# articles

feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110212
title: ISPs and Rightsholders Extend “Six Strikes” Anti-Piracy Scheme
uri: ISPs-and-Rightsholders-Extend-Six-Strikes-Anti-Piracy-Scheme
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/xfzLpC6WRpo/
content:
<p><img src="media/f2bfe741.pirate-running.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-running.jpg" alt="pirate-running" width="222" height="204" class="alignright size-full wp-image-78717">During the summer of 2011 the MPAA and RIAA teamed up with five major Internet providers in the United States, announcing their a plan to &#8220;educate&#8221; BitTorrent pirates.</p>
<p>The parties launched the Center for Copyright Information (<a href="http://www.copyrightinformation.org/">CCI</a>) and agreed on a system through which Internet account holders are warned if their connections are used to download pirated content. After five or six warnings ISPs take a variety of repressive measures, including bandwidth throttling and temporary disconnections.</p>
<p>Initially the first ISPs were expected to start sending out “Copyright Alerts” by the end of 2011, but due to several delaying factors it took until 2013 before the system went live. </p>
<p>A few weeks ago the original agreement (<a href="media/00bb46e2.Memorandum-of-Understanding.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/Memorandum-of-Understanding.pdf">pdf</a>) quietly expired, but that doesn&#8217;t mean that warnings are off the table. Behind the scenes, copyright holders and ISPs have agreed to extend the original agreement for four more months while they work on several changes and improvements.</p>
<p>According to a document seen by TF the parties opted for the short extension because more time is needed to reach a new agreement. The yearly volume of notices is likely to be one of the key issues up for discussion.</p>
<p>An insider informed TF that CCI is committed to keeping the flagship Copyright Alert program alive. In addition, the group is working on an expansion of its consumer education efforts in an effort to direct people to legal services. </p>
<p>While warnings are at the center of the Copyright Alert System, the ultimate goal of CCI is to &#8220;<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/six-strikes-anti-piracy-warnings-double-year-140830/">shift social norms and behavior</a>.&#8221;</p>
<p>At the moment it remains unclear how effective the alerts have been thus far. Some <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/six-strikes-results-show-high-number-of-persistent-pirates-140528/">initial statistics</a> were released early 2014 but TF was told that no new figures will be made public before next year.</p>
<p>While CCI remains positive about the program, there has also been critique from copyright holders. A few months ago several independent movies studios <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/six-strikes-anti-piracy-scheme-is-a-sham-filmmaker-say-150513/">called for an end</a> to the &#8220;six strikes&#8221; scheme, describing it as an ineffective &#8220;sham&#8221;.</p>
<p>According to the movie studios the copyright alerts are highly ineffective because only a small fraction of the piracy notices are forwarded to the Internet providers.</p>
<p>Time will tell whether any of the upcoming changes will address these concerns.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110219
title: Canada’s Mr. Robot Premiere Censored By False DMCA Notice
uri: Canada-s-Mr-Robot-Premiere-Censored-By-False-DMCA-Notice
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/dN1MjBlGGLQ/
content:
<p><img src="media/7e85faa7.robot-small.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/robot-small.jpg" alt="robot-small" width="180" height="233" class="alignright size-full wp-image-110284">New York resident Elliot Alderson works as a security engineer at cyber-security company Allsafe. Through a window of mental issues, Alderson views the world with paranoia while using his undoubted technical skills to hack his targets.</p>
<p>After being recruited by an anarchist known as &#8220;Mr. Robot&#8221;, Alderson becomes part of a team known as &#8220;fsociety&#8221; with a mission to take down one of the largest corporations in the world.</p>
<p>The now-hit TV show <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4158110/">Mr Robot</a> enjoyed a somewhat unusual U.S. launch, with the pilot airing late May on a wide range of online platforms including the USANow app, YouTube, iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Google Play, plus Xbox and Playstation, to name just a few.</p>
<p>Chris McCumber, president, USA Network, <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/television/usa-will-debut-mr-robot-early-almost-every-digital-platform-164506">said</a> that the strategy provided a &#8220;unique opportunity&#8221; to get noticed and drive word-of-mouth promotion. It&#8217;s the kind of effort piracy has been providing unofficially for many years via leaked pilots <em>(<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/minority-report-lucifer-and-blindspot-pilots-leak-online-150810/">1</a>) (<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/supergirl-pilot-leaks-to-torrent-sites-six-months-early-150522/">2</a>)</em>.</p>
<p>After enjoying huge success in the United States, this Friday evening Mr Robot will finally get its Canadian premiere on Showcase. And, in line with the U.S. strategy, Canadian geeks have already been given the opportunity to have an advance sneak preview of the pilot episode on Showcase.ca and ETCanada.com.</p>
<p>However, those attempting to use Google to find the pilot won&#8217;t be able to do so directly. Quite unbelievably, NBCUniversal in the United States have reported Showcase to Google, claiming that the copy of the pilot on the broadcaster&#8217;s website is illegal.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/5db2c678.mr-robot-dmca.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mr-robot-dmca.png" alt="mr-robot-dmca" width="650" height="553" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-110226"></center></p>
<p>With episodes carrying titles such as eps1.1_ones-and-zer0es.mpeg and eps1.7_wh1ter0se.m4v (not to mention a quite fantastic website at <a href="http://whoismrrobot.com">whoismrrobot.com</a>), there can be little doubt that Mr Robot&#8217;s creators are reaching out to those who spend their lives online. It&#8217;s therefore particularly disappointing that the same target audience will be only too aware of how ridiculous these kinds of careless takedowns are.</p>
<p>Also regrettable is that the bogus NBCUniversal takedown has somehow slipped past Google&#8217;s systems that often reject erroneous claims. As can be seen from the image below, the pilot episode page has been completely delisted from Google.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/17e25396.mr-robot-google.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mr-robot-google.png" alt="mr-robot-google" width="650" height="654" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-110273"></center></p>
<p>The first series of Mr Robot has enjoyed success and great reviews in the U.S. but only now have Canadians been let in on the fun. Those wishing to do so without relying on censored Google search results should follow <a href="http://www.showcase.ca/mrrobot">this link</a>.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110268
title: Rightscorp Lures Hollywood With ‘Popcorn Time Protection’
uri: Rightscorp-Lures-Hollywood-With-Popcorn-Time-Protection
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/UbFX2mNkAkI/
content:
<p><img src="media/3b9dbdf1.popcornt.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/popcornt.png" alt="popcornt" width="237" height="106" class="alignright size-full wp-image-101106">In little more than a year <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popcorn_Time">Popcorn Time</a> has become a household name on the Internet.</p>
<p>The software amassed millions of users by offering BitTorrent-powered streaming in an easy-to-use Netflix-style interface.</p>
<p>This attraction has drawn a lot of attention from the press, which makes the &#8220;Popcorn Time&#8221; brand an ideal tool for anti-piracy outfits to promote their work. </p>
<p>In recent months various movie studios have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/movie-studio-sues-popcorn-time-users-in-the-u-s-150819/">launched lawsuits</a> against Popcorn Time users, for example. In practice these cases target the same BitTorrent swarms as the thousands of other lawsuits that have been filed in recent years, but a press release <a href="https://twitter.com/eriqgardner/status/638805020960555012/photo/1">quoting</a> &#8220;Popcorn Time&#8221; ensures mainstream coverage. </p>
<p>Struggling piracy monetization firm Rightscorp has the same idea. A few hours ago the company published a <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rightscorp-launches-its-popcorn-time-protection-service-300137492.html">press release</a> announcing their new &#8220;Popcorn Time Protection&#8221; service. </p>
<p>&#8220;The service includes 365x24x7 monitoring of the Popcorn Time network and associated data collection and reporting services,&#8221; the company announces.</p>
<p>While the name is new, the service does nothing more than what Rightscorp <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/warner-bros-demands-cash-from-friends-pirates-150608/">currently offers</a>. After all, traditional BitTorrent pirates and Popcorn Time users are connected to the same swarms and are downloading the same files. </p>
<p>Rightscorp monitors these swarms and through Internet providers they send DMCA notices to the pirating IP-addresses, asking the account holders to pay $30 per copyright infringement. These IP-addresses can belong to both Popcorn Time and regular BitTorrent users.</p>
<p>The anti-piracy company nonetheless leverages the &#8216;brand&#8217; to lure Hollywood studios into becoming customers. Warner Bros. is already on board and by focusing on Popcorn Time&#8217;s momentum they hope others will follow. </p>
<p>&#8220;Popcorn Time is a clear and present danger to Hollywood and directly threatens the right of the creators and owners of content to determine how their content is distributed,&#8221; CEO Christopher Sabec says.</p>
<p>The company cites <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/netflix-sees-popcorn-time-as-a-serious-competitor-150121/">Netflix&#8217;s warning</a> against the application as well as other news items. In addition the CEO claims that the software is immune to some other anti-piracy measures. </p>
<p>&#8220;We believe our new Popcorn Time Protection service is the only scalable solution for this major threat to Hollywood.  Popcorn Time is unaffected by domain blocking and by DMCA takedown notices,&#8221; Sabec notes. </p>
<p>This is where Rightscorp appears to misunderstand or at least bend the truth. Popcorn Time relies heavily on centralized third party services, such as the YTS torrent site, which accepts <a href="https://yts.to/dmca">DMCA notices</a> and can easily have its domain name seized or blocked.</p>
<p>In fact, Rightscorp published a <a href="http://www.rightscorp.com/blog/2015/07/09/popcorn-time-recovers-from-outage/">blog post</a> recently in which the company noted that Popcorn Time had stopped working for some people, an event triggered by a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/popcorn-time-taken-down-by-domain-name-seizure-150716/">domain seizure</a>. </p>
<p>This point is also <a href="https://blog.popcorntime.io/when-rightscorp-is-wrong/">brought up</a> by the developers of the PopcornTime.io fork, who accuse Rightscorp of &#8220;using a popular name to surf the wave and impress the markets.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;While there&#8217;s nothing new in what they offer, its name catched [sic] our attention,&#8221; the team says of the Rightscorp &#8216;product&#8217;.</p>
<p>Finally, the Popcorn Time team draws attention to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">VPNs</a>, which render Rightscorp&#8217;s monitoring model useless. For some reason that&#8217;s a detail the anti-piracy company conveniently left out of its press release. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110247
title: After Death of Wiziwig, Staff Create New Streaming Sports Portal
uri: After-Death-of-Wiziwig-Staff-Create-New-Streaming-Sports-Portal
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/vCmb-ORgw6g/
content:
<p><img src="media/36a523bc.sports.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/sports.jpg" alt="sports" width="170" height="198" class="alignright size-full wp-image-110297">For several years, the Wiziwig forum was visited by millions of people looking to view a broad selection of live sports programming. The site didn&#8217;t charge users a penny and gained a fanatical following, but at the dawn of the year it all came to an end.</p>
<p>Citing a change in Spanish law where the site was hosted, on January 1, 2015, Wiziwig <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/wiziwig-elitetorrent-shut-spanish-anti-piracy-law-150101/">closed its doors</a> leaving thousands of users without their sporting fix.</p>
<p>In the wake of the closure TF <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/wiziwig-poor-legal-options-turn-people-into-pirates-150103/">caught up with the site&#8217;s operator</a> who told us that problems had been building for some time, in particular as a result of the English Premier League&#8217;s negative interest in the site. In the end the stakes were just too high.</p>
<p>As is common following closures, Wiziwig&#8217;s users dispersed to other sites, along with the site&#8217;s staff who only learned of the closure shortly before the rest of the world.</p>
<p>&#8220;The moderators of Wiziwig had no idea that it was going to close shop. We all got an email about 15 minutes before the public announcement was made,&#8221; a former operator informs TF.</p>
<p>While shocked by the announcement, the mods came to the conclusion that even though Wiziwig&#8217;s operator had had enough, they hadn&#8217;t. Led by around a dozen of the site&#8217;s former moderators, in the months that followed a new site began to take shape. Eventually &#8216;<a href="http://www.streamhub.hk">Streamhub</a>&#8216; was born.</p>
<p>&#8220;We came back under a new name. We are not here to ride on Wiziwig fame. Most of the former moderators have joined us here at StreamHub. About a dozen so far,&#8221; a site operator informs TF. </p>
<p>&#8220;The mods that specialized in their areas at Wiziwig are doing the same here at StreamHub. Most specialize in different sports according to their passions and interests. Some have returned to their specialties in software and technology and P2P streaming; helping hobbyists. Some overlap on both sports and tech.&#8221;</p>
<p>While there will excitement among streaming fans that Streamhub is gaining momentum, there are plenty of other options if users want to view free sports content online. However, what most other sites don&#8217;t have is the same attitude towards free streaming.</p>
<p>Streamhub &#8211; like Wiziwig before it &#8211; is a community-driven site dedicated to providing a friendly and information rich platform for both streamers and consumers. The site is also a strong advocate of free-to-air programming, a business model in which sports broadcasters generate revenue from advertising and do not directly charge the end-user.</p>
<p>&#8220;This is a part of what I believe to be the larger questions: What is wrong with the current model of sport broadcasting?&#8221; Streamhub asks.</p>
<p>&#8220;Most of the moderators I&#8217;ve spoken to about this issue agree the Internet will be considered the public airways, much the same way as over the air broadcasting is considered today and always has been in most countries. I can&#8217;t imagine a world at some point in the future where this isn&#8217;t true.</p>
<p>&#8220;Broadcasters can not charge viewers for watching television or radio over the air and that should apply to the Internet as well. They receive revenue through advertising and this should (and we believe will) be the case for Internet viewing.&#8221;</p>
<p>While it seems highly unlikely that the world&#8217;s sports giants (English Premier League included) will be rushing to partner with those currently streaming their content for free, the operators of Streamhub have a tip or two on how to keep their video distribution costs down.</p>
<p>&#8220;Most official and unofficial streams today are server-based. Meaning the more viewers watching the more bandwidth is needed to provide everyone with a clear and stable stream. And the more it costs. P2P streaming is just the opposite,&#8221; the site explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s (free) software based, and the only bandwidth needed by the originator is the bit rate of the stream times three. The more viewers, the more stable the stream as everyone is sharing the load.&#8221;</p>
<p>According to Streamhub the best solution currently on the market is <a href="http://www.streamhub.hk/forum/showthread.php?18-Solution-to-StreamTorrent-Has-Expired">StreamTorrent</a> but even that could be improved to meet the requirements of broadcasters if they embraced the idea.</p>
<p>Also of interest is Streamhub&#8217;s approach to revenue. According to the site&#8217;s <a href="http://www.streamhub.hk/forum/forum.php">mission statement</a> it doesn&#8217;t allow advertising and the team informs TF that money is not their motivation.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are different because we do not want to make money. We only want to help people everywhere in the world watch the events they are interested in watching. No hidden agendas. No ulterior motives,&#8221; they explain.</p>
<p>&#8220;Just good people volunteering their time, doing something important to extend freedom and fellowship around the world.&#8221;</p>
<p>Whether Streamhub will be able to grow into Wiziwig&#8217;s quite sizable shoes will remain to be seen, but with one of the most experienced teams behind the operation the chances are certainly improved. Old foes will start paying attention too, but that won&#8217;t come as a surprise and has been prepared for.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=109478
title: Gucci Sets Trend for Broad Internet ‘Censorship’
uri: Gucci-Sets-Trend-for-Broad-Internet-Censorship
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/0FJ26Fs1-ws/
content:
<p><img src="media/fca89d79.gucci.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/gucci.png" alt="gucci" width="280" height="139" class="alignright size-full wp-image-110262">In July the movie streaming site MovieTube was <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-sues-movietube-sites-over-mass-piracy-150725/">sued</a> by the MPAA, which tried to shut it down with a broad injunction. </p>
<p>Last month a coalition of global tech firms including Google, Facebook, Twitter <a href="http://"https://torrentfreak.com/google-facebook-and-twitter-protest-hollywoods-sopa-resurrection-150811/">protested</a> the MPAA&#8217;s request, which would require search engines, ISPs and hosting companies to stop linking to or offering services to MovieTube.</p>
<p>The MPAA eventually <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-ducks-censorship-battle-with-google-twitter-and-facebook-150818/">dropped</a> the request as MovieTube shut down voluntarily, but we can expect more of these requests in the future. In fact, they are already quite common in the fashion industry. </p>
<p>This year alone Gucci has targeted hundreds of &#8220;infringing&#8221; websites that sell knockoffs without permission, and the fashion icon has no trouble getting courts to shut these sites down through similar injunctions. </p>
<p>Gucci&#8217;s most recent case was filed three weeks ago (<a href="media/74d81efa.gucciaugust.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/gucciaugust.pdf">pdf</a>). It targets 221 websites and is similar to lawsuits that were filed previously, which accuse site owners of selling counterfeit merchandise.</p>
<p>In the complaint Gucci asks for a preliminary injunction to prevent all third parties from doing business with the site. This includes payment services, social networks and other online services. </p>
<p>Furthermore, Gucci specifically requests an order to prevent &#8220;search engines, Web hosts, domain-name registrars and domain-name registries&#8221; from facilitating access to the sites in question. </p>
<p><center><strong>Gucci&#8217;s request</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/11703234.guccireq.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/guccireq.png" alt="guccireq" width="600" height="415" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-110331"></center></p>
<p>While this case is still pending, the designer company has had success with previous requests. In May, for example, Gucci <a href="http://servingnotice.com/Gv50tv/index.html">obtained an injunction</a> which prohibits search engines from linking to 184 sites, while ordering domain name registrars to hand over the domains.</p>
<p>Unlike with the MovieTube case, there has been little public outcry about the Gucci cases. However, the Electronic Frontier Foundation believes that they pose a significant threat.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Gucci cases are certainly of concern for the same reasons as the MovieTube case, and they deserve more public scrutiny,&#8221; EFF attorney Mitch Stoltz informs TF. </p>
<p>&#8220;Vaguely written orders that could be used to co-opt numerous Internet intermediaries into blocking or filtering websites are an abuse of the law and threaten some of the same harms as the infamous SOPA bill did,&#8221; he adds.</p>
<p>In all fairness, Gucci shouldn&#8217;t get all the &#8216;credit&#8217; here. Several other designer brands have successfully requested similar injunctions in the past, including Louis Vuitton and Chanel.</p>
<p>Similarly, media company ABS-CBN has been <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/u-s-court-wants-search-engines-remove-pirate-sites-140818/">granted</a> broad injunctions by American courts before. </p>
<p>Still, none of these cases triggered the same response as the MovieTube case did. Perhaps the involvement of the MPAA was needed to really hit a nerve with the tech companies? </p>
<p>In any case, it&#8217;s clear that Hollywood isn&#8217;t setting the trend here, they&#8217;re simply following a path already laid out by others.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110210
title: AMC Chases “Fear The Walking Dead” Pirates
uri: AMC-Chases-Fear-The-Walking-Dead-Pirates
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/AyyB2MQQrac/
content:
<p><img src="media/66bbde96.ftwd.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ftwd.png" alt="ftwd" width="250" height="144" class="alignright size-full wp-image-110249">With over 10 million viewers AMC&#8217;s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_the_Walking_Dead">Fear The Walking Dead</a> broke rating records for a series premiere.</p>
<p>This success directly translates to illegitimate channels where over a million people downloaded the first episode quickly after its release. </p>
<p>AMC is not ignoring this unauthorized audience and has started to send out warnings to ISPs across the United States. TF has seen several warning letters targeted at U.S. Internet users.</p>
<p>The company wants the affected subscribers to &#8220;remove or delete all unauthorized copies&#8221; and ensure that their account is &#8220;no longer used to copy or distribute&#8221; the episode(s).</p>
<p>The warnings are sent through AMC&#8217;s anti-piracy partner MarkMonitor. They&#8217;re formatted as DMCA notices and their main purpose is to inform subscribers that someone is using their Internet connection to pirate the show.</p>
<p>&#8220;AMC believes that subscribers have a right to know when their Internet accounts are being used for content theft, or if they are otherwise unwittingly downloading or distributing files that are subject to copyright protection,&#8221; the notices read. </p>
<p>In addition to users of standard BitTorrent clients and Popcorn Time, they&#8217;re also targeting the eDonkey network as the example below shows.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/782b72dc.ftwd-edonk.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ftwd-edonk.png" alt="ftwd-edonk" width="563" height="297" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-110251"></center></p>
<p>The notices further suggests that file-sharing can expose users to great dangers. It specifically mentions a <a href="http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt128.shtm">consumer alert</a> that was issued by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) a few years ago. </p>
<p>&#8220;Online content theft can expose a family&#8217;s home network and the computers connected to it to dangerous viruses, spyware and identity theft,&#8221; the notices explain. </p>
<p>While some casual file-sharers may be spooked by the warning, these types of DMCA notices are quite standard. The copyright holder doesn’t know the identity of the alleged pirates, so there are no legal strings attached.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, AMC hopes that the warnings will deter some from downloading future episodes. And indeed, some users may panic when they see that their downloads are being flagged.</p>
<p>Others may respond by hiding their ISP IP-address from showing up in public, which appears to be <a href="https://proxy.sh/panel/knowledgebase/2826/02or09or2015-DMCA-AMC-Film-Holdings-LLC-at-US-Florida-1-11928.html">quite effective</a> in this case. </p>
<p>In addition to targeting torrent users AMC also targets torrent sites directly. Many original uploads of the first two episodes have disappeared from KickassTorrents and other sites in recent days.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for AMC torrents are like zombies, in a way; they keep coming back to life and are nearly impossible to kill.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/c9579cb9.fearkat.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/fearkat.png" alt="fearkat" width="600" height="145" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-110257"></center></p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110180
title: It’s Impossible to Torrent Anonymously, Lawyer Says
uri: It-s-Impossible-to-Torrent-Anonymously-Lawyer-Says
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/zULRS0RHO-4/
content:
<p><img src="media/fc759fba.crowell.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/crowell.jpg" alt="crowell" width="222" height="215" class="alignright size-full wp-image-110318">Hollywood lawyer Carl Crowell has filed numerous <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/dallas-buyers-club-pirate-agrees-pay-14000-141112/">lawsuits</a> against online pirates in Oregon. He works on behalf of the makers of Dallas Buyers Club, among others, and has been active for years.</p>
<p>These cases never go to trial but are typically settled for a few thousand dollars. In a recent Interview with a <a href="http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-25279-the_pirate_hunter.html">local newspaper</a> he justifies this approach.</p>
<p>&#8220;The media calls what I do a scam, a fraud,&#8221; Crowell says, while pointing at the losses his clients suffer from online piracy. </p>
<p>According to Crowell many of the defendants falsely assume that not responding to a lawsuit will make it go away, but he stresses that this is not the case. </p>
<p>&#8220;There are stories online that tell people the worst thing you can do is respond, but it’s not a problem that’s going to go away by being ignored,” he notes. </p>
<p>Indeed, there have been various examples of default judgments against pirates in these type of cases, with judges handing out damages as high as <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/torrenting-manny-pirate-must-pay-30000-in-damages-150831/">$30,000</a>. This means that ignoring a lawsuit is certainly not wise. </p>
<p>While the lawyer has no sympathy for pirates, he doesn&#8217;t just sue people left and right. Crowell says he focuses on people who upload content persistently, seeding files for several months.</p>
<p>“If you just download and don’t upload, you don’t cross my radar. I’m interested in persistent involvement over several months,” he says.</p>
<p>The above sounds reasonable for someone from his side of the bench, but soon after the interview takes a surprise turn. According to Crowell, it is impossible for pirates to escape his crosshairs as online anonymity is a myth. </p>
<p>“There is no anonymity online. If you want to pirate content, you have to do so publicly,” Crowell says. </p>
<p>This statement conflicts with reality, as there are plenty of way for people to hide their IP-addresses. In fact, research shows that pirates tend to be very keen on their privacy. </p>
<p>For example, an academic survey <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-users-long-for-anonymity-111021/">revealed</a> that 70 percent of The Pirate Bay users utilize a VPN service or proxy, or were interested in doing so in future.</p>
<p>Perhaps Crowell is misrepresenting reality on purpose as a scare tactic, or he simply doesn&#8217;t know better. Luckily for him, not all pirates are aware of it either, otherwise his business would be ruined. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=109950
title: Google DMCA Notice Record Smashed Again – But Why?
