# articles

feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=138821
title: Steal This Show S03E01: ‘Toxic Avenger Loves Pirates’
uri: Steal-This-Show-S03E01-Toxic-Avenger-Loves-Pirates
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/5UXiwD_4RnQ/
content:
<p><img src="media/d01749d9.stslogo180.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/stslogo180.png" alt="stslogo180" width="180" height="180" class="alignright size-full wp-image-113928"><strong><sup><em>If you enjoy this episode, consider becoming a patron and getting involved with the show. <a href="https://patreon.com/user?u=4275705">Check out Steal This Show&#8217;s Patreon campaign</a>: support us and get all kinds of&nbsp;fantastic benefits!</em></sup></strong></p>
<p>In this first episode of the new season, we meet the irrepressible Lloyd Kaufman, co-founder of Troma Entertainment and director of The Toxic Avenger. </p>
<p>Find out why Lloyd loves pirates &#8211; except state-sponsored ones; why vertical integration, media consolidation and the end of Net Neutrality would kill Troma; and why Lloyd is skeptical that crowdfunding systems like Patreon have a role in crowdfunding independent movies. </p>
<p>Check out Lloyd&#8217;s movies on his <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/Tromamovies">YouTube channel</a>!</p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<p><a href="https://stealthisshow.com">Steal This Show</a> aims to release bi-weekly episodes featuring insiders discussing copyright and file-sharing news. It complements our regular reporting by adding more room for opinion, commentary, and analysis. </p>
<p>The guests for our news discussions will vary, and we&#8217;ll aim to introduce voices from different backgrounds and persuasions. In addition to news, STS will also produce features interviewing some of the great innovators and minds. </p>
<p><strong>Host:</strong> Jamie King</p>
<p><strong>Guest:</strong> Lloyd Kaufman</p>
<p><center><iframe width="100%" height="180px" src="//stealthisshow.com/?lpe-frame=1&#038;lpe-season=3&#038;lpe-episode=01" frameborder="0"></iframe></center></p>
<p><strong>Produced </strong> <em>by </em>Jamie King<br>
<strong>Edited &#038; Mixed</strong> <em>by</em> Riley Byrne<br>
<strong>Original Music</strong> <em>by</em> David Triana<br>
<strong>Web Production</strong> <em>by</em> Siraje Amarniss</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=138798
title: Landmark Usenet Piracy Verdict Stands, Despite RIAA and MPAA Protests
uri: Landmark-Usenet-Piracy-Verdict-Stands-Despite-RIAA-and-MPAA-Protests
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/yUSm_EI-okY/
content:
<p><img src="media/83a617af.gigalogo.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/gigalogo.png" alt="" width="231" height="125" class="alignright size-full wp-image-138805">Adult magazine publisher Perfect 10 has made a business out of suing online services for allegedly facilitating copyright infringement.</p>
<p>Over the past several years the company has targeted a dozen high-profile companies including Google, Amazon, Yandex, MasterCard, Visa, Leaseweb, RapidShare, Depositfiles and Giganews.</p>
<p>Private settlements aside the legal campaigns haven’t been particularly successful for the publisher. Last year Perfect 10 lost another battle against Giganews, with the court ordering the company to pay $5.6 million in legal fees, a decision which was <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/usenet-provider-giganews-wins-landmark-copyright-battle-170124/">upheld by the court of appeals</a>.</p>
<p>While the parties involved are not the biggest names, the case itself has drawn the interest of key players in the movie and music industries, as well as several tech giants. </p>
<p>This became apparent once again when Perfect 10 asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for a rehearing a few weeks ago. Soon after this request was submitted, both the MPAA and RIAA chimed in with their support.  </p>
<p>The copyright industry groups were particularly concerned with the panel&#8217;s decision that Giganews is not liable for vicarious infringement, because there was no evidence indicating that anyone subscribed to Giganews to download pirated Perfect 10 material.</p>
<p>&#8220;Indeed, Perfect 10 provides evidence that suggests only that some subscribers joined Giganews to access infringing material generally; Perfect 10 does not proffer evidence showing that Giganews attracted subscriptions because of the infringing Perfect 10 material,&#8221; it read. </p>
<p>According to the MPAA and RIAA, this finding goes against existing case law, so they asked for a rehearing. According to the groups, it should be enough to simply show that the general availability of copyright-infringing material draws &#8216;pirate&#8217; users.</p>
<p>&#8220;Courts have long held that a plaintiff can satisfy the direct financial benefit prong by showing that the general availability of a particular type of infringing material on the defendant’s premises—or, in the internet context, through the defendant’s site or service—draws third-parties hoping to obtain infringing material,&#8221; the MPAA <a href="media/fae5fd9c.ccietal.pdf" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/ccietal.pdf">wrote (pdf)</a>. </p>
<p><center><img src="media/49471d52.giganews.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/giganews.jpg" alt="giganews" width="600" height="410" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-118795"></center></p>
<p>The RIAA agreed and said that rightsholders should not be required to show a direct causal link between infringements of their work as a &#8220;draw&#8221; for using Giganews.  </p>
<p>&#8220;By imposing this novel standard, the panel departed from established and longstanding precedent in the Ninth Circuit and elsewhere, and its ruling will likely result in harmful unintended consequences,&#8221; the music group <a href="media/fae5fd9c.ccietal.pdf" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/ccietal.pdf">wrote (pdf)</a>.  </p>
<p>&#8220;It could effectively eliminate the &#8216;only practical alternative&#8217; for many copyright owners to protect their copyrights [&#8230;] and insulate the largest and most egregious copyright-infringement businesses from vicarious infringement claims.&#8221; </p>
<p>Not everyone agrees with this doom and gloom scenario though. In fact, many prominent tech industry groups including the Internet Infrastructure Coalition, Internet Association, Computer &#038; Communications Industry Association, and the Consumer Technology Association sided with the Usenet provider.</p>
<p>Representing high profile members such as Google, Facebook and Microsoft, they urged the Court of Appeals in a <a href="media/fae5fd9c.ccietal.pdf" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/ccietal.pdf">joint brief (pdf)</a> to keep the decision intact. </p>
<p>&#8220;Amici MPAA and RIAA now join &#8216;serial litigant&#8217; Perfect 10 in asking this Court to rehear the case in order to discard this requirement. Doing so would have little effect on cases brought against pirates, but would severely and unnecessarily threaten innovation and investment in lawful online services and connected devices,&#8221; the groups warned.</p>
<p>The above is just a brief glimpse of the dozens of pages of paperwork the various parties submitted, showing that this case could have a major impact. </p>
<p>After carefully reviewing the various positions, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals <a href="media/62b3288c.norehearing.pdf" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/norehearing.pdf">decided (pdf)</a> not to grant a rehearing. This means that the verdict will stand as it is, which is bad news for Perfect 10, the RIAA and the MPAA. </p>
<p>Dr. Norman Zada, president of Perfect 10, is indeed disappointed with the outcome, noting that it destroyed his company and threatens other rightsholders.</p>
<p>“Unfortunately, the Ninth Circuit effectively immunized those who illegally copy, distribute, and sell access to pirated movies, songs, images, software, magazines, and other copyrighted works, as long as they use a computer to automate that process,” Zada said.  </p>
<p>&#8220;The ruling is very bad news for this nation’s creative industries, who need to be paid for the use of their works. Prior to this case, no court had ever allowed a defendant to make untold millions by selling access to content they did not own.&#8221;</p>
<p>The only move left for Perfect 10 is the Supreme Court, but there are no guarantees that it will hear this case.</p>
<p>Giganews, meanwhile, will continue to offer its Usenet services with the outlook of having a few extra millions in the bank soon. That is, if Perfect 10 can pay the full amount before it goes bankrupt.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=138839
title: YouTube Keeps People From Pirate Sites, Study Shows
uri: YouTube-Keeps-People-From-Pirate-Sites-Study-Shows
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/VrXMGVps32U/
content:
<p><img src="media/0052363b.youtubehappy.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/youtubehappy.png" alt="" width="230" height="158" class="alignright size-full wp-image-130150">The music industry has witnessed some dramatic changes over the past decade and a half. </p>
<p>With the rise of digital, people’s music consumption habits evolved dramatically, followed by more change when subscription streaming services came along.</p>
<p>Another popular way for people to enjoy music noawdays is via YouTube. The video streaming platform offers free access to millions of songs, which are often uploaded by artists or the labels themselves.</p>
<p>Still, YouTube is getting little praise from the major labels. Instead, music insiders often characterize the video platform as a DMCA-protected piracy <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/riaa-says-youtube-is-running-a-dmca-protection-racket-160412/">racketeer</a>, that exploits legal loopholes to profit from artists&#8217; hard work.</p>
<p>YouTube is generating healthy profits at a minimal cost and drives people away from legal platforms, the argument goes.</p>
<p>In an attempt to change this perception, YouTube has commissioned a study from the research outfit <a href="http://www.rbbecon.com/">RBB Economics</a> to see how the service impacts the music industry. The first results, published today, are a positive start.</p>
<p>The study examined exclusive YouTube data and a survey of 1,500 users across Germany, France, Italy and the U.K, asking them about their consumption habits. In particular, they were asked if YouTube keeps them away from paid music alternatives.</p>
<p>According to YouTube, which just unveiled the results, the data paints a different picture.</p>
<p>&#8220;The study finds that this is not the case. In fact, if YouTube didn’t exist, 85% of time spent on YouTube would move to lower value channels, and would result in a significant increase in piracy,&#8221; YouTube&#8217;s Simon Morrison writes.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/2b52af62.youtubecannib-e1494489682325.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/youtubecannib-e1494489682325.png" alt="" width="600" height="444" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-138848"></center></p>
<p>If YouTube disappeared overnight, roughly half of all the time spent there on music would be &#8220;lost.&#8221; Furthermore, a significant portion of YouTube users would switch to using pirate sites and services instead.</p>
<p>&#8220;The results suggest that if YouTube were no longer able to offer music, time spent listening to pirated content would increase by +29%. This is consistent with YouTube being a substitute for pirated content,&#8221; RBB Economics writes.</p>
<p>In addition, the researchers also found that blocking music on YouTube doesn&#8217;t lead to an increase in streaming on other platforms, such as Spotify. </p>
<p>While YouTube doesn&#8217;t highlight it, the report also finds that some people would switch to &#8220;higher value&#8221; (e.g. paid) services if YouTube weren&#8217;t available. This amounts to roughly 15% of the total.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/41d66bb2.youstatsd.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/youstatsd.png" alt="" width="620" height="217" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-138852"></center></p>
<p>In other words, if the music industry is willing to pass on the $1 billion YouTube currently pays out and accept a hefty increase in piracy, there would be a boost in revenue through other channels. Whether that&#8217;s worth it is up for debate of course.</p>
<p>YouTube believes that the results are pretty convincing though. They rely on RBB Economic&#8217;s conclusion that there no evidence of &#8220;significant cannibalization&#8221; and believe that their service has a positive impact overall.</p>
<p>&#8220;The cumulative effect of these findings is that YouTube has a market expansion effect, not a cannibalizing one,&#8221; YouTube writes.</p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<p><em>The full results are available <a href="media/42a7588b.lue-of-YouTube-to-the-music-industry-Paper-I-Cannibalization.pdf" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/Value-of-YouTube-to-the-music-industry-Paper-I-Cannibalization.pdf">here (pdf)</a>, courtesy of RBB Economics. YouTube announced that more of these reports will follow in the near future.</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=138832
title: Kim Dotcom Says Family Trust Could Sue Mega Investor
uri: Kim-Dotcom-Says-Family-Trust-Could-Sue-Mega-Investor
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/m8ZiaIrF6Pk/
content:
<p><a href="media/57d13949.dotcom-laptop.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/dotcom-laptop.jpg"><img src="media/5b2669f1.dotcom-laptop.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dotcom-laptop.jpg" alt="" width="233" height="170" class="alignright size-full wp-image-76556"></a>One year after the raid on Megaupload and his sprawling mansion, Kim Dotcom fought back in grand fashion by <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/dotcoms-mega-launches-to-unprecedented-demand-130120/">launching</a> new file-hosting site Mega.</p>
<p>It was a roaring success, signing up hundreds of thousands of users in the first few hours alone. Mega, it seemed, might soon be kicking at heels of the unprecedented traction of Megaupload.</p>
<p>While Mega continued to grow, in July 2015 Dotcom indicated that his previously warm connections with the site may have soured.</p>
<p>“I’m not involved in Mega anymore. Neither in a managing nor in a shareholder capacity,&#8221; he <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/kim-dotcom-mega-trade-barbs-over-hostile-takeover-claims-150731/">said</a>.</p>
<p>Dotcom went on to claim that a then-unnamed Chinese investor (wanted in China for fraud) had used straw-men and businesses to accumulate more and more Mega shares, shares that were later seized as part of an investigation by the New Zealand government.</p>
<p>Mega bosses angrily denied that there had been any hostile takeover, noting that &#8220;those shareholders&#8221; who had decided not to subscribe to recent issues had &#8220;&#8230;been diluted accordingly. That has been their choice.”</p>
<p>But a year later and the war of words between Dotcom and Mega was still simmering, with the Chinese investor now being openly named as Bill Liu.</p>
<p>A notorious high-roller who allegedly gambled $293m at New Zealand&#8217;s SkyCity casino, Liu was soon being described by Dotcom as China&#8217;s &#8220;fifth most-wanted criminal&#8221; due to a huge investigation into the businessman&#8217;s dealings taking place back home.</p>
<p>Mega saw things a little differently, however.</p>
<p>“Mr Liu has a shareholding interest but has no management or board position so he certainly doesn’t control Mega,” the company insisted at the time.</p>
<p>Dotcom <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/kim-dotcom-and-mega-ratchet-up-war-of-words-160425/">disagreed strongly</a> with that assertion and this week, more than a year later, the topic has raised its head yet again. </p>
<p>&#8220;In a nutshell, Bill Liu has taken control of Mega by using straw men to buy shares for him, ultimately giving him the majority on the board,&#8221; Dotcom informs TF.</p>
<p>In common with the raid on Megaupload, the Mega/Liu backstory is like something out of a Hollywood movie.</p>
<p>This week the NZ Herald published an amazing report <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&#038;objectid=11837117">detailing</a> Liu&#8217;s life since he first entered New Zealand in 2001. A section explains how he first got involved with Mega.</p>
<p>Tony Lentino, who was the founder of domain name registrar Instra, was also Mega&#8217;s first CEO. It&#8217;s reported that he later fell out with Dotcom and wanted to sell his shares in the company.</p>
<p>Bill Liu wanted to invest so Lentino went to meet him at his penthouse apartment on the 35th floor of the Metropolis tower in central Auckland.</p>
<p>Lentino later told police that Liu opened a bottle of Penfolds Grange wine during the meeting &#8211; no joke at $800 per bottle. That developed into a discussion about Liu buying Lentino&#8217;s stake in Mega and a somewhat interesting trip back home for Lentino.</p>
<p>&#8220;You want one of my cars to take home?&#8221; Liu allegedly asked Lentino.</p>
<p>The basement contained a Porsche, a Bentley and a Rolls-Royce &#8211; and Lentino was invited to take his pick. He took the NZ$400,000 Rolls as part of the NZ$4.2 million share in Mega he transferred to Liu. </p>
<p>Well, not quite to Liu, directly at least.</p>
<p>&#8220;When it came time to sign the deal, the shares were to be split into two parcels: one in the name of Zhao Wu Shen, a close friend of [Liu], and a trust company,&#8221; NZ Herald reports.</p>
<p>&#8220;It was the third transaction where Yan had been quietly buying into Mega &#8211; nothing was in his name, but he now controlled 18.8 per cent.&#8221;</p>
<p>It is not clear how much Liu currently owns but Lentino later told police (who believed that Liu was hiding his assets) that the Chinese businessman was the &#8220;invisible CEO&#8221; of Mega.</p>
<p>Speaking with TF this week, Dotcom says that Liu achieved his status by holding Mega back.</p>
<p>&#8220;Liu used his power to prevent Mega from monetizing its traffic via advertising sales or premium account sales and by doing so he created an artificial situation in which Mega had to raise more money to survive,&#8221; Dotcom says.</p>
<p>&#8220;He then pumped double-digit millions of dollars into the business via his straw men in order to dilute all other shareholders to almost zero.&#8221;</p>
<p>Dotcom says that Mega could&#8217;ve been &#8220;instantly profitable, &#8221; but instead Liu intentionally forced the company into a loss-making situation, safe in the knowledge he could &#8220;turn on profitability at the push of a button.&#8221;</p>
<p>Dotcom says Liu chose not to do that until he directly or indirectly owned &#8220;almost all&#8221; of the shares in Mega. That, he says, came at the expense of his family, who had invested in Mega.</p>
<p>&#8220;The family trust that was setup for the benefit of my children owned the majority of Mega until Bill Liu entered the stage with his unlawful actions to take control of the company,&#8221; Dotcom says.</p>
<p>&#8220;He ran it at a loss when it could have been profitable, and then diluted other shareholders.&#8221;</p>
<p>According to Dotcom, the people behind his family trust are now considering their options, including legal action against Liu and others. </p>
<p>&#8220;The trustees of the family trust are now considering legal action against all parties involved in this dilution scam in light of the new information that has become public today from other court proceedings against Bill Liu,&#8221; Dotcom concludes.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s difficult to find a more colorful character than Dotcom, but Bill Liu certainly gives Dotcom a run for his money. His story can be found <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&#038;objectid=11837117">here</a>, it&#8217;s almost unbelievable.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=138915
title: Hold ISPs Responsible For Piracy After Brexit, Music Biz Says
uri: Hold-ISPs-Responsible-For-Piracy-After-Brexit-Music-Biz-Says
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/OzfKm06DM70/
content:
<p><a href="media/9985408e.ukmusic.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/ukmusic.jpg"><img src="media/9985408e.ukmusic.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/ukmusic.jpg" alt="" width="187" height="163" class="alignright size-full wp-image-16027"></a><a href="http://www.ukmusic.org/">UK Music</a> is an umbrella organization representing music interests in the UK, from artists and composers, through to studios, recording labels and collecting societies.</p>
<p>The group counts many influential bodies as members, including the BPI, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/uk-police-and-prs-shutdown-karaoke-torrent-site-150313/">PRS for Music</a>, and licensing outfit PPL. No surprise then that it has a keen anti-piracy agenda, much in tune with its member groups.</p>
<p>Yesterday, UK Music published its 2017 manifesto, covering a wide range of topics from regional development, skills and education, to finance and investment. Needless to say, anti-piracy measures feature prominently, with the group urging vigilance during the Brexit process to ensure music gets a good deal.</p>
<p>&#8220;Copyright and its enforcement should be a key part of the trade negotiations, ensuring that our trading partners protect not only their respective creative industries but also the interests of the UK music industry,&#8221; the group says.</p>
<p>&#8220;Maintaining and strengthening the copyright framework is of great importance to the music industry during the Brexit negotiations and beyond.&#8221;</p>
<p>When the UK leaves the EU mid-2019, the government proposes to convert all EU law into UK law. According to David Davis, the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, the so-called Great Repeal Bill will provide &#8220;clarity and certainty&#8221; for businesses and citizens alike.</p>
<p>However, the Bill will also grant power for MPs to change these laws once the UK has left the EU. For UK Music, this should be a time for stability for the music business.</p>
<p>&#8220;Withdrawal from the EU does not require substantial changes to the UK copyright framework. This continuity is critical to ensuring confidence amongst music businesses,&#8221; the group says.</p>
<p>&#8220;There is no evidence of the need for new exceptions to copyright. If this is not accepted by the Government then it would only serve to take away rights and undermine the potential for growth.&#8221;</p>
<p>But while stressing the importance of post-Brexit stability for the music industry, UK Music sees no problem with changing the law to impose additional responsibilities on others.</p>
<p>&#8220;There were 7.2 billion visits to copyright-infringing stream-ripping websites in 2016, representing a 60% increase in the previous year. Withdrawal from the EU provides an opportunity for the UK to strengthen the enforcement of copyright,&#8221; the group says.</p>
<p>That toughening-up of the law should be focused on tech companies, UK Music insists.</p>
<p>&#8220;Initiatives should be developed to place responsibility on internet service providers and require them to have a duty of care for copyright protected music,&#8221; the group says.</p>
<p>While UK Music has a clear mandate to look after its own interests, it&#8217;s likely that service providers would also like the opportunity to enjoy both continuity and stability after the Brexit negotiations are complete. Being held responsible for piracy is unlikely to help them reach that goal.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, UK Musicwill require further support from ISPs, if it is to meet another of its manifesto goals. Currently, several of the UK&#8217;s largest providers are cooperating with the industry to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/uk-piracy-warnings-coming-month-heres-works-170111/">send piracy notices</a> to their subscribers. UK Music would like to expand the scheme.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Get It Right From A Genuine Site campaign, designed to promote greater copyright understanding online, is also showing evidence of success. With further support it has the potential to broaden its reach,&#8221; the organization says.</p>
<p>Finally, UK Music says that Brexit will give the UK an opportunity to put forward &#8220;a coherent definition of hyperlinking under copyright law.&#8221;</p>
<p>The group doesn&#8217;t go into specifics, but it could be argued that the recent <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/eu-court-not-for-profit-hyperlinking-usually-not-infringement-160908/">GS Media case</a> handled by the European Court of Justice offers all the clarity the UK needs to transfer the decision into local law.</p>
<p>The full manifesto can be downloaded here <em>(<a href="media/c416458c.UK_Music_-_Manifesto_17.pdf" data-original-source="http://www.ukmusic.org/assets/general/UK_Music_-_Manifesto_17.pdf">pdf</a>)</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=138871
title: BREIN ‘Hunts Down’ Pirate Media Player Vendors
uri: BREIN-Hunts-Down-Pirate-Media-Player-Vendors
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/497DM5ZOoKc/
content:
<p><img src="media/b83bd568.exodus-movies.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/exodus-movies.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="181" class="alignright size-full wp-image-134675">A surge of cheap media players, which often use the open source Kodi software, has made it easy for people to stream video from the Internet directly to their TVs. </p>
<p>In some cases vendors add pirate add-ons to these devices, selling these “fully-loaded” boxes through their own stores or marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay. </p>
<p>Over the past several years, there has been little enforcement effort on this front. However, this changed a few weeks ago, when the European Court of Justice <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/streaming-pirate-video-is-illegal-high-court-judge-says-170319/">ruled</a> that selling devices pre-configured to obtain copyright-infringing content is illegal.</p>
<p>The media players themselves can still be sold, and the Kodi software is legal too, but vendors who ship boxes with pirate add-ons could get a letter from rightsholders. The Dutch anti-piracy outfit BREIN, is particularly active on this front.</p>
<p>The group <a href="https://stichtingbrein.nl/nieuws.php?id=456">states</a> that 84 vendors have already halted their sales in response to the European court ruling. Roughly half of these stopped before the ruling was announced, and 44 followed afterwards.</p>
<p>BREIN says that it contacted 51 sellers after the court order and 37 of these did indeed stop. The group also filed complaints against 11 vendors of which one has halted its sales, with six others stopping voluntarily.</p>
<p>Those who continue to offer &#8220;fully-loaded&#8221; boxes now risk hefty fines, BREIN Director Tim Kuik warns.</p>
<p>&#8220;The use of this type of player is causing major damage to the makers and providers of films, series, and sports broadcasts. The progress and settlements are therefore solid and run to tens of thousands of euros and more,&#8221; Kuik notes.</p>
<p>&#8220;The longer the vendors persist in their offering of illegal media players, the more expensive it becomes for them.&#8221; </p>
<p>In addition to online sellers, BREIN says it&#8217;s also keeping an eye on offline sales via markets and brick and mortar stores.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s not just about webshops and ordinary stores, market traders will also get their turn. Sellers must realize that this is punishable as a crime. BREIN will ensure that this kind of crime does not pay.&#8221;</p>
<p>While there&#8217;s little doubt that BREIN&#8217;s efforts and threats have an effect, it appears that there are still plenty of vendors who continue to <a href="https://www.google.com/#q=fully+loaded+kodi+buy">offer &#8220;fully loaded&#8221; boxes</a>. So the &#8216;hunt&#8217; is likely to continue for a while.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/9f26bdcb.fully-loaded-e1494584330194.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/fully-loaded-e1494584330194.png" alt="" width="600" height="396" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-138956"></center></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=138830
title: Judge Threatens to Bar ‘Copyright Troll’ Cases Over Lacking IP-location Evidence
uri: Judge-Threatens-to-Bar-Copyright-Troll-Cases-Over-Lacking-IP-loc
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/1xcJcAaW8D8/
content:
<p><img src="media/4efb5d75.ipaddress-ip-address.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ipaddress-ip-address.png" alt="" width="250" height="158" class="alignright size-full wp-image-128649">While relatively underreported, many U.S. district courts are still swamped with lawsuits against alleged film pirates.</p>
<p>The copyright holders who initiate these cases generally rely on an IP address as evidence. This information is collected from BitTorrent swarms and linked to a geographical location using geolocation tools.</p>
<p>With this information in hand, they then ask the courts to grant a subpoena, directing Internet providers to hand over the personal details of the associated account holders.</p>
<p>Malibu Media, the Los Angeles-based company behind the ‘X-Art’ adult movies, is behind most of these cases. The company has filed thousands of lawsuits in recent years, targeting Internet subscribers whose accounts were allegedly used to share Malibu’s films via BitTorrent.</p>
<p>Increasingly, judges around the country have grown wary of these litigation efforts. This includes US Federal Judge William Alsup, who&#8217;s tasked with handling all such cases in the Northern District of California.</p>
<p>Responding to a recent request, Judge Alsup highlights the fact that Malibu filed a &#8220;monsoon&#8221; of hundreds of lawsuits over the past 18 months, but later dismissed many of them after without specifying a reason.</p>
<p>The judge is skeptical about the motivation for these dismissals. In particular, because courts have previously highlighted that Maxmind&#8217;s geolocation tools, which are cited in the complaints, may not be entirely accurate. This could mean that the cases have been filed in the wrong court. </p>
<p>&#8220;Malibu Media’s voluntary dismissal without prejudice of groups of its cases is not a new pattern. A sizable portion of the cases from previous waves were terminated in the same way,&#8221; Judge Alsup <a href="media/c144e483.347986502-CAND-16-Cv-05975-WHA-Document-22.pdf" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/347986502-CAND-16-Cv-05975-WHA-Document-22.pdf">writes (pdf)</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;The practice has just become more frequent, and it follows skepticism by the undersigned judge and others around the country about the accuracy of the Maxmind database,&#8221; he adds. </p>
<p>This is not the first time that geolocation tools have been called into doubt and to move the accuracy claims beyond Maxmind&#8217;s own &#8220;hearsay,&#8221; Judge Alsup now demands extra evidence. </p>
<p>In his order he denies the request to continue a case management conference in one of their cases. Instead, he will use that hearing to address the geolocation issues. In addition, all Malibu cases in the district may be barred if the accuracy of these tools isn&#8217;t &#8220;fully vetted.&#8221; </p>
<p>&#8220;That request is DENIED. Instead, Malibu Media is hereby ordered to SHOW CAUSE at that hearing, why the Court should not bar further Malibu Media cases in this district until the accuracy of the geolocation technology is fully vetted,&#8221; the order reads. </p>
<p>&#8220;To be clear, this order applies even if Malibu Media voluntarily dismisses this action,&#8221; Judge Alsup adds.</p>
<p><center><strong>Denied</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/22e06e16.maligeo.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/maligeo.png" alt="" width="600" height="426" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-138836"></center></p>
<p>SJD, who follows the developments closely and <a href="https://fightcopyrighttrolls.com/2017/05/10/judge-alsup-threatens-to-bar-further-malibu-media-cases-in-his-district-until-the-accuracy-of-the-geolocation-technology-is-fully-vetted/">first reported</a> on the order, suspects that the IP-address &#8216;error rate&#8217; may in fact be higher than most people believe. She therefore recommends defense lawyer to depose ISP employees to get to the bottom of the issue.  </p>
<p>&#8220;If you are a defense attorney who litigates one of the BitTorrent infringement cases, I suggest deposing a Comcast employee tasked with subpoena processing. I suspect that the error rate is much higher than trolls want everyone to believe, and such testimony has a potential to become a heavy weapon in every troll victim’s arsenal,&#8221; SJD says.</p>
<p>In any case, it&#8217;s no secret that geolocation databases are far from perfect. Most are not updated instantly, which means that the information could be outdated, and other entries are plainly inaccurate.</p>
<p>This is something the residents of a Kansas farm know all too well, as their house is the default location of <a href="http://fusion.net/story/287592/internet-mapping-glitch-kansas-farm/">600 million IP-addresses</a>, which causes them quite a bit of trouble.</p>
<p>It will be interesting to see if Malibu will make any efforts to properly &#8220;vet&#8221; Maxmind&#8217;s database. It&#8217;s clear, however, that Judge Alsup will not let the company use his court before fully backing up their claims.</p>
<p>To be continued. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=138784
title: ISP Bombarded With 82,000+ Demands to Reveal Alleged Pirates
uri: ISP-Bombarded-With-82-000-Demands-to-Reveal-Alleged-Pirates
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/_xOlQN7SQY4/
content:
<p><a href="media/67ffec03.trollsign.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/trollsign.jpg"><img src="media/17a592c8.trollsign.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/trollsign.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="167" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108977"></a>It was once a region where people could share files without fear of reprisal, but over the years Scandinavia has become a hotbed of &#8216;pirate&#8217; prosecutions.</p>
<p>Sweden, in particular, has seen many sites shut down and their operators sentenced, notably those behind The Pirate Bay but also more recent cases such as those against <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/four-men-jailed-running-pirate-movie-sites-170510/">DreamFilm</a> and <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/swefilmer-piracy-trial-ends-operators-face-years-in-jail-170428/">Swefilmer</a>.</p>
<p>To this backdrop, members of the public have continued to share files, albeit in decreasing numbers. However, at the same time copyright trolls have hit countries like Sweden, Finland, and Denmark, hoping to scare alleged file-sharers into cash settlements.</p>
<p>This week regional ISP Telia revealed that the activity has already reached epidemic proportions.</p>
<p>Under the EU IPR Enforcement Directive (IPRED), Internet service providers are required to hand over the personal details of suspected pirates to copyright holders, if local courts deem that appropriate. Telia says it is now being bombarded with such demands.</p>
<p>&#8220;Telia must adhere to court decisions. At the same time we have a commitment to respect the privacy of our customers and therefore to be transparent,&#8221; the company says.</p>
<p>&#8220;While in previous years Telia has normally received less than ten such [disclosure] requests per market, per year, lately the number of requests has increased significantly.&#8221;</p>
<p>The scale is huge. The company reports that in Sweden during the past year alone, it has been ordered to hand over the identities of subscribers behind more than 45,000 IP addresses.</p>
<p>In Finland during the same period, court orders covered almost 37,000 IP addresses. Four court orders in Denmark currently require the surrendering of data on &#8220;hundreds&#8221; of customers.</p>
<p>Telia says that a Danish law firm known as Njord Law is behind many of <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/swedish-internet-users-face-new-wave-of-piracy-cash-demands-170225/">the demands</a>. The company is connected to international copyright trolls operating out of the United States, United Kingdom, and elsewhere.</p>
<p>&#8220;A Danish law firm (NJORD Law firm), representing the London-based copyright holder Copyright Management Services Ltd, was recently (2017-01-31) granted a court order forcing Telia Sweden to disclose to the law firm the subscriber identities behind 25,000 IP-addresses,&#8221; the company notes. </p>
<p>Copyright Management Services Ltd was incorporated in the UK during  October 2014. Its sole director is Patrick Achache, who also operates German-based BitTorrent tracking company MaverickEye. Both are part of the notorious international trolling operation Guardaley.</p>
<p>Copyright Management Services, which is based at the same London address as fellow UK copyright-trolling partner Hatton and Berkeley, filed accounts in June 2016 claiming to be a dormant company. Other than that, it has never filed any financial information.</p>
<p>Copyright Management Services will be legally required to publish more detailed accounts next time around, since the company is now clearly trading, but its role in this operation is far from clear. For its part, Telia hopes the court has done the necessary checking when handing information over to partner firm, Njord Law.</p>
<p>&#8220;Telia assumes that the courts perform adequate assessments of the evidence provided by the above law firm, and also that the courts conduct a sufficient assessment of proportionality between copyright and privacy,&#8221; the company says.</p>
<p>&#8220;Telia does not know what the above law firm intends to do with the large amount of customer data which they are now collecting.&#8221;</p>
<p>While that statement from Telia is arguably correct, it doesn&#8217;t take a genius to work out where this is going. Every time that these companies can match an IP address to an account holder, they will receive a letter in the mail demanding a cash settlement. Anything that substantially deviates from this outcome would be a very surprising development indeed.</p>
<p>In the meantime, Jon Karlung, the outspoken boss of ISP Bahnhof, has pointed out that if Telia didn&#8217;t store customer IP addresses in the first place, it wouldn&#8217;t have anything to hand out to copyright trolls.</p>
<p>&#8220;Bahnhof does not store this data &#8211; and we can&#8217;t give out something we do not have. The same logic should apply to Telia,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>Bahnhof says it stores customer data including IP addresses for 24 hours, just long enough to troubleshoot technical issues but nowhere near long enough to be useful to trolls.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=138932
title: Kodi Addon Navi-X Bites The Dust After 10 Years
uri: Kodi-Addon-Navi-X-Bites-The-Dust-After-10-Years
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/tlbFBG3CUmc/
content:
<p><a href="media/d8dd240d.navi-x.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/navi-x.jpg"><img src="media/e3d5faec.navi-x.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/navi-x.jpg" alt="" width="256" height="256" class="alignright size-full wp-image-138934"></a>One of the main questions asked by new users of the Kodi media player is what addons should be installed to get the best experience right from the start.</p>
<p>Over the years, hit add-ons such as Exodus, Phoenix, SALTS and SportsDevil have all been top of the list but due to its wide range of content, one in particular has enjoyed broad appeal.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.tvaddons.ag/kodi-addons/show/script.navi-x/">Navi-X</a> began life ten years ago in 2007. Developed by Netherlands-based coder &#8216;Rodejo&#8217;, it debuted on XBMC (Kodi&#8217;s previous name) on the original XBoX.</p>
<p>&#8220;Navi-X originally only played back media items of video and audio content and was eventually expanded to included many other media types like text, RSS, live streams and podcasts,&#8221; the team at TV Addons explain.</p>
<p>Over the years, however, things changed dramatically. Due to the way Navi-X works, the addon can import playlists from any number of sources, and they have invariably been dominated by copyrighted content, from movies and TV shows through to live sports.</p>
<p>This earned the addon a massive following, estimated by TV Addons &#8211; the site that maintained the software &#8211; as numbering in the hundreds of thousands. Soon, however, Navi-X will be no more.</p>
<p>&#8220;Every good thing must come to an end. After ten years of successful operation, Navi-X is sadly being discontinued. Navi-X was first released in April 2007, and is the oldest Kodi addon of its kind,&#8221; TV Addons explain.</p>
<p>&#8220;There are a few reasons why we made the decision to close Navi-X, and hope that the hundreds of thousands of people who still used Navi-X daily will understand why it was best to discontinue Navi-X while it was still on top.&#8221;</p>
<p>The team says that the main reason for discontinuing the addon and its underlying service is the current legal climate. Hosting Navi-X playlists is something that TV Addons no longer feels comfortable with &#8220;due to the potential liability that comes with it.&#8221;</p>
<p>Also, the team says that Navi-X was slowly being overrun by people trying to make a profit from the service. Playlists were being filled with spam, often advertising <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/iptv-mass-piracy-thats-flying-largely-under-the-radar-161127/">premium illegal IPTV services</a>, which TV Addons strongly opposes.</p>
<p>Mislabeling of adult content was also causing issues, and despite TV Addons&#8217; best efforts to get rid of the offending content, they were fighting a losing battle. </p>
<p>&#8220;We tried to moderate the database, but there was just too much content, no one had the time to watch thousands of videos to remove ads and distasteful content,&#8221; the team <a href="https://www.tvaddons.ag/navix-kodi-farewell/">explains</a>.</p>
<p>Unlike other addons that have come under legal pressure, the shutdown of Navi-X is entirely voluntary. TV Addons extends thanks to developers rodejo16 and turner3d, plus Blazetamer and crzen from more recent times.</p>
<p>The repository also thanks those who took the time to create the playlists upon which Navi-X relied. It is this that shines a light at the end of the tunnel for those wondering how to fill the void left by the addon.</p>
