# articles

feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=153536
title: Forty Percent of All Mexican Roku Users are Pirates
uri: Forty-Percent-of-All-Mexican-Roku-Users-are-Pirates
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/YbLkCsQKXP8/
content:
<p><img src="media/1884a835.mexico-681350_640-e1492767840165.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mexico-681350_640-e1492767840165.jpg" alt="" width="275" height="206" class="alignright size-full wp-image-138202">In recent years it has become much easier to stream movies and TV-shows over the Internet.</p>
<p>Legal services such as Netflix and HBO are flourishing, but there’s also a darker side to this streaming epidemic. </p>
<p>Millions of people are streaming from unauthorized sources, often paired with perfectly legal streaming platforms and devices. This issue has become particularly problematic for <a href="https://www.roku.com">Roku</a>, which sells easy-to-use media players. </p>
<p>Last week federal judges in Mexico City and Torreón decided that Roku sales should <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/controversial-roku-piracy-ban-stays-in-place-in-mexico-180323/">remain banned</a> there, keeping last year&#8217;s suspension in place. While the ruling can still be appealed, it hurts Roku&#8217;s bottom line. </p>
<p>The company has more than a million users in Mexico according to statistics released by the Competitive Intelligence Unit (CIU), a local market research firm. That&#8217;s a significant number, but so is the percentage of pirating Roku users in Mexico.</p>
<p>&#8220;Roku has 1.1 million users in the country, of which 40 percent use it to watch content illegally,&#8221; Gonzalo Rojon, ICU&#8217;s director of ICT research, <a href="https://heraldodemexico.com.mx/opinion/roku-y-la-ilegalidad/">writes</a>. </p>
<p>&#8220;There are 575 thousand users who access the illegal content and that is comparable to the number of subscribers a small pay-TV operator has,&#8221; he adds.</p>
<p>While this is indeed a significant number, that doesn&#8217;t make the Roku boxes illegal by default. There are millions who use Windows to pirate stuff, or web browsers like Chrome and Firefox, but these are generally not seen as problematic. </p>
<p>Still, several Mexican judges have ruled that sales should be banned so for the time being it remains that way. </p>
<p>According to Rojon, these type of measures are imperative to ensure that copyright holders are protected from online piracy, now that more and more content is moving  online. </p>
<p>&#8220;Although for some people this type of action seems radical, I think it is very important that the shift towards more digitalization is accompanied by copyright and intellectual property protection, so it continues to promote innovation and a healthy competitive environment in the digital world,&#8221; he notes.</p>
<p>Roku clearly disagrees and last week the company told us that it will do everything in its power to have the current sales ban overturned. </p>
<p>“While Roku’s devices have always been and remain legal to use in Mexico, the current ban harms consumers, the retail sector and the industry. We will vigorously pursue further legal actions with the aim of restoring sales of Roku devices in Mexico,” the company said.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Roku is working hard to shake the piracy elements off its platform. Last year it began showing <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/roku-shows-fbi-warning-to-pirate-channel-users-171009/">FBI warnings</a> to users of &#8216;pirate channels&#8217; and just this week <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/roku-removes-ustvnow-service-following-3rd-party-copyright-complaint-180329/">removed</a> the entire USTVnow service from its platform.</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=153424
title: Why Did The World’s Largest Streaming Site Suddenly Shut Down?
uri: Why-Did-The-World-s-Largest-Streaming-Site-Suddenly-Shut-Down
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/VZYC70C8jxw/
content:
<p><img src="media/0d2f0404.123movieshub.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/123movieshub.png" width="275" height="130" class="alignright size-large">With sites like The Pirate Bay still going great guns in the background, streaming sites are now all the rage. With their Netflix style interfaces and almost instant streaming, these platforms provide the kind of instant fix impatient pirates long for.</p>
<p>One of the most successful was 123Movies, which over the past 18 months and <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-streaming-site-123movies-rebrands-as-gomovies-170329/">several rebrandings</a> (123movieshub, GoMovies) later managed to build a steady base of millions of users.</p>
<p>Had such a site made its base in the US or Europe, it&#8217;s likely that authorities would&#8217;ve been breathing down its neck somewhat sooner. However, the skyrocketing platform was allegedly based in Vietnam, a country not exactly known for its staunch support of intellectual property rights. Nevertheless, the tentacles of Hollywood and its friends in government are never far away.</p>
<p>In March 2017, US Ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/us-ambassador-asks-vietnam-to-target-123movies-putlocker-and-kisscartoon-170323/">called</a> on the local Government to criminally prosecute the people behind movie streaming site 123movies, Kisscartoon, and a Putlocker variant.</p>
<p>Osius had a meeting with Truong Minh Tuan, Vietnam&#8217;s Minister of Information and Communications, after which the Minister assured the Ambassador that Vietnam wanted to protect copyrights. He reportedly told Osius that a decision would soon be made on how to deal with the pirate streaming sites. Perhaps coincidentally, perhaps not, during the discussions 123Movies suffered a significant period of downtime.</p>
<p>Almost exactly a year later, the MPAA piled on the pressure again when it <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-brands-123movies-as-the-worlds-most-popular-illegal-site-180316/">branded</a> 123Movies as the &#8220;most popular illegal site in the world&#8221;, noting that its 98 million monthly visitors were being serviced from Vietnam. </p>
<p>Then, around March 19, 2018, 123Movies <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-streaming-giant-123movies-announces-shutdown-180319/">announced</a> that it would be shutting down for good. A notice on the site was accompanied by a countdown timer, predicting the end of the site in five days. When the timer ran out, so did the site and it remains down to this day. But was its closure entirely down to the MPAA?</p>
<p>For the past couple of years, Vietnam has been seeking to overhaul its intellectual property laws, not least due to pressure from countries like the United States. Then, last October, Vietnamese Ambassador Duong Chi Dung was voted in as chairman of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) General Assembly for the 2018-19 tenure.</p>
<p>It was the first time in 12 years that the Asia-Pacific region had had one of its representatives serving as chairperson of the WIPO General Assembly. Quite an honor considering the diplomat enjoyed the backing of 191 member nations during the Assembly’s 49th session in Geneva, Switzerland.</p>
<p>Then in February, local media began publishing stories detailing how Vietnam was improving its stance towards intellectual property. Citing the sixth annual International IP Index released that month by the US Chamber of Commerce Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC), it was noted that Vietnam&#8217;s score was on the increase.</p>
<p>“Vietnam has taken some positive steps forward towards strengthening its IP framework to compete more closely with its Southeast Asian peers, increasing its score,&#8221; <a href="http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/196248/vietnam-on-right-path-to-protecting-intellectual-property--us-report.html">said</a> Patrick Kilbride, vice president of GIPC.</p>
<p>“With continued investment in strong IP rights, Vietnam can harness this positive momentum to become a leader in the region, stimulate its domestic capacity for innovation, and enhance its global competitiveness.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Vietnam government was also credited with passing legislation to &#8220;strengthen the criminal standards for IP infringement&#8221;, a move set to &#8220;strengthen the enforcement environment&#8221; in the country.</p>
<p>Amid the positive developments, it was noted that Vietnam has a way to go. Early March a <a href="http://vietnamnews.vn/society/424238/intellectual-property-court-on-way.html">report</a> in Vietnam News cited a deputy chief inspector of the Ministry of Science and Technology as saying that while an intellectual property court is &#8220;in sight&#8221;, it isn&#8217;t yet clear when one will appear.</p>
<p>&#8220;There needs be an intellectual property court in Vietnam, but we don’t know when it will be established,&#8221; Nguyễn Như Quỳnh said. That, it appears, is happily being exploited, both intentionally and by those who don&#8217;t know any better.</p>
<p>&#8220;Several young people are making tonnes of money out of their online businesses without having to have capital, just a few tricks to increase the number of ‘fans’ on their Facebook pages,” she said. “But a lot of them sell fake stuff, which is considered an infringement.”</p>
<p>Come April 10, 2018, there will be <a href="http://www.vietnam-briefing.com/news/vietnam-new-regulations-copyright-related-rights.html">new IP regulations</a> in place in Vietnam concerning local and cross-border copyright protection. Additionally, amendments made last year to the Penal Code, which took effect this year, mean that IP infringements carried out by businesses will now be subject to criminal prosecution.</p>
<p>&#8220;Article 225 of the Penal Code stipulates that violations of IPR and related rights by private individuals carries a non-custodial sentence of three years or a jail term of up to three years,&#8221; Vietnamnet.vn <a href="http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/197844/gov-t-mulls-ipr-protection--violation-crackdown.html">reports</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;Businesses found guilty will be fined VND300 million to VND1 billion (US$13,000-43,800) for the first offense. If the offense is repeated, the penalty will be a fine of VND3 billion ($130,000) or suspension of operations for up to two years.&#8221;</p>
<p>The threshold for criminality appears to be quite low. Previously, infringements had to be carried out &#8220;on a commercial scale&#8221; to qualify but now all that is required is an illicit profit of around US$500.</p>
<p>How this soup of intellectual property commitments, legislative change, hopes, dreams and promises will affect the apparent rise and fall of streaming platforms in Vietnam is unclear. All that being said, it seems likely that all of these factors are playing their part to ratchet up the pressure.</p>
<p>And, with the US currently playing hardball with China over a lack of respect for IP rights, Vietnam will be keen to be viewed as a cooperative nation.</p>
<p>As for 123Movies, it&#8217;s unknown whether it will reappear anytime soon, if at all, given the apparent shifting enthusiasm towards protecting IP in Vietnam. Perhaps against the odds its sister site, Animehub, which was launched in December 2017, is <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/gomovies123movies-launches-anime-streaming-site-171204/">still online</a>. But that could be gone in the blink of an eye too, if recent history is anything to go by.</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=153146
title: Comcast Doesn’t Disconnect All Binging Pirates
uri: Comcast-Doesn-t-Disconnect-All-Binging-Pirates
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/zujGJn1s5i4/
content:
<p><img src="media/e278f072.comcast-new.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/comcast-new.png" alt="" width="200" height="110" class="alignright size-full wp-image-105673">Regular Internet providers are being put under increasing pressure for not doing enough to curb copyright infringement.</p>
<p>Earlier this year the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/appeals-court-throws-out-25-million-piracy-verdict-against-cox-doesnt-reinstate-safe-harbor-180201/">ruled</a> that ISPs are required to terminate ‘repeat infringers’ based on allegations from copyright holders alone, a topic that has been contested for years.</p>
<p>As this case progressed, several Internet providers reviewed their applicable policies and updated them if needed. This was also true for Comcast, which published its <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/comcast-explains-how-it-deals-with-persistent-pirates-180210/">repeat infringer policy</a> online late 2017. </p>
<p>While it&#8217;s clear that Comcast reserves the right to terminate accounts of persistent pirates, it remains unclear when this would happen. </p>
<p>“Any infringement of third party copyright rights violates the law. We reserve the right to treat any customer account for whom we receive multiple DMCA notifications from content owners as a repeat infringer,” the company simply notes.</p>
<p>Today, we are able to add some further clarification, from a &#8216;binging&#8217; pirate.</p>
<p>A few days ago we were contacted by a Comcast subscriber who received not one, not two, but more than 50 DMCA alerts from Comcast in a single day. </p>
<p><center><strong>Alert!</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/efd4f382.comcastmanyemails.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/comcastmanyemails.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="373" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-153492"></center></p>
<p>Although he had received similar alerts in previous months, in the first email of the batch Comcast clarified that this was the first alert under their DMCA repeat infringer policy, which may have something to do with the recent policy update.</p>
<p>&#8220;This alert from Comcast is to let you know that this month, we received notifications of alleged copyright infringement associated with your XFINITY Internet account,&#8221; the email clarified. </p>
<p>&#8220;That means your Internet service may have been used repeatedly to copy or share a movie, show, song, game or other copyrighted content without any required permission, and you have triggered the first step of our DMCA repeat infringer policy.&#8221;</p>
<p>In total, the subscriber received close to 70 DMCA notices last month, but aside from a crowded inbox, nothing happened. Apparently, receiving this many DMCA notices by itself is not sufficient to be qualified as a &#8220;repeat infringer&#8221; under Comcast&#8217;s policy.</p>
<p>We reached out to Comcast last week and a company spokesperson told us that they would answer follow-up questions over email. However, more than a week has passed and despite several reminders, we haven&#8217;t heard back. </p>
<p>While copyright holders may frame Comcast&#8217;s approach as a failure to terminate accounts of repeat infringers, the company may have a good reason. </p>
<p>Dozens of the notices our tipster received came from Rightscorp and were triggered by files from the same torrent. This means that downloading a torrent with a discography of an artist can result in dozens if not hundreds of notices. </p>
<p>Perhaps Comcast is taking a more gradual approach, not one based solely on volume. This is also what their repeat infringer policy, which mentions a &#8220;multi-step&#8221; process, suggests. </p>
<p>&#8220;Upon receipt of repeated DMCA notifications in a calendar month, the customer account will progress from one policy step to the next one.&#8221; </p>
<p>While more than a month has passed, our tipster says he hasn&#8217;t heard about any new steps, nor was he urged to acknowledge the alerts in any way. But maybe he got lucky&#8230;</p>
<p>As for the law, this requires ISPs to &#8220;adopt and reasonably implement a policy&#8221; to terminate &#8220;repeat infringers&#8221; in &#8220;appropriate circumstances,&#8221; with no mention of volume or a timeframe.</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=153617
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week on BitTorrent – 04/02/18
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-on-BitTorrent-04-02-18
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/xZTa8NNHI9g/
content:
<p><img src="media/f6c6baa3.mazerunn.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mazerunn.png" alt="" width="300" height="246" class="alignright size-full wp-image-153622">This week we have three newcomers in our chart.</p>
<p>Maze Runner: The Death Cure  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 weekly movie download chart.</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-pirated-movies-week-bittorrent-03-26-18/">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>
<tr>
<td><strong>1</strong></td>
<td>(9)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4500922/">Maze Runner: The Death Cure </a> (Subbed HDrip) </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4500922/">6.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-BTxXm8KSg">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1485796/">The Greatest Showman</a>  </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1485796/">7.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zOeiLhcgPo">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4500922/">Molly&#8217;s Game</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4500922/">6.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-BTxXm8KSg">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2527336/">Star Wars: The Last Jedi</a>  </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2527336/">7.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0CbN8sfihY">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4547194/">I Kill Giants</a>  </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4547194/">6.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZ0QKOR5Kgc">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4925292/">Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle</a>  </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4925292/">7.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNi_HC839Wo">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4500922/">The Commuter</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4500922/">6.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-BTxXm8KSg">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(6)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1825683/">Black Panther</a> (HDTS)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1825683/">7.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjDjIWPwcPU">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(7)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2798920/">Annihilation</a>  </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2798920/">7.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89OP78l9oF0">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(8)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5580390/">The Shape of Water</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5580390/">8.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lFbcsmrWTg">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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=153628
title: UK IPTV Provider ACE Calls it Quits, Cites Mounting Legal Pressure
uri: UK-IPTV-Provider-ACE-Calls-it-Quits-Cites-Mounting-Legal-Pressure
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/KfTCmCi7YRI/
content:
<p><img src="media/a7c0897c.iptv.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/iptv.jpg" width="234" height="155" class="alignright size-large">Terms including &#8220;Kodi box&#8221; are now in common usage in the UK and thanks to continuing coverage in the tabloid media, more and more people are learning that free content is just a few clicks away.</p>
<p>In parallel, premium IPTV services are also on the up. In basic terms, these provide live TV and sports through an Internet connection in a consumer-friendly way. When bundled with beautiful interfaces and fully functional Electronic Program Guides (EPG), they&#8217;re almost indistinguishable from services offered by Sky and BTSport, for example.</p>
<p>These come at a price, typically up to £10 per month or £20 for a three-month package, but for the customer this represents good value for money. Many providers offer several thousand channels in decent quality and reliability is much better than free streams. This kind of service was offered by prominent UK provider ACE TV but an announcement last December set alarm bells ringing.</p>
<p>“It saddens me to announce this, but due to pressure from the authorities in the UK, we are no longer selling new subscriptions. This obviously includes trials,” ACE said in a statement.</p>
<p>ACE insisted that it would continue as a going concern, servicing existing customers. However, it did keep its order books open for a while longer, giving people one last chance to subscribe to the service for anything up to a year. And with that ACE continued more quietly in the background, albeit with a disabled Facebook page.</p>
<p>But things were not well in ACE land. Like all major IPTV providers delivering services to the UK, ACE was subjected to blocking action by the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/new-premier-league-blocking-disrupts-pirate-iptv-providers-170814/">English Premier League</a> and UEFA. High Court injunctions allow ISPs in the UK to block their pirate streams in real-time, meaning that matches were often rendered inaccessible to ACE&#8217;s customers.</p>
<p>While this blocking can be mitigated when the customer <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">uses a VPN</a>, most don&#8217;t want to go to the trouble. Some IPTV providers have engaged in a game of cat-and-mouse with the blocking efforts, some with an impressive level of success. However, it appears that the nuisance eventually took its toll on ACE.</p>
<p>&#8220;The ISPs in the UK and across Europe have recently become much more aggressive in blocking our service while football games are in progress,&#8221; ACE said in a statement last month.</p>
<p>&#8220;In order to get ourselves off of the ISP blacklist we are going to black out the EPL games for all users (including VPN users) starting on Monday. We believe that this will enable us to rebuild the bypass process and successfully provide you with all EPL games.&#8221;</p>
<p>People familiar with the blocking process inform TF that this is unlikely to have worked.</p>
<p>Although nobody outside the EPL&#8217;s partners knows exactly how the system works, it appears that anti-piracy companies simply subscribe to IPTV services themselves and extract the IP addresses serving the content. ISPs then block them. No pause would&#8217;ve helped the situation.</p>
<p>Then, on March 24, another announcement indicated that ACE probably wouldn&#8217;t make it very far into 2019.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is with sorrow that we announce that we are no longer accepting renewals, upgrades to existing subscriptions or the purchase of new credits.  We plan to support existing subscriptions until they expire,&#8221; the team wrote.</p>
<p>&#8220;EPL games including highlights continue to be blocked and are not expected to be reinstated before the end of the season.&#8221;</p>
<p>The suggestion was that ACE would keep going, at least for a while, but chat transcripts with the company obtained by TF last month indicated that ACE would probably shut down, sooner rather than later. Less than a week on, that proved to be the case.</p>
<p>On or around March 29, ACE began sending emails out to customers, announcing the end of the company.</p>
<p>&#8220;We recently announced that Ace was no longer accepting renewals or offering new reseller credits but planned to support existing subscription.  Due to mounting legal pressure in the UK we have been forced to change our plans and we are now announcing that Ace will close down at the end of March,&#8221; the email read.</p>
<p>&#8220;This means that from April 1st onwards the Ace service will no longer work.&#8221;</p>
<p>April 1 was yesterday and it turns out it wasn&#8217;t a joke. Customers who paid in advance no longer have a service and those who paid a year up front are particularly annoyed. So-called &#8216;re-sellers&#8217; of ACE are fuming more than most.</p>
<p>Re-sellers effectively act as sales agents for IPTV providers, buying access to the service at a reduced rate and making a small profit on each subscriber they sign up. They get a nice web interface to carry out the transactions and it&#8217;s something that anyone can do.</p>
<p>However, this generally requires investment from the re-seller in order to buy &#8216;credits&#8217; up front, which are used to sell services to new customers. Those who invested money in this way with ACE are now in trouble.</p>
<p>&#8220;If anyone from ACE is reading here, yer a bunch of fuckin arseholes. I hope your next shite is a hedgehog!!&#8221; one shouted on Reddit. &#8220;Being a reseller for them and losing hundreds a pounds is bad enough!!&#8221;</p>
<p>While the loss of a service is probably a shock to more recent converts to the world of IPTV, those with experience of any kind of pirate TV product should already be well aware that this is nothing out of the ordinary.</p>
<p>For those who bought hacked or cloned satellite cards in the 1990s, to those who used &#8216;chipped&#8217; cable boxes a little later on, the free rides all come to an end at some point. It&#8217;s just a question of riding the wave when it arrives and paying attention to the next big thing, without investing too much money at the wrong time.</p>
<p>For ACE&#8217;s former customers, it&#8217;s simply a case of looking for a new provider. There are plenty of them, some with zero intent of shutting down. There are rumors that ACE might &#8216;phoenix&#8217; themselves under another name but that&#8217;s also par for the course when people feel they&#8217;re owed money and suspicions are riding high.</p>
<p>&#8220;Please do not ask if we are rebranding/setting up a new service, the answer is no,&#8221; ACE said in a statement.</p>
<p>And so the rollercoaster continues&#8230;</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=153613
title: UN Human Rights Rapporteur Warns Against Canadian Pirate Site Blocking Plan
uri: UN-Human-Rights-Rapporteur-Warns-Against-Canadian-Pirate-Site-Blocking
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/M5THLFSq3Gs/
content:
<p><img src="media/dc7e499c.unspecial.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/unspecial.png" alt="" width="258" height="112" class="alignright size-full wp-image-153626">In January, a coalition of Canadian companies <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/new-anti-piracy-coalition-calls-for-canadian-website-blocking-180130/">called on</a>  the country&#8217;s telecom regulator CRTC to establish a local pirate site blocking program, which would be the first of its kind in North America.</p>
<p>The Canadian deal is supported by Fairplay Canada, a coalition of both copyright holders and major players in the telco industry, such as Bell and Rogers, which also have their own media branches. </p>
<p>Before making a decision on the proposal, the CTRC launched a <a href="https://services.crtc.gc.ca/pub/CommentForm/Default-Defaut.aspx?lang=e&#038;EN=201800467&#038;ET=A&#038;S=O&#038;PA=T&#038;PT=A&#038;PST=A&#038;FN=">public consultation</a> asking the public for input on the matter. This has resulted in thousands of submissions, both before and against the plan.</p>
<p>Last week, just before the deadline passed, a noteworthy letter typed on a United Nations letterhead came in. The submission comes from David Kaye, acting as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_special_rapporteur">Special Rapporteur</a> on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression.</p>
<p>Special Rapporteurs are independent experts who have a mandate from the Human Rights Council to report and advise United Nations members on threats and problems that arise. In this case, the letter warns against the Canadian site blocking plan. </p>
<p>According to Kaye, the website blocking plan threatens to violate Article 19 of <a href="http://www.claiminghumanrights.org/udhr_article_19.html">The Universal Declaration of Human Rights</a>. This article guarantees people&#8217;s freedom of &#8220;opinion and expression&#8221; through &#8220;any media&#8221; and &#8220;regardless of frontiers.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Special Rapporteur informs the CRTC that the blocking plan could violate Canada’s obligations under Article 19 in several ways. The first problem he highlights is proportionality. According to Kaye, website blocking is an extreme measure that is often too broad to tackle copyright infringement.</p>
<p>&#8220;While the enforcement of copyright law may be a legitimate aim, I am concerned that website/application blocking is almost always a disproportionate means of achieving this aim,&#8221; Kaye writes. </p>
<p>&#8220;The risk that online expression will be disproportionately restricted is particularly high for websites/applications that are implicated in copyright infringement but also widely used to protect personal identity and security, such as VPNs, proxy services and peer-to-peer networks.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Special Rapporteur also highlights that the proposed criteria for piracy sites are vague, which may lead to over-blocking. This could affect sites and services that also have significant non-infringing uses.</p>
<p>In addition, he also notes that the proposed plan lacks due process safeguards. This means that sites may be blocked solely based on allegations from copyright holders, without judicial oversight.</p>
<p>Finally, it&#8217;s pointed out that the website blocking plan requires ISPs to work with copyright holders. However, the Rapporteur notes that these Telcos also own major Canadian commercial television services, which makes it unclear if they can act as neutral gatekeepers.</p>
<p>All in all, the Special Rapporteur urges the CRTC to make sure that, if it adopts any blocking measures, these will be in accordance with Article 19 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Given his summary, that is currently not the case.</p>
<p>&#8220;Website blocking is an extreme measure that should only be imposed when an independent and impartial judicial authority or adjudicatory body has determined that it is the least restrictive means available to end individual acts of copyright infringement.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;The proposed website blocking regime raises concern that websites may be blocked in Canada based on insufficient evidence or misleading allegations of copyright infringement, through a process lacking necessary due process guarantees,&#8221; Kaye adds.</p>
<p>Now that the public consultation has ended the CRTC will review the thousands of responses, including this one. When that’s done, it is expected to release a final review on the proposal, which is expected to happen later this year.</p>
<p><em>&#8212;</p>
<p>The submission of Special Rapporteur David Kaye, which <a href="https://twitter.com/mediamorphis/status/979756800378466304">hasn&#8217;t gone unnoticed</a>, is <a href="media/690185f4.unrappcan.pdf" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/unrappcan.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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=153656
title: MPAA Aims to Prevent Piracy Leaks With New Security Program
uri: MPAA-Aims-to-Prevent-Piracy-Leaks-With-New-Security-Program
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/NZwxMxv9_NM/
content:
<p><a href="media/4e3f1463.tpn-mpaa.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/tpn-mpaa.jpg"><img src="media/a4d832c9.tpn-mpaa.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpn-mpaa.jpg" alt="" width="247" height="266" class="alignright size-full wp-image-153677"></a>When movies and TV shows leak onto the Internet in advance of their intended release dates, it&#8217;s generally a time of celebration for pirates.</p>
<p>Grabbing a workprint or DVD screener of an Oscar nominee or a yet to be aired on TV show makes the Internet bubble with excitement. But for the studios and companies behind the products, it presents their worst nightmare.</p>
<p>Despite all the takedown efforts known to man, once content appears, there&#8217;s no putting the genie back into the bottle.</p>
<p>With this in mind, the solution doesn&#8217;t lie with reactionary efforts such as Internet disconnections, site-blocking and similar measures, but better hygiene while content is still in production or being prepared for distribution. It&#8217;s something the MPAA hopes to address with a brand new program designed to bring the security of third-party vendors up to scratch.</p>
<p>The Trusted Partner Network (<a href="https://ttpn.org">TPN</a>) is the brainchild of the MPAA and the Content Delivery &#038; Security Association (<a href="http://www.mesalliance.org/communities/CDSA">CDSA</a>), a worldwide forum advocating the innovative and responsible delivery and storage of entertainment content.</p>
<p>TPN is being touted as a global industry-wide film and television content protection initiative which will help companies prevent leaks, breaches, and hacks of their customers’ movies and television shows prior to their intended release.</p>
<p>&#8220;Content is now created by a growing ecosystem of third-party vendors, who collaborate with varying degrees of security,&#8221; TPN explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;This has escalated the security threat to the entertainment industry’s most prized asset, its content. The TPN program seeks to raise security awareness, preparedness, and capabilities within our industry.&#8221;</p>
<p>The TPN will establish a &#8220;single benchmark of minimum security preparedness&#8221; for vendors whose details will be available via centralized and global &#8220;trusted partner&#8221; database. The TPN will replace security assessments programs already in place at the MPAA and CDSA.</p>
<p>While content owners and vendors are still able to conduct their own security assessments on an &#8220;as-needed&#8221; basis, the aim is for the TPN to reduce the number of assessments carried out while assisting in identifying vulnerabilities. The pool of &#8220;trusted partners&#8221; is designed to help all involved understand and meet the challenges of leaks, whether that&#8217;s movie, TV show, or associated content.</p>
<p>While joining the TPN program is voluntary, there&#8217;s a strong suggestion that becoming involved in the program is in vendors&#8217; best interests. Being able to carry the TPN logo will be an asset to doing business with others involved in the scheme, it&#8217;s suggested.</p>
<p>Once in, vendors will need to hire a TPN-approved assessor to carry out an initial audit of their supply chain and best practices, which in turn will need to be guided by the MPAA&#8217;s existing content security guidelines.</p>
<p>&#8220;Vendors will hire a Qualified Assessor from the TPN database and will schedule their assessment and manage the process via the secure online platform,&#8221; TPN says, noting that vendors will cover their own costs unless an assessment is carried out at the request of a content owner.</p>
<p>The TPN explains that members of the scheme aren&#8217;t passed or failed in respect of their security preparedness. However, there&#8217;s an expectation they will be expected to come up to scratch and prove that with a subsequent positive report from a TPN approved assessor. Assessors themselves will also be assessed via the TPN Qualified Assessor Program.</p>
<p>By imposing MPAA best practices upon partner companies, it&#8217;s hoped that some if not all of the major leaks that have plagued the industry over the past several years will be prevented in future. Whether that&#8217;s the usual DVD screener leaks, workprints, scripts or other content, it&#8217;s believed the TPN should be able to help in some way, although the former might be a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/hollywood-keeps-screener-piracy-alive-by-mailing-70000-discs-a-year-171102/">more difficult nut to crack</a>.</p>
<p><a href="media/1b2e29e4.cofeeleak1.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/cofeeleak1.jpg"><img src="media/625b75a6.cofeeleak1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cofeeleak1.jpg" alt="" width="180" height="207" class="alignright size-full wp-image-18717"></a>There&#8217;s no doubting that the problem TPN aims to address is serious. In 2017 alone, hackers and other individuals obtained and then <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/hackers-leak-netflixs-orange-is-the-new-black-season-5-premiere-170429/">leaked episodes</a> of Orange is the New Black, unreleased <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/thedarkoverlord-leaks-eight-episodes-of-unreleased-abc-show-170605/">ABC content</a>, an episode of Game of Thrones <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/next-game-of-thrones-episode-leaks-online-170804/">sourced from India</a> and scripts from <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/hackers-leak-more-confidential-game-of-thrones-files-170808/">the same show</a>. Even <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/man-leaks-new-power-episodes-online-records-his-own-face-170809/">blundering efforts</a> managed to make their mark.</p>
<p>“Creating the films and television shows enjoyed by audiences around the world increasingly requires a network of specialized vendors and technicians,” <a href="http://variety.com/2018/digital/news/mpaa-trusted-partner-program-movie-tv-leaks-hacks-piracy-1202741516/">says</a> MPAA chairman and CEO Charles Rivkin.</p>
<p>“That’s why maintaining high security standards for all third-party operations — from script to screen — is such an important part of preventing the theft of creative works and ultimately protects jobs and the health of our vibrant creative economy.”</p>
<p>According to TPN, the first class of TPN Assessors was recruited and tested last month while beta-testing of key vendors will begin in April. The full program will roll out in June 2018.</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=153680
title: Canadian BitTorrent Traffic Tanked, But Video Piracy is Still Hot
uri: Canadian-BitTorrent-Traffic-Tanked-But-Video-Piracy-is-Still-Hot
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/XgJnrRyhDtQ/
content:
<p><img src="media/4347f17e.piratebox.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/piratebox.png" alt="" width="275" height="202" class="alignright size-full wp-image-153702">Piracy has become a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/un-human-rights-rapporteur-warns-against-canadian-pirate-site-blocking-plan-180402/">hot topic in Canada</a> now that there are calls to implement the first website blocking scheme in North America. </p>
<p>One outfit that&#8217;s kept a close eye on piracy-related developments in recent years is Ontario-based broadband management company <a href="https://www.sandvine.com/">Sandvine</a>. </p>
<p>For years, Sandvine has monitored Internet traffic trends throughout the world. Some of these developments are, at least partially, linked to piracy. This includes the market share of BitTorrent traffic. </p>
<p>In recent years the percentage of BitTorrent-related Internet traffic has dropped significantly and newly released data by Sandvine shows that this is no different in Canada. </p>
<p>Between 2014 and 2017 the aggregate daily traffic share of BitTorrent dropped from 15.1% to a measly 1.6% on fixed networks. This suggests that absolute traffic also took a significant hit.</p>
<p><center><strong>BitTorrent aggregate daily traffc share (Sandvine)</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/934ac2b8.cantorrentdrop.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cantorrentdrop.png" alt="" width="514" height="244" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-153704"></center></p>
<p>While Sandvine believes that most torrent traffic was infringement related, the drop doesn&#8217;t mean that video piracy is no longer an issue. A lot of this activity has moved to streaming sites and dedicated streaming boxes. </p>
<p>In its <a href="https://www.sandvine.com/blog/global-internet-phenomena-spotlight-video-piracy-in-canada">report</a>, the company specifically highlights the issue of fully-loaded Kodi boxes. While the Kodi media player itself is perfectly legal, when paired with pirate add-ons it causes problems for copyright holders. </p>
<p>In Canada, it is estimated that nearly 10% of all households have access to a Kodi-powered device. More than two-thirds of these (71%) have their devices configured to access pirated content. </p>
<p>This brings the total of Canadian households with access to &#8216;pirate&#8217; Kodi addons to 7%, which is slightly higher than the 6% in the US. This figure should not be underestimated, according to Sandvine.</p>
<p>&#8220;Sandvine believes that emergent forms of piracy such as the &#8216;Fully-Loaded&#8217; Kodi ecosystem and subscription television piracy represent a real threat to the revenue streams of network operators,&#8221; the company says.</p>
<p>&#8220;Not only because the content is being stolen, but because in some instance subscribers are paying to pirate these services, with no money going into the pockets of the content creators or rights holders.&#8221;</p>
<p>It is worth noting that Sandvine doesn&#8217;t measure the traffic that&#8217;s generated by regular pirate streaming sites or other devices. So the total percentage of streaming pirates is much higher. </p>
<p>Finally, we have to mention that the Canadian company is not a neutral party in the blocking debate. As a company that sells blocking solutions, it could possibly benefit from the website blocking plans that triggered the release of these data.</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=153522
title: Hosting Provider Steadfast is Not Liable for ‘Pirate’ Site
uri: Hosting-Provider-Steadfast-is-Not-Liable-for-Pirate-Site
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/oyVc_CUImJo/
content:
<p><img src="media/dc51676e.steadfast-1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/steadfast-1.png" alt="" width="277" height="96" class="alignright size-full wp-image-153661">In 2016, adult entertainment publisher ALS Scan dragged several third-party Internet services to court. </p>
