# articles

feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100095
title: “The Internet Would Never Have Existed Without The Copyright Monopoly”
uri: The-Internet-Would-Never-Have-Existed-Without-The-Copyright-Monopol
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/bEGEbLEv3tg/
content:
<p><a href="media/b997f7ba.copyright-branded.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/copyright-branded.jpg"><img src="media/db7b975c.copyright-branded.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/copyright-branded.jpg" alt="copyright-branded" width="250" height="164" class="alignright size-full wp-image-56211"></a>I had an interesting exchange of opinions with a copyright industry lawyer the other day. </p>
<p>In what appeared to be a private conversation on Twitter between colleagues I was called out as evil, claiming that all the anti-copyright-monopoly sentiment on the Internet came from me personally.</p>
<p>Of course, knowing how Twitter works, anybody mentioning my name gets an immediate highlight on my screen, and so I took the liberty of butting in to <a href="https://twitter.com/bshrum/status/556193135567839233">the conversation</a> a few seconds later.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/2bd2d645.tweet1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tweet1.png"><img src="media/2bd2d645.tweet1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tweet1.png" alt="tweet1" width="581" height="281" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-100100"></a></center></p>
<p>I explained patiently that the Pirate Party could not possibly exist if there wasn&#8217;t already a widespread sense of information liberty; that the sentiment of the Internet already was that the copyright monopoly was there to constrict and punish rather than anything else.</p>
<p>To my surprise, the copyright industry lawyer responded that the entire Internet would not have existed <em>at all</em> without the copyright monopoly. This was a statement that would have been trivial to ridicule to smithereens (&#8220;please explain how Al Gore fits into it?&#8221;), but it made me genuinely curious. How do these people think, anyway?</p>
<p><center><a href="https://twitter.com/bshrum/status/556197579755888643"><img src="media/5c225cda.tweet2.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tweet2.png" alt="tweet2" width="583" height="248" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-100101"></a></center></p>
<p>So when I asked which part of the Internet Mr. Shrum referred to &#8211; DARPA (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARPANET">ARPAnet</a>), <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_protocol_suite">TCP/IP</a>, or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CERN">CERN</a> [sic, referring to the birth of WWW but I didn&#8217;t write that out], he surprised me even more by saying &#8220;All of them&#8221;.</p>
<p><center><a href="https://twitter.com/bshrum/status/556198808024281090"><img src="media/b54a749e.tweet3.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tweet3.png" alt="tweet3" width="580" height="249" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-100103"></a></center></p>
<p>Somewhat to my surprise, this lawyer also picked up on the &#8220;monopoly&#8221; moniker as can be seen above, not trying to argue against that characteristic at all. So being aware that there was a monopoly, this copyright industry lawyer still argued that no part of the Internet would have been created without that monopoly.</p>
<p>Of course, this goes completely counter to actual history: particularly with regards to the World Wide Web, which was specifically created in Switzerland to <em>circumvent</em> the monopoly previously held by University of Minnesota in the US, where a similar technology by the name of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopher_%28protocol%29#Stagnation">Gopher</a> had been developed. When somebody claims exclusive rights to a standard on the Internet, that standard is generally dropped like a bad habit and replaced by something else immediately. That has happened several times, and the WWW standard was such a replacement.</p>
<p>However, I gained a lot of understanding from this short exchange. It would appear the people we are debating in the copyright industry are reasoning something like this:</p>
<p>1 &#8211; the Progress Clause (the justification for the copyright monopoly in article 8 in the US Constitution, allowing Congress to create exclusive rights in order to &#8220;Promote the Progress of Science and the Useful Arts&#8221;) means that <em>any</em> law created using that justification automatically has the <em>effect</em> of also promoting such progress in all its applications and spheres of influence.</p>
<p>2 &#8211; therefore, anything created in an environment where such a law exists, created under a monopoly regime covering expressions of ideas, could not have been conceived <em>without</em> the existence of the law in question.</p>
<p>If this is the actual reasoning &#8211; and it would appear that it is &#8211; then it becomes comprehensible why net liberty activists who fight for the freedom to create without permission are seen as evil by the copyright industry. If they genuinely believe that everything that exists was created because the copyright monopoly exists, then somebody who wants to take away that monopoly regime would plunge the world into darkness where nothing more is created, ever.</p>
<p>Stop laughing.</p>
<p>This explains the worldview we&#8217;re going up against when discussing the topic, and as such, it was valuable to understand. It fits well in with my observation that copyright monopoly maximalists are acting <a href="http://falkvinge.net/2011/02/07/copyright-as-a-fundamentalist-religion/">like religious fundamentalists</a> a few years back &#8211; especially given the apparent non-need to check on actual facts, when all the &#8220;facts&#8221; could be easily deduced from the certainty that everything created was created because there is a copyright monopoly.</p>
<p>At some point later in the discussion, a colleague in the copyright industry butted in and subtly suggested that this lawyer might want to stop arguing the point that the Internet was created because of the copyright monopoly before reading up on the actual history.</p>
<p><center><a href="https://twitter.com/mind_booster/status/556207099999682562"><img src="media/8b434084.tweet4.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tweet4.png" alt="tweet4" width="582" height="248" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-100102"></a></center></p>
<p>That was the end of that discussion.</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>
<div style="float:right;position:relative;top:-12px">
<p><small>Book Falkvinge <a href="http://falkvinge.net/keynotes/">as speaker</a>?</small></p>
</div>
<p><a href="http://twitter.com/Falkvinge" class="twitter-follow-button">Follow @Falkvinge</a></p>
</div>
<p></center></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=bEGEbLEv3tg:zXYwHHltGTQ:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=bEGEbLEv3tg:zXYwHHltGTQ:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=bEGEbLEv3tg:zXYwHHltGTQ:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/bEGEbLEv3tg" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100130
title: Pirates Fail to Prevent American Sniper’s Box Office Record
uri: Pirates-Fail-to-Prevent-American-Sniper-s-Box-Office-Record
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/YZlI_D4ldNs/
content:
<p><a href="media/9a687435.sniper.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/sniper.jpg"><img src="media/9a687435.sniper.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/sniper.jpg" alt="sniper" width="250" height="155" class="alignright size-full wp-image-100131"></a>When a high quality screener of American Sniper <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/leaked-oscar-movie-screeners-flood-torrent-sites-150108/">leaked online</a> days before the theatrical release the filmmakers probably feared the worst. </p>
<p>After all, recent history has &#8216;shown&#8217; that early leaks can have a devastating impact on box office revenues. The Expendables 3, for example, grossed a disappointing $16 million during the opening weekend.</p>
<p>At the time many insiders and experts blamed the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/expendables-3-leaks-online-100k-copies-down-in-hours-140725/">pre-release leak</a> for the disappointing numbers. Millions of people had downloaded pirated copies and skipped the box office, they argued.</p>
<p>“This is really a clear situation where this had an impact. It’s hard to measure, but the ripple effect, not only of the downloads, but of the word-of-mouth that spread as a result, can be seen in the soft opening,” BoxOffice.com vice president Phil Contrino <a href="http://variety.com/2014/film/news/expendables-3-flops-is-piracy-to-blame-1201284859/">said</a> at the time. </p>
<p>With American Sniper things turned out quite differently though. Sure, the film was downloaded millions of times before its premiere, perhaps even more than The Expendables 3. However, all these unauthorized downloads couldn&#8217;t prevent the film from grossing <a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/american_sniper/news/1932589/box_office_guru_wrapup_american_sniper_rockets_to_stunning_90m_debut/">record numbers</a>.</p>
<p>From Friday to Sunday, American Sniper grossed $90.2 million, making it the largest opening weekend in history for the December through February winter period. This means that it beats Avatar, The Hobbit trilogy and all other previous winter blockbusters.</p>
<p>For some reason these record numbers were possible despite rampant piracy. How can that be? </p>
<p>First of all, the impressive opening doesn&#8217;t necessarily mean that the pre-release piracy had no impact at all. Perhaps the film would have raked in an additional $5 million without piracy. </p>
<p>On the other hand, some may argue that piracy may even have helped to promote the film through word-of-mouth advertising. In the end we simply don&#8217;t know what effect piracy had on the opening weekend. </p>
<p>It&#8217;s telling though, that every time a film flops piracy is brought into the discussion as one of the main reasons for the disappointing results. But if records are broken, piracy isn&#8217;t mentioned at all. </p>
<p>In other words, piracy is often a convenient scapegoat used selectively to cover up failures that probably have very little to do with illegal streams or downloads. But there&#8217;s <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/massive-music-piracy-plunge-fails-to-halt-decline-in-sales-130919/">nothing new</a> there. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=YZlI_D4ldNs:vdpXLyYH5vY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=YZlI_D4ldNs:vdpXLyYH5vY:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=YZlI_D4ldNs:vdpXLyYH5vY:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/YZlI_D4ldNs" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100114
title: Pirate MEP Proposes Major Reform of EU Copyright
uri: Pirate-MEP-Proposes-Major-Reform-of-EU-Copyright
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/C0dMUI7k-yc/
content:
<p><img src="media/23e20654.europe-flag.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/europe-flag.png" width="222" height="146" class="alignright">The idea of copyright is certainly not new and most countries worldwide have developed complex systems to ensure that it&#8217;s upheld, ostensibly to protect the rights of creators.</p>
<p>But with the unprecedented advancement of communications technology, especially in respect of the Internet, copyright frameworks often appear terribly outdated and unfit for purpose.</p>
<p>In 2015 the EU has its collective eyes on copyright reform and to this end has appointed an individual whose political party has more focus than most on the world of copyright.</p>
<p>Last November, Julia Reda, a politician for the German Pirate Party and member of the European Parliament, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/in-europe-pirates-are-writing-the-copyright-law-150104/">was tasked with producing a report</a> on the implementation of the 2001 InfoSoc Directive.</p>
<p>Having already presented her plans during a meeting of the Legal Affairs Committee in December, this morning Reda released a first draft of her report. It will come as no surprise that need for reform has been underlined. </p>
<p>&#8220;Although the directive was meant to adapt copyright to the digital age, in reality it is blocking the exchange of knowledge and culture across borders today,&#8221; Reda&#8217;s core finding reads.</p>
<p>The report draws on responses to a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/eu-offers-public-a-chance-to-fix-copyright-law-140113/">public consultation</a> and lays out a reform agenda for the overhaul of EU copyright. It finds that the EU would benefit from a copyright mechanism that not only protects past works, but also encourages future creation and the unlocking of a pan-European cultural market. </p>
<p><a href="media/a6012521.reda-pic.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/reda-pic.png"><img src="media/a6012521.reda-pic.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/reda-pic.png" alt="reda-pic" width="158" height="162" class="alignright size-full wp-image-100124"></a>“The EU copyright directive was written in 2001, in a time before YouTube or Facebook. Although it was meant to adapt copyright to the digital age, in reality it is blocking the exchange of knowledge and culture across borders today“, Reda <a href="https://juliareda.eu/2015/01/press-release-eu-copyright-report/">explains</a>.</p>
<p>“We need a common European copyright that safeguards fundamental rights and makes it easier to offer innovative online services in the entire European Union.”</p>
<p>The draft (<a href="media/beddfc89.copyright_evaluation_report.pdf" data-original-source="https://pub.juliareda.eu/copyright_evaluation_report.pdf">pdf</a>) acknowledges the need for artistic works to be protected under law and calls for improvements in the positions of authors and performers &#8220;in relation to other rightholders and intermediaries.&#8221;</p>
<p>The document recommends that public sector information should be exempt from copyright protection and calls on the Commission to safeguard public domain works while recognizing rightsholders&#8217; freedom to &#8220;voluntarily relinquish their rights and dedicate their works to the public domain.&#8221;</p>
<p>Copyright lengths are also tackled by Reda, who calls on the Commission to harmonize the term to a duration that does not exceed the current international standards set out in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berne_Convention">Berne Convention</a>.</p>
<p>On Internet hyperlinking the report requests that citizens are allowed to freely link from one resource to another and calls on the EU legislator &#8220;to clarify that reference to works by means of a hyperlink is not subject to exclusive rights, as it is does not consist in a communication to a new public.&#8221;</p>
<p>The document also calls for new copyright exceptions to be granted for research and educational purposes to not only cover educational establishments, but &#8220;any kind of educational and research activities,<br>
including non-formal education.&#8221; </p>
<p>Also of interest is Reda&#8217;s approach to transparency. Since being appointed, Reda says she&#8217;s received 86 meeting requests from lobbyists. As can be seen from the chart below, requests increased noticeably after the Pirate was named as rapporteur in November 2014.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/10cc2317.reda-graph.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/reda-graph.jpg" alt="graph-reda"></center></p>
<p>&#8220;I did my best to balance out the attention paid to various interest groups. Most requests came from publishers, distributors, collective rights organizations, service providers and intermediaries (57% altogether), while it was more difficult to get directly to the group most often referred to in public debate: The authors,&#8221; Reda explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;The results of the copyright consultation with many authors’ responses demonstrate that the interests of collecting societies and individual authors can differ significantly.&#8221;</p>
<p>Reda has published a <a href="https://juliareda.eu/2015/01/report-eu-copyright-rules-maladapted-to-the-web/">full list</a> of meetings that took place. It includes companies such as Disney and Google, and &#8216;user&#8217; groups such as the Free Software Foundation Europe.</p>
<p>&#8220;Tomorrow morning around 9 I&#8217;m going to publish my report on EU #copyright, discussion in legal affairs committee on Tuesday,&#8221; Reda <a href="https://twitter.com/Senficon/status/556772816805457920">reported</a> a few minutes ago.</p>
<p>The final report  will be put to an April vote in the Legal Affairs Committee and then to a vote before the entire Parliament during May.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=C0dMUI7k-yc:GR2WbbbgYVo:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=C0dMUI7k-yc:GR2WbbbgYVo:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=C0dMUI7k-yc:GR2WbbbgYVo:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/C0dMUI7k-yc" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100160
title: Failed MPAA / Xunlei Anti-Piracy Deal is Shocking
uri: Failed-MPAA-Xunlei-Anti-Piracy-Deal-is-Shocking
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/kTrG92eHovE/
content:
<p><a href="media/1b5440c0.mpaa-logo1.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/mpaa-logo1.jpg"><img src="media/394b6768.mpaa-logo1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mpaa-logo1.jpg" alt="mpaa-logo" width="200" height="112" class="alignright size-full wp-image-36694"></a>As one of China&#8217;s top 10 Internet companies, Xunlei is a massive operation. In the first three months of 2014 the company enjoyed 300 million monthly unique visitors.</p>
<p>Among other file-sharing ventures, Xunlei operates ‘Thunder’, the world&#8217;s most popular torrent client. This and other issues have placed the company firmly on the radar of the MPAA.</p>
<p>The movie group first took legal action against the China-based outfit in 2008 but by 2014 relations began to warm with Xunlei pursuing an <a href="http://www.nasdaq.com/markets/ipos/company/xunlei-ltd-857196-75531">IPO in the United States</a>. In May last year there was a breakthrough, with the former rivals <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-strikes-anti-piracy-deal-with-torrent-client-creator-140604/">signing a Content Protection Agreement (CPA)</a> requiring Xunlei to protect MPAA studio content including movies and TV shows.</p>
<p>In October 2014, however, the MPAA <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-reports-top-pirate-sites-u-s-government-141027/">reported Xunlei</a> to the U.S. government, complaining that piracy was rampant on the service. Something had clearly gone wrong, an assertion that was only underlined this morning with a report that the MPAA has <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/mpaa-renews-piracy-battle-chinas-764873">now sued Xunlei</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;For too long we have witnessed valuable creative content being taken and monetized without the permission of the copyright owner. That has to stop and stop now,&#8221; said Mike Ellis, the MPAA&#8217;s Asia-Pacific chief.</p>
<p>While it&#8217;s clear that the MPAA are disappointed with Xunlei&#8217;s efforts, it&#8217;s certainly possible that the company found it impossible to fulfill its agreement with the MPAA. Documents obtained by TorrentFreak dated May 2014 (days before the deal was signed) detailing a draft agreement which Xunlei &#8220;stated unequivocally in writing that it will accept&#8221; reveal the toughest set of anti-piracy demands ever seen.</p>
<p><strong>Content filtering</strong></p>
<p>The CPA reveals that Xunlei agreed to deploy <a href="http://www.vobileinc.com/">Vobile</a>&#8216;s fingerprinting system across all of its services (including file-sharing clients) to ensure that no unfiltered content would ever be uploaded or downloaded. Filters were to have been deployed within 120 days of signing the agreement and would have to be implemented on both past and future projects.</p>
<p><strong>Repeat infringers</strong></p>
<p>The CPA requires Xunlei to terminate those who not only infringe but also those who attempt to infringe copyright. For all U.S.-based users of Xunlei the company agreed to implement a three-strike policy, with Chinese user strike numbers to be determined later.</p>
<p>&#8220;This is a very strict repeat infringer policy — as strict as exists anywhere in key respects — in that both uploads and downloads count and in that infringement is determined by the filter (not just based on<br>
notices received),&#8221; the MPAA document reads.</p>
<p>&#8220;[The] filter will identify each and every instance of a user attempting to infringe a studio work, by uploading or downloading.  Thus, the repeat infringer numbers likely will be off the charts in our favor when we have those later negotiations.  Xunlei is also obligated to preserve data on identified infringers, and we can request this data in our due diligence reviews.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>Site blocking</strong></p>
<p>The CPA also grants the MPAA the power to determine who Xunlei can deal with online.</p>
<p>&#8220;[The MPAA] will be able to identify to Xunlei what we believe to be &#8216;pirate sites&#8217; and Xunlei will block those domains from all aspects of its system (e.g., no using those domains for accelerated downloads and no accepting communications/links from those domains),&#8221; the MPAA writes.</p>
<p><strong>Licensing &#8211; content is banned unless the MPAA says otherwise</strong></p>
<p>As a content provider Xunlei has licensing deals with many companies to provide legitimate content. However, the CPA with the MPAA restricts the company&#8217;s ability to make its own decisions without reference.</p>
<p>&#8220;The definition of Unauthorized Content&#8230;excludes content for which Xunlei has a license directly or for which the studios have granted a license to a site or users that would extend to and authorize the use contemplated by Xunlei.  However, this is not left to Xunlei to determine,&#8221; the MPAA notes.</p>
<p>&#8220;All content is deemed Unauthorized unless Xunlei obtains express written confirmation from the appropriate studio that a relevant license has been granted,&#8221; with the CPA &#8220;putting the burden on [Xunlei] to get written confirmations and effectively to create a white list.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>Access to source code</strong></p>
<p>&#8220;[The MPAA] will have rights of due diligence, which will allow us access to source code and technical data/documents, to assess Xunlei’s compliance,&#8221; the MPAA adds.</p>
<p><strong>When it all goes wrong</strong></p>
<p>The Content Protection Agreement includes clauses for the MPAA not to sue Xunlei for copyright infringement as long as it keeps to its side of the deal. However, it appears the MPAA wanted to avoid legal action if at all possible.</p>
<p>&#8220;[In] the event that we are still seeing significant infringement even with Xunlei honoring its filtering obligations, then either [Xunlei] violated its representation (which by agreement is deemed a material breach) or the ongoing cooperation provisions kick in – and if [Xunlei] does not comply with them, we can sue,&#8221; the MPAA notes.</p>
<p>&#8220;Given the limited relief available in an action in China and the uncertainty of suit in the US, we strongly recommend that we accept the contingent covenant not to sue in the draft CPA.&#8221;</p>
<p>There are currently no reports of the MPAA&#8217;s legal action in Chinese media but it will be interesting to see the reaction in the days to come. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=kTrG92eHovE:I8Pdp3CKr68:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=kTrG92eHovE:I8Pdp3CKr68:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=kTrG92eHovE:I8Pdp3CKr68:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/kTrG92eHovE" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100118
title: How Hollywood Plans to Seize Pirate Site Domain Names
uri: How-Hollywood-Plans-to-Seize-Pirate-Site-Domain-Names
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/zoy73zu7sJ0/
content:
<p><a href="media/bf524f61.pirate-running.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-running.jpg"><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"></a>Last December a leaked document from the MPAA <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/leak-exposes-hollywoods-global-anti-piracy-strategy-141212/">exposed</a> Hollywood’s global anti-piracy priorities for the coming years.</p>
<p>The leak listed the mysterious term &#8220;Fujian&#8221; as one of the top priorities, without explaining what the name of a Chinese province has to do with online piracy.</p>
<p>Additional documents seen by TF shed more light on the issue. It turns out that the MPAA is slowly but steadily testing a novel legal procedure through which it hopes to seize the domain names of top pirate sites. </p>
<p>Fujian actually refers to the company &#8220;Fujian Sharing Import &#038; Export Ltd,&#8221; which was <a href="http://outdoorindustry.org/education/library.php?newsId=15091&#038;newsSubType=Trade+%26+Global+Competitiveness&#038;action=display">sued several years ago</a> for selling counterfeit Polo Ralph Lauren and The North Face clothing.</p>
<p>The counterfeiters used thousands of websites to sell their knockoffs using just as many domain names. If one was taken down, Fujian would simply replace it by a new one selling the same counterfeit gear. </p>
<p>To stop this game of Whack-A-Mole a federal court in New York ordered various intermediaries, including domain name registries, to stop working with the company and hand over the domain names to the clothing manufacturers. If they failed to comply, the registries themselves would be held liable.</p>
<p>In recent years both The North Face and Polo Ralph Lauren <a href="http://ia700501.us.archive.org/4/items/gov.uscourts.nysd.359375/gov.uscourts.nysd.359375.docket.html">frequently updated</a> the list of counterfeit domain names and had them seized by their registries and deleted from search engines.</p>
<p>The movie studios are now planning to use the same strategy against pirate sites. Besides asking reputable domain name registries to take voluntary action, they also plan to use the &#8220;Fujian&#8221; model in court.</p>
<p>In a detailed overview of its strategies the MPAA says that it wants to &#8220;persuade or compel domain name registries that control the reputable gTLDs (e.g., .com, .org) to terminate domain services for demonstrated pirate sites.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;Efforts principally include civil litigation (Fujian strategy) and outreach to registries seeking to ensure they do not provide domain services to pirate sites,&#8221; they add.</p>
<p>Thus far they have had some success in the U.S. in a lawsuit against a ring of counterfeit DVD sites. However, the tactic has yet to be tried against sites that offer streaming services, torrents or links to pirated material. </p>
<p>Behind closed doors the MPAA admits that targeting domain names will be less effective than site blocking, which is <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-prepares-to-bring-pirate-site-blocking-to-the-u-s-141211/">also on the agenda</a>, as sites can move to so-called &#8220;rogue&#8221; registries. But it is still expected to have a decent impact.</p>
<p>&#8220;Nevertheless, domain name termination can be very effective in disrupting pirate sites	and the	user experience	in visiting them. At least temporarily, thesite is	made inaccessible,&#8221; MPAA notes. </p>
<p>&#8220;Even sites that come back online can be expected to see reduced traffic, with a corresponding impact on profitability and sustainability,&#8221; they add.</p>
<p>And there&#8217;s more to worry about. Looking at one of the <a href="media/eb573321.gov.uscourts.nysd.359375.176.0.pdf" data-original-source="http://ia700501.us.archive.org/4/items/gov.uscourts.nysd.359375/gov.uscourts.nysd.359375.176.0.pdf">most recent</a> (24th!) supplemental order in the Fujian case we see that the court grants rightsholders powers that go much further than targeting domain names alone.</p>
<p>The order also requires search engines to delist the infringing URLs, banks to seize the site&#8217;s assets, and forbids  ISPs, back-end service providers and web designers to do business with the domain name owners.</p>
<p>Whether the MPAA will be successful with their efforts has yet to be seen but persistent pirates may want to learn the IP-addresses of their favorite sites by heart, just in case.	</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=zoy73zu7sJ0:uDgBpaA0yXw:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=zoy73zu7sJ0:uDgBpaA0yXw:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=zoy73zu7sJ0:uDgBpaA0yXw:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/zoy73zu7sJ0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100190
title: Pirate Bay Shows Most Significant Signs of Return Yet
uri: Pirate-Bay-Shows-Most-Significant-Signs-of-Return-Yet
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/VfgtVxPU6mY/
content:
<p><img src="media/2a43984f.pirate-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-bay.jpg" width="200" height="207" class="alignright">For friends and foe alike, the past 44 days have resulted in a will it / won&#8217;t it return guessing game surrounding The Pirate Bay.</p>
<p>The self-styled &#8220;world&#8217;s most resilient torrent site&#8221; put a dent in its own billing by going down after a <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/swedish-police-raid-the-pirate-bay-site-offline-141209/">December 9 raid</a> and failing to return. But that has done little to stop speculation that something is on the way.</p>
<p>Via a web server in Moldova, those behind the site have been posting various hints and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bays-mystery-aes-code-finally-decrypted-150112/">teasers</a> suggesting that the current downtime will come to an end in roughly 10 days time. Whether that will actually be the case remains to be seen, but new changes today have certainly excited observers.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/8f35bfce.tpb-return.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpb-return.png" alt="TPB-return"></center></p>
<p>As can be seen from the image above, ThePirateBay.se has today reverted to a much more familiar look. With the earlier black and waving <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-domain-back-online-waving-a-pirate-flag-141221/">full-page pirate flag</a> shrunk to fit a box in the center of the screen, its surroundings are now almost identical to the layout in place when the site went down in December.</p>
<p>Returned but currently grayed out are the well-worn torrent browsing features, categories, preferences and languages. PirateBrowser and PromoBay links are active, however. These and the familiar Pirate Bay logo are now bordered by two features that have welcomed visitors for the past several weeks.</p>
<p>At the bottom of the page the notorious Pirate galleon continues to sail towards its <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-sets-sail-for-home-base-150108/">island destination</a> (now renamed welcomehome.png) and up top the countdown timer continues inexorably towards its February 1 conclusion.</p>
<p>Other technical changes include the implementation of a Cloudflare protected front end for the site, although TF can confirm that the site is still based at Trabia, the Republic of Moldova&#8217;s largest datacenter.</p>
<p>While it seems unlikely that Pirate Bay will stay in that location should it return next week, the company behind the site&#8217;s hosting has already laid down some pointers.</p>
<p>&#8220;We do support freedom of speech and barrier-free Internet usage. In the same time we operate a strict zero-tolerance abuse policy which is part of our terms of service on which all services we provide to our clients are based,&#8221; the company said in a statement.</p>
<p>&#8220;This means that our clients have to obey national and international laws. In case our clients violate this by abusing our services they are suspended and/or terminated if necessary.&#8221;</p>
<p>Given the site&#8217;s current status (no sharing features whatsoever) Trabia says that no action against the site is needed. The company does note, however, that Moldova&#8217;s copyright law of 2010 can require a host to take action against sites that violate the rights of third parties. Nevertheless, the issue may not be straightforward in the case of The Pirate Bay.</p>
<p>&#8220;The problem here is that the technology used, so called &#8216;magnet links&#8217;, is not violating the right of 3rd parties directly,&#8221; the company says.</p>
<p>&#8220;[There] is actually no copyright infringement originating from websites such as &#8216;thepiratebay.se&#8217; which makes it a very complex case which is open for a lot of interpretation and discussions. We stand behind all our clients as long as they use our services for a legal purpose,&#8221; Trabia concludes.</p>
<p>In the meantime the Swedish investigation into the site continues and is likely to take <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-investigation-will-take-months-to-complete-150110/">months to complete</a>. Millions hope the site&#8217;s return will precede the investigation&#8217;s conclusion.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=VfgtVxPU6mY:eeRsBbdgGqE:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=VfgtVxPU6mY:eeRsBbdgGqE:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=VfgtVxPU6mY:eeRsBbdgGqE:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/VfgtVxPU6mY" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100205
title: Torrent Site Blockades Are Disproportional, Greek Court Rules
uri: Torrent-Site-Blockades-Are-Disproportional-Greek-Court-Rules
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/ebQWyREz32Q/
content:
<p><a href="media/e39c1037.censorship.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/censorship.jpg"><img src="media/6cb6a973.censorship.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/censorship.jpg" alt="censorship" width="200" height="200" class="alignright size-full wp-image-47463"></a>Site blocking actions have become relatively common throughout Europe over the past several years. Copyright groups have won court cases in various countries including the UK, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Italy and France. </p>
<p>The rightsholders typically argue that &#8216;pirate&#8217; sites infringe their rights and demand that ISPs stop forwarding traffic to them. This was also the plan in Greece, where the Greek Society for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AEPI) sued local ISPs <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anti-piracy-group-demands-blocks-of-kickass-isohunt-1337x-and-h33t-130502/">two years ago</a>.</p>
<p>AEPI wanted the Internet providers to block access to The Pirate Bay, KickassTorrents, isoHunt, 1337x and H33T, plus several local sites. The group argued that the sites damage their members’ businesses, but the ISPs countered this request by pointing out that censorship is not the answer.</p>
<p>A few days ago the Athens Court reached its conclusion which largely sides with the ISPs. The ruling states that blockades are disproportional and in violation of various constitutional rights. </p>
<p>Among other things, such measures would breach people&#8217;s right to freedom of information, confidential communications and protections against the collection, processing and use of personal data.</p>
<p>One of the problems the Court <a href="http://news.in.gr/science-technology/article/?aid=1231378922">signaled</a> is that the torrent sites also contain links to files that are distributed legally. These would be needlessly censored by the blockades. </p>
<p>In addition the verdict doubts that the blockades will be effective to begin with, as there are various circumvention options for site owners and users. </p>
<p>The Court further referenced the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, noting that ISPs&#8217; “freedom to conduct a business” is at stake, as well as net neutrality principles.</p>
<p>&#8220;&#8230;the requested injunction goes contrary to Article 16 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, violating the rights of defendants providers in entrepreneurship, and the basic principle of Internet neutrality, which provides that all information must be handled without discrimination,&#8221; it notes.</p>
<p>TF spoke with Dr. Konstantinos Komaitis, an expert in Internet governance and intellectual property, who argues that in such cases proportionality is key in determining the appropriate balance.</p>
<p>“The decision by the Greek Court is very well thought and reasoned both from a legal and technology perspectives,&#8221; Komaitis says. </p>
<p>Komaitis explains that other, more appropriate and technology neutral measures should be considered, because blocking torrent sites would interfere with the right to freely share and receive information. In addition the measures are unnecessary and ineffective, since users would be able to find ways to get past the blockades.  </p>
<p>&#8220;On the technology side, the Court correctly understood that torrent technology can — and has been &#8211; used for legal purposes, so blocking would not only be ineffective but also jeopardize its legal use,&#8221; Komaitis adds.</p>
<p>&#8220;All in all, the Court&#8217;s decision demonstrates two things: first, proportionality is an unwavering principle in the Greek legal system that is able to strike a very important balance between various rights; and, second, the ability of courts to understand and protect technologies that are part of an innovative Internet environment.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Greek verdict is similar to that of a Dutch Appeals court in The Hague <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/isps-no-longer-have-to-block-the-pirate-bay-dutch-court-rules-140128/">last year</a>, which ruled that the local blockade of The Pirate Bay had to be lifted. </p>
<p>In Greece AEPI still has the option to appeal the verdict, but whether they plan to do so is unknown at the moment. For the time being, however, the targeted torrent sites remain accessible.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=ebQWyREz32Q:7pMv_TOfyz4:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=ebQWyREz32Q:7pMv_TOfyz4:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=ebQWyREz32Q:7pMv_TOfyz4:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/ebQWyREz32Q" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100238
title: Netflix Sees Popcorn Time As a Serious Competitor
uri: Netflix-Sees-Popcorn-Time-As-a-Serious-Competitor
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/PX4gTbe0plk/
content:
<p><a href="media/057c7f2e.netflix-logo.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/netflix-logo.png"><img src="media/b310fc7c.netflix-logo.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/netflix-logo.png" alt="netflix-logo" width="200" height="121" class="alignright size-full wp-image-69714"></a>The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popcorn_Time">Popcorn Time </a>app brought peer-to-peer streaming to a mainstream public last year.</p>
<p>Branded the &#8220;Netflix for Pirates&#8221; it became <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/popcorn-time-installed-1-4-million-devices-u-s-140901/">an instant hit</a> by offering BitTorrent-powered streaming in an easy-to-use Netflix-style interface.</p>
<p>This was cause for concern for many Hollywood executives and Netflix itself is now also starting to worry. In a letter to the company&#8217;s shareholders Popcorn Time gets a special mention.</p>
<p>&#8220;Piracy continues to be one of our biggest competitors,&#8221; Netflix CEO Reed Hastings writes.</p>
<p>&#8220;This <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=netflix%2C%20HBO%2C%20Popcorn%20Time&#038;geo=NL&#038;date=1%2F2014%2013m&#038;cmpt=q&#038;tz=">graph</a> of Popcorn Time’s sharp rise relative to Netflix and HBO in the Netherlands, for example, is sobering,&#8221; he adds, referencing the Google trends data below showing Popcorn Time quickly catching up with Netflix. </p>
<p><center><a href="media/fdce962c.popcorn-netflix.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/popcorn-netflix.png"><img src="media/fdce962c.popcorn-netflix.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/popcorn-netflix.png" alt="popcorn-netflix" width="862" height="473" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-100242"></a></center></p>
<p>While it&#8217;s a relatively small note, Hastings&#8217; comments do mark a change in attitude for a company that previously described itself as a <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/netflix-says-its-killing-bittorrent-traffic-130504/">piracy killer</a>.</p>
<p>Netflix&#8217;s CEO <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/netflix-uses-pirate-sites-to-determine-what-shows-to-buy-130914/">previously noted</a> that piracy might even help the company, as many torrent users would eventually switch to Netflix as it offers a much better user experience.</p>
<p>“Certainly there’s some torrenting that goes on, and that’s true around the world, but some of that just creates the demand,” Hastings said last year.</p>
<p>“Netflix is so much easier than torrenting. You don’t have to deal with files, you don’t have to download them and move them around. You just click and watch,” he added.</p>
<p>The problem with Popcorn Time is that it&#8217;s just as easy as Netflix, if not easier. And in terms of recent movies and TV-shows the pirated alternative has a superior content library too. </p>
<p>A study published by research firm KPMG <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/most-top-films-are-not-available-on-netflix-research-finds-140926/">previously revealed</a> that only 16% of the most popular and critically acclaimed films are available via Netflix and other on-demand subscription services. </p>
<p>While Netflix largely depends on the content creators when it comes to what content they can make available, this is certainly one of the areas where they have to &#8220;catch up.&#8221; </p>
<p>Despite the Popcorn Time concerns, business is going well for Netflix. The company announced its results for the fourth quarter of 2014 which resulted in $1.48 billion in revenue, up 26%, and a profit of $83 million. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=PX4gTbe0plk:AaT8SpCJVbw:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=PX4gTbe0plk:AaT8SpCJVbw:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=PX4gTbe0plk:AaT8SpCJVbw:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/PX4gTbe0plk" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100175
title: Cox: We’re Not Responsible For Pirating Customers
uri: Cox-We-re-Not-Responsible-For-Pirating-Customers
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/PdWw19997eE/
content:
<p><a href="media/1082974f.cox-logo.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/cox-logo.png"><img src="media/015f41e0.cox-logo.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cox-logo.png" alt="cox-logo" width="200" height="99" class="alignright size-full wp-image-68146"></a>For more than a decade copyright holders have been sending ISPs takedown notices to alert account holders that someone’s been using their connection to share copyrighted material.</p>
<p>These notifications have to be forwarded under the DMCA law and are meant to deter Internet subscribers from sharing unauthorized material. </p>
