# articles

feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75793
title: Comcast Threatens to Sue TorrentFreak for Copyright Infringement (updated)
uri: Comcast-Threatens-to-Sue-TorrentFreak-for-Copyright-Infringement
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/dXTd7CxnqUo/
content:
<p><img src="media/2a7ab73c.comcast-cares.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/comcast-cares.jpg" alt="comcast cares" width="180" height="227" class="alignright size-full wp-image-35089" />Over the past several years we have covered many copyright disputes, but now we have become part of one ourselves.</p>
<p>Last week we wrote <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/copyright-troll-ran-pirate-bay-honeypot-comcast-confirms-130815/">a news article</a> based on public court records, revealing that Prenda Law has been involved in operating a honeypot in order to lure Internet users into downloading copyrighted material. </p>
<p>This revelation came to light after Comcast returned a subpoena linking the IP-address of Pirate Bay uploader “Sharkmp4″ to the infamous law firm, and has since been published by several other news outlets since we broke the news. </p>
<p>It was an article like any other, we thought, but on Monday we learned that Comcast was not happy with our coverage. Through the brand protection company <a href="https://www.cyveillance.com/">Cyveillance </a> they sent a cease and desist letter for an alleged copyright infringement, demanding that we take the article offline, or face legal action.</p>
<p>The threats are clear. If we fail to comply with the takedown notice within five days Comcast will file a lawsuit seeking immediate injunctive relief, compensatory damages, statutory damages, punitive damages, attorneys’ fees and costs of the suit.</p>
<p><center><br />
<h5></h5>
<p><img src="media/2bafeeb5.comcast-email.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/comcast-email.png" alt="comcast-email" width="535" height="603" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-75794" /></center></p>
<p>Unfortunately, the email above provides no indication of what we have done wrong. It simply states that we infringed on Comcast&#8217;s copyrights without explaining what the actual infringement entails. </p>
<p>To find out more we contacted Cyveillance with a request for additional information. In a quick response, the company informed us that the copy of the subpoena (also <a href="media/6ebfa1c5.gov.uscourts.gand.188990.61.15.pdf" data-original-source="http://ia601600.us.archive.org/7/items/gov.uscourts.gand.188990/gov.uscourts.gand.188990.61.15.pdf">available</a> on the Internet archive) response was the problem. </p>
<p>&#8220;The thing that we would  like you to remove from you post is the copy of the subpoena form that contains Comcast subscriber&#8217;s information, The rest of the post can stay,&#8221; we were told. </p>
<p>While the response is clear, it still doesn&#8217;t explain what the actual infringement is. According to our knowledge court records are <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PACER_(law)">public domain</a> and can be freely used by reporters, especially when they are the center of a news piece.</p>
<p>When we pointed this out to Cyveillance the company suddenly informed us that Comcast told them to &#8220;hold off on working on the removal of the post in question.&#8221; Baffled by the situation, and unclear how to proceed we asked for further details. However, everything went silent and several follow-up emails sent by us since Monday afternoon have gone unanswered.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the situation further deteriorated when we learned that our hosting provider LeaseWeb received the same cease and desist notice. LeaseWeb alerted us to this problem on Tuesday and stated that our IP-address would be blocked if the issue was not resolved within 24 hours. </p>
<p><center><br />
<h5></h5>
<p><img src="media/f5b3933b.leaseweb-email.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/leaseweb-email.png" alt="leaseweb-email" width="540" height="219" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-75795" /></center></p>
<p>We contacted Cyveillance and alerted them to this issue, but again, no response. </p>
<p>TorrentFreak has consulted several legal experts who agree that we&#8217;ve done nothing wrong here. Also, Comcast has not asked the court to seal the filing in question and it can still be accessed through the court records.</p>
<p>While we generally refrain from writing about Internal issues, we believe this copyright claim is a matter of interest and one the public should be aware of. We hope that Comcast can clarify its stance eventually, and that our server remains online in the meantime.</p>
<p><strong>Update</strong> 7pm CET: A Comcast spokesperson responded to an inquiry we sent to the company&#8217;s lawyers:</p>
<p>&#8220;[I] am replying to let you know that the cease and desist  was sent in error, and you may disregard it. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.&#8221;</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/comcast-threatens-to-sue-torrentfreak-for-copyright-infringement-130821/">Comcast Threatens to Sue TorrentFreak for Copyright Infringement (updated)</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=dXTd7CxnqUo:Y70sWQnh7JU:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=dXTd7CxnqUo:Y70sWQnh7JU:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=dXTd7CxnqUo:Y70sWQnh7JU:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/dXTd7CxnqUo" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75766
title: Piracy Doesn’t Harm eBook Sales, Publisher Says
uri: Piracy-Doesn-t-Harm-eBook-Sales-Publisher-Says
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/oSUubRB1sAo/
content:
<p><img src="media/028cc1b2.books1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/books1.jpg" alt="books" width="200" height="228" class="alignright size-full wp-image-38808" />With a growing demand for digital books, the publishing industry is increasingly confronted with the issue of online piracy. </p>
<p>Boasting a collection of tens of thousands of eBooks, <a href="http://www.springer.com/">Springer</a> is one of the larger publishers dealing with this emerging threat. </p>
<p>To show what they&#8217;re doing to prevent the unauthorized distribution of eBooks, the company has recently updated its anti-piracy strategy. Like most other copyright holders, Springer is mainly focused on sending takedown requests.</p>
<p>&#8220;In order to protect our authors´ rights and interests, Springer proactively screens websites for illegal download links of Springer eBooks and subsequently requires hosts of such download sites to remove and delete the files or links in question,&#8221; they write.</p>
<p>The sentence that follows, however, is perhaps of even more interest. While the company admits that piracy is a serious issue, they have yet to see any evidence that it hurts their business (emphasis added).   </p>
<p>&#8220;While we <strong>have not yet seen harmful effects of eBook piracy and file sharing</strong> on our eBook portfolio, these are nevertheless considered serious topics,&#8221; Springer notes. </p>
<p>In addition to the revelation above, the publisher later notes that torrent sites and other forms of file-sharing &#8220;<strong>rarely present a threat to eBook content.</strong>&#8221;</p>
<p>It&#8217;s interesting to see that one of the largest book publishers in the industry doesn&#8217;t see piracy as a direct threat to its revenues. While Springer doesn&#8217;t go into details to explain the absence of a harmful effect, we have to assume that they have some data to back up this claim.  </p>
<p>Despite the lack of a concrete threat, the publisher does target central download hubs and commercial sites that sell their content. Springer says that during the summer these anti-piracy efforts have resulted in the shutdown of several &#8216;unnamed&#8217; illegal sites.</p>
<p>Springer further writes that concerned authors send in 100 notifications about illegal copies every month. Interestingly, half of these notifications don&#8217;t really point to infringing material, but spam. </p>
<p>It appears that many authors are falling for fake download advertisements, and the publisher recommends that its authors should ignore these.   </p>
<p>&#8220;As a rule of thumb links with names like &#8216;fast download,&#8217; &#8216;direct download&#8217; or similar frequently turn out to be spam and are not critical in terms of piracy,&#8221; Springer explains, adding that the real threat comes from books that can be downloaded &#8220;without any barriers such as installations or payments.&#8221;</p>
<p>Finally, while P2P file-sharing isn&#8217;t seen as a priority for Springer, the company warns its authors away from downloading their own books, or even installing a BitTorrent client as that may result in legal trouble.</p>
<p>&#8220;Don’t install sharing clients such as &#8216;utorrent&#8217; or others,&#8221; they warn.</p>
<p>Springer&#8217;s final recommendation is a bit over the top. After all, there are several book authors who use BitTorrent to share and <a href="http://bundles.bittorrent.com/corey-taylor/">promote their work</a>. This includes best-selling author Paulo Coelho who says that piracy <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/best-selling-author-turns-piracy-into-profit-080512/">increased his sales tremendously</a>. </p>
<p>But perhaps that&#8217;s a bridge too far for Springer.</p>
<p><center><br />
<h5>Springer&#8217;s anti-piracy communique</h5>
<p><iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" src="http://www.scribd.com/embeds/161627402/content?start_page=1&#038;view_mode=scroll&#038;access_key=key-2cilyzn0vk22i8mmtine&#038;show_recommendations=false" data-auto-height="false" data-aspect-ratio="0.772922022279349" scrolling="no" id="doc_59360" width="100%" height="600" frameborder="0"></iframe></center></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/piracy-doesnt-harm-ebook-sales-publisher-says-130820/">Piracy Doesn&#8217;t Harm eBook Sales, Publisher Says</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=oSUubRB1sAo:FEAjhhHTwfk:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=oSUubRB1sAo:FEAjhhHTwfk:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=oSUubRB1sAo:FEAjhhHTwfk:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/oSUubRB1sAo" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75748
title: Russia’s SOPA Sees 42% of All Anti-Piracy Blocking Requests Rejected
uri: Russia-s-SOPA-Sees-42-of-All-Anti-Piracy-Blocking-Requests-Rejected
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/JSHOSkputoQ/
content:
<p><img src="media/83799112.russsopa.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/russsopa.jpg" width="180" height="212" class="alignright" />August 1 Russia introduced new legislation aimed at reducing online copyright infringement.</p>
<p>Targeted initially at the unauthorized distribution of movies and TV shows, there were soon calls for the program to <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/russia-prepares-to-broaden-brand-new-anti-piracy-law-130807/">undergo expansion</a> to include music, lyrics and other copyright works.</p>
<p>This Thursday the initiative, which will see non-conforming sites blocked at the ISP level, will have been underway for exactly three weeks. But while some critics envisioned a Russian Internet in tatters at the hands of over-zealous copyright holders, thus far things haven&#8217;t panned out that way.</p>
<p>Righthsolders have reported at least two file-sharing sites &#8211; rutor.org and turbofilm.tv &#8211; to the authorities for infringement of their copyrights. However, neither domain has been added to Russia&#8217;s blocklist and for good reason. A source close to one of the sites told TorrentFreak that both chose to delete the infringing links in question and are now continuing business as usual.</p>
<p>While both Rutor and Turbofilm were the subject of successful complaints, it appears that rightsholders are really struggling to meet the requirements of the law. Pavel Krasheninnikov, head of the State Duma Committee on Civil, Criminal, Arbitration and Procedural Legislation, revealed yesterday that four out of every ten blocking requests have been rejected so far.</p>
<p>&#8220;I contacted the chairman of the Moscow City Court &#8211; 19 applications were submitted, 11 of them were accepted, eight were declined,&#8221; Krasheninnikov said.</p>
<p>In order to have a blocking request accepted rightsholders are required to provide lots of documentation, including evidence that they own the content in question. It appears that is more easily said than done.</p>
<p>&#8220;The application process is quite time-consuming and costly. For example, certified translations of all documents of title are required,&#8221; Cinema Without Borders&#8217; Sam Klebanov told Russia&#8217;s <a href="http://www.comnews.ru">CommNews</a>.</p>
<p>In order to overcome some of these kinds of administrative problems, particularly when dealing with Internet companies, there are suggestions that all rightsholders should have the option of coordinating their anti-piracy efforts through a non-profit agency accredited by the Ministry of Culture.</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://www.vedomosti.ru">Vedomosti</a>, the plan is to pre-verify the identities and managed properties of rightholders so that those processing complaints do not have to seek additional verification documents from those making them.</p>
<p>Klebanov&#8217;s company Cinema Without Borders was the first to have a filed complaint rejected on the basis of inadequate paperwork but he says that even with that failure, companies like vKontakte, the subject of their complaint, do seem to be taking note of the law. That, however, is only part of the problem.</p>
<p>&#8220;The big players that exist in the legal space are starting to pay attention to the law, but there are quite a lot of &#8216;wild&#8217; pirates, who still continue their activities,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>The question now is what will happen when rightsholders get their blocking requests in shape. Will it have terrible consequences for the free flow of information? Not so says Leonid Agronov from the National Federation of the Music Industry (NFMI).</p>
<p>According to Agronov, out of 120 million websites located in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runet_%28terminology%29">Runet</a>, only around four thousand are involved in the unauthorized distribution of copyright works. Since this is a small proportion the effect of any blocking on the Internet as a whole would be minimal, Agronov argues.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, those kinds of assurances haven&#8217;t placated the masses. More than one hundred thousand people signed a petition against the new law, which led to an announcement yesterday by the State Duma&#8217;s Pavel Krasheninnikov.</p>
<p>“The Duma will consider the petition,&#8221; he promised.</p>
<p>It seems unlikely that any review of the law will change the course of the government but as the cases of Rutor and Turbofilm show, compliance is achieved by simply deleting a link. With several billion of those still online (each requiring lots of work to take down), rightsholders still have plenty to do.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/russias-sopa-sees-42-of-all-anti-piracy-blocking-requests-rejected-130820/">Russia&#8217;s SOPA Sees 42% of All Anti-Piracy Blocking Requests Rejected</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=JSHOSkputoQ:6iFB7Dmwx9Y:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=JSHOSkputoQ:6iFB7Dmwx9Y:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=JSHOSkputoQ:6iFB7Dmwx9Y:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/JSHOSkputoQ" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75704
title: UFC Just Sent the Most Embarrassing DMCA Notice Ever
uri: UFC-Just-Sent-the-Most-Embarrassing-DMCA-Notice-Ever
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/vfywfkt0VWI/
content:
<p><a href="media/e02ae2ea.picarddmca.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/picarddmca.png"><img src="media/e02ae2ea.picarddmca.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/picarddmca.png" alt="picarddmca" width="180" height="119" class="alignright size-full wp-image-75723" /></a>While it might not yet have the high profile of the major Hollywood studios, the UFC is currently out-punching the movie business when it comes to anti-piracy activities.</p>
<p>As the leading mixed martial arts promotion in the world the UFC is hugely protective of its content. In recent times it has spent <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/sopa-fallout-makes-anti-piracy-lobbying-a-tough-job-130717/">considerable sums lobbying</a> in an attempt to have U.S. copyright law changed in its favor. Owned by Zuffa, the UFC would like to see streaming turned into a felony, with the aim of protecting their lucrative PPV events.</p>
<p>But while the instant money comes from their live shows, the UFC also makes money from selling post event DVDs and in order to protect that market the company hires several anti-piracy outfits to take content down.</p>
<p>The most visible of these actions are the DMCA notices Zuffa has outside companies send to Google. According to the search engine&#8217;s Transparency Report, Zuffa has used three companies to have more than 535,000 infringing links removed from Google&#8217;s indexes. Most of the time these are pretty standard fare, as the notice below illustrates.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/43d16e44.UFCDMCA1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/UFCDMCA1.png" alt="UFC DMCA 1" /></center></p>
<p>While the above is an example of a highly targeted takedown (very specific URLs containing torrents to the actual infringing content) there is a growing trend at anti-piracy companies to employ a carpet-bombing mentality, rather sending in the required precision strike.</p>
<p>The terrible results of this broad brush approach can be seen in this very embarrassing notice sent by Zuffa / IP Arrow to Google on August 14. As can be seen from the screenshot, Zuffa is claiming that some pretty awful content is their property, and (worst still) the original copies can be found at UFC.com, which they obviously can&#8217;t.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/3becac60.UFCDMCA2.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/UFCDMCA2.png" alt="UFC DMCA 2" /></center></p>
<p>So how is this needless embarrassment being caused? No prizes if you guessed &#8220;automated crawlers.&#8221;</p>
<p>Instead of pinpointing specific pages carrying UFC torrents for example, the crawlers will target any other pages (even those created dynamically by search engines) that link to them, meaning that the generated DMCA notices deindex hundreds of other items that have nothing to do with the specific rightsholder. This, while often leaving the actual torrent page intact.</p>
<p>For example, this <a href="http://www.chillingeffects.org/notice.cgi?sID=1114311">DMCA notice</a> sent by Zuffa targets many URLs which initially appear to have nothing to do with UFC content. We&#8217;ve highlighted just one as an example.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/30e95a9f.ufcdmca3.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ufcdmca3.png" alt="UFCDMCA3" /></center></p>
<p>On closer inspection the <a href="http://www.torrentreactor.net/torrents/5978265/the-x-factor-us-s02e15-720p-hdtv-x264-2hd-mkv">X Factor page</a> has a section at the bottom titled &#8220;related torrents&#8221;. Sure enough, links to <em>other pages</em> that carry UFC content are listed. Instead of taking those down though, Zuffa&#8217;s anti-piracy company shot the messenger instead.</p>
<p>This carpet-bombing approach to takedowns is no doubt causing legitimate content to be censored too, so one might hope that embarrassing content in public DMCA takedowns will be enough for these companies to be a little more accurate in their work.</p>
<p>Anti-piracy companies working in this field have a difficult job, no one is doubting that. But wiping the freeway off the map when a mere side road has caused offense is hardly an acceptable strategy. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/ufc-just-sent-the-most-embarrassing-dmca-notice-ever-130819/">UFC Just Sent the Most Embarrassing DMCA Notice Ever</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=vfywfkt0VWI:aAWlSL2SOIU:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=vfywfkt0VWI:aAWlSL2SOIU:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=vfywfkt0VWI:aAWlSL2SOIU:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/vfywfkt0VWI" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75676
title: Supreme Court Orders RapidShare to Police the Internet
uri: Supreme-Court-Orders-RapidShare-to-Police-the-Internet
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/7uWE8qINLSE/
content:
<p><img src="media/acccd156.rapidsharelogo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/rapidsharelogo.jpg" align="right" alt="rapidshare" />In the aftermath of the Megaupload shutdown the legality of many file-hosting services was called into doubt, RapidShare included.</p>
<p>During the past several years RapidShare has made tremendous efforts to cooperate with copyright holders and limit copyright infringements. But this hasn&#8217;t prevented the company from getting involved in a handful of lawsuits against rightsholders.</p>
<p>Last year a regional High Court in Germany confirmed two separate verdicts by a lower court, in cases that were initiated by book publishers and a music rights group. </p>
<p>The court clarified that RapidShare has no obligation to proactively monitor files that are uploaded by its users. However, the company is required to monitor external sites that link to copyrighted files on RapidShare, and ensure these files become inaccessible to the public.</p>
<p>In addition, the ruling noted that when these measures prove not to be effective enough, the file-hosting site <a href="http://www.telemedicus.info/article/2229-OLG-Hamburg-Die-Rapidshare-Entscheidung,-ein-Meilenstein.html">should restrict the opportunity</a> for people to use the site anonymously. RapidShare already logs IP-addresses but to decrease anonymity customers may also have to show proof of identity.</p>
<p>Arguing that this decision went too far RapidShare took the case to the Supreme Court, but that appeal has now been rejected. The full decision is yet to be published but it is clear that the court affirmed the earlier judgment. </p>
<p>Copyright holders are happy with the Supreme Court confirmation. According to them it proves that service providers have an obligation to actively address piracy, and do more than simply responding to takedown notices.</p>
<p>&#8220;The confirmation of the judgment is groundbreaking because it clarifies that it&#8217;s a fundamental responsibility of online storage services towards rightsholders, whose works are shared en masse through their platforms,&#8221; music rights group <a href="https://www.gema.de/presse/pressemitteilungen/presse-details/article/gema-bundesgerichtshof-bestaetigt-urteil-gegen-rapidshare.html">GEMA comments</a>.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak asked RapidShare for a comment on the Supreme Court decision but we have yet to receive a response. </p>
<p>Initially, not much is expected to change for the file-hosting service as they have already been &#8220;policing&#8221; the Internet for quite a while. </p>
<p>“That is exactly what RapidShare has already been doing for many years. If the Anti-Abuse Team identifies a download link on such pages which results in a file that has clearly been published illegally being on the company’s servers, the file in question is immediately blocked,” the company told us previously. </p>
<p>However, RapidShare believed that making this policy mandatory goes too far. &#8220;We believe that being obliged to carry out such actions is questionable from a legal perspective,” RapidShare said.</p>
<p>Aside from monitoring forums and linking sites for infringing links, over the past few years RapidShare has made several other adjustments to its service to decrease unlawful use. Most recently the company <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/rapidshare-limits-public-download-traffic-to-drive-away-pirates-121108/">restricted the ability</a> of all users to share files in public, hoping that would drive away pirates.</p>
<p>These measures resulted in an <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/rapidshare-traffic-and-piracy-dipped-after-new-business-model-kicked-in-130109/">exodus of users</a> and as a result RapidShare <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/rapidshare-fires-75-of-its-staff-after-rogue-site-revamp-bites-130519/">fired 75% of its employees</a> earlier this year. </p>
<p>It is expected that the Supreme Court decision will have massive implications. Not only for RapidShare, but also for many other file-hosting services that operate in Germany. More on what will change exactly for RapidShare and its users will become apparent when the full verdict is released a few weeks from now.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/supreme-court-orders-rapidshare-to-police-the-internet-130819/">Supreme Court Orders RapidShare to Police the Internet</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=7uWE8qINLSE:WMBzaZ2PZxM:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=7uWE8qINLSE:WMBzaZ2PZxM:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=7uWE8qINLSE:WMBzaZ2PZxM:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/7uWE8qINLSE" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75678
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/74gH1kxav0I/
content:
<p><img src="media/bbd63c8d.iron-man-3.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/iron-man-3.jpg" alt="iron-man-3" width="275" height="165" class="alignright size-full wp-image-70707" /></a> This week we have four newcomers in our chart. </p>
<p>Iron Man 3 is the most downloaded movie. </p>
<p>The data for our weekly download chart is collected 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" summary="Most downloaded movies on BitTorrent">
<caption>Week ending August 18, 2013</caption>
<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-130812/">last week</a>)</strong></th>
<th><strong>Movie</strong></th>
<th width="18%"><strong>IMDb Rating / Trailer</strong></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tfoot>
<tr>
<td colspan="4">torrentfreak.com</td>
</tr>
</tfoot>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>1</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/iron_man_3/">Iron Man 3</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1300854/">7.5</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CzoSeClcw0">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_conjuring/">The Conjuring</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1457767/">7.9</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k10ETZ41q5o">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_great_gatsby_2013/">The Great Gatsby</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1343092/">7.4</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaBVLhcHcc0">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/pain_and_gain/">Pain and Gain</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1980209/">6.7</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEQ8jyvmYtw">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/oblivion_2013/">Oblivion</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1483013/">7.1</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmIIgE7eSak">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/epic_2013/">Epic</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0848537/">6.6</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xu3JLXfuwQ">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_iceman_2013/">The Iceman</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1491044/">7.0</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Z1EDW784Qk">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(6)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_wolverine_2012/">The Wolverine</a> (CAM)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1430132/">7.2</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh1LdTFkm7I">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(9)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ripd/">R.I.P.D</a> (TS) </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0790736/">5.5</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhOWtVElqfw">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1891884/">Once Upon Ay Time in Mumbai Dobaara! </a> (DVDscr)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1891884/">6.3</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dj9UXzyDsOA">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-movies-of-the-week-130819/">Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=74gH1kxav0I:CLjbL64NYkA:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=74gH1kxav0I:CLjbL64NYkA:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=74gH1kxav0I:CLjbL64NYkA:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/74gH1kxav0I" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75654
title: “How Should Artists Get Paid?” Isn’t a Question, it’s an Insult
uri: How-Should-Artists-Get-Paid-Isn-t-a-Question-it-s-an-Insul
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Ik_uJjCFsIU/
content:
<p><img src="media/c9e6482e.cash1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cash1.jpg" alt="cash" width="200" height="121" class="alignright size-full wp-image-24443" />We&#8217;ve all heard the objection to sharing culture and knowledge many times &#8211; &#8220;How will the artists get paid, if you manufacture copies of their creations without paying them?&#8221;</p>
<p>This question is delusional on so many levels I&#8217;ve lost count.</p>
<p>First, artists that are copied do get paid, only not by a per-copy sale but in other ways. I encourage copying of my leadership handbook <a href="http://falkvinge.net/books/">Swarmwise</a>, for example, because I know the book promotes other avenues of income. The average income for musicians has risen 114% since people started sharing culture online on a large-scale, <a href="http://falkvinge.net/2011/01/31/how-shall-the-artists-get-paid/">according</a> to a Norwegian study. Other studies agree with this observation.</p>
<p>Second, even if they didn&#8217;t get paid, people who share still don&#8217;t carry any kind of responsibility for the business models of other entrepreneurs. Because that&#8217;s what artists are once they go plinking their guitar in a kitchen looking for sales: <strong>entrepreneurs.</strong> Same rules apply to those entrepreneurs as to every other entrepreneur on the planet: nobody owes an entrepreneur a sale, you have to offer something which somebody else wants to buy. <strong>Wants. To. Buy.</strong> No excuses, nothing deserved, just business.</p>
<p>Third, we don&#8217;t live in a planned economy. Nobody is held accountable to the question of where somebody&#8217;s next paycheck is going to come from except that very person. In Soviet Russia, you could tell Vladimir Sklyarov that his guitar plinking was highly artistic (meaning nobody liked it) and that his next paycheck would therefore come from the Bureau of Incomprehensible Arts. But we don&#8217;t live in a planned economy, we live in a market economy. Everybody is responsible for their own paycheck &#8211; of finding a way to make money by providing value that somebody else wants to pay for. <strong>Wants. To. Pay. For.</strong> No excuses, nothing deserved.</p>
<p>Fourth, even if this set of entrepreneurs magically deserved money despite not making any sales, control of what people share between them can still not be achieved without dismantling the secrecy of correspondence, monitoring every word communicated &#8211; and fundamental liberties always go before anybody&#8217;s profits. We never determined what civil liberties we have based on who can profit and who can&#8217;t.</p>
<p><strong>But let&#8217;s go to the root of the question.</strong> It&#8217;s not a question, it&#8217;s an insult. One that has stuck around for as long as artistry itself, for it implies that artists <strong>need</strong> or even <strong>deserve</strong> to get paid. No artist thinks in these terms. The ones who do are the parasitic business people middlemen that you find defending the copyright monopoly and then robbing artists <strong>and</strong> their fans dry, laughing all the way to the bank while exploiting a legal monopoly system ruthlessly: the copyright monopoly.</p>
<p><strong>Meanwhile, among artists, there is one insult that has remained consistent throughout artistry in history. An insult between artists that rips somebody&#8217;s artistry apart, that tells somebody they&#8217;re not even worthy of calling themselves an artist. That insult is &#8220;You&#8217;re in it for the money&#8221;.</strong></p>
<p>&#8220;How shall the artists get paid?&#8221;, implying artists won&#8217;t play or create otherwise, that they&#8217;re doing it for the money, is a very serious insult.</p>
<p>There&#8217;s a reason &#8220;sellout&#8221; is a sharply negative word in artistry. The large majority of artists aren&#8217;t happy at all when you&#8217;re asking them if they&#8217;re playing to make money; it&#8217;s a grave insult. The frequently heard notion that you don&#8217;t create culture if you&#8217;re not paid for it comes from those who <strong>exploit</strong> artists, and never from artists themselves.</p>
<p>After all, we create not because we can make money off it as individuals, but because of who we are &#8211; how we are wired. We have created since we learned to put red paint on the inside of cave walls. We are cultural animals. Culture has always been part of our civilization, rewarded or not.</p>
<p>If an artist wants to sell their goods or services and become an entrepreneur, I wish them all the luck and success in the world. But business is business, and there is nothing that entitles an entrepreneur to sales.</p>
<div style="border:2px solid #3F3F3F;width:521px;padding:15px;padding-top:8px;padding-bottom:4px;margin-top:20px;margin-bottom: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" 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>
<div style="float:right">
<p><small>Book Falkvinge <a href="http://falkvinge.net/keynotes/">as speaker</a>?</small></p>
</div>
<p><a href="http://twitter.com/Falkvinge" class="twitter-follow-button">Follow @Falkvinge</a></p>
</div>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/how-shall-the-artists-get-paid-isnt-a-question-its-an-insult-130818/">&#8220;How Should Artists Get Paid?&#8221; Isn&#8217;t a Question, it&#8217;s an Insult</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Ik_uJjCFsIU:aaQafQKXrGE:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Ik_uJjCFsIU:aaQafQKXrGE:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=Ik_uJjCFsIU:aaQafQKXrGE:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/Ik_uJjCFsIU" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75652
title: How Do You Hijack a Popular Streaming Movie Site? With Ease, Apparently
uri: How-Do-You-Hijack-a-Popular-Streaming-Movie-Site-With-Ease-Apparentl
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/gvJd_7Wm_5M/
content:
<p><a href="media/c715a8a7.hijack.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/hijack.png"><img src="media/c715a8a7.hijack.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/hijack.png" alt="hijack" width="180" height="231" class="alignright size-full wp-image-75668" /></a>Earlier this week we published an <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vodly-to-primewire-ag-letmewatchthis-1channel-is-a-streaming-fiasco-130815/">article</a> on the quite puzzling situation surrounding one of the world&#8217;s largest streaming movie sites.</p>
<p>In a nutshell, some time ago LetMeWatchThis changed its name to 1Channel. Then more recently it changed back again after the 1Channel domain was hijacked. After more shenanigans the site changed its domain to PrimeWire.ag and then this week, reportedly changed to Vodly.to</p>
<p>After receiving lots of emails on the topic, mostly asking which is the real site, we have now unraveled the mystery. We can confirm that of the domains currently operating, PrimeWire.ag and LetMeWatchThis.ch are &#8216;real&#8217; and the others should all be disregarded as either dead or fake.</p>
<p>So what on earth has been going on?</p>
<p>On Friday, TorrentFreak managed to get in touch with the admin of the real sites who told us a quite astonishing story of how his domains were stolen from under his nose &#8211; not once, not twice, but an amazing three times.</p>
<p>It all started off a year ago when the site was operating from LetMeWatchThis.com, a domain that was hijacked and now diverts to WatchFreeMovies.com, a clone site presumably operated by the hijackers.</p>
<p>Then in May, after the site had moved to the replacement 1Channel.ch, that domain was also hijacked. LetMeWatchThis.ch, yet another replacement, suffered the same fate. This week PrimeWire.ag, the latest substitute domain, was hijacked too but is now back in safe hands.</p>
<p>So is poor security on the admin&#8217;s side to blame here or are there other factors at play? Apparently, domain name registrars are very easy to fool if you know how.</p>
<p>&#8220;The state of domain registrars is simply terrible,&#8221; the PrimeWire admin explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;We have had three domains hijacked from three separate registrars in the past two years. Every single registrar was given very specific instructions to prevent these hijackings, however every single one simply handed over the domain based on badly doctored &#8216;proof&#8217;, completely disregarding the warning given to them in regards to scenarios exactly like this.&#8221; </p>
<p>So how exactly are the registrars being convinced to hand over domains to impostors?</p>
<p>&#8220;This is actually a scary thing, since you can pretty much gain control (at least temporarily) of any domain you choose by pretending to be the owner of the domain,&#8221; our admin reveals.</p>
<p>&#8220;You don&#8217;t have to have access to any emails, passwords, or any other credentials. You simply grab the information from the WHOIS, write a letter with an attached photo-shopped ID with the same name, send it from a random email address, and the domain will be handed to you fairly quickly.&#8221; </p>
<p>So what can be done to avoid having your domain taken?</p>
<p>&#8220;Domains with no WHOIS at all (.to .so, etc) or protected WHOIS would probably do the trick, however after seeing how registrars just hand over domains without warning to random people, I wouldn&#8217;t bet on this 100% either,&#8221; the admin says.</p>
<p>&#8220;I think the best thing to do is build a strong community on the site, which cannot be stolen, and they will always keep the site alive no matter how many name changes it goes though,&#8221; he concludes.</p>
<p>So finally, the wrap up users of the sites have been waiting for:</p>
<p>LetMeWatchThis.com &#8211; Hijacked in 2012, still hijacked &#8211; AVOID<br />
LetMeWatchThis.ch  &#8211; Hijacked in 2013, now retrieved  &#8211; BACK IN SAFE HANDS<br />
1Channel.ch        &#8211; Hijacked in 2013, now frozen     &#8211; FROZEN<br />
Vodly.to           &#8211; Owned by hijackers               &#8211; AVOID</p>
<p><strong>PrimeWire.ag       &#8211; Hijacked in 2013, now retrieved  &#8211; BACK IN SAFE HANDS (Official site)</strong></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/how-do-you-hijack-a-popular-streaming-movie-site-with-ease-apparently-130818/">How Do You Hijack a Popular Streaming Movie Site? With Ease, Apparently</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=gvJd_7Wm_5M:0w2LjA_wCIs:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=gvJd_7Wm_5M:0w2LjA_wCIs:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=gvJd_7Wm_5M:0w2LjA_wCIs:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/gvJd_7Wm_5M" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75609
title: Six-Strikes Anti-Piracy System Gets New Evidence Review
uri: Six-Strikes-Anti-Piracy-System-Gets-New-Evidence-Review
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/3O9S7ftEY-I/
content:
<p><img src="media/12bdbb91.running.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/running.jpg" align="right" alt="six strikes evidence" />After years of negotiating and planning the “six strikes” copyright alert system finally <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/six-strikes-anti-piracy-scheme-starts-130225/">went live in February</a>. Since then, many alerts have been sent out to U.S. subscribers, although the exact number remains a mystery. </p>
<p>The evidence at the base of the accusations is provided by copyright holders who hired a company called <a href="https://www.markmonitor.com/">MarkMonitor</a> (DtecNet) to snoop on BitTorrent users. </p>
<p>This information then goes to the Internet providers, who <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/comcasts-six-strikes-email-with-infringement-details-surfaces-130303/">forward it to their customers</a> in the form of a &#8220;copyright alert&#8221;. Repeat offenders can be punished through a wide variety of mitigation measures, ranging from <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/att-starts-six-strikes-anti-piracy-plan-next-month-will-block-websites-121012/">mandatory copyright courses</a> to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/verizon-will-reduce-speeds-of-repeated-bittorrent-pirates-121115/">temporary Internet restrictions</a>.</p>
<p>To guarantee the accuracy of the evidence behind the accusations the parties agreed to hire an impartial and independent technology expert, but October last year their commitment to this promise was questioned when the expert turned out to be Stroz Friedberg, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/six-strikes-independent-expert-is-riaas-former-lobbying-firm-121022/">a former RIAA lobbying group</a>.</p>
<p>The Center for Copyright Information (CCI) realized that this was an unfortunate pick and the group quickly announced that a new expert would be hired do a fresh evidence review. The goal of this re-examination was to restore the public’s faith in the system, but after the initial announcement things went awfully quiet.</p>
<p>In recent months TorrentFreak asked several times whether a new expert had been picked, but every time CCI replied that it was working on the issue. This week, progress was finally made with CCI informing us that it had picked a new expert to conduct a fresh review.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Center for Copyright Information is pleased to have signed an agreement with a new, independent technology expert to begin a second review of the content methodology employed by the content community to identify potential copyright infringement on peer-to-peer sites for the Copyright Alert System,&#8221; CCI’s Executive Director Jill Lesser tells TorrentFreak. </p>
<p>To prevent more public scrutinizing, the CCI has made sure that there are no past or active ties to the entertainment industries or anti-piracy groups. After a long and thorough search, the group eventually hired Professor <a href="http://avirubin.com/Avi_Rubins_home_page/Home.html">Avi Rubin</a>&#8216;s company <a href="http://harborlabs.com/">Harbor Labs</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;The new expert is Professor <a href="http://avirubin.com/Avi_Rubins_home_page/Home.html">Avi Rubin</a>, who will work with his team at <a href="http://harborlabs.com/">Harbor Labs</a>. Professor Rubin has no prior connection to CCI and is not affiliated in any way with its member companies, but comes highly recommend by several technologists and experts in our field.&#8221; </p>
<p>&#8220;CCI is committed to the continued improvement and transparency of our system, and we feel strongly that this second independent review will help us maintain those commitments,&#8221; Lesser adds. </p>
<p>CCI has yet to release any official numbers but thus far the number of alerts being sent out under the program appears to be minimal. We previously received a copy of a warning email <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/comcasts-six-strikes-email-with-infringement-details-surfaces-130303/">sent out by Comcast</a> and later stumbled upon a <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/six-strikes-copyright-alert-warns-subscribers-for-dangerous-p2p-software-130617/">Time Warner Cable notice</a>, but that&#8217;s it.</p>
<p>Interestingly, Comcast also appears to be <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/comcast-wants-to-monitor-and-convert-pirating-subscribers-130805/">working on a separate anti-piracy system</a> through which downloaders will be alerted to legal alternatives when they&#8217;re caught pirating. CCI told TorrentFreak that it supports the initiative.</p>
<p>&#8220;The new Comcast anti-piracy program is not something that was developed through the CCI but we support efforts that further CCI&#8217;s mission and are consistent with the important principles of transparency and protection of customer privacy on which the CCI was founded,&#8221; Lesser says.</p>
<p>For now the Copyright Alert System will continue to operate as is. The new review is expected to be published when it&#8217;s completed, which may take a few more months. Those who are interested in how the evidence gathering works should watch <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-bittorrent-is-the-best-way-to-pirate-movies-and-tv-shows-130323/">MPAA&#8217;s detailed presentation</a>. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/six-strikes-anti-piracy-system-gets-new-evidence-review-130817/">Six-Strikes Anti-Piracy System Gets New Evidence Review</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=3O9S7ftEY-I:3ot1wkD2pgg:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=3O9S7ftEY-I:3ot1wkD2pgg:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=3O9S7ftEY-I:3ot1wkD2pgg:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/3O9S7ftEY-I" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75618
title: Should Authorities Decrypt VPNs and Tor – or Ban Them Altogether?
