# articles

feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=182997
title: Warhorse Studios Hilariously Infringes Pirates’ Copyrights to “Support the Developer”
uri: Warhorse-Studios-Hilariously-Infringes-Pirates-Copyrights-to-Sup
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/et5-1etqeyk/
content:
<p><img src="media/9cf40aa9.kingdom-come-small.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/kingdom-come-small.png" width="260" height="136" class="alignright size-full" />For developers of PC games around the globe there are three certainties &#8211; death, taxes and online piracy. While this trio are rarely the subject of amusement, developer Warhorse Studios is doing its best to satirize the latter.</p>
<p>After releasing its action role-playing game Kingdom Come: Deliverance early 2018, the game was quickly cracked by infamous underground group Codex, who released the title online for consumption by the pirating masses. It&#8217;s unclear to what extent this event affected sales but within a week of its launch, it had sold a million copies, including more than 300,000 on Steam.</p>
<p>With two million copies sold in the year that followed, Warhorse Studios clearly had a hit on its hands but this year the company showed that it also has a sense of humor. While publicizing a revamp of its headquarters in Prague, the company <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/kingdom-come-dev-warhorse-studios-decorates-office-with-framed-codex-pirate-nfo-200110/">revealed</a> that it had framed a copy of the information (NFO) file released by Codex with its pirate release, giving it pride of place near the company&#8217;s kitchen.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/6ccd8712.kingdom-come-deliverance-framed-e1578646993424.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/kingdom-come-deliverance-framed-e1578646993424.jpg" width="650" height="488" class="aligncenter size-full" /></center></p>
<p>This unorthodox move was met with delight by many of the developer&#8217;s fans while also gaining it respect among those who might not traditionally part with cash to enjoy its work. And now, just a month later, Warhorse is poking yet more fun at the piracy phenomenon with another hilarious stunt that may even see it raise a bit of extra cash.</p>
<p>Offered at Displate.com, Displates are <a href="https://displate.com/whats-a-displate">described</a> as &#8220;one-of-a-kind&#8221; metal posters &#8220;designed to capture your unique passions.&#8221; Their creators note that they&#8217;re &#8220;sturdy, magnet mounted, and durable enough to withstand a lifetime of intense staring.&#8221;</p>
<p>So, if you&#8217;re into staring intensely at pirate-created artwork for an eternity, boy does Warhorse Studios have something for you. <a href="https://displate.com/displate/1847352">Pirate ASCII art, preserved on metal</a>.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/28cf9c9e.codex-displate-e1581612459643.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/codex-displate-e1581612459643.png"><img src="media/28cf9c9e.codex-displate-e1581612459643.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/codex-displate-e1581612459643.png" alt="" width="650" height="435" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-183001" /></a></center></p>
<p>Warhorse previously explained that it had upscaled the Codex NFO file using AI software, so it&#8217;s likely that these metal posters will be of exceptional quality. They are available in three sizes &#8211; medium, large, and extra-large &#8211; with the latter presented in quadriptych format &#8211; i.e four posters combined to make one big image. There&#8217;s also a range of colors.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s obvious that Warhorse has a sense of humor but it also understands the piracy scene. Many so-called &#8216;scene&#8217; release groups state that if you enjoy a pirated copy of a game, you should buy it to &#8220;support the developer.&#8221; With its metalized NFO offering, the developer states in the description that by buying the pirated poster, people will be &#8220;supporting the developer of Kingdom Come: Deliverance.&#8221;</p>
<p>Pirating the work of pirates is a humorous concept, especially given that the NFO itself almost certainly enjoys copyright protection. Obviously Codex isn&#8217;t in any position to do anything about that, which makes the whole episode even more delicious. All that being said, Warhorse certainly doesn&#8217;t endorse copyright infringement.</p>
<p>&#8220;In all honesty, putting up the CODEX Info was meant to be a joke and a form of self-irony. This doesn’t change the fact that piracy still harms various industries,&#8221; PR Manager Tobias Stolz-Zwilling told TF referencing the company&#8217;s NFO shenanigans.</p>
<p>&#8220;But in the case of Kingdom Come: Deliverance we can rely on and be proud of a strong and loyal community that supported us way before release and even years after. Anyone who intends to pirate your game wouldn’t buy it anyway. All in all, we strongly believe that in a tense world and a tense industry, one should maintain a healthy sense of humor.</p>
<p>&#8220;PS: Support your favorite developers &#8211; that way you ensure future games.&#8221;</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=et5-1etqeyk:qB1dwUpZtvk:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=et5-1etqeyk:qB1dwUpZtvk:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=et5-1etqeyk:qB1dwUpZtvk:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/et5-1etqeyk" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=182868
title: BitTorrent ‘Copyright Troll’ Lawsuits Skyrocket In Sweden
uri: BitTorrent-Copyright-Troll-Lawsuits-Skyrocket-In-Sweden
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/dV9YkdONwIs/
content:
<p><img src="media/efd05bc4.trollsign.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/trollsign.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="167" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108977" />Sweden is widely known as the birthplace of The Pirate Bay, without a doubt the most iconic torrent site on the Internet. </p>
<p>However, in recent years the country has also evolved into a hotbed for copyright trolls. These use the same file-sharing technology to extract monetary settlements from suspected pirates. </p>
<p>This ‘copyright-trolling’ phenomenon is driven by a select group of copyright holders. In court, they ask for permission to obtain the personal details of account holders, claiming that their IP-addresses are tied to infringing activity. </p>
<p>The law firms involved represent a variety of companies, including the makers of familiar movie and TV titles such as &#8216;Angel Has Fallen,&#8217; &#8216;Black Sails&#8217; and &#8216;Spartacus,&#8217; but also music, and adult entertainment. </p>
<p>The first wave of these lawsuits in Sweden started almost <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/attention-swedish-pirate-bay-users-copyright-trolls-have-arrived-160902/">four years ago</a> but the practice has grown exponentially since. According to Swedish Internet provider <a href="https://www.bahnhof.se/press/press-releases/2020/02/14/utpressningsaret-2019-det-varsta-aret-hittills">Bahnhof</a>, which has kept track of these developments, record numbers were reached last year.</p>
<p>During 2019, a total of 140 new applications were submitted to the Patent and Market Court. This is up from 72 during the whole of 2018, and substantially more than the 27 applications that were filed a year earlier.</p>
<p>Not only has the number of applications grown, but the cases also target more IP-addresses in total. In 2019, 60,368 IPs were targeted which is a 15% increase compared to 2018. Combined with the 2017 numbers, we see that more than 144,000 IP-addresses have been targeted over the past three years.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/3d6099bf.perar-bahnhof-e1581688662243.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/perar-bahnhof-e1581688662243.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="302" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-183047" /></center></p>
<p>It’s worth noting that this exceeds the number of targets in other, much larger countries, including the United States. While the US has a much larger population, the number of targeted IP-addresses in federal cases are at most a few thousand in a typical year.</p>
<p>It may seem odd that an Internet provider is keeping track of these statistics. Especially when considering that Bahnhof has an entire <a href="https://utpressningskollen.se/">website dedicated</a> to the copyright trolling efforts, which it describes as extortion practices.</p>
<p>However, Bahnhof is not an ordinary ISP. The company has been very vocal in opposing these legal demands and actively shields its subscribers from getting exposed. With success, as it simply doesn&#8217;t hand over any data. </p>
<p>This dedication to protecting the privacy of subscribers is good PR for the company. Its competitors, however, will be less pleased. </p>
<p>According to Bahnhof, four ISPs were requested to disclose data during the past year. Telia was the main target with 31,572 IP-addresses, followed by Com Hem (19,520), Telenor (9,276), and Tre (312).</p>
<p>A significant number of the targeted IP-addresses were requested by adult entertainment companies, which results in settlement requests such as the one below.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/0001fd7d.setrolletter.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/setrolletter.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="495" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-183014" /></center></p>
<p>In the request, the account holder is offered a settlement of 7,000 Swedish Krona ($722). At the top of the letter, it prominently states that this is about &#8220;filesharing of an erotic movie&#8221;.</p>
<p>According to Bahnhof, this type of language is likely used to invoke some extra shame, which may increase the likelihood of paying.</p>
<p>As for the future, there is no sign that things will be slowing down anytime soon. Dozens of new cases have already appeared this year. Time will tell whether we will see another record in 2020. </p>
<p>More information on these and other cases is available on <a href="https://utpressningskollen.se/">Bahnhof&#8217;s website</a>, which is regularly updated with new information. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=dV9YkdONwIs:LXFyL4GLG_g:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=dV9YkdONwIs:LXFyL4GLG_g:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=dV9YkdONwIs:LXFyL4GLG_g:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/dV9YkdONwIs" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=182866
title: BPI Joins RIAA’s Takedown Battle Against YouTube Downloaders
uri: BPI-Joins-RIAA-s-Takedown-Battle-Against-YouTube-Downloaders
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/-LGp6ZPIWk8/
content:
<p><img src="media/c6f570e0.youtubehappy.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/youtubehappy.png" alt="" width="230" height="158" class="alignright size-full wp-image-130150" />Late last year the RIAA <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/riaa-delists-youtube-rippers-from-google-using-rare-anti-circumvention-notices-191108/">started targeting YouTube ripping sites</a> by sending relatively rare takedown requests to Google.</p>
<p>Instead of the usual DMCA copyright notices, the music group asked the search engine to remove various URLs for alleged violations of the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provision.</p>
<p>The sites in question circumvent YouTube’s rolling cipher, which is a technical protection measure that protects audio and video from being copied without permission, the RIAA argued. As such, they should be removed from Google’s search results.</p>
<p>Over the past months, the RIAA has ramped up its efforts, hoping to make it harder for users to find these sites. However, the YouTube rippers themselves weren&#8217;t sitting still either. They actively countered the RIAA&#8217;s notices by continuously using new URL structures.</p>
<p>We highlighted this development in an article late last month, describing it as a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/youtube-rippers-battle-riaa-in-takedown-whack-a-mole-200128/">game of whack-a-mole</a>. While the RIAA was the only player on its side, it has now found an ally in its British counterpart, the BPI.</p>
<p>A few days after our whack-a-mole article was published the BPI started sending similar DMCA anti-circumvention notices, targeting the same YouTube downloader the RIAA is after. </p>
<p>Over the past several days, the UK group has sent over a dozen notices. The requests target over a hundred URLs from Mpgun.com, which allegedly circumvents YouTube&#8217;s copyright protections. </p>
<p>&#8220;To our knowledge, the URLs indicated provide access to a service (and/or software) that circumvents YouTube’s rolling cipher, a technical protection measure, that protects our members’ works on YouTube from unauthorised copying/downloading,&#8221; the BPI <a href="https://lumendatabase.org/notices/20068298?access_token=K6iy7qtFrOJrn6GsRRJ17Q">writes</a>.</p>
<p>This is the same &#8216;rolling cipher&#8217; the RIAA references, which is another indication that both groups work in tandem.</p>
<p>In fact, the entire statement above is copied verbatim from the RIAA. The BPI only changed the American &#8216;authorized&#8217; to the British &#8216;authorised&#8217; and corrected the RIAA&#8217;s copyrighted &#8216;woks&#8217; to &#8216;works.&#8217;</p>
<p>This is the first time the BPI has sent multiple requests of this kind. When looking through the archive we did spot an older notice from October, but that was phrased differently (no cipher mention) and targeted only a single URL.</p>
<p>Whether the extra manpower will lead to any results has yet to be seen. With or without the BPI&#8217;s involvement, Mpgun continues to evade and bypass the takedown requests. For now, Google searches for terms such as &#8220;YouTube to MP3&#8221; and &#8220;YouTube downloader&#8221; still yield plenty of results, including Mpgun.</p>
<p>In fact, when searching for &#8220;MP3 and MP4 YouTube converter,&#8221; Mpgun comes up as the first result.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/28dfeae8.gunmp.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/gunmp.png" alt="" width="783" height="333" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-183050" /></center></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=-LGp6ZPIWk8:fQO2N5ZxX0M:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=-LGp6ZPIWk8:fQO2N5ZxX0M:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=-LGp6ZPIWk8:fQO2N5ZxX0M:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/-LGp6ZPIWk8" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=182957
title: New Wave Of Nintendo Anti-Piracy Complaints Helps Microsoft Too
uri: New-Wave-Of-Nintendo-Anti-Piracy-Complaints-Helps-Microsoft-Too
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/71eH7dEYCRY/
content:
<p><img src="media/d2a6a1cc.nintendodongle.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/nintendodongle.jpg" width="272" height="230" class="alignright size-full" />While most if not all gaming companies have piracy issues to contend with, Nintendo is among the most aggressive when it comes to protecting its intellectual property rights.</p>
<p>The company has a multi-pronged strategy that tackles the issue from almost every conceivable direction. When sites create archives of gaming ROMs available for download, Nintendo is happy to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/nintendo-wins-12-million-from-pirate-rom-site-operators-181112/">sue their operators</a> and when entities are more difficult to pursue with direct legal action, it has taken to the courts to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/nintendo-wins-blocking-injunction-against-four-piracy-enabling-sites-190911/">have ISPs block</a> piracy-facilitating platforms.</p>
<p>While it has many adversaries on the piracy front, the infamous Team-Xecutor is perhaps the company&#8217;s arch-nemesis. With its development of hardware and software solutions to skirt Nintendos technical protection measures, such as those available for the Switch platform, Team-Xecutor is now one of Nintendo&#8217;s priorities.</p>
<p>Last November we <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/nintendo-wipes-piracy-enabling-urls-from-google-with-anti-circumvention-notices-191123/">reported</a> that Nintendo had begun targeting Google with relatively rare DMCA anti-circumvention notices, which detailed URLs where Team-Xecutor and similar piracy-enabling products could be found.</p>
<p>Since these notices aren&#8217;t easily countered, Google removed many listings from its indexes, meaning that anyone searching for Team-Xecutor&#8217;s SX OS and SX Pro products would find related pages more difficult to find. It now transpires that on this front, Nintendo is keeping up the pressure, firing off more and more complaints to Google in an effort to reduce the popularity of these products.</p>
<p>In early December, following our last update, Nintendo sent a notice to Google <a href="https://lumendatabase.org/notices/19660601?access_token=3XLoTirCa2x02UaiSFcAJQ">targeting 91 pages</a> on Team-Xecutor.com.</p>
<p>&#8220;The URLs listed below promote, and direct visitors to resellers of, circumvention software and devices called the SX OS and SX Pro,&#8221; the notice reads.</p>
<p>&#8220;The SX OS and SX Pro is designed to bypass technological protection measures in the Nintendo Switch video game system and allows users to play unauthorized copies of Nintendo’s video game files that are offered unlawfully via the Internet.&#8221;</p>
<p>While that was certainly the case for many of the listed URLs, rival gaming companies also benefited from the notice. Intentionally or otherwise, Nintendo also requested the delisting of pages relating to modification devices for Microsoft&#8217;s XBox 360, including the Xecutor Sonos 360 sound module, for example.</p>
<p>Another, a couple of days later, <a href="https://lumendatabase.org/notices/19682282?access_token=4EjZZ5HksxXwapsgebF2Yw">listed another 65 URLs</a>, again targeting a mixture of Nintendo and Xbox-related products.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/dec23976.nintendo-360-e1581597877915.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/nintendo-360-e1581597877915.png"><img src="media/dec23976.nintendo-360-e1581597877915.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/nintendo-360-e1581597877915.png" alt="" width="650" height="503" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-182969" /></a></center></p>
<p>While Team-Xecutor and sellers of the R4 range of backup cartridges are the main targets, these devices are distributed through networks of resellers, all of which Nintendo wants to render harder to find. Many notices in December also addressed this issue, <a href="https://lumendatabase.org/notices/19677072?access_token=qG7EbjtRXfI9_KWxfKUplg">targeting</a> a range of sites selling Team-Xecutor and similar products.</p>
<p>After a six week hiatus, this month Nintendo began sending notices again, largely following the same format as before by deleting specific pages on a range of sites from Google&#8217;s search results. While this is a nuisance for the targeted platforms, three in particular appeared to have made the mistake of offering circumvention devices on their homepages.</p>
<p>As a result, sxswitch.com, mod-switch.com, and gogioco.com have all had their homepages <a href="https://lumendatabase.org/notices/20048932?access_token=BIPwgQYVgJrfzTKl1ucR2Q">deleted</a> from search results. Team-Xecutor.com received the <a href="https://lumendatabase.org/notices/19267841?access_token=oAofzTmIPGMqWymHLrO6Cg">same treatment</a> back in September 2019.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=71eH7dEYCRY:cPXtisb9kW8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=71eH7dEYCRY:cPXtisb9kW8:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=71eH7dEYCRY:cPXtisb9kW8:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/71eH7dEYCRY" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=182922
title: Don’t Use the Word ‘Did’ or a Dumb Anti-Piracy Company Will Delete You From Google
uri: Don-t-Use-the-Word-Did-or-a-Dumb-Anti-Piracy-Company-Will-Dele
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/6jKoaam2o4c/
content:
<p><a href="media/1cf98cf0.destroy-delete-remove.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/destroy-delete-remove.jpg"><img src="media/1cf98cf0.destroy-delete-remove.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/destroy-delete-remove.jpg" alt="" width="275" height="200" class="alignright size-full wp-image-141816" /></a>Every hour of every day of every week of every year, anti-piracy companies send out DMCA notices to remove supposedly infringing content from the Internet.</p>
<p>Many of these are legitimate takedown requests, targeting everything from movies and TV shows, to music, games, software and anything else that can be digitally reproduced. For copyright holders it&#8217;s a herculean task and as a result, mistakes can happen. The scale is such that it&#8217;s almost inevitable.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, however, some &#8216;mistakes&#8217; are so ridiculous as to be unforgivable, especially when they target completely innocent individuals hoping to make a difference with the positive spread of knowledge and information. Case in point: Sinclair Target, the owner of computing history blog, Two-Bit History.</p>
<p>In 2018, Target wrote an <a href="https://twobithistory.org/2018/08/18/ada-lovelace-note-g.html">article </a>about Ada Lovelace, the daughter of Lord Byron who some <a href="https://www.biography.com/scholar/ada-lovelace">credit</a> as being the world&#8217;s first computer programmer, despite being born in 1815. Unfortunately, however, those who search for that article today using Google won&#8217;t find it.</p>
<p>As the image below shows, the original Tweet announcing the article is still present in Google&#8217;s indexes but the article itself has been removed, thanks to a copyright infringement complaint that also claimed several other victims.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/6855004d.twobitdelete-e1581677059867.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/twobitdelete-e1581677059867.png"><img src="media/6855004d.twobitdelete-e1581677059867.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/twobitdelete-e1581677059867.png" alt="" width="650" height="224" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-183030" /></a></center></p>
<p>While there could be dozens of reasons the article infringed someone&#8217;s copyrights, the facts are so absurd as to be almost unbelievable. Sinclair&#8217;s article was deleted because an anti-piracy company working on behalf of a TV company decided that since its title (What Did Ada Lovelace&#8217;s Program Actually Do?) contained the word &#8216;DID&#8217;, it must be illegal.</p>
<p>This monumental screw-up was <a href="https://twitter.com/TwoBitHistory/status/1227432312960409602">announced</a> on Twitter by Sinclair himself, who complained that &#8220;Computers are stupid folks. Too bad Google has decided they are in charge.&#8221;</p>
<p>At risk of running counter to Sinclair&#8217;s claim, in this case &#8211; as Lovelace herself would&#8217;ve hopefully agreed &#8211; it is people who are stupid, not computers. The proof for that can be found in the DMCA complaint sent to Google by RightsHero, an anti-piracy company working on behalf of Zee TV, an Indian pay-TV channel that airs Dance India Dance.</p>
<p>Now in its seventh season, Dance India Dance is a dance competition reality show that is often referred to as DID. And now, of course, you can see where this is going. Because Target and at least 11 other sites dared to use the word in its original context, RightsHero flagged the pages as infringing and asked Google to deindex them.</p>
<p>But things only get worse from here.</p>
<p>Look up the word &#8216;did&#8217; in any dictionary and you will never find the definition listed as an acronym for Dance India Dance. Instead, you&#8217;ll find the explanation as &#8220;past of do&#8221; or something broadly along those lines. However, if the complaint sent to Google had achieved its intended effect, finding out that would&#8217;ve been more difficult too.</p>
<p>Lo, <a href="https://lumendatabase.org/notices/20063681?access_token=LgXDsboHfEShuoNQOg7NXQ">here it is</a> in its full glory.</p>
<p><Center><a href="media/af5b6c42.did-notice-dmca-e1581678320198.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/did-notice-dmca-e1581678320198.png"><img src="media/af5b6c42.did-notice-dmca-e1581678320198.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/did-notice-dmca-e1581678320198.png" alt="" width="650" height="313" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-183031" /></a></center></p>
<p>As we can see, the notice not only claims Target&#8217;s article is infringing the copyrights of Dance India Dance (sorry, DID), but also no less than four online dictionaries explaining what the word &#8216;did&#8217; actually means. (Spoiler: None say &#8216;Dance India Dance&#8217;).</p>
<p>Perhaps worse still, some of the other allegedly-infringing articles were published by some pretty serious information resources including:</p>
<p>-USGS Earthquake Hazards Program of the U.S. Geological Survey <em>(<strong>Did</strong> You Feel It? (DYFI) collects information from people who felt an earthquake and creates maps that show what people experienced and the extent of damage)</em></p>
<p>&#8211; The US Department of Education <em>(<strong>Did</strong> (or will) you file a Schedule 1 with your 2018 tax return?)</em></p>
<p>&#8211; Nature.com <em>(<strong>Did</strong> pangolins spread the China coronavirus to people?)</em></p>
<p>Considering the scale of the problem here, we tried to contact RightsHero for comment. However, the only anti-piracy company bearing that name has a <a href="https://www.rightshero.com/en">next-to-useless website</a> that provides no information on where the company is, who owns it, who runs it, or how those people can be contacted.</p>
<p>In the absence of any action by RightsHero, Sinclair Target was left with a single option &#8211; issue a counterclaim to Google in the hope of having his page restored.</p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve submitted a counter-claim, which seemed to be the only thing I could do,&#8221; Target told TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>&#8220;Got a cheery confirmation email from Google saying, &#8216;Thanks for contacting us!&#8217; and that it might be a while until the issue is resolved. I assume that&#8217;s because this is the point where finally a decision has to be made by a human being. It is annoying indeed.&#8221;</p>
<p>Finally, it&#8217;s interesting to take a line from Target&#8217;s analysis of Lovelace&#8217;s program. &#8220;She thought carefully about how operations could be organized into groups that could be repeated, thereby inventing the loop,&#8221; he writes.</p>
<p>10 DELETE &#8220;DID&#8221;<br />
20 PROFIT?<br />
30 GOTO 10</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=6jKoaam2o4c:vIzRooydJZM:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=6jKoaam2o4c:vIzRooydJZM:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=6jKoaam2o4c:vIzRooydJZM:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/6jKoaam2o4c" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183017
title: Copyright Troll Drops Lawsuits When it Gets the ‘Wrong’ Judge
uri: Copyright-Troll-Drops-Lawsuits-When-it-Gets-the-Wrong-Judge
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/xxK21irO25s/
content:
<p><img src="media/3d6122ae.courtorderjustice.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/courtorderjustice.jpg" alt="" width="256" height="171" class="alignright size-full wp-image-147326" />In the United States, federal courts are still being swamped with lawsuits against alleged BitTorrent pirates.</p>
<p>While copyright holders avoid some unfavorable jurisdictions, these companies are a common sight in others, such as Southern Florida. </p>
<p>Over the past year or so, adult entertainment company Strike 3 Holdings has filed dozens of lawsuits in this district. While that&#8217;s nothing new, there are some lawsuits that stand out. </p>
<p>In a few instances, Strike 3 dropped their complaints within a day or two, right after the judge was assigned. When we took a closer look, we found out that in each of these cases the same judge is listed: U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro. </p>
<p>Judge Ungaro is a familiar name to those who&#8217;ve been following these types of piracy lawsuits over the years. More than <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/ip-address-not-person-140324/">half a decade ago</a> she issued an order stating that an IP-address doesn&#8217;t necessarily identify a person.</p>
<p>Over the years Judge Ungaro remained very skeptical. Among other things, she is not convinced that IP-address geolocation tools are good enough to prove that a person actually resides within the court&#8217;s jurisdiction. </p>
<p>This also came up again last year. When Strike 3 applied for a subpoena to identify a person behind an IP-address, the Judge denied the request for this very reason.</p>
<p>“There is nothing that links the IP address location to the identity of the person actually downloading and viewing Plaintiff’s videos, and establishing whether that person lives in this district,” Judge Ungaro <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/judge-ip-address-doesnt-locate-or-identify-a-bittorrent-pirate-190509/">reiterated</a>.</p>
<p>With this in mind, one can understand why Strike 3 isn&#8217;t too fond of Judge Ungaro. This may also explain why it chooses to simply drop cases as soon as this particular judge is assigned. This is exactly what happened twice in August last year. </p>
<p><center><img src="media/a6e8666a.strikedrop3-e1581686677441.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/strikedrop3-e1581686677441.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="379" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-183043" /></center></p>
<p>In other cases, Judge Ungaro submitted a &#8216;sua sponte&#8217; motion within a day, asking Strike 3 to provide more evidence before it could even request a subpoena. That happened again this week. </p>
<p>Immediately after a <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/16802142/strike-3-holdings-llc-v-doe/">new case was filed</a>, the Judge <a href="media/f65529b7.gov.uscourts.flsd.565700.6.0.pdf" data-original-source="https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.565700/gov.uscourts.flsd.565700.6.0.pdf">requested more evidence</a> concerning geolocation accuracy as well as any link between the IP-address and the alleged pirate. </p>
<p>&#8220;[T]his Court requires a showing of the precise methodology and technique employed by Plaintiff in its use of geolocation to establish — to a reasonable degree of certainty — that Defendant may be found within this district,&#8221; Judge Ungaro wrote.</p>
<p>&#8220;Additionally, this Court recognizes that IP addresses are assigned to nodes connected to the Internet, but are not necessarily representative of individual end-node/end-system devices, and especially are not representative of individual people.&#8221;</p>
<p>Strike 3 obviously wasn&#8217;t happy with this swift response from the Judge. When it spotted the request the case was immediately dismissed. Perhaps the company acted a bit too quickly, as it submitted the dismissal request before replying to the court&#8217;s motion, as is required.</p>
<p>The rightsholder noticed this error and submitted its standard response, apologizing for &#8220;the confusion.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><img src="media/101495ca.apologies3-e1581686774878.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/apologies3-e1581686774878.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="185" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-183044" /></center></p>
<p>Strike 3 didn&#8217;t even bother to wait for Judge Ungaro&#8217;s response to its reply, however. The end result was that two days after the new case was filed, it had already been dismissed. </p>
<p>With the dismissal granted, the defendant escaped being exposed. That wasn&#8217;t the first time either because the same IP-address was among those that were previously targeted in a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/copyright-troll-back-in-federal-court-after-it-fails-to-save-judicial-resources/">county court</a>, where the defendant objected to having his or her personal details exposed. </p>
<p>We have no indication that the same person will be targeted again. Since the company has thousands of allegedly-infringing IP-addresses on file it can simply &#8216;try again&#8217; with the next target, until it gets a more favorable judge.  </p>
<p>While Strike 3&#8217;s actions may be understandable, some people, and perhaps some courts, may frown upon it. </p>
<p>TorrentFreak spoke to Florida-based attorney Cynthia Conlin who has represented several defendants in these ‘trolling’ lawsuits. She believes that Strike 3 is &#8220;Judge Shopping&#8221; and may point this out in court.</p>
<p>Although the company may technically color between the lines, Conlin believes that Strike 3 is acting in bad faith, and she hopes that the court will eventually draw the same conclusion.  </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=xxK21irO25s:bC-n6Qyakkc:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=xxK21irO25s:bC-n6Qyakkc:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=xxK21irO25s:bC-n6Qyakkc:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/xxK21irO25s" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=182793
title: U.S. Copyright Groups Want South Africa to Ensure that 5G Doesn’t Boost Piracy
uri: U-S-Copyright-Groups-Want-South-Africa-to-Ensure-that-5G-Doesn-t-Bo
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/3_K0rYII5zg/
content:
<p><img src="media/e805fd6d.southafricaflag.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/southafricaflag.jpg" alt="" width="274" height="206" class="alignright size-full wp-image-179864" srcset="https://torrentfreak.com/images/southafricaflag.jpg 274w, https://torrentfreak.com/images/southafricaflag-200x150.jpg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 274px) 100vw, 274px" />South Africa has found itself in the crosshairs of major US copyright groups, which are not happy with the country&#8217;s stance towards critical copyright issues. </p>
<p>South Africa is already subject to a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/south-africa-faces-us-trade-sanctions-over-online-piracy-191201/">U.S. Government review</a> to see if trade sanctions should be applied. </p>
<p>The review was launched following a referral from the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA). This coalition of prominent rightsholder groups, which includes the MPA and RIAA, informed the USTR that South Africa&#8217;s current policies and actions are below international standards. </p>
<p>Among other things, the group is worried that the country&#8217;s newly proposed copyright law is far too flexible when it comes to fair use. This stance is echoed by other rightsholders but also <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/the-us-shouldnt-sanction-south-africa-for-copying-us-style-fair-use-200201/">heavily criticized</a> by public interest groups and legal experts.</p>
<p>A few days ago the IIPA reiterated its critique in a new submission to the US Trade Representative (USTR). The USTR uses these submissions and other public comments to create its <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_301_Report">Special 301 Report</a>, an annual list of countries that deserve extra attention due to various shortcomings that may hurt U.S. businesses. </p>
<p>The IIPA is one of the most loyal submitters, sharing its concerns for more than 20 consecutive years. Over these two decades, it has recommended that over 75 countries should be placed on the U.S. &#8220;Watch List&#8221;.</p>
<p>Until this year, South Africa was never mentioned, but that has clearly changed. In its 2020 recommendation, the IIPA classifies the country among the worst offenders, asking the USTR to put it on the Priority Watch List. </p>
<p>According to the IIPA, South Africa&#8217;s newly proposed Copyright Amendment Bill is fatally flawed. This includes the previously mentioned fair use issues as well as a wide range of other shortcomings which were detailed in several pages, too expansive to summarize. </p>
<p>In addition, the country&#8217;s response to the threat of online piracy is also said to be lacking. While more legal options have become available, many South Africans turn to piracy, the group notes. </p>
<p>According to the IIPA, increased Internet connection speeds are contributing to a piracy boom. This is in part facilitated by corporate and university networks. </p>
<p>&#8220;[O]nline piracy continues to grow in South Africa. Growth in bandwidth speeds, coupled with lax controls over corporate and university bandwidth abuse, drive this piracy,&#8221; the IIPA writes.  </p>
<p>Throttling the bandwidth of an entire country isn&#8217;t a very popular solution. However, according to the IIPA, there are other options available. They include blocking and shutting down websites, which may require legislation to be updated. </p>
<p>Among the list of &#8220;priority actions&#8221; for the country is also a bandwidth-related suggestion. The rightsholders urge South Africa to ensure that the implementation of 4G and 5G networks doesn&#8217;t increase piracy. </p>
<p>&#8220;Monitor implementation of 4G and 5G networks to ensure it does not lead to a higher level of piracy, and improve education and increase enforcement commensurate to the increased threat,&#8221; the IIPA writes. </p>
<p><center><img src="media/2fcd8301.saprio.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/saprio.jpg" alt="" width="582" height="161" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-183080" /></center></p>
<p>This is a rather unique suggestion. The IIPA&#8217;s full report lists over a dozen countries and spans 220 pages, but 4G and 5G are only mentioned in relation to South Africa. </p>
<p>The mention is linked to the recent decision of South Africa’s government to open the spectrum. This paves the way for the rollout of 4G and 5G networks, which can boost both legal and illegal consumption.</p>
<p>If piracy indeed gets a boost, the IIPA would like the government to step in to correct this through trade sanctions or other means.</p>
<p>All in all, the IIPA&#8217;s overview sums up a long list of shortcomings that it hopes the country will address. Needless to say, this sits in stark contrast to previous years, when they were never even mentioned.</p>
<p>The rightsholder groups hope that the USTR will agree with its concerns and place the country on its Priority Watch List, which is due to be released in the months to come.  </p>
<p><em>&#8212;</p>
<p>The IIPA&#8217;s full recommendations for the USTR&#8217;s 2020 Special 301 Review are <a href="media/0f110d4d.IIPA_2020_Special_301_Review_Comment.pdf" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/IIPA_2020_Special_301_Review_Comment.pdf">available here (pdf)</a>.</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=3_K0rYII5zg:8rKFfMEQ-jc: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_K0rYII5zg:8rKFfMEQ-jc:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=3_K0rYII5zg:8rKFfMEQ-jc:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/3_K0rYII5zg" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183089
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week on BitTorrent – 02/17/20
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-on-BitTorrent-02-17-20
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/7bHrKUavwdU/
content:
<p><img src="media/45b44e34.froz.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/froz.jpg" alt="" width="280" height="286" class="alignright size-full wp-image-181350" />This week we have four newcomers in our chart.</p>
<p>Frozen 2 is the most downloaded movie.</p>
<p>The data for our weekly download chart is estimated by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only. All the movies in the list are Web-DL/Webrip/HDRip/BDrip/DVDrip unless stated otherwise.</p>
<p><a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/dvdrip/feed/"><strong>RSS feed</strong></a> for the articles of the recent weekly movie download charts.</p>
<h5>This week&#8217;s most downloaded movies are:</h5>
<table class="css hover">
<thead>
<tr>
<th width="12%"><strong>Movie Rank</strong></th>
<th width="15%"><strong>Rank <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-movies-of-the-week-on-bittorrent-02-10-20/">last week</a></strong></th>
<th><strong>Movie name</strong></th>
<th width="18%"><strong>IMDb Rating / Trailer</strong></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tfoot>
<tr>
<td colspan="4">Most downloaded movies via torrents</td>
</tr>
</tfoot>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>1</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4520988/">Frozen II</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4520988/">7.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwzLiQZDw2I">trailer</a></td>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8946378/">Knives Out</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8946378/">8.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi-1NchUqMA">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5033998/">Charlie&#8217;s Angels</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5033998/">4.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSUq4VfWfjE">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8688634/">21 Bridges</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8688634/">6.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVZDhunTrYA">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1950186/">Ford v Ferrari</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1950186/">8.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3h9Z89U9ZA">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6751668/">Parasite</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6751668/">8.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xH0HfJHsaY">trailer</a></td>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7975244/">Jumanji: The Next Level</a> (Subbed HDRip)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7975244/">6.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBxcF-r9Ibs">trailer</a></td>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2584384/">Jojo Rabbit</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2584384/">8.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tL4McUzXfFI">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6450804/">Terminator: Dark Fate</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6450804/">6.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxy8udgWRmo">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(8)</td>
<td><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/joker-torrent-downloads/">Joker</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7286456/">8.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAGVQLHvwOY">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=7bHrKUavwdU:py2C6x8bbGQ:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=7bHrKUavwdU:py2C6x8bbGQ:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=7bHrKUavwdU:py2C6x8bbGQ:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/7bHrKUavwdU" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183110
title: Cloudflare Blocks Access to Pirate Site For “Legal Reasons”, Displays Rare 451 Error
uri: Cloudflare-Blocks-Access-to-Pirate-Site-For-Legal-Reasons-Displ
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/btt9C9fDiuc/
content:
<p><a href="media/d2bcf64e.cloudflare-logo-e1497134379554.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/cloudflare-logo-e1497134379554.png"><img src="media/d2bcf64e.cloudflare-logo-e1497134379554.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/cloudflare-logo-e1497134379554.png" alt="" width="250" height="126" class="alignright size-full wp-image-140211" /></a>As one of the most important infrastructure companies on the entire Internet, Cloudflare often finds itself embroiled in copyright disputes of other entities&#8217; making.</p>
<p>Along with millions of other &#8216;normal&#8217; websites, &#8216;pirate&#8217; sites often use Cloudflare&#8217;s services. The CDN company has a stated aim of remaining a neutral intermediary but entertainment industry groups see the company as helping to facilitate piracy by assisting sites to more efficiently stay online while rendering their true locations harder to find.</p>
<p>While sites like The Pirate Bay, for example, are using Cloudflare&#8217;s services trouble-free at this very moment, the same cannot be said of Germany-focused music piracy site DDL-Music.to.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/505e1e10.ddl-music1-e1581938482851.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/ddl-music1-e1581938482851.png"><img src="media/505e1e10.ddl-music1-e1581938482851.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/ddl-music1-e1581938482851.png" alt="" width="650" height="567" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-183112" /></a></center></p>
<p>This morning, <a href="https://tarnkappe.info/ddl-music-to-cloudflare-sperrt-deutschen-surfern-den-zugang/">Tarnkappe</a> informed TorrentFreak that visitors to the platform utilizing German IP addresses were being blocked by Cloudflare. While these kinds of claims are relatively common given the sometimes unreliable nature of pirate sites, in this case clarity is being provided by the CDN company itself, which clearly states that it has taken action.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/07eaf1c2.ddl-music-cloud451-e1581938760398.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/ddl-music-cloud451-e1581938760398.png"><img src="media/07eaf1c2.ddl-music-cloud451-e1581938760398.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/ddl-music-cloud451-e1581938760398.png" alt="" width="650" height="284" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-183113" /></a></center></p>
<p>Tests carried out for TF using the German-based IP address listed above returned a rare &#8220;Error HTTP 451&#8221; which, as the image shows, is deployed when a site is &#8220;Unavailable For Legal Reasons.&#8221; Tests carried out by us from IP addresses elsewhere in Europe accessed the site without issue, perhaps suggesting that any &#8220;legal reason&#8221; may be specific to German territory.</p>
<p>This is the first time that we&#8217;ve seen an Error HTTP 451 displayed by Cloudflare when attempting to access a pirate site. The special HTTP status code <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/error-451-theres-now-an-http-code-for-internet-censorship-151222/">was approved</a> by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) back in 2015 as a more informative alternative to the &#8220;403 Forbidden&#8221; code utilized by some ISPs engaged in blocking.</p>
<p>&#8220;A really good Error 451 message would tell their customers how to challenge a block, how long the block’s expected to last, where the relevant legal documents are and which legal authority imposed the blocking order,” the 451 Unavailable project <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/error-451-theres-now-an-http-code-for-internet-censorship-151222/">wrote</a> at the time.</p>
<p>A nod towards providing this additional information is actually mentioned in Cloudflare&#8217;s own 4XX error code documentation that was updated only this month.</p>