<p>The company <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/cloudflare-faces-lawsuit-for-assisting-pirate-sites-160823/">targeted</a> companies including CDN provider CloudFlare and the Chicago-based hosting company <a href="https://www.steadfast.net/">Steadfast</a>, accusing them of copyright infringement because they offered services to pirate sites.</p>
<p>ALS argued that Steadfast refused to shut down the servers of the image sharing platform Imagebam.com, which was operated by its client Flixya. The hosting provider had been targeted with dozens of DMCA notices, and ALS accused Steadfast of turning a blind eye to the situation.</p>
<p>Steadfast denied these allegations. The hosting provider did indeed lease servers to Flixya for ten years but said that it forwarded all notices to its client. The hosting company could not address individual infringements, other than shutting down the entire site, which would have been disproportionate in their view.</p>
<p>With a trial getting closer, the hosting company submitted a motion for summary judgment, arguing that it can&#8217;t be held liable for copyright infringement. A few days ago California District Court Judge George Wu ordered on the matter, bringing good news for Steadfast.</p>
<p>Judge Wu dismissed all claims against Steadfast, including contributory copyright infringement, vicarious copyright infringement, and contributory trademark infringement, which is a clear win.</p>
<p><center><strong>Dismissed</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/d753b97f.steaddismiss.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/steaddismiss.png" alt="" width="546" height="94" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-153669"></center></p>
<p>The order clarifies that hosting providers such as Steadfast can be held liable for pirate sites. This is also the case when these sites are hosted on servers that are leased by a company which itself has a takedown policy, something Steadfast contended. </p>
<p>In this case, it is clear that Steadfast knew of the infringements. It could have shut down imagebam.com but failed to do so, and continued to provide server space to known copyright infringers on the site. All these arguments could, in theory, weigh against the hosting provider. </p>
<p>However, in order to be liable for contributory copyright infringement, ALS Scan needed to show that Steadfast failed to take simple steps to prevent the copyright infringements at issue. This is where the adult entertainment publisher&#8217;s arguments failed. </p>
<p>Steadfast forwarded all notices to its customer Flixya which resulted in the removal of the infringing images. In other words, the hosting provider took simple steps that prevented further copyright infringements.</p>
<p>&#8220;Given these undisputed facts, the Court would find that Steadfast did not &#8216;[fail] to take simple measures&#8217; to prevent the specific acts of infringement of which it was aware. Steadfast took simple steps that resulted in all of the at-issue images being removed,&#8221; Judge Wu writes. </p>
<p>ALS argued that Steadfast should have shut down the entire server of its customer to prevent future infringements, but this isn&#8217;t necessarily the case. Service providers only have to take measures if they know that infringements occurred or will occur in the future. The latter was not obvious here.</p>
<p>&#8220;As such, the Court is not convinced that Steadfast had any reason, legal or practical, to terminate Flixya’s account and power down its servers,&#8221; the order reads.</p>
<p>Steadfast founder and CEO Karl Zimmerman is happy with the outcome of the case. He agrees that hosting providers have a responsibility to respond to copyright infringement complaints, but stresses that his company already has the right procedures in play.</p>
<p>&#8220;We already check and assure the content is removed, and yes, if the content simply stays up, that is concerning and shows that more could be done,&#8221; Zimmerman informs TF.</p>
<p>&#8220;We took action in forwarding the complaints, tracking those complaints, and validating the content had been removed. We did what was required of us, which is why I thought it was odd we were in this case in the first place.&#8221;</p>
<p>Hosting providers should take measures to help curb copyright infringement, according to Steadfast. However, shutting down entire services of customers who take down infringing links when they&#8217;re asked too, goes too far. Zimmerman is glad that Judge Wu agreed with this.</p>
<p>&#8220;To me, it simply does not seem reasonable to have to shut down a customer just because future infringement of their users is possible, when every indication is that the customer is completely law-abiding and I’m glad the judge agreed with that,&#8221; he says.</p>
<p><em>&#8212;</p>
<p>A copy of United States District Court Judge George Wu&#8217;s order is <a href="media/88adb6b3.FINAL-Judgement.pdf" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/FINAL-Judgement.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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=153710
title: Police Assisted By MPAA Shut Down Pirate TV Box Sellers
uri: Police-Assisted-By-MPAA-Shut-Down-Pirate-TV-Box-Sellers
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/04wFFXXU-GA/
content:
<p><a href="media/cf654c6a.piratekay.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/piratekay.jpg"><img src="media/0fe8e43a.piratekay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/piratekay.jpg" alt="" width="275" height="188" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108106"></a>Piracy configured set-top boxes are the next big thing, today. Millions have been sold around the world and anti-piracy groups are scrambling to rein them in.</p>
<p>Many strategies are being tested, from <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/kodi-developers-quit-following-threats-from-mpa-netflix-amazon-171116/">pressurizing developers</a> of allegedly infringing addons to filing aggressive lawsuits against sites such as TVAddons, a Kodi addon repository now facing civil action in both the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/dish-network-sues-zemtv-and-tv-addons-for-copyright-infringement-170605/">United States</a> and <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/tvaddons-returns-ugly-war-canadian-telcos-kodi-addons-170801/">Canada</a>.</p>
<p>Also under fire are companies that sell set-top boxes that come ready configured for piracy. Both <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/hollywood-giants-sue-kodi-powered-tickbox-tv-over-piracy-171014/">Tickbox TV</a> and <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/netflix-amazon-and-hollywood-sue-kodi-powered-dragon-box-over-piracy-180111/">Dragon Media Inc</a> are being sued by the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) in the US. At this stage, neither case looks promising for the defendants.</p>
<p>However, civil action isn&#8217;t the only way to deal with defendants in the United States, as a man and woman team from Tampa, Florida, have just discovered after being arrested by local police.</p>
<p>Mickael Cantrell and Nancy Major were allegedly the brains behind NBEETV, a company promising to supply set-top boxes that deliver &#8220;every movie, every tv show that’s ever been made, plus live sports with no blackouts” with &#8220;no monthly fees ever.&#8221;</p>
<p>As similar cases have shown, this kind of marketing spiel rarely ends well for defendants but the people behind NBEE TV (also known as FreeTVForLife Inc.) were either oblivious or simply didn&#8217;t care about the consequences.</p>
<p>A company press release dated April 2017 advertising the company&#8217;s NBPro 3+ box and tracked down by TF this week reveals the extent of the boasts.</p>
<p>&#8220;NBPRO 3+ is a TV box that offers instant access to watch every episode of any TV show without paying any monthly bill. One just must attach the loaded box to his TV and stream whatever they want, with no commercials,&#8221; the company wrote.</p>
<p>But while &#8220;Free TV for Life&#8221; was the slogan, that wasn&#8217;t the reality at the outset.</p>
<p>NBEETV&#8217;s Kodi-powered Android boxes were hellishly expensive with the NBPRO 1, NBPRO 3, NBPRO 5 costing $199.00, $279.00 and $359.00 respectively. This, however, was presented as a bargain alongside a claim that the &#8220;average [monthly] cable bill across the country is approximately $198.00&#8221; per month.</p>
<p><center><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/W51sVhAVxis" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></center></p>
<p>On top of the base product, NBEETV offered an 800 number for customer support and from their physical premises, they ran &#8220;training classes every Tuesday and Thursdays at 11:00&#8221; for people to better understand their products. </p>
<p>The location of that building isn&#8217;t mentioned in local media but a WHOIS on the company&#8217;s FreeTVForLife domain yields a confirmed address. It&#8217;s one that&#8217;s also been complained about in the past by an unhappy customer.</p>
<p>&#8220;Free TV for LIFE [redacted]..(next to K-Mart) Hudson, Fl.. 34667. We bought the Little black box costing $277.00. The pictures were not clear,&#8221; Rita S. wrote.</p>
<p>&#8220;The screen froze up on us all the time, even after hooking straight into the router. When we took the unit back they kept $80 of our money&#8230;.were very rude, using the ************* word and we will not get the remainder of our money for 14-28 days according to the employee at the store. Buyers beware and I am telling everyone!!!&#8221;</p>
<p>While this customer was clearly unhappy, NBEETV claimed to be a &#8220;movement which is spreading across the country.&#8221; Unfortunately, that movement reached the eyes of the police, who didn&#8217;t think that the content being offered on the devices should have been presented for free.</p>
<p>“We saw [the boxes] had Black Panther, The Shape Of Water, Jumanji was on there as well,&#8221; said Detective Darren Hill.</p>
<p>&#8220;This is someone blatantly on the side of the road just selling them, with signage, a store front; advertising on the internet with a website.&#8221;</p>
<p>Detective Hill worked on the case with the MPAA but even from TorrentFreak&#8217;s limited investigations this week, the couple were incredibly <a href="https://www.flcompany.info/florida?utm_source=P14000082247&#038;utm_term=Nanny-Bees-Corporation">easy</a> to identify.</p>
<p>Aside from providing accurate and non-hidden address data in WHOIS records, Mickael Cantrell (also known as Michael Cantrell) put in his real name too. The listed email address is also easily traced back to a company called Nanny Bees Corporation which was operated by Cantrell and partner Nancy Major, who was also arrested in the NBEETV case.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for the couple, the blundering didn&#8217;t stop there. Their company YouTube channel, which is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFDaddHxTpt5xS1-SmEjM8w/videos">packed with tutorials</a>, is also in Cantrell&#8217;s real name. Indeed, the photograph <a href="media/cb984bac.photo.jpg" data-original-source="https://yt3.ggpht.com/-6kCMV8cd4ow/AAAAAAAAAAI/AAAAAAAAAAA/M6JuQxkjRlU/s288-mo-c-c0xffffffff-rj-k-no/photo.jpg">supplied to YouTube</a> even matches the mugshot <a href="media/ee8830fa.gdi_SEM_fghaldkfghsdrg_1522715107136_82713863_ver1.0_640_480.png" data-original-source="https://mediaassets.abcactionnews.com/photo/2018/04/02/gdi_SEM_fghaldkfghsdrg_1522715107136_82713863_ver1.0_640_480.png">published</a> by ABC Action News.  </p>
<p>The publication reports that the Sheriff’s Office found the couple with around 50 &#8216;pirate&#8217; boxes. The store operated by the couple has also been shutdown.</p>
<p>Finally, another curious aspect of NBEETV&#8217;s self-promotion comes via a blog post/press release dated August 2017 in which Cantrell suddenly <a href="http://www.freetvforlife.tv/blog-1.html">ups the ante</a> by becoming Michael W. Cantrell, Ph. D alongside some bold and unusual claims.</p>
<p>&#8220;Dr. Cantrell unleashes his latest innovation, a Smart TV Box that literally updates every ten minutes. Not only does the content (what you can view) but the whole platform updates automatically. If the Company changes an icon you receive the change in real time,&#8221; the release reads.</p>
<p>&#8220;Thanks to the Overlay Processor that Dr. Cantrell created, this processor named B-D.A.D (Binary Data Acceleration Dump) which enhances an Android unit&#8217;s operating power 5 times than the original bench test, has set a new industry standard around the world.&#8221;</p>
<p>Sounds epic&#8230;.perhaps it powered the following video clip.</p>
<p><center><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/V4Kx7jQccE8" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=153792
title: Men Who Sold Pirate IPTV Service to Pubs Jailed for 4.5 Years
uri: Men-Who-Sold-Pirate-IPTV-Service-to-Pubs-Jailed-for-4-5-Years
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/fuF-DWaYOB0/
content:
<p><a href="media/c6d79219.iptv.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/iptv.jpg"><img src="media/8a86db31.iptv.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/iptv.jpg" alt="" width="234" height="155" class="alignright size-full wp-image-135034"></a>For owners and landlords of pubs and clubs in the UK, providing top-tier sports on TV can be the key to bringing in plenty of thirsty customers.</p>
<p>That being said, the costs of doing so is viewed by many as extortionate, with companies including Sky and BT Sport demanding huge fees for the privilege.</p>
<p>As a result, there is a growing opportunity for people to step in to provide cheaper alternatives. With satellite-type piracy now on the wane, IPTV is now a rising force and there&#8217;s no shortage of companies prepared to sell a device and associated subscription service to a landlord for the fraction of Sky&#8217;s fees.</p>
<p>That&#8217;s where John Dodds, 65, and Jason Richards, 45, stepped in. From 2009 until 2016, the pair were involved in an operation selling such services to a staggering 270 pubs and clubs in the North-East of England.</p>
<p>While Sky could charge thousands per month, the duo allegedly charged customers less than £200 per month. For this fee, they received a set-top box plus a service, which included Premier League soccer and otherwise PPV boxing matches.</p>
<p>According to local <a href="https://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/pair-jailed-for-multi-million-pound-sports-broadcasting-scam-1-9097259">sources</a>, the scheme was incredibly lucrative for the pair. Via a fraudulent company, the duo generated revenues of £1.5m, which provided luxury cars and foreign homes.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, however, the business &#8211; which at some point was branded &#8216;Full Effects HD Sports&#8217; &#8211; attracted the attention of the Premier League. In common with the movie industry before them, they carried out a private prosecution on the basis the pair were defrauding the organization.</p>
<p>&#8220;What the defendants created was their own, highly professional broadcasting service which was being sold to subscribers at a rate designed to undercut any legitimate broadcaster, which they were able to do as they weren’t paying to make any of the programmes or buy from the owners, such as the Premier League,&#8221; Prosecutor David Groome told the court.</p>
<p>The court was convinced by the Premier League&#8217;s arguments and this morning, before Newcastle Crown Court, the pair were sentenced to four-and-a-half years each in prison. </p>
<p>&#8220;This was a sophisticated fraud committed against numerous broadcasters throughout the world and those who have interests in the contents of broadcasts, particularly the Football Association, Premier League,&#8221; the judge said, as quoted by Sunderland Echo.</p>
<p>&#8220;You both knew perfectly well you were engaged in fraud because you knew the broadcasters were not being paid any or any appropriate fee for the use of their broadcasts. You were able to mislead customers, tell them that the services were lawful for them to use when you knew they were not.&#8221;</p>
<p>Unfortunately for the duo&#8217;s customers, a number of publicans who bought the service were also sued or prosecuted, which the judge noted could have negative consequences in relation to their future suitability to hold a liquor license.</p>
<p>“This is a hugely significant judgment as it provides further evidence that selling these devices is illegal and can result in a prison sentence,&#8221; <a href="https://www.shieldsgazette.com/news/dodgy-football-streaming-salesman-hid-evidence-in-his-freezer-1-9097527">said</a> Premier League director of legal services Kevin Plumb.</p>
<p>&#8220;We hope this verdict gets the message out that selling or using these devices is simply not worth the risk.”</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=153748
title: PrimeWire Becomes Unusable After Malicious Ad ‘Takeover’
uri: PrimeWire-Becomes-Unusable-After-Malicious-Ad-Takeover
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/4ShPD3-mp4Y/
content:
<p><img src="media/8ab7fc89.primew.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/primew.png" alt="" width="200" height="163" class="alignright size-full wp-image-153757">With millions of visitors per month, Primewire is one of the best-known pirate linking sites on the Internet. </p>
<p>The site originally started as LetMeWatchThis and later became 1Channel. After several of its domains were hijacked the operator eventually <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/how-do-you-hijack-a-popular-streaming-movie-site-with-ease-apparently-130818/">landed at Primewire.ag</a>. </p>
<p>That was five years ago and nothing significant has changed since then. At least, nothing that was noticeable to the public at large. Despite a few ISP blockades here and there, the site functioned normally. </p>
<p>This changed a few days ago when we noticed that the Primewire.ag DNS records were updated to EuroDNS, which caused the site to become unreachable. </p>
<p>Around the same time, the flow of new content also stopped on the backup domain Primewire.is, while existing links all changed to advertisements.</p>
<p>A few days have passed now and while Primewire.ag has returned online, the site is little more than an inventory of suspicious ad links. Instead of pointing people to the latest TV-shows and movies, they get scammy advertisements.</p>
<p><center><strong>Scam ads</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/00e4c891.hdad.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/hdad.png" alt="" width="599" height="348" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-153755"></center></p>
<p>When clicking on a link, users are directed to dubious services such as Pushplay. These require people to enter their credit card details for a &#8216;free&#8217; account, which leads to quite a few <a href="https://www.complaintboard.com/pushplay-com-l7197.html">complaints</a> from &#8220;<a href="https://pushplay.pissedconsumer.com/review.html">pissed consumers</a>.&#8221;</p>
<p>It&#8217;s obvious that this is a ploy to generate cash but it&#8217;s unclear why this is happening. At the moment there are plenty of rumors floating around but no word from the site&#8217;s operator. The official <a href="https://twitter.com/real_1channel/">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/PrimeWire-684860298316669/">Facebook</a> accounts remain quiet as well. </p>
<p>Interestingly, another popular streaming link site, gowatchfreemovies.to, appears to be suffering the same fate. This site has also become unusable with all links now pointing to ads. While we can only speculate at the moment, this could very well be related.</p>
<p>The question remains who&#8217;s behind all this? Has the operator given up or has the site been compromised by outsiders, again? </p>
<p>For now, the only conclusion we can draw is that hundreds of thousands of pirates will have to get by without their goto site.</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=153743
title: Fox Networks Obtains Piracy Blocking Injunction Against Rojadirecta
uri: Fox-Networks-Obtains-Piracy-Blocking-Injunction-Against-Rojadirecta
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/XgmQ9jMgc9M/
content:
<p><a href="media/86acce1e.download-1-e1522839273699.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/download-1-e1522839273699.png"><img src="media/86acce1e.download-1-e1522839273699.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/download-1-e1522839273699.png" alt="" width="250" height="140" class="alignright size-full wp-image-153785"></a>Twelve years ago this October, a court in Denmark ordered a local ISP to begin blocking unlicensed Russian music site AllofMP3. It was a landmark moment that opened the floodgates.</p>
<p>Although most countries took a few years to follow, blocking is now commonplace across Europe and if industry lobbyists have their way, it will soon head to North America. Meanwhile, other regions are getting their efforts underway, with Uruguay the latest country to reserve a place on the list.</p>
<p>The news comes via Fox Sports Latin America, which expressed satisfaction this week that a court in the country had handed down an interim injunction against local ISPs which compels them to block access to streaming portal Rojadirecta.</p>
<p>Despite a focus on Spanish speaking regions, Rojadirecta is one of the best known and longest-standing unauthorized sports in the world. Offering links to live streams of most spectator sports, Rojadirecta has gained a loyal and international following.</p>
<p>This has resulted in a number of lawsuits and legal challenges in multiple regions, the latest being a criminal copyright infringement complaint by Fox Sports Latin America. As usual, the company is annoyed that its content is being made available online without the proper authorization.</p>
<p>&#8220;This exemplary ruling marks the beginning of judicial awareness on online piracy issues,&#8221; said Daniel Steinmetz, Chief Anti-Piracy Officer of Fox Networks Group Latin America.</p>
<p>&#8220;FNG Latin America works constantly to combat the illegal use of content on different fronts and with great satisfaction we have found in Uruguay an important ally in the fight against this scourge. We are on our way to ending the impunity of these illegal content relay sites.&#8221;</p>
<p>Fox Sports says that with this pioneering action, Uruguay is now at the forefront of the campaign to tackle piracy currently running rampant across South America.</p>
<p>According to a NetNames report, there are 222 million Internet users in the region, of which 110 million access pirated content. This translates to 1,377 million TV hours per year but it&#8217;s hoped that additional action in other countries will help to stem the rising tide.</p>
<p>&#8220;We have already presented actions in other countries in the region where we will seek to replicate what we have obtained in Uruguay,&#8221; Fox said in a statement.</p>
<p>Local reports indicate that Internet providers have not yet taken action to block RojaDirecta but it&#8217;s expected they will do so in the near 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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=153815
title: PUBG Files Copyright Lawsuit to Shut Down Competition
uri: PUBG-Files-Copyright-Lawsuit-to-Shut-Down-Competition
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/TYEoPKzDAJM/
content:
<p><img src="media/b1bca04e.pubg.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pubg.jpg" alt="" width="277" height="171" class="alignright size-full wp-image-153819">When PlayerUnknown&#8217;s Battlegrounds (<a href="https://playbattlegrounds.com/main.pu">PUBG</a>) was first released little over a year ago, it became an instant hit. </p>
<p>Within a month a million copies of the first public beta version were sold and this has since grown to over 28 million copies on the PC alone. </p>
<p>This success earned the company hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, but according to PUBG, this could have been much more if others hadn&#8217;t copied their work.</p>
<p>This week PUBG filed a lawsuit against NetEase, the company behind the mobile games &#8220;<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rules-of-survival/id1307961750?mt=8">Rules of Survival</a>&#8221; and &#8220;<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/knives-out/id1312031248?mt=8">Knives Out</a>&#8220;, accusing it of copyright infringement, unfair competition and trade dress infringement.</p>
<p>In a complaint filed in a federal court in California, PUBG alleges that the two mobile apps were released before PUBG&#8217;s own mobile application to gain market share. In doing so, the company copied several crucial elements without permission, PUBG adds.</p>
<p>The 155-page complaint lists a long summary of elements that PUBG believes are infringing on its copyrighted works. This includes buildings, landscapes, vehicles, weapons, clothing, the pre-play area, and the shrinking gameplay area.</p>
<p>&#8220;On information and belief, Defendants copied PUBG’s expressive depictions of the pre-play area where other depictions could have been used for the purpose of evoking the same gameplay experience depicted in BATTLEGROUNDS,&#8221; one example reads.</p>
<p>The games also feature PUBG&#8217;s iconic “Winner Winner Chicken Dinner” salute, which is displayed to the winner of the game. In addition, both games use references to this phrase in their advertising efforts.</p>
<p><center><strong>Chicken dinner</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/21563fc8.chickendinner.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/chickendinner.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="439" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-153834"></center></p>
<p>These and other similarities are used to confuse the public into believing that the NetEase games are developed by PUBG, the company notes, repeating the same arguments for Rules of Survival (ROS) and Knives Out (KO).</p>
<p>&#8220;Defendants intended to create consumer confusion as to the source of ROS and intended to cause consumers to believe, incorrectly, that ROS had been developed by PUBG.&#8221; </p>
<p>The company highlights this point by noting that both games are regularly referred to as &#8220;PUBG&#8221; mobile in the marketplace, suggesting that there indeed is confusion.</p>
<p><center><strong>PUBG mobile?</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/254933b7.mobilepi.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mobilepi.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="372" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-153831"></center></p>
<p>In January, PUBG reached out to Apple asking the company to take action against the allegedly infringing applications listed in its iOS store but NetEase denied the allegations. </p>
<p>As a result, the company saw no other option than to file this lawsuit. In addition to monetary damages, PUBG wants both mobile games to be taken offline permanently, to shield the company from further harm. </p>
<p>&#8220;PUBG has suffered irreparable harm as a result of Defendants’ infringing activities and will continue to suffer irreparable harm in the future unless Defendants are enjoined from their infringing conduct,&#8221; the suit reads.</p>
<p>Specifically, PUBG asks the court to order NetEase &#8220;to remove each and every version of the games Rules of Survival, Knives Out, and similarly infringing games, from distribution and to cease developing and supporting those games.&#8221;</p>
<p>While it appears obvious that Rules of Survival and Knives Out are inspired by PUBG, it&#8217;s up to the court to determine whether the copyright infringement and unfair competition claims hold.</p>
<p><em>&#8212;</p>
<p>A copy of PUBG&#8217;s 155-page complaint, obtained by TorrentFreak, is <a href="media/33210358.pubgneteasecomplaint.pdf" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/pubgneteasecomplaint.pdf">available here (pdf)</a>. NetEase has yet to respond to the allegations. </p>
<p></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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=153408
title: ISP Books Partial Victory Against RIAA in Piracy Lawsuit
uri: ISP-Books-Partial-Victory-Against-RIAA-in-Piracy-Lawsuit
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/xFfZWV3pL2A/
content:
<p><img src="media/a585da8e.piratemusiccasset.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/piratemusiccasset.png" alt="" width="234" height="152" class="alignright size-full wp-image-135510">Last year several major record labels, represented by the RIAA, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/riaa-sues-isp-grande-communications-for-failing-to-disconnect-pirates-170422/">filed a lawsuit</a> against ISP Grande Communications accusing it of turning a blind eye to pirating subscribers.</p>
<p>According to the RIAA, the Internet provider knew that some of its subscribers were frequently distributing copyrighted material, but failed to take any meaningful action in response.</p>
<p>Grande refuted the accusations and filed a motion to dismiss the case. Among other things, the ISP argued that it didn&#8217;t disconnect users based on mere allegations, doubting the accuracy of piracy tracking company Rightscorp. </p>
<p>Last week Texas District Court Judge Lee Yeakel decided to dismiss the vicarious copyright infringement claim against Grande. The request to dismiss the contributory copyright infringement claim was denied, however. </p>
<p>With this decision, Judge Yeakel follows <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/judge-issues-mixed-order-in-riaas-piracy-case-against-isp-grande-180306/">the recommendation</a> of Magistrate Judge Andrew Austin. This, despite detailed objections from both the RIAA and the Internet provider. </p>
<p>The RIAA contested the recommendation by arguing that Grande can be held liable for vicarious infringement, as they have a direct financial interest in keeping pirating subscribers on board.</p>
<p>&#8220;[C]ase law is clear that direct financial benefit exists where the availability of the infringing material acts as a draw. Grande’s refusal to police its system speaks to the right and ability to control element of vicarious infringement,&#8221; the RIAA wrote. </p>
<p>In addition, the RIAA protested the recommended dismissal of the claims against Grande’s management company Patriot Media Consulting, arguing that it played a central role in formulating infringement related policies.</p>
<p>Judge Yeakel was not convinced, however, and concluded that the vicarious infringement claim should be dismissed, as are all copyright infringement claims against Patriot Media Consulting.</p>
<p>For its part, the ISP contested the Magistrate Judge&#8217;s conclusion that Rightscorp&#8217;s takedown notices may serve as evidence for contributory infringement, noting that they are nothing more than allegations. </p>
<p>&#8220;[P]laintiffs do not allege that Grande was willfully blind to any actual evidence of infringement, only to unverifiable allegations of copyright infringement.&#8221;</p>
<p>In addition, the Internet provider also stressed that the RIAA sued the company solely on the premise that it failed to police its customers, not because it promoted or encouraged copyright infringement.</p>
<p>Again, Judge Yeakel waived the objections and sided with the recommendation from the Magistrate Judge. As such, the motion to dismiss the contributory infringement claim is denied. </p>
<p>This means that the case between the RIAA and Grande Communication is still heading to trial, albeit on the contributory copyright infringement claim alone. </p>
<p><em>&#8212;</p>
<p>More details on the report and recommendation are available in our <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/judge-issues-mixed-order-in-riaas-piracy-case-against-isp-grande-180306/">earlier article</a>. US District Court Judge Yeakel&#8217;s order is available <a href="media/497d7418.RIAAreportandrecomm.pdf" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/RIAAreportandrecomm.pdf">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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=153870
title: Japan Seeks to Outmaneuver Constitution With Piracy Blocking Proposals
uri: Japan-Seeks-to-Outmaneuver-Constitution-With-Piracy-Blocking-Proposals
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/5CdaLUvu74c/
content:
<p><a href="media/05028357.anime-pirate.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/anime-pirate.jpg"><img src="media/476e6f15.anime-pirate.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/anime-pirate.jpg" alt="" width="222" height="159" class="alignright size-full wp-image-31311"></a>Speaking at a news conference last month, Japan&#8217;s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/japan-becomes-latest-country-to-consider-pirate-site-blocking-180324/">said</a> that the Japanese government is considering measures to prohibit access to pirate sites, initially to protect the country’s manga and anime industries.</p>
<p>“The damage is getting worse. We are considering the possibilities of all measures including site blocking,” he said.</p>
<p>But Japan has a problem. </p>
<p>The country has no specific legislation that allows for site-blocking of any kind, let alone on copyright infringement grounds. In fact, the constitution expressly supports freedom of speech and expressly forbids censorship.</p>
<p>&#8220;Freedom of assembly and association as well as speech, press and all other forms of expression are guaranteed,&#8221; Article 21 <a href="https://japan.kantei.go.jp/constitution_and_government_of_japan/constitution_e.html">reads</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;No censorship shall be maintained, nor shall the secrecy of any means of communication be violated,&#8221; the constitution adds.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, the government appears determined to do something about the piracy threat. As detailed last month, that looks like manifesting itself in a site-blocking regime. But how will this be achieved?</p>
<p>Mainichi <a href="https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20180406/p2a/00m/0na/003000c">reports</a> that the government will argue there are grounds for &#8220;averting present danger&#8221;, a phrase that&#8217;s detailed in Article 37 of Japan&#8217;s Penal Code.</p>
<p>&#8220;An act unavoidably performed to avert a present danger to the life, body, liberty<br>
or property of oneself or any other person is not punishable only when the harm<br>
produced by such act does not exceed the harm to be averted,&#8221; the Article <em>(<a href="media/1a8d6c94.PC.pdf" data-original-source="http://www.cas.go.jp/jp/seisaku/hourei/data/PC.pdf">pdf</a>)</em> begins.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s fairly clear that this branch of Japanese law was never designed for use against pirate sites. Furthermore, there is also a clause noting that where an act (in this case blocking) causes excessive harm it may lead &#8220;to the punishment being reduced or may exculpate the offender in light of the circumstances.&#8221;</p>
<p>How, when, or if that ever comes into play will remain to be seen but in common with most legal processes against pirate site operators elsewhere, few turn up to argue in their defense. A contested process is therefore unlikely.</p>
<p>It appears that rather than forcing Internet providers into compliance, the government will ask for their &#8220;understanding&#8221; on the basis that damage is being done to the anime and manga industries. ISPs reportedly already cooperate to censor child abuse sites so it&#8217;s hoped a similar agreement can be reached on piracy.</p>
<p>Initially, the blocking requests will relate to just three as-yet-unnamed platforms, one local and two based outside the country. Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg and if ISPs agree to block this trio, more demands are sure to follow.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the government is also working towards tightening up the law to deal with an estimated 200 local sites that link, but do not host pirated content. Under current legislation, linking isn&#8217;t considered illegal, which is a major problem given the manner in which most file-sharing and streaming is carried out these days.</p>
<p>However, there are also concerns that any amendments to tackle linking could fall foul of the constitutional right to freedom of expression. It&#8217;s a problem that has been tackled elsewhere, notably in Europe, but in most cases the latter has been trumped by the former. In any event, the government will need to tread carefully.</p>
<p>The proposals are expected to be formally approved at a Cabinet meeting on crime prevention policy later this month, Mainichi reports.</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=153858
title: Not All Canadian ISPs Are Pro Site Blocking
uri: Not-All-Canadian-ISPs-Are-Pro-Site-Blocking
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/SpUdyI2ciZY/
content:
<p><img src="media/d675c103.teksavvy.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/teksavvy.png" alt="" width="220" height="160" class="alignright size-full wp-image-153869">Earlier this year several of the largest telcos in Canada teamed up with copyright holders to present their plan to tackle online piracy. </p>
<p>United in the Fairplay coalition, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/new-anti-piracy-coalition-calls-for-canadian-website-blocking-180130/">Bell, Rogers, and others urged</a> telecoms regulator CRTC to institute a national website blocking program.</p>
<p>The Canadian blocklist should be maintained by a yet to be established non-profit organization called “Independent Piracy Review Agency” (IPRA) and both IPRA and the CRTC would be overseen by the Federal Court of Appeal, the organizations propose.</p>
<p>Over the past several weeks, the CRTC has asked the public for input on the plan. While we have already covered several responses, some notable entries were submitted at the very last minute. </p>
<p>The MPAA and the Premier League, which both applied for court-ordered blockades in the UK, voiced their support, for example. The same is true for ISP Shaw Communications. While <a href="https://www.shaw.ca">Shaw</a> is not part of the Fairplay Coalition it fully supports the site blocking proposal. </p>
<p>&#8220;New regulatory tools are needed to provide a comprehensive and coordinated response to combat piracy, and the FairPlay Proposal provides an expeditious, effective, and fair process,&#8221; Shaw writes, noting that the proposal doesn&#8217;t violate net neutrality.</p>
<p>The Independent Telecommunications Providers Association (ITPA) also chimed in. Representing more than a dozen smaller Internet providers, it takes no position on the merits of the plan, but stresses that copyright holders should pick up the bill.</p>
<p>&#8220;The ITPA would object to any regime that imposes costs without a cost recovery mechanism for service providers,&#8221; the association writes. </p>
<p>While many ISPs are backing the plan or taking a relatively neutral stance, <a href="https://teksavvy.com/">TekSavvy</a> is among the notable exceptions. The independent company that services more than 250,000 Canadian homes and businesses, says that the proposal would have a major impact.</p>
<p>&#8220;If implemented, the Applicants’ proposal for site blocking would fundamentally reshape how Internet services would work in Canada, including the manner in which TekSavvy provides Internet services.&#8221;</p>
<p>In a rather dry submission, the Internet provider argues that site blocking violates the Common Carrier doctrine of the Telecommunications Act.</p>
<p>&#8220;Rather than advancing the telecommunications policy objectives, the approach proposed in the Application to policing content on the Internet is in direct opposition to many of those objectives,&#8221; TekSavvy writes.</p>
<p>The proposal interferes with online traffic, the ISP explains, which could affect network neutrality principles. At the same time, it goes against several policy objectives, including the principle that any regulation should be efficient and effective.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is well-documented that blocking individual web sites is difficult and expensive and even so relatively trivial to circumvent,&#8221; the ISP notes. &#8220;As a result, site-blocking is neither efficient, nor effective.&#8221;</p>
<p>As such, TechSavvy argues that the site blocking proposal is not the kind of exceptional circumstance that warrants an exception to the common carrier doctrine.</p>
<p>The ISP is not alone in its critique, as Micheal Geist <a href="http://www.michaelgeist.ca/2018/04/canadian-internet-providers-warn-of-site-blocking-consequences-threat-to-affordable-internet-access-and-market-competition/">points out</a>. In addition to its own submission, TekSavvy supports the Canadian Network Operators Consortium&#8217;s CNOC intervention, which covers a broad range of issues.</p>
<p>CNOC represents several dozen smaller Telcos and, among other things, it argues in detail that the blocking proposal will be costly but ineffective.</p>
<p>&#8220;CNOC is not convinced of the efficacy of FairPlay Canada’s proposal, and, in fact, believes that mandatory website blocking could be circumvented with such ease that expending any resources on it is unlikely to be productive, yet it would impose significant costs on ISPs,&#8221; CNOC notes.</p>
<p>The one thing that&#8217;s clear following all the submissions is that the CRTC will find it impossible to satisfy all parties. Even the Internet providers themselves have conflicting opinions.</p>
<p><em>&#8212;</p>
<p>A copy of Teksavvy&#8217;s submission is <a href="media/40b069d6.teksavv.pdf" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/teksavv.pdf">available here (pdf)</a>. ITPA&#8217;s letter can be found <a href="media/d0273244.ITPA.pdf" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/ITPA.pdf">here (pdf)</a>, <a href="media/4fa77fe0.CNOC.pdf" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/CNOC.pdf">CNOC&#8217;s here (pdf)</a>, and Shaw&#8217;s submission in favor of the proposal is <a href="media/40b069d6.teksavv.pdf" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/teksavv.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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=153860
title: If YouTube-Ripping Sites Are Illegal, What About Tools That Do a Similar Job?
