books, the publishing industry is increasingly confronted with the issue of online piracy.</p>
<p>The piracy problem is high on the agenda of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authors_Guild">Authors Guild</a> as well, and the organization has sent a letter to Congress voicing its concerns. </p>
<p>The letter is addressed to the <a href="https://judiciary.house.gov/">House Judiciary Committee</a> which reviews the current state of the DMCA takedown procedure to see what can be done to bring the interests of copyright holders and Internet service providers closer together.</p>
<p>Claiming that piracy results in $80 to $100 million in losses annually, the authors emphasize that online copyright infringement is rampant. Not just on shady sites but also on legitimate platforms such as Google Play.</p>
<p>&#8220;Online book piracy, once the province of shady offshore websites, has migrated to mainstream American distribution platforms,&#8221; they write, adding that the current takedown process is &#8220;just not working.&#8221;</p>
<p>Instead of the current system where rightsholders have to report URLs of all infringing content, Internet services should implement measures to ensure that pirated content doesn&#8217;t reappear elsewhere.</p>
<p>&#8220;What we need instead is a &#8216;Notice and Stay-Down&#8217; regime: once a webhost knows a work is being infringed, it should not receive continued &#8216;safe harbor&#8217; immunity from claims of infringement unless it takes reasonable measures to remove all copies of the same work.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Guild notes that individual authors often don&#8217;t have the time or means to scour the Internet for pirated material. ISPs, on the other hand, can monitor and filter pirated content more easily, they claim.</p>
<p>&#8220;Technology that can identify and filter pirated material is now commonplace. It only makes sense, then, that ISPs should bear the burden of limiting piracy on their sites, especially when they are profiting from the piracy and have the technology to conduct automated searches and takedowns,&#8221; the Authors Guild writes. </p>
<p>The authors stress that Google and other Internet service providers are not doing enough to combat piracy. Instead, they allow piracy to flourish and share a part of the loot. </p>
<p>&#8220;In reverse Robin Hood fashion, the safe harbor rules allow rich companies to become richer at the expense of the poor, robbing creators of hard-earned income and the creative economy of hundreds of millions of dollars a year,&#8221; the write.</p>
<p>The Authors Guild asks the lawmakers to revise copyright law by making ISPs partly responsible for identifying pirated content. ISPs should only enjoy safe-harbor protections if they implement measures to ensure that pirated content remains inaccessible. </p>
<p>In theory, this means that widespread monitoring of shared content, something most companies are not too keen on. However, according to the authors it&#8217;s the only option to tackle the piracy problem.</p>
<p>A copy of the Authors Guild letter to the House Judiciary Committee is <a href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/271426682/TorrentFreak-Authors-Guild-Letter-to-Judiciary-Comm">available here</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108118
title: UK Piracy Blocklist Quietly Expands With Proxy Sites
uri: UK-Piracy-Blocklist-Quietly-Expands-With-Proxy-Sites
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/-pWmOOKM4xs/
content:
<p><img src="media/4d28e669.uk-flag.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/uk-flag.jpg" alt="uk-flag" width="200" height="179" class="alignright size-full wp-image-86005">Over the past several years <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/uk-blocking-more-than-100-pirate-sites-after-new-court-order-150324/">more than 100 websites</a> have been blocked in the UK for facilitating copyright infringement, and this list is getting longer and longer.</p>
<p>The blocks are somewhat effective, at least in preventing subscribers from accessing the domains directly. However, there are plenty of alternative routes people can use instead.</p>
<p>So called reverse proxies are among the most used workarounds. These websites give people access to the blocked domains and effectively bypass the restrictions put in place by the court.</p>
<p>The media companies who demanded the blockades are not happy with these proxies and they instruct ISPs to add these to the blocklist as well.</p>
<p>Over the past few days several proxies were added, including torrentz-proxy.com, torrentsmirror.com, etproxy.com, extratorrentlive.com and extratorrentonline.com. </p>
<p>As with previous additions the newly blocked domains are covered by the High Court order, which provides copyright holders with the option to continually update the list of infringing domains. </p>
<p>The main domains of both Torrentz and Extratorrent were already <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-bittorrent-and-music-download-sites-pushed-underground-in-the-uk-131030/">blocked in 2013</a>, after the BPI obtained a High Court order. The music group confirmed to TF that the latest blocks were added as an update. </p>
<p>“The High Court has declared that ExtraTorrent and Torrentz are operating unlawfully and infringing copyright. The Court Order which requires ISPs to block the sites also requires BPI to notify the ISPs of changes to the sites,&#8221; a BPI spokesperson says.</p>
<p>The BPI could not provide us with more details on which domains were included in this latest update, but it appears that all major proxy and mirror sites are covered.</p>
<p>As expected, the new blocks are only partially effective. ExtraTorrent informs us that they&#8217;ve become quite experienced at coming up with new &#8216;proxies&#8217; and mirrors. </p>
<p>This is not limited to the UK, but also happens in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, China and elsewhere. After the UK blocked the proxies a few days ago traffic dropped, but not for long. A new alternative, etmirror.com, quickly took up the slack.</p>
<p>&#8220;The connectivity issues were totally solved after we launched a new mirror. It appears that all UK visitors are able to visit the website now as the traffic is back and still growing,&#8221; the ExtraTorrent teams tells TF.</p>
<p>And so the whack-a-mole continues, with copyright holders adding new domains to the blocklists, and site owners hopping from domain to domain.</p>
<p>—</p>
<p>The full list of sites to be blocked in the UK is now as follows (not including proxies and mirrors):</p>
<p><em>Rojadirecta, LiveTV, Drakulastream, Ebookee, LibGen, Freshwap, AvaxHome, Bookfi, Bookre, Freebookspot, popcorntime.io, flixtor.me, popcorn-time.se, isoplex.isohunt.to, watchonlineseries.eu, axxomovies.org, afdah.com, g2g.fm, Bursalagu, Fullsongs, Mega-Search, Mp3 Monkey, Mp3.li, Mp3Bear, MP3Boo, Mp3Clan, Mp3Olimp, MP3s.pl, Mp3soup, Mp3Truck, Musicaddict, My Free MP3, Plixid, RnBXclusive, STAFA Band, watchseries.lt, Stream TV, Watchseries-online, Cucirca, Movie25, watchseries.to, Iwannawatch, Warez BB, Ice Films, Tehparadox, Heroturko, Scene Source,, Rapid Moviez, Iwatchonline, Los Movies, Isohunt, Torrentz.pro, Torrentbutler, IP Torrents, Sumotorrent, Torrent Day, Torrenting, BitSoup, TorrentBytes, Seventorrents, Torrents.fm, Yourbittorrent, Tor Movies , Demonoid, torrent.cd, Vertor, Rar BG, bittorrent.am, btdigg.org, btloft.com, bts.to, limetorrents.com, nowtorrents.com, picktorrent.com, seedpeer.me, torlock.com, torrentbit.net, torrentdb.li, torrentdownload.ws, torrentexpress.net, torrentfunk.com, torrentproject.com, torrentroom.com, torrents.net, torrentus.eu, torrentz.cd, torrentzap.com, vitorrent.org.Megashare, Viooz, Watch32, Zmovie, Solarmovie, Tubeplus, Primewire, Vodly, Watchfreemovies, Project-Free TV, Yify-Torrents, 1337x, Bitsnoop, Extratorrent, Monova, Torrentcrazy, Torrentdownloads, Torrentreactor, Torrentz, Ambp3, Beemp3, Bomb-mp3, Eemp3world, Filecrop, Filestube, Mp3juices, Mp3lemon, Mp3raid, Mp3skull, Newalbumreleases, Rapidlibrary, EZTV, FirstRowSports, Download4all, Movie2K, KickAssTorrents, Fenopy, H33T and The Pirate Bay.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108150
title: FBI Assists Overseas Pirate Movie Site Raids
uri: FBI-Assists-Overseas-Pirate-Movie-Site-Raids
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/a-7UY9T6N48/
content:
<p><img src="media/62ffe783.fbi-logo.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/fbi-logo.png" alt="fbi-logo" width="180" height="186" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108168">There are many thousands of so-called &#8216;pirate&#8217; sites online today, each specializing in a particular area. Some choose to target movies or music, for example, while others take a more general approach.</p>
<p>What most sites have in common, however, is their appetite for content created in the United States. This means that wherever they are in the world, it&#8217;s likely that these sites will attract the attention of some of the world&#8217;s largest entertainment companies and their law enforcement partners. That scenario now appears to have played out in Romania.</p>
<p>According to a report from the prosecutor&#8217;s office at Romania&#8217;s High Court of Cassation and Justice, an investigation dating back to 2011 against a trio of movie and TV show streaming sites has just resulted in raids police and officers from organized crime units carrying out raids.</p>
<p>Although not detailed by officials, one of the country&#8217;s most popular streaming portals is now offline. Visitors to Serialepenet.ro are now being transparently redirected to a server operated by the Romanian Ministry of Justice carrying the message below.</p>
<p><img src="media/f654efa3.rom-seized.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/rom-seized.png" alt="rom-seized" width="600" height="398" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-108160"></p>
<p>Fisierulmeu.ro, one of the most popular file-hosting sites in Romania, is also down.</p>
<p>According to the prosecutor, authorities carried out searches at four locations including the homes of several suspects and companies believed to be offering services to the sites.</p>
<p>Local TV outlet <a href="http://stirileprotv.ro/ilikeit/smart-things/fbi-si-politia-romana-cu-ochii-pe-cei-care-pirateaza-filme-si-cer-bani-utilizatorilor-trei-tineri-au-fost-retinuti.html">StirileProTV</a> says that after searching in the U.S. and Europe, the FBI and local police managed to track down the operation to an office block in the capital Bucharest.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/e3e9d9c0.xservers.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/xservers.png" alt="xservers" width="569" height="348" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-108165"></center></p>
<p>The building contains Romanian web-hosting company <a href="http://www.xservers.ro/">Xservers</a> which was featured in local media in connection with the case. Media allegations suggest that the company is somehow implicated in laundering money from the piracy operation but no official statement has yet been issued. </p>
<p>Several men were arrested on suspicion of intellectual property offenses, tax evasion and money laundering. Documents and computer hardware were also seized.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108174
title: Mega Threatens Legal Action Against Search Engine
uri: Mega-Threatens-Legal-Action-Against-Search-Engine
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/bAQ87ZWaBRo/
content:
<p><img src="media/7bd905c6.mega_logo.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mega_logo.png" alt="mega_logo" width="200" height="109" class="alignright size-full wp-image-102194">File-hosting site Mega.co.nz has made the headlines dozens of times in recent years, largely due to its connections to Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom and its subsequent rise to fame.</p>
<p>During that time and through little fault of its own, the site has been intermittently connected to copyright infringement <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/mega-ponders-legal-action-in-response-to-damaging-paypal-ban-150312/">disputes</a>, with allegations from some that the site doesn&#8217;t take its responsibilities <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/report-brands-dotcoms-mega-a-piracy-haven-140918/">seriously enough</a>. While those claims were <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/mega-rolls-out-legal-heavyweights-to-refute-piracy-claims-150515/">recently debunked</a>, the site is today making infringement allegations of its own.</p>
<p>The complaint involves <a href="http://megasearch.co.nz/">MegaSearch.co.nz</a>, a New Zealand based search engine and index with the sole purpose of enabling users to find files on MEGA, a site that is designed to be unsearchable.</p>
<p>&#8220;Megasearch.co.nz spiders the Internet for Mega links and extracts the titles. It is also crowdsourced so users can also submit their links. It has 900,000 files so far,&#8221; MegaSearch&#8217;s operator informs TF.</p>
<p>However, the site hasn&#8217;t gone unnoticed by MEGA, who are now threatening legal action over the way MegaSearch is presented to the public.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/c5f9179a.mega-search.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mega-search.png" alt="mega-search" width="600" height="400" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-108186"></center></p>
<p>&#8220;We write to you because the website http://megasearch.co.nz has come to our attention due to use of our registered trademark and copyright,&#8221; the company writes in a letter to MegaSearch dated today.</p>
<p>&#8220;Our company&#8217;s historical association with the well-known figure Kim Dotcom has led to the trademark &#8216;MEGA&#8217; being globally recognizable. Our use of this brand is so extensive that it is likely to be considered unregistered trademarks in the IT sector. Furthermore we are awaiting confirmation of registration of the trademark &#8216;MEGA&#8217; with the New Zealand Intellectual Property Office and anticipate acceptance will soon be granted.&#8221;</p>
<p>With that in mind, MEGA informs MegaSearch&#8217;s operator that all references to MEGA on his website are in breach of the file-hosting company&#8217;s rights under New Zealand and international law.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/3607be06.mega-logo-copyright.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mega-logo-copyright.png" alt="mega-logo-copyright" width="600" height="231" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-108180"></center></p>
<p>In addition to trademark and copyright breaches, MEGA claims that MegaSearch is guilty of &#8220;passing off&#8221;, a civil law issue which prevents goods or services being presented as having a connection with another entity in order to trade on previously established goodwill.</p>
<p>&#8220;Your website appears to be clearly trading on the goodwill of well-known MEGA Limited and passing itself off as having an association with MEGA Limited, without consent,&#8221; the company writes.</p>
<p>&#8220;You have not been authorized or licensed to use any of the material and are implying an association with and endorsement by MEGA Limited that you do not have.&#8221;</p>
<p>MEGA&#8217;s demands are not lightweight either. The company wants an end to all infringement and a complete shutdown of the site.</p>
<p><Center><img src="media/8d8ae11f.mega-demand.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mega-demand.png" alt="mega-demand" width="600" height="235" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-108182"></center></p>
<p>MegaSearch&#8217;s operator says this is the first contact that he&#8217;s had with MEGA. He says he&#8217;s surprised that a company with Kim Dotcom connections has taken this line with him.</p>
<p>&#8220;I thought this was massively ironic that KimDotCom is threatening to sue someone for copyright after everything he went through. He always claims that the &#8216;big bad government&#8217; came after the little guy. This time he is the big bad guy,&#8221; he informs TF.</p>
<p>&#8220;I think it&#8217;s a little strong they don&#8217;t want to work with us. They just want the site gone in 7 days.&#8221;</p>
<p>What happens next probably lies on MegaSearch&#8217;s response. The site wouldn&#8217;t be drawn on how it will respond to the threats but if the operator&#8217;s claims of living in his mom&#8217;s basement are true, a fight with MEGA is probably best avoided.</p>
<p>MEGA was approached for comment but it&#8217;s currently the middle of the night local time.</p>
<p><strong>Update</strong>: &#8220;The reason why Mega needed to take action was very simple, Mega is a highly successful global brand and Mega will always take steps to protect it&#8217;s brand,&#8221; Mega&#8217;s Graham Gaylard told TF.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108202
title: Pirate Bay ‘Hydra’ Loses Another Domain Name
uri: Pirate-Bay-Hydra-Loses-Another-Domain-Name
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/6QAqkkRm4fg/
content:
<p><img src="media/5f9d45fa.hydra2.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/hydra2.png" alt="hydra2" width="300" height="240" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108206">Last May the Stockholm District Court ordered the Pirate Bay’s .SE domains to be <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/key-pirate-bay-domains-must-be-seized-court-rules-150519/">handed over</a> to the Swedish state, arguing that they were linked to copyright crimes.</p>
<p>The Pirate Bay was fully prepared for the negative outcome and quickly redirected its visitors to a &#8216;Hydra&#8217; of <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-moves-to-gs-la-vg-am-mn-and-gd-domains-150519/">six new domain names</a>.</p>
<p>The notorious torrent site decided to use more than one domain name, anticipating that not all would survive pressure from copyright holders. </p>
<p>This was no unnecessary precaution as the first domain name was suspended after just a few days. The site’s .GS domain went offline after an intervention from the associated registry, chopping off one head. </p>
<p>Today, another domain has gone overboard.</p>
<p>A few hours ago the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.am">Armenian registry</a> put ThePirateBay.AM om hold, rendering it inaccessible. The URL may still work for some if the DNS entries are cached, but it will soon be unavailable everywhere.</p>
<p>The ISOC-AM registry hasn&#8217;t commented publicly on the domain name suspension yet. However, it seems likely that the organization took action following a copyright holder complaint. </p>
<p><center><strong>thepiratebay.am on hold</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/23666bef.tpbamwhois.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpbamwhois.png" alt="tpbamwhois" width="546" height="190" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-108209"></center></p>
<p>Not all domain registries are equally responsive to copyright complaints. Some suspend a domain name after a single complaint, while others require a local court order before taking action.</p>
<p>The Mongolian registry, which is behind TPB&#8217;s .MN domain name, previously informed TF that they will process potential complaints through ICANN’s Dispute Resolution Policy, suggesting that they will not take any voluntary action.</p>
<p>Despite losing another domain name, The Pirate Bay team isn&#8217;t too worried. They still have plenty of alternative domains to pick from and four of the current domain names still work just fine. </p>
<p>“We have more domain names behind, if needed. We are stronger than ever and will defend the site to the end,” the TPB team informs us.</p>
<p>The Pirate Bay is currently accessible via the  LA, VG, MN and GD domain names. The original .SE domain is still operational as well, pending an appeal, and redirects users to one of the new domain names. </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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108208
title: Researcher Receives Copyright Threat After Exposing Security Hole
uri: Researcher-Receives-Copyright-Threat-After-Exposing-Security-Hole
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/KBasO3QKGA4/
content:
<p><img src="media/f84b9085.bosUTlR.png" data-original-source="https://i.imgur.com/bosUTlR.png" class="alignright" alt="imperothreat">Last month researcher Zammis Clark (known online as &#8216;Slipstream&#8217;) discovered a security flaw in <a href="https://www.imperosoftware.co.uk/products/education-pro-classroom-management-software/">Impero Education Pro</a> (IEP), a not insignificant find given the software&#8217;s application.</p>
<p>IEP is widely used in UK schools to monitor and restrict students&#8217; Internet activities. According to Slipstream, the flaw had the potential to expose the personal details of thousands of users&#8217; to hackers.</p>
<p>Early last month the researcher announced his find on Twitter while noting that it would allow for remote code execution on all Windows clients. Within the tweet he posted a link to his proof-of-concept code.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/6fe60199.slipstream.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/slipstream.png" alt="slipstream" width="586" height="258" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-108233"></center></p>
<p>&#8220;[Impero] had a booth at <a href="http://www.bettshow.com/">BETT</a> back in January. They gave out donuts. Those were nice,&#8221; Slipstream <a href="https://gist.github.com/Wack0/bcc5a196f0874a39b08f">wrote</a></p>
<p>&#8220;Unfortunately, when I asked about their security, nobody answered me. Some reversing later, looks like Impero is completely pwned amirite.&#8221;</p>
<p>While Slipstream ultimately advised against using Impero&#8217;s product, he says he didn&#8217;t immediately inform the company of the vulnerability.</p>
<p>&#8220;Not being a customer, I wouldn&#8217;t have known where to send it, or whether they&#8217;d even reply to me,&#8221; the researcher told TF. &#8220;And, given the severity of the issue, I figured that full disclosure would cause some sort of fix pretty quickly.&#8221;</p>
<p>In fact, that prediction proved correct, with Impero issuing a temporary security patch to fix the flaw.</p>
<p>“We immediately released a hot fix, as a short-term measure, to address the issue and since then we have been working closely with our customers and penetration testers to develop a solid long-term solution,&#8221; the company <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jul/14/security-flaw-found-in-school-internet-monitoring-software">said</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;All schools will have the new version, including the long-term fix, installed in time for the new school term.”</p>
<p>However, Slipstream claims the patch wasn&#8217;t effective.</p>
<p>&#8220;Of course, their fix turned out to be inadequate. After speaking to Impero users on a forum who advised me to email Impero support, I did just that, responsibly disclosing to them exactly how their fix was inadequate and that I had an updated PoC that worked against it,&#8221; he told us.</p>
<p>At this point it appears that relations between Slipstream and Impero had already taken a turn for the worse. After disclosing the issues with the patch almost a week ago, this week he received a legal threat from the company.</p>
<p>&#8220;In breach of the license terms, you have modified the software without our client&#8217;s authority, you have decompiled the software for purposes otherwise than to achieve interoperability and you have published confidential information about our client’s software,&#8221; Impero&#8217;s legal team state.</p>
<p>&#8220;By publicising the encryption key on the internet and on social media and other confidential information, you have enabled anyone to breach the security of our client’s software program and write destructive files to disrupt numerous software systems throughout the UK.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><img src="media/c0329725.improcopyright.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/improcopyright.png" alt="improcopyright" width="600" height="304" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-108200"></center></p>
<p>Impero&#8217;s lawyers say that Slipstream&#8217;s actions have caused &#8220;direct loss and damage&#8221; in addition to &#8220;reputational damage&#8221; and &#8220;potential damage&#8221; to numerous IT systems used by schools throughout the UK.</p>
<p>&#8220;The loss and damage to our clients caused by your activities is significant and will in any legal action taken in the civil courts be the subject of applications to the court for restraining orders to restrict you from further copyright infringement and breach of confidence as well as court orders for monetary compensation,&#8221; the letter adds.</p>
<p>After advising Slipstream to seek legal advice and setting a deadline of July 17, Impero&#8217;s lawyers suggest that the damage to their clients could be mitigated if the Github posting and all associated Tweets are taken down. That has not yet happened.</p>
<p>Slipstream is disappointed by the threats and informs TF that taking action against researchers like himself could even prove counter-productive.</p>
<p>&#8220;Legal threats here would just be &#8216;shooting the messenger&#8217; so to speak, and would discourage security researchers from actively reporting any issues,&#8221; he explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;Such legal threats to security researchers would certainly not prevent any malicious individuals from finding issues themselves, and using them for malicious purposes.&#8221;</p>
<p>Indeed, this last point is particularly relevant. Slipstream says that he knows someone who has found two other security issues in Impero&#8217;s software. Whether they will be tempted to speak to the company considering its aggressive <a href="https://pdf.yt/d/fRcZ1TWHaDkwz-Ea">legal response</a> will remain to be seen.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108245
title: Kim Dotcom’s Seized Data Could Soon Be in U.S. Hands
uri: Kim-Dotcom-s-Seized-Data-Could-Soon-Be-in-U-S-Hands
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/TXIJ8StN8dE/
content:
<p><img src="media/5b2669f1.dotcom-laptop.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dotcom-laptop.jpg" alt="dotcom-laptop" width="233" height="170" class="alignright size-full wp-image-76556">As the increasingly epic legal battle over every aspect of Kim Dotcom&#8217;s copyright infringement case continues, the latest focus has fallen on computers and other devices previously seized from the entrepreneur.</p>
<p>While some encrypted data has already been sent to the United States, the content is inaccessible due to U.S. authorities not having access to the passwords. Other data, cloned in 2013, is currently in the hands of New Zealand authorities.</p>
<p>This data is also of interest to the United States government as it builds its case against Dotcom and his associates. Earlier this month the New Zealand Attorney-General&#8217;s appeal to quash restrictions around sending the seized devices to the U.S. continued, with the Crown arguing for the clones and their passwords to be sent to the United States.</p>
<p>Partial objection to the move came from Kim Dotcom&#8217;s lawyer Ron Mansfield. While filing no opposition to the majority of the 2013 cloned data being sent to the U.S., Mansfield said that agreement could only be reached if the data was stripped of personal information and other data irrelevant to the United States&#8217; case. </p>
<p>That suggestion was rejected by the Crown as impractical, with a note that even if such a task could be undertaken, New Zealand authorities would not be able to recover the costs of doing so from the United States. Mansfield&#8217;s opposition to the release of the passwords relating to the 2012 data was also opposed.</p>
<p>This morning three Court of Appeal judges handed down their decision and it represents a setback for Kim Dotcom and associates Finn Batato, Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk.</p>
<p>In their ruling Justices Douglas White, Tony Randerson and Lynton Stevens set aside earlier High Court rulings, which now frees the Attorney-general to issue new directives to police under the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act. This will enable the cloned devices to be sent to the United States.</p>
<p>However, it will come as little surprise that the decision is open to appeal. According to the <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&#038;objectid=11482038">New Zealand Herald</a>, Dotcom and his associates will be able to challenge the move in a new judicial review in the High Court if they so choose.</p>
<p>With another ruling behind them, attentions now turn to Dotcom&#8217;s extradition hearing. After several delays the hearing is currently scheduled for September, but that date is <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/kim-dotcom-avoids-u-s-clutches-for-three-more-months-150501/">also being appealed</a> by the entrepreneur.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108303
title: Popcorn Time Taken Down By Domain Name Seizure (Updated)
uri: Popcorn-Time-Taken-Down-By-Domain-Name-Seizure
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/uTLGmxDaWME/
