# articles

feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76395
title: Ignoring DMCA Notices, BitTorrent Tracker Subjected to Attacks
uri: Ignoring-DMCA-Notices-BitTorrent-Tracker-Subjected-to-Attacks
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/o6WEOB6cPxM/
content:
<p><a href="media/5b08370e.xwt2.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/xwt2.jpg"><img src="media/5b08370e.xwt2.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/xwt2.jpg" alt="xwt2" width="190" height="108" class="alignright size-full wp-image-76421" /></a>Putting together a private torrent site from scratch is not simply a case of pressing a few buttons to activate an automated script. All in it&#8217;s a task probably on par with renovating a house or completely rebuilding a car engine.</p>
<p>However, once the engine is running and the house is completed that&#8217;s usually more or less the end of the matter, but no such thing happens with a torrent site. There are always people who want to throw junk in the gearbox and tear down the walls.</p>
<p>Over the past few weeks TorrentFreak has been chatting with Xtreme Wrestling Torrents, a site dedicated to indexing wrestling shows and other fighting events. The site has been under attack in a number of different ways and the admin believes that anti-piracy groups are to blame. So what do these events look like from the inside?</p>
<h2>DDoS attacks</h2>
<p>The most recent batch of problems began during the first week of August when XWT was taken offline by a barrage of unwanted traffic.</p>
<p>&#8220;Our server was hit by a devastating DDoS attack, it crippled our entire network to the point that we were lucky to get an up to date backup from it,&#8221; the site&#8217;s admin told TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>&#8220;At one point there was literally nothing our host could do but to nullroute the server IPs. [The attack] took us down for almost four days, which is the longest downtime suffered for the site in its eight year existence.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><img src="media/84ab26ad.xwt1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/xwt1.png" alt="XWT Traffic" /></center></p>
<p>Almost two weeks later the attacks restarted but this time things were different. XWT had been forced to invest in DDoS protection and although costly, the decision paid off and the site stayed online.</p>
<p>But of course the big question is who was behind the attacks? XWT told TorrentFreak that the site&#8217;s datacenter managed to trace the attacks back to companies linked with a pair of sports organizations. However, in order for us to name the companies in question we would need to see logs of the attacks but since the datacenter wouldn&#8217;t hand them over, we&#8217;ve decided not to publish their names. That said, it&#8217;s beyond doubt that the attacks actually took place.</p>
<h2>Cease and Desists and general threats</h2>
<p>XWT showed us a selection of emails the site has received from outfits including wrestling company WWE. In the initial correspondence the company&#8217;s lawyer insists that the site should remove links and even delete user accounts of individuals uploading content. A follow-up email dated August 13 noted that XWT had &#8220;not geoblocked certain users from accessing your website&#8221; as previously requested.</p>
<p>However, WWE are not the only rightsholder interested in the site. A company called Ring of Honor Wrestling has hired Takedown Piracy (TDP) to put XWT under pressure. The email exchange between TDP&#8217;s Nate Glass and the XWT admin started in a standard way (professionally formatted &#8220;remove illegal torrents&#8221; style) but as can be seen from the quotes below, the conversation quickly got more heated.</p>
<p><a href="media/d6b54db4.dmcahaha.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dmcahaha.jpg"><img src="media/d6b54db4.dmcahaha.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dmcahaha.jpg" alt="dmcahaha" width="190" height="86" class="alignright size-full wp-image-76426" /></a>&#8220;These torrents will NOT be removed,&#8221; responded the XWT admin, sparking the problems.</p>
<p>&#8220;So you know full well that this is copyrighted material of Ring of Honor and you are refusing to remove it?&#8221; Glass fired back.</p>
<p>What followed was XWT stating that torrent files are just meta links being hosted in a country where XWT believes they are legal. Following a pause, the XWT admin asks Glass why he isn&#8217;t going after the sites actually hosting the content.</p>
<p>Glass explains that he will do that and informs XWT that the conversations being held will be passed onto the lawyers of ROH, UFC and WWE. In response, XWT indicates that they aren&#8217;t too concerned.</p>
<p>&#8220;Collect your evidence, but I hope you have a name and address to attach to all of that,&#8221; XWT said.</p>
<p>&#8220;I have the name and address you list in your WHOIS,&#8221; Glass fired back. &#8220;Unless that information is false, which seems to be a cowardly move if you really feel that you are 100% legal, what would you have to hide by giving false information?&#8221;</p>
<p>Clearly going round in circles, it seems that targeting XWT&#8217;s revenue is an option.</p>
<h2>Hitting a torrent site in its pocket by targeting payment processors</h2>
<p><a href="media/feee0104.paypaldenied.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/paypaldenied.jpg"><img src="media/feee0104.paypaldenied.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/paypaldenied.jpg" alt="paypaldenied" width="180" height="115" class="alignright size-full wp-image-53701" /></a>&#8220;So we&#8217;ll play the payment processor game again,&#8221; Glass said in another email. &#8220;I thought we had already [gone] through this and you stated you would remove [content] when we sent you a notice.  So now you are going back on your word.&#8221;</p>
<p>According to XWT, Glass has been giving the site &#8220;a lot of trouble&#8221; over the past year and has reported the site to several payment processors.</p>
<p>&#8220;From Google Checkout, to PayPal, to 2Checkout, the list goes on and on,&#8221; XWT explain.</p>
<p>Anyone wanting to hear Takedown Piracy&#8217;s account of what&#8217;s been going on in their battle with XWT can do so <a href="http://takedownpiracy.com/2013/03/pirate-site-uses-web-hosting-site-with-fake-testimonials-in-order-to-process-money-for-copyright-infringement/">here</a>. It illustrates just how complex these matters can get.</p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>Just to be absolutely clear, there is no suggestion whatsoever that Takedown Piracy were involved in any DDoS attack against XWT, or that all of the anti-piracy actions mentioned in this article are coordinated in any way. This is just an example of the kind of thing some torrent sites have to deal with when approached by an anti-piracy company being paid to make life difficult for them.</p>
<p>There will no doubt be people who feel that any kind of an attack on a site that refuses to comply with takedown notices is fair, while others will insist that the opposite is true, especially when a site is located in a jurisdiction where the DMCA does not apply. </p>
<p>Compromise of some sort seems like a preferable solution, but that&#8217;s something for the interested parties to decide.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/ignoring-dmca-notices-bittorrent-tracker-subjected-to-attacks-130831/">Ignoring DMCA Notices, BitTorrent Tracker Subjected to Attacks</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76240
title: Movie Piracy Hurts Health Research and Patient Care, UCSF Claims
uri: Movie-Piracy-Hurts-Health-Research-and-Patient-Care-UCSF-Claims
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/CSaAGNbwBTE/
content:
<p><img src="media/d0c2ac01.ucsf.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ucsf.png" alt="ucsf" width="200" height="130" class="alignright size-full wp-image-76433" />In recent years US colleges and universities have undertaken drastic measures to reduce piracy, but none comes close to the &#8220;copyright awareness&#8221; campaign one of the top medical schools is currently running. </p>
<p>The University of California (<a href="http://www.ucsf.edu/">UCSF</a>) is alerting students and staff to the risks of online file-sharing and has lost all touch with reality in the process. </p>
<p>&#8220;Downloading content without paying for it is stealing. It&#8217;s no different than walking into a store, grabbing a movie and leaving without paying for it. The practice is stealing,&#8221; the <a href="https://awareness.ucsf.edu/topic-7-detail">campaign website</a> reads, pointing people to an informational video and a newly launched poster campaign.</p>
<p><a href="http://it.ucsf.edu/services/outreach/copyright-campaign-posters">The posters</a>, prominently featured in the UCSF shuttle buses and elsewhere at the university complex, stand out by making a quite unusual claim. Showing a $50,000 box office ticket, it warns that piracy &#8220;directly affects the funding for research, education and patient care.&#8221;</p>
<p>In other words, when you&#8217;re sharing copyrighted material without permission patient care deteriorates, while research and education funding dwindles. </p>
<p><center><br />
<h5></h5>
<p><img src="media/7dc95b28.ucsf-campaign1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ucsf-campaign1.jpg" alt="ucsf-campaign1" width="560" height="934" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-76334" /></center></p>
<p>UCSF provides no evidence or rationale for the absurd claim. To the best of our knowledge there is no direct link between piracy and any of the examples given. </p>
<p>The other educational campaign materials do, however, point out that the university is liable for the piracy habits of students and staff. While this isn&#8217;t directly true, since UCSF has safe harbor protections, this may be what the campaign is hinting at. </p>
<p>The Electronic Frontier Foundation (<a href="http://eff.org">EFF</a>) agrees that the messaging used is inaccurate and misleading, to say the least. </p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s disappointing to see one of the most respected medical schools in the country is distributing misleading, inaccurate propaganda from the entertainment industry,&#8221; EFF staff attorney Mitch Stoltz tells TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>&#8220;Saying that copyright infringement &#8216;directly affects the funding for research,education and patient care&#8217; is an extraordinary claim that requires extraordinary evidence &#8211; evidence that UCSF&#8217;s IT department does not have,&#8221; he adds. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, the misinformation and threats don&#8217;t stop there. In an anti-piracy campaign video on the effects of unauthorized file-sharing, several UCSF employees spread more FUD. </p>
<p>Bill Chartier, a UCSF desktop support technician, highlights some disastrous legal consequences and notes that he will completely wipe the computers of pirates who get caught.</p>
<p>&#8220;You can get fined, you can get sued by huge record companies, they have a lot of lawyers. You can get put in jail, and the university is also liable for whatever you do on your university computer.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;If you&#8217;re a UC employee using a UC computer to do that I come and take your computer and wipe it completely, and get all the copywritten (sic) stuff off it,&#8221; Chartier adds.</p>
<p><center><iframe src="//player.vimeo.com/video/46714472?color=ff0179" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe></center></p>
<p>Chartier&#8217;s threats are accompanied by a comment from the campaign manager, who suggests that using BitTorrent is considered a crime, ignoring the many legal uses. </p>
<p>&#8220;If you [...] use BitTorrent and you&#8217;re downloading music, you&#8217;re downloading movies, you&#8217;re downloading software for your personal use and you&#8217;re not paying for it, that&#8217;s considered pirating and that&#8217;s also considered a crime,&#8221; Hooman Moayyed, UCSF&#8217;s Security Awareness Program Manager says.</p>
<p>The EFF is baffled by this comment and suggests that the people behind the anti-piracy campaign are the ones who need to be educated. </p>
<p>&#8220;I guess no one told researchers at the National Institutes of Health, who use BitTorrent to share large biomedical data sets. I suspect students and faculty at UCSF could teach their IT department a few lessons about academic honesty.&#8221;</p>
<p>It&#8217;s unclear why the university is using these extremely misleading and inaccurate messages in their awareness campaign. While universities in the U.S. are <a href="http://www.educause.edu/library/higher-education-opportunity-act-heoa">required by law</a> to deter piracy, they also have a moral obligation to do this truthfully.  </p>
<p>We did notice that former Paramount Pictures CEO <a href="http://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/about/members-and-advisors/bios/sherry-lansing.html">Sherry Lansing</a> is on the UC board of regents. But that must be just a coincidence.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak contacted UCSF for a comment but we received no response.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/movie-piracy-hurts-health-research-and-patient-care-ucsf-claims-130831/">Movie Piracy Hurts Health Research and Patient Care, UCSF Claims</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76441
title: Kim Dotcom Prepares for Presidency of New Political Party
uri: Kim-Dotcom-Prepares-for-Presidency-of-New-Political-Party
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/OPyAX6f5FQI/
content:
<p>Subjected to police raids, the closure of his Megaupload empire and the confiscation of his considerable assets, things could hardly have been worse for Kim Dotcom in January 2012.</p>
<p>But now, just 20 months later, the Internet entrepreneur is showing what can be done with hard work and determination. His Mega.co.nz file-hosting service is doing well and his popularity continues to rise, both online and locally with New Zealanders.</p>
<p>With TV appearances now becoming a regular thing, Kiwis are becoming more and more comfortable with the German-born businessman. It therefore comes as no surprise that he intends to make best use of that valuable asset.</p>
<p>Earlier today Dotcom published a <a href="https://twitter.com/KimDotcom/status/373939897062526977/photo/1">tweet</a> suggesting that he plans to enter the political arena.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/11e3794e.dotcomtweet.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dotcomtweet.jpg" alt="DotcomTweet" /></center></p>
<p>The photograph of the magazine suggests that Dotcom might become PM, but speaking with TorrentFreak today the Mega founder told us that at least for now, that won&#8217;t be possible.</p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not a citizen of New Zealand and therefore I can&#8217;t be elected into Parliament myself but I can be the president of a new party,&#8221; Dotcom explained.</p>
<p>So, with an eye on his presidency, work is already underway to form a brand new party.</p>
<p>&#8220;I have created a draft political program and I am in the early stages of meeting potential candidates to join me,&#8221; Dotcom added.</p>
<p>The elections being eyed take place in November 2014 and Dotcom told us that leaves plenty of time to get the party registered and the program finalized. He&#8217;s hoping to attract quality candidates during the new few months.</p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m excited about the party and I&#8217;m confident that I can help make New Zealand a significant Internet economy player. Someone needs to lead New Zealand into the future. Unfortunately the current government doesn&#8217;t know what the future looks like,&#8221; Dotcom concludes.</p>
<p>Significant support for Dotcom in New Zealand will be an interesting thing to behold, particularly in light of the United States&#8217; plans for the Megaupload founder. Definitely one to watch.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/kim-dotcom-prepares-for-presidency-of-new-political-party-130901/">Kim Dotcom Prepares for Presidency of New Political Party</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76461
title: The Copyright Monopoly Was Created As A Censorship Instrument – And Is Still Used As One
uri: The-Copyright-Monopoly-Was-Created-As-A-Censorship-Instrument-And
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/1dg46G7oJUg/
content:
<p><img src="media/db7b975c.copyright-branded.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/copyright-branded.jpg" alt="copyright-branded" width="250" height="164" class="alignright size-full wp-image-56211" />When the printing press hit Europe, royalty and clergy panicked. </p>
<p>All of a sudden, they had lost the gatekeeper position of determining what culture and knowledge was available to the masses, and by extension, lost control of the political discourse of their time.</p>
<p>At the time, different regimes reacted differently to the threat. France reacted by banning book shops altogether and banning the use of the printing press under penalty of death. The ban was utterly ineffective. (Yes, you read that right: the penalty for unauthorized copying has been escalated as far as the death penalty, still without effect.)</p>
<p>On the other side of the British Channel, Mary I had inherited a Protestant England from her father, who had converted the entire country from Catholicism just in order to divorce her mother (and moved on to marry a half-dozen other women in sequence). Mary wasn&#8217;t very happy with the treatment of her mother and had been raised a Catholic; she saw it as her duty to convert England back to Catholicism, no matter the cost in blood.</p>
<p>She <a ref="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_I_of_England">took the throne</a> from her cousin in 1553 and started a crackdown on political dissidents that still to this day earns her the nickname &#8220;Bloody Mary&#8221;. In the time, there was no difference between political and religious dissent &#8211; it was a war of power, superficially over Catholicism or Protestantism. Over 280 dissenters were burned alive on Mary I&#8217;s orders as a warning to others.</p>
<p>In this environment, she sought a further means to suppress free speech and political dissent. Seeing how France&#8217;s death penalty against the printing press had failed miserably, she instead opted for an unholy alliance between capital and the crown. Mary I handed out a printing monopoly on <a href="http://falkvinge.net/2011/02/02/history-of-copyright-part-2-tudoric-feud/">May 4, 1557</a> to the London Company of Stationers. In return for a lucrative monopoly of printing everything in England, the company would agree to not print anything the Crown&#8217;s censors deemed politically insubordinate.</p>
<p>The scheme worked to suppress dissent and free thought, and censorship was successfully introduced. The monopoly was called <strong>copyright</strong>, the word from an internal registry with the London Company of Stationers. Thus, the unholy alliance of the copyright monopoly was forged in the blood of political dissent.</p>
<p>Mary I of England ultimately failed in her efforts to restore Catholicism, dying the following year and being succeeded by her protestant half-sister Elizabeth I. Her invention of censorship known as the copyright monopoly, however, survives to this day.</p>
<p>Still to this day, the copyright monopoly is used to prevent political dissent from being published. There are many examples, but the recent example of the oil company Neste Oil using the copyright monopoly to <a href="http://falkvinge.net/2012/06/20/oil-company-sues-isp-kills-greenpeace-protest-site/">kill a Greenpeace protest</a> against the oil company is one of the most telling and typical examples. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, there are hundreds and thousands more examples of how this monopoly remains in use as a political censorship tool.</p>
<div style="border:2px solid #3F3F3F;width:521px;padding:15px;padding-top:8px;padding-bottom:4px;margin-top:20px;margin-bottom:10px;border-radius:10px">
<h3 style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:10px">
<div style="float:right;height:130px;width:39px;margin-left:20px;margin-right:10px"><img src="media/98818a80.Rick_Falkvinge_39x130.jpg" data-original-source="http://falkvinge.net/wp-content/themes/WpNewspaper/images/falkvinge/Rick_Falkvinge_39x130.jpg" style="border:none;-moz-box-shadow:none;-webkit-box-shadow:none" class="quimby_search_image"></div>
<p><span style="color:#3F3F3F;font-size:125%">About The</span> <span style="color:#FF3C78;font-size:125%">Author</span></p>
</h3>
<p style="font-family:PTSansRegular,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-weight:400;line-height:150%;margin-bottom:14px"><small>Rick Falkvinge is a regular columnist on TorrentFreak, sharing his thoughts every other week. He is the founder of the Swedish and first Pirate Party, a whisky aficionado, and a low-altitude motorcycle pilot. His blog at <a href="http://falkvinge.net">falkvinge.net</a> focuses on information policy.</small></p>
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<p><small>Book Falkvinge <a href="http://falkvinge.net/keynotes/">as speaker</a>?</small></p>
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<p><a href="http://twitter.com/Falkvinge" class="twitter-follow-button">Follow @Falkvinge</a></p>
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<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/the-copyright-monopoly-was-created-as-a-censorship-instrument-and-is-still-used-as-one-130901/">The Copyright Monopoly Was Created As A Censorship Instrument &#8211; And Is Still Used As One</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76485
title: Homeland Season 3 Workprint Leaks a Month in Advance
uri: Homeland-Season-3-Workprint-Leaks-a-Month-in-Advance
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/xHMNA1PBC1U/
content:
<p><img src="media/2610b89c.homeland1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/homeland1.jpg" alt="homeland" width="200" height="111" class="alignright size-full wp-image-76497" />With 2.4 million downloads, Showtime&#8217;s Homeland was one of the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/game-of-thrones-most-pirated-tv-show-of-2012-121223/">most pirated TV-shows</a> of 2012. </p>
<p>Later this month the third season of Homeland will <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeland_(season_3)">premiere</a>, and this time the number of downloads may even be higher as pirates have access to the premiere four weeks in advance. </p>
<p>Homeland&#8217;s season premiere turned up online a few hours ago and already 100,000 people have grabbed an advance copy via one of the Internet&#8217;s many torrent sites. While other TV-shows have come out ahead of schedule in the past, the source of this Homeland leak is rather unique, as the copy is not completely finished.</p>
<p>The leak is a so-called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workprint">workprint</a>, an unfinished copy that lacks some final touches. In two instances some visual effects of bomb craters are still to be added and the opening credits are also missing. In addition, there&#8217;s one scene where the voice of the actor is dubbed.</p>
<h5></h5>
<p><img src="media/87283693.homeland-bomb.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/homeland-bomb.jpg" alt="homeland-bomb" width="575" height="315" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-76487" /></p>
<p>Since it is a workprint, the source of the leak is likely connected to a post-production studio. Unlike promotional screeners which are sent out to the press in advance, not many people have access to unfinished production work. </p>
<p>Somehow a copy leaked outside official channels, which are generally well protected, and eventually made its way <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warez_scene">to the scene</a>. </p>
<p>Unlike regular scene releases, however, it was shared by an unknown group called &#8220;HOMELAND,&#8221; which is unusual as scene groups often take pride in their work. Whoever leaked it didn&#8217;t live up to scene standards though as the release was quickly &#8220;NUKED&#8221; by peers on a technicality.</p>
<h5></h5>
<p><img src="media/dbd72ed6.homeland-crater.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/homeland-crater.jpg" alt="homeland-crater" width="575" height="314" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-76489" /></p>
<p>Showtime hasn’t officially responded to the leak thus far, but it could be that they&#8217;re not too bothered by the free publicity. In recent months several TV insiders have gone on the record stating that piracy may actually help TV-shows, because of <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/game-of-thrones-piracy-better-than-an-emmy-time-warner-ceo-says-130808/">word-of-mouth promotion it generates</a>. </p>
<p>And with such a unique leak, there is bound to be plenty of attention during the days to come. </p>
<p>The last time a high-profile workprint leaked was in 2009 when an unfinished copy of the movie Wolverine <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/unfinished-x-men-movie-a-hit-on-bittorrent-090401/">leaked a month early</a>. The leak made headlines all over the world and 20th Century Fox quickly involved the FBI to find the leaker.  </p>
<p>After eight months the FBI eventually arrested New York resident Gilberto Sanchez. Although he was most likely not the original source of the leak, in 2011 the then 48-year old Sanchez <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/wolverine-uploader-pleads-guilty-set-to-see-out-2011-in-jail-110331/">pleaded guilty</a> to uploading a copy of the movie to Megaupload. He was later sentenced to one year in jail. </p>
<p>Whether a 20th Century Fox-like manhunt or a more relaxed HBO attitude will be adopted should become apparent in the near future. In any case, the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/fbi-employees-download-pirated-movies-and-tv-shows-130209/">FBI will be watching</a>. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/homeland-season-3-workprint-leaks-a-month-in-advance-130902/">Homeland Season 3 Workprint Leaks a Month in Advance</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76470
title: Copyright Holders Want Voluntary UK Three-Strikes Anti-Piracy Scheme
uri: Copyright-Holders-Want-Voluntary-UK-Three-Strikes-Anti-Piracy-Scheme
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/SPUiAsy2gYs/
content:
<p><a href="media/8e3166f9.bpi.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/bpi.jpg"><img src="media/8e3166f9.bpi.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/bpi.jpg" alt="bpi" width="180" height="63" class="alignright size-full wp-image-70429" /></a>During the past couple of years it has become evident that attempts at bringing tough but workable anti-piracy measures into law &#8211; particularly ones that target consumers directly &#8211; have not been as straightforward as rightsholders would have liked.</p>
<p>After immense effort and with a background of controversy, in 2010 the then Labour government rushed through the Digital Economy Act (DEA) in the UK. That legislation contained provisions which would allow rightsholders to monitor alleged file-sharers and send them warning letters via their Internet service providers. But three years on and the implementation of the law is still well over a year (maybe two) away.</p>
<p>In the meantime the music business has concentrated on legal action to have file-sharing sites such as The Pirate Bay and KickassTorrents blocked at the ISP level. But despite their claims that this is an effective anti-piracy technique (and in the face of <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/censoring-the-pirate-bay-is-futile-research-shows-130822/">reports</a> to the contrary), the labels have grown weary of waiting for the additional powers allocated to them by the DEA.</p>
<p>According to a <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/sep/01/record-labels-broadband-database-illegal-downloads">Guardian</a> report, the labels are currently in talks with Virgin Media, BSkyB and TalkTalk in an effort to have the ISPs implement a voluntary graduated response scheme for dealing with errant subscribers.</p>
<p>And the music biz, headed by the BPI, aren&#8217;t on their own. The negotiations have also included the <a href="http://www.bva.org.uk/">British Video Association</a>, an organization which represents a wide range of Hollywood studios and local broadcasters including the BBC and Channel 4.</p>
<p>So what do the labels and Hollywood want?</p>
<p>At the core is a three-strikes or graduated response-style scheme, which will see rightsholders monitor networks such as BitTorrent for infringements and send warning notifications to Internet subscribers via their ISPs. It appears a US-style &#8216;Copyright Alert&#8217; model would be desirable but it&#8217;s almost certain that there will be calls for a tougher regime with harsher punishments such as throttling and disconnections. But industry dreams aside, there are issues with introducing a system like this on a voluntary basis in the UK.</p>
<p>In order to create an escalating response to serial offenders, someone will need to keep track of which subscribers have had letters in the past. It&#8217;s pretty much a certainty that on privacy grounds the ISPs would not freely share this information with rightsholders, but even holding onto this data themselves as part of a voluntary scheme could get them into trouble under the Data Protection Act.</p>
<p>And as far as negotiations go, already there appears to be problems. TalkTalk, a company that previously ran a campaign in direct opposition to any kind of anti-piracy punishment that includes subscriber disconnection, told the Guardian that while talks are indeed underway, the company would &#8220;never agree to anything&#8221; that would compromise their customers.</p>
<p>Virgin Media went further still, describing the industry&#8217;s demands as &#8220;unworkable.&#8221;</p>
<p>As Prime Minister David Cameron invites key UK music figures to Number 10 to have a chat about government support for their industry, the BPI have confirmed that anti-piracy proposals are on the agenda.</p>
<p>“We expect a range of issues to be covered, including encouraging the growth of legal digital music services in the UK and overseas exports,&#8221; a BPI spokesperson <a href="http://www.musicweek.com/news/read/key-music-execs-invited-to-downing-street-to-talk-industry-support/055905">said</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;As concerns the Digital Economy Act, we will discuss with Government the need for swifter action to reduce online copyright theft, improve consumer awareness of legal services and make the UK the leading digital economy in Europe.”</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/copyright-holders-want-voluntary-uk-three-strikes-anti-piracy-scheme-130902/">Copyright Holders Want Voluntary UK Three-Strikes Anti-Piracy Scheme</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76481
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week
uri: 2013-09-02-Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/kXyOIIBJMJ8/
content:
<p><img src="media/f7ca0bdf.nowyouseeme.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/nowyouseeme.jpg" alt="nowyouseeme" width="300" height="236" class="alignright size-full wp-image-76022" />This week we have two newcomers in our chart. </p>
<p>Now You See Me is the most downloaded movie for the second week in a row. </p>
<p>The data for our weekly download chart is collected by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only. All the movies in the list are BD/DVDrips unless stated otherwise.</p>
<p><a href="http://TorrentFreak.com/category/dvdrip/feed/"><strong>RSS feed</strong></a> for the weekly movie download chart.</p>
<table class="css hover" summary="Most downloaded movies on BitTorrent">
<caption>Week ending September 1, 2013</caption>
<thead>
<tr>
<th width="12%"><strong>Ranking</strong></th>
<th width="15%"><strong>(<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-movies-of-the-week-130826/">last week</a>)</strong></th>
<th><strong>Movie</strong></th>
<th width="18%"><strong>IMDb Rating / Trailer</strong></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tfoot>
<tr>
<td colspan="4">torrentfreak.com</td>
</tr>
</tfoot>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>1</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/now_you_see_me/">Now You See Me</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1670345/">7.4</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzJNYYkkhzc">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/were_the_millers/">We&#8217;re The Millers</a> (Webrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1723121/">7.2</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Vsy5KzsieQ">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/star_trek_into_darkness/">Star Trek Into Darkness</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1408101/">8.1</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhz4A5BCMAA">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kick_ass_2_2013/">Kick-Ass 2</a> (R6)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1650554/">7.2</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UMbwxbgv8U">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(9)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_frozen_ground/">The Frozen Ground</a> (Webrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2005374/">6.4</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0_mrDgDe4w">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(7)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/pain_and_gain/">Pain and Gain</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1980209/">6.7</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEQ8jyvmYtw">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/iron_man_3/">Iron Man 3</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1300854/">7.5</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CzoSeClcw0">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_conjuring/">The Conjuring</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1457767/">7.9</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k10ETZ41q5o">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/771361034/">Breakout</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2314886/">?.?</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZdXNFFjfe8">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(6)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ripd/">R.I.P.D</a> (TS/Webrip) </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0790736/">5.5</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhOWtVElqfw">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-movies-of-the-week-130902/">Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76332
title: Six-Strikes Fails to Halt U.S. Pirate Bay Growth
uri: Six-Strikes-Fails-to-Halt-U-S-Pirate-Bay-Growth
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/9EBD9-zz32c/
content:
<p><a href="media/4e243e8b.tpb-logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpb-logo.jpg"><img src="media/4e243e8b.tpb-logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpb-logo.jpg" alt="tpb-logo" width="222" height="198" class="alignright size-full wp-image-67837" /></a>After years of negotiating and planning the “six-strikes” Copyright Alert System finally <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/six-strikes-anti-piracy-scheme-starts-130225/">went live in February</a>.</p>
<p>The Copyright Alert System’s main goal is to educate the public. People are informed that their connection is being used to share copyrighted material without permission, and told where they can find legal alternatives. </p>
<p>These alerts start out friendly, but repeat infringers face a temporary disconnection from the Internet, or another mitigation measure. </p>
<p>The program has not yet shared how many people have been warned thus far or how many have been punished. Since these statistics are not available we decided to look at another set of data to evaluate the effectiveness of the copyright alerts. </p>
<p>Ideally, the warnings should stop people from downloading copyrighted content through sites such as The Pirate Bay, resulting in a drop in visitors. However, half a year has passed since the introduction of the six-strikes scheme, and U.S Pirate Bay traffic appears to be unaffected. </p>
<p>The Pirate Bay shared its U.S. traffic statistics with TorrentFreak and the graph below shows how it developed since early 2011. The y-axis starts at an arbitrary point (we were asked not to disclose the full numbers) but it provides plenty of insights nonetheless. </p>
<p>One of the first data points that stands out is the huge spike in traffic during March this year, the first full month after the Copyright Alert System started. Instead of a decline in traffic, The Pirate Bay nearly broke a record number of page views that month, only trailing behind September 2012. </p>
<p>Compared to March 2012, the increase in page views is 31%, and compared to March 2011 this goes up to 113%. </p>
<p><center><br />
<h5>Pirate Bay traffic</h5>
<p><a href="media/752e8a6d.uspb.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/uspb.png"><img src="media/752e8a6d.uspb.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/uspb.png" alt="uspb" width="509" height="300" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-76546" /></a></center></p>
<p>Not pictured in the graph but well worth mentioning, is that February 25 was at that point the best day in terms of traffic for 2013. Perhaps not a coincidence, as this was the day the Copyright Alert System began. </p>
<p>Perhaps all the talk about piracy in the mainstream press piqued the interest of new users?</p>
<p>After the big jump during March this year there was a slight drop in traffic, but the number of page views generated by U.S. visitors was still higher than last year. We should note that the growth rate in 2013 has been slower compared to the year before, but the 2012 pattern is an exception in the bigger picture most likely resulting from the Megaupload shutdown.  </p>
<p>So as not to rely on one data source, TorrentFreak also asked ExtraTorrent to share some details on their United States traffic. One of the site&#8217;s operators informed us that there are no significant changes in the percentage of U.S. visitors, which floats around 15 percent. </p>
<p>Only time will tell how the number of U.S visits to torrent sites will develop over time. In any case, it is safe to conclude that the six-strikes scheme has thus far failed to encourage a clear decline in Pirate Bay traffic. If anything, it caused a temporary bump in visitors.  </p>
<p>Contrary to the above, in 2011 the French three-strikes law caused <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/french-three-strikes-law-slashes-piracy-but-fails-to-boost-sales-120330/">a 29% decrease</a> in visits to P2P &#8220;pirate&#8221; sites. Why &#8220;six-strikes&#8221; has not caused a dent in Pirate Bay&#8217;s traffic is hard to explain without further details. It could be that the number of notices is still relatively low, or perhaps pirates are harder to &#8220;educate&#8221; than expected.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/six-strikes-fails-to-halt-u-s-pirate-bay-growth-130903/">Six-Strikes Fails to Halt U.S. Pirate Bay Growth</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76541
title: New Browser Tool Claims to Reveal MEGA Users’ Master Key
uri: New-Browser-Tool-Claims-to-Reveal-MEGA-Users-Master-Key
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/azPpJ4LdcNc/
content:
<p><a href="media/20500b88.megalogo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/megalogo.jpg"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-63627" alt="megalogo" src="media/20500b88.megalogo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/megalogo.jpg" width="170" height="141" /></a>Kim Dotcom&#8217;s Mega.co.nz launched as the &#8216;Privacy Company&#8217; with a special emphasis on the security of its users&#8217; files. The company says that due to encryption, no one can access a user&#8217;s files hosted on Mega unless the user gives his permission.</p>
<p>In the wake of the NSA scandal the usefulness of encryption has really come to the forefront and MEGA is now placed to release encrypted messaging and email services utilizing similar technology. However, the company&#8217;s claims also mean that it becomes a target for those seeking to point out potential weaknesses in its system.</p>
<p>A few hours ago a software developer called Michael Koziarski released a new tool which he claims highlights a fundamental issue with the encryption mechanism implemented by Mega.</p>
<p>The software, known as <a href="http://nzkoz.github.io/MegaPWN/">MEGApwn</a>, is a Javascript bookmarklet that runs in a web browser. Once a user is logged into MEGA it claims to reveal that user&#8217;s MEGA master key. Koziarski says that this proves that the master key itself is not encrypted and that anyone with access to a MEGA user&#8217;s computer can access it.</p>
<p>However, this is not the most controversial claim. Koziarski says that MEGA itself is able to grab a key and use it to access a user&#8217;s files.</p>
<p>&#8220;Your web browser trusts whatever it receives from MEGA, which means they can grab your master key whenever you visit their site and then use it to decrypt and read your files. You&#8217;d never know,&#8221; Koziarski explains.</p>
<p><center><img alt="megaPWN" src="media/d7700bb3.megaPWN.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/megaPWN.jpg" /></center>The dev, who maintains several open source projects, says that if MEGA was issued with a subpoena it could be forced to obtain a user&#8217;s master key and be forbidden by law to reveal anything about it. He also claims that ANY installed browser extension could also access a user&#8217;s master key.</p>
<p>The revelations provoked an exchange with MEGA programmer <a href="https://twitter.com/bramosnl/status/374669888691793920">Bram Van der Kolk</a>, who questioned how MEGA would stop anyone gaining access to a user&#8217;s computer.</p>
<p>&#8220;You seriously want MEGA to protect users against this?&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>&#8220;No, I want users to understand just how easily you could read all their files if you wanted to,&#8221; Koziarski responded.</p>
<p>&#8220;You mean how easily the user himself can read his own files. How exactly can an external attacker take advantage of this?&#8221; der Kolk questioned.</p>
<p>&#8220;So you agree MEGA is only secure against external attackers, that you can read my files if you wanted to?&#8221; Koziarski fired back.</p>
<p>&#8220;Are you seriously suggesting that we will serve trojaned JavaScript? Install one of our browser extensions and turn off auto-updates,&#8221; der Kolk countered.</p>
<p>To try and get a clearer idea of how serious (or not) this issue is, TorrentFreak contacted both MEGA and Koziarski for comment on the new tool. We are yet to receive a response but in the meantime the latter is suggesting that while any site uses Javascript for security, the highlighted problem cannot be overcome.</p>
<p>&#8220;Does this code hack or break into MEGA? No, it simply demonstrates one of the many serious and insoluble problems you face when doing cryptography in Javascript web applications. There are many other problems like this which is why numerous respected cryptographers have warned against doing this for years,&#8221; he concludes.</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> Both MEGA and Koziarski are preparing answers to our questions so those will be published here as soon as we have them.</p>
<p><strong>Update 2:</strong> Comments from Michael Koziarski</p>
<p><em>I made the tool because I&#8217;d noticed that people fell into one of two camps when it came to MEGA&#8217;s encryption. If they knew about the limitations of in-browser JavaScript cryptography, they understood that MEGA&#8217;s cryptography could easily be bypassed by MEGA or anyone else with access to their web servers. But users who didn&#8217;t know anything about cryptography seemed to think that there was something amazingly secure about MEGA.</p>
<p><em>By contrast, if you encrypt your files with PGP before uploading them, there&#8217;s nothing MEGA or anyone else can do to recover them. We already have the tools we need to [cure the problem].</em></p>
<p>I released MEGApwn to make it easier to show novice users how easily MEGA (or the Feds with a warrant) could circumvent the encryption if they wanted to. Everyone in the infosec industry already knew this.</p>
<p>As for how it works, it&#8217;s very very simple. Browsers don&#8217;t have a secure location to store sensitive data like your master key, so MEGA uses the html5 local storage API. However this data is available to anyone using your computer, or any JavaScript code running on the mega.co.nz domain. MEGApwn simply reads the key from localstorage and displays it to you.</p>
<p>Fundamentally the problem is that your browser will faithfully execute any code it downloads from mega.co.nz, and your browser has to download that code basically every time you visit the MEGA site.</p>
<p>MEGA have configured their web servers for SSL and HSTS, and don&#8217;t embed any third party code on their site, so it&#8217;s relatively secure against a 3rd party injecting code.</p>
<p>If they wanted to, any MEGA employee could include code which extracted your secret key and uploaded it to their servers. It wouldn&#8217;t warn you, it wouldn&#8217;t be obviously broken, you&#8217;d just never know. We know from the Hushmail case[1] that courts will issue warrants compelling them to do so in some circumstances,</p>
<p>When you get down to the root of the issue, MEGA&#8217;s approach to cryptography is secure if, and only if, you trust MEGA not to extract your keys[2]. From where i sit that&#8217;s not all that different from having to trust any other more traditional cloud storage provider not to read your files.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s important people understand that. </em></p>
<p><strong>Update 3:</strong> Comments from Bram Van der Kolk of MEGA</p>
<p><em>We would like to thank a high-profile member of the MEGA community for highlighting two of the potential security risks associated with using computers in general and JavaScript-based cryptography in particular. All of these issues have been covered in our FAQ from the start, but we would like to use the opportunity and reiterate them here in case you have missed that:</p>
<p><em>1. If you have access to a computer, you can break MEGA (and everything else, too)</em></p>
<p>This problem is illustrated by a MEGA-specific browser bookmarklet that allows the victim to break into his or her own MEGA account. A more generalized approach is outlined in Brian Kaplan&#8217;s paper RAM is Key &#8211; Extracting Disk Encryption Keys From Volatile Memory. And, needless to say, if the victim installs remote monitoring software (such as a keylogger/screen grabber) on his machine, the potential security breach becomes pretty much all-encompassing.</p>
<p>2. JavaScript cryptography is weak, because the code is loaded on the fly</p>
<p>There are two trust issues associated with on-the-fly code loading: How secure is the delivery mechanism? And will the service provider send me trojaned code upon receipt of e.g. a National Security Letter?</p>
<p>2.1 JavaScript delivery</p>
<p>The integrity of our JavaScript code depends on the integrity of all SSL certificate issuers that your browser trusts, plus the ISPs between you and our root server cluster and/or the DNS servers involved. Or, put bluntly, &#8220;if you can break SSL, you can break MEGA&#8221;. Of course, if you can break SSL, there might be more interesting targets for you to break than MEGA&#8230;</p>
<p>In addition, we are continuously monitoring our root and API server SSL certificates from a variety of points around the globe. Should any breach be detected, we will immediately shut down MEGA and only resume service once the situation is clarified.</p>
<p>2.2 Intentional delivery of backdoored JavaScript code by us to specific users</p>
<p>Technically, we could serve you backdoored JavaScript code that sends your master encryption key back to us. But that would be pointless, because any such attempt could easily be detected and would completely ruin our credibility. Some juristictions force service providers to install backdoors, but MEGA will always migrate to a jurisdiction that respects your right to privacy instead of putting your data at risk. Major software vendors, e.g. in the United States, could easily be forced by their local government to abuse their update mechanisms to deliver backdoor code to specific targets. We will never provide any government with any backdoors, period.</p>
<p>The fundamental difference between traditional (server-side encrypting) and secure (client-side end-to-end encrypting) cloud storage providers is that the former can intercept all data of all users without the victims having a way of finding out, while the latter have to do something that is detectable on the client side.</p>
<p>2.3 Solutions</p>
<p>If you are worried about the risks outlined above, you should use MEGA in a way that does not rely on code delivered on the fly.</p>
<p>2.3.1 Loading MEGA&#8217;s JavaScript code base from your local machine</p>
<p>We offer a browser extension (currently available for Chrome, coming soon for Firefox) that holds all of MEGA&#8217;s code locally. If you install a version that someone you trust has code-audited and turn off automatic updates, we cannot backdoor you even if we wanted to.</p>