<p>&#8220;We’d also like to recognize all the dedicated playlisters, who we invite to get in touch with us if they are interested in releasing their own addons sometime in the near future,&#8221; TV Addons concludes.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=138917
title: Texas Court Orders Temporary ‘Pre-Piracy’ Shutdown of Sports Streaming Sites
uri: Texas-Court-Orders-Temporary-Pre-Piracy-Shutdown-of-Sports-Stre
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/QSFSCYTYywI/
content:
<p><img src="media/06ddf2de.cric.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cric.png" alt="" width="223" height="124" class="alignright size-full wp-image-138937">Copyright holders often complain that they have virtually no means to target pirate sites, especially those run from overseas.</p>
<p>Interestingly, however, in recent months it has become apparent that the US Federal Court system can be used as a prime enforcement tool to shut down pirate domain names.</p>
<p>This is also the path Indian media outfit Times Content Limited (TCL) decided to go down. The company operates the cricket channel Willow TV and owns the US broadcasting rights to the Indian Premier League cricket tournament, which is currently ongoing. </p>
<p>Two weeks ago the company sued several sports streaming sites including smartcric.com and crickethdlive.com. These sites allow users to watch cricket games for free over the Internet, without permission. </p>
<p>To stop this from taking place, the Indian company requested a broad injunction, which the court granted last week. </p>
<p>The preliminary injunction (<a href="media/9cdc80da.Dkt.10-signed-Order-for-Preliminary-Injunction.pdf" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/Dkt.10-signed-Order-for-Preliminary-Injunction.pdf">pdf</a>) orders various third party providers to stop working with these sites effective immediately to prevent future copyright infringements. This also applies to any new domain names or websites the operators may launch. </p>
<p>&#8220;&#8230;all service providers whose services will enable or facilitate Defendants’ anticipated infringement are ordered to suspend all services with respect to smartcric.com, smartcric.eu, crickethdlive.com, and crickethdlive.pw, or any other website or domain that is redirected from the Websites and continues to distribute and publicly perform the 2017 IPL,&#8221; it reads.</p>
<p>Domain registries and registrars are not the only parties that are compelled to comply. It also lists a broad range of intermediaries including hosting companies, CDN services, advertising outfits, and streaming providers.</p>
<p>Where this order clearly differs from similar injunctions in the US is that it specifically targets &#8220;anticipated infringement.&#8221; Or put differently, it aims to prevent piracy before it takes place.</p>
<p><center><strong>From the injunction</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/0b102b36.broadinjunc.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/broadinjunc.png" alt="" width="600" height="427" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-138945"></center></p>
<p>What stands out further is that the injunction is temporary in nature. It only applies while the Cricket tournament is active. This ends on May 22, after which the parties involved are free to lift or reverse the actions they took.</p>
<p>&#8220;For the avoidance of doubt, the Court’s intent is to ensure that Defendants’ Websites be rendered offline, inaccessible and incapable of receiving or displaying audio or video signals between the date of this order and 6:00 am. CDT on May 22, 2017,&#8221; the injunction reads.</p>
<p>Over the past few days several of the seized domain names have been placed in a Godaddy holding account belonging to the law firm that represents TCL. And per court order, they will stay there until said date.</p>
<p>That doesn&#8217;t mean, however, that the case is over after the tournament ends. In the complaint, TCL also requests damages and other punitive measures, which is something that has to be decided over at a later date. </p>
<p>TorrentFreak spoke to the operator of the streaming sites in question, who says that the lawsuit took him by surprise. After losing his initial domain names he registered several new ones, but these were swiftly taken down as well.</p>
<p>&#8220;I moved Smartcric.com to Smartcric.be and Crickethdlive.com to Crickethdlive.pw. However, both domains were suspended as well within a day. Later, I moved Crickethdlive content to Crickethdlive.to however that was suspended yesterday as well,&#8221; the operator says. </p>
<p>&#8220;It was shocking to see that non-US registries were following the order issued by a US court. It was unfair and unjust to comply with orders of a non-competent court by these registries.&#8221; </p>
<p>Interestingly, one of the domain names was registered through the domain name service Njalla, which Pirate Bay co-founder Peter Sunde <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-founder-launches-anonymous-domain-registration-service-170419/">recently launched</a>. Sunde stresses that the domain was seized beyond their control and that no personal information was shared.</p>
<p>&#8220;We’re looking into the case at the moment, but the court took the domain and sent it to a legal firm. We have no way of going above the court and ICANN on this. However, we have of course not sent any information about the customer to anyone,&#8221; Sunde says.</p>
<p>The streaming site operator still doubts that he will get his domain names back after the injunction expires. Instead, he&#8217;s decided to focus his effort on finding a domain name that falls outside of the scope of the US courts. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=138825
title: YouTube Content ID Critic Doesn’t Appreciate the Irony
uri: YouTube-Content-ID-Critic-Doesn-t-Appreciate-the-Irony
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/fSbpxglhVI8/
content:
<p><a href="media/c0ea239b.youtubeface.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/youtubeface.jpg"><img src="media/a5365da2.youtubeface.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/youtubeface.jpg" alt="" width="222" height="158" class="alignright size-full wp-image-107705"></a>YouTube is not only one of the best sites on the Internet today but is arguably the best multimedia platform ever created. There can be barely a person alive who has heard of the Internet but not of YouTube. The site is that important.</p>
<p>But today, YouTube has problems. Despite generating hundreds of millions each year for the music industry, the major labels argue that the company fails to do enough about piracy while <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/dmca-helps-youtube-avoid-up-to-1bn-in-royalties-per-year-study-claims-170330/">exploiting</a> the safe harbor provisions of the DMCA.</p>
<p>YouTube sees things quite differently. The company says that its Content ID recognition system, which was developed at huge cost, allows creators to block or monetize otherwise pirated content uploaded to the platform by users.</p>
<p>Like every anti-piracy system ever created, Content ID is fallible. It can be circumvented using various techniques and tricks found on any number of sites and indeed, on YouTube itself. This week, that fact attracted the attention of the Music Tech Policy <a href="https://musictechpolicy.com">blog</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;What’s Wrong With Content ID? Start with Dozens of YouTube Videos on How to Defeat It,&#8221; <a href="https://musictechpolicy.com/2017/05/10/whats-wrong-with-content-id-start-with-dozens-of-youtube-videos-on-how-to-defeat-it/">wrote</a> editor, industry veteran, and outspoken Google critic, Chris Castle.</p>
<p>Castle begins by talking a little about one of the techniques often used by people trying to evade the clutches of Content ID &#8211; changing the tempo of an uploaded music track. The idea is that by altering the speed, the fingerprint of the uploaded track is changed enough for YouTube not to recognize it as an infringing copy.</p>
<p>No doubt it&#8217;s a popular trick, but at this point the conspiracy theories begin.</p>
<p>YouTube has a feature which allows people to speed up or slow down videos, which can be handy for speed &#8216;reading&#8217; an audio book, for example, or slowing down a tutorial so someone inexperienced in the task can keep up.</p>
<p>However, discounting fans of pitch-shifted vocals, Castle says it&#8217;s actually there for Google to make money from pirates. Slowed-down, Content ID-evading tracks can be sped back up to enjoy at normal speeds, he says.</p>
<p>&#8220;Why is it there?  To cater to fans of Alvin and the Chipmunks? No.  It’s there so YouTube can monetize illegal copies of music and movies,&#8221; he says.</p>
<p>&#8220;If Google were serious about piracy, they’d dump the speed control on YouTube.  They’d also police the &#8216;how to&#8217; defeat Content ID videos on YouTube.&#8221;</p>
<p>While Castle is perfectly entitled to his opinion (and it&#8217;s one that is popular in the industry) he seems oblivious to the fact that his own article not only reveals how Content ID can be gamed, but also goes on to demand that YouTube censors discussion on the same topic.</p>
<p>If that doesn&#8217;t already feel like a case of &#8220;don&#8217;t do as I do, do as I tell you&#8221;, then perhaps the next bit will.</p>
<p>Amping the irony up to 11, Castle then embeds one of the Content ID <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxgnGGm8Na4">circumvention videos</a> from YouTube <a href="https://musictechpolicy.com/2017/05/10/whats-wrong-with-content-id-start-with-dozens-of-youtube-videos-on-how-to-defeat-it/">into his own article</a>.</p>
<p><center><b>How the video appears in the article</b><a href="media/6152b716.contentid-ss.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/contentid-ss.png"><img src="media/a8fad034.contentid-ss.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/contentid-ss.png" alt="" width="749" height="517" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-138875"></a></center></p>
<p>Of course, some people will quite rightly argue that in order to properly report on the problem, someone writing on this topic might need to show an example of an &#8216;offending&#8217; video on YouTube. We wouldn&#8217;t disagree with that assertion at all, 100% in agreement.</p>
<p>There are, however, plenty of problems. For a start, discussing how Content ID can be bypassed isn&#8217;t illegal, so if any uploaded videos covering that topic are all the creators&#8217; own work, the resulting videos are legal too.</p>
<p>With that in mind, it&#8217;s difficult to see what grounds YouTube would have for taking those videos down. If nothing else, it would be seen as stifling free speech, no matter how disappointing that speech is to the music and movie industries.</p>
<p>Admittedly, inciting people to commit a civil wrong might be a problem in some regions, but in most cases that&#8217;s not what we&#8217;re talking about here, as illustrated by Music Tech Policy&#8217;s willingness to embed the video on its site.</p>
<p>The take-home here is that some material on YouTube is always going to be offensive to some people, we just have to learn how to deal with it and in some cases, make the best of it.</p>
<p>For example, last year I was particularly irritated to find a video on YouTube which detailed how my car could be stolen in seconds using a special device. A link to buy that device was included below the video. Screw YouTube, right? Not really.</p>
<p>With the information presented in the video, I was able to find and buy an aftermarket alarm/immobilizer that defeated that device and others like it.</p>
<p>Admittedly the video (and &#8216;buy&#8217; link) had the potential to recruit other would-be car thieves to the party, but if I hadn&#8217;t have seen it too, my car would still be vulnerable today. The thieves, meanwhile, would still have the ability to steal it. As it stands, it&#8217;s going nowhere, at least by that method.</p>
<p>Ultimately, knowledge is power and it is absolutely pointless to try and suppress it with censorship, people are always one step ahead. We just need to use all available knowledge to our advantage.</p>
<p>So, despite Chris Castle perhaps not appreciating the irony, he was absolutely within his rights to write that article and embed those videos in order to illustrate a point that is not only important to him, but others too. Whether people agree with him or not is moot.</p>
<p>He shouldn&#8217;t be censored, and YouTube shouldn&#8217;t be required to censor people either. The site already provides Content ID to millions of satisfied users and presumably, it&#8217;s in YouTube&#8217;s best interest to have that working as advertised.</p>
<p>That it fails sometimes is no surprise but talking about its weaknesses, on YouTube and sites like Music Tech Policy and indeed here on TF, draws attention to the topic. And only when people are allowed to discuss stuff openly does anything get done.</p>
<p>Censorship is never the answer and only makes matters like these worse.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=138999
title: ExtraTorrent Suffers Extended Downtime
uri: ExtraTorrent-Suffers-Extended-Downtime
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/iZ8nxPGNEbg/
content:
<p><img src="media/7d9eb520.extratorrent-1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/extratorrent-1.png" alt="extratorrent" width="250" height="76" class="alignright size-full wp-image-130488">With millions of daily visitors <a href="http://extratorrent.cc/">ExtraTorrent</a> is the second largest torrent site, trailing only behind The Pirate Bay. </p>
<p>However, for almost a day now visitors have been unable to reach the site. Those who try to access it see a Cloudflare notification instead, suggesting that the site&#8217;s servers are down.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak reached out to the site&#8217;s operator a while ago, but thus far we haven&#8217;t heard back. The site&#8217;s official Facebook page doesn&#8217;t have any updates on the situation either.</p>
<p><center><strong>ExtraTorrent is down</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/d22e1518.extradowncloud-e1494833151195.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/extradowncloud-e1494833151195.png" alt="" width="600" height="399" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-139009"></center></p>
<p>While users may fear the worst, for now the most likely explanation is that the site is down as the result of a technical problem. The site&#8217;s domain names are operating as they should, but there might be an issue with the server.</p>
<p>Although ExtraTorrent is offline, several release groups connected to the site are still operating. The popular TV distribution groups <em>EtHD</em> and <em>ettv</em> continue to release content through other sites, including The Pirate Bay.</p>
<p>ExtraTorrent&#8217;s image hosting site <a href="https://extraimage.net/">ExtraImage </a> is also up and running, as usual. </p>
<p>If we hear more about the current downtime, we will update the article accordingly. For the time being, however, ExtraTorrent users will have to get their torrent fix elsewhere.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139001
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week on BitTorrent – 05/15/17
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-on-BitTorrent-05-15-17
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/olRdLNQDV5c/
content:
<p><img src="media/690b399d.logan-e1492372541347.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/logan-e1492372541347.png" alt="" width="300" height="173" class="alignright size-full wp-image-137955">This week we have three newcomers in our chart.</p>
<p>Logan, which came out as DVDRip last week, is the most downloaded movie.</p>
<p>The data for our weekly download chart is estimated by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only. All the movies in the list are Web-DL/Webrip/HDRip/BDrip/DVDrip unless stated otherwise.</p>
<p><a href="http://TorrentFreak.com/category/dvdrip/feed/"><strong>RSS feed</strong></a> for the weekly movie download chart.</p>
<h5>This week&#8217;s most downloaded movies are:</h5>
<table class="css hover">
<thead>
<tr>
<th width="12%"><strong>Movie Rank</strong></th>
<th width="15%"><strong>Rank <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-pirated-movies-week-bittorrent-050817/">last week</a></strong></th>
<th><strong>Movie name</strong></th>
<th width="18%"><strong>IMDb Rating / Trailer</strong></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tfoot>
<tr>
<td colspan="4">Most downloaded movies via torrents</td>
</tr>
</tfoot>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>1</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3315342/">Logan</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3315342/">8.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DekuSxJgpbY">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1219827/">Ghost in The Shell</a> (Subbed HDRip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1219827/">6.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4VmJcZR0Yg">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3401882/">First Fight</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3401882/">5.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aIzXYo6VCE">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3731562/">Kong: Skull Island</a> (Subbed HDRip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3731562/">7.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44LdLqgOpjo">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2034800/">The Great Wall</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2034800/">6.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avF6GHyyk5c">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1293847/">xXx: Return of Xander Cage</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1293847/">5.3</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEuM4IUFWu8">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(6)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3731562/">Split</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3731562/">7.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44LdLqgOpjo">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(8)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4630562/">The Fate of the Furious</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4630562/">6.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XBmsl7wbIQ">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5052448/">Get Out</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5052448/">7.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzfpyUB60YY">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4481414/">Gifted</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4481414/">7.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI01wBXGHUs">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=136769
title: Law Professor Shows How to Fight Copyright Trolls
uri: Law-Professor-Shows-How-to-Fight-Copyright-Trolls
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/-xoSOHRzL88/
content:
<p><img src="media/17a592c8.trollsign.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/trollsign.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="167" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108977">In recent years, file-sharers around the world have been pressured to pay significant settlement fees, or face legal repercussions.</p>
<p>These so-called “copyright trolling” efforts have been a common occurrence in the United States for more than half a decade, and still are.</p>
<p>While rightsholders should be able to take legitimate piracy claims to court, there are some who resort to dodgy and extortion-like tactics extract money from alleged pirates, including people who are innocent.</p>
<p>This practice has been a thorn in the side of Matthew Sag, a professor at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, and the Associate Director for Intellectual Property at the Institute for Consumer Antitrust Studies.</p>
<p>&#8220;Over the past few years, I have seen one example after another of innocent defendants being victimized by these lawsuits,&#8221; Sag explains to TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>This motivated the professor to take action. One of the problems he signals is that not all defense lawyers are familiar with these cases. They sometimes need dozens of hours to research them, which costs the defendant more than the cash settlement deal offered by the copyright holder.</p>
<p>As a result, paying off the trolls may seem like the most logical and safe option to the accused, even when they are innocent.</p>
<p>&#8220;Put simply, by the time your average lawyer has figured out what&#8217;s wrong with these cases and how to respond she has sunk 50 to 100 hours into a case that probably could&#8217;ve been settled for $2000 or $3000,&#8221; Sag notes. </p>
<p>&#8220;That makes no sense, so people settle cases with no merit. That, in turn, encourages meritless cases. We wanted to level the playing field and reduce the plaintiffs&#8217; informational advantage,&#8221; he adds.</p>
<p>To balance the scales of justice, the professor wrote an article together with Jake Haskell, a recent Loyola University Law School graduate. Titled &#8220;<a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2933200">Defense Against the Dark Arts of Copyright Trolling</a>,&#8221; the paper provides a detailed overview of the various tactics the defense can use.</p>
<p>Not all cases filed by copyright holders can be characterized as &#8220;trolling.&#8221; According to Sag, copyright trolls can be best defined as &#8220;systematic opportunist, want&#8221; and he hopes that defense lawyers can use his article to prevent clear abuses.</p>
<p>Of course, judges play an important role as well, and some could certainly benefit from reading the paper. </p>
<p>&#8220;The federal courts should not be used as vending machines to issue indiscriminate hunting licenses. Judges need to keep a close eye on discovery and tactics used by the plaintiff to prolong proceedings or run up attorney&#8217;s fees,&#8221; Sag tells us.</p>
<p>&#8220;Hopefully, we have given defense lawyers a significant head start on figuring out how to defend these claims. If innocent defendants refused to settle, the plaintiffs would be forced to clean up their act,&#8221; he adds. </p>
<p>The article is a recommended read for everyone with an interest in copyright trolling in general, and is well worth a read for anyone wants to learn more about how these companies operate.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139020
title: Netflix Use of Google DRM Means Rooted Android Devices Are Banned
uri: Netflix-Use-of-Google-DRM-Means-Rooted-Android-Devices-Are-Banned
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/XzNE9ptzw0I/
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="" width="200" height="121" class="alignright size-full wp-image-69714"></a>With more ways to consume multimedia content than ever before, locking down music, movies and TV shows continues to be big business online.</p>
<p>The key way this is achieved is via Digital Rights Management, which is often referred to by the initials DRM. In a nutshell, DRM is achieved via various technologies which dictate where and when digital content can be accessed.</p>
<p>While DRM is popular with providers seeking to exercise control over their content while preventing piracy, DRM is viewed by some consumers as a restrictive practice that only inconveniences genuine customers.</p>
<p>This weekend, further fuel was poured on that fire when Android Police <a href="http://www.androidpolice.com/2017/05/13/netflix-confirms-blocking-rootedunlocked-devices-app-still-working-now/">reported</a> that subscribers to Netflix who access the service via &#8216;rooted&#8217; Android devices can no longer download the official Android app from Google Play.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/57353c9f.netflix-drm.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/netflix-drm.png"><img src="media/688acc29.netflix-drm.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/netflix-drm.png" alt="" width="600" height="334" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-139022"></a></center></p>
<p>The app&#8217;s changelog reports that Netflix&#8217;s V5 software &#8220;only works with devices that are certified by Google and meet all Android requirements&#8221; but what underlies this claim is a desire by Netflix to ensure that subscribers are DRM compliant.</p>
<p>&#8220;With our latest 5.0 release, we now fully rely on the Widevine DRM provided by Google; therefore, many devices that are not Google-certified or have been altered will no longer work with our latest app and those users will no longer see the Netflix app in the Play Store,&#8221; Netflix confirmed.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.widevine.com/wv_drm.html">Widevine</a> is a company owned by Google and its DRM platform claims to be able to &#8220;license, securely distribute and protect playback of content on any consumer device.&#8221;</p>
<p>To meet those claims, Google requires that its partners running Widevine-protected systems live up to its standards by becoming a Certified Widevine Implementation Partner (<a href="http://www.widevine.com/cwip/">CWIP</a>). A part of that requires that software platforms are only allowed to run on approved hardware/software combinations.</p>
<p>It is no surprise that &#8216;rooted&#8217; Android devices fail to meet those requirements. When a user &#8216;roots&#8217; their device they effectively gain administrator rights, which allows them to get into the nuts and bolts of the machine and carry out modifications.</p>
<p><a href="media/086783c2.netflix-review1.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/netflix-review1.png"><img src="media/776c8291.netflix-review1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/netflix-review1.png" alt="" width="250" height="153" class="alignright size-full wp-image-139023"></a>Many users do this to innocently customize how legally purchased hardware performs, including making the Netflix experience better, as illustrated by the Google Play review on the right.</p>
<p>However, it&#8217;s clear that this kind of low-level access also has the potential to make piracy easier, whether that&#8217;s through the defeating of licensing checks or indeed the wholesale extraction of video content.</p>
<p>For this reason, &#8216;rooted&#8217; devices raise red flags, not only for content delivery companies like Netflix and partners Google, but also for certain banking companies whose apps won&#8217;t run on devices with extended administrator capabilities. These companies want a predictable and secure environment in which to offer their services and &#8216;rooted&#8217; platforms do not offer that.</p>
<p>The problem, however, is that for every potentially malicious user, there are many thousands of others who want to have the freedom to run a &#8216;rooted&#8217; device while also being a legal consumer of Netflix. For them, the frustration could even boil over into what DRM was designed to prevent in the first place.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/2324ce00.netflix-kodi.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/netflix-kodi.png"><img src="media/068040f0.netflix-kodi.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/netflix-kodi.png" alt="" width="600" height="374" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-139026"></a></center></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139039
title: Hackers Demand Ransom Over Stolen Copy of ‘Pirates of the Caribbean 5’
uri: Hackers-Demand-Ransom-Over-Stolen-Copy-of-Pirates-of-the-Caribbean
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/o6hsAywkA14/
content:
<p><img src="media/249d9cae.piratesofthec5-e1494916509625.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/piratesofthec5-e1494916509625.png" alt="" width="250" height="130" class="alignright size-full wp-image-139042">During a town hall meeting in New York on Monday, Disney CEO  Bob Iger informed a group of ABC employees that hackers have stolen one of the company&#8217;s movies. </p>
<p>The hackers offered to keep it away from public eyes in exchange for ransom paid in Bitcoin but Disney says it has no intention to pay. </p>
<p>Although Iger did not mention the movie by name during the meeting, Deadline <a href="http://deadline.com/2017/05/pirates-of-the-caribbean-dead-men-tell-no-tales-hackers-ransom-1202094203/">reports</a> that it&#8217;s a copy of &#8216;Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.&#8217;</p>
<p>The fifth movie in the &#8216;<a href="http://www.imdb.com/showtimes/title/tt1790809">Pirates</a>&#8216; franchise starring Johnny Depp, is officially scheduled to appear in theaters next week. Needless to say, a high-quality leak at this point will be seen as a disaster for Disney.</p>
<p>The &#8220;ransom&#8221; demand from the hacker is reminiscent of another prominent entertainment industry leak, where the requested amount of Bitcoin was not paid. </p>
<p>Just a few weeks ago a group calling itself TheDarkOverlord (TDO) <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/hackers-leak-netflixs-orange-is-the-new-black-season-5-premiere-170429/">published</a> the premiere episode of the fifth season of Netflix&#8217;s Orange is The New Black, followed by nine more episodes a few hours later. </p>
<p>Despite Netflix&#8217;s <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/netflix-focuses-piracy-takedown-efforts-on-orange-is-the-new-black-leak-170505/">anti-piracy efforts</a>, the ten leaked episodes of Orange is The New Black remain popular on many torrent indexes and pirate streaming sites. </p>
<p>There is no indication that the previous and threatened leaks are related in any way. TorrentFreak has seen a list of movies and TV-shows TDO said they have in their possession, but the upcoming &#8216;Pirates&#8217; movie isn&#8217;t among them.</p>
<p>The Disney hackers have threatened to release the movie in increments, but the movie studio is hoping that they won&#8217;t go ahead with their claims. </p>
<p>Thus far there haven&#8217;t been any reports of leaked parts of the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean film. Disney, meanwhile, is working with the FBI to track down the people responsible for the hack.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139049
title: Streaming Site Operator Jailed For Three Years After Landmark Trial
uri: Streaming-Site-Operator-Jailed-For-Three-Years-After-Landmark-Trial
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/-S70q_vbsbg/
content:
<p><a href="media/22594a44.swefilmlogo.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/swefilmlogo.png"><img src="media/b4fea55b.swefilmlogo.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/swefilmlogo.png" alt="" width="180" height="111" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108710"></a>Founded more than half a decade ago, Swefilmer grew to become Sweden’s most popular movie and TV show streaming site. It was credited alongside another streaming portal for serving up to 25% of all online video streaming in Sweden.</p>
<p>With this level of prominence, it was only a question of time before authorities stepped in to end the free streaming bonanza. In 2015, that happened when an operator of the site in his early twenties was raided by local police. </p>
<p>This was followed by the arrest of a now 26-year-old Turkish man in Germany, who was accused of receiving donations from users and setting up Swefilmer’s deals with advertisers.</p>
<p>The pair, who had never met in person, appeared at the Varberg District Court in January, together accused of making more than $1.5m from their activities between November 2013 and June 2015.</p>
<p>As the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/swefilmer-piracy-trial-ends-operators-face-years-in-jail-170428/">trial progressed</a>, it was clear that the outcome was not likely to be a good one for the men.</p>
<p>Prosecutor Anna Ginner described the operation as being like “organized crime”, with lawyer Henrik Pontén of RightsAlliance claiming that the evidence only represented a small part of the money made by the pair.</p>
<p>From the beginning, it was always claimed that the 26-year-old was the main player behind the site, with the now 23-year-old playing a much smaller role. While the latter received an estimated $4,000 of the proceeds, the former was said to have enriched himself with more than <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-site-operators-caught-by-money-trail-landmark-trial-hears-170411/">$1.5m in advertising revenue</a>.</p>
<p>The Varberg District Court has now handed down its ruling and it&#8217;s particularly bad news for the 26-year-old, who is reported to have led a luxury lifestyle with proceeds from the site.</p>
<p>In a short statement the court confirmed he had been convicted of 1,044 breaches of copyright law and serious money laundering offenses. He was sentenced to serve three years in prison and ordered to forfeit $1.59m. The Court was far more lenient with the younger man.</p>
<p>After being found guilty of four counts of copyright infringement but playing almost no role in the site&#8217;s revenue operations, no sentencing for money laundering was handed down. He was instead handed probation and ordered to complete 120 hours of community service, a sentence that was positively affected by his age when the offenses were committed.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s worth noting that the sentence received by the 26-year-old goes way beyond the sentences handed down even in the notorious <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-founders-to-spend-sentences-in-three-separate-jails-120320/">Pirate Bay case</a>, where defendants Fredrik Neij, Peter Sunde and Gottfrid Svartholm received 10 months, 12 months and 8 months respectively.</p>
<p>However, with Henrik Pontén describing the Swefilmer case as being primarily about money laundering, his group is clearly unhappy that copyright offenses aren&#8217;t considered serious enough to warrant lengthy sentences in their own right.  </p>
<p>&#8220;We welcome the judgment, but it is clear that copyright law must be adapted to today&#8217;s serious piracy. The penalty for copyright infringement should in itself be enough to deter people from crime,&#8221; Pontén says.</p>
<p>&#8220;The low level of penalties allows foreign piracy organizations to locate their operations in Sweden. The trend is very worrying.&#8221;</p>
<p>An important factor in the case moving forward is that in determining whether infringement had taken place, the Court drew heavily on the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/eu-court-not-for-profit-hyperlinking-usually-not-infringement-160908/">GS Media ruling</a> handed down by the European Court of Justice last September.</p>
<p>In that decision, the Court found that linking to copyrighted material is only allowed when there is no intent to profit and when the linker is unaware that the content is infringing.</p>
<p>When there is a profit motive, which there clearly was in the Swefilmer case, operators of a site are expected to carry out the “checks necessary” to ensure that linked works have not been illegally published.</p>
<p>The operators of Swefilmer failed on all counts, so the local court determined that the platform had communicated copyrighted works to the public, in breach of copyright law.</p>
<p>Speaking with TorrentFreak, the 23-year-old expressed relief at his relatively light sentence but noted it may not be over yet.</p>
<p>&#8220;I was really happy when the judgment came. The long wait is finally over,&#8221; he said. </p>
<p>&#8220;RightsAlliance will appeal because they did not receive any compensation for the trial. But the prosecutor is satisfied with the judgment so it is only RightsAlliance who are dissatisfied.&#8221;</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://www.idg.se/2.1085/1.682621/swefilmer-dom">IDG</a>,  the lawyer of the 26-year-old believes that his client&#8217;s sentence is far too severe, so there may be an appeal in that direction too.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139060
title: Thailand Arrests Brits Over Pirated Football Streams
uri: Thailand-Arrests-Brits-Over-Pirated-Football-Streams
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/6uKyFAkvRM8/
content:
<p><img src="media/03c27bd3.handcuffed-e1479309229595.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/handcuffed-e1479309229595.jpg" alt="" width="275" height="181" class="alignright size-full wp-image-130856">In recent years there’s been an increase in the availability of unlicensed TV streams, with vendors offering virtually any channel imaginable, for free or in exchange for a small fee.</p>
<p>Many of these IPTV packages are unlicensed. That makes them a lot cheaper to the end users, which explains why their popularity is growing. </p>
<p>While the phenomenon remained <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/iptv-mass-piracy-thats-flying-largely-under-the-radar-161127/">under the radar</a> for a long time, more recently we have seen several raids on vendors who sell these &#8216;pirate&#8217; subscriptions. After arrests in <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/spanish-police-shut-down-isps-iptv-piracy-business-170210/">Spain</a> and <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/large-iptv-piracy-ring-shut-down-by-spanish-police-and-europol-170407/">Poland</a>, Thai authorities have also joined in. </p>
<p>Last week the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) arrested two British men, William Lloyd, 39 and William Robinson, 35, for their alleged involvement in selling unlicensed IPTV subscriptions. The pair were arrested together with 33-year-old local man, Supatra Raksasat.</p>
<p>The enforcement action followed a complaint from the Football Association Premier League Ltd (FAPL) and was made public yesterday. According to the authorities, the men sold pirate subscriptions to dozens of TV-channels through <a href="http://365sport.tv">365sport.tv</a>.</p>
<p><center><strong>365sport.tv</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/b34d92ea.365sportstv-e1494933593301.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/365sportstv-e1494933593301.png" alt="" width="600" height="468" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-139080"></center></p>
<p>The website in question was taken offline and is no longer operational. However, cached versions show that the outfit sold subscriptions for 10 or 22 premium sports channels for a monthly fee of 600 ($17) and 999 ($29) Thai Baht respectively.</p>
<p>During the raids <a href="https://www.dsi.go.th/">DSI</a>, which is a special department of the Ministry of Justice, seized mobile phones, nine computer servers, nine computers, and a total of 49 set-top boxes, local media <a href="http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1250582/two-brits-thai-arrested-for-pirating-epl-broadcasts">reports</a>.</p>
<p>DSI deputy chief Suriya Singhakamol said that the men were also accused of offering unauthorized content through a variety of other sites targeted at expats, including Thaiexpat.tv, Hkexpat.tv, Indoexpat.tv, Vietexpat.tv, and Euroexpat.tv.</p>
<p>Following the Premier League complaint, DSI&#8217;s cybercrime unit launched a special investigation which found that 365sport.tv offered the unlicensed streams through Thai servers. </p>
<p>The authorities subsequently obtained arrest warrants through the Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court.</p>
<p>While the case remains open, the two British suspects have been handed over to officials from the British embassy, which requested their bail. All unlicensed IPTV streams, meanwhile, are no longer online.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139150
title: ExtraTorrent Shuts Down For Good
uri: ExtraTorrent-Shuts-Down-For-Good
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/ZKtJHb939Fk/
content:
<p><img src="media/7d9eb520.extratorrent-1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/extratorrent-1.png" alt="extratorrent" width="250" height="76" class="alignright size-full wp-image-130488">In a surprise move, ExtraTorrent decided to shut down today, for good. </p>
<p>Users who access the site&#8217;s <a href="http://extra.to/">homepage</a> are welcomed by a short but clear message, indicating that the popular torrent index will not return (the message appears intermittently).</p>
<p>&#8220;ExtraTorrent has shut down permanently.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;ExtraTorrent with all mirrors goes offline.. We permanently erase all data. Stay away from fake ExtraTorrent websites and clones. Thx to all ET supporters and torrent community. ET was a place to be&#8230;.&#8221;</p>
<p>TorrentFreak reached out to ExtraTorrent operator SaM who confirmed that this is indeed the end of the road for the site.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s time we say goodbye,&#8221; he said, without providing more details.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/90174c5f.extratorrentdown.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/extratorrentdown.png" alt="" width="592" height="226" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-139152"></center></p>
<p>With ExtraTorrent&#8217;s demise the BitTorrent community has lost yet another prominent player. Whether this also means the end of associated release groups, such as <em>EtHD</em> and <em>ettv</em>, remains to be seen.</p>
<p>ExtraTorrent was founded in November 2006, at a time when sites such as TorrentSpy and Mininova were dominating the landscape. Nonetheless, ExtraTorrent was determined to develop an audience of its own.</p>
<p>The site went on to outgrow many of its predecessors and with millions of daily visitors, ExtraTorrent ended up as the second largest torrent site, trailing only behind The Pirate Bay.</p>
<p>The site’s popularity placed it in the crosshairs of various entertainment industry groups in recent months. These outfits regularly pressured hosting companies and domain name services to take action.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s unclear whether legal pressure had anything to do with the decision to shut down, but that wouldn&#8217;t come as a surprise. </p>
<p>ExtraTorrent is the latest in a series of BitTorrent giants to fall in recent months. Previously, sites including <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/feds-seize-kickasstorrents-domains-charge-owner-160720/">KickassTorrents</a>, Torrentz.eu, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/torrenthound-shuts-down-another-big-torrent-site-bites-the-dust-160915/">TorrentHound</a> and <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/what-cd-shuts-down-following-reported-raids-in-france-161117/">What.cd</a> went offline. </p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> We were informed by SaM that ExtraTorrent&#8217;s release group ETRG is gone now.</p>