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">Dubbed the “Netflix for Pirates,” the Popcorn Time app quickly gathered a user base of millions of people over the past year.</p>
<p>Its popularity has also drawn the attention of copyright holders, who&#8217;ve made several attempts to shut the service down. </p>
<p>Today <a href="https://popcorntime.io">Popcorntime.io</a>, the original and most used Popcorn Time fork, became the target of the latest takedown effort.</p>
<p>A few hours ago the domain name&#8217;s status was updated to &#8220;<a href="media/29e1847c.OVSBbeQ.png" data-original-source="http://i.imgur.com/OVSBbeQ.png">reserved</a>,&#8221; which effectively means that the Internet Computer Bureau registry seized the domain name. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.icb.co.uk/">UK-based</a> registry previously took control of The Pirate Bay&#8217;s .ac domain name as well.</p>
<p><center><strong>Popcorntime.io is &#8220;reserved&#8221;</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/a7f38e40.popcornreserved.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/popcornreserved.png" alt="popcornreserved" width="523" height="211" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-108314"></center></p>
<p>The domain name may still work <a href="media/9760e462.popcornproblems.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/popcornproblems.png">for some</a> if the DNS entries are cached, but it will soon be unavailable everywhere. </p>
<p>At first sight the Popcorn Time application itself appears to work just fine, most likely because it doesn&#8217;t use the .io domain for any crucial functions.</p>
<p><center><strong>Popcorntime.io is not resolving</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/0de9b35d.popcornnotresolve.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/popcornnotresolve.png" alt="popcornnotresolve" width="564" height="399" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-108308"></center></p>
<p>The server of the Popcorn time site is also unaffected. This means that people who enter the <a href="http://185.94.29.11/">direct IP-address</a> can still see the site&#8217;s homepage. However, none of the links work, including the download, as these all point to the .io domain.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak reached out to the Popcorn Time team for more information and we will update the article if we hear back.</p>
<p>The most likely scenario is that the Popcorn Time team will switch over to a new domain name. They already own popcorntime.re and popcorntime.cc but at the time of writing both point to the seized domain.</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> The Popcorn Time team informs TF that they were not informed about any changes to the domain. The team confirms that they can no longer modify or update the domain name and is trying to find out more. In the meantime, they switched to popcorntime.re and popcorntime.cc.</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> TF spoke to the operator of a site which had their .io name seized previously. They were never officially informed either.</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> The domain name is no longer reserved, which means that the Popcorn Time team regained control, perhaps through an appeal. We&#8217;re waiting for an official statement.</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> The Popcorn Time team informs us that the registry initially acted on an old court order. Upon close review the order doesn&#8217;t apply to the domain in question, so control was handed back to the Popcorn Time team. This means that the domain is no longer seized.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108326
title: Reddit’s Unenforceable “No Copyrighted Material” Rule
uri: Reddit-s-Unenforceable-No-Copyrighted-Material-Rule
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/W1ShqXGImOg/
content:
<p><img src="media/346d0419.reddit-alien.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/reddit-alien.jpg" alt="reddit-alien" width="180" height="180" class="alignright size-full wp-image-100659">Many sites go through periods of turmoil and Reddit is no exception. The past several weeks have seen the site and its management team battered by <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/culture/2015/07/03/3676929/reddit-goes-dark-protest-firing-top-administrator/">controversy</a>.</p>
<p>The job of putting things back together has now fallen to Steve Huffman, the guy who co-founded Reddit in 2005. Following a six year absence, Huffman returned last week as chief executive and immediately embarked on a mission to tidy up the site and win back the favor of the masses.</p>
<p>Last evening posting under his Reddit handle &#8216;Spez&#8217;, Huffman <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/announcements/comments/3djjxw/lets_talk_content_ama/">laid out</a> a fresh set of guidelines for users of the site. While there is bound to be some dissent, few will argue with the rule that &#8220;anything that harasses, bullies, or abuses an individual or group of people&#8221; should be banned alongside &#8220;sexually suggestive content featuring minors.&#8221;</p>
<p>However, the interesting inclusion of banning anything illegal, and the specific mentioning of copyright material, is likely to generate more debate.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/7f0c7f20.reddit-rules.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/reddit-rules.png" alt="reddit-rules" width="550" height="200" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-108327"></center></p>
<p>While not mentioned at all in the <a href="https://www.reddit.com/rules/">site&#8217;s rules</a>, previous Reddit <a href="https://www.reddit.com/help/useragreement?v=ac5e74ee-b28c-11e2-8119-12313b0d4e76">user agreements</a> have included clauses that require users not to post copyrighted material. The latest from Jan 2015 notes that users may not &#8220;infringe any person or entity’s intellectual property or any other proprietary rights.&#8221; It also highlights what will happen in response to a valid DMCA-style copyright complaint from a third party.</p>
<p>So if we presume that yesterday&#8217;s announcement is a signal that Reddit is today more serious about its &#8216;new&#8217; rules than it&#8217;s ever been, how will the &#8220;no copyrighted material rule&#8221; affect the site? Well, to be frank, at this point that&#8217;s anyone&#8217;s guess. The start, beginning and end of the rule is shown in the image above and no further elaboration has been offered. That is somewhat problematic.</p>
<p>While linking to Hollywood movies and TV shows in <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/fullmoviesonyoutube">/r/fullmoviesonyoutube</a> is often a questionable activity, it&#8217;s clear that users of the <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/announcements/comments/3djjxw/lets_talk_content_ama/ct5xiuf">/r/illegaltorrents</a> sub have little idea whether they can continue or not. Whatever the outcome, Reddit has more immediate problems in plain view. </p>
<p>Currently Reddit&#8217;s second most popular sub, <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/pics">/r/pics</a> links to many thousands of pictures hosted on sites such as Imgur which have been legitimately uploaded by their copyright owners. However, countless others <em>might</em> be infringing, either by virtue of being reuploaded by a third party without permission or simply due to the fact that they&#8217;re someone else&#8217;s images culled from licensed sources elsewhere.</p>
<p>Of course, if everyone takes the rule absolutely literally that poses huge problems for the site, since almost the entire point of Reddit is to point people to (often copyrighted) content hosted elsewhere. Luckily, users of the site can link to copyrighted content quite legally, by taking full advantage of their Fair Use rights in the areas of news reporting, commentary, criticism and parody etc.</p>
<p>So, the Reddit &#8220;no copyrighted content rule&#8221; doesn&#8217;t actually mean that users can&#8217;t link to copyrighted content, it just means that in some circumstances linking to copyrighted content is disallowed. And herein lies the problem. </p>
<p>Each instance of linking to copyrighted content, whether that&#8217;s an image, piece of audio or video, is open to debate whether such linking is allowed under the law. This will make it not only incredibly time-consuming for moderators to enforce this &#8220;no copyrighted content&#8221; rule, but in some cases almost impossible.</p>
<p>On a torrent site striving to be legal, for example, the question of whether a leaked copy of the latest Jurassic Park movie is legal is a relatively easy one to answer. However, given the incredibly broad range of subject matter and debate possibilities on Reddit, the same scenario is entirely more complex.</p>
<p>In reality, the only people who know whether content is infringing or not are the copyright holders themselves and they are catered for comprehensively under Reddit&#8217;s existing <a href="https://www.reddit.com/help/useragreement">user agreement</a>. Like any other user-generated content site, Reddit allows copyright holders to spot an infringement and file a complaint to have that content removed. That&#8217;s the DMCA in action and while rightsholders say it&#8217;s cumbersome, it does the job it was supposed to do.</p>
<p>Finally, some people will quite rightly argue that the whole point of having a rule is so it can be enforced. But if that&#8217;s the case and Reddit is in no position to sensibly enforce its &#8220;no copyrighted material&#8221; rule, what exactly is its point?</p>
<p>Well, it sets out ground-rules, and it helps Reddit to portray a more responsible image to potential advertisers and other corporate allies. They will appreciate the public signal being sent and hope that something positive comes from it, even if the end result is not very different from what we already have today.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=107689
title: Public Revolts Against Plan to Kill Domain Name Privacy
uri: Public-Revolts-Against-Plan-to-Kill-Domain-Name-Privacy
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Y1MOCtKikxY/
content:
<p><img src="media/5d857c82.whoisguard.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/whoisguard.jpg" alt="whoisguard" width="236" height="123" class="alignright size-full wp-image-107388">A <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/piracy-concerns-may-soon-kill-domain-name-privacy-150625/">new ICANN proposal</a> currently under review suggests various changes to how WHOIS protection services should operate.</p>
<p>The changes are welcomed by copyright holders, as they will make it easier to identify the operators of pirate sites, who can then be held responsible. </p>
<p>However, several domain registrars, digital rights groups and the public at large are less enthusiastic. They fear that the changes will also prevent many legitimate website owners from using private domain registrations. </p>
<p>To allow the various parties to weigh in ICANN launched a <a href="https://www.icann.org/public-comments/ppsai-initial-2015-05-05-en">public consultation</a>, and the overwhelming number of responses over the past several weeks show that domain name privacy is a topic that many people have taken to heart.</p>
<p>At the time of writing ICANN has received <a href="http://forum.icann.org/lists/comments-ppsai-initial-05may15/mail192.html#00006">well over 11,000 comments</a>, most of which encourage the organization to keep private domain registrations available. </p>
<p>A few dozen comments have been filed by special interest groups, but most were submitted by ordinary Internet users who fear that they will have to put their name, address and other personal details out in public. </p>
<p>Countering the &#8220;piracy&#8221; argument, several people note that the changes would do very little to stop people from running illegal websites, as WHOIS data can easily be faked.</p>
<p>&#8220;The truth is, if the website is an illegal website, then the information in the Whois is not going to be legit anyway. So you are not helping anything when it comes to tracking down crime. You are only helping crime by providing the criminals with more information. On people that are being legal,&#8221; one commenter <a href="http://forum.icann.org/lists/comments-ppsai-initial-05may15/msg00006.html">notes</a>.</p>
<p>Others warn that the proposals will leave the door open for <a href="http://forum.icann.org/lists/comments-ppsai-initial-05may15/msg11319.html">all sorts of harassment</a>, or even aid oppressive regimes and terrorist groups including ISIS. </p>
<p>&#8220;Please do not make it easier for these oppressive regimes and terrorists to identify and target the brave men and women who risk their lives by writing and blogging about what goes on in those dangerous parts of the world,&#8221; a commenter <a href="http://forum.icann.org/lists/comments-ppsai-initial-05may15/msg11302.html">writes</a>.</p>
<p>In large part however, the massive protests are fueled by the &#8220;<a href="https://www.respectourprivacy.com/">Respect Our Privacy</a>&#8221; campaign site which was launched by the EFF, Namecheap and Fight for the Future. This site allows people to submit a pre-written letter in just a few clicks, which results in thousands of duplicate comments.</p>
<p>The MPAA previously criticized the form letters noting that they are triggered by &#8220;hype and misinformation sponsored by certain registrars and advocacy groups,&#8221; while accusing the campaign site of spreading &#8220;completely false&#8221; information.</p>
<p>It will be interesting to see how the public consultation will influence ICANN&#8217;s proposal and the future operation of domain name privacy services.</p>
<p>The commenting period closes this coming Tuesday and will be followed by an official report. After that, the ICANN board will still have to vote on whether or not the changes will be implemented.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108130
title: KickassTorrents Disappears From Google After Penalty
uri: KickassTorrents-Disappears-From-Google-After-Penalty
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/lRe_kazwO-M/
content:
<p><img src="media/6df39282.kickass.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/kickass.jpg" alt="kickass" width="205" height="143" class="alignright size-full wp-image-21602">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 KAT.cr domain name for a few months now. However, in recent weeks many infrequent visitors have experienced trouble locating the site, leading to all sorts of problems. </p>
<p>Traditionally, the site has been easy to find through Google by entering the search terms &#8220;KickassTorrents&#8221; or &#8220;Kickass Torrents,&#8221; but this is no longer the case. </p>
<p>In fact, the official KAT.cr address is nowhere to be found in the top results. Instead, people see the unknown and unaffiliated Kickasstorrents.eu domain on top in many locations, as the screenshot below shows.</p>
<p><center><strong>Google&#8217;s KickassTorrents search results</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/64db7feb.googlekick.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/googlekick.png" alt="googlekick" width="600" height="440" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-108134"></center></p>
<p>The KAT team informs us that Google began to penalize its pages a while ago, for reasons unknown. Perhaps there are ways to solve the problems, but the site is currently not doing any search engine optimization (SEO).</p>
<p>&#8220;It’s already about five or six months since we started to experience some kind of penalty from Google. The issue is that we were not performing any SEO activities at all,&#8221; KAT says.</p>
<p>What makes matters worse is that .eu site which tops Google search results is a scam. It doesn&#8217;t offer any torrents but instead <a href="media/7b66ad36.rrWmQum.png" data-original-source="http://i.imgur.com/rrWmQum.png">prompts visitors</a> to download File_Downloader.exe, which appears to be <a href="http://www.freefixer.com/library/file/File_Downloader.exe-134494/">malware</a>.</p>
<p>The KAT team finds it unfortunate that Google is sending tens of thousands of visitors to a shady site and encourages people to check the official <a href="https://www.facebook.com/official.KAT.fanclub">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/kickasstorrents">Twitter</a> accounts for the latest official domain name.</p>
<p>Interestingly, not all search engines treat KAT the same. In Bing the site&#8217;s official domain name is not on top either, but it&#8217;s listed on the first page. DuckDuckGo does the best job, <a href="https://duckduckgo.com/?q=kickasstorrents&#038;ia=about">identifying</a> the correct domain and even tagging it as an &#8220;official site,&#8221; which is quite useful to estranged KAT users.</p>
<p><center><strong>DuckDuckGo&#8217;s KickassTorrents search results</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/0d3be48a.duckkick.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/duckkick.png" alt="duckkick" width="600" height="429" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-108137"></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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108365
title: UK Wants 10 Year Prison Sentence For Online Pirates
uri: UK-Wants-10-Year-Prison-Sentence-For-Online-Pirates
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/21xlCbnk0v8/
content:
<p><img src="media/4d28e669.uk-flag.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/uk-flag.jpg" alt="uk-flag" width="200" height="179" class="alignright size-full wp-image-86005">In an effort to deter online piracy the UK Government is proposing to increase the maximum prison sentence for online copyright infringement to ten years.</p>
<p>The current maximum of two years is not enough to deter infringers, lawmakers argue.  </p>
<p>The new proposal follows a suggestion put forward in a study commissioned by the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) earlier this year.</p>
<p><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/is-10-years-in-jail-the-answer-to-online-pirates-150307/">The study</a> concluded that the criminal sanctions for copyright infringement available under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA 1988) could be amended to bring them into line with related offenses, such as counterfeiting.</p>
<p>According to the Government it&#8217;s important that online piracy is seen as &#8220;no less serious&#8221; than offline infringements, and the increased sentence will put both offenses on par.</p>
<p>&#8220;By toughening penalties for commercial-scale online offending we are offering greater protections to businesses and sending a clear message to deter criminals,&#8221; says Intellectual Property Minister Baroness Neville-Rolfe.</p>
<p>The proposal is being welcomed by copyright holders who have lobbied extensively to increase penalties for online piracy. </p>
<p>&#8220;This consultation is very welcome as we feel there is a clear anomaly in the way that online copyright infringement by criminal enterprises is treated by the justice system,&#8221; Eddy Leviten, Director General of the Alliance for Intellectual Property, says.</p>
<p>Although targeted at online piracy, casual file-sharers have little to worry about. The new legislation will be targeted at those involved in organized and commercial copyright infringement. This would include operators of large piracy sites, but not their users.</p>
<p>Before going forward with the proposal the Government is seeking input from the public. <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/changes-to-penalties-for-online-copyright-infringement">A consultation </a>launched today invites supporters and opponents of the plan to chime in, which is likely to trigger a heated debate.</p>
<p>The consultation will run until the end of August and the Government will release the individual responses and publish a summary report afterwards.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108263
title: One Direction Remix Comp Entry is Copyright Infringing, Sony Says
uri: One-Direction-Remix-Comp-Entry-is-Copyright-Infringing-Sony-Says
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/79ilmlRc1kA/
content:
<p><img src="media/b00cda17.1d-four.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/1d-four.jpg" alt="1d-four" width="200" height="200" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108348">In advance of the release of their latest album &#8216;Four&#8217;, One Direction invited remixers and producers from the UK to remix their track Steal My Girl.</p>
<p>&#8220;This is a huge opportunity to work with the music and vocals of Harry, Niall, Louis, Liam and Zayn,&#8221; <a href="https://www.talenthouse.com/i/remix-steal-my-girl-for-one-direction-and-sony-music">said</a> artist network TalentHouse in its introduction.</p>
<p>&#8220;After getting involved in remixing himself, Liam Payne wanted to give other people the opportunity. He, and their guest judges including senior A&amp;R and Radio executives from Sony Music, will select one artist to receive a prize of £1,500. The selected remix will be posted to millions of music fans across the band&#8217;s official channels and potentially played on radio as an exclusive premiere,&#8221; TalentHouse continued.</p>
<p>The competition attracted the attention of UK-based producer and songwriter <a href="http://leeadamsmusic.webeden.co.uk">Lee Adams</a> who took on the remix challenge after using the track stems <a href="https://soundcloud.com/talenthouse/sets/one-direction-steal-my-girl-stems/s-ybJQQ">uploaded to Soundcloud</a> by TalentHouse themselves. Things didn&#8217;t go to plan, however.</p>
<p>Even though the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_mixing_and_mastering">stems</a> were put on Soundcloud and entrants were told to upload their remixes there [<em>&#8220;Artists must submit their remix via Talenthouse by pasting in their SoundCloud link&#8221;</em>], the automated anti-piracy engines of the music site apparently weren&#8217;t informed.</p>
<p>&#8220;I made my remix, put it on Soundcloud about a week before the contest closing date. About two days later, it was taken down as it had been detected by SoundCloud&#8217;s own copyright system as infringement,&#8221; <a href="https://www.facebook.com/leeadamsmusic">Lee</a> informs TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>According to several other complaints left on the competition&#8217;s official page, Lee wasn&#8217;t the only one affected either. It&#8217;s not clear what happened in the other cases but Lee was left to negotiate with SoundCloud over the strike on his account. That didn&#8217;t go well either.</p>
<p>&#8220;I messaged SoundCloud back saying it was part of a remix contest. Then they told me that doesn&#8217;t mean I own the copyright,&#8221; Lee says.</p>
<p>&#8220;I then explained that if the stems had been put out by the record company officially, then they had given permission. They still argued that I didn&#8217;t own the copyright.&#8221;</p>
<p>Undeterred, Lee contacted the company running the competition on Sony&#8217;s behalf.</p>
<p>&#8220;As it was only a couple of days before the contest closed, I emailed TalentHouse themselves to see if they could do anything,&#8221; Lee explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;They were very good and after a couple of emails SoundCloud reinstated my track. Interestingly, TalentHouse made the comment that &#8216;this kind of thing happens all the time with SoundCloud&#8217;.&#8221;</p>
<p>But following months of silence and the &#8216;infringement&#8217; episode now a fading memory, SoundCloud copyright complaints are again back on the agenda.</p>
<p>&#8220;We’ve received a report that your track &#8216;One Direction &#8211; Steal My Girl (Lee Adams Remix)&#8217; contains copyrighted content. As a result, your track has been removed from your profile for the time being,&#8221; <a href="http://soundcloud.com/">SoundCloud</a> informed Lee this week.</p>
<p>Having a second complaint filed against his remix upset Lee, who took to Twitter to vent his frustration.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/f822d413.one-direction.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/one-direction.png" alt="one-direction" width="550" height="234" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-108262"></center></p>
<p>&#8220;I only remix a song if I am asked to or a public contest is put out officially by a label. If I had just remixed this song unofficially because I wanted to, I think that would be a good claim that I had infringed the copyright,&#8221; Lee explains.</p>
<p>It must be noted that the competition rules make it clear that &#8220;all rights in materials that are created by entrants using the stems are assigned to Sony Music&#8221; but filing copyright infringement complaints against remix competition entrants seems like a particularly poor way to deal with fans. </p>
<p>&#8220;To me this is just a poor decision by Sony, maybe they shouldn&#8217;t do remix competitions of their artists if they don&#8217;t want problems like this. To me it&#8217;s a good marketing decision to do a remix competition in the first place but everything that has gone on after has been poor,&#8221; Lee concludes.</p>
<p>Finally, it&#8217;s worth noting that the original One Direction stems uploaded for the competition are <a href="https://soundcloud.com/talenthouse/sets/one-direction-steal-my-girl-stems/s-ybJQQ">still being offered on SoundCloud</a> for people to remix. However, those tempted to do so should be warned, since re-uploading finished tracks back to SoundCloud risks a potential infringement strike against their account.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108288
title: MalwareBytes Blocks Torrent Sites & Suspect Peers
uri: MalwareBytes-Blocks-Torrent-Sites-Suspect-Peers
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/7CMKa2re4J8/
content:
<p><img src="media/749382ba.malwarebytes1.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/malwarebytes1.jpg" width="200" height="200" class="alignright">Anti-malware software <a href="https://www.malwarebytes.org/">MalwareBytes</a> has proven somewhat of a hit with pirates lately following a rather generous offer.</p>
<p>Rather than punishing people who use unlicensed versions of their software, MalwareBytes&#8217; creators ran an amnesty program through which people could receive a premium product <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/malwarebytes-offers-pirates-free-amnesty-keys-150629/">for zero cost</a>.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s likely that many of those now using a free key will have accessed their previously unlicensed version from a torrent site. However, a feature present in the premium edition means that at least two of the world&#8217;s most popular venues are now completely off-limits to users of the software.</p>
<p>As can be seen from the screenshots below, visitors to Isohunt.to and LimeTorrents.cc &#8211; two of the world&#8217;s largest torrent sites &#8211; are currently rendered inaccessible by MalwareBytes&#8217; &#8220;Malicious Website Protection&#8221; module.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/96e26870.isohunt-blocked.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/isohunt-blocked.png" alt="isohunt-blocked" width="410" height="150" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-108292"></center></p>
<p><center><img src="media/a95c7d62.lime-malware.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/lime-malware.png" alt="lime-malware" width="410" height="150" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-108294"></center></p>
<p>Puzzled at why the software should take this approach but noting the similarity between the IP addresses used by both sites, TorrentFreak approached MalwareBytes for comment.</p>
<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re blocking the IPs (amongst others) because there&#8217;s a plethora of IPs on the [same network] housing a ton of malvertising and fraud sites,&#8221; Malware Intelligence Analyst Steven Burn told TF.</p>
<p>&#8220;The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_system_%28Internet%29">ASN</a> involved is thus far unresponsive and has been since March,&#8221; he added.</p>
<p>So, while neither Isohunt.to nor LimeTorrents are considered harmful by MalwareBytes, the company has chosen to block their IP addresses due to their proximity to others that are allegedly behaving maliciously.</p>
<p>These two sites are not the only ones affected either. Torrentdownloads.cc, Megafilmeshd.net, ebooks-gratuit.com plus a range of other sites hosted in Ukraine are all blocked by MalwareBytes&#8217; Web Protection module.</p>
<p>While it&#8217;s easy to regain access to any blocked site by selecting the appropriate button in the corresponding MalwareBytes popup box, many users are likely to consider blocked sites as dangerous, despite them essentially being victims of someone else&#8217;s wrong doing.</p>
<p>Speaking with TF, Isohunt.to told TF that the blocked host in question actually provides a good service.</p>