<p>&#8220;Server is unable to deliver the resource due to legal actions,&#8221; the <a href="https://support.cloudflare.com/hc/en-us/articles/115003014512-4xx-Client-Error#code_451">notes</a> against Error 451 read. &#8220;The response should include an explanation in the response body with details of the legal demand.&#8221;</p>
<p>As the above screenshot of the Cloudflare error shows, no explanation for the blocking is provided. Why that is the case is currently unknown since Cloudflare has yet to respond to our request for comment. However, DDL-Music&#8217;s status as an obvious pirate site (and one with a history of being targeted by copyright groups) leads us towards a theory that Cloudflare may have been placed under pressure.</p>
<p>With that in mind, it&#8217;s perhaps helpful to look at the recent history surrounding ISP blockades of pirate sites in Germany and how they have played out, mostly without direct intervention from the courts.</p>
<p>In March 2019, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vodafone-germany-blocks-popular-pirate-forum-to-avoid-lawsuit-190328/">Vodafone told TorrentFreak</a> it had implemented a blockade of pirate platform Boerse.to following a notification from local music rights group GEMA, an action duplicated by its service provider 1&#038;1. Around the same time, Vodafone also began blocking DDL-Music. Kabel Deutschland is also known to block access to the music platform.</p>
<p>The companies believe that <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/german-supreme-court-wifi-operators-not-liable-for-pirating-users-180730/">principles</a> established by the Federal Court of Justice require them to do so, without a specific court order.</p>
<p>On the same basis, Vodafone previously blocked access to several other &#8216;pirate&#8217; sites including <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vodafone-blocks-two-pirate-streaming-sites-without-a-court-order-181221/">S.to, BS.to</a>, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vodafone-blocks-libgen-following-elsevier-springer-macmillan-injunction-180808/">Libgen</a> and <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-site-blockades-enter-germany-with-kinox-to-as-first-target-180213/">Kinox.to</a>.</p>
<p>Whether Cloudflare is following a similar pattern of behavior with its restriction of DDL-Music is currently unknown but we will update this article as soon as the company responds.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=btt9C9fDiuc:47OCe0rldWU:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=btt9C9fDiuc:47OCe0rldWU:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=btt9C9fDiuc:47OCe0rldWU:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/btt9C9fDiuc" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183124
title: Zero Online Pirates Criminally Charged in 2019, Lowest Since 2010, Swedish Authorities Say
uri: Zero-Online-Pirates-Criminally-Charged-in-2019-Lowest-Since-2010-Swe
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/dkrpUc3KTw8/
content:
<p><a href="media/70326b63.piratkeyb-e1476968827887.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/piratkeyb-e1476968827887.png"><img src="media/70326b63.piratkeyb-e1476968827887.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/piratkeyb-e1476968827887.png" alt="" width="222" height="157" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108110" /></a>While there are many hundreds of pirate sites and hundreds of millions of pirates around the globe today, for many years it was Sweden that generated a disproportionate number of news headlines covering the phenomenon.</p>
<p>With a population that had become exceptionally comfortable with file-sharing technologies and a general lack of enforcement, sites like The Pirate Bay flourished alongside significant numbers of private torrent sites, so-called Direct Connect hubs, and streaming sites. Eventually, however, legislation and law enforcement began to catch up, targeting sites both large and small, as well as individuals viewed as significant players by the entertainment industries.</p>
<p>After reporting what felt like dozens of cases over the years, some involving torrent and streaming site operators, others involved with DCC sharing, the last couple of years felt strangely devoid of criminal prosecutions. With the mainstream entertainment companies appearing to focus more on <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/swedish-court-issues-dynamic-pirate-bay-blocking-order-200124/">ISP blocking processes</a>, criminal legal cases dropped off the radar.</p>
<p>Now, there is official confirmation from the authorities that for the first time since 2010, when a new criminal code was introduced, not a single person was criminally charged with a piracy-related offense during the whole of 2019.</p>
<p>Information obtained by <a href="https://www.svt.se/nyheter/inrikes/ingen-atalades-for-fildelningsbrott-2019">SVT</a> from the Prosecutor&#8217;s Office reveals that just 23 crimes were reported to the authorities last year, the lowest figure for nine years.</p>
<p>That revelation lies in stark contrast to the position in 2016, when Sweden&#8217;s national police announced that three-quarters of intellectual property complaints filed in the country related to file-sharing, with a new complaint being filed with authorities <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/police-file-sharing-cases-dominate-sweden-ip-complaints-160609/">every three days</a>.</p>
<p>File-sharing and similar cases are currently handled by the <a href="https://www.aklagare.se/en/contact/public-prosecution-areas/national-public-prosecution-department/national-unit-against-organised-crime/">National Unit against Organized Crime</a> but for a case to get underway, it must receive a referral from copyright holder groups and their representatives.</p>
<p>However, according to Rights Alliance, the most prominent anti-piracy group in Sweden, sizeable targets are now thin on the ground.</p>
<p>&#8220;All Swedish illegal film services, whether streaming or file sharing via BitTorrent, are notified and under investigation. There will, of course, be new ones all the time, but every one of size is already registered,&#8221; Rights Alliance lawyer Sara Lindbäck told SVT.</p>
<p>Of course, this doesn&#8217;t mean that file-sharing, web-streaming, IPTV and other forms of piracy have been defeated but there does seem to be a perception that local targets have either shut down or moved overseas, placing them outside Swedish jurisdiction. There&#8217;s also the matter of investigations that are already underway but haven&#8217;t yet got to the charging stage.</p>
<p>&#8220;This type of case can take a long time as evidence is often found in another country and legal assistance is needed to get the information out,&#8221; says Brita Wallström, head of the police unit dealing with intellectual property crimes.</p>
<p>While there may be a level of optimism at the lack of criminal prosecutions in 2019, the battleground against piracy appears to have shifted in Sweden. Pirated content is still readily accessible in the country, no matter who administers it or where it is being served from. As a result, there are now companies who, rather than attack the suppliers of that material, now prefer to go after regular Internet users in civil actions.</p>
<p>As reported last week, there has <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-copyright-troll-lawsuits-skyrocket-in-sweden-200214/">been an explosion</a> of so-called copyright-trolling cases in Sweden during recent years.</p>
<p>Beginning around <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/attention-swedish-pirate-bay-users-copyright-trolls-have-arrived-160902/">four years ago</a>, in 2019 more than 60,000 IP addresses were targeted in civil actions, with around 144,000 IP-addresses targeted over the past three years.</p>
<p>So, while anti-piracy groups and the authorities may be running out of higher-level pirate site operators to bring to trial in Sweden, there is currently no shortage of downloaders to pursue for cash settlements. The rest, who prefer to utilize streaming platforms and ever-popular IPTV services, will remain mostly under the radar &#8211; for now.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=dkrpUc3KTw8:WLOW2sJOmhM:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=dkrpUc3KTw8:WLOW2sJOmhM:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=dkrpUc3KTw8:WLOW2sJOmhM:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/dkrpUc3KTw8" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183083
title: ISP Questions Rightscorp’s Credibility and Objectivity Ahead of Piracy Trial
uri: ISP-Questions-Rightscorp-s-Credibility-and-Objectivity-Ahead-of-Pira
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/RNBHj5N4n_U/
content:
<p><img src="media/3d6122ae.courtorderjustice.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/courtorderjustice.jpg" alt="" width="256" height="171" class="alignright size-full wp-image-147326" />A group of major record labels is running a legal campaign against Internet providers which they accuse of not doing enough to deter persistent copyright infringers.</p>
<p>This has already resulted in a massive windfall in their case against Cox, where a jury awarded <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/cox-asks-court-to-overturn-or-lower-shockingly-excessive-1-billion-piracy-verdict-200203/">a billion dollars</a> in damages. In a few weeks, the music companies will be hoping for the same outcome following the trial against <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/riaa-sues-isp-grande-communications-for-failing-to-disconnect-pirates-170422/">ISP Grande Communications</a>.</p>
<p>Similar to the Cox case, the music companies &#8211; including Capitol Records, Warner Bros, and Sony Music &#8211; argue that the Internet provider willingly turned a blind eye to pirating customers. As such, it should be held accountable for copyright infringements allegedly committed by its users.</p>
<p>In preparation for the trial, both sides have submitted requests to keep information away from the jury members. These <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_in_limine">motions in limine</a>, as they&#8217;re called, can be used to prevent misleading or prejudicial information from influencing the jury. </p>
<p>The record labels, for example, asked to exclude certain evidence regarding Rightcorp, the company that sent the anti-piracy notices to Grande. These notices are essential evidence in the case as Grande is accused of not properly responding to them. </p>
<p>Specifically, the music companies asked the court to exclude &#8220;irrelevant or unfairly prejudicial&#8221; evidence or arguments about Rightscorp’s business practices, the company&#8217;s finances, or the allegation that the anti-piracy firm destroyed evidence.</p>
<p>A few days ago Grande responded to this request. According to the ISP, it would be unfair to exclude these broad categories, especially because the information is directly relevant to the reliability of key witnesses. </p>
<p>As we have documented here in the past, Rightscorp&#8217;s financial situation isn&#8217;t <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/anti-piracy-firm-rightcorp-continues-to-lose-big-money-160817/">very positive</a>. It manages to survive with financial help from the record companies, a point not lost on Grande.</p>
<p>The ISP questions whether the music companies&#8217; trial witnesses, Rightscorp&#8217;s Gregory and Boswell and Christopher Sabec, are still credible given the circumstances.</p>
<p>&#8220;In assessing the credibility of Mr. Boswell and Mr. Sabec, the jury should be permitted to consider not only Rightscorp’s financial relationship with Plaintiffs, but also evidence regarding Rightscorp’s dire financial condition,&#8221; Grande notes.</p>
<p>&#8220;In short, Rightscorp’s relationship with Plaintiffs is the only thing keeping Rightscorp’s business afloat, and the jury should know that when evaluating testimony from Mr. Boswell and Mr. Sabec regarding the reliability of the Rightscorp system and the evidence it generates.&#8221;</p>
<p>Grande concedes that Rightscorp technically has no direct financial interest in the outcome of the lawsuit. However, it notes that the company certainly has a strong interest in proving that its notices are reliable.</p>
<p>In addition to the financial situation, Grande also questions the ethical side of Rightcorp&#8217;s business practices. </p>
<p>The piracy tracking outfit made a name for itself by demanding settlements from hundreds of thousands of alleged pirates. This business model is one that the music companies were aware of and frowned upon, Grande argues </p>
<p>The ISP points to emails it obtained from the music companies through discovery which reference an article that describes Rightscorp&#8217;s call center script as “terrifying extortion.” </p>
<p>In addition, Grande points out an email from Sony where the music company notes that it wants to keep its distance from Rightscorp, describing it as “publishers using 3rd parties to milk consumers.” Despite these comments, its lawsuit now relies on evidence provided by the same company.</p>
<p>&#8220;Now, however, having purchased evidence from Rightscorp, Plaintiffs want to present Rightscorp’s notices as legitimate evidence of infringement and intend to argue that Rightscorp is a credible business with a reliable system,&#8221; Grande notes.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/a921ba2c.rightscev.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/rightscev.jpg" alt="" width="586" height="214" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-183095" /></center></p>
<p>The ISP believes that the jury should know about Rightscorp&#8217;s financial situation and business practices, including the call center script. This should allow it to make a better assessment of the Rightscorp witnesses&#8217; credibility. </p>
<p>The music companies disagree and, at the same time, submitted several responses to Grande&#8217;s requests to have information excluded from the trial. </p>
<p>For example, Grande asked the court to exclude evidence which shows that the company terminated customers for non-payment. However, the music companies argue that this information is crucial, as it shows that terminations were taking place.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is understandable that Grande wants to keep from the jury evidence that it terminated customers for non-payment. Such evidence completely eviscerates an argument Grande is likely to make: that because of the importance of internet access, termination of service is a drastic measure that should be used sparingly, if at all.&#8221; </p>
<p>The music companies feel that it&#8217;s important to highlight that terminations were not a problem when the ISP itself was affected.</p>
<p>&#8220;Moreover, evidence that Grande terminated customers when its property or services were being stolen, but refused to do so when others’ property was being stolen, is independently admissible as it is highly probative of Grande’s willfulness,&#8221; the music companies add. </p>
<p>It is now up to the court to decide on these and various other motions to determine what evidence can be discussed at trial. Later this month the jury will be selected. As reported earlier, the jury members will be first asked several selection questions, including <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/record-labels-will-ask-potential-piracy-trial-jurors-if-they-read-torrentfreak-200202/">whether they read TorrentFreak articles</a>. </p>
<p><em>&#8212;</p>
<p>A copy of Grande&#8217;s response to the music companies&#8217; motion in limine is available <a href="media/fcf8deaf.rightscorpmotion.pdf" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/rightscorpmotion.pdf">here (pdf)</a>, and the music companies&#8217; opposition <a href="media/b9ddcfb4.rightscorpmotionriaanonpayment.pdf" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/rightscorpmotionriaanonpayment.pdf">can be found here (pdf)</a>.</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=RNBHj5N4n_U:FrKvnOJEBX8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=RNBHj5N4n_U:FrKvnOJEBX8:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=RNBHj5N4n_U:FrKvnOJEBX8:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/RNBHj5N4n_U" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183151
title: Court Orders Cloudflare to Prevent Access to Pirated Music or Face Fines or Prison
uri: Court-Orders-Cloudflare-to-Prevent-Access-to-Pirated-Music-or-Face-Fin
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/d270qdzd4A0/
content:
<p><a href="media/d2bcf64e.cloudflare-logo-e1497134379554.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/cloudflare-logo-e1497134379554.png"><img src="media/d2bcf64e.cloudflare-logo-e1497134379554.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/cloudflare-logo-e1497134379554.png" alt="" width="250" height="126" class="alignright size-full wp-image-140211" /></a>Earlier this week, Germany-focused music piracy site DDL-Music.to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/cloudflare-blocks-access-to-pirate-site-for-legal-reasons-displaying-rare-451-error-200217/">suddenly became inaccessible</a> to the public. The site had been using the services of Cloudflare but an unusual error message suggested that the US-based company had stepped in disrupt the site&#8217;s activities.</p>
<p>&#8216;Error HTTP 451&#8217; is displayed by Cloudflare when a site is “Unavailable For Legal Reasons” and at least as far as pirate sites are concerned, its appearance is very rare indeed. Cloudflare&#8217;s documentation indicates that the message should be accompanied by a reason for the response, noting that it &#8220;should include an explanation in the response body with details of the legal demand.”</p>
<p><center><img src="media/07eaf1c2.ddl-music-cloud451-e1581938760398.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/ddl-music-cloud451-e1581938760398.png" width="650" height="284" class="aligncenter size-full" /></center></p>
<p>As the image above shows, no explanation was provided by Cloudflare but an investigation by <a href="https://tarnkappe.info/ddl-music-to-rasch-erwirkt-fuer-universal-musik-einstweilige-verfuegung-wegen-eines-albums/">Tarnkappe</a>, details of which were shared with TorrentFreak, now reveals the unusual circumstances behind DDL-Music&#8217;s disconnection.</p>
<p>Early June 2019, Universal Music GmbH (Germany) reportedly sent a copyright infringement complaint to Cloudflare after finding links on DDL-Music to tracks from the album Herz Kraft Werke by German singer Sarah Connor. The tracks themselves were not hosted by DDL-Music but could be found on a third-party hosting site. Universal wanted the tracks to be rendered inaccessible within 24 hours but Cloudflare didn&#8217;t immediately comply.</p>
<p>Universal Music reportedly followed up with a warning to Cloudflare on June 19, 2019, demanding information about DDL-Music and its operators. A day later, the CDN company responded by declaring that it&#8217;s not responsible for its customers&#8217; activities and Universal should deal with the website&#8217;s operator and/or webhost. However, Cloudflare did provide Universal with an email address along with details of DDL-Music&#8217;s hosting provider, supposedly in Pakistan.</p>
<p>With an obvious dispute underway, a hearing took place at the Cologne District Court (Landgericht Köln) on December 5, 2019. Lars Sobiraj of Tarnkappe, who obtained documentation relating to the hearing, informs TF that the Court ultimately determined that Cloudflare could be held liable for infringement of Universal Music&#8217;s copyrights by facilitating access to the tracks via DDL-Music, if it failed to take action.</p>
<p>This “liability as a disturber” (Störerhaftung) comes into play when a service (in this case, Cloudflare) contributes to a third-party&#8217;s infringement, without the element of intent. Under German law, however, the service can be held liable for infringement, if it fails to take reasonable action to prevent infringement in future.</p>
<p>On January 30, 2020, the Cologne District Court handed down a preliminary injunction against Cloudflare. This was received at the Hamburg offices of Cloudflare&#8217;s law firm TaylorWessig on February 4, 2020. It informed Cloudflare that should it continue to facilitate access to the Universal Music content detailed above, it could be ordered to pay a fine of up to 250,000 euros ($270,000) or, in the alternative, the managing director of Cloudflare could serve up to six months in prison.</p>
<p>In the event, however, Cloudflare appears to have taken the decision to jettison DDL-Music completely, as indicated by the Error 451 message that appeared a few days ago. The district court&#8217;s decision can be appealed but whether Cloudflare will take that route is currently unknown. Despite requests from TF for comment, the company has remained silent.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, DDL-Music appears to be migrating to <a href="https://ddos-guard.net/en/info/aboutus">DDoS-Guard</a>, a CDN and DDoS mitigation platform that according to its website is registered in Scotland but is most probably based in Russia. Or the Netherlands, if its Twitter account is to be believed.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=d270qdzd4A0:tgqX_uq7MRs:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=d270qdzd4A0:tgqX_uq7MRs:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=d270qdzd4A0:tgqX_uq7MRs:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/d270qdzd4A0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183097
title: Facebook Sued Over Failure to Respond to DMCA Takedown Notices
uri: Facebook-Sued-Over-Failure-to-Respond-to-DMCA-Takedown-Notices
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/ePha38xC8Dk/
content:
<p><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-150938" src="media/fb5bd049.deletemini.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/deletemini.jpg" alt="" width="277" height="168" />Seattle-based artist Christopher Boffoli is no stranger when it comes to suing tech companies for aiding copyright infringement of his work.</p>
<p>Over the years he has filed lawsuits against Cloudflare, Twitter, Google, Pinterest, Imgur, and others. All these cases were eventually dismissed, presumably after both sides resolved the matter behind the scenes.</p>
<p>While no settlement details have been made public, it&#8217;s likely that the photographer has been getting something in return, as he filed a similar case this week. The latest target is yet another familiar Silicon Valley name: Facebook.</p>
<p>In a brief complaint filed at the District Court for the Western District of Washington, Boffoli accuses the social media platform of failing to remove copyright infringing photos. This, despite the claim that the photographer reported dozens of links to unauthorized copies of his work on Facebook between August and October of last year.</p>
<p>Facebook initially replied to these notices stating that the content had been removed, but that wasn&#8217;t the case. After more than three months, the pirated photos were still online, the complaint says.</p>
<p>&#8220;As late as January 9, 2020 — more than 100 days after receiving Boffoli’s first notice — Facebook had not removed or disabled access to the Infringing Content,&#8221; Boffoli&#8217;s attorney writes.</p>
<p>After the attorney alerted Facebook about the problem, the material was eventually removed last month. Apparently, it remained online all this time due to a technical error.</p>
<p>&#8220;On or about January 30, 2020, Facebook removed or disabled access to the Infringing Content only after communication from Boffoli’s attorney. Facebook admitted it failed to previously remove the material despite notice and stated that its failure to do so was due to a technical error,&#8221; the complaint explains.</p>
<p>By then it was already too late, however. Instead of accepting the error, Boffoli has now taken the matter to court where he demands actual or statutory damages for the copyright infringements. With at least four photos in the lawsuit, the potential damages are more than half a million dollars.</p>
<p>In addition, the photographer requests an injunction to prevent future copyright infringements and wants Facebook to destroy all copies that it has in its possession.</p>
<p>The timing of the notices is interesting as it coincides with another incident involving the photographer. Last September <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/facebook-takes-down-torrentfreak-post-over-infringing-meme-190929/">we reported</a> that Facebook had removed one of our articles, which used a meme based on a public domain image of Boffoli. </p>
<p>The meme in question referenced the backlash after the photographer filed a lawsuit against Imgur in 2014. When that case was made public, someone responded by uploading 20,754 of his photos <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/photographer-who-sued-imgur-now-has-a-pirate-bay-problem-141022/">to The Pirate Bay.</a> Ironically, Facebook did remove the image and the link to our article years later, even though it was clearly fair use.</p>
<p>That incident shows that Facebook did respond to takedown notices. According to the new lawsuit, however, that wasn&#8217;t always the case.  </p>
<p>—-</p>
<p>A copy of the complaint is <a href="media/9a6d4617.boffolifacebook.pdf" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/boffolifacebook.pdf">available here (pdf)</a> and the email exhibits can be found <a href="media/44de8d8b.boffolicomms.pdf" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/boffolicomms.pdf">here (pdf)</a>.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=ePha38xC8Dk:aJxmHo9990E:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=ePha38xC8Dk:aJxmHo9990E:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=ePha38xC8Dk:aJxmHo9990E:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/ePha38xC8Dk" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183188
title: Court Gives ‘Dynamic’ Pirate Site-Blocking the Green Light in Spain
uri: Court-Gives-Dynamic-Pirate-Site-Blocking-the-Green-Light-in-Spai
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/0zQz6fb8qmM/
content:
<p><a href="media/413852f6.oldball.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/oldball.jpg"><img src="media/413852f6.oldball.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/oldball.jpg" alt="" width="267" height="183" class="alignright size-full wp-image-150389" /></a>The unlicensed streaming of live sporting events has presented problems for rightsholders for years but more recently, with the rise of &#8216;pirate&#8217; IPTV services, it has become a worldwide issue.</p>
<p>The phenomenon is being tackled from multiple directions, from targeting third-party <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/confirmed-supremacy-kodi-repo-was-indeed-targeted-by-police-190626/">Kodi add-on and app developers</a> to attacking systems <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/xtream-codes-iptv-system-targeted-in-massive-police-operation/">such as Xtream-Codes</a>. The overall aim, however, is to prevent end-users from accessing streams, primarily via web-blocking mechanisms.</p>
<p>Following a lawsuit filed last November and a ruling handed down by the Madrid Commerical Court, Spanish broadcaster Telefónica Audiovisual Digital hopes it can benefit from this approach. A copy of the decision, handed down on February 11, 2019, and obtained by <a href="https://cincodias.elpais.com/cincodias/2020/02/17/companias/1581968788_082002.html">Cinco Días</a>, reveals a broad injunction that targets many of the country&#8217;s Internet service providers.</p>
<p>The injunction targets prominent operators such as Vodafone, Orange, MásMóvil, Euskaltel, Lycamobile, and also Telefónica Audiovisual Digital&#8217;s own ISP, Telefónica. As a starting point, it identifies 44 pirate sites and services (reportedly managed by 30 &#8216;known piracy groups&#8217;), requiring that their URLs, domain names, and IP addresses are blocked within 72 hours.</p>
<p>All ISPs will be required to notify Telefónica Audiovisual Digital when they have blocked these resources, stating the day, hour and minute in each case. In addition, the inunction has a trick up its sleeve, in that it allows the broadcaster to notify new sites, URLs, domains and IP addresses to the ISPs every week for blocking, without having to refer to the court for permission.</p>
<p>The ISPs will be advised of the new online locations at exactly the same and they will be expected to act expeditiously in order to prevent their customers from accessing their pirated streams.</p>
<p>&#8220;The blocking of the new web resources (URLs, domains or IP addresses) must be done under access in HTTP and HTTP protocols, and within a maximum period of three hours from the notification of the new listing,&#8221; the decision reads, as cited by Cinco Días.</p>
<p>This part of the injunction is an obvious move designed to mitigate the threat posed by pirate services that implement their own technical measures to prevent being blocked. The theory is that if live data can be relayed to ISPs regarding the services&#8217; current locations, they can be tackled more efficiently, a mechanism often referred to as &#8216;dynamic&#8217; blocking.</p>
<p>Dynamic blocking orders can take several forms, with the most basic targeting relatively static services such as torrent and web-based streaming portals.</p>
<p>One such injunction was <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/swedish-court-issues-dynamic-pirate-bay-blocking-order-200124/">handed down in Sweden recently</a> against The Pirate Bay and several other sites, targeting the platforms themselves plus any new URLs or IP addresses that may subsequently appear. A similar one was <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/foxtel-obtains-first-dynamic-injunction-against-torrent-streaming-proxy-sites-190827/">obtained by Foxtel</a> in Australia last August.</p>
<p>However, given the fluid nature of live stream providers, it seems likely that the injunction just handed down in Spain will be more comparable to those previously <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/premier-league-wins-new-isp-piracy-blocking-order-190716/">obtained by the Premier League</a> covering the UK market and La Liga, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/la-liga-rights-alliance-win-dynamic-sports-piracy-blocking-order-190426/">active in Denmark</a>.</p>
<p>The new injunction obtained by Telefónica Audiovisual Digital is reportedly valid until May 25, 2022, and covers three football seasons. The company was awarded football broadcasting rights in June 2018 and that license is set to expire in 2022.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=0zQz6fb8qmM:Nm2--jhVcw4:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=0zQz6fb8qmM:Nm2--jhVcw4:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=0zQz6fb8qmM:Nm2--jhVcw4:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/0zQz6fb8qmM" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183175
title: Italian Police Report 223 Pirate IPTV Subscribers to the Judicial Authorities
uri: Italian-Police-Report-223-Pirate-IPTV-Subscribers-to-the-Judicial-Auth
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/_LaVxRrMdu8/
content:
<p><img src="media/a7c0897c.iptv.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/iptv.jpg" alt="" width="234" height="155" class="alignright size-full wp-image-135034" />Last summer the pirate IPTV market was thrown into turmoil when Italian authorities <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/xtream-codes-iptv-system-targeted-in-massive-police-operation/">took down Xtream-Codes</a>.</p>
<p>The IPTV management service was believed to be connected to 5,000 pirate services that catered to around 50 million end-users.</p>
<p>The enforcement actions caused problems at many IPTV services, with IPTV traffic <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-iptv-traffic-dropped-50-after-xtream-codes-raid-190927/">dropping by half</a>, but in the weeks that followed many providers managed to recover. That doesn&#8217;t mean, however, that law enforcement authorities are giving up. </p>
<p>This week the  Guardia di Finanza (GdF), the law enforcement agency connected to the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance, announced another IPTV-related enforcement operation. This time, it is targeted at customers of these pirate IPTV services. </p>
<p>Following an in-depth investigation, Guardia di Finanza tracked down 223 subscribers of illegal IPTV services. These people were subsequently reported to the judicial authorities, where they face further prosecution. </p>
<p>According to the law enforcement agency, the investigation remains ongoing. This means that more IPTV subscribers may be identified and reported in the future. </p>
<p>The subscribers in question are being held responsible for the crime of &#8220;receiving stolen goods.&#8221; If found guilty, they risk a penalty of 25,000 euros as well as an eight-year prison sentence, the authorities state. </p>
<p>The investigations were carried out with help from Italian anti-piracy group <a href="https://fapav.it/">FAPAV</a>, which provided technical assistance. FAPAV sees IPTV piracy as a major and growing threat to the entertainment industries.</p>
<p>Federico Bagnoli Rossi, Secretary-General of FAPAV, thanks Guardia di Finanza for its operation which he believes is needed to show that end users are also at risk. </p>
<p>&#8220;The operation is crucial because, for the first time in Italy, it doesn&#8217;t only focus on the operators of the pirate portals but also the users of these services,&#8221; Rossi says.</p>
<p>FAPAV hopes that these enforcement actions will continue. It believes that the growing problems pirate IPTV services cause are underestimated, so clamping down on all aspects is essential.</p>
<p>&#8220;In just one year we have seen an increase of over a million [pirate IPTV] users,&#8221; Rossi notes, adding that copyright holders are severely affected by these illegal services.</p>
<p>If and how many of the reported IPTV subscribers will indeed be prosecuted is unknown. However, the <a href="https://siac.gdf.gov.it/notizie/Pagine/Vedevano-partite-e-serie-tv-con-abbonamenti-%E2%80%9Cpirata%E2%80%9D.aspx">operation</a> does show that subscribers are not untouchable, which will likely be used as a warning message to others.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=_LaVxRrMdu8:sKvcCKmypA0:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=_LaVxRrMdu8:sKvcCKmypA0:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=_LaVxRrMdu8:sKvcCKmypA0:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/_LaVxRrMdu8" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183153
title: Activision Subpoenas Reddit to Identify Call of Duty Warzone ‘Leaker’
uri: Activision-Subpoenas-Reddit-to-Identify-Call-of-Duty-Warzone-Leaker
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/AWX42mWN5to/
content:
<p><a href="media/981b03c0.redditp.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/redditp.png"><img src="media/981b03c0.redditp.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/redditp.png" alt="" width="250" height="186" class="alignright size-full wp-image-125451" srcset="https://torrentfreak.com/images/redditp.png 250w, https://torrentfreak.com/images/redditp-200x150.png 200w" sizes="(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px" /></a>Sometime last week, speculation that a new Call of Duty &#8216;battle royale&#8217; mode might be due for a March launch began to intensify.</p>
<p>Noted leaker TheGamingRevoYT (TheGamingRevolution) posted footage on YouTube claiming to be from the &#8216;Warzone&#8217; mode and as VGC <a href="https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/modern-warfares-latest-update-seemingly-prepares-for-battle-royale/">reported</a>, players were able to glitch into menus following the Season 2 update.</p>
<p>It didn&#8217;t take long to work out that Activision was unhappy with the leaks. The video posted by TheGamingRevoYT was <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6R-xTYjK-o&#038;feature=youtu.be">taken down</a>, leaving a notice behind declaring that the video was no longer available due to a copyright claim by the gaming giant.</p>
<p><Center><a href="media/0702b842.acti-mw-down-e1582120129916.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/acti-mw-down-e1582120129916.png"><img src="media/0702b842.acti-mw-down-e1582120129916.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/acti-mw-down-e1582120129916.png" alt="" width="650" height="403" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-183172" /></a></center></p>
<p>Around the same time &#8211; perhaps earlier, perhaps a little later &#8211; a Reddit user called Assyrian2410 took to Reddit&#8217;s /r/modernwarfare to post a new thread. &#8220;I found this image online. Not sure what it is. Possibly Battle Royale,&#8221; he or she wrote.</p>
<p>The thread linked to an image, hosted by Reddit. According to a <a href="http://www.inven.co.kr/board/blackops4/5543/890">source</a> detailing the captured image and crediting it to the user, it shows Call of Duty soldiers standing on top of a downed chopper. Most strikingly, the text in the background shouts &#8220;CALL OF DUTY: WARZONE.&#8221;</p>
<p>According to a user who participated in the Reddit thread, TheGamingRevolution confirmed on Twitter that the image was &#8220;legit&#8221;. However, the tweet was removed and according to Twitter, that account has now been suspended. <a href="https://twitter.com/Kalijvc/status/1227399747989901313">Another tweet</a>, published by a moderator of the /r/modernwarfare sub-Reddit, was also &#8220;withheld in response to a report from the copyright holder.&#8221;</p>
<p>Whether any further action is being taken against most of the alleged leakers listed above or indeed the many others around the web remains unclear. However, documents obtained by TorrentFreak show that Activision has taken to a US court in an effort to discover the identity of Reddit user Assyrian2410.</p>
<p>In a filing on February 14, 2020 at a California district court, attorneys acting for Activision requested a DMCA subpoena against Reddit.</p>
<p>&#8220;Petitioner, Activision Publishing, Inc. through its undersigned counsel of record, hereby requests that the Clerk of this Court issue a subpoena to Reddit, Inc. to identify alleged infringers at issue, pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (&#8216;DMCA&#8217;), 17 U.S.C. § 512(h),&#8221; the request reads.</p>
<p>&#8220;The DMCA Subpoena is directed to Reddit, Inc. Reddit is the service provider to which the subject of the subpoena &#8211; Reddit user &#8216;Assyrian241O&#8217; &#8211; posted infringing Activision content.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><a href="media/69bce3ab.acti-reddit-subpoena-e1582202136971.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/acti-reddit-subpoena-e1582202136971.png"><img src="media/69bce3ab.acti-reddit-subpoena-e1582202136971.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/acti-reddit-subpoena-e1582202136971.png" alt="" width="650" height="371" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-183211" /></a></center></p>
<p>As the image shows, the proposed subpoena provides a Reddit URL where the supposedly infringing content was published. However, rather than listing the specific Reddit URL where the actual image was hosted, it instead references the Reddit discussion thread. </p>
<p>No infringing content was posted in the thread itself and the actual image URL isn&#8217;t mentioned at all in the subpoena request. In any event, the image was deleted days ago.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, Activision claims that the image content infringes its exclusive rights under copyright law, &#8220;Specifically, it infringes Activision&#8217;s rights in its popular video game &#8220;Call of Duty: Modern Warfare,&#8221; the request adds.</p>
<p>The image in question is currently being used on many gaming sites in articles discussing Warzone but it&#8217;s unclear whether the Reddit user was the source of the original material. However, an aggravating factor can be found in the thread itself. </p>
<p>Contrary to the initial claim, that the user &#8220;found this image online&#8221;, he or she later confessed to it being sent to them by an &#8220;inside source&#8221;. That raises the question of who Activision is more interested in &#8211; the Reddit user or the person who sent them the image, possibly from inside Activision or a related company.</p>
<p>Despite the URL issue, the seemingly deficient subpoena request was signed off by the clerk of the court and will now be delivered to Reddit, which is required to hand over the personal details of its user by February 29, 2020.</p>
<p>Whether it will or can comply is currently unknown. The Assyrian241O account <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Assyrian2410">was deleted days ago</a> but it&#8217;s not clear what data Reddit retains on users after such an event, particularly in light of a legal issue.</p>
<p><em>The DMCA subpoena request and related documents can be found here (<a href="media/0d44236c.4-20-mc-80044-DMR-Activision-v-Reddit-200214.pdf" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/4-20-mc-80044-DMR-Activision-v-Reddit-200214.pdf">1</a>,<a href="media/8f60891a.4-20-mc-80044-DMR-Activision-v-Reddit-200214-subpoena.pdf" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/4-20-mc-80044-DMR-Activision-v-Reddit-200214-subpoena.pdf">2</a>,<a href="media/8ce0f9d3.4-20-mc-80044-DMR-Activision-v-Reddit-200214-subpoena-issued.pdf" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/4-20-mc-80044-DMR-Activision-v-Reddit-200214-subpoena-issued.pdf">3</a> pdf)</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=AWX42mWN5to:18Jf7WdDDnQ:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=AWX42mWN5to:18Jf7WdDDnQ:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=AWX42mWN5to:18Jf7WdDDnQ:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/AWX42mWN5to" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183182
title: Movie Company Links ‘Notorious Copyright Thief’ Peter Sunde to MKVCage Lawsuit
uri: Movie-Company-Links-Notorious-Copyright-Thief-Peter-Sunde-to-MKV
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/hSQz9bGr0ko/
content:
<p><img src="media/426331c9.copyright.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/copyright.jpg" alt="" width="237" height="159" class="alignright size-full wp-image-179649" />A group of movie companies, operating under the parent company Millennium Funding, is pursuing legal action against key piracy players.</p>
<p>Through various copyright infringement lawsuits and DMCA subpoenas they have gone after targets ranging from <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/movie-companies-sue-popcorn-time-operator-in-us-court-190102/">Popcorn Time</a> through <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/torrent-mogul-yts-is-being-sued-by-yet-another-movie-company-190808/">YTS</a>, to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/showbox-site-owner-settles-piracy-case-for-150000-180930/">Showbox</a> and <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/popular-torrent-site-mkvcage-faces-lawsuit-and-goes-offline/">MKVCage</a>.</p>
<p>The case against MKVCage, filed last summer, had an immediate effect. Not long after the complaint was submitted to a Hawaii District Court, MKVCage <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/popular-torrent-site-mkvcage-faces-lawsuit-and-goes-offline/">became unreachable</a>. At the same time, the uploader stopped pushing torrents to other sites as well.</p>
<p>Aside from a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/popular-torrent-uploader-mkvcage-returns-but-legal-troubles-remain-191017/">brief comeback</a>, the site remains missing in action today. However, that doesn&#8217;t mean that the lawsuit is over too. A few days ago, the makers of the film Hellboy submitted an amended complaint against the alleged operator, a Pakistani man named Muhammad Faizan.</p>
<p>Hellboy Productions accuses Faizan of promoting and distributing pirated copies of its movie. The complaint also lists 35 John Doe defendants, who presumably downloaded the film. </p>
<p>While many of these allegations were already present in the original complaint, the new version does introduce a new name into the mix. According to Hellboy Productions, MKVCage is linked to a &#8216;notorious copyright thief.&#8217; </p>
<p>The movie company writes that Faizan began &#8220;operating the website mkvcage.nl&#8221; together with 1337 Services LLC, which is associated with Pirate Bay co-founder Peter Sunde. </p>
<p>&#8220;1337 was created and is controlled by Peter Sunde Kolmisoppi,&#8221; Hellboy writes, adding that &#8220;Peter Sunde Kolmisoppi is a notorious copyright thief who was sentenced to prison in Sweden for his creation of The Pirate Bay.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><img src="media/2825cb59.faisun.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/faisun.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="264" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-183186" /></center></p>
<p>This sounds rather ominous. However, the complaint fails to mention that 1337 Services LLC is the company behind <a href="https://njal.la">Njalla</a>, which is a service that allows people to privately register domain names. And indeed, a Whois lookup for MKVCage.nl shows 1337 Services as the registrant. </p>
<p>This pushes the joint operation claim into an entirely different light. Njalla has many customers, including the Catalonian government, but it doesn&#8217;t operate the sites which are tied to these domains. </p>
<p>Peter Sunde informs TorrentFreak that he&#8217;d never heard of MKVcage until now. He is also not aware of any abuse emails regarding the domain name.</p>
<p>&#8220;As far as I know we haven’t even received an abuse e-mail regarding MKVcage, but I guess that’s their strategy. If they send abuse e-mails they might get services suspended and thus not being able to sue people,&#8221; Sunde says.</p>
<p>The Pirate Bay co-founder stresses that 1337 Services LLC is owned by a foundation, which is information they would have gladly shared if asked. The company is operated by many people who may feel left out now, as they may also want to be labeled as copyright thieves.</p>
<p>&#8220;My co-workers may be upset that they don’t get any credit for 1337’s work now, so I’m so sorry. They also want to be notorious copyright thieves,&#8221; Sunde notes. </p>
<p>Neither Sunde nor 1337 Services are defendants in the case. They are little more than a passing mention, perhaps to make it appear as if there&#8217;s something more going on than there is. </p>
<p>In earlier court filings the movie company actually referred to 1337 Services as a privacy service, which wasn&#8217;t clarified in the most recent filing. </p>
<p>Finally, Sunde points out that he&#8217;s not really a copyright thief. While he may have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-founder-builds-the-ultimate-piracy-machine-151219/">duplicated a file or two</a>, he never &#8216;stole&#8217; anyone&#8217;s copyright, which is simply impossible. This is something the US Copyright Office can confirm.</p>
<p>While Sunde is not in any trouble, in this case, Faizan is. Hellboy Productions accuses him of direct and contributory copyright infringement. The movie company claims to have suffered $270,902.58 in damages and would like to have that compensated.</p>
<p><em>&#8212;</p>
<p>A copy of the amended complaint Hellboy Productions filed against Muhammad Faizan is <a href="media/e909ea3d.mvcagesunde.pdf" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/mvcagesunde.pdf">available here (pdf)</a>.</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=hSQz9bGr0ko:gpioaFYcx0k:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=hSQz9bGr0ko:gpioaFYcx0k:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=hSQz9bGr0ko:gpioaFYcx0k:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/hSQz9bGr0ko" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183191