<p>&#8220;Ettv and Ethd could remain operational if they get enough donations to sustain the expenses and if they people handling it ready to keep going,&#8221; we were told.</p>
<p><em>&#8212;</p>
<p>Breaking news, more information may follow.</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139124
title: Movie Piracy Blackmail Plot Fails, Six Arrested
uri: Movie-Piracy-Blackmail-Plot-Fails-Six-Arrested
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/LdGC70toroA/
content:
<p><a href="media/5e1b7320.cash1.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/cash1.jpg"><img src="media/c9e6482e.cash1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cash1.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="121" class="alignright size-full wp-image-24443"></a>According to anti-piracy outfits the world over, people rarely leak movies or TV shows for anything other than profit. While that statement is almost certainly untrue, a worrying trend in 2017 is damaging the image of piracy further, if that was even possible.</p>
<p>We&#8217;re talking about obtaining copyrighted content by a variety of means and then holding studios and distributors to ransom. Pay a considerable sum or face your content being leaked online, content owners are increasingly being told.</p>
<p>The practice got much publicity last month when TheDarkOverlord (TDO) hacking entity <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/hackers-leak-netflixs-orange-is-the-new-black-season-5-premiere-170429/">leaked an episode</a> of Orange is The New Black after Netflix and associated companies failed to pay a bitcoin ransom.</p>
<p>When that little taster failed to illicit the required monetary response, TDO leaked another nine episodes. Again, no payment was forthcoming. More leaks targeting separate companies were hinted at but thus far, none have appeared.</p>
<p>But this week, with content producers and indeed the FBI still trying to work out what TDO&#8217;s next move might be, another movie &#8216;kidnapping&#8217; event hit the headlines.</p>
<p>An as-yet unidentified group <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/hackers-demand-ransom-over-stolen-copy-of-pirates-of-the-caribbean-5-170516/">informed Disney</a> that it had obtained a pre-release copy of the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean 5. Like Netflix, Disney refused to pay, and so far there have been no repercussions.</p>
<p>With this new type of crime an apparently growing trend, over in India a similar event has been playing out. On the exact same day that TDO leaked the first episode of Orange is The New Black, movie company Arka Mediaworks Entertainment Ltd received an unwanted call.</p>
<p>Someone posing as a &#8220;film anti-piracy activist&#8221; told the company that a pirated copy of the movie &#8216;Baahubali 2: The Conclusion&#8217; had been obtained and if a ransom wasn&#8217;t paid, a leak onto the Internet would be inevitable.</p>
<p>Any high-quality leak would&#8217;ve been a significant event. Baahubali 2 is currently taking India by storm and has already broken several box office records, both at home and overseas. Authorities have already arrested <a href="http://www.ibtimes.co.in/baahubali-2-leak-illegal-uploaders-ss-rajamoulis-film-arrested-tamilrockers-site-police-radar-725847">at least 16 people</a> involved in attempted piracy.</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/theatre-owner-five-others-arrested-for-piracy-blackmailing-bahubali-filmmakers/articleshow/58706459.cms">India.com</a>, following the call Arka Mediaworks immediately involved the police, who advised the company to engage the &#8216;kidnappers&#8217; in dialog to obtain proof that they had the movie in question.</p>
<p>That was delivered in the form of a high-definition sample of the movie, a move that was to mark the beginning of the end for those attempting to extort Arka Mediaworks.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s unclear whether those who sent the sample were aware, but the movie was forensically or otherwise marked, something which allowed police and investigators to track the copy back to a specific theater. However, this case has an interesting twist.</p>
<p>In most instances when movies are tracked in this manner, it&#8217;s because a watermark identifying the location has been transferred to a &#8216;cam&#8217; copy. However, in this case the original &#8216;pirate&#8217; copy had been made digitally. This meant that someone had managed to get hold of the encryption key used to decrypt titles subject to digital distribution.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s unclear whether he was the one to supply the key, but shortly after the owner of the theater was arrested by police. This was followed by the arrest of the person who allegedly called Arka Mediaworks with the ransom demand. From there, police were led to other co-conspirators.</p>
<p>In total, six arrests were made, with two of the men already known to police. No strangers to piracy, they were arrested in 2015 for pirating Bahubali &#8211; The Beginning, the first installment of the movie series involved in the current &#8216;kidnapping&#8217; plot.</p>
<p>While it&#8217;s clear that this plot in India was serious, it&#8217;s unlikely that TheDarkOverlord will be making similar rookie mistakes in its quest to extort Netflix in the US. Whether the Disney plot will maintain the same sort of high-security will also remain to be seen, but getting caught is very possible.</p>
<p>Back in March it was <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/20th-century-fox-dreamworks-blackmailed-over-the-boss-baby-leak-170324/">revealed</a> that 20th Century Fox &#038; Dreamworks had been blackmailed over a leak of the movie Boss Baby. In that case, a bitcoin ransom was paid, but it eventually led to the arrest of the alleged perpetrator.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139181
title: EU Votes Today On Content Portability to Reduce Piracy (Updated)
uri: EU-Votes-Today-On-Content-Portability-to-Reduce-Piracy-(Updated)
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/KF3IcM7S9MM/
content:
<p><img src="media/3737aed5.europe-flag.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/europe-flag.png" width="222" height="146" class="alignright size-large">Being a fully-paid up customer of a streaming service such as Spotify or Netflix should be a painless experience, but for citizens of the EU, complexities exist.</p>
<p>Subscribers of Netflix, for example, have access to different libraries, depending on where they&#8217;re located. This means that a viewer in the Netherlands could begin watching a movie at home, travel to France for a weekend break, and find on arrival that the content he paid for is not available there.</p>
<p>A similar situation can arise with a UK citizen&#8217;s access to BBC&#8217;s iPlayer. While he has free access to the service he previously paid for while at home, travel to Spain for a week and access is denied, since the service believes he&#8217;s not entitled to view.</p>
<p>While the EU is fiercely protective of its aim to grant free movement to both people and goods, this clearly hasn&#8217;t always translated well to the digital domain. There are currently no explicit provisions under EU law which mandate cross-border portability of online content services.</p>
<p>Following a vote today, however, all that may change.</p>
<p>In a few hours time, Members of the European Parliament will vote on whether to introduce new &#8216;Cross-border portability&#8217; rules <em>(<a href="media/5e574056.EPRS_BRI2016577970_EN.pdf" data-original-source="http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2016/577970/EPRS_BRI(2016)577970_EN.pdf">pdf</a>)</em>, that will give citizens the freedom to enjoy their media wherever they are in the EU, without having to resort to piracy.</p>
<p>“If you live for instance in Germany but you go on holiday or visit your family or work in Spain, you will be able to access the services that you had in Germany in any other country in the Union, because the text covers the EU,&#8221; says Jean-Marie Cavada, the French ALDE member responsible for steering the new rules through Parliament.</p>
<p>But while freedom to receive content is the aim, there will be a number of restrictions in practice. While travelers to other EU countries will get access to the same content they would back home on the same range of devices, it will only be available on a temporary basis.</p>
<p>People traveling on a holiday, business, or study trip will enjoy the freedom to consume &#8220;for a limited period.&#8221; Extended stays will not be catered for under the new rules so as not to upset licensing arrangements already in place between rightsholders and service providers.</p>
<p>So how will the system work in practice?</p>
<p>At the moment, services like Netflix use the current IP address of the subscriber to determine where they are and therefore which regional library they&#8217;ll have access to when they sign in.</p>
<p>It appears that a future system would have to consider in which country the user signed up, before checking to ensure that the user trying to access the service in another EU country is the same person. That being said, if copyright holders agree, service providers can omit the verification process. </p>
<p>&#8220;The draft text to be voted on calls for safeguarding measures to be included in the regulation to ensure that the data and privacy of users are respected throughout the verification process,&#8221; European Parliament news said this week.</p>
<p>If adopted, the new rules would come into play during the first six months of 2018 and would apply to subscriptions already in place.</p>
<p>Separately, MEPs are also considering <a href="http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/news-room/20170425IPR72324/e-commerce-ending-unjustified-geo-blocking-across-the-eu">new rules</a> on geo-blocking &#8220;to ensure that online sellers <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/68-of-digital-content-providers-geo-block-in-the-eu-160321/">do not discriminate</a> against consumers&#8221; because of where they live in the EU.</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> The vote has passed. Here is the full statement by Vice-President for the Digital Single Market, Andrus Ansip.</p>
<p><em>I welcome today&#8217;s positive vote of the European Parliament on the portability of online content across borders, following the agreement reached between the European Parliament, Council and Commission at the beginning of the year.</p>
<p>I warmly thank the European Parliament rapporteur Jean-Marie Cavada for his work in achieving this and look forward to final approval by Member States in the coming weeks.</p>
<p>The rules voted today mean that, as of the beginning of next year, people who have subscribed to their favourite series, music and sports events at home will be able to enjoy them when they travel in the European Union.</p>
<p>Combined with the end of roaming charges, it means that watching films or listening to music while on holiday abroad will not bring any additional costs to people who use mobile networks.</p>
<p>This is an important step in breaking down barriers in the Digital Single Market.</p>
<p>We now need agreements on our other proposals to modernise EU copyright rules and ensure wider access to creative content across borders and fairer rules for creators. I rely on the European Parliament and Member States to make swift progress to make this happen.</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139108
title: Elsevier Wants $15 Million Piracy Damages From Sci-Hub and Libgen
uri: Elsevier-Wants-15-Million-Piracy-Damages-From-Sci-Hub-and-Libgen
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/fyFfDa44gdk/
content:
<p><img src="media/398ad51b.scilogo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/scilogo.jpg" alt="" width="222" height="222" class="alignright size-full wp-image-118526">Two years ago, academic publisher Elsevier filed a <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/elsevier-cracks-down-on-pirated-scientific-articles-150609/">complaint</a> against Sci-Hub, Libgen and several related &#8220;pirate&#8221; sites. </p>
<p>The publisher accused the websites of making academic papers widely available to the public, without permission.</p>
<p>While <a href="http://www.sci-hub.cc/">Sci-Hub</a> and Libgen are nothing like the average pirate site, they are just as illegal according to Elsevier’s legal team, which swiftly obtained a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/court-orders-shutdown-of-libgen-bookfi-and-sci-hub-151102/">preliminary injunction</a> from a New York District Court.</p>
<p>The injunction ordered Sci-Hub’s founder Alexandra Elbakyan, who is the only named defendant, to quit offering access to any Elsevier content. This didn’t happen, however.</p>
<p>Sci-Hub and the other websites lost control over several domain names, but were quick to bounce back. They remain operational today and have no intention of shutting down, despite pressure from the Court.</p>
<p>This prompted Elsevier to request a default judgment and a permanent injunction against the Sci-Hub and Libgen defendants. In a motion filed this week, Elsevier&#8217;s legal team describes the sites as pirate havens.</p>
<p>&#8220;Defendants’ websites exist for the sole purpose of providing unauthorized and unlawful access to the copyrighted works of Elsevier and other scientific publishers. Collectively, Defendants are responsible for the piracy of millions of Elseviers’ copyrighted works as well as millions of works published by others.&#8221;</p>
<p>As compensation for the losses it has suffered, Elsevier is now demanding $15 million in damages. The publisher lists 100 works as evidence and argues that the maximum amount of $150,000 in statutory damages is warranted in this case.</p>
<p>&#8220;Here, Defendants’ willful conduct rises to the level of truly egregious conduct, justifying the maximum statutory damages of $150,000 per infringed work,&#8221; Elsevier&#8217;s team writes (<a href="media/65ab64e1.elseviermomoinsupport.pdf" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/elseviermomoinsupport.pdf">pdf</a>).</p>
<p>&#8220;The Preliminary Injunction constituted such notice by a court, and Defendants have flagrantly disregarded the Preliminary Injunction by continuing to operate their piracy enterprises.&#8221; </p>
<p>Not only did the defendants ignore the preliminary injunction by continuing to operate their websites, Sci-Hub&#8217;s operator stated that she chose to willingly disregard the court order.</p>
<p>&#8220;Moreover, Elbakyan has publicly stated that she is aware that Sci-Hub’s actions are unlawful and that this Court has enjoined her infringing activities, but that she intends to continue to defy the Court’s Order.&#8221;</p>
<p>The amount is also justified based on the scale of infringement, Elsevier stresses. The sites in question offer dozens of millions of copyrighted works which are downloaded hundreds of thousands of times per day.</p>
<p>A good chunk of these papers are copyrighted, many by Elsevier. In fact, when the original complaint was filed, Elsevier had trouble locating ScienceDirect-hosted articles that were not available through Libgen. </p>
<p>&#8220;Here, the scale of Defendants’ infringement is so staggering that a reasonable estimate of appropriate damages, even if based on a lower, license- fee-based metric, would be difficult, if not impossible, to calculate,&#8221; Elsevier&#8217;s legal team writes.</p>
<p>Since the court&#8217;s clerk has already entered a default against the defendants, it&#8217;s likely that Elsevier will win the case. As a result, Sci-Hub and Libgen will likely have to relocate again. Whether Elsevier will see any damages from the defendants has yet to be seen.</p>
<p>Sci-Hub founder Alexandra Elbakyan wasn&#8217;t really sure how to comment on the million dollar claims. She described Elsevier&#8217;s requests as &#8220;funny&#8221; and &#8220;ridiculous,&#8221; while confirming that the site is not going anywhere.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Sci-Hub will continue as usual. In case of problems with the domain names, users can rely on TOR scihub22266oqcxt.onion,&#8221; Elbakyan tells us.</p>
<p>In hindsight, Elsevier may regret its decision to take legal action.</p>
<p>Instead of taking Sci-Hub and Libgen down, the lawsuit and the associated media attention only helped them grow. Last year we reported that its users were downloading <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/sci-hub-helps-science-pirates-to-download-100000s-of-papers-per-day-160229/">hundreds of thousands</a> of papers per day from Sci-Hub, a number that has likely increased since.</p>
<p>Also, Elbakyan is now seen as a hero by several prominent academics, illustrated by the fact that the prestigious publication Nature listed her as one of <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/nature-picks-pirate-in-this-years-top-people-in-science-161220/">the top ten people that mattered in science</a> last year.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139212
title: Sony Files Lawsuits to Block Video Game Piracy Sites
uri: Sony-Files-Lawsuits-to-Block-Video-Game-Piracy-Sites
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/FN2xwCYrMWQ/
content:
<p><a href="media/0702e6e5.blocked-censor.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/blocked-censor.jpg"><img src="media/2759597c.blocked-censor.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/blocked-censor.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="170" class="alignright size-full wp-image-124850"></a>Once the preserve of countries like China whose government likes to routinely censor and control information, website blocking is now a regularly occurence elsewhere.</p>
<p>With commercial interests at their core, most website blocking efforts now take place under copyright law, to protect the business models of the world&#8217;s leading entertainment companies. While that usually involves those in the movie and music industries, occasionally others get involved too.</p>
<p>That&#8217;s now the case in Russia, where the UK division of Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) is currently taking steps to prevent the illegal distribution of its videogame products via online platforms.</p>
<p>According to local news outlet <a href="http://izvestia.ru/news/705074">Izvestia</a>, SIE has filed seven lawsuits at the Moscow City Court targeting sites that offer Sony titles without obtaining permission.</p>
<p>While they have no yet been named, the lawsuits indicate that copyright action has been taken against the sites before. This means that under Russia&#8217;s strict anti-piracy laws, these repeat offenders can be subjected to the so-called &#8220;eternal lock.&#8221; Under that regime, once ISP blockades are put in place, they stay in place forever.</p>
<p>Sergey Klisho, General Manager of Playstation in Russia, says that the lawsuits and subsequent court orders will enable the company to deal with the worst offenders.</p>
<p>&#8220;Positive changes in legislation aimed at protecting rightsholders, plus greater attention by state bodies to intellectual property rights violations, allows us today to begin to fight against piracy on the Internet,&#8221; Klisho says.</p>
<p>According to Vadim Ampelonsky, a spokesman for telecoms watchdog Roskomnadzor, protection of gaming titles is becoming more commonplace, with companies such as Sony and Ubisoft resorting to legal action against sites offering pirated titles.</p>
<p>For Sony, it appears this action might only be the beginning, with a company representative indicating that more lawsuits are likely to follow in the future. But just how effective are these blockades?</p>
<p>Russian torrent giant RuTracker, which is permanently blocked by all local ISPs, believes that the effect on its operations is limited. Just recently the site&#8217;s tracker &#8216;announce&#8217; URLs were added to Russia&#8217;s blocklist, on top of the site&#8217;s main URLs which have been banned for some time.</p>
<p>That resulted in the site offering its <a href="https://github.com/RutrackerOrg/rutracker-proxy/releases">own special app</a> on Github this month, which allows users to automatically find proxy workarounds that render the current blocking efforts ineffective.</p>
<p>The tool is already proving a bit of a headache for Russian authorities. Internet Ombudsman Dmitry Marinichev says that Roskomnadzor won&#8217;t be able to ban the software since it can spread by many means.</p>
<p>&#8220;I do not believe that Roskomnadzor can block any application,&#8221; Marinichev <a href="http://izvestia.ru/news/706832">says</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;You can prevent Google Play or Apple&#8217;s iTunes from distributing them. But there is still one hundred and one ways left for these applications to spread. Stopping the application itself from working on the device of a particular user is a daunting task.&#8221;</p>
<p>Interestingly, Marinichev also believes that targeting RuTracker is the wrong strategy, since the site itself isn&#8217;t distributing infringing content, its users are.</p>
<p>&#8220;Rightsholders can not punish RuTracker. They are not engaged in piracy. Piracy is carried out by the ones who distribute and duplicate. It is impossible for the law to solve technological problems,&#8221; he concludes.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s an opinion shared by many in the pirate community, who continue to find technical solutions to many legal roadblocks.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139275
title: Private Torrent Tracker Freshon.tv Shuts Down
uri: Private-Torrent-Tracker-Freshon-tv-Shuts-Down
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/JrR3u34insw/
content:
<p><img src="media/3a10df25.tvt-e1495187476175.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tvt-e1495187476175.png" alt="" width="279" height="84" class="alignright size-full wp-image-139277">This isn&#8217;t a particularly good week for avid torrent users. After the public ExtraTorrent index <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/extratorrent-shuts-down-for-good-170517/">shut down</a>, the private community must now say goodbye to Freshon.tv (TvT).</p>
<p>Sysops of the private tracker, which specialized in TV releases, have decided to move on and focus on their personal lives instead.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are shutting the website down due to the lack of interest,&#8221; TvT staff wrote in a message yesterday.</p>
<p>&#8220;This is no longer a fun activity and the old members simply have other things to focus on, like work and families. We like to thank each member that was present in the comunity we built and maintained for a decade.&#8221;</p>
<p>Soon after, the site went dark, removing the option to login and showing a brief shutdown message instead. </p>
<p><center><strong>Poor hamsters</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/641656b9.tvthamsters.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tvthamsters.png" alt="" width="600" height="191" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-139282"></center></p>
<p>The decsion came as a surprise to the site&#8217;s users. Several staffers were also unaware of the decision the sysops had taken, according to a statement by a member on Reddit.</p>
<p>&#8220;We, the staff, didn&#8217;t know of this until they made the public announcement, so this all comes a bit rushed,&#8221; Liberateus <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/trackers/comments/6bvo91/looks_like_freshontv_is_closing_too/dhpwr6f/">writes</a>, adding that fellow torrent tracker Morethan.tv is willing to take on refugees.</p>
<p>&#8220;Morethan.tv is a rather young but fast growing tracker focused on TV and movie content, with a nice community, dedicated staff and a huge selection of content,&#8221; he writes.</p>
<p>The Reddit thread also includes offers from other trackers that are willing to take people in, so it appears that most users will find a new home. </p>
<p>Freshon, or &#8216;TV Torrents RO,&#8217; was one of the larger specialized TV trackers on the Internet. The site had close to 20,000 users who together shared tens of thousands of torrents. </p>
<p>The site was particularly popular popular in Romania, from where the site originated. The specialized TV tracker first saw the light of day more than a decade a ago, reportedly with help from several staffers of the defunct torrents.ro tracker.</p>
<p><center><strong>Better times for TvT</strong> (image via <a href="https://opentrackers.org/tv-torrents-ro/">Opentrackers</a>)<br></br></center><center><img src="media/cf03d8ef.freshon-e1495187603682.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/freshon-e1495187603682.png" alt="" width="600" height="205" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-139278"></center></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139216
title: ExtraTorrent’s Distribution Groups ettv and EtHD Keep Going
uri: ExtraTorrent-s-Distribution-Groups-ettv-and-EtHD-Keep-Going
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/4m0T79pzj6U/
content:
<p><img src="media/a8a18fbe.extratorrent.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/extratorrent.png" alt="" width="298" height="98" class="alignright size-full wp-image-123631">This week the torrent community entered a state of shock when another major torrent site closed its doors. </p>
<p>Having served torrents to the masses for over a decade, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/extratorrent-shuts-down-for-good-170517/">ExtraTorrent decided to throw in the towel</a>, without providing any detail or an apparent motive. </p>
<p>ExtraTorrent operator SaM simply informed us that &#8220;it’s time we say goodbye.&#8221; </p>
<p>Now that a few days have passed the dust is slowly beginning to settle. Frequent ExtraTorrent users have started to flock to alternatives such as The Pirate Bay, Torrentz2 and RARBG, which have all noticed a clear uptick in users. </p>
<p>What has also become clear is that ExtraTorrent won&#8217;t have quit without leaving its mark. The site was home to several prominent uploaders and groups, and some feared that these would go down with the site. However, it looks like that won&#8217;t be the case for them all.</p>
<p>On Thursday, shortly after the site was closed, ExtraTorrent operator SaM said that the movie torrent distribution group ETRG would disappear, but that there was hope for others.</p>
<p>“Ettv and Ethd could remain operational if they get enough donations to sustain the expenses and if the people handling it [are] ready to keep going,” SaM said.</p>
<p>Indeed, both TV groups are keeping the ET spirit alive as dozens of fresh torrents have appeared over the past few days. While they&#8217;re no longer on ExtraTorrent, the accounts on The Pirate Bay remain very active, as can be seen below.  </p>
<p><center><strong>ettv&#8217;s recent releases</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/5e3cee51.ettv.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ettv.png" alt="" width="595" height="316" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-139223"></center></p>
<p>Another well-known uploader, DDR, will continue to release torrents as well. TorrentFreak was informed that the uploader will use the &#8216;SaM&#8217; accounts at The Pirate Bay and 1337x to continue his work.</p>
<p>And ExtraTorrent&#8217;s name lives on elsewhere too. The image hosting site <a href="https://extraimage.net/">Extraimage</a>, which was regularly used by torrent uploaders to feature samples, is still up and running as well.</p>
<p>There is another major casualty of the ExtraTorrent closure though. TorrentFreak is informed that ET&#8217;s inhouse encoder FUM, known for regular high-quality TV releases, will stop.</p>
<p>Over the weeks we will see what the real impact of the surprise shutdown will be. A community was destroyed this week, and many uploaders lost their home, but as we&#8217;ve seen with KickassTorrents, Torrentz, and other sites before them, the torrent ecosystem isn&#8217;t easily disrupted.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139074
title: IPTV Providers Counter Premier League Piracy Blocks
uri: IPTV-Providers-Counter-Premier-League-Piracy-Blocks
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/gl1t9cLuIKo/
content:
<p><a href="media/c6d79219.iptv.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/iptv.jpg"><img src="media/8a86db31.iptv.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/iptv.jpg" alt="" width="234" height="155" class="alignright size-full wp-image-135034"></a>In the UK, top tier football is handled by The Premier League and its broadcasting partners Sky and BT Sport. All are facing problems with Internet piracy.</p>
<p>In a nutshell, official subscriptions are far from cheap, so people are always on the lookout for more affordable alternatives. As a result, large numbers of fans are turning to piracy-enabled set-top boxes for their fix.</p>
<p>These devices, often running Kodi with third-party addons, not only provide free or cheap football streams but also enable fans to watch matches at 3pm on Saturdays, a time traditionally covered by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_football_on_television#3pm_.22Blackout.22">blackout</a>.</p>
<p>To mitigate this threat, earlier this year the Premier League obtained a rather special <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/premier-league-obtains-intriguing-injunction-to-tackle-pirate-streams-170309/">High Court injunction</a>.</p>
<p>While similar in its aims to earlier orders targeting torrent sites including The Pirate Bay, this injunction enables the Premier League to act quickly, forcing local ISPs such as Sky, BT, and Virgin to block football streams in real-time.</p>
<p>“This will enable us to target the suppliers of illegal streams to IPTV boxes, and the internet, in a proportionate and precise manner,&#8221; the Premier League said at the time.</p>
<p>Ever since the injunction was issued, TF has monitored for signs that it has been achieving its stated aim of stopping or at least reducing stream availability. Based on information obtained from several popular IPTV suppliers, after several weeks we have concluded that Premier League streams are still easy to find, with some conditions.</p>
<p>HD sources for games across all Sky channels are commonplace on paid services, with SD sources available for free. High-quality streams have been consistently available on Saturday afternoons for the sensitive 3pm kick-off, with little to no interference or signs of disruption.</p>
<p>Of course, the Internet is a very big place, so it is certainly possible that disruption has been experienced by users elsewhere. However, what we do know is that some IPTV providers have been working behind the scenes to keep their services going.</p>
<p>According to a low-level contact at one IPTV provider who demanded total anonymity, servers used by his &#8216;company&#8217; (he uses the term loosely) have seen their loads drop unexpectedly during match times, an indication that ISPs might be targeting their customers with blocks.</p>
<p>A re-seller for another well-known provider told TF that some intermittent disruption had been felt but that it was &#8220;being handled&#8221; as and when it &#8220;becomes a problem.&#8221; Complaint levels from customers are not yet considered a concern, he added.</p>
<p>That the Premier League&#8217;s efforts are having at least some effect doesn&#8217;t appear to be in doubt, but it&#8217;s pretty difficult to find evidence in public. That being said, an IPTV provider whose identity we were asked to conceal has taken more easily spotted measures.</p>
<p>After Premier League matches got underway this past Tuesday night, the provider in question launched a new beta service in its Kodi addon. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it allows users to cycle through proxy servers in order to bypass blocks put in place by ISPs on behalf of the Premier League.</p>
<p><center><b>Embedded proxy service in Kodi</b><a href="media/92bb1ad3.shot_1.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/shot_1.png"><img src="media/32d53cb6.shot_1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/shot_1.png" alt="" width="650" height="348" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-139169"></a></center></p>
<p>As seen from the image above, the beta unblocking service is accessible via the service&#8217;s Kodi addon and requires no special skills to operate. Simply clicking on the &#8220;Find a Proxy to Use&#8221; menu item opens up the page below.</p>
<p><center><b>The servers used to bypass the blocks</b><a href="media/37af16a6.shot_2.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/shot_2.png"><img src="media/6e669cdd.shot_2.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/shot_2.png" alt="" width="650" height="402" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-139171"></a></center></p>
<p>Once a working proxy is found, access to the streams is facilitated indirectly, thereby evading the Premier League&#8217;s attempts at blocking IP addresses at the UK&#8217;s ISPs. Once that&#8217;s achieved, the list of streams is accessible again.</p>
<p><center><b>Sky Sports streams ready, in HD</b><a href="media/0f78bb7f.shot_3.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/shot_3.png"><img src="media/654e2b5f.shot_3.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/shot_3.png" alt="" width="1077" height="585" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-139174"></a></center></p>
<p>The use of proxies for this kind of traffic is of interest, at least as far as the injunction goes.</p>
<p>What we know already is that the Premier League only has permission to block servers if it “reasonably believes” they have the “sole or predominant purpose of enabling or facilitating access to infringing streams of Premier League match footage.”</p>
<p>If any server &#8220;is being used for any other substantial purpose”, the football organization cannot block it, meaning that non-dedicated or multi-function proxies cannot be blocked by ISPs, legally at least.</p>
<p>On Thursday evening, however, a TF source monitoring a popular IPTV provider using proxies reported that the match between Southampton and Manchester United suddenly became blocked. Whether that was due to Premier League action is unclear but by using a VPN, usual service was restored.</p>
<p>The use of VPNs with IPTV services raises other issues, however. All Premier League blockades can be circumvented with the use of a VPN but many IPTV providers are known for being intolerant of them, since they can also be used by restreamers to &#8216;pirate&#8217; their service.</p>
<p>The Premier League injunction came into force on March 18, 2017, and will run out this weekend when the football season ends.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s reasonable to presume that the period will have been used for testing and that the Premier League will be back in court again this year seeking a further injunction for the new season starting in August. Expect it to be more effective than it has been thus far.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139191
title: Fake ‘Pirates Of The Caribbean’ Leaks Troll Pirates and Reporters
uri: Fake-Pirates-Of-The-Caribbean-Leaks-Troll-Pirates-and-Reporters
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/FrUK92m1AgM/
content:
<p><img src="media/ede6af25.Trollface-e1495182359694.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/Trollface-e1495182359694.png" alt="" width="240" height="224" class="alignright size-full wp-image-139249">Earlier this week, news broke that Disney was being extorted by hackers who were <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/hackers-demand-ransom-over-stolen-copy-of-pirates-of-the-caribbean-5-170516/">threatening to release</a> an upcoming film, reportedly &#8216;Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.&#8217; </p>
<p>This prompted pirates and reporters to watch torrent sites for copies of the film, and after a few hours the first torrents did indeed appear. </p>
<p>The initial torrent spotted by TF was just over 200MB, which is pretty small. As it turned out, the file was fake and linked to some kind of survey scam. </p>
<p>Fake torrents are quite common and even more so with highly anticipated releases like a &#8220;Pirates Of The Caribbean&#8221; leak. </p>
<p>Soon after the fist fake, another one followed, this one carrying the name of movie distribution group ETRG. After the first people downloaded a copy, it quickly became clear that this was spam as well, and the torrent was swiftly removed from The Pirate Bay. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, however, some reporters confused the fake releases with the real deal. Without verifying the actual content of the files, news reports claimed that Pirates Of The Caribbean had indeed leaked. </p>
<p>&#8220;Hackers Dump Pirates of the Caribbean On Torrent Sites Ahead of Premiere,&#8221; Softpedia <a href="http://news.softpedia.com/news/hackers-dump-pirates-of-the-caribbean-on-pirate-sites-ahead-of-premiere-515778.shtml">reported</a>, followed by the award-winning security blogger Graham Cluley who <a href="https://www.grahamcluley.com/new-pirates-caribbean-movie-leaked-online-hackers-fail-extort-money/">wrote</a> that the &#8220;New Pirates of the Caribbean movie leaked online.&#8221; </p>
<p><center><strong>Leaks?</strong> (via Softpedia)<br></br></center><center><img src="media/aae910e6.piratesleaked.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/piratesleaked.png" alt="" width="639" height="162" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-139247"></center></p>
<p>The latter was also quick to point to a likely source of the leak. Hacker group The Dark Overlord was cited as the prime candidate, even though there were no signs linking it to the leak in question. This is off for a group that regularly takes full public credit for its achievements.</p>
<p>News site <a href="https://fossbytes.com/pirates-of-the-caribbean-leaked-torrent-site/">Fossbytes</a> also appeared confident that The Dark Overlord was behind the reported (but fake) leaks, pretty much <a href="media/493bba8a.fossdark.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/fossdark.png">stating it as fact</a>. </p>
<p>&#8220;The much-awaited Disney movie Pirates Of The Caribbean 5 Dead Men Tell No Tales was compromised by a hacker group called TheDarkOverlord,&#8221; the site reported.</p>
<p>Things got more confusing when the torrent files in question disappeared from The Pirate Bay. In reality, moderators simply removed the spam, as they usually do, but the reporters weren&#8217;t convinced and speculated that the &#8216;hackers&#8217; could have reuploaded the files elsewhere.</p>
<p>A few hours later another &#8216;leak&#8217; appeared on The Pirate Bay, confirming these alleged suspicions. This time it was a 54GB file which actually had &#8220;DARK-OVERL&#8221; in the title. </p>
<p><center><strong>DARK-OVERL!!!</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/0fdcf0aa.darkoverpirates.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/darkoverpirates.png" alt="" width="602" height="580" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-139246"></center></p>
<p>Soon after the torrent appeared online someone added a spam comment suggesting that it had a decent quality. One of the reporters picked this up and wrote that &#8220;comments indicate the quality is quite high.&#8221;</p>
<p>Again, at this point, none of the reporters had verified that the leaks were real. Still, the news spread further and further.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak also kept an eye on the developments and reached out to a source who said he&#8217;d obtained a copy of the 54GB release. This pirate was curious, but didn&#8217;t get what he was hoping for. </p>
<p>The file in question did indeed contain video material, he informed us. However, instead of an unreleased copy of the Pirates Of The Caribbean 5, he says he got several copies of an animation movie &#8211; Trolls&#8230;..</p>
<p>&#8220;Turns out, the iso contains a couple of .rar files that house a bunch of Trolls DVDs. I hope everyone learned their lesson, if it&#8217;s too good to be true it probably is.&#8221;</p>
<p><em>Indeed it is.</em></p>
<p>In the spirit of this article we have to stress that we didn&#8217;t verify the contents of the (now deleted) &#8220;Trolls&#8221; torrent ourselves. However, it&#8217;s clear that the fake leaks trolled several writers and pirates.  </p>
<p>We reached out to Softpedia reporter Gabriela Vatu and Graham Cluley, who were both very receptive to our concerns and updated the initial articles to state that the leaks were not verified. </p>
<p>Let&#8217;s hope that this will stop the rumors from spreading any further. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139232
title: Girl Busted For Pirating ‘Chicken Run’ Provides Food For Thought
uri: Girl-Busted-For-Pirating-Chicken-Run-Provides-Food-For-Thought
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/EqacqVhet6Y/
content:
<p><a href="media/a035d672.piratkeyb-e1476968827887.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/piratkeyb-e1476968827887.png"><img src="media/0a6858fb.piratkeyb-e1476968827887.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/piratkeyb-e1476968827887.png" alt="" width="222" height="157" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108110"></a>This past Thursday the BBC published an <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/39961502/student-banned-from-university-wifi-for-downloading-chicken-run">article</a> about Gianna Mulville-Zanetta, a first year Social Policy student at Bristol University in the UK.</p>
<p>After getting caught downloading the stop-motion comedy-drama film Chicken Run using BitTorrent, the 18-year-old reportedly felt the wrath of the university&#8217;s IT department.</p>
<p>&#8220;I completely forgot I had downloaded it,&#8221; Gianna told the BBC.</p>
<p>&#8220;I got an email the day after I watched it on Netflix with my friend saying I had been removed from Eduroam &#8211; which is our wifi. It took about a day or more to download and that&#8217;s why I forgot I had it, it took forever.&#8221;</p>
<p>For her sins, Gianna was blocked from using the university&#8217;s wifi for 20 days, a period that coincided with her exams. With access to a 4G connection she says the ban didn&#8217;t affect her studies but of course, the potential for chaos was certainly there.</p>
<p>There appears to be no doubt that Gianna committed an infringement. However, that someone who prefers to watch something legally on Netflix gets caught up in something like this is pretty disappointing. But not a complete surprise.</p>
<p>Chicken Run was released in 2000 but only 12 years later did it appear on UK Netflix. According to <a href="https://uk.newonnetflix.info/info/60001287/s">New on Netflix</a>, it was withdrawn from Netflix during November 2013, put back on two years later in 2015, removed a year later in 2016, and was only re-added on May 1 this year.</p>
<p>Considering the BBC states that the Chicken Run affair &#8220;has ruined much of May for Gianna&#8221;, the ban must&#8217;ve kicked in early this month. That means that Chicken Run was either not on UK Netflix when Gianna decided on her download, or had only been there for a day or two. Either way, if there had been less yo-yo&#8217;ing of its availability on Netflix, it&#8217;s possible this whole affair could&#8217;ve been completely avoided.</p>
