# articles

feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=115552
title: Leaked “Spectre” Screener Completes Hollywood’s Ruined Christmas
uri: Leaked-Spectre-Screener-Completes-Hollywood-s-Ruined-Christma
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/ZDkzmptP2Jk/
content:
<p><img src="media/36861797.spectre-small.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/spectre-small.jpg" alt="spectre-small" width="170" height="213" class="alignright size-full wp-image-111140">Late last week millions of pirates cheered behind their computers as the &#8220;screener season&#8221; finally got underway. </p>
<p>High quality copies of some of the hottest Hollywood productions <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/the-hateful-eight-and-the-revenant-leaked-online-151221/">appeared online</a>, with some titles even beating their official theatrical release. </p>
<p>Just a few hours ago, on Christmas day, another prominent DVD screener was uploaded to various torrent sites, James Bond&#8217;s &#8216;Spectre.&#8217; (<a href="http://torrentfreak.com/images/Spectre.2015.DVDScr.XVID_.AC3_.HQ_.Hive-CM8.txt">nfo</a>). </p>
<p>The torrent first appeared on several private sites before it leaked to more public venues such as The Pirate Bay and KickassTorrents, where thousands of users welcome the unexpected Christmas gift. </p>
<p>At the time of writing over more than 10,000 people are sharing a copy of the leaked screener, which is bound to hit over a million downloads before the end of the weekend.</p>
<p><center><strong>Screenshot from the leaked Spectre screener</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/18241439.spectre-screener.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/spectre-screener.jpg" alt="spectre-screener" width="609" height="293" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-115661"></center></p>
<p>For Hollywood, however, the latest leak is casting a dark shadow over the festive season.</p>
<p>A lot has been said and done about the first leaks appeared a week ago. The FBI is <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/fbi-investigates-hollywood-ties-to-pirated-hateful-eight-screener-151223/">trying to catch</a> the perpetrators and hs already traced The Hateful Eight leak back to a Hollywood executive. </p>
<p>In addition, various movie companies have started to issue <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/hollywood-fights-screener-leaks-with-thousands-of-takedowns-151224/">thousands of takedown requests</a> in the hope that this will prevent at least some people from downloading their films without permission. </p>
<p>What it truly unique about the recent leaks, however, is that most can be traced to the same source: The Hive and CM8. </p>
<p>Hive-CM8 is a so-called release &#8220;group,&#8221; but not one that belongs to The Scene. Instead it&#8217;s a partnership of independent releasers which, unlike The Scene, proudly share their work with the rest of the world. </p>
<p>While little is known about Hive-CM8, sources inform TorrentFreak that less than a handful of people are involved. A relatively small operation, but one that has managed to ruin Christmas for a billion dollar industry. </p>
<p>Through its sources Hive-CM8 got their hands on many screener copies, of which it has published 11 so far, with Spectre being the most recent. However, in movie release notes they write that there are 40 titles in total, which means that more are on the way. </p>
<p><center><img src="media/d28ec2d1.hive-cm8.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/hive-cm8.png" alt="hive-cm8" width="534" height="204" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-115554"></center></p>
<p>To our knowledge this is rather unprecedented. While screeners leak every year, we have never seen a batch of 40 copies being released by a single source in such a short period of time. </p>
<p>This &#8220;achievement&#8221; puts Hive-CM8 on the map, and not just among the cheering pirate crowd. The FBI is also watching the latest developments with interest and will try to find out who these pirates are.</p>
<p>That&#8217;s a risk Hive-CM8 is apparently willing to take, as evidenced by the recent release spree show. </p>
<p>Thus far the list of screeners released by the group is as follows: Spectre, The Hateful Eight, Legend, In The Heart of The Sea, Joy, Steve Jobs, Spotlight, Creed, Concussion, The Danish Girl, Bridge of Spies,</p>
<p>Many are wondering what else is in store. In particular, whether there&#8217;s a Star Wars screener in the batch. This can be ruled out though, as there is no known screener copy of the film out, and it would have certainly be one of the first screeners Hive-CM8 released.</p>
<p>If there are indeed 29 more screeners waiting in a queue then the following titles are among the likely contenders:</p>
<p>45 Years, Son of Saul, Love the Coopers, Krampus, The Night Before, Point Break, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip, Burnt, Black Mass, Trumbo, The Last Witch Hunter, Victor Frankenstein, The Big Short, Sisters, Secret in Their Eyes, Daddy&#8217;s Home.</p>
<p>For Hollywood the hopes for a good Christmas now depends on the box office numbers reported after the weekend. One thing&#8217;s for certain, any and all setbacks in ticket sales will now have a clear scapegoat. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=115479
title: Netgear Shows Customers How to Share Pirate Movies
uri: Netgear-Shows-Customers-How-to-Share-Pirate-Movies
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Nw9VQ68jqNA/
content:
<p><img src="media/c71adf2b.stoner.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/stoner.jpg" alt="stoner" width="200" height="182" class="alignright size-full wp-image-115576">Call me old-fashioned or just plain old, but when people blatantly break the law in a public place I find that somewhat bemusing &#8211; especially if there is absolutely no gain in doing so.</p>
<p>For instance, while the tell-tale smell of marijuana is hardly worth a second sniff at a music festival, inhaling the same in a shopping mall is an altogether different affair. Stupid, confident or just couldn&#8217;t give a damn? Who knows, but it would be non-issue in private, that&#8217;s almost certain.</p>
<p>But could it be that smoking weed and other petty &#8216;crimes&#8217; have become so commonplace that people have forgotten that they should consider hiding their habit? That thought struck me this week when reading a thread on <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Piracy/comments/3xsm8r/trying_to_transfer_a_file_via_netgear_router_when/">Reddit</a>, oddly enough focused on router manufacturer Netgear.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.netgear.com/landing/genie/faq.aspx">Netgear&#8217;s Genie</a> is software designed to &#8220;Manage, Monitor, and Repair your Home Network&#8221;. In addition to diagnostic and repair features, users can use Genie to network map and manage wireless connections. Sounds great.</p>
<p>However, in addition to the above, Genie also has a feature called &#8220;Turbo Transfer&#8221; which allows users to quickly shift files between computers on the same network.</p>
<p>Like all good manufacturers, Netgear provides instructions on how to use this feature but it appears that the author of the tutorial either a) decided to carry on smoking pot at his workstation or b) forgot that Internet piracy is illegal.</p>
<p>Things start off innocently enough with the following diagram.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/1b8675fb.netgear1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/netgear1.jpg" alt="netgear1" width="625" height="460" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-115571"></center></p>
<p>&#8230;.but then descend into madness when Netgear&#8217;s employee either forgets he&#8217;s at work or simply doesn&#8217;t care anymore.</p>
<p><img src="media/80d4e394.netgear2.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/netgear2.jpg" alt="netgear2" width="640" height="512" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-115572"></p>
<p>For those who haven&#8217;t spotted the faux pas, what we&#8217;re looking at in the above image is Netgear explaining how its users can send a pirate rip of the Michael Bay movie &#8216;<a href="http://http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1980209/">Pain and Gain</a>&#8216; across a network.</p>
<p>Possibly making matters worse is the fact that the movie appears to have been acquired from RARBG, one of the world&#8217;s most popular torrent sites. Presuming that the file was on a Netgear computer when the tutorial was made, one doesn&#8217;t have to be particularly imaginative to work out how it got there.</p>
<p>The tutorial in some form or another appears to have been on Netgear&#8217;s site for two years but depending on date format it could&#8217;ve been edited as recently as this month &#8211; &#8220;Updated 12/07/2015 12:13 PM,&#8221; Netgear&#8217;s site <a href="http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/23815/~/transferring-files-using-the-turbo-transfer-feature-of-the-netgear-genie">reads</a>.</p>
<p>While unusual, this isn&#8217;t the first time a corporation has forgotten to hide its illegal file-sharing habits from the public.</p>
<p>In 2008, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/axxo-rips-used-to-promote-imac-080123/">John Lewis used aXXo rips</a> to sell iMacs and a year later Saturn, Europe’s largest retailer of consumer electronics, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/electronics-retailer-pirates-movies-to-sell-macbooks-090422/">showed pirated films</a> to sell Macbooks.</p>
<p>Then in 2010, electronics giant LG happily showed its customers <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/lg-shows-how-to-play-pirated-movies-on-tv-100205/">how to play pirate movies</a> on its TVs.</p>
<p>An archive copy of Netgear&#8217;s tutorial, should they take it down before getting the munchies and wondering off, can be found <a href="https://archive.is/hcddI">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  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=114981
title: El Paquete Semanal: How Offline Piracy Flourishes in Cuba
uri: El-Paquete-Semanal-How-Offline-Piracy-Flourishes-in-Cuba
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/CXFwlietYpg/
content:
<p><img src="media/8524c628.piratebook.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/piratebook.png" alt="piratebook" width="250" height="237" class="alignright size-full wp-image-115526">For hundreds of millions of people piracy is mostly an online phenomenon. </p>
<p>However, in countries where an open and accessible Internet is rare, the public turns to other forms of peer-to-peer communication. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.ernestooroza.com/">Ernesto Oroza</a>, artist, designer and author based in South Florida, explains in detail how Cubans have shared the latest entertainment through innovative distribution channels for more than a decade.</p>
<p>The article below appears in <a href="http://thepiratebook.net/">The Pirate Book</a>, a collection of articles and guest contributions covering unique cultural and historical facts and perspectives on online and offline piracy.</p>
<p>The Pirate Book was edited by Nicolas Maigret &#038; Maria Roszkowska and can be downloaded for free. Hard-copies are also available on request.<br>
<center><br>
<h3>El Paquete Semanal</h3>
<p></center></p>
<p><em>by Ernesto Oroza</em></p>
<p><center><img src="media/90457820.seman.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/seman.jpg" alt="seman" width="600" height="382" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-115531"></center><center><strong><sub>El Paquete ad (<a href="https://www.cubanet.org/actualidad-destacados/las-relaciones-diplomaticas-y-el-fin-del-paquete/">photo credit</a>)</sub></strong><br></br></center></p>
<p><strong>Origins And Present Time</strong></p>
<p>It all started maybe 10 or 15 years ago. I remember that my nephew was the first one in the family doing it. He had a little USB hard drive, and one day he got a large quantity of films from a neighbor – things such as National Geographic nature documentaries, music, action films, and video clips.</p>
<p>Computers were rare in Cuba at the time. You could find maybe one computer on each block. Some people who had computers started collecting and selling kits of digital contents; it became a way to earn money. You could buy one terabyte of contents, connect the hard drive directly to a television, and watch it without any computer. You just needed to bring your own hard drive to the seller and transfer the files at his place. </p>
<p>You could even customize the package by asking for a part of it only (to save money) or for more specific contents (only kung fu movies, TV shows, games, music, etc.). </p>
<p>Today, El Paquete could include series, films, soap operas (people love Korean soap operas right now), documentaries, music, video clips, reality shows, graphic humor, comics and cartoons, software, apps, antivirus software, language courses, magazines in PDF format, advertising, and an offline version of Revolico, among other materials.</p>
<p>The contents for each issue of El Paquete are usually collected from online sources. Some foreigners and people connected to foreign companies, embassies, or consulates have satellite antennas in their houses, and some people have illegal satellite antennas too.</p>
<p><center><strong><sub>El Paquete hard drive, a pouch that protects the disc and a USB cable (photo Ernesto Oroza)</sub></strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/03dd6ecc.paqdisk.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/paqdisk.jpg" alt="paqdisk" width="600" height="839" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-115532"></center> </p>
<p>Maybe the creators of El Paquete are people working for the government in official institutions with large digital bandwidth that allows downloading long videos and music compilations. The fact is that somebody is recording the materials, transferring them onto hard drives, and preparing a new compilation every week (El Paquete Semanal, “The Weekly Package”). </p>
<p>There’s also extensive clandestine traffic of digital devices between Cuba and Miami. This includes USB flash drives and hard drives, but some cultural content for El Paquete is also transported this way.</p>
<p>The cost of a full El Paquete is about 1 CUC (24-25 Cuban pesos), so in terms of local income, it’s expensive given that the average monthly salary is between 15 and 20 CUC a month. But in Cuba quite often multiple generations live in the same house: grandparents, parents, and children. So the expense of a single copy of El Paquete is often shared among the extended family. </p>
<p>For those who distribute the package, the cost, if acquired directly from the matrix, varies according to the day on which it was bought between 10.00 CUC and 3.00 CUC, Sunday being the most expensive. These dealers cross the city by bike and have dozens of clients who spend 10 CUC weekly.</p>
<p>Now there is new street vendor license available named “Disk Seller and Buyer,” so many people are selling partial contents of El Paquete using DVDs and CDs, especially series, video clips, and international soap operas.</p>
<p><strong>Anti-Paquete</strong></p>
<p>El Paquete became a big problem in Cuba because the government is particularly afraid of this mode of content distribution. According to the authorities, not only is it out of control and promotes contamination by American culture, its artistic/intellectual level is also quite low, as it’s full of American blockbusters and Mexican soap operas. </p>
<p>The government claims that Cubans instead need educational material for young people, something that is good for the new generation, not films with sex or violence. Nevertheless, I remember that for many years every Saturday at 9 p.m. you could watch two or three pirated American movies on national television, blockbusters like Die Hard for example. People loved it, and it was common to say in a conversation that something was like “Saturday’s film,” meaning that it had sex and violence.</p>
<p>But when the phenomena of El Paquete started, the real preoccupation of the government wasn’t the artistic quality Ad from a collector &#038; seller of pirated movies and other materials in Cuba. This ad was distributed in El Paquete 8-8-2015. of its content, but politics; they didn’t want it to be used for spreading information against the government. </p>
<p><center><strong><sub>Ad from a collector &#038; seller of pirated movies and other materials in Cuba, distributed in El Paquete 8-8-2015 (photo: Ernesto Oroza)</sub></strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/bfa4e601.adcoll.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/adcoll.jpg" alt="adcoll" width="600" height="713" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-115535"></center></p>
<p>This USB package was spontaneous, unpredictable, and impossible to control. Of course it quickly became illegal; if you were caught selling it, you could go to prison or the government could confiscate your computer. But some other methods to stop El Paquete were also tested.</p>
<p>One example was the creation of a direct rival: the authorities made their own Paquete named Maletín or Mochila, which means a “bag” or “backpack” in English. Inside, instead of US blockbusters, you could find classical movies and music and educational materials. Actually, people found it very boring and nobody liked it, so this anti-Paquete system was a total failure.</p>
<p>And of course it was just as pirated as the clandestine one: the government did not pay for its contents either; it was all “stolen.” </p>
<p><center><strong><sub>An advertisement for “El Maletín”, governmental anti-paquete (<a href="http://www.14ymedio.com/reportajes/Mochila-vs-paquete-guerra-asimilacion_0_1649235066.html">photo credit</a>)</sub></strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/76fcaa3c.anti-paq.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/anti-paq.jpg" alt="anti-paq" width="600" height="722" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-115533"></center></p>
<p>Another attempt involved the creation of anti-Paquete propaganda: I remember a very dramatic report on the TV news about computer virus attacks all over the world that showed USB and El Paquete iconography and claimed that hackers could use these viruses to steal your information or destroy your computer.</p>
<p>Another faction of the government, mostly intellectuals, are proposing to contaminate El Paquete with cultural contents, I guess Godard, Glauber Rocha, and Bergman, but for many this will be an extension of the indoctrination that Cubans have endured for more than 50 years through information, education, and cultural systems. </p>
<p>Anyway, before the government proposed it, some cultural producers such as reggaeton singers, filmmakers, designers and editors, among others, began using El Paquete for the distribution of their works and activities. There are even some original materials created specifically for this distribution channel. </p>
<p>There are many local bands which created video clips especially for El Paquete: national television does not promote them and YouTube is banned, so they use El Paquete for distribution and promotion (e.g., <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=3rcZlGiwh-M">La Diosa “El Paquete</a> with a strong message: “If you’re not inside the Paquete, you don’t<br>
exist!”). </p>
<p><strong>Web in a Box<br>
</strong><br>
<a href="http://www.revolico.com/">Revolico</a> is the Cuban version of Craigslist, a website where people can directly publish small ads to sell or exchange different kinds of goods and services: cars, jobs, clothes, animals, electronics, etc. The problem is that people need to have access to the Internet to use it, and in Cuba it’s mostly<br>
impossible. </p>
<p>People in Cuba love and need Revolico because it’s the only way to exchange materials, information, and goods. So Revolico went inside El Paquete as a list of small ads. In a recent interview I conducted with the creators of Revolico, Hiram (a co-founder) explained that they are now working on a new offline version of this platform that will be ready soon to take advantage of the El Paquete distribution system.</p>
<p><strong>SNet</strong></p>
<p>Today, in Cuba more and more people have computers and other electronic devices such as tablets and smartphones, but home Internet and Wi-Fi access remains forbidden unless you have special permission from the Ministry of Communications (recently the government opened 35 points with public Wi-Fi around the country with a cost of 2 CUC per hour, and service is limited). As a consequence, there is a new phenomenon called SNet (Street Net), a sort of clandestine network. </p>
<p><center><strong><sub>Home-made Wi-Fi antenna, Cuba (<a href="http://cubayatwittea.blogspot.fr/2013/01/como-acceder-internet-en-cuba-super.html">photo credit</a>)</sub></strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/76051e52.homeatt.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/homeatt.jpg" alt="homeatt" width="600" height="730" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-115534"></center></p>
<p>At the beginning young people started to use telephone cables to connect computers in the neighborhood in order to play games in a network. Later, they found a way to connect the computers using Wi-Fi. Today, this network consists of about 10,000 computers. The police also access the system to monitor the flux of information. </p>
<p>The government warns that if you share counter-revolutionary material or other forbidden content, it will break the whole SNet system. Despite this, SNet has become one of the main avenues for playing collective games and information distribution.</p>
<p>Besides SNet, there is also a governmental Internet, a very slow and monitored intranet. Every e-mail that is written in Cuba is tracked by the political police. There are many systems to monitor key words. Some government employees or institutions. An advertising for “El Maletín”, governmental anti-paquete have a faster and more direct Internet connection, with access to Yahoo, Hotmail, etc., but it’s still impossible to access other big international platforms such as YouTube and Google Maps.</p>
<p>Recently, I collaborated with some SNet administrators to test the possibilities of the net. We designed a small program and inserted it to produce a collective poem based in the exquisite corpse method. We got a poem of 3,000 words in just a week, meaning that many users of SNet were involved. </p>
<p>&#8212;<br>
<em><br>
Note: Articles and interviews have appeared after the publication of the The Pirate Book, pointing to Elio Hector Lopez (aka The Transporter) as one of the main managers of El Paquete Semanal.</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=115386
title: How Hollywood Caught the UK’s Most Prolific Movie Pirates
uri: How-Hollywood-Caught-the-UK-s-Most-Prolific-Movie-Pirates
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/1DEteFUVrRI/
content:
<p><img src="media/3d881413.spy.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/spy.jpg" alt="spy" width="200" height="177" class="alignright size-full wp-image-39770">Following a three year investigation by Hollywood-backed anti-piracy group the Federation Against Copyright Theft, last week five of the UK&#8217;s most prolific movie pirates were sentenced in the West Midlands.</p>
<p>Graeme Reid, 40, from Chesterfield, Scott Hemming, 25, and Reece Baker, 22, both from Birmingham, Sahil Rafiq, 24, of Wolverhampton and Ben Cooper, 33, of Willenhall, received sentences <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/uk-movie-pirates-sentenced-to-a-total-of-17-years-151218/">totaling 17 years</a>.</p>
<p>The men were behind several interrelated movie release groups including RemixHD, 26K, UNiQUE, DTRG and HOPE/RESISTANCE.</p>
<p>&#8220;Over a number of years the groups illegally released online more than 2,500 films including Argo, the Avengers and Skyfall,&#8221; FACT said in a statement.</p>
<p>&#8220;The outreach of their criminality was vast. On just one website where the group shared their films there had been millions of downloads.&#8221;</p>
<p>Speaking at Wolverhampton Crown Court, FACT prosecutor David Groome said that the men had gone to great lengths to avoid being detected. But was that really the case and just how easy was it to track them down?</p>
<p>TF has obtained papers detailing the FACT investigation and they reveal that unmasking the men was surprisingly easy. In descending sentence length:</p>
<p><strong>Sahil Rafiq &#8211; Jailed for 4 years and 6 months</strong></p>
<p>In July 2012 a FACT investigator began monitoring Rafiq&#8217;s release group, 26K. He found that many of the torrents had been uploaded by a user known as &#8216;memory100&#8242;.</p>
<p>It was discovered that &#8216;memory100&#8242; had a profile on torrent site Torlock and it was determined that the same user also went under other names including &#8216;sohail20&#8242;, &#8216;hail_alpha&#8217; and &#8216;froggie100&#8242;, with the former laying down the golden crumb.</p>
<p>In 2012, Sohail20 had posted on a forum belonging to online retailer PC Specialist. In that post he complained about issues he was having with a laptop.</p>
<p>&#8220;Could you help me out?&#8221; <a href="https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/archive/index.php/t-16798.html">he asked</a>. &#8220;Kind Regards, Sahil Rafiq.&#8221;</p>
<p>Further searches on the name Sohail20 revealed an account on PhotoBucket and a Memory100 logo file named memory100.jpg (<a href="http://s565.photobucket.com/user/sohail20/media/memory100.jpg.html">now removed</a>).</p>
<p>Suspecting they were closing in, FACT&#8217;s investigator turned to Facebook and found Rafiq&#8217;s profile. From there they found his place of work, a science school in Wolvehampton in central UK. FACT then turned to credit reference agency Equifax which revealed Rafiq&#8217;s home address. These details were handed to the police. </p>
<p><strong>Reece Baker &#8211; Jailed for 4 years and 2 months</strong></p>
<p>In 2012 the same FACT investigator began monitoring Baker&#8217;s release group &#8216;HOPE&#8217;. In the &#8216;NFO&#8217; (information) files attached to a HOPE release, it was revealed that the encoder was called &#8216;Baker92&#8242; while detailing a Hushmail email address where he could be contacted.</p>
<p>In another NFO file Baker would make a fatal mistake with the comment &#8220;My First Encode Comment &#038; Tell Me What You Think &#8211; Plus I Love My Baby Momzie Ria&#8221;</p>
<p>After finding a post on torrent site Myris.me which indicated that Baker92 had been a member of another release group DTRG, FACT again turned to Equifax. Presuming the &#8217;92&#8217; in his nickname related to his birth year, FACT searched for any person named Baker born in 1992 with an association to anyone called Ria. This led FACT &#8211; and the police &#8211; to Reece Baker&#8217;s front door.</p>
<p><strong>Graeme Reid &#8211; jailed for 3 years and 6 months</strong></p>
<p>During the same month in which FACT investigated 26K, the anti-piracy group discovered from the group&#8217;s NFO files that they were affiliated with Reid&#8217;s group, RemixHD.</p>
<p>An NFO file for the movie 21 Jump Street revealed that the encoder was a person known as &#8216;Reidy&#8217; who could be contacted at Hushmail email address. Hushmail is known for its security but that has limits &#8211; Reid used the same email address on his Facebook page where he described himself as an &#8220;encoder&#8221; who lived in Chesterfield.</p>
<p>FACT then turned to the Electoral Register and subsequently discovered Reid&#8217;s home address which was passed to the police.</p>
<p><strong>Ben Cooper &#8211; jailed for 3 years and 6 months</strong></p>
<p>During July 2012, when FACT were investigating HOPE, they discovered an associated user called &#8216;Cooperman666&#8242; who also used a Hushmail email account. Again, an NFO file for a movie helped to make links, indicating that the encoding had been done by &#8216;Cooperman&#8217;.</p>
<p>Subsequent searches revealed that Cooperman666 was also an encoder for release group ANALOG and in their NFO files a Live.com email address was listed for contact. However, that same email address was also used for a Facebook account held in the name of Ben Cooper. That page revealed he lived in Wolverhampton and was born in 1981.</p>
<p>FACT turned to Equifax and the credit agency provided Cooper&#8217;s personal details.</p>
<p><strong>Scott Hemming &#8211; 2 year suspended sentence</strong></p>
<p>In July 2012, when FACT were investigating 26K, the anti-piracy group identified people who were formerly members of another release group known as DTRG. NFO files examined by FACT listed the encoder as &#8216;Kareemzos&#8217; who could be contacted on the email address &#8220;iencodefordtrg@live.co.uk&#8221;</p>
<p>After linking Kareemzos to other groups including MARGIN, UNiQUE and INSANE, FACT then struck lucky. Posts made on Virgin Media&#8217;s support forum listed the same email address as above and it appears that the ISP later revealed that the associated account belonged to Hemming&#8217;s mother.</p>
<p>Again, Equifax provided the missing link by confirming that Hemming lived at the same house.</p>
<p><strong>Conclusion</strong></p>
<p>The above confirms that no amount of encryption is a replacement for basic Internet &#8216;hygiene&#8217;. Using the same aliases and email addresses across multiple sites while including birth dates and nicknames that point to real identities is clearly a recipe for disaster.</p>
<p>While FACT clearly did their homework and worked extremely hard to get convictions, the actions taken by these men to hide their identities aren&#8217;t shining examples of the art.</p>
<p><strong>Coming next </strong></p>
<p>After FACT and police tracked the men down to their homes, what happened next, what did they hope to find and how could this evidence be connected to their crimes? That article is coming up soon&#8230;.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=115186
title: ‘Game of Thrones’ Most Pirated TV-Show of 2015
uri: Game-of-Thrones-Most-Pirated-TV-Show-of-2015
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/7X1Hzk_XRpg/
content:
<p><img src="media/0bc92b46.got5.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/got5.jpg" alt="got5" width="250" height="168" class="alignright size-full wp-image-102724">Game of Thrones has the honor of becoming the most downloaded TV-show for the fourth year in a row.</p>
<p>With an estimated 14.4 million downloads via BitTorrent, the 2015 season finale has beaten the competition by a landslide.</p>
<p>More than half of the downloads occurred in the first week after the show aired and the total exceeds the number of traditional viewers in the US. The Walking Dead and Big Bang Theory complete the top three with an estimated 6.9 and 4.4 million downloads respectively.</p>
<p>Pirates have shown an increase in interest for higher quality releases compared to earlier years. However, the lower quality 480p copies of TV-shows remain by far the most popular among downloaders, followed by 720p and 1080p respectively.</p>
<p>Game of Thrones’ top listing doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Earlier this year it broke an all-time piracy record when more than <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/game-of-thrones-season-finale-breaks-piracy-record-150615/">258,131 peers</a> shared the same torrent file simultaneously.</p>
<p>Overall there is no sign that TV-show piracy is declining, on the contrary. The download numbers for the most popular shows continues to rise, sometimes exceeding the number of traditional viewers in the US.</p>
<p>Below we have compiled a list of the most downloaded TV-shows worldwide (single episode) for 2015, together with the traditional ratings in the US. The download numbers are estimated by TorrentFreak based on several sources, including statistics reported by public BitTorrent trackers.</p>
<p>Online streaming and downloads for file-hosting services are not included since there are no public sources to draw data from. Total piracy numbers will therefore be significantly higher.</p>
<table class="css hover" summary="Most downloaded TV-shows on BitTorrent">
<caption>Most downloaded TV-shows on BitTorrent, 2015</caption>
<thead>
<tr>
<th width="9%"><strong>rank</strong></th>
<th width="40%"><strong>show</strong></th>
<th width="22%"><strong>est. downloads</strong></th>
<th width="29%"><strong>est. US TV viewers</strong></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tfoot>
<tr>
<td colspan="4">torrentfreak.com</td>
</tr>
</tfoot>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>1</strong></td>
<td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_of_Thrones_(TV_series)">Game of Thrones</a></td>
<td>14,400,000</td>
<td>8,110,000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Walking_Dead_(TV_series)">The Walking Dead</a></td>
<td>6,900,000</td>
<td>15,780,000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Bang_Theory">The Big Bang Theory</a></td>
<td>4,400,000</td>
<td>18,300,000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrow_(TV_series)">Arrow</a></td>
<td>3,900,000</td>
<td>3,920,000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flash_(2014_TV_series)">The Flash</a></td>
<td>3,600,000</td>
<td>4,010,000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Robot_(TV_series)">Mr. Robot</a></td>
<td>3,500,000</td>
<td>1,750,000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td align="left"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikings_(TV_series)">Vikings</a></td>
<td>3,300,000</td>
<td>5,010,000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supergirl_(U.S._TV_series)">Supergirl</a></td>
<td>3,000,000</td>
<td>12,960,000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blacklist_(TV_series)">The Blacklist</a></td>
<td>2,900,000</td>
<td>10,110,000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suits_(TV_series)">Suits</a></td>
<td>2,600,000</td>
<td>2,380,000</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p></p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=115588
title: uTorrent Has Banned ‘Sexy’ NSFW Ads This Year, And More
uri: uTorrent-Has-Banned-Sexy-NSFW-Ads-This-Year-And-More
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/ZlD7hhGG9do/
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 more than 150 million active users a month uTorrent remains the leading torrent client. </p>
<p>While the software hasn&#8217;t seen any major overhauls this year, the team behind the software has not been idle. This week uTorrent&#8217;s director of product management, Jordy Berson, gave an overview of their accomplishments.</p>
<p>Living up to its &#8216;micro&#8217; name Berson says that uTorrent has shrunk in size, again. At the same time, however, the team was quick to respond to a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-can-be-exploited-for-dos-attacks-research-warns/">critical DDoS vulnerability</a> reported by researchers a few months ago.</p>
<p>&#8220;µTorrent got smaller and more efficient. µTorrent developers were on the front lines of addressing security vulnerabilities identified for the wider libutp-based community,&#8221; Berson <a href="http://blog.utorrent.com/2015/12/23/2015-a-look-back/">writes</a>. </p>
<p>The uTorrent team also reports a dramatic decrease in crash rates as well as other fixes and smaller updates. </p>
<p>&#8220;We improved stability and performance with a series of changes that further reduced crash rates. We fixed bugs when they appeared and tweaked the small features you asked us to address.&#8221;</p>
<p>The graph below shows a 50 percent decrease in the number of application crashes when comparing the old and new stable releases. </p>
<p><center><strong>uTorrent crash rates</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/6b11bcf9.utorrentcrash.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/utorrentcrash.png" alt="utorrentcrash" width="659" height="262" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-115629"></center></p>
<p>Several other updates and improvements have also been made on the monetization size of the application. Earlier we reported that the popular BitTorrent client serves <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/utorrent-and-bittorrent-serve-over-200-million-ads-per-day-151206/">billions of ads</a> per month. </p>
<p>However, the hated and loved NSFW variants were dropped this year. </p>
<p><img src="media/ad1c96a6.utorrentdate.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/utorrentdate.jpg" alt="utorrentdate" width="260" height="208" class="alignright size-full wp-image-115625">&#8220;While some may miss these ads, we’ve raised our ad standards for our advertisers to deliver higher-quality safe-for-work ads,&#8221; Berson notes.</p>
<p>In addition to banner advertising the uTorrent client also generates revenue through bundled software, and the team has made several improvements on this end as well. This likely means avoiding another <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/utorrent-quietly-installs-riskware-bitcoin-miner-users-report-150306/">Bitcoin miner fiasco</a>.</p>
<p>The uTorrent team is very conscious of how its monetizing strategies are perceived by the public and recently announced the exploration of alternative options, including <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/utorrent-hints-move-toward-paid-subscriptions-150823/">direct financial support</a> from users. These and other SFW changes appear to be still on the table for 2016.</p>
<p>&#8220;There have been some baby steps and some bolder steps. But we’ve done it all with our users in mind and we’ll continue in this direction throughout 2016,&#8221; Berson concludes.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=115690
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week – 12/28/15
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-12-28-15
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/D_SEEgjXJAc/
content:
<p><img src="media/19d3cb70.martian.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/martian.jpg" alt="martian" width="300" height="166" class="alignright size-full wp-image-115696">This week we have four newcomers in our chart. </p>
<p>The Martian 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-122115/">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>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_martian/">The Martian</a> (Web-DL / Subbed HDRip) </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3659388/?">8.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej3ioOneTy8">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_revenant_2015/">The Revenant</a> (DVDscr) </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1663202/">?.?</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoebZZ8K5N0">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(10)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_hateful_eight/">The Hateful Eight</a> (DVDscr)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3460252/">9.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_UI1GzaWv0">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(9)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/creed_2015/">Creed</a> (DVDscr)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3076658/">8.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv554B7YHk4">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bridge_of_spies/">Bridge of Spies</a> (DVDscr)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3682448/">7.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBBuzHrZBro">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/legend_2015/">Legend</a> (DVDscr)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3569230/">7.3</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI3v6KfR9Mw">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/spectre_2015/">Spectre</a> (DVDscr)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2379713/">7.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GqClqvlObY">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_intern/">The Intern</a> (Web-DL)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2361509/">7.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-DEy3mylCs">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_peanuts_movie/">The Peanuts Movie</a> (DVDscr)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2452042/">7.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVR4E6Q6u5g">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/in_the_heart_of_the_sea/">In The Heart of The Sea</a> (DVDscr)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1390411/">7.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-H35Mpj4uk">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=115647
title: Russia Will Permanently Block Top 15 Torrent Sites in 2016
uri: Russia-Will-Permanently-Block-Top-15-Torrent-Sites-in-2016
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/u2nieVH6XhY/
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">Site blocking has been one of the big anti-piracy themes of 2015, with hundreds of sites blocked by ISPs all around the world.</p>
<p>Given its generally poor record for cracking down on piracy, it&#8217;s perhaps somewhat of a surprise that Russia is now one of the front-runners when it comes to piracy blocking.</p>
<p>In September it was revealed that in some form or another, Russia had restricted access to around <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/280-pirate-sites-have-been-restricted-in-russia-150925/">280 &#8216;pirate&#8217; sites</a> since the introduction of a new law in 2013.</p>
<p>However, in an effort to move away from the cat and mouse game often played by unauthorized sites, Russian telecoms watchdog Roscomnadzor has now thrown its weight behind a scheme to permanently block sites that persistently make available copyrighted content without permission.</p>
<p>RUTracker found itself sucked into that mechanism a couple of months ago, despite offering to take <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/should-rutracker-delete-320000-torrents-to-pacify-record-labels-151030/">drastic action</a> to avoid it. Now it appears that other leading sites are likely to fall foul of the legislation in the months to come.</p>
<p>According to predictions just made by Roscomnadzor, during 2016 rights holders will succeed in having the top 15 torrent sites permanently blocked. Of course, this kind of talk usually triggers talk of VPNs, proxies and other workarounds, but the watchdog says that the overwhelming majority of users won&#8217;t try to access the blocked sites.</p>
<p>&#8220;[The blocked sites&#8217;] traffic will be significantly reduced, because according to statistics 95% of people do not use tools to bypass locks,&#8221; the watchdog said in a statement on Twitter.</p>
<p>While the percentage of block evaders cited by Roscomnadzor is up for debate, the watchdog has just carried out a public survey which aims to provide a clearer picture on why Internet users turn to torrents. After conducting the survey via Twitter, Roscomnadzor <a href="https://twitter.com/roscomnadzor/status/679621147357483008">published</a> the results.</p>
<p>Marginally ahead with 37% of the votes were users who said they used torrents because &#8220;I do not want to pay&#8221;.</p>
<p>In second place with 36% were users who say they use torrents for &#8220;other reasons&#8221;, with many respondents noting that the content they are looking for is unavailable through regular channels.</p>
<p>In third with 17% of the vote were people who use torrents since they don&#8217;t know where to buy the content they&#8217;re looking for legally. The remaining 10% reported not using torrents.</p>
<p>In a statement issued after the poll closed, Roscomnadzor said that content providers need to find the right mix of pricing and availability. However, even that may not do the trick.</p>
<p>&#8220;In the current economic climate it is necessary to find a balance in which the content will be available, and the price will match the quality,&#8221; the watchdog said. &#8220;However, many simply do not want to pay.&#8221;</p>
<p>That&#8217;s where site-blocking comes in but only time will tell whether Roscomnadzor&#8217;s prediction of 95% efficiency will play out in the long term.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=115721
title: Registrar Shuts Down Pirate Bay Domain Names
uri: Registrar-Shuts-Down-Pirate-Bay-Domain-Names
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/EB-GaKsaxrk/
content:
<p><img src="media/bb64fc93.hydragone.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/hydragone.png" alt="hydragone" width="300" height="240" class="alignright size-full wp-image-115727">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, a decision which is currently <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-domains-clash-set-for-court-of-appeal-151006/">being appealed</a>.</p>
<p>In a response The Pirate Bay decided to quickly redirect 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> in case the .SE domains were lost for good.</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 <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-loses-new-domain-name-hydra-lives-on-150522/">quickly suspended</a> following an intervention from the associated registry, which soon chopped off the first head.  </p>
<p>Today, the Hydra lost its remaining heads after TPB&#8217;s domain registrar took over all remaining domain names.  </p>
<p>This morning ThePirateBay.la, ThePirateBay.gd, ThePirateBay.mn and ThePirateBay.vg were all listed as &#8220;clienthold&#8221; by the registry and the same is true for several other official TPB domains including those using the .FM, .SH, .MU and .TW extensions. This means they are <a href="media/4b0fe116.W4KiyAP.png" data-original-source="http://i.imgur.com/W4KiyAP.png">no longer accessible</a>, once all DNS entries are updates. </p>
<p>All affected domain names are linked to the same service and registered to Pirate Bay co-founder Fredrik Neij. According to ICANN the <a href="https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/epp-status-codes-2014-06-16-en">clienthold status</a> is uncommon and &#8220;usually enacted during legal disputes, non-payment, or when your domain is subject to deletion.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><strong>Pirate Bay&#8217;s .LA Whois</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/7128831c.tpblawhois.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpblawhois.png" alt="tpblawhois" width="546" height="237" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-115729"></center></p>
<p>As a result of the domain troubles The Pirate Bay is currently not reachable (cached DNS entries aside, but these will expire soon) through the usual ThePirateBay.se domain, which redirects to the domains listed above. However, the .org domain remains operational and the same is true for the .onion address. </p>
<p>At this point there is no official statement on the reason for the seizures/suspensions. The responsible registrar appears to be Idotz.net, which is a U.S. based 1api/Hexonet reseller. TorrentFreak has asked the company for a comment but at the time of publication we hadn&#8217;t yet heard back.</p>
<p>Not all domain registrars and 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’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>Still, that didn&#8217;t prevent the registrar from putting the .MN domain name on hold today. </p>
<p>Considering Pirate Bay&#8217;s defiant stance it&#8217;s likely that a copyright holder complaint triggered the current actions, but that hasn&#8217;t been confirmed. The TPB team has yet to make an official statement on the problems. </p>
<p>We will update this article should more information become available.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=115694
title: Did Pirates Clean Out Amazon Fire TV Stock in the UK?