uri: Should-Authorities-Decrypt-VPNs-and-Tor-or-Ban-Them-Altogether
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/I97TpvGoxyQ/
content:
<p><a href="media/a447a7c5.encryption.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/encryption.jpg"><img src="media/a447a7c5.encryption.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/encryption.jpg" alt="encryption" width="180" height="135" class="alignright size-full wp-image-75305" /></a>If the revelations of Edward Snowden have taught us anything, it&#8217;s that our activities online can hardly be considered private.</p>
<p>When we write private emails or fire off instant messages, someone somewhere has the ability to access their contents and, if necessary, act on what they&#8217;ve seen.</p>
<p>We&#8217;re told that this is a necessary evil, that our countries&#8217; security depends on us giving up some of our freedoms, indeed some of our rights &#8211; including the right to privacy &#8211; in order to keep us all safe from the ill intentions of the world&#8217;s bogeymen.</p>
<p>But despite the assurances of our leaders, most of us simply don&#8217;t want to be spied on.</p>
<p>You almost certainly can&#8217;t tell, but this article was placed on TorrentFreak&#8217;s servers using an encrypted connection. There&#8217;s nothing illegal about this article or the way it was written and its author isn&#8217;t wanted for crimes anywhere and isn&#8217;t trying to cover any up. Encryption has simply become part of life and turning on a VPN here is now as natural as firing up a browser.</p>
<p>But with the perhaps needlessly over-cautious cast aside for a moment, there are those who really do need to stay encrypted for genuinely important reasons. For dissidents around the globe privacy can be a matter of life and death and for whistle-blowers the need to remain in the shadows is paramount, as the unfortunate cases of Manning and Snowden illustrate.</p>
<p>Sadly, and despite all the good carried out via encrypted communications such as Tor, there&#8217;s a bitter pill to swallow. There are criminals &#8211; serious criminals committing horrible crimes &#8211; that use these very same systems in order to hide their identities. What&#8217;s to be done about these individuals when their online activities are cloaked? Swedish police think they have the answer.</p>
<p>&#8220;We must have a law that allows us to get access to the encrypted services. We need to get a key to access the serious crime,&#8221; <a href="http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=83&#038;artikel=5618974">says</a> Per-Åke Wecksell from the Cybercrime Section of the National Criminal Investigation Department.</p>
<p>Wecksell says gaining back-door access to encryption services is necessary to clamp down on the growing problem of child abuse. Those who engage in such activities are now acutely aware they&#8217;re targets for the police so they&#8217;re increasingly taking special steps to ensure they remain untraceable.</p>
<p>But of course, once police have the authority to decrypt encryption (and it&#8217;s currently extremely unclear how that could be achieved from a technical standpoint), the security of non-abusers using these systems take a massive hit too, through no fault of their own.</p>
<p><a href="media/bf089152.data.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/data.jpg"><img src="media/bf089152.data.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/data.jpg" alt="data" width="180" height="120" class="alignright size-full wp-image-75303" /></a>&#8220;In the world outside the Internet, the police do not go to any lengths to try to chase criminals, for the simple reason that it would hurt other people. It&#8217;s the same online,&#8221; says Anna Troberg, chairman of the Pirate Party.</p>
<p>&#8220;For example, I have talked with a lot with human rights organizations that are totally dependent on having encrypted information to do their work with activists in other countries, that opportunity would surely be threatened if the police have the ability to decrypt things.&#8221;</p>
<p>Of course, it could be argued that restraints could be put on the police so that any new law states clearly that decryption could only take place in cases of suspected child abuse. However, during the crafting of any new legislation there would be calls by interested parties to throw other crimes into the mix &#8211; terrorism and issues of national security for instance.</p>
<p>A likely catch-all term of decryption for only &#8220;serious crimes&#8221; would then be wide open for manipulation by interested parties, meaning that while today abusers and terrorists would be hunted down, tomorrow&#8217;s targets would include <strike>whistleblowers</strike> <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2013/06/10/edward-snowden-leaker-source-or-whistleblower/">traitors</a> such as Edward Snowden and <strike>alleged copyright infringers</strike> master criminals such as Kim Dotcom.</p>
<p>Russia is currently grappling with the same issue, although they appear to be going down a different route. According to local news reports, the head of the Federal Security Service (FSB) has initiated a process which will see the introduction of laws that will not allow the decryption of Tor and other anonymous networks, but will ban them completely from the Russian controlled Internet.</p>
<p>The process was uncovered when a request to have Tor blocked on the grounds it is used by child abusers was sent to the FSB by the Bounty Hunters civil movement. But even the movement have their doubts about blocking. Their chief, Sergey Zhuk, told Russian <a href="http://izvestia.ru/news/555552">media</a> that he would prefer it if Tor operators were forced to work with the authorities instead.</p>
<p>So it appears we are left with three current approaches.</p>
<p>1 &#8211; The status quo where everyone keeps their privacy, serious criminals included.<br />
2 &#8211; Trusting the police with the keys in the hope they only go after the really bad guys.<br />
3 &#8211; Blocking anonymity tools altogether.</p>
<p>The battle now, to maintain a free and open Internet and the privacy rights of millions, is to find a way to weed out the bad guys without ruining it for everyone else. It might be the most complicated Internet task ever carried out, but someone is going to have to find a fourth option.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/should-authorities-decrypt-vpns-and-tor-or-ban-them-altogether-130817/">Should Authorities Decrypt VPNs and Tor &#8211; or Ban Them Altogether?</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=I97TpvGoxyQ:ZCW9UeG2AM8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=I97TpvGoxyQ:ZCW9UeG2AM8:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=I97TpvGoxyQ:ZCW9UeG2AM8:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/I97TpvGoxyQ" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75583
title: US Copyright Foe to Address Piracy, But Won’t Restrict Citizens’ Freedom
uri: US-Copyright-Foe-to-Address-Piracy-But-Won-t-Restrict-Citizens-F
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/0OEsxRGk9zk/
content:
<p><img src="media/09fa6d0a.ustr.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ustr.jpg" width="175" height="175" class="alignright" />Every year the United States government produces its Special 301 report. Prepared by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), the report identifies countries which are under-performing on issues such as intellectual property protection.</p>
<p>After being present on the standard &#8216;Watch List&#8217; in 2011, Ukraine found itself upgraded to the Priority Watch List in 2012. The United States complained that Ukraine had done little to address counterfeiting and piracy and in some cases had actually taken steps backwards, such as when it took down large file-hosting site EX.ua and then <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/ex-ua-makes-a-miraculous-comeback-120203/">allowed it to reopen</a> days later. The U.S. said that Ukraine had also failed to introduce a formal notice-and-takedown regime.</p>
<p>By 2013 things had failed to improve, in fact so much so that in May Ukraine was designated a Priority Foreign Country by the USTR, meaning that the United States government could impose <a href="http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130513/16505323067/us-uses-special-301-to-bully-ukraine-likely-violating-wto.shtml">trade sanctions</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;This designation is the culmination of several years of growing concern over widespread<br />
IP theft, including the growing entrenchment of IPR infringement that is facilitated by government actors,&#8221; the damning report read.</p>
<p>Amid an extremely long list of criticisms, the USTR said Ukraine needed to establish a &#8220;predictable and transparent system&#8221; to combat online piracy, including consultation with rightsholders, legal reform, and deterrent-level sentences for infringement.</p>
<p>Now, three months after its 301 disaster, the Ukranian government says it&#8217;s prepared to address its online piracy issues.</p>
<p>&#8220;Today, all countries have to solve a complex dilemma between the free dissemination of information and the violation of intellectual property rights. Many are forced to take legislative measures against piracy on the Internet,&#8221; says Volodymyr Seminozhenko, head of Ukraine&#8217;s State Agency on Science, Innovations and Information.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is logical, because with more rapid development of information technology general Internet users are able to share any audio visual material, texts or computer programs online. It is clear that among the array of information available will be pirated content, which naturally causes concern to rightsholders.&#8221;</p>
<p><a href="media/afc91d2f.ukraine.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ukraine.png"><img src="media/afc91d2f.ukraine.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ukraine.png" alt="ukraine" width="184" height="147" class="alignright size-full wp-image-75603" /></a>Seminozhenko, a former Vice Premier Minister of Ukraine and current head of the Association of Ukrainian Scientists, says that a similar law to the one just implemented by Russia is being prepared by the State Intellectual Property Service.</p>
<p>However, having seen the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/russia-prepares-to-broaden-brand-new-anti-piracy-law-130807/">backlash</a> over Russia&#8217;s site and content blocking provisions (and a failure to properly engage the information technology sector when preparing legislation) it seems likely that Ukraine will tread more cautiously.</p>
<p>&#8220;The status quo on this complex issue can only be achieved when taking into account all stakeholders &#8211; that includes rightsholders, representatives of the IT community, and users of the network. The fact that such a compromise is necessary is confirmed by the recent events surrounding the Russian anti-piracy law,&#8221; the minister adds.</p>
<p>Semynozhenko has worked hard for more than a decade promoting innovation and a thriving business environment in Ukraine and says that in any regime the interests of citizens should be paramount, including their right to freely access information.</p>
<p>&#8220;Fighting Internet piracy should not create artificial conditions for blocking of Internet resources that are fully transparent and legitimate, and even more so should not restrict the freedom of citizens to access information,&#8221; Seminozhenko says.</p>
<p>The exact system Ukraine has mind is still not finalized, but there are suggestions that current law will be amended to allow rightsholders to file complaints against pirate sites with the State Intellectual Property Service. Within 10 days of receipt of the complaint an investigation will be launched to determine if content is indeed online illegally.</p>
<p>In the final step &#8211; and one likely to cause controversy if it&#8217;s pushed through &#8211; there are suggestions that those putting content online illegally will be required to pay some kind of fee for the items listed in copyright complaints, with the money raised being transferred directly into state coffers.</p>
<p>Since the USTR has already criticized the Ukranian government for allowing &#8220;rogue&#8221; music collection societies to operate freely in the country (even going as far as stating that one such outfit has &#8220;strong ties&#8221; to government officials), further enrichment of the state at the expense of copyright holders isn&#8217;t likely to be well received.</p>
<p>Only time will tell if the reforms will be enough to downgrade Ukraine in the 2014 Special 301 report, or if they will be viewed by the U.S. as a day late and a dollar short.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/us-copyright-foe-to-address-piracy-but-wont-restrict-citizens-freedom-130816/">US Copyright Foe to Address Piracy, But Won&#8217;t Restrict Citizens&#8217; Freedom</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=0OEsxRGk9zk:toXXDNSKgr8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=0OEsxRGk9zk:toXXDNSKgr8:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=0OEsxRGk9zk:toXXDNSKgr8:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/0OEsxRGk9zk" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75502
title: 4Shared Uses Unique Fingerprinting Tech to Scan For Pirated Files
uri: 4Shared-Uses-Unique-Fingerprinting-Tech-to-Scan-For-Pirated-Files
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/zGxvTfZWdWc/
content:
<p><img src="media/36b6222f.4shared_logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/4shared_logo.jpg" alt="4shared_logo" width="206" height="69" class="alignright size-full wp-image-44520" />As one of the largest file-sharing services online <a href="http://www.4shared.com/">4shared</a> is closely watched by copyright holders who vigorously try to scrub pirated files from the site.</p>
<p>The file-hosting service offers a standard DMCA takedown procedure but recently decided to go a step further by developing its own content identification technology based on audio fingerprints. </p>
<p>Under the new system copyright holders can upload their files to 4shared&#8217;s backend. The company then makes a unique fingerprint of each file to prevent them from being shared in public by its users.</p>
<p>&#8220;4shared has always been a personal online file storage service and has never endorsed online piracy,&#8221; 4shared&#8217;s Mike Wilson tells TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>&#8220;So we have decided to introduce a music identification system, among the other steps, to maintain the reputation of a legitimate file storage and further prevent illegal usage of our service,&#8221; he adds.</p>
<p>4shared&#8217;s system is based on the open source solution <a href="http://echoprint.me/">Echoprint</a>, which is powered by the music intelligence company <a href="http://the.echonest.com/company/">Echo Nest</a>. This technology allows 4shared to identify files based on audio characteristics instead of just a file hash. </p>
<p>&#8220;The algorithm calculates special code for each music file, based on its acoustic properties rather than on a digital hash code, thus making the code or &#8216;fingerprint&#8217; a unique identifier of a certain title, no matter which properties or format the file has,&#8221; Wilson says.</p>
<p>When an attempt is made to share a pirated file in public it will be blocked, assuring copyright holders that their content won&#8217;t be distributed without permission. The system only scans public files meaning that it&#8217;s still possible for users to backup their own files privately. </p>
<p>The system 4shared has developed works in a similar way to YouTube&#8217;s Content ID system, which also offers filtering based on files copyright holders upload to the site.</p>
<p>4shared plans to expand the music identification system with an option to monetize pirated files in the future. This means that in addition to blocking pirated transfers, copyright holders will have an option to replace them with links to sites where the content can be bought legally. </p>
<p>&#8220;In the nearest future we will also provide a monetization option instead of simply blocking the file so the users can get the content in a legal way and the owners can make their profit,&#8221; Wilson told us.</p>
<p>Aside from audio files, 4shared can also offer similar services for video although these are expected to be rolled out at a later stage. For now, the company is focused on signing up content owners to its music identification account. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/4shared-uses-unique-fingerprinting-tech-to-scan-for-pirated-files-130816/">4Shared Uses Unique Fingerprinting Tech to Scan For Pirated Files</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=zGxvTfZWdWc:rGpz8vXivL8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=zGxvTfZWdWc:rGpz8vXivL8:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=zGxvTfZWdWc:rGpz8vXivL8:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/zGxvTfZWdWc" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75519
title: Copyright Troll Ran Pirate Bay Honeypot, Comcast Confirms
uri: Copyright-Troll-Ran-Pirate-Bay-Honeypot-Comcast-Confirms
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/jG4Oqz3WH_0/
content:
<p><img src="media/edb506a6.honey.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/honey.jpg" align="right" alt="copyright troll honeypot" />As the poster child for copyright trolls, Prenda Law has been running into <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/prenda-suffers-more-fee-award-blows-130809/">all sorts of trouble</a> lately. </p>
<p>In June, Prenda and its boss John Steele <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-helps-to-expose-copyright-troll-honeypot-130604/">were accused</a> of running a &#8220;honeypot&#8221; based on an <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/145648110/Expert-Affidavit">expert report</a> authored by Delvan Neville, whose company specializes in monitoring BitTorrent users.</p>
<p>The report hinted that the law firm was seeding the very files they claimed to protect, and found that many of the torrents detailed in Prenda lawsuits originate from a user on The Pirate Bay called &#8216;Sharkmp4&#8242;. </p>
<p>In an effort to expose the alleged honeypot, The Pirate Bay then <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-helps-to-expose-copyright-troll-honeypot-130604/">jumped in and revealed</a> the IP-addresses that &#8216;Sharkmp4&#8242;used to upload the torrent files. Since the site wipes all IP-addresses after 48 hours, The Pirate Bay team had to decrypt older backups to eventually offer the list below.</p>
<h5>Sharkmp4 IP-addresses</h5>
<p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-71487" alt="sharkuploads" src="media/1b297210.sharkuploads.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/sharkuploads.png" width="535" height="216" /></p>
<p>While the public is already convinced that the honeypot is real, the Pirate Bay evidence has now become part of the <a href="http://ia801600.us.archive.org/7/items/gov.uscourts.gand.188990/gov.uscourts.gand.188990.docket.html" target="_blank">AF Holdings v Patel</a> case which could land the law firm in even more trouble.</p>
<p>After a judge approved discovery to both parties in the case, defense lawyer Blair Chintella sent out a series of subpoenas hoping to expose the copyright troll&#8217;s nefarious tactics. </p>
<p>One of the subpoenas covered the Comcast IP-address 75.72.88.156 used by &#8220;Sharkmp4,&#8221; as can be seen at the bottom of the list of Pirate Bay IPs shown above. </p>
<p>After a few weeks Comcast returned the subscriber details that matched the IP-address at the time the files were uploaded. As can be seen from their response detailed below, this IP is indeed the Comcast account of Steele Hansmeier PLLC, which is directly connected to Prenda Law.</p>
<h5>Comcast confirms</h5>
<p><img src="media/6e64e00f.copyright-troll-honesypot.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/copyright-troll-honesypot.png" alt="copyright-troll-honesypot" width="547" height="840" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-75520" /></p>
<p>The revelations above are the first solid proof of copyright trolls operating a honeypot scheme on The Pirate Bay, or any other BitTorrent site for that matter. </p>
<p>The honeypot strategy is just one piece of the puzzle, albeit an important one. The defense team has filed more subpoenas which are expected to be returned later, in the hope of uncovering more dirt on Prenda and its associates. </p>
<p>The discovery process in the case is still ongoing and ends in September. After the dust has settled it will be up to the court to decide how to rule on this and other damning revelations.</p>
<p>The irony of the above is that Prenda is now being haunted by the IP-address subpoenas they first used to pressure accused file-sharers into paying thousands of dollars in settlement fees. </p>
<p>Perhaps that can be called justice?</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/copyright-troll-ran-pirate-bay-honeypot-comcast-confirms-130815/">Copyright Troll Ran Pirate Bay Honeypot, Comcast Confirms</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=jG4Oqz3WH_0:NCXyxK25tWk:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=jG4Oqz3WH_0:NCXyxK25tWk:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=jG4Oqz3WH_0:NCXyxK25tWk:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/jG4Oqz3WH_0" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75493
title: Vodly.to, PrimeWire.ag, LetMeWatchThis, 1Channel is a Streaming Fiasco
uri: Vodly-to-PrimeWire-ag-LetMeWatchThis-1Channel-is-a-Streaming-Fiasco
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/ggY7jNYVyJE/
content:
<p><a href="media/d15b211b.confusing.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/confusing.png"><img src="media/d15b211b.confusing.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/confusing.png" alt="confusing" width="173" height="187" class="alignright size-full wp-image-75516" /></a>While BitTorrent sites have gone from strength to strength in recent years, so-called streaming portals have really gained traction.</p>
<p>These sites, which in appearance are not dissimilar to YouTube, provide links to all the latest movies and TV shows. This content, usually held on 3rd party file-hosting services, is then displayed in a window, accessible at the touch of the button. No need to download the whole thing before viewing and no wait times.</p>
<p>But for reasons that are not entirely clear, some of the leading sites in this field &#8211; which at times have been among the most popular sites on the Internet &#8211; have been involved in activity that has undermined confidence in their services and damaged their rankings.</p>
<p>The problem appears to be that they have rivals, enemies who are prepared to hack their domain names, hijack their sites and pass themselves off as the real thing.</p>
<p>The biggest disaster by far involves the famous 1Channel.ch. This site, which grew out of the LetMeWatchThis this domain, was apparently <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/letmewatchthis-ch-admin-warns-users-not-to-use-1channel-ch-130509/">hacked back in May</a>. 1Channel then pointed to a fake site which looked almost identical, which left the original site owner to revert back to the original LetMeWatchThis domain.</p>
<p>Then in June, LetMeWatchThis <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/letmewatchthis-goes-down-too-130601/">went down</a> without explanation, only to reappear a few days later with <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/unaware-millions-flood-to-hijacked-cloned-and-fake-movie-streaming-sites-130608/">a new domain</a> &#8211; PrimeWire.ag. If you&#8217;re keeping up by this point you&#8217;re doing well &#8211; hold tight.</p>
<p>Now, just two months later, PrimeWire.ag is redirecting to a brand new domain &#8211; Vodly.to. There&#8217;s a notice on the front page as follows:</p>
<p><center><img src="media/df40886b.vodly.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/vodly.jpg" alt="Vodly" /></center></p>
<p>But there&#8217;s a problem. If 1Channel.ch was hijacked earlier this year and became a fake site, why would the owners of Vodly.to associate themselves with it? Why would they say that 1Channel.ch, PrimeWire.ag and now Vodly.to are one and the same? Why is there no mention of LetMeWatchThis.ch, a hugely popular domain that preceded 1Channel in its first incarnation, PrimeWire.ag in its second and it still online at this very moment?</p>
<p>Perhaps the most important question is this: are these all the same sites? The short answer to that is &#8216;No&#8217;.</p>
<p>Earlier this year the admin of LetMeWatchThis showed TorrentFreak a detail present on his site which enabled us to confirm he was the admin after 1Channel.ch was hijacked. That feature was also present on PrimeWire.ag which led us to feel moderately comfortable (entire server/backup takeover excepted) that PrimeWire was in fact the new name for LetMeWatchThis.</p>
<p>But now, if one goes to PrimeWire.ag (which diverts to the new name of Vodly.to) that feature is not present, which suggests that Vodly.to is probably a whole new site and nothing to do with the sites it claims to succeed. In the meantime the <a href="https://twitter.com/real_1channel/status/367767088858800128">Twitter account</a> for PrimeWire is advising people to use LetMeWatchThis.ch again.</p>
<p>So in summary&#8230;..no, let&#8217;s not even go there. This entire episode is a disaster from start to finish which has caused more uncertainty and doubt than any anti-piracy campaign could hope to achieve. There are countless users online wondering whether these sites are some sort of trap or have been set up for malicious purposes. Very few people know the answer to that question and those that do are not responding to their mails&#8230;..</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vodly-to-primewire-ag-letmewatchthis-1channel-is-a-streaming-fiasco-130815/">Vodly.to, PrimeWire.ag, LetMeWatchThis, 1Channel is a Streaming Fiasco</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=ggY7jNYVyJE:0mG0B3eavlg:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=ggY7jNYVyJE:0mG0B3eavlg:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=ggY7jNYVyJE:0mG0B3eavlg:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/ggY7jNYVyJE" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75465
title: Microsoft Censors OpenOffice Download Links
uri: Microsoft-Censors-OpenOffice-Download-Links
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/SKO7WmjrLz4/
content:
<p><img src="media/b4f20436.microsoft-pirate.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/microsoft-pirate.png" align="right" alt="microsoft" />Every week copyright holders send millions of DMCA takedown notices to Google in the hope of making pirated content harder to find.</p>
<p>Microsoft has been one of the most active senders and over the past month alone has asked Google to remove more than a million <a href="http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/copyright/owners/?r=last-month">infringing URLs</a> from its indexes. In addition the software giant <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/microsofts-bing-removes-several-hundred-thousand-pirate-search-results-130808/">also strips</a> infringing links from its own search engine Bing.</p>
<p>While most of the submitted URLs do indeed link to infringing content, not all requests sent by Microsoft and other copyright holders are correct. Their often automated anti-piracy systems regularly trigger notices that include links to perfectly legitimate content, sometimes from direct competitors. </p>
<p>The latter happened with several recent DMCA takedown requests sent  to Google on behalf of Microsoft. The notices, which contain references to unauthorized copies of Microsoft Office, also list <a href="http://www.chillingeffects.org/notice.cgi?sID=997324">many links </a> with Apache&#8217;s open source office suite OpenOffice in the title.</p>
<p><center><br />
<h5>Microsoft targets OpenOffice</h5>
<p><img src="media/108e6d14.openoffice1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/openoffice1.png" alt="openoffice1" width="560" height="224" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-75473" /></center></p>
<p>The example illustrated above is not an isolated incident either. A quick search reveals that more than a dozen notices sent in June alone (e.g. <sup><a href="http://www.chillingeffects.org/notice.cgi?sID=1003522">1</a>, <a href="http://www.chillingeffects.org/notice.cgi?sID=1020305">2</a>, <a href="http://www.chillingeffects.org/notice.cgi?sID=1009995">3</a>, <a href="http://www.chillingeffects.org/notice.cgi?sID=1008175">4</a>, <a href="https://www.chillingeffects.org/notice.cgi?sID=984858&#038;print=yes">5</a></sup>) include links to OpenOffice downloads, mostly on BitTorrent sites.</p>
<p>OpenOffice itself lists several <a href="http://www.openoffice.org/distribution/p2p/">official torrents</a> on its download page and many of these are re-distributed across torrent sites. However, thanks to the overbroad filtering techniques of Microsoft&#8217;s DMCA takedown vendors many of these have now been stripped from Google and other search engines, Bing included.</p>
<p>Admittedly, OpenOffice and Microsoft Office are related terms, so mistakes can happen. However, based on the URLs we see that few attempts have been made to prevent this particular error from happening. It wouldn&#8217;t be hard, for example, to exclude the keywords &#8220;Open Office&#8221; to minimize instances of collateral damage.  </p>
<p>Over the past several months Microsoft and many other copyright holders have built up a dubious track record when it comes to DMCA takedown notices. In addition to many <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/microsofts-bogus-dmca-notices-censor-bbc-cnn-wikipedia-spotify-and-more-121007/">“bogus” claims</a> the company also tried to have its <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/microsoft-wants-google-to-censor-microsoft-com-130728/">own website removed from Google</a>.</p>
<p>The above mistakes may be relatively harmless to Apache&#8217;s OpenOffice, but they show once again how much can go wrong with these automated DMCA notices. This is particularly troublesome since Google down-ranks sites based on the number of DMCA notices it receives for them.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak asked Microsoft to comment on the mistakes but we have yet to hear back. Previously a company spokesman told us that the company is trying hard to eliminate false positives.</p>
<p>“Microsoft is committed to ensuring that copyright is respected online and that enforcement measures are appropriate and accurate. We and our vendors use several measures to verify the accuracy of information contained in our DMCA notices, including algorithmic and human review of notices,” Microsoft informed us. </p>
<p>Despite these efforts erroneous takedowns continue to stack up.</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> TorrentFreak verified that legitimate Open Office links are censored. However, several of the links point to 1MB installers without seeders and are impossible to verify. In any case, they don&#8217;t point to Microsoft products.</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> Microsoft came back with a response.</p>
<p>“Microsoft is committed to ensuring copyright is respected online and enforcement measures are appropriate and accurate. We apologize when a notice is mistakenly directed to non-infringing content and take immediate action. We are committed to fixing the process that led to this result,” a Microsoft spokesperson told us.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/microsoft-censors-openoffice-download-links-130814/">Microsoft Censors OpenOffice Download Links</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=SKO7WmjrLz4:SJY6Ui1p1Jk:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=SKO7WmjrLz4:SJY6Ui1p1Jk:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=SKO7WmjrLz4:SJY6Ui1p1Jk:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/SKO7WmjrLz4" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75088
title: Court Forbids IsoHunt From Indexing Dead Torrent Sites
uri: Court-Forbids-IsoHunt-From-Indexing-Dead-Torrent-Sites
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/VSMJzfRGATo/
content:
<p><img src="media/3e145208.isohunt-logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/isohunt-logo.jpg" align="right" alt="isohunt" />In 2010, a California District Court ordered isoHunt to implement a filter to exclude movie and TV show-related terms from its search engine.</p>
<p>Despite running the filter for some time the Canada-based torrent search engine hoped to have the decision overruled on appeal, but in March this year that aim suffered a setback.</p>
<p>The Ninth Circuit <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/isohunt-loses-appeal-against-the-mpaa-keyword-filter-remains-130321/">upheld</a> the decision of the lower court. In addition, the court requested that the permanent injunction should be updated to clarify some parts that could be interpreted in multiple ways.</p>
<p>Last month the MPAA and isoHunt legal teams got together to propose a modified injunction, which the court has signed off on last week. </p>
<p>Overall the changes are fairly minimal, and isoHunt is still required to filter its site based on a list of infringing keywords provided by the MPAA. In addition, the BitTorrent site is prohibited from indexing torrents or linking to various other file-sharing sites.</p>
<p>Initially, the injunction held that isoHunt could not index or provide access to <em>&#8220;Dot-torrent or similar files harvested or collected from well-known infringing source sites, such as The Pirate Bay.&#8221;</em></p>
<p>Since the term &#8220;well-known infringing source sites&#8221; is open to interpretation, this part was updated by naming specific sites. </p>
<p>Under <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/160196087/Mpaa-Isohunt-Modified">the new injunction</a> isoHunt is prohibited from <em>&#8220;indexing or providing access to Dot-torrent or similar files harvested or collected from the following sites or services: The Pirate Bay, Torrentspy, BT Junkie, Torrentreactor.net, kat.ph or torrents.net&#8221;</em></p>
<h5>No index</h5>
<p><img src="media/b8449a14.mpaa-noindex.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mpaa-noindex.png" alt="mpaa-noindex" width="536" height="88" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-75091" /></p>
<p>While it&#8217;s understandable that this language is updated, the inclusion of &#8220;TorrentSpy and BTJunkie&#8221; is peculiar since these sites closed down a long time ago. </p>
<p>TorrentSpy closed down half a decade ago when the MPAA won a <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/torrentspy-one-year-after-the-shutdown-090324/">$110 million judgment</a> against the site. BTJunkie has been around for longer, but threw in the towel <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/btjunkie-shuts-down-for-good-120206/">early last</a> year after the Megaupload raid.</p>
<p>Needless to say, there&#8217;s not much that can be harvested from these sites so isoHunt should have no issues complying with this part of the injunction.</p>
<p>The injunction does, however, allow the MPAA to request that new sites are added to this list when they have sufficient proof that they&#8217;re infringing. This effectively means that it can severely limit isoHunt&#8217;s sources. </p>
<p>Another update to the injunction is that isoHunt is prohibited from advertising its services by referring to the following sites: The Pirate Bay, TorrentSpy, Aimster, Kazaa, Grokster, Morpheus, Newzbin, BT Junkie, Torrentreactor.net, kat.ph, torrents.net, SurftheChannel.com, Kino.to, Movie2k.to, and/or Dl4all.com.</p>
<p>Again we see TorrentSpy and BTJunkie listed, as well as many other defunct services including Kazaa, Grokster and SurftheChannel.com.</p>
<p>Overall the modified injunction doesn&#8217;t change much for isoHunt. However, the MPAA is still pursuing hundreds of <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-wants-up-to-750-million-in-damages-from-isohunt-130729/">millions of dollars</a> in damages as well as a <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-demands-source-code-of-isohunts-failing-piracy-filter-130720/">motion for contempt</a>, as the movie studios claim that isoHunt&#8217;s filtering software is not working.</p>
<p>And so the case continues.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/court-forbids-isohunt-from-indexing-dead-torrent-sites-130814/">Court Forbids IsoHunt From Indexing Dead Torrent Sites</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=VSMJzfRGATo:gOPgJlJkk78:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=VSMJzfRGATo:gOPgJlJkk78:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=VSMJzfRGATo:gOPgJlJkk78:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/VSMJzfRGATo" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75448
title: RadioTimes.com Blocked By UK ISPs Due to “Rightsholder Error”
uri: RadioTimes-com-Blocked-By-UK-ISPs-Due-to-Rightsholder-Error
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/QIX7LmA4hNc/
content:
<p><img src="media/07db73b3.stop-blocked.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/stop-blocked.jpg" width="200" height="168" class="alignright" />To celebrate its 10th birthday, last Saturday The Pirate Bay released a new anti-censorship tool.</p>
<p>Called PirateBrowser, the tool allows Internet users to unblock websites that have been rendered inaccessible by governments, rightsholders and Internet service providers.</p>
<p>As of yesterday the software had been downloaded a highly <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-releases-pirate-browser-to-thwart-censorship-130810/">impressive 100,000 times</a>, a clear indication that people not only disapprove of website censorship but will also take measures to circumvent it.</p>
<p>While The Pirate Bay is highly censored in many countries, other sites are also affected, including the TV show-focused EZTV. That site was <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/uk-internet-providers-start-blocking-eztv-and-ezrss-130726/">blanked out</a> by the UK&#8217;s leading ISPs following a court order obtained by the MPA, and last week that particular blockade caused its first instance of collateral damage.</p>
<p>After EZTV experimented with its DNS settings pointing them at TorrentFreak.com, Sky Broadband&#8217;s systems automatically <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/skys-court-ordered-piracy-filter-blocks-torrentfreak-130809/">blocked the site</a>, rendering it inaccessible to the ISP&#8217;s four million customers. The company eventually reversed the block, but despite the warnings it appears that yet another site has been wrongfully censored.</p>
<p>On Monday it was <a href="http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5988-blocks-of-eztv-have-unintended-consequences.html">reported</a> that <a href="http://www.radiotimes.com/">RadioTimes.com</a>, a TV scheduling site, had become unavailable to users of both Sky-owned Be Broadband and Virgin Media in the UK. Today there is confirmation that the problems were down to ISP anti-piracy filters failing again.</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/broadband/383614/rights-holders-taking-down-legitimate-sites-in-piracy-crackdown">PC Pro</a>, the problems were not caused by an EZTV-style DNS issue, but a long-feared problem &#8211; that sites with shared resources would be all fall victim to overbroad blocking.</p>
<p>An industry source confirmed that rightsholders did not check whether the IP address they called to be blocked was being shared by other sites. As a result, RadioTimes.com went down as collateral damage.</p>
<p>Neither Sky nor Virgin Media officially confirmed what had caused the problems, but did say that the blocks had now been lifted.</p>
<p>According to the <a href="https://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/2013/sky-torrentfreak-blocking">Open Rights Group</a>, Sky operate a blocking system codenamed &#8220;HawkEye&#8221;. Let&#8217;s hope the system can live up to name in future &#8211; with a little help from improved rightsholder caution.</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> According to the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23699681">BBC</a> the problem lies at the feet of the Premier League. When trying to have an IP address of streaming sports site FirstRow Sports blocked by ISPs, the UK football outfit failed to notice that many other sites shared the same IP address.</p>
<p>Now the blame-game is on, with the Premier League blaming the ISPs for not indicating they had a problem with the block, and the ISPs insisting it&#8217;s the Premier League&#8217;s responsibility to ensure that the provided IP addresses only relate to blocked sites.</p>
<p>Protip: Both act responsibly and stop blocking sites without checking these things, it&#8217;s literally a two minute job.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/radiotimes-com-blocked-by-uk-isps-due-to-rightsholder-error-130814/">RadioTimes.com Blocked By UK ISPs Due to &#8220;Rightsholder Error&#8221;</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=QIX7LmA4hNc:WeZiK4J6RUc:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=QIX7LmA4hNc:WeZiK4J6RUc:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=QIX7LmA4hNc:WeZiK4J6RUc:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/QIX7LmA4hNc" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75425
title: EBook Sellers Strike Deal To Share Customer Details With Anti-Piracy Outfit
uri: EBook-Sellers-Strike-Deal-To-Share-Customer-Details-With-Anti-Piracy-O
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/EuEI-hwoz2g/
content:
<p><a href="media/c2ec1720.watermark.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/watermark.jpg"><img src="media/c2ec1720.watermark.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/watermark.jpg" alt="watermark" width="180" height="233" class="alignright size-full wp-image-75440" /></a>Watermarking has traditionally been used to describe a relatively ancient method of introducing patterns or information into paper. These markings are often applied to items of value, such as banknotes or certificates, in order to make the counterfeiting process more difficult.</p>
<p>In recent years &#8216;watermarking&#8217; has been expanded into the digital domain. All kinds of digital media can be quietly marked in order to identify the origins of the content, which has proven particularly useful with the &#8216;dots&#8217; to be found in Hollywood movies. By tracking these marks within pirate copies of movies, studios are <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/search/imagine+camming">able to identify</a> which theater they were &#8216;cammed&#8217; in.</p>
<p>Digital watermarks can also provide much more person-specific information. Vendors of digital data, such as MP3 retailers, sometimes put watermarks into the media they sell in order to identify the original purchaser. The idea is that if people believe they can be identified as a &#8216;leaker&#8217;, then they are more likely to keep their content close to their chests.</p>
<p>Of course, despite the presence of watermarks, content still manages to leak online. However, the digital watermarks in consumer purchases rarely directly identify the original purchaser of the content, meaning that anti-piracy companies have to go through other processes to get their man. A cozy arrangement in the Netherlands tackles this problem with ease.</p>
<p>The new digital distribution deal for eBook merchants will see them &#8216;watermark&#8217; unique codes into the digital eBooks they sell which will identify a specific transaction number. These transaction numbers will be linked directly to a specific customer account.</p>
<p>So far the process isn&#8217;t much out of the ordinary, but the new deal will also bridge the missing link between random-looking transaction numbers in a digital file on the Internet and a real person&#8217;s identity.</p>
<p>The agreement will see vendors connected to the eBoekhuis platform share previously-private customer data directly with copyright holders and anti-piracy group BREIN. This means that should digital books turn up on BitTorrent networks or Usenet for example, with a minimum of fuss BREIN will be able to match the embedded watermarks with the customer who bought them.</p>
<p>According to the document seen by <a href="http://www.ereaders.nl/09081301_inzet_brein_juridisch_afgedekt_in_nieuw_ebookdistributiecontract">EReaders.nl</a>, eBook vendors will be required to store customer transaction data and make it available to BREIN and rightsholders for a minimum of two years.</p>
<p>The problematic sharing of customer information with a third-party (who could potentially sue them) will be solved by informing customers at the point of sale that their details may be shared with outsiders if their account is linked to abuse.</p>
<p>Whether customers will read the terms and conditions is open to debate, but if brought specifically and clearly to their attention it&#8217;s likely that many would think twice before parting with cash.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/down-torrent-pirates-130813/">EBook Sellers Strike Deal To Share Customer Details With Anti-Piracy Outfit</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=EuEI-hwoz2g:hyQUBDt6yks:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=EuEI-hwoz2g:hyQUBDt6yks:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=EuEI-hwoz2g:hyQUBDt6yks:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/EuEI-hwoz2g" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75408
title: Pirate Bay’s Anti-Censorship Browser Clocks 100,000 Downloads
uri: Pirate-Bay-s-Anti-Censorship-Browser-Clocks-100-000-Downloads
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/UsxlRsmWc-I/
content:
<p><img src="media/85793bea.piratebrowser.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/piratebrowser.jpg" alt="piratebrowser" width="222" height="96" class="alignright size-full wp-image-75268" />On the occasion of its 10th anniversary last Saturday, The Pirate Bay sent out a gift to its users &#8211; the PirateBrowser.</p>
<p>Blocked by court orders all over the world, Pirate Bay is arguably the most censored website on the Internet. <a href="http://piratebrowser.com/">The PirateBrowser</a> software allows people to bypass these restrictions. </p>
<p>It appears that the browser idea is right on the money. New statistics revealed today show that blocked users have been downloading the tool en masse.</p>
<p>Within three days <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-releases-pirate-browser-to-thwart-censorship-130810/">of its launch</a> more than 100,000 people have already downloaded PirateBrowser via the direct link, and the official torrent file is being shared by more than 5,000 people at the time of publication.</p>
<p>While The Pirate Bay anticipated some interest it never expected PirateBrowser to generate this many downloads. </p>
<p>&#8220;I  didn&#8217;t think it would catch on so fast,&#8221; The Pirate Bay&#8217;s Winston tells TorrentFreak. &#8220;I guess people want to see the websites their governments and courts are trying to hide from them.&#8221;</p>
<p>To cope with the massive demand The Pirate Bay had to upgrade the connection for the download link. Even after three days PirateBrowser is still averaging well above a thousand downloads per hour.</p>