<p>Cox Communications is one of the ISPs that forwards these notices. The ISP also implemented a strict <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/cox-targets-pirates-with-10-strikes-program-130408/">set of rules</a> of its own accord to ensure that its customers understand the severity of the allegations.</p>
<p>According to some copyright holders, however, Cox&#8217;s efforts are falling short. Last month BMG Rights Management and Round Hill Music <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/cox-communications-sued-for-not-disconnecting-pirates-141128/">sued</a> the ISP because it fails to terminate the accounts of repeat infringers. </p>
<p>The companies, which control the publishing rights to songs by Katy Perry, The Beatles and David Bowie among others, <a href="media/05920dca.gov.uscourts.vaed.310858.1.0.pdf" data-original-source="http://ia601407.us.archive.org/30/items/gov.uscourts.vaed.310858/gov.uscourts.vaed.310858.1.0.pdf">claimed</a> that Cox has given up its DMCA safe harbor protections due to this inaction.</p>
<p>The case is a critical test for the repeat infringer clause of the DMCA and the safe harbor protections ISPs enjoy.</p>
<p>Today Cox replied (<a href="media/d0054a55.torrentfreak-cox-reply.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/torrentfreak-cox-reply.pdf">pdf</a>) to the complaint, denying pretty much all allegations put forward by the music publishers. In addition, the ISP briefly outlined various defenses it submits in reply. </p>
<p>The company argues that the claims against the company are barred for a wide range of reasons. Cox had no knowledge of the infringements, for example, and never had the intent to induce, profit from, or materially contribute to piracy conducted by its customers.</p>
<p>In addition the ISP notes that the claim of vicarious liability falls flat because the company has no controlling (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Respondeat_superior">Respondeat superior</a>) relationship with its customers.</p>
<p>While the responses are very brief, and have yet to be detailed in the future, Cox also argues that the music publishers may not have the proper copyrights to some of the works that are at stake.  </p>
<p>&#8220;Plaintiffs’ claims are barred to the extent they do not own copyrights in the works underlying their claims,&#8221; they note, </p>
<p>In addition, Cox&#8217;s lawyers argue that &#8220;the doctrine of copyright misuse&#8221; bars their claims, suggesting that BMG and Round Hill Music used abusive or improper practices in exploiting or enforcing copyright.</p>
<p>The latter may refer to the settlement schemes the publishers are engaged in together with Rightscorp. A few weeks ago Rightscorp and its clients were <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/piracy-monetization-firm-rightscorp-sued-harassment-abuse-141124/">sued for fraud, harassment and abuse</a> for their controversial anti-piracy actions.</p>
<p>The case will now move forward with both sides substantiating their claims during the months to come. Given the importance of the issue at hand it wouldn&#8217;t be a surprise if other ISPs and web services such as Google also chime in.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=PdWw19997eE:1fvvCh7zG8c:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=PdWw19997eE:1fvvCh7zG8c:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=PdWw19997eE:1fvvCh7zG8c:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/PdWw19997eE" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100262
title: Bomber Tries Copyright Troll Argument to Unmask Critic
uri: Bomber-Tries-Copyright-Troll-Argument-to-Unmask-Critic
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/e-Te4Ohf7v8/
content:
<p><a href="media/c2e9346f.brett-k.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/brett-k.jpg"><img src="media/c2e9346f.brett-k.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/brett-k.jpg" alt="brett-k" width="200" height="156" class="alignright size-full wp-image-100271"></a>Born in 1954, Brett Kimberlin has led a colorful criminal life. In 1973 he was convicted of felony perjury after lying about his activities to a grand jury investigation drug trafficking.</p>
<p>Five years later Kimberlin became a suspect in the murder of Julia Scyphers, a 65-year-old grandmother who strongly disapproved of Kimberlin&#8217;s relationship with her 13-year-old granddaughter. Scyphers had been shot once in head.</p>
<p>However, police in Speedway, Indiana, soon had additional things on their mind. In the first few days of September 1978 a wave of bombings hit Speedway which led to serious injuries including the loss of a Vietnam veteran&#8217;s leg.</p>
<p>Authorities believed that Kimberlin set up the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speedway_bombings">Speedway Bombings</a> as an attempt to distract from the investigation into Scyphers’ murder. While Kimberlin was never tried for this crime (the only witness died) he was convicted of the bombings and sentenced to 51 years in prison.</p>
<p>Ever since, Kimberlin &#8211; the son of a lawyer &#8211; has become known for <a href="https://www.popehat.com/2013/09/17/the-popehat-signal-help-fight-evil-in-maryland/">filing lawsuits</a> against his critics &#8211; and <a href="https://www.popehat.com/2014/08/12/bloggers-defeat-brett-kimberlins-vexatious-defamation-case-in-maryland/">failing miserably</a>.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, Kimberlin isn&#8217;t giving up. In one ongoing case (Brett Kimberlin vs National Bloggers Club) the convicted bomber is taking action against several bloggers who wrote things about his past <a href="http://allergic2bull.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/confronting-terrorists-opposed-to.html">he took offense to</a>. It&#8217;s a quagmire of a case and one that has just seen Kimberlin reference copyright-trolling aspects for the first time.</p>
<p>At this point Kimberlin is trying to identify a person who wrote about him on the <a href="http://www.ace.mu.nu/">Ace of Spades blog</a> (AOS) but is not named as a party in the action. So far Kimberlin has been unsuccessful, however he feels that since litigants in copyright cases have previously succeeded in unmasking alleged infringers, he should also be able to.</p>
<p>&#8220;Defendant AOS repeatedly states that since Plaintiff has not identified AOS as a person in the Complaint, he cannot seek the identity of AOS. This circular argument highlights one of the basic reasons why Plaintiff needs to know the identity of AOS,&#8221; Kimberlin <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/253325723/ECF-251-Redacted">told</a> a Maryland district court yesterday.</p>
<p>&#8220;As this Court noted in [an earlier <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/?s=malibu">Malibu Media</a> case, extract below], a plaintiff cannot effectively litigate a civil case if he does not know the identity of the defendant.&#8221;</p>
<blockquote><p><em>Malibu cannot engage in discovery to probe the underlying facts underlying its claim without first naming a defendant. Unless Malibu is permitted, at least at the initial stages of litigation, to proceed against a subscriber, it will be caught in a Catch-22&#8230;(<a href="http://leagle.com/decision/In%20FDCO%2020141217B99/MALIBU%20MEDIA,%20LLC%20v.%20DOE">link</a>)</em></p></blockquote>
<p>&#8220;It should be noted that this Court has granted the issuance of subpoenas in scores of cases brought by Malibu Media to identify anonymous civil defendants who violated copyrights by illegally downloading films,&#8221; Kimberlin continues.</p>
<p>&#8220;Many of those defendants made arguments similar to AOS, (e.g.,they would be subjected to harassment or pressured into settlement), yet every Maryland federal judge in each of those cases rejected their arguments.</p>
<p>&#8220;Wherefore, for all the above reasons and the reasons set forth in Plaintiff&#8217;s motion, this Court should order the identity of AceofSpades,&#8221; Kimberlin concludes.</p>
<p>Whether or not the Court will be swayed by Kimberlin&#8217;s arguments remains to be seen, but Popehat&#8217;s <a href="https://www.popehat.com/2013/10/20/update-on-brett-kimberlins-lawfare-and-the-popehat-signal-kimberlins-new-rico-case/">assessment</a> of Kimberlin&#8217;s current and previous legal efforts is hardly a shining one.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=e-Te4Ohf7v8:6n9CXqvi8eY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=e-Te4Ohf7v8:6n9CXqvi8eY:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=e-Te4Ohf7v8:6n9CXqvi8eY:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/e-Te4Ohf7v8" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100294
title: Police Seized 50 Servers in Pirate Bay Raid
uri: Police-Seized-50-Servers-in-Pirate-Bay-Raid
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/6CYi9ZiV1GM/
content:
<p><img src="media/4e243e8b.tpb-logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpb-logo.jpg" width="222" height="198" class="alignright">The first major raid on The Pirate Bay took place on May 31 2006 in Stockholm, Sweden. It was a dramatic affair, with <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/the-piratebay-is-down-raided-by-the-swedish-police/">dozens of police</a> involved, hardware seized and individuals arrested.</p>
<p>But while authorities previously shut down the &#8216;Bay in a blaze of glory while pressing the maximum publicity button (most probably to send a signal to the United States), this time around things were markedly different. Announcements, when they arrived, were much more considered &#8211; vague even.</p>
<p>“There has been a crackdown on a server room in Greater Stockholm. This is in connection with violations of copyright law,” <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/swedish-police-raid-the-pirate-bay-site-offline-141209/">read</a> a statement from Paul Pintér, police national coordinator for IP enforcement.</p>
<p>It seems likely that the more modest tone was the product of 12 years of virtual humiliation at the hands of the world&#8217;s most arrogant torrent site. Big announcements of raids and permanent closures are hard to retract when a site returns in 72 hours as it did following the raids in 2006.</p>
<p>This time around the raid was confirmed as taking place in a datacenter located in Nacka outside Stockholm, but very few details have been made available since. However, according to new information, police left no stone unturned to ensure that The Pirate Bay was properly taken down.</p>
<p>A witness to the raid has now confirmed that more than 10 officers turned up at the datacenter which, rather dramatically, is itself embedded into the side of a mountain just outside the capital.</p>
<p>Alongside regular law enforcement officials were a forensics team tasked with securing all available related digital evidence on site. Previously prosecutor Fredrik Ingblad said the investigation into the site would take months and now it&#8217;s becoming clear why that&#8217;s the case.</p>
<p>To ensure no piece of evidence was left behind, on December 9, 2014 the officers present seized around 50 servers under suspicion of being connected to The Pirate Bay. That&#8217;s somewhat more than the 21 virtual servers the site previously <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-runs-on-21-raid-proof-virtual-machines-140921/">claimed</a> to operate.</p>
<p>According to a source familiar with events last month, police not only took away servers that had been live at the time of the raid, but they also gained access to the datacenter&#8217;s storage rooms. From there officers <a href="http://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/nyheter/snart-kan-pirate-bay-ateruppsta/">seized</a> old equipment, just in case any of it had been used to operate The Pirate Bay.</p>
<p>While shutting down the site was the main goal of the police, evidence is now being sifted through as part of a criminal investigation. Earlier this month prosecutor Fredrik Ingblad <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-investigation-will-take-months-to-complete-150110/">confirmed</a> that the process would like take months to complete.</p>
<p>With that underway, speculation continues as to whether The Pirate Bay will ever return. <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-shows-significant-signs-return-yet-150121/">Various hints and suggestions</a> have been appearing on the site&#8217;s temporary homepage but as yet not a single torrent or magnet link has been indexed.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, the site remains massively popular. Understandably ThePirateBay.se took a massive hit in traffic when it stopped offering content in December but against all the odds the site is still attracting millions of visitors. According to Alexa, the site is still the 159th most-trafficked in the world.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/f31ee91f.tpb-traffic.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpb-traffic.png" alt="tpb-traffic"></center></p>
<p>Finally, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-shows-significant-signs-return-yet-150121/">as reported</a> earlier this week, the site&#8217;s homepage was recently hosted in Moldova but protected by Cloudflare. While the anti-DDoS service is still in place, the site does not appear to be operational from its earlier IP address.</p>
<p>On the move already? Only eight days to find out&#8230;&#8230;.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=6CYi9ZiV1GM:WdgkYdmY68g:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=6CYi9ZiV1GM:WdgkYdmY68g:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=6CYi9ZiV1GM:WdgkYdmY68g:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/6CYi9ZiV1GM" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100300
title: Apple Patents Technology to Legalize P2P Sharing
uri: Apple-Patents-Technology-to-Legalize-P2P-Sharing
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/4xCtN4ZK1ZI/
content:
<p><a href="media/747f38a6.apple-p2p.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/apple-p2p.png"><img src="media/747f38a6.apple-p2p.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/apple-p2p.png" alt="apple-p2p" width="275" height="191" class="alignright size-full wp-image-100303"></a>Little over a decade ago Apple revolutionized the music industry with its iTunes store, allowing people to purchase digital copies of their favorite music. </p>
<p>With iTunes, Apple offered pirates a legal option, but the company still sees value in &#8220;sharing&#8221; music and other media with friends and family. </p>
<p>In fact, the company was just awarded <a href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/253494904/TorrentFreak-on-Apple-p2p-Sharing">a patent</a> that makes it possible to license P2P sharing. </p>
<p>Titled &#8220;decoupling rights in a digital content unit from download&#8221; the patent describes a system where users can freely share music and videos with each other. Instead of getting the actual file from iTunes or other stores, users would only need to obtain a license. </p>
<p>Once licensed these files can be shared freely across one&#8217;s own devices, with friends, family or even complete strangers.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/928ee508.applepat1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/applepat1.png"><img src="media/928ee508.applepat1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/applepat1.png" alt="applepat1" width="647" height="372" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-100309"></a></center> </p>
<p>According to Apple such a system has several benefits. Among other things, reduced bandwidth and other overhead costs. This may result in a separate and cheaper price tier for those users who only have to license a media file. </p>
<p>&#8220;This reduction in operating expenses may facilitate a two-tier pricing structure. For example, the digital content store may charge a first price to users who download a digital content unit from the store and a second price to users who authorize a digital content unit without downloading the unit,&#8221; the patent reads.</p>
<p>This price reduction may then make it more interesting to share files legally, thereby reducing traditional forms of piracy. </p>
<p>&#8220;This may encourage users to trade or copy digital content units as well as authorize these copies. Such sharing may, in turn, reduce piracy or illegal copying..,&#8221; Apple argues.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/e48027af.apple2.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/apple2.png"><img src="media/e48027af.apple2.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/apple2.png" alt="apple2" width="756" height="565" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-100311"></a></center></p>
<p>While &#8220;legalized P2P sharing&#8221; may sound appealing, in theory it&#8217;s actually quite restrictive. The idea introduces a new layer of content protection which means that the files in question can only be played on  &#8220;trusted client software.&#8221;</p>
<p>This means that transferring files between devices is only possible if these support Apple&#8217;s licensing scheme. That&#8217;s actually a step backwards from the DRM-free music that&#8217;s sold in most stores today.</p>
<p>It’s unclear whether Apple has any plans to use the P2P licensing technology in the wild. The original idea is a bit dated, but perhaps Apple can think of some less restrictive implementations of their newly obtained patent. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=4xCtN4ZK1ZI:Q3Pyu8pWDYg:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=4xCtN4ZK1ZI:Q3Pyu8pWDYg:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=4xCtN4ZK1ZI:Q3Pyu8pWDYg:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/4xCtN4ZK1ZI" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100181
title: Men Tried for Extortion After Porn Download Threats
uri: Men-Tried-for-Extortion-After-Porn-Download-Threats
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/1A69uuDNOzk/
content:
<p><a href="media/aba3062c.badtroll.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/badtroll.jpg"><img src="media/8a570fa2.badtroll.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/badtroll.jpg" alt="badtroll" width="190" height="164" class="alignright size-full wp-image-66313"></a>For more than a decade copyright holders around the world have been doing their best to extract money from those who download content without permission. The RIAA were probably the pioneers but today it&#8217;s the adult industry making the most noise.</p>
<p>Porn is a convenient weapon in this landscape. Few people want their adult content viewing habits to be made public so the chances of targets paying up following an unauthorized download are anecdotally higher than for regular entertainment content.</p>
<p>Out to make as much money as possible, this assumption wasn&#8217;t lost on a group of adult business &#8216;entrepreneurs&#8217; based in Sweden.</p>
<p>Operating out of the region of Skåne, two years ago the individuals began sending threatening communications to people they claimed had downloaded pornographic content from sites without permission. The websites in question were all operated by the men.</p>
<p>In total around 4,000 people all over Sweden received &#8216;invoices&#8217; for alleged illegal downloads. Each were warned that if they failed to pay the amounts stipulated they would be reported to the police and their activities made public.</p>
<p>While some people paid, others decided to take action. According to <a href="http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=105&#038;artikel=6072177">SR.se</a>, police received 1,000 complaints from members of the public ranging from 10-year-old children to pensioners.</p>
<p>After an investigation the police began to view the case as criminally motivated. As a result this week six men went on trial in the Malmö district court accused of generating around $240,000 via extortion and blackmail. During a break in proceedings one of the accused defended his actions.</p>
<p>&#8220;If people are stealing and taking things that do not belong to them they must face the consequences. It also applies to porn,&#8221; <a href="http://www.svt.se/nyheter/regionalt/sydnytt/han-hotade-hanga-ut-2-500-svenskar-som-purrsufare">said</a> Dennies Pettersson, one of the main defendants in the case.</p>
<p>In an <a href="http://nyheter24.se/debatt/787598-peter-sunde-moral-ar-subjektivt-den-gar-inte-att-lagstifta-kring">article</a> published in Nyheter24 this week, former Pirate Bay spokesman Peter Sunde said he hopes the men get convicted but wonders if the type of content involved affected the way the case was being handled.</p>
<p>&#8220;What I think is interesting and worth a little thought is how the situation would be if it were not porn but possibly pop music or Hollywood movies that had been downloaded? Who would&#8217;ve been the deceiver in the state&#8217;s eyes in that situation?&#8221; Sunde asks.</p>
<p>Due to the numbers of victims to be heard and its complexity (the investigation documents run to 20,000 pages) the Malmö district court has set aside a whole month to handle the case. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=1A69uuDNOzk:G0bmalVDOAE:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=1A69uuDNOzk:G0bmalVDOAE:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=1A69uuDNOzk:G0bmalVDOAE:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/1A69uuDNOzk" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100350
title: Zombie Pirate Bay Tracker Fuels Chinese DDoS Attacks
uri: Zombie-Pirate-Bay-Tracker-Fuels-Chinese-DDoS-Attacks
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/rY-1aSOcWFg/
content:
<p><a href="media/fd06f581.pirate-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-bay.jpg"><img src="media/2a43984f.pirate-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-bay.jpg" alt="pirate bay" width="200" height="207" class="alignright size-full wp-image-53470"></a>On November 2009 The Pirate Bay announced that it would <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-tracker-shuts-down-for-good-091117/">shut down its tracker</a> for good. </p>
<p>Trackers were outdated according to the site&#8217;s owners. Instead, they encouraged BitTorrent users to rely on DHT, PEX and other trackerless technologies. </p>
<p>Despite the fact that the tracker is no longer functional, many old and some new torrents still include the tracker.thepiratebay.org announce address. </p>
<p>While the tracker hasn&#8217;t responded to these calls for five years, for some server admins it has now risen from the dead. </p>
<p>Starting early January hundreds of websites have been plagued by traffic from China. While the exact reason remains unclear, it appears that the Great Firewall of China may be in part causing the problems. </p>
<p>Due to a reconfiguration the Pirate Bay domain is being linked to random IP-addresses. This problem applies to various censored sites, but the thousands of connections per second coming from tracker.thepiratebay.org stand out for most people. </p>
<p>It is no secret that BitTorrent users can <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-users-ddos-websites-without-knowing-120919/">easily DDoS websites</a> if the tracker address points to the wrong IP, but we haven&#8217;t witnessed something of this magnitude before.</p>
<p>Below is a graph Craig Hockenberry posted of a DDoS on his server where the number of requests peaked at 52 Mbps per second, with torrent announces being the most common source.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/8dcd09f3.dailyddos.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dailyddos.png"><img src="media/8dcd09f3.dailyddos.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dailyddos.png" alt="dailyddos" width="698" height="362" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-100368"></a></center></p>
<p>The suspicion that Chinese efforts to censor the Internet have something to do with the problems seems plausible. Querying <a href="http://viewdns.info/chinesefirewall/?domain=thepiratebay.org">Chinese DNS servers</a> returns many seemingly random IP-addresses that change all the time. </p>
<p>In other words, requests to the dead Pirate Bay trackers are sent to seemingly random servers, and none of these have anything to do with the notorious torrent site.</p>
<p>Johannes Ullrich, CTO of SANS Internet Storm Center, <a href="https://isc.sans.edu/diary/Are+You+Piratebay+thepiratebayorg+Resolving+to+Various+Hosts/19175/">came to a similar conclusion</a> and many of his readers reported <a href="https://isc.sans.edu/forums/diary/Are+You+Piratebay+thepiratebayorg+Resolving+to+Various+Hosts/19175/">problems of the same nature</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;We also get a lot of this type of traffic for the last 2 weeks. At moments it causes a total DoS for our webserver. Most of the traffic has thepiratebay as hostname in the http request, but we also see akamai, edgecdn and some more obscure and explicit sites passing in our logs,&#8221; Arjan says.</p>
<p>&#8220;I work in the banking sector in the UK. We started to see this traffic hit our web servers just before the new year and it has continued since, but thankfully not on a harmful scale. We&#8217;ve seen various sites in the host header, including thepiratebay, facebook, googlevideo &#8211; all of which appear to be restricted within China,&#8221; Anonymous adds.</p>
<p>And the list goes on and on.</p>
<p>Over the past several days <a href="http://blog.devops.co.il/post/108740168304/torrent-ddos-attack">reports</a> have come from all over the place, all <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8931827">describing</a> the <a href="http://www.jwz.org/blog/2015/01/chinese-bittorrent-the-gift-that-keeps-on-giving/">same problem</a>. Thus far, most server admins have decided to filter out Chinese traffic, which eases the load. But the underlying problem persists.</p>
<p>For now the true origin of the zombie DDoSes remains unknown, but hopefully those responsible will soon realize the crippling mistake they&#8217;ve made, and put Pirate Bay&#8217;s tracker back in the ground.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=rY-1aSOcWFg:1-dHq64Yme4:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=rY-1aSOcWFg:1-dHq64Yme4:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=rY-1aSOcWFg:1-dHq64Yme4:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/rY-1aSOcWFg" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100387
title: Pirate Party MEP Fails to Deliver True Copyright Reform
uri: Pirate-Party-MEP-Fails-to-Deliver-True-Copyright-Reform
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/W8-5ptf-bt0/
content:
<p><a href="media/b997f7ba.copyright-branded.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/copyright-branded.jpg"><img src="media/db7b975c.copyright-branded.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/copyright-branded.jpg" alt="copyright-branded" width="250" height="164" class="alignright size-full wp-image-56211"></a>The Pirate Party did not only manage to continue its presence in the European Parliament by having German Pirate Julia Reda elected. It also secured the politically important role of rapporteur on copyright reform. High expectations for a long overdue upheaval of the status quo in the political debates on copyright were warranted. </p>
<p>But in Julia Reda&#8217;s <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-mep-proposes-major-reform-of-eu-copyright-150119/">draft report on copyright</a> reform from Monday January 19, there is little to nothing in it that can be considered as a fulfillment of those expectations.</p>
<p>Her proposals for a new European copyright can be summarized as ”more of the same”. She wants the European Union to make a regulation, which means directly applicable at the member state level. This regulation, she suggests, can contain all of the current bits of copyright. This is by itself useful, especially for American technology companies that want to repeat their US successes and are confronted with a European market that is highly fragmented by its wildly disparate copyright laws.</p>
<p>Half of her report deals with the consequences of making a regulation. Of course, exceptions and limitations will be harmonized if the European law is directly applicable in all the member states. What people were requesting were broader exceptions and limitations and a re-assessment of the copyright framework and legal certainty for the benefit of individuals. Instead they&#8217;re getting benefits for corporations. What Julia proposes is to maintain things in their present state, while making it more difficult for individuals to influence local laws.</p>
<p>Part of the report deals with Julia&#8217;s admiration for the European Court of Justice rulings in the Svensson (hyperlinking), Best Water International (embedded videos) and Vlaams Belang (parody) cases. Respecting the judiciary is good, but not reform-friendly. The political mission outside of pure constitutional law is setting the framework for the judiciary, not to follow its lead.</p>
<p>Another sixth of the report – most of the progressive bits – deals with database rights. Julia does not, however, propose to change database rights. It&#8217;s in equal measure tragic and deceptive: she&#8217;s tricking people into believing she wants something, but she&#8217;s not giving herself the political space to accomplish that thing. Expecting us to cheer for her, no doubt, while she&#8217;s gutting the opportunity for realizing the hopes she inspires.</p>
<p>Even the European Commission has set a higher standard for themselves than this. It has acknowledged since 2009 that there is a problem with the substance of copyright. Their 2013 copyright consultation, it acknowledges, indicates that citizens, consumers and a large number of other actors experience problems with both the economic justice and the principles of copyright. De facto, Julia Reda is more conservative than the European Commission, and this is a massive problem for representative democracy.</p>
<p>While the Commission acknowledges remixing and transformative uses are important to a large number of users, Julia ”notices with interest” that remixing occurs. She praises the level of balancing between rightsholders&#8217; interests that the European copyright laws achieve. The Commission acknowledges instead that neither citizens or authors feel that such a balance exists. Is she making anyone happy?</p>
<p>The only proposal which makes even remote sense are two paragraphs on technological protection measures. In the cybersecurity spirit of the European Parliament established in its NSA resolution of 2014, she suggests not to put blackboxes in consumer IT products. So we have a copyright-friendly, cyber-security inspired German trying to impose a Brussels-made statist policy on 507 millions citizens of Europe which leaves stuff more or less the same. Angela Merkel could not have done it better had she tried.</p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<h4>About The Author</h4>
<p><a href="media/585d5d19.ameliaa.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ameliaa.jpg"><img src="media/585d5d19.ameliaa.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ameliaa.jpg" alt="ameliaa" width="150" height="135" class="alignright size-full wp-image-100403"></a></p>
<p><em>Amelia Andersdotter represented the Swedish Pirate Party in the European Parliament between December 2011 and July 2014. She&#8217;s an expert on topics related to the Internet, intellectual property and IT-policy.</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=W8-5ptf-bt0:1JWMGMgKYis:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=W8-5ptf-bt0:1JWMGMgKYis:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=W8-5ptf-bt0:1JWMGMgKYis:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/W8-5ptf-bt0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100413
title: Phoenix Hints At Imminent Pirate Bay Comeback
uri: Phoenix-Hints-At-Imminent-Pirate-Bay-Comeback
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/R20RUZBiltQ/
content:
<p><a href="media/02fd3933.phoenix1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/phoenix1.png"><img src="media/02fd3933.phoenix1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/phoenix1.png" alt="phoenix1" width="250" height="247" class="alignright size-full wp-image-100430"></a>During the Spring of 2006, less than three years after The Pirate Bay was founded, 65 Swedish police officers entered a datacenter in Stockholm. </p>
<p>The policemen had instructions to <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/the-piratebay-is-down-raided-by-the-swedish-police/">shut down</a> the largest threat to the entertainment industry at the time – The Pirate Bay’s servers.</p>
<p>The raid was successful, but while various copyright holder groups claimed a major victory, the Pirate Bay team wasn&#8217;t sitting still. </p>
<p>Thanks to a backup made by Fredrik Neij at the last minute, The Pirate Bay returned online in three days. Seemingly unimpressed by the raid, TPB renamed itself to “The Police Bay” complete with a <a href="media/dcabe2f3.tpb-logos.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpb-logos.jpg">new logo</a> shooting cannon balls at Hollywood. </p>
<p>A few days later this logo was <a href="media/234c1fe3.phoenix-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/phoenix-bay.jpg">replaced by a Phoenix</a>, a reference to the site rising from its digital ashes.</p>
<p>Last December The Pirate Bay was raided for the second time. This time around there was no quick comeback, but a new update that was added to the site today suggests that it&#8217;s coming. </p>
<p>After nearly nine years the Phoenix is once again present <a href="http://thepiratebay.se/">on the site&#8217;s homepage</a>, offering hope to estranged Pirate Bay users. </p>
<p>Although nothing has been confirmed officially, this is by far the most concrete hint that TPB is working hard on a comeback. </p>
<p>The counter that&#8217;s still running down suggests that TPB will return in full glory February 1st, so we should know more within a week. Tick tock, tick tock&#8230;</p>
<p><center><a href="media/5f000540.phoenixtpb.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/phoenixtpb.jpg"><img src="media/5f000540.phoenixtpb.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/phoenixtpb.jpg" alt="phoenixtpb" width="958" height="844" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-100414"></a></center></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=R20RUZBiltQ:ouZTLMeCsJo:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=R20RUZBiltQ:ouZTLMeCsJo:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=R20RUZBiltQ:ouZTLMeCsJo:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/R20RUZBiltQ" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100282
title: “Pirate Cinema” Visualizes Torrent Traffic in Online Art Display
uri: Pirate-Cinema-Visualizes-Torrent-Traffic-in-Online-Art-Display
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/m2PleYMNQAs/
content:
<p>Somewhere in a datacenter in Austria there&#8217;s a dedicated machine that has only one mission: download and share the 100 most popular files on BitTorrent and turn these bits and pieces into a piece of art. </p>
<p>The machine in question belongs to artist Nicolas Maigret and his <a href="http://thepiratecinema.com/">Pirate Cinema</a> project. Pirate Cinema has been on display for nearly two years in various venues, but this week the circle was completed when the piracy composition made its online debut.</p>
<p>TF caught up with Maigret to learn more about the background and purpose of Pirate Cinema. He tells us that after completing <a href="http://peripheriques.free.fr/blog/">several projects</a> where the proposal was to represent networks in a physical form, he wanted to visualize how they&#8217;re used by millions of people around the world.</p>
<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s where the Pirate Cinema concept started,&#8221; Maigret says.</p>
<p>Over the past several years Maigret has worked on bringing it to life in various forms and this week Pirate Cinema started streaming online for the first time. Those who check out the stream see chunks of popular videos flashing by, gathered from around the globe in real-time. </p>
<p><center><strong>Pirate Cinema (<a href="http://thepiratecinema.com/online/">live here</a>)</strong><br></br></center><center><iframe src="//player.vimeo.com/video/117208432?color=ff0179&amp;title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;portrait=0" width="650" height="366" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe></center></p>
<p>The video bits include the IP-address of the source, partially masked, and the country of origin. This is not without purpose. Maigret specifically includes this info to show how public these transfers are, and how easily they can be monitored.</p>
<p>&#8220;On one hand this is in response to omnipresent users surveillance going on the Internet. More specifically here, on the file sharing networks, where people are monitored daily, resulting in real life lawsuits,&#8221; Maigret tells us.</p>
<p>But Pirate Cinema is also a tribute to the Copy Culture that developed in the latest generations of computer users. The Copy Culture that is more common today than it has ever been before.</p>
<p>&#8220;For the last 15 years, P2P networks have served as a great resource for mainstream content, but also for valuable rarities and unknown content that is hardly accessible otherwise,&#8221; Maigret says</p>
<p>&#8220;File-sharing has been central in the access to culture worldwide. The Pirate Cinema tends to make those activities and dynamics tangible,&#8221; he adds.</p>
<p>Aside from the online display there is also a live audio-visual performance. This live show is composed of 6 acts that each monitor a specific selection of torrents, such as the rise of porn on BitTorrent and the oldest torrent alive. </p>
<p>Those interested in learning more about the project can check out the <a href="http://thepiratecinema.com/">official site</a>. Taking part in the online art project is also an option, but that comes at a risk.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=m2PleYMNQAs:yySd5iUe0PM:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=m2PleYMNQAs:yySd5iUe0PM:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=m2PleYMNQAs:yySd5iUe0PM:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/m2PleYMNQAs" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100438
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week – 01/26/15
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-01-26-15
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Gp69r8N9Tks/
content:
<p><a href="media/e9129fbf.inter.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/inter.jpg"><img src="media/e9129fbf.inter.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/inter.jpg" alt="inter" width="300" height="196" class="alignright size-full wp-image-100441"></a>This week we have four newcomers in our chart.</p>
<p>Interstellar 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-011915/">last week</a>)</strong></th>
<th><strong>Movie</strong></th>
<th width="18%"><strong>IMDb Rating / Trailer</strong></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tfoot>
<tr>
<td colspan="4">torrentfreak.com</td>
</tr>
</tfoot>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>1</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/interstellar_2014/">Interstellar</a> (DVDScr)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0816692/">8.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSWdZVtXT7E">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/american_sniper/">American Sniper</a> (DVDscr)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2179136/">7.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bP1f_1o-zo">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/taken_3/">Taken 3</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2446042/">6.3</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuU0M2xBasc">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_hobbit_the_battle_of_the_five_armies/">The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies</a> (DVDscr)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2310332/">7.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6Fv5StfAxA">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/john_wick/?">John Wick</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2911666/">7.3</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0BMx-qxsP4">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/into_the_woods_2014/">Into The Woods</a> (DVDscr)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2180411/">6.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pjy5MK1X70">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fury_2015/">Fury</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2713180/">7.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKu5lGfRBxc">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(7)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gone_girl/">Gone Girl</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2267998/">8.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DPpygqaCjY">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/american_heist/">American Heist</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2923316/">5.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QY_IOn0fsc0">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_judge_2014/">The Judge</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1872194/">7.5</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ikeVQ8WAcQ">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Gp69r8N9Tks:mjtk0xjHKA8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Gp69r8N9Tks:mjtk0xjHKA8:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=Gp69r8N9Tks:mjtk0xjHKA8:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/Gp69r8N9Tks" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100479
title: Unprecedented Music Piracy Collapse Fails to Boost Revenues
uri: Unprecedented-Music-Piracy-Collapse-Fails-to-Boost-Revenues
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/fYmqaWSwgzk/
content:
<p><a href="media/1e966c9f.piracydown.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/piracydown.jpg"><img src="media/198e8dc2.piracydown.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/piracydown.jpg" alt="piracydown" width="180" height="162" class="alignright size-full wp-image-73866"></a>After years of effort and expenditure, in 2013 Norway introduced <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/new-internet-anti-piracy-law-goes-live-in-norway-130701/">new legislation</a> to crack down on Internet piracy. It gave rightsholders new powers to track down file-sharers and have sites blocked at the ISP level.</p>
<p>To date and despite <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mpa-will-begin-norway-file-sharing-crackdown-this-month-131107/">various threats</a> not a single file-sharer has been prosecuted. No sites &#8211; not even the Pirate Bay &#8211; have been blocked. However, news coming out of Norway suggests that at least as far as the music industry goes, those legislative weapons are now obsolete.</p>
<p>During December 2014 music industry group IFPI conducted a nationwide survey among under 30-year-olds and discovered some amazing things about the piracy landscape in Norway.</p>
<p>According to the survey results, just 4% of respondents are now using illegal file-sharing platforms to obtain music. While that figure is certainly impressive, <a href="http://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/piracy-virtually-eliminated-norway/">MBW</a> compares that finding with the results of a similar 2009 IFPI survey which found that a huge 70% of the population under 30 used those platforms to obtain music.</p>
<p><Center><img src="media/a981aa9f.mbw-stats.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mbw-stats.jpg" alt="mbw-stats"></center></p>
<p>The drop is certainly dramatic, especially when coupled with the fact that less than 1% of respondents now cite file-sharing networks as their main source of obtaining music. What is telling, however, is that IFPI Norway chief Marte Thorsby did not connect the drop with anti-piracy measures.</p>