uri: Did-Pirates-Clean-Out-Amazon-Fire-TV-Stock-in-the-UK
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/o-KJzHZbH2Y/
content:
<p><img src="media/69b912e4.kodi-amazon.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/kodi-amazon.png" alt="kodi-amazon" width="200" height="114" class="alignright size-full wp-image-115710">Amazon&#8217;s Fire TV stick is a great little device. Plugging nicely into an available HDMI port on most TVs, the device &#8216;smartens up&#8217; the dumbest of devices and makes available the growing world of IPTV services.</p>
<p>The one currently plugged into my TV in the bedroom has mainly been used for the &#8216;free&#8217; video streaming services bundled with Amazon Prime but the stick is equally at home streaming video from Netflix or any of the many services available from Amazon&#8217;s store.</p>
<p>However, Amazon&#8217;s little device has a trick up its sleeve. Being Android based, Fire TV Stick can run a much wider array of apps and services than Amazon offers through its regular on-screen interface. Of particular interest is Kodi, which together with a vast array of plugins offers access to all the latest movies, TV shows and live sports most people could ever need.</p>
<p>And news of just how special the Fire TV Stick/Kodi combo can be has been traveling fast in the past few weeks, particularly in the UK.</p>
<p>The first signs that something might be going on came very early December when even for Prime customers Amazon started advising that delivery for Fire TV Sticks was not the usual &#8216;next day&#8217;, but was actually nearer two weeks. For someone looking to buy two units as gifts, that was unacceptable. Other stores weren&#8217;t much help either.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/e4b7d800.currys-fire.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/currys-fire.jpg" alt="currys-fire" width="600" height="303" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-115708"></center></p>
<p>After checking stock at nearly two dozen Argos and Currys retailers (both huge operations in the UK), just two units were found at the former 12 miles away. But the bizarre thing was that when I collected the items the lady behind the counter asked smilingly: &#8220;Are these for Kodi?&#8221;</p>
<p>Of course, I know about Kodi. We all know about Kodi. But for it to be mentioned without any prompting at the point of sale in a retailer was quite a surprise to say the least. And for a worker at a non-specialist retailer to know so much about it hints at the scale of the issue.</p>
<p>In case you missed it, Amazon banned Kodi from its store in the summer over piracy concerns but with the <a href="http://kodi.tv/download/">official APK</a> plus <a href="http://www.jocala.com/adbfire.html">adbFire</a> and a loader like <a href="http://forum.xda-developers.com/fire-tv/themes-apps/app-root-home-launcher-replacement-app-t3118135">FireStarter</a>, the software runs like a dream on Amazon Fire TV Stick.</p>
<p>&#8220;Everybody is buying these for Kodi, you can get everything on it. But that&#8217;s it now, we&#8217;re out of stock,&#8221; I was told while handing over the cash. Interesting&#8230;..</p>
<p>Intrigued, in the weeks that followed I monitored stock at Argos, Currys/PC World, Amazon themselves and several other big retailers including John Lewis and the nation&#8217;s biggest supermarket, Tesco. After an initial delay Amazon appeared to do the best in having stock available but all the rest really struggled.</p>
<p>Now, just days after Christmas, Currys/PC World have zero stock for home delivery and its the same situation at Tesco, John Lewis and Argos. Checking for local stock at the latter in the London, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow regions reveals not a single unit available. Only Amazon themselves can offer anything <em>(correct, 28 Dec)</em>.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/052350bc.fire-stock.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/fire-stock.png" alt="fire-stock" width="600" height="413" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-115702"></center></p>
<p>Granted, it&#8217;s more than likely that Fire TV Stick has proven popular with consumers due to it working with Netflix and iPlayer, but Chromecast does that too and anyone can buy one of those devices at any of the above retailers anywhere in the next hour.</p>
<p>Admittedly, it&#8217;s a possibility that Amazon screwed up and didn&#8217;t make enough Fire TV Sticks. But if that&#8217;s the case, why is eBay awash with (ahem) &#8216;fully loaded&#8217; Amazon Fire TV Sticks for immediate delivery?</p>
<p><img src="media/0d9d758a.kodi-ebay.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/kodi-ebay.png" alt="kodi-ebay" width="650" height="318" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-115704"></p>
<p>Also, Google Trends can sometimes offer an insight into what people are interested in during a given period. So, we locked into December, did searches for both Kodi and Fire TV, and restricted results to the UK.</p>
<p>As can be seen from the image below, not only is Kodi even more popular than Amazon&#8217;s device, but the interest in both the software and the hardware follows similar waves.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/1990270d.fire-trend.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/fire-trend.png" alt="fire-trend" width="650" height="353" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-115705"></center></p>
<p>There can be little doubt that interest in both Kodi and Fire TV are now at a high, not only in the UK, but also elsewhere. It&#8217;s also a further sign that piracy has really migrated out of the bedroom and onto the living room TV, something that Hollywood and other interested parties really wanted to avoid.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=115789
title: Pirated Screener Dump Stops After ‘Security Breach’
uri: Pirated-Screener-Dump-Stops-After-Security-Breach
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/IvudIww2ydY/
content:
<p><img src="media/4fc175f7.security-breach-lock.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/security-breach-lock.jpg" alt="security-breach-lock" width="250" height="143" class="alignright size-full wp-image-115796">Over the past several days more than a dozen high quality screeners of Hollywood films have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/the-hateful-eight-and-the-revenant-leaked-online-151221/">appeared online</a>, including The Hateful Eight, The Revenant and Steve Jobs.</p>
<p>Devastated Hollywood studios are now working <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/fbi-investigates-hollywood-ties-to-pirated-hateful-eight-screener-151223/">with the FBI</a> to catch the perpetrators, with some success. </p>
<p>Last week they traced The Hateful Eight leak back to a Hollywood executive and the feds are currently looking into additional leads.</p>
<p>The main targets in this case are individuals connected to the release group Hive-CM8. They&#8217;ve released the majority of the DVD screeners that are out at the moment and earlier <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/leaked-spectre-screener-completes-hollywoods-ruined-christmas-151225/">promised to leak</a> a total of 40. </p>
<p>However, it now appears that their releasing spree has come to an end.</p>
<p>Comments made by an insider on a private torrent site claim that a recent &#8220;expose&#8221; of a torrent uploader has something to do with it. This information was posted on various sites including KAT and in the TF comment section.</p>
<p>The person responsible for the expose, who uses the screen name Sup3rman, contacted TorrentFreak to provide his side of the story. </p>
<p>After reading <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/how-hollywood-caught-the-uks-most-prolific-movie-pirates-151227/">an article</a> about how easy it can sometimes be for law enforcement to catch movie pirates, he decided to test this theory on someone who uploaded many Hive-CM8 releases. To do this, he looked at the source of the movie screenshots and found that they were linked to an image sharing account with thousands of images. </p>
<p>All this info was (and is) rather public as the screenshots were posted with the torrent uploads. Also, everyone could see where they were hosted and figure out that the account name in question matched that of the torrent uploader. </p>
<p>However, not everyone close to the release group appreciated the &#8220;exposure&#8221; and as a result the public Hive-CM8 releases were halted. Hive-CM8 has not commented on the break but on a separate site he wrote that he won&#8217;t be available for some time. </p>
<p>On first sight the &#8216;leaked&#8217; information doesn&#8217;t appear to be anything new or particularly private. However, it certainly appears that something spooked the group or uploader into halting the releases. </p>
<p>The reported break is confirmed by the lack of new releases over the past day or two, which is the longest gap since the first DVD screener was posted. Interestingly, however, The Big Short and Anomalisa have been published in private, or &#8216;internally&#8217; as it&#8217;s known.</p>
<p>At the end of the day many questions remain. Could it really be that the exposed image account is the sole reason for stopping the public releases? Or is something else going on behind the scenes? </p>
<p>There&#8217;s no point in speculating any further at this point or drawing connections that may be totally irrelevant, but one has to wonder.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=115844
title: Hive-CM8 Apologizes For Leaking Hateful Eight DVD Screener
uri: Hive-CM8-Apologizes-For-Leaking-Hateful-Eight-DVD-Screener
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/0SKMspriSJM/
content:
<p><img src="media/15fbc3de.quen-sorry.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/quen-sorry.jpg" alt="quen-sorry" width="200" height="205" class="alignright size-full wp-image-115851">Without doubt the biggest piracy story of December was the drama surrounding the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/the-hateful-eight-and-the-revenant-leaked-online-151221/">relentless stream</a> of movies hitting the Internet from release group Hive-CM8. All more-or-less perfect copies of awards screeners, the leaks attracted attention from studios and <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/fbi-investigates-hollywood-ties-to-pirated-hateful-eight-screener-151223/">even the FBI</a>.</p>
<p>As law enforcement presumably continues to track the release group, leaks from Hive-CM8 have faltered somewhat, with sources pointing to a potential <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirated-screener-dump-stops-after-security-breach-151229/">security breach</a> as the reason.</p>
<p>However, after maintaining almost total silence, the people behind Hive-CM8 have not only released a couple more movies but have also broken their silence.</p>
<p>Their statement, aimed at close colleagues in private channels, is surprising to say the least. It accompanies the release of the Christian Bale movie The Big Short and begins with an admission that errors have been made. <em>(some typos/grammar corrected by TF)</em></p>
<p>&#8220;We held back this title till 1 week after [theatrical release] to give the movie a fighting chance to play in the budget, we learned from our mistake,&#8221; Hive&#8217;s statement begins.</p>
<p>&#8220;We didn&#8217;t plan to comment at all on recent events, but we feel now that we should.&#8221;</p>
<p>First off, the group attempts to dispel rumors that the leaked screener copies had been sourced after some kind of hack.</p>
<p>&#8220;We got the copies sold from a guy on the street, no decryption was needed. We were definitely not the only ones [to have obtained copies]. A couple of other movies had been on the net days before, not done by us,&#8221; they note.</p>
<p><img src="media/9bf02a11.hateful.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/hateful.jpg" alt="hateful" width="1200" height="250" class="alignright size-full wp-image-115503"></p>
<p>While the group has certainly released content in the past for notoriety, this time around Hive said it wanted to help those too poor to get the movies through official channels.</p>
<p>&#8220;So we wanted to share [these] movies with the people who are not rich enough or not able to watch all nominated movies in the cinema. Of course [these files] are not representing the movies how they can be enjoyed in the cinema.&#8221;</p>
<p>It&#8217;s not uncommon for release groups to request that those viewing &#8216;their&#8217; movies should support the producers by enjoying content through official channels and in the cinema where possible. Hive is no different, noting that creators &#8220;need the money from ticket sales to get back [their] production costs.&#8221;</p>
<p>However, what then follows is a clear apology to Quentin Tarantino and those behind his movie The Hateful Eight. Hive leaked this title before it had even opened in cinemas, something which they now regret.</p>
<p>&#8220;We feel sorry for the trouble we caused by releasing that great movie before [it&#8217;s release date] had even begun. We never intended to hurt anyone by doing that, we didn&#8217;t know it would get that popular that quickly,&#8221; Hive explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Hateful Eight is an excellent, thrilling and entertaining Western that combines terrific direction, a fantastic cast, a wonderful script, beautiful photography and a memorable score. All of those elements make The Hateful Eight an unforgettable film that is Quentin Tarantino at his best.&#8221;</p>
<p>But while acknowledging that tickets sales fund production costs and apologizing for their actions, Hive say they believe the leak of The Hateful Eight won&#8217;t do long-term damage to the title and has probably even helped it.</p>
<p>&#8220;Since everyone is now talking about this movie we don&#8217;t think the producers will [lose] any money [upon theatrical release]. We actually think this has created a new type of media hype that is more present in the news, radio and in the papers than Star Wars, and the promotional costs for this were free,&#8221; Hive says.</p>
<p>And here&#8217;s the math&#8230;..</p>
<p>&#8220;If let&#8217;s say 5% of the people planned to watch this movie at cinema date, due to this media push we unintentionally created, we believe that now 40% of the people will watch this movie in the cinema [because] everyone is talking about it and everyone wants to see the movie that created so much noise. This will push the cinema ticket sales for sure.</p>
<p>&#8220;We really hope this helped out the producers in the long-run, so that the production costs are covered and more.&#8221;</p>
<p>After thanking Quentin Tarantino for a &#8220;wonderful movie&#8221;, Hive notes that The Hateful Eight should be the top awards candidate and will &#8220;win by a mile&#8221; over its rivals. However, it&#8217;s pre-release will mark the last time that Hive leaks content before it appears in cinemas and for those waiting for the 40 leaks the group promised earlier, disappointment lies in wait.</p>
<p>&#8220;We won&#8217;t do another movie before its [theatrical release], and we definitely won&#8217;t go up to 40 as planned, we think we have done enough already,&#8221; Hive concludes.</p>
<p>That being said, two further screener releases have appeared in private channels during the past couple of days &#8211; The Big Short as previously noted and Golden Globe nominee Anomalisa. Both are now available publicly too, but without being attributed to Hive. Instead, both carry a generic &#8216;P2P&#8217; tag.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=115700
title: Google Asked to Remove 558 Million “Pirate” Links in 2015
uri: Google-Asked-to-Remove-558-Million-Pirate-Links-in-2015
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/nM5ilyFORyU/
content:
<p><img src="media/3a6fa524.google-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/google-bay.jpg" alt="google-bay" width="200" height="177" class="alignright size-full wp-image-21875">In recent years copyright holders have overloaded Google with DMCA takedown notices, targeting links to pirated content.</p>
<p>The majority of these requests are sent by the music and movie industries, targeting thousands of different websites. In recent years the volume of takedown notices has increased spectacularly and this trend continued in 2015. </p>
<p>Google doesn’t report yearly figures, but at TF we processed all the weekly reports and found that the number of URLs submitted by copyright holders last year surpassed the 558 million mark – 558,860,089 at the time of writing. </p>
<p>For the first time ever the number of reported URLs has surpassed half a billion in a 12-month period. This is an increase of 60 percent compared to last year, when the search engine processed 345 million pirate links.</p>
<p>The majority of the links are being removed from the search results. However, Google sometimes takes “no action” if they are deemed not to be infringing or if they have been taken down previously.</p>
<p>This year most takedown requests were sent for the domains chomikuj.pl, rapidgator.net and uploaded.net, with more than seven million targeted URLs each. The UK Music industry group BPI is the top copyright holder of 2015, good for more than 65 million reported links.</p>
<p></center><center><img src="media/8c06df61.takedownsurge.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/takedownsurge.png" alt="takedownsurge" width="526" height="263" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-115740"></center></p>
<p>Looking at the totals for this year we further see that 329,469 different domain names were targeted by 27,035 copyright holders. Interestingly, these staggering numbers are interpreted differently by Google and various copyright holders.</p>
<p>A few weeks ago Google <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/google-opposes-whole-site-removal-of-pirate-domains-151021/">told</a> the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator that it has taken various measures to help copyright holders, including swift removals. </p>
<p>&#8220;We process more takedown notices, and faster, than any other search engine,&#8221; the search giant commented. </p>
<p>&#8220;We receive notices for a tiny fraction of everything we host and index, which nonetheless amounts to millions of copyright removal requests per week that are processed, on average, in under six hours.&#8221; </p>
<p>The company rejects broader actions, such as the removal of entire domain names, as this would prove counterproductive and lead to overbroad censorship.</p>
<p>Many copyright holders, however, don&#8217;t share these concerns. Over the years groups such as the MPAA and RIAA have repeatedly argued that clearly infringing sites should be <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-asks-government-to-facilitate-private-anti-piracy-deals-151020/">barred</a> from Google&#8217;s index. In addition, they want Google to make sure that pirated content <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/google-counsel-sees-problems-with-take-down-stay-down-151121/">stays down</a>.</p>
<p>While Google believes that the billion reported URLs are a sign that the DMCA takedown process is working properly, rightsholders see it as a signal of an unbeatable game of whack-a-mole.  </p>
<p>As this stalemate continues we can expect the number of reported pages to continue to rise in the future, adding millions of new URLs on a daily basis. Perhaps there will be a billion reported pirate links in 2016? </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=115885
title: Movie Studios Sue Fan-Funded Star Trek Spin-Off
uri: Movie-Studios-Sue-Fan-Funded-Star-Trek-Spin-Off
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/2crtoRzKlGM/
content:
<p><img src="media/a84f26f1.anaxar.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/anaxar.png" alt="anaxar" width="254" height="90" class="alignright size-full wp-image-115893">Paramount Pictures is generally not that protective when in comes to fan-made projects that involve the Star Trek franchise. </p>
<p>However, the well-received short film <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prelude_to_Axanar">Star Trek: Prelude to Axanar</a> and the planned follow-up feature film <a href="http://www.axanarproductions.com/">Anaxar</a> has crossed a line. This week both Paramount and CBS Studios sued the makers of the Star Trek inspired fan film, accusing them of copyright infringement.</p>
<p>Prelude to Axanar is an idea from Alec Peters who started working on it half a decade ago. After a few years he and his team decided to launch a Kickstarter campaign to get it funded, with an initial goal of $10,000. </p>
<p>The project turned in to a massive hit and quickly raised more than $100,000 for the short film, and a similar campaign for a follow-up feature that will soon start filming raised another $638,000 on Kickstarter alone.</p>
<p>That&#8217;s a healthy budget for a fan-art project and the success prompted the attention of both Paramount Pictures and CBS Studios. </p>
<p>In a complaint filed (<a href="media/4d2d966e.576e12e5-d7ec-4533-a726-49fa08328d5b.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/576e12e5-d7ec-4533-a726-49fa08328d5b.pdf">pdf</a>) at a federal court in California the movie studios accuse the people behind the Anaxar project of various counts of copyright infringement.</p>
<p>&#8220;This is an action for copyright infringement arising out of Defendants’ unauthorized exploitation of Star Trek, one of the most successful entertainment franchises of all time. Since its inception, Star Trek has become a cultural phenomenon that is eagerly followed by millions of fans throughout the world,&#8221; the complaint reads.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Axanar Works infringe Plaintiffs’ works by using innumerable copyrighted elements of Star Trek, including its settings, characters, species, and themes,&#8221; it adds. </p>
<p>Through Kickstarter and Indiegogo crowdfunding campaigns the projects raised over a million dollars. In their complaint Paramount Pictures and CBS Studios believe that they are entitled to any profits the films make as well as $150,000 in statutory damages.</p>
<p>In a response to the lawsuit, Anaxar&#8217;s Alec Peters states that they are not trying to exploit the Star Trek franchise since their work is a harmless fan film project. </p>
<p>&#8220;Axanar is a fan film. Fan films – whether related to Star Trek, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Power Rangers, Batman or any other franchise – are labors of love that keep fans engaged, entertained, and keep favorite characters alive in the hearts of fans.&#8221; </p>
<p>&#8220;Like other current fan films, Axanar entered production based on a very long history and relationship between fandom and studios. We’re not doing anything new here,&#8221; he writes <a href="https://www.facebook.com/StarTrekAxanar/posts/887422431372281">on Facebook</a>.</p>
<p>Peters remains open to discussion and hopes that the parties involved can come to a mutually beneficial solution, so it&#8217;s likely that the lawsuit will eventually steer toward some form of settlement deal.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=115713
title: Pirate Zeitgeist: What People Searched for in 2015
uri: Pirate-Zeitgeist-What-People-Searched-for-in-2015
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/rlWzkObp9Y8/
content:
<p><img src="media/2023bfa5.2015-top-torrent-sites.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/2015-top-torrent-sites.png" alt="2015-top-torrent-sites" width="250" height="183" class="alignright size-full wp-image-99261">During December, all self-respecting search engines produce an overview of the most popular search terms of the past year.</p>
<p>These lists give insight into recent trends, and in 2015 Lamar Odom, Paris and American Sniper were among the top trending searches <a href="https://www.google.com/trends/topcharts#vm=cat&#038;geo=US&#038;date=2015&#038;cid">on Google</a>.</p>
<p>But what about torrent search engines? With billions of searches every year it’s worth taking a look at the most-entered keywords on the dominant file-sharing network.</p>
<p>A few years ago we started the &#8216;Pirate zeitgeist&#8217; tradition with help from one of the largest torrent sites around. Based on a sample of hundreds of millions of searches, this list should give a decent overview of what people are looking for.</p>
<p>2015’s number one query is the same as last year’s, <strong>YIFY </strong> the name of the popular movie release group which was <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/yify-yts-shuts-down-the-end-of-a-piracy-icon-151030/">forced to shut down</a> in October after a legal threat. This means that its popularity is expected to fade in the new year.</p>
<p>In second place we find <strong>NeZu</strong>, another popular movie release group that made it into the top 50 for the second year. Interestingly, NeZu&#8217;s releases are not wildly popular, which might suggest that this high ranking may have been boosted somehow.</p>
<p>The term <strong>2015</strong>, often used to find recent movies, comes in third place, followed by <strong>Hindi</strong>. Other movie related terms such as <strong>1080p</strong>, <strong>YIFY 720p</strong> and <strong>YIFY 1080p</strong> show that users are increasingly looking for high quality video.</p>
<p>The first content related search query is <strong>Game of Thrones</strong> in seventh place. Other popular TV searches are <strong>The Walking Dead</strong> and <strong>The Big Bang Theory</strong> taking 10th and 16th place respectively.</p>
<p>Movies also remain popular with <strong>Star Wars</strong> in 27th, <strong>Fifty Shades of Grey</strong> in 29th and <strong>Interstellar</strong> in 32nd place. Perhaps surprisingly, there are no searches related to music titles in the top 50. The only music related terms are <strong>Discography</strong> in 11th place and <strong>Flac</strong> in 26th.</p>
<p>Finally, various regional searches also remain popular, as they are often used to find localized releases. The terms <strong>Hindi</strong>, <strong>French</strong>, <strong>Tamil</strong>, <strong>Telugu</strong>, <strong>Ita</strong> and <strong>NL</strong> all have a spot in the top 20. </p>
<p>Below is the full list of the 50 most-entered search queries on one of the most popular torrent sites on the Internet.</p>
<p>—<br>
<em><br>
1. yify<br>
2. nezu<br>
3. 2015<br>
4. hindi<br>
5. 1080p<br>
6. yify 720p<br>
7. game of thrones<br>
8. yify 1080p<br>
9. ripsalot<br>
10. the walking dead<br>
11. 3d<br>
12. french<br>
13. discography<br>
14. tamil<br>
15. 2014<br>
16. the big bang theory<br>
17. telugu<br>
18. ita<br>
19. hindi 2015<br>
20. nl<br>
21. malayalam<br>
22. android<br>
23. the flash<br>
24. movies<br>
25. arrow<br>
26. flac<br>
27. star wars<br>
28. the blacklist<br>
29. fifty shades of grey<br>
30. gotham<br>
31. walking dead<br>
32. interstellar<br>
33. batman<br>
34. mac<br>
35. insurgent<br>
36. wwe<br>
37. telugu 2015<br>
38. mad max<br>
39. fast and furious 7<br>
40. jurassic world<br>
41. avengers<br>
42. sword coast legend<br>
43. american sniper<br>
44. gta v<br>
45. dual audio hindi<br>
46. vikings<br>
47. lynda<br>
48. apk<br>
49. avengers age of ultron<br>
50. ettv<br>
</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=115766
title: Pirate Bay is Back to Square One After Months of Domain Hopping
uri: Pirate-Bay-is-Back-to-Square-One-After-Months-of-Domain-Hopping
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/CSaqHBZ3Iso/
content:
<p><img src="media/bb64fc93.hydragone.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/hydragone.png" alt="hydragone" width="300" height="240" class="alignright size-full wp-image-115727">How time flies. Just over a year ago The Pirate Bay was going through some of the most turbulent times in its entire history.</p>
<p>Following a raid at a Swedish datacenter the site stayed offline for several weeks, an event that fueled the rise of endless &#8216;replacement&#8217; sites.</p>
<p>While many of the sites stepping up to fill the gap left by The Pirate Bay looked like the real deal, many were simply incomplete copies. To their credit, the operators of some of these sites were upfront about their status but others did everything they could to claim their place as the real Pirate Bay reincarnated.</p>
<p>Of course, when the real Pirate Bay returned at the end of January 2015, many of these other sites questioned their place in the market. Were they needed anymore? Were they even wanted? As time pressed on many simply dissolved but others carried on either as a clone, proxy or mirror.</p>
<p>While this kind of behavior had previously been encouraged by the operators of The Pirate Bay, it ended up causing huge confusion among casual users who had no idea which domains to trust. As previously highlighted, it contributed to a growing <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-sites-and-their-users-are-suffering-a-trademark-crisis-151101/">branding crisis</a> among &#8216;pirate&#8217; sites.</p>
<p>However, after returning to its full glory in February 2015, The Pirate Bay put faith in its trusted ThePirateBay.se domain and watched its users do the same. But by May the site was in trouble again when the Stockholm District Court <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/key-pirate-bay-domains-must-be-seized-court-rules-150519/">ordered that domain to be seized</a>, pending <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-domains-clash-set-for-court-of-appeal-151006/">an appeal</a>.</p>
<p>In response TPB moved to a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-moves-to-gs-la-vg-am-mn-and-gd-domains-150519/">&#8216;hydra&#8217; of new domains</a> including .GS, .LA, .VG, .AM, .MN and .GD TLDs but during the months that followed problems began to eat away at them. This week came the icing on the cake when the site&#8217;s registrar <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/registrar-shuts-down-pirate-bay-domain-names-151228/">disabled a batch</a> of active domains.</p>
<p>While it&#8217;s possible that the issues with these domains may be solved at some point in the future, The Pirate Bay needed to do something quickly to keep the show on the road. As a result the site is now mainly using its .SE and .ORG domains. The irony here is that these have worked all along and it was only the fear of losing them that prompted all the domain hopping in the first place.</p>
<p>So where is The Pirate Bay today and how does one identify it among all the clones, mirrors and proxies? Verified Pirate Bay domains that can be trusted to link to the real version of the site are shown below.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/a67fe6b7.hydrabaynew.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/hydrabaynew.jpg" alt="hydrabaynew" width="650" height="435" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-115817"></center></p>
<p>Most domains should already look familiar but for now it seems likely that of the standard domains ThePirateBay.SE will remain most stable and least likely to be taken down on short notice. ThePirateBay.org has had its own problems recently but they <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bays-org-domain-back-online-after-registrar-switch-151211/">appear to be over</a>, at least for now.</p>
<p>The TOR/Onion address uj3wazyk5u4hnvtk.onion should also be fine longer term but it&#8217;s hardly the most memorable set of digits for anyone to recall.</p>
<p>While still operational, ThePirateBay.LA currently seems most vulnerable after being given &#8216;<a href="https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/epp-status-codes-2014-06-16-en">clienthold</a>&#8216; status earlier in the week.</p>
<p>In addition to those listed above the TPB crew have many other domains held in backup which could be introduced should any key domains experience further issues. Most do not currently link or divert to The Pirate Bay so there&#8217;s little point in listing them right now.</p>
<p>Overall it&#8217;s been a turbulent 12 months for The Pirate Bay and there&#8217;s little to suggest that 2016 will be any easier. While hosting has been surprisingly stable in recent times at a bare minimum one should expect more domain issues. But as history as shown us, other surprises could be just around the corner.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=115909
title: Five Piracy Predictions for 2016
uri: Five-Piracy-Predictions-for-2016
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/7GbSnlN3e-4/
content:
<p><img src="media/2719cf84.2016.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/2016.jpg" alt="2016" width="275" height="186" class="alignright size-full wp-image-115864">At the start of the new year the TF news desk often wonders how things can become even more extreme than the year before. </p>
<p>Today we decided to share some of these thoughts with you. </p>
<p>Granted, predicting the future isn&#8217;t an easy task, but the predictions below give plenty of food for thought and discussion. </p>
<h3>Copyright Holders Will Sue Chrome and Firefox</h3>
<p>This is an easy one really. After pursuing legal action against <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/200000-bittorrent-users-sued-in-the-united-states-110808/">hundreds of thousands</a> of people, many <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/grooveshark-shuts-down-apologizes-to-the-riaa-150501/">website operators</a>, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/riaa-sues-popcorn-time-for-music-151013/">software developers</a>, and even a large <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/cox-is-liable-for-pirating-subscribers-ordered-to-pay-25-million-151217/">U.S. Internet provider</a>, it&#8217;s only a small step to take. </p>
<p>Initially the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/riaa-asks-bittorrent-inc-to-block-infringing-content-150804/">RIAA and friends considered going after BitTorrent Inc.</a>, but web browsers such as Google Chrome and Mozilla&#8217;s FireFox pose an even greater threat. In their complaint the righsholders will blame the browsers for granting unrestricted access to millions of copyrighted works, through torrent, streaming, file-hosting and linking sites.</p>
<h3>Popcorn Time for Recipes</h3>
<p>Popcorn Time sells. We&#8217;ve seen Popcorn Time applications for TV and movies, for <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/aurous-promises-to-be-a-popcorn-time-for-music-150911/">music</a> and even for <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/now-theres-a-popcorn-time-for-porn-too-150606/">porn</a>. Copyright holders and <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/rightscorp-lures-hollywood-with-popcorn-time-protection-150904/">tracking companies</a> also jumped on the bandwagon and used the Popcorn Time brand to sell their schemes. </p>
<p>The Popcorn mania reached unprecedented levels in 2015 and it won&#8217;t end in the new year. During the months to come we&#8217;ll witness the launch of various new spin-offs including a Popcorn Time for recipes, allowing users to browse an advertising-free library of some of the hottest cooking instructions. </p>
<h3>ISPs will disconnect millions of &#8220;pirating&#8221; subscribers</h3>
<p>This is another shoe-in. A few weeks ago Cox Communications lost its lawsuit against music rights group BMG. The Internet provider was held <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/cox-is-liable-for-pirating-subscribers-ordered-to-pay-25-million-151217/">liable for the copyright infringements of its users</a> because it failed to disconnect persistent pirates. </p>
<p>The result is that Cox now has to pay $25 million in damages. However, the lawsuit also raised <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/who-stands-to-win-lose-after-coxs-piracy-defeat-151219/">alarm bells</a> at other major Internet providers, as most large ISPs don&#8217;t disconnect repeated infringers either. In 2016 copyright holders will raise the pressure by sending out dozens of millions of infringement notices. </p>
<p>In response, large ISPs will have to disconnect millions of pirating customers.</p>
<p>Initially copyright holders will praise the actions as a clear victory, but they will have second thoughts when they realize that the disconnected subscribers are <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirates-movie-industrys-valuable-customers-140304/">canceling their Netflix, Spotify, and other legal subscriptions</a> in droves.</p>
<h3>The Pirate Bay becomes Invincible</h3>
<p>The world&#8217;s most notorious torrent site has had quite a few ups and downs over the years, but in 2016 there will be some truly remarkable developments. Initially we thought TPB could be working on a new website design after all these years, but that&#8217;s probably too far-fetched.</p>
<p>Instead we predict that the Pirate Bay&#8217;s <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bays-attacks-censorship-with-server-drones-120318/">low orbit server drones</a> will finally take off, making the site even more resilient. In addition the TPB team will launch its planned application to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/how-the-pirate-bay-plans-to-beat-censorship-for-good-140105/">decentralize the entire site</a> and database among its users so it can withstand pretty much any raid.  </p>
<h3>Google Bans everything piratey</h3>
<p>In recent years the MPAA, RIAA and others have cyber-bullied Google to extremes. The rightsholders accuse Google of <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/music-industry-mulls-suing-google-over-pirate-search-results-120216/">facilitating</a> piracy and believe the company <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-asks-government-to-facilitate-private-anti-piracy-deals-151020/">hasn&#8217;t done enough</a> to address the situation. The MPAA even went as far as enlisting Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/google-takes-mpaa-to-court-over-secret-censorship-plans-150603/">to take Google out</a>. </p>
<p>In 2016 the search giant will throw in the towel. Instead of fighting the mounting pressure it will give the MPAA and friends everything they want, without any form of oversight.</p>
<p>As a result, The Pirate Bay, KickassTorrents and various other pirate domains will completely disappear from the search index. The same is true for other websites rightsholders frequently send takedown notices for, such as <a href="http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/copyright/domains/netflix.com/">Netflix</a>, <a href="http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/copyright/domains/imdb.com/">IMDb</a>, <a href="http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/copyright/domains/hollywoodreporter.com/">The Hollywood Reporter</a>, <a href="http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/copyright/domains/rottentomatoes.com/">Rotten Tomatoes</a>, <a href="http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/copyright/domains/spotify.com/">Spotify</a> and <a href="http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/copyright/domains/pandora.com/">Pandora</a>.</p>
<p>And remember, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/google-counsel-sees-problems-with-take-down-stay-down-151121/">take down means stay down</a>.</p>
<p><em>&#8212;</em><br>
<center><br>
<h3>Happy 2016!</h3>
<p></center></p>
<p><center><img src="media/e4b07a8b.happy2016newyear.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/happy2016newyear.jpg" alt="happy2016newyear" width="600" height="394" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-115919"></center></p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=115422
title: When Hollywood Raids Pirates, What Do They Search For?