<p>The browser is based on Firefox 23 bundled with a Tor client and some proxy configurations to speed up page loading. It is meant purely as a tool to circumvent censorship, but The Pirate Bay teams wants to reiterate that it doesn’t provide any anonymity for its users.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s not providing anonymity and it&#8217;s not secure to hide your identity. PirateBrowser is only supposed to circumvent censoring and website blocking. If we made the browser fully anonymous it would only slow down browsing,&#8221; Winston explains.</p>
<p>In addition to the current Windows application, Mac and Linux versions of the PirateBrowser will be released in the near future. </p>
<p>The anti-censorship browser is just the first tool The Pirate Bay will release. They are currently working on a special BitTorrent-powered application, which lets users store and distribute The Pirate Bay and other websites on their own computers, making it impossible for third parties to block them. </p>
<p>And so the game of Whack-A-Mole continues.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bays-anti-clocks-100000-downloads-in-three-days-130813/">Pirate Bay&#8217;s Anti-Censorship Browser Clocks 100,000 Downloads</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=UsxlRsmWc-I:KPb2IugvFgE:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=UsxlRsmWc-I:KPb2IugvFgE:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=UsxlRsmWc-I:KPb2IugvFgE:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/UsxlRsmWc-I" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75362
title: Breaking Bad Sparks Global Piracy Craze
uri: Breaking-Bad-Sparks-Global-Piracy-Craze
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/43QMJl_OUZc/
content:
<p><img src="media/5ae3f6eb.bb.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/bb.jpg" alt="bb" width="250" height="185" class="alignright size-full wp-image-75363" />TV studios should get rid of release delays, and air their shows &#8220;instantly&#8221; in every country imaginable.</p>
<p>For years the above argument has been used in response to ever-increasing piracy rates. However, the start of Breaking Bad&#8217;s second half of the fifth and final season shows that mere availability is not always good enough.</p>
<p>Just a few hours after the first unauthorized copy of Breaking Bad appeared online, 80,000 people were sharing the episode simultaneously through the most popular torrent file. After 12 hours, half a million people had already grabbed a copy via BitTorrent, and this number is increasing rapidly. </p>
<p>From the looks of it, Breaking Bad is well on its way to beat the record of <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/game-of-thrones-most-pirated-tv-show-of-2012-121223/">2,580,000 downloads</a> it set last year. </p>
<p><center><img src="media/28fb9811.bbseedleech.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/bbseedleech.png" alt="bbseedleech" width="491" height="200" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-75372" /></center></p>
<p>Data gathered by TorrentFreak throughout the day reveals that most early downloaders, a massive 16.1%, come from Australia. Down Under the show aired on the pay TV network Foxtel, but it appears that many Aussies prefer to download a copy instead. </p>
<p>The same is true for the United States and Canada, with  16% and 9.6% of the total downloads respectively, despite the legal offerings. </p>
<p>In the UK, Netflix subscribers could stream the latest episode a few hours after the U.S. premiere. However, tens of thousands preferred to download a copy via BitTorrent, good for 8.5% of all downloads.  </p>
<p>The Netherlands, where Breaking Bad actually premiered on public television several hours before the U.S. release, takes fifth place in the country rankings, followed by Poland, Spain, Brazil, India and Sweden. </p>
<table class="css hover" summary="Breaking Bad Downloads">
<caption>sample N=4,014</caption>
<thead>
<tr>
<th width="10%"><strong>#</strong></th>
<th width="22%"><strong>Country</strong></th>
<th width="22%"><strong>%</strong></th>
<th width="22%"><strong>City</strong></th>
<th width="22%"><strong>%</strong></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tfoot>
<tr>
<td colspan="5">torrentfreak.com</td>
</tr>
</tfoot>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>1</strong></td>
<td>Australia</td>
<td>16.1%</td>
<td>Melbourne</td>
<td>4.8%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>United States</td>
<td>16.0%</td>
<td>London</td>
<td>3.5%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>Canada</td>
<td>9.6%</td>
<td>Sydney</td>
<td>2.9%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>United Kingdom</td>
<td>8.5%</td>
<td>Perth</td>
<td>1.9%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>The Netherlands</td>
<td>2.8%</td>
<td>Athens</td>
<td>1.5%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>Poland</td>
<td>2.7%</td>
<td>Madrid</td>
<td>1.4%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>Spain</td>
<td>2.5%</td>
<td>Warsaw</td>
<td>1.4%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>Brazil</td>
<td>2.5%</td>
<td>Brisbane</td>
<td>1.2%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>India</td>
<td>2.0%</td>
<td>Soa Paulo</td>
<td>1.2%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>Sweden</td>
<td>1.9%</td>
<td>Adelaide</td>
<td>1.2%</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>It&#8217;s clear that the show&#8217;s makers have done their best to make the show available in many territories. This was unthinkable half a decade ago, but piracy is still far from defeated. So the question remains, why are all these people still downloading through unauthorized channels?</p>
<p>In part this might be because some people simply don&#8217;t want to pay for a subscription. They may find it too expensive or are simply not happy with the viewing options on offer. In many countries viewers still have to tune in at a fixed time slot while many prefer to program their own viewing schedule.</p>
<p>Others may simply prefer the unauthorized download option out of habit. As we observed earlier this year, many people who pay for a Netflix subscription <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/arrested-development-pirates-skip-netflix-out-of-habit-130529/">downloaded</a> Netflix&#8217;s exclusive Arrested Development release, preferring the download experience over online streaming.</p>
<p>The challenge for the entertainment industry is to take away these leftover incentives, and make sure that the legal options become the default for everyone. </p>
<p>Breaking Bad&#8217;s latest download figures make the show one of the most pirated in 2013 thus far. Nevertheless, it doesn&#8217;t come close to the record set by Game of Thrones, which became the most pirated TV-show of the spring season with <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-tv-shows-of-the-season-130622/">5.2 million downloads</a>.</p>
<p>While one might think that the people connected to Game of Thrones are outraged by this mass piracy, the opposite appears to be true according to several insiders.</p>
<p>Game of Thrones director <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/piracy-doesnt-hurt-game-of-thrones-director-says-130227/">David Petrarca</a> previously said he believes that the buzz created by pirates eventually leads to more paying subscribers, and last week Time Warner CEO Jess Bewkes said <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/game-of-thrones-piracy-better-than-an-emmy-time-warner-ceo-says-130808/">that it&#8217;s better than winning an Emmy</a>. </p>
<p>“Our experience is that it leads to more paying subscribers. I think you’re right that Game of Thrones is the most pirated show in the world. That’s better than an Emmy,” Bewkes said.</p>
<p>In other words, Breaking Bad fans have to step up if they want the show to capture the most prestigious TV award of the year. An almost impossible task, but with seven episodes to go the race is still open. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/breaking-bad-sparks-global-piracy-craze-130812/">Breaking Bad Sparks Global Piracy Craze</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=43QMJl_OUZc:6f3UME_OYeU:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=43QMJl_OUZc:6f3UME_OYeU:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=43QMJl_OUZc:6f3UME_OYeU:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/43QMJl_OUZc" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75340
title: Lady Gaga ‘Applause’ Leak Sparks Fan-Driven Anti-Piracy Campaign
uri: Lady-Gaga-Applause-Leak-Sparks-Fan-Driven-Anti-Piracy-Campaign
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/dNFuLCiqwGo/
content:
<p>During the last decade and a half the leaking of music online has become a very common phenomenon. These days it&#8217;s quite exceptional for a new album to become available via official sources before it&#8217;s available illegally and file-sharing sites and networks are awash with content at the click of a button.</p>
<p>A couple of years ago leaks became so common that in all but the most unusual of cases, pre-releases ceased to become &#8216;news&#8217;. However, this past weekend an angry reaction by one of the world&#8217;s biggest pop stars provoked a somewhat interesting response from her fans.</p>
<p>In November Lady Gaga will release her new album. Titled &#8216;ARTPOP&#8217;, it features a new single called &#8216;Applause&#8217;, several snippets of which were leaked onto the Internet this weekend. Perhaps needless to say, Lady Gaga wasn&#8217;t impressed.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/430797d8.gagaangry.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/gagaangry.jpg" alt="GagaAngry" /></center></p>
<p>So while just another leak is somewhat unexciting, the response by Gaga&#8217;s fans to her apparent upset changes things a little.</p>
<p>Rather than sharing links to the leaks far and wide as might be expected, many of Gaga&#8217;s Little Monsters have become little angels with the <a href="https://littlemonsters.com/post/5206c2409bf9de9b607c340f">launch</a> of their very own crowd-sourced anti-piracy campaign.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/5ac10855.gaganti.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/gaganti.jpg" alt="Gagaanti-piracy" /></center></p>
<p>It isn&#8217;t clear Who started the movement, but there are now thousands of fans condemning the leak on Twitter and various blogs and fan forums, many providing a link to Universal Music&#8217;s portal where people can <a href="http://privacypolicy.umusic.com/piracy/">report sites</a> hosting the leaked track. Add to this a retweet of the campaign by Lady Gaga herself and things really gained traction.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/4f1d8599.gagaretweet.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/gagaretweet.jpg" alt="GagaRetweet" /></center></p>
<p>The response by Gaga&#8217;s fans is fairly unusual, with one <a href="https://twitter.com/MonsterStarGaga/status/366395957530726403">claiming</a> to have reported upwards of 500 links to Universal, with others focusing on celebrity scalps. &#8220;Just reported a Soundcloud link and Perez Hilton&#8217;s blog to UMG,&#8221; one Gaga fan <a href="https://twitter.com/LarsPhilipp/status/366873645630500864">wrote</a> on Twitter.</p>
<p>But despite the enthusiasm, one has to question the whole episode on a number of levels. </p>
<p>First, we aren&#8217;t talking about a whole album leak here, or even the leak of a full single. This is the leak of a few seconds of what appears to be three different parts of the track &#8216;Applause&#8217;, so why is Gaga <em>so</em> annoyed and why are her fans <em>so</em> outraged to the point of helping her to get the content taken down?</p>
<p>These samples represent the perfect taster &#8211; just enough to get people excited but not too much so that people don&#8217;t want to buy the real thing. From a business perspective, leaving them up makes more sense than taking them down.</p>
<p>Second, one has to wonder how many of the Little Monsters had the self control not to click any of the links they found, if only to test what they were reporting was the real deal. One can imagine a solitary fan, hunting down these links, thinking &#8220;just one little listen by me won&#8217;t hurt.&#8221; And they&#8217;d be absolutely right.</p>
<p>Let&#8217;s face it &#8211; most of Lady Gaga&#8217;s fans listened to the links they found. Of course they did. And when Gaga retweeted the &#8216;report piracy&#8217; link to her 39.7 million followers, did she think for an instant they would deny themselves a sneak listen to a few measly seconds of their idol&#8217;s latest work? She may as well have cut out the middle man and pasted the link there herself.</p>
<p>So has any harm been done? No &#8211; absolutely none whatsoever. Will Universal spend a fortune getting these links taken down? Doubtful. Straight to number one when the track&#8217;s released in a few days? Guaranteed.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/lady-gaga-applause-leak-sparks-fan-driven-anti-piracy-campaign-130812/">Lady Gaga &#8216;Applause&#8217; Leak Sparks Fan-Driven Anti-Piracy Campaign</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=dNFuLCiqwGo:lKr36gcd0fA:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=dNFuLCiqwGo:lKr36gcd0fA:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=dNFuLCiqwGo:lKr36gcd0fA:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/dNFuLCiqwGo" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75328
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week
uri: 2013-08-21-Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/rTxIyMtY7VY/
content:
<p><img src="media/10f53f56.the-conjuring.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/the-conjuring.jpg" alt="the-conjuring" width="270" height="189" class="alignright size-full wp-image-75329" />This week we have four newcomers in our chart. </p>
<p>The Conjuring is the most downloaded movie. </p>
<p>The data for our weekly download chart is collected 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" summary="Most downloaded movies on BitTorrent">
<caption>Week ending August 11, 2013</caption>
<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-130805/">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>
<tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>1</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_conjuring/">The Conjuring</a> (Webrip) </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1457767/">7.9</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k10ETZ41q5o">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/oblivion_2013/">Oblivion</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1483013/">7.1</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmIIgE7eSak">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_iceman_2013/">The Iceman</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1491044/">7.0</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Z1EDW784Qk">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/epic_2013/">Epic</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0848537/">6.6</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xu3JLXfuwQ">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_great_gatsby_2013/">The Great Gatsby</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1343092/">7.4</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaBVLhcHcc0">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(10)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_wolverine_2012/">The Wolverine</a> (CAM)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1430132/">7.2</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh1LdTFkm7I">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_big_wedding_2013/">The Big Wedding</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1931435/">5.2</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnD2EacXk0E">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/despicable_me_2/">Despicable Me 2</a> (TS)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1690953/">7.9</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwXbtZXjbVE">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ripd/">R.I.P.D</a> (TS) </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0790736/">5.5</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhOWtVElqfw">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/grown_ups_2/">Grown Ups 2</a> (TS) </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2191701/">4.9</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X07xNrVd7DU">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-movies-of-the-week-130812/">Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=rTxIyMtY7VY:2R5h2GRSQaU:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=rTxIyMtY7VY:2R5h2GRSQaU:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=rTxIyMtY7VY:2R5h2GRSQaU:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/rTxIyMtY7VY" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75245
title: Downloading: The Databases that Store Everything You Do
uri: Downloading-The-Databases-that-Store-Everything-You-Do
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Cu7iKnFAbEY/
content:
<p>Which companies have access to my web browsing habits? Will the government peek at my emails? Who&#8217;s using the data mined from my Facebook activity and what will they end up doing with it in future? Are there really people out there who can monitor my every online move? </p>
<p>Until recently these were the kinds of issues pondered by those with an interest in Internet security and the very paranoid. In the post Edward Snowden world, these are things that are starting to matter to everyone.</p>
<p>Security is a pretty big issue among file-sharers for a number of reasons. Obviously there are many who would like to keep their activities private, but it&#8217;s common for file-sharers to be tech-savvy users who are generally more aware of online privacy issues.</p>
<h2>Public v Private</h2>
<p><a href="media/d8ee7766.private.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/private.jpg"><img src="media/d8ee7766.private.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/private.jpg" alt="private" width="180" height="120" class="alignright size-full wp-image-75301" /></a>By now, those using public BitTorrent sites should be well aware that their activities are, to put it bluntly, extremely public. At any time spies of all kinds can jump into a torrent swarm and start gathering data. The most important pieces of data &#8211; times and IP addresses &#8211; can be scooped up in an instant and are often enough for trolls to start filing lawsuits.</p>
<p>Private torrent sites, on the other hand, offer a walled garden environment. They are often very hard to gain access to which means that generally speaking there are less spies and fewer chances of being monitored or busted &#8211; or so the anecdotes go. Truth is no one is sure how many undesirables may exist on these sites but it&#8217;s likely that very few sites will have a completely clean bill of health.</p>
<p>The public vs private security debate has been done to death over the years but what is not often discussed is how sites &#8211; private ones in particular &#8211; handle the data entrusted to them by their users.</p>
<p>When someone signs up to a site via invite they hand over both their email and IP addresses. Immediate checks are made &#8211; has this email or IP address been used on this site before? If so, in many cases the chances of getting account are already reduced to near zero. If there&#8217;s no match, the user making the application is in &#8211; congratulations.</p>
<p>This is where the fun starts and something less entertaining kicks in behind the scenes. You can buy a <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-that-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2013-edition-130302/">zero-logging VPN</a> incredibly simply these days but the same cannot be said about private torrent sites. At every opportunity they log just about everything they can.</p>
<h2>Private site logging</h2>
<p><a href="media/bf089152.data.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/data.jpg"><img src="media/bf089152.data.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/data.jpg" alt="data" width="180" height="120" class="alignright size-full wp-image-75303" /></a>Obviously, a certain level logging is required for people to merely have an account. As a matter of course sites log their sign up date along with users&#8217; email addresses, passwords and everything said in their forums. No surprises so far really. </p>
<p>However, sites also log every single torrent downloaded and every IP address used to do so. They log how much data was downloaded and how much was uploaded. Not only that, sites know which other users the downloads came from and to which users the uploads were sent and in what quantity.</p>
<p>Once this information is logged (often against hundreds of torrents per user), sites know all there is to know about their users, real-life identities aside. And the worrying thing is that in many cases the information is never deleted, even when users have left the site. So why is that the case?</p>
<p>The answer is simple &#8211; it&#8217;s all about keeping the site and its file-sharing ecosystem functioning in an optimal fashion.</p>
<p>Sites rely on users playing fair, such as sharing content in a way determined by the sites rules. When this breaks down so does the site, so site logs are used to weed out the bad players. These include those who damage the ecosystem by not doing their part or &#8211; heaven forbid &#8211; those evil users who try to cheat the ratio system.</p>
<p>Once these users are found (which is only possible by keeping detailed logs on the activities of all users) they are kicked out. However, their accounts are not usually deleted because they carry useful information which will be used to ensure that the same user doesn&#8217;t try to get back on the site in future. To combat these users many sites also ban the use of VPNs, which means that not even good users can enjoy the security they offer.</p>
<h2>Logs can be used to keep the enemy out</h2>
<p>Site logs are also used to hunt down the private tracker&#8217;s worst enemies &#8211; anti-piracy companies and those users who make a business out of buying and selling site invites. These two groups can be closely related, since when an invite seller offers his product in public, it&#8217;s possible that spies can pick them up for a few dollars and gain access to an otherwise private site in a matter of minutes.</p>
<p>So, as we can see, site logs are there to protect the health of the tracker. However, it would be an absolute nightmate if they fell into the wrong hands. While that doesn&#8217;t happen often, it does happen.</p>
<p>Just this week the UFC <a href="http://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/mma-ufc/ufc-cracks-down-website-it-says-illegally-streamed-fight-shows">announced</a> that it had targeted a site called BestFreeUFC and as a result has obtained the site&#8217;s database which includes email addresses, IP addresses, user names and chatlogs of individuals who have illegally accessed UFC events. UFC owners Zuffa say they will now go after the infringers.</p>
<h2>The future &#8211; encryption?</h2>
<p><a href="media/a447a7c5.encryption.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/encryption.jpg"><img src="media/a447a7c5.encryption.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/encryption.jpg" alt="encryption" width="180" height="135" class="alignright size-full wp-image-75305" /></a>So what can be done to increase site security? TorrentFreak spoke with a couple of admins who informed us that while they would prefer not to carry logs, they are essential for maintaining a healthy tracker and keeping undesirables out. Passwords on Gazelle trackers are encrypted, which is welcome, but currently no other data is encrypted as standard.</p>
<p>One admin told us he would like to add full encryption but from a technical perspective it would seriously complicate matters. Furthermore, much more grunt in both the software and hardware departments would be required, along with a fresh view of the entire situation.</p>
<p>So while email providers start <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/9/4605290/deutsche-telekom-email-made-in-germany-initiative">adding encryption</a> as standard and companies like Dotcom&#8217;s Mega have security built in from the ground up, the question now is whether private torrent sites will maintain their positions or continue as normal.</p>
<p>This might just be another case of citizens having to sacrifice some of their privacy in order to obtain a valuable service, or perhaps in the overall scheme of things, security is tight enough already&#8230;..</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/downloading-the-databases-that-store-everything-you-do-130811/">Downloading: The Databases that Store Everything You Do</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Cu7iKnFAbEY:qjuD-DA69h8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Cu7iKnFAbEY:qjuD-DA69h8:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=Cu7iKnFAbEY:qjuD-DA69h8:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/Cu7iKnFAbEY" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75246
title: Pirate Bay ‘Founders’ Speak Out on the Site’s Past and Future
uri: Pirate-Bay-Founders-Speak-Out-on-the-Site-s-Past-and-Future
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/YcNdu7rn11k/
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" />When The Pirate Bay was first launched in 2003 by the Swedish pro-culture organization <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piratbyr%C3%A5n">Piratbyrån</a>, no one imagined it would turn into an Internet icon. </p>
<p>The site has secured a spot in Internet history and on this celebratory weekend we invite several early Piratbyrån members to share their thoughts on the site&#8217;s accomplishments, their most memorable moments, and their ideas for the future.</p>
<p>Marcin De Kaminski, Rasmus Fleischer, Tobias Andersson and Sara Sajjad moved on to other projects following their days on The Pirate Bay but all have played an important role in turning the Pirate Bay idea into reality.</p>
<h4>Marcin De Kaminski</h4>
<p><img src="media/45c6d8c2.marcin.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/marcin.jpg" alt="marcin" width="120" height="120" class="alignright size-full wp-image-75257" /><em><a href="http://dekaminski.se/">Marcin</a> was one of the early members of Piratbyrån. He also founded the  net activist cluster Telecomix. Marcin is currently a PhD candidate  at the Department of Sociology of Law at Lund University focusing on Internet communities including The Pirate Bay.</em></p>
<p><strong>Accomplishments:</strong> I have most of all enjoyed seeing the diversity of stuff being shared on TPB, and now &#8211; being a researcher with P2P as one area of focus &#8211; also the diversity of incitements for using the site. Our studies among TPB users have shown a great spread within the user base, both in terms of geography and reasons for file sharing. Truly fascinating.</p>
<p><strong>Memorable moments:</strong> Being a part of the TPB cluster for just a short part of the early beginning, I think what is most important to remember about TPB is the fact that it started on a crappy laptop sharing the really bad *DSL connection of the Mexican employer of Gottfrid Svartholm. </p>
<p>As the initial plan was to found a small BitTorrent tracker for an extended circle of friends, no one could predict what was coming.</p>
<p><strong>The Future:</strong> Besides still being an infrastructure for exchanging files between internet users, most of the ideas and ideals of the early TPB have been lost. </p>
<p>I would have hoped that the internet community at this time would have replaced TPB with something new and more innovative instead of stagnating in some kind of passive mode where progress is hard to see.</p>
<h4>Rasmus Fleischer</h4>
<p><img src="media/c407ffb6.rasmus1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/rasmus1.jpg" alt="rasmus" width="120" height="120" class="alignright size-full wp-image-75252" /><em><a href="http://www.rasmusfleischer.se/">Rasmus</a> was one of the early members of Piratbyrån. He is a writer, researcher, debater, musician and runs the <a href="http://copyriot.se/">CopyRiot blog</a>. Rasmus finished his PhD thesis on &#8220;music&#8217;s political economy&#8221; last year. </em></p>
<p><strong>Accomplishments:</strong> That&#8217;s a very hard question. Technically speaking, The Pirate Bay&#8217;s most significant contribution is of course the unbelievable amounts of peer-to-peer traffic that it has been aiding. Economically speaking, I think that the harm caused to Hollywood by file-sharing is not only real but also excellent. </p>
<p>On the other hand, it has helped catalyze so-called &#8220;new business models&#8221; but I would never feel the slightest bit of pride over that shit. In the end, I guess the most remarkable thing about The Pirate Bay is the insurrectionary spirit of its refusal to go down, which on a symbolic level became an extraordinarily powerful thing as it resurrected following the 2006 raid.</p>
<p><strong>Memorable moments:</strong> When was it The Pirate Bay, when was it the internet, and when was it simply hanging out with friends (and strangers)? Honestly speaking, I don&#8217;t know where to draw the line. But the days immediately after the big raid, in the early summer of 2006, that was somehow magical. </p>
<p>The first week of the Spectrial in early 2009 was a very memorable time as well. In retrospect, these are moments in time which the anti-pirates might now celebrate as successful attacks against The Pirate Bay, but in real-time it was all intensely complex and most of all FUN.</p>
<p><strong>The Future:</strong> I think that The Pirate Bay is in a process of slow decay, which has been obvious for the last three years. Its basic failure was that it become such an icon that people began to celebrate The Pirate Bay rather than to copy it, although being copied was the real goal – not to be the biggest, but to spawn a hydra. </p>
<p>Today the best thing would be to get rid of The Pirate Bay and start over with new solutions for free and decentralized file-sharing, not too dependent on web search engines. To me, such a quest would be in the spirit of the Bay.</p>
<h4>Sara Sajjad</h4>
<p><img src="media/97e8d834.sara.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/sara.jpg" alt="sara" width="120" height="120" class="alignright size-full wp-image-75312" /><em><a href="https://twitter.com/fraux">Sara</a> was one of the early members of Piratbyrån.</em></p>
<p><strong>Accomplishments:</strong> I love the educational parts. Most of all I adore the way ordinary people wanted more, and got more. Like kids from school emailing questionnaires, and getting answers, from day one. </p>
<p>It&#8217;s also nice to see all the curiosity from companies, journalists and organizations that could be &#8220;on the other side&#8221; but where clever enough to understand that TPB made something completely new, and that it made an outstandingly brave statement only by existing. </p>
<p><strong>Memorable moments:</strong> The fact that TPB got to be on Fox News&#8217; Strategy Room for 50 minutes in 2009 without a bad word is pretty cool to me. I consider it to be a sign of world domination. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.piratbyran.org/ppp/">polar pirate prize</a> gala we had early on, is also super-special since it was one of the first connections between afk and Internet for TPB. </p>
<p>All the memories of the emotions, from bad to good, from celebrations to condemning everyone in touch, I think that&#8217;s the most important thing. Making people think, feel, talk, getting involved, resisting and fighting over TPB. </p>
<p><strong>The Future:</strong> If I could decide, the site would be shut down in all ways possible. It should never belong to someone or something else than itself, and I don&#8217;t want it to belong to the wrong people. </p>
<h4>Tobias Andersson</h4>
<p><img src="media/81feae89.tobias1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tobias1.jpg" alt="tobias" width="120" height="120" class="alignright size-full wp-image-75260" /><em>Tobias served as an early spokesperson of both Piratbyrån and The Pirate Bay. He has been responsible for The Promo Bay project and regularly speaks on Internet freedom related topics at conferences all over the world. Tobias is currently studying at a local university in Sweden.</em></p>
<p><strong>Accomplishments:</strong> Politically, I think The Pirate Bay came perfectly in time. Powerful forces try to establish the concept of intellectual property and suddenly we have a generation of people who question this concept. Partly because file sharing became mainstream, but also because of the rebellious attitude of The Pirate Bay. There are so many of us that have so much to win on society not accepting this concept. And very few that have a lot to lose. So it is indeed interesting times.</p>
<p><strong>Memorable moments:</strong> The site taught me so much. Early on we were on a constant hubris, as almost everyone loved us and worldwide media published anything we did or said. The emails and messages we got from people from all over the world, thanking us for providing them with something different that they couldn&#8217;t get in their locked up regimes.</p>
<p>One of the funniest memories is (and I know this has happened to several of my friends) when I had participated in the local media about The Pirate Bay and I was stopped on the street by two huge cops. They asked if I was that guy from The Pirate Bay. Sure I said, looking around for an escape route, when they then asked me which torrent client was the best and what all these codes like XViD and TS meant. They just wanted to get the latest Fast &#038; Furious movie&#8230;</p>
<p><strong>The Future:</strong> It&#8217;s fantastic that The Pirate Bay made it to its 10th birthday, it really is an extraordinary achievement. But now it&#8217;s time for something new. The coming copy fights will be on a totally other level. I&#8217;m talking about the 3D printing revolution. In a few years, millions of blueprints of tools, car parts, clothing and weapons will be up for download. If there is a safe platform. </p>
<p>The Pirate Bay in its current form can withstand the pressure from quite harmless industries like the movie and music industries. But when car, oil, and weapons industries and all the countries that depend on them will start to feel threatened, we can&#8217;t depend on a few people to sacrifice themselves.</p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<p>TorrentFreak also asked two of the current moderators of the site to share their thoughts. These <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-moderators-on-accomplishments-memories-and-tpbs-future-130811/">can be found here</a>. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-founders-speak-out-on-the-sites-past-and-future-130811/">Pirate Bay &#8216;Founders&#8217; Speak Out on the Site&#8217;s Past and Future</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=YcNdu7rn11k:kNf1CI8G7UY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=YcNdu7rn11k:kNf1CI8G7UY:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=YcNdu7rn11k:kNf1CI8G7UY:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/YcNdu7rn11k" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75224
title: Dotcom: Surveillance and Copyright Extremism Will Cost United States Dearly
uri: Dotcom-Surveillance-and-Copyright-Extremism-Will-Cost-United-States-D
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Hs8kNPHJcF0/
content:
<p><img src="media/ee28886a.dotcom-prez.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dotcom-prez.jpg" alt="dotcom-prez" width="250" height="250" class="alignright size-full wp-image-56036" />As the Edward Snowden fallout continues, yesterday Kim Dotcom revealed that if certain new surveillance laws are passed in New Zealand he will have little choice but to relocate some of Mega&#8217;s operations <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/kim-dotcom-will-move-mega-privacy-services-to-iceland-to-avoid-spying-130809/">overseas</a>.</p>
<p>Privacy and security have become a hot topics for Dotcom. He was a surveillance target not only for the United States but also for local security service GCSB. Dotcom is tied up in a legal battle with the latter after a court found they monitored him illegally.</p>
<p>With Mega billed as &#8216;The Privacy Company&#8217;, Dotcom has a vested interest in battling the level of spying that can be carried out by the New Zealand government. Speaking with TorrentFreak, Dotcom explains why he sees the powers granted by these proposed new laws as a threat.</p>
<p>&#8220;The US government and the other Five Eyes partners (UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) have an agreement to push for new spy legislation that will provide them with backdoors into all Internet infrastructure and services. The NZ government is currently aggressively looking to extend its powers with the GCSB and the TICS act, which will force service providers with encryption capabilities to give them secret decryption access,&#8221; Dotcom explains.</p>
<p>Immediately it&#8217;s clear why this is an issue for Dotcom. All files uploaded to Mega are encrypted to the point where not even the company knows the data it&#8217;s carrying. Should the new legislation be introduced all that would have to change, but Dotcom says that isn&#8217;t going to  happen.</p>
<p>&#8220;Mega doesn&#8217;t have decryption keys by design and we never will. Privacy companies like Mega will have to look for jurisdictions that care about basic human rights like privacy and freedom of speech,&#8221; he says.</p>
<p>Dotcom doesn&#8217;t go into detail on a full list of good candidates but says that smaller nations, particularly those with few enemies that don&#8217;t need a large spy apparatus, could be a good choice. However, one in particular stands out.</p>
<p>&#8220;Iceland is a friendly small country without enemies. They don&#8217;t spy on the world and they don&#8217;t care. It&#8217;s countries like Iceland that will see a rise in Internet services. There is a huge opportunity for smaller nations because the business that is going to leave the US is looking for a new home,&#8221; he predicts.</p>
<p>But while the small flourish, Dotcom says that the approaches taken by the &#8216;Five Eyes&#8217; countries will see them ruin the growth of their own IT industries. And it seems that the United States will suffer the most.</p>
<p>&#8220;I expect that more and more Internet businesses will find the hostile US environment unbearable and will move their business elsewhere. Who wants to store any sensitive data on US based servers anymore?</p>
<p>&#8220;Over the next 10 years you will see a decline of US Internet giants and the rise of non-US Internet companies that care about user privacy. We will not see a strong NSA like before the Snowden leaks again. The truth is out there and when politicians and laws can&#8217;t protect our basic human rights, innovation and friendly jurisdictions will save us,&#8221; he says.</p>
<p>But can a country like Iceland cope with such a large influx of technology companies given their current infrastructure?</p>
<p>&#8220;Iceland has limited connectivity,&#8221; Dotcom admits. &#8220;But for now it&#8217;s a great option. Others will arise. I am sure of that. We have already setup a company in Iceland.&#8221;</p>
<p>So with preparations already underway should the worst-case scenario present itself, does it follow that Mega will desert the land of the Kiwis entirely? Dotcom told TorrentFreak that eventuality is unlikely but if any of their services face government demands for backdoors they will relocate elsewhere. Rest assured though, that won&#8217;t be in the United States.</p>
<p>&#8220;The US is on a path of destroying its massive lead in the Internet economy. Mass surveillance and copyright extremism will cost the US economy more than any terrorist attack or piracy,&#8221; Dotcom says.</p>
<p>&#8220;Remember, move your Internet business to small nations that are free of conflict and therefore don&#8217;t have a massive spy agenda. Look for countries that have robust privacy and human rights laws. Stay out of the US. Don&#8217;t even host a single server there,&#8221; Dotcom concludes.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/dotcom-surveillance-and-copyright-extremism-will-cost-united-states-dearly-130809/">Dotcom: Surveillance and Copyright Extremism Will Cost United States Dearly</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Hs8kNPHJcF0:af3xwl9r38U:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Hs8kNPHJcF0:af3xwl9r38U:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=Hs8kNPHJcF0:af3xwl9r38U:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/Hs8kNPHJcF0" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=72627
title: Pirate Bay Releases ‘Pirate Browser’ to Thwart Censorship
uri: Pirate-Bay-Releases-Pirate-Browser-to-Thwart-Censorship
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/J_rDqaA7V3I/
content:
<p><img src="media/85793bea.piratebrowser.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/piratebrowser.jpg" alt="piratebrowser" width="222" height="96" class="alignright size-full wp-image-75268" />The Pirate Bay is arguably the most censored website on the Internet.</p>
<p>Courts in the UK, the Netherlands, Italy and elsewhere have ordered Internet providers to block subscriber access to the torrent site, and more are expected to follow.</p>
<p>Up until now The Pirate Bay has encouraged users affected by the blackout to use proxy sites. However, on its 10th anniversary they are now releasing a special &#8220;<a href="http://piratebrowser.com/">PirateBrowser</a>&#8221; which effectively bypasses any ISP blockade.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a simple one-click browser that circumvents censorship and blockades and makes the site instantly available and accessible. No bundled ad-ware, toolbars or other crap, just a Pre-configured Firefox browser,&#8221; The Pirate Bay <a href="https://thepiratebay.sx/blog/233">explains</a>.</p>
<p>The browser is based on Firefox 23 bundled with a Tor client and some proxy configurations to speed up loading. It is meant purely as a tool to circumvent censorship and unlike the Tor browser it doesn&#8217;t provide any anonymity for its users. </p>
<p>&#8220;This browser is just to circumvent censorship, to remove limits on accessing sites governments don&#8217;t want you to know about,&#8221; The Pirate Bay notes.</p>
<p>PirateBrowser works like any other web browser and comes pre-loaded with several bookmarks for blocked sites, which aside from The Pirate Bay includes EZTV, KickassTorrents, Bitsnoop and H33T. </p>
<p>The browser also lists the alternative .onion addresses for both TPB and EZTV as backups to access these sites.</p>
<p>The Pirate Bay is not alone in its efforts to keep the Internet open and accessible. The Obama administration has <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/world/12internet.html">spent millions of dollars</a> on similar projects allowing citizens of oppressed regimes to access blocked websites, albeit for different reasons. </p>
<p>The Pirate Bay team informs TorrentFreak that &#8220;PirateBrowser&#8221; is just the first step in their efforts to fight web censorship. They are also working on a special BitTorrent-powered browser, which lets users store and distribute The Pirate Bay and other websites on their own. </p>
<p>In theory, this will allow sites to exist and update even without having a public facing website. As a result, it will be virtually impossible to block or shut them down. The first version of this new software is currently being tested but there is currently no firm launch date. More on that later. </p>
<p>In the meantime, the development of PirateBrowser will also continue. The current release is only available for the Windows platform but Mac and Linux versions will follow in the future. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-releases-pirate-browser-to-thwart-censorship-130810/">Pirate Bay Releases &#8216;Pirate Browser&#8217; to Thwart Censorship</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=J_rDqaA7V3I:hKtZFh55l2Y:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=J_rDqaA7V3I:hKtZFh55l2Y:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=J_rDqaA7V3I:hKtZFh55l2Y:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/J_rDqaA7V3I" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75168
title: The Pirate Bay Turns 10 Years Old: The History
uri: The-Pirate-Bay-Turns-10-Years-Old-The-History
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/lYFmCf2iDyw/
content:
<p><img src="media/fc7fa772.tpb.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com//images/tpb.jpg" align="right" alt="the pirate bay" />During the summer of 2003 The Pirate Bay was founded by Swedish pro-culture organization <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piratbyr%C3%A5n">Piratbyrån</a>.</p>
<p>Piratbyrån, which translates to Bureau of Piracy, was formed by political activists and hackers in the early 2000s, many of whom had already launched other web projects challenging political, moral and power structures. </p>
<p>The group’s members were all friends of friends and in common with The Pirate Bay, there was virtually no structure. </p>
<p>One of the group&#8217;s unwritten goals was to offer a counterweight to the propaganda being spread by local anti-piracy outfit Antpiratbyrån. With BitTorrent as the up-and-coming file-sharing technology, they saw it fit to start their own file-sharing site to promote sharing of information. </p>
<p>“At the time there was one big torrent site, which was called Suprnova, but they mainly had international content. We and Piratbyrån wanted more Swedish and Scandinavian content. So we started a big library, and that is The Pirate Bay,” Peter Sunde later recalled.</p>
<p>The site first came online in Mexico where Gottfrid Svartholm, aka Anakata, hosted the site on a server owned by the company he was working for at the time. </p>
<p>After a few months the site moved to Sweden where it was hosted on a Pentium III 1GHz laptop with 256MB RAM. This one machine, which belonged to Fredrik Neij (TiAMO), kept the site online and included a fully operational tracker.</p>
<h5>The Pirate Bay server</h5>
<p><img src="media/fb95ff8d.tpb-laptop1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpb-laptop1.jpg" alt="tpb classic" /></p>
<p>It didn&#8217;t take long before more server power was needed to keep the site and tracker from collapsing due to a growing number of visitors.</p>
<p>By the end of 2004, a year after the site launched, the tracker was coordinating a million peers and over 60,000 torrent files. Around the same time the founders also noticed that it was not only Scandinavians developing an interest in their site. </p>
<p>In fact, by then 80% of their users came from other parts of the world. Because of increasing worldwide popularity The Pirate Bay team completely redesigned the site, which became available in several languages during July 2005.</p>
<h5>The Pirate Bay before the redesign</h5>
<p><img src="media/71e347c5.tpb-classic.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpb-classic.jpg" alt="tpb classic" /></p>
<p>Due to these changes, The Pirate Bay grew even faster, and the number of peers tracked by the site grew to 2,500,000 by the end of 2005. </p>
<p>In the meantime, Piratbyrån had distanced itself from the site as a group, but continued to share the Kopimi lifestyle throughout the world <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bays-founding-group-piratbyran-disbands-100623/">until 2007</a>. The Pirate Bay sailed on independently and continued to be operated by an unorganized collection of individuals.</p>