uri: Google-DMCA-Notice-Record-Smashed-Again-But-Why
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/vxu-RnazCew/
content:
<p><img src="media/36bd1cdd.google-bay.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/google-bay.jpg" width="200" height="177" class="alignright">Google&#8217;s public records for DMCA notices received date back to a single week in July 2011 and as far as the trends at the time were concerned, it was a pretty busy period.</p>
<p>According to the company&#8217;s <a href="http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/">Transparency Report</a> a little under 130,000 notices were processed, with the next batch in August &#8217;11 a little busier at 158,000.</p>
<p>By November &#8217;12 things had really begun to heat up, with 2.88m notices handled in a single week. What followed was a steady increase month on month interspersed with massive spikes, such as the 11.68m URL deluge witnessed during a week in October 2014.</p>
<p>In July 2015, records were broken again, with another <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/google-asked-to-remove-18-pirate-links-every-second-150802/">highly unusual week</a> in which 12.5m notices were processed by the search giant. Or, to put it another way, Google dealt with requests to remove 18 &#8216;pirate&#8217; links every second.</p>
<p>And now, just weeks later, that staggering record has been shattered again.</p>
<p>In a single week (beginning August 18, 2015) Google processed a mind-boggling 13,685,322 allegedly infringing URLs. That&#8217;s almost 23 copyright complaints handled by the search giant every single second &#8211; or 100 URLs in the time it took to read this sentence.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/d0ee1298.urls-each-week.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/urls-each-week.png" alt="urls-each-week" width="468" height="243" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-110315"></center></p>
<p>In the most recently reported month, 5,991 copyright holders and 2,683 reporting organizations requested the removal of 55,702,393 URLs from 80,256 domains.</p>
<p>The most complained about services were all file-hosting sites including Chomikuj.pl (1,089,458 URLs), Rapidgator.net (711,175) and Uploaded.net (664,299).</p>
<p>The big question is what&#8217;s been driving these massive figures. Are pirates flooding the Internet with more content than ever before? Or perhaps anti-piracy outfits are simply becoming more adept at discovering it?</p>
<p>Both of those things are indeed a possibility but two other sets of circumstances are undoubtedly inflating the figures reported by Google. Interestingly, they&#8217;re both a direct result of copyright holder actions.</p>
<p>While domain takedowns have inconvenienced several large sites in recent times, those affected are increasingly using multiple domains to mitigate the problem. It&#8217;s a strategy now being employed by many of the leading torrent sites &#8211; cut one head from the hydra and another appears, as the saying goes.</p>
<p>For example, The Pirate Bay currently operates several domains, which forces anti-piracy groups not only to take down specific content on <a href="http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/copyright/domains/thepiratebay.se/">thepiratebay.se</a> (3,564,910 URLs so far) but also <a href="http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/copyright/domains/thepiratebay.gd">thepiratebay.gd</a> (601,518) <a href="http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/copyright/domains/thepiratebay.am/">thepiratebay.am</a> (373,444), <a href="http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/copyright/domains/thepiratebay.la/">thepiratebay.la</a> (690,648), etc etc&#8230;ad nauseam.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/9861be37.tpbhydrax.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpbhydrax.png" alt="tpbhydrax" width="544" height="436" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-105924"></center></p>
<p>This means that for a piece of content previously found on a single URL on ThePirateBay.se alone, rightsholders now have to send a similar notice for every other domain the site decides to put into action. It&#8217;s a never-ending battle that&#8217;s causing millions of additional takedown demands.</p>
<p>Another big issue is caused by site blocking. Again taking The Pirate Bay as an example, there are now dozens if not hundreds of active proxies, mirrors and clones, each of which attract their own sets of takedown demands. As can be seen from the image below (which shows only part of the problem), this also causes millions of additional notices to be sent to Google.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/7d077014.tpb-proxylist.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpb-proxylist.png" alt="tpb-proxylist" width="591" height="585" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-110312"></center></p>
<p>Overall there seems to be very little that anyone can do to stop the tide of notices being sent to Google but perhaps most importantly they appear to be having almost no effect on content availability. All popular movies and music tracks remain just a few clicks away. Let&#8217;s not forget, Google takes down links to content, not the content itself.</p>
<p>Admittedly search results for the same are becoming less useful (and are even driving people <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/anti-piracy-measures-putting-internet-users-at-risk-150503/">towards malware</a>), but of course Google is only part of a much bigger puzzle and pirates adapt very quickly.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110381
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week – 09/07/15
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-09-07-15
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/bxQZYpBSdpg/
content:
<p><img src="media/1f24a9a4.minions.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/minions.jpg" alt="minions" width="300" height="294" class="alignright size-full wp-image-110382">This week we have five newcomers in our chart. </p>
<p>Minions is the most downloaded movie.</p>
<p>The data for our weekly download chart is estimated by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only. All the movies in the list are BD/DVDrips unless stated otherwise.</p>
<p><a href="http://TorrentFreak.com/category/dvdrip/feed/"><strong>RSS feed</strong></a> for the weekly movie download chart.</p>
<table class="css hover">
<thead>
<tr>
<th width="12%"><strong>Ranking</strong></th>
<th width="15%"><strong>(<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-movies-of-the-week-083115/">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>(8)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/minions/">Minions</a> (HDRip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2293640/">6.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfql_DoHRKc">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mad_max_fury_road/">Mad Max: Fury Road</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1392190/">8.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjBb4SZ0F6Q">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/selfless_2015/?">Self/less</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2140379/">6.5</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mc4sz6neHDs">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/avengers_age_of_ultron/">Avengers: Age of Ultron</a> (Web-DL)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2395427/">7.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmeOjFno6Do">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/san_andreas/">San Andreas</a> (Web-DL)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2126355/">6.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23VflsU3kZE">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/straight_outta_compton/">Straight Outta Compton</a> (Subbed HDRip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1398426">8.3</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyoew4T74_w">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(7)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/southpaw_2015/">Southpaw</a> (HDrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1798684/">7.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvkfIpFO0VU">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/welcome_back_2015/">Welcome Back</a> (DVDscr)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3159708/">5.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIKfSPbsuyw">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/entourage/">Entourage</a> (HDrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1674771/">7.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGSE_XPF4_g">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(9)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/terminator_genisys/">Terminator Genisys</a> (Subbed HDTV rip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1340138/">7.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62E4FJTwSuc">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110387
title: Pirate Party Offers Uncensored DNS to Bypass Pirate Bay Blockade
uri: Pirate-Party-Offers-Uncensored-DNS-to-Bypass-Pirate-Bay-Blockade
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/dB0ow9vb97w/
content:
<p><img src="media/2a43984f.pirate-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-bay.jpg" alt="pirate bay" width="200" height="207" class="alignright size-full wp-image-53470">Last week Norway became the latest country to block access to The Pirate Bay. </p>
<p>A local court ordered Internet providers to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-sites-must-pay-legal-costs-of-own-blockade-court-rules-150902/">block users&#8217; access</a> to several large &#8216;pirate&#8217; websites in the hope that it will decrease online copyright infringement. </p>
<p>The local Pirate Party is now vigorously protesting the ruling and has decided to fight back. Since the sites will be blocked on the DNS level the party is <a href="http://itavisen.no/2015/09/04/piratpartiet-setter-opp-apen-dns-server/">countering</a> by providing their <a href="https://www.piratpartiet.no/dns/">own DNS servers</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;We want a free and open Internet for everyone. The copyright industry&#8217;s fight for control over culture has put us in a situation where this is no longer the case in Norway,&#8221; Pirate Party co-chairman Øystein Middelthun tells TF.</p>
<p>&#8220;The censorship is easy to bypass, by simply changing your name server, so we decided to practice what we preach and offer such a service to all those affected by the problem,&#8221; he adds.</p>
<p>Indeed, since the sites&#8217; IP-addresses are not blocked the blockade can be easily circumvented by changing the DNS settings on one&#8217;s device or computer. The Pirate Party is not the only company offering alternative DNS, OpenDNS and Google have a similar service. </p>
<p>The Pirate Party&#8217;s DNS has added benefits though, as it supports additional Top Level Domains including .geek or .pirate, and the Namecoin based .bit. In addition, it operates from Norway with minimal logging to guarantee users&#8217; privacy. </p>
<p>The Pirates note that the order will have minimal effect on people&#8217;s sharing habits. However, Middelthun is concerned about the slippery slope, where companies and the authorities get to dictate what people are allowed to see online.</p>
<p>&#8220;The blocking order is yet another sad step down the road towards the dystopic world imagined by George Orwell. At the same time it achieves absolutely nothing of what the plaintiffs are hoping for,&#8221; he tells TF. </p>
<p>&#8220;The dangerous thing about it is that it sets a precedent. It is easy to imagine how the scope could be expanded to include other websites somehow considered immoral, and while the current technical implementation is easy to circumvent, hardening it is equally easy once society has accepted censorship in the first place,&#8221; Middelthun adds.</p>
<p>The DNS service is not limited to Norwegians. Everyone who wants an unfiltered DNS service is welcome to use it.</p>
<p>Previously the UK Pirate Party <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-party-shuts-down-pirate-bay-proxy-after-legal-threats-121219/">ran into trouble</a> when they launched a Pirate Bay proxy in response to a local blockade. The Norwegian Pirates don&#8217;t expect that their DNS will be targeted, but if it does they are prepared to fight back.</p>
<p>&#8220;Running a public DNS service is fully legal, so we do not expect any legal trouble. A scenario to consider is if the copyright industry, or surveillance hungry politicians, started pushing for strictly regulating DNS- and/or VPN-services,&#8221; Middelthun says. </p>
<p>&#8220;If this scenario came true, we will fight it with everything in our power. It is paramount that the Internet remains free, or society would suffer greatly,&#8221; he concludes.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110399
title: Police Raid Fails to Dent UK Top 40 Music Piracy
uri: Police-Raid-Fails-to-Dent-UK-Top-40-Music-Piracy
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/NYgG6ANdbdw/
content:
<p><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">Early last Thursday morning the UK’s Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) were again mobilizing against online piracy.</p>
<p>Following a joint investigation with licensing outfit PRS for Music, officers from PIPCU and Merseyside <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/uk-police-arrest-prolific-pirate-bay-uploader-150903/">police raided an address</a> in Everton, Liverpool. Their target was a 38-year-old man believed to be involved in the unlawful distribution of music online.</p>
<p>In addition to uploading the UK’s Top 40 Singles to various torrent sites each week, police said the man also ran his own website offering &#8216;acapella&#8217; audio tracks. Police further added that the man generated “significant” advertising revenue from his endeavors while possibly costing the industry &#8220;millions&#8221; in lost revenue.</p>
<p>A tip received by TF indicated that the man was connected to several accounts on the world&#8217;s major torrent sites, including The Pirate Bay and KickassTorrents. We can now reveal that the accounts were registered in the name of &#8216;OldSkoolScouse&#8217;. For those outside the UK, the term &#8216;scouse&#8217; refers to the accent found primarily in and around the Liverpool area.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/a5234f16.scouse-kickass.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/scouse-kickass.jpg" alt="scouse-kickass" width="650" height="323" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-110401"></center></p>
<p>As shown in the KickassTorrents screenshot above, the profile links to a domain &#8211; www.oldskoolscouse.co.uk. Up until last Friday (the day after the raid) the domain linked to another site, www.deejayportal.com, which was billed as the &#8220;Number #1 community and resource, for DJs &#038; Producers.&#8221;</p>
<p>As can be seen from the image below, DeeJayPortal featured acapella tracks as described by the police.</p>
<p><img src="media/40cd05ce.scouse-deejay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/scouse-deejay.jpg" alt="scouse-deejay" width="650" height="468" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-110402"></p>
<p>It remains unclear how many users each domain had, but in the bigger picture the numbers are very small indeed. At its height DeeJayPortal appears to have barely scraped the world&#8217;s top 200,000 most popular sites while OldSkoolScouse is currently outside the top three million.</p>
<p>Both domains went down last Friday, as did the OldSkoolScouse Twitter account and Facebook page. As illustrated below, the former regularly announced torrent uploads of the UK Top 40 to DeeJayPortal.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/a898f028.scouse-twitter.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/scouse-twitter.jpg" alt="scouse-twitter" width="650" height="386" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-110408"></center></p>
<p><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/how-file-sharers-ruin-their-online-privacy-150322/">Yet again</a> it appears that the arrest last week was a case of rightsholders and police targeting low-hanging fruit. Using widely available research tools we were able to quickly uncover important names plus associated addresses, both email and physical. It seems likely that he made close to no effort to conceal his identity.</p>
<p>Due to being in the police spotlight it will come as little surprise that there was no weekly upload of the UK&#8217;s Top 40 most-popular tracks from OldSkoolScouse last Friday, something which probably disappointed the releaser&#8217;s fans. However, any upset would have been very temporary indeed.</p>
<p>As shown below, at least four other releases of exactly the same content were widely available on public torrent sites within hours of the UK chart results being announced last Friday, meaning the impact on availability was almost non-existent.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/bfc606fb.top40-releases.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/top40-releases.png" alt="top40-releases" width="624" height="219" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-110414"></center></p>
<p>However, perhaps of more interest to the police and rightsholders is the impact the arrest will have on the public&#8217;s perception of how risky it is to engage in online piracy in the UK. Certainly, more people are being arrested in the UK file-sharing scene than in the United States currently, quite a surprise considering the aggressive anti-piracy stance usually taken in the U.S.</p>
<p>Finally, it will be really interesting to see if the arrest last week will conclude with a case going to court. PIPCU have made many arrest announcements connected to online piracy in the past two years, yet to our knowledge not one person has gone to trial.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110430
title: Pirate Streaming Site Operator Handed Four Year Sentence
uri: Pirate-Streaming-Site-Operator-Handed-Four-Year-Sentence
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/6nKNrR2MOrQ/
content:
<p><img src="media/4eac09ea.fastpasstv.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/fastpasstv.jpg" alt="fastpasstv" width="180" height="169" class="alignright size-full wp-image-106987">Following an investigation carried out by the Hollywood-funded anti-piracy group Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT), police in Northern Ireland <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/police-seize-83000-in-internet-piracy-raid-110527/">raided</a> a Londonderry home in May 2011.</p>
<p>They were searching for Paul Mahoney, the operator of streaming links site FastPassTV and discussion and linking forum BedroomMedia. Police arrested Mahoney while seizing computer equipment and cash totaling £83,000.</p>
<p>After being charged in February 2015, Mahoney pleaded not guilty. Several months later, however, he had a change of heart.</p>
<p>At a June hearing the 30-year-old <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/man-pleads-guilty-to-costing-film-industry-millions-through-piracy-150616/">pleaded guilty</a> to all four charges against him including allowing the public to view copyrighted movies without rightsholder permission, conspiracy, and generating up to £300,000 in advertising revenue.</p>
<p>During a pre-sentence hearing last month, Judge Philip Babington <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/streaming-site-operator-accused-of-120m-piracy-fraud-150826/">was told</a> by the prosecution that Mahoney could have cost the movie industry £120 million.</p>
<p>Mahoney appeared at Londonderry Crown Court this morning at 11:00am for sentencing and it&#8217;s bad news for the partially sighted man. The Court sentenced Mahoney to four years in prison, two of which will be spent on license.</p>
<p>&#8220;These offenses represent offending which undoubtedly put at risk very many millions of pounds as far as the greater entertainment industry was concerned,&#8221; Judge Philip Babington <a href="http://www.derryjournal.com/news/courts/derry-film-pirate-who-cost-hollywood-millions-jailed-for-four-years-1-6946005">said</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;Offending such as this affects everyone in society at the end of the day although primarily the interests of those involved in film production, the results of which we all enjoy.&#8221;</p>
<p>Judge Babington said that Mahoney had put together &#8220;a very sophisticated scheme&#8221; which had allowed people to &#8220;view films on very many millions of occasions for nothing&#8221; while generating money from advertising.</p>
<p>He added that he had been left with no other alternative than to pass a custodial sentence &#8220;to show that behavior of this nature does not go unpunished.&#8221;</p>
<p>FACT Director General Kieron Sharp said that the case was an important one.</p>
<p>“Committing crime using the Internet is viewed by some as being less serious than more ‘traditional’ offending, which is particularly true of film and television piracy. This prosecution and sentence show that you cannot hide behind the supposed anonymity of the cyber world and that you will be identified, caught and convicted,&#8221; Sharp said.</p>
<p>PSNI investigating officer Detective Constable Yolande Healey said that Mahoney had been operating his sites for years.</p>
<p>&#8220;He thought he could collect substantial amounts of advertising revenue from his site and distance himself from the actual hosting of an illicit copy of a film by using unrelated third party websites,&#8221; Healey said.</p>
<p>“From his bedroom in Carnhill, Mahony thought he could make money from advertisers who were attracted by the volume of traffic from across the world on his website. He thought his form of cyber-crime was untouchable. He was wrong. Working with partner agencies, police will investigate any reports of criminality online.”</p>
<p><em>Breaking news story, more as we have it</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110428
title: Kim Dotcom Seeks Delay of 10th Scheduled Extradition Hearing
uri: Kim-Dotcom-Seeks-Delay-of-10th-Scheduled-Extradition-Hearing
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/wJuyZoz6yQo/
content:
<p><img src="media/5fd37436.megaupload.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/megaupload.jpg" alt="megaupload" width="180" height="154" class="alignright size-full wp-image-30407">On September 21, 2015, Kim Dotcom and his fellow co-accused are scheduled to appear before the courts in New Zealand to face their extradition battle with U.S. authorities.</p>
<p>The U.S. government wants Dotcom, Mathias Ortmann, Bram van der Kolk and Finn Batato tried on multiple charges relating to their Megaupload website, including copyright infringement, conspiracy, money laundering and racketeering.</p>
<p>The hearing, set to take place in just 13 days time, has already been rescheduled 10 times. However, each time it has neared Dotcom and his former business partners have filed successful appeals on various grounds, collectively achieving delays which have put the hearing back by years.</p>
<p>Now, in a new claim to the Court of Appeals, Dotcom and his co-accused are claiming that due to the actions of the U.S. they are being denied a fair trial.</p>
<p>According to lawyers for the defense (Finn Batato excluded &#8211; he was present at the hearing but had no lawyer) the confiscation of their clients&#8217; funds means that they are unable to pay for expert witnesses outside New Zealand.</p>
<p>Grant Illingworth QC, lawyer for van der Kolk and Ortman, said that while United States authorities have allowed some seized funds to be released for defense purposes in New Zealand, those funds are not available for use overseas.</p>
<p>&#8220;The issue at the heart of this appeal is primarily of natural justice. The US asserts it has confiscated property and can enforce that worldwide,&#8221; Illingworth <a href="http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1509/S00295/update-kim-dotcom-et-al-seek-further-delay-to-extradition.htm">said</a>.</p>
<p>No funding outside New Zealand means the defendants don&#8217;t have the means to pay for experts in US copyright law, a vital requirement if they are to mount a robust defense.</p>
<p>&#8220;We can&#8217;t become instant experts in US copyright law and US criminal law,&#8221; Illingworth said. &#8220;We need help from expert witnesses and we&#8217;re being denied that opportunity.&#8221;</p>
<p>The funds required hardly amount to small change. According to Dotcom&#8217;s lawyer Ron Mansfield QC those legal costs could rise to $500,000 but could be easily funded by tens of millions of dollars currently seized in both New Zealand and Hong Kong.</p>
<p>Appearing on behalf of U.S. authorities, Christine Gordon QC countered by stating that in fact no funds are needed. She said that the New Zealand extradition court hasn&#8217;t been asked to make any findings based on U.S. law so on that basis no specialist overseas legal expertise will be required.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, the defense asked the Court of Appeal for a further postponement of the hearing amounting to a few months.</p>
<p>Justices John Wild, John Fogarty and Jillian Mallon reserved their decision, with Justice Wild noting that they had been &#8220;presented with an impossible task&#8221; given the scale of the case and the short time before the hearing is due to begin.</p>
<p>&#8220;We aren&#8217;t sure what we are going to do,&#8221; Justice Wild said. &#8220;But we are going to do something.&#8221;</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110421
title: WordPress Adds Subaru to Takedown “Hall of Shame”
uri: WordPress-Adds-Subaru-to-Takedown-Hall-of-Shame
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/G5nD7eMIdbg/
content:
<p><img src="media/05160d7b.carcrash.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/carcrash.jpg" alt="carcrash" width="275" height="154" class="alignright size-full wp-image-110450">Automattic, the company behind the popular WordPress blogging platform, receives thousands of takedown requests from rightsholders. </p>
<p>Unlike many other Internet services the company carefully reviews each notice to see if they&#8217;re legitimate. This isn&#8217;t unnecessary, as nearly half of all requests are rejected. </p>
<p>This is also the case with a trademark violation Subaru reported earlier this year. The car company spotted <a href="http://samandjennasubaruleavenotracetravelingtrainerapplication">a blog</a> by WordPress.com users Sam and Jenna, which repeatedly uses the Subaru trademark. </p>
<p>Subaru informed WordPress that it doesn&#8217;t condone this kind of &#8220;infringement,&#8221; citing a violation of the Lanham Act.</p>
<p>&#8220;This use is clearly designed to cause confusion, deception, and mistake on the part of individuals visiting the site,&#8221; Subaru of America writes. </p>
<p>&#8220;This use of &#8216;Subaru&#8217; name and marks in connection with this website violates [Subaru&#8217;s] rights and constitutes trademark infringement and unfair competition under the Lanham Act.&#8221;</p>
<p>In addition, the car manufacturer notes that the mention of Subaru in the domain name violates the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, adding that the domain registrant wasn&#8217;t helpful in resolving the issue. </p>
<p>&#8220;[Subaru] aggressively protects its trademarks and other intangible assets. To this end, we have informed the registrant of our complaint and have received no cooperation from them.&#8221; </p>
<p><center><strong>The takedown request</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/ec27751a.wordpress-subaru.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/wordpress-subaru.png" alt="wordpress-subaru" width="546" height="672" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-110447"></center></p>
<p>It&#8217;s clear that the company is serious about protecting its trademark, but apparently not serious enough to carefully review its own request. As WordPress <a href="https://transparency.automattic.com/2015/09/03/leave-no-trace/">points out</a>, the blog in question is far from a blatant infringement. </p>
<p>Quite the opposite, Sam and Jenna&#8217;s blog is a part of the application for the <a href="https://lnt.org/learn/traveling-teams">Subaru/Leave No Trace</a> traveling trainer program. In the <a href="https://lnt.org/blog/do-you-have-what-it-takes-be-subaruleave-no-trace-traveling-trainer">application</a> Subaru said it&#8217;s specifically looking for people who can generate social media content via blogs, photos and videos, which is what the site does.</p>
<p>However, instead of being offered the position Sam and Jenna received a legal threat. In its takedown request Subaru said it was considering &#8220;appropriate legal action&#8221; against the blog owners while asking WordPress to take the site down. </p>
<p>WordPress <a href="https://transparency.automattic.com/2015/09/03/leave-no-trace/">refused</a> and simply forwarded the request to the bloggers, explaining that it wouldn&#8217;t take any action. </p>
<p>&#8220;We passed along the notice to Sam and Jenna with the understanding that we would not be taking any action against their blog as their content does not constitute trademark infringement,&#8221; WordPress notes. </p>
<p>Perhaps overwhelmed by the threatening language, Sam and Jenna decided to remove most instances of &#8220;Subaru,&#8221; the brand which they looked forward to promote initially, from their blog.  WordPress, meanwhile, awarded Subaru with a spot in its takedown &#8220;<a href="https://transparency.automattic.com/tag/hall-of-shame/">Hall of Shame</a>.&#8221; </p>
<p>So, instead of a Subaru promo page showing up in the top search results, the company will now be associated with a &#8220;Hall of Shame&#8221; entry. Not exactly the best example of trademark protection.  </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110424
title: Warner Bros. ‘Scare Tactics’ Shut Down Original Popcorn Time
uri: Warner-Bros-Scare-Tactics-Shut-Down-Original-Popcorn-Time
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/ifYF4AFTRhk/
content:
<p><img src="media/d1605161.federico.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/federico.jpg" alt="federico" width="187" height="187" class="alignright size-full wp-image-110494">In March 2014, TorrentFreak interviewed an Argentinian designer known only as Sebastian. He had coordinated a project which would to some degree change the piracy landscape with a new piece of software called Popcorn Time.</p>
<p>“As a designer I love the challenge of simplification. Take something hard for the common user and make it usable. I have a lot of friends who don’t understand torrents and I wanted to make it easy and effortless to use torrent technology,” Sebastian <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/open-source-torrent-streaming-a-netflix-for-pirates-140308/">told us</a>.</p>
<p>Almost 18 months later Sebastian has now officially broken cover. His real identity has been known for some time, including here at TorrentFreak, but now the 29-year-old designer appears comfortable with identifying himself publicly and revealing his motivations.</p>
<p><strong>Motivation</strong></p>
<p>&#8220;Here in Argentina internet speeds are very slow. And movies are coming too late to the cinemas, up to half a year after the US premiere,&#8221; he told <a href="https://www.dn.no/magasinet/2015/09/04/2116/Dokumentar/p-innsiden-av-verdens-raskest-voksende-pirattjeneste">DN.no</a> <em>(Norwegian, subscription)</em>.</p>
<p>&#8220;If you hang out with a girl you can’t say &#8216;hey let&#8217;s see a movie&#8217;. You have to agree which movie you should watch the day before and start downloading it a day in advance. I thought there must be a better solution.&#8221;</p>
<p>Abad and friends set to work on giving piracy a facelift to make it acceptable to the masses &#8211; and his mother.</p>
<p>&#8220;It was just too geeky. My mom couldn&#8217;t use it. She couldn&#8217;t just click and watch the movie she wanted. When i&#8217;m designing something, she&#8217;s my case study. If she can&#8217;t use it, no one can use it. The whole idea was that you should be able to watch a movie by clicking just twice,&#8221; Abad explains.</p>
<p>Soon Popcorn Time began to gain traction and interest from fellow developers who wanted in on the action. That went well for a while but then the heat in the kitchen became too great.</p>
<p><strong>Too big, too soon</strong></p>
<p>&#8220;The project gathered so much attention that the developers completely freaked out. They said &#8216;this has become too big for us.&#8217; The entire core team dropped out and I was left alone,&#8221; Abad reveals.</p>
<p>Not backing down, Abad managed to rebuild a team made up of contributors around the globe. Soon there were around one hundred people helping with Popcorn Time around the clock.</p>
<p>&#8220;We sat up all night and coded. I got scolded by their bosses, who thought that I had stolen their employees. They had concentration problems at work because of the project,&#8221; Abad recalls.</p>
<p>Abad also paid the price in his personal life. After devoting too much time to the project his girlfriend left. He made little attempt to stop her, instead spending time with the one he loved &#8211; Popcorn Time.</p>
<p>Importantly, money was never the motivation for the project. Abad says that it was &#8220;for the lulz&#8221; but there were others who recognized its potential.</p>
<p><strong>Criminals wanted a slice of the action</strong></p>
<p>&#8220;There were many criminal business offers. They said that we could earn up to $10,000 a week. They offered to give us five dollars every time someone installed spyware and malware that changed ads in a way that channeled the proceeds to them,&#8221; Abad reveals.</p>
<p>Others wanted to steal information about Popcorn Time users, including their passwords, and Abad estimates that had they gone along with the offers they could have made $100m.</p>
<p>&#8220;We rejected all the offers. We weren&#8217;t doing this for the money. We just wanted to provide a good service, not something that ruined people&#8217;s machines,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p><strong>The end</strong></p>
<p>Nevertheless, Popcorn Time had become much bigger than anyone expected and most of the team were nervous about what might happen if copyright holders became aggressive. But even after using false names and anonymization tools, it soon became clear that they were being watched.</p>
<p>All at the same time, developers on the Popcorn Time team noticed that their personal LinkedIn pages had all received an unwelcome visitor &#8211; a lawyer from film studio Warner Bros.</p>
<p>&#8220;We do not know how, but he had managed to track us down. We were quite put out. We thought it was a scare tactic. And we were frightened. None of us were anonymous anymore. They knew where we worked and where we lived,&#8221; Abad recalls.</p>
<p>Deciding that getting into legal trouble was a step too far, Abad and his colleagues abandoned Popcorn Time on March 14, 2014 and left it to the community to develop it further, should they wish. And develop it they did.</p>
<p>There are now several different forks of the popular software but Abad say he can support only one &#8211; the version at PopcornTime.io.</p>
<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s because the source code is public, I know it does not contain malware and that it works the way it was when we left the project,&#8221; Abad says.</p>
<p>Ultimately the Argentinian has no regrets, although his father reminds him he could have been a millionaire.</p>
<p>&#8220;No dad,&#8221; Abad told him.</p>
<p>&#8220;I could have been in prison. I&#8217;d rather be with you.&#8221;</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110512
title: Showtime Sues to Block Pirated Mayweather-Berto Streams
uri: Showtime-Sues-to-Block-Pirated-Mayweather-Berto-Streams
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/uea_8XmuhXQ/
content:
<p><img src="media/eda2ab0d.mayw.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mayw.jpg" alt="mayw" width="250" height="164" class="alignright size-full wp-image-110518">This Saturday, Floyd Mayweather will conclude his professional fighting career with a match against Andre Berto. </p>
<p>Thus far interest in the fight is meager, especially compared to the fight against Manny Pacquiao earlier this year. However, this doesn&#8217;t mean that rightsholders aren&#8217;t interested in clamping down on pirates who intend to broadcast it illegally. </p>
<p>Through a complaint submitted at a Federal court in California (<a href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/279717319/TorrentFreak-Mayweather-Berto-Complaint?secret_password=RZH3g9auHtYDd6NO4JjU">pdf</a>), Showtime and Mayweather Productions hope to stop a site which is promising to provide users with access to the upcoming event. </p>
<p>The website operates from the mayweathervsandrebertolivestream.com domain name and heavily advertises a live stream, but according to Showtime it doesn&#8217;t hold the required license. </p>
<p><center><img src="media/0fa9663d.maypirate.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/maypirate.jpg" alt="maypirate" width="500" height="271" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-110516"></center></p>
<p>Instead of earning back millions of dollars in investment, the suing parties fear that the website owner will now profit from showing unauthorized live streams over the Internet. </p>
<p>&#8220;The Defendants are seeking to benefit from this high profile live Fight by infringing the rights of Plaintiffs,&#8221; they write.</p>
<p>&#8220;Plaintiffs are informed and believe and on that basis allege that Defendants know or have reason to know that one or more third parties will obtain the infringing stream from their websites and will redistribute it through other websites,&#8221; they add. </p>
<p>These anticipated pirated streams will cause &#8220;severe and irreparable harm,&#8221; Showtime and Mayweather Promotions note, while asking the court for damages and a restraining order to prevent this from happening. </p>
<p>Among other things, the suing parties want to take control of the domain name so it can&#8217;t be used for any infringing activity. </p>
<p>It appears that the lawsuit has already had the desired effect. The court has yet to rule on the request for a restraining order, but the website in question is already offline. </p>
<p>Of course, there&#8217;s little that stop the operator from starting a similar site under a new domain name. </p>
<p>This is not the first time that Showtime has gone after alleged pirates before they get a chance to commit an offense. Earlier this year the company teamed up with HBO to protect <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/showtime-and-hbo-sue-over-pre-piracy-150429/">pre-pirated</a> Mayweather vs. Pacquiao streams. Despite these efforts, there were plenty of unauthorized streams available when the fight started.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110479
title: Fake Warner Music Threat Stops Torrent Uploaders
uri: Fake-Warner-Music-Threat-Stops-Torrent-Uploaders
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/NDP4xs2Qlrc/
content:
<p><img src="media/14a7543e.warnermusic.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/warnermusic.jpg" alt="warnermusic" width="250" height="144" class="alignright size-full wp-image-110491">All popular torrent sites heavily rely on uploaders. These people have a crucial spot in the ecosystem and without them torrent sites would have no content to share.</p>
<p>In recent weeks several prominent music uploaders appeared to have become the target of a legal campaign launched by the UK branch of Warner Music. In an email signed by the record label they were threatened to comply with the company&#8217;s demands, or face legal action instead. </p>
<p>TF has received a full copy of the message which was sent to email addresses associated with the uploaders&#8217; torrent site accounts. In it, Warner Music urges them to delete all their torrents and terminate their accounts. </p>
<p>The email in question targets prolific uploaders at ExtraTorrent and KickassTorrents, among other sites. It claims to be sent from an official Warner Music email address, but this is not the case. </p>
<p><center><strong>Warner music&#8217;s threat</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/5746a473.warnerthreat.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/warnerthreat.png" alt="warnerthreat" width="537" height="180" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-110505"></center></p>
<p>First of all, the email contains several spelling and grammar mistakes and is clearly not sent by a native English speaker. In addition, it claims that ISPs reported the uploader, while it&#8217;s generally known that Internet providers don&#8217;t track file-sharers or reveal customer details without a court order.</p>
<p>The biggest tell, however, is revealed when looking at the full email headers. These show that the Warner Music email is spoofed. In reality, it was sent by amonymousemail.me, as shown below. </p>
<p><center><strong>Anonymousemail&#8230;</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/69bc78e9.anonymousemail.me_.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/anonymousemail.me_.png" alt="anonymousemail.me" width="497" height="80" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-110504"></center></p>
<p>Despite these tells, the email was spooky enough for several uploaders to throw in the towel. One uploader now lists on his profile that he&#8217;s &#8220;retired&#8221; and others have stopped releasing new content as well. </p>
<p>&#8220;Some of them vanished and stopped uploading,&#8221; ExtraTorrent&#8217;s Sam confirms to TF, adding that other uploaders continued their work after they spotted that the email was fake. </p>
<p>TF spoke to several uploaders and other people in the know and no one has a clue as to what motivated the sender. </p>
<p>What&#8217;s perhaps most worrying, is how this person got his hands on the uploader&#8217;s email addresses. Some hint at a security breach, but social engineering is a viable option as well. </p>
<p>Just a few weeks ago KickassTorrents warned its users against <a href="https://kat.cr/community/show/phishing-attempts/">phishing attempts</a>, in which malicious parties attempt to obtain the personal details of users.</p>
<p>Today the KAT team informs TF that they have high security standards and that none of the staff members has any idea how this may have happened. </p>
<p>&#8220;We are quite shocked as we have a tight community and only trustworthy people with whom we maintain close communication have the access to the user email info,&#8221; they say.</p>
<p>For now it remains unknown what happened in this case, but for uploaders the whole ordeal is a reminder that privacy is often hard to find. For their part, copyright holders may be pleasantly surprised to see how easy it is to stop some people from sharing pirated material.</p>
<p>A full copy of the Warner Music email is published below. </p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<p><em>Dear User,</p>
<p>Warner Music has recieved a mail from your Internet Service Provider (ISP) that you are been evolved in sharing copyright materials on torrents sites. And we are going to take some strict actions against you for sharing our (c) copyright material. If you are ready for settlement then delete all our (c) copyright materials and delete your account from all torrent sites.</p>
<p>If you have any question regarding this notice, you can send a letter or email to:</p>
<p>Warner Music UK Limited<br>
Legal Department<br>
The Warner Building<br>
Warner Music UK Limited, The Warner Building<br>
27 Wrights Lane<br>
London<br>
W8 5SW</p>
<p>Sincerely,</p>
<p>Warner Music UK Limited</p>
<p>Ignoring the email would result in legal actions.</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110530
title: Controversy as Ads For Famous Kids’ Pirate Appear on Banned Pirate Site
uri: Controversy-as-Ads-For-Famous-Kids-Pirate-Appear-on-Banned-Pirate-S
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/0FDRorop0sA/
content:
<p><img src="media/df535076.saber-small.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/saber-small.jpg" alt="saber-small" width="180" height="193" class="alignright size-full wp-image-110549">Early September the Oslo District Court followed in the footsteps of other courts around Europe by <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-sites-must-pay-legal-costs-of-own-blockade-court-rules-150902/">ordering local ISPs</a> to block several pirate sites.</p>
<p>The action came after Hollywood studios including Warner, Paramount, Fox, Universal, Sony, Disney and Columbia successfully argued that The Pirate Bay, ExtraTorrent, Viooz, PrimeWire, Swefilmer, DreamFilm and Movie4K should be off-limits to Norwegian consumers.</p>
<p>While ISPs are yet to fully implement the international headline-grabbing blockade, it appears that the message that these sites are effectively banned hasn&#8217;t reached some prominent advertisers.</p>
<p>For example, in what is likely to be an embarrassment to local authorities, during the past few days adverts for <a href="https://www.nsb.no/en/">NSB</a>, the Norwegian government-owned national railway system, have been appearing on prominent unauthorized streaming portal PrimeWire.</p>
<p>Furthermore, ads for Norway&#8217;s leading tourist attraction, the Kristiansand Zoo and Amusement Park, have also being appearing on the popular and soon-to-be-blocked site.</p>
<p>Interestingly enough they feature a character known as Captain Sabertooth. The star of the <a href="http://www.thelocal.no/20150401/norway-pirate-film-sold-in-100-countries">most expensive children&#8217;s movie</a> in Norwegian history, Sabertooth is also the country&#8217;s most famous pirate and the centerpiece of kids&#8217; TV series, stage plays and books.</p>
<p>Speaking with <a href="http://www.nrk.no/kultur/reklamerte-for-kaptein-sabeltann-pa-piratnettsted-1.12541499">NRK</a>, the outlet that spotted the bloopers, Rights Alliance chief Willy Johansen says that legitimate companies are inadvertently helping to fund pirate sites.</p>
<p>&#8220;Illegal websites earn big money from advertising. This is not good at all,&#8221; the anti-piracy chief says. </p>
<p>&#8220;The media agencies around Europe are spreading ads to hit a certain number of people, without looking at where they&#8217;re placing them. In this respect media agencies need to sharpen their approach.&#8221;</p>
<p>The revelations are also proving a disappointment to the companies whose ads appeared on PrimeWire.</p>
<p>Annie B. Schjøtt, Sales and Marketing Manager at Kristiansand Zoo and Amusement Park, says it was never their intention to place ads on pirate sites.</p>
<p>&#8220;We totally renounce such [pirate] sites. We are a cultural operation ourselves, and we absolutely did not want to be involved in supporting people who copy other people&#8217;s work,&#8221; Schjøtt says.</p>
<p>A communications manager at government-owned railway company NSB described the situation as &#8220;regrettable.&#8221;</p>
<p>While no one is suggesting that the companies deliberately targeted pirate sites, somehow their advertising spend is being funneled to sites that have been deemed to operate illegally. So how did they get there? Apparently that&#8217;s the indirect responsibility of <a href="http://www.carat.no/">Carat</a>, the media agency which handled the ads.</p>
<p>Digital Strategy Director Erik Solberg says that the ads were placed through an intermediary but the company is working hard to ensure there are no more embarrassments.</p>
<p>&#8220;We can only deplore this. We have closed all the activity of the subcontractor in the network,&#8221; Solberg explains. &#8220;We are working diligently to make sure this does not happen again. The supplier is a major international advertising network.&#8221;</p>
<p>The timing of these revelations could prompt a more urgent approach to tackling the pirate site advertising issue in Norway. Just yesterday in neighboring Sweden, Rights Alliance and national advertising association <a href="http://www.annons.se/om-oss">Swedish Advertisers</a> announced new guidelines to help companies keep their ads off illicit sites.</p>
<p>&#8220;It appears that advertisers&#8217; logos, trademarks and advertisements &#8211; often without the advertiser&#8217;s knowledge &#8211; are ending up on illegal sites,&#8221; said Swedish Advertisers legal advisor Tobias Eltell.</p>
<p>&#8220;It may be a question of sites that provide video, images, text and music without the rights holders&#8217; consent. For serious advertisers, this may become a huge problem and therefore Swedish Advertisers have developed recommendations that may be helpful for advertisers.&#8221;</p>
<p>The guidelines <em>(<a href="http://news.cision.com/se/sveriges-annonsorer/r/nya-riktlinjer-for-ofrivillig-annonsering-pa-illegala-sajter,c9827763">Swedish</a>)</em> include observing good ethics, boycotting advertising contracts that include bulk sales, and insisting that ads are not only targeted at a specific audience at a certain price, but also determining where those ads are ultimately placed.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110601
title: Aurous Promises To Be a Popcorn Time For Music
uri: Aurous-Promises-To-Be-a-Popcorn-Time-For-Music
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/JYCIp7VWuEY/
content:
<p><img src="media/87279c6e.aurous-logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/aurous-logo.jpg" alt="aurous-logo" width="148" height="107" class="alignright size-full wp-image-110605">Over the past 18 months and despite the growing availability of services such as Netflix, Popcorn Time has grown from a little known open source project to a worldwide phenomenon.</p>
<p>Operating on the BitTorrent network, Popcorn Time appears to have hit the sweet spot intersecting presentation, ease of use and video content availability. If developer <a href="http://blog.andrew.im/">Andrew Sampson</a> has his way, new project &#8216;Aurous&#8217; will be reaching similar dizzy heights in the music sector.</p>
<p>As the brains behind BitTorrent DHT search engine &#8216;Strike&#8217;, Sampson will <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/strike-public-tracker-dht-searches-presented-cleanly-150321/">already be known to readers</a>. The dev says that with Aurous he&#8217;s now taking that project in new directions.</p>
<p>&#8220;Since Strike was created I&#8217;ve been very proud of the technology I made, however I&#8217;ve been thinking of better, decentralized ways to use it,&#8221; Sampson informs TF.</p>
<p>While also a media player supporting a wide array of audio formats, Sampson says that Aurous will leverage content on the BitTorrent network to bring a Spotify-like experience to users.</p>
<p>&#8220;What sets Aurous apart is its ability to allow users to search for music, all over the BitTorrent network, using the very same technology that powers Strike Search,&#8221; Sampson says.</p>
<p>&#8220;The app itself is decentralized, nothing routes through any external servers for the primary features. Even if as a project, development stopped and we shut down our website, the app would still continue functioning without any problems. It can look through entire BitTorrent archives in milliseconds to get individual files.&#8221;</p>
<p>Sampson says that what Aurous does is turn each client into its own P2P search engine, one that&#8217;s able to spot fakes and offer speedy results by weeding out non-audio files. For those interested in how Aurous functions using BitTorrent, a detailed overview is <a href="http://blog.aurous.me/post/126946141033/building-a-decentralized-bittorrent-search-engine">available here</a>.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/b01bfcd8.aurous-danbull.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/aurous-danbull.png" alt="aurous-danbull" width="650" height="367" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-110602"></center></p>
<p>In addition to pulling content from torrents, Aurous is also capable of obtaining content via HTTP, a feature that should expand its library massively.</p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve also built the ability to search millions of indexed web pages across the internet to find an even larger collection of songs, so if you can&#8217;t find some obscure FLAC album on DHT/BitTorrent, then you may find it on some page we have indexed from 2006,&#8221; Sampson notes.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak was given access to an early pre-alpha build of Aurous and as the screenshot above shows, it&#8217;s certainly quite pretty.</p>
<p>Searching for content is a breeze and in our limited tests results appeared and played quickly. Sampson says that the pre-alpha build of Aurous searches for torrents on its own network and serves back individual files, but due to a limitation on the number of peers on the network, results are limited.</p>
<p>&#8220;This network is still small and growing, rest assured come alpha you will be able to locate any song you can think of,&#8221; the dev adds.</p>
<p>Other features set to debut include playlist importing from the likes of Spotify, YouTube, Google Music and Pandora. Sampson says features for buying content from third-party sources will also make an appearance. </p>
<p>&#8220;I believe Aurous can be a big game changer. We believe piracy is an access issue, not a money issue, it&#8217;s why we will support artists by linking to iTunes/Amazon/Google Music on songs so that Aurous users can easily buy them to show support, but use our client to continue enjoying their tunes,&#8221; he explains.</p>
<p>Aurous will be available on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and IOS devices, with support for connected TV coming down the line. It will be free to use and the devs say it won&#8217;t have any bundled adware.</p>
<p>&#8220;In terms of financial support Aurous will be completely free. From time to time you may see a banner based ad or sponsored content, however none of these will interrupt your streams/music playback nor will you ever hear an audio advertisement. Of course we will provide people with other options to get rid of ads entirely,&#8221; Sampson concludes.</p>
<p>Sampson says that Aurous should be available for public alpha on October 10th which means the team has a month to polish the current press build for public consumption. Whether it will prove to be a Popcorn Time-like success story will remain to be seen but its creators are certainly hoping for something big.</p>
<p>Interestingly enough, if Aurous does indeed to shake up the market it will need to provide a better level of service and music discovery features than the free tier of Spotify. While that won&#8217;t be easy, Sampson seems to think the challenge is within reach.</p>
<p>More details on Aurous can be found <a href="https://aurous.me/">here</a>.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110597
title: Paypal, Visa and MasterCard Discuss ‘Pirate Site’ Blacklist
uri: Paypal-Visa-and-MasterCard-Discuss-Pirate-Site-Blacklist
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/c6Dsved0bmA/
content:
<p><img src="media/c579e316.pirate-card.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-card.jpg" alt="pirate-card" width="250" height="210" class="alignright size-full wp-image-86520">Following the failed introduction of SOPA in the United States, movie studios and record labels are exploring alternative means to achieve the same goals.</p>
<p>The entertainment industries are lobbying the public and private sector to come to their aid. So far, this has resulted in Government supported <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/u-s-copyright-czar-praises-voluntary-anti-piracy-agreements-at-creators-summit-130605/">voluntary</a> agreements in both the United States and the United Kingdom. </p>
<p>It now appears that France intends to follow the same path. One of the key elements of the French approach is to strangle the revenues of pirate sites by making it harder to run ads and accept online payments. </p>
<p>Earlier this year Fleur Pellerin, France’s Minister of Culture and Communication, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/frances-new-online-piracy-battle-prepares-for-launch-150312/">presented</a> a paper outlining the Government&#8217;s plans. At the time, it was suggested that payments to and from pirate sites should be blocked where possible. </p>
<p>Yesterday several leading online payment processors including PayPal, Visa and MasterCard discussed a possible pirate blacklist agreement with copyright holders. Most services already prohibit copyright infringing services in their terms of use, but the new plan would go above and beyond current measures.</p>
<p>According to Minister Pellerin both parties are working on a voluntary agreement which would see copyright holders create and maintain a &#8220;pirate site&#8221; blacklist. The payment providers will then use this list to prevent sites from signing up or to terminate current accounts. </p>
<p>&#8220;The copyright holders will be able to report structurally infringing websites to payment processors, using their own skills and tools. In other words, the lists will be made by educated professionals and the actual blocking will follow soon after,&#8221; Pellerin said. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.nextinpact.com/news/96472-piratage-listes-noires-entre-ayants-droit-et-acteurs-paiement.htm#/page/1">NEXT INpact</a> notes that the new plan deviates from suggestions put forward in a previous report by the authorities which suggested that the blacklist would receive Government oversight.</p>
<p>Some opponents fear that without proper oversight the blacklist may become too broad. This could potentially destroy businesses which are not deemed illegal by any court. </p>
<p>This is not just a hypothetical threat. </p>
<p>Late last year U.S. <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/senator-uses-piracy-report-to-pressure-visa-mastercard-141125/">Senator Leahy</a> wrote a letter to Visa and MasterCard claiming Mega.co.nz and other file-hosting services have “no legitimate purpose or activity,” hoping they would cut their connections to the mentioned sites.</p>
<p>A few weeks later Mega was <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/under-u-s-pressure-paypal-nukes-mega-for-encrypting-files-150227/">banned by PayPal</a>, with the company subsequently reporting pressure from the credit card companies.</p>
<p>Whether the French blocklist will result in similar controversy will become apparent in the future. </p>
<p>It&#8217;s clear that payment processors have the power to severely limit the operation of sites that rely on user subscriptions. However, most torrent and streaming sites are unaffected. These sites generate most of their revenue from advertising and despite blocking initiatives in this industry, there are still plenty of advertisers who are happy to provide their services to these sites.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110558
title: Streaming Sites Warned Not to Pirate Mayweather Fight
uri: Streaming-Sites-Warned-Not-to-Pirate-Mayweather-Fight
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/5sCegFO3EfU/
content:
<p><img src="media/26d4dfc8.mayw.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/mayw.jpg" width="250" height="164" class="alignright">Every single week, hundreds of sites across the Internet receive DMCA-style notices in response to copyrighted content being made available via their domains. Google alone receives more than 10 million.</p>
<p>No matter where these notices are sent, the majority have something in common. For a DMCA notice to be valid it has to report an infringement that is ongoing, or at the very least has taken place. Rightsholders can&#8217;t send a DMCA notice just because they think that an infringement <em>might</em> be on the horizon.</p>
<p>To tackle potential future infringement it is possible to obtain an injunction and a prime example of that appeared this week when <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/showtime-sues-to-block-pirated-mayweather-berto-streams-150909/">Showtime went to court</a> in the United States to try and prevent a site from broadcasting this weekend&#8217;s Mayweather v Berto fight.</p>
<p>While the company hasn&#8217;t gone to court, UK-based anti-piracy group KLipCorp is also taking a pre-emptive approach to dealing with expected piracy of Mayweather&#8217;s final fight. After being retained by UK pay TV outfit BoxNation, KLipCorp has been writing to sites warning them not to offer the fight illegally.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak was shown a copy of the notice by the operator of streaming links portal <a href="http://streamsports.me">StreamSports.me</a>, a site that appeared in the wake of the Wiziwig closure earlier this year.</p>
<p>He told us that while DMCA notices are commonplace, pre-emptive notices such as this are a new experience for him.</p>
<p>&#8220;Have you seen something like this? Basically, they say they are watching us, and warn us about listing the event prior to the event itself,&#8221; he explains.</p>
<p>KLipCorp says that the letter&#8217;s purpose is to &#8220;politely remind&#8221; sites of their obligations under UK copyright law, the DMCA, and the WIPO Copyright Treaty 1996, and to invite them to assist in the fight against piracy. </p>
<p>&#8220;The purpose of this notice is to place you in a position where you have actual knowledge of the intended infringement through your network, infrastructure  and/or website and to seek your cooperation to ensure that legal action is only required against those who continue to facilitate infringement,&#8221; the notice reads.</p>
<p>&#8220;We invite you to co-operate with us in both the monitoring and protection of our Client’s intellectual property in respect of this Event.&#8221;</p>
<p>TorrentFreak caught up with KLipCorp founder Peter Lewinton who told us that the purpose of the pre-emptive notice is to make it clear that distribution or linking to streams of the fight is not approved by BoxNation.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are not trying to be heavy handed but simply want to draw attention to the ownership of the rights and limit piracy levels,&#8221; Lewinton explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;From our analysis DMCA notices have limited impact against the high audience non-compliant pirate sites in the live sports sector so a different approach is required.&#8221;</p>
<p>Another unique aspect of the KLipCorp notices is that they indirectly highlight an apparent &#8216;weakness&#8217; in EU copyright law.</p>
<p>&#8220;We draw your attention to the fact that Box Nation’s intellectual property rights extend without limitation to the graphics, commentary and music associated with the live and recorded broadcast of the Event and in particular to the graphics of the BoxNation logo which appears in the broadcast feed produced by and on behalf of BoxNation,&#8221; the notice reads.</p>
<p>In a nutshell, this refers to the fact that following a Court of Justice of the European Union decision in 2011, live sporting events in themselves don&#8217;t qualify for copyright protection in the EU. While this essentially means that KLipCorp has no power to protect the video of the fight itself, it can protect IP owned by BoxNation which is transmitted over the top of the fight, such as graphics, audio commentary, music and logos.</p>
<p>&#8220;The overall event [may not be protected by copyright] but copyright exists in the items mentioned within the broadcast,&#8221; Lewinton told TF.</p>
<p>The big question now is whether the notices will be effective. Another KLipCorp letter recipient told TF on condition of anonymity that they are taking the threats seriously and won&#8217;t be allowing the fight to be streamed from their network on Saturday night.</p>
<p>&#8220;After being put on notice it raises the temperature for us so we&#8217;ll let others stream the fight instead,&#8221; we were told.</p>
<p>StreamSports.me, on the other hand, say their response will be somewhat different.</p>
<p>&#8220;The notice served one purpose: it informed me that actually there&#8217;s a big boxing event upcoming. I do not follow boxing usually, and wouldn&#8217;t have known otherwise. So I&#8217;d like to thank them for the pre-emptive DMCA warning, as now I will make sure this popular event is properly represented on StreamSports,&#8221; the site&#8217;s operator said.</p>
<p>Lewinton wouldn&#8217;t say exactly how many sites and services had received the letter but he indicated that it isn&#8217;t a large number.</p>
<p>&#8220;This is not intended to be a threat &#8211; just to draw attention to the possibility that in the final analysis [legal action] may be unavoidable,&#8221; Lewinton concludes.</p>
<p><center><br>
<h5>KLipCorp Promo Video</h5>
<p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/P0vE9ywTGOA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110585
title: Sony Pictures Considered Buying BitTorrent Inc.