uri: When-Hollywood-Raids-Pirates-What-Do-They-Search-For
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/LCEx-RFOM_M/
content:
<p><img src="media/d9df9e10.policedownload-300x172.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/policedownload-300x172.jpg" alt="policedownload" width="300" height="172" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-67910">Following a three year investigation by Hollywood-backed anti-piracy group the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT), in December five of the UK’s most prolific movie pirates were sentenced to more than 17 years.</p>
<p>The men, who were behind several interrelated movie release groups including RemixHD, 26K, UNiQUE, DTRG and HOPE/RESISTANCE, were tracked down with techniques <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/?p=115386">detailed in our earlier article</a> but when FACT and the police came knocking, what were they looking for?</p>
<p>TorrentFreak has obtained documents which reveal FACT&#8217;s &#8220;forensic strategy&#8221; in the case and details how the anti-piracy group sought to link the suspects with data gathered in the early stages of the operation.</p>
<p>A check-list shared with police underlined the need to corroborate existing intelligence and, if that was not possible, to determine whether suspects were involved in similar activities.</p>
<p><strong>Find evidence of a conspiracy</strong></p>
<p>As highlighted previously, FACT had long since abandoned attempting to prosecute defendants on copyright infringement grounds, largely since the maximum penalty in the UK for online offenses is &#8216;just&#8217; two years. Working instead towards charges of Conspiracy to Defraud, officers were instructed to find evidence which would show that the defendants worked in concert (conspired) to defraud.</p>
<p>Since the case was about movies there is little surprise that evidence sought included information linking the defendants to the capturing or camming of movies or anything which indicated copyrighted video had been encoded.</p>
<p>The most obvious items to be searched for included the movies themselves but FACT and the police also searched for video encoding and conversion software plus anything that suggested the defendants were involved in counterfeit DVD production.</p>
<p>On the conspiracy side, it&#8217;s clear that securing evidence of communications was crucial. Those carrying out the raid were keen to secure not only emails, but Internet chat logs plus any other related documents such as spreadsheets.</p>
<p>Evidence of uploading infringing content to the Internet plus any discussion of doing so was desired. It was hoped that in part this could be achieved by finding logs from FTP software used to upload videos to servers operated by some members of the release groups.</p>
<p><strong>Logs, logs, software &#8211; and more logs</strong></p>
<p>While garage mechanics have their own unique tools to fix an engine or change some oil, Internet pirates&#8217; tools largely exist in the digital domain. However, while the use of a wrench can be forgotten as soon as it&#8217;s been placed back in the box, pieces of software tend to have longer memories.</p>
<p>As a result, finding software on the machines of suspected pirates is a top priority since not only do these paint a picture of their owner, but they also carry detailed logs that can incriminate others.</p>
<p>On the machine of Sahil Rafiq police found lots of software designed to manipulate video and audio alongside ripping, encoding and torrent software. A copy of the DRM-busting software DVD Fab was also used in evidence.</p>
<p>At the time of the raid Rafiq&#8217;s machine was actually encoding a film but an inspection showed that the machine had been used for encoding before. Server logins, usernames and other passwords also provided useful pointers to previously monitored online behavior.</p>
<p>Also in apparent abundance were logs retained by chat software. The logs detailed links with groups releasing movies on the Internet and revealed discussions with Rafiq&#8217;s co-defendants alongside general comments indicating activity in the piracy business.</p>
<p>As is usually the case, FACT took an interest in Rafiq&#8217;s cellphone. According to evidence collated by the anti-piracy outfit, this device contained several messages from torrent sites which offered thanks for uploaded torrents.</p>
<p>Reece Baker&#8217;s machine had actually been wiped clean and a new operating system installed around two weeks before the raid. While that might have been a good start, when FACT arrived the machine was encoding the movie Gangster Squad which Baker had obtained from a Chinese torrent site.</p>
<p>The presence of the software <a href="http://www.virtualdub.org/">VirtualDub</a> was also viewed as a negative, as were logins which revealed Baker&#8217;s connection to the pirate group DEYA and a dozen uploads to ExtraTorrent.</p>
<p>In common with the others, Baker&#8217;s computer also carried lots of chat logs which detailed encoding and uploading of movies. Discussion surrounding the &#8220;<a href="media/4e04182b.Cap_code_screenshot.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com//images/Cap_code_screenshot.jpg">de-dotting</a>&#8221; of cams were seen as a negative as were incriminating comments made over Skype.</p>
<p>Baker&#8217;s phone was also seized &#8211; that contained a reminder for Rafiq&#8217;s birthday.</p>
<p>Like the others, Graeme Reid&#8217;s computer contained encoding and ripping software. It also had logins to a server used by the group and chat logs indicating that Reid was the leader of release group RemixHD and involved in another called UNiQUE.</p>
<p>A batch of emails showed how Reid had collaborated with others to source, encode and release movies. In total 1,725 torrent files were found plus DVD copying software.</p>
<p>Ben Cooper&#8217;s computer was also found to contain software for encoding and editing movies and carried chat logs confirming that he operated a server used to store films encoded by the groups.</p>
<p>With Scott Hemming it was a similar story. Evidence of encoding, incriminating chat logs with his co-defendants, and logins for a seedbox.</p>
<p><strong>Conclusion</strong></p>
<p>While FACT had built a pretty strong case against all of the defendants during its preliminary investigation, it&#8217;s very tempting to conclude that without the troves of information found on their computers, things would have turned out very differently indeed.</p>
<p>Quite how many of the 17 years sentenced could have been avoided will never be known, but it&#8217;s not beyond the realm of possibility that the case would have faltered before ever reaching a court room.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=115513
title: Four Persistent Online Piracy Misconceptions Busted
uri: Four-Persistent-Online-Piracy-Misconceptions-Busted
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/lOXdb_zBlPc/
content:
<p><img src="media/4838a439.upload.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/upload.png" alt="upload" width="240" height="164" class="alignright size-full wp-image-114664">Fifteen years ago, online peer-to-peer file-sharing was a fairly straightforward process. One simply downloaded a file-sharing client such as Kazaa, searched for whatever tickled one&#8217;s fancy, and waited for the file to transfer.</p>
<p>While it was undoubtedly easy, slick it was not. &#8216;Shared folder&#8217; type applications like Kazaa and LimeWire were slow, clumsy and a haven for fake files and junk. No wonder people got excited when BitTorrent came along a few years later.</p>
<p>Today, people getting into the P2P file-sharing scene experience an altogether different dynamic. In some ways it&#8217;s more difficult to get going from a standing start, but for those prepared to handle an initially steep learning curve the rewards are potentially much greater.</p>
<p>However, with great &#8216;rewards&#8217; come great responsibilities, especially when it comes to sharing copyrighted content without permission. As a result there are many misconceptions about what is and isn&#8217;t legal and how people are &#8216;caught&#8217; (and by whom) when using tools such as BitTorrent online.</p>
<p><strong>I never &#8216;seed&#8217; so I&#8217;m never going to get caught</strong></p>
<p>For the vast majority of users, seeding is the act of sharing content they have already downloaded. So, when a movie has downloaded and clicks from 99% to 100% complete, their BitTorrent software starts sharing that entire copy with the world.</p>
<p>However, many users believe that if they stop their software before it starts seeding, that means they cannot be tracked by anti-piracy companies. Unfortunately for them, that is completely untrue.</p>
<p>Any user in a BitTorrent &#8216;swarm&#8217; has the potential to be tracked, often within seconds and certainly within minutes of beginning their download. This is because unless there are special circumstances, all users are also automatically sharing the content they&#8217;re downloading with others.</p>
<p>Once that user&#8217;s IP address has been logged by an anti-piracy company, few give a damn whether the user is sharing 100% or 0.1% of a movie. While the time spent in a swarm increases the chances of being monitored, for anti-piracy companies participation is guilt &#8211; period.</p>
<p><strong>I own the original DVD/CD so I can download a copy completely legally</strong></p>
<p>So you went into the city and picked up a copy of Mission Impossible &#8211; Rogue Nation and helped to push the movie to the top of the Blu-ray charts. Then, having enjoyed it so much, you bought the soundtrack on CD from Amazon. Pat yourself on the back &#8211; you&#8217;re a paid-up member of the legitimate purchase club.</p>
<p>With that accolade under your belt, it must then follow that you can download backup copies from BitTorrent in case of scratches etc, right?</p>
<p>Err, no. Absolutely not.</p>
<p>Buying an original copy of a movie or CD provides the purchaser with a license to use that content in a certain fashion, usually including viewing/listening at home in front of a limited number of people. What that license definitely does not provide is permission to mass distribute that content to anyone else.</p>
<p>As noted above in the &#8216;seeding myth&#8217; section, anyone downloading content from BitTorrent is almost always distributing (or uploading) the same content to other users in the same swarm. The act of uploading is illegal in most countries.</p>
<p>Put plainly, anti-piracy companies couldn&#8217;t give a damn whether uploaders own none, one, or a million copies of the content in question. Unauthorized mass distribution is illegal, period.</p>
<p><strong>How can I stop my ISP from spying on me?</strong></p>
<p>During the past several years many hundreds of thousands of file-sharers have received letters or emails advising them that they&#8217;ve been monitored sharing copyrighted content without permission. As detailed above, many participated in BitTorrent swarms and had their IP addresses logged.</p>
<p>However, since the correspondence they initially receive usually comes from their Internet service provider (Comcast in the US, or Sky in the UK, for example), people believe that their ISP has been spying on them. That is simply not true.</p>
<p>In all ordinary circumstances, especially involving file-sharers, ISPs have no interest in monitoring their users. Not only would this present a legal minefield for service providers, doing so would also represent a logistical nightmare. </p>
<p>To be clear, anti-piracy companies monitor pirates and, broadly speaking, ISPs would rather not know what their users are doing. Some like to throttle (slow down) BitTorrent users but their interest generally ends there. </p>
<p><strong>I only need to use a VPN to avoid being traced</strong></p>
<p>There can be little doubt that <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">buying a decent VPN</a> from a reputable company is one of the best things anyone can do to protect their online privacy. However, people should be aware that this is only one aspect of remaining anonymous and it does not allow them to act with impunity.</p>
<p>Very often it is not merely how people connect to the Internet (unprotected IP address) that causes them to breach their security, but what they say and do once they&#8217;re online. For anyone interested in reading more about how poor Internet hygiene can drive a bus and several trucks through VPN security, please refer to our <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/how-hollywood-caught-the-uks-most-prolific-movie-pirates-151227/">earlier article</a> detailing how the UK&#8217;s most prolific pirates were caught.</p>
<p>In summary, VPNs are great (some might argue &#8216;essential&#8217;) for maintaining privacy online and their use alone will stop casual monitors from tracking the user. However, for those taking the bigger risks, VPNs and similar technology only help when sheer carelessness is taken out of the equation.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=115862
title: Top 10 Most Popular Torrent Sites of 2016
uri: Top-10-Most-Popular-Torrent-Sites-of-2016
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/cPYMinsRoQU/
content:
<p><img src="media/2719cf84.2016.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/2016.jpg" alt="2016" width="275" height="186" class="alignright size-full wp-image-115864">Most file-sharers are creatures of habit, but when their favorite site disappears they gladly hop over to the next one. </p>
<p>This is also reflected in our annual top 10 which sees the usual names on top but also features some dubious newcomers.</p>
<p>One of the major changes came with the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/eztv-shuts-down-after-hostile-takeover-150518/">hostile takeover</a> of the popular TV-torrent site EZTV. This prompted the popular TV-torrent distribution group to shut down last May. Another group took over the popular brand and continued with their own &#8216;unofficial&#8217; EZTV releases. We therefore marked the site as a newcomer. </p>
<p>Something similar happened to YIFY&#8217;s YTS website, when the Australian admin <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/yts-yify-signs-unprecedented-settlement-with-mpaa-151105/">ran into legal trouble</a>. The official YTS website shut down but it was quickly replaced by the &#8220;<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/yts-ag-wants-to-be-the-new-yify-on-popular-torrent-sites-151113/">unofficial</a>&#8221; YTS.ag, which gathered a large user-base over the past two months.</p>
<p>Apparently, most torrent users are happy as long as they can get their fix, no matter what the source is.</p>
<p>KickassTorrents (KAT) remains the most visited torrent site and continues to grow. The Pirate Bay is listed in second place and made a strong comeback after nearly two months of downtime spanning the turn of the year. Since the site has been operating from several domain names until a few days ago, we chose not to list an Alexa rank. </p>
<p>Finally, it&#8217;s worth noting that <a href="http://rutracker.org/forum/index.php">Rutracker</a> would have made it into the top five based on the number of visitors. However, we choose to only include English language content sites.</p>
<p>Below is the full list of the top 10 most-visited torrent sites at the start of the new year. The list is based on various traffic reports and we display the Alexa rank for each. In addition, we include last year&#8217;s ranking for each of the 10 sites.</p>
<h4>1. <a href="https://kat.cr">KickassTorrents</a></h4>
<p>KickassTorrents was founded in 2009 and surpassed The Pirate Bay in traffic last year. Battling various censorship efforts the site has burned through a few different domain names over the years. Most recently it <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/kickasstorrents-domain-seized-within-24-hours-next-stop-cr-150424/">switched to a Costa Rican .cr domain</a> after it lost its Somalian .so address.</p>
<div align="right">
<h5>Alexa Rank: 85 / Last year #1</h5>
</div>
<h4>2. <a href="http://thepiratebay.se/">The Pirate Bay</a></h4>
<p>The Pirate Bay is one of the main piracy icons. The torrent site wasn&#8217;t online at the beginning of 2015 and had to deal with a staff revolt. However, it quickly regained millions of users after a successful comeback operating from a hydra of domain names until last week. </p>
<div align="right">
<h5>Alexa Rank: NA / Compete Rank: NA / Last year #4</h5>
</div>
<h4>3. <a href="http://extratorrent.cc">ExtraTorrent</a></h4>
<p>ExtraTorrent continues to gain more traffic and has become one of the most active torrent communities. The site is also the home of the popular ETTV and ETRG release groups.</p>
<div align="right">
<h5>Alexa Rank: 342 / Last year #3</h5>
</div>
<h4>4. <a href="http://www.torrentz.eu/">Torrentz</a></h4>
<p>Torrentz has been the leading BitTorrent meta-search engine for many years. Unlike the other sites featured in the list Torrentz does not host any torrent files or magnet links, but redirects visitors to other places on the web. The site uses several domain names with .eu being the most popular.</p>
<div align="right">
<h5>Alexa Rank: 351 / Last year #3</h5>
</div>
<h4>5. <a href="http://rarbg.to/">RARBG</a></h4>
<p>RARBG, which started out as a Bulgarian tracker, was last year&#8217;s newcomer and continues to rake in more visitors. The site was blocked by UK ISPs last year, which put it on par with most other sites in the top 10.</p>
<div align="right">
<h5>Alexa Rank: 1,101 / Last year #7</h5>
</div>
<h4>6. <a href="http://1337x.to">1337x</a></h4>
<p>1337x has traditionally been a community driven torrent site but several weeks ago most of the admins and moderators abandoned ship over security concerns. The coming year it will become clear whether 1337x can keep its popular status. </p>
<div align="right">
<h5>Alexa Rank: 1,249 / Last year #9</h5>
</div>
<h4>7. <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/eztv-shuts-down-after-hostile-takeover-150518/">EZTV.ag</a></h4>
<p>TV-torrent distribution group EZTV shut down earlier this year after a hostile takeover. The site continued to operate under new ownership and releases its own torrents now. In solidarity with the original owners several large torrent sites have banned these &#8216;new&#8217; releases from their sites.</p>
<div align="right">
<h5>Alexa Rank: 1,373 / Last year #NA</h5>
</div>
<h4>8. <a href="http://www.torrenthound.com/">TorrentHound</a></h4>
<p>TorrentHound has been around since the last decade but is a newcomer in the top 10. It has also been on the radar of copyright holders this year. The torrent site is blocked in several countries and was reported as a piracy haven to the U.S. government, alongside many other sites in this list.</p>
<div align="right">
<h5>Alexa Rank: 2,239 / Last year #NA</h5>
</div>
<h4>5. <a href="http://yts.ag/">YTS.ag</a></h4>
<p>YTS.ag has nothing to do with the original YTS or YIFY group, but aims to take its place. As with the new EZTV, several large torrent sites are not allowing the group to use the YIFY or YTS brands on their sites.</p>
<div align="right">
<h5>Alexa Rank: 740 / Compete Rank: 4,271 / Last year #NA</h5>
</div>
<h4>10. <a href="http://torrentdownloads.me/">TorrentDownloads</a></h4>
<p>TorrentDownloads has been around for several years. The torrent site regained a spot in the top 10 this year after it was featured for the last time in 2011. It&#8217;s a no-nonsense index that provides torrents to millions of users each month.</p>
<div align="right">
<h5>Alexa Rank: 2,969 / Last year #NA</h5>
</div>
<p><em>Disclaimer: Yes, we know that Alexa isn&#8217;t perfect and that Compete has plenty of flaws, but when combined both do a pretty good job at comparing sites that operate in a similar niche.</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100019
title: Secret Lovers: Public and Private Torrent Sites
uri: Secret-Lovers-Public-and-Private-Torrent-Sites
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/6feB67QML2U/
content:
<p><a href="media/cbf99978.love.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/love.jpg"><img src="media/2ce6befe.love-150x150.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/love-150x150.jpg" alt="love" width="150" height="150" class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-100043"></a>The endlessly entertaining /r/trackers and /r/torrents subs of Reddit are inhabited by a broad range of BitTorrent users, from the just starting out to the seriously experienced. As a result discussions range from the very basic to the fairly complex which makes them great environments for those of all skill levels.</p>
<p><strong>The million dollar question</strong></p>
<p>Pretty regularly the topic lands on the differences between public and private torrent sites and the inevitable million dollar question: Which is the best?</p>
<p>As someone who has seen this conversation play out dozens of times before it&#8217;s no surprise what happens next. Users of each type of site regularly batten down the hatches and go head to head with their perceived rivals in a battle to be won at all costs.</p>
<p>But the truth is this: public and private sites and their users might sometimes pretend to hate or have disrespect for each other, but the existence of both amounts to a match made in heaven. They squabble and bicker in public, but quietly they crave each other&#8217;s attention. In fact, these secret lovers can barely stand to be apart.</p>
<p><strong>&#8216;Elite&#8217; torrent users didn&#8217;t appear by magic</strong></p>
<p>Many (not all) private trackers work on the assumption that their users are among the elite. These individuals have perfectly honed systems, underpinned by the finest torrent client setups ever seen. Their sharing manners are impeccable and their access to content unprecedented.</p>
<p>Surprise!! These users didn&#8217;t simply appear out of thin air.</p>
<p>The majority of today&#8217;s &#8220;elite&#8221; users will have started out on the public torrent scene where they picked up knowledge and developed their skills over time, possibly several years. Like many they will have heard of the private tracker streets paved with gold and aspired to tread them one day.</p>
<p>Eventually, when luck, judgment and an existing member with invites all collided, Joe Public will have entered the Promised Land. The chances are he will have been impressed by what he found. Many private trackers display exceptional attention to detail, are meticulous in their presentation, and have great communities to boot. </p>
<p>But make no mistake, without his training on the public scene Mr Public would not have lasted long on a private tracker. Thankfully he already knew many if not all of the basics and while private site staff might not like the public scene too much, they are grateful to it for educating their new recruit. Rarely will they admit it, however.</p>
<p><strong>Join us &#8211; if you can (but it won&#8217;t be easy)</strong></p>
<p>Perhaps one of the most interesting things about the private / public rivalry is how the former absolutely needs the latter to boost its ranks. Many private tracker users/staffers hang out on /r/trackers and /r/torrents and many are happy to answer questions. Need movies faster? Better quality music? Cure for arthritis? Join a private tracker!</p>
<p>However, as many advice recipients discover, that&#8217;s often easier said than done. Most private sites have strict limits on the number of members allowed in and the majority require users to be invited. Several demand that prospective members sit an entrance exam or interview to get in. It can be a real hassle.</p>
<p><strong>No room at the inn :(</strong></p>
<p>That said, limited availability of member slots exists for a number of reasons, not least technical limitations and other practicalities of running a relatively small site.</p>
<p>While this is a nuisance for those looking to get in, this is a real plus for private trackers. Not only do they have the luxury of picking and choosing new entrants, they also maintain the exclusivity that makes them so desirable to join in the first place. But just as new members trickle in, other things flood right out.</p>
<p><strong>Thanks for the content, private trackers</strong></p>
<p>For many years the so-called warez scene was the source of much of the content available online today. Things are changing in a very big way though and P2P distribution is now the uncrowned king. </p>
<p>Recently a flood of DVD screeners began to hit the Internet yet none of them came from a traditional &#8216;Scene&#8217; source. In fact (and as far as the masses are concerned) most of them first appeared for the early enjoyment of the lucky individuals inhabiting private trackers. Eventually nearly all of them spread to public sites though. And users of those sites are grateful, even if they don&#8217;t mention it.</p>
<p><strong>They should just get along</strong></p>
<p>The ubiquitous nature of public sites has created a wealth of interest in file-sharing that private sites could never have managed on their own. Both have benefited as a result and it&#8217;s hard to escape that.</p>
<p>Also, most private torrent site users were doing their thing in public at one stage and when it comes to swelling their ranks, footfall to private sites is provided by the public. &#8216;Elite&#8217; users don&#8217;t just appear out of thin air.</p>
<p>And, when Joe Public finds he can&#8217;t or refuses to keep up with the often stringent rules and requirements of private trackers, there needs to be a safety net or he could disappear from the P2P sharing scene entirely. Where does he go? Back to public torrent sites, of course.</p>
<p>Finally, for those who like to measure the quality of public and private sites by comparing YIFY rips with those more exclusively available &#8211; two words:</p>
<p>Gateway. Drug.</p>
<p>Excited new recruits coming up&#8230;&#8230;and the secret love affair continues.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=115164
title: Dropbox Scores Patent for Peer-to-Peer Syncing
uri: Dropbox-Scores-Patent-for-Peer-to-Peer-Syncing
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/aCX_3dSgrjE/
content:
<p><img src="media/ff3b628a.dropbox.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dropbox.png" alt="dropbox" width="250" height="166" class="alignright size-full wp-image-115828">There are dozens of sync and backup services available on the Internet, but most have a major drawback. They rely on external cloud-based hosting.</p>
<p>This may work well for smaller files, but when large videos have to be distributed among several devices people may run into trouble. This is one of the reasons why <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BitTorrent_Sync">BitTorrent Sync</a> has become quite popular. </p>
<p>Dropbox, one of the leading cloud syncing services, also appears to realize that there&#8217;s an opportunity here. Behind the scenes the company has been working on a technology that allows users to share files across different devices through secure P2P transfers. </p>
<p>This month the company scored <a href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/294278293/dropboxp2p?secret_password=m1n8N4LvKdXeJM6KXHhZ">a patent</a> for a secure peer-to-peer synchronization system through which users can quickly share and collaborate on files without uploading them to Dropbox&#8217;s servers. </p>
<p>&#8220;Peer-to-peer distributed sharing of the content items in such an online content management system can eliminate bottlenecks, thereby increasing the speed at which the content items can be shared among the individuals,&#8221; Dropbox explains </p>
<p>&#8220;In particular, in peer-to-peer distributed sharing, the individuals can directly transfer the content items from one computer or electronic device to another, instead of uploading and downloading the content items to and from remote storage in the online content management system,&#8221; they add. </p>
<p><center><strong>Dropbox&#8217; P2P synchronization</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/a4086d0c.dropbox-patent.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dropbox-patent.jpg" alt="dropbox-patent" width="600" height="439" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-115827"></center></p>
<p>This type of peer-to-peer sharing is useful for groups of people who require access to the same files, especially if they are large. In addition, the technology could also help to quickly share the files of one person between different devices. </p>
<p>However, P2P syncing can also lead to all kinds of conflicts and errors, in particular when more people are working on the same file at the same time. After all, the system must know what files are the most recent and how to properly distribute them. </p>
<p>To address this Dropbox&#8217;s system will allow users to provide a cryptographic key to a server. This signals what version of the file they have and how it should be synchronized across the other devices.</p>
<p>&#8220;&#8230;the recipients can use the cryptographic key during peer-to-peer distributed sharing of the version of the content item among the user and the recipients in a shared network (intranet or Internet) without synchronization conflicts &#8230;,&#8221; the patent reads. </p>
<p>The patent is an interesting development. If Dropbox goes ahead and implements a form of peer-to-peer syncing then this would greatly increase the appeal to users who share large data files, such as editors and graphic designers. </p>
<p>In a way it&#8217;s framed as a competitor for BitTorrent Sync, which specifically targets this niche. Launched in 2013, BitTorrent Sync allows users to become their own cloud and share massive files without storing them on external central servers. </p>
<p>BitTorrent Sync previously announced that it was <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-sync-7-times-faster-than-dropbox-131205/">seven times faster</a> than Dropbox, which may have prompted the cloud syncing service to follow BitTorrent&#8217;s peer-to-peer lead. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=115963
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week – 01/04/16
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-01-04-16
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/tKnbEv6Pj9w/
content:
<p><img src="media/19d3cb70.martian.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/martian.jpg" alt="martian" width="300" height="166" class="alignright size-full wp-image-115696">This week we have two newcomers in our chart. </p>
<p>The Martian 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-122815/">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/the_martian/">The Martian</a>  </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3659388/?">8.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej3ioOneTy8">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_big_short/">The Big Short</a> (DVDscr) </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1596363/">8.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDlYm15ztK4">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_revenant_2015/">The Revenant</a> (DVDscr) </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1663202/">?.?</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoebZZ8K5N0">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(7)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/spectre_2015/">Spectre</a> (DVDscr)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2379713/">7.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GqClqvlObY">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_hateful_eight/">The Hateful Eight</a> (DVDscr)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3460252/">9.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_UI1GzaWv0">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bridge_of_spies/">Bridge of Spies</a> (DVDscr)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3682448/">7.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBBuzHrZBro">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/creed_2015/">Creed</a> (DVDscr)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3076658/">8.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv554B7YHk4">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/burnt/">Burnt</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2503944/">6.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiGJlUVQDGk">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(8)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_intern/">The Intern</a> (Web-DL)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2361509/">7.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-DEy3mylCs">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_peanuts_movie/">The Peanuts Movie</a> (DVDscr)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2452042/">7.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVR4E6Q6u5g">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(10)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/in_the_heart_of_the_sea/">In The Heart of The Sea</a> (DVDscr)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1390411/">7.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-H35Mpj4uk">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="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=115961
title: Warner Bros and Intel Sue 4k Content Protection “Stripper”
uri: Warner-Bros-and-Intel-Sue-4k-Content-Protection-Stripper
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/qsLRPnBJ2qI/
content:
<p><img src="media/c84f81a8.4k.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/4k.jpg" alt="4k" width="261" height="168" class="alignright size-full wp-image-115973">Last November several pirated copies of 4K videos <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirates-can-now-rip-4k-content-from-netflix-and-amazon-151127/">started to leak</a> from both Netflix and Amazon. These leaks were unusual as online 4k streams were always well protected against pirates. </p>
<p>While it&#8217;s still not clear how these videos were copied, a new lawsuit from Warner Bros. and Intel’s daughter company Digital Content Protection (<a href="http://www.digital-cp.com/">DCP</a>) suggests that HDFury devices may be involved.</p>
<p>The companies have filed a lawsuit at a federal court in New York against the maker of the devices, technology company LegendSky. </p>
<p>Starting a few weeks ago the Chinese company launched a range of <a href="https://www.hdfury.com/shop/splitters/integral-4k60-444-600mhz/">new devices</a> which allow users to strip the latest HDCP encryption. This hardware sits between a HDCP-compliant source device and another device, allowing it to pass on a &#8220;stripped&#8221; 4K signal.</p>
<p>The Hollywood studio and DCP argue that these devices violate the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provisions and should no longer be sold to prevent further damage.</p>
<p><center><strong>One of the HDFury devices</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/565675c0.hdfury.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/hdfury.jpg" alt="hdfury" width="600" height="427" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-115967"></center></p>
<p>TF obtained a copy of <a href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/294553836/Legendsky-Suit?secret_password=OlID9bBl59aWBgg69Air">the complaint</a> in which Warner Bros. allege that the hardware threatens copyright holders because it enables users to render 4K video &#8220;in the clear,&#8221; making it easy for pirates to share it online. </p>
<p>&#8220;The HDFury Devices harm copyright owners like Warner Bros. because they enable Digital Content to be displayed without the protections of HDCP, thereby enabling users to access copyrighted works, make and/or distribute copies of copyrighted works [&#8230;] all without the permission of the copyright owner,&#8217; they write.  </p>
<p>DCP, on the other hand, is harmed because it owns and controls the HDCP standard. When this copy protection is easily circumvented it loses much of its value and potential licensing revenue. </p>
<p>&#8220;The HDFury Devices harm DCP because, among other things, they undermine the effectiveness of HDCP, lower the value of HDCP, and thereby jeopardize DCP’s ability to  license HDCP to Digital Device manufacturers and Digital Content owners,&#8221; the complaint reads.</p>
<p>Both Warner Bros. and DCP accuse LegendSky of violating the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provisions. In addition, they claim that the company violated the Lanham Act by falsely stating that the HDFury devices comply with HDCP’s license requirements.</p>
<p>The plaintiffs ask the court to prohibit these devices from being sold and advertised. In addition, they want to be compensated for the damages they’ve suffered.</p>
<p>In discussions with TorrentFreak, someone who recently purchased an HDFury 4K &#8216;stripper&#8217; confirmed that the product does indeed work. The first devices were shipped from China early November, a few days before the first 4K rips appeared online. </p>