uri: If-YouTube-Ripping-Sites-Are-Illegal-What-About-Tools-That-Do-a-Simil
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Xc4YaH2c568/
content:
<p><a href="media/3bdfeafa.piratemusiccasset.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/piratemusiccasset.png"><img src="media/a585da8e.piratemusiccasset.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/piratemusiccasset.png" alt="" width="234" height="152" class="alignright size-full wp-image-135510"></a>In 2016, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry published research which claimed that half of 16 to 24-year-olds use stream-ripping tools to copy music from sites like YouTube.</p>
<p>While this might not have surprised those who regularly participate in the activity, IFPI said that volumes had become so vast that stream-ripping had overtaken pirate site music downloads. That was a big statement.</p>
<p>Probably not coincidentally, just two weeks later IFPI, RIAA, and BPI announced legal action against the world&#8217;s largest YouTube ripping site, YouTube-MP3.</p>
<p>“YTMP3 rapidly and seamlessly removes the audio tracks contained in videos streamed from YouTube that YTMP3’s users access, converts those audio tracks to an MP3 format, copies and stores them on YTMP3’s servers, and then distributes copies of the MP3 audio files from its servers to its users in the United States, enabling its users to download those MP3 files to their computers, tablets, or smartphones,” the complaint read.</p>
<p>The labels <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/youtube-mp3-ripping-site-sued-by-ifpi-riaa-and-bpi-160926/">sued</a> YouTube-MP3 for direct infringement, contributory infringement, vicarious infringement, inducing others to infringe, plus circumvention of technological measures on top. The case was big and one that would&#8217;ve been intriguing to watch play out in court, but that never happened.</p>
<p>A year later in September 2017, YouTubeMP3 <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/youtube-mp3-settles-with-riaa-site-will-shut-down-170904/">settled</a> out of court. No details were made public but YouTube-MP3 apparently took all the blame and the court was asked to rule in favor of the labels on all counts.</p>
<p>This certainly gave the impression that what YouTube-MP3 did was illegal and a strong message was sent out to other companies thinking of offering a similar service. However, other onlookers clearly saw the labels&#8217; lawsuit as something to be studied and learned from.</p>
<p>One of those was the operator of NotMP3downloader.com, a site that offers <a href="https://notmp3downloader.com/">Free MP3 Recorder for YouTube</a>, a tool offering similar functionality to YouTube-MP3 while supposedly avoiding the same legal pitfalls.</p>
<p>Part of that involves audio being processed on the user&#8217;s machine &#8211; not by stream-ripping as such &#8211; but by stream-recording. A subtle difference perhaps, but the site&#8217;s operator thinks it&#8217;s important.</p>
<p>&#8220;After examining the claims made by the copyright holders against youtube-mp3.org, we identified that the charges were based on the three main points. [None] of them are applicable to our product,&#8221; he told TF this week.</p>
<p>The first point involves YouTube-MP3&#8217;s acts of conversion, storage and distribution of content it had previously culled from YouTube. Copies of unlicensed tracks were clearly held on its own servers, a potent direct infringement risk. </p>
<p>&#8220;We don&#8217;t have any servers to download, convert or store a copyrighted or any other content from YouTube. Therefore, we do not violate any law or prohibition implied in this part,&#8221; NotMP3downloader&#8217;s operator explains.</p>
<p>Then there&#8217;s the act of &#8220;stream-ripping&#8221; itself. While YouTube-MP3 downloaded digital content from YouTube using its own software, NotMP3downloader claims to do things differently.</p>
<p>&#8220;Our software doesn’t download any streaming content directly, but only launches a web browser with the video specified by a user. The capturing happens from a local machine’s sound card and doesn’t deal with any content streamed through a network,&#8221; its operator notes.</p>
<p>This part also seems quite important. YouTube-MP3 was accused of unlawfully circumventing technological measures implemented by YouTube to prevent people downloading or copying content. By opening up YouTube&#8217;s own website and viewing content in the way the site demands, NotMP3downloader says it does not &#8220;violate the website’s integrity nor performs direct download of audio or video files.&#8221;</p>
<p>Like the Betamax video recorder before it that enabled recording from analog TV, NotMP3downloader enables a user to record a YouTube stream on their local machine. This, its makers claim, means the software is completely legal and defeats all the claims made by the labels in the YouTube-MP3 lawsuit.</p>
<p>&#8220;What YouTube does is broadcasting content through the Internet. Thus, there is nothing wrong if users are allowed to watch such content later as they may want,&#8221; the NotMP3downloader team explain.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is worth noting that in Sony Corp. of America v. United City Studios, Inc. (464 U.S. 417) the United States Supreme Court held that such practice, also known as time-shifting, was lawful representing fair use under the US Copyright Act and causing no substantial harm to the copyright holder.&#8221;</p>
<p>While software that can record video and sounds locally are nothing new, the developments in the YouTube-MP3 case and this response from NotMP3downloader raises interesting questions.</p>
<p>We put some of them to none other than former <a href="https://www.riaa.com/a-tribute-to-riaas-neil-turkewitz-and-an-extraordinary-career/">RIAA Executive Vice President</a>, Neil Turkewitz, who now works as President of Turkewitz Consulting Group.</p>
<p>Turkewitz stressed that he doesn&#8217;t speak for the industry as a whole or indeed the RIAA but it&#8217;s clear that his passion for protecting creators persists. He told us that in this instance, reliance on the Betamax decision is &#8220;misplaced&#8221;.</p>
<p>&#8220;The content is different, the activity is different, and the function is different,&#8221; Turkewitz told TF.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Sony decision must be understood in its context — the time shifting of audiovisual programming being broadcast from point to multipoint. The making available of content by a point-to-point interactive service like YouTube isn’t broadcasting — or at a minimum, is not a form of broadcasting akin to that considered by the Supreme Court in Sony.</p>
<p>&#8220;More fundamentally, broadcasting (right of communication to the public) is one of only several rights implicated by the service. And of course, issues of liability will be informed by considerations of purpose, effect and perceived harm. A court’s judgment will also be affected by whether it views the &#8216;innovation&#8217; as an attempt to circumvent the requirements of law. The decision of the Supreme Court in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Broadcasting_Cos._v._Aereo,_Inc.">ABC v. Aereo</a> is certainly instructive in that regard.&#8221;</p>
<p>And there are other issues too. While YouTube itself is yet to take any legal action to deter users from downloading rather than merely streaming content, its terms of service are quite specific and seem to cover all eventualities.</p>
<p>&#8220;[Y]ou agree not to access Content or any reason other than your personal, non-commercial use solely as intended through and permitted by the normal functionality of the Service, and solely for Streaming,&#8221; YouTube&#8217;s ToS reads.</p>
<p>&#8220;&#8216;Streaming&#8217; means a contemporaneous digital transmission of the material by YouTube via the Internet to a user operated Internet enabled device in such a manner that the data is intended for real-time viewing and not intended to be downloaded (either permanently or temporarily), copied, stored, or redistributed by the user.</p>
<p>&#8220;You shall not copy, reproduce, distribute, transmit, broadcast, display, sell, license, or otherwise exploit any Content for any other purposes without the prior written consent of YouTube or the respective licensors of the Content.&#8221;</p>
<p>In this respect, it seems that a user doing anything but real-time streaming of YouTube content is breaching YouTube&#8217;s terms of service. The big question then, of course, is whether providing a tool specifically for that purpose represents an infringement of copyright.</p>
<p>The people behind Free MP3 Recorder believe that the &#8220;scope of application depends entirely on the end users&#8217; intentions&#8221; which seems like a fair argument at first view. But, as usual, copyright law is incredibly complex and there are plenty of opposing views.</p>
<p>We asked the BPI, which took action against YouTubeMP3, for its take on this type of tool. The official response was &#8220;No comment&#8221; which doesn&#8217;t really clarify the position, at least for now.</p>
<p>Needless to say, the Betamax decision &#8211; relevant or not &#8211; doesn&#8217;t apply in the UK. But that only adds more parameters into the mix &#8211; and perhaps more opportunities for lawyers to make money arguing for and against tools like this 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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=153778
title: China’s Website and VPN Blocking Hurts Business, US Says
uri: China-s-Website-and-VPN-Blocking-Hurts-Business-US-Says
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/AghnFt7gAYc/
content:
<p><img src="media/7fb31033.censored-china.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/censored-china.jpg" alt="" width="277" height="191" class="alignright size-full wp-image-153780">The Chinese government is known to keep a tight grip on the websites its citizens are allowed to see on the Internet. </p>
<p>The so-called ‘Great Firewall’ blocks pirate sites, but also a wide variety of other websites which the government believes could have a negative influence on society.</p>
<p>While the exact scope of the blocking effort is unknown, it&#8217;s certain that thousands of websites are affected. </p>
<p>The US Government, however, is not happy with this type of censorship. In its latest Trade Barriers report, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) notes that it has a detrimental impact on businesses around the world. </p>
<p>&#8220;China continues to engage in extensive blocking of legitimate websites, imposing significant costs on both suppliers and users of web-based services and products,&#8221; the report reads. </p>
<p>The Chinese blocking efforts are affecting billions of dollars in business according to the US. The services that are affected include app stores, news sites, as well as communication services. </p>
<p>While many of these are targeted intentionally, some are hit by over-blocking. This happens when a blocked site shares an IP-address with other sites, which are then censored as collateral damage.</p>
<p>&#8220;While becoming more sophisticated over time, the technical means of blocking, dubbed the Great Firewall, still often appears to affect sites that may not be the intended target, but that may share the same Internet Protocol address,&#8221; USTR writes. </p>
<p>According to industry figures, twelve of the top thirty most popular sites on the Internet are currently censored in China. And while it used to be relatively easy to bypass these measures with a VPN, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/china-to-start-blocking-unauthorized-vpn-providers-this-april-180203/">that is changing too</a>. </p>
<p>Starting this month, all unauthorized VPN services are banned. Companies can only operate a VPN if they lease state-approved services via the Government. This is hurting even more businesses, according to the US. Not just in their pockets, but also in terms of privacy. </p>
<p>&#8220;In the past, consumers and business have been able to avoid government-run filtering through the use of VPN services, but a crackdown in 2017 has all but eliminated that option, with popular VPN applications now banned,&#8221; USTR writes. </p>
<p>&#8220;This development has had a particularly dire effect on foreign businesses, which routinely use VPN services to connect to locations and services outside of China, and which depend on VPN technology to ensure confidentiality of communications.&#8221;</p>
<p>Ironically, US companies are assisting the Chinese Government to keep their Great Firewall up. For example, last year VPN applications started to disappear from Apple&#8217;s iOS store following pressure from Chinese authorities.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s clear that the United States is not happy with China&#8217;s censorship regime. However, it&#8217;s unlikely that we&#8217;ll see a reversal anytime soon. As long as China is willing to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-provider-jailed-for-five-years-after-helping-thousands-breach-chinas-firewall-171222/">jail its citizens</a> for operating VPN services, there&#8217;s still a long way to go.</p>
<p><em>&#8212;</p>
<p>A copy of USTR&#8217;s 2018 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers is <a href="media/e43ede74.2018-National-Trade-Estimate-Report.pdf" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/2018-National-Trade-Estimate-Report.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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=153648
title: Spooky Torrent Warns EZTV Users About “Huge Security Risk”
uri: Spooky-Torrent-Warns-EZTV-Users-About-Huge-Security-Risk
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/wvo5pIl05PA/
content:
<p><img src="media/7df23d41.eztvlo.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/eztvlo.png" alt="" width="289" height="106" class="alignright size-full wp-image-153723">For more than a decade EZTV has been a widely recognized brand among many BitTorrent users and known as one of the main TV-distribution groups. </p>
<p>While the original EZTV shut down following a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/eztv-shuts-down-after-hostile-takeover-150518/">hostile takeover</a>, the people who took over are still serving torrents to millions of people every month.</p>
<p>Generally speaking, EZTV takes releases from outside encoders which they then distribute with their own nametag. It&#8217;s been like this for years and has never caused any real problems. </p>
<p>Last week, however, a disturbing release was added to the site, sending a message to EZTV users. What appeared to be a regular release of Lucifer S03E19, turned into something darker.</p>
<p>Ten minutes into the episode, a red warning appears, telling viewers that EZTV.ag is a huge security risk. </p>
<p><center><strong>Huge Security Risk</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/9ef74e49.eztvsec.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/eztvsec.png" alt="" width="600" height="300" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-153725"></center></p>
<p>Throughout the rest of the episode, a few dozen IP-addresses appear plastered across the screen. Needless to say, this makes the program rather unwatchable. </p>
<p>According to the earlier message, these IP-addresses are &#8220;used on EZTV.ag.&#8221; This seems to suggest that the website has a leak somewhere unless it refers to IP-addresses of downloaders, which are public anyway.</p>
<p><center><strong>IP-addresses</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/ed719f6e.ipsblurred.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ipsblurred.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="343" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-153726"></center></p>
<p>It is hard to grasp what&#8217;s really going on here and there is no direct evidence that the site has been breached in any way. Not directly at least. </p>
<p>At the end of the episode, a final message appears, adding to the intrigue. The message comes from the encoder DeXoX and offers up a complete IP-address database, email addresses of registered EZTV users, and more.</p>
<p><center><strong>DeXoX</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/c023c867.dexox.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dexox.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="300" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-153727"></center></p>
<p>Again, we have not been able to verify the validity of these claims but it&#8217;s certainly not good PR for EZTV. The spooky torrent has been downloaded by thousands of people already and is still listed on the site several days after first appearing.</p>
<p>We are not familiar with DeXoX, but it appears that the person behind the handle is not a fan of EZTV.ag, to say the least. </p>
<p>It remains unclear how the torrent was added to the site. It could be that the EZTV site has indeed been breached in some way, or DeXoX has access to the site where EZTV sources its material. In any event, the release page or the site itself contains no warnings, only the video itself.</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=153824
title: Piracy & Money Are Virtually Inseparable & People Probably Don’t Care Anymore
uri: Piracy-Money-Are-Virtually-Inseparable-People-Probably-Don-t-Car
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/PqBJ26jxXn8/
content:
<p><a href="media/d579eec9.dollar-money.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/dollar-money.jpg"><img src="media/2efdb268.dollar-money.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dollar-money.jpg" alt="" width="180" height="135" class="alignright size-full wp-image-38877"></a>Long before peer-to-peer file-sharing networks were a twinkle in developers&#8217; eyes, piracy of software and games flourished under the radar. Cassettes, floppy discs and CDs were the physical media of choice, while the BBS became the haunt of the need-it-now generation.</p>
<p>Sharing was the name of the game. When someone had game &#8216;X&#8217; on tape, it was freely shared with friends and associates because when they got game &#8216;Y&#8217;, the favor had to be returned. The content itself became the currency and for most, the thought of asking for money didn&#8217;t figure into the equation.</p>
<p>Even when P2P networks first took off, money wasn&#8217;t really a major part of the equation. Sure, the people running Kazaa and the like were generating money from advertising but for millions of users, sharing content between friends and associates was still the name of the game.</p>
<p>Even when the torrent site scene began to gain traction, money wasn&#8217;t the driving force. Everything was so new that developers were much more concerned with getting half written/half broken tracker scripts to work than anything else. Having people care enough to simply visit the sites and share something with others was the real payoff. Ironically, it was a reward that money couldn&#8217;t buy.</p>
<p>But as the scene began to develop, so did the influx of minor and even major businessmen. The ratio economy of the private tracker scene meant that bandwidth could essentially be converted to cash, something which gave site operators revenue streams that had never previously existed. That was both good and bad for the scene.</p>
<p>The fact is that running a torrent site costs money and if time is factored in too, that becomes <em>lots</em> of money. If site admins have to fund everything themselves, a tipping point is eventually reached. If the site becomes unaffordable, it closes, meaning that everyone loses. So, by taking in some donations or offering users other perks in exchange for financial assistance, the whole thing remains viable.</p>
<p>Counter-intuitively, the success of such a venture then becomes the problem, at least as far as maintaining the old &#8220;sharing is caring&#8221; philosophy goes. A well-run private site, with enthusiastic donors, has the potential to bring in quite a bit of cash. Initially, the excess can be saved away for that rainy day when things aren&#8217;t so good. Having a few thousand in the bank when chaos rains down is rarely a bad thing.</p>
<p>But what happens when a site does really well and is making money hand over fist? What happens when advertisers on public sites begin to queue up, offering lots of cash to get involved? Is a site operator really expected to turn down the donations and tell the advertisers to go away? Amazingly, some do. Less amazingly, most don&#8217;t.</p>
<p>Although there are some notable exceptions, particularly in the niche private tracker scene, these days most &#8216;pirate&#8217; sites are in it for the money.</p>
<p>In the current legal climate, some probably consider this their well-earned &#8216;danger money&#8217; yet others are so far away from the sharing ethos it hurts. Quite often, these sites are incapable of taking in a new member due to alleged capacity issues yet a sizeable &#8216;donation&#8217; miraculously solves the problem and gets the user in. It&#8217;s like magic.</p>
<p>As it happens, two threads on Reddit this week sparked this little rant. Both discuss whether someone should consider paying <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/trackers/comments/89s7ch/is_iptorrents_worth_the_20_sign_up_fee/">$20</a> and <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/trackers/comments/89sry2/i_was_asked_to_pay_37_euros_for_surrealmoviezinfo/">37 euros</a> respectively to get invitations to a pair of torrent sites.</p>
<p>Ask a purist and the answer is always &#8216;NO&#8217;, whether that&#8217;s buying an invitation from the operator of a torrent site or from someone selling invites for profit.</p>
<p>Aside from the fact that no one on these sites has paid content owners a dime, sites that demand cash for entry are doing so for one reason and one reason only &#8211; profit. Ridiculous when it&#8217;s the users of those sites that are paying to distribute the content.</p>
<p>On the other hand, others see no wrong in it.</p>
<p>They argue that paying a relatively small amount to access huge libraries of content is preferable to spending hundreds of dollars on a legitimate service that doesn&#8217;t carry all the content they need. Others don&#8217;t bother making any excuses at all, spending sizable sums with pirate IPTV/VOD services that dispose of sharing morals by engaging in a different business model altogether.</p>
<p>But the bottom line, whether we like it or not, is that money and Internet piracy have become so intertwined, so enmeshed in each other&#8217;s existence, that it&#8217;s become virtually impossible to separate them.</p>
<p>Even those running the handful of non-profit sites still around today would be forced to reconsider if they had to start all over again in today&#8217;s climate. The risk model is entirely different and quite often, only money tips those scales.</p>
<p>The same holds true for the people putting together the next big streaming portals. These days it&#8217;s about getting as many eyeballs on content as possible, making the money, and getting out the other end unscathed.</p>
<p>This is not what most early pirates envisioned. This is certainly not what the early sharing masses wanted. Yet arguably, through the influx of business people and the desire to generate profit among the general population, the pirating masses have never had it so good.</p>
<p>As revealed in a recent study, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/online-piracy-is-more-popular-than-ever-research-suggests-180321/">volumes of piracy are on the up</a> and it is now possible &#8211; still possible &#8211; to access almost any item of content on pirate sites, despite the so-called &#8220;follow the money&#8221; approach championed by the authorities.</p>
<p>While &#8216;Sharing is Caring&#8217; still lives today, it&#8217;s slowly being drowned out and at this point, there&#8217;s probably no way back. The big question is whether anyone cares anymore and the answer to that is &#8220;probably not&#8221;.</p>
<p>So, if the driving force isn&#8217;t sharing or love, it&#8217;ll probably have to be money. And that works everywhere else, doesn&#8217;t it?</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=153936
title: Popular Torrent Site Loses Domain After Copyright Complaint
uri: Popular-Torrent-Site-Loses-Domain-After-Copyright-Complaint
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/ceijy3IYlt4/
content:
<p><img src="media/71c675fe.ygg.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ygg.png" alt="" width="257" height="77" class="alignright size-full wp-image-153941">With millions of visitors per month, Yggtorrent is one of the largest torrent sites on the Internet. </p>
<p>Catering to a French audience, it&#8217;s not widely known everywhere, but in France, it&#8217;s getting close to a spot among the 100 most visited sites in the country.</p>
<p>Yggtorrent is not the typical torrent indexer. It sees itself as a community instead and has a dedicated tracker, something that&#8217;s quite rare these days. The site is really only a few months old and filled the gap T411 left behind when it <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/t411-frances-most-visited-torrent-site-has-disappeared-170627/">closed last year</a>. </p>
<p>Its popularity hasn&#8217;t gone unnoticed by copyright holders either. In addition to sending thousands of DMCA notices, local anti-piracy group SACEM went a step further a few weeks ago, asking Yggtorrent&#8217;s domain registrar Internet.bs for help. </p>
<p>In a letter sent on behalf of SACEM, BrandAnalytic pointed out that the torrent site is offering copyrighted content without permission from the owners, thereby violating the law.</p>
<p>&#8220;This contravening domain name provides users with copyright-protected works without any express or tacit permission of the societies or their authors, composers and publishers,&#8221; the complaint reads.</p>
<p><center><strong>BrandAnalytic/SACEM&#8217;s complaint</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/dbe493fe.sacemcomplaint.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/sacemcomplaint.png" alt="" width="600" height="386" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-153943"></center></p>
<p>Strangely enough, the letter also accuses the site of phishing. As evidence, BrandAnalytic sent a screenshot of the site&#8217;s registration page while mentioning that it automatically installs cookies on users’ computers.</p>
<p>Since Yggtorrent uses a Whois privacy service, BrandAnalytic says it can&#8217;t identify the owners. They, therefore, ask Internet.bs to step in and take the domain offline.</p>
<p>&#8220;As you are the Registrar of this contravening domain name, we count on your prompt and amicable collaboration to remove it from the global domain tree,&#8221; BrandAnalytic writes.</p>
<p>The complaint was sent late February and Internet.bs forwarded it to the torrent site at the time, so it could respond appropriately. However, Yggtorrent did not respond at all.</p>
<p>After a reminder, the registrar decided to put the torrent site&#8217;s <a href="https://yggtorrent.com/">.com domain name</a> on hold a few days ago, which means that it became inaccessible. </p>
<p>TorrentFreak spoke to an operator of Yggtorrent who explains that the site receives thousands of DMCA complaints and that it&#8217;s impossible to answer them all. They&#8217;ll now leave the .com domain domain behind and move to a new one, <a href="https://yggtorrent.is/">Yggtorrent.is</a>.</p>
<p>Instead of using Internet.bs as registrar, the new domain name was purchased through <a href="https://njal.la/">Njalla</a>, the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-founder-launches-anonymous-domain-registration-service-170419/">privacy-oriented domain registration service</a> that was founded by former Pirate Bay spokesperson Peter Sunde.</p>
<p>&#8220;Now, we know that we should not use internet.bs anymore. This is not the first time they suspend a domain name like this. It happened to Extratorrent in the past.</p>
<p>&#8220;We use Njalla right now, it&#8217;s safe,&#8221; Yggtorrent&#8217;s operator adds.</p>
<p>While the site is indeed back online, older torrents may not function as usual, as the tracker of the .com domain is no longer accessible. The site, therefore, recommends users to update the tracker address manually got get them going again.</p>
<p>Yggtorrent appears to come out of this issue relatively unscathed. However, being in the crosshairs of SACEM is not without risk. The organization previously took out What.cd and Zone-Telechargement, among others.</p>
<p><center><strong>Yggtorrent&#8217;s homepage</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/213d30ce.yggback.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/yggback.png" alt="" width="600" height="401" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-153947"></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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=153956
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week on BitTorrent – 04/09/18
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-on-BitTorrent-04-09-18
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/lrhQ2ZlGduY/
content:
<p><img src="media/247e1521.commuter.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/commuter.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="162" class="alignright size-full wp-image-153960">This week we have three newcomers in our chart.</p>
<p>The Commuter 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 weekly movie download chart.</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-pirated-movies-week-bittorrent-04-02-18/">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>(7)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1590193/">The Commuter</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1590193/">6.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDshY43Ol2U">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1413492/">12 Strong</a>  </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1413492/">6.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Denciie5oA">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4500922/">Maze Runner: The Death Cure </a> (Subbed HDrip) </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4500922/">6.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-BTxXm8KSg">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1485796/">The Greatest Showman</a>  </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1485796/">7.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zOeiLhcgPo">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4209788">Molly&#8217;s Game</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4209788">7.5</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu4UPet8Nyc&#038;t=2s">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(8)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1825683/">Black Panther</a> (HDTS)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1825683/">7.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjDjIWPwcPU">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6294822/">The Post</a>  </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6294822/">7.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euJs4-vcf9o">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2527336/">Star Wars: The Last Jedi</a>  </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2527336/">7.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0CbN8sfihY">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(8)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4925292/">Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle</a>  </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4925292/">7.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNi_HC839Wo">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4477536/">Fifty Shades Freed</a>  </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4477536/">4.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJCc5HRPxYA">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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=153913
title: Piracy Falls 6%, in Spain, But It’s Still a Multi-Billion Euro Problem
uri: Piracy-Falls-6-in-Spain-But-It-s-Still-a-Multi-Billion-Euro-Probl
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/dqrsLGr0rdo/
content:
<p><a href="media/1e966c9f.piracydown.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/piracydown.jpg"><img src="media/198e8dc2.piracydown.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/piracydown.jpg" alt="" width="180" height="162" class="alignright size-full wp-image-73866"></a>The <a href="http://lacoalicion.es/">Coalition of Creators and Content Industries</a>, which represents Spain&#8217;s leading entertainment industry companies, is keeping a close eye on the local piracy landscape.</p>
<p>The outfit has just published its latest Piracy Observatory and Digital Content Consumption Habits report, carried out by the independent consultant GFK, and there is good news to report on headline piracy figures. </p>
<p>During 2017, the report estimates that people accessed unlicensed digital content just over four billion times, which equates to almost 21.9 billion euros in lost revenues. While this is a significant number, it&#8217;s a decrease of 6% compared to 2016 and an accumulated decrease of 9% compared to 2015, the coalition reports.</p>
<p>Overall, movies are most popular with pirates, with 34% helping themselves to content without paying.</p>
<p>&#8220;The volume of films accessed illegally during 2017 was 726 million, with a market value of 5.7 billion euros, compared to 6.9 billion in 2016. 35% of accesses happened while the film was still on screens in cinema theaters, while this percentage was 33% in 2016,&#8221; the report notes.</p>
<p>TV shows are in a close second position with 30% of users gobbling up 945 million episodes illegally during 2017. A surprisingly high 24% of users went for eBooks, with music relegated to fourth place with &#8216;just&#8217; 22%, followed by videogames (11%) and football (10%).</p>
<p>The reasons given by pirates for their habits are both varied and familiar. 51% said that original content is too expensive while 43% said that taking the illegal route &#8220;is fast and easy&#8221;. Half of the pirates said that simply paying for an internet connection was justification for getting content for free.</p>
<p>A quarter of all pirates believe that they aren&#8217;t doing anyone any harm, with the same number saying they get content without paying because there are no consequences for doing so. But it isn&#8217;t just pirates themselves in the firing line.</p>
<p>Perhaps unsurprisingly given the current climate, the report heavily criticizes search engines for facilitating access to infringing content.</p>
<p>&#8220;With 75%, search engines are the main method of accessing illegal content and Google is used for nine out of ten accesses to pirate content,&#8221; the report reads.</p>
<p>&#8220;Regarding social networks, Facebook is the most used method of access (83%), followed by Twitter (42%) and Instagram (34%). Therefore it is most valuable that Facebook has reached agreements with different industries to become a legal source and to regulate access to content.&#8221;</p>
<p>Once on pirate sites, some consumers reported difficulties in determining whether they&#8217;re legal or not. Around 15% said that they had &#8220;big difficulties&#8221; telling whether a site is authorized with 44% saying they had problems &#8220;sometimes&#8221;.</p>
<p>That being said, given the amount of advertising on pirate sites, it&#8217;s no surprise that most knew a pirate site when they visited one and, according to the report, advertising placement is only on the up.</p>
<p>Just over a quarter of advertising appearing on pirate sites features well-known brands, although this is a reduction from more than 37% in 2016. This needs to be further improved, the coalition says, via collaboration between all parties involved in the industry.</p>
<p>A curious claim from the report is that 81% of pirate site users said they were required to register in order to use a platform. This resulted in &#8220;transferring personal data&#8221; to pirate site operators who gather it in databases that are used for profitable &#8220;e-marketing campaigns&#8221;.</p>
<p>&#8220;Pirate sites also get much more valuable data than one could imagine which allow them to get important economic benefits, as for example, Internet surfing habits, other websites visited by consumers, preferences, likes, and purchase habits,&#8221; the report states.</p>
<p>So what can be done to reduce consumer reliance on pirate sites? The report finds that consumers are largely in line with how the entertainment industries believe piracy should or could be tackled.</p>
<p>&#8220;The most efficient measures against piracy would be, according to the internet users’ own view, blocking access to the website offering content (78%) and penalizing internet providers (73%),&#8221; the report reads.</p>
<p>&#8220;Following these two, the best measure to reduce infringements would be, according to consumers, to promote social awareness campaigns against piracy (61%). This suggests that increased collaboration between the content sector and the ISPs (Internet Service Providers) could count on consumers’ support and positive assessment.&#8221;</p>
<p>Finally, consumers in Spain are familiar with the legal options, should they wish to take that route in future. Netflix awareness in the country is at 91%, Spotify at 81%, with Movistar+ and HBO at 80% and 68% respectively.</p>
<p>&#8220;This invalidates the reasons given by pirate users who said they did so because of the lack of an accessible legal offer at affordable prices,&#8221; the report adds.</p>
<p>However, those who take the plunge into the legal world don&#8217;t always kick the pirate habit, with the paper stating that users of pirates sites tend to carry on pirating, although they do pirate less in some sectors, notably music. The study also departs from findings in other regions that pirates can also be avid consumers of legitimate content.</p>
<p>Several reports, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirates-are-the-music-industrys-most-valuable-customers-100122/">from the UK</a>, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/swedish-pirates-are-more-likely-to-buy-legal-content-151112/">Sweden</a>, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/surprise-aussie-internet-pirates-are-the-best-customers-161121/">Australia</a>, and even from <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirates-movie-industrys-valuable-customers-140304/">Hollywood</a>, have clearly indicated that pirates are the entertainment industries&#8217; best customers.</p>
<p>In Spain, however, the situation appears to be much more pessimistic, with only 8% of people who access illegal digital content paying for legal content too. That seems low given that Netflix alone had more than a million Spanish subscribers at the end of 2017 and six million Spanish households <a href="https://www.telecompaper.com/news/spanish-pay-tv-penetration-to-top-40-by-2021-study--1239296">currently subscribe</a> to other pay TV services.</p>
<p>The report is available here <em>(Spanish, <a href="media/c91e6fd0.ndp-observatorio-2017-es.pdf" data-original-source="http://lacoalicion.es/wp-content/uploads/ndp-observatorio-2017-es.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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154001
title: Roku Bans Popular Social IPTV Linking Service cCloud TV
uri: Roku-Bans-Popular-Social-IPTV-Linking-Service-cCloud-TV
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/BWBJ9aeg2x8/
content:
<p><a href="media/fb4771ff.roku-e1502784984505.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/roku-e1502784984505.png"><img src="media/2d29bd11.roku-e1502784984505.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/roku-e1502784984505.png" alt="" width="277" height="241" class="alignright size-full wp-image-143176"></a>Despite being one of the more popular set-top box platforms, until last year Roku managed to stay completely out of the piracy conversation.</p>
<p>However, due to abuse of its system by third-parties, last June the Superior Court of Justice of the City of Mexico <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/roku-sales-banned-in-mexico-over-piracy-concerns-170619/">banned</a> the importation and distribution of Roku devices in the country.</p>
<p>The decision followed a complaint filed by cable TV provider Cablevision, which said that some Roku channels and their users were infringing its distribution rights.</p>
<p>Since then, Roku has been fighting to have the ban lifted, previously informing TF that it expressly prohibits copyright infringement of any kind. That led to several more legal processes yet last month and after considerable effort, the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/controversial-roku-piracy-ban-stays-in-place-in-mexico-180323/">ban was upheld</a>, much to Roku&#8217;s disappointment.</p>
<p>“It is necessary for Roku to make adjustments to its software, as other online content distribution platforms do, so that violations of copyrighted content do not take place,” Cablevision said.</p>
<p>Then, at the end of March, Roku suddenly <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/roku-removes-ustvnow-service-following-3rd-party-copyright-complaint-180329/">banned the USTVnow channel</a> from its platform, citing a third-party copyright complaint.</p>