uri: Sony-Pictures-Considered-Buying-BitTorrent-Inc
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/NuHqG2yzF-M/
content:
<p><img src="media/2690703e.acq.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/acq.jpg" alt="acq" width="250" height="177" class="alignright size-full wp-image-110586">In Hollywood, BitTorrent is often framed as a threat due to its pirate stigma, but the technology also offers opportunities. </p>
<p>BitTorrent Inc, the company behind the popular <a href="http://www.utorrent.com/">uTorrent</a> software, helps artists to legally distribute their work <a href="http://blog.bittorrent.com/2014/12/23/the-bittorrent-report-2014-edition-2/">to millions of people</a> every year. </p>
<p>TF can now reveal that Sony Pictures&#8217; interest in the technology was so concrete that the movie studio listed it as a potential acquisition. In a draft presentation from early 2006 BitTorrent flanks other buying opportunities such as TiVo and Netflix. </p>
<p>The Sony presentation discusses options to &#8220;refine&#8221; its business and saw BitTorrent as a potential candidate to diversify. Among other things, buying BitTorrent could improve margins and facilitate growth. </p>
<p>To accomplish this goal Sony could invest $2 to $4 billion dollars, certainly enough to buy BitTorrent. Even Netflix, which didn&#8217;t offer video streaming yet, was within reach based on a $1.2 billion valuation at the time.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/78062547.sonytorrentdiv.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/sonytorrentdiv.png" alt="sonytorrentdiv" width="600" height="205" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-110589"></center></p>
<p>According to the presentation the acquisition candidates would bridge a gap between Sony&#8217;s entertainment content and the company&#8217;s technology devices.</p>
<p>In the case of BitTorrent this could facilitate the development of set-top boxes and TVs with built-in technology to download and play video content. This is an area BitTorrent was already working on with other partners.   </p>
<p><img src="media/2953e51e.sonytorrent.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/sonytorrent.jpg" alt="sonytorrent" width="600" height="449" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-110588"></center></p>
<p>In an overview sheet Sony sums up some of BitTorrent&#8217;s strengths as well as recent developments. It mentions the agreement <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-and-mpaa-join-forces/">with the MPAA</a> to keep infringing content off its website, among others. </p>
<p>Sony was also aware of BitTorrent&#8217;s plans to launch its own entertainment store. This eventually <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/bittorrentcom-launches-video-store/">launched</a> a year later but <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-shuts-down-video-store-brings-back-search-081207/">never got</a> any real traction.</p>
<p><img src="media/c953b8b5.bittoverview.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/bittoverview.jpg" alt="bittoverview" width="600" height="435" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-110590"></center></p>
<p>Despite the enthusiasm Sony never bought BitTorrent. The company <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2006/08/22/wow-grouper-sells-for-65-million/">went for Grouper</a> instead and eventually bought a 25% stake in Starz Media as well. </p>
<p>Today almost a decade has passed, and in hindsight it&#8217;s not necessarily a bad decision for Sony to have passed on BitTorrent. The company has a massive userbase but struggles to find good revenues sources. </p>
<p>Netflix, on the other hand, is definitely a missed opportunity as the company now dominates online media distribution worldwide.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110572
title: Is Running a Pirate Site Worse Than Stealing £8.5m From a Bank?
uri: Is-Running-a-Pirate-Site-Worse-Than-Stealing-8-5m-From-a-Bank
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/NTmcm2pk-QI/
content:
<p>This week Paul Mahoney, the former operator of streaming links site FastPassTV and discussion and linking forum BedroomMedia, was sentenced to jail by Judge Philip Babington.</p>
<p>According to figures provided by the prosecution, Mahoney &#8216;could&#8217; have cost the movie industry £120m in lost revenue. Ultimately, however, the claims of a film industry out for blood ended up somewhat watered down.</p>
<p>In the cold light of day the court accepted a figure closer to £12m &#8211; quite an &#8216;achievement&#8217; for a &#8220;partially blind recluse&#8221; who lived in a bedroom in his parents&#8217; <a href="media/e21f2e09.2C12ED4D00000578-3226341-image-m-88_1441716143299.jpg" data-original-source="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/09/08/13/2C12ED4D00000578-3226341-image-m-88_1441716143299.jpg">particularly modest home</a>. </p>
<p>Given the tendency of the prosecution in these cases to blow losses figures wildly out of proportion, it&#8217;s perhaps more prudent to look at numbers backed up by evidence.</p>
<p>It doesn&#8217;t appear to be in question that Mahoney made £280,000 in advertising revenue from his sites and he was found in possession of £82,390 in cash when he was raided. That&#8217;s a decent amount by almost anyone&#8217;s standards and was never likely to be looked upon lightly by the court.</p>
<p>So, on the basis that Mahoney made large sums of money illegally it should come as no surprise that having pleaded guilty to substantial fraud he should&#8217;ve expected a custodial sentence this week. Such is the current climate in the UK and few people watching the case expected anything different.</p>
<p>But while some might argue that the term should have been limited to a few weeks or a handful of months, on Thursday the court handed Mahoney a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-streaming-site-operator-handed-four-year-sentence-150908/">four-year sentence</a>, one of the toughest in UK pirate prosecution history.</p>
<p>For someone of Mahoney&#8217;s standing that term seems overly cruel and it appears that Mahoney&#8217;s lawyers feel so too. On Thursday they announced that the 29-year-old will be mounting an appeal, presumably to ensure that any punishment received fits the crime.</p>
<p>As we wait for the legal basis of that appeal to be made public, readers might be interested to hear of another fraud case that was concluded this week.</p>
<p>It involved businessman Nicholas Marcou from London, who used his legitimate businesses and contracts with supermarkets such as Aldi, Lidl, Sainsbury’s and Asda to fraudulently obtain millions from Barclays Bank.</p>
<p>According to figures provided by City of London Police, actual losses to Barclays Bank (versus the hypothetical losses conjured up in the Mahoney case) were £8,576,811.</p>
<p>Unlike Mahoney, who appears to have spent most of his adult life in a bedroom at his parents&#8217; house, Marcou enjoyed &#8216;his&#8217; money. According to a <a href="http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/13650075.Fraudster_who_conned_Barclays_out_of_almost___9million_jailed/?ref=twtrec">local news report</a> he bought two homes worth more than £1.4m and £650,000 worth of cars including three Bentleys, three Aston Martins, a Porsche 911, and a Rolls Royce Silver Spirit.</p>
<p>While Marcou appears to have been driven by greed, Mahoney appears to have given much of his money away. According to a court report he &#8220;did not exhibit any of the features of a lavish lifestyle and his spending was concerned only to paying employees, running the site and accessing adult websites.&#8221;</p>
<p>It&#8217;s also worth bearing in mind that even if we take the previously mentioned £12m figure as accurate, those presumed losses were racked up by users of Mahoney&#8217;s site, not Mahoney himself. Site users were the ones who turned up and clicked &#8216;play&#8217; and didn&#8217;t pay for whatever it was they watched. Although he clearly played a part, Mahoney didn&#8217;t take that money from the studio&#8217;s pockets, the public did. Marcou alone took the money from the bank.</p>
<p>Finger pointing aside, Mahoney ended up with a four-year sentence. For the record, Marcou the bank defrauder received just 3.5 years.</p>
<p>While anti-piracy groups such as FACT, who investigated the case, view Mahoney&#8217;s actions as extremely serious, something feels fundamentally wrong here.</p>
<p>Make no mistake, Mahoney should receive some punishment, if only because he knowingly and deliberately broke laws he knew could get him into serious trouble. </p>
<p>But should this man living on the fringes of society be given a more punishing sentence than a man who systematically stole £8.5m in cash from a bank in order to fund a dream lifestyle?</p>
<p>Perhaps in due course Mahoney&#8217;s defense team will raise the same questions. Until then he remains behind bars.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110216
title: 283 Developers Have Contributed to Popcorn Time, So Far
uri: 283-Developers-Have-Contributed-to-Popcorn-Time-So-Far
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/_HU_sLDWNLY/
content:
<p><img src="media/3b9dbdf1.popcornt.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/popcornt.png" alt="popcornt" width="237" height="106" class="alignright size-full wp-image-101106">Branded a “Netflix for Pirates,” the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popcorn_Time">Popcorn Time</a> phenomenon took the Internet by storm over the past year. </p>
<p>There are several versions of the application in active development and the most popular ones all have millions of users. </p>
<p>Besides the users, software developers have also shown a keen interest in the tool. While most forks have a small group of code developers there are many more chiming in with new code, fixes and improvements. </p>
<p>TF spoke to the team behind the popular Popcorn Time <a href="http://popcorntime.io">.io</a> fork who recently made a visual presentation of how a &#8216;swarm&#8217; of developers contributed over time.</p>
<p>The data is based on statistics from the development platform at a time when around 250 people had contributed. This number has increased to 283 today and will likely hit 300 during the weeks to come. </p>
<p><center><strong>PopcornTime.io development</strong><br></br></center><center><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/fEH19O2xvuc?rel=0&amp;controls=0&amp;showinfo=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center></p>
<p>The motion in the video is meaningless, but the above shows that the application itself was built by a swarm of developers, just like all videos are streamed by a BitTorrent swarm. </p>
<p>It also shows that a lot of people don&#8217;t mind being publicly associated with the project. While some use only their nickname, it&#8217;s not hard to identify some of the key developers. </p>
<p>Most contributors, however, don&#8217;t believe that they are crossing a line. While Hollywood characterizes the software as illegal and one of the greatest threats it faces, most developers just want to code.  </p>
<p>The core Popcorn Time team doesn&#8217;t believe its doing anything wrong either, but admit that users may run into trouble, something we&#8217;ve seen happening recently.  </p>
<p>&#8220;So far, no jurisdiction has yet clearly said that Popcorn Time, the application, was illegal. The use of that application, however, is indeed illegal in most countries when downloading copyrighted content,&#8221; they tell TF.</p>
<p>While Popcorn Time does rely on APIs which almost exclusively link to pirated files, the code itself is legal and open source. </p>
<p>&#8220;Popcorn Time is nothing more than the combination of a web-browser, a torrent client and a video player. The content, copyrighted or in public domain, isn&#8217;t distributed by us,&#8221; the Popcorn Time team says.</p>
<p>&#8220;Popcorn Time is Open Source, so you can look at each line of code and notice that none of these lines are illegal or contain links to copyrighted content,&#8221; they add. </p>
<p>This is a position pretty much all of the 283 developers agree with. </p>
<p>People who are interested in more information on how the swarm video of the development process was made  can find more details <a href="https://discuss.popcorntime.io/t/how-to-generate-the-one-year-of-popcorn-time-video/26789">here</a>. Perhaps the Popcorn Time team will consider publishing an update when another year passes. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110666
title: Intellectual Property? Why Words Matter In The Copyright Debate
uri: Intellectual-Property-Why-Words-Matter-In-The-Copyright-Debate
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/0gV-z7gzKLQ/
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">One mistake that geeks and techies often make, but PR professionals and lobbyists never make, is the observation that words don&#8217;t just have a precise meaning &#8211; they also have a positive or negative chime to them. Therefore, lobbyists try very hard to establish a language where everything they want is described in words with a positive chime.</p>
<p>This is far more important than most techies realize. Language nuances, not objective descriptions, more often than not determine what becomes law and what doesn&#8217;t.</p>
<p>When you&#8217;re calling the copyright monopoly any kind of &#8220;property&#8221;, or using property-related words such as &#8220;own&#8221; or &#8220;have&#8221; in relation to this monopoly, you&#8217;re reinforcing that positivity around the concept. </p>
<p>I saw a comment <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/3j05ae/when_youre_calling_culture_content_youre/cull89p">on Reddit</a> about my last article describing why &#8220;Intellectual Property&#8221; was a never-touch-never-use enemy&#8217;s term; the commenter just blankly stated that it was accurate and descriptive and thought that was it. No, it&#8217;s not, it&#8217;s absolutely not; the enemy would like you to <strong>think</strong> it is descriptive of the copyright monopoly, in a complete effort to misdirect and delude &#8211; for such misdirection would let them keep the privilege.</p>
<p>The copyright monopoly is an <strong>exclusive right</strong>.</p>
<p>More precisely, it is a <strong>governmentally-granted private monopoly that <a href="http://falkvinge.net/2012/12/22/the-copyright-monopoly-stands-in-direct-opposition-to-property-rights/">interferes</a> with property rights</strong>.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s noteworthy that the copyright industry doesn&#8217;t even use the property moniker internally. If you listen to their lawyers, they all say &#8220;we hold the exclusive rights&#8221;. <strong>That</strong> is precise language, as opposed to &#8220;own&#8221; or &#8220;property&#8221;. The only people in the copyright industry who use the property moniker &#8211; everywhere and all the time &#8211; are, you guessed it, PR people and lobbyists.</p>
<p>There&#8217;s something to learn here: When you manage to get your wishlist described in words that suggest it&#8217;s a natural right or positive to development, your wishlist will become law. The opposite is also true.</p>
<p>One particularly enlightening example was the abolishment of the estate tax in the United States in April this year. The estate tax &#8211; sometimes called an inheritance tax &#8211; is a tax paid on a deceased person&#8217;s estate before the rest is inherited by their heirs. &#8220;Estate tax&#8221; sounds kind of academic and theoretical, when it&#8217;s not a levy on somebody who has no use for their money anymore anyway, or a tax on people with large estates (&#8220;rich folks who can afford it anyway&#8221;).</p>
<p>So a couple of bright people reworded it as &#8220;death tax&#8221;, and talked about it in those terms everywhere. The new term caught on, and the concept <strong>stood no chance of survival</strong> once it was called a &#8220;death tax&#8221; instead.</p>
<p><strong>This is extremely important to understand: whether a political concept survives or not, whether it is enforced with violence or not, depends entirely on whether it is referred to mostly in positively- or negatively-associated words.</strong></p>
<p>This is why I insist on calling governmentally-granted private monopolies that interfere with property rights &#8220;industrial protectionism&#8221;, a term abbreviating to IP, for protectionism is exactly what those monopolies are, and any legislator shudders in disgust at the word &#8220;protectionism&#8221;. This is also why I insist on saying &#8220;the copyright monopoly&#8221;, for <em>right</em> in itself is a very positive word that any legislator will vote in favor of. But when you tack on &#8220;monopoly&#8221; at the end, and if this becomes predominant, the concept would it be voted down in a heartbeat &#8211; for all of a sudden, it describes the governmentally-granted private monopoly, instead of suggesting a natural right (which it <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/copying-and-sharing-was-always-a-natural-right-restricting-copying-never-was-150802/">absolutely isn&#8217;t</a>).</p>
<p>To further illustrate this, the liberal party group ALDE in the European Parliament is largely divided down the middle whether this protectionism is good or bad. But that&#8217;s because half of them haven&#8217;t questioned the lobbyists&#8217; use of the &#8220;property&#8221; moniker, and assumed that &#8220;because it is property, it must be good, so we will fight for it&#8221;; the other half has seen the man behind the curtain and oppose monopolies under any name. A party group like ALDE that would be very in favor of the free market, against corporatism, and which would positively <em>abhor</em> any governmentally-granted private monopoly that interferes with property rights will still vote for this kind of protectionist crap, on the sole reason that they think it is &#8220;property&#8221; and never has had any reason to think otherwise.</p>
<p>Yes, language is that powerful.</p>
<p>That&#8217;s why you should never use the language of the enemy. It&#8217;s not the entertainment industry or the music industry; it&#8217;s the <strong>copyright industry,</strong> plain and simple. And they don&#8217;t safeguard their rights or their copyright; they safeguard their monopolies, clarified as their <strong>copyright monopoly.</strong> This is part of a larger arbitrary umbrella concept, <strong>Industrial Protectionism.</strong></p>
<p>If we win the language, we win the framing. If we win the framing, we win back our liberties. If we don&#8217;t, we won&#8217;t. It really boils down to that. Lobbyists understand this. We must too.</p>
<p><center>
<div class="alignfull" style="border:2px solid #3F3F3F;width:100%;padding:15px;padding-top:8px;padding-bottom:4px;margin-top:20px;margin-bottom:10px;border-radius:10px">
<h3 style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:10px">
<div style="float:right;height:130px;width:39px;margin-left:20px;margin-right:10px"><img src="media/98818a80.Rick_Falkvinge_39x130.jpg" data-original-source="http://falkvinge.net/wp-content/themes/WpNewspaper/images/falkvinge/Rick_Falkvinge_39x130.jpg" style="border:none;-moz-box-shadow:none;-webkit-box-shadow:none" class="quimby_search_image"></div>
<p><span style="color:#3F3F3F;font-size:125%">About The</span> <span style="color:#FF3C78;font-size:125%">Author</span></p>
</h3>
<p style="font-family:PTSansRegular,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-weight:400;line-height:150%;margin-bottom:14px"><small>Rick Falkvinge is a regular columnist on TorrentFreak, sharing his thoughts every other week. He is the founder of the Swedish and first Pirate Party, a whisky aficionado, and a low-altitude motorcycle pilot. His blog at <a href="http://falkvinge.net">falkvinge.net</a> focuses on information policy.</small></p>
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<p><small>Book Falkvinge <a href="http://falkvinge.net/keynotes/">as speaker</a>?</small></p>
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<p><a href="http://twitter.com/Falkvinge" class="twitter-follow-button">Follow @Falkvinge</a></p>
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<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110676
title: Dotcom Fails in Last-Ditch Bid to Delay U.S. Extradition Hearing
uri: Dotcom-Fails-in-Last-Ditch-Bid-to-Delay-U-S-Extradition-Hearing
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/FfiuPo9hnAo/
content:
<p><img src="media/5fd37436.megaupload.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/megaupload.jpg" alt="megaupload" width="180" height="154" class="alignright size-full wp-image-30407">Next Monday, Kim Dotcom and his fellow co-accused are scheduled to appear before the courts in New Zealand to face their extradition battle with the U.S. government.</p>
<p>Dotcom, Mathias Ortmann, Bram van der Kolk and Finn Batato are wanted in the U.S. to face multiple charges relating to their Megaupload website, including copyright infringement, conspiracy, money laundering and racketeering.</p>
<p>The hearing has already been rescheduled 10 times but that didn&#8217;t stop Dotcom and his former business partners seeking a further delay. Last week in a claim to the Court of Appeal, Dotcom et al <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/kim-dotcom-seeks-delay-of-10th-scheduled-extradition-hearing-150908/">asked for more time</a> in order to seek funding for expert witnesses outside New Zealand.</p>
<p>&#8220;Today we&#8217;ll find out if I get a fair extradition hearing or if the New Zealand judiciary will transform itself into a US owned dancing bear,&#8221; Dotcom said on Twitter earlier today.</p>
<p>In a judgment handed down shortly after, the Court of Appeal outlined the arguments of both parties.</p>
<p>On the one hand, lawyers for Dotcom had argued that there must be a prima facie case that an extradition offense has been committed. The Megaupload defendants are charged with conspiracy to breach copyright &#8211; does that come under the umbrella of conspiracy to defraud as contained in the Extradition Treaty?</p>
<p>Furthermore, if United States law is an issue (Dotcom&#8217;s lawyers argue it is since it is referenced in the prosecutor’s affidavit filed in support of the extradition), then &#8220;natural justice requires that the appellants be able to call<br>
evidence from an American expert to challenge the prosecutor’s evidence.&#8221;</p>
<p>Unsurprisingly, U.S. authorities see things rather differently. They argue that if Dotcom wants to argue those points he can do so during the extradition hearing. But in any event, the U.S. argues that they only need to show a prima facie case<br>
that the defendants have committed an offense under New Zealand law or the Extradition Treaty, not United States law.</p>
<p>Faced with what it previously described as an &#8220;impossible task&#8221; given the need for a swift response to around 177 pages of submissions, the Court of Appeal explained its dilemma.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Court cannot resolve this argument with the speed it aims to accord fast<br>
track matters, let alone in a judgment that, in the circumstances of this case, must be given urgently,&#8221; this morning&#8217;s judgment reads.</p>
<p>&#8220;That implies no criticism of the parties. It is simply that this Court does not have the resources urgently to resolve a dispute which is not straightforward and involves fundamental disagreement between the parties.&#8221;</p>
<p>In dismissing the appeal and ordering the extradition hearing to go ahead next week as scheduled, the Court of Appeal said that it was satisfied that Dotcom and his associates would receive a fair hearing.</p>
<p>&#8220;If [Judge Dawson] decides the actions of the United States have deprived the appellants of American expertise they need properly to defend the extradition application, then inevitably he will have to adjourn the extradition hearing,&#8221; the Court of Appeals writes. </p>
<p>&#8220;If the Judge decides such expertise is not needed, and holds the appellants are<br>
eligible for extradition, then the combination of judicial review and the right of<br>
appeal in the Extradition Act will provide the appellants with ample remedies<br>
should they not accept the outcome.&#8221;</p>
<p>After ordering Dotcom and his associates to pay the costs of the U.S. authorities, the Court of Appeal ordered next Monday&#8217;s extradition hearing to go ahead as planned.</p>
<p>&#8220;As expected&#8230; Dancing bear.&#8221; a disappointed Dotcom <a href="https://twitter.com/KimDotcom/status/643209159714828288">commented</a> on the ruling.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110660
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week – 09/14/15
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-09-14-15
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/GWVZnQnZ2ak/
content:
<p><img src="media/99acbfcf.aveng.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/aveng.jpg" alt="aveng" width="300" height="172" class="alignright size-full wp-image-110084">This week we have two newcomers in our chart. </p>
<p>Avengers: Age of Ultron is the most downloaded movie.</p>
<p>The data for our weekly download chart is estimated by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only. All the movies in the list are BD/DVDrips unless stated otherwise.</p>
<p><a href="http://TorrentFreak.com/category/dvdrip/feed/"><strong>RSS feed</strong></a> for the weekly movie download chart.</p>
<table class="css hover">
<thead>
<tr>
<th width="12%"><strong>Ranking</strong></th>
<th width="15%"><strong>(<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-movies-of-the-week-090715/">last week</a>)</strong></th>
<th><strong>Movie</strong></th>
<th width="18%"><strong>IMDb Rating / Trailer</strong></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tfoot>
<tr>
<td colspan="4">torrentfreak.com</td>
</tr>
</tfoot>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>1</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/avengers_age_of_ultron/">Avengers: Age of Ultron</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2395427/">7.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmeOjFno6Do">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/minions/">Minions</a> (HDRip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2293640/">6.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfql_DoHRKc">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(9)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/entourage/">Entourage</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1674771/">7.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGSE_XPF4_g">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fantastic_four_2015/">Fantastic Four</a> (Subbed HDrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1502712/">4.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMEa0CJbAUs">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mad_max_fury_road/">Mad Max: Fury Road</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1392190/">8.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjBb4SZ0F6Q">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/selfless_2015/?">Self/less</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2140379/">6.5</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mc4sz6neHDs">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(6)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/straight_outta_compton/">Straight Outta Compton</a> (Subbed HDRip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1398426">8.3</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyoew4T74_w">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(7)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/southpaw_2015/">Southpaw</a> (HDrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1798684/">7.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvkfIpFO0VU">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/poltergeist-2009/">Poltergeist</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1029360/">5.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8u2KUpPNIf4">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/san_andreas/">San Andreas</a> (Web-DL)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2126355/">6.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23VflsU3kZE">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110656
title: FBI Seizes Domains Of Two Pre-Release Music Sites
uri: FBI-Seizes-Domains-Of-Two-Pre-Release-Music-Sites
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/3MW9sVqdtmQ/
content:
<p><img src="media/7536824b.sharebeast.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/sharebeast.jpg" alt="sharebeast" width="180" height="180" class="alignright size-full wp-image-110691">As efforts to hinder file-sharing sites gather pace around the world, in Europe in particular, criminal actions in the U.S. remain relatively rare.</p>
<p>Home to the very Hollywood studios and major recording labels pressing for tough measures elsewhere, the United States has taken somewhat of a backseat, with only sporadic criminal actions to report in the past few years.</p>
<p>This past Friday, however, U.S. authorities say they took action against a pair of sites involved in music piracy. According to the RIAA, ShareBeast.com and AlbumJams.com were responsible for the distribution of &#8220;a massive library&#8221; of popular albums and tracks. Notably, the sites are blamed for offering &#8220;thousands of songs&#8221; that hadn&#8217;t yet enjoyed their official release.</p>
<p>On Friday, U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) seizure notices appeared on both sites, suggesting that the authorities concluded that immediate domain seizures were required to bring ongoing copyright infringement to an end.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/94bd3a01.seized-new.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/seized-new.jpg" alt="seized-new" width="608" height="456" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-110690"></center></p>
<p>According to the RIAA, ShareBeast was the largest illegal file-sharing site operating in the United States and recent IP addresses do suggest that at some point the file-hosting site was hosted in Illinois.</p>
<p>However, when compared to other household file-sharing names the site&#8217;s traffic stats were pretty modest. In fact, as can be seen from the chart below, the site had been on a serious decline for some months already.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/c05bbf9c.sharebeast-traffic.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/sharebeast-traffic.jpg" alt="sharebeast-traffic" width="546" height="287" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-110694"></center></p>
<p>Nevertheless, the RIAA says that it reported more than 100,000 infringing files to the service for takedown. That sounds like a reasonable assessment since the music industry group filed a similar number of complaints (118,000) with Google over the past couple of years. When all rightsholders are taken into consideration, complaints about ShareBeast averaged around 36,000 URLs per week.</p>
<p>In traffic terms, alleged sister site AlbumJams has never been significant. It reached the dizzy heights of 45,000th most popular site in January but almost completely dropped off the radar in May. According to Alexa it is now the 8,545,925th most popular site in the world.</p>
<p>“This is a huge win for the music community and legitimate music services.  Sharebeast operated with flagrant disregard for the rights of artists and labels while undermining the legal marketplace,&#8221; commented RIAA Chairman &#038; CEO Cary Sherman.</p>
<p>“Millions of users accessed songs from Sharebeast each month without one penny of compensation going to countless artists, songwriters, labels and others who created the music.&#8221;</p>
<p>The RIAA thanked the FBI and Department of Justice for its &#8220;strong stand&#8221; against Sharebeast but stopped short of commenting on what has happened to the site&#8217;s alleged operator. There has been no official statement concerning any arrests or any indication that the site was run from within the United States.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110658
title: Warning Illegal Downloaders is Too Expensive, Record Labels Complain
uri: Warning-Illegal-Downloaders-is-Too-Expensive-Record-Labels-Complain
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/a80h3w79_z8/
content:
<p><img src="media/812b4847.new-zealand-kiwi-dollars.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/new-zealand-kiwi-dollars.jpg" alt="new-zealand-kiwi-dollars" width="250" height="162" class="alignright size-full wp-image-110681">Four years ago New Zealand <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/new-zealand%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9C3-strikes%E2%80%9D-anti-piracy-law-starts-110901/">introduced</a> new copyright legislation under which illegal file-sharers would be monitored, warned, and eventually punished. </p>
<p>The country was one of the first to have a Government mandated &#8220;strikes&#8221; policy, but of the initial enthusiasm among copyright holders very little is left. </p>
<p>While monitoring online pirates is relatively cheap, copyright holders are required to pay Internet providers a $25 fee to forward the warnings to their customers. </p>
<p>This means that three strikes costs copyright holders $75, and if they decide to lodge an official complaint after that an additional $200 is added. To put it bluntly, the warnings themselves may be more expensive than the harm online pirates cost the industry. </p>
<p>Talking to <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/71969611/illegal-downloaders-get-off-scot-free-as-copyright-tribunal-process-too-expensive.html">Stuff</a>, <a href="http://www.recordedmusic.co.nz/">Recorded Music NZ</a> general counsel Kristin Bowman says that piracy remains a problem, because fighting it is too expensive.</p>
<p>&#8220;We haven&#8217;t got rid of it as the regime, unfortunately, is too costly. It&#8217;s really disappointing,&#8221; she notes.</p>
<p>Because of the high costs the music industry has lowered the number of notices it&#8217;s sending. There are hundreds of thousands of people in New Zealand who pirate content every week, but only a tiny fraction can be reached.  </p>
<p>&#8220;Every time we send a notice it costs us $25. We would love to do 1000 of those a week, but we just can&#8217;t afford it,&#8221; Bowman says.</p>
<p>In addition, the music group has completely scrapped filing cases to the tribunal, so they won&#8217;t pursue any punishments for online pirates. Despite the downscaling efforts the music group isn&#8217;t giving up just yet. </p>
<p>&#8220;We definitely won&#8217;t give up though, because we constantly want to get the message out there that piracy is illegal,&#8221; Bowman notes. </p>
<p>Most copyright holders appear to have done the same. Thus far in 2015 only one complaint has been filed at the copyright tribunal, compared to four last year and 18 the year before. If this trend continues New Zealand&#8217;s much debated &#8220;three-strikes&#8221; regime may soon exist only on paper. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110713
title: Google Taken to Court to Uncloak eBook Pirates
uri: Google-Taken-to-Court-to-Uncloak-eBook-Pirates
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/ApYBZJvT2FA/
content:
<p><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">The General Publishers Group (<a href="http://www.nuv.nl/groepen/algemene-uitgevers">GAU</a>) is a trade organization that represents the interests of dozens of book publishers in the Netherlands.</p>
<p>Earlier this year GAU discovered that eBooks belong to some of its clients were being made available illegally on Google Play. According to the trade group the titles, which were being touted under the fictitious publisher name of Flamanca Hollanda / Dragonletebooks, were being sold at a price level considerably lower than the official versions. </p>
<p>GAU subsequently referred the matter to Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN for investigation. In turn, BREIN reported the illegal seller to Google who immediately removed the rogue account thereby preventing further unauthorized sales.</p>
<p>Early June, GAU reported that Google appeared to be taking steps to prevent rogue sellers from offering illegal content via its Play store. The group also noted that BREIN was attempting to obtain the personal details of the &#8216;pirate&#8217; seller from Google.</p>
<p>Unsurprisingly that wasn&#8217;t a straightforward exercise, with Google refusing to hand over the personal details of its user on a voluntary basis. If BREIN really wanted the seller&#8217;s identity it would have to obtain it via a court order. Yesterday the anti-piracy group began the process to do just that. </p>
<p>Appearing before the Court of The Hague, BREIN presented its case, arguing that the rogue seller was not merely a user of Google, but actually a commercial partner of Google Play, a partnership that earned revenue for both parties.</p>
<p><img src="media/cf841bc6.brein-new.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/brein-new.png" alt="brein-new" width="189" height="69" class="alignright size-full wp-image-40624">&#8220;The case is clear,&#8221; BREIN said in a statement.</p>
<p>&#8220;There was infringement carried out by an anonymous seller that was actually a commercial &#8216;partner&#8217; of Google via Google Play. This is how Google refers to sellers in its own terms of use.&#8221;</p>
<p>BREIN says that ultimately Google is responsible for the unauthorized distribution and sales carried out via its service.</p>
<p>&#8220;There is no right to anonymously sell illegal stuff, not even on Google Play while Google earns money,&#8221; the anti-piracy group concludes.</p>
<p>GAU&#8217;s partnership with BREIN dates <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/brein-extends-anti-piracy-activities-to-ebook-sector-100416/">back to April 2010</a>. With its members complaining about the growing availability of &#8216;cracked&#8217; and &#8216;scanned&#8217; titles, GAU said that strong anti-piracy measures were required to protect creativity.</p>
<p>&#8220;With BREIN, GAU has found a partner that has a lot of know how in the fight against piracy,&#8221; the group said.</p>
<p>BREIN did not immediately respond to TF&#8217;s request for comment.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110758
title: Conservative Party Pirated Labour Leader Supporter’s Video
uri: Conservative-Party-Pirated-Labour-Leader-Supporter-s-Video
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/5UALuLtmFO4/
content:
<p><img src="media/8eecf6e7.corbyn-small.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/corbyn-small.png" alt="corbyn-small" width="180" height="200" class="alignright size-full wp-image-110765">Last weekend the Labour party elected a new leader, an appointment that has really stirred up politics in the UK.</p>
<p>Now Leader of the Opposition <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Corbyn">Jeremy Corbyn</a> is considered to be a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_left">hard left</a>, anti-establishment, anti-austerity, anti-war politician, and one that&#8217;s keen to scrap Britain&#8217;s nuclear arsenal and NATO. He won in a <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/sep/12/jeremy-corbyn-wins-labour-party-leadership-election">landslide victory</a> taking almost 60% of the vote.</p>
<p>The ruling Conservative party were quick to take advantage of the decision by Labour to place Corbyn in charge, with Prime Minister David Cameron warning that the country would be in severe danger if somehow the opposition leader got into power. In fact, the Conservatives were so concerned they launched a new <strike>advert</strike> video which warned the public about the <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tories-launch-attack-advert-against-jeremy-corbyn-set-to-sinister-music-10499678.html">potential doom</a> that lay ahead.</p>
<p>In monochrome and set to ominous music, “Labour: a threat to our national security” featured various videos of Corbyn in between clips of ISIS fighters. </p>