<p>Moving on, the BBC <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/39961502/student-banned-from-university-wifi-for-downloading-chicken-run">article</a> states that Gianna was &#8220;caught out by the university&#8217;s IT department.&#8221; Student newspaper <a href="https://thetab.com/uk/bristol/2017/05/17/bristol-student-banned-eduroam-illegally-downloading-chicken-run-29797">The Tab</a> makes a similar assumption, claiming that Gianna was &#8220;busted by an elite team of University IT technicians.&#8221;</p>
<p>However, those familiar with these issues will know that the &#8216;blame&#8217; should be placed elsewhere, i.e., on rightsholders who are filing complaints directly with the university. The tactic is certainly an interesting one.</p>
<p>Despite there being dozens of residential ISPs the copyright holders could focus on, they choose not to do so outside the limited scope of the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/uk-piracy-warnings-coming-month-heres-works-170111/">Get it Right</a> campaign instead. Knowing that universities come down hard on students seems like a motivating factor here, one that students should be aware of.</p>
<p>The Tab went on to publish a screenshot of the complaint received by Gianna. It&#8217;s incomplete, but it contains information that allows us to investigate further.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/11af0fc5.zanetta-2.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/zanetta-2.jpg"><img src="media/31c60557.zanetta-2.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/zanetta-2.jpg" alt="" width="540" height="960" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-139233"></a></center></p>
<p>The note that Gianna&#8217;s connection had been suspended to prevent the IT department from &#8220;receiving further complaints&#8221; is a dead giveaway of rightsholder involvement. But, further down is an even clearer clue that the complaint was made by someone outside the university.</p>
<p>The format used in the complaint is identical to that used by US and Australia-based anti-piracy outfit IP-Echelon. The company is known to work with Paramount Pictures who own the rights to Chicken Run.</p>
<p>In fact, if one searches the filesize referenced in the infringement notice (572,221,548), it&#8217;s possible to find an <a href="https://proxy.sh/panel/knowledgebase/2425/28or03or2015-DMCA-Paramount-Pictures-Corporation-at-Japan-3-3286.html">identical complaint</a> processed by VPN service Proxy.sh.</p>
<p><center><b>Another Chicken Run complaint</b><a href="media/55c5245a.chicken-ip.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/chicken-ip.png"><img src="media/86a8381a.chicken-ip.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/chicken-ip.png" alt="" width="650" height="328" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-139235"></a></center></p>
<p>Given the file size, we can further deduce that Gianna downloaded a 720p BrRip of Chicken Run that was placed online by now defunct release team/torrent site YIFY, which has also been referenced in a number of complaints <a href="https://www.lumendatabase.org/notices/12137100">sent to Google</a>.</p>
<p>So what can we conclude from these series of events?</p>
<p>First of all, with less messing around by Paramount and/or Netflix, Gianna might have gone to Netflix first, having seen it previously in the listings on the platform. As it goes, it had been absent for months, having been pulled from the service at least twice before. </p>
<p>Second, we know that at least one person who chose to pirate Chicken Run avoided Gianna&#8217;s predicament by using a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">VPN service</a>. While Gianna found herself disconnected, the VPN user walked away completely unscathed, with Paramount and IP-Echelon complaining to the VPN service and that being the end of the matter.</p>
<p>Third, allowing your real name and a copy of a copyright infringement complaint to be published alongside a confession is a risky business. While IP-Echelon isn&#8217;t known for pressuring people to pay settlements in the UK, the situation could have been very different if a copyright troll was involved.</p>
<p>Fourth, we can also conclude that while it&#8217;s believed that older content is safer to download, this story suggests otherwise. Chicken Run was released 17 years ago and is still being monitored by rightsholders.</p>
<p>Finally, stories of students getting banned from university Internet access are relatively commonplace in the United States, but the same out of the UK is extremely rare. </p>
<p>In fact, we&#8217;re not aware of such exclusions happening on a regular basis anywhere in the region, although Gianna told the BBC that she knows another person who is still being denied access to the Internet for downloading Shrek, another relatively ancient film.</p>
<p>That raises the possibility that some copyright holders have seriously begun targeting universities in the UK. If that&#8217;s the case, one has to question what has more value &#8211; uninterrupted Internet access while on campus or a movie download.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139117
title: RIAA Says Artists Don’t Need “Moral Rights,” Artists Disagree
uri: RIAA-Says-Artists-Don-t-Need-Moral-Rights-Artists-Disagree
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/YwG29y5Vgvk/
content:
<p><img src="media/db7b975c.copyright-branded.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/copyright-branded.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="164" class="alignright size-full wp-image-56211">Most people who create something like to be credited for their work. Whether you make a video, song, photo, or blog post, it feels &#8216;right&#8217; to receive recognition. </p>
<p>The right to be credited is part of the so-called &#8220;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_rights">moral rights,</a>&#8221; which are baked into many copyright laws around the world, adopted at the international level through the Berne Convention.</p>
<p>However, in the United States, this is not the case. The US didn&#8217;t sign the Berne Convention right away and opted out from the &#8220;moral rights&#8221; provision when they eventually joined it. </p>
<p>Now that the U.S. Copyright Office is looking into ways to improve current copyright law, the issue has been brought to the forefront again. The Government recently launched <a href="https://www.copyright.gov/policy/moralrights/">a consultation</a> to hear the thoughts of various stakeholders, which resulted in several noteworthy contributions. </p>
<p>As it turns out, both the MPAA and RIAA are against the introduction of statutory moral rights for artists. They believe that the current system works well and they fear that it&#8217;s impractical and expensive to credit all creators for their contributions. </p>
<p>The MPAA stresses that new moral rights may make it harder for producers to distribute their work and may violate the First Amendment rights of producers, artists, and third parties who wish to use the work of others.</p>
<p>In the movie industry, many employees are not credited for their work. They get paid, but can&#8217;t claim any &#8220;rights&#8221; to the products they create, something the MPAA wants to keep intact. </p>
<p>&#8220;Further statutory recognition of the moral rights of attribution and integrity risks upsetting this well-functioning system that has made the United States the unrivaled world leader in motion picture production for over a century,&#8221; they stress. </p>
<p>The RIAA has a similar view, although the central argument is somewhat different. </p>
<p>The US record labels say that they do everything they can to generate name recognition for their main artists. However, crediting everyone who&#8217;s involved in making a song, such as the writer, is not always a good idea.</p>
<p>&#8220;A new statutory attribution right, in addition to being unnecessary, would likely have significant unintended consequences,&#8221; the RIAA writes (<a href="media/9cdc2f10.cording_Industry_Association_of_America_Inc_-_Reply_Comments.pdf" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/LF_Recording_Industry_Association_of_America_Inc_-_Reply_Comments.pdf">pdf</a>). </p>
<p>The RIAA explains that the music industry has weathered several dramatic shifts over the past two decades. They argue that the transition from physical to digital music &#8211; and later streaming &#8211; while being confronted with massive piracy, has taken its toll. </p>
<p>There are signs of improvement now, but if moral rights become the standard, the RIAA fears that everything might collapse once gain.</p>
<p>&#8220;After fifteen years of declining revenues, the recorded music industry outlook is finally showing signs of improvement. This fragile recovery results largely from growing consumer adoption of new streaming models..,&#8221; the RIAA writes.</p>
<p>&#8220;We urge the Office to avoid legislative proposals that could hamper this nascent recovery by injecting significant additional risk, uncertainty, and complexity into the recorded music business.&#8221;</p>
<p>According to the RIAA it would be costly for streaming services credit everyone who&#8217;s involved in the creative process. In addition, they simply might not have the screen real estate to pull this off.</p>
<p>&#8220;If a statutory attribution right suddenly required these services to provide attribution to others involved in the creative process, that would presumably require costly changes to their user interfaces and push them up against the size limitations of their display screens.&#8221;  </p>
<p>This means less money for the artists and more clutter on the screen, according to the music group. Music fans probably wouldn&#8217;t want to see the list of everyone who worked on a song anyway, they claim.</p>
<p>&#8220;To continue growing, streaming services must provide a compelling product to consumers. Providing a long list of on-screen attributions would not make for an engaging or useful experience for consumers,&#8221; RIAA writes.</p>
<p>The streaming example is just one of the many issues that may arise, in the eyes of the record labels. They also expect problems with tracks that are played on the radio, or in commercials, where full credits are rarely given. </p>
<p>Interestingly, many of the artists the RIAA claims to represent don&#8217;t agree with the group&#8217;s comments.   </p>
<p>Music Creators North America and The Future of Music Coalition, for example, believe that artists should have statutory moral rights. The latter group argues that, currently, small artists are often powerless against large corporations.</p>
<p>&#8220;Moral rights would serve to alleviate the powerlessness faced by creators who often must relinquish their copyright to make a living from their work. These creators should still be provided some right of attribution and integrity as these affect a creator’s reputation and ultimately livelihood.&#8221; </p>
<p>The Future of Music Coalition disagrees with the paternalistic perspective that the public isn&#8217;t interested in detailed information about the creators of music.</p>
<p>&#8220;While interest levels may vary, a significant portion of the public has a great interest in understanding who exactly contributed to the creation works of art which they admire,&#8221; they write (<a href="media/1d2cfc92.LF_Future_of_Music_Coalition_-_Reply_Comments.pdf" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/LF_Future_of_Music_Coalition_-_Reply_Comments.pdf">pdf</a>).</p>
<p>Knowing who&#8217;s involved requires attribution, so it&#8217;s crucial that this information becomes available, they argue.</p>
<p>&#8220;Music enthusiasts revel in the details of music they adore, but when care is not taken to document and preserve that information, those details can often lost over time and eventually unattainable.&#8221;  </p>
<p>&#8220;To argue that the public generally has a homogenously disinterested opinion of creators is insulting both to the public and to creators,&#8221; The Future of Music Coalition adds.</p>
<p>The above shows that the rights of artists are clearly not always aligned with the interests of record labels. </p>
<p>Interestingly, the RIAA and MPAA do agree with major tech companies and civil rights groups such as EFF and Public Knowledge. These are also against new moral rights, albeit for different reasons.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s now up to the U.S. Copyright Office to determine if change is indeed required, or if everything will remain the same.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139307
title: Copyright Troll Attorney John Steele Disbarred by Illinois Supreme Court
uri: Copyright-Troll-Attorney-John-Steele-Disbarred-by-Illinois-Supreme-Cou
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/fy5gk5PCKtk/
content:
<p><img src="media/17a592c8.trollsign.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/trollsign.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="167" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108977">Over the years, copyright trolls have been accused of involvement in various dubious schemes and actions, but there&#8217;s one group that has gone above and beyond.</p>
<p><a href="http://torrentfreak.com/?s=prenda">Prenda</a> Law grabbed dozens of headlines, mostly surrounding negative court rulings over <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/prenda-spoofs-identity-wants-case-sealed-130815/">identity theft</a>, misrepresentation and even deception.</p>
<p>Most controversial was the shocking revelation that Prenda <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-helps-to-expose-copyright-troll-honeypot-130604/">uploaded their own torrents</a> to The Pirate Bay, creating a honeypot for the people they later sued over pirated downloads.</p>
<p>The allegations also raised the interest of the US Department of Justice, which indicted Prenda principals John Steele and Paul Hansmeier <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/prenda-copyright-trolls-arrested-and-charged-with-fraud-and-extortion-161216/">late last year</a>. The two stand accused of running a multi-million dollar fraud and extortion operation. </p>
<p>A few weeks ago Steele <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/prenda-attorney-pleads-guilty-to-operating-a-piracy-honeypot-170307/">pleaded guilty</a>, admitting among other things that they did indeed use The Pirate Bay to operate a honeypot for online pirates. </p>
<p>Following the guilty plea the Illinois Supreme Court, which started looking into the case <a href="https://fightcopyrighttrolls.com/2015/08/20/ardc-suddenly-remembers-that-there-is-d-in-its-acronym-starts-disciplinary-proceeds-against-john-steele/">long before</a> the indictment, has now decided to disbar the attorney. This means that Steele no longer has the right to practice law.</p>
<p>The decision doesn&#8217;t really come as a surprise. Steele has admitted to two of the 18 counts listed in the indictment, including some of the allegations that were also listed by the Supreme Court.</p>
<p>In its conclusion, the Court lists a variety of misconduct including &#8220;conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation, by conduct including filing lawsuits without supporting facts, under the names of entities like Ingenuity 13 and AF Holdings, which were created by Movant for purposes of exacting settlements.&#8221;   </p>
<p>Also, Steele&#8217;s trolling operation was &#8220;using means that had no substantial purpose other than to embarrass or burden a third person, or using methods of obtaining evidence that violates the legal rights of such a person&#8230;,&#8221; the Supreme Court writes.</p>
<p>Steele was disbarred &#8220;on consent,&#8221; according to <a href="http://cookcountyrecord.com/stories/511117834-prenda-law-s-steele-disbarred-six-other-il-lawyers-also-disbarred-nine-suspended-il-supreme-court-says">Cook County Record</a>, which means that he agreed to have his Illinois law practice license revoked.</p>
<p>The disbarment is not unexpected considering Steele&#8217;s guilty plea. However, victims of the Prenda trolling scheme may still welcome it as a form of justice. Meanwhile, Steele has bigger problems to worry about. </p>
<p>The former Prenda attorney is still awaiting his sentencing in the criminal case. In theory, he faces a statutory maximum sentence of 40 years in prison as well as a criminal fine of hundreds of thousands of dollars. However, by signing a plea agreement, he likely gets a reduced sentence.</p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<p><em>The Illnois Supreme Court conclusions are available here (<a href="media/1c7af9e1.349018124-ARDC-Steele.pdf" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/349018124-ARDC-Steele.pdf">pdf</a>), courtesy of <a href="https://fightcopyrighttrolls.com/2017/05/20/prendas-john-steele-has-been-disbarred/">Fight Copyright Trolls</a>.</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139311
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week on BitTorrent – 05/22/17
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-on-BitTorrent-05-22-17
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/T4o2AnT9iJw/
content:
<p><img src="media/690b399d.logan-e1492372541347.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/logan-e1492372541347.png" alt="" width="300" height="173" class="alignright size-full wp-image-137955">This week we have three newcomers in our chart.</p>
<p>Logan, which came out as DVDRip last week, 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 Web-DL/Webrip/HDRip/BDrip/DVDrip unless stated otherwise.</p>
<p><a href="http://TorrentFreak.com/category/dvdrip/feed/"><strong>RSS feed</strong></a> for the weekly movie download chart.</p>
<h5>This week&#8217;s most downloaded movies are:</h5>
<table class="css hover">
<thead>
<tr>
<th width="12%"><strong>Movie Rank</strong></th>
<th width="15%"><strong>Rank <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-pirated-movies-week-bittorrent-051517/">last week</a></strong></th>
<th><strong>Movie name</strong></th>
<th width="18%"><strong>IMDb Rating / Trailer</strong></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tfoot>
<tr>
<td colspan="4">Most downloaded movies via torrents</td>
</tr>
</tfoot>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>1</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3315342/">Logan</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3315342/">8.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DekuSxJgpbY">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(8)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4630562/">The Fate of the Furious</a> (subbed HDRip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4630562/">6.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XBmsl7wbIQ">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3874544/">The Boss Baby</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3874544/">6.5</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tquIfapGVqs">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1219827/">Ghost in The Shell</a> (Subbed HDRip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1219827/">6.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4VmJcZR0Yg">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3401882/">First Fight</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3401882/">5.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aIzXYo6VCE">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3731562/">Kong: Skull Island</a> (Subbed HDRip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3731562/">7.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44LdLqgOpjo">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2034800/">T2 Trainspotting</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2034800/">7.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsozpEE543w">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2771200/">Beauty and the Beast</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2771200/">7.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3Nl_TCQXuw">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(7)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3731562/">Split</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3731562/">7.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44LdLqgOpjo">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2763304/">The Great Wall</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2763304/">6.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avF6GHyyk5c">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139327
title: Now Anyone Can Embed a Pirate Movie in a Website
uri: Now-Anyone-Can-Embed-a-Pirate-Movie-in-a-Website
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/NM27WgvAbng/
content:
<p><a href="media/096bd33d.streamingkey.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/streamingkey.jpg"><img src="media/468f0769.streamingkey.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/streamingkey.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="167" class="alignright size-full wp-image-125426"></a>While torrents are still the go-to source for millions of users seeking free online media, people are increasingly seeking the immediacy and convenience of web-based streaming.</p>
<p>As a result, hundreds of websites have appeared in recent years, offering Netflix-inspired interfaces that provide an enhanced user experience over the predominantly text-based approach utilized by most torrent sites.</p>
<p>While there hasn&#8217;t been a huge amount of innovation in either field recently, a service that raised its head during recent weeks is offering something new and potentially significant, if it continues to deliver on its promises without turning evil.</p>
<p>Vodlocker.to is the latest in a long list of sites using the Vodlocker name, which is bound to cause some level of confusion. However, what this Vodlocker variant offers is a convenient way for users to not only search for and find movies hosted on the Internet, but stream them instantly &#8211; with a twist.</p>
<p>After entering a movie&#8217;s IMDb code (the one starting &#8216;tt&#8217;) in a box on the page, Vodlocker quickly searches for the movie on various online hosting services, including Google Drive.</p>
<p><center><b>Entering the IMDb code</b><a href="media/5c88b174.vodlock1.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/vodlock1.png"><img src="media/f3f4e466.vodlock1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/vodlock1.png" alt="" width="850" height="660" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-139332"></a></center></p>
<p>&#8220;We believe the complexity of uploading a video has become unnecessary, so we have created much like Google, an automated crawler that visits millions of pages every day to find all videos on the internet,&#8221; the site explains.</p>
<p>As shown in the image above, the site takes the iMDb number and generates code. That allows the user to embed an HTML5 video player in their own website, which plays the movie in question. We tested around a dozen movies with a 100% success rate, with search times from a couple of seconds to around 20 seconds maximum.</p>
<p>A demo on the site shows exactly how the embed code currently performs, with the video player offering the usual controls such as play and pause, with a selector for quality and volume levels. The usual &#8216;full screen&#8217; button sits in the bottom right corner.</p>
<p><center><b>The player can be embedded anywhere</b><a href="media/b795dc25.vodlock2.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/vodlock2.png"><img src="media/170a8666.vodlock2.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/vodlock2.png" alt="" width="799" height="396" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-139339"></a></center></p>
<p>Near the top of the window are options for selecting different sources for the video, should it become unplayable or if a better quality version is required. Interestingly, should one of those sources be Google Video, Vodlocker says its player offers Chromecast and subtitle support.</p>
<p>&#8220;Built-in chromecast plugin streams free HD movies/tv shows from your website to your TV via Google Chromecast. Built-in opensubtitles.org plugin finds subtitles in all languages and auto-selects your language,&#8221; the site reports.</p>
<p>In addition to a link-checker that aims to exclude broken links (missing sources), the service also pulls movie-related artwork from IMDb, to display while the selected movie is being prepared for streaming.</p>
<p>The site is already boasting a &#8220;massive database&#8221; of movies, which will make it of immediate use to thousands of websites that might want to embed movies or TV shows in their web pages.</p>
<p>As long as Vodlocker can cope with the load, this could effectively spawn a thousand new &#8216;pirate&#8217; websites overnight but the service generally seems more suited to smaller, blog-like sites that might want to display a smaller selection of titles.</p>
<p>That being said, it&#8217;s questionable whether a site would seek to become entirely reliant on a service like this. While the videos it indexes are more decentralized, the service itself could be shut down in the blink of an eye, at which point every link stops working.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s also worth noting that the service uses IFrame tags, which some webmasters might feel uncomfortable about deploying on their sites due to security concerns.</p>
<p>The New Vodlocker API demo can be found <a href="http://vodlocker.to/#demo">here</a>, for as long as it lasts.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139429
title: Malicious Subtitles Threaten Kodi, VLC and Popcorn Time Users, Researchers Warn
uri: Malicious-Subtitles-Threaten-Kodi-VLC-and-Popcorn-Time-Users-Researc
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/mFDdvUWEeMk/
content:
<p><img src="media/40fc3a89.warning.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/warning.png" alt="" width="250" height="213" class="alignright size-full wp-image-109065">Online streaming is booming, and applications such as Kodi, Popcorn Time and VLC have millions of daily users. </p>
<p>Some of these use pirated videos, often in combination with subtitles provided by third-party repositories. </p>
<p>While most subtitle makers do no harm, it appears that those with malicious intent can exploit these popular streaming applications to penetrate the devices and systems of these users.</p>
<p>Researchers from Check Point, who uncovered the problem, describe the subtitle &#8216;attack vector&#8217; as the most widespread, easily accessed and zero-resistance vulnerability that has been reported in recent years.</p>
<p>&#8220;By conducting attacks through subtitles, hackers can take complete control over any device running them. From this point on, the attacker can do whatever he wants with the victim’s machine, whether it is a PC, a smart TV, or a mobile device,&#8221; <a href="http://blog.checkpoint.com/2017/05/23/hacked-in-translation/">they write</a>. </p>
<p>&#8220;The potential damage the attacker can inflict is endless, ranging anywhere from stealing sensitive information, installing ransomware, mass Denial of Service attacks, and much more.&#8221;</p>
<p>In a demonstration video, using Popcorn Time, the researchers show how easy it is to compromise the system of a potential victim.</p>
<p><center><strong>A demo of the subtitles vulnerability</strong><br></br></center><center><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vYT_EGty_6A?rel=0&amp;controls=0&amp;showinfo=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center></p>
<p>XBMC Foundation’s Project lead Martijn Kaijser informs TorrentFreak that the Kodi team is aware of the situation, which they will address soon. &#8220;We will release 17.2 which will have the fix this week,&#8221; he told us.</p>
<p>VLC&#8217;s VideoLAN addressed the issue as well, and doesn&#8217;t expect that it is still exploitable.</p>
<p>&#8220;The VLC bug is not exploitable. The first big issue was fixed in 2.2.5. There are 2 other small issues, that will be fixed in 2.2.6,&#8221; VideoLAN informed us.</p>
<p>The team behind PopcornTime.sh found a fix several months ago after the researchers approached them, TorrentFreak is informed. The Popcorn Time team trusts their subtitle provider OpenSubtitles but says that it will now sanitize malicious subtitle files, also those that are added by users.</p>
<p>(Note: Popcorn.sh has not applied all fixes in their stable code, but that will happen later today with version 0.3.11)</p>
<p>The same applies to the Butter project, which is closely related to Popcorn Time. Butter was not contacted by Check Point but their fix is visible in a <a href="https://github.com/butterproject/butter-desktop/commit/0ab1938a69f4277ea9a36b08b8b1b06cd987759c">GitHub commit</a> from February. </p>
<p>&#8220;None of the Butter Project developers were contacted by the research group. We&#8217;d love to have them talk to us if our code is still vulnerable. To the extent of our research it is not, but we&#8217;d like the &#8216;responsible disclosure&#8217; terms to actually mean something,&#8221; The Butter project informs TorrentFreak. </p>
<p>The Check Point researchers expect that other applications may also be affected. They do not disclose any technical details at this point, nor do they state which of the applications successfully addressed the vulnerability.</p>
<p>&#8220;Some of the issues were already fixed, while others are still under investigation. To allow the developers more time to address the vulnerabilities, we’ve decided not to publish any further technical details at this point,&#8221; the researchers state.</p>
<p>More updates will be added if more information becomes available. For now, however, people who regularly use subtitle files should remain vigilant. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139385
title: Reddit’s Piracy Sub-Reddit Reopens After Mutiny Shutdown
uri: Reddit-s-Piracy-Sub-Reddit-Reopens-After-Mutiny-Shutdown
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/EI8nXXnIJ0E/
content:
<p><img src="media/35045417.redditp.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/redditp.png" alt="" width="250" height="186" class="alignright size-full wp-image-125451" srcset="https://torrentfreak.com/images/redditp.png 250w, https://torrentfreak.com/images/redditp-200x150.png 200w" sizes="(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px">For millions of people, Reddit is one of the most popular sources of news online. Arguably, though, the site&#8217;s real value lies with its users.</p>
<p>Like any community, Reddit user comments can range from the brilliantly informed to the deliberately destructive. But, more often than not, the weight of the crowd tends to get to the truth, sometimes with the help of the site&#8217;s moderators.</p>
<p>Each section of Reddit (known as a &#8216;sub-Reddit&#8217;), is dedicated to a particular topic and is controlled by a team of moderators. While mileage can vary, moderators tend to do a good job and are often relied upon to settle disputes and hold errant users to the rules.</p>
<p>Last night in <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Piracy">/r/piracy</a> (a sub-Reddit with close to 100,000 subscribers) one moderator went rogue, which resulted in the sub-Reddit being shut down.</p>
<p>According to one of the moderators now in charge of /r/piracy, a now-former moderator by the name of Samewhiterabbits committed a sin by using the sub-Reddit to further his own agenda. &#8216;Dysgraphical&#8217; says that the problems started when Samewhiterabbits began heavily spamming the &#8216;sub&#8217; with links to his own streaming website projects.</p>
<p>Apparently, this has been going on for some time, with Samewhiterabbits standing accused of launching, promoting and spamming websites that have the same names as existing and/or defunct platforms, but claiming them to be the real deal.</p>
<p>&#8220;Samewhiterabbits is using r/Piracy as a platform to spam his monetized website forks which he claims as official,&#8221; Dysgraphical said in a statement.</p>
<p>&#8220;This isn&#8217;t recent activity but rather his model. He capitalizes from streaming sites that were shutdown and spams his new domain(s) as the new home for the aforementioned streaming site.</p>
<p>&#8220;This moderator explicitly deletes competing stream sites and uses alternative account(s) to spam his monetized stream sites. It is not only blatant spam, but censorship as well.&#8221;</p>
<p>After another post appeared promoting &#8216;popular streaming sites&#8217; that the /r/piracy team as a whole had no hand in, moderators including Dysgraphical and TheWalkingTroll stepped in to sort out the problem.</p>
<p>They were met with resistance, with Samewhiterabbit &#8211; who still had moderator powers &#8211; taking several popular threads &#8216;hostage&#8217; and stopping the rest of the mod team from ending the wave of misleading spam.</p>
<p>&#8220;He has held several threads hostage by locking/removing them to censor any critique or mention of his shady wrongdoings. With limited moderation privileges, the most we can do at the moment is delete his threads,&#8221; Dysgraphical reported last night.</p>
<p>While sorting out the problem, /r/piracy was shutdown or, more accurately, made &#8216;private&#8217;. Then, in order to move forward, the moderators applied for more power (known as &#8216;permissions&#8217; in forum speak) to remove the errant mod from the team.</p>
<p>To achieve that, an application was made to Reddit&#8217;s admins (those at the top of the site) who responded extremely quickly to help sort out the mess.</p>
<p>&#8220;A few of us now have full permissions. Thankfully the admins were rather quick in their response (given they can take several days) and we got this sorted quickly,&#8221; Dysgraphical <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Piracy/comments/6cq7zk/update_on_rpiracy_shutdown/dhwnaxt/">reports</a>.</p>
<p>Once that power was in the right hands, justice was served in the manner determined by the rest of the team. A few hours ago, Samewhiterabbits was reported banned from /r/piracy and everything started to get back to normal.</p>
<p>While online &#8216;drama&#8217; like this predates the Internet, this particular situation does highlight the importance of having responsible moderators on any discussion platform. There is often an assumption that these figures are in authority because they can be trusted, but that is not necessarily so.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139462
title: Alleged KickassTorrents Founder Released on Bail
uri: Alleged-KickassTorrents-Founder-Released-on-Bail
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/tcNraseOIXo/
content:
<p><img src="media/75141223.kickasstorrents_500x500-300x300.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/kickasstorrents_500x500-300x300.png" alt="kickasstorrents_500x500" width="222" height="222" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-96995" srcset="https://torrentfreak.com/images/kickasstorrents_500x500-300x300.png 300w, https://torrentfreak.com/images/kickasstorrents_500x500-150x150.png 150w, https://torrentfreak.com/images/kickasstorrents_500x500.png 500w" sizes="(max-width: 222px) 100vw, 222px">Last summer, Polish law enforcement officers <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/feds-seize-kickasstorrents-domains-charge-owner-160720/">arrested Artem Vaulin</a>, the alleged founder of KickassTorrents. </p>
<p>Polish authorities acted on a criminal complaint from the US Government, which accused him of criminal copyright infringement and money laundering.</p>
<p>Facing <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/alleged-kickasstorrents-owner-leaves-prison-hospital-161210/">severe back problems</a>, Vaulin was transferred to a hospital in December, and he later continued treatment in a Warsaw prison while awaiting progress in his extradition case.</p>
<p>After being held in custody for nearly ten months, a breakthrough came last week when Vaulin was released on bail. <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/23/15681160/kickasstorrents-founder-artem-vaulin-interview-bittorrent">The Verge reports</a> that bail was set at $108,000 and that the alleged KickassTorrents founder now lives in a rented appartment in Warsaw.</p>
<p>Vaulin isn&#8217;t allowed to leave the country, but will be enjoying relative freedom, and most importantly, the company of his wife and son.</p>
<p>Two days before his release, The Verge&#8217;s Greg Sandoval spoke with Vaulin, who couldn&#8217;t go into detail on his alleged involvement with KickassTorrents. However, the Ukrainian entrepreneur stressed that he wasn&#8217;t looking for trouble.</p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m a businessman. When I start a business I consult lawyers. I was never told that anything I was involved in was against the law,&#8221; Vaulin told Sandoval.</p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not crazy. If someone came to me to tell me the United States was angry with something I do, whatever it was, I would stop,&#8221; he added.</p>
<p>While life on bail is a great improvement compared to the conditions in prison, the case is not over yet. <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/alleged-kickasstorrents-owner-can-be-extradited-to-the-us-court-rules-170301/">In March</a>, the Warsaw District Court ruled in first instance that Vaulin can be extradited, but the second instance decision is still pending.</p>
<p>Over in the United States, the defense team also has a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/kickasstorrents-defense-torrents-are-not-copyrighted-content-us-has-no-case-161018/">motion pending</a>. In February, Vaulin&#8217;s lawyers urged the Illinois District Court to dismiss the indictment because there’s no proof of actual criminal copyright infringement.</p>
<p>Lead counsel Ira Rothken is happy that his client has been released on bail, and he&#8217;s confident that they will appear as victors down the road.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are pleased that the Court freed Artem Vaulin from prison in Poland. This will allow him to better take care of his health, be with his family, and assist in his defense,&#8221; Rothken tells TorrentFreak.  </p>
<p>&#8220;We look forward to the US Federal Court ruling on his pending motion to dismiss. If the US indictment is defective then extradition based on the indictment is erroneous &#8211; Artem shouldn&#8217;t have to leave his family behind,&#8221; he adds.</p>
<p>The full <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/23/15681160/kickasstorrents-founder-artem-vaulin-interview-bittorrent">coverage</a> on The Verge has some additional comments from the alleged KAT founder, which is well worth reading.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139460
title: No, ExtraTorrent Has Not Been Resurrected
uri: No-ExtraTorrent-Has-Not-Been-Resurrected
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/hh2Mfx7qCoE/
content:
<p><img src="media/a8a18fbe.extratorrent.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/extratorrent.png" alt="" width="298" height="98" class="alignright size-full wp-image-123631">Last week the torrent community entered a state of shock when another major torrent site closed its doors. </p>
<p>Having served torrents to the masses for over a decade, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/extratorrent-shuts-down-for-good-170517/">ExtraTorrent decided to throw in the towel</a>, without providing any detail or an apparent motive.</p>
<p>The only strong message sent out by ExtraTorrent&#8217;s operator was to  &#8220;stay away from fake ExtraTorrent websites and clones.&#8221;</p>
<p>Fast forward a few days and the first copycats have indeed appeared online. While this was expected, it&#8217;s always disappointing to see &#8220;news&#8221; sites including the likes of Forbes and The Inquirer are giving them exposure without doing thorough research.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are a group of uploaders and admins from ExtraTorrent. As you know, SAM from ExtraTorrent pulled the plug yesterday and took all data offline under pressure from authorities. We were in deep shock and have been working hard to get it back online with all previous data,&#8221; the email, sent out to several news outlets read.</p>
<p>What followed was a flurry of &#8216;ExtraTorrent is back&#8217; articles and thanks to those, a lot of people now think that Extratorrent.cd is a true resurrection operated by the site&#8217;s former staffers and fans. </p>
<p>However, aside from its appearance, the site has absolutely nothing to do with ET.</p>
<p>The site is an imposter operated by the same people who also <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/popular-kat-mirror-is-in-reality-a-dressed-up-pirate-bay-mirror-160805/">launched Kickass.cd</a> when KAT went offline last summer. In fact, the content on both sites doesn&#8217;t come from the defunct sites they try to replace, but from The Pirate Bay.</p>
<p>Yes indeed, ExtraTorrent.cd is nothing more than a Pirate Bay mirror with an ExtraTorrent skin.</p>
<p>There are several signs clearly showing that the torrents come from The Pirate Bay. Most easy to spot, perhaps, is a comparison of search results which are identical on both sites. </p>
<p><center><strong>Chaparall seach on Extratorrent.cd</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/873b25d0.exchapa-e1495612742805.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/exchapa-e1495612742805.png" alt="" width="600" height="139" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-139484"></center></p>
<p>The ExtraTorrent &#8220;resurrection&#8221; even lists TPB&#8217;s oldest active torrent from March 2004, which was apparently uploaded long before the original ExtraTorrent was launched.</p>
<p><center><strong>Chaparall search on TPB</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/230caeb3.tpbchapa.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpbchapa.png" alt="" width="848" height="215" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-139485"></center></p>
<p>TorrentFreak is in touch with proper ex-staffers of ExtraTorrent who agree that the site is indeed a copycat. Some ex-staffers are considering the launch of a new ET version, just like the KAT admins did in the past, but if that happens, it will take a lot more time.</p>
<p>&#8220;At the moment we are all figuring out how to go about getting it back up and running in a proper fashion, but as you can imagine there a lot of obstacles and arguments, lol,&#8221; ex-ET admin Soup informed us.</p>
<p>So, for now, there is no real resurrection. ExtraTorrent.cd sells itself as much more than it is, as it did with Kickass.cd. While the site doesn&#8217;t have any malicious intent, aside from luring old ET members under false pretenses, people have the right to know what it really is. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139408
title: Was The Disney Movie ‘Hacking Ransom’ a Giant Hoax?