<p>“We are now offering services that are both better and more user-friendly than illegal platforms. In [the past] five years, we have virtually eliminated illegal file sharing in the music industry,” Thorsby said.</p>
<p>The December survey also found that 80% of under 30-year-olds now use streaming services as their main source of music.</p>
<p>“Younger audiences are using streaming services to the greatest extent. When older audiences [start] embracing these services we will probably see a somewhat different distribution of revenues,&#8221; Thorsby told MBW. &#8220;Hopefully this will also involve a better economy for several Norwegian artists and record companies.&#8221;</p>
<p>But while the drop in piracy will certainly be welcomed by the industry, it appears young people fleeing file-sharing networks has done nothing to boost revenues.</p>
<p>In 2009 revenues were NOK 592 million ($75.94m) yet by 2014 there had only been a modest increase to NOK 601 million ($77.1m). That&#8217;s just a 1.5% uplift in five years, not accounting for inflation. Place that into the equation and in real terms revenues are down.</p>
<p>That being said, that particular period witnessed a dramatic change in the supply model, with physical giving way massively to digital purchases. In 2009 just 15% of content was supplied in digital format but by 2014 that had reached 86%.</p>
<p>For IFPI to claim the virtual elimination of music piracy is certainly an important if not unprecedented event but the take-home is simple. Provide people with effective and engaging legal alternatives and piracy becomes irrelevant.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=fYmqaWSwgzk:7oxKW0TT4TQ:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=fYmqaWSwgzk:7oxKW0TT4TQ:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=fYmqaWSwgzk:7oxKW0TT4TQ:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/fYmqaWSwgzk" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100449
title: Old Pirate Bay Will Share $100,000 With Devs, Mods and Uploaders
uri: Old-Pirate-Bay-Will-Share-100-000-With-Devs-Mods-and-Uploaders
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/fqnYC63WrqQ/
content:
<p><a href="media/e5f30c04.oldtpb.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/oldtpb.png"><img src="media/c17c67be.oldtpb-300x212.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/oldtpb-300x212.png" alt="oldtpb" width="270" height="191" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-100455"></a>Just a few days after The Pirate Bay raid the people behind Isohunt.to decided to come up with a temporary <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-copycats-flourish-after-raid-141212/">replacement</a>, Oldpiratebay.org. </p>
<p>While the site’s operators are not affiliated with the original site, they wanted to offer a hideout for wandering TPB users. This hasn&#8217;t been without success as the site is now pulling in millions of visitors per day.</p>
<p>Despite its popularity the  OldPirateBay still lacks many of the features The Pirate Bay had. There is currently no upload feature for example, nor is there a moderator crew to keep the site clean. </p>
<p>The Isohunt.to team previously <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/open-bay-now-everyone-can-run-pirate-bay-copy-141219/">called on the community</a> to improve the project. This has already led to several improvements through the OpenBay’s GitHub repository and with a big cash injection they hope to facilitate the development. </p>
<p>&#8220;In order to boost that process we are announcing an unprecedented move,&#8221; Isohunt.to announces today. </p>
<p>&#8220;$100,000 for developing OldPirateBay.org, are you ready for that?! Anyone can take part in the website development and moderation which will result in public recognition. Also addition to your pay check would be a nice surprise,&#8221; they add. </p>
<p>The money will be shared <a href="https://oldpiratebay.org/100k/">through a contest</a>. Starting next month $10,000 in cash prizes, paid in Bitcoin, will be awarded to the developers who contribute to the top features. </p>
<p>From March 1, OldPirateBay will have upload and moderation capabilities. This will include a ranking system where the top contributors and moderators can divide $5,000 in Bitcoin per group each month. </p>
<p>&#8220;The idea behind this message is to empower the community to create OldPirateBay.org as they see it. And we’re ready to reward the most active participants along the way,&#8221; the Isohunt.to team notes.</p>
<p>While the site was started as a temporary replacement it will remain online if the Pirate Bay does indeed <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/phoenix-hints-imminent-pirate-bay-comeback-150125/">return next week</a>. This creates an interesting situation as OldPirateBay already <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/huh-google-crowns-new-pirate-bay-150109/">outranks</a> the original site in Google&#8217;s search engine.</p>
<p>The people behind OldPirateBay believe that the community should decide the long-term fate of the site. If there&#8217;s enough interest to keep the site growing then they are willing to stimulate this process.</p>
<p>&#8220;The main idea is that community should develop the site in the way they want. So if there will be enough initiative the site will be developed by people. We just want to stimulate it,&#8221; Isohunt.to concludes.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://oldpiratebay.org/100k/">full description of the contest details is available at the Oldpiratebay.org site</a>.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=fqnYC63WrqQ:ycpVvj06-cU:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=fqnYC63WrqQ:ycpVvj06-cU:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=fqnYC63WrqQ:ycpVvj06-cU:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/fqnYC63WrqQ" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100439
title: Italy Launches Largest Ever Pirate Site Blockade
uri: Italy-Launches-Largest-Ever-Pirate-Site-Blockade
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Ms0gMQbhHOo/
content:
<p><a href="media/0e360685.guardia.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/guardia.jpg"><img src="media/3df2fe22.guardia.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/guardia.jpg" alt="guardia" width="225" height="150" class="alignright size-full wp-image-53989"></a>Alongside the United Kingdom, Italy is the most aggressive country in the world when it comes to blocking websites on copyright infringement grounds.</p>
<p>Over the past several years dozens of domains have been censored locally and a new operation has upped that tally significantly following a complaint from a major broadcaster.</p>
<p>Sky Italia is a digital satellite television platform owned by Sky Plc, the TV company founded by Rupert Murdoch. 21st Century Fox owns a controlling 39% of the shares in Sky Plc and with a turnover of more than £7.6 billion ($11.41 billion) it&#8217;s one of the largest media companies in the world.</p>
<p>To protect its bottom line, in 2014 Sky Italia filed a complaint with authorities against more than 120 websites said to broadcast sporting events, concerts, music, plus film and television works without rightsholders&#8217; permission.</p>
<p>A subsequent investigation was coordinated by the Public Prosecutor of Rome and entrusted to deputy prosecutors Nello Rossi and Eugenio Albamontes. Assistance was provided by the Special Unit for Broadcasting and Publishing (<a href="http://www.agcom.it/guardia-di-finanza">Nucleo Speciale Radiodiffusione Editoria</a>).</p>
<p>Authorities say that pirate content was offered by the sites in a number of ways but streaming in particular, both of live events and via on-demand. Many provided helpful schedules to assist users with planning.</p>
<p>With all sites operating outside Italian territory, local authorities decided to take action to render them inaccessible in the country. A sweep was ordered by magistrate Gaspare Sturzo and this morning 124 websites are reported blocked via local Internet service providers.</p>
<p>The names of most sites hit in &#8216;Operation Match Off&#8217; have not been released but authorities have pointed out that &#8216;sportlemon.tv&#8217; was registered in the name of Gottfrid Svartholm. It seems unlikely that the Pirate Bay founder had any operational connections to the site but the domain was registered by PRQ, his former company in Sweden.</p>
<p>In common with previous cases, advertising is being blamed for the revenue generated by these unauthorized sites. The Guardia di Finanza (GdF), the law enforcement agency responsible for dealing with financial crime and whose Special Command Unit carried out the operation, said site users were met with aggressive ads and click-fraud techniques.</p>
<p>Italy has been working hard to counter the rise of advertising on pirate sites. Last summer a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/google-joins-new-coalition-to-stop-ad-revenue-to-pirate-sites-140609/">Memorandum of Understanding</a> between the online advertising industry (including Google) and the music and movie industries signaled the creation of a central body to tackle the piracy issue.</p>
<p>But despite the agreement it was found that &#8220;known brands&#8221; were still advertising on the now-blocked sites. As a result authorities are now conducting an investigation into the agencies that placed the ads for companies in the financial, real estate, betting, retail and communications sector.</p>
<p>Enzo Mazza, chief of FIMI, Italy’s answer to the RIAA, said the action against the domains was welcome.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Fiscal Police from Rome carried out a very sophisticated operation including the economic angle of the case. This is the largest criminal action involving site blocking ever carried out,&#8221; Mazza told TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>&#8220;Some sites were also offering music concerts in addition to soccer and sport. We congratulate the special unit of the Fiscal Police and the public prosecutor from Rome for the operation.&#8221;</p>
<p><Center><iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/sTldqahXmRY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Ms0gMQbhHOo:BFCY9qctowI:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Ms0gMQbhHOo:BFCY9qctowI:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=Ms0gMQbhHOo:BFCY9qctowI:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/Ms0gMQbhHOo" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100500
title: Pirate Bay Won’t Make A Full Comeback, Staff Revolt
uri: Pirate-Bay-Won-t-Make-A-Full-Comeback-Staff-Revolt
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/iuNQJgEUyeQ/
content:
<p><a href="media/fd06f581.pirate-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-bay.jpg"><img src="media/2a43984f.pirate-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-bay.jpg" alt="pirate bay" width="200" height="207" class="alignright size-full wp-image-53470"></a>Judging from <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/phoenix-hints-imminent-pirate-bay-comeback-150125/">all the teasers</a> on the Pirate Bay homepage the notorious torrent site is preparing to relaunch this weekend. </p>
<p>Those in control of the domain have yet to make an official announcement but several sources inform TF that the site won&#8217;t make a full comeback. </p>
<p>Instead, The Pirate Bay is expected to launch a trimmed down version without room for the dozens of moderators and admins who looked after the site over the past decade. </p>
<p>This lighter version of The Pirate Bay will be easier to operate but the plan has also upset many former staffers. This includes people who have been with the site for over a decade, removing fake torrents and other types of spam. </p>
<p>Several admins and moderators have responded to the news with anger and are now openly distancing themselves from the thepiratebay.se site that was their home for years.</p>
<p>&#8220;I wish I had better news to come with. The launch that is about to take place on February 1 is not us,&#8221; says WTC-SWE, one of the lead admins of The Pirate Bay.</p>
<p>&#8220;It was until some dickhead decided to take TPB crew out of the picture. He thinks a site can be run without any staff at all and at the same time keeping up with fakes, internal issues etc,&#8221; he adds.</p>
<p>What stings them the most is that many dedicated individuals, who put countless hours into keeping the site functioning, now appear to be being pushed aside on a whim.  </p>
<p>&#8220;Personally I won&#8217;t accept this neither will any of the crew that&#8217;s been active for almost 10-11 years. As an admin and human, I won&#8217;t stand aside and accept this kind of behavior. This is the worst scenario that could happen,&#8221; WTC-SWE says.</p>
<p>&#8220;You don&#8217;t treat people like horseshit,&#8221; he adds.</p>
<p>The staff, now in open revolt, have closed the official #thepiratebay IRC channel on EFnet to the public. They won&#8217;t offer support anymore for a site that they have no &#8216;control&#8217; over, but warn people who do want to visit it to be cautious of malware. </p>
<p>Instead, the TPB former crew members are now preparing to launch their own version of the site. This spin-off will be operated from a new domain and will have several long-time mods and admins on board.</p>
<p>WTC-SWE says that they are in possession of a TPB backup which will be used to revive the old site in full. The full staff of moderators and admins remains under his wings and will start over at a home. </p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s only a matter of time. I will need to blast the whole coding and clean up all the mess. The real TPB will be back with proper staff and all,&#8221; WTC-SWE says. </p>
<p>Thus far, the people running the official thepiratebay.se domain have remained quiet. In a few days, when the <a href="http://thepiratebay.se/">count-down</a> completes, we are likely to know more about their vision for the site&#8217;s future. </p>
<p>To be continued&#8230;</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=iuNQJgEUyeQ:Mr2tstaN1oE:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=iuNQJgEUyeQ:Mr2tstaN1oE:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=iuNQJgEUyeQ:Mr2tstaN1oE:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/iuNQJgEUyeQ" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100502
title: Spanish Government Orders Pirate Bay Blockade
uri: Spanish-Government-Orders-Pirate-Bay-Blockade
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/sraScjLjAuA/
content:
<p><a href="media/fd06f581.pirate-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-bay.jpg"><img src="media/2a43984f.pirate-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-bay.jpg" alt="pirate bay" width="200" height="207" class="alignright size-full wp-image-53470"></a>After years of developing a reputation as a piracy safe-haven, in recent times Spain has found itself under intense pressure to clamp down on copyright infringement.</p>
<p>After a serious of tweaks and adjustments to local copyright law, January 1st the country introduced tough new legislation backed up by hefty punishments for site operators.</p>
<p>Potential €600,000 fines were enough to scare <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/wiziwig-elitetorrent-shut-spanish-anti-piracy-law-150101/">some sites offline</a>. Others, such as <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/most-important-torrent-site-in-years-to-take-the-internet-by-storm-131219/">Pablo Soto&#8217;s Torrents.fm</a>, disappeared without comment. While the climate in Spain is clearly a different one in 2015, there are now fresh signs of a new crackdown.</p>
<p>Spanish users of local ISP Vodafone have been reporting that their visits to The Pirate Bay are being redirected to a new URL &#8211; Castor.vodafone.es. Domain stats reveal that ThePirateBay.se and ThePirateBay.org are indeed two of the top referrers to that URL and that 100% of its traffic comes from Spain.</p>
<p>When Vodafone users began accusing their ISP of blocking The Pirate Bay without a court order, local media approached Vodafone for comment. In a statement yesterday the ISP said it had no knowledge of any blockade. This morning, however, Vodafone changed its mind.</p>
<p>The company now confirms it has received a blocking order from the Spanish government. Vodafone says that it has an obligation to comply with an order &#8220;issued by a competent authority&#8221;, in this case, the Ministry of Culture.</p>
<p>&#8220;In the current Copyright Act, there is a list of authorities who can order the blocking of a website to comply with legislation. That&#8217;s what we did,&#8221; a source at the company <a href="http://es.gizmodo.com/vodafone-confirma-el-bloqueo-a-the-pirate-bay-por-orden-1681982564">said</a>.</p>
<p>Speaking with Gizmodo in Spain, Vodafone could not confirm the exact date when it began blocking the site but said it complied with the official request around Christmas. That would certainly fall into line with <a href="http://bandaancha.eu/foros/vodafone-inicia-nueva-red-servidores-1715351">early problems</a> experienced by some users.</p>
<p>It is currently unclear whether other ISPs in Spain have received the same instructions from the Ministry of Culture since ThePirateBay.se remains accessible via all ISPs except Vodafone.</p>
<p>Other major ISPs including Movistar and Orange say they cannot currently confirm if they have received similar blocking instructions from the government.</p>
<p>Today The Pirate Bay remains non-functional as a torrent site but its landing page, currently adorned with a phoenix, suggests a <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/phoenix-hints-imminent-pirate-bay-comeback-150125/">return to glory</a> this coming weekend. If it does, Vodafone users will need a workaround.</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> In an update Vodafone the company said that it received an indication that The Pirate Bay should be blocked last summer. However, no official request was made so the company has now unblocked the site, temporarily at least.</p>
<p>&#8220;We have been too diligent, we performed an adequate interpretation of the situation, so we will lift the blockade of The Pirate Bay until we receive the warrant,&#8221; official sources <a href="http://es.gizmodo.com/vodafone-da-marcha-atras-levantara-el-bloqueo-a-the-pi-1681990283">say</a>.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=sraScjLjAuA:IarQD8NeDYk:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=sraScjLjAuA:IarQD8NeDYk:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=sraScjLjAuA:IarQD8NeDYk:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/sraScjLjAuA" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100447
title: Amazon Bans BitTorrent App FrostWire Over Piracy Concerns
uri: Amazon-Bans-BitTorrent-App-FrostWire-Over-Piracy-Concerns
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/9QkesFcH_bs/
content:
<p><a href="media/4f983889.fwlogo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/fwlogo.jpg"><img src="media/4f983889.fwlogo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/fwlogo.jpg" alt="fwlogo" width="200" height="200" class="alignright size-full wp-image-100480"></a>Taking &#8220;infringing&#8221; apps out of popular app stores is one of Hollywood&#8217;s <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/leak-exposes-hollywoods-global-anti-piracy-strategy-141212/">key anti-piracy priorities</a> for the years to come.</p>
<p>Various copyright holder groups frequently report &#8220;piracy-enabling&#8221; apps to Apple, Google, Microsoft and Amazon, alongside requests for the stores to take them offline. </p>
<p>The stores themselves also screen for potentially problematic software. Apple, for example, has notoriously banned all BitTorrent related apps. </p>
<p>This week, Amazon is following in Apple&#8217;s footsteps by banning one of the most used BitTorrent clients from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/mobile-apps/b?node=2350149011">its store</a>. The Android version of <a href="http://www.frostwire.com/">FrostWire</a> had been <a href="media/da4eecdc.amazonfw.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/amazonfw.png">listed</a> for well over a year but Amazon recently had a change of heart. </p>
<p>FrostWire developer <a href="https://twitter.com/gubatron">Angel Leon</a> tells TF that the app was removed without prior warning. When he asked the company for additional details, he was told that Amazon sees his app as a pirate tool. </p>
<p>&#8220;In reviewing your app, we determined that it can be used to facilitate the piracy or illegal download of content. Any facilitation of piracy or illegal downloads is not allowed in our program,&#8221; Amazon&#8217;s support team writes.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/3a292670.fw-mail.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/fw-mail.png"><img src="media/3a292670.fw-mail.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/fw-mail.png" alt="fw-mail" width="560" height="197" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-100497"></a></center></p>
<p>Leon was baffled by the response. FrostWire had been a member of the Developer Select program for over a year and always made sure to avoid any links to piracy. On the contrary, FrostWire was actively promoting Creative Commons downloads and other legal content.</p>
<p>&#8220;We have never promoted illegal file sharing, we actually promote creative commons downloads, and free legal downloads from soundcloud, archive.org. The app is also a full blown music player, but none of this probably counts,&#8221; Leon tells us. </p>
<p>&#8220;Web browsers and email clients are still there, programs that also fall in the category of being &#8216;used to facilitate the piracy or illegal download of content&#8217;,&#8221; he adds, pointing out the arbitrary decision.</p>
<p>While it&#8217;s not clear why Amazon changed its stance towards FrostWire, it wouldn&#8217;t be a surprise if pressure from copyright holders played a role. </p>
<p>FrostWire&#8217;s developer believes that the mobile developer industry may have to come up with a less censorship prone store in the future. There&#8217;s a need for a decentralized app store that secures the interests of both iOS and Android developers.</p>
<p>For now, Leon hopes that other stores will be less eager to pull the plug on perfectly legal apps. While it may seem to be a small decision for the stores, having a popular app removed can ruin a developer&#8217;s entire business. </p>
<p>The beauty of FrostWire and other BitTorrent clients is that they offer the freedom to share files with people from all over the world without being censored. Restricting access to apps that make this possible will harm society, Leon believes. </p>
<p>&#8220;This is a freedom which eventually protects society from the likes of totalitarian governments, something some of us at FrostWire have lived first hand in Latin America, something that forced me and so many Venezuelans to leave our countries and start again from scratch in the US,&#8221; Leon concludes. </p>
<p>Despite being banned from Amazon&#8217;s store, Kindle users will still be able to get updates via the <a href="http://frostwire.com/android">FrostWire website</a>. A special installer for Kindle will be available soon.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=9QkesFcH_bs:jKR9OvRKeFY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=9QkesFcH_bs:jKR9OvRKeFY:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=9QkesFcH_bs:jKR9OvRKeFY:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/9QkesFcH_bs" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100568
title: Canadian Government Spies on Millions of File-Sharers
uri: Canadian-Government-Spies-on-Millions-of-File-Sharers
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/YoAkBPAkdo0/
content:
<p><a href="media/5f0dfd25.spy.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/spy.jpg"><img src="media/3d881413.spy.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/spy.jpg" alt="spy" width="200" height="177" class="alignright size-full wp-image-39770"></a>Being monitored online is a reality largely acknowledged by millions of file-sharers worldwide. Countless rightsholders, anti-piracy outfits, analytics companies and other interested parties crawl BitTorrent and other P2P networks every day, spying on downloads and gathering data.</p>
<p>While the public nature of these networks is perfect for those looking to eavesdrop, individuals who use file-hosting sites are often under the impression that their transfers cannot be monitored by third parties since transactions take place privately from user to site via HTTP.</p>
<p>That assumption has today been blown completely out of the water amid revelations that Canada&#8217;s top electronic surveillance agency has been spying on millions of downloads from more than 100 file-sharing sites.</p>
<p>Led by the Communications Security Establishment (CSE), Canada&#8217;s equivalent of the NSA, and codenamed LEVITATION, the project unveils widespread Internet surveillance carried out by Canadian authorities.</p>
<p>A document obtained by U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden and released to <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/cse-tracks-millions-of-downloads-daily-snowden-documents-1.2930120">CBC News</a> shows that in an effort to track down extremists the spy agency monitors up to 15 million downloads carried out by users around the world every day.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/848bc84a.cse-ffu.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cse-ffu.jpg" alt="cse-ffu"></center></p>
<p>According to the 2012 document, 102 file-sharing platforms were monitored by CSE. Just three were named &#8211; RapidShare, SendSpace, and the now defunct Megaupload. None of the sites were required to cooperate with the Canadian government since CSE had its own special capabilities.</p>
<p>&#8220;A separate secret CSE operation codenamed ATOMIC BANJO obtains the data directly from internet cables that it has tapped into, and the agency then sifts out the unique IP address of each computer that downloaded files from the targeted websites,&#8221; <a href="https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/01/28/canada-cse-levitation-mass-surveillance/">The Intercept</a>&#8216;s analysis of the document notes.</p>
<p>Once harvested those IP addresses are cross-referenced with vast amounts of additional data already intercepted by the United States&#8217; NSA and its British counterpart GCHQ. Subsequent searches have the ability to show a list of other websites visited by those downloading from file-hosting sites.</p>
<p>Further associations can then be made with Facebook or Google accounts (via Google analytics cookies) which have the potential to link to names, addresses and other personal details. It&#8217;s a potent mix but one apparently designed to weed out just a small number of files from millions of daily events.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/4a3ca37a.fewdocs.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/fewdocs.jpg" alt="fewdocs"></center></p>
<p>According to the LEVITATION <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1510163-cse-presentation-on-the-levitation-project.html">documents</a> the system has the ability to track downloads in countries across Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and North America.</p>
<p>Under law, CSE isn’t allowed to spy on Canadians, but IP addresses belonging to a web server in Montreal appeared in a list of &#8220;suspicious&#8221; downloads. Also monitored by CSE were downloads carried out by citizens located in closely allied countries including the U.S., UK, Germany and Spain.</p>
<p>&#8220;CSE is clearly mandated to collect foreign signals intelligence to protect Canada and Canadians from a variety of threats to our national security, including terrorism,&#8221; CSE spokesman Andrew McLaughlin told CBC.</p>
<p>While it may be of comfort for Canadians to learn that the government is only interested in a small number of files being exchanged outside the country&#8217;s borders, mass surveillance of this kind always has the potential to unnerve when mission-creep raises its head.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=YoAkBPAkdo0:hB_8CHRhkEE:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=YoAkBPAkdo0:hB_8CHRhkEE:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=YoAkBPAkdo0:hB_8CHRhkEE:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/YoAkBPAkdo0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100306
title: How Cunning VOD Pirates Plundered Taken 3
uri: How-Cunning-VOD-Pirates-Plundered-Taken-3
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/EY1rEgYYmn8/
content:
<p><a href="media/7fd9bf93.taken3-logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/taken3-logo.jpg"><img src="media/7fd9bf93.taken3-logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/taken3-logo.jpg" alt="taken3-logo" width="180" height="265" class="alignright size-full wp-image-100329"></a>Soon after its U.S. premiere on January 9, pirate copies of the new Liam Neeson movie Taken 3 began appearing online. While quality was decent for a &#8216;cam&#8217; recording, it was nothing to get really excited about.</p>
<p>As it happened that didn&#8217;t matter too much since most downloaders were already preoccupied with the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/95-of-oscar-contenders-leaked-on-pirate-sites-already-150116/">recent flood</a> of high quality Oscar screeners. Nevertheless, those who ventured into a cinema to record Taken 3 are likely to have exposed themselves to considerable risk.</p>
<p>In many countries one can end up in jail for such activities, especially when recording is followed by uploading to the Internet. But just a week later new events meant that the Taken 3 pirates&#8217; dance with danger would largely be forgotten.</p>
<p>Last Thursday an HD copy of Taken 3 appeared on all major torrent sites but thanks to an earlier tipoff, that came as no surprise to us. Several days earlier a source already told TF that a &#8220;pristine&#8221; copy of Taken 3 would become available on January 22. So how did he know? The answer lies thousands of miles away in the Middle East.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.osn.com/ar/home.aspx">OSN</a> is a pay TV network with its headquarters in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The network offers international entertainment content such as movies, TV shows and sporting events. Perhaps surprisingly to readers in the West, it also provides access to movies still running in U.S. theaters.</p>
<p>As can be seen from the image of an OSN TV screen below, Taken 3 was due to air on the PPV network on January 22.</p>
<p><Center><img src="media/b5e06e84.taken-3.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/taken-3.jpg" alt="taken 3"></center></p>
<p>TF was assured that a copy would quickly by pirated using OSN as several other popular movies had also been &#8216;capped&#8217; from the same source in recent times. Sure enough, the first copies to appear online last Thursday all appeared with tell-tale Arabic subtitles or a suspiciously narrow image window where they&#8217;d been cropped out.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/39948b7f.taken-arabic.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/taken-arabic.jpg" alt="taken-arabic"></center></p>
<p>While it&#8217;s not easy to say whether all &#8216;subbed&#8217; copies now online originate from the first original &#8216;capping&#8217; of Taken 3, we know that the first &#8216;big&#8217; copy on Western sites (uploaded by a group called CPG) was not the first overall.</p>
<p>Those honors fell to a group called &#8220;weleef&#8221; who uploaded this &#8220;exclusive&#8221; to Arabic forum <a href="http://arabscene.org">ArabScene</a> shortly after the first showings on OSN.</p>
<p><Center><img src="media/987f1c25.arabscene-taken.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/arabscene-taken.jpg" alt="arabscene-taken"></center></p>
<p>Of course, thanks to this source people from all around the globe were able to watch a good copy of the movie, despite it still playing in cinemas in the <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2446042/releaseinfo">United States and elsewhere</a>. Sadly, even those wanting to pay for the movie in the U.S. will have to wait <a href="http://www.releases.com/p/taken-3/vod/us">until April 2015</a> for a VOD release.</p>
<p>Why Hollywood treats citizens in the Middle East and Asia better than its home audience is anyone&#8217;s guess, but if defeating piracy is the goal the practice might be backfiring.</p>
<p>Our source says that a Chinese VOD site already has 50 Shades of Grey listed for an end of February release, two weeks after its Valentine&#8217;s Day premiere in the U.S. Only a month to find out if that leaks too.</p>
<p><strong>Update</strong>: A new and non-subtitled copy of Taken 3 is now flourishing online. The source? An OSN set-top box&#8230;</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=EY1rEgYYmn8:4klG-Qsnkdk:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=EY1rEgYYmn8:4klG-Qsnkdk:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=EY1rEgYYmn8:4klG-Qsnkdk:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/EY1rEgYYmn8" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100552
title: MPAA Trademark Forces “Rated R” Beer To Drop Its Name
uri: MPAA-Trademark-Forces-Rated-R-Beer-To-Drop-Its-Name
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/8z9Ez3_VyXc/
content:
<p><a href="media/f3da90a0.ratedr.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ratedr.jpg"><img src="media/f3da90a0.ratedr.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ratedr.jpg" alt="ratedr" width="250" height="219" class="alignright size-full wp-image-100564"></a>The MPAA is best known for its efforts to protect the rights of the major movie studios. However, the group also has some intellectual property of its own to defend. </p>
<p>A few weeks ago the MPAA sent a cease and desist letter to Minneapolis beer brewery <a href="http://t.co/szMKFUyDOP">612 Brew</a>, who&#8217;re known for their tasty beers including the popular &#8220;Rated R&#8221; brand.</p>
<p>The movie industry group pointed out that the company was using the &#8220;Rated R&#8221; trademark without permission and urged the beer maker to drop the name to avoid confusion.</p>
<p>The MPAA registered &#8220;Rated R&#8221; at the trademark office in <a href="http://www.trademarkia.com/rated-r-73601001.html">the eighties</a> as a certification mark, indicating that a movie is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_Picture_Association_of_America_film_rating_system">rated</a> unsuitable for children under 17, unless they&#8217;re accompanied by an adult. </p>
<p>While movie ratings have nothing to do with beer, the MPAA took offense at the name after the brewery filed their own trademark application. According to 612 Brew co-founder Kasak, the MPAA didn&#8217;t want the beer makers to use any of the &#8220;Rated&#8221; variants.</p>
<p>&#8220;[Our beer] could have been PG, PG-13 or R. It didn&#8217;t matter. As long as it contained the word &#8216;rated&#8217; it would still get flagged,&#8221; Kasak <a href="http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2015/01/27/612brew-ratedr-ipa-unrated-name-change-mpaa-fight.html">told</a> Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal.</p>
<p>An MPAA spokesperson confirmed that the group sent a cease and desist letter but further details are not available. </p>
<p>The brewery first responded to the demands by arguing that the Rated R name can be used as they clearly operate in a different industry. The MPAA wasn&#8217;t convinced though, so 612 decided that it was easiest to change the name.</p>
<p>The trademark specifically <a href="media/a94fd9e0.omU0Kym.png" data-original-source="http://i.imgur.com/omU0Kym.png">notes</a> that the MPAA doesn&#8217;t have an exclusive right to the word &#8220;rated,&#8221; but 612 Brew decided to go for a different variant.</p>
<p>Starting this year the name of &#8220;Rated R&#8221; beer was changed to &#8220;Unrated,&#8221; which isn&#8217;t trademarked by the MPAA. While the change is a setback for the brewery it&#8217;s co-founder doesn&#8217;t believe it will harm business in the long run.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s going to take some time for people to get used to it, but it will be OK. It&#8217;s a great beer and they&#8217;ll drink it regardless of the name,&#8221; Kasak notes.</p>
<p>The brewery now has to hope that the &#8220;unrated&#8221; name won&#8217;t cause any headaches in the future. A quick search reveals that there&#8217;s an &#8220;unrated&#8221; trademark application in progress by a &#8220;<a href="http://www.trademarkia.com/unrated-85864287.html">yoga pants</a>&#8221; outfit, so fingers crossed.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=8z9Ez3_VyXc:hiHdI9tQ9xM:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=8z9Ez3_VyXc:hiHdI9tQ9xM:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=8z9Ez3_VyXc:hiHdI9tQ9xM:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/8z9Ez3_VyXc" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100601
title: Music Group Threatens Popcorn Time’s Blog Platform
uri: Music-Group-Threatens-Popcorn-Time-s-Blog-Platform
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/o0OzwERD8NQ/
content:
<p><a href="media/0e57238e.popcorncensor.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/popcorncensor.jpg"><img src="media/efc3d7b7.popcorncensor.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/popcorncensor.jpg" alt="popcorncensor" width="228" height="99" class="alignright size-full wp-image-87053"></a>In a few weeks time the Popcorn Time phenomenon will reach a symbolic milestone when the &#8216;Netflix for Pirates&#8217; celebrates its first birthday.</p>
<p>Of course, after serving millions of users in a short space of time, copyright holders have their eyes on the now-several forks of the popular project. Today we have news of yet another effort to limit the software&#8217;s reach.</p>
<p><a href="https://popcorntime.io/">PopcornTime.io</a> is considered by many to be the true successor to the original Popcorn Time project that was shut down just weeks after it launched in 2014. Its development team is proudly open source and operates with an ethos closely aligned with that of the original team. It also receives similar legal threats and the latest to involve the project is somewhat of a head-scratcher.</p>
<p>PopcornTime.io has a blog where it publishes important updates. The latest entry heralds the project&#8217;s <a href="https://blog.popcorntime.io/popcorn-time-for-android-0-1-2/">latest Android client</a> in all its bug-fixed glory. It&#8217;s presented using the <a href="https://ghost.org/">Ghost</a> open source blogging platform and quite bizarrely copyright holders are trying to change that.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Greek equivalent of RIAA are threatening @TryGhost with legal action because we host @popcorntimetv’s blog,&#8221; Ghost founder John O&#8217;Nolan <a href="https://twitter.com/JohnONolan/status/560255923596558336">said</a> this week.</p>
<p>&#8220;Good luck with that, Greece.&#8221;</p>
<p>Somewhat intrigued, TorrentFreak contacted O&#8217;Nolan &#8211; the former Deputy Head of the WordPress UI Group &#8211; who confirmed the threats.</p>
<p>&#8220;We were incredibly shocked to be contacted by a representative in 2015 requesting the personal information of one of our users without any basis. The clear lack of understanding here is worrying on many levels,&#8221; O&#8217;Nolan told TF.</p>
<p>And it gets worse. In the first instance O&#8217;Nolan thought that his company was actually hosting Popcorn Time&#8217;s blog, but in fact its being hosted by the project itself. All O&#8217;Nolan does is offer the completely neutral Ghost blogging platform.</p>
<p>To try and get to the bottom of this curious situation we contacted the organization targeting Popcorn Time. AEPI, the Greek Society for the Protection of Intellectual Property, did not officially respond to our request for comment. However, we did manage to learn more about this music group&#8217;s claim.</p>
<p>It appears that since Popcorn Time allows people to download movies and TV shows that have music playing in the background, AEPI believes that Popcorn Time should pay royalties and/or a music licensing fee to do so legally in Greece.</p>
<p>While it seems unlikely that the project is interested in any such license, the complaint to Ghost has only warmed relations between the blogging platform and Popcorn Time.</p>
<p>&#8220;If you ever have a need for more security/encryption features &#8211; don’t hesitate to reach out,&#8221; O&#8217;Nolan ‏<a href="https://twitter.com/JohnONolan/status/560260481932611584">informed</a> the project. &#8220;Likewise if you have any trouble with your current host, we’ll host you.&#8221;</p>
<p>And as far as Popcorn Time are concerned, there&#8217;s only one blogging platform for them.</p>
<p>&#8220;We use Ghost as our blogging platform because it&#8217;s lightweight yet packed full of features. Unlike WordPress you can concentrate on writing your post. Throw in the fact it&#8217;s open source and written on Node.js and it&#8217;s the perfect match!&#8221; the team told TF.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s not been a good 2015 for AEPI thus far. Earlier this month the anti-piracy group <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/torrent-site-blockades-are-disproportional-greek-court-rules-150121/">lost its bid</a> to have various torrent sites blocked by local ISPs. The Athens Court ruled that barring access to torrent sites such as KickassTorrents and The Pirate Bay would be disproportionate, unconstitutional, and would hinder ISPs&#8217; entrepreneurial freedoms.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=o0OzwERD8NQ:7uu5I4IlzZg:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=o0OzwERD8NQ:7uu5I4IlzZg:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=o0OzwERD8NQ:7uu5I4IlzZg:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/o0OzwERD8NQ" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100645
title: Huge Security Flaw Leaks VPN Users’ Real IP-Addresses
uri: Huge-Security-Flaw-Leaks-VPN-Users-Real-IP-Addresses
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/4Y21rzl6z9k/
content:
<p><a href="media/29b4878c.boxed.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/boxed.jpg"><img src="media/70f2a6a6.boxed.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/boxed.jpg" alt="boxed" width="222" height="178" class="alignright size-full wp-image-36576"></a>The Snowden revelations have made it clear that online privacy is certainly not a given. </p>
<p>Just a few days ago we learned that the Canadian Government <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/canadian-government-spies-on-millions-of-file-sharers-150128/">tracked visitors </a>of dozens of popular file-sharing sites. </p>
<p>As these stories make headlines around the world interest in <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymity services</a> such as VPNs has increased, as even regular Internet users don’t like the idea of being spied on.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, even the best VPN services can&#8217;t guarantee to be 100% secure. This week a very concerning security flaw revealed that it&#8217;s easy to see the real IP-addresses of many VPN users through a WebRTC feature. </p>
<p>With a few lines of code websites can make requests to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STUN">STUN servers</a> and log users&#8217; VPN IP-address and the &#8220;hidden&#8221; home IP-address, as well as local network addresses. </p>
<p>The vulnerability affects WebRTC-supporting browsers including Firefox and Chrome and appears to be limited to Windows machines. </p>