<p>In a series of emails with TF, the company declined to offer further details but there is plenty of online speculation that the decision was a move towards the &#8220;adjustments&#8221; demanded by Cablevision. Today yet more fuel is being poured onto that same fire with Roku&#8217;s decision to ban the popular <a href="http://ccloudtv.org/">cCloud TV</a> service from its platform.</p>
<p><a href="media/e1315bd9.ccloud.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/ccloud.jpg"><img src="media/41f12e9f.ccloud.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ccloud.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="235" class="alignright size-full wp-image-154003"></a>For those unfamiliar with cCloud TV, it&#8217;s a video streaming platform that relies on users to contribute media links found on the web, whether they&#8217;re movie and TV shows or live sporting events.</p>
<p>&#8220;Project cCloud TV is known as the &#8216;Popcorn Time for Live TV&#8217;. The project started with 50 channels and has grown over time and now has over 4000 channels from all around the world,&#8221; its founder &#8216;Bane&#8217; told TF back in 2016.</p>
<p>&#8220;The project was inspired by Popcorn Time and its simplicity for streaming torrents. The service works based on media links that can be found anywhere on the web and the cCloud project makes it easier for users to stream.&#8221;</p>
<p>Aside from the vast array of content cCloud offers, its versatility is almost unrivaled. In an addition to working via most modern web browsers, it&#8217;s also accessible using smartphones, tablets, Plex media server, Kodi, VLC, and (until recently at least) Roku.</p>
<p>But cCloud and USTVnow aren&#8217;t the only services suffering bans at Roku.</p>
<p>As highlighted by <a href="https://www.cordcuttersnews.com/roku-bans-ccloud-tv-as-their-piracy-crackdown-continues/">CordCuttersNews</a>, other channels are also suffering similar fates, such as XTV that was previously <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/roku-shows-fbi-warning-to-pirate-channel-users-171009/">replaced with an FBI warning</a>.</p>
<p>cCloud has had problems on Kodi too. Back in September 2017, TVAddons <a href="https://www.tvaddons.co/ccloudtv-kodi-addon/">announced</a> that it had been forced to remove the cCloud addon from its site.</p>
<p>&#8220;cCloud TV has been removed from our web site due to a complaint made by Bell, Rogers, Videotron and TVA on June 12th, 2017 as part of their lawsuit against our web site,&#8221; the site announced.</p>
<p>&#8220;Prior to hearing of the lawsuit, we had never received a single complaint relating to the cCloud TV addon for Kodi. cCloud TV for Kodi was developed by podgod, and was basically an interface for the community-based web service that goes by the same name.&#8221;</p>
<p>Last week, TVAddons went on to publish an &#8220;<a href="https://www.tvaddons.co/blacklisted-addons-spring2018/">blacklist</a>&#8221; that lists addons that have the potential to deliver content not authorized by rightsholders. Among many others, the list contains cCloud, meaning that potential users will now have to obtain it directly from the Kodi Bae Repository on Github instead.</p>
<p>At the time of publication, Roku had not responded to TorrentFreak&#8217;s request for comment.</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154015
title: Publisher Gets Carte Blanche to Seize New Sci-Hub Domains
uri: Publisher-Gets-Carte-Blanche-to-Seize-New-Sci-Hub-Domains
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/X21epyUueoM/
content:
<p><img src="media/398ad51b.scilogo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/scilogo.jpg" alt="" width="222" height="222" class="alignright size-full wp-image-118526">While Sci-Hub is loved by thousands of researchers and academics around the world, copyright holders are doing everything in their power to wipe if off the web.</p>
<p>Following a $15 million defeat <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/sci-hub-ordered-to-pay-15-million-in-piracy-damages-170623/">against Elsevier</a> last June, the American Chemical Society (ACS) won a default judgment of $4.8 million in copyright damages <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/us-court-grants-isps-and-search-engine-blockade-of-sci-hub-171106/">a few months later</a>.</p>
<p>The publisher was further granted a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/us-court-grants-isps-and-search-engine-blockade-of-sci-hub-171106/">broad injunction</a>, requiring various third-party services to stop providing access to the site. This includes domain registries, hosting companies and search engines.</p>
<p>Soon after the order was signed, several of Sci-Hub&#8217;s domain names became unreachable as domain registries <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/cloudflare-terminates-service-to-sci-hub-domain-names-180205/">and Cloudflare</a> complied with the court order. Still, Sci-Hub remained available all this time, with help from several newly registered domain names.</p>
<p>Frustrated by <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/sci-hub-battles-pirate-bay-esque-domain-name-whack-a-mole-171216/">Sci-Hub&#8217;s resilience</a>, ACS recently went back to court asking for an amended injunction. The publisher requested the authority to seize any and all Sci-Hub domain names, also those that will be registered in the future.</p>
<p>&#8220;Plaintiff has been forced to engage in a game of &#8216;whac-a-mole&#8217; whereby new &#8216;sci-hub&#8217; domain names emerge,&#8221; ACS informed the court.</p>
<p>&#8220;Further complicating matters, some registries, registrars, and Internet service providers have refused to disable newer Sci-Hub domain names that were not specifically identified in the Complaint or the injunction&#8221; </p>
<p>Soon after the request was submitted, US District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema agreed to the amended language. </p>
<p>The amended injunction now requires search engines, hosting companies, domain registrars, and other service or software providers, to cease facilitating access to Sci-Hub. This includes, but is not limited to, the following domain names.</p>
<p><em>&#8216;sci-hub.ac, scihub.biz, sci-hub.bz, sci-hub.cc, sci-hub.cf, sci-hub.cn, sci-hub.ga, sci-hub.gq, scihub.hk, sci-hub.is, sci-hub.la, sci-hub.name, sci-hub.nu, sci-hub.nz, sci-hub.onion, scihub22266oqcxt.onion, sci-hub.tw, and sci-hub.ws.&#8217;</em></p>
<p><center><strong>From the injunction</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/fe16e6b6.sci-hub-amend.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/sci-hub-amend.png" alt="" width="600" height="261" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-154024"></center></p>
<p>The new injunction makes ACS&#8217; enforcement efforts much more effective. It effectively means that third-party services can no longer refuse to comply because a Sci-Hub domain is not listed in the complaint or injunction.</p>
<p>This already appears to have had some effect, as several domain names including sci-hub.la and sci-hub.tv became inaccessible soon after the paperwork was signed. Still, it is unlikely that it will help to shut down the site completely. </p>
<p>Several service providers are not receptive to US Court orders. One example is Iceland&#8217;s domain registry ISNIC and indeed, at the time of writing, Sci-Hub.is is still widely available. </p>
<p>Seizing .onion domain names, which are used on the Tor network, may also prove to be a challenge. After all, there is no central registration organization involved. </p>
<p>For now, Sci-Hub founder and operator Alexandra Elbakyan appears determined to keep the site online, whatever it takes. While it may be a hassle for users to find the latest <a href="https://adrien-chopin.weebly.com/free-scientific-academic-articles.html">working domain names</a>, the new court order is not the end of the &#8220;whac-a-mole&#8221; just yet.</p>
<p><em>&#8212;</p>
<p>A copy of the amended injunction is available <a href="media/7a0830d6.acssciamend.pdf" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/acssciamend.pdf">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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154046
title: MPA Reveals Scale of Worldwide Pirate Site Blocking
uri: MPA-Reveals-Scale-of-Worldwide-Pirate-Site-Blocking
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/1GyHpevLNjA/
content:
<p><img src="media/dbc19bcc.mpacan.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/mpacan.png" width="248" height="154" class="alignright size-large">Few people following the controversial topic of Internet piracy will be unaware of the site-blocking phenomenon. It&#8217;s now one of the main weapons in the entertainment industries&#8217; arsenal and it&#8217;s affecting dozens of countries.</p>
<p>While general figures can be culled from the hundreds of news reports covering the issue, the manner in which blocking is handled in several regions means that updates aren&#8217;t always provided. New sites are regularly added to blocklists without fanfare, meaning that the public is kept largely in the dark.</p>
<p>Now, however, a submission to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) by Motion Picture Association Canada provides a more detailed overview. It was presented in support of the proposed <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/new-anti-piracy-coalition-calls-for-canadian-website-blocking-180130/">blocking regime in Canada</a>, so while the key figures are no doubt accurate, some of the supporting rhetoric should be viewed in context.</p>
<p>&#8220;Over the last decade, at least 42 countries have either adopted and implemented, or are legally obligated to adopt and implement, measures to ensure that ISPs take steps to disable access to copyright infringing websites, including throughout the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, and South Korea,&#8221; the submission reads.</p>
<p>The 42 blocking-capable countries referenced by the Hollywood group include the members of the <a href="https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/countries/member-countries_en">European Union</a> plus the following: Argentina, Australia, Iceland, India, Israel, Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Mexico, Norway, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand.</p>
<p>While all countries have their own unique sets of legislation, countries within the EU are covered by the requirements of Article 8.3 of the INFOSEC Directive which provides that; “Member States shall ensure that rightholders are in a position to apply for an injunction against intermediaries whose services are used by a third party to infringe a copyright or related right.&#8221;</p>
<p>That doesn&#8217;t mean that all countries are actively blocking, however. While Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia have the legal basis to block infringing sites, none have yet done so.</p>
<p>In a significant number of other EU countries, however, blocking activity is prolific.</p>
<p>&#8220;To date, in at least 17 European countries, over 1,800 infringing sites and over 5,300 domains utilized by such sites have been blocked, including in the following four countries where the positive impact of site-blocking over time has been demonstrated,&#8221; MPA Canada notes.</p>
<p><center><strong>Major blocking nations in the EU</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/cf068c49.eublocktop.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/eublocktop.png" width="596" height="261" class="aligncenter size-large"></center></p>
<p>At this point, it&#8217;s worth pointing out that authority to block sites is currently being obtained in two key ways, either through the courts or via an administrative process.</p>
<p>In the examples above, the UK and Denmark are dealt with via the former, with Italy and Portugal handled via the latter. At least as far as the volume of sites is concerned, court processes &#8211; which can be expensive &#8211; tend to yield lower site blocking levels than those carried out through an administrative process. Indeed, the MPAA has <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-says-portugals-pirate-site-blocking-system-is-world-leader-161007/">praised</a> Portugal&#8217;s super-streamlined efforts as something to aspire to.</p>
<p>Outside Europe, the same two processes are also in use. For example, Australia, Argentina, and Singapore utilize the judicial route while South Korea, Mexico, Malaysia and Indonesia have opted for administrative remedies.</p>
<p>&#8220;Across 10 of these countries, over 1,100 infringing sites and over 1,500 domains utilized by such sites have been blocked,&#8221; MPA Canada reveals.</p>
<p>To date, South Korea has blocked 460 sites and 547 domains, while Australia has blocked 91 sites and 355 domains. In the case of the latter, &#8220;research has confirmed the increasingly positive impact that site-blocking has, as a greater number of sites are blocked over time,&#8221; the Hollywood group notes.</p>
<p>Although by no means comprehensive, MPA Canada lists the following &#8220;Notorious Sites&#8221; as subject to blocking in multiple countries via both judicial and administrative means. Most will be familiar, with the truly notorious The Pirate Bay heading the pile. Several no longer exist in their original form but in many cases, clones are blocked as if they still represent the original target.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/fbac3ce1.notblock1-e1523365258531.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/notblock1-e1523365258531.png"><img src="media/fbac3ce1.notblock1-e1523365258531.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/notblock1-e1523365258531.png" alt="" width="600" height="819" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-154049"></a></center><br>
<center><a href="media/ca6bab49.notblock2-e1523365307830.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/notblock2-e1523365307830.png"><img src="media/ca6bab49.notblock2-e1523365307830.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/notblock2-e1523365307830.png" alt="" width="600" height="670" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-154050"></a></center></p>
<p>The methods used to block the sites vary from country to country, dependent on what courts deem fit and in consideration of ISPs&#8217; technical capabilities. Three main tools are in use including DNS blocking, IP address blocking, and URL blocking, which can also include Deep Packet Inspection.</p>
<p>The MPA submission <em>(<a href="media/4fed493e.mpa-can.pdf" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/mpa-can.pdf">pdf</a>)</em> is strongly in favor of adding Canada to the list of site-blocking countries detailed above. The Hollywood group believes that the measures are both <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/australian-pirate-site-blocks-actually-block-pirate-sites-180221/">effective</a> and <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bays-domain-suffers-40-traffic-drop-after-dutch-blocking-180302/">proportionate</a>, citing reduced usage of blocked sites, reduced traffic to pirate sites in general, and increased visits to legitimate platforms.</p>
<p>&#8220;There is every reason to believe that the website blocking measures [presented to the CRTC] will lead to the same beneficial results in Canada,&#8221; MPA Canada states.</p>
<p>While plenty of content creators and distributors are in favor of proposals, all signs suggest they will have a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/key-internet-players-excoriate-canadian-pirate-site-blocking-plan-180323/">battle</a> on their hands, with even some ISPs coming out in <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/not-all-canadian-isps-are-pro-site-blocking-180406/">opposition</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154072
title: Reddit Copyright Complaints Jump 138% But Almost Half Get Rejected
uri: Reddit-Copyright-Complaints-Jump-138-But-Almost-Half-Get-Rejected
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/dwILG4TeNGE/
content:
<p><img src="media/981b03c0.redditp.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/redditp.png" width="250" height="186" class="alignright size-large">So-called &#8216;transparency reports&#8217; are becoming increasingly popular with Internet-based platforms and their users. Among other things, they provide much-needed insight into how outsiders attempt to censor content published online and what actions are taken in response.</p>
<p>Google first started publishing its report in 2010, Twitter followed in 2012, and they’ve now been joined by a multitude of major companies including Microsoft, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/facebook-rejects-31-of-all-piracy-takedown-requests-171219/">Facebook</a> and Cloudflare.</p>
<p>As one of the world&#8217;s most recognized sites, Reddit joined the transparency party fairly late, publishing its <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/reddit-rejects-62-of-all-copyright-complaints-150130/">first report</a> in early 2015. While light on detail, it revealed that in the previous year the site received just 218 requests to remove content, 81% of which were DMCA-style copyright notices. A significant 62% of those copyright-related requests were rejected.</p>
<p>Over time, Reddit&#8217;s reporting has become a little more detailed. Last April it revealed that in 2016, the platform received &#8216;just&#8217; 3,294 copyright removal requests for the entire year. However, what really caught the eye is how many notices were rejected. In just 610 instances, Reddit was required to remove content from the site, a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/reddit-rejects-81-of-all-piracy-takedown-notices-170416/">rejection rate of 81%</a>.</p>
<p>Having been a year since Reddit&#8217;s last report, the company has just published its latest edition, covering the period January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017. </p>
<p>&#8220;Reddit publishes this transparency report every year as part of our ongoing commitment to keep you aware of the trends on the various requests regarding private Reddit user account information or removal of content posted to Reddit,&#8221; the company said in a statement.</p>
<p>&#8220;Reddit believes that maintaining this transparency is extremely important. We want you to be aware of this information, consider it carefully, and ask questions to keep us accountable.&#8221;</p>
<p>The detailed report covers a wide range of topics, including government requests for the preservation or production of user information (there were 310) and even an instruction to monitor one Reddit user&#8217;s activities in real time via a so-called &#8216;Trap and Trace&#8217; order.</p>
<p>In copyright terms, there has been significant movement. In 2017, Reddit received 7,825 notifications of alleged copyright infringement under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, that&#8217;s up roughly 138% over the 3,294 notifications received in 2016.</p>
<p>For a platform of Reddit&#8217;s unquestionable size, these volumes are not big. While the massive percentage increase is notable, the site still receives less than 10 complaints each day. For comparison, Google receives millions every week.</p>
<p>But perhaps most telling is that despite receiving more than 7,800 DMCA-style takedown notices, these resulted in Reddit carrying out just 4,352 removals. This means that for whatever reasons (Reddit doesn&#8217;t specify), 3,473 requests were denied, a rejection rate of 44.38%. Google, on the other hand, removes around 90% of content reported.</p>
<p>DMCA notices can be declared invalid for a number of reasons, from incorrect formatting through to flat-out abuse. In many cases, copyright law is incorrectly applied and it&#8217;s not unknown for complainants to attempt a DMCA takedown to stifle speech or perceived competition.</p>
<p>Reddit says it tries to take all things into consideration before removing content.</p>
<p>&#8220;Reddit reviews each DMCA takedown notice carefully, and removes content where a valid report is received, as required by the law,&#8221; the company says.</p>
<p>&#8220;Reddit considers whether the reported content may fall under an exception listed in the DMCA, such as &#8216;fair use,&#8217; and may ask for clarification that will assist in the review of the removal request.&#8221;</p>
<p>Considering the numbers of community-focused “subreddits” dedicated to piracy (not just general discussion, but actual links to content), the low numbers of copyright notices received by Reddit continues to baffle.</p>
<p>There are sections in existence right now offering many links to movies and TV shows hosted on various file-hosting sites. They&#8217;re the type of links that are targeted all the time whenever they appear in Google search but copyright owners don&#8217;t appear to notice or care about them on Reddit.</p>
<p>Finally, it would be nice if Reddit could provide more information in next year&#8217;s report, including detail on why so many requests are rejected. Perhaps regular submission of notices to the <a href="https://lumendatabase.org/">Lumen Database</a> would be something Reddit would consider for the future.</p>
<p>Reddit&#8217;s Transparency Report for 2017 can be found <a href="https://www.redditinc.com/policies/transparency-report">here</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154047
title: MPAA Quietly Shut Down Its ‘Legal’ Movie Search Engine
uri: MPAA-Quietly-Shut-Down-Its-Legal-Movie-Search-Engine
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/ZTGEA_YYmpc/
content:
<p><img src="media/925ff127.wheretowatch.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/wheretowatch.png" alt="" width="236" height="134" class="alignright size-full wp-image-97221">During the fall of 2014, Hollywood launched <a href="http://wheretowatch.com/">WhereToWatch</a>, its very own search engine for movies and TV-shows.</p>
<p>The site enabled people to check if and where the latest entertainment was available, hoping to steer U.S. visitors away from pirate sites.</p>
<p>Aside from the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/fail-mpaa-makes-legal-content-unfindable-google-141122/">usual critics</a>, the launch received a ton of favorable press. This was soon followed up by another release <a href="https://www.mpaa.org/in_the_news/wheretowatch-com/">highlighting</a> some of the positive responses and praise from the press.</p>
<p>“The initiative marks a further attempt by the MPAA to combat rampant online piracy by reminding consumers of legal means to watch movies and TV shows,” the <a href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-mpaa-website-20141111-story.html">LA Times wrote</a>, for example. </p>
<p>Over the past several years, the site hasn&#8217;t appeared in the news much, but it did help thousands of people find legal sources for the latest entertainment. However, those who try to access it today will notice that WhereToWatch has been abandoned, quietly. </p>
<p>The MPAA pulled the plug on the service a few months ago. And where the mainstream media covered its launch in detail, the shutdown received zero mentions. So why did the site fold?</p>
<p>According to MPAA Vice President of Corporate Communications, Chris Ortman, it was no longer needed as there are many similar search engines out there. </p>
<p>&#8220;Given the many search options commercially available today, which can be found on the MPAA website, WheretoWatch.com was discontinued at the conclusion of 2017,&#8221; Ortman informs TF.</p>
<p>“There are more than 140 lawful online platforms in the United States for accessing film and television content, and more than 460 around the world,&#8221; he adds.  </p>
<p>The MPAA lists several of these alternative search engines <a href="https://www.mpaa.org/what-we-do/fostering-innovation/#where-to-watch">on its new website</a>. The old WhereToWatch domain now forwards to the MPAA&#8217;s online magazine &#8216;The Credits,&#8217; which features behind-the-scenes stories and industry profiles. </p>
<p>While the MPAA is right that there are alternative search engines, many of these were already available when WhereToWatch launched. In fact, the site used the services of the competing service <a href="http://gowatchit.com/">GoWatchIt</a> for its search results. </p>
<p>Perhaps the lack of interest from the U.S. public played a role as well. The site never really took off and according to traffic estimates from SimilarWeb and Alexa, most of the visitors came from Iran, where the site was unusable due to a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/hollywood-anti-piracy-initiative-requires-a-vpn-outside-the-u-s-150422/">geo-block</a>.</p>
<p>After searching long and hard we were able to track down a former WhereToWatch user <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/7jfymr/replacement_for_wheretowatchcom/">on Reddit</a>. This person just started to get into the service and was disappointed to see it go.</p>
<p>&#8220;So, does anyone know of better places or simply other places where this information lives in an easily accessible place?&#8221; he or she asked.</p>
<p>One person responded by recommending Icefilms.info, a pirate site. This is a response the MPAA would cringe at, but luckily, most people mentioned <a href="https://www.justwatch.com/">justwatch.com</a> as the best alternative.</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154125
title: Russia Blocks 500+ Google IPs & Domains, Fails to Shutdown Encrypted Chat App
uri: Russia-Blocks-500-Google-IPs-Domains-Fails-to-Shutdown-Encrypted-C
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/8kz2RTttG6s/
content:
<p><a href="media/ec295b70.googlelogo.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/googlelogo.png"><img src="media/367885e7.googlelogo.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/googlelogo.png" alt="" width="250" height="83" class="alignright size-full wp-image-135049"></a>Zello is an encrypted app which acts as a kind of ‘walkie-talkie’, assisting communication between close friends or in groups of up to a thousand people.</p>
<p>Zello gained a lot of publicity in 2017 when it was used as an unofficial rescue co-ordination tool while Hurricane Harvey was battering the United States. It soon shot to the top of the download charts after being downloaded a million times in a day.</p>
<p>While Zello is a great tool, it is not popular with the Russian government. Under the so-called ‘Yarovaya law‘, services like Zello, plus ISPs and other telecoms companies, are required to pre-register with Russian telecoms watchdog Rozcomnadzor. They are also required to share encryption keys so that law enforcement can decrypt messages.</p>
<p>Zello has reportedly done neither and as a result is being targeted by the Russian government, which has tried to block it <a href="https://roskomsvoboda.org/30808/">more than 70 times</a> since April 2017.</p>
<p>As reported last month, local telecoms watchdog Rozcomnadzor told ISPs to carry out &#8220;<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/russia-asked-isps-to-block-13-5-million-amazon-ip-addresses-to-silence-one-app-180331/">a new experiment</a>&#8221; to block 15 million IP addresses &#8211; most of them owned by Amazon &#8211; to take the app down.</p>
<p>Zello co-founder Zello Alexei Gavrilov later revealed that Amazon had effectively told his company not to use its services anymore.</p>
<p>&#8220;The latest in this story: let&#8217;s block half the Internet for Zello&#8217;s sake,&#8221; he <a href="https://www.vedomosti.ru/politics/news/2018/04/03/755684-amazon-zapretil-zello-ispolzovat-ego-platformi-dlya-obhoda-blokirovok">said</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;Half the Internet was not blocked, but nevertheless, it had some effect, and as a result, Amazon came to us, whose service we used, and Amazon asked us not to do what we did to circumvent the blocks using the Amazon platform.&#8221;</p>
<p>But despite the Amazon ban, Zello still managed to keep operating by using the services of another hosting company. It now transpires that at least in part, Zello is being kept on the air by Google, whose services the comms app now uses. That hasn&#8217;t gone unnoticed by Russian authorities who are now taking steps to hit Zello in its new home.</p>
<p><a href="https:///technology/articles/2018/04/11/766420-roskomnadzor-zablokiroval-google">Vedomosti</a> reports that telecoms watchdog Rozcomnadzor has already taken sweeping action by blocking 286 IP addresses and 285 domains belonging to Google, which have now been added to Russia&#8217;s national blacklist.</p>
<p>&#8220;Technical domains and Google addresses have been entered in the register of prohibited resources on the basis of the request of the General Prosecutor&#8217;s Office &#8211; in connection with the restriction of access to the Zello service,&#8221; the publication reports.</p>
<p>News site Roskomvoboda reports that the blocking of Google IP addresses and domains was scheduled to go ahead last week, including many under googleusercontent.com, the domain used for loading content from the Google CDN.</p>
<p>Telecoms watchdog Rozcomnadzor insists that blocking the Google addresses won&#8217;t affect the operation of other Internet services but a representative from Roskomvoboda said that is impossible to predict or guarantee, given the fluid nature of IP address allocation.</p>
<p>In any event, Zello continues to operate so that&#8217;s one service that remains unaffected by the drastic action.</p>
<p>It seems unlikely that Russia will give up trying to block Zello. While the software has been used for humanitarian causes, it has reportedly been used by workers coordinating strikes and even terrorist groups. The same can be said of any communications system, of course, but since Zello is end-to-end encrypted, the authorities want the ability to listen in.</p>
<p>Founded in Russia but now based in the US, Zello doesn&#8217;t want to share its keys with Russia, nor does it want to store the telecoms data of 400,000 Russian users as local law now dictates.</p>
<p>Amendments to come into force this year requires services like Zello to store the actual content of user communications for six months and metadata (such as who communicated with who, when, and for how long) for three years. At least for now, Zello doesn&#8217;t intend being spied upon.</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154094
title: uTorrent Flagged as ‘Threat’ by Microsoft and Anti-Virus Vendors
uri: uTorrent-Flagged-as-Threat-by-Microsoft-and-Anti-Virus-Vendors
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/tKE-7lmLBV4/
content:
<p><img src="media/efbdb5d9.utorrent4.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/utorrent4.png" alt="" width="277" height="181" class="alignright size-full wp-image-154140">Installed on dozens of millions of devices, uTorrent is the go-to torrent client for people all around the world.</p>
<p>While the software usually runs without hassle, many users started to experience problems recently. Several anti-virus tools, including Windows Defender, suddenly labeled the torrent client as dangerous. </p>
<p>Microsoft categorizes the affected clients as &#8220;Potentially Unwanted Software,&#8221; as can be seen below. The company has had a <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/wdsi/threats/malware-encyclopedia-description?Name=PUA:Win32/Utorrent">dedicated Utorrent page</a> for a while, labeling it as a severe threat. This week, however, alarm bells started to go off on a broader scale.</p>
<p><center><strong>uTorrent threat</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/443e768b.utorrentthreat.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/utorrentthreat.png" alt="" width="600" height="203" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-154137"></center></p>
<p>It&#8217;s unclear what exactly triggered the recent warning. According to VirusTotal, a handful of anti-virus companies label uTorrent as problematic. ESET-NOD32 lists &#8220;Web Companion&#8221; as the trigger, which likely points to Lavasoft&#8217;s Ad-Aware software, which is sometimes bundled with uTorrent. </p>
<p>uTorrent parent company BitTorrent Inc. is aware of the problems but believes they&#8217;re false positives triggered by one of their recent releases.</p>
<p>&#8220;We believe that this passive flag changed to active just hours ago with the Windows patch Tuesday update, when a small percent of users started getting an explicit block,&#8221; the company told us.</p>
<p>&#8220;We had three uTorrent executables being served from our site. Two were going to 95% of our users and were not part of the Windows block. The third, which was going to 5% of users, was part of the Windows block.  We stopped shipping that and confirmed we are no longer seeing any blocks.&#8221;  </p>
<p>The issue doesn&#8217;t appear to be restricted to new installs only. Several users have reported that their uTorrent application was suddenly quarantined as unwanted software, possibly after an automatic update. </p>
<p>We rechecked the VirusTotal result with the most current uTorrent release, and this is still flagged by <a href="https://www.virustotal.com/#/file/016b06c187e2c2c12904f1dddc6850ff4a322c3f0d2086a516b5e79b2a7cdc09/detection">six anti-virus vendors</a>.</p>
<p><center><strong>VirusTotal results</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/b9faa4ec.virustotal.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/virustotal.png" alt="" width="600" height="340" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-154146"></center></p>
<p>But that&#8217;s not all. The uTorrent download page itself also triggers a warning from MalwareBytes&#8217; real-time protection module, which brands the website itself as malicious. </p>
<p>Interestingly, when trying to install uTorrent, Windows lists Lavasoft Software Canada as the verified publisher. While Lavasoft&#8217;s &#8220;Ad-Aware WebCompanion&#8221; is regularly bundled with uTorrent as an &#8216;offer,&#8217; we didn&#8217;t get that option when we last tried, nor was it installed.</p>
<p>After we installed it during an initial test yesterday, we did notice that WebCompanion was installed around the same time. However, we have been unable to replicate this result. </p>
<p>BitTorrent Inc. stresses that any of the offers users get during the install process are optional, Google-compliant, and in accordance with the Clean Software Alliance (CSA) standards.</p>
<p>Whatever is causing the red flags at Microsoft and the other companies remains a mystery for now, also for BitTorrent Inc.</p>
<p>&#8220;Based on our best assessment to date, we&#8217;ve found no reason why we would be blocked &#8211; especially on some builds and not others which are basically identical,&#8221; BitTorrent says. </p>
<p>&#8220;We are continuing to reach out, though, and hope to have more information,&#8221; the company adds.</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154167
title: WHOIS Limits Under GDPR Will Make Pirates Harder to Catch, Groups Fear
uri: WHOIS-Limits-Under-GDPR-Will-Make-Pirates-Harder-to-Catch-Groups-Fear
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/C_shp9o3lrs/
content:
<p><a href="media/6542fb40.eu-copyright.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/eu-copyright.jpg"><img src="media/19bd259d.eu-copyright.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/eu-copyright.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="167" class="alignright size-full wp-image-136985"></a>The General Data Protection Regulation (<a href="https://www.eugdpr.org">GDPR</a>) is a regulation in EU law covering data protection and privacy for all individuals within the European Union.</p>
<p>As more and more personal data is gathered, stored and (ab)used online, the aim of the GDPR is to protect EU citizens from breaches of privacy. The regulation applies to all companies processing the personal data of subjects residing in the Union, no matter where in the world the company is located.</p>
<p>Penalties for non-compliance can be severe. While there is a tiered approach according to severity, organizations can be fined up to 4% of annual global turnover or €20 million, whichever is greater. Needless to say, the regulations will need to be taken seriously.</p>
<p>Among those affected are domain name registries and registrars who publish the personal details of domain name owners in the public WHOIS database. In a full entry, a person or organization&#8217;s name, address, telephone numbers and email addresses can often be found.</p>
<p>This raises a serious issue. While registries and registrars are instructed and contractually obliged to publish data in the WHOIS database by global domain name authority ICANN, in millions of cases this conflicts with the requirements of the GDPR, which prevents the details of private individuals being made freely available on the Internet.</p>
<p>As explained <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/01/europes-gdpr-will-force-icann-improve-whois-privacy">in detail</a> by the EFF, ICANN has been trying to resolve this clash. Its proposed interim model for GDPR compliance <em>(<a href="media/1992bc22.interim-model-gdpr-compliance-summary-description-28feb18-en.pdf" data-original-source="https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/proposed-interim-model-gdpr-compliance-summary-description-28feb18-en.pdf">pdf</a>)</em> envisions registrars continuing to collect full WHOIS data but not necessarily publishing it, to &#8220;allow the existing data<br>
to be preserved while the community discussions continue on the next generation of WHOIS.&#8221;</p>
<p>But the proposed changes that will inevitably restrict free access to WHOIS information has plenty of people spooked, including thousands of companies belonging to entertainment industry groups such as the MPAA, IFPI, RIAA and the Copyright Alliance.</p>
<p>In a letter sent to Vice President Andrus Ansip of the European Commission, these groups and dozens of others warn that restricted access to WHOIS will have a serious effect on their ability to protect their intellectual property rights from &#8220;cybercriminals&#8221; which pose a threat to their businesses.</p>
<p>Signed by 50 organizations involved in IP protection and other areas of online security, the letter expresses concern that in attempting to comply with the GDPR, ICANN is on a course to &#8220;over-correct&#8221; while disregarding proportionality, accountability and transparency.</p>
<p><center><strong>A small sample of the groups calling on ICANN</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/5b753cad.icann-complaint-e1523604167565.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/icann-complaint-e1523604167565.png"><img src="media/5b753cad.icann-complaint-e1523604167565.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/icann-complaint-e1523604167565.png" alt="" width="600" height="654" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-154190"></a></center></p>
<p>&#8220;We strongly assert that this model does not properly account for the critical public and legitimate interests served by maintaining a sufficient amount of data publicly available while respecting privacy interests of registrants by instituting a tiered or layered access system for the vast majority of personal data as defined by the GDPR,&#8221; the groups write.</p>
<p>The letter focuses on two aspects of &#8220;over-correction&#8221;, the first being ICANN&#8217;s proposal that no personal data whatsoever of a domain name registrant will be made available &#8220;without appropriate consideration or balancing of the countervailing interests in public disclosure of a limited amount of such data.&#8221;</p>
<p>In response to ICANN&#8217;s proposal that only the province/state and country of a domain name registrant be made publicly available, the groups advise the organization that publishing &#8220;a natural person registrant’s e-mail address&#8221; in a publicly accessible WHOIS directory will not constitute a breach of the GDPR.</p>
<p>&#8220;[W]e strongly believe that the continued public availability of the registrant’s e-mail address &#8211; specifically the e-mail address that the registrant supplies to the registrar at the time the domain name is purchased and which e-mail address the registrar is required to validate &#8211; is critical for several reasons,&#8221; the groups write.</p>
<p>&#8220;First, it is the data element that is typically the most important to have readily available for law enforcement, consumer protection, particularly child protection, intellectual property enforcement and cybersecurity/anti-malware purposes.</p>
<p>&#8220;Second, the public accessibility of the registrant’s e-mail address permits a broad array of threats and illegal activities to be addressed quickly and the damage from such threats mitigated and contained in a timely manner, particularly where the abusive/illegal activity may be spawned from a variety of different domain names on different generic Top Level Domains,&#8221; they add.</p>
<p>The groups also argue that since making email addresses is effectively required in light of <a href="https://ukhumanrightsblog.com/incorporated-rights/articles-index/article-5-of-the-echr/">Article 5.1(c) ECD</a>, &#8220;there is no legitimate justification to discontinue public availability of the registrant’s e-mail address in the WHOIS directory and especially not in light of other legitimate purposes.&#8221;</p>