<p>2.3.2 Using a client application</p>
<p>In a similar vein, non-autoupdating client applications that were written or audited by someone you trust are immune against dynamic backdooring.</p>
<p>3. Untrusted JavaScript loaded from a website is still safer than an untrusted executable loaded from the same website</p>
<p>It is a common misperception that JavaScript is inherently insecure and that native machine code is a much better choice for cryptography. While it is true that full access to the host machine&#8217;s features allows for some additional degree of security (such as preventing keys from being sent to swap space), malicious JavaScript executing in your browser&#8217;s sandbox (assuming, of course, that no known browser vulnerabilities exist — an admittedly rather weak assumption) at least cannot take over your entire user account or, if you work as root/Administrator, system!</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/new-browser-tool-claims-to-reveal-mega-user-master-key-130903/">New Browser Tool Claims to Reveal MEGA Users&#8217; Master Key</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76553
title: Russia to Punish ISPs, Search Engines & Users Over Content Blocking
uri: Russia-to-Punish-ISPs-Search-Engines-Users-Over-Content-Blocking
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/q4kJsNkWqsc/
content:
<p>Just over a month has passed since Russia introduced new legislation aimed at cracking down on online piracy. The law, which has become known as Russia&#8217;s SOPA, takes a tough line with those offering or linking to illicit content online.</p>
<p>Copyright complaints against a site or service can lead to that domain being added to a national blocklist, if their operators fail to render the illicit content inaccessible within a few days.</p>
<p>Although rightsholders have struggled at times to provide the necessary information required for a correctly formatted complaint, orders have already been issued to add sites to the Russian national blocklist. But now, just 34 days after the initial law was implemented, the government is pushing through further punitive measures for pirates and those deemed to be assisting them.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/63d65709.Blocklist.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/Blocklist.png" alt="Blocklist" /></center></p>
<p>According to <a href="http://www.vesti.ru/doc.html?id=1125217&#038;tid=98634">Vesti.ru</a> a parliamentary committee approved a new bill yesterday which will allow a range of Internet entities to be fined if they fail to block content and sites as dictated by the country&#8217;s blacklist.</p>
<p>The bill, which was approved in the first of three planned readings in the State Duma, introduces fines of up to one million rubles ($29,853) to be levied against search engines, web hosts, ISPs, and even regular web users.</p>
<p>The heaviest of fines will be reserved for companies failing to comply with the requirements of the blacklist, while punishments for regular users are expected to sit around 5,000 rubles ($149).</p>
<p>Last week, Russian authorities <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/large-torrent-site-to-be-blocked-by-russias-sopa-130826/">ordered</a> the blocking of Rutor, one of the largest Russian torrent sites. At the moment the site is not on the national blacklist and remains available via ISPs but unless the site complies with a previous order it&#8217;s IP address will soon be blocked.</p>
<p>Later in the year, possibly in the fall, Russia will <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/russia-prepares-to-broaden-brand-new-anti-piracy-law-130807/">seek to expand</a> the current law. At the moment only TV shows and movies are protected by the legislation but music, books and other works are expected to be added.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/russia-to-punish-isps-search-engines-users-over-content-blocking-130904/">Russia to Punish ISPs, Search Engines &#038; Users Over Content Blocking</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76555
title: Kim Dotcom Resigns as Mega Director to Focus on Music Venture
uri: Kim-Dotcom-Resigns-as-Mega-Director-to-Focus-on-Music-Venture
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/PvVA7sdq9DA/
content:
<p><a href="media/5b2669f1.dotcom-laptop.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dotcom-laptop.jpg"><img src="media/5b2669f1.dotcom-laptop.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dotcom-laptop.jpg" alt="dotcom-laptop" width="233" height="170" class="alignright size-full wp-image-76556" /></a>On January 20, a year after Megaupload was raided in 2012, Kim Dotcom <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/dotcoms-mega-launches-to-unprecedented-demand-130120/">launched</a> his new file-storage service Mega. </p>
<p>In a matter of days the site’s membership went from zero to more than a million and in the weeks that followed the site continued to expand its user base. </p>
<p>The introduction of Mega has been one of the most prominent tech launches this year and the privacy company has big plans to <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/dotcoms-mega-debuts-spy-proof-messaging-this-summer-email-follows-130711/">expand its business</a> in the future. But despite the early successes, Kim Dotcom has chosen to move on. </p>
<p>Filings to the New Zealand Companies Office reveal that Dotcom was replaced as Mega Director last week. The move was confirmed to BusinessDesk by Mega CEO Vikram Kumar, who said that Mega&#8217;s founder will use the time to work on his many other projects. </p>
<p>One of the new ventures Dotcom will focus on is the music platform <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/kim-dotcom-teases-megabox-reveals-exclusive-artists-120926/">formerly known as Megabox</a>. Unlike Mega, the new music service will be operated by a company owned by the Internet entrepreneur himself. </p>
<p>Dotcom previously told TorrentFreak that he dropped the Megabox name for a better one, to be revealed at a later date. Dotcom did say that unlike his other projects, he will not be using the &#8220;Mega&#8221; brand for the new music service.</p>
<p>There are currently 22 developers working on the project and it&#8217;s expected to launch a few months from now. </p>
<p>In addition to the music service, Dotcom also has political aspirations. A few days ago he <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/kim-dotcom-prepares-for-presidency-of-new-political-party-130901/">told TorrentFreak</a> that he has written a draft program for a new party that he wants to participate in New Zealand&#8217;s elections next year. </p>
<p>“I’m excited about the party and I’m confident that I can help make New Zealand a significant Internet economy player. Someone needs to lead New Zealand into the future. Unfortunately the current government doesn’t know what the future looks like,” Dotcom said.</p>
<p>Aside from the music venture and his political aspirations, Dotcom will also be focusing on Megaupload&#8217;s legal battles. He and several of his Megaupload colleagues are fighting an extradition request from the United States, where they are wanted for several alleged crimes.</p>
<p>Dotcom&#8217;s extradition hearing is currently scheduled for November this year, but may be pushed to April 2014 because legal arguments on a number of issues have complicated the case. In the United States, Megaupload has asked the court to dismiss the criminal indictment against the company, but a decision on this request is yet to arrive.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/kim-dotcom-resigns-as-mega-director-to-focus-on-music-venture-130904/">Kim Dotcom Resigns as Mega Director to Focus on Music Venture</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76562
title: Hacker Criticizes Police Investigation During Pirate Bay Founder Appeal
uri: Hacker-Criticizes-Police-Investigation-During-Pirate-Bay-Founder-Appea
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/wzOu8-LhPBY/
content:
<p><img src="media/35b059df.appelbaum.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/appelbaum.jpg" width="180" height="120" class="alignright" />In May 2013, Pirate Bay founder Gottfrid Svartholm stood trial for alleged hacking offenses carried out against Logica, a Swedish IT company working with local tax authorities, and local bank Nordea.</p>
<p>Following a two-week trial, the Nacka District Court handed down its verdict in June. Gottfrid was found guilty of hacking, aggravated fraud and attempted aggravated fraud, and was given a two-year jail sentence.</p>
<p>In July it was revealed that appeals had been filed by both the defense and prosecution &#8211; one hoping to have the sentence quashed and the other hoping for even more jail time.</p>
<p>During the hearing this week at the Court of Appeal, Tor developer and former Wikileaks spokesman Jacob Appelbaum gave evidence on a key part of the defense&#8217;s case, that Gottfrid&#8217;s computer was controlled by a third-party who also carried out the hack attacks.</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://www.idg.se/2.1085/1.521050/kandishackaren-ger-polisen-underkant">IDG</a>, Appelbaum heavily criticized the conclusions drawn by the police following the investigation carried out on Gottfrid&#8217;s computers.</p>
<p>Police and prosecutors had come to the conclusion that were no traces left behind on Gottfrid&#8217;s computers at the times and dates when the hacks against Logica and Nordea were carried out. But Appelbaum said that the police should have looked at a wider range of applications that could have been compromised.</p>
<p>The hacker, a well-respected security expert, said that not only could control of the computer have been carried out using Python and Neko, but it would have been trivial to hide any traces of that.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s so simple that there are blog posts showing how to do it,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>However, the issue for the Court of Appeal is not really if it is possible to hack a computer, hack an IT company and a bank, and then leave no traces. The Court has to consider how likely it is that those sequence of events actually occurred.</p>
<p>For his part, Gottfrid says that the attack did take place but it was carried out by one or more of his friends.</p>
<p>Whether the Court believes this version of events will become known in two weeks when its decision is handed down.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/hacker-criticizes-police-investigation-during-pirate-bay-founder-appeal-130905/">Hacker Criticizes Police Investigation During Pirate Bay Founder Appeal</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76560
title: Movie Studios Get UK ISPs to Block Torrent Site Proxies
uri: Movie-Studios-Get-UK-ISPs-to-Block-Torrent-Site-Proxies
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/78zzE5mYF7E/
content:
<p><img src="media/5303fe31.eztv-logo.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/eztv-logo.png" align="right" alt="eztv" />Following a series of High Court orders, six UK ISPs are required to block subscriber access to several of the world’s largest torrent sites.</p>
<p>The blocks are effective, at least in preventing subscribers from accessing the domains directly, but that doesn&#8217;t mean that the sites are completely inaccessible. </p>
<p>With every site that is added to the blocklist, several reverse proxies are launched. These proxy sites give people access to the blocked sites and effectively bypass the restrictions that were put in case by the court. </p>
<p>TV-torrent site EZTV is the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/uk-internet-providers-start-blocking-eztv-and-ezrss-130726/">latest target</a> of the UK blocking spree. The Motion Picture Association (MPA) and FACT applied for a court order to render the site inaccessible and at the end of July UK providers complied. </p>
<p>At the same time, however, several EZTV proxies popped up. In addition, EZTV redirected UK visitors to a <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/eztv-circumvents-isp-blockade-and-slams-hollywood-censorship-130731/">special landing page</a> with instructions on how to circumvent the blockades, although this was soon blocked as well. </p>
<p>Needless to say, the movie studios are not pleased with the proxies and TorrentFreak learned this week that they have asked the Internet providers to block these too.</p>
<p>A few days ago eztvproxy.net and eztv.dashitz.com became inaccessible on several ISPs and anti-piracy group FACT confirmed that they are behind these recent changes.</p>
<p>&#8220;We have notified some proxies,&#8221; FACT informed TorrentFreak after we inquired about the blocked sites.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/59d4a24a.blocked2.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/blocked2.jpg"><img src="media/59d4a24a.blocked2.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/blocked2.jpg" alt="blocked" width="500" height="301" size-full wp-image-76563" /></a></center></p>
<p>The new proxy blockades are currently live on BSkyB, BT and O2 and the other providers are expected to follow suit. Previously, the music industry applied for a similar expansion blocking <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/uk-isps-secretly-start-blocking-torrent-site-proxies-130611/">several proxies</a> pointing to The Pirate Bay, H33t and KickassTorrents.</p>
<p>The full range of sites added during the latest update remains a mystery for now &#8211; neither the movie studios nor the ISPs make these public.</p>
<p>The question remains, however, how effective these new blockades will be. There are still many <a href="http://eztv-proxy.net/">alternative</a> proxies up and running and with every one that&#8217;s blocked, new sites will appear. </p>
<p>It&#8217;s possible that the movie industry hopes people will eventually grow tired of finding alternatives and give up. In line with this strategy, FACT told TorrentFreak that they will ask the court for additional orders in the future to block more infringing sites.</p>
<p>“We have made it clear that we will seek action against sites that continue to provide unremitting mass access to infringing content following due legal process,” FACT said.</p>
<p>And so the Whack-a-Mole continues.</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> Movie streaming site <a href="http://movie4k.to/">movie4k.to</a> also appears to be added to the blocklist. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/movie-studios-get-uk-isps-to-block-torrent-site-proxies-130905/">Movie Studios Get UK ISPs to Block Torrent Site Proxies</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76565
title: UK Internet Filter Blocks VPNs, Australia to Follow Soon?
uri: UK-Internet-Filter-Blocks-VPNs-Australia-to-Follow-Soon
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/qqRcx3tO23Y/
content:
<p><a href="media/07db73b3.stop-blocked.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/stop-blocked.jpg"><img src="media/07db73b3.stop-blocked.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/stop-blocked.jpg" alt="stop-blocked" width="200" height="168" class="alignright size-full wp-image-72076" /></a>Internet filters are now on the political agenda in many countries around the world. </p>
<p>While China and Iran are frontrunners for political censorship, the UK is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship_in_the_United_Kingdom">leading the way</a> when it comes to porn and other types of adult content. </p>
<p>All mobile Internet providers are currently complying with a voluntary code of practice to make adult content inaccessible on their networks by default. Subscribers then have the option to lift the block if they can verify that they are at least 18 years old. </p>
<p>However, mobile filtering alone is not enough to protect the children. Last month Prime Minister David Cameron <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/porn-to-be-blocked-in-the-uk-whats-new-say-pirate-bay-users-130722/">announced</a> a default filter for all Internet connections. This means that in the near future UK Internet subscribers will be required to opt-in if they want to view adult content online.</p>
<p>After the news broke the Open Rights Group warned that this new filter could also <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/uk-porn-filter-will-censor-other-content-too-isps-reveal-130726/">block other content</a> too, including anonymizing services such as VPNs. And indeed, it now appears that this worry isn&#8217;t as far-fetched as some thought.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak has learned that VPN provider <a href="http://ipredator.se">iPredator</a> is already blocked under the &#8220;adult filter&#8221; of some, if not all, mobile providers. TorrentFreak has seen communication between the mobile provider <a href="http://giffgaff.com/">GiffGaff</a> and iPredator which makes it clear that the VPN&#8217;s website is blocked because it allows kids to bypass the age restrictions.</p>
<p>&#8220;[...] websites or services that offer, inter alia, a method for younger members to access over 18 content, without age verification; such as VPN services, are blocked [...],&#8221; the provider explained.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/9f8478b2.giffgaff-blocked.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/giffgaff-blocked.png"><img src="media/9f8478b2.giffgaff-blocked.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/giffgaff-blocked.png" alt="giffgaff-blocked" width="558" height="320" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-76568" /></a></center></p>
<p>GiffGaff claims that they can&#8217;t change anything in the filter&#8217;s settings since they use O2&#8242;s network and referred to the Independent Mobile Classification Body (<a href="http://www.imcb.org.uk/">IMCB</a>) for further details. TorrentFreak contacted IMCB for a comment on the issue last week, but they are yet to respond.</p>
<p>Based on the above it is safe to say that censorship is a slippery slope, especially without any oversight. VPNs are used for numerous purposes and bypassing age restrictions is certainly not the most popular one. If this holds up then proxy services and even Google&#8217;s cache may soon be banned under the same guise.</p>
<p>Earlier today <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/au/australian-opposition-vows-to-implement-internet-filter-by-default-7000020270/">news</a> broke that Australia may soon be confronted with an equally restricted Internet. The opposition, which is likely to form the new Government, has put forward a proposal to start filtering adult content on both mobile networks and fixed access Internet lines. </p>
<p>Inspired by the UK, the goal of these filters is to protect children from harmful content. </p>
<p>&#8220;As has recently been achieved in the UK, we expect these standards will involve the major internet service providers providing home network filters for all new home broadband services, which will be switched on as the default unless the customer specifies otherwise,&#8221; <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/165704705/Coalition-2013-Election-Policy-%E2%80%93-Enhance-Online-Safety-final-1">the proposal reads</a>.  </p>
<p>Interestingly, the coalition quickly distanced itself from the plan once it hit the news. The proposal was deleted and statements Liberal MP Paul Fletcher made <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/au/coalition-backflips-on-internet-filtering-policy-7000020282/">to ZDNet</a> were swiftly characterized as non policy.</p>
<p>So it appears that Australia may escape mandatory Internet filters, for now at least. </p>
<p>The UK example, however, begs the question how effective these blocklists are to begin with, and how broad they have to be to reach their goal. If a kid is smart enough to go to a VPN provider in order to unblock content, he or she clearly doesn&#8217;t want to be protected.</p>
<p>As we have seen time and time again with piracy-related website blockades, those who want to circumvent blocked content on the Internet <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/at-least-8-of-all-pirate-bay-traffic-now-provided-by-proxy-services-130505/">will find a way</a>. Unless you take down the entire Internet of course. That might just work. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/uk-internet-filter-blocks-vpns-australia-to-follow-soon-130905/">UK Internet Filter Blocks VPNs, Australia to Follow Soon?</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76387
title: Pirates Plan to Beat Up Amazon & Disrupt the Ebook Market
uri: Pirates-Plan-to-Beat-Up-Amazon-Disrupt-the-Ebook-Market
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/IEgJG1CA-04/
content:
<p><a href="media/31ccbd18.e-books.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/e-books.jpg"><img src="media/31ccbd18.e-books.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/e-books.jpg" alt="e-books" width="220" height="150" class="alignright size-full wp-image-26365" /></a>Of the hundreds of file-sharing sites operating during the past decade, only a few have admitted that their main aim is to be disruptive. The Pirate Bay is notable for having this kind of approach but not even the world&#8217;s most infamous torrent site had a particular exit strategy in mind.</p>
<p>Last week we reported on Torboox, an ebook site providing millions of unauthorized ebooks to the public. The site made the news after German reporters were subjected to a <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/journalists-face-criminal-complaint-for-mentioning-name-of-pirate-site-130830/">criminal complaint</a> by publishers who didn&#8217;t want the site named. While that complaint has now been withdrawn, Torboox say that not only will they continue, but they have a serious plan to shake up the ebook market by targeting Amazon. Here&#8217;s how.</p>
<p>In Germany books are subjected to fixed pricing by law, which means that books can only be offered for sale to the public at a price determined by the publisher. This effectively means that there is no competition between rival sellers on the issue of price, value placed on books is not linked to the cost of making them, and supply and demand variables are a thing of the past.</p>
<p>&#8220;German publishers can set the prices that Amazon sells ebooks for,&#8221; Spiegelbest, the admin of Toorboox, told TorrentFreak. &#8220;That&#8217;s why Amazon is trying to become a publisher itself by offering authors much better conditions than the publishers can.&#8221;</p>
<p>Spiegelbest says that there are currently two players of significance in the German ebook market &#8211; Amazon and Torboox &#8211; and they have things in common.</p>
<h2>Torboox and Amazon are just the same, only the price is different.</h2>
<p><a href="media/33abeeff.torboox.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/torboox.jpg"><img src="media/33abeeff.torboox.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/torboox.jpg" alt="torboox" width="190" height="95" class="alignright size-full wp-image-76296" /></a>&#8220;If you look at it, they are very similar. Amazon is nothing but a hoster for the authors. No wonder they can offer 70% provision,&#8221; he says.</p>
<p>&#8220;Amazon does nothing to &#8216;produce&#8217; books. Thus they are very similar to Torboox. Both of us &#8211; legal and illegal &#8211; are book hosters, not traditional book publishers. The ebook market is shared between two book hosters.&#8221;</p>
<p>According to Spiegelbest, publishers entering the German ebook market face many risks and a fierce competitor in Amazon, a company that has already prepared for a market without paper books.</p>
<p>&#8220;From the start Amazon saw themselves as a mere publisher of ebooks. Why let the publishers come into a market Amazon created and dominates already? So they do business with the authors willing to publish digitally,&#8221; he explains.</p>
<p>With the way that the market is arranged at the moment and as the paper market slows down, Spiegelbest says that German publishers are trapped. Amazon dominates the ebook market and is defending its market share. On the other hand is Torboox, a site offering ebooks much, much cheaper than anyone else in the market, Amazon included.</p>
<p>&#8220;We ourselves are not the born enemy of the publishers,&#8221; Spiegelbest explains. &#8220;We slash the prices okay, we steal their content if you want, but we see publishers as co-producers of books like the authors.</p>
<p>&#8220;For us it is not just hosting a book. That&#8217;s not enough. There is a lot more to it. It sounds strange but we love books. We are in it for the books not for the business. Amazon is our enemy &#8211; not life or death &#8211; but for the sake of the quality of future books.&#8221;</p>
<p>We asked how Torboox hopes to battle such a huge company, change the market and come out on top. The response is pretty controversial. According to Spiegelbest, piracy currently controls around 50% of the market, with Amazon on 40% and others holding the rest.</p>
<h2>Send Amazon business &#8211; and then take them down.</h2>
<p><a href="media/ac019d43.amazon.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/amazon.jpg"><img src="media/ac019d43.amazon.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/amazon.jpg" alt="amazon" width="180" height="79" class="alignright size-full wp-image-76512" /></a>&#8220;If you look at it you get a funny picture. At the moment we are doing a good job for Amazon. We are offering the best-sellers of the publishers for nothing. Thus the publishers make less money, can pay their authors less and will eventually lose them to Amazon. Very nice construction this is. As Amazon itself is already cutting prices with their titles you have a double effect of strangling the publishers,&#8221; Spiegelbest explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;At the moment you have high quality content of the publishers trying to enter the ebook market. But the prices are high and the conditions for the customers (DRM etc) are unacceptable. The publishers have no concept. You cannot sell ebooks like paper books.&#8221;</p>
<p>The solution, the Torboox admin believes, is offering a flat-rate, all you can eat service. He says he already has plenty of users willing to become customers.</p>
<p>&#8220;Our users could easily become customers of publishers with a sound concept. But publishers have to listen &#8211; not to us but to their would-be customers. They have superior content but have no answer to Amazons&#8217;s challenge,&#8221; he says.</p>
<h2>The business model</h2>
<p>&#8220;In the end the publishers have to talk to us. They have to find a way to make us legal. It is their job not ours. A flatrate will be 10 euros a month &#8211; no limit. Licensing will again be the job of the publishers. If a publisher isn&#8217;t wise enough to participate &#8211; no problem,&#8221; Spiegelbest says.</p>
<p><a href="media/2efdb268.dollar-money.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dollar-money.jpg"><img src="media/2efdb268.dollar-money.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dollar-money.jpg" alt="dollar-money" width="180" height="135" class="alignright size-full wp-image-38877" /></a>&#8220;The author gets the same as Amazon pays. If Amazon pays 80% we pay 80%. They get paid according to what the users read. Every read page is paid.&#8221;</p>
<p>Figures shared with TorrentFreak suggest that Torboox users are indeed consuming a lot of books which could conceivably translate into revenue if the userbase warms to the flatrate idea. Currently the site&#8217;s users are downloading around 2 million books per month, increasing to a predicted five million in the run up to Christmas.</p>
<p>At the moment the site operates on a donation model but as things grow the users will be expected to pay their way. It&#8217;s the publishers&#8217; choice whether they get a look at that money, Spiegelbest says, while noting that the site continues to grow.</p>
<p>&#8220;If our server is grounded by traffic we will have our own cloud. We have plenty of time. Again if the publishers don&#8217;t want to talk to us it is okay. But one day without talking to us there will be a Christmas business without German book publishers that&#8217;s for sure. In a way it&#8217;s the Grooveshark thing. You  want money for your files, you get it. You don&#8217;t want money for your files, we have them downloaded anyway. Be a wise man.&#8221;</p>
<p>In the end Spiegelbest believes that the publishers will have little choice but to come to him.</p>
<p>&#8220;We have the concept. The publishers have the content. Together we can indeed battle Amazon. And Amazon is not monopolizing films, games or music &#8211; why ebooks? For me the biggest problem is this: Will the publishers understand before they vanish? That&#8217;s 50-50, no more,&#8221; he concludes.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirates-plan-to-beat-up-amazon-disrupt-the-ebook-market-130906/">Pirates Plan to Beat Up Amazon &#038; Disrupt the Ebook Market</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76576
title: Mysterious Domain Seizure Takes H33t.com Down, But not Out
uri: Mysterious-Domain-Seizure-Takes-H33t-com-Down-But-not-Out
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/g9RFD78U5fM/
content:
<p><img alt="h33t" src="media/0fd68eb2.h33t2.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/h33t2.png" align="right" />Yesterday one of the largest BitTorrent sites on the Internet <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/h33t-com-goes-down-as-nameservers-vanish-130906/">slowly started to disappear </a>from the Internet. </p>
<p>Without knowledge of the site owners, the nameservers had been wiped from the domain records. While some people were still able to access the site through cached DNS entries, more and more visitors reported issues as time passed. </p>
<p>TorrentFreak got in touch with the site&#8217;s owner, who initially thought that there was a DNS problem with the content distribution network. However, when he contacted Leaseweb, who manage the domain name registration, it turned out that the problem was more serious than that.  </p>
<p>Leaseweb support informed H33t that the registrar had removed the nameservers after receiving a court order, which appears to be related to a copyright dispute.</p>
<p>&#8220;We asked our registrar why we cannot add the nameservers of LeaseWeb to your account. They informed us that they regretfully forced to temporarily disable the domain name due to receipt of a court order as the registrant had not reacted upon a request to remove certain files/entries from his service,&#8221; Leaseweb explained.</p>
<p>&#8220;They are currently analyzing the Court Order with the intent to have it lifted, but that may take a while. For more information, please contact the registrar who tried to contact you regarding this matter. LeaseWeb can not help you any further with this,&#8221; the company added. </p>
<p>The owner of H33t is surprised by the mysterious court order and told TorrentFreak that the site has received no correspondence regarding the matter.</p>
<p>&#8220;At this point we do not know who is making the complaint, neither do we know who the Leaseweb registrar is because they have not contacted us,&#8221; H33t&#8217;s Shelby explains.</p>
<p>H33t&#8217;s owner was contacted two weeks ago with a request to prove that the WHOIS data is real. H33t complied with this request by providing company documentation and certificates, but hasn&#8217;t heard back since. </p>
<p>The torrent site is also surprised that by the accusation that they failed to take allegedly infringing content down. </p>
<p>&#8220;H33t has a DMCA style takedown procedure linked on every page. we thought it was enough, apparently not. Today I learned that any site can be taken offline by a complaint without the need to contact the site,&#8221; Shelby says.</p>
<p>While H33t does indeed have a takedown policy, it has to be noted that  they charge copyright holders an <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/should-websites-charge-a-fee-to-process-copyright-takedowns-120528/">administration fee of $50 per takedown request</a>. The site doesn&#8217;t comply with the DMCA, claiming that it falls outside US jurisdiction. </p>
<p>Whether the court order will do much to stop H33t from operating is doubtful. The site&#8217;s servers are still up and running and the admin is working hard on getting the site back up under a domain, H33t.eu.</p>
<p>&#8220;H33t.eu is firing up now and will be fully live within 24 hours as soon as the DNS changes propagate to your locale. The regular h33t tracker is also firing up on the new eu domain announce,&#8221; Shelby tells us.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/37c03878.h33tnew.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/h33tnew.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-76577" alt="h33tnew" src="media/37c03878.h33tnew.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/h33tnew.jpg" width="487" height="370" /></a></center></p>
<p>While H33t is expected to make a swift return, the mysterious domain seizure does raise several questions. Is this a criminal matter or a civil case? Under what jurisdiction was the court order obtained?</p>
<p>In the past the U.S. Government has <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/us-resume-file-sharing-domain-seizures-110201/">seized hundreds of domains</a> related to copyright infringement and counterfeiting, but if this comes directly from a copyright holder then that&#8217;s certainly a game changer. </p>
<p>The positive news is that the unnamed domain registrar intend to fight the court order according to Leaseweb. To be continued.</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> H33t is back under H33t.eu</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mysterious-domain-seizure-takes-h33t-com-down-but-not-out-130906/">Mysterious Domain Seizure Takes H33t.com Down, But not Out</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76579
title: Kim Dotcom Teases New Music Service… BABOOM
uri: Kim-Dotcom-Teases-New-Music-Service-BABOOM
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/JEjhKHf8_m8/
content:
<p>December 2011, a month before the criminal proceeding against Megaupload became public, Kim Dotcom <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/from-rogue-to-vogue-megaupload-and-kim-dotcom-111218/">first revealed</a> his plans to launch a new service to transform the music business.</p>
<p>At the time the project was called Megabox and the similarly named .com domain was seized by the U.S. Government. However, despite all the legal troubles, Dotcom <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/kim-dotcom-artists-rejoice-megabox-is-not-dead-120621/">continued development</a> on the music platform. </p>
<p>It&#8217;s currently being prepared for a public launch, albeit under a different brand. Dotcom had decided initially decided to keep the new name a secret for a while, but after <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/kim-dotcom-resigns-as-mega-director-to-focus-on-music-venture-130904/">he resigned</a> from Mega earlier this week there were several signs suggesting that it could be &#8220;Baboom.&#8221;</p>
<p>TorrentFreak presented the Internet entrepeneur with these findings, and Dotcom confirmed that the new service will indeed launch at Baboom.com.</p>
<p>Dotcom has already secured several millions in funding for the project and there are currently 22 developers working on it. Unlike Mega, Baboom will be operated by a company owned by the Internet entrepreneur himself. </p>
<p>With Baboom, Dotcom strongly believes that he can revolutionize the music industry and give artists full control over their music again. </p>
<p>&#8220;I am really excited about Baboom. I can&#8217;t wait for artists to see what i have created for them. Their entire career can be managed on Baboom. Artists never had more freedom, transparency and control,&#8221; he tells TorrentFreak. </p>
<p>The teaser below shows what Baboom will look like, although not all design elements are final yet. The completed project will be much more advanced than how the Megabox idea initially started, and Dotcom doesn&#8217;t plan to release it before it&#8217;s perfect. </p>
<p><center><br />
<h5>Baboom teaser</h5>
<p><a href="media/4e0080f3.BaboomHintHQ-large.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/BaboomHintHQ-large.jpg"><img src="media/11fe5b25.BaboomHintHQ.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/BaboomHintHQ.jpg" alt="BaboomHintHQ" width="560" height="355" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-76580" /></a></center></p>
<p>Dotcom previously said that there are several “top artists” lined up for the launch, but those featured in the teaser above are just internal design placeholders, for now.</p>
<p>When it’s released Baboom will give the public access to free music, while compensating artists through advertising revenue. With this “free music” business model Dotcom believes he can decrease music piracy while giving artists proper compensation for their work.</p>
<p>In addition, Baboom is expected to have a paid version where music fans can pay for music and not be bothered by ads.  </p>
<p>It is no secret that Dotcom has several prominent connections in the music industry and it will be interesting to see which artists join the project. In any case, there will definitely be plenty of attention for Baboom&#8217;s launch. </p>
<p>Whether Baboom will be able to challenge the mighty influence of the major labels will become clear in a few months’ time.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/kim-dotcom-teases-new-music-service-baboom-130907/">Kim Dotcom Teases New Music Service&#8230; BABOOM</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76280
title: Censorship Busters: The Challenges of Running a Pirate Bay Proxy
uri: Censorship-Busters-The-Challenges-of-Running-a-Pirate-Bay-Proxy
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/7kduk1SEAbA/
content:
<p>In many countries across Europe users visiting many of the world&#8217;s leading torrent sites are greeted with messages informing them that the domain is no longer available.</p>
<p>These court-ordered blockades requested by the music and movie industries are becoming widespread, but even more common are tools to circumvent them.</p>
<p>One of the most straightforward and popular ways to unblock a site is by using a reverse proxy. There are dozens of them online and they are as easy to use as a regular website. So what makes these sites tick and what motivates their operators to keep them online? </p>
<p>TorrentFreak caught up with dhxr, an operator of <a href="http://piratereverse.info">PirateReverse.info</a>, one of the largest torrent site proxies.</p>
<h2>Censorship &#8211; necessary evil or something to be fought against?</h2>
<p><a href="media/df0b8435.censorwiki.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/censorwiki.jpg"><img src="media/df0b8435.censorwiki.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/censorwiki.jpg" alt="censorwiki" width="180" height="175" class="alignright size-full wp-image-73547" /></a>&#8220;Personally I am against censorship at all levels bar extremities. Essentially there should be no censorship of the internet except for content such as child pornography. These views extend to mediums such as books and other publications,&#8221; dhxr explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;In the UK the IWF maintains a list of such content that has been blocked for a number of years &#8211; but as with every other instance this can be abused and used to block content on political or copyright grounds.&#8221;</p>
<p>Dhxr notes that in some cases censorship is acceptable, at work for example when you&#8217;re there to a job and not sit around on Facebook all day. But when we get home and are paying for what is now becoming a limited service, things change.</p>
<p>&#8220;One might say the definition of being able to access the internet is having the ability to at least connect to all 4,294,967,296 IPv4 addresses and 3.4*10^38 IPv6 addresses if your ISP provides IPv6,&#8221; he says.</p>
<p>As each week goes on, however, it&#8217;s clear that&#8217;s not what we&#8217;re getting.</p>
<h2>What motivates to create and keep anti-circumvention tools online?</h2>
<p><a href="media/2efdb268.dollar-money.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dollar-money.jpg"><img src="media/2efdb268.dollar-money.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dollar-money.jpg" alt="dollar-money" width="180" height="135" class="alignright size-full wp-image-38877" /></a>&#8220;For me, it was the realization that censorship of this level is wrong and cannot be tolerated. Why should we have some corporate interests govern what we can and cannot see?</p>
<p>&#8220;Unfortunately that is the way it is going &#8211; because fundamentally it is all about money, despite the many studies that claim blocking sites has little to no effect on record label and film company profits.</p>
<p>&#8220;I think most people who run proxy sites also share this realization and wish to help the effort. There can never be too many proxy sites,&#8221; dhxr observes.</p>
<h2>Why are proxies and reverse proxies so important?</h2>
<p>&#8220;Proxy sites are important because they are the easiest to use. There is no setting anything up for the user, just type in a URL and see the site you&#8217;re used to seeing. Their place in online society has only been formed out of necessity. If no torrent sites were blocked, then little to no torrent site proxies would exist. As it happens, with censorship rife in many countries, the need for accessible proxy sites is ever increasing, and with the more sites being blocked around the world, demand will continue to increase,&#8221; dhxr predicts.</p>
<h2>Reverse proxies &#8211; how do they work?</h2>
<p>&#8220;The term &#8216;reverse proxy&#8217; relates to how the servers are configured. Typically a &#8216;forward proxy&#8217; takes requests from clients (such as a web browser), fetches the content, and sends it back,&#8221; dhxr explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;An example of this is Immunicity. By requesting and relaying the content from an unblocked server, it allows unrestricted access to specific resources. On the other hand, a &#8216;reverse proxy&#8217; does the same but rather than being setup in a web browser as a proxy, it is setup as a website, so all the user needs to do is type in a URL and the server requests content from the original site, then sends it back to the user.&#8221;</p>
<h2>Maintaining a reverse proxy</h2>
<p>&#8220;Daily maintenance is slim, it consists of checking everything is working as intended. Most other system admin tasks are automated. We don&#8217;t log so this removes a large maintenance hurdle of rotating the logs and managing disk space. We cache responses in memory because it&#8217;s faster than writing to disk, which is an important part of the process because without it, the proxies would be slow,&#8221; dhxr reveals.</p>
<h2>Overcoming challenges</h2>
<p>&#8220;As part of our almost daily routine, I check TorrentFreak and see if blocks against any new sites have been announced. Typically I like to get the domains sorted as soon as the sites are mentioned as candidates to be blocked, then I can get to work proxying them and ensuring they work fine, well ahead of when the blocks are due to be implemented. This can sometimes be challenging because from a technical level every site is different,&#8221; dhxr notes.</p>
<p>Interestingly there is one particular site that causes more problems than most.</p>
<p><a href="media/6df39282.kickass.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/kickass.jpg"><img src="media/6df39282.kickass.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/kickass.jpg" alt="kickass" width="205" height="143" class="alignright size-full wp-image-21602" /></a>&#8220;We don&#8217;t really know why, but Kickass&#8217; servers compress all their content and you can&#8217;t ask for it uncompressed like most sites. This makes it very difficult, as many other proxy operators have experienced, to rewrite Kickass&#8217; URLs so images and CSS load from an unblocked domain,&#8221; dhxr explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;At first we wrote a script that would manually ungzip content but it was slow and inefficient. Now, after much research and testing, we use Apache inbetween our web-facing servers and Kickass, which is configured to decompress content ready for the URLs to be rewritten so the site loads as the user would expect.&#8221;</p>
<h2>Hardware &#8211; the thirst for more power</h2>
<p>Initially PirateReverse used a small VPS server located inside the UK but that was soon moved to Sweden where it operated for several months. But due to an increase in demand, an upgrade was in order. Dhxr told us that two additional servers were obtained in Spain and the Isle of Man but a 16Gbps DDoS attack caused the site&#8217;s host to lose patience with the service.</p>
<p>&#8220;We took this opportunity to move onto our own dedicated hardware, which is what we&#8217;re still using today as it provides more than enough capacity which helps ensure our proxies are always fast regardless of how many people are using them. We currently have two web servers, each configured in parallel. There are other servers behind the scenes too that help keep everything running smoothly,&#8221; we were told.</p>
<p>PirateReverse are connected with the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/unblock-torrent-sites-blocked-proxies-camerons-porn-filter-with-immunicity-130728/">Immunicity unblocking service</a>, so even more hardware is needed there.</p>
<p><a href="media/21210f7a.servers.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/servers.jpg"><img src="media/21210f7a.servers.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/servers.jpg" alt="servers" width="200" height="145" class="alignright size-full wp-image-53363" /></a>&#8220;We have a few servers running the Immunicity website, the load balancer and configuration broker. Then we have two gateway servers, currently running in parallel.</p>
<p>&#8220;We have hardware pending installation, which when configured will replace the existing gateways. These new servers are more powerful and will keep Immunicity running for the foreseeable future at least, with 16GB RAM, 2TB HDD and 3.4GHz Intel Xeon E3 processors each,&#8221; dxhr reveals.</p>
<h2>Looking to the future</h2>
<p>Finally, what happens next month and next year? Dxhr says he&#8217;s not optimistic and fears for the health of the Internet.</p>
<p>&#8220;What was once thought to be open, has slowly started to become compromised by corporate interests. It is hard to predict specifically what will happen, but I think encryption will become a key element in what we do online in future,&#8221; he predicts.</p>
<p>&#8220;As for proxy sites, they can easily be blocked, and they are. Many of our domains for example are now blocked by UK ISPs. Whatever happens though, there will always be technical ways to circumvent censorship &#8211; success of these methods can often be down to the complexity, and the laws surrounding their use,&#8221; dxhr concludes.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/censorship-busters-the-challenges-of-running-a-pirate-bay-proxy-130907/">Censorship Busters: The Challenges of Running a Pirate Bay Proxy</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76282
title: Private Torrent Sites Run Their Own Mini-PRISM to Share Data on Users
uri: Private-Torrent-Sites-Run-Their-Own-Mini-PRISM-to-Share-Data-on-Users
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/J8Tl8goOGyA/
content:
<p><a href="media/f408e481.cameraspy.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cameraspy.jpg"><img src="media/f408e481.cameraspy.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cameraspy.jpg" alt="cameraspy" width="170" height="164" class="alignright size-full wp-image-49625" /></a>When it comes to keeping their privacy, many file-sharers like to think of themselves as a secretive bunch.</p>
<p>The ever popular VPN is showing no signs of decline and as time goes on the interest in joining private torrent communities grows.</p>
<p>Last month we <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/downloading-the-databases-that-store-everything-you-do-130811/">took a look</a> at the large amounts of data being stored by private torrent sites on their users, alongside the question of whether that information could be better handled in future.</p>
<p>That article prompted an individual, &#8216;X&#8217;, to contact us with information on what is perhaps the private tracker scene&#8217;s dirtiest and relatively open secret.</p>
<p>For those unaware, &#8216;X&#8217; was talking about the phenomenon whereby losing an account or misbehaving on one torrent site can affect a user&#8217;s status on another. It&#8217;s been going on for some time now but it&#8217;s definitely worth mentioning in light of current concerns over data privacy.</p>
<p>X asked to keep him anonymous, and for good reason. He is the former sysop, admin and coder of at least two well known private torrent sites and the founder of another. He asked us simply &#8211; what do we know about how much information is being passed between torrent sites?</p>
<p>&#8220;I could take a username/email address/IP address and get information about any matching users on 30+ different sites. Some of it was automatic, some of it was request ticket based,&#8221; X explained.</p>
<p>So what kind of information is being shared? According to X, a staggering amount.</p>