<p>For Warner Bros. it is essential that 4K copy protection remains strong. The company just announced that it will release several dozen 4K Blu-ray movies this year and would like to keep these out of the hands of pirates.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=115993
title: Anti-Piracy Education Enters UK Classrooms
uri: Anti-Piracy-Education-Enters-UK-Classrooms
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/51h0eLHJiWI/
content:
<p>It took an awful long time to arrive but late 2014 the movie and music industries eventually <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/uk-isps-agree-to-send-out-music-movie-piracy-warnings-140509/">reached agreement</a> with the UK’s leading ISPs to send warnings to subscribers suspected of downloading content from file-sharing networks.</p>
<p>The warning scheme (which is currently notable only by its absence) is part of the Creative Content UK (CCUK) initiative which marries the &#8216;stick&#8217; of direct-to-door warnings with a broader educational campaign focused on deterrence.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/uk-anti-piracy-education-campaign-launched-quietly-151201/">previously reported</a> the first campaign titled “Get It Right from a Genuine Site” used a colorful cartoon to encourage viewers to boycott &#8216;pirate&#8217; sites in favor of those which pay licensing fees supporting the entertainment industries.</p>
<p>And now, at the start of a new year, CCUK&#8217;s latest initiative can be found on the Intellectual Property Office’s education site, which was launched under the &#8216;<a href="http://www.crackingideas.com">Cracking Ideas</a>&#8216; brand last November.</p>
<p>Fronted by clay animation stars Wallace and Gromit, &#8216;Cracking Ideas&#8217; is offering a lesson plan which asks 14-19 year old students to consider &#8220;the impact and ethics of film piracy, the consequences of downloading a film illegally and the impact of film piracy on the creative industries.&#8221;</p>
<p>Produced in partnership with The Industry Trust, The Intellectual Property Office and the Federation Against Copyright Theft, the lesson (titled &#8220;Vin Diesel’s Socks&#8221;) is built around a student-created anti-piracy PSA of the same name which questions who will fund the action star&#8217;s footwear if people pirate rather pay.</p>
<p>When placed side-by-side with &#8216;classics&#8217; such as &#8220;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmZm8vNHBSU">You Wouldn&#8217;t Download a Car</a>&#8220;, the change of tone is notable.</p>
<p><center><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MPkmd7McOJs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center></p>
<p>The lesson is centered around 18 slides with accompanying notes encouraging teachers and other educators to question students on issues including illegal uploading.</p>
<p>&#8220;Why do you think people distribute and upload films illegally? What do you think are the consequences of this activity?&#8221; one slide asks. Students are given time to think but are then offered these reasons.</p>
<p><center><br>
<h5>Slide</h5>
<p><img src="media/bf56e837.diesel-1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/diesel-1.png" alt="diesel-1" width="650" height="488" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-115996"></center></p>
<p>It&#8217;s no real surprise that cash is put forward as the prime motivator, even though the country&#8217;s <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/uk-movie-pirates-sentenced-to-a-total-of-17-years-151218/">most recently jailed pirates</a> made not a single penny from their activities. It is interesting, however, that the slide balances this with the honest statement that pirates often beat legitimate providers to the market, with pricing and availability.</p>
<p>Mirroring similar campaigns underway in the United States, the lesson also reinforces the notion that &#8216;pirate&#8217; sites are dangerous places. It also falls back on the controversial &#8216;disappearing money&#8217; argument that money not outlaid on movies is somehow not spent elsewhere in the economy.</p>
<p>But credit where it&#8217;s due. A later slide concedes that people who pirate content online are often the same people who pay to visit the cinema, buy DVDs and stream content from legitimate sources.</p>
<p><center><br>
<h5>Slide</h5>
<p><img src="media/d5d361c8.diesel-2.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/diesel-2.png" alt="diesel-2" width="650" height="486" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-115997"></center></p>
<p>Later, students are asked to consider &#8220;Should things that are online be free?&#8221; and &#8220;Should you do things just because they are technologically possible?&#8221;</p>
<p>But what if students believe that piracy generates free buzz, that if they download something and rave about it to their friends, that will boost sales? The lesson&#8217;s covering notes provide guidance for teachers on how to respond.</p>
<p>&#8220;You may like to explain that creators of films, music or any other product should be in control of how they distribute their product. If they want to share it for free that is their choice, but illegal distribution removes that choice from the creator,&#8221; the notes suggest.</p>
<p>And, if students think that plenty of people still go to the cinema and film companies continue to make lots of money, the suggested response is as follows.</p>
<p>&#8220;You can suggest that it can take a long time for many films to make a profit and that unless people pay for the film at the cinema, online, on DVD etc, films will not cover their costs or make a profit, this will affect the quality and range of films that are made, and the career opportunities available in the film industry.&#8221;</p>
<p>But what if students get really tricky by suggesting that the film industry &#8220;is behind the times&#8221; by not serving those who want to watch movies as soon as they become available?</p>
<p>&#8220;You can suggest to students that some films are available online and on DVD at the same time as they are in the cinema, but that watching a film in the cinema is a different experience to watching it at home and many filmmakers and studios want their films to be an experience, and viewed in the optimum conditions. How a film is released and how much the creators charge for their product is their choice.&#8221;</p>
<p>In a later slide students are advised about being monitored online by copyright holders and the subsequent ISP warnings their activity might generate. Notably there is no mention of any punishments or references to breaking the law. The warnings are mentioned solely as a way to direct alleged infringers to legitimate content. This is a big change from past campaigns.</p>
<p>Finally, students are shown slides detailing the work of the Federation Against Copyright Theft but again there is little for them to feel threatened over. Instead, teachers are encouraged to explain that even pirates love movies.</p>
<p>&#8220;Explain that many people who access pirated film actually love film and want the industry to continue making great movies. If students love film, they should look for legal providers through Find Any Film next time. Play the <a href="http://www.industrytrust.co.uk/campaigns/moments">Moments Worth Paying For/Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer</a> and ask students why they think film is worth paying for,&#8221; the notes to teachers conclude.</p>
<p>The Vin Diesel&#8217;s Socks lesson plan can be downloaded <a href="http://www.crackingideas.com/keystage/Key+Stage+4">here</a>.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116018
title: BitTorrent Inc. Wants to Woo Major Brands to Boost Revenue
uri: BitTorrent-Inc-Wants-to-Woo-Major-Brands-to-Boost-Revenue
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/P1rxi2vbERY/
content:
<p><img src="media/21af8fa2.bittorrent-crime.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/bittorrent-crime.jpg" alt="bittorrent-crime" width="222" height="202" class="alignright size-full wp-image-79637">As the brains and machinery behind uTorrent and the Mainline BitTorrent clients, BitTorrent Inc. is the market leader in consumer focused, peer-to-peer file-sharing tools.</p>
<p>Combined, these clients enjoy around 170 million active users per month, a massive userbase that&#8217;s unrivaled in the marketplace. In total, BitTorrent Inc. serves a cool 200 million adverts to its users every single day.</p>
<p>But despite these impressive numbers, revenues for BitTorrent Inc. remain modest. As <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/utorrent-and-bittorrent-serve-over-200-million-ads-per-day-151206/">previously reported</a>, the company sells its worldwide traffic for just 7 cents per 1,000 views, one of the lowest tiers in the ad industry.</p>
<p>While the situation is complex, one of BitTorrent Inc&#8217;s problems is how some view the company as being closely tied to piracy. For many, when people download a pirate movie or album using BitTorrent, that means that somehow BitTorrent Inc is involved, but that has parallels with holding Mozilla to account when people use Firefox for nefarious purposes.</p>
<p>In response, BitTorrent Inc has tried extremely hard to reposition itself not only as a software vendor but also as an artist development and <a href="https://bundles.bittorrent.com/">promotion platform</a>. A successful play here could help to boost those low-cent views to something carrying more value. The company hopes that a new appointment will play a part in that.</p>
<p>In a job listing posted a few hours ago, the San Francisco based company reveals it&#8217;s searching for a new Sales Director to drive media demand across Western Europe.</p>
<p>Responsible for the company&#8217;s publishing network across desktop, mobile and web-based platforms, the successful candidate will be expected to establish and develop relationships across the advertising spectrum and &#8220;grow company presence across all geos.&#8221;</p>
<p>But perhaps of most interest is the requirement for the individual to put in place a strategy to &#8220;optimize revenues&#8221; by getting a better return on available advertising space.</p>
<p>Part of that will be achieved by meeting with agencies and trading desks but the underlying strategy here is to attract reputable companies or, as BitTorrent Inc <a href="http://www.indeed.com/job/Sales-Director-at-BitTorrent-in-San-Francisco,-CA-66ea8cabfd93e6dc">puts it</a>, &#8220;drive demand from major brands.&#8221;</p>
<p>And when targeting major brands, BitTorrent Inc. wants to go straight to the top.</p>
<p>&#8220;Inclusive activities are meeting with all agencies for major holding companies for relevant brands, industry events, trade shows, ad clubs and social participation,&#8221; the company explains.</p>
<p>But while branding is an excellent way to get more for a product, it is very likely that the BitTorrent &#8216;brand&#8217; will have already appeared on advertisers&#8217; radars, and not in a good way either.</p>
<p>Despite the company&#8217;s efforts to distance itself from piracy, the entertainment industries are putting significant resources into ensuring that big companies do not pump money into the piracy ecosystem, whether that&#8217;s by placing ads on blatant piracy sites or via platforms that help to enable infringement.</p>
<p>And it&#8217;s very clear that groups such as the RIAA view BitTorrent Inc. as an enabler of such infringement. Last summer Brad Buckles, Executive Vice President of Anti-Piracy at the RIAA wrote to the company with a plea for it to get serious over piracy.</p>
<p>“The software client applications developed, marketed and distributed by BitTorrent Inc. facilitated approximately 75% of at least 1.6 million torrent based infringements in the United States upon which a notice was sent in 2014,” Buckles <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/riaa-asks-bittorrent-inc-to-block-infringing-content-150804/">wrote</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;[If not endorsing piracy] is indeed your business philosophy, then we believe it is only right and proper for BitTorrent, Inc to take steps to reduce their facilitation of infringement.&#8221;</p>
<p>So the company is left with somewhat of a dilemma. Should major brand advertising be secured, that will soon appear in uTorrent alongside infringing downloads being carried out by tens of millions of users. As a result it won&#8217;t take long for the entertainment industries to pile pressure on the brands to withdraw.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if BitTorrent Inc implements some kind of anti-piracy system to inspire confidence with the brands, a large portion of its 170 million userbase will get very serious about moving to other platforms. That will drastically reduce both eyeballs and revenue while ensuring that current advertisers reach fewer people than they do at the moment.</p>
<p>There&#8217;s a tipping point in there somewhere but either way, it&#8217;s clear that whoever takes on the new role at BitTorrent Inc. will have their work cut out to bring on the brands in today&#8217;s climate.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116004
title: U.S. Govt Reviews Impact and Efficacy of DMCA Safe Harbor
uri: U-S-Govt-Reviews-Impact-and-Efficacy-of-DMCA-Safe-Harbor
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Br75RFH9x5M/
content:
<p><img src="media/7893ef12.us-united-america-flag.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/us-united-america-flag.jpg" alt="us-united-america-flag" width="270" height="178" class="alignright size-full wp-image-116015">Signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1998, the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) aimed to ready copyright law for the digital age.</p>
<p>The law introduced a safe harbor for Internet services, meaning that they can’t be held liable for their pirating users as long as they properly process takedown notices and deal with repeat infringers.</p>
<p>Today, the DMCA is perhaps more in the news than ever before. Just last month Internet provider Cox Communication was <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/cox-is-liable-for-pirating-subscribers-ordered-to-pay-25-million-151217/">ordered to pay $25 million</a> because it failed to disconnect subscribers whose connections were repeatedly used to pirate content.   </p>
<p>In addition, millions of takedown notices are sent out <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/google-asked-remove-558-million-pirate-links-2015/">every day</a> while copyright holders and Internet services openly debate the effectiveness of the current DMCA takedown procedures.</p>
<p>To hear the growing concerns from all sides the U.S. Copyright Office has launched a <a href="media/dcbb6a6f.2015-32973.pdf" data-original-source="https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-12-31/pdf/2015-32973.pdf">public consultation</a> in order to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of the DMCA&#8217;s safe harbor provisions. </p>
<p>&#8220;Among other issues, the Office will consider the costs and burdens of the notice-and-takedown process on large- and small-scale copyright owners, online service providers, and the general public. The Office will also review how successfully section 512 addresses online infringement and protects against improper takedown notices,&#8221; the Copyright Office writes. </p>
<p>Various stakeholders, including the public, are invited to answer a wide variety of questions. How effective takedown notices are in deterring piracy, for example, how costly the process is, and whether more should be done to assure that links don&#8217;t reappear elsewhere. </p>
<p>The latter issue was brought to the forefront recently when Google rejected the idea to ban <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/google-opposes-whole-site-removal-of-pirate-domains-151021/">entire domain names</a> from its search results, or implement a system that would prevent content from <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/google-counsel-sees-problems-with-take-down-stay-down-151121/">reappearing under a new URL</a>.</p>
<p>The consultation also mentions the &#8220;repeat infringer&#8221; issue which is a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/who-stands-to-win-lose-after-coxs-piracy-defeat-151219/">major concern for ISPs</a>. At the moment it&#8217;s not common for Internet providers to disconnect subscribers who repeatedly pirate content, as there&#8217;s no clear definition of what a repeat infringer is. </p>
<p>Demanding a tougher stance, several copyright holders argue that notices without any repercussions are not going to be very effective.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/dmca-horrors-of-a-broad-and-automated-censorship-tool-120304/">automated takedown tools</a> which often lead to incorrect removals are raised as well. The same is true for more serious forms of abuse, where takedown notices are used to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/online-thug-dmcas-critics-site-off-the-internet-over-16-word-rant-121011/">silence critics</a> or <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/warner-bros-false-takedowns-stifle-free-speech-eff-tells-court-120306/">stifle free speech</a>. </p>
<p>&#8220;Service providers and advocacy groups have raised concerns about fraudulent and abusive section 512 notices that may restrain fair use, free speech, or otherwise misuse the notice-and-takedown process,&#8221; the Copyright Office notes. </p>
<p>&#8220;Some of the concerns arise from takedown notices for content that appears to constitute an obvious fair use of a copyright work. Others relate to efforts to remove criticism or commentary—such as negative reviews—under the guise of copyright.&#8221;</p>
<p>For their part, copyright holders believe that many Internet services are simply <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/youtube-games-copyright-law-to-avoid-license-fees-ifpi-says-150801/">hiding behind their safe harbor protections</a>. A more proactive stance to deal with various forms of piracy is required, they argue.</p>
<p>Considering the parties involved and the stakes at hand, copyright holders, Internet services and ISPs will leave no resource untapped to have their views heard. In any event, the Copyright office will have to plow through a lot of contrasting opinions.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116058
title: No More Pirate Games in Two Years, Cracking Group Warns
uri: No-More-Pirate-Games-in-Two-Years-Cracking-Group-Warns
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/YBAva544HS4/
content:
<p><img src="media/fe5f698e.denuvo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/denuvo.jpg" alt="denuvo" width="210" height="109" class="alignright size-full wp-image-116067">Piracy can never be stopped. Piracy will always be around. Where there&#8217;s a will to break copy protection, there&#8217;s a way. These are all comments regularly heard in piracy circles and to date, they&#8217;ve largely been proven accurate.</p>
<p>But while trying to protect movies and music using technological measures is by now almost a lost cause, the same cannot be said about video games. While copying a title was a trivial process several years ago, in many cases more and more roadblocks are now being put in pirates&#8217; way.</p>
<p>In the past most games would be playable for free before their official debut but increasingly pirates are being made to wait for big titles to have their protection defeated, or &#8216;cracked&#8217; as it&#8217;s more commonly known. In fact, aside from many dozens of dedicated piracy forums, there&#8217;s even an entire sub-Reddit <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/CrackStatus/">community</a> dedicated to providing the status of cracks.</p>
<p>One of the hottest topics involves the Avalanche Studios/Square Enix title Just Cause 3. Released on December 1, 2015 and despite massive demand, the game has still not been cracked. The problem appears to lie with the robustness of the technology protecting the game.</p>
<p><img src="media/7963edf0.jc3-small.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/jc3-small.jpg" alt="jc3-small" width="200" height="131" class="alignright size-full wp-image-116070">Just Cause 3 uses the latest iteration of Denuvo, an anti-tamper technology developed by Denuvo Software Solutions GmbH. While its secrets are best known to its creators, Denuvo is a secondary encryption system which protects existing and underlying DRM products.</p>
<p>In 2014 the product made the <a href="http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-12-19-denuvo-anti-tamper-drm">headlines</a> after successfully protecting Dragon Age: Inquisition for almost a month, a very respectable time in cracking circles.</p>
<p>In the end it was Chinese cracking group 3DM that brought down that instance of Denuvo but the Germany-based company continued to tweak and achieved increasing protection periods on recent games in the FIFA series. FIFA 16 is currently Denuvo protected and that game still hasn&#8217;t been cracked, despite being released in September.</p>
<p>But Just Cause 3 is the current hot potato and despite having released an endless supply of cracks for other titles (and having had success against Denuvo in the past), the cracks (excuse the pun) are beginning to show at 3DM. </p>
<p>In a posting on her blog, <a href="http://bbs.3dmgame.com">3DM forum</a> founder &#8216;Bird Sister&#8217; (also known as Phoenix) has revealed the frustrations being experienced with Just Cause 3.</p>
<p>&#8220;Recently, many people have asked about cracks for &#8216;Just Cause 3&#8242;, so here is a centralized answer to this question. The last stage is too difficult and Jun [cracking guy] nearly gave up, but last Wednesday I encouraged him to continue,&#8221; Bird Sister explains.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/a3af47ea.3dm-1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/3dm-1.jpg" alt="3dm-1" width="527" height="178" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-116064"></center></p>
<p>While games pirates everywhere will be willing Jun on to complete what 3DM ultimately believe will be an achievable task, Bird Sister isn&#8217;t optimistic about the future. In fact, she paints somewhat of a doomsday scenario.</p>
<p>&#8220;I still believe that this game can be compromised. But according to current trends in the development of encryption technology, in two years time I&#8217;m afraid there will be no free games to play in the world,&#8221; she adds.</p>
<p>While Denuvo is no doubt proving a difficult nut to crack, two years is an awful long time in technology and things are always prone to change. Furthermore, Denuvo is only used on a limited number of gaming titles, reportedly due to its relative expense.</p>
<p>But what is difficult to deny here is the window of opportunity provided by the Denuvo system. Hardcore gamers are notoriously impatient which almost certainly means that one, two or three months of waiting for a crack is coming up for a quarter of a year late to the game. Another three months after that and many gamers will be looking forward to FIFA 17 and Just Cause 4, leaving pirates in their wake.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, the seemingly uncrackable always seem to fall, eventually. During the past few days it was revealed that the PS4 has been <a href="https://fail0verflow.com/blog/index.html">compromised to run Linux</a>. While not to the level of playing full-blown pirate games yet, that might lie around the corner. Exactly when, no one seems to know, but most gamers won&#8217;t have the patience to wait.</p>
<p><center><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9_TO9coh-OQ" 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="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116044
title: Startup Leverages DMCA Notices As Artist Marketing Tool
uri: Startup-Leverages-DMCA-Notices-As-Artist-Marketing-Tool
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/gKAuEzd7si8/
content:
<p><img src="media/aa3cd9e4.trace.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/trace.jpg" alt="trace" width="275" height="243" class="alignright size-full wp-image-116061">For more than two decades online piracy has been a hot topic in the music industry. </p>
<p>The problem has motivated people to sue downloaders or target them with DMCA takedown requests, which are sometimes bundled with settlement demands.</p>
<p><a href="http://muzit.com/">Muzit</a> is a new startup which also tracks millions of BitTorrent pirates. However, instead of punishing downloaders they take a more gentle approach. Muzit uses DMCA notices as a means to connect artists and fans. </p>
<p>Muzit&#8217;s TRACE platform keeps track of where illegal downloads occur across the world and the company shares these insights with artists. They can then choose to alert the alleged pirates through DMCA notices and include a marketing message in these emails.</p>
<p>&#8220;Muzit was created for copyright owners who want to reach out and build a positive relationship with their fans. As long as it&#8217;s friendly, artists can send any type of message they want,&#8221; Muzit CEO Tommy Funderburk tells TF.</p>
<p>Funderburk is a music industry veteran with a keen interest in file-sharing. He used the same BitTorrent tracking technology in a previous startup called PayArtists where a similar system was used to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/automated-legal-threats-turn-piracy-into-profit-090628/">demand settlement payments</a> from alleged file-sharers.</p>
<p>This punishment approach has now been swapped for a system that embraces P2P distribution, hoping to connect artists and fans. As part of this positive attitude the company also dropped the use of the term &#8220;pirate.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;At Muzit we have eliminated the word ‘pirate’ from our vocabulary. We choose to regard individuals who use P2P as fans and potential customers.‘Fans not Foes’ as we like to say,&#8221; Funderburk says.</p>
<p><center><strong>Muzit&#8217;s artist dashboard</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/8ac6c5fc.muzit1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/muzit1.jpg" alt="muzit1" width="600" height="509" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-116049"></center></p>
<p>Muzit is currently working with several copyright holders including The Mavericks and the estates of James Brown and Isaac Hayes. Typical &#8220;offers&#8221; they send to downloaders include exclusive music downloads, merchandise and unique artist memorabilia.</p>
<p>&#8220;Recently The Mavericks used Muzit TRACE to encourage people to sign up for their fan club by offering a free giveaway of an autographed guitar. In this campaign, they were able to reach out to around 200,000 new fans,&#8221; Funderburk tells TF.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.themavericksband.com/">The Mavericks</a> are happy with the results of their campaigns so far and see them as an ideal tool to reach an audience which they haven&#8217;t been able to connect with in the past.</p>
<p>“We were blown away. We had no idea we had this whole other world of fans sharing our music on P2P. It works and it sure beats the hell out of an email sign up sheet at the door,” Raul Malo, leader of The Mavericks, says.</p>
<p>Thus far Muzit&#8217;s database includes 8.6 million file-sharers but they will continue to expand. The company also makes it clear that artists can only connect to the people who have shared their work.</p>
<p>The company certainly takes an interesting approach, but it&#8217;s also an odd way to use the DMCA notification system. DMCA notices are generally not intended to include all sorts of additional messages. While some downloaders may appreciate hearing from artists, others may see it as a form of spam. </p>
<p>Still, that beats the settlement demands companies such as Rightscorp send out. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116100
title: ‘Fun’ Torrent Site Could Result in Jail, Millions in Damages
uri: Fun-Torrent-Site-Could-Result-in-Jail-Millions-in-Damages
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/uZ5yYwvjRus/
content:
<p><img src="media/b5e5abb4.swepiracy.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/swepiracy.jpg" width="180" height="50" class="alignright">After being founded in 2006, authorities in Sweden branded private torrent site SwePiracy as one of the most important locations for the illegal distribution of local and international films.</p>
<p>Following a torrent site crackdown in the wake of the “guilty” verdict in the Pirate Bay trial during April 2009, SwePiracy disappeared for a few weeks, but reappeared less than a month later.</p>
<p>Anti-piracy group Antipiratbyrån (now Rights Alliance) said that in response to warnings for the site to close down, the operators of the tracker had taken measures to protect themselves instead.</p>
<p>Several years later during February 2012, authorities ran out of patience, with police in Sweden and the Netherlands taking coordinated action to shut down the site.</p>
<p>While Swedish police targeted the operators of the site, their Dutch counterparts took down SwePiracy&#8217;s servers in their jurisdiction. However, as is so often the case, overall downtime was relatively brief and SwePiracy laer reappeared via a new host in Canada.</p>
<p>Today, almost three years later, the alleged operator of the site will appear in court in Sweden. The now 24-year-old man is the alleged founder of the site and the person responsible for its resurrection after the raid.</p>
<p>According to District Prosecutor Henrik Rasmusson the man faces charges of violating copyright law due to unlawfully making available copyrighted movies online or assisting users to do the same. Rasmusson says that a lengthy custodial sentence is possible.</p>
<p>&#8220;Under the criminal scale he risks punishment ranging from fines to several years in prison,&#8221; Rasmusson <a href="http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=160&#038;artikel=6338792">says</a>.</p>
<p>In addition to charges that he ran a site servicing tens of thousands of members, the prosecution claim that the man also collected around $100,000 in donations to keep the site running. However, it appears that the main motivation was not to make money, but to have fun.</p>
<p>&#8220;In this case, it is my assumption before the trial that the aim [for the accused] was to test the [torrent] technology and to share and make available video because it was entertaining and an interest he had,&#8221; Rasmusson notes.</p>
<p>But despite the absence of a financial motive, Swedish authorities have pursued this case for more than three years and the site itself for much longer, which suggests they don&#8217;t intend to go lightly on the 24-year-old.</p>
<p>At the time of the raid, Antipiratbyrån (Rights Alliance) said it also intended to seek damages from the site “according to The Pirate Bay model.” The case now centers around a sample 73 movies with the man being sued for more than $2.9m by local companies and international giants including Disney.</p>
<p>The trial is expected to run until Friday.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116103
title: The Pirate Bay Switches on New .MS Domain
uri: The-Pirate-Bay-Switches-on-New-MS-Domain
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/hw7bjUFew-g/
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">The Pirate Bay has gone through a lot of domain changes over the past year. </p>
<p>When the operators found out that Swedish authorities might confiscate their .se domain as the result of a legal battle, the torrent site added <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-moves-to-gs-la-vg-am-mn-and-gd-domains-150519/">six new alternatives</a> last Spring. </p>
<p>In the months that followed this &#8220;hydra&#8221; was carefully destroyed as registrars and registries suspended the domain names in question. This most likely happened in response to copyright holder complaints. </p>
<p>Ironically, this meant that TPB was <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-is-back-to-square-one-after-months-of-domain-hopping-151231/">back to square one</a> relying on the older .se and .org domains. However, starting this week the torrent site has added a new domain option. </p>
<p>The notorious torrent site is now also accessible from the Montserratian .MS TLD. Both the .SE and .ORG domains pointed to the new domain earlier, but this redirect has been turned off at the time of writing.</p>
<p>With the latest addition TPB now has three generic TLDs, as well as the <a href="http://uj3wazyk5u4hnvtk.onion/">.onion</a> version which is exclusively available through the Tor network. Pirate Bay&#8217;s official forum has also added <a href="http://Thepiratebay.ms">ThePirateBay.ms</a> to the list of official domains. </p>
<p><center><strong>Pirate Bay&#8217;s active domains</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/7baf7058.tpblocations.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpblocations.png" alt="tpblocations" width="565" height="60" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-116141"></center></p>
<p>The TPB team registered the .MS extension several years ago but it hasn&#8217;t been used as a primary domain until now. Strangely enough the domain name is linked to the same registrar who previously suspended the other domains. </p>
<p>While TPB remains widely accessible some related issues remain. TPB&#8217;s Pirate Browser domains piratebrowser.com, piratebrowser.net and piratebrowser.org remain suspended due to an ICANN verification issue, for example.</p>
<p>There&#8217;s currently no known alternative domain for The Pirate Browser but the application can still be downloaded by visiting the site&#8217;s <a href="https://151.80.2.54/">direct IP-address</a>. Adding a new domain would be relatively easy but it appears that the TPB-crew has other priorities at the moment.  </p>
<p>Time will tell how long the new .MS domain lasts. It&#8217;s expected that TPB&#8217;s operators will register additional domain names in the future to make sure that the site doesn&#8217;t run out of options.  </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116164
title: Hateful Eight Producer: Google Uses Fair Use as Piracy Distraction
uri: Hateful-Eight-Producer-Google-Uses-Fair-Use-as-Piracy-Distraction
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/ngCXRbTjf20/
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 days before Christmas, pirates around the globe received their gifts early when DVD screener copies of some of the hottest movies <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/the-hateful-eight-and-the-revenant-leaked-online-151221/">began leaking</a> to the Internet.</p>
<p>One of those was the Quentin Tarantino movie The Hateful Eight, which appeared online several days before its theatrical debut. There can be little doubt that Tarantino and his associates went into meltdown behind the scenes but its taken until now for a key member of the team to speak publicly on the topic.</p>
<p>In a guest piece published in <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hateful-eight-producer-piracy-aspirin-852744">THR</a>, Richard Gladstein, president and founder of FilmColony and producer of The Hateful Eight, addresses the issue of online piracy.</p>
<p>Noting that his movie has now been illegally downloaded more than 1.3 million times since Christmas Day, Gladstein smoothly ignores CM8, the group that <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/hive-cm8-apologizes-for-leaking-hateful-eight-dvd-screener-151230/">placed his content online</a>. Instead the producer finds a much broader scapegoat &#8211; Google.</p>
<p>&#8220;Google and YouTube have the ability to create a vaccine that could eradicate the disease of content theft. But to the millions of us who watch as our works are stolen over and over and over and over again, millions and millions of times, Google is at best offering us an aspirin, and at worst, ignoring the disease,&#8221; Gladstein writes.</p>
<p>For someone on the sharp end of one of the most controversial leaks of recent years, Gladstein speaks calmly. However, his criticism of Google is not new among filmmakers yet still manages to feel misplaced.</p>
<p>Gladstein paints a picture of a giant corporation determined (if only through neglect) to ignore the plight of creators everywhere, while throwing up roadblocks to deter them from protecting their work from piracy. How? By throwing up a &#8216;fair use&#8217; smokescreen.</p>
<p>&#8220;&#8216;Fair Use&#8217; is an important exemption and distinction to copyright law. It permits non-copyright owners to engage in analysis, criticism, and parody of copyrighted material,&#8221; the producer concedes.</p>