<p>&#8220;It starts with a clip of President Barack Obama announcing the death of Osama bin Laden, then cuts to Corbyn describing the killing of the man who masterminded 9/11 as a &#8216;tragedy&#8217;. (It’s edited to exclude the fuller context of his remark),&#8221; the Guardian <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/sep/14/conservtives-corbyn-attack-video-demon-eyes-smear-with-legs">explained</a> yesterday.</p>
<p>But after stirring up all sorts of controversy (although not nearly as much as the appointment of Corbyn himself), the video is now <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hgJokgNJHo">gone from YouTube</a>. According to the Google-owned company the video was the subject of a copyright complaint so has been removed.</p>
<p><Center><img src="media/ea69ff62.labour-gone.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/labour-gone.png" alt="labour-gone" width="650" height="365" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-110761"></center></p>
<p>While copyright complaints are nothing new, this particular takedown is something special.</p>
<p>As can be seen from the screenshot above, the person making the copyright complaint is listed as Adrian Cousins. So who is this mysterious character taming the political right? Only the founder and editor of socialist movement website <a href="http://www.counterfire.org">Counterfire.org</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;Just had the Tory Jeremy Corbyn attack video removed from Youtube for copyright infringement,&#8221; Cousins confirmed on Facebook this afternoon.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/9ea7c5a1.cousins-png.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cousins-png.png" alt="cousins-png" width="506" height="377" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-110762"></center></p>
<p>Given the Conservatives&#8217; strong support for the rights of copyright holders in recent years, the fact they would use &#8216;stolen&#8217; video footage for a campaign is surprising enough. But to go one further and use footage filmed by an opposition supporter really is something else.</p>
<p>Adrian Cousins did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110723
title: Judge Slams Copyright Troll’s “Harassment” Tactics in Piracy Case
uri: Judge-Slams-Copyright-Troll-s-Harassment-Tactics-in-Piracy-Cas
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/PVqI68FqLwI/
content:
<p><img src="media/17a592c8.trollsign.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/trollsign.jpg" alt="trollsign" width="250" height="167" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108977"><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/adult-movie-outfit-is-most-litigious-copyright-plaintiff-in-u-s-150812/">Malibu Media</a>, the Los Angeles based company behind the ‘X-Art’ adult movies, is one of the most active copyright trolls.</p>
<p>This year alone they have filed more than 1,400 individual cases against alleged BitTorrent pirates in the United States.</p>
<p>The main goal of the company is to demand settlements of a few thousand dollars without going to trial. Many accused downloaders do indeed take the easy way out, but some are putting up a fight. </p>
<p>A case currently before the Southern District of New York provides one such example. The Doe defendant is maintaining his innocence but Malibu isn&#8217;t letting the case go and recently went as far as requesting a deposition of the defendant&#8217;s spouse and neighbors. </p>
<p>The defendant&#8217;s lawyer protested the demand noting that a request to interrogate third-parties about the client&#8217;s alleged downloading of pornographic content is a form of harassment, or a fishing expedition at best. </p>
<p>In an order <a href="media/ccb1a617.gov.uscourts.nysd.436673.36.0.pdf" data-original-source="http://ia600509.us.archive.org/32/items/gov.uscourts.nysd.436673/gov.uscourts.nysd.436673.36.0.pdf">signed yesterday</a> federal judge Katherine Forrest agrees with the accused file-sharer. Using rather strong language, she denies Malibu&#8217;s request to depose the spouse and/or neighbors.</p>
<p>&#8220;Plaintiff may not subpoena neighbors or Defendant’s significant other based on the current record. As to the neighbors, Plaintiff would be engaged in a fishing expedition and/or harassment of defendant (by way of causing embarrassment/humiliation).&#8221;</p>
<p>According to the Judge any testimony from these third parties is irrelevant to the present case. Instead of solving the matter at hand it may only serve to embarrass and humiliate the defendant.</p>
<p>The order adds that there were no copyrighted files found on the defendant&#8217;s computer, so absent any new evidence that implicates the girlfriend, there&#8217;s no need to interrogate her at this juncture.</p>
<p>&#8220;At this point, this deposition appears to be harassment and at least outweighed by such considerations,&#8221; Judge Forrest writes. Despite the hints of harassment, the case is far from over. </p>
<p>FightCopyrightTrolls <a href="http://fightcopyrighttrolls.com/2015/09/14/yet-another-new-york-judge-is-not-happy-about-malibu-medias-predatory-conduct/">notes</a> that the adult studio is keeping the pressure up with a new motion suggesting that the defendant used &#8220;<a href="media/07041385.gov.uscourts.nysd.436673.37.0.pdf" data-original-source="http://ia800509.us.archive.org/32/items/gov.uscourts.nysd.436673/gov.uscourts.nysd.436673.37.0.pdf">military grade</a>&#8221; software to &#8220;wipe&#8221; the computer shortly before it was brought in for investigation. </p>
<p>In addition, the Judge granted Malibu a subpoena to depose Verizon and request additional information on the defendant&#8217;s Internet use. </p>
<p>Among other things, Malibu plans to ask for DMCA notices and copyright alerts that were addressed to the subscriber. It&#8217;s unclear whether Verizon plans to protest these requests. </p>
<p>Fishing expeditions and harassment claims aside, this case once again shows that outfits such as Malibu Media will go to extremes to corner accused file-sharers. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110774
title: Science “Pirate” Attacks Elsevier’s Copyright Monopoly in Court
uri: Science-Pirate-Attacks-Elsevier-s-Copyright-Monopoly-in-Court
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/S4kaAvwVVFc/
content:
<p><img src="media/ad61641e.200px-Elsevier.svg_.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/200px-Elsevier.svg_.png" alt="200px-Elsevier.svg" width="200" height="220" class="alignright size-full wp-image-110783">&#8220;Information wants to be free&#8221; is a commonly used phrase in copyright debates. While it may not apply universally, in the academic world it&#8217;s certainly relevant. </p>
<p>Information and knowledge are the cornerstones of science. Yet, most top research is locked up behind expensive paywalls.  </p>
<p>As with most digital content, however, there are specialized sites that offer free and unauthorized access. In the academic world the Library Genesis and Sci-Hub.org projects are two of the main &#8216;pirate&#8217; outlets, and their presence hasn&#8217;t gone unnoticed. </p>
<p>Earlier this year publishing company Elsevier <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/elsevier-cracks-down-on-pirated-scientific-articles-150609/">filed a complaint</a> at a New York District Court, hoping to shut down the two portals. According to the publisher the sites willingly offer millions of pirated scientific articles.</p>
<p>The court has yet to decide on Elsevier&#8217;s request for an injunction and allowed the operators time to respond. This week, Sci-Hub founder Alexandra Elbakyan submitted her first response. </p>
<p>While Elbakyan&#8217;s letter doesn&#8217;t address the legality of her website she does place the case in a wider context, explaining how the site came to be.   </p>
<p>&#8220;When I was a student in Kazakhstan university, I did not have access to any research papers. Papers I needed for my research project,&#8221; Elbakyan writes (<a href="media/451a9dd0.sci-hub-reply.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/sci-hub-reply.pdf">pdf</a>), explaining that it was impossible as a student to pay for access.</p>
<p>&#8220;Payment of 32 dollars is just insane when you need to skim or read tens or hundreds of these papers to do research. I obtained these papers by pirating them,&#8221; she adds.</p>
<p>As explained in an earlier <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/sci-hub-tears-down-academias-illegal-copyright-paywalls-150627/">interview with TF</a>, Elbakyan then decided to help other researchers to obtain research articles, which eventually grew to become a library of millions of works. </p>
<p>Elbakyan continues her letter by informing the court that unlike in other industries, the authors of these papers don&#8217;t get paid. Elsevier requires researchers to sign the copyright over to the company and collects money from their work through licensing and direct sales.</p>
<p>&#8220;All papers on their website are written by researchers, and researchers do not receive money from what Elsevier collects. That is very different from the music or movie industry, where creators receive money from each copy sold,&#8221; she notes.  </p>
<p>Researchers often have no other option than to agree because a career in academia often depends on publications in top journals, many of which are owned by Elsevier. </p>
<p>&#8220;They feel pressured to do this, because Elsevier is an owner of so-called &#8216;high-impact&#8217; journals. If a researcher wants to be recognized, make a career &#8211; he or she needs to have publications in such journals,&#8221; Elbakyan writes.</p>
<p>Sci-Hub&#8217;s operator notes that she&#8217;s not alone in her opinion, pointing to several top researchers who have also criticized the model. Most prominently, in 2012 <a href="http://thecostofknowledge.com/">more than 15,000</a> researchers demanded that Elsevier change its business practices.</p>
<p>Adding another illustration, Elbakyan notes that she never received any complaints from the academic community, except from Elsevier.</p>
<p>While many researchers will agree with Sci-Hub&#8217;s operator, the case seems almost impossible to win. Elbakyan pretty much admits to breaking the law and the court has little room to ignore that. </p>
<p>Elsevier hopes the court will soon issue the preliminary injunction so the domain names can be seized. The publisher disagrees with Elbakyan&#8217;s comments and notes that it participates in several initiatives to provide free and cheap access to researchers in low-income countries.</p>
<p>If the court sides with Elsevier, Library Genesis and Sci-Hub will likely lose access to their U.S. controlled domain names. However, taking the sites offline will prove to be more difficult as their servers and operator are not in the United States. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110777
title: Presidential Candidate Lawrence Lessig Steps Up To Assist Kim Dotcom
uri: Presidential-Candidate-Lawrence-Lessig-Steps-Up-To-Assist-Kim-Dotcom
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/-n7CZyvrqyU/
content:
<p><img src="media/47fe1920.lessig.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/lessig.jpg" alt="lessig" width="180" height="212" class="alignright size-full wp-image-84596">After failing in a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/dotcom-fails-in-last-ditch-bid-to-delay-u-s-extradition-hearing-150914/">last ditch attempt</a> to have their extradition hearing delayed once again, next week Kim Dotcom and his former Megaupload colleagues will head off to the North Shore District Court to do battle with the United States.</p>
<p>In addition to their already sizable team of legal representatives, Dotcom et al have been hiding somewhat of a trump card up their collective sleeves. Earlier today Kim Dotcom advised TF that none other than Harvard Law School&#8217;s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Lessig">Professor Lawrence Lessig</a> had been retained to provide expertise in the hearing beginning next Monday.</p>
<p>In submissions filed today, Professor Lessig provides his expert legal opinion on the criminal allegations of the United States Department of Justice which support their efforts to extradite Kim Dotcom.</p>
<p>Step-by-step in a 38-page testimony, <a href="http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/09/presidential-candidate-lawrence-lessig-goes-one-on-one-with-ars/">presidential candidate</a> Lessig undermines the U.S. case at almost every turn. Beginning with copyright infringement (this is after all the biggest U.S. infringement case of all time), Lessig says that claims that the defendants themselves infringed are not supported by the facts presented in the case.</p>
<p><strong>Copyright infringement</strong></p>
<p>&#8220;A showing of willful criminal copyright infringement requires compact factual proof identifying a specific copyrighted work, a right of the owner that has been violated, the geographical location of the infringement and other specific facts needed to establish a violation of United States criminal law. Such compact facts are absent here,&#8221; the professor writes.</p>
<p>&#8220;The generalized accusations, defective and irrelevant allegations, scattered facts of alleged multiple infringements and statistics set forth in the Superseding Indictment and Record of the Case do not satisfy requirements of proof but rather manifest unreliability of the overall approach.&#8221;</p>
<p>Furthermore, Lessig says that three of the four counts are now outside the three-year statute of limitations provided by the US-NZ Extradition Treaty.</p>
<p>Like many before him, Professor Lessig also notes that the Department of Justice is attempting to charge the Megaupload defendants with a crime that does not even exist under U.S. law.</p>
<p>&#8220;Many allegations in the Superseding Indictment appear to attempt to allege secondary copyright infringement. Such allegations may be relevant in a civil<br>
case alleging secondary infringement but they cannot be a basis for criminal charges of direct copyright infringement. Congress has never defined a crime of &#8216;secondary copyright infringement&#8217;,&#8221; Lessig writes.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Megaupload cloud service is a dual use technology capable of substantial non-infringing uses and thus protected by the &#8216;<a href="https://w2.eff.org/legal/cases/betamax/">Sony Doctrine</a>&#8216;,&#8221; he adds. &#8220;Under civil copyright law, internet service providers, such as Megaupload, do not have a duty to investigate potential infringement.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>Conspiracy</strong></p>
<p>Highlighting three counts of alleged conspiracy, Lessig homes in on one in particular &#8211; Conspiracy to Commit Copyright Infringement. The DoJ claims that the defendants conspired with users of Megaupload to commit copyright infringement but Lessig says the allegations are not supported by the facts.</p>
<p>&#8220;There is no showing of specific criminal &#8216;willful&#8217; infringements committed by specific individual users. There is an even more serious lack of evidence of communications between respondents and such alleged users needed to prove an agreement that is subject to laws of conspiracy,&#8221; the professor explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;The United States Constitution prohibits the United States DOJ from prosecuting, as they apparently want to here, a new kind of criminal conspiracy based on defendants providing an &#8216;environment of infringement&#8217; or their failing to disable all links to an allegedly infringing copy. Under the approach of the DOJ, many online operations and even individual persons would, without notice, suddenly become subject to criminal prosecution.</p>
<p>&#8220;General allegations of, &#8216;fostering an environment&#8217; cannot substitute for the requisite agreement or for the necessary &#8216;willful&#8217; mental state of the alleged conspirator,&#8221; Lessig notes.</p>
<p><strong>Fraud by Wire and Aiding &#038; Abetting Fraud by Wire</strong></p>
<p>Several other counts allege fraud relating to the online abuse tool Megaupload provided to copyright holders for disabling infringing links to their works. The DoJ claims that Megaupload misled copyright holders into thinking that all links to a file would be removed, not just the specific links being reported.</p>
<p>&#8220;The DOJ appears to be asserting that an ISP like Megaupload, which receives copyright take down notices identifying one URL, must search for and delete all duplicate files used by different users in the cloud system or be subject to a copyright or fraud claim. In my opinion the DOJ’s novel theory of copyright or fraud liability is erroneous,&#8221; Lessig writes.</p>
<p>Commenting on Megaupload&#8217;s use of &#8220;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_deduplication">data deduplication</a>&#8221; techniques to reduce the numbers of files stored, Lessig says that while one use of a file might be infringing, others may not.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is possible for one uploader to have a right to fair use of a copy of a file, e.g., a purchaser uploading a backup or an educational organization offering critical commentary, while other uploaders might have no such fair use right,&#8221; he explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is contrary to the purpose of the DMCA that a fair use right would be violated through a take-down notice directed at another person’s wrongful use. If such a<br>
violation were to occur, the provider of the take-notice would be subject to liability under the DMCA (17 U.S.C. § 512(f)).&#8221; </p>
<p>Lessig says that in his opinion the DoJ is attempting to use its &#8220;wire fraud&#8221; theory to criminalize &#8220;new categories of conduct&#8221; without Congressional authorization.</p>
<p>&#8220;Criminal charges based on alleged DMCA shortcomings would be contrary to DMCA principles stated by Congress. Wire fraud allegations further suffer from lack of requisite damages suffered by the victim of the fraud,&#8221; he writes.</p>
<p><strong>Conclusion</strong></p>
<p>In summary, Lessig says that the DoJ has failed to prove a case of direct civil copyright infringement or of criminal copyright infringement. Neither has it proven a case of criminal conspiracy or wire fraud. Overall, Lessig believes that the DoJ case is so weak that extradition for Dotcom et al will not be possible. </p>
<p>&#8220;It is my opinion that the Superseding Indictment and Record of the Case filed by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) do not meet the requirements necessary to support a prima facie case that would be recognized by United States federal law and subject to the US – NZ Extradition Treaty,&#8221; Lessig writes.</p>
<p>&#8220;Insofar as they are alleged in the Superceding Indictment and the [Record of the Case], respondents’ actions were not prohibited by criminal statutes of the United States. Filings of the DOJ attempt to create a false impression of criminal guilt and are not reliable.&#8221;</p>
<p>Speaking with TorrentFreak, Megaupload lead global defense counsel Ira Rothken says that Lessig&#8217;s opinion is not only of great value to the current proceedings, but also to the wider Internet.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are pleased and honored to have an opinion from Professor Lessig, a top internet law scholar, concluding that  U.S. criminal claims against Kim Dotcom lack merit,&#8221; Rothken told TF.</p>
<p>&#8220;The opinion not only supports Kim Dotcom but all netizens globally who provide or use automated dual use technologies like cloud storage.&#8221;</p>
<p>Kim Dotcom&#8217;s extradition hearing gets underway next week and Lessig&#8217;s expert opinion may yet prove priceless to the entrepreneur.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110814
title: Hadopi Reports on Five Years of “Three Strikes” Piracy Measures
uri: Hadopi-Reports-on-Five-Years-of-Three-Strikes-Piracy-Measures
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/10mSm-MZp_s/
content:
<p><img src="media/6ad92f52.warning.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/warning.jpg" width="150" height="150" class="alignright">In the latter years of the previous decade a new idea for dealing with piracy was gathering momentum. Known as &#8220;three strikes&#8221; or &#8220;graduated response&#8221;, the system was based on the understanding that pirates could be persuaded to change their ways &#8211; if they believed they were being watched.</p>
<p>After years of planning, in the fall of 2010 France became one of the pioneers of the warning system. <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/france-starts-reporting-millions-of-file-sharers-100921/">Its introduction</a> was controversial. Since the initial rules dictated that persistent offenders (and potentially innocent account holders) should be kicked off the Internet, fears persisted that thousands of families could be denied Internet access.</p>
<p>This week marks the five year anniversary of the French program and the event has been commemorated by the overseeing Hadopi agency with the release of statistics relating to the past 60 months of anti-piracy activities.</p>
<p>Since September 2010, more than 5,400,000 initial warning notices have been sent to French Internet account holders. In the same period 504,000 individuals received a second notice, which indicates that less than 10% of first time offenders managed to get caught twice.</p>
<p>Perhaps most impressive at first view is the number of account holders receiving a third notice. According to Hadopi just 2,900 received a final &#8216;strike&#8217;, that&#8217;s just 0.57% of those who failed to heed the second warning.</p>
<p>But despite the potential for massive disconnections, that was never to be. After <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/france-disconnects-first-file-sharer-from-the-internet-130613/">disconnecting its first &#8216;pirate&#8217;</a> for two weeks back in June 2013, the following month the government <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/three-strikes-and-youre-still-in-france-kills-piracy-disconnections-130709/">outlawed the measure</a> in favor of a system of fines.</p>
<p>In the months and years that followed 2,336 &#8220;third strike&#8221; investigations took place, with just 400 of reportedly the most serious cases being <a href="http://www.numerama.com/magazine/34217-riposte-graduee-la-hadopi-fait-le-point-apres-5-ans-d-activite.html">referred</a> for prosecution.</p>
<p>Hadopi detailed the <a href="http://www.nextinpact.com/news/96525-hadopi-plusieurs-abonnes-condamnes-a-300-et-500-euros-d-amende.htm">outcome</a> of some of those cases this week. They include a persistent film pirate who was fined 300 euros and a uTorrent user who admitted distributing pre-release content (300 euros). An account holder who failed to appear at a hearing to discuss both music (a Rihanna track) and movie piracy (Despicable Me 2) picked up two fines of 500 euros each.</p>
<p>In theory fines under Hadopi can reach 1,500 euros but it appears that no case has been considered serious enough to impose the full amount.</p>
<p>So, given the apparent tiny numbers of repeat offenders, is France on its way to solving the piracy riddle? That&#8217;s very difficult to say but what we do know is that the figures cited above aren&#8217;t the full story.</p>
<p>Back in July the agency <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/french-anti-piracy-regime-breaks-5-million-warning-barrier-150720/">revealed</a> that it had received more than 37 million complaints but had only managed to process a fraction of them. This means that it&#8217;s possible that many first, second and third time offenders have actually been &#8216;caught&#8217; by anti-piracy monitoring companies but the notices have not been sent through the system.</p>
<p>Hadopi estimates that it currently processes around 50% of all reports, around 50,000 notifications every day. This means that around 100,000 notices are sent by rightsholders but 50,000 potential first, second and third strikes are thrown away.</p>
<p>Hadopi says its target is to process every notice it receives but whether that will be achieved next year or in another five years time will remain to be seen.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110834
title: ISPs Agree to Block The Pirate Bay in Iceland
uri: ISPs-Agree-to-Block-The-Pirate-Bay-in-Iceland
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/ZhtA7OGMNao/
content:
<p><a href="media/bc5d5001.FileIceland_flag.jpg" data-original-source="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Iceland_flag.jpg"><img src="media/cd987eed.icelandflag.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/icelandflag.jpg" alt="icelandflag" width="250" height="178" class="alignright size-full wp-image-110836"></a>As the arch-rival of many copyright groups, The Pirate Bay has become one of the most censored websites on the Internet in recent years.</p>
<p>Courts all around the world have ordered Internet providers to block subscriber access to the torrent site and the list continues to expand.</p>
<p>This week Icelandic ISPs reached an <a href="http://ruv.is/frett/loka-a-deilisidur">agreement</a> with local entertainment industry representatives to prevent subscribers from accessing the notorious torrent site. </p>
<p>In addition to The Pirate Bay, the Internet providers also promised to block Deildu.net, Iceland’s most popular private torrent tracker.</p>
<p>The agreement follows a court decision from <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/freedom-friendly-iceland-blocks-the-pirate-bay-141016/">last fall</a> when the Reykjavík District Court handed down an injunction to ISPs Vodafone and Hringdu, forcing them to block the two sites.</p>
<p>Iceland&#8217;s local equivalent of the RIAA (STEF) wasn&#8217;t satisfied with the limited scope of the order and wanted other providers to follow suit. The group set an ultimatum threatening legal action last year, but the parties eventually decided to settle the matter out of court. </p>
<p>The decision to block access to The Pirate Bay does not come without protest. The local <a href="http://www.piratar.is/">Pirate Party</a>, which is the most popular party with a <a href="http://www.ruv.is/node/938365">third of all &#8216;votes&#8217;</a> in recent polls, describes it as censorship. </p>
<p>&#8220;We are of course against this, especially because of the circumstances,&#8221; Ásta Helgadóttir, Member of Parliament for the Icelandic Pirate Party, informs TF.</p>
<p>The Pirate Party views a private censorship agreement between ISPs and copyright holders as a worrying development, and warns that the judicial system should not be bypassed. </p>
<p>&#8220;The blocking itself is currently nothing other than an inconvenience which is quite easy to circumvent with some googling or setting up a VPN. What&#8217;s more serious is the way the rightsholders could bypass the judicial authority to get their censorship measures through with the ISPs,&#8221; Ásta tells TF.</p>
<p>Instead of asking for pointless DNS blockades copyright holders should focus on negotiating better contracts with the artists they are supposed to represent.  </p>
<p>&#8220;The real problem is the poor negotiation status of the individual artist when it comes to signing contracts. That is the real problem, not private sharing of culture,&#8221; Ásta says. </p>
<p>According to <a href="http://grapevine.is/news/2015/09/16/icelandic-isps-will-block-access-to-pirate-bay-and-deildu/">local reports</a> the Internet providers have agreed to block The Pirate Bay&#8217;s main domain names and any new ones that subsequently arise. However, for now, many of the well known proxy sites are still available.</p>
<p>Recent history has shown that people who want to access blocked sites can always find a way. Circumvention tools such as TOR, VPN services or the specialized <a href="https://piratebrowser.com/">Piratebrowser</a> are readily available and growing in popularity as blocking efforts expand.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110880
title: MPA Reveals 500+ Instances of Pirate Site Blocking in Europe
uri: MPA-Reveals-500-Instances-of-Pirate-Site-Blocking-in-Europe
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/7m-hYXXpmZo/
content:
<p><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">Over the past several years Hollywood and its counterparts in the worldwide music industry have made huge strides in their efforts to complicate user access to so-called &#8216;pirate&#8217; sites.</p>
<p>The theory is that if consumers find sites like The Pirate Bay more difficult to find, then the chances of those people buying official content will increase.</p>
<p>The first unlicensed site (AllofMP3) was <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/danish-isp-forced-to-censor-the-internet/">ordered blocked</a> in Denmark in 2006, and ever since rightsholders have been thirsty for more.</p>
<p>For almost a decade and with increasing frequency since 2010, site-blocking has been in the news, mainly centered around actions against torrent sites. In most cases of rightsholders testing the judicial waters around Europe, The Pirate Bay has been used as the guinea pig. History tells us that once The Pirate Bay gets blocked, the floodgates are well and truly open.</p>
<p>Although we&#8217;ve reported on every site-blocking court battle around Europe (including some that have been held behind closed doors), there are no publicly available central resources that provide an accurate overview of how many sites are blocked in each country. It doesn&#8217;t help that in UK, for example, rightsholders add sites to existing court orders without any fresh announcement.</p>
<p>Yesterday, however, the MPAA&#8217;s international variant, <a href="http://www.mpaeurope.org/">MPA Europe</a>, provided some interesting numbers which highlight the extent of site-blocking on copyright grounds on the continent. The presentation, made by Deputy General Counsel Okke Visser at the <a href="http://www.iclicconference.co.uk/">iCLIC Conference</a> in Southampton, UK, included the <a href="https://twitter.com/eLAWnora/status/644544806904045568">slide</a> below.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/d0cf1d45.site-blocking-eu.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/site-blocking-eu.jpg" alt="site-blocking-eu" width="600" height="348" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-110900"></center></p>
<p>What the image shows is a total of 504 instances of web-blocking across Europe. It&#8217;s worth noting that some of the instances are duplicates, since sites like Pirate Bay and KickassTorrents are blocked in multiple regions. Also, it appears that proxies aren&#8217;t included in the total.</p>
<p><strong>Italy</strong></p>
<p>The region with by far the greatest number of blockades is Italy, down in the south of Europe with 238 instances. The country&#8217;s AGCOM agency has been ordering sites to be blocked at an alarming rate, with <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/off-us-blacklist-italy-begins-torrent-site-blackout-no-trials-needed-140510/">no trials needed</a> for a blackout.</p>
<p>However, things haven&#8217;t necessarily been going to plan. Research carried out in Italy found that blocking <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/censoring-pirate-sites-is-counterproductive-research-finds-160708/">only increased</a> blocked websites&#8217; popularity, via the so-called &#8220;Streisand Effect&#8221;.</p>
<p><strong>United Kingdom</strong></p>
<p>It&#8217;s no surprise that the UK takes second place with 135 instances of blocking. Today they&#8217;re being ordered on behalf of Hollywood, the music industry, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/high-court-orders-uk-isps-to-block-ebook-sites-150527/">book publishers</a>, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/uk-piracy-blocklist-expands-with-sports-streaming-sites-150531/">sports broadcasters</a> and even <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/high-court-orders-isps-to-block-counterfeiting-websites-141017/">watch manufacturers</a>.</p>
<p>The very first site to be blocked in the country on copyright grounds was defunct Usenet indexer Newzbin/2. The official process <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-takes-legal-action-to-force-isp-to-block-newzbin-usenet-site-101216/">began</a> in 2010 when MPA Europe, citing legal action in Denmark, asked local ISP BT to block the site. Subsequent court action <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/hollywood-forces-uk-isp-to-block-newzbin-usenet-site-110728/">resulted in an injunction</a> and the floodgates were open for dozens of additional demands.</p>
<p><strong>Denmark</strong></p>
<p>After being the site-blocking pioneer of Europe, Denmark now has 41 instances of site-blocking according to the MPAA. Earlier this year a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/popular-torrent-and-streaming-sites-blocked-in-denmark-150327/">large batch</a> of torrent and streaming sites were blocked, followed by a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/court-orders-20-big-piracy-sites-blocked-in-denmark-150821/">second wave</a> in August.</p>
<p><strong>Spain</strong></p>
<p>When <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/wiziwig-elitetorrent-shut-spanish-anti-piracy-law-150101/">new legislation</a> came into effect in Spain in January, site-blocking was bound to follow.</p>
<p>Sure enough, in March 2015 local ISPs were given <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/block-pirate-bay-in-72-hours-spanish-court-tells-isps-150327/">72 hours to block</a> The Pirate Bay and in April a block of a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/spanish-court-orders-first-pirate-music-site-block-150407/">popular music site</a> followed. According to MPA Europe, Spain now has 24 instances of blocking.</p>
<p><strong>The rest</strong></p>
<p>While blocking measures are in place across the whole of the far west of Europe, thus far plenty of countries are holding their ground. In the north, Sweden is currently block-free, but that could all change depending on the outcome of <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/isp-categorically-refuses-to-block-pirate-bay-trial-set-for-october-150304/">pending legal action</a>.</p>
<p>After putting up a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/isps-no-longer-have-to-block-the-pirate-bay-dutch-court-rules-140128/">tremendous fight</a> against the odds, the Netherlands also has no blocks in place. However, a case against local ISPs still has <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/brein-takes-pirate-bay-blocking-case-supreme-court-140623/">some way to run</a>.</p>
<p>Slightly to the east, Germany has no blocks and to date there has been little discussion on the topic in Poland or Romania. However, neighbor Austria now has six instances of blocking after the movie industry <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-will-be-blocked-in-austria-150803/">won a protracted legal battle</a> against The Pirate Bay and other sites.</p>
<p><strong>Instances of copyright-related site-blocking across Europe</strong></p>
<p>#1 &#8211; Italy (238)<br>
#2 &#8211; United Kingdom (135)<br>
#3 &#8211; Denmark (41)<br>
#4 &#8211; Spain (24)<br>
#5 &#8211; France (18) <em>(<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/court-orders-french-isps-block-pirate-bay-141204/">ref</a>)</em><br>
#6 &#8211; Portugal (15) <em>(ref <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-will-blocked-portugal-150302/">1</a>,<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/rapid-pirate-site-blocking-mechanism-introduced-by-portugal-150731/">2</a>)</em><br>
#7 &#8211; Belgium (13) <em>(ref <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/belgium-starts-blocking-the-pirate-bay-111020/">1</a>,<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/belgian-isps-quietly-expand-torrent-site-blockade-130828/">2</a>)</em><br>
#8 &#8211; Norway (7) <em>(<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-sites-must-pay-legal-costs-of-own-blockade-court-rules-150902/">ref</a>)</em><br>
#9 &#8211; Austria (6)<br>
#10 &#8211; Ireland (2) <em>(ref <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/high-court-gives-irish-isps-30-days-to-block-the-pirate-bay-130612/">1</a>,<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/irish-internet-providers-roll-out-kickasstorrents-blockade-140119/">2</a>)</em><br>
#10 &#8211; Greece (2) <em>(<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/greek-court-orders-isp-blockades-of-pirate-music-sites-120521/">ref</a>)</em><br>
#10 &#8211; Iceland (2) <em>(<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/isps-agree-to-block-the-pirate-bay-in-iceland-150917/">ref</a>)</em><br>
#11 &#8211; Finland (1) <em>(<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-blockades-upheld-by-court-of-appeal-120212/">ref</a>)</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110976
title: BitTorrent Traffic Share Drops to New Low
uri: BitTorrent-Traffic-Share-Drops-to-New-Low
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/PsdhPboI-Dw/
content:
<p><img src="media/59d6682b.download-keyboard.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/download-keyboard.jpg" alt="download-keyboard" width="200" height="138" class="alignright size-full wp-image-73383">Over the years we have been following various reports on Internet traffic changes, specifically in relation to BitTorrent.</p>
<p>Five years ago file-sharing dominated Internet traffic across the globe, but this pattern has slowly started to reverse. </p>
<p>Online entertainment services such as YouTube and Netflix have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-traffic-drops-in-america-grows-in-europe-131111/">already taken away</a> a large chunk of BitTorrent&#8217;s &#8220;market share&#8221; in North America and the trend is carrying over to Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.sandvine.com/trends/global-internet-phenomena/">latest report</a> from network management company Sandvine reveals that torrent traffic is now responsible for ‘only’ 8.44% of all Internet traffic in Europe during peak hours, compared to 17.99% two years ago.</p>
<p><center><strong>Top 10 Peak Period Applications (Europe, Fixed Access)</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/d365fa25.sandeur.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/sandeur.png" alt="sandeur" width="635" height="298" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-110980"></center></p>
<p>This doesn&#8217;t necessarily mean that there&#8217;s less torrent traffic, as overall bandwidth use may have doubled in the same period as well. However, other online entertainment services are gaining ground during peak hours. </p>
<p>With 21% YouTube currently accounts for most traffic and Netflix is also on the rise, even though it&#8217;s only available in a few countries. In the UK and Ireland Netflix is already good for 10% of peak downstream traffic.</p>
<p>The same pattern is observed in the Asia-Pacific region although BitTorrent still tops all other services there. </p>
<p><center><strong>Top 10 Peak Period Applications (Asia-Pacific, Fixed Access)</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/1ee25dc9.sandas.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/sandas.png" alt="sandas" width="663" height="299" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-110979"></center></p>
<p>At a quarter of all downstream traffic during peak hours, BitTorrent&#8217;s traffic share is down a few percentage points compared to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/torrents-good-for-a-third-of-all-internet-traffic-in-asia-pacific-141120/">last year</a>. YouTube is currently in second place there with little over 20% of the total traffic share. </p>
<p>Since the recent dip in BitTorrent&#8217;s traffic share is relatively limited, it&#8217;s hard to tell whether the absolute bandwidth transferred by file-sharers has also declined in this region. </p>