<p>&#8220;Once a user was banned on one of the member private trackers, every IP they ever used for the site, RSS feed/API, and announces (even transversing HTTP proxies if they didn&#8217;t properly hide their origin IP), their email address, and their username was used to build a profile of them by combining shared data between the collective sites,&#8221; he revealed.</p>
<p>X told us that the databases are so rich in information that it&#8217;s possible to build detailed profiles of users, some of which are associated with more than a thousand IP addresses including access dates and times, plus a hundred usernames/email addresses and details of their supposed misbehavings.</p>
<p>&#8220;Everything from being a dick, being/acting suspicious, cheating/trading, letting someone else use their account, to staff running off with donation money could get a user on this database,&#8221; X said.</p>
<p>So how does this PRISM-like system work? According to X, it&#8217;s professionally constructed.</p>
<p>&#8220;All of these user profiles were accessible by all member sites via API, and quite a few sites kept their own copy of the database, pulling down information updates at regular intervals, and sending profile updates/creations on matching or requested information,&#8221; he revealed.</p>
<p>The security implications of holding local copies of full databases are a serious concern.</p>
<p>&#8220;If any of these sites got raided or hacked, data about users who never even used the site would be in the hands of the invader.&#8221;</p>
<p>We&#8217;ve discussed the reasons why these kinds of systems are in place in previous articles. Private sites have an &#8216;<a href="http://torrentfreak.com/why-private-torrent-sites-have-strict-copyright-enforcement-rules-130511/">economy</a>&#8216; to preserve and need to be able to keep tabs on damaging users in order to keep their sites healthy.</p>
<p>Of course, this is the kind of reasoning also employed by the NSA when it tries to justify spying on everyone. Are these excuses acceptable or not? Does the end justify the means?</p>
<p>&#8220;The NSA leaks have shed a new light on what I regularly did at my post [X says he wrote some of the code allowing the sites to communicate], and while I can&#8217;t deny the good it did in keeping [our site] from falling to shit, the way the information is handled and the secrecy behind this are things that need to be exposed and reworked,&#8221; X concludes</p>
<p>It is unlikely that the participating trackers will give up their intelligence systems just like that since the information they provide is a crucial part of keeping their sites healthy. But equally, these kinds of databases could become hugely problematic should they fall into the wrong hands.</p>
<p>What happens next is up to the sites running the operation but coordinating change and introducing a better system could prove almost impossible.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/private-torrent-sites-run-their-own-mini-prism-to-share-data-on-users-130908/">Private Torrent Sites Run Their Own Mini-PRISM to Share Data on Users</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76550
title: College Pirates? U.S. Universities Ranked by BitTorrent Usage
uri: College-Pirates-U-S-Universities-Ranked-by-BitTorrent-Usage
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/xt142PXXKZQ/
content:
<p><a href="media/a5308478.mit.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mit.jpg"><img src="media/a5308478.mit.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mit.jpg" alt="mit" width="200" height="108" class="alignright size-full wp-image-76558" /></a>BitTorrent has plenty of legitimate uses but much of the traffic that passes through can be linked to copyright infringement. </p>
<p>This is true on all regular Internet providers but also on university networks. Unlike consumer ISPs, however, educational institutions are required by law to prevent copyright infringement to the best of their ability. </p>
<p>In 2010 the U.S. Government added a new requirement for colleges and universities <a href="http://www.educause.edu/library/higher-education-opportunity-act-heoa">to stop illicit file-sharing</a> on their networks. This legislation puts a defiant school at risk of losing federal funding if it doesn’t do enough to stop illicit file-sharers on its campus.</p>
<p>Schools across the country responded appropriately to the new rules and some institutions have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to install anti-file-sharing systems on their networks. While these efforts may have been somewhat successful, college piracy hasn&#8217;t been completely eliminated.</p>
<p>With help from the BitTorrent monitoring outfit <a href="http://scaneye.net/">Scaneye</a> we were able to see the presence of individual universities on the popular file-sharing protocol. Scaneye looks at the IP-addresses that are sharing files on BitTorrent, and records every encounter as a &#8220;hit.&#8221; More hits therefore means that BitTorrent usage is more prevalent on the network. </p>
<p>As can be seen on the table below, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads the list with 1809 “hits” since January 1 of this year. Rutgers University follows in second place with 986 hits.</p>
<p>The rest of the top five is made up by New York University, the University of Houston and Texas A&#038;M University.</p>
<p>Compared <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/college-pirates-u-s-universities-ranked-by-bittorrent-usage-121013/">to last year</a> the University of Illinois made the biggest jump from the 41st place to 6th. Conversely, The University of California, San Diego, was in 19th place last year and has since dropped out of the top 50.</p>
<p>Since BitTorrent can be used for many legitimate purposes we took several samples of the content being downloaded on the university networks, and the majority is clearly infringing. </p>
<p>While students and staff are certainly pirating movies, software and music, it is certainly not rampant. Especially when you take into account that some universities have hundreds of thousands of students, and that a single student can generate several hits. </p>
<p>To put things in perspective, most residential ISPs have millions of hits every month, and even the Department of Homeland Security has <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/riaa-and-homeland-security-caught-downloading-torrents-111217/">hundreds of pirates</a> in its organization.</p>
<p>Below is the full list of the top 50 universities ranked by (absolute) BitTorrent usage in 2013. The older 2012 ranking of universities based on the student population <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/images/University-Bittorrent-Rankings.csv"> is available here.</a></p>
<table class="css hover" summary="College Piracy">
<caption>Universities ranked by BitTorrent usage</caption>
<thead>
<tr>
<th width="9%"><strong>#</strong></th>
<th width="9%"><strong>2012</strong></th>
<th width="62%"><strong>University</strong></th>
<th width="20%"><strong>Hits</strong></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tfoot>
<tr>
<td colspan="4">torrentfreak.com</td>
</tr>
</tfoot>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>1</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><strong>Massachusetts Institute of Technology</strong></td>
<td>1935</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><strong>Rutgers University</strong></td>
<td>1851</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><strong>New York University</strong></td>
<td>1401</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><strong>University Of Houston</strong></td>
<td>1088</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(6)</td>
<td><strong>Texas A&#038;M University</strong></td>
<td>900</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(41)</td>
<td><strong>University of Illinois</strong></td>
<td>850</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(12)</td>
<td><strong>Northeastern University</strong></td>
<td>826</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><strong>Georgia Institute of Technology</strong></td>
<td>741</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(15)</td>
<td><strong>Columbia University</strong></td>
<td>722</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(13)</td>
<td><strong>Michigan State University</strong></td>
<td>702</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>11</strong></td>
<td>(39)</td>
<td><strong>University of Washington</strong></td>
<td>699</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>12</strong></td>
<td>(10)</td>
<td><strong>University of Maryland</strong></td>
<td>689</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>13</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><strong>University of Southern California</strong></td>
<td>679</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>14</strong></td>
<td>(7)</td>
<td><strong>The George Washington University</strong></td>
<td>671</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>15</strong></td>
<td>(37)</td>
<td><strong>University of California at Berkeley</strong></td>
<td>613</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>16</strong></td>
<td>(8)</td>
<td><strong>University of Minnesota</strong></td>
<td>613</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>17</strong></td>
<td>(16)</td>
<td><strong>Boston University</strong></td>
<td>591</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>18</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><strong>University of California, Los Angeles</strong></td>
<td>580</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>19</strong></td>
<td>(21)</td>
<td><strong>Ohio State University</strong></td>
<td>561</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>20</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><strong>Ohio State University</strong></td>
<td>558</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>21</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><strong>Rochester Institute of Technology</strong></td>
<td>550</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>22</strong></td>
<td>(30)</td>
<td><strong>Purdue University</strong></td>
<td>522</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>23</strong></td>
<td>(17)</td>
<td><strong>Vanderbilt University</strong></td>
<td>521</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>24</strong></td>
<td>(27)</td>
<td><strong>University of Colorado</strong></td>
<td>518</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>25</strong></td>
<td>(46)</td>
<td><strong>University of Utah</strong></td>
<td>494</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>26</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><strong>University of Chicago</strong></td>
<td>482</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>27</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><strong>Stanford University</strong></td>
<td>434</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>28</strong></td>
<td>(14)</td>
<td><strong>Wayne State University</strong></td>
<td>411</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>29</strong></td>
<td>(49)</td>
<td><strong>Duke University</strong></td>
<td>410</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>30</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><strong>University of North Texas</strong></td>
<td>405</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>31</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><strong>State University of New York at Stony Brook</strong></td>
<td>398</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>32</strong></td>
<td>(23)</td>
<td><strong>Case Western Reserve University</strong></td>
<td>388</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>33</strong></td>
<td>(11)</td>
<td><strong>Tennessee State University</strong></td>
<td>378</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>34</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><strong>University Of South Florida</strong></td>
<td>373</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>35</strong></td>
<td>(42)</td>
<td><strong>Georgetown University</strong></td>
<td>366</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>36</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><strong>University of Oklahoma</strong></td>
<td>364</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>37</strong></td>
<td>(33)</td>
<td><strong>Lindenwood University</strong></td>
<td>364</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>38</strong></td>
<td>(26)</td>
<td><strong>The Pennsylvania State University</strong></td>
<td>359</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>39</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><strong>Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ.</strong></td>
<td>359</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>40</strong></td>
<td>(48)</td>
<td><strong>University of Pennsylvania</strong></td>
<td>351</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>41</strong></td>
<td>(45)</td>
<td><strong>University of Wisconsin Madison</strong></td>
<td>343</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>42</strong></td>
<td>(9)</td>
<td><strong>State University of New York at Buffalo</strong></td>
<td>339</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>43</strong></td>
<td>(22)</td>
<td><strong>University of Michigan</strong></td>
<td>334</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>44</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><strong>Claremont University</strong></td>
<td>334</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>45</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><strong> University of California, Santa Cruz</strong></td>
<td>326</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>46</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><strong>Iowa State University</strong></td>
<td>324</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>47</strong></td>
<td>(40)</td>
<td><strong>Fordham University</strong></td>
<td>320</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>48</strong></td>
<td>(18)</td>
<td><strong>North Carolina Central University</strong></td>
<td>318</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>49</strong></td>
<td>(36)</td>
<td><strong>Grambling State University</strong></td>
<td>318</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>50</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><strong>University of Texas at Arlington</strong></td>
<td>309</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/college-pirates-u-s-universities-ranked-by-bittorrent-usage-130908/">College Pirates? U.S. Universities Ranked by BitTorrent Usage</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76589
title: Google Refuses to Remove The Pirate Bay Homepage
uri: Google-Refuses-to-Remove-The-Pirate-Bay-Homepage
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/IIWUIUIcaX4/
content:
<p><a href="media/3a6fa524.google-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/google-bay.jpg"><img src="media/3a6fa524.google-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/google-bay.jpg" alt="google-bay" width="200" height="177" class="alignright size-full wp-image-21875" /></a>In an effort to make piracy less visible copyright holders are sending dozens of millions of takedown notices to Google every month. </p>
<p>Music industry group BPI is one of the <a href="http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/copyright/reporters/1847/BPI-British-Recorded-Music-Industry-Ltd/">most active senders</a>. Over the past year they&#8217;ve asked Google to remove more than 30 million URLs, and the search engine complied in nearly every instance. </p>
<p>Last week, however, Google refused to take down one link in a <a href="http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/copyright/requests/754819/">DMCA notice</a> containing more than 2,000 allegedly infringing URLs. The link in question points to the homepage of the most notorious file-sharing site on the Internet, The Pirate Bay. </p>
<p>While The Pirate Bay is often targeted, this is a rather odd request. It is no secret that TPB links to hundreds of thousands of infringing titles across its site, but the homepage is not one of them. </p>
<p>The BPI&#8217;s notice however, claims that thepiratebay.sx infringes the rights of &#8220;The Music&#8221; but the page in question only links to a music category. </p>
<p>Google agrees that The Pirate Bay homepage is harmless and the search engine has refused to comply with BPI&#8217;s request. As can be seen below, thepiratebay.sx is the only URL in the entire notice for which no action was taken. </p>
<p><center><br />
<h5>BPI&#8217;s takedown request</h5>
<p><a href="media/efcf2af1.google-tpbhome.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/google-tpbhome.png"><img src="media/efcf2af1.google-tpbhome.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/google-tpbhome.png" alt="google-tpbhome" width="533" height="677" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-76590" /></a></center></p>
<p>This is not the first time that The Pirate Bay&#8217;s homepage has been targeted by rightsholders. Four years ago Google briefly <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/google-removes-pirate-bay-frontpage-from-search-results-091002/">removed it</a> from its search results after it received a takedown a request allegedly sent by &#8220;Remove Your Content.&#8221; Google later admitted that the removal was an error on their part, and the link was quickly reinstated. </p>
<p>At the time Remove Your Content claimed that an impersonator must have sent the DMCA complaint, but this is almost certainly not the case with BPI&#8217;s recent notice. </p>
<p>Over the past few months there has been an increase in DMCA notices asking Google to remove homepages of &#8220;pirate sites.&#8221; The MPAA in particular is targeting a lot of streaming portals using this method. Google doesn&#8217;t appear to see these requests as legitimate, as <a href="http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/copyright/reporters/21643/Motion-Picture-Association-of-America/?p=2">it refuses to comply</a> with many of them. </p>
<p>In the BPI&#8217;s case it&#8217;s not known whether The Pirate Bay&#8217;s homepage was intentionally targeted or if yet again the mistake was the product of an automated takedown process.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/google-refuses-to-remove-the-pirate-bay-homepage-130909/">Google Refuses to Remove The Pirate Bay Homepage</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76583
title: Police Arrest Alleged Movie Pirate Again, Along With His Brother & Sister
uri: Police-Arrest-Alleged-Movie-Pirate-Again-Along-With-His-Brother-Sis
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/GPKyQxHog4A/
content:
<p><img src="media/bfbc3855.cammer1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cammer1.jpg" width="210" height="122" class="alignright" />Earlier this year we <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/five-undercover-police-cars-sent-to-arrest-single-alleged-movie-pirate-130525/">reported</a> on the unusually heavy-handed approach taken by the police who were acting on a tipoff from FACT, the Federation Against Copyright Theft.</p>
<p>Five unmarked police vehicles were sent to arrest a man in the UK following allegations that he &#8216;cammed&#8217; the movie Fast and Furious 6 and put it online. After being banned from every cinema in the country the 24-year-old was released on bail.</p>
<p>But now, three weeks in advance of his bail date, things have started moving again with yet another surprising turn of events.</p>
<p>Earlier this week police and FACT turned up at the man&#8217;s home in the West Midlands armed with a new search warrant issued by a magistrate, this time in relation to the camming of the movie &#8216;Epic&#8217;.</p>
<p>After being taken to a police station at 8am the man was questioned and held for more than eight hours. Interestingly and despite significant resources invested in the original raid, the police informed the man that charges against him in respect of Fast and Furious 6 had been dropped. There would, however, be new charges.</p>
<p>&#8220;When I was eventually interviewed at 4pm I was questioned again by FACT in relation to the Fast and Furious 6 cam, which I &#8216;politely&#8217; declined to answer any questions about,&#8221; he told TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>&#8220;UK law states that to be questioned in relation to another offense they would have to re-read my rights and arrest me for the offense first, something they didn&#8217;t do, so I refused to co-operate with them on that subject.&#8221;</p>
<p>FACT then proceeded to question the man in relation to the filming of the movie Epic, informing him that he&#8217;d been seen by a member of the public with &#8220;recording equipment.&#8221;</p>
<p>The man told us he did go and watch Epic on the day of release but had to leave the cinema 25 minutes in due to a family emergency.</p>
<p>&#8220;I never returned to watch Epic at the cinema so there is no way I could have possibly recorded the full film, and any leaks found online would have been incomplete,&#8221; he explained.</p>
<p>With no response, FACT switched their questioning back to Fast and Furious 6. Having already refused to answer questions on that subject as detailed above, the man told us he lost patience and began throwing some insults FACT&#8217;s way which appeared to amuse the police officer present. But with the interview over, things again took a turn for the unexpected.</p>
<p>&#8220;After the interview I was sent to the custody desk to be released and bailed where I saw my solicitor, whom I did not ask for during my detention. I approached her and asked her what was going on only to find out she did not know I had been arrested,&#8221; the man explained. It soon became apparent that the solicitor had other related business in hand.</p>
<p>&#8220;She was there to support my brother, sister and one of my sister&#8217;s ex-boyfriends, all of whom had been arrested for the same offense. So not only did FACT perform raids on my property, but also on my family members&#8217; homes which dragged my family into the case.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;Speaking with my family afterwards I learned that they had been arrested for the same offenses. During their interview FACT attempted to trip my brother up stating I had admitted my guilt and he may as well come forward. He did not fall for the tactic and didn&#8217;t say anything in the interview. My sister&#8217;s ex-boyfriend was also questioned,&#8221; he added.</p>
<p>&#8220;After my release I drove to my older sister&#8217;s house to find that FACT had taken numerous items from my sister belonging to her, her partner and her children. My sister&#8217;s ex-boyfriend was the one found there as they had raided his parents house who had given information regarding his whereabouts, yet the police did not arrest anyone else from the property.</p>
<p>&#8220;That begs the question as to why the police seized property not relating to any offense. The items taken included a laptop, three Xbox 360s, an Internet router and much more. The police shouldn&#8217;t have any grounds to take these items due to them being my sister&#8217;s property not the male who was arrested there but lives elsewhere,&#8221; the man concludes.</p>
<p>So for now things are on hold again. All people arrested are bailed until February 2014 at which point the police will either have to come up with some evidence, extend bail again, or drop the case.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/police-arrest-alleged-movie-pirate-again-along-with-his-brother-sister-130909/">Police Arrest Alleged Movie Pirate Again, Along With His Brother &#038; Sister</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76584
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week
uri: 2013-09-09-Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/96WDZkn4tuM/
content:
<p><a href="media/a4ba6d90.wwz2.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/wwz2.jpg"><img src="media/a4ba6d90.wwz2.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/wwz2.jpg" alt="wwz" width="300" height="166" class="alignright size-full wp-image-76587" /></a>This week we have four newcomers in our chart. </p>
<p>World War Z is the most downloaded movie. </p>
<p>The data for our weekly download chart is collected by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only. All the movies in the list are BD/DVDrips unless stated otherwise.</p>
<p><a href="http://TorrentFreak.com/category/dvdrip/feed/"><strong>RSS feed</strong></a> for the weekly movie download chart.</p>
<table class="css hover" summary="Most downloaded movies on BitTorrent">
<caption>Week ending September 8, 2013</caption>
<thead>
<tr>
<th width="12%"><strong>Ranking</strong></th>
<th width="15%"><strong>(<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-movies-of-the-week-130902/">last week</a>)</strong></th>
<th><strong>Movie</strong></th>
<th width="18%"><strong>IMDb Rating / Trailer</strong></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tfoot>
<tr>
<td colspan="4">torrentfreak.com</td>
</tr>
</tfoot>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>1</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/world-war-z/">World War Z</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0816711/">7.2</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcwTxRuq-uk">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/now_you_see_me/">Now You See Me</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1670345/">7.4</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzJNYYkkhzc">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/were_the_millers/">We&#8217;re The Millers</a> (Webrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1723121/">7.2</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Vsy5KzsieQ">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kick_ass_2_2013/">Kick-Ass 2</a> (R6)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1650554/">7.2</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UMbwxbgv8U">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(6)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/pain_and_gain/">Pain and Gain</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1980209/">6.7</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEQ8jyvmYtw">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/star_trek_into_darkness/">Star Trek Into Darkness</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1408101/">8.1</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhz4A5BCMAA">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_kings_of_summer/">The Kings Of Summer</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2179116/">7.3</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cio8LOCZPzw">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_bling_ring_2013/">The Bling Ring</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2132285/?">6.1</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4LzhgExvrc">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_spit_on_your_grave_2/">I Spit On Your Grave 2</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2537176/">5.5</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b39OxbSI2CQ">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(7)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/iron_man_3/">Iron Man 3</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1300854/">7.5</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CzoSeClcw0">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-movies-of-the-week-130909/">Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76588
title: Anti-Piracy “Strike” Schemes Are Not Effective, Research Shows
uri: Anti-Piracy-Strike-Schemes-Are-Not-Effective-Research-Shows
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/sOExEAT_OZA/
content:
<p><a href="media/12bdbb91.running.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/running.jpg"><img src="media/12bdbb91.running.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/running.jpg" alt="running" width="200" height="133" class="alignright size-full wp-image-52725" /></a>In recent years many initiatives to curb online piracy have emerged and in several countries so-called graduated response schemes have been implemented. </p>
<p>In France, New Zealand, Taiwan and South Korea strikes schemes are baked into law, a similar policy is in place in Ireland, and earlier this year the United States rolled out its voluntary &#8220;alert&#8221; system commonly known as <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/six-strikes-fails-to-halt-u-s-pirate-bay-growth-130903/">six-strikes</a>. </p>
<p>The goal of these policies is to track down copyright infringers and warn them that their behavior is not acceptable. After repeat warnings, these accused file-sharers then face a penalty ranging from a fine to prolonged Internet disconnection.</p>
<p>Entertainment industry groups have lobbied hard to have these systems put in place and often describe the results as major successes. To assess how effective these plans really are Dr <a href="http://monash.edu/research/people/profiles/profile.html?sid=7302&#038;pid=3945">Rebecca Giblin</a> of the Australian Monash University decided to look at the publicly available evidence that supports these claims. </p>
<p>The results of this evaluation, the most elaborate that has been published to date, was published this week in a <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2322516">61-page article</a>. Talking to TorrentFreak, Giblin says that the goal of the paper was to evaluate the effectiveness of graduated response schemes on three measures that are closely aligned with the purpose of copyright law.</p>
<p>What&#8217;s the evidence that these policies reduce infringement? What&#8217;s the evidence that they increase the size of the legitimate market? What evidence is there to show that they encourage the creation and dissemination of a wide range of content? </p>
<p>The paper shows that the graduated response schemes fail on all accounts.</p>
<p>&#8220;Rightsholders make big claims that graduated responses are &#8216;successful&#8217; and &#8216;effective&#8217; to argue for their continued adoption, but the evidence doesn&#8217;t back them up. The paper finds little to no evidence that any form of graduated response reduces infringement or increases the size of the legitimate market,&#8221; Giblin tells TorrentFreak. </p>
<p>The paper mentions, for example, that all of the studies that claim to have found a reduction in P2P usage are <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/do-strikes-programs-help-to-reduce-piracy-130426/">biased towards copyright holders</a> and not peer-reviewed. In addition, they consistently ignore that people may have switched to other forms of piracy, through streaming websites and cyberlockers. </p>
<p>Similarly, a study suggesting that <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anti-piracy-no-effect-on-itunes-sales-120124/">iTunes sales went up</a> in France after Hadopi was announced, is criticized as the effect may very well be explained by third factors such as the surge in iPhone sales. The results are further put into doubt as revenues in the French music industry as a whole decreased, while there was a clear uptick in nine of the top 20 markets over the same period.</p>
<p>The third measure of effectiveness, whether the &#8220;strike&#8221; schemes improve access to and the creation of content, doesn&#8217;t pass the test either. </p>
<p>&#8220;Regarding the third aim, it finds that France is the only jurisdiction to really require rightholders to provide greater access to content in exchange for their new enforcement rights. However, it finds that many existing graduated responses have structural biases in favour of so-called &#8216;Big Content&#8217;,&#8221; Giblin tells us.  </p>
<p>Giblin says that not all copyright holders are treated equally under the graduated response schemes. The major music labels and movie companies often have more influence, if smaller parties are allowed to participate at all. </p>
<p>Despite this, the major industry players may not see an increase in production either, since there is no solid evidence that fewer people are pirating. </p>
<p>&#8220;In reality graduated responses are unlikely to actually result in greater production even of that type because they don&#8217;t actually reduce infringement or increase the size of legitimate markets; but this demonstrates a level of structural capture in the lawmaking process that is deeply troubling,&#8221; Giblin says. </p>
<p>On the upside Giblin notes that the movie and music industries are breaking revenue records year after year. However, there&#8217;s no evidence any of these are the result of graduated response schemes. </p>
<p>In fact, the expensive anti-piracy policies may be a losing strategy which policy makers have to reconsider.</p>
<p>&#8220;International policymakers considering adoption need to carefully consider the policy aims they wish to achieve, and evaluate whether a graduated response would actually help them to do so. They cannot simply accept rightholders&#8217; claims of &#8216;success&#8217; or &#8216;effectiveness&#8217; at face value,&#8221; Giblin says. </p>
<p>&#8220;Regulators who already have graduated responses should also do a cost/benefit analysis in light of the evidence, and decide whether it&#8217;s desirable to keep them,&#8221; she adds. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anti-piracy-strike-schemes-are-not-effective-research-shows-130910/">Anti-Piracy &#8220;Strike&#8221; Schemes Are Not Effective, Research Shows</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76598
title: FACT Teams Up With IBM to Track Down Movie and TV Show Pirates
uri: FACT-Teams-Up-With-IBM-to-Track-Down-Movie-and-TV-Show-Pirates
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/SQexhpmM-8U/
content:
<p><a href="media/f002015f.fact.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/fact.jpg"><img src="media/f002015f.fact.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/fact.jpg" alt="fact" width="180" height="133" class="alignright size-full wp-image-74060" /></a>Founded 30-years ago this year, the Federation Against Copyright Theft is active in the UK and works to protect the rights of movie and TV show companies.</p>
<p>The organization, which has close ties to Hollywood, tracks down and prosecutes groups that run torrent sites and streaming portals (such as the now-defunct SurfTheChannel), and works with police to weed out those who record movies in theaters and then put the content online.</p>
<p>Over the past couple of years FACT has become more visibly active than any other organization in this field and has been responsible for closing several sites using a <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/fact-turn-up-at-torrent-site-owners-house-demanding-domain-names-130402/">variety of tactics</a>, mostly centered around using intelligence to find culprits and then offering an ultimatum &#8211; <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/hollywood-anti-piracy-group-takes-pirate-domains-to-avoid-prosecuting-121210/">shut down</a> or face prosecution.</p>
<p>The investigative workload behind these actions requires significant number crunching ability and a few moments ago IBM revealed that it has been working with FACT to achieve that. The computing giant says that FACT has been using <a href="http://www-03.ibm.com/software/products/us/en/fraud-intelligence-analysis ">IBM Big Data</a> intelligence analytics software in order to better access intelligence data in order to efficiently identify individuals and groups distributing unauthorized content online.</p>
<p>Previously FACT used spreadsheets to manage its data but over the past few years and a via a fresh intelligence-led approach, the IBM systems have allowed the anti-piracy group to establish patterns and relationships by linking places, times, events and individuals within their databases.</p>
<p>IBM cite the case of SurfTheChannel, which ended in the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/surfthechannel-owner-sentenced-to-four-years-in-jail-120814/">successful prosecution</a> of Anton Vickerman, as an example of where their systems have paid off.</p>
<p>&#8220;FACT analysts, using IBM Big Data intelligence analytics software, were able to access publicly available chat logs, forum messages and other generally available data. Using a visual mapping illustration of the data, FACT identified non-obvious links between the various data trails, which in turn assisted with identifying the culprit,&#8221; the company explains.</p>
<p>Keith Byrne, Intelligence Manager at FACT, describes the IBM technology as crucial to FACT&#8217;s work.</p>
<p>“Our role in successfully detecting and targeting those involved in crimes that impact our members requires the ability to foresee and be aware of the technological changes that occur constantly,” said Byrne. “The IBM technology is vital to our work at FACT and enables us to better protect our members’ valuable creative intellectual property.” </p>
<p>Interestingly, IBM claim that by use of their systems FACT has been able to &#8220;virtually eliminate&#8221; instances of movie &#8220;camming&#8221; in UK cinemas, adding that in the last two years there has only been one such recording.</p>
<p>The claim is controversial. As detailed in <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/police-arrest-alleged-movie-pirate-again-along-with-his-brother-sister-130909/">our report</a> earlier this week, one individual in the UK is currently facing FACT allegations that he filmed at least two movies, both carried out this year in a local cinema.</p>
<p>However, one thing is for certain. FACT are not going away and will only become more powerful as the months unroll. A new <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/details-on-upcoming-police-torrent-site-crackdown-revealed-130805/">City of London Police initiative</a> is likely to add significant new resources to FACT&#8217;s repertoire ensuring that the UK remains one of the more difficult environments in which to become involved in online piracy.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/fact-teams-up-with-ibm-to-track-down-movie-and-tv-show-pirates-130910/">FACT Teams Up With IBM to Track Down Movie and TV Show Pirates</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76603
title: Copyright Holders Propose Unprecedented Search Engine Manipulation
uri: Copyright-Holders-Propose-Unprecedented-Search-Engine-Manipulation
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/LCAOLHfjruE/
content:
<p><a href="media/83799112.russsopa.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/russsopa.jpg"><img src="media/83799112.russsopa.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/russsopa.jpg" alt="russsopa" width="180" height="212" class="alignright size-full wp-image-72488" /></a>Following the introduction last month of a brand new law to hit online piracy, already authorities in Russia are looking to toughen up the legislation.</p>
<p>At the moment, copyright complaints against a site can lead to that domain being added to a national blocklist if its operator fails to render copyright movies and TV shows inaccessible. As reported earlier this month, moves are now underway to <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/russia-prepares-to-broaden-brand-new-anti-piracy-law-130807/">expand the law</a> to cover music and other digital content.</p>
<p>Yesterday on the first day of the fall session the State Duma adopted the first reading of amendments that will see &#8220;information intermediaries&#8221; <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/russia-to-punish-isps-search-engines-users-over-content-blocking-130904/">fined</a> for failing to remove content or links to content reported as infringing by copyright holders. On the back of this success, rightsholders are now hoping to take things to a whole new level.</p>
<p>According to information obtained by <a href="http://www.vedomosti.ru/">Vedomosti</a>, publishers of music, books and software have put forward amendments which will place a huge burden of responsibility not just on regular websites but also on search engines such as Google and local outfit Yandex.</p>
<p>The proposed amendments center around the creation of a national registry listing all music, software and books. This database will then be made available to search engines and site owners who will be required to consult it before servicing their users with links or content.</p>
<p>For example, if a user searches for a particular song using Google, in the background the search engine would be required to carry out a search on the national database to see if the song is listed. If the track is present then Google would be obliged to list official sources for the content in the first pages of results while automatically relegating other sites.</p>
<p>In addition, rightsholders are asking that when sites are placed on the current national blacklist for non-compliance with copyright takedowns, search engines should remove them completely from search results sent to users.</p>
<p><a href="media/5d6d91d1.google-russia.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/google-russia.png"><img src="media/5d6d91d1.google-russia.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/google-russia.png" alt="google-russia" width="222" height="82" class="alignright size-full wp-image-72229" /></a>Commenting on the proposals, a Google spokesperson said that &#8220;pre-moderation&#8221; of content would be damaging to the Internet industry.</p>
<p>&#8220;The company can not take on the role of the courts to determine whether someone&#8217;s rights have been violated. A proposal to artificially rank links in search results does not take into account the technical characteristics of search engines and would lower the quality of the search,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>Yandex are equally unimpressed, noting that the amendments are a blunt instrument that do not take into consideration the nuances of search engine operation or copyright law.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is impossible to rank sites with an eye on a register of legal resources,&#8221; a spokesperson told Vedomosti.</p>
<p>&#8220;First, in itself the assignment of resources to legal or illegal is extremely controversial. Secondly, items affected by copyright and related rights can be used in some circumstances without gaining permission from copyright holders, there is a wide range of exceptions. For example, if you thoroughly follow the amendments, a search engine will not be able to provide links to works containing the quotes that users type into the query string.&#8221; </p>
<p>Taken to conclusion, the proposals could have a seriously chilling effect on the real-time nature of the Internet.</p>
<p>&#8220;[If the amendments go through], rightsholders will switch the entire Internet into pre-moderation mode, because sites can not accommodate any comment without full verification of all the materials located on the link in this comment. For the bulk of services, this task is impossible,&#8221; Yandex concludes.</p>
<p>Rightsholders in the United States and Europe have been pushing Google to downgrade pirate sites in search results while promoting sites offering legitimate content. Last year Google began demoting some sites in its listings and is now <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/how-google-helps-copyright-holders-to-fight-piracy-130911/">offering its advice</a> to rightsholders so that they can SEO their way to the front page. In Russia, rightsholders appear to want the law to do that for them.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/rightsholders-propose-unprecedented-search-engine-manipulation-130911/">Copyright Holders Propose Unprecedented Search Engine Manipulation</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76599
title: How Google Helps Copyright Holders to Fight Piracy
uri: How-Google-Helps-Copyright-Holders-to-Fight-Piracy
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/4P5paoL0_X0/
content:
<p><a href="media/3a6fa524.google-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/google-bay.jpg"><img src="media/3a6fa524.google-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/google-bay.jpg" alt="google-bay" width="200" height="177" class="alignright size-full wp-image-21875" /></a>Over the past few years the entertainment industries have repeatedly asked Google to step up its game when it comes to anti-piracy efforts. </p>
<p>These remarks haven&#8217;t fallen on deaf ears and Google has implemented various new anti-piracy measures over the years. </p>
<p>For example, the company has started to <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/google-starts-censoring-bittorrent-rapidshare-and-more-110126/">filter “piracy-related” terms</a> from its AutoComplete and Instant services and <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/google-starts-punishing-pirate-sites-in-search-results-120810/">downrank websites</a> which their algorithms classify as infringing. But according to Google that&#8217;s just the tip of the iceberg. </p>
<p>To show the public and policy makers how the company addresses copyright infringement, Google has now <a href="http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2013/09/report-how-google-fights-piracy.html">released</a> a paper called &#8220;<a href="https://docs.google.com/a/google.com/file/d/0BwxyRPFduTN2dVFqYml5UENUeUE/edit">How Google Fights Piracy</a>&#8221; detailing its core principles on this front. Some of these are aimed at helping copyright holders, but the company also stresses that it&#8217;s vital to prevent abuse by rightsholders.</p>
<h2>Create More and Better Legitimate Alternatives.</h2>
<p>The first principle highlighted by Google is the importance of legal offerings. Without legal options it&#8217;s hard to beat unauthorized copying, they argue. </p>
<p>&#8220;Piracy often arises when consumer demand goes unmet by legitimate supply. As services ranging from Netflix to Spotify to iTunes have demonstrated, the best way to combat piracy is with better and more convenient legitimate services. The right combination of price, convenience, and inventory will do far more to reduce piracy than enforcement can.&#8221;</p>
<p>While this is mainly a task for the content providers, Google is lending a helping a hand with Google Play and YouTube.</p>
<h2> Follow the Money.</h2>
<p>On the enforcement side, Google is doing its best to ensure that &#8220;pirate&#8221; sites are not allowed to use its ad services. In 2012 the company cut off 46,000 sites for violating its copyright policies, and the vast majority of these violations were detected before they were reported by copyright holders.</p>
<p>In the report Google describes itself as a frontrunner in targeting rogue revenue streams.</p>
<p>&#8220;Rogue sites that specialize in online piracy are commercial ventures, which means the most effective way to combat them is to cut off their money supply. Google is a leader in rooting out and ejecting rogue sites from our advertising and payment services, and are raising standards across the industry.&#8221;</p>
<h2> Be Efficient, Effective, and Scalable.</h2>
<p>The most visible anti-piracy efforts are related to Google&#8217;s search results. The company is faced with millions of DMCA takedown requests every week which are processed with blazing speeds. </p>
<p>&#8220;Google strives to implement anti-piracy solutions that work. For example, beginning in 2010, Google has made substantial investments in streamlining the copyright removal process for search results. As a result these improved procedures allow us to process copyright removal requests for search results at the rate of four million requests per week with an average turnaround time of less than six hours,&#8221; Google writes. </p>
<p>Based on the volume of DMCA notices, among other things, Google also downranks websites in its search results to further minimize the visibility of copyright infringing content. </p>
<h2> Guard Against Abuse.</h2>
<p>The downside of the DMCA procedure is that the system is sometimes abused, either intentionally or by mistake.</p>
<p>&#8220;Unfortunately, fabricated copyright infringement allegations can be used as a pretext for censorship and to hinder competition. Google is committed to ensuring that, even as we battle piracy online, we detect and reject bogus infringement allegations, such as removals for political or competitive reasons.&#8221;</p>
<p>In the report, Google highlights several of these abuse cases including self-censorship <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/copyright-holders-punish-themselves-with-crazy-dmca-takedowns-120525/">by Warner Brothers</a> who took down their own IMDb listing and a trailer.</p>
<p><center><br />
<h5>Google&#8217;s examples of DMCA abuse</h5>
<p><a href="media/45a6ee2d.google-dmca-abuse.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/google-dmca-abuse.jpg"><img src="media/45a6ee2d.google-dmca-abuse.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/google-dmca-abuse.jpg" alt="google-dmca-abuse" width="560" height="549" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-76600" /></a></center></p>
<h2> Provide Transparency.</h2>
<p>The fifth and final anti-piracy principle Google highlights is transparency. Unlike most of its competitors the company publishes all DMCA notices it receives for its search results. </p>
<p>&#8220;We disclose the number of requests we receive from copyright owners and governments to remove information from our services. We hope these steps toward greater transparency will inform ongoing discussions about content regulation online.&#8221;</p>
<p>The transparency reports are used by copyright holders to point out how massive the piracy problem is, and on the other side they are used to control copyright holders by pointing out abuse cases. </p>