<p>A demo published on GitHub by developer <a href="https://daylightpirates.org/">Daniel Roesler</a> allows people to <a href="https://diafygi.github.io/webrtc-ips/">check if they are affected</a> by the security flaw. </p>
<p><center><strong>IP-address leak</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/7474f21a.nkoreaip.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/nkoreaip.png"><img src="media/7474f21a.nkoreaip.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/nkoreaip.png" alt="nkoreaip" width="600" height="250" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-100664"></a></center></p>
<p>The demo claims that browser plugins can&#8217;t block the vulnerability, but luckily this isn&#8217;t entirely true. There are several easy fixes available to patch the security hole. </p>
<p><strong>Chrome</strong> users can install the <a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/webrtc-block/nphkkbaidamjmhfanlpblblcadhfbkdm?hl=en">WebRTC block</a> extension or <a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/scriptsafe/oiigbmnaadbkfbmpbfijlflahbdbdgdf?hl=en">ScriptSafe</a>, which both reportedly block the vulnerability.</p>
<p><strong>Firefox</strong> users should be able to block the request with the <a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/noscript/">NoScript addon</a>. Alternatively, they can type &#8220;about:config&#8221; in the address bar and set the “media.peerconnection.enabled” setting to false.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/e00e6b07.peerconn.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/peerconn.png"><img src="media/e00e6b07.peerconn.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/peerconn.png" alt="peerconn" width="599" height="146" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-100678"></a></center></p>
<p>TF asked various VPN providers to share their thoughts and tips on the vulnerability. <a href="https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/">Private Internet Access</a> told us that the are currently investigating the issue to see what they can do on their end to address it. (Update: PIA <a href="https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/forum/discussion/8204/how-to-stop-webrtc-local-ip-address-leaks-on-google-chrome-and-mozilla-firefox-while-using-private-i#latest">published an article on the issue</a> today)</p>
<p><a href="https://torguard.net/">TorGuard</a> informed us that they issued a warning in a <a href="https://torguard.net/blog/browser-security-vulnerability-may-allow-real-ip-leak/">blog post</a> along with instructions on how to stop the browser leak. Ben Van Der Pelt, TorGuard&#8217;s CEO, further informed us that tunneling the VPN through a router is another fix.</p>
<p>&#8220;Perhaps the best way to be protected from WebRTC and similar vulnerabilities is to run the VPN tunnel directly on the router. This allows the user to be connected to a VPN directly via Wi-Fi, leaving no possibility of a rogue script bypassing a software VPN tunnel and finding one’s real IP,&#8221; Van der Pelt says. </p>
<p>&#8220;During our testing Windows users who were connected by way of a VPN router were not vulnerable to WebRTC IP leaks even without any browser fixes,&#8221; he adds.</p>
<p>While the fixes above are all reported to work, the leak is a reminder that anonymity should never be taken for granted.</p>
<p>As is often the case with these type of vulnerabilities, VPN and proxy users should regularly check if their connection is secure. This also includes testing against <a href="http://ipleak.net/">DNS leaks and proxy vulnerabilities</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> Freebsd also appears to be affected by the vulnerability.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=4Y21rzl6z9k:7hDERxMHyUs:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=4Y21rzl6z9k:7hDERxMHyUs:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=4Y21rzl6z9k:7hDERxMHyUs:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/4Y21rzl6z9k" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100643
title: Reddit Rejects 62% of All Copyright Complaints
uri: Reddit-Rejects-62-of-All-Copyright-Complaints
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/wJSQPnPkxsE/
content:
<p><a href="media/346d0419.reddit-alien.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/reddit-alien.jpg"><img src="media/346d0419.reddit-alien.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/reddit-alien.jpg" alt="reddit-alien" width="180" height="180" class="alignright size-full wp-image-100659"></a>Reddit is without doubt one of the most popular sites on the Internet. The community-driven behemoth is the world&#8217;s 28th most popular site according to Alexa, rising to 9th most trafficked in the United States.</p>
<p>Founded in 2005, the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/sopa-will-mean-the-end-of-reddit-says-general-manager-111219/">vocal SOPA opponent</a>&#8216;s last set of published stats (Oct 2014) paint an awesome picture: 174 million unique visitors from 186 countries viewed some 6.1 billion pages.</p>
<p>Aside from posting the latest breaking news, AMAs, plus a million items in between, it will come as no surprise that in 2014 some of Reddit&#8217;s users also infringed copyright. Details of subsequent complaints have previously remained private but thanks to the publication of Reddit&#8217;s very first transparency report, we now have more of an insight.</p>
<p>While the company has some fascinating thoughts on copyright (which we&#8217;ll come to in a moment) it&#8217;s notable how few takedown requests Reddit receives.</p>
<p><a href="media/63058284.red-takedowns.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/red-takedowns.jpg"><img src="media/63058284.red-takedowns.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/red-takedowns.jpg" alt="red-takedowns" width="200" height="201" class="alignright size-full wp-image-100655"></a>In 2014 the site received just 218 requests to remove content, 81% of which were DMCA-style copyright notices. </p>
<p>Interestingly and unlike those who send the notices, Reddit reveals that &#8220;real humans&#8221; examine each and every request received. It&#8217;s clear that in many cases they don&#8217;t like what they see.</p>
<p>From 176 DMCA complaints received, Reddit removed content in just 76 instances, 38% compliance overall. For a variety of reasons, in 62% of cases Reddit rejected notices completely.</p>
<p><strong>Overbroad</strong></p>
<p>As previously reported <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/lionsgate-targets-reddit-over-christmas-movie-piracy-141206/">here</a> on TF, on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-targets-reddit-movie-piracy-140624/">many occasions</a> copyright holders have approached Google in an attempt to have entire Reddit communities removed from its indexes. The search engine mostly rejects those requests and Reddit isn&#8217;t impressed by them either.</p>
<p>&#8220;We received many copyright takedown requests for entire subreddits. We (and the DMCA) require specific identification of allegedly infringing content, not broad demands to delete entire reddit communities,&#8221; the company reveals.</p>
<p><strong>Links don&#8217;t infringe copyright</strong></p>
<p>Reddit doesn&#8217;t host any content of its own but instead users can post links to material hosted elsewhere, which they do in their millions every day. However, when those links point to infringing content such as movies, music or TV shows, copyright holders tend to see that as facilitation of infringement. Nevertheless, Reddit has its own opinions on what breaches the law.</p>
<p>&#8220;A significant percentage of the copyright takedown requests we received were for user-submitted URLs that link to content hosted on other websites. Because links do not generally infringe copyright, we exercise extra scrutiny in assessing takedowns for links,&#8221; the company says.</p>
<p>Of course, Google might argue the same point but instead it removes millions of links to content every single week. </p>
<p><strong>Notices fail to meet legal requirements</strong></p>
<p>Under the DMCA a copyright holder can request content to be removed from a third-party website via the sending of a properly formatted DMCA notice. Such notices must include:</p>
<p>&#8211; A physical or electronic signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the copyright holder<br>
&#8211; Clear identification of the original infringed work<br>
&#8211; Clear identification of the allegedly infringing content</p>
<p>According to Reddit, many notice senders fail to make the grade.</p>
<p>&#8220;We rejected many copyright takedown requests because they did not include the information required by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA),&#8221; the company reports.</p>
<p><strong>Conclusion</strong></p>
<p>Overall and despite its millions of users, it appears that Reddit does not have a significant copyright infringement problem, despite the fact that several sub-reddits are dedicated to linking to infringing content. For now most copyright holders are ignoring the site, while others prefer to <a href="http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/copyright/domains/reddit.com/">complain to Google</a> instead.</p>
<p>Reddit&#8217;s 2014 Transparency Report can be downloaded <a href="media/6b274cf6.2014.pdf" data-original-source="https://www.redditstatic.com/transparency/2014.pdf">here</a> <em>(pdf)</em>.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=wJSQPnPkxsE:B7mt-UGdKiA:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=wJSQPnPkxsE:B7mt-UGdKiA:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=wJSQPnPkxsE:B7mt-UGdKiA:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/wJSQPnPkxsE" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100691
title: Movie Release Group Members Plead Guilty
uri: Movie-Release-Group-Members-Plead-Guilty
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/LUZkmML1V0A/
content:
<p><a href="media/9b46c1db.fact.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/fact.jpg"><img src="media/f002015f.fact.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/fact.jpg" alt="fact" width="180" height="133" class="alignright size-full wp-image-74060"></a>Placing unreleased movies onto the Internet whilst located in the UK is a risky business and one likely to attract the attention of anti-piracy companies if done on a large-scale.</p>
<p>FACT, the Federation Against Copyright Theft, are particularly vigilant in this area and have launch numerous investigations into those it believes have infringed their movie partners&#8217; copyrights.</p>
<p>On February 1 2013, FACT announced that they had joined police officers from the Economic Crime Unit to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/fact-raids-hit-release-groups-and-torrent-site-admin-130721/">carry out raids</a> in the UK targeting four addresses in the West Midlands.</p>
<p>Following a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-movie-group-members-set-to-face-fact-in-court-140913/">hearing</a> in September 2014, the case was heard in Wolverhampton Crown Court this week. It&#8217;s the culmination of three years&#8217; investigative work by FACT into the &#8220;source and supply&#8221; of copyrighted movies.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2015/01/30/exclusive-black-country-pirates-snared-in-global-search/">accused</a> are: Graeme Reid, 40, from Chesterfield, Scott Hemming, 25, and Reece Baker, 22, both from Birmingham, Sahil Rafiq, 24, of Wolverhampton and Ben Cooper, 33, of Willenhall.</p>
<p>In line with previous FACT-led prosecutions, copyright infringement is completely off the table. All men pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Defraud a charge that previously saw SurfTheChannel&#8217;s Anton Vickerman jailed for <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/surfthechannel-owner-sentenced-to-four-years-in-jail-120814/">four years</a>.</p>
<p>In an earlier FACT press release the men were referred to as members of The Scene but one of the accused informs TorrentFreak that simply isn&#8217;t true.</p>
<p>&#8220;They say we were in The Scene &#8211; no, we were P2P,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>Unless other connections come out in court, his claims appear to be true.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak has learned that the investigation spanned several BitTorrent-based release groups including 26K, RemixHD and UNiQUE, plus torrent sites Unleashthe.net (the site run by busted US-based release group IMAGiNE) and TheResistance.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/e0f25164.remixhd.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/remixhd.png" alt="remixhd-releases"></center></p>
<p>Nevertheless, the case marks the first time that a group of movie releasers have ever gone to court in the UK and the signs are not promising for the men. Big numbers are being thrown around including the unauthorized release of up to 9,000 movies alongside claims that up to five million people may have viewed them.</p>
<p>At the end of the hearing the men were released on bail. They&#8217;re now in the hands of FACT&#8217;s private prosecution and whatever the court decides is an appropriate sentence following their guilty pleas. The extent of both will be revealed at a hearing later in the year.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=LUZkmML1V0A:rWHU9fSCD1o:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=LUZkmML1V0A:rWHU9fSCD1o:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=LUZkmML1V0A:rWHU9fSCD1o:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/LUZkmML1V0A" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100587
title: The Pirate Bay Is Back Online!
uri: The-Pirate-Bay-Is-Back-Online
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/8qhyWxacuY0/
content:
<p><a href="media/fd06f581.pirate-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-bay.jpg"><img src="media/2a43984f.pirate-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-bay.jpg" alt="pirate bay" width="200" height="207" class="alignright size-full wp-image-53470"></a>Early December The Pirate Bay was <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/swedish-police-raid-the-pirate-bay-site-offline-141209/">raided</a> at the Nacka station, a nuclear-proof data center built into a mountain complex near Stockholm.</p>
<p>After being down for two weeks the domain came back online waving a pirate flag on its temporary homepage. </p>
<p>TPB later added a countdown to February 1st, alongside several hints that the site would reappear that day. </p>
<p>Today we can report that The Pirate Bay has lived up to the comeback expectations, with a <a href="http://thepiratebay.se">comeback</a> one day ahead of schedule.</p>
<p>A few minutes ago the site started serving torrents to the masses again, much to the delight of millions of users. The Pirate Bay&#8217;s homepage currently features a Phoenix.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/c75dddc3.tpbback.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpbback.jpg"><img src="media/c75dddc3.tpbback.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpbback.jpg" alt="tpbback" width="585" height="752" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-100766"></a></center></p>
<p>The Pirate Bay doesn&#8217;t have any ads at the moment but the look and feel of the site is familiar, and the user accounts are working properly too. The &#8220;Contact Us,&#8221; &#8220;RSS&#8221; and &#8220;Register&#8221; links are not operational yet and result in a 404 error.</p>
<p>Based on the <a href="media/560b1ac9.nlh0SwS.png" data-original-source="http://i.imgur.com/nlh0SwS.png">recent torrents</a> it appears that data loss is minimal. The latest upload was on December 9 last year, the same day TPB&#8217;s servers were raided.</p>
<p>There is one quite significant change though. The Pirate Bay staff can no longer access the moderation panel.</p>
<p>Earlier this week TPB staff already <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-wont-make-a-full-comeback-staff-revolt-150127/">told us</a> that they would be locked out of the reborn site. This kind of streamlining would make the site easier to manage and reduce the risk of being brought down for a third time.</p>
<p>However, these planned &#8220;optimizations&#8221; caused mutiny among the site&#8217;s original staff members. </p>
<p>WTC-SWE, one of the lead admins of The Pirate Bay, told us that they are launching their own version of the Pirate Bay, which they believe will be the real one. </p>
<p>These &#8220;former&#8221; staff members will also relaunch the official Suprbay forums. Interestingly, Thepiratebay.se is no longer listing Suprbay in its links section.</p>
<p>To make the matter even more confusing, Pirate Bay&#8217;s downtime spurred the development of various spin-offs, all of which have steady userbases of their own. Isohunt.to&#8217;s OldPirateBay.org is currently the largest, with millions of visitors per day and the number one spot for the search term Pirate Bay in Google. </p>
<p>It will be interesting to see if thepiratebay.se can reclaim these visitors during the months to come. </p>
<p><strong>Update: </strong>A former TPB staffer informed TF that the moderation interface is indeed gone.</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> TPB has some connection issues every now and then, probably because of the huge amount of traffic.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=8qhyWxacuY0:sR2sEr9Gc7k:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=8qhyWxacuY0:sR2sEr9Gc7k:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=8qhyWxacuY0:sR2sEr9Gc7k:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/8qhyWxacuY0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100593
title: KickassTorrents Users Fight Back Against DMCA Takedown Purge
uri: KickassTorrents-Users-Fight-Back-Against-DMCA-Takedown-Purge
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/q1ykCw9Fo_I/
content:
<p><a href="media/463d0248.uploadday.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/uploadday.jpg"><img src="media/19223c98.uploadday-300x225.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/uploadday-300x225.jpg" alt="uploadday" width="240" height="180" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-100631"></a>As the largest torrent site on the Internet, KickassTorrents (KAT) has become a prime target for copyright holders. </p>
<p>In terms of daily visitors KAT is comparable to The Pirate Bay at its height, but there&#8217;s one key difference. Unlike TPB, KAT accepts DMCA takedown notices so rightsholders have the option to remove infringing content from the site.</p>
<p>Thus far the popular torrent index has processed more than half a million requests. While that&#8217;s already a decent number, last week many KAT users noticed that content had started to disappear at an increasing rate. </p>
<p>&#8220;In the past 48 hours over 200 of my uploads have been removed due to the DMCA. In the past four years only 100 had been removed. Does anyone know what&#8217;s going on?&#8221; KAT&#8217;s &#8220;elite mod&#8221; Politux wrote a few days ago.</p>
<p>&#8220;I haven&#8217;t uploaded as much as you, but I&#8217;ve lost 6% of my torrents to DMCA,&#8221; another user replied, before many more joined in to count their losses. </p>
<p>Ironically, the thread where the discussion on the takedown purge started was <a href="https://kickass.so/blog/politux/post/where-did-all-my-torrents-go/">quickly removed</a>. But that didn&#8217;t stop the complaints from pouring in. In several forum posts and blog entries people started <a href="https://kickass.so/blog/CaeSarcasm/post/dear-mediocre-corporate-attorneys/">discussing</a> the takedowns, with some even threatening to <a href="https://kickass.so/community/show/will-dmca-make-you-leave-kat/">leave</a> the site over it. </p>
<p>Looking at KAT&#8217;s takedown stats we see that there has indeed been a significant increase in DMCA takedowns. Over the past week KAT has removed close to 30,000 torrents, which is more than 5% of all files that have been removed in the site&#8217;s entire history. </p>
<p><center><a href="media/94e36f59.removedj.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/removedj.png"><img src="media/94e36f59.removedj.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/removedj.png" alt="removedj" width="700" height="123" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-100695"></a></center></p>
<p>While the spike may just be temporary, KAT admin Mr.Gooner has seized the opportunity to respond in style, declaring February 1st to be &#8220;KickAss Upload Day.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;Due to a recent rise in Torrents deleted because of copyright reasons and the mass of users rightfully having a grumble I suggested we should have a day like this as a &#8216;fight back&#8217; if you like,&#8221; Mr.Gooner <a href="https://kickass.so/community/show/kickass-upload-day-1st-february-2015-upload-much-you-can-one/">writes</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;A way of encouraging everyone to upload and let these removals go over our heads, to work together as a unit &#038; to continue enjoying each and every minute of KAT and one another&#8217;s uploads,&#8221; he adds. </p>
<p>The idea seems to be catching on as the call to action has already generated hundreds of replies, with many uploaders vowing to upload as much as they can. On an average day KAT lists roughly 5,000 new torrents, but there may be a few more today.</p>
<p>Whether copyright holders are planning a counter-response is unknown, but based on the reactions thus far the DMCA whack-a-mole won&#8217;t end anytime soon.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=q1ykCw9Fo_I:dQdTL0SqJxY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=q1ykCw9Fo_I:dQdTL0SqJxY:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=q1ykCw9Fo_I:dQdTL0SqJxY:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/q1ykCw9Fo_I" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100557
title: Downloading Fatwa Issued By Turkish Religious Leaders
uri: Downloading-Fatwa-Issued-By-Turkish-Religious-Leaders
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/qFuHcl20rio/
content:
<p><img src="media/62a13a20.piratesaint.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/piratesaint.jpg" width="180" height="135" class="alignright">For millions of people around the world the word of their particular God provides a moral compass for living life in an appropriate manner.</p>
<p>While there are plenty of variations, most faiths agree that it is unacceptable to steal, for example.</p>
<p>Inevitably there are gray areas and the issue of copyright provides a perfect example. Rightsholders constantly push the notion that infringement is theft so it&#8217;s no surprise that some people draw the same conclusion.</p>
<p>Over in Turkey the country&#8217;s top religious body has been handling the issue at the behest of citizens. Is downloading content without permission from rightsholders acceptable under Islam? </p>
<p>In response to a question asking whether the activity is &#8216;halal&#8217; (permissible), the Religious Affairs Directorate, or Diyanet as it&#8217;s known locally, issued a fatwa (ruling).</p>
<p>Great value should be placed on labor and there should be opposition to &#8220;unjust enrichment&#8221; from the work of others,&#8221; Diyanet said.</p>
<p>“The Prophet also stressed the importance of paying for one’s labor on several occasions,” it said, warning that “[property] rights violations [are still common] as technology develops and human labor has started to appear in more diverse forms.”</p>
<p>“Such unfair acts [such as downloading pirated software] not only usurp the individuals’ rights, they also discourage people who work in those sectors from creating new products, turning the matter into a public rights violation in a broader sense,” Diyanet <a href="http://www.risalehaber.com/diyanetten-telif-ikazi-228429h.htm">said</a>.</p>
<p>But it wasn&#8217;t only followers of Islam that required guidance on file-sharing from religious bodies this week. The same question was also posed to the Catholic Church via the site <a href="http://www.cruxnow.com/life/2015/01/29/how-can-i-resolve-the-conflict-between-my-writing-career-and-my-boyfriends-online-piracy/">Crux</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;My boyfriend is a tech geek, by profession and vocation. He was an early adopter of the Internet and believes strongly in its founding values — that &#8216;information wants to be free&#8217;,&#8221; the question from &#8216;Starving Artist&#8217; began.</p>
<p>&#8220;I admire his geek credentials and tech skills, but there’s something he does, with pride, that bugs me a lot. He pirates everything.</p>
<p>&#8220;I am a writer, and can earn a living only if other people buy the things I write. I feel my boyfriend is undermining me — if not directly, then indirectly. Who is right?&#8221; </p>
<p>The response was predictable &#8211; the woman&#8217;s boyfriend is &#8220;stealing&#8221; &#8211; but the advice for negotiating the problem in the relationship is a novel one.</p>
<p>&#8220;Agree that whenever he spends $7.99 on a movie instead of downloading it for free, the two of you will put a few cents — representing the artist’s take — in a jar,&#8221; Crux wrote.</p>
<p>&#8220;When the jar is full, the two of you can go out to a romantic dinner and have the kind of human interaction that no download can provide.&#8221;</p>
<p>Crux contributor Chris McLaughlin was underwhelmed by the reply.</p>
<p>&#8220;The purpose of the copyright monopoly (which is a law of man not of God) isn’t to enable somebody to make money, and never was. Its sole purpose was and is to advance humanity as a whole. The monopoly begins and ends with the public interest; it does not exist for the benefit of the author and inventor,&#8221; McLaughlin <a href="http://www.cruxnow.com/life/2015/01/29/how-can-i-resolve-the-conflict-between-my-writing-career-and-my-boyfriends-online-piracy/#comment-1823877822">writes</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;I wonder if the Church would have ever got started at all, if Matthew, Mark, Luke and John had demanded a royalty every time Paul set up in a new city.&#8221;</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=qFuHcl20rio:f36h2-SD0WA:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=qFuHcl20rio:f36h2-SD0WA:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=qFuHcl20rio:f36h2-SD0WA:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/qFuHcl20rio" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100785
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week – 02/02/15
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-02-02-15
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/-kWQ2Kn-Kyc/
content:
<p><a href="media/57e18120.taken3.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/taken3.jpg"><img src="media/57e18120.taken3.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/taken3.jpg" alt="taken3" width="300" height="214" class="alignright size-full wp-image-100792"></a>This week we have five newcomers in our chart.</p>
<p>Taken 3 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-012615/">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>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/american_sniper/">American Sniper</a> (DVDscr)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2179136/">7.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bP1f_1o-zo">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/taken_3/">Taken 3</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2446042/">6.3</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuU0M2xBasc">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/interstellar_2014/">Interstellar</a> (DVDScr)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0816692/">8.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSWdZVtXT7E">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/heat_2013/">Wild Card</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2231253/?">6.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fJGbTfFPkM">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/nightcrawler/">Nightcrawler</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2872718/?">8.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8kYDQan8bw">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_interview_2014/">The Interview</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2788710/">7.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj3uHftd5FQ">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kill_the_messenger_2015/">Kill The Messenger</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1216491/">7.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAd5iQd-6xk">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2905674/">Jurassic City</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2905674/">5.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFxiY7Iq2RA">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_hobbit_the_battle_of_the_five_armies/">The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies</a> (DVDscr)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2310332/">7.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6Fv5StfAxA">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(8)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gone_girl/">Gone Girl</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2267998/">8.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DPpygqaCjY">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=-kWQ2Kn-Kyc:HuZz-8NQU1g:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=-kWQ2Kn-Kyc:HuZz-8NQU1g:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=-kWQ2Kn-Kyc:HuZz-8NQU1g:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/-kWQ2Kn-Kyc" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100707
title: Hollywood’s Release Delays Breed Pirates
uri: Hollywood-s-Release-Delays-Breed-Pirates
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/zstlNHkOwnE/
content:
<p><a href="media/ce50d342.babypirate.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/babypirate.jpg"><img src="media/ce50d342.babypirate.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/babypirate.jpg" alt="babypirate" width="222" height="179" class="alignright size-full wp-image-100720"></a>Hollywood has a message to all those pirates who keep making excuses to download and stream films illegally. </p>
<p>&#8220;You have no excuse.&#8221;</p>
<p>The major movie studios have done enough to make their content legally available, launching thousands of convenient movie services worldwide, they claim. </p>
<p>&#8220;We need to bust the myth that legal content is unavailable. Creative industries are tirelessly experimenting with new business models that deliver films, books, music, TV programs, newspapers, games and other creative works to consumers,&#8221; Stan McCoy noted on the <a href="http://www.mpaa.org/creativecontentuk/#.VMtqg_nF-Bo">MPAA blog</a> this week. </p>
<p>&#8220;In Europe, there are over 3,000 on-demand audio-visual services available to European citizens,&#8221; he adds.  </p>
<p>So is the MPA right? Is &#8220;availability&#8221; an imaginary problem that pirates use as an excuse not to pay?</p>
<p>We decided to investigate the issue by looking at the online availability of the ten <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-pirated-movies-week-012615/">most downloaded films</a> of last week. Since the MPAA&#8217;s blog post talked about Europe and the UK we decided to use Findanyfilm.com which focuses on UK content. The results of our small survey speak for themselves. </p>
<p>Of the ten most pirated movies only Gone Girl is available to buy or rent online. A pretty weak result, especially since it&#8217;s still missing from the most popular video subscription service Netflix.</p>
<table class="css hover">
<thead>
<tr>
<th width="15%"><strong>Ranking</strong></th>
<th><strong>Movie</strong></th>
<th width="30%"><strong>Available Online? Buy / Rent</strong></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tfoot>
<tr>
<td colspan="3">torrentfreak.com</td>
</tr>
</tfoot>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>1</strong></td>
<td><a href="http://www.findanyfilm.com/Interstellar~58979">Interstellar</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.findanyfilm.com/Interstellar~58979">NO</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td><a href="http://www.findanyfilm.com/American-Sniper~62348">American Sniper</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.findanyfilm.com/American-Sniper~62348">NO</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td><a href="http://www.findanyfilm.com/Taken-3~60235">Taken 3</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.findanyfilm.com/Taken-3~60235">NO</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td><a href="http://www.findanyfilm.com/The-Hobbit-The-Battle-Of-The-Five-Armies~54629">The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.findanyfilm.com/The-Hobbit-The-Battle-Of-The-Five-Armies~54629">NO</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td><a href="http://www.findanyfilm.com/John-Wick~64011">John Wick</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.findanyfilm.com/John-Wick~64011">NO</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td><a href="http://www.findanyfilm.com/Into-The-Woods~59463">Into The Woods</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.findanyfilm.com/Into-The-Woods~59463">NO</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td><a href="http://www.findanyfilm.com/Fury~58745">Fury</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.findanyfilm.com/Fury~58745">NO</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td><a href="http://www.findanyfilm.com/Gone-Girl~58458">Gone Girl</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.findanyfilm.com/Gone-Girl~58458">Rent/Buy</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td><a href="http://www.findanyfilm.com/search-results?page_id=1029&#038;srcURL=%2F&#038;fcName=fcName&#038;fcState=submit&#038;keyword=american+heist">American Heist</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.findanyfilm.com/search-results?page_id=1029&#038;srcURL=%2F&#038;fcName=fcName&#038;fcState=submit&#038;keyword=american+heist">NO</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td><a href="http://www.findanyfilm.com/The-Judge~58646">The Judge</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.findanyfilm.com/The-Judge~58646">NO</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Yes, the results above are heavily skewed because they only include movies that were released recently. Looking up films from 2011 will result in a much more favorable outcome in terms of availability. </p>
<p>But isn&#8217;t that the problem exactly? Most film fans are not interested in last year&#8217;s blockbusters, they want to able to see the new stuff in their home too. And since the movie industry prefers to keep its windowing business model intact, piracy is often the only option to watch recent movies online. </p>
<p>So when the MPA&#8217;s Stan McCoy says that lacking availability is a myth, he&#8217;s ignoring the elephant in the room. </p>
<p>For as long as the film industry keeps its windowing business model intact, releasing films online months after their theatrical release, people will search for other ways to access content, keeping their piracy habit alive.</p>
<p>Admittedly, changing a business that has relied on complex licensing schemes and windowing strategies for decades isn&#8217;t easy. But completely ignoring that these issues play a role is a bit shortsighted.</p>
<p>There&#8217;s no doubt that the movie studios are making progress. It&#8217;s also true that many people choose to pirate content that is legally available, simply because it&#8217;s free. There is no good excuse for these freeriders, but it&#8217;s also a myth that Hollywood has done all it can to eradicate piracy.</p>
<p>Even its own research proves them wrong. </p>
<p>Earlier this year a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/most-top-films-are-not-available-on-netflix-research-finds-140926/">KPMG report</a>, commissioned by NBC Universal, showed that only 16% of the most popular and critically acclaimed films are available via Netflix and other on-demand subscription services. The missing 84% includes recent titles but also older ones that are held back due to rights issues.</p>
<p>Clearly, availability is still an issue. </p>
<p>So if Hollywood accuses Google of <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-accuses-google-of-breeding-pirates-130919/">breeding pirates</a>, then it&#8217;s safe to say the same about Hollywood.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=zstlNHkOwnE:9Nf3x__aTRY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=zstlNHkOwnE:9Nf3x__aTRY:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=zstlNHkOwnE:9Nf3x__aTRY:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/zstlNHkOwnE" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100806
title: The Pirate Bay Already Has a Pollution Problem
uri: The-Pirate-Bay-Already-Has-a-Pollution-Problem
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/kvNavb1Cn3w/
content:
<p><a href="media/7d38faea.pirate-bay-sink.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-bay-sink.jpg"><img src="media/24d17644.pirate-bay-sink.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-bay-sink.jpg" alt="pirate-bay-sink" width="200" height="200" class="alignright size-full wp-image-16414"></a>After seven tense weeks of downtime, The Pirate Bay <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-back-online-150131/">sprang back to life</a> on Saturday.</p>
<p>There were no press releases, no triumphant tone, and no gloating blog posts mocking the futility of Hollywood&#8217;s efforts. Compared to previous comebacks, this one felt different.</p>
<p>The early signs were positive, however. The database backup used by the site appeared to be the one made on the last day of the site&#8217;s operations before it was raided early December 2014. And, given the use of ThePirateBay.se domain, it seems almost certain that the site isn&#8217;t some kind of trap &#8211; despite some of the <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/2ubb51/psa_resurrected_piratebay_is_questionable_hosted/">negative discussions</a> currently underway.</p>
<p>The big question, however, is how the site will develop moving forward. Revelations that the site would no longer <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-wont-make-a-full-comeback-staff-revolt-150127/">&#8216;employ&#8217; admins and moderators</a> to maintain what was the world&#8217;s most popular torrent site sounded some big alarm bells. How would the site cope with the inevitable flood of fake torrents without staff around to remove them?</p>
<p>Those lucky enough to get on The Pirate Bay today (Cloudflare and caching errors permitting) will find that searches (that&#8217;s to say when the search feature works) reveal a somewhat sorry picture.</p>
<p>Released in theaters on January 23, the Johnny Depp and Gwyneth Paltrow movie Mortdecai hasn&#8217;t been well received by critics. Nevertheless, some enterprising individuals released a &#8216;cam&#8217; copy online a few days ago. But check out Pirate Bay and the listings for pristine Blu-ray rips and DVD screeners are plain to see.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/bef62c28.tpb-fake-1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpb-fake-1.jpg" alt="tpb-fake-1"></center></p>
<p>Some of these fakes have been present for three days, something that would never have happened when the site used mods to remove junk. That being said, maybe this title was a one off and simply got missed? Sadly, that&#8217;s not the case.</p>
<p>Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb starring Ben Stiller and Robin Williams is another comedy currently doing the rounds in &#8216;cam&#8217; format. However, those looking for the title on Pirate Bay can apparently download a special &#8220;screening&#8221; version not designed for public eyes.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/a80df956.tpb-fake-2.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpb-fake-2.jpg" alt="tpb-fake-2"></center></p>
<p>The third comedy in our tests &#8211; <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0884732/?ref_=nv_sr_1">The Wedding Ringer</a> &#8211; is currently doing no better. Despite only being available in poor quality &#8216;cam&#8217; format, The Pirate Bay is listing Blu-ray, DVD and DVD screener copies for download. All are completely fake and have been on the site since Saturday.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/e77725f2.tpb-fake-3.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpb-fake-3.jpg" alt="tpb-fake-3"></center></p>
<p>So if these aren&#8217;t the movies they&#8217;re claiming to be, then what are they? The answer is, quite simply, nothing good.</p>
<p>At the very least they&#8217;ll be some prankster&#8217;s idea of a joke and at the worse will require the downloader to install some &#8216;special codec&#8217; or &#8216;special video player&#8217; to watch the promised movie. Of course, even if they do, no movie will be forthcoming. Instead the user&#8217;s computer will have some unexpected additions.</p>
<p>Also problematic is the lack of user comments. While it appears that some users can comment on torrents (with advice about the torrent&#8217;s authenticity, for example) currently even the most popular torrents have little to no comments. Without this user feedback people will become victims of spam and worse.</p>
<p>One saving grace is that a feature that was previously broken appears to have returned this morning. Users are now able to click on a username in order to see what other uploads he or she has made. Suspicious users &#8211; such as <a href="https://thepiratebay.se/user/b3322210/">b3322210</a> &#8211; can then clearly be identified as mass spammers of fake uploads.</p>
<p><Center><img src="media/e69fe751.tpb-fake-4.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpb-fake-4.jpg" alt="tpb-fake-4"></center></p>
<p>Of course, people should keep in mind that the site has only been up 72 hours and its operators may have a plan to keep junk off the site in future. However, file-sharers are notoriously fickle and reputations built by sites over many years can be torn down in a fraction of that time.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s worth noting that P2P software such as LimeWire and other &#8220;shared folder&#8221; apps are no longer used by the majority of file-sharers due to the complete lack of trust in what&#8217;s being offered. Without moderation the underlying networks turned into file cesspits that no sane person wants to spend much time around.</p>
<p>Pirate Bay is a long way away from that, but something needs to be done sooner rather than later if the site is to regain the top spot both in terms of traffic and reputation with users.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=kvNavb1Cn3w:Wm_QbFcyvII:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=kvNavb1Cn3w:Wm_QbFcyvII:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=kvNavb1Cn3w:Wm_QbFcyvII:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/kvNavb1Cn3w" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100831
title: In Memory Of The Liberties Lost In The War on Piracy
uri: In-Memory-Of-The-Liberties-Lost-In-The-War-on-Piracy
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/yUcr3aZ2K18/
content:
<p><a href="media/b997f7ba.copyright-branded.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/copyright-branded.jpg"><img src="media/db7b975c.copyright-branded.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/copyright-branded.jpg" alt="copyright-branded" width="250" height="164" class="alignright size-full wp-image-56211"></a>There are a couple of things we of the net generation knew all along in the so-called piracy debate that started.</p>
<p>The first of those things is that the copyright industry had a medical case of severe rectocranial inversion when they made the sloppy business assumption that an unlicensed copy of a movie or a piece of music was equivalent to a lost sale. </p>
