# articles

feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=94645
title: UK Legalizes CD Ripping and Cloud Backups Today
uri: UK-Legalizes-CD-Ripping-Time-shifting-and-Cloud-Backups-Today
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/hrIeuNoG1eM/
content:
<p><a href="media/5d378082.uk-flag.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/uk-flag.jpg"><img src="media/4d28e669.uk-flag.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/uk-flag.jpg" alt="uk-flag" width="200" height="179" class="alignright size-full wp-image-86005"></a>To most consumers it&#8217;s common sense that they can make a backup copy of media they own, but in the UK this has been illegal until today.</p>
<p>After consulting various stakeholders the Government decided that it would be in the best interests of consumers to legalize copying for personal use.</p>
<p>Earlier this year the UK Intellectual Property Office <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/uk-dvd-cd-ripping-will-legalized-summer-140328/">announced</a> that the changes would go into effect in June. However, when June came around the most crucial changes were still <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/copying-mp3s-dvds-cds-now-legal-uk-140602/">pending Parliamentary approval</a>.</p>
<p>These final issues were resolved this summer and after a brief delay private copying is now legal. </p>
<p>This means that people are now free to make copies of DVDs, CDs and other types of media, as long as they&#8217;re for personal use and without copyright protection. In addition, it&#8217;s no longer copyright-infringing to store copies of legally purchased media to the cloud. </p>
<p>&#8220;These changes are going to bring our IP laws into the 21st century,&#8221; IP Minister Baroness Neville-Rolfe says commenting on the changes. &#8220;They will mean that the UK IP regime will now be responsive to the modern business environment and more flexible for consumers.&#8221;</p>
<p>The changes aim to fix the mismatch between the law and public opinion. A Government-commissioned survey previously found that 85% of consumers believed that DVD and CD ripping was legal already, while more than one-third of all consumers admitted that they’d made copies of media they purchased.</p>
<p>Besides the new private copying rights, the upcoming amendments will also broaden people’s fair use rights. For example, people no longer have to ask permission to quote from or parody the work of others, such as a news report or a book, as long as it’s “fair dealing” and the source is recognized.</p>
<p>For the public the amendments are certainly a welcome change from the more restrictive copyright laws that were previously in place. For those who are interested, a full overview of the upcoming changes <a href="https://www.gov.uk/exceptions-to-copyright">is available here</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> The time-shifting reference was removed from this article, as that was already allowed under a previous amendment. Apologies for the confusion.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=94609
title: Popcorn Time Now Available as iOS App
uri: Popcorn-Time-Now-Available-as-iOS-App
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/QMTwqUhiYHE/
content:
<p><a href="media/4be08d57.popios.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/popios.jpg"><img src="media/4be08d57.popios.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/popios.jpg" alt="popios" width="300" height="300" class="alignright size-full wp-image-94624"></a>The Popcorn Time phenomenon is one of the biggest piracy stories of the year thus far.</p>
<p>The software amassed millions of users by offering BitTorrent-powered streaming in an easy-to-use Netflix-style interface.</p>
<p>When the original version shut down various forks continued the project, each releasing their own features. One of the most-used Popcorn Time versions comes from time4popcorn.eu, who remain very active on the development side.</p>
<p>After previously rolling out an Android version and Chromecast and Apple TV support, today the fork released the first Popcorn Time app for iOS. The <a href="http://time4popcorn.eu/ios.html">first release</a> requires a jailbreak and can be accessed through the Cydia platform.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak spoke with the developers who say they are working on a solution for non-jailbroken devices as well, but that will take some more time to complete. Nonetheless, they are happy with the progress they&#8217;ve made thus far.</p>
<p>&#8220;After only 5.5 months, Popcorn Time is available on all major platforms! And this is only the beginning. Our future plans are huge,&#8221; the time4popcorn.eu team notes.</p>
<p>The iOS app is currently missing some features that are available in the desktop version. Chromecast and Apple TV support are still works in progress, likewise the built-in VPN.</p>
<p>The standard functionality appears to work just fine, provided that there&#8217;s enough bandwidth available to stream the video files via BitTorrent.</p>
<p>The developers have <a href="http://time4popcorn.eu/source.html">released the iOS source code</a> under a GPL V3 license, which allows others to extend and improve it. The team itself will also continue to work on improving the code, and they promise to release more &#8220;exiting details&#8221; on the application&#8217;s future in a week or two.</p>
<p>Popcorn Time&#8217;s appeal to pirates hasn&#8217;t gone unnoticed by Hollywood. Two months ago the MPAA pushed back and managed to get two popular forks <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-pulls-popcorn-time-off-github-140711/">removed from Github</a> claiming that the apps are hurting the major movie studios. </p>
<p>While this was a setback, it doesn&#8217;t seem to have hindered development much. Both Popcorn Time forks are still around and show no sign of throwing the towel voluntarily anytime soon. </p>
<p><center><strong>Popcorn Time fork on iOS</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/bd446e7a.captiospopcorn.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/captiospopcorn.jpg"><img src="media/f3141e73.captiospopcorn.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/captiospopcorn.jpg" alt="captiospopcorn" width="480" height="677" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-94612"></a></center></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=94661
title: Pirate Bay Founders Celebrated in Promo Bay Tribute
uri: Pirate-Bay-Founders-Celebrated-in-Promo-Bay-Tribute
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/i7muNG3LvOU/
content:
<p><img src="media/e9d1b569.promo-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/promo-bay.jpg" width="200" height="185" class="alignright">Since 2012, The Pirate Bay has been periodically donating its front page to artists looking to increase their profile and reach out to new fans.</p>
<p>The initiative, known as The Promo Bay, attracted <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/10000-artists-signed-up-for-pirate-bay-promotion-12110/">10,000 applications</a> in a matter of months, and has exposed dozens of artists to hundreds of millions of views, at zero cost to them.</p>
<p>Many bands have been featured to date, but the group currently featured on the front page could be one of the best &#8216;fits&#8217; to date.</p>
<p><a href="http://dubioza.org/">Dubioza Kolektiv</a> are an already successful band that have been selling records and playing festivals all around Europe for the past 11 years. Their views on the music industry are a great match for The Pirate Bay.</p>
<p>&#8220;We live in a fast changing world and the music industry is really struggling to maintain the monopolistic role they&#8217;ve enjoyed for decades,&#8221; Dubioza bass player Vedran Mujagić told TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>&#8220;They perceive this freedom of expression and ability to share culture and knowledge in the digital age as a major threat to their profits and they employ really ugly methods in trying to suppress these practices.&#8221; </p>
<p><center><img src="media/61c1f413.promo112.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/promo112.jpg" alt="DE"></center></p>
<p>The seven piece group, who hail from Bosnia and Herzegovina and promote their style as a fusion of hip-hop, reggae, dub and rock, are currently front and center on The Promo Bay with a track from their new EP, and things are working out perfectly.</p>
<p>&#8220;We sent the video of our song &#8216;No Escape (from Balkans)&#8217; and our new EP &#8216;Happy Machine&#8217; to Pirate Bay and now the video has been on the TPB homepage for a little more than 48 hours. It resulted in big traffic and more than 200,000 views of our video on YouTube &#8211; and it keeps growing,&#8221; Vedran reveals.</p>
<p>&#8220;This was really great because the song and Dubioza Kolektiv got exposed to people who would otherwise might never have heard of the band &#8211; from Siberia to South Africa. Reactions and comments have been really positive so far.&#8221;</p>
<p>But while &#8216;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtgA0jvhp2A">No Escape</a>&#8216; has captured the big views so far, the second track from the EP has been flying under the radar. It&#8217;s an infectious ska-influenced romp that was written with the jailed founders of The Pirate Bay in mind.</p>
<p>&#8220;Free.mp3 (The Pirate Bay Song) is dedicated to founders of thepiratebay.org website,&#8221; the band reveals. &#8220;Gottfrid Svartholm Warg a.k.a. <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/?s=gottfrid">Anakata</a> and who is currently being held in solitary confinement and is facing six-year prison sentence in Denmark and Peter Sunde Kolmisoppi a.k.a. <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/?s=sunde">brokep</a> who is incarcerated in Sweden.&#8221;</p>
<p>The track, which is upbeat, cheerful and extremely catchy, begins with a couple of BitTorrent terms and recounts how file-sharing scares the music industry.</p>
<p>Lines including <em>&#8216;We don’t give a shit about a copyright law we take it from the rich and give it to the poor&#8217;</em> give way to Games of Thrones downloads and name checks for Kim Dotcom, Barack Obama and Wikileaks.</p>
<p>&#8220;We admire enthusiasts like people from The Pirate Bay, people like Edward Snowden, people from Wikileaks &#8211; who are fighting big corporations and governments &#8211; not for profit but because they believe in these ideals, even at the price of their own personal freedoms. It is always inspiring to see people who are finding the way to outsmart the system,&#8221; Vedran says.</p>
<p>Dubioza say they aim to deliver positivity &#8220;that hits you like a blast of fresh air&#8221; and they&#8217;ve certainly hit the mark with their attitudes towards file-sharing. Both the new EP and their entire discography have been <a href="http://thepiratebay.se/user/dubioza/">uploaded in their name</a> on the The Pirate Bay in the past few days and are mirrored on sites including KickassTorrents.</p>
<p>Those enjoying the style and the band&#8217;s ethos can join <a href="http://dubioza.org/new-tour-dates/">them on tour</a> for the rest of the month.</p>
<p><center><iframe width="650" height="366" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/GS8-nNhWlw4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=94693
title: Wounded Warrior Project Sues ‘Rival’ Over Copyright
uri: Wounded-Warrior-Project-Sues-Rival-Over-Copyright
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/H66cbgp1dLw/
content:
<p>Helping the most disadvantaged in society is an honorable aim, so it&#8217;s always sad when charitable groups with similar missions choose to fight each other in the courts. Making lawyers rich is not what most donors have in mind when they make their contributions.</p>
<p>Still, this is the path being embarked on by the <a href="http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/">Wounded Warrior Project</a> (WWP). The non-profit, which was founded after the events of 9/11 in order to support wounded veterans of the military, says another non-profit is unfairly piggybacking on its image and marketing.</p>
<p><a href="http://keystonewarriors.com/">Keystone Wounded Warriors</a> is an Eastern Pennsylvania-based non-profit which aids veterans by raising awareness and seeking the public’s support for related programs and services.</p>
<p>&#8220;Funds donated to Keystone Wounded Warriors are used to support local post-9/11 veterans and their families located in or with ties to Pennsylvania,&#8221; KWW says. </p>
<p>Unfortunately WWP have a number of issues with KWW and have ordered their legal team to resolve them via action in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.</p>