uri: Was-The-Disney-Movie-Hacking-Ransom-a-Giant-Hoax
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/FogIqNOsmq0/
content:
<p><a href="media/dab215ee.disney-pirate.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/disney-pirate.jpg"><img src="media/c11b076f.disney-pirate.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/disney-pirate.jpg" alt="" width="275" height="222" class="alignright size-full wp-image-95935"></a>Last Monday, during a town hall meeting in New York, Disney CEO Bob Iger informed a group of ABC employees that hackers had stolen one of the company’s movies.</p>
<p>The hackers allegedly said they&#8217;d keep the leak private if Disney paid them a ransom. In response, Disney indicated that it had no intention of paying. Setting dangerous precedents in this area is unwise, the company no doubt figured.</p>
<p>After Hollywood Reporter <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/disney-chief-bob-iger-says-hackers-claim-have-stolen-a-disney-movie-1003949">broke the news</a>, Deadline followed up with a <a href="http://deadline.com/2017/05/pirates-of-the-caribbean-dead-men-tell-no-tales-hackers-ransom-1202094203/">report</a> which further named the movie as ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales’, a fitting movie to parallel an emerging real-life swashbuckling plot, no doubt.</p>
<p>What the Deadline article didn&#8217;t do was offer any proof that Pirates 5 was the movie in question. Out of the blue, however, it did mention that a purported earlier leak of The Last Jedi had been revealed by &#8220;online chatter&#8221; to be a fake. Disney refused to comment.</p>
<p>Armed with this information, TF decided to have a dig around. Was Pirates 5 being discussed within release groups as being available, perhaps? Initially, our inquiries drew a complete blank but then out of the blue we found ourselves in conversation with the person claiming to be the Disney &#8216;hacker&#8217;.</p>
<p>&#8220;I can provide the original emails sent to Disney as well as some other unknown details,&#8221; he told us via encrypted mail.</p>
<p>We immediately asked several questions. Was the movie &#8216;Pirates 5&#8217;? How did he obtain the movie? How much did he try to extort from Disney? &#8216;EMH,&#8217; as we&#8217;ll call him, quickly replied.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s The Last Jedi. Bob Iger never made public the title of the film, Deadline was just going off and naming the next film on their release slate,&#8221; we were told. &#8220;We demanded 2BTC per month until September.&#8221;</p>
<p>TF was then given copies of correspondence that EMH had been having with numerous parties about the alleged leak. They included discussions with various release groups, a cyber-security expert, and Disney.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/402bb13b.disneyemail1.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/disneyemail1.png"><img src="media/f8faace5.disneyemail1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/disneyemail1.png" alt="" width="800" height="1422" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-139497"></a></center></p>
<p>As seen in the screenshot, the email was purportedly sent to Disney on May 1. The Hollywood Reporter article, published two weeks later, noted the following;</p>
<p>&#8220;The Disney chief said the hackers demanded that a huge sum be paid in Bitcoin. They said they would release five minutes of the film at first, and then in 20-minute chunks until their financial demands are met,&#8221; HWR wrote.</p>
<p>While the email to Disney looked real enough, the proof of any leaked pudding is in the eating. We asked EMH how he had demonstrated to Disney that he actually has the movie in his possession. Had screenshots or clips been sent to the company? We were initially told they had not (plot twists were revealed instead) so this immediately raised suspicions.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, EMH then went on to suggest that release groups had shown interest in the copy and he proved that by forwarding his emails with them to TF.</p>
<p>&#8220;Make sure they know there is still work to be done on the CGI characters. There are little dots on their faces that are visible. And the colour grading on some scenes looks a little off,&#8221; EMH told one group, who said they understood.</p>
<p>&#8220;They all understand its not a completed workprint.. that is why they are sought after by buyers.. exclusive stuff nobody else has or can get,&#8221; they wrote back.</p>
<p>&#8220;That why they pay big $$$ for it.. a completed WP could b worth $25,000,&#8221; the group&#8217;s unedited response reads.</p>
<p>But despite all the emails and discussion, we were still struggling to see how EMH had shown to anyone that he really had The Last Jedi. We then learned, however, that screenshots had been sent to blogger <a href="https://about.me/sbraidley">Sam Braidley</a>, a Cyber Security MSc and Computer Science BSc Graduate.</p>
<p>Since the information sent to us by EMH confirmed discussion had taken place with Braidley concerning the workprint, we contacted him directly to find out what he knew about the supposed Pirates 5 and/or The Last Jedi leak. He was very forthcoming.</p>
<p>&#8220;A user going by the username of &#8216;Darkness&#8217; commented <a href="https://sbraidley.com/">on my blog</a> about having a leaked copy of The Last Jedi from a contact he knew from within Lucas Films. Of course, this garnered a lot of interest, although most were cynical of its authenticity,&#8221; Braidley explained.</p>
<p>The claim that &#8216;Darkness&#8217; had obtained the copy from a contact within Lucas was certainly of interest ,since up to now the press narrative had been that Disney or one of its affiliates had been &#8216;hacked.&#8217;</p>
<p>After confirming that &#8216;Darkness&#8217; used the same email as our &#8220;EMH,&#8221; we asked EMH again. Where had the movie been obtained from?</p>
<p>&#8220;Wasn&#8217;t hacked. Was given to me by a friend who works at a post production company owned by [Lucasfilm],&#8221; EMH said. After further prompting he reiterated: &#8220;As I told you, we obtained it from an employee.&#8221;</p>
<p>If they weren&#8217;t ringing loudly enough already, alarm bells were now well and truly clanging. Who would reveal where they&#8217;d obtained a super-hot leaked movie from when the &#8216;friend&#8217; is only one step removed from the person attempting the extortion? Who would take such a massive risk?</p>
<p>Braidley wasn&#8217;t buying it either.</p>
<p>&#8220;I had my doubts following the recent [Orange is the New Black] leak from &#8216;The Dark Overlord,&#8217; it seemed like someone trying to live off the back of its press success,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>Braidley told TF that Darkness/EMH seemed keen for him to validate the release, as a member of a well-known release group didn&#8217;t believe that it was real, something TF confirmed with the member. A screenshot was duly sent over to Braidley for his seal of approval.</p>
<p>&#8220;The quality was very low and the scene couldn&#8217;t really show that it was in fact Star Wars, let alone The Last Jedi,&#8221; Braidley recalls, noting that other screenshots were considered not to be from the movie in question either.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, Darkness/EMH later told Braidley that another big release group had only declined to release the movie due to the possiblity of security watermarks being present in the workprint.</p>
<p>Since no groups had heard of a credible Pirates 5 leak, the claims that release groups were in discussion over the leaking of The Last Jedi intrigued us. So, through trusted sources and direct discussion with members, we tried to learn more.</p>
<p>While all groups admitted being involved or at least being aware of discussions taking place, none appeared to believe that a movie had been obtained from Disney, was being held for ransom, or would ever be leaked.</p>
<p>&#8220;Bullshit!&#8221; one told us. &#8220;Fake news,&#8221; said another.</p>
<p>With not even well-known release groups believing that leaks of The Last Jedi or Pirates 5 are anywhere on the horizon, that brought us full circle to the original statement by Disney chief Bob Iger claiming that a movie had been stolen.</p>
<p>What we do know for sure is that everything reported initially by Hollywood Reporter about a ransom demand matches up with statements made by Darkness/EMH to TorrentFreak, Braidley, and several release groups. We also know from copy emails obtained by TF that the discussions with the release groups took place well before HWR broke the story.</p>
<p>With Disney not commenting on the record to either HWR or Deadline (publications known to be Hollywood-friendly) it seemed unlikely that TF would succeed where they had failed.</p>
<p>So, without comprimising any of our sources, we gave a basic outline of our findings to a previously receptive Disney contact, in an effort to tie Darkness/EMH with the email address that he told us Disney already knew. Predictably, perhaps, we received no response.</p>
<p>At this point one has to wonder. If no credible evidence of a leak has been made available and the threats to leak the movie haven&#8217;t been followed through on, what was the point of the whole affair?</p>
<p>Money appears to have been the motive, but it seems likely that none will be changing hands. But would someone really bluff the leaking of a movie to a company like Disney in order to get a &#8216;ransom&#8217; payment or scam a release group out of a few dollars? Perhaps. </p>
<p>Braidley informs TF that Darkness/EMH recently claimed that he&#8217;d had the copy of The Last Jedi since March but never had any intention of leaking it. He did, however, need money for a personal matter involving a family relative.</p>
<p>With this in mind, we asked Darkness/EMH why he&#8217;d failed to carry through with his threats to leak the movie, bit by bit, as his email to Disney claimed. He said there was never any intention of leaking the movie &#8220;until we are sure it wont be traced back&#8221; but &#8220;if the right group comes forward and meets our strict standards then the leak could come as soon as 2-3 weeks.&#8221;</p>
<p>With that now seeming increasingly unlikely (but hey, you never know), this might be the final chapter in what turns out to be the famous hacking of Disney that never was. Or, just maybe, undisclosed aces remain up sleeves.</p>
<p>&#8220;Just got another comment on my blog from [Darkness],&#8221; Braidley told TF this week. &#8220;He now claims that the Emoji movie has been leaked and is being held to ransom.&#8221;</p>
<p>Simultaneously he was telling TF the same thing. &#8216;Hacking&#8217; announcement from Sony coming soon? Stay tuned&#8230;..</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139516
title: Facebook Bans Sale of Piracy-Enabling Products & Devices
uri: Facebook-Bans-Sale-of-Piracy-Enabling-Products-Devices
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/wz_hM4wqOUU/
content:
<p><a href="media/f758d45c.facebook-pirate-1.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/facebook-pirate-1.jpg"><img src="media/139ebf81.facebook-pirate-1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/facebook-pirate-1.jpg" alt="" width="234" height="122" class="alignright size-full wp-image-139520"></a>Riding the crest of a wave made possible by the rise of Internet streaming, piracy-enabled set-top boxes and similar devices have been hitting the homes of millions around the globe.</p>
<p>Often given the broad title of &#8216;Kodi Boxes&#8217; after the legal open source software that commonly comes pre-installed, these devices are regularly configured for piracy with the aid of third-party addons.</p>
<p>Easy to use, set-top devices have opened up piracy to a whole new audience, normalizing it during the process. It&#8217;s a problem now being grappled with by anti-piracy outfits in a number of ways, including putting pressure on services where the boxes are being sold.</p>
<p>Now there are signs that Facebook has decided &#8211; or more likely been persuaded &#8211; to ban the sale of these devices from its platform. The latest addition to its Commerce Policy carries a new rule (13) which targets infringing set-top boxes almost perfectly.</p>
<p>&#8220;Items, products or services sold on Facebook must comply with our Community Standards, as well as the Commerce Policies,&#8221; the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/policies/commerce">page reads</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;Sale of the following is prohibited on Facebook: Products or items that facilitate or encourage unauthorized access to digital media.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><a href="media/d1cd10bf.face-rules.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/face-rules.png"><img src="media/b167c4c0.face-rules.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/face-rules.png" alt="" width="962" height="287" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-139518"></a></center></p>
<p>The move by Facebook follows <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/amazon-bans-sales-of-pirate-media-players-will-destroy-them-170331/">similar overtures</a> from Amazon back in March. In a change to its policies, the company said that devices that promote or facilitate infringement would not be tolerated.</p>
<p>“Products offered for sale on Amazon should not promote, suggest the facilitation of, or actively enable the infringement of or unauthorized access to digital media or other protected content,&#8221; Amazon said.</p>
<p>&#8220;Any streaming media player or other device that violates this policy is prohibited from sale on Amazon,&#8221; the company added.</p>
<p>The recent move by Facebook was <a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/tech/facebook-latest-online-retailer-ban-10491800">welcomed</a> by Federation Against Copyright Theft chief, Kieron Sharp.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is great to see Facebook follow the likes of Amazon and eBay in making changes to their policies to prohibit the sale of illicit streaming devices on their platforms,&#8221; Sharpe said.</p>
<p>&#8220;These days social media sites are more than just a place to share photos and comments with friends and family. Unfortunately, the fast-paced development of these sites are being exploited by opportunists for criminal activity which needs to be disrupted.&#8221;</p>
<p>The sale of infringing devices on social media does indeed pose a challenge to the likes of FACT.</p>
<p>While most piracy devices have traditionally needed an expert touch to configure and then sell, in 2017 almost anyone can buy a standard Android device and set it up for piracy in a matter of minutes. This means that every interested citizen is a potential seller and Facebook provides a perfect platform that people are already familiar with.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, recent rulings from the EU Court of Justice have clarified two key issues, both of which will help in the fight to reduce the availability of &#8216;pirate&#8217; boxes, wherever they appear. </p>
<p>In April, the ECJ declared such devices <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/selling-piracy-configured-media-players-is-illegal-eu-court-rules-170426/">illegal to sell</a> while clarifying that users who stream pirate content to their homes are also breaking the law.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s unlikely that any end users will be punished (particularly to the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/no-kodi-users-are-not-risking-ten-years-in-prison-170507/">ridiculous extent</a> erroneously reported by some media), but it certainly helps to demonstrate illegality across the board when outfits like FACT are <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/what-now-for-pirate-boxes-streaming-following-the-ecj-ruling-170429/">considering prosecutions</a>.  </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139113
title: Pirate Site Pubfilm Taunts Hollywood With Domain Name Whac-A-Mole
uri: Pirate-Site-Pubfilm-Taunts-Hollywood-With-Domain-Name-Whac-A-Mole
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/UL6XD5dbcCA/
content:
<p><img src="media/846b9e72.pubfilmlarger.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pubfilmlarger.png" alt="" width="249" height="119" class="alignright size-full wp-image-136412">In recent years, most large pirate sites have faced domain name issues of some kind, which can be quite frustrating.</p>
<p>Copyright holders realize that going after a website&#8217;s domain name is a good way to decrease its traffic. Eventually, the site owner might even give up entirely. </p>
<p>The major Hollywood studios might have had this in mind as one of their main goals when they filed a complaint against the pirate site Pubfilm earlier this year. </p>
<p>The lawsuit was <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/secret-mpaa-lawsuit-targeted-domains-of-pubfilms-piracy-ring-170313/">kept sealed</a> initially, to prevent Pubfilm&#8217;s operator from moving to a new domain preemptively, hoping that this would maximize the effect. This worked, as the site was taken by surprise when it lost its domain name through a court order. However, Pubfilm didn&#8217;t throw in the towel.</p>
<p>Soon after the pubfilm.com domain name was suspended, the site moved to pubfilm.ac. And that wasn&#8217;t all. Pubfilm also started to actively advertise its new domain <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-streaming-site-loses-domain-advertises-new-one-on-adsense-170305/">through Google Adsense</a>, something we had never witnessed before.</p>
<p>Fast forward a few weeks and Pubfilm is still around, and so is the lawsuit. While the Hollywood studios managed to have the new .ac and .io domains suspended, Pubfilm is still not backing off. </p>
<p>Instead, the pirate streaming site now has a series of alternative domain names people can use to access the site. </p>
<p>Pubfilm.is is the main domain name since yesterday, but the operator also has Pubfilm.ru, Pubfilm.eu and Pubfilm.su in hand. These alternatives are actively advertised on the website, so users know where to go if the current domain is suspended.</p>
<p>&#8220;Alternative domain names: PUBFILM.IS PUBFILM.EU PUBFILM.RU PUBFILM.SU. Any other domains are fake!!&#8221; a notice on the site reads.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/d30828bc.pubfilmfake.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pubfilmfake.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="303" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-139357"></center></p>
<p>The domain name whac-a-mole is reminiscent of a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-is-back-to-square-one-after-months-of-domain-hopping-151231/">similar situation</a> The Pirate Bay was in two years ago. At the time, the notorious torrent site rotated close to a dozen domain names, before going back to its original .org gTLD.</p>
<p>The difference with Pubfilm, however, is that Hollywood has a US court order which they can wave at registrars and registries. This makes it easier to have domains suspended, although that&#8217;s not guaranteed.</p>
<p>We expect that other pirate sites will keep a close eye on the current situation. Instead of crushing Pubfilm, MPAA&#8217;s lawsuit may turn into a field experiment to see what domain names are safe from a US court order, which is not something Hollywood hoped for.</p>
<p>To be continued. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139525
title: Copyright Troll Piracy ‘Witness’ Went Back to the Future – and Lost
uri: Copyright-Troll-Piracy-Witness-Went-Back-to-the-Future-and-L
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/7QgIeCo_W80/
content:
<p><a href="media/729747e2.facepalm.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/facepalm.jpg"><img src="media/50fb18c6.facepalm.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/facepalm.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="158" class="alignright size-full wp-image-127813"></a>Since the early 2000s, copyright trolls have been attempting to squeeze cash from pirating Internet users and fifteen years later the practice is still going strong.</p>
<p>While there&#8217;s little doubt that trolls catch some genuine infringers in their nets, the claim that actions are all about protecting copyrights is a shallow one. The aim is to turn piracy into profit and history has shown us that the bigger the operation, the more likely it is they&#8217;ll cut corners to cut costs.</p>
<p>The notorious Guardaley trolling operation is a prime example. After snaring the IP addresses of hundreds of thousands of Internet users, the company extracts cash settlements in the United States, Europe and beyond. It&#8217;s a project of industrial scale based on intimidation of alleged infringers. But, when those people fight back, the scary trolls suddenly become less so.</p>
<p>The latest case of Guardaley running for the hills comes courtesy of SJD from troll-watching site <a href="https://fightcopyrighttrolls.com/2017/05/24/copyright-trolls-expert-daniel-macek-declares-that-he-observed-infringements-that-didnt-take-place-yet/#more-15502">FightCopyrightTrolls</a>, who reports on an attempt by Guardaley partner Criminal Productions to extract settlement from Zach Bethke, an alleged downloader of the Ryan Reynolds movie, Criminal.</p>
<p>On May 12, Bethke&#8217;s lawyer, J. Christopher Lynch, informed Criminal Productions&#8217; lawyer David A. Lowe that Bethke is entirely innocent.</p>
<p>&#8220;Neither Mr. Bethke nor his girlfriend copied your client’s movie and they do not know who, if anyone, may have done so,&#8221; Lynch wrote.</p>
<p>&#8220;Mr. Bethke does not use BitTorrent. Prior to this lawsuit, Mr. Bethke had never heard of your client’s movie and he has no interest in it. If he did have any interest in it, he could have rented it for no marginal cost using his Netflix or Amazon Prime accounts.&#8221;</p>
<p>Lynch went on to request that Criminal Productions drop the case. Failing that, he said, things would probably get more complicated. As <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/copyright-troll-backs-down-when-faced-with-exposure-161109/">reported</a> last year, Lynch and Lowe have been regularly locking horns over these cases, with Lynch largely coming out on top.</p>
<p>Part of Lynch&#8217;s strategy has been to shine light on Guardaley&#8217;s often shadowy operations. He previously noted that its investigators were not properly licensed to operate in the U.S. and the company had been found to put forward a fictitious witness, among other things.</p>
<p>In the past, these efforts to bring Guardaley out into the open have resulted in its clients&#8217;, which include several film companies, dropping cases. Lynch, it appears, wants that to happen again in Bethke&#8217;s case, noting in his letter that it&#8217;s &#8220;long past due for a judge to question the qualifications&#8221; of the company&#8217;s so-called technical experts.</p>
<p>In doing so he calls Guardaley&#8217;s evidence into account once more, noting inconsistencies in the way alleged infringements were supposedly &#8220;observed&#8221; by &#8220;foreign investigator[s], with a direct financial interest in the matter.&#8221;</p>
<p>One of Lynch&#8217;s findings is that the &#8220;observations&#8221; of two piracy investigators overlap each others&#8217; monitoring periods in separate cases, while reportedly monitoring the same torrent hash.</p>
<p>&#8220;Both declarations cover the same &#8216;hash number&#8217; of the movie, i.e. the same soak. This overlap seems impossible if we stick with the fictions of the Complaint and Motion for Expedited Discovery that the declarant &#8216;observed&#8217; the defendant &#8216;infringing&#8217;,&#8221; Lynch notes.</p>
<p>While these are interesting points, the quality of evidence presented by Guardaley and Criminal Productions is really called into question following another revelation. Daniel Macek, an &#8216;observing&#8217; investigator used in numerous Guardaley cases, apparently has a unique talent.</p>
<p>As seen from the image below, the alleged infringements relating to Mr. Bethke&#8217;s case were carried out between June 25 and 28, 2016.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/0ad427c6.bethke1.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/bethke1.png"><img src="media/309e1e6f.bethke1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/bethke1.png" alt="" width="660" height="399" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-139549"></a></center></p>
<p>However, the declaration <em>(<a href="media/76326ea0.cod-16-cv-01761-wyd-meh-document-4-1.pdf" data-original-source="https://fightcopyrighttrolls.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/cod-16-cv-01761-wyd-meh-document-4-1.pdf">pdf</a>)</em> filed with the Court on witness Macek&#8217;s behalf was signed and dated either June 14 or 16, more than a week before the infringements allegedly took place.</p>
<p>Time-traveler? Lynch thinks not.</p>
<p>&#8220;How can a witness sign a declaration that he observed something BEFORE it happened?&#8221; he writes.</p>
<p>&#8220;Criminal Productions submitted four such Declarations of Mr. Macek that were executed BEFORE the dates of the accompanying typed up list of observations that Mr. Macek swore that he made.</p>
<p>&#8220;Unless Daniel Macek is also Marty McFly, it is impossible to execute a declaration claiming to observe something that has yet to happen.&#8221;  </p>
<p>So what could explain this strange phenomenon? Lynch believes he&#8217;s got to the bottom of that one too.</p>
<p>After comparing all four Macek declarations, he found that aside from the case numbers, the dates and signatures were identical. Instead of taking the issue of presenting evidence before the Court seriously, he believes Criminal Productions and partner Guardaley have been taking short cuts.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/1ab67db5.macek-1.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/macek-1.png"><img src="media/c21fb024.macek-1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/macek-1.png" alt="" width="600" height="900" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-139551"></a></center></p>
<p>&#8220;From  our  review,  it  appears  these  metaphysical  Macek  declarations  are  not  just  temporally improper, they are also photocopies, including the signatures not separately executed,&#8221; he notes.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are astonished by your client’s foreign representatives’ apparent lack of respect for our federal judicial system. Use of duplicate signatures from a witness testifying to events that have yet to happen is on the same level of horror as the use of a fictitious witness and &#8216;his&#8217; initials as a convenience to obtain subpoenas.&#8221;</p>
<p>Not entirely unexpectedly, five days later the case against Bethke and other defendants was voluntarily dismissed <em>(<a href="media/4bb78d14.wawd-16-cv-01647-raj-document-27.pdf" data-original-source="https://fightcopyrighttrolls.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/wawd-16-cv-01647-raj-document-27.pdf">pdf</a>)</em>, indicating once again that like vampires, trolls do not like the light. Other lawyers defending similar cases globally should take note.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139379
title: Sean Parker’s ‘Screening Room’ Patents Anti-Piracy Technologies
uri: Sean-Parker-s-Screening-Room-Patents-Anti-Piracy-Technologies
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/qChXfUY9MLk/
content:
<p><img src="media/c283851d.screening-300x200.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/screening-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-104521"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Parker">Sean Parker</a> is no stranger when it comes to online piracy. </p>
<p>The American entrepreneur, who co-founded the file-sharing application Napster, brought copyright infringement to the masses at the turn of the last century.</p>
<p>Fast forward two decades, during which he also served as Facebook&#8217;s first president, Parker is back with another controversial idea. </p>
<p>With his latest project, known as the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/napster-founder-offer-new-movies-at-home-for-50-per-shot-160310/">Screening Room</a>, he wants to pipe the latest blockbusters into homes on the day they&#8217;re released. For $50 per movie, people should be able to watch new films on their own screens, instead of going to a movie theater.</p>
<p>The project has been praised by some and criticized by others. Several movie industry insiders are skeptical because <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/james-cameron-theater-experience-key-to-containing-piracy-160727/">they believe</a> movies should be seen on the big screen. Others fear that Screening Room will provide quick, quality content <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/napster-founders-movie-plan-will-fuel-torrent-sites-theaters-say-160316/">for pirate sites</a>.</p>
<p>Given the Napster connection, Parker and his colleagues are particularly aware of these piracy fears. This is likely one of the reasons why they plan to ship their system with advanced anti-piracy technology. </p>
<p>Over the past several weeks, Screening Room Media, Inc. has submitted no less than eight patent applications related to its plans, all with some sort of anti-piracy angle.</p>
<p>For example, a patent <a href="media/79802a10.sonicscreeen.pdf" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/sonicscreeen.pdf">titled</a> &#8220;Presenting Sonic Signals to Prevent Digital Content Misuse&#8221; describes a technology where acoustic signals are regularly sent to mobile devices, to confirm that the user is near the set-top box and is authorized to play the content.</p>
<p>Similarly, the &#8220;Monitoring Nearby Mobile Computing Devices to Prevent Digital Content Misuse&#8221; patent, describes a system that detects the number of mobile devices near the client-side device, to make sure that too many people aren&#8217;t tuning in.</p>
<p><center><strong>Screening Room patents</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/4ebd698a.screeningpatents.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/screeningpatents.png" alt="" width="602" height="166" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-139407"></center></p>
<p>The patents are rather technical and can be applied to a wide variety of systems. It&#8217;s clear, however, that the setup Screening Room has in mind will have advanced anti-piracy capabilities.</p>
<p>The general technology outlined in the patents also includes forensic watermarking and a &#8220;P2P polluter.&#8221; The watermarking technology can be used to detect when pirated content spreads outside of the protected network onto the public Internet.</p>
<p>&#8220;At this point, the member&#8217;s movie accessing system will be shut off and quarantined. If the abuse or illicit activity is confirmed, the member and the household will be banned from the content distribution network,&#8221; the patent reads. </p>
<p><center><strong>P2P polluter, and more</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/dc8be8f0.Screenpolluter.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/Screenpolluter.png" alt="" width="600" height="193" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-139409"></center></p>
<p>The P2P polluter will then begin to flood file-sharing networks with corrupted content if a movie leaks to the public.</p>
<p>&#8220;Therefore, immediately &#8216;diluting&#8217; the infringement to a rate that would be extraordinarily frustrating, if not impossible, for further piracy of that copy to take place.&#8221; </p>
<p>As if that wasn&#8217;t enough, Screening Room&#8217;s system also comes with a wide range of other anti-piracy scans built in. Among other things, it regularly scans the Wi-Fi network to see which devices are connected, and Bluetooth is used to check what other devices are near. </p>
<p>All in all, it&#8217;s clear that Parker and co. are trying to do whatever they can to prevent content from leaking online. </p>
<p>Whether that&#8217;s good enough to convince the movie studios to offer their content alongside a simultaneous theatrical release has yet to be seen. But, with prominent shareholders such as J.J. Abrams, Martin Scorsese, and Steven Spielberg, there is plenty support on board already.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139578
title: Even Fake Leaks Can Help in Hollywood’s Anti-Piracy Wars
uri: Even-Fake-Leaks-Can-Help-in-Hollywood-s-Anti-Piracy-Wars
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/wcrWthusIlg/
content:
<p><img src="media/6909e7d1.disney-pirate.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/disney-pirate.jpg" width="275" height="222" class="alignright size-large">On Monday 15 May, during a town hall meeting in New York, Disney CEO Bob Iger informed a group of ABC employees that hackers had stolen one of the company’s movies.</p>
<p>The hackers allegedly informed the company that if a ransom was paid, then the copy would never see the light of day. Predictably, Disney refused to pay, the most sensible decision under the circumstances.</p>
<p>Although Disney didn&#8217;t name the &#8216;hacked&#8217; film, it was named by Deadline as ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales’. A week later, a video was published by the LA Times claiming that the movie was indeed the latest movie in the successful &#8216;Pirates&#8217; franchise.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/f0470623.pirates-carib.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/pirates-carib.png"><img src="media/5b89ea9d.pirates-carib.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pirates-carib.png" alt="" width="650" height="361" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-139584"></a></center></p>
<p>From the beginning, however, something seemed off. Having made an announcement about the &#8216;hack&#8217; to ABC employees, Disney suddenly didn&#8217;t want to talk anymore, declining all requests for comment. That didn&#8217;t make much sense &#8211; why make something this huge public if you don&#8217;t want to talk about it?</p>
<p>With this and other anomalies nagging, TF conducted its own investigation and this Wednesday &#8211; a week and a half after Disney&#8217;s announcement and a full three weeks after the company was contacted with a demand for cash &#8211; we <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/was-the-disney-movie-hacking-ransom-a-giant-hoax-170524/">published our findings</a>.</p>
<p>Our conclusion was that the &#8216;hack&#8217; almost certainly never happened and, from the beginning, no one had ever spoken about the new Pirates film being the &#8216;hostage&#8217;. Everything pointed to a ransom being demanded for a non-existent copy of The Last Jedi and that the whole thing was a grand hoax.</p>
<p>Multiple publications tried to get a comment from Disney before Wednesday, yet none managed to do so. Without compromising our sources, TF also sent an outline of our investigation to the company to get to the bottom of this saga. We were ignored.</p>
<p>Then, out of the blue, one day after we published our findings, Disney chief Bob Iger suddenly got all talkative again. Speaking with Yahoo Finance, Iger confirmed what we suspected all along &#8211; it was a hoax.</p>
<p>“To our knowledge we were not hacked,” Iger <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/disney-ceo-not-hacked-183725507.html">said</a>. “We had a threat of a hack of a movie being stolen. We decided to take it seriously but not react in the manner in which the person who was threatening us had required.”</p>
<p>Let&#8217;s be clear here, if there were to be a victim in all of this, that would quite clearly be Disney. The company didn&#8217;t ask to be hacked, extorted, or lied to. But why would a company quietly sit on a dubious threat for two weeks, then confidently make it public as fact but refuse to talk, only to later declare it a hoax under pressure?</p>
<p>That may never be known, but Disney and its colleagues sure managed to get some publicity and sympathy in the meantime. </p>
<p>Publications such as the LA Times placed the threat alongside the &#8216;North Korea&#8217; Sony hack, the more recent Orange is the New Black leak, and the WannaCry ransomware attacks that plagued the web earlier this month.</p>
<p>&#8220;Hackers are seizing the content and instead of just uploading it, they’re contacting the studios and asking for a ransom. That is a pretty recent phenomenon,&#8221; said MPAA content protection chief Dean Marks in the same piece.</p>
<p>“It’s scary,” an anonymous studio executive added. “It could happen to any one of us.”</p>
<p>While that is indeed the case and there is a definite need to take things seriously, this particular case was never credible. Not a single person interviewed by TF believed that a movie was available. Furthermore, there were many signs that the person claiming to have the movie was definitely not another TheDarkOverlord.</p>
<p>In fact, when TF was investigating the leak we had a young member of a release group more or less laugh at us for wasting our time trying to find out of it was real or not. Considering its massive power (and the claim that the FBI had been involved) it&#8217;s difficult to conclude that Disney hadn&#8217;t determined the same at a much earlier stage.</p>
<p>All that being said, trying to hoax Disney over a fake leak of The Last Jedi is an extremely dangerous game in its own right. Not only is extortion a serious crime, but dancing around pre-release leaks of Star Wars movies is just about as risky as it gets.</p>
<p>In June 2005, after releasing a workprint copy of Star Wars: Episode 3, the FBI <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/how-the-fbi-dismantled-a-bittorrent-community-080630/">took down</a> private tracker EliteTorrents in a blaze of publicity. People connected to the leak received lengthy jail sentences. The same would happen again today, no doubt.</p>
<p>It might seem like fun and games now, but people screwing with Disney &#8211; for real, for money, or both &#8211; rarely come out on top. If a workprint of The Last Jedi does eventually become available (and of course that&#8217;s always a possibility), potential leakers should consider their options very carefully. </p>
<p>A genuine workprint leak could prompt the company to go to war, but in the meantime, fake-based extortion attempts only add fuel to the anti-piracy fire &#8211; in Hollywood&#8217;s favor.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139612
title: Steal This Show S03E02: ‘Juicing The Imagination’
uri: Steal-This-Show-S03E02-Juicing-The-Imagination
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/ma0kdiCch6M/
content:
<p><img src="media/d01749d9.stslogo180.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/stslogo180.png" alt="stslogo180" width="180" height="180" class="alignright size-full wp-image-113928"><strong><sup><em>If you enjoy this episode, consider becoming a patron and getting involved with the show. <a href="https://patreon.com/user?u=4275705">Check out Steal This Show&#8217;s Patreon campaign</a>: support us and get all kinds of&nbsp;fantastic benefits!</em></sup></strong></p>
<p>In this episode, we meet <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rand_Miller">Rand Miller</a>, creator of the seminal Myst and Riven adventure games. </p>
<p>We talk about the plans Facebook has to colonise VR; the roots of adventure games in D&#038;D, MUDs and early hypertext technologies like hypercard; problems with middlemen and changing distribution models for content creators, such as Patreon and Kevin Kelly&#8217;s &#8216;1,000 Fans&#8217; idea &#8211; and how the truly important thing about creation for Rand seeding something for the next generation of creators. </p>
<p>Rand Miller&#8217;s latest game, <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/306760/Obduction/">Obduction</a>, is out now on Steam. </p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<p><a href="https://stealthisshow.com">Steal This Show</a> aims to release bi-weekly episodes featuring insiders discussing copyright and file-sharing news. It complements our regular reporting by adding more room for opinion, commentary, and analysis. </p>
<p>The guests for our news discussions will vary, and we&#8217;ll aim to introduce voices from different backgrounds and persuasions. In addition to news, STS will also produce features interviewing some of the great innovators and minds. </p>
<p><strong>Host:</strong> Jamie King</p>
<p><strong>Guest:</strong> Rand Miller</p>
<p><center><iframe width="100%" height="180px" src="//stealthisshow.com/?lpe-frame=1&#038;lpe-season=3&#038;lpe-episode=02" frameborder="0"></iframe></center></p>
<p><strong>Produced </strong> <em>by </em>Jamie King<br>
<strong>Edited &#038; Mixed</strong> <em>by</em> Riley Byrne<br>
<strong>Original Music</strong> <em>by</em> David Triana<br>
<strong>Web Production</strong> <em>by</em> Siraje Amarniss</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139371
title: Google Has a Hard Time Keeping Streaming Pirates at Bay
uri: Google-Has-a-Hard-Time-Keeping-Streaming-Pirates-at-Bay
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/JnZt-UmyA1g/
content:
<p><img src="media/3c5b1a66.googlepiratebay.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/googlepiratebay.png" alt="" width="267" height="257" class="alignright size-full wp-image-128445">Pirate streaming sites and services are booming. </p>
<p>Whether through traditional websites, apps or dedicated pirate boxes, streaming TV-shows and movies in high quality has never been so easy.  </p>
<p>Unwittingly, Google plays a significant role in the shady part of online media distribution. As we highlighted <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/porn-pirate-sites-use-backdoor-to-host-videos-on-youtube-170114/">earlier this year</a> and <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-video-streaming-sites-exploit-googles-servers-140417/">long before</a>, many pirate sites and servers exploit Google&#8217;s servers. </p>
<p>By using simple tricks, pirate site operators have found a way to stream videos directly from Google Drive and various other sources, often complete with <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/now-anyone-can-embed-a-pirate-movie-in-a-website-170522/">subtitles and Chromecast support</a>. </p>
<p><center><strong>The Boss Baby streaming from Googlevideo.com</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/874f3de3.bossbabygoogle.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/bossbabygoogle.png"><img src="media/17d20a2b.bossbabygoogle.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/bossbabygoogle.png" alt="" width="600" height="361" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-139389"></a></center></p>
<p>The videos in question are streamed from the Googlevideo.com domain, as pictured above, which is increasingly being noticed by rightsholders as well. </p>
<p>If we look at Google&#8217;s Transparency Report, which only applies to search, we see that roughly 13,000 of these URLs were reported until the end of last year. In 2017 this number exploded, with over a <a href="https://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/copyright/searchdata/domains/?id=googlevideo.com">quarter million reported URLs</a> so far, 265,000 at the time of writing.</p>
<p><center><strong>Reported Googlevideo.com URL</strong>s<br></br></center><center><a href="media/ceb8bc00.googlevideo-e1495526862871.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/googlevideo-e1495526862871.png"><img src="media/ceb8bc00.googlevideo-e1495526862871.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/googlevideo-e1495526862871.png" alt="" width="600" height="318" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-139390"></a></center></p>
<p>Why these URLs are being reported to Google search isn&#8217;t clear, because they <a href="https://www.google.nl/search?ie=UTF-8&#038;q=site:googlevideo.com">don&#8217;t appear</a> in the search engine. Also, many of the URLs have special parameters and only work if they are played from the pirate streaming sites.</p>
<p>That said, the massive surge in reports shows that the issue is a serious problem for rightsholders. For their part, pirate sites are happy to keep things the way they are as Google offers a reliable hosting platform that&#8217;s superior to many alternatives.</p>
<p>The question remains why Google has a hard time addressing the situation. It is no secret that the company uses <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/google-drive-uses-hash-matching-detect-pirated-content/">hash matching</a> to detect and block pirated content on Google Drive, but apparently, this doesn&#8217;t prevent a constant stream of pirated videos from entering its servers.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak reached out to Google for a comment on the situation. A company spokesperson informed us that they would look into the matter, but a few days have passed and we have yet to hear back. </p>
<p>Interestingly, while we were writing this article, reports started coming in that Google had begun to terminate hundreds, if not thousands of &#8220;unlimited&#8221; Drive accounts, which were sold through business plan resellers. </p>
<p>These accounts are actively traded on eBay, even though reselling business Drive accounts is strictly forbidden. Many of these accounts are also linked to streaming hosts, so it could be that this is Google&#8217;s first step to getting a tighter grip on the situation.  </p>
<p>To be continued&#8230;</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139007
title: So You Want To Be An Internet Piracy Investigator?