title: MPA Targets Pirate App TeaTV, Asks Github to Consider Repeat Infringer Policy
uri: MPA-Targets-Pirate-App-TeaTV-Asks-Github-to-Consider-Repeat-Infringer
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/8zx4IQ3nRcE/
content:
<p><img src="media/5c8f774d.teattv.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/teattv.png" width="225" height="225" class="alignright size-full" />Accessing regular websites in order to stream copies of the latest movies and TV shows is still popular among Internet users but the rise of set-top boxes and portable devices has fueled the uptake of app-based piracy tools.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s a cramped marketplace but last year TeaTV gained notable traction and was installed by hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions, of pirates looking to access video at zero cost. This momentum earned TeaTV a place in an October 2019 CNBC feature, something which triggered even more interest in the tool and its <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-app-teatv-gets-featured-on-cnbc-disappears-but-will-be-back-191023/">disappearance from the web</a>.</p>
<p>In the wake of that piece, a source close to TeaTV informed TF that the software (which is available for Android, Windows and macOS) would be back, a promise that was later fulfilled. However, it now transpires that Hollywood is attempting to disrupt access to the tool via complaints filed with code development platform Github.</p>
<p>A notice filed by the Motion Picture Association (MPA) this week begins by referencing the CNBC article, noting that TeaTV &#8220;is an app notoriously devoted to copyright infringement.&#8221; It reveals previous correspondence with Github during October and November 2019, and January 2020, and thanks Github &#8220;for its additional guidance&#8221; offered by the Microsoft-owned platform late December 2019.</p>
<p><Center><a href="media/9220c5c5.teatv-large-e1582291906835.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/teatv-large-e1582291906835.png"><img src="media/9220c5c5.teatv-large-e1582291906835.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/teatv-large-e1582291906835.png" alt="" width="650" height="318" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-183275" /></a></center></p>
<p>&#8220;We previously provided you links to the Github repositories that TeaTV is using and are now providing you with the attached file titled &#8216;GitHub-Code&#8217; which shows code hosted on Github that provides links to pirate sites with infringing copies of motion pictures and television shows that are scraped by the TeaTV app to provide access to the infringing content users are looking for,&#8221; the complaint reads.</p>
<p>Four repositories listed by the MPA in previous notices have already been taken down but the MPA has now taken further action by demanding the deletion of repos carrying the three executable files for the Android, Windows, and macOS variants of TeaTV.</p>
<p>&#8220;Also attached is a file titled &#8216;GitHub-Executables&#8217; which shows that the final version of the app is available for download from the GitHub platform. These executable files are pre-configured to infringe copyright-protected motion pictures and television shows that are owned or controlled by our Members,&#8221; the MPA writes.</p>
<p>Additionally, the Hollywood group says it carried out a network traffic analysis on the TeaTV app and found that its API connected to accounts on Github, located at three URLs, all of which should be removed.</p>
<p>After the MPA reminded Github of the 2005 MGM v. Grokster decision, noting that “the distribution of a product can itself give rise to liability where evidence shows that the distributor intended and encouraged the product to be used to infringe”, Github removed all of the URLs listed in the complaint, leaving the familiar &#8220;unavailable&#8221; notice behind.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/3faffbc2.githubdown1.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/githubdown1.png"><img src="media/3faffbc2.githubdown1.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/githubdown1.png" alt="" width="600" height="399" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-158880" /></a></center></p>
<p>While the MPA will be satisfied with the suspension of the pages, its <a href="https://github.com/github/dmca/commit/789b951fd9f0e74208267f41f1995ca4a302fd5d">takedown notice</a> also asks Github to consider 17 U.S.C. § 512(i)(1)(A), which grants an exemption from liability for service providers when they take action against repeat infringers. </p>
<p>&#8220;The limitations on liability established by this section shall apply to a service provider only if the service provider&#8230;has adopted and reasonably implemented, and informs subscribers and account holders of the service provider’s system or network of, a policy that provides for the termination in appropriate circumstances of subscribers and account holders of the service provider’s system or network who are repeat infringers,&#8221; the <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/512">code</a> reads.</p>
<p>The main TeaTV account and repository are currently active but with no content available. TeaTV.net, however, is still online, as is the .XYZ domain from where the clients can be downloaded and movies and TV shows streamed, albeit in a cumbersome fashion when compared to the app.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak requested comment from the operators of TeaTV as to whether the MPA had been in touch directly. At the time of publishing, we were yet to receive a response.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=8zx4IQ3nRcE:Xm2_Ms9flic:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=8zx4IQ3nRcE:Xm2_Ms9flic:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=8zx4IQ3nRcE:Xm2_Ms9flic:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/8zx4IQ3nRcE" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183221
title: Canal+ Warns Torrent Site Not to Pirate Upcoming TV-Series
uri: Canal-Warns-Torrent-Site-Not-to-Pirate-Upcoming-TV-Series
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/4fb4unTQ6PI/
content:
<p><img src="media/58be537e.canal-logo.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/canal-logo.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="200" class="alignright size-full wp-image-106770" />It&#8217;s commonly known that copyright holders regularly send takedown notices to torrent sites, asking the operators to remove pirated content. </p>
<p>While not all sites comply with these, many do, to avoid drawing any unnecessary attention. </p>
<p>This week we were contacted by the operator of one of the larger torrent sites, who prefers to remain anonymous. He also processes takedown notices regularly. However, one request he received this week seemed a little out of the ordinary. </p>
<p>The site operator was contacted by the anti-piracy department of the entertainment company CANAL+. Unlike other notices, where the site is asked to remove content, this request was sent to protect content that hasn&#8217;t even aired yet. </p>
<p>The notice in question mentions the Polish series <a href="https://tv.pl.canalplus.com/seriale/maly-zgon">Mały Zgon</a> (Little Death) to which Canal+ has the exclusive rebroadcasting rights. However, the company fears that it will end up at the targeted torrent site as well. </p>
<p>Canal+ stresses that the torrent site and its users don&#8217;t have the right to distribute the upcoming series. If the site&#8217;s operator fails to remove or disable content when it&#8217;s made available, it can be held liable, the company explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;Thus, this letter gives you actual knowledge of illegal activity or information as regulated in [the EU e-commerce directive] and its receipt obliges you to act expeditiously and remove or to disable access to any of the above mentioned files from the Website &#8211; otherwise you will not be able to take advantage of the release from liability for unlawful sharing of files containing the episodes of the Series on the Website,&#8221; the letter adds.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/439a222b.canall3.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/canall3.jpg" alt="" width="603" height="274" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-183249" /></center></p>
<p>In order to help the site operator a bit, Canal+ shared the series release schedule. The first two episodes are set to come out on March 8 and it ends on April 5, with two new episodes coming out every week.</p>
<p>In addition, the anti-piracy department has another tip. The letter notes that most illegal activity will likely take place shortly after the episodes come out, so Canal+ encourages the site operator to be extra vigilant during that time. </p>
<p>&#8220;Based on the experience gained during work on the protection of copyrights and related rights vested in the Company, I can point out that the highest probability of increased activity of the Website&#8217;s users will occur within a few days of the release of the subsequent episodes &#8211; for this reason I recommend special vigilance in these periods,&#8221; the notice adds.</p>
<p>These type of preemptive takedown notices are rather unusual. At this point, there is nothing for the site operator to take down. While Canal+ may hope that the site will install some kind of filtering mechanism, we doubt that this will happen.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=4fb4unTQ6PI:xu3_f0sNvB4:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=4fb4unTQ6PI:xu3_f0sNvB4:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=4fb4unTQ6PI:xu3_f0sNvB4:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/4fb4unTQ6PI" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183137
title: YouTube Fair Use: Documentary Makers Defeat Gaye, Thicke, Bee Gees & Jackson
uri: YouTube-Fair-Use-Documentary-Makers-Defeat-Gaye-Thicke-Bee-Gees-J
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/lJ5z2LicQ1s/
content:
<p><img src="media/6d611e87.copy-me.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/copy-me.png" width="272" height="130" class="alignright size-full" />Late last year, TorrentFreak <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/documentary-detailing-how-geniuses-steal-hit-with-blurred-lines-copyright-complaint-191218/">covered issues</a> facing <a href="http://copy-me.org/">Copy-Me.org</a>, a group dedicated to informing the public on copyright-related matters.</p>
<p>As architects of the web-series Creativity Delusion, Copy-Me had published an episode entitled &#8220;Geniuses Steal&#8221;, which explored the notion that no one really creates something out of nothing and even the greatest minds rely upon the inspiration of others. Unfortunately, the work fell victim to claims from not one but four separate directions.</p>
<p>According to the automated claims that appeared in the group&#8217;s YouTube panel, their use of snippets of songs by Marvin Gaye, Robin Thicke, Bee Gees and Michael Jackson constituted an infringement of the various labels&#8217; rights, despite being fairly obvious examples of fair use.</p>
<p>However, after a bold fightback, Copy-Me has now emerged victorious, as the group&#8217;s Alex Lungu explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;The claims in question were on samples from different songs we used to talk about the ethical &#038; legal problems when dealing with art and copyright. The Marvin Gaye vs Blurred Lines case is one of the biggest copyright suits ever. Marvin Gaye’s family won five million dollars and we find that insane,&#8221; Lungu informs TF.</p>
<p>&#8220;So to prove how similar Marvin Gaye’s song is to plenty of other songs from its time, we played them side by side with You Should Be Dancing (Bee Gees), Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough (Michael Jackson), Everybody Dance (Chic) and September (Earth, Wind &#038; Fire).</p>
<p>The group received copyright claims on four samples &#8211; Got to Give It Up, Blurred Lines, You Should Be Dancing and Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough. That meant that Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group got to play ads against the documentary show, even though Copy-Me never monetized the content in the first place.</p>
<p>&#8220;I filed disputes immediately on the grounds of fair use. We used small samples and we didn’t affect the owner’s market, so I knew the video was safe,&#8221; Lunge says.</p>
<p>&#8220;But the thing with Youtube’s copyright claim system is that it doesn’t matter how legal or illegal the use is. It’s in its own world. The copyright claimant is the judge and jury and there’s no third party assessing the claim. There’s no penalty if the claim is wrong or the claimant lies. So you’re left with reading up on the law, fully understanding the forms YouTube asks you to fill and hoping for the best.&#8221; </p>
<p>The responses to the disputes were mixed. Three received absolutely no response from the claimants and after 30 days waiting, were automatically dropped by YouTube&#8217;s system. But that still left the fourth claim and dispute concerning Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough up in the air. That proved less easy to purge.</p>
<p>&#8220;One dispute was rejected (Michael Jackson, Sony Music Entertainment/SME), so there was probably a real person there who thought they can actually make money off our work. So we were left with a video which was monetized in some countries by SME on the grounds that SME alone thought we were illegally using their song – which we weren’t,&#8221; Lunge says.</p>
<p>Lunge admits that at this point, he was &#8220;a bit afraid&#8221; to file an appeal on the grounds that he would have to give all of his personal information to Sony who could then sue him or delete the documentary. Again, with no oversight or penalty if their claim wasn&#8217;t valid, all &#8220;on the whim&#8221; of a &#8220;company intern&#8221;.</p>
<p>Lunge decided to go all the way, filed an appeal and explained himself yet again. He received no reply but with the clock ticking, things went his way. One month later the appeal expired and the claim against the documentary was released. Nevertheless, that wasn&#8217;t without cost. Not counting all of the administrative work and upheaval, it still took two months to counter all of the claims and get back on an even keel.</p>
<p>&#8220;That’s an incredible amount of time to have your video in copyright purgatory. I can’t even imagine what must go on inside someone’s mind who makes Youtube videos for a living,&#8221; he says.</p>
<p>&#8220;There are plenty of completely legal uses one can make with a song, without asking for any permission: criticism, parody, quotation and so on. Automated claims will never distinguish between legal and illegal ones. Only a judge can do that, but it’s insane to think one should decide for the thousands of videos uploaded every second.</p>
<p>&#8220;And I am genuinely concerned about the nature of online videos when big platforms like Youtube and Facebook will be forced to abide by the new European Directive on copyright filters,&#8221; Lunge concludes.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=lJ5z2LicQ1s:63RKSY2lAto:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=lJ5z2LicQ1s:63RKSY2lAto:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=lJ5z2LicQ1s:63RKSY2lAto:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/lJ5z2LicQ1s" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183235
title: Copyright Troll Now Has its Own Piracy Tracking Tool
uri: Copyright-Troll-Now-Has-its-Own-Piracy-Tracking-Tool
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/YR5qXQL6Tnk/
content:
<p><img src="media/efd05bc4.trollsign.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/trollsign.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="167" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108977" />Three years ago, Strike 3 Holdings had never filed a single lawsuit, but today the company has thousands of cases on its record. </p>
<p>These lawsuits are being filed across the United States, targeting people whose Internet connections were allegedly used to download and share copyright-infringing content via BitTorrent. </p>
<p>In the case of Strike 3, this refers to adult videos that are made available via the Blacked, Tushy, and Vixen websites. The company’s legal campaign has kept the courts busy and contributed to a record-breaking breaking number of piracy lawsuits.</p>
<p>Last summer the company <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/most-active-copyright-trolls-stopped-filing-u-s-piracy-lawsuits-for-now-191211/">suddenly stopped filing new lawsuits</a> in federal court, but in December its efforts started up again. While the new complaints were very similar to the previous ones, there is a striking difference. </p>
<p>Previously, Strike 3 relied on evidence from the German company IPP International, which tracks file-sharing activity that takes place via BitTorrent networks. However, in the new cases Strike 3 is relying on evidence produced by its own tracking system. </p>
<p>&#8220;Plaintiff has developed, owns, and operates an infringement detection system,&#8221; Strike 3 wrote. In a complaint filed this week, it gets more specific by adding a name for its system: &#8216;VXN Scan&#8217;.</p>
<p>&#8220;Using VXN Scan, Plaintiff discovered that Defendant used the BitTorrent file network to illegally download and distribute Plaintiff’s copyrighted motion pictures,&#8221; Strike 3 informed a Virginia federal court.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/b4f95e60.vxnscan.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/vxnscan.jpg" alt="" width="597" height="198" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-183262" /></center></p>
<p>The switch to the in-house tracking system coincided with Strike 3&#8217;s hiatus in filing new federal lawsuits. It&#8217;s unclear, however, why that happened. It could be an effort to save costs or the company may have severed its ties to IPP International for another reason. </p>
<p>The mention of the new detection system was <a href="https://torrent-defenders.com/is-strike-3-holdings-changing-their-strategy/">highlighted</a> by defense attorney Jeffrey Antonelli who also observed another change in Strike 3&#8217;s strategy. In addition to the torrent hash, the copyright holder now lists a file-hash as evidence as well. </p>
<p>This addition may very well be a response to a recent order in a Washington federal court, where Judge Zilly ordered Strike 3 to pay <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/retired-police-officer-wins-47777-judgment-against-copyright-troll-200205/">$47,777 to cover the fees and costs</a> of an accused man. In this case, the Judge noted that torrent hashes are not sufficient to pinpoint an infringing file. </p>
<p>The complaint also mentions that the defendant is not the subscriber of the linked IP-address. This case address was previously mentioned in another case, so it&#8217;s possible that Strike 3 obtained extra information about the alleged pirate from the account holder.</p>
<p>Whether the new complaint and in-house tracking system will be able to withstand scrutiny from defense lawyers has yet to be seen. Thus far, Strike 3&#8217;s technology hasn&#8217;t been tested in court. </p>
<p>That said, the description does raise some questions. According to the adult video producer, VXN Scan doesn&#8217;t &#8220;upload content to any BitTorrent user&#8221; because &#8220;it is incapable of doing so.&#8221; At the same time, however, the defendants are accused of &#8220;downloading&#8221; pirated content. </p>
<p>Technically, a tracking system that merely downloads content can&#8217;t prove that other users downloaded anything, only that they uploaded material. That said, the complaint would still be valid if defendants only uploaded files, when they are not authorized to do so. </p>
<p>All in all, it&#8217;s clear that Strike 3 doesn&#8217;t plan to halt its legal efforts anytime soon. The company previously started experimenting by filing lawsuits <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/copyright-troll-bypasses-federal-court-to-get-cheap-piracy-settlements-191213/">in county court</a> and with its own tracking system, the related scheme may become even more profitable. </p>
<p><em>&#8212;</p>
<p>A copy of Strike 3&#8217;s complaint mentioning the new VXN Scan detection system is <a href="media/67ef102c.SAMPLE-new-Strike-3-holdings-lawsuit.pdf" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/SAMPLE-new-Strike-3-holdings-lawsuit.pdf">available here (pdf)</a>.</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=YR5qXQL6Tnk:cIdWvUZgXK8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=YR5qXQL6Tnk:cIdWvUZgXK8:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=YR5qXQL6Tnk:cIdWvUZgXK8:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/YR5qXQL6Tnk" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183298
title: Rightsholders Want Google and Facebook to Scrub Links to Pirate Sites
uri: Rightsholders-Want-Google-and-Facebook-to-Scrub-Links-to-Pirate-Sites
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/3YeKl69YGXY/
content:
<p><img src="media/8f6c3950.googlepiratebay.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/googlepiratebay.png" alt="" width="267" height="257" class="alignright size-full wp-image-128445" />Australia has often been described as a hotbed for piracy.</p>
<p>Some people link this phenomenon to long release delays and high prices. However, former Village Roadshow CEO Graham Burke and many other industry insiders disagree. </p>
<p>They mainly point the finger at the ease of access to pirate sites, which is facilitated by services such as Google. </p>
<p>While Burke stepped down from his position as movie studio CEO last year, he remains heavily involved in anti-piracy issues. He is currently the Chair of <a href="https://www.creativecontentaustralia.org.au/">Creative Content Australia</a>, an industry group that unites several major companies in the entertainment business.</p>
<p>In recent years the group supported broader anti-piracy measures such as <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/netflixs-first-pirate-site-blocking-application-granted-in-australia/">website blocking</a>. However, it also believes that more has to be done. In particular, they see a major role for third-party intermediaries including search engines such as Google.</p>
<p>The Australian government previously highlighted the responsibility of these online services in curbing piracy but despite the encouragement to do more, copyright holders say they have noticed little change.</p>
<p>“What is happening is that the government, with legislation, shut the front door by blocking websites by ISP, but the search engines, namely Google, are taking people to pirate process proxy sites,” Burke told <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/call-to-end-pirate-website-fleecing/news-story/e2c56603f0765ce012ee996d1ef846e8">The Australian</a>.</p>
<p>“If you google PIR you get taken to Pirate Bay proxies, where they say unashamedly, if the government blocked your Pirate Bay access through your ISP we can re-engage you right here.”</p>
<p>Interestingly, last year Burke was the one who reported that Google has started to remove <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/google-de-indexes-832-pirate-sites-from-australia-search-results-190513/">hundreds of pirate sites</a> from its search result following a voluntary agreement. While that was touted as a victory, it didn&#8217;t result in the desired effect. </p>
<p>Creative Content Australia believes that search engines are not taking enough responsibility. Therefore, the group asked the government to step in to make sure that blocked sites are not findable through these third-party platforms.</p>
<p>This applies to search engines, including Google, as well as social media platforms such as Facebook. According to the rightsholders, these companies ignore the government&#8217;s recommendations as laid out in <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/google-opposes-mandatory-standard-for-australian-takedown-notices-190309/">ACCC’s review</a>.</p>
<p>With its call to action, Creative Content Australia is obviously looking out for the financial interests of its members. However, the group also stresses that pirate sites pose a danger to the public.</p>
<p>The industry group has repeatedly highlighted the risk of malware and other nefarious activities people can run into. Burke reiterates these comments and now notes that pirate sites can suck up passwords and empty people&#8217;s bank accounts. </p>
<p>“When piracy first started they had advertising and they’re still doing some of that, but the big profit, huge profit, comes from getting someone’s credit card details and emptying their bank account.</p>
<p>“Even just by clicking on to a ­pirate website, they’re so sophisticated they can suck up all your ­information, your passwords and everything,” Burke adds.</p>
<p>These statements go quite far and come without any evidence. While there certainly are some scammy sites online, we&#8217;re not aware of any regular pirate sites that steal people&#8217;s information and money.</p>
<p>In the past, the industry group also pointed out that pirate sites are the number one way through which malicious software is spread. While we previously <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/anti-piracy-video-scares-kids-with-fake-malware-info-180206/">debunked that claim</a>, Burke continues to hammer on the threat. </p>
<p>Time will tell whether the renewed pressure on the Australian government will have any effect. At the time of writing, links to The Pirate Bay and other blocked sites remain widely available through search engines and social media platforms.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=3YeKl69YGXY:mRJEfUIaXjM:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=3YeKl69YGXY:mRJEfUIaXjM:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=3YeKl69YGXY:mRJEfUIaXjM:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/3YeKl69YGXY" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183328
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week on BitTorrent – 02/24/20
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-on-BitTorrent-02-24-20
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/2Ldlpmd_93I/
content:
<p><img src="media/45b44e34.froz.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/froz.jpg" alt="" width="280" height="286" class="alignright size-full wp-image-181350" />This week we have one newcomer in our chart.</p>
<p>Frozen 2 is the most downloaded movie.</p>
<p>The data for our weekly download chart is estimated by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only. All the movies in the list are Web-DL/Webrip/HDRip/BDrip/DVDrip unless stated otherwise.</p>
<p><a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/dvdrip/feed/"><strong>RSS feed</strong></a> for the articles of the recent weekly movie download charts.</p>
<h5>This week&#8217;s most downloaded movies are:</h5>
<table class="css hover">
<thead>
<tr>
<th width="12%"><strong>Movie Rank</strong></th>
<th width="15%"><strong>Rank <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-movies-of-the-week-on-bittorrent-02-17-20/">last week</a></strong></th>
<th><strong>Movie name</strong></th>
<th width="18%"><strong>IMDb Rating / Trailer</strong></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tfoot>
<tr>
<td colspan="4">Most downloaded movies via torrents</td>
</tr>
</tfoot>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>1</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4520988/">Frozen II</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4520988/">7.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwzLiQZDw2I">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5033998/">Charlie&#8217;s Angels</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5033998/">4.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSUq4VfWfjE">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8946378/">Knives Out</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8946378/">8.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi-1NchUqMA">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(7)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7975244/">Jumanji: The Next Level</a> (Subbed HDRip)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7975244/">6.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBxcF-r9Ibs">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(6)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6751668/">Parasite</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6751668/">8.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xH0HfJHsaY">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1950186/">Ford v Ferrari</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1950186/">8.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3h9Z89U9ZA">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(10)</td>
<td><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/joker-torrent-downloads/">Joker</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7286456/">8.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAGVQLHvwOY">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8688634/">21 Bridges</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8688634/">6.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVZDhunTrYA">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6924650/">Midway</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6924650/">6.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfTYY_pac8o">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(9)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6450804/">Terminator: Dark Fate</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6450804/">6.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxy8udgWRmo">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=2Ldlpmd_93I:2wYUmAC8GRw:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=2Ldlpmd_93I:2wYUmAC8GRw:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=2Ldlpmd_93I:2wYUmAC8GRw:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/2Ldlpmd_93I" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183301
title: Cloudflare Agrees to Stop Caching Pirate Content in Japan, If Court Declares Sites Illegal
uri: Cloudflare-Agrees-to-Stop-Caching-Pirate-Content-in-Japan-If-Court-De
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/hn3NBJVRYuU/
content:
<p><a href="media/d2bcf64e.cloudflare-logo-e1497134379554.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/cloudflare-logo-e1497134379554.png"><img src="media/d2bcf64e.cloudflare-logo-e1497134379554.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/cloudflare-logo-e1497134379554.png" alt="" width="250" height="126" class="alignright size-full wp-image-140211" /></a>As the largest CDN and DDoS mitigation service on the planet, Cloudflare provides services to millions of websites.</p>
<p>A tiny proportion of these sites are on the radars of entertainment and publishing companies since they either directly offer or link to unlicensed copies of copyrighted works. As a result, Cloudflare is under almost continual pressure to cease doing business with these entities.</p>
<p>As first reported <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/manga-publishers-sue-pirate-site-hoshinoromi-in-new-york-court/">here on TF</a> in September 2019, Japan-based publishers Shueisha, Kadowaka, Kodansha, and Shogakukan sued the &#8216;pirate&#8217; site Hoshinoromi in a New York federal court. The platform, which positioned itself as a replacement for self-shuttered pirate site Mangamura, was accused of &#8220;willful and massive infringement&#8221; of the publishers&#8217; copyrights.</p>
<p>That case is still ongoing and according to a filing late last week <em>(<a href="media/023e6796.1-19-cv-08227-Shueisha-Inc.-v.-Does-1-100-letter-extension.pdf" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/1-19-cv-08227-Shueisha-Inc.-v.-Does-1-100-letter-extension.pdf">pdf</a>)</em>, the publishers are having considerable difficulty identifying and serving the defendants, so need an extension. Cloudflare was mentioned in that lawsuit too and it now transpires that the same publishers previously targeted the CDN company in a Japan court back in 2018.</p>
<p>In common with other lawsuits in Japan, details are hazy. However, according to a joint statement issued late last week, Shueisha, Kadowaka, Kodansha, and Shogakukan filed a motion at the Tokyo District Court in August 2018 with a demand that Cloudflare should stop providing services to several &#8216;pirate&#8217; platforms, Hoshinoromi included. Due to caching, that amounted to Cloudflare delivering infringing content to the public, they argued.</p>
<p>For reasons that appear related to the ongoing case in the United States, they have waited until now to reveal a settlement of sorts with Cloudflare. It was reportedly reached in June 2019 and seems to hinge on whether a court determines that the &#8216;pirate&#8217; sites in question are copyright-infringing and therefore illegal.</p>
<p>The publishers&#8217; statement indicates that when the &#8216;pirate&#8217; sites using Cloudflare are viewed by users in Japan, most of those users will be accessing them via Cloudflare&#8217;s Japan-located servers. So, if the Tokyo District Court rules that the sites are illegal, Cloudflare has reportedly agreed to &#8220;stop the replication of the sites to Cloudflare&#8217;s servers in Japan.&#8221;</p>
<p>At least in part, the announcement is designed to be a warning to other &#8216;pirate&#8217; sites that may be considering using Cloudflare&#8217;s services to improve uptime and general accessibility. Whether it will make much of a difference on the ground remains to be seen, however.</p>
<p>While this particular matter appears to be settled, last December <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/manga-publisher-takeshobo-sues-cloudflare-for-copyright-infringement-200108/">Cloudflare was sued</a> by Takeshobo, another major publisher based in Japan that distributes dozens of manga publications, many under the Bamboo Comics label.</p>
<p>The publisher said it was forced to sue Cloudflare because takedown notices sent to the CDN company in respect of a nameless &#8216;pirate&#8217; site were effectively ignored, allowing infringing material to stay online via Cloudflare&#8217;s services. Progress in that particular case is unknown but the settlement with Shueisha, Kadowaka, Kodansha, and Shogakukan may provide a possible solution for Takeshobo.</p>
<p>Cloudflare is obviously extremely cautious when faced with similar lawsuits, always insisting that as a service provider it is not responsible for the activities of its users. Last week, however, the effects of a ruling handed down in December by a German court saw Cloudflare <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/court-orders-cloudflare-to-prevent-access-to-pirated-music-or-face-fines-or-prison-200219/">disconnect pirate music platform DDL-Music</a> under the threat of serious fines.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=hn3NBJVRYuU:zxuktRFl5a0:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=hn3NBJVRYuU:zxuktRFl5a0:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=hn3NBJVRYuU:zxuktRFl5a0:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/hn3NBJVRYuU" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183326
title: RapidVideo Agrees to Pay Settlement to ACE, Hands Over Domains
uri: RapidVideo-Agrees-to-Pay-Settlement-to-ACE-Hands-Over-Domains
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/RyMyppkmya4/
content:
<p><img src="media/480ecaa6.rapidvideo.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/rapidvideo.png" alt="" width="245" height="154" class="alignright size-full wp-image-162983" />Up until late last year RapidVideo was one of the largest video hosting sites on the Internet, used by millions of people. </p>
<p>Like many of its competitors, the platform was often frequented by pirates. As such, it was a thorn in the side of many major entertainment industry companies. </p>
<p>For RapidVideo this eventually culminated in a lawsuit filed by two members of the Motion Picture Association (MPA), Warner Bros. Entertainment and Netflix. The media companies hoped the court would to put an end to the site&#8217;s alleged infringing activity.  </p>
<p>RapidVideo&#8217;s operator decided not to await the verdict and <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/rapidvideo-shuts-down-following-legal-pressure-from-warner-bros-and-netflix-191021/">shut the site down without prior warning</a>. This meant that from one day to the next, one of the largest sites on the Internet was gone. </p>
<p>While we already knew that the site wasn&#8217;t coming back, something changed a few days ago. Ownership of the Rapidvideo.com and Rapidvideo.is domains was handed over to the MPA, as the whois details below show.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/cc559f0d.mparapid.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/mparapid.jpg" alt="" width="558" height="299" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-183333" /></center></p>
<p>Initially, it wasn&#8217;t clear whether RapidVideo&#8217;s operator handed over the domain names voluntarily. However, the MPA, which leads the global anti-piracy coalition ACE, informs TorrentFreak that the transfers are part of a settlement. This also marks the end of the German lawsuit.</p>
<p>&#8220;The case has now been closed, with the operator agreeing to transfer the domain names and to paying a substantial amount of damages to the ACE members,&#8221; says Jan Van Voon, MPA&#8217;s Chief of Global Content Protection.</p>
<p>After the MPA gained control over the domains, Rapidvideo.is started to redirect to the ACE website and the .com domain will likely follow suit. The same happened with similar sites that were previously taken over following legal pressure, including <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/openload-and-others-taken-down-by-anti-piracy-alliance-ace-191031/">Openload and Streamango</a>.</p>
<p>RapidVideo’s operator previously said that, before it shut down, ACE and the MPA demanded far-reaching anti-piracy measures. The rightsholders requested a thorough “take down, stay down” policy that would go further than hash or filename filtering.</p>
<p>Facing these demands as well as a legal battle, the site decided to throw in the towel instead. </p>
<p>This shutdown combined with the substantial settlement is yet another victory for ACE and its members. These include Netflix and Warner Bros. Entertainment, which got the ball rolling.  </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=RyMyppkmya4:j14arz8PyGk:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=RyMyppkmya4:j14arz8PyGk:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=RyMyppkmya4:j14arz8PyGk:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/RyMyppkmya4" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183331
title: As UK Pirates Swarm to Live Sports & Movies, Hardcore Pirates Diminish
uri: As-UK-Pirates-Swarm-to-Live-Sports-Movies-Hardcore-Pirates-Diminish
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/s8wmCHO1cB4/
content:
<p><a href="media/edb00d96.ipo-uk.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/ipo-uk.png"><img src="media/edb00d96.ipo-uk.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/ipo-uk.png" alt="" width="244" height="241" class="alignright size-full wp-image-183377" /></a>In an effort to provide a comprehensive overview of online consumption habits in the UK, for the past several years the Intellectual Property Office has published its Online Copyright Infringement Tracker.</p>
<p>The latest wave of research, dated March 2019, covers both legal and illegal online consumption in several key areas including music, film, TV, video games, software and a new category this year, live sports.</p>
<p>At 158-pages long, the report is certainly comprehensive but it does come with an important note. In common with similar consumer surveys, there are concerns that respondents may not tell the whole truth when asked about their illegal activities. With this in mind, instead of asking people whether their sources were illegal, respondents were given a list of options with the categorization being done behind the scenes.</p>
<p>Importantly, one of the options was &#8220;Download/access for free from the internet, without really being sure where it comes from&#8221;. This category was completely excluded from illegal/legal calculations and consumers who only utilized these sources were omitted from the results. This means that caution should be applied when comparing this wave&#8217;s results to the previous year&#8217;s.</p>
<p>The published infringement figures are based on the number of people who used at least one illegal source during the previous three months. The headline figure is that 25% of the online content consuming population did so, a figure that has remained static for the past three years. However, there have been some considerable shifts when individual categories of content are considered.</p>
<p>In the area of films, for example, there was an 8% increase in the proportion who used an illegal source, up to 27% of online consumers. Music, on the other hand, remained largely stable at 20% (19% in 2018). Both TV and video game piracy are on downward trends, with the former dropping from 23% to 17% and the latter from 16% to 6% over a single year.</p>
<p>However, the addition of a new category (live sports) and the broadening of the e-publishing category to include content beyond just eBooks, reveals large volumes of infringers. From not being counted in 2018, 34% of online consumers said they pirated live sports at least once in the previous three months, with the e-publishing numbers jumping from 13% to 35%, making it the most-infringed category overall.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/a9e6efcb.oi-tracker-2019-1-e1582622528963.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/oi-tracker-2019-1-e1582622528963.png"><img src="media/a9e6efcb.oi-tracker-2019-1-e1582622528963.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/oi-tracker-2019-1-e1582622528963.png" alt="" width="650" height="533" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-183379" /></a></center></p>
<p>While the headline infringement figure has remained static and some categories show significant shifts, the report notes there are encouraging signs in respect of consumers who can be considered hardcore pirates, i.e those who do not consume from legitimate sources at all.</p>
<p>&#8220;Across most categories, it is encouraging to note that between 2018 and 2019 there was a decrease in the proportion who only used illegal sources. Where overall infringement levels remained the same, this proportion seemed to migrate towards using at least some legal sources,&#8221; the report notes.</p>
<p>Films, for example, where the 8% increase in <em>some</em> infringement may be considered a setback by the movie industry, the number of hardcore pirates plummeted from 11% down to just 2%. The actual growth in infringement was to be found among people who use a mix of legal and illegal sources, up from 7% in 2018 to 17% in 2019. Similarly, hardcore music pirates fell from 11% to just 2%, TV pirates from 14% to 2%, and video game pirates from 10% to 1%.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/d391572d.oi-tracker-2019-2-e1582623296306.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/oi-tracker-2019-2-e1582623296306.png"><img src="media/d391572d.oi-tracker-2019-2-e1582623296306.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/oi-tracker-2019-2-e1582623296306.png" alt="" width="650" height="366" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-183383" /></a></center></p>
<p>When the entire UK population is considered, the report estimates the following numbers of infringers: 5.7m for film, 5.1m for music, 4.4m for TV, 4.1m for e-publishing, 2.4m for live sports, 2m for software and 600,000 for video games.</p>
<p>Men were more likely to pirate music, films, TV shows and video games, but women come out on top when it came to live sports, software and e-publishing.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/d51485b0.oi-tracker-2019-3-e1582623863436.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/oi-tracker-2019-3-e1582623863436.png"><img src="media/d51485b0.oi-tracker-2019-3-e1582623863436.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/oi-tracker-2019-3-e1582623863436.png" alt="" width="650" height="139" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-183386" /></a></center></p>
<p>Interestingly, the report also touches on VPN usage, noting that &#8220;across all categories, respondents who had used VPNs were more likely to have infringed compared to those who had not. This difference was most pronounced in film (+13%), TV (+11%), software (+11%) and music (+8%).&#8221;</p>
<p>Somewhat inevitably the report also drills down into what would happen if pirate sources dried up. Would people start to pay out money (or indeed more money for dual-use consumers) or would free legal options prove more attractive?</p>
<p>In respect of video games, already one of the lowest-pirated mediums, 68% of people who admitted to piracy in the previous three months said they would turn to paid sources. When it came to films and TV, 57% and 46% respectively indicated they would hand over cash to a service such as Netflix or Amazon Prime Video, while 32% and 44% would seek out free services such as YouTube or BBC iPlayer.</p>
<p>Just over a third of music pirates (34%) said they would migrate to a paid service if pirate sources ceased to exist, with Spotify and Apple Music coming out on top. However, 61% said they would prefer not to pay, instead searching out free music on sites such as YouTube.</p>
<p>When considering live sports, companies such as the Premier League and Sky will be interested to learn that almost half of infringers (49%) said they would shift to a premium service if pirate options were limited, with 31% still determined to track down free legal sources.</p>
<p>Finally, the report highlights three broad drivers that lead people to access all types of content illegally, even when they may already be paying for content.</p>
<p>&#8220;The abundance of free and widely accessible illegal content means that even those concerned about infringing may occasionally resort to using unofficial sources if they want the content badly enough. A few mentioned the near obsessive mindframe of not finding something on legal channels but knowing it is ‘out there somewhere’ and hunting it down,&#8221; the report notes.</p>
<p>&#8220;Another factor is the cost of accessing content and a desire to limit spending. Given the amount of content that is increasingly available, consumers are worried about overspending. As such, the opportunity to turn to free, illegal methods is valued. It enables them to access the content they want without exceeding their budget.&#8221;</p>
<p>Since finding and accessing illegal content is considered simple, quick and easy to carry out, consumers may actually save time and effort when compared to obtaining material from official sources, the research suggests. Not having to sign up or search through multiple legal platforms for desired content may actually be a time-saver, so improvements can probably be made here.</p>
<p><em>The latest Online Copyright Infringment Tracker can be downloaded here (<a href="media/e56f428c.oci-tracker-2020.pdf" data-original-source="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/867708/oci-tracker-2020.pdf">pdf</a>)</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=s8wmCHO1cB4:lLXajCL8kIk:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=s8wmCHO1cB4:lLXajCL8kIk:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=s8wmCHO1cB4:lLXajCL8kIk:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/s8wmCHO1cB4" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183380