<p>&#8220;These guys <a href="https://webcare360.com/">webcare360.com</a> provide great hosting that is bulletproofed against different kind of abuses. So a lot of websites around the world use their service,&#8221; the site explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;Looks like MalwareBytes simply blocked all IP addresses that belong to this hosting provider.&#8221;</p>
<p>Another issue that raised its head during our tests is the seemingly random IP addresses MalwareBytes blocks while connecting to certain torrent swarms. On numerous occasions the software flags IP addresses as malicious and denies connections to them. Intrigued, we asked MalwareBytes for an explanation.</p>
<p>&#8220;Our main goal is to protect our users from malicious hosts that could either be servers participating in drive-by downloads or even home computers spewing spam,&#8221; Jérôme Segura, Senior security researcher at MalwareBytes, told TF.</p>
<p>&#8220;So the block of only certain IPs within that pool is simply that. We are blocking the ones that we have identified for malicious activity, which also happen to be torrenting.&#8221;</p>
<p>The blocking of these IP addresses raises an interesting dilemma. Due to their connections to suspicious activity elsewhere, MalwareBytes considers them malicious and excludes them. However, it&#8217;s worth noting that despite their potential bad deeds elsewhere, peers in a torrent swarm go through a kind of vetting process based on the hash content of the material they&#8217;re carrying.</p>
<p>Put simply, while they possibly cause mischief elsewhere, these peers can&#8217;t do any real harm to the swarm. Blocking them won&#8217;t cause any really serious problems either (unless they&#8217;re the only seeder) but since they don&#8217;t need to be blocked we asked MalwareBytes about their policy.</p>
<p>&#8220;You bring up a very valid comment and something that many people might wonder about. I will pass this information along to see how we can manage this in a better way,&#8221; Jérôme Segura notes.</p>
<p>In conclusion, both scenarios (site and peer blocking) are caused by the blocking of IP addresses either directly or loosely connected to malicious activity elsewhere. MalwareBytes users will have to use their discretion when deciding whether to <a href="https://support.malwarebytes.org/customer/portal/articles/1835326?b_id=6400">block or allow</a> those connections in 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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108378
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week – 07/20/15
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-07-20-15
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/MTYu7rzcUss/
content:
<p><img src="media/49d6977f.insurgent.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/insurgent.jpg" alt="insurgent" width="300" height="193" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108380">This week we have one newcomer and one returnee in our chart.</p>
<p>Insurgent 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-071315/">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/insurgent">Insurgent</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2908446/">6.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suZcGoRLXkU">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> (TS/Subbed HDrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0369610/">7.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFinNxS5KN4">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(7)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ted_2/">Ted 2</a> (Subbed HDrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2637276/">6.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3AVcCggRnU">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/home_2015/">Home</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2224026/">6.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyqZf8LiWvM">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/spy_2015/">Spy</a> (Subbed HDrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3079380/">7.5</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltijEmlyqlg">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_longest_ride">The Longest Ride</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2726560/">7.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUS_Q7FsfqU">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mad_max_fury_road/?">Mad Max: Fury Road</a> (WEB-DL)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1392190/">8.5</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjBb4SZ0F6Q">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(8)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/get_hard/">Get Hard</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2561572/">6.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEqrpuU9fYI">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(10)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cinderella_2013/">Cinderella</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1661199/">7.3</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRuHM6rLSF8">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(back)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kingsman_the_secret_service/">Kingsman: The Secret Service</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2802144/">8.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl8F-8tR8to">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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108272
title: UK Anti-Piracy ‘Education’ Campaign Starts This Summer
uri: UK-Anti-Piracy-Education-Campaign-Starts-This-Summer
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/UcY94iwpMq8/
content:
<p><img src="media/4d28e669.uk-flag.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/uk-flag.jpg" alt="uk-flag" width="200" height="179" class="alignright size-full wp-image-86005">In an effort to curb online piracy, early last year the movie and music industries <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/uk-isps-agree-to-send-out-music-movie-piracy-warnings-140509/">reached agreement</a> with the UK&#8217;s leading ISPs to send &#8216;warnings&#8217; to alleged pirates.</p>
<p>As we previously revealed, the Voluntary Copyright Alert Programme (VCAP) will <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/how-uk-piracy-warnings-work-140517/">monitor illegal P2P file-sharing</a> with a strong focus on repeat infringers.  </p>
<p>The alerts program is part of the larger Creative Content UK (CCUK) initiative, which will kick off with a broad anti-piracy PR campaign targeted at the general public. </p>
<p>This education part is nearly ready for launch and TF is informed that it will officially kick off this summer.</p>
<p>&#8220;&#8230;work has started on the education component of the campaign, which helps to lay the ground and is designed to inform and raise consumer awareness and to engage with people around their love of content. The first activities are scheduled to start later this summer,&#8221; &#8221; a Creative Content UK spokesperson tells TF.</p>
<p>The education part is aimed at steering people away from piracy sites by pointing out how convenient and accessible legal services are. </p>
<p>The associated alerts campaign has no hard start date yet but is also being finalized and will begin at a later date.</p>
<p>&#8220;The education campaign will show consumers how to easily access content – such as music, film, TV, books, games, magazines and sport – from authorized online sources which provide a superior user experience. So it makes sense for this to happen before the alerts program starts,&#8221; CCUK informs us.  </p>
<p>Both programs are supported by the UK Government with millions in funding. The Government <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/uk-govt-hopes-to-profit-from-anti-piracy-measures-140924/">justifies this contribution</a> with an expected increase in sales, and thus tax revenue. </p>
<p>The ultimate goal is to bring down local piracy rates and during the months following the rollout the file-sharing habits of UK Internet users will be frequently polled to measure the impact of the campaign.</p>
<p>“The aim of Creative Content UK is to encourage greater use of legal content services and to reduce online copyright infringement. There will be regular measurements of legal and illegal consumption of content throughout the duration of the initiative, which will be compared with levels before the launch of the program,” CCUK tells TF.</p>
<p>To what degree the PR campaign and alerts will convert pirates into paying customers has yet to be seen. In any case, it won&#8217;t go by unnoticed.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108398
title: French Anti-Piracy Regime Breaks 5 Million Warning Barrier
uri: French-Anti-Piracy-Regime-Breaks-5-Million-Warning-Barrier
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/cMO2sJjJ0oI/
content:
<p><img src="media/b10c22f8.warning.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/warning.jpg" alt="warning" width="150" height="150" class="alignright size-full wp-image-8335">While site-blocking currently grabs most of the headlines as a key anti-piracy strategy of the entertainment industries, the so-called &#8220;graduated response&#8221; is still considered a valuable tool for reducing infringing activity online.</p>
<p>Also known as &#8220;three strikes&#8221;, these schemes are promoted as educational in nature, with alleged pirates receiving escalating warnings designed to discourage further infringing behavior.</p>
<p>In the fall of 2010, France became one of the pioneers of the warning system and now almost five years later a report from the country&#8217;s &#8216;Hadopi&#8217; anti-piracy agency has revealed the extent of its operations.</p>
<p>Between September 2010 and June 2015, a total of 4,897,883 initial warning notices were sent to French Internet account holders. In the same period 482,667 individuals received a second notice while just 2,221 reached the third stage. </p>
<p>Referrals to the public prosecutor (for those still not getting the message) reached 169 in the first six months of 2015, up from 46 in the same period in 2014.</p>
<p>When it comes to overall notices sent, June 2015 was the most active month in the history of the program thus far. In total 231,000 account holders received a first strike, 21,400 received a second and 104 reached the third stage.</p>
<p>However, according to figures published by <a href="http://www.nextinpact.com/news/95857-hadopi-riposte-graduee-se-pique-au-dopage.htm">NextInpact</a>, the volume of notices being sent out to Internet users represents just a fraction of the total number of complaints filed by rightsholders.</p>
<p>To date it&#8217;s estimated that more than 37 million complaints (alleged instances of infringement) have been filed with the Hadopi agency although many millions have been discarded. According to Hadopi, however, the processing rate is being improved, with around 50% of the 70,000 complaints currently filed by rightsholders each day being actioned.</p>
<p>The Hadopi report can be found here (French, <a href="media/8b782094.ChiffresRGjuin15.pdf" data-original-source="http://www.hadopi.fr/sites/default/files/ChiffresRGjuin15.pdf">pdf</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108419
title: Grooveshark Co-Founder Josh Greenberg Dies Aged 28
uri: Grooveshark-Co-Founder-Josh-Greenberg-Dies-Aged-28
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/4X3HPA8kDlE/
content:
<p><img src="media/612833a6.josh.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/josh.png" alt="josh" width="170" height="201" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108424">Josh Greenberg, the co-founder of the recently shuttered Grooveshark music streaming service, has been found dead in his Florida home.</p>
<p>The 28-year-old was discovered in his bed Sunday evening by his girlfriend in the house they shared.</p>
<p>&#8220;Josh Greenberg, co-founder of #Grooveshark was found dead in his Gainesville home Sunday evening. No evidence of foul play or suicide,&#8221; local police <a href="https://twitter.com/GainesvillePD/status/623193454055657472">reported</a> on Twitter.</p>
<p>Lori Greenberg, Josh&#8217;s mother, told <a href="http://www.gainesville.com/article/20150720/ARTICLES/150729990?p=1&#038;tc=pg">Gainsville.com</a> that her son had &#8220;never been sick a day in his life&#8221; and police had informed her that there was no evidence of any injuries or involvement with drugs.</p>
<p>“They are as baffled as I am,” she said. “It looked like he was sleeping.&#8221;</p>
<p>The popular entrepreneur&#8217;s mother briefly mentioned the closure of Grooveshark earlier this year after a prolonged legal battle with the major recording labels of the United States. She said that her son had been &#8220;more relieved than depressed&#8221; that the matter had been brought to an end.</p>
<p>“He was excited about potential new things that he was going to start,” she said.</p>
<p>Josh Greenberg and Sam Tarantino founded Grooveshark as 19-year-old freshmen at the University of Florida in March 2006. The company grew to become a major player in the streaming market with close to 150 employees but was continuously dogged by licensing and related copyright issues.</p>
<p>After spending increasing amounts of time and money on its legal defense, Grooveshark eventually <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/grooveshark-shuts-down-apologizes-to-the-riaa-150501/">threw in the towel</a> at the end of April this year. Parent company Escape Media entered into a consent judgment with Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group which saw the operation shut down for good.</p>
<p>Friend Ben Erez, who describes Josh as his mentor, heaped praise on the entrepreneur.</p>
<p>&#8220;There are people whose names I hear over and over again who end up disappointing when I finally meet them. When I met Josh for the first time, I felt the opposite. Here was a guy who deserved every word of praise I had heard,&#8221; he <a href="http://www.viabilify.com/blog/josh">wrote</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;I’m sad and shocked but I can’t stop imagining what Josh would say. Probably something very zen like &#8216;appreciate me for who I was, mourn my loss, and get back to enjoying life. It’s too short to not&#8217;.&#8221;</p>
<p>Comments from Josh&#8217;s girlfriend Abby Mayer cited in a police department report note that her spouse was not known to be sick or on any prescribed medication.</p>
<p>Toxicology results will take two or three 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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108395
title: uTorrent Flagged As ‘Harmful’ by Anti-Virus Companies and Google
uri: uTorrent-Flagged-As-Harmful-by-Anti-Virus-Companies-and-Google
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/lSy4QXOrzzM/
content:
<p><img src="media/f1b12f99.utorrent-logo-new.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/utorrent-logo-new.jpg" alt="utorrent-logo-new" width="222" height="148" class="alignright size-full wp-image-55606">With millions of new downloads per month uTorrent is without doubt the most used BitTorrent client around.</p>
<p>The software is the main source of revenue for the San Francisco based company BitTorrent Inc. and generates income through advertisements and bundled software. </p>
<p>The latter now appears to be causing trouble as several anti-virus vendors have begun listing uTorrent as a security risk. The scanning result below from VirusTotal shows that at least six anti-virus applications, including ESET and Symantec, have flagged the software as problematic.</p>
<p>The anti-virus scans associate the uTorrent.exe file with <em>Trojan.Win32.Generic!BT</em> and the controversial <a href="https://www.sophos.com/en-us/threat-center/threat-analyses/adware-and-puas/OpenCandy/detailed-analysis.aspx"><em>OpenCandy</em></a> bundling software. While this isn&#8217;t the first time that uTorrent has been flagged in this manner, we haven&#8217;t seen it being reported by this many independent tests before.</p>
<p><center><strong>uTorrent&#8217;s Virustotal results</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/12c99c82.utorrentvirus.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/utorrentvirus.jpg"><img src="media/12c99c82.utorrentvirus.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/utorrentvirus.jpg" alt="utorrentvirus" width="600" height="384" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-108401"></a></center></p>
<p>In addition to action by the anti-virus companies, uTorrent is also being blocked by Google in several ways. When attempting to download the latest stable release of the torrent client, Chrome flags the software as malicious and <a href="media/defe35b7.utmal.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/utmal.jpg">blocks the download</a>, although this only appears to happen sporadically.</p>
<p>Google is also actively <a href="http://utclient.utorrent.com/offers/beta_release_notes/release_notes.html">blocking</a> several pages that link to uTorrent and other BitTorrent Inc. software. According <a href="https://www.google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?site=http%3A%2F%2Futclient.utorrent.com%2Foffers%2Fbeta_release_notes%2Frelease_notes.html&#038;client=googlechrome&#038;hl=en-US">to Google</a>, parts of the uTorrent website contain &#8220;harmful programs.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><strong>uTorrent.com warning in Chrome</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/ec1ef615.utorrentharm.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/utorrentharm.jpg" alt="utorrentharm" width="604" height="317" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-108429"></center></p>
<p>The same &#8220;harmful software&#8221; warning from Google <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/chrome-blocks-major-torrent-sites-over-harmful-programs-150710/">also prevented millions of people</a> from accessing popular torrent sites earlier this month. </p>
<p>A Google spokesperson informed us that this was the result of the company&#8217;s increased efforts to block programs that make &#8220;unexpected changes&#8221; to people&#8217;s computers.</p>
<p>&#8220;Google Safe Browsing’s ability to detect deceptive software has steadily improved,&#8221; the company <a href="http://googleonlinesecurity.blogspot.nl/2015/07/more-visible-protection-against.html">explained</a> in a recent blog post.  </p>
<p>&#8220;In the coming weeks, these detection improvements will become more noticeable in Chrome: users will see more warnings about unwanted software than ever before,&#8221; Google adds.</p>
<p>These and the other uTorrent threat reports all seem to be triggered by bundled third-party software bundled. There is no indication or evidence that the BitTorrent client itself is harmful. </p>
<p>We asked BitTorrent Inc. for a comment on the recent reports but the company has yet to respond. </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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108459
title: Most Aussie Pirates Are the Industry’s Best Customers
uri: Most-Aussie-Pirates-Are-the-Industry-s-Best-Customers
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/vwt17BYdDFE/
content:
<p><img src="media/9231f6fe.spongepirate.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/spongepirate.jpg" alt="spongepirate" width="170" height="208" class="alignright size-full wp-image-102272">As Australia continues to grapple with its online piracy problem, a new report commissioned by the office of Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has revealed both the scale of the problem and an interesting twist.</p>
<p>Carried out in conjunction with the UK government and executed by TNS Global, the survey of 2630 people found that 26% of the population aged 12 years and up &#8211; 5.2 million people &#8211; had consumed illegal content online during the first three months of 2015. </p>
<p>That doesn&#8217;t mean that one in four Aussies never put their money in their pockets though. The survey found that just 7% of the population are hardcore pirates who never pay for anything and only consume illegal content. Other pirates buy legitimate content to some extent.</p>
<p>When drilling down further, however, the figures appear to worsen. Of all Internet users over 12 who also consumed media content in the first quarter of 2015, 43% said they had done so illegally. Movies proved the most popular among pirates, with 48% saying they had obtained them online without permission. Music came in second place with 37%, while TV shows (33%) and video games (22%) took up the third and fourth slots.</p>
<p>In terms of piracy volumes, the survey found that music was the most-download content with an estimated 254 million tracks obtained in the first quarter of 2015. Around 95 million movies, 82 million TV shows and 9 million video games add to the total.</p>
<p>On average, Aussie pirates downloaded or streamed around 16 items of content each in the first three months of the year, with music proving the most popular by file volume followed by TV, movies and video games.</p>
<p>When looking at overall consumption of digital content, around 66% of movies were obtained illegally versus 36% of TV shows. Music tracks and video games were neck-and-neck with 30% and 29% respectively.</p>
<p>When it comes to methods for obtaining unauthorized content the survey results present a slightly confused picture.</p>
<p>&#8220;Infringers were far more likely than non-infringers to use peer-to-peer methods,<br>
in the form of BitTorrent software (26%), uTorrent (28%) and Pirate Bay (19%),<br>
whereas 5% or less of non-infringers said they had used these services,&#8221; the survey notes.</p>
<p>Of course, uTorrent <em>is</em> BitTorrent software and the Pirate Bay requires the use of BitTorrent software in order to function. But in any event, it appears that BitTorrent methods are more popular with those who obtain content illegally than those who do not.</p>
<p>But perhaps the biggest question is what motivates these individuals to pirate.</p>
<p>Among all pirates, 55% said they consume content illegally because it&#8217;s free and a sizable 51% cited ease of access and convenience as a primary motivator. Speed was a factor among 45% of respondents, with 21% noting that they did not wish to wait for content to become available locally.</p>
<p>Interestingly, among pirates who said they never buy any content, 27% said they download illegally in order to &#8220;try before they buy&#8221;. Among those who consume legal and illegal content, that figure jumps to 38%.</p>
<p>So what might cause pirates to change their ways?</p>
<p>Perhaps unsurprisingly almost four out of ten infringers said cheaper prices on legal services would help. However, the next most popular responses were all about availability. If all content was made available legally that would help 38% of infringers to change their ways while 36% said that timely availability of content when compared to the rest of the world would be a good motivator.</p>
<p>Yet another sign that better legal services are the key to reducing infringement came with pirates&#8217; assessment of <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/aussie-isps-advocate-three-strikes-solution-to-piracy-150220/">various measures</a> the government and rightsholders have lined up to tackle infringement.</p>
<p>Nearly a quarter of infringers said that the thought of being sued might help them change their ways while just 17% felt that a letter from their ISP could deter them from further piracy. Although not currently on the agenda, 21% said that Internet suspensions might prove effective.</p>
<p>Interestingly, when asked if anything at all could stop them pirating, just 5% of all infringers said nothing could, rising to 10% among hardcore &#8220;buy nothing&#8221; pirates.</p>
<p>Finally, the survey provides yet another timely reminder that branding all pirates as enemies of the entertainment industries is a very bad idea. When looking at four content types &#8211; movies, TV shows, music and video games &#8211; the survey found that those who consumed a mix of legal and illegal content SPENT MORE on legal content than those who only consume content illegally.</p>
<p><img src="media/dd72854f.aus-leg1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/aus-leg1.png" alt="aus-leg1" width="593" height="252" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-108462"></p>
<p>The full survey can be downloaded here (<a href="media/88f51196.DeptComms20Online20Copyright20Infringement20Report20FINAL20.PDF" data-original-source="https://www.communications.gov.au/sites/g/files/net301/f/DeptComms%20Online%20Copyright%20Infringement%20Report%20FINAL%20.PDF">pdf</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108471
title: Universal Asks Google to Censor “Furious 7″ IMDb Page, and More
uri: Universal-Asks-Google-to-Censor-Furious-7-IMDb-Page-and-More
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/85kHjE4OAYI/
content:
<p><img src="media/0bf08826.face-palm.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/face-palm.jpg" alt="face-palm" width="200" height="133" class="alignright size-full wp-image-61200">In an effort to make piracy less visible, copyright holders send dozens of millions of takedown notices to Google every month.</p>
<p>Unfortunately not all of these requests are as accurate as they should be.</p>
<p>Due to the high volume of often automated notices and the fact that copyright holders don’t check the validity of all requests, there are many questionable requests are made.</p>
<p>This week we spotted a <a href="https://www.chillingeffects.org/notices/10951315">dubious takedown notice</a> from Universal Pictures, targeting several perfectly legitimate URLs. The movie studio&#8217;s tracking company apparently failed to properly screen the request as it lists the official <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2820852/">IMDb page</a> of the blockbuster Furious 7. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.imdb.com/">Internet Movie Database</a> is widely regarded as one of the top sources to find information on movies and having the page de-listed from Google certainly doesn&#8217;t help to prevent piracy.</p>
<p><center><strong>Universal Pictures takedown request</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/58fc5b66.fastimdb.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/fastimdb.jpg" alt="fastimdb" width="608" height="312" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-108475"></center></p>
<p>Aside from Furious 7, the same notice targets &#8220;copyright infringing&#8221; links to the movie Hacker. Here, the movie studio also made an unfortunate mistake asking Google to remove a news article from <a href="https://www.chillingeffects.org/notices/10951315">Techdirt</a>, covering the Hacking Team leak.</p>
<p>And while we&#8217;re on the topic of self censorship, it&#8217;s worth noting that Universal Pictures also <a href="https://www.chillingeffects.org/notices/10969223">asked Google</a>, in a <a href="media/98aaf805.V4ZAXEa.png" data-original-source="http://i.imgur.com/V4ZAXEa.png">separate notice</a>, to remove http://127.0.0.1 from the search results.</p>
<p>The mistakes were made by the French branch of the movie studio, which only recently began sending takedown notices to Google. The company has reported less than 200 URLs thus far including the mistakes above. </p>
<p>While Universal is the rightsholder, it&#8217;s worth noting the notices are sent by Trident Media Guard (TMG), the private company which also carried out file-sharing network monitoring for the French Government&#8217;s Hadopi scheme.</p>
<p>The good news is that Google hasn&#8217;t removed any of the inaccurately reported URLs just yet. The search engine is still validating the validity of the claims and will probably reject the requests.</p>
<p>In the meantime, Universal Pictures and TMG should reconsider their takedown campaign, or at least improve their monitoring tools. </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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108490
title: YouTube Faces Russia Web Block Over Pirate Content
uri: YouTube-Faces-Russia-Web-Block-Over-Pirate-Content
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/X_LWf0jnSVY/
content:
<p><img src="media/a5365da2.youtubeface.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/youtubeface.jpg" alt="youtubeface" width="222" height="158" class="alignright size-full wp-image-107705">Following intense pressure from local and international entertainment companies, on August 1, 2013 Russia introduced a brand new anti-piracy law.</p>
<p>Initially covering only movies, the law allowed websites offering &#8216;pirate&#8217; content to be blocked by local ISPs if they fail to respond to complaints. Late November 2014 the law was further amended to include all copyrighted content except images.</p>
<p>The legislation has been used dozens of times to threaten unresponsive sites with blocking at the ISP level, but in many cases operators have complied to ensure they keep off Russia&#8217;s blocklist. Surprisingly the world&#8217;s largest user-generated content site YouTube today finds itself perilously close to becoming a new addition.</p>
<p>The problem dates back several months when TV shows owned by TNT-network appeared on the site without authorization. In April, YouTube received requests from local telecoms watchdog Roskomnadzor to delete the content and apparently responded in a timely manner.</p>