uri: So-You-Want-To-Be-An-Internet-Piracy-Investigator
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/T4HcLd3p-vk/
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="" width="200" height="177" class="alignright size-full wp-image-39770"></a>While the authorities would like to paint a picture of Internet pirates as thoughtless thieves only interested in the theft of intellectual property, the truth is more nuanced.</p>
<p>Like every other online and indeed offline location, pirate sites are filled with people from all corners of society, from rich to poor, and from the basically educated to the borderline genius.</p>
<p>What is especially interesting is the extremely thin line between poacher and gamekeeper, between those who want to exploit intellectual property and those who want to protect it. Indeed, it is far from uncommon to find former pirates and renegade coders &#8220;going straight&#8221; by working for their former enemies.</p>
<p>While a repellent thought to some, it makes perfect sense. Anyone who knows the piracy scene back to front could be a valuable asset to the other side, under the right circumstances. But what does it really take to be an anti-piracy investigator?</p>
<p>As it happens, the UK&#8217;s Federation Against Copyright Theft is currently trying to fill exactly such a position. The job of &#8220;Internet Investigator&#8221; is based in the UK and the successful applicant will report to a manager. While that tends to suggest a lower pay grade, FACT are insistent that applicants meet stringent criteria.</p>
<p>&#8220;Working as a proactive member of the investigatory team to support the strategic objectives of FACT. Responsible for the detection, investigation, and protection of clients Intellectual Property whether physical or digital as directed by the Investigations Manager,&#8221; the listing reads.</p>
<p>More specifically, FACT is looking for someone with a &#8220;strong aptitude for investigation&#8221; who is capable of working under minimal supervision. The candidate is also required to have a proven record of liaising with &#8220;industry and enforcement organizations&#8221;, presumably including entertainment companies and the police.</p>
<p>At this point, things get pretty interesting. FACT says that the job involves assessing and investigating &#8220;individuals and entities&#8221; responsible for &#8220;illegal or infringing activity related to Intellectual Property.&#8221; Think torrent, streaming and IPTV site operators and staff, release group members, &#8216;Kodi Box&#8217; sellers, infringing addon developers, even people flogging dodgy DVDs down the market.</p>
<p>When these investigations are being carried out, FACT expects evidence and intelligence to be gathered &#8220;ethically and in accordance with criminal procedure rules&#8221;, presumably so that cases don&#8217;t collapse when they end up in court. Which they often do.</p>
<p>Also of interest is how closely FACT appears to align its practices with those of the police. While the candidate is expected to liaise with law enforcement, they will also be expected to take part in briefings, seizure of evidence and prosecution support, all while &#8220;managing risks&#8221; and acting in accordance with UK legislation.</p>
<p>Another aspect of the job is a little cryptic, in that it requires the candidate to &#8220;locate offenders&#8221; and then undertake action &#8220;with an alternative approach to a proportionate solution.&#8221; That&#8217;s open to interpretation but it sounds very much like the home visits FACT has been known to make to site operators, who are asked to cease and desist while handing over their domains.</p>
<p>Unsurprisingly, FACT are looking for someone with a computer science degree or similar, and good organizational skills. Above that, it&#8217;s fairly obvious they&#8217;re seeking someone with a legal background, perhaps a law graduate or even a former police officer. </p>
<p>In addition to familiarity with the rules laid down in the Management of Police Information (MOPI) 2010, the candidate will be required to attend court hearings to give evidence. They&#8217;ll also need to conduct &#8220;intrusive surveillance&#8221; in accordance with the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) and have knowledge of:</p>
<p>&#8211; European Convention on Human Rights Act 2000<br>
&#8211; Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984<br>
&#8211; Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000<br>
&#8211; Data Protection Act 1998<br>
&#8211; Proceeds of Crime Act 2002<br>
&#8211; Fraud Act 2006<br>
&#8211; Serious Crime Act 2007<br>
&#8211; Copyright Designs &#038; Patents Act 1988 and Trade Marks Act 1994<br>
&#8211; Computer Misuse Act 1990<br>
&#8211; Other applicable legislation</p>
<p>The window <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/306081576/">to apply</a> has almost run out but given the laundry list of qualities above, it seems unlikely that FACT will be swamped with perfectly suitable candidates right off the bat.</p>
<p>Finally, it&#8217;s probably worth mentioning that former torrent site operators and release group members keen to branch out are not specifically mentioned as primary candidates, so the poacher-turned-gamekeeper applicant might want to keep that part under their hat, at least until later.</p>
<p>Otherwise, FACT might just slap the cuffs on there and then, in line with UK legislation and procedure, of course.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139526
title: Torrent Sites See Traffic Boost After ExtraTorrent Shutdown
uri: Torrent-Sites-See-Traffic-Boost-After-ExtraTorrent-Shutdown
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/VzZlcWTEdjY/
content:
<p><img src="media/62784e94.boatssail.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/boatssail.jpg" alt="boatssail" width="275" height="150" class="alignright size-full wp-image-127044">When ExtraTorrent <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/extratorrent-shuts-down-for-good-170517/">shut down last week</a>, millions of people were left without their favorite spot to snatch torrents.</p>
<p>This meant that after the demise of KickassTorrents and Torrentz last summer, another major exodus commenced. </p>
<p>The search for alternative <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2017-170107/">torrent sites</a> is nicely <a href="https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%201-m&#038;q=torrent%20sites">illustrated</a> by Google Trends. Immediately after ExtraTorrent shut down, worldwide searches for &#8220;torrent sites&#8221; shot through the roof, as seen below. </p>
<p><center><strong>&#8220;Torrent sites&#8221; searches (30 days)</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/1b546d57.googletorrentsiteet.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/googletorrentsiteet.png" alt="" width="658" height="311" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-139560"></center></p>
<p>As is often the case, most users spread across sites that are already well-known to the file-sharing public. </p>
<p>TorrentFreak spoke to several people connected to top torrent sites who all confirmed that they had witnessed a significant visitor boost over the past week and a half. As the largest torrent site around, many see The Pirate Bay as the prime alternative.</p>
<p>And indeed, a TPB staffer confirms that they have seen a big wave of new visitors coming in, to the extent that it was causing &#8220;gateway errors,&#8221; making the site temporarily unreachable. </p>
<p>Thus far the new visitors remain rather passive though. The Pirate Bay hasn&#8217;t seen a large uptick in registrations and participation in the forum remains normal as well.</p>
<p>&#8220;Registrations haven&#8217;t suddenly increased or anything like that, and visitor numbers to the forum are about the same as usual,&#8221; TPB staff member Spud17 informs TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>Another popular torrent site, which prefers not to be named, reported a surge in traffic too. For a few days in a row, this site handled 100,000 extra unique visitors. A serious number, but the operator estimates that he only received about ten percent of ET&#8217;s total traffic. </p>
<p>More than 40% of these new visitors come from India, where ExtraTorrent was relatively popular. The site operator further notes that about two thirds have an adblocker, adding that this makes the new traffic pretty much useless, for those who are looking to make money.</p>
<p>That brings us to the last category of site owners, the opportunist copycats, who are actively trying to pull estranged ExtraTorrent visitors on board.</p>
<p>Earlier this week we wrote about the attempts of ExtraTorrent.cd, which falsely claims to have a copy of the ET database, to lure users. In reality, however, it&#8217;s <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/no-extratorrent-has-not-been-resurected-170524/">nothing more than a Pirate Bay mirror</a> with an ExtraTorrent skin. </p>
<p>And then there are the copycats over at ExtraTorrent.ag. These promoted by and linked to the same people who successfully hijacked <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/yts-ag-wants-to-be-the-new-yify-on-popular-torrent-sites-151113/">EZTV and YIFY/YTS brands earlier</a>. With ExtraTorrent.ag they now hope to expand their portfolio, it seems.</p>
<p><center><strong>EZTV.ag promoting YTS and ET copies</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/d1098d2d.ezag.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ezag.png" alt="" width="647" height="391" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-139621">xpected, but pretty bold, particularly considering the fact that ExtraTorrent operator SaM specifically warned people not to fall for these fakes and clones.</p>
<p>With millions of people moving to new sites, it&#8217;s safe to say that the torrent &#8216;community&#8217; is in turmoil once again, trying to find a new status quo. But this probably won&#8217;t last for very long.</p>
<p>While some of the die-hard ExtraTorrent fans will continue to mourn the loss of their home, history has told is that in general, the torrent community is quick to adapt. Until the next site goes down&#8230; </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139627
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week on BitTorrent – 05/29/17
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-on-BitTorrent-05-29-17
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/sypCd32COow/
content:
<p><img src="media/9ca997b1.wick.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/wick.png" alt="" width="300" height="197" class="alignright size-full wp-image-139631">This week we have two newcomers in our chart.</p>
<p>John Wick: Chapter 2 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 Web-DL/Webrip/HDRip/BDrip/DVDrip unless stated otherwise.</p>
<p><a href="http://TorrentFreak.com/category/dvdrip/feed/"><strong>RSS feed</strong></a> for the weekly movie download chart.</p>
<h5>This week&#8217;s most downloaded movies are:</h5>
<table class="css hover">
<thead>
<tr>
<th width="12%"><strong>Movie Rank</strong></th>
<th width="15%"><strong>Rank <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-pirated-movies-week-bittorrent-052217/">last week</a></strong></th>
<th><strong>Movie name</strong></th>
<th width="18%"><strong>IMDb Rating / Trailer</strong></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tfoot>
<tr>
<td colspan="4">Most downloaded movies via torrents</td>
</tr>
</tfoot>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>1</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4425200/">John Wick: Chapter 2</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4425200/">8.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGk2EfbD_Ps">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3315342/">Logan</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3315342/">8.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DekuSxJgpbY">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3874544/">The Boss Baby</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3874544/">6.5</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tquIfapGVqs">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4630562/">The Fate of the Furious</a> (subbed HDRip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4630562/">6.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XBmsl7wbIQ">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4731136">A Cure For Wellness</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4731136">6.5</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF1rLFCdewU">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(7)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2763304/">T2 Trainspotting</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2763304/">7.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsozpEE543w">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1219827/">Ghost in The Shell</a> (Subbed HDRip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1219827/">6.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4VmJcZR0Yg">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(6)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3731562/">Kong: Skull Island</a> (Subbed HDRip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3731562/">7.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44LdLqgOpjo">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3401882/">First Fight</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3401882/">5.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aIzXYo6VCE">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(8)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2771200/">Beauty and the Beast</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2771200/">7.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3Nl_TCQXuw">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139637
title: Hardware Provider is Liable For Live Streaming Piracy, Court Rules
uri: Hardware-Provider-is-Liable-For-Live-Streaming-Piracy-Court-Rules
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/esUw_4pgR6c/
content:
<p><img src="media/049adc7a.skylogo.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/skylogo.png" alt="" width="222" height="129" class="alignright size-full wp-image-124729" srcset="https://torrentfreak.com/images/skylogo.png 222w, https://torrentfreak.com/images/skylogo-220x129.png 220w" sizes="(max-width: 222px) 100vw, 222px">While &#8216;pirate&#8217; sports streaming sites have been around for over a decade, in recent years rightsholders have taken a more aggressive stance. </p>
<p>The UK Premier League has triggered several police investigations, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/large-iptv-piracy-ring-shut-down-by-spanish-police-and-europol-170407/">for example</a>, which have led to the shutdown of several streaming platforms. </p>
<p>In Germany, the local football league (DFL) and Sky Deutschland are involved in a similar battle. The rightsholder and broadcaster feel that unauthorized streaming sites threaten their livelihoods so they&#8217;ve initiated legal action in response.</p>
<p>One of the prime targets of these efforts was the streaming portal Stream4u.tv, which was broadcasting sports events without permission. In addition to the site&#8217;s operator, a civil lawsuit filed by Sky also targeted the hardware provider that offered the equipment used to decrypt and distribute the streaming signal.</p>
<p>Last week Sky declared a major victory after The District Court of Hamburg ruled that both the site operator and hardware provider are liable for copyright infringement. </p>
<p>Together, both defendants must now pay €18,000 in damages. A clear win for Sky, especially since the streaming portal has been shut down as well. </p>
<p><center><strong>Stream4u.tv</strong> (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYNipSkwUhE">via</a>)<br></br></center><center><img src="media/2e50d32c.tvstream-e1496044561139.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tvstream-e1496044561139.png" alt="" width="600" height="343" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-139639"></center></p>
<p>Aside from the damages, Sky highlights that this is the first time that a third-party intermediary has been held liable for copyright infringement in a case like this. They hope the result will send a strong deterrent message to others.</p>
<p>According to Sky, the ruling effectively means that every technical service provider faces a significant liability risk if they are aware of the illegal use of its services and do not immediately address legitimate complaints.</p>
<p>“The ruling is a warning for all those involved in the illegal distribution of Sky content,&#8221; says Thomas Stahn, Director Anti-Piracy &#038; Technology at Sky Deutschland, commenting on the case. </p>
<p>&#8220;In contrast to criminal law, every helper is also liable for the full damages suffered by the injured parties – regardless of whether or not it profited from the illegal business,” he adds.</p>
<p>Sky informs TorrentFreak that the Stream4u.tv operator was not present at the court hearings, only the hardware provider. The company could not provide any additional details on the provider but noted that the hardware itself is not illegal. </p>
<p>&#8220;The hardware in question was used to receive the Sky broadcast signal and encode it for transmission via the internet. The hardware itself is not illegal in general,&#8221; a Sky spokesperson told us.</p>
<p>This isn&#8217;t the first victory of its kind for the German division of Sky. As Tarnkappe <a href="https://tarnkappe.info/stream4u-tv-18-000-euro-schadenersatz-fuer-betreiber-und-dienstleister/">points out</a>, late last year two people were <a href="https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&#038;hl=en&#038;ie=UTF8&#038;langpair=auto%7Cen&#038;rurl=translate.google.com&#038;sp=nmt4&#038;tbb=1&#038;u=https://www.golem.de/news/bezahlfernsehen-sky-geht-juristisch-gegen-illegales-live-streaming-vor-1611-124739.html&#038;usg=ALkJrhjy93UrX24AJ0KqZjQV0gh732WLYA">convicted</a> for their involvement with a sports streaming platform, resulting in a prison sentence for one of them.</p>
<p>Sky Deutschland has several criminal and civil copyright cases pending in Germany, so this isn&#8217;t likely to be the last verdict we&#8217;ll see against sports streaming sites and services.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139508
title: To Torrent or To Stream? That is The Big Piracy Question
uri: To-Torrent-or-To-Stream-That-is-The-Big-Piracy-Question
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/hOv4drW7yRo/
content:
<p><a href="media/71374742.spongepirate.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/spongepirate.jpg"><img src="media/9231f6fe.spongepirate.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/spongepirate.jpg" alt="" width="170" height="208" class="alignright size-full wp-image-102272"></a>As recently as perhaps six years ago, there was no question over where the majority of Internet video pirates would be getting their online fix. Just as they had done for at least as many years before, BitTorrent was the go-to protocol.</p>
<p>While still massively popular today to the tune of scores of millions of daily users, torrent consumption has been tempered in recent years by the rise of streaming platforms. These sites, with their glossy indexes and YouTube-like interfaces, grant easy access to a wide range of movies and TV shows, almost as quickly as their torrent counterparts.</p>
<p>So why, when these streaming services are so easy to use, would anyone bother with relatively cumbersome torrent downloads? The answer isn&#8217;t immediately obvious but for those with intimate experience of both, it&#8217;s a pretty serious question.</p>
<p>First of all, we have the important question of content &#8216;ownership&#8217;.</p>
<p>While people have easy access to the latest movies on streamingmovies123 or whatever .com, users never &#8216;own&#8217; those streams. They are absolutely transient and once the stop button is pressed, that movie or TV show instance is gone forever. The user downloads the file of course, but it is almost immediately dumped into the ether.</p>
<p>For the same download bandwidth expenditure, the user can visit a torrent site and obtain exactly the same content. This time, however, there are two key differences. One, they help to distribute that content among other downloaders and two, they get to keep that content for as long as they choose.</p>
<p>Storing content locally is important to many pirates. Not only can that content be played on any device of the users&#8217; choosing, it can also be played offline. Sure, it takes up some drive space, but it doesn&#8217;t require streamingmovies123 to stay online to be enjoyed. It can be played again, potentially forever, and certainly long after the streaming site has disappeared, which they often do.</p>
<p>But while maintaining control of content rarely has a downside for the consumer, the issue of whether distribution (uploading) via BitTorrent is &#8216;good&#8217; depends on perspective.</p>
<p>Users of streaming sites will correctly argue that with no uploading, they are much safer than their torrenting counterparts. Torrent users, on the other hand, note that their participation in uploading helps to provide content to others. Torrent users are effectively a plus to the piracy ecosystem, while streamers (if we refer to them in torrent terms) are merely leechers. </p>
<p>There&#8217;s a whole generation of streaming consumers coming through today who literally have no idea about the concept of sharing. They do not understand where the content comes from, nor do they care. This lack of &#8216;pirate education&#8217; could eventually present a negative for content availability. </p>
<p>While we&#8217;re on that topic, there&#8217;s the important question of how and why pirated content travels through the online ecosystem.</p>
<p>There are long-established routes for content from so-called &#8216;top sites&#8217; to be shifted quickly to torrent sites. Furthermore, torrent sites provide platforms for non-scene P2P releasers to distribute their offerings to the public. In this respect, torrent sites contribute much more to the overall piracy ecosystem than most streaming sites.</p>
<p>Also, there&#8217;s the not inconsiderable issue of where streaming sites obtain their content. Of course, many people involved in that area of piracy will have either direct or indirect top-site access, but many simply choose to grab their content from either public or private torrents like the average user might. It&#8217;s not hard to see who relies on who here.</p>
<p>This brings us to how each kind of piracy is perceived by Hollywood interests. It doesn&#8217;t take Einstein to reveal that both torrents and streaming are the enemy, but since streaming platforms are closest to legitimate offerings such as Netflix and Amazon, the threat they pose is often portrayed as being the greatest.</p>
<p>Indeed, the rise of modified Kodi setups (and the aggressive response to them) seems to support that, with piracy shifting from the relatively geeky torrent environment to the point-and-click living room domain, occupied by the general public.</p>
<p>So the question of what is best &#8211; torrents or streaming &#8211; is largely down to consumer preference. However, for those with an interest in the piracy ecosystem, it&#8217;s a question of whether streaming can improve or even survive without torrents, and whether exclusively supporting the former is a potential road to nowhere.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139667
title: Danish ISPs Stand Up Against ‘Mafia-Like’ Copyright Trolls
uri: Danish-ISPs-Stand-Up-Against-Mafia-Like-Copyright-Trolls
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/dOJi3ZjhuG8/
content:
<p><img src="media/17a592c8.trollsign.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/trollsign.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="167" class="alignright size-full wp-image-108977">In recent years, file-sharers all across Europe have been threatened with lawsuits, if they don’t pay a significant settlement fee.</p>
<p>The process was pioneered in Germany where it turned into an industry by itself, and copyright holders later went after alleged pirates in the UK, Finland and elsewhere.</p>
<p>These so-called &#8220;copyright trolls&#8221; have also landed in Denmark, where the number of targeted Internet subscribers is growing at a rapid rate. </p>
<p>In 2015, rightsholders received permission from courts to obtain the personal details of 6,187 alleged BitTorrent pirates, based on their IP-addresses. A year later the number of accused subscribers increased by nearly 250 percent, to 21,163.</p>
<p>Local ISPs are not happy with this development and plan to fight it in court, Berlingske Business <a href="http://www.business.dk/digital/teleselskaber-vil-bremse-advokaters-jagt-paa-tusindvis-af-danske">reports</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;We think there is a fundamental legal problem because the courts do not really decide what is most important: the legal security of the public or the law firms&#8217; commercial interests,&#8221; Telenor&#8217;s Legal Director Mette Eistrøm Krüger says.</p>
<p>As is often the case in these type anti-piracy campaigns, the rightsholders prefer to settle out of court. Thus far, no named defendant has mounted a defense before a Danish judge.</p>
<p>&#8220;There was a verdict in one case, and this was a default judgment because the defendant didn&#8217;t show up,&#8221; Mette Eistrøm Krüger adds.</p>
<p>To stop the trolling efforts from getting out of hand, Telenor is now preparing to build a new case at the Frederiksberg Court, hoping to protect the identities of its subscribers. </p>
<p>This is not the first time Telenor has taken action against these anti-piracy efforts. The ISP did the same in Norway, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/isp-lands-supreme-court-win-over-copyright-trolls-170505/">with success</a>. Last month the Norwegian Supreme Court threw out several troll cases due to a lack of evidence.</p>
<p>In Denmark, Telenor <a href="http://nyheder.tv2.dk/business/2017-05-30-teleselskaber-vil-bremse-advokaters-jagt-pa-pirater">is supported</a> by fellow Internet provider Telia, which says it will be more critical toward trolling efforts going forward.  </p>
<p>The branch organization Telecommunications Industry in Denmark notes that other ISPs are backing Telenor&#8217;s efforts as well. The group&#8217;s director, Jakob Willer, describes the copyright trolling scheme as a &#8220;mafia-like&#8221; practice, which should be stopped. </p>
<p>&#8220;There is full support from the industry to Telenor to take this fight and protect customers against mafia-like practices,&#8221; Willer says.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139665
title: Huge Coalition Protests EU Mandatory Piracy Filter Proposals
uri: Huge-Coalition-Protests-EU-Mandatory-Piracy-Filter-Proposals
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/aYocQRypBZ4/
content:
<p><img src="media/e5f2ec44.upload.png" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/upload.png" width="240" height="164" class="alignright size-large">Last September, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/eu-proposes-mandatory-piracy-filters-for-online-services-160914/">announced</a> plans to modernize copyright law in Europe.</p>
<p>The proposals (<a href="media/b559ec93.1-2016-593-EN-F1-1.PDF" data-original-source="http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regdoc/rep/1/2016/EN/1-2016-593-EN-F1-1.PDF">pdf</a>) are part of the Digital Single Market reforms, which have been under development for the past several years.</p>
<p>The proposals cover a broad range of copyright-related issues, but one stands out as being particularly controversial. Article 13 requires certain online service providers to become deeply involved in the detection and policing of allegedly infringing copyright works, uploaded to their platforms by users.</p>
<p>Although its effects will likely be more broad, the proposal is targeted at the so-called &#8220;value gap&#8221; <em>(<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/riaa-says-youtube-is-running-a-dmca-protection-racket-160412/">1</a>,<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/ifpi-sneers-at-youtubes-1-billion-music-industry-revenue-payout-161207/">2</a>,<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/dmca-helps-youtube-avoid-up-to-1bn-in-royalties-per-year-study-claims-170330/">3</a>)</em>, i.e the notion that platforms like YouTube are able to avoid paying expensive licensing fees (for music in particular) by exploiting the safe harbor protections of the DMCA and similar legislation.</p>
<p>To close this loophole using Article 13, services that provide access to &#8220;large amounts&#8221; of user-uploaded content would be required to cooperate with rightsholders to prevent infringing works being communicated to the public.</p>
<p>This means that platforms like YouTube would be forced to take measures to ensure that their deals with content providers to distribute official content are protected by aggressive anti-piracy mechanisms.</p>
<p>The legislation would see platforms forced to deploy content-recognition, filtering and blocking mechanisms, to ensure that only non-infringing content is uploaded in the first place, thus limiting the chances that unauthorized copyrighted content will be made available to end users.</p>
<p>Supporters argue that the resulting decrease in availability of infringing content will effectively close the &#8220;value gap&#8221; but critics see the measures as disproportionate, likely to result in censorship (no provision for fair use), and a restriction of fundamental freedoms. Indeed, there are already <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/public-domain-project-calls-on-eu-to-abandon-piracy-filter-proposals-170110/">warnings</a> that such a system would severely &#8220;restrict the way Europeans create, share, and communicate online.&#8221;</p>
<p>The proposals have predictably received widespread support from entertainment industry companies across the EU and the United States, but there are now clear signs that the battle lines are being drawn.</p>
<p>On one side are the major recording labels, movie studios, and other producers. On the other, companies and platforms that will suddenly become more liable for infringing content, accompanied by <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/03/eu-internet-advocates-launch-campaign-stop-eus-dangerous-copyright-filtering">citizens</a> and <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/mandatory-piracy-filters-may-violate-eu-law-scholars-warn-161203/">scholars</a> who feel that freedoms will be restricted.</p>
<p>The latest sign of the scale of opposition to Article 13 manifests itself in an open letter to the European Parliament. Under the <a href="http://copyright4creativity.eu/">Copyright for Creativity</a> (C4C) banner and signed by the EFF, Creative Commons, Wikimedia, Mozilla, EDRi, Open Rights Group plus sixty other organizations, the letter warns that the proposals will cause more problems than they solve.</p>
<p>&#8220;The European Commission’s proposal on copyright in the Digital Single Market failed to meet the expectations of European citizens and businesses. Instead of supporting Europeans in the digital economy, it is backward looking,&#8221; the groups say.</p>
<p>&#8220;We need European lawmakers to oppose the most damaging aspects of the proposal, but also to embrace a more ambitious agenda for positive reform.&#8221;   </p>
<p>In addition to opposing <a href="https://juliareda.eu/eu-copyright-reform/extra-copyright-for-news-sites/">Article 11</a> (the proposed Press Publishers&#8217; Right), the groups ask the EU Parliament not to impose private censorship on EU citizens via Article 13.</p>
<p>&#8220;The provision on the so-called ‘value gap’ is designed to provoke such legal uncertainty that online services will have no other option than to monitor, filter and block EU citizens’ communications if they want to have any chance of staying in business,&#8221; the groups write.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Commission’s proposal misrepresents some European Court rulings and seeks to impose contradictory obligations on Member States. This is simply bad regulation.&#8221;</p>
<p>Calling for the wholesale removal of Article 13 from the copyright negotiations, the groups argue that the reforms should be handled in the appropriate contexts.</p>
<p>&#8220;We strenuously oppose such ill thought through experimentation with intermediary liability, which will hinder innovation and competition and will reduce the opportunities available to all European businesses and citizens,&#8221; they add.</p>
<p>C4C concludes by calling on lawmakers to oppose Article 13 while seeking avenues for positive reform.</p>
<p>The full letter can be found here <em>(<a href="media/fb6662f2.C4C_OpenLetter_EU_May17.pdf" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/C4C_OpenLetter_EU_May17.pdf">pdf</a>)</em></p>
<p><center><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qoxsJRKh3c8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139712
title: Anti-Piracy Group Shuts Down ‘Pirate’ Kodi Repos and Add-Ons
uri: Anti-Piracy-Group-Shuts-Down-Pirate-Kodi-Repos-and-Add-Ons
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/scNBDYGmFnU/
content:
<p><img src="media/5f9796f8.movies1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/movies1.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="135" class="alignright size-full wp-image-105597">The <a href="https://kodi.tv/">Kodi media player</a> software, previously known as XBMC, has seen a massive surge in popularity in recent years.</p>
<p>More and more people have started to use Kodi as their primary source of entertainment, often with help from unofficial add-ons that allow them to access pirated movies and TV-shows.</p>
<p>While the Kodi software itself is perfectly legal, a lot of third-party software are not. In Israel, this prompted the local anti-piracy group <a href="https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%96%D7%99%D7%A8%22%D7%94">ZIRA </a> to take action against several popular Kodi add-ons and repositories. </p>
<p>Last week the group filed for an injunction to stop the site owners from offering their &#8216;pirate&#8217; Kodi tools, but before the cases went to court, the industry group already announced a settlement with three of them.</p>
<p>A few days ago abeksis.com, kodiwizardil.net, and kodi-senyor.co.il ceased operating, without prior warning. The Abeksis repository was one main targets, as it offered an easy way to turn the Kodi media player into a piracy hub. </p>
<p><center><strong>Abeksis</strong><strong></strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/4eabaefc.abeksys-e1496155224346.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/abeksys-e1496155224346.png" alt="" width="600" height="339" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-139726"></center></p>
<p>The targeted Kodi repos and add-ons were not monetizing their services and some also offered access to legal content. However, facing the threat of a lawsuit by the anti-piracy group, they chose to cease their services indefinitely. </p>
<p>ZIRA is happy with the outcome and notes that the shutdowns are &#8220;another victory in the struggle against the pirated content on the Internet and the preservation of Israeli creators and content.&#8221; </p>
<p>The operators of the sites <a href="http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4968940,00.html">reportedly</a> paid a settlement of a few thousand shekels. In addition, they will have to pay 100,000 more ($28,000) if the repositories or add-ons reappear in the future. </p>
<p>As a warning to the public, the three sites in question replaced their regular content with a message from ZIRA. The message informs visitors about the shutdown, and the threat piracy poses to the local content industry.</p>
<p>&#8220;The site you&#8217;ve entered was taken down since it was violating intellectual property rights. The site&#8217;s operators were fined by the court and therefore the site ceased to operate!&#8221; the message reads.</p>
<p>&#8220;The cost of copyright infringement is paid by the Israeli population, Israeli culture and the income of the producers,&#8221; it adds.</p>
<p><center><strong><strong>ZIRA&#8217;s message</strong></strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/1de2752c.zirawarn.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/zirawarn.png" alt="" width="586" height="528" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-139727"></center></p>
<p>The enforcement actions have caused quite a bit of uncertainty among developers of Kodi add-ons and repositories. Several members of the community feel that the services in question did nothing wrong. Some other developers, however, also prefer to play it safe from now on.</p>
<p>The IsraeLive add-on, for example, which offered access to streams that are available through public websites, decided to remove all Israeli content and rename itself <a href="https://www.tvaddons.ag/kodi-addons/show/plugin.video.israelive/">GlobeTV</a>. This was presumably done to prevent legal issues with the respective rightsholders.</p>
<p>&#8220;Israeli broadcast streams are available on official websites and not using our add-on, and that&#8217;s due to legal reasoning and the Laws of the State of Israel,&#8221; the developer posted recently. </p>
<p>Whether ZIRA&#8217;s enforcement actions will have a lasting effect on the use of streaming piracy in Israel has yet to be seen. However, as the first broad enforcement action against developers of &#8216;pirate&#8217; Kodi repos and add-ons, it&#8217;s a landmark case that could very well be copied elsewhere in the future.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139754
title: Pornhub Piracy Stopped Me Producing Porn, Jenna Haze Says
uri: Pornhub-Piracy-Stopped-Me-Producing-Porn-Jenna-Haze-Says
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/OZtz1LGnJv8/
content:
<p><a href="media/b343b835.pornhub.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/pornhub.jpg"><img src="media/0fa2bc98.pornhub.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pornhub.jpg" alt="" width="180" height="182" class="alignright size-full wp-image-109094"></a>Last week, adult &#8216;tube&#8217; site Pornhub celebrated its 10th anniversary, and what a decade it was.</p>
<p>Six months after its May 2007 launch, the site was getting a million visitors every day. Six months after that, traffic had exploded five-fold. Such was the site&#8217;s success, by November 2008 Pornhub entered the ranks of the top 100 most-visited sites on the Internet.</p>
<p>As a YouTube-like platform, Pornhub traditionally relied on users to upload content to the site. Uploaders have to declare that they have the rights to do so but it&#8217;s clear that amid large quantities of fully licensed material, content exists on Pornhub that is infringing copyright.</p>
<p>Like YouTube, however, the site says it takes its legal responsibilities seriously by removing content whenever a valid DMCA notice is received. Furthermore, it also has a <a href="https://www.pornhub.com/partners/cpp">Content Partner Program</a> which allows content owners to monetize their material on the platform.</p>
<p>But despite these overtures, Pornhub has remained a divisive operation. While some partners happily generate revenue from the platform and use it to drive valuable traffic to their own sites, others view it as a parasite living off their hard work. Today those critics were joined by one of the biggest stars the adult industry has ever known.</p>
<p>After ten years as an adult performer, starring in more than 600 movies (including one that marked her as the first adult performer to appear on Blu-ray format), in 2012 <a href="http://www.jennahaze.com/">Jenna Haze</a> decided on a <a href="https://youtu.be/CENnskYcBV0">change of pace</a>. No longer interested in performing, she headed to the other side of the camera as a producer and director.</p>
<p>&#8220;Directing is where my heart is now. It’s allowed me to explore a creative side that is different from what performing has offered me,&#8221; she said in a statement.</p>
<p>&#8220;I am very satisfied with what I was able to accomplish in 10 years of performing, and now I’m enjoying the challenges of being on the other side of the camera and running my studio.&#8221;</p>
<p>But while Haze enjoyed success with 15 movies, it wasn&#8217;t to last. The former performer eventually backed away from both directing and producing adult content. This morning she laid the blame for that on Pornhub and similar sites.</p>
<p>It all began with a tweet from Conan O&#8217;Brien, who belatedly wished Pornhub a happy 10th anniversary.</p>
<p><center></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Happy 10th Anniversary to PornHub, a website I just now heard about. Seriously. Just now.</p>
<p>&mdash; Conan O&#39;Brien (@ConanOBrien) <a href="https://twitter.com/ConanOBrien/status/869620718375501830">May 30, 2017</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></center></p>
<p>In response to O&#8217;Brien apparently coming to the party late, a Twitter user informed him how he&#8217;d been missing out on Jenna Haze. That drew a response from Haze herself, who accused Pornhub of pirating her content.</p>
<p>&#8220;Please don&#8217;t support sites like porn hub,&#8221; she <a href="https://twitter.com/jennahaze/status/869642951701413888">wrote</a>. &#8220;They are a tube site that pirates content that other adult companies produce. It&#8217;s like Napster!&#8221;</p>
<p>In a follow-up, Haze went on to accuse Pornhub of theft and blamed the site for her exit from the business.</p>