title: Reddit’s Copyright Infringement Removals Increased by 500% Last Year
uri: Reddit-s-Copyright-Infringement-Removals-Increased-by-500-Last-Year
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/TbNw1PkeDuc/
content:
<p><img src="media/981b03c0.redditp.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/redditp.png" alt="" width="250" height="186" class="alignright size-full wp-image-125451" srcset="https://torrentfreak.com/images/redditp.png 250w, https://torrentfreak.com/images/redditp-200x150.png 200w" sizes="(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px" />Reddit is without doubt one of the most visited sites on the Internet.</p>
<p>The community-oriented platform has “subreddits” dedicated to pretty much every topic you can think of. These result in a constant stream of discussions and links, all generated by the site&#8217;s users.</p>
<p>While most links remain within the boundaries of the law, on occasion users share copyright-infringing material. This means that, as required by law, Reddit also has to process a steady stream of takedown requests from rightsholders.</p>
<p>To give the public insight into the process and volume, Reddit started publishing a transparency report in 2014. At the time, the company received roughly one takedown notice every other day of which more than half were rejected. However, times have changed. </p>
<p>In the most recent report, <a href="https://www.redditinc.com/policies/transparency-report-2019">published a few hours ago</a>, the company states that it received 34,989 copyright notices last year, which resulted in 124,247 pieces of content being removed.  This is a five-fold increase compared to the year before and 20 times more than in 2017. </p>
<p>&#8220;The content Reddit removed for copyright infringement in 2019 amounted to around a 500% increase from the 26,234 pieces of content removed in 2018, and increased by over 2000% from the 4,352 pieces of content removed in 2017,&#8221; Reddit writes.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/773a5168.reddcop.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/reddcop.jpg" alt="" width="596" height="362" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-183390" /></center></p>
<p>For the first time, Reddit also reports how many users and subreddits were removed from the platform on copyright grounds. This typically happens when they are classified as repeat copyright infringers. </p>
<p>&#8220;Sometimes a repeat infringement problem is limited to one user and we close just that user’s account. Other times, the problem pervades a whole subreddit community and we close the subreddit,&#8221; Reddit explains.</p>
<p>In 2019, Reddit removed 283 users following repeat copyright complaints and 137 subreddits were taken down under this policy. This includes the popular mmastreams subreddit, which we <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/reddit-kos-piracy-focused-mma-community-ex-ufc-fighter-gets-the-blame-190524/">reported on previously</a>.</p>
<p>While the number of takedown notices and removed content has increased dramatically, Reddit also rejected a significant number of complaints. Last year, the site decided not to remove 46,427 pieces of content, which is roughly 27 percent of the total volume. </p>
<p>The reasons to reject takedown requests vary. The vast majority were duplicate requests, but Reddit also refused takedowns because an entire subreddit was targeted, or simply because no infringement was found. </p>
<p><center><img src="media/988aef9c.reddf.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/reddf.jpg" alt="" width="601" height="374" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-183391" /></center></p>
<p>Reddit reports that one copyright holder retracted a takedown notice. In addition, the site received seven counternotices from users who disputed a claim, after which three items were restored.</p>
<p>All in all the transparency report shows that the number of takedown notices is skyrocketing. While this might be a sign that more copyright infringement is taking place, it&#8217;s also very likely that rightsholders are paying more attention to the site now. </p>
<p>It&#8217;s noteworthy that some of the language used in Reddit&#8217;s report has been updated as well. In the first transparency report the site wrote that &#8220;links do not generally infringe copyright&#8221; as they link to content on external websites. That mention is no longer present.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=TbNw1PkeDuc:jSOGqP_1ggo:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=TbNw1PkeDuc:jSOGqP_1ggo:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=TbNw1PkeDuc:jSOGqP_1ggo:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/TbNw1PkeDuc" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183259
title: Pornhub’s Owner Goes After Thousands of BitTorrent Pirates
uri: Pornhub-s-Owner-Goes-After-Thousands-of-BitTorrent-Pirates
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Myh8WxDdvd4/
content:
<p><img src="media/1a1e499c.mindgeek.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/mindgeek.jpg" alt="" width="329" height="120" class="alignright size-full wp-image-183410" />The online porn industry is rather diverse but there is only one company leading the charge, that&#8217;s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MindGeek">Mindgeek</a>. </p>
<p>The company, formerly known as Manwin, owns the most visited adult website on the planet, Pornhub, and is also the driving force behind YouPorn, Redtube, Tube8, Xtube, and dozens of other sites.</p>
<p>With Pornhub, in particular, the company has made news headlines in mainstream media. The informative yearly interest insights, April fools jokes, and even its environmental campaign have been widely covered.</p>
<p>The company&#8217;s open and casual image is generally well appreciated. However, Mindgeek and its many daughter companies also have another side. They tend to be very protective of their copyrights.</p>
<p>Mindgeek subsidiary MG Premium, for example, has more than 10,000 works registered at the US copyright office. To prevent these from being shared without permission, the company has sent over a <a href="https://transparencyreport.google.com/copyright/explore?copyright_data_exploration=q:mg%20premium;ce:owner;size:10&#038;lu=copyright_data_exploration">quarter billion</a> takedown requests to Google alone.  </p>
<p>More recently, Pornhub&#8217;s sister company expanded its copyright enforcement efforts in another area. In addition to sending takedown notices, it also started going after people who allegedly shared its videos through BitTorrent. </p>
<p>This campaign was recently highlighted by Swedish Internet provider <a href="https://www.bahnhof.se/">Bahnhof</a>, which keeps a close eye on copyright trolling efforts in the Scandinavian country.</p>
<p>A search through public Swedish court records reveals that MG Premium obtained eight applications to identify the account holders behind 16,594 IP-addresses. The company uses this information to approach these alleged pirates with a settlement offer. </p>
<p>A copy of a settlement request, shown below, shows that the account holder is offered a settlement of 7,000 Swedish Krona ($722) for “filesharing of an erotic movie”. Considering the number involved, this is a potential multi-million dollar enforcement campaign.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/0001fd7d.setrolletter.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/setrolletter.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="495" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-183014" /></center></p>
<p>While some may have indeed shared the infringing content, the letters also target people who are not directly involved. After all, Internet connections are often shared with other members of a household or are open to the public at large. </p>
<p>Bahnhof, which is one of the few ISPs that doesn&#8217;t share the personal information of its customers, sees the practice <a href="https://www.bahnhof.se/press/press-releases/2020/02/21/bahnhof-avslojar-pornhubs-agare-bakom-utpressning-av-svenska-bredbandskunder">as blackmail</a>. It believes that the company chooses this tactic to generate some extra profits.</p>
<p>Mindgeek, for its part, says that the Swedish legal campaign is intended to help reduce piracy. The initiative just started and the company will evaluate the results in the near future to see what steps it will take next.</p>
<p>&#8220;MindGeek, through its exclusive content subsidiary MG Premium, seeks to protect thousands of its copyrighted audiovisual works from blatant infringement. MG Premium is constantly testing and evaluating methods of reducing the extent to which its works are pirated,&#8221; Mindgeek&#8217;s Michael Willis says.</p>
<p>&#8220;At different times, these methods can result in targeting website operators, vendors supporting such operators, and in certain cases, end users who are taking advantage of, or sharing pirated works,&#8221; he adds.</p>
<p>The initiative in Sweden is similarly intended to help reduce piracy. It is very recent, and thus not necessarily an integrated or long term strategy. The results will be evaluated in the coming months, which will help determine the next course of action.</p>
<p>It is worth noting that Mindgeek&#8217;s empire is broader than adult sites alone. The company has dozens of subsidiaries, including AppAtomic, which is the driving force behind the VPN service <a href="https://www.vpnhub.com/">VPNHub</a>. </p>
<p>VPNHub, like many other VPN services, doesn&#8217;t keep any logs of IP-address assignments. Ironically, this means that MG Premium has no means to identify pirates who use the service. Then again, Mindgeek wins either way, as the VPN business can be quite lucrative too.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Myh8WxDdvd4:aP2uCvuH0GY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Myh8WxDdvd4:aP2uCvuH0GY:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=Myh8WxDdvd4:aP2uCvuH0GY:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/Myh8WxDdvd4" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183426
title: DMCA Notices Took Down 14,320 Github Projects in 2019
uri: DMCA-Notices-Took-Down-14-320-Github-Projects-in-2019
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/2C_IP-7e5Sc/
content:
<p><a href="media/dd29aecc.github.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/github.jpg"><img src="media/dd29aecc.github.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/github.jpg" alt="" width="256" height="256" class="alignright size-full wp-image-95413" srcset="https://torrentfreak.com/images/github.jpg 180w, https://torrentfreak.com/images/github-150x150.jpg 150w" sizes="(max-width: 256px) 100vw, 256px" /></a>Code development platform Github is home to a staggering 40 million developers worldwide, most of whom use its world-class features without much outside interference.</p>
<p>Occasionally, however, code published to the site can attract the negative attention of outside parties, some of whom believe that it somehow infringes on their rights.</p>
<p>The reasons for these claims are varied but most commonly on TF we cover copyright infringement issues. Recent examples can be found in a notice filed by the MPA which <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/mpa-targets-pirate-app-teatv-asks-github-to-consider-repeat-infringer-policy-200222/">targeted the repository</a> of &#8216;pirate&#8217; app TeaTV or when Instagram requested <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/instagram-uses-dmca-complaint-to-protect-users-copyrighted-works-200130/">code to be removed</a>, ostensibly to protect its users&#8217; copyrights.</p>
<p>In common with platforms like Google and Reddit, Github publishes an annual transparency report, which offers additional information on how the company responds to requests for user information and removal of content. Its latest, the sixth since 2014, reveals that in response to copyright complaints, Github permanently took down 14,320 projects.</p>
<p>&#8220;14,320 may sound like a lot of projects,&#8221; says Abby Vollmer, senior manager of policy at GitHub, &#8220;but it’s only about one one-hundredth of a percent of the repositories on GitHub at the end of 2019.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><a href="media/644d59df.githubproj-down2019-e1582724842664.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/githubproj-down2019-e1582724842664.png"><img src="media/644d59df.githubproj-down2019-e1582724842664.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/githubproj-down2019-e1582724842664.png" alt="" width="650" height="489" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-183451" /></a></center></p>
<p>Since multiple projects can be targeted in a single DMCA notice, the actual volume of notices processed by Github is much lower, 1,762 valid notices to be precise. The company handled just 37 counter-notices, which are sent to Github by users requesting that content is reinstated due to the belief it is non-infringing or has been incorrectly targeted.</p>
<p>The counter-notice figure provided by Github also includes DMCA notice retractions, where the submitter withdrew their original complaint. The company does not track incomplete or insufficient notices, so these are not detailed in its report.</p>
<p>Github acknowledges that it has seen considerable growth in the volume of DMCA notices submitted to the platform over the past several years. However, the company highlights that the increase in repositories affected is somewhat in line with its surging userbase. </p>
<p>&#8220;Based on DMCA data we’ve compiled over the last few years, we’ve seen an increase in DMCA notices received and processed, trending with growth in registered users over the same period of time, until this year,&#8221; Vollmer says.</p>
<p>&#8220;However, if we compare the number of repositories affected by DMCA notices to the approximate number of registered users over the same period of time, then we see an increase this year that correlates with that of GitHub’s community.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><a href="media/6f157a13.githubproj-down2019-2-e1582726149544.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/githubproj-down2019-2-e1582726149544.png"><img src="media/6f157a13.githubproj-down2019-2-e1582726149544.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/githubproj-down2019-2-e1582726149544.png" alt="" width="650" height="489" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-183457" /></a></center></p>
<p>While most copyright complaints are filed by companies, their agents, or individuals, Github said that this year it needed to add a new category titled &#8216;court-ordered takedowns&#8217;. Github says it received a single order in 2019 that was about copyright but wasn&#8217;t a regular complaint. Unfortunately, however, it&#8217;s not allowed to provide many details.</p>
<p>&#8220;We received one this year and interestingly, it was about copyright but not under the DMCA. Since it was a gagged court order, we weren’t able to provide our usual transparency to the user of sharing and posting the notice, but we are able to report on the fact that we processed a takedown on this basis,&#8221; Vollmer concludes.</p>
<p>Overall, the number of copyright complaints received by Github is relatively small considering its size. It&#8217;s unlikely that leading rightsholders see the platform as a major problem but over the years many have had projects taken down, including <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/nintendo-asks-github-to-remove-game-boy-emulator-180723/">Nintendo</a>, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/winrar-locks-pirate-keygen-but-the-good-guy-towards-regular-users-191207/">WinRAR</a>, the body in charge of <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/confidential-hdmi-standards-docs-hit-with-dmca-takedown-190511/">HDMI administration</a>, and <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/fuckr-developer-right-or-not-backs-down-in-fear-of-grindr-copyright-lawsuit-181014/">Grindr</a>.</p>
<p>A pirate site even got in on the act, but that was a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-site-uses-dmca-to-remove-pirated-copy-from-github-170902/">clear anomaly</a>.</p>
<p><em>Github&#8217;s 2019 Transparency Report can be viewed in full <a href="https://github.blog/2020-02-20-2019-transparency-report/">here</a></em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=2C_IP-7e5Sc:SRCDH7DwrBo:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=2C_IP-7e5Sc:SRCDH7DwrBo:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=2C_IP-7e5Sc:SRCDH7DwrBo:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/2C_IP-7e5Sc" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183443
title: Amazon Fire TV Stick is the Preferred Device for Pirate IPTV Subscribers
uri: Amazon-Fire-TV-Stick-is-the-Preferred-Device-for-Pirate-IPTV-Subscribe
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Fzz-FK69oAc/
content:
<p><img src="media/a7c0897c.iptv.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/iptv.jpg" alt="" width="234" height="155" class="alignright size-full wp-image-135034" />In recent years, unlicensed TV subscriptions have been flourishing, with hundreds of vendors offering virtually any channel imaginable for a small monthly fee.</p>
<p>This phenomenon has become a grave concern for entertainment industry outfits, who launched the global <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/new-coalition-against-piracy-will-crack-down-on-pirate-streaming-boxes-171017/">anti-piracy coalition ACE</a> to counter the threat. </p>
<p>ACE has booked <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/ace-sees-piracy-reduction-efforts-pay-off-but-work-is-not-done-yet-190422/">some successes</a> in recent years, both through lawsuits and by reaching out to key players directly. Similarly, over in Europe, law enforcement agencies have brought down <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/xtream-codes-iptv-system-targeted-in-massive-police-operation/">large-scale IPTV operations</a>. However, despite these efforts, the problem persists. </p>
<p>This week, Canadian broadband management company <a href="https://www.sandvine.com/">Sandvine</a> released a new report on the state of pirate IPTV subscriptions. The company gathered data in Canada, the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, monitoring traffic from six major networks that have a total of 65 million fixed internet subscribers.</p>
<p>The company uses similar data to prepare its Internet traffic reports but in the most recent whitepaper it focuses specifically on pirate IPTV subscriptions. </p>
<p>The new data, collected last year from July to the end of September, show that 6.9% of U.S. subscribers accessed pirate IPTV subscriptions. In Canada, this is even more prevalent, 9.3% of all sampled subscribers. </p>
<p><center><img src="media/8418e58f.sandviptv.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/sandviptv.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="318" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-183453" /></center></p>
<p>In both countries, the percentages have increased significantly compared to the previous measurement from 2018. However, they are substantially lower than in the Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey (MENAT).</p>
<p>Of all subscribers in the MENAT region, 23.4% could be linked to pirate IPTV services. According to Sandvine, this is in part because the availability of legal services is more limited. In general, decreased availability triggers more piracy. </p>
<p>The Sandvine report also reports European IPTV data for the first time. It finds that, across its limited sample of 100,000 subscribers, 5.8% could be linked to pirate IPTV services. However, the company adds that this may go up during the football season.</p>
<p>Aside from the geographical popularity of these unauthorized IPTV platforms, Sandvine also looked at the devices people use to access these services. This shows that Amazon&#8217;s Fire TV Stick comes out on top, followed by the MAG box and general Android devices. </p>
<p><center><img src="media/b9e6bfa9.sandamazon3.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/sandamazon3.jpg" alt="" width="621" height="371" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-183452" srcset="https://torrentfreak.com/images/sandamazon3.jpg 621w, https://torrentfreak.com/images/sandamazon3-220x130.jpg 220w" sizes="(max-width: 621px) 100vw, 621px" /></center></p>
<p>The fact that more than a third of all pirate IPTV subscriptions run through Amazon devices is noteworthy, as Amazon is a member of the ACE anti-piracy coalition, which tries to shut down this type of illicit activity. </p>
<p>The problem is, of course, that many perfectly legal technologies such as the Fire TV Stick and MAG box can also be used for illegal purposes. For example, the Fire TV Stick is also the third most popular device to access licensed services, behind Roku and operator-owned set-top boxes. </p>
<p>Finally, Sandvine also reports where most pirate IPTV servers are located. Surprisingly, the United States comes out on top with the most servers. However, looking at the actual bandwidth that&#8217;s transferred the US is in third place, behind Canada and the Czech Republic. </p>
<p>Overall, the whitepaper provides a unique insight into the pirate IPTV ecosystem. According to Sandvine its a clear and growing problem that&#8217;s well worth monitoring closely. </p>
<p>&#8220;While legal services like Netﬂix are still more widely adopted, subscription pirate television services have grown rapidly after having no adoption five years ago,&#8221; Sandvine notes. </p>
<p>Sandvine considers the reported data as a ﬂoor and not a ceiling. It doesn&#8217;t cover any on-demand piracy that takes place through these set-top boxes and doesn&#8217;t capture any streaming activity generated by traditional web browsers either.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Fzz-FK69oAc:9p_mZSZ6DFM:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Fzz-FK69oAc:9p_mZSZ6DFM:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=Fzz-FK69oAc:9p_mZSZ6DFM:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/Fzz-FK69oAc" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183500
title: Pirate IPTV Box Seller Arrested By LAPD, ABS-CBN Files Multi-Million Dollar Lawsuits
uri: Pirate-IPTV-Box-Seller-Arrested-By-LAPD-ABS-CBN-Files-Multi-Million-D
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/zSQB1Euq4Ko/
content:
<p><a href="media/a7c0897c.iptv.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/iptv.jpg"><img src="media/a7c0897c.iptv.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/iptv.jpg" alt="" width="234" height="155" class="alignright size-full wp-image-135034" /></a>ABS-CBN is the largest media and entertainment company in the Philippines but is regularly active in US courts as it attempts to disrupt online piracy.</p>
<p>In April 2019, for example, a district court in Florida <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/us-court-orders-pirate-site-operators-to-pay-1-million-in-damages-190401/">ordered</a> the operators of 27 pirate sites to each pay $1 million in damages.</p>
<p>Then, last December, ABS-CBN <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/texas-man-sued-for-selling-pirate-boxes-advertised-on-facebook-191210/">sued</a> a Texas man for millions of dollars after he allegedly sold pirate streaming devices via Facebook. It now appears that the media giant is set to expand the campaign against those involved in the supply of pirate IPTV devices.</p>
<p>According to ABS-CBN, on February 7, 2020, Los Angeles Police Department carried out a sting operation during which undercover officers purchased five &#8216;pirate&#8217; set-top boxes from Romula Araneta Castillo, also known as Jon Castillo. The media company reports that the suspect was arrested for alleged violations of California Penal Code 593(d), which relates to &#8220;intercepting, receiving, or using any program or other service carried by a multichannel video.&#8221;</p>
<p>Just days later, ABS-CBN filed two lawsuits in US district courts, one against Castillo in California and another against his alleged cousin, Alberto Ace Mayol, in Texas. Both lawsuits allege violations of 47 U.S. Code § 605 (unauthorized publication or use of communications) and other offenses under state law.</p>
<p>&#8220;Upon information and belief, Defendant has been engaged in a scheme to, without authorization, sell Pirate Equipment that retransmits ABS-CBN’s programming to his customers as Pirate Services,&#8221; both of the complaints read.</p>
<p>&#8220;[I]n order to gain access to ABS-CBN’s protected communications and copyrighted content, Defendant’s Pirate Equipment is designed to illegally access ABS-CBN’s live communications. This system allows for the circumvention of ABS-CBN’s encryption technology and the reception, disclosure, and publication of ABS-CBN’s protected communications and copyrighted content.&#8221;</p>
<p>Together, the lawsuits against both men are worth millions of dollars in damages, should the full amounts be awarded. ABS-CBN appears to have made covert purchases itself and has <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/newsroom/news-releases/2020/2/27/selling-of-illegal-iptv-boxes-on-the-rise-abs-cbn?lang=en">published</a> photographic evidence on its site.</p>
<p>&#8220;This arrest and accompanying civil lawsuits mark the first actions this year by ABS-CBN in a coming wave against the nationwide epidemic of IPTV box sellers,&#8221; the company said, commenting on the lawsuits.</p>
<p>&#8220;ABS-CBN conducted a months-long investigation into the scheme perpetrated by Castillo and his cousin, Alfaro, including undercover purchases from the targets. The lawsuits allege that Castillo and Alfaro engaged in this multi-state scheme to sell these pirated set top boxes to the unsuspecting public.&#8221;</p>
<p>ABS-CBN Global Anti-Piracy Head Elisha Lawrence thanked US police for their assistance.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are thankful for the cooperation of the LA Police Dept. in investigating and arresting Castillo, a kingpin in this pirate box scheme.  Defrauding the public by selling these fake boxes is a scam operation and preying on innocent people.  We are very happy to have the cooperation of the police to enforce against these pirates,” Lawrence said.</p>
<p><em>The civil lawsuits filed by ABS-CBN can be found <a href="media/5a218d57.-cv-01338-ABS-CBN-v-Romula-Araneta-Castillo-complaint-100220.pdf" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/2-20-cv-01338-ABS-CBN-v-Romula-Araneta-Castillo-complaint-100220.pdf">here</a> and <a href="media/fd3bece1.4-20-cv-00453-ABS-CBN-v-Alberto-Ace-Mayol-complaint-100220.pdf" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/4-20-cv-00453-ABS-CBN-v-Alberto-Ace-Mayol-complaint-100220.pdf">here</a> (pdf)</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=zSQB1Euq4Ko:WOOPc4TNkl8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=zSQB1Euq4Ko:WOOPc4TNkl8:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=zSQB1Euq4Ko:WOOPc4TNkl8:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/zSQB1Euq4Ko" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183374
title: Switzerland Urges U.S. to Remove it From its ‘Pirate Watchlist’
uri: Switzerland-Urges-U-S-to-Remove-it-From-its-Pirate-Watchlist
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/XzDtYqixe4w/
content:
<p><img src="media/fdb97802.swissknife.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/swissknife.jpg" alt="" width="277" height="175" class="alignright size-full wp-image-163731" />In a few weeks, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) will publish its annual Special 301 Report, highlighting countries that fail to live up to U.S copyright protection standards.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/u-s-labels-switzerland-an-internet-piracy-haven-160428/">recent years</a> Switzerland was among countries that were placed on the ‘Watch List.’ In 2019, for example, the US reported that the Swiss had made some progress, but not enough. Its copyright protection and enforcement policies were not up to par.</p>
<p>These comments are far from new. Based on input from copyright holders, the USTR has repeatedly called out Switzerland&#8217;s policies. However, the European country believes that this should change now that its <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/swiss-copyright-law-downloading-stays-legal-no-site-blocking/">new copyright law</a> will come into force on April 1, 2020. </p>
<p>In a letter to the USTR, the Swiss Government sums up the progress made, while countering ongoing criticism from copyright holder groups such as the Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA).</p>
<p>Switzerland&#8217;s revised Copyright Act addresses the main concerns that the United States and its industry stakeholders have raised. This includes a &#8216;stay down&#8217; requirement for hosting services to ensure that infringing content isn&#8217;t reuploaded.</p>
<p>&#8220;If pirate sites are hosted in Switzerland, the revised legislation targets them by creating a &#8216;stay-down&#8217; obligation. Such hosting providers will have to ensure that infringing content, once removed, remains off their servers,&#8221; the Swiss letter notes. </p>
<p>The revised legislation also includes a provision that addresses the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/anti-piracy-monitors-banned-from-operating-in-home-country-100909/">Logistep ruling</a>, which prevents companies from harvesting the IP addresses of file-sharers. This will soon be an option, as long as civil claims are tied to a criminal proceeding, which appears to exclude standard copyright-trolling efforts.</p>
<p>&#8220;This provision also extends to civil claims insofar as the path to civil proceedings is open following a criminal complaint or by joining the civil claims to the criminal proceeding,&#8221; the Swiss note.</p>
<p>With these changes, Switzerland does indeed cover some of the concerns previously raised by rightsholders. However, the country has also drawn a clear line on several other issues. This includes the option of pirate site blocking, which was high on the list. </p>
<p>The Swiss Government also remains committed to the &#8220;private use&#8221; exception for downloading. This means that regular citizens who download copyrighted content from illegal sources will not be criminalized. Uploading the same content remains illegal, as it has always been.  </p>
<p>Rightsholders had hoped the country would do more and will likely be disappointed. Earlier this month, the IIPA pointed out that the country is a haven for Internet piracy services. The Swiss, however, stress that the &#8216;stay down&#8217; requirements will likely change that. In addition, rightsholders also have other means at their disposal. </p>
<p>The letter references the IIPA&#8217;s own comments, which show that even without the new law, rightsholders were able to target infringing services by going directly to RIPE.</p>
<p>&#8220;[T]he IIPA in its submission points out that the Réseaux IP Européens (RIPE), which controls the allocation of IP addresses in Europe, has been successful in removing Switzerland-based Internet Service Providers (ISPs) involved in internet piracy. </p>
<p>&#8220;It thereby illustrates that there are already effective measures in place for right holders to successfully act against internet piracy services based in Switzerland,&#8221; <a href="media/04ac1654._Special_301_Report_2020_Public_Comment_Switzerland_20200219.pdf" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/USTR_Special_301_Report_2020_Public_Comment_Switzerland_20200219.pdf">the letter</a> adds.</p>
<p>The Swiss Government firmly believes that the revised Copyright Act should put an end to the continued criticism. As such, another mention on the Watch List will unjustified and inappropriate.</p>
<p>Whether the USTR agrees with this conclusion will become apparent in the upcoming Special 301 Report, which is set to be released later this year.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=XzDtYqixe4w:sDH95D782Ec:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=XzDtYqixe4w:sDH95D782Ec:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=XzDtYqixe4w:sDH95D782Ec:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/XzDtYqixe4w" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183552
title: Man Who Sold Pirate IPTV Must Pay £521,000 or Face Five More Years in Prison
uri: Man-Who-Sold-Pirate-IPTV-Must-Pay-521-000-or-Face-Five-More-Years-in
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/WIZhJ1moI2k/
content:
<p><a href="media/a7c0897c.iptv.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/iptv.jpg"><img src="media/a7c0897c.iptv.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/iptv.jpg" alt="" width="234" height="155" class="alignright size-full wp-image-135034" /></a>From 2009 until 2016, John Dodds and Jason Richards were involved in an operation selling &#8216;pirate&#8217; IPTV to around 270 pubs and clubs in the North-East of England.</p>
<p>For less than £200 per month, the pair provided a set-top box plus a service, which included Premier League soccer and pay-per-view boxing matches. The subscription package, which at some point was branded ‘Full Effects HD Sports’, eventually attracted the attention of the Premier League which launched a private prosecution for fraud offenses.</p>
<p>The football organization told the court that the &#8220;highly professional broadcasting service&#8221; was sold to subscribers at a rate designed to undercut legitimate broadcasters and in 2018, Dodds and Richards were sentenced to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/men-who-sold-pirate-iptv-service-to-pubs-jailed-for-4-5-years-180404/">four-and-a-half years each in prison</a>. That wasn&#8217;t the end of the matter, however.</p>
<p>According to a joint press statement by the Premier League and the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT), a judge at Newcastle Crown Court has now ordered Dodds to pay back £521,000 to the public purse. Failure to do so within three months will result in his prison sentence being extended by an additional five years.</p>
<p>The judge handling the matter reportedly described Dodds &#8220;as an unreliable and dishonest character&#8221; who concealed the proceeds of his criminal activities by hiding large amounts of cash in his house and placing assets in his daughter&#8217;s name.</p>
<p>&#8220;This is a welcome judgment and we are pleased the courts have recognized how serious an issue illegal streaming is – it is a crime which has very significant consequences,&#8221; commented Kevin Plumb, Director of Legal Services at the Premier League.</p>
<p>&#8220;The defendant has now been ordered to forfeit the proceeds of his criminal activities, which we have requested go directly back to the public purse. The money recovered will go towards funding the courts and law enforcement agencies to help continue the brilliant work they do in helping bring people like this to justice.&#8221;</p>
<p>FACT, which worked with the Premier League on the cases against both Dodds and Richards, welcomed the decision and took the opportunity to warn others considering the same type of business model.</p>
<p>&#8220;This is a warning to anyone selling subscriptions or devices that allow access to content without remunerating the legitimate provider – you risk time in jail and the loss of your properties, cars and other proceeds of crime,&#8221; said FACT CEO Kieron Sharp.</p>
<p>&#8220;FACT will continue to work with members to crackdown on illegal streaming and to hold those behind it accountable for their actions.&#8221;</p>
<p>According to local sources at the time of original convictions, the scheme was lucrative for the pair. Using a fraudulent company, the men generated revenues of £1.5m, which among other things funded the purchase of luxury cars and foreign homes. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=WIZhJ1moI2k:q879mmHiEjQ:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=WIZhJ1moI2k:q879mmHiEjQ:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=WIZhJ1moI2k:q879mmHiEjQ:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/WIZhJ1moI2k" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183479
title: OMI IN A HELLCAT Claims Comcast Got FBI to Pursue Gears IPTV Case
uri: OMI-IN-A-HELLCAT-Claims-Comcast-Got-FBI-to-Pursue-Gears-IPTV-Case
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/sMieAlVBws8/
content:
<p><img class="alignright" src="media/21cc8203.image-161.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/image-161.png" width="270" height="149" />When large &#8216;pirate&#8217; services are taken down, the tendency is for copyright holders and/or the authorities to make a lot of noise. Taking out big players is seen as an achievement and is often held up as an example to others not to follow the same path.</p>
<p>Last November, when the founder of Gears Reloaded &#8216;pirate&#8217; IPTV service Omar Carrasquillo was reportedly <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/gears-reloaded-fbi-took-everything-says-iptv-boss-omi-in-a-hellcat-191121/">targeted in a massive FBI raid</a>, not a single person in authority would confirm the existence of an investigation. Independent eyewitnesses <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/gears-reloaded-omi-in-a-hellcat-iptv-raid-eye-witnesses-appear-on-tv-191128/">appeared on TV</a> to reveal what they saw but now, several months on, information from official sources remains non-existent.</p>
<p>Carrasquillo, better known by his social media handle OMI IN A HELLCAT, has been talking a lot, however. He&#8217;s appeared in TV interviews with his lawyer, decrying the seizure of dozens of luxury cars, huge volumes of jewelry, and <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/fbi-seized-at-least-5-2m-says-gears-reloaded-iptv-boss-omi-in-a-hellcat-191216/">&#8220;at least&#8221; $5.2m in cash</a>. He says the entire operation against him grew out of his position as the founder of Gears, an unpaid tax bill, plus allegations of money laundering.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, he keeps maintaining his innocence. Time and again he&#8217;s said that capturing live TV broadcasters from cable providers and streaming channels to end-users over the Internet at an affordable price is completely legal. He found a loophole, he says, and companies didn&#8217;t like it.</p>
<p>Until now, Carrasquillo has never directly pointed a finger at who might have prompted the case against him. In a live stream this week, however, he claimed that the second-largest telecoms company in the United States is at the root of his troubles. <em>(Note: most expletives removed)</em></p>
<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s nothing worse than coming home and grabbing your bills &#8211; electric company you gotta pay, water is an essential, gas you need to cook, $300 cable bill &#8211; what the fuck?&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>&#8220;Everybody hates the cable companies, they&#8217;re a monopoly. So when you come out with a service that&#8217;s affordable to the world and it&#8217;s not illegal, oh my God, I&#8217;m in somebody&#8217;s pocket.&#8221;</p>
<p>And then the bombshell.</p>
<p>&#8220;Comcast is paying for this investigation [unintelligible]. There&#8217;s an unfiled Comcast claim but why didn&#8217;t Comcast sue me? &#8216;Cos they knew it was an uphill battle so what did they do? They got the FBI involved, tried to take me down,&#8221; he <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fkL7hBwPVI">claimed</a>.</p>
<p>Coincidentally or not, Carrasquillo&#8217;s main home is in Philadelphia. Comcast has its headquarters in the same city.</p>
<p>According to several videos posted by Carrasquillo in recent weeks, he has been working hard behind the scenes through official channels to try and reclaim his property. However, he claims there has been significant pushback after the FBI began using his videos and social media postings as evidence against him.</p>
<p>Insisting again and again that streaming captured TV broadcasts to the public is not illegal, Carrasquillo says he filed a motion to get his property back. In response, the FBI had to send in evidence to support why the goods should continue to be held while the investigation continues.</p>
<p>According to him, they &#8220;took his [social media] posts and sent them to the judge&#8221;. Since the raid, most of Carrasquillo&#8217;s posts have centered on him getting back on his feet, allegedly making significant amounts of money, some of it used to replenish his car collection. He believes those videos are now undermining him.</p>
<p>&#8220;Look judge, he&#8217;s saying that he&#8217;s still a millionaire, he doesn&#8217;t need the money. We can still hold it throughout the whole investigation,&#8221; he <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fkL7hBwPVI">said</a> in a mocking summary of what was allegedly reported to the court.</p>
<p>At this point, Carrasquillo seems to imply that not everything portrayed in those videos and postings should necessarily be taken at face value and that, in some cases, those in the entertainment business may face pressures to impress.</p>
<p>&#8220;Entertainers, we have a certain image to uphold and this is why I don&#8217;t show anything anymore because frankly, it ain&#8217;t nobody&#8217;s business. Whether I got it or I don&#8217;t got it, I ain&#8217;t gonna say it no more. Because obviously you&#8217;re using what I say as an exhibit and send it to the judge,&#8221; he added.</p>
<p>Carrasquillo says he&#8217;s hoping to settle his case with the IRS via a payment plan but he insists that any claims of money laundering are nonsense. He says he&#8217;s not upset with anyone working on the case and says that he&#8217;s &#8220;pretty sure&#8221; that the two investigators and district attorneys &#8220;are pretty nice guys.&#8221; That said, he is unhappy with what he describes as an &#8220;unethical process and the events that took place.&#8221;</p>
<p>Just before he was raided, Carrasquillo went to the Dominican Republic and he believes this prompted the authorities to act earlier than they would&#8217;ve preferred.</p>
<p>&#8220;Be honest you guys came to [sic] early I broke no laws apology accepted,&#8221; he <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aB079hs7lgo">wrote</a> in a separate post. &#8220;While Gears is down 20 more shitty services came up and I don&#8217;t see you guys doing shit about it. Want to know why? Steaming isn&#8217;t illegal. It&#8217;s victimless and not against the law. I did not host shit on servers this was a matter for copyright holders to sue. Not for the FBI to get involved.&#8221;</p>
<p>Only time will tell when the other side of this pretty one-sided story will see the light of day. As indicated previously, no one in authority is prepared to comment at this stage.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=sMieAlVBws8:QVVrcXM3vSM:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=sMieAlVBws8:QVVrcXM3vSM:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=sMieAlVBws8:QVVrcXM3vSM:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/sMieAlVBws8" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=182838
title: U.S. Remains the Top Traffic Source For Pirate Sites
uri: U-S-Remains-the-Top-Traffic-Source-For-Pirate-Sites
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/-kIqXDkez44/
content:
<p><img src="media/6be42d6e.sam.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/sam.png" alt="" width="277" height="142" class="alignright size-full wp-image-171871" />Over the past decade, online piracy has presented itself as a massive problem for the U.S. and its entertainment industries. </p>
<p>It has become a global issue that’s hard to contain, but Hollywood and the major record labels are doing what they can.</p>
<p>One of the key strategies they’ve employed in recent years is website blocking. US companies have taken ISPs to court around the world and also lobbied lawmakers to pave the way for website blocking. </p>
<p>While these companies have a tight grip on international developments, there&#8217;s one element that often remains unmentioned. The country that sends the most traffic to pirate sites is the U.S. itself. </p>
<p>This has been the case for years and the latest data, shared by piracy tracking company <a href="https://www.muso.com/">MUSO</a>, shows that this is still the case.</p>
<p>With 1.2 billion pirate site visits in December 2019, the U.S. is firmly in the lead, followed by Russia (737 million), India (627 million), China (608 million) and Brazil (559 million). The U.S also happens to be the only country that doesn&#8217;t block any pirate sites.</p>
<p>Relatively speaking the U.S. also trumps all these countries with 4.17 visits per internet user in a month, except for Russia which has an even higher average (7.21). </p>
<p>Looking at the types of pirate sites we see that streaming is particularly popular in the U.S. Two-thirds of all pirate site traffic goes to streaming sites, followed by direct download portals (19%), torrent sites (8%) and stream rippers (5%).</p>
<p>Compared to two years ago, streaming sites have grown in relative popularity in the US, mostly at the expense of torrent sites. </p>
<p><center><strong>U.S. pirate site marketshare December 2019</strong></center><br /><center><img src="media/6e233bd0.mus31.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/mus31.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="200" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-183532" /></center></p>
<p>Piracy habits can be quite different around the world, as we <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/local-pirate-sites-are-thriving-around-the-world-200118/">highlighted in an earlier article</a>. However, it&#8217;s clear that streaming continues to dominate in many countries. </p>
<p>In China, for example, streaming site visits rose from 22% to more than 40% in the space of two years. In Brazil, there was also a rise, with streaming visits going from 47% to 53%.</p>
<p>In Russia, there was a small dip, but streaming is still on top there as well with nearly 60%.</p>
<p>India appears to be somewhat of an outlier among the countries with the most traffic. Direct download sites are most popular there, accounting for 50% of all pirate site visits, which is up from 43% two years ago.</p>
<p>Worldwide, roughly 60% of all pirate site traffic goes to streaming sites, which is about the same as two years ago. The percentage of visits to direct download sites is up a bit, with a quarter of all visits, while torrent sites witnessed a small drop.</p>
<p>While scanning through the data we couldn&#8217;t help looking at South Africa, a country that is currently <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/u-s-copyright-groups-want-south-africa-to-ensure-that-5g-doesnt-boost-piracy-200217/">under fire</a> from major US copyright groups. These rightsholders repeatedly pointed out that piracy is rampant, urging the government to do something about it. </p>
<p>Interestingly, the average number of pirate site visits per Internet user is lower in South Africa than it is in the U.S. This means that even when taking the population size into account, South Africa&#8217;s piracy problems are actually less in comparison.</p>
<p>This is something to keep in mind when U.S. rightsholders demand tough anti-piracy actions abroad in the future.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=-kIqXDkez44:Etb6SQ8O6xI:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=-kIqXDkez44:Etb6SQ8O6xI:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=-kIqXDkez44:Etb6SQ8O6xI:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/-kIqXDkez44" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183399
title: What Type of Anti-Piracy Campaign Is More Likely to Work on Infringers?