<p>Towards the end of the report Google highlights a relatively new development which it also informed the U.S. Government about last month. Besides taking down infringing results the company is also helping music labels and movie companies to improve their search engine rankings.</p>
<p>&#8220;For the relatively rare queries that return more problematic search results, Google is already in discussions with content owners to develop search engine optimization (“SEO”) strategies for their authorized online content distributors,&#8221; Google noted. </p>
<p>TorrentFreak asked Google for more details and whether all copyright holders, including independent artists, could expect SEO help from Google. However, a company spokesman pointed us to the report and most of these questions remain unanswered for now.</p>
<p>While it&#8217;s clear that Google is not ignoring the piracy issue, the paper appears to be a reminder to policy makers rather than the copyright holders. It&#8217;s part of an indirect back and forth between both camps where a compromise has yet to be reached. </p>
<p>The RIAA, for one, is still not convinced and quickly responded to Google&#8217;s report with a demand for <a href="http://www.riaa.com/blog.php?content_selector=riaa-news-blog&#038;blog_selector=wheres-the-impact&#038;news_month_filter=9&#038;news_year_filter=2013">more effective measures</a>.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/how-google-helps-copyright-holders-to-fight-piracy-130911/">How Google Helps Copyright Holders to Fight Piracy</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76604
title: RIAA Asks Softlayer to Shut Down “Pirate” Sites, Identify Owners
uri: RIAA-Asks-Softlayer-to-Shut-Down-Pirate-Sites-Identify-Owners
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/4ARtpdFi7ls/
content:
<p><img src="media/971b8479.riaa-logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/riaa-logo.jpg" alt="riaa-logo" width="170" height="173" class="alignright size-full wp-image-15326" />Despite a plethora of legal options millions of people still download MP3s from unofficial sources. These sites are a thorn in the side of the RIAA, who represent the largest music labels in the world. </p>
<p>One of the ways the music group is trying to decrease the visibility of these sites is by <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/riaa-hits-25-million-google-takedowns-web-blocking-making-things-worse-130704/">sending DMCA notices</a> to Google. Thus far the RIAA has removed 30 million URLs from the search engine, but that is not the only action the labels are taking.</p>
<p>Documents received by TorrentFreak show that the RIAA has obtained several subpoenas from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, ordering hosting company <a href="http://www.softlayer.com/">Softlayer</a> to identify the owners of several MP3 sites. </p>
<p>The targeted sites are MP3bear.com, Kohit.net, Soundowl.com, Komp3.net and Mp3rehab.com. Soundowl, an MP3 search engine, is the most popular and among the top 5,000 most-visited sites in the United States and Canada.</p>
<p>In their letter to Softlayer the RIAA claims that the sites in question are infringing on the copyrights of many artists.</p>
<p>“We have learned that your service is hosting the below-referenced infringing web sites on its network. These sites are offering files containing sound recordings for other users to download,” <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/167577184/RIAA-subpoena-soundowl">the RIAA writes</a>, listing links to MP3s from artists including Rihanna and Black Eyed Peas.</p>
<p>“As is stated in the attached subpoena, you are required to disclose to the RIAA information sufficient to identify the infringer. This would include the individual’s IP-address and e-mail address,” the RIAA adds.</p>
<p>In addition, the RIAA is asking the hosting provider to shut down the sites in question, although that is not covered by the legal paperwork.</p>
<p>“We are asking for your immediate assistance in stopping this unauthorized activity. Specifically, we request that you remove the infringing files from the system, or that you disable access to the infringing sites, and that you inform the site operator of the illegality of his or her conduct.”</p>
<p>It is unclear what the RIAA is planning to do if they obtain the personal information of the site owners. In addition to convincing Softlayer to disconnect the sites, the music group may be considering separate legal action against one or more of their operators.</p>
<p>For now, however, all sites are still up and running. </p>
<p>This is not the first time that the RIAA has gone after similar sites in this way. Last year the group targeted three other music download portals via their WHOIS privacy protection services. These sites have since closed their doors. </p>
<p>Similar <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/riaa-starts-going-after-bittorrent-sites-110708/">attempts</a> targeting the torrent sites Monova.org, Bitsnoop.com, Limetorrents.com and TorrentHound were less successful.</p>
<p><center><br />
<h5>One of the subpoenas</h5>
<p><iframe class="scribd_iframe_embed" src="//www.scribd.com/embeds/167577184/content?start_page=1&#038;view_mode=scroll&#038;access_key=key-29dbcwozjjtgu13ny3en&#038;show_recommendations=false" data-auto-height="false" data-aspect-ratio="0.772922022279349" scrolling="no" id="doc_98571" width="100%" height="600" frameborder="0"></iframe></center></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/riaa-asks-softlayer-to-shut-down-pirate-sites-identify-owners-130912/">RIAA Asks Softlayer to Shut Down &#8220;Pirate&#8221; Sites, Identify Owners</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76606
title: Hurry! ISP Needs Volunteers to Have Their BitTorrent Traffic Throttled
uri: Hurry-ISP-Needs-Volunteers-to-Have-Their-BitTorrent-Traffic-Throttled
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/zJ1MvCGxfTM/
content:
<p><a href="media/269797aa.throttle.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/throttle.jpg"><img src="media/269797aa.throttle.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/throttle.jpg" alt="throttle" width="200" height="200" class="alignright size-full wp-image-8967" /></a>At the turn of the last decade almost every Internet user was asking for more bandwidth. As transfers of music and video increased in popularity, having the fattest possible pipe became an almost universal dream.</p>
<p>Over the past few years the situation has improved somewhat and in many regions of the world users now have more available bandwidth than they can consume. But for a minority there is no such thing as enough and maxing out a connection is a daily activity.</p>
<p>BitTorrent users are famously bandwidth hungry and as such they have been regularly targeted by ISPs looking to more effectively manage their capacity. While Comcast&#8217;s infamous <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/comcast-throttles-bittorrent-traffic-seeding-impossible/">torrent meddling</a> is now six years ago, some ISPs are still looking to introduce controls to relegate the world&#8217;s favorite file-sharing protocol.</p>
<p>This week Aussie ISP Telstra confirmed it would be pressing ahead with &#8216;trials&#8217; aimed at ensuring that its customers &#8220;enjoy the best quality of service.&#8221; The ISP says that traffic on its ADSL network has doubled on average every 12 months for the past four years so to cope it&#8217;s going to have to better manage its network. It appears they will do this by meddling with file-sharing traffic.</p>
<p>&#8220;This latest trial is focused on how our customers respond when network management techniques are applied in order to manage congestion,&#8221; <a href="http://exchange.telstra.com.au/2013/09/09/adsl-traffic-management-trial/">explains</a> Telstra director John Chambers. &#8220;Some trial participants will be asked to evaluate how speed differences on non-time sensitive applications, like Bit Torrent, impact their overall customer experience.&#8221;</p>
<p>While it&#8217;s easy to see how BitTorrent could be classified as less time sensitive than HTTP for example, one could imagine the response if Telstra said they would classify Netflix in the same way as torrents. They can&#8217;t do that of course, since Netflix isn&#8217;t even available Down Under, but if bandwidth is short now, things are probably going to get worse when it is.</p>
<p>So, preparing for this eventuality, Telstra are looking for some volunteers to have their torrent traffic throttled to see how it affects their Internet experience. The big question is this: why on earth would BitTorrent users volunteer to have their traffic meddled with?</p>
<p>It&#8217;s a bit like asking if drivers would put themselves forward to have someone else take control of the accelerator in their car. Light users might not object so much but heavier users &#8211; the ones who are presumably causing the problems &#8211; aren&#8217;t going to put themselves forward for this. So what&#8217;s the point? Rival ISP iiNet believes that the trials have an ulterior motive.</p>
<p>“I often describe it as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog">boiling the frog</a> – you just do it by gently turning up the heat,” <a href="http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/525993/telstra_moves_ahead_throttling_trial/">said</a> John Lindsay, CTO at iiNet.</p>
<p>“They are starting to take their customers on a journey. They know what the end point looks like, but they don’t want to describe it too clearly just yet for fear of scaring off the profitable customers. Calling it a trial is a nicer way of introducing the concept and the technology into the business.”</p>
<p>At the moment Telstra are limiting the availability of this trial to just a few hundred keen volunteers, so if you fancy having your torrent traffic temporarily meddled with &#8211; perhaps with a view to those changes being implemented long-term &#8211; hurry over to <a href="http://exchange.telstra.com.au/2013/09/09/adsl-traffic-management-trial/">Telstra</a> now and get your name down.</p>
<p>&#8220;I would reconfirm that this trial does not involve looking at or recording the content of what customers chose to consume on the internet,&#8221; Telstra&#8217;s John Chambers concludes.</p>
<p>Reassuring.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/hurry-isp-needs-volunteers-to-have-their-bittorrent-traffic-throttled-130912/">Hurry! ISP Needs Volunteers to Have Their BitTorrent Traffic Throttled</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76609
title: Browser Plugin Reports Torrent Links to Anti-Piracy Company
uri: Browser-Plugin-Reports-Torrent-Links-to-Anti-Piracy-Company
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/yJq4n5Xur7A/
content:
<p><a href="media/29b5d6bc.MusoLogo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/MusoLogo.jpg"><img src="media/29b5d6bc.MusoLogo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/MusoLogo.jpg" alt="MusoLogo" width="190" height="61" class="alignright size-full wp-image-76610" /></a>It&#8217;s well known that many anti-piracy companies rely on their own web crawlers and even Google to find infringing links and files. Once detected they go about their business of sending DMCA notices to search engines, torrent and file-hosting sites, blogs and forums, in order to have that content taken down.</p>
<p>In addition to the above techniques, anti-piracy company <a href="http://www.muso.com/anti-piracy/">MUSO</a> report they have developed a new method of gathering information on potentially infringing links and files.</p>
<p>The London-based outfit says that its new web browser plugin will enable any Internet user to report back the location of &#8216;pirate&#8217; links or torrents whenever they appear in their web browser. The plugin will report how many files/links it has found before submitting them to the MUSO database.</p>
<p>&#8220;Cyberlocker, and similar download sites, do not generally allow direct searching so links are found through search engines, forums and blog sites that link back to the cyberlocker,&#8221; the company said in a statement. &#8220;MUSO&#8217;s &#8216;Anti-Piracy Assist Browser Plugin’ will use people power to help them protect their vast base of rights holders.&#8221;</p>
<p>We were interested to hear more details about this new product, such as how it will be able to differentiate &#8216;pirate&#8217; files from those being distributed legitimately.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/7fd30d41.MUSOdash.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/MUSOdash.png" alt="MUSOdash" /></center></p>
<p>&#8220;The links found will feed into the MUSO system which already has robust systems in place for correctly matching only illegal content links to our client&#8217;s products,&#8221; MUSO Technical Director James Mason told TorrentFreak. &#8220;[We employ] a combination of automated matching algorithms, followed by a final human verification stage before any takedowns are issued.&#8221;</p>
<p>MUSO hopes that industry workers will install and use the plugin in a show of support for the music business although at this stage it appears that it will be open for anyone to use.</p>
<p>Of course, sending potentially infringing links could have legal implications so we quizzed MUSO on the privacy issues. Can users of the plugin be identified by the reports they send to MUSO and if not, will all users&#8217; submissions be trusted as accurate?</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s fully anonymous and users won&#8217;t be identified in any way,&#8221; Mason told us.</p>
<p>&#8220;The links supplied don&#8217;t need to be trusted in any way, as it&#8217;s merely a way to make the MUSO system aware of a link. You can think of it as an extension to our existing crawler, rather than a user giving MUSO information about specific links belonging to specific products. Once the plugin or our existing crawler finds links, they are entered into our matching and verification process.&#8221;</p>
<p>No date has been set for the tool&#8217;s release but already it has piqued the interest of a developer in the file-sharing community. He told us that a people-powered link finding plugin with a few modifications might be useful to more people than just an anti-piracy company.</p>
<p>The tool will initially be available for Chrome with IE and Firefox support following &#8220;in the near future.&#8221; </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/browser-plugin-reports-torrent-links-to-anti-piracy-company-130912/">Browser Plugin Reports Torrent Links to Anti-Piracy Company</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76596
title: AT&T Threatens Persistent Pirates With Account Termination
uri: AT-T-Threatens-Persistent-Pirates-With-Account-Termination
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/uRr1pcJvqo0/
content:
<p><a href="media/12bdbb91.running.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/running.jpg"><img src="media/12bdbb91.running.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/running.jpg" alt="running" width="200" height="133" class="alignright size-full wp-image-52725" /></a>After years of negotiating and planning the long-awaited <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/six-strikes-anti-piracy-scheme-starts-130225/">U.S. “six-strikes” system</a> finally went live in February.</p>
<p>The Copyright Alert System&#8217;s main goal is to educate the public. That is, informing people that their connection is being used to share copyrighted material without permission, and pointing them to legal alternatives. </p>
<p>While repeat infringers face so-called <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/att-starts-six-strikes-anti-piracy-plan-next-month-will-block-websites-121012/">mitigation measures</a>, the copyright holders and ISPs have made it very clear that no one will permanently lose their Internet access. Nevertheless, AT&#038;T is currently using its Copyright Alert emails to warn accused pirates that account termination is an option. </p>
<p>TorrentFreak obtained a copy of AT&#038;T&#8217;s Copyright Alert (posted in full below) which warns that those who share copyrighted files may lose their account. Worryingly, this threat comes before the official mitigation measures are mentioned.</p>
<p>&#8220;Using your Internet service to infringe copyrights is illegal and a violation of the AT&#038;T Internet Terms of Service and Acceptable Use Policy, which apply to all users of your account, and could result in mitigation measures including limitation of Internet access or even suspension or termination,&#8221; AT&#038;T writes.</p>
<p>The sentence above points to a footnote clarifying that a termination is AT&#038;T policy as required by the DMCA. </p>
<p>&#8220;Pursuant to Section 512 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, AT&#038;T&#8217;s policy is to terminate services to repeat infringers under appropriate circumstances,&#8221; the footnote reads. </p>
<p>The key part here is &#8220;appropriate circumstances,&#8221; which the Internet provider doesn&#8217;t elaborate on. </p>
<p>Several years ago AT&#038;T stated that it would only disconnect repeat infringers if the company was ordered to do so by a court, unlike other service providers such as YouTube and many file-hosting services who terminate accounts on their own. </p>
<p>The issue is a gray area, since the termination section of the DMCA is not clear on whether service providers have to terminate accounts themselves, or if a court order is required. </p>
<p>TorrentFreak contacted AT&#038;T to ask which circumstances could expose a subscriber to losing his or her Internet access but we have yet to receive a response.</p>
<p>If it wanted to, AT&#038;T could certainly identify persistent pirates as the six-strikes scheme requires the company to keep a database of infringing accounts. The scheme further requires ISPs to <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/six-strikes-scheme-may-lead-to-lawsuits-against-pirates-121212/">save this information</a> in case the MPAA, RIAA or other copyright holders decide they need to access it.</p>
<p>So, it is not unthinkable that account terminations could follow, although this would require the copyright holders to obtain a court order or subpoena. </p>
<p>While AT&#038;T&#8217;s &#8220;alert&#8221; doesn&#8217;t cross any lines, technically speaking, for the general public the mention of possible account terminations can be rather confusing. It would have been more appropriate to explain under what circumstances subscribers may lose Internet access, while making clear that this is unrelated to the alert they received.</p>
<p>A redacted copy of the Copyright Alert being sent out by AT&#038;T is detailed below.</p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<p><strong>Copyright Infringement Alert</strong></p>
<p>Dear (Primary Account Holder),</p>
<p>We are sending you this alert as part of our participation in the Copyright Alert Program — an industry-wide initiative intended to help users understand their rights and responsibilities in the distribution of copyrighted content online.</p>
<p>Digital content owners routinely monitor file-sharing networks to determine if copyrighted movies and music are being distributed illegally over the Internet. Through the Copyright Alert System, we&#8217;ve recently received a notice from a movie studio, record company, television studio or other company that owns copyrighted material that your AT&#038;T Internet account was used in connection with possible infringement of their copyright protected materials.</p>
<p>Your account was identified by its IP address. However, in keeping with the AT&#038;T Privacy Policy, we have not released your name or personal information, and we will not do so except as required by a lawful request for records. But at the request of the content owner, we are sending this alert — which applies to all users of your account — so that the issue may be resolved without further action.</p>
<p>A copy of the original notice can be found at att.com/copyright-infringement, but summary information is available at the end of this email.</p>
<p><strong>What is Copyright Infringement?</strong></p>
<p>Copyright protection gives creators of original intellectual property (such as music, movies, videos, books, artwork, and images) the exclusive right to that work — including control over reproduction, distribution, adaptation, performance, or financial benefit. If you or any other user(s) of your account copy, reproduce, adapt, or distribute copyrighted material without authorization, you are infringing those rights.</p>
<p>Using your Internet service to infringe copyrights is illegal and a violation of the AT&#038;T Internet Terms of Service (TOS) and Acceptable Use Policy (AUP), which apply to all users of your account, and could result in mitigation measures including limitation of Internet access or even suspension or termination.*</p>
<p><strong>How Does this Affect Me?</strong></p>
<p>Through the Copyright Alert Program, users are given an opportunity to understand and change behavior that may be resulting in Copyright Alerts. However, if they receive multiple Copyright Alerts, they may encounter corrective action — or mitigation measures — which may limit or inhibit Internet access.</p>
<p>No action will be taken at this point and we&#8217;ll let you know when mitigation measures are pending, should any be necessary. At that point, if you wish, you may request an Independent Review which provides an opportunity to challenge this or any other Copyright Alert before any mitigation measure is implemented. (Be sure to preserve any records or information that could be used to show that the activity was non-infringing.)</p>
<p><strong>Other Helpful Information</strong></p>
<p>It is possible that the infringement notice is the result of activity through a peer-to-peer (P2P) program that may be on your computer. These programs can pose issues, so it is important for you to understand what they are and the risks of using them.</p>
<p>You can find information on P2P programs and how to remove them, through the Center for Copyright Information at www.copyrightinformation.org </p>
<p>There are many ways to legally enjoy protected television programs, movies, and music. You can find information on these methods at www.copyrightinformation.org/a-better-way-to-find-movies-tv-music/</p>
<p><strong>What Do I Need to Do?</strong></p>
<p>•	Please visit att.com/copyright-infringement to learn more about copyrights, our policies, and the Copyright Alert System.<br />
•	Visit the Center for Copyright Information website at copyrightinformation.org for additional information on the industry-wide Copyright Alert Program, as well as information on Peer-to-Peer programs, and more.<br />
•	Check to make sure that the activity of all users of your account is in compliance with copyright laws, the AT&#038;T Internet Terms of Service, and Acceptable Use Policy.</p>
<p>Taking the above action should help you to resolve the issue. </p>
<p>Sincerely,<br />
Your AT&#038;T Internet Service Customer Care Team</p>
<p><sub>*Pursuant to Section 512 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, AT&#038;T&#8217;s policy is to terminate services to repeat infringers under appropriate circumstances. </p>
<p>Important Note: This email contains links to various websites. You may copy and paste the URL(s) into your browser rather than clicking directly on the link.<br />
Copyright Notice</sub></p>
<p>&#8211;Summary&#8211;<br />
For a copy of the original notice, please go to att.com/copyright-infringement</p>
<p>Notice ID: XXXXXX<br />
Content Owner: MPAA Search and Notify<br />
Contact:	Administrator<br />
NA<br />
(+1) 818-XXX-XXXX<br />
XXXXXX@mpaa.org<br />
Content Title: EXPENDABLES 2, THE<br />
File Name: The.Expendables.2.2012.iNTERNAL.720p.BluRay.x264-AVSHD [PublicHD]<br />
IP Address: XXXXXX<br />
Port: 39815<br />
File Type: P2P<br />
Timestamp: XXXXXX</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/att-threatens-persistent-pirates-with-account-termination-130913/">AT&#038;T Threatens Persistent Pirates With Account Termination</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76623
title: UK Prime Minister Appoints New Anti-Piracy Enforcement Advisor
uri: UK-Prime-Minister-Appoints-New-Anti-Piracy-Enforcement-Advisor
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/tLj2RaBFLS8/
content:
<p><a href="media/b4135d59.weatherley.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/weatherley.jpg"><img src="media/b4135d59.weatherley.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/weatherley.jpg" alt="weatherley" width="190" height="192" class="alignright size-full wp-image-76624" /></a>In 2010 the UK introduced the Digital Economy Act, legislation designed in part to crack down on the unlawful sharing of copyrighted material, but three years on and the implementation of the law is still more than a couple of years away.</p>
<p>Not surprisingly the music and movie industries remain keen to see action taken against errant subscribers and unlicensed sites that they blame for millions in lost sales every year. But while DEA implementation is still some time away, the government has been listening.</p>
<p>Behind the scenes <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/copyright-holders-want-voluntary-uk-three-strikes-anti-piracy-scheme-130902/">negotiations are taking place</a> on a voluntary &#8220;three strikes&#8221; style scheme and operating right now is a new City of London Police unit focused on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/details-on-upcoming-police-torrent-site-crackdown-revealed-130805/">making life difficult</a> for unauthorized torrent and other file-sharing sites.</p>
<p>Then yesterday there was more news that strongly suggests that the government intends to take a tougher line on copyright infringement. Prime Minister David Cameron announced that he had appointed Mike Weatherley MP as his advisor on intellectual property.</p>
<p>Weatherley, who says he will focus on enforcement issues relating to the creative industries, is no stranger to the entertainment world. The chartered accountant was the former finance director of record producer Pete Waterman&#8217;s empire. He later became Vice President (Europe) for the Motion Picture Licensing Company.</p>
<p>The 56-year-old founder of Parliament&#8217;s <a href="http://www.rockthehousehoc.com/">Rock the House</a> competition, is also a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Intellectual Property Group which was launched back in 2003 to raise awareness and rally against copyright and related infringement.</p>
<p>Given his background and <a href="http://www.mikeweatherleymp.com/2013/09/02/new-intellectual-property-crime-unit-backed-by-mike/">support</a> for the new Intellectual Property Crime Unit, there can be little doubt that Weatherley&#8217;s appointment signals a hardening of attitudes by the government against piracy and in support of the entertainment industries.</p>
<p>“I am honored to be been appointed as the Prime Minister’s adviser on Intellectual Property. The creative industries are incredibly important to Britain’s economy so it is only right that the Government focuses on enforcement issues,&#8221; Weatherley said in a statement.</p>
<p>&#8220;I look forward to working with the Prime Minster and my ministerial colleagues on addressing the challenges that face the film and music industries.”</p>
<p>While Weatherley&#8217;s new role is an unpaid position, he will no doubt work hard to ensure that his colleagues in Big Music aren&#8217;t remunerated in the same fashion.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/uk-prime-minister-appoints-new-anti-piracy-enforcement-advisor-130913/">UK Prime Minister Appoints New Anti-Piracy Enforcement Advisor</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76637
title: Netflix Uses Pirate Sites to Determine What Shows to Buy
uri: Netflix-Uses-Pirate-Sites-to-Determine-What-Shows-to-Buy
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Xt32wIpMFSA/
content:
<p><a href="media/b310fc7c.netflix-logo.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/netflix-logo.png"><img src="media/b310fc7c.netflix-logo.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/netflix-logo.png" alt="netflix-logo" width="200" height="121" class="alignright size-full wp-image-69714" /></a>Video streaming giant <a href="http://netflix.com">Netflix</a> sees itself as one of the most prominent competitors to the many pirate sites that offer video content without owners&#8217; permission.</p>
<p>However, these pirate sites also offer Netflix valuable information as to what video content they should acquire for their service. </p>
<p>This week Netflix <a href="http://gigaom.com/2013/09/10/netflix-netherlands-launch/">rolled out its service</a> in the Netherlands and the company&#8217;s Vice President of Content Acquisition, Kelly Merryman, says that their offering is partly based on what shows do well on BitTorrent networks and other pirate sites.  </p>
<p>&#8220;With the purchase of series, we look at what does well on piracy sites,&#8221; Merryman told <a href="http://tweakers.net/nieuws/91282/netflix-baseert-aanbod-deels-op-populariteit-videos-op-piraterijsites.html">Tweakers</a>.</p>
<p>One of the shows that Netflix acquired the rights to in the Netherlands is Prison Break, since it is heavily pirated locally. &#8220;Prison Break is exceptionally popular on piracy sites,&#8221; Merryman says. </p>
<p>In a separate interview Netflix CEO Reed Hastings adds that his company is aware of the many people who download content without permission via torrent sites. However, this is not exclusively a bad thing, as it also creates demand for the content Netflix is offering.</p>
<p>&#8220;Certainly there&#8217;s some torrenting that goes on, and that&#8217;s true around the world, but some of that just creates the demand,&#8221; Hastings says. </p>
<p>Eventually these BitTorrent users may want to switch to Netflix as it&#8217;s a much better user experience than torrenting, according to the CEO.   </p>
<p>&#8220;Netflix is so much easier than torrenting. You don&#8217;t have to deal with files, you don&#8217;t have to download them and move them around. You just click and watch,&#8221; Hastings says.  </p>
<p>One goal of Netflix is to convert people who currently use pirate sites to get their fix, and there is <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/netflix-says-its-killing-bittorrent-traffic-130504/">some evidence</a> that this is indeed happening. According to Hastings, there is evidence that BitTorrent traffic in Canada dropped 50% after Netflix started there three years ago. </p>
<p>The real challenge for the streaming service is to license as much content as they can, which is easier said than done. It might not be a coincidence that &#8220;Game of Thrones&#8221; is the most pirated TV-show. After all, Netflix wasn&#8217;t able to buy the rights from HBO no matter what <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/netflix-we-cant-buy-game-of-thrones-and-dexter-120410/">they offered</a>.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/netflix-uses-pirate-sites-to-determine-what-shows-to-buy-130914/">Netflix Uses Pirate Sites to Determine What Shows to Buy</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76625
title: Universal Music Behind H33t.com Domain Seizure
uri: Universal-Music-Behind-H33t-com-Domain-Seizure
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/L5_1_ihZVNY/
content:
<p><a href="media/19b40f6f.blurred.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/blurred.jpg"><img src="media/19b40f6f.blurred.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/blurred.jpg" alt="blurred" width="200" height="207" class="alignright size-full wp-image-76628" /></a>H33t, one of the largest BitTorrent sites on the Internet, slowly <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mysterious-domain-seizure-takes-h33t-com-down-but-not-out-130906/">disappeared</a> from the Internet last week.</p>
<p>After some initial confusion it became apparent that the site&#8217;s domain registrar had removed all nameservers, rendering H33t unreachable by the public. The reason for this drastic action was initially unclear but over the past week the pieces of the puzzle have fallen into place.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak contacted H33t&#8217;s domain registrar, the German company <a href="http://www.key-systems.net/english/homepage.html">Key-Systems</a>, who confirmed that they were forced to take this action following a court order. </p>
<p>&#8220;We have indeed been served with a court order granting a temporary injunction requiring us to ensure certain content is not made available,&#8221; Key System&#8217;s Volker Greimann tells TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>The injunction was obtained by Universal Music GMBH, a German division of Universal Music Group, and lists Robin Thicke&#8217;s album Blurred Lines as the infringed material. The order requires the registrar to prevent the files in question from being distributed through H33t&#8217;s search engine and tracker. </p>
<p>As a result, Key-Systems saw no other option than to delete the nameservers or remove the entire domain from its system. &#8220;The only way to comply with that court order was to either remove the DNS entries or delete the domain,&#8221; Greimann says.</p>
<p>This is the first time that a torrent site has been targeted by a copyright holder through a domain registrar. While the details of the injunction haven&#8217;t been made available to the public it sets a dangerous precedent. This is also one of the main reasons why Key-Systems is determined to fight the ruling. </p>
<p>&#8220;We regret that we cannot comment in detail on an ongoing legal matter that is yet to be finally decided by the court, however we are determined to get this court order lifted as soon as possible,&#8221; Greimann tells TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>One of the reasons H33t may have been targeted is its unique takedown policy. The site allows copyright holders to remove infringing files but charges an administration fee of $50 per takedown request. The site doesn’t comply with the DMCA, claiming that it falls outside US jurisdiction.</p>
<p>H33t&#8217;s owner hopes that the temporary injunction will eventually be reversed. He is surprised that it is so easy for a German court to target the property of a company that doesn&#8217;t operate under its jurisdiction. </p>
<p>&#8220;Quite frankly I cannot see how this decision will stand. The German court cannot have global jurisdiction to take down a site in other countries. It is an example of outdated courts making decisions in a cases where they demonstrate their high level of ignorance,&#8221; H33t&#8217;s Shelby tells TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>H33t meanwhile has lost nearly 25% of its traffic over the past week. The site quickly moved to the new H33t.eu domain but many visitors appear to have trouble finding the new home. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/universal-music-behind-h33t-com-domain-seizure-130914/">Universal Music Behind H33t.com Domain Seizure</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76286
title: TorrentReactor: Ten Years of Serving Torrents
uri: TorrentReactor-Ten-Years-of-Serving-Torrents
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Cx1nz6ML_HI/
content:
<p><a href="media/aea6e5b1.torrentreactor2.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/torrentreactor2.jpg"><img src="media/aea6e5b1.torrentreactor2.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/torrentreactor2.jpg" alt="torrentreactor" width="180" height="123" class="alignright size-full wp-image-76635" /></a>In file-sharing terms a decade is an awful long time and with the world&#8217;s entertainment companies baying for blood, reaching a tenth birthday is a major achievement for any torrent site.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, in recent times two of the world&#8217;s largest torrent sites, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/isohunt-turns-10-years-old-keeps-on-fighting-copyright-cartels-130122/">isoHunt</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-turns-10-years-old-the-history-130810/">The Pirate Bay</a>, both celebrated that special birthday. Both bear the scars of battle but remain defiant, at least for now, but there are others who achieve longevity with far fewer war wounds.</p>
<p>At the start of the year, TorrentReactor was the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2013-130106/">ninth most-popular</a> torrent site on the Internet. Like The Pirate Bay and KickassTorrents the site has been subjected to <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/italian-court-orders-nationwide-block-of-torrentreactor-and-torrents-net-121204/">domain blocking</a> in recent years but currently offers its <a href="http://reactorproxy.com">own proxy</a> workaround. That&#8217;s a fairly recent development though, so how did it all begin?</p>
<p>&#8220;It began ten years ago as a project in a new, very interesting and promising area,&#8221; TorrentReactor (TR) told TorrentFreak. &#8220;File-sharing was very &#8216;geeky&#8217; at that time and torrent sites like this tended to make it more public. Over several years TorrentReactor evolved into a big torrent indexing machine serving many millions of people per week.&#8221;</p>
<p>Like the majority of torrent sites, TR didn&#8217;t start out intending to take over the world. The site rarely had a sustainable team of developers and many of those involved were running other projects at the same time. That was enough to keep the site moving forward and improving as necessary but a couple of years ago things began to change.</p>
<p>&#8220;Now we can proudly say there&#8217;s a big international group of people working on the project. We still have some side projects but now they are mostly spin-offs or otherwise related,&#8221; TR explain.</p>
<p>With the site&#8217;s increase in popularity has come a demand for new hardware. Starting out small, TorrentReactor originally rented servers from other companies but alongside the site&#8217;s growth came a need to buy its own equipment. Currently the site is running on five servers for databases and front end, plus others to proxy the site&#8217;s traffic.</p>
<p>While there is no Pirate Bay-style museum piece, TorrentReactor are no strangers to pulling off Pirate Bay-style pranks.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/db483040.torrentreactor-village.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/torrentreactor-village.jpg" alt="TorrentVillage" /></center></p>
<p>&#8220;The most wide-spread was probably the joke we pulled off about us <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/torrentreactor-buys-and-renames-russian-town-100807/">buying a village</a> in the middle of Russia. It was totally unexpected how viral this thing would go and we definitely had a lot of fun reading about it in lots of various news sources,&#8221; TR explain.</p>
<p>But jokes aside, it hasn&#8217;t all been so much fun. The site has experienced significant problems over the years and at least one disaster that was completely unexpected.</p>
<p>&#8220;In 2010 we had a large hosting partner with ten servers hosted there for various projects including TorrentReactor,&#8221; TR explain.</p>
<p>&#8220;At the end of the year they had a huge scandal with one of their key employees who was fired and later accessed the whole system and damaged all the HDDs they had. Servers we had with them were located away from each other so we thought it would be safe to store backups with the same hosting provider.</p>
<p><a href="media/2e88a66d.smashedserver.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/smashedserver.jpg"><img src="media/2e88a66d.smashedserver.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/smashedserver.jpg" alt="smashedserver" width="180" height="120" class="alignright size-full wp-image-76636" /></a>&#8220;However the disaster damaged everything: the website code, databases, and all backups. All the other backups we had were dated months before the incident. It took us at least several weeks to restore most of the functionality and data although some of it was gone forever.&#8221;</p>
<p>Since then the site has introduced a whole new way of storing and managing its data and so far there has been no situation that has required it to be tested. But interestingly, TR now cite more recent events as causing serious issues for the site. So who is to blame? None other than the world&#8217;s largest search engine.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is well known that Google brings lots of traffic to file-sharing websites and any changes in algorithms may affect that traffic. This year is probably the most challenging one because Google has introduced many new search algorithms and all torrent sites have suffered from that,&#8221; TR explain.</p>
<p>&#8220;The changes happened at the same time we were actively rebuilding the website from scratch so we had to work even harder to bring back the traffic and keep the development pace. But the experience we got is definitely a valuable one and will help us a lot in the future.&#8221;</p>
<p>All in all, TorrentReactor say that at times external factors caused them to lose around 50% of the traffic they had at their peak.</p>
<p>&#8220;A couple of years ago we had over a million visitors a day and now we have around 500k. Many new sites played their part in this too. File-sharing traffic is still growing despite many anti-piracy movements and all that. It just redistributes in a different way giving good small sites a chance to have their audience.&#8221;</p>
<p>But despite the setbacks, enthusiasm is high among the TR team and work is underway to modernize and reinforce the site with an eye on the future.</p>
<p>&#8220;Loyal visitors might have recently noticed our new main page is full of images, covers for the content we have available. We see many content-oriented websites switching to this kind of look. It helps users select the content they want a lot faster and easier,&#8221; TR note. &#8220;Visual perception of images is a lot better than reading titles, it gives you the idea of the content instantly.&#8221;</p>
<p>TR admit that there are other aspects of the site that should have been upgraded years ago, the user interaction system for one. That is currently being rebuilt with a focus on &#8220;friendly and fun&#8221; with content discovery mechanisms based around social elements.</p>
<p>&#8220;Users will be able to find out more about movies they like and actors that play in them, or browse through game-related content and chat with others who like similar games. More will be revealed in the coming months,&#8221; TR concludes.</p>
<p>Whether <a href="http://www.torrentreactor.net/main.php">TorrentReactor</a> or in fact any other major torrent site will be around in another ten years is open to debate but for now there are definitely no plans to fade away.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/torrentreactor-ten-years-of-serving-torrents-130914/">TorrentReactor: Ten Years of Serving Torrents</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76621
title: MPAA’s Court Ordered Piracy Filter Censors Many Legitimate Files
uri: MPAA-s-Court-Ordered-Piracy-Filter-Censors-Many-Legitimate-Files
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/04YKQZbVaPM/
content:
<p><a href="media/394b6768.mpaa-logo1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mpaa-logo1.jpg"><img src="media/394b6768.mpaa-logo1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mpaa-logo1.jpg" alt="mpaa-logo" width="200" height="112" class="alignright size-full wp-image-36694" /></a>Almost three years ago the U.S. District Court of California ordered BitTorrent search engine isoHunt to start filtering its search results.</p>
<p>The Court ordered the filtering of the search engine based on a list of thousands of keywords provided by the MPAA. Failure to comply would have meant a shutdown of the site in the United States. Earlier this year, the verdict <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/isohunt-loses-appeal-against-the-mpaa-keyword-filter-remains-130321/">was upheld</a> by the appeals court which means that the filter remains in place today. </p>
<p>As a result isoHunt is filtering its systems for thousands of movie titles and blocking U.S. visitors&#8217; access to torrents that contain keywords such as &#8220;The Heat,&#8221; &#8220;This Is The End&#8221; and &#8220;The Kingdom.&#8221; While this prevents visitors from accessing torrents linking to blockbuster movies, there&#8217;s also a vast amount of collateral damage. </p>
<p>This week artist Elliot Wallace found out that the music he shares with a Creative Commons license is blocked for U.S. visitors. Those who try to download his two track album &#8220;<a href="http://isohunt.com/torrent_details/510855426/?tab=summary">The Spirit Truth</a>&#8221; will see the following error message.</p>
<p>&#8220;Torrent has been censored, as required by US court.&#8221;</p>
<p>Needless to say, Wallace doesn&#8217;t want his music to be blocked. However, one of his tracks is titled &#8220;In the Kingdom of the Undead&#8221; which contains &#8220;The Kingdom,&#8221; a combination of words which the MPAA deems infringing.</p>
<p><center><br />
<h5>Blocked in the U.S.</h5>
<p><a href="media/19a0f9e1.censored-isohunt.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/censored-isohunt.png"><img src="media/19a0f9e1.censored-isohunt.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/censored-isohunt.png" alt="censored-isohunt" width="513" height="215" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-76631" /></a></center></p>
<p>As an artist Wallace is not against anti-piracy measures per se, but he does feel that the MPAA filter is in part hurting his ability to share his music. </p>
<p>&#8220;As an independent musician, I rely on word of mouth to spread my music. I understand that the title filter is an important step in preventing piracy, but such tools should be used with great care. Censoring an independent musician&#8217;s work and damaging<br />
his publicity without recourse clearly shows the law being applied carelessly and over-broadly,&#8221; Wallace tells TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>While no filtering system is perfect, the MPAA filter isoHunt has been forced to implement is literally blocking thousands of unrelated torrents, many of which are in the public domain. </p>
<p>For example, legitimate torrents blocked by &#8220;The Kingdom&#8221; phrase include <a href="http://isohunt.com/torrent_details/507682471/?tab=summary">an album</a> with Reggaeton music, a <a href="http://isohunt.com/torrent_details/509529706/?tab=summary">selection of sermons</a> preached at the North Main Church of Christ and a <a href="http://isohunt.com/torrent_details/432098981/?tab=summary">live concert</a> from Uncle Earl. All these files are also hosted on the Internet Archive and can be shared freely. </p>
<p>For &#8220;The Kingdom&#8221; alone we found hundreds of Creative Commons or public domain files that are being caught by MPAA&#8217;s filter, and the same is true for other banned phrases. </p>
<p>The phrase &#8220;The Heat&#8221; censors the <a href="http://isohunt.com/torrent_details/497764761/?tab=summary">G4 podcast</a>, the <a href="http://isohunt.com/torrent_details/464049566/?tab=summary">Hip Hop Heads</a> Podcast, Parametric <a href="http://isohunt.com/torrent_details/468611186/?tab=summary">Studies</a> of an Automotive Air Conditioning System and a UConn <a href="http://isohunt.com/torrent_details/459800501/?tab=summary">student&#8217;s opinion</a> on gun control. &#8220;This is The End&#8221; also blocks a wide variety of free to share content including the <a href="http://isohunt.com/torrent_details/514617726/?tab=summary">GeekFurious podcast</a>, the <a href="http://isohunt.com/torrent_details/471923271/?tab=summary">Real BS</a> podcast and the <a href="http://isohunt.com/torrent_details/493432851/?tab=summary">Cell Shock</a> podcast. </p>
<p>The above is just the tip of the iceberg, but it certainly shows that isoHunt&#8217;s implementation of the MPAA&#8217;s court-ordered filter results in quite a bit of over-filtering. </p>
<p>Interestingly, the MPAA argues the opposite and has told the court that isoHunt is deliberately manipulating the filter to render it ineffective. The movie studios therefore want isoHunt <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-demands-source-code-of-isohunts-failing-piracy-filter-130720/">to turn over</a> the filter&#8217;s source code and have asked the court to punish the torrent site for contempt.</p>
<p>“The record to date supports the inference that Defendants have deliberately engineered the filter to ensure that it is ineffective in preventing access to Plaintiffs’ copyrighted works,&#8221; MPAA wrote in July. </p>
<p>As with most filtering systems, it is hard for the public to evaluate its performance when the list itself is secret. Perhaps it&#8217;s an idea to open up both the filtering source code as well as the list of banned keywords so the public can help spot abuse?</p>
<p>This is <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-filter-censors-legit-torrent-files-on-isohunt-120406/">not the first time</a> that an artist has complained that the MPAA has mistakenly censored his work, and if the current system remains in place it won&#8217;t be the last either. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mpaas-court-ordered-piracy-filter-censors-many-legitimate-files-130915/">MPAA&#8217;s Court Ordered Piracy Filter Censors Many Legitimate Files</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76652
title: At What Point Will The Next Generation Kill The Copyright Monopoly Altogether?