<p>The second of those things is that it wouldn&#8217;t have mattered even if it were true (which it wasn&#8217;t), because no industry gets to eliminate fundamental civil liberties like the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/letter-copyright-monopoly-140921/">private letter</a>, completely regardless of whether the continued existence of civil liberties means they can make money or not.</p>
<p>So we of the net generation knew all along that the copyright industry was not only wrong and stupid, but also that their assertion was &#8211; or should have been &#8211; irrelevant in the first place.</p>
<p>However, the copyright industry was absolutely determined to prevent people from discussing and sharing interesting things (which is what file-sharing amounts to), damn the consequences to civil liberties and society at large to hell. If you put it this way &#8211; <em>what kind of measures would it take to physically and legally prevent people from discussing the things they want in private?</em> &#8211; you should arrive at conclusions which make hairs rise on your arms. The measures required would amount to something beyond Orwellian, and that&#8217;s exactly what the copyright industry demanded.</p>
<p>Unfortunately and tragically, the politicians didn&#8217;t understand what the copyright monopoly was asking for. They regarded the Internet as some kind of novel and regulatable toy, and not as the space for private correspondence that it is. When you mistake a private conversation arena for something completely different, and regulate it like any ordinary commercial toy, disaster to civil liberties is just around the corner.</p>
<p>That&#8217;s exactly what happened. But what would you expect when lawmakers get their e-mail printed for them by their secretaries (yes, really), and still think they understand what the internet is.</p>
<p>Last week, we saw that the entire initial business assumption &#8211; that <a href="http://falkvinge.net/2012/12/08/its-not-getting-or-downloading-a-copy-its-making-or-manufacturing-one/">unlicensed manufacturing</a> of music and movies had been the root cause of the collapse of profit &#8211; was <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/unprecedented-music-piracy-collapse-fails-to-boost-revenues-150126/">utterly wrong</a>. With unlicensed file-sharing reduced to a mere 4% in Norway, without a significant effect on revenues, it&#8217;s trivial to observe that file-sharing was never a business problem in the first place. To the contrary, we of the net generation assert confidently that sharing has a positive &#8211; not negative &#8211; correlation with sales.</p>
<p><strong>So the copyright industry has successfully lobbied for laws that ban people from sharing and discussing interesting things in private, and done so from the sloppiest conceivable of false business assumptions. As a result of this dimwitted business sense combined with diehard foolhardiness, we&#8217;re left with nowhere to talk or walk in private.</strong></p>
<p>It&#8217;s helpful to remember what rights have been lost to this dumb crusade, when you compare to the analog equivalent:</p>
<p>The right to <em>communicate anonymously</em> has been lost, due to the copyright industry&#8217;s lobbying. This was so fundamental a right &#8211; putting up anonymous posters &#8211; that the United States would not exist without it (see the Federalist Papers which were anonymously posted everywhere).</p>
<p>We no longer have the right to <em>modify, rebuild, and repurpose our own possessions</em>, because we may do so with an intent of discussing interesting things with our friends.<a href="media/6bfc8224.cameraspy.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/cameraspy.jpg"><img src="media/f408e481.cameraspy.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cameraspy.jpg" alt="cameraspy" width="170" height="164" class="alignright size-full wp-image-49625"></a></p>
<p>Mail carriers no longer have <em>messenger immunity</em>, something that had otherwise been a sacred constant between the Roman Empire and the Dimwitted Copyright Industry.</p>
<p>We no longer have the legal right to <em>point at</em> or give directions to <em>interesting places</em> if what happens in that location breaks a law somewhere. (Just to illustrate the special treatment of the copyright industry here, compare this to the fact that Wikipedia has a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapon_design">helpful page</a> on nuclear weapons design.)</p>
<p>The copyright industry has been given the right to <em>write its own laws</em> thanks to an intentional legal loophole that prohibits us from circumventing digital restriction measures, even when those measures prevent still-legal uses of our own possessions.</p>
<p>The right to <em>send private letters</em> is being lost, due to a long-standing tirade. The copyright industry has successfully lobbied the largest correspondence carriers today &#8211; Facebook and the like &#8211; to just ban anything they don&#8217;t like. Not long ago, if you posted a link to The Pirate Bay on Facebook, you would be interrupted by a message saying that you had discussed a forbidden subject. Imagine that happening in an old-fashioned phonecall or a conversation in the street, and you&#8217;ll realize what a horrifying development it is.</p>
<p>A <em>diary</em> has extensive protection in law against search and seizure in most legislations. However, a computer &#8211; which is far more sensitive &#8211; does not. After all, it may contain a copy of a bad movie.</p>
<p>The right to be <em>presumed innocent</em> has been lost, thanks to the copyright industry&#8217;s lobbying for things like Data Retention &#8211; laws that log all our conversations <em>pre-emptively</em>, whom we talk to and from where and when and how, just in case it was found out <em>later</em> that the copyright industry didn&#8217;t like what we discussed.</p>
<p>The right to have laws enforced by <em>dedicated law enforcement</em> has been lost &#8211; the copyright industry has successfully lobbied for laws that give them a fast lane past the slow judiciary with its irritating &#8220;due process&#8221; and other nonsense, when it comes to forcefully enforcing their commercial monopolies against dangerous single mothers. The copyright industry specifically intended to use this in combination with Data Retention above.</p>
<p>Did you know the copyright industry has even sued Internet Service Providers with the demand to <a href="http://www.siliconrepublic.com/new-media/item/10068-big-four-record-labels-sue">install wiretapping-and-censorship equipment</a> in the deepest of their switches, effectively demanding to wiretap and censor an entire country? We&#8217;re not talking about the NSA or GCHQ here, but a private dimwitted industry that are going on a crusade against its evil customers?</p>
<p>This is just a short list of examples. There are many more.</p>
<p><strong>And these civil liberties &#8211; vital, fundamental civil liberties that aren&#8217;t passing from our parents to our children &#8211; were lost because of a damn dimwitted sloppy business assumption that turned out to be 180 degrees wrong. It&#8217;s beyond depressing. It&#8217;s enraging.</strong></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>
<div style="float:right;position:relative;top:-12px">
<p><small>Book Falkvinge <a href="http://falkvinge.net/keynotes/">as speaker</a>?</small></p>
</div>
<p><a href="http://twitter.com/Falkvinge" class="twitter-follow-button">Follow @Falkvinge</a></p>
</div>
<p></center></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=yUcr3aZ2K18:UY2t_t3GFow:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=yUcr3aZ2K18:UY2t_t3GFow:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=yUcr3aZ2K18:UY2t_t3GFow:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/yUcr3aZ2K18" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100801
title: YTS Rolls Out New Design and Features
uri: YTS-Rolls-Out-New-Design-and-Features
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Wr7u_kpA9FY/
content:
<p><a href="media/82494202.YTS.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/YTS.png"><img src="media/82494202.YTS.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/YTS.png" alt="YTS" width="211" height="91" class="alignright size-full wp-image-100810"></a>Operated by the popular &#8216;YIFY&#8217; release group, YTS has become one of the most popular pirate brands releasing several top movies on a weekly basis. </p>
<p>The group releases its movies on various popular torrent sites, but in recent years its home base <a href="http://yts.re">YTS.re</a> has also gathered a steady user base. </p>
<p>&#8220;We are currently looking at around 6.5 million pages views with just under a million unique users coming daily to the site,&#8221; the YTS team informs TF, adding that it&#8217;s roughly a 33 percent increase in uniques compared to last year.  </p>
<p>Since the old site wasn&#8217;t built to serve millions of page views per day it started to fail more often, causing all sorts of problems. Several improvements were needed to keep things running smoothly, and in recent weeks YTS worked hard to put these in place.</p>
<p>Over the past weekend YTS was ready to roll out a major overhaul of the site. The backend was completely redone and the site got a redesign as well.</p>
<p>&#8220;We didn&#8217;t really decide to make these changes, we were kind of forced to. In the past half a year the old site was failing us. It started to crash and die with all sorts of errors on a regular basis,&#8221; YTS tells us.</p>
<p>While YTS was working on the backend they also decided to give the site a new look and roll out some frequently requested features. The <a href="https://yts.re/movie/tpb-afk-the-pirate-bay-away-from-keyboard-2013">movie pages</a> were improved with new info and list both 720p and 1080p versions on the same page, for example. </p>
<p><center><a href="media/909ac11c.yts-new.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/yts-new.jpg"><img src="media/909ac11c.yts-new.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/yts-new.jpg" alt="yts-new" width="600" height="655" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-100818"></a></center></p>
<p>Another big change is the responsive design, which makes the site more easily accessible across various devices, including smartphones.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are finally embracing the future. We have added a responsive layout for our mobile users making life a little easier when it comes to surfing the website from your smartphone,&#8221; YTS notes. </p>
<p>Finally, the site&#8217;s API has also been upgraded and should be more simple to use now. This means that the developers of various Popcorn Time forks and other apps that rely on YTS will have to do some upgrades as well.</p>
<p>The growth of YTS hasn&#8217;t gone unnoticed by Hollywood either. A few months ago the MPAA <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-reports-top-pirate-sites-u-s-government-141027/">reported YTS</a> to the U.S. Government in its overview of notorious markets, describing it as one of the most popular release groups.</p>
<p>“[Yts.re] facilitates the downloading of free copies of popular movies, and currently lists more than 5,000 high-quality movie torrents available to download for free,” MPAA wrote.</p>
<p>Needless to say, the movie industry group will be less excited with YTS&#8217; continued expansion.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Wr7u_kpA9FY:ZnhVnRb9sn4:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Wr7u_kpA9FY:ZnhVnRb9sn4:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=Wr7u_kpA9FY:ZnhVnRb9sn4:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/Wr7u_kpA9FY" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100878
title: Pirate Bay Responds to Cloudflare and Moderation Concerns
uri: Pirate-Bay-Responds-to-Cloudflare-and-Moderation-Concerns
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/mcKACiPl31w/
content:
<p><a href="media/454d76e0.phoenix1.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/phoenix1.png"><img src="media/02fd3933.phoenix1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/phoenix1.png" alt="phoenix1" width="250" height="247" class="alignright size-full wp-image-100430"></a>On Saturday The Pirate Bay made its <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-back-online-150131/">long-awaited comeback</a>. While most users were happy to see the site back online, others were suspicious about the new setup.</p>
<p>One of the issues that was discussed the most is Pirate Bay&#8217;s use of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CloudFlare">CloudFlare&#8217;s</a> CDN and its SSL service. Several people <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/2ubb51/psa_resurrected_piratebay_is_questionable_hosted/">voiced concerns</a> that this would make it easy for U.S. authorities to spy on Pirate Bay&#8217;s users. </p>
<p>Others even went as far as <a href="http://anonhq.com/anonymous-says-pirate-bay-new-domain-old-domain-compromised/">rumoring</a> that the FBI had already infiltrated the site. While this is complete nonsense, general security concerns of using a U.S.-based service are legitimate.</p>
<p>Today, the Pirate Bay responded to the possible security issue, explaining that it&#8217;s only using Cloudflare temporarily in order to cope with the continued stream of millions of visitors.  </p>
<p>&#8220;We have seen that there has been some question to why we are using Cloudflare. This is only initially to handle the massive load upon the servers. It will be removed shortly,&#8221; TPB says in a statement.  </p>
<p>Another concern is the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-already-has-a-pollution-problem-150202/">lack of moderation</a> on the site. The Pirate Bay previously decided to take away the rights of admins and moderators which resulted in a staff revolt and a subsequent pollution problem.</p>
<p>Since the site&#8217;s return many fake torrents have been posted to the site and without moderators these were not removed. The Pirate Bay operators now explain that the decision to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-wont-make-a-full-comeback-staff-revolt-150127/">keep the staff out</a> was taken as a security measure. </p>
<p>&#8220;Due to severe security issues regarding the old moderator team all moderation has temporarily been disabled,&#8221; TPB notes.</p>
<p><a href="media/97338017.report.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/report.png"><img src="media/97338017.report.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/report.png" alt="report" width="233" height="163" class="alignright size-full wp-image-100891"></a>To deal with the spam and fake torrent problem they&#8217;ve now added a report link to every torrent details page. </p>
<p>&#8220;Before we sort everything out we have instead added a &#8216;Report link&#8217; to all torrents which you can find in the details page. We believe that the TPB community can help moderate the site for the time being.&#8221;</p>
<p>Already, several flagged torrents have been removed from the site so the report button seems to work. Whether it will be as effective as a full team of moderators has yet to be seen.</p>
<p>The locked out staffers are not really convinced by the security explanation and doubt that this is the true reason. </p>
<p>&#8220;Are we all to believe that the situation is what it is for security reasons? In that case the admins would remove the bad apples, and this is not what is going on now,&#8221; they tell TF in a joint statement. </p>
<p>Finally, it&#8217;s worth noting that The Pirate Bay&#8217;s <a href="http://uj3wazyk5u4hnvtk.onion">.onion address</a> has been brought back online too, which allows people to browse the site over the Tor network.</p>
<p>While The Pirate Bay may not have returned with a bang, it was certainly fuel for heated debates and conspiracy theories. The recent announcements may not resolve all concerns, especially not those of the moderators and admins, but it&#8217;s good that the people behind the site are speaking out again.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=mcKACiPl31w:pjsbzSj0NbU:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=mcKACiPl31w:pjsbzSj0NbU:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=mcKACiPl31w:pjsbzSj0NbU:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/mcKACiPl31w" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100844
title: Android Dev ‘Punishes’ Pirates at the Behest of Reddit
uri: Android-Dev-Punishes-Pirates-at-the-Behest-of-Reddit
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Jos9mTt0-d4/
content:
<p><a href="media/823adf75.walkplank.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/walkplank.jpg"><img src="media/823adf75.walkplank.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/walkplank.jpg" alt="walkplank" width="180" height="171" class="alignright size-full wp-image-100863"></a>It doesn&#8217;t really matter what kind of digital media a company or individual produces, it&#8217;s a given that someone, somewhere, will attempt to pirate it.</p>
<p>Software, which has traditionally been expensive to buy, has always been targeted by those with small budgets seeking to enjoy products often placed out of reach. But price doesn&#8217;t always provide an excuse for those obtaining software without permission. With the rise of smart phones and tablet computers, software has become cheaper than ever, with many paid apps now available for just a few dollars.</p>
<p>One such app is <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.underwood.calendar&#038;hl=en">Today Calendar Pro</a> from UK developer Jack Underwood. It&#8217;s an already popular replacement calendar for Android with 4.5 stars from several thousand voters on Google Play. However, like many devs, Underwood is trying to find a way to bring down piracy rates. Just a few hours ago he <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/2ulhi7/85_of_today_calendar_pro_installs_are_pirated/">revealed</a> to Reddit users that 85% of people are using pirate versions of his app.</p>
<p>How to reduce that volume quickly became the topic of conversation. Some Reddit users were very <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/2ulhi7/85_of_today_calendar_pro_installs_are_pirated/co9h133">aggressive</a> but Underwood eventually settled on a more <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/2ulhi7/85_of_today_calendar_pro_installs_are_pirated/co9ghal">gentle approach</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;Today Calendar Pro has a 85% piracy rate, so the way we&#8217;ve chosen to combat that is to have the app randomly insert pirate-themed events if the app decides the install is pirated,&#8221; Underwood told TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>The first one, which has already been implemented, sees a graphical depiction of a plank suspended over shark-infested waters alongside a subtle reminder &#8211; &#8220;That&#8217;s what ye get fer piratin&#8217; matey.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><img src="media/451ea01d.pirate-matey.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-matey.jpg" alt="pirate-matey"></center></p>
<p>But despite the huge piracy rates, Underwood is surprisingly pragmatic. The developer informs TF that he actually &#8216;gets&#8217; piracy and understands the mindset behind it.</p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not against piracy, from either a consumer or developer standpoint &#8211; I can totally understand why people pirate Today Calender. They want to try it out for an extended period of time, or they can&#8217;t afford to buy it, or they don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s worth the asking price, and that&#8217;s 100% fine with me,&#8221; he says.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, there&#8217;s no getting away from the fact that almost 9 out of 10 people using the Pro version aren&#8217;t paying the $6 price tag. Underwood feels there could be two reasons.</p>
<p>&#8220;Maybe it&#8217;s far too convenient to pirate (for the consumer, not the cracker), and the cost of the pro version is more than the convenience of updates from the Play Store. Or perhaps it&#8217;s not actually worth $6,&#8221; he says.</p>
<p>&#8220;Obviously I&#8217;m a little biased, but personally I think it&#8217;s worth $6 to people who use a calendar app on a daily basis. I also update the app a lot, probably three times a week.&#8221;</p>
<p>In the meantime Underwood will stick with more unorthodox ways of tackling piracy &#8211; he has no interest in investing time in the old tried-and-failed methods.</p>
<p>&#8220;Fighting piracy in a traditional way is a waste of time in my eyes, software will get cracked anyway. The majority of people who pirate my apps wouldn&#8217;t have bought them anyway, so it&#8217;s not as if I&#8217;m losing 85% of my revenue. In any event, I&#8217;d rather spend that time making Today more awesome.&#8221;</p>
<p>People who do decide to pirate Today Calender Pro will find it easily using Google, but Underwood hopes that the &#8216;special events&#8217; appearing in the app at surprise intervals might encourage people to spend $6 if they find the software useful long-term.</p>
<p>&#8220;These events wont start occurring instantly, but when they do they&#8217;ll happen a lot &#8211; so the cracker (at first) won&#8217;t see the event coming, but once they start, they might get annoying quite quickly.</p>
<p>&#8220;The plan is that people will get so bored of being invited to &#8216;pirate parties&#8217; and being told to walk the plank that they&#8217;ll give up and just buy the thing,&#8221; Underwood concludes.</p>
<p>Those who do want to spend $6 can do so <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.underwood.calendar&#038;hl=en">here</a>, but for everyone else there&#8217;s a <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.underwood.calendar_beta&#038;hl=en">free ad-supported version</a>. Those choosing to use unauthorized sources can do so, but expect to be invited to pirate-themed parties &#8211; every Tharrrrrsday.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Jos9mTt0-d4:PaOYwVImRDs:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Jos9mTt0-d4:PaOYwVImRDs:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=Jos9mTt0-d4:PaOYwVImRDs:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/Jos9mTt0-d4" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100843
title: ISP Doesn’t Have to Expose Pirating Subscribers, Judge Rules
uri: ISP-Doesn-t-Have-to-Expose-Pirating-Subscribers-Judge-Rules
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/TrfEJjxsWnA/
content:
<p><a href="media/bf524f61.pirate-running.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-running.jpg"><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"></a>Hired by prominent clients such as Warner Bros. and BMG, Rightscorp began <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/rightscorp-finds-shortcut-expose-alleged-bittorrent-pirates-140405/">sending DMCA subpoenas</a> to dozens of smaller local ISPs in the United States last year.</p>
<p>Unlike regular subpoenas these are not reviewed by a judge and only require a signature from the court clerk. This practice is questionable because these type of subpoenas are generally not applicable to file-sharing cases.</p>
<p>Despite these concerns dozens of ISPs have complied with the requests, identifying their customers, who would then have received settlement demands for their alleged wrongdoing.</p>
<p>CBeyond, owned by <a href="http://www.birch.com/">Birch Communication</a>, is one of the few ISPs that decided <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/u-s-internet-provider-refuses-to-expose-30000-alleged-pirates-140909/">not to hand over</a> customer data without a fight. The ISP filed a motion to quash the subpoena arguing that Rightscorp is on a piracy fishing expedition, while misleading the court.</p>
<p>One of the main arguments was that the DMCA doesn&#8217;t allow copyright holders to identify file-sharers. These type of subpoenas would only apply to services that actually host infringing material. </p>
<p>The Court agreed with this assessment and has quashed the subpoena (<a href="media/7ce7cac3.rights.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/rights.pdf">pdf</a>). As a result, the subscribers don&#8217;t have to be identified.</p>
<p>&#8220;CBeyond contends that the section does not apply to service providers that act only as a conduit for data transferred between other parties and that do not store data. The court agrees,&#8221; Magistrate Judge Janet King writes.</p>
<p>The Judge noted that the applicable subpoena power of the DMCA indeed only applies to services that store content. This excludes ISPs who only transmit customer data. </p>
<p>Rightscorp had argued that the subpoenas are necessary because otherwise copyright holders will not be able to stop and deter infringers. However, Judge King held that Congress should rewrite the law if this is the case, citing an earlier District Court ruling.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is the province of Congress, not the courts, to decide whether to rewrite the DMCA in order to make it fit a new and unforeseen internet architecture and accommodate fully the varied permutations of competing interests that are inevitably implicated by such new technology.&#8221;</p>
<p>In addition to quashing the subpoena CBeyond also asked the court to sanction Rightscorp, but this request was denied. </p>
<p>While the order is good news for the affected subscribers, the case isn&#8217;t over yet. Rightscorp has filed objections to the order of the Magistrate Judge and wants it overturned.</p>
<p>For now, however, Rightscorp&#8217;s efforts to target smaller ISPs with DMCA subpoenas has been stopped in its tracks. The company filed its latest subpoena several months ago and is unlikely to file more before the pending cases are resolved.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=TrfEJjxsWnA:AMnSQWBV6uE:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=TrfEJjxsWnA:AMnSQWBV6uE:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=TrfEJjxsWnA:AMnSQWBV6uE:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/TrfEJjxsWnA" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100909
title: Anti-Piracy Outfit Sends Porn ‘Fines’ to University
uri: Anti-Piracy-Outfit-Sends-Porn-Fines-to-University
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Ghu1XiFrvQo/
content:
<p><a href="media/db3bd45e.pirate-card.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-card.jpg"><img src="media/9d886086.pirate-card-150x150.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-card-150x150.jpg" alt="pirate-card" width="150" height="150" class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-86520"></a>For more than a decade copyright holders have been sending out warnings and threats to people they believe have downloaded and shared content without permission. In 2015 the practice is now at unprecedented levels.</p>
<p>While some might agree that targeting student pirates is fair game, it can cause issues. The RIAA got the ball rolling more than ten years ago but abandoned the practice amid public outcry &#8211; and after having new laws passed which compel educational establishments to deal with the issue or lose funding.</p>
<p>But while receiving a notice about an unauthorized music download is one thing, receiving a threat over porn downloads is something entirely different. Nevertheless, students are now receiving cash demands from anti-piracy companies acting on behalf of the adult industry which include the titles of the movies allegedly downloaded.</p>
<p>Two such cases have just been documented by the University of California in Santa Barbara. The University reports that the <a href="https://legal.as.ucsb.edu/">Associated Students Legal Resources Center</a> received two cases inside a week after students were sent threats by anti-piracy outfit CEG TEK via the University’s Information Technology Office and Cox Communications.</p>
<p>The threats included demands for $300, which AS Legal Resource Center attorney Robin Unander told the University&#8217;s Daily Nexus were deterrent amounts and not designed to be compensation.</p>
<p>“Right now it seems that the intent from CEG Tek is to make aware to students to stop,” Unander <a href="http://dailynexus.com/2015-02-03/students-accused-of-illegally-downloading-pornography/">said</a>.</p>
<p>Sadly, Unander is seems unaware of CEG Tek&#8217;s business model. The outfit regularly demands much higher sums, up to several thousand dollars, and is very clear that payments are to be made to avoid legal action.</p>
<p><Center><img src="media/da17a675.ceg-tek1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ceg-tek1.jpg" alt="ceg-tek"></center></p>
<p>Unander also advises students who are caught by CEG TEK to comply with the cash demands but CEG TEK have no history of ever carrying a threat through to its conclusion. Indeed, the company has no idea who they are targeting since their threats are forwarded by ISPs to users and only they know the identity of the recipient.</p>
<p>But while the advice given above may be a little wide of the mark, comments made by UCSB computer science professor Giovanni Vigna are of greater concern. From the Daily Nexus:</p>
<blockquote><p><em>Computer science professor Giovanni Vigna said he thinks the students who allegedly downloaded the porn illegally made their usage easy to track by using a website like BitTorrent.com, which makes it accessible for anyone, including anti-piracy firms, to see what they have downloaded</em></p></blockquote>
<p>Of course, BitTorrent.com certainly isn&#8217;t offering porn downloads to anyone but it&#8217;s the subsequent advice that raises the biggest alarm. Things start off well, however.</p>
<p>“If people use well-known content distribution networks, those users can be easily tracked,” Vigna said.</p>
<p>Fair enough, but then Vigna suggests that if BitTorrent users only download and don&#8217;t continue to seed once the file is complete, they wouldn&#8217;t have received a threat.</p>
<p>“After [students have] downloaded, they make [the files] available to the rest of the world and they usually raise a sort of alarm. If they would have probably taken the porn and movies out of their disk right away, they probably wouldn’t have been targeted,” Vigna said.</p>
<p>The advice is poor. What many BitTorrent users don&#8217;t appreciate is that anti-piracy companies monitor torrents of their clients&#8217; content all the time and they don&#8217;t care whether users have some or all of the file. Once people start participating in a swarm, whether that&#8217;s downloading, uploading or both (such is the nature of BitTorrent) they can and will be tracked by companies such as CEG TEK.</p>
<p>While it&#8217;s now clear that the University of California forwards CEG TEK cash demands to students, they&#8217;re not the only ones. According to the <a href="https://torrentlawyer.wordpress.com/2014/11/12/ceg-tek-dmca-alliance-cox-communications/">Cashman Law Firm</a>, Rice University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Stanford University, University of Michigan, Wisconsin University and the University of Alaska all comply with the company&#8217;s requests.</p>
<p>Finally, other anti-piracy companies see an alternative solution to the problem of campus file-sharing. Yesterday digital fingerprinting company Audible Magic debuted a new version of its <a href="http://www.audiblemagic.com/copysense-appliance/">CopySense</a> system.</p>
<p>CopySense can monitor campus networks for users attempting to download and share content on peer-to-peer networks such as BitTorrent. Using a built-in database of digital fingerprints of music and movies, CopySense is able to detect attempts by users to download or share infringing content. They are then directed to a landing page informing them of the University&#8217;s network policies.</p>
<p>&#8220;Sharing of non-copyrighted files on P2P networks is ignored, thus allowing the campus to embrace and allow P2P file sharing for non-infringing uses,&#8221; the company says.</p>
<p>While that will be some comfort to users, the fact that everything they do is being spied on by Audible Magic will probably not. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Ghu1XiFrvQo:RNaZ5889dC4:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=Ghu1XiFrvQo:RNaZ5889dC4:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=Ghu1XiFrvQo:RNaZ5889dC4:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/Ghu1XiFrvQo" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100939
title: Hotfile Agrees to Settle Piracy Lawsuit With Major Book Publishers
uri: Hotfile-Agrees-to-Settle-Piracy-Lawsuit-With-Major-Book-Publishers
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/ZYlHewalcvk/
content:
<p><a href="media/cd4e5e9c.hfp.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/hfp.jpg"><img src="media/dd1a1e90.hfp.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/hfp.jpg" alt="hfp" width="250" height="324" class="alignright size-full wp-image-82534"></a>Little over a year ago the MPAA announced that it had settled its legal dispute with Hotfile for <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/hotfile-pays-80-million-to-the-mpaa-but-might-survive-131204/">$80 million</a>, which in reality came down to just <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-secretly-settled-hotfile-4-million-80-million-141224/">$4 million</a>.</p>
<p>Shortly after the settlement was announced a group of major book publishers <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/major-book-publishers-sue-hotfile-for-copyright-infringement-140120/">followed</a> in Hollywood&#8217;s footsteps. </p>
<p>Pearson Education, Cengage Learning, John Wiley and Sons, Elsevier and McGraw-Hill lodged a complaint with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, accusing Hotfile of vicarious copyright infringement.</p>
<p>“Hotfile built a business off of infringement. The book publishers’ rights were massively infringed by the site and its operators. They should not be allowed to simply pocket their profits and walk away from the harm they caused,” a representative of the book publishers told TF at the time.</p>
<p>The publishers held Hotfile liable for the many copyright-infringing works that were shared by its users, including ‘Office 2007 for Dummies’ and ‘C++ How to Program,’ As compensation for the damage that was suffered they demanded up to $7.5 million.</p>
<p>Hotfile later refuted that is was responsible for pirating users, and last December the Court scheduled a mediation conference hoping both parties would be able to resolve their issues. </p>
<p>This session was indeed effective as mediator Jeffrey Grubman informed the Court this week that both parties have agreed on a settlement. </p>
<p>&#8220;Mr. Anton Titov attended the mediation via Skype on behalf of Defendants, along with Defendants’ counsel. At the conclusion of the mediation session, the parties agreed in principle to a complete resolution of the dispute subject to final written settlement documentation,&#8221; Grubman <a href="media/559c5543.mediate.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mediate.pdf">writes</a>.</p>
<p>The details of the agreement are unlikely to become public. However, it&#8217;s likely that Hotfile agreed to pay a settlement fee as it did in the MPAA case. </p>
<p>The finer details still have to be fleshed out and District Court Judge Beth Bloom has decided to administratively <a href="media/de2de07b.adminclose.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/adminclose.pdf">close the case</a> for now. If the planned settlement falls apart either party has the option to reopen it. </p>
<p>For Hotfile the settlement will mark the end of several controversial years where it went from being one of the top file-hosting sites <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-largest-file-sharing-sites-110828/">more than 100 million</a> page views per month, to a defunct service with no visitors at all.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=ZYlHewalcvk:h5derH5lLVM:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=ZYlHewalcvk:h5derH5lLVM:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=ZYlHewalcvk:h5derH5lLVM:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/ZYlHewalcvk" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100931
title: Google Chrome Dragged Into Internet Censorship Fight
uri: Google-Chrome-Dragged-Into-Internet-Censorship-Fight
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/f3ntKGCgza0/
content:
<p><a href="media/53764347.chrome.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/chrome.jpg"><img src="media/53764347.chrome.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/chrome.jpg" alt="chrome" width="222" height="222" class="alignright size-full wp-image-100967"></a><a href="http://torrentfreak.com/google-mpaa-publicly-slam-each-other-over-piracy-141219/">Helped by the MPAA</a>, Mississippi State Attorney General Jim Hood launched a secret campaign to revive SOPA-like censorship efforts in the United States.</p>
<p>The MPAA and Hood want Internet services to bring website blocking and search engine filtering back to the table after the controversial law failed to pass.</p>
<p>The plan became public through various emails that were released in the Sony Pictures leaks and in a response Google said that it was &#8220;<a href="http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.nl/2014/12/the-mpaas-attempt-to-revive-sopa.html">deeply concerned</a>&#8221; about the developments. </p>
<p>To counter the looming threat Google filed a complaint against Hood last December, asking the court to quash a pending subpoena that addresses Google&#8217;s failure to take down or block access to illegal content, including pirate sites.</p>
<p>Recognizing the importance of this case, several interested parties have written to the court to share their concerns. There&#8217;s been support for both parties with some siding with Google and others backing Hood.</p>
<p>In a joint <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amicus_curiae">amicus curae</a> brief (<a href="media/2af37b50.cea.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cea.pdf">pdf</a>) the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), Computer &#038; Communications Association (CCIA) and<br>
advocacy organization Engine warn that Hood&#8217;s efforts endanger free speech and innovation.</p>
<p>&#8220;No public official should have discretion to filter the Internet. Where the public official is one of fifty state attorneys general, the danger to free speech and to innovation is even more profound,&#8221; they write.</p>
<p>According to the tech groups it would be impossible for Internet services to screen and police the Internet for questionable content. </p>
<p>&#8220;Internet businesses rely not only on the ability to communicate freely with their consumers, but also on the ability to give the public ways to communicate with each other. This communication, at the speed of the Internet, is impossible to pre-screen.&#8221; </p>
<p>Not everyone agrees with this position though. On the other side of the argument we find outfits such as Stop Child Predators, Digital Citizens Alliance, Taylor Hooton Foundation and Ryan United. </p>
<p>In their <a href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/254792506/Child">brief</a> they point out that Google&#8217;s services are used to facilitate criminal practices such as illegal drug sales and piracy. Blocking content may also be needed to protect children from other threats.</p>
<p>&#8220;Google’s YouTube service has been used by those seeking to sell steroids and other illegal drugs online,&#8221; they warn, adding that the video platform is also &#8220;routinely used to distribute other content that is harmful to minors, such as videos regarding &#8216;How to Buy Smokes Under-Age&#8217;, and &#8216;Best Fake ID Service Around&#8217;.</p>
<p>Going a step further, the groups also suggest that Google should filter content in its Chrome browser. The brief mentions that Google <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/google-removes-pirate-bay-apps-play-store-141205/">recently removed</a> Pirate Bay apps from its Play Store, but failed to block the site in search results or Chrome.</p>
<p>&#8220;In December 2014, responding to the crackdown on leading filesharing website PirateBay, Google removed a file-sharing application from its mobile software store, but reports indicate that Google has continued to allow access to the same and similar sites through its search engine and Chrome browser,&#8221; they write.</p>
<p>The Attorney General should be allowed to thoroughly investigate these threats and do something about it, the groups add.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is simply not tenable to suggest that the top law enforcement officials of each state are powerless even to investigate whether search engines or other intermediaries such as Google are being used—knowingly or unknowingly—to facilitate the distribution of illegal content&#8230;&#8221; </p>
<p>In addition to the examples above, several other organizations submitted amicus briefs arguing why the subpoena should or shouldn&#8217;t be allowed under the First Amendment and <a href="https://www.eff.org/issues/cda230">Section 230</a> of the CDA, including the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition, EFF, the Center for Democracy &#038; Technology and Public Knowledge. </p>
<p>Considering the stakes at hand, both sides will leave no resource untapped to defend their positions. In any event, this is certainly not the last time we&#8217;ll hear of the case.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=f3ntKGCgza0:JUOWjqyywr4:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=f3ntKGCgza0:JUOWjqyywr4:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=f3ntKGCgza0:JUOWjqyywr4:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/f3ntKGCgza0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100952
title: The Pirate Bay Left Moldova Before Government Piracy Meeting
uri: The-Pirate-Bay-Left-Moldova-Before-Government-Piracy-Meeting
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/2gj6m58_Bec/
content:
<p><a href="media/454d76e0.phoenix1.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/phoenix1.png"><img src="media/d1474dd1.phoenix1-150x150.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/phoenix1-150x150.png" alt="phoenix1" width="150" height="150" class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-100430"></a>The Pirate Bay is without doubt the most controversial file-sharing site ever to hit the Internet. Even Napster, still mentioned nearly 15 years after its demise, fails to eclipse the sheer number of headlines generated by The &#8216;Bay.</p>
<p>Throughout the site&#8217;s roller-coaster history, one element has remained constant. Sooner or later, one way or another, companies and organizations that provide infrastructure to the notorious site all come under the spotlight.</p>
<p>The latest Internet service provider to become associated with The Pirate Bay is Moldovan-based Trabia, the country&#8217;s largest datacenter. In January the ISP <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-shows-significant-signs-return-yet-150121/">said</a> that it supports freedom of speech and &#8220;barrier-free Internet usage&#8221; but noted that clients &#8211; Pirate Bay included &#8211; have to obey local and international laws.</p>
<p>It goes without saying that The Pirate Bay has rarely been associated with that kind of compliance so when the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-back-online-150131/">site came back online</a> last Saturday, Trabia would&#8217;ve had good reasons to expect trouble. However, in the event, it did not do so from the company&#8217;s servers, Trabia has announced.</p>
<p>Trabia founder Sven Wiese says the operator of the infamous site contacted the ISP in January to inform the company that it would move to another location. While there&#8217;s no real reason to doubt Wiese&#8217;s word, it is now fairly difficult to backup the move with hard facts since, as usual, TPB is obfuscating its true location.</p>