uri: What-Type-of-Anti-Piracy-Campaign-Is-More-Likely-to-Work-on-Infringers
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/TfgA5n5RSg4/
content:
<p><a href="media/b577ab97.stealacar.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/stealacar.png"><img src="media/b577ab97.stealacar.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/stealacar.png" alt="" width="278" height="157" class="alignright size-full wp-image-140846" /></a>Over the past couple of decades, campaigns aimed at discouraging people from accessing infringing content online have come in all shapes and sizes. Whether they are effective is still up for debate.</p>
<p>It could be argued that since copyright infringement is now easier than ever, with even novices able to access almost any content they like without paying, none of these campaigns have really worked. On the other hand, however, who knows where infringement would be today without a certain level of overt discouragement.</p>
<p>This week the UK&#8217;s Intellectual Property Office published its latest Online Copyright Infringement Tracker report, aspects of which we covered in an <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/as-uk-pirates-swarm-to-live-sports-movies-hardcore-pirates-diminish-200225/">earlier article</a>. Interestingly and in addition to a truckload of statistics, the report also covers consumer opinions on what type of anti-piracy campaigns might be effective with the general public.</p>
<p>Framed as &#8220;behavior change&#8221; mechanisms, the report looked at two broad types of anti-piracy campaigns &#8211; those that make it clear that downloading or streaming infringing content is illegal and others that set out to highlight the consequences or repercussions of the illegal behavior.</p>
<p>&#8220;Responses to campaigns depended somewhat on the level of experience and frequency of infringing, as well as moral standpoint. Two broad segments emerged,&#8221; the report reads.</p>
<p>&#8220;Cautious Infringers: Those who worry about infringing the law and the risks of illegal activity [and] Savvy Infringers: Those who are more tech savvy and knowingly access content illegally without much concern over related dangers or consequences.&#8221;</p>
<p>It makes perfect sense that different types of campaigns would work on these two groups. Those who are less well-informed and worry more about the chances of getting caught are probably easier to convince. The more tech-savvy bunch often have a tendency to see past scare-tactics, for example, and may even have the means to mitigate most threats.</p>
<p>According to the research, campaign imagery was effective in several areas, such as when the campaign was made more personal by centering it around an everyday scenario, such as watching a football match.</p>
<p>Relevancy is also listed as a matter of importance. For example, it was considered more effective to elicit an emotional response from the viewer (becoming a <em>victim</em> of identity theft) than to err more towards facts, such as being infected by malware.</p>
<p>Furthermore, campaigns must be clear. </p>
<p>&#8220;Campaigns with straightforward and uncomplicated messages are preferred. Any form of confusing rhetoric or double meaning runs the risk of taking attention from the core message (e.g. ‘You wouldn’t buy a digital virus…’),&#8221; the report notes.</p>
<p>Perhaps most importantly, the tone of campaigns must be carefully considered. The report states that while most believe that detailing the consequences of accessing content illegally needs to be spelled out, &#8220;a few take issue with the use of ‘scare tactics’<br />
and feel the ads are too accusatory.&#8221;</p>
<p>Perhaps the most obvious example of scare tactics and overly-dramatic tone to date is the &#8216;<a href="https://youtu.be/HmZm8vNHBSU">You Wouldn&#8217;t Steal/Piracy is a Crime</a>&#8221; campaign. It has been the subject of various parodies, such as the <a href="https://youtu.be/ALZZx1xmAzg">most well-known one</a> featured in the IT Crowd.</p>
<p>Interestingly, another even more <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/HistoryMemes/comments/f6w93h/you_wouldnt_steal_a_car/">outrageous example</a> surfaced just recently on Reddit and while intentionally offensive in parts, it really drives home the message that going over the top is more likely to elicit mockery rather than change.</p>
<p>So how best to deal with the different types of infringers?</p>
<p>For &#8216;Cautious Infringers&#8217; it&#8217;s suggested that simple messages are best, particularly ones that identify which behavior is illegal and then sign-posting further information and detail. &#8220;This is especially important for those who are sent content by others and/or use services where there is some ambiguity around legality (e.g. Kodi boxes),&#8221; the report notes.</p>
<p>When it comes to &#8216;Savvy Infringers&#8217;, it&#8217;s suggested that giving real-life examples of people who were caught and fined (or were victims of hacking) may help to address the perception that &#8220;it will never happen to me.&#8221; It&#8217;s also noted that simply stating that the behavior is illegal or that people could become a victim of fraud may not be enough.</p>
<p>Instead, there may be some mileage in talking about &#8220;potential impact on credit score, losing money, or accessing personal photos etc.&#8221;</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=TfgA5n5RSg4:XYF42OE51I8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=TfgA5n5RSg4:XYF42OE51I8:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=TfgA5n5RSg4:XYF42OE51I8:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/TfgA5n5RSg4" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183403
title: U.S. Court Denies $28,500 Default Judgment Against Accused Pirate
uri: U-S-Court-Denies-28-500-Default-Judgment-Against-Accused-Pirate
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/u7Obcd3ob9I/
content:
<p><img src="media/3d6122ae.courtorderjustice.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/courtorderjustice.jpg" alt="" width="256" height="171" class="alignright size-full wp-image-147326" />In recent years, adult entertainment outfit Malibu Media has often been described as a copyright trolling operation.</p>
<p>The company, known for its popular “X-Art” brand, has gone after thousands of alleged file-sharers in U.S. courts. Many of its targets settle their cases out of court, but others choose to ignore them. </p>
<p>Not responding at all can be quite risky. If a defendant is named in a lawsuit and properly served, the court typically requires a response. If that doesn&#8217;t come, the complaining party can request a default judgment. </p>
<p>This is also what happened to New Jersey resident Amiram Peled, who was accused of downloading 19 titles from Malibu Media after the company linked his IP-address to unauthorized BitTorrent activity. Peled was made aware of these allegations but didn&#8217;t show up in court to offer a defense. </p>
<p>As a result, Malibu Media submitted a motion arguing that it’s entitled to $28,500 in statutory damages for copyright infringement and an additional $467.55 in costs.</p>
<p>In many cases, courts grant default judgment requests, as there is no defense. This has allowed Malibu Media to collect dozens, if not hundreds of default judgments. However, in the present matter, a judge decided otherwise.</p>
<p>In a recently released opinion, U.S. District Judge Katharine S. Hayden denied the motion, concluding that Malibu Media isn’t entitled to anything.</p>
<p>The denial is based on a culmination of rulings in similar BitTorrent piracy cases. While Malibu Media portrayed the defendant as the copyright infringer, the Court wasn&#8217;t convinced that Peled is the one who actually downloaded the files.</p>
<p>&#8220;[T]he Court is concerned that, no matter how reliable the tracing technology is, Peled’s status as the subscriber of the IP address is insufficient to prove that he was in fact the infringer of the copyrighted materials,&#8221; Judge Hayden writes.</p>
<p>Judge Hayden carefully reviewed how other cases handled similar allegations. While some ruled that geolocation data and an IP-address is sufficient for a default judgment to be granted, other rulings were more critical. </p>
<p>The order specifically cites the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/us-judge-slams-copyright-troll-for-using-his-court-like-an-atm-181123/">highly critical opinion</a> of Judge Royce C. Lamberth, who threw out a similar case in the District of Columbia.</p>
<p>&#8220;In a scathing opinion, Judge Lamberth described Strike 3 as a &#8216;copyright troll,&#8217; and accused it of using bad technology to support predatory litigation,&#8221; Judge Hayden writes, also referencing the part claiming that Malibu appears to use the courts &#8220;as an ATM.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/ip-address-is-not-enough-to-identify-pirate-us-court-of-appeals-rules-180828/">Cobbler Nevada v. Gonzales</a> case is mentioned as well. There, the court ruled that identifying the registered subscriber of an IP-address is by itself not enough to argue that the person is also the infringer.</p>
<p>This order trickled down to lower courts, with several judges demanding &#8220;<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/courts-want-something-more-than-an-ip-address-to-catch-pirates-181217/">something more</a>&#8221; than just an IP-address in these cases. This includes a previous denial of a default judgment in New Jersey, and also the present case against Mr. Peled.</p>
<p>&#8220;Because Malibu Media has not made a sufficient showing to conclude that Peled in fact infringed its copyright, the Court denies the request for default judgment,&#8221; Judge Hayden concludes.  </p>
<p><em>&#8212;</p>
<p>A copy of the opinion written by U.S. District Judge Katharine S. Hayden is <a href="media/4f817473.peled.pdf" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/peled.pdf">available here (pdf)</a>.</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=u7Obcd3ob9I:pZMXWjh24ak:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=u7Obcd3ob9I:pZMXWjh24ak:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=u7Obcd3ob9I:pZMXWjh24ak:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/u7Obcd3ob9I" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183592
title: YesPornPlease and VShare.io Go Offline Following Massive Copyright Lawsuit
uri: YesPornPlease-and-VShare-io-Go-Offline-Following-Massive-Copyright-Law
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/P_WpOuvEm8g/
content:
<p><img class="alignright size-full" src="media/1a1e499c.mindgeek.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/mindgeek.jpg" width="329" height="120" />Back in September 2019, TF discovered the existence of a DMCA subpoena in the United States.</p>
<p>Filed by MG Premium, part of the Mindgeek adult empire, it <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/brazzers-wants-cloudflare-to-identify-yespornplease-uploaders-190913/">demanded</a> that Cloudflare should hand over the personal details of two of its customers &#8211; YesPornPlease.com and VShare.io &#8211; a pair of sites that ostensibly operate as user-generated content platforms.</p>
<p>YesPornPlease is, in particular, a massive operation. The latest stats from SimilarWeb reveal the site servicing more than 100 million visitors in January 2020, a figure that had been steadily increasing over the previous few months.</p>
<p>The information requested by MG Premium included the site operators&#8217; names, email addresses, IP addresses, user histories, posting histories, physical addresses and telephone numbers. Now, several months later, MG Premium is back with a full-blown lawsuit against YesPornPlease and VShare, one that demands an extremely broad injunction and damages that could potentially run into hundreds of millions of dollars.</p>
<p>Filed in a Washington court against &#8220;Does 1-20&#8221; doing business as YesPornPlease and/or VShare, the lawsuit begins by stating that the conduct of both platforms is both &#8220;egregious and willful&#8221;.</p>
<p>&#8220;Defendants own and operate websites engaged in the business of copying and distributing infringing audiovisual works. Under the guise of acting as a distributor of &#8216;user-generated content,&#8217; Defendants in fact are directly and knowingly involved in the trafficking of tens of thousands of pirated works – including thousands of works owned by MG Premium,&#8221; the lawsuit begins.</p>
<p>While user-generated content sites such as YouTube enjoy flexibility under the DMCA in respect of infringing content uploaded by third-parties, MG Premium insists that the defendants in its lawsuit cannot be placed in this category.</p>
<p>&#8220;The YesPornPlease Web Site fails to fulfill the requisite conditions precedent to qualify for the safe harbor provisions of the DMCA. Specifically, the YesPornPlease Web Site does not have an appointed registered DMCA Agent. Further, Defendants fail to honor take-down notices sent to the YesPornPlease Web Site and have failed to implement a reasonable repeat infringer policy,&#8221; the complaint notes.</p>
<p>While the lawsuit doesn&#8217;t reference the earlier DMCA subpoena filed against Cloudflare, it seems that MG Premium is still unable to identify the operators of YesPornPlease or VShare. Noting that the YesPornPlease site is hosted by a company in Russia, MG says it doesn&#8217;t know where its owners and operators are located.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, the adult giant insists that the two platforms work in concert to supply infringing content to consumers in the United States and should be held accountable.</p>
<p>&#8220;The YesPornPlease Web Site is a pirate website, displaying copyrighted adult entertainment content without authorization or license. The YesPornPlease Web Site is operated in conjunction with the VShare Web Site, wherein purported Internet users desiring to post videos on the YesPornPlease Web Site must actually upload the video to the VShare Web Site and then are directed to &#8216;copy and paste&#8217; the URL assigned to the uploaded video on the VShare Web Site onto the YesPornPlease Web Site,&#8221; the complaint reads.</p>
<p>According to MG, the sites also incentivize users to upload content via an affiliate program.</p>
<p>&#8220;By becoming an affiliate to the VShare Web Site, users can earn money for each view of a video on the YesPornPlease Web Site posted through the VShare Web Site. The affiliate’s payout rate is determined based upon a variety of factors, including file size (calculated in minutes), the amount of content downloaded, and the length of time content is watched/viewed. The more content watched, the more money an affiliate makes,&#8221; the company claims.</p>
<p>Both sites utilize domain name servers operated by Cloudflare and their identities are hidden by a company called Domain Protection Services, MG Premium claims. The platforms allegedly use many other US-based companies for their operations too, including domain registrar Namecheap and various advertisers supplying ads targeted at the United States market.</p>
<p>The level of infringement alleged in the lawsuit is massive. Between July 2017 and January 2020, YesPornPlease is claimed to have offered 3,078 works owned by MG Premium, each detailed in a massive list in the 233-page complaint. According to the adult company, it sent takedown notices for thousands of URLs but 98% of them were ignored. Furthermore, users who uploaded the infringing videos were never terminated as repeat infringers by either platform.</p>
<p>&#8220;Defendants knowingly promote, participate in, facilitate, assist, enable, materially contribute to, encourage, and induce copyright infringement, and thereby have infringed, secondarily infringed, and induced infringement by others, the copyrights in Plaintiffs’ copyrighted work,&#8221; the complaint adds.</p>
<p>&#8220;Defendants’ acts and omissions allow them to profit from their infringement while imposing the burden of monitoring Defendants’ website onto copyright holders, without sufficient means to prevent continued and unabated infringement.&#8221;</p>
<p>As a result, MG Premium claims that the platforms are liable for directly infringing its rights while inducing others to do so. For this the company says it is entitled to statutory or actual damages, potentially running to hundreds of millions of dollars, plus a broad injunction to prevent future infringement.</p>
<p>In respect of the injunction, MG Premium demands that all entities acting in concert or participation with the defendants should be prevented from contributing in any way towards a range of actions that result in its copyrighted works being made available to the public.</p>
<p>On top of preventing hosting providers from doing business with the sites, for example, MG Premium demands that Internet search engines, ISPs, domain name registrars and registries should, within five days, prevent US users of the sites from accessing them by &#8220;blocking or attempting to block access to all domains, subdomains, URLs, and/or IP Addresses that has as its sole or predominant purpose to enable to facilitate access to the YesPornPlease Web Site and/or the VShare Web Site.&#8221;</p>
<p>At the time of writing, YesPornPlease and VShare are both down and displaying Cloudflare errors.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pornhubs-owner-targets-thousands-of-bittorrent-pirates-200226/">reported</a> last week, MG Premium is also pursuing legal action against individual BitTorrent users in Sweden, demanding around $700 in compensation to make supposed lawsuits go away.</p>
<p><em>The complaint filed by MG Premium against YesPornPlease.com and VShare.io can be obtained <a href="media/ae496f53.-cv-05134-MG-Premium-v-YesPornPlease-VShare-complaint-140220.pdf" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/3-20-cv-05134-MG-Premium-v-YesPornPlease-VShare-complaint-140220.pdf">here</a> (pdf)</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=P_WpOuvEm8g:YdtD17XFnHI:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=P_WpOuvEm8g:YdtD17XFnHI:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=P_WpOuvEm8g:YdtD17XFnHI:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/P_WpOuvEm8g" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183586
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week on BitTorrent – 03/02/20
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-on-BitTorrent-03-02-20
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/SnYbU--phHA/
content:
<p><img src="media/bf3b7c80.juma.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/juma.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="160" class="alignright size-full wp-image-183588" />This week we have two newcomers in our chart.</p>
<p>Jumanji: The Next Level is the most downloaded movie.</p>
<p>The data for our weekly download chart is estimated by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only. All the movies in the list are Web-DL/Webrip/HDRip/BDrip/DVDrip unless stated otherwise.</p>
<p><a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/dvdrip/feed/"><strong>RSS feed</strong></a> for the articles of the recent weekly movie download charts.</p>
<h5>This week&#8217;s most downloaded movies are:</h5>
<table class="css hover">
<thead>
<tr>
<th width="12%"><strong>Movie Rank</strong></th>
<th width="15%"><strong>Rank <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-movies-of-the-week-on-bittorrent-02-24-20/">last week</a></strong></th>
<th><strong>Movie name</strong></th>
<th width="18%"><strong>IMDb Rating / Trailer</strong></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tfoot>
<tr>
<td colspan="4">Most downloaded movies via torrents</td>
</tr>
</tfoot>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>1</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7975244/">Jumanji: The Next Level</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7975244/">6.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBxcF-r9Ibs">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4520988/">Frozen II</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4520988/">7.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwzLiQZDw2I">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8946378/">Knives Out</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8946378/">8.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi-1NchUqMA">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5033998/">Charlie&#8217;s Angels</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5033998/">4.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSUq4VfWfjE">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6902676/">Guns Akimbo</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6902676/">6.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JggpSpqxS6I">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5033998/">Spied in Disguise</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5814534/">6.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A05s7OM-8Oc">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(6)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1950186/">Ford v Ferrari</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1950186/">8.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3h9Z89U9ZA">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(7)</td>
<td><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/joker-torrent-downloads/">Joker</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7286456/">8.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAGVQLHvwOY">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10985510/">Superman: Red Son</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10985510/">6.3</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0s0FJfyqGk">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6751668/">Parasite</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6751668/">8.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xH0HfJHsaY">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=SnYbU--phHA:NCx8rWNlMtk:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=SnYbU--phHA:NCx8rWNlMtk:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=SnYbU--phHA:NCx8rWNlMtk:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/SnYbU--phHA" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183578
title: Record Labels Blast Cox’s Attempt to Overturn $1 Billion Piracy Verdict
uri: Record-Labels-Blast-Cox-s-Attempt-to-Overturn-1-Billion-Piracy-Verd
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/LEtmBk4GcdU/
content:
<p><img src="media/a34c6170.cassettapemusic.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/cassettapemusic.png" alt="" width="276" height="152" class="alignright size-full wp-image-175024" />Last December Internet provider Cox Communications lost its legal battle against a group of major record labels. </p>
<p>Following a two-week trial, the jury held Cox liable for the copyright infringements of its subscribers, ordering the company to pay <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/cox-is-liable-for-pirating-subscribers-hit-with-1-billion-damages-verdict-191220/">$1 billion in damages</a>. </p>
<p>Heavily disappointed by the decision, Cox later asked the court to overturn the verdict, or at least lower the damages. According to the ISP, the $1 billion figure is <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/cox-asks-court-to-overturn-or-lower-shockingly-excessive-1-billion-piracy-verdict-200203/">&#8216;shockingly excessive&#8217; and &#8220;wholly disproportionate&#8221;</a> given the circumstances. </p>
<p>The record labels clearly disagree. They just responded to Cox&#8217;s request with a scathing motion summarizing why they believe the verdict is well deserved. In fact, it could have easily been higher. </p>
<p>With over 10,000 works being part of the lawsuit, the potential damages could&#8217;ve reached $1.5 billion, they write. That Cox is happy with the outcome is understandable, according to the labels, but they stress that it&#8217;s warranted based on the &#8220;bountiful&#8221; and &#8220;damning&#8221; evidence.</p>
<p>What follows is a summary of Cox wrongdoings, which includes policy decisions as well as many quotes from senior employees. In particular, their response to infringement notices, copyright holders, and persistent pirates. </p>
<p>According to the music companies, internal emails show that the ISP was well aware of the growing body of copyright notices it received. However, it did little to curb this problem, despite claims it made to the outside world.  </p>
<p>The trial evidence repeatedly showed that Cox said one thing and did another, the labels write, adding that infringing customers could simply continue pirating. </p>
<p>&#8220;Cox said it had a policy that led to termination. But the evidence showed that Cox applied an unwritten policy that undid terminations, and then stopped terminating for infringement altogether,&#8221; the labels write. </p>
<p>The infringements continued while hundreds of thousands of subscribers reportedly had their accounts terminated because they failed to pay their bills.</p>
<p>&#8220;Cox said internet service was too precious to terminate lightly and it could never terminate business customers because they include hospitals and schools. But the evidence showed that Cox terminated over 619,000 customers—including 22,000 business customers — who were a month or so late on their bills.&#8221; </p>
<p>While Cox claimed to take abuse seriously, it deleted millions of notices it received from anti-piracy company Rightscorp, while capping the number other rightsholders could send. As a result, no action was taken for 90% of the notices it received.</p>
<p>These allegations are isupported by damning emails and quotes. This includes a statement made by the head of Cox’s abuse department, Jason Zabek, who is quoted stating “f the dmca!!!”</p>
<p>&#8220;For the cherry on top, Mr. Zabek and his top lieutenant crowed &#8216;<em>f the dmca!!!</em>&#8216; and &#8216;<em>F the DRC!</em>&#8216; (Digital Rightscorp) when celebrating the &#8216;silent deletion&#8217; of infringement notices and Cox’s imposition of hard limits on all complainants. </p>
<p>&#8220;It is hard to imagine taking abuse complaints any less seriously or disrespecting copyright laws any more, and the jury agreed&#8221;</p>
<p><center><img src="media/1543a687.cherry.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/cherry.jpg" alt="" width="608" height="241" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-183615" /></center></p>
<p>While more DMCA notices kept coming in, Cox &#8216;slashed&#8217; the abuse department according to the record labels. The Technical Operations Center abuse team went from 14 members to four, which then lifted the load by ignoring all first notices and capping the daily volume rightsholders could send. </p>
<p>&#8220;Cox ignored the first notice to each subscriber, but it couldn’t ignore all of them. So instead it capped the number of notices it would accept from any copyright holder to a default limit of 200 per day, reluctantly increasing it to 600 for the RIAA over time,&#8221; the labels add. </p>
<p>The music companies allege that Cox&#8217;s &#8220;sham&#8221; policies and procedures provided a safe haven for pirates. In 2004, the company had a three-strikes policy to terminate subscribers, but as years passed that went up to a 14-strike policy. And even then, some terminated subscribers were easily led back in.</p>
<p>&#8220;Cox had several internal-only policies that made a mockery of terminations for copyright infringement. For years, it imposed &#8216;soft terminations&#8217; with immediate reactivation and, incredibly, a clean slate for infringers,&#8221; the record labels note.</p>
<p>The reason for these lax policies was profit, the plaintiffs note. They argue that Cox kept pirating subscribers on board because they brought in a lot of money. This, again, is illustrated by internal communications.</p>
<p>&#8220;Email after email from Cox’s abuse team demonstrated this: <em>&#8216;This customer will likely fail again, but let’s give him one more change [sic]. he pays 317.63 a month.&#8217;</em>,&#8221; the labels note.</p>
<p>These unwritten policies allowed Cox to reap greater profits. In 2013-2014 alone, Cox earned $19.5 billion in revenues, with $8.3 billion of that being net profit, which in part was generated by repeat infringers.</p>
<p>&#8220;For example, Cox billed a residential subscriber who was the subject of at least 101 infringement notices $8,594 from February 2013 through 2016 — all of which Cox billed after it received at least 13 infringement notices for that subscriber,&#8221; the labels write</p>
<p>&#8220;To put it bluntly, Cox’s policies and procedures were a sham. The jury rightly understood that because of Cox’s actions and decisions, repeat infringement carried virtually no consequence and Cox profited handsomely as a result.&#8221;</p>
<p>Based on these and a wide variety of other arguments and examples, the music companies believe that the $1 billion verdict is well deserved. The court should, therefore, refrain from allowing a new trial or lowering the damages amount.</p>
<p>In addition, the companies also objected to Cox&#8217;s previous request for a judgment as a matter of law. The evidence supporting the jury’s verdict was abundant and legally sufficient, they note there. </p>
<p><em>&#8212;</p>
<p>A copy of the record labels&#8217; opposition to the motion for lowering the damages or a new trial is <a href="media/903dcfd9.coxoppo1.pdf" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/coxoppo1.pdf">available here (pdf)</a>.</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=LEtmBk4GcdU:nUEdBLJJKRg:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=LEtmBk4GcdU:nUEdBLJJKRg:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=LEtmBk4GcdU:nUEdBLJJKRg:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/LEtmBk4GcdU" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183629
title: Two Piracy-Configured ‘Kodi Box’ Sellers Handed One-Year Suspended Sentences
uri: Two-Piracy-Configured-Kodi-Box-Sellers-Handed-One-Year-Suspended
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/erKTgdqa_ao/
content:
<p><img src="media/ac7f3648.blackboxtv-e1580825257696.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/blackboxtv-e1580825257696.png" width="270" height="298" class="alignright size-full" />Over the past several years the sale of TV devices pre-configured for piracy has become a big deal all around the world.</p>
<p>Largely avoiding the inconvenience of scouring potentially dozens of websites looking for movies and TV shows, automated software tools embedded in these set-top boxes have provided a simple way to access the latest content from the comfort of an armchair.</p>
<p>The software of choice is often the Kodi media player which in itself is entirely legal until modified for piracy purposes with third-party add-ons.</p>
<p>Such devices can be bought online or commonly in the UK, via shops and market traders. This was the business of Londoners Thomas Tewelde and Mohamed Abdou, who sold modified &#8216;Kodi Boxes&#8217; to the public via a stall at Bovingdon Market in Hemel Hempstead.</p>
<p>Their activities attracted the attention of Hertfordshire Trading Standards officers who carried out a covert purchase operation in July 2017. They found that not only were the set-top devices illegal but also fell short of electrical safety standards.</p>
<p>Earlier this month the men went on trial and after four-day hearing, were found guilty by a jury of offenses under the Serious Crime Act 2007 and Fraud Act 2006. Sentencing took place at St Albans Crown Court last Friday.</p>
<p>“This is not a victimless crime, every legitimate subscriber is a victim,&#8221; the judge commented during the hearing, as per the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT), which assisted with the investigation.</p>
<p>&#8220;It may not be possible to calculate loss but it will be significant given the usual charge for services, number of devices, and period over which the enterprise appears to have operated.  Another serious factor is that components were unsafe.  It is clear that immediate prison sentences are justified for this type of offenses.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8216;Immediate prison sentences&#8217; in this case comes with conditions. While Tewelde and Abdou were handed one year each in prison, the judge suspended those sentences for two years, meaning that if the pair keep out of trouble, they will avoid a stretch behind bars. Nevertheless, both are still required to complete 120 hours of unpaid work and must also pay £1,000 in costs.</p>
<p>Despite the potential for more serious punishment, the sentences were welcomed by the parties involved in the prosecution.</p>
<p>Andrew Butler, Head of Regulatory Services at Hertfordshire County Council, described the sentences as a &#8220;<a href="https://twitter.com/HeadRegServices/status/1233416755827105793">great result</a>&#8221; for Trading Standards while FACT Chief Executive Kieron Sharp issued the customary warning to others involved in or considering the same line of business.</p>
<p>&#8220;This sentence shows that if you are involved in the sale of illicit devices you can receive a criminal conviction for fraud that will have a detrimental effect on your life,&#8221; Sharp said.</p>
<p>&#8220;We urge consumers to remain mindful of counterfeits and illicit goods being sold at markets as many illicit streaming devices have failed to meet UK safety standards, potentially risking the lives of loved ones if installed in the home.&#8221;</p>
<p>The sentencing comes close on the heels of several other pieces of news related to unlicensed streaming and related devices in the UK. </p>
<p>Last week, John Dodds, who was previously sentenced to serve 4.5 years in prison for selling pirate IPTV devices to pubs and clubs, was <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/man-who-sold-pirate-iptv-must-pay-521000-or-face-five-more-years-in-prison-200228/">ordered to pay £520,000</a> to the public purse. The court warned that failure to comply will mean an additional five years for the man who was convicted in a Premier League-led prosecution.</p>
<p>Also last week, FACT <a href="https://www.fact-uk.org.uk/seller-of-illegal-streaming-services-ordered-to-pay-over-10000/">revealed</a> that a man who previously received a 16-month prison sentence relating to the supply of set-top boxes configured to receive Sky and BT Sport broadcasts without a subscription was ordered to hand over £10,000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act. In his case, non-payment will result in an additional six months in prison.</p>
<p>Last Wednesday, FACT investigators and the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU) reportedly visited an address in North West England to execute warrants related to a &#8220;significant provider of illegal streaming activity.&#8221; At this stage, no further information is being made available by FACT or the police so who the target was or indeed the precise nature of the activity remains unclear.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2018-180107/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=erKTgdqa_ao:Epio78oP5aI:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=erKTgdqa_ao:Epio78oP5aI:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=erKTgdqa_ao:Epio78oP5aI:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/erKTgdqa_ao" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183640
title: RomUniverse Maintains Innocence and Demands Damages From Nintendo
uri: RomUniverse-Maintains-Innocence-and-Demands-Damages-From-Nintendo
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/RU9Vik4Ap98/
content:
<p><img src="media/bc033a87.romuniverselogo.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/romuniverselogo.png" alt="" width="282" height="70" class="alignright size-full wp-image-177133" />Last September, gaming giant Nintendo filed a lawsuit against the game download portal RomUniverse.</p>
<p>The website, which also allows users to download movies and books, stands accused of enabling massive online copyright infringement, including that of many popular Nintendo titles.</p>
<p>“The Website is among the most visited and notorious online hubs for pirated Nintendo video games. Through the Website, Defendants reproduce, distribute, monetize, and offer for download thousands of unauthorized copies of Nintendo’s video games,” <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/nintendo-sues-romuniverse-for-mass-copyright-infringement/">the company wrote</a>.</p>
<p>RomUniverse profited from these copyright infringements by offering paid premium accounts that allow users to download as many games as they want, Nintendo further alleged.</p>
<p>The site’s operator, Los Angeles resident Matthew Storman, clearly disagreed with these allegations. Without an attorney, he decided to defend himself in court and responded to Nintendo’s claims by filing a detailed <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/romuniverse-admin-asks-court-to-dismiss-nintendos-piracy-lawsuit-191026/">motion to dismiss</a>.</p>
<p>This motion eventually <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/romuniverses-request-to-dismiss-nintendo-piracy-lawsuit-fails200116/">failed</a> after Nintendo <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/nintendo-counters-romuniverse-operators-defense-in-piracy-case-191226/">picked it apart</a>. The court instead ruled that Storman had to face the charges and file a reply to Nintendo&#8217;s complaint. </p>
<p>The reply was initially due in January, but the court later agreed to push this deadline back. That was done to allow the RomUniverse admin to attend a Federal Pro Se Clinic to get free advice on how to fight the gaming company on his own.</p>
<p>After the brief delay, Storman filed his answer to the complaint at the California federal court. Still without an attorney, he maintains his innocence and denies all allegations of piracy and infringement.</p>
<p>The site operator states that he is unaware of any infringing content that was uploaded to the website. And if there is any, these uploads may be legally protected by the first sale doctrine. </p>
<p>Storman likens his site to other platforms that deal with user-uploaded content. He therefore argues that he can&#8217;t be held liable for uploads carried out by others because he is entitled to safe harbor protection.</p>
<p>&#8220;Defendant provides copyright owners access to all files that are arranged by uploaded title only. This is required under 17 U.S. C and an implied contract with Nintendo, where Nintendo has full access to all contents to locate any potentially infringing material..,&#8221; Storman writes. </p>
<p>That the site also collects membership fees is not a problem as long as Nintendo doesn&#8217;t remove any content from the site, according to the admin.</p>
<p>&#8220;Defendant is unaware of content. Furthermore, Nintendo can request removal of any material it has a good faith believe to be infringing. Defendant may receive potential membership fees as long as Nintendo does not remove all material,&#8221; he writes.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/a62530db.romuniverse.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/romuniverse.png" alt="" width="597" height="467" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-177124" /></center></p>
<p>In an attempt to turn the tables, Storman argues that Nintendo profited from his site. RomUniverse.com and the associated NDSUniverse.com, serve as free advertising vehicles for the gaming company which generated profit from it, for which the site owner never received a penny. </p>
<p>&#8220;Copies on the Website originally from Nintendo when seen by users is a positive advertising asset to Nintendo. It is part of an implied contract with Nintendo over the last 10 years. This advertising asset can be calculated and measured by Nintendo in cooperation with Defendant,&#8221;  Storman adds.</p>
<p>The response to the complaint includes several of the arguments that were also made in the motion to dismiss. However, it also does a step further, by demanding damages from Nintendo. </p>
<p>Instead of compensating Nintendo, Storman wants the gaming company to pay up instead. He demands $150,000 per copyrighted work for the false allegations of infringement, as well as $2,000,000 for each false counterfeiting claim.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/b1af375a.storda-1.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/storda-1.jpg" alt="" width="608" height="86" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-183665" /></center></p>
<p>On top of that, Storman also wants Nintendo to &#8220;permanently approve all copying, distributing, selling, performing, displaying, playing, or otherwise using any copy of an [Nintendo] copyrighted work, or any derivative thereof.&#8221;</p>
<p>Storman&#8217;s demands are the exact opposite of Nintendo&#8217;s, which requested the same damages for the alleged infringements and wanted the site admin to permanently cease (instead of approve) the copying of any copyrighted works.</p>
<p>While Storman&#8217;s reply is certainly a bold move, we expect that Nintendo will have a different view on the matter. The company&#8217;s legal team may also point out several procedural and technical issues, as it previously did. </p>
<p>In any case, it will be a major challenge to defeat a company of this size in court, without any legal representation. For now, however, both RomUniverse.com and the associated NDSUniverse.com remain online.</p>
<p><em>&#8212;</p>
<p>Matthew Storman&#8217;s answer to Nintendo&#8217;s copyright infirngement complaint is <a href="media/eb7cfbf1.storreply.pdf" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/storreply.pdf">available here (pdf)</a>.</em></p>
<p>Drom: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2020-200105/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have an annual <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN</a> review.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=RU9Vik4Ap98:sSNK84rDx58:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=RU9Vik4Ap98:sSNK84rDx58:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=RU9Vik4Ap98:sSNK84rDx58:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/RU9Vik4Ap98" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183623
title: ApolloTV Streaming App Shuts Down Following ACE Cease-and-Desist Notice
uri: ApolloTV-Streaming-App-Shuts-Down-Following-ACE-Cease-and-Desist-Notic
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/J_BJ5YNjabU/
content:
<p><a href="media/8589908f.apollotv-e1583235016509.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/apollotv-e1583235016509.png"><img src="media/8589908f.apollotv-e1583235016509.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/apollotv-e1583235016509.png" alt="" width="270" height="150" class="alignright size-full wp-image-183683" /></a>While third-party Kodi addons remain popular with those seeking free access to premium video, standalone apps for Android and iOS have gained traction in recent years.</p>
<p>Easy to install and use on set-top boxes, tablets and phones, these tools often provide a Popcorn-Time or Showbox-like experience, offering the latest movies and TV shows in a familiar Netflix-style interface. On the one hand, they&#8217;re popular with users but Hollywood studios and other content creators consider them a risk to their business that needs to be countered.</p>
<p>ApolloTV is a relatively recent addition to the growing market. Available for iOS and Android, the application gained a reasonable following and is featured in dozens of tutorials and YouTube video installation guides. At the time of writing, however, it seems highly unlikely that the project will continue.</p>