<p>The EFF, on the other hand, says that being able to contact a domain owner wouldn&#8217;t necessarily require an email address to be made public.</p>
<p>&#8220;There are other cases in which it makes sense to allow members of the public to contact the owner of a domain, without having to obtain a court order,&#8221; EFF writes.</p>
<p>&#8220;But this could be achieved very simply if ICANN were simply to provide something like a CAPTCHA-protected contact form, which would deliver email to the appropriate contact point with no need to reveal the registrant’s actual email address.&#8221; </p>
<p>The groups&#8217; second main concern is that ICANN reportedly makes no distinction between name registrants that are &#8220;natural persons versus those that are legal entities&#8221; and intends to treat them all as if they are subject to the GDPR, despite the fact that the regulation only applies to data associated with an &#8220;identified or identifiable natural person”.</p>
<p>They say it is imperative that EU Data Protection Authorities are made to understand that when registrants obtain a domain for illegal purposes, they often only register it as a &#8220;natural person&#8221; when registering as a legal person (legal entity) would be more appropriate, despite that granting them less privacy.</p>
<p>&#8220;Consequently, the test for differentiating between a legal and natural person should not merely be the legal status of the registrant, but also whether the registrant is, in fact, acting as a legal or natural person vis a vis the use of the domain name,&#8221; the groups note.</p>
<p>&#8220;We therefore urge that ICANN be given appropriate guidance as to the importance of maintaining a distinction between natural person and legal person registrants and keeping as much data about legal person domain name registrants as publicly accessible as possible,&#8221; they <a href="media/c631295d.gdpr-comments-sheckler-et-al-article-29-wp-whois-05mar18-en.pdf" data-original-source="https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/gdpr-comments-sheckler-et-al-article-29-wp-whois-05mar18-en.pdf">conclude</a>.</p>
<p>What will happen with WHOIS on May 25 still isn&#8217;t clear. It wasn&#8217;t until October 2017 that ICANN finally determined that it would be affected by the GDPR, meaning that it&#8217;s been scrambling ever since to meet the compliance date. And it still is, according to the latest available documentation <em>(<a href="media/88992dba.ies-cph-timeline-icann-proposed-compliance-models-26mar18-en.pdf" data-original-source="https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/gdpr-comments-contracted-parties-cph-timeline-icann-proposed-compliance-models-26mar18-en.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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154116
title: ‘Pirate’ Android App Store Operator Avoids Prison
uri: Pirate-Android-App-Store-Operator-Avoids-Prison
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/tPWzPMLNees/
content:
<p><img src="media/a415137a.applanet1-300x157.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/applanet1-300x157.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="157" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-83581" srcset="https://torrentfreak.com/images/applanet1-300x157.jpg 300w, https://torrentfreak.com/images/applanet1.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px">Assisted by police in France and the Netherlands, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/fbi-seizes-pirate-android-app-domains-120822/">the FBI took down</a> the “pirate” Android stores Appbucket, Applanet and SnappzMarket in the summer of 2012.</p>
<p>During the years that followed several people connected to the Android app sites were arrested and indicted, and slowly but surely these cases are reaching their conclusions.</p>
<p>This week the Northern District Court of Georgia announced the sentencing of one of the youngest defendants. Aaron Buckley was fifteen when he started working on Applanet, and still a teenager when armed agents <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/busted-android-store-founder-to-crowdfund-battle-against-u-s-govt-140209/">raided his house</a>.</p>
<p>Years passed and a lot has changed since then, Buckley&#8217;s attorney informed the court before sentencing. The former pirate, who pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Copyright Infringement and Criminal Copyright Infringement, is a completely different person today.</p>
<p>Similar to many people who have a run-in with the law, life wasn&#8217;t always easy on him. Computers offered a welcome escape but also dragged Buckley into trouble, something he deeply regrets now.</p>
<p>Following the indictment, things started to change. The Applanet operator picked up his life, away from the computer, and also got involved in community work. Among other things, he plays a leading role in a popular support community for LGBT teenagers. </p>
<p>Given the tough circumstances of his personal life, which we won&#8217;t elaborate on, his attorney requested a downward departure from the regular sentencing guidelines, to allow for lesser punishment.</p>
<p>After considering all the options, District Court Judge Timothy C. Batten agreed to a lower sentence. Unlike some other pirate app stores operators, who must spend <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-android-app-store-member-jailed-for-46-months-160831/">years in prison</a>, Buckley will not be incarcerated. </p>
<p>Instead, the Applanet operator, who is now in his mid-twenties, will be put on probation for three years, including a year of home confinement.  </p>
<p><center><strong>The sentence <a href="media/c25e2562.applanetsentence.pdf" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/applanetsentence.pdf">(pdf)</a></strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/60552c0b.probation.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/probation.png" alt="" width="599" height="86" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-154155"></center></p>
<p>In addition, he has to perform 20 hours of community service and work towards passing a General Educational Development (GED) exam.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s tough to live with the prospect of possibly spending years in jail, especially for more than a decade. Given the circumstances, this sentence must be a huge relief.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak contacted Buckley, who informed us that he is happy with the outcome and ready to work on a bright future.</p>
<p>&#8220;I really respect the government and the judge in their sentencing and am extremely grateful that they took into account all concerns of my health and life situation in regards to possible sentences,&#8221; he tells us.</p>
<p>&#8220;I am just glad to have another chance to use my time and skills to hopefully contribute to society in a more positive way as much as I am capable thanks to the outcome of the case.&#8221;</p>
<p>Time to move on.</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154106
title: IP Address Fail: ISP Doesn’t Have to Hand ‘Pirates’ Details to Copyright Trolls
uri: IP-Address-Fail-ISP-Doesn-t-Have-to-Hand-Pirates-Details-to-C
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/SLexpYC0U78/
content:
<p><a href="media/67ffec03.trollsign.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/trollsign.jpg"><img src="media/17a592c8.trollsign.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/trollsign.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="167" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108977"></a>On October 27, 2016, UK-based Copyright Management Services (CMS) filed a case against Sweden-based ISP, Tele2.</p>
<p>CMS, run by Patrick Achache of German-based anti-piracy outfit MaverickEye (which in turn is deeply involved with infamous copyright troll outfit Guardaley), claimed that Tele2 customers had infringed its clients&#8217; copyrights on the movies Cell and IT by sharing them via BitTorrent.</p>
<p>Since Tele2 had the personal details of the customers behind those IP addresses, CMS asked the Patent and Market Court to prevent the ISP from deleting the data before it could be handed over. Once in its possession, CMS would carry out the usual process of writing to customers and demanding cash settlements to make supposed lawsuits go away.</p>
<p>Tele2 complained that it could not hand over the details of customers using <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_address_translation">NAT addresses</a> since it simply doesn&#8217;t hold that information. The ISP also said it could not hand over details of customers if IP address information had previously been deleted.</p>
<p>Taking these objections into consideration, in November 2017 the Court approved an interim order in respect of the remaining IP addresses. But there were significant problems which led the ISP to appeal.</p>
<p>According to tests carried out by Tele2, many of the IP addresses in the case did not relate to Sweden or indeed Tele2. In fact, some IP addresses belonged to foreign companies or mere affiliates of the ISP.</p>
<p>&#8220;Tele2 thus lacks the actual ability to provide information regarding a large part of the IP addresses covered by the submission,&#8221; the Court of Appeal noted in a decision published this week.</p>
<p>The problem appears to lie with the way the MaverickEye monitoring system attributed monitored IP addresses to Tele2.</p>
<p>The Court notes that the company relied on the <a href="https://www.ripe.net/manage-ips-and-asns/db">RIPE Database</a> which stated that the IP addresses in question were allocated to the &#8220;geographic area of Sweden&#8221;. According to Tele2, however, that wasn&#8217;t the case and as such, it had no information to hand over.</p>
<p>CMS, on the other hand, maintained that according to RIPE&#8217;s records, Tele2 was indeed the controller of the IP addresses in question so must hand over the information as requested.</p>
<p>While the Patent and Market Court said that Tele2 didn&#8217;t object to the MaverickEye monitoring software in terms of the data it collects on file-sharers, it noted that CMS had failed to initiate an investigation in respect of the IP addresses allegedly not belonging to Tele2.</p>
<p>&#8220;CMS has not invoked any investigation showing how the identification of the IP addresses in question is made in this case or who at Maverickeye UG was responsible for this,&#8221; the Court writes. </p>
<p>&#8220;Nor did CMS use the opportunity to hear representatives of Tele2 or others with Tele2 in mind to discover if the company has access to any of the current IP addresses and, if so, which.&#8221;</p>
<p>Considering the above, the Court notes that Tele2&#8217;s statement, that it doesn&#8217;t have access to the data, must stand. </p>
<p>&#8220;In these circumstances, CMS, against Tele2&#8217;s appeal, has not shown that Tele2 holds the information requested by the disclosure order. CMS&#8217; application for a disclosure order should therefore be rejected,&#8221; the Court concludes.</p>
<p>The decision cannot be appealed so Copyright Management Services won&#8217;t get its hands on the personal details of the people behind the IP addresses, at least through this process.</p>
<p>The decision <em>(Swedish, <a href="media/70e24653.02917-1720Slutligt20beslut20sC3A4rskilt20uppsatt202018-04-09.pdf" data-original-source="http://www.patentochmarknadsoverdomstolen.se/Domstolar/pmod/2018/Svea%20HR%20PM%C3%96%C3%84%202917-17%20Slutligt%20beslut%20(s%C3%A4rskilt%20uppsatt)%202018-04-09.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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154084
title: MPAA and RIAA Still Can’t Go After Megaupload
uri: MPAA-and-RIAA-Still-Can-t-Go-After-Megaupload
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/JgPxgl5dEXY/
content:
<p><img src="media/bf96111a.megauploadsong.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/megauploadsong.jpg" alt="" width="255" height="174" class="alignright size-full wp-image-146015">Well <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/megaupload-shut-down-120119/">over six years</a> have passed since Megaupload was shutdown, but there is still little progress in the criminal proceedings against its founders.</p>
<p>The United States wants New Zealand to extradite the men but have thus far failed to achieve that goal. Dotcom and his former colleagues are using all legal means to prevent this eventuality and a final conclusion has yet to be reached.</p>
<p>While all parties await the outcome, the criminal case in the United States remains pending. The same goes for the lawsuits filed by the MPAA and RIAA in 2014.</p>
<p>Since the civil cases may influence the criminal proceedings, Megaupload’s legal team previously managed to put these cases on hold, and last week another extension was granted.</p>
<p>Previous extensions didn&#8217;t always go this easy. Last year there <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/court-megauploads-failing-drives-can-be-fixed-but-not-accessed-170330/">were concerns</a> that the long delays could result in the destruction of evidence, as some of Megaupload’s hard drives were starting to fail. </p>
<p>However, after the parties agreed on a solution to back-up and restore the files, this is no longer an issue.</p>
<p>“With the preservation order in place, and there being no other objection, Defendant Megaupload hereby moves the Court to enter the attached proposed order, continuing the stay in this case for an additional six months,” Megaupload’s legal team recently informed the court.</p>
<p>Without any objections from the MPAA and RIAA, U.S. District Court Judge Liam O’Grady swiftly granted Megaupload’s request to stay both lawsuits until October this year.</p>
<p>While the US Government hopes to have Dotcom in custody by that time, the entrepreneur has different plans. Following a win at the Human Rights Tribunal in New Zealand, he hopes to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/dotcom-wins-privacy-breach-case-against-new-zealand-government-180326/">put the criminal case behind him soon</a>.</p>
<p>If that indeed happens, the MPAA and RIAA might have their turn.</p>
<p><center><strong>The latest stay order</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/b5ddc69d.anotherstay.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/anotherstay.png" alt="" width="600" height="439" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-154229"></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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154233
title: Google Search Receives Fewer Takedown Notices Than Before
uri: Google-Search-Receives-Fewer-Takedown-Notices-Than-Before
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/REjdHPVsL6k/
content:
<p><img src="media/3c5b1a66.googlepiratebay.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/googlepiratebay.png" alt="" width="267" height="257" class="alignright size-full wp-image-128445">In recent years Google has had to cope with a continuous increase in takedown requests from copyright holders, which target pirate sites in search results.</p>
<p>Just a few years ago the search engine removed ‘only’ a few thousand URLs per day. This has since grown to millions and has kept growing, until recently. </p>
<p>Around a year ago Google received a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/google-asked-to-remove-a-billion-pirate-search-results-in-a-year-161128/">billion takedown requests a year</a>, and for a while, it stabilized at roughly 20 million requests per week. By October last year, Google search had processed over <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/google-asked-to-remove-3-billion-pirate-search-results-171018/">three billion</a> DMCA requests since it started counting.</p>
<p>After that, it appears that things calmed down a little. Where Google&#8217;s weekly takedown chart went up year after year, it&#8217;s now trending in a downward direction. </p>
<p>During the past half year, Google received &#8216;only&#8217; 375 million takedown requests. That translates to roughly 15 million per week or 750 million per year. This is a 25% decrease compared the average in 2016. </p>
<p>Does this mean that copyright holders can no longer find enough pirated content via the search engine? We doubt it. But it&#8217;s clear that some of the big reporting agencies are sending in less complaints. </p>
<p>Degban, for example, which was at one point good for more than 10% of the weekly number of DMCA requests, has <a href="https://transparencyreport.google.com/copyright/reporters/787">disappeared completely</a>. Other big players, such as the Mexican anti-piracy outfit APDIF and Remove Your Media, have clearly lowered their volumes.</p>
<p><center><strong>APDIF&#8217;s weekly DMCA volume</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/b5fcae33.adif.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/adif.png" alt="" width="600" height="293" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-154236"></center></p>
<p>Of all the big players, UK Music Group BPI has been <a href="https://transparencyreport.google.com/copyright/reporters/1847">most consistent</a>. Their average hasn&#8217;t dropped much in recent years, but is certainly not rising either.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s too early to tell whether this trend will hold, but according to the numbers we see now, Google will for the first time have a significant decrease in the number of takedown requests this year. </p>
<p>Despite the decrease, Google is under quite a bit of pressure from copyright holders to improve its takedown efforts. Most would like Google to delist pirate site domains entirely. </p>
<p>While the search engine isn&#8217;t willing to go that far, it does give a lower ranking to sites for which it receives a large volume of takedown requests. In addition, the company recently started accepting <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/google-blocks-pirated-search-results-prophylactically-180103/">&#8216;prophylactic&#8217; DMCA requests</a>, for content that is not indexed yet.</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154118
title: Pirate Site-Blocking? Music Biz Wants App Blocking Too
uri: Pirate-Site-Blocking-Music-Biz-Wants-App-Blocking-Too
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Aoj84RM-MaA/
content:
<p>In some way, shape or form, Internet piracy has always been carried out through some kind of application. Whether that&#8217;s a peer-to-peer client utilizing BitTorrent or eD2K, or a Usenet or FTP tool taking things back to their roots, software has always played a crucial role.</p>
<p>Of course, the nature of the Internet beast means that software usage is unavoidable but in recent years piracy has swung more towards the regular web browser, meaning that sites and services offering pirated content are largely easy to locate, identify and block, if authorities so choose.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/mpa-reveals-scale-of-worldwide-pirate-site-blocking-180410/">revealed</a> this week by the MPA, thousands of platforms around the world are now targeted for blocking, with 1,800 sites and 5,300 domains blocked in Europe alone.</p>
<p>However, as the Kodi phenomenon has shown, web-based content doesn&#8217;t always have to be accessed via a standard web browser. Clever but potentially illegal addons and third-party apps are able to scrape web-based resources and present links to content on a wide range of devices, from mobile phones and tablets to set-top boxes.</p>
<p>While it&#8217;s still possible to block the resources upon which these addons rely, the scattered nature of the content makes the process much more difficult. One can&#8217;t simply block a whole platform because a few movies are illegally hosted there and even Google has <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/google-has-a-hard-time-keeping-streaming-pirates-at-bay-170527/">found itself hosting</a> thousands of infringing titles, a situation that&#8217;s ruthlessly exploited by addon and app developers alike.</p>
<p>Needless to say, the situation hasn&#8217;t gone unnoticed. The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment has spent the last year <em>(<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/kodi-developers-quit-following-threats-from-mpa-netflix-amazon-171116/">1</a>,<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-kodi-addon-devs-distributors-told-to-cease-and-desist-180214/">2</a>,<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/ace-warns-kodi-addon-developer-to-sign-settlement-agreement-or-else-180306/">3</a>)</em> targeting many people involved in the addon and app scene, hoping they&#8217;ll take their tools and run, rather than further develop a rapidly involving piracy ecosystem.</p>
<p>Over in Russia, a country that will happily block <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/russia-blocks-100s-of-google-domains-to-shutdown-encrypted-chat-app-180412/">hundreds</a> or <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/russia-asked-isps-to-block-13-5-million-amazon-ip-addresses-to-silence-one-app-180331/">millions</a> of IP addresses if it suits them, the topic of infringing apps was raised this week. It happened during the International Strategic Forum on Intellectual Property, a gathering of 500 experts from more than 30 countries. There were strong calls for yet more tools and measures to deal with films and music being made available via &#8216;pirate&#8217; apps.</p>
<p>The forum heard that in response to widespread website blocking, people behind pirate sites have begun creating applications for mobile devices to achieve the same ends &#8211; the provision of illegal content. This, key players in the music industry say, means that the law needs to be further tightened to tackle the rising threat.</p>
<p>&#8220;Consumption of content is now going into the mobile sector and due to this we plan to prevent mass migration of &#8216;pirates&#8217; to the mobile sector,&#8221; said Leonid Agronov, general director of the National Federation of the Music Industry.</p>
<p>The same concerns were echoed by Alexander Blinov, CEO of Warner Music Russia. According to <a href="http://tass.ru/ekonomika/5115873">TASS</a>, the powerful industry player said that while recent revenues had been positively affected by site-blocking, it&#8217;s now time to start taking more action against apps.</p>
<p>&#8220;I agree with all speakers that we can not stop at what has been achieved so far. The music industry has a fight against illegal content in mobile applications on the agenda,&#8221; Blinov said.</p>
<p>And if Blinov is to be believed, music in Russia is doing particularly well at the moment. Attributing successes to efforts by parliament, the Ministry of Communications, and copyright holders, Blinov said the local music market has doubled in the past two years.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are now in the top three fastest growing markets in the world, behind only China and South Korea,&#8221; Blinov said.</p>
<p>While some apps can work in the same manner as a basic web interface, others rely on more complex mechanisms, &#8216;scraping&#8217; content from diverse sources that can be easily and readily changed if mitigation measures kick in. It will be very interesting to see how Russia deals with this threat and whether it will opt for highly technical solutions or the nuclear options demonstrated recently.</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154191
title: How Pirates Use New Technologies for Old Sharing Habits
uri: How-Pirates-Use-New-Technologies-for-Old-Sharing-Habits
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/lJefTXGSVG4/
content:
<p><img src="media/a585da8e.piratemusiccasset.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/piratemusiccasset.png" alt="" width="234" height="152" class="alignright size-full wp-image-135510">While piracy today is more widespread than ever, the urge to share content online has been around for several decades.  </p>
<p>The first generation used relatively primitive tools, such as a bulletin board systems (BBS), newsgroups or IRC. Nothing too fancy, but they worked well for those who got over the initial learning curve. </p>
<p>When Napster came along things started to change. More content became available and with just a few clicks anyone could get an MP3 transferred from one corner of the world to another. The same was true for Kazaa and Limewire, which further popularized online piracy. </p>
<p>After this initial boom of piracy applications, BitTorrent came along, shaking up the sharing landscape even further. As torrent sites are web-based, pirated media became even more public and easy to find. </p>
<p>At the same time, BitTorrent brought back the smaller and more organized sharing culture of the early days through private trackers. </p>
<p>These communities often focused on a specific type of content and put strict rules and guidelines in place. They promoted sharing and avoided the spam that plagued their public counterparts. </p>
<p>That was fifteen years ago. </p>
<p>Today the piracy landscape is more diverse than ever. Private torrent trackers are still around and so are IRC and newsgroups. However, most piracy today takes place in public. Streaming sites and devices are booming, with central hosting platforms offering the majority of the underlying content. </p>
<p>That said, there is still an urge for some pirates to band together and some use newer technologies to do so. </p>
<p>This week <a href="https://theoutline.com/post/4143/telegram-is-the-hot-new-source-for-illegal-downloads?zd=4&#038;zi=h3dxop6t">The Outline</a> ran an interesting piece on the use of Telegram channels to share pirated media. These groups use the encrypted communication platform to share copies of movies, TV shows, and a wide range of other material. </p>
<p>Telegram allows users to upload files up to 1.5GB in size, but larger ones can be split, in common with the good old newsgroups. </p>
<p>These type of sharing groups are not new. On social media platforms such as Facebook and VK, there are hundreds or thousands of dedicated communities that do the same. Both public and private. And Reddit has similar groups, relying on external links.</p>
<p>According to an administrator of a piracy-focused Telegram channel, the appeal of the platform is that the groups are not shut down so easily. While that may be the case with hyper-private groups, Telegram will still pull the plug if it receives enough complaints about a channel. </p>
<p>The same is true for Discord, another application that can be used to share content in &#8216;private&#8217; communities. Discord is particularly popular among gamers, but pirates have also found their way to the platform. </p>
<p>While smaller communities are able to thrive, once the word gets out to copyright holders, the party can soon be over. This is also what the /r/piracy subreddit community found out a few days ago when its Discord server was <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Piracy/comments/8af7p4/rpiracy_discord_server_disappeared/">pulled offline</a>.  </p>
<p>This triggered a discussion about possible alternatives. Telegram was mentioned by some, although not everyone liked the idea of connecting their phone number to a pirate group. Others mentioned Slack, Weechat, Hexchat and Riot.im.</p>
<p>None of these tools are revolutionary. At least, not for the intended use by this group. Some may be harder to take down than others, but they are all means to share files, directly or through external links.</p>
<p>What really caught our eye, however, were several mentions of an ancient application layer protocol that, apparently, hasn&#8217;t lost its use to pirates. </p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll make an IRC server and host that,&#8221; one user said, with others suggesting the same.</p>
<p>And so we have come full circle&#8230;</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154282
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week on BitTorrent – 04/16/18
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-on-BitTorrent-04-16-18
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/s62ddHP79w8/
content:
<p><img src="media/f6c6baa3.mazerunn.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mazerunn.png" alt="" width="300" height="246" class="alignright size-full wp-image-153622">This week we have three newcomers in our chart.</p>
<p>Maze Runner: The Death Cure 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 weekly movie download chart.</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-pirated-movies-week-bittorrent-04-09-18/">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>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4500922/">Maze Runner: The Death Cure </a>  </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4500922/">6.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-BTxXm8KSg">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1259528/">Den of Thieves</a>  </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1259528/">7.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKd_ks0rdAM">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1413492/">12 Strong</a>  </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1413492/">6.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Denciie5oA">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1590193/">The Commuter</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1590193/">6.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDshY43Ol2U">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1485796/">The Greatest Showman</a>  </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1485796/">7.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zOeiLhcgPo">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5478478/">Hostiles</a>  </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5478478/">7.3</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1M5cj4UmscE">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(7)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6294822/">The Post</a>  </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6294822/">7.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euJs4-vcf9o">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(6)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1825683/">Black Panther</a> (HDTS)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1825683/">7.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjDjIWPwcPU">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(8)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2527336/">Star Wars: The Last Jedi</a>  </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2527336/">7.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0CbN8sfihY">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5085924/">Wildling</a>  </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5085924/">6.3</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyl1Wf90AgY">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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154280
title: TV Broadcaster Wants App Stores Blocked to Prevent Piracy
uri: TV-Broadcaster-Wants-App-Stores-Blocked-to-Prevent-Piracy
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/vagamTH-1Bg/
content:
<p><img src="media/a7c0897c.iptv.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/iptv.jpg" width="234" height="155" class="alignright size-large">After first targeting torrent and regular streaming platforms with blocking injunctions, last year Village Roadshow and studios including Disney, Universal, Warner Bros, Twentieth Century Fox, and Paramount began looking at a new threat.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/aussie-pirate-blocking-efforts-switch-to-premium-iptv-171106/">action targeted HDSubs+</a>, a reasonably popular IPTV service that provides hundreds of otherwise premium live channels, movies, and sports for a relatively small monthly fee. The application was filed during October 2017 and targeted Australia’s largest ISPs.</p>
<p>In parallel, Hong Kong-based broadcaster Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) launched a similar action, demanding that the same ISPs (including Telstra, Optus, TPG, and Vocus, plus subsidiaries) block several ‘pirate’ IPTV services, named in court as A1, BlueTV, EVPAD, FunTV, MoonBox, Unblock, and hTV5.</p>
<p>Due to the similarity of the cases, both applications were heard in Federal Court in Sydney on Friday. Neither case is as straightforward as blocking a torrent or basic streaming portal, so both applicants are having to deal with additional complexities.</p>
<p>The TVB case is of particular interest. Up to a couple of dozen URLs maintain the services, which are used to provide the content, an EPG (electronic program guide), updates and sundry other features. While most of these appear to fit the description of an &#8220;online location&#8221; designed to assist copyright infringement, where the Android-based software for the IPTV services is hosted provides an interesting dilemma.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.computerworld.com.au/article/638044/tv-company-wants-isps-block-app-marketplaces-linked-piracy/">ComputerWorld</a> reports that the apps &#8211; which offer live broadcasts, video-on-demand, and catch-up TV &#8211; are hosted on as-yet-unnamed sites which are functionally similar to Google Play or Apple&#8217;s App Store. They&#8217;re repositories of applications that also carry non-infringing apps, such as those for Netflix and YouTube.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, despite clear knowledge of this dual use, TVB wants to have these app marketplaces blocked by Australian ISPs, which would not only render the illicit apps inaccessible to the public but all of the non-infringing ones too. Part of its argument that this action would be reasonable appears to be that legal apps &#8211; such as Netflix&#8217;s for example &#8211; can also be freely accessed elsewhere.</p>
<p>It will be up to Justice Nicholas to decide whether the &#8220;primary purpose&#8221; of these marketplaces is to infringe or facilitate the infringement of TVB&#8217;s copyrights. However, TVB also appears to have another problem which is directly connected to the copyright status in Australia of its China-focused live programming.</p>
<p>Justice Nicholas questioned whether watching a stream in Australia of TVB&#8217;s live Chinese broadcasts would amount to copyright infringement because no copy of that content is being made.</p>
<p>&#8220;If most of what is occurring here is a reproduction of broadcasts that are not protected by copyright, then the primary purpose is not to facilitate copyright infringement,&#8221; Justice Nicholas <a href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/chinese-media-giants-hit-snag-with-piracy-block/">said</a>.</p>
<p>One of the problems appears to be that China is not a party to the 1961 Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organisations. However, TVB is arguing that it should still receive protection because it airs pre-recorded content and the live broadcasts are also archived for re-transmission via catch-up services.</p>
<p>The question over whether unchoreographed live broadcasts receive protection has been raised in other regions but in most cases, a workaround has been found. The presence of broadcaster logos on screen (which receive copyright protection) is a factor and it&#8217;s been reported that broadcasters are able to record the &#8216;live&#8217; action and transmit a copy just a couple of seconds later, thereby broadcasting an already-copyrighted work.</p>
<p>While TVB attempts to overcome its issues, Village Roadshow is facing some of its own in its efforts to take down HDSubs+.</p>
<p>It appears that at least partly in response to the Roadshow legal action, the service has undergone some modifications, including a change of brand to &#8216;Press Play Extra&#8217;. As reported by ZDNet, there have been structural changes too, which means that Roadshow can no longer &#8220;see under the hood&#8221;.</p>
<p>According to Justice Nicholas, there is no evidence that the latest version of the app infringes copyright but according to counsel for Village Roadshow, the new app is merely transitional and preparing for a possible future change.</p>
<p>&#8220;We submit the difference to be drawn is reactive to my clients serving on the operators a notice,&#8221; counsel for Roadshow <a href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/chinese-media-giants-hit-snag-with-piracy-block/">argued</a>, with an expert describing the new app as &#8220;almost like a placeholder.&#8221;</p>
<p>In short, Roadshow still wants all of the target domains in its original application blocked because the company believes there&#8217;s a good chance they&#8217;ll be reactivated in the future.</p>
<p>None of the ISPs involved in either case turned up to the hearings on Friday, which removes one layer of complexity in what appears thus far to be less than straightforward cases.</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154287
title: Microsoft Denies Piracy Extortion Claims, Returns Fire
uri: Microsoft-Denies-Piracy-Extortion-Claims-Returns-Fire
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/YDQ-iLTeb5s/
content:
<p><img src="media/fcd804cf.windowspiratemicrosoft.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/windowspiratemicrosoft.png" alt="" width="242" height="170" class="alignright size-full wp-image-143278">For many years, Microsoft and the Software Alliance (BSA) have carried out piracy investigations into organizations large and small.</p>
<p>Companies accused of using Microsoft software without permission usually get a letter asking them to pay up, or face legal consequences.</p>
<p>This also happened to <a href="https://hannainst.com/">Hanna Instruments</a>, a Rhode Island-based company that sells analytical instruments. Last year, the company <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/microsoft-sued-over-baseless-piracy-threats-171113/">was accused</a> of using Microsoft Office products without a proper license.</p>
<p>In a letter, BSA’s lawyers informed Hanna that it would face up to $4,950,000 in damages if the case went to court. Instead, however, they offered to settle the matter for $72,074.</p>
<p>Adding some extra pressure, BSA also warned that Microsoft could get a court order that would allow U.S. marshals to raid the company&#8217;s premises. </p>
<p>Where most of these cases are resolved behind closed doors, this one escalated. After being repeatedly contacted by BSA&#8217;s lawyers, Hanna decided to take the matter to court, claiming that Microsoft and BSA were trying to &#8216;extort&#8217; money on &#8216;baseless&#8217; accusations.</p>
<p>&#8220;BSA, Microsoft, and their counsel have, without supplying one scintilla of evidence, issued a series of letters for the sole purpose of extorting inflated monetary damages,&#8221; the company informed the court.</p>
<p>Late last week Microsoft and BSA replied to the complaint. While the two companies admit that they reached out to Hanna and offered a settlement, they deny several other allegations, including the extortion claims.</p>
<p>Instead, the companies submit a counterclaim, backing up their copyright infringement accusations and demanding damages. </p>
<p>&#8220;Hanna has engaged and continues to engage in the unauthorized installation, reproduction, and distribution and other unlawful use of Microsoft Software on computers on its premises and has used unlicensed copies of Microsoft Software to conduct its business,&#8221; they write.</p>
<p>According to Microsoft and BSA, the Rhode Island company still uses unauthorized product keys to activate and install unlicensed Microsoft software. </p>
<p>Turning Hanna&#8217;s own evidence against itself, they argue that two product keys were part of a batch of an educational program in China — not for commercial use in the United States. </p>
<p><center><strong>Microsoft / BSA counterclaim</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/50178a9a.microreply.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/microreply.png" alt="" width="600" height="191" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-154293"></center></p>
<p>Another key could be traced back to what appears to be a counterfeit store which Microsoft has since shut down. </p>
<p>&#8220;The materials provided by Hanna also indicate that it purchased at least one copy of Microsoft Software from BuyCheapSoftware.com, a now-defunct website that was sued by Microsoft for selling stolen, abused, and otherwise unauthorized decoupled product keys,&#8221; Microsoft and BSA write.</p>
<p>According to Hanna, BSA previously failed to provide evidence to prove that the company was using unlicensed keys. However, the counterclaim suggests that the initial accusations had merit. </p>
<p>Whether BSA&#8217;s tactic of bringing up millions of dollars in damages and a possible raid by the U.S. Marshalls is the best strategy to resolve such a matter is up for debate of course. </p>
<p>It could very well be that Hanna was duped into buying counterfeit software, without knowing it. Perhaps this will come out as the case progresses. That said, it could also help if both sides simply have a good conversation to see if they can make peace, without threats. </p>
<p><em>&#8212;</p>