uri: At-What-Point-Will-The-Next-Generation-Kill-The-Copyright-Monopoly-Alt
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/hHdNR9nI6eA/
content:
<p><a href="media/db7b975c.copyright-branded.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/copyright-branded.jpg"><img src="media/db7b975c.copyright-branded.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/copyright-branded.jpg" alt="copyright-branded" width="250" height="164" class="alignright size-full wp-image-56211" /></a>Before the Internet, and in particular before the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_Cassette">compact cassette</a>, the copyright monopoly was something that only concerned hotshot lawyers at the biggest possible publishing houses. </p>
<p>Before the ordinary person had the ability to record anything, the barrier to entry to disseminate culture and knowledge was too high for everybody and their brother to contribute to culture.</p>
<p>Let&#8217;s take a look at what happened when the compact cassette arrived. It was sort of an analog removable hard drive with music, that you plugged into an analog music player &#8211; the new thing at the time being that you could also write to it. Cassette players popped up everywhere, in particular in a form called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghettoblaster">ghettoblasters</a>, where you&#8217;d carry a rather large box with loudspeakers and two cassette slots around, not to mention quite a few batteries.</p>
<p>Note that I wrote <strong>two</strong> cassette slots. All of these players also advertised how good they were at copying cassette tapes. You&#8217;d pop in the source tape, put a blank tape in the recording slot, and hit a gigantic button named &#8220;copy&#8221;. This was a feature that was heavily advertised &#8211; the better the blasters were at copying, the more music its owner would be able to collect.</p>
<p>The record industry at the time went absolutely ballistic, and said &#8220;home taping is killing music&#8221; in a largely ridiculed campaign. The bands at the time gave them the finger and printed that logo with the text &#8220;home taping is killing record industry profits&#8221; instead, adding &#8220;we left the reverse side [of the tape] blank, so you can help&#8221;. Nevertheless, this was the start of the war against ordinary people copying, something that has only escalated to ridiculous levels today. (Can you imagine a two-slot DVD player being sold today that would have a huge red button marked COPY on it?)</p>
<p>Today, people&#8217;s homes are raided at dawn by police with drawn weapons for listening to music and watching movies from unauthorized sources. (Imagine punishing somebody for listening to the old-style radio because the <strong>radio station</strong> didn&#8217;t have a proper spectrum license? How would <strong>they</strong> know?) Activists&#8217; voices are being silenced using the copyright monopoly as a censorship mechanism. Secondary and tertiary liability is introduced using extortionate methods, further removing any rights to due process for mere freedom of speech. All while people in general share knowledge and culture as they have always done.</p>
<p>Entrepreneurs are even fined for playing <strong>their own</strong> music, as in music they wrote and played themselves, in their own cafés and shops &#8211; because the copyright monopoly construct demands fees to the collecting societies when somebody plays music.</p>
<p>All in all, the copyright monopoly construct has turned from something arcane that people didn&#8217;t care about into a downright oppressive and abusive construct that affects everybody in a way they strongly disapprove of. Laws must have the consent of the governed to be respected; the copyright monopoly today enjoys considerably less respect than speed limits, and that&#8217;s in a country where speeding is considered a national sport.</p>
<p>(This doesn&#8217;t mean that speed limits would be abolished by the next-generation politicians, but that&#8217;s primarily because the police don&#8217;t raid your home at dawn and confiscate all your phones, computers, photos, work, and conversations if you&#8217;re suspected of planning to drive above the speed limit.)</p>
<p>This is not going to hold. The next generation, the teenagers today who have grown up in this abusive environment, will kill this monopoly construct the first chance they get. And they will do so to <strong>positively thunderous</strong> applause among their peers.</p>
<p><strong>I&#8217;ve chosen to position myself halfway on the Overton window in a position that allows the ideas I present to appear as radical, yet possible, as presented in <a href="http://www.copyrightreform.eu/">The Case For Copyright Reform</a>. In this way, I have set out to eliminate the worst abuses of the monopoly, solving 95% of the problems by going 75% of the way. Reducing the monopoly to cover commercial activity only, reducing the terms, making DRM illegal, and a few more things would go a long way.</strong></p>
<p>Otherwise, when today&#8217;s teenagers have grown up enough to be pulling the strings, do you really believe they&#8217;ll buy the fairytale stories of how the monopoly construct that all of them saw as plainly abusive, oppressive, and extortionate is needed &#8220;for the artists to get paid&#8221;? When all they saw &#8211; when all everybody saw &#8211; was a monopoly construct that silenced artists, silenced challenges to the establishment&#8217;s status quo, killed technological innovation, and made sure that rich multinational corporations could buy the power they wanted?</p>
<p>There&#8217;s not a chance they&#8217;ll buy the fairytale stories from the copyright industry. They&#8217;ll all remember their own firsthand experiences. And they&#8217;ll kill the monopoly entirely, to thunderous applause.</p>
<p>A radical copyright monopoly reform is the <a href="http://falkvinge.net/2011/03/11/radical-copyright-monopoly-reform-only-chance-for-copyright-to-survive-at-all/">last chance</a> for the copyright monopoly to survive at all. It needs to be reformed to a level where it&#8217;s not grossly and repulsively abusive, and that needs to <a href="http://www.copyrightreform.eu/">happen</a> yesterday. If that reform doesn&#8217;t happen, the monopoly construct will be killed altogether, and sooner than we think.</p>
<p>If you doubt it, look at the SOPA and ACTA protests of yesteryear.</p>
<div style="border:2px solid #3F3F3F;width:521px;padding:15px;padding-top:8px;padding-bottom:4px;margin-top:20px;margin-bottom:10px;border-radius:10px">
<h3 style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:10px">
<div style="float:right;height:130px;width:39px;margin-left:20px;margin-right:10px"><img src="media/98818a80.Rick_Falkvinge_39x130.jpg" data-original-source="http://falkvinge.net/wp-content/themes/WpNewspaper/images/falkvinge/Rick_Falkvinge_39x130.jpg" style="border:none;-moz-box-shadow:none;-webkit-box-shadow:none" class="quimby_search_image"></div>
<p><span style="color:#3F3F3F;font-size:125%">About The</span> <span style="color:#FF3C78;font-size:125%">Author</span></p>
</h3>
<p style="font-family:PTSansRegular,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-weight:400;line-height:150%;margin-bottom:14px"><small>Rick Falkvinge is a regular columnist on TorrentFreak, sharing his thoughts every other week. He is the founder of the Swedish and first Pirate Party, a whisky aficionado, and a low-altitude motorcycle pilot. His blog at <a href="http://falkvinge.net">falkvinge.net</a> focuses on information policy.</small></p>
<div style="float:right;position:relative;top:-12px">
<p><small>Book Falkvinge <a href="http://falkvinge.net/keynotes/">as speaker</a>?</small></p>
</div>
<p><a href="http://twitter.com/Falkvinge" class="twitter-follow-button">Follow @Falkvinge</a></p>
</div>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/kill-the-copyright-monopoly-altogether-130915/">At What Point Will The Next Generation Kill The Copyright Monopoly Altogether?</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76669
title: Busted Torrent Site OiNK Prepares Indie Comeback
uri: Busted-Torrent-Site-OiNK-Prepares-Indie-Comeback
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/OuxZRFSOF2o/
content:
<p><img src="media/b0d52b26.flyingpig.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com//images/flyingpig.jpg" width="160" height="161" class="alignright" />There are hundreds, possibly thousands, of private BitTorrent sites on the Internet today. Some offer general content, others specialize in some way, but it is extremely rare for any to achieve a high level of public awareness.</p>
<p>One that did was called OiNK, a closed-door community that to many was the greatest music-focused torrent community the Internet had ever seen. Launched in May 2004 by Englishman Alan Ellis, OiNK became synonymous with quality. The site indexed every style of music imaginable and prided itself on bitrates that commercial music stores found hard to beat. </p>
<p>As a result OiNK peaked at more than 180,000 members and received celebrity endorsements including one from Nine Inch Nails star Trent Reznor who said it was the world&#8217;s greatest record store. But the site&#8217;s achievements would not go unpunished and in 2007 Ellis <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/oinkcd-servers-raided-admin-arrested/">was arrested</a> and the site was shutdown, yet another victim of a music industry campaign to stymie the spread of unauthorized content.</p>
<p>Following a trial in which Ellis was accused of defrauding the music industry, in early 2010 came a verdict of &#8220;<a href="http://torrentfreak.com/oink-admin-found-not-guilty-walks-free-100115/">not guilty</a>&#8221; and he walked from court a free man. For the site itself, shuttered and its members dispersed more than two years earlier, the story was over.</p>
<p>But now more than three years on there are some interesting noises coming from the former home of the Pink Palace, where cute avatars were mandatory and a curly-tailed farmyard animal adorned the front page.</p>
<p>Visitors to any of OiNK&#8217;s former domains are today greeted with a monochromatic picture of London&#8217;s Battersea power station. Look closely and a tiny cartoon pig can be seen flying between the iconic chimneys above an invitation to sign up and a prompt to never forget the events of October 23 2007. Click ahead and a more familiar feel returns.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/51420010.oinknew1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/oinknew1.jpg" alt="oinknew1" /></center></p>
<p>So what does the site have in store?</p>
<p>TorrentFreak spoke with the current owner of the OiNK domains &#8211; Oink.me.uk and Oink.cd &#8211; who confirmed a relaunch and told us that a different approach could be expected this time round.</p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll let you know that a different route is being taken at this time to continue the site&#8217;s legacy in a legal format,&#8221; TorrentFreak was informed.</p>
<p>So what can users of the new OiNK expect? A clue can be found on the main page where interested artists are invited to leave their details. The final item on the short questionnaire is perhaps the most telling.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/78fd5619.oinknew2.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/oinknew2.jpg" alt="oinknew2" /></center></p>
<p>David Cook, specialist cyber crime solicitor at <a href="http://www.pannone.com/people/david-cook">Pannone</a> who successfully <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/fifth-oink-uploader-walks-free-100330/">defended</a> one of Oink&#8217;s uploaders in 2010, says that an OiNK return has the potential to be a plus for artists, depending on the execution.</p>
<p>&#8220;A method for an unsigned artist uploading their music to the site and receiving remuneration from the adverts on the site would sound like an innovative idea.  Having said that, details are sketchy to say the least.  I just hope that the OiNK story is not sullied by what comes next, as happened for Napster,&#8221; Cook said.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak also spoke with former OiNK owner Alan Ellis who thanked us for our contact but said that having sold the domains a few years ago, the project is now someone else&#8217;s baby.</p>
<p>At this stage it seems unlikely that OiNK will return to its former private tracker glory but there are signs that it will maintain its focus on music, quite possibly with an emphasis on the development of independent artists. Maybe the site will get one last shot at annoying the major labels after all.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/busted-torrent-site-oink-prepares-indie-comeback-130916/">Busted Torrent Site OiNK Prepares Indie Comeback</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76649
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week
uri: 2013-09-16-Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/TDbvwxTctRk/
content:
<p><a href="media/a4ba6d90.wwz2.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/wwz2.jpg"><img src="media/a4ba6d90.wwz2.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/wwz2.jpg" alt="wwz" width="300" height="166" class="alignright size-full wp-image-76587" /></a>This week we have five newcomers in our chart. </p>
<p>World War Z is the most downloaded movie for the second week in a row. </p>
<p>The data for our weekly download chart is collected by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only. All the movies in the list are BD/DVDrips unless stated otherwise.</p>
<p><a href="http://TorrentFreak.com/category/dvdrip/feed/"><strong>RSS feed</strong></a> for the weekly movie download chart.</p>
<table class="css hover" summary="Most downloaded movies on BitTorrent">
<caption>Week ending September 15, 2013</caption>
<thead>
<tr>
<th width="12%"><strong>Ranking</strong></th>
<th width="15%"><strong>(<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-movies-of-the-week-130909/">last week</a>)</strong></th>
<th><strong>Movie</strong></th>
<th width="18%"><strong>IMDb Rating / Trailer</strong></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tfoot>
<tr>
<td colspan="4">torrentfreak.com</td>
</tr>
</tfoot>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>1</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/world-war-z/">World War Z</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0816711/">7.2</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcwTxRuq-uk">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/this_is_the_end/">This Is The End</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1245492/">7.6</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yma-g4gTwlE">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jobs/">Jobs</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2357129/">5.5</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrvkCS0ZGPU">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_hangover_part_iii/">The Hangover Part III</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1951261/">6.0</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLAkxSjs8ZY">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/now_you_see_me/">Now You See Me</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1670345/">7.4</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzJNYYkkhzc">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/were_the_millers/">We&#8217;re The Millers</a> (Webrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1723121/">7.2</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Vsy5KzsieQ">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the-croods/">The Croods</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0481499/">7.3</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrbwgn_kRBo">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/pain_and_gain/">Pain and Gain</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1980209/">6.7</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEQ8jyvmYtw">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_worlds_end/">The World&#8217;s End</a> (Webrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1213663/">7.6</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFo7eJR2cvc">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kick_ass_2_2013/">Kick-Ass 2</a> (R6)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1650554/">7.2</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UMbwxbgv8U">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-movies-of-the-week-130916/">Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76539
title: Six-Strikes ‘Education’ Should be Unbiased, Internet Society Says
uri: Six-Strikes-Education-Should-be-Unbiased-Internet-Society-Says
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/9YXoR8r4nHQ/
content:
<p><a href="media/1c69e722.downloadcar.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/downloadcar.png"><img src="media/1c69e722.downloadcar.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/downloadcar.png" alt="downloadcar" width="200" height="132" class="alignright size-full wp-image-76166" /></a>Over the years many initiatives to curb online piracy have emerged and in several countries so-called graduated response schemes have been implemented.</p>
<p>Initially copyright lobbyists opted to embed these &#8220;x-strikes&#8221; initiatives into law, as France did <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/three-strikes-and-youre-still-in-france-kills-piracy-disconnections-130709/">with Hadopi</a>. However, more recently there has been a bigger push for voluntary initiatives.</p>
<p>In the U.S., for example, copyright holders and Internet providers launched the six-strikes <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/six-strikes-anti-piracy-scheme-starts-130225/">Copyright Alert</a> scheme earlier this year, and UK copyright holders <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/copyright-holders-want-voluntary-uk-three-strikes-anti-piracy-scheme-130902/">want the same</a> to happen across the pond.</p>
<p>The upside for the copyright holders and ISPs is that there&#8217;s no interference from the government. However, this also means that there is very little oversight, which can turn out negatively for consumers in the long run.</p>
<p>To safeguard the interests of the public the Internet Society (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Society">ISOC</a>) has published a set of <a href="http://www.internetsociety.org/blog/2013/07/voluntary-initiatives-source-policy-making-internet">principles</a> which all voluntary anti-piracy measures should adhere to. The group, which is one of the leading players in creating Internet related standards, education, and policy, hopes that initiatives such as the Copyright Alert System will adhere to these guidelines.</p>
<p>&#8220;We strongly believe that ALL voluntary mechanisms should employ accountable and transparent practices, including the ability of users to have access to information and to receive clear notifications in advance, the existence of clear and proportionate enforcement policies and, the assurance of protecting users&#8217; privacy,&#8221; ISOC policy advisor Konstantinos Komaitis tells TorrentFreak.  </p>
<p>ISOC believes that voluntary anti-piracy schemes should be in the best interests of consumers, and not merely a convenient anti-piracy tool for copyright holders.</p>
<p>&#8220;Ultimately, voluntary based initiatives should serve the public and its interests. They should not be used as a back door for achieving goals not otherwise achieved through other, more traditional regulatory means,&#8221; Komaitis says. </p>
<p>The U.S. six strikes Copyright Alert scheme says its main goal is to educate the public, which appears to be in line with ISOC&#8217;s principles. However, the Internet Society notes that the educational messages should ideally come from objective and unbiased parties rather than the copyright holders themselves.</p>
<p>&#8220;If education is part of such programs, the Internet Society believes that it should be limited to providing unbiased information and empowering users to better understand the scope and rationale of copyright law,&#8221; Komaitis tells us.</p>
<p>&#8220;Copyright law is complex &#8212; it includes rights but those rights are further subject to limitations and exceptions. Messages sent to users should address all these aspects of copyright law.&#8221;</p>
<p>While the Internet Society hasn&#8217;t carried out any detailed reviews yet, it&#8217;s not certain that the educational messages put forward by the U.S. system are truly objective. </p>
<p>&#8220;Now, are the current participants in the Copyright Alert System able to provide such information? Perhaps. But, if we truly wish voluntary initiatives, including ones on copyright, to stand the test of time and if we want them to instill trust, then it is important that any such messages derive from trusted third parties, like academia,&#8221; Komaitis says.</p>
<p>&#8220;Such trusted parties, being not part of the system&#8217;s original design, can ensure a certain degree of credibility, impartiality and confidence to the intended outcomes of the system,&#8221; he adds.</p>
<p>Whether the Copyright Alert System will adopt ISOC&#8217;s principles or not, the critique appears to be partially justified. As we&#8217;ve previously pointed out, the educational messages that ISPs send out are far from objective, with some warning about all sorts of <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/six-strikes-copyright-alert-warns-subscribers-for-dangerous-p2p-software-130617/">doom and gloom</a> users of P2P software are subjecting themselves to.</p>
<p>On the transparency side there is also plenty of room for improvement. Thus far the U.S. system has not published any progress reports or statistics and none of the ISPs has published their educational messages online so they can be reviewed by the public and copyright experts. </p>
<p>To the defense of the Copyright Alert System, the group&#8217;s Advisory Board does include public rights advocates including Jerry Berman, the Chairman of the Internet Education Foundation and founder of the Center for Democracy and Technology, and Gigi Sohn, co-founder of Public Knowledge. Unfortunately, the Advisory Board has little control over what the educational notices state, and other the transparency side they can do little more than making recommendations. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/six-strikes-education-should-be-unbiased-internet-society-says-130916/">Six-Strikes &#8216;Education&#8217; Should be Unbiased, Internet Society Says</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76713
title: Pirate Party Crashes Spy Drone in Front of German Chancellor Angela Merkel
uri: Pirate-Party-Crashes-Spy-Drone-in-Front-of-German-Chancellor-Angela-Me
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/gnw-tyTpJDo/
content:
<p><a href="media/9ae66457.piratedrone.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/piratedrone.jpg"><img src="media/9ae66457.piratedrone.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/piratedrone.jpg" alt="piratedrone" width="180" height="122" class="alignright size-full wp-image-76716" /></a>With less than a week to go until the national elections on September 22, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her team are working hard to maintain their lead in the polls and extend her current eight years in power.</p>
<p>But despite the world&#8217;s most powerful female politician reportedly hating campaign politics, the 59-year-old still managed to raise a smile following a surprise entrance during a Christian Democratic Union (CDU) event in the city of Dresden.</p>
<p>Some political parties are awash with money and can afford to go on campaign trails with few expenses spared. But for the parties who are happy with votes in single percentage figures &#8211; the Pirate Party for one &#8211; getting exposure requires more creative thinking.</p>
<p>As Merkel and members of her team stood on stage, a small object could be seen in the sky. After hovering around for a while onlookers could see that the UFO was in fact a small drone. It proceeded to swoop down just a few feet in front of Merkel, apparently taking photos and recording video of the event.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/dbfdffd6.merkeldrone.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/merkeldrone.jpg" alt="Merkeldrone" /></center></p>
<p>Seconds later with its Pirate Party operator apparently having been approached by the police, the drone crash-landed into the stage and was taken away by an official. While Merkel seemed to be amused, Germany&#8217;s defense minister in the dark suit and red tie to her right looked rather less impressed.</p>
<p>The party later confirmed that the stunt was a protest against the EU&#8217;s use of surveillance drones.</p>
<p>&#8220;The objective of the mission was to convey to the Chancellor and Minister of Defence Thomas de Maizière what it&#8217;s like to be suddenly observed from a drone,&#8221; said Markus Barenhoff, vice chairman of the German Pirate Party.</p>
<p>The party said it also wanted to draw attention to a scrapped drone project which had already cost Germany upwards of half a billion euros before it was <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/press-opinion-german-defense-minister-and-euro-hawk-drone-debacle-a-904164.html">closed down</a> earlier this year.</p>
<p>The drone&#8217;s 23-year-old pilot was briefly detained and later released, having successfully grabbed the headlines and attention of voters across Germany. It is doubtful that the U.S. Pirate Party will emulate their european counterparts with a similar stunt on home soil &#8211; life is just too precious.</p>
<p><center><iframe frameborder="0" width="480" height="270" src="http://www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/x14sopo"></iframe><br /><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x14sopo_germany-pirate-party-behind-drone-stunt-at-merkel-rally_news" target="_blank">Germany: Pirate Party behind drone stunt at&#8230;</a> <i>by <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/euronews-en" target="_blank">euronews-en</a></i></center></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-party-crashes-spy-drone-in-front-of-german-chancellor-angela-merkel-130917/">Pirate Party Crashes Spy Drone in Front of German Chancellor Angela Merkel</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76657
title: The Pirate Bay Shuts Down Artist Promotions… For Now
uri: The-Pirate-Bay-Shuts-Down-Artist-Promotions-For-Now
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/gzhe9T6Tj5I/
content:
<p><img src="media/e9d1b569.promo-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/promo-bay.jpg" align="right" alt="promo bay" />In this day and age aspiring artists have access to all the tools they need to create a decent product. </p>
<p>The real challenge is to escape obscurity and get noticed by the public. </p>
<p>To help artists get noticed, The Pirate Bay rolled out a new <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-launches-promo-platform-for-artists-120116/">promotion platform</a> last year. Through The Promo Bay the site offered artists a prime advertising spot on the site’s homepage, replacing the iconic logo, for free.</p>
<p>In the weeks that followed more than 10,000 artists signed up for a feature, nearly all musicians. A few dozens of these have been promoted over the past year, generating millions of page views and in some cases even a healthy <a href="http://www.giantbomb.com/news/mcpixel-embraced-piracy-lived-to-tell-the-tale/4366/">stream of revenue</a>. </p>
<p>But despite these successes The Promo Bay hasn&#8217;t been featuring any new artists in recent weeks. </p>
<p>Tobias Andersson, one of the original founders of The Pirate Bay who came up with the idea for the promotion platform, has left the ship and at the moment there is no-one around to take his place.</p>
<p>Will Dayble, who manages the separate <a href="http://promobay.org/">Promo Bay</a> site, hasn&#8217;t been in touch with The Pirate Bay crew but stresses that the site will remain online. Artists can still submit their content to the site, and Dayble hopes that TPB or another site will soon help out on the promotion side again.</p>
<p>Tobias Andersson told TorrentFreak that he is indeed moving on with other things, and he isn&#8217;t holding back on his criticism of the current Pirate Bay crew either.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Pirate Bay not continuing with The Promo Bay is just more evidence of the site going stale. It&#8217;s not the rebellious, energetic and progressive site it once was. It&#8217;s bloated with ads, more than ever, worse than ever. Nothing is said, nothing is done,&#8221; Andersson says.</p>
<p>Despite being the largest file-sharing site on the Internet, Andersson believes that The Pirate Bay has lost its edge in recent years.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s just another site. Which is sad since it once was something completely different. It didn&#8217;t used to be just a site, it was a concept of a better Internet. Sure, most people only want the site for Hollywood movies and mainstream music. But any site could do that. There are hundreds of sites like that.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Pirate Bay crew disagrees with Andersson and says that the Promo Bay initiative isn&#8217;t dead yet. They will try to find someone to handle the artist contacts and get the project running again in the future.</p>
<p>Andersson nonetheless reiterates what he <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/shut-down-the-pirate-bay-founder-says-130708/">said before</a>, that closing down the site may be the best option. </p>
<p>&#8220;I see no value in TPB continuing. The best thing would be if it shut down now, to mark ten years of resistance, resiliency and a stance for the free Internet,&#8221; he says. </p>
<p>The Pirate Bay, however, shows no sign of stopping. Despite <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-founders-speak-out-on-the-sites-past-and-future-130811/">heavy criticism</a> from several of its founders, the site keeps expanding its user base month after month while <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-browser-hits-500000-downloads-130830/">continuing the development</a> of several anti-censorship tools.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-shuts-down-artist-promotions-130917/">The Pirate Bay Shuts Down Artist Promotions&#8230; For Now</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76761
title: 432 Million Internet Pirates Transfer 9,567 Petabytes of Data a Month
uri: 432-Million-Internet-Pirates-Transfer-9-567-Petabytes-of-Data-a-Month
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Gcoy_okW53M/
content:
<p><a href="media/c8cb2e41.illegallydownload.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/illegallydownload.jpg"><img src="media/c8cb2e41.illegallydownload.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/illegallydownload.jpg" alt="illegallydownload" width="200" height="84" class="alignright size-full wp-image-54542" /></a>This morning the Piracy Analysis team at NetNames <a href="http://www.netnames.com/Sizing_the_piracy_universe">released</a> a comprehensive report on the scope of online piracy. </p>
<p>Titled &#8220;Sizing the Piracy Universe,&#8221; the NBC Universal commissioned study maps the volume and prevalence of online piracy throughout the world. </p>
<p>The overall conclusion of the report is that, despite various anti-piracy policies and enforcement actions, piracy is hard to stop. </p>
<p>&#8220;The practice of infringement is tenacious and persistent. Despite some discrete instances of success in limiting infringement, the piracy universe not only persists in attracting more users year on year but hungrily consumes increasing amounts of bandwidth,&#8221; NetNames writes.</p>
<p>NetNames uses in-house research and several third-party resources to draw its conclusions. The report estimates the number of copyright infringers on the Internet, the amount of data these people share across various platforms, and signals various trends.</p>
<p>One of the most visible trends is that direct download &#8220;cyberlockers&#8221; have lost many visitors since late 2011, while other platforms expanded their user bases.</p>
<p>The number of pirates using cyberlockers dropped by 8% between November 2011 and January 2013, which the report attributes to the Megaupload shutdown. At the same time, the number of pirates using BitTorrent and video streaming platforms increased by 27% and 22% respectively. </p>
<p>In total, the number of people downloading or streaming unauthorized content via the Internet increased more than 3%. </p>
<p>As can be seen in the table below, most pirates use direct download and torrent sites, both with slightly above 200 million unique users a month. NetNames excluded users who never download any infringing content, which they estimates at 4% for BitTorrent and 8% for direct download sites.</p>
<p><center><br />
<h5>Piracy ecosystem as of January 2013 (<a href="media/a302b28f.table-large.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/table-large.png">large</a>)</h5>
<p><a href="media/fb0cd7b2.piracy-graph.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/piracy-graph.png"><img src="media/fb0cd7b2.piracy-graph.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/piracy-graph.png" alt="piracy-graph" width="570" height="322" class="alignright size-full wp-image-76764" /></a></center></p>
<p>Based on data from Cisco, NetNames also estimates the total bandwidth generated by Internet pirates in Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific. In these key regions Internet piracy accounted for 9,567 petabytes of data, meaning that global traffic well exceeds 10,000 petabytes.</p>
<p>In terms of bandwidth BitTorrent is the absolute leader, which makes sense since users both download and upload files, generating twice as much traffic.  </p>
<p>In 2012 unauthorized BitTorrent traffic accounted for 6,692 petabytes a month in these three regions, an increase of 244.9% compared to 2010. Users of &#8220;pirate&#8221; video streaming portals transferred 1,527 petabytes of data in 2012, an increase of 471.9% from 2010.</p>
<p>Pirates who used cyberlockers downloaded relatively little content, 338 petabytes of data per month in 2012, down 54.7% compared to 2010. In total, the report estimates that nearly a quarter of all Internet traffic is piracy related.</p>
<p>The report also observes several regional trends. For example, direct download sites are the preferred download service in the Asia-Pacific region, while BitTorrent is most used in Europe and North America.</p>
<p>Overall, NetNames&#8217; research provides a unique overview of the scope of online piracy. Without a doubt, the MPAA and other anti-piracy forces will leave no opportunity unused to turn it to their advantage. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/432-million-pirates-share-9567-petabytes-a-month-130917/">432 Million Internet Pirates Transfer 9,567 Petabytes of Data a Month</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76792
title: RIAA Wants Web Browsers to Block Pirate Sites? …And More
uri: RIAA-Wants-Web-Browsers-to-Block-Pirate-Sites-And-More
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/o10aW1v0vMY/
content:
<p><a href="media/971b8479.riaa-logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/riaa-logo.jpg"><img src="media/971b8479.riaa-logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/riaa-logo.jpg" alt="riaa-logo" width="170" height="173" class="alignright size-full wp-image-15326" /></a>After more than a decade of aggressive anti-piracy actions directed through the courts, the world&#8217;s largest entertainment companies are now looking to forge less confrontational partnerships with companies in the technology sector.</p>
<p>In the belief that voluntary agreements can help a great deal in reducing online infringement, the RIAA and MPAA are trumpeting their efforts to make content legally available and are asking a wide range of service providers to help give those official offerings room to grow.</p>
<p>Later today, RIAA CEO Cary Sherman will tell a House Judiciary Subcommittee that such voluntary agreements have a vital role to play.</p>
<p>&#8220;In order to make this digital marketplace truly work, we must ensure that these vibrant new legitimate and authorized technologies are not undermined by those engaged in illegal activity.  Voluntary initiatives with Internet intermediaries are a key component of that objective,&#8221; Sherman will tell the hearing.</p>
<h2>Copyright Alerts System</h2>
<p>The RIAA expresses thanks to the Administration and Congress for the support given so far to initiatives such as the fledgling Copyright Alerts System. Sherman will state that it&#8217;s too early to say whether or not it has been a full success, but the signs are good.</p>
<p>&#8220;The CAS is still in the initial implementation stages and proper metrics are being determined. But feedback so far has been positive and it is worth noting that P2P content protection programs in other countries have been found to have an impact on either the amount of unauthorized P2P activity or on sales,&#8221; Sherman will note.</p>
<h2>Payments, advertising and domain issues</h2>
<p>Another area of cooperation highlighted are agreements with payment processors including Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover and PayPal, which sees processors terminate their relationship with a website if it continually offers illegitimate content. Sherman will cite figures from the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition (IACC) that reveal the termination of more than 1,500 merchant accounts between 2011 and August 2013.</p>
<p>After highlighting progress in restricting advertising revenue to &#8220;rogue sites&#8221; and cautiously welcoming anti-piracy provisions relating to the rolling out of new Top Level Domains, Sherman will move on to the issue of User Generated Content.</p>
<h2>UGC Principles</h2>
<p>The RIAA chairman begins by referencing an initiative signed by CBS, Disney, Crackle, Daily Motion, Fox, Microsoft and Veoh among others way back in 2007. The agreement, which Sherman says was one of very first voluntary online anti-piracy initiatives, sought to boost UGC services while protecting rights holders. </p>
<p>The RIAA hopes that it can breathe new life into the six-year-old deal which will see parties:</p>
<p>- Implement fingerprinting technology to filter out unauthorized video and audio<br />
- Provide copyright holders with &#8220;enhanced searching and identification means.&#8221;<br />
- Work to identify &#8220;predominantly infringing&#8221; sites and block their links<br />
- Track, identify and ban repeat infringers while &#8220;accommodating fair use&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;The <a href="http://ugcprinciples.com/">UGC principles</a> serve as a model of intermediaries and content owners working together voluntarily to assure that the provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) have meaning and are adapted to new technological advancements,&#8221; Sherman will say.</p>
<p>&#8220;They should serve as a blueprint for new voluntary agreements between content owners and Internet intermediaries to carry out the intent of the DMCA to protect both copyright owners and intermediaries&#8221;</p>
<h2>Search engines must do more &#8211; much more</h2>
<p>Perhaps unsurprisingly the RIAA still has plenty of criticism for search engines such as Google, who it accuses of doing little to help with infringement. The music group says it wants engines to look at whether sites are &#8220;authorized&#8221; or not when it determines how they are placed in results.</p>
<p>&#8220;We believe it would be useful to see voluntary initiatives by search engines that take into account whether or not a site is authorized to provide the content at issue in determining search result rankings for searches to consume that content,&#8221; Sherman will say.</p>
<p>&#8220;This could take into account not only the absolute number of copyright removal requests sent about a site to trigger demotion of that site, but also whether the site is authorized to provide the content to trigger a higher search rank for that site.&#8221;</p>
<p>The RIAA also says that Google&#8217;s efforts to disappear links to child porn could be extended to infringing material and that tools such as Chrome could divert users away from certain sites and towards others.</p>
<p>&#8220;Google has tools in its Chrome browser to warn users if they are going to sites that may be malicious. Shouldn’t that technology be used to warn users of rogue sites?&#8221; Sherman will ask.</p>
<p>The RIAA doesn&#8217;t explain if this means blocking direct access to pirate sites, or if another warning system is preferred. </p>
<p>&#8220;Or better yet, can Google use similar technology to highlight or identify sites that are authorized? Imagine if links to content on legitimate sites were labeled – directly in the search result – with a certification mark indicating that the site is licensed and actually pays royalties to creators. That educational message could have a profound and positive impact on user behavior.&#8221;</p>
<h2>The DMCA isn&#8217;t working &#8211; cooperation is needed</h2>
<p>It&#8217;s no secret that the RIAA is disappointed with how the DMCA has panned out. The music group feels that scanning millions of websites and sending notices is an unfair burden for rightsholders and a position that needs to improve.</p>
<p>&#8220;As was done with the UGC Principles, there is an opportunity for intermediaries and content owners to sit down and negotiate practical solutions that will make the &#8216;notice and takedown&#8217; system more meaningful and effective,&#8221; Sherman will say.</p>
<p>&#8220;From more stringent repeat infringer policies to takedowns that don’t automatically repopulate, many practical solutions can be adopted that would assure the intent of the DMCA is carried out. We hope the relevant parties will join together to start this process and we need Congress to encourage and facilitate such a process.&#8221;</p>
<h2>What makes a good voluntary agreement?</h2>
<p>In his summing up, Sherman will state that voluntary agreements mean the formation of a partnership in which both content and platform owners work to protect copyright and in which intermediaries understand that doing so is to their benefit.</p>
<p>&#8220;Initiatives must go beyond what is already done or expected of intermediaries under existing law,&#8221; Sherman will declare.</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> An RIAA spokesperson informs TorrentFreak that while RIAA CEO Cary Sherman references Google&#8217;s malware warnings, they don&#8217;t propose to block any sites. </p>