<p>Over the past several days, rumors began to circulate that ApolloTV would be shutting down. The whispers suggested that the application&#8217;s developer had been targeted by copyright holders and as a result, the app would be discontinued. Counter-rumors suggested that the developer simply wanted a way out so TorrentFreak approached &#8216;Sam&#8217; directly to find out.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/7b34a311.apollotvss2-e1583237027554.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/apollotvss2-e1583237027554.png"><img src="media/7b34a311.apollotvss2-e1583237027554.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/apollotvss2-e1583237027554.png" alt="" width="650" height="311" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-183685" /></a></center></p>
<p>&#8220;I received a cease and desist from the Alliance 4 Creativity &#8211; the same people who took down Openload and Streamango &#8211; citing ApolloTV making available copyrighted works copied and hosted by unaffiliated third parties without permission from the copyright holder,&#8221; Sam informs us.</p>
<p>The claim seems reasonable given the circumstances. ApolloTV didn&#8217;t host any content of its own but did provide access to content hosted on third-party file-hosting platforms, a common feature among similar &#8216;scraper&#8217;-type applications.</p>
<p>As TF discovered, Sam made little to no effort to hide his identity so it appears that ACE had few difficulties tracking him down. However, while we reached him easily via email, ACE managed to discover his home address which enabled them to serve the cease-and-desist notice by hand.</p>
<p>&#8220;I was surprised that I actually received the cease and desist physically, in person (it was delivered by a court officer), at my home address,&#8221; he explains.</p>
<p>Sam says that he doesn&#8217;t have the time or the resources to fight a lawsuit and since ACE were very reasonable, he&#8217;ll be complying with their requests immediately. He doesn&#8217;t want to go into too many additional details but says that as part of the settlement, he will need to shut down the project&#8217;s Github page and hand over the Apollo domain to ACE.</p>
<p>At the time of writing, the official ApolloTV repository on Github has been taken down. ACE nor the MPA appear to have filed any official DMCA takedown requests with the developer platform so at this point things seem to be progressing quickly on a voluntary basis.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak sought comment from ACE on the reported action but, at the time of publishing, we were yet to receive a response.</p>
<p>Drom: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2020-200105/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have an annual <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN</a> review.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=J_BJ5YNjabU:1_dBa2bd5yY: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_BJ5YNjabU:1_dBa2bd5yY:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=J_BJ5YNjabU:1_dBa2bd5yY:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/J_BJ5YNjabU" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183703
title: Torrent Sites Help Game Developer to Share Free Copy of ‘Death and Taxes’
uri: Torrent-Sites-Help-Game-Developer-to-Share-Free-Copy-of-Death-and-T
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Lgyte_4J_Us/
content:
<p><img src="media/7912cd0b.deathtax.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/deathtax.jpg" alt="" width="277" height="222" class="alignright size-full wp-image-183711" />In life, there are few things as certain as <em>death and taxes</em>. For many creators, piracy falls into this category too. </p>
<p>There are multiple ways people can respond to this threat. In Hollywood and the music industry, takedown notices and other anti-piracy efforts are preferred. Others simply do nothing. </p>
<p>There&#8217;s also a third option. Over the years a small subset of creators has actively embraced piracy. Not because they don&#8217;t want any income. Instead, they see it in part as a promotional vehicle. </p>
<p>This is also the case with Oak, the developer of the game named &#8216;<a href="https://placeholdergameworks.itch.io/death-and-taxes">Death and Taxes</a>.&#8217; The recently released 2D narrative-based game, where people can play the role of Grim Reaper, currently sells for <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/1166290/Death_and_Taxes/">$12.99 on Stream</a>. </p>
<p>At the same time, however, the game is also available for free on many torrent sites. There is an official &#8216;pirate&#8217; release from the group PLAZA but, in addition to that, the developer also shared his <a href="https://1337x.to/torrent/4324978/Death-and-Taxes-v1-1-7-OFFICIAL-DEV-RELEASE/">own</a> <a href="https://rarbg.to/torrent/4uatce7">torrent</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;d just like the inevitable release to be on my own terms, meaning that it&#8217;s the best possible version, that people can enjoy hassle-free, not a potentially janky release with shitty workarounds or other problems,&#8221; Oak from Placeholder Gameworks tells TorrentFreak. </p>
<p>The developer torrents are available on a variety of torrent sites. They come with a special message from Placeholder Gameworks, stating that they are ok with piracy and that they understand that some people can&#8217;t afford games, or want to try them before buying.</p>
<p>While major corporations may not understand this move, it makes total sense for the smaller indie developer. A game produced on a small budget can&#8217;t afford expensive marketing campaigns. They do want eyeballs, however, and that&#8217;s where torrent sites come in.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s super difficult to stand out nowadays, especially for a game that has literally ZERO budget. I can just hope that having a free version out will help the game and its ideas reach a wider community than we would have been otherwise able to connect to.&#8221;</p>
<p>In his quest to release the torrent, the developer went a step further than some others. Oak actually reached out directly to some torrent sites, which gladly helped him. This explains why his official release is on a site such as RARBG, which generally isn&#8217;t open to public uploads.</p>
<p>&#8220;I received assistance from <a href="https://1337x.to/torrent/4324978/Death-and-Taxes-v1-1-7-OFFICIAL-DEV-RELEASE/">1337x</a> and <a href="https://rarbg.to/torrent/4uatce7">RARBG</a>. Both sites&#8217; staffers were super helpful and helped me get up the release within minutes. Mad props to them! I literally couldn&#8217;t have done that without them,&#8221; Oak tells us, adding that Reddit&#8217;s <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/CrackWatch/">Crackwatch</a> admin team lent a helping hand as well.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/87d3dd92.deathtorr.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/deathtorr.jpg" alt="" width="617" height="359" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-183708" /></center></p>
<p>These types of developer-sanctioned releases are not new. Just recently, we highlighted a similar move from the developer of the indie shooter game &#8216;Danger Gazers,&#8217; who actually noticed a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/game-developer-sees-boost-in-sales-after-releasing-official-torrent-200113/">significant boost in sales</a> afterward. </p>
<p>While that can happen, embracing torrent sites is by no means a magical &#8216;profit boost&#8217; wand. In &#8216;Danger Gazers&#8217; case, the announcement went viral and it was later picked up in the press, which made it a self-fulfilling prophecy to a certain degree.</p>
<p>Death and Taxes didn&#8217;t get this massive external boost and shows a much more natural sales pattern.</p>
<p>On February 20th, when it was first released on Steam, Death and Taxes was sold 4,282 times, followed by 4,017 and 2,915 copies the days after. This dropped to 2,770 a day later, when the torrent came out and continued to fall in the following days to 1,398 on Wednesday the 26th. </p>
<p>These numbers are quite typical for the release of a new game. There certainly no magic boost thanks to piracy, but sales didn&#8217;t fall beyond what was expected either. In the broader scheme, however, the developer thinks that the torrent will have a positive effect. </p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s quite simple: more people will be playing our game. More people will be talking about it, more people will have opinions about it. That&#8217;s the best we could ever ask for,&#8221; Oak says.  </p>
<p>What also plays a role is that the developer used to be a pretty hardcore pirate himself. As a young game fan, he simply couldn&#8217;t afford to pay for every release. That said, now that he has the means to do so, Oak is making up for it.</p>
<p>&#8220;If I counted the games that I torrented (and edonkeyd/emuled), I would die of old age. I didn&#8217;t grow up rich, and could only afford maybe a single game a year,&#8221; Oak says. </p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve now tried to buy all the games that I had pirated as a kid. Better late than never, right? And having access to that, I got enamored with games and really I generally try to buy everything now, since as a developer I feel honor-bound to buy my colleagues&#8217; works.&#8221;</p>
<p>The developer torrent also includes a link to the official Steam release, where people can buy it if they want. Most importantly, however, Oak hopes that people will enjoy the game. Based on the responses thus far, that seems to be the case.</p>
<p>&#8220;People like the game, they enjoy what it offers, they seem to really like the art, writing, music and voice acting, which I also think are our strongest aspects. Could have always had better gameplay design, but we had limited time and I think we did pretty well,&#8221; Oak says. </p>
<p>&#8216;Death and Taxes&#8217; is available on Steam as well as many torrent sites near you. In the future, the source code will be made public as well.</p>
<p>Drom: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2020-200105/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have an annual <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN</a> review.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Lgyte_4J_Us:_1hK85hgqOg:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Lgyte_4J_Us:_1hK85hgqOg:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=Lgyte_4J_Us:_1hK85hgqOg:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/Lgyte_4J_Us" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183764
title: French ISPs Block Dozens of Pirate Sites Following Movie Industry Action
uri: French-ISPs-Block-Dozens-of-Pirate-Sites-Following-Movie-Industry-Acti
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/zkd3u3XNZgw/
content:
<p><a href="media/01e43770.franceflag.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/franceflag.png"><img src="media/01e43770.franceflag.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/franceflag.png" alt="" width="277" height="182" class="alignright size-full wp-image-131983" /></a>In common with at least 30 countries all around the world, France is becoming ever more receptive of site-blocking as a means to mitigate copyright infringement.</p>
<p>France has been blocking &#8216;pirate&#8217; sites for more than five years on behalf of the music and movie industries but last year academic publishers Elsevier and Springer Nature also got involved. As a result, a court in Paris <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/court-orders-french-isps-to-block-sci-hub-and-libgen-190331/">ordered</a> several of the largest French ISPs to block access to 57 domain names related to pirate scientific libraries LibGen and Sci-Hub. </p>
<p>Later that year, France broke fresh ground again. Following a complaint from anti-piracy group SCPP, a court handed down the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/french-court-orders-isps-to-block-torrent-sites-and-file-hosters-191122/">very first European order</a> compelling local ISPs to block file-hosting services. </p>
<p>Several weeks ago, Internet users in France reported fresh difficulties accessing many &#8216;pirate&#8217; sites, mainly platforms that in some way offer access to streaming movies and TV shows. It now transpires that a new wave of blocking has hit the country following legal action initiated by movie industry groups. </p>
<p>According to NextInpact <em>(<a href="https://www.nextinpact.com/news/108752-le-cinema-obtient-blocage-dizaines-sites-streaming-dont-time2watch.htm">paywall</a>)</em>, the National Federation of Film Publishers (FNEF), the Syndicate of Digital Video Editing (SEVN), the Union of Film Producers (UPC) and the National Cinema Center (CNC) teamed up back in October 2019 to request the blocking of dozens of pirate sites.</p>
<p>Reports on the sites&#8217; activities were compiled by local anti-piracy group ALPA, which noted that torrent site YTS reportedly made available 11,676 movies without permission from rightsholders, &#8220;the vast majority of which are legally available in theaters, digital or online.&#8221; TV torrent index EZTV was accused of offering 4,781 on the same basis.</p>
<p>Streaming platform Allostream reportedly offered more than 1,300 movies and close to 900 TV shows. Overall, it was estimated that almost three-quarters of the content on the site was pirated. When compared to the other sites this was relatively low, however, with most others clocking up 85% unlicensed copyrighted content. This evidence was enough to convince the court.</p>
<p>&#8220;[The rightsholders] have established with sufficient evidence that the disputed sites allow internet users, via the aforementioned paths, to download or continuously access works protected works via hypertext links, without having the authorization of the rights holders, which constitutes an infringement of copyright or neighboring rights,&#8221; the court ruling reads, per NextInpact.</p>
<p>In common with similar blocking applications around Europe, the French court considered not only the intellectual property rights of the movie companies but also the rights of the Internet service providers to do business and their customers&#8217; rights to send and receive information on the Internet. In the end, the rights of the content companies outweighed the interests of the other parties.</p>
<p>As a result, the Paris court handed down an order on January 16, 2020, which compelled ISPs including Bouygues Télécom, Free, Orange, and SFR to prevent their users from accessing 36 platforms listed in the complaint. The vast majority appear to be streaming-related sites with the addition of torrent indexes YTS and EZTV.<em>(full list below)</em></p>
<p>While there are 36 headline sites, the court recognized that these platforms can operate from many more domains. In respect of TV torrent platform EZTV, for example, the site&#8217;s .io, .it, .ch, .re and .ag domains are listed for blocking. For movie index YTS, three domains appear &#8211; yts.lt, .am and .ag. As a result, 79 domains are detailed overall in the order handed down by the Paris court, which is valid for 18 months.</p>
<p>Despite the comprehensive attempt at covering all domains, it&#8217;s likely the platforms will seek out new ones in response to the order. Should evasive action be taken by the sites, the complainants will have to obtain permission from a judge to update the list of domains.</p>
<p><em>The full list of sites blocked by ISPs following the latest order is as follows:</p>
<p>Allostream<br />
Annuaire-telechargement-ec<br />
Annuaire-telechargement-fr<br />
ATFUT<br />
DivxTOP<br />
DPSTREAM<br />
DPStreaming<br />
ETOPOP<br />
EZTV<br />
Filme-Streaming<br />
Filmcomplet<br />
FilmStreamingg1<br />
FilmStreaming1FV<br />
Filmz<br />
FRStream<br />
Full-Serie<br />
HDS-Streaming<br />
HDSS<br />
LibertyVF<br />
N1Streaming<br />
Papystreaming<br />
Planet-Streaming1<br />
Radego<br />
Serie-Streaming<br />
Seriecomplete<br />
SKStream<br />
Streamcomplet<br />
Streamdirect<br />
Streaming-VOSTFR<br />
StreamingDIVX1<br />
Time2watch<br />
VKStreaming<br />
Voir-Films-Series<br />
VOSTFRSerie<br />
Wikiserie<br />
YTS</em></p>
<p><em>The related court order can be found <a href="media/88eb2467.France-Blocking-Order-200119.pdf" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/France-Blocking-Order-200119.pdf">here</a> (pdf)</em></p>
<p>Drom: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2020-200105/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have an annual <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN</a> review.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=zkd3u3XNZgw:3Vl9DvTR2eY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=zkd3u3XNZgw:3Vl9DvTR2eY:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=zkd3u3XNZgw:3Vl9DvTR2eY:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/zkd3u3XNZgw" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183777
title: Hellboy Makers Want $270,000 in Piracy Damages from MKVCage Operator
uri: Hellboy-Makers-Want-270-000-in-Piracy-Damages-from-MKVCage-Operator
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/7nPPIitRh80/
content:
<p><img src="media/aee95c07.mkv.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/mkv.png" alt="" width="201" height="159" class="alignright size-full wp-image-177110" />A group of movie companies, operating under the parent company Millennium Funding, has broadened its anti-piracy efforts over the past year or so.</p>
<p>Where the makers of films such as Hellboy, Hitman’s Bodyguard, and Mechanic: Resurrection previously focused on individual pirates, they have upped the ante by targeting site owners as well.</p>
<p>These efforts enjoyed some success including the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/piracy-app-cotomovies-shuts-down-apologizes-and-exposes-users-190911/">shutdown</a> of the popular app Cotomovies and <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/yts-settles-another-movie-piracy-lawsuit-while-more-users-get-sued-200127/">settlements with torrent site YTS</a>. While the latter remains online, this can&#8217;t be said for another well-known torrent site, MKVCage. </p>
<p>After the makers of the movie &#8216;Hellboy&#8217; filed a lawsuit against MKVCage at a Hawaii District Court last summer, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/popular-torrent-site-mkvcage-faces-lawsuit-and-goes-offline/">the site became unreachable</a>. At the same time, the MKVCage uploader stopped pushing torrents to other sites as well. There was a brief comeback in October but soon after it went offline again. </p>
<p>By effectively shutting down the site, Hellboy&#8217;s makers (HB Productions) achieved part of their goal. However, in addition to stopping the infringing activity, they also want to see cash from the site&#8217;s alleged operator, a Pakistani man named Muhammad Faizan.</p>
<p>A few weeks go Hellboy&#8217;s attorney Kerry Culpepper submitted an amended complaint to the court. This was notable as it mentioned Pirate Bay co-founder Peter Sunde as a &#8220;<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/movie-company-links-notorious-copyright-thief-peter-sunde-to-mkvcage-lawsuit/">notorious copyright thief</a>&#8221; whose domain registration service Njal.la worked with MKVCage.</p>
<p>While Sunde is not part of the lawsuit, the complaint was a precursor to a request for a default judgment, which was submitted to the court this week. As Faizan failed to respond to the complaint, Hellboy is asking for $270,902 in damages, as well as $4,410 in fees and costs.</p>
<p>Hellboy doesn&#8217;t ask for statutory damages, which are capped at $150,000 per infringed work. Instead, it calculated its losses based on the purchase price of the movie and the number of &#8220;instances of infringement&#8221; that were logged in torrent swarms.</p>
<p>&#8220;The certain sum of $270,902.58 [&#8230;] was calculated by multiplying the number of instances of infringement in the United States logged by Plaintiff’s agent by the price for purchasing a copy of the motion picture in Hawaii,&#8221; attorney Culpepper explains. </p>
<p>The Hawaii court has yet to sign off on this request. While it&#8217;s likely that Hellboy will come out as the winner of this case, it may be a hard for the company to recover the damages from a foreign defendant.</p>
<p><em>&#8212;</p>
<p>A copy of HB Productions&#8217; motion for a default judgment against Muhammad Faizan is <a href="media/5054946b.motionhbfaizan.pdf" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/motionhbfaizan.pdf">available here (pdf)</a>.</em></p>
<p>Drom: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2020-200105/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have an annual <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN</a> review.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=7nPPIitRh80:I59h8cf3otw:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=7nPPIitRh80:I59h8cf3otw:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=7nPPIitRh80:I59h8cf3otw:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/7nPPIitRh80" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183768
title: Plex Slammed By Huge Copyright Coalition For Not Policing Pirates
uri: Plex-Slammed-By-Huge-Copyright-Coalition-For-Not-Policing-Pirates
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/MSfsXKJ4IvQ/
content:
<p><a href="media/9e3ff7a3.plexs.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/plexs.png"><img src="media/9e3ff7a3.plexs.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/plexs.png" alt="" width="273" height="178" class="alignright size-full wp-image-171610" /></a>In days gone by, living rooms around the world could be found stacked with video cassette tapes full of films and TV shows. Some bought, others recorded at home, these copies would need to be waded through, to find whatever content the owner fancied watching that day.</p>
<p>With the rise of digital technology, however, such physical collections have largely disappeared, replaced by copies that occupy virtually zero space, with thousands of movies, TV shows, music tracks, and photographs effortlessly stored on relatively cheap hard drives.</p>
<p>Paper-based indexing systems, for those who cared to maintain them in the analog age, have now been replaced by software that not only does all the hard work but also makes collections a thing of beauty. While there are alternatives, <a href="https://emby.media/">Emby for example</a>, the clear market leader is Plex. However, the company behind the software is now facing a backlash for failing to control how people interact with its creation.</p>
<p>According to CreativeFuture, a pro-copyright coalition of more than 560 companies and organizations, Plex &#8211; which is basically a pretty media player &#8211; is helping to fan the flames of piracy. While there are some exceptions which we&#8217;ll come to shortly, people generally need to be in physical possession of movies or TV shows to watch them using Plex, with torrents providing the necessary material.</p>
<p>&#8220;[T]he problem now finds itself on a dangerous precipice where it could easily slip right back into becoming a crisis again, as it was in the mid-2000s – before streaming was all the rage,&#8221; Creative Future writes.</p>
<p>&#8220;Thanks to a rapidly growing media application called Plex, torrent-based piracy is back in vogue, and better than ever (for criminals who have no problem with profiting from content that doesn’t belong to them, that is).&#8221;</p>
<p>To set the scene, that Plex is some kind of &#8216;rogue&#8217; application, CreativeFuture (CF) aligns the media player with another piece of software, one that has also suffered reputational damage as a result of its users&#8217; activities. The choice of adjective to describe both is particularly interesting.</p>
<p>&#8220;To understand what Plex is and how it functions, it is helpful to look at Kodi – another dangerous digital media player that we have written about repeatedly here at CreativeFuture,&#8221; CF <a href="https://creativefuture.org/plex-making-piracy-worse-2/">notes</a>.</p>
<p>The claim that Plex is dangerous is supported by an <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/23/20697751/piracy-plex-netflix-hulu-streaming-wars">article</a> published in The Verge, which reported on so-called &#8216;Plex shares&#8217;. Without going into the minutiae, &#8216;shares&#8217; effectively allow Plex users to access content on other users&#8217; Plex servers which, in some cases, could have been obtained illegally.</p>
<p>That some Plex users allow others to access huge libraries of pirated content is a fact, with some <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/brein-goes-after-pirate-plex-share-with-thousands-of-movies-and-tv-shows-190425/">being targeted</a> by anti-piracy groups such as BREIN. But, in common with so many piracy controversies in recent years, CF feels that if Plex users are doing something illegal, then the company behind the Plex software should be held responsible for their actions.</p>
<p>In this respect, CF claims that like &#8220;most&#8221; tech platforms, Plex is doing what it can to avoid accountability.</p>
<p>&#8220;In turning a blind eye to its piracy problem, Plex has joined the ranks of internet heavyweights who refuse to take responsibility for the criminal behavior on their platforms,&#8221; the copyright coalition notes.</p>
<p>&#8220;With heightened scrutiny on the biggest platforms, lawmakers across the country, and abroad, have increasingly demonstrated less tolerance for tech companies that sidestep law and order in their relentless quest for user growth.&#8221;</p>
<p>Quite what CF believes Plex should do isn&#8217;t covered. If we take current industry strategies as a benchmark, we might guess that the organization would encourage the use of some kind of pro-active filtering mechanism, which would prevent Plex users from adding potentially infringing material to their own computers.</p>
<p>Of course, that would mean massive implications for end-user privacy, almost impossible calculations to determine who is allowed to add content to a library within the law in multiple jurisdictions, plus an inevitable backlash and migration to other platforms that reject such intrusions. It would also require the company behind Plex to get deeply involved and therefore acquire &#8216;knowledge&#8217; of infringing user behavior, something that raises all kinds of red flags.</p>
<p>The piece, which deserves to be <a href="https://creativefuture.org/plex-making-piracy-worse-2/">read</a> in its own right, also accuses or Reddit of being a &#8220;notorious piracy-enabling outlet&#8221;. What it fails to mention, and probably should&#8217;ve done, however, is that Plex is already making progress with various entertainment industry groups to tackle piracy in the best way possible &#8211; providing users with <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/plex-is-a-pirates-dream-but-could-also-build-bridges-to-legal-content-190914/">easy access to licensed content</a>.</p>
<p>In 2019, Plex <a href="https://www.plex.tv/en-gb/blog/boom-we-just-dinosized-your-movie-collection-for-free/">announced</a> it would begin streaming thousands of free movies, TV shows and music documentaries from within the app, after striking deals with relevant rightsholders. The content is ad-supported and the hope is to expand the offering in the future.</p>
<p>&#8220;Over time, we’ll be adding more stuff from different studios and creators — from Oscar-winning Hollywood movies to the latest from India, Russia, China, Japan, Africa, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe to really cool independent movies fresh off the festival circuit,&#8221; the company said.</p>
<p>That Plex now finds itself in the firing line isn&#8217;t really a surprise &#8211; if Reddit is a &#8220;notorious&#8221; enabler of piracy, then any company with end users could find itself tarred with the same brush. TorrentFreak contacted the software developer for its opinion on the latest set of claims but at the time of publication, Plex chose to remain silent.</p>
<p>Drom: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2020-200105/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have an annual <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN</a> review.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=MSfsXKJ4IvQ:rJPlmoniNnY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=MSfsXKJ4IvQ:rJPlmoniNnY:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=MSfsXKJ4IvQ:rJPlmoniNnY:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/MSfsXKJ4IvQ" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=182814
title: Piracy Trial Between Record Labels and ISP Grande Postponed
uri: Piracy-Trial-Between-Record-Labels-and-ISP-Grande-Postponed
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/LD8Em_UCVro/
content:
<p><img src="media/a34c6170.cassettapemusic.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/cassettapemusic.png" alt="" width="276" height="152" class="alignright size-full wp-image-175024" />The “repeat infringer” issue remains a hot topic in US courts after rightsholders filed lawsuits against several ISPs.</p>
<p>These Internet providers are accused of not doing enough to stop copyright infringers on their networks, even after receiving multiple &#8216;copyright infringement&#8217; notifications.</p>
<p>Last December, one case resulted in a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/cox-is-liable-for-pirating-subscribers-hit-with-1-billion-damages-verdict-191220/">guilty verdict against Cox</a>. Following a jury trial, the company was ordered to pay a billion dollars in damages to a group of major record labels.</p>
<p>Following the verdict, many of the labels shifted their focus to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/riaa-sues-isp-grande-communications-for-failing-to-disconnect-pirates-170422/">the next target</a>, ISP Grande Communications. This case was scheduled to go to trial last week but, at the last minute, it was postponed until September. </p>
<p>This decision came after the court advised both parties that it only had time for a six-day trial, as opposed to the ten days originally requested. Both the defendant and plaintiffs argued that considering the extensiveness of the case, this was not enough, so they filed a request for a delay.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Parties do not believe that six days is an adequate amount of time to try this case. Accordingly, the Parties request that the Court continue the trial setting and reset it at a time that allows for ten trial days,&#8221; Grande and the record companies informed the court. </p>
<p>Last week U.S. District Judge David Ezra granted the request. This means that the case will be postponed for several months, with the new trial taking place in September.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/3c028ab4.resettrial.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/resettrial.jpg" alt="" width="616" height="382" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-183562" /></center></p>
<p>The extra time will also allow both parties to resolve some of their outstanding differences. Both sides submitted several motions to exclude information from the trial and they hope to narrow these requests in the coming months. </p>
<p>In addition, jury selection has also been postponed. This means that the record labels must wait a bit longer before they can ask potential trial jurors <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/record-labels-will-ask-potential-piracy-trial-jurors-if-they-read-torrentfreak-200202/">if they read TorrentFreak</a>. </p>
<p>Drom: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2020-200105/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have an annual <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN</a> review.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=LD8Em_UCVro:FKQ-G4b19_0:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=LD8Em_UCVro:FKQ-G4b19_0:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=LD8Em_UCVro:FKQ-G4b19_0:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/LD8Em_UCVro" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183625
title: SafeKodi: Researchers Help Kodi Users to Spot Malicious Addons
uri: SafeKodi-Researchers-Help-Kodi-Users-to-Spot-Malicious-Addons
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Bnn3A0NwBuU/
content:
<p><img src="media/8ec09d0d.safek.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/safek.png" alt="" width="222" height="222" class="alignright size-full wp-image-183742" srcset="https://torrentfreak.com/images/safek.png 256w, https://torrentfreak.com/images/safek-150x150.png 150w" sizes="(max-width: 222px) 100vw, 222px" /><a href="https://kodi.tv/">Kodi</a> is widely known as a very convenient media player. While the open-source software is content-neutral, some third-party addons use it to offer pirated content.</p>
<p>In recent years rightsholders and anti-piracy organizations have worked hard to target copyright infringing addons. This is done through enforcement actions, but also through scare tactics. </p>
<p>On numerous occasions, Kodi addons have been associated with malware and other malicious content. While it is certainly true that there are some shady addons out there, the warnings are <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/rampant-kodi-malware-its-time-to-either-put-up-or-shut-up-190610/">often overblown</a>, lacking any supportive data.</p>
<p>A more analytical approach to this issue is being taken by a group of researchers from <a href="https://www.northwestern.edu/">Northwestern University</a> and <a href="https://brave.com/">Brave Software</a>. They use a data-driven model and have created a software crawler to identify any potential threats in third-party Kodi addons.</p>
<p>Their software, aptly named &#8216;De-Kodi,&#8217; scraped the web and discovered tens of thousands of addons. A small percentage of these, roughly 9,000, were still active. The researchers then tested them for potentially harmful activity. </p>
<p>The results show that most addons are safe. A significant portion include URLs that are linked to advertising, tracking, or Kodi&#8217;s own <a href="https://kodi.wiki/view/Official:Forum_rules/Banned_add-ons">blacklist</a>. However, only 13 addons included URLs that were flagged by Google&#8217;s Safebrowsing service for potentially malicious “social engineering.” Another 131 addons included links to potentially malicious IPs. </p>
<p>&#8220;In our study, we discovered 43,308 addons out of which 8,485 were unique and correctly working. Out of these, only a handful was potentially harmful,&#8221; Brave Software researcher Matteo Varvello tells TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>This doesn&#8217;t sound like a broad threat, but some nuance is warranted. The researchers also found that many of the problematic addons are relatively popular. This means that while malicious addons are rare, they still have the potential to impact a lot of people. </p>
<p>The SportsDevil addon, for example, which is listed among the ten most popular addon domains, is flagged as potentially malicious, includes tracking scripts and is on Kodi&#8217;s ban list.</p>
<p>Because users may not be aware of these threats, or the fact that that addons may track them or serve ads, the researchers decided to make the information public in the form of an addon.</p>
<p>&#8220;After we built De-Kodi, we realized that the information we collected was very useful to the average Kodi user, not only the research community. An addon was the easiest way to bring this information to the large Kodi user base,&#8221; Varvello tells us. </p>
<p>The result is the new <a href="https://safekodi.com/">SafeKodi addon</a> which is available to the public for free. Kodi users who install it can use the software to check whether there are any potential security issues on their platform.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/fc7ebbfe.screenshot-03.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/screenshot-03.png" alt="" width="640" height="385" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-183738" srcset="https://torrentfreak.com/images/screenshot-03.png 2016w, https://torrentfreak.com/images/screenshot-03-1536x923.png 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /></center></p>
<p>In addition to helping the public, the public can help the researchers as well. SafeKodi allows users to flag addons they think are unsafe. In addition, it will automatically locate new and unknown addons and test these on-demand.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/919ab831.screenshot-05.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/screenshot-05.png" alt="" width="640" height="385" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-183740" srcset="https://torrentfreak.com/images/screenshot-05.png 2016w, https://torrentfreak.com/images/screenshot-05-1536x923.png 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /></center></p>
<p>The input from users allows the researchers to expand their findings and provide a more accurate overview of the third-party addon ecosystem.</p>
<p>&#8220;The current plan is to attract some user-base for SafeKodi. This allows us to complete our study with potential addons we will discover thanks to our users, and those that appear through the evolution of the Kodi ecosystem over time,&#8221; Varvello says.</p>
<p>In addition to insights about advertising, tracking, and potential malware threats, the research also provides additional detail on the video sources of addons. </p>
<p>For example, they found that the most popular media serving domains are GoogleVideo.com, Akamaihd.net, and Archive.org. These domains include legitimate content but are also used by pirate services.</p>
<p>The results of the study are detailed in a <a href="media/382bcb72.dekodi.pdf" data-original-source="https://safekodi.com/resource/dekodi.pdf">paper</a> titled: De-Kodi: Understanding the Kodi Ecosystem. The findings will be officially presented at the <a href="https://www2020.thewebconf.org/">World Wide Web Conference</a> in April where the De-Kodi source code is also scheduled for release.</p>
<p>Drom: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2020-200105/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have an annual <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN</a> review.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Bnn3A0NwBuU:XudCUN282Xs:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Bnn3A0NwBuU:XudCUN282Xs:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=Bnn3A0NwBuU:XudCUN282Xs:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/Bnn3A0NwBuU" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183805
title: Coronavirus Outbreak Triggers Surge in Pirated Downloads of the Film ‘Contagion’
uri: 2020-03-07-
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/c9sSFyK28vA/
content:
<p><img src="media/fe752787.contagion-1-e1583418424953.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/contagion-1-e1583418424953.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="155" class="alignright size-full wp-image-183812" />Like any other Hollywood movie, pirated copies of the movie &#8220;<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1598778/">Contagion</a>&#8221; appeared on pirate sites around the world at the end of 2011. </p>
<p>At the time, it was briefly listed among the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-movies-on-bittorrent-111219/">most pirated movie titles</a> but, as time went by, interest waned. </p>
<p>That pattern is all too common. Over the past few years, the movie was downloaded a few hundred times per day, at most. In January, however, something changed. </p>
<p>When the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak started to hit the mainstream news, some people started to link it to the fictional &#8220;MEV-1&#8221; pandemic depicted in &#8220;Contagion.&#8221; Although the two can hardly be compared, besides being virus outbreaks, interest in the 2011 movie suddenly spiked. </p>
<p>Google Trends reveals that searches for the phrase &#8220;contagion movie&#8221; started to rise in January, reaching a peak around the end of that month. Later in February, as the Coronavirus started to spread globally, searches flared up again. </p>
<p><center><img src="media/9e938748.contagmovie4.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/contagmovie4.jpg" alt="" width="602" height="317" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-183816" /></center></p>
<p>The increasing demand directly impacted sales. Over the past days, Buzzfeed and other several news outlets <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/davidmack/contagion-movie-coronavirus">reported</a> that movie rentals for &#8220;Contagion&#8221; had gone up, putting the movie in the top 10 of iTunes movie rental chart, as well as the trending list. </p>
<p>Since sales patterns are typically not too different from piracy trends, we decided to take a look at the popularity of the movie on torrent sites. This idea was opted by Julia Alexander of <a href="https://www.theverge.com/">The Verge</a>, and with help from <a href="https://iknowwhatyoudownload.com/">IKnowWhatYouDownload</a>, we were able to get some hard data. </p>
<p>As mentioned earlier, before the Coronavirus reached the mainstream news the film was being downloaded roughly 200 times a day. On January 24, this went up to 1,543, and a day later 9,369 downloads were recorded. A week later, more than 25,000 people downloaded the movie during a single day. </p>
<p><center><img src="media/0b0d916e.contagion.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/contagion.jpg" alt="" width="626" height="432" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-183810" /></center></p>
<p>This download pattern is very similar to the Google Trends chart. Both show the same initial peak, with interest picking up again at the end of February. </p>
<p>Tracking BitTorrent downloads is a complicated process so IKnowWhatYouDownload&#8217;s numbers are likely not 100% precise. But the trend is obvious &#8211; there&#8217;s a massive increase in &#8220;Contagion&#8221; piracy. </p>
<p>Looking at the geographical data we see that most downloads came from South Korea initially. On the first day of February, 22% came from South Korea, which is the country that&#8217;s most affected by the Coronavirus after China.  Only 6% of the downloads came from the US, and fewer than 1% from the UK.</p>
<p>A month later this changed a little. The US (10%) took over from South Korea (9%), and interest in the UK went up, which was good for 4% of the downloads on March 1. </p>
<p>The numbers reported here only apply to BitTorrent downloads, which represent only a fraction of the entire piracy landscape. With direct download and streaming sources added to the mix, the download figures may be several times higher.</p>
<p>Overall it&#8217;s clear that the Coronavirus outbreak has raised the interest in &#8220;Contagion,&#8221; both through legal and illegal channels. It&#8217;s important to keep in mind, however, that the film has very little to do with the challenges the world&#8217;s facing today. </p>
<p>After all, nothing spreads like fear&#8230;.</p>
<p>Drom: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2020-200105/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have an annual <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN</a> review.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=c9sSFyK28vA:jMLZ7K98fEY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=c9sSFyK28vA:jMLZ7K98fEY:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=c9sSFyK28vA:jMLZ7K98fEY:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/c9sSFyK28vA" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183808
title: New Anti-Piracy Campaign Piles On The Scare Tactics But Who’s Scared?