<p>&#8220;However, the &#8216;Fair Use&#8217; provision and debate has also proven to be an extremely useful tool for those looking to distract from or ignore the real copyright infringement issue: piracy.&#8221;</p>
<p>Gladstein says the distraction created by Google centers around the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/youtube-pays-users-legal-bills-to-defend-fair-use-151120/">recent announcement</a> that it will offer legal protection to four videos which all utilize copyrighted works but in classic fair use scenarios.</p>
<p>If you&#8217;re struggling to see the link between supporting fair use and ignoring piracy you&#8217;re probably not alone, but Gladstein feels he&#8217;s onto something.</p>
<p>&#8220;There is no way that the uploading of entire programs and movies to YouTube and other video hosting sites falls under &#8216;Fair Use.&#8217; What Google and other search engines are doing when they direct a user to those files is aiding and abetting criminal activity,&#8221; he explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;[Google&#8217;s] incessant attempts to argue that there is a &#8216;Fair Use&#8217; problem is meant to deliberately obscure the real and massive problem of tens of millions of illegal downloads of entire songs, albums, movies, and TV shows.&#8221;</p>
<p>If that is indeed Google&#8217;s intention, it could be argued the company is failing miserably. The issue of online piracy is persistently and widely documented and is rarely out of the headlines. However, Gladstein&#8217;s criticism of the search giant arrives at an important juncture in the piracy debate.</p>
<p>On the last day of 2015, the U.S. Government launched a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/u-s-govt-reviews-impact-and-efficacy-of-dmca-safe-harbor-160105/">public consultation</a> to evaluate the effectiveness of the DMCA&#8217;s Safe Harbor provisions. Among other things, the consultation will address the key points raised by Gladstein in his attack on Google.</p>
<p>On one side, Gladstein and other like-minded individuals will argue that the takedown provisions of the DMCA are cumbersome and outdated, and that companies like Google <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/youtube-games-copyright-law-to-avoid-license-fees-ifpi-says-150801/">hide behind the law</a> in order to take as little responsibility for piracy as possible.</p>
<p>On the other, service providers and advocacy groups will raise concerns over DMCA notice abuses that can stifle free speech and restrain fair use.</p>
<p>In the meantime, however, Gladstein simply calls on Google to act with respect.</p>
<p>&#8220;All I ask of Google is that they show respect for all creatives and copyright owners and not infringe on the gift of what we already own – the legal right to share our work with the public in the way we choose, at the time we choose, and allow all crews and financiers to receive the financial benefits they rightfully deserve,&#8221; Gladstein.</p>
<p>Since the day of its leak, Google has been removing <a href="https://lumendatabase.org/notices/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&#038;term=hateful+eight&#038;sort_by=">thousands of links</a> to the movie The Hateful Eight from its search results. Some might argue, what more can it do? Hollywood has that answer &#8211; stay tuned.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116089
title: Movie Studios Target Torrent users Over Leaked Screeners
uri: Movie-Studios-Target-Torrent-users-Over-Leaked-Screeners
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/DNe4CFU-73E/
content:
<p><img src="media/45dfdda4.hatef.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/hatef.jpg" alt="hatef" width="300" height="201" class="alignright size-full wp-image-115548">In recent weeks more than a dozen high quality screener copies <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/leaked-oscar-movie-screeners-flood-torrent-sites-150108/">leaked online</a>, including The Big Short and The Hateful Eight.</p>
<p>Most of the leaks originated from release group Hive-CM8. The group promised to leak 40 screeners but stopped at 14, after offering an apology in release notes last week. </p>
<p>Apology or not, the FBI is still trying to catch the perpetrators and has already <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/fbi-investigates-hollywood-ties-to-pirated-hateful-eight-screener-151223/">traced</a> The Hateful Eight leak back to a Hollywood executive.</p>
<p>Various movie companies have also started to issue <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/hollywood-fights-screener-leaks-with-thousands-of-takedowns-151224/">takedown requests</a> to various websites in the hope that this will prevent at least some people from downloading their films without permission. And it doesn&#8217;t stop there.</p>
<p>Over the past few days the movie studios have also sent out a flurry of takedown notices targeted at individual BitTorrent users. TorrentFreak has seen several notices, which all come in the standard format.</p>
<p>Through its anti-piracy partner IP-Echelon, Paramount Pictures instructs Internet providers to ensure that the account holder associated with the infringing IP-address stops the unauthorized distribution.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are requesting your immediate assistance in removing and disabling access to the infringing material from your network. We also ask that you ensure the user and/or IP address owner refrains from future use and sharing of Paramount materials and property,&#8221; the notices read.</p>
<p>Paramount targets downloaders of DVD screeners of both The Big Short and Anomalisa. Roadshow Films uses the same messages to contact subscribers who allegedly pirated The Hateful Eight.</p>
<p><center><strong>Notice for The Big Short screener</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/f73dc3c2.bigshortnotice.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/bigshortnotice.png" alt="bigshortnotice" width="682" height="170" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-116113"></center></p>
<p>Twentieth Century Fox is working with Irdeto to track down and report people who share &#8220;Joy&#8221; screeners and instructs Internet providers to relay the alerts to the associated account holders. </p>
<p>&#8220;These are serious offenses which could lead to legal consequences for the account holder,&#8221; the warnings read.  </p>
<p>In addition, the notice suggests that ISPs may want to take additional measures such as disconnecting the accounts of repeat infringers, or they could be held liable as well. </p>
<p>The language in the notices is similar to other DMCA notices that are commonly sent out. Despite the stark warnings, the studios in question are not known to go after individual downloaders. </p>
<p>Instead, the companies hope that the warnings will deter some from downloading similar leaks in the future. </p>
<p>Whether that will have any effect has yet to be seen. Popular screeners such as The Hateful Eight and The Big Short have been downloaded million of times already and remain quite popular. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116166
title: BREIN Takes 343 ‘Pirate’ Sites Offline, Warns Uploaders
uri: BREIN-Takes-343-Pirate-Sites-Offline-Warns-Uploaders
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/R1P3lTcIqbg/
content:
<p><img src="media/0fe8e43a.piratekay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/piratekay.jpg" alt="piratekay" width="275" height="188" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108106">Anti-piracy outfit BREIN has been one of the leading pro-copyright groups for many years.</p>
<p>Focusing on piracy in the Internet space, Netherlands-based BREIN has a track record of targeting torrent and other similar sites operating within its jurisdiction.</p>
<p>In recent years BREIN has began producing annual reports detailing its activities of the preceding 12 months. The group has just published its 2015 edition and its clear the outfit has been busy.</p>
<p><strong>Site takedowns</strong></p>
<p>One of BREIN&#8217;s main strategies is to take piracy sites offline, something it regularly achieves by threatening their hosting providers. BREIN&#8217;s reputation is well-known in the Netherlands so in many cases minimum coercion is required. That results in big headline numbers.</p>
<p>According to BREIN&#8217;s report, 343 pirate sites were taken down in 2015. The vast majority (150) are described as &#8220;link farms&#8221;, forums and similar platforms where links to files on third-party hosting sites are shared.</p>
<p>Streaming sites came in second place with 96 takedowns, with torrent sites in third with 63. <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/popcorn-time-fan-pages-nuked-by-anti-piracy-outfit-150224/">Seven of the sites</a> related to Popcorn Time.</p>
<p>BREIN says that pirate sites often try to hide their true locations behind Cloudflare&#8217;s services but that doesn&#8217;t appear to hinder the group when attempting to shut them down and trace their owners. When they can be tracked to The Netherlands, some are given the opportunity to enter into a settlement.</p>
<p>&#8220;A signed withdrawal statement with a penalties for future infringement plus a contribution towards costs and damages must be paid. How high that is depends on the circumstances of the case,&#8221; BREIN explains.</p>
<p><strong>Targeting uploaders and other community members</strong></p>
<p>While there has been some activity in the past, during 2015 BREIN made a number of announcements relating to its pursuit of individual file-sharers. Targeting those at the more serious end of the scale, BREIN cherry-picked a few individuals responsible for uploading lots of content.</p>
<p>Among them were three members of release group DRT. They were subjected to a court order and agreed to settle with BREIN. According to the anti-piracy group, they also <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/torrent-site-uploaders-agree-to-snitch-on-colleagues-150816/">did some snitching</a> on other members of their group.</p>
<p>In separate action, BREIN targeted the brains behind release group DMT. He reportedly settled for thousands of euros and <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/brein-does-a-deal-with-kickass-and-pirate-bay-uploader-151205/">put up a warning</a> on torrent indexes including KickassTorrents.</p>
<p>Together with another busted colleague the pair subsequently tried to pay their &#8216;fines&#8217; via a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/busted-kickass-and-pirate-bay-uploaders-crowdfund-fines-151207/">crowdfunding operation</a>. That was eventually discontinued after reported threats from BREIN. The anti-piracy group now confirms that it considered the fundraiser as generating income from illegal activities.</p>
<p>Earlier in the year, BREIN said it also obtained an injunction against “an important moderator” on one of the “largest illegal BitTorrent sites”. In line with BREIN policy, the site itself was not named.</p>
<p>In 2016, BREIN says its pursuit of important pirates will increase and that it has deployed &#8220;special software&#8221; to help with the task.</p>
<p>&#8220;The system is registered with the Dutch data protection authority (CBP) which has issued a certified statement after examination the legality for the processing of personal data in this system by BREIN,&#8221; the anti-piracy group reports.</p>
<p>In future, those caught by BREIN will be required to sign a cease and desist agreement and pay a contribution towards costs and damages, which currently amount to around 12,500 euros.</p>
<p><strong>Targeting Google</strong></p>
<p>In 2015, BREIN says it sent more than 5.7 million infringing content reports to Google. That brings its grand total to more than 12.5 million notices since it began its takedown program in 2012.</p>
<p><Center><img src="media/719b3355.brein-google.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/brein-google.png" alt="brein-google" width="650" height="191" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-116186"></center></p>
<p>BREIN&#8217;s report is available <a href="http://anti-piracy.nl/nieuws.php?id=378">here</a> (Dutch)</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116180
title: Pirates Fail to Prevent $38 Billion Box Office Record
uri: Pirates-Fail-to-Prevent-38-Billion-Box-Office-Record
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/oiOI3u8rOqo/
content:
<p><img src="media/67cd8f67.piratefish.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/piratefish.jpg" alt="piratefish" width="222" height="136" class="alignright size-full wp-image-106368">Today, watching pirated movies is arguably easier than it has ever been before. </p>
<p>Pirates can choose from hundreds of torrent, streaming and direct download sites, and there are dedicated applications that allow people to stream the latest blockbusters without paying a cent. </p>
<p>Movie industry insiders are doing whatever they can to contain piracy. This appears to be a near impossible task as many unauthorized sites and services are operated by anonymous owners.</p>
<p>As a result the MPAA and other groups warn that hundreds of thousands of jobs are at stake, while the economy is losing billions due to piracy. Illegal downloads, they say, are slowly killing their creative industry.</p>
<p>Interestingly, these stark warnings are not reflected in last year&#8217;s box office revenues. </p>
<p>Recent numbers show that the movie industry just broke the <a href="http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/">magic $11 billion barrier</a>, generating more revenue than ever before at the North American box office. The revenue for 2015 totals <a href="http://deadline.com/2016/01/2015-11-billion-domestic-box-office-star-wars-universal-disney-1201674121/">$11.3 billion</a>, which is roughly a 9% change compared to last year. </p>
<p>The worldwide grosses also reached an all-time record according to research from <a href="http://investor.rentrak.com/releases.cfm">Rentrak</a>, which estimates the global grosses at a staggering $38 billion based on data from 25,000 theaters across the globe. </p>
<p>Another sign that business is going well, at least for some, is the increase in the number of tickets that were sold. In 2015 theaters increased their ticket sales by more than 5% in North America. </p>
<p>Of course, the above doesn’t prove that illegal downloads have no effect at all. It could be that the movie industry would make even more money if all pirate sites disappeared overnight, as some studies suggest.  </p>
<p>Also, the movie industry isn&#8217;t by any means limited to the box office. DVD sales and various streaming platforms impact the bigger picture as well. </p>
<p>That said, piracy has certainly not destroyed the movie business just yet. There are still plenty of people who are going to the movie theater to pay for their entertainment. Perhaps pirates should up their game? </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116157
title: Iranian State TV Broadcasts Movie From Pirate Site
uri: Iranian-State-TV-Broadcasts-Movie-From-Pirate-Site
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/zfJsG1oFYAw/
content:
<p><img src="media/bc90070c.irib.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/irib.jpg" alt="irib" width="210" height="112" class="alignright size-full wp-image-116169">In Iran IRIB TV3 is one of the channels operated by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting. </p>
<p>It&#8217;s often dubbed the youth channel as a lot of its programming attracts a younger audience, including sports events and foreign movies and TV-shows. </p>
<p>Perhaps in line with this philosophy, the television channel broadcasted the 2013 Hong Kong film &#8220;<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2072220/">Saving General Yang</a>&#8221; a few <a href="http://www.tv3.ir/groups/98-taminbarname/foreign-films/884-saving-general-yang">days ago</a>. Not a regular copy though, but a pirated one. </p>
<p>Several Iranian viewers noticed that aside from the IRIB TV3 logo in the top right corner, there was another &#8216;watermark&#8217; at the bottom. This read Tinymoviez.co, which is a popular site in Iran where people can download pirated copies of movies and TV-shows. </p>
<p>This oddity was picked up in the <a href="http://www.caffecinema.com/new/index.php/tv/item/11747-سوتی-تلویزیون.html">local media</a>, which shared screenshots of the unusual sight. </p>
<p><center><strong>Tinymoviez on Iranian national TV (<a href="http://www.caffecinema.com/new/index.php/tv/item/11747-سوتی-تلویزیون.html">credit</a>)</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/5e558c3b.iribpirate.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/iribpirate.jpg" alt="iribpirate" width="600" height="450" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-116170"></center></p>
<p>Ironically, the Tinymoviez website and other Persian pirate sites such as Ganool are censored by the Iranian Government because they contain nudity. However, just like many citizens, Iran&#8217;s state TV appears to have found a backdoor. </p>
<p>IRIB TV3 is not the only channel to show pirated movies. According to the Iranian Student News Agency this is <a href="http://www.isna.ir/fa/news/93043016957/پرکردن-آنتن-صداوسیما-با-فیلم-های-دانلودی">quite common</a> as pirate watermarks also appeared elsewhere on movies such as  Django Unchained, Tower Heist, and Jack the Giant Slayer.</p>
<p>In addition, TV broadcasters often use music from popular TV-shows such as  Game of Thrones and Dexter on their own footage, reportedly without authorization.</p>
<p><center><strong>Ganool.com mark on The Tower Heist broadcast (<a href="http://www.isna.ir/">credit</a>)</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/6bf4f2d2.heist.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/heist.jpg"><img src="media/6bf4f2d2.heist.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/heist.jpg" alt="heist" width="600" height="385" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-116198"></a></center></p>
<p>But there&#8217;s more. </p>
<p>Apparently Iranian State TV isn&#8217;t limiting its pirate broadcasts to movies and TV-shows. They also broadcasted a soccer match, recorded from Al Jazeera, which <a href="http://www.tabnak.ir/fa/news/70082/حمله-فدراسیون-فوتبال-به-صداو-سیما">prompted FIFA</a> to threaten them with legal action.</p>
<p>While this blatant unauthorized use is quite a shocker in the west, in Iran it&#8217;s less of a problem. The country’s copyright law is set up to protect all copyrighted works produced by Iranians, but not necessarily those by creators from other countries.</p>
<p>Since 2001 Iran has been a member of the WIPO, and has acceded to several WIPO treaties. However, the Iranian Government never signed the WIPO copyright treaty and other international copyright agreements that would make copying of foreign products unlawful.</p>
<p>As a result, broadcasting unlicensed media has become <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93United_States_copyright_relations">quite common</a>.</p>
<p>While &#8216;piracy&#8217; appears to be rampant in Iran, there have been similar incidents elsewhere too. A few years ago <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/netflix-caught-using-pirated-subtitles-in-finland-121019/">Netflix accidentally</a> used &#8216;pirate&#8217; fansubs on the Canadian-American science fiction series Andromeda, for example. </p>
<p>Similarly, Saudi Airlines previously <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/saudi-airlines-shows-pirated-film-to-passengers-110403/">listed a pirated movie</a> in its in-flight entertainment system, where passengers had the option to watch &#8220;Killers 2010 BDRiP AC3 XViD-ILOVE.&#8221; </p>
<p>Pirates all around. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116095
title: Anti-Piracy Outfit Supports Creators – When it Suits Them
uri: Anti-Piracy-Outfit-Supports-Creators-When-it-Suits-Them
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/zexGhGewE1U/
content:
<p>Since this piece is about TorrentFreak content, we need to make it clear that any reader is free to do what they like with our material within the bounds of our Creative Commons license. Were not only happy for you to do that, we&#8217;re very proud that you&#8217;re sharing us with others.</p>
<p>However, some of our readers &#8211; those in the copyright lobby &#8211; like to make use of our content while doing their best not to give us credit. While hat-tips from them aren&#8217;t what we&#8217;re striving for here, it should be a concern to everyone when they&#8217;re prepared to throw the standards <strong>they impose on others</strong> out of the window.</p>
<p>In this instance i&#8217;m talking about the powerful Copyright Alliance, the US-based anti-piracy organization which counts the MPAA, RIAA and a who&#8217;s-who of industry companies <a href="https://www.copyrightalliance.org/members">among its members</a>.</p>
<p>For weeks now the group&#8217;s <a href="https://twitter.com/copyright4u">Twitter account</a> has been the cause of wry smiles behind this keyboard since despite the spending of the endless hours that go into producing TorrentFreak, the Copyright Alliance has gone out of its way to avoid crediting the site for its work.</p>
<p>At the very thin end of the scale, on several occasions TF has been the first to break news only to see the Copyright Alliance Twitter account promoting other sites reporting on the same stories much later. But all that really shows is that they&#8217;re slow to respond &#8211; big deal.</p>
<p>No, the major irritant is when the Copyright Alliance promotes our original content to its readers but then gives others the credit, which <strong>by their own standards</strong> is taking things too far.</p>
<p>As you can see, despite IBTimes <a href="http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/how-uks-biggest-movie-pirates-were-captured-by-hollywood-1535411">clearly citing us</a> as the source for their short summary of our exclusive on how the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/how-hollywood-caught-the-uks-most-prolific-movie-pirates-151227/">UK&#8217;s most prolific pirates were caught</a>, the Copyright Alliance deliberately <a href="https://twitter.com/copyright4u/status/682937641004863488">credited them</a>, not us.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/92894c97.caught-1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/caught-1.png" alt="caught-1" width="572" height="650" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-116145"></center></p>
<p>Nevertheless, that wasn&#8217;t the instance that caused the most eye-rolling.</p>
<p>While trying to ensure TF had fresh content every day over Christmas, we came up with a post debunking some of the most <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/four-persistent-online-piracy-misconceptions-busted-160102/">persistent piracy myth</a>s. Within hours another website took the piece, <a href="http://www.techtimes.com/articles/121118/20160105/top-10-most-common-digital-piracy-myths-busted-who-s-pirating-what-and-why.htm">plagiarized it</a>, and presented it as their own work.</p>
<p>But so what? If they can make a couple of bucks from it, good for them. It doesn&#8217;t hurt us and might even get file-sharing news out to a fresh audience somewhere. Perhaps more importantly, that site doesn&#8217;t claim to be &#8220;championing artists&#8217; and creators&#8217; rights.&#8221;</p>
<p>No, what actually lit the touch paper was the creators&#8217; champions at the Copyright Alliance using their Twitter account <a href="https://twitter.com/copyright4u/status/684763885774225409">to promote</a> the plagiarized version over ours.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/96f6e86d.myths-1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/myths-1.png" alt="myths-1" width="568" height="642" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-116131"></center></p>
<p>To be extremely clear, we aren&#8217;t looking for a pat on the back from the Copyright Alliance. But when they publish articles titled <a href="http://www.copyrightalliance.org/2012/03/giving-credit-and-hat-tips-where-credit-is-due-2#.Vo55S1m2ql-">Giving Credit (and Hat Tips) Where Credit is Due</a> containing the words &#8220;It’s a positive sign that people are recognizing the importance of crediting creative content and it’s origins&#8230;&#8221;, someone needs to hold them to their own standards.</p>
<p>And amazingly they&#8217;re standards they simply can&#8217;t maintain.</p>
<p>Just as this article was nearing completion on Friday, the Copyright Alliance <a href="https://twitter.com/copyright4u/status/685446300452655104">did it again</a> by deliberately linking to <a href="http://metro.co.uk/2016/01/07/hacker-group-predicts-end-of-video-game-piracy-in-two-years-5607296/">a piece in Metro</a> covering our report from <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/no-more-pirate-games-in-two-years-group-warns-160106/">earlier in the week</a>, despite that piece clearly citing us as the source.</p>
<p>Again, we aren&#8217;t getting any traffic from them and don&#8217;t want or need their support, but the Copyright Alliance are showing time and again that they do not practice what they preach. And this is only what we see in public.</p>
<p>Love them or loathe them, anti-piracy outfits have a right to exist and a right to go about their business. And, as annoying as it might be to some, governments across the world accept their legitimacy in a way that pirates can only dream of. As a result they tend to occupy the moral high-ground almost everywhere they tread.</p>
<p>But what this little episode shows is that unlike a site like this, which promotes both positive and negative news about copyright and piracy issues, organizations like the Copyright Alliance are only interested in pushing their own agenda in the way they see fit.</p>
<p>And if that means trampling on the rights of creators whom they don&#8217;t like (or don&#8217;t get paid by), so be it.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116246
title: Copyright Industry Rhetoric Ignores The Existence Of Linux And Wikipedia
uri: Copyright-Industry-Rhetoric-Ignores-The-Existence-Of-Linux-And-Wikiped
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/qNpBOwl41Zw/
content:
<p><img src="media/db7b975c.copyright-branded.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/copyright-branded.jpg" alt="copyright-branded" width="250" height="164" class="alignright size-full wp-image-56211">The parroted question-and-assertion from the copyright industry continues to be &#8220;authors must be paid&#8221; and &#8220;how will the authors get paid?&#8221;</p>
<p>This question-and-assertion isn&#8217;t just irrelevant, it&#8217;s also a sickening existential defense from an industry that makes sure that 99.99% of music authors never see a single cent in royalty. (A more proper question would be how a music author or composer can possibly earn a living with the copyright industry still in existence.)</p>
<p>Nevertheless, the question and assertion assume that the copyright monopoly exists with the purpose of making sure somebody gets paid. That&#8217;s not why it exists. More importantly, the question and assertion also assume that no culture, knowledge, or technology would get created without the copyright monopoly (or outside of the copyright industry).</p>
<p>The purpose of the copyright monopoly is clear: it&#8217;s worded quite explicitly in the United States Constitution, article 8. Its purpose is &#8220;to promote the progress of science and the useful arts&#8221;. The purpose is not for anybody to get rich, or make a living, or paid at all. The purpose is and was always to benefit the public. To generate <em>progress</em>, with the implicit meaning of making that progress available to everyone (or it wouldn&#8217;t be progress in any meaningful sense of the word).</p>
<p>Now, it has been assumed &#8211; as asserted by the copyright industry &#8211; that the only way to achieve this effect, across all fields and disciplines, is to lock the authorship up in a time-limited* monopoly. Various government officials have accepted this narrative.</p>
<p><strong>The copyright industry therefore has two customers: first, it sells the idea of its unique capability of producing culture and knowledge to the government, in exchange for a monopoly when it does so. Second, it sells monopolized copies of that culture and knowledge to people in exchange for money. It&#8217;s important to realize that the copyright industry has two different sets of customers, and the first set has every reason to revisit the dishonest deal and get a new supplier.</strong></p>
<p>Linux and Wikipedia (as well as other, less known achievements) show unambiguously that the idea of requiring any kind of payment for great tools, culture, or knowledge to come into being is an utter falsehood. It may be true in some cases. But the cases where it hasn&#8217;t been true have all shown that the basic premise, that the copyright monopoly is any kind of necessary, is the purest oxen fecalia.</p>
<p>And these projects, free in all aspects as they are, now underpin the Android operating system which powers three billion smartphones and well over half of the world&#8217;s servers in various incarnations of the GNU/Linux operating system. They support every lower- and higher-level education on the planet.</p>
<p>According to the copyright industry, these projects do not and cannot exist, as the authors weren&#8217;t paid.</p>
<p>According to reality, the copyright industry is wrong.</p>
<p><strong>Let&#8217;s be clear here: the most common operating kernel for servers and mobile smartphones, which underpin the entire IT industry today, was written completely outside the copyright monopoly context with no need for anyone to get paid. The richest source of knowledge available, which underpin all college educations even if unofficially, was written completely outside the copyright monopoly context with no need for anyone to get paid.</strong></p>
<p>This doesn&#8217;t mean that nobody should be allowed to sell anything. Quite to the contrary! But it can be conclusively deduced that government officials have been completely in the wrong when accepting the copyright industry&#8217;s assertion that nothing will ever get produced without a strong copyright monopoly. It can also be conclusively deduced that the business models that are based on free tools, culture, and knowledge are worth enormously much more to the economy than a manufacturing industry still trying to sell round pieces of silly data-carrying plastic when their competition ship the medialess information across the world in seconds. </p>
<p><strong>Government officials should just stop buying the idea from the copyright industry that a monopoly is required for progress to take place. They should get a new deal from another supplier, and as is the case when this happens, the supplier being ditched &#8211; the copyright industry &#8211; has no say whatsoever about the new supplier or the new deal. More specifically, it&#8217;s more beneficial to a government to not hand out any kind of copyright monopoly at all, as more culture and knowledge &#8211; more <em>progress</em> &#8211; is created without it.</strong></p>
<p>The copyright monopoly has demonstrated that it&#8217;s not just unnecessary, but downright harmful to progress, to the economy, and to civil liberties. The copyright industry should not be allowed to get away with its further Norwegian Blue parroting of &#8220;how should the authors get paid&#8221;. The question is not relevant.</p>
<p>Any honest business model is built without a legal monopoly in any case. Make money, good for you. But you don&#8217;t get to do so with a monopoly that cuts down on my rights, especially not with blatant lying.</p>
<p><small>*eternal</small></p>
<p><center>
<div class="alignfull" style="border:2px solid #3F3F3F;width:100%;padding:15px;padding-top:8px;padding-bottom:4px;margin-top:20px;margin-bottom:10px;border-radius:10px">
<h3 style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:10px">
<div style="float:right;height:130px;width:39px;margin-left:20px;margin-right:10px"><img src="media/98818a80.Rick_Falkvinge_39x130.jpg" data-original-source="http://falkvinge.net/wp-content/themes/WpNewspaper/images/falkvinge/Rick_Falkvinge_39x130.jpg" style="border:none;-moz-box-shadow:none;-webkit-box-shadow:none" class="quimby_search_image"></div>
<p><span style="color:#3F3F3F;font-size:125%">About The</span> <span style="color:#FF3C78;font-size:125%">Author</span></p>
</h3>
<p style="font-family:PTSansRegular,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-weight:400;line-height:150%;margin-bottom:14px"><small>Rick Falkvinge is a regular columnist on TorrentFreak, sharing his thoughts every other week. He is the founder of the Swedish and first Pirate Party, a whisky aficionado, and a low-altitude motorcycle pilot. His blog at <a href="http://falkvinge.net">falkvinge.net</a> focuses on information policy.</small></p>
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<p><small>Book Falkvinge <a href="http://falkvinge.net/keynotes/">as speaker</a>?</small></p>
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<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116231
title: Rare Movie Piracy Case Sees Men Face Eight Years in Jail
uri: Rare-Movie-Piracy-Case-Sees-Men-Face-Eight-Years-in-Jail
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/3sjiNX5DXhU/
content:
<p><img src="media/4838a439.upload.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/upload.png" alt="upload" width="240" height="164" class="alignright size-full wp-image-114664">While the actions of BREIN in the Netherlands and PIPCU and FACT in the UK have made it clear that neither country are safe havens for pirates, other regions around Europe are more permissive.</p>
<p>Although there are exceptions, the further south and east one travels the less likely it is that either site operators or consumers sharing copyrighted content will fall foul of entertainment industry action. Nevertheless, problems can occur.</p>
<p>In 2014, popular torrent site, streaming portal and warez link site SWZ (SpeedWarezZ / <a href="https://opentrackers.org/swz-torrent/">SWZ Torrent</a>) was raided by authorities in Hungary following action from a local content distributor and national tax authorities. The site had been in operation since 2011 offering a wide of content but it was movies that attracted the most attention.</p>
<p>Now, more than a year later, four men said to be the key individuals behind the site face an aggressive prosecution almost unheard of in the country. According to an announcement from the district prosecutor&#8217;s office in Cegléd, the men face numerous charges relating to the unlawful distribution of copyright works.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s alleged that between September 2011 to October 2014 at least 1,900 movies were made available without permission via SWZ. It has not been made clear precisely how the content was distributed but in addition to offering links from elsewhere, SWZ certainly operated its own tracker.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/a5cd80c4.swz-torrent.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/swz-torrent.jpg" alt="swz-torrent" width="600" height="52" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-116235"></center></p>
<p>Aside from their interest in file-sharing, the accused are a disparate group. According to <a href="http://www.hirado.hu/2016/01/09/szazmilliokat-fizethetnek-vissza-a-magyar-torrentoldal-gazdai/">local media</a>, one man is retired, another a student, while a third is currently unemployed. The fourth is the technical director of a German-Hungarian IT company.</p>
<p>While the men never met up in person they coordinated online, with the site&#8217;s social pages acting as a platform for promoting content and dealing with user issues.</p>
<p>As is common with most similar sites, users of SWZ raced in order to be the first to upload the most popular content. That material was then curated by the site and its operators in order to maximize traffic.</p>
<p>The prosecution claims that the site generated revenue from advertising while receiving payments/donations from users via PayPal and SMS, a popular mechanism for transferring cash in the region.</p>
<p>The upshot is that the men now face serious charges of distributing copyrighted content for which they held no licenses while profiting from the same. In addition to rightsholders claiming almost $1.2m in damages, the men also face up to eight years in jail, a harsh punishment compared to almost anywhere in Europe.</p>
<p>Whether this prosecution is an indication of things to come remains to be seen but it should perhaps be of interest to at least one of the world&#8217;s largest torrent sites which currently operates servers in Hungary.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116259
title: Steal This Show S01E04: The Future of P2P?