<p>“Just to further make clear, Cary purposefully and explicitly twice referred to &#8216;warning&#8217; users in his remarks about possible voluntary initiatives we could discuss with Google. There intentionally was no reference to &#8216;blocking&#8217; and it is not something the RIAA would propose.&#8221;</p>
<p>The intro of this article has been updated to clarify the above. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/riaa-wants-web-browsers-to-block-pirate-sites-and-more-130918/">RIAA Wants Web Browsers to Block Pirate Sites? &#8230;And More</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76818
title: MPAA and RIAA Teach Copyright at Kindergartens
uri: MPAA-and-RIAA-Teach-Copyright-at-Kindergartens
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/NmpmAnS-fEQ/
content:
<p><img src="media/c3333f88.share.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/share.png" alt="share" width="200" height="186" class="alignright size-full wp-image-76825" />Over the past year the focus of anti-piracy enforcement has shifted from mandatory legislation to voluntary agreements between copyright groups and other stakeholders.</p>
<p>The Center for Copyright Information (<a href="http://www.copyrightinformation.org/">CCI</a>) is one of the pioneers in this field. Earlier this year the coalition of copyright holders and ISPs launched the six-strikes <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/six-strikes-anti-piracy-scheme-starts-130225/">Copyright Alert System</a>, but the non-profit company has additional plans to tackle the piracy problem.</p>
<p>CCI’s Executive Director Jill Lesser addresses the House Judiciary Subcommittee today, <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/169090996/HHRG-113-JU03-Wstate-LesserJ-20130918">explaining</a> what efforts the group has taken so far and what it hopes to achieve in the near future. </p>
<p>Lesser states that it&#8217;s too early to evaluate the effectiveness of the alert system. However, through customer research the CCI has learned some valuable insights that will help to frame their educational messages.</p>
<p>&#8220;To support the companies’ work, the CCI engaged in consumer research that helped us understand what consumers do and do not know about P2P technology and their level of understanding about the copyright laws.&#8221;</p>
<p>One of the troubling findings of the research is that most consumers don&#8217;t understand or appreciate copyright.</p>
<p>&#8220;We found that most consumers do not understand or appreciate concepts that many of us in the policy and legal communities take for granted – like the meaning of copyright,&#8221; Lesser notes.</p>
<p>These and other insights are used to better communicate their anti-piracy messaging, and CCI hopes that this will eventually lead to less copyright infringements. </p>
<p>&#8220;This research is helping us to better understand the drivers of consumer behavior around piracy and, we hope, will help us to improve the CCI’s effectiveness in communicating our messages and ultimately reduce the level of online piracy and increase content consumption through legal means.&#8221;</p>
<p>Aside from the alerts, which are targeted at the person who pays the Internet bill, the CCI is also reaching out to a much younger group of U.S. citizens. Together with iKeepSafe they have developed a new curriculum that will teach the value of copyright to California kids, starting at kindergarten.</p>
<p>&#8220;We have developed a new copyright curriculum that is being piloted during this academic year in California,&#8221; Lesser informs the House Judiciary Subcommittee. </p>
<p>&#8220;The kindergarten through sixth grade curriculum, entitled &#8216;Be A Creator&#8217;™, is the result of CCI’s partnership with the California School Libraries Association and iKeepSafe, a leading digital literacy organization.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><br />
<h5>I Play Fair (<a href="media/76adc9fa.beac.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/beac.jpg">large</a>)</h5>
<p><a href="media/76adc9fa.beac.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/beac.jpg"><img src="media/11221734.beacs.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/beacs.jpg" alt="beacs" width="575" height="369" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-76819" /></a></center></p>
<p>The pamphlet pictured above is one of the course materials that&#8217;s currently <a href="media/46a6f5b4.CCI_IKeepSafe_Graphic.pdf" data-original-source="http://www.copyrightinformation.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/CCI_IKeepSafe_Graphic.pdf">listed</a> on CCI&#8217;s website. The “Be A Creator” ™ program was also mentioned during the launch of the Copyright Alert System, but at the time it wasn&#8217;t known that kindergartens would also be targeted.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak talked to Public Knowledge president and co-founder Gigi Sohn, who is a member of CCI&#8217;s advisory board. She assured us that there are several safeguards in place to assure that the end product will be objective. The advisory board was brought in for advice at various stages in the process, and the California School Libraries Association is a known fair use proponent.</p>
<p>&#8220;Rest assured if this curriculum is perceived as being anything but fair, it won&#8217;t proceed beyond the pilot stage,&#8221; Sohn says.</p>
<p>The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), however, is skeptical about the educational program, and fears that it will be biased towards copyright holders. </p>
<p>&#8220;Based on what we’ve seen so far, that curriculum will do little to help kids understand the copyright balance. Instead, it is going to teach kids that creative works are &#8216;stuff&#8217; that can be owned and that you must always check before using that &#8216;stuff&#8217;,&#8221; the EFF commented.</p>
<p>While we haven&#8217;t seen the full course materials, the EFF has a valid point. The CCI consists of copyright holders and Internet Providers who will most likely highlight other copyright aspects than free speech scholars. While there are other parties that will add balance, it can still create distrust.</p>
<p>Earlier this week the Internet Society warned that the CCI&#8217;s educational copyright alerts <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/six-strikes-education-should-be-unbiased-internet-society-says-130916/">might be biased</a> to a certain extent. The organization encouraged CCI and other groups to use neutral third parties for their educational efforts.</p>
<p>Whether the CCI plans to do something with this critique remains to be seen. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-and-riaa-to-teach-copyright-at-kindergartens-130918/">MPAA and RIAA Teach Copyright at Kindergartens</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76710
title: Massive Music Piracy Plunge Fails to Halt Decline in Sales
uri: Massive-Music-Piracy-Plunge-Fails-to-Halt-Decline-in-Sales
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/gHr0IzPMRKE/
content:
<p><img src="media/69db4a73.casette.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/casette.jpg" align="right" alt="music piracy" />The majority of the reports and press releases put out by music industry groups over the past several years can be summarized in a few words: “Piracy is evil and we lose a lot of money because of it.”</p>
<p>On the other side, however, numerous studies have also shown that on average file-sharers spend more money on legal purchases, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/file-sharers-buy-more-movies-121018/">whether it&#8217;s music</a> or <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/uk-movie-pirates-spend-way-more-at-the-box-office-121122/">box office tickets</a>.</p>
<p>The most logical explanation for this finding is that &#8220;pirates&#8221; <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/riaa-pirates-are-bigger-music-fans-than-average-consumers-121113/">are more engaged</a> than those who don&#8217;t share, and that they complement their legal purchases with unauthorized downloads. </p>
<p>The above indicates that music piracy might not be the right scapegoat for the massive losses the industry has suffered since the early 2000s. At least, not the prime reason. This appears to be supported by new data released by the UK telecoms regulator <a href="http://www.ofcom.org.uk/">Ofcom</a> last week. </p>
<p>Since last year Ofcom has surveyed the download habits of tens of thousands of Brits. The <a href="http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/market-data-research/other/telecoms-research/oci-wave4/">latest data wave</a> shows that between March and May of this year about 9% of the people in the UK pirated music, with Ofcom signaling a clear downward trend compared to last year. </p>
<p>The estimated number of downloaded tracks in the UK dropped from 301 million last year <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/sep/12/music-piracy-tracks-illegally-downloaded">to 199 million</a> in the latest measurement. In other words, according to Ofcom&#8217;s findings a third of all music piracy evaporated in a year. </p>
<p>The number of people who admitted to pirating music during the same period dropped as well, approximately 10% during the same time frame. </p>
<p>This is great news for the music industry, but neither the BPI or IFPI have cheered on the findings in a press release. It might be that they are not convinced by the data, or perhaps they too might have noticed that the unprecedented drop in piracy had virtually no effect on music sales. </p>
<p>While it&#8217;s true that streaming services such as Spotify are expanding their user base at a rapid pace, overall sales revenues in the UK are still dropping. While piracy plunged, music sales fell from $1.41 billion in 2011 to $1.33 billion, a hefty 6.1% decrease. </p>
<p>Previously, when music piracy increased various industry groups pointed out that there was a direct correlation with the decline in sales. This argument will be much harder to make now. </p>
<p>Of course, the music industry can point out that 199 million downloads is still very significant, and that the losses might have even been higher if piracy hadn&#8217;t declined. That said, it&#8217;s clear that unauthorized downloads are not the only problem for the music industry, and that there are other, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/is-piracy-really-killing-the-music-industry-no-100418/">perhaps more important</a>, factors that explain the continuous losses. </p>
<p>In fact, Ofcom&#8217;s study <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/music-pirates-are-cheapskates-some-of-them-130210/">once again</a> shows that not all pirates are cheapskates. Those who consumed a mix of legal and illegal music said they spent the most on music &#8211; £95.31 &#8211; while those who only consumed music legally totaled £41.40.</p>
<p>Perhaps that explains the recent sales decline?</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/massive-music-piracy-plunge-fails-to-halt-decline-in-sales-130919/">Massive Music Piracy Plunge Fails to Halt Decline in Sales</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76841
title: Pirate Bay Blocking Orders Should Be Overturned Under EU Law, ISPs Argue
uri: Pirate-Bay-Blocking-Orders-Should-Be-Overturned-Under-EU-Law-ISPs-Arg
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/lSprAgYe_gQ/
content:
<p><img src="media/fc7fa772.tpb.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com//images/tpb.jpg" width="175" height="188" class="alignright" />In 2010, Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN went to court to try and force Ziggo, the Netherlands&#8217; largest ISP, to implement a DNS and IP address block of The Pirate Bay.</p>
<p>Ziggo were later joined in the case by rival ISP XS4ALL, fighting the action together in the hope of avoiding a damaging precedent. Initially the court decided that blocking all subscribers went too far but BREIN wasn&#8217;t satisfied and took the case to a full trial.</p>
<p>In late 2011 the case was heard, with the ISPs arguing in favor of their customers&#8217; right to have free access to information and BREIN countering that copyrights need protecting too.<br />
In January 2012 the ISPs lost the case and BREIN <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/dutch-isps-ordered-to-block-the-pirate-bay-120111/">celebrated victory</a>.</p>
<p>Both Ziggo and XS4ALL subsequently filed appeals but in May 2012 yet more local ISPs &#8211; KPN/Telfort, UPC,T-Mobile and Tele2 &#8211; <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/five-more-dutch-isps-given-10-days-to-censor-the-pirate-bay-120510/">were ordered</a> to block The Pirate Bay on the back of the original ruling.</p>
<h2>Ziggo and XS4ALL appeal</h2>
<p>Today the Ziggo / XS4ALL appeal is being heard in the Court of The Hague. Andreas Udo de Haes, editor of Dutch news site <a href="http://webwereld.nl">Webwereld</a>, has been live tweeting from the courtroom and there are some interesting arguments to report.</p>
<p>The legal team for XS4ALL began with a reference to the failed SOPA/PIPA legislation in the United States which would have allowed DNS and IP blocking of &#8216;pirate sites&#8217;. Over in Europe, the EU Enforcement Directive is clear on ISP liability for third-party infringements and proactive blocking of communications is prohibited according to recent case-law (<a href="http://torrentfreak.com/european-court-isps-cant-spy-on-pirating-customers-111124/">1</a>)(<a href="http://torrentfreak.com/eu-court-bans-anti-piracy-filters-on-hosting-services-120216/">2</a>), the ISP&#8217;s lawyer argued.</p>
<p>XS4ALL went on to insist that blocking the full Pirate Bay site is a disproportionate response &#8211; even if 90% of the indexed content is illegal, many hundreds of thousands of legitimate files are now affected by the blockade.</p>
<p>In any event, the ISP believes that website blocking is ineffective in stamping out copyright infringement. Research <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/censoring-the-pirate-bay-is-futile-isps-reveal-120711/">carried out by ISPs</a> and researchers <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/censoring-the-pirate-bay-is-futile-research-shows-130822/">has found</a> that blocking The Pirate Bay is futile. If the tool is useless, then there can&#8217;t possibly be a need for it, the ISP told the court.</p>
<p>A combination of improved legal options and educational measures are a better bet, XS4ALL concluded.</p>
<h2>Ziggo: File-sharing is an advertising channel</h2>
<p>Next up was the lawyer for Ziggo, who began by pointing out that not only is the blockade of The Pirate Bay easily circumvented using proxy sites, but there are also plenty of alternative sites offering similar content. </p>
<p>Ziggo said that file-sharing had not caused the end of the music industry and that offering decent legal alternatives leads to a decline in piracy. The existence of iTunes shows that it is entirely possible to compete with &#8216;free&#8217;, the ISP said.</p>
<p>Ziggo&#8217;s lawyer said that while BREIN insists that the growth of file-sharing has damaging effects on culture, creativity and the entertainment industry, research shows that the sector is actually growing. The ISP said if there is indeed a relationship between piracy and legal services, it is a positive one, with piracy operating as an advertising channel.</p>
<p>Ziggo went on to underline that it has absolutely no connection to The Pirate Bay and operates only as an intermediary, yet it is expected to implement a very broad filter which indiscriminately blocks users regardless of the kind of content they&#8217;re trying to access. </p>
<p>The ISP added that the EU court previously held that preventive measures are only allowed if the fundamental rights at stake in the case are carefully weighed. The current blockade is the start of a very dangerous path, Ziggo concluded.</p>
<h2>BREIN: Pirate Bay is run by teenagers profiting from ads of naked girls</h2>
<p>After a short break, BREIN presented their case. The anti-piracy group said that despite the ISPs proclaiming the end of the Internet if they are forced to block sites like TPB, no such thing has come about. ISPs are able to block spam because their customers prefer it, but blocking a site such as The Pirate Bay is suddenly difficult only because their customers find it useful. </p>
<p>ISPs are in the business of selling bandwidth, BREIN&#8217;s lawyer said, but this is at the expense of poor artists and bankrupt record stores.</p>
<p>BREIN said that the nature of BitTorrent is clear &#8211; its users upload as well as download so are therefore infringing copyright. The Pirate Bay also infringes and represents the greatest instance of piracy &#8220;in the history of mankind&#8221; and must be stopped. Just this week it had Grand Theft Auto V in advance of its official launch.</p>
<p>BREIN&#8217;s lawyer said that 95% of the content indexed by The Pirate Bay is illegal and the legal content has &#8220;zero seeders and zero peers.&#8221; The site removes fakes, does not respond to takedown notices, and is run by &#8220;a pair of Swedish teenagers who turn 30 million euros in revenue with ads of naked girls.&#8221;</p>
<p>Countering claims that the blockade is ineffective, BREIN said that its research shows that when confronted with a block, users tend to go to other sites, an indication that the blockade is indeed working. Those other sites, BREIN said, will be targeted in due course.</p>
<p>Blocking is a proportional response and costs very little to implement, BREIN went on to argue, adding that according to Alexa, Google and Comscore, The Pirate Bay&#8217;s traffic dropped when the blockades were introduced and fell again when its proxy sites were hit. Surprisingly, BREIN told the court it had shut down around 200 proxies.</p>
<p>BREIN went on to argue that the blockades had been effective in reducing piracy and stated that previous studies reporting no decrease in torrent traffic after the blockades were introduced could not be relied upon. There had been an increase in legal BitTorrent usage, BREIN said, such as server syncing <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/facebook-uses-bittorrent-and-they-love-it-100625/">carried out</a> by Facebook, traffic which the studies did not look at.</p>
<p>The anti-piracy group also contested the notion that DNS blockades are a form of abuse. BREIN said the technique was more akin to a configuration change rather than an attack on the Internet. As for the EU ruling in the SABAM case, BREIN said it had concentrated on the <a href="http://www.osborneclarke.co.uk/publications/services/litigation/insight/2011/but-was-it-worth-it-the-significance-of-the-loreal-v-ebay-trade-mark-ruling-for-brand-owners.aspx">L&#8217;Oreal v eBay</a> judgment. It was not asking for hugely expensive packet level filtering but a straightforward block of The Pirate Bay, in same way that the ISPs block thousands of spam sites every day.</p>
<p>Interestingly the judge then questioned BREIN on the effectiveness of the blockades. BREIN said its goal is to have The Pirate Bay blocked, however the judge recalled that BREIN had already admitted that people circumvent that ban by going to other sites. BREIN said they would tackle those sites next but Ziggo countered by stating that many of those sites are outside the Netherlands.</p>
<p>And now comes the wait, possibly as long as six weeks, for what could turn out to be an extremely important ruling.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-blocking-orders-should-be-overturned-under-eu-law-isps-argue-130919/">Pirate Bay Blocking Orders Should Be Overturned Under EU Law, ISPs Argue</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76795
title: Scammers Flood The Internet Archive With Pirated Movies
uri: Scammers-Flood-The-Internet-Archive-With-Pirated-Movies
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/rNtYAOVb9tY/
content:
<p><a href="media/5f33ed04.scam1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/scam1.jpg"><img src="media/5f33ed04.scam1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/scam1.jpg" alt="scam" width="225" height="152" class="alignright size-full wp-image-76894" /></a>The Internet Archive is widely regarded as the largest online repository of free-to-share media. </p>
<p>The site hosts millions of public domain and Creative Commons licensed files, many of which can be downloaded through BitTorrent. In recent weeks, however, the Internet Archive has been flooded with more <a href="http://archive.org/search.php?query=WatchOnlineFreeLeakedMovies&#038;sort=-downloads">dubious content</a>.</p>
<p>Searching the site for the titles of Hollywood blockbusters now results in long lists of seemingly pirated movies. With names such as &#8220;World War Z 2013 DVDRip Xvid AQAS&#8221; and &#8220;The World&#8217;s End full movie part 1 Xvid&#8221; it is safe to say the files in question are not in the public domain. </p>
<p>However, on closer inspection it turns out that these titles are not being uploaded by pirates who want to spread free movies, but by scammers trying to earn hard cash through the Internet Archive.</p>
<p>Those who try to download or stream the movies in question will soon notice that it&#8217;s not as straightforward as it looks. The &#8220;scam&#8221; uploads come in different shapes. Some have actually uploaded what looks like a movie file, but one that requires a special software such as the MKPlayer illustrated in the image below.</p>
<p>Needless to say, this is just a money-making scheme designed to lure people into downloading suspicious software.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/b917deb6.mkplayer.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mkplayer.png"><img src="media/b917deb6.mkplayer.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mkplayer.png" alt="mkplayer" width="575" height="454" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-76814" /></a></center></p>
<p>Another trick scammers use is the YouTube video screenshot. </p>
<p>The page pictured below suggests that you can stream the film Epic directly from the Internet Archive, but those who click play will notice that it&#8217;s just an image which points to an external streaming site. </p>
<p>Whether the third-party sites do indeed stream these movies is unknown, but they do ask for the credit card details of those who are gutsy enough to give it a try. </p>
<p>Several movie links point to <a href="http://cinemablast.info/v/">the same page</a> at Cinemablast.info with fake user comments. When the &#8220;film&#8221; starts playing a notice pops up saying that the film was <a href="media/9f3a4e46.0t32.png" data-original-source="http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/6493/0t32.png">approved for all audiences</a> by the non-existing Independent Film Rating Association of America, instead of the MPAA. After this notice visitors are redirected to the pay site.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/53b4855d.epic-archive.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/epic-archive.jpg" alt="epic-archive" width="575" height="572" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-76815" /></center></p>
<p>While these type of scams are nothing new for the average BitTorrent search engine, this is the first time we&#8217;ve seen them abuse the Internet Archive. </p>
<p>One of the factors that may explain the increase in interest is the fact that the Internet Archive <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/internet-archive-starts-seeding-1398635-torrents-120807/">added BitTorrent downloads</a> last summer. After this announcement several torrent search engines started indexing the site, which makes the scam torrents spread to other sites as well.</p>
<p>Unlike well moderated torrent sites such as The Pirate Bay, the Internet Archive has yet to find a good way to keep the scammers at bay. TorrentFreak asked the Internet Archive for a response to our findings, but we have yet to hear back.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/scammers-flood-the-internet-archive-with-pirated-movies-130919/">Scammers Flood The Internet Archive With Pirated Movies</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76910
title: DEFCAD Launches ‘The Pirate Bay’ of 3D Printing
uri: DEFCAD-Launches-The-Pirate-Bay-of-3D-Printing
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/dbVg0jeE1Yk/
content:
<p><img src="media/1c69e722.downloadcar.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/downloadcar.png" align="right" alt="download a car" />Late last year the 3D print website Thingiverse decided to <a href="http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33809_7-57560076/makerbot-purges-3d-printable-gun-parts-from-thingiverse/" target="_blank">ban 3D gun designs</a>, citing their terms of service which clearly prohibit files used to make weapons.</p>
<p>In a response <a href="http://defdist.org/">Defense Distributed</a>, the people behind the first 3D printable gun, threw up a website to host the designs that had been banned at Thingiverse. This included the popular blueprints of their own gun &#8220;The Liberator.&#8221;</p>
<p>The worldwide release of the prints did not sit well with the State Department&#8217;s Office of Defense Trade Controls who kindly requested that DEFCAD remove the availability of the 3D printable gun documents, citing a possible violation of International Traffic in Arms Regulations.</p>
<p>The files in question were removed, but at the same time DEFCAD was already working on a new project that would be harder to censor. Defense Distributed founder <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cody_Wilson">Cody Wilson</a> had started to raise funds for a separate meta-search engine, the first to focus on 3D print models. </p>
<p>&#8220;In March of this year, seeing an opportunity to expand the DEFCAD concept to fight the prevailing ideas about intellectual property in the entire physible space, I split Defense Distributed and DEFCAD and turned the latter into another company,&#8221; Wilson tells TorrentFreak. </p>
<p>&#8220;The idea was to move away from direct hosting to employ the first amendment victories won by Google in the courts and become a meta-search engine as a more robust way of spreading and preserving physibles. We hope to build a piece of infrastructure to help stem the next wave of the IP wars in advance, if you will.&#8221;</p>
<p>DEFCAD raised a significant amount of funds and has now quietly rolled out the meta-search engine to the public on <a href="http://defcad.com">DEFCAD.com</a>. While still labeled as an Alpha release the site already indexes more than 74,000 files, all stored on external sites.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/8c711c50.defcad.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/defcad.png"><img src="media/8c711c50.defcad.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/defcad.png" alt="defcad" width="509" height="222" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-76915" /></a></center></p>
<p>DEFCAD has been labeled the &#8220;Pirate Bay of 3D printing&#8221; as Wilson and his team previously pledged not to take any content down. Those who take a good look at the site will also notice some other Pirate Bay references, including the &#8220;kopimi&#8221; logo at the bottom and the use of magnet links. In addition, many of the files linked on DEFCAD are hosted on the Bayfiles hosting site which was launched by two Pirate Bay founders.</p>
<p>While DEFCAD doesn&#8217;t mind being linked to The Pirate Bay, Wilson believes that the title doesn&#8217;t apply as much after they were forced by the authorities to censor their own work. He sees the Pirate Bay comparison mostly as &#8220;convenient headline writing,&#8221; which we were kind enough to make use of.</p>
<p>&#8220;After the State Department came after Defense Distributed and our hand was forced, I believe the Pirate Bay is still the Pirate Bay of 3D sharing. But nothing would be better than building complementary structures in the spirit of TPB,&#8221; Wilson says. </p>
<p>The involvement of government changed a few things, and unlike The Pirate Bay, the company has registered Wilson as DMCA agent to deal with takedown requests. While they initially received some complaints from Thingiverse users, DEFCAD has not yet received a single official DMCA takedown notice.</p>
<p>&#8220;There was some dissatisfaction with our public testing earlier in the summer. A handful of makers felt like we were taking advantage of Thingiverse&#8217;s bandwidth or not adequately respecting their &#8216;rights&#8217; to their &#8216;property,&#8217; but since we&#8217;ve appointed a DMCA agent we&#8217;ve received no takedown requests.&#8221; </p>
<p>Of course it is still early days for 3D printing and at the moment the scale of 3D print piracy is rather minimal. This is bound to change in the years to come, but DEFCAD&#8217;s founder doubts that it will ever compete with the size and prevalence of more traditional forms of piracy, such as sharing movies and music.</p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m of two minds about this right now. Having grasped the state of 3D printing at the top and the bottom, I think the deck is stacked against movement physible piracy,&#8221; Wilson tells us. </p>
<p>&#8220;What I mean is that I don&#8217;t see the same passions being exercised to liberate copyrighted design as I see used to liberate entertainment media. This is probably obvious, and it may mean nothing for the future political defense of the physible, but I think the distinction is worthwhile.&#8221;</p>
<p>Wilson expects that when the ball starts rolling the entertainment industry might be the first to jump in to protect their 3D designs, as they have done already on a small scale.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s interesting that the old movie and film giants were the first to issue physible takedown notices. It&#8217;s quite likely entertainment-related physibles are going to be the battleground in the near future,&#8221; Wilson says.</p>
<p>Earlier this year HBO was one of the first to issue a <a href="http://www.wired.com/design/2013/02/got-hbo-cease-and-desist/">3D print takedown request</a> for a Game of Thrones iPhone cover. Those who search DEFCAD for the name of the popular series will see that they have plenty of work to do. </p>
<p>For now, however, the most downloaded files on the new meta-search engine are, perhaps fittingly, guns. With more than 6,000 downloads The Liberator v1.1 is the most popular, followed by other gun designs, the FOSSCAD Atlas SSR and DMR Shanrilivan with over 5,000 downloads.</p>
<p>Of course there are thousands of other designs available as well, and for the pacifist pirates out there DEFCAD also has <a href="http://defcad.com/cad_objects?query=pirate">plenty of booty</a>. </p>
<p><center><a href="media/1689719b.Fosscad.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/Fosscad.jpg"><img src="media/1689719b.Fosscad.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/Fosscad.jpg" alt="Fosscad" width="575" height="415" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-76916" /></a></center></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/defcad-launches-pirate-bay-of-3d-printing-130920/">DEFCAD Launches &#8216;The Pirate Bay&#8217; of 3D Printing</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76903
title: Facebook Added to Russian Website Blocklist, Joins 30,000 Unofficial Others
uri: Facebook-Added-to-Russian-Website-Blocklist-Joins-30-000-Unofficial-O
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/qQ19Yzaqhtk/
content:
<p><a href="media/5c64e7a8.facebay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/facebay.jpg"><img src="media/5c64e7a8.facebay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/facebay.jpg" alt="facebay" width="220" height="58" class="alignright size-full wp-image-11458" /></a>The idea that sites that do not comply with the Russia&#8217;s laws should be blocked is not new. Russia has been operating a national website blacklist since late 2012 and it currently contains hundreds of websites, from those promoting drug taking and suicide to those offering child pornography.</p>
<p>But while blocking the most offensive of websites receives little opposition from the public, Russia&#8217;s fledgling and largely unpopular anti-piracy law also introduced provisions for sites carrying infringing content to be blocked at the ISP level.</p>
<p>Introduced to a wave of controversy on August 1, the legislation allows for sites that merely link to infringing content to blocked if they do not take action within 72 hours of a complaint. Blocked sites are all placed on the national blocklist where they stay until action is taken, whether that&#8217;s removing copyrighted files or complying with some other law.</p>
<p>Yesterday the list enjoyed its most high-profile addition yet after complaints were made about content located on one of Facebook&#8217;s countless pages. Telecoms watchdog Roskomnadzor confirmed that the site had already been added to the blacklist and would be given three days to remove the yet to be detailed content.</p>
<p>Following speculation that the problem lay with an advert for &#8216;smoking blends&#8217; on the site, Roskomnadzor said that it had also received complaints about other material and Facebook&#8217;s webhosts had been informed of the pending block. Facebook said it was not informed of any problems but the site is expected to do whatever is necessary to rectify the issue.</p>
<p>Artem Kozlyuk, head of <a href="http://rublacklist.net/">RosKomSvoboda</a>, an organization that monitors Russia&#8217;s blacklist, told TorrentFreak that in addition to sites being officially added to the blacklist, many thousands of websites are being blocked illegally due to broad IP address-based filters.</p>
<p>&#8220;99% of sites currently blocked in Russia are illegally being subjected to blocking,&#8221; Kozlyuk explained.</p>
<p>&#8220;At the moment, in quantitative terms, it&#8217;s more than 30,000 sites, but decisions under the law have only been issued against 450 of them. The remaining sites are being blocked just because they are on the same IP address as those carrying the illegal material.&#8221;</p>
<p>Kozlyuk says that the collateral damage extends far and wide, including operating system sites, libraries, publishing houses, plus forums and personal blogs of all kinds. With Russia set to broaden its new anti-piracy law, complaints are only likely to rise meaning that more blockades will be introduced and more sites will become blocked unfairly.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, a petition which gathered 100K signatures against the anti-piracy law looks set to fall on somewhat deaf ears. During a press conference yesterday it was made clear that the State Duma would not be withdrawing the legislation.</p>
<p>Minister of Culture Vladimir Medina said that canceling the law is out of the question.</p>
<p>&#8220;If we understand that there is private property, then intellectual property is the same. It is embedded with the blood, sweat and tears of the author. If we deny there is intellectual property, we are depriving the author of the opportunity to live,&#8221; Medina <a href="http://www.nr2.ru/moskow/461037.html">said</a>. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/facebook-added-to-russian-website-blocklist-joins-30000-unofficial-others-130920/">Facebook Added to Russian Website Blocklist, Joins 30,000 Unofficial Others</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76938
title: Pirate Admins Face Six Years in Jail After Spanish Govt. Approves New Bill
uri: BitTorrent-Admins-Face-Six-Years-in-Jail-After-Spanish-Govt-Approves
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/uCpKbBXQ4mU/
content:
<p><img src="media/31a0f46d.spain-flag.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/spain-flag.jpg" width="200" height="133" class="alignright" />Spain has long been a thorn in the side of United States-based entertainment companies. File-sharing is somewhat of a national pastime and efforts to crack down on the activity have been met with some words and also legislation, but very little action.</p>
<p>In January 2012 it was revealed that the United States had threatened to put Spain on a trade blacklist but just months later the country responded by introduced the so-called Sinde Law which was designed to offer greater protections for copyright holders. However, even though the legislation included provisions to close infringing sites, there was clearly no appetite to do so.</p>
<p>Now, a year-and-a-half on, Spain is having another go at appeasing the United States. Under new measures approved yesterday, operators of file-sharing sites &#8211; who up until now have been able to operate fairly freely &#8211; could have to face a harsh new reality.</p>
<p>The Government-approved amendments to the penal code target owners and administrators of file-sharing sites that link to content hosted elsewhere. Previously these types of sites remained within the law provided they didn&#8217;t profit directly from a file-sharing transaction. Under the new amendments, those making even indirect profit from an infringement (such as via advertising) now face jail sentences of up to six years.</p>
<p>But while the government has signaled a crack down in one area, it insists that flexibility will remain in others, particularly against basic search engines and regular users.</p>
<p>&#8220;In no case will we act against regular users, neutral search engines, or against P2P programs that allow the sharing of content,&#8221; Minister Alberto Ruiz Gallardón <a href="http://cultura.elpais.com/cultura/2013/09/20/actualidad/1379704980_231370.html">said</a>.</p>
<p>The idea of going after sites and not users was welcomed by local writer Lorenza Silva.</p>
<p>&#8220;You can not criminalize the entire population,&#8221; he told Elpais. &#8220;But making life difficult for the biggest contributor to the problem and going after those who generate the most benefits from it is the right strategy.&#8221;</p>
<p>But already questions are being raised over the new amendments. To show that a file-sharing site operator has committed a crime under the law it will be necessary to show that there has been a &#8220;significant breach of intellectual property rights&#8221; but there are no clear guidelines on what that actually means.</p>
<p>And for Spain, a country in which it is commonplace to buy counterfeit DVDs on the streets and where youth unemployment has reached 56%, there are many who think the government has got its priorities wrong.</p>
<p>&#8220;To jail? We&#8217;re not going to put anyone in jail for copying a disc or links. It sounds more like a pantomime,&#8221; local rock musician Sr Chinarro <a href="http://elpais.com">told</a> Elpais.</p>
<p>Now that the Cabinet has approved the amendments they will head over to parliament for debate. Only time will tell if the government will really follow through with its threats against local sites or whether the population will respond by spending more money on media in any meaningful way. While there is a chance of the former, the latter seems a distant dream.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-admins-face-six-years-in-jail-after-spanish-govt-approves-new-law-130921/">Pirate Admins Face Six Years in Jail After Spanish Govt. Approves New Bill</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76793
title: Alien-Level Tech Required To Crack New VPN Encryption Setup, Makers Say
uri: Alien-Level-Tech-Required-To-Crack-New-VPN-Encryption-Setup-Makers-Sa
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/JhLbQwBW1ww/
content:
<p><a href="media/dc0db770.piaman.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/piaman.jpg"><img src="media/dc0db770.piaman.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/piaman.jpg" alt="piaman" width="180" height="199" class="alignright size-full wp-image-76956" /></a>Previously the domain of the particularly Internet savvy, in recent years the issue of online privacy has become a regular talking point in many mainstream tech publications.</p>
<p>The use of VPNs and services such as TOR have proven particularly popular with those looking to keep a low profile online with the added benefit of enabling users <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-that-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2013-edition-130302/">to bypass</a> government imposed websites censorship around the world.</p>
<p>Of course, this year came a watershed moment for privacy when ex-CIA contractor Edward Snowden spilled the beans on the activities of the NSA, revelations which have sent shockwaves around the world. While previously corporations and geeks might have sought to heavily encrypt their communications, now everyone is getting in on the act. Needless to say, security-focused products are enjoying the boom.</p>
<p>For regular file-sharers, security requirements are somewhat different to those looking to whistle-blow or widely share government secrets. Nevertheless, one of the biggest VPN providers in the space will today up the ante with the release of a brand new VPN client. It offers more features than ever before to encrypt users&#8217; communications to a level that will perfectly suit them but disappoint would-be attackers.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak was given access to the new software earlier this week for testing. It&#8217;s an upgrade to the current <a href="https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/">Private Internet Access</a> OpenVPN client and installed without a hitch. It looks very much like the old software until a press of the &#8216;Advanced&#8217; button reveals a new option titled &#8216;Encryption&#8217;.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/b81797e9.piaclient1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/piaclient1.jpg" alt="PIA Client" /></center></p>
<p>&#8220;Our application allows our clients to change their encryption and security settings with just a few clicks to any combination they choose,&#8221; PIA CEO Andrew Lee told TorrentFreak. &#8220;We allow our customers to configure their handshake encryption, data authentication encryption and even the data itself with levels up to AES-256 and RSA 4096!&#8221;</p>
<p>With so many options now available, we took a brief look at each and detailed a summary below. We have avoided rocket-science type explanations &#8211; those will appear in a follow up article.</p>
<h2>Data encryption AES-128 v AES-256 v Blowfish</h2>
<p>Currently PIA uses 128-bit <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blowfish_(cipher)">blowfish</a>. Why should users get excited about the option to use <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Encryption_Standard">AES-128 / AES-256</a> over the previous standard?</p>