<p>Lawyers for Wounded Warrior Project are seeking an injunction against Keystone Wounded Warriors on several grounds, including copyright and trademark. Firstly, WWP say that the logo used by KWW is too similar to its own. Both use silhouettes to depict scenes of war in which veterans help veterans, and each use a similar font. </p>
<p><center><img src="media/fc0bee2f.wounded.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/wounded.jpg" alt="woundedlogo"></center></p>
<p>According to <a href="http://pennrecord.com/news/14797-wounded-warrior-project-sues-pa-group-for-copyright-infringement">PennRecord</a>, the Wounded Warrior Project has used its logo for 10 years and received trademark approval in 2005. This trademark, WWP says, has an estimated publicity value of $500 million.</p>
<p>In addition to a dispute over WWP imagery allegedly present in photographs of KWW fund-raising events, the Wounded Warrior Project says the Keystone Wounded Warriors mission statement is far too close to their own. WWP promise &#8220;To honor and empower Wounded Warriors&#8221; while their &#8216;rival&#8217; claims &#8220;To honor, empower, aid, and assist Pennsylvania service members.&#8221;</p>
<p>While WWP appear to have a reasonable point that KWW&#8217;s branding is likely to cause confusion, their demands are such that if KWW lose the case, KWW-supported veterans will suffer. In addition to an advertising campaign to educate donors and the public that the WWP and KWW are not affiliated, WWP is seeking punitive and compensatory damage for any infringements.</p>
<p>According to its latest report, Wounded Warrior Project generated revenues of <a href="media/2c3d53b4.wounded_warrior_4_16_14_fs.pdf" data-original-source="http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/media/579215/wounded_warrior_4_16_14_fs.pdf">$300 million</a>, up from $200 million the year before.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=94662
title: Google Asked to Remove Half a Billion “Pirate” Search Results
uri: Google-Asked-to-Remove-Half-a-Billion-Pirate-Search-Results
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/qWlxQQqfCi0/
content:
<p><img src="media/3a6fa524.google-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/google-bay.jpg" alt="google-bay" width="200" height="177" class="alignright size-full wp-image-21875">In the hope of steering prospective customers away from pirate sites, copyright holders are overloading Google with DMCA takedown notices.</p>
<p>These requests have increased dramatically over the years. In 2008, the search engine received <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/google-takedown-notices-surge-140325/">only a few dozen</a> takedown notices during the entire year, but today it processes <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/google-asked-to-remove-1-million-pirate-links-per-day-140820/">a million per day</a> on average.</p>
<p>Adding up the numbers reported in Google&#8217;s <a href="http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/copyright/">Transparency Report</a>, we found that since the release of the report three years ago Google has been asked to remove over 500 million links to allegedly infringing webpages.</p>
<p>The number of notices continues to increase at a rapid pace as nearly half of the requests, 240 million, were submitted during the first months of 2014. The graph below illustrates this sharp rise in takedown notices.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/f881d314.takedownincrease.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/takedownincrease.png"><img src="media/f881d314.takedownincrease.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/takedownincrease.png" alt="takedownincrease" width="536" height="275" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-94667"></a></center></p>
<p>Most of the reported webpages have indeed been removed and no longer appear in Google&#8217;s search results. As an example, more than <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/google-asked-censor-two-million-pirate-bay-urls-140420/">two million Pirate Bay pages</a> have quietly been wiped from Google. </p>
<p>TorrentFreak asked Google for a comment on the most recent milestone but the company has chosen not to respond on the record.</p>
<p>Despite the frequent use of the takedown process many copyright holders aren&#8217;t happy with the way things are going. While Google does its best to comply with its obligations under current law, some industry insiders claim that the search giant can and should do more to tackle the piracy problem. </p>
<p>The UK music industry group BPI, which is responsible for roughly 20% of all submitted URLs, points out that Google should do more to lower the visibility of unauthorized content in its search results. Despite promises to do so, the music group still sees very little improvement on this front</p>
<p>&#8220;Despite its clear knowledge as to which sites are engines of piracy, Google continues to help build their illegal businesses, by giving them a prominent ranking in search results,” BPI <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/bpi-hits-record-breaking-100-million-google-takedowns-140922/">told us</a> last week.</p>
<p>“Google can simply fix this problem by amending its algorithm. We hope they will respond positively to the invitation from Government to negotiate voluntary measures to do so.”</p>
<p>The BPI and other copyright holders are pushing for some sort of agreement to implement more far-reaching anti-piracy measures. However, thus far Google maintains that it&#8217;s already doing its best to address the concerns of copyright holders. </p>
<p>Last year the company released a report detailing the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/how-google-helps-copyright-holders-to-fight-piracy-130911/">various anti-piracy measures</a> it uses. However, the company also stressed that copyright holders can do more to prevent piracy themselves. </p>
<p>Without legal options it’s hard to beat unauthorized copying, is the argument Google often repeats.</p>
<p>“Piracy often arises when consumer demand goes unmet by legitimate supply. As services ranging from Netflix to Spotify to iTunes have demonstrated, the best way to combat piracy is with better and more convenient legitimate services,&#8221; the company previously explained.</p>
<p>&#8220;The right combination of price, convenience, and inventory will do far more to reduce piracy than enforcement can.”</p>
<p>While this standoff continues, copyright holders are expected to increase the volume of requests. At the current pace Google may have processed a billion URLs by the end of next year.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=94714
title: Kim Dotcom & Baboom Sever All Ties
uri: Kim-Dotcom-Baboom-Sever-All-Ties
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/0wCXXUqTo20/
content:
<p><a href="media/2f926473.baboom.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/baboom.png"><img src="media/e62c6cf5.baboom.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/baboom.png" alt="baboom" width="207" height="157" class="alignright size-full wp-image-89980"></a>On January 20, 2014, Kim Dotcom celebrated the two-year anniversary of the raid on his New Zealand mansion by releasing his brand new album &#8216;Good Times&#8217;.</p>
<p>In addition to being the first Dotcom collection distributed commercially, the album was also notable for <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/dotcoms-baboom-launches-with-good-times-for-free-140120/">soft-launching Baboom</a>. The fledging music service was to provide the platform for the entrepreneur&#8217;s assault on the major label-controlled recording business.</p>
<p>From the beginning Baboom&#8217;s stated aim was to disrupt the music industry by closing the gap between artists and fans, rewarding the former with most of the profits. The latter would be put in a win-win situation via free ad-supported music streaming.</p>
<p>The one constant that remained throughout was Kim Dotcom himself, a person with whom the service was inextricably linked, both financially and from branding and marketing perspectives. Today, however, that has all come to an end.</p>
<p>According to a new Particulars of Shareholding document filed this morning, Coatesville Trustee Services Limited &#8211; Dotcom&#8217;s family trust &#8211; has sold all of its shares in Baboom.</p>
<p>Before the sale Michael Sorensen&#8217;s Vig Limited, which also holds 13044 shares (9.97%) in Mega.co.nz, held 45% of Baboom&#8217;s shares. Company documents reveal that Vig now owns 90% after Dotcom&#8217;s family trust shares were transferred to the company.</p>
<p><center><br>
<h5>The new Baboom shareholding</h5>
<p><img src="media/8b8df1fe.baboomshares.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/baboomshares.png" alt="baboomshares"></center></p>
<p>As can be seen above, the remaining 10% is held by Xavier Buck of Dicé Invest. In November 2013, Buck, who is also a director at Domaintools, <a href="http://www.wort.lu/fr/economie/la-dropbox-cryptee-star-du-lu-cix-528f9c2de4b0fdd7bf3b44ed">said</a> he would be heading up MEGA Europe.</p>
<p>Perhaps the most curious element of Dotcom&#8217;s exit from the business is the language being used by Baboom chief executive Grant Edmundson. While he wishes the Baboom founder well, a single sentence distances Dotcom from the company in every possible way.</p>
<p>&#8220;The transaction means Dotcom no longer has any equity or role in Baboom, nor any relationship with the company,&#8221; Edmundson <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/10571753/Dotcom-sells-out-of-Baboom">said</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;Kim is moving on to focus on other projects and both camps wish each other well with future plans.&#8221;</p>
<p>TorrentFreak spoke with Edmundson and asked if Dotcom&#8217;s exit from the company had been his choice alone, Baboom&#8217;s, or by mutual agreement. He told us that he would not comment on matters between shareholders. However, when questioned on whether Baboom&#8217;s brand would be affected by the departure of its founder, Edmundson was more forthcoming. </p>
<p>&#8220;In terms of the impact on Baboom, my view is that the Baboom service will now be able to be judged on its own merits rather than being assessed on the brand equity (or otherwise) of its shareholder base,&#8221; the Baboom CEO said.</p>
<p>Kim Dotcom did not immediately respond to a request for comment. </p>
<p>Baboom is currently trying to raise US$3.98m (NZ$5.05m) and a listing on the Australian Securities Exchange. The company sought to raise the funds from investors in return for 11.5% of its shares with the offer closing in July, but that deadline was amended to make it open-ended.</p>
<p>Baboom is scheduled to debut in the fourth quarter of 2014, although no firm launch date has been provided by the company.</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> Kim Dotcom has taken to Twitter:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en-gb"><p>Good bye <a href="https://twitter.com/baboom">@Baboom</a>. I was holding u back. The music industry hates me. You&#39;ll do better without me. Good luck my love. <a href="http://t.co/eByCsUizmR">http://t.co/eByCsUizmR</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) <a href="https://twitter.com/KimDotcom/status/517591248899563520">October 2, 2014</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=94788
title: Court Orders Immediate Pirate Site Blockade
uri: Court-Orders-Immediate-Pirate-Site-Blockade
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/82BqD-zJ9y4/
content:
<p><img src="media/c579e316.pirate-card.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-card.jpg" width="250" height="210" class="alignright">Kino.to, at the time one of the world&#8217;s largest illegal streaming portals, was shut down in 2011 as part of Europe&#8217;s largest ever action against piracy sites.</p>
<p>However, just a month before Kino.to was dismantled, Austrian ISP ‘UPC’ was served with a preliminary injunction ordering it to block subscriber access to the site. The order had been obtained by the Hollywood-affiliated anti-piracy group VAP but it was called into doubt by the ISP. This led to the Austrian Supreme Court referring the matter to the European Court of Justice.</p>
<p>Earlier this year the ECJ handed down its <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/eu-court-isps-can-be-forced-to-block-pirate-sites-140327/">widely publicized decision</a> which stated that yes, in reasonable circumstances, pirate sites can indeed be blocked by European ISPs.</p>