<p>Pirate Bay&#8217;s increase in traffic didn’t go unnoticed by the entertainment industries. Copyright holders started to send out takedown notices, which were often mocked by the site’s founders. Eventually, however, The Pirate Bay <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-celebrates-independence-day-six-years-after-the-raid-120531/">got raided</a> following pressure from Hollywood and the USA.</p>
<p>May 31, 2006, less than three years after The Pirate Bay was founded, 65 Swedish police officers <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/the-piratebay-is-down-raided-by-the-swedish-police/">entered a datacenter</a> in Stockholm. The officers were tasked with shutting down the Pirate Bay&#8217;s servers. </p>
<div align="center"><strong>Footage from The Pirate Bay raid</strong></p>
<p>The site went down for three days, only to reappear at a new hosting facility. The site&#8217;s operators were not impressed and renamed the site &#8220;The Police Bay&#8221; complete with a new logo shooting cannon balls at Hollywood. A few days later this logo was replaced by a Phoenix, a reference to the site rising from its digital ashes.</p>
<p>The raid brought the site into the mainstream press, not least due to its amazing three-day resurrection. All this publicity resulted in a huge traffic spike for TPB, exactly the opposite effect Hollywood had hoped for.</p>
<h5>Logos after the raid</h5>
<p><img src="media/dcabe2f3.tpb-logos.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpb-logos.jpg" alt="tpb classic" /></p>
<p>Despite a criminal investigation into the site&#8217;s founders The Pirate Bay kept growing and growing. In early 2009, more than two years after the Swedish investigation was finalized, the three co-founders and businessman financier Carl Lundstrom went on trial.</p>
<p>April 2009 the four were <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-trial-the-verdict-090417/">found guilty</a> of assisting copyright infringement. They were sentenced to one year in jail and fines totaling $3,620,000. During the appeal in 2010 the prison sentences were reduced, but the fines increased to more than $6.5 million. Thus far, two of the four have served their sentences. </p>
<p>The Pirate Bay&#8217;s assets, meanwhile, were transferred to the mysterious Seychelles-based company Reservella which continues to operate the site up until today.</p>
<p>Under new ownership several major technical changes occurred. In the fall of 2009 the infamous BitTorrent tracker was <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-tracker-shuts-down-for-good-091117/">taken offline</a>, turning The Pirate Bay into a torrent indexing site. </p>
<p><img src="media/fe5dea2f.magnetbay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/magnetbay.jpg" align="right" alt="magnet" />Early 2012 The Pirate Bay went even further when it decided to cease offering torrent files for well-seeded content. The site&#8217;s operators moved to magnet links instead, allowing them to save resources and making it easier for third-party sites to run proxies. </p>
<p>These proxies turned out to be much-needed, as The Pirate Bay is now the most broadly censored website on the Internet. In recent years ISPs in Denmark, Italy, UK, the Netherlands and elsewhere have been ordered by courts to block access to the BitTorrent site. Earlier this year The Pirate Bay estimated that <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/at-least-8-of-all-pirate-bay-traffic-now-provided-by-proxy-services-130505/">at least 8%</a> of their visitors are now accessing the site through proxies.</p>
<p>Late last year The Pirate Bay made another change to improve its resilience by switching their entire operation <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-moves-to-the-cloud-becomes-raid-proof-121017/">to the cloud</a>. Serving its users from several cloud hosting providers scattered around the world saves costs, guarantees better uptime, and makes the site more portable and thus harder to take down. </p>
<p>The final change to the site&#8217;s operation came a few months ago. Fearing a domain seizure by the Swedish authorities, TPB took action again. After hearing the rumors The Pirate Bay quickly switched to a <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-moves-to-gl-domain-in-anticipation-of-domain-seizure-130409/">Greenland-based domain</a>, later hopping to <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-finds-safe-haven-in-iceland-switches-to-is-domain-130425/">Iceland</a>, and eventually landing <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-moves-to-sx-as-prosecutor-files-motion-to-seize-domains-130430/">.SX domains</a> as other problems became apparent.</p>
<p>Despite numerous court cases, court-ordered blockades by ISPs and two full trials at the Stockholm Court, The Pirate Bay remains online. In fact, it is still one of the most-visited websites on the Internet and the number of users continues to grow. </p>
<p>As for the future, it is expected that the legal pressure will continue and increase. In recent years copyright holders have focused more on targeting the site&#8217;s hosting facilities, domain registrars and advertisers. Whether that will be good enough to bring the site to its knees remains to be seen. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-turns-10-years-old-the-history-130810/">The Pirate Bay Turns 10 Years Old: The History</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=lYFmCf2iDyw:qKCr2o8yKSE:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=lYFmCf2iDyw:qKCr2o8yKSE:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=lYFmCf2iDyw:qKCr2o8yKSE:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/lYFmCf2iDyw" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75038
title: Sky’s Court Ordered Piracy Filter Blocks TorrentFreak
uri: Sky-s-Court-Ordered-Piracy-Filter-Blocks-TorrentFreak
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/wrqFW6_raFc/
content:
<p><img src="media/07db73b3.stop-blocked.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/stop-blocked.jpg" alt="stop-blocked" width="200" height="168" class="alignright size-full wp-image-72076" />Following a High Court ruling last month, six UK ISPs are required to <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/uk-internet-providers-start-blocking-eztv-and-ezrss-130726/">block subscriber access</a> to the popular TV-torrent site EZTV.it.</p>
<p>The actions EZTV faces are not the first taken against a torrent site in the UK. The Pirate Bay, KickassTorrents and several other &#8220;pirate&#8221; sites have been blocked by previous court orders and remain inaccessible by conventional means. </p>
<p>However, over the past couple of days Sky subscribers noticed that the blocklist had been quietly expanded with a new site that&#8217;s certainly not covered by any court order &#8211; TorrentFreak.com. </p>
<p>Our site first became inaccessible on Wednesday night, only to be unblocked 14 hours later. However, about an hour ago it was again added to the blocklist.</p>
<p>The recent blocking spree is <a href="http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/sky/4257982-torrentfreak-blocked-sky-on-blocking-spree.html?vc=1">causing confusion</a> among Sky subscribers who have no idea why TorrentFreak is longer accessible. However, we can confirm that the problem lies with Sky&#8217;s filtering software that is supposed to enforce the court-ordered torrent site blockades. </p>
<p>The owner of EZTV informed TorrentFreak that he used Geo DNS to <a href="media/b8b69641.eztv-torrentfreak.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/eztv-torrentfreak.png">point UK visitors to TorrentFreak&#8217;s IP-address</a>. Soon after there were reports that our website had become inaccessible to Sky users. </p>
<p><center><br />
<h5>EZTV DNS pointing to TorrentFreak&#8217;s IPs<img src="media/0cd5b2db.tf-block.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tf-block.png" alt="tf-block" width="449" height="140" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-75177" /></h5>
<p></center></p>
<p>Yesterday afternoon EZTV updated the DNS entries again, now pointing the UK public to some of <a href="media/b3f00ad3.eztv-facebook.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/eztv-facebook.png">Facebook&#8217;s IP-addresses</a>. The idea was to add Facebook to the piracy blocklist, but nothing happened, perhaps because the DNS pointed to a wide range of IP-addresses.</p>
<p>This morning EZTV switched the DNS entries back to TorrentFreak&#8217;s IP-address and soon after our site became unavailable to Sky subscribers, as the Twitter reports below clearly confirm.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/e3cc4882.tfblocked.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tfblocked.jpg" alt="tfblocked" width="510" height="605" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-75187" /></center></p>
<p>From the above it appears that Sky&#8217;s filtering system blocks any and all IP-addresses that EZTV adds to their DNS. This essentially means that EZTV, or any other blocked site, has the power to render entire websites inaccessible to Sky subscribers. Luckily we were the target and not Google.</p>
<p>From what we can tell, other UK Internet providers are using different systems as TorrentFreak is still accessible.</p>
<p>Interestingly enough, Virgin users reported an <a href="media/3a553b5f.facebookdown.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/facebookdown.jpg">hour long blackout of Facebook</a> yesterday evening. Whether this is related to EZTV&#8217;s DNS entries is unknown at the point, but it&#8217;s not common for Facebook to go &#8220;down&#8221; on a single UK provider.</p>
<p>EZTV&#8217;s owner tells TorrentFreak that he just wanted to see how the various blocking procedures work at UK ISPs. He never imagined that simply adding a few IP-addresses to EZTV&#8217;s DNS zone would take out TorrentFreak. He stresses that there was absolutely no &#8220;hacking&#8221; involved and alerted us about the plan.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s expected that after realizing how vulnerable to exploits their blocking system is, Sky will soon correct their mistake. While this may bring TorrentFreak back, this blunder is likely to be used by blocking opponents to show how easily things can go wrong.</p>
<p>In the meantime, Sky subscribers will have to use a proxy to access TorrentFreak.</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> Sky isn&#8217;t in a hurry to fix the flaw, but EZTV said it will remove the TorrentFreak IP address from its DNS so the site should be accessible again soon. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/skys-court-ordered-piracy-filter-blocks-torrentfreak-130809/">Sky&#8217;s Court Ordered Piracy Filter Blocks TorrentFreak</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=wrqFW6_raFc:J07-ZcDeBq8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=wrqFW6_raFc:J07-ZcDeBq8:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=wrqFW6_raFc:J07-ZcDeBq8:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/wrqFW6_raFc" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75154
title: Kim Dotcom Will Move Mega Privacy Services to Iceland to Avoid Spying
uri: Kim-Dotcom-Will-Move-Mega-Privacy-Services-to-Iceland-to-Avoid-Spying
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/4OG24hc5U7I/
content:
<p><img src="media/f408e481.cameraspy.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cameraspy.jpg" width="170" height="164" class="alignright" />The uproar kick-started by the revelations of Edward Snowden don&#8217;t appear to be going away any time soon, as citizens increasingly become aware that their online privacy rights can be disappeared at the touch of a button.</p>
<p>Just yesterday the NSA spying controversy claimed another victim, with email service Lavabit <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/08/lavabit-encrypted-email-service-shuts-down-cant-say-why">announcing</a> that it will shut down rather than “become complicit in crimes against the American people.” The email service would not provide additional details but their silence is being interpreted as a symptom of US Government pressure.</p>
<p>With Snowden now living in Russia, the rest of the world is trying to cope with its apparent privacy-free status. One of people&#8217;s first reactions to eavesdroppers in the real world is to lower their voices, and in the digital domain the reaction has been much the same.</p>
<p>The recent announcement from Pirate Bay founder Peter Sunde, that he is now part of a team bringing an <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-founder-announces-encrypted-nsa-proof-communication-apps-130710/">NSA-proof messaging app</a> to the market, was greeted by an enthusiastic audience putting their cash on the line. Privacy clearly matters to people.</p>
<p>This hasn&#8217;t gone unnoticed by Kim Dotcom either, who is already heading up Mega.co.nz, aka &#8216;The Privacy Company&#8217;. Mega&#8217;s moves towards encryption preceded Snowden&#8217;s revelations, but Dotcom is well aware that the market is now ripe for spy-proof services.</p>
<p>The German-born entrepreneur is already prepping two new products &#8211; an encrypted messaging app and an encrypted email service &#8211; both due to market within the next few months. While previously set to launch from Mega&#8217;s New Zealand base, Dotcom has now cast doubt on that assumption.</p>
<p>This morning, Dotcom told his 313K Twitter followers that if new local spying laws become reality, Mega will move its privacy services overseas to Iceland.</p>
<p>&#8220;Mega plans to move privacy operations away from New Zealand to Iceland if the new #GCSB &#038; #TICS spy laws are becoming reality,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>The GCSB and Related Legislation Amendment Bill and Telecommunications (Interception Capability and Security) Bill are a concern to Dotcom and other New Zealand citizens as they will force telco providers to provide intercept capabilities so that police, security and spying services can access citizens&#8217; communications online. The bills give GCSB, New Zealand&#8217;s spy agency, sweeping powers of oversight into the design and operations of all local network providers.</p>
<p>And Dotcom isn&#8217;t on his own with his concerns. Last week Microsoft suggested it <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/8986501/Spy-bill-a-threat-to-industry-says-Microsoft">may withdraw</a> from New Zealand if the surveillance laws are introduced, warning that they represent a threat to its industry.</p>
<p>But of course other countries are also engaged in widespread spying, and Dotcom has issued a warning to new companies preparing to invest.</p>
<p>&#8220;Privacy startups &#038; encryption services should move to Iceland or other privacy friendly jurisdictions,&#8221; he <a href="https://twitter.com/KimDotcom/status/365768157803184128">said</a>, specifically warning against setting up in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. </p>
<p>Hitting governments in their pockets might be the only way to get them to sit up and listen but we&#8217;ll have to wait to find out whether citizens care enough to vote with their wallets too.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/kim-dotcom-will-move-mega-privacy-services-to-iceland-to-avoid-spying-130809/">Kim Dotcom Will Move Mega Privacy Services to Iceland to Avoid Spying</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=4OG24hc5U7I:hImySLreJ8Y:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=4OG24hc5U7I:hImySLreJ8Y:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=4OG24hc5U7I:hImySLreJ8Y:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/4OG24hc5U7I" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75093
title: Microsoft’s Bing Removes Several Hundred Thousand “Pirate” Search Results
uri: Microsoft-s-Bing-Removes-Several-Hundred-Thousand-Pirate-Searc
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/gC8uRc2gpJc/
content:
<p><img src="media/3fc55e1e.winpirate.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/winpirate.jpg" align="right" alt="microsoft" />For years entertainment industry groups have been demanding that search engines should do something about the “pirate sites” that show up in their search results.</p>
<p>In <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/copyright-industry-calls-for-broad-search-engine-censorship-120127/">closed meetings</a> Bing, Google and Yahoo have been discussing these issues with copyright holders. Thus far, however, the search engines have been reluctant to do more than simply responding to DMCA takedown notices, as required by law. </p>
<p>Keeping the pressure on, copyright holders have responded by sending more and more takedown notices. Most of these are directed at Google, who have received over <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/google-removed-100-million-pirate-search-results-this-year-130725/">100 million</a> so far in 2013, but the others aren&#8217;t being ignored.</p>
<p>Traditionally, Microsoft doesn&#8217;t publicize any takedown statistics but the company informed us that they process hundreds of thousands of DMCA requests for Bing every month.</p>
<p>&#8220;Each month, Bing receives DMCA notices from a variety of copyright owners that seek removal of hundreds of thousands of URLs,&#8221; a Microsoft spokesperson told TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>Ironically, Microsoft itself is one of the most active senders. The company says that through their anti-piracy partners they target a variety of search engines, Bing included.</p>
<p>&#8220;We submit DMCA notices to Bing as well as Google and others,&#8221; Microsoft says. </p>
<p>Over the past month alone the software company has asked Google to remove about <a href="http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/copyright/owners/25224/Microsoft-Corporation/">800,000 search results</a>. Interestingly, a quick check reveals that some of the URLs Microsoft wants Google to remove are still accessible on Bing, suggesting that not all search engines receive the same notices. </p>
<p>Microsoft&#8217;s takedown policies appeared in the news two weeks ago after they asked Google to <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/microsoft-wants-google-to-censor-microsoft-com-130728/">take down links to their own Microsoft.com site</a>. The company admits to TorrentFreak that this was an honest mistake and says it&#8217;s committed to preventing similar errors in the future. </p>
<p>&#8220;Microsoft is committed to ensuring that copyright is respected online and that enforcement measures are appropriate and accurate. We and our vendors use several measures to verify the accuracy of information contained in our DMCA notices, including algorithmic and human review of notices,&#8221; the company says.</p>
<p>Despite this dedication, errors will be hard to stamp out completely. While we assume that the company will not longer censor <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/microsofts-bogus-dmca-notices-censor-bbc-cnn-wikipedia-spotify-and-more-121007/">the BBC, Wikipedia, the U.S. Government</a> or their own websites, mistakes are bound to happen. </p>
<p>Earlier this week Microsoft&#8217;s awkward dual role as both copyright holder and search engine became apparent <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/dmca-notices-to-search-engines-wont-mitigate-piracy-tech-giants-say-130806/">in a report</a> released by the tech industry group CCIA. The industry association, which lists Microsoft as a member, concluded that demoting &#8220;infringing&#8221; search results is not the best way to reduce piracy. </p>
<p>While Bing may agree with this assertion, at this point there&#8217;s no evidence that Microsoft does.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/microsofts-bing-removes-several-hundred-thousand-pirate-search-results-130808/">Microsoft&#8217;s Bing Removes Several Hundred Thousand &#8220;Pirate&#8221; Search Results</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=gC8uRc2gpJc:ad2f5e04YkE:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=gC8uRc2gpJc:ad2f5e04YkE:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=gC8uRc2gpJc:ad2f5e04YkE:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/gC8uRc2gpJc" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75036
title: Pirate Party Reports IT Minister to the Police for Copyright Infringement
uri: Pirate-Party-Reports-IT-Minister-to-the-Police-for-Copyright-Infringem
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/6kghAuG4PPo/
content:
<p><a href="media/71c96db3.Hatt.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/Hatt.jpg"><img src="media/71c96db3.Hatt.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/Hatt.jpg" alt="Hatt" width="182" height="147" class="alignright size-full wp-image-75050" /></a>The downloading of movies and TV shows is a daily topic of conversation online, as is the unauthorized distribution of music, games and software.</p>
<p>It is this type of copyright infringement that receives the most attention, largely due to the complaints made by the big corporations that produce and distribute this content. Their influence causes those in power around the world to sit up and listen, which often leads to a tightening of legislation.</p>
<p>Despite all the efforts, however, this year the world&#8217;s most infamous torrent site, The Pirate Bay, celebrates its ten-year anniversary. But while it carries on business as usual, Internet users are being subjected to increasingly tough copyright regimes, such as $150,000 fines for sharing a single song in the United States through to the increasing likelihood of arrest for those sharing more than personal-use levels of content in Sweden.</p>
<p>Sweden&#8217;s local Pirate Party has battled these developments for years and today, marking a decade of The Pirate Bay, they&#8217;ve demonstrated that copyright infringement is not restricted to the sharing of music and movies and that anyone &#8211; even those charged with running the country &#8211; can easily break the law at the click of a button.</p>
<p>The party has been doing some research on the online activities of Sweden&#8217;s IT Minister,  Anna-Karin Hatt, and have discovered that the 40-year-old has not been 100% successful when it comes to absolute respect for copyright law.</p>
<p>Singling out Hatt&#8217;s Instagram account as an example, the party notes that the minister has posted copyrighted <a href="http://instagram.com/p/NPLLbYm8dq/#">Calvin and Hobbes cartoons</a> plus the artwork for several motion pictures including The Lord of the Rings, The Da Vinci Code, and Monty Python and the Holy Grail.</p>
<p><center><br />
<h1>Quick, send the police, it&#8217;s a non-commercial infringement of copyright</h1>
<p><img src="media/4644b2e9.kattcalvin.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/kattcalvin.jpg" alt="KATTCalvin" /></center></p>
<p>&#8220;When not even the Swedish IT Minister complies with copyright law online, one can hardly expect ordinary Internet users to feel compelled to follow such an outdated law,&#8221; says party legislative spokesperson Torbjörn Wester.</p>
<p>To underline their point that breaking copyright law is extremely simple these days, the Pirate Party have today reported Minister Hatt to the police, just as music and movie studios do when they find people infringing their copyrights. Wester doesn&#8217;t believe anything will come of the complaint.</p>
<p>&#8220;Resourceful companies and prominent politicians have not much to fear [when breaking copyright] while the police are chasing down file-sharing adolescents,&#8221; Wester says.</p>
<p>But of course, the Pirate Party do not want Hatt or indeed anyone else prosecuted for such a ridiculously small &#8216;crime&#8217;. They want to decriminalize all non-commercial sharing of &#8220;culture and knowledge&#8221;, so that citizens &#8211; Hatt included &#8211; can share a music file or indeed a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon online without fear of repercussions.</p>
<p>&#8220;The government and Parliament have made it impossible to live a modern life and be active on the Internet without being a criminal,&#8221; Wester concludes.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-party-reports-it-minister-to-the-police-for-copyright-infringement-130808/">Pirate Party Reports IT Minister to the Police for Copyright Infringement</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=6kghAuG4PPo:Kh9utNFE9M8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=6kghAuG4PPo:Kh9utNFE9M8:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=6kghAuG4PPo:Kh9utNFE9M8:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/6kghAuG4PPo" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=74989
title: Hollywood Keeps Censoring Pirate Bay Documentary, Director Outraged
uri: Hollywood-Keeps-Censoring-Pirate-Bay-Documentary-Director-Outraged
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/NvY7lpsN2Ws/
content:
<p><img src="media/ef1d3451.tpb-cens.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpb-cens.jpg" align="right"  alt="tpb afk censored" />After a long wait The Pirate Bay documentary <a href="http://watch.tpbafk.tv/">TPB-AFK</a> was <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/tpb-afk-watch-and-download-the-pirate-bay-documentary-now-130208/">released to the public</a> earlier this year.</p>
<p>The film, created by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Klose">Simon Klose</a>, follows three Pirate Bay founders during their trial in Sweden. True to the nature of the site it can be downloaded for free.</p>
<p>Through this model the film&#8217;s director hopes to reach the broadest audience possible. However, several film studios are obstructing this goal by sending DMCA notices to Google, asking the search giant to remove links to the documentary. </p>
<p>Klose was quite shocked when he found out about the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/hollywood-studios-take-down-pirate-bay-documentary-130519/">unwarranted censorship</a> and initially decided to lawyer up to sue the movie studios. That plan was later aborted when the lawyers at Chilling Effects advised the director that his efforts would be futile.</p>
<p>&#8220;The lawyers saw no use suing the movie studios for filing false DMCA claims and seek damages, unless I could prove subjective intent and bad faith. Instead they advised me to file a counter-notice once I had found out whether Google had actually taken down the links or not,&#8221; Klose <a href="http://www.tpbafk.tv/2013/08/google-ignores-tpb-afk-censoring/">explains</a>. </p>
<p>The director decided to take up this advice and contacted Google instead, hoping to get the censored links put back up. </p>
<p>Klose managed to get in touch with Google’s Nordic Policy counsel David Mothander, who said he would follow up on the case. But today, two months and several reminders later, the director still has to receive a reply. </p>
<p>This leads Klose to belief that Google is more interested in helping Hollywood to censor the web than assisting independent creators to correct DMCA takedown abuses.</p>
<p>&#8220;To me it’s a depressive lesson that Google rather acts as a private proxy for dinosaur copyright enforcement than helping indie filmmakers experiment with sustainable distribution models&#8221; Klose says.</p>
<p>While the automated takedown request in question may not be intentional, they are certainly not an isolated incident. After our initial report back in May copyright holders have sent in several new takedown requests for TPB-AFK. </p>
<p>Below is one that was <a href="http://www.chillingeffects.org/notice.cgi?sID=993735">sent on behalf of HBO</a> in June. The notice claims to protect &#8220;The Pacific&#8221; but also lists a link to the Pirate Bay documentary. A quick search on Google reveals that the result has indeed been removed.</p>
<p><center><br />
<h5>HBO takedown notice</h5>
<p><img src="media/542a9d40.hbo-afk.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/hbo-afk.png" alt="hbo-afk" width="562" height="161" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-74996" /></center></p>
<p>The same is true for a DMCA request that was <a href="http://www.chillingeffects.org/notice.cgi?sID=1030967">sent in Lionsgate&#8217;s name</a> recently. This notice lists &#8220;The Haunting in Connecticut 2 Ghosts of Georgia&#8221; as the copyrighted work but as can be seen below, the notice also affects TPB-AFK and a wide variety of other unrelated titles.</p>
<p><center><br />
<h5>Lionsgate takedown notice</h5>
<p><img src="media/0c75acf1.lionsgate-afk.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/lionsgate-afk.png" alt="lionsgate-afk" width="552" height="163" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-74997" /></center></p>
<p>Klose is pretty upset by the unwarranted censorship which he says hurts his business model, and he urges Google to also protect those who gladly give away their work for free.</p>
<p>&#8220;It sucks to be arbitrarily censored by Google&#8217;s and Hollywood&#8217;s bot system. By making it harder for us to share the film they are harming our freemium distribution experiment,&#8221; Klose tells TorrentFreak. </p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s bizarre to be punished for experimenting with distribution models by an industry doing so little for the filmmakers they claim to protect,&#8221; he adds.</p>
<p>While it&#8217;s unrealistic to expect Google to catch all errors made by copyright holders, Klose&#8217;s problem does bring up an important issue. </p>
<p>There is currently no easy way to check whether a link has been removed from Google. In addition, it is not clear how third parties can send counter-notices to reinstate content on websites that they don&#8217;t own. </p>
<p>First and foremost, however, copyright holders should make sure that their automated tools don&#8217;t take down legitimate content that is not theirs. </p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> Simon Klose tells TorrentFreak that after he posted his complaints in public,  Google&#8217;s Nordic Policy counsel David Mothander offered to reinstate the links.  </p>
<p>&#8220;David from Google just called me up and said his &#8220;reply to me had got stuck in his outbox&#8221;. He said it was a really lame excuse and said he was sorry. Then he offered to put the links that had been taken down back,&#8221; Klose says.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/hollywood-keeps-censoring-pirate-bay-documentary-director-outraged-130807/">Hollywood Keeps Censoring Pirate Bay Documentary, Director Outraged</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=NvY7lpsN2Ws:tmxJk-givFk:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=NvY7lpsN2Ws:tmxJk-givFk:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=NvY7lpsN2Ws:tmxJk-givFk:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/NvY7lpsN2Ws" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=74967
title: CBS Blackout Triggers Surge in TV-Show Piracy
uri: CBS-Blackout-Triggers-Surge-in-TV-Show-Piracy
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/JHVA3Q7HG38/
content:
<p><img src="media/ff7a3604.underthedome.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/underthedome.jpg" alt="underthedome" width="250" height="138" class="alignright size-full wp-image-74969" />One of the main motivations for people to download and stream TV-shows from unauthorized sources is availability. </p>
<p>If fans can’t get a show through legal channels they often turn to pirated alternatives.</p>
<p>So when Time Warner Cable <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/08/02/cbs-time-warner-cable-negotiation/2613667/">dropped CBS last Friday</a> after the companies failed to reach a broadcasting agreement, there was a good chance that many of the blacked-out subscribers would turn to file-sharing networks to get their fix. </p>
<p>Data gathered by TorrentFreak shows that this is indeed the case for the popular show &#8220;Under The Dome.&#8221; </p>
<p>To find out whether download rates in the affected markets increased, we monitored U.S. BitTorrent downloads of last week&#8217;s episode as well as the one that aired this Monday following the blackout.</p>
<p>The data from these two samples show that in Los Angeles, New York City, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit and Pittsburgh, relatively more people downloaded the latest episode, an indication that customers are turning to unauthorized channels to get the show.</p>
<p>With hundreds of thousands of downloads Under The Dome is one of the most pirated TV-shows at the moment. Of all sampled downloaders in the U.S. 10.9% came from the blackout regions for last week&#8217;s episode, and this increased to 14.6% for Monday&#8217;s episode, a 34% increase. </p>
<p>In New York City, one of the largest affected markets, the relative piracy rate more than doubled from 1.3% of all U.S. downloads last week to 3% for the episode that aired after the blackout. </p>
<p>Worldwide, the latest Under The Dome episode was downloaded slightly more than previous episodes. This means that the relative increase in piracy rates also resulted in more downloads. More tracking is required to show a long-term effect, and whether the results are the same for other CBS shows. </p>
<p>While one should always be careful of drawing strong conclusions from city-based data, especially when we don&#8217;t know how many downloaders are Time Warner Cable subscribers, these initial results do suggest that the blackout resulted in a local piracy surge. </p>
<p>At the same time that piracy spiked, the official ratings took a large hit. On Monday, Under The Dome reached its <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Under_the_Dome_(TV_series)">season low</a> ranking with only 10.49 million viewers compared to 11.41 million the week before. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, Time Warner and CBS are still unable to reach an agreement. Yesterday Time Warner&#8217;s Chief Executive Glenn Britt <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/05/us-timewarner-cbs-letter-idUSBRE9740VH20130805">offered to include</a> CBS as an &#8220;a la carte&#8221; option for its subscribers but CBS dismissed the proposal as &#8220;a sham.&#8221;</p>
<p>As long as this standoff continues it&#8217;s expected that more and more TV fans will turn to unauthorized channels to watch their favorite shows, with the risk that some may never come back.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/cbs-blackout-triggers-surge-in-tv-show-piracy-130807/">CBS Blackout Triggers Surge in TV-Show Piracy</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=JHVA3Q7HG38:CMYYg8w8PUM:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=JHVA3Q7HG38:CMYYg8w8PUM:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=JHVA3Q7HG38:CMYYg8w8PUM:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/JHVA3Q7HG38" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=74964
title: Russia Prepares to Broaden Brand New Anti-Piracy Law
uri: Russia-Prepares-to-Broaden-Brand-New-Anti-Piracy-Law
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/NuzygZXZP8c/
content:
<p><img src="media/83799112.russsopa.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/russsopa.jpg" width="180" height="212" class="alignright" />Last week Russia introduced new legislation aimed at reducing online copyright infringement.</p>
<p>Targeted specifically at the unauthorized distribution of movies and TV shows, the new law allows rightsholders to file official complaints against sites carrying or linking to such content without permission. If sites fail to take down offending items quickly, they face having their domains blocked at the ISP level.</p>
<p>Now, just six days into the new law &#8211; which was rushed through to the dismay of critics &#8211; the Ministry of Culture says it will begin amending the legislation.</p>
<p>A copy of the new draft law titled &#8220;Amendments to Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation in order to stop violations of copyright and related rights on the Internet&#8221; was obtained by <a href="http://izvestia.ru/">Izvestia</a>.</p>
<p>The document reveals that the range of content protected by the current legislation will be extended to include music, photos and other images, plus text-based material. The law was originally meant to cover a wide range of content but was amended at the eleventh hour when it was deemed that only &#8220;high value&#8221; video products should be protected. It appears the government has changed its mind &#8211; again.</p>
<p>Extra requirements will also be placed on those running websites. The amendments state that site owners will be required by law to display their real-world addresses alongside their email addresses on their websites in order to speed up correspondence. They will also be required to incorporate a special form in their sites to streamline the processing of any complaints.</p>
<p>&#8220;This will allow the holder to reduce the time of petition, as well as the time spent searching for an address,&#8221; the Ministry of Culture said in a statement.</p>
<p>Also up for consideration is the way copyright complaints are formatted and issued. These need to be correctly presented by rightsholders because if information is missing, site owners are not required to respond to their copyright complaints.</p>
<p>&#8220;The list of information and the way declarations are made has to be further developed and discussed,&#8221; the Ministry said.</p>
<p>Correctly presented complaints must be actioned within 24 hours to include the removal of the infringing content in question. Users responsible for uploading content must be notified of any complaint and given a chance to appeal to the complainant. To escalate the matter rightsholders may file a complaint with telecoms watchdog Roscomnadzor which could result in a site being blocked at the ISP level.</p>
<p>With the government having failed to react to the concerns of companies such as Google and local search engine Yandex before the current legislation was passed, a second chance is now available for them to present their own amendments. A hearing on the bill will go ahead on Friday.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/russia-prepares-to-broaden-brand-new-anti-piracy-law-130807/">Russia Prepares to Broaden Brand New Anti-Piracy Law</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=NuzygZXZP8c:kGXQsFD3ODw:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=NuzygZXZP8c:kGXQsFD3ODw:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=NuzygZXZP8c:kGXQsFD3ODw:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/NuzygZXZP8c" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=74929
title: KickassTorrents KA.TT Domain Nuked on Copyright Grounds
uri: KickassTorrents-KA-TT-Domain-Nuked-on-Copyright-Grounds
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/KgvOo4H968c/
content:
<p><img src="media/6df39282.kickass.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/kickass.jpg" width="205" height="143" class="alignright" />While domain name seizures have taken a back seat to the ISP filtering blockades currently in vogue, two of the biggest torrent sites have lost domains this year.</p>
<p>The Pirate Bay lost control of its <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-finds-safe-haven-in-iceland-switches-to-is-domain-130425/">Greenland domain</a> in April, and its Swedish domain is currently tied up in ongoing <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-domain-registrar-assists-copyright-infringement-prosecutor-claims-130516/">legal action</a>.</p>
<p>And in a surprise move late March, KickassTorrents left its KAT.PH domain behind and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/kickasstorrents-circumvents-censors-with-new-ka-tt-domain-130329/">switched over to KA.TT</a>, a domain administered by Trinidad and Tobago. Ostensibly the move was designed to beat court-ordered ISP filters in the UK and Italy, but it quickly fell apart.</p>
<p>Within hours KickassTorrents had dumped the KA.TT domain and gone back to KAT.PH &#8220;due to technical issues&#8221;, but now several months later the precise reason has been revealed.</p>
<p>According to Patrick Hosein who administers the <a href="https://www.nic.tt/">.TT TLD</a>, an individual called Mr Schultz obtained the KA.TT domain for use with the KickassTorrents site.</p>
<p>&#8220;Mr. Schultz did apply for and receive KA.TT,&#8221; Hosein told TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>Hosein says he pointed Schultz to the .TT <a href="https://www.nic.tt/rules.shtml">terms and conditions</a> which state that the registry abides by &#8216;International copyright rules&#8217;. Clearly this became a problem.</p>
<p>&#8220;Once it was determined that [the domain] would be used for the KickassTorrent site we told them that this would violate our policies and they stopped,&#8221; Hosein adds.</p>
<p>The domain was subsequently deactivated by .TT.</p>
<p>Perhaps surprisingly, Hosein also supplied TorrentFreak with the full name, address and telephone number of the person who purchased the domain, although whether that information is accurate is open to question.</p>
<p><a href="http://guardian.co.tt/lifestyle/2013-08-05/torrent-piracy">Comments</a> made by Hosein to local media surrounding the KAT.PH episode also raise some interesting questions.</p>
<p>“The .ph registry (Phillipines domain) had to seize kat.ph because of legal action taken against them by the music industry. I did not believe that .tt should get involved in similar actions,” he said.</p>
<p>From a timeline point of view this is a curious statement. KickassTorrent&#8217;s KA.TT domain was shut down by Hosein&#8217;s .TT registry during March 2013 when the KAT.PH domain was still operating. The KAT.PH domain wasn&#8217;t seized by the Philippines until <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/kickasstorrents-domain-seized-after-music-industry-complaint-130614/">mid June</a>, so unless Hosein was already privvy to inside information on the legal case, he couldn&#8217;t have known that seizure was going to happen.</p>
<p>While Kickass has since regained control over its KAT.PH domain, legal action <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/kickasstorrents-regains-control-over-kat-ph-legal-case-continues-130619/">continues</a>. The outcome is probably a moot point though since the site is now operating under the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/kat-ph-goes-down-following-domain-issues-switches-to-kickass-to-130613/">Kickass.to domain</a>.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/kickasstorrents-ka-tt-domain-nuked-on-copyright-grounds-130806/">KickassTorrents KA.TT Domain Nuked on Copyright Grounds</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=KgvOo4H968c:28aXkBI4dCA:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=KgvOo4H968c:28aXkBI4dCA:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=KgvOo4H968c:28aXkBI4dCA:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/KgvOo4H968c" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=74910
title: DMCA Notices to Search Engines Won’t Mitigate Piracy, Tech Giants Say
uri: DMCA-Notices-to-Search-Engines-Won-t-Mitigate-Piracy-Tech-Giants-Sa
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Zq4-akg-hg0/
content:
<p><img src="media/41b54e5e.msfacebook.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/msfacebook.png" width="200" height="171" class="alignright" />One of the hottest piracy-related topics in recent times is the role search engines play in the discovery of unauthorized copyrighted material.</p>
<p>Rightsholders in their thousands have already sent Google more than <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/google-removed-100-million-pirate-search-results-this-year-130725/">100 million</a> DMCA takedown notices this year in the belief that removing search engine listings will go a long way towards making illicit content harder to find. But is that really the case?</p>
<p>According to a new research paper titled &#8216;The Search Fixation: Infringement, Search Results, and Online Content&#8217;, the emphasis rightsholders are placing on censoring search engine results is actually achieving very little and those valuable resources might be better off spent elsewhere.</p>
<p>The paper, published by the Computer &#038; Communications Industry Association (<a href="http://torrentfreak.com/tough-copyright-laws-chill-innovation-tech-companies-warn-lawmakers-130727/">CCIA</a>) which counts Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Facebook among its members, says that entertainment industry companies have become &#8220;fixated&#8221; on the role search engines play in unearthing illicit content. The focus is so great there was even an attempt to legislate site censorship via the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act.</p>
<p>&#8220;This might lead to the conclusion that search engines are a prominent tool in the infringers&#8217; tool box. In fact, available evidence suggests that search is not a particularly relevant tool for infringers seeking to find sites (such as The Pirate Bay) or for sites to find users,&#8221; the report states.</p>
<p>The CCIA cites research from BAE Systems Detica which found that users are far more likely to return to infringing sites via a direct browser entry or via social networks. Furthermore, it appears that users looking for illicit material already know where they want to obtain it from even before they start searching.</p>
<p>&#8220;As of August 2013, over 20% of queries that result in traffic being directed to the Pirate Bay consist of words compromising the Pirate Bay&#8217;s domain name. This suggests that users are quite aware of their intended destination before they arrive at a search engine, and that any facilitation was minimal,&#8221; CCIA explain.</p>
<p>When <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/riaa-google-fails-to-punish-pirate-sites-in-search-results-130221/">criticizing Google</a> over its search results the RIAA has previously noted that searches including the terms &#8220;download,&#8221; &#8220;mp3,&#8221; or &#8220;torrent&#8221; often turn up links to infringing content.<br />
However, in their report the CCIA says that such searches are infrequent when compared to straightforward lookups on artist names, which are actually more likely to turn up links to authorized content. So why not improve the usefulness of those?</p>
<p>&#8220;The fixation on demoting responsive but undesirable search results overlooks a more viable strategy: promoting desirable search results,&#8221; the paper notes.</p>
<p>CCIA suggests that if the entertainment industry wants their content to appear in search results when users type in &#8220;objectionable&#8221; terms such as those listed above, then they will have to start using them on pages offering legal content. Noting that legitimate sites aren&#8217;t currently employing such a strategy, the CCIA comes to two conclusions.</p>
<p>&#8220;This suggests either (a) a deficiency in otherwise robust online marketing strategies, or (b) that these terms are judged to be unworthy of optimizing because they will drive a trivial amount of commercial traffic.</p>
<p>&#8220;Stated otherwise: if search terms such as &#8216;mp3&#8242; and &#8216;download&#8217; were likely to lead to sales or subscriptions, a rational, profit-minded online platform engaging in basic search engine optimization (SEO) would attempt to incorporate those terms in site content.&#8221;</p>
<p>The CCIA <a href="media/b74db444.CCIA_TheSearchFixation202.pdf" data-original-source="http://www.ccianet.org/CCIA/files/ccLibraryFiles/Filename/000000000821/CCIA_TheSearchFixation%20(2).pdf">concludes</a> by noting that while DMCA notices might be a useful tool, they are unlikely to achieve the desired result of substantially reducing piracy. Concentrating on improving the visibility of legitimate content, even if that means utilizing &#8220;objectionable&#8221; terms, would be a more robust strategy.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/dmca-notices-to-search-engines-wont-mitigate-piracy-tech-giants-say-130806/">DMCA Notices to Search Engines Won&#8217;t Mitigate Piracy, Tech Giants Say</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Zq4-akg-hg0:_z7qV1AVi7c:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Zq4-akg-hg0:_z7qV1AVi7c:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=Zq4-akg-hg0:_z7qV1AVi7c:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/Zq4-akg-hg0" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=74884