<p>However, fresh monitoring carried out by Roskomnadzor this month reportedly found almost 140 links to the same content, an event that prompted the watchdog to initiate the start of the blocking procedure.</p>
<p>&#8220;On the application of the right holder &#8216;TNT-Teleset&#8217; and in accordance with a decision of the Moscow City Court from April 7, 2015, tentative interim measures of protection of the exclusive rights to [two TV series] have been implemented against social networking website YouTube.com,&#8221; Roskomnadzor announced.</p>
<p>&#8220;Notification with a request to remove the unlawfully placed materials has been repeatedly directed at the administration of the Internet resource. Currently, access to the illegal videos has not been limited.&#8221;</p>
<p>For YouTube, the clock is now ticking. Roskomnadzor is alerting Russian users that on Monday July 27 YouTube pages will be added to Russia&#8217;s national register of copyright violators. However, due to the way blocking is sometimes implemented, Roskomnadzor warns that for some the entire site may be rendered inaccessible.</p>
<p>&#8220;The video hosting site has a huge audience, and for some users the resource could become completely unavailable,&#8221; Roskomnadzor&#8217;s Vadim Ampelonsky <a href="http://www.vedomosti.ru/technology/articles/2015/07/22/601731-roskomnadzor-vneset-youtube-s-reestr-zapreschennih-saitov-s-27-iyulya">told</a> local media.</p>
<p>&#8220;The administration of YouTube has always responded to our needs and removed illegal content. But in [this case] this hasn&#8217;t happened for reasons that aren&#8217;t apparent to us. We very much hope that we will not have to put YouTube on the blocklist registry.&#8221;</p>
<p>It&#8217;s unclear why YouTube hasn&#8217;t responded to the requests of Roskomnadzor. The company is usually responsive to complaints and it should be trivial to add the TV shows in question to its ContentID system so that uploads of the same can be spotted in the future. But in any event, YouTube has just days to respond before the banhammer falls.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108509
title: EU Starts Geo-Blocking Antitrust Case Against U.S Movie Studios
uri: EU-Starts-Geo-Blocking-Antitrust-Case-Against-U-S-Movie-Studios
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Q_nwumuAQHg/
content:
<p><img src="media/23e20654.europe-flag.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/europe-flag.png" alt="europe-flag" width="222" height="146" class="alignright size-full wp-image-79290">Due to complicated licensing agreements many movies and TV-series are only available online in a few selected countries, often for a limited period. </p>
<p>The movie studios often restrict broadcasters and streaming services to make content widely available, a practice which the European Commission wants to stop.</p>
<p>Today the European Commission sent a statement of objections to Sky UK and six large US film studios: Disney, NBCUniversal, Paramount Pictures, Sony, Twentieth Century Fox and Warner Bros.</p>
<p>The Commission believes that the geo-restrictions the parties agreed upon are violating EU competition rules.</p>
<p>&#8220;European consumers want to watch the pay-TV channels of their choice regardless of where they live or travel in the EU,&#8221; <a href="http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-15-5432_en.htm">says</a> Margrethe Vestager, EU Commissioner in charge of competition policy. </p>
<p>&#8220;Our investigation shows that they cannot do this today, also because licensing agreements between the major film studios and Sky UK do not allow consumers in other EU countries to access Sky&#8217;s UK and Irish pay-TV services, via satellite or online.&#8221;</p>
<p>Under European rules consumers should be able to access the services of Sky and other service providers regardless of where they are located. At the moment, most online services block access to content based on the country people are located, something Sky and the movie studios also agreed on.</p>
<p>The geo-blocking practices are a thorn in the side of the European Commission who now hope to abolish these restrictions altogether.</p>
<p>In parallel to the antitrust investigation the EU’s governing body adopted the new <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/europe-will-abolish-geo-blocking-and-other-copyright-restrictions-150506/">Digital Single Market Strategy</a> earlier this year. One of the main pillars of the new strategy is to provide consumers and businesses with better access to digital goods and services.</p>
<p>The Commission plans “to end unjustified geo-blocking,” which it describes as “a discriminatory practice used for commercial reasons.”</p>
<p>“I want to see every consumer getting the best deals and every business accessing the widest market – wherever they are in Europe,” Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said at the time.</p>
<p>Sky UK and the six major studios will now have to respond to the concerns. The current statement of objections is only the start of the antitrust investigation, a final decision will take at least several 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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108520
title: Project Free TV Streaming Site Shuts Down
uri: Project-Free-TV-Streaming-Site-Shuts-Down
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/5CvuJlZO3Mw/
content:
<p><img src="media/d02a524b.pftv-logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pftv-logo.jpg" alt="pftv-logo" width="157" height="125" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108537">While BitTorrent remains the most used peer-to-peer method of obtaining video content online, for the past several years the availability of cheap bandwidth has provided users with additional options.</p>
<p>Closely associated with sites such as YouTube, streaming is now one of the most popular ways of viewing content. Thanks to a player embedded in a webpage no special skills are required. As a result, streaming sites have popped up all over the web, with a sizable proportion dedicated to copyrighted content.</p>
<p>However, to be really useful all of this content needs to be findable and that&#8217;s where sites such as <a href="http://www.free-tv-video-online.info/">Project Free TV</a> (PFTV) stepped in. Indexing popular content from all around the web, PFTV presented TV and movie content to the masses in an easily navigated interface with hit shows such as Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead just a click away.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/bad1213e.pftv1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pftv1.png" alt="pftv1" width="600" height="494" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-108523"></center></p>
<p>As a result of its attention to detail, comprehensive database and a loyal following, PFTV grew to become one of the most popular sites of its kind. Its popularity attracted the attention of copyright holders too, with Hollywood having the site <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/uk-piracy-blocklist-expands-with-yify-primewire-vodly-and-others-131122/">blocked in the UK</a> during November 2013.</p>
<p>Last evening, however, it all came to an end. Instead of its familiar yellow, orange and purple homepage, PFTV now displays a single word: &#8220;Goodbye&#8221;</p>
<p>Since Project Free TV had become the go-to place for millions of TV fans, the site&#8217;s users were quick to react, with dozens taking to Twitter to express their disappointment.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/6eb72e24.pftv21.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pftv21.png" alt="pftv2" width="598" height="342" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-108526"></center></p>
<p>But for many it is the site&#8217;s content discovery features that will be most missed.</p>
<p>&#8220;What I loved about Project Free TV was the aggregating feature of their daily TV show list,&#8221; a former user <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/cordcutters/comments/3ecz4r/project_free_tv_done_for_good/ctdvax6">explains</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;While not a complete representation by far it had most of the shows I was interested in and introduced me to many excellent British and Australian shows I did not know of as well as plenty of new shows from the US I wasn&#8217;t aware of due to practically not ever seeing commercials for them on broadcast or cable.&#8221;</p>
<p>While most people enjoyed the site via its web presence, Project Free TV was also a massive hit with users of Kodi/XBMC. Thanks to a <a href="http://forums.tvaddons.ag/threads/9857-PFTV-2-3-0-Released">third party plugin</a> located at TVaddons.ag, PFTV&#8217;s library could be enjoyed from within the software. Users now experience errors instead.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s sad to see them go, our community is definitely in shock. However, it&#8217;s good to see that they closed while still on the top of their game, on their own terms,&#8221; a senior developer at TVAddons told TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>&#8220;There are a lot of other sites offering similar services and I&#8217;m confident that users who were dedicated supporters of Project Free TV will likely find a new home elsewhere in the coming days.&#8221;</p>
<p>Users searching for PFTV using Google will already find plenty of sites using the Project Free TV name but most are clones with reduced functionality. At best, those claiming to be the real deal aren&#8217;t being straight while others appear to be more interested in serving up malicious advertising than providing a decent service.</p>
<p>Project Free TV&#8217;s operator did not respond to our requests for comment.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108141
title: Pirate Bay Led Hollywood The Way, Co-Founder Says
uri: Pirate-Bay-Led-Hollywood-The-Way-Co-Founder-Says
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/SnpHDVCYjcY/
content:
<p><img src="media/2a43984f.pirate-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-bay.jpg" alt="pirate bay" width="200" height="207" class="alignright size-full wp-image-53470">Fredrik Neij, one of The Pirate Bay’s co-founders, was released early May after serving a 10-month prison sentence for his involvement with the site.</p>
<p>He has since returned to his home in Laos, where he’s picking up his life again. Speaking with TF, Fredrik says that he didn&#8217;t miss computers or the Internet as much as he&#8217;d expected. </p>
<p>What Fredrik missed the most about being &#8216;disconnected&#8217; was instant access to news, information and entertainment. Instead of having access to the latest movies and TV-series without interruptions, he was forced to watch broadcast TV.</p>
<p>&#8220;Watching broadcast TV again for the first time in roughly 12 years was gruesome. I don&#8217;t know how people stand the commercial breaks without going insane,&#8221; Fredrik tells TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>However, the Pirate Bay co-founder also admits that quite a bit of progress has been made in recent years. In part, Hollywood and the video entertainment industry made these changes to give consumers something they would otherwise get on sites such as The Pirate Bay.</p>
<p>&#8220;I saw a lot of things that probably would not have existed without The Pirate Bay, like every channel having their own streaming services, and the short time between US premiere and it being aired on networks worldwide, usually just a few days or a week,&#8221; Fredrik says.</p>
<p>Netflix is a prime example of a video streaming service that has become a great success. But from a Pirate Bay user perspective there is still plenty of room for improvement. </p>
<p>For example, people should be able to get all their video entertainment at one service, instead of having to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/most-top-films-are-not-available-on-netflix-research-finds-140926/">use a dozen or so</a>. Similarly, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/eu-commissioner-wants-to-abolish-netflix-geoblocking-150227/">blocking access </a>to potential customers based on their location is an outdated business model that has to go. </p>
<p>&#8220;While I think all the new streaming services are great, if they want to take on piracy for real, they need to combine all services behind a common pay-wall so you don&#8217;t need several accounts to follow your favorite shows,&#8221; Fredrik notes. </p>
<p>&#8220;They also really need to address the geo-blocking problems and provide global availability of the all content at the same price. Until big media makes it as easy or easier to get all your media in one place no matter where you live, there will be a need for sites like TPB.&#8221; </p>
<p>Of course, The Pirate Bay doesn&#8217;t use any geo-blocking tools and the site also has a content library that beats any legal service. Because of this, TPB&#8217;s co-founder believes that the site will remain popular for a while. </p>
<p>Now that Fredrik&#8217;s back home he can catch up on Doctor Who and Archer again. He&#8217;s also closely following Pirate Bay related developments, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/swedish-police-raid-the-pirate-bay-site-offline-141209/">last year&#8217;s raid</a> in particular. </p>
<p>&#8220;Back when I ran things it only took three days to get back up from a raid. The new team took a good 6 weeks, but they have been doing a good job on TPB these last few years, and eventually restored the site to its former glory,&#8221; Fredrik says.</p>
<p>And even if the police managed to take the site down again, new Pirate Bays will take over as long as the demand is there.</p>
<p>&#8220;Even if TPB is permanently shutdown, the December raid shows that there will always be sites ready to fill the void. One again showing that meeting consumer demand is far more effective than trying to enforce lobby-bought laws with no support among the general public,&#8221; Fredrik 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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108543
title: Massive Piracy Case Ends in Disappointment for Hollywood
uri: Massive-Piracy-Case-Ends-in-Disappointment-for-Hollywood
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Nnq1S1zafOk/
content:
<p><img src="media/0fdc72be.warez.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/warez.jpg" alt="warez" width="200" height="139" class="alignright size-full wp-image-45883">After tracking down hundreds of Internet pirates over the years, a case that came to a head at the turn of the decade was shaping up to be one of the most important for anti-piracy group Antipiratbyrån (now Rights Alliance).</p>
<p>More often focused on lower-hanging fruit, Antipiratbyrån had their eyes on the &#8220;warez scene&#8221;, the people and infrastructure at the very top of the so-called &#8220;piracy pyramid&#8221; from where content trickles down to the masses.</p>
<p>In 2010 and following a lengthy investigation by Antipiratbyrån, police raided a topsite known as &#8216;Devil&#8217;. Topsites are top-secret, high-speed servers used by piracy release groups and their affiliates for storing and distributing unauthorized copyrighted content. When Devil went down dozens of servers were seized, together containing an estimated 250 terabytes of pirate content.</p>
<p>One man was also arrested but it took until 2014 for him to be charged with unlawfully making content available “intentionally or by gross negligence.”</p>
<p>According to police the 50-something year old man from Väsby, Sweden, acted “in consultation or in concert with other persons, supplied, installed, programmed, maintained, funded and otherwise administered and managed” the Devil file-sharing network. Before its shutdown, Devil was reported to service around 200 elite members.</p>
<p>Considering Antipiratbyrån&#8217;s links with the movie industry it came as no surprise that the charges included the unlawful making available of 2,250 mainly Hollywood movies. According to the prosecutor, those numbers made the case a record breaker.</p>
<p>“We have not prosecuted for this many movies in the past. There are many movies and large data set,” prosecutor Fredrik Ingblad commented earlier. “It is also the largest analysis of computers ever made in an individual case.”</p>
<p><center><img src="media/73538918.devil-top.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/devil-top.png" alt="devil-top" width="550" height="421" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-108548"></center></p>
<p>Given the scale of the case it was expected that punishments would be equally harsh but things did not play out that way.</p>
<p>Despite admitting that he operated servers at his home and in central Stockholm and the court acknowledging that rightsholders had suffered great damage, the man has just been sentenced to probation and 160 hours of community service.</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://www.mitti.se/man-falld-for-illegal-fildelning/">Mitti.se</a>, two key elements appear to have kept the man&#8217;s punishment down. Firstly, he cooperated with police in the investigation. Secondly &#8211;  and this is a feature in many file-sharing prosecutions &#8211; the case simply dragged on for too long.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is worrying that the bottleneck at the police has affected the sentence,&#8221; says Sara Lindbäck of Rights Alliance.</p>
<p>Defense lawyer Henrik Olsson Lilja says that he&#8217;s pleased his client has avoided jail but adds that no decision has yet been made on any appeal. That being said, an end to the criminal case doesn&#8217;t necessarily mean the matter is completely over.</p>
<p>Last year Rights Alliance indicated that the six main studios behind the prosecution might initiate a civil action against the man and demand between $673,400 and $2.69m per title infringed, albeit on a smaller sample-sized selection of the 2,250 movies involved in the case.</p>
<p>No announcement has been made on that front and Rights Alliance did not respond to our requests for comment.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108588
title: MPAA Sues MovieTube Sites Over Mass Piracy
uri: MPAA-Sues-MovieTube-Sites-Over-Mass-Piracy
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/XClV80vlGMw/
content:
<p><img src="media/a170b517.movietube.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/movietube.jpg" alt="movietube" width="222" height="222" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108589">Unauthorized movie streaming sites have been a thorn in the side of Hollywood for many years, and yesterday the MPAA decided to take one of the most prominent players to court.</p>
<p>MPAA members 20th Century Fox, Columbia Pictures, Disney, Paramount, Universal and Warner Bros filed a lawsuit against a group of MovieTube affiliated websites, which operate from more than two dozen domain names.</p>
<p>In the complaint, filed at a New York District Court a few hours ago, the movie studios describe MovieTube as a business that’s designed and operated to promote copyright infringement for profit.</p>
<p>The MPAA lists several popular websites including MovieTube.cc, TuneVideo.net, Watch33.tv, MovieTube.cz, Anime1.tv, MovieTube.pm, FunTube.co, MovieTube.la and KissDrama.net. These sites share hosting facilities and a similar design and the studios believe that they are operated by the same people.</p>
<p>The websites in question are typical streaming sites, where users can watch videos and in some cases download the source files to their computers.</p>
<p>&#8220;Defendants, through the MovieTube Websites, aggregate, organize and provide embedded links to extensive libraries of Infringing Copies of Plaintiffs’ Works,&#8221; the compliant (<a href="media/d97c2aaa.MPAA-movietube.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/MPAA-movietube.pdf">pdf</a>) reads.</p>
<p>&#8220;&#8230;users can watch Infringing Copies without leaving the MovieTube Websites. The MovieTube Websites even allow users, in some instances, to download Infringing Copies by clicking on a selection from a menu built into the video player software supplied by Defendants.&#8221; </p>
<p>According to the MPAA, MovieTube&#8217;s operators are well aware of the infringing nature of their site. On one of their Facebook pages they write that it&#8217;s not a problem that many films are pirated, since they are not bound by U.S. laws. </p>
<p><center><img src="media/1e244e83.facebookadmit.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/facebookadmit.png" alt="facebookadmit" width="632" height="193" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-108595"></center></p>
<p>The complaint accuses MovieTube of various counts of copyright and trademark infringement. This means that the site’s operators face millions of dollars in statutory damages.</p>
<p>Perhaps more importantly, the MPAA is also demanding a broad preliminary injunction to make it virtually impossible for the operators to keep their sites online.</p>
<p>Among other things, the proposed measures would prevent domain registrars, domain registries, hosting companies, advertisers and other third-party outfits from doing business with the site. </p>
<p>If granted, MovieTube&#8217;s operators will have a hard time keeping the sites afloat, but it appears that the injunction may not even be needed. </p>
<p>At the time of writing all MovieTube domain names are unreachable. It is unclear whether the operators took this decision themselves, but for now the future of these sites looks grim.</p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<p>The full list of sites mentioned in the complaint is as follows: <em>MovieTube.tw, MovieTube.ph, TVStreaming.cc, MovieTube.sx, MovieTube.pw, MovieTubeNow.com, MovieTube.tf, MovieTube.co, MovieOnDrive.com, MovieTube.vc, TuneVideo.net, MovieTube.mn, MovieTube.cc, Watch33.tv, MovieTube.cz, Anime1.tv, MovieTube.pm, FunTube.co, MovieTube.la, KissDrama.net, MovieTube.so, MovieTube.click, MovieTubeHD.co, MovieTubeHD.net, MovieTubeHD.org, MovieTubeHD.tv, MovieTubeHD.us, MovieTubenow.in and TuneMovie.me. </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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108555
title: Geo-Blocking Caused Massive TV Piracy 20 Years Ago
uri: Geo-Blocking-Caused-Massive-TV-Piracy-20-Years-Ago
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/A75vAa_akmQ/
content:
<p><img src="media/3005d75d.tv.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tv.jpg" alt="tv" width="190" height="140" class="alignright size-full wp-image-67639">Due to complex licensing agreements between content creators and distributors, movies and TV shows are often locked down to a specific region. A prime example is the U.S. edition of Netflix which offers a better selection than versions available elsewhere.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s a frustrating situation for consumers who are forced to jump through hoops to access the content they want to buy. The problem is amplified in Europe, where citizens of member states &#8211; sometimes located just a few miles apart &#8211; are regularly denied access to cross-border digital content.</p>
<p>This week, however, the European Commission sent a strong signal to the world&#8217;s largest movie studios and a powerful broadcaster that geo-restriction won&#8217;t be tolerated. Sky UK, Disney, NBC Universal, Paramount Pictures, Sony, Twentieth Century Fox and Warner Bros. were all put on notice with the launch of an EU <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/?p=108509&amp;preview=true">antitrust investigation</a> into the practice.</p>
<p>When one considers the history it&#8217;s difficult to feel sympathy for these companies. Just as geo-locking, blocking and local release windows fuel piracy today, licensing and geo-restriction fueled massive movie and TV show piracy two decades ago.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/">Dr Markus Kuhn</a> currently works as a senior lecturer in Computer Science at the University of Cambridge. He made the headlines in 2010 when he was asked to analyze a controversial &#8216;bomb detector&#8217; deployed in Iraq and concluded it could <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8477601.stm">detect nothing</a>. Twenty years ago, however, his skills were being deployed against content providers who simply refused to make their content widely available.</p>
<p>As a German citizen keen to view English language sci-fi content undubbed, Kuhn approached UK-based Sky TV in the early 1990s and offered to buy an official viewing smartcard from the company. Due to licensing conditions and their geo-blocking policy, Sky refused to sell him one. It was a move the company would later come to regret. </p>
<p>Faced with a completely inflexible market, Kuhn decided that if Sky wouldn&#8217;t provide its content for a price, then he would gain access to it for free. As a result the undergraduate began investigating the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VideoCrypt">VideoCrypt</a> encryption system used by Sky.</p>
<p>After what must&#8217;ve been hundreds of hours work, in March 1994 Kuhn debuted Season7, a piece of decryption software using a simple hardware interface that would enable viewers across Europe to watch Sky programming for free.</p>
<p>&#8220;This software was primarily written for European Star Trek fans outside Great Britain who don&#8217;t have a chance to get a regular Sky subscription and have no other way of watching the undubbed version of their favorite [sci-fi] series,&#8221; Kuhn said in a June 1994 announcement.</p>
<p><img src="media/08becb73.kuhn.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/kuhn.jpg" alt="kuhn" width="160" height="160" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108562">&#8220;I don&#8217;t want to cause any harm to Sky and I even asked them for a regular subscription some time ago, but they refused to sell one to Germany. So they have to live with the consequences of attracting the interest of high-tech freaks to the technical details of their access control system.&#8221;</p>
<p>Despite Kuhn&#8217;s best intentions, what followed was a Sky viewing free-for-all. With Kuhn&#8217;s software being spread between bulletin board systems and passed around on floppy discs, electronics enthusiasts across Europe began making and selling so-called &#8220;Season interfaces&#8221; for users to plug into their video decoders.</p>
<p>For those lucky enough to own a computer (a PC with a 12 MHz i286 processor was required to run a Season setup) what followed were some magical times. Satellite TV was a luxury item for most families so watching Kuhn&#8217;s software do its work (decoding was displayed live on-screen) was a hypnotic and exciting experience.</p>
<p>Sadly for Sky, however, Kuhn&#8217;s tools didn&#8217;t remain isolated in Germany where the company was doing zero business. Soon, large quantities of potential Sky customers in the UK and across Europe were also enjoying the service for free. That was exactly what Sky wanted to avoid but thanks to geo-blocking, that&#8217;s what it got.</p>
<p>Of course, like most hacks the fun eventually came to an end when Sky&#8217;s crypto experts threw a wrench in the works but the significance of Kuhn&#8217;s work lives on today. Rather than being driven by a &#8216;pirate&#8217; ethos, Kuhn simply wanted to pay for a product that should have been freely available. When primitive licensing arrangements and restrictive business practices stopped him from doing so, Sky and its partners paid the price.</p>
<p>Today, more than two decades on, it seems that neither Sky nor its Hollywood allies have changed their ways. Still, it remains a possibility that the EU investigation launched this week will help them understand a thing or two about a free market while reminding them of Kuhn&#8217;s disruptive response to restriction 20 years ago.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108568
title: WordPress Rejects 43% Of All ‘Piracy’ Takedown Notices
uri: WordPress-Rejects-43-Of-All-Piracy-Takedown-Notices
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Ew3MngbB56E/
content:
<p><img src="media/d1ce434a.wordpress.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/wordpress.png" alt="wordpress" width="222" height="222" class="alignright size-full wp-image-89669">Automattic, the company behind the popular <a href="https://wordpress.com/">WordPress</a> blogging platform, has seen a steady increase in DMCA takedown notices in recent years.</p>
<p>Some of these are legitimate, aimed at disabling access to copyright-infringing material. However, there are also many overbroad and abusive takedown notices which take up a lot of the company’s time and resources.</p>
<p>To give the public insight into the effort it takes to process the requests WordPress regularly publishes a transparency report. In the report WordPress outlines the number of DMCA takedown notices, but also how many were rejected due to inaccuracies or abuse.</p>
<p>&#8220;We work hard to make our DMCA process as fair, transparent, and balanced as possible, so we stringently review all notices we receive to quickly process valid infringement claims and push back on those that we see as abusive,&#8221; WordPress explains.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://transparency.automattic.com/">latest update</a> covering the past half year shows that 4,679 piracy takedown requests were received during this period. What stands out is that content was removed in barely half of the cases reported.</p>