<p>Speaking with <a href="http://www.moldova.org/trabia-anunta-ca-the-pirate-bay-nu-mai-este-gazduit-in-moldova-dar-ip-ul-arata-altceva-ce-spun-autoritatile/">Moldova.org</a>, Wiese notes that The Pirate Bay is now &#8216;hosted&#8217; with Cloudflare. While that&#8217;s not strictly true (the actual site is bound to be located in a separate hidden location), Cloudflare services are indeed providing a &#8216;front-end&#8217; to the site.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s an interesting situation. After Hollywood pumped cash into Sweden to have local anti-piracy outfit Rights Alliance investigate and then <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/swedish-police-raid-the-pirate-bay-site-offline-141209/">raid The Pirate Bay</a> in December, the site has not only resurrected itself but has boldly planted some of its infrastructure firmly in the studios&#8217; backyard.</p>
<p>Use of U.S.-based Cloudflare is not without its issues and has certainly helped the conspiracy theorists. Earlier this week several large publications bought into the notion that The Pirate Bay is now an FBI honeypot. It&#8217;s not (and the site <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-will-ditch-cloudflare-asks-users-moderate-150203/">will discontinue using it</a> soon) &#8211; but if simply using Cloudflare is a cause for concern, let the nail-biting begin.</p>
<p>In addition to the original Pirate Bay, many of the largest Pirate Bay clones and alternatives also use Cloudflare. They include ThePirateBay.com.ua, ThePirateBay.co.in, ThePirateBay.cr, ThePirateBayv2.org and ThePirateBay.lv. Even the largest of them all &#8211; OldPirateBay.org &#8211; uses Cloudflare in its setup.</p>
<p>Cloudflare hasn&#8217;t commented on The Pirate Bay&#8217;s use of its services but for Trabia over in Moldova, associations with the site are set to put piracy discussions back on the agenda. According to the State Agency for Intellectual Property (<a href="http://www.agepi.md/en/">AGEPI</a>), the hosting of the Pirate Bay in the country may have &#8220;boosted the notoriety&#8221; of Moldova overseas.</p>
<p>&#8220;In our country no one doubts that a thief who stole something must be arrested,&#8221; said AGEPI deputy Ion Tiganas. &#8220;We want to be considered as a country that has laws and where these laws are respected.”</p>
<p>Tiganas says that this month there will be a meeting to discuss intellectual property rights and as a result of The Pirate Bay&#8217;s foray into the country, the site will be on the agenda.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=2gj6m58_Bec:VirH8Yz_3iA:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=2gj6m58_Bec:VirH8Yz_3iA:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=2gj6m58_Bec:VirH8Yz_3iA:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/2gj6m58_Bec" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=101012
title: MPAA to Undergo Major Changes Following Studio Disquiet
uri: MPAA-to-Undergo-Major-Changes-Following-Studio-Disquiet
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/cckK91-alyo/
content:
<p><a href="media/1b5440c0.mpaa-logo1.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/mpaa-logo1.jpg"><img src="media/394b6768.mpaa-logo1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mpaa-logo1.jpg" alt="mpaa-logo" width="200" height="112" class="alignright size-full wp-image-36694"></a>During November 2014, Sony Pictures was subjected to one of the most aggressive cyber-attacks in living memory. The studio&#8217;s systems were almost completely compromised, with thousands of emails leaking online alongside <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/sony-movies-leak-online-after-hack-attack-141129/">several major films</a>.</p>
<p>While the hackers clearly wanted to finish Sony for good, in the end their efforts proved unsuccessful. The studio appears to be on the path to recovery with the hack costing &#8216;just&#8217; <a href="http://www.cnet.com/news/sony-pictures-hack-to-cost-the-company-only-15-million/">$15m so far</a>. Nevertheless, the fallout continues.</p>
<p>Last week it was revealed that Sony Pictures co-chairman Amy Pascal will be <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/amy-pascal-step-down-top-755789">stepping down</a> and now further revelations suggest that the hack will have wider implications outside Sony.</p>
<p>According to a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/06/business/media/after-sony-hacking-the-mpaa-considers-major-changes.html">report</a>, Sony Pictures chairman Michael Lynton became infuriated by the complete lack of support offered to his company by the MPAA as it withered under the hack last year. While MPAA chief Chris Dodd eventually admitted that he&#8217;d handled the issue poorly, the damage had been done.</p>
<p>Alongside disquiet over the amount of cash the MPAA burns through every year, it&#8217;s now been revealed that Lynton began making plans for Sony to take the unprecedented move of leaving the movie industry group.</p>
<p>While this immediate crisis appears to have been averted (Lynton is said to have reversed course around Oscar time), he and other studio executives are now seeking to comprehensively alter the way the MPAA operates.</p>
<p>Several options are currently on the table, including opening up the MPAA to new members and expanding its mandate to include TV and digital content. Also under the spotlight are costs.</p>
<p>At the moment each of the member studios &#8211; Sony, Disney, Warner, Paramount, 20th Century Fox and Universal &#8211; pumps around $20 million into the MPAA every year (some of it going to Dodd&#8217;s salary of $3.3m) but it&#8217;s still not enough as the group is currently running at a loss. </p>
<p>The MPAA does have assets though, such as a valuable property (mentioned on several occasions in emails leaked from the Sony hack) located in Washington near the White House. That could be sold or developed to balance the books.</p>
<p>The New York Times managed to reach MPAA chief Chris Dodd on the telephone Thursday. When asked about the prospect for big changes at the MPAA he said: &#8220;I’m for that, completely.”</p>
<p>Dodd was on his way to have dinner in Los Angeles with top studio executives &#8211; Sony&#8217;s Lynton included &#8211; and he confirmed that a revamp of the organization was on the menu.</p>
<p>“He’s there. I’m glad he’s there. I think he’s handled this well,” Dodd said of Lynton, noting that some &#8220;feel more strongly&#8221; about potential changes at the MPAA than others.</p>
<p>Part of the MPAA&#8217;s problems relate to its inability to move quickly. All member companies have to agree on a course of action before it can be taken, something highlighted only too clearly when Dodd became hamstrung when considering what to do in support of Sony.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s questionable if that situation would improve with the addition of yet more members, but it would bring in much needed cash. The organization lost $4.4m in 2013 according to its latest <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-pays-university-for-piracy-research-141118/">tax filing</a>.</p>
<p>Whether the coffers can be buoyed with a cash injection from the sale of MPAA real estate seems less certain. Asked about the MPAA&#8217;s Washington building and its lobbying-friendly location, Dodd sounded a note of caution.</p>
<p>“It’s an important spot,” he said.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=cckK91-alyo:Mdxyg9J3apY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=cckK91-alyo:Mdxyg9J3apY:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=cckK91-alyo:Mdxyg9J3apY:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/cckK91-alyo" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=101085
title: Popcorn Time Explores I2P Anonymity as VPN Overloads
uri: Popcorn-Time-Explores-I2P-Anonymity-as-VPN-Overloads
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/9TwfrPFefX8/
content:
<p><a href="media/3b9dbdf1.popcornt.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/popcornt.png"><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"></a>Branded a “Netflix for Pirates,” the Popcorn Time app quickly gathered a user base of millions of people over the past year.</p>
<p>There are several successful forks of the application available online who all work on their own feature sets. </p>
<p><a href="https://Popcorn-time.se">Popcorn-time.se</a>, has been one of the most active projects. The fork added numerous features and made privacy one of its key selling points. </p>
<p>Last year it was the first fork to roll out a <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/popcorn-time-gives-users-anonymity-with-a-free-built-in-vpn-140607/">built-in VPN</a> that could be used free of charge. However, with millions of users the associated VPN provider Kebrum had trouble keeping up with the massive demand. </p>
<p>&#8220;Our user base grew so quickly and is still growing at a tremendous pace that we&#8217;re having difficulties keeping up with the volume. Only a small percentage of the  huge number of our users we have can use the VPN simultaneously at the moment,&#8221; the Popcorn Time team tells TF.</p>
<p>This motivated the developers to look for various alternatives to keep its users secure. In this quest the Invisible Internet Project (<a href="https://geti2p.net/en/">I2P</a>) caught their eye. </p>
<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re now making the first steps in examining integration of Popcorn Time with the I2P network,&#8221; the team explains.</p>
<p>The I2P network has been around for more than a decade but never really caught on with the mainstream public. It operates as an anonymous overlay network, similar to Tor, but is optimized for file-sharing. </p>
<p>One of the major downsides of this type of anonymity is that it may slow down transfer speeds, and that&#8217;s also the main concern for the Popcorn Time developers.</p>
<p>&#8220;Our biggest question in regards to using the I2P network, and we&#8217;re examining this question thoroughly to see if it&#8217;s the best solution for anonymity for Popcorn Time, is whether the download speed will be good enough for Popcorn Time to work well and for users to be able to still get the awesome viewing experience they have become accustomed to.&#8221; </p>
<p>&#8220;We are trying to find ways in which we can use the huge user base Popcorn Time has in order to enhance the speed of I2P to our users,&#8221; the Popcorn Time team adds.</p>
<p>In addition to safeguarding the privacy of its users, Popcorn Time is also concerned about attacks on its own infrastructure. <a href="http://www.androidplanet.nl/nieuws/popcorn-time-netwerk/">Android Planet</a> reports that Popcorn Time also plans to distribute its software through P2P technology, so users can get the latest updates even when the server&#8217;s offline.</p>
<p>This is not just a hypothetical situation. A few months ago this fork of Popcorn Time lost its .eu domain name after they were put &#8220;<a href="http://torrentfreak.com/popcorn-time-legal-investigation-switches-domain-141014/">under investigation</a>&#8221; by the EURid registry, and pressure from copyright holders hasn&#8217;t stopped since according to the developers.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=9TwfrPFefX8:ZMga91KIVCk:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=9TwfrPFefX8:ZMga91KIVCk:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=9TwfrPFefX8:ZMga91KIVCk:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/9TwfrPFefX8" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=101074
title: Pirate Bay Deploys “Robots” to Scan For Fake Torrents
uri: Pirate-Bay-Deploys-Robots-to-Scan-For-Fake-Torrents
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/EcHY86scX3g/
content:
<p><a href="media/fd06f581.pirate-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-bay.jpg"><img src="media/2a43984f.pirate-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-bay.jpg" alt="pirate bay" width="200" height="207" class="alignright size-full wp-image-53470"></a>The Pirate Bay has been <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-back-online-150131/">back online</a> for a week and millions of users have been finding their way back to the popular torrent site. </p>
<p>On the surface there&#8217;s not much new, aside from a few 404 errors here and there. Behind the scenes, however, the site has undergone some drastic changes. </p>
<p>Instead of using a crew of <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-wont-make-a-full-comeback-staff-revolt-150127/">dedicated moderators</a>, some of whom have been with the site for a decade, The Pirate Bay chose to restart as a solo operation. This created an <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-already-has-a-pollution-problem-150202/">influx of fake torrents</a> driving downloaders to malware and other malicious content. </p>
<p>The Pirate Bay noted that the changes were needed for security reasons. As a temporary solution, it added a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-will-ditch-cloudflare-asks-users-moderate-150203/">report button</a> to the site so users could flag fake torrents themselves.</p>
<p>But that&#8217;s not all. In addition to user reports TPB also borrowed an army of &#8220;bots&#8221; from competitor BitSnoop. These bots identify good and bad torrents and serve as an extra check to verify whether or not a torrent is safe to download, as shown below.  </p>
<p><center><strong>FakeSkan score</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/ee587933.fakes.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/fakes.png"><img src="media/ee587933.fakes.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/fakes.png" alt="fakes" width="600" height="218" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-101097"></a></center></p>
<p>The owner of BitSnoop told us that he was not aware of the fact that TPB is borrowing the work of his bots, but he doesn&#8217;t mind them doing so.</p>
<p>BitSnoop has used the <a href="http://bitsnoop.com/info/about.html#FakeSkan">FakeSkan</a> system for several years already. While it&#8217;s far from 100% accurate, it helps users to cut through the weeds.</p>
<p>&#8220;Both good and bad votes are initially cast by robots, based on a bunch of heuristics,&#8221; BitSnoop&#8217;s owner tells TF. &#8220;For example, was it found on trusted site? Does it contain fake-torrent patterns (i.e. archives with &#8216;password at…&#8217; links)? Does it contain content irrelevant to the type of torrent such as .exe files in video torrents?&#8221; </p>
<p>&#8220;After the torrent is indexed robots monitor its seeding patterns. Are there any known signs of seeder-spam on trackers? Was it tracked on known spam trackers? And so forth,&#8221; he adds.</p>
<p>In addition to the bot votes, BitSnoop also adds user votes to the total score, to improve overall reliability. </p>
<p>Unfortunately for TPB, fake torrents are not the only problem. The lack of moderation also caused an increase in spam links in comments where users advertise dubious streaming portals that charge for access, or malicious software concealed as &#8220;codecs.&#8221; </p>
<p><center><strong>Spam comments galore</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/76478a7a.tb0heme.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tb0heme.png"><img src="media/76478a7a.tb0heme.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tb0heme.png" alt="tb0heme" width="600" height="478" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-101094"></a></center></p>
<p>While most seasoned Pirate Bay users won&#8217;t fall for these tricks, it&#8217;s not helping the site&#8217;s image. </p>
<p>It will be interesting to see how TPB handles the pollution problems during the weeks to come. Whether it&#8217;s with help from mods or bots, there&#8217;s definitely room for improvement.  </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=EcHY86scX3g:UHTOfiTy3ps:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=EcHY86scX3g:UHTOfiTy3ps:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=EcHY86scX3g:UHTOfiTy3ps:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/EcHY86scX3g" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100975
title: Pirate Site’s Deal With Police Backfires Massively
uri: Pirate-Site-s-Deal-With-Police-Backfires-Massively
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/YUZl5eZPuIM/
content:
<p><a href="media/29455605.dreamfilm-polis.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/dreamfilm-polis.jpg"><img src="media/849ffd74.dreamfilm-polis-150x150.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dreamfilm-polis-150x150.jpg" alt="dreamfilm-polis" width="150" height="150" class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-100980"></a>While BitTorrent is considered the king when it comes to obtaining video online, there are other ways to obtain content that eclipse it in ease of use.</p>
<p>So-called &#8216;streaming&#8217; sites have grown massively in popularity in recent years, largely due to the way they&#8217;re presented. Rather than the text-heavy indexes associated with large volume torrent sites, streaming portals present the latest movies and TV shows in a user-friendly interface with plenty of graphics.</p>
<p>What&#8217;s more, for the novice &#8216;pirate&#8217; these sites are simplicity itself. Find a movie, click it, deal with the pop-ups, and in a few moments the latest blockbuster plays in a browser-based YouTube-style window. Even the Swedes, largely proud supporters of The Pirate Bay, have embraced the concept. Sadly for them, however, they&#8217;re now one sizable portal down.</p>
<p>In the wake of The Pirate Bay raid in December, Swedish police intensified their focus on one of the country&#8217;s top streaming portals, Dreamfilm.se. The site had been growing in popularity for some time but it appears that in recent weeks police had been homing in.</p>
<p>Early January everything seemed fairly normal when the site ran a promotion offering 100 movie tickets to fans who shared the picture below on Facebook. Plenty of people participated.</p>
<p><Center><img src="media/e6cf758c.dreamfilm-polis.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dreamfilm-polis.jpg" alt="dreamfilm-polis"></center></p>
<p>On January 14 the site published the Facebook links of 100 winners and requested that they send in their names and addresses to claim their prizes. But just a few weeks later and it&#8217;s now all over for Dreamfilm.</p>
<p>&#8220;After an administrator was detained and interrogated, it has been mutually agreed that dreamfilm.se will be shut down for good,&#8221; the site reveals in a statement.</p>
<p>&#8220;The police gave us an ultimatum, to shut down the site and be free, or to keep it online and be detained again.&#8221;</p>
<p>It seems that after an extended period trying to close the site, the authorities finally had the upper hand.</p>
<p>&#8220;Following controversial interrogation methods it was decided that the site and everything to do with it will be shut down for good. With this, all other administrators decided to resign altogether from the site&#8217;s operations with immediate effect,&#8221; the site&#8217;s operators add.</p>
<p>Thanking users for their dedication over the years, the admins bid farewell to the site and its members. Well, sort of&#8230;..</p>
<p>It appears that while some of the site&#8217;s admins agreed to close down the site, others did not give the police the same undertakings. They have now broken ranks and created a brand new venture. Today, DreamFilm.se is dead but DreamFilmHD.com lives on in its predecessor&#8217;s form.</p>
<p>&#8220;By the way, if you are film-goers, then that part of the crew who chose not to resign cloned [DreamFilm.se] to continue on their own,&#8221; the former admins say. &#8220;The administrators of DreamFilm.se do not in any way endorse this move, but the site is available at: DreamfilmHD.com.&#8221;</p>
<p>Sure enough, the replacement site at that address is more or less identical to the site now closed down following an agreement with the police. How this will be viewed by the authorities remains to be seen, but it&#8217;s a safe bet that this outcome wasn&#8217;t the one they&#8217;d hoped for.</p>
<p>At the time of publication Rights Alliance, the anti-piracy outfit behind most file-sharing site complaints in Sweden, had not responded to TorrentFreak&#8217;s request for comment.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=YUZl5eZPuIM:PGfTiVzCDOM:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=YUZl5eZPuIM:PGfTiVzCDOM:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=YUZl5eZPuIM:PGfTiVzCDOM:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/YUZl5eZPuIM" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=101003
title: If Pirate Bay is an FBI Trap it Isn’t a Very Good One
uri: If-Pirate-Bay-is-an-FBI-Trap-it-Isn-t-a-Very-Good-One
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/JCiEHcacIDg/
content:
<p><a href="media/28c338e6.honey.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/honey.jpg"><img src="media/edb506a6.honey.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/honey.jpg" alt="honey" width="175" height="243" class="alignright size-full wp-image-71477"></a>When confronted with an outrageous story this week our immediate thoughts were to ignore it in the hope that it would quickly go away. Sadly that isn&#8217;t how things have played out.</p>
<p>Faced with the fantastic and outrageous proposition that The Pirate Bay&#8217;s return was facilitated by United States&#8217; authorities keen to position the site as an FBI-run honeypot, the temptation to regurgitate the &#8216;news&#8217; was just too great for several big publications.</p>
<p>As the week progressed, more and more sites reported on the doomsday scenario with varying levels of excitement and belief. For our part we dismissed the story as nonsense. But with Sunday here and time on our hands, let&#8217;s pretend that the allegations are true and that the FBI has indeed commandeered the world&#8217;s most notorious torrent site. </p>
<p><strong>Operation Swedish Massage</strong></p>
<p>After water-boarding login information out of the site&#8217;s former admin, Special Agent Phil Share takes control of TPB and begins gathering evidence on millions of users. The data volumes involved quickly become unwieldy. The site can log IP addresses but there&#8217;s only so many the feds can process. The feds start incurring expensive overtime pay and those holding the purse strings become unhappy.</p>
<p><strong>IP address bonanza</strong></p>
<p>In the face of rising costs, Agent Share has to justify the overtime to his seniors. He finds it extremely difficult. While he does indeed have every IP address of every person visiting the site, obstacles are many.</p>
<p>First, he has no idea who these people are without obtaining their details from their ISPs. Second, and perhaps most importantly, he can only produce a subpoena after reasonably showing that these people have committed an offense.</p>
<p>Then it dawns on him: browsing a website &#8211; even The Pirate Bay &#8211; is not a crime. He has millions of IP addresses but zero proof that any have committed any offenses, even those that download .torrent files from the site. There has to be another way.</p>
<p><strong>The Pirate Bay is just the beginning</strong></p>
<p>Eventually our friendly Special Agent comes to realize that if he wants evidence of infringement he&#8217;ll need to spread his wings a little. Sure, his access to The Pirate Bay databases may give him the IP and email addresses of the minority who signed up for an account, and that could even include information on big uploaders, but the former aren&#8217;t of much interest and the latter tend to hide their identities anyway.</p>
<p>No, proof of actual infringement is needed here and for that he&#8217;s going to need to connect to outside trackers or DHT, the mechanisms through which peers in torrent swarms are able to find each other and the content being shared. He heads back to his boss to ask for more resources and more money. He gets it.</p>
<p><strong>Getting closer</strong></p>
<p>With fistfuls of crisp dollars in hand, Special Agent Share starts exploring public trackers in order to find the IP addresses of people sharing illegal content. At last, here is the goldmine he&#8217;s been looking for. Over the course of the next few weeks he collects the IP addresses of individuals sharing infringing content and goes to court to obtain a subpoena against their ISPs. He&#8217;s now within reach of obtaining their identities.</p>
<p><strong>More money please</strong></p>
<p>With his project so near to completion, our Agent requests more funds to finally unveil the perpetrators. Just before signing off on yet more cash, the FBI&#8217;s chief purse-string controller asks: &#8220;These are Pirate Bay users, right?&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;Some are but not necessarily all,&#8221; he responds. &#8220;I pulled the data from a public tracker used by the site.&#8221;</p>
<p>Two words in the sentence interest the spy-funding accountant. &#8220;Public tracker?&#8221; he questions. &#8220;Aren&#8217;t those publicly available resources that ANYONE can get information from for FREE?&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;Yes sir,&#8221; Share confirms.</p>
<p>&#8220;And we needed The Pirate Bay for what exactly?&#8221; the accountant responds.</p>
<p>The Special Agent&#8217;s career flashes before his eyes. Then it hits him.</p>
<p>&#8220;To scare the shit out of the Internet sir?????????&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re fired,&#8221; came the response. &#8220;They do that themselves. FOR FREE.&#8221;</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=JCiEHcacIDg:zd5UsTrnOzI:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=JCiEHcacIDg:zd5UsTrnOzI:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=JCiEHcacIDg:zd5UsTrnOzI:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/JCiEHcacIDg" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=100937
title: Top Torrent Tracker Hits Record Breaking 30 Million Peers
uri: Top-Torrent-Tracker-Hits-Record-Breaking-30-Million-Peers
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/aeIt08dhsSk/
content:
<p><a href="media/e3f7687a.demonii.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/demonii.png"><img src="media/3c71d30b.demonii.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/demonii.png" alt="demonii" width="190" height="185" class="alignright size-full wp-image-70906"></a>The Internet is littered with torrent indexes and search engines, all offering a wide range of media content and other entertainment to their visitors.</p>
<p>For this content to travel from one part of the world to another, the BitTorrent ecosystem needs reliable trackers. Unfortunately, reliable public trackers are much harder to find.</p>
<p>In recent weeks prominent trackers such as OpenBitTorrent and PublicBT have been offline most of the time. Even more concerning, the associated websites also <a href="http://publicbt.com/">stopped advertising</a> the tracker addresses in public, suggesting that they may retire in the near future.</p>
<p>Amidst all this trouble there is one tracker that stands out in a positive way. Founded less than two years ago, <a href="https://demonii.com/">Demonii</a> has grown out to become one of the largest and most stable trackers. </p>
<p>This week it broke a new record by serving more than 30 million people at the same time, which is a 100% increase compared to last year. </p>
<p>At the time of writing Demonii is serving 30,508,293 peers and 24,402,432 seeds, while tracking a total of 4,209,378 torrents. That&#8217;s more than the top three <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-bittorrent-trackers-serve-30-million-peers-across-4-5-million-torrents-130706/">trackers</a> were serving in 2013, combined. </p>
<p><center><a href="media/fc6e1b11.tracker-peer-month1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tracker-peer-month1.png"><img src="media/fc6e1b11.tracker-peer-month1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tracker-peer-month1.png" alt="tracker-peer-month" width="500" height="185" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-100997"></a></center></p>
<p>TF spoke to the operator of Demonii who told us that they are keeping the tracker online with relatively few resources. It currently runs smoothly on &#8216;just&#8217; three dedicated servers.</p>
<p>&#8220;At this moment we are hosting the tracker on three medium-sized dedicated servers which are linked up to each other and are synced to always be up to date. This adds redundancy if anything fails and also eases the load overall,&#8221; Demonii&#8217;s admin says.</p>
<p>Despite the modest setup, the number of connections it handles per day is mind-boggling. </p>
<p>The servers are processing a constant stream of data at the rate of 180 Mbit per second, and the graph below shows the UDP connections for one of the servers averaging around 600,000 per minute. Across the three servers this adds up to well over two billion connections per day.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/e57e2753.tracker-udp4-week.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tracker-udp4-week.png"><img src="media/e57e2753.tracker-udp4-week.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tracker-udp4-week.png" alt="tracker-udp4-week" width="500" height="185" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-100996"></a></center></p>
<p>The 30 million peer milestone and the connection statistics make Demonii the largest currently active BitTorrent tracker.</p>
<p>While some have argued that trackers are obsolete, as DHT and PEX allow peers to share the same information among each other, Demonii&#8217;s operator disagrees.</p>
<p>&#8220;PEX and DHT are &#8216;good enough&#8217;, but some people out there are looking for something better than &#8216;good enough&#8217;,&#8221; he tells us. </p>
<p>&#8220;Having trackers speeds up the initial peer finding significantly. Sure, it&#8217;s not an absolute must in order to download via BitTorrent but while there are functional trackers out there, I really don&#8217;t see and understand why people argue that they should be avoided and made obsolete,&#8221; he adds.</p>
<p>Aside from speeding up initial connections, trackers are also essential for those who use proxies, as they often have DHT and PEX disabled to prevent their real IP-addresses from leaking out. </p>
<p>In any case, Demonii is not going away anytime soon. The tracker is already on its way to another milestone. The 40 million peer milestone will probably come into view later this year, but first there are a trillion more connections to process.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=aeIt08dhsSk:1Xq_fFlp5gk:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=aeIt08dhsSk:1Xq_fFlp5gk:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=aeIt08dhsSk:1Xq_fFlp5gk:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/aeIt08dhsSk" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=101157
title: KickassTorrents Taken Down By Domain Name Seizure
uri: KickassTorrents-Taken-Down-By-Domain-Name-Seizure
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/-sGtnG8vZvI/
content:
<p><a href="media/0a285948.kickasstorrents_500x5001.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/kickasstorrents_500x5001.png"><img src="media/2279eece.kickasstorrents_500x5001-300x300.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/kickasstorrents_500x5001-300x300.png" alt="kickasstorrents_500x500" width="250" height="250" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-99785"></a>With millions of unique visitors per day KickassTorrents (KAT) is one the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">most used torrent sites</a> on the Internet. </p>
<p>The site&#8217;s popularity has made it a prime target for copyright holders, many of whom would like to see the site taken offline.</p>
<p>To evade law enforcement and ease pressure from the entertainment industries, KAT has moved domain on a few occasions over the past several years. Most recently the site has been operating from the Kickass.so domain.</p>
<p>The Somalian .so TLD appeared to be a relatively safe haven, but today it&#8217;s apparent that this isn&#8217;t the case. About an hour ago the Kickass.so domain status listing was updated to &#8220;banned.&#8221;</p>
<p><a href="media/c7026cb8.kickassbanned.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/kickassbanned.png"><img src="media/484ac205.kickassbanned.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/kickassbanned.png" alt="kickassbanned" width="627" height="229" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-101162"></a></p>
<p>As a result of the domain seizure, users can no longer access the site. The Kickass.so domain name is not resolving and at the time of writing neither are older alternatives such as kickass.to.</p>
<p>Kickass.so was seized by the <a href="http://www.soregistry.so/">.SO registry</a> who also blacklisted the scam site kickasstorrents.so, which is not affiliated with the KAT team. It is likely that the registry acted following a complaint from copyright holders although this hasn&#8217;t been officially confirmed yet.</p>
<p>Previously The Pirate Bay lost several of its domain names, including thepiratebay.ac and and thepiratebay.sx, after similar complaints.</p>
<p>TF asked the .So registry for a comment on the situation but we have yet to receive a reply. </p>
<p>While KickassTorrents is down for the moment, it is expected that the site will move its operation to a new domain name later today, or revert back to Kickass.to.</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> The KAT team informed TF that they are reverting back to <a href="http://kickass.to">Kickass.to</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> The site&#8217;s accessible to most people on the .to domain now.</p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<p><em>Breaking story, we&#8217;ll update the article if more information comes in.</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=-sGtnG8vZvI:taKddcgq_pU:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=-sGtnG8vZvI:taKddcgq_pU:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=-sGtnG8vZvI:taKddcgq_pU:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/-sGtnG8vZvI" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=101142
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week – 02/09/15
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-02-09-15
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/WNp0uNAwNZc/
content:
<p><a href="media/ea238c12.bighero6.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/bighero6.jpg"><img src="media/ea238c12.bighero6.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/bighero6.jpg" alt="bighero6" width="300" height="243" class="alignright size-full wp-image-101145"></a>This week we have four newcomers in our chart.</p>
<p>Big Hero 6 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-pirated-movies-week-020215/">last week</a>)</strong></th>
<th><strong>Movie</strong></th>
<th width="18%"><strong>IMDb Rating / Trailer</strong></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tfoot>
<tr>
<td colspan="4">torrentfreak.com</td>
</tr>
</tfoot>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>1</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/big_hero_6/">Big Hero 6</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2245084/">8.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3biFxZIJOQ">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/birdman_2014/">Birdman</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2562232/">8.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jAfBd3g6bA">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/american_sniper/">American Sniper</a> (DVDscr)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2179136/">7.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bP1f_1o-zo">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(6)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_interview_2014/">The Interview</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2788710/">7.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj3uHftd5FQ">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/taken_3/">Taken 3</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2446042/">6.3</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuU0M2xBasc">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dumb_and_dumber_to/">Dumb And Dumber To</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2096672/">6.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGXHVlEklgQ">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/heat_2013/">Wild Card</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2231253/?">6.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fJGbTfFPkM">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/nightcrawler/">Nightcrawler</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2872718/?">8.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8kYDQan8bw">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/interstellar_2014/">Interstellar</a> (DVDScr)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0816692/">8.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSWdZVtXT7E">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/whiplash_2014/">Whiplash</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2582802/">8.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d_jQycdQGo">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=WNp0uNAwNZc:_UVW2cmJ1dk:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=WNp0uNAwNZc:_UVW2cmJ1dk:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=WNp0uNAwNZc:_UVW2cmJ1dk:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/WNp0uNAwNZc" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=101182
title: Giganews Wins Again in Perfect 10 Copyright Battle
uri: Giganews-Wins-Again-in-Perfect-10-Copyright-Battle
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/U0qPIaA7Uro/
content:
<p><img src="media/85e3d070.giganews.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/giganews.png" width="267" height="149" class="alignright">Adult magazine publisher Perfect 10 is one of the most litigious publishers in the online space.</p>
<p>The company has made a business out of suing Internet services for alleged copyright infringement and in recent years has targeted Google, Amazon, MasterCard and Visa, RapidShare and Depositfiles, and even hosting providers <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/leaseweb-settles-piracy-hosting-lawsuit-perfect-10-140611/">LeaseWeb</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/ovh-slapped-with-188m-lawsuit-for-hosting-pirate-websites-140805/">OVH</a>.</p>
<p>While Perfect 10 has secured several private settlements, court victories in contested cases have not been forthcoming. The publisher had hoped of success in its current and prolonged legal battle with Usenet provider Giganews but things are not going well.</p>
<p>In a November 2014 ruling the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California found that Giganews <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/giganews-not-liable-for-pirating-customers-court-rules-141117/">was not liable</a> for the infringing activities of its users. The provider now has further reason to celebrate thanks to a ruling from the same Court.</p>
<p>Rather than simply roll over under pressure from Perfect 10&#8217;s legal team, Giganews put up a vigorous and comprehensive defense to the publisher&#8217;s claims. During 2014 Giganews sought and obtained several discovery orders requiring the adult publisher to produce potentially huge amounts of data relating to its claim against the provider, including but not limited to:</p>
<p>&#8211; Information on all allegedly infringing URLs / Usenet Message IDs<br>
&#8211; Information on all Perfect 10 advertising since Jan 2008<br>
&#8211; All IP / email addresses used by Perfect 10 / affiliates<br>
&#8211; All copyright registrations and ownership documents<br>
&#8211; Details of every author / photographer of every work in the case<br>
&#8211; All evidence of direct and indirect infringement<br>
&#8211; Perfect 10 server logs and website metrics<br>
&#8211; Documents detailing all previous Perfect 10 litigation plus settlements</p>
<p>In a 56-page ruling handed down last Thursday, Magistrate Judge Stephen J. Hillman details a laundry list of non-compliance by Perfect 10, from partial to complete failure to provide the requested documents to &#8220;misleading&#8221; representations and &#8220;intentional&#8221; non-compliance.</p>
<p>Perfect 10 didn&#8217;t even produce evidence related to the infringement at the heart of the case.</p>
<p>&#8220;Perfect 10 failed to produce any evidence supporting its claim of direct<br>
infringement,&#8221; the Judge writes, noting that it also &#8220;failed to produce any evidence supporting its claim of indirect infringement.&#8221;</p>
<p>While the Court dedicates many pages of its ruling to the failures of Perfect 10 to comply with its orders, it comes as little surprise that the company did not disclose the private conclusions to its earlier litigation.</p>
<p>&#8220;Perfect 10 failed to produce its complaints from all its earlier lawsuits..[..]..and also failed to produce its settlement agreements from earlier lawsuits,&#8221; the ruling reads. Even complaints Perfect 10 relied upon for its damages opinion were omitted.</p>
<p>Perfect 10 witnesses were also singled out for criticism, alongside the company&#8217;s counsel who did not do enough to bring them into line. </p>
<p>&#8220;The fact that the Perfect 10 affiliated witnesses kept making the same mistakes over and over shows that Perfect 10’s counsel was not adequately supervising their efforts to ensure full compliance with the Court’s Orders,&#8221; the Judge explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;In the peculiar circumstances of Perfect 10’s conduct in this case, the Court can properly hold Perfect 10 and its attorneys responsible for the Perfect 10-affiliated witnesses’ conduct.&#8221;</p>
<p>In conclusion, Giganews won this one big and Perfect 10 are now going to have to pick up the bill.</p>
<p>&#8220;[Giganews] presented this Court with extensive evidence showing unjustified discovery noncompliance, numerous violations of this Court’s orders, and pervasive failures by Perfect 10, its attorneys, and the Perfect 10-affiliated witnesses. The court will proceed to determine the reasonable amount of monetary sanctions, and whether they should be assessed against Perfect 10 and/or its counsel,&#8221; Judge Hillman concludes.</p>
<p>In a statement sent to TorrentFreak, Ron Yokubaitis, co-Chief Executive Officer of Giganews, says his company welcomes the ruling.</p>
<p>&#8220;From the beginning, we rejected the veracity of Perfect 10’s allegations and believed strongly in our position.  As a result, we forced Perfect 10 to litigate this case on the merits,&#8221; Yokubaitis says.</p>
<p>“Perfect 10’s response to our approach was to engage in a pattern of systematic abuse of the discovery process and outright disregard of the court&#8217;s orders,” added Yokubaitis. “We are pleased with the magistrate judge’s ruling and we look forward to the Court’s final determination on monetary sanctions to be assessed.”</p>
<p>The big question now is whether this legal mauling and promised monetary sanctions will lead Perfect 10 down a different path on potential future litigation. Giganews has certainly shown its teeth, so &#8216;softer&#8217; targets could be on the horizon.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=U0qPIaA7Uro:a1_8As0NlDI:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=U0qPIaA7Uro:a1_8As0NlDI:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=U0qPIaA7Uro:a1_8As0NlDI:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/U0qPIaA7Uro" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=101206
title: Megaupload Programmer Arrested in The U.S.