<p>On the back of this ruling, VAP subsequently <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/block-the-pirate-bay-within-3-days-austrian-isps-told-140729/">wrote</a> to several local ISPs (UPC, 3, Tele2 and A1) demanding blockades of Movie4K.to and Kinox.to, a site that took over from Kino.to. This would become the test case on which all future blockades would be built.</p>
<p>When this formal request for the ISPs to block the sites <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/isps-face-lawsuits-failing-block-pirate-bay-140818/">was rejected</a>, in August VAP <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/four-isps-sued-for-failing-to-block-pirate-movie-sites-140830/">sued the providers</a>. And now, after more than three years of wrangling, VAP have finally got their way.</p>
<p>In a ruling handed down yesterday by the Commercial Court of Vienna, UPC, 3, Tele2 and A1 were ordered to block Movie4K and Kinox with immediate effect. According to <a href="http://derstandard.at/2000006347840/Provider-muessen-unverzueglich-Piratenseiten-kinoxto-und-movie4-sperren">Der Standard</a>, UPC and A1 placed blocks on the sites within hours, with 3 and Tele2 expected to comply with the injunction today.</p>
<p>But while another important hurdle has now been overcome, there is some way to go before VAP will have achieved everything they initially set out to do. At issue now is how far the ISPs will have to go in order to comply with the court order. It&#8217;s understood that VAP requires DNS and IP address blocking at a minimum, but whether the ISPs intend to comply with that standard remains to be seen.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s important for VAP, and other anti-piracy groups waiting in the wings, that these technical steps are workable going forward. Both VAP and the IFPI have lists of sites they would like blocked in the same way as Movie4K and Kinox have been, so it&#8217;s crucial to them that blockades aren&#8217;t easily circumvented.</p>
<p>Once this issue has been dealt with, in the next few months it&#8217;s likely that attention will turn to legal action being planned by the IFPI. The recording group has taken on the task of having torrent sites blocked in Austria, starting off with The Pirate Bay, isoHunt.to, 1337x.to and H33t.to.</p>
<p>IFPI is expected to sue several ISPs in the hope that local courts will treat torrent sites in the same way as they have streaming services. Once that&#8217;s been achieved &#8211; and at this stage it seems likely &#8211; expect long lists of additional domains to be submitted to the courts.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=94759
title: Record Labels Get Demonoid Blocked in Italy, For Now
uri: Record-Labels-Get-Demonoid-Blocked-in-Italy-For-Now
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/PzubRl6MxfE/
content:
<p><a href="media/6c7a4ac9.demonoid-logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/demonoid-logo.jpg"><img src="media/6c7a4ac9.demonoid-logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/demonoid-logo.jpg" alt="demonoid-logo" width="250" height="196" class="alignright size-full wp-image-94766"></a>After 20 months of downtime the infamous Demonoid BitTorrent tracker <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/demonoid-back-140330/">came back online</a> earlier this year. </p>
<p>The site slowly started to rebuild its community and is now getting millions of visitors per month again. At the same time, however, the torrent site is also drawing attention from various copyright holders. </p>
<p>On behalf of Sony, Warner and Universal, Italian anti-piracy group FIMI submitted a complaint against Demonoid to the Communications Regulatory Authority (AGCOM) last month. AGCOM is a regulatory body that has the power to order website blockades without court interference, if sites are deemed to be infringing. </p>
<p>The labels&#8217; complaint listed several tracks by Italian artists including Laura Pausini, Max Pezzali and Vasco Rossi, which were made available on Demonoid. However, instead of ordering blockades for these infringing works, AGCOM has now instructed ISPs to block the entire website. </p>
<p>As a result, Italian Internet subscribers can no longer access Demonoid. </p>
<p>TorrentFreak contacted <a href="http://www.fulviosarzana.it/en/fulvio-sarzana/">Fulvio Sarzana</a>, a lawyer specialized in Internet and copyright disputes, who told us that the scope of the preliminary injunction is too broad and disproportional.</p>
<p>&#8220;The order, in my opinion, is not proportional. The Court of Rome repeatedly ruled that blocking orders must be directed only at illegal content, and not the whole site,&#8221; Sarzana says.</p>
<p>The lawyer refers to a ruling earlier this year, where the Court of Rome recalled a blocking order against the video streaming site Filmakerz.org. The Court argued that partial blocking of a specific URL is preferred over site-wide bans, something that clearly didn&#8217;t happen with Demonoid.</p>
<p>&#8220;Demonoid would do well to contest the measure which appears to be illegitimate,&#8221; Sarzana notes, adding that the AGCOM procedures may be unconstitutional.</p>
<p>This issue has also been raised by several consumer groups who asked the court to review AGCOM&#8217;s legitimacy. Earlier this week the Court of Rome <a href="http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/blog/2014/09/italian-constitutional-court-decide-whether-administrative-enforcement-online-copyright">referred these complaints</a> to the Constitutional Court. Here it will be examined whether the current procedure violates right to freedom of expression and free speech, among other things.</p>
<p>If AGCOM is indeed deemed to be unconstitutional there&#8217;s a good chance that all existing blockades will be lifted. In addition, Sarzana believes that the wrongfully blocked websites may then be entitled to receive compensation for the damages they suffered.</p>
<p>However, until a decision from the Constitutional Court arrives AGCOM will continue to operate normally. FIMI is happy with this decision as well as the new blockades against Demonoid. </p>
<p>&#8220;We are extremely satisfied with this new blocking order and also about the outcome of the decision from the administrative Court of Rome on the regulation,&#8221; FIMI&#8217;s Enzo Mazza tells TorrentFreak. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=94799
title: Police Seize Domain of Frombar Sports Streaming Site
uri: Police-Seize-Domain-of-Frombar-Sports-Streaming-Site
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/7JD_ESifvJ8/
content:
<p><a href="media/bc6e239e.cityoflondonpolice.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/cityoflondonpolice.jpg"><img src="media/31176dbb.cityoflondonpolice.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cityoflondonpolice.jpg" alt="cityoflondonpolice" width="200" height="82" class="alignright size-full wp-image-71397"></a>Over the past few months <a href="http://www.cityoflondon.police.uk/Pages/default.aspx">City of London Police</a> have been working together with copyright holders to topple sites that provide or link to pirated content.</p>
<p>Police began by sending <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/uk-police-launch-campaign-to-shut-down-torrent-sites-130604/">warning letters</a> to site owners, asking them to go legit or shut down. Late last year this was followed by a campaign targeted at domain registrars, asking them to <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/uk-police-orders-registrars-to-suspend-domains-of-major-torrent-sites-131009/">suspend the domain names</a> of several &#8220;illegal&#8221; sites.</p>
<p><a href="http://torrentfreak.com/domain-registrars-deny-police-requests-suspend-pirate-sites-140808/">Most registrars</a> have denied these suspension requests because they lack any legal basis, but some are cooperating. Yesterday another site fell victim to the police campaign, as the sports streaming &#8216;franchise&#8217; Sportlemon had its Frombar.com domain name suspended.</p>
<p>The sports streaming site is relatively popular, with well over a million visitors per month. For now, these visitors will have to find an alternative as the site currently displays a prominent police banner.</p>
<p>&#8220;You have tried to access a website that is under criminal investigation by the UK: Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) This site is being investigated for online copyright infringement,&#8221; the banner reads.</p>
<p><center><a href="media/f2f81b0f.pipcu.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pipcu.jpg"><img src="media/f2f81b0f.pipcu.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pipcu.jpg" alt="pipcu" width="555" height="344" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-93814"></a></center></p>
<p>Whether it will deter people for long is doubtful though. The site owner has plenty of alternative domains lying around and the site is still accessible on frombar.tv, fromsport.com, gledaisport.com, fromsportcom.com, fromhot.com, as well as sportlemon.tv, which used to be the site&#8217;s main domain.  </p>
<p>And so the whack-a-mole continues for now.</p>
<p>To stay out of PIPCU&#8217;s crosshairs the owners of alleged pirate sites are increasingly looking for safe registrars that won&#8217;t give in to complaints from authorities overseas. The Canadian registrar <a href="https://web.easydns.com/">EasyDNS</a> appears to be a safer choice, as the company protests PIPCU&#8217;s efforts fiercely. </p>
<p>PIPCU is not happy with these non-cooperative registrars and a few weeks ago the police sent EasyDNS a <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/uk-police-accuse-domain-name-registrar-of-facilitating-criminal-activity-140830/">threatening letter</a>, suggesting that the company itself could be held liable for aiding and abetting a criminal operation.</p>
<p>Thus far police have not followed up on this threat.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=94815
title: Kim Dotcom Breaks Post Election Media Silence
uri: Kim-Dotcom-Breaks-Post-Election-Media-Silence
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/DAbamX3xVDs/
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="dotcom-laptop" width="233" height="170" class="alignright size-full wp-image-76556"></a>When it comes to the online space, Kim Dotcom is undoubtedly one of the most polarizing personalities around. From Megaupload to Mega to his fledgling music service Baboom, everything touched by the man has been bathed in publicity and heated opinion.</p>
<p>It is this ability to attract attention that undoubtedly played a key role in his creation of the Internet Party, a political movement with a stated aim to shake up New Zealand politics and put Dotcom-affiliated politicians in Parliament.</p>
<p>Last month, however, the elections failed to go as planned. The Internet Party <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/dotcoms-internet-party-fails-to-enter-new-zealand-parliament-140920/">conceded defeat</a> without winning a single seat, with its founder honoring tradition by politely congratulating Prime Minister and arch-rival John Key on his success.</p>
<p>After endless appearances and endless daily tweets, Dotcom essentially disappeared from public life, only breaking his silence to comment on the video game Destiny and his <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/kim-dotcom-baboom-sever-all-ties-141002/">exit from Baboom</a>. Today we catch up with the controversial entrepreneur to find out what happened.</p>
<p>&#8220;Baboom is this great idea of unchaining the artists from major record labels, allowing them to deal directly with their fanbase and using groundbreaking new ways of monetization that pay artists even when fans access content for free,&#8221; Dotcom told TF.</p>
<p>&#8220;But Baboom is facing tough opposition from the labels. Baboom has had to deal with unfair and deliberate efforts to make us fail. I won&#8217;t go into details.&#8221;</p>
<p>Dotcom says that for the sake of the artists he wants Baboom to succeed. But, in order for that to happen, a sacrifice needed to be made.</p>
<p>&#8220;The best way to achieve that success was to take me out of Baboom completely. We have a great management team and some brave investors in place. The brand &#8216;Kim Dotcom&#8217; is toxic and a major distractor to what Baboom is trying to achieve,&#8221; he concedes.</p>
<p>While sometimes problematic, Dotcom&#8217;s branding is clearly a double-edged sword, one only needs to look at the 2012 launch of Mega.co.nz to see that. On the tiniest of budgets, Dotcom managed to rally the world&#8217;s press to witness the launch of his new cloud-storage site. And without him it&#8217;s doubtful that Baboom would&#8217;ve achieved the profile it has today.</p>