uri: New-Anti-Piracy-Campaign-Piles-On-The-Scare-Tactics-But-Who-s-Scared
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/1lfesp7IwKQ/
content:
<p><a href="media/5db763c1.pirate-fire-burn.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-fire-burn.jpg"><img src="media/5db763c1.pirate-fire-burn.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-fire-burn.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="208" class="alignright size-full wp-image-103753" /></a>Anyone who creates creative content has the right to protect that work from unauthorized wholesale reproduction. It is their work, their investment, and they should be able to benefit from the toils of their labors, copyright law dictates.</p>
<p>The reality, of course, is that while people can claim their rights all day long, there are plenty of avenues to obtain that content online without paying for it. As a result, entertainment industry groups are relentless in their efforts to disrupt and discourage such behavior.</p>
<p>One of the tried-and-tested methods is the anti-piracy campaign. Often in the form of short videos, trailers and clips presented online, within physical media, and on TV, these presentations get around 30 seconds to make an impact on the public. That is not a long time and as a result, the creatives behind these projects have to get well&#8230;.creative&#8230;.for want of a better word.</p>
<p>In recent years, the many &#8216;creative&#8217; approaches are now diverging into what appears to be a coordinated global effort to physically scare people away from piracy. All is fair and love and war, they say, but these campaigns take the truth and bend into another dimension. Take the headline message from the new anti-piracy campaign launched online and on TV by Creative Content Australia, for example.</p>
<p>&#8220;Accessing pirate sites to download movies and TV exposes your financial and medical details, passwords, photos and more to criminals. So not only is pirating illegal, you become a victim of your own crime. Is it really worth it, just for some free content?&#8221; the campaign material reads.</p>
<p>Here&#8217;s the accompanying TV advert for additional context;</p>
<p><center></p>
<div style="padding:56.25% 0 0 0;position:relative;"><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/383682579?byline=0&#038;portrait=0" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<p><script src="https://player.vimeo.com/api/player.js"></script></center></p>
<p>The video appears to portray a member of the public seeking help from the &#8216;police&#8217; after he got hacked and had his passwords and photos stolen. However, when the authorities find out he&#8217;d visited a pirate site they basically said: &#8220;Screw you, it&#8217;s your own fault, you&#8217;re on your own.&#8221;</p>
<p>Thirty seconds isn&#8217;t a long time to get your message over but claiming that &#8220;pirate sites expose you to hackers&#8221; simply can&#8217;t be the experience of the majority of people who use them. If this was indeed the case, people wouldn&#8217;t be flocking to them every day in their millions.</p>
<p>The fact that a succession of campaigns are declaring pirate sites as unsafe havens filled with hackers is a clear indicator that someone feels the message just isn&#8217;t getting through to pirates. Which, when you think about it, is pretty strange.</p>
<p>No campaign on planet earth will ever be able to drive the message home more effectively than <em>actually being hacked and having your personal details stolen</em>. Victims of such crimes rarely need to be told twice which is a fairly obvious indicator that this campaign is aimed at the vast majority who have no such problems. And if the vast majority have no issues, why all the panic?</p>
<p>Let&#8217;s be clear here, this isn&#8217;t a pro-piracy rant at the expense of people simply trying to make some money off the back of their hard work. This is a reaction to scare tactics that are not only insulting to people&#8217;s intelligence but are also unlikely to reach their goals. Fact: if visiting pirate sites leads to all of the things being claimed, people wouldn&#8217;t use them. If people didn&#8217;t use them, the campaign wouldn&#8217;t be needed.</p>
<p>These claims of &#8216;people&#8217; falling victim to criminals are problematic too. Last week we reported on a huge survey carried out in the UK, which also covered public attitudes towards <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/what-type-of-anti-piracy-campaign-is-more-likely-to-work-on-infringers-200301/">various types of anti-piracy campaigns</a>. One of the suggestions was that instead of making vague claims, it might help to present real-life examples of people who became victims of hacking as a result of visiting pirate sites.</p>
<p>Of course, this latest campaign &#8211; just like all the others &#8211; makes no effort to do that. Instead it uses actors and well-known activists to drive home the message that people who visit such platforms get what they deserve.</p>
<p>&#8220;If you visit pirate websites, even the law can’t protect you,&#8221; <a href="https://www.creativecontentaustralia.org.au/campaigns/2020-piracy-you-re-exposed">warns</a> Graham Burke AO, Chairman of Creative Content Australia.</p>
<p>&#8220;You are going to a criminally dangerous neighborhood. Pirate sites are big businesses and exist solely to make money by robbing you, or worse. This is an area where your cyber security is in danger and malware, blackmail and identity theft are commonplace.&#8221;</p>
<p>It&#8217;s true that pirate sites can indeed have terrible ads and of course, malware can be present in downloads, most commonly software releases where such things are easily hidden. But blackmail and identity theft are such serious crimes that one would think that if a pirate site had been involved in such things, the police would&#8217;ve got involved and we would&#8217;ve heard about it. We haven&#8217;t.</p>
<p>On the other hand, it is extremely easy to find reports of people getting scammed via methods that have nothing to do with pirate sites, such as by telephone or phishing attacks. This is where things start to break down and make nightmarish anti-piracy campaigns lose credibility.</p>
<p>The awful experiences being described in most of these campaigns aren&#8217;t the experiences of the majority of people who use these sites. If truth be known, most people reading this article have probably had more attempts to have their identities stolen via email in the past three months than anywhere else on the Internet, pirate sites included.</p>
<p>Indeed, when we spoke to security company MalwareBytes on this topic in 2018, the company told us that pirate sites aren&#8217;t the biggest risk at all &#8211; email is.</p>
<p>&#8220;These days, most common infections come from malicious spam campaigns and drive-by exploit attacks,” <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/anti-piracy-video-scares-kids-with-fake-malware-info-180206/">said</a> Adam Kujawa, Director of Malware Intelligence.</p>
<p>In response to claims in another dubious anti-piracy campaign in the same year, security expert Mikko Hypponen from F-Secure told us that it was false to claim that pirate sites are the number one source for malware online. He again pointed to email as the number one risk.</p>
<p>“Pirate sites are not the most common source for infections, and it hasn’t been since the early 1990s,&#8221; he informed TorrentFreak. &#8220;Today, the most common ways of getting infected are via malicious email attachments, browser plugins and extensions and web exploit kits.&#8221;</p>
<p>The bottom line here is that there is absolutely nothing wrong with anti-piracy campaigns per se but they must be believable and based in fact, not a twisted version of the truth. Also, the companies behind them might also consider being a little less cynical.</p>
<p>While one can&#8217;t expect a guide on how to pirate safely, campaigns that only warn of the dangers without offering some advice beyond &#8220;don&#8217;t use pirate sites&#8221; suggest that there&#8217;s no genuine concern about the safety of Internet users. In fact, the message in this campaign is actually &#8220;you&#8217;re on your own and nobody will help you.&#8221;</p>
<p>If only on a subconscious level, that won&#8217;t go unnoticed. Somehow, these messages need to move forward more positively. It&#8217;s become a cliche but all of the content in one place at a fair price from a legitimate source is the best way to stop people visiting pirate sites. Or at least powerful enough to stop a significant number from preferring them, especially when considering all of the horrors that lie within&#8230;.</p>
<p>Drom: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2020-200105/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have an annual <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN</a> review.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=1lfesp7IwKQ:wCgR2BDNmK4:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=1lfesp7IwKQ:wCgR2BDNmK4:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=1lfesp7IwKQ:wCgR2BDNmK4:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/1lfesp7IwKQ" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183529
title: Jehovah’s Witness Body Uses DMCA to Subpoena YouTube For ‘Apostate’ Identity
uri: Jehovah-s-Witness-Body-Uses-DMCA-to-Subpoena-YouTube-For-Apostate
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Tc_LKjlQGOU/
content:
<p><a href="media/eaf48e81.pray.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/pray.png"><img src="media/eaf48e81.pray.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/pray.png" alt="" width="270" height="180" class="alignright size-full wp-image-183550" /></a>Reddit user Darkspliver, a member of the Jehovah’s Witness community, was recently targeted by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society with claims that his postings infringed their copyrights.</p>
<p>The case drew the attention of the EFF which mounted a defense on the user&#8217;s behalf, claiming that the subpoena against Reddit was invalid since Darkspliver&#8217;s use of Jehovah&#8217;s Witness material were covered under fair use. <a href="https://www.eff.org/press/releases/redditor-wins-fight-stay-anonymous">The court agreed</a>.</p>
<p>“Our client shared comments and concerns about the Watch Tower organization — something they have every right to do,” said EFF Staff Attorney Alex Moss this week. “We are glad that Darkspilver is safe from unmasking, and that a judge saw the important free speech and fair use issues at play here.”</p>
<p>While the identity of Darkspliver is now safe, the religious organization now has a fresh target. According to documents obtained by TorrentFreak, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania has obtained a DMCA subpoena that requires Google to reveal the personal details of a YouTube user who uploaded Jehovah&#8217;s Witness sermons to the video platform.</p>
<p>The subpoena targets an account called &#8216;JW Apostate&#8217; which advertised itself as a place for &#8220;leaking Watch Tower videos&#8221;.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/7e07a427.jw-apostate-1-e1583321127241.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/jw-apostate-1-e1583321127241.png"><img src="media/7e07a427.jw-apostate-1-e1583321127241.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/jw-apostate-1-e1583321127241.png" alt="" width="650" height="191" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-183728" /></a></center></p>
<p>At least initially, the channel had many videos listed for viewing but the DMCA subpoena application lists just five.</p>
<p>&#8220;Watch Tower conducted a good-faith fair use analysis of numerous infringing posts on the account at issue,&#8221; the application filed at a New York court reads. &#8220;This content infringes copyrights held by Watch Tower.&#8221; </p>
<p>Watch Tower informed the court that it had fulfilled all the requirements for obtaining a subpoena and its sole purpose is to &#8220;obtain the identity of an alleged infringer or infringers&#8221; so that copyrighted content can be protected.</p>
<p>The allegedly-infringing YouTube channel listed a Reddit account for correspondence so on discovering the application, TorrentFreak contacted the associated user for comment. Very shortly after, the Reddit account, YouTube channel and all of its videos were deleted, leaving nothing in their wake.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/9ce4c1ed.jw-apostate-2-e1583321628661.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/jw-apostate-2-e1583321628661.png"><img src="media/9ce4c1ed.jw-apostate-2-e1583321628661.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/jw-apostate-2-e1583321628661.png" alt="" width="650" height="336" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-183729" /></a></center></p>
<p>A day later, District Judge Cathy Seibel signed off on the Watch Tower request and ordered the clerk of the court to issue the subpoena against Google LLC.</p>
<p>&#8220;This matter comes before the Court upon the ex parte application of movant Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania along with the Declaration of Paul D. Polidoro, Esq. and supporting documents for the signing of a Subpoena directing Google, LLC to produce the identity of entities or persons believed to be infringing on the copyright of Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania,&#8221; the order reads.</p>
<p>&#8220;Having considered the Declaration and all documents submitted in support of the instant application, the Court finds good reason to issue an order directing the clerk to issue said subpoena.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society is no stranger when it comes to DMCA subpoena applications or indeed Judge Seibel. The religious group has attempted to <a href="https://jwsurvey.org/news/facebook-yields-to-watch-tower-subpoenas-jehovahs-witnesses-issue-6-more-to-youtube">obtain several subpoenas</a> in New York courts against Facebook and YouTube users, filing around <a href="https://avoidjw.org/en/news/philip-brumley-witchhunter/">60 applications overall</a> since June 2017.</p>
<p>Considering that the aim of most Christian-based religions is to spread the word as widely as possible around the world, it appears that those at the top of the Jehovah&#8217;s Witness group would prefer to control access to their information much more tightly.</p>
<p><em>The application, proposed DMCA subpoena, and order granting subpoena can be found here (<a href="media/8bf47e29.7-20-mc-00119-watch-tower-v-google-youtube-subpoena-270220.pdf" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/7-20-mc-00119-watch-tower-v-google-youtube-subpoena-270220.pdf">1</a>,<a href="media/d7ca6895.-watch-tower-v-google-youtube-subpoena-proposed-order-270220.pdf" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/7-20-mc-00119-watch-tower-v-google-youtube-subpoena-proposed-order-270220.pdf">2</a>,<a href="media/a187ea95.c-00119-watch-tower-v-google-youtube-subpoena-granted-280220.pdf" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/7-20-mc-00119-watch-tower-v-google-youtube-subpoena-granted-280220.pdf">3</a> pdf)</em></p>
<p><em>Image credit: <a href="https://pixabay.com/photos/praying-god-christianity-belief-2179326/">Pixabay</a></em></p>
<p>Drom: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2020-200105/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have an annual <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN</a> review.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Tc_LKjlQGOU:r7BdZlHLZmA:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Tc_LKjlQGOU:r7BdZlHLZmA:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=Tc_LKjlQGOU:r7BdZlHLZmA:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/Tc_LKjlQGOU" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183832
title: Cloudflare Geo-Blocks 22 Pirate Sites in Italy Following Court Order
uri: Cloudflare-Geo-Blocks-22-Pirate-Sites-in-Italy-Following-Court-Order
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/WIEWzqibZU0/
content:
<p><img src="media/c84f558d.cloudflarelogo.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/cloudflarelogo.png" alt="" width="260" height="135" class="alignright size-full wp-image-137767" />As one of the leading CDN and DDoS protection services, <a href="https://www.cloudflare.com/">Cloudflare</a> is used by millions of websites across the globe. This includes many pirate sites.</p>
<p>In recent years many copyright holders have complained about Cloudflare’s involvement with these platforms. </p>
<p>Thus far the U.S. company has refused to take any action without a court order. In various legal proceedings, Cloudflare argued that it&#8217;s a neutral third-party service that merely caches content. Even when Cloudflare disconnects customers, their associated sites remain operational.</p>
<p>This week Cloudflare published its latest <a href="https://www.cloudflare.com/transparency/">transparency report</a> which makes this stance clear. For example, the company stresses that it doesn&#8217;t respond to DMCA notices by removing cached content. Instead, it forwards the notices to the respective customers. </p>
<p>According to Cloudflare, it received only three DMCA notices in 2019 that identified permanently stored content. These were dealt with appropriately. The rest of the notices were passed on to clients. </p>
<p>While this policy isn&#8217;t new, the transparency report also highlights a new phenomenon. According to Cloudflare, the company has started to block visitors from Italy accessing 22 domain names, following a local court order.</p>
<p>Cloudflare reports that an Italian court ordered the company to block access to the domains of several copyright-infringing websites. This took place last summer but as far as we know the case remains unreported in the media.</p>
<p>&#8220;Pending further litigation, Cloudflare took steps in July 2019 to disable access to those websites to the extent that they used Cloudflare’s services to respond to requests from Italy or used Cloudflare equipment in Italy,&#8221; Cloudflare writes. </p>
<p>&#8220;The court order included requests related to 131 domains and 15 accounts. Cloudflare took action to geoblock 22 domains that were using our service at the time the order was issued,&#8221; the company adds.</p>
<p>The domains in question are not blocked outside of Italy, but which domains are affected by the geo-blocking efforts is unknown. Cloudflare didn&#8217;t respond to our request for further details.</p>
<p>We also asked several legal representatives of copyright holders in Italy, but they couldn&#8217;t point us to the underlying order either. </p>
<p>There is a related Cloudflare case in Italy which we previously reported on. In a ruling in favor of Italian broadcaster RTI, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/court-orders-cloudflare-to-terminate-accounts-of-pirate-sites-190711/">handed down by the Commercial Court of Rome</a> last June, Cloudflare was ordered to immediately terminate the accounts of several pirate sites. There was, however, no mention of geo-blocking or blocking in general.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak spoke to RTI&#8217;s attorney <a href="https://it.linkedin.com/in/alessandro-la-rosa-438b2113">Alessandro La Rosa</a> who says that the pirate sites involved in the RTI case still use the services and infrastructure provided by Cloudflare. He is not aware of any blocking efforts either.</p>
<p>If more details become available on the geoblocking targets we will update this article accordingly. </p>
<p>Italy is not the only country where Cloudflare is taking action against pirate sites. The transparency report also confirms that it reached an agreement with several large manga publishers in Japan, as we <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/cloudflare-agrees-to-stop-caching-pirate-content-in-japan-if-court-declares-sites-illegal-200224/">reported last month</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;As part of the resolution of a lawsuit in Japan, Cloudflare has come to an agreement with certain Japanese publishers to clear existing cached content and cease caching in Japan for certain websites determined by the Tokyo District Court to be infringing copyright,&#8221; Cloudflare writes. </p>
<p>The above shows that while Cloudflare may indeed be a neutral service provider, it can and does take steps to curb copyright infringement on occasion. It remains to be seen whether the two legal issues detailed above are just the start and whether new demands will appear moving forward.</p>
<p>Drom: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2020-200105/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have an annual <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN</a> review.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=WIEWzqibZU0:lxcDN22eUtE:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=WIEWzqibZU0:lxcDN22eUtE:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=WIEWzqibZU0:lxcDN22eUtE:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/WIEWzqibZU0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183877
title: The Pirate Bay Suffers Extended Downtime
uri: 2020-03-09-The-Pirate-Bay-Suffers-Extended-Downtime
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/EYt88uKzEG4/
content:
<p><img src="media/d4dd039c.thepirate-e1470829181981.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/thepirate-e1470829181981.jpg" alt="" width="220" height="206" class="alignright size-full wp-image-116122" />During the past weekend many people have been unable to access The Pirate Bay and, at the time of writing, the site&#8217;s main domain remains inaccessible.</p>
<p>For most people, the site currently displays a Cloudflare error message across the entire site, with the CDN provider mentioning that the “connection timed out.”</p>
<p>This error suggests that there&#8217;s a problem on TPB&#8217;s end which is preventing the CDN provider from connecting to the site&#8217;s server.</p>
<p>No further details are available to us and there is no known ETA for the site’s full return. Judging from past experience, however, it’s likely a technical issue that has to be addressed. There are no known issues with Cloudflare or the domain name itself.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/ab04b9c3.tpb522.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/tpb522.png" alt="" width="600" height="324" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-152165" /></center></p>
<p>TorrentFreak hasn’t heard anything from the TPB team but these type of outages are not unusual. The Pirate Bay has suffered many of these outages in the past and the popular torrent site usually returns after a few hours, or days.</p>
<p>While the notorious torrent site remains inaccessible through the regular route, many proxy sites are still online. TPB is also still available via its <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-moves-to-a-brand-new-onion-domain-191206/">new .onion address</a> on the Tor network, accessible using the popular Tor Browser, for example.</p>
<p>Both the Tor domain and the proxies still feature fresh content. This means that user uploads and the upload bots are still operational as well.</p>
<p>In the past, the official Pirate Bay forums could point people to the latest status of the site. However, it appears that this feature is also suffering some technical issues as it reports <a href="https://pirates-forum.org/misc.php?page=tpbstatus">everything to be down</a>. </p>
<p>As always, the best remedy for hardcore Pirate Bay users is patience. But that should be a given by now.</p>
<p>Drom: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2020-200105/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have an annual <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN</a> review.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=EYt88uKzEG4:Irc6Eu2KA-I:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=EYt88uKzEG4:Irc6Eu2KA-I:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=EYt88uKzEG4:Irc6Eu2KA-I:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/EYt88uKzEG4" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183874
title: Man Who Leaked Pre-Release Movies Online Sentenced to 27 Months Prison
uri: Man-Who-Leaked-Pre-Release-Movies-Online-Sentenced-to-27-Months-Prison
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/sU7DiIHYJ1g/
content:
<p><a href="media/47d06182.city-pipcu.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/city-pipcu.png"><img src="media/47d06182.city-pipcu.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/city-pipcu.png" alt="" width="270" height="113" class="alignright size-full wp-image-133985" /></a>While the vast majority of movies eventually appear online in pirated form, when they do so before their theatrical release dates there is always controversy.</p>
<p>These exclusive release windows are aggressively protected by the studios and when people breach them, by placing a cammed copy online, for example, a response can be expected. When leaked high-quality copies are made available, this can trigger the involvement of heavyweight law enforcement agencies.</p>
<p>Late Friday, the City of London Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) revealed that following a joint investigation with the then Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA, now MPA), a 31-year-old-man has now been jailed for his part in a pre-release movie releasing operation.</p>
<p>According to PIPCU, an investigation by the MPAA previously identified an individual using the alias Dark999 who was offering pre-release movies for sale. One of those movies was Fast &#038; Furious 7 which, at the time, had not been released in cinemas. It was later discovered that Dark999 was Malik Luqman Farooq, a man from Halifax in the UK.</p>
<p>When officers from PIPCU searched Farooq&#8217;s home, they found a pre-release copy of Fast &#038; Furious 7 and 15 other movies, all of which were yet to be released in cinemas. Action by the police ensured that Farooq was unable to leak Fast 7 online but after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud committed between September 2014 and April 2015, on Friday a judge at Southwark Crown Court sentenced him to 27 months in prison.</p>
<p>“Fast &#038; Furious 7 was the second highest grossing movie in 2015,&#8221; said Detective Constable Abdun Noor at PIPCU following the sentencing.</p>
<p>&#8220;Industry estimates show the potential loss suffered, had the film been released before the official cinema date, would have been substantial. Our investigation ensured Farooq was arrested before he was able to release this particular film to the public.</p>
<p>&#8220;Digital piracy causes significant damage to the companies involved in producing films, not only in terms of profits, but also in terms of putting jobs at risk,&#8221; he continued.</p>
<p>&#8220;Anyone who is thinking of committing digital piracy, like Farooq, should see this case as a warning. Piracy is not a victimless crime and we will ensure these criminals are brought to justice.&#8221;</p>
<p>Little has been heard about this specific investigation until now. Police issued a statement in April 2015 indicating that they&#8217;d arrested a then 26-year-old at his workplace in Leeds in connection with the leaking of high-quality movies. Farooq was not named at the time but given that a search also took place at the suspect&#8217;s home in Halifax and many other details match, it&#8217;s now clear this was Farooq.</p>
<p>At the time the arrest was <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/stallone-thanks-police-for-new-expendables-3-arrest-150410/">welcomed</a> by Sylvester Stallone, who believed that police had detained one of the individuals responsible for <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/expendables-3-leaks-online-100k-copies-down-in-hours-140725/">leaking the movie Expendables 3 in 2014</a>. Whether that movie was considered as part of the case against Farooq in the UK is unclear but Farooq&#8217;s troubles may not be over yet.</p>
<p>In December 2018, a federal grand jury in California <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/doj-indicts-five-men-for-pre-release-movie-tv-show-piracy-181213/">indicted</a> five men for allegedly offering pre-release copies of hundreds of movies and TV shows via the Internet. Farooq is listed as one of the suspects.</p>
<p>According to the Department of Justice, he allegedly sold access to more than a dozen “stolen pre-release or contemporaneous-release films” over a period of two years. He is alleged to have used online aliases including Dark999, the name also mentioned by PIPCU.</p>
<p>Four other men &#8211; Aditya Raj and Jitesh Jadhav, both assumed residents of India, Sam Nhance, believed to live in Dubai, and Ghobhirajah Selvarajah of Malaysia &#8211; are listed in the indictment, together charged with offenses including conspiracy to commit computer fraud, unauthorized access to a computer, aggravated identity theft, and copyright infringement.</p>
<p>According to the indictment, the group began offending prior to May 5, 2013 and continued to May 20, 2015.</p>
<p>The Department of Justice claims that Farooq, Raj, Nhance, and Selvarajah rented servers from companies including OVH which were used to store pirated copies of movies that had been illegally obtained from servers operated by movie, distribution, and other third-party companies. One of those movies was Expendables 3 which according to the indictment was sold by Farooq to an undercover MPAA investigator.</p>
<p>The case in the United States is being investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations with assistance from PIPCU in the UK. French and Canadian authorities are reported to have cooperated in obtaining evidence stored abroad.</p>
<p>Drom: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2020-200105/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have an annual <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN</a> review.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=sU7DiIHYJ1g:0ooM13mhkcw:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=sU7DiIHYJ1g:0ooM13mhkcw:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=sU7DiIHYJ1g:0ooM13mhkcw:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/sU7DiIHYJ1g" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183896
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week on BitTorrent – 03/09/20
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-on-BitTorrent-03-09-20
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/4AJcQhBEmDw/
content:
<p><img src="media/bf3b7c80.juma.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/juma.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="160" class="alignright size-full wp-image-183588" />This week we have three newcomers in our chart.</p>
<p>Jumanji: The Next Level is the most downloaded movie.</p>
<p>The data for our weekly download chart is estimated by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only. All the movies in the list are Web-DL/Webrip/HDRip/BDrip/DVDrip unless stated otherwise.</p>
<p><a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/dvdrip/feed/"><strong>RSS feed</strong></a> for the articles of the recent weekly movie download charts.</p>
<h5>This week&#8217;s most downloaded movies are:</h5>
<table class="css hover">
<thead>
<tr>
<th width="12%"><strong>Movie Rank</strong></th>
<th width="15%"><strong>Rank <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-movies-of-the-week-on-bittorrent-03-02-20/">last week</a></strong></th>
<th><strong>Movie name</strong></th>
<th width="18%"><strong>IMDb Rating / Trailer</strong></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tfoot>
<tr>
<td colspan="4">Most downloaded movies via torrents</td>
</tr>
</tfoot>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>1</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7975244/">Jumanji: The Next Level</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7975244/">6.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBxcF-r9Ibs">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8629748/">Spenser Confidential</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8629748/">6.3</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwzLiQZDw2I">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4520988/">Frozen II</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4520988/">7.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwzLiQZDw2I">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(6)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5814534/">Spies in Disguise</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5814534/">6.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A05s7OM-8Oc">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7713068/">Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7713068/">6.5</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwzLiQZDw2I">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8946378/">Knives Out</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8946378/">8.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi-1NchUqMA">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3794354/">Sonic The Hedgehog</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3794354/">6.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSUq4VfWfjE">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(7)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1950186/">Ford v Ferrari</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1950186/">8.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3h9Z89U9ZA">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(8)</td>
<td><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/joker-torrent-downloads/">Joker</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7286456/">8.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAGVQLHvwOY">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5033998/">Charlie&#8217;s Angels</a> </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5033998/">4.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSUq4VfWfjE">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Drom: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2020-200105/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have an annual <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN</a> review.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=4AJcQhBEmDw:h2HrVEs17iI:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=4AJcQhBEmDw:h2HrVEs17iI:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=4AJcQhBEmDw:h2HrVEs17iI:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/4AJcQhBEmDw" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183898
title: YTS Releases Pirated Copy of ‘Contagion’ Movie Following Coronavirus Surge
uri: YTS-Releases-Pirated-Copy-of-Contagion-Movie-Following-Coronavir
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/5Bxh85udseY/
content:
<p><img src="media/fe752787.contagion-1-e1583418424953.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/contagion-1-e1583418424953.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="155" class="alignright size-full wp-image-183812" />For weeks on end, the Coronavirus (COVID-19) has dominated the news. The disease continues to spread today and is severely disrupting society in some of the most affected areas.  </p>
<p>Almost everyone appears to have an opinion on the matter and the latest news is followed closely across the world. However, people&#8217;s interest in the topic goes further than news alone. As we reported on Saturday, it has now spread to the entertainment sector as well. In recent weeks movie rentals of Steven Soderbergh&#8217;s 2011 movie &#8220;Contagion&#8221; surged. </p>
<p>On top of the increased legal demand, piracy numbers were up as well. Instead of roughly 200 downloads per day via torrent sites, piracy numbers soon hit the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/coronavirus-outbreak-triggers-surge-in-pirated-downloads-of-the-film-contagion/">tens of thousands</a>.</p>
<p>Apparently this increase in demand hasn&#8217;t gone unnoticed to YTS, the most <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2020-200105/">popular torrent site</a> on the Internet which just recently settled <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/yts-settles-another-movie-piracy-lawsuit-while-more-users-get-sued-200127/">two copyright lawsuits</a> with movie studios. A day after we highlighted the download surge, YTS published two new high-quality copies of the film on the site.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/ab65d02a.contagion-2.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/contagion-2.jpg" alt="" width="624" height="393" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-183929" /></center></p>
<p>The new uploads are 720p and 1080p BluRay rips, which are also spread by YTS across other torrent sites. While there is no mention of the reason to add the older movie, the connection to the Coronavirus outbreak is obvious. </p>
<p>That link is also quite apparent in the comments that are posted on the torrent site. &#8220;Is this what&#8217;s gonna happen?&#8221; one commenter writes, with another one adding that it&#8217;s a &#8220;great movie if you want to know about Coronavirus.&#8221;</p>
<p>As mentioned before, the events depicted in the movie &#8220;Contagion&#8221; have very little to do with the challenges facing the world today. Apart from both being related to a virus outbreak, perhaps. </p>
<p>What is striking, however, is that instead of the usual torrent site discussions about the quality of the pirated copy of the movie itself, the talk on YTS is mostly about the Coronavirus itself. Some commenters predict more doom and gloom, while others state that there&#8217;s little to worry about. </p>
<p>At TorrentFreak, we know more about copyright law than medical issues, so we will refrain from joining the discussion. That said, we believe that one comment is worth repeating. If only because it&#8217;s one of the oddest things we&#8217;ve read on a torrent site, yet quite accurate. </p>
<p>&#8220;Be smart, wash your hands frequently,&#8221; trapsterr writes.</p>
<p>At the time of writing YTS&#8217;s new &#8220;Contagion&#8221; rips are only a few hours old. We don&#8217;t have any updated download statistics yet, but it will likely break the daily record for this year soon enough.</p>
<p>Drom: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2020-200105/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have an annual <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN</a> review.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=5Bxh85udseY:n5Iniy16cRk:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=5Bxh85udseY:n5Iniy16cRk:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=5Bxh85udseY:n5Iniy16cRk:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/5Bxh85udseY" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183942
title: Viral Marketing Firm is Pirating Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video & HBO Go
uri: Viral-Marketing-Firm-is-Pirating-Netflix-Disney-Prime-Video-HBO-G
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/hrXvZUKZQXo/
content:
<p><a href="media/46845881.allthestreams-small-e1583778649903.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/allthestreams-small-e1583778649903.png"><img src="media/46845881.allthestreams-small-e1583778649903.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/allthestreams-small-e1583778649903.png" alt="" width="270" height="216" class="alignright size-full wp-image-183945" /></a>The legal online movie and TV show streaming landscape has expanded rapidly in recent years but has now developed its own issues.</p>
<p>From having no platforms just a few years ago, there are now many with each attempting to create space for their own exclusive offerings. As a result, consumers must now <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/disney-ditching-netflix-keeps-piracy-relevant-170809/">subscribe to them all</a> at great expense to get everything they desire, something that most wallets are averse to.</p>
<p>At least ostensibly, this is the problem being addressed by <a href="https://allthestreams.fm/">AllTheStreams.fm</a>, a self-proclaimed &#8216;pirate radio&#8217; video site. At the time of writing it is streaming shows from Hulu, Disney+, Netflix, HBO Now, Prime Video and Showtime, all for free.</p>
<p>When we tuned in we were greeted by The Office from Netflix and The Mandalorian from Disney+.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/564fa548.allthestreams-ss1-e1583779106869.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/allthestreams-ss1-e1583779106869.png"><img src="media/564fa548.allthestreams-ss1-e1583779106869.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/allthestreams-ss1-e1583779106869.png" alt="" width="650" height="333" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-183946" /></a></center></p>
<p>Of course, the latest Disney shows being streamed online for free isn&#8217;t something one should ever expect. The AllTheStreams &#8216;manifesto&#8217; is curious too.</p>
<p>&#8220;Netflix has all the Netflix stuff, Disney has all the Disney stuff, and never the twain shall meet. Let’s change that, however briefly,&#8221; it reads.</p>
<p>&#8220;Whenever media becomes inaccessible, piracy thrives again &#8211; from the 1960’s BBC 1-hour limit on pop music, to the iTunes store mp3 tyranny of the 00s. Today, All The Streams comes in response to the fragmentation and walled-garden paradigm that has risen to prominence for online video streaming services.&#8221;</p>
<p>The people behind AllTheStreams say they don&#8217;t care about several things, including but perhaps not limited to user-utility, scalability and terms of service. &#8220;All The Streams is made to revel in platform independence, and to demonstrate how even the most lo-fi hacks can be the equal of giants. We’re going to play anything and everything we feel like,&#8221; the manifesto continues.</p>
<p>&#8220;We’re going to make a frankensteinian playlist of media that none of these streaming platforms could ever recommend to you because it would cost them the profits of their exclusively-owned content. Sit back and enjoy the ride: like all pirate media offerings, we’re doing this for you.&#8221;</p>