<p>&#8220;Well they steal my content from my company, as do many other tube sites. It&#8217;s why I don&#8217;t produce or direct anymore,&#8221; Haze wrote.</p>
<p>&#8220;Maybe not all of their content is stolen, but I have definitely seen my content up there, as well as other people&#8217;s content.&#8221;</p>
<p>Of course, just like record companies can do with YouTube, there&#8217;s always the option for Haze to file a DMCA notice with Pornhub to have offending content taken down. However, it&#8217;s a route she claims to have taken already, but without much success.</p>
<p>&#8220;They take the videos down and put [them] back up. I&#8217;m not saying they don&#8217;t do legitimate business as well,&#8221; she said.</p>
<p>While Pornhub has its critics, the site does indeed do masses of legitimate business. The platform is owned by <a href="https://www.mindgeek.com/">Mindgeek</a>, whose websites receive a combined 115 million visitors per day, fueled in part by content supplied by Brazzers and Digital Playground, which Mindgeek owns. That being said, Mindgeek&#8217;s position in the market has always been controversial.</p>
<p>Three years ago, it became evident that Mindgeek had become so powerful in the adult industry that performers (some of whom felt their content was being exploited by the company) indicated they were <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/why-are-porn-perfomers-scared-to-talk-about-internet-piracy-140413/">scared to criticize it</a>.</p>
<p>Adult actress and outspoken piracy critic Tasha Reign, who also had her videos uploaded to Pornhub without her permission, revealed she was in a particularly tight spot.</p>
<p>“It’s like we’re stuck between a rock and a hard place in a way, because if I want to shoot content then I kinda have to shoot for [Mindgeek] because that’s the company that books me because they own…almost…everything,” Reign said.</p>
<p>In 2017, Mindgeek&#8217;s dominance is clearly less of a problem for Haze, who is now concentrating on other things. But for those who remain in the industry, Mindgeek is a force to be reckoned with, so criticism will probably remain somewhat muted.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139755
title: The Pirate Bay Remains Resilient, 11 Years After The Raid
uri: The-Pirate-Bay-Remains-Resilient-11-Years-After-The-Raid
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/R5O5JRniCq0/
content:
<p><img src="media/932e6d7d.thepirate-e1470829181981.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/thepirate-e1470829181981.jpg" alt="" width="220" height="206" class="alignright size-full wp-image-116122">There are a handful of traditions we have at TorrentFreak, and remembering the first raid on The Pirate Bay is one of them. </p>
<p>Not only was it the first major story we covered, it also had a significant impact on how the piracy ecosystem evolved over the years, and the role TPB has taken on since then.</p>
<p>This is just as relevant today as it was a decade ago. Following a year in which KickassTorrents, Torrentz.eu and ExtraTorrent were all shut down, The Pirate Bay remains online. </p>
<p>While the site has had plenty of downtime issues in recent years, many people may not realize that without a few essential keystrokes in the site&#8217;s early years, The Pirate Bay may not have been here today.</p>
<p>This is what happened. </p>
<h3>The Raid</h3>
<p>May 31, 2006, less than three years after The Pirate Bay was founded, 65 Swedish police officers <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/the-piratebay-is-down-raided-by-the-swedish-police/">entered a datacenter</a> in Stockholm. The policemen had instructions to shut down the Pirate Bay&#8217;s servers, which were already seen as a major threat to the entertainment industry. </p>
<p>At the time The Pirate Bay wasn&#8217;t the giant it is today though. And ironically, the raid only made the site bigger, stronger, and more resilient.</p>
<p>As the police were about to enter the datacenter, Pirate Bay founders Gottfrid and Fredrik got wind that something was up. </p>
<p>In the months before the raid they were already being watched by private investigators day and night, but this time something was about to happen to their trackers.  </p>
<p>At around 10 am in the morning Gottfrid told Fredrik that there were police officers at their office, and asked him to get down to the co-location facility and get rid of the ‘incriminating evidence,’ although none of it, whatever it was, was related to The Pirate Bay.</p>
<p>As Fredrik was leaving, he suddenly realized that the problems might be linked to their tracker. He therefore decided to make a full backup of the site, just in case. </p>
<p>When he later arrived at the co-location facility, the concerns turned out to be justified. There were dozens of policemen floating around taking away dozens of servers, most of which belonged to clients unrelated to The Pirate Bay.</p>
<p><center><strong>Footage from The Pirate Bay raid</strong><br></br></center><center><iframe width="600" height="450" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/30HF-m_I6yY?rel=0&amp;showinfo=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center></p>
<p>In the days that followed, it became clear that Fredrik&#8217;s decision to create a backup of the site was probably the most pivotal moment in the site&#8217;s history. Because of this backup, Fredrik and the rest of the Pirate Bay team managed to resurrect the site within three days.</p>
<p>Of course, the entire situation was handled with the mockery TPB had become known for. </p>
<p>Unimpressed, the site&#8217;s operators renamed the site &#8220;The Police Bay&#8221;, complete with a new logo shooting cannon balls at Hollywood. A few days later this logo was replaced by a Phoenix, a reference to the site rising from its digital ashes.</p>
<p><center></p>
<h5>Logos after the raid</h5>
<p><img src="media/dcabe2f3.tpb-logos.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpb-logos.jpg" alt="tpb classic"></center></p>
<p>Instead of shutting it down, the raid propelled The Pirate Bay into the mainstream press, not least due to its swift resurrection. All the publicity also triggered a huge traffic spike for TPB, exactly the opposite effect Hollywood had hoped for.</p>
<p>Despite a criminal investigation leading to <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-founders-prison-sentences-final-supreme-court-appeal-rejected-120201/">convictions for the site&#8217;s founders</a>, The Pirate Bay kept growing and growing in the years that followed. </p>
<p>The site&#8217;s assets, meanwhile, were reportedly transferred to the Seychelles-based company Reservella.</p>
<p>Under new ownership, several major technical changes occurred. In the fall of 2009 the infamous BitTorrent tracker was <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-tracker-shuts-down-for-good-091117/">taken offline</a>, turning The Pirate Bay into a torrent indexing site. </p>
<p>Early 2012 The Pirate Bay went even further when it decided to <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-dumps-torrents-120228/">cease offering torrent files</a> for well-seeded content. The site&#8217;s operators moved to magnet links instead, allowing them to save resources while making it easier for third-party sites to run proxies. </p>
<p>These proxies turned out to be much-needed, as The Pirate Bay is now the most broadly censored website on the Internet. In recent years, ISPs all around the world have been ordered by courts to block subscriber access to the torrent site.</p>
<p>While TPB swiftly recovered from the &#8220;original&#8221; raid, it did suffer nearly two months of downtime late 2014 when <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/swedish-police-raid-the-pirate-bay-site-offline-141209/">another raid took place</a>. </p>
<p>Initially it was believed that some of the site&#8217;s crucial servers were taken by the police, but the TPB team later said that it was barely hit and that they took the site offline <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-what-raid-police-never-got-our-servers-150921/">as a precaution</a>.</p>
<p>While the first raid made The Pirate Bay stronger, the two-month stint of <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-back-online-150131/">downtime</a> was a big hit. The site initially lost a lot of traffic, but after other key torrent sites were shutdown, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2017-170107/">it is now</a> the most dominant player once again.</p>
<p>Although domain problems, technical issues, and outages are a regular occurance nowadays, TPB is still here. But remember, if there hadn&#8217;t been a recent backup back in 2006, things might have turned out quite differently.</p>
<p>The question that remains now is how long The Pirate Bay can keep going. The site has weathered several storms, but now that most other large sites are gone the pressure is growing. </p>
<p>To some, TPB lost its shine in recent years and several &#8220;co-founders&#8221; would rather <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-founders-speak-out-on-the-sites-past-and-future-130811/">see it gone</a>. For now, however, that doesn&#8217;t seem to bother the current TPB-team. They do all they can to keep the site online, just like the site&#8217;s operator did on May 31, 2006.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139785
title: EU Piracy Filter Proposals Being Sabotaged Says MEP Julia Reda
uri: EU-Piracy-Filter-Proposals-Being-Sabotaged-Says-MEP-Julia-Reda
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/jD7JWSKRIsM/
content:
<p><a href="media/f4c91b21.reda-pic.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/reda-pic.png"><img src="media/a6012521.reda-pic.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/reda-pic.png" alt="" width="158" height="162" class="alignright size-full wp-image-100124"></a>After complaining about &#8220;rogue&#8221; sites and services for more than 15 years, the music business is now concentrating on the so-called &#8220;value gap&#8221;.</p>
<p>The theory is that platforms like YouTube are able to avoid paying expensive licensing fees for music by exploiting the safe harbor protections of the DMCA and similar legislation. Effectively, pirate music uploaded by site users becomes available to the public at no cost to the platform and due to safe harbor rules, there is no legal recourse for the labels.</p>
<p>To close this loophole, the EU is currently moving forward with reforms that could limit the protections currently enjoyed by platforms like YouTube. In short, sites that allow users to upload content will be forced to partner up with content providers to aggressively filter all user uploads for infringing content, thus limiting the number of infringing works eventually communicated to the public.</p>
<p>Even as they stand the proposals are being heavily protested (<a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/03/eu-internet-advocates-launch-campaign-stop-eus-dangerous-copyright-filtering">1</a>,<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/mandatory-piracy-filters-may-violate-eu-law-scholars-warn-161203/">2</a>,<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/huge-coalition-protests-eu-mandatory-piracy-filter-proposals-170530/">3</a>) but according to Member of the European Parliament Julia Reda, a new threat has appeared on the horizon.</p>
<p>Ahead of a crucial June 8 vote on how to move forward, Reda says that some in the corridors of power are now &#8220;resorting to dirty tactics&#8221;  to defend and extend the already &#8220;disastrous plans&#8221; by any means.</p>
<p>Specifically, Reda accuses MEP Pascal Arimont from the European People’s Party (EPP) of trying to sabotage the Parliamentary process, by going behind negotiators&#8217; backs and pushing a new filtering proposal text that makes the &#8220;original bad proposal look tame in comparison.&#8221;</p>
<p>Reda says that in the face of other MEPs&#8217; efforts to come up with a compromise text upon which all of them are agreed, Arimont has been encouraging some MEPs to rebel against their negotiators. He wants them to support his own super-aggressive &#8220;alternative compromise&#8221; text that shows disregard for the Charter of Fundamental Rights and principles of EU law.</p>
<p>Arimont&#8217;s text is certainly an interesting read and a document that could have been formulated by the record labels themselves. It tightens just about every aspect of the text proposed by the Commission while running all over the compromise text put together by Reda and other MEPs.</p>
<p>For example, where others are agreed on the phrase &#8220;Where information society<br>
service providers store and provide access to the public to copyright protected works or other subject-matter uploaded by their users&#8221;, Arimont&#8217;s text removes the key word &#8220;store&#8221;.</p>
<p>This means that his filtering demands go beyond sites like YouTube that actually host content, to encompass those that merely carry links. It doesn&#8217;t take much imagination to see the potential for chaos there.</p>
<p>Also, where the Commission is happy with the proposed rules only affecting sites that store and provide access to &#8220;large amounts&#8221; of copyright protected works uploaded by users, Arimont wants the &#8220;store&#8221; part removed and &#8220;large&#8221; changed to &#8220;significant&#8221;.</p>
<p>&#8220;[Arimont] doesn’t want [filtering rules] to just apply to services hosting &#8216;large amounts&#8217; of copyrighted content, as proposed by the Commission, but to any service facilitating the availability of such content, even if the service is not actually hosting anything at all,&#8221; Reda explains. </p>
<p>The text also ignores proposals by MEPs that anti-piracy measures to be taken by platforms should be proportionate to their profit and size. That being said, Arimont does accept that start-ups would probably face &#8220;insurmountable financial obstacles&#8221; if required to deploy filtering technologies, so he proposes they should be exempt.</p>
<p>While that sounds reasonable, any business that&#8217;s over five years old would need to comply and Reda warns that the threshold could be set particularly low.</p>
<p>&#8220;So if you’ve been self-employed for more than 5 years, rules the Commission wrote with the likes of YouTube and Facebook in mind would suddenly also apply to your personal website,&#8221; she warns.</p>
<p>But Arimont&#8217;s proposal goes further still and has the potential to have privacy advocates up in arms.</p>
<p>In order to check that all user uploaded content is non-infringing, platforms would necessarily be required to check every single piece of data uploaded by users. This raises considerable privacy concerns and potential conflicts with EU law, for instance with Article 15 of the <a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32000L0031:en:HTML">E-Commerce Directive</a>, which prohibits general monitoring obligations for service providers.</p>
<p>Indeed, during the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/eu-court-bans-anti-piracy-filters-on-hosting-services-120216/">Netlog filtering case</a> that went before the EU Court of Justice (CJEU) in 2012, the Court held that requiring an online platform to install broad piracy filters is incompatible with EU law.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, Arimont sees bridging the &#8220;value gap&#8221; as somehow different.</p>
<p>&#8220;The use of technical measures is essential for the functioning of online licensing and rights management purposes. Such technical measures therefore do not require the identity of uploaders and hence do not pose any risk for privacy of individual end users,&#8221; his proposal reads.</p>
<p>&#8220;Furthermore, those technical measures involve a highly targeted technical cooperation of rightholders and information society service providers based on the data provided by rightholders, and therefore do not lead to general obligation to monitor and find facts about the content.&#8221;</p>
<p>But what should really raise alarm bells for user-uploaded content platforms is how Arimont proposes to strip them of their safe harbor protections, if they optimize the presentation of that content to users. That, as Reda points out, could be something as benign as listing content in alphabetical order.</p>
<p>Julia Reda&#8217;s <a href="https://juliareda.eu/2017/05/alternative-compromise/">article</a> has some information at the end for those who want to protest Arimont&#8217;s proposals <em>(<a href="media/a58073c0.arimont-alternative-compromise-1.pdf" data-original-source="https://juliareda.eu/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/arimont-alternative-compromise-1.pdf">pdf</a>)</em>.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139789
title: FUNimation Targets ‘Pirate’ Streaming Site KissAnime
uri: FUNimation-Targets-Pirate-Streaming-Site-KissAnime
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/f1IiipkvilY/
content:
<p><img src="media/68f20e77.kissanime.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/kissanime.png" alt="" width="240" height="93" class="alignright size-full wp-image-139792">American anime distributor FUNimation is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funimation#Anti-piracy">no stranger</a> to hunting down pirates. </p>
<p>Headquartered in Texas, the company targeted <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/anime-distributor-launches-piracy-assault-sues-1337-bittorrent-users-110126/">1337 alleged BitTorrent downloaders</a> of the anime series &#8220;One Piece&#8221; at a local court a few years ago. </p>
<p>While the company no longer targets individual users through the U.S. legal system, it now appears to have its eyes set on a higher profile target, the popular anime streaming site KissAnime. </p>
<p>With millions of pageviews per day, <a href="http://kissanime.ru/">KissAnime</a> is the go-to site for many anime fans. The site is listed among the 250 most visited websites in the United States, making it one of the largest unauthorized streaming platforms in the world. </p>
<p>This is a thorn in the side of FUNimation, which recently obtained a DMCA subpoena to unmask part of the site&#8217;s infrastructure. Like many other streaming portals, KissAnime uses Google&#8217;s servers to host videos. These videos are served through CDN links, presumably to make them harder to take down.</p>
<p>FUNimation traced a CDN IP-address, used by KissAnime to stream pirated &#8220;One Piece&#8221; content, back to U.S. cloud hosting platform <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DigitalOcean">DigitalOcean</a>, and asked the company to disable the associated link. </p>
<p>&#8220;Through our investigations, we have a good faith belief that a web server for which Digital Ocean, Inc. provides service, located at 138.68.244.174, is being used for the unauthorized copying and distribution [&#8230;] of digital files embodying the Property,&#8221; FUNimation lawyer Evan Stone recently wrote to the company.</p>
<p>&#8220;FUNimation hereby requests that Digital Ocean expeditiously causes all such infringing materials to be removed or blocked or freezes the account at issue until the account holder removes all infringing materials or disables access thereto.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><strong>FUNimation DMCA notice sent to Digital Ocean</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/9428cdb7.DOdmca.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/DOdmca.png" alt="" width="600" height="409" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-139793"></center></p>
<p>Although KissAnime isn&#8217;t specifically mentioned in the DMCA notice or the subpoena request, a source close to the issue informs TorrentFreak that the IP-address in question is linked to the anime streaming site. </p>
<p>Because the CDN links keep rotating, FUNimation now wants to know the name of the customer that&#8217;s connected to the IP-address in question. The company therefore requested a DMCA subpoena from a federal court in Texas, which was granted earlier this month. </p>
<p>The subpoena orders DigitalOcean to hand over any and all contact information they have on the customer linked to the offending IP-address.</p>
<p><center><strong>The DMCA subpoena</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/c5db6ff0.DOsubpoena.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/DOsubpoena.png" alt="" width="600" height="386" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-139794"></center></p>
<p>To find out what FUNimation intends to do with the information, provided that DigitalOcean will hand it over, we contacted the company&#8217;s lawyer Evan Stone. He couldn&#8217;t confirm the target but noted that it&#8217;s not about an end-user.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are targeting someone associated with disseminating infringing content on a MASSIVE scale, for profit. This is not a prelude to an end-user lawsuit, nor does this involve your typical fan uploader,&#8221; Stone told TF.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s likely that Funimation will pursue further action against the DigitalOcean customer associated with the pirates KissAnime streams. Whether this will be a central player or someone only remotely connected to the site remains unknown for now. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139842
title: New “Out of Control” Denuvo Piracy Protection Cracked
uri: New-Out-of-Control-Denuvo-Piracy-Protection-Cracked
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/x0hph4Y2DkQ/
content:
<p><a href="media/05d838b7.denuvo.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/denuvo.jpg"><img src="media/fe5f698e.denuvo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/denuvo.jpg" alt="" width="210" height="109" class="alignright size-full wp-image-116067"></a>Like many games in recent times, indie title RiME uses Denuvo anti-piracy technology to keep the swashbucklers away. It won&#8217;t stay that way for long.</p>
<p>Earlier this week, RiME developer Tequila Works grabbed a few headlines after stating it would remove the Denuvo protection from its game, should it fall to crackers.</p>
<p>&#8220;I have seen some conversations about our use of Denuvo anti-tamper, and I wanted to take a moment to address it,&#8221; RiME community manager Dariuas wrote on Steam forums. </p>
<p>&#8220;RiME is a very personal experience told through both sight and sound. When a game is cracked, it runs the risk of creating issues with both of those items, and we want to do everything we can to preserve this quality in RiME.&#8221;</p>
<p>Dariuas concluded that a Denuvo-free version of RiME would be released if the game was cracked. Within days of the announcement and right on cue, pirates struck.</p>
<p>In a fanfare of celebrations, rising cracking star Baldman announced that he had defeated the latest v4+ iteration of Denuvo and dumped a cracked copy of RiME online. While encouraging people to buy what he describes as a &#8220;super nice&#8221; game, Baldman was less complimentary about Denuvo.</p>
<p>Labeling the anti-tamper technology a &#8220;huge abomination,&#8221; the cracker said that Denuvo&#8217;s creators had really upped their efforts this time out. People like Baldman who work on Denuvo talk of the protection calling on code &#8216;triggers.&#8217; For RiME, things were reportedly amped up to 11. </p>
<p>&#8220;In Rime that ugly creature went out of control &#8211; how do you like three fucking hundreds of THOUSANDS calls to &#8216;triggers&#8217; during initial game launch and savegame loading? Did you wonder why game loading times are so long &#8211; here is the answer,&#8221; Baldman explained.</p>
<p>&#8220;In previous games like Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3, NieR Automata, Prey there were only about 1000 &#8216;triggers&#8217; called, so we have x300 here.&#8221;</p>
<p>But according to the cracker, the 300,000 calls to triggers was a mere &#8220;warmup&#8221; for Denuvo. After just 30 minutes of gameplay, the count rose to two million, a figure he delivered with shocked expletives.</p>
<p>One of the main points of criticism for protections like Denuvo is that they take a toll on both game performance and gaming hardware. Baldman, who speaks English as a second language, reports that in RiME things have got massively out of hand which negatively affects the game.</p>
<p>&#8220;Protection now calls about 10-30 triggers every second during actual gameplay, slowing game down. In previous games like Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3, NieR Automata, Prey there were only about 1-2 &#8216;triggers&#8217; called every several minutes during gameplay, so do the math.&#8221;</p>
<p>Only making matters worse, the cracker says, is the fact the triggers are heavily obfuscated under a virtual machine, which further affects performance. However, thanks to RiME&#8217;s developers making good on their word, any protection-related problems will soon be a thing of the past.</p>
<p>&#8220;Today, we got word that there was a crack which would bypass Denuvo,&#8221; Dariuas <a href="https://www.greybox.com/rime/en/forum/topic/1592/?page=1#post-1897">wrote</a> last night.</p>
<p>&#8220;Upon receiving this news, we worked to test this and verify that it was, in fact, the case. We have now confirmed that it is. As such, we at [publisher] Team Grey Box are following through on our promise from earlier this week that we will be replacing the current build of RiME with one that does not contain Denuvo.&#8221;</p>
<p>So while gamers wait for Denuvo to get stripped from RiME and pirates celebrate, the company behind the anti-piracy technology will be considering its options. If what Baldman claims is true, it sounds like more than just a little desperation is in the air.</p>
<p>Worryingly for Denuvo, not even throwing the kitchen sink at the problem has had much effect.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139850
title: Hollywood Sees Illegal Streaming Devices as ‘Piracy 3.0’
uri: Hollywood-Sees-Illegal-Streaming-Devices-as-Piracy-3-0
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/3ssuGQqqK8Y/
content:
<p><img src="media/b83bd568.exodus-movies.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/exodus-movies.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="181" class="alignright size-full wp-image-134675">Piracy remains a major threat for the movie industry, MPA Stan McCoy said yesterday during a panel session at the <a href="https://www.forumspb.com/">St. Petersburg International Economic Forum</a>.</p>
<p>After McCoy praised the collaboration between the MPA(A) and Russian authorities in their fight against online piracy, the ‎President and Managing Director of the <a href="http://www.mpaeurope.org/">MPA&#8217;s EMEA region</a> noted that pirates are not standing still.</p>
<p>Much like Hollywood, copyright infringers are innovators who constantly change their &#8220;business models&#8221; and means of obtaining content. Where torrents were dominant a few years ago, illegal streaming devices are now the main threat, with McCoy describing their rise as Piracy 3.0.</p>
<p>&#8220;Piracy is not a static challenge. The pirates are great innovators in their own right. So even as we innovate in trying to pursue these issues, and pursue novel ways of fighting piracy, the pirates are out there coming up with new business models of their own,&#8221; McCoy said. </p>
<p>&#8220;If you think of old-fashioned peer-to-peer piracy as 1.0, and then online illegal streaming websites as 2.0, in the audio-visual sector, in particular, we now face challenge number 3.0, which is what I&#8217;ll call the challenge of illegal streaming devices.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><strong>The panel</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/29289423.Screenshot_8-e1496386797925.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/Screenshot_8-e1496386797925.png" alt="" width="600" height="373" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-139864"></center></p>
<p>The MPA boss went on to explain how the new piracy ecosystem works. The new breed of pirates relies on streaming devices such as set-top boxes, which often run Kodi and are filled with pirate add-ons. </p>
<p>This opens the door to a virtually unlimited library of pirated content. For one movie there may be hundreds of pirate links available, which are impossible to take down in an effective manner by rightsholders, he added, while showcasing the Exodus add-on to the public. </p>
<p>McCoy stressed that the devices themselves, and software such as Kodi, are &#8216;probably&#8217; not illegal. However, the addition of copyright-infringing pirate add-ons turns them into an unprecedented piracy threat. </p>
<p>&#8220;The device itself is probably not illegal, the software itself is probably not illegal, the confluence of all three of these is a major category killer for online piracy,&#8221; McCoy said.</p>
<p><center><strong>McCoy showing Exodus</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/b805411e.Screenshot_6-e1496386837429.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/Screenshot_6-e1496386837429.png" alt="" width="600" height="361" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-139865"></center></p>
<p>McCoy went on to say that the new &#8220;Piracy 3.0&#8221; is not that popular in Russia yet. However, in the UK, America, and several other countries, it&#8217;s already huge, matching the popularity of legal services such as Spotify. </p>
<p>&#8220;The result is a pirate service operating on a truly massive scale. The scale of this kind of piracy, while it&#8217;s not huge yet in the Russian Federation, has reached epidemic levels similar to major services like Spotify, in markets like the UK, and other markets in Western Europe and North America.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;This is a new sort of global Netflix but no rightsholder gets paid,&#8221; McCoy added. </p>
<p>The MPA chief stresses that this new form of piracy should be dealt with through a variety of measures including legislation, regulation, consumer education, and voluntary agreements with third-party stakeholders. </p>
<p>He notes that in Europe, rightsholders are backed by a recent decision of the Court of Justice, which outlawed the sales of devices with pre-loaded pirate add-ons. However, there is still a lot more work to be done to crack down on this emerging piracy threat.</p>
<p>&#8220;This is an area where [&#8230;] innovative responses are required. We have to be just as good as the pirates in thinking of new ways to tackle these challenges,&#8221; McCoy said.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139878
title: How NAGRA Fights Kodi and IPTV Piracy
uri: How-NAGRA-Fights-Kodi-and-IPTV-Piracy
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/0u_r4xWUy0g/
content:
<p><a href="media/c6d79219.iptv.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/iptv.jpg"><img src="media/8a86db31.iptv.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/iptv.jpg" alt="" width="234" height="155" class="alignright size-full wp-image-135034"></a>Nagravision or <a href="https://www.nagra.com/">NAGRA</a> is one of the best known companies operating in the digital cable and satellite television content security space. Due to successes spanning several decades, the company has often proven unpopular with pirates.</p>
<p>In particular, Nagravision encryption systems have regularly been a hot topic for discussion on cable and satellite hacking forums, frustrating those looking to receive pay TV services without paying the high prices associated with them. However, the rise of the Internet is now presenting new challenges.</p>
<p>NAGRA still protects traditional cable and satellite pay TV services in 2017; Virgin Media in the UK is a long-standing customer, for example. But the rise of Internet streaming means that pirate content can now be delivered to the home with ease, completely bypassing the entire pay TV provider infrastructure. And, by extension, NAGRA&#8217;s encryption.</p>
<p>This means that NAGRA has been required to spread its wings.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/nagra-targets-pirate-kodi-streaming-addons-and-iptv-170411/">reported</a> in April, NAGRA is establishing a lab to monitor and detect unauthorized consumption of content via set-top boxes, websites and other streaming platforms. That covers the now omnipresent Kodi phenomenon, alongside premium illicit IPTV services. TorrentFreak caught up with the company this week to find out more.</p>
<p>&#8220;NAGRA has an automated monitoring platform that scans all live channels and VOD assets available on Kodi,&#8221; NAGRA&#8217;s Ivan Schnider informs TF.</p>
<p>&#8220;The service we offer to our customers automatically finds illegal distribution of their content on Kodi and removes infringing streams.&#8221;</p>
<p>In the first instance, NAGRA sends standard takedown notices to hosting services to terminate illicit streams. The company says that while some companies are very cooperative, others are less so. When meeting resistance, NAGRA switches to more coercive methods, described here by Christopher Schouten, NAGRA Senior Director Product Marketing.</p>
<p>&#8220;Takedowns are generally sent to streaming platforms and hosting servers. When those don’t work, Advanced Takedowns allow us to use both technical and legal means to get results,&#8221;  Schouten says. </p>
<p>&#8220;Numerous <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/anti-piracy-group-shuts-down-pirate-kodi-repos-and-add-ons-170531/">stories</a> in recent days show how for instance popular Kodi plug-ins have been removed by their authors because of the mere threat of legal actions like this.&#8221;</p>
<p>At the center of operations is NAGRA&#8217;s Piracy Intelligence Portal, which offers customers a real-time view of worldwide online piracy trends, information on the infrastructure behind illegal services, as well as statistics and status of takedown requests.</p>
<p>&#8220;We measure takedown compliance very carefully using our Piracy Intelligence Portal, so we can usually predict the results we will get. We work on a daily basis to improve relationships and interfaces with those who are less compliant,&#8221; Schouten says.</p>
<p><center><b>The Piracy Intelligence Portal</b><a href="media/bf1cc221.nagra-intel.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/nagra-intel.png"><img src="media/4fe26937.nagra-intel.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/nagra-intel.png" alt="" width="650" height="362" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-139885"></a></center></p>
<p>While persuasion is probably the best solution, some hosts inevitably refuse to cooperate. However, NAGRA also offers the <a href="http://www.nexguard.com/">NexGuard</a> system, which is able to determine the original source of the content.</p>
<p>&#8220;Using forensic watermarking to trace the source of the leak, we will be able to completely shut down the &#8216;leak&#8217; at the source, independently and within minutes of detection,&#8221; Schouten says.</p>
<p>Whatever route is taken, NAGRA says that the aim is to take down streams as quickly as possible, something which hopefully undermines confidence in pirate services and encourages users to re-enter the legal market. Interestingly, the company also says it uses &#8220;technical means&#8221; to degrade pirate services to the point that consumers lose faith in them.</p>
<p>But while augmented Kodi setups and illicit IPTV are certainly considered a major threat in 2017, they are not the only problem faced by content companies.</p>
<p>While the Apple platform is quite tight, the open nature of Android means that there are a rising number of apps that can be sideloaded from the web. These allow pirate content to be consumed quickly and conveniently within a glossy interface.</p>
<p>Apps like Showbox, MovieHD and Terrarium TV have the movie and TV show sector wrapped up, while the popular Mobdro achieves the same with live TV, including premium sports. Schnider says NAGRA can handle apps like these and other emerging threats in a variety of ways.</p>
<p>&#8220;In addition to Kodi-related anti-piracy activities, NAGRA offers a service that automatically finds illegal distribution of content on Android applications, fully loaded STBs, M3U playlist and other platforms that provide plug-and-play solutions for the big TV screen; this service also includes the removal of infringing streams,&#8221; he explains.</p>
<p>M3U playlist piracy doesn&#8217;t get a lot of press. An M3U file is a text file that specifies locations where content (such as streams) can be found online.</p>
<p>In its basic &#8216;free&#8217; form, it&#8217;s simply a case of finding an M3U file on an indexing site or blog and loading it into VLC. It&#8217;s not as flashy as any of the above apps, and unless one knows where to get the free M3Us quickly, many channels may already be offline. Premium M3U files are widely available, however, and tend to be pretty reliable.</p>
<p>But while attacking sources of infringing content is clearly a big part of NAGRA&#8217;s mission, the company also deploys softer strategies for dealing with pirates.</p>
<p>&#8220;Beyond disrupting pirate streams, raising awareness amongst users that these services are illegal and helping service providers deliver competing legitimate services, are also key areas in the fight against premium IPTV piracy where NAGRA can help,&#8221; Schnider says.</p>
<p>&#8220;Converting users of such services to legitimate paying subscribers represents a significant opportunity for content owners and distributors.&#8221;</p>
<p>For this to succeed, Schouten says there needs to be an understanding of the different motivators that lead an individual to commit piracy.</p>
<p>&#8220;Is it price? Is it availability? Is it functionality?&#8221; he asks.</p>
<p>Interestingly, he also reveals that lots of people are spending large sums of money on IPTV services they believe are legal but are not. Rather than the high prices putting them off, they actually add to their air of legitimacy.</p>
<p>&#8220;These consumers can relatively easily be converted into paying subscribers if they can be convinced that pay-TV services offer superior quality, reliability, and convenience because let’s face it, most IPTV services are still a little dodgy to use,&#8221; he says.</p>
<p>&#8220;Education is also important; done through working with service providers to inform consumers through social media platforms of the risks linked to the use of illegitimate streaming devices / IPTV devices, e.g. purchasing boxes that may no longer work after a short period of time.&#8221;</p>
<p>And so the battle over content continues.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139365
title: Torrents Help Researchers Worldwide to Study Babies’ Brains
uri: Torrents-Help-Researchers-Worldwide-to-Study-Babies-Brains
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/znrwqj3aDgU/
content:
<p><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-139782" src="media/024b6d84.dhcpbla.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dhcpbla.jpg" alt="" width="270" height="179">One of the core pillars of academic research is sharing.</p>
<p>By letting other researchers know what you do, ideas are criticized, improved upon and extended. In today’s digital age, sharing is easier than ever before, especially with help from torrents.</p>
<p>One of the leading scientific projects that has adopted BitTorrent is the developing Human Connectome Project, or <a href="http://www.developingconnectome.org/">dHCP</a> for short. The goal of the project is to map the brain wiring of developing babies in the wombs of their mothers.</p>
<p>To do so, a consortium of researchers with expertise ranging from computer science, to MRI physics and clinical medicine, has teamed up across three British institutions: Imperial College London, King&#8217;s College London and the University of Oxford.</p>
<p>The collected data is extremely valuable for the neuroscience community and the project has received mainstream <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/may/10/project-to-map-human-brain-from-womb-to-birth-releases-stunning-images">press coverage</a> and financial backing from the European Union Research Council. Not only to build the dataset, but also to share it with researchers around the globe. This is where BitTorrent comes in.</p>
<p>Sharing more than 150 GB of data with researchers all over the world can be quite a challenge. Regular HTTP downloads are not really up to the task, and many other transfer options have a high failure rate.</p>
<p><center><strong>Baby brain scan</strong> <span style="font-size: small;">(Credit: Developing Human Connectome Project)</span><br></br></center><center><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-139907" src="media/7f9cf5c0.brain1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/brain1.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="359"></center></p>
<p>This is why <a href="https://jopasser.at/">Jonathan Passerat-Palmbach</a>, Research Associate Department of Computing Imperial College London, came up with the idea to embrace BitTorrent instead.</p>
<p>&#8220;For me, it was a no-brainer from day one that we couldn&#8217;t rely on plain old HTTP to make this dataset available. Our first pilot release is 150GB, and I expect the next ones to reach a couple of TB. Torrents seemed like the de facto solution to share this data with the world&#8217;s scientific community.&#8221; Passerat-Palmbach says.</p>
<p>The researchers opted to go for the <a href="http://academictorrents.com/">Academic Torrents</a> tracker, which specializes in sharing research data. <a href="http://www.developingconnectome.org/project/data-release-user-guide/">A torrent</a> with the first batch of images was made available there a few weeks ago.</p>