<p>In total, 43% of all notices were rejected, either because they were incomplete or due to abuse. February and April were particularly bad months, as more than half of all notices were rejected.</p>
<p>According to WordPress&#8217; figures more than 10% of the notices were abusive, and the company highlights some examples in its &#8220;<a href="http://transparency.automattic.com/hall-of-shame/">Hall of Shame</a>.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><strong>WordPress&#8217; most recent takedown statistic</strong>s<br></br></center><center><img src="media/5f2d7da5.wordpresstrans.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/wordpresstrans.png" alt="wordpresstrans" width="600" height="602" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-108570"></center></p>
<p>For the first time WordPress has also released information on the organizations that submit the most complaints. Web Sheriff is listed on top here, followed by Audiolock and InternetSecurities.</p>
<p>Commenting on the new data Stephen Blythe, Community Guardian at Automattic, informs TF that they have seen a significant bump in rejections over the past months. This increase has two main causes.</p>
<p>&#8220;The first is that we rejected a large number of abusive takedown notifications from Web Sheriff that related to a single site. The second is that we are constantly refining our processes to ensure that we catch and push back on as many of these misuses as possible,&#8221; Blythe says.</p>
<p>WordPress currently doesn&#8217;t publish the takedown notices in full, but the company plans to highlight more abuse cases on its website in the coming months.</p>
<p>&#8220;We see numerous instances of abuse of the DMCA takedown process, on a regular basis. We plan to publish these via our transparency blog in future,&#8221; Blythe notes.</p>
<p>While the number of takedown requests WordPress receives pales in comparison to larger Internet services, it&#8217;s good to see that the company carefully reviews all notices to prevent unwarranted censorship. It will be interesting to see how the volume of request changes over time and whether copyright holders will improve their accuracy.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108613
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week – 07/27/15
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-07-27-15
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/E1oWVfMoxXA/
content:
<p><img src="media/49d6977f.insurgent.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/insurgent.jpg" alt="insurgent" width="300" height="193" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108380">This week we have two newcomers in our chart. Furious 7 came out as a DVDrip and made a comeback.</p>
<p>Insurgent is the most downloaded movie for the second week in a row.</p>
<p>The data for our weekly download chart is estimated by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only. All the movies in the list are 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-072015/">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>(1)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/insurgent">Insurgent</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2908446/">6.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suZcGoRLXkU">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(back)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/furious_7/">Furious 7</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2820852/">7.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Skpu5HaVkOc">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jurassic_world/">Jurassic World</a> (TS/Subbed HDrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0369610/">7.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFinNxS5KN4">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/true_story_2014/">True Story</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2273657/">6.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_NiP_bqlns">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ted_2/">Ted 2</a> (Subbed HDrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2637276/">6.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3AVcCggRnU">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/home_2015/">Home</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2224026/">6.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyqZf8LiWvM">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(6)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_longest_ride">The Longest Ride</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2726560/">7.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUS_Q7FsfqU">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/terminator_genisys/">Terminator Genisys</a> (TS)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1340138/">7.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62E4FJTwSuc">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(7)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mad_max_fury_road/?">Mad Max: Fury Road</a> (WEB-DL)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1392190/">8.5</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjBb4SZ0F6Q">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/spy_2015/">Spy</a> (Subbed HDrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3079380/">7.5</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltijEmlyqlg">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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108623
title: MPAA Emails Expose Dirty Media Attack Against Google
uri: MPAA-Emails-Expose-Dirty-Media-Attack-Against-Google
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/_WTTZeIfEc0/
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">Late last year <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/google-mpaa-publicly-slam-each-other-over-piracy-141219/">leaked documents</a> revealed that the MPAA helped Mississippi Attorney General (AG) Jim Hood to revive SOPA-like censorship efforts in the United States.</p>
<p>In a retaliatory move Google sued the Attorney General, hoping to find out more about the secret plan. The company also demanded copies of internal communications <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/google-takes-mpaa-to-court-over-secret-censorship-plans-150603/">from the MPAA</a> which are now revealing how far the anti-Google camp planned to go. </p>
<p>Emails between the MPAA and two of AG Hood&#8217;s top lawyers include a proposal that outlines <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150724/15501631756/smoking-gun-mpaa-emails-reveal-plan-to-run-anti-google-smear-campaign-via-today-show-wsj.shtml">how the parties could attack Google</a>. In particular, they aim to smear Google through an advanced PR campaign involving high-profile news outlets such as The Today Show and The Wall Street Journal. </p>
<p>With help from Comcast and News Corp, they planned to hire a PR firm to &#8220;attack&#8221; Google and others who resisted the planned anti-piracy efforts. To hide links to the MPAA and the AG&#8217;s office, this firm should be hired through a seemingly unaffiliated nonprofit organization, the emails suggest. </p>
<p>&#8220;This PR firm can be funded through a nonprofit dedicated to IP issues. The &#8216;live buys&#8217; should be available for the media to see, followed by a segment the next day on the Today Show (David green can help with this),&#8221; the plan reads (<a href="media/86c50b99.mpaa-smear-emails.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mpaa-smear-emails.pdf">pdf</a>).</p>
<p>The Today Show feature would be followed up by a statement from a large Google investor calling on the company to do more to tackle the piracy problem.</p>
<p>&#8220;After the Today Show segment, you want to have a large investor of Google (George can help us determine that) come forward and say that Google needs to change its behavior/demand reform.&#8221; </p>
<p>In addition, a planted piece in the Wall Street Journal should suggest that Google&#8217;s stock would lose value if the company doesn&#8217;t give in to the demands.</p>
<p>&#8220;Next, you want NewsCorp to develop and place an editorial in the WSJ emphasizing that Google&#8217;s stock will lose value in the face of a sustained attack by AGs and noting some of the possible causes of action we have developed,&#8221; the plan notes.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/b3cb7ae3.mpaasmear.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mpaasmear.png" alt="mpaasmear" width="516" height="188" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-108630"></center></p>
<p>Previously, the MPAA accused Google of waging an &#8220;<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-google-assists-and-profits-from-piracy-150617/">ongoing public relations war</a>,&#8221; but the above shows that the Hollywood group is no different.</p>
<p>On top of the PR-campaign the plan also reveals details on how the parties would taint Google before the National Association of Attorneys General. </p>
<p>Through a series of live taped segments they would show how easy it is for minors to pirate R-rated movies, buy heroin and order an assault weapon with the help of Google&#8217;s search engine.</p>
<p>Finally, the plan includes a &#8220;final step&#8221; where Attorney General Hood would issue a civil investigatory demand to Google. </p>
<p>In its court filing (<a href="media/86c50b99.mpaa-smear-emails.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mpaa-smear-emails.pdf">pdf</a>) Google uses the information above to argue that the AG&#8217;s civil investigatory demand was not the basis of a legitimate investigation. Instead, it was another tool pressuring the company to implement more stringent anti-piracy measures. </p>
<p>Given this new information, Google hopes that the court will compel Fox, NBC and Viacom to hand over relevant internal documents, as they were &#8220;plainly privy&#8221; to the secretive campaign.</p>
<p>It’s now up to the judge to decide how to proceed, but based on the emails above, the MPAA and the AG&#8217;s office have some explaining to do.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108632
title: BREIN Hits 128 Sites Plus BitTorrent Uploaders & Moderator
uri: BREIN-Hits-128-Sites-Plus-BitTorrent-Uploaders-Moderator
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/PTfLkYRgeM0/
content:
<p><img src="media/76fd4240.nopiracy.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/nopiracy.png" alt="nopiracy" width="183" height="155" class="alignright size-full wp-image-83919">Anti-piracy groups come in all shapes and sizes but one of the most famous is Dutch outfit BREIN. Although its mission has expanded in recent years, BREIN is generally viewed as one of the more aggressive groups doing Hollywood&#8217;s bidding in Europe. That has included taking on giants such as The Pirate Bay.</p>
<p>Unlike most groups operating in its field, each year BREIN publishes an overview of its anti-piracy enforcement actions. It&#8217;s a broad report that for operational and security reasons tends to leave out specific details. Nevertheless, the highlights of its initial 2015 report provide a useful insight to the outfit&#8217;s current focus.</p>
<p>In the first half of the year BREIN continued its threats to local webhosts who offer services to file-sharing sites. While some are less responsive than others, BREIN says 128 &#8216;illegal&#8217; sites were taken down in this way. Almost two dozen were BitTorrent sites, 37 takedowns hit streaming video portals and two targeted cyberlockers distributing music. The remainder were linking sites used to spread content hosted on cyberlockers and Usenet.</p>
<p>Like its counterparts overseas, BREIN mentions the tendency of &#8216;pirate&#8217; sites to attempt to hide their locations behind the services of U.S.-based Cloudflare. However, the anti-piracy group says that unmasking sites&#8217; true locations can be achieved <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/cloudflare-reveals-pirate-site-locations-in-an-instant-150629/">upon request</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;BREIN believes that the services provided by CloudFlare to illegal providers should be discontinued after notification by BREIN,&#8221; the group adds.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/popcorn-time-fan-pages-nuked-by-anti-piracy-outfit-150224/">previously reported</a>, BREIN also took action against several sites helping to distribute Popcorn Time software. The anti-piracy group says it targeted seven in all, with two &#8220;fleeing abroad&#8221; to be pursued by other copyright enforcers.</p>
<p>Also in the first half of 2015, BREIN says it obtained a total of 12 ex-parte injunctions, i.e court orders against alleged infringers who were not present to defend themselves during the proceedings. </p>
<p>Five of the orders concerned large uploaders, four connected to BitTorrent and the other to Usenet. BREIN said it also obtained an injunction against &#8220;an important moderator&#8221; on one of the &#8220;largest illegal BitTorrent sites&#8221;. In line with BREIN policy, the site itself is not named.</p>
<p>Five of the ex-parte orders related to those offering movies and TV shows without permission while two were connected to eBook offerings, one of which was a 13,500 title supplier. Two video game infringement injunctions were also obtained, one of which related to modification of consoles.</p>
<p>In action directed away from individuals, BREIN says it continued with its efforts to have infringing links delisted from Google. In the first half of the year the group says it sent 1.4 million infringement reports to Google, making 10 million reports since the program began in 2012.</p>
<p>BREIN also notes that it targeted various dedicated BitTorrent trackers with requests to &#8220;blacklist illegal infohashes&#8221;. Two of the trackers reportedly complied but a third &#8220;fled abroad&#8221; where it is now being pressured by another anti-piracy outfit.</p>
<p>Finally, BREIN reminds everyone that the long-running Pirate Bay blocking case is not over yet. After a big <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/isps-no-longer-have-to-block-the-pirate-bay-dutch-court-rules-140128/">legal defeat</a> in January 2014, BREIN is now <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/brein-takes-pirate-bay-blocking-case-supreme-court-140623/">taking the case</a> all the way to the Supreme Court.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108659
title: Spanish Government Claims Success in Internet Piracy Fight
uri: Spanish-Government-Claims-Success-in-Internet-Piracy-Fight
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/0z07fA89xKM/
content:
<p><img src="media/198e8dc2.piracydown.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/piracydown.jpg" alt="piracydown" width="180" height="162" class="alignright size-full wp-image-73866">For many years Spain was regarded as somewhat of a piracy safe-haven but in recent times the country has taken steps to repair its fractured relationship with the entertainment industries.</p>
<p>Since 2012, Spain has implemented a series of changes and adjustments to local copyright law, each aimed at clamping down on the online distribution of copyrighted content. January 1, 2015 saw the most notable development, with the introduction of tough new legislation aimed at quickly shutting down pirate sites.</p>
<p>Now the country&#8217;s Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports is reporting success in its battle with the Internet pirates in a new report highlighting achievements since the beginning of legislative change three years ago.</p>
<p>According to the Ministry, more than 95% of the 444 complaints filed with the Intellectual Property Commission by creators and rightsholders have been resolved.</p>
<p>In total, 252 websites were ordered by the Commission to remove illegal content with 247 (98%) responding positively to the demands. According to the Ministry, 31 &#8216;pirate&#8217; sites chose to shut down completely.</p>
<p>Last December and following a complaint filed by 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros, Disney, Universal, Paramount and Sony, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/police-shut-down-spains-top-pirate-streaming-sites-141204/">police also raided</a> two of the country&#8217;s leading video streaming sites. Two men were arrested.</p>
<p>In addition to these voluntary and forced shutdowns, Spanish courts have recently ordered local ISPs to block several sites after rightsholders took advantage of a recent change in the law. Unsurprisingly The Pirate Bay was the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/spanish-government-orders-pirate-bay-blockade-150127/">first site to be targeted</a></p>
<p>In its report the Ministry reports that a total of five websites have now been ordered to be blocked in this manner following two High Court judgments. They include <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/spanish-court-orders-first-pirate-music-site-block-150407/">Goear</a>, the first unlicensed music site to be tackled by the legislation.</p>
<p>Given the scale of the problem the gains being reported by the Spanish government seem relatively modest. Nevertheless, the Ministry insists that progress is definitely being made.</p>
<p>Citing figures from Alexa showing that three years ago 30 &#8216;pirate&#8217; sites were among the top 250 most-visited sites in Spain, the Ministry says that now just 13 are present. Furthermore, those 13 are lower placed than they were before.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is clear from this data that pirate websites are losing their share of total Internet traffic in Spain,&#8221; the Ministry reports.</p>
<p>But while the claimed shuttering of dozens of sites and the removal of copyright content following complaints is being portrayed as a success story, the real test is whether Spaniards are buying more content. </p>
<p>According to figures published this week by local music industry group Promusicae, they are. Music sales in Spain totaled €70.6 million ($78 million) in the first half of 2015, an increase of almost 11%.</p>
<p>However, rather than solely attributing the successes to anti-piracy measures, Promusicae praised streaming as the industry&#8217;s savior. According to the group, streaming revenues increased 40% in the first six months of 2015 when compared to the same period last year.</p>
<p>With music industry successes ringing in their ears, later this year the TV and movie industries will learn whether Spaniards have a similar appetite for their products &#8216;on demand&#8217;. After a seemingly endless wait, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/netflix-chief-piracy-prepared-internet-users-for-us-150605/">Netflix will launch locally</a> in the second half of 2015.</p>
<p>Beating piracy in Spain will be a tall order, but Netflix CEO Reed Hastings is upbeat.</p>
<p>“We can think of this as the bottled water business,&#8221; Hastings said. &#8220;Tap water can be drunk and is free, but there is still a public that demands bottled water.&#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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108669
title: Sony Settles Piracy Lawsuit With Russia’s Facebook
uri: Sony-Settles-Piracy-Lawsuit-With-Russia-s-Facebook
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/85szroLp-cU/
content:
<p><img src="media/2dca634d.vk.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/vk.jpg" alt="vk" width="180" height="180" class="alignright size-full wp-image-72276">For several years <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VK_(social_networking_website)">VKontakte</a>, or VK, has been branded as a piracy facilitator by copyright holders and even the U.S. Government.</p>
<p>In common with many user-generated sites, VK allows its millions of users to upload anything from movies and TV shows to their entire music collections. However, copyright holders often claim that Russia’s social network has failed to adopt proper anti-piracy measures.</p>
<p>Last year this resulted in <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/major-record-labels-sue-russian-facebook-piracy-140403/">a lawsuit</a> filed at the Saint Petersburg and Leningrad Region Arbitration Court, in which Sony Music, Universal Music and Warner Music demanded countermeasures and compensation for the large scale copyright infringement VK allegedly facilitates. </p>
<p>The case is still ongoing, but as of this week Sony Music has dropped out. According to a <a href="http://www.vedomosti.ru/newspaper/articles/2015/07/28/602402-v-kontakte-spoet-za-dengi">local report</a> Sony and VK signed a confidential settlement agreement to resolve the dispute. </p>
<p>No further details on the content of the deal have been published, but according to sources VK will upgrade its current music service. </p>
<p>Among other things, the social network will start charging mobile users for access to its official music platform. Desktop users will still have free access, but these views will be monetized through advertisements. </p>
<p>Both changes will be rolled out gradually after a thorough test phase. </p>
<p>The settlement with Sony Music is a breakthrough for the Russian equivalent of Facebook, but it doesn&#8217;t mean that all legal troubles are over.</p>
<p>The remaining cases against Universal Music and Warner Music haven&#8217;t been resolved yet. Together with Sony the companies demanded 50 million rubles ($830,000) in damages in their complaint last year, and VK is still on the hook for most of 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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108652
title: RIAA Wants Domain Registrar to Expose ‘Pirate Site’ Owner
uri: RIAA-Wants-Domain-Registrar-to-Expose-Pirate-Site-Owner
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/EO_CAbFUq_I/
content:
<p><img src="media/3ca10933.riaa.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/riaa.png" alt="riaa" width="250" height="134" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108672">Despite an increased availability of legal options, millions of people still stream MP3s from unofficial sources. These sites are a thorn in the side of the RIAA.</p>
<p>Going after these pirate sites is a problem, according to the music group, as the operators are often unknown and hidden behind Whois privacy services. This is one of the reasons why the RIAA is <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/piracy-concerns-may-soon-kill-domain-name-privacy-150625/">supporting an ICANN proposal</a> to limit domain name privacy. </p>
<p>But even under current laws and regulations it&#8217;s often possible to find out who runs a website, through a <a href="https://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2014/09/16/dmca-subpoenas-dmcas-little-used-power/">DMCA subpoena</a> for example. And a recent case shows that the process isn&#8217;t too hard. </p>
<p>A few days ago the RIAA obtained a DMCA subpoena from the U.S. District Court of Columbia ordering domain name registrar <a href="https://www.dynadot.com/">Dynadot</a> to expose the personal details of a customer. These subpoenas are signed off by a clerk and don&#8217;t require any overview from a judge.</p>
<p>With the subpoena in hand RIAA asked Dynadot to identify the owner of the music streaming site <a href="http://soundpiff.net">Soundpiff.net</a>, claiming that the site infringes the work of artists such as Eminem, Drake and Selena Gomez. Among other details, the registrar is ordered to share the IP-address and email address of the site&#8217;s operator.</p>
<p>&#8220;We believe your service is hosting the below-referenced domain name on its network. The website associated with this domain name offers files containing sound recordings which are owned by one or more of our member companies and have not been authorized for this kind of use,&#8221; the RIAA writes.</p>
<p><center><strong>Soundpiff.net</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/8e13f0c1.soundpiff.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/soundpiff.png" alt="soundpiff" width="600" height="431" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-108675"></center></p>
<p>In addition, the RIAA also urges Dynadot to review whether the site violates its terms of service as a repeat infringer, which means that it should be pulled offline. </p>
<p>&#8220;We also ask that you consider the widespread and repeated infringing nature of the site operator(s)&#8217; conduct, and whether the site(s)‘ activities violate your terms of service and/or your company&#8217;s repeat infringer policy.&#8221;</p>
<p>Soundpiff.net is a relatively small site that allows user to discover, stream and download music tracks. The audio files themselves appear to be sourced from the music hosting service <a href="http://audioinbox.com/">Audioinbox</a>, and are not hosted on the site&#8217;s servers.</p>
<p>&#8220;On our website you can find links that lead to media files. These files are stored somewhere else on the internet and are not a part of this website. SoundPiff.net does not carry any responsibility for them,&#8221; the website&#8217;s operator notes.</p>
<p>It is unclear what the RIAA is planning to do if they obtain the personal information of the site owners. In addition to suggesting that Dynadot should disconnect the site as a repeat infringer, the music group will probably issue a warning to the site&#8217;s operator.</p>
<p>For now, however, Soundpiff is still up and running.</p>
<p>This is not the first time that the RIAA has gone after similar sites in this way. Over the past several years the group has targeted several other download and streaming sites via their registrars or Whois privacy services. Some of these <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/riaa-targets-foreign-music-download-portals-121002/">have closed</a>, but others still <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/riaa-starts-going-after-bittorrent-sites-110708/">remain online</a> today.</p>
<p><center><strong>RIAA&#8217;s subpoena to Dynadot</strong><br></br></center><center><iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" src="https://www.scribd.com/embeds/272810274/content?start_page=1&#038;view_mode=scroll&#038;access_key=key-FF1ynx0x6JSAIU67WRzt&#038;show_recommendations=true" data-auto-height="false" data-aspect-ratio="0.7735849056603774" scrolling="no" id="doc_97994" width="600" height="800" frameborder="0"></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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108699
title: Sweden’s Largest Streaming Site Will Close After Raid
uri: Sweden-s-Largest-Streaming-Site-Will-Close-After-Raid
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/EJTO-Q20JNY/
content:
<p><img src="media/b4fea55b.swefilmlogo.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/swefilmlogo.png" alt="swefilmlogo" width="180" height="111" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108710">While millions associate Sweden with BitTorrent through its connections with The Pirate Bay, over the past several years the public has increasingly been obtaining its content in other ways.</p>
<p>Thanks to cheap bandwidth and an appetite for instant gratification, so-called streaming portals have grown in popularity, with movies and TV shows just a couple of clicks away in convenient Netflix-style interfaces.</p>
<p>Founded in 2011, Swefilmer is currently Sweden&#8217;s most popular streaming movie and TV show site. <a href="http://www.dagensmedia.se/nyheter/tv/article3918437.ece">Research</a> last year from Media Vision claimed that 25% of all web TV viewing in the country was carried out on Swefilmer and another similar site, Dreamfilm.</p>
<p>According to Alexa the site is currently the country&#8217;s 100th most popular domain, but in the next three days it will shut down for good.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/491050b7.swefilmer.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/swefilmer.png" alt="swefilmer" width="600" height="515" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-108704"></center></p>
<p>The revelation comes from the site&#8217;s admin, who has just been revealed as local man Ola Johansson. He says that a surprise and unwelcome visit made it clear that he could not continue.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJ4iCu0vVSE">YouTube</a> video posted yesterday, Johansson reports that earlier this month he was raided by the police who seized various items of computer equipment and placed him under arrest.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s been a tough month to say the least. On 8 July, I received a search by the police at home. I lost a computer, mobile phone and other things,&#8221; Johansson says.</p>
<p>While most suspects in similar cases are released after a few hours or perhaps overnight, Johansson says he was subjected to an extended detention.</p>
<p><img src="media/6f807c34.ola.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ola.png" alt="ola" width="180" height="179" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108708">&#8220;I got to sit in jail for 90 hours. When I came out on Monday [after being raided on Wednesday] the site had been down since Friday,&#8221; he explains.</p>
<p>The Swede said he noticed something was amiss at the beginning of July when he began experiencing problems with the Russian server that was used to host the site&#8217;s videos.</p>