uri: Steal-This-Show-S01E04-The-Future-of-P2P
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/rlT3tLuBWD0/
content:
<p><img src="media/585776e5.steal240.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/steal240.png" alt="steal240" width="200" height="200" class="alignright size-full wp-image-113930"></a>In this episode we’re joined by Devon Read and Ryan Taylor, co-founders of peer-to-peer startup <a href="http://dloa.net/">The Distributed Library Of Alexandria</a>. </p>
<p>This week we discuss the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/did-pirates-clean-out-amazon-fire-tv-stock-in-the-uk-151229/">blockbuster hack</a> of Amazon’s Fire TV stick, the increasing power of <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/hive-cm8-apologizes-for-leaking-hateful-eight-dvd-screener-151230/">pirate movie release groups</a>, and <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/no-more-pirate-games-in-two-years-group-warns-160106/">doomy announcements</a> from China’s 3DM cracking group about the future for cracked games. </p>
<p>We also take a deep dive into the Alexandria project, which sees its mission as providing an censorship-proof safe haven for indie creators and “truth speech” alike – although, as we discover, pirates may well be able to hitch a ride.</p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<p><a href="https://stealthisshow.com">Steal This Show</a> aims to release bi-weekly episodes featuring insiders discussing copyright and file-sharing news. It complements our regular reporting by adding more room for opinion, commentary and analysis. </p>
<p>The guests for our news discussions will vary and we&#8217;ll aim to introduce voices from different backgrounds and persuasions. In addition to news, STS will also produce features interviewing some of the big innovators and minds, one-on-one. </p>
<p><strong>Host:</strong> Jamie King</p>
<p><strong>Guests:</strong> <a href="https://twitter.com/BlocktechCEO">Devon Read</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/RY4NT4YLOR">Ryan Taylor</a>.</p>
<p><center><iframe width="100%" height="180px" src="//stealthisshow.com/?lpe-frame=1&#038;lpe-season=1&#038;lpe-episode=4" frameborder="0"></iframe></center></p>
<p><strong>Produced </strong> <em>by </em>Jamie King<br>
<strong>Edited &#038; Mixed</strong> <em>by</em> Eric Bouthiller<br>
<strong>Original Music</strong> <em>by</em> David Triana<br>
<strong>Web Production</strong> <em>by</em> Siraje Amarniss</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116240
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week – 01/11/16
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-01-11-16
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/wxBZpM-2eik/
content:
<p><img src="media/a7dc8df6.bigshort.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/bigshort.jpg" alt="bigshort" width="300" height="181" class="alignright size-full wp-image-116243">This week we have three newcomers in our chart. </p>
<p>The Big Short 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-010416/">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/the_big_short/">The Big Short</a> (DVDscr) </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1596363/">8.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDlYm15ztK4">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_revenant_2015/">The Revenant</a> (DVDscr) </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1663202/">?.?</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoebZZ8K5N0">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_martian/">The Martian</a>  </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3659388/?">8.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej3ioOneTy8">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(9)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_intern/">The Intern</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2361509/">7.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-DEy3mylCs">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/solace/">Solace</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1291570/">6.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiH5V5psa7M">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(8)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/burnt/">Burnt</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2503944/">6.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiGJlUVQDGk">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/spectre_2015/">Spectre</a> (DVDscr)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2379713/">7.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GqClqvlObY">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(6)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bridge_of_spies/">Bridge of Spies</a> (DVDscr)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3682448/">7.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBBuzHrZBro">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sisters_2015/">Sisters</a> (Webrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1850457/">6.5</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPho_FUIlfE">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/goosebumps_2015/">Goosebumps</a> (WEB-DL)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1051904/?">6.5</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Cn716jv61s">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="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116256
title: Premier League Expands UK Pirate Site Blockades
uri: Premier-League-Expands-UK-Pirate-Site-Blockades
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/-m0QLPlFlJ4/
content:
<p><img src="media/7be95e09.premierleague.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/premierleague.jpg" alt="premierleague" width="250" height="199" class="alignright size-full wp-image-116272">Over the past several years hundreds of domain names 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, many site operators and supporters launch alternative domains to bypass the restrictions.</p>
<p>This is also true for several sports streaming sites that were blocked by the High Court following <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/uk-piracy-blocklist-expands-with-sports-streaming-sites-150531/">complaints</a> from the Football Association and Premier League Limited, including Firstrow, Rojadirecta, LiveTV and Drakulastream.</p>
<p>The football organizations recently submitted an extensive list of new domains and subdomains which were added to existing ISP filters, including 3pmstream.com, ifirstrowuk.eu and rojadirecta.es (full list below).</p>
<p>With the new blockades they hope to make it harder for UK citizens to stream unauthorized sports broadcasts. However, FirstRow&#8217;s operator previously <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/uk-isps-ordered-to-block-firstrow-sports-streaming-site-130717/">told</a> TorrentFreak that domain blocking is not going to be very effective as the streaming sources remain available. </p>
<p>“Our site uses third-party players, so blocking FirstRow will not stop the streams, as these will still be accessible online. They are saying that FirstRow is illegal, but our site is indexing streams that are available on the web, which is free information,” FirstRow’s owner told us.</p>
<p>“FirstRow will remain accessible for all other countries, and UK users can use proxies or the thousands of other websites like ours that remain open,” he added.</p>
<p>The site&#8217;s owner has a point. Interestingly, FirstRow&#8217;s most popular site in the UK appears to be Firstrows.eu. This site is not listed among the newly blocked URLs, so the game of Whack-A-Mole will is bound to continue.</p>
<p>The UK is not the only country where sports streaming sites are being targeted, the same is happening in Italy and Spain. </p>
<p>A few months ago a La Coruna court forbid Rojadirecta from linking to unauthorized streams of sports games. The streaming site, which is based in Spain, <a href="media/c41fc406.rojablocked.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/rojablocked.jpg">complied</a> with the order and now blocks visitors from Spanish IP-addresses as well as various <a href="media/c41fc406.rojablocked.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/rojablocked.jpg">VPNs and proxies</a>.</p>
<p>However, even with the site itself complying with orders from the court, success is not guaranteed. In recent weeks various Rojadirecta knockoffs have appeared online, providing unrestricted access to sports streams in Spain. </p>
<p>And so the game continues.</p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<p><em>The list of newly blocked domains in the UK (including their original domain names) is as follows:</p>
<p>3pmstream.com<br>
firstrowuk.eu<br>
firstrowsports.eu<br>
webfirstrow.eu<br>
firstrowus.eu<br>
firstrow1.eu<br>
firstrowuk1.eu<br>
firstrownow.eu<br>
firstrowus1.eu<br>
gofirstrow.eu<br>
gofirstrowuk.eu<br>
gofirstrowus.eu<br>
ifirstrow.eu<br>
ifirstrowuk.eu<br>
sportsfeed365.eu<br>
p2p4u.se<br>
firstrowit.eu<br>
firstrownow.se<br>
gofirstrow.se<br>
webmaster.firstrownow.eu<br>
thefirstrow.se<br>
ifirstrowus.eu<br>
firstrowne.eu<br>
firstrowau.eu<br>
firstrowas.eu<br>
firstrowfr.eu<br>
firstrowpt.eu<br>
firstrowir.eu<br>
firstrowca.eu<br>
firstrowes.eu<br>
firstrowge.eu<br>
firstrowgr.eu<br>
ifirstrowpt.eu<br>
ifirstrowit.eu<br>
firstrow.is<br>
webmaster.webfirstrow.eu<br>
cssfiles.thefirstrow.eu<br>
web.thefirstrow.eu<br>
drakulastream.eu<br>
realstreamunited.com<br>
live.realstreamunited.com<br>
rojadirectaes.me<br>
rojadirecta.me<br>
rojadirecta.eu<br>
it.rojadirecta.eu<br>
rojadirecta.org<br>
it.rojadirecta.org<br>
ita.rojadirecta.org<br>
rojadirecta.com<br>
rojadirecta.es<br>
rojadirecta.cat</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116291
title: Police Drop Investigation Into Pirate Bay Suspect
uri: Police-Drop-Investigation-Into-Pirate-Bay-Suspect
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/pDqEIGx_NRo/
content:
<p><img src="media/4e243e8b.tpb-logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpb-logo.jpg" width="222" height="198" class="alignright">On December 9, 2014, the file-sharing world <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/swedish-police-raid-the-pirate-bay-site-offline-141209/">received a bombshell</a>.</p>
<p>“There has been a crackdown on a server room in Greater Stockholm. This is in connection with violations of copyright law,” said Paul Pintér, police national coordinator for IP enforcement in Sweden.</p>
<p>More than ten police officers had entered a data center embedded into the side of a mountain in Nacka, just outside the capital. And with The Pirate Bay, EZTV and several other torrent related sites offline, it became clear this was no ordinary raid.</p>
<p>Days later it was revealed that police had held a still-unnamed <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-suspect-released-raid-arrest-141216/">key suspect</a> in custody for a week.</p>
<p>“The suspicions relate to a violation of copyright law. Everything is being analyzed now and new hearings may possibly be held,” prosecutor Fredrik Ingblad said.</p>
<p>A major criminal investigation was clearly underway but months passed, seemingly without progress. In the meantime The Pirate Bay came <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-back-online-150131/">back online</a>, business as usual, leaving the authorities to try and pick up the pieces and join the dots.</p>
<p>But now, more than 13 months later, it appears that far from making significant progress, things are moving in the other direction.</p>
<p>In <a href="http://www.idg.se/2.1085/1.647156/pirate-bay">comments</a> made to local media, Fredrik Ingblad says that the investigation into one of the key suspects in the case is now effectively over.</p>
<p>&#8220;Parts of the investigation are closed. And that&#8217;s because the police do not have the resources to analyze the seized hardware,&#8221; Ingblad says.</p>
<p>At least in part it appears that determination to leave no stone unturned contributed to the position police now find themselves in. During the raid police seized around <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/police-seized-50-servers-in-pirate-bay-raid-150123/">50 servers</a>, some live, some from the datacenter&#8217;s storage rooms.</p>
<p>Also seized were computers and various servers owned by the former suspect but according to the prosecutor the task of analyzing the evidence they contain never properly got off the ground. Whether that&#8217;s due to sheer volume or possible encryption isn&#8217;t clear, but in any event it appears that very little has been done.</p>
<p>&#8220;These kinds of investigations take time, but in this particular case [the police] have barely begun to analyze the hardware and I have not received a plan when the police can start working again,&#8221; Ingblad says.</p>
<p>According to IDG, when questioned by Ingblad on their apparent lack of progress, police pointed to a lack of IT resources available to investigate the case. That, combined with a general lack of evidence to indicate that the suspect had committed any crime, means that the case against him was stood down.</p>
<p>Ingblad wouldn&#8217;t be drawn on questions of whether it&#8217;s common for cases to be dropped due to a lack of resources but conceded this was a first time for him. Describing his decision to drop the case against the suspect as unfortunate, Ingblad says the investigation into other suspects continues.</p>
<p>Precisely how many people remain on the police radar is unclear but it&#8217;s likely that Pirate Bay founder Fredrik Neij <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-investigation-will-take-months-to-complete-150110/">remains a suspect</a>.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116294
title: Accused ‘Pirates’ Win Class-Action Settlement From Rightscorp and Warner Bros
uri: Accused-Pirates-Win-Class-Action-Settlement-From-Rightscorp-and
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/PiuiNRdvpOg/
content:
<p><img src="media/0fe8e43a.piratekay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/piratekay.jpg" alt="piratekay" width="275" height="188" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108106">Piracy monetization firm Rightscorp has often been criticized for its aggressive attempts to obtain settlements from allegedly pirating Internet users.</p>
<p>Little over a year ago, these claims were accumulated in a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/piracy-monetization-firm-rightscorp-sued-harassment-abuse-141124/">class-action lawsuit</a> filed in California, where the company was accused of breaking several laws in their attempt to extract settlements on behalf of Warner Bros, BMG and other copyright holders.</p>
<p>One of the main accusations was the repeated use of robo-calls to alleged infringers. This bombardment of harassing robo-calls is a violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), the complaint alleged. </p>
<p>Over the past few months there haven&#8217;t been any significant updates in the case but behind the scenes the parties have been working hard  to reach an agreement. This week they announced to the court that a settlement had been reached (<a href="media/ae483893.rightssettle.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/rightssettle.pdf">pdf</a>).</p>
<p>Although Rightscorp, Warner Bros. and the other defendants don&#8217;t admit to any wrongdoing, they agreed to take a loss and reserve a substantial amount of money to compensate hundreds of thousands of accused pirates. </p>
<p>This week both parties submitted the proposed settlement to the California federal court, asking for approval. According to the paperwork Rightscorp, Warner Bros and the other defendants will set aside $450,000 to resolve the matter.</p>
<p>&#8220;The settlement provides for a substantial benefit to the Settlement Class Members and makes available $450,000, minus Settlement Costs, to the estimated 2,059 Settlement Class Members established through pre-mediation discovery, as well as a valuable release of alleged claims Defendants have of copyright infringement for each individual class member,&#8221; the filing reads.</p>
<p>As part of the settlement all members of the class are entitled to $100 in compensation. </p>
<p>&#8220;Under the proposed settlement agreement, Defendants will contribute $450,000.00 to the Settlement Fund, and each Qualified Class Member who submits a claim and executes an Affidavit of Non-Infringement will receive approximately $100.00.&#8221;</p>
<p>The funds also have to cover other costs such as administration and attorney fees, so the actual compensation may have to be reduced depending on how many accused pirates claim their share. </p>
<p>As part of the settlement all accused pirates have to declare that they didn&#8217;t infringe any of the copyrighted works. Warner Bros and the other rightsholders will subsequently drop all copyright claims against them.</p>
<p>The $100 is substantially less than the damages that are generally awarded for a violation of the TCPA, which range between $500 and $1,500. </p>
<p>However, the paperwork points out that the accused pirates benefit from the fact that they are now off the hook for any potential copyright counter-claims, which could run into the billions for the entire class. </p>
<p>&#8220;Rightscorp identified 126,409 separate acts of alleged infringement, which implicate a theoretical range of $94.8 million to $19 billion in statutory damages,&#8221; the paperwork reads.</p>
<p>In addition to compensating the alleged pirates, Rightscorp also promises to prevent similar calls in the future without the recipient’s prior consent. This may make it harder for Rightscorp to extract settlements, which is another win for the class action members.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116329
title: DVD Screener Leaks Are Not Free Promotion, Hollywood Says
uri: DVD-Screener-Leaks-Are-Not-Free-Promotion-Hollywood-Says
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/kYIGmEenPlg/
content:
<p><img src="media/625b75a6.cofeeleak1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cofeeleak1.jpg" alt="cofeeleak" width="180" height="207" class="alignright size-full wp-image-18717">In the final days leading up to Christmas, DVD screener copies of some of the hottest movies <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/the-hateful-eight-and-the-revenant-leaked-online-151221/">began leaking</a> to the Internet. Several, including The Revenant and The Hateful Eight, went on to become <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2016/01/10/entertainment/golden-globes-2016-winners-list-feat/">Golden Globe winners</a> earlier this week.</p>
<p>There can be little doubt that the leaks generated significant additional publicity that otherwise the films would not have enjoyed, but still the big question remains. Will these movies eventually reap the financial benefits of word-of-mouth marketing as a result of their early (not to mention illegal) online appearances?</p>
<p>The battle lines in this debate were drawn early with Hive-CM8, the group behind the leaks, setting out its arguments (by way of an <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/hive-cm8-apologizes-for-leaking-hateful-eight-dvd-screener-151230/">unusual apology</a>) in the dying days of 2015.</p>
<p>“Since everyone is now talking about [The Hateful Eight] we don’t think the producers will [lose] any money [upon theatrical release]. We actually think this has created a new type of media hype that is more present in the news, radio and in the papers than Star Wars, and the promotional costs for this were free,” the group said.</p>
<p>Perhaps needless to say, Hollywood doesn&#8217;t share the group&#8217;s view on the promotional benefits of giving away free copies of the latest movies before their theatrical release. Last week the producer of The Hateful Eight aired his <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/hateful-eight-producer-google-uses-fair-use-as-piracy-distraction-160108/">displeasure</a> and now its the turn of the powerful Copyright Alliance.</p>
<p>Counting the MPAA, RIAA, ESA, BSA, NBA and Getty Images <a href="http://copyrightalliance.org/members">among its members</a>, the Copyright Alliance has more heavyweight entertainment industry support than any other lobby group on the planet. It&#8217;s fair to say that the words of its CEO Keith Kupferschmid echo the sentiments of most in Hollywood and he is not happy with Hive-CM8.</p>
<p>In a piece titled &#8216;Sorry Not Sorry&#8217;, Kupferschmid refutes the group&#8217;s assertion that their leaks will help movies like The Hateful Eight and pours scorn on their recent apology.</p>
<p>&#8220;It’s pretty obvious that Hive’s statement is self-serving, not to mention patently false and ill-informed. Even fellow Redditors derided the group. And while refuting most of their assertions is probably unnecessary, perhaps this incident can be used as a teachable moment,&#8221; <a href="http://copyrightalliance.org/2016/01/sorry_not_sorry">Kupferschmid</a> begins. </p>
<p>&#8220;Specifically, the false notion that piracy amounts to &#8216;free advertising&#8217; is persistent and widespread. As demonstrated above, proponents contend that piracy is a good thing because it generates buzz that leads to increased sales that more than offset piracy’s harms.&#8221;</p>
<p>While discussion around the leaks has indeed been fierce in recent weeks, it&#8217;s almost unprecedented for someone like Kupferschmid to respond publicly to comments made by a group like Hive-CM8. It&#8217;s doubtful that the group will officially continue the debate, but the Copyright Alliance CEO is certainly clear on his position.</p>
<p>&#8220;In reality, Hive’s free advertising justification for &#8216;The Hateful Eight&#8217; leak represents a fundamental lack of understanding about the film business and the creative industries in general,&#8221; he asserts.</p>
<p>&#8220;If marketing a new film, album or book was as easy as leaking it online, movie studios, record labels and book publishers would do it themselves. However, when releasing new creative works, the success of these works depends on creating new markets and consumer awareness, which requires far more than just dumping content online.&#8221;</p>
<p>Detailing components of The Hateful Eight&#8217;s marketing plan, which included a roadshow and the pirate-impossible 70mm Ultra-Panavision format, Kupferschmid underlines the efforts expended by the movie&#8217;s producers on the promotional front. He also makes it quite clear that simply dumping content online is a blunt-instrument in today&#8217;s complex market place. </p>
<p>&#8220;We live in a world where consumers have never had more entertainment choices.  While this competition is great for the creative community and for consumers, it also means that connecting with consumers is more difficult and expensive than it has been in the past, and requires a level of creativity and ingenuity far beyond just simply leaking the creative work online,&#8221; he explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;The notion that a faceless group of Internet outlaws drives audience buzz – more than a creative team’s marketing campaign, advertising, and promotions – is patently absurd.&#8221;</p>
<p>There can be little doubt that the level of sophistication required for a leak falls short of that employed by the seasoned professionals involved in the marketing of a major movie. Nevertheless, leaks of all kinds persisted throughout 2015 and the industry still turned in a record-setting <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirates-fail-to-prevent-38-billion-box-office-record-160109/">$38 billion box office bonanza</a>.</p>
<p>While those kinds of figures make it more difficult for Hollywood to sell the notion that piracy is killing cinema, the idea that piracy is actually good for sales is dismissed by the Copyright Alliance CEO.</p>
<p>&#8220;It’s time for the claims that piracy is free advertising and good for creators to fade to black,&#8221; Kupferschmid concludes.</p>
<p>For now, Hive-CM8 remain quiet and it seems likely that their screener run has come to an end. There was some excitement a few days ago when a file titled DVDSCR.PACK.2015.XVID.AC3.HQ.Hive-CM8 trickled around one or two secretive private sites, but ultimately it was found to contain no new material.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116323
title: Twitter Sued For Ignoring DMCA Takedown Requests
uri: Twitter-Sued-For-Ignoring-DMCA-Takedown-Requests
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/IAl9rT9Wvlg/
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. Over the past several months the company processed thousands of requests and complied with most of them.</p>
<p>However, a new lawsuit filed in a California federal court suggests that Twitter’s takedown efforts are not always sufficient.</p>
<p>This week Wisconsin-based photographer Jennifer Rondinelli Reilly filed a complaint (<a href="media/871a4c9d.twitlips1.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/twitlips1.pdf">pdf</a>) against Twitter in which she accuses Twitter of hosting or linking to one of her works without permission.</p>
<p>After discovering the unauthorized use of her work the photographer sent Twitter dozens of DMCA takedown requests. However, according to the complaint Twitter failed to act on most of them.</p>
<p>&#8220;On November 18, 2015, Reilly sent 28 notices to Twitter regarding the Infringing Uses,&#8221; the complaint reads. &#8220;Twitter has not removed or disabled access to 50 of the 56 Infringing Uses.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><strong>The complaint</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/4d556548.rondclaim.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/rondclaim.png" alt="rondclaim" width="600" height="108" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-116325"></center></p>
<p>At the time of writing several of the tweets still <a href="https://twitter.com/smaqwise/status/663816780406624256">remain online</a>, with many linking to a poster for the University of North Texas&#8217; annual &#8220;Poetic Justice&#8221; showcase. This poster allegedly uses the copyrighted image without permission of the photographer.</p>
<p><center><strong>One of the DMCA notices</strong></center><br></br><center><img src="media/61133bf3.twitterdmca.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/twitterdmca.jpg" alt="twitterdmca" width="600" height="536" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-116341"></center></p>
<p>While the DMCA safe harbor shields Internet services such a Twitter from being liable for the acts of their users, this may not be the case when the company structurally fails to respond to takedown requests. </p>
<p>According to the photographer the social network was aware of the infringements but chose not to take appropriate action. </p>
<p>&#8220;Twitter had actual knowledge of the Infringing Uses. Reilly provided notice to Twitter in compliance with the DMCA, and Twitter failed to expeditiously disable access to or remove the Infringing Uses,&#8221; Reilly writes.</p>
<p>Reilly demands an injunction against Twitter preventing the company from infringing her work and also demands both actual and statutory damages to compensate the losses she&#8217;s suffered.</p>
<p>This is not the first time that Twitter has been sued for copyright infringement. Just a few months ago award-winning photographer Kristin Pierson launched a similar case. It was dismissed soon after, suggesting that both parties solved the dispute behind the scenes.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116358
title: Public Rejects 10 Year Prison Term for Online Piracy
uri: Public-Rejects-10-Year-Prison-Term-for-Online-Piracy
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/HKdBPqku00I/
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">Last year the UK Government announced a plan to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/uk-wants-10-year-prison-sentence-for-online-pirates-150718/">increase the maximum prison sentence</a> for online copyright infringement to ten years.</p>
<p>The current maximum of two years is not enough to deter infringers, lawmakers argued.</p>
<p>The plan followed a recommendation put forward in a study commissioned by the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) a few months earlier.</p>
<p>This study 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>Before implementing the changes the Government launched a public consultation, asking for comments and advice from the public. This generated a lot of responses and this week the results were published by the IPO. </p>
<p>In total there were 1,032 responses to the consultation, and an overwhelming majority of 98 percent oppose the increased prison term. </p>
<p>There were only 21 responses supporting the plan, which all except one came from organizations. A total of 1,011 individuals came out in opposition, most of which used a <a href="https://www.openrightsgroup.org/campaigns/copyright-enforcement-consultation">submission form</a> made available by the Open Rights Group (ORG).</p>
<p><center><strong>Consultation response</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/90cef9d2.consultation-response.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/consultation-response.png" alt="consultation-response" width="542" height="405" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-116362"></center></p>
<p>The Government has released a summary of the findings (<a href="media/b25bcd8c.summary_responses_on_online_copyright_infringement.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/summary_responses_on_online_copyright_infringement.pdf">pdf</a>) presenting the primary arguments from both sides. The opponents argue that prison term extension is not acceptable because the punishment would be too harsh.</p>
<p>&#8220;10 years is too high; copyright infringement is not a serious crime,&#8221; IPO summarizes.</p>
<p>In addition, due to the vague language employed, opponents are worried that the changes could lead to prison sentences <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/legal-scholars-warn-against-10-year-prison-for-online-pirates-150815/">for naive file-sharers</a> who have no real criminal intent.</p>
<p>&#8220;The term ‘affect prejudicially’ is too vague and could mean someone facing a criminal charge where only a minimal amount of content has been infringed. This requires some threshold to ensure only commercial scale infringers are punished.&#8221; </p>
<p>The supporters of the prison term extension, including industry groups BPI, FACT and the MPA, argue that harsher sentences would help to serve as a deterrent, preventing people from pirating copyrighted works. </p>
<p>&#8220;Change would act as a powerful deterrent to those engaging in IP crime,&#8221; IPO summarizes. </p>
<p>According to the opponents there is no reason why online piracy should be treated differently than physical counterfeiting. </p>
<p>&#8220;It is important that creativity is respected and rewarded, and those who deliberately infringe or facilitate infringement should face criminal sanctions. Copyright infringement online is no less serious than that of physical, and therefore shouldn’t be treated any differently.&#8221; </p>
<p>The UK Government has not made any decisions yet on how to move forward but IPO notes that it will conduct an in-depth analysis of all the points raised. Any future legislation should take into account the public responses. </p>
<p>&#8220;This proposal has clearly struck a chord with many stakeholders, which is reflected in the high number of responses. As a result, the Government is now carefully considering the best way forward,&#8221; IPO notes. </p>
<p>&#8220;However, the Government remains committed to tackling those engaged in online criminality,&#8221; it adds.</p>
<p>The comments appear to suggest that a 10-year prison term may have been averted for now, but some sort of change to the current law is expected to come sooner or later.  </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116364
title: Registry Suspends Pirate Bay’s ‘New’ .MS Domain Name
uri: Registry-Suspends-Pirate-Bay-s-New-MS-Domain-Name
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/CHywZl-wO8E/
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">The Pirate Bay has had its fair share of domain name issues in recent months. </p>
<p>The site previously burnt through a &#8216;hydra&#8217; of six domain names after it <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-moves-to-gs-la-vg-am-mn-and-gd-domains-150519/">sailed away</a> from its .se mainstay. Ironically, the Swedish TLD turned out to be more resilient than any of the alternatives. </p>
<p>In an apparent attempt to diversify TPB <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-switches-on-new-ms-domain-160107/">switched on</a> a new domain name last week. However, the Montserrat-based ThePirateBay.ms didn&#8217;t last long either and has already been suspended.</p>
<p>The .MS domain now has the infamous “serverhold” status which suggests that the responsible registry interfered. The status has been used before when domain names were flagged for copyright issues, and strips the domain name of its DNS entries.  </p>
<p>&#8220;This status code is set by your domain&#8217;s Registry Operator. Your domain is not activated in the DNS,&#8221; ICANN writes.</p>
<p>As a result of the issue ThePirateBay.ms is <a href="https://thepiratebay.ms">no longer accessible</a>. TorrentFreak reached out to the responsible registry for a comment but at the time of writing we haven&#8217;t heard back.</p>
<p>The suspension means that TPB is back to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-is-back-to-square-one-after-months-of-domain-hopping-151231/">square one again</a>, leaving ThePirateBay.org and ThePirateBay.se as the only stable domain names. Whether the Pirate Bay team has any plans to add any new domains is unknown at this point.</p>
<p>The site&#8217;s operators previously informed TF that they have plenty of domain names prepared, so it&#8217;s likely that one or more will become active in the future. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116430
title: Netflix Announces Crackdown on VPN and Proxy Pirates
uri: Netflix-Announces-Crackdown-on-VPN-and-Proxy-Pirates
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/2nCZoxLpqVA/
content:
<p><img src="media/b310fc7c.netflix-logo.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/netflix-logo.png" alt="netflix-logo" width="200" height="121" class="alignright size-full wp-image-69714">While increasing numbers of people are becoming tuned in to the joys of Netflix, growing numbers of subscribers are discovering a whole new world of content beyond what the service offers them as standard.</p>
<p>Netflix serves healthy libraries of content to many regions, but users in countries such as the United States get access to far more content than those located elsewhere. Likewise, not all European countries are served equally, with citizens of Italy falling short on content offered in the UK, for example.</p>
<p>As a result more and more customers of Netflix are bypassing restrictions designed to limit subscribers to content designated to their home countries. This is usually achieved by using a generic VPN or proxy service but some companies offer dedicated products to unlock Netflix on a global basis.</p>
<p>Even though Netflix admits it takes measures to try and limit the use of its service in this manner, the situation has traditionally seemed of minor interest to the company. However, in recent months Netflix has addressed the issue several times in the media and today has given the clearest sign yet that a crackdown is imminent.</p>
<p>In a post to Netflix&#8217;s <a href="https://media.netflix.com/en/company-blog/evolving-proxy-detection-as-a-global-service">blog</a> today, Vice President of Content Delivery Architecture David Fullagar said that while the company would continue to break down borders in order to offer content to the broadest possible audience, measures will be taken to ensure that content licensing agreements are respected.</p>
<p>That means that circumvention devices &#8211; VPNs, proxies and similar tools &#8211; will fall further under the company&#8217;s spotlight.</p>
<p>&#8220;Some members use proxies or &#8216;unblockers&#8217; to access titles available outside their territory. To address this, we employ the same or similar measures other firms do,&#8221; Fullagar says.</p>
<p>&#8220;This technology continues to evolve and we are evolving with it. That means in coming weeks, those using proxies and unblockers will only be able to access the service in the country where they currently are.&#8221;</p>
<p>The news will come as a blow to those enjoying the best possible Netflix experience, especially those in countries where the local library is limited compared to that of the United States, for example.</p>
<p>However, blocking so-called &#8216;proxy pirates&#8217; might be more easily said than done. Only this week Netflix&#8217;s chief product officer Neil Hunt <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/us-business/netflix-says-its-not-obvious-how-to-limit-use-of-vpns/article28100804/">told</a> the Globe and Mail that while the company uses &#8220;industry standard technologies to limit the use of proxies&#8221;, it&#8217;s effectively a game of cat and mouse.</p>
<p>“Since the goal of the proxy guys is to hide the source it’s not obvious how to make that work well. It’s likely to always be a cat-and-mouse game,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>&#8220;We continue to rely on blacklists of VPN exit points maintained by companies that make it their job. Once [VPN providers] are on the blacklist, it’s trivial for them to move to a new IP address and evade.”</p>
<p>Of course, many proxy and VPN providers have customers that only buy their services for the unblocking abilities they provide, so there is a serious commercial interest for these companies to spend time outwitting Netflix.</p>
<p>Only time will tell whether they will be able to do so long term, but history suggests it won&#8217;t be an easily won battle for the video service. In the meantime collateral damage is also a possibility if Netflix block the wrong people, but the company feels that won&#8217;t happen.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are confident this change won’t impact members not using proxies,&#8221; Fullagar concludes.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116449
title: Pastry Shops Targeted Over Copyright Infringing “Star Wars” and “Minion” Cakes
uri: 2016-01-15-
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/j0Wv6-CvaI4/
content:
<p><img src="media/1b03c941.minioncake.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/minioncake.jpg" alt="minioncake" width="300" height="213" class="alignright size-full wp-image-116457">Birthdays are the highlight of the year for most children and what better way to celebrate than with a cake featuring their favorite cartoon character. </p>
<p>Although the parents and local pastry shops may be well-intentioned, there are lurking copyright issues that can easily spoil the party. </p>
<p>This issue is currently on debate in Croatia where nearly all pastry shops have received legal threats for their use of popular cartoon and movie characters. Facing fines in the range of $300 to $1,000 they are urged to stop baking infringing cakes. </p>
<p>The demands come from a law firm hired by the competing pastry chain <a href="http://funcake-factory.hr/en/">Fun Cake Factory</a> and target birthday cakes with popular Star Wars, Frozen, Sponge Bob, Peppa Pig and Ninja Turtles characters.</p>
<p>The company is a partner of <a href="http://finsburyfoods.co.uk/what-we-do/licensed-brands/disney/">Finsbury Food Group</a> and has the exclusive rights to sell cakes with Disney characters. In addition the chain also secured the rights to use Nickelodeon, Astley Baker Davies and Universal Studios characters, which covers most popular cartoons.</p>
<p>With the legal claims the pastry chain hopes to prevent the competition from selling &#8220;infringing&#8221; cakes, so more people will choose to buy their products instead.</p>
<p>Ana Marcelić, owners of Zagreb&#8217;s pastry shop Fancy Cake was one of the recipients who received a threatening letter. </p>
<p>&#8220;We are appalled by this decision which we consider unfounded and unfair. It is a huge loss for us, because the penalties are terrible, and it is a difficult situation to explain to the customer,&#8221; Marcelić <a href="http://www.jutarnji.hr/slasticari-dobili-upozorenje--tuzit-cemo-ako-stavite-peppu-pig-na-tortu/1494968/">told</a> Jutarnji.</p>
<p>&#8220;We can inform parents about the situation, but how do you explain the legal situation to children who are screaming because they simply want Elza on their birthday cake?&#8221;</p>
<p>Just to clarify what is allowed and what isn&#8217;t, a representative of the Association of Pastry Caterers contacted the law firm to get clarification, but thus far it only received an ambiguous response.</p>
<p>There haven&#8217;t been any reports of damage claims against disobedient pastry makers yet, however, if the pirated cakes continue to be sold offenders could eventually face a copyright infringement lawsuit.</p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<div align="right"><sup><em>Minion photo credit: <a href="https://flic.kr/p/reNPEK">Dark Dwarf</a></em></sup></div>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116376
title: People Sued For Piracy in The U.S. Drops 84% Since 2010
uri: People-Sued-For-Piracy-in-The-U-S-Drops-84-Since-2010
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/61I3KqVIhGU/
content:
<p><img src="media/9d886086.pirate-card-150x150.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-card-150x150.jpg" width="150" height="150" class="alignright">Faced with an Internet awash with copyrighted movies and music just a few clicks away, some rightsholders have decided to let piracy continue with a view to monetizing it.</p>
<p>One aspect of that approach is the rise of so-called John Doe lawsuits, copyright cases which target individuals said to be responsible for the unlawful sharing of content online. What copyright holders want from these people is a cash settlement, often to the tune of thousands of dollars.</p>
<p>Last year Matthew Sag, Professor of Law at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, published a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/piracy-lawsuits-dominated-by-just-three-movie-companies-150301/">report</a> titled &#8216;IP Litigation in United States District Courts: 1994 to 2014&#8242;. It provided a review of all IP litigation in U.S. district courts over the past two decades to include copyright, patent and trademark lawsuits.</p>
<p>With 2016 now upon us, Professor Sag has provided an update to include stats from last year. As can be seen from the graph below, in 2010 suits against file-sharers were almost non-existent but year on year grew to dominate all copyright cases filed in the United States.</p>
<p>Indeed, following yet another rise in Doe cases during 2015, this year the record set by the RIAA in 2005 is at risk of being trumped.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/cc69765a.johndoe-1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/johndoe-1.png" alt="johndoe-1" width="626" height="511" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-116378"/></center></p>
<p>In 2015 John Doe litigation made up almost 58% of all copyright cases filed (2930 cases out of 5076) in the United States. And, in common with recent years, a tiny number of plaintiffs are driving the majority of the action.</p>
<p>&#8220;In 2015 [porn company] Malibu Media was still the most significant individual copyright plaintiff in the US; in fact, it filed more suits than ever last year,&#8221; the report finds.</p>
<p>Malibu Media accounted for 41.5% of all copyright suits filed in the United States in 2014, and just over 39% in 2015. The slight reduction in share was due to other plaintiffs filing more suits than before.</p>
<p>While Malibu Media&#8217;s overall share is impressive, their lawyer Michael Keith Lipscomb is involved in an even greater number of cases.</p>
<p>&#8220;Lipscomb also represents two of the other plaintiffs on the top five list for last year — Manny Film and Plastic The Movie Limited — as well as two of the top five from 2014 — Good Man Productions, Inc. and Poplar Oaks, Inc,&#8221; the report notes.</p>
<p>This consolidation of legal resources suggests a more cost-effective approach to the volume trolling process. Indeed, considering the number of cases now being filed an industrial approach to the business is almost certainly required.</p>
<p>As column two in the table below shows, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of John Doe suits filed in the past five years, from 77 in 2010 to a staggering 2930 in 2015.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/b742d4f3.johndoe-2.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/johndoe-2.png" alt="johndoe-2" width="630" height="215" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-116385"></center></p>
<p>However, the massive number of suits filed has not resulted in an exponential growth in file-sharers being targeted, quite the opposite in fact. In 2010 a total of 43,124 ISP account holders were targeted in John Doe lawsuits yet last year that had dropped 84% to &#8216;just&#8217; 6,700.</p>
<p>The report concludes that this fall is a symptom of increasing intolerance by courts towards single cases that target huge numbers of anonymous file-sharers.</p>