title: Comcast Wants to Monitor and Convert Pirating Subscribers
uri: Comcast-Wants-to-Monitor-and-Convert-Pirating-Subscribers
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/EJD5B7QbOJY/
content:
<p><img src="media/759cf2e9.comcast.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/comcast.jpg" alt="comcast" width="170" height="60" class="alignright size-full wp-image-53356" />Comcast is set to step up its anti-piracy efforts with a new plan that will point pirating subscribers to legal alternatives.</p>
<p>The U.S. Internet provider is working on a trial of the new technology in collaboration with major movie and TV-studios and is hoping to get other ISPs on board as well, <a href="http://variety.com/2013/digital/news/comcast-developing-anti-piracy-alternative-to-six-strikes-exclusive-1200572790/">Variety</a> reports. </p>
<p>While details are scarce at this point, sources say that the new system will monitor subscriber accounts for unauthorized downloads. When a pirated download is spotted, users will receive a popup notification referring them to legal alternatives.</p>
<p>The legal alternatives could be Comcast&#8217;s own offerings, but also third-party services such as Amazon and Netflix.</p>
<p>There is currently no indication that unauthorized downloads will be stopped, although this is a possibility. Just last month we reported <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/prism-for-pirates-att-invents-the-ultimate-anti-piracy-system-130713/">on a patent</a> obtained by AT&#038;T which would allow for such an elaborate anti-piracy system. </p>
<p>An alternative option would be for a third-party company to monitor unauthorized downloads. This is possible and would not require active monitoring from the Internet provider. However, this would mean that the new plan can only target peer-to-peer networks and not central file-hosting sites or streaming services.</p>
<p>If Comcast goes for the latter then the new plan will be an extension of the six-strikes anti-piracy system that <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/six-strikes-anti-piracy-scheme-starts-130225/">launched in February</a>. The six-strikes scheme, a collaboration between the MPAA, RIAA and five major Internet providers, sends alerts to subscribers who are caught sharing copyrighted works online and ultimately punishes repeat offenders. </p>
<p>The new &#8220;pirate conversion&#8221; scheme will not replace the current six-strikes system, which recently <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/u-s-copyright-czar-applauds-six-strikes-warns-over-3d-printing-piracy-130620/">received praise</a> from the Obama administration.</p>
<p>The idea of referring &#8220;pirates&#8221; to legitimate content is not new. Several file-hosting services, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mediafire-swaps-pirate-links-for-buy-now-button-130202/">including Mediafire</a>, are already scanning the publicly shared files of their users to replace them with &#8220;buy now&#8221; links when they are distributed without permission.</p>
<p>The news of Comcast&#8217;s plan nevertheless comes as surprise for multiple reasons. For one, TorrentFreak has learned from sources close to the Copyright Alert System that Internet providers have become very reluctant to engage in anti-piracy measures following the SOPA revolt last year. This was one of the main reason why the six-strikes plan was delayed for more than a year. </p>
<p>Secondly, during a time where the public is growing increasingly skeptical of online surveillance, the new anti-piracy plan is bound to result in a healthy backlash. That said, there is also a lot to gain for Comcast, which owns NBC Universal and is one of the largest cable television providers. </p>
<p>If Comcast goes ahead with these plans it will be interesting to see who else will participate and how the technology will work. TorrentFreak has sent out some inquiries to learn more about Comcast&#8217;s plans and we hope to provide an update in due course.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/comcast-wants-to-monitor-and-convert-pirating-subscribers-130805/">Comcast Wants to Monitor and Convert Pirating Subscribers</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=EJD5B7QbOJY:Wfz5n4TxXK8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=EJD5B7QbOJY:Wfz5n4TxXK8:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=EJD5B7QbOJY:Wfz5n4TxXK8:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/EJD5B7QbOJY" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=74866
title: Pirates Form Church to Battle Copyright Law That Insults Their Beliefs
uri: Pirates-Form-Church-to-Battle-Copyright-Law-That-Insults-Their-Beliefs
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/d_6I3oGmGw8/
content:
<p><img src="media/c89397cc.copy-wedding.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/copy-wedding.jpg" width="250" height="167" class="alignright" />Last week Russia introduced its brand new anti-piracy law that will see sites blocked at the ISP level if they fail to respond swiftly to copyright complaints.</p>
<p>The law, which critics say is overbroad and likely to cause collateral damage, is opposed by big companies such as Google, local search engine Yandex, Internet resources such as Wikipedia and thousands of website operators and users.</p>
<p>But just as protests including <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/russias-anti-piracy-law-triggers-blackouts-and-protests-130720/">last week&#8217;s blackout</a> by 1,700 sites subside, a more unconventional front is opening up.</p>
<p>Later today pirate activists in five regions &#8211; Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan and Khabarovsk &#8211; will submit documents to begin the process of having their church officially recognized by the authorities.</p>
<p>If that all goes to plan in a few years time Russia will have its own Church Kopimizma, but for the faithful there are important issues to be dealt with right now.</p>
<p>As soon as the papers are filed the church&#8217;s founders will file a lawsuit against the anti-piracy legislation that came into force August 1. They will do this on the basis that the law, which restricts copying and sharing, is an insult to Kopimists.</p>
<p>But <a href="http://izvestia.ru/news/554812">according</a> to lawyer Victor Naumov, separation of religion and state in Russia means that it&#8217;s unlikely that the complaint will achieve much, although an appeal could be made to the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, the movement&#8217;s early followers are already showing commitment. Izvestia reports that a Kopimist-inspired wedding between Olga Koroleva and Vladislav Petrushenka took place yesterday but instead of the traditional exchange of rings, the pair exchanged microchips which they plan to have embedded in their bodies.</p>
<p>However, Church Kopimizma announced on Facebook that the pirate wedding was actually the outcome of a collaboration between Pastafarians and the Russian Pirate Church. </p>
<p>The new Russian Kopimist church will closely follow the values pioneered by Sweden&#8217;s Church of Kopimism, a religion that was <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/file-sharing-church-weds-first-couple-120507/">formally recognized</a> by the authorities there in 2012.</p>
<p>This means that it&#8217;s likely that CTRL+C and CTRL+V will likely be held as sacred symbols, and the acts of sharing and copying will be viewed as the most beautiful things in the world. The church also believes that the value of information increases the more it&#8217;s spread and that while confidentiality is sacred, listening in to other people&#8217;s conversations is the greatest sin.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirates-form-church-to-battle-copyright-law-that-insults-their-beliefs-130805/">Pirates Form Church to Battle Copyright Law That Insults Their Beliefs</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=d_6I3oGmGw8:Z37nc-KmI3Y:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=d_6I3oGmGw8:Z37nc-KmI3Y:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=d_6I3oGmGw8:Z37nc-KmI3Y:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/d_6I3oGmGw8" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=74822
title: Details On Upcoming Police Torrent Site Crackdown Revealed
uri: Details-On-Upcoming-Police-Torrent-Site-Crackdown-Revealed
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Sq1tmUxuJBU/
content:
<p><img src="media/31176dbb.cityoflondonpolice.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cityoflondonpolice.jpg" width="200" height="82" class="alignright" />Early June, City of London Police <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/uk-police-launch-campaign-to-shut-down-torrent-sites-130604/">informed</a> TorrentFreak that they had begun targeting sites that provide access to unauthorized content for “criminal gain.&#8221;</p>
<p>The ongoing initiative is part of a collaboration with Hollywood studios represented by the Federation Against Copyright Theft and the major recording labels of the BPI. Many torrent sites received letters in which they were warned they were breaking the law. Shutting down, the letters implied, would be the safest course of action.</p>
<p>&#8220;We have grounds to suspect that as owners and/or operators of the XXXXX website, you are committing the offense of communication to the public under s.107(2A) of the Copyright, Designs &#038; Patents Act 1988 (“CDPA”). Section 107(2A) is an indictable offence punishable by up to two years’ imprisonment,” the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau warned.</p>
<p>At the end of June the UK government <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/uk-government-announces-new-intellectual-property-crime-unit-130628/">announced</a> the formation of a new intellectual property crime unit to launch in September with £2.5 of public funding. It then became clear that the new unit at City of London Police and the threats to torrent sites were closely connected.</p>
<p>To our knowledge only a couple of sites have actually shut down after receiving a police letter. Admins of other sites discussed the threats with TorrentFreak on condition of anonymity but we get the impression that for them it will be business as usual next month.</p>
<p>The Intellectual Property Crime Unit issued threats to sites not just in the UK but all over the world and it&#8217;s expected that they will coordinate with organizations such as Europol and Interpol to an attempt to shut them down.</p>
<p>Of course, the police won&#8217;t be initiating these actions on their own. They are working closely with record labels and movie studios who are providing the initial guidance and intelligence. While this is nothing particularly new, it seems that the new unit could be the missing link on information sharing absent for almost a decade.</p>
<p>&#8220;The introduction of a specialist team in the City of London police to deal with online IP crime provides the focus to deliver the information sharing first envisaged in the Enterprise Act 2002,&#8221; intellectual property law litigator Iain Connor told UK law firm <a href="http://www.out-law.com/en/articles/2013/august/information-sharing-with-new-ip-crime-police-unit-can-help-rights-holders-obtain-redress-for-infringements-says-expert/">Pinsent Masons</a>. </p>
<p>Up until 2002, law enforcement agencies had limited ability to share information for use in civil cases, Connor says, but even since then copyright cases have not been a police priority. He points out that the prosecution of SurfTheChannel admin Anton Vickerman was a private prosecution brought by the studios, but that dynamic will change with the introduction of the new unit.</p>
<p>&#8220;The new IP crime unit provides rights holders with the opportunity to refer intelligence on criminal activity to the authorities safe in the knowledge that action will be taken and that when a prosecution is secured, that prosecution can be used to obtain financial recovery through the civil courts,&#8221; Connor said.</p>
<p>Previously, private organizations like FACT have been accused of acting like the police, even though they have no formal official powers. It seems likely that with the advent of the new unit in September, FACT and the BPI will be able to call on the police to carry out actions on their behalf, almost as if they were an extension of their own organizations.</p>
<p>Earlier legal analysis on the threats to torrent sites is available <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/uk-police-torrent-site-threats-explained-130614/">here</a>.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/details-on-upcoming-police-torrent-site-crackdown-revealed-130805/">Details On Upcoming Police Torrent Site Crackdown Revealed</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Sq1tmUxuJBU:OSDdYY8rE4M:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Sq1tmUxuJBU:OSDdYY8rE4M:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=Sq1tmUxuJBU:OSDdYY8rE4M:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/Sq1tmUxuJBU" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=74847
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week
uri: 2013-08-21-Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/YNrh2yia-rY/
content:
<p><img src="media/92cc416e.oblivion.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/oblivion.jpg" alt="oblivion" width="275" height="196" class="alignright size-full wp-image-74534" />This week we have four newcomers in our chart. </p>
<p>Oblivion is the most downloaded movie for the second week in a row. </p>
<p>The data for our weekly download chart is collected 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" summary="Most downloaded movies on BitTorrent">
<caption>Week ending August 4, 2013</caption>
<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-130722/">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>
<tr>
<td><strong>1</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/oblivion_2013/">Oblivion</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1483013/">7.1</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmIIgE7eSak">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_big_wedding_2013/">The Big Wedding</a> (TS) </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1931435/">5.2</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnD2EacXk0E">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_conjuring/">The Conjuring</a> (Webrip) </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1457767/">7.9</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k10ETZ41q5o">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/grown_ups_2/">Grown Ups 2</a> (TS) </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2191701/">4.9</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhOWtVElqfw">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/despicable_me_2/">Despicable Me 2</a> (TS)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1690953/">7.9</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwXbtZXjbVE">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/byzantium_2012/">Byzantium</a> (Webrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1531901/">6.8</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zu2cW7AhO8">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_colony_2013/">The Colony</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1160996/">5.2</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZENI7UC3WQo">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gi_joe_retaliation/">G.I. Joe: Retaliation</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1583421/?">6.1</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSX2oxLdcWA">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(8)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fast_and_furious_6/">Fast and Furious 6</a> (Webrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1905041/">7.7</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61UqRmDjwgc">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_wolverine_2012/">The Wolverine</a> (CAM)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1430132/">7.2</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh1LdTFkm7I">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-movies-of-the-week-130805/">Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=YNrh2yia-rY:FCmfdadzhQ0:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=YNrh2yia-rY:FCmfdadzhQ0:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=YNrh2yia-rY:FCmfdadzhQ0:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/YNrh2yia-rY" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=74855
title: A Tipping Point Against The Copyright Monopoly Regime Is A Lot Closer Than You Think
uri: A-Tipping-Point-Against-The-Copyright-Monopoly-Regime-Is-A-Lot-Closer
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/5cexFZarKuM/
content:
<p>The key to changing the world&#8217;s copyright monopoly regime lies in Europe and the European Union. The reason for that is that the United States is completely dependent on a number of Industrial Protectionism (IP) schemes since the failure of its industrial capacity in the mid-1970s, having moved ahead from that failure with disguising lopsided rent-seeking schemes as &#8220;free trade agreements&#8221;. The first of these was the WTO, the body created to oversee the TRIPs agreement. There have been many more since. You cannot change the United States from within on these matters.</p>
<p>Externally, the United States puts significant unilateral pressure on any country that doesn&#8217;t submit to these agreements, up to and including trade sanctions. (You will not have a hard time finding a case where the United States has threatened a country with trade sanctions or visa problems for having a too lax copyright monopoly regime, for example &#8211; the U.S. even does this on a regular basis in something named the &#8220;Special 301 Report&#8221;.) That&#8217;s why Europe is key to change.</p>
<p>Europe has the world&#8217;s largest economy, slightly larger than that of the United States. (China is in third place.) For trade sanctions to be effective, they have to be directed against a smaller player. This is why the United States can have effective trade sanctions against Cuba, but not the other way around. Therefore, the United States cannot execute trade sanctions against Europe without getting hurt more itself.</p>
<p>However, the laws and enforcement of the copyright monopolies, patent monopolies and other protectionism schemes are at the national level in the European Union. That means that a state in Europe <strong>can</strong> change its laws significantly, and still enjoy the shield against trade sanctions that comes with being a member of the European Union. (The country may get some heat within the EU, but that&#8217;s not going to have any consequences if there is political momentum in the direction of the change. EU rules are routinely ignored when politically inconvenient.)</p>
<p>So Sweden could change its copyright monopoly laws and be free to ignore the rattling of American sabers, knowing safely that the threats cannot be put into effect. So could Poland or Germany, if there was political will. But Sweden is not a very interesting country in terms of political clout. It was just meant to be the proof of concept; the important first stage.</p>
<p>Remember: Sweden, Europe, and the world. In that order.</p>
<p>(As a side note, countries in Latin America also have a politically expedient climate for this change and the gradual dismantling of Industrial Protectionism schemes, but lack the necessary shield from an economic union, and even so, their combined economy is roughly half of that of the US or the EU &#8211; not enough on its own.)</p>
<p>On June 7, 2009, the proof of concept materialized as the Swedish Pirate Party took two out of Sweden&#8217;s twenty seats in the European Parliament. That sent shockwaves through the political establishment. I thought that this would be the signal for Pirate Parties to form in more countries, seeing that success was achievable; that was actually wrong. There were already Pirate Parties in some fifty different countries by that date. Things had moved much faster than I had anticipated.</p>
<p>To see why Europe is the next step, we need to understand the political dynamics of the Industrial Protectionism supporters (copyright monopoly and patent monopoly rooters). These schemes have essentially been forced onto Eastern Europe by the countries in the west of Europe &#8211; notably the UK, France, and Germany. But tides are changing. In the European Parliament, there is now an estimated one-half still in favor of monopolistic protectionism, one-third sceptical or against it, and one-sixth undecided. Shift that balance by more than a sixth, and the protectionist dismantlers will get political majority.</p>
<p>But there&#8217;s more than just the European Parliament. Europe is run in many different ways in parallel, and I mentioned the UK, France, and Germany. It is enough to win one of those three countries to tip the political majority in Europe toward the line of the countries in Eastern Europe: the political line exposing copyright monopolies and patent monopolies of today for lopsided rent-seeking schemes that are generally bad for everybody with the possible exception of the United States.</p>
<p>Let&#8217;s take a closer look at Germany. The Pirate Party there has enjoyed quite a bit of success, but has come tumbling back down to a more baseline level of support after failing to live up to extreme amounts of hype around the party. If it manages to get a kingmaker position in the German Parliament, it has the power to shift Germany&#8217;s stance completely on these matters (and the other parties would gladly give up such a peripheral issue &#8211; peripheral to them, anyway &#8211; in exchange for the Office of Chancellor).</p>
<p>To do this, the German Piratenpartei needs 5% in the elections on September 22 of this year. If that happens, and the kingmaker move succeeds, then there will be a majority in Europe against copyright monopolies and patent monopolies.</p>
<p><strong>The German Piratenpartei is currently polling at 3%-4%.</strong></p>
<p>Just another small nudge forward for the German Piratenpartei, and Germany is won. The instant Germany is won, Europe is won.</p>
<p>And the day that Europe decides that it is not going to honor protectionistic monopolies, then that&#8217;s just the way it is. The day the world&#8217;s largest economy (Europe) decides that copyright monopolies are bullshit, they will practically cease to exist overnight elsewhere, too. The same goes for any gradual dismantling.</p>
<p><strong>In other words, we are ridiculously close to a tipping point which will end this destructive war on information, knowledge, and culture. We are ridiculously close to a tipping point which will start dismantling the atrocious copyright and patent monopolies, worldwide. Specifically, we are about 1.5% of political support in Germany away from that tipping point.</strong></p>
<p>The plan was to win Sweden, Europe, and the world. In that order. And it&#8217;s executing brilliantly.</p>
<div style="border:2px solid #3F3F3F;width:521px;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>
<div style="float:right;position:relative;top:-12px">
<p><small>Book Falkvinge <a href="http://falkvinge.net/keynotes/">as speaker</a>?</small></p>
</div>
<p><a href="http://twitter.com/Falkvinge" class="twitter-follow-button">Follow @Falkvinge</a></p>
</div>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/a-tipping-point-against-the-copyright-monopoly-regime-is-a-lot-closer-than-you-think-130804/">A Tipping Point Against The Copyright Monopoly Regime Is A Lot Closer Than You Think</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=5cexFZarKuM:95fewGW7fpI:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=5cexFZarKuM:95fewGW7fpI:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=5cexFZarKuM:95fewGW7fpI:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/5cexFZarKuM" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=74174
title: MPAA Recruits ‘Internet Analyst’ to Spy on Social Networks and Forums
uri: MPAA-Recruits-Internet-Analyst-to-Spy-on-Social-Networks-and-For
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/4af_FWyRLUA/
content:
<p><img src="media/394b6768.mpaa-logo1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mpaa-logo1.jpg" align="right" alt="mpaa" />With roughly 200 employees the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is a thorn in the side of Internet pirates all over the world. </p>
<p>The group has been credited as the main instigator of the Megaupload shutdown and is on a crusade to do the same to BitTorrent search engine isoHunt and file-hosting service Hotfile. </p>
<p>While the MPAA has scored several successes in the past, the war against online piracy is far from over. Every day new threats arise and keeping an eye on the latest developments is a day job, quite literally. </p>
<p>The movie industry group is currently recruiting fresh blood and has several open positions. The one of &#8216;<a href="https://home.eease.adp.com/recruit2/?id=5928451&#038;t=2">Internet Analyst</a>&#8216; stood out to us the most, as it reveals a bit more about what the MPAA is up to behind the scenes.</p>
<p>The position of Internet Analyst is a crucial one in the MPAA organization. The person hired for the job will work under the supervision of Senior Vice President Content Protection Internet Marc Miller, and will be tasked with spotting and analyzing the latest piracy trends. </p>
<p>This also includes a bit of online spying on social media and other online communities. One of the key responsibilities in this position, according to the job offering, is to &#8220;monitor and report on Internet based social networks, communities and forums.&#8221;</p>
<p>In addition the new recruit will have to research how much harm piracy is doing to the movie industry. Or as the job offer puts it, to &#8220;analyze how and at what rate illegal online delivery systems cannibalize legitimate business models.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><img src="media/cff3ff9b.mpaa-job.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mpaa-job.png" alt="mpaa-job" width="543" height="241" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-74816" /></center></p>
<p>To make an accurate assessment of the effects of online piracy, the new recruit will also have to work with major movie studio members, vendors and industry partners to gather and analyze data regarding unauthorized downloads via cyberlockers, BitTorrent and other protocols.</p>
<p>Finally, it is worth noting that the position also requires a particular skill set. Aside from browsing the Internet the analyst should also be able to &#8220;manipulate online media files,&#8221; whatever that may entail.</p>
<p>The MPAA stresses that prospective employees should have a bachelor degree in business, economics, computer science or engineering, digital media production, or the equivalent. No details about the expected salary are provided. </p>
<p>The Internet Analyst position is just one of the <a href="http://mpaa.org/about/careers">many open jobs</a> the MPAA has to offer. There are career opportunities for a wide range of people, including those who are still in school. </p>
<p>The MPAA just added the 2013 summer internship, a <a href="https://home.eease.adp.com/recruit2/?id=5414881&#038;t=1">30-hour a week job without compensation</a>, but with valuable educational training. A summer internship at the MPAA, who wouldn&#8217;t want that?</p>
<p>Should any eligible TorrentFreak readers apply for these exciting positions, please stay in touch afterwards to share your experiences in the world&#8217;s most prestigious anti-piracy offices. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-recruits-internet-analyst-to-spy-on-social-networks-and-forums-130804/">MPAA Recruits &#8216;Internet Analyst&#8217; to Spy on Social Networks and Forums</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=4af_FWyRLUA:Gr9t8gloFwY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=4af_FWyRLUA:Gr9t8gloFwY:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=4af_FWyRLUA:Gr9t8gloFwY:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/4af_FWyRLUA" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=74759
title: Demonoid Down For One Year: The End?
uri: Demonoid-Down-For-One-Year-The-End
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/lM4gZM9I--s/
content:
<p><img src="media/24f1ba2b.demonoid.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/demonoid.jpg" align="right" alt="demonoid" />August last year the popular BitTorrent tracker Demonoid had its servers <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/demonoid-busted-as-a-gift-to-the-united-states-government-120806/">taken down</a> by Ukrainian hosting company Colocall.</p>
<p>Local authorities explained that Interpol had requested the action as part of a criminal investigation into the site’s alleged owners in Mexico. </p>
<p>Months earlier Mexican authorities had carried out <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/demonoid-operators-face-criminal-investigation-in-mexico-120807/">raids in Monterrey</a>, the capital city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León. Their prime target was a Demonoid operator, and one person connected to the BitTorrent tracker was subsequently imprisoned <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/demonoid-operator-released-from-jail-case-stalled-130212/">but later released</a>.</p>
<p>While the legal troubles may have played a role in Demonoid&#8217;s continued downtime, the site was already suffering with technical problems at the end of July last year. Talking to TorrentFreak the site&#8217;s admin blamed a <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/demonoid-to-suffer-prolonged-downtime-after-ddos-attack-120727/">DDoS attack</a>. At the time, however, the tech admin of the site was determined to get the site back online. </p>
<p>“You know how it goes with Demonoid. It might take a while but it will come back,” the admin told us. </p>
<p><center><img src="media/c3317a73.demonoid-down.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/demonoid-down.jpg" alt="demonoid" /></center></p>
<p>But in the year that followed the Demonoid team kept their trademark silence. The last official update we received dates back to September last year when hopes for a quick resurrection were tempered. At the time, Demonoid&#8217;s tech admin told us that the site might not come back soon.</p>
<p>“We are down, and we’re not looking into putting the site back up at the moment,” the admin said. </p>
<p>And he was right.</p>
<p>Of course there are still many who believe the site may eventually return. The hopes of these Demonoid users was fueled in November when the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/demonoid-is-back-bittorrent-tracker-is-now-online-121112/">tracker briefly returned</a>, as well as by a follow-up switch to a <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/demonoid-shows-sign-of-life-on-new-hk-domain-130107/">new .HK domain</a>. But this short-lived excitement wasn&#8217;t followed up by anything concrete. </p>
<p>Still, the Demonoid &#8220;spirit&#8221; is still very much alive and touching many people who miss it dearly. Over the past months we have seen the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/new-demonoid-fools-public-with-cheap-copy130316/">rise of imposters</a> and a <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-blessing-propels-new-bittorrent-tracker-to-great-heights-130525/">standalone tracker</a> inspired by Demonoid. The closest to a true resurrection is the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/demonoid-resurrected-an-interview-with-the-admins-of-d2-vu-130509/">mysterious D2.vu site</a>, which launched using a copy of the Demonoid user and torrent database. </p>
<p>However, none of these sites has come close to the millions of active users Demonoid had before it collapsed. These newer &#8220;alternatives&#8221; simply miss the truly unique community and collection of fresh and rare content.</p>
<p>Of course there is no shortage of &#8220;pirate&#8221; sites on the Internet, but many users saw Demonoid as something more than that. </p>
<p>While the music and movie industries would quickly label Demonoid as a piracy haven, for members it was often the go-to place for rare and unique content that was not available elsewhere on the Internet, even through legal channels. In addition, it was also a place where creators were <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/artist-releases-album-exclusively-on-demonoid-080607/">happy to share their work</a>. </p>
<p>However, we have now come to a point where we are tempted to draw a sad conclusion for the &#8220;comeback kid.&#8221; </p>
<p>After a year of Demonoid downtime, which is double the 2007/2008 downtime record of six months, it is very unlikely that the famous tracker will ever return to its former glory. Never say never, but even those who are optimistic by nature have to agree that Demonoid&#8217;s future is looking grimmer than ever before.</p>
<p>The end?</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/demonoid-down-for-one-year-the-end-130803/">Demonoid Down For One Year: The End?</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=lM4gZM9I--s:gKcWYrMfp9s:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=lM4gZM9I--s:gKcWYrMfp9s:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=lM4gZM9I--s:gKcWYrMfp9s:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/lM4gZM9I--s" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=74782
title: Russian ‘SOPA’ Anti-Piracy Body Under Investigation For Software Piracy
uri: Russian-SOPA-Anti-Piracy-Body-Under-Investigation-For-Software-P
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/8Wqp3Tiqwcs/
content:
<p><img src="media/b4f20436.microsoft-pirate.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/microsoft-pirate.png" alt="microsoft-pirate" width="225" height="137" class="alignright size-full wp-image-51663" />The introduction this week of Russia&#8217;s new anti-piracy law was greeted by rightsholders in the movie and TV show industry but few others had reason to celebrate. </p>
<p>Internet users and website owners large and small are concerned by the law&#8217;s provisions and music and other rightsholders aren&#8217;t yet protected by the legislation.</p>
<p>The first target was social-networking giant vKontakte, who were <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/court-rejects-first-russian-sopa-lawsuit-target-offers-snowden-a-job-130802/">reported</a> to the courts by an art-house movie distributor as soon as the law went live. However, the company failed to provide the correct documents to prove that they own the movies in question and the case was rejected.</p>
<p>And now, just two days into the scheme, there is controversy surrounding the government body charged with the law&#8217;s implementation.</p>
<p>Among other tasks the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roscomnadzor) will maintain a piracy site blacklist which was launched yesterday along with the new anti-piracy law. However, Roscomnadzor has now been forced to acknowledge that the watchdog itself may not be entirely innocent when it comes to copyright infringement.</p>
<p>The problems date back to July 9, 2013 when a technology audit at Roscomnadzor offices led officers from the Economic Crime unit and the Interior Ministry to seize five computers suspected of containing unlicensed software. </p>
<p>According to preliminary information from local law enforcement agencies, two of the seized computers contained unlicensed copies of Photoshop but apparently the problems don&#8217;t stop there as unlicensed software from Microsoft, Corel and Autodesk was also found.</p>
<p>&#8220;Further investigation carried out by the management has shown that [the software] was installed several years ago by employees who do not work as management. Currently the option of self-installation of software is excluded,&#8221; Roskomnadzor <a href="http://news.mail.ru/politics/14170596/">said</a> in a statement.</p>
<p>Speaking with CNews, lawyer Natalia Kalin who works protecting the rights of Adobe in Russia, <a href="http://www.cnews.ru/top/2013/08/02/policiya_nashla_piratskoe_po_na_kompyuterah_roskomnadzora_537687">said</a> that if it&#8217;s decided that the damages caused by the unlicensed software exceeds 100,000 rubles ($3,020), those responsible could be held criminally liable and face up to two years in prison.</p>
<p>Roskomnadzor notes, however, that it is yet to receive official confirmation that it used unlicensed software but once that arrives it will remedy the violations and punish those responsible.</p>
<p>The news that the agency tasked with administering Russia&#8217;s anti-piracy law is itself guilty of piracy will be particularly unwelcome, so expect the authorities to live up to their promise of holding people accountable.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/russian-sopa-anti-piracy-body-under-investigation-for-software-piracy-130803/">Russian &#8216;SOPA&#8217; Anti-Piracy Body Under Investigation For Software Piracy</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=8Wqp3Tiqwcs:fQotTxDrQoU:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=8Wqp3Tiqwcs:fQotTxDrQoU:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=8Wqp3Tiqwcs:fQotTxDrQoU:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/8Wqp3Tiqwcs" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=74567
title: 2,919 Movie Pirates Walk Free as BitTorrent Trolling Scheme Falls Apart
uri: 2-919-Movie-Pirates-Walk-Free-as-BitTorrent-Trolling-Scheme-Falls-Apar
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/TzCtQL4H4u8/
content:
<p><img src="media/cf607559.fallapart.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/fallapart.jpg" align="right" alt="falls apart" />Over the past several years we’ve covered dozens of &#8216;troll&#8217; lawsuits against hundreds of thousands of alleged copyright infringers.</p>
<p>While many cases have been dismissed in the past, the one we&#8217;re reporting on today is quite special. </p>
<p>It started back in March when a lawsuit filed by the Swiss company <a href="http://www.contrapiracy.com/">Contra Piracy</a> targeted individuals said to have downloaded and shared the <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1606390/">50 Cent movie All Things Fall Apart</a>.</p>
<p>Contra Piracy, a claimed non-profit group, said they had monitored 2,919 individuals infringing the movie on more than 280,000 occasions. In order to stop these infringements they said they would need the identities of file-sharers from ISPs.</p>
<p>The Swiss firm didn&#8217;t hide the fact that they were nothing to do with the making of the film and they also admitted not being involved with traditional movie distribution channels. Instead, they licensed &#8220;BitTorrent distribution&#8221; and &#8220;enforcement&#8221; rights from Los Angeles-based Hannibal Pictures.</p>
<p>Confronted with the case, Chief Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Laporte wondered whether Contra Piracy actually had the rights to pursue this case in court. In one of her orders she noted that a “bare right to sue” for copyright infringement isn&#8217;t enough to allow the case to proceed. </p>
<p>Responding to this comment Contract Piracy handed over the <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/153534327/Contra-Agreement">rights agreements</a> it had with Hannibal Pictures. <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/we-need-to-kill-piracy-to-make-bittorrent-distribution-viable-trolls-claim-130712/">The company argued</a> that since they licensed the &#8220;BitTorrent distribution&#8221; rights, they should be allowed to sue. </p>
<p>However, Judge Laporte disagreed and in an order last week she <a href="media/15506f02.contra.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/contra.pdf">dismissed the case</a> with prejudice, concluding that Contra Piracy lacks jurisdiction. According to the Judge, Contra Piracy&#8217;s only intention is to obtain quick settlements, which means they lack the legal rights to pursue a copyright-related action.</p>
<p>In her order Laporte mentions that when Contra Piracy was asked what options they had to commercially exploit the BitTorrent distribution rights, the company admitted that they had very few, and that they were not actively involved in any.  </p>
<p>&#8220;Plaintiff’s employee acknowledged that there are little [to no options] and did not claim that Plaintiff engaged in any such commercial use,&#8221; she notes.  </p>
<p>In addition, the Judge said that the agreement between Contra Piracy and Hannibal Pictures only talks about divvying up the revenue from out-of-court settlements. No legal venues were discussed, and Contra Piracy further admitted that copyright enforcement was central to its business model.</p>
<p>&#8220;Plaintiff acknowledges that it is in the business of providing counter-piracy services to copyright owners by accepting assignments of copyrights and suing to enforce these copyrights,&#8221; Judge Laporte writes in her order.   </p>
<p>Finally, the agreement also makes it clear that Contra Piracy does not intend to take any cases to trial, but that they just want to obtain the personal details of the alleged BitTorrent pirates so they can demand quick cash settlements. </p>
<p>&#8220;The agreements are noticeably devoid of any provision for the disposition of any revenues that could be obtained from verdicts or court orders of fees or costs upon success in court, suggesting a business model of using the information obtained from early discovery into the identities of individual defendants to negotiate quick settlements under the threat of embarrassing and expensive litigation without actually litigating claims on their merits,&#8221; the Judge explains. </p>
<p>The above leads to the conclusion that Contra Piracy only has a “bare right to sue,” which is not enough to pursue people for alleged copyright infringement. &#8220;The case is dismissed with prejudice,&#8221; Laporte concludes. </p>
<p>And so <em>All Things Fall Apart</em> for Contra Piracy. </p>
<p>To our knowledge this is the first file-sharing related case that has come to a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Righthaven">Righthaven-type</a> conclusion, showing that it&#8217;s worthwhile delving deeper into the licence agreements that are at the basis of these mass-BitTorrent lawsuits.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/2919-movie-pirates-walk-free-as-bittorrent-trolling-scheme-falls-apart-130802/">2,919 Movie Pirates Walk Free as BitTorrent Trolling Scheme Falls Apart</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=TzCtQL4H4u8:tOQBQd7W-rI:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=TzCtQL4H4u8:tOQBQd7W-rI:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=TzCtQL4H4u8:tOQBQd7W-rI:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/TzCtQL4H4u8" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=74760
title: Court Rejects First Russian ‘SOPA’ Lawsuit, Target Offers Snowden a Job
uri: Court-Rejects-First-Russian-SOPA-Lawsuit-Target-Offers-Snowden
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/ORLS1sZZo8c/
content:
<p><img src="media/83799112.russsopa.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/russsopa.jpg" width="180" height="212" class="alignright" />At midnight yesterday a brand new anti-piracy law went into effect in Russia. The legislation, which has been criticized by netizens and companies such as Google and Yandex, was met by a wave of protests.</p>
<p>In total around 1,700 sites and services took part in a SOPA-style &#8216;blackout&#8217; in an effort to show how the law, which allows for pre-trial blocking of websites, could effect the nation.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.roi.ru/poll/petition/gosudarstvennoe_upravlenie1/otmenit-zakon-o-proizvolnyh-blokirovkah-internet-resursov-ot-02072013-187-fz-zakon-protiv-interneta/">A petition</a> against the legislation has also been gathering lots of support. On Tuesday when TorrentFreak spoke with Pirate Party of Russia press secretary Natalia Malysheva, signatures were at 55,000. Today almost 75,000 have made their mark.</p>
<p>The law allows rightsholders to file an official complaint about any sites carrying infringing content or links to the same. Failure to remove that content in a timely manner can lead to entire domains being blocked at the ISP level.</p>
<p>Wasting no time, yesterday a local movie company was first out of the blocks. Distributor Kino Bez Granits (Cinema Without Borders) filed a lawsuit in the Moscow City Court against social networking giant vKontakte.</p>
<p>Company boss Sam Klebanov said the site was carrying copies of five of his movies included titles from Steve McQueen and David Cronenberg. He added that he&#8217;d told vKontakte about the problem two weeks earlier but they failed to respond. Vknotakte denied that version of events.</p>
<p>&#8220;Cinema without Borders turned to VKontakte with the requirement to remove the movies. We provided VKontakte with a list of our films and asked them to take measures to eliminate our content from their portal, otherwise we would use the mechanisms of the new law and go to court, and we did that,&#8221; Klebanov said.</p>
<p>However, everything did not go smoothly.</p>
<p>Along with its complaint, Cinema Without Borders was required to show that the company is the legal owner of the movies in questions. The art-house movie distributor thought that copies of that documentation would suffice, but the court disagreed. The lawsuit was subsequently rejected on the basis of inadequate paperwork.</p>
<p>Vkontakte is yet to comment on developments but has spoken out in the past on the difficulties of policing a site with more than 45 million users, any of whom could upload illegal copies or links to infringing content.</p>
<p><a href="media/e465606a.snowden.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/snowden.jpg"><img src="media/e465606a.snowden.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/snowden.jpg" alt="snowden" width="170" height="191" class="alignright size-full wp-image-74772" /></a>Finally, vKontakte will make headlines today on an entirely different issue. Yesterday National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden was granted temporary asylum in Russia which allowed him to leave Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport.</p>
<p>The papers given to him by the Immigration Service not only allow him to live in Russia but also to work there and if vKontakte have their way, he will be doing that under their guidance.</p>
<p>&#8220;Edward Snowden &#8211; a man who denounced crimes against the citizens of the U.S. by intelligence services around the world &#8211; has received temporary asylum in Russia. At such moments, you feel proud of our country and regret towards U.S. policy &#8211; a country committed to the principles on which it was once built,&#8221; vKontakte founder Pavel Durov said in a statement.</p>
<p>&#8220;We invite Edward to St. Petersburg and will be happy if he decides to join our stellar team of programmers at VKontakte. In the end, there is no more popular European Internet company than VK. I think Edward might be interested in protecting the personal data of millions of our users,&#8221; Durov concludes.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/court-rejects-first-russian-sopa-lawsuit-target-offers-snowden-a-job-130802/">Court Rejects First Russian &#8216;SOPA&#8217; Lawsuit, Target Offers Snowden a Job</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=ORLS1sZZo8c:0LlvvEu4mR0:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=ORLS1sZZo8c:0LlvvEu4mR0:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=ORLS1sZZo8c:0LlvvEu4mR0:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/ORLS1sZZo8c" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=74719