<p>Time will tell whether the downward trends will continue in the months to come, and how the global differences in BitTorrent usage will develop.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=108757
title: uTorrent Turns 10 Years Old Today
uri: uTorrent-Turns-10-Years-Old-Today
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/f7BLOtSN8Ec/
content:
<p><img src="media/f1b12f99.utorrent-logo-new.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/utorrent-logo-new.jpg" alt="utorrent-logo-new" width="222" height="148" class="alignright size-full wp-image-55606">uTorrent was first released to the public on September 18, 2005 and the torrent client has come a long way since. </p>
<p>What began as a minimalist and no-nonsense client, targeted at an already BitTorrent-savvy crowd, is now an application that&#8217;s become mainstream.</p>
<p>Over the years uTorrent’s target audience has also changed. BitTorrent was still a geek thing ten years ago but today its audience includes soccer moms, grandparents and many others who are not generally classified as computer experts.</p>
<h3>How it started</h3>
<p>The groundwork for <a href="http://utorrent.com">uTorrent</a>, where the μ stands for micro, was laid out in 2004. At the time most BitTorrent clients were resource hogs or bloatware, while computer memory was relatively limited. </p>
<p>Swedish developer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludvig_Strigeus">Ludvig Strigeus</a> wanted to counter this trend. Inspired by a friend he took up the task of building a simple but powerful client with the main purpose of downloading torrents. </p>
<p>At the end of 2014 Strigeus started coding the application in his spare time, but after a month development stalled. He eventually picked up the project in September 2015 and three days later the first version was released to the public. </p>
<p>In a matter of days the news spread among Windows-bound BitTorrent users worldwide. For many people uTorrent was a breath of fresh air, due to its simplicity and the minimal use of computer resources. </p>
<p>Fast forward a few months and hundreds of thousands of people had switched to the newcomer. </p>
<h3>Progress</h3>
<p>Most progress in terms of features was made in the first year. Strigeus implemented several key changes which are a core part of the BitTorrent ecosystem today. </p>
<p><center><strong>uTorrent.com October 2015</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/9617a63c.utorrentsite.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/utorrentsite.png"><img src="media/0cf06247.utorrentsite.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/utorrentsite.png" alt="utorrentsite" width="600" height="493" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-110817"></a></center></p>
<p>It was among the first clients to implement DHT support, for example, as well as BitTorrent encryption.  </p>
<p>Ashwin Navin, who was the CEO of BitTorrent at the time, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-interview/">praised uTorrent</a> for its innovations early 2006. Navin said that he and his colleagues were big fans of Strigeus&#8217; work which soon after introduced the next step in the software&#8217;s history.</p>
<h3>The Takeover</h3>
<p>December 2006, little over a year after the first release, uTorrent was <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-inc-buys-%C2%B5torrent/">acquired by BitTorrent Inc</a>. The San Francisco based company of BitTorrent inventor Bram Cohen had just secured millions in funding and with uTorrent it hoped to expand its userbase. </p>
<p>&#8220;Bringing together uTorrent’s efficient implementation and compelling UI with BitTorrent’s expertise in networking protocols will significantly benefit the community with what we envision will be the best BitTorrent client,&#8221; the two companies announced.  </p>
<p>uTorrent&#8217;s founder, Ludvig Strigeus, cut his ties with the application soon after and <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/spotify-reminded-of-utorrent-past-after-branding-grooveshark-pirates-141112/">went on to develop</a> another piece of P2P-powered software, Spotify. </p>
<p>The takeover increased uTorrent&#8217;s development capacity but not all users were happy. Some feared that the client would become bloatware and others were wary of BitTorrent&#8217;s &#8220;<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-and-mpaa-join-forces/">deal</a>&#8221; with the MPAA.</p>
<p>The vast majority of the people were satisfied though and the number of users grew exponentially. </p>
<p>In the years that followed uTorrent implemented several key improvements including the uTP protocol. In addition, the company also released long-awaited support for Mac and Linux operating systems.</p>
<p>By 2007 uTorrent had a larger userbase than any other BitTorrent client, and <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/utorrent-gains-popularity-azureus-loses-ground-071216/">twice as many</a> as the runner-up. And this trend continued. A year later uTorrent passed the milestone of <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/utorrent-grows-to-28-million-monthly-users-081225/">25 million active users</a> and the year after more than <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/utorrent-dominates-bittorrent-client-market-share-090624/">half of all BitTorrent users</a> had it marked as their favorite client.</p>
<h3>Money&#8230;</h3>
<p>Like all other commercial torrent clients uTorrent needed a business model. For many years the company has made the bulk of its revenue from bundled software such as toolbars. This software is presented as an option during the install process, which can be tricky to spot for some. </p>
<p>The &#8220;extra&#8221; software sometimes caused controversy. For example, earlier this year many users complained that uTorrent had <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/utorrent-quietly-installs-riskware-bitcoin-miner-users-report-150306/">silently installed</a> a Bitcoin miner. Soon after the news broke, the company decided to no longer include this offer.</p>
<p>Another revenue stream comes from embedded advertisements. When these were first <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/utorrent-becomes-ad-supported-to-rake-in-millions-120810/">announced</a> there was a lot of pushback from users, but these complaints slowly faded, in part because the advertisements became optional. </p>
<p>How much money the ads generate is unknown, but with billions of displays per year it must be a sizable amount.</p>
<p><center><strong>uTorrent ads</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/3a16d3b1.utorrentads.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/utorrentads.jpg"><img src="media/0192b819.utorrentads.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/utorrentads.jpg" alt="utorrentads" width="600" height="361" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-88927"></a></center></p>
<h3>Very tiny?</h3>
<p>Those who compare uTorrent&#8217;s appearance will see that the basic layout hasn&#8217;t changed that much. However, in terms of functionality and features it&#8217;s an entirely different beast. </p>
<p>The downside of these improvements is that the application is no longer as minimal as it used to be. </p>
<p>The installer has also grown in size quite a bit. While it&#8217;s still advertised as a &#8220;(very) tiny&#8221; application the installer is now close to 2MB, instead of the 97kb it used to be back in 2005. </p>
<p><center><strong>uTorrent version 1.1</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/63ef0bad.uTorrent_1.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/uTorrent_1.png"><img src="media/318bf1d1.uTorrent_1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/uTorrent_1.png" alt="uTorrent_1" width="600" height="388" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-110818"></a></center></p>
<p>Remarkably, however, the memory footprint is still very small. The first version of uTorrent consumed roughly 4MB memory, and today that&#8217;s roughly 12MB depending on the setup, which is low compared to most alternatives.</p>
<h3>Going forward</h3>
<p>Regular visitors and beta testers of uTorrent have noticed that the application&#8217;s development has stalled a bit, compared to the early years. However, new fixes and changes are still being released on a monthly basis. </p>
<p>One of the most prominent developments comes in the form of a new monetization strategy uTorrent will be testing during the months to come. Instead of bundled software uTorrent may switch to a new revenue model where it will <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/utorrent-hints-move-toward-paid-subscriptions-150823/">ask users for money</a>. </p>
<p>Looking back it&#8217;s safe to conclude that uTorrent led the way in many aspects, and it&#8217;s still a leader today. Alternative clients have a relatively small userbase compared to the client and despite a small group of vocal protesters who resist change, there are no signs of a mass exodus. </p>
<p>It&#8217;s safe to say that ten years ago nobody could have predicted that uTorrent would be installed over a billion times, with roughly 150 million active users a month today. As such, congratulations is certainly in order.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110829
title: The Pirate Bay Blacklisted By 600 Advertising Companies
uri: The-Pirate-Bay-Blacklisted-By-600-Advertising-Companies
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/i17aI25HXXY/
content:
<p><img src="media/7e02aab6.tpb3.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpb3.png" alt="tpb" width="230" height="243" class="alignright size-full wp-image-106334">There&#8217;s a theory among anti-piracy organizations that if unauthorized sites like The Pirate Bay can be separated from their finances they&#8217;ll eventually become a burden to their operators and close down.</p>
<p>This &#8220;follow the money&#8221; approach is gaining momentum worldwide and is largely centered on the companies financing pirate sites with their advertising spend.</p>
<p>Last week Sweden became the latest country to launch an initiative designed to stop ads appearing on torrent, streaming and other related sites. A partnership between anti-piracy outfit Rights Alliance and advertising association Swedish Advertisers, the partnership has clear aims.</p>
<p>&#8220;The aim of the project is to raise awareness, so that advertisers/brands don´t end up on the wrong sites and also to try to stop money from legal companies flowing to illegal sites,&#8221; Sara Lindbäck from Rights Alliance informs TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>To that end, Swedish Advertisers have come up with a set of recommendations designed to keep ads away from unlicensed sites. They include observing good ethics, avoiding advertising contracts that include bulk sales, and considering where ads are ultimately placed, beyond simply targeting a specific audience at a certain price.</p>
<p>According to the advertising association the initiative has been well received. As a result they&#8217;ve publicly announced the first batch of sites to be added to their fledgling &#8216;pirate blacklist&#8217;, a boycott which will be observed by around 600 advertisers.</p>
<p>&#8220;The recommendations have become very popular so now we are taking this a step further by naming movie sites where serious advertisers&#8217; brands certainly should not be seen,&#8221; says Anders Ericson, CEO of Swedish Advertisers.</p>
<p>Topping the list in terms of popularity is The Pirate Bay, the Swedish born torrent site that simply refuses to die. Nine others currently being named are Dreamfilmhd.org, Sweflix.to, Swefilmer.ws, Swefilm.tv, Swesub.tv, Laddanerfilmer.com, Svenskafilmer.nu, Undertexter.se and film365.se.</p>
<p>&#8220;There has been an evolvement over time where the illegal sites are getting more and more commercial and getting substantial amounts from advertisements,&#8221; Lindbäck says.</p>
<p>&#8220;For example in the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/swedens-largest-streaming-site-will-close-after-raid-150729/">Swefilmer case</a> where 13 million SEK ($1.57m) has been traced through the advertisement broker/platforms.&#8221;</p>
<p>The majority of the sites present on the blacklist do indeed contain large amounts of advertising, sometimes to the point where they become somewhat irritating to use. Nevertheless, that doesn&#8217;t stop big brands from advertising on them.</p>
<p>Dreamfilmhd, for example, carries advertising for Bet365 and Coral, two well-known gambling companies regularly featured on other pirate sites. </p>
<p>Interestingly, another &#8216;offender&#8217; is Sky Bet. This gambling outfit is owned by British Sky Broadcasting, a massive media company whose parent is 21st Century Fox. Their somewhat hypocritical popup ad is shown below.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/cb0bfeac.skybet.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/skybet.jpg" alt="skybet" width="600" height="442" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-110851"></center></p>
<p>In order to suffer the full onslaught of advertisers, TF fired up an unprotected browser and deliberately clicked around on the sites in question to see what kind of ads we could discover. Major advertisers already seem few and far between but there is work to be done.</p>
<p>Largely though it&#8217;s a miserable user experience, with popups, popunders, ads for scammy fake download sites, plus get-rich-quick schemes regularly bombarding the senses.  As schemes like this one in Sweden and others around the world really begin to bite, expect more of the same.</p>
<p>Pirate sites will almost certainly be able to find advertisers willing to put hands in pockets but as times get tough, the quality of those ads is likely to deteriorate even further still. With that, user experience will also decline. Will pirates put up with the junk? Time will tell.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110756
title: Spammers Flood Google With Fake Takedown Notices
uri: Spammers-Flood-Google-With-Fake-Takedown-Notices
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/kgKLeogqr50/
content:
<p><img src="media/18066378.spam1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/spam1.jpg" alt="spam1" width="200" height="150" class="alignright size-full wp-image-4468">Every day copyright holders report millions of infringing links to Google.</p>
<p>Nearly all of these requests are automated and involve little oversight. This leads to the occasional mistake but some bogus takedown notices are sent on purpose. </p>
<p>It appears that spammers have discovered Google&#8217;s <a href="https://support.google.com/legal/troubleshooter/1114905?rd=1&#038;vid=1-635781682883762583-2578053939#ts=1115645">takedown forms</a> and found a way to submit their own fake notices.</p>
<p>While browsing through the <a href="https://chillingeffects.org/">Chilling Effects</a> archive of Google&#8217;s DMCA notices we spotted some unusual entries. Instead of trying to remove pages from the Internet, spammers are using Google&#8217;s takedown forms to promote their counterfeit software, clothing and other merchandise. </p>
<p>Their goal is not to take anything down but to generate links to their own websites. Below is an example of a typical &#8220;comment spam&#8221; takedown request of which <a href="https://www.chillingeffects.org/notices/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&#038;term=%22a+href%22%22&#038;term-require-all=true&#038;sort_by=date_received+desc">tens of thousands</a> can be found online. </p>
<p><center><img src="media/389bd45f.penisspam.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/penisspam.png" alt="penisspam" width="600" height="384" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-110918"></center></p>
<p>Besides bodypart &#8220;<a href="https://www.chillingeffects.org/notices/358360">enlargements</a>&#8221; there are plugs for medicine, <a href="https://www.chillingeffects.org/notices/590160">sports jerseys</a>, designer clothing, handbags, <a href="https://www.chillingeffects.org/notices/461537">sunglasses</a> and even <a href="https://www.chillingeffects.org/notices/150614">counterfeit</a> copies of Microsoft products.</p>
<p>The spammers target a wide range of Google services including Search, Blogger and Picasa. While Google tends to ignore them, copies of the requests are available in the Chilling Effects archive and through Google&#8217;s Transparency Report.</p>
<p>While somewhat of a nuisance, it&#8217;s doubtful that the takedown notices will be very effective in driving traffic. Most URLs are not linked and the Chilling Effect site itself is not indexed by Google at all. </p>
<p>Still, the spam overload is not making Google&#8217;s job any easier. </p>
<p>The company already invests significant resources in checking the millions of legitimate DMCA requests, and dealing with a spam flood only adds to this already troubling task.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110922
title: Are Users to Blame When Pirate Site Admins Go to Jail?
uri: Are-Users-to-Blame-When-Pirate-Site-Admins-Go-to-Jail
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Y7JsY8MbqJI/
content:
<p><img src="media/9c39c603.jail.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/jail.jpg" alt="jail" width="222" height="148" class="alignright size-full wp-image-70302">To even get off the ground, file-sharing type sites need competent people behind them. A minority learn &#8216;on the job&#8217; while others already have experience in parallel web projects. Either way, technical experience is an absolute must.</p>
<p>In one way or another, site operators also need to be able to handle finances. Sites don&#8217;t run on fresh air, so whether the aim is to operate a hobby-type platform or an ad-supported behemoth, keeping control of the purse strings is paramount.</p>
<p>But successfully bringing together the technical and financial aspects requires a third element, an element so important that a site may as well not exist without out it. Like other &#8216;AFK&#8217; businesses &#8211; whether for or non-profit &#8211; sites need customers, or &#8216;users&#8217; as they&#8217;re more commonly known.</p>
<p>In most torrent site environments (particularly in the public scene), these are the real powerhouses behind the site. Sure, the site admin and his staff provide and maintain the platform, but the majority of content is provided by the users and it is their bandwidth that provides the virtual infrastructure for the distribution. After all, an ant-hill without ants is just a pile of dirt.</p>
<p>To put it into perspective, many of the top torrent sites have a few staff but many millions of users. One such site, The Pirate Bay, grew so huge that it attracted the attention of authorities in every corner of the world. It&#8217;s worth repeating that the size of the target on the site&#8217;s back was directly linked to the number of users it had, not the size of its management team.</p>
<p>If TPB had just a couple of thousand users, few anti-piracy outfits would be interested &#8211; there are bigger fish to fry. But since millions of people decided to jump on board it meant that the site&#8217;s operators got the blame for everything those people did. And in the end they all went to jail, largely for crimes they personally didn&#8217;t commit.</p>
<p>So who is to blame for their incarceration? Arguments against copyright law aside, were Gottfrid, Fredrik and Peter the criminals for providing the platform? Or were their millions of law-breaking users, who insisted on sharing copyrighted content, the ones that should be shouldering the responsibility?</p>
<p>In a <a href="http://svenska.yle.fi/artikel/2015/09/14/hollywoods-storsta-fiende-bor-i-malax">Finnish</a> interview this week, Peter Sunde provided a small inkling of how he was perceived during his recent prison sentence. His comments are quite revealing in respect of how prison staff viewed his crime through the prism of what appears to be their own contributions to the infamous torrent site.</p>
<p>&#8220;The people who worked there called me Jesus, because I sat there for their sins,&#8221; Sunde said.</p>
<p>&#8220;It was totally sick. One is locked up in a room while signing autographs for those who lock one in. I do not think many people have experienced this situation,&#8221; he added.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s a curious situation indeed. There can be few hardcore file-sharing fans who wouldn&#8217;t grab an autograph, &#8216;selfie&#8217; or two minutes lively discussion with Peter, Gottfrid or Fredrik if they had the chance, and few that wouldn&#8217;t sympathize with the jail sentences they received.</p>
<p>But how many of those same users sit around thinking, &#8220;I was partly responsible for those huge numbers cited by Hollywood during the trial. I contributed to the swarms, rampant sharing, and alleged industry losses. It was our crimes, the users, that put the admins in jail.&#8221;</p>
<p>Rest assured, in the case of Pirate Bay the founders wouldn&#8217;t place a second&#8217;s blame on any user, but it is food for thought. In most cases file-sharers go about their daily business without a care in the world, although some probably pause occasionally to scowl at the latest admin arrest.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s a fact that thanks to the millions of others in a similar position, torrent users remain largely safe, even though it is their actions that contribute most to the distribution of copyright content. That said, someone has to pay. Someone has to have their head stuffed on the end of a pike. Most are simply glad that the head isn&#8217;t theirs.</p>
<p>Likening Peter Sunde to a religious icon is going a bit far, but there&#8217;s little doubt that without the actions of the millions he aimed to serve, his life today would be minus a jail sentence. Not getting involved in the Pirate Bay might&#8217;ve helped him too, but not even Jesus himself could see that perfectly into the future. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=110902
title: Copyright Scares University Researchers From Sharing Their Findings
uri: Copyright-Scares-University-Researchers-From-Sharing-Their-Findings
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/cZK1V63BxKM/
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">A few weeks ago I spotted the abstract of an article that had just been published in an academic journal.</p>
<p>The article was relevant to the topics we cover here at TorrentFreak, but unfortunately it was hidden behind a paywall, like most scientific articles are. </p>
<p>To bypass this hurdle I usually ask the author for a review copy. Not to publish it online, but to get a better picture of the findings and perhaps cover them in a news piece. </p>
<p>In this case the author in question was kind enough to respond, although not with a copy of the paper. Instead, he encouraged me to contact the publisher noting that they now control the rights. </p>
<p>&#8220;We no longer own the copyright of our work,&#8221; the author wrote back.</p>
<p>This certainly wasn&#8217;t the first time that a researcher has shown reluctance to share work, so I didn&#8217;t complain and gave the publisher a call. The publisher, one of the largest in the world, then informed me that the person responsible for these matters was not available. </p>
<p>A bit frustrated, I decided to reach out to the author of the article again. Instead of requesting a copy of the paper I sent over a few questions regarding the methodology and results of the study, which would be enough to begin a piece. </p>
<p>But, instead of commenting on the findings the author asked if the publisher had given permission to discuss the matter, fearing that it would otherwise lead to &#8220;trouble.&#8221;</p>
<p>Baffled by what had happened I lost all interest in writing an article and decided to move on to something else. </p>
<p>While the above is an extreme example, it does signal a problem that many scientists face. They are literally scared they&#8217;ll get into trouble if they share their own papers with the rest of the world. </p>
<p>The author above was a junior researcher with little experience, but even established researchers encounter similar problems. For example, we previously reported that the American Society of Civil Engineers cracked down on researchers who <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/publishers-targets-university-researchers-pirating-articles-140516/">posted their articles</a> on their personal websites.</p>
<p>So where is this coming from?</p>
<p>Well, in order to get published in subscription based journals researchers have to sign away their copyrights. A typical &#8220;copyright transfer&#8221; agreement (<a href="media/2b74b77c.copyrighttransfer.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/copyrighttransfer.pdf">pdf</a>) prohibits them from sharing the final article in public, even on their own websites. </p>
<p><center><img src="media/a3589a95.transfercopyright.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/transfercopyright.png" alt="transfercopyright" width="646" height="132" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-110961"></center></p>
<p>Accepted articles are separately sold for dozens of dollars per piece, so if the researchers shared these for free the publishers could lose income. It&#8217;s a commercial decision.</p>
<p>That said, most publishers do allow authors to talk about their work, so the author in our example had no real reason to be worried. Similarly, it&#8217;s often permitted to share pre-print copies in public without restrictions. </p>
<p>Still, the reluctance among researchers and the restrictions they face are not helping knowledge to spread, which is a key goal of science. </p>
<p>So why aren&#8217;t a few bright minds starting a non-profit publishing outlet then?</p>
<p>Well, these already exist and there are several initiatives to promote &#8220;open access&#8221; publications, where everyone can read the articles freely. However, in many research fields the most prominent (high impact) journals are controlled by commercial publishers and placed behind paywalls.</p>
<p>Journals get a high impact rating if they publish a lot of frequently cited articles so it&#8217;s hard for new ones to gain ground. </p>
<p>And since researchers are often evaluated based on the impact factor of the journals they publish in, &#8220;open access&#8221; doesn&#8217;t appeal to a wide audience yet. In a way, science is trapped in a copyright stranglehold controlled by a few large publishers.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s an absurd situation in which universities pay researchers to write articles, the copyrights to which are signed over to publishers. Those publishers then demand a licensing fee from the same universities to access the articles written by their own employees.</p>
<p>Please read the paragraph above once more, and keep in mind that some researchers are actually scared to share their work&#8230;</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Elsevier enjoys a net income of more than $1 billion per year, while <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/elsevier-cracks-down-on-pirated-scientific-articles-150609/">suing websites</a> that dare to infringe on the copyrights that researchers are &#8216;forced&#8217; sign over.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111002
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week – 09/21/15
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-09-21-15
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/BWwDU9A0NZU/
content:
<p><img src="media/99acbfcf.aveng.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/aveng.jpg" alt="aveng" width="300" height="172" class="alignright size-full wp-image-110084">This week we have three newcomers in our chart. </p>
<p>Avengers: Age of Ultron is the most downloaded movie for the second week in a row.</p>
<p>The data for our weekly download chart is estimated by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only. All the movies in the list are BD/DVDrips unless stated otherwise.</p>
<p><a href="http://TorrentFreak.com/category/dvdrip/feed/"><strong>RSS feed</strong></a> for the weekly movie download chart.</p>
<table class="css hover">
<thead>
<tr>
<th width="12%"><strong>Ranking</strong></th>
<th width="15%"><strong>(<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-movies-of-the-week-091415/">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/avengers_age_of_ultron/">Avengers: Age of Ultron</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2395427/">7.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmeOjFno6Do">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/minions/">Minions</a> (HDRip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2293640/">6.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfql_DoHRKc">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mad_max_fury_road/">Mad Max: Fury Road</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1392190/">8.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjBb4SZ0F6Q">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/vacation_2013/">Vacation</a> (Subbed HDRip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1524930/">6.3</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kleG7XCqOb4">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/pay_the_ghost/">Pay The Ghost</a> (HDRip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3733778/">5.5</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asCaBOkN0_E">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/entourage/">Entourage</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1674771/">7.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGSE_XPF4_g">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fantastic_four_2015/">Fantastic Four</a> (Subbed HDrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1502712/">4.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMEa0CJbAUs">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(7)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/straight_outta_compton/">Straight Outta Compton</a> (Subbed HDRip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1398426">8.3</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyoew4T74_w">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(6)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/selfless_2015/?">Self/less</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2140379/">6.5</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mc4sz6neHDs">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/tomorrowland_2015/">Tomorrowland</a> (HDRip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1964418/">6.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWZ7O-RrATY">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111007
title: Kim Dotcom’s Extradition Hearing Gets Underway
uri: Kim-Dotcom-s-Extradition-Hearing-Gets-Underway
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/B-aP0lyIFos/
content:
<p><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">Three-and-a-half years ago dozens of armed officers and a police helicopter descended on Kim Dotcom&#8217;s mansion in New Zealand, arresting him and colleagues Mathias Ortmann, Finn Batato and Bram van der Kolk.</p>
<p>The raid was carried out by local authorities at the behest of the United States government, who claim that Dotcom and his co-accused masterminded Megaupload, the defunct file-hosting site now at the center of a massive copyright infringement and money laundering case.</p>
<p>Ever since, Dotcom and his former colleagues have been fighting extradition to the United States. To date their extradition hearing has been delayed ten times but this morning it finally got underway.</p>
<p>Dotcom arrived at court dressed head to foot in his trademark black attire. According to local news <a href="https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/dotcom-s-extradition-hearing-finally-gets-underway-with-legal-argument-q11671.html">reports</a> he was allowed to bring his own padded leather chair following a request to alleviate back pain during what will be a lengthy hearing.</p>
<p>Dotcom is hoping the hearing is rather shorter, however. After expressing &#8220;cautious optimism&#8221; last Friday, the hearing got underway this morning before Auckland District Court Judge Nevin Dawson.</p>
<p>Judge Dawson heard submissions on what evidence is admissible in court and the order in which it should be heard. As expected the hearing almost immediately became bogged down in complex legal argument.</p>
<p>An issue that has raised its head repeatedly is that due to the United States seizing all of Dotcom&#8217;s and his co-defendants&#8217; funds, the four have not had access to adequate tools to mount a proper defense.</p>
<p>&#8220;Court orders made by New Zealand courts and Hong Kong courts have been frustrated by a deliberate tactical decision by the US to stop us accessing expertise that we need,&#8221; <a href="https://uk.news.yahoo.com/kim-dotcom-extradition-hearing-opens-zealand-004751780.html#QuMcBir">said</a> Ortmann&#8217;s barrister Grant Illingworth.</p>
<p>Also at issue is the amount of time Dotcom&#8217;s new legal team has had to prepare. His new counsel has only been in place for a matter of months after his old representation inexplicably dropped out.</p>
<p>Aiming for a day one victory, the defense argued for a suspension so that various submissions can be heard before the extradition hearing begins. But U.S. authorities <a href="http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/kim-dotcom-arrives-in-court-for-extradition-hearing-2015092110#axzz3mM5zO9HE">countered</a> by insisting those applications should be part of the hearing or, failing that, included at trial in the United States.</p>
<p>&#8220;The issue at this stage isn&#8217;t whether they will have a fair trial when they are extradited, but whether they will have a fair extradition hearing,&#8221; Ortmann&#8217;s barrister said.</p>
<p>Only fittingly for what has been dubbed the largest copyright infringement case of all time, this morning Dotcom&#8217;s lawyer Ron Mansfield pointed out that under New Zealand copyright law, no criminal copyright offenses had been committed by Dotcom. As a service provider, Megaupload would have received &#8216;safe harbor&#8217; protections.</p>
<p>However, Judge Dawson appeared to dismiss the claim, noting that the extradition application was being brought on the basis that the defendants had breached laws in the United States, not those in New Zealand.</p>
<p>While that is the case, a witness report submitted <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/presidential-candidate-lawrence-lessig-steps-up-to-assist-kim-dotcom-150916/">last week</a> by copyright expert Professor Lawrence Lessig found that the defendants had committed no crimes under U.S. law either. The merits of that report will be considered later in the hearing.</p>
<p>Taking to Twitter before today&#8217;s session, Dotcom said much was at stake.</p>
<p>&#8220;This case is not just about me. This case is about how much control we allow US corporations and the US government to have over the Internet,&#8221; he wrote.</p>
<p>&#8220;The judges on this case can become the champions for billions of Internet users or a handful of US content billionaires.&#8221;</p>
<p>Judge Dawson reserved his decision on the order of proceedings but what he won&#8217;t have to decide is whether or not Dotcom and his co-defendants are guilty. His ruling will only consider whether the quartet should be sent to the United States to face trial.</p>
<p>If Judge Dawson doesn&#8217;t grant an immediate suspension as requested by the defense, the hearing will continue this Thursday and is expected to run for four weeks.</p>
<p>But even when his ultimate decision is made public, that almost certainly won&#8217;t mark the end of the case. Appeal options are available to both sides and could see the case head off to both the High and Supreme Courts. That could take another two years.</p>
<p>None of this comes cheap. According to an <a href="http://m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&#038;objectid=11515423">investigation</a> carried out by NZHerald, thus far local taxpayers have already footed the bill for 29,344 hours of legal work spent on the Megaupload case, work that cost a cool NZ$5.8 million. Two-thirds of that amount has been spent on the extradition case.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111014
title: Pirate Bay: What Raid? Police Never Got Our Servers
uri: Pirate-Bay-What-Raid-Police-Never-Got-Our-Servers
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Qr8jKaoVsDU/
content:
<p><img src="media/2a43984f.pirate-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-bay.jpg" alt="pirate bay" width="200" height="207" class="alignright size-full wp-image-53470">December last year The Pirate Bay went dark after police <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/swedish-police-raid-the-pirate-bay-site-offline-141209/">raided the Nacka station</a>, a nuclear-proof datacenter built into a mountain complex.</p>
<p>Around the same time one of Pirate Bay’s moderators <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-suspect-released-raid-arrest-141216/">was arrested</a>, fueling the idea that the site had been seriously compromised.</p>
<p>The events resulted in the longest ever period of downtime for the site, nearly two months, and led to a revolt among the site’s moderators.</p>
<p>While it was generally believed that Pirate Bay needed time to recover the site from various backups, TorrentFreak can now reveal that this was not the case. In fact, Pirate Bay’s servers were never raided by the police.</p>
<p>The police did raid the Nacka datacenter but instead of Pirate Bay’s servers they raided those of EZTV. Sladinki007 of the former EZTV team confirmed that their hardware was indeed taken, but the Pirate Bay team says they were barely hit.</p>
<p>Only one Pirate Bay related server was confiscated last December, which was hosted at a different location. This (crew.thepiratebay.org) was operated by the moderators and used as a communication channel for TPB matters.</p>
<p>The Pirate Bay team believes that it may not have been the prime target of last year’s raid, and if they were, then the police followed the wrong lead. Pirate Bay’s servers were and are hosted in the cloud, outside of Sweden.</p>
<p>But if TPB wasn’t raided, why did it have to go offline?</p>
<p>According to the TPB team they decided to pull everything offline as a precaution. It was unclear how much information was held on the crew server and if there was a breach of trust after one of the moderators was arrested.</p>
<p>The TPB team feared that the locations of the servers could have been compromised as well and prepared to move everything over to new cloud hosting providers.</p>
<p>Relocating the site proved to be harder than initially anticipated though. In fact, technical challenges were one of the main reasons for the long downtime. All the data was there, it just had to be setup correctly. So, at the same time the team decided to revise the backend code to better handle the new cloud environment.</p>
<p>The lack of data loss already became apparent when the site <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-back-online-150131/">returned online</a> in February, as all recent torrents and comments were still there.</p>
<p>TF also asked about the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-starts-counting-down-to-february-1-150101/">cryptic messages</a> TPB communicated during the downtime, and we were informed that they were put there “for fun.” The messages were not a way to communicate with people, but <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bays-mystery-aes-code-finally-decrypted-150112/">simply a link</a> to a Arnold Schwarzenegger &#8220;i&#8217;ll be back&#8221; montage video on YouTube.</p>
<p>In addition to The Pirate Bay, several related sites including Bayimg, Bayfiles and Pastebay also went dark. These sites are still offline today and we are informed that this is an issue of ‘resources’ and ‘priorities,’ not because any data is missing.</p>
<p>So why reveal all this now?</p>