uri: Megaupload-Programmer-Arrested-in-The-U-S
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/m30B7l_sm0U/
content:
<p><a href="media/29219ba9.megaupload-logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/megaupload-logo.jpg"><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"></a>Acting on a lead from the entertainment industry, the U.S. Government <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/megaupload-shut-down-120119/">shut down</a> Megaupload early 2012.</p>
<p>Since then the case hasn’t progressed much. Kim Dotcom’s extradition hearing has been delayed time and time again, while most of the recent court proceedings have dealt with how the seized assets should be handled.</p>
<p>However, during the weeks to come the case is likely to heat up again as U.S. authorities have just arrested Andrus Nomm, one of the indicted Megaupload defendants.</p>
<p>The 36-year-old programmer had been living in the Netherlands awaiting his extradition hearing, but was arrested in Alexandria, Virginia yesterday.</p>
<p>The unusual arrest after more than three years could suggest that Nomm made a deal to testify against Dotcom and his former colleagues.</p>
<p>That suspicion is confirmed by Megaupload lawyer Ira Rothken, who told the <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&#038;objectid=11399686">NZHerald</a> that Nomm &#8220;either agreed to come to the US or is involved in some sort of deal.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><strong>Nomm&#8217;s arrest warrant, filed yesterday</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/8b7aebd4.arrestwarrant.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/arrestwarrant.png"><img src="media/8b7aebd4.arrestwarrant.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/arrestwarrant.png" alt="arrestwarrant" width="600" height="516" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-101208"></a></center></p>
<p>In the indictment Nomm is described as a software programmer and Head of the Development of Megaupload&#8217;s Software Division. In 2010 he received $100,000 for his work at the now defunct file-hosting service.</p>
<p>Nomm is also accused of watching at least one copy of a pirated TV-show.</p>
<p>&#8220;On or about December 5, 2008, NOMM sent VAN DER KOLK an e-mail, which included a screenshot of NOMM’s account using Megavideo.com to watch an infringing episode of the copyrighted television show Chuck,&#8221; the indictment reads. </p>
<p>Megaupload lawyer Ira Rothken believes that U.S. authorities might have taken of Nomm. As an Estonian citizen living in a foreign country he was vulnerable, and running out of funds.</p>
<p>&#8220;Unless the DOJ is taking advantage of him and his weak financial condition, which is possible, it is hard to fathom which copyrighted works they think Mr. Nomm criminally infringed,&#8221; Rothken tells TF. </p>
<p>If Mr. Nomm testifies truthfully including things like the Megaupload copyright neutral cloud technology and robust takedown policies it will likely help the defense,&#8221; he adds.</p>
<p>The U.S. authorities have yet to comment on the arrest and the possibility of a plea deal.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=m30B7l_sm0U:Mlfnq3vJwxg:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=m30B7l_sm0U:Mlfnq3vJwxg:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=m30B7l_sm0U:Mlfnq3vJwxg:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/m30B7l_sm0U" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=101227
title: File-Sharing Icon RapidShare Shuts Down
uri: File-Sharing-Icon-RapidShare-Shuts-Down
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/ZHGaYfwQ6Zk/
content:
<p><a href="media/3a10b4cd.rapidsharelogo.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/rapidsharelogo.jpg"><img src="media/acccd156.rapidsharelogo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/rapidsharelogo.jpg" alt="rapidsharelogo" width="200" height="148" class="alignright size-full wp-image-21844"></a>Founded in 2002, Swiss-based RapidShare was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RapidShare">one of the first</a> and most popular one-click file-hosting services on the Internet. </p>
<p>Like most sites of this nature, <a href="http://rapidshare.com">RapidShare</a> was frequently used by people to share copyright-infringing material. It was a relationship that got the company into trouble on various occasions.</p>
<p>RapidShare fought many <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/rapidshare-not-liable-for-pirating-users-court-rules-100504/">legal battles</a> with entertainment companies seeking to hold the company liable for the actions of its users, and to top it off the site was called out by the U.S. Government as a &#8220;notorious market.&#8221;</p>
<p>Hoping to clear up its image the company made <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/rapidshare-wants-a-crackdown-on-linking-sites-120820/">tremendous efforts</a> to cooperate with copyright holders and limit copyright infringements. Among other things, the company adopted one of the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/rapidshare-publishes-anti-piracy-manifesto-for-cyberlockers-120419/">most restrictive</a> sharing policies while (re)branding itself as a personal cloud storage service.</p>
<p>The anti-piracy measures seemed to work, but as a result RapidShare&#8217;s visitor numbers <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/rapidshare-traffic-and-piracy-dipped-after-new-business-model-kicked-in-130109">plunged</a>. The dwindling revenues eventually cost <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/rapidshare-fires-75-of-its-staff-after-rogue-site-revamp-bites-130519/">most of RapidShare&#8217;s employees</a> their jobs.</p>
<p>Today marks the beginning of the final chapter in RapidShare&#8217;s controversial history. The company just announced that it will shut down at the end of March and is recommending that users store their files elsewhere.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/2cbd9ad4.rsclosed.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/rsclosed.png"><img src="media/2cbd9ad4.rsclosed.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/rsclosed.png" alt="rsclosed" width="600" height="292" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-101228"></a></center></p>
<p>&#8220;Kindly note that RapidShare will stop the active service on March 31st, 2015. Extensions of STANDARD PLUS and PREMIUM will be possible until February 28th, 2015,&#8221; RapidShare writes on its homepage.  </p>
<p>&#8220;We strongly recommend all customers to secure their data. After March 31st, 2015 all accounts will no longer be accessible and will be deleted automatically,&#8221; the company adds. </p>
<p>TF asked the company for further details on the planned shutdown but we have yet to hear back. The most likely explanation is that RapidShare can&#8217;t sustain its business with the smaller number of users it has today. </p>
<p>The demise of RapidShare marks the end of an era. Half a decade ago RapidShare was listed among the 50 most-visited sites on the Internet, with hundreds of millions of page-views per month, but in a just a few weeks it will be gone.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=ZHGaYfwQ6Zk:_myry2h_7dA:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=ZHGaYfwQ6Zk:_myry2h_7dA:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=ZHGaYfwQ6Zk:_myry2h_7dA:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/ZHGaYfwQ6Zk" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=101204
title: The Pirate Bay Domains Targeted in Legal Action
uri: The-Pirate-Bay-Domains-Targeted-in-Legal-Action
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/xB5z7kt0iIY/
content:
<p><img src="media/224a97db.IIS-SE.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/IIS-SE.jpg" width="191" height="112" class="alignright">While it is technically possible to operate without one, domain names are considered vital for any mainstream website. Domains give a web service an identity and make them easy to find.</p>
<p>This is exactly what authorities in Sweden are now trying to deny The Pirate Bay.</p>
<p>Prosecutor Fredrik Ingblad, the man behind the now-famous operation to take the site down in December, is now spearheading the drive to shut down The Pirate Bay&#8217;s access to a pair of key domains. ThePirateBay.se and PirateBay.se are Ingblad&#8217;s targets, the former being the only domain currently being used by the site.</p>
<p>Originally filed at the District Court of Stockholm back in 2013, the motion targets Punkt SE, the organization responsible for Sweden&#8217;s top level .SE domain. Ingblad&#8217;s assertion is that since The Pirate Bay is acting illegally, domain names are necessarily part of that site&#8217;s &#8216;crimes&#8217; and should be tackled like any other part of its infrastructure.</p>
<p>&#8220;A domain name is an aid for a site. When a site is used for criminal activities a domain is aiding crime,&#8221; Ingblad <a href="http://www.dn.se/nyheter/sverige/staten-vill-beslagta-kriminellas-natadresser/">said</a>.</p>
<p>While actions against domain names aren&#8217;t unprecedented in Sweden, this case is unique. Punkt SE (also referred to as the Internet Infrastructure Foundation) informs TorrentFreak that while two earlier actions targeted the owners of Swedish domain names, this is the first time that the prosecutor has targeted the .SE / IIS registrar directly.</p>
<p>&#8220;There have been two legal cases regarding forfeiture of domain names from the domain name holder (ikonm.se and [torrent site] xnt.nu). In the Pirate bay case the prosecutor wants to forfeit the domain names directly from .SE,&#8221; Punkt SE&#8217;s Maria Ekelund told TF.</p>
<p>Also of interest is Inglblad&#8217;s demands for the domains should he prevail. The prosecutor says that Punkt SE should at the least be forbidden from allowing anyone to register the domains in future or, preferably, they should be placed under control of the Swedish government.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is not our intention to impose any monitoring responsibility on Punkt SE. The best outcome is that the state takes over the domain,&#8221; Ingblad told DN.se.</p>
<p>At this point it&#8217;s worth noting how far removed Punkt SE are from any online infringement. In the original Pirate Bay criminal trial the site&#8217;s former operators were found guilty of assisting in copyright infringements carried out by the site’s users. In the current case Punkt SE are being accused of assisting people who were previously found guilty of assisting other people to commit copyright infringement.</p>
<p>Punkt SE CEO Danny Aerts previously noted that the case is unique.</p>
<p>“In the eyes of the prosecutor, .SE’s catalogue function has become some form of accomplice to criminal activity, a perspective that is unique in Europe as far as I know,” Aerts said.</p>
<p>“There are no previous cases of states suing a registry for abetting criminal activity or breaching copyright law.&#8221;</p>
<p>Frederick Ingblad agrees that the case is complicated.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is about fundamental rights versus the need to prevent crime online. It&#8217;s a balancing act, and ultimately it&#8217;s for the legislature to decide.&#8221;</p>
<p>A few moments ago Punkt SE told us that the case will be heard at the end of April, two years since its <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-moves-to-sx-as-prosecutor-files-motion-to-seize-domains-130430/">original filing</a> in 2013.</p>
<p>&#8220;The serving of all the counterparties has taken a long time,&#8221; Maria Ekelund concludes.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=xB5z7kt0iIY:XK2EzKI6Zjg:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=xB5z7kt0iIY:XK2EzKI6Zjg:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=xB5z7kt0iIY:XK2EzKI6Zjg:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/xB5z7kt0iIY" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=101275
title: Torrent Site: Copyright Troll Had Staff Access to Member Data
uri: Torrent-Site-Copyright-Troll-Had-Staff-Access-to-Member-Data
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/KOXs69QXU2U/
content:
<p><a href="media/aba3062c.badtroll.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/badtroll.jpg"><img src="media/8a570fa2.badtroll.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/badtroll.jpg" alt="badtroll" width="190" height="164" class="alignright size-full wp-image-66313"></a>During the past several years it&#8217;s become extremely common for copyright holders in the adult industry to target users of file-sharing networks in order to threaten them with litigation.</p>
<p>The way these users are contacted has remained constant in the vast majority of cases. Armed with a court order, copyright holders force ISPs to hand over the personal details of subscribers so they can be contacted directly for a cash settlement. However, it doesn&#8217;t always work that way.</p>
<p>Since mid 2013, mounting anecdotal evidence and <a href="http://dietrolldie.com/2013/08/23/settlement-demand-letter-taylormadeclips-mark-borghese/">reports</a> have suggested that people uploading and sharing certain niche content may have had their true identities exposed via information they posted on the Internet rather than through John Doe lawsuits filed by a copyright holder.</p>
<p>In particular, users have reported receiving cash demands over niche adult material offered by a company called <a href="http://taylormadeclips.com/">TaylorMadeClips</a> (NSFW). As noted by DieTrollDie in a 2013 article, settlement demands <a href="media/ce6d97f6.borghese_settleltr_aug20133.pdf" data-original-source="https://dietrolldie.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/borghese_settleltr_aug20133.pdf">like this (pdf)</a> from TaylorMade lawfirm Borghese Legal have no official case associated with them.</p>
<p>Now, it could be that TaylorMade watermarks its clips and some of these letters are being sent to those who registered their personal details with the official site and later uploaded content elsewhere. However, private torrent site Empornium, one of the largest adult trackers around, believes it has an alternative explanation.</p>
<p>In a frank email exchange with TorrentFreak and subsequent announcement to its users, the operators of the site reveal that a staff account on its site has been compromised. The site was not hacked in any way but it appears a moderator account login details were obtained and subsequently used to cull private member data from the site.</p>
<p>&#8220;It was discovered that the user account of a regular (Mod) rank staff member has been accessed by someone other than the staff member in question. Once this was discovered, immediate steps were taken to prevent further access to sensitive information by this account,&#8221; the site said.</p>
<p>&#8220;By what we discovered of their activity and reports from users we believe that the unauthorized third party may have been affiliated with TaylorMadeClips and Borghese Legal, LTD. Their intentions appear to be to use information obtained to intimidate users into financial settlements through legal scare tactics. Specifically, users who have downloaded or seeded TaylorMadeClips torrents and are within US jurisdiction appear to be targeted.&#8221;</p>
<p>Empornium discovered the breach on Monday and immediately locked down the threat. However, sensitive information had already been obtained.</p>
<p>&#8220;The compromised account appears to have been primarily used to obtain the registered e-mail address for these users, and matched to the grabbed / snatched / peers lists of TaylorMadeClips torrents, to determine targets for threatening letters,&#8221; they add.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak asked Empornium how they came to the conclusions detailed above, this is what they said.</p>
<p>&#8220;We came to the conclusion on who was involved the simple way.  We went back through what logs we still had (we keep very limited ones where possible for the simple reason if we are ever compromised we want as little hurtful info around as possible) and what accounts and torrents they pulled up info on,&#8221; Empornium told TF.</p>
<p>&#8220;Every one was [TaylorMadeClips] content and some of them we already have reports from users that they have received letters to their Empornium registration email address from Borghese Legal specifying those torrents. Many have also received a letter via snail mail.  Those reports started around [now 48hrs to 72hrs] ago and alerted us that we may have a problem.&#8221;</p>
<p>How the third party (whoever that may turn out to be) obtained the login isn&#8217;t clear, but at this stage hacking is being ruled out.</p>
<p>&#8220;We know it wasn&#8217;t brute forced or similar as failed logins on staff accounts ring all sorts of very loud bells for us.  We have had people attempt that attack vector more than once,&#8221; the site told TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>At this stage the most likely scenario is that the same user/pass combination could have been used on other sites but a computer compromise might also be possible. In any event, the site has identified the instances of unauthorized access and tracked them down to as-yet undisclosed locations in the United States.</p>
<p>While users of Empornium may be shocked and even disappointed that their information has been accessed in this way, it&#8217;s not only unusual but also a credit to the site that they have decided to be so open about the breach. It&#8217;s fair to say that many if not most sites would brush this kind of thing under the carpet.</p>
<p>TaylorMadeClips provides no contact information on its site and obscures its WHOIS information so could not immediately be reached for comment. TorrentFreak contacted Borghese Legal but at the time of publication we had not received a response.</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> Statement from Mark Borghese, Borghese Legal, Ltd.</p>
<p>&#8220;My clients handle policing copyright infringement of their videos. My firm only gets involved later if they want to take some type of legal action. These are a small businesses and most of the time they do not want to go through the expense of hiring a lawyer,&#8221; Borghese told TF</p>
<p>&#8220;The statement from Empornium says that the site was not hacked. Apparently whatever the accused admin[mod] may have done was not done with the approval of the entire Empornium staff. Maybe there is a split among the Empornium admins regarding copyright infringement. It&#8217;s a bit of mixed message as the official Empornium statement recommends its users not commit copyright infringement.&#8221;</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=KOXs69QXU2U:br1kkr6PBec:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=KOXs69QXU2U:br1kkr6PBec:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=KOXs69QXU2U:br1kkr6PBec:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/KOXs69QXU2U" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=101246
title: Peter Sunde: Pirate Bay Still Has The Right To Defend Itself
uri: Peter-Sunde-Pirate-Bay-Still-Has-The-Right-To-Defend-Itself
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/QOrYGLyDV_o/
content:
<p><a href="media/fd06f581.pirate-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-bay.jpg"><img src="media/2a43984f.pirate-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-bay.jpg" alt="pirate bay" width="200" height="207" class="alignright size-full wp-image-53470"></a>The .SE registry targeted in the prosecutor&#8217;s case <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-domains-targeted-in-legal-action-150210/">does not want to take this action</a>. They look at it as removing a street address on the basis that a crime was committed there.</p>
<p>But they’re all making it so simple. The fact is that, even though I despise the current version of The Pirate Bay, nothing illegal happens there. And actually, no such case has even been tried as the case against me and the others a few years back was about a totally different version of TPB.</p>
<p>The technology back then was different and the verdicts handed down referenced the fact that three separate parts of the system were in play in order to breach copyright. First the search engine (which is still there), then a tracking system (which was removed many years ago) and a database of .torrent files (which was removed years ago too). </p>
<p>This means that TPB today is in a totally different technical state than it was in the previous (and also very corrupt) court case. It also means that there’s no relevant court case to reference today, the system just looks the same to the users &#8211; and the prosecution and judges might have a hard time to understand that.</p>
<p>Essentially today&#8217;s TPB is similar to any other search engine. The court case in Sweden could just as well talk about Google.se as a domain name instead, since they also link to material that might breach copyright. But, actually, Google show you parts of that content, not just metadata about it.</p>
<p>Obviously this would be considered a ludicrous case and would be thrown out, but everything regarding TPB scared the shit out of the Swedish government because of pressure from the United States of America. Just look at how the first raid happened.</p>
<p>But the biggest threat against the Internet is that the state is going after the .SE registry and not the “perp” itself. It means that no one can come and defend TPB’s case in a court of law and point out the flaws in the prosecutor&#8217;s thinking. The .SE registry has no interest (and should not have any either) in going into details about the actions of their customers. </p>
<p>The points I’ve mentioned here, and the fact that, at least during my time, most material on TPB was not violating copyright, will not be mentioned in this court case, because the people who should have a right to defend themselves are not invited to the case. Where’s the democracy in that?</p>
<p>These court cases where the real defendants are not invited have only happened a few times in The Pirate Bay&#8217;s history as I can recall &#8211; in China, Denmark and Saudi Arabia. All world-renowned champions of free speech and democracy.</p>
<div style="border:2px solid #3F3F3F;width:600px;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:130px;margin-left:20px;margin-right:10px"><img src="media/936c0094.pesu.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pesu.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>Peter Sunde is the former spokesperson of The Pirate Bay. He&#8217;s currently working for the micro-payment service Flattr, the encrypted chat client Heml.is and several other technology startups.  </small></p>
<div style="float:right;position:relative;top:-12px"></div>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/brokep" class="twitter-follow-button">Follow @brokep</a></p>
</div>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=QOrYGLyDV_o:sv-CvPmdnkk:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=QOrYGLyDV_o:sv-CvPmdnkk:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=QOrYGLyDV_o:sv-CvPmdnkk:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/QOrYGLyDV_o" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=101152
title: YouTube Flags Cat Purring as Copyright Infringing Music
uri: YouTube-Flags-Cat-Purring-as-Copyright-Infringing-Music
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/TDNFYn0ybN0/
content:
<p><a href="media/f805d856.youtubesadsmall1.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/youtubesadsmall1.png"><img src="media/d9d620b7.youtubesadsmall1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/youtubesadsmall1.png" alt="youtubesadsmall" width="200" height="145" class="alignright size-full wp-image-84333"></a>Week in and week out automated bots detect and report millions of alleged copyright infringements, which are then processed by the receiving site without a human ever looking at them.</p>
<p>Unfortunately this process is far from flawless, resulting in many false and inaccurate DMCA claims.</p>
<p>For regular Internet users YouTube’s takedown process is particularly problematic. We&#8217;ve <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/youtubes-content-id-piracy-filter-wreaks-havoc-110908/">highlighted</a> this issue before, but an example that reached us this week attacks one of the Internet&#8217;s darlings, a cat. </p>
<p>Last March, YouTube user Digihaven uploaded one hour of video loops featuring his cat Phantom, purring, as cats do. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZadyuv2utE">The video</a> didn&#8217;t go viral but appealed to a niche public, and more recently also two major music publishers.</p>
<p>Nearly a year after the video was posted Digihaven was informed by YouTube that Phantom is &#8220;pirate&#8221; purring. Apparently, part of the 12 second loop belongs to EMI Music Publishing and PRS.</p>
<p>In the copyright notice YouTube states that the cat purring is flagged by the <a href="https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2797370?hl=en">Content-ID</a> system as an infringing copy of the musical composition &#8220;Focus.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><strong>Pirate purring</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/28f81c5d.copycat.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/copycat.jpg"><img src="media/28f81c5d.copycat.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/copycat.jpg" alt="copycat" width="1475" height="786" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-101188"></a></center></p>
<p>The video was not removed by the false claim, but according to Digihaven monetization was disabled. Luckily he&#8217;s not going bankrupt due to the loss of income, but it&#8217;s baffling how easy it is to hijack legitimate videos.</p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m sure EMI/PRS made Phantom a sad kitty. It seems like companies such as EMI are pirating ads on people&#8217;s legit videos, so I&#8217;m wondering if they apologize to, or reimburse people for those false claims,&#8221; he tells TF.</p>
<p>Hoping to clear his cat&#8217;s name Digihaven decided to file a dispute. This was partially successful, as EMI lifted its claim shortly before publication of this article.</p>
<p>Phantom, meanwhile, is considering a career in the music business and is looking for compensation.</p>
<p>&#8220;Phantom is currently independent, but looking to sign on with an indie label. Phantom&#8217;s lawyer filed a complaint, looking for 10 lbs of catnip in damages,&#8221; Digihaven says.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=TDNFYn0ybN0:Q4hSJzYG6Ek:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=TDNFYn0ybN0:Q4hSJzYG6Ek:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=TDNFYn0ybN0:Q4hSJzYG6Ek:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/TDNFYn0ybN0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=101303
title: “Canada Remains A Safe Haven For Online Piracy”
uri: Canada-Remains-A-Safe-Haven-For-Online-Piracy
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/ZMHXCHKM20s/
content:
<p><a href="media/6792aa7c.canada-pirate.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/canada-pirate.png"><img src="media/af081baa.canada-pirate.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/canada-pirate.png" alt="canada-pirate" width="225" height="113" class="alignright size-full wp-image-83641"></a>The International Intellectual Property Alliance (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Intellectual_Property_Alliance">IIPA</a>) has just published its latest submission to the U.S. Government, providing an overview of countries it believes should better protect the interests of the copyright industry.</p>
<p>The IIPA, which includes a wide range of copyright groups including the MPAA, RIAA, BSA and ESA, has listed its complaints against a whole host of countries. As in previous years, Canada was discussed in detail with the recommendation to put it on the 2014 Special 301 ‘watch list’.</p>
<p>One of the main criticisms against Canada is that the country offers a home to many pirate sites. The country recently revised its copyright law but that has done little to address this problem, IIPA believes.</p>
<p>&#8220;Although  there  has  been  some  improvement  in  recent  years,  Canada  still  has  far  to  go  to  rectify  its reputation  as  a  safe  haven  for  Internet  pirates.  Indeed,  a  number  of  the  world’s  most  popular  Internet  sources dedicated to online theft of copyright material retain connections to Canada.&#8221; </p>
<p>Among others, the report lists the popular torrent sites Torrentz.eu, Kickass.to and streaming portal Solarmovie.is as partially Canada-based. </p>
<p>Canada&#8217;s inaction against these websites has forced copyright holders to request website blockades in other countries, IIPA claims. In addition, these pirate sites hamper the growth of legal services.</p>
<p>&#8220;As long as these sites continue to use Canada as a base, efforts to provide a space within which legitimate, licensed services can take root and grow are undermined, not only in Canada, but around the world,&#8221; the report reads. </p>
<p>According to the report Canada&#8217;s current copyright law lacks the ability to motivate hosting providers to stop dealing with this sites. Instead, IIPA argues that the law gives these companies &#8220;overbroad safe harbors.&#8221; </p>
<p>&#8220;Clearly  the  legal incentives remain insufficient for Canadian providers of hosting services to cooperate with right holders to deal with massive and flagrant infringements carried out using their services,&#8221; they write. </p>
<p>Aside from hosting pirate sites, IIPA characterizes Canada as a pro-piracy country in general. Canadians download more than twice as much pirated music per capita, according the copyright group.</p>
<p>The “<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/canadian-piracy-notices-boost-demand-anonymous-vpns-150113/">notice and notice</a>” system that was implemented recently, where ISPs have to forward copyright infringement warnings to alleged pirates, is not expected to change much either they say. </p>
<p>&#8220;&#8230; while  the  Canadian  “notice  and  notice”  system   requires  service  providers  to  retain  records  on  the identity of subscribers whose accounts have been used for unauthorized file sharing or other infringing behaviors, multiple  repeat  infringers  will  be  delivered  the  same  notice.&#8221;  </p>
<p>Ideally, IIPA would like to see a system where repeat infringers can be identified and punished if needed, similar to the &#8220;strikes&#8221; systems that have been implemented in other countries. </p>
<p>The above is just the tip of the iceberg for Canada. Among other things, the groups also call for stronger border protections and limiting the copyright exceptions for educational use.</p>
<p>The group ask the U.S. Government to &#8220;continue  to press Canada&#8221; to address these and other issues that may hinder the growth of the copyright industry.</p>
<p>&#8220;[The U.S. Government] should encourage Canadian authorities to do what they can to give service providers greater incentives to come together with right holders to make meaningful progress against online copyright infringement; but further legislative change is likely to be needed.&#8221;</p>
<p>The IIPA’s full 2014 Special 301 recommendation report is <a href="http://www.iipa.com/special301.html">available here</a>. This also includes assessments from more than a dozen other countries, including Brazil, China, India, Russia and Switzerland.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=ZMHXCHKM20s:Ceq9hjObPKM:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=ZMHXCHKM20s:Ceq9hjObPKM:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=ZMHXCHKM20s:Ceq9hjObPKM:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/ZMHXCHKM20s" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=101355
title: BTDigg and BIllionUploads Disappear Without Trace
uri: BTDigg-and-BIllionUploads-Disappear-Without-Trace
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/7i0cv0DEEgw/
content:
<p>Four years ago a new kind of torrent indexing site hit the scene. While most other sites were carrying a database of torrent files uploaded by their users or culled from elsewhere online, BTDigg took a different approach by using DHT.</p>
<p>BitTorrent&#8217;s <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/bittorrents-future-dht-pex-and-magnet-links-explained-091120/">Distributed Hash Table</a>, to give it its full title, is a system supported by most major BitTorrent clients. It allows users to find peers sharing the same files without needing a centralized BitTorrent tracker. In December the system was relied upon heavily when most of the main public trackers went down unexpectedly <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-torrent-trackers-return-online-150106/">before returning</a> last month.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/f4153f32.btdigg1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com//images/btdigg1.jpg" alt="btdigg"></center></p>
<p>BTDigg offered a special search engine that allowed users to trawl DHT in order to find content and download via magnet links. It was even possible for users to find content that hadn&#8217;t been uploaded to public trackers yet but was just being shared in DHT-enabled torrent clients.</p>
<p>“We think that the Internet’s moving towards decentralized and distributed systems and we would like to contribute to it by creating BTDigg,” the site&#8217;s creator told TF in a <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/btdigg-the-first-trackerless-torrent-search-engine-110223/">2011 interview</a>.</p>
<p>But now, just a couple of weeks&#8217; shy of the site&#8217;s fourth birthday, BTDigg is no more. The site has disappeared with users now confronted by a page that simply won&#8217;t resolve. All mail to BTDigg bounces and the site&#8217;s Twitter account has been dead for some time.</p>
<p><Center><img src="media/579d7803.btdigg-alexa.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/btdigg-alexa.png" alt="bt-alexa"></center></p>
<p>The shutdown comes as a surprise. Unlike RapidShare, for example, which will <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/file-sharing-icon-rapidshare-shuts-150210/">close shortly</a> due to diminishing visitor numbers, in January BitDigg pulled in more traffic than it had done in the past 12 months, despite being subjected to <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/record-labels-obtain-orders-to-block-21-torrent-sites-141023/">web blocks in the UK</a>. A site voluntarily pulling the plug during good times is a pretty rare occurrence.</p>
<p>But while BTDigg had been riding high and doing relatively well, the same cannot be said about file-hosting site BillionUploads.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/5090db71.billion-long.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/billion-long.jpg" alt="billion-long"></center></p>
<p>After enjoying success its popularity began to wane, and in the past 10 months the file-hoster dropped from an Alexa global ranking of 2,000 to around 8,000 recently.</p>
<p>BillionUploads had previously proven itself a hit with many Internet users, often through their use of other services. As can be seen from the data below, much of the site&#8217;s traffic came from movie indexing and streaming sites such as Icefilms, Primewire and Movie4k. These sites offered movies with BillionUploads as one of the key sources.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/adf4ff4c.billion-up.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/billion-up.png" alt="billion-upstream"></center></p>
<p>Recently, however, users linking into BillionUploads via Icefilms, to name just one location, found that content wasn&#8217;t forthcoming and a visit to the site itself now reveals an ominous notice. It&#8217;s very low on detail, provides no explanation, and certainly doesn&#8217;t inspire confidence in any kind of return.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/cbd58c61.billion-notice.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/billion-notice.png" alt="billion-notice"></center></p>
<p>This sudden demise will be problematic for any users who stored content on the site and now expect it back, but to be fair this can&#8217;t really be compared to the unannounced shutdown of a Dropbox-type operation.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s fairly likely that many users of the file-hoster will have expected this kind of outcome and are already viewing movies on another site. For those looking to retrieve content, however, holding collective breaths for too long might be ill-advised.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=7i0cv0DEEgw:Ilb58Km2ARs:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=7i0cv0DEEgw:Ilb58Km2ARs:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=7i0cv0DEEgw:Ilb58Km2ARs:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/7i0cv0DEEgw" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=101325
title: VPN and TOR Ban Looming on the Horizon for Russia
uri: VPN-and-TOR-Ban-Looming-on-the-Horizon-for-Russia
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/uINtVw1r1SY/
content:
<p><a href="media/5f0dfd25.spy.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/spy.jpg"><img src="media/3d881413.spy.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/spy.jpg" alt="spy" width="200" height="177" class="alignright size-full wp-image-39770"></a>Since 2012, Russia has had legislation allowing the country&#8217;s main telecommunications watchdog Roskomnadzor to maintain a list of domains to be blocked by ISPs in the country.</p>
<p>While the usual serious crime suspects such as child abuse and terrorist sites are included, more controversial resources are also filtered, including sites that feature content about drugs and suicide. Also present are sites that fail to remove copyright content in a timely manner and in the past couple of years plenty of torrent, storage and links forums have been blocked.</p>
<p>Of course, where there&#8217;s a block or filter there are people ready to circumvent them and it now appears that Russia is growing tired with the ease that citizens do so. Proposals from the Duma (lower house of parliament) now indicate that the country is considering how to further limit access to &#8220;banned&#8221; content.</p>
<p>Speaking at <a href="http://inform-24.com/">Infoforum-2015</a>, Russian MP Leonid Levin, who is deputy head of the Duma Committee on information politics, indicated that access to anonymization and circumvention tools such as TOR, VPNs and even web proxies, needs to be restricted.</p>
<p>&#8220;One of the factors in the formation of the Internet environment in our country has become the authority for the pre-trial blocking of websites. It allows us to block sites banned in Russia quickly enough. At the same time the pre-trial blocking of anonymizing services deserves attention, such as access to the anonymous network Tor,&#8221; Levin said.</p>
<p>By introducing restrictions on these systems, Levin added, it would restrict citizens&#8217; access to blocked content, stop people transferring content anonymously, and also help to reduce the commercial distribution of malware.</p>
<p>Levin also called for greater powers for the Roskomnadzor watchdog, an organization that also supports the idea of locking down anonymous networks. According to Vadim Ampelonskogo, Roskomnadzor&#8217;s chief press officer, the task won&#8217;t be easy but is technically possible.</p>
<p>Describing the Tor network as a &#8220;den of criminals&#8221; and &#8220;ghouls, all gathered in one place”, Ampelonskogo said Roskomnadzor would find a solution to block anonymous networks if it was supported by a relevant regulatory framework.</p>
<p>Levin&#8217;s proposals to block anonymizing tools and networks is not new. In 2012 the topic was raised but came to nothing and in 2013 an initiative was launched by the FSB and received support from the State Duma. However, there is a growing feeling that Russia will eventually do something.</p>
<p>According to figures cited by Russia&#8217;s <a href="http://top.rbc.ru/technology_and_media/05/02/2015/54d393ff9a7947829933db57">RBC</a>, 150,000 citizens use the TOR network with up to 25% of Internet users now using some kind of VPN.</p>
<p>While Russia&#8217;s attack on encryption won&#8217;t be a surprise to many, other supposedly more free societies are also looking to crack down on the anonymous. In the wake of the recent attacks in Paris, Prime Minister David Cameron indicated that users of private services such as WhatsApp could be blocked or monitored if his government wins the next election.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=uINtVw1r1SY:8fbCWMx7FKQ:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=uINtVw1r1SY:8fbCWMx7FKQ:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=uINtVw1r1SY:8fbCWMx7FKQ:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/uINtVw1r1SY" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=101400
title: Torrent Sites Shut Down After Swedish Police Arrest Five
uri: Torrent-Sites-Shut-Down-After-Swedish-Police-Arrest-Five
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/c7nuFOuCpl8/
content:
<p><a href="media/5bfa00ca.swedpolice.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/swedpolice.jpg"><img src="media/0d1bf087.swedpolice.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/swedpolice.jpg" alt="swedpolice" width="187" height="86" class="alignright size-full wp-image-67906"></a>It&#8217;s been just over two months since Swedish police carried out a <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/swedish-police-raid-the-pirate-bay-site-offline-141209/">dramatic raid</a> that took the infamous Pirate Bay offline. While the action certainly had an impact on its raid-proof reputation, the torrent site <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-back-online-150131/">rose from the ashes</a> two weeks ago with its databases largely intact.</p>
<p>While that resurrection must&#8217;ve been a blow to Swedish authorities, action against torrent sites is far from over. As the investigation into The Pirate Bay and former operator Fredrik Neij continues, police have struck again in the notorious torrent site&#8217;s backyard. In common with December&#8217;s raid, local authorities are providing a bare minimum of details.</p>
<p>&#8220;We have made ​​significant seizures, but I will not say more than that,&#8221; <a href="http://www.idg.se/2.1085/1.608563/bekraftat--stort-tillslag-mot-dreamfilm-och-piratehub---fem-personer-gripna">said</a> prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist. </p>