<p>&#8220;Filing suits [against thousands of IP addresses] enabled plaintiffs to economize on filing fees but courts have become significantly more skeptical of the legality and desirability of mass joinder in BitTorrent cases. Based on the data from 2015, it seems that the era of mass joinder is almost completely over.&#8221;</p>
<p>Nevertheless, by now it&#8217;s clear that copyright trolling is all about monetization of BitTorrent piracy and the report notes that despite having to file thousands more cases, the business model is still proving profitable for the plaintiffs.</p>
<p>&#8220;The filing fee for opening civil action in US district courts is now $400, so that means that plaintiffs associated with Mr Lipscomb have paid at least $936,800 in filing fees over the last year. Given the scale of this enterprise it seems reasonable to infer that Lipscomb and his clients have found a way to effectively monetize online infringement,&#8221; the report concludes.</p>
<p><img src="media/7acafc94.johndoe-3.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/johndoe-3.png" alt="johndoe-3" width="580" height="598" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-116390"></p>
<p>The report can be <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2711326">downloaded here</a>.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116366
title: Don’t Terrorize The Public Over Piracy, Putin’s Adviser Says
uri: Don-t-Terrorize-The-Public-Over-Piracy-Putin-s-Adviser-Says
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/vVaFKufVCmE/
content:
<p>The Institute for Development of the Internet is an entity created to promote discussion between representatives of the Russian government and Internet-focused companies. Typically the platform is used to iron out differences on contentious issues.</p>
<p>In February 2015 <a href="https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Клименко,_Герман_Сергеевич">Herman Klimenko</a> became chairman of the Institute but last December was called upon by Russian president Vladimir Putin to become his personal adviser on the development of the Internet. After consulting with his family on what he described as a &#8220;big decision&#8221;, the 49-year-old accepted Putin&#8217;s offer.</p>
<p>This week Putin signed a decree that officially enlisted Klimenko as his<br>
Presidential Adviser on the Internet. It&#8217;s a big position for the expert who now has the ear of one of the world&#8217;s most powerful men on all Internet related matters from trade through to education and finance.</p>
<p>Not unexpectedly the Internet piracy controversy also falls within Klimenko&#8217;s remit and it didn&#8217;t take long for the newly-crowned heavyweight to weigh in with his opinions. Surprisingly, those opinions include pouring cold water on aggressive measures for dealing with piracy, website blockades for example.</p>
<p>Speaking with local TV channel Russia 24, Klimenko said that when copyright holders demanded that &#8216;pirate&#8217; websites should be blocked on a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/rutracker-lifetime-block-lawsuit-filed-by-music-industry-151013/">permanent basis</a>, none considered whether it would actually be possible.</p>
<p>&#8220;When rights holders pressed for measures such as eternal blocking, I think they did not consider that it would be unfeasible for technical reasons,&#8221; he <a href="http://ria.ru/society/20160114/1359380639.html#ixzz3xFF4RhYk">said</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;If a method to carry out such blocking did exist, it&#8217;s another question whether it is necessary to use it or not.&#8221;</p>
<p>But while website blocking is a controversial issue that even some copyright holders don&#8217;t believe in, it&#8217;s likely that a few eyebrows would&#8217;ve been raised at Klimenko&#8217;s suggestion that aggressive anti-piracy measures should be aligned with the state of the economy.</p>
<p>While acknowledging that creators should be able to get a return on their products, Putin&#8217;s adviser said now might not be the right time to send in the heavies to &#8220;terrorize&#8221; the public on the matter.</p>
<p>&#8220;There is always the relevance of this issue,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>&#8220;In fact, consumption of copyright content increases with economic growth, and when the situation is very serious, I think people do not have to unnecessarily terrorize these issues,&#8221; said the presidential adviser.</p>
<p>Turning to copyright holders, Klimenko said that he believes they should consider the economic conditions before demanding more action.</p>
<p>&#8220;Pushing hard now on this topic, I think, is not worth it. When the economy improves, you should return to this issue,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>But with relations with the West still strained over Ukraine and all the financial pressures that brings, how long will copyright holders have to wait? According to Deputy Minister of Economic Development Oleg Fomichev, perhaps some time yet.</p>
<p>&#8220;The current economic situation is definitely not that good. The Russian economy is not in the best shape, but it is not as bad as it was expected one year ago,&#8221; he <a href="http://economy.gov.ru/en/home/press/news/20160111">revealed</a> this week.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are now relatively optimistic about economic dynamics for the next several months and the next year because we see from June, and more positively from September, we see an upturn in the Russian economy.&#8221;</p>
<p>So everyone will stop complaining about piracy until the fall then? Not a chance&#8230;..</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116512
title: KickassTorrents Suffers Downtime Due to DDoS Attack
uri: KickassTorrents-Suffers-Downtime-Due-to-DDoS-Attack
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/6-vCtWSlhmw/
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">People all around the world are unable to access the most visited torrent site since a few hours.</p>
<p>The site is suffering from a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack and has been hard to reach. </p>
<p>As a result, all official KAT proxies are suffering downtime as well. </p>
<p>The KAT team confirmed to TorrentFreak that attack is targeted at the site&#8217;s DNS servers and they are doing their best to solve the issue. </p>
<p>The DDoS attack is not new and also caused a brief outage yesterday and earlier in the week. The site has managed to come back a few times, but it appears that the problems still persist. </p>
<p><center><strong>KAT down</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/69da4025.katdown.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/katdown.png" alt="katdown" width="634" height="434" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-116515"></center></p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116486
title: Why Netflix VPN ‘Pirates’ (Shouldn’t) Terrify Hollywood
uri: Why-Netflix-VPN-Pirates-(Shouldn-t)-Terrify-Hollywood
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/rcyassBzd5A/
content:
<p><img src="media/b310fc7c.netflix-logo.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/netflix-logo.png" alt="netflix-logo" width="200" height="121" class="alignright size-full wp-image-69714">With the launch of legal streaming services such as Netflix, movie and TV fans have less reason to turn to pirate sites. At the same time, however, these legal options present new copyright-related problems and threats. </p>
<p>Traditionally the movie industry has relied on geographical licensing deals through which movie and TV-show rights are sold to separate parties in various countries. </p>
<p>Ten years ago this model wasn&#8217;t causing any issues. But now that the Internet has made entertainment more instant and global, the public is beginning to complain. </p>
<p>Why do Netflix users in Andorra, Bolivia and the Cook Islands have access to <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3032476/">Better Call Saul</a>, while Americans don&#8217;t? Similarly, why can Danish people watch <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2179136/">American Sniper</a> while it&#8217;s pretty much unavailable in the rest of the world? </p>
<p>Most Netflix users don&#8217;t understand.</p>
<p>This frustration is driving people to circumvent geographical restrictions by using VPNs and proxy services. With help from handy tools such as the &#8220;<a href="http://unogs.com/">unofficial Netflix online Global Search</a>&#8221; every Netflix subscriber can easily access these hidden treasures.</p>
<p>There are even specialized applications that <a href="https://www.smartflix.io/">do the same</a>, giving people a browsable library of all Netflix titles with built-in proxies.</p>
<p><center><strong>unofficial Netflix online Global Search</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/0591ff1d.netflixregion.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/netflixregion.jpg" alt="netflixregion" width="617" height="482" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-116491"></center></p>
<p>Netflix&#8217;s announcement to ramp up its crackdown on <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/netflix-announces-crackdown-on-vpn-and-proxy-pirates-160114/">VPN and proxy pirates</a> comes a week after Netflix expanded its reach by <a href="https://media.netflix.com/en/press-releases/netflix-is-now-available-around-the-world">more than 130 countries</a>. This obviously isn&#8217;t a coincidence, as the two are directly linked. </p>
<p>While Netflix has always been <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/netflix-cracks-down-on-vpn-and-proxy-pirates-150103/">contractually obliged</a> to take measures against unblocking efforts, its near worldwide expansion makes it a higher priority. </p>
<p>Targeting VPN and proxy “pirates” has been high on the Hollywood agenda for several years already. For example, in 2014 Sony Pictures conducted research to identify the IP-ranges of various VPNs and proxies. </p>
<p>It turned out that <a href="media/a9a36055.geolocationresults.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/geolocationresults.png">most were not</a>, and these results were shared with Netflix and other streaming services so they could take action and expand their blocklists where needed.</p>
<p>The question is, however, whether this repressive approach will be effective. </p>
<p>In fact, the announced measures may cause some people to give up their subscriptions and return to their old piracy habits, which should worry both Netflix and the movie studios. The true solution lies somewhere else. </p>
<p>While it&#8217;s easier said than done the film industry should move away from its complicated licensing schemes and windowed releases, much like the music industry has. This is a change Netflix backs according to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/netflix-wants-to-make-vpn-piracy-obsolete-150325/">recent statements</a>. </p>
<p>According to Netflix the ‘VPN pirates’ are willing to pay, they just can’t get what they want through their local Netflix.</p>
<p>Speaking out on the controversial VPN use, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said that the problem can be fixed if the industry starts to offer the same content globally, without artificial barriers.</p>
<p>“The basic solution is for Netflix to get global and have its content be the same all around the world so there’s no incentive to [use a VPN]. Then we can work on the more important part which is piracy,” Hastings said. </p>
<p>For now Netflix can do little else than comply with the pressure from Hollywood, but as soon as they roll out broad VPN blockades it&#8217;s going to cause problems. </p>
<p>Many people use VPN services to protect their privacy, not to fool Netflix, and when they are locked out of their accounts there&#8217;s bound to be some uproar. At the same time it will trigger a new cat-and-mouse game where &#8220;unblocking&#8221; services will try to bypass Netflix&#8217;s blocks against them, and so on. </p>
<p>It&#8217;s hard to see any winners in this game, except perhaps from the Hollywood insiders who lack a long-term vision.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116443
title: Torrent From the Cloud With Seedr
uri: Torrent-From-the-Cloud-With-Seedr
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/b7lE5qHU_zE/
content:
<p><img src="media/6294759f.seedr-3.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/seedr-3.png" alt="seedr-3" width="192" height="164" class="alignright size-full wp-image-116476">BitTorrent is a formidably popular tool. More than 170 million people regularly use the protocol to share files of all sizes, with the majority using desktop software clients such as uTorrent and popular crowd-pleaser <a href="http://www.qbittorrent.org/">qBitTorrent</a>.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, alternatives are available. For many years more advanced BitTorrent users have been using so-called &#8216;seedboxes&#8217;. These remote servers run torrent clients that allow people to share content away from their home machines. With expanded bandwidth at their disposal, sharing large quantities of data via seedbox is a breeze.</p>
<p>But while seedboxes aren&#8217;t particularly difficult to operate or understand (most use a familiar interface), the majority are hidden behind a paywall. Although relatively inexpensive, this lack of exposure ensures that people interested in remote torrenting aren&#8217;t exposed to the experience.</p>
<p>This is where Seedr steps in. Essentially a torrent client in the cloud, Seedr offers a free service to get people started and is ridiculously easy to operate.</p>
<p>On a basic level it&#8217;s as simple as making an account (just an email address is required) and either dragging or uploading a torrent to the service. Seedr is also fully magnet link capable and can even find a torrent when supplied with just the URL of a page.</p>
<p>Seedr then does all the downloading and sharing itself without a single byte hitting the user&#8217;s machine (great for those who want to get on with other things) and without any local IP addresses being exposed to a torrent swarm. This means the service helps to maintain user privacy too.</p>
<p><center><br>
<h5>The Seedr interface</h5>
<p><img src="media/44bfc3a1.seedr-1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/seedr-1.png" alt="seedr-1" width="600" height="210" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-116452"></center></p>
<p>Once the download is complete (indicated by a basic progress bar) users can transfer the content to their own machine by hitting the download button while a right click reveals various other options.</p>
<p>In tests TF easily downloaded at a steady 25Mbps (even when limited by a VPN), meaning that a 1GB file took around five minutes to grab. Since downloads take place via HTTP, users can say goodbye to ISP throttling.</p>
<p>&#8220;Connections to the site are encrypted using SSL-256bit with strong ciphers, over HTTP/2 connections. All torrent traffic is done on our servers, and the identity of the users is never exposed. Security is up-to industry standards,&#8221; admin David informs TF. </p>
<p>But Seedr can do more.</p>
<p>&#8220;Once on the cloud you just see and manage your files &#8211; you can play them, stream them or download them if you want,&#8221; David says.</p>
<p>&#8220;There are many other small and cool features built into the system. For example, before you stream a movie you can seek for subtitles in any language and add them live. You can even sync them as you watch the movie.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><br>
<h5>Streaming with Seedr</h5>
<p><img src="media/33aba9b6.seedr-2.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/seedr-2.png" alt="seedr-2" width="600" height="427" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-116459"></center></p>
<p>Since it&#8217;s browser-based, Seedr also works across devices &#8211; &#8220;anything but a sewing machine&#8221; according to David. Seedr also has a <a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/seedr/abfimpkhacgimamjbiegeoponlepcbob?hl=en">Chrome plug-in</a> which enables users to add a download to Seedr in just two clicks &#8211; right-click on the link, left click on &#8216;Add to Seedr&#8217;. Done.</p>
<p>&#8220;The entire system was built to provide smooth streaming without wait-times for conversions ( even on phones ), and fast download speeds to home computers. All servers are 1000mbit or faster, and tuned for torrent, and file download traffic,&#8221; David says.</p>
<p>When attempting to stream to our Android test device there was an initial delay while the file converted but viewing was seamless after that. The black window that first appears needs to be tapped to reveal the playback controls.</p>
<p>Seedr collects anonymous data for bug fixes and the company says that all additional statistics are anonymized after 60 days. When users ask to have their accounts deleted, Seedr wipes their statistics along with the accounts within 48hrs.</p>
<p>Seedr offers a free tier and several packages for advanced users.</p>
<p><em>Free tier</em></p>
<p>&#8211; 2GB of free storage + more space for inviting friends<br>
&#8211; Unlimited bandwidth, video playback support, high-speed downloads<br>
&#8211; 1 parallel torrent download and 1:1 seeding ratio on public trackers</p>
<p><em>Premium</em></p>
<p>&#8211; 100GB-250GB of storage (1TB packages coming soon)<br>
&#8211; Unlimited parallel downloads, HD streaming and <a href="https://www.seedr.cc/pulse/api-doc/">API access</a><br>
&#8211; 1:1 seeding ratio on public trackers<br>
&#8211; Private trackers support with up to 5:1 or 5 days seeding ratio</p>
<p>In respect of copyright action, if Seedr receives a DMCA notice the company removes the offending torrent and advises the user. That is the end of the matter.</p>
<p><strong>Overall</strong></p>
<p>Easier to operate than uTorrent (by a long way), Seedr&#8217;s beauty lies in its simplicity. It&#8217;s hard to imagine anyone other than complete novices needing to revert to the <a href="https://www.seedr.cc/pulse/category/tutorials/">site&#8217;s tutorial</a>. However, those that do won&#8217;t be disappointed as it reveals ways to integrate the service into Kodi/XBMC.</p>
<p>Free tier aside (which is a steal) it&#8217;s not cheap at $9.95 per month (two months free on annual rates) so the service might benefit from having a more limited lower-tier premium package around the $6 to $7 mark.</p>
<p>Those who obsess over the minutiae of their torrenting might prefer a full-blown seedbox experience, but Seedr knows its target audience and appears to serve them well.</p>
<p>Seedr can be tested <a href="https://www.seedr.cc">here</a> for free.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116337
title: Movie Outfits Flag MPAA’s Search Engine as a Pirate Site
uri: Movie-Outfits-Flag-MPAA-s-Search-Engine-as-a-Pirate-Site
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/STlM69dW5b0/
content:
<p><img src="media/925ff127.wheretowatch.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/wheretowatch.png" alt="wheretowatch" width="236" height="134" class="alignright size-full wp-image-97221">The movie industry has gone head to head with Google in recent months, demanding tougher anti-piracy measures from the search engine.</p>
<p>According to the MPAA and others Google makes it too easy for its users to find pirated content. Instead, they would prefer Google to remove sites such as The Pirate Bay from its search results completely.</p>
<p>In addition, Google should boost the rankings of legal services and sites that allow the public to find legal content. To lead the way, the movie industry group launched its own <a href="http://wheretowatch.com/">WhereToWatch</a> search engine where visitors can find out where to watch the latest blockbusters. </p>
<p>Ironically, the MPAA&#8217;s very own site is now being censored by Google upon request of a movie industry outfit in Europe. </p>
<p>In recent weeks film distributor &#8220;Forum Film Poland&#8221; sent several DMCA takedown requests to Google listing five URLs of the MPAA&#8217;s WheretoWatch.com service. The search engine kindly complied with the request and as a result the pages are no longer listed in Google&#8217;s search results.</p>
<p>People who <a href="https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ncr#q=site:http:%2F%2Fwww.wheretowatch.com%2Fmovies%2F266291">try to find</a> the WhereToWatch page for &#8220;The Hunger Games: Mockingjay &#8211; Part 2&#8243; get the following result, linking to this <a href="https://www.lumendatabase.org/notices/11610533">DMCA notice</a>.</p>
<p><center><strong>Where to?</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/a4f0b8a9.where2.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/where2.png" alt="where2" width="586" height="252" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-116383"></center></p>
<p>The DMCA notices were sent by the reporting agency &#8220;Anti-Piracy Protection&#8221; who also sent one <a href="https://lumendatabase.org/notices/11261442">on behalf</a> of another Polish media outlet, ITI Neovision, which removed the entry for &#8220;The Fault in Our Stars.&#8221; </p>
<p>This means that six WhereToWatch pages are no longer present in Google&#8217;s search results.</p>
<p>The errors illustrate how easily mistakes are made by often automated takedown processes. It appears that WhereToWatch is not whitelisted by the reporting organization and mistakenly flagged as infringing content.</p>
<p>Similar errors have been made in the past with other movie industry supported search engines such as <a href="http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/copyright/domains/findanyfilm.com/">FindanyFilm</a> and <a href="http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/copyright/domains/justwatch.com/">JustWatch</a>.</p>
<p>Yes, these type of mistakes are easily corrected with a counter-notice but then they have to be spotted first, which is usually not the case. </p>
<p>It will be interesting to see how quickly the MPAA files a counter-notice to have their pages restored again. At Google, the inadvertent censorship will probably be welcomed with a smile.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116528
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week – 01/18/16
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-01-18-16
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/-gLm1wAo5Zw/
content:
<p><img src="media/a7dc8df6.bigshort.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/bigshort.jpg" alt="bigshort" width="300" height="181" class="alignright size-full wp-image-116243">This week we have two newcomers in our chart. </p>
<p>Spectre and Bridge of Spies were both released as a DVDrip a few days ago. </p>
<p>The Big Short 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-010416/">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/the_big_short/">The Big Short</a> (DVDscr) </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1596363/">8.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDlYm15ztK4">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(7)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bridge_of_spies/">Spectre</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3682448/">7.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBBuzHrZBro">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_revenant_2015/">The Revenant</a> (DVDscr) </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1663202/">?.?</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoebZZ8K5N0">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(8)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bridge_of_spies/">Bridge of Spies</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3682448/">7.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBBuzHrZBro">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_intern/">The Intern</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2361509/">7.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-DEy3mylCs">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_martian/">The Martian</a>  </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3659388/?">8.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej3ioOneTy8">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/black_mass_2015/">Black Mass</a> (Web-DL)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1355683/">7.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE3e3hGF2jc">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/solace/">Solace</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1291570/">6.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiH5V5psa7M">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_last_witch_hunter/">The Last Witch Hunter</a> (WEB-DL)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1618442/">6.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsuG2JUgs_8">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(9)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sisters_2015/">Sisters</a> (Webrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1850457/">6.5</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPho_FUIlfE">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116544
title: Court Grants Free Legal Assistance to Accused Movie Pirates
uri: Court-Grants-Free-Legal-Assistance-to-Accused-Movie-Pirates
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/dOj4KVC0sZ4/
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 the phenomenon of chasing down alleged movie pirates continues around the world, so-called copyright trolls are continually honing their techniques in order to pin down individuals to force settlement.</p>
<p>While those accused rarely get off lightly in any jurisdiction, in the United States the situation is particularly grim.</p>
<p>Companies that pursue pirates have the luxury of huge statutory damages at their disposal, meaning that a failed defense of a willful infringement claim could mean that a defendant is on the hook for up to $150,000 in damages.</p>
<p>While such large awards are rare, it does mean that companies are motivated to spend more time on a case than they would in other regions where statutory damages do not exist. To that end, when faced with accusations from copyright holders, people who merely pay the Internet bill at a residence sometimes face deposition.</p>
<p>In these cases a deposition is a pre-trial hearing during which a witness answers questions under oath about the alleged offense. The idea is to find out what the witness knows but ultimately depositions allow plaintiffs to gain ammunition towards achieving their key aim &#8211; cash settlement.</p>
<p>At this stage the account holder might be the assumed (putative) defendant while remaining an unnamed &#8216;John Doe&#8217; as far as the lawsuit goes. All that could change after the deposition of course, which is why people are advised to obtain legal advice before taking part in one. Sadly, people&#8217;s financial situations often dictate this is not possible.</p>
<p>However, an interesting find by the troll-watchers at <a href="http://fightcopyrighttrolls.com/2016/01/15/concerned-about-the-copyright-trolling-situation-in-the-state-oregon-chief-judge-wants-to-restrict-trolls-free-reign/">FightCopyrightTrolls</a> reveals that putative defendants in Oregon won&#8217;t have to walk blindly into a potentially damaging deposition.</p>
<p>In response to a wave of lawsuits filed by notorious troll lawyer <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/?s=carl+crowell">Carl Crowell</a>, Chief Judge Michael Mosman has decided that targets of settlement demands should have legal assistance, whether they can afford it or not. A recently drafted standing order details his offer.</p>
<p>&#8220;Plaintiffs have subpoenaed the Internet Service Provider (&#8216;ISP&#8217;) to obtain the identity of the party assigned the ISP account associated with the infringing activity, commonly called the subscriber. The subscriber may or may not be the same as the alleged infringer,&#8221; Judge Mosman writes.</p>
<p>&#8220;In order to find out whether the subscriber is an innocent third party and, if so, the identity of the alleged infringer, plaintiffs request the Court to enter Orders allowing them to take certain action, such as issuing a subpoena to the subscriber for a deposition.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Judge notes that if Internet subscribers fail to respond, plaintiffs could ask the Court for a default judgment. It is therefore advisable for subscribers to receive legal advice. To that end, subscribers will now get that support regardless of whether they can afford it or not.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Court has established a panel of lawyers who are willing to provide assistance and advice to subscribers in these lawsuits at no charge for up to 3 hours,&#8221; Judge Mosman <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/295649998/Standing-Order-availability-of-Counsel">writes</a>.</p>
<p>The offer of support before deposition will be welcomed by subscribers while a case management order issued alongside should ensure that lawyers like Crowell are kept in line. The <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/295649999/Proposed-Case-Management-Order">order</a> mandates that multiple does can&#8217;t be filed in a single case and, crucially, subscribers must be informed of the free legal advice being made available.</p>
<p>&#8220;The ISP subpoena must include a copy of [the standing order] from the Court regarding the availability of pro bono counsel with any communications to the subscriber/account holder,&#8221; the order reads.</p>
<p>The prospect of a deposition will be a scary one for Internet subscribers so the fact they have this support should certainly lighten the load, especially for those who simply pay the bill and have played no part in any infringement. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116533
title: VPN Providers Condemn Netflix Blocking Crackdown
uri: VPN-Providers-Condemn-Netflix-Blocking-Crackdown
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Hg1I7IaU98M/
content:
<p><img src="media/b310fc7c.netflix-logo.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/netflix-logo.png" alt="netflix-logo" width="200" height="121" class="alignright size-full wp-image-69714">Last week Netflix announced that it would increase its efforts to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/netflix-announces-crackdown-on-vpn-and-proxy-pirates-160114/">block customers</a> who circumvent geo-blockades. </p>
<p>This means that it will become harder to use VPN services and proxies to access Netflix content from other countries, something various movie studios have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/why-netflix-vpn-pirates-shouldnt-terrify-hollywood-160116/">repeatedly called for</a>.</p>
<p>With the application of commercial blacklist data, Netflix already blocks IP-addresses that are linked to such services, something also affects well-intentioned customers who merely use a VPN to protect their privacy. </p>
<p>Instead of providing access to the latest video entertainment, Netflix then serves the following error message to these blocked users. </p>
<p><center><strong>A Netflix error several VPN users already see (U.S. server)</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/ddf77084.netfblock.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/netfblock.png" alt="netfblock" width="596" height="242" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-116552"></center></p>
<p>TorrentFreak spoke with several VPN providers to hear their thoughts on Netflix&#8217;s plans. Several are already dealing with the issue and promise to do their best to ensure that workarounds will remain available.</p>
<p>&#8220;This announcement comes as no surprise to us and we have been expecting a Netflix VPN crackdown for some time now,&#8221; <a href="https://torguard.net/">TorGuard&#8217;s</a> Ben van der Pelt says.</p>
<p>&#8220;Unfortunately, many legitimate paid subscribers will be left in the dark as an unavoidable outcome of overreaching IP blocks.</p>
<p>&#8220;TorGuard is monitoring the situation closely and we have recently implemented new measures that can bypass any proposed IP blockade on our network. VPN users who encounter Netflix access problems are encouraged to contact us for a working solution,&#8221; he adds.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.slickvpn.com/">SlickVPN</a> takes a similar stance and says that the static IP-addresses they offer are less likely to be blocked. </p>
<p>&#8220;We work tirelessly to ensure our customers have access to the entire internet. If we find that our IP addresses start to become blocked we&#8217;ll migrate to new IPs as needed. We also offer the option of static IPs which eliminates the problem entirely,&#8221; SlickVPN&#8217;s Greg Lyda says.</p>
<p><a href="https://mullvad.net/en/">Mullvad</a> is one of the VPN services that&#8217;s already blocked by Netflix. The company doesn&#8217;t understand why companies such as Netflix have to make it impossible for people to pay for their services.</p>
<p>&#8220;Why do some companies insist on making it difficult or impossible to buy their products? Why does a company resort to blocking people from literally paying them?&#8221; Mullvad&#8217;s Fredrik tells TF.</p>
<p>&#8220;Seriously, this world would be a much better place if services like ours didn&#8217;t have to exist &#8211; Not for censorship, not for mass surveillance, and not for geographic restrictions. I love what I&#8217;m doing, but I&#8217;m even more looking forward to the day when Mullvad goes bankrupt from obsoletion,&#8221; he adds.</p>
<p>Andrew Lee, Digital Rights Activist at <a href="https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/">Private Internet Access</a>, notes that their users are not experiencing any problems yet. However, he adds Netflix&#8217;s planned crackdown is clearly violating Net Neutrality.</p>
<p>“By blocking PIA and other VPN customers, it would be a very loud and clear message heard across the world: Netflix does not believe in net neutrality and will even go to lengths to block access to their service from privacy minded customers who live in the U.S,” Lee notes.</p>
<p>&#8220;Netflix is a for-pay credit card service that requires a billing address. There is no reason to ban a VPN unless the billing data is fraudulent,&#8221; Lee adds.</p>
<p><img src="media/cd5a3443.keepout.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/keepout.jpg" alt="keepout" width="600" height="344" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-116549"></p>
<p>The last issue is also referenced by <a href="https://www.goldenfrog.com/blog/if-netflix-cracks-down-on-proxies-access-to-content-isnt-only-thing-youll-lose">GoldenFrog</a> President Sunday Yokubaitis, who operates <a href="https://www.goldenfrog.com/vyprvpn">VyprVPN</a>. If Netflix knows where people live they can simply always show the same content library everywhere, which new <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/eu-proposal-bans-netflix-style-geo-blocking-and-restrictions-151209/">European regulation</a> also requires.  </p>
<p>&#8220;As a Netflix customer, I know that they collect my billing information, including my mailing address and country. Why doesn’t Netflix use the customer billing information to display the correct content to users?&#8221; Yokubaitis asks.</p>
<p>This option would also eliminate the need to do any VPN blocking whatsoever. The only change would be that Netflix has to put more effort into verifying people&#8217;s addresses. </p>
<p>While most providers are planning to counter Netflix&#8217;s blocking efforts, not all are. <a href="https://www.ivpn.net/">IVPN</a> informed TorrentFreak that their focus lies on privacy and that enabling customers to watch Netflix has never been a priority.</p>
<p>The company does point out that VPNs in part contributed to Netflix&#8217;s success, which makes the recent crackdown changes even more bitter.</p>
<p>&#8220;Netflix has clearly benefited from VPN service providers for many years. This has helped facilitate the rapid expansion of Netflix’s worldwide customer base whilst at the same time complying with the ‘letter’ if not the ‘spirit’ of their content providers’ restrictions,&#8221; IVPN&#8217;s Nick says.</p>
<p>&#8220;In reality Netflix has become a victim of its own success. Netflix’s content providers now wish to curtail the provision of material to markets that are not licensed by Netflix and their content providers,&#8221; he adds.</p>
<p>At this point it&#8217;s unclear how Netflix plans to block VPNs and proxies and what precautions Netflix will take to ensure that legitimate users are not hindered. </p>
<p>However, someone from the U.S. who wants to use a Canadian server to connect to the Internet is likely to be blocked, so with millions of VPN users around the world there will be plenty of collateral damage.</p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<p><em>Disclaimer: PIA, SlickVPN and TorGuard are TF sponsors </em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116578
title: Vladimir Putin’s Internet Adviser Owns a Torrent Site
uri: Vladimir-Putin-s-Internet-Adviser-Owns-a-Torrent-Site
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/3cDS2e_-nwI/
content:
<p><img src="media/c579e316.pirate-card.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-card.jpg" alt="pirate-card" width="250" height="210" class="alignright size-full wp-image-86520">As chairman of The Institute for Development of the Internet, Herman Klimenko already had a prominent role in Internet related affairs. But when Russian president Vladimir Putin eyed the 49-year-old to become his personal adviser on the Internet, Klimenko really struck gold.</p>
<p>Last week Putin signed a decree that officially enlisted Klimenko and it didn&#8217;t take long for him to address the issue of Internet piracy. However, instead of tough talk, Klimenko criticized web-blocking and suggested that copyright holders should wait for a better economic situation before &#8220;terrorizing&#8221; on the issue of piracy.</p>
<p>“Consumption of copyright content increases with economic growth, and when the situation is very serious, I think people do not have to unnecessarily terrorize these issues,” <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/dont-terrorize-the-public-over-piracy-putins-adviser-says-160116/">Putin&#8217;s adviser said</a>.</p>
<p>“Pushing hard now on this topic, I think, is not worth it. When the economy improves, you should return to this issue.&#8221;</p>
<p>While Klimenko&#8217;s comments at least in part sound reasonable, copyright holders would&#8217;ve been disappointed by his lack of support. What they will be even more disappointed over is the allegations now surfacing about Klimenko&#8217;s links to online piracy.</p>
<p>Sources close to Russia&#8217;s Vedomosti have informed the publication that Klimenko is the owner of Torrnado.ru, a locally operated torrent site. As can be seen from the image below the site has a familiar feel and unless hell has frozen over the studios behind Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation and Terminator Genesis aren&#8217;t in agreement with their content appearing for free.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/597352d6.torrnado-1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/torrnado-1.png" alt="torrnado-1" width="650" height="450" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-116581"></center></p>
<p>So how does someone like Klimenko end up with a torrent site under his belt? Well, it&#8217;s not being claimed that he&#8217;s the admin or sysop at Torrnado (that would be quite remarkable), but it appears that the site is indeed operated by a company owned by the Internet expert.</p>
<p>To begin, it helps to take a look at Torrnado&#8217;s WHOIS listing. We can see from the image below that the domain is owned by a company called ECO PC Solutions.</p>
<p><Center><img src="media/3b47a7b4.torrnado-whois.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/torrnado-whois.png" alt="torrnado-whois" width="542" height="402" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-116582"></center></p>
<p>Checking out that company using company database SPARK Interfax reveals that the owner of ECO PC Solutions is Alevtina Jacobson. In December, ECO PC Integrated Solutions (with Jacobson at the helm) was <a href="http://en.mediasat.info/2015/12/04/mediametrics/">announced</a> as the operator of a brand new TV channel for MediaMetrics.ru, a service which measures Internet traffic to news stories from social media. </p>
<p>Completing the circle, <a href="http://mediametrics.ru/rating/gb/day.html">MediaMetrics</a> is owned by Herman Klimenko and he admits that Alevtina Jacobson was his employee.</p>
<p>Somewhat bizarrely, last evening Klimenko took to his Facebook page to comment on the reports that he&#8217;s the proud owner of a torrent site.</p>
<p>&#8220;An amazing story with torrents. On their own they are nothing illegal,&#8221; he wrote.</p>
<p>&#8220;You only need to cooperate with the creators and help them to fight for their rights.<br>
Those who are not helping [rightsholders] are being punished. Those who are helping, are not being punished.&#8221;</p>
<p>A little later Klimenko posted again, listing various criticisms that have been made of him during his short time in power.</p>
<p>&#8220;Well of course the list of my sins is impressive,&#8221; he wrote.</p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m <a href="http://www.ewdn.com/2015/12/30/presidential-advisor-threatens-to-block-telegram-for-de-facto-helping-terrorists/">shutting down</a> [messaging app] Telegram. I&#8217;m building a Chinese-style Internet in Russia. I support the pirates. And i&#8217;m doing this all alone and at the same time.&#8221;</p>
<p>While Torrnado is hardly Russia&#8217;s most popular &#8216;pirate&#8217; site (currently ranked 2,334 in the country by Alexa), the fact that it&#8217;s operated by a company owned by Klimenko is hardly something expected of a man in his position. Indeed, the law forbids those in &#8220;state service&#8221; to run a business, hence an <a href="http://izvestia.ru/news/601824">announcement</a> yesterday that his son Yuri would be taking control of some of his interests.</p>
<p>Whether the torrent revelations will affect Klimenko&#8217;s position as Putin&#8217;s adviser will remain to be seen but at the very least and at long last, someone in a position of authority actually understands how a torrent site works.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116569
title: All Major Oscar Contenders Leaked on Pirate Sites
uri: All-Major-Oscar-Contenders-Leaked-on-Pirate-Sites
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/kP54HU0la8Y/
content:
<p><img src="media/7cffd0f4.oscartorrents.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/oscartorrents.png" alt="oscartorrents" width="185" height="198" class="alignright size-full wp-image-22131">The Oscars is the most watched award show of the year, closely followed by hundreds of millions of movie fans around the world.</p>
<p>A few days ago the <a href="http://oscar.go.com/nominees/best-picture">2016 nominees</a> were announced and as usual this triggered a spike in interest from box office visitors as well as online pirates.</p>
<p>The latter group has been spoiled with a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/leaked-spectre-screener-completes-hollywoods-ruined-christmas-151225/">steady supply</a> of pirated titles over the past several weeks. Ironically, many of these titles leaked from DVD screener copies which were sent out to reviewers, including Academy members who vote for the Oscars.</p>
<p>Inspired by the work of <a href="https://medium.com/message/pirating-the-2015-oscars-hd-edition-6c78e0cb471d#.u0xn2lj3l">Andy Baio</a> early 2015, we decided to take a look at this year&#8217;s contenders, excluding short and foreign films, to see how many films are already available on pirate sites. </p>
<p>To our surprise, all of the 37 nominated movies are widely available through unauthorized sites. Most are released in Blu-Ray or DVD quality, including several DVD screeners. </p>
<p>The list of leaked movies includes Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which is the only movie that&#8217;s not available in a decent quality. The only copies of the blockbuster are so-called &#8220;Cams,&#8221; recorded in the theater. </p>
<p>Due to the low quality the number of Star Wars downloads pales in comparison to other nominees such as The Big Short and The Martian, which have both been downloaded millions of times.</p>
<p><center><strong>Star Wars: The Force Awakens &#8216;Cam&#8217;</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/472cf8f0.mSNwGXO.png" data-original-source="http://i.imgur.com/mSNwGXO.png" alt="star wars torrent cam"></center></p>
<p>Of all movies that leaked 17 were sourced from DVD screeners. This number of leaked nominee screeners is a record high for this decade.</p>
<p>In recent years the number of leaked screener copies was significantly deceased due to increased security measures. However, this trends was broken this year thanks to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/leaked-spectre-screener-completes-hollywoods-ruined-christmas-151225/">Hive-CM8</a>, who released 14 screeners last month.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s unclear whether these screeners were intended for the Oscars or another award show.</p>