<p>The TPB team says it waited this long to make sure that they were not compromised in any way. This was also the main reason why the site’s <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-wont-make-a-full-comeback-staff-revolt-150127/">moderators were left in the dark</a> for such a long time and why the Suprbay forums remained offline. </p>
<p>Since more than nine months have now passed, it&#8217;s finally time to reveal what really happened. Police may still believe that they have the encrypted Pirate Bay servers, but according to the people behind the site they have nothing substantial.</p>
<p>Given today’s revelations it’s unlikely that the raid will help police to mount a new case against The Pirate Bay, as they were planning. Time will tell whether the authorities will try to hit the site again.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111032
title: Dallas Buyers Club Jumps on the Popcorn Time Lawsuit Bandwagon
uri: Dallas-Buyers-Club-Jumps-on-the-Popcorn-Time-Lawsuit-Bandwagon
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/4HPgehk4RnQ/
content:
<p><img src="media/3b9dbdf1.popcornt.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/popcornt.png" alt="popcornt" width="237" height="106" class="alignright size-full wp-image-101106">Over the past several years hundreds of thousands of Internet subscribers have been sued in the United States for allegedly sharing copyrighted material, mostly video.</p>
<p>The cases are generally targeted at “BitTorrent” users in general, not focusing on any file-sharing client in particular.</p>
<p>Starting last month this changed, with two cases singling out groups of Popcorn Time users. The first case was filed by the filmmakers behind &#8220;The Cobbler,&#8221; quickly followed by Pierce Brosnan&#8217;s &#8220;Survivor.&#8221;</p>
<p>Today, the Oscar-winning <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0790636/">Dallas Buyers Club</a> enters the fray with a new suit filed at an Oregon federal court, accusing ten Comcast subscribers of using Popcorn Time to pirate their movie.</p>
<p>Through the lawsuit the filmmakers hope to reveal the identity of the alleged pirates so they can settle the case for a few thousands dollars, usually outside of court.</p>
<p><center><strong>The anonymous Popcorn Time users</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/45959b83.dalpop.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dalpop.jpg" alt="dalpop" width="573" height="182" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-111063"></center> </p>
<p>&#8220;Popcorn Time exists for one purpose and one purpose only: to steal copyrighted content,&#8221; the filmmakers write in their complaint (<a href="media/5c4f8777.dalpop1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dalpop1.jpg">pdf</a>), alleging that the defendants are fully aware of their wrongdoing. </p>
<p>Taking it up a notch, the complaint suggests that merely having the application installed could already be a crime under <a href="http://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/164.235">Oregon law</a>.  </p>
<p>&#8220;The mere possession with intent to use a software program like Popcorn Time is the type of conduct that the State of Oregon has criminalized,&#8221; they write, claiming that the software can be characterized as a burglary tool. </p>
<p><center><strong>Illegal possession?</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/87445e90.oregonlaw.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/oregonlaw.png" alt="oregonlaw" width="573" height="301" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-111058"></center></p>
<p>Interestingly, the filmmakers also note that many of the defendants have received warnings from Rightscorp, the anti-piracy company which launched a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/movie-studio-sues-popcorn-time-users-in-the-u-s-150819/">&#8220;Popcorn Time protection&#8221;</a> service earlier this month. </p>
<p>Despite the illegality claims, the developers of the targeted fork of Popcorn Time maintain that their software doesn&#8217;t break any laws but admit that their users are at risk. </p>
<p>“Popcorn Time isn’t illegal. However, the use people make of the application can be illegal, depending on their country and local laws,” they previously informed TF.</p>
<p>“You’d think with all our warnings, the anti-piracy laws, the explanations given in the media and the common sense, users would be aware of their actions by now. Pinning a ‘Popcorn Time’ label over such a lawsuit seems a little inflated,” they added.</p>
<p>The Popcorn Time team has a point. In this lawsuit Popcorn Time could be replaced with any other file-sharing application that uses BitTorrent to pirate films, they all allow users to share from the same sources. </p>
<p>That said, Popcorn Time&#8217;s focus on pirated video does make it rather easy to do so, and significantly different from more neutral file-sharing applications that do not actively organize and select content. </p>
<p>In general, the Dallas Buyers Club complaint itself follows the same format as the previous Popcorn Time lawsuits and given the recent attention we can expect more of these to follow in the near future.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111083
title: UK Police Arrest Movie Cammer / Uploader
uri: UK-Police-Arrest-Movie-Cammer-Uploader
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/vdZO0shxOgE/
content:
<p><img src="media/bfbc3855.cammer1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cammer1.jpg" alt="cammer1" width="210" height="122" class="alignright size-full wp-image-65828">Every week movies appear online after being illegally recorded in cinemas using camcorders. Hollywood has blamed the phenomenon for eating into box office revenues and has spent years trying to stamp it out.</p>
<p>Pirates, on the other hand, download the illicit copies in their millions, despite them being of generally poor quality. Today, however, there is one less source for these so-called &#8216;cams&#8217;.</p>
<p>According to the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT), a UK-based man in his thirties was arrested before weekend on suspicion of recording Hollywood movies in cinemas and then uploading the copies to the Internet.</p>
<p>The 33-year-old, from Nottingham in the East Midlands, was tracked down following a joint investigation carried out by the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) and the Government Agency Intelligence Network (<a href="http://www.securityandpolicing.co.uk/regional-organised-crime-units-rocus/">GAIN</a>).</p>
<p>FACT reports that it supported officers from both the East Midlands GAIN Disruption Team and <a href="https://leicspolice.wordpress.com/tag/emopss/">EMOpSS</a> during the execution of search warrants in the Hinkley area last Friday. Items including laptops were taken away for examination.</p>
<p>A man was arrested on suspicion of recording American Ultra and Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials on the days they were released and then uploading that footage to the Internet. He was questioned and later bailed pending further inquiries.</p>
<p>“Over 90% of counterfeit versions of movies originate initially from a copy recorded in a cinema. Piracy not only costs the film industry millions of pounds but can also affect thousands of jobs, so it is crucial we act upon intelligence we receive about this activity,&#8221; says Kieron Sharp, Director General of the Federation Against Copyright Theft.</p>
<p>&#8220;With two big releases due to hit the screens in the next few months it is incredibly important we work to combat those behind illegal film recordings. We thank the East Midlands GAIN Disruption team for their support in this investigation.&#8221;</p>
<p>Earlier this year a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/leaked-piracy-report-details-fascinating-camcording-investigations-150426/">leaked report</a> shone light on FACT&#8217;s anti-camming activities in the UK. One of the slides references offenses taking in place in Leicester although its unclear whether they relate to Friday&#8217;s arrest.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111090
title: Kim Dotcom Denied Fresh Bid to Delay U.S. Extradition Hearing
uri: Kim-Dotcom-Denied-Fresh-Bid-to-Delay-U-S-Extradition-Hearing
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/eRj4ZEceeZc/
content:
<p><img src="media/66633aca.dotcom-laptop.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/dotcom-laptop.jpg" width="233" height="170" class="alignright">Monday morning, Kim Dotcom arrived at court dressed in his trademark black attire. After ten delays the hearing to determine whether the Megaupload founder will be extradited to the United States on copyright infringement charges <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/kim-dotcom-extradition-hearing-gets-underway-150921/">got underway</a>.</p>
<p>Almost immediately the case became bogged down in legal argument, with the defense insisting that various submissions should be heard before the extradition hearing gathered full steam. Due to Dotcom&#8217;s funds being seized by the FBI, unfair restrictions had been placed on the ability to mount a defense, they argued.</p>
<p>Christine Gordon QC, countering for the Crown, said that the claims of Dotcom&#8217;s team were &#8220;speculative&#8221; and would only serve to delay proceedings by several weeks. Any applications should be part of the main hearing or included at trial in the United States, Gordon argued.</p>
<p>This morning Judge Nevin Dawson handed down his decision and it represents an early setback for Dotcom and his former Megaupload colleagues.</p>
<p>&#8220;The interlocutory applications now before the Court are such that they would best be heard and considered by the Court during the eligibility hearing as they are largely contextual in nature,&#8221; Judge Dawson begins.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Court would be better placed to rule on these applications, having had the benefit of hearing the evidence of the eligibility hearing.&#8221;</p>
<p>Judge Dawson said that all matters would be fully heard and both parties would have a right of appeal in the event they were dissatisfied with the outcome.</p>
<p>&#8220;If [Dotcom et al] are successful in their applications that might lead to an adjournment or conclusion of the hearing. The respondents would suffer no prejudice if either of these outcomes should come about. All parties ultimately have their rights of appeal,&#8221; Judge Dawson concludes.</p>
<p>The eligibility hearing will now go ahead on Thursday morning.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111054
title: Adobe Says Piracy Down, But Pirates Still Love Their Software
uri: Adobe-Says-Piracy-Down-But-Pirates-Still-Love-Their-Software
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/caL5pt6HNOw/
content:
<p><img src="media/37d0a4f2.adobe-piracy.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/adobe-piracy.png" alt="adobe-piracy" width="177" height="160" class="alignright size-full wp-image-72700">There can be little doubt that Adobe products are popular with pirates. Variants of the company&#8217;s Photoshop software, for example, having been appearing on computers illegally for a quarter of a decade.</p>
<p>Then, whenever Adobe launches a new piece of software, there&#8217;s a mad panic to obtain &#8216;cracked&#8217; versions, mainly so that users can avoid paying hundreds to thousands of dollars for the privilege of ownership.</p>
<p>To help combat this situation, two years ago Adobe announced that it would move away from boxed &#8216;retail&#8217; products with a switch to a cloud-subscription model. Rather than demanding large up-front sums, the company presented their services for a few dollars per month, to help even the most budget-restricted not to pirate.</p>
<p>Last July 2014, Adobe reported success with the strategy, noting that <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/adobe-says-piracy-is-down-but-photoshop-still-rules-pirate-bay-140710/">piracy had fallen</a> albeit by &#8220;hard to measure&#8221; amounts. In a conference call with investors, the company is again reporting success.</p>
<p>According to Adobe, at the end of Q3 2015 it had amassed 5.3 million subscribers of Cloud, up from the 2.3m subscribers reported in Q2 2014. In the last quarter alone overall revenues topped $1.21 billion.</p>
<p>&#8220;[Do] you feel like you’re recapturing maybe&#8230;.casual pirates with Cloud, especially around that hobbyist level? I was just kind of curious on your thoughts there,&#8221; one investor questioned. </p>
<p>Adobe President and CEO Shantanu Narayen responded, noting that while new customers were coming on board, pirates who find lower prices more appealing were also being converted.</p>
<p>&#8220;The new seat adoption is definitely being driven both by creators who are entering the market as well as casual pirates who existed for whom the lower price of entry is far more attractive way to have legal software than not,&#8221; Narayen <a href="http://seekingalpha.com/article/3519296-adobe-systems-adbe-ceo-shantanu-narayen-on-q3-2015-results-earnings-call-transcript">said</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;There’s no question about that, we hear that anecdotally all the time that people are pleased with the fact that they can have legitimate software.&#8221;</p>
<p>It&#8217;s often said that price and accessibility aside, one of the best ways to cope with piracy is to offer a superior service. Narayen says Adobe is doing just that with Cloud by offering unique features unavailable in &#8216;cracked&#8217; software.</p>
<p>&#8220;As we’re delivering more Cloud based services, as you know the only way to use the mobile apps and share content between the mobile apps as well as our Creative Cloud, is by having a subscription. So I think that’s also why we see more creative sync and creative profile being used, that’s certainly driving that,&#8221; Narayen added.</p>
<p>While it is indeed quite difficult to measure the scale of piracy of Adobe products post retail, the company&#8217;s popularity with pirates is still very visible. As can be seen from the screenshot below of The Pirate Bay&#8217;s top 100 most popular software downloads, Adobe leads the list and takes four out of the top seven places.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/23880de5.adobe-pirate.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/adobe-pirate.png" alt="adobe-pirate" width="567" height="319" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-111067"></center></p>
<p>The top spot is taken by Adobe Photoshop CS6, a product that was launched three years ago but is still proving a smash hit. However, Adobe feels that it&#8217;s CS6 users that are the prime candidates for migration to Creative Cloud.</p>
<p>&#8220;The CS6 base continues to be a base that we think is ripe for migration to the Creative Cloud and we’re clearly seeing signs of success in transitioning them from Creative Suite to Creative Cloud,&#8221; Narayen concludes.</p>
<p>With few competitors at the high end of the market, it&#8217;s likely that Photoshop CS6 will remain the most popular image editing software with pirates for the foreseeable future. For casual users it may even remain the most downloaded for a few years to come but for those desperate for cutting-edge power features, migrating to Creative Cloud may be the only viable option moving forward.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111103
title: “Happy Birthday” Enters Public Domain, Judge Rules Copyright Invalid
uri: Happy-Birthday-Enters-Public-Domain-Judge-Rules-Copyright-Inval
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Qsj5iRv3-j8/
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">Starting today everyone is free use &#8220;Happy Birthday&#8221; without having to pay a license fee, as a California federal court ruling just entered the popular song into the public domain. </p>
<p>The ruling comes from District Court Judge George King in a dispute between several artists and publisher Warner/Chappell, which claimed to own the copyrights. </p>
<p>Warner made an estimated $2 million per year in licensing fees from the melody that was originally written before 1893, by sisters Mildred and Patty Hill. The rights to the song were later transferred to Summy Co., which was later acquired by Warner/Chappell. </p>
<p>For decades, Warner continued to demand licensing fees from filmmakers and other artists who used the song in their works. </p>
<p>In 2013 a group of artists including musician Ruypa Marya <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Birthday_to_You#2013_lawsuit">sued</a> Warner&#8217;s music division claiming that the company doesn&#8217;t hold the rights to the song. Aside from missing agreements, the filmmakers alleged that it&#8217;s not clear what the true origins of the song are. </p>
<p>Before even reaching a trial, Judge George King awarded a groundbreaking victory to the plaintiffs. After a careful review of several agreements the court concluded that there is no evidence that the Hill sisters ever transferred their rights to Summy Co. </p>
<p>&#8220;Defendants have no evidence a transfer occurred, whether by oral statement, by writing, or by conduct. The Second Agreement was for piano arrangements. The Third Agreement was for copyrighted works, like Song Stories and the piano arrangements, that did not cover the lyrics,&#8221; Judge King writes (<a href="media/7edb38b8.happybirthday.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/happybirthday.pdf">pdf</a>). </p>
<p>According to the court there is no evidence available to conclude that the copyrights to the lyrics now belong to Warner. </p>
<p>&#8220;In fact, Defendants cannot even point to evidence showing that the Hill sisters transferred their rights in the lyrics to the Hill Foundation, such that the Hill Foundation could, in turn, legitimately transfer them to Summy Co.&#8221; </p>
<p>As a result, Judge King ruled that Warner/Chappell doesn&#8217;t own the copyright to Happy Birthday, which means that the company can&#8217;t demand licensing fees for its use.</p>
<p>&#8220;Accordingly, Defendants’ Motion is DENIED, and Plaintiffs’ Motion is GRANTED as to the issue of whether Summy Co. ever received the rights to the Happy Birthday lyrics from the Hill sisters.&#8221; </p>
<p>At this point it&#8217;s still unclear whether any of the artists will be compensated for the licensing fees they previously paid. Ruypa Marya, whose band paid $455 because the audience sang &#8220;Happy Birthday&#8221; on a live album, hopes that the ruling will trigger a more artist-centric copyright law.</p>
<p>&#8220;I hope we can start reimagining copyright law to do what it&#8217;s supposed to do — protect the creations of people who make stuff so that we can continue to make more stuff,&#8221; Marya <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/4ef3d7182b7e44eb81ccd1b75593ae82/federal-judge-rules-happy-birthday-song-public-domain">told AP</a>.</p>
<p>Warner/Chappell says it&#8217;s still evaluating the judgement and hadn&#8217;t decided yet on a possible appeal. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111129
title: Big James Bond ‘Spectre’ Piracy Threat Could Be Avoided
uri: Big-James-Bond-Spectre-Piracy-Threat-Could-Be-Avoided
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/4yxHJqdG7Ag/
content:
<p><img src="media/36861797.spectre-small.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/spectre-small.jpg" alt="spectre-small" width="170" height="213" class="alignright size-full wp-image-111140">Pirates of the UK have this morning been issued with a stern warning. Walking into a cinema next month with the intent of recording the latest Bond film &#8216;Spectre&#8217; and uploading it to the Internet will prove a particularly hazardous occupation.</p>
<p>That&#8217;s according to the Federation Against Copyright Theft, the anti-piracy group that looks after Hollywood&#8217;s interests in the UK and had a key hand in the arrest of a &#8216;cammer&#8217; <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/uk-police-arrest-movie-cammer-uploader-150922/">just last Friday</a>.</p>
<p>Due to the national and international importance of Bond&#8217;s latest outing, FACT have issued a somewhat unusual proactive anti-piracy statement, presumably to deter would-be pirates from leaking the movie.</p>
<p>&#8220;James Bond is a big risk and we will be working with cinema operators and the distributors making sure we will keep that as tight as possible. We really don&#8217;t want to see that recorded,&#8221; <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/jamesbond/11884294/Staff-to-patrol-cinemas-in-night-vision-goggles-in-a-crack-down-on-piracy-as-new-James-Bond-film-is-released.html">says</a> FACT director general Kieron Sharp.</p>
<p>&#8220;The bigger the film and the more anticipated it is, the higher risk it is. We have staff on extra alert for that. They are on alert, particularly with the bigger films like James Bond, to really drill down to who is in the auditorium and who might possibly be recording.&#8221;</p>
<p>One of the measures being employed is the use of night-vision goggles. The devices have been in use in the UK, US and elsewhere for several years and are extremely useful when trying to spot the telltale &#8216;glow&#8217; and other lighting that emanates from mobile phones, camcorders and other recording devices.</p>
<p>Even when most of the glow is obscured, night vision goggles still allow suspicious seating arrangements and cloaking mechanisms to be observed at a distance and then tackled, either during the performance or when a suspected pirate attempts to leave.</p>
<p>While FACT are always keen to deter pirates, why the special fuss over Bond? The profile of the movie and its commercial importance are obviously key factors since Spectre is likely to be one of the biggest box-office hits this year. Bond is also something of a British icon, so protecting that image will be important to the filmmakers. But there is another element that isn&#8217;t being discussed.</p>
<p>Spectre is enjoying its world premiere at London&#8217;s Royal Albert Hall on Monday October 26. With stars Daniel Craig and Christoph Waltz attending alongside the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry it&#8217;s probably a safe bet that it won&#8217;t be pirated then. However, on the very same day the movie will be released nationwide and other locations will provide much greater opportunity.</p>
<p>The real surprise here is that UK pirates are being given almost two weeks to record Spectre and begin online distribution before it hits cinemas in the United States and the rest of the world on October 6. That probably goes a long way to explaining why FACT are being forced to implement extraordinary security measures &#8211; a U.S. pre-release is exactly what the anti-piracy group is trying to avoid.</p>
<p>But why take the chance that someone slips through the net? Hollywood knows that these windows fuel &#8216;camming&#8217; yet MGM and Columbia are apparently prepared to risk &#8220;the most damaging form of piracy&#8221; by leaving the entire world dangling for 12 days while potentially millions of illicit copies of Spectre float around the Internet. </p>
<p>It makes very little sense. Why not have the premiere in London immediately followed by a worldwide release, thereby fulfilling customer demand and soothing notoriously impatient pirates? Of course, other scheduling factors could be at play, but if &#8216;cam&#8217; piracy is as serious as the studios claim, why take unnecessary risks?</p>
<p>&#8220;Security measures are adopted for all new releases to protect from piracy,&#8221; a FACT spokesperson told TorrentFreak. </p>
<p>&#8220;Together with industry we work towards heightening awareness for films that are predicted to be of higher risk and sometimes additional security measures are put in place.&#8221;</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111093
title: Pirate Bay Forum Knocked Offline by ICANN Complaint
uri: Pirate-Bay-Forum-Knocked-Offline-by-ICANN-Complaint
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/swJ3tCbynXI/
content:
<p><img src="media/88689b23.suprbay-.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/suprbay-.png" alt="suprbay+" width="255" height="86" class="alignright size-full wp-image-111124">The Pirate Bay has had its fair share of domain issues over the past several years. </p>
<p>The notorious torrent site has burnt through half a dozen domains and currently uses four different ones to avoid a single point of failure. </p>
<p>Today, the site&#8217;s <a href="https://pirates-forum.org/">official SuprBay forum</a>, which is separately operated by the site&#8217;s moderators, has also run into trouble. The forum has been offline for more than a day returning incomplete DNS records.</p>
<p>TF hasn&#8217;t been able to reach the person in charge of the forums but domain registrar eNom informs us that the platform&#8217;s domain was suspended following an ICANN complaint. </p>
<p>The domain was apparently registered using inaccurate information and the owner did not respond to repeated requests to address the problem.</p>
<p>&#8220;This domain (pirates-forum.org) was placed on hold yesterday due to an ICANN complaint of invalid Whois contacts. We did not receive a response to our inquiries within the required 15-day period,&#8221; eNom says.</p>
<p><center><strong>pirates-forum.org is not available</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/05fe7b3b.tpbforum.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpbforum.png" alt="tpbforum" width="500" height="264" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-111130"></center></p>
<p>While the issue doesn&#8217;t impact the Pirate Bay site, it does make it harder for users to communicate with moderators. Among other things, the forum was frequently used to report spam and other malicious torrents.</p>
<p>The domain name registrar did not mention the source of the ICANN complaint, but it&#8217;s not unlikely that a copyright holder group is behind it. </p>
<p>SuprBay also allowed users to discuss and promote torrents but wasn&#8217;t particularly known for distributing pirated content. However, rightsholders certainly have an interest in knowing who&#8217;s operating the site.</p>
<p>Since the issue is limited to the domain name, it&#8217;s expected that the moderators will switch to a new one, which should resolve the problem. Alternatively, they can update their Whois information to get the original domain reinstated.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111188
title: RIAA CEO: Piracy Notices Are Costly & Increasingly Pointless
uri: RIAA-CEO-Piracy-Notices-Are-Costly-Increasingly-Pointless
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/DfIOeS0uxgA/
content:
<p><img src="media/3ca10933.riaa.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/riaa.png" alt="riaa" width="250" height="134" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108672">It&#8217;s no secret that the major record labels and their Hollywood counterparts are less than satisfied with the framework designed to facilitate the removal of infringing content on the Internet.</p>
<p>The DMCA and its European equivalent allow rightsholders to send notices to service providers which mandate the removal of allegedly infringing content in a timely manner. While some sites, The Pirate Bay for example, completely ignore takedown notices, most other services such as Google are quick to comply. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, the burden remains on copyright holders to not only report infringing content when it appears on a site, but to also keep reporting it when the same content reappears time and time again. Under the law, providers only have to keep responding to complaints in order to avoid liability, but copyright holders complain that the process is exhausting. Once content is taken down it should stay down, they argue.</p>
<p>In a Forbes op-ed discussing the value of content in the digital age, RIAA chairman and CEO Cary Sherman has again been highlighting the problems his members face, describing the current enforcement system as &#8220;seriously antiquated&#8221; and criticizing those who take advantage of it.</p>
<p>&#8220;Unfortunately, while the system worked when isolated incidents of infringement occurred on largely static web pages — as was the case when the [DMCA] was passed in 1998 — it is largely useless in the current world where illegal links that are taken down reappear instantaneously,&#8221; Sherman <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2015/09/23/how-government-set-licensing-killed-the-music-industry/">says</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;The result is a never-ending game that is both costly and increasingly pointless.&#8221;</p>
<p>But while dedicated piracy sites are clearly a thorn in the side of the RIAA, Sherman doesn&#8217;t limit his criticism to services that operate on the boundaries of the law. Although they remain unnamed, the music group CEO also appears to take aim at user-generated content sites such as YouTube and Soundcloud. </p>
<p>&#8220;Compounding the harm is that some major online music distributors are taking advantage of this flawed system. Record companies are presented with a Hobson’s choice: Accept below-market deals or play that game of whack-a-mole,&#8221; Sherman says.</p>
<p>These kinds of allegations are not new. In April, IFPI chief executive Frances Moore <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/youtube-games-copyright-law-to-avoid-license-fees-ifpi-says-150801/">accused YouTube</a> of effectively gaming copyright law in order to avoid fair licensing negotiations with rightsholders.</p>
<p>“We want to ensure that services that make our content available, including by curating and monetizing it, are licensed on the same basis,” IFPI told TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>While platforms such as Spotify and Deezer are fully licensed by the labels, the RIAA suggests that others prefer to leverage illicit user uploads instead. While their response to DMCA notices keeps them safe, they are in effect obtaining Spotify-style licensing deals at a fraction of the price.</p>
<p>&#8220;The notice and takedown system — intended as a reasonable enforcement mechanism — has instead been subverted into a discount licensing system where copyright owners and artists are paid far less than their creativity is worth,&#8221; Sherman says.</p>
<p>In a twist on historical accusations that the music industry failed to innovate quickly enough during the last decade, Sherman says that it&#8217;s those taking advantage of a &#8220;broken&#8221; takedown system that are now living in the past.</p>
<p>&#8220;While the music industry has embraced new technology and business models, the beneficiaries of this broken system cling to this antiquated law that was enacted at the turn of the century, well before the modern Internet and today’s most advanced (and unimagined) technologies,&#8221; the RIAA chief concludes.</p>
<p>For the world&#8217;s largest music labels the future must now offer a modified copyright regime in which &#8220;take down&#8221; means &#8220;stay down&#8221; &#8211; or face the consequences. Wary of liability, companies like Google are likely to fight that all the way.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111183
title: U.S. Uncovers Kim Dotcom’s Self-incriminating Skype Calls
uri: U-S-Uncovers-Kim-Dotcom-s-Self-incriminating-Skype-Calls
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/sJJsioriPIw/
content:
<p><img src="media/2724d109.kim-court.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/kim-court.jpg" alt="kim-court" width="180" height="172" class="alignright size-full wp-image-111200">Following efforts to have his extradition hearing delayed, on Tuesday Kim Dotcom <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/kim-dotcom-denied-fresh-bid-to-delay-u-s-extradition-hearing-150922/">learned</a> that the process would go ahead today as planned.</p>
<p>This morning all parties were present in the Auckland District Court for a hearing that will determine whether Dotcom and co-defendants Mathias Ortmann, Finn Batato and Bram van der Kolk will be extradited to the United States to face  charges of copyright infringement, money laundering and racketeering.</p>
<p>Acting for the Crown and U.S. authorities, Christine Gordon, QC said that despite the apparent complexity of the case, it could be described in straightforward terms.</p>
<p>&#8220;In the long prelude to this hearing much has been said about the novelty and technicality of the case,&#8221; Gordon <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&#038;objectid=11518314">said</a>. &#8220;When distractions are stripped away it boils down to a simple scheme of fraud.&#8221;</p>
<p>Likening Megaupload to a giant Internet-connect hard-drive, Gordon claimed that site&#8217;s 50 million users uploaded huge amounts of content, around 90% of which breached copyright. In the meantime, Dotcom and his associates merely played lip service to takedown requests from copyright holders, all while financially rewarding those who provided the most popular content.</p>
<p>&#8220;We have the incredible spectacle of processing take-down notices while at the same time paying many of those same repeat offenders,&#8221; Gordon said.</p>
<p>&#8220;They knew that they paid rewards for specific copyright-infringing material and in some cases they communicated with the rewards claimants and helped and encouraged their activities by giving them special privileges.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><br>
<h5>Kim Dotcom and Ira Rothken</h5>
<p><img src="media/321ab7c3.dotcom-court2.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dotcom-court2.png" alt="dotcom-court2" width="545" height="349" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-111196"></center></p>
<p>In his submissions to the Court, Dotcom said that Megaupload was like a postal service whose infrastructure was used to smuggle drugs without the knowledge of its operators. Gordon took the analogy and turned it around.</p>
<p>&#8220;One would shut down the post office if those who created and ran it had actual knowledge that they were shipping drugs and go to great lengths to conceal it from law enforcement, and knowingly make money off each shipment,&#8221; she <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/72362578/Nothing-unusual-about-Kim-Dotcom-fraud-case-United-States-says">said</a>.</p>
<p>Gordon boosted her argument by referencing Skype discussions that allegedly took place between Dotcom and his co-accused, including one that reportedly read: &#8220;[we are] not the dumb pipe we claim to be&#8221;.</p>
<p>Another cautioned over what could happen in the future.</p>
<p>&#8220;At some point a judge will be convinced about how evil we are and then we&#8217;ll be in trouble. We have to make ourselves invulnerable,&#8221; Dotcom allegedly told Ortmann in 2010, adding that logging of discussions should be avoided.</p>
<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t log our chats. Too much s*** in there,&#8221; he <a href="http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/285136/court-told-of-dotcom's-'evil'-warning">said</a>.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s alleged that Megaupload made around $US25 million from advertising and another $US150 million from premium subscriptions which allowed users to watch videos without time limits.</p>
<p>&#8220;If copyright holders would really know how big our business is they&#8217;d surely try to do something against it,&#8221; said van der Kolk in another email to Dotcom. &#8220;They have no idea we are making millions in profit every month.&#8221;</p>
<p>Gordon said that actions of the former Megaupload operators were systematic.</p>
<p>&#8220;[They] were part of a conspiracy, they deliberately attracted copyright infringing material to their websites, deliberately preserved that material, deliberately took steps to profit from that material and made vast sums of money,&#8221; Gordon <a href="http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/dotcom-case-begins-2015092406">said</a>.</p>
<p>Judge Nevin Dawson&#8217;s job isn&#8217;t to decide whether the defendants are guilty of any crimes, only if there is a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prima_facie">prima facie</a> case against them. If he believes there is, the New Zealand justice minister will make a decision on extradition.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111100
title: Cox Accuses Rightscorp of Mass Copyright Infringement
uri: Cox-Accuses-Rightscorp-of-Mass-Copyright-Infringement
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/OHkBQDmZTbo/
content:
<p><img src="media/ef1215bb.rightscorp.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/rightscorp.png" alt="rightscorp" width="222" height="54" class="alignright size-full wp-image-78740">Last year BMG Rights Management and Round Hill Music <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/cox-communications-sued-for-not-disconnecting-pirates-141128/">sued Cox Communications</a>, arguing that the ISP fails to terminate the accounts of subscribers who frequently pirate content.</p>
<p>The companies, which control publishing rights to songs by Katy Perry, The Beatles and David Bowie among others, claim that Cox gave up its DMCA safe harbor protections due to this inaction.</p>
<p>The case revolves around data gathered by Rightscorp and Cox believes that the anti-piracy company is the driving force behind it, in part to retaliate for Cox&#8217;s refusal to forward their infringement notices.</p>
<p>The case is scheduled to go to trial soon but Cox hopes to avoid that. The company has now submitted a motion for summary judgment (<a href="media/2fbc256e.sumcox.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/sumcox.pdf">pdf</a>) in which it explains why the copyright holders don&#8217;t have a case. </p>
<p>For one, Cox explains that there is no evidence of any relevant actual direct infringement. Rightscorp&#8217;s system is flawed, they claim, and the IP-addresses could be used by persons other than the account holders. </p>
<p>&#8220;Plaintiffs made no effort to determine whether Cox account holders personally committed any infringements, and they cannot tie IP addresses to specific infringers. Plaintiffs tellingly but wrongly argue it is &#8216;not required for [them] to prove direct infringement&#8217;,” the lawyers write.</p>
<p>Cox cites several cases in which judges concluded that <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/ip-address-not-person-140324/">IP-addresses are not a person</a>, and notes that the same applies here. In addition, the ISP argues that there is no evidence in support of contributory infringement or vicarious liability either. </p>
<p>Moving on, Cox says that the copyright holders have &#8220;unclean hands&#8221; because they turn a blind eye to misconduct by solely relying on Rightscorp, &#8220;whose business rests on extortion and falsehoods.&#8221;</p>
<p>The ISP highlights an interesting element of Rightscorp&#8217;s practice. To track down infringers the monitoring outfit has downloaded thousands of files themselves, without permission from all copyright holders.</p>
<p>&#8220;In its work for Plaintiffs Rightscorp downloaded files of thousands of sound recordings over the BitTorrent protocol, evidently to create evidence of infringements over Cox’s network. But copyrights in sound recordings are separate from copyrights in musical compositions.&#8221;</p>
<p>Indeed, the companies Rightscorp works for often only own part of the rights, those held by the composer of a track for example. This means that the company doesn&#8217;t have permission from all copyright holders involved. </p>
<p>Technically, Rightscorp may rely on &#8220;fair use,&#8221; but if that&#8217;s the case then the alleged downloaders may use this as a defense as well. </p>
<p>&#8220;Rightscorp either committed massive infringements of the sound recording copyrights or must have relied on the fair use doctrine. If the latter, that fact is an admission that activity over BitTorrent may constitute fair use, but there is no evidence that Rightscorp considered the possibility of fair use in generating millions of notices of claimed infringement,&#8221; Cox lawyers add.  </p>