<p>Microsoft and BSA&#8217;s reply and counterclaim <a href="media/b4bcdf5d.bsarep.pdf" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/bsarep.pdf">is 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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154329
title: Russia’s Encryption War: 1.8m Google & Amazon IPs Blocked to Silence Telegram
uri: Russia-s-Encryption-War-1-8m-Google-Amazon-IPs-Blocked-to-Silence
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/8PkJow1bcPg/
content:
<p><a href="media/746b76cb.encryption.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/encryption.jpg"><img src="media/a447a7c5.encryption.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/encryption.jpg" alt="" width="180" height="135" class="alignright size-full wp-image-75305"></a>The rules in Russia are clear. Entities operating an encrypted messaging service need to register with the authorities. They also need to hand over their encryption keys so that if law enforcement sees fit, users can be spied on.</p>
<p>Free cross-platform messaging app <a href="https://telegram.org/">Telegram</a> isn&#8217;t playing ball. An impressive 200,000,000 people used the software in March (including a growing number for <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/how-pirates-use-new-technologies-for-old-sharing-habits-180415/">piracy purposes</a>) and founder Pavel Durov says he will not compromise their security, despite losing a lawsuit against the Federal Security Service which compels him to do so.</p>
<p>&#8220;Telegram doesn’t have shareholders or advertisers to report to. We don’t do deals with marketers, data miners or government agencies. Since the day we launched in August 2013 we haven’t disclosed a single byte of our users&#8217; private data to third parties,&#8221; Durov said.</p>
<p>&#8220;Above all, we at Telegram believe in people. We believe that humans are inherently intelligent and benevolent beings that deserve to be trusted; trusted with freedom to share their thoughts, freedom to communicate privately, freedom to create tools. This philosophy defines everything we do.&#8221;</p>
<p>But by not handing over its keys, Telegram is in trouble with Russia. The FSB says it needs access to Telegram messages to combat terrorism so, in response to its non-compliance, telecoms watchdog Rozcomnadzor filed a lawsuit to degrade Telegram via web-blocking. Last Friday, that process ended in the state&#8217;s favor.</p>
<p>After an 18-minute hearing, a Moscow court gave the go-ahead for Telegram to be banned in Russia. The hearing was scheduled just the day before, giving Telegram little time to prepare. In protest, its lawyers didn&#8217;t even turn up to argue the company&#8217;s position.</p>
<p>Instead, Durov took to his VKontakte account to announce that Telegram would take counter-measures.</p>
<p>&#8220;Telegram will use built-in methods to bypass blocks, which do not require actions from users, but 100% availability of the service without a VPN is not guaranteed,&#8221; Durov <a href="https://vk.com/wall1_2285269">wrote</a>.</p>
<p>Telegram can appeal the blocking decision but Russian authorities aren&#8217;t waiting around for a response. They are clearly prepared to match Durov&#8217;s efforts, no matter what the cost.</p>
<p>In instructions sent out yesterday nationwide, Rozomnadzor ordered ISPs to block Telegram. The response was immediate and massive. Telegram was using both Amazon and Google to provide service to its users so, within hours, huge numbers of IP addresses belonging to both companies were targeted.</p>
<p>Initially, 655,352 Amazon IP addresses <a href="https://tvrain.ru/news/roskomnadzor-461976/">were placed</a> on Russia&#8217;s nationwide blacklist. It was later reported that a further 131,000 IP addresses were <a href="https://tvrain.ru/news/glava_roskomnadzora-461977/">added</a> to that total. But the Russians were just getting started.</p>
<p><a href="https://roem.ru/16-04-2018/269861/roskomnadzor-amazon-telegram/">Servers.ru</a> reports that a further 1,048,574 IP addresses belonging to Google were also targeted Monday. Rozcomnadzor said the court ruling against Telegram compelled it to take whatever action is needed to take Telegram down but with at least 1,834,996 addresses now confirmed blocked, it remains unclear what effect it&#8217;s had on the service.</p>
<p>Friday&#8217;s court ruling states that restrictions against Telegram can be lifted provided that the service hands over its encryption keys to the FSB. However, Durov responded by insisting that &#8220;confidentiality is not for sale, and human rights should not be compromised because of fear or greed.&#8221;</p>
<p>But of course, money is still part of the Telegram equation. While its business model in terms of privacy stands in stark contrast to that of Facebook, Telegram is also involved in the world&#8217;s biggest initial coin offering (ICO). According to media reports, it has raised $1.7 billion in pre-sales thus far. </p>
<p>This week&#8217;s action against Telegram is the latest in Russia&#8217;s war on &#8216;unauthorized&#8217; encryption.</p>
<p>At the end of March, authorities suggested that around 15 million IP addresses (13.5 million belonging to Amazon) <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/russia-asked-isps-to-block-13-5-million-amazon-ip-addresses-to-silence-one-app-180331/">could be blocked</a> to target chat software Zello. While those measures were averted, a further 500 domains belonging to Google were <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/russia-blocks-100s-of-google-domains-to-shutdown-encrypted-chat-app-180412/">caught in the dragnet</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154267
title: Hollywood Studios Get ISP Blocking Order Against Rarbg in India
uri: Hollywood-Studios-Get-ISP-Blocking-Order-Against-Rarbg-in-India
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/9o-QWS65Ttw/
content:
<p><img src="media/2759597c.blocked-censor.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/blocked-censor.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="170" class="alignright size-full wp-image-124850">While the major Hollywood studios are very reluctant to bring a pirate site blocking case to their home turf, they are very active abroad. </p>
<p>The companies are the driving force behind lawsuits in Europe, Australia, and are also active in India, where they booked a new success last week. </p>
<p>Website blocking is by no means a new phenomenon in India. The country is known for so-called <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/court-order-blocks-bittorrent-megaupload-and-more-111227/">John Doe orders</a>, where a flurry of websites are temporarily blocked to protect the release of a specific title. </p>
<p>The major Hollywood studios are taking a different approach. Disney Enterprises, Twentieth Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Universal, and Warner Bros. are requesting blockades, accusing sites of being structural copyright infringers.</p>
<p>One of the most recent targets is the popular torrent site Rarbg. The Hollywood studios describe Rarbg as a &#8216;habitual&#8217; copyright infringer and demand that several Internet providers block access to the site.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is submitted that the Defendant Website aids and facilitates the accessibility and availability of infringing material, and induce third parties, intentionally and/or knowingly, to infringe through their websites by various means,&#8217; the movie studios allege. </p>
<p>The complaint filed at the High Court of Delhi lists more than 20 Internet providers as co-defendants, and also includes India&#8217;s Department of Telecommunications and Department of Electronics and Information Technology in the mix.</p>
<p>The two Government departments are added because they have the power to enforce blocking orders. Specifically, the Hollywood studios note that the Department of Technology&#8217;s license agreement with ISPs requires these companies to ensure that copyright infringing content is not carried on their networks.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is submitted that the DoT itself acknowledges the fact that service providers have an obligation to ensure that no violation of third party intellectual property rights takes place through their networks and that effective protection is provided to right holders of such intellectual property,&#8221; the studios write.</p>
<p>Last week the court granted an injunction that requires local Internet providers including Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Telenor, You Broadband, and Vodafone to block Rarbg. </p>
<p><center><strong>Blocking order</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/280567d8.indiablock.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/indiablock.png" alt="" width="565" height="262" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-154330"></center></p>
<p>As requested, the Department of Telecommunications and Department of Electronics and Information Technology are directed to notify all local internet and telecom service providers that they must block the torrent site as well.</p>
<p>The order is preliminary and can still be contested in court. However, given the history of similar blocking efforts around the world, it is likely that it will be upheld. </p>
<p>While there&#8217;s not much coverage on the matter, this isn&#8217;t the first blocking request the companies have filed in India. Last October, a similar case was filed against another popular torrent site, 1337x.to, with success.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak reached out to the law firm representing the Hollywood studios to get a broader overview of the blocking plans in India. At the time of writing, we have yet to hear back.</p>
<p><em>&#8212;</p>
<p>A copy of the order obtained by Disney Enterprises, Twentieth Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Universal, Warner Bros and the local Disney owned media conglomerate UTV Software, is <a href="media/887caf99.indiaorder.pdf" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/indiaorder.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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154362
title: Telegram Founder Pledges Millions in Bitcoin For VPNs and “Digital Resistance”
uri: Telegram-Founder-Pledges-Millions-in-Bitcoin-For-VPNs-and-Digital-R
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/YPTZ44rAqv4/
content:
<p><a href="media/d579eec9.dollar-money.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/dollar-money.jpg"><img src="media/2efdb268.dollar-money.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dollar-money.jpg" alt="" width="180" height="135" class="alignright size-full wp-image-38877"></a>Starting yesterday, Russia <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/russias-encryption-war-1-8m-google-amazon-ips-blocked-to-silence-telegram-180417/">went to war</a> with free cross-platform messaging app Telegram. Authorities including the FSB wanted access to Telegram&#8217;s encryption keys, but the service refused to hand them over.</p>
<p>As a result, the service &#8211; which serviced 200,000,000 people in March alone &#8211; came under massive attack. Supported by a court ruling obtained last Friday, authorities ordered ISPs to block huge numbers of IP addresses in an effort to shut Telegram down.</p>
<p>Amazon and Google, whose services Telegram uses, were both hit with censorship measures, with around 1.8 million IP addresses belonging to the Internet giants blocked in an initial wave of action. But the government was just getting warmed up.</p>
<p>In an updated posted by Pavel Durov to Twitter from Switzerland late last night, the Telegram founder confirmed that Russia had massively stepped up the fight against his encrypted messaging platform.</p>
<p><center></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Within the last two days, Russia blocked over 15 million IP addresses in attempts to ban Telegram on its territory. Regardless, Telegram remained available for the majority of Russia’s residents <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/digitalresistance?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#digitalresistance</a> <a href="https://t.co/2syVbVzXPg">https://t.co/2syVbVzXPg</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Pavel Durov (@durov) <a href="https://twitter.com/durov/status/986361756351172608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 17, 2018</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></center></p>
<p>Of course, 15 million IP addresses is a huge volume, particularly since &#8216;just&#8217; 14 million of Telegram&#8217;s users are located in Russia &#8211; that&#8217;s more than one IP address for each of them. As a result, there are <a href="http://piunikaweb.com/2018/04/17/telegram-is-still-alive-in-russia-despite-huge-collateral-damage/">reports</a> of completed unrelated services being affected by the ban, which is to be expected given its widespread nature. But Russia doesn&#8217;t want to stop there.</p>
<p>According to Reuters, local telecoms watchdog Rozcomnadzor asked both Google and Apple [<a href="https://twitter.com/APKMirror/status/985974478696935424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&#038;ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fpiunikaweb.com%2F2018%2F04%2F17%2Ftelegram-is-still-alive-in-russia-despite-huge-collateral-damage%2F">Update: and APKMirror</a>] to remove Telegram from their app stores, to prevent local citizens from gaining access to the software itself. It is unclear whether either company intends to comply but as yet, neither has responded publicly nor taken any noticeable action.</p>
<p>An announcement from Durov last night thanked the companies for not complying with the Russian government&#8217;s demands, noting that the efforts so far had proven mostly futile.</p>
<p>&#8220;Despite the ban, we haven’t seen a significant drop in user engagement so far, since Russians tend to bypass the ban with VPNs and proxies. We also have been relying on third-party cloud services to remain partly available for our users there,&#8221; Durov wrote on Telegram.</p>
<p>&#8220;Thank you for your support and loyalty, Russian users of Telegram. Thank you, Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft – for not taking part in political censorship.&#8221;</p>
<p>Durov noted that Russia accounts for around 7% of Telegram&#8217;s userbase, a figure that could be compensated for with organic growth in just a couple of months, even if Telegram lost access to the entire market. However, the action only appears to have lit a fire under the serial entrepreneur, who now has declared a war of his own against censorship.</p>
<p>&#8220;To support internet freedoms in Russia and elsewhere I started giving out bitcoin grants to individuals and companies who run socks5 proxies and VPN,&#8221; Durov <a href="https://t.me/durov/77">said</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;I am happy to donate millions of dollars this year to this cause, and hope that other people will follow. I called this Digital Resistance – a decentralized movement standing for digital freedoms and progress globally.&#8221;</p>
<p>As founder of not only Telegram but also vKontakte, Russia&#8217;s answer to Facebook, Durov is a force to be reckoned with. As such, his promises are unlikely to be hollow ones. While Russia has drawn a line in the sand on encryption, it appears to have energized Durov to take a stand, one that could have a positive effect on anti-censorship measures both in Russia and further afield.</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154326
title: Pirate Party Urges Swedish Govt to Stop ‘Copyright Troll’ Invasion
uri: Pirate-Party-Urges-Swedish-Govt-to-Stop-Copyright-Troll-Invasion
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/PQxALlOdSLk/
content:
<p><img src="media/17a592c8.trollsign.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/trollsign.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="167" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108977">In recent years, millions of file-sharers around the world have been ordered to pay significant settlement fees, or face legal repercussions.</p>
<p>These so-called “copyright trolling” efforts have been a common occurrence in several countries, with Sweden one of the latest <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/copyright-trolls-hit-thousands-of-swedish-pirates-with-550-fines-171023/">hunting grounds</a>.</p>
<p>Over the past months, tens of thousands of Swedes have been targeted in this manner.</p>
<p>The copyright holders go to court, armed with a list of IP-addresses, and when permission is granted they ask the associated ISPs for the account details of individual subscribers. </p>
<p>These suspected pirates then get a settlement demand in their mailbox, urging them to pay the equivalent of a few hundred dollars, or have their day in court.</p>
<p>As in many other countries, these practices are not without controversy. Several experts have spoken out against them, and ISPs have raised objections too. However, according to Swedish law, the rightsholders have the right to pursue these cases. </p>
<p>Despite its name, the Swedish <a href="https://www.piratpartiet.se/">Pirate Party</a> has been relatively silent on the issue. However, that changed this week, as the party now calls on Justice Minister Morgan Johansson to take action.</p>
<p>The Pirate Party describes the copyright trolling efforts as extortion. It stresses that the evidence copyright holders rely on is far from solid, something they believe the courts should take into account.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is a scandal that the Swedish judicial system facilitates the mafia-like methods of copyright trolls,&#8221; says Pirate Party leader Magnus Andersson.</p>
<p>&#8220;To condone the sending of extortion letters without reasonable ground for suspicion of criminal activity is not acceptable. We demand the Justice Minister to do something about the situation with these copyright trolls!&#8221; </p>
<p>The Pirate Party sees plenty of opportunities to intervene. The Government could, for example, change how the IPRED directive is interpreted and demand higher scrutiny of the provided evidence. </p>
<p>Another option would be to work at the EU level to repeal the IPRED-directive in its entirety.</p>
<p>Besides calling on the Justice Minister to take action, the Pirate Party is also backing the <a href="https://utpressningskollen.se/">anti-copyright troll initiative</a> of Internet provider Bahnhof. Through this campaign, members of the public can voice their concerns to the Swedish Government.</p>
<p>Through these and other efforts, the Pirate Party hopes that something will be done to protect the public from the &#8216;trolling&#8217; practices.</p>
<p>&#8220;We cannot accept a situation where private companies use the judicial system as a weapon of fear to extort innocent people,&#8221;  Andersson tells TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>&#8220;This creates contempt for the judiciary and supports the view that the courts only exist to serve the state&#8217;s and the big companies&#8217; interests,&#8221; he adds.</p>
<p>Thus far the copyright holders have shown no sign of backing down. They refute the &#8220;trolling&#8221; characterizations and counter that they are merely enforcing their rights. And with the courts on their side, they have little to worry about 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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154349
title: IsoHunt Founder Returns With New Search Tool
uri: IsoHunt-Founder-Returns-With-New-Search-Tool
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/SLso1OEUWXo/
content:
<p><img src="media/6915ff8f.wonderswipe.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/wonderswipe.jpg" alt="" width="222" height="222" class="alignright size-full wp-image-154409">Of all the major torrent sites that dominated the Internet at the beginning of this decade, only a few remain. </p>
<p>One of the sites that fell prey to ever-increasing pressure from the entertainment industry was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IsoHunt">isoHunt</a>. </p>
<p>Founded by the Canadian entrepreneur <a href="https://twitter.com/garyfung">Gary Fung</a>, the site was one of the early pioneers in the world of torrents, paving the way for many others. However, this spotlight also caught the attention of the major movie studios. </p>
<p>After a lengthy legal battle isoHunt&#8217;s founder eventually <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/isohunt-shuts-down-after-110-million-settlement-with-the-mpaa-131017/">shut down</a> the site late 2013. This happened after Fung signed a settlement agreement with Hollywood for no less than $110 million, on paper at least.</p>
<p>Launching a new torrent search engine was never really an option, but Fung decided not to let his expertise go to waste. He focused his time and efforts on a new search project instead, which was unveiled to the public this week.</p>
<p>The new app called &#8220;<a href="http://wonderswipe.com/">WonderSwipe</a>&#8221; has just been added to Apple&#8217;s iOS store. It&#8217;s a mobile search app that ties into Google&#8217;s backend, but with a different user interface. While it has nothing to do with file-sharing, we decided to reach out to isoHunt&#8217;s founder to find out more. </p>
<p>Fung tells us that he got the idea for the app because he was frustrated with Google&#8217;s default search options on the mobile platform.</p>
<p>&#8220;I find myself barely do any search on the smartphone, most of the time waiting until I get to my desktop. I ask why?&#8221; Fung tells us. </p>
<p>One of the main issues he identified is the fact that swiping is not an option. Instead, people end up browsing through dozens of mobile browser tabs. So, Fung took Google&#8217;s infrastructure and search power, making it swipeable.  </p>
<p>&#8220;From a UI design perspective, I find swiping through photos on the first iPhone one of the most extraordinary advances in computing. It&#8217;s so easy that babies would be doing it before they even learn how to flip open a book!</p>
<p>&#8220;Bringing that ease of use to the central way of conducting mobile search and research is the initial eureka I had in starting work on WonderSwipe,&#8221; Fung adds.</p>
<p>That was roughly three years ago, and a few hours ago WonderSwipe finally made its way <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/wonderswipe-research/id1336740934?mt=8">into the App store</a>. Android users will have to wait for now, but the application will eventually be available on that platform as well. </p>
<p>In addition to swiping through search results, the app also promises faster article loading and browsing, a reader mode with condensed search results, and a hands-free mode with automated browsing where summaries are read out loud.</p>
<p><center><strong>WonderwSwipe</strong><br></br></center><center><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/kTCl1QLpw_I?rel=0&amp;showinfo=0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe><br>
 </center></p>
<p>Of course, WonderSwipe is nothing like isoHunt ever was, apart from the fact that Google is a search engine that also links to torrents, indirectly.</p>
<p>This similarity was also brought up during the lawsuit with the MPAA, when Fung&#8217;s legal team <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/googles-the-largest-torrent-search-engine-isohunt-tells-court-110315/">likened isoHunt to Google</a> in court. However, the Canadian entrepreneur doesn&#8217;t expect that Hollywood will have an issue with WonderSwipe in particular. </p>
<p>&#8220;isoHunt was similar to Google in how it worked as a search engine, but not in scope. Torrents are a small subset of all the webpages Google indexes,&#8221; Fung says. </p>
<p>&#8220;WonderSwipe&#8217;s aim is to find answers in all webpages, powered by Google search results. It presents results in extracted text and summaries with no connection to BitTorrent clients. As such, WonderSwipe can be bigger than isoHunt has ever been.”</p>
<p>Ironically, in recent years Hollywood has often criticized Google for linking to pirated content in its search results. These results will also be available through WonderSwipe. </p>
<p>However, Fung says that any copyright issues with WonderSwipe will have to be dealt with on the search engine level, by Google.</p>
<p>&#8220;If there are links to pirated content, tell search engines so they can take them down!&#8221; he says.</p>
<p><a href="http://wonderswipe.com/">WonderSwipe</a> is totally free and Fung tells us that he plans to monetize it with in-app purchases for pro features, and non-intrusive advertising that won’t slow down swiping or search results. More details on the future plans for the app are <a href="https://medium.com/wonderswipe/rethink-mobile-search-10-100x-faster-introducing-wonderswipe-6f2ff0d0e667">available here</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154438
title: Pirates Taunt Amazon Over New “Turd Sandwich” Prime Video Quality
uri: Pirates-Taunt-Amazon-Over-New-Turd-Sandwich-Prime-Video-Quality
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/gmLtcoRjASI/
content:
<p><a href="media/b084eae9.amazon.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/amazon.png"><img src="media/f1f322a3.amazon.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/amazon.png" alt="" width="234" height="159" class="alignright size-full wp-image-137244"></a>Even though they generally aren&#8217;t paying for the content they consume, don&#8217;t fall into the trap of believing that all pirates are eternally grateful for even poor quality media.</p>
<p>Without a doubt, some of the most quality-sensitive individuals are to be found in pirate communities and they aren&#8217;t scared to make their voices known when release groups fail to come up with the best possible goods.</p>
<p>This week there&#8217;s been a sustained chorus of disapproval over the quality of pirate video releases sourced from Amazon Prime. The anger is usually directed at piracy groups who fail to capture content in the correct manner but according to a number of observers, the problem is actually at Amazon&#8217;s end.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Piracy/comments/8ctivw/amazon_webrip_bit_rate_is_worse_with_every_episode/">Discussions</a> on Reddit, for example, report that episodes in a single TV series have been declining in filesize and bitrate, from 1.56 GB in 720p at a 3073 kb/s video bitrate for episode 1, down to 907 MB in 720p at just 1514 kb/s video bitrate for episode 10.</p>
<p>Numerous theories as to why this may be the case are being floated around, including that Amazon is trying to save on bandwidth expenses. While this is a possibility, the company hasn&#8217;t made any announcements to that end.</p>
<p>Indeed, one legitimate customer reported that he&#8217;d raised the quality issue with Amazon and they&#8217;d said that the problem was &#8220;probably on his end&#8221;.</p>
<p>&#8220;I have Amazon Prime Video and I noticed the quality was always great for their exclusive shows, so I decided to try buying the shows on Amazon instead of iTunes this year. I paid for season pass subscriptions for Legion, Billions and Homeland this year,&#8221; he <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/television/comments/8d6d1s/did_amazon_prime_video_quality_turn_to_crap_this/">wrote</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;Just this past weekend, I have noticed a significant drop in details compared to weeks before! So naturally I assumed it was an issue on my end. I started trying different devices, calling support, etc, but nothing really helped.</p>
<p>&#8220;Billions continued to look like a blurry mess, almost like I was watching a standard definition DVD instead of the crystal clear HD I paid for and have experienced in the past! And when I check the previous episodes, sure enough, they look fantastic again. What the heck??&#8221;</p>
<p>With Amazon distancing itself from the issues, piracy groups have already begun to dig in the knife. Release group DEFLATE has been particularly critical.</p>
<p>&#8220;Amazon, in their infinite wisdom, have decided to start fucking with the quality of their encodes. They&#8217;re now reaching Netflix&#8217;s subpar 1080p.H264 levels, and their H265 encodes aren&#8217;t even close to what Netflix produces,&#8221; the group said in a file attached to S02E07 of The Good Fight released on Sunday.</p>
<p>&#8220;Netflix is able to produce drastic visual improvements with their H265 encodes compared to H264 across every original. In comparison, Amazon can&#8217;t decide whether H265 or H264 is going to produce better results, and as a result we suffer for it.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><strong>Arrr! The quality be fallin&#8217;</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/aa9ad77a.goodfightdeflate-e1524129161802.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/goodfightdeflate-e1524129161802.png"><img src="media/aa9ad77a.goodfightdeflate-e1524129161802.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/goodfightdeflate-e1524129161802.png" alt="" width="600" height="278" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-154450"></a></center></p>
<p>So what&#8217;s happening exactly?</p>
<p>A TorrentFreak source (who tells us he&#8217;s been working in the BluRay/DCP authoring business for the last 10 years) was kind enough to give us two opinions, one aimed at the techies and another at us mere mortals.</p>
<p>&#8220;In technical terms, it appears [Amazon has] increased the CRF [<a href="https://trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/Encode/H.264">Constant Rate Factor</a>] value they use when encoding for both the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Efficiency_Video_Coding">HEVC</a> [H265] and H264 streams. Previously, their H264 streams were using CRF 18 and a max bitrate of 15Mbit/s, which usually resulted in file sizes of roughly 3GB, or around 10Mbit/s. Similarly with their HEVC streams, they were using CRF 20 and resulting in streams which were around the same size,&#8221; he explained.</p>
<p>&#8220;In the past week, the H264 streams have decreased by up to 50% for some streams. While there are no longer any x264 headers embedded in the H264 streams, the HEVC streams still retain those headers and the CRF value used has been increased, so it does appear this change has been done on purpose.&#8221;</p>
<p>In layman&#8217;s terms, our source believes that Amazon had previously been using an encoding profile that was &#8220;right on the edge of relatively good quality&#8221; which kept bitrates relatively low but high enough to ensure no perceivable loss of quality.</p>
<p>&#8220;H264 streams encoded with CRF 18 could provide an acceptable compromise between quality and file size, where the loss of detail is often negligible when watched at regular viewing distances, at a desk, or in a lounge room on a larger TV,&#8221; he explained.</p>
<p>&#8220;Recently, it appears these values have been intentionally changed in order to lower the bitrate and file sizes for reasons unknown. As a result, the quality of some streams has been reduced by up to 50% of their previous values. This has introduced a visual loss of quality, comparable to that of viewing something in standard definition versus high definition.&#8221;</p>
<p>With the situation failing to improve during the week, by the time piracy group DEFLATE released S03E14 of Supergirl on Tuesday their original criticism had transformed into flat-out insults.</p>
<p>&#8220;These are only being done in H265 because Amazon have shit the bed, and it&#8217;s a choice between a turd sandwich and a giant douche,&#8221; they <a href="https://pastebin.com/raw/suTHVnfN">wrote</a>, offering <a href="https://imgbox.com/g/z2nbP51RwX">these images</a> as illustrative of the problem and <a href="https://imgbox.com/g/bsJNiUXuun">these</a> indicating what should be achievable.</p>
<p>With DEFLATE <a href="https://pastebin.com/raw/LqSGsPb5">advising</a> customers to start complaining to Amazon, the memes have already begun, with <a href="media/2da7eb06.0to1acy.png" data-original-source="https://i.imgur.com/0to1acy.png">unfavorable references</a> to now-defunct group YIFY (which was often chastized for its low quality rips) and even a <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Piracy/comments/8d0n2k/we_read_ya_loud_and_clear_amazon/">spin</a> on one of the most well known anti-piracy campaigns.</p>
<p><center><strong>You wouldn&#8217;t <strike>download</strike> stream&#8230;.</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/d810ca67.st6exf6gojs01.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/st6exf6gojs01.png"><img src="media/5b06db38.st6exf6gojs01.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/st6exf6gojs01.png" alt="" width="564" height="338" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-154453"></a></center></p>
<p>TorrentFreak contacted Amazon Prime for comment on both the recent changes and growing customer complaints but at the time of publication 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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154463
title: Married Torrent Tracker Couple Settles With BREIN
uri: Married-Torrent-Tracker-Couple-Settles-With-BREIN
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/mm-T2wZVHRc/
content:
<p><img src="media/867619fe.snuffelland_banner-e1524144684319.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/snuffelland_banner-e1524144684319.png" alt="" width="277" height="86" class="alignright size-full wp-image-154468">Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN has targeted operators and uploaders of pirate sites for more than a decade.</p>
<p>The group&#8217;s main goal is to shut the sites down. Instead of getting embroiled in dozens of lengthy court battles, it prefers to settle the matter with those responsible. </p>
<p>This week, BREIN announced another victory against a small torrent site, <a href="https://snuffelland.org/">Snuffelland</a>. The private tracker was targeted at a Dutch audience and the anti-piracy group managed to track down its operators. </p>
<p>According <a href="https://stichtingbrein.nl/nieuws.php?id=491">to BREIN</a>, the site was run by a married couple from the town of Montfort, a 65-year-old man and a 51-year-old woman. In addition, the group also identified one of the uploaders, a 60-year-old man from Heukelum.</p>
<p>All three are unemployed and their financial position was taken into account in determining the scale of the settlement. The couple agreed to pay 2,500 euros and the uploader settled for 650 euros, with a threat of further penalties if they are caught again. </p>
<p>The private tracker itself was shut down and replaced by a message that was provided by BREIN.</p>
<p>&#8220;Making copyright-protected works available infringes the copyrights of the entitled rightsholder. Downloading from unauthorized sources is also prohibited in the Netherlands,&#8221; the message reads.</p>
<p>&#8220;For providers of legal content, snuffelland.org refers you to thecontentmap.nl and film.nl,&#8221; it adds. </p>
<p>These type of shutdowns are nothing new. BREIN has taken down hundreds of smaller sites in the past. However, only in recent years has the group has started to publish these settlement details.</p>
<p>That serves as a deterrent but also provides some more insight into how the group prefers to solve these cases, which appears to be relatively softly. In this case, it also disproves the notion that torrent sites are run by youngsters.</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154431
title: Cloudflare Kicks Out Torrent Site For Abuse Reporting Interference
uri: Cloudflare-Kicks-Out-Torrent-Site-For-Abuse-Reporting-Interference
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/hJRB-kmYYyU/
content:
<p><img src="media/ac6a767e.cloudflarelogo.png" data-original-source="http://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, Cloudflare is used by millions of websites across the globe.</p>
<p>The company&#8217;s clients include billion dollar companies and national governments, but also personal blogs, and even pirate sites. </p>
<p>Copyright holders are not happy with the latter category and are pressuring Cloudflare to cut their ties with sites like The Pirate Bay, both in and out of court.</p>
<p>Cloudflare, however, maintains that it&#8217;s a neutral service provider. They forward copyright infringement notices to their customers, for example, but deny any liability for these sites. </p>
<p>Generally speaking, the company only disconnects a customer in response to a court order, as it did <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/cloudflare-terminates-service-to-sci-hub-domain-names-180205/">with Sci-Hub</a> earlier this year. That&#8217;s why it came as a surprise when the anime torrent site NYAA.si was disconnected this week. </p>
<p><a href="https://nyaa.si/">The site</a>, which is a replacement for the original NYAA, has millions of users and is particularly popular in Japan. Without prior warning, it became unavailable for several hours this week, after Cloudflare removed it from its services. So what happened?</p>
<p>TorrentFreak spoke to the operator who said that the exact reason for the termination remains a mystery to him. He reached out to Cloudflare looking for answers, but the comany simply stated that it&#8217;s about &#8220;avoiding measures taken to avoid abuse complaints,&#8221; as can be seen below.</p>
<p><center><strong>One of Cloudflare&#8217;s messages</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/a39a29ef.cloudmessage.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cloudmessage.png" alt="" width="600" height="332" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-154449"></center></p>
<p>The operator says he hasn&#8217;t done anything out of the ordinary and showed his willingness to resolve any possible issues. However, that hasn&#8217;t changed Cloudflare&#8217;s stance.</p>
<p>&#8220;We asked multiple times for clarification. We also expressed that we were willing to attempt to work with them on whatever the problem actually was, if they would explain what they even mean. </p>
<p>&#8220;Naturally, I have been stonewalled by them at every stage. I&#8217;ve contacted numerous persons at Cloudflare and nobody will talk about this,&#8221; NYAA&#8217;s operator adds. </p>
<p>TorrentFreak asked Cloudflare for more details and the company confirmed that the matter was related to interference with its abuse reporting systems, without providing further detail.</p>
<p>&#8220;We determined that the customer had taken steps specifically intended to interfere with and thwart the operation of our abuse reporting systems,&#8221; Cloudflare’s General Counsel Doug Kramer informed us.</p>
<p>Cloudflare&#8217;s statement suggests that the site took active steps to interfere with the abuse process. The company added that it can&#8217;t go into detail, but says that the reason for the termination was shared with the website owner. </p>
<p>The website owner, on the other hand, informs us that he has no clue what the exact problem is. NYAA.si occasionally swaps IP addresses and have recently set up some mirror domains, but these were all under the same account. So, he has no idea why that would interfere with any abuse reports.</p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m honestly unsure of what we could have done that &#8216;circumvents&#8221; their abuse system,&#8221; NYAA&#8217;s operator says, adding that the only abuse reports received were copyright related.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s unlikely, however, that copyright takedown notices alone would warrant account termination, as most of the largest torrent sites use Cloudflare.</p>
<p>NYAA&#8217;s operator says he can do little more than speculate at the point. Some have hinted at a secret court order while Japan&#8217;s recent <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/japan-seeks-to-outmaneuver-constitution-with-piracy-blocking-proposals-180406/">crackdown on manga and anime piracy</a> also came to mind, all without a grain of evidence of course.</p>
<p>Whatever the reason, NYAA.si now has to move on without Cloudflare, while the mystery remains. </p>
<p>&#8220;Frankly, this whole thing is a joke. I don&#8217;t understand why they would willingly host much bigger sites like ThePirateBay without any issue, or even ISIS, or the various hacking groups that have used them over time,&#8221; the operator says.</p>
<p>If more information about the abuse process interfere becomes available, we&#8217;ll definitely follow it up.</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154479
title: Facebook Privacy Fiasco Sees Congress Urged on Anti-Piracy Action
uri: Facebook-Privacy-Fiasco-Sees-Congress-Urged-on-Anti-Piracy-Action
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/YIv6ZCd-Q-Q/
content:
<p><a href="media/f758d45c.facebook-pirate-1.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/facebook-pirate-1.jpg"><img src="media/139ebf81.facebook-pirate-1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/facebook-pirate-1.jpg" alt="" width="234" height="122" class="alignright size-full wp-image-139520"></a>It has been a tumultuous few weeks for Facebook, and some would say quite rightly so. The company is a notorious harvester of personal information but last month&#8217;s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/17/cambridge-analytica-facebook-influence-us-election">Cambridge Analytica scandal</a> really brought things to a head.</p>