<p>But while those same strengths allowed the Internet Party to became a news event every day leading up to the election, Dotcom&#8217;s profile and history &#8211; by his own admission &#8211; became a millstone around the party&#8217;s neck. Every aspect of his private life became a point of leverage for his political opposition.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Internet Party failed to deliver meaningful change in New Zealand at the last election because of the media spin by our opponents,&#8221; Dotcom says.</p>
<p>&#8220;They have successfully turned me into a villain, a German Nazi, a horrible employer, a political hacker, a practitioner of prohibited digital voodoo magic and nothing short of a monster. I would hate that guy too if I didn&#8217;t know that it wasn&#8217;t true.&#8221;</p>
<p>Dotcom says that part of the problem is that he has powerful enemies who in turn have friends in positions of influence, including in the press.</p>
<p>&#8220;When you have the US Government, the NZ Government, all Hollywood studios and all major record labels fighting against you, you don&#8217;t have a lot of friends, especially in the media,&#8221; Dotcom says.</p>
<p>&#8220;They either own the media (like in the US) or control the media with their significant advertising spending. Their passion to destroy me and everything I do, because of a copyright disagreement, is almost as fanatical as some of the religious extremism I see on TV.&#8221;</p>
<p>So with the election over, and maybe even Dotcom&#8217;s entire political career with it, the entrepreneur still has huge adversity to overcome. As he cuts Baboom free and wishes the company every success, Dotcom thoughts and energies turn to his pending extradition case. He knows it&#8217;s not going to be easy, especially given the mauling he received at the hands of New Zealand&#8217;s political heavyweights in the run up to the election.</p>
<p>&#8220;If I was a judge in New Zealand I wouldn&#8217;t think too highly of &#8216;Kim Dotcom&#8217; after months of prime time media bashing by the Prime Minister personally and his media helpers,&#8221; Dotcom says.</p>
<p>&#8220;John Key constantly made the Internet Party and its goals for Internet Freedom about my extradition case and he accused me of attempting to subvert the New Zealand judiciary. He basically told the judiciary every day that I&#8217;m a selfish, criminal man who &#8216;has to go away&#8217;.&#8221;</p>
<p>While Dotcom insists his motives were altruistic, there can be little doubt that if the election had gone his way the words of John Key and friends might have meant just that little bit less. As it stands, things went pretty badly.</p>
<p>The details of that <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/kim-dotcom-extradition-hearing-delayed-until-2015-140707/">extradition fight</a> will become clear during the months to come, but in closing Dotcom shared with us an interesting development.</p>
<p>&#8220;After 1000 days of waiting we finally got access to our own data (copies of our personal computers / hard drives). Remember, the Government made us wait this long for a single reason only: They demanded access to our <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/dotcom-encryption-keys-cant-be-given-to-fbi-court-rules-140702/">encryption codes</a>,&#8221; he says.</p>
<p>&#8220;But here&#8217;s the twist: It turns out that the Government had access to the encryption codes all along. Who would have thought that they didn&#8217;t install a trojan on my computer while they had the GCSB / NSA spying on me.&#8221;</p>
<p>Kim Dotcom&#8217;s extradition hearing is currently scheduled to take place in February 2015. Expect the media circus to get going again soon.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=94114
title: IMAGiNE BitTorrent Group Sysop Speaks Out From Prison
uri: IMAGiNE-BitTorrent-Group-Sysop-Speaks-Out-From-Prison
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/MdaM9OMF-Po/
content:
<p>In 2011 the notorious IMAGiNE movie piracy group was dismantled by the feds. The group was known for releasing large numbers of movies onto the Internet, many of which were still playing in theaters.</p>
<p>This attracted the attention of the MPAA who launched an investigation which eventually led to <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/imagine-bittorrent-piracy-group-face-years-in-prison-120426/">the arrests</a> of four U.S. residents. </p>
<p>These IMAGiNE members were charged with several counts of criminal copyright infringement and they eventually received prison sentences ranging from 23 months up to five years in prison.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/c58d37a7.imagine-nfo.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/imagine-nfo.png" alt="imagine"></center></p>
<p>Among the sentenced was the then <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/imagine-bittorrent-piracy-group-sysop-jailed-40-months-121130/">53-year-old IMAGiNE sysop</a> Gregory Cherwonik, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/CaRobotics">mentor of a robotics team</a> from Canandaigua. Cherwonik was sent to prison January last year and has now served half of his sentence.</p>
<p>Through one of his family members, TorrentFreak recently received an open letter from Cherwonik, where he shares his thoughts on his prosecution, the life he&#8217;s living now, and what awaits after his release. </p>
<p>The letter doesn&#8217;t lend itself to be excerpted or evaluated in detail, so with permission from Gregory and a close family member we have decided to post it pretty much as it arrived. It&#8217;s definitely controversial, but written from the heart.</p>
<p>&#8212;-</p>
<h3>A Letter From Prison &#8211; by Gregory Cherwonik</h3>
<p>This is the fourth time writing this, trying to get it to sound good to me. It&#8217;s hard to complain without sounding whiny.</p>
<p>Anyways. I&#8217;m past the halfway point of my sentence. 21 of 34 months paid in my debt to the MPAA. Usually when you&#8217;re sentenced to prison you&#8217;re sent for crimes against society or the government. Unfortunately it no longer works that way in the United States of America. </p>
<p>The IMAGiNE group provided society a service, so I owe it no debt. We gave those that couldn&#8217;t afford or have access to first run movies access to them. The poor, the service men and women, those that didn&#8217;t want to get their wallets raped to see for the most part poor quality movies. Seems only half (if even) of the movies produced these days are worth seeing. </p>
<p>We didn&#8217;t do it for money or fame, we did it because the government and the corporations gave us the tools. The government with the &#8220;Disabilities Act&#8221; where all theaters had to have a secondary audio signal for those with hearing disabilities. The Corporations by providing higher and higher quality video cameras WITH 24fps speeds. It&#8217;s like they wanted us to pirate movies. There was never any expectation of cash for this service. The fact of the matter is we voted on whether we should make money from it&#8230; it was voted down.</p>
<p>But what we did get out of this was a government that would lie and cheat to achieve its end result, a government that feels it can do what it wants to whoever it wants, anytime it wants, no matter where in the world they live. A government that no longer takes the people&#8217;s interest to mind when it makes laws. Now it&#8217;s a matter of who&#8217;ll pad their pockets the most. In my opinion we as a country took a nose dive when we started treating corporations as people.</p>
<p>While I was first getting into torrenting long before IMAGiNE was even thought of, I read the law. As I understood it, as long as there was no &#8220;Financial Gain&#8221; it was a misdemeanor. I see the newer DVDs new state that whether there&#8217;s Monetary Gain or not. Did they amend the law, or is it that the MPAA feels it can also do as it pleases?</p>
<p>Did the lMAGiNE case have something to do with this? I&#8217;m sure the prosecutors were fit to be tied when we stated we never received or expect any monetary gain from our endeavors. In fact it problem screwed them when they found out we actually paid money to do what we did. I guess not many people do things for a simple &#8220;Thank You&#8221; any more.</p>
<p>But the reason I myself am in prison is because my &#8220;Financial Gain&#8221; was invented. When the US attornies couldn&#8217;t prove any monetary gain they decided to lie. They said my gain was the &#8220;THOUSANDS&#8221; of DVDs I downloaded. If you added up all the VCDs, SVCDs, Xvid, and DVDs I&#8217;ve download over the 10 years I&#8217;m sure you&#8217;d struggle to make 1,500 titles. If in fact I downloaded &#8220;THOUSANDS&#8221; over the last three years I&#8217;m sure my ISP would have shutoff my service.</p>
<p>I currently have a library of over 400 bought and paid for titles; if the movie is good I buy it. You still can&#8217;t replicate the DTS sound, besides I am aware that if you don&#8217;t support those that make good, quality movies the industry will die. Many of the confiscated DVDs they took from me were nothing more than copies of my library.</p>
<p>If it wasn&#8217;t for this made up &#8220;Financial Gain&#8221;, [co-defendants] Willie, Sean and myself would have only been charged with misdemeanors. Of course that wouldn&#8217;t look good in the press or on resumes. It wouldn&#8217;t send the right message. So let&#8217;s lie and make things look a lot worse, show everyone how terrible those &#8220;PIRATES&#8221; are.</p>
<p>Please, do they really think the public bought that crap? 1 in 3 people aged 13 &#8211; 50 have downloaded or purchased bootleg or counterfeit goods. Yes we broke the law, I never said we didn&#8217;t. But we didn&#8217;t break the law we were charged with, and we sure as hell didn&#8217;t deserve the stiff sentences handed down.</p>
<p>So here I sit waiting for my release date. Then I can get back to doing what I do best&#8230; care for my family. Providing for them, working, paying taxes, volunteering my time and money for and in the community. Just as I was doing before I was sent away to waste my time and the government&#8217;s money. Let me tell you, from what I&#8217;ve seen the government is great at wasting money. It&#8217;s no wonder the MPAA has to &#8220;CONTRIBUTE&#8221; millions to the Dept of Justice, to Homeland Security, to the people who are supposed to be representing us, the citizens of this land.</p>
<p>Do you see the pattern here? Let me show you how I see it. The MPAA pays the Senators and Representatives to pass its laws via campaign &#8220;Contributions&#8221;(aka bribes, just about confirmed from Chris Dodd&#8217;s own mouth). They then contribute to Homeland Security to police these bought and paid for laws. Then to top it all off they contribute to the Justice Dept to enforce them. You would think there would be a conflict of interest there somewhere. Oh I forgot, we&#8217;re talking about people who the law doesn&#8217;t apply to.</p>
<p>But as we say here, it is what it is. So I&#8217;ll finish my time out, go back to my family, my job, my life with a felony conviction hanging over me. At least I&#8217;m old and only have to carry it a short time. The three years the MPAA took from me is actually a very high percentage of the time I had remaining in my life. </p>
<p>It would have been, except I did get some positive things out of this whole debacle. I came in weighing 300lbs, 20 months later from the lack of any stress, crappy meals and being so bored, all I do is walk and run, and I&#8217;ve managed to get my weight down to 180lbs. My blood pressure is good, as is my sugar. You might say I&#8217;ve lost three years but gained 10 back. </p>
<p>I&#8217;ve found out my wife of 26 years is my one, my only. My soul mate. That&#8217;s a wonderful feeling to have, to know you are loved as much as you love. I&#8217;ve found out that blood is definitely thicker, family is there for you always, but then I&#8217;ve also found out that friendship isn&#8217;t.</p>
<p>I&#8217;ve often wondered if piracy actually hurt or helped the industry. I really wish an independent source would release a study on it. On one hand it might take away from the ticket and DVD sales. But on the other hand would these people actually have gone to the theaters or bought the DVD? What l do know is that if l watched a pirated movie and it happened to be good, I would tell people just that. The movie was good. I&#8217;m sure others do the same. </p>