<p>&#8220;As AES-128 is, in general, faster than Blowfish 128 on most modern processors, our customers will enjoy extra speed with this exciting addition,&#8221; Lee told us.</p>
<p>Interestingly, the client also allows users not to encrypt their communications at all. PIA confirmed that this setting is there for people who don&#8217;t care about encrypting their communications but still want to hide their IP addresses from sites and services they use. This setting also has the side effect of offering the greatest speeds.</p>
<h2>Data authentication &#8211; SHA1 or SHA-256 ?</h2>
<p>This hashing technology is used to ensure the integrity and authentication of data sent within a message. SHA1 (160bit) is the fastest option, but is it more desirable than SHA-256 (256bit)?</p>
<p>&#8220;SHA1 should be more than fine,&#8221; Lee explained.  &#8220;However, we&#8217;re simply offering a stronger alternative for those who may feel it is a necessity.&#8221;</p>
<h2>Handshake &#8211; RSA-2048 v RSA-3072 v RSA-4096</h2>
<p>In 2010 it was reported that RSA 1024 bit encryption had been cracked. Now that PIA offers 2048, 3072 and 4096, is there a preferred setting for optimal efficiency?</p>
<p>&#8220;We believe that 2048 bit is sufficient at this point, but in-line with the previous question, we are providing the option for much stronger keysizes if the user feels it is a necessity,&#8221; Lee says.</p>
<p>Additionally, the new PIA client also offers <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliptic_curve_cryptography">elliptic curve cryptography</a> options &#8211; ECC-256K1 (in use by BitCoin), ECC-256R1 and ECC-521. With rumors circulating that ECC may be vulnerable to NSA backdoor access, what is the best option?</p>
<p>&#8220;To be honest, at this point after the NSA revelations, we do not know exactly who has exactly what capability.  In a crazy scenario, it could be possible that RSA is completely broken and ECC is the only viable option.  Of course, we do not believe this, but again, we want to give people the choice,&#8221; Lee says.</p>
<h2>Ok, enough crypto-babble&#8230;What&#8217;s the best setup?</h2>
<p>PIA recommends the following setups for speed, safety and best trade-off performance.</p>
<p>- Default Recommended Protection — AES-128 / SHA1 / RSA-2048<br />
- All Speed No Safety — None / None / ECC-256k1<br />
- Maximum Protection — AES-256 / SHA256 / RSA-4096<br />
- Risky Business — AES-128 / None / RSA-2048 </p>
<p>Lee says that PIA have included the extra options for those who want to feel extra secure or may want to experiment a little more with cryptography. He adds that for those looking for the ultimate in protection, frequent changes of setup within the client could lead to an almost impossible situation for would-be attackers.</p>
<p>&#8220;With control of one&#8217;s level of encryption, even if someone were utilizing advanced alien technology, they would have a tough time if you changed your encryption settings every time you connect. But we recommend choosing the encryption strength/mode you desire and sticking with it,&#8221; Lee concludes.</p>
<p>Those wanting to learn more about the encryption options should head over to <a href="https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/pages/vpn-encryption">this page</a>. The brand new client <a href="https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/forum/index.php?p=/discussion/1724/encryption-now-it039s-in-your-control-beta">can be downloaded here</a>.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak has also asked several other VPN providers to share their thoughts and concerns about encryption after the Snowden revelations. These will be addressed in a follow-up article. </p>
<p><em>Disclosure: PIA is a TorrentFreak sponsor</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/alien-level-tech-required-to-crack-new-vpn-encryption-setup-makers-say-130921/">Alien-Level Tech Required To Crack New VPN Encryption Setup, Makers Say</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76974
title: Warner Bros. DMCA Fraud and Abuse Case Goes to Jury
uri: Warner-Bros-DMCA-Fraud-and-Abuse-Case-Goes-to-Jury
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/3JHukh5ePjQ/
content:
<p><img src="media/d5859e0c.warner.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/warner.jpg" align="right" alt="warner" />Last month the MPAA announced a <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-wins-piracy-battle-against-hotfile-130829/">major victory</a> in its case against file-hosting service Hotfile. </p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/169898030/Hotfile-Mpaa-Redacted">redacted copy</a> of the verdict was released this week confirming that the movie studios won summary judgment on the issues of DMCA defense and vicarious liability. The remaining issues will be fought out in a trial later this year. </p>
<p>What the MPAA didn&#8217;t mention, however, is that the issue of Warner Bros&#8217; alleged abuse of Hotfile&#8217;s anti-piracy tool will also go to jury. </p>
<p>Hotfile <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/hotfile-sues-warner-bros-for-copyright-fraud-and-abuse-110913/"> sued the movie studio</a> two years ago for abusing the DMCA takedown process on numerous occasions. </p>
<p>The file-hoster alleged that after giving Warner access to its systems, the studio wrongfully took down hundreds of files including games demos and Open Source software without holding the copyrights to them. The takedowns continued even after the movie studio was repeatedly notified about the false claims.</p>
<p>In a response, Warner Bros. admitted the accusations. However, the movie studio argued that they are not to blame because the mistakes were made by a computer, not a person. As a result, the false takedown request were not “deliberate lies.”</p>
<p>Warner Bros. asked the court for summary judgment in its favor, but Florida District Court Judge Kathleen Williams has decided to let the issue be heard before a jury.</p>
<p>&#8220;There is sufficient evidence on the record to suggest that Warner intentionally targeted files it knew it had no right to remove. This precludes summary judgment in [Warner Bros'] favor,&#8221; the judge writes.</p>
<p>Judge Williams notes that Warner Bros. does not dispute the erroneous takedowns. The movie studio claimed that these mistakes were unavoidable but also admitted that it did not check whether the &#8220;infringing&#8221; titles actually pointed to their content. In addition, there are several other factors the jury will have to make a decision on.</p>
<p>&#8220;Warner readily admits that mistakes do occur, and Hotfile has identified characteristics that may be responsible for engendering those mistakes. For example, Warner&#8217;s staff did not download or review any Hotfile content before marking it for removal,&#8221; Williams writes.</p>
<p>Warner Bros. has targeted copyrighted works from other copyright holders, Electronic Arts for example. The movie studio also removed the software JDownloader, which was offered legally, no less than eight times for reasons that are redacted in the verdict.  </p>
<p>&#8220;Specifically, Hotfile has provided the example of JDownloader, which Warner did not manage [redacted]. It has also shown Warner&#8217;s interest in an application of its takedown rights beyond works that it owns. And Warner has not otherwise argued that it had the right to remove those files, only that its mistakes should be excused,&#8221; Judge Williams writes.</p>
<p>The above is enough evidence for Hotfile to argue their case before a jury, in what promises to be a unique case on the appropriateness of automated DMCA takedown filters.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Court finds this motive and other evidence sufficient to sustain an inference that Warner violated Section 512(c), such that these issues should be presented to the jury.&#8221;</p>
<p>The case will now move to trial which is scheduled to start in November. Aside from the copyright infringement claims against Hotfile, the DMCA abuse case is expected to set an important precedent. </p>
<p>To be continued.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/warner-bros-dmca-fraud-and-abuse-case-goes-to-jury-130922/">Warner Bros. DMCA Fraud and Abuse Case Goes to Jury</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76932
title: Mega Relives Megaupload Fame, Overtakes RapidShare
uri: Mega-Relives-Megaupload-Fame-Overtakes-RapidShare
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/c5q88sPfy3s/
content:
<p><a href="media/20500b88.megalogo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/megalogo.jpg"><img src="media/20500b88.megalogo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/megalogo.jpg" alt="megalogo" width="170" height="141" class="alignright size-full wp-image-63627" /></a>On January 20, a year after Megaupload was raided, Kim Dotcom launched his new file-storage service, Mega.</p>
<p>The site’s membership grew from zero to more than a million in a matter of days, and in the months that followed the site continued to expand its user base.</p>
<p>This month <a href="http://mega.co.nz">Mega</a> has overtaken RapidShare, one of its direct competitors in the file-hosting business. The graph below shows that Mega has also gained a spot on Alexa&#8217;s list of 1,000 most-visited websites on the Internet while the troubled RapidShare&#8217;s <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/rapidshare-fires-75-of-its-staff-after-rogue-site-revamp-bites-130519/">traffic has dwindled</a>. </p>
<p>Like Mega, RapidShare is currently marketing itself as a personal file-storage solution. However, due to <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/supreme-court-orders-rapidshare-to-police-the-internet-130819/">legal troubles</a> the latter has put tough restrictions on the amount of content people are allowed to share in public. RapidShare changed its look and subscription plans once again this month but it seems unlikely that this will stop the site&#8217;s downfall.  </p>
<p><center><a href="media/e054edf7.mega-alexa.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mega-alexa.png"><img src="media/e054edf7.mega-alexa.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mega-alexa.png" alt="mega-alexa" width="404" height="188" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-76994" /></a></center></p>
<p>Talking to TorrentFreak, Kim Dotcom says that privacy features, generous free storage options and high transfer speeds have been the basis for Mega&#8217;s continuous growth.</p>
<p>&#8220;In just eight months we grew Mega into a top 1,000 site. Users love our privacy features, ease of use, plus generous freemium and transfer speeds. We grow faster every week and are constantly investing to satisfy capacity demands,&#8221; Dotcom says.</p>
<p>The Mega team is only just getting started though. Based on user feedback they will soon roll out several new apps, as well as new encryption tools that will allow people to get the NSA off their backs, as far as that&#8217;s possible.</p>
<p>These efforts have paid off in terms of new users, and this week <a href="http://www.internetawards.org.au/index.php/winners">the company won</a> an Australian &#038; New Zealand Internet Award in the privacy category. </p>
<p>&#8220;Mega will shortly release its iOS app and synching software. Mega is winning awards for our unbroken security and privacy but we want more: Encrypted messaging, voice &#038; video calling and email. I won&#8217;t be satisfied until the NSA is drowning in useless data salad,&#8221; Dotcom tells us.</p>
<p>While Mega still has some work to do before it reaches the size of the defunct Megaupload, it&#8217;s on the right path. </p>
<p>Dotcom says that the site is already pushing one fifth of the bandwidth Megaupload was generating at its peak, and the number of files stored on Mega is at 50% of Megaupload. </p>
<p>&#8220;Mega is now 20% of the size of Megaupload in terms of bandwidth utilization and already over 50% in terms of files stored. We are now pushing 1.5 times more bandwidth than the entire country of New Zealand and we are the largest outbound traffic customer of Telecom NZ.&#8221;</p>
<p>While Mega has been a success story so far, the New Zealand entrepreneur decided <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/kim-dotcom-resigns-as-mega-director-to-focus-on-music-venture-130904/">to resign</a> as company director earlier this month to free up time for other projects. Among other things Dotcom is working on a new <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/kim-dotcom-prepares-for-presidency-of-new-political-party-130901/">political party</a> and his <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/kim-dotcom-teases-new-music-service-baboom-130907/">music service Baboom</a> which will launch next year.</p>
<p>That said, not a day goes by without the Mega founder inquiring about Mega&#8217;s progress, which is in the safe hands of Mega&#8217;s management team and developers. Eventually, he hopes that Mega can become the giant Megaupload was in the past by doing that he does best &#8211; pleasing Internet users. </p>
<p>&#8220;Make no mistake, I care deeply about Mega and I intend to make it another top 100 site. I care about the happiness and privacy of our users. The Internet made me who I am and my gratitude is reflected in my products.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;Let&#8217;s encrypt the Internet,&#8221; he adds. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mega-relives-megaupload-fame-overtakes-rapidshare-130922/">Mega Relives Megaupload Fame, Overtakes RapidShare</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=77020
title: Torrent Site Owner to Protest Domain Seizure in Court
uri: Torrent-Site-Owner-to-Protest-Domain-Seizure-in-Court
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/DwzZrF_x5OU/
content:
<p><img src="media/0fd68eb2.h33t2.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/h33t2.png" align="right" alt="h33t" />Earlier this month H33t, one of the largest BitTorrent sites, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/h33t-com-goes-down-as-nameservers-vanish-130906/">mysteriously disappeared</a> from the Internet. The nameservers had been wiped from the domain records, rendering it useless. </p>
<p>TorrentFreak contacted H33t’s domain registrar, the German company Key-Systems, who confirmed that they were forced to take this action following a local court order obtained by Universal Music Group.</p>
<p>“We have indeed been served with a court order granting a temporary injunction requiring us to ensure certain content is not made available,” Key System’s Volker Greimann previously told us.</p>
<p>Recognizing that the case sets a dangerous precedent, the registrar is going to fight the injunction in court. One of the issues Key System plans to raise is that the site owner himself was never contacted by the music group. </p>
<p>The registrar asked H33t owner Shelby whether he is willing to testify to this in court, and he agreed to do so. </p>
<p>&#8220;I am ready to go in person. If they don&#8217;t already know my name then they truly are disorganized. It was never a secret,&#8221; Shelby informs TorrentFreak. </p>
<p>H33t&#8217;s owner has previously spoken out against the commonly adopted DMCA-style takedown procedure most copyright holders expect him to comply with.</p>
<p>H33t will take content offline, but only if copyright holders pay an administrative fee to cover some of the costs. Shelby believes that this is ultimately the issue that has to be tested in court.  </p>
<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t believe my identity is the issue, but the sharing of costs for takedowns. Given the opportunity, since this is a test of a takedown procedure, I will ensure my testimony and the court record contains my solution for equitable management of takedowns. The lawyer who said my takedown procedure was not serious is now going to find out how serious it actually is,&#8221; he says.</p>
<p>H33t has always been one of the most pro-sharing communities, and the site&#8217;s owner sees himself as a frontrunner in the battle against an old and outdated industry.  </p>
<p>&#8220;The enemy is not a person. There is no hive mind conspiring against us to repress us in some Orwellian nightmare,&#8221; he says. </p>
<p>&#8220;The enemy is a dinosaur system which might have been good enough to manage an analogue industry of vinyl records and VHS cassettes, but if the Internet has taught us anything it is that the digital revolution is full of surprises and opportunities. The last thing we need is outdated systems and laws getting in the way, holding us back from basically doing what we do best, being social, making friends and improving ourselves by learning and developing new tools.&#8221; </p>
<p>H33t&#8217;s owner believes that the law is on his side. The DMCA doesn&#8217;t apply in Europe where there are no clearly defined notice and take-down procedures, and H33t believes their policy is reasonable. </p>
<p>By showing that Universal Music Group misrepresented the facts, he eventually hopes to get his domain back. </p>
<p>&#8220;If I win this appeal and win back my domain then it is because anti-p2p [companies] acted illegally and dishonestly by misleading the court and telling lies. To quote Plato: &#8216;The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.&#8217;</p>
<p>&#8220;This is as good today as it was two and half thousand years ago. That is why I stand for filesharing,&#8221; Shelby concludes. </p>
<p>The date for the testimony is yet to be scheduled and for now H33t&#8217;s .com domain remains unavailable to the public. The site is still available on its .eu domain for the time being. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/torrent-site-owner-to-protest-domain-seizure-in-court-130923/">Torrent Site Owner to Protest Domain Seizure in Court</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=77038
title: Twitter Bug Requires Users to Torrent its Tweet Button
uri: Twitter-Bug-Requires-Users-to-Torrent-its-Tweet-Button
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/-IUFGE-RBUI/
content:
<p><img src="media/fa254bf3.twitter.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/twitter.jpg" width="200" height="133" class="alignright" />BitTorrent is most often associated with peer-to-peer file-sharing and the downloading of media such as music, movies and TV shows. </p>
<p>The protocol makes the headlines every week but some of its other skills go much more underreported.</p>
<p>In addition to its public file-sharing abilities, BitTorrent is a particularly useful tool for companies that need to shift large amounts of data around their networks. In 2010 it was <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/twitter-uses-bittorrent-for-server-deployment-100210/">revealed</a> that Twitter had begun using the technology to deploy files across its many thousands of servers.</p>
<p>Codenamed ‘Murder’, the technology does not use the bandwidth of Twitter users but instead arranges the company&#8217;s servers into a BitTorrent swarm to efficiently distribute updates. But while this is a fantastic use of BitTorrent for Twitter, yesterday the company was associated with torrents in a way which had web users scratching their heads.</p>
<p>When visiting many webpages small widgets also load from external sites, things like buttons for Facebook, Twitter, Digg, LinkedIn and Google+1 for example. These normally load transparently and without issue but for some reason on many sites Twitter&#8217;s button began acting strangely yesterday.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/82b18643.twitterbug.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/twitterbug.jpg" alt="Twitterbug" /></center></p>
<p>Instead of loading the iframed HTML for the familiar blue &#8216;Tweet&#8217; button, website visitors were offered a .torrent file, variously titled &#8216;widgets_tweet_button.html.torrent&#8217; or &#8216;widgets-tweet_button.html.torrent&#8217;.</p>
<p>Of course, this strange behavior led many users to speculate that Twitter had been compromised. However, on closer inspection it became clear that the <a href="http://en.kioskea.net/news/24079-twitter-bug-or-hacked">problem</a> was almost certainly of Twitter&#8217;s making.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/5e60d3a0.twitterbug2.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/twitterbug2.jpg" alt="TwitterBug2" /></center></p>
<p>So what was the payload inside the mysterious torrent file? The HTML for Twitter&#8217;s button distributed using <a href="http://www.numerama.com/magazine/27056-un-bug-de-twitter-fait-telecharger-un-fichier-bittorrent.html">BitTorrent trackers</a> hosted by Amazon, no less.</p>
<p>While few can doubt that BitTorrent is one of the most effect file-sharing methods on the Internet, this implementation must be the most inefficient yet.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s likely that this is just a simple error but when so many sites are affected and users left concerned, clarification is useful.  TorrentFreak approached Twitter for a comment and we&#8217;ll update this article when we receive a response.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/twitter-bug-requires-users-to-torrent-its-tweet-button-130923/">Twitter Bug Requires Users to Torrent its Tweet Button</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=77016
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week
uri: 2013-09-23-Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/pxd2q_MOmI8/
content:
<p><img src="media/47b4a00e.after-earth.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/after-earth.jpg" alt="after earth" width="300" height="196" class="alignright size-full wp-image-77018" />This week we have three newcomers in our chart. </p>
<p>After Earth is the most downloaded movie. </p>
<p>The data for our weekly download chart is collected by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only. All the movies in the list are BD/DVDrips unless stated otherwise.</p>
<p><a href="http://TorrentFreak.com/category/dvdrip/feed/"><strong>RSS feed</strong></a> for the weekly movie download chart.</p>
<table class="css hover" summary="Most downloaded movies on BitTorrent">
<caption>Week ending September 22, 2013</caption>
<thead>
<tr>
<th width="12%"><strong>Ranking</strong></th>
<th width="15%"><strong>(<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-movies-of-the-week-130916/">last week</a>)</strong></th>
<th><strong>Movie</strong></th>
<th width="18%"><strong>IMDb Rating / Trailer</strong></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tfoot>
<tr>
<td colspan="4">torrentfreak.com</td>
</tr>
</tfoot>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>1</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/after_earth/">After Earth</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1815862/">4.9</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUcNyzu4IdM">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/this_is_the_end/">This Is The End</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1245492/">7.6</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yma-g4gTwlE">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/world-war-z/">World War Z</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0816711/">7.2</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcwTxRuq-uk">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jobs/">Jobs</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2357129/">5.5</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrvkCS0ZGPU">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_hangover_part_iii/">The Hangover Part III</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1951261/">6.0</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLAkxSjs8ZY">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(6)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/were_the_millers/">We&#8217;re The Millers</a> (Webrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1723121/">7.2</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Vsy5KzsieQ">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(10)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kick_ass_2_2013/">Kick-Ass 2</a> (R6)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1650554/">7.2</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UMbwxbgv8U">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/now_you_see_me/">Now You See Me</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1670345/">7.4</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzJNYYkkhzc">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1535108/">Elysium</a> (R6)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1535108/">7.0</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QILNSgou5BY">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/stuck_in_love/">Stuck In Love</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2205697/">6.8</a> / <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JIXs-zRHG8">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-movies-of-the-week-130923/">Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=77056
title: Google Removes ‘BitTorrent’ From Piracy Search Filter
uri: Google-Removes-BitTorrent-From-Piracy-Search-Filter
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/1PH6aSuFOqI/
content:
<p><img src="media/0cac5ceb.bittorrent-piracy.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/bittorrent-piracy.png" align="right" alt="bittorrent piracy" />For two years Google has been <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/google-starts-censoring-bittorrent-rapidshare-and-more-110126/">filtering “piracy-related” terms</a> from its ‘Autocomplete‘ and ‘Instant‘ services.</p>
<p>Google users searching for terms like “The Pirate Bay”, “RapidShare” and “isoHunt” will notice that no suggestions or search results appear before they type in the full word. While no webpages are removed from Google&#8217;s index, there is <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/googles-anti-piracy-filter-110712/">sharp decrease</a> in searches for these terms.</p>
<p>What triggers a keyword to be included in the blacklist is not clear. A Google spokesperson <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/google-adds-grooveshark-to-its-piracy-search-filter-130723/">told TorrentFreak</a> two months ago that they remove terms that are &#8220;closely associated with piracy&#8221; without providing further details. </p>
<p>The full list of banned words also remains secret, but we do know that the search terms BitTorrent and uTorrent were included from the start. Both words are trademarks of San Francisco-based BitTorrent Inc. and the company was rather disappointed that Google labeled them as &#8220;piracy related.&#8221;</p>
<p>Over the past several months BitTorrent Inc. has <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/utorrent-makers-distance-themselves-from-piracy-121219/">continuously emphasized</a> that BitTorrent does not equal piracy, and a recent upgrade to Google&#8217;s search filter show that this effort has paid off. Both BitTorrent and uTorrent are now absent from Google&#8217;s piracy filter and as a result searches for both terms <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/explore?q=utorrent#q=bittorrent&#038;date=today%2012-m&#038;cmpt=date">spiked</a>, resulting in an increase in visitors to the respective sites.</p>
<p>&#8220;This is almost certainly a result of that improving understanding helped by products like BitTorrent Bundle and BitTorrent Sync. They help those who are confused about BitTorrent understand that it is not a piracy website,&#8221; a BitTorrent Inc. spokesperson told TorrentFreak.</p>
<p><center><br />
<h5>Google searches for BitTorrent</h5>
<p><a href="media/d40e6faa.bittorrent-google-search.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/bittorrent-google-search.png"><img src="media/d40e6faa.bittorrent-google-search.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/bittorrent-google-search.png" alt="bittorrent-google-search" width="559" height="264" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-77061" /></a></center></p>
<p>As far as we&#8217;re aware this is the first time that Google has removed terms from its search filter. Interestingly, Megaupload still remains blocked even though the site has been offline for nearly two years. </p>
<p>Unfortunately the reasons to include or remove certain terms remains a mystery. Recently <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/google-adds-grooveshark-to-its-piracy-search-filter-130723/">Google added</a> the name of the popular music streaming service Grooveshark, which has had its fair share of legal troubles in recent years but is currently licensed by several of the major labels. </p>
<p>While some people worry about possible over-blocking, the copyright holders have been arguing the opposite. Just last week the MPAA released a report claiming that Google and other search engines are <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-accuses-google-of-breeding-pirates-130919/">major piracy facilitators</a>, and that they should step up their anti-piracy efforts.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s now up to Google to find a balance between these two forces, which may prove to be quite a challenge. </p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> added a comment from BitTorrent Inc. </p>
<p><center><br />
<h5>BitTorrent returns to autocomplete</h5>
<p><a href="media/b5a07104.bittorrent-back.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/bittorrent-back.png"><img src="media/b5a07104.bittorrent-back.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/bittorrent-back.png" alt="bittorrent-back" width="575" height="371" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-77070" /></a></center></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/google-removes-bittorrent-from-piracy-search-filter-130924/">Google Removes &#8216;BitTorrent&#8217; From Piracy Search Filter</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=77079
title: How Google Algorithm Changes Hit Torrent Site Traffic
uri: How-Google-Algorithm-Changes-Hit-Torrent-Site-Traffic
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/tCWnPiApRkU/
content:
<p><img src="media/3a6fa524.google-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/google-bay.jpg" width="200" height="177" class="alignright" />For the last couple of years the music and movie industries have kept up the pressure on Google, blaming the search engine for connecting would-be pirates with unauthorized online content.</p>
<p>One of the main remedies touted by copyright holders is that Google should tweak its systems here and there in order to make pirated media harder to find. Google says it has <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/google-starts-punishing-pirate-sites-in-search-results-120810/">done so</a>, but entertainment industry groups remain <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/riaa-google-fails-to-punish-pirate-sites-in-search-results-130221/">unimpressed</a>.</p>
<p>The RIAA has been particularly vocal but last week it was the turn of the MPAA to crank up the pressure. With the publication of a new report the MPAA <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-accuses-google-of-breeding-pirates-130919/">insisted</a> that changes made by Google to its search algorithm had not been effective in reducing piracy.</p>
<p>So, while the MPAA, RIAA and Google continue to fight it out, TorrentFreak took the opportunity to listen to the opinions of those meant to be hardest hit by Google&#8217;s tweaks. With the assistance of his SEO experts the administrator of one of the world&#8217;s largest torrent sites agreed to tell us about his recent experiences with Google.</p>
<h2>Penguin and Panda</h2>
<p>The admin, who requested anonymity, told us that there are two key algorithms that influence file-sharing sites &#8211; one called &#8216;Panda&#8217; and the other called &#8220;Penguin&#8221;. In December 2012 both algorithms received updates that were very important for file-sharing sites.</p>
<p>&#8220;Penguin started downranking sites with a huge amount of links assuming they were spam. Old torrent sites had millions of links from all over the net and that turned out bad for them,&#8221; the admin explained. &#8220;Panda compared loads of content and found many identical pieces on torrent sites because they grab content from each other. This made the situation worse.&#8221;</p>
<h2>The Autocomplete effect</h2>
<p>As previously reported, Google also began removing the word &#8216;<a href="http://torrentfreak.com/google-starts-censoring-bittorrent-rapidshare-and-more-110126/">torrent</a>&#8216; and other related terms from its Autocomplete. With other tweaks it now appears that infringing content is being pushed further out of sight, unless users specifically ask for it.</p>
<p>&#8220;If in 2012 you typed in the name of some new movie, the top 10 results would mostly contain file-sharing sites, but after the first three months of 2013 those links had moved far away from the first page or had disappeared completely,&#8221; the admin said.</p>
<p>&#8220;Now, if you don&#8217;t specifically put the word &#8216;torrent&#8217; in a search query you don&#8217;t get results that might be copyrighted. Search traffic began to fall down pretty badly for file-sharing sites after these updates.&#8221;</p>
<h2>Link analysis and the DMCA takedowns</h2>
<p>In April 2013, Google introduced a new Penguin update.</p>
<p>&#8220;Targeted mostly at the U.S., the algorithm analyzed links to a website and if most links were outside the U.S. then the website was assumed to be targeting non-US visitors. This meant that Google could put the website lower in search results shown for U.S. visitors,&#8221; the admin revealed.</p>
<p>And of course, this year Google has had to work harder than ever before to respond to millions of copyright holder complaints.</p>
<p>&#8220;This resulted in a ban of home pages for many torrent sites as well as many internal pages too, of course,&#8221; he said.</p>
<h2>The web blocking effect</h2>
<p>Sites like The Pirate Bay are blocked by court order in many countries around Europe. As a result dozens of proxies have sprung up to help users regain access to their favorite file-sharing domains. But while workarounds are always available, blocking has apparently had an effect on file-sharing site placement in search engine results.</p>
<p>&#8220;When websites lost a big portion of traffic from a certain location, Google downranked them in search results for that specific location. That made it possible for new small sites to take high positions instead of the big sites, such as proxies or similar sites that allowed people to avoid the blockade. Actually the traffic to file-sharing sites remained the same but became more decentralized,&#8221; the admin explained.</p>
<h2>The most recent changes</h2>
<p>Last month there were yet more developments, bringing both positive and negative.</p>
<p>&#8220;The bad news was that after another update Google started to focus more on the &#8216;core&#8217; search queries that lead visitors to a website. Less frequent queries were considered less important and file-sharing websites lost some positions with these queries too,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>But the changes weren&#8217;t all bad. For example, Google Webmaster Tools informs what pages <a href="https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/35769?ctx=92500&#038;hl=en&#038;ctx=NCUI">are violating the guidelines</a> and allows site owners to fix these problems.</p>
<p>&#8220;Google Webmaster Tools now allows a webmaster to see if a website or a page is filtered out of search results, making it possible to make changes and avoid the filter in the future,&#8221; the admin concludes.</p>
<h2>Overall</h2>
<p>In conclusion it seems that Google has indeed made a number of changes that have affected the search rankings of file-sharing sites, whether directly targeted for anti-piracy purposes or other reasons. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that the entertainment companies will keep coming back for more, no matter what concessions Google makes.</p>
<p>The big question is whether any changes will actually reduce piracy at the same time as they reduce search traffic to file-sharing sites. At the moment, at least according to the MPAA and RIAA, that isn&#8217;t happening.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/how-google-algorithm-changes-hit-torrent-site-traffic-130924/">How Google Algorithm Changes Hit Torrent Site Traffic</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=76966
title: 20th Century Fox Sues ‘Impatient’ Homeland Pirates
uri: 20th-Century-Fox-Sues-Impatient-Homeland-Pirates
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/FmtDJWUdydg/
content:
<p><a href="media/2610b89c.homeland1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/homeland1.jpg"><img src="media/2610b89c.homeland1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/homeland1.jpg" alt="homeland" width="200" height="111" class="alignright size-full wp-image-76497" /></a>German Internet subscribers can be held liable for almost everything that goes on via their connections, with or without their knowledge. </p>
<p>As a result, copyright holders have started hundreds of thousands of lawsuits against alleged pirates, demanding settlements ranging from a few hundred to thousands of euros.</p>
<p>In Germany these &#8220;trolling&#8221; ventures have attracted the attention of the major Hollywood studios. 20th Century Fox, Universal Pictures and Warner Bros Entertainment are actively patrolling the Internet for people who download their work without permission. </p>
<p>The studios use similar monitoring tools as they do in the United States, where file-sharers are approached outside of court with <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/six-strikes-anti-piracy-scheme-starts-130225/">a slap on the wrist</a> or <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/warner-bros-were-fining-file-sharers-who-use-non-six-strike-isps-130607/">a $20 fine</a>. In Germany, however, the stakes are much higher. </p>
<p>For example, 20th Century Fox is sending alleged file-sharers a 726 euro ($980) bill for downloading a single episode of the TV-series Homeland. For several months the Hollywood studio has been tracking unauthorized downloads of Homeland&#8217;s second season, which has yet to air in Germany.</p>
<p> <center><br />
<h5>20th Century Fox settlements letter</h5>
<p><a href="media/d47b3d0e.hlgerlet.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/hlgerlet.jpg"><img src="media/d47b3d0e.hlgerlet.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/hlgerlet.jpg" alt="hlgerlet" width="569" height="402" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-77159" /></a></a></center></p>
<p>While these downloads are unmistakably unauthorized, it is ironic that these lawsuits target the TV-show&#8217;s most engaged fans. In Germany, Homeland&#8217;s second season <a href="http://www.serienjunkies.de/news/homeland-deutschlandpremiere-staffel2-sat1-52487.html">starts airing on TV next week</a>, a full year after the U.S. premiere. </p>
<p>The show has been available on iTunes where a subtitled version of the season costs <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/de/tv-season/homeland-season-2/id562348296?showLC=true">26.99</a> (SD) or <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/de/tv-season/homeland-season-2/id562348296">31.99 euro</a> (HD).</p>
<p>Still, the Hollywood studios regularly single out these &#8220;delayed&#8221; TV releases for their legal efforts. According to <a href="http://www.wbs-law.de/anwalt/christian-solmecke/">Christian Solmecke</a>, a German IT lawyer who has defended hundreds of file-sharers, these shows are regularly targeted.  </p>
<p>&#8220;The sharing of English-speaking TV series is particularly popular in Germany as these releases are often delayed. As a result, warning letters are regularly received for such copyright infringements,&#8221; Solmecke told TorrentFreak. </p>
<p>Unlike in the United States, Internet subscribers have no option to protest a copyright holders&#8217; request to hand over their personal details. Paired with the fact that German ISPs can only store IP-address information for a week, this leads to a situation where personal details of accused subscribers are handed over pretty much automatically. </p>
<p>For the letter TorrentFreak received, the court signed off on handing over the subscriber data within a day of the IP-address being tracked. This is a worrying development according to legal experts and privacy advocates. The low retention periods for IP-addresses are meant to protect the privacy of users, but the opposite may be true in this case. </p>
<p>&#8220;I find it shocking when an IP-address is processed by the court on the same day as the infringement takes place,&#8221; Solmecke tells TorrentFreak.  </p>
<p>&#8220;After all, judges should examine each claim on a case-by-case basis. In practice, however, the process is completely automatic and despite this obligation, it is unlikely that the judges properly scrutinize each individual case.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Hollywood movie studios, and dozens of copyright holders with them, are more pleased with how the system works. They are literally cashing in on these BitTorrent pirates to the tune of millions of euros every year. </p>
<p>Previously we pointed out that many <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/riaa-labels-demand-cash-from-alleged-bittorrent-pirates-120117/">major music labels</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/square-enix-eidos-other-game-giants-all-demand-cash-from-pirates-120115/">game publishers</a> including CD Projekt have also been involved in the German settlement scheme. After public outcry, mainly targeted at the questionable reliability of the evidence, the latter <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/witcher-2-devs-abandon-games-piracy-shakedown-120113/">retired its legal crusade</a> against pirates. </p>
<p>&#8220;We value our fans, our supporters, and our community too highly to take the chance that we might ever falsely accuse even one individual,&#8221; CD Projekt’s Marcin Iwinski said at the time. </p>
<p>Whether 20th Century Fox and others respect their &#8216;fans&#8217; just as much is doubtful. </p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> clarified that Homeland season 2 has been available on iTunes.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/20th-century-fox-sues-impatient-homeland-pirates-130925/">20th Century Fox Sues &#8216;Impatient&#8217; Homeland Pirates</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=77107
title: Pirate Bay Founder Hacking Sentence Slashed in Half on Appeal