<p>Cox goes on to highlight that Rightscorp targets elderly and disabled consumers, instructing its employees to disregard protests from alleged infringers.</p>
<p>&#8220;When a consumer denies infringement, the phone script instructs the enforcer to state that the consumer must obtain a police report, and that  the police may &#8216;take your device and hold it for ~5 days to investigate the matter&#8217;.&#8221; </p>
<p>Finally, Cox highlights that the copyright holders have failed to directly address the alleged damage downloaders are causing. Instead of sending takedown notices to torrent sites asking them to remove infringing content, Rightscorp relies on these torrents to conduct its business.  </p>
<p>&#8220;Far from seeking their removal, Rightscorp uses these .torrent files, tolerates them, and relies on their availability on the Internet in order to set up its enforcement and shakedown scheme,&#8221;  Cox writes.</p>
<p>&#8220;Plaintiffs’ failure to mitigate their actual damages, through simple and reasonable steps available to them, reduces or bars entirely their claims for relief based on statutory damages,&#8221; they add. </p>
<p>It is now up to the court to decide whether the arguments presented by Cox are sufficient to issue a summary judgment, or whether the case will proceed to trial.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111254
title: 280 ‘Pirate’ Sites Have Been Restricted in Russia
uri: 280-Pirate-Sites-Have-Been-Restricted-in-Russia
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/_AoDbJsTLHI/
content:
<p><img src="media/a48beb7d.stopstop.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/stopstop.jpg" alt="stopstop" width="180" height="120" class="alignright size-full wp-image-81719">Following intense pressure from both local and international rightsholders, just over two years ago Russia took important steps towards cracking down on Internet piracy.</p>
<p>August 1, 2013, saw the introduction of a brand new copyright law which provided rightsholders with a mechanism to have sites blocked by ISPs if they do not respond to takedown requests within 72 hours.</p>
<p>Reporting on the first two years of activity, local telecoms watchdog <a href="http://ria.ru/economy/20150924/1279253525.html">Roscomnadzor</a> has now revealed the extent to which the legislation has been used by rightsholders and what action has been taken.</p>
<p>&#8220;Since August 1, 2013, Roskomnadzor has received 189 complaints from rights holders. It is worth noting that currently we are limiting access to 282 sites that violate copyright and related rights,&#8221; Roskomnadzor chief Alexander Zharov told RIA.</p>
<p>Unsurprisingly the list includes The Pirate Bay, which had <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/russia-orders-isps-to-block-the-pirate-bay-150603/">restrictions imposed</a> in June 2015 following a complaint from Mosfilm, one of the largest European movie studios.</p>
<p>Other sites currently blocked include popular movie streaming site Primewire. Ukraine-based file-hosting giant EX.ua is also affected, alongside library sites flibusta.net loveread.ws, which combined are good for more than 40 million visitors per month. Sports streaming portal Livetv.sx, which reportedly attracts 27 million visits, is also restricted.</p>
<p>While blockades in Russia can be full, partial or lifted if cooperation is forthcoming, earlier this year authorities made it clear that repeat offenders would not be tolerated. <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/new-russian-anti-piracy-law-could-block-sites-forever-150425/">Amendments</a> to copyright law introduced May 1 indicated what lay ahead.</p>
<p>&#8220;This development will mean that the systematic violation of intellectual property rights will result in sites providing access to stolen content being blocked forever,” the government announced.</p>
<p>It now appears that RUTracker, Russia&#8217;s most-visited torrent site, and popular music portal ProstoPleer, have tested that promise to breaking point.</p>
<p>&#8220;A few days ago an appeal was filed by an association of rightsholders that will require constant blocks on two of biggest pirate resources,&#8221; Roskomnadzor&#8217;s Zharov <a href="http://ria.ru/society/20150924/1279226730.html">confirms</a>.</p>
<p>Both RUTracker and Pleer were subjected to earlier copyright complaints but reportedly failed to deal with them as required under the law. The current action comes from the National Federation of the Music Industry (<a href="http://nfmi.ru/about-us/">NFMI</a>), a group which counts Sony, Universal, Warner and EMI among its members.</p>
<p>&#8220;We plan to file a statement with the court on Monday or Tuesday,&#8221; <a href="http://www.gazeta.ru/tech/2015/09/24/7775843/rutracker_blocked_forever.shtml">says</a> NFMI CEO Leonid Agronov.</p>
<p>The music industry group said it tried to negotiate with the sites regarding the removal of pirated content but those discussions failed to yield results. Countering, Pavel Rassudov from the local Pirate Party feels that blockades will prove ineffective.</p>
<p>&#8220;People learn how to bypass these blocks, and the increase in their number will only lead to more frequent use of CGI proxies and the Tor network,&#8221; Rassudov says.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111261
title: Taylor Swift Cracks Down on Pirating “Periscope” Fans
uri: Taylor-Swift-Cracks-Down-on-Pirating-Periscope-Fans
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/JGZJs36jOEc/
content:
<p><img src="media/fad4f4bf.periscope.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/periscope.jpg" alt="periscope" width="250" height="162" class="alignright size-full wp-image-111264">Twitter&#8217;s live streaming app <a href="https://www.periscope.tv/">Periscope</a> is causing headaches among copyright holders. </p>
<p>Every week the company received hundreds of takedown notices, mostly from sports organizations including NFL, NBA, WWE and the Premier League, who don&#8217;t want the public to rebroadcast their events for free. </p>
<p>Musicians appear to be less concerned by Periscope, except for Taylor Swift. In recent weeks Twitter has received dozens of notices asking the company to stop and remove live streams of Swift&#8217;s concerts. </p>
<p>The videos, often shared by some of the most passionate fans, are seen as copyright infringement. Swift has surrounded herself with a dedicated enforcement team called TAS Rights Management who swiftly take them offline. </p>
<p>Below is an <a href="https://www.chillingeffects.org/notices/11227683">example</a> of a takedown notice that was sent to Periscope earlier this week, but there are <a href="https://www.chillingeffects.org/notices/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&#038;sort_by=date_received+desc&#038;sender_name=TAS+Rights+Management.&#038;sender_name-require-all=true&#038;sender_name=TAS+Rights+Management.&#038;sender_name-require-all=true">dozens</a> of other examples targeting &#8216;periscoped&#8217; footage of recent live concerts.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/211dbf47.swift-periscope.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/swift-periscope.png" alt="swift-periscope" width="551" height="186" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-111270"></center> </p>
<p>As far as we know, Swift is the only artist with a dedicated takedown team. The first letters of TAS Rights Management stand for T(aylor)A(lison)S(wift) and aside from targeting Periscope the group is also enforcing <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/02/14/taylor-swift-s-secret-police.html">other online infringements</a>.</p>
<p>While the takedown requests are legitimate, one can seriously doubt whether they are needed. </p>
<p>Most Periscope videos have terrible video and sound quality and can hardly be considered a threat. They are often shared by fans who simply want to give the rest of the world a glimpse of their experience, and after 24 hours the videos are automatically deleted. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, many HD recordings of Taylor Swift concerts remain readily available on torrent sites and websites such as YouTube. </p>
<p>Taylor Swift is the only artist sending takedown notices to Periscope, from what we&#8217;ve seen. </p>
<p>The vast majority of other complaints are sent on behalf of sports organizations such as the <a href="https://www.chillingeffects.org/notices/11222709">NFL</a>, <a href="https://www.chillingeffects.org/notices/10956491">NBA</a>, <a href="https://www.chillingeffects.org/notices/11222825">WWE</a>, <a href="https://www.chillingeffects.org/notices/11218641">Premier League</a>, <a href="https://www.chillingeffects.org/notices/11222822">Die Liga</a> and the <a href="https://www.chillingeffects.org/notices/11218360">Rugby World Cup</a>, which sell subscriptions and access to their live events.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111258
title: Norway’s Pirate Bay Block Rendered Useless by ‘Mistake’
uri: Norway-s-Pirate-Bay-Block-Rendered-Useless-by-Mistake
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/xxyLVsYYdhU/
content:
<p><img src="media/2a43984f.pirate-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-bay.jpg" alt="pirate bay" width="200" height="207" class="alignright size-full wp-image-53470">Earlier this month Norway became the latest country to block access to The Pirate Bay.</p>
<p>A local court <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-sites-must-pay-legal-costs-of-own-blockade-court-rules-150902/">ordered</a> Internet providers to block user access to several large ‘pirate’ websites in the hope of decreasing online copyright infringement.</p>
<p>The decision sparked a public debate and spurred the local Pirate Party to launch their own <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-party-offers-dns-to-bypass-pirate-bay-blockade-150907/">DNS-service</a> to circumvent the blockade. However, it appears that this countermeasure isn&#8217;t needed after all. </p>
<p>Now that the Internet providers have implemented the blockade, it has become apparent that not all Pirate Bay domains are covered by the court order. Apparently, <a href="https://thepiratebay.mn">thepiratebay.mn</a> is still available to everyone. </p>
<p>This is quite an oversight because the .mn domain has been in use <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-moves-to-gs-la-vg-am-mn-and-gd-domains-150519/">for several months already</a>. It&#8217;s one of the four gTLDs the Pirate Bay is currently rotating as a redirect from the main thepiratebay.se domain. </p>
<p>Willy Johansen of the local &#8220;Rights Alliance&#8221; group, which was the driving force behind the blockade, acknowledges the problem.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are aware of the problem and do not like it at all. We can get the domain blocked by going to the police, but The Pirate Bay loves to play into this by replacing the domain name in a heartbeat,&#8221; Johansen <a href="http://www.dagbladet.no/2015/09/24/kultur/pirate_bay/piratkopiering/tekno/fildeling/41224843/">tells</a> Dagebladet.</p>
<p>Local media is presenting the story as if The Pirate Bay switched to a new domain, but that clearly isn&#8217;t the case. This makes the mistake even more painful, especially because copyright holders spent <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-sites-must-pay-legal-costs-of-own-blockade-court-rules-150902/">tens of thousands</a> of dollars on the legal proceedings. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, Johansen says that it is difficult to keep up with The Pirate Bay&#8217;s domain switcheroos and hopes Norwegians will use their moral compass to steer clear of the site.</p>
<p>&#8220;It will always be possible for people to commit abuses if they want to, and there&#8217;s not much we can do about it. That&#8217;s also the case for society in general. We just have to hope people follow the law,&#8221; he says. </p>
<p>For now, visiting the Pirate Bay is by no means illegal, although sharing copyrighted works is. But that&#8217;s no different than before the blockade of course.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111180
title: Popcorn Time Users ‘Fined’ Over Michael Douglas Movie
uri: Popcorn-Time-Users-Fined-Over-Michael-Douglas-Movie
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/dP7fLgIIwMo/
content:
<p><img src="media/ac12bf8c.popcornt.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/popcornt.png" width="237" height="106" class="alignright">Considering its massive rise to fame in the past 18 months it&#8217;s little wonder that Popcorn Time is still causing controversy. With millions of users in dozens of countries the &#8216;Netflix for Pirates&#8217; is firmly on the radar of Hollywood.</p>
<p>Just lately, however, Popcorn Time has attracted the attention of copyright trolls, the anti-piracy enforcers that inhabit the very bottom of the rightsholder food chain.</p>
<p>Infamous U.S. studio Voltage Pictures <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/dallas-buyers-club-jumps-on-the-popcorn-time-lawsuit-bandwagon-150922/">recently began targeting</a> Popcorn Time users who downloaded the movie Dallas Buyers Club and in recent weeks troubled piracy monetization outfit Rightscorp launched its own questionable <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/rightscorp-lures-hollywood-with-popcorn-time-protection-150904/">anti-Popcorn service</a>.</p>
<p>Now users of the software in Scandinavia are coming under fire, with hundreds of Danish Internet account holders being hit with cash demands after their connections were linked with infringements of the Michael Douglas movie &#8216;<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2465146/">And So It Goes</a>&#8216;.</p>
<p>The demands for compensation are being issued by lawfirm Opus Law acting on behalf of the Denmark division of <a href="http://www.scanbox.com/contact/denmark/">Scanbox Entertainment</a>. They appear to average around $320, a much lower sum than is usually demanded in the United States, for example, but still a considerable amount for a single movie.</p>
<p>Of course, in the background of what is portrayed as a generous initial offer, trolls often indicate that worse could be round the corner if Internet users don&#8217;t agree to settle. This case is no different.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s clear that we did not start the case with the intention of ending up in court, but at the same time it is also clear that when we are ultimately faced with a case where we can not agree [to settle], then we need to go to court,&#8221; Opus lawyer Niels Hald-Nielsen told <a href="https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/kultur/filmdistributoer-kraever-erstatning-fra-danske-popcorn-time-brugere">DR.dk</a>.</p>
<p>As the publication notes, there have been no file-sharing related civil actions in Denmark since 2011, which means there is no precedent to indicate what kind of punishment a court might settle on in such a case.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, Hald-Nielsen feels that the settlement offer is a generous one and even suggests that Popcorn Time users are more damaging than users of other file-sharing software.</p>
<p>&#8220;The reason why I think that the amount I suggest &#8211; [$320] &#8211; is reasonable, is that when you distribute a film through Popcorn Time, it goes out to a much wider circle of people and the harm is just so much bigger,&#8221; the lawyer says.</p>
<p>These legal threats come on the heels of other recent Popcorn Time related events in Denmark. In March a local producer <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/filmmakers-demand-cash-from-popcorn-time-viewers-150330/">threatened</a> to target users of the software and during August two men running Popcorn Time information websites <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/police-arrest-men-for-spreading-popcorn-time-information-150819/">were arrested by police</a>.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111186
title: Plenty of Ad Networks Still Love Pirate Sites
uri: Plenty-of-Ad-Networks-Still-Love-Pirate-Sites
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/KsLBMBNKdTw/
content:
<p><img src="media/f2ec3fd1.scamad.gif" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/scamad.gif" alt="scamad" width="197" height="169" class="alignright size-full wp-image-111230">In recent years various copyright holder groups have adopted a &#8220;follow-the-money&#8221; approach in the hope of cutting off funding to so-called pirate sites.</p>
<p>Thus far this has resulted in some notable developments. In the UK hundreds of advertising agencies are actively banning pirate sites and similar initiatives are popping up elsewhere.   </p>
<p>This week came another breakthrough when GroupM, the world&#8217;s largest advertising media company, <a href="http://www.satprnews.com/2015/09/23/groupm-requires-partners-to-use-tag-certified-anti-piracy-services/">adopted</a> a set of anti-piracy guidelines. As a result it now requires media partners to agree to strict standards and ban pirate sites.</p>
<p>The MPAA applauded the initiative and expressed hope that other stakeholders in the ad industry will follow suit. </p>
<p>&#8220;The issues of ad-supported piracy is an important one for creative industries everywhere, and it is an important one for businesses whose brands are being hurt by having their advertisements associated with these illegal activities,&#8221; the MPAA&#8217;s Howard Gantman wrote.</p>
<p>GroupM&#8217;s announcement will definitely have an impact on the higher echelons of the ad industry. However, at the bottom and outside the public gaze, several companies are fighting for the grace of pirate sites.  </p>
<p>Most regular visitors of pirate sites are probably familiar with the adult advertisements, gambling promotions and other dubious offers that are sometimes bordering on fraud. </p>
<p>These brands have a hard time finding banner space on legitimate sites but not on file-sharing services. The added benefit is that the cost per 1000 impressions is much lower on pirate sites, not to mention the opportunities for intrusive ad formats such as popunders and interstitials.</p>
<p>There are several ad companies that specialize in this area. They act as the middlemen between pirate sites and advertisers in return for a significant stake of the proceeds. </p>
<p>At TorrentFreak we have seen several emails from ad networks advertising their services. Instead of being wary of pirate partnerships, these companies proudly promote their cooperation with these sites hoping to convince others to join.</p>
<p>Below is an example of a company that offers &#8220;amazing results&#8221; with its popups, mentioning KickassTorrents as one of its top clients.</p>
<p><center><strong>Email sent by ad company A</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/d76bfbc6.adplug2.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/adplug2.png" alt="adplug2" width="555" height="174" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-111227"></center></p>
<p>Another advertising outfit already assigned an account manager, boasting streaming sites Watchseries, Movshare and Videoweed as partners. </p>
<p><center><strong>Email sent by ad company B</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/720149ef.adplug1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/adplug1.png" alt="adplug1" width="557" height="173" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-111229"></center></p>
<p>The above shows that the anti-piracy efforts are not going to stop money from flowing to these sites. What it will do is limit the already minimal presence of mainstream brands, trading them in for more dubious ones. </p>
<p>Whether that will have a significant impact on revenues is unclear, but it does make visits to pirate sites without an ad-blocker more risky.</p>
<p>That leads to a rather grim conclusion that the anti-piracy measures are helping the vendors and advertisers who peddle shady and malicious ads, instead of really hurting pirate sites.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111126
title: Pirate Party Runs Privacy Campaign Ads on YouPorn
uri: Pirate-Party-Runs-Privacy-Campaign-Ads-on-YouPorn
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/tj_CzCNEx-Q/
content:
<p><img src="media/84daa072.ppaus.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ppaus.png" alt="ppaus" width="241" height="156" class="alignright size-full wp-image-111160">Aside from promoting copyright reform, Pirate parties worldwide are fierce defenders of online privacy. </p>
<p>Their position is no different in Austria where local politicians are slowly trying to increase state surveillance. Through the new State Protection Act which will increase monitoring, for example. </p>
<p>With elections coming up in the Linz region next week the party decided to <a href="https://www.piratenpartei.at/pressesprecher-des-innenministeriums-johanna-schaut-bei-besonderen-aktivitaeten-nicht-zu/">advertise their policy</a>, but not on the regular outfits most political parties prefer. The <a href="https://www.piratenpartei.at/">Austrian Pirates</a> picked YouPorn as their prime adverting platform instead. </p>
<p>Personal preferences aside, people generally prefer not to be snooped on while they&#8217;re viewing porn sites. However, in this case they can&#8217;t escape the prying eyes of Johanna Mikl-Leitner, Austria&#8217;s Minister of the Interior</p>
<p>&#8220;Johanna wants to watch you!” the banner ad alerts YouPorn visitors.</p>
<p><center><strong>&#8220;Johanna wants to watch you!&#8221;</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/9dfaf062.pirateporn.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pirateporn.png"><img src="media/9dfaf062.pirateporn.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pirateporn.png" alt="pirateporn" width="650" height="365" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-111282"></a></center></p>
<p>The advertisements are written in German and <a href="https://tarnkappe.info/oesterreich-piratenpartei-macht-werbung-bei-youporn/">targeted</a> at Austrians, many of whom were surprised to see the Minister &#8216;snooping&#8217; on their private moments. Exactly the effect the Pirate Party was looking for.</p>
<p>&#8220;We want to prevent the Orwellian dystopia &#8211; 1984 was not a guide to action,&#8221; says Claus-Peter Wiesinger, top candidate of the Pirates in Linz.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are aware that political issues are uncommon on sites like YouPorn. But as a young party we want to seize the opportunity to break into the comfort zone of Internet users there, to address the threat of mass surveillance,&#8221; he adds. </p>
<p>Visitors who click on the YouPorn banner are directed to a <a href="http://privacy.piraten-ooe.at">dedicated campaign site</a> with more details and other useful tips against surveillance.</p>
<p>The party says it chose the minister&#8217;s image because she is the driving force behind the escalating surveillance efforts in Austria, through the new State Protection Act and by backing the reintroduction of data retention, for example.</p>
<p>The Pirates encourage people to speak out against these developments by voting for the party in the municipal elections in Linz or by signing the petition against the new State Protection Act.</p>
<p>&#8220;Strengthened by a council mandate in Linz, we want to continue our fight against the surveillance state. With 1.7% of the vote we are in,&#8221; Wiesinger says, referring to the upcoming election.</p>
<p>After this week&#8217;s successful campaign the Pirates are hoping to continue their advertising efforts on porn sites. They have already started a <a href="https://www.piratenpartei.at/projects/spenden-fuer-werbung-auf-pornoseiten/">crowdfunding drive</a> for the next round of ads which is on its way to reach the €600 goal.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111215
title: Piracy Isn’t Worth The Risk of Prison, Freed Cammer Says
uri: Piracy-Isn-t-Worth-The-Risk-of-Prison-Freed-Cammer-Says
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/JlEjnXg-LLM/
content:
<p><img src="media/bfbc3855.cammer1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cammer1.jpg" alt="cammer1" width="210" height="122" class="alignright size-full wp-image-65828">On May 23, 2013, five unmarked cars containing 10 police officers and representatives from the Federation Against Copyright Theft tracked down UK-based Philip Danks.</p>
<p>From Walsall in the West Midlands, then 24-year-old Danks had cammed Fast and Furious 6 at a local Showcase cinema before uploading it to the Internet. A year later the computer programmer was handed an unprecedented <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/fast-furious-6-pirate-sentenced-33-months-prison-140821/">33 months in prison</a>.</p>
<p>Following a successful appeal to the Ministry of Justice, Danks is now on home detention after serving one year and 18 days of his sentence. Earlier this week he read a TF piece which covered FACT&#8217;s warning to potential cammers of the upcoming Bond film &#8216;Spectre&#8217;. We suggested that releasing the movie in the UK almost two weeks before the U.S. launch was a recipe for piracy. Danks agrees.</p>
<p>&#8220;The movie industry do staggered releases to build up suspense with a movie but I for one know this does not work. As you know movies are (usually) released in the company they are created in, hence James Bond and Fast 6 being released here in the UK first,&#8221; Danks told TF.</p>
<p>&#8220;However, this just creates an unnecessary window for pirates to grab the film before anyone else. It gives them the opportunity to obtain maximum results from being the first group or person to leak the movies online because people who cannot watch it at the cinema will be wanting a pirate copy to give them their movie fix.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>That escalated quickly</strong></p>
<p>That urge to be first was what put Danks on the radars of FACT and then the police. After his arrest and subsequent conviction Danks was initially sent to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HM_Prison_Hewell">HMP Hewell</a>, a Category B prison in Worcestershire, later being transferred to the low-to-medium risk <a href="http://hmpoakwood.co.uk/">HMP Oakwood</a>. But despite committing only white-collar crime, Danks was placed alongside those with a thirst for violence.</p>
<p>&#8220;I was locked up with all sorts of people, including murderers, bank robbers etc. I remember one guy who I worked with in the kitchens who had been sentenced to 18 years for killing someone. He got out and within six hours was arrested again for killing his victim&#8217;s friend,&#8221; Danks explains.</p>
<p><strong>Easy prison life&#8230;..for a celebrity</strong></p>
<p>Given <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/are-users-to-blame-when-pirate-site-admins-go-to-jail-150920/">comments made last week</a> by Pirate Bay&#8217;s Peter Sunde who said that he&#8217;d been asked to sign autographs in prison, it&#8217;s interesting that Danks enjoyed a similar reception.</p>
<p>&#8220;To be honest I was somewhat of a celebrity in prison, amongst both prisoners and staff alike. Not one person (including my offender manager) thought the punishment fit the crime,&#8221; he reveals.</p>
<p>Overall, however, Danks says that prison itself wasn&#8217;t that bad.</p>
<p>&#8220;Personally I believe locking people up will not work, prison is easier now than ever. I had (which everyone gets) a 22in Sharp TV with 135 channels, a phone in my cell, a kettle, and my own shower and bathroom facilities.</p>
<p>&#8220;In all honesty prison was comfortable, I was never scared or even worried about the people around me. So no, prison does not work. Prison isn&#8217;t a deterrent for the most heinous acts of crime, let alone &#8216;copyright theft&#8217;.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>Worth it then? Absolutely not&#8230;</strong></p>
<p>Despite having an easy life in prison, Danks told TF that the whole punishment package amounts to something a lot more than just being denied freedom for a while. The personal costs outside the prison walls were considerable.</p>
<p>&#8220;Prison has affected my life dramatically. I lost my home due to not being able to keep up with rent, I lost my car, job, and everywhere I go I&#8217;m not recognized as someone who does good things, I&#8217;m just &#8216;that guy who&#8217;s been in prison&#8217;,&#8221; he explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;I applied for a job at a sports shop last week, where I have worked before and known the manager for 13 years. His response was &#8216;we do not employ ex-cons&#8217;. So it&#8217;s even difficult to gain employment.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>Family strain</strong></p>
<p>Having no way to make real money, Danks said that his family were always under pressure to send cash for things like phone credit &#8211; and then found themselves worrying when he didn&#8217;t manage to call them.</p>
<p>&#8220;Life was more of a strain on my family then on me,&#8221; he notes. Tragically, his family became significantly smaller during his time in prison.</p>
<p>&#8220;Whilst I was in prison I sadly lost two of my uncles and my grandad, all of whom I never got to say goodbye to because I was refused leave to go to funerals. I am not a religious man but was forced to pray at the chapel because it was the only way to say goodbye.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>Just not worth it</strong></p>
<p>Overall, it&#8217;s clear that Danks is still upset about what happened to him. He admits that he&#8217;s done wrong but blames FACT for an aggressive prosecution and a court system ill-equipped to deal with cases like his.</p>
<p>&#8220;Crown Courts are meant for criminals, those who hurt people or are a danger to the public, not for civil cases brought to a criminal trial because the government are in the back pocket of the movie industry. They have their priorities all wrong and favor corporations over consumers,&#8221; he says.</p>
<p>Not even Danks&#8217; lawyer escapes criticism.</p>
<p>&#8220;My solicitor never actually defended me. He simply sat back and let the prosecution bludgeon me to the point of no return,&#8221; he explains.</p>
<p><strong>Thinking of camming? Think again</strong></p>
<p>&#8220;People really need to think twice. Going to prison is an extremely tough strain not on yourself, but on your family. You will lose respect from loved ones, friends and work colleagues. Prison never has a happy ending, it will always hang over you wherever you go.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;Simply put, prison isn&#8217;t worth the kudos you get from being the first to leak a movie, stay away from it all and be happy with your family!&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>One last thing</strong></p>
<p>The work of movie cammers is often talked about in the media but how they operate is often shrouded in secrecy. Join us next week for an A to Z reveal of Danks&#8217; activities, from selecting movies, locations and equipment, to staying undetected in the cinema and making a clean getaway.</p>
<p><em>To get a year&#8217;s worth of things of his chest, Danks has taken to YouTube. His rant is embedded below.</em></p>
<p><center><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Pu7rqHXKa68" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center></p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111353
title: Megaupload Paid Prolific Pirates Thousands in Rewards, U.S. Says
uri: Megaupload-Paid-Prolific-Pirates-Thousands-in-Rewards-U-S-Says
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/CNcoFNGGChk/
content:
<p><img src="media/9a9629f5.megaupload-logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/megaupload-logo.jpg" alt="megaupload-logo" width="250" height="208" class="alignright size-full wp-image-95191">As the extradition hearing of Kim Dotcom and his former Megaupload colleagues enters a second week, a lawyer acting for the United States government has continued to make the case against the Internet entrepreneur and co-defendants Mathias Ortmann, Finn Batato and Bram van der Kolk. </p>
<p>With Dotcom and friends due to have their right of reply later in proceedings, thus far media attention has been focused on a totally one-sided version of events. Today that pattern continued, with Christine Gordon QC focusing on the rewards scheme operated by Megaupload between 2006 and 2011.</p>
<p>Just like YouTube does today, Megaupload rewarded users whose videos were downloaded thousands of times. However, the U.S. suggests that Dotcom and his colleagues were well aware that the users that brought the most traffic to the site &#8211; and earned the most in rewards &#8211; did so by uploading infringing content.</p>
<p>A user known only as &#8220;TH&#8221; is reported to have been paid more than $50,000 in rewards between 2006 and 2011, despite his sharing being in the spotlight of copyright holders.</p>
<p>&#8220;So far TH has provided us 18 million download pageviews [and] US$112,257 premium sales to users who have downloaded at least 15 of his files,&#8221; Mathias Ortmann wrote to Kim Dotcom in 2007.</p>
<p>However, the company also received a significant number of copyright complaints against &#8220;TH&#8221; &#8211; 1,200 in all &#8211; which were processed by Bram van der Kolk. According to the lawyer, Megaupload failed to terminate the user&#8217;s account, instead offering him additional server space. In a 2008, another conversation centered around whether infringers should continue to get paid.</p>
<p>&#8220;Growth is mainly based on infringement anyway,&#8221; Van der Kolk said via Skype.</p>
<p>&#8220;What if we modulate our tolerance according to sales triggered?&#8221; Ortmann <a href="http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/285470/megaupload-ignored-take-down-warnings">responded</a>.</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&#038;objectid=11520205">NZHerald</a>, 77% of Megaupload&#8217;s members had received at least one takedown notice against their accounts, with 56% receiving 10 or more. Even today, however, single strikes against user accounts are tolerated by YouTube, for example, while users of some of the main ISPs in the United States have amassed dozens of infringement notices without being terminated.</p>
<p>During the summer of 2011, Megaupload discontinued its rewards program, a move that proved unpopular with the site&#8217;s uploaders. According to U.S., Dotcom then took the opportunity to contact PayPal with complaints about his competitors who continued to &#8220;illegally&#8221; pay such bonuses to their users.</p>
<p>&#8220;They pay everyone no matter if the files are pirated or not and they have NO repeat infringer policy, and they are using Paypal to pay infringers,&#8221; Dotcom wrote.</p>
<p>In court today, Christine Gordon pointed out that Megaupload had run a similar program for more than half a decade.</p>
<p>&#8220;They describe the payments as illegal but Megaupload had done that for six years,&#8221; she said.</p>
<p>While Dotcom and associates will eventually enjoy a full right to reply, lawyer Ron Mansfield raised objections against the U.S. citing evidence from users such as &#8220;TH&#8221; who have allegedly provided evidence against Dotcom while being allowed to remain anonymous.</p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m just inquiring whether the US is prepared to identify the users so we are at least in the position of knowing who the users are and making some inquiry in relation to these conversations,&#8221; he <a href="http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/redacting-names-in-dotcom-case-unfair-2015092812#axzz3n0xFzRH8">said</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;In my submission it&#8217;s unfair that the identities of relevant parties are being withheld.&#8221;</p>
<p>Today&#8217;s evidence comes on the heels of revelations during last Friday&#8217;s session in which conversations between Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk suggested that the pair knew the company might get into trouble over rewards. </p>
<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s the big flaw in the rewards program: we are making profit off more than 90 per cent infringing files,&#8221; Van der Kolk said.</p>
<p>The hearing is expected to continue for another three weeks.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111343
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week – 09/28/15
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-09-28-15
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/-N21tJ0MNRY/
content:
<p><img src="media/a664de10.tomorrowland.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tomorrowland.jpg" alt="tomorrowland" width="300" height="173" class="alignright size-full wp-image-111346">This week we have four newcomers in our chart. </p>
<p>Tomorrowland is the most downloaded movie.</p>
<p>The data for our weekly download chart is estimated by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only. All the movies in the list are BD/DVDrips unless stated otherwise.</p>
<p><a href="http://TorrentFreak.com/category/dvdrip/feed/"><strong>RSS feed</strong></a> for the weekly movie download chart.</p>
<table class="css hover">
<thead>
<tr>
<th width="12%"><strong>Ranking</strong></th>
<th width="15%"><strong>(<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-movies-of-the-week-092115/">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>(10)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/tomorrowland_2015/">Tomorrowland</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1964418/">6.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWZ7O-RrATY">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/terminator_genisys/">Terminator Genisys</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1340138/">6.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62E4FJTwSuc">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/san_andreas/">San Andreas</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2126355/">6.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23VflsU3kZE">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/avengers_age_of_ultron/">Avengers: Age of Ultron</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2395427/">7.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmeOjFno6Do">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/minions/">Minions</a> (Webrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2293640/">6.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfql_DoHRKc">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mission_impossible_rogue_nation/">Mission: Impossible &#8211; Rogue Nation</a> (HDRip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2381249/">7.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-qBD17wwrQ">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mad_max_fury_road/">Mad Max: Fury Road</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1392190/">8.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjBb4SZ0F6Q">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/vacation_2013/">Vacation</a> (Subbed WEBRip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1524930/">6.3</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kleG7XCqOb4">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/magic_mike_xxl/">Magic Mike XXL</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2268016/?">5.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLoyU3xYwbs">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(7)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fantastic_four_2015/">Fantastic Four</a> (Subbed HDrip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1502712/">4.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMEa0CJbAUs">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111365
title: Pirate Bay Founder Finally Free After Three Years
uri: Pirate-Bay-Founder-Finally-Free-After-Three-Years
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Qh6B_3zm0L0/
content:
<p><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">Gottfrid Svartholm, also known as Anakata, was a founding member of The Pirate Bay and played a key role during the site&#8217;s early years.</p>