title: BitTorrent Inc. Escapes Disaster as Source Code and Financials Leak
uri: BitTorrent-Inc-Escapes-Disaster-as-Source-Code-and-Financials-Leak
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/3_bZaE1EdQg/
content:
<p><img src="media/a9bb3a8a.explosion.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/explosion.jpg" alt="explosion" width="200" height="127" class="alignright size-full wp-image-74722" />With its uTorrent and BitTorrent mainline clients, BitTorrent Inc caters to more than 150 million monthly users. </p>
<p>Considering the size of this massive userbase, one doesn&#8217;t need a lot of imagination to come up with several disaster scenarios that might unfold should a malicious third-party gain access to all these clients. But that is exactly what could&#8217;ve happened earlier this year if it wasn&#8217;t for &#8220;MentaL&#8221;, an admin at <a href="http://ragezone.com/">RaGEZONE</a>. </p>
<p>This Spring, MentaL was looking for a hosting provider for a friend when he stumbled upon the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenkins_(software)">Jenkins panel</a> of BitTorrent Inc. This turned out to be the gateway to a treasure trove of highly confidential information that could have destroyed the company if it had landed in the wrong hands.</p>
<p>&#8220;They forgot to set a user/pass to the admin panel, that had access to github from a master account. Github accounts had usernames and passwords that were linked to everything,&#8221; MentaL told TorrentFreak.</p>
<h5>BitTorrent&#8217;s Jenkins panel</h5>
<p><img src="media/8490719b.jenkins.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/jenkins.jpg" alt="jenkins" width="559" height="418" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-74736" /></p>
<p>Luckily for BitTorrent Inc, MentaL wasn&#8217;t out to do harm. He contacted the company in May to report his findings and was duly thanked and promised a reward in return. BitTorrent Inc. quickly secured the Jenkins panel but to MentaL&#8217;s surprise no reward was forthcoming.</p>
<p>MentaL says that when he contacted BitTorrent Inc he was treated rudely and was eventually offered a $500 reward for which he should send an invoice. MentaL was insulted by this &#8220;low&#8221; offer and instead of taking it he decided to share his findings with the rest of the world. While he never copied any of the files available through the panel, he did take screenshots which show how severe the &#8220;leak&#8221; was. </p>
<p>Through the open Jenkins panel anyone had access to the heart of the company, including financial details, user accounts and the source code to pretty much all released and unreleased software including uTorrent. </p>
<p>&#8220;Anyone who had the access I had would be able to steal the source code of all BitTorrent products and more,&#8221; MentaL told TorrentFreak. </p>
<p>&#8220;Truth be told, I had access to so much content that I was really unaware of what most of it would and could do! But one extreme scenario that I could have done hypothetically if I was some idiot would be to tweak the actual live build and push an update that could include a virus that would destroy all user content who installed the update,&#8221; he adds.</p>
<h5>uTorrent source code (<a href="media/6cc891c7.source-code-utorrent.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/source-code-utorrent.png">more</a>)</h5>
<p><img src="media/86275933.utorrents.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/utorrents.jpg" alt="utorrents" width="559" height="335" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-74723" /></p>
<p>So, in theory, a malicious person could have updated millions of live torrent clients with viruses, or worse. In addition, it would be possible to reveal stacks of confidential documents including financial information and detailed job offerings.</p>
<p>&#8220;In regards to the financial documents, I only checked several and it included payments and balances to and from the company. Other documents I saw were job offers with introductory salaries that reached over $150,000 starting wage,&#8221; MentaL told us. </p>
<p>&#8220;It was quite extreme and shocking.&#8221;</p>
<p>Below is a screenshot of a letter that was sent to the Brazil consulate in Los Angeles. As MentaL has no intention of doing the company any permanent harm, the details of the letter have been redacted. </p>
<h5>Letter to the consulate</h5>
<p><img src="media/b6f555de.braz.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/braz.jpg" alt="braz" width="557" height="507" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-74726" /></p>
<p>In another screenshot several source files of BitTorrent&#8217;s software and databases are visible. In addition, MentaL tells us that he had access to username and passwords for SQL databases. Needless to say, there are plenty of possibilities to exploit this kind of data for nefarious purposes. </p>
<h5>BitTorrent data</h5>
<p><img src="media/c1f4f4ad.masterfiles1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/masterfiles1.jpg" alt="masterfiles" width="569" height="449" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-74733" /></p>
<p>The above clearly shows that BitTorrent Inc has narrowly escaped a massive disaster. Perhaps they could have been a bit more appreciative of the way MentaL reported the problems, as that would have saved the company from having the rather embarrassing mistake out in the open.</p>
<p>&#8220;I felt I wanted to share and express my annoyance regarding the matter. They make millions a year in ad revenue alone and I never released, tweaked, sent fake builds or nothing out to any user and I feel insulted,&#8221; MentaL <a href="http://forum.ragezone.com/f10/bittorrent-source-dns-reward-948810/">concludes</a>.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak contacted BitTorrent Inc for a comment on the potential disaster and we will add their response when it comes in. It could be that they are still busy counting their blessings.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-inc-escapes-disaster-as-source-code-and-financials-leak-130801/">BitTorrent Inc. Escapes Disaster as Source Code and Financials Leak</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=3_bZaE1EdQg:4m47UW0cPso:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=3_bZaE1EdQg:4m47UW0cPso:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=3_bZaE1EdQg:4m47UW0cPso:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/3_bZaE1EdQg" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=74698
title: IsoHunt Blocked By Court Order Following Music Industry Demand
uri: IsoHunt-Blocked-By-Court-Order-Following-Music-Industry-Demand
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/2YE-IhuQUKo/
content:
<p><a href="media/3e145208.isohunt-logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/isohunt-logo.jpg"><img src="media/3e145208.isohunt-logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/isohunt-logo.jpg" alt="isohunt-logo" width="200" height="71" class="alignright size-full wp-image-21815" /></a>The blocking and censorship of BitTorrent sites is becoming an anti-piracy favorite with both the movie and music industries. Many of the top sites, with The Pirate Bay at the forefront of course, are now blocked at the ISP level in several countries across Europe.</p>
<p>After a slow and considered start, two countries are now emerging as the easiest places in the world to have sites blocked at the ISP level.</p>
<p>The world&#8217;s leading torrent sites are regularly being added to existing blockades or pending actions initiated by local music and movie groups in the UK, and in Italy an already long list of torrent, file-storage and streaming domains is growing on a monthly basis.</p>
<p>The latest action in this south European country involves embattled torrent index isoHunt. Run by Canadian national Gary Fung, the site is currently locked in a seemingly never-ending legal action with the MPAA in the United States, but its problems in Italy are with the local branch of IFPI.</p>
<p>FIMI, the Federation of the Italian Music Industry, claims that isoHunt is costing the Italian music industry millions of euros and something must be done quickly in order to stem the tide.</p>
<p>Following a FIMI complaint and urgent request from a local prosecutor, this week a judge in the Court of Milan ordered ISPs to block the isoHunt.com domain and its current IP address. To deal with any countermeasures the site may have planned, all future IPs are also covered by the order.</p>
<p>Marco d&#8217;Itri, who runs a site <a href="http://censura.bofh.it/elenchi.html">detailing</a> the spectrum of web censorship in Italy, told TorrentFreak that the ruling itself is not public and although ISPs have a copy, they are forbidden from sharing it. D&#8217;Itri adds that the blockade comes in advance of a full trial, but to his knowledge no case has ever progressed that far.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s just a handy shortcut used by the content owners to censor a domain, because usually the victims do not appeal,&#8221; he explains.</p>
<p>However, there are exceptions. Earlier this year file-hosting site Rapidgator hit back against a similar blockade and later <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/rapidgator-not-responsible-for-pirating-users-court-lifts-isp-blockade-130530/">won its case</a>. Then just last month an Italian court ordered a blockade against popular sports streaming site Rojadirecta. The site is now fighting back using the same legal team as Rapidgator.</p>
<p>Local ISPs were informed of the court order against isoHunt on Monday and were quick to respond. The site is now blocked across most of Italy (along with two other sites &#8211; dendi86download.com and lascena.net) leaving users to try and find a workaround <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-that-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2013-edition-130302/">using VPNs</a> or proxy sites.</p>
<p>In addition to ongoing legal action in the United States which has the potential to cost isoHunt <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-wants-up-to-750-million-in-damages-from-isohunt-130729/">up to $750m</a>, it seems likely that isoHunt will be blocked by ISPs <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/records-labels-prepare-massive-pirate-site-domain-blocking-blitz-130515/">in the UK</a> before the end of the year. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/isohunt-blocked-by-court-order-following-music-industry-demand-130801/">IsoHunt Blocked By Court Order Following Music Industry Demand</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=2YE-IhuQUKo:INiD0JzkftA:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=2YE-IhuQUKo:INiD0JzkftA:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=2YE-IhuQUKo:INiD0JzkftA:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/2YE-IhuQUKo" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=74606
title: EZTV Circumvents ISP Blockade And Slams Hollywood Censorship
uri: EZTV-Circumvents-ISP-Blockade-And-Slams-Hollywood-Censorship
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/7TkLAs3y9zc/
content:
<p><img src="media/5303fe31.eztv-logo.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/eztv-logo.png" alt="eztv-logo" width="218" height="109" class="alignright size-full wp-image-74607" />Last week six major UK Internet providers <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/uk-internet-providers-start-blocking-eztv-and-ezrss-130726/">began blocking access</a> to the popular TV torrent site EZTV. </p>
<p>The blockade follows a High Court order obtained by the major movie studios, and blacks out the RSS service ezRSS as well. </p>
<p>The actions EZTV faces are not the first taken against a torrent site in the UK. The Pirate Bay, KickassTorrents, Fenopy and H33T have been blocked by previous court orders and remain inaccessible by conventional means. The TV-torrent site won&#8217;t be the last either, as both the movie and music industries have promised that <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/records-labels-prepare-massive-pirate-site-domain-blocking-blitz-130515/">more sites will be targeted</a> in future.</p>
<p>What makes EZTV unique though, is that unlike many of the other site owners they have taken steps to circumvent the blockades. The EZTV crew told TorrentFreak that they re using Geo DNS to point UK visitors to a new IP-address which <a href="http://eztv.it">loads just fine</a> on the ISPs we checked. </p>
<p>&#8220;You are seeing this site as you have been recently blocked in your country,&#8221; declares the message on the special UK landing page.</p>
<p>Although EZTV have successfully bypassed the ISP blockade they are not presenting UK visitors with torrent files or similar content. The EZTV crew informs TorrentFreak that they would rather inform visitors on how to bypass the blockade in the future. This is the best long term solution, as new IP-addresses may simply be added to the blocklist. </p>
<p>On the special landing page the TV-torrent site lists several reverse proxy sites through which users can still access EZTV. In addition, they inform visitors about VPNs as an effective tool to bypass Internet censorship.</p>
<p>&#8220;You can use these to get around silly things like court mandated ISP blocks,&#8221; EZTV writes.</p>
<p>On a more political note EZTV has slammed Hollywood&#8217;s efforts, suggesting to visitors that they should consider voting for a political party that takes a stand against censorship.</p>
<p>&#8220;Hollywood has convinced the courts in the United Kingdom that they can control the internet and that censorship works. They are, of course, wrong. You might want to vote in some people who understand this &#8211; the <a href="http://pirateparty.org.uk/">Pirate Party UK</a> (PPUK) would be a good choice. They believe in making culture sharing a legal activity.&#8221;</p>
<p>But even without political change, it&#8217;s doubtful that the blockade will be very effective. As we&#8217;ve seen in the past with The Pirate Bay, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-censorship-turns-proxies-into-local-heroes-130204/">many visitors simply move to proxy sites</a>, which can become quite large on their own. And with EZTV pointing visitors to these alternatives it&#8217;s all the more likely that many will circumvent the blockade. </p>
<p>It will be interesting to see how the movie studios will respond to the special landing page. EZTV is certainly putting the movie studios in a difficult position, as the new page doesn&#8217;t link to infringing content and is purely an informational resource.</p>
<p>The studios could probably argue that site revealing how a blockade can be circumvented are obstructing the court order, but that&#8217;s bound to stir up the censorship debate even further. <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/uk-isps-secretly-start-blocking-torrent-site-proxies-130611/">Secretly blocking proxies</a> is one thing, but blocking sites that discuss them is a few more feet down the slippery slope.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/eztv-circumvents-isp-blockade-and-slams-hollywood-censorship-130731/">EZTV Circumvents ISP Blockade And Slams Hollywood Censorship</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=7TkLAs3y9zc:De3lxZqJEPo:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=7TkLAs3y9zc:De3lxZqJEPo:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=7TkLAs3y9zc:De3lxZqJEPo:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/7TkLAs3y9zc" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=74674
title: DMCA Abuse Will Cause Censored Product Review to Go Viral
uri: DMCA-Abuse-Will-Cause-Censored-Product-Review-to-Go-Viral
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/I0uLb2YBuao/
content:
<p><a href="media/f05b8357.censored.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/censored.jpg"><img src="media/f05b8357.censored.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/censored.jpg" alt="censored" width="199" height="173" class="alignright size-full wp-image-35000" /></a>The DMCA takedown notice and its European equivalent are tools designed to help copyright holders enforce their rights.</p>
<p>Should they see actual content or a link that infringes on their exclusive rights, a correctly formatted email to the site or service in control should see the offending item removed in a timely fashion.</p>
<p>Millions of these notices are sent without problems, but as we know there are some &#8211; such as <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/microsoft-wants-google-to-censor-microsoft-com-130728/">Microsoft&#8217;s epic fail</a> this past weekend &#8211; that tend to catch the eye. However, while mistakes like this can be entertaining, there are other kinds of takedowns that are nothing short of abusive.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.fstopacademy.com/about-den-lennie/">Den Lennie</a> is from filmmakers&#8217; resource <a href="http://www.fstopacademy.com">F-Stop Academy</a>. He recently did a video review comparing lighting products including one from UK-based <a href="http://www.rotolight.com">Rotolight Limited</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;As a film maker and educator I feel passionately about my role in testing and comparing products,&#8221; Den explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;Manufacturers make all sorts of claims and yet when we independently test and find those results contradict the marketing then we should be well within our rights to publish the results.&#8221;</p>
<p>Den did just that, with a video review he <a href="http://vimeo.com/60224830">uploaded to Vimeo</a>. However, access to the review didn&#8217;t last long. Rotolight wrote to Vimeo claiming that the video infringed on their exclusive copyrights and it was taken down.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/73be6803.rotodmca.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/rotodmca.jpg" alt="RotoDMCA" /></center></p>
<p>According to Den, Rotolight didn&#8217;t appreciate the fact that the review wasn&#8217;t as glowing as they might have liked.</p>
<p>&#8220;Surely if you purchase a light and then do a comparison video in an environment where the light is designed to be used and publish the results as an information video to help people looking to invest in lighting &#8211; that is not unreasonable eh?&#8221; Den questions.</p>
<p>&#8220;Yet Rotolight have served a notice of copyright infringement on me simply because they did not like the results&#8230;? WTF. The company claim to make the &#8216;World&#8217;s most advanced LED light&#8217; yet when we tested it our results were not good.&#8221;</p>
<p>After censoring Den&#8217;s opinion, Rotolight surprisingly went on to apologize via Facebook (post since removed).</p>
<p>&#8220;We would sincerely like to apologize for any upset caused, that was not our intention and we very much hope you can accept our apology,&#8221; the company wrote.</p>
<p>&#8220;We just feel that the test was not fair or representative of our product, and we would greatly appreciate the opportunity for you to re-test our light as you have offered. We would like to invite you to our offices in Pinewood Studios for the re-test, anytime convenient for you.&#8221;</p>
<p>So not only do Rotolight admit to shutting down Den&#8217;s review on the basis they didn&#8217;t agree with it, they now want him to carry out a new review with them looking over his shoulder.</p>
<p>However, it now seems that Rotolight might be changing their position, and not in a good way either. According to an update from Den, Rotolight are now claiming that since Den used their company name and product in the title and tags of the Vimeo video, that constitutes a breach of their copyright.</p>
<p>If Rotolight haven&#8217;t yet heard of the Streisand Effect their head of marketing should look it up immediately, although something tells us that by the end of today any effort will have been in vain. This one will probably go viral.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak contacted Rotolight for comment but we&#8217;ve yet to receive a response.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/dmca-abuse-will-cause-censored-product-review-to-go-viral-130731/">DMCA Abuse Will Cause Censored Product Review to Go Viral</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=I0uLb2YBuao:vZq7e2XpTI4:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=I0uLb2YBuao:vZq7e2XpTI4:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=I0uLb2YBuao:vZq7e2XpTI4:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/I0uLb2YBuao" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75829
title: The IRS is Running Pirate Software, Send in the BSA for Blood
uri: The-IRS-is-Running-Pirate-Software-Send-in-the-BSA-for-Blood
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/jBE1fW66isY/
content:
<p><img src="media/b4f20436.microsoft-pirate.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/microsoft-pirate.png" width="225" height="137" class="alignright" />As the famous quote from Benjamin Franklin goes, there are only two certain things in life &#8211; death and taxes.</p>
<p>We all pay taxes and in the United States its the job of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to scoop up the cash from the public and place it in government coffers. It&#8217;s currently collecting somewhere north of $2.5 trillion and has a budget in excess of $12 billion.</p>
<p>But despite all the money rolling around and the IRS&#8217;s ability to suck up the last dollar from errant payers, it apparently has trouble keeping its computer department in order. According to the findings of a recent audit, the IRS is in quite a mess when it comes to paying for software it&#8217;s using and not paying for stuff that it isn&#8217;t.</p>
<p>&#8220;The proper management of software licenses helps to minimize risks by ensuring that licenses are used in compliance with licensing agreements and cost-effectively deployed, and that software purchasing and maintenance expenses are properly controlled. This audit was initiated to determine whether the IRS is adequately managing software licenses,&#8221; the report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration begins.</p>
<p>Thanks to rightsholders&#8217; efforts to toughen up the law, the effective managing of software licenses is a serious business. Running unlicensed software can constitute a breach of federal copyright law, something a government agency such as the IRS should seek to avoid. According to the report, it seems to have failed.</p>
<p>&#8220;The IRS is not adequately performing software license management and is not adhering to Federal requirements and recommended industry best practices. The IRS does not have enterprisewide or local policies, procedures, and requirements for software license management,&#8221; the report states.</p>
<p>As a result the audit discovered that out of a total 27 products examined, proper licensing documentation could be produced for only three of them.</p>
<p>The Treasury Inspector General also notes that in 2011 the IRS spent $235 million on computer software and that efficient and cost-effective management of those resources is crucial to providing efficient services to taxpayers. But somehow and in addition to the under-licensing, the IRS also managed to license software that they didn&#8217;t use.</p>
<p>&#8220;Until the IRS implements an effective program to manage software licenses, the IRS is incurring increased risks,&#8221; the <a href="http://www.treasury.gov/tigta/auditreports/2013reports/201320025fr.html">report </a>adds.</p>
<p>&#8220;These risks include:  1) not complying with licensing agreements that could result in embarrassment, legal problems, and financial liability; 2) not using licenses in the most cost-effective manner; and 3) not effectively using licensing data to reduce software purchase and software maintenance costs.&#8221;</p>
<p>As many companies around the world will agree, not having the correct licenses for software can indeed become a financial liability. Over the years many have been targeted by the Business Software Alliance who, often acting on tips from employees, pursue companies for audits and then pressure them into settlements. Actions against under-licensed software even take place with the support of <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/microsoft-sued-over-mafia-like-anti-piracy-raid-120621/">armed police</a>.</p>
<p>In Belgium a company was pressured by the BSA due to under-licensed software and was told that its computers would be taken away unless it paid 30,000 euros ($40,000) in settlement fees. The CEO of the company described the event as &#8220;a robbery more than a check-up.&#8221;</p>
<p>It&#8217;s notable that the BSA aren&#8217;t barking at the heels of the IRS though, which is a bit of shame. Watching the BSA trying to extract money from the best money-collectors in the United States would be something to behold and probably the only battle in which the public would cheer for the IRS.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/the-irs-is-running-pirate-software-send-in-the-bsa-for-blood-130821/">The IRS is Running Pirate Software, Send in the BSA for Blood</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=jBE1fW66isY:zxZUUpRBs0E:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=jBE1fW66isY:zxZUUpRBs0E:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=jBE1fW66isY:zxZUUpRBs0E:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/jBE1fW66isY" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75925
title: Censoring The Pirate Bay Is Futile, Research Shows
uri: Censoring-The-Pirate-Bay-Is-Futile-Research-Shows
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/SgCegcpTgbo/
content:
<p><img src="media/fc7fa772.tpb.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com//images/tpb.jpg" align="right" alt="tpb" />The Pirate Bay is arguably the most censored website on the Internet. Courts all around the world have ordered Internet providers to block subscriber access to the torrent site, and more are expected to follow.</p>
<p>The idea behind these blockades is that they will help to decrease online piracy. However, research increasingly suggests that this aim is not being fulfilled. In fact, the blocking attempts may actually be having the opposite effect.</p>
<p>Today, University of Amsterdam researchers, together with Tilburg University&#8217;s CentERdata, released a new report which evaluates how the Dutch Pirate Bay blockade affected local piracy habits. </p>
<p>Titled &#8220;<a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/162193035/Baywatch">Baywatch</a>,&#8221; the paper uses survey results as well as data from BitTorrent trackers to assess the effectiveness of the blocking measures.</p>
<p>The report finds that of all respondents who admit that they&#8217;ve downloaded files from illegal sources over the past half-year, between 20 and 25 percent say they stopped or downloaded less after the Pirate Bay blockade came into effect. </p>
<p>While this could be interpreted as a clear success for the blockade, the researchers don&#8217;t see any evidence for this in the rest of the data. </p>
<p>&#8220;This would suggest a small negative effect of the intervention on the percentage of the population who download copyright protected content from illegal sources. However, no such effect is found.&#8221; </p>
<p>In fact, the percentage of UPC, KPN, Tele2 and T-Mobile subscribers who admit to downloading or streaming from illegal sources over the past six months went up from 15.7% before the blockade, to 18.4% after. For two other ISPs, Ziggo and XS4ALL, the percentage increased over time as well, settling at 25.2%.</p>
<p><center><br />
<h5> Downloading &#038; streaming from illegal sources per blocking situation</h5>
<p><img src="media/a2411ddf.ivir-block.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ivir-block.jpg" alt="ivir-block" width="550" height="326" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-75934" /></center></p>
<p>The researchers believe that the increased piracy rates can in part be explained by people who picked up the downloading or streaming habit after the blockades went into effect. </p>
<p>&#8220;[Although] a small share of downloaders report a decrease in their downloading activities after the blocking, this effect is not reflected in the overall numbers, possibly because there are other consumers who have started downloading from illegal sources,&#8221; the researchers write. </p>
<p>In addition, they note that affected Pirate Bay users may have simply started using other means to get unauthorized content. In any case, there appears to be no negative long-term effect of the court ordered-blockade on the overall piracy rate.</p>
<p>&#8220;Blocking access to TPB has had no lasting net impact on the overall number of downloaders from illegal sources, as people learn to use alternatives to TPB.&#8221;</p>
<p>In addition to the survey data the researchers also monitored several popular BitTorrent swarms. Here they also found no clear impact of the blockade. Initially the market share of blocked ISPs appeared to decline, but this picked up later. </p>
<p>The researchers believe that this can be explained by the fact that subscribers find ways to circumvent the blockades. </p>
<p>The above, paired with the survey responses, leads the researchers to conclude that after an initial decrease in piracy the  &#8220;market&#8221; quickly returned to the old situation. In other words, censoring The Pirate Bay proves to be ineffective in the long run.</p>
<p>This is not the first research to come to this conclusion. Previously the ineffectiveness of the blockades was highlighted by <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/censoring-the-pirate-bay-is-futile-isps-reveal-120711/">several Dutch</a> and <a href="https://tpb.pirateparty.org.uk/blog/219">UK</a> Internet providers, who claimed that BitTorrent traffic didn&#8217;t decline after the blockades were implemented. </p>
<p>Whether this will stop copyright holders&#8217; efforts to demand additional and wider blockades is doubtful though &#8211; thus far it certainly hasn&#8217;t.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/censoring-the-pirate-bay-is-futile-research-shows-130822/">Censoring The Pirate Bay Is Futile, Research Shows</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=SgCegcpTgbo:9WhKLOLFSLE:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=SgCegcpTgbo:9WhKLOLFSLE:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=SgCegcpTgbo:9WhKLOLFSLE:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/SgCegcpTgbo" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75873
title: MPAA: Tighten the Law to Force Voluntary Anti-Piracy Cooperation
uri: MPAA-Tighten-the-Law-to-Force-Voluntary-Anti-Piracy-Cooperation
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Pc1DOTyRjb4/
content:
<p><a href="media/17794dfa.uspto.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/uspto.jpg"><img src="media/17794dfa.uspto.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/uspto.jpg" alt="uspto" width="180" height="180" class="alignright size-full wp-image-75887" /></a>Back in June the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator Victoria Espinel <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/u-s-copyright-czar-applauds-six-strikes-warns-over-3d-printing-piracy-130620/">announced</a> the release of the government&#8217;s second Strategic Plan for IP Enforcement.</p>
<p>Together with that announcement came a request from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (<a href="http://www.uspto.gov/">USPTO</a>) for interested parties to comment on so-called Voluntary Best Practices to reduce instances of online piracy. A deadline of July 22 was later extended to August 21.</p>
<p>With Espinel out of the frame (she <a href="http://variety.com/2013/digital/biz/victoria-espinel-resigns-as-white-house-copyright-czar-1200577156/">stepped down</a> last week after four years in the job), organizations including the MPAA and Google are now left to argue over how best to implement the outgoing czar&#8217;s momentum on voluntary initiatives. Yesterday they were clashing opinions at the USPTO.</p>
<p>The MPAA held up existing examples of cooperation, such as the six-strikes collaboration between the studios and leading ISPs, as somewhat effective but only part of the solution. Search engines, the movie group explained, aren&#8217;t doing enough to scale back piracy and their voluntary efforts to demote pirate sites in search results just aren&#8217;t working.</p>
<p>&#8220;Voluntary initiatives are not a panacea, and they are not appropriate to address all forms of piracy,&#8221; <a href="http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/495157-MPAA_to_PTO_Voluntary_Anti_Piracy_Initiatives_Are_No_Panacea.php">said</a> the MPAA. &#8220;Some voluntary initiatives work well; some have more modest success; and some are simply not effective.&#8221; </p>
<p>And this is where the MPAA hits a problem. Whenever voluntary agreements live up to their name there is always room for participating parties to back away or water down their approach to the terms of the arrangement. The boundaries of what can be achieved, the MPAA suggests, will always be governed by legislation.</p>
<p>&#8220;A party&#8217;s willingness to commit to a particular practice will depend to a significant degree on what it perceives to be the legal consequence (or lack thereof) of continuing its current course of action, and not committing to any voluntary agreement.&#8221;</p>
<p>The underlying message here is that the MPAA feels restricted by Google and friends&#8217; current anti-piracy response and would prefer it if the government stepped in and formally set the rules for any &#8220;voluntary&#8221; agreements. Those rules, of course, represent a change in the law.</p>
<p><img src="media/c5907e8b.internet-vs-hollywood-300x181.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/internet-vs-hollywood-300x181.jpg" width="300" height="181" class="alignright" />However, the MPAA tried this before with SOPA and PIPA and soon discovered they were no match for the combined forces of the Internet.</p>
<p>Indeed, back in February MPAA chief Chris Dodd <a href="http://www.thewrap.com/media/article/chris-dodd-mpaa-backing-away-new-piracy-legislation-77951">admitted</a> there was no enthusiasm for a &#8220;brawl in Congress&#8221; over new legislation.</p>
<p>So what&#8217;s the alternative? The MPAA&#8217;s potential allies &#8211; Google, Facebook, Yahoo and other tech giants including Reddit who formed their own lobbying organization called <a href="http://internetassociation.org/">The Internet Association</a> &#8211; feel that things should be approached somewhat differently. </p>
<p>&#8220;The Internet Association recommends the [Patent Office] set aside its inquiry of industry’s voluntary initiatives to reduce online infringement for a broader review that looks beyond data and metrics of enforcement mechanisms,” they <a href="http://www.thewrap.com/media/article/mpaa-internet-giants-take-piracy-battle-us-patent-office-112471">told</a> USPTO, The Wrap reports.</p>
<p>&#8220;Taking a holistic approach will reveal that today’s copyright landscape involves important industry practices, marketplace realities, and consumer behavioral dynamics that all play a role in both the source of and potential solutions to online infringement.”</p>
<p>While there has been some cooperation it seems that the approaches of Hollywood and the tech sector are still some distance apart. Given the option the MPAA would relish new legislation to &#8216;encourage&#8217; the likes of Google to &#8216;cooperate&#8217; more readily. But with the SOPA backlash still ringing in their ears they may have to settle for what&#8217;s currently on offer, until memories begin to fade at least.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-tighten-the-law-to-force-voluntary-anti-piracy-cooperation-130822/">MPAA: Tighten the Law to Force Voluntary Anti-Piracy Cooperation</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Pc1DOTyRjb4:86dp8XeFgW4:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Pc1DOTyRjb4:86dp8XeFgW4:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=Pc1DOTyRjb4:86dp8XeFgW4:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/Pc1DOTyRjb4" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75957
title: Student Attacks Publishing Cartels to Make Textbooks Open Source
uri: Student-Attacks-Publishing-Cartels-to-Make-Textbooks-Open-Source
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/YyemxqgijM0/
content:
<p><img src="media/028cc1b2.books1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/books1.jpg" width="200" height="228" class="alignright" />Almost every year in August, just before the start of the new school year, TorrentFreak is contacted by individuals and groups determined to do something about a long-standing annoyance.</p>
<p>That problem is school textbooks, their astonishing cost, and the fact that they constitute a compulsory purchase. Students must spend anything north of around $1000 per year on textbooks and unnecessary annual updates often render last year&#8217;s product obsolete, meaning that getting a used bargain is not really an option.</p>
<p>This unrealistic situation, every complainant notes, is down to the monopolistic practices of the major textbook publishers. In the past torrents sites <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/free-textbooks-for-students-will-break-greedy-monopoly-110816/">have tried</a> to do something about the problem, but this year student Tristan Lear is on a one-man mission to seriously disrupt the market.</p>
<p>Speaking with TorrentFreak, Lear says that his mission is to take down the publishing industry and replace it with an alternative open source system.</p>
<p>&#8220;Textbooks and pharmaceutical meds have one thing in common: their manufacturers market their products to someone other than the person who actually has to pay for it,&#8221; Lear says.</p>
<p>&#8220;The publishing industry no longer has a product to sell, because modern technology (the Internet, wiki structures, etc) can better facilitate the relationship between content authors, editors, professors and students. According to the capitalist narrative, a better system or product should compete and win against an incumbent piece of crap. This hasn&#8217;t happened though, due to the position of the textbook publishers in what we now call the academic-industrial complex.&#8221;</p>
<p>Lear says the solution is to overthrow those in control by emulating the &#8220;hacker ethos&#8221; previously used against the recording industry. He believes that if all students get access to free books then the landscape which shift dramatically.</p>
<p>Lear&#8217;s baby, &#8220;The Textbook Liberation Project&#8221;, certainly has lofty aims but it had modest beginnings. When he learned in class that students couldn&#8217;t afford books and also found them regularly out of stock, Lear began offering them free PDF copies. Soon the whole class was lining up to save hundreds of dollars.</p>
<p>Reaction from teachers and professors has been mixed. Some were unsure of the ethics of handing out copies but also recognized the unethical business model operated by the publishers. But while some chose to turn a blind eye, others warned Lear he should expect to get in trouble. So far there have been no repercussions.</p>
<p>As a result things are now stepping up a gear. Lear is holding teach-ins in front of the USF campus for-profit bookstore in order to educate passing students on where they can get books for free. But in order to make himself less of a target (linking to material online could be problematic), Lear has taken his &#8216;pirate links&#8217; into the physical domain.</p>
<p>By handing out flyers like the one shown below, he gives students the ability to scan the codes and go directly to book downloads via their cellphones and tablets.</p>
<p><img src="media/4f242cbb.book-flyer.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/book-flyer.jpg" alt="BookFlyer" /></p>
<p>Not surprisingly, Lear is facing opposition. A representative from USF told Lear that his work could cause issues due to the contractual obligations between the University and Barnes and Noble, the on-campus book supplier. This, however, seems to be part of the plan.</p>
<p>&#8220;We aim for maximum financial impact against the publishing industry and maximum political impact among the University administration and faculty. This will force the complicit parties to declare which side they want to stand on,&#8221; Lear says.</p>
<p>While there are certainly pricing issues, the undergraduate says that people shouldn&#8217;t presume this is only about getting stuff for free. Lear says the issue is a moral one, and his project has a firm eye on what Aaron Swartz believed.</p>
<p>But moral issues and open source textbook dreams aside, is what Lear is doing illegal?</p>
<p>&#8220;Some lawyers have cautioned me, others have encouraged me. The EFF worries that the case law surrounding my case has to do with &#8216;inducement&#8217; or the degree to which I encourage infringement,&#8221; he explains. </p>
<p>On the other hand, Lear showed us an email from another lawyer who described the effort as &#8220;noble&#8221; and went on to ask an interesting question.</p>
<p>&#8220;This raises a fascinating First Amendment issue; can the DMCA &#8212; as a government enactment &#8212; be used to infringe upon the rights of individuals to simply talk about locations of open source materials?  I do not know whether or not such an issue has ever been addressed by the federal courts,&#8221; he wrote.</p>
<p>So another year, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TextbookLiberation">another initiative</a> against what is clearly an incredibly unpopular business model. So far, no one &#8211; including dedicated torrent sites &#8211; have been able to do much about it, but if Lear has his way his movement will spread and eventually the cartels and monopoly will collapse. No doubt, it&#8217;s a hot topic right now. (<a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/Frugal/comments/1kt7pg/hey_rfrugal_since_classes_are_starting_back_up_id/">1</a>) (<a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/1krroy/help_a_couple_weeks_ago_some_awesome_users_had/">2</a>)</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/student-attacks-publishing-cartels-to-make-textbooks-open-source-130923/">Student Attacks Publishing Cartels to Make Textbooks Open Source</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=YyemxqgijM0:u_HRzloSv8w:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=YyemxqgijM0:u_HRzloSv8w:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=YyemxqgijM0:u_HRzloSv8w:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/YyemxqgijM0" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75744
title: Megaupload Shutdown Hurt Smaller Films, Helped Blockbusters
uri: Megaupload-Shutdown-Hurt-Smaller-Films-Helped-Blockbusters
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Rer8x_DPZ4E/
content:
<p><img src="media/5fd37436.megaupload.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/megaupload.jpg" align="right" alt="megaupload" />It is no secret that the MPAA was one of the instigators of the Megaupload investigation, which ultimately led to the shutdown of the company January last year.</p>
<p>According to the Hollywood studios the file-hosting site kept people away from the box office, resulting in hundreds of millions in losses. However, new data shows that this claim may not hold ground, at least not for all movies.</p>
<p>This week researchers from Munich School of Management and Copenhagen Business School <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2176246">published new data</a> that reveals how the effects of the shutdown vary based on the size of the movie, defined by the number of cinema screens it shows on. </p>
<p>The researchers extended a previous paper and the new analysis is based on 10,272 movies showing in 50 countries. Based on this data they found that only very large movies benefited from the shutdown, while revenue for most smaller and medium-sized movies decreased. </p>
<p>&#8220;We find that box office revenues of a majority of movies did not increase. While for a mid-range of movies the effect of the shutdown is even negative, only large blockbusters could benefit from the absence of Megaupload,&#8221; the researchers write.</p>
<p>We contacted <a href="http://www.en.isto.bwl.uni-muenchen.de/team/mitarbeiter/peukert/index.html">Christian Peukert</a>, one of the authors, who confirms the counter-intuitive finding.</p>
<p>&#8220;The results of our analysis suggest that the shutdown of Megaupload did not – as  one might expect – generally increase box office revenues of movies,&#8221; Peukert tells TorrentFreak. </p>
<p>Looking at the overall picture the data suggests that average post-shutdown revenues are roughly 12% lower. This is also visible in the figure below which clearly shows a drop in revenue after January 2012. </p>
<p><center><br />
<h5>Box office revenues before and after the shutdown</h5>
<p><img src="media/82a43dc0.revenuesovertime.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/revenuesovertime.jpg" alt="revenuesovertime" width="560" height="248" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-75966" /></center></p>
<p>What&#8217;s striking about the findings is that the shutdown effects are not the same for all movies. According to the researchers the negative impact on smaller movies can be explained by a drop in word-of-mouth promotion from pirates, which affects smaller movies more.</p>
<p>&#8220;Smaller movies usually have smaller marketing campaigns, making word-of-mouth therefore a more important success driver. If some of this word-of-mouth effect is then taken away with the shutdown of illegal content, performance of smaller movies is likely to be hit harder,&#8221; the paper notes.</p>
<p>The increase in blockbuster revenues, on the other hand, is the classic replacement effect the MPAA had expected. That is, people pay for a box office ticket instead of downloading the movie for free. Word-of-mouth promotion may also occur for blockbusters, but the data shows that it&#8217;s outweighed by the replacement effect </p>
<p>&#8220;It could be that for most movies both effects balance, but for some movies the promotional effect outweighs the replacement effect and vice versa. If the promotional effect was especially important for smaller movies with lower traditional marketing budgets, this would explain our findings,&#8221; Peukert tells TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>The researchers ruled out several alternative explanations and also looked into the impact of Megaupload&#8217;s demise on the availability of pirated titles. Using The Pirate Bay as a comparison, they find that the shutdown had no significant effect on the availability of pirated movies on the Internet.</p>
<p>&#8220;The one striking implication of this study is that it is difficult to reduce negative effects of online piracy by shutting down the supply of illegal downloads,&#8221; Peukert says.</p>
<p>As any study of this kind, however, the statistical findings have to be used with caution. </p>
<p>&#8220;It is important to keep in mind that any statistical analysis can only provide estimates. The precision of an estimation always depends on a number of factors, such as method and type of data. We therefore prefer the most conservative, qualitative interpretation of our findings,&#8221; Peukert notes.</p>