<p>&#8220;It started when all things from OK.ru disappeared. That&#8217;s the service where we have uploaded all the videos,&#8221; Johansson says.</p>
<p>While the site remains online for now, the Swede says that this Friday Swefilmer will close down for good. The closure will mark the end of an era but since he is now facing a criminal prosecution that&#8217;s likely to conclude in a high-profile trial, Johansson has little choice but to pull the plug.</p>
<p>The site&#8217;s considerable userbase will be disappointed with the outcome but there are others that are welcoming the crackdown.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are not an anonymous Hollywood studio,&#8221; <a href="http://www.dn.se/nyheter/sverige/filmsajt-stangs-efter-husrannsakan/">said</a> local director Anders Nilsson in response to the news.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are a group of film makers and we will not give up when someone spits in our faces by stealing our movies and putting them on criminal sites to share them in the free world. It is just as insulting as if someone had stolen the purely physical property.&#8221;</p>
<p>Aside from creating a gap in the unauthorized streaming market, the forthcoming closure of Swefilmer will have repercussions in the courtroom too, particularly concerning an important legal process currently playing out in Sweden.</p>
<p>Last November, Universal Music, Sony Music, Warner Music, Nordisk Film and the Swedish Film Industry filed a lawsuit in the Stockholm District Court against local ISP Bredbandsbolaget (The Broadband Company). It demands that the ISP blocks subscriber access to The Pirate Bay and also Swefilmer.</p>
<p>Even after negotiation Bredbandsbolaget <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/isp-categorically-refuses-to-block-pirate-bay-trial-set-for-october-150304/">refused to comply</a>, so the parties will now meet in an October hearing to determine the future of website blocking in Sweden.</p>
<p>It is believed that the plaintiffs in the case were keen to tackle a torrent site and a streaming site in the same process but whether Swefilmer will now be replaced by another site is currently unknown. If it does, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-sites-deal-with-police-backfires-massively-150207/">Dreamfilm</a> could be the most likely candidate.</p>
<p><center><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mJ4iCu0vVSE" 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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108721
title: Twitter Sued for Failing to Remove Copyrighted Photo
uri: Twitter-Sued-for-Failing-to-Remove-Copyrighted-Photo
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/_0lRVL2PeYw/
content:
<p><img src="media/b4239d69.pirate-twitter.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-twitter.png" alt="pirate-twitter" width="198" height="186" class="alignright size-full wp-image-98627">In common with many other user-generated sites, Twitter is used by some of its members to host or link to copyright infringing material.</p>
<p>If rightsholders submit a takedown request, Twitter swiftly takes the infringing content down. This policy made headlines just a few days ago when Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/plagiarismbad/status/624926843322396672">removed several tweets</a> that republished a joke without attribution.</p>
<p>However, a new lawsuit suggests that Twitter&#8217;s takedown efforts are not always this effective. </p>
<p>This week award-winning photographer <a href="http://www.kristenpiersonphoto.com/">Kristen Pierson</a> filed a complaint (<a href="media/702bc8a3.twitterex.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/twitterex.pdf">pdf</a>) against Twitter at a California District Court. Pierson accuses Twitter of hosting or linking to one of her works without permission. </p>
<p>&#8220;A Twitter user or users copied the Infringing Image without license or permission from Pierson and on information and belief sent one or more Tweets publicizing and linking to it. The Infringing Uses were hosted either on Twitter or on third-party servers,&#8221; the complaint reads.</p>
<p>Under U.S. law Internet services are not liable for the copyright infringements of their users, as long as they respond to takedown requests. But Twitter failed to do that, Pierson says. </p>
<p>On March 4 of last year Pierson sent a notice to Twitter’s registered DMCA agent pointing out that one of her photos of Dragonforce guitarist Herman Li was being shared illegally. More than a year passed by but she received no response.</p>
<p><center><strong>The takedown notice</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/099ce0fe.twitdmca.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/twitdmca.png" alt="twitdmca" width="627" height="362" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-108731"></center></p>
<p>The Twitter account which allegedly posted the image is no longer online, but even today the infringing image is <a href="media/8e4a441d.aet8xAcC.jpeg" data-original-source="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/434226805587726336/aet8xAcC.jpeg">still present</a> on Twitter&#8217;s servers and accessible through the twimg.com url. </p>
<p>Pierson doesn&#8217;t mention whether she sent any follow-ups to the original request. TF searched for the notice in question on Chillingeffects.com where Twitter publishes its takedown notices, but it&#8217;s not listed there.</p>
<p>In the complaint the photographer asks for a restraining order preventing Twitter from hosting or linking to her work. In addition, Pierson demands both statutory and actual damages which could well exceed $150,000.</p>
<p>This is not the first time that Twitter has been sued by a photographer over a failed takedown response. Christopher Boffoli previously sued the company for the same offense. The case was settled out of court.  </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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108761
title: RIAA and Friends Accuse CNET of Hosting ‘Pirate’ Software
uri: RIAA-and-Friends-Accuse-CNET-of-Hosting-Pirate-Software
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Ad0TTuIUnaU/
content:
<p><img src="media/4c1944df.downloadcom.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/downloadcom.png" alt="downloadcom" width="258" height="73" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108765">Despite growing revenue streams from digital music, the music industry still sees online piracy as a significant threat.</p>
<p>This week a coalition of 16 music groups including the RIAA, the American Association of Independent Music (<a href="http://a2im.org/">A2IM</a>) and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (<a href="http://www.ascap.com/">ASCAP</a>) voiced their concern over so-called &#8220;ripping&#8221; software.</p>
<p>The groups are not happy with CNET&#8217;s <a href="http://download.cnet.com/">Download.com</a> as the software portal offers access to various YouTube downloaders and other stream ripping tools. In a letter to Les Moonves, CEO of CNET&#8217;s parent company CBS, they accuse the download portal of offering infringing software.</p>
<p>&#8220;[CNET&#8217;s Download.com] has made various computer, web, and mobile applications available that induce users to infringe copyrighted content by ripping the audio or the audio and video from what might be an otherwise legitimate stream,&#8221; the letter reads. </p>
<p>&#8220;We ask that you consider the above in light of industry best practices, your company’s reputation, the clear infringing nature of these applications, and your role in creating a safe, legitimate, and innovative Internet ecosystem,&#8221; the groups add.</p>
<p>Despite the strong wording, CBS doesn&#8217;t appear to be very impressed by the accusations. </p>
<p>In response cited by <a href="http://www.billboard.com/articles/business/6648428/riaa-and-other-groups-revisit-case-against-cnet-over-downloads-in-new">Billboard</a> the company notes that &#8220;all of the software indexed on Download.com is legal&#8221;. According to CBS the mentioned software can be used for legal means and the company notes that this is the responsibility of the user.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/8acc4dc7.downloadyou.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/downloadyou.png" alt="downloadyou" width="600" height="382" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-108779"></center></p>
<p>This isn&#8217;t the first time that CNET and CBS have been called out for allegedly facilitating piracy. A few years ago a group of artists <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/artists-sue-cbs-cnet-for-profiting-from-piracy-111115/">sued CBS and CNET</a> for their role in distributing uTorrent, LimeWire and other P2P software.</p>
<p>The artists claimed that CNET profits heavily from distributing file-sharing software via Download.com, while demonstrating in editorial reviews how these application can be used to download copyright-infringing material.</p>
<p>The judge eventually <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/cnet-doesnt-have-to-ban-bittorrent-clients-court-rules-130221/">ruled in favor of CBS and CNET</a> and said that there was no indication that the companies will purposefully encourage copyright infringement in the future. A software ban would therefore needlessly silence &#8220;public discussion of P2P technologies.&#8221;</p>
<p>Given CBS&#8217;s response to the music group&#8217;s recent letter, the current request won&#8217;t be effective either.</p>
<p>TF asked RIAA, A2IM and ASCAP for additional details on the letter it sent to CBS but none of the groups replied to our inquiry before publication.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108701
title: Google Publishes Chrome Fix For Serious VPN Security Hole
uri: Google-Publishes-Chrome-Fix-For-Serious-VPN-Security-Hole
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/cslF86an6J8/
content:
<p><img src="media/6fb495c5.boxed.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/boxed.jpg" width="222" height="178" class="alignright">As large numbers of Internet users wise up to seemingly endless online privacy issues, security products are increasingly being viewed as essential for even basic tasks such as web browsing.</p>
<p>In addition to regular anti-virus, firewall and ad-busting products, users wishing to go the extra mile often <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">invest in a decent VPN service</a> which allow them to hide their real IP addresses from the world. Well that&#8217;s the theory at least.</p>
<p>January this year <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/huge-security-flaw-leaks-vpn-users-real-ip-addresses-150130/">details</a> of a serious vulnerability revealed that in certain situations third parties were able to discover the real IP addresses of Chrome and Firefox users even though they were connected to a VPN. </p>
<p>This wasn&#8217;t the fault of any VPN provider though. The problem was caused by features present in <a href="http://www.webrtc.org/">WebRTC</a>, an open-source project supported by Google, Mozilla and Opera.</p>
<p>By placing a few lines of code on a website and using a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STUN">STUN server</a> it became possible to reveal not only users’ true IP addresses, but also their local network address too.</p>
<p>While users were <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/huge-security-flaw-leaks-vpn-users-real-ip-addresses-150130/">immediately alerted</a> to broad blocking techniques that could mitigate the problem, it&#8217;s taken many months for the first wave of &#8216;smart&#8217; solutions to arrive.</p>
<p>Following on the heels of a Chrome fix <a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/webrtc-leak-prevent/eiadekoaikejlgdbkbdfeijglgfdalml?hl=en-US">published by Rentamob</a> earlier this month which protects against VPN leaks while leaving WebRTC enabled, Google has now thrown its hat into the ring.</p>
<p>Titled &#8216;<a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/webrtc-network-limiter/npeicpdbkakmehahjeeohfdhnlpdklia/related?hl=en-US">WebRTC Network Limiter</a>&#8216;, the tiny Chrome extension (just 7.31KB) disables the WebRTC multiple-routes option in Chrome&#8217;s privacy settings while configuring WebRTC not to use certain IP addresses.</p>
<p>In addition to hiding local IP addresses that are normally inaccessible to the public Internet (such as 192.168.1.1), the extension also stops other public IP addresses being revealed.</p>
<p>&#8220;Any public IP addresses associated with network interfaces that are not used for web traffic (e.g. an ISP-provided address, when browsing through a VPN) [are hidden],&#8221; Google says.</p>
<p>&#8220;Once the extension is installed, WebRTC will only use public IP addresses associated with the interface used for web traffic, typically the same addresses that are already provided to sites in browser HTTP requests.&#8221;</p>
<p>While both the Google and Rentamob solutions provide more elegant responses to the problem than previously available, both admit to having issues.</p>
<p>&#8220;Some WebRTC functions, like VOIP, may be affected by the multiple routes disabled setting. This is unavoidable,&#8221; Rentamob explains.</p>
<p>Google details similar problems, including issues directly linked to funneling traffic through a VPN.</p>
<p>&#8220;This extension may affect the performance of applications that use WebRTC for audio/video or real-time data communication. Because it limits the potential network paths, WebRTC may pick a path that results in significantly longer delay or lower quality (e.g. through a VPN). We are attempting to determine how common this is,&#8221; the company concludes.</p>
<p>After applying the blocks and fixes detailed above, Chrome users can check for IP address leaks by using sites including <a href="https://ipleak.net/">IPLeak</a> and <a href="https://www.browserleaks.com/webrtc">BrowserLeaks</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108770
title: U.S. Reports Progress in Antigua Legal “Pirate Site” Dispute
uri: U-S-Reports-Progress-in-Antigua-Legal-Pirate-Site-Dispute
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/l6zMymewkgU/
content:
<p><img src="media/09fa6d0a.ustr.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ustr.jpg" alt="ustr" width="175" height="175" class="alignright size-full wp-image-44005">A few years ago citizens of the Caribbean country of Antigua and Barbuda were enjoying the fruits of a flourishing gambling industry. Then the U.S. stepped in and prevented them from accessing their market, causing the industry to collapse.</p>
<p>“What was once a multi-billion dollar industry in our country, employing almost 5% of our population has now shrunk to virtually nothing,” Antigua’s High Commissioner to London, Carl Roberts, said previously.</p>
<p>Refusing to back down, Antigua filed a dispute with the World Trade Organization (WTO) and prevailed in 2005 with a WTO ruling that the actions of the United States violated free trade.</p>
<p>In 2007 the WTO went further still when it granted Antigua the preliminary right to suspend U.S. copyrights up to the value of $21 million for each year the U.S. blocks its gambling services. Intellectual property was chosen because trade in other areas was either weak or could prove a counter-productive target for Antigua.</p>
<p>In 2013, Antigua ran out of patience. A source close to the government <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/antigua-government-set-to-launch-pirate-website-to-punish-united-states-130124/">informed TorrentFreak</a> that it was considering cashing in via the launch of a &#8216;pirate&#8217; website dedicated to selling U.S. movies, TV shows and music to the world without compensating rightsholders.</p>
<p>Just days later on January 28, 2013, the WTO effectively <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/antiguas-legal-pirate-site-authorized-by-the-world-trade-organization-130128/">authorized</a> Antigua&#8217;s plan for a &#8216;pirate site&#8217; to enable it to start recouping the money owed by the United States.</p>
<p>The U.S. responded angrily to the plan, warning Antigua that such an action would undermine its chances for a settlement and noting that investment in the country, particularly in its high-tech industries, would suffer.</p>
<p><img src="media/376e5906.freedom.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/freedom.jpg" alt="freedom" width="197" height="199" class="alignright size-full wp-image-69700">But after a few months passed, Antigua was rattling its sabers once more. Sources close to the government told TorrentFreak that it was looking for partners to assist with the launch of its download platform and <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-and-antigua-explore-launch-of-authorized-pirate-site-130503/">would love to get involved</a> with The Pirate Bay.</p>
<p>“Whichever vendor is selected in the process, be it The Pirate Bay or any other company, it would be involved in a dialogue with the Government and a partnership that will be strictly supervised to make sure that the operation is conducted in accordance with the WTO rulings,” then Antigua attorney Mark Mendel told TF.</p>
<p>More than a year passed with no site appearing and in June 2014 Antigua elected a brand new government with Prime Minister Gaston Browne at the helm. </p>
<p>In September the government said it had “formulated yet another comprehensive and realistic proposal” and had made &#8220;significant concessions&#8221; in a bid to resolve its WTO dispute with the United States. </p>
<p>The United States owes Antigua around $200m but word from the new government suggested it <a href="http://calvinayre.com/2014/09/09/business/antigua-fires-attorney-mark-mendel-makes-new-100m-offer-to-end-us-wto-dispute/">might settle</a> for &#8216;just&#8217; $100m.</p>
<p>Shortly after, Antigua fired its attorney Mark Mendel, with the new Prime Minister promising to take a tougher line in negotiations than his predecessor.</p>
<p>After a period of relative quiet, this month local media reported that Antigua’s Minister of International Trade and Foreign Affairs Charles ‘Max’ Fernandez would travel to the U.S. to begin a new round of negotiations with the United States Trade Representative.</p>
<p>That meeting took place on Tuesday and early signs from the USTR suggest that progress is being made.</p>
<p>&#8220;On 28th July, 2015, Assistant US Trade Representative for the Western Hemisphere, John Melle, met with the Foreign Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, H. Charles Fernandez, and his delegation to discuss resolution of the WTO case United States – Measures Affecting the Cross-Border Supply of Gambling and Betting Services,&#8221; the USTR said in an announcement.</p>
<p>&#8220;Both sides considered the meeting productive and useful for the exploration of various elements that could ultimately bring closure to the matter. Both governments have undertaken to continue the discussions at an early date with a view to reaching a final settlement.&#8221;</p>
<p>In closing, both Fernandez and Melle committed to &#8220;moving to a final conclusion as expeditiously as possible.&#8221;</p>
<p>Having already cut their demands by half despite clear World Trade Organization rulings, it will remain to be seen how much further Antigua will be prepared to go in order to settle with the United States once and for all. If not, a new legal &#8216;pirate&#8217; site could still sail onto the horizon.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108822
title: Kim Dotcom & Mega Trade Barbs Over Hostile Takeover Claims
uri: Kim-Dotcom-Mega-Trade-Barbs-Over-Hostile-Takeover-Claims
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/E6b2_Z0GDi8/
content:
<p><img src="media/7bd905c6.mega_logo.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mega_logo.png" alt="mega_logo" width="200" height="109" class="alignright size-full wp-image-102194">For the past several years, Kim Dotcom has been the most vocal supporter of Mega.co.nz, the cloud storage site he helped launch in 2013. Two and a half years later, something has gone very sour.</p>
<p>In a <a href="http://yro.slashdot.org/story/15/07/27/200204/interviews-kim-dotcom-answers-your-questions">Q&#038;A session</a> with Slashdot this week, Dotcom told surprised readers that Mega was to be avoided.</p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not involved in Mega anymore. Neither in a managing nor in a shareholder capacity. The company has suffered from a hostile takeover by a Chinese investor who is wanted in China for fraud. He used a number of straw-men and businesses to accumulate more and more Mega shares,&#8221; Dotcom explained.</p>
<p>&#8220;Recently his shares <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/police-freeze-mega-shares-in-money-laundering-investigation-140825/">have been seized</a> by the [New Zealand] government. Which means the NZ government is in control.&#8221;</p>
<p>Intrigued, Dotcom spoke with Kim Dotcom to find out more about his allegations.</p>
<p>&#8220;Mega has experienced a hostile takeover and is no longer in the control of people who care about Internet Freedom. The New Zealand Government and Hollywood have seized a significant share of the company,&#8221; Dotcom told TorrentFreak. </p>
<p>&#8220;The combined shares seized by the NZ government and Hollywood were significant enough to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/megas-bid-for-stock-exchange-listing-falls-through-150506/">stop our listing</a> on the New Zealand stock exchange. On the one side Hollywood seized Mega shares of a family trust that was created for the benefit of my children and on the other side Hollywood was lobbying US Senators and credit card companies to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/under-u-s-pressure-paypal-nukes-mega-for-encrypting-files-150227/">stop payment processing</a> for Mega.&#8221;</p>
<p>Dotcom says that the efforts of the NZ government and Hollywood meant that Mega couldn&#8217;t raise the capital required from the stock market to carry out its business plan. Furthermore, attacks on its abilities to process payments have now &#8220;dried up&#8221; the company&#8217;s cash flow.</p>
<p>&#8220;As a result Mega has been forced into bankruptcy territory and recently had to raise new capital at an insanely low valuation of NZD 10 million,&#8221; Dotcom says.</p>
<p>&#8220;This company was worth over 200 million before the NZ government and Hollywood launched their combined effort to destroy Mega. I have always said that this is a political case and the systematic sabotage of Mega is further proof of that.&#8221;</p>
<p>All of this leads Dotcom to the conclusion that Mega is no longer a safe site to use.</p>
<p>&#8220;As a result of this and a number of other confidential issues I don&#8217;t trust Mega anymore. I don&#8217;t think your data is safe on Mega anymore. But my non-compete clause is running out at the end of the year and I will create a Mega competitor that is completely open source and non-profit, similar to the Wikipedia model,&#8221; Dotcom says.</p>
<p>&#8220;I want to give everyone free, unlimited and encrypted cloud storage with the help of donations from the community to keep things going.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>Mega bites back</strong></p>
<p>With shots fired, TorrentFreak spoke with Mega CEO Graham Gaylard and CCO Stephen Hall. Needless to say, they see things quite differently.</p>
<p>&#8220;Mega is a New Zealand company privately owned by 17 local and international investors, whose identities are publicly disclosed on the New Zealand Government’s Companies Office website,&#8221; Mega told TF.</p>
<p>&#8220;Like all start-up companies, Mega has had several rounds of equity investment. More than 75% of shareholders have supported recent equity issues, so there has not been any ‘hostile takeover’, contrary to Mr Dotcom’s assertion. Those shareholders who have decided not to subscribe to recent issues have been diluted accordingly. That has been their choice.&#8221;</p>
<p>Turning to the 6% shareholding held by the Dotcom family trust (which is controlled by Mr Dotcom’s estranged wife and is currently subject to a High Court freezing order following a 2014 application by five Hollywood film studios), Mega says there is no cause for alarm.</p>
<p>&#8220;That is a matter for the Dotcom family trust and does not concern Mega. The authorities responsible for maintaining the order have not opposed or interfered in any of Mega’s operations,&#8221; the company explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;Two other shareholdings totaling 7% are subject to a separate restraint ordered by the New Zealand High Court in August 2014. That is also a matter for that investor and does not concern Mega. Mega is not a party to either of the above court proceedings.&#8221;</p>
<p>Turning to Kim Dotcom&#8217;s claims that Mega is no longer in the hands of people who care about privacy, Mega told TF that isn&#8217;t the case.</p>
<p>&#8220;Mega continues to be managed by its executive team, supported by a Board of Directors and shareholders, who all care deeply about Internet freedom and privacy and are passionate about supporting Mega’s user-controlled encryption for cloud storage and communication services,&#8221; the company says.</p>
<p>Turning to Dotcom himself, the cloud storage site gave its clearest statement yet on its relationship with the German. Mega says that while Dotcom was a co-founder of their operation he was not involved in the design and implementation of Mega technology, resigned as a director in 2013 and has had no managerial role since. Additionally, Mega says that Dotcom has not received any payments or renumeration from the company.</p>
<p>&#8220;Mega disagrees with a number of Mr Dotcom’s public comments,&#8221; Mega adds.</p>
<p>Turning to the security of Mega itself, the company says that the full source for its client-side software SDK is available on Github and the source for its MEGAsync and mobile applications will be published in due course.</p>
<p>&#8220;Mega’s encryption code has been examined by various international experts including the Spanish National Cybersecurity Institute without any flaws being found,&#8221; the company says.</p>
<p>In closing, Mega issued a statement which indicates a collapse in relations with their co-founder.</p>
<p>&#8220;Mega views Mr Dotcom’s defamatory comments as self-serving and designed simply to [promote] his supposed new business venture,&#8221; Mega says. </p>
<p>&#8220;They are inconsistent with his previous desire to ensure that the shareholding in Mega remains a valuable asset for his children and reflect just how completely Mr Dotcom and Mega have now moved apart if he can make such an unwarranted and irresponsible, defamatory attack,&#8221; the company 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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108837
title: Rapid Pirate Site Blocking Mechanism Introduced By Portugal
uri: Rapid-Pirate-Site-Blocking-Mechanism-Introduced-By-Portugal
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Eui1j3Ui6cY/
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">There can be little doubt that one of the most-favored anti-piracy mechanisms of the past several years is that of site-blocking. Rather than tackling sites head on with expensive legal action, rightsholders have domains blocked at the ISP level with the aim of diminishing ease of access and reducing direct traffic. </p>
<p>The strategy is mainly employed around Europe, with the UK standing out as the clear front-runner. Hundreds of domains are now blocked there by local ISPs after several High Court injunctions. Now Portugal has joined the club with a new system that not only aims to speed up the blocking process, but one that could put the UK quickly in the shade.</p>
<p>This week the Ministry of Culture announced the signing of a memorandum between its own General Inspection of Cultural Activities (<a href="http://www.igac.pt/">IGAC</a>), the Portuguese Association of Telecommunication Operators (<a href="http://www.apritel.org/">APRITEL</a>), various rightsholder groups, <a href="https://www.dns.pt/pt/">the body</a> responsible for administering Portugal&#8217;s .PT domain and representatives from the advertising industry.</p>
<p>The memorandum lays out a new mechanism for blocking so-called &#8216;pirate&#8217; sites. In common with similar frameworks elsewhere, the process is initiated by a complaint from a rightsholder association. Local anti-piracy group MAPINET then collates evidence that a site is engaged in the unlawful distribution of copyright works and has failed to cease its activities.</p>
<p>MAPINET subsequently forwards its complaints to the Ministry of Culture where the General Inspection of Cultural Activities (IGAC) conducts an assessment and notifies local Internet service providers of the sites being targeted.</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://tek.sapo.pt/noticias/internet/artigo/a_pirataria_online_tem_os_dias_contados_em_portugal_acordo_facilita_bloqueio_de_-43609kkc.html">reports</a> in local media, the system will target sites with more than 500 allegedly infringing links and those whose indexes contain more than 66% infringing content.</p>