<p>Does this increase sales? Lets take the movie &#8220;The Hurt Locker“, it had a dismal showing at the theaters. It won an Oscar if I&#8217;m not mistaken, which doesn&#8217;t make it a good movie. But it also topped the lists for downloads at the time, and I&#8217;m sure the DVD sales went very well. Were those DVD sales because of the awards? Or were they because of word of mouth? I think it would be interesting to see the results of a good study. Then and only then can we know if we are criminals or not.</p>
<p>Oh BTW would I do it again if I had to do over????? You bet your ass, but I would do it differently. I told the group from the very start that a website [Unleashthe.net] would be the biggest security threat to the group. Obviously I was right.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=94842
title: BPI Set to Privately Prosecute ‘Pre-Release Music Pirates’
uri: BPI-Set-to-Privately-Prosecute-Pre-Release-Music-Pirates
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Ju-J7Gsdcr8/
content:
<p><a href="media/4ee85ff3.d-jesus.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/d-jesus.jpg"><img src="media/4ee85ff3.d-jesus.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/d-jesus.jpg" alt="d-jesus" width="150" height="150" class="alignright size-full wp-image-94845"></a>During the past ten years enforcement of copyright in the online space has changed dramatically for UK citizens. The landmark prosecution of iconic file-sharing site OiNK may have <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/oink-admin-found-not-guilty-walks-free-100115/">failed in 2010</a>, but it ushered in a determination to find new ways of bringing pirates to justice.</p>
<p>Aside from the efforts of the City of London Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (<a href="http://torrentfreak.com/?s=pipcu">PIPCU</a>), one of the recurring themes is the decision by the Hollywood-backed Federation Against Copyright Theft to privately prosecute high-profile cases themselves.</p>
<p>The most notable case, that involving SurfTheChannel&#8217;s Anton Vickerman, resulted in a <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/surfthechannel-owner-sentenced-to-four-years-in-jail-120814/">four-year jail sentence</a>, one that&#8217;s <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/fact-turn-up-at-torrent-site-owners-house-demanding-domain-names-130402/">cited in cease and desist notices</a> regularly served on file-sharing site admins in the UK. More recently, FACT took the decision to initiate a private prosecution against <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/fast-furious-6-pirate-sentenced-33-months-prison-140821/">Philip Danks</a>, a West-Midlands based man known for camming and distributing Fast and Furious 6 while it was still in cinemas.</p>
<p>It now appears that following FACT&#8217;s lead, the BPI will also take a privately investigated and prosecuted case to criminal trial this month.</p>
<p>The case involves the now-defunct file-sharing forum known as Dancing Jesus. The site was taken down in 2011 following a investigation carried out by the BPI and IFPI, with assistance from the US Department of Homeland Security.</p>
<p>At the time two people were arrested by City of London Police &#8211; the site&#8217;s alleged administrator and an individual said to be one of the site&#8217;s top uploaders. Homeland Security assisted with the case by seizing Dancing Jesus&#8217;s server in the United States.</p>
<p>Speaking with TorrentFreak, the BPI confirmed that the trial is going ahead in October.</p>
<p>&#8220;A trial is scheduled to take place at Newcastle Crown Court this month regarding the illegal distribution of music via an internet forum site called Dancing Jesus,&#8221; a spokesperson said.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is a private prosecution being brought by the BPI following an initial joint investigation by BPI and the IFPI, with assistance from the US Department of Homeland Security.  One defendant in the case has already pleaded guilty to illegally distributing music and will be sentenced at the end of the trial.&#8221;</p>
<p>While the precise details of the case will come out at trial, Dancing Jesus was perhaps best known for providing links to pre-release music content. TorrentFreak contacted the site&#8217;s former admin for comment but at the time of publication we&#8217;ve yet to receive a response.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=94820
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week – 10/06/14
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-10-06-14
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/MySh-et5zXo/
content:
<p><a href="media/57cc0776.trans.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/trans.jpg"><img src="media/57cc0776.trans.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/trans.jpg" alt="trans" width="300" height="223" class="alignright size-full wp-image-94249"></a>This week we have three newcomers in our chart.</p>
<p>Transformers: Age of Extinction is the most downloaded movie for the third week in a row.</p>
<p>The data for our weekly download chart is estimated by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only. All the movies in the list are BD/DVDrips unless stated otherwise.</p>
<p><a href="http://TorrentFreak.com/category/dvdrip/feed/"><strong>RSS feed</strong></a> for the weekly movie download chart.</p>
<table class="css hover">
<thead>
<tr>
<th width="12%"><strong>Ranking</strong></th>
<th width="15%"><strong>(<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-movies-of-the-week-140929/">last week</a>)</strong></th>
<th><strong>Movie</strong></th>
<th width="18%"><strong>IMDb Rating / Trailer</strong></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tfoot>
<tr>
<td colspan="4">torrentfreak.com</td>
</tr>
</tfoot>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>1</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/transformers_age_of_extinction/">Transformers: Age of Extinction</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2109248/">6.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYDGqmxMZFI">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sex_tape_2014/">Sex Tape</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1956620/">5.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxl4aOyHSwo">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/edge_of_tomorrow/">Edge Of Tomorrow</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1631867">8.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUmSVcttXnI">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/22_jump_street/">22 Jump Street</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2294449/">7.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qP755JkDxyM">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lucy_2014/">Lucy</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2872732/">6.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnKVv8Lp_xU">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(6)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/maleficent_2014/">Maleficent</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1587310/">7.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-XO4XiRop0">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/x_men_days_of_future_past/">X-Men: Days of Future Past</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1877832/">8.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsjtg7m1MMM">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(7)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/good_people_2014/">Good People</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1361318/">5.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rC17twr50WU">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/are_you_here/">Are You Here</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1545754/">5.3</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6EFwBGGNig">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sin_city_a_dame_to_kill_for/">Sin City: A Dame to Kill For</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0458481/">7.0</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iFdPcx0W2w">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=94850
title: Why Are We Letting Critical Infrastructure Get Regulated By A Cartoon Industry?
uri: Why-Are-We-Letting-Critical-Infrastructure-Get-Regulated-By-A-Cartoon
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/s8-ntfeDmEI/
content:
<p><a href="media/b997f7ba.copyright-branded.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/copyright-branded.jpg"><img src="media/db7b975c.copyright-branded.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/copyright-branded.jpg" alt="copyright-branded" width="250" height="164" class="alignright size-full wp-image-56211"></a>It&#8217;s now been 20 years since the Internet went mainstream. Today, every single aspect of private life, business, and civic society depends on a functioning net. Without it, you&#8217;re basically in exile from society.</p>
<p>In some countries, coding is now the most common profession. All growth sectors are heavily technology-dependent, which always means that the net is at underpinning all of it. All celebrated entrepreneurs have built super-scaling businesses enabled by the net. We also shop for food online, we date online, we build things together online.</p>
<p>It stands clear that the net is by far the most critical piece of infrastructure existing today. Not only does it build all future jobs, growth, economy, and entrepreneurship; we also exercise all our civil liberties, civic duties, and spend a lot of our social activities on this infrastructure. It&#8217;s more important than any other piece of infrastructure in society. We can do without the phone network, without cable TV, even without paved roads when we have the net.</p>
<p><strong>So why are we letting this infrastructure get regulated by a cartoon industry?</strong></p>
<p>This is not just figurative: we quite literally are. The Walt Disney Corporation has been instrumental in lobbying for limiting the utility of the net, taking leadership within the copyright industry at large. It&#8217;s no random chance that the latest copyright monopoly extension in the United States was called &#8220;The Mickey Mouse Copyright Extension Act&#8221;.</p>
<p>The notion that the copyright industry&#8217;s distribution monopoly is somehow more important to society than the super-infrastructure we call the Internet is not just laughable; it&#8217;s absurd and bizarre. And yet, the latter is being limited to appease and safeguard the former, instead of the other way around.</p>
<p>Of course, it&#8217;s easy to speak of the copyright industry as a cartoon industry in the figurative sense, too. It&#8217;s hard to find an industry that&#8217;s exaggerating its own importance more while failing at its core business more at the same time.</p>
<p><strong>Policymakers have completely failed in realizing what the growth engine in society is today, and are letting a completely irrelevant industry negate it from the sidelines. This is not just baffling but limits growth, jobs, and future entrepreneurship.</strong></p>
<p>The industries <em>inhibited</em> by the copyright monopoly are contributing more to the economy by almost a factor of <a href="http://falkvinge.net/2011/02/25/kill-copyright-create-jobs/">twelve-to-one</a> compared to the copyright industry. In other words, for every job lost in the copyright industry, twelve more are created. (Even formal studies agree that more than one job in technology is created for every job lost in the copyright industry.)</p>
<p>For a tangible example of this, observe how Linux- and Unix-based computers now have a market share of over 50% both on the <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/04/01/how-android-won-the-operating-system-market-share.aspx">client</a> <em>and</em> <a href="http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2014/09/24/september-2014-web-server-survey.html">server</a> sides. In other words, over half of our service offerings and the consumption of them &#8211; <em>across all categories</em> &#8211; are now dependent on technology which was written in defiance of the copyright monopoly, and which states outright that the copyright monopoly is a problem at best and absurd at worst.</p>
<p><strong>It&#8217;s more than time we saw the cartoon industry for the cartoon industry they are, and kick them out of making policy for critical infrastructure.</strong></p>
<p>Quite regardless of whether they like being kicked out or not, and especially regardless of what they think of the policies we need for the Internet instead of the ones they want.</p>
<p><center>
<div class="alignfull" style="border:2px solid #3F3F3F;width:100%;padding:15px;padding-top:8px;padding-bottom:4px;margin-top:20px;margin-bottom:10px;border-radius:10px">
<h3 style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:10px">