<p>It will be interesting to see how Hollywood interprets the findings. When the researchers published an <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/megaupload-shutdown-hurt-box-office-revenues-121124/">early working paper</a> last year based on a limited set of movies, the <a href="http://blog.mpaa.org/BlogOS/post/2012/11/30/Assessing-the-Evidence-%E2%80%9CPiracy-and-Movie-Revenues-Evidence-from-Megaupload%E2%80%9D.aspx">MPAA said</a> the results were &#8220;not clear or compelling&#8221; and that it would reserve comment until the full paper is published. </p>
<p>For Kim Dotcom and his team the research is not likely to change much. They continue their legal battles in the United States and New Zealand, which may take a few more years.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/megaupload-shutdown-hurt-smaller-films-helped-blockbusters-130823/">Megaupload Shutdown Hurt Smaller Films, Helped Blockbusters</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Rer8x_DPZ4E:CKhGoYmo_28:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Rer8x_DPZ4E:CKhGoYmo_28:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=Rer8x_DPZ4E:CKhGoYmo_28:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/Rer8x_DPZ4E" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75831
title: NSA Spying and Anti-Piracy Laws Boost Demand for VPNs
uri: NSA-Spying-and-Anti-Piracy-Laws-Boost-Demand-for-VPNs
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/zCbNLsDTnEs/
content:
<p><img src="media/f408e481.cameraspy.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cameraspy.jpg" align="right" alt="spy" />Over the past couple of months the PRISM scandal has dominated the news, with many people calling for stronger privacy protections as a result.</p>
<p>While it may not come as a complete surprise that nearly all communications on the Internet are being monitored and stored, the revelations have brought discussion about Internet privacy to the mainstream. </p>
<p>As a result, privacy-centered Internet services such as the search engine <a href="https://duckduckgo.com/">DuckDuckGo</a> and email provider <a href="https://www.hushmail.com/">Hushmail</a> have seen a surge in traffic. New data shows that the same is also true for <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-that-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2013-edition-130302/">VPN providers</a>.</p>
<p>Earlier this month <a href="https://www.ivpn.net/">IVPN</a> ran a survey among 1,054 new customers, quizzing them on their motivations to sign up. The <a href="https://www.ivpn.net/blog/prism-is-the-biggest-influence-on-vpn-sign-ups">results</a> below show that the PRISM scandal was the most mentioned reason with 28%, followed by several anti-piracy initiatives with 22% in total and the Patriot Act (11%). </p>
<h5>Reasons to buy a VPN subscription</h5>
<p><img src="media/448a34e0.vpn-survey.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/vpn-survey.png" alt="vpn-survey" width="520" height="445" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-75839" /></p>
<p>The mention of the anti-piracy initiatives SOPA, CISPA and ACTA is noteworthy. They all failed to pass more than a year ago, but are still widely mentioned as reasons to buy a VPN. For many, they are probably seen as a synonym for anti-piracy laws in general.</p>
<p>In addition to leading the survey results, IVPN says that the PRISM controversy also resulted in a new subscriber surge. The VPN provider reveals that they enjoyed a 56% increase in sign-ups during June and July. While this is a pretty significant bump, they&#8217;re not the only ones to have noticed a boom in business.</p>
<p><a href="http://ipredator.se">Ipredator</a> informs TorrentFreak that they have seen a few spikes in their signups, and <a href="http://privateinternetaccess.com">Private Internet Access</a> reports a clear increase in demand that may be attributed to NSA spying. </p>
<p>&#8220;The PRISM reports are bringing to light the horrendous privacy issues that have existed on the internet. It is clearly the time for cypherpunks to take action,&#8221; Andrew Lee of Private Internet Access says.</p>
<p><a href="http://privacy.io">Privacy.io</a>&#8216;s Derek Spranger tells TorrentFreak that they have noticed an increase in interest, but that a VPN certainly isn&#8217;t the holy grail when it comes to NSA-type surveillance.</p>
<p>&#8220;Based on emails we have received, a lot more people have been referencing the NSA, but a VPN isn&#8217;t the solution to get away from PRISM. The issue isn&#8217;t data coming from you, but where it lands.&#8221; </p>
<p>&#8220;I know I should be plugging the company, but in relation to this it&#8217;s not correct,&#8221; Spranger adds.</p>
<p>IVPN also notes that while a VPN will hide your browsing and download habits, it&#8217;s not going to prevent the NSA from reading your email messages or listening in on your Skype conversations.</p>
<p>&#8220;Obviously using a VPN or TOR is not going to stop the NSA from reading your Gmail inbox, so in a technical sense, using a VPN specifically to counter PRISM isn’t going to work.&#8221; </p>
<p>&#8220;At least the mass media coverage of PRISM appears to be pushing the idea of online surveillance into the public consciousness on a much larger scale than previous controversies,&#8221; IVPN adds.</p>
<p>The best solution for privacy concerned citizens who want to escape mass-monitoring is not to use the Internet at all, and throw out the phone too. However, for most people that&#8217;s not really an option anymore.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/nsa-spying-and-anti-piracy-laws-boost-demand-for-vpns-130824/">NSA Spying and Anti-Piracy Laws Boost Demand for VPNs</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=zCbNLsDTnEs:1bpYzV6UTHk:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=zCbNLsDTnEs:1bpYzV6UTHk:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=zCbNLsDTnEs:1bpYzV6UTHk:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/zCbNLsDTnEs" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75898
title: Hive: A BitTorrent-Enabled Unlimited Cloud Storage Sharing Network
uri: Hive-A-BitTorrent-Enabled-Unlimited-Cloud-Storage-Sharing-Network
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/-0m0IObuaUY/
content:
<p><a href="media/d6625943.hivelogo.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/hivelogo.png"><img src="media/d6625943.hivelogo.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/hivelogo.png" alt="hivelogo" width="203" height="118" class="alignright size-full wp-image-75912" /></a>Even with the growing popularity of the Internet the majority of users still have a tendency to associate saving files with local hard drives, optical media and USB storage.</p>
<p>In the past few years, however, things have begun to change. Increases in Internet speeds, cost reductions for online storage and a need to sync or share files between multiple devices has pushed us further towards the cloud.</p>
<p>These days it&#8217;s likely that the savvy Internet user will be using Dropbox, Mega or any one of the hundreds of other cloud storage companies around today, storing content remotely and enjoying the freedom to move from device to device without the burden of constantly transferring files.</p>
<p>While there is plenty of choice in the cloud, most services have a key selling point while holding back on certain features. Dropbox is the current king when it comes to syncing content between multiple devices but unless you want to pay, storage is limited to 2GB. Mega, on the other hand, currently lacks some of Dropbox&#8217;s features but offers a massive 50GB of storage without asking for a penny, all supported by industry-leading encryption.</p>
<p>Today we take a look at another cloud storage service that doesn&#8217;t compete head on with either Dropbox or Mega but will be of interest to BitTorrent users wanting to grab and share content with friends at super high speeds.</p>
<p><a href="http://hive.im">Hive</a> is a product offered by <a href="http://www.qvivo.com/">QVIVO</a>, an established unlimited cloud storage service aimed at the content sharing/syncing market.</p>
<p>&#8220;QVIVO is a very personal cloud media service so we wanted to try something a little more social with Hive. Hive not only gives you free unlimited cloud storage for all common files and formats but lets you create a network of friends that can share your files with a single click,&#8221; Hive founder and CEO Liam McCallum told TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>Of course, while storing and sharing files is all very nice, what really attracted us to Hive is the way users are able to upload content to their accounts. In addition to a drag and drop interface to dump local content into the cloud, Hive is also able to pull in media from BitTorrent swarms.</p>
<p>&#8220;BitTorrent is an incredibly efficient file transfer technology, and if used properly can help ease network congestion,&#8221; McCallum explains. &#8220;Consumer broadband is still relatively slow when uploading so allowing users to add content to their Hive through BitTorrent technology eases the burden of having to upload everything yourself. Instead of uploading that Linux iso just drag and drop the torrent link onto Hive and we&#8217;ll retrieve it for you.&#8221;</p>
<p><img src="media/6d82d254.Hive1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/Hive1.png" alt="Hive1" /></p>
<p>And it really is that easy. As can be seen from the screenshot above the Hive interface is clean and minimal. Theres a directory structure displayed on the left for keeping various types of content in order (music, movies, documents, pending transfers) and a straightforward drag-and-drop interface copes with local files plus .torrent and magnet links.</p>
<p>Once a magnet or torrent is dragged to the appropriate spot, Hive nips into the corresponding torrent swarms, grabs the content, and conveniently places it in your very own Hive account. If it&#8217;s a video Hive will then encode it so it can be played with its embedded video player, which is a bit like having your own personal BitTorrent-powered YouTube.</p>
<p>But of course, content is all very nice but it&#8217;s best enjoyed with friends and this is where Hive&#8217;s social aspects come into play. Users of the service can invite their friends into their own sharing circle where they are free to view each other&#8217;s content, listen to each other&#8217;s music, copy it to their own Hive or download it, all in complete privacy. Any files users don&#8217;t want to share can be locked away with a click.</p>
<p><img src="media/c455954e.hive2.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/hive2.png" alt="Hive2" /></p>
<p>&#8220;Hive files are in no way public. Your files will only be available to you and your trusted list of friends,&#8221; McCallum explains. &#8220;There are no public pages that users can discover or download your files from, and all pages and download links are locked and encrypted over SSL. We take the privacy of our members extremely seriously which is why we chose Germany and Switzerland as our data centre locations of choice.&#8221;</p>
<p>To the old school file-sharer Hive will probably evoke memories of Direct Connect hubs that allowed individuals to share content privately within their social circles. But well over a decade later things have improved no end and building a sharing environment is as simple as inviting established Facebook or Twitter friends and everyone pooling content.</p>
<p>Currently in its beta period, Hive is free to use with no limits although access to premium features is expected to cost a few bucks in the future.</p>
<p>&#8220;After the beta we&#8217;ll charge for features such as media streaming for under 10 bucks a month – but the monthly price will get cheaper with the more friends you have in your Hive, even free once you invite 100 friends,&#8221; McCallum concludes.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s certainly interesting to watch the cloud market develop and especially nice when a company throws BitTorrent into the mix &#8211; that always makes sense.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/hive-a-bittorrent-enabled-unlimited-cloud-storage-sharing-network-130824/">Hive: A BitTorrent-Enabled Unlimited Cloud Storage Sharing Network</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=-0m0IObuaUY:0-o05anqGSU:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=-0m0IObuaUY:0-o05anqGSU:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=-0m0IObuaUY:0-o05anqGSU:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/-0m0IObuaUY" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75921
title: File-Hosting Sites Blackmailed By Streaming Site Cloners
uri: File-Hosting-Sites-Blackmailed-By-Streaming-Site-Cloners
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/2_KDmcYOUjw/
content:
<p>As <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/search/letmewatchthis">our articles</a> in recent weeks have revealed, when browsing some of the world&#8217;s most popular streaming sites it&#8217;s becoming increasingly likely that visitors aren&#8217;t using the real deal.</p>
<p>Operators of streaming portals have not only been trying to come to terms with having their domains hijacked, but also the discovery that &#8216;rogue&#8217; sites are operating which are identical copies of their own.</p>
<p>While this is causing obvious problems, TorrentFreak is informed that there is another serious situation developing behind the scenes. At the same time as streaming portals are being cloned, file-hosting sites are also being copied and passed off as the real thing.</p>
<p>Three separate site owners directed us to look at Vodly.to, a site that is currently trying to pass itself off as LetMeWatchThis / 1Channel. If we click on any movie link we are directed to a download page which lists many well known file-hosting sites as sources. The problem is that while they all look like the real deal, many are in fact cloned and faked sites.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/ad793653.vodlyfake1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/vodlyfake1.jpg" alt="Vodlyfake1" /></center></p>
<p>For example, MovShare.me was a site created on July 1 2013 and is a blatant copy of the correct site MovShare.net, a five-year-old domain. Novamov.me was also created on July 1 2013 and is a direct ripoff of Novamov.com, a site established in 2008. Nowvideo.ws is also a fake, created at the end of June this year and a clone of NowVideo.eu.</p>
<p>But perhaps the most recognizable is the copying of Putlocker. The correct domain, Putlocker.com, is ranked the 307 most popular site in the world. However, Vodly.to is promoting Putlocker.ws, a clone passing itself off as the real thing.</p>
<p>Most worryingly, the fake site is pulling in a lot of traffic. From an early August standing start the site is now eating into the official site&#8217;s lead as the Alexa chart below illustrates.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/6ee4f224.putlockeralexa.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/putlockeralexa.jpg" alt="Putlocker" /></center></p>
<p>If the clones weren&#8217;t bad enough, things took a turn for the worse when TorrentFreak was contacted by the owner of a large file-hosting site who informed us he&#8217;d essentially been blackmailed by the operators of hijacked streaming links domains.</p>
<p>&#8220;We have received countless emails from the hijacker blackmailing us into paying them a large sum of money in order for our hosting site to remain allowed on their hijacked site,&#8221; the admin informed us.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak has seen the emails in question and they do indeed demand cash in exchange for remaining indexed.</p>
<p>The approach, we are told, causes not only problems but a moral dilemma. While it would be easy to tell an insignificant player to go away, these hijacked sites are generating an awful lot of traffic.</p>
<p>&#8220;A large percentage of traffic from these 1Channel clones comes from the hijacked site, Vodly.  In fact we get almost 10x more traffic from the hijacked site than the real one,&#8221; the admin explained.</p>
<p>The question now is how admins will react to the demands. Will they pay the money in the hope of maintaining their traffic, or tell their tormentors where to go and potentially lose much more? </p>
<p>Only time will tell, but what we&#8217;re definitely seeing here is the unauthorized streaming sector being turned into a messy ghetto where little is what it seems. How long users will put up with that is definitely something to watch.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/file-hosting-sites-blackmailed-by-streaming-site-cloners-130825/">File-Hosting Sites Blackmailed By Streaming Site Cloners</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=2_KDmcYOUjw:CqAebldLV2c:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=2_KDmcYOUjw:CqAebldLV2c:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=2_KDmcYOUjw:CqAebldLV2c:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/2_KDmcYOUjw" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75975
title: Paysafecard Begins Banning VPN Providers
uri: Paysafecard-Begins-Banning-VPN-Providers
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Qp6b0q2UQbc/
content:
<p><img src="media/ec4006be.paysafe.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/paysafe.jpg" alt="paysafe" width="230" height="89" class="alignright size-full wp-image-75977" />Payment services are increasingly taking action against VPN providers, and as of today <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paysafecard">paysafecard</a> can be added to the list. </p>
<p>Paysafecard is a popular prepaid coupon sold at 450,000 sales points in dozens of countries. It is accepted by Internet companies worldwide, including many gambling sites and file-hosting services such as <a href="https://www.paysafecard.com/en-gb/use/internet-services//page/3/">RapidShare and Netload</a>. </p>
<p>The payment method recently gained the interest of iPredator, a VPN provider launched by Pirate Bay founder Peter Sunde. After <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mastercard-and-visa-start-banning-vpn-providers-130703/">losing Visa and Mastercard</a> as a payment option, as well as recent <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/paypal-cuts-off-pirate-bay-vpn-ipredator-freezes-assets-130724/">troubles with PayPal</a>, the Swedish VPN provider needed another payment option. </p>
<p>However, when <a href="http://ipredator.se">iPredator</a> decided to sign up with paysafecard the alarm bells began to ring in the company’s internal control department. &#8220;We don&#8217;t work with VPN services,&#8221; was the reply paysafecard sent, denying the application. </p>
<p>Hoping to get some more details on this strong anti-VPN stance TorrentFreak contacted the company. paysafecard’s PR Specialist Michaela Unger informed us that they don’t accept VPN services because these allow users to spoof IP addresses.</p>
<p>“In terms of security it is seen as a very high risk for paysafecard, because you cannot trace where the information is coming from,” Unger says.</p>
<p>“In many cases VPN services are used for businesses which have something to hide – this can be any illegal business because if the IP address is spoofed, you cannot trace where all the information is coming from. People can hide a lot of illegal content and you will never be able to detect the original source,” she adds.</p>
<p>Paysafecard is the first payment method to confirm a VPN ban. Earlier this year the Swedish payment service provider Payson outlawed anonymizing services as well, but only for Visa and Mastercard payments. </p>
<p>Interestingly, paysafecard still <a href="https://www.paysafecard.com/en-gb/use/internet-services//page/3/">lists a VPN provider</a> as one of their merchants, but this will probably change in the near future. </p>
<p>It is unclear what evidence of abuse the company has seen. There are obviously plenty of legal uses for VPNs. The news, however, does follow a trend in which online payment systems take action against VPNs.</p>
<p>For example, one large European payment processor informed iPredator that they have been put on a blacklist of services that are not allowed to accept credit card payments. TorrentFreak <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/paypal-cuts-off-pirate-bay-vpn-ipredator-freezes-assets-130724/">previously asked</a> both MasterCard and Visa about the claims of an operational blacklist, but both companies denied one exists.</p>
<p>Mastercard&#8217;s Senior Vice President of External Communications, Andrew Bowins, told us that they have no policy to ban VPN services, but that they occasionally disconnect merchants who violate their terms.</p>
<p>&#8220;We don’t currently have a policy that unilaterally prohibits VPNs or anonymizers. That said, in order to protect the integrity of the payment system and its participants, we do review merchants to determine whether their models are in compliance with our rules,&#8221; Bowins told TorrentFreak. </p>
<p>Neither MasterCard nor Visa could confirm that iPredator was allowed to process credit card payments. </p>
<p>The big question is, why are VPNs slowly starting to lose access to online payment systems? Is it all a coincidence or are we witnessing a coordinated push against anonymizer services? Are there any agreements being made behind the scenes to target these services?</p>
<p>If that&#8217;s indeed what&#8217;s going on, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/how-long-before-vpns-become-illegal-120615/">how long before VPNs become illegal</a>?</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/paysafecard-begins-banning-vpn-providers-130825/">Paysafecard Begins Banning VPN Providers</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Qp6b0q2UQbc:8m94S_2l8QU:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Qp6b0q2UQbc:8m94S_2l8QU:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=Qp6b0q2UQbc:8m94S_2l8QU:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/Qp6b0q2UQbc" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76032
title: Cheap MP3 Site Shuts Down, Keeps Users’ Cash, Blames Russian SOPA
uri: Cheap-MP3-Site-Shuts-Down-Keeps-Users-Cash-Blames-Russian-SOPA
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/keyI_9rbNdU/
content:
<p><a href="media/5af0e562.legalsoundslogo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/legalsoundslogo.jpg"><img src="media/5af0e562.legalsoundslogo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/legalsoundslogo.jpg" alt="legalsoundslogo" width="180" height="68" class="alignright size-full wp-image-76049" /></a>There&#8217;s no shortage of ways to obtain music online for free, but surprisingly there are plenty of people who will pay hard cash to obtain MP3s, even though they aren&#8217;t buying them from official sources.</p>
<p>For well over a decade there have been big sites, mainly hosted in Russia or Ukraine, that allow their users to download music for a fraction of the prices quoted by outlets such as iTunes. Historically the sites claimed protection under licensing from the Russian Multimedia and Internet Society (ROMS) but that has always been a controversial assertion. Few if any pay money to western labels.</p>
<p>One of the most famous, AllofMP3.com, generated dozens of news headlines around 2005 and even became a political issue when the United States suggested that Russia&#8217;s entry into the World Trade Organization would be threatened by the site&#8217;s existence.</p>
<p>On August 22 2012 and after 19 years of waiting, Russia became the 156th member of the WTO but despite complaints from the U.S., dozens of similar sites continue to operate in Russia and across the border in Ukraine.</p>
<p>Although many have come under pressure from payment providers, most still seem able to take money, even from giants Visa and Mastercard. Previously sites have chosen to charge a few cents per track (around $1.00 per album) but more recently the trend is to offer unlimited music for a set price. Others allow users to charge their accounts with payments of around $25.00 each in order to spend those balances over time.</p>
<p>One of the sites offering this model was LegalSounds. Online since 2005 and launched with a campaign that announced &#8220;The end of peer-to-peer networks is near!&#8221;, the site offered MP3s for around $0.09 each. But while this may have worked well for a while, the party is now over.</p>
<p><img src="media/0229e3ed.legalsounds.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/legalsounds.png" alt="LegalSounds" /></p>
<p>&#8220;We are terribly sorry, but due to recent changes in Russian Federation legislation (Anti-Piracy Law, which came into force August 1), we can&#8217;t continue offering you our service,&#8221; LegalSounds announced in a brief statement.</p>
<p>&#8220;Thanks for all of you, who supported legalsounds.com through these years. We hope to come back with something new.&#8221;</p>
<p>It&#8217;s far from clear why LegalSounds felt an urgent need to close down. Thus far no application has been made to the Russian authorities to have content removed from other MP3 sites under the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/search/russia+sopa">new legislation</a> (it only covers movies and TV shows) and there is currently no indication that other sites intend to follow.</p>
<p>In the meantime and for the customers hit by the closure, the outlook isn&#8217;t good. LegalSounds&#8217; <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/LegalSounds/39750733811">Facebook page</a> appears to have been abandoned, leaving behind only furious ex-customers who seem to have lost all the money they had in their accounts. While there are threats ranging from class action to murder, few users of the site appear to have read LegalSounds&#8217; terms and conditions.</p>
<p>&#8220;Only payments made from credit cards are refundable. The entire amount of transaction is subject to be refunded. Partial refunding is not allowed. Refund can’t be provided when customer used part of the balance,&#8221; the ToS on the now-dead site used to read.</p>
<p>Whether this closure will have a chilling effect on the cheap MP3 market remains to be seen. That will largely depend on whether other sites follow suit.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/cheap-mp3-site-shuts-down-keeps-users-cash-blames-russian-sopa-130826/">Cheap MP3 Site Shuts Down, Keeps Users&#8217; Cash, Blames Russian SOPA</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=keyI_9rbNdU:gwLYubBmJno:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=keyI_9rbNdU:gwLYubBmJno:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=keyI_9rbNdU:gwLYubBmJno:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/keyI_9rbNdU" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76026
title: Finnish Court Censors Website That Criticizes Censorship
uri: Finnish-Court-Censors-Website-That-Criticizes-Censorship
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/mghzRefu3Uk/
content:
<p><img src="media/6cb6a973.censorship.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/censorship.jpg" alt="censorship" width="200" height="200" class="alignright size-full wp-image-47463" />All around the world there are initiatives that require Internet providers to block access to child pornography.</p>
<p>The UK has the Internet Watch Foundation and in New Zealand there is the Digital Child Exploitation Filtering System, for example. These initiatives are not widely discussed, but occasionally they make the headlines when a <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/uk-internet-blacklist-censors-fileserve-file-hosting-service-111118/">legal site ends up in the filter</a>.</p>
<p>In Finland the National Bureau of Investigation is in charge of maintaining a local blocklist, targeting foreign sites that distribute child pornography.</p>
<p>While nearly everyone agrees that child abuse is something that should be rooted out, not everyone believes that these secret blocking initiatives are the best solution. Internet activist Matti Nikki belongs to the latter group, and to express his opinions he started <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapsiporno.info">lapsiporno.info</a>, which translates to &#8220;child porn dot info.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;I started the site back in december 2005 with only one article online, outlining what I knew about Internet censorship and [that] it would and wouldn&#8217;t apply to child porn distribution,&#8221; <a href="http://lapsiporno.info/english-2008-02-15.html">Matti explains</a>. </p>
<p>&#8220;It has been my belief that censorship isn&#8217;t any kind of solution to child porn, and I actually believe it&#8217;ll only worsen the situation as it&#8217;ll give a reason for the people involved to tighten their security and anonymity.&#8221;</p>
<p>In addition to writing opinion articles and pointing out that many websites are being censored by mistake, Matti also posted a list of hundreds of URLs that are blocked under the filter. And this is where things took a turn for the worse.</p>
<p>The National Bureau of Investigation decided to add lapsiporno.info to the filter because it exposed the blocked links, a decision Matti challenged in court. In 2011 a Helsinki court sided with Matti, ruling that his site should not be blocked, but this has now been <a href="http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2013/08/26/finnish_court_censoring_a_website_that_criticized_censorship_is_legal">overturned</a> by the Supreme Court.</p>
<p>The Supreme Court <a href="http://www.kho.fi/paatokset/62978.htm">decided</a> today that, even though the site itself isn&#8217;t linking to or hosting illegal material, the need to protect children from harm outweighs freedom of speech in this case. </p>
<p>The Court noted that if lapsiporno.info is allowed to stay accessible then other sites could circumvent the blockade as well by adding legal content to their websites. The Court waved away the argument that the site is not covered by the blocking legislation, which applies to foreign sites only, since it lists domains of foreign sites. </p>
<p>The ruling means that the website in question remains blocked by most ISPs in Finland. The ironic situation is, however, that lapsiporno.info still accessible to the rest of the world, hosted on a Finnish server. </p>
<p>The Finnish case opens up the debate where the censorship line should be drawn. While this case resolves around child pornography, copyright holders could be inclined to make the same claim for sites that link to The Pirate Bay. </p>
<p>And what about news sites who cover this issue and mention lapsiporno.info?</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/finnish-court-censors-website-that-criticizes-censorship-130826/">Finnish Court Censors Website That Criticizes Censorship</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=mghzRefu3Uk:YiSH6qzb4qQ:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=mghzRefu3Uk:YiSH6qzb4qQ:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=mghzRefu3Uk:YiSH6qzb4qQ:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/mghzRefu3Uk" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76021
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week
uri: 2013-08-26-Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/00ln8ILcfD4/
content:
<p><img src="media/f7ca0bdf.nowyouseeme.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/nowyouseeme.jpg" alt="nowyouseeme" width="300" height="236" class="alignright size-full wp-image-76022" />This week we have four newcomers in our chart. </p>
<p>Now You See Me is the most downloaded movie. </p>
<p>The data for our weekly download chart is collected 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" summary="Most downloaded movies on BitTorrent">
<caption>Week ending August 25, 2013</caption>
<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-130819/">last week</a>)</strong></th>
<th><strong>Movie</strong></th>
<th width="18%"><strong>IMDb Rating / Trailer</strong></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tfoot>
<tr>
<td colspan="4">torrentfreak.com</td>
</tr>
</tfoot>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>1</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/now_you_see_me/">Now You See Me</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1670345/">7.4</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzJNYYkkhzc">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/star_trek_into_darkness/">Star Trek Into Darkness</a> (Webrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1408101/">8.1</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhz4A5BCMAA">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/were_the_millers/">We&#8217;re The Millers</a> (Webrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1723121/">7.2</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Vsy5KzsieQ">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/iron_man_3/">Iron Man 3</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1300854/">7.5</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CzoSeClcw0">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_conjuring/">The Conjuring</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1457767/">7.9</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k10ETZ41q5o">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(9)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ripd/">R.I.P.D</a> (TS/Webrip) </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0790736/">5.5</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhOWtVElqfw">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/pain_and_gain/">Pain and Gain</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1980209/">6.7</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEQ8jyvmYtw">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_great_gatsby_2013/">The Great Gatsby</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1343092/">7.4</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaBVLhcHcc0">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_frozen_ground/">The Frozen Ground</a> (Webrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2005374/">6.4</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0_mrDgDe4w">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/oblivion_2013/">Oblivion</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1483013/">7.1</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmIIgE7eSak">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-movies-of-the-week-130826/">Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=00ln8ILcfD4:1nIYNDAsFAw:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=00ln8ILcfD4:1nIYNDAsFAw:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=00ln8ILcfD4:1nIYNDAsFAw:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/00ln8ILcfD4" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76063
title: Large Torrent Site to be Blocked by Russia’s SOPA
uri: Large-Torrent-Site-to-be-Blocked-by-Russia-s-SOPA
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/1YmSDsN9L9Q/
content:
<p>It&#8217;s been an interesting first month for Russia&#8217;s new anti-piracy plan.</p>
<p>After a tentative start with only a handful of rightsholders filing complaints, it quickly became clear that in order for the system to work effectively, movie and TV companies would have to be a little better organized.</p>
<p>Thursday last week it was <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/russias-sopa-sees-42-of-all-anti-piracy-blocking-requests-rejected-130820/">revealed</a> that out of a total of 19 submitted complaints just 11 had been accepted after administrative faults were found with the others.</p>
<p>In the coming months, in which the law will almost certainly be amended to protect other copyright works including music and lyrics, it is expected that copyright holders will become more adept at supplying the required paperwork.</p>
<p>But despite the early hiccups, the law is already showing its teeth.</p>
<p>According to the Roskomnadzor communications agency, a large file-sharing site will soon be censored by locals ISPs after failing to respond appropriately to copyright complaints.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/9998e379.rutor.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/rutor.jpg" alt="rutor" /></center></p>
<p>Rutor.org, a public torrent site running its own tracker, operates out of Sweden but is targeted at Russia. According to Alexa the site is the 32nd most-visited site in Russia. Around 9% of the site&#8217;s traffic comes from Ukraine where it is the country&#8217;s 60th most-popular site.</p>
<p>Rutor stands accused of making available movie and TV show content without obtaining permission from rightsholders. Its domain will shortly be added to Russia&#8217;s national blocklist meaning that it will be rendered inaccessible to users of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runet_%28terminology%29">Runet</a> not running a proxy or <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-that-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2013-edition-130302/">VPN service</a>.</p>
<p>Another site has seen its luck change. OpenSharing.org indexes primarily Russian content but actually operates out of neighboring Ukraine. It is less popular with Russians than Rutor and is the country&#8217;s 894th most-popular domain. After being marked for blocking last week, it has now complied and will be removed from the blocklist.</p>
<p>Other sites that face being blocked include torrent sites turbofilm.tv and fast-torrent.ru, plus streaming portals online.stepashka.com, seasonvar.ru, smotruonline.ru, intv.ru and kinozal.tv. Roskomnadzor reports today that four of the sites have complied and will be removed from the blacklist.</p>
<p>Under the new law blocks are carried out against a site&#8217;s IP address so there&#8217;s a possibility that unconnected domains could also be censored if they share the same IP. Rutor&#8217;s IP is not currently in use by any other site.</p>
<p>In a cruel twist, Rutor.org was one of the driving forces behind the successful 100K+ signature <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/russias-sopa-sees-42-of-all-anti-piracy-blocking-requests-rejected-130820/">petition</a> to have Russia&#8217;s anti-piracy law withdrawn. That petition will now be reviewed by the government.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/large-torrent-site-to-be-blocked-by-russias-sopa-130826/">Large Torrent Site to be Blocked by Russia&#8217;s SOPA</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=1YmSDsN9L9Q:ZELvWsdXcjU:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=1YmSDsN9L9Q:ZELvWsdXcjU:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=1YmSDsN9L9Q:ZELvWsdXcjU:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/1YmSDsN9L9Q" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76111
title: MPAA Wants Unredacted IP-Addresses of isoHunt Users
uri: MPAA-Wants-Unredacted-IP-Addresses-of-isoHunt-Users
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/BCrRbqn6UaI/
content:
<p><img src="media/3e145208.isohunt-logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/isohunt-logo.jpg" alt="isohunt-logo" width="200" height="71" class="alignright size-full wp-image-21815" />For more than seven years isoHunt and the MPAA have been battling it out in court, and in recent weeks the case has heated up once more.</p>
<p>After the 2010 District Court ruling against the torrent site <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/isohunt-loses-appeal-against-the-mpaa-keyword-filter-remains-130321/">was affirmed</a> in March, the case is now moving towards a trial later this year from which the movie industry hopes to win <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-wants-up-to-750-million-in-damages-from-isohunt-130729/">up to $750 million</a> in statutory damages.</p>
<p>To secure this amount the MPAA has to prove direct infringement and show that United States users either uploaded or downloaded copyrighted works. In addition, they will have to show that they are the rightful owners of the files in question. </p>
<p>Previously, the court had already ordered isoHunt to hand over download information to the MPAA, including IP-addresses of users. At the time the location of the downloaders wasn&#8217;t an issue so the IP-addresses were redacted. Earlier this month, however, the MPAA requested the same data without redactions.</p>
<p>After a week isoHunt&#8217;s legal team replied to this request <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/163434500/Email-Convo">via email</a>, explaining that the original 2007 data was lost in a server crash. However, the server logs of the past five years are still there, and isoHunt is prepared to hand these over as long as the last digits of the IP-addresses are redacted, along with several other privacy guarantees.  </p>
<p>&#8220;To address privacy concerns, Defendants will agree to produce the data with the last octet blocked out,  designated as highly confidential pursuant to the protective order, and subject to a stipulation that plaintiffs will never use it for anything other than to identify country of origin of the users and will promptly destroy the data once the litigation concludes,&#8221; isoHunt lawyer Jennifer Golinveaux wrote.</p>
<p>The MPAA wrote back with assurances that without a court order it would not attempt to identify any individual website user from the IP addresses. This response suggested that the movie studios do not agree to the redaction that was discussed in a previous conversation, and a follow-up email confirmed this stance.</p>
<p>The MPAA is worried that isoHunt&#8217;s legal team will challenge the accuracy of the location data obtained from partial IP-addresses, and without assurances that this issue will not be brought up in court the movie group needs unredacted addresses. </p>
<p>&#8220;At this point, we need the full IP addresses. Defendants have made it clear that they intend to challenge the geographic location of downloading users. I have two or three times now said we would consider accepting the IP addresses with the last octet redacted provided that defendants will stipulate not to challenge the results of geolocation analysis of IP addresses with the last octet redacted,&#8221; MPAA&#8217;s Steve Fabrizio wrote.</p>
<p>Dissatisfied with isoHunt&#8217;s offer in response to the lost data, the MPAA said it was running out of time and <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/163433618/Mpaa-Sanction">filed a motion</a> for evidentiary sanctions last week. Among other things, the movie studios asks the court to rule that all of its movies and TV-shows have been downloaded at least 2,000 times by U.S. users through the isoHunt website.</p>
<p>&#8220;The missing website data, which Defendants have not produced (and, in material respects, have irreversibly despoiled), would have conclusively proven direct infringement by Defendants’ users and would have been important evidence on the issue of damages,&#8221; the MPAA tells the court.  </p>
<p>In response, IsoHunt <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/163433454/iso-reply">told the court</a> yesterday that there is no basis for these sanctions as they were willing to solve the issue by producing new server logs. In addition, isoHunt criticized the MPAA&#8217;s entire motion.</p>
<p>&#8220;Copyright infringement carries statutory damages of up to $150,000 per work infringed. Plaintiffs should not be allowed to short cut proving the most basic elements of their damages case based upon nothing more than bald distortions of the record,&#8221; isoHunt&#8217;s legal team writes.</p>
<p>It is now up to the court to rule on the request, which will also decide on the fate of the server logs. </p>
<p>A ruling in the MPAA&#8217;s favor means that no IP-addresses will be handed over, but it will put isoHunt at a severe disadvantage. Should the court deny the MPAA&#8217;s request for sanctions then the MPAA and isoHunt will have to reach an agreement on how the addresses will be redacted. </p>
<p><strong>Update September 12:</strong> isoHunt informed us that they have an agreement with the MPAA not to hand over underacted IPs. The last octet will be redacted as &#8220;1&#8243; and MPAA will use it only to identify the location of downloaders. isoHunt agreed not to raise the location issue (with regard to the redacted addresses) in court. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-wants-unredacted-ip-addresses-of-isohunt-users-130827/">MPAA Wants Unredacted IP-Addresses of isoHunt Users</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=BCrRbqn6UaI:8Uj4iIdaWu4:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=BCrRbqn6UaI:8Uj4iIdaWu4:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=BCrRbqn6UaI:8Uj4iIdaWu4:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/BCrRbqn6UaI" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76096
title: Hacker Jacob Appelbaum to Testify at Pirate Bay Founder Appeal
uri: Hacker-Jacob-Appelbaum-to-Testify-at-Pirate-Bay-Founder-Appeal
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/hMMeIHz1Mps/
content:
<p><img src="media/7557a16b.anakata1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/anakata1.jpg" width="225" height="146" class="alignright" />Earlier this year Gottfrid Svartholm became the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-fin-will-serve-sentence-electronically-tagged-120319/">second person</a> to serve out a jail sentence in connection with the operations of The Pirate Bay.</p>
<p>Upon completion of that detention Gottfrid stool trial again in May, this time in connection with alleged hacking offenses carried out against Logica, a Swedish IT company working with local tax authorities and local bank Nordea.</p>
<p>After a two-week trial the Nacka District Court handed down its verdict in June. The Court found Gottfrid guilty of hacking, aggravated fraud and attempted aggravated fraud, handing down a two-year jail sentence. A 36-year-old accomplice was given probation.</p>
<p>Last month it was revealed that both the defense and prosecution would be filing appeals, with the former hoping for a more detailed examination of the evidence and the latter seeking a tougher jail sentence.</p>
<p>That process is due to get underway shortly in the Court of Appeal and will receive a boost from one of the world&#8217;s most famous security experts.</p>
<p><a href="media/35b059df.appelbaum.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/appelbaum.jpg"><img src="media/35b059df.appelbaum.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/appelbaum.jpg" alt="appelbaum" width="180" height="120" class="alignright size-full wp-image-76101" /></a>In a move that&#8217;s likely to attract the attention of the world&#8217;s press, Tor developer and former Wikileaks spokesman Jacob Appelbaum will be giving testimony at the appeal.</p>
<p>Appelbaum, previously described by Rolling Stone as &#8220;the most dangerous man in cyberspace&#8221; and recently linked to an <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/interview-with-whistleblower-edward-snowden-on-global-spying-a-910006.html">interview</a> with Edward Snowden, will appear for the defense in support of Gottfrid&#8217;s assertion that the security of his computers was breached.</p>
<p>Much of the evidence in the original trial was obtained from a computer seized from Gottfrid’s apartment in Cambodia where he was detained in 2012. While the evidence found on the machine linked the device to the hacks, Gottfrid has always maintained that they were accessed remotely by a third party.</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://www.idg.se/2.1085/1.519515/kandishackare-vittnar-om-intranget-mot-nordea">IDG</a>, Appelbaum&#8217;s interview will take place next week, September 4.</p>