<p>&#8220;This initial release contains 3,629 files accounting for 167.20GB of data. While this figure might not appear extremely large at the moment, it will significantly grow as the project aims to make the data of 1,000 subjects available by the time it has completed.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><strong>Torrent of the first dataset</strong><br></br></center><center><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-139778" src="media/1b2cfbb5.acadtorrent.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/acadtorrent.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="454" srcset="https://torrentfreak.com/images/acadtorrent.jpg 600w, https://torrentfreak.com/images/acadtorrent-200x150.jpg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px"></center></p>
<p>The download numbers are nowhere in the region of an average Hollywood blockbuster, of course. Thus far the tracker has registered just 28 downloads. That said, as a superior and open file-transfer protocol, BitTorrent does aid in critical research that helps researchers to discover more about the development of conditions such as ADHD and autism.</p>
<p>Interestingly, the biggest challenges of implementing the torrent solution were not of a technical nature. Most time and effort went into assuring other team members that this was the right solution.</p>
<p>&#8220;I had to push for more than a year for the adoption of torrents within the consortium. While my colleagues could understand the potential of the approach and its technical inputs, they remained skeptical as to the feasibility to implement such a solution within an academic context and its reception by the world community.</p>
<p>&#8220;However, when the first dataset was put together, amounting to 150GB, it became obvious all the HTTP and FTP fallback plans would not fit our needs,&#8221; Passerat-Palmbach adds.</p>
<p><center><strong>Baby brain scans</strong> <span style="font-size: small;">(Credit: Developing Human Connectome Project)</span><br></br></center><center><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-139906" src="media/29b763dc.brain2.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/brain2.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="251" srcset="https://torrentfreak.com/images/brain2.jpg 600w, https://torrentfreak.com/images/brain2-500x210.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px"></center></p>
<p>When the consortium finally agreed that BitTorrent was an acceptable way to share the data, local IT staff at the university had to give their seal of approval. Imperial College London doesn&#8217;t allow torrent traffic to flow freely across the network, so an exception had to be made.</p>
<p>&#8220;Torrents are blocked across the wireless and VPN networks at Imperial. Getting an explicit firewall exception created for our seeding machine was not a walk in the park. It was the first time they were faced with such a situation and we were clearly told that it was not to become the rule.&#8221;</p>
<p>Then, finally, the data could be shared around the world.</p>
<p>While BitTorrent is probably the most efficient way to share large files, there were other proprietary solutions that could do the same. However, Passerat-Palmbach preferred not to force other researchers to install &#8220;proprietary black boxes&#8221; on their machines.</p>
<p>Torrents are free and open, which is more in line with the Open Access approach more academics take today.</p>
<p>Looking back, it certainly wasn&#8217;t a walk in the park to share the data via BitTorrent. Passerat-Palmbach was frequently confronted with the piracy stigma torrents have amoung many of his peers, even among younger generations.</p>
<p>&#8220;Considering how hard it was to convince my colleagues within the project to actually share this dataset using torrents (&#8216;isn&#8217;t it illegal?&#8217; and other kinds of misconceptions&#8230;), I think there&#8217;s still a lot of work to do to demystify the use of torrents with the public.</p>
<p>&#8220;I was even surprised to see that these misconceptions spread out not only to more senior scientists but also to junior researchers who I was expecting to be more tech-aware,&#8221; Passerat-Palmbach adds.</p>
<p>That said, the hard work is done now and in the months and years ahead the neuroscience community will have access to Petabytes of important data, with help from BitTorrent. That is definitely worth the effort.</p>
<p>Finally, we thought it was fitting to end with Passerat-Palmbach&#8217;s &#8220;pledge to seed,&#8221; which he shared with his peers. Keep on sharing!</p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<p><em><br>
<strong>On the importance of seeding</strong></em></p>
<p>Dear fellow scientist,</p>
<p>Thank for you very much for the interest you are showing in the dHCP dataset!</p>
<p>Once you start downloading the dataset, you&#8217;ll notice that your torrent client mentions a sharing / seeding ratio. It means that as soon as you start downloading the dataset, you become part of our community of sharers and contribute to making the dataset available to other researchers all around the world!</p>
<p>There&#8217;s no reason to be scared! It&#8217;s perfectly legal as long as you&#8217;re allowed to have a copy of the dataset (that&#8217;s the bit you need to forward to your lab&#8217;s IT staff if they&#8217;re blocking your ports).</p>
<p>You&#8217;re actually providing a tremendous contribution to dHCP by spreading the data, so thank you again for that!</p>
<p>With your help, we can make sure this data remains available and can be downloaded relatively fast in the future. Over time, the dataset will grow and your contribution will be more and more important so that each and everyone of you can still obtain the data in the smoothest possible way.</p>
<p>We cannot do it without you. By seeding, you&#8217;re actually saying &#8220;cheers!&#8221; to your peers whom you downloaded your data from. So leave your client open and stay tuned!</p>
<p>All this is made possible thanks to the amazing folks at academictorrents and their infrastructure, so kudos academictorrents!</p>
<p>You can learn more about their project <a href="http://academictorrents.com/about.php#mission">here</a> and get some help to get started with torrent downloading <a href="http://academictorrents.com/about.php#downloading">here</a>.</p>
<p>Jonathan Passerat-Palmbach</p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139819
title: When a Big Torrent Site Dies, Some Hope it Will Be Right Back
uri: When-a-Big-Torrent-Site-Dies-Some-Hope-it-Will-Be-Right-Back
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/paR9k7c3f7U/
content:
<p><a href="media/42a21863.beright-small.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/beright-small.jpg"><img src="media/8608564c.beright-small.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/beright-small.jpg" alt="" width="270" height="159" class="alignright size-full wp-image-139949" srcset="https://torrentfreak.com/images/beright-small.jpg 270w, https://torrentfreak.com/images/beright-small-220x130.jpg 220w" sizes="(max-width: 270px) 100vw, 270px"></a>For a niche that has had millions of words written about it over the past 18 years or so, most big piracy stories have had the emotions of people at their core.</p>
<p>When The Pirate Bay was taken down by the police <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-remains-on-top-11-years-after-the-raid-170531/">eleven years ago</a> it was global news, but the real story was the sense of disbelief and loss felt by millions of former users. Outsiders may dismiss these feelings, but they are very common and very real.</p>
<p>Of course, those negative emotions soon turned to glee when the site returned days later, but full-on, genuine resurrections are something that few big sites have been able to pull off since. What we have instead today is the sudden disappearance of iconic sites and a scrambling by third-party opportunists to fill in the gaps with look-a-like platforms.</p>
<p>The phenomenon has affected many big sites, from The Pirate Bay itself through to KickassTorrents, YTS/YIFY, and more recently, ExtraTorrent. When sites disappear, it&#8217;s natural for former users to look for replacements. And when those replacements look just like the real deal there&#8217;s a certain amount of comfort to be had. For many users, these sites provide the perfect antidote to their feelings of loss.</p>
<p>That being said, the clone site phenomenon has seriously got out of hand. Pioneered by players in the streaming site scene, fake torrent sites can now be found in abundance wherever there is a brand worth copying. ExtraTorrent operator SaM knew this when he closed his site last month, and he took the time to warn people away from them personally.</p>
<p>“Stay away from fake ExtraTorrent websites and clones,” he said.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s questionable how many listened.</p>
<p>Within days, users were flooding to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/no-extratorrent-has-not-been-resurected-170524/">fake ExtraTorrent sites</a>, encouraged by some elements of the press. Despite having previously reported SaM&#8217;s clear warnings, some publications were still happy to report that ExtraTorrent was back, purely based on the word of the fake sites themselves. And I&#8217;ve got a bridge for sale, if you have the cash.</p>
<p>While misleading news reports must take some responsibility, it&#8217;s clear that when big sites go down a kind of grieving process takes place among dedicated former users, making some more likely to clutch at straws. While some simply move on, others who have grown more attached to a platform they used to call home can go into denial.</p>
<p>This reaction has often been seen in TF&#8217;s mailbox, when <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/yify-yts-shuts-down-the-end-of-a-piracy-icon-151030/">YTS/YIFY went down</a> in particular. More recently, dozens of emails informed us that ExtraTorrent had gone, with many others asking when it was coming back. But the ones that stood out most were from people who had read SaM&#8217;s message, read TF&#8217;s article stating that ALL clones were fakes, yet still wanted to know if sites a, b and c were legitimate or not.</p>
<p>We approached a user on Reddit who asked similar things and been derided by other users for his apparent reluctance to accept that ExtraTorrent had gone. We didn&#8217;t find stupidity (as a few in /r/piracy had cruelly suggested) but a genuine sense of loss.</p>
<p>&#8220;I loved the site dude, what can I say?&#8221; he told TF. &#8220;Just kinda got used to it and hung around. Before I knew it I was logging in every day. In time it just felt like home. I miss it.&#8221;</p>
<p>The user hadn&#8217;t seen the articles claiming that one of the imposter ExtraTorrent sites was the real deal. He did, however, seem a bit unsettled when we told him it was a fake. But when we asked if he was going to stop using it, we received an emphatic &#8220;no&#8221;.</p>
<p>&#8220;Dude it looks like ET and yeah it&#8217;s not quite the same but I can get my torrents. Why does it matter what crew [runs it]?&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>It does matter, of course. The loss of a proper torrent site like ExtraTorrent, which had releasers and a community, can never be replaced by a custom-skinned Pirate Bay mirror. No matter how much it looks like a lost friend, it&#8217;s actually a pig in lipstick that contributes little to the ecosystem. </p>
<p>That being said, it&#8217;s difficult to counter the fact that some of these clones make people happy. They fill a void that other sites, for mainly cosmetic reasons, can&#8217;t fill. With this in mind, the grounds for criticism weaken a little &#8211; but not much.</p>
<p>For anyone who has watched the Black Mirror episode &#8216;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Be_Right_Back">Be Right Back</a>&#8216;, it&#8217;s clear that sudden loss can be a hard thing for humans to accept. When trying to fill the gap, what might initially seem like a good replacement is almost certainly destined to disappoint longer term, when the sub-standard copy fails to capture the heart and soul of the real deal.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s an issue that will occupy the piracy scene for some time to come, but interestingly, it&#8217;s also an argument that Hollywood has used against piracy itself for decades. But that&#8217;s another story.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=138783
title: No, Netflix Hasn’t Won The War on Piracy
uri: No-Netflix-Hasn-t-Won-The-War-on-Piracy
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/hotI0MYVCuM/
content:
<p><img src="media/b310fc7c.netflix-logo.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/netflix-logo.png" alt="" width="200" height="121" class="alignright size-full wp-image-69714">Recently a hacker group, or hacker, going by the name TheDarkOverlord (TDO) <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/hackers-leak-netflixs-orange-is-the-new-black-season-5-premiere-170429/">published</a> the premiere episode of the fifth season of Netflix&#8217;s Orange is The New Black, followed by nine more episodes a few hours later. </p>
<p>TDO obtained the videos from Larson Studios, which didn&#8217;t pay the 50 bitcoin ransom TDO had requested. The hackers then briefly turned their attention to Netflix, before releasing the shows online. </p>
<p>In the aftermath, a flurry of articles claimed that Netflix&#8217;s refusal to pay means that it is <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-05-02/why-netflix-is-winning-the-online-piracy-wars">winning the war on piracy</a>. Torrents are irrelevant or no longer a real threat and piracy is pointless, they concluded. </p>
<p>One of the main reasons cited is a decline in torrent traffic over the years, as reported by the network equipment company <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/tag/sandvine/">Sandvine</a>. </p>
<p>&#8220;Last year, BitTorrent traffic reached 1.73 percent of peak period downstream traffic in North America. That&#8217;s down from the 60 percent share peer-to-peer file sharing had in 2003. Netflix was responsible for 35.15 percent of downstream traffic,&#8221; one reporter wrote. </p>
<p><center><strong>Piracy pointless?</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/1a59e46c.piracypointless-e1496327079899.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/piracypointless-e1496327079899.png" alt="" width="600" height="323" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-139836"></center></p>
<p>Even Wired, a reputable technology news site, <a href="https://www.wired.com/2017/05/orange-is-the-new-black-leak/">jumped</a> on the bandwagon.</p>
<p>&#8220;It’s not that torrenting is so onerous. But compared to legitimate streaming, the process of downloading a torrenting client, finding a legit file, waiting for it to download, and watching it on a laptop (or mirroring it to a television) hardly seems worth it,&#8221; the articles states. </p>
<p>These and many similar articles suggest that Netflix&#8217;s ease of use is superior to piracy. Netflix is winning the war on piracy, which is pretty much reduced to a fringe activity carried out by old school data hoarders, they claimed.</p>
<p>But is that really the case?</p>
<p>I wholeheartedly agree that Netflix is a great alternative to piracy, and admit that torrents are not as dominant as they were before. But, everybody who thinks that piracy is limited to torrents, need to educate themselves properly. </p>
<p>Piracy has evolved quite a bit over the past several years and streaming is now the main source to satisfy people&#8217;s &#8216;illegal&#8217; viewing demands. </p>
<p>Whether it&#8217;s through pirate streaming sites, mobile apps or dedicated media players hooked to TVs; it&#8217;s not hard to argue that piracy is easier and more convenient than it has even been in the past. And arguably, more popular too.</p>
<p>The statistics are dazzling. According to piracy monitoring outfit MUSO there are <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/online-piracy-moves-away-from-the-desktop-170414/">half a billion </a>visits to video pirate sites every day. Roughly 60% of these are to streaming sites.</p>
<p>While there has been a small decline in streaming visits over the past year, MUSO&#8217;s data doesn&#8217;t cover the explosion of media player piracy, which means that there is likely a significant increase in piracy overall. </p>
<p>TorrentFreak contacted the aforementioned network equipment company Sandvine, which said that we&#8217;re &#8220;on to something.&#8221; </p>
<p>Unfortunately, they currently have no data to quantify the amount of pirate streaming activity. This is, in part, because many of these streams are hosted by legitimate companies such as Google.</p>
<p>Torrents may not be dominant anymore, but with hundreds of millions of visits to streaming pirate sites per day, and many more via media players and other apps, piracy is still very much alive. Just <a href="/hollywood-sees-illegal-streaming-devices-as-piracy-3-0-170502">ask the Motion Picture Association</a>.</p>
<p>I would even argue that piracy is more of a threat to Netflix than it has ever been before.</p>
<p>To illustrate, here is a screenshot from one of the most visited streaming piracy sites online. The site in question receives millions of views per day and featured two Netflix shows, &#8220;13 Reasons Why&#8221; and the leaked &#8220;Orange is The New Black,&#8221; in its daily &#8220;most viewed&#8221; section recently.</p>
<p><center><strong>Netflix shows among the &#8220;most viewed&#8221; pirate streams</strong><br></br></center><center><img src="media/d3ce7997.netflixpiratepop-e1496326408671.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/netflixpiratepop-e1496326408671.png" alt="" width="600" height="413" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-139833"></center></p>
<p>If you look at a random streaming site, you&#8217;ll see that they offer an overview of thousands of popular movies and TV-shows, far more than Netflix. Pirate streaming sites have more content than Netflix, often in high quality, and it doesn&#8217;t cost a penny.</p>
<p>Throw in the explosive growth of piracy-capable media players that can bring this content directly to the TV-screen, and you&#8217;ll start to realize the magnitude of this threat. </p>
<p>In a way, the boost in streaming piracy is a bigger threat to Netflix than the traditional Hollywood studios. Hollywood still has its exclusive release windows and a superior viewing experience at the box office. All Netflix content is instantly pirated, or already available long before they add it to their catalog.</p>
<p>Sure, pirate sites might not appeal to the average middle-class news columnist who&#8217;s been subscribed to Netflix for years, but for tens of millions of less fortunate people, who can do without another monthly charge on their household bill, it&#8217;s an easy choice. </p>
<p>Not the right choice, legally speaking, but that doesn&#8217;t seem to bother them much. </p>
<p>That&#8217;s illustrated by tens of thousands of people from all over the world commenting with their public Facebook accounts, on movies and TV-shows that were obviously pirated. </p>
<p><center><strong>Pirate comments on a streaming site</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/20bf78d4.piratecomments.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/piratecomments.png"><img src="media/5306a3f3.piratecomments.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/piratecomments.png" alt="" width="600" height="653" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-139835"></a></center></p>
<p>Of course, if piracy disappeared overnight then only a fraction of these pirates would pay for a Netflix subscription, but saying that piracy is irrelevant for the streaming giant may be a bit much. </p>
<p>Netflix itself is all too aware of this it seems. The company has launched its own &#8220;<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/netflix-gets-serious-about-its-anti-piracy-efforts-170324/">Global Copyright Protection Group</a>,&#8221; an anti-piracy division that&#8217;s on par with those of many major Hollywood studios.</p>
<p>Netflix isn&#8217;t winning the war on piracy; it just got started&#8230;.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139959
title: Denuvo Accused of Using Unlicensed Software to Protect its Anti-Piracy Tool
uri: Denuvo-Accused-of-Using-Unlicensed-Software-to-Protect-its-Anti-Piracy
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/tMPMjepvzos/
content:
<p><a href="media/05d838b7.denuvo.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/denuvo.jpg"><img src="media/fe5f698e.denuvo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/denuvo.jpg" alt="" width="210" height="109" class="alignright size-full wp-image-116067"></a>Just recently, anti-piracy outfit Denuvo has been hitting the headlines every few weeks, but for reasons the Austrian company would rather forget.</p>
<p>As a result of providing the leading anti-piracy solution for games, the company is now well and truly in the spotlight of pirates, each desperate to defeat Denuvo protection on new games as quickly as possible. Now, however, the company has a rather different headache to contend with.</p>
<p>According to a <a href="http://rsdn.org/forum/shareware/6733058">post</a> on Russian forum RSDN, Denuvo is accused of engaging in a little piracy of its own.  The information comes from a user called drVanо, who is a developer at <a href="http://vmpsoft.com/">VMProtect Software</a>, a company whose tools protect against reverse engineering and cracking.</p>
<p>&#8220;I want to tell you a story about one very clever and greedy Austrian company called Denuvo Software Solutions GmbH,&#8221; drVano begins.</p>
<p>&#8220;A while ago, this company released a protection system of the same name but the most remarkable thing is that they absolutely illegally used our VMProtect software in doing so.&#8221;</p>
<p>drVano says that around three years ago, VMProtect Software and Denuvo entered into correspondence about the possibility of Denuvo using VMProtect in their system. VMProtect says they were absolutely clear that would not be possible under a standard $500 license, since the cost to Denuvo of producing something similar for themselves would be several hundred thousand dollars.</p>
<p>However, with no proper deal set up, drVano says that Denuvo went ahead anyway, purchasing a cheap license for VMProtect and going on to &#8220;mow loot&#8221; (a Russian term for making bank) with their successful Denuvo software. </p>
<p>&#8220;Everything went well for Denuvo until we notified them that their VMProtect license had been canceled due to a breach of its licensing conditions. Options were offered for solving the problem, including paying modest compensation to us. Our proposal was ignored,&#8221; drVano says.</p>
<p>Interestingly, drVano says that VMProtect then took what appears to be a rather unorthodox measure against Denuvo. After cooperation with Sophos, the anti-virus vendor agreed to flag up the offending versions of Denuvo as potential malware. VMProtect says it has also been speaking with Valve about not featuring the work of &#8220;scammers&#8221; on its platform.</p>
<p>In a nutshell, Denuvo is being accused of using pirated versions of VMProtect in order to create its own anti-piracy software. It&#8217;s one of the most ironic claims ever made against an anti-piracy company and it will be intriguing to see how this plays out. According to VMProtect, legal action might not be far away.</p>
<p>&#8220;Through our long-standing partners from <a href="http://www.intellectpro.ru/">Intellect-C</a>, we are starting to prepare an official claim against Denuvo Software Solutions GmbH with the prospect of going to court. This might be a very good lesson for &#8216;greedy&#8217; developers who do not care about the intellectual property rights of their colleagues in the same trade,&#8221; drVano concludes.</p>
<p>Just last week, the latest version of Denuvo <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/new-control-denuvo-piracy-protection-cracked-170602/">was cracked</a> by rising star Baldman, who revealed what a toll the protection was taking on video gaming hardware. The protection, which according to reports is the only recent version of Denuvo that doesn&#8217;t use VMProtect, collapsed in less than a week.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139962
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week on BitTorrent – 06/05/17
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-on-BitTorrent-06-05-17
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/6mhsH2kinIE/
content:
<p><img src="media/9ca997b1.wick.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/wick.png" alt="" width="300" height="197" class="alignright size-full wp-image-139631">This week we have two newcomers in our chart.</p>
<p>John Wick: Chapter 2 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 Web-DL/Webrip/HDRip/BDrip/DVDrip unless stated otherwise.</p>
<p><a href="http://TorrentFreak.com/category/dvdrip/feed/"><strong>RSS feed</strong></a> for the weekly movie download chart.</p>
<h5>This week&#8217;s most downloaded movies are:</h5>
<table class="css hover">
<thead>
<tr>
<th width="12%"><strong>Movie Rank</strong></th>
<th width="15%"><strong>Rank <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-pirated-movies-week-bittorrent-052917/">last week</a></strong></th>
<th><strong>Movie name</strong></th>
<th width="18%"><strong>IMDb Rating / Trailer</strong></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tfoot>
<tr>
<td colspan="4">Most downloaded movies via torrents</td>
</tr>
</tfoot>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>1</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4425200/">John Wick: Chapter 2</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4425200/">8.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGk2EfbD_Ps">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3874544/">The Boss Baby</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3874544/">6.5</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tquIfapGVqs">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1790809/">Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales</a> (TS)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1790809/">7.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2_6L7u578Q">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3315342/">Logan</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3315342/">8.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DekuSxJgpbY">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4630562/">The Fate of the Furious</a> (subbed HDRip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4630562/">6.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XBmsl7wbIQ">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4731136">A Cure For Wellness</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4731136">6.5</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF1rLFCdewU">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5442430/">Life</a></td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5442430/">6.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeLsJfGmY_Y">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(7)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1219827/">Ghost in The Shell</a> (Subbed HDRip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1219827/">6.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4VmJcZR0Yg">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(8)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3731562/">Kong: Skull Island</a> (Subbed HDRip)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3731562/">7.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44LdLqgOpjo">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(6)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2763304/">T2 Trainspotting</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2763304/">7.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsozpEE543w">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139981
title: TheDarkOverlord Leaks Eight Episodes of an Unreleased ABC Show
uri: TheDarkOverlord-Leaks-Eight-Episodes-of-an-Unreleased-ABC-Show
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/ZSZ0habkhpo/
content:
<p><img src="media/268303f7.tdo-logo.jpg" data-original-source="https://torrentfreak.com/images/tdo-logo.jpg" width="270" height="270" class="alignright size-large">Late April, a hacking group calling itself TheDarkOverlord (TDO) warned that unless a ransom was paid, it would begin leaking a trove of unreleased TV shows and movies.</p>
<p>Almost immediately it carried through with its threat by <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/hackers-leak-netflixs-orange-is-the-new-black-season-5-premiere-170429/">leaking</a> the season five premiere of Netflix&#8217;s Orange is The New Black. The leak was just the start though, with another nine episodes quickly following. Netflix had clearly refused to pay any ransom.</p>
<p>Ever since there have been suggestions that TDO could leak additional material. It was previously established that the Orange is the New Black leak was the result of a breach at post-production studio Larson Studios. TDO previously indicated that it had more content up its sleeve from the same location.</p>
<p>During the past few hours that became evident when a message sent to TF heralded a new leak of yet another unaired show.</p>
<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve just released ABC&#8217;s &#8216;Steve Harvey&#8217;s Funderdome&#8217; Season 01 Episodes 01 through 08. This is a completely unaired show,&#8221; TDO told TF.</p>
<p>TDO refused to confirm where it had obtained the content but since the show was present in an earlier list distributed by TDO, it seems possible if not probable that the episodes were also obtained from Larson.</p>
<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re unwilling to discuss the source of this material, but we&#8217;ll go on the record stating that this is content that is owned by American Broadcasting Company and it&#8217;s just been released on the world wide web for everyone&#8217;s consumption,&#8221; TDO said.</p>
<p>As can be seen from the image below, the series is now being distributed on The Pirate Bay.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/359e05d6.steveharveys.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/steveharveys.png"><img src="media/aa39bbee.steveharveys.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/steveharveys.png" alt="" width="817" height="547" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-139995"></a></center></p>
<p>At the time of writing, interest in the episodes is low, with less than a dozen peers reported on the torrent. Those numbers are likely to increase as the day goes on but it&#8217;s safe to say that interest is at a much lower level than when Orange is the New Black was dumped online.</p>
<p>Interest levels aside, the reason that both series were leaked appears to be the same. Although TDO wouldn&#8217;t go into specifics, the hacking entity told TF that it contacted ABC with demands but had no success.</p>
<p>&#8220;We approached ABC with a most handsome business proposal, but we were so rudely denied an audience. Therefore, we decided to bestow a gift upon the good people of the internet,&#8221; TDO said.</p>
<p>On June 2, TDO already indicated that ABC could be the next target with a short announcement on Twitter. &#8220;American Broadcasting Company may be up next, ladies and gentlemen,&#8221; TDO wrote.</p>
<p>Interestingly, there&#8217;s a suggestion that TDO views the Netflix and ABC leaks as being different, in that it views the companies&#8217; routes to market as dissimilar.</p>
<p>&#8220;This is a different model than Netflix as ABC&#8217;s profits are generated much differently,&#8221; TDO concludes.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=139960
title: Dish Network Sues ‘ZemTV’ and ‘TV Addons’ For Copyright Infringement
uri: Dish-Network-Sues-ZemTV-and-TV-Addons-For-Copyright-Infrin
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/A_XaIUVZkfA/
content:
<p><img src="media/0af8686f.zemtvadd.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/zemtvadd.jpg" alt="" width="222" height="194" class="alignright size-full wp-image-139977">More and more people are starting to use Kodi-powered set-top boxes to stream video content to their TVs. </p>
<p>While Kodi itself is a neutral platform, third-party add-ons can turn it into the ultimate pirate machine, providing access to movies, TV-shows and IPTV channels.</p>
<p>These add-ons are direct competition for traditional broadcast providers, such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dish_Network">Dish Network</a> in the United States, which filed a lawsuit in a Texas federal court late last week. </p>
<p>The complaint lists the add-on ZemTV as the prime target. The service in question allows users to watch a variety of Dish channels, without permission.</p>
<p>&#8220;The ZemTV service is retransmitting these channels over the Internet to end-users that download the ZemTV add-on for the Kodi media player, which is available for download at the websites www.tvaddons.ag and www.tvaddons.org,&#8221; Dish&#8217;s lawyers write.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/kodi-addon-repository-sees-massive-surge-users-170417/">TVAddons platform</a>, which hosts hundreds of unofficial Kodi add-ons including ZemTV, is also listed as a defendant. According to Dish, TVAddons plays an important role in the distribution of the infringing add-on.</p>
<p>The ZemTV operator, who is only known as “Shani” and “Shani_08,” used the TVAddons platform to share and promote its service while asking for donations, the complaint alleges. </p>
<p>&#8220;Website Operators have actual or constructive knowledge of this infringing activity and materially contribute to that activity by providing the forum where the ZemTV add-on can be downloaded and soliciting and accepting donations from ZemTV users,&#8221; Dish writes. </p>
<p>&#8220;But for the availability of the ZemTV add-on at www.tvaddons.ag or www.tvaddons.org, most if not all of Developer’s distribution and/or public performance would not occur,&#8221; the complaint adds.</p>
<p>Dish claims that it sent numerous takedown requests to Internet service providers associated with the ZemTV service, but the developer has continued to offer the add-on, circumventing any countermeasures.</p>
<p>With the lawsuit, the broadcast provider holds ZemTV accountable for direct copyright infringement, demanding $150,000 per infringement in damages. TVAddons is accused of contributory and vicarious copyright infringement and also faces statutory damages.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak spoke to a representative from TVAddons, who wasn&#8217;t aware of the lawsuit. Dish has not contacted them directly with any takedown requests, he says.</p>
<p>&#8220;This is the first we&#8217;ve heard of this lawsuit. No one ever sent us any type of takedown or DMCA notice or even tried to contact us prior, they could have easily done so through our contact page or site emails,&#8221; TVAddons informs us. </p>
<p>TVAddons says that the ZemTV add-on was already removed prior to the lawsuit due to a technical issue, and it won&#8217;t return.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Zem addon was actually removed from our addon library and community tools weeks ago due to a completely unrelated technical issue. I have already spoken to the developer, and he has since deleted the Zem addon entirely,&#8221; the TVAddons representative says.</p>
<p>Also, shortly after we started to inquire about the lawsuit, the ZemTV add-on appears to have shut down completely. Developer &#8220;Shani&#8221;<a href="https://twitter.com/shani_08_kodi/status/871476523827593216"> says </a>it became too popular to maintain, but the legal threat likely played a role as well.</p>
<p>The lawsuit against ZemTV and TVAddons is the first of its kind in the United States. As such, it will be closely watched by other rightsholders, add-on developers, and platforms similar to TVAddons that distribute software.</p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<p>The full complaint Dish Network filed is <a href="media/2821115e.0b176c04-5f41-4375-9d73-ffdaf1a1af8a.pdf" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/0b176c04-5f41-4375-9d73-ffdaf1a1af8a.pdf">available here (pdf)</a>.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=140003
title: MPAA Chief Praises Site-Blocking But Italians Love Piracy – and the Quality
uri: MPAA-Chief-Praises-Site-Blocking-But-Italians-Love-Piracy-and-the
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/ptOk0RwqIx4/
content:
<p><a href="media/61e90490.dodd-laughing.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/dodd-laughing.jpg"><img src="media/72da5504.dodd-laughing.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dodd-laughing.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="214" class="alignright size-full wp-image-45463"></a>After holding a reputation for being soft on piracy for many years, in more recent times Italy has taken a much tougher stance. The country now takes regular action against pirate sites and has a fairly aggressive site-blocking mechanism.</p>
<p>On Monday, the industry gathered in Rome and was presented with new data from local anti-piracy outfit FAPAV. The research revealed that while there has been some improvement over the past six years, 39% of Italians are still consuming illicit movies, TV shows, sporting events and other entertainment, at the rate of 669m acts of piracy every year.</p>
<p>While movie piracy is down 4% from 2010, the content most often consumed by pirates is still films, with 33% of the adult population engaging in illicit consumption during the past year.</p>
<p>The downward trend was not shared by TV shows, however. In the past seven years, piracy has risen to 22% of the population, up 13% on figures from 2010.</p>
<p>In keeping with the MPAA&#8217;s recent coding of piracy in 1.0, 2.0, and <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/hollywood-sees-illegal-streaming-devices-as-piracy-3-0-170502/">3.0 variants</a> (P2P as 1.0, streaming websites as 2.0, streaming devices/Kodi as 3.0), FAPAV said that Piracy 2.0 had become even more established recently, with site operators making considerable technological progress.</p>
<p>&#8220;The research tells us we can not lower our guard, we always have to work harder and with greater determination in communication and awareness, especially with regard to digital natives,&#8221; said FAPAV Secretary General, Bagnoli Rossi.</p>
<p>The FAPAV chief said that there needs to be emphasis in two areas. One, changing perceptions among the public over the seriousness of piracy via education and two, placing pressure on websites using the police, judiciary, and other law enforcement agencies.  </p>
<p>&#8220;The pillars of anti-piracy protection are: the judicial authority, self-regulatory agreements, communication and educational activities,&#8221; said Rossi, adding that cooperation with Italy&#8217;s AGCOM had resulted in 94 sites being blocked over three years.</p>
<p>FAPAV research has traditionally focused on people aged 15 and up but the anti-piracy group believes that placing more emphasis on younger people (aged 10-14) is important since they also consume a lot of pirated content online. MPAA chief Chris Dodd, who was at the event, agreed with the sentiment.</p>
<p>&#8220;Today&#8217;s youth are the future of the audiovisual industry. Young people must learn to respect the people who work in film and television that in 96% of cases never appear [in front of camera] but still work behind the scenes,&#8221; Dodd said.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is important to educate and direct them towards legal consumption, which creates jobs and encourages investment. Technology has expanded options to consume content legally and at any time and place, but at the same time has given attackers the opportunity to develop illegal businesses.&#8221;</p>
<p>Despite large-scale site-blocking not being a reality in the United States, Dodd was also keen to praise Italy for its efforts while acknowledging the wider blocking regimes in place across the EU.</p>
<p>&#8220;We must not only act by blocking pirate sites (we have closed a little less than a thousand in Europe) but also focus on legal offers. Today there are 480 legal online distribution services worldwide. We must have more,&#8221; Dodd said.</p>
<p>The outgoing MPAA chief reiterated that movies, music, games and a wide range of entertainment products are all available online legally now. Nevertheless, piracy remains a &#8220;growing phenomenon&#8221; that has criminals at its core.</p>
<p>&#8220;Piracy is composed of criminal organizations, ready to steal sensitive data and to make illegal profits any way they can. It&#8217;s a business that harms the entire audiovisual market, which in Europe alone has a million working professionals. To promote the culture of legality means protecting this market and its collective heritage,&#8221; Dodd said.</p>
<p>In Italy, convincing pirates to go legal might be more easily said than done. Not only do millions download video every year, but the majority of pirates are happy with the quality too. 89% said they were pleased with the quality of downloaded movies while the satisfaction with TV shows was even greater with 91% indicating approval.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/">TF</a>, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/">torrent sites</a> and  <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-anonymous-review-2017-170304/">ANONYMOUS VPN services</a>.</p>
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