<div style="float:right;height:130px;width:39px;margin-left:20px;margin-right:10px"><img src="media/98818a80.Rick_Falkvinge_39x130.jpg" data-original-source="http://falkvinge.net/wp-content/themes/WpNewspaper/images/falkvinge/Rick_Falkvinge_39x130.jpg" style="border:none;-moz-box-shadow:none;-webkit-box-shadow:none" class="quimby_search_image"></div>
<p><span style="color:#3F3F3F;font-size:125%">About The</span> <span style="color:#FF3C78;font-size:125%">Author</span></p>
</h3>
<p style="font-family:PTSansRegular,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-weight:400;line-height:150%;margin-bottom:14px"><small>Rick Falkvinge is a regular columnist on TorrentFreak, sharing his thoughts every other week. He is the founder of the Swedish and first Pirate Party, a whisky aficionado, and a low-altitude motorcycle pilot. His blog at <a href="http://falkvinge.net">falkvinge.net</a> focuses on information policy.</small></p>
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<p><small>Book Falkvinge <a href="http://falkvinge.net/keynotes/">as speaker</a>?</small></p>
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</div>
<p></center></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=94722
title: Research Warns Against Overestimated Movie Piracy Losses
uri: Research-Warns-Against-Overestimated-Movie-Piracy-Losses
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/fRS6IEQp3EU/
content:
<p><a href="media/da5c3a28.pixel-pirate.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pixel-pirate.jpg"><img src="media/da5c3a28.pixel-pirate.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pixel-pirate.jpg" alt="pixel-pirate" width="250" height="125" class="alignright size-full wp-image-94797"></a>When it comes to movie piracy Hollywood tends to be most concerned about unauthorized copies that appear online when a film is still paying in theaters.</p>
<p>These are often CAM releases, which are copies of the movie recorded in a theater. Despite their low quality, these CAMs are often downloaded hundreds of thousands if not millions of times.</p>
<p>To find out what effect these downloads have on box office revenues <a href="http://www.apas-laboratory.org/">APAS Laboratory</a> researcher Marc Milot conducted a thorough field study. By using download statistics from the torrent site Demonoid, in combination with movie ratings and pre-release buzz, the research estimates the effect of CAM piracy on box office sales.</p>
<p>The findings, published this week in <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2502931">a paper</a> titled &#8220;Testing the lost sale concept in the context of unauthorized BitTorrent downloads of CAM copies of theatrical releases&#8221;, reveal an intriguing pattern.</p>
<p>Based on a sample of 32 widely released movies, the results show that box office revenue could be best predicted by pre-release buzz and to a lesser extent by the rating of the movies, which were both taken from Rotten Tomatoes. Interestingly, the amount of times a movie was pirated had no effect on its box office sales. </p>
<p>Instead of a link with sales, the amount of unauthorized downloads was affected by how visible these titles were on Demonoid. TorrentFreak contacted Milot, who believes that these results support the notion that many pirates download movies to discover new content.</p>
<p>&#8220;The research findings are the first to support with concrete behavioral evidence what BitTorrent file-sharers have been saying all along: that they don&#8217;t always download movies &#8211; in this case CAM versions of theatrical releases &#8211; they would have paid to view if they were not available on sites like Demonoid,&#8221; Milot told us.</p>
<p>This notion is supported by the fact that, unlike at the box office, the rating of a movie doesn&#8217;t affect the piracy volume. This finding is based on ratings by both Pirate Bay and Rotten Tomatoes users, to control for the possibility that pirates simply have a different movie taste.</p>
<p><center><strong>Downloads/sales by movie rating</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/5fcd4991.ratingdownloads.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ratingdownloads.png"><img src="media/5fcd4991.ratingdownloads.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ratingdownloads.png" alt="ratingdownloads" width="600" height="342" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-94794"></a></center></p>
<p>According to the researcher, these results should caution the movie industry not to overestimate the effect of CAM piracy on box office sales.  </p>
<p>&#8220;BitTorrent site users appear to be exploring and downloading the most visible movies, without caring how good or bad they are. It is in this way that BitTorrent sites and the box office are completely different systems in which people behave uniquely and with different motivations,&#8221; Milot explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;These findings should caution against the use of download statistics alone in calculations of losses – in this case lost ticket sales –  to avoid overestimation,&#8221; he adds.  </p>
<p>Whether the above will be a reassurance for Hollywood has yet to be seen. There have been several studies on the impact of movie piracy in recent years, often with conflicting results. The current research helps to add yet another piece to the puzzle.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=94862
title: Firedrive Mystery Deepens, iOS and Android Apps Disappear
uri: Firedrive-Mystery-Deepens-iOS-and-Android-Apps-Disappear
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/rEtVxRLLGr4/
content:
<p><a href="media/e0045508.firedrive.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/firedrive.jpg"><img src="media/9dc3c2a0.firedrive.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/firedrive.jpg" alt="firedrive" width="180" height="105" class="alignright size-full wp-image-83938"></a>Bugs, glitches and technical issues are real-life problems for all web-based operations. As a result, most websites are vulnerable to downtime, whether that&#8217;s for a few minutes or a few hours.</p>
<p>In the file-sharing space the phenomenon is very common indeed as these entities, torrent and &#8216;cyberlockers&#8217; in particular, often face unique challenges. These special issues can often lead to unexpected downtime, although with the advent of social media many sites have improved their communications with users.</p>
<p>That being said, tens of thousands of Firedrive users currently have no idea what has happened to their site.</p>
<p>Firedrive, which was previously known as Putlocker before a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/putlocker-rebrands-as-firedrive-user-files-remain-intact-140215/">rebranding exercise</a> earlier this year, started behaving strangely last week. User reports to TorrentFreak initially complained that the site was simply down, but a couple of days later, with no official announcement forthcoming, things took a turn for the strange.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s well known that Firedrive is used by some to host unauthorized copies of movies. It&#8217;s unclear just how many but thousands of sites around the world carry links to Firedrive that allow the viewing of mainstream movies with nothing more than a web browser. However, users trying to access those links are currently facing disappointment.</p>
<p>Since before the weekend, many (perhaps all) video files on Firedrive have been replaced with 13-15 second intros used by the major movie studios. TF tested a few random links we found using Google and found intros from Sony, Warner, Universal and Dreamworks, instead of the movies that claimed to be there.</p>
<p><Center><img src="media/d1e1fc1b.fire-werid.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/fire-werid.png" alt="Fire-weird"></center></p>
<p><a href="http://tvaddons.ag/">TVAddons</a>, the XBMC-focused community previously known as XBMCHub, told TorrentFreak that the issues at Firedrive and sister-site Sockshare (which is also currently non-functional) have broken some of their XBMC/Kodi addons. However, even greater concern lies with those who use Firedrive as a personal storage site.</p>
<p>In recent months following the Putlocker transition, Firedrive has been debuting tools and features which give the site an appeal to users looking for Dropbox-style functionality. And this is where things get even more strange. After a short beta period, on October 1 Firedrive issued a <a href="http://www.mygtn.tv/story/26672783/file-storage-software-company-firedrive-announces-new-android-and-ios-apps">press release</a> heralding the official debut of their iOS and Android syncing apps.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are looking forward to our users exploring the new applications and finding value in sharing and backing up their rich media using Firedrive,&#8221; said Joseph Turner, CEO of Firedrive.</p>
<p>However, users searching for the apps on either the App Store or Google Play are now met with silence. ITunes reports that the app is only available in Canada yet switching to that location reveals that it has been removed. Searches on Google Play for the Android versions yields nil results.</p>
<p>Ever since their press release Firedrive simply hasn&#8217;t been working and the only posts on Firedrive&#8217;s Facebook page are from angry users complaining about everything from lost files to hackers having taken over the site.</p>
<p>&#8220;All I can say is thank god I didn&#8217;t pay for this bullshit and to think was just about to go pro and pay,&#8221; wrote one. &#8220;Never happening now even if it does come back with my files intact, which I doubt will happen! Anyone into a class action suit, I have 100s of hours of work lost could only imagine what paying customers might have lost!&#8221;</p>
<p>TorrentFreak reached out to the site for comment but we have yet to receive any response. If anyone has any additional information, feel free to <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/contact/">contact us</a>.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=94875
title: Revealed: Warner Bros. Uses “Sophisticated Robots” to Fight Piracy
uri: Revealed-Warner-Bros-Uses-Sophisticated-Robots-to-Fight-Piracy
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/7oc574JgemA/
content:
<p><a href="media/5cca3fa3.warner2.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/warner2.jpg"><img src="media/5cca3fa3.warner2.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/warner2.jpg" alt="warner" width="275" height="177" class="alignright size-full wp-image-94882"></a>It&#8217;s been nearly a year since Hotfile was defeated by the MPAA, but the case hasn&#8217;t gone away completely yet. </p>
<p>As part of their <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/hotfile-pays-80-million-to-the-mpaa-but-might-survive-131204/">$80 million settlement agreement</a> with the movie studios, the file-hosting service also let the counter-suit over Warner Bros. alleged DMCA-abuse go.</p>
<p>This meant that the true workings of Warner Bros. takedown systems remained secret, since many of the court filings were heavily redacted. Arguing that the public has the right to know how Warner operated, the Electronic Frontier Foundation therefore asked the court to unseal the records. </p>
<p>Warner Bros. objected to this request, arguing that the effectiveness of their anti-piracy technology would be undermined by a public disclosure. However, two weeks ago U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams ordered that it&#8217;s <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/court-orders-warner-bros-to-reveal-flawed-anti-piracy-technology-140927/">in the public interest</a> to unseal the information.</p>
<p>The first set of unredacted documents <a href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/242159638/684-main">were published</a> by Warner Bros. yesterday evening. While it&#8217;s only a fraction of all sealed material, we can now see what the movie studio was so eager to keep out of the public eye. </p>
<p>Most of the unsealed information deals with Warner&#8217;s automated DMCA takedown tools. In the court filings these are described as &#8220;robots&#8221; which are programmed to mimic human behavior.</p>
<p>&#8220;Warner uses a system of computer programs known as &#8216;robots&#8217; to help search link sites. for links to infringing copies of its content. These programmable robots are highly sophisticated and can effectively mimic the search a human would conduct, except faster,&#8221; Warner explains. </p>