<p>Only two complaints can be filed against pirate sites each month. However, each complaint can contain 50 websites, meaning that 100 sites could become blocked every month. Visitors to those sites will receive a notice in their browser advising them that the site has been blocked.</p>
<p>The memorandum is expected to come into force during the next two weeks so sites could be blocked as early as September.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108661
title: BitTorrent Inventor Granted P2P Live Streaming Patent
uri: BitTorrent-Inventor-Granted-P2P-Live-Streaming-Patent
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/bbw8D-JQccg/
content:
<p><img src="media/a7a3032a.bram-stream.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/bram-stream.jpg" alt="bram-stream" width="200" height="134" class="alignright size-full wp-image-30594">Hoping to revolutionize live broadcasting on the Internet, Bram Cohen <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/bram-cohen-to-deliver-bittorrent-live-streaming-090916/">started working</a> on a new protocol for live streaming video more than half a decade ago. </p>
<p>At the time BitTorrent was believed to be responsible for a third of all Internet traffic. However, streaming services were quickly gaining momentum.</p>
<p>The problem with streaming, live streaming in particular, are high latencies. It can sometimes take up to a minute before a &#8220;live&#8221; stream reaches the audience.</p>
<p>Cohen solved this problem with a new BitTorrent Live protocol that has a much lower latency while sharing the bandwidth costs among users. This allows anyone to stream to an audience of millions at minimal cost. </p>
<p>This week Bram Cohen&#8217;s patent for the live streaming patent was awarded (<a href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/273028149/TorrentFreak-com-Bittorrent-Live-Patent?secret_password=7B0KrbL4sZQcm9VEEZVB">pdf</a>). According to BitTorrent&#8217;s inventor, who still works at the company, his technology can shape the future of live broadcasts.</p>
<p>Two years ago BitTorrent Inc. first <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-new-live-streaming-platform-130312/">demoed</a> the technology in a web-based player, but this project was later discontinued. The company is now working on a new release that will come in the form of a mobile application.</p>
<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re working on using the technology for a new application, focusing on mobile,&#8221; Cohen tells TF.</p>
<p>Mobile live streaming has taken off this year with the release of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periscope_(app)">Periscope</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meerkat_(app)">Meerkat</a>. Both apps allow users to start live streams instantly and Cohen says they could make good partners for BitTorrent Live.</p>
<p>&#8220;Periscope and Meerkat are applications which use live, where what we have is underlying technology. We may work with them in the future,&#8221; he notes.</p>
<p>That said, the true strength of BitTorrent Live becomes apparent when there is a huge audience, not just a few viewers. This means that it will excel at streaming major events such as sports games and breaking news.   </p>
<p>&#8220;The amount of utility of BitTorrent Live is based on how many people are watching something simultaneously. Big events where everybody is watching the same thing at the same time, like sports, are the best applications,&#8221; Cohen tells us.</p>
<p>Since BitTorrent Live shares the distribution costs among viewers, the bandwidth investment for these streams will be minimal compared to current solutions. In addition, latency will also be much lower making these broadcasts &#8216;more live.&#8217;</p>
<p>&#8220;Ironically in addition to being much better on bandwidth costs BitTorrent Live also has much lower latency, five seconds instead of 30-60 seconds, which is bordering on tape delayed instead of live,&#8221; Cohen says.</p>
<p>Previously BitTorrent Inc. suggested that it could help Netflix to increase its performance. Not with BitTorrent Live, but with the standard BitTorrent streaming technology which will allow Netflix to offer higher quality streams for a fraction of the current costs. </p>
<p>It appears that Netflix realizes the power of BitTorrent-like streaming, as the company is currently working <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/netflix-needs-bittorrent-expert-to-implement-p2p-streaming-150520/">on its own P2P streaming technology</a>.</p>
<p>Eventually Cohen believes that all streaming will go over the Internet, both live and pre-recorded. It is much cheaper than the cable approach, especially with BitTorrent under the hood.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108800
title: YouTube Games Copyright Law To Avoid License Fees, IFPI Says
uri: YouTube-Games-Copyright-Law-To-Avoid-License-Fees-IFPI-Says
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/H9YQhJC08hA/
content:
<p><img src="media/a5365da2.youtubeface.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/youtubeface.jpg" alt="youtubeface" width="222" height="158" class="alignright size-full wp-image-107705">While the diminishing revenues of the major recording labels have been a hot topic for many years, it&#8217;s only relatively recently that the debate over artists&#8217; earnings has found itself almost constantly in the news.</p>
<p>A decade-and-a-half of disruptive technology has certainly played its part, but without that turmoil the music industry might still be playing catch up today. At any rate, the rise of online piracy arguably provided a much needed wake-up call and prompted the rise of dozens of legitimate music services.</p>
<p>However, according to IFPI chief executive Frances Moore, some of them aren&#8217;t playing by the rules since they fail to properly compensate creators.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is true that artists and record producers are not being paid fairly for the use of their music. This is because user upload platforms, such as SoundCloud and YouTube, are taking advantage of exemptions from copyright laws that simply should not apply to them,&#8221; Moore said this week.</p>
<p>The problem lies with the nature of these platforms. While services such as Spotify obtain expensive licenses from the record labels for the use of their content, Moore says that sites including YouTube are in effect gaming copyright law when they monetize content uploaded by their users without first obtaining the appropriate licenses.</p>
<p>&#8220;Laws that were designed to exempt passive intermediaries from liability in the early days of the internet – so-called &#8216;safe harbours&#8217; – should never be allowed to exempt active digital music services from having to fairly negotiate licenses with rights holders,&#8221; Moore explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;There should be clarification of the application of &#8216;safe harbors&#8217; to make it explicit that services that distribute and monetize music do not benefit from them.&#8221;</p>
<p>In order to combat the problem, IFPI says it is determined to work towards a fair licensing environment in which all services offering organized access to music are first required to obtain similar licenses from the labels.</p>
<p>&#8220;We want to ensure that services that make our content available, including by curating and monetizing it, are licensed on the same basis,&#8221; IFPI informs TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>&#8220;Services such as Spotify and Deezer negotiated licenses with right holders on fair market terms prior to their launch.  By contrast, user-upload services such as YouTube and SoundCloud did not seek a license at the outset but rather built a business off the back of unlicensed content, relying on the &#8216;safe harbour&#8217; exemptions to EU copyright law.&#8221;</p>
<p>Interestingly, IFPI isn&#8217;t stating that user-generated content sites (UGC) such as YouTube and Soundcloud are unlicensed. Instead, the music group says that the terms of those licenses were negotiated under duress, after services got big first and then sought to work with the labels later.</p>
<p>&#8220;Although some user-upload services are now licensed by rights holders, those licenses were not negotiated in a fair environment because rights holders’ content was already available on the services on a mass scale and the measures available to prevent this – i.e. notice and take down and Content ID – are easily circumvented and ineffective in preventing all content being available,&#8221; IFPI explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;As a result rights holders were left with no realistic option but to allow the content and take the license terms on offer.&#8221;</p>
<p>In order to level the playing field moving forward, IFPI says it will seek legislative clarification (and presumably change, if necessary) to ensure that &#8220;safe harbor&#8221; provisions in the EU are restricted to passive intermediaries, thus forcing UGC sites like YouTube to obtain appropriate licenses.</p>
<p>&#8220;User upload services that curate and monetize content are not passive intermediaries so should license on fair market terms in the same way that services such as Deezer and Spotify do,&#8221; IFPI says.</p>
<p>&#8220;There have been conflicting court decisions in different countries in Europe regarding the responsibility of user-uploaded content services.  Therefore we are seeking clarification in the EU legislative framework to ensure that services that are active in distributing content are required to take a license from right holders and cannot rely on the &#8216;safe harbours&#8217;,&#8221; the music group concludes.</p>
<p>While the labels clearly think they are owed additional revenue from the likes of YouTube and have a duty to level the playing field for licensed services such as Spotify, it&#8217;s unlikely that the video giant will sit back while established legal safe harbors are eroded in Europe. Much bigger problems lie ahead if that transpires.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108803
title: Bitdefender Blocks Anti-Piracy Website as Malware
uri: Bitdefender-Blocks-Anti-Piracy-Website-as-Malware
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/5CURbrHu8qw/
content:
<p><img src="media/05460420.rightscorp-real.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/rightscorp-real.jpg" alt="rightscorp-real" width="222" height="151" class="alignright size-full wp-image-84007">Piracy monetization firm Rightscorp has made several headlines recently, often because of its aggressive attempts to obtain settlements from allegedly pirating Internet users.</p>
<p>The publicly traded company ask U.S. ISPs to forward DMCA notices to subscribers, with a settlement offer tagged on to the end. </p>
<p>On behalf of Warner Bros, BMG and other copyright holders Rightscorp asks subscribers to pay $30 per pirated file, or risk a potential $150,000 &#8216;fine&#8217; in court.</p>
<p>Increasingly, these practices have resulted in a backlash. Rightscorp was sued for <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/piracy-monetization-firm-rightscorp-sued-harassment-abuse-141124/">fraud, harassment and abuse </a> late last year and just last month Internet provider Cox Communications described its settlement emails as &#8220;<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/cox-wants-rightscorps-piracy-tracking-source-code-150624/">improper extortion threats</a>&#8221;</p>
<p>Today we can add another setback to this list. For the past few days prominent anti-virus vendor Bitdefender has been blocking the company&#8217;s website after categorizing it as malware.</p>
<p>People who receive a notice from Rightcorp are welcomed with the following popover when they try to access the <a href="https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ncr#q=site:secure.digitalrightscorp.com">settlement page</a>. The notice is limited to the settlement pages and doesn&#8217;t appear on the <a href="http://www.rightscorp.com/">regular website</a>. </p>
<p><center><strong>Bitdefender&#8217;s malware warning</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/6e6ee676.bitdefrights.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/bitdefrights.jpg" alt="bitdefrights" width="567" height="426" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-108812"></center></p>
<p>It&#8217;s unclear why Bitdefender has listed Rightcorp&#8217;s website as malware but it&#8217;s certainly plausible that the huge amount of settlement emails linked to a payment request raised a red flag.</p>
<p>In any case, Bitdefender users are less likely to pay up if their anti-virus software warns them not to visit the page, which can only further hurt Rightcorp&#8217;s already meager revenues.</p>
<p>Despite sending out millions of notices Rightscorp has yet to turn a profit. The company continues to trade at a loss and recently increased its <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/warner-bros-inflate-tv-show-piracy-fines-by-33-150614/">settlement amount by 50 percent</a>, hoping to get out of the red.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108847
title: Anti-Web Blocking Site More Popular in the UK than Spotify & Skype
uri: Anti-Web-Blocking-Site-More-Popular-in-the-UK-than-Spotify-Skype
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/DvE0BQcs1h8/
content:
<p><img src="media/a43d1629.blocktpb1-150x150.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/blocktpb1-150x150.jpg" alt="FCT ty" width="96" height="96" class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-87047">For citizens of the UK, web blocking is becoming a hot topic. Aside from the large and growing list of torrent, streaming and other downloading sites currently blocked by ISPs, netizens are now facing the specter of government enforced porn barriers.</p>
<p>That&#8217;s according to Prime Minister David Cameron, who this week <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/curbing-access-to-pornographic-websites-for-under-18s">fired off a broadside</a> against adult content providers who he says are failing to control what other people&#8217;s children are viewing online.</p>
<p>&#8220;Our one nation government is working hard to make the internet a safer place for children, the next step in this campaign is to curb access to harmful pornographic content which is currently far too widely available,&#8221; the Prime Minister said. &#8220;I want to see age restrictions put into place or these websites will face being shut down.&#8221;</p>
<p>According to the government the UK’s top 10 adult sites account for over half (52%) of all site views so this is no trivial matter. The site&#8217;s aren&#8217;t mentioned by name so TF decided to look them up.</p>
<p>The most popular within the UK&#8217;s top 200 most-visited sites according to Alexa are Pornhub (#41), XHamster (#44), Xvideos (#47), RedTube (#92), TubeCup (#105) and YouPorn (#122). To give an idea of scale, PornHub is more popular than Netflix and YouPorn is more visited than Vimeo.</p>
<p>However, while compiling this list we stumbled across something else that&#8217;s both surprising on one hand and utterly predictable on the other. Occupying the position of the UK&#8217;s 192nd most-visited site is <a href="https://unblocked.pw">Unblocked.pw</a>, a service entirely dedicated to unblocking blocked websites.</p>
<p>Breaking the top 200 is no mean feat for any site, especially when one considers the competition at that level. Nevertheless, after existing for much less than a year, Unblocked.pw is already more popular in the UK than both Spotify (#194) and Skype (#195).</p>
<p><center><img src="media/be1ee996.unblocked.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/unblocked.png" alt="unblocked" width="548" height="303" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-108851"></center></p>
<p>While the skill of the site&#8217;s operator is no doubt a factor in its success, the huge popularity of Unblocked.pw is almost entirely down to restrictions being put in place by UK Internet service providers. Every time a blockade is put in place, Unblocked.pw provides a solution to the problem. It currently unblocks most major torrent and streaming sites plus the specialist ebook archives <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/high-court-orders-uk-isps-to-block-ebook-sites-150527/">targeted in May</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;Fighting censorship has been the primary motivation behind running Unblocked,&#8221; the site&#8217;s operator informs TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s to show that whatever regulators do to censor things online, there will always be a way around it.  The initial motivation came from when The Pirate Bay was blocked in the Netherlands.  We set up Proxybay.co to maintain a list of Pirate Bay proxy sites and show people how to create their own.&#8221;</p>
<p>In respect of porn sites, Cameron&#8217;s office suggests that users could be required to validate their ages with a credit card, but the operators of overseas &#8216;tube&#8217; sites will be extremely reluctant to introduce such measures since they will mess with their business models by reducing traffic and ad revenue.</p>
<p>That will leave web-blocking as Cameron&#8217;s only other option but as highlighted by the Open Rights Group, that won&#8217;t work.</p>
<p>&#8220;While the government can shut down UK-based sites, these are few in number and represent a tiny proportion of the global porn industry. Cameron needs to clarify how he wishes to achieve his goals, given that most porn sites are hosted abroad,&#8221; says ORG&#8217;s Jim Killock.</p>
<p>&#8220;To block them, the government would have to introduce a national firewall, which would censor sites for everyone, and would likely be widely circumvented.&#8221;</p>
<p>While there are currently no dedicated adult sites in Unblocked.pw&#8217;s repertoire (since none are currently blocked in the UK), there can be little doubt that if the UK government decides to order blockades, Unblocked and similar sites will quickly offer wordarounds.</p>
<p>If that does indeed transpire, expect a successful service to break the top 50 most-visited sites in the country while jockeying for rankings with the likes of Apple and WordPress. It&#8217;s a battle the government simply can&#8217;t win, but that won&#8217;t stop them from trying.</p>
<p>In the meantime the Internet continues to <a href="https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Gilmore">interpret censorship as damage</a>, and routes around 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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108238
title: Google Asked to Remove 18 ‘Pirate Links’ Every Second
uri: Google-Asked-to-Remove-18-Pirate-Links-Every-Second
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/anAXKWhrBOA/
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 the hope of steering prospective customers away from pirate sites, copyright holders are overloading Google with DMCA takedown notices.</p>
<p>These requests have increased dramatically over the years. In 2008, the search engine received only a few dozen takedown notices during the entire year, but the same number is now reached in a matter of seconds.</p>
<p>At TF we processed the number of URLs submitted by copyright holders over the past month, which were roughly 47 million in total. Or put differently, Google is now being asked to remove well over 18 links to alleged copyright infringing material every second. </p>
<p>Just last week Google received a record breaking 12.5 million reported links in seven days, showing that the surge in notices is still ongoing.</p>
<p>The BPI and RIAA are among the most active senders of DMCA takedown requests. Together, the music groups have sent notices for 5.5 million URLs over the past month, which represents 12% of all requests.</p>
<p>Both groups are topped by takedown agencies Rivendell and Degban though, who are good for reporting 7.7 and 6.3 million URLs respectively. </p>
<p><center><img src="media/c43a5251.googrecord.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/googrecord.png" alt="googrecord" width="476" height="244" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-108754"></center></p>
<p>Over the past month more than 2,600 copyright holders submitted takedown notices, targeting 77,514 separate domain names. The relatively unknown MP3 search engine myfreemp3.re tops the list with nearly a million removed pages, and several Pirate Bay related domains are also among the top targets. </p>
<p>The vast majority of the reported links have been removed, but the takedown notices also include duplicate or non-infringing URLs for which Google takes no action. </p>
<p>Despite the frequent use of the takedown process many copyright holders are not happy with Google&#8217;s take on the piracy problem. Groups such as the RIAA and MPAA have repeatedly stressed that the company should do more to prevent pirated content from showing up in the top search results.</p>
<p>Faced with this harsh criticism, Google has gradually altered its search algorithms. October last year the company <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/google-will-downrank-pirate-sites-starting-next-week-141018/">implemented</a> the most significant change yet, aimed at downranking sites that often link to copyright-infringing material.</p>
<p>Still, the major copyright holders remain far from pleased. They&#8217;ve urged Google to completely de-list infringing domains and boost the rankings of legitimate sites. Until that happens, it&#8217;s unlikely that we&#8217;ll see the number of reported links going down.</p>
<p>TF reached out to Google for a comment on the ever-increasing volume of takedown requests and how the company is able to cope with the surge, but at the time of publication we haven&#8217;t heard back. </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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108868
title: Copying And Sharing Was Always A Natural Right; Restricting Copying Never Was
uri: Copying-And-Sharing-Was-Always-A-Natural-Right-Restricting-Copying-Ne
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/kTnzogIKcbA/
content:
<p><img src="media/25158bb5.sharing-caring.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/sharing-caring.jpg" alt="sharing-caring" width="250" height="144" class="alignright size-full wp-image-60135">Political scientists have this concept called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_and_legal_rights">&#8220;natural rights&#8221;</a>. It&#8217;s a right you have innately, even if there is no law enforcement or indeed any government. Such rights include the right to think freely, the right to use your senses, the right to speak your mind, and the right to hold property (starting with your own body).</p>
<p>In contrast, laws that restrict such rights cannot exist without a government to enforce such laws. This is crucial to understanding what can be considered a starting point for society; if you have a blank slate, what laws and rights exist before you&#8217;ve put the first ink to paper.</p>
<p>The copyright industry tries repeatedly to portray itself as in the moral right from a high horse, when advocating restrictions to copying and sharing. That&#8217;s not just wrong, it&#8217;s also blatantly dishonest and false, and knowingly so. The copyright monopoly is a protectionist mechanism, a remnant from before the free-enterprise reform of the mid-1800s, that has no place in a society built on creativity and innovation. The monopoly is not just destructive and wrong, but also <a href="http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/06/from-gigabytes-to-petadollars-copyright-math-begets-copyright-currency/">draconian</a> and arbitrary.</p>
<p>Let&#8217;s examine how natural rights come into play when sharing knowledge and culture.</p>
<p>To create a bitstream of a file, say Gameofthrones.s05e10.1080p.WOOT.mkv, we observe that this file exists somewhere. We use our own senses, and technology extensions to our own senses using our own property (a computer, a router, network cables, etc.), to observe the existence of this stream, and the bitpattern that makes up particular stream. After observing what the bitpattern looks like, we rearrange our own property &#8211; magnetic fields on our hard drive &#8211; to match what we are observing with our senses.</p>
<p><strong>From a natural rights perspective, this is identical to a painter using their property &#8211; paint, brushes, bristles &#8211; to record onto a canvas what they&#8217;re seeing with their eyes. It&#8217;s not just perfectly fine, it&#8217;s completely expected behavior.</strong></p>
<p>Now, it may be that exercising natural rights in this case interferes with dreamed-up business models by the copyright industry. But natural rights don&#8217;t take a back seat to somebody&#8217;s imaginary right to profit. They&#8217;re on a different level altogether. While there are laws that limit natural rights, they are generally seen as hideously immoral and to be practiced with enormous restraint.</p>
<p>However, the conclusion here is that copying is the natural state, a mere exercise of natural rights, and restriction of such copying is an arbitrary and draconian intrusion into natural rights, an anachronistic remnant from the pre-free-enterprise era which has no place in the age of the Internet.</p>
<p>Finally, I said that the copyright industry is &#8220;knowingly&#8221; deceptive on this point. By that, I am referring to the fact that they keep reiterating that people who are exercising their natural rights are &#8220;stealing&#8221;, despite the U.S. Supreme Court clearly having ruled <a href="http://falkvinge.net/2013/12/23/reminder-1-copyright-monopoly-infringement-isnt-stealing-says-the-us-supreme-court/">the opposite</a>, which they are well aware of, and also that the copyright industry has been <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-banned-from-using-piracy-and-theft-terms-in-hotfile-trial-131129/">explicitly banned</a> by court from using such deceptive and disingenuous language.</p>
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<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>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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108872
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week – 08/03/15
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-08-03-15
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/sUkUpW5keSc/
content:
<p><img src="media/44497b2d.hotp.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/hotp.jpg" alt="hotp" width="300" height="223" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108895">This week we have three newcomers in our chart. </p>
<p>Hot Pursuit 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-072715/">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/dont_mess_with_texas_2014/">Hot Pursuit</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2967224/">4.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUeOBdxSjc8">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/furious_7/">Furious 7</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2820852/">7.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Skpu5HaVkOc">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/insurgent">Insurgent</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2908446/">6.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suZcGoRLXkU">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/minions/">Minions</a> (HDTS)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2293640/">6.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eisKxhjBnZ0">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jurassic_world/">Jurassic World</a> (TS/Subbed HDrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0369610/">7.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFinNxS5KN4">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(8)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/terminator_genisys/">Terminator Genisys</a> (TS)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1340138/">7.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62E4FJTwSuc">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mission_impossible_rogue_nation/">Mission: Impossible &#8211; Rogue Nation</a> (HDTS)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2381249/">8.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIsauUFIguE">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ted_2/">Ted 2</a> (Subbed HDrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2637276/">6.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3AVcCggRnU">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(6)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/home_2015/">Home</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2224026/">6.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyqZf8LiWvM">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(7)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_longest_ride">The Longest Ride</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2726560/">7.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUS_Q7FsfqU">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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108865
title: The Pirate Bay Will Be Blocked in Austria
uri: The-Pirate-Bay-Will-Be-Blocked-in-Austria
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/j7A1Pv_OFDE/
content:
<p><img src="media/2a43984f.pirate-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-bay.jpg" alt="pirate bay" width="200" height="207" class="alignright size-full wp-image-53470">As the bastion of online piracy, The Pirate Bay has become one of the most censored websites on the Internet in recent years.</p>
<p>Courts all around the world have ordered Internet providers to block subscriber access to the torrent site and the list continues to expand.</p>
<p>The latest blocking order was issued right before the weekend in Austria. Following a complaint from copyright holders the Commercial Court of Vienna ordered local ISP A1 Telekom to <a href="http://www.ifpi.at/?section=news&#038;id=202">block</a> subscribers access to The Pirate Bay. </p>
<p>In addition to the notorious torrent site, the court order also requires the Internet provider to block three other &#8220;structurally infringing&#8221; sites; Isohunt.to, 1337x.to and h33t.to.</p>
<p>The court allows the ISP to choose how to implement the blockade on a technical level but it is likely to involve DNS-blocking, an IP-address blacklist or a combination of both. </p>
<p>If A1 Telekom chooses a DNS blockade then users can easily circumvent the measures by using a non-ISP DNS server. A combination of a DNS and IP-address block is generally more effective, but with the wide availability of proxy sites and VPN services that&#8217;s not airtight either.</p>
<p>Franz Medwenitsch, managing director of the Austrian music industry association IFPI, welcomes the court order and notes that they are happy to assist with the implementation of the blockades.</p>
<p>&#8220;For the further development of the online music market it is a very gratifying decision. We call on the Internet providers to work together towards a legally compliant and straightforward implementation of site-blocking,&#8221; Medwenitsch says.</p>
<p>The current court order follows hot on the heels of another major blocking case in Austria, which came to an end last month. </p>
<p>After a round of appeals the Supreme Court <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/major-streaming-sites-must-be-blocked-court-rules-150704/">ordered</a> several leading Austrian ISPs to block the major streaming sites Movie4K.to and Kinox.to. The Court further rules that the Internet providers will have to pay the costs for future blockades.</p>
<p>Given the recent successes, it wouldn&#8217;t be a surprise if more blocking requests will follow 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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108921
title: India’s Porn Block Targets Torrent Sites, CollegeHumor and 9Gag
uri: India-s-Porn-Block-Targets-Torrent-Sites-CollegeHumor-and-9Gag
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/6OKsFRI1EOM/
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">This weekend millions of Indian Internet users started to notice that their favorite websites were no longer accessible. </p>
<p>On Friday the Government ordered local Internet providers to block access to a list of 857 websites, including many of the top porn sites. </p>
<p>&#8220;Your requested URL has been blocked as per the directions received from Department of Telecommunications, Government of India,&#8221; was the warning many got to see instead. </p>
<p>The move has sparked outrage among the public, who condemn the Government for censoring the Internet without proper cause. According to the <a href="media/63aa3a99.2015-07-31-dot-block-order-decency.pdf" data-original-source="http://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2190269/2015-07-31-dot-block-order-decency.pdf">court order</a> the sites are being blocked because they threaten the morality and decency of Indians, which a local official has now confirmed.</p>
<p>&#8220;Free and open access to porn websites has been brought under check. We don&#8217;t want them to become a social nuisance,&#8221; a spokesman at the Department of Telecommunications told Reuters.</p>
<p>The Government order is quite broad, and not just because of the high number of domain names involved. A <a href="media/63aa3a99.2015-07-31-dot-block-order-decency.pdf" data-original-source="http://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2190269/2015-07-31-dot-block-order-decency.pdf">leaked copy</a> which list all of the affected domains reveals some unsuspected entries.</p>
<p>For example, the list contains two of the largest torrent sites, Kickass.to and H33t.to. The first is now operating under the new Kat.cr domain name and the latter site is down, so the effects of the blockade are minimal. </p>
<p><img src="media/85fec097.blockedcollege.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/blockedcollege.png" alt="blockedcollege" width="266" height="101" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108929">While blocking these torrent sites may be justified as both sites do link to pornographic content, the same can&#8217;t really be said for CollegeHumor and 9Gag, which are also on the blacklist. </p>
<p>The same goes for Liveleak, which has plenty of &#8216;immoral&#8217; videos but isn&#8217;t really known for its vast amounts of porn. Finally, the list also includes <a href="http://nonvegjokes.com/">nonvegjokes.com</a>, a site specializing in dirty jokes.</p>
<p>The blocking order was issued under Rule 12 of the local Information Technology Rules, which allows the Government to block access to sites that are deemed to violate the integrity or security of India. </p>
<p>The Government still has to justify its blocking request before the <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/porn-block-in-india-hundreds-of-sexual-websites-banned-internet-outraged-10434499.html">end of the month</a>. If those arguments prove insufficient, the court order may be overturned again. In the meantime, the interest in circumvention tools such as <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">VPN services</a> and proxy sites is expected to skyrocket.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108880
title: Popcorn Time Vulnerable to Hack Attacks, Researcher Says
uri: Popcorn-Time-Vulnerable-to-Hack-Attacks-Researcher-Says
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/3lUDnkbykL8/
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">Almost 18 months since it burst onto the scene in 2014 and Popcorn Time is still one of the most popular file-sharing applications on the market.</p>
<p>Millions of people use multiple variants of the Netflix-style tool everyday, with ease of use and wide content availability proving a hit with users old and new.</p>
<p>Popcorn Time&#8217;s success has also made it a target for anti-piracy companies desperate to shut it down, but today the software finds itself under attack of a different kind.</p>
<p>Antonios Chariton, aka &#8216;DaKnOb&#8217;, describes himself as a Security Engineer &#038; Researcher. Currently in Greece studying for his B.Sc. in Computer Science, Chariton informs TorrentFreak that he&#8217;s discovered some serious security vulnerabilities in at least one fork of Popcorn Time.</p>
<p>&#8220;There are two reasons that made me look into Popcorn Time. First of all, I know many people who have installed this application on their personal computers and use it, and second of all, by pure accident: I was setting up my computer firewall when I noticed the network traffic initiated by Popcorn Time,&#8221; Chariton says.</p>
<p>The researcher says that the problems begin with &#8220;a really smart&#8221; technique that Popcorn Time uses to bypass ISP-level blocking in the UK. By utilizing Cloudflare infrastructure for part of its setup, it&#8217;s difficult to block Popcorn Time by DNS without banning the Cloudflare website, Chariton notes.</p>
<p>But cleverness aside, this is where the problems begin.</p>
<p>&#8220;First of all, the request to Cloudflare is initiated over plain HTTP. That means both the request and the response can be changed by someone with a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man-in-the-middle_attack">Man In The Middle</a> position (Local Attacker, Network Administrator, ISP, Government, etc.),&#8221; Chariton explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;The second mistake is that there is no <a href="http://www.esecurityplanet.com/browser-security/prevent-web-attacks-using-input-sanitization.html">input sanitization</a> whatsoever. That means, there are no checks in place to ensure the validity of the data received. The third mistake is that they make the previous two mistakes in a NodeJS application.&#8221;</p>
<p>As shown in the image below, <a href="https://blog.daknob.net/grab-some-popcorn-and-launch-popcorn-time">Chariton</a> says he was able to perform a &#8220;content spoofing&#8221; attack, in which he gave the movie Hot Pursuit the title of &#8220;Hello World&#8221; instead. </p>
<p><center><img src="media/aa39c2fc.pop-hack1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pop-hack1.png" alt="pop-hack1" width="650" height="384" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-108887"></center></p>
<p>The researcher says that while he could&#8217;ve changed any other information in the Popcorm Time application, that wouldn&#8217;t be &#8220;exactly much fun&#8221;. So, to get pulses racing, he launched an XSS attack instead.</p>
<p>As shown in the image below, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-site_scripting">Cross-Site Scripting</a> (XSS) attacks allow for potentially malicious scripts to be injected into other web applications.</p>
<p><img src="media/9b08d0b3.pop-hack2.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pop-hack2.png" alt="pop-hack2" width="650" height="379" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-108889"></p>
<p>&#8220;We have injected malicious JavaScript and the client application executed the code. Using this attack we can show fake messages or even do something smarter. Since the application is written in NodeJS, if you find an XSS vulnerability, you are able to control the entire application,&#8221; Chariton explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;This essentially is Remote Code Execution on the computer that runs Popcorn Time. You can do anything the computer user could do.&#8221;</p>
<p>That&#8217;s obviously a pretty serious issue but Chariton does have some advice for the developers.</p>
<p>&#8220;HTTP is insecure. There&#8217;s nothing you can do to change this. Please, use HTTPS everywhere, especially in applications that don&#8217;t run inside a web browser. Second, sanitize your input. Even if you receive something over TLS v1.2 using a Client Certificate, it still isn&#8217;t secure! Always perform client-side checks of the server response,&#8221; he notes.</p>
<p>&#8220;Last but not least, just because something is Open Source doesn&#8217;t mean it&#8217;s audited and secure. Discovering and exploiting this vulnerability was literally one hour of work, including the time to write all the JavaScript payloads and come up with cool stuff to do,&#8221; Chariton concludes.</p>
<p>Making the situation more complex is the number of Popcorn Time forks in circulation. Chariton told us that he carried out his tests on the variant available at PopcornTime.io but it&#8217;s certainly possible that the same issues exist elsewhere on lesser-used forks.</p>
<p>That being said, the developers behind the variant available at Popcorn-Time.se inform TorrentFreak that their version isn&#8217;t vulnerable to these exploits.</p>
<p>&#8220;These security issues don&#8217;t refer to Popcorn-time.se since we built Popcorn Time from scratch in C++,&#8221; the devs explain.</p>
<p>&#8220;We don&#8217;t use Node Webkit which is known for having security issues, but chose the longer route of building our platform on our own from the ground up to avoid just these kind of issues.&#8221;</p>
<p>TorrentFreak reached out to Popcorntime.io yesterday but at the time of publication we had received no response. Chariton has raised the issue <a href="https://git.popcorntime.io/popcorntime/desktop/issues/1472">here</a> and it&#8217;s currently under discussion.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108975
title: Copyright Troll Asks Court to Ban the Term ‘Copyright Troll’
uri: Copyright-Troll-Asks-Court-to-Ban-the-Term-Copyright-Troll
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/CdLq5ulCRvE/
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">Malibu Media, the Los Angeles based company behind the ‘X-Art’ adult movies, is one of the most active copyright trolls in the United States. </p>
<p>This year alone they have filed a 1,104 individual cases against alleged downloaders.</p>
<p>The main goal of the company is to demand settlements of a few thousand dollars, without going to trial. However, defendant Micheal Harrison decided to fight back and wants to have his case heard before a jury.</p>
<p>The lawsuit in question dates back to 2012 and both sites are now gearing up to present their arguments in court. This is new territory for the porn company, and recent motions reveal that the &#8216;copyright troll&#8217; is worried about its image. </p>
<p>In particular, Malibu Media is worried that the &#8216;porn&#8217; stigma and terms such as &#8216;copyright troll&#8217; may influence the jury. It therefore asks the court to ban the use of these terms during the trial.</p>
<p>&#8220;If Defendant is permitted to refer to Plaintiff as &#8216;a copyright troll,&#8217; &#8216;pornographer,&#8217; &#8216;porn purveyor,&#8217; or &#8216;extortionist,&#8217; the negative connotations of those titles are clear and Plaintiff would be unfairly prejudiced in attempting to prove its case,&#8221; Malibu writes (<a href="media/7f96023c.nopornrep.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/nopornrep.pdf">pdf</a>). </p>
<p>&#8220;The jury would likely be led to abandon its impartiality if those or similar titles are permitted in the courtroom,&#8221; they add.</p>
<p>According to the porn company using the term &#8220;porn&#8221; in court may lead the jury to believe that it its films are not entitled to copyright protection. In addition, they believe that it would trigger preconceived negative connotations.</p>
<p>&#8220;Such preconceived negative connotations may impart that Plaintiff’s works are not entitled to copyright protection or that Plaintiff should be treated differently under the law simply because of the industry that it is in,&#8221; Malibu writes. </p>
<p>The company wants to avoid these potential problems and has asked the court to restrict the defendant to the terms “Plaintiff” and “Malibu Media” when referencing the porn company during trial. </p>
<p>Defendant Micheal Harrison doesn&#8217;t agree with the request and this week he asked the court to dismiss the motion (<a href="media/7f96023c.nopornrep.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/nopornrep.pdf">pdf</a>). Malibu Media is a producer of pornographic movies and should be described as such, he argues.  </p>
<p>In addition, the defendant points out that &#8220;copyright troll&#8221; is a proper description for the business Malibu is engaged in, noting that the company has filed approximately 3,539 lawsuits in the United States.</p>
<p>If Malibu&#8217;s requests are granted it would not mark the first time that certain terms have been banned during a copyright trial. Hotfile was previously <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-banned-from-using-piracy-and-theft-terms-in-hotfile-trial-131129/">granted a motion</a> that prohibited the MPAA from using “piracy,” “theft” and “stealing,” but this case was settled before the proceedings started. </p>
<p>Aside from the controversial terms, Malibu Media also asked the court not to accept <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150723/16295731741/malibu-media-seeks-order-forbidding-defendants-discussing-copyleft-blog-content.shtml">references to &#8220;copyleft&#8221; blogs</a> and to exclude an expert testimony of WiFi hacking and other speculative defenses.</p>
<p>The court has yet to decide on whether any terms, citations or other evidence will be off-limits during the trial. In any case, it will prove to be an interesting battle.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108951
title: German Court Will Issue Pirate Site Blocking Decision in November
uri: German-Court-Will-Issue-Pirate-Site-Blocking-Decision-in-November
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/vJFOD8ZnhcY/
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">With the phenomenon spreading around the world, the blocking of &#8216;pirate&#8217; websites is emerging as a key anti-piracy strategy of the entertainment industries. </p>
<p>Europe has been a key battleground for the movement and if rightsholders have their way, yet another new regional country will implement blocks soon.</p>
<p>The current action involves German performance rights organization GEMA. Known for its aggressive anti-piracy stance, GEMA&#8217;s case dates back seven years when it found music tracks on major file-hosting sites (Rapidshare, Netload, Uploaded) being distributed via a links site known as 3DL.am. Since it couldn&#8217;t contact 3DL&#8217;s operators to deal with the infringement, GEMA expanded its fight elsewhere.</p>
<p>In a subsequent complaint, GEMA demanded that in order to reduce further copyright infringement, leading German ISP Deutsche Telekom should take technical steps to stop its customers from accessing 3DL.am.</p>
<p>The ISP refused, stating that as a mere &#8216;dumb pipe&#8217; it has nothing to do with the infringement on the site. Furthermore, blocking one site would simply lead to increasing numbers of similar demands, the ISP argued.</p>
<p>In 2013 the Higher Regional Court of Hamburg rejected GEMA&#8217;s case on the basis that Deutsche Telekom is not the direct host of 3DL.am (now 3DL.tv). A subsequent appeal was also dismissed. However, persistence from the rights organization means that the case is now being heard by Germany&#8217;s Supreme Court.</p>
<p>Oliver Süme from Eco.de, the Association of the German Internet Industry, <a href="http://www.welt.de/wirtschaft/webwelt/article144652893/Muessen-Internetanbieter-illegale-Seiten-sperren.html">believes</a> that GEMA&#8217;s efforts are destined to fail.</p>
<p>&#8220;The legal situation thus far is that [consumer ISPs] are not liable for infringements on the Internet. It is therefore pointless to impose on the providers the role of an auxiliary police force,&#8221; Süme says.</p>
<p>&#8220;Furthermore, the required technical measures to control and filter the traffic of Internet users violates telecommunications secrecy and data protection laws that we have fought in favor of for years.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Supreme Court says that a decision on the case will be handed down in November. In the meantime, 3DL continues business as normal.</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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108958
title: Pirate Site Blocking Delay Shows Lack of Urgency, Critics Say
uri: Pirate-Site-Blocking-Delay-Shows-Lack-of-Urgency-Critics-Say
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/qxoylBSHpAY/
content:
<p><img src="media/114a07a1.stopstop.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/stopstop.jpg" width="180" height="120" class="alignright">When entertainment industry groups speak publicly of the piracy situation, the rhetoric suggests that the sky is falling, that the very future of the business is at risk if something isn&#8217;t done quickly.</p>
<p>In truth it&#8217;s been that way for more than 30 years but that doesn&#8217;t stop successive governments in countries around the globe taking the threats seriously. And considering the size of the entertainment industries and the influence of those running them, it&#8217;s not difficult to see why.</p>
<p>In Australia, calls to do something about the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/illegal-downloading-is-scumbag-theft-by-copyright-bandits-says-media-giant-ceo-120821/">&#8220;scumbag theft&#8221; carried out by &#8220;copyright bandits&#8221;</a> have escalated to almost fever pitch in recent years, with 2014 seeing the most concerted effort yet to crack down on file-sharers and the sites they use.</p>
<p>In response, Attorney-General George Brandis and Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull asked the Cabinet to develop legislation which would allow ‘pirate’ sites to be blocked by ISPs. In March 2015 the Copyright Amendment (Online Infringement) Bill 2015 was introduced and after just three months of consideration by parliament, the legislation was <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/australia-passes-pirate-site-blocking-law-150622/">passed into law</a>.</p>
<p>Considering the demands for dramatic and urgent action, one might think that rightsholders would be already queuing up to have the first sites blocked. But according to a report from <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-04/foxtel-launches-legal-case-to-block-piracy-websites/6670780">ABC</a>, that point is still a long way off.</p>
<p>While it appears that pay TV company Foxtel will be the pioneer of the very first legal case under the new legislation (probably against a big player such as The Pirate Bay), the timescale for implementation being quoted by the company is not a matter of weeks, but loosely described as arriving &#8220;in the coming months&#8221;.</p>
<p>The fact that Foxtel is still at the &#8220;legal advice&#8221; stage on &#8220;how best to put the legislation into effect&#8221; has upset critics, who believe that rightsholders may have overstated the need for urgent new laws.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are astounded, given the urgency with which this law was passed at the urging of the rights holders, that so far they haven&#8217;t bothered to use it,&#8221; says Internet Australia CEO Laurie Patton.</p>
<p>&#8220;We would have thought that they&#8217;d have a raft of cases ready to go if the problem is that critical.&#8221;</p>
<p>While six weeks might appear to be a reasonable amount of time to put a case together (the legislation was passed June 26), it&#8217;s worth bearing in mind that the first blocking cases to be brought in any region have always been the most important. Their implications stretch far beyond blocking a single site.</p>
<p>Although each case will be different to some extent, the first case &#8211; if presented correctly &#8211; will provide a template for subsequent cases, saving rightsholders (and the courts) lots of time and money in the long run. Getting the system running smoothly from the start will be a key priority so it&#8217;s no surprise that Foxtel aren&#8217;t already waiting at the doors of the court.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, there are plenty of things to be done and according to John Stanton from the Communications Alliance, Australia&#8217;s ISPs still haven&#8217;t been consulted on the basics of what will need to be done following any injunction.</p>
<p>&#8220;ISPs hope that if applications are to be lodged, rights holders will discuss them in advance with ISPs, to provide an opportunity for some shared understanding on logistical and other issues,&#8221; Stanton says.</p>
<p>&#8220;These issues including timing, the provision by rights holders of a landing page to inform internet users why a website has been blocked, discussion of the various technical options for website blocking and the planned breadth of an application.&#8221;</p>
<p>Considering the importance of ISPs to the success of site-blocking, not having included or consulted them thus far is somewhat of a mystery and perhaps indicative of how far from presenting its first case Foxtel is.</p>
<p>Still, with years of training behind them in respect of geo-unblocking services such as Netflix, it could very well be that the introduction of the first site blockade will have a minimum of impact on Aussies anyway &#8211; whether it arrives in the next few weeks or in distant 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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108996
title: RIAA Asks BitTorrent Inc. to Block Infringing Content
uri: RIAA-Asks-BitTorrent-Inc-to-Block-Infringing-Content
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/EBh96uHSX2c/
content:
<p><img src="media/971b8479.riaa-logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/riaa-logo.jpg" alt="riaa-logo" width="170" height="173" class="alignright size-full wp-image-15326">Through no real fault of its own, uTorrent creator BitTorrent Inc. has become associated with the massive piracy carried out every day by its users. Due to the company sharing its name with the successful protocol, for many BitTorrent piracy and BitTorrent Inc. are one and the same thing.</p>
<p>That incorrect perception has proven corrosive for the company, so much so that for the past several years BitTorrent Inc. has been on a mission to position itself <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-eyes-riaa-certification-music-sales-140930/">as the friend of content creators</a> rather than their foe.</p>
<p>Now, following dozens of self-certified claims that the company doesn&#8217;t support piracy, BitTorrent Inc. has somewhat inevitably found itself in the crosshairs of the music industry.</p>
<p>In a letter dated July 30, 2015 sent from Brad Buckles, Executive Vice President of Anti-Piracy, the RIAA asks BitTorrent Inc.&#8217;s CEO to live up to his company&#8217;s claims of being a musicians&#8217; champion. It begins with a subtle but serious reference to the company&#8217;s Distributed Hash Table.</p>
<p>&#8220;This year marks the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/bittorrents-dht-turns-10-years-old-150607/">10th anniversary</a> of BitTorrent Inc.&#8217;s development of a distributed hash table (DHT) approach to file distribution, and yet, as we have previously discussed with your company, we remain very concerned about the overwhelming use of BitTorrent Inc. developed clients to infringe our members&#8217; content,&#8221; Buckles begins.</p>
<p>Building the RIAA&#8217;s case, Buckles says that software developed by BitTorrent Inc. facilitated approximately 75% of at least 1.6 million torrent based infringements in the United States during 2014.</p>
<p>Again referencing BitTorrent&#8217;s DHT &#8211; the system which allows torrents to be shared <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/bittorrents-future-dht-pex-and-magnet-links-explained-091120/">even when external BitTorrent trackers go down</a> &#8211; the RIAA says that a sample of 500 audio torrents extracted from the database showed that 82.4% were &#8220;highly likely&#8221; to be protected by copyright.</p>
<p>Turning to comments previously made by now-former BitTorrent Chief Content Officer Matt Mason, Buckles challenges the notion that &#8220;<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-incs-pirate-dilemma-fabrications-and-delusions-130626/">the piracy happens outside the BitTorrent ecosystem</a>.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;[As] the above data clearly shows, this argument is disingenuous when BitTorrent Inc. itself is the source of the software that is used so overwhelmingly for infringement,&#8221; Buckles says.</p>
<p>Referencing Mason&#8217;s earlier comment that anyone using BitTorrent for piracy was &#8220;doing it wrong&#8221;, Buckles insists that the company now actually does something concrete to mitigate piracy.</p>
<p>&#8220;We urge BitTorrent Inc. to live up to those words and take meaningful steps to deter this widespread infringement occurring using its own products and services,&#8221; Buckles says.</p>
<p>The RIAA concludes with a list of hashes of its members&#8217; works that have been infringed via BitTorrent Inc.&#8217;s &#8220;products and services&#8221; along with a suggestion that the company needs to take continuous action moving forward.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are willing to establish a process to share the hashes with BitTorrent Inc. on a regular basis so that BitTorrent Inc. can use the information to deter further infringement of those files via its goods and services,&#8221; the RIAA adds, while helpfully offering additional support, if needed.</p>
<p>&#8220;We also know of several companies that offer services to help identify infringing torrent sites and files that may be useful in helping BitTorrent Inc. take steps to reduce their facilitation of infringement.&#8221;</p>
<p>The RIAA stops short of asking BitTorrent Inc. to block or filter content in any specific manner but it&#8217;s clear what the music industry group has on its mind. </p>
<p>It&#8217;s been a long time coming but this move against BitTorrent Inc. is not unexpected and the company must&#8217;ve been preparing for the day for a long time. The ball&#8217;s now in the uTorrent creator&#8217;s court and it&#8217;s going to be a fascinating game, little doubt about that.</p>
<p><center><strong>RIAA&#8217;s letter to BitTorrent Inc.</strong><br></br></center><center><iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" src="https://www.scribd.com/embeds/273550708/content?start_page=1&#038;view_mode=scroll&#038;access_key=key-NFgvs7ApIxUxkelZYBHA&#038;show_recommendations=false" data-auto-height="false" data-aspect-ratio="1.4137931034482758" scrolling="no" id="doc_70669" width="600" height="800" frameborder="0"></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 the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">best VPN services</a>.</p>
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