<p>As a core member of the Tor project and one of the world&#8217;s leading online anonymity experts, Appelbaum provides training to human rights groups and journalists on how to stay invisible online. If anyone knows how to access a computer and disappear, he does, and the defense will be hoping that this time round the court sees Gottfrid&#8217;s evidence in a new light.</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> Gottfrid&#8217;s mother Kristina Svartholm informs TorrentFreak that she visited her son this morning who commented briefly on the earlier ruling.</p>
<p>&#8220;We don&#8217;t like you,&#8221; Gottfrid said, as he described his assessment of how the court in the original trial viewed him. Kristina told us that she hopes that the members of the Appeal Court &#8220;will like him a bit more&#8221; than those in the lower court did.</p>
<p>&#8220;In the Swedish system you are in principle not allowed to bring any new evidence into the Appeal Court. The court watches video recordings from lower court,&#8221; Kristina explained. &#8220;In this case they allowed the defence to bring a new witness [Appelbaum] &#8211; I don&#8217;t know how common this is.&#8221;</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/hacker-jacob-appelbaum-to-testify-at-pirate-bay-founder-appeal-130827/">Hacker Jacob Appelbaum to Testify at Pirate Bay Founder Appeal</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=hMMeIHz1Mps:FfTExBu5IQc:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=hMMeIHz1Mps:FfTExBu5IQc:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=hMMeIHz1Mps:FfTExBu5IQc:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/hMMeIHz1Mps" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76148
title: 3D Printing “DRM” Aims to Stop Next-Gen Pirates
uri: 3D-Printing-DRM-Aims-to-Stop-Next-Gen-Pirates
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/zU1s2FN3ILE/
content:
<p><img src="media/1c69e722.downloadcar.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/downloadcar.png" alt="downloadcar" width="200" height="132" class="alignright size-full wp-image-76166" />A decade ago people were truly amazed to find out that they could download entire movies using BitTorrent. At the time there were no official video download stores and YouTube wasn&#8217;t around either. </p>
<p>In the coming years another revolution is destined to unfold, that of 3D printing. While the 3D printer opens up a lot of possibilities to the public it also poses a major threat to dozens of industries. </p>
<p>Downloading a car <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/would-you-download-a-car-man-3d-prints-lifesize-aston-martin-db4-8744159.html">is a serious possibility</a>, and leeching the latest cover for your smartphone will soon be reality. The manufacturers, however, are not going to provide these copies for free, and that&#8217;s where the trouble starts.</p>
<p>To address the concerns of companies who plan to offer products as 3D designs, a new startup from California has developed a DRM-type system to make it harder to copy these files. Instead of allowing customers to download the designs, <a href="http://www.authentise.com/">Authentise</a> will be streamed to the 3D printer, allowing objects to be printed only once.</p>
<p>The technology goes live at <a href="http://sendshapes.com/shape/launch.php">SendShapes</a> next month and more services are expected to appear in the future. </p>
<p>“We’re already talking to a number of people about using the technology to enable buying of designs online, with an iTunes-like functionality,” Authentise CEO Andre Wegner told <a href="http://www.technologyreview.com/news/518591/copy-protection-for-3-d-printing-aims-to-prevent-a-piracy-plague/">Technology Review</a>. </p>
<p>While the technology may be effective, it wont be perfect. History has taught us that there will always be cracks, circumvention tools, and people who want to share unauthorized copies. </p>
<p>The Pirate Bay has already prepared itself for these 3D pirates when it <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-wants-you-to-really-download-a-car-120124/">added a Physibles section</a> last year. However, Pirate Bay founder Tobias Andersson <a href="//torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-founders-speak-out-on-the-sites-past-and-future-130811/">told us earlier</a> this month that he&#8217;s not certain whether the site can cope with the pressure this will bring along.</p>
<p>&#8220;The coming copy fights will be on a totally other level. I’m talking about the 3D printing revolution. In a few years, millions of blueprints of tools, car parts, clothing and weapons will be up for download. If there is a safe platform.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;The Pirate Bay in its current form can withstand the pressure from quite harmless industries like the movie and music industries. But when car, oil, and weapons industries and all the countries that depend on them start to feel threatened, we can’t depend on a few people to sacrifice themselves.&#8221;</p>
<p>Whether it will be through The Pirate Bay or its eventual successor, one thing is for certain. 3D designs will be copied, both with and without the authorization of their makers.</p>
<p>Authentise is also prepared for this eventuality as the company has a marking technology that will print unique identifiers into each copy. These hallmarks can lead straight back to the person who initially bought the design, allowing sellers to pin down the leak.</p>
<p>&#8220;Instead of hoping to stop the creation of a digitally manufactured objects, each object printed will include one or multiple identifiers that enable investigators to trace any party along the value chain; the designer, the printer, and any intermediary,&#8221; writes the company in its forensics paper. </p>
<p>&#8220;Inserted hallmarks are designed to identify both the digitally manufactured object and any object produced by it. This opportunity turns traditional forensics on its head. The bullet casing might act as a fingerprint leading investigators directly to the person who printed the object.&#8221; </p>
<p>And so a new cat and mouse game is about to begin, and history will repeat itself once again. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/3d-printing-drm-aims-to-stop-next-gen-pirates-130827/">3D Printing &#8220;DRM&#8221; Aims to Stop Next-Gen Pirates</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=zU1s2FN3ILE:SdujJneDmxg:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=zU1s2FN3ILE:SdujJneDmxg:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=zU1s2FN3ILE:SdujJneDmxg:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/zU1s2FN3ILE" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76197
title: Belgian ISPs Quietly Expand Torrent Site Blockade
uri: Belgian-ISPs-Quietly-Expand-Torrent-Site-Blockade
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Hg4IzckzNIU/
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" />In 2011 Belgium was one of the first countries to implement a court-ordered Pirate Bay blockade.</p>
<p>The action was the result of a lawsuit between the Belgian Anti-Piracy Foundation (BAF) and the ISPs Belgacom and Telenet. Through the lawsuit BAF hoped to force the Internet providers to block subscriber access to the famous torrent site.</p>
<p>Initially the Antwerp Commercial Court <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/isps-dont-have-to-block-the-pirate-bay-court-rules-100710/">ruled in favor</a> of the ISPs, describing the notion of wholesale site blocking as “disproportionate”. However, this decision was later <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/belgian-isps-ordered-to-block-the-pirate-bay-111004/">overturned</a> by the Court of Appeal and access to The Pirate Bay has been blocked ever since. </p>
<p>As a result of the ruling many regular Pirate Bay users switched to using proxies instead, while others moved on to other torrent sites such as KAT, ExtraTorrent and BitSnoop. These circumvention attempts didn&#8217;t go unnoticed by the local anti-piracy group though, as many of these alternatives have now also been blocked.</p>
<p>Starting this past weekend, millions of Belgian Internet users lost access to most popular torrent sites. TorrentFreak was able to confirm that Kat.ph, BitSnoop, ExtraTorrent and H33T are no longer accessible. </p>
<p>Interestingly, KAT&#8217;s new domain Kickass.to still works. This is quite an oversight as this is by far the most popular torrent site and the domain is ranked as the <a href="http://www.alexa.com/topsites/countries;2/BE">55th most-visited</a> in Belgium. The latest Pirate Bay domain is accessible as well.</p>
<p>Those who try to access the blocked domains through Belgacom and Telenet get a page filled with police logos containing the following message.</p>
<p>“You have been redirected to this stop page because the website you are trying to visit offers content that is considered illegal according to Belgian legislation. If you are the owner or administrator of this website and you consider to be wrongly redirected, you can report this by fax at +32(0)2/733.56.16.”</p>
<p><center><br />
<h5>Blocked (<a href="media/97509ad0.tpb-be.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpb-be.jpg">large</a>)</h5>
<p><img src="media/a2837677.tpb-be-small.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpb-be-small.jpg" alt="tpb" /></center></p>
<p>The notice above suggests that the blockade was implemented following a court order but this is not yet available in the public record. However, the Belgian Anti-Piracy Foundation did confirm to TorrentFreak that they have recently filed a complaint at court which targets several torrent sites.</p>
<p>BAF couldn&#8217;t provide more details at the moment but said it would most likely release more information in the near future.</p>
<p>None of the affected Internet providers has released a statement on the new blockades. It&#8217;s also unknown how many sites are included. </p>
<p>Whether the blocks will be effective remains to be seen. Last week <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/censoring-the-pirate-bay-is-futile-research-shows-130822/">a report</a> from the University of Amsterdam showed that the court-ordered Pirate Bay block in the Netherlands had no impact on local piracy rates.  </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/belgian-isps-quietly-expand-torrent-site-blockade-130828/">Belgian ISPs Quietly Expand Torrent Site Blockade</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Hg4IzckzNIU:Vu5RJIK0vs4:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Hg4IzckzNIU:Vu5RJIK0vs4:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=Hg4IzckzNIU:Vu5RJIK0vs4:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/Hg4IzckzNIU" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76175
title: Grooveshark Signs With Sony, Steps Over that Wavy ‘Piracy’ Line
uri: Grooveshark-Signs-With-Sony-Steps-Over-that-Wavy-Piracy-Line
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/fsuzxQ_E-BY/
content:
<p><a href="media/66f02b27.grooveshark1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/grooveshark1.jpg"><img src="media/66f02b27.grooveshark1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/grooveshark1.jpg" alt="grooveshark" width="200" height="104" class="alignright size-full wp-image-42451" /></a>What&#8217;s the difference between YouTube and Grooveshark?</p>
<p>That&#8217;s not the start of some terrible geek in-joke but a question that Grooveshark founder Sam Tarantino has always been happy to answer, and for good reason.</p>
<p>Tarantino, the company&#8217;s current CEO, sees his streaming product as very much like a music-only version of YouTube. Just like its Google-owned counterpart, anyone can upload content to Grooveshark in order for the world to enjoy that same material on their machines.</p>
<p>But as Grooveshark has made clear to TorrentFreak in the past, the similarities don&#8217;t end there. Just like YouTube, Grooveshark is very aware that some users may upload content to which they don&#8217;t own the rights. So, in common with YouTube, Grooveshark abides by United States law and when someone notifies them that a copyrighted track has been uploaded, they take it down.</p>
<p>YouTube&#8217;s problems with rightsholders during the past few years (notably Viacom) have been widely documented but the company has largely sorted out its differences with rightsholders and has become a valuable marketing machine and source of revenue. Despite fighting lawsuits with several major labels, Grooveshark has always believed it can follow in YouTube&#8217;s footsteps, and now there are signs that against the odds they just might achieve their goal.</p>
<p>Grooveshark has just announced that it has reached a settlement with Sony/ATV Music Publishing. The agreement, which puts all legal disputes between the companies behind them, sees the signing of a licensing agreement to make Sony/ATV content legally available from the Grooveshark platform.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are excited to add Sony/ATV Music&#8217;s impressive array of songwriters to our catalogue further advancing our mission to empower creators with the best audio platform in the world,&#8221; CEO Sam Tarantino said in a statement.</p>
<p>According to research from Informa, Sony/ATV is the world&#8217;s largest music publisher accounting for 30% revenue market share in 2012.</p>
<p>The licensing deal is the second in less than four weeks for Grooveshark. Earlier this month the company announced that it had settled its differences with EMI Music Publishing with the signing of a licensing agreement. According to Informa, EMI is the second largest music publisher with a 20% revenue market share in 2012.</p>
<p>So where now for Grooveshark?</p>
<p>Even on the back of May&#8217;s &#8216;<a href="http://torrentfreak.com/groovesharks-future-in-doubt-after-settlements-with-big-music-130517/">consent judgments</a>&#8216; no announcement has yet been made in respect of settlements or licensing deals with Universal or Warner. Furthermore, the company still has to shake off some unpleasant problems such as being the subject of a <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/court-orders-isp-to-block-grooveshark-120221/">Danish ISP block</a> and being <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/google-adds-grooveshark-to-its-piracy-search-filter-130723/">censored by Google</a>. TorrentFreak also asked the BPI if Grooveshark will remain <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/records-labels-prepare-massive-pirate-site-domain-blocking-blitz-130515/">a target</a> in the UK, but we&#8217;ve yet to receive a response.</p>
<p>The big question now, however, goes back to the difference between YouTube and Grooveshark. The former proactively screens for infringing content based on lists supplied by rightholders and even has a deal with Universal that allows them to take down, seemingly, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/youtube-deal-with-universal-blocks-dmca-counter-notices-130405/">whatever they like</a>.</p>
<p>Does Grooveshark aspire to be just like YouTube in all ways in the name of survival? Time will tell.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/grooveshark-signs-with-sony-steps-over-that-wavy-piracy-line-130828/">Grooveshark Signs With Sony, Steps Over that Wavy &#8216;Piracy&#8217; Line</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=fsuzxQ_E-BY:MYfcRH1IfNo:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=fsuzxQ_E-BY:MYfcRH1IfNo:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=fsuzxQ_E-BY:MYfcRH1IfNo:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/fsuzxQ_E-BY" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=75740
title: Find Out Who’s Using The Pirate Bay… and Why
uri: Find-Out-Who-s-Using-The-Pirate-Bay-and-Why
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/F08YBaqs8Es/
content:
<p><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-33934" alt="research-bay" src="media/509eb227.research-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/research-bay.jpg" width="250" height="202" />Two years ago The Pirate Bay renamed itself to <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-joins-academic-cybernorms-research-group-110418/">The Research Bay</a> to promote its collaboration with the Cybernorms research group at Lund University.</p>
<p>The notorious BitTorrent site encouraged visitors to take part in a survey into people’s file-sharing habits and their views on copyright enforcement. In total 75,000 people from all over the world eventually participated in the study, making it the largest of its kind.</p>
<p>Since the study took place the researchers have already shared many of their findings. For example, we know that <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/girls-are-not-into-the-pirate-bay-or-bittorrent-110919/">girls are just as much into porn as guys</a>, and that the majority of Pirate Bay users planned to use VPNs or other measures to <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-users-hide-ip-addresses-to-counter-copyright-enforcement-research-finds-121109/">become more anonymous</a>.</p>
<p>Today the Cybernorms research group has opened up all the findings to the public, sharing a wealth of information. On <a href="http://thesurveybay.com">The Survey Bay</a> people can check a wide variety of statistics, and compile their own graphs. </p>
<p>The graph below, for example, shows how many North American Pirate Bay users, who share daily, had a VPN or wanted to use one in the future.</p>
<p><center><br />
<h5>VPN use among daily sharing North Americans</h5>
<p><img src="media/fe436016.vpn-bay.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/vpn-bay.png" alt="vpn-bay" width="560" height="328" size-full wp-image-76270" /></center></p>
<p>In addition to answering the fixed questions, roughly 25,000 people provided a comment to explain why they use The Pirate Bay. Recurring themes that we have identified are an inability to pay, either because respondents have no money or because there are no decent legal options available. In addition, many respondents feel that they have a right to share.</p>
<p>The justifications come in all shapes and sizes, and we have made a selection of a few notable ones from a diverse range of demographics.</p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<p>A <strong>66+</strong> year old <strong>woman</strong> from <strong>United States</strong> <a href="http://thesurveybay.com/one.php?id=50386960">writes</a>:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 10px;">&#8220;I don&#8217;t know these things. Even though I&#8217;ve been in computers (pause) since 1965. The corporations are out to make us slaves and to rule through fear. And I am certain, life will find a way. I will support communication. People need it for freedom and decisions. (just to recall, the corporations have made copy-write law a tool of money and not of encouraging innovation. Remember Microsoft&#8217;s words echoing 1984, (have to paraphrase) Innovation through standardization. Information wants to be free. (Because you are Swedish Ill remind you that those are words of the Internet pioneers. We built this for the people.)&#8221;</p>
<p>A <strong>25-29</strong> year old <strong>man</strong> from <strong>United States</strong> <a href="http://thesurveybay.com/one.php?id=50428309">writes</a>:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 10px;">&#8220;As an artist myself, along with being an avid Sci-Fi buff, I believe that if we focused more on sharing ideas and less on making ourselves filthy rich that we would currently be at a point of technological advancement far beyond our imaginations. Law is necessary to prevent anarchy but not at the oppression of ideas or the people who imagine them. Most laws in the USA go against our founding fathers original ideals. Most laws in the USA are tailor made to suit corporations who, above all else, desire money and power. File-sharing will never die, regardless if laws are passed to prevent it, as long as people in the world are willing to fight for the right to share information.&#8221;</p>
<p>A <strong>18-24</strong> year old <strong>woman</strong> from <strong>Western Europe</strong> <a href="http://thesurveybay.com/one.php?id=50442217">writes</a>:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 10px;">&#8220;The authorities just don&#8217;t understand the zeitgeist and continue to unintentionally encourage illegal filesharing all over the place. In Germany you can&#8217;t access most YouTube videos with commercial music because of a GEMA lawsuit: if you just wanted to check out this one song by an artist for free to see whether you liked it (as you would do on the radio which nobody listens to anymore) you are encouraged to download their album (after seeing it on YouTube some may have bought it instead). More generally: you may not buy the music but pay for concert tickets. Well not anymore because ticket prices are skyrocketing because the music industry is out of money.&#8221;</p>
<p>A <strong>66+</strong> year old <strong>man</strong> from <strong>Europe</strong> <a href="http://thesurveybay.com/one.php?id=50182755">writes</a>:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 10px;">&#8220;I am so old and find it rather expensive to buy anything these days, being a pensioner it does not leave a great deal of money to spend on goods once you have paid all the usual bills, gas, electric and like wise. but keep up the good work and thank you.&#8221;</p>
<p>A <strong>37-45</strong> year old <strong>woman</strong> from <strong>South East Asia</strong> <a href="http://thesurveybay.com/one.php?id=50441045">writes</a>:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 10px;">&#8220;If it wasn&#8217;t for file sharing, I wouldn&#8217;t be able to watch movies. In the country I live in, I cannot go to the cinema/movies to see an American film or other films in the English language. I&#8217;m pretty thankful for these sites.&#8221;</p>
<p>A <strong>30-36</strong> year old <strong>man</strong> from <strong>East Asia</strong> <a href="http://thesurveybay.com/one.php?id=50439068">writes</a>:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 10px;">&#8220;I only file share because I live on US military bases and the MPAA and other stupid laws don&#8217;t exempt us from the blocks they put in place to watch things legally. So&#8230;why I do it? I do it just to give them the proverbial finger. If it was on TV out here, I would watch it. If it was available overseas to me, I would watch it. The problem is, there is NO LEGAL means to watch it from.&#8221;</p>
<p>A <strong>53-65</strong> year old <strong>woman</strong> from <strong>Australia</strong> <a href="http://thesurveybay.com/one.php?id=50302095">writes</a>:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 10px;">&#8220;Hi, as an Australian academic researcher and a file-sharer am very interested in your survey as I had intended to run a similar project via an ISP, and many of my questions were similar to yours! As you will probably know Big Content has recently lost (twice, once on appeal) its case against major Aussie ISP iinet that the ISP was helping copyright infringements. This case is likely to be heard one last time, before the highest court. In the meantime iiNet has developed a model proposing an independent authority mediate between content owners and alleged file-sharers. Despite our relatively slow net speeds and high chargers, Australians download much content &#8212; in part because TV is woeful here and popular UK and US seasons take often 1-2 years to reach the airwaves. I predict more people will use TOR and VPN as the government is likely to implement anti-file-sharing regulations following the final episode of the iiNet court saga..whatever the outcome.&#8221;</p>
<p>A <strong>-17</strong> year old <strong>man</strong> from <strong>New Zealand</strong> <a href="http://thesurveybay.com/one.php?id=50438414">writes</a>:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 10px;">&#8220;I believe the biggest problem facing file-sharing is the idea of forcing ISPs to monitor traffic to make sure people aren&#8217;t illegally sharing file. This is a blatant breach of privacy and unless major corporations take a step back and stop interfering in the processes involved in catching cyber-criminals, they face widespread backlash from the file-sharers and activists of the world.&#8221;</p>
<p>A <strong>30-36</strong> year old <strong>woman</strong> from <strong>Southern Africa</strong> <a href="http://thesurveybay.com/one.php?id=50386960">writes</a>:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 10px;">&#8220;In my opinion developing countries cannot cater to the huge demand for current commercial tv series. TV series are sometimes years behind the country of origin. The demand is out there, people get hooked on their favorite shows but their countries conditions may cause them to satisfy the demand by means of file-sharing. Many people would not mind paying eg $1.99 per show download as is available on amazon, but the facility is not available outside the US. So, in my opinion, file-sharing will probably soon force networks to expand their services to include the international online demand.&#8221;</p>
<p>A <strong>18-24</strong> year old <strong>man</strong> from <strong>Central Africa</strong> <a href="http://thesurveybay.com/one.php?id=50428309">writes</a>:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 10px;">&#8220;In Africa most online services are unavailable, file sharing is the at times the only way to have some material coming from developed countries so most Africans use file sharing more as a means of staying at the same level as the rest of the world than trying to somehow forge or steal copyrighted products. It is their right for people to share things they came to own, so it is as well their right for people to take what is shared! The assets of sites like google, youtube or ebay tend to neglect the third world where a real market is present. Hopefully changes will be made in a near future we cross our fingers.&#8221;</p>
<p>A <strong>18-24</strong> year old <strong>woman</strong> from <strong>South America</strong> <a href="http://thesurveybay.com/one.php?id=50303650">writes</a>:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 10px;">&#8220;In my country its common to see street vendors with pirate copies of films. Some of them are linked to organized crime (the kind that also deals with drugs and politics). I remember one particular national film made it to the streets way before it was out either in Theaters or at download sites (it actually helped with the marketing, but the point is whoever was responsible was well positioned in the film industry, had some interesting friends and didn&#8217;t do it for the sharing). I wish file sharing was legalized and the time and public resources spent on it were focused on dismantling *those* networks. And that artists\crew\creators (and local communities, when applicable) had a larger cut of the earnings.&#8221;</p>
<p>A <strong>37-45</strong> year old <strong>man</strong> from <strong>Paraguay</strong> <a href="http://thesurveybay.com/one.php?id=50188428">writes</a>:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 10px;">&#8220;Hello! I live in Paraguay, i consume incredible amounts of music (Rock-Metal) and Video Games, I only use file sharing to like trial stuff, for example, I download some mp3s, and if I like the music, I buy the original CD online, in Amazon or The End Records etc. For me, is wrong to download software, or videogames, but in the case of music, helps me to discover new bands, styles etc. In the software or video games, i do the same thing, but as we all know, a downloaded software or game never works well, so I tested it, then if I like It, I deleted the download and buy the original stuff..!! Thanks!&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<p>The above is of course just a small and rather random selection of the responses. There are plenty more gems available on <a href="http://thesurveybay.com">The Survey Bay</a> website. </p>
<p>To all Pirate Bay users that haven&#8217;t filled out the survey, but want to have their say, feel free to do so in the comments below. Links to other notable comments are welcome too. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/find-out-whos-using-the-pirate-bay-and-why-130829/">Find Out Who&#8217;s Using The Pirate Bay&#8230; and Why</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=F08YBaqs8Es:Ow7gi60ITMA:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=F08YBaqs8Es:Ow7gi60ITMA:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=F08YBaqs8Es:Ow7gi60ITMA:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/F08YBaqs8Es" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76216
title: Major TV Torrent Site TheBox.bz Calls it Quits
uri: Major-TV-Torrent-Site-TheBox-bz-Calls-it-Quits
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/QdTI34jZiYo/
content:
<p><a href="media/794fe06f.theboxbz.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/theboxbz.jpg"><img src="media/794fe06f.theboxbz.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/theboxbz.jpg" alt="theboxbz" width="180" height="67" class="alignright size-full wp-image-76220" /></a>BitTorrent is perfect for distributing all kinds of content, from movies to music and from software to backups. However, there is one particular type of content that users rarely seem to tire of.</p>
<p>TV show downloading is a very popular pastime among file-sharers. The ability to grab almost any show from the present or even distant past and watch it at a time and place of a user&#8217;s choosing is a powerful lure.</p>
<p>As a result, specialist TV torrent sites such as EZTV continue to flourish, even at a time when broadcasters are starting to offer improved catchup and replay services. These products are helping to bridge the gap somewhat but are still miles away from the kind of service required to render specialist torrent sites obsolete.</p>
<p>One such site is TheBox.bz, a private torrent tracker specializing in UK TV show and radio content. From its roots way back in 2007 to last count in May this year, the site had amassed more than 90,000 members. That thriving community (the site also has busy forums) uploaded more than 110,000 torrents and at times the tracker coordinated more than a million peers overall.</p>
<p>But this coming Saturday it will all come to an end.</p>
<p>&#8220;Sadly, I can confirm that TheBox.bz is shutting down the site&#8217;s torrent section on September 1st,&#8221; one of the site&#8217;s operators told TorrentFreak.</p>
<p><img src="media/de910541.theboxlong.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/theboxlong.jpg" alt="TheBoxlong" /></p>
<p>&#8220;The decision to retire the site was not in response to any specific threat, but it is in reaction to the rapidly changing and increasingly hostile political climate we find ourselves in. We feel that being proactive and closing the doors is the most prudent move.&#8221;</p>
<p>There can be little doubt that the hostile climate referenced by TheBox can be traced back to actions <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/details-on-upcoming-police-torrent-site-crackdown-revealed-130805/">being planned</a> by City of London Police, the Federation Against Copyright Theft, the UK Premier League, plus other local groups such as Rupert Murdoch&#8217;s Sky Television. Right now a dark cloud is hanging over many sites and nobody has much of any idea what will happen next.</p>
<p><img src="media/0c24365b.theboxcontent.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/theboxcontent.jpg" alt="theboxcontent" /></p>
<p>There is already talk of a new site in place to take over from TheBox but nothing has been confirmed by official sources. In the meantime though, TheBox will stay open for just a little while longer.</p>
<p>&#8220;As TheBox has always been as much about community as about sharing, forums and private messages will remain functional for a while longer. Afterward, we will securely wipe all account details before retiring the server for good,&#8221; the site&#8217;s operators conclude.</p>
<p>So another site bites the dust but there&#8217;s still no authorized service to bridge the gap. Perhaps there should be a future rule of thumb for rights holders, one that might actually motivate them to do better and please their customers more? A suggestion might be:</p>
<p><strong>Don&#8217;t pressure sites to shut down until you are offering a better service than they do</strong></p>
<p>When people can walk directly into a better service when a &#8216;pirate&#8217; service shuts down, why would they have any motivation to seek out another? Now <em>that&#8217;s</em> a sustainable anti-piracy tactic right there.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/major-tv-torrent-site-thebox-bz-calls-it-quits-130829/">Major TV Torrent Site TheBox.bz Calls it Quits</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=QdTI34jZiYo:65Nra7SrN4o:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=QdTI34jZiYo:65Nra7SrN4o:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=QdTI34jZiYo:65Nra7SrN4o:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/QdTI34jZiYo" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76218
title: MPAA Wins Landmark Piracy Battle Against Hotfile
uri: MPAA-Wins-Landmark-Piracy-Battle-Against-Hotfile
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/nk33fvmPjRA/
content:
<p><img src="media/e67e9e1d.hotfile1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/hotfile1.jpg" align="right" alt="hotfile" />Once one of the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-largest-file-sharing-sites-110828/">ten largest file-sharing sites</a> on the Internet, Hotfile has become a prime target for Hollywood.</p>
<p>February 2011 the inevitable happened when the MPAA filed a lawsuit against the file-hosting service. Since then they have been battling fiercely in court and Hotfile even sued MPAA member Warner Bros. <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-sues-hotfile-cyberlocker-service-110209/">right back</a> for allegedly abusing its copyright takedown tools.</p>
<p>The MPAA hoped to avoid a trial and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/hotfile-as-bad-megaupload-mpaa-tells-court-120307/">asked for a summary judgment</a> on the alleged copyright infringements committed by Hotfile. The file-hosting service, which accused the MPAA of foul play, insisted that it&#8217;s merely a service provider and wants a jury to decide the outcome of the case.</p>
<p>After a thorough review and several motions, Florida District Court Judge Kathleen Williams has now decided in favor of the MPAA. The verdict has yet to be released in public but the MPAA has already claimed its victory.</p>
<p>According to the MPAA the court noted that &#8220;Hotfile was successful in large part because it did not control infringement activity on its system.&#8221; Judge Williams most likely found the file-hosting site liable for secondary copyright infringement, or a related charge. </p>
<p>The Hollywood movie studios praise the verdict which, according to them, shows that Hotfile&#8217;s entire business revolved around piracy. </p>
<p>&#8220;We applaud the court for recognizing that Hotfile was not simply a storage locker, but an entire business model built on mass distribution of stolen content,&#8221; MPAA CEO <a href="http://www.thewrap.com/media/article/mpaa-claims-victory-hotfile-piracy-case-113981">Chris Dodd commented</a> on the decision.</p>
<p>The MPAA boss went on to describe the ruling as &#8220;a victory for all of the men and women who work hard to create our favorite movies and TV shows.&#8221;</p>
<p>Hotfile has always contested the characterization of being a &#8220;pirate haven,&#8221; and previously pointed out to the court that it had been following the DMCA for quite a while.  </p>
<p>In addition, the site showed that the most downloaded files on the cyberlocker were not pirated movies <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/hotfiles-most-donwloaded-files-are-open-source-software-120411/">but Open Source software</a>. Hotfile also argued that affiliate programs are useful for compensating content creators for their efforts.</p>
<p>In the end, however, the District Court sided with the MPAA and issued a summary judgment.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak reached out to Hotfile for a comment on the decision, but we have yet to hear back from them. Considering the time and effort that has gone in to the legal battle thus far it wouldn&#8217;t be a surprise if Hotfile files an appeal. </p>
<p>The summary judgment is certainly a landmark ruling that may have negative implications for other file-hosting sites. We will take a closer look at this when the full verdict is released. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-wins-piracy-battle-against-hotfile-130829/">MPAA Wins Landmark Piracy Battle Against Hotfile</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=nk33fvmPjRA:uSvuv04GEhk:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=nk33fvmPjRA:uSvuv04GEhk:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=nk33fvmPjRA:uSvuv04GEhk:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/nk33fvmPjRA" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76300
title: PirateBrowser Hits 500,000 Downloads, Tor Traffic Surges
uri: PirateBrowser-Hits-500-000-Downloads-Tor-Traffic-Surges
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/n1Zlw_GrwYs/
content:
<p><img src="media/85793bea.piratebrowser.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/piratebrowser.jpg" align="right" alt="pirate browser" />On the occasion of its 10th anniversary last Saturday, The Pirate Bay <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-releases-pirate-browser-to-thwart-censorship-130810/">shared a gift</a> with its users – the <a href="http://piratebrowser.com/">PirateBrowser</a>.</p>
<p>Faced with ISP blockades all over the world, The Pirate Bay is arguably the most censored website on the Internet. The PirateBrowser software allows people to bypass these restrictions, using the Tor network to obfuscate people&#8217;s locations.</p>
<p>Unlike the Tor browser, PirateBrowser does not provide full anonymity. It&#8217;s only meant to unblock The Pirate Bay in regions where it&#8217;s censored, which is good enough for most users of the site. Downloads of the tool are going through the roof.  </p>
<p>The Pirate Bay team informs TorrentFreak that the PirateBrowser notched up its 500,000th download earlier this week. At the time of publication it has surpassed 550,000 with no signs of a decline in interest. </p>
<p>Aside from the impressive download figures, the browser was also repeatedly linked to another news event this week.  </p>
<p>Around the same time the PirateBrowser was launched, the number of users on the Tor network started to grow rapidly. Tor project leader Roger Dingledine mentioned the spike on the Tor email list, <a href="https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-talk/2013-August/029582.html">hinting</a> that PirateBrowser may have something to do with it.</p>
<p>As can be seen in the graph below, in little over a week the number of Tor users jumped from a stable average of 550,000 to well over 1,400,000. </p>
<h5>Daily Tor users worldwide</h5>
<p><img src="media/a2b9b7b4.tor-world.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tor-world.png" alt="tor-world" width="549" height="324" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-76308" /></p>
<p>While it is a coincidence that PirateBrowser was launched around the same time the growth started, it seems unlikely that the two events are related. </p>
<p>First of all, the number of daily Tor users increased by more than 800,000, which is far more than the total number of downloads of PirateBrowser thus far. In addition, looking more closely at the increase in Tor users we see that the spike started August 19, more than a week after PirateBrowser launched. </p>
<p>Finally, the country specific Tor usage shows that the increase is most pronounced in South America. In Argentina and Brazil for example, where The Pirate Bay isn&#8217;t censored, Tor usage increased by more than 1000%. In the UK and the Netherlands, where blocks are in place, we only see a &#8220;modest&#8221; doubling in Tor users. </p>
<h5>Daily Tor users Brazil</h5>
<p><img src="media/e45ceb1f.tor-brazil.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tor-brazil.png" alt="tor-brazil" width="549" height="323" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-76307" /></p>
<p>From the above it is safe to conclude that given that there was no significant Tor related news on the 19th, the most likely explanation is that the growth is unnatural. Perhaps a Botnet might explain it?</p>
<p>While PirateBrowser may not be responsible for the increase in Tor users, the half million download milestone is no less impressive. The Pirate Bay team informs TorrentFreak that they will continue developing the browser and Mac and Linux versions will be out later this year. </p>
<p>At the same time The Pirate Bay continues development on another anti-censorship tool, one that is destined to have an even bigger impact. They are working on a special BitTorrent-powered application, which lets users store and distribute The Pirate Bay and other websites on their own computers, making it impossible for third parties to block them.</p>
<p>This new tool should be able to keep The Pirate Bay operational, even if the site itself is pulled offline. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-browser-hits-500000-downloads-130830/">PirateBrowser Hits 500,000 Downloads, Tor Traffic Surges</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=n1Zlw_GrwYs:Gm0__VJyKPM:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=n1Zlw_GrwYs:Gm0__VJyKPM:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=n1Zlw_GrwYs:Gm0__VJyKPM:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/n1Zlw_GrwYs" height="1" width="1"/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76293
title: Journalists Face Criminal Complaint For Mentioning Name of Pirate Site
uri: Journalists-Face-Criminal-Complaint-For-Mentioning-Name-of-Pirate-Site
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/mnh83cCsKlo/
content:
<p><a href="media/33abeeff.torboox.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/torboox.jpg"><img src="media/33abeeff.torboox.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/torboox.jpg" alt="torboox" width="190" height="95" class="alignright size-full wp-image-76296" /></a>Just how far should liability for copyright infringement be stretched?</p>
<p>In years gone by it was fairly widely accepted that if you host infringing material without permission then that is illegal. Now we are used to the idea that linking to that material is also illegal, and even indexing a link that links to a page that links to a mere torrent file can be painted as infringement.</p>
<p>Book publishers in Germany, however, think they can take this never ending game to a whole new level.</p>
<p>Last Sunday <a href="http://www.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/internet-piraterie-buecher-stehlen-als-geschaeftsmodell/8690178.html">Der Tagesspiegel</a> published an interesting interview with a representative of a site offering ebooks without the permission of the authors. The site, which was founded in late 2012 and claims to be the largest pirate ebook site in Germany, says it serves up 1.5 million books every month.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are publishers, not shoplifters,&#8221; protested one of the site&#8217;s operators. &#8220;The servers we pay for with donations. I think the project is unique. In that sense, we are therefore a download platform for e-books that can be distinguished from others in that our offer is broad, like a library.&#8221;</p>
<p>The interview explained how publishers had developed an interest in the site and had tasked anti-piracy group GVU with an investigation.</p>
<p>&#8220;I say it openly: we are not interested in the legal opinion of German publishers,&#8221; the site&#8217;s owner responded. &#8220;We see ourselves as a supplier in the market, such as Amazon and [regular] bookstores.&#8221;</p>
<p>By now many readers will be wondering which site this is. Der Tagesspiegel obviously thought the same so quite reasonably named it as Boox.to.</p>
<p>The reaction from the publishers to that revelation was quite astonishing.</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://www.buchreport.de">Buchreport</a> the publishers filed a criminal complaint, not against Boox.to, but against both Der Tagesspiegel and <a href="http://zeit.de">Zeit.de</a> who had republished the article. Their claim: by naming the site the publications had assisted copyright infringement.</p>
<p>&#8220;With the direct and multiple naming of the Internet address the reader is immediately aware of the illicit supply of the website. With regard to objective journalistic reporting there was no need for direct nomination,&#8221; the publishers write in their complaint. </p>
<p>&#8220;The publication of the Website and its Internet address immediately enabled a broad mass of readers to become aware of the site. The reader is also indirectly encouraged to take advantage of the offer, taking advantage of the illegal site that has been highlighted by the play of the interview.&#8221;</p>
<p>Speaking with TorrentFreak, the admin of Boox.to says he was &#8220;enthusiastic&#8221; when he learned of the criminal complaint, but the best was yet to come.</p>
<p>&#8220;Soon people found out that the online magazine of the German Book Publishers Association had itself <a href="http://www.boersenblatt.net/634256/">published</a> the complete URL of the site. Well, then there was just laughter and tears,&#8221; Spiegelbest told us.</p>
<p>&#8220;So the criminal complaint was publicly dumped during the first few hours. The criminal complaint itself was made as a matter of principle without any prospect of success in a German court room.&#8221;</p>
<p>Although the publishers were quick to take action against the news sites, they&#8217;re apparently struggling to do much about the site itself. The secret, Spiegelbest told TorrentFreak, is in the way the site is setup.</p>
<p>&#8220;What is really new in Germany for the ebooks is that we cannot be abused practically,&#8221; he explains. &#8220;We have a hidden server (Tor) with our content. The public address is our proxy. So this proxy can be abused but we have a second proxy running to replace it. So of course you can abuse our proxy but an international court order will cost a lot more than replacing the proxy. That&#8217;s why there is little effort to take our site down. It&#8217;s a matter of finances.&#8221;</p>
<p>And now it appears that Germany just isn&#8217;t big enough for Boox.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are planning  to open our site for ebooks in all languages. This is our vision for the future. For the weeks ahead we have to cope with an escalation in the number of new registrations. But in 2014 an international site (for all languages) may well be our project,&#8221; Spiegelbest concludes.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s notable that the criminal complaint also named the site in question so that the authorities could properly investigate the matter. Maybe the publishers should have instead performed a creative mime, with the police asking &#8220;Is it a TV show? Is it a movie? Is it a book?&#8221;</p>
<p>Reporting is not a game of charades and it is definitely not, as the publishers tried to suggest, an act of copyright infringement to refer to a pirate site by name. Streisand Effect in 3&#8230;.2&#8230;.1</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/journalists-face-criminal-complaint-for-mentioning-name-of-pirate-site-130830/">Journalists Face Criminal Complaint For Mentioning Name of Pirate Site</a></p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=mnh83cCsKlo:6RUTZbbpybc:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=mnh83cCsKlo:6RUTZbbpybc:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=mnh83cCsKlo:6RUTZbbpybc:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/mnh83cCsKlo" height="1" width="1"/>