<p>Given the tone, one could be forgiven for thinking that AllTheStreams.fm had just redirected to the PR department of The Pirate Bay, which is bizarrely half the way there. While The Pirate Bay has nothing to do with this site, the people behind it are a PR department of sorts.</p>
<p>In the bottom right-hand corner of the site are five fairly familiar letters &#8211; <a href="https://mschf.xyz/">MSCHF</a>. Said quickly we hear &#8216;mischief&#8217;, something that the company of the same name has caused plenty of.</p>
<p>MSCHF is a marketing company that claims to run on &#8220;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mschf-company-behind-viral-jesus-shoes-feet-generator-bull-moon-2020-1?r=US&#038;IR=T">structured chaos</a>&#8220;. It previously developed a browser add-on that <a href="https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2019/7/8/20686051/netflix-hangouts-google-slack-off-work-hiding-productivity">disguised Netflix</a> viewing as a conference call, launched an <a href="https://thebluedonkey.co/">Internet restaurant</a> that transformed corporate perks into a tool to attack corporations, and sold Air Max 97s with &#8216;Holy Water&#8217; in the sole.</p>
<p>So what&#8217;s this latest campaign all about? TorrentFreak spoke with CEO Gabriel Whaley who didn&#8217;t give away too much but pretty much admitted that the campaign is infringing copyrights.</p>
<p>&#8220;We don&#8217;t have any permissions to be running this whatsoever. But once one network shuts us down, five stand in their place!&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>That sounds a little bit like the pirate mantra (shut down one site, another five will appear) completely turned on its head, which is another curiosity. We put it to Whaley that if AllTheStreams doesn&#8217;t have permission to stream The Mandalorian online to the masses for free, then it&#8217;s possible that the Alliance For Creativity and Entertainment could be paying a visit quite soon.</p>
<p>We received no response to that thought but given MSCHF&#8217;s record, of engaging in over-the-top stunts to gain exposure, the legal aspect must have at least crossed the company&#8217;s mind. We asked if a calculation had been done to balance the potential marketing exposure against potential legal fees and what the endgame might be, but that didn&#8217;t help much either.</p>
<p>&#8220;Haha,&#8221; Whaley added. &#8220;MSCHF&#8217;s only endgame is the endgame itself.&#8221;</p>
<p>It&#8217;s almost impossible to work out what MSCHF is trying to achieve here. Maybe they have some kind of plan to bring all streaming services under one roof at a fair price and if so, that would be impressive, if brutally obvious. Given their history, however, it&#8217;s more likely they&#8217;re hoping to sell out a new line of exclusive sports clothing for cats made entirely of cheese.</p>
<p>If the company is looking for exposure, which it most certainly is, it has the right recipe here. Perhaps Disney will supply the crackers. Or the lawyers.</p>
<p>Drom: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2020-200105/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have an annual <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN</a> review.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=hrXvZUKZQXo:eOxQ8pMi4AM:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=hrXvZUKZQXo:eOxQ8pMi4AM:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=hrXvZUKZQXo:eOxQ8pMi4AM:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/hrXvZUKZQXo" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183966
title: BPI Has Reported Half a Billion ‘Pirate’ Links to Google
uri: BPI-Has-Reported-Half-a-Billion-Pirate-Links-to-Google
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/u5Gzio8v_bg/
content:
<p><img src="media/a34c6170.cassettapemusic.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/cassettapemusic.png" alt="" width="276" height="152" class="alignright size-full wp-image-175024" />Over the past two decades, the music industry has witnessed several shifts in music consumption. First, CDs were traded in for downloads and in recent years streaming has taken over. </p>
<p>Despite the growing availability of legal streaming services in many countries, the piracy problem hasn&#8217;t disappeared. In just a few clicks, virtually every music track can be accessed for free through unauthorized sources.</p>
<p>In an attempt to prevent these infringements, the BPI and other music industry groups send millions of takedown notices to Internet services every month. Although all major search engines are targeted, most of these requests are directed at Google. </p>
<p>With roughly a million URLs reported to Google every week, the BPI is the most active music industry sender. When added up the numbers are substantial and have just resulted in the music group hitting a new milestone.</p>
<p>After crossing the mark of 500,000,000 reported links, the BPI has become the second most active reporter after Rivendell. It also means that, of all the URLs reported to Google over the past several years, more than 11% come from the UK group.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/e7ecbeab.bpistats4.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/bpistats4.jpg" alt="" width="590" height="413" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-183980" /></center></p>
<p>While the massive numbers open the door to mistakes, the BPI has a very decent track record. Close to 97% of the links are indeed removed by Google, which rejected less than one percent. The rest are either duplicates or links that aren&#8217;t indexed.</p>
<p>For comparison, Google only removed 72% of Rivendell&#8217;s reported links while more than a quarter were marked as duplicates or not listed in Google&#8217;s search results. </p>
<p>Over the years, the BPI has flagged &#8216;copyright infringing&#8217; links on more than 30,000 domains. Many of these are no longer operational. The top targeted sites that are still online today are 4shared.com and chomikuj.pl, which were reported 9.2 million and 7.9 million times respectively.</p>
<p>According to BPI Chief Executive Geoff Taylor, the new milestone shows that piracy remains a massive problem that requires the full attention of all stakeholders involved.</p>
<p>“The fact the BPI has had to delist half a billion infringing music links from Google alone, on behalf of UK artists and labels, highlights the staggering scale of the problem of illegal sites, as well as BPI’s unwavering commitment to fighting for the rights of artists and their record labels,&#8221; Taylor says.</p>
<p>In the past, the BPI stressed that companies such as Google should take more responsibility. These continued requests eventually led to a &#8220;<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/search-engines-copyright-holders-ready-voluntary-anti-piracy-code-170208/">code of practice</a>&#8221; where major search engines committed to do more. </p>
<p>This has led to progress, Taylor says, noting that demotion of known pirate sites &#8220;has significantly improved the quality of results presented to consumers.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><img src="media/d3342ff4.bpireqsovertime.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/bpireqsovertime.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="329" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-183981" /></center></p>
<p>“The collaboration with search engines, including Google, sets a good example for online intermediaries and platforms, which must urgently take on greater responsibility to combat illegal content,&#8221; Taylor stresses. </p>
<p>This is not limited to search engines but also applies to advertising networks, payment providers, hosting services, domain registries, and registrars. </p>
<p>”For too long we have accepted a reactive approach that places all the burden on creators to search for and police hundreds of millions of infringements of their rights across the entire internet. That approach cannot succeed,&#8221; Taylor says. </p>
<p>&#8220;Instead we should expect reasonable, proactive, preventative measures by all online businesses, using technology and good business practices, to sweep the black market to the edges of the internet.&#8221;</p>
<p>According to the BPI, these changes are achievable. If not voluntarily, then with a little help from lawmakers, to push these companies in the right direction.</p>
<p>Drom: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2020-200105/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have an annual <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN</a> review.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=u5Gzio8v_bg:ePKf0EOMd-M:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=u5Gzio8v_bg:ePKf0EOMd-M:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=u5Gzio8v_bg:ePKf0EOMd-M:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/u5Gzio8v_bg" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183963
title: Japanese Government Approves New Bill to Criminalize Manga Piracy
uri: Japanese-Government-Approves-New-Bill-to-Criminalize-Manga-Piracy
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/MHIWdLoWPv4/
content:
<p><img src="media/ac10fa01.japan.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/japan.png" width="200" height="134" class="alignright size-full" />Since 2012, downloading unlicensed music and movies from the Internet in Japan <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/anti-downloading-law-hits-japan-up-to-2-years-in-prison-from-today-121001/">has been prohibited</a> under the country’s Copyright Act and in theory punishable by up to two years in prison.</p>
<p>Limitations of the law meant that downloading manga and other literary works wasn&#8217;t covered by the legislation, something which drew the ire of the publishing sector. In response, early last year the Cultural Affairs Agency proposed an expansion of the law to cover all copyrighted content but things didn&#8217;t go smoothly.</p>
<p>Due to the breadth of the proposals, some <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/academics-issue-emergency-statement-over-japans-proposed-download-law-190221/">feared</a> that even private copying of images, for example, could be rendered illegal and punishable by a potential prison sentence. In an abrupt turnaround, however, the planned copyright amendments were <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/japan-abandons-tough-anti-downloading-copyright-law-190313/">shelved by the government</a> after being rattled by protests over the implications.</p>
<p>After months of deliberations, the government has just approved a new bill that aims to address the concerns of copyright holders and those averse to the more draconian aspects of the original proposals.</p>
<p>The draft legislation criminalizes the downloading of unlicensed manga, magazines and academic publications from the Internet. The penalties will be brought into line for those already in place for music and movies with a maximum two-year prison sentence and/or a fine of two million yen (US$19,118). The most severe penalties will be reserved for egregious and repeat offenders.</p>
<p>In a step back from earlier proposals, Internet users will be allowed to download some image-based and academic content for limited private use in order not to stifle the flow of information and education, provided that activity does not impact copyright holders. Where the precise boundaries lie is currently unclear, however. </p>
<p>The government has provided some examples, such as the use of a single frame from a much larger manga publication or saving a single image from a social media site that was uploaded without permission. In the near future, to clear up any uncertainty, it will offer advisories to the public to ensure that people understand what they can and can&#8217;t do with copyrighted content to keep within the new law.</p>
<p>&#8220;We struck the right balance between securing effective measures against piracy and avoiding people from being discouraged in efforts to collect information,&#8221; Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C5%8Dichi_Hagiuda">Koichi Hagiuda</a> told a press conference, as per <a href="https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20200310/p2g/00m/0na/096000c">Mainichi</a>.</p>
<p>One aspect that is perfectly clear is the outlawing of so-called &#8220;leech&#8221; sites. These platforms, known in the West as linking or indexing sites, do not carry any copyrighted content themselves but provide hyperlinks to infringing material hosted elsewhere.</p>
<p>Operating such a service in Japan will become punishable by up to five years in prison and/or a fine of five million yen (US$47,780). The latest estimates suggest that there may be up 200 of these &#8220;leech&#8221; sites in the country, a figure the government is hoping to reduce.</p>
<p>The new copyright legislation regarding the downloading of literary works is expected to come into force on January 1, 2021. However, operators of linking sites will have less time to adjust, with the new penalties applying from October 1, 2020.</p>
<p>Drom: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2020-200105/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have an annual <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN</a> review.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=MHIWdLoWPv4:OIHHFGs4y7Y:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=MHIWdLoWPv4:OIHHFGs4y7Y:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=MHIWdLoWPv4:OIHHFGs4y7Y:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/MHIWdLoWPv4" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=184008
title: Movie Industry Praises the Effectiveness of Pirate Site Blocking in U.S. Senate
uri: Movie-Industry-Praises-the-Effectiveness-of-Pirate-Site-Blocking-in-U
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/ggmQmHmecGE/
content:
<p><img src="media/1da50efe.stopblock.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/stopblock.jpg" alt="" width="277" height="189" class="alignright size-full wp-image-176924" />Late last year, U.S. Senator Thom Tillis launched a new initiative in the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property to find ways the US can better address online piracy. </p>
<p>The DMCA is more than two decades old now and, increasingly, the creative industries are calling for legislative change and bolstered enforcement. </p>
<p>To review the available options and possible hurdles, Tillis chaired a <a href="https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/hearings/watch?hearingid=EEADE58E-5056-A066-60B1-995317DA6886">hearing of the Senate Subcommittee yesterday</a>, to examine the approaches taken in foreign jurisdictions.</p>
<p>In two panels, academics plus stakeholders from the entertainment and tech industries shared their thoughts, complemented by written testimonies. While a wide variety of issues were raised, much of the discussion revolved around site blocking. </p>
<p>At the moment, known pirate sites are blocked by Internet providers in dozens of countries around the world. But in the US, which is the largest audience for these sites, pirate site blocking is notably absent. This presents room for improvement. </p>
<p>Stan McCoy, President and Managing Director of the Motion Picture Association&#8217;s EMEA region, informed the Senate Subcommittee that foreign site blocking efforts are the &#8220;most successful approach to online piracy&#8221; to date.</p>
<p>&#8220;This remedy allows a rights holder to seek a legal order, subject to due process, from an online intermediary that is capable of preventing its service from being used for unlawful purposes,&#8221; he mentions.</p>
<p>A &#8216;no-fault&#8217; injunction puts no blame on intermediaries such as ISPs. However, it does order them to take action against infringing sites and services, which can include blocking.</p>
<p>&#8220;Many countries currently offer such a no-fault injunctive remedy to address infringing conduct by pirate sites, including Australia, most member states of the European Union, India and the United Kingdom, to name a just a few,&#8221; McCoy notes, while adding that Canada recently joined in as well.</p>
<p>These blocking efforts, many of which the MPA is directly involved in, have proven to be effective according to the movie industry group.</p>
<p>&#8220;Our internal data shows us that site blocking is very effective at cutting traffic to pirate domains – meaning that an order applicable to the main access providers in a given country reduces traffic to a targeted domain by 70% on average and can be as high as 80-90% in some countries,&#8221; McCoy notes.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/59c56049.mccoy.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/mccoy.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="458" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-184016" /></center></p>
<p>In addition to decreasing traffic to blocked domains, which is an obvious result, McCoy also mentions that traffic to other pirate sites also decreased, while legal websites enjoyed more visitors at the same time.</p>
<p>&#8220;So yes, site blocking is effective. And that is why much of the rest of the world has embraced this approach,&#8221; McCoy concludes. </p>
<p>The effectiveness claims were backed up in other testimonies as well, including that of Dr. Michael D. Smith of Carnegie Mellon University, who published and reviewed several papers on the effectiveness of anti-piracy enforcement. </p>
<p>While the MPA didn&#8217;t explicitly call for new legislation, it&#8217;s obvious that the movie industry sees blocking as a viable option in the US as well. This was reiterated in testimony from Jonathan Yunger, the co-president of Millennium Media, which is one of the largest independent film production companies.</p>
<p>Millennium Media is the driving force behind <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/piracy-app-cotomovies-shuts-down-apologizes-and-exposes-users-190911/">several lawsuits</a> against BitTorrent users, websites such as YTS, and apps including Showbox, Popcorn Time, and Cotomovies. According to Yunger, these and other forms of piracy represent an existential threat to the movie business which the DMCA hasn&#8217;t been able to curb.</p>
<p>&#8220;The truth is that the battle against piracy has only intensified since the DMCA became law, with too little progress to show for it,&#8221; Yunger notes.</p>
<p>&#8220;Anything that could be distributed digitally online was stolen and monetized by criminals, facilitated by some of the world’s wealthiest internet companies including Google, its now-sibling YouTube, and Facebook.&#8221; </p>
<p>Yunger sees large tech companies as clear rivals, which have only made matters worse. For example, when Millennium did a search on YouTube two years ago it found over 200 pirated versions of its films which had been viewed over 110 million times in just one month.</p>
<p>While blocking YouTube isn&#8217;t very realistic, Millennium&#8217;s co-president does see site blocking as the prime answer to piracy. </p>
<p>&#8220;I would like to be able to tell you that America is on the front lines of this global fight against piracy, but, unfortunately, that is not true. Other countries around the world have taken the lead,&#8221; he says.</p>
<p>&#8220;The first and most important tool being used abroad is no-fault injunctive relief aimed at blocking access to the market by known, adjudicated pirate sites, referred to by some as &#8216;site blocking,&#8217; Yunger adds.</p>
<p>Like many others, Yunger knows that site blocking is a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/sopa-ghosts-hinder-u-s-pirate-site-blocking-efforts-171008/">sensitive topic</a> in US Congress, specifically after the SOPA legislation failed to pass in 2012. At the time, opponents <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/internet-freedom-day-how-blackout-protests-killed-two-anti-piracy-bills-170118/">warned</a> that site blocking would &#8216;break the internet&#8217; and &#8216;stifle free speech,&#8217; but that was all &#8220;fearmongering&#8221; and &#8220;hyperbole&#8221; according to Yunger.</p>
<p>&#8220;Back then, we all thought Silicon Valley was simply trying to make the world a better place. The tech industry and its allies tried to portray the creative community as a rich and greedy behemoth that was trying to take away people’s free content and destroy their access to a safe and well-functioning internet,&#8221; he says.</p>
<p>&#8220;Well, I think we all know who the rich and greedy industry behemoth is today, and there are plenty of questions about who can properly wave the guardian banner on behalf of internet users. In this David and Goliath scenario, the creative industry is obviously the David to the Big Tech Goliath.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><img src="media/8c0bb2c9.yunger.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/yunger.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="458" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-184017" /></center></p>
<p>Millennium sees site blocking as an effective anti-piracy tool and the company wants the US to join other countries. A clear message, but the company&#8217;s co-president does derail at the end, by mentioning two long-defunct pirate sites.  </p>
<p>&#8220;Since the first website blocking order went into place in May 2010, notorious piracy site ThePirateBay has been blocked in 19 countries. Isohunt is now blocked in 10 countries and KickAssTorrents is blocked in 11 countries. But, sadly, all of those sites are still available to Americans.&#8221;</p>
<p>Apparently, Yunger believes that torrent sites isoHunt and KickassTorrents remain threats. However, isoHunt shut down years ago after it lost a lawsuit against the MPA, and KickassTorrents was shut down by the feds in 2016.</p>
<p>The overall message is obvious, however. The movie industry sees site blocking as a great tool to combat piracy and the suggestion is that US lawmakers should do something with it. </p>
<p>That brings us to a crucial matter. The DMCA already includes a provision to provide injunctive relief against intermediaries, which could order ISPs to block foreign pirate sites. </p>
<p>This matter was also brought up at the hearing by Matt Schruers, President at the Computer &#038; Communications Industry Association. Schreurs, who represents the interests of many major tech companies, stresses that there are also potential negative consequences to site blocking. </p>
<p>He references several mistakes that were made when US authorities first started seizing domains of allegedly infringing websites, including the fact that <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/u-s-government-shuts-down-84000-websites-by-mistake-110216/">84,000 websites</a> were taken down in error.</p>
<p>In addition, Schreurs also highlights that the DMCA does allow for injunctive relief under subsection 512(j). </p>
<p>&#8220;It is interesting to hear talk of other jurisdictions having pioneered site blocking when members of this committee gave the earliest thought to injunctive relief in this context, and it&#8217;s embodied in 512(J),&#8221; he says. &#8220;The notion that there isn&#8217;t an injunction remedy in US law is really not accurate.&#8221;</p>
<p>Stan McCoy of the MPA acknowledges this &#8220;hypothetical&#8221; option but points to the crux of why we haven&#8217;t seen any site-blocking efforts yet. </p>
<p>&#8220;The great benefit we see in a lot of the jurisdictions that have no-fault injunctive relief around the world is that it&#8217;s very clearly no-fault. We&#8217;re not asserting any kind of wrongdoing on the part of the intermediary against whom the order is sought.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;Unfortunately, that aspect is not ideally clear in 512(j) and that&#8217;s perhaps one reason why that provision has not been used,&#8221; McCoy adds.</p>
<p>Yesterday&#8217;s Senate Judiciary Subcommittee is part of an ongoing process to review the state of US copyright law and to see what other options are available. In addition to site blocking, the EU Copyright Directive, including Article 17, was also discussed. </p>
<p>While it is clear that site blocking is on the agenda of US lawmakers, any concrete changes to the DMCA or other legislation are not on the table yet. </p>
<p>Drom: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2020-200105/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have an annual <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN</a> review.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=ggmQmHmecGE:yeofnEZX6zE:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=ggmQmHmecGE:yeofnEZX6zE:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=ggmQmHmecGE:yeofnEZX6zE:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/ggmQmHmecGE" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=183961
title: Red Dead Redemption: Damned Enhancement Modder Counters Take-Two Lawsuit
uri: Red-Dead-Redemption-Damned-Enhancement-Modder-Counters-Take-Two-Lawsu
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Au0cIwIHk7A/
content:
<p><a href="media/384edd22.rdr2small.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/rdr2small.png"><img src="media/384edd22.rdr2small.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/rdr2small.png" alt="" width="260" height="149" class="alignright size-full wp-image-181191" /></a>Last August, calls for Take Two Interactive’s Red Dead Redemption (RDR1) to land on PC appeared they might be answered by the developer behind the ‘Red Dead Redemption: Damned Enhancement Project’.</p>
<p>The supposed plan of &#8216;DamnedDev&#8217; (real name Johnathan Wyckoff) was to modify the Xbox360 and PS3 versions of RDR1 and bring the game to the PC while improving the game with better graphics and additional features. In September 2019, however, Wyckoff revealed that he was being &#8220;bullied&#8221; by a corporation. A lawsuit filed at a New York court in December revealed that Take-Two was taking action to bring the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/take-two-files-copyright-suit-to-kill-red-dead-redemption-damned-enhancement-project-191228/">project to an end</a>.</p>
<p>Citing breaches of its intellectual property rights (direct and contributory copyright infringement) and user licensing agreements, Take-Two said that it had repeatedly asked Wyckoff to cease and desist but when the project continued, it had no other choice than to take legal action. It did so on two grounds.</p>
<p>Firstly, the lawsuit targeted the RDRII Project, which reportedly aimed to add the RDR1 game map to RDR2. It went on to make claims about the Damned Enhancement Project, which would reportedly enable users to play RDR1 on PC, where it isn&#8217;t officially available, &#8220;thereby destroying the market for an official, updated version from Take-Two, and creating competition for Take-Two’s PC-version of RDR2.&#8221;</p>
<p>The case has been rolling on for several months now and this week Wyckoff filed an answer to Take-Two&#8217;s lawsuit along with a series of counterclaims.</p>
<p>Describing himself as an &#8220;enthusiastic player&#8221; and modifier of Take-Two videogames, Wyckoff first provides a short background on what modding is all about, such as improving game graphics or changing features. He claims that this activity is accepted by gaming companies which typically publish a &#8216;mod policy&#8217; to explain what type of mods are allowed. He believes that he acted within the boundaries set out in the Rockstar/Take-Two policy.</p>
<p>&#8220;Defendant believes it was acting in accordance with the Plaintiff’s published policy on &#8216;PC Single-Player Mods&#8217; which says that &#8216;Take-Two has agreed that it generally will not take legal action against third-party projects involving Rockstar’s PC games that are single-player, non-commercial, and respect the intellectual property (IP) rights of third parties,” Wyckoff&#8217;s answer reads, referencing the document below.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/6d947228.take-two-mods-e1583931386365.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/take-two-mods-e1583931386365.png"><img src="media/6d947228.take-two-mods-e1583931386365.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/take-two-mods-e1583931386365.png" alt="" width="650" height="390" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-184020" /></a></center></p>
<p>From here, Wyckoff refutes many of Take-Two&#8217;s allegations, including that his RDR2 mod &#8220;did not contain maps&#8221; from the original RDR1 game and that the publisher&#8217;s description of the mod appeared to describe a previous mod he developed (RDRV) &#8220;that was abandoned in 2017 at the request of the Plaintiff.&#8221;</p>
<p>As the above &#8216;mod policy&#8217; lays out, to meet the criteria any mod must be non-commercial. In its lawsuit, Take-Two implied that donations solicited by Wyckoff were used to create the &#8220;infringing programs&#8221; which were then used to &#8220;drive followers&#8221; to his social media and streaming accounts. Wyckoff sees things differently.</p>
<p>&#8220;Defendant asserts that it is a hobbyist and worked on the project without expecting or soliciting compensation for the mod,&#8221; he writes. &#8220;Defendant denies receiving any compensation for its mod projects.&#8221;</p>
<p>In its lawsuit, Take-Two wrote that it had hoped to settle the dispute with Wyckoff without resorting to the courts. However, the company claims that rather than ending his activities, Wyckoff suggested that the project might get &#8220;leaked&#8221; by him or others. In his answer, Wyckoff admits to discussions with Take-Two but denies that he ever threatened to leak the project online. In any event, he says he&#8217;s in no position to do so.</p>
<p>&#8220;Defendant no longer has access to the mod project files and does not intend to redevelop them,&#8221; he writes. &#8220;Defendant will not restart work on the now-lost mod files and has expressly agreed to same,&#8221; he adds, noting that all claims that Take-Two has been injured in any way are also refuted, not least since the mods were never released.</p>
<p>In conclusion, Wyckoff says that since everything he did was within the parameters of Take-Two&#8217;s &#8216;mod policy&#8217;, all copyright infringement claims should be rejected and the court should issue a declaration to that effect or, in the alternative, determine that Wyckoff is an innocent infringer.</p>
<p>Finally, he points to the fact that Take-Two&#8217;s &#8216;user agreement&#8217; contains a clause that compels parties in dispute to enter into an arbitration process (that Take-Two must pay for) to settle their differences. Wyckoff wants that to happen.</p>
<p><em>Wyckoff&#8217;s answer, affirmative defenses and counterclaims can be found <a href="media/997e7505.11818-Take-Two-v-Red-Dead-ANSWER-AFFIRMATIVE-DEFENSES-200309.pdf" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/1-19-cv-11818-Take-Two-v-Red-Dead-ANSWER-AFFIRMATIVE-DEFENSES-200309.pdf">here</a> (pdf)</em></p>
<p>Drom: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2020-200105/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have an annual <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN</a> review.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Au0cIwIHk7A:Z0BX2dvguvo:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Au0cIwIHk7A:Z0BX2dvguvo:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=Au0cIwIHk7A:Z0BX2dvguvo:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/Au0cIwIHk7A" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=184034
title: Windows Users Stream More Pirated Video than Others
uri: Windows-Users-Stream-More-Pirated-Video-than-Others
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Bvl11qqUvlY/
content:
<p><img src="media/fdb4ba62.streamingkey.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/streamingkey.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="167" class="alignright size-full wp-image-125426" />Piracy is a complicated and multi-faceted phenomenon. People who stream content illegally are seen as a direct threat by the entertainment industries, but many of these pirates have paid subscriptions as well. </p>
<p>Against this backdrop, Sarah Oh and fellow researchers from the <a href="https://techpolicyinstitute.org/">Technology Policy Institute</a> looked at the interplay between legal and illegal video consumption online. The main question they asked is whether pirate video consumption directly competes with legal viewing time. </p>
<p>The results, published in a paper titled &#8220;Do Pirated Video Streams Crowd Out Non-Pirated Video Streams?&#8221; show that this is indeed the case. </p>
<p>The findings are based on a massive dataset that includes 5.25 terabytes of online activity data from 19,764 American households who together own more than 468,612. This data, including raw Internet traffic from 2016 to 2017, was then used to create an economic analysis. </p>
<p>The sheer volume of the information is a goldmine that provides some unique insights. For example, it includes the time spent on viewing legal and pirated video per operating system. While it&#8217;s merely used as an instrumental variable by the researchers, it&#8217;s worth highlighting separately. </p>
<p>The data shows that Windows users watch the most pirated content of all, more than 2 minutes per hour on average. This is more than Mac and Android OS users, which are both still well above the average.</p>
<p>&#8220;Windows PC devices show higher proportions of time spent on pirate sites than devices with other types of operating systems,&#8221; the researchers write, adding that &#8220;most devices used for piracy are represented by a few top operating systems.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><img src="media/cd803218.piravidos4.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/piravidos4.jpg" alt="" width="598" height="533" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-184053" /></center></p>
<p>The graph above shows that Linux users view significantly less pirated video. They fall below the average, with slightly more than half a minute of pirated streaming per hour. The viewing time goes down even further for other operating systems, including iOS, Xbox, Roku and others.</p>
<p>When looking at the time spent on legal video consumption platforms, other operating systems come out on top. The Linux-based Tizen OS is in the lead, followed by WebOS and Roku. </p>
<p>Although these are intriguing statistics, the main purpose of the research is to look at the link between time spent on legal and illegal video streaming. Specifically, if one competes with the other. </p>
<p>The article answers this question with a resounding &#8216;yes&#8217;. On average, the researchers found that more minutes spent on pirate streaming decreases the time spent on legal video sites including Amazon and Netflix. </p>
<p>While the overall effect is strong enough to hold up across all legal services, the effect is actually the opposite for YouTube. Watching more pirated video streams is linked to watching more content on YouTube. </p>
<p>One of the explanations for this finding, according to the researchers, could be that both are free forms of entertainment, which may appeal to a similar audience.</p>
<p>The overarching conclusion, however, is that time spent watching pirated videos directly competes with time spent on legal alternatives.</p>
<p>&#8220;Pirate sites compete with non-pirated streaming services for a growing share of time that American households spend each day watching online video,&#8221; the researchers conclude. </p>
<p>The raw data, based on the volume of files, suggests that for every extra minute on a pirate site people spend 3.5 fewer minutes on a legal streaming service. However, since pirate files generally are more compressed, a one-on-one tradeoff is seen as more likely.</p>
<p>&#8220;Because pirated video files are more compressed than non-pirated video files, often by a factor of four, and because pirated video is frequently downloaded in full and non-pirated video is streamed, we conclude that time spent watching pirated video displaces nearly the same amount of time spent watching over-the-top streaming apps,&#8221; the research concludes.</p>
<p><em>&#8212;</p>
<p>The full article titled &#8220;Do Pirated Video Streams Crowd Out Non-Pirated Video Streams? Evidence from Online Activity,&#8221; written by Sarah Oh, Scott Wallsten and Nathaniel Lovin, <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3525027">is available here.</a></em></p>
<p>Drom: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2020-200105/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have an annual <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN</a> review.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Bvl11qqUvlY:EZfDKQzALTU:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Bvl11qqUvlY:EZfDKQzALTU:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=Bvl11qqUvlY:EZfDKQzALTU:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/Bvl11qqUvlY" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: https://torrentfreak.com/?p=184105
title: Descenders ‘Rewards’ Pirating Gamers With a Fitting Flag
uri: Descenders-Rewards-Pirating-Gamers-With-a-Fitting-Flag
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/llBdwRBbtUY/
content:
<p><img src="media/3d5a45b0.pirateflag.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/pirateflag.jpg" alt="" width="277" height="174" class="alignright size-full wp-image-175547" />Online piracy is an issue that affects many industries, and game developers are certainly no exception.</p>
<p>While some big game companies are responding with lawsuits and takedown notices, not all game studios necessarily see piracy was something that has to be rooted out.</p>
<p>Yesterday, game studio RageSquid brought attention to the topic in a unique and creative way. The company, known for the downhill mountain biking game &#8220;<a href="https://www.descendersgame.com/">Descenders</a>,&#8221; is all too familiar with &#8216;unlicensed&#8217; players. Their game was pirated by groups such as CODEX and SKIDROW, which are familiar names in the game now.</p>
<p>The game studio, however, is pretty open to pirates and has never treated them any differently. But, after some internal discussions, that changed yesterday when RageSquid decided to give all known pirates a unique flag on their bikes.</p>
<p>&#8220;We just realized we never thanked SKIDROW and CODEX for sharing our game. So as appreciation we gave them all a little flag they can never unequip,&#8221; RageQuid <a href="https://twitter.com/RageSquid/status/1238103580269318145">wrot</a>e on Twitter. </p>
<p><center><img src="media/485a1ec0.ragesquid.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/ragesquid.jpg" alt="" width="513" height="342" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-184116" /></center></p>
<p>Although pirates can still play the game just fine, they are forced to wave the pirate flag. Some may see this as a badge of honor, others may take it as a punishment. RageSquid&#8217;s Studio Director Lex Decrauw explains to us that it is certainly not intended that way. </p>
<p>&#8220;Honestly, we were just having a laugh at the office, it was a spur of the moment thing. We were having a look at our piracy rates and someone dropped a &#8216;wouldn&#8217;t it be fun if all pirates were forced to sail the pirate flag?&#8217; and that was all that was needed for our artist to whip up something neat,&#8221; he says.</p>
<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve not done this as some form of punishment as some people have suggested. We acknowledge how many people play our game through pirated versions and we&#8217;re okay with that,&#8221; Decrauw adds.</p>
<p>The game studio confirms that roughly 60% of all Descenders players have pirated the game. While that is a very substantial figure, the effect pirates have on the company&#8217;s revenues is nothing close to that.</p>
<p>&#8220;It would be really easy to shout &#8216;Oh no, there&#8217;s X amount of people playing our game on pirated versions, we&#8217;re being robbed of X * [game price] dollars!&#8217; but that&#8217;s simply not true,&#8221; Decrauw says.</p>
<p>Ultimately, RageSquid wants as many people as possible playing the game, and piracy certainly helps with that. It makes it available to those who don&#8217;t have the means to pay for it or wouldn&#8217;t have tried it otherwise, the company says.</p>
<p>On top of that, the pirate players may spread the word, which eventually could very well lead to more buyers. In other words, piracy can be seen as a form of promotion as well. </p>
<p>&#8220;More often than not the people who pirate the game wouldn&#8217;t have bought it otherwise,&#8221; Decrauw says. &#8220;On top of that, there are people who pirate it and tell their friends about the game, who then may buy it through official channels.</p>
<p>&#8220;All in all, we&#8217;re perfectly fine with pirates and I&#8217;d say it is absolutely not a problem at all for us. The flag is simply supposed to be a friendly joke to our pirate friends out there,&#8221; RageSquid’s Studio Director adds.</p>
<p>Many of these pirate &#8220;friends&#8221; will now happily wave their pirate flags going downhill. And those who don&#8217;t like it <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/681280/Descenders/">can always buy the game</a>. Similarly, legitimate customers who fancy a pirate flag on their bike have options too, although this gimmick probably isn&#8217;t intended to draw people to pirate sites.</p>
<p>Drom: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest news on copyright battles, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2020-200105/">torrent sites</a> and more. We also have an annual <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-keep-you-anonymous-in-2019/">VPN</a> review.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=llBdwRBbtUY:-rgrcr3hiHo:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=llBdwRBbtUY:-rgrcr3hiHo:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=llBdwRBbtUY:-rgrcr3hiHo:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/llBdwRBbtUY" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