<p><center><strong>Warner&#8217;s (previously) redacted robots</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/d1ae37f0.warnerredact.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/warnerredact.jpg"><img src="media/d1ae37f0.warnerredact.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/warnerredact.jpg" alt="warnerredact" width="600" height="244" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-94887"></a></center></p>
<p>This isn&#8217;t a big surprise, but Warner clearly preferred to keep its automated takedown tools out of the public domain. </p>
<p>The unsealed information further shows that the  script in question searches 200 hand-picked link sites for specific keywords. A takedown notice then goes out to the source site of this link. The actual content was never downloaded and reviewed, nor were the titles checked to see if Warner actually owned the content in question. </p>
<p>&#8220;Its search process relied on computer automation to execute programs and did not involve human review of the file titles, page names or other overt characteristics before issuing a takedown notice,&#8221; an unredacted court order reads. </p>
<p>&#8220;And because the files were not reviewed, neither Warner&#8217;s robots nor its employees made a determination whether there were legal uses for the files.&#8221;</p>
<p>Despite revealing details of its &#8220;robots&#8221;, Warner still redacts how many employees its anti-piracy division employs. Unfortunately for them they forgot to black out one reference. According to an unredacted court order Warner employed seven people in its anti-piracy division at the time. </p>
<p>All in all it appears that most of the redactions revealed up until now were meant to keep the anti-piracy operations shrouded in mystery. There is not much that can actually hurt the company&#8217;s anti-piracy efforts. </p>
<p>While it&#8217;s now clear that Warner&#8217;s DMCA takedowns were highly automated, there is still a lot more information to unseal. Many questions about specific errors also remain unanswered, including the fact that the studio intentionally targeted the open source JDownloader software. </p>
<p>Whether future revelations will lift more of the veil will become apparent in the months to come.  </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=94884
title: NetNames Anti-Piracy Chief Moves to IFPI
uri: NetNames-Anti-Piracy-Chief-Moves-to-IFPI
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/ackx70K7cRw/
content:
<p><a href="media/c70e3baa.price-img.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/price-img.jpg"><img src="media/c70e3baa.price-img.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/price-img.jpg" alt="price-img" width="158" height="156" class="alignright size-full wp-image-94902"></a>NetNames is one of a number of brand protection businesses operating online today. The company, which aims to cushion the effects of fraud on its clients&#8217; brands, positions itself as a global leader in the sector.</p>
<p>Established as Group NBT in 1995, the company was renamed NetNames in 2013 and shortly after grabbed dozens of headlines after publishing a major study into online piracy.</p>
<p>Commissioned by NBC Universal and titled &#8216;<a href="http://torrentfreak.com/432-million-pirates-share-9567-petabytes-a-month-130917/">Sizing the Piracy Universe</a>&#8216;, the study mapped piracy volumes and prevalence around the world. NetNames&#8217; found that piracy is both &#8220;tenacious and persistent&#8221;, with a penchant for consuming increasing amounts of Internet bandwidth every year.</p>
<p>The report was overseen by Dr David Price, then Director of Piracy and Counterfeit Analysis at NetNames. Price also presided over the publication last month of NetNames&#8217; latest piracy study which focused on the role played by credit card companies in the cyberlocker space.</p>
<p>Published exactly a year after the NBC study, &#8216;<a href="http://torrentfreak.com/report-brands-dotcoms-mega-a-piracy-haven-140918/">Behind The Cyberlocker Door: A Report How Shadowy Cyberlockers Use Credit Card Companies to Make Millions</a>&#8216; was commissioned by the Digital Citizens Alliance (DCA), ostensibly to protect consumers. DCA doesn&#8217;t openly reveal its sources of funding but the report has all the hallmarks of an entertainment industry-focused study.</p>
<p>Previously, Price was the chief of Piracy Intelligence at Envisional and the head of a <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/arrr-the-music-pirates-are-still-here-110207/">study</a> claiming to be the first to accurately estimate the amount of infringing traffic on the Internet.</p>
<p>Now it appears that Price&#8217;s work has received the ultimate compliment from one of the most powerful entertainment industry organizations on the planet.</p>
<p><a href="media/e4511fa3.ifpilogo.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/ifpilogo.jpg"><img src="media/603de5f1.ifpilogo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ifpilogo.jpg" alt="ifpilogo" width="180" height="109" class="alignright size-full wp-image-54626"></a>The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, or IFPI as it&#8217;s more often called, is the umbrella anti-piracy organization for the world&#8217;s leading recording labels. As of now, IFPI &#8211; probably in their UK office since that&#8217;s where Price is based &#8211; has a new employee.</p>
<p>According to an amendment tucked away on his Linkedin profile, Price &#8211; who has a doctorate in Criminology from the University of Cambridge &#8211; is now working for the IFPI as their Head of Anti-Piracy Research and Analysis.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/bc4e5a7e.davidprice.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/davidprice.png" alt="davidprice"></center></p>
<p>In recent years Price has maintained a clear anti-piracy stance, which will obviously suit IFPI. He has participated in discussions calling for <a href="http://www.itif.org/events/online-piracy-remains-intractable-without-government-action">government action</a> against piracy and regularly uses content-industry friendly terms such as &#8220;stealing&#8221; to describe unauthorized copying.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak contacted NetNames&#8217; PR company for a comment on Price&#8217;s departure but at the time of publication we were yet to receive a response.</p>
<p>IFPI London, where the organization&#8217;s anti-piracy operations are based, also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=94918
title: Google Adds Custom Search Box For The Pirate Bay, and Others
uri: Google-Adds-Custom-Pirate-Bay-Search-With-Autocomplete
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/hKeBtY0W-j0/
content:
<p><a href="media/7c6b9504.google-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/google-bay.jpg"><img src="media/3a6fa524.google-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/google-bay.jpg" alt="google-bay" width="200" height="177" class="alignright size-full wp-image-21875"></a>The entertainment industries have gone head to head with Google in recent months, demanding tougher anti-piracy measures from the search engine. </p>
<p>According to the RIAA, MPAA and others, Google is making it too easy for its users to find pirated content. Instead, they would prefer Google to remove sites such as the Pirate Bay from its search results.</p>
<p>Thus far this hasn&#8217;t happened and it&#8217;s unlikely that the position will change in the near future. The search engine has changed Pirate Bay&#8217;s appearance in the search results, however, but not in the direction the copyright holders had hoped for. </p>
<p>A few weeks ago Google announced its <a href="http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.nl/2014/09/improved-sitelinks-search-box.html">new and improved</a> &#8220;sitelinks&#8221; section. This section appears when searching for keywords related to large sites, including The Pirate Bay, and lists links to popular sections of the site. </p>
<p>In an additional new move, it now shows a prominent search box that people can use to search for content on The Pirate Bay directly from Google. </p>
<p><center><strong>Google&#8217;s Pirate Bay search box</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/f0e40112.tpbsitelinks.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpbsitelinks.png"><img src="media/f0e40112.tpbsitelinks.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpbsitelinks.png" alt="tpbsitelinks" width="600" height="362" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-94932"></a></center></p>
<p>The feature also works with other large search related sites and wasn&#8217;t intended for The Pirate Bay specifically. However, considering the entertainment industries&#8217; previous critique this will soon be added to their long list of complaints. </p>
<p>Perhaps even more painful than the search box itself is the fact that the new sitelinks also support AutoComplete. This means that people get pirate-themed search suggestions if they use the box in question. </p>
<p>Simply typing in the letter G shows the following search suggestions, for example.</p>
<p><center><strong>Pirate autocomplete</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/b34a9e32.tpbsuggest.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpbsuggest.png"><img src="media/b34a9e32.tpbsuggest.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpbsuggest.png" alt="tpbsuggest" width="600" height="306" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-94933"></a></center></p>
<p>It&#8217;s unclear where these suggested terms are sourced from. They could come from popular searches on Google that relate to The Pirate Bay, or perhaps they are based on Pirate Bay pages that are indexed by the search engine. </p>
<p>It&#8217;s worth noting that the &#8220;pirate&#8221; AutoComplete appears to go against <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/google-starts-censoring-bittorrent-rapidshare-and-more-110126/">Google&#8217;s policy</a> of not showing copyright-infringing suggestions. Regular Google searches don&#8217;t suggest &#8220;Pirate Bay&#8221; when entering &#8220;Pirate B&#8221; for example.</p>
<p>And things could get even worse in the future. </p>
<p>For now, the custom Pirate Bay search box returns its results within Google. However, if The Pirate Bay decides to implement the right markup it will take users directly to The Pirate Bay, which is likely to escalate the situation further. </p>
<p>The Pirate Bay team is aware of Google&#8217;s new feature and is considering adding support for these direct searches.  Whether Google will allow that to happen remains to be seen. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=94949
title: Miramax Demands Payment From Kill Bill Pirates
uri: Miramax-Demands-Payment-From-Kill-Bill-Pirates
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/-LhjTLLiKiU/
content:
<p><a href="media/61bdae71.miramax.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/miramax.png"><img src="media/61bdae71.miramax.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/miramax.png" alt="miramax" width="250" height="199" class="alignright size-full wp-image-94952"></a>While the mainstream recording labels and movie studios regroup to tackle the piracy issue from <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/?s=pipcu">new directions</a>, other companies are being convinced to do things the old-fashioned way.</p>
<p>In move reminiscent of the RIAA&#8217;s war on the public during the last decade, hundreds of thousands of Internet users are now receiving demands for cash settlements after allegedly downloading and sharing copyright-infringing content.</p>
<p>Alongside traditional &#8216;trolls&#8217; such as the now-infamous <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/?s=malibu">Malibu Media</a>, US-based Rightscorp Inc. has been recruiting copyright holders to pursue alleged pirates for relatively modest sums. As previously <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/?s=rightscorp">reported</a>, in emails sent via their ISPs, subscribers are asked for $20.00 to settle copyright complaints.</p>
<p>One of the more recent additions to the Rightscorp fold is US-based entertainment company Miramax. The distributor has hundreds of movies in its <a href="http://www.miramax.com/catalog/a-to-z/">catalog</a>, with the image below representing just a tiny sample.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/c1fc99e0.miramaxc.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/miramaxc.png" alt="Miramax"></center></p>
<p>As can be seen top right, the Tarantino classic Kill Bill: Volume 1 is a Miramax title and one that is now being handled by Rightscorp. The company has been sending out cash demands to alleged sharers via their ISPs and some have taken to file-sharing sites including The Pirate Bay to send warnings to other potential downloaders.</p>