<p>With Facebook co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg in the midst of a PR nightmare, last Tuesday the entrepreneur appeared before the Senate. A day later he faced a grilling from lawmakers, answering questions concerning the social networking giant’s problems with user privacy and how it responds to breaches.</p>
<p>What practical measures Zuckerberg and his team will take to calm the storm are yet to unfold but the opportunity to broaden the attack on both Facebook and others in the user-generated content field is now being seized upon. Yes, privacy is the number one controversy at the moment but Facebook and others of its ilk need to step up and take responsibility for <em>everything</em> posted on their platforms.</p>
<p>That&#8217;s the argument presented by the American Federation of Musicians, the Content Creators Coalition, CreativeFuture, and the Independent Film &#038; Television Alliance, who together represent more than 650 entertainment industry companies and 240,000 members. CreativeFuture alone <a href="https://creativefuture.org/who-we-are/coalition/">represents more than 500 companies</a>, including all the big Hollywood studios and major players in the music industry.</p>
<p>In letters sent to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary; the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation; and the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the coalitions urge Congress to not only ensure that Facebook gets its house in order, but that Google, Twitter, and similar platforms do so too.</p>
<p>The letters begin with calls to protect user data and tackle the menace of fake news but given the nature of the coalitions and their entertainment industry members, it&#8217;s no surprise to see where this is heading.</p>
<p>&#8220;In last week’s hearing, Mr. Zuckerberg stressed several times that Facebook must &#8216;take a broader view of our responsibility,&#8217; acknowledging that it is &#8216;responsible for the content&#8217; that appears on its service and must &#8216;take a more active view in policing the ecosystem&#8217; it created,&#8221; the letter reads.</p>
<p>&#8220;While most content on Facebook is not produced by Facebook, they are the publisher and distributor of immense amounts of content to billions around the world. It is worth noting that a lot of that content is posted without the consent of the people who created it, including those in the creative industries we represent.&#8221;</p>
<p>The letter recalls Zuckerberg as characterizing Facebook&#8217;s failure to take a broader view of its responsibilities as a &#8220;big mistake&#8221; while noting he&#8217;s also promised change.</p>
<p>However, the entertainment groups contend that the way the company has conducted itself &#8211; and the manner in which many Silicon Valley companies conduct themselves &#8211; is supported and encouraged by safe harbors and legal immunities that absolve internet platforms of accountability.</p>
<p>&#8220;We agree that change needs to happen – but we must ask ourselves whether we can expect to see real change as long as these companies are allowed to continue to operate in a policy framework that prioritizes the growth of the internet over accountability and protects those that fail to act responsibly. We believe this question must be at the center of any action Congress takes in response to the recent failures,&#8221; the groups write.</p>
<p>But while the Facebook fiasco has provided the opportunity for criticism, CreativeFuture and its colleagues see the problem from a much broader perspective. They suck in companies like Google, which is also criticized for shirking its responsibilities, largely because the law doesn&#8217;t compel it to act any differently.</p>
<p>&#8220;Google, another major global platform that has long resisted meaningful accountability, also needs to step forward and endorse the broader view of responsibility expressed by Mr. Zuckerberg – as do many others,&#8221; they continue.</p>
<p>&#8220;The real problem is not Facebook, or Mark Zuckerberg, regardless of how sincerely he seeks to own the &#8216;mistakes&#8217; that led to the hearing last week. The problem is endemic in a system that applies a different set of rules to the internet and fails to impose ordinary norms of accountability on businesses that are built around monetizing other people’s personal information and content.&#8221;</p>
<p>Noting that Congress has encouraged technology companies to prosper by using a &#8220;light hand&#8221; for the past several decades, the groups say their level of success now calls for a fresh approach and a heavier touch.</p>
<p>&#8220;Facebook and Google are grown-ups – and it is time they behaved that way. If they will not act, then it is up to you and your colleagues in the House to take action and not let these platforms’ abuses continue to pile up,&#8221; they <a href="media/d5a1a8c4.Creative-Community-4.19.18-Letter-for-House-Facebook-Hearing.pdf" data-original-source="https://d31sjue3f6m1dv.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/19095914/Creative-Community-4.19.18-Letter-for-House-Facebook-Hearing.pdf">conclude</a>.</p>
<p>But with all that said, there is an interesting conflict that develops when presenting the solution to piracy in the context of a user privacy fiasco.</p>
<p>In the EU, many of the companies involved in the coalitions above are calling for pre-emptive filters to prevent allegedly infringing content being uploaded to Facebook and YouTube. That means that all user uploads to such platforms will have to be opened and scanned to see what they contain before they&#8217;re allowed online.</p>
<p>So, user privacy or pro-active anti-piracy filters? It might <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/eu-court-bans-anti-piracy-filters-on-hosting-services-120216/">not be easy</a> or even legal to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/mandatory-piracy-filters-could-breach-human-rights-eu-members-170906/">achieve both</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154391
title: Russia Blacklists 250 Pirate Sites For Displaying Gambling Ads
uri: Russia-Blacklists-250-Pirate-Sites-For-Displaying-Gambling-Ads
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/4T599w8aKLg/
content:
<p><a href="media/1c7edcb8.dice.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/dice.jpg"><img src="media/9e41ae86.dice.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dice.jpg" alt="" width="240" height="187" class="alignright size-full wp-image-124795"></a>Blocking alleged pirate sites is usually a question of proving that they&#8217;re involved in infringement and then applying to the courts for an injunction.</p>
<p>In Europe, the process is becoming easier, largely thanks to an EU ruling that permits blocking on copyright grounds.</p>
<p>As reported over the past several years, Russia is taking its blocking processes very seriously. Copyright holders can now have sites blocked in just a few days, if they can show their operators as being unresponsive to takedown demands.</p>
<p>This week, however, Russian authorities have again shown that copyright infringement doesn&#8217;t have to be the only Achilles&#8217; heel of pirate sites.</p>
<p>Back in 2006, online gambling was completely banned in Russia. Three years later in 2009, land-based gambling was also made illegal in all but four specified regions. Then, in 2012, the Russian Supreme Court ruled that ISPs must block access to gambling sites, something they had previously refused to do.</p>
<p>That same year, telecoms watchdog Rozcomnadzor began publishing a list of banned domains and within those appeared some of the biggest names in gambling. Many shut down access to customers located in Russia but others did not. In response, Rozcomnadzor also began targeting sites that simply offered information on gambling.</p>
<p>Fast forward more than six years and Russia is still taking a hard line against gambling operators. However, it now finds itself in a position where the existence of gambling material can also assist the state in its quest to take down pirate sites.</p>
<p>Following a complaint from the Federal Tax Service of Russia, Rozcomnadzor has <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-sites-blocked-for-showing-gambling-advertising-161120/">again</a> added a large number of &#8216;pirate&#8217; sites to the country&#8217;s official blocklist after they advertised gambling-related products and services.</p>
<p>&#8220;Rozkomnadzor, at the request of the Federal Tax Service of Russia, added more than 250 pirate online cinemas and torrent trackers to the unified register of banned information, which hosted illegal advertising of online casinos and bookmakers,&#8221; the telecoms watchdog reported.</p>
<p>Almost immediately, 200 of the sites were blocked by local ISPs since they failed to remove the advertising when told to do so. For the remaining 50 sites, breathing space is still available. Their bans can be suspended if the offending ads are removed within a timeframe specified by the authorities, which has not yet run out.</p>
<p>&#8220;Information on a significant number of pirate resources with illegal advertising was received by Rozcomnadzor from citizens and organizations through a hotline that operates on the site of the Unified Register of Prohibited Information, all of which were sent to the Federal Tax Service for making decisions on restricting access,&#8221; the watchdog revealed.</p>
<p>Links between pirate sites and gambling companies have traditionally been close over the years, with advertising for many top-tier brands appearing on portals large and small. However, in recent times the prevalence of gambling ads has diminished, in part due to campaigns conducted in the United States, Europe, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/uk-police-claim-success-in-keeping-gambling-ads-off-pirate-sites-170614/">and the UK</a>.</p>
<p>For pirate site operators in Russia, the decision to carry gambling ads now comes with the added risk of being blocked. Only time will tell whether any reduction in traffic is considered serious enough to warrant a gambling boycott of their own.</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154388
title: Steam Censors MEGA.nz Links in Chats and Forum Posts
uri: Steam-Censors-MEGA-nz-Links-in-Chats-and-Forum-Posts
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/T18EWpbXCbw/
content:
<p><img src="media/32f916cb.steam.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/steam.png" alt="" width="238" height="174" class="alignright size-full wp-image-101241">With more than 150 million registered accounts, Steam is much more than just a game distribution platform. </p>
<p>For many people, it&#8217;s also a social hangout and a communication channel.</p>
<p>Steam’s instant messaging tool, for example, is widely used for chats with friends. About games of course, but also to discuss lots of other stuff.</p>
<p>While Valve doesn&#8217;t mind people socializing on its platform, there are certain things the company doesn&#8217;t want Steam users to share. This includes links to the cloud hosting service <a href="https://mega.nz/">Mega</a>. </p>
<p>Users who&#8217;d like to show off some gaming footage, or even a collection of cat pictures they stored on Mega, are unable to do so. As it turns out, Steam actively censors these type of links from forum posts and chats.</p>
<p>In forum posts, these offending links are replaced by the text {LINK REMOVED} and private chats get the same treatment. Instead of the Mega link, people on the other end only get a mention that a link was removed.</p>
<p><center><strong>Mega link removed from chat</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/b2f95216.steammega.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/steammega.png" alt="" width="441" height="61" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-154442"></center></p>
<p>While Mega operates as a regular company that offers cloud hosting services, Steam notes on their website that the website is &#8220;potentially malicious.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;The site could contain malicious content or be known for stealing user credentials,&#8221; Steam&#8217;s link checker warns.</p>
<p><center><strong>Potentially malicious&#8230;</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/07872eb0.megamalicious.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/megamalicious.png" alt="" width="500" height="208" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-154444"></center></p>
<p>It&#8217;s unclear what malicious means in this context. Mega has never been flagged by Google&#8217;s Safe Browsing program, which is regarded as one of the industry standards for malware and other unwanted software.</p>
<p>What&#8217;s more likely is that Mega&#8217;s piracy stigma has something to do with the censoring. As it turns out, Steam also censors 4shared.com, as well as Pirate Bay&#8217;s former .se domain name. </p>
<p>Other &#8220;malicious sites&#8221; which get the same treatment are more game oriented, such as cheathappens.com and the CSGO Skin Screenshot site metjm.net. While it&#8217;s understandable some game developers don&#8217;t like these, malicious is a rather broad term in this regard. </p>
<p>Mega clearly refutes that they are doing anything wrong. Mega Chairman Stephen Hall tells TorrentFreak that the company swiftly removes any malicious content, once it receives an abuse notice.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is crazy for sites to block Mega links as we respond very quickly to disable any links that are reported as malware, generally much quicker than our competitors,&#8221; Hall says. </p>
<p>Valve did not immediately reply to our request for clarification so the precise reason for the link censoring remains unknown. </p>
<p>That said, when something&#8217;s censored the public tends to work around any restrictions. Mega links are still being shared on Steam, with a slightly altered URL. In addition, Mega&#8217;s backup domain <a href="https://mega.co.nz/">Mega.co.nz</a> still works fine 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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154398
title: How Many Piracy Warnings Would Get You to Stop?
uri: How-Many-Piracy-Warnings-Would-Get-You-to-Stop
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/eM-uK_hTw9c/
content:
<p><a href="media/9ef6a551.warning.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/warning.png"><img src="media/40fc3a89.warning.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/warning.png" alt="" width="250" height="213" class="alignright size-full wp-image-109065"></a>For the past several years, copyright holders in the US and Europe have been trying to reach out to file-sharers in an effort to change their habits.</p>
<p>Whether via high-profile publicity lawsuits or a simple email, it&#8217;s hoped that by letting people know they aren&#8217;t anonymous, they&#8217;ll stop pirating and buy more content instead.</p>
<p>Traditionally, most ISPs haven&#8217;t been that keen on passing infringement notices on. However, the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/cox-is-liable-for-pirating-subscribers-ordered-to-pay-25-million-151217/">BMG v Cox lawsuit</a> seems to have made a big difference, with a growing number of ISPs now visibly warning their users that they operate a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/comcast-explains-how-it-deals-with-persistent-pirates-180210/">repeat infringer policy</a>.</p>
<p>But perhaps the big question is how seriously users take these warnings because &#8211; let&#8217;s face it &#8211; that&#8217;s the entire point of their existence.</p>
<p>There can be little doubt that a few recipients will be scurrying away at the slightest hint of trouble, intimidated by the mere suggestion that they&#8217;re being watched. </p>
<p>Indeed, a father in the UK &#8211; who received a warning last year as part of the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/uk-piracy-warnings-coming-month-heres-works-170111/">Get it Right From a Genuine Site campaign</a> &#8211; confidently and forcefully assured TF that there would be no more illegal file-sharing taking place on his ten-year-old son&#8217;s computer again &#8211; ever.</p>
<p>In France, where the HADOPI anti-piracy scheme received much publicity, people receiving an initial notice are most unlikely to receive additional ones in future. A December 2017 <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/seven-years-of-hadopi-nine-million-piracy-warnings-189-convictions-171201/">report</a> indicated that of nine million first warning notices sent to alleged pirates since 2012, &#8216;just&#8217; 800,000 received a follow-up warning on top.</p>
<p>The suggestion is that people either stop their piracy after getting a notice or two, or choose to &#8220;go dark&#8221; instead, using streaming sites for example or perhaps torrenting behind a decent VPN.</p>
<p>But for some people, the message simply doesn&#8217;t sink in early on.</p>
<p>A post on Reddit this week by a TWC Spectrum customer revealed that despite a wealth of readily available information (including masses in the specialist subreddit where the post was made), even several warnings fail to have an effect.</p>
<p>&#8220;Was just hit with my 5th copyright violation. They halted my internet and all,&#8221; the self-confessed pirate wrote.</p>
<p>There are at least three important things to note from this opening sentence.</p>
<p>Firstly, the first four warnings did nothing to change the user&#8217;s piracy habits. Secondly, Spectrum presumably had enough at five warnings and kicked in a repeat-infringer suspension, presumably to avoid the same fate as Cox in the BMG case. Third, the account suspension seems to have changed the game.</p>
<p>Notably, rather than some huge blockbuster movie, that fifth warning came due to something rather less prominent. </p>
<p>&#8220;Thought I could sneak in a random episode of Rosanne. The new one that aired LOL. That fast. Under 24 hours I got shut off. Which makes me feel like [ISPs] do monitor your traffic and its not just the people sending them notices,&#8221; the post read.</p>
<p>Again, some interesting points here.</p>
<p>Any content can be monitored by rightsholders but if it&#8217;s popular in the US then a warning delivered via an ISP seems to be more likely than elsewhere. However, the misconception that the monitoring is done by ISPs persists, despite that not being the case.</p>
<p>ISPs do not monitor users&#8217; file-sharing activity, anti-piracy companies do. They can grab an IP address the second someone enters a torrent swarm, or even connects to a tracker. It happens in an instant, at a time of their choosing. Quickly jumping in and out of a torrent is no guarantee and the fallacy of not getting caught due to a failure to seed is just that &#8211; a fallacy.</p>
<p>But perhaps the most important thing is that after five warnings and a disconnection, the Reddit user decided to take action. Sadly for the people behind Rosanne, it&#8217;s not exactly the reaction they&#8217;d have hoped for.</p>
<p>&#8220;I do not want to push it but I am curious to what happens 6th time, and if I would even be safe behind a VPN,&#8221; he wrote.</p>
<p>&#8220;Just want to learn how to use a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN</a> and <a href="https://sonarr.tv/">Sonarr</a> and have a guilt free stress free torrent watching.&#8221;</p>
<p>Of course, there was no shortage of advice.</p>
<p>&#8220;If you have gotten 5 notices, you really should of learnt [sic] how to use a VPN before now,&#8221; one poster noted, perhaps inevitably.</p>
<p>But curiously, or perhaps obviously given the number of previous warnings, the fifth warning didn&#8217;t come as a surprise to the user.</p>
<p>&#8220;I knew they were going to hit me for it. I just didn&#8217;t think a 195mb file would do it. They were getting me for Disney movies in the past,&#8221; he added.</p>
<p>So how do you grab the attention of a persistent infringer like this? Five warnings and a suspension apparently. But clearly, not even that is a guarantee of success. Perhaps this is why most &#8216;strike&#8217; schemes tend to give up on people who can&#8217;t be rehabilitated.</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154556
title: Netflix, Amazon and Hollywood Sue “SET TV” Over IPTV Piracy
uri: Netflix-Amazon-and-Hollywood-Sue-SET-TV-Over-IPTV-Piracy
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/ygaaV8rAs98/
content:
<p><img src="media/1f421600.settv.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/settv.jpg" alt="" width="277" height="181" class="alignright size-full wp-image-154559">In recent years, piracy streaming tools and services have become a prime target for copyright enforcers. </p>
<p>This is particularly true for the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (<a href="https://alliance4creativity.com/">ACE</a>), an anti-piracy partnership forged between Hollywood studios, Netflix, Amazon, and more than two dozen other companies.</p>
<p>After taking action against Kodi-powered devices <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/hollywood-giants-sue-kodi-powered-tickbox-tv-over-piracy-171014/">Tickbox</a> and <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/netflix-amazon-and-hollywood-sue-kodi-powered-dragon-box-over-piracy-180111/">Dragonbox</a>, key ACE members have now filed a similar lawsuit against the Florida-based company Set Broadcast, LLC, which sells the popular IPTV service SET TV. </p>
<p>The complaint, filed at a California federal court on Friday, further lists company owner Jason Labbosiere and employee Nelson Johnson among the defendants.</p>
<p>According to the movie companies, the <a href="https://www.setvnow.com/">Set TV</a> software is little more than a pirate tool, allowing buyers to stream copyright infringing content. </p>
<p>&#8220;Defendants market and sell subscriptions to &#8216;Setvnow,&#8217; a software application that Defendants urge their customers to use as a tool for the mass infringement of Plaintiffs’ copyrighted motion pictures and television shows,&#8221; the complaint reads.</p>
<p>In addition to the software, the company also offers a preloaded box. Both allow users to connect to live streams of TV channels and &#8216;on demand&#8217; content. The latter includes movies that are still in theaters, which SET TV allegedly streams through third-party sources.</p>
<p>&#8220;For its on-demand options, Setvnow relies on third-party sources that illicitly reproduce copyrighted works and then provide streams of popular content such as movies still exclusively in theaters and television shows.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><strong>From the complaint</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/6ddec83d.settv.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/settv.png" alt="" width="578" height="446" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-154568"></center></p>
<p>The intended use of SET TV is clear, according to the movie companies. They frame it as a pirate service and believe that this is the main draw for consumers. </p>
<p>&#8220;Defendants promote the use of Setvnow for overwhelmingly, if not exclusively, infringing purposes, and that is how their customers use Setvnow,&#8221; the complaint reads.</p>
<p>Interestingly, the complaint also states that SET TV pays for sponsored reviews to reach a broader audience. The videos, posted by popular YouTubers <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBy-4fx_I_8">such as Solo Man</a>, who is quoted in the complaint, advertise the IPTV service. </p>
<p>&#8220;[The] sponsored reviewer promotes Setvnow as a quick and easy way to access on demand movies: &#8216;You have new releases right there and you simply click on the movie … you click it and click on play again and here you have the movie just like that in 1 2 3 in beautiful HD quality&#8217;.&#8221;</p>
<p>The lawsuit aims to bring an end to this. The movie companies ask the California District for an injunction to shut down the infringing service and impound all pre-loaded devices. In addition, they’re requesting statutory damages which could go up to several million dollars.</p>
<p>At the time of writing the SET TV website is still in the air, selling subscriptions. The company itself has yet to comment on the allegations.</p>
<p><em>&#8212;</p>
<p>A copy of the complaint is <a href="media/f412f159.ACESETTV.pdf" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/ACESETTV.pdf">available here (pdf)</a>,</em> courtesy of <a href="https://www.geekwire.com/2018/amazon-netflix-major-studios-sue-set-tv-streaming-service-alleging-mass-infringement-content/">GeekWire</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154583
title: The Pirate Bay Suffers Extended Downtime, Tor Domain Is Up
uri: The-Pirate-Bay-Suffers-Extended-Downtime-Tor-Domain-Is-Up
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Mj1LMvGDiuw/
content:
<p><img src="media/2a43984f.pirate-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-bay.jpg" alt="pirate bay" width="200" height="207" class="alignright size-full wp-image-53470">The main Pirate Bay domain has been offline for the last one-and-a-half days.</p>
<p>For most people, the site currently displays a Cloudflare error message across the entire site, with the CDN provider referring to a &#8220;bad gateway.&#8221;</p>
<p>No further details are available to us and there is no known ETA for the site&#8217;s full return.  Judging from past experience, however, it&#8217;s likely a small technical hiccup that needs fixing. </p>
<p>There are no issues with the domain name itself and Cloudflare seems to be fully functional as well.</p>
<p><center><strong>Pirate Bay downtime, bad gateway</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/7b3322bd.bad-gateway.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/bad-gateway.png" alt="" width="600" height="326" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-150348"></center></p>
<p>TorrentFreak hasn&#8217;t heard anything from the TPB team but these type of outages are not unusual. The Pirate Bay has had quite a few stints of downtime in recent months. The popular torrent site usually returns after several hours.</p>
<p>Amid the downtime, there&#8217;s still some good news for those who desperately need to access the notorious torrent site. TPB is still available via its <a href="http://uj3wazyk5u4hnvtk.onion/recent">.onion</a> address on the Tor network, accessible using the popular Tor Browser, for example. </p>
<p>The site&#8217;s Tor traffic goes through a separate server and works just fine. However, based on the irregular uploads, that&#8217;s not going completely smoothly either.</p>
<p>In addition, <em>some</em> of The Pirate Bay&#8217;s unofficial proxy sites are still working fine and showing new torrents.</p>
<p>As always, more details on The Pirate Bay&#8217;s current status are available on the <a href="https://pirates-forum.org/misc.php?page=tpbstatus">official forum</a>, but don&#8217;t expect any ETA there. </p>
<p>&#8220;Patience is the game we are all playing for now,&#8221; TPB moderator demonS notes.</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154576
title: Registrars Suspend 11 Pirate Site Domains, 89 More in the Crosshairs
uri: Registrars-Suspend-11-Pirate-Site-Domains-89-More-in-the-Crosshairs
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/yYLPWDI7KsY/
content:
<p><a href="media/4167b09d.targetmiss.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/targetmiss.jpg"><img src="media/82d79bdb.targetmiss.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/targetmiss.jpg" alt="" width="275" height="187" class="alignright size-full wp-image-116761"></a>In addition to website blocking which is running rampant across dozens of countries right now, targeting the domains of pirate sites is considered to be a somewhat effective anti-piracy tool.</p>
<p>The vast majority of websites are found using a recognizable name so when they become inaccessible, site operators have to work quickly to get the message out to fans. That can mean losing visitors, at least in the short term, and also contributes to the rise of copy-cat sites that may not have users&#8217; best interests at heart.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, crime-fighting has always been about disrupting the ability of the enemy to do business so with this in mind, authorities in India began taking <a href="media/164c4f3a.ficci-press-april4-piracy.pdf" data-original-source="http://ficci.in/PressRelease/2341/ficci-press-april4-piracy.pdf">advice</a> from the UK&#8217;s Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) a couple of years ago. </p>
<p>After studying the model developed by PIPCU, India formed its Digital Crime Unit (DCU), which follows a multi-stage plan.</p>
<p>Initially, pirate sites and their partners are told to cease-and-desist. Next, complaints are filed with advertisers, who are asked to stop funding site activities. Service providers and domain registrars also receive a written complaint from the DCU, asking them to suspend services to the sites in question.</p>
<p>Last July, the DCU earmarked around 9,000 sites where pirated content was being made available. From there, 1,300 were placed on a shortlist for targeted action. Precisely how many have been contacted thus far is unclear but authorities are now reporting success.</p>
<p>According to local <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/11-websites-pulled-down-by-state-for-pirated-content/articleshow/63873912.cms">reports</a>, the Maharashtra government&#8217;s Digital Crime Unit has managed to have 11 pirate site domains suspended following complaints from players in the entertainment industry.</p>
<p>As is often the case (and to avoid them receiving even more attention) the sites in question aren&#8217;t being named but according to Brijesh Singh, special Inspector General of Police in Maharashtra, the sites had a significant number of visitors.</p>
<p>Their domain registrars were sent a notice under Section 149 of the Code Of Criminal Procedure, which grants police the power to take preventative action when a crime is suspected. It&#8217;s yet to be confirmed officially but it seems likely that pirate sites utilizing local registrars were targeted by the authorities.</p>
<p>“Responding to our notice, the domain names of all these websites, that had a collective viewership of over 80 million, were suspended,” Singh said.</p>
<p>Laxman Kamble, a police inspector attached to the state government’s Cyber Cell, said the pilot project was launched after the government received complaints from Viacom and Star but back in January there were reports that the MPAA had also <a href="https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/national/maharashtra-police-steps-up-fight-against-pirated-content/article10045282.ece">become involved</a>.</p>
<p>Using the model pioneered by London&#8217;s PIPCU, 19 parameters were applied to list of pirate sites in order to place them on the shortlist. They are reported to include the type of content being uploaded, downloaded, and the number of downloads overall.</p>
<p>Kamble reports that a further 89 websites, that have domains registered abroad but are very popular in India, are now being targeted. Whether overseas registrars will prove as compliant will remain to be seen. After booking initial success, even PIPCU itself experienced problems keeping up the momentum with registrars.</p>
<p>In 2014, information obtained by TorrentFreak following a Freedom of Information request revealed that only <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/domain-registrars-deny-police-requests-suspend-pirate-sites-140808/">five out of 70 domain registrars</a> had complied with police requests to suspend domains.</p>
<p>A year later, PIPCU confirmed that suspending pirate domain names was <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/uk-piracy-police-deprioritize-ineffective-domain-suspension-requests-151107/">no longer a priority</a> for them after ICANN ruled that registrars don&#8217;t have to suspend domain names without a valid court order.</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154599
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week on BitTorrent – 04/23/18
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-on-BitTorrent-04-23-18
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/GvYRVu86qEI/
content:
<p><img src="media/f6c6baa3.mazerunn.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mazerunn.png" alt="" width="300" height="246" class="alignright size-full wp-image-153622">This week we have three newcomers in our chart.</p>
<p>Pacific Rim: Uprising 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 weekly movie download chart.</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-pirated-movies-week-bittorrent-04-16-18/">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/tt2557478/">Pacific Rim: Uprising</a> (Subbed HDrip) </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2557478/">5.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EhiLLOhVis">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1413492/">12 Strong</a>  </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1413492/">6.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Denciie5oA">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1259528/">Den of Thieves</a>  </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1259528/">7.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKd_ks0rdAM">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4500922/">Maze Runner: The Death Cure </a>  </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4500922/">6.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-BTxXm8KSg">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2873282/">Red Sparrow</a> (Subbed HDrip) </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2873282/">6.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmUL6wMpMWw">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(8)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1825683/">Black Panther</a> (HDTS)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1825683/">7.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjDjIWPwcPU">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(6)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5478478/">Hostiles</a>  </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5478478/">7.3</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1M5cj4UmscE">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1485796/">The Greatest Showman</a>  </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1485796/">7.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zOeiLhcgPo">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1590193/">The Commuter</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1590193/">6.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDshY43Ol2U">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5813366/">Bleeding Steel</a>  </td>
<td><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5813366/">5.3</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLCuqnqGvVk">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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154597
title: French Minister of Culture Calls For Pirate Streaming Blacklist
uri: French-Minister-of-Culture-Calls-For-Pirate-Streaming-Blacklist
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/BDX6_Mx48IE/
content:
<p><img src="media/43240eea.franceflag.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/franceflag.png" alt="" width="277" height="182" class="alignright size-full wp-image-131983">Nearly a decade ago, France was on the anti-piracy enforcement frontline.</p>
<p>The country was the first to introduce a graduated response system, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/tag/hadopi/">Hadopi</a>, where Internet subscribers risked losing their Internet connections if they were caught sharing torrents repeatedly.</p>
<p>Today this approach is no longer as effective as it once was. The bulk of all online piracy has moved from P2P downloading to streaming, and the latter isn&#8217;t traceable by anti-piracy watchdogs. </p>
<p>This hasn&#8217;t gone unnoticed by the French Government, Minister of Culture Françoise Nyssen in particular, who highlighted the issue to reporters a few days ago.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Hadopi response is no longer suitable because piracy is now 80% by streaming,&#8221; she said, quoted by <a href="http://www.europe1.fr/technologies/piratage-nyssen-reflechit-a-une-liste-noire-des-sites-de-streaming-illegaux-3629897">local media</a>.</p>
<p>While Hadopi may have outgrown its usefulness, France is not giving up the piracy fight. On the contrary, the country is now pondering new measures to target the current epidemic of pirate streaming sites. </p>
<p>Nyssen hopes that local authorities will implement a national pirate site blocklist to address the problem. Ideally, this should be constantly updated to ensure that pirate streaming sites remain inaccessible.</p>
<p>The Minister told reporters that France must &#8220;act on the sites,&#8221; by implementing &#8220;a blacklist which is constantly updated to keep them offline&#8221;.</p>
<p>This list would be maintained by the Hadopi agency which can then circulate it among several online intermediaries. This can include Internet providers, but also search engines and advertising networks. </p>
<p>The tough language will be music to the ears of the film industry and the timing doesn&#8217;t appear to be a total coincidence either. </p>
<p>The comments from the French Minister of Culture come shortly after several film industry groups boycotted a reception at the ministry. According to the groups, France dropped the ball on enforcement against piracy, which is blamed for more than a billion euros in losses.</p>
<p>The renewed promise may calm the waters for a while, but for now, it&#8217;s little more than that. It will likely take time before an effective pirate site blacklist is established, if it gets that far.</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154520
title: Court Denies TVAddons’ Request to Dismiss U.S. Piracy Lawsuit
uri: Court-Denies-TVAddons-Request-to-Dismiss-U-S-Piracy-Lawsuit
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/iQjoBRmAlcc/
content:
<p><img src="media/0af8686f.zemtvadd.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/zemtvadd.jpg" alt="" width="222" height="194" class="alignright size-full wp-image-139977">Last year, American satellite and broadcast provider <a href="https://www.dish.com/">Dish Network</a> targeted two well-known players in the third-party Kodi add-on ecosystem.</p>
<p>In a complaint filed in a federal court in Texas, add-on ZemTV and the <a href="https://www.tvaddons.co/">TVAddons</a> library <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/dish-network-sues-zemtv-and-tv-addons-for-copyright-infringement-170605/">were accused of copyright infringement</a>. As a result, both are facing up to $150,000 in damages for each offense.</p>
<p>While the case was filed in Texas, neither of the defendants live there, or even in the United States. The owner and operator of TVAddons is Adam Lackman, who resides in Montreal, Canada. ZemTV&#8217;s developer Shahjahan Durrani is even further away in London, UK.</p>
<p>According to the legal team of the two defendants, this limited connection to Texas is reason for the case to be dismissed. They filed a <a href="media/c171cb49.179129183598.pdf" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/179129183598.pdf">motion to dismiss</a> in January, asking the court to drop the case.</p>
<p>&#8220;Lackman and Durrani have never been residents or citizens of Texas; they have never owned property in Texas; they have never voted in Texas; they have never personally visited Texas; they have never directed any business activity of any kind to anyone in Texas [&#8230;] and they have never earned income in Texas,&#8221; the motion reads.</p>
<p>Dish saw things differently, however. The broadcast provider replied to the motion, submitting hundreds of pages of evidence documenting TVAddons and ZemTV&#8217;s ties to the United States.</p>
<p>Among other things, Dish pointed the court towards TVAddons own data, which showed that most of its users came from the United States. More than one-third of the total user base were American, it argued.</p>
<p>&#8220;The United States was Defendants’ largest market with approximately 34% of all TV Addons traffic coming from users located in the United States, which was three times the traffic from the second largest market.&#8221;</p>
<p>Late last week District Court Judge Vanessa Gilmore ruled on the motion to dismiss from both defendants, which is denied. </p>
<p><center><strong>Denied</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/71e1546d.tvazemdismiss.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tvazemdismiss.png" alt="" width="577" height="473" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-154532"></center></p>
<p>At the time of writing, there is no additional information available as to how Judge Gilmore reached her decision. However, it is clear that the case will now move forward.</p>
<p>This lawsuit is one of several related to Kodi-powered pirate steaming boxes. While TVAddons and ZemTV didn&#8217;t sell any fully loaded boxes directly, Dish argues that they both played a significant role in making copyright-infringing content available. </p>