<p>It is known that five people are in police custody under suspicion of being involved in the unlawful distribution of copyrighted movies. While it&#8217;s yet to be confirmed, the investigation will almost certainly have been launched at the behest of the major Hollywood studios and local anti-piracy group Rights Alliance.</p>
<p>One of the sites targeted is Tankafetast, Sweden&#8217;s second largest torrent site. It&#8217;s been hit before, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/authorities-raid-large-torrent-site-again-aaand-its-back-online-130224/">at least a couple of times</a>, but has always managed to reappear. This time the situation seems more serious.</p>
<p>Also down is torrent site PirateHub and streaming portal Tankefetast Play. The latter is currently redirecting to the same <a href="http://www.defria.se/v%C3%A5r-politik-15491254">political site</a> as its namesake.</p>
<p><center><br>
<h5>Promotional image previously released by Tankafetast</h5>
<p><img src="media/fda1c792.tanka2.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tanka2.jpg" alt="tankafetast"></center></p>
<p>While confirming that an investigation into PirateHub had been ongoing for some time, Ljungqvist did not reveal whether equipment such as servers had been seized in the latest operation. When quizzed about the downtime of the sites listed above, however, the prosecutor said that they&#8217;d been disabled by their operators.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is not us who have taken down the sites, it is they themselves who did so in order to prevent further crime,&#8221; Ljungqvist said.</p>
<p><a href="media/f9ace01e.dreamfilm.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/dreamfilm.jpg"><img src="media/d3342a61.dreamfilm.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dreamfilm.jpg" alt="dreamfilm" width="200" height="150" class="alignright size-full wp-image-87511"></a>If that is indeed the case, the development has clear parallels with the news last week <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-sites-deal-with-police-backfires-massively-150207/">concerning streaming portal DreamFilm.se</a>. The operators of that site reported that after one of their admins was arrested the site did a deal with police to close down voluntarily.</p>
<p>While that didn&#8217;t go quite to plan, with some admins leaving to start a new venture with a similar name, it&#8217;s possible that the replacement URL won&#8217;t be reported on the old DreamFilm.se homepage for long. According to IDG, the prosecution in the case has now filed a motion at the district court in Linköping for that domain name to be forfeited.</p>
<p><a href="http://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-domains-targeted-in-legal-action-150210/">As reported earlier this week</a>, two Pirate Bay domain names are also under threat, with authorities targeting the Punkt SE registry with pioneering legal action to have the domains revoked and/or seized by the state. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=c7nuFOuCpl8:B8YTM34e5uI:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=c7nuFOuCpl8:B8YTM34e5uI:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=c7nuFOuCpl8:B8YTM34e5uI:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/c7nuFOuCpl8" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=101491
title: Pirate Bay Goes Down Again (Updated)
uri: Pirate-Bay-Goes-Down-Again
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/4lcb-Of8NhE/
content:
<p><a href="media/fd06f581.pirate-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-bay.jpg"><img src="media/2a43984f.pirate-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-bay.jpg" alt="pirate bay" width="200" height="207" class="alignright size-full wp-image-53470"></a>Exactly two weeks after the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-back-online-150131/">long-awaited comeback</a>, The Pirate Bay appears to be in trouble again.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s currently not clear what&#8217;s causing the problems. There might be a hardware issue, routing problem or a software glitch, issues that have occurred many times in the site&#8217;s history.</p>
<p>However, after the prolonged downtime earlier this year many people are now fearing the worst.</p>
<p>The site&#8217;s domain name is working properly and the nameservers appear to be setup correctly too, so those variables can be ruled out.</p>
<p>The Pirate Bay currently displays a CloudFlare error message 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>TorrentFreak reached out to The Pirate Bay&#8217;s admin and we will update this article if we hear back. </p>
<p>While the main site is down, many of the Pirate Bay&#8217;s <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-copycats-flourish-after-raid-141212/">clones and copies</a> that became popular during TPB&#8217;s recent seven week outage are still accessible.</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> Pirate Bay&#8217;s .onion address still works (<a href="http://uj3wazyk5u4hnvtk.onion/">http://uj3wazyk5u4hnvtk.onion/</a>). This means that the site is accessible over the Tor network, including the Pirate Browser.</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> TPB is back after roughly 12 hours. The admin informed us that there was a hosting issue, this has been resolved now.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=4lcb-Of8NhE:s2CJBAV1Qx8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=4lcb-Of8NhE:s2CJBAV1Qx8:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=4lcb-Of8NhE:s2CJBAV1Qx8:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/4lcb-Of8NhE" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=101460
title: EURid Suspends TorrentShack Domain Name After Complaint
uri: EURid-Suspends-TorrentShack-Domain-Name-After-Complaint
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/jzaOnG2tlrk/
content:
<p><a href="media/827d0713.torrentshack.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/torrentshack.png"><img src="media/827d0713.torrentshack.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/torrentshack.png" alt="torrentshack" width="181" height="129" class="alignright size-full wp-image-101464"></a>Targeting the domain names of &#8220;pirate&#8221; sites and services has become one of the main priorities for copyright holders. </p>
<p>Previously, City of London Police managed to <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/uk-police-orders-registrars-to-suspend-domains-of-major-torrent-sites-131009/">convince</a> several registrars to suspend sites that allegedly infringe copyright and earlier this week Swedish authorities <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-domains-targeted-in-legal-action-150210/">commented</a> on their efforts to seize two of Pirate Bay&#8217;s domains.</p>
<p>Since it&#8217;s not always easy to convince registrars or registries that these sites are acting against the law, rightsholders are also exploring another route, pointing out administrative issues for example. This is how EZTV <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/eztv-ditches-it-domain-after-italian-intervention-150115/">lost its .IT domain</a>.</p>
<p>Private BitTorrent tracker TorrentShack also ran into administrative problems this week, and on Monday the site&#8217;s .EU domain became unreachable.</p>
<p>&#8220;As you can see there is a problem with the Whois/Domain at the moment, the problem is not with our setup and is being reported by the domain hosts as fully live (not suspended),&#8221; TorrentShack staff <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/trackers/comments/2vgdxq/tsh_new_adress_theshackusto/">said</a>. </p>
<p>&#8220;If necessary we have backup solutions in place and we are not going anywhere while the problem is being tracked down,&#8221; they added.</p>
<p>While the site&#8217;s registrar may not report a suspension, the EURid registry certainly does, as shown below. </p>
<p><center><a href="media/47c69f09.torrentshack-suspended.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/torrentshack-suspended.png"><img src="media/47c69f09.torrentshack-suspended.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/torrentshack-suspended.png" alt="torrentshack-suspended" width="555" height="157" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-101463"></a></center></p>
<p>This issue is reminiscent of the trouble a popular Popcorn Time fork faced a few months ago. They also <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/popcorn-time-domain-name-suspension-breaks-app-141009/">lost control</a> of their .EU domain, which is now listed as withdrawn. </p>
<p>To find out more about the reason for these suspensions TorrentFreak contacted the EURid registry. We were informed that a &#8220;third-party&#8221; alerted them to the fact that both domain names were registered with inaccurate details.</p>
<p>&#8220;We have initiated our verification procedure based upon complaints from third parties and we have suspended/withdrawn the respective domain names based on inaccurate holder’s address details,&#8221; an EURid spokesperson told us.</p>
<p>&#8220;As you know, the .eu terms and conditions, as well as the registration policy, require the domain holder to keep his/her contact information as shown in WHOIS complete and accurate at all times. Based on our verification, we can confirm that for both .eu domain names that was not the case.&#8221;</p>
<p>The above means that TorrentShack probably won&#8217;t return on their .eu domain name and they have switched to theshack.us.to for now.  This switch is not without problems, as many torrents still use the old .eu domain as an announce URL.</p>
<p>There seems to be an easy fix for this issue, as several users <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/trackers/comments/2vgdxq/tsh_new_adress_theshackusto/">report</a> that the torrents will become active again by manually pointing the .eu domain name to the tracker IP-addresses in the hosts file. </p>
<p>The identity of the mysterious &#8220;third-party&#8221; behind the complaints is likely to remain a mystery. However, it doesn&#8217;t take a genius to figure out that they&#8217;re most likely from a copyright holder group. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=jzaOnG2tlrk:UnwBuyRysa0:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=jzaOnG2tlrk:UnwBuyRysa0:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=jzaOnG2tlrk:UnwBuyRysa0:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/jzaOnG2tlrk" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=101507
title: Megaupload Programmer Sentenced to a Year in Prison
uri: Megaupload-Programmer-Sentenced-to-a-Year-in-Prison
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/o8kKEepHGiI/
content:
<p><a href="media/29219ba9.megaupload-logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/megaupload-logo.jpg"><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"></a>After three years of relative inaction the criminal case against Megaupload and seven of its employees heated up this week. </p>
<p>Just a few days ago the U.S. authorities <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/megaupload-programmer-arrested-in-the-u-s-150210/">arrested Andrus Nomm</a>, one of the indicted Megaupload defendants. </p>
<p>The 36-year-old programmer had been living in the Netherlands but came to the States to take a plea deal. </p>
<p>The Department of Justice just <a href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/255694355/mega-plea">announced</a> that Nomm <a href="http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/02/megaupload-programmer-pleads-guilty-sentenced-to-a-year-in-prison/">pleaded guilty</a> to criminal copyright infringement, and was sentenced to a year and a day in prison. </p>
<p>According to the DoJ statement Nomm acknowledged that he &#8220;was aware that copyright-infringing content was stored on the [Megaupload] websites, including copyright protected motion pictures and television programs, some of which contained the &#8216;FBI Anti-Piracy&#8217; warning.&#8221; </p>
<p>&#8220;Nomm also admitted that he personally downloaded copyright-infringing files from the Mega websites. Nomm continued to participate in the Mega Conspiracy,&#8221; the statement continues.</p>
<p>The authorities are happy with their first vistory in this case and are determined to bring the other defendants to the U.S. as well.</p>
<p>“This outcome is the result of years of hard work by our office and our partners from the Criminal Division and the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” U.S. Attorney Dana Boente said.</p>
<p>“The Mega Conspiracy engaged in massive criminal infringement of copyrighted works on the Internet, and we are confident that this case will be a sign to those who would abuse technology for illegal profit,” he added.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Megaupload&#8217;s founder Kim Dotcom <a href="https://twitter.com/KimDotcom/status/566305241864212480">slammed the U.S. legal system</a> in a comment, but says that he understands Nomm&#8217;s decision.</p>
<p>&#8220;The US Justice system: An innocent coder pleads guilty after 3 years of DOJ abuse, with no end in sight, in order to move on with his life,&#8221; Dotcom tweeted. &#8220;I have nothing but compassion and understanding for Andrus Nomm and I hope he will soon be reunited with his son.&#8221;</p>
<p>Megaupload lawyer Ira Rothken told TF that the U.S. authorities might have taken advantage of Nomm. As an Estonian citizen living in a foreign country he was vulnerable, and running out of funds.</p>
<p>&#8220;The DOJ apparently used Andrus Nomm&#8217;s weak financial condition and inability to fight back to manufacture a hollywood style publicity stunt in the form of a scripted guilty plea in court,&#8221; Rothken says. </p>
<p>&#8220;The facts mentioned in court, like a lack of cloud filtering of copyrighted works, are civil secondary copyright issues not criminal issues,&#8221; he adds. </p>
<p>According to Rothken the &#8220;publicity stunt&#8221; reveals how weak the DoJ&#8217;s case is.</p>
<p>&#8220;The DOJ apparently convinced Andrus Nomm to say the conclusory phrase that Kim Dotcom &#8216;did not care about protecting copyrights&#8217; and such point shows off the weakness in the DOJ&#8217;s case as Megaupload, amongst many other ways of caring, had a robust copyright notice and takedown system which gave direct delete access to major content owners and from which millions of links were removed.&#8221;  </p>
<p>Nomm&#8217;s sentencing for criminal copyright infringement is <a href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20150213/12150230019/megaupload-programmer-takes-plea-deal-though-its-still-unclear-what-criminal-law-he-violated.shtml">raising eyebrows</a> among several experts. </p>
<p>In the indictment there was only one example of possible copyright infringement, and that referred to watching a copy of a pirated TV-show. For now it remains unclear what other evidence the authorities have. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=o8kKEepHGiI:iXm3NXOw0FQ:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=o8kKEepHGiI:iXm3NXOw0FQ:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=o8kKEepHGiI:iXm3NXOw0FQ:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/o8kKEepHGiI" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=101393
title: ISP’s “Three Strikes” Scheme is Weird and Broken
uri: ISP-s-Three-Strikes-Scheme-is-Weird-and-Broken
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/PGnkmjtM-Eg/
content:
<p><a href="media/db3bd45e.pirate-card.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-card.jpg"><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"></a>More than five years ago the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) ended its legal action against local ISP Eircom when the ISP agreed to implement a new anti-piracy policy.</p>
<p>The agreement sees Sony, Universal and Warner tracking Eircom subscribers online and the ISP forwarding infringement notices to customers uploading music without permission. Eircom promises to disconnect subscribers who are caught sharing three times.</p>
<p>The entire point of this scheme and others like it is to inform Internet users that a &#8220;graduated response&#8221; is in operation. Whenever a notice is received users should be in no doubt they&#8217;re edging closer to being punished and ultimately cut off.</p>
<p>For its part the music industry is clear. &#8216;Strikes&#8217; regimes which don&#8217;t promise to disconnect or otherwise punish users are much less effective than those that have these measures. After all, who wants to be cut off by their ISP?</p>
<p>But if that&#8217;s indeed the case, why then is Eircom keeping the prospect of disconnections out of its communications with alleged pirates?</p>
<p>TorrentFreak has obtained one of the latest letters being sent out to Eircom subscribers. Received by a customer already on a warning, it begins normally enough.</p>
<p>&#8220;Eircom has a long association with Irish music and we believe that artists deserve to be paid for the work they create. Most music files are protected by copyright and while it may be acceptable for them to be stored on a computer for personal use, it is unlawful to share those files without the copyright owner&#8217;s permission,&#8221; the letter reads.</p>
<p>The warning goes on to note that sharing copyrighted music is a breach of Eircom&#8217;s terms and conditions and as such it&#8217;s the subscriber&#8217;s responsibility to ensure the connection is not used to breach copyright. Standard stuff so far.</p>
<p>At this point one might expect Eircom to be getting into the details of its &#8220;three strikes&#8221; scheme implemented on IRMA&#8217;s behalf, informing the subscriber how after the third time sharing copyrighted material he or she will have their broadband connection terminated. Instead, however, the ISP makes no mention of it.</p>
<p>&#8220;Please accept this letter as an advisory notice, and should no further activity as described above occur then no further action will be taken. The details of this notification will be retained for 12 months from the dates of this letter and will be deleted thereafter unless we receive an additional notification in that period,&#8221; the notice adds.</p>
<p>And that&#8217;s pretty much it. No mention of a graduated response, no mention that subscribers will disconnected from the Internet. It&#8217;s a very strange approach considering the substantial sums of money spent by IRMA and Eircom to reach their &#8220;three strikes&#8221; agreement.</p>
<p>So why the kid gloves?</p>
<p>Since disconnecting customers is not exactly helpful to profitability, Eircom&#8217;s agreement with IRMA requires that the ISP isn&#8217;t put at a commercial disadvantage. To that end, IRMA has been locked in a five-year legal battle <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/record-labels-try-to-force-isp-to-disconnect-pirates-150113/">to force rival ISP UPC</a> to also implement &#8220;three strikes&#8221;.</p>
<p>Pending the outcome of that case, Eircom is currently the only ISP in Ireland promising to disconnect pirates. Playing that fact down in its letters to customers would certainly make commercial sense and stop those looking to jump ship.</p>
<p>However, the other elephant in the room is that last year Eircom admitted it <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/three-strikes-isp-no-pirates-disconnected-in-four-years-140313/">hadn&#8217;t disconnected anyone</a> in four years of the &#8220;strikes&#8221; scheme. Add that to &#8220;weak&#8221; letters being sent out to customers and some might presume that disconnections are already off the table, at least unofficially.</p>
<p>Still, there&#8217;s always the educational aspect to &#8220;graduated response&#8221; campaigns &#8211; you&#8217;ve been caught once so why not go straight now?</p>
<p>As required by the IRMA deal, Eircom informs &#8220;strike&#8221; recipients where they can go to obtain legal music downloads &#8211; or at least that&#8217;s the idea. Sadly, in its infringement notices Eircom points them to eircom.net/legalmusic, a page that hasn&#8217;t existed for some time.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/25057bc5.eircom-wrong.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/eircom-wrong.jpg" alt="eircom-wrong"></center></p>
<p>A secondary educational effort in the letter sees the ISP encourage customers to completely remove file-sharing software and infringing files from their computers.</p>
<p>&#8220;IRMA provides a program called &#8216;Digital File Check&#8217; which can be downloaded from their website. It checks for and removes any infringing files and applications commonly used to share music illegally,&#8221; the letter notes.</p>
<p>However, those following the link (www.ifpi.org/content/section_resources/digital-file-check.html) find it less than helpful. Links to the software on IFPI&#8217;s site send users round in a never-ending loop and the official domain DigitalFileCheck.com, for those who can be bothered to hunt it down, is completely dead.</p>
<p>The situation is baffling. Why spend years pushing for this system yet execute it so poorly once it&#8217;s in place?  Why then force other ISPs to do the same? It&#8217;s debatable whether these schemes <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/u-s-strikes-scheme-fails-to-impact-piracy-landscape-150111/">have any effect at all</a>, but if this is the model that&#8217;s no surprise.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=PGnkmjtM-Eg:OuKJOCcfkEY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=PGnkmjtM-Eg:OuKJOCcfkEY:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=PGnkmjtM-Eg:OuKJOCcfkEY:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/PGnkmjtM-Eg" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=101147
title: Remove uTorrent Ads in One Click With “Pimp My uTorrent”
uri: Remove-uTorrent-Ads-in-One-Click-With-Pimp-My-uTorrent
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/T7MSc3_nteY/
content:
<p><a href="media/3b80c447.utorrent-logo-new.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/utorrent-logo-new.jpg"><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"></a>When BitTorrent Inc. announced its plan to add <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/utorrent-becomes-ad-supported-to-rake-in-millions-120810/">advertising</a> to its flagship uTorrent client a small user revolt broke out. </p>
<p>The people complaining were mostly annoyed that there would be no option to disable the ads. Luckily, BitTorrent listened to the feedback and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/utorrent-makes-ads-optional-following-user-revolt-120815/">decided</a> that users would indeed get a chance to opt-out from the ads.</p>
<p>Despite the initial complaints, nowadays most users probably aren&#8217;t aware of the opt-out settings. uTorrent previously reported that it&#8217;s serving billions of ads per month, quite a significant number. </p>
<p>Even for those users who do know, uTorrent doesn&#8217;t make it very easy for them to remove the ads. They will have to mess with the advanced settings, search for the relevant variables, and change them one by one.</p>
<p>The developer of the torrent optimized TV-calendar <a href="https://schizoduckie.github.io/DuckieTV/">DuckieTV</a> was confronted with this issue a few days ago when he introduced a friend to BitTorrent. After first installing uTorrent, he noticed that the client was littered with ads he disabled himself a long time ago. </p>
<p><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="360" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-88927"></a></center></p>
<p>After manually changing several settings to strip the ads, he came up with the idea to automate the process. </p>
<p>&#8220;I turned them off for my friend, and decided to try and see if I could automate the process the next day,&#8221; Schizoduckie tells TF.</p>
<p>For DuckieTV, the developer previously reverse-engineered BitTorrent&#8217;s <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-turns-web-browsers-into-a-file-sharing-hub-120707/">Torque and BtApp.js tools</a>, which are able to talk to uTorrent via the browser. He therefore decided to see if the same code could also be used to change uTorrent&#8217;s settings.</p>
<p>&#8220;I remembered that BitTorrent previously ran an experiment with btApp.js that fiddled with settings, so all I needed to do was hook up the settings functionality in my library and set up a page so users can disable ads in one click,&#8221; Schizoduckie says.</p>
<p>Fast forward a few hours and &#8220;<a href="http://schizoduckie.github.io/PimpMyuTorrent/#/">Pimp my uTorrent</a>&#8221; was born.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/29a7b17a.pimpmut.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pimpmut.png"><img src="media/29a7b17a.pimpmut.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pimpmut.png" alt="pimpmut" width="600" height="164" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-101328"></a></center></p>
<p>Pimp my uTorrent literally requires just one click to disable the ads on Windows clients. There is nothing to install as the page uses JavaScript to communicate with uTorrent.  </p>
<p>After the &#8220;pimping&#8221; is done, uTorrent might need to be restarted before the changes are visible. People who are not happy with the result have an option to reverse them with another click. </p>
<p>It can&#8217;t get much simpler than that.</p>
<p>Those who are interested in what the tool does can inspect the <a href="https://github.com/SchizoDuckie/PimpMyuTorrent/blob/gh-pages/js/controllers.js#L9">relevant variables here</a>. A more detailed overview of all ad related settings and how these can be changed is available in the <a href="http://forum.utorrent.com/topic/81421-321-how-to-turn-off-ads-except-for-the-silly-upgrade-banner/page-3#entry496240">uTorrent forums</a>. A more detailed how-to with many more tips and tricks is <a href="http://forum.utorrent.com/topic/60691-utorrent-v2x3x-best-practice-tips/">available here</a>.</p>
<p>Happy pimping!</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=T7MSc3_nteY:P2WyKjJvBIw:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=T7MSc3_nteY:P2WyKjJvBIw:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=T7MSc3_nteY:P2WyKjJvBIw:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/T7MSc3_nteY" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=101238
title: Steam Censors Kickass.to Mentions in Chat Client
uri: Steam-Censors-Kickass-to-Mentions-in-Chat-Client
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/yIFHosCM4bA/
content:
<p><a href="media/32f916cb.steam.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/steam.png"><img src="media/32f916cb.steam.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/steam.png" alt="steam" width="238" height="174" class="alignright size-full wp-image-101241"></a>With millions of active users Steam is not just a game distribution platform, but also a social network and a communication tool. </p>
<p>Many people use Steam&#8217;s instant messaging tool for chats with friends. About games of course, but also about lots of other stuff. </p>
<p>Interestingly, it appears that Steam doesn&#8217;t want its users to talk about certain topics. When the popular torrent site KickassTorrents went offline earlier this week, one Steam user noticed that his messages on the topic were being censored.</p>
<p>&#8220;There is no warning or blocked message notification. The messages simply disappeared,&#8221; we were told.</p>
<p>After running some tests, which have been replicated by TF, it&#8217;s clear that messages mentioning the Kickass.to domain name are not coming through. It&#8217;s not just the domain that&#8217;s censored, but the entire message. </p>
<p>Below is an example of the vanishing text where the user sent the following three lines. </p>
<p><a href="media/b89bc9d9.steamcensored.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/steamcensored.png"><img src="media/b89bc9d9.steamcensored.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/steamcensored.png" alt="steamcensored" width="321" height="97" class="alignright size-full wp-image-101356"></a>1. The next line may be missing<br>
2. A line mentioning Kickass.to<br>
3. Was there a line 2</p>
<p>The person on the other end of the conversation only sees line 1 and 3, without a warning or notification that the second line was not sent. </p>
<p>It&#8217;s unclear why Steam is censoring these conversations. TorrentFreak contacted Valve to find out more about the disappearing chats, but at the time of publication we have yet to receive a response.</p>
<p>It would be easy to conclude that the copyright infringing links on Kickass.to are the reason, but then it&#8217;s strange that The Pirate Bay and all other torrent sites are not affected. </p>
<p>Interestingly, however, kickass.to seems to be the only one that&#8217;s affected right now. Other domains including Kickass.so and Torrentz.eu are flagged by Steam as potentially malicious, and users get a warning if they attempt to open them. These domains do show up in private chats though.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/4a7fff3f.steammal.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/steammal.jpg"><img src="media/4a7fff3f.steammal.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/steammal.jpg" alt="steammal" width="600" height="324" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-101242"></a></center></p>
<p>Without a comment from Valve the true reason for the awkward censorship measures remains unknown. It is clear though, that Steam is keeping a close eye on what people talk about. </p>
<p>That by itself is already quite concerning. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=yIFHosCM4bA:cyiAku0VGSU:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=yIFHosCM4bA:cyiAku0VGSU:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=yIFHosCM4bA:cyiAku0VGSU:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/yIFHosCM4bA" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=101395
title: Android Piracy News Gives App a Sales Boost
uri: Android-Piracy-News-Gives-App-a-Sales-Boost
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/pO33HrAPK0U/
content:
<p><img src="media/823adf75.walkplank.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/walkplank.jpg" width="180" height="171" class="alignright">Today Calendar Pro is a popular replacement calendar for Android. Several thousand voters on Google Play agree on its quality, most voting near to the fabled five stars.</p>
<p>However, at the start of February developer Jack Underwood announced that rather than pay for his software, a huge majority are preferring to pirate it instead. The figures were substantial. According to the UK-based dev, 85% of &#8216;pro&#8217; users were using his software without paying for it.</p>
<p>While that fact might&#8217;ve caused some creators to go nuclear, Underwood remained pragmatic. He engaged his public and decided to make light of the situation by introducing some novel anti-piracy measures in his software. Rather than make it unusable, Underwood added some pirate-themed events as detailed in our <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/android-dev-punishes-pirates-at-the-behest-of-reddit-150203/">earlier article</a>.</p>
<p>It turned out to be a great move on the PR front. News of Underwood&#8217;s approach spread quickly and dozens of news outlets covered the story giving the developer and his software plenty of exposure. Interested in the effects of this new-found fame, TF caught up with the dev to assess his mood.</p>
<p>As it turns out Underwood was in fine form. News of massive piracy of his app published February 2nd/3rd onwards had certainly turned into a positive. Sales of his software enjoyed a significant boost, as the graph below illustrates.</p>
<p><Center><img src="media/d0706d9b.calendar-pro-sales.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/calendar-pro-sales.png" alt="Calendar Pro Sales"></center></p>
<p>While reluctant to talk about money generated, Underwood did reveal the size of the increase over regular sales. Today Calender Pro sold around three times more than it usually does after the news broke, leveling to twice as many sales shortly after.</p>
<p>However, it was the effect on Google Play&#8217;s rankings that appears to have done Underwood the biggest favor. Following news of the high piracy rates there was a five-fold increase in Play user ratings, averaging a score of 4.8. This means that Today Calendar Pro is now the highest rated calendar on the Play store.</p>
<p>The ratings boost means that sales are now running at a steady 50% uplift, a great result all considered.</p>
<p>Interestingly, however, the free version of the app hasn&#8217;t done quite so well. On the first day sales increased two-fold, dropping to 1.5x the day after. Unlike the &#8216;Pro&#8217; version, there was no change in Play ratings and &#8216;sales&#8217; are now back to the level they were before.</p>
<p>But perhaps of most interest is how these new figures have affected piracy rates overall, which previously sat at 85%.</p>
<p>&#8220;Over the last week pirated installs have made up 56% of the downloads,&#8221; Underwood informs TF. &#8220;Much better, but I guess we&#8217;ll see how long it lasts!&#8221;</p>
<p>Finally, Underwood says that interest in the pirate-themed events he added to his software has resulted in lots of requests from users wanting to see them. He&#8217;s come up with the following solution.</p>
<p>&#8220;Users can now trigger the pirate events themselves. Any event title with &#8216;walk the plank&#8217; or &#8216;swashbuckling&#8217; or &#8216;pirate&#8217; (providing there&#8217;s no other trigger words) will cause the pirate images to be displayed,&#8221; he concludes.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=pO33HrAPK0U:DwkWvmG_UEc:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=pO33HrAPK0U:DwkWvmG_UEc:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=pO33HrAPK0U:DwkWvmG_UEc:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/pO33HrAPK0U" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=101528
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week – 02/16/15
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-02-16-15
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/GQyhqpRpe1w/
content:
<p><a href="media/ea238c12.bighero6.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/bighero6.jpg"><img src="media/ea238c12.bighero6.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/bighero6.jpg" alt="bighero6" width="300" height="243" class="alignright size-full wp-image-101145"></a>This week we have three newcomers in our chart.</p>
<p>Big Hero 6 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-pirated-movies-week-020915/">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/big_hero_6/">Big Hero 6</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2245084/">8.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3biFxZIJOQ">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/birdman_2014/">Birdman</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2562232/">8.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jAfBd3g6bA">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/horrible_bosses_2/">Horrible Bosses 2</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2170439/">6.5</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B45XU3v9sPw">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(7)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/heat_2013/">Wild Card</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2231253/?">6.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fJGbTfFPkM">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/john_doe_vigilante/">John Doe: Vigilante</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1418754/">6.5</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5o4QekozYb0">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/american_sniper/">American Sniper</a> (DVDscr)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2179136/">7.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bP1f_1o-zo">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fifty_shades_of_grey/">Fifty Shades of Grey</a> (CAM)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2322441/">3.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfZWFDs0LxA">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(8)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/nightcrawler/">Nightcrawler</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2872718/?">8.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8kYDQan8bw">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(6)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dumb_and_dumber_to/">Dumb And Dumber To</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2096672/">6.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGXHVlEklgQ">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/taken_3/">Taken 3</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2446042/">6.3</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuU0M2xBasc">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=GQyhqpRpe1w:r5CVEwY44-g:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=GQyhqpRpe1w:r5CVEwY44-g:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=GQyhqpRpe1w:r5CVEwY44-g:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/GQyhqpRpe1w" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=101532
title: The War Over Control Of The Net Is A War Over Information Advantage
uri: The-War-Over-Control-Of-The-Net-Is-A-War-Over-Information-Advantage
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/FvyKMmpu4rw/
content:
<p>We know little of spycraft before ancient times, but we do know that covert messaging was common in the Roman Empire. One well-documented method was to shave a slave&#8217;s head, tattoo a message into the scalp, let the hair grow back, and send the slave on foot to the recipient, presumably carrying a decoy message.</p>
<p>(And you were complaining that PGP messaging takes too long.)</p>
<p>It&#8217;s possible to assume that the concept of &#8220;information advantage&#8221; arose as soon as civilizations broke beyond tribal stage. We can observe groups spying on each other in all parts of recorded history, and even though the winners write the (surviving) history books, we can see that those who knew more were also the ones who came out on top.</p>
<p>There are many reasons for this. One is the straightforward concept of military intel: if you&#8217;re at war with somebody and know about their weaknesses, you can exploit them and get the upper hand. Most of the net generation are perfectly familiar with the concept of the Fog of War, and the value of sending scout drones early in a StarCraft game.</p>
<p>But it&#8217;s more subtle than that. If you establish yourself as knowing more than others, for whatever reason, other people will start asking you for information. Information &#8211; perceived truth &#8211; will flow from you to others. This is one of the most powerful positions somebody can be in; it establishes the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/the-net-vs-the-power-of-narratives-120429/">power of narrative</a>, and it lets a group essentially dictate truth, enlighten people, or poison the news-well according to what fits their interest on any particular day, as long as they are perceived to still hold the information advantage.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s easy to observe that governments have had this role. &#8220;Our satellite imagery shows X, Y, and Z on the ground in Farawaystan.&#8221; You can&#8217;t really dispute it, you have to take that government at their word, simply because you don&#8217;t have any expensive satellite network of your own. It&#8217;s quite outside of your budget range. Or rather, you had to take them at their word: you don&#8217;t anymore. All of a sudden, you have distant acquaintances on the ground in Farawaystan who are confirming or disproving the statement, and usually doing so within minutes.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s not hard to see what a power shift this creates &#8211; how the many are taking the power away from the few. It used to take an enormous nation-state-level machine to provide information detail at the satellite-level degree; today, better information can be obtained by the informal network that is the internet.</p>
<p><strong>Putting it another way: the net generation, the <em>global</em> net generation, has taken the information advantage from the world&#8217;s governments, using nothing but their everyday presence and practically no resources at all. And those dethroned governments are absolutely furious about it, and are turning to poisoning the news-well and destroying the net&#8217;s utility value by introducing mass surveillance and forcing the network operators&#8217; dirty collaboration in a last-ditch attempt to regain that information advantage &#8211; knowing what everybody&#8217;s saying, thinking, planning, discussing.</strong></p>
<p>It&#8217;s not going to help. That cat is out of the bag. But it&#8217;s going to be a fight.</p>
<p>The copyright industry is only a small part of this. It&#8217;s a really annoying small part of this, but the picture is still much bigger. There&#8217;s a reason the copyright industry gets so much governmental support (from the United States) when it tries to assert its continued power of narrative, despite YouTube and similar sites long having disproven the notion that you need a governmentally-awarded private monopoly &#8211; &#8220;copyright&#8221; &#8211; for culture to be created.</p>
<p>(YouTube alone now has 300 hours of video uploaded every minute. In other words, it&#8217;s providing 18,000 24/7 television channel equivalents. Granted, those &#8220;channels&#8221; are of widely varying quality, so they&#8217;re quite exactly like yesterday&#8217;s TV concept.)</p>
<p>We still need to fight for our basic civil liberties. But the power shift happening right now is immense &#8211; far beyond the question of where some entertainment studio is going to find its future revenue.</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>
<div style="float:right;position:relative;top:-12px">
<p><small>Book Falkvinge <a href="http://falkvinge.net/keynotes/">as speaker</a>?</small></p>
</div>
<p><a href="http://twitter.com/Falkvinge" class="twitter-follow-button">Follow @Falkvinge</a></p>
</div>
<p></center></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://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/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
<div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=FvyKMmpu4rw:MLIKKro4Uvc:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?a=FvyKMmpu4rw:MLIKKro4Uvc:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Torrentfreak?i=FvyKMmpu4rw:MLIKKro4Uvc:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~4/FvyKMmpu4rw" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>