<p>He has spent the last three years in prisons in Sweden and Denmark, for a variety of offenses. Last month his prison time in Denmark ended and after serving a final month in Sweden he is now a free man. </p>
<p>At this time Gottfrid and his family prefer not to make any public statements, which is understandable considering all that&#8217;s happened, but his mother just confirmed the good news.  </p>
<p>His release marks the end of a tough time with several consecutive setbacks. </p>
<p>It all started in 2011 when Gottfrid received a <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/jail-sentence-for-pirate-bay-co-founder-made-final-111014/">one-year prison sentence</a> for his involvement with the notorious site, which he initially avoided.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/3e8167dd.gottfridfree.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/gottfridfree.png" alt="gottfridfree" width="578" height="234" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-111377"></center></p>
<p>September 2012 he was <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-founder-arrested-in-cambodia-120901/">arrested</a> by Cambodian police in Phnom Penh, the city where he had been living for several years. A few days later he was transferred to Sweden to serve his sentence, but that was only the start.</p>
<p>Soon after his release the Pirate Bay founder was accused of several hacking and fraud offenses.  </p>
<p>The case went to trial in 2013 and Gottfrid was subsequently found guilty of hacking, aggravated fraud and attempted aggravated fraud, which resulted in a two-year <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-founder-guilty-of-hacking-sentenced-to-two-years-in-prison-130620/">prison sentence</a>. The Pirate Bay founder always maintained his innocence and went on to appeal the verdict. </p>
<p>The Appeal Court <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-founder-hacking-sentence-slashed-in-half-on-appeal-130925/">agreed in part</a> and cleared Gottfrid of hacking the Nordea bank. The court still found him guilty of hacking IT company Logica but decided to reduce his sentence from two years to one.</p>
<p>While he was serving the Swedish hacking sentence Denmark also went after Gottfrid. Despite public protests and an appeal to the Supreme Court in Sweden, he was extradited during the fall of 2013 and held in solitary confinement for weeks on end. </p>
<p>In Denmark the Pirate Bay founder stood accused of hacking into the mainframe computers of IT company CSC. Gottfrid denied these allegations and during trial he pointed out that Sweden previously <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-founder-hacking-sentence-slashed-in-half-on-appeal-130925/">acquitted</a> him of a similar offense. </p>
<p>Despite the &#8220;not guilty&#8221; plea and expert witness testimonies in his favor, Gottfrid was sentenced to another <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/gottfrid-svartholm-found-guilty-in-hacking-trial-141030/">3.5 years in prison</a>, which was <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bays-gottfrid-svartholm-loses-hacking-appeal-150617/">affirmed following an appeal</a> to the High Court. </p>
<p><center><img src="media/9b7a1275.freeanakata1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/freeanakata1.jpg" alt="freeanakata" width="600" height="435" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-111378"></center></p>
<p>As in many other countries, well-behaved convicts only have to serve part of their sentence in Denmark so Gottfrid was released last month. </p>
<p>That&#8217;s also when the latest setback was announced. Shortly after his release he was <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-founder-released-from-jail-but-immediately-re-arrested-150828/">arrested again</a> to serve one remaining month of his hacking sentence in Sweden. </p>
<p>Today Gottfrid is truly a free man again. While prison wasn&#8217;t easy for him and his family, the future is finally looking a bit brighter. </p>
<p>Over the past years Gottfrid has received a lot of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/FreeAnakata">support</a> from the public, but first and foremost from his mother Kristina, who stood beside him every step of the way and always was kind enough to answer questions and have <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-founder-gets-access-to-his-books-after-public-outcry-140113/">her son&#8217;s voice heard</a> outside of prison.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111341
title: Aurous Dev Fires Back at “Fearmongering, Babbling” Rightscorp
uri: Aurous-Dev-Fires-Back-at-Fearmongering-Babbling-Rightscorp
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/jA4tRbumdQM/
content:
<p><img src="media/87279c6e.aurous-logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/aurous-logo.jpg" alt="aurous-logo" width="148" height="107" class="alignright size-full wp-image-110605">Earlier this month, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/aurous-promises-to-be-a-popcorn-time-for-music-150911/">news</a> of an upcoming piece of music software began to cause waves.</p>
<p>Centered around a media player supporting a wide array of audio formats, <a href="https://aurous.me/">Aurous</a> will leverage content on the BitTorrent network and other web sources to bring a Spotify-like experience to users.</p>
<p>With its clean and tidy interface, it&#8217;s no wonder that Aurous has already been likened to a &#8220;Popcorn Time for music&#8221;, a branding that could yet prove to be both blessing and curse in equal amounts, depending on one&#8217;s perspective.</p>
<p>The software, which TF tested in pre-alpha, is not yet available to the public but that hasn&#8217;t stopped anti-piracy outfit Rightscorp jumping into the fray with both feet. Last Friday the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/desperate-rightscorp-burns-through-more-piracy-millions-150817/">troubled company</a> issued a press release, claiming to have a solution to the threat supposedly posed by Aurous.</p>
<p>Highlighting the decentralized approach taken by developer Andrew Sampson, Rightscorp warned potential customers that Aurous could not be dealt with by regular means. Monetizing piracy will be their only chance, the company argued.</p>
<p>&#8220;Aurous&#8217; technology will be unaffected by take-down notices, site blocking and will not use Pirate Bay or any domain names that can be blocked,&#8221; the company warned.</p>
<p>&#8220;It will distribute the music search metadata via the peer-to-peer networks, allowing the ability to stream large amounts of free music illegally and providing a very easy-to-use interface to the BitTorrent network.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><img src="media/66e0fbd3.aurous-danbull.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/aurous-danbull.png" alt="Aurous"></center></p>
<p>Rightscorp CEO Christopher Sabec added that there is a &#8220;lot of concern&#8221; over the impending Aurous launch but noted that his company can provide a solution.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Aurous app allows for access to a large amount of free music, acting like a Spotify, however, offering zero payments to the rightsholder,&#8221; Sabec said.</p>
<p>&#8220;Rightscorp&#8217;s ability to get individual seeders to stop seeding will be the only scalable way to stop this next explosion of free music,&#8221; he added.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak asked Sampson to comment on Rightscorp&#8217;s announcement and the somewhat irritated developer responded.</p>
<p>&#8220;Rightscorp has no idea how our technology works, nor our plans at protecting right holders from copyright infringement and giving copyright holders the tools for managing their content, monetizing and/or protecting work their work,&#8221; he told TF.</p>
<p>&#8220;We announced earlier through Twitter [<a href="https://twitter.com/aurousapp/status/647261612710187008">well before the Rightscorp announcement</a>] that we will be creating a content-id system and DMCA portal so we can ensure Aurous does not infringe on anyone&#8217;s copyrights. Because this system is still so premature in its development, we can&#8217;t give more details, however, we can assure you Rightscorp is wrong.&#8221;</p>
<p>Sampson insists that first and foremost Aurous is a music player, albeit one with search engines that leverage existing APIs from &#8220;completely legal and licensed services&#8221; backed up by the power of P2P.</p>
<p>&#8220;The P2P portion of Aurous is nothing more than a comprehensive and cached list of these searches so results can be delivered faster to users as spoken about in our <a href="http://blog.aurous.me/post/126946141033/building-a-decentralized-bittorrent-search-engine">tech blog</a>. While you can search across P2P, it is not a default option, our P2P search option is there for hard to find copy-left content, but in that regard, is still a search engine.&#8221;</p>
<p>Sampson feels that by announcing an anti-piracy solution for a product that hasn&#8217;t even been released yet Rightscorp has jumped the gun somewhat. However, the likelihood that this is almost certainly an attempt to grab publicity isn&#8217;t lost on the developer. </p>
<p>&#8220;The fear mongering by Rightscorp is nothing more than babble and attempts to garner clients to &#8216;protect&#8217; them from our application which hasn&#8217;t even been released,&#8221; Sampson says.</p>
<p>&#8220;Maybe Rightscorp should read <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-34268474">this piece</a>. A French economist predicted the current state of music 40 years ago. The music industry is killing itself. We live in a world were licensed material can be streamed close to 200,000,000 times from Spotify and the writer for that song receives a pitiful $5,600.</p>
<p>&#8220;But according to many studies, sells are still at an all time high. Aurous is here to change the music industry for the better,&#8221; Sampson concludes.</p>
<p>This isn&#8217;t the first time that Rightscorp has attempted to ride on the tails of a &#8216;new&#8217; sharing phenomenon. Late August the company launch its <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/rightscorp-lures-hollywood-with-popcorn-time-protection-150904/">Popcorn Time &#8216;mitigation service&#8217;</a> but in reality its offering was the same old model with a new coat of promotional paint. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111429
title: Russian Facebook Ordered to Crack Down on Piracy
uri: Russian-Facebook-Ordered-to-Crack-Down-on-Piracy
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/qQFq2jTk0v0/
content:
<p><img src="media/19908c62.vk.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/vk.jpg" width="180" height="180" class="alignright">In 2014, Universal Music and Warner Music ran out of patience with Russian social networking giant VKontakte.</p>
<p>Alongside claims that VK facilitates large-scale copyright infringement, the labels filed a copyright complaint with the Saint Petersburg &#038; Leningradsky Region Arbitration Court. </p>
<p>“VK’s music service, unlike others in Russia, is an unlicensed file-sharing service that is designed for copyright infringement on a large-scale.  To date the company has taken no meaningful steps to tackle the problem,” IFPI’s Frances Moore <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/major-record-labels-sue-russian-facebook-piracy-140403/">said</a> at the time.</p>
<p>Today, more than a year later, a decision has been handed down. According to Russian news agency <a href="http://tass.ru/obschestvo/2299774">TASS</a>, the Court largely upheld the claims of the labels. As a result, VKontakte is now obliged to implement &#8220;effective&#8221; filtering technology to prevent infringement of Universal&#8217;s and Warner&#8217;s rights.</p>
<p>According to IFPI this means that VK will not only need to remove the labels&#8217; music from its service, but also prevent the re-uploading of the same in the future.</p>
<p>&#8220;This is a very important and positive decision for the Russian music market and for music creators in Russia. VK’s infringing music service has been a huge obstacle to the development of a licensed business in Russia, making available hundreds of thousands of copyright infringing tracks to more than 70 million daily users,&#8221; says IFPI CEO Frances Moore.</p>
<p>&#8220;Now, the Russian court has ordered VK to use technology to stop infringements. This is good news for rights holders in Russia. We now look to VK to implement the court’s decision and stop these ongoing infringements.&#8221;</p>
<p>While the labels will be content with what could amount to a significant victory, they didn&#8217;t have things entirely their own way. The Court rejected their calls for 36 million rubles ($547,000) in compensation.</p>
<p>Sony Music was originally involved in the action against VKontakte but dropped out after agreeing a confidential settlement last summer.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111405
title: Dutch Filmmakers Claim Piracy Damages From Government
uri: Dutch-Filmmakers-Claim-Piracy-Damages-From-Government
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/cD5ObREYJrM/
content:
<p><img src="media/c579e316.pirate-card.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-card.jpg" alt="pirate-card" width="250" height="210" class="alignright size-full wp-image-86520">Compared to many other countries around the world, pirating movies and TV-shows is hugely popular in the Netherlands. </p>
<p>Up to a third of the population is estimated to download and stream copyrighted content without paying for it.</p>
<p>This high percentage is not surprising as the Netherlands has traditionally been a relative safe haven for pirates. Downloading movies without permission was not punishable by law until last year when the European Court of Justice <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/the-netherlands-must-outlaw-downloading-eu-court-rules-140410/">spoke out against</a> the tolerant stance.</p>
<p>As a result the Dutch Government quickly outlawed unauthorized downloading. However, breaking the habits of a large section of the population will take more than that and local piracy rates still remains high.</p>
<p>This prompted Dutch filmmakers&#8217; association <a href="http://www.filmproducenten.nl/">SEKAM</a> to hold the Government responsible and demand compensation for the piracy losses they claim to have suffered. </p>
<p><a href="http://fd.nl/ondernemen/1119616/filmindustrie-broedt-op-weerwoord-tegen-piratensites">FD</a> reports that SEKAM submitted their claim to the Ministry of Security and Justice earlier this year. The request was denied but the filmmakers intend to press on. They maintain that their demands are legitimate and want the Government to compensate them for 10 years of piracy damages. </p>
<p>SEKAM lawyer Bas Le Poole points out that despite the new ban on illegal downloading, not much has changed. Piracy is still rampant and there haven&#8217;t been any prosecutions of individual downloaders. </p>
<p>This stance is shared by film producer San Fu Maltha. He notes that the Government has actually encouraged the public to pirate, costing the industry millions in revenue.  </p>
<p>&#8220;Downloading pirated movies has only been outlawed recently in the Netherlands. Previously, the Government not only tolerated but even encouraged illegal downloading. As a result the industry has been severely damaged&#8221;</p>
<p>Critics often argue that the film industry itself can do more to counter piracy by making sure that content is widely available for a decent price. Maltha admits that improvements can be made on the supply side but adds that this should coincide with stronger enforcement. </p>
<p>&#8220;The Government has already decided that consumers should not be prosecuted. I understand that it&#8217;s not a popular move and electoral suicide, but they shouldn&#8217;t rule it out,&#8221; he says. </p>
<p>SEKAM is now calling for an accurate estimate of the damages the industry has suffered. Determining this is hard, but the association points to a recent <a href="http://tweakers.net/nieuws/96724/zeventig-procent-nederlandse-downloaders-zegt-gedrag-te-veranderen-bij-verbod.html">Considerati study</a> which estimated the losses at 78 million euros per year.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111417
title: RUTracker Says Copyright Holders Can Moderate its Torrents
uri: RUTracker-Says-Copyright-Holders-Can-Moderate-its-Torrents
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/R-MGNmZgEU8/
content:
<p><img src="media/a96f2ae8.rutracker1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/rutracker1.jpg" alt="rutracker" width="250" height="95" class="alignright size-full wp-image-55533">Last week Russian telecoms watchdog Roscomnadzor marked the two-year anniversary of a 2013 amendment to copyright legislation by <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/280-pirate-sites-have-been-restricted-in-russia-150925/">releasing details</a> of how many times the law has been used to block sites.</p>
<p>Since August 1, 2013, Roskomnadzor received 189 copyright-related complaints from rights holders and access to 282 sites was restricted as a result.</p>
<p>Unsurprisingly, several torrent sites have been targeted over the past 24 months <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/russia-orders-isps-to-block-the-pirate-bay-150603/">including The Pirate Bay</a>, the world&#8217;s most controversial index. This week, however, the spotlight falls on Russia&#8217;s most popular torrent site.</p>
<p>Known as Torrents.ru before a controversial <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/torrentsru-fights-back-after-domain-seizure-100228/">domain seizure</a> in 2010, RUTracker is a huge site with a thriving community. According to Alexa it is the 17th most popular site in the whole of Russia and as a result attracts a lot of attention.</p>
<p>This week the National Federation of the Music Industry (NFMI), a group which counts Sony, Universal, Warner and EMI among its members, will attempt to have RUTracker permanently blocked by local ISPs. According to NFMI CEO Leonid Agronov, his group tried to negotiate with RUTracker over the removal of content but the effort came to nothing, leaving legal action as the only option.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, RUTracker says the site is still prepared to work with NFMI, initially on the basis of traditional notice-and-takedown, in an effort to stave off a nationwide blockade.</p>
<p>&#8220;Of course, we are ready for talks, but it is not clear what we can arrange. If we receive from rightsholders links to the data that violates their rights, we can remove them during the day,&#8221; a site spokesperson <a href="http://izvestia.ru/news/592092">said</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;If copyright holders act in accordance with established practices, by sending us an email notice referencing the items that violate their rights, we would long ago have removed them, as we do in thousands of similar cases. But they chose the court instead.&#8221;</p>
<p>However, RUTracker says it is actually prepared to go way beyond standard takedowns, by effectively giving copyright holders torrent moderation rights on the site.</p>
<p>&#8220;If there are many links [that breach copyright] we can give the rightsholders their own special account, and they can remove links that violate their rights. Similar to [the system available] on YouTube, for example,&#8221; the source added.</p>
<p>At this late stage it seems unlikely that the record labels will back away from their efforts to have RUTracker blocked, but even if successful that may only serve to discourage the site from cooperating fully on takedowns in the future.</p>
<p>In any event, RUTracker appears prepared for the long haul. After being founded in 2004 the site has just celebrated its 11th birthday, a somewhat rare achievement in the torrent world.</p>
<p>&#8220;Over the years everything has happened &#8211; bad and good,&#8221; the site said in a statement.</p>
<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve tried to block the whims of some copyright holders, although we are always ready for constructive cooperation on copyright, and most of them have reached a compromise that would accommodate the interests of both the authors of the content and its consumers.</p>
<p>&#8220;They are trying to drown out the various computer hooligans, but our friends help us to cope with it. We are told that &#8216;RUTracker is not the same, and will die soon&#8217;, and we smile at the skeptics, increasing our audience with petabytes of content!&#8221; the site concludes.</p>
<p>RUTracker is mostly popular with Russians although on-site language options now encourage visits by many thousands of users from Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus. English speakers are also enjoying the tracker in increasing numbers, thanks to Google Translate and a little patience. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111434
title: Rightscorp Retains Dallas Buyers Club Copyright Troll Lawyer
uri: Rightscorp-Retains-Dallas-Buyers-Club-Copyright-Troll-Lawyer
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/p63aoQ0uFCs/
content:
<p><img src="media/6cdf7dcb.crowell.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/crowell.jpg" width="222" height="215" class="alignright">When the anti-piracy activities of Rightscorp became a topic for public discussion around four years ago (under the name Digital Rights Corp), the company was taking a fresh look at solving the piracy problem.</p>
<p>Rather than going down the RIAA route of aggressive and ruinous litigation, the company <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/10-music-piracy-fine-a-fair-deal-or-just-another-cheap-trick-110924/">began asking for $10</a> from Internet users found to be downloading and sharing their clients&#8217; content.</p>
<p>Ten bucks was hardly a big deal but it took just 12 months for the fees to be <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/bmg-demands-20-for-pirated-bruno-mars-eminem-downloads-120914/">increased to $20</a> when the company felt account holders could be squeezed for a bit more cash.</p>
<p>The company is currently going through a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/desperate-rightscorp-burns-through-more-piracy-millions-150817/">financial crisis</a> and as a result wants <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/warner-bros-inflate-tv-show-piracy-fines-by-33-150614/">$30 for each alleged offense</a>. The escalation is an indication of a business under pressure and a fresh announcement from Rightscorp suggests that it&#8217;s about to get even more aggressive in order to force settlement.</p>
<p>Yesterday the company revealed it has signed an agreement with lawyer Carl D. Crowell of Crowell Law in Salem, Oregon. While he works with other companies too, Crowell is perhaps <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/dallas-buyers-club-pirate-agrees-pay-14000-141112/">best known for his work</a> with notorious copyright troll Dallas Buyers Club.</p>
<p>According to Rightscorp, Crowell will be working with the anti-piracy firm&#8217;s clients to raise awareness and &#8220;educate people&#8221; about the effects of piracy. He will also be sending notices to infringers while pursuing litigation against &#8220;persistent and egregious infringers.&#8221;</p>
<p>Retaining Crowell might be the clearest sign yet that Rightscorp understands the current limitations of its &#8220;pay $30&#8243; business model. Rightscorp sends its notices via ISPs and has no idea of the true identity of the people they&#8217;re trying to force a payment from. As a result and without a credible threat of litigation, Rightscorp&#8217;s targets are simply free to ignore the company&#8217;s emailed threats.</p>
<p>Should they subsequently receive correspondence from Mr Crowell, however, who has a track record with companies like Dallas Buyers Club, then the situation could very well take on a more urgent tone, forcing a payment and keeping Rightscorp and its clients happy.</p>
<p>&#8220;Crowell has been recognized by the courts for his successful targeting of the worst offenders that illegally download films and TV shows to make sure they are held accountable for their actions with dozens of judgments and injunctions against infringers,&#8221; says Rightscorp CEO Christopher Sabec. </p>
<p>&#8220;This agreement will be beneficial to both parties and our clients and we hope with our continued efforts to see an increase in public awareness and recognition of the problems with online piracy and greater respect and appreciation for the value and work of the artists we represent.&#8221;</p>
<p>The team up with Crowell, who last month claimed it was impossible for BitTorrent users to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/its-impossible-to-torrent-anonymously-lawyer-says-150906/">remain anonymous online</a>, is the second legal partnership publicly announced by Rightscorp.</p>
<p>In August the company said it had <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/rightscorp-deal-turns-dmca-notices-into-piracy-lawsuits-150812/">signed an agreement</a> with lawfirm Flynn Wirkus Young to target users who ignore DMCA notices and settlement offers sent by copyright holders. Cases filed earlier in the year on behalf of Rotten Records targeted <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/rightscorp-deal-turns-dmca-notices-into-piracy-lawsuits-150812/">Comcast users</a>, among others.</p>
<p>While Rightscorp appeared to start out with fresh ideas, it appears that the company is now well and truly on the path to becoming yet another aggressive copyright troll outfit. The big question now is how this new approach will sit with ISPs in the United States, many of whom willingly forward Rightscorp <strike>DMCA notices</strike> settlement threats to their customers.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111441
title: MPAA and RIAA’s Megaupload Lawsuits Delayed Until 2016
uri: MPAA-and-RIAA-s-Megaupload-Lawsuits-Delayed-Until-2016
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/RiCLBwy5AOs/
content:
<p><img src="media/9a9629f5.megaupload-logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/megaupload-logo.jpg" alt="megaupload-logo" width="250" height="208" class="alignright size-full wp-image-95191">Nearly four years have passed since Megaupload was <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/megaupload-shut-down-120119/">shutdown</a> but aside from <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/megaupload-programmer-sentenced-to-a-year-in-prison-150213/">Andrus Nomm’s plea deal</a> there has been little progress in the criminal proceedings.</p>
<p>Dotcom and several of his fellow Megaupload defendants are currently in the midst of an <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/megaupload-paid-prolific-pirates-thousands-in-rewards-u-s-says-150928/">extradition hearing</a> to determine whether they will be sent to the U.S. to stand trial.</p>
<p>But regardless of the outcome there’s more legal trouble ahead for Kim Dotcom and the defunct file-hosting service. In addition to the criminal case, Megaupload and Dotcom were sued last year by the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/now-the-riaa-sues-megaupload-for-massive-copyright-theft-140411/">major record labels</a> and Hollywood’s <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/movie-studios-demand-millions-megaupload-new-lawsuit-140408/">top movie studios</a>.</p>
<p>Fearing that they might influence criminal proceedings, Megaupload’s legal team previously managed to put these civil actions on hold and this week it requested another six month stay. </p>
<p>Yesterday U.S. District Court Liam O&#8217;Grady granted Megaupload&#8217;s request in the RIAA lawsuit under the same conditions as the earlier orders.</p>
<p><center><strong>Judge O&#8217;Grady&#8217;s order</strong></center><br></br><center><img src="media/ecd76f49.megastay.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/megastay.png" alt="megastay" width="564" height="296" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-111483"></center></p>
<p>A similar order is also expected in the MPAA case, as the movie studios haven&#8217;t objected to another extension.</p>
<p>The ruling means that both the MPAA and RIAA cases will now be delayed until April 2016, given that the criminal proceeding has progressed by then. A stay was also granted in a third civil suit filed by the music group Microhits on similar grounds. </p>
<p>Considering the legal action on multiple fronts and the fact that civil cases can take over half a decade to complete, Megaupload is likely to be tied up in legal proceedings for years to come. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111436
title: Paramount Pictures Fails to Silence uTorrent Discussions
uri: Paramount-Pictures-Fails-to-Silence-uTorrent-Discussions
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/hmXssHAHRBI/
content:
<p><img src="media/b6279983.paramount1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/paramount1.jpg" alt="paramount" width="225" height="210" class="alignright size-full wp-image-66402">Week in and week out copyright holders scour the Internet to detect and report millions of alleged infringements.</p>
<p>Most attention goes out to Google which receives around a dozen million takedown requests per week for its search engine alone. </p>
<p>Many of the reported links are from torrent sites such as The Pirate Bay and point to pirated content. However, some of the URLs copyright holders complain about to Google are not infringing at all. </p>
<p>Last week Paramount Pictures asked for the removal of various discussions at the forums of the popular torrent client uTorrent. The notices claim that the discussions are &#8220;infringing&#8221; but the threads themselves show no evidence of that. </p>
<p>For example, Paramount sent a <a href="https://www.chillingeffects.org/notices/11228169">takedown notice</a> to protect the 2009 movie &#8220;Imagine That.&#8221; The list of allegedly infringing URLs includes a uTorrent forum thread, as shown below.  </p>
<p><center><img src="media/e02ef8f7.imaginethread.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/imaginethread.png" alt="imaginethread" width="611" height="150" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-111456"></center></p>
<p>After reading <a href="http://forum.utorrent.com/topic/85719-my-encrypted-torrent-wont-seed-after-being-stopped/">the topic</a> we could find no mentions of a pirated movie. Instead, the only mention of &#8220;imagine that&#8221; was in the post below, which doesn&#8217;t appear to be infringing at all.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/ecd7f8ff.imaginethat.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/imaginethat.png" alt="imaginethat" width="600" height="192" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-111457"></center></p>
<p>The same error was repeated several times in other targeted discussions on utorrent.com. One notice lists a <a href="http://forum.utorrent.com/topic/85635-how-to-configure-utorrent-with-cyberghost-vpn-software/">forum thread</a> that allegedly offers an infringing copy of &#8220;Ghost,&#8221; but again the topic itself is completely unrelated to the movie.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/55e34663.ghost.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ghost.png" alt="ghost" width="600" height="127" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-111458"></center></p>
<p>This also happened to a thread where a user pointed out that he was &#8220;clueless&#8221; about something. This apparently <a href="https://www.chillingeffects.org/notices/11227515">rang alarm bells</a> at Paramount&#8217;s content protection company who assumed that this person was referring to a pirated copy the film &#8220;Clueless.&#8221;  </p>
<p>Talking about clueless, the same notice also <a href="media/c42d7d37.iqbicqJ.png" data-original-source="http://i.imgur.com/iqbicqJ.png">targets</a> the Disqus profile of the user &#8220;Clueless°,&#8221; simply because he or she shares a name with the movie title. </p>
<p><center><img src="media/c5d89c44.clueless.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/clueless.png" alt="clueless" width="600" height="120" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-111459"></center></p>
<p>The most likely explanation for the errors is a lack of oversight. Paramount&#8217;s content protection company scans the Internet for keyword combinations and when movie titles are used in combination with other &#8216;suspicious&#8217; terms such as &#8220;torrent,&#8221; URLs may be flagged automatically. </p>
<p>Unfortunately these mistakes are not isolated incidents. In recent years we’ve highlighted countless examples of takedown requests that censor legitimate content, often hurting traffic for the affected sites.</p>
<p>The good news is that Google appears to have white-listed several domains, including utorrent.com and Disqus. This means that while the links reported on behalf of Paramount Pictures were not removed, less prominent sites may not be so lucky.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111518
title: Verizon Fights Copyright Troll Demands in Court
uri: Verizon-Fights-Copyright-Troll-Demands-in-Court
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/xZRuae92j54/
content:
<p><img src="media/0e41b479.verizon-progress.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/verizon-progress.jpg" alt="verizon-progress" width="200" height="148" class="alignright size-full wp-image-50841">Malibu Media, the Los Angeles based company behind the ‘X-Art’ adult movies, is one of the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/adult-movie-outfit-is-most-litigious-copyright-plaintiff-in-u-s-150812/">most active copyright trolls</a> in the United States.</p>
<p>The company has filed thousands of lawsuits in recent years, targeting Internet subscribers whose accounts were allegedly used to share Malibu&#8217;s films. </p>
<p>These cases generally don&#8217;t go to trial. Instead, the adult movie studio obtains a subpoena from the court so it can ask Internet providers to expose the accused subscribers. </p>
<p>Verizon is one of the ISPs which is often targeted, and the company has responded to thousands of subpoenas from Malibu alone, without complaining. However, a broad subpoena that arrived a few days ago is a bridge too far for Verizon. </p>
<p>The subpoena was issued in <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/judge-slams-copyright-trolls-harassment-tactics-in-piracy-case-150915/">a case</a> currently before the Southern District of New York. </p>
<p>To prove that a Verizon subscriber is guilty, Malibu Media requested additional information from the ISP including private communications with the subscriber, technical details about its modems and a deposition of Verizon employees.</p>
<p>Verizon, however, does not plan to comply and has asked the court for support. The ISP begins its reply with a general overview of how copyright trolls work, noting that their practices cost providers a lot of time and resources. </p>
<p>&#8220;These &#8216;Doe&#8217; cases impose undue burdens upon the ISPs, including Verizon, who have been asked to respond to thousands of subpoenas from Malibu Media. The subpoenas have required a large amount of Verizon’s employees’ time to evaluate and respond to competing and sometimes overlapping requests for information,&#8221; the ISP writes (<a href="media/91a60185.gov.uscourts.nysd.436673.45.0.pdf" data-original-source="http://ia800509.us.archive.org/32/items/gov.uscourts.nysd.436673/gov.uscourts.nysd.436673.45.0.pdf">pdf</a>).</p>
<p>Verizon points out that these piracy lawsuits are increasingly being scrutinized by the courts, some of which have compared it to an &#8220;extortion scheme.&#8221;</p>
<p>Aside from the general burdens Verizon notes that Malibu should not be allowed to call in Verizon employees from another state for a deposition on such a short notice.</p>
<p>&#8220;The subpoena here improperly demanded that Verizon’s employees, who work in Arlington, Virginia, and reside nearby, travel to San Angelo, Texas, on short notice for a deposition and to bring documents with them.&#8221; </p>
<p>In addition, the information requested by Malibu Media is not relevant or outside the scope of the Cable Act, which prevents certain privacy sensitive data from being shared.</p>
<p>&#8220;The additional information now sought by Plaintiff’s subpoena — correspondence between Verizon and the subscriber, information about the rental of modems or other equipment, and Verizon’s general policies and procedures — is either irrelevant, more properly sought from a party to litigation, or outside the scope of discovery contemplated by the Cable Act,&#8221; Verizon writes.</p>
<p>The above clearly shows that Verizon is taking a stand. This could mean that Malibu Media&#8217;s request may hurt the company&#8217;s litigation efforts in the long run, as copyright troll watcher <a href="http://fightcopyrighttrolls.com/2015/10/01/is-verizon-fed-up-with-lipscombs-increasing-arrogance/">SJD suggests</a>. </p>
<p>&#8220;The critical gear of the well-oiled extortion machine is the relationship between the troll and ISPs. We see a small crack in this gear, and I really hope this crack will grow over time,&#8221; she writes. </p>
<p>Currently, Verizon and other ISPs don&#8217;t oppose subpoenas that request personal details of subscribers based on an IP-address, but this may change in the future.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s now up to judge Katherine Forrest to decide whether the requested subpoena for additional information indeed goes too far. Forrest previously likened Malibu&#8217;s practices to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/judge-slams-copyright-trolls-harassment-tactics-in-piracy-case-150915/">&#8220;harassment,&#8221;</a> which may be factored into the decision. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=111556
title: The Pirate Bay Suffers Downtime
uri: 2015-10-01-The-Pirate-Bay-Suffers-Downtime
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/EHebT8EXj1c/
content:
<p><img src="media/2a43984f.pirate-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-bay.jpg" alt="pirate bay" width="200" height="207" class="alignright size-full wp-image-53470">The Pirate Bay has become unreachable since this morning.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s currently not clear what&#8217;s causing the problems. There was a similar outage yesterday which lasted a few hours. </p>
<p>What we do know is that the site&#8217;s domain names are not the culprit.</p>
<p>The Pirate Bay currently displays a CloudFlare error message across <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-moves-to-gs-la-vg-am-mn-and-gd-domains-150519/">all domain names</a>, suggesting that TPB&#8217;s servers are unresponsive.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/7e7c56a6.tpbcferror.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpbcferror.png"><img src="media/7e7c56a6.tpbcferror.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpbcferror.png" alt="tpbcferror" width="600" height="368" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-101493"></a></center></p>
<p>With <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/swedish-police-raid-the-pirate-bay-site-offline-141209/">the raid</a> of last year still fresh in memory some fear the worst, but these concerns are unwarranted for now.</p>
<p>In fact, the site is still accessible via the Tor network (through <a href="http://uj3wazyk5u4hnvtk.onion/">http://uj3wazyk5u4hnvtk.onion/</a>), including the popular Pirate Browser. </p>
<p>The Tor traffic goes through a separate server and works just fine.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak reached out to The Pirate Bay team for a comment on the situation and we will update this article if we hear back.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="https://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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