<p>Earlier this year, the manufacturer of the streaming device DragonBox <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/netflix-amazon-and-hollywood-sue-kodi-powered-dragon-box-over-piracy-180111/">was sued</a> in a separate case by Netflix, Amazon and several major Hollywood studios. </p>
<p>A few days ago Dragon Media denied all piracy allegations in the complaint, but the lawsuit remains ongoing. The same is true for <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/hollywood-giants-sue-kodi-powered-tickbox-tv-over-piracy-171014/">a related case</a> against Tickbox, another Kodi-powered box manufacturer.</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154644
title: Japan ISP Says it Will Voluntarily Block Pirate Sites as Major Portal Disappears
uri: Japan-ISP-Says-it-Will-Voluntarily-Block-Pirate-Sites-as-Major-Portal
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/BE5APFQcSBg/
content:
<p><img src="media/68673fe7.anime-pirate.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/anime-pirate.jpg" width="222" height="159" class="alignright size-large">Speaking at a news conference during March, Japan&#8217;s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said that the government was considering measures to prohibit access to pirate sites.  The country’s manga and anime industries were treasures worth protecting, Suga said.</p>
<p>“The damage is getting worse. We are considering the possibilities of all measures including site blocking. I would like to take countermeasures as soon as possible under the cooperation of the relevant ministries and agencies,” he <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/japan-becomes-latest-country-to-consider-pirate-site-blocking-180324/">added</a>.</p>
<p>But with no specific legislation that allows for site-blocking, particularly not on copyright infringement grounds, it appeared that Japan might face an uphill struggle. Indeed, the country&#8217;s constitution supports freedom of speech and expressly <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/japan-seeks-to-outmaneuver-constitution-with-piracy-blocking-proposals-180406/">forbids censorship</a>. Earlier this month, however, matters quickly began to progress.</p>
<p>On Friday April 13, the government said it would introduce an emergency measure to target websites hosting pirated manga, anime and other types of content. It would not force ISPs to comply with its blocking requests but would simply ask for their assistance instead.</p>
<p>The aim was to establish cooperation in advance of an expansion of legislation later this year which was originally introduced to tackle the menace of child pornography.</p>
<p>&#8220;Our country&#8217;s content industry could be denied a future if manga artists and other creators are robbed of proceeds that should go to them,&#8221; <a href="https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20180413/p2g/00m/0dm/058000c">said</a> Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.</p>
<p>The government didn&#8217;t have to wait long for a response. The Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (NTT) announced yesterday that it will begin blocking access to sites that provide unauthorized access to copyrighted content.</p>
<p>&#8220;We have taken short-term emergency measures until legal systems on site-blocking are implemented,&#8221; NTT in a statement.</p>
<p>NTT Communications Corp., NTT Docomo Inc. and NTT Plala Inc., will block access to three sites previously identified by the government &#8211; Mangamura, AniTube! and MioMio which have a particularly large following in Japan.</p>
<p>NTT said that it will also restrict access to other sites if requested to do so by the government. The company added that at least in the short-term, it will prevent access to the sites using DNS blocking.</p>
<p>While Anitube and MioMio will be blocked in due course, Mangamura has already disappeared from the Internet. The site was reportedly attracting 100 million visits per month but on April 17 <a href="https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASL4K5K8LL4KULZU00N.html">went offline</a> following an apparent voluntary shutdown by its administrators.</p>
<p>AnimeNewsNetwork notes that a news program on NHK dedicated to Mangamura aired last Wednesday. A second episode will reportedly focus on the site&#8217;s administrators which NHK claims can be traced back to the United States, Ukraine, and other regions. Whether this exposé played a part in the site&#8217;s closure is unclear but that kind of publicity is rarely welcome in the piracy scene.</p>
<p>To date, just three sites have been named by the government as particularly problematic but it&#8217;s now promising to set up a consultation on a further response. A bill will also be submitted to parliament to target sites that promote links to content hosted elsewhere, an activity which is not illegal under current law.</p>
<p>Two other major access providers in Japan, KDDI Corp. and SoftBank Corp., have told local media that their plans to block pirate sites have not yet been finalized.</p>
<p>&#8220;The fact that neglecting the situation of infringement of copyright etc. cannot be overlooked is recognized and it is recognized as an important problem to be addressed urgently,&#8221; Softbank said in a statement.</p>
<p>&#8220;However, since there is concern that blocking infringes secrecy of communications, we need careful discussion. We would like to collaborate with industry organizations involved in telecommunications and consider measures that can be taken from various viewpoints, such as laws, institutions, and operation methods.&#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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154642
title: Epic Responds to Cheating Fortnite Kid’s Mom in Court
uri: Epic-Responds-to-Cheating-Fortnite-Kid-s-Mom-in-Court
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/QDP8sfLrlxc/
content:
<p><img src="media/56a4e275.battlefortnite.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/battlefortnite.jpg" alt="" width="267" height="212" class="alignright size-full wp-image-145747">Last fall, Epic Games released Fortnite’s free-to-play “Battle Royale” game mode, generating massive interest among gamers.</p>
<p>This also included thousands of cheaters, many of whom were subsequently banned. Epic Games then went a step further by taking several cheaters to court for copyright infringement.</p>
<p>One of the alleged cheaters turned out to be a minor, who&#8217;s referred to by his initials C.R. in the Carolina District Court. Epic Games wasn&#8217;t aware of this when it filed the lawsuit, but the kid&#8217;s mother let the company know, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/mom-defends-14-year-old-fortnite-cheater-in-court-171125/">loud and clear</a>.</p>
<p>“This company is in the process of attempting to sue a 14-year-old child,” the mother informed the Court last fall.</p>
<p>Among other defenses, the mother highlighted that the EULA, which the game publisher relies heavily upon in the complaint, isn’t legally binding. The EULA states that minors require permission from a parent or legal guardian, which was not the case here.</p>
<p>“Please note parental consent was not issued to [my son] to play this free game produced by Epic Games, INC,” the mother wrote in her letter.</p>
<p>After this letter, things went quiet. Epic managed to locate and serve the defendant with <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/epic-games-uses-private-investigators-to-locate-cheaters-180218/">help from a private investigator</a>, but no official response to the complaint was filed. This eventually prompted Epic to request an entry of default. </p>
<p>However, US District Court Malcolm Howard wouldn&#8217;t allow Epic to cruise to a win that easily. Instead, he ruled that the mother&#8217;s letter should be seen as a motion to dismiss the case.</p>
<p>&#8220;While it is true that defendant has not responded since proper service was effectuated, the letter from defendant’s mother detailing why this matter should be dismissed cannot be ignored,&#8221; Judge Howard wrote earlier this month. </p>
<p>As a result, Epic Games had to reply to the letter, which it did yesterday. In a redacted motion the game publisher argues that most of the mother&#8217;s arguments failed to state a claim and are therefore irrelevant.</p>
<p>Epic argues that the only issue that remains is the lack of parental consent when C.R. agreed to the EULA and the Terms. The mother argued that these are not valid agreements because her son is a minor, but Epic disagrees.</p>
<p>&#8220;This &#8216;infancy defense&#8217; is not available to C.R,&#8221; Epic writes, pointing to jurisprudence where another court ruled that a minor can&#8217;t use the infancy defense to void contractual obligations while keeping the benefits of the same contract.</p>
<p>&#8220;C.R. affirmatively agreed to abide by Epic&#8217;s Terms and EULA, and &#8216;retained the benefits&#8217; of the contracts he entered into with Epic. Accordingly, C.R. should not be able to &#8216;use the infancy defense to void [his] contractual obligations by retaining the benefits of the contract[s]&#8217;.&#8221;</p>
<p>Epic further argues that it&#8217;s clear that the cheater infringed on Epic&#8217;s copyrights and facilitated others to do the same. As such, the company asks the Court to deny the mother&#8217;s motion to dismiss. </p>
<p>If the Court agrees, Epic can request an entry of default. It did the same in a related case against another minor defendant earlier, which was granted by the Court late last week. </p>
<p>If that happens, the underage defendants risk a default judgment. This is likely to include a claim for monetary damages as well as an injunction prohibiting the minors from any copyright infringement or cheating in the future.</p>
<p><em>&#8212;</p>
<p>A copy of Epic Games&#8217; redacted reply is <a href="media/38b1dd34.epicresponse.pdf" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/epicresponse.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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154692
title: MPAA Chief Says Fighting Piracy Remains “Top Priority”
uri: MPAA-Chief-Says-Fighting-Piracy-Remains-Top-Priority
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/PWoWiYHISMQ/
content:
<p><a href="media/fd7f56e1.mpaa-1.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/mpaa-1.jpg"><img src="media/1f9a16ec.mpaa-1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mpaa-1.jpg" alt="" width="222" height="163" class="alignright size-full wp-image-119098"></a>After several high-profile years at the helm of the movie industry&#8217;s most powerful lobbying group, last year saw the departure of Chris Dodd from the role of Chairman and CEO at the MPAA. </p>
<p>The former Senator, who earned more than <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-revenue-stabilizes-chris-dodd-earns-3-5-million170813/">$3.5m a year</a> championing the causes of the major Hollywood studios since 2011, was immediately replaced by another political heavyweight.</p>
<p>Charles Rivkin, who took up his new role September 5, 2017, previously served as Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs in the Obama administration. With an underperforming domestic box office year behind him fortunately overshadowed by massive successes globally, this week he spoke before US movie exhibitors for the first time at CinemaCon in Las Vegas.</p>
<p>&#8220;Globally, we hit a record high of $40.6 billion at the box office. Domestically, our $11.1 billion box office was slightly down from the 2016 record. But it exactly matched the previous high from 2015. And it was the second highest total in the past decade,&#8221; Rivkin <a href="https://www.thewrap.com/new-mpaa-chief-greets-theater-owners-downplays-domestic-box-office-woes/">said</a>.</p>
<p>“But it exactly matched the previous high from 2015. And it was the second highest total in the past decade.&#8221;</p>
<p>Rivkin, who spent time as President and CEO of The Jim Henson Company, told those in attendance that he shares a deep passion for the movie industry and looks forward optimistically to the future, a future in which content is secured from those who intend on sharing it for free.</p>
<p>&#8220;Making sure our creative works are valued and protected is one of the most important things we can do to keep that industry heartbeat strong. At the Henson Company, and WildBrain, I learned just how much intellectual property affects everyone. Our entire business model depended on our ability to license Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, and the Muppets and distribute them across the globe,&#8221; Rivkin said.</p>
<p>&#8220;I understand, on a visceral level, how important copyright is to any creative business and in particular our country’s small and medium enterprises – which are the backbone of the American economy. As Chairman and CEO of the MPAA, I guarantee you that fighting piracy in all forms remains our top priority.&#8221;</p>
<p>That tackling piracy is high on the MPAA&#8217;s agenda won&#8217;t comes as a surprise but at least in terms of the numbers of headlines plastered over the media, high-profile anti-piracy action has been somewhat lacking in recent years.</p>
<p>With lawsuits against torrent sites seemingly a thing of the past and a faltering Megaupload case that will conclude who-knows-when, the MPAA has taken a broader view, seeking partnerships with sometimes rival content creators and distributors, each with a shared desire to curtail illicit media.</p>
<p>&#8220;One of the ways that we’re already doing that is through the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment – or ACE as we call it,&#8221; Rivkin said.</p>
<p>&#8220;This is a coalition of 30 leading global content creators, including the MPAA’s six member studios as well as Netflix, and Amazon. We work together as a powerful team to ensure our stories are seen as they were intended to be, and that their creators are rewarded for their hard work.&#8221;</p>
<p><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/global-entertainment-giants-form-massive-anti-piracy-coalition-170613/">Announced in June 2017</a>, ACE has become a united anti-piracy powerhouse for a huge range of entertainment industry groups, encompassing the likes of CBS, HBO, BBC, Sky, Bell Canada, CBS, Hulu, Lionsgate, Foxtel and Village Roadshow, to name a few.</p>
<p>The coalition was announced by former MPAA Chief Chris Dodd and now, with serious <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/inside-the-mpaa-netflix-amazon-global-anti-piracy-alliance-170918/">financial input</a> from all companies involved, appears to be picking its fights carefully, focusing on the growing problem of streaming piracy centered around misuse of Kodi and similar platforms.</p>
<p>From threatening relatively small-time producers and distributors of third-party addons and builds (<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-kodi-addon-devs-distributors-told-to-cease-and-desist-180214/">1</a>,<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/ace-warns-kodi-addon-developer-to-sign-settlement-agreement-or-else-180306/">2</a>,<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/ares-kodi-project-calls-it-quits-after-hollywood-cease-desist-171117/">3</a>), ACE is also attempting to make its mark among the profiteers.</p>
<p>The group now has several lawsuits underway in the United States against people selling piracy-enabled IPTV boxes including <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/?s=tickbox">Tickbox</a>, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/?s=dragon+box">Dragon Box</a>, and during the last week, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/netflix-amazon-and-hollywood-sue-set-tv-over-iptv-piracy-180422/">Set TV</a>.</p>
<p>With these important cases pending, Rivkin offered assurances that his organization remains committed to anti-piracy enforcement and he thanked exhibitors for their efforts to prevent people quickly running away with copies of the latest releases.</p>
<p>&#8220;I am grateful to all of you for recognizing what is at stake, and for working with us to protect creativity, such as fighting the use of illegal camcorders in theaters,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>&#8220;Protecting our creativity isn’t only a fundamental right. It’s an economic necessity, for us and all creative economies. Film and television are among the most valuable – and most impactful – exports we have.</p>
<p>Thus far at least, Rivkin has a noticeably less aggressive tone on piracy than his predecessor Chris Dodd but it&#8217;s unlikely that will be mistaken for weakness among pirates, nor should it. The MPAA isn&#8217;t known for going soft on pirates and it certainly won&#8217;t be changing course anytime soon.</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154708
title: VK: A ‘Notorious Pirate Site’ Praised by The Music Industry
uri: VK-A-Notorious-Pirate-Site-Praised-by-The-Music-Industry
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/mIxSE5MgoZ8/
content:
<p><img src="media/f6f202ad.vk.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/vk.png" alt="" width="245" height="169" class="alignright size-full wp-image-154711">For several years <a href="https://vk.com/">vKontakte</a>, or VK, has been marked as a notorious piracy facilitator by copyright holders and even the US Government.</p>
<p>Like many other user-generated content sites, Russia&#8217;s largest social media network allows its millions of users to upload anything, from movies and TV shows to their entire music collections. </p>
<p>However, copyright holders have often claimed that, unlike its competitors, the site lacks proper anti-piracy measures.</p>
<p>&#8220;vKontakte’s ongoing facilitation of piracy causes very substantial damage,&#8221; the RIAA complained two years ago, and more recently the IIPA labeled the site as a &#8220;major infringement hub for illegal film materials.&#8221;</p>
<p>As a result of the ongoing critique, particularly from the movie industry, the US Trade Representative included VK in its most recent list of <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/us-govt-brands-torrent-streaming-cyberlocker-sites-as-notorious-markets-180115/">notorious pirate sites</a>. While this isn&#8217;t the first time that VK has ended up there, it&#8217;s an intriguing position considering the praise the social network received from the music business this week.</p>
<p>After several major labels reached <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vkontakt-universal-sign-anti-piracy-licensing-deal-160718/">licensing agreements</a> with VK in 2016, it has transformed from one of the music industry&#8217;s largest foes to a rather helpful friend. This milestone was clearly marked in IFPI&#8217;s most recent <a href="http://www.ifpi.org/news/IFPI-GLOBAL-MUSIC-REPORT-2018">Global Music Report</a>, which was just released.</p>
<p>“[Russia has] become an interesting market. The local services are meaningful now, and VKontakte has gone from being the number one most notorious copyright infringer to being a positive contributor,&#8221; says Dennis Kooker, Sony Music&#8217;s President Global Digital Business.</p>
<p>Moving from a site that does substantial damage to being a positive contributor is quite a feat, something that&#8217;s also highlighted by Warner Music&#8217;s Head of Digital Strategy, John Rees.</p>
<p>“We’re starting to see encouraging growth in a number of markets which historically have been completely overwhelmed by piracy,&#8221; Rees says.</p>
<p>“We work with VKontakte, which last year launched a licensed music service that’s helping unlock the Russian market alongside our other paid streaming partners such as Apple Music, Yandex and Zvooq. There’s huge potential in Russia, and, considering the population size, we’ve only recently begun to scratch the surface,” he adds.</p>
<p>This means that the same platform that helps the music industry to grow in Russia is seen as a notorious pirate site by Hollywood and the US Government, which mention it in the same breath as The Pirate Bay. </p>
<p>The music industry&#8217;s positive signals haven&#8217;t gone completely unnoticed by the US Trade Representative. However, it believes that the social media platform should help to protect all copyright holders. </p>
<p>&#8220;VK continues to be listed pending the institutionalization of appropriate measures to promote respect on its platform for IPR of all right holders, not just those with whom it has contracts, which are comparable to those measures used by other social media sites,&#8221; USTR wrote a few weeks ago.</p>
<p>In recent years VK has implemented a wide variety of anti-piracy measures including fingerprinting techniques but, apparently, more is needed to appease the movie industry.</p>
<p>While the music industry can scrap VK from the piracy agenda, it still has plenty of other worries. IFPI&#8217;s Global Music Report highlights the &#8220;value gap&#8221; as a major issue and stresses that stream-ripping is the fastest growing form of music copyright infringement.</p>
<p>The shutdown of YouTube-MP3.org in 2016 is highlighted as a major success, but there&#8217;s still a long way to go before piracy is a problem of the past, if it ever will be.</p>
<p>“The actions taken by the industry are having a positive impact and reducing stream ripping across major music markets. However, the problem is far from solved and we will continue to take on these illegal sites wherever they are operating around the world,&#8221; IFPI&#8217;s Frances Moore says. </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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154721
title: Under-Fire “Kodi Box” Company “Sold to Chinese Investor” For US$8.82m
uri: Under-Fire-Kodi-Box-Company-Sold-to-Chinese-Investor-For-U
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/X4Xa3NigyOY/
content:
<p><a href="media/f630555a.android-box.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/android-box.jpg"><img src="media/c8e5dd3a.android-box.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/android-box.jpg" alt="" width="240" height="240" class="alignright size-full wp-image-123456"></a>Back in 2016, an article appeared in Kiwi media discussing the rise of a new company pledging to beat media giant Sky TV at its own game.</p>
<p>My Box NZ owner Krish Reddy told the publication he was selling Android boxes loaded with Kodi software and augmented with third-party addons.</p>
<p>Without any hint of fear, he stated that these devices enabled customers to access movies, TV shows and live channels for free, after shelling out a substantial US$182 for the box first, that is.</p>
<p>&#8220;Why pay $80 minimum per month for Sky when for one payment you can have it free for good?&#8221; a claim on the company&#8217;s website asked.</p>
<p>Noting that he&#8217;d been importing the boxes from China, Reddy suggested that his lawyers hadn&#8217;t found any problem with the business plan.</p>
<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t see why [Sky] would contact me but if they do contact me and &#8230; if there&#8217;s something of theirs that they feel I&#8217;ve unlawfully taken then yeah &#8230; but as it stands I don&#8217;t [have any concerns],&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>At this point, Reddy said he&#8217;d been selling the boxes for just six weeks and had shifted around 80 units. To get coverage from a national newspaper at this stage of the game must&#8217;ve been very much appreciated but Reddy didn&#8217;t stop there.</p>
<p>In a bulk advertising email sent out to 50,000 people, Reddy described his boxes as “better than Sky”. However, by design or misfortune, the email managed to land in the inboxes of 50 Sky TV staff and directors, something that didn&#8217;t go unnoticed by the TV giant.</p>
<p>With Reddy claiming sales of 8,000 units, Sky ran out of patience last April. In a letter from its lawyers, the pay-TV company said Reddy’s devices breached copyright law and the Fair Trading Act. Reddy responded by calling the TV giant “a playground bully”, again denying that he was breaking the law.</p>
<p>“From a legal perspective, what we do is completely within the law. We advertise Sky television channels being available through our website and social media platforms as these are available via streams which you can find through My Box,” he said.</p>
<p>“The content is already available, I’m not going out there and bringing the content so how am I infringing the copyright… the content is already there, if someone uses the box to search for the content, that’s what it is.”</p>
<p>The initial compensation demand from Sky against Reddy’s company My Box ran to NZD$1.4m, around US$1m. It was an amount that had the potential rise by millions if matters got drawn out and/or escalated. But despite picking a terrible opponent in a battle he was unlikely to win, Reddy refused to give up.</p>
<p>“[Sky’s] point of view is they own copyright and I’m destroying the market by giving people content for free. To me it is business; I have got something that is new … that’s competition,” he <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/tv-box-seller-emails-sky-tv-bosses-with-pirate-offer-gets-sued-for-1m-170804/">said</a>.</p>
<p>The Auckland High Court heard the case against My Box last month with Judge Warwick Smith reserving his judgment and Reddy still maintaining that his business is entirely legal. Sales were fantastic, he said, with 20,000 devices sold to customers in 12 countries.</p>
<p>Then something truly amazing happened.</p>
<p>A company up to its eyeballs in litigation, selling a commodity product that an amateur can buy and configure at home for US$40, reportedly got a chance of a lifetime. Reddy revealed to Stuff that a Chinese investor had offered to buy his company for an eye-watering NZ$10 million (US$7.06m).</p>
<p>“We have to thank Sky,&#8221; he <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/102383554/firm-accused-of-piracy-by-sky-tv-receives-10m-offer-from-china">said</a>. &#8220;If they had left us alone we would just have been selling a few boxes, but the controversy made us world famous.”</p>
<p>Reddy noted he&#8217;d been given 21 days to respond to the offer, but refused to name the company. Interestingly, he also acknowledged that if My Box lost its case, the company would be liable for damages. However, that wouldn&#8217;t bother the potential investor.</p>
<p>&#8220;It makes no difference to them whether we win or lose, because their operations won’t be in New Zealand,&#8221; Reddy said.</p>
<p>According to the entrepreneur, that&#8217;s how things are playing out.</p>
<p>The Chinese firm &#8211; which Reddy is still refusing to name &#8211; has apparently <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/103380016/controversial-business-my-box-sold-to-chinese-buyer">accepted</a> a counter offer from Reddy of US$8.8m for My Box. As a result, Reddy will wrap up his New Zealand operations within the next 90 days and his six employees will be rendered unemployed.</p>
<p>Given that anyone with the ability to install Kodi and a few addons before putting a box in the mail could replicate Reddy&#8217;s business model, the multi-million dollar offer for My Box was never anything less than a bewildering business proposition. That someone carried through with it an even higher price is so fantastic as to be almost unbelievable.</p>
<p>In a sea of unhappy endings for piracy-enabled Kodi box sellers globally, this is the only big win to ever grace the headlines. Assuming this really is the end of the story (and that might not be the case) it will almost certainly be the last.</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154758
title: Nike Sued for Running Pirated Software
uri: Nike-Sued-for-Running-Pirated-Software
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/9HrVFJTDiW4/
content:
<p><img src="media/a631cf56.dont.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dont.png" alt="" width="246" height="179" class="alignright size-full wp-image-154760">Virtually every piece of software is cracked and made available on the Internet, through a myriad of pirate sources. </p>
<p>These are generally visited by regular people out to save a few bucks, but according to <a href="https://www.quest.com/">Quest Software</a>, pirated license keys found their way to Nike&#8217;s office as well. </p>
<p>The company, known for developing a variety of database software, filed a lawsuit in an Oregon federal court this week, accusing <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nike,_Inc.">Nike</a> of copyright infringement. Both parties have had a software license agreement in place since 2001, but during an audit last year, Qwest noticed that not all products were properly licensed.</p>
<p>&#8220;That audit revealed that Nike had deployed Quest Software Products far in excess of the scope allowed by the parties’ SLA,&#8221; Quest writes in their complaint, filed at a federal court in Oregon.</p>
<p>Quest keeps a database of all valid keys and found that Nike used “cracked” versions, which are generally circulated on pirate sites. This is something Nike must have been aware of, it adds.</p>
<p>&#8220;The audit also revealed that Nike had used pirated keys to bypass the Quest License Key System and made unauthorized copies of certain Quest Software Products by breaking the technological security measures Quest had in place,&#8221; Quest writes. </p>
<p>&#8220;Upon information and belief, to obtain a pirated key for Quest Software Products, customers must affirmatively seek out and obtain pirated keys on download sites known to traffic in counterfeit or illegally downloaded intellectual property, such as BitTorrent.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><strong>Pirated keys?</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/fc67eabf.nikekeys.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/nikekeys.png" alt="" width="600" height="197" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-154765"></center></p>
<p>When the software company found out, it confronted Nike with the findings. However, according to the complaint, Nike refused to purchase the additional licenses that were required for its setup. This prompted Quest to go to court instead.</p>
<p>At this point, it&#8217;s not entirely clear to Quest how many pirated keys were used on Nike computers. That&#8217;s something the company would like to find out during the discovery process. </p>
<p>Quest is certain, however, that its customer crossed a line. It accuses Nike of copyright infringement, breach of contract, and violating the DMCA&#8217;s circumvention provisions. </p>
<p>The company requests an injunction restraining Nike from any infringing activity and demands compensation for the damages it suffered as a result. The exact height of these damages will have to be determined at trial.</p>
<p><em>&#8212;</p>
<p>A copy of the complaint is available <a href="media/cdc2bb5e.nikepirate.pdf" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/nikepirate.pdf">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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=154941
title: Aussie Federal Court Orders ISPs to Block Pirate IPTV Service
uri: Aussie-Federal-Court-Orders-ISPs-to-Block-Pirate-IPTV-Service
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/JzaTUWWitcU/
content:
<p><img src="media/a7c0897c.iptv.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/iptv.jpg" width="234" height="155" class="alignright size-large">After successful applying for ISP blocks against dozens of traditional torrent and streaming portals, Village Roadshow and a coalition of movie studios switched tack last year.</p>
<p>With the threat of pirate subscription IPTV services looming large, Roadshow, Disney, Universal, Warner Bros, Twentieth Century Fox, and Paramount <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/aussie-pirate-blocking-efforts-switch-to-premium-iptv-171106/">targeted</a> HDSubs+ (also known as PressPlayPlus), a fairly well-known service that provides hundreds of otherwise premium live channels, movies, and sports for a relatively small monthly fee.</p>
<p>The injunction, which was filed last October, targets Australia’s largest ISPs including Telstra, Optus, TPG, and Vocus, plus subsidiaries.</p>
<p>Unlike blocking injunctions targeting regular sites, the studios sought to have several elements of HD Subs+ infrastructure rendered inaccessible, so that its sales platform, EPG (electronic program guide), software (such as an Android and set-top box app), updates, and sundry other services would fail to operate in Australia.</p>
<p>After a six month wait, the Federal Court granted the application earlier today, compelling Australia&#8217;s ISPs to block &#8220;16 online locations&#8221; associated with the HD Subs+ service, rendering its TV services inaccessible Down Under.</p>
<p>&#8220;Each respondent must, within 15 business days of service of these orders, take reasonable steps to disable access to the target online locations,&#8221; said Justice Nicholas, as quoted by <a href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/roadshow-wins-smart-tv-piracy-website-blocks/">ZDNet</a>.</p>
<p><center><b>A small selection of channels in the HDSubs+ package</b><a href="media/c3bd9dfb.hdsubs1.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/hdsubs1.png"><img src="media/5fd20834.hdsubs1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/hdsubs1.png" alt="" width="755" height="735" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-146813"></a></center></p>
<p>The ISPs were given flexibility in how to implement the ban, with the Judge noting that DNS blocking, IP address blocking or rerouting, URL blocking, or &#8220;any alternative technical means for disabling access&#8221;, would be acceptable.</p>
<p>The rightsholders are required to pay a fee of AU$50 fee for each domain they want to block but Village Roadshow says it doesn&#8217;t mind doing so, since blocking is in &#8220;public interest&#8221;. Continuing a pattern established last year, none of the ISPs showed up to the judgment. </p>
<p>A similar IPTV blocking application was filed by Hong Kong-based broadcaster Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) last year.</p>
<p>TVB wants ISPs including Telstra, Optus, Vocus, and TPG plus their subsidiaries to block access to seven Android-based services named as A1, BlueTV, EVPAD, FunTV, MoonBox, Unblock, and hTV5.</p>
<p>The application was previously heard alongside the HD Subs+ case but will now be handled separately following complications. In April it was <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/tv-broadcaster-wants-app-stores-blocked-to-prevent-piracy-180416/">revealed</a> that TVB not only wants to block Internet locations related to the technical operation of the service, but also hosting sites that fulfill a role similar to that of Google Play or Apple’s App Store.</p>
<p>TVB wants to have these app marketplaces blocked by Australian ISPs, which would not only render the illicit apps inaccessible to the public but all of the non-infringing ones too.</p>
<p>Justice Nicholas will now have to decide whether the “primary purpose” of these marketplaces is to infringe or facilitate the infringement of TVB’s copyrights. However, there is also a question of whether China-focused live programming has copyright status in Australia. An additional hearing is scheduled for May 2 for these matters to be addressed.</p>
<p>Also on Friday, Foxtel filed yet another blocking application targeting &#8220;15 online locations&#8221; involving 27 domain names connected to traditional BitTorrent and streaming services.</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://www.computerworld.com.au/article/640567/foxtel-wants-make-it-cheaper-block-pirate-sites/">ComputerWorld</a> the injunction targets the same set of ISPs but this time around, Foxtel is trying to save on costs.</p>
<p>The company doesn&#8217;t want to have expert witnesses present in court, doesn&#8217;t want to stage live demos of websites, and would like to rely on videos and screenshots instead. Foxtel also says that if the ISPs agree, it won&#8217;t serve its evidence on them as it has done previously.</p>
<p>The company asked Justice Nicholas to deal with the injunction application &#8220;on paper&#8221; but he declined, setting a hearing for June 18 but accepting screenshots and videos as evidence.</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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=155003
title: Pre-Release Game of Thrones Leaks Bred Pirates, Research Shows
uri: Pre-Release-Game-of-Thrones-Leaks-Bred-Pirates-Research-Shows
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/iHZ1JfrPAzk/
content:
<p><img src="media/0f671074.thrones.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/thrones.jpg" alt="" width="248" height="131" class="alignright size-full wp-image-51268">The pre-release leak of four Game of Thrones episodes, early 2015, is one of the most prominent piracy cases in TV history.</p>
<p>The first copies, leaked from a review screener, quickly spread across public torrent sites and were downloaded <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/leaked-game-of-thrones-episodes-trigger-piracy-craze-150412/">millions of times</a>.</p>
<p>HBO was understandably upset and feared that the leaks would hurt their bottom line. While that was not immediately apparent after the official premiere, new research suggests that they had a significant impact. And not just on Game of Thrones. </p>
<p>A new working paper published by economy researcher Wojciech Hardy of the Institute for Structural Research and the University of Warsaw carefully dissected the aftermath. </p>
<p>The findings show that the pre-release leaks triggered more people to pirate, and not just the four leaked episodes. This led to a decrease in expected viewers for Game of Thrones, but also for comparable TV-shows.</p>
<p>&#8220;The general conclusion is that the leak provided a strong incentive for some of the viewers to look for unauthorized sources for TV shows and that, in consequence, some of them started watching TV shows through unauthorised channels in general,&#8221; Hardy tells TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>The reasoning behind this effect is that the leaks introduced some people to these unauthorized sources for the first time. They then kept using these for subsequent episodes. </p>
<p><center><strong>Ratings, viewership and predicted viewership.</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/f8a068bf.gotview.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/gotview.png" alt="" width="598" height="347" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-155013"></center></p>
<p>For his research, Hardy used an extensive dataset of US TV-viewership of a variety of shows over time, as well as related Google search data. This revealed that other series, similar to Game of Thrones, were negatively impacted too, compared to a control group.</p>
<p>&#8220;Importantly, a negative shift in viewership was found, evidenced both by a drop in the viewership of GoT and by a decline in the viewership of TV shows that share an audience with GoT,&#8221; Hardy writes in the paper. </p>
<p>This makes sense, as newcomers to pirate sites are likely to use them for other content as well. That this appears to be a direct effect of the leaks is evidenced by the fact that the decrease in expected viewership wasn&#8217;t visible for unrelated TV-shows.</p>
<p>The findings are backed up by Google search data too. Following the pre-release leaks, Google search phrases linked to unauthorized viewing (such as &#8216;show_name watch online&#8217;) gradually increased for GoT-related shows, relative to a control group.</p>
<p>The key message of the current research, according to Hardy, is that even temporary piracy incentives such as pre-release leaks can have long-term effects. They only affect a small percentage of the total audience, but every lost viewer costs money. </p>
<p>This is bad news for HBO and others who have been in a similar situation. However, the data also shows that there may be a promotional effect, possibly because people discover new shows. </p>
<p>As searches for unauthorized sources increased, the viewership of GoT-like shows slowly recovered. This suggests that there may be a promotional piracy effect, where people start to watch shows legally after discovering them on pirate sites. </p>
<p>&#8220;On the one hand, this means that the content providers should pay much attention not to incentivize their audience to switch to unauthorized sources to avoid losses,&#8221; Hardy says. </p>
<p>&#8220;On the other hand, it&#8217;s possible that adequate promotional incentives might convince some of the &#8216;pirates&#8217; to switch to the authorized distribution channels instead, he adds.&#8221;</p>
<p>Follow-up studies may provide more clarity on this and other effects.</p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<p>A copy of the full working paper, titled <em>Pre-release leaks as one-time incentives for switching to unauthorised sources of cultural content</em>, is <a href="media/aa67efaa.IBS_Working_Paper_03_2018.pdf" data-original-source="http://ibs.org.pl/app/uploads/2018/04/IBS_Working_Paper_03_2018.pdf">available 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/vpn-services-keep-anonymous-2018/">VPN reviews, </a><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-discount-coupon-offer-torguard-nordvpn-expressvpn-pia/">discounts, offers and coupons</a>.</p>
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