uri: Pirate-Bay-Founder-Hacking-Sentence-Slashed-in-Half-on-Appeal
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/QEBSLt3FETo/
content:
<p><a href="media/2ae4dc32.gottfrid.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/gottfrid.jpg"><img src="media/2ae4dc32.gottfrid.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/gottfrid.jpg" alt="gottfrid" width="174" height="222" class="alignright size-full wp-image-10141" /></a>In May 2013, Pirate Bay founder Gottfrid Svartholm went on trial following allegations that the hacked into Logica, a Swedish IT company working with local tax authorities, and local bank Nordea.</p>
<p>Following a two-week trial during which the Swede protested his innocence, the Nacka District Court handed down its verdict. Gottfrid was found guilty of hacking, aggravated fraud and attempted aggravated fraud, and was handed a two-year jail sentence.</p>
<p>The decision was unpopular with both the defense and prosecution. The latter felt that the sentence was not harsh enough and the former objected on the basis that the District Court didn&#8217;t examine the available evidence in enough detail.</p>
<p>“The important thing is to get the higher court to try the evidence in-depth, something that the lower court definitively didn’t do,” Kristina Svartholm, Gottfrid’s mother, previously told TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>In July it was announced that the case would go to appeal and earlier this month the process took place. The Court of Appeal heard <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/hacker-criticizes-police-investigation-during-pirate-bay-founder-appeal-130905/">testimony</a> from Tor developer and former Wikileaks spokesman Jacob Appelbaum who argued that Gottfrid&#8217;s theory &#8211; that his computer had been taken over and abused remotely &#8211; was a sound one.</p>
<p>A few moments ago the Court of Appeal handed down its decision and it was mixed fortunes for the 28-year-old. </p>
<p>The Court upheld the guilty verdict in the hacking of IT company Logica, but overturned the guilty verdict handed down in respect of the breach at the Nordea bank.</p>
<p>As a result the two-year jail sentence handed down earlier in 2013 was slashed to just one year.</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> Danish media is now <a href="http://ekstrabladet.dk/112/article2106545.ece">reporting</a> that Gottfrid will be extradited to Denmark to face charges in another unrelated case. He is one of two men suspected of gaining access to driving records and the social security numbers of millions of Danes.</p>
<p>&#8220;We already have an arrest warrant and a request for extradition on the Swedish man, and he will be extradited to Denmark within a few days,&#8221; said Police Commissioner Hans Erik Raben of Copenhagen Police. An alleged accomplice, a 20-year-old man, is already in custody.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-founder-hacking-sentence-slashed-in-half-on-appeal-130925/">Pirate Bay Founder Hacking Sentence Slashed in Half on Appeal</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=77097
title: Subscribers Pirate Game of Thrones Even Though They Already Paid For It
uri: Subscribers-Pirate-Game-of-Thrones-Even-Though-They-Already-Paid-For-I
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Drsaei_7D3I/
content:
<p><img src="media/41caf094.game-of-thrones3.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/game-of-thrones3.jpg" width="270" height="155" class="alignright" />In 2013, one TV show above all others generated controversy, discussion and ideas on a level rarely seen before.</p>
<p>Game of Thrones was a worldwide smash-hit, but it was the show&#8217;s effects on unauthorized downloading that provided the fuel behind many of the headlines.</p>
<p>The season premiere got the ball rolling on unauthorized consumption, setting a BitTorrent <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/game-of-thrones-pirates-break-bittorrent-swarm-record-130401/">swarm record</a> in April. By the time the finale aired in June, pirates were still having fun, setting <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/games-of-thrones-season-finale-sets-new-piracy-record-130610/">a new record</a> in the process.</p>
<p>While most GOT pirates could be tracked back to the United States and United Kingdom, the number three spot was taken by Australia. There are just over 22 million people Down Under so per head Aussies easily took the worldwide downloading crown. It was this &#8216;feat&#8217; that yesterday prompted yet another high-ranking executive to mention the show and another smash-hit, Breaking Bad, alongside their dubious records.</p>
<p>Speaking at a Goldman Sachs investment conference, News Corp CEO Robert Thomson said that piracy was showing no signs of letting up Down Under.</p>
<p>&#8220;Piracy in Australia is at an extraordinary level,&#8221; he <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/media/foxtel-triple-play-of-great-appeal-thomson/story-e6frg996-1226726884826#sthash.02hIBSPC.dpuf">said</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;Sixteen per cent &#8211; that’s one in six &#8211; of all <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/breaking-bad-sparks-global-piracy-craze-130812/">illegal downloads of Breaking Bad</a> are in Australia. There aren’t that many people in Australia,&#8221; he joked.</p>
<p>But again it was Game of Thrones generating the most interesting debate. News Corp owns 50% of pay television company Foxtel, the outfit with the rights to show Game of Thrones in Australia. At last count during August the company had around 2.5 million subscribers, but despite the show being legally available to them, the News Corp CEO said that 20% of Foxtel customers still chose to watch the show illegally.</p>
<p>&#8220;People are just in the habit of illegal downloads,&#8221; Thomson said. &#8220;Australians have very bad habits – piracy happens to be one of them.&#8221;</p>
<p>Of course, Thomson does have a point. Habits can be very hard things to break, especially ones that have proven so useful over the years. Australians have long complained of being treated as second class citizens when it comes to media availability, so BitTorrent networks have proven extremely popular, as borne out by prominent Aussie placings in TV show downloading charts.</p>
<p>Some moves have been made to get content to Australia quickly. In March, Foxtel <a href="http://www.foxtel.com.au/whats-on/foxtel-insider/game-of-thrones-season-3-within-2-hours-express-from-the-us-211833.htm">announced</a> that it would make available season 3 of Game of Thrones within two hours of its U.S. premiere, but by May things were going backwards again. Foxtel said it would stop offering the show quickly due to <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/foxtel-game-of-thrones-130515/">a deal</a> it signed with HBO in the United States.</p>
<p>Then in July, Foxtel gave customers more reasons to pirate when it <a href="http://delimiter.com.au/2013/07/17/locked-down-foxtel-blocks-non-samsung-android-jailbroken-apple-devices/">locked down</a> its Foxtel Go &#8220;watch anywhere&#8221; service, banning users of jailbroken iPhones in addition to Android users not using &#8220;selected&#8221; Samsung devices.</p>
<p>During yesterday&#8217;s conference Thomson said that consumers of unauthorized TV shows should be made better aware of the &#8220;inherent value of content and obeying the law&#8221; but the fact that 20% of his customers chose to pirate something they already paid for should send a very strong message indeed. For whatever reason, free BitTorrent is better than a premium subscription service. That has to be fixed.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/subscribers-pirate-game-of-thrones-even-though-they-already-paid-for-it-130925/">Subscribers Pirate Game of Thrones Even Though They Already Paid For It</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=77129
title: Portugal Next in Line to Block The Pirate Bay
uri: Portugal-Next-in-Line-to-Block-The-Pirate-Bay
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/8ML9RH4dGgg/
content:
<p><a href="media/2a43984f.pirate-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-bay.jpg"><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" /></a>The Pirate Bay is without doubt one of the most censored websites on the Internet. </p>
<p>Courts all around the world have ordered Internet providers to block subscriber access to the torrent site, and this list continues to expand. </p>
<p>This week a coalition of Portuguese copyright trade groups <a href="http://exameinformatica.sapo.pt/noticias/internet/2013-09-24-pirate-bay-em-vias-de-ser-bloqueado-em-portugal">announced</a> they will file for an injunction to prevent ISPs from providing access to The Pirate Bay and other infringing sites. </p>
<p>The groups, backed by the major movie studios, plan to file the necessary paperwork at the Intellectual Property Court in the coming months.</p>
<p>&#8220;We still have to solve some technical and legal issues, but we anticipate delivering the injunction to the Intellectual Property Court by the end of 2013,&#8221; confirmed Paulo Santos, the leader of the two groups in this matter.</p>
<p>Santos notes that website blocking has proven to be effective abroad, and also in Portugal where blocks are in place to filter out other offensive material. </p>
<p>&#8220;Telecom operators and ISPs already use similar filters today to prevent access to pedophile content, or sites that promote violence or racism,&#8221; the anti-piracy boss says.</p>
<p>The groups expect that the Internet providers may not be happy with the application, but they are convinced that the court will decide in their favor. This belief is undoubtedly strengthened by court orders against ISPs in other European countries such as the UK, the Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland, Belgium, Italy and Finland.</p>
<p>&#8220;I think the court will accept the injunction. Of course there can always be procedural issues, but we have reason and right on our side,&#8221; Santos says.</p>
<p>If the court agrees it will be the first time that Internet providers in Portugal are required to block a website on copyright grounds. </p>
<p>Whether such a blockade will be very successful remains to be seen though, as there are plenty of alternatives and circumvention tools available. This includes <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-that-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2013-edition-130302/">VPN services</a>, the many proxies that <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/at-least-8-of-all-pirate-bay-traffic-now-provided-by-proxy-services-130505/">make up 8%</a> of The Pirate Bay&#8217;s total traffic, and TPB&#8217;s own <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-releases-pirate-browser-to-thwart-censorship-130810/">PirateBrowser</a>.</p>
<p>These tools appear to be widely used to circumvent censorship. Last month researchers from the University of Amsterdam <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/censoring-the-pirate-bay-is-futile-research-shows-130822/">released a report</a> suggesting that the court-ordered Pirate Bay block has had no impact on piracy rates in the Netherlands. </p>
<p>&#8220;Blocking access to TPB has had no lasting net impact on the overall number of downloaders from illegal sources, as people learn to use alternatives to TPB,” the report concluded. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/portugal-next-in-line-to-block-the-pirate-bay-130926/">Portugal Next in Line to Block The Pirate Bay</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=77164
title: Google “Condemned” By UK Politicians For Linking to Piracy
uri: Google-Condemned-By-UK-Politicians-For-Linking-to-Piracy
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/_9LOy7i2rqo/
content:
<p><a href="media/3a6fa524.google-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/google-bay.jpg"><img src="media/3a6fa524.google-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/google-bay.jpg" alt="google-bay" width="200" height="177" class="alignright size-full wp-image-21875" /></a>During the last couple of years entertainment companies have heavily criticized Google for linking to copyright-infringing material in its search results.</p>
<p>Google has responded by removing many millions of links but apparently that&#8217;s just not enough. In the past couple of weeks the world&#8217;s largest search engine has become a punching bag for the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/riaa-wants-web-browsers-to-block-pirate-sites-and-more-130918/">music</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-accuses-google-of-breeding-pirates-130919/">movie</a> industries and today they find themselves battered again, this time by a British House of Commons report.</p>
<p>The Culture, Media and Sport Committee comprises MPs from several parties including those from the Conservative / Liberal Democrat coalition government and Labour opposition. Today in a new report aimed at supporting the creative economy, the Committee dedicates an entire section to copyright and piracy issues. It has many targets for criticism but begins with a swipe at the UK&#8217;s leading Internet rights groups.</p>
<h2>Open Rights Group</h2>
<p>&#8220;The relationship between the strength of Britain’s creative industries and robust copyright laws is acknowledged by the Open Rights Group which aims radically to liberalise the use and sharing of copyrighted content.</p>
<p>&#8220;While we share the Open Rights Group’s attachment to freedom of expression via the internet, we firmly repudiate their laissez-faire attitudes towards copyright infringement,&#8221; the Committee says.</p>
<p>Repeating industry claims that film and music piracy results in lost annual sales of £400 million (while noting it could be well in excess of £1 billion) the report says the Open Rights Group&#8217;s &#8220;quibbles&#8221; that the figures &#8220;were not based on exact science&#8221; should not detract from the damage piracy causes the creative economy.</p>
<h2>IP Crime Unit and site blocking</h2>
<p><a href="media/31176dbb.cityoflondonpolice.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cityoflondonpolice.jpg"><img src="media/31176dbb.cityoflondonpolice.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cityoflondonpolice.jpg" alt="cityoflondonpolice" width="200" height="82" class="alignright size-full wp-image-71397" /></a>The report goes on to mention the creation of a new <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/details-on-upcoming-police-torrent-site-crackdown-revealed-130805/">City of London Police unit</a> dedicated to cracking down on intellectual property crime and reveals that a first-of-its-kind conference is being planned &#8220;to bring players from across the world to London&#8221; to discuss enforcement issues.</p>
<p>On the blocking of infringing websites by ISPs the Committee said there were signs that the courts are making it easier, citing comment from the MPAA supporting &#8220;improvements to the justice system&#8221; to allow site blocking orders to be obtained more efficiently.</p>
<p>&#8220;We encourage businesses to use the current law to bring claims wherever it is feasible for them to do so.  There nonetheless remains a systemic failure to enforce the existing laws effectively against rife online piracy,&#8221; the report notes.</p>
<p>But inevitably the big guns were turned on the messenger.</p>
<h2>Google in the firing line again</h2>
<p>The Committee begins by quoting Google itself, who at the time were removing around 9 million URLs from its indexes every month at the request of copyright holders. This was countered with information provided by the BPI who said that despite Google&#8217;s alleged algorithm changes, the instances of infringing sites turning up in the top 10 results had fallen only marginally, from 63% in August 2012 to 61% a year later. Clearly the Committee are unimpressed.</p>
<p>&#8220;We strongly condemn the failure of Google, notable among technology companies, to provide an adequate response to creative industry requests to prevent its search engine directing consumers to copyright-infringing websites,&#8221; the report states in emphasized bold type.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are unimpressed by their evident reluctance to block infringing websites on the flimsy grounds that some operate under the cover of hosting some legal content.  The continuing promotion by search engines of illegal content on the internet is unacceptable.  So far, their attempts to remedy this have been derisorily ineffective,&#8221; it continues.</p>
<p>&#8220;We do not believe it to be beyond the wit of the engineers employed by Google and others to demote and, ideally, remove copyright infringing material from search engine results. Google co-operates with law enforcement agencies to block child pornographic content from search results and it has provided no coherent, responsible answer as to why it cannot do the same for sites which blatantly, and illegally, offer pirated content.&#8221; </p>
<p>Turning up the heat further still in an attempt to have Google held accountable through the reporting of a government office, the report has more proposals.</p>
<p>&#8220;We recommend that the Intellectual Property Office’s annual reports include an assessment of the degree of online copyright infringement and the extent to which identified search engines and other internet services facilitate this. We further recommend that the Government consider how it might incentivise technology companies to hinder access via the internet to copyright infringing material.&#8221;</p>
<p>Of course, while &#8220;carrots&#8221; are offered to do something about infringement, no document of this nature could conclude without a recommendation to bring out the sticks.</p>
<h2>10 years in jail for &#8220;serious&#8221; online infringement</h2>
<p>Citing the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/surfthechannel-owner-sentenced-to-four-years-in-jail-120814/">successful prosecution</a> of SurftheChannel owner Anton Vickerman, the report notes that while large scale copyright infringement in the offline world can result in harsh penalties, online those punishments are limited to two years. To sidestep this issue a decision was made to prosecute Vickerman on counts of Conspiracy to Defraud which ultimately secured a four year jail sentence. In future the Committee would like to see such maneuvering become unnecessary.</p>
<p>&#8220;We recommend that the maximum penalty for serious online copyright theft be extended to ten years’ imprisonment.  Criminal offences in the online world should attract the same penalties as those provided for the physical world by the Copyright, etc. and Trade Marks (Offences and Enforcement) Act 2002,&#8221; the Committee notes.</p>
<h2>Digital Economy Act</h2>
<p>Finally the report criticizes the delay in implementing the controversial Digital Economy Act, stalled now for the best part of three years. In particular, the issuing of warning notices to infringers should come sooner rather than later.</p>
<p>&#8220;We recommend that a copyright infringement notification system envisaged by the Digital Economy Act be implemented with far greater speed than the Government currently plans.  By targeting information letters to the worst infringers, early implementation will, we believe, serve an important educative purpose which could percolate more widely,&#8221; the report states.</p>
<p>However, if the government can&#8217;t get its act together, a voluntary scheme between ISPs and copyright holders should be put in place.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are encouraged <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/copyright-holders-want-voluntary-uk-three-strikes-anti-piracy-scheme-130902/">by the progress</a> that has been made towards instituting a voluntary system of warning letters following discussions involving internet service providers and rights owners. If this can be achieved by mutual cooperation rather than legislation, it will be a major step forward.</p>
<p>&#8220;However, should voluntary initiatives such as this prove unsuccessful then the Government should ensure that the equivalent measures in the Digital Economy Act are promptly put into effect,&#8221; the Committee concludes.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/google-condemned-by-uk-politicians-for-linking-to-piracy-130926/">Google &#8220;Condemned&#8221; By UK Politicians For Linking to Piracy</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=77237
title: Microsoft Wants Google to Censor Its Wikipedia Page
uri: Microsoft-Wants-Google-to-Censor-Its-Wikipedia-Page
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/ID4hXwONxSw/
content:
<p><a href="media/b4f20436.microsoft-pirate.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/microsoft-pirate.png"><img src="media/b4f20436.microsoft-pirate.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/microsoft-pirate.png" alt="microsoft-pirate" width="225" height="137" class="alignright size-full wp-image-51663" /></a><em><strong>Update:</strong> Microsoft <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/microsoft-ditches-anti-piracy-partner-after-embarrassing-dmca-takedowns-130927/">ditched the anti-piracy company</a> that sent the embarrassing takedown notices.</em></p>
<p>Day in and day out copyright holders send hundreds of thousands of DMCA takedown notices to Google, hoping to make pirated movies and music harder to find.</p>
<p>During the past month alone copyright holders asked Google to remove <a href="http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/copyright/">20,497,209 URLs</a> from its search results. Unfortunately, not all of these requests are legitimate.</p>
<p>Microsoft in particular has a horrible reputation in this regard. While most of the URLs submitted on their behalf do indeed link to infringing content, not all requests are correct. In fact, some takedown notices are rather embarrassing.</p>
<p>Last week, for example, one of Microsoft&#8217;s <a href="http://www.chillingeffects.org/notice.cgi?sID=1184379">notices</a> asked Google to take down the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Office_2007">Wikipedia entry</a> for Office 2007. As can be seen below, in the same notice the software giant also wants a perfectly legitimate <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd902097(v=office.12).aspx">tutorial on Microsoft.com</a> taken down. </p>
<p><center><br />
<h5>Microsoft&#8217;s erroneous takedown request</h5>
<p><img src="media/1804fd45.ms-dmca1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ms-dmca1.png" alt="ms-dmca" width="550" height="144" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-77240" /></center></p>
<p>These are not the only mistakes though. The full notice includes no less than 4 URLs from Microsoft&#8217;s own website, a tutorial on Brighthub, a discussion thread on Lockergnome and several non-infringing Pastebin pastes. </p>
<p>In addition, the notice also includes links that appear to protect the work of others, as exemplified by the &#8220;Gay Amateur Spunk Volume 2,&#8221; &#8220;Batman&#8221; and &#8220;Taken&#8221; references in the screenshot above.</p>
<p>These are not isolated incidents. We reported on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/microsoft-wants-google-to-censor-microsoft-com-130728/">similar mistakes</a> in the past, and more and more are rolling in every week.</p>
<p>In <a href="http://www.chillingeffects.org/notice.cgi?sID=1186174">another notice</a> sent a day earlier, Microsoft again requested the removal of several of its own webpages, but also the Open Source <a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/sptemplates/">SharePoint Template Project</a>, which is hosted at Sourceforge. </p>
<p>Luckily for Microsoft, Google spotted some of the errors, meaning that the Wikipedia, Sourceforge and Microsoft pages have not been scrapped from the search results. Several of the more dubious requests have been removed. </p>
<p>Unfortunately this is not the first time that notices sent on Microsoft&#8217;s behalf have included such glaring errors. This is troubling, especially because they are seemingly easy to avoid. For starters, the company could maintain a whitelist of trusted URLs that need a manual review before they are sent off to Google. </p>
<p>When TorrentFreak raised these issues with Microsoft the company said that it is committed to improving its accuracy and preventing these errors in the future.</p>
<p>“Microsoft is committed to ensuring copyright is respected online and enforcement measures are appropriate and accurate. We apologize when a notice is mistakenly directed to non-infringing content and take immediate action. We are committed to fixing the process that led to this result,” a Microsoft spokesperson <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/microsoft-censors-openoffice-download-links-130814/">told us last month</a>.</p>
<p>For now, however, it appears that very little has changed and the embarrassing mistakes continue to stack up.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/microsoft-wants-google-to-censor-its-wikipedia-page-130927/">Microsoft Wants Google to Censor Its Wikipedia Page</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=77236
title: Kim Dotcom Offers to Bankroll Kiwi America’s Cup Team
uri: Kim-Dotcom-Offers-to-Bankroll-Kiwi-America-s-Cup-Team
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/wUjCPnQYAGs/
content:
<p><a href="media/559c6a23.dotcomboat.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dotcomboat.jpg"><img src="media/559c6a23.dotcomboat.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dotcomboat.jpg" alt="dotcomboat" width="180" height="137" class="alignright size-full wp-image-77247" /></a>With what looked like an unbeatable 8-1 lead, Team New Zealand required just one more win to bring the America&#8217;s Cup home. But nothing is guaranteed in sport, a fact underlined by Oracle Team USA this week.</p>
<p>Jimmy Spithill&#8217;s team took eight successive wins and captured victory yesterday in San Francisco, an outcome which prompted a single word comment from New Zealand Prime Minister on Twitter that said it all &#8211; <a href="https://twitter.com/johnkeypm/status/382968272011816960">Bugger</a>.</p>
<p>Of course, in defeat the best thing to do is regroup, reassess and return to fight another day, but sailing is an expensive game and at this point the government won&#8217;t commit to another round of funding, which is expected to run to many tens of millions of dollars.</p>
<p>However, when there&#8217;s an opportunity to get one over on the government there is one New Zealand resident who is rarely away from the action. Enter stage left Kim Dotcom, ready to show that where Prime Minister John Key falters, there&#8217;s a larger-than-life businessman and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/kim-dotcom-prepares-for-presidency-of-new-political-party-130901/">politician in the making</a> ready to step in.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/94db2db9.dotcomamericas.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dotcomamericas.png" alt="DotcomAmericas" /></center></p>
<p>So with Dotcom suggesting that in the absence of government commitment Mega could bankroll the team, how much money should the fledgling file-hosting business expect to cough up? At last count the investment required is in the region of NZ$36 million (US$30 million), a not inconsiderable sum for any business, let alone one that&#8217;s barely eight months old.</p>
<p>But of course, Mega is doing very well. The company has <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mega-relives-megaupload-fame-overtakes-rapidshare-130922/">just overtaken</a> rival RapidShare and in terms of files stored is already 50% of the now defunct Megaupload. Nevertheless, $30 million is a huge sum to justify.</p>
<p>To date it has been Dotcom himself almost single-handedly driving the Mega marketing machine but with the company&#8217;s stock exchange listing around the corner, it&#8217;s certainly possible that the company will be looking to invest some advertising dollars. Whether Mega will be able to match the financial clout behind Team Oracle (Oracle&#8217;s Larry Ellison is the United States&#8217; 3rd richest man) is doubtful though.</p>
<p>While the next cup is scheduled for 2017, Mega has more immediate matters in hand. Dotcom says that his file-hosting enterprise will exit beta next week and will launch both a new site and a sync client for Windows. This welcome addition to Mega&#8217;s arsenal will make it much more useful to current users of Dropbox and will bring in much-needed revenue as the company enters its second year of operation.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/kim-dotcom-offers-to-bankroll-kiwi-americas-cup-team-130927/">Kim Dotcom Offers to Bankroll Kiwi America&#8217;s Cup Team</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=77293
title: Microsoft Ditches Anti-Piracy Partner After Embarrassing DMCA Takedowns
uri: Microsoft-Ditches-Anti-Piracy-Partner-After-Embarrassing-DMCA-Takedown
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/2bNzWceWbbo/
content:
<p><img src="media/b4f20436.microsoft-pirate.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/microsoft-pirate.png" align="right" alt="microsoft" />Over the past year the number of DMCA takedown requests sent out by copyright holders has increased dramatically, and so have inaccurate notices targeting legitimate content.</p>
<p>Microsoft has been one of the most active notice senders and over the past year alone has asked Google to remove more than 10 million infringing URLs from its indexes. </p>
<p>The software giant has also developed a reputation for sending a lot of false notices, most of which have been sent through the French company LeakID. </p>
<p>This morning we again reported on some <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/microsoft-wants-google-to-censor-its-wikipedia-page-130927/">rather embarrassing takedown notices</a>, which asked for the removal of Microsoft&#8217;s own website, its Wikipedia entry and an Open Source project. If that wasn&#8217;t bad enough, Microsoft also claimed ownership of a porn video. </p>
<p>It turns out this was the final straw for the company. Microsoft has just announced that it has decided to stop working with LeakID effective immediately.</p>
<p>&#8220;Microsoft is committed to ensuring that enforcement measures are appropriate and completely accurate. We are investigating the circumstances of this takedown and have instructed the vendor that it is no longer authorized to send notices on our behalf,&#8221; a Microsoft spokesman just informed TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>This makes Microsoft the first company to publicly cut its ties with an anti-piracy company for making too many embarrassing mistakes. </p>
<p>Microsoft&#8217;s troubles with LeakID started last year when <a href="http://www.chillingeffects.org/notice.cgi?sID=479210">a DMCA notice</a> ordered Google to remove legitimate webpages from AMC Theatres, BBC, Buzzfeed, CNN, HuffPo, TechCrunch, RealClearPolitics, Rotten Tomatoes, ScienceDirect, Washington Post, Wikipedia and even the U.S. Government.</p>
<p>In another notice Microsoft asked Google <a href="http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/copyright/requests/295879/">to remove</a> a Spotify.com URL and on <a href="http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/copyright/domains/bing.com/">several occasions</a> they even asked Google to censor their own search engine Bing. </p>
<p>Hats off to Microsoft for taking a stand on this matter in public. For us it probably means that we&#8217;ll have fewer mistakes to point out in the future, but it also shows that all our previous digging expeditions have not been in vain. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/microsoft-ditches-anti-piracy-partner-after-embarrassing-dmca-takedowns-130927/">Microsoft Ditches Anti-Piracy Partner After Embarrassing DMCA Takedowns</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=77214
title: Search and Stream Torrents From The Cloud, For Free
uri: Search-and-Stream-Torrents-From-The-Cloud-For-Free
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/9dgb3VA_8g4/
content:
<p><a href="media/9082ac2a.logo-streamza1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/logo-streamza1.png"><img src="media/9082ac2a.logo-streamza1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/logo-streamza1.png" alt="logo-streamza" width="222" height="53" class="alignright size-full wp-image-77223" /></a>BitTorrent streaming services have been around for a few years already, but newcomer Streamza is without doubt one of the most impressive we&#8217;ve seen thus far. </p>
<p>The service was recently launched by Polish developer and <a href="http://www.wikidot.com/">Wikidot</a> CEO <a href="https://twitter.com/michalf">Michal Frackowiak</a>. Michal came up with the idea a while ago when he was looking for a convenient way to watch torrents on his iOS devices and TV without all the hassle of converting files and connecting cables. </p>
<p>&#8220;Watching movies on a laptop on a couch sucks, so I made a small script that uses EC2 and S3 to download and encode torrents so that I could stream these to my devices,&#8221; Michal tells TorrentFreak. </p>
<p>&#8220;I showed this to my friends and they wanted the same thing. So there was a thought: why not to build a web app that does exactly this?&#8221; </p>
<p>Fast forward a few months and <a href="http://streamza.com">Streamza</a> was born. While the idea started as a simple home-brew solution to a common problem, the end result is a professional service that easily matches up with the competition.</p>
<p>Streamza works pretty straightforward. It downloads torrents instantly and supports streaming playback on laptops, desktops and iOS devices. In addition it also allows users to stream content directly to their TV via Apple TV. A lot of work has gone into the user interface which looks stunning on all devices.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/89dffa79.streamzz.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/streamzz.jpg"><img src="media/89dffa79.streamzz.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/streamzz.jpg" alt="streamzz" width="500" height="395" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-77219" /></a></center></p>
<p>Rather than a lengthy summary of Streamza&#8217;s features which includes subtitle support, or underlying technology such as the multi-bitrate HLS streaming, it&#8217;s probably best if people just give it a try. </p>
<p>And that&#8217;s where another advantage comes in &#8211; Streamza gives free accounts with one download slot and a maximum file size of a gigabyte. No credit card needed, no strings attached. </p>
<p>Another feature that will be appreciated by many users is the built-in torrent search. This is particularly handy on mobile devices where it can be quite cumbersome to add torrent files manually. </p>
<p><center><a href="media/c5d9f2f4.search-streamza.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/search-streamza.jpg"><img src="media/c5d9f2f4.search-streamza.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/search-streamza.jpg" alt="search-streamza" width="441" height="427"  size-full wp-image-77228" /></a></a></center></p>
<p>In the near future Streamza plans to add support for more devices and platforms. This includes support for Android devices, Roku, Chromecast, XBMC and opening up an API to allow third-party apps. </p>
<p>While the service will be expanded, the main focus of Streamza will remain &#8220;simplicity&#8221; and &#8220;accessibility&#8221; according to the developer.</p>
<p>&#8220;I definitely want to make the Streamza experience the best ever, so even my mom could use it. It&#8217;s the primary goal. It should work and make you say &#8216;wow&#8217;,&#8221; Michal  says. </p>
<p>Those interested can sign up for a free account at the <a href="http://streamza.com">Streamza </a> site. Users temporarily get 3 download slots and can earn additional ones by inviting friends, or by buying a paid account which also allows for torrents up to 30 gigabyte. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/search-and-stream-torrents-from-the-cloud-for-free-130928/">Search and Stream Torrents From The Cloud, For Free</a></p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=77308
title: Hounded By Hollywood, Disbarred “Pirate Site” Lawyer Preps NSA-Proof Email
uri: Hounded-By-Hollywood-Disbarred-Pirate-Site-Lawyer-Preps-NSA-Pro
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/p9DkuEL2D70/
content:
<p><a href="media/4b79f786.chainsafe.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/chainsafe.jpg"><img src="media/4b79f786.chainsafe.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/chainsafe.jpg" alt="chainsafe" width="152" height="137" class="alignright size-full wp-image-49630" /></a>While there can be little doubt that the story of The Pirate Bay is the most epic in the history of file-sharing, there is another that has so many unlikely twists and turns it barely seems real.</p>
<p>Indexing site Newzbin, the creator of the NZB format, was hugely popular with Usenet users and for this reason attracted the attention of the Motion Picture Association. After a ruinous High Court <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/high-court-finds-newzbin-liable-for-copyright-infringement-100329/">battle</a> which left it massively indebted to the Hollywood studios, the site <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/newzbin-usenet-indexer-shuts-down-after-court-defeat-100518/">folded</a> in May 2010.</p>
<p>Surprisingly, however, just weeks later the site reappeared as Newzbin2, its code apparently liberated by individuals known as Team R Dogs. The site immediately set about ruffling the feathers of Hollywood, actions which resulted in Newzbin2 becoming the first ever site to be blocked on copyright grounds in the UK.</p>
<p>Unable to maintain its funding the site eventually closed, but far from over the story is about to take a couple more unexpected twists. First off and according to the site&#8217;s former lawyer, Newzbin intends to make a comeback with new services designed to defeat NSA spying. </p>
<p>&#8220;We are horrified by the recently disclosed antics of the NSA in indiscriminately spying on all Internet users,&#8221; David Harris told TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>&#8220;We cut our teeth protecting our users from the surveillance of corrupt US corporations like the Hollywood movie studios. We now plan to bring a range of privacy services to help protect the public from governments. Our first product is a secure email service which is about to enter closed early beta testing.&#8221;</p>
<p><a href="media/64c296be.newzbin.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/newzbin.jpg"><img src="media/64c296be.newzbin.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/newzbin.jpg" alt="newzbin" width="170" height="170" class="alignright size-full wp-image-21122" /></a>Now, the name David Harris may very well ring a couple of bells with readers. Harris was the original Newzbin&#8217;s lawyer, in fact for a while he defended the site in its High Court battle against the MPA.</p>
<p>However, that episode became mired controversy when it was discovered that not only was Harris the site&#8217;s lawyer, but he was also secretly the site&#8217;s owner having previously obtained 100% of the shares.</p>
<p>In 2012 the <a href="https://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/">Bar Standards Board</a> eventually disbarred Harris and fined him £2,500 after the Brighton-based barrister called MPA lawyers names including &#8220;prick&#8221; and &#8220;slimebag&#8221;. But 18 months later and Harris is now hoping to bring a new valuable service to the masses.</p>
<p>&#8220;Newzbin will be based in privacy protecting jurisdictions outside the territories of the United States &#038; its cronies. Once out of Beta phase, it will be based in Switzerland,&#8221; Harris explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;We will not be complying with US National Security letters or government demands other than those from our host jurisdiction. Like Lavabit we will close rather than comply with orders violating our users&#8217; privacy.&#8221;</p>
<p>Harris says that the new service, to be hosted at <a href="http://www.EncryptedMail.ch">EncryptedMail.ch</a>, is undergoing testing and should be available to the public by Christmas. However, despite the deaths of Newzbin and Newzbin2, there is still unfinished business with the MPA on the horizon.</p>
<p><a href="media/32cbee81.mpa.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mpa.jpg"><img src="media/32cbee81.mpa.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mpa.jpg" alt="mpa" width="180" height="117" class="alignright size-full wp-image-77324" /></a>&#8220;The MPA allege that Elsworth [former Newzbin creator and owner] &#038; I dishonestly dissipated Newzbin&#8217;s assets in 2010 to avoid paying the MPA the £230,000 costs they were awarded after the 2010 trial. They say I did this by setting up offshore companies which I paid Newzbin&#8217;s remaining money into,&#8221; Harris explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;They allege that Elsworth and I, and maybe others, arranged the &#8216;theft&#8217; of the source code &#038; databases [of Newzbin] and then operated the Newzbin2 site and then infringed their copyrights. I deny that.&#8221;</p>
<p>Harris informs us that the MPA are claiming that he is none other than the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/newzbin-resurrection-interview-with-the-mysterious-mr-white-100529/">infamous Mr White</a>, the public face of Team R Dogs, the group behind Newzbin&#8217;s resurrection. To this end in late 2012 the MPA obtain injunctions against several of Harris&#8217;s companies which the former lawyer says were designed to put him out of business. Former Newzin owner Chris Elsworth has apparently settled with the MPA so will not be part of their action.</p>
<p>&#8220;Thus far the MPA have got me disbarred and killed my businesses but the email project is the start of my fightback,&#8221; Harris explains. &#8220;I intend to continue my fight to protect peoples&#8217; privacy from governments. I also have other projects relating to p2p technology and Usenet in the formative stages.&#8221;</p>
<p>The MPA&#8217;s case against Harris is expected to go to trial in December 2013.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/hounded-by-hollywood-disbarred-pirate-site-lawyer-preps-nsa-proof-email-130928/">Hounded By Hollywood, Disbarred &#8220;Pirate Site&#8221; Lawyer Preps NSA-Proof Email</a></p>
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