<p>Below this article we&#8217;ve included an overview of all the nominees, whether the films were leaked as a DVD screener, as well as the highest quality leak format in which they are currently available. </p>
<p><center><strong>All 2016 Oscars Nominees</strong> <em>(ex. foreign and shorts)</em></center></p>
<table class="css hover">
<thead>
<tr>
<th width="50%"><strong>Movie</strong></th>
<th width="25%"><strong>Screener leaked?</strong></th>
<th><strong>Best quality</strong></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tfoot>
<tr>
<td colspan="4">torrentfreak.com</td>
</tr>
</tfoot>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>45 Years</strong></td>
<td>No</td>
<td>BluRay</td>
<tr>
<td><strong>Amy</strong></td>
<td>No</td>
<td>BluRay</td>
<tr>
<td><strong>Anomalisa</strong></td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>DVDscr</td>
<tr>
<td><strong>Boy and the World</strong></td>
<td>No</td>
<td>WEBRip</td>
<tr>
<td><strong>Bridge of Spies</strong></td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>BluRay</td>
<tr>
<td><strong>Brooklyn</strong></td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>DVDScr</td>
<tr>
<td><strong>Carol</strong></td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>DVDScr</td>
<tr>
<td><strong>Cartel Land</strong></td>
<td>No</td>
<td>BluRay</td>
<tr>
<td><strong>Cinderella</strong></td>
<td>No</td>
<td>BluRay</td>
<tr>
<td><strong>Creed</strong></td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>DVDScr</td>
<tr>
<td><strong>Ex Machina</strong></td>
<td>No</td>
<td>BluRay</td>
<tr>
<td><strong>Fifty Shades of Grey</strong></td>
<td>No</td>
<td>BluRay</td>
<tr>
<td><strong>Inside Out</strong></td>
<td>No</td>
<td>BluRay</td>
<tr>
<td><strong>Joy</strong></td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>DVDScr</td>
<tr>
<td><strong>Mad Max: Fury Road</strong></td>
<td>No</td>
<td>BluRay</td>
<tr>
<td><strong>Racing Extinction</strong></td>
<td>No</td>
<td>HDTV</td>
<tr>
<td><strong>Room</strong></td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>DVDscr</td>
<tr>
<td><strong>Shaun the Sheep Movie</strong></td>
<td>No</td>
<td>BluRay</td>
<tr>
<td><strong>Sicario</strong></td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>BluRay</td>
<tr>
<td><strong>Spectre</strong></td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>BluRay</td>
<tr>
<td><strong>Spotlight</strong></td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>DVDScr</td>
<tr>
<td><strong>Star Wars: The Force Awakens</strong></td>
<td>No</td>
<td>HDCam</td>
<tr>
<td><strong>Steve Jobs</strong></td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>DVDscr</td>
<tr>
<td><strong>Straight Outta Compton</strong></td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>BluRay</td>
<tr>
<td><strong>The Big Short</strong></td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>DVDScr</td>
<tr>
<td><strong>The Danish Girl</strong></td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>DVDscr</td>
<tr>
<td><strong>The Hateful Eight</strong></td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>DVDScr</td>
<tr>
<td><strong>The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared</strong></td>
<td>No</td>
<td>BluRay</td>
<tr>
<td><strong>The Hunting Ground</strong></td>
<td>No</td>
<td>DVDRip</td>
<tr>
<td><strong>The Look of Silence</strong></td>
<td>No</td>
<td>BluRay</td>
<tr>
<td><strong>The Martian</strong></td>
<td>No</td>
<td>BluRay</td>
<tr>
<td><strong>The Revenant</strong></td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>DVDScr</td>
<tr>
<td><strong>Trumbo</strong></td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>DVDScr</td>
<tr>
<td><strong>What Happened, Miss Simone?</strong></td>
<td>No</td>
<td>DVDRip</td>
<tr>
<td><strong>When Marnie Was There</strong></td>
<td>No</td>
<td>BluRay</td>
<tr>
<td><strong>Winter on Fire: Ukraine&#8217;s Fight for Freedom</strong></td>
<td>No</td>
<td>WEB-DL</td>
<tr>
<td><strong>Youth</strong></td>
<td>No</td>
<td>BluRay</td>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116624
title: Pirate Site Trial in Norway Ends in Record Sentence
uri: Pirate-Site-Trial-in-Norway-Ends-in-Record-Sentence
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/EOFyuR4AYJE/
content:
<p><img src="media/2c1d8b90.norkse.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/norkse.jpg" width="190" height="190" class="alignright">Of all piracy related news, a January 2015 report out of Norway gave the strongest indication yet that the key to eliminating piracy is a strong legal offering.</p>
<p>Following a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/unprecedented-music-piracy-collapse-fails-to-boost-revenues-150126/">survey</a> carried out by music group IFPI it was revealed that just 4% of under 30-year-olds were still using illegal file-sharing platforms to obtain music, with 80% using legal streaming platforms instead.</p>
<p>Still hamstrung by inconvenient release windowing, the movie industry could only look on while wondering how to solve its own piracy problems. In March 2015 its response arrived, with the raiding of popular local unauthorized movie site Norskfilm.</p>
<p>The site first appeared on the radar of anti-piracy group Rights Alliance (Rettighetsalliansen) during 2014 and soon became the subject of a criminal investigation. During a subsequent raid carried out by Vestfold Police a 20-year-old man was arrested. He was charged with copyright infringement offenses including making available more than a thousand movies and TV shows and downloading hundreds of titles from The Pirate Bay.</p>
<p>“This is the first time we have succeeded in halting a page operated from Norway,” revealed Rights Alliance chief Willy Johansen.</p>
<p>The importance of the subsequent prosecution by companies including Warner Bros, Fox Paramount, Universal, Sony and Disney couldn&#8217;t be understated since the outcome would draw a line in the sand for other would-be pirates.</p>
<p>Together the studios went tough by demanding six months in jail plus more than $93,000 in damages.</p>
<p>But despite agreeing that the main had illegally made available at least 1,200 films and TV shows, downloaded around 700 from The Pirate Bay and then made them available to the public, the ruling from Tønsberg District Court falls far short of those demands.</p>
<p>According to information distributed to its members yesterday, Rights Alliance said that the Court handed the now 21-year-old a six month suspended sentence and ordered him to pay around $28,000.</p>
<p>&#8220;The illegal proliferation of films via the Internet has gradually degenerated to become a significant problem for the industry,&#8221; the ruling <a href="http://www.nrk.no/vestfold/slipper-fengsel-for-piratkopiering-1.12756717">reads</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;The business is helping to undermine both the production of films and the profitability of licensees and others that are related to the legal market.&#8221;</p>
<p>While falling short of the studios&#8217; demands, the sentence is still being described as the toughest ever handed out for intellectual property infringement in Norway.</p>
<p>&#8220;Although we only got a fraction of what we asked for, I doubt that we will appeal the ruling,&#8221; Secretary General Willy Johansen <a href="http://www.aftenposten.no/kultur/Slipper-fengsel---ma-betale-erstatning-pa-en-kvart-million-8323833.html">told</a> Aftenposten.</p>
<p>&#8220;Had he been ordered to pay compensation for our losses for anyone who had downloaded those films illegally it would&#8217;ve amounted to several tens of millions. Nevertheless, [$28,000] is the highest amount someone has been sentenced to.&#8221;</p>
<p>The record (but comparatively light) sentence was welcomed by the former pirate site admin&#8217;s lawyer.</p>
<p>&#8220;[My client] had been very concerned that he could go to prison, it has probably been the biggest source of strain because he is so young,&#8221; explained Nikolai Riise. &#8220;In addition, the claim for damages had been of considerable size, so it&#8217;s a relief for him that requirement is so significantly reduced.&#8221;</p>
<p>While the studios didn&#8217;t get everything they asked for the man now has a criminal record, meaning that the way has been paved for others considering embarking on the same kind of activity. For Rights Alliance the fight continues and the next target is already lined up.</p>
<p>&#8220;Now we are working towards stopping the Popcorn Time service, which automatically shares a movie you download on PC or mobile with all your contacts,&#8221; Johansen concludes. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116658
title: Portugal’s Piracy Blocklist Censors U.S. Game Developer
uri: Portugal-s-Piracy-Blocklist-Censors-U-S-Game-Developer
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/zy1z9NTfZQs/
content:
<p><img src="media/21030377.carbongames.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/carbongames.png" alt="carbongames" width="248" height="129" class="alignright size-full wp-image-116666">In recent months Portuguese Internet providers have started to block <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/portugal-rapidly-voluntarily-blocks-dozens-more-pirate-sites-151107/">hundreds of websites</a> that allegedly link to copyright infringing content.</p>
<p>The voluntary blocking regime was <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/rapid-pirate-site-blocking-mechanism-introduced-by-portugal-150731/">formalized last summer</a> through an agreement between several parties including the Ministry of Culture and the Association of Telecommunication Operators.</p>
<p>The agreement allows copyright holders to add new pirate sites without any intervention or oversight from a court, something which has now led to some rather unusual collateral damage.</p>
<p>This week several people noticed that the website of indie game developer <a href="https://www.carbongames.com/">Carbon Games</a> was blocked as well. Instead of access to the company&#8217;s website, visitors in Portugal see the following message. </p>
<p>“The site that you’re trying to reach was blocked due to an order from the Regulator Agency”.</p>
<p><center><strong>The blocking message</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/5fe71746.ptblock.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ptblock.png" alt="ptblock" width="636" height="240" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-116663"></center></p>
<p>The issue was first reported by <a href="https://revolucaodosbytes.pt/foi-bloqueado-o-primeiro-site-legitimo-em-portugal/">Revolução dos Bytes</a>, which confirmed that the blockade is active across several large ISPs including NOS, MEO and Vodafone.</p>
<p>Generally speaking sites are added following complaints from copyright holders. The reported sites are then investigated by local anti-piracy group MAPINET and will end up on the blocklist if there’s enough evidence of systematic infringing activity.</p>
<p>Sites that fall into this category should contain at least 500 links to infringing material or have one-third of the site dedicated to facilitating copyright infringement. This doesn&#8217;t appear to be the case for the Carbon Games site.</p>
<p>The good news for Portuguese gaming fans is that the blockade is easily circumvented. In addition to using the <a href="https://carbongames.com/">non-www address</a> which isn&#8217;t blocked, people can change their DNS to something that doesn&#8217;t rely on their ISP, such Google DNS or OpenDNS.</p>
<p>MAPINET has yet to comment publicly on the unusual blockade and we will update this article when we find out more.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116588
title: Netflix Wants to Be a Great Carrot For ‘Real’ Pirates
uri: Netflix-Wants-to-Be-a-Great-Carrot-For-Real-Pirates
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/8Bx_ZO_MQdw/
content:
<p><img src="media/b310fc7c.netflix-logo.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/netflix-logo.png" alt="netflix-logo" width="200" height="121" class="alignright size-full wp-image-69714">Last week Netflix announced that it would <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/netflix-announces-crackdown-on-vpn-and-proxy-pirates-160114/">increase its crackdown</a> against VPN and proxy users who circumvent the company&#8217;s geographical restrictions. </p>
<p>In an earnings <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvIsZxcV7Y0">interview</a> Netflix CEO reed Hastings commented on this decision, admitting that it was made at the behest of copyright holders. </p>
<p>While VPN providers and users have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-providers-condemn-netflix-blocking-crackdown-160118/">criticized</a> the tougher restrictions, Netflix itself doesn&#8217;t expect that it will cause an exodus of paying subscribers.</p>
<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think we will see any impact,&#8221; Hastings said. </p>
<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve always enforced proxy blocking with a blacklist. Now we&#8217;ve got an expanded and enhanced blacklist, so I don&#8217;t think we&#8217;re going to see any huge change,&#8221; he adds.</p>
<p>According to Hastings it&#8217;s perfectly reasonable for copyright holders to demand tougher action against VPN and proxy users. However, this use is only a small fraction of the &#8216;real&#8217; piracy problem.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s not a big contributor to overall global piracy,&#8221; Hastings notes.</p>
<p>The real challenge is to convert those who use pirate sites and applications such as Popcorn Time. Netflix wants to be a carrot for these users which means that offering good content is high on the anti-piracy agenda.</p>
<p>&#8220;Overall global piracy is a big problem and we&#8217;re working with all the content owners, partially to be a great carrot, and also to have the other services like HBO and Amazon be great carrots,&#8221; Hastings said. </p>
<p>In a <a href="media/a8701e79.Q4_15_Letter_to_Shareholders_-_COMBINED.pdf" data-original-source="http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/NFLX/1292433575x0x870685/C6213FF9-5498-4084-A0FF-74363CEE35A1/Q4_15_Letter_to_Shareholders_-_COMBINED.pdf">letter</a> to the company’s shareholders Netflix notes that quite a bit of progress has been made in recent years.</p>
<p>Drawing on data from the broadband management company Sandvine, it shows that Netflix and other over‐the‐top services continue to grow their share of Internet peak traffic at the expense of BitTorrent. </p>
<p><center><img src="media/24fc57b4.netflixpirates.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/netflixpirates.png" alt="netflixpirates" width="600" height="309" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-116647"></center></p>
<p>&#8220;A closer look at the Sandvine data shows that the entire Over‐the‐Top category is growing as consumers increasingly embrace Internet TV and on demand viewing and, even better, this growth is coming at the expense of piracy,&#8221; the letter reads. </p>
<p>While blocking VPN users may not reverse this trend right away, it certainly doesn&#8217;t make Netflix a more appealing carrot. In fact, it looks more like a stick to scare paying subscribers. </p>
<p>In the long-term the company hopes to make the entire geo-blocking discussion obsolete by offering movies and TV-shows worldwide. Netflix is already doing this for its own originals, but <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/why-netflix-vpn-pirates-shouldnt-terrify-hollywood-160116/">whether Hollywood will come along for the ride</a> remains to be seen.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116680
title: UK Gov Opens Consultation on Netflix-Style Geo-Blocking
uri: UK-Gov-Opens-Consultation-on-Netflix-Style-Geo-Blocking
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/l34Hxf6xAGY/
content:
<p><img src="media/3737aed5.europe-flag.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/europe-flag.png" width="222" height="146" class="alignright">During the past several days the issue of content geo-blocking has become a global hot potato after Netflix announced <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/netflix-announces-crackdown-on-vpn-and-proxy-pirates-160114/">renewed efforts</a> to thwart users who attempt to bypass its content-locking mechanisms.</p>
<p>Starting immediately, subscribers who attempt to access the Netflix service with a VPN or proxy in order to gain access to libraries in other regions will face additional roadblocks. The measures have been widely criticized by both <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-providers-condemn-netflix-blocking-crackdown-160118/">VPN companies</a> and <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/why-netflix-vpn-pirates-shouldnt-terrify-hollywood-160116/">consumers</a>.</p>
<p>But while this kind of effort to protect copyright holders and licensing agreements is probably legal now, over in Europe a conflicting scenario is playing out via the European Commission.</p>
<p>Following the adoption last March of a new Digital Single Market Strategy which aims to improve consumer access to digital services and goods, the Commission <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/europe-will-abolish-geo-blocking-and-other-copyright-restrictions-150506/">presented plans</a> to abolish geo-blocking and filtering restrictions across EU member states.</p>
<p>Describing geo-blocking as a “discriminatory practice used for commercial reasons” the Commission said that users should be allowed to access digital content services like Netflix all across Europe, no matter where they are.</p>
<p>In response to the Commission&#8217;s proposals the UK government has just launched a public consultation, aiming to gauge the public&#8217;s response to the idea of a geo-blocking ban in advance of any final decision by the EU.</p>
<p>&#8220;The European Commission has recently published draft legislation that is intended to ensure that all digital services are portable within the European Union,&#8221; the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) announced.</p>
<p>&#8220;This would mean that a person who lives in the UK, and who subscribes to a digital content service there, would be able to be confident they can continue to access that service when they are elsewhere in the EU, provided they have the right level of internet connection.&#8221;</p>
<p>The UK government itself is strongly in favor of the EU&#8217;s proposals and believes that both consumers and content providers will benefit from legislative change.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Government supports cross-border portability, and the Prime Minister welcomed these proposals on the day of their launch. We will now be working with other European partners to negotiate the detail of the Regulations so that they deliver the best outcome for businesses and consumers,&#8221; the IPO writes.</p>
<p>The proposals suggest changes to copyright law aimed at smoothing the way for providers such as Netflix to make subscriptions available in other EU countries by allowing them to apply the laws of the subscriber&#8217;s home territory.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is currently difficult to provide portability for some types of content because of territorial copyright agreements which govern where services can be accessed,&#8221; the IPO notes.</p>
<p>The government says that in advance of negotiations on the text between EU Members States it is seeking views from both businesses and consumers on the costs and benefits of the proposals, alongside suggestions of how the language of the legislation could be improved. </p>
<p>&#8220;In particular, we are seeking views from service providers, rights holder organizations, and consumers, in order to better understand how the proposals will affect them,&#8221; the IPO says.</p>
<p>The aim is to introduce content portability sometime in 2017 but those interested in contributing to the process need to be quick. The government&#8217;s consultation is effective immediately and will end on February 12, 2016.</p>
<p>Those interested in getting their voices heard can find further details <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/call-for-views-on-cross-border-portability-of-digital-services">here</a>.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116618
title: Piracy Can Boost Digital Music Sales, Research Shows
uri: Piracy-Can-Boost-Digital-Music-Sales-Research-Shows
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/sq2UJ9vwx5I/
content:
<p><img src="media/7abb2d22.cassette.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cassette.jpg" alt="cassette" width="200" height="150" class="alignright size-full wp-image-84245">For more than a decade researchers have been looking into the effects of online music piracy on the revenues of the record industry, with mixed results.</p>
<p>By now it&#8217;s clear that there&#8217;s no universal positive or negative effect of piracy on sales. The results depend on the type of artist, music genre and media, among other variables. </p>
<p>A newly published study by Jonathan Lee, researcher at Queen&#8217;s University Department of Economics, sheds an interesting light on these differences and unravels another piece of the puzzle.  </p>
<p>In a <a href="https://ideas.repec.org/p/qed/wpaper/1354.html">working paper</a> titled Purchase, Pirate, Publicize: The Effect of File Sharing on Album Sales, he examined the effect of BitTorrent piracy on both digital and physical music sales. </p>
<p>The goal of the study is to find out whether piracy&#8217;s sales displacement (piracy hurts sales) or the promotion component (piracy boosts sales) has a stronger effect. </p>
<p>&#8220;In theory, piracy could crowd out legitimate sales by building file sharing capacity, but could also increase sales through word-of-mouth,&#8221; Lee explains.</p>
<p>Drawing on a data set of 250,000 albums and 4.8 million downloads from a popular private BitTorrent tracker, he found some interesting effects. The overall results show a modest negative impact on album sales, as music industry executives would expect.  </p>
<p>&#8220;From the results, I conclude that file sharing activity has a statistically significant but economically modest negative effect on legitimate music sales,&#8221; Lee writes.  </p>
<p>Interestingly, however, this negative result is largely driven by physical sales. For many artists, piracy actually boosts digital sales, presumably because it serves as free advertising.</p>
<p>&#8220;This relationship varies by medium: file sharing decreases sales of physical copies but boosts sales of digital ones for top-tier artists, suggesting that the word-of-mouth effect is most relevant for the digital market.&#8221; </p>
<p>In addition, the popularity of the artists is an important factor too. More popular artists do relatively well as the boost in digital album sales compensates for the loss on the physical side. </p>
<p>&#8220;Top-tier artists lose sales, but the loss is partially offset by an increase in digital sales and the overall effect is small,&#8221; Lee writes.</p>
<p><center><strong>Links between piracy and sales across various artists tiers</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/b9b61667.piracysales.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/piracysales.jpg" alt="piracysales" width="500" height="458" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-116720"></center></p>
<p>For their part, artists who are somewhat popular actually benefit from piracy while lesser knows musicians are hurt the most. The latter may be explained by the fact that these artists simply aren&#8217;t good enough for people to buy their work. </p>
<p>&#8220;Mid-tier artists are helped slightly and bottom-tier artists are significantly hurt by file sharing, which could indicate that file sharing helps lesser-known artists only if they are actually talented,&#8221; Lee notes.</p>
<p>The study adds to the never-ending debate on the effect of piracy on sales. It&#8217;s a good illustration that file-sharing can have both a positive and a negative impact. </p>
<p>One of the downsides is that the data itself is relatively old, from 2008, and the music industry has changed a lot since then. This means that the results may have been different today. </p>
<p>Also, it&#8217;s worth noting that the download numbers come from a BitTorrent tracker that counts a relatively high share of music aficionados. They may also act differently than the general file-sharer. </p>
<p>That said, the paper offers a unique and unprecedented analysis of BitTorrent piracy on music sales. It clearly disputes the general argument that music piracy exclusively hurts album sales, and suggests that BitTorrent piracy can act as promotion under certain circumstances.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116640
title: Pirate Sites Decrease in Numbers, Increase in Strength
uri: Pirate-Sites-Decrease-in-Numbers-Increase-in-Strength
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/87FptKcNTek/
content:
<p><img src="media/a117020d.ponten.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ponten.png" alt="ponten" width="170" height="227" class="alignright size-full wp-image-116751">Over the past several years few individuals operating in the anti-piracy space have received more press than Henrik Pontén. Loved by rights-holders and hated by many pirates in equal measures, Pontén has been a thorn in the side of dozens of file-sharing sites.</p>
<p>The chief lawyer of Rights Alliance, which counts major Hollywood studios among its members, Pontén has definitely made a unique mark on file-sharing history.</p>
<p>Deeply involved in the prosecution of The Pirate Bay, Pontén made many enemies. In 2009 a bizarre (presumed &#8216;pirate&#8217;) retaliation made headlines when his name was officially changed with Swedish authorities <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-nemesis-has-name-changed-by-pranksters-090607/">without his knowledge</a>. To his disappointment, Pirate Pontén was born.</p>
<p>“The pirate movement have previously tried threats and when that doesn’t work, they do this,” Pontén said at the time.</p>
<p>In a new interview with <a href="http://www.idg.se/2.1085/1.647648/pirater-proffsiga/sida/1/sidan-1">IDG</a> more than six years on, the anti-piracy chief acknowledges that his work has not always proven popular with the masses. </p>
<p>&#8220;A friend once said that if you want to upset anyone you should write about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, wolf hunting or us,&#8221; Pontén says of Rights Alliance (formerly Antipiratbyrån).</p>
<p>Popularity has rarely appeared to been one of Pontén&#8217;s aims but somehow he has retained his dry humor. In contacts with TF over the years he&#8217;s always been polite and has often responded to our requests for comment with the tongue-in-cheek sign off &#8220;Sharing is Caring.&#8221;</p>
<p>But underneath the dry exterior is a man dedicated to his cause, one who has outlived many of the sites he&#8217;s targeted over the years. Not all have crumbled in his wake (not least The Pirate Bay), but the numbers are on the wane, he says.</p>
<p>&#8220;The trend is that the number of illegal services is decreasing. Two years ago, we looked at some 20 Swedish players, now it&#8217;s down to a few. They are distinctly uninterested in ceasing their operations because they earn good money from them,&#8221; Pontén says.</p>
<p>According to the anti-piracy veteran Rights Alliance contacts pirate sites before reporting them to the police. That gives them the chance to close down their operations before things get heavy, including raids, trials, potential prison sentences and millions in damages.</p>
<p>Pontén says that around half accept the offer to close. A few more stop after lawsuits are filed. Others, clearly, are much more persistent.</p>
<p>In the IDG interview Pontén is confronted with the fact that there have been a lot of court cases in Sweden against sites either run as hobby projects or generating marginal revenues. He counters by saying there is often a lag of several years between the filing of complaints and a prosecution.</p>
<p>Today, however, he suggests there are no more small fry in his home country.</p>
<p>&#8220;Of the services that remain in Sweden today, all are explicitly commercial and earn a lot of money,&#8221; he says.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a bit like the Internet in general. There are a few major players who are taking more and more space. The small sites disappear after a while,&#8221; Pontén notes.</p>
<p>Pontén is currently involved in a case against the operator of SwePiracy, a site that was first raided in 2012. The 24-year-old is accused of ignoring Rights Alliance warnings to close down and now faces claims for almost <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/fun-torrent-site-could-result-in-jail-millions-in-damages-160107/">$3 million in damages</a> from companies including Disney.</p>
<p>Also on the horizon lies the prosecution of SweFilmer, a site that was <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/swedens-largest-streaming-site-will-close-after-raid-150729/">raided by police last summer</a>. The site&#8217;s admin later revealed he&#8217;d been detained by police for four days.</p>
<p>Pontén says that those who believe that pirate sites are run by those who simply want to make content available for free will be surprised when they discover the commercial nature of that particular site.</p>
<p>&#8220;It will become clear,&#8221; he concludes.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116756
title: EFF Warns Against Broad “Stay Down” Anti-Piracy Filters
uri: EFF-Warns-Against-Broad-Stay-Down-Anti-Piracy-Filters
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/3uBcHCvAJSI/
content:
<p><img src="media/82d79bdb.targetmiss.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/targetmiss.jpg" alt="targetmiss" width="275" height="187" class="alignright size-full wp-image-116761">This month the U.S. Government&#8217;s Copyright Office launched a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/u-s-govt-reviews-impact-and-efficacy-of-dmca-safe-harbor-160105/">public consultation</a> to evaluate the effectiveness of the DMCA&#8217;s Safe Harbor provisions. </p>
<p>The study aims to signal problems with the current takedown procedures and addresses the repeat infringer issue that affects ISPs, copyright takedown abuses, and the ever-increasing volume of DMCA notices.</p>
<p>An issue that&#8217;s been high on the agenda are requests from copyright holder groups to ensure that content &#8220;<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/google-counsel-sees-problems-with-take-down-stay-down-151121/">stays down</a>&#8221; after it&#8217;s removed. For example, when Google removes a copyrighted image from its search results, it should ensure that it doesn&#8217;t reappear under another URL.</p>
<p>This &#8220;take down, stay down&#8221; approach is being pushed by industry groups including the MPAA and RIAA who believe that the current takedown procedures are not effective. </p>
<p>However, not everyone welcomes tighter rules. In particular, the recent proposals struck a nerve with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (<a href="https://www.eff.org/">EFF</a>) who warn against such broad copyright filters.</p>
<p>&#8220;Now, some lobbyists think that content filtering should become a legal obligation: content companies are proposing that once a takedown notice goes uncontested, the platform should have to filter and block any future uploads of the same allegedly infringing content,&#8221; the EFF&#8217;s Elliot Harmon <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/01/notice-and-stay-down-really-filter-everything">notes</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;Filter-everything would effectively shift the burden of policing copyright infringement to the platforms themselves, undermining the purpose of the safe harbor in the first place.&#8221;</p>
<p>One of the problems is that copyrighted content may be infringing on one site, but not on another. For example, a video creator may want to take down infringing copies of his work, but that doesn&#8217;t mean that all the licensed versions should be removed from the web too. </p>
<p>In addition, the EFF points out that automated takedown tools are far from perfect. The <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/warner-bros-robots-141007/">takedown &#8216;robots&#8217;</a> that copyright holders employ often make mistakes, removing access to content that&#8217;s not infringing at all. </p>
<p>&#8220;Here’s something else to consider about copyright bots: they’re not very good,&#8221; Harmon writes.</p>
<p>&#8220;Content ID routinely flags videos as infringement that don’t copy from another work at all. Bots also don’t understand the complexities of fair use. In September, a federal appeals court confirmed that copyright holders must consider fair use before sending a takedown notice,&#8221; he adds. </p>
<p>The EFF does agree with copyright holders that the DMCA notice-and-takedown procedure isn&#8217;t perfect. But, instead of more strict filtering they would like more safeguards to ensure that free speech and fair use are protected. This is not the case at the moment. </p>
<p>&#8220;You don’t need to look far to find examples of copyright holders abusing the system, silencing speech with dubious copyright claims,&#8221; Harmon notes.</p>
<p>&#8220;Under the filter-everything approach, legitimate uses of works wouldn’t get the reasonable consideration they deserve. Even if content-recognizing technology were airtight, computers would still not be able to consider a work’s fair use status,&#8221; he adds.</p>
<p>The above clearly shows that there&#8217;s a great divide on how the DMCA takedown process should operate and what changes the U.S. Government should implement.</p>
<p>Considering the parties involved and the stakes at hand, copyright holders, Internet services and ISPs will do everything in their power to convince the Copyright Office that they know what&#8217;s best for the future of the Internet.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116705
title: The Site Lifting the Veil on Netflix’s Geo-Restrictions
uri: The-Site-Lifting-the-Veil-on-Netflix-s-Geo-Restrictions
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/edRQQPaaib4/
content:
<p><img src="media/b310fc7c.netflix-logo.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/netflix-logo.png" width="200" height="121" class="alignright">Netflix has just announced its expansion into 130 more countries around the globe but the company&#8217;s penetration hasn&#8217;t always been so deep. Millions of potential customers outside the United States have had to wait for the service to land on their shores to become a customer &#8211; well that was the theory at least.</p>
<p>An open secret for years and common knowledge during the past couple of weeks, it&#8217;s possible &#8211; and easy &#8211; to be a customer of Netflix in one country and gain access to it from another.</p>
<p>Before the service landed on their shores last year this meant that <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/netflix-vpn-problem-leave-consumers-alone-aussie-minister-says-150617/">Australians with no official access</a> to the service have been able to view <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">using a VPN</a>. Equally, users with limited local libraries have been able to fool Netflix into thinking they&#8217;re American &#8211; with all the riches that provides.</p>
<p>Last week Netflix announced that it had begun <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/netflix-announces-crackdown-on-vpn-and-proxy-pirates-160114/">cracking down</a> on these content-tourists (or VPN pirates as they&#8217;re sometimes called) in order to appease rightsholders but for those who can still beat the system, what are they enjoying? The answer to that question and more can be found by visiting the &#8216;unofficial Netflix online Global Search&#8217; or uNoGS for short.</p>
<p>uNoGS is essentially a searchable database which allows users to see which content is available on Netflix in any given area in the world. For instance, when Netflix unceremoniously curtailed my viewing of Donnie Brasco in the UK earlier this month, a search on uNoGS revealed the movie was still on the service and accessible from 22 other countries.</p>
<p><Center><img src="media/1895a91e.unog-1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/unog-1.png" alt="unog-1" width="650" height="590" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-116719"></center></p>
<p>This means that by using a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-providers-condemn-netflix-blocking-crackdown-160118/">VPN to switch countries</a> I was able to continue viewing, but uNoGS actually goes a step further by providing details on which VPN, proxy or DNS providers can provide access on a movie-by-movie basis.</p>
<p>For example, selecting TorGuard reveals options in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. </p>
<p>Selecting Private Internet Access reveals five usable servers located in Finland, France, Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland. Since the language is also displayed by uNoGS, those seeking English audio are able to rule out the second and fourth options.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/cce42d80.unogs-2.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/unogs-2.png" alt="unogs-2" width="645" height="214" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-116721"></center></p>
<p>Interested by the project, TorrentFreak caught up with uNoGS operator Brian to find out more about his baby.</p>
<p>&#8220;uNoGS is very much a one man show juggled as a hobby between work and family life. I initially built the site just for myself because the few sites that were providing a service like this were extremely limited in terms of search functionality,&#8221; Brian says.</p>
<p>&#8220;I wanted to be able to see what was available in every country, when it was added, when it was supposed to expire and when it actually expired. Once I completed the initial build for myself I decided to share it with everyone and uNoGS went live in early May 2015.&#8221;</p>
<p>Brian says the site&#8217;s aim is to provide an overview of what&#8217;s on in every country served by Netflix globally and to provide users with advanced search functionality to find titles by name as well as a variety of specific parameters. In addition to dates of availability, uNoGS provides details on audio tracks and subtitling. It also offers TV series data plus iMDb and Rotten Tomatoes listings.</p>
<p>Also available are total movie and TV show counts for each country. <a href="http://unogs.com/countrydetail/">Found here</a>, the table reveals the United States as the best Netflix region by far, with &#8216;French Southern Territories&#8217; the most under-served.</p>
<p>In total, uNoGS indexes content available on Netflix in 243 territories and updates the same on a daily basis, but Brian suggests that in an ideal world his service wouldn&#8217;t be needed.</p>
<p>&#8220;Traditional media outlets like cable, satellite and terrestrial tv are dead but they haven&#8217;t fully realized this yet. Most of them are trying to hang on to their lucrative commercial models which they love but consumers hate,&#8221; he explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;At the moment these different providers have enough money to buy up the rights to a variety of shows making the geo-restrictions necessary. In time, this will change as more and more viewers go to disruptive services which charge a fair monthly fee and allow users to watch titles on their own terms. With the moves that Netflix is currently making, hopefully these changes will come sooner rather than later.&#8221;</p>
<p>In the meantime Netflix is in the clutches of copyright holders who it admits trying to appease with its recent VPN clampdown. TorrentFreak began speaking with uNoGS early January before that particular news broke but in our conversations back then, Brian made an accurate prediction.</p>
<p>&#8220;In the future with the advent of tools like <a href="http://smartflix.io">Smartflix</a> and search engines like uNoGS, I think [region switching] will become more mainstream and eventually upset the content providers enough to push Netflix to take action.  I think this will be a shame but most likely inevitable,&#8221; he correctly concluded.</p>
<p>&#8220;Overall I think the VPN/DNS switchers are a good thing and most likely keep people from obtaining media through less official methods.&#8221;</p>
<p>uNoGS can be found <a href="http://unogs.com/">here</a>, complete with <a href="https://market.mashape.com/unogs/unogs">API access</a> for those interested. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=116748
title: Creative Kids Turn MIT Website Into a ‘Piracy’ Haven
uri: Creative-Kids-Turn-MIT-Website-Into-a-Piracy-Haven
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/0Bu1UE0CdbE/
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">Kids love to be creative and in today&#8217;s world, tablets and computers offer a wealth of options to do so. </p>
<p>One of these creative playgrounds is the visual programming language <a href="https://scratch.mit.edu/">Scratch</a>, which has been in development at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for over a decade. </p>
<p>&#8220;With Scratch, you can program your own interactive stories, games, and animations — and share your creations with others in the online community,&#8221; the project explains.</p>
<p>Scratch targets children between the ages of 8 and 16, who can create and remix works of art through an easy to use web-based interface. The tool has become quite popular in recent years with over 12 million projects being shared. </p>
<p>More recently, however, it also gained the attention of copyright holders. Over the past months music industry group BPI sent <a href="http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/copyright/domains/mit.edu/">tens of thousands</a> of takedown notices targeting the creative playground, pointing out the use of various pirated tracks. </p>
<p>Indeed, upon closer inspection it appears that many kids projects <a href="https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/48973018/">feature songs</a> of popular artists. </p>
<p><center><strong>&#8220;Credit to the Internet for pictures&#8221;</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/8a8861a2.creditinternet.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/creditinternet.jpg" alt="creditinternet" width="600" height="322" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-116769"></center></p>
<p>Many of the young creators may not be aware of their infringing acts, but the major music labels certainly are. MIT doesn&#8217;t publish any details on takedown notices but Google alone has received close to 40,000 alerts referencing infringing &#8220;scratch.mit.edu&#8221; URLs.</p>
<p>This makes the MIT website one of the top pirate sites on the Internet, and definitely the most infringing educational domain. </p>
<p>Interestingly, the youngsters are not completely oblivious to the concept of copyright. One user addresses the issue in the Scratch forums, asking <a href="https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/112374/?page=1#post-996138">whether it&#8217;s okay</a> to use copyrighted music in his creations. </p>
<p>Other members quickly chimed in concluding that this type of use is permitted. </p>
<p>&#8220;Yep! Scratch has a special license that lets you use copyrighted music and other things &#8211; just be sure to give credit to anything you don&#8217;t own,&#8221; one commenter wrote.</p>
<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re technically protected under fair use because scratch is &#8216;educational&#8217;,&#8221; another comment added.</p>
<p>While this may sound reassuring it&#8217;s also a bit misguided. Scratch certainly doesn&#8217;t have a license to use all copyrighted music and even the educational argument could be contested in court. </p>
<p>The people behind the Scratch project seem to be aware of the potential issues. The site has a <a href="https://scratch.mit.edu/DMCA/">DMCA takedown policy</a> in place which allows rightsholders to remove content, but not before giving it a second thought.</p>
<p>&#8220;In assessing whether or not a Scratch user has violated your copyrights, please keep in mind that Scratch is an educational and not-for-profit initiative, seeking to aid children’s learning by providing the tools for them to learn and express themselves using digital technology,&#8221; the Scratch project writes. </p>
<p>&#8220;We hope you also see Scratch not only as a good way of popularizing your creations/website but also as an opportunity to do something good for children’s education,&#8221; it adds.</p>
<p>If copyright holders still want to take down the kids&#8217; creations they are welcome to do so, but they should think of the children first&#8230;</p>
<p>Luckily for the BPI and other copyright groups Scratch isn&#8217;t all bad. They would certainly appreciate this <a href="https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/87695577/">home-made anti-piracy PSA</a> created by one Scratcher, for example.</p>
<p><center><strong>&#8220;Don&#8217;t steal things&#8221;</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/7ff00fec.scratchpirate.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/scratchpirate.jpg" alt="scratchpirate" width="600" height="305" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-116768"></center></p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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