<p>&#8220;I got [a settlement demand] sent to me recently via email. This file is being tracked,&#8221; a user of the Pirate Bay explained.</p>
<p>Tracing back the details the user posted in the comments section of a Blu-ray &#8216;YIFY&#8217; release led TF to the relevant settlement page on the Rightscorp website. As shown below, the company wants $20.00 to settle the case.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/e420f0c6.killbill.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/killbill.png" alt="killbill"></center></p>
<p>The extent to which Miramax has exposed its hundreds of other titles to Rightscorp is currently unknown, but in the particular case detailed above the company won&#8217;t be picking up any cash. The settlement page is yet to be filled in suggesting that the recipient simply ignored the demand which, incidentally, was sent to his ISP Charter Communications.</p>
<p>And here lies the problem. Although Rightscorp currently claims to have &#8220;closed&#8221; 100,000 infringement cases, in the majority of instances recipients are free to ignore the company&#8217;s demands since their identities remain a mystery to the anti-piracy outfit.</p>
<p>While thousands have undoubtedly paid up, the company refuses to reveal what percentage do not. Even investors on a recent conference call with the company <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anti-piracy-outfit-wants-to-hijack-browsers-until-fine-paid-140816/">were told</a> the figures were a trade secret.</p>
<p>While companies like Miramax are testing out the cheap settlement option, there are signs that investor confidence could be much better. Since the company went public (<a href="http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/riht/stock-chart?intraday=off&#038;timeframe=1y&#038;charttype=mountain&#038;splits=off&#038;earnings=off&#038;movingaverage=None&#038;lowerstudy=volume&#038;comparison=off&#038;index=&#038;drilldown=off&#038;sDefault=true">NASDAQ</a>) late 2013, the trend after the first quarter of 2014 is all downhill, with a particularly steep drop off at the end of last month.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/b0830129.rights-stock.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/rights-stock.png" alt="Rights-stock"></center></p>
<p>The $20 request is an attractive amount for people to put a complaint completely behind them, and Rightscorp clearly know that, but discussions on community sites suggest that file-sharers are beginning to realize that paying up a few bucks might only be the beginning.</p>
<p>Rightscorp often send users a $20 claim for a single track and then once that amount is paid their target discovers that they&#8217;re on the hook for the rest of the songs on the album they downloaded, at $20 per track thereafter.</p>
<p>Only time will tell if the Rightscorp strategy will pay off, but if the company finds itself in worsening conditions it wouldn&#8217;t be a surprise if the amounts demanded for settlement begin to increase, alongside an even more aggressive pay-up-or-else tone.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95002
title: Court Lifts Overbroad “Piracy” Blockade of Mega and Other Sites
uri: Court-Lifts-Overbroad-Piracy-Blockade-of-Mega-and-Other-Sites
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/FZfcCxnY1iI/
content:
<p><a href="media/d25b3e9b.mega4.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/mega4.png"><img src="media/859efa71.mega4.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mega4.png" alt="mega" width="240" height="85" class="alignright size-full wp-image-87644"></a>Last July the Court of Rome ordered all local Internet providers to <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/dotcoms-mega-blocked-italy-piracy-concerns-140719/">block 24 websites</a> including Mega.co.nz and Russia’s largest email provider Mail.ru. </p>
<p>The broad anti-piracy measures were requested by small independent Italian movie distributor Eyemoon Pictures. The company complained that the sites in question distributed two films, “The Congress” and “Fruitvale Station,” before they were released in Italian cinemas.</p>
<p>Several sites affected by the blockade decided to appeal the order, and not without success. <a href="http://www.fulviosarzana.it/en/fulvio-sarzana/">Fulvio Sarzana</a>, who acts as lawyer for several of the accused sites including Mega, told TorrentFreak that the sites in question can now be accessed again.</p>
<p>The lawyer took up the case with the local Prosecutor, and pointed out that the blockades are overbroad. Instead of blocking access to a single file it makes entire sites unreachable.  </p>
<p>In addition, Sarzana noted that the measures are not needed as the file-hosting sites have strict takedown policies in place which allow copyright holders to remove infringing content. </p>
<p>The Prosecutor was receptive to these arguments and after a settlement agreement with several of the affected services was reached last month, local ISPs were ordered to lift the blockades. </p>
<p>&#8220;For Mega we negotiated a court settlement with the Office of the Prosecutor of Rome, which recognized the legitimacy of Mega&#8217;s activities and ordered the removal of the blockade. The same is the case for other hosting services,&#8221; Sarzana tells TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>For another site, which prefers not to be named, it was necessary to take the case to the Appeals Court. In common with a <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/court-orders-isps-to-unblock-pirate-site-140403/">similar case</a> earlier this year, the Court held that the blocking order was indeed too broad. As a result this blockade was also lifted. </p>
<p>&#8220;The Court held that the ISP blockade of the website was disproportionate because the copyright infringement occurs on individual pages. The entire website can therefore not be blocked for copyright reasons,&#8221; Sarzana notes.</p>
<p>The lawyer expects that the Appeals Court ruling will have implications for the Communications Regulatory Authority (AGCOM), which currently has the power to block allegedly infringing sites without a court order. </p>
<p>Considering the recent Appeals Court decision, this procedure may be unconstitutional. This possibility has also been raised by several consumer groups who have asked the court to review AGCOM’s legitimacy. </p>
<p>Last week the Court of Rome <a href="http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/blog/2014/09/italian-constitutional-court-decide-whether-administrative-enforcement-online-copyright">referred</a> these complaints to the Constitutional Court. Here it will be examined whether the current procedure violates right to freedom of expression and free speech, among other things.</p>
<p>To be continued.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=94978
title: Finland Wants to Kill Crowdsourced Copyright Law
uri: Finland-Wants-to-Kill-Crowdsourced-Copyright-Law
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/_mriyiVsQSY/
content:
<p><img src="media/5451b1e2.finland1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/finland1.jpg" width="200" height="143" class="alignright">In 2012, Finland introduced a modification to its national constitution which allowed the public to provide input into the kind of laws being put in place.</p>
<p>The changes, which allow citizens to put forward legislative proposals for Parliament to vote on, came at a time when restrictive copyright was already under the spotlight.</p>
<p>As a result the citizen-drafted &#8216;Common Sense for Copyright&#8217; initiative quickly gathered momentum. It was hoped that the proposals would influence updates to copyright law being prepared by Finland&#8217;s Ministry of Education and Culture.</p>
<p>The draft, the brainchild of the <a href="http://openministry.info/">Open Ministry</a> nonprofit, calls for reduced penalties for copyright infringement and current penalties to be applied only in cases of a commercial scale. Fair Use provisions would also be expanded, alongside exemptions for those wishing to backup purchased media and time-shift commercial content.</p>
<p>In July 2013 the initiative made history after <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/finland-writes-history-with-crowdsourced-copyright-law-130722/">reaching</a> the required 50,000 signatures. It  was submitted to Parliament in November 2013 but now the future of the proposal is in serious doubt.</p>
<p>Much to the disappointment of its backers, the Finnish Parliament&#8217;s Education and Culture Committee is recommending that Common Sense For Copyright should be rejected.</p>
<p>European Digital Rights (<a href="https://edri.org/">EDRi</a>), a group which defends civil rights in the information society, reports that the Committee concluded its handling of the initiative yesterday as expected.</p>
<p>&#8220;In its report, the Committee notes that the initiative suggests several ambitious amendments, but that it considers it impossible to propose, based on the initiative, even partial changes to the existing copyright law,&#8221; EDRi notes.</p>
<p>&#8220;The report states that the initiative includes internal contradictions and that many of the amendments it suggests are too significantly incompatible with the current legislation.&#8221;</p>
<p>As late as last week, Electronic Frontier Finland (Effi), the Finnish Pirate Party and the Open Ministry submitted <a href="http://www.verkkouutiset.fi/kotimaa/kantelu_avoin_ministerio-26194">complaints</a> to the Chancellor of Justice over the way the Education and Culture Committee has been handling changes to copyright law.</p>
<p>The complaints allege that drafting has been carried out in secret, contrary to the Committee&#8217;s obligations under the Finnish Freedom of Information Act. Furthermore, the criteria to be applied in web-blocking cases had not been made available.</p>
<p>Parliament is expected to vote on the citizens&#8217; initiative next week but after the Education and Culture Committee&#8217;s recommendations the odds are stacked against it.</p>
<p>Any rejection of the key points will come as a big disappointment to the 50,000+ citizens who supported the initiative. Many had signed following widespread outrage provoked by a police raid on the home of a then 9-year-old girl whose Winnie the Pooh laptop <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/police-raid-9-year-old-pirate-bay-girl-confiscate-winnie-the-pooh-laptop-121122/">was confiscated</a> after an allegation of file-sharing. The case was later <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/father-of-raided-9-year-old-pirate-bay-girl-settles-case-for-300-euros-121129/">settled</a> for 300 euros. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95034
title: Popcorn Time Stops Working After Domain Suspension
uri: Popcorn-Time-Stops-Working-After-Domain-Suspension
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/ll5qytcDNyc/
content:
<p><a href="media/373f7cd8.popcorn.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/popcorn.png"><img src="media/b134dbd9.popcorn.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/popcorn.png" alt="popcorn" width="203" height="102" class="alignright size-full wp-image-89282"></a>Branded a &#8220;Netflix for Pirates,&#8221; the Popcorn Time app quickly gathered a user base of <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/popcorn-time-installed-1-4-million-devices-u-s-140901/">millions of people</a> in just a few months. </p>
<p>There are several successful <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popcorn_Time">forks</a> of the application available online, but this afternoon one of the most used versions suddenly stopped working. </p>
<p>Without prior warning the Time4Popcorn.eu fork had its domain name suspended by the EURid registry. TorrentFreak contacted the developers who confirmed that they have indeed lost control of the domain. </p>
<p>According to an email sent by EURid and seen by TorrentFreak, the registry explains that the domain name has been suspended on suspicion that it was registered using inaccurate contact details.</p>
<p>&#8220;Upon verification of the contact data for your .eu domain name, we have reason to believe that your contact data is inaccurate,&#8221; EURid writes, asking the Popcorn Time team to show proof of identity.</p>
<p><center><strong>Suspended</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/f0521264.popcorntimedomain.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/popcorntimedomain.png"><img src="media/f0521264.popcorntimedomain.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/popcorntimedomain.png" alt="popcorntimedomain" width="548" height="173" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-95036"></a></center></p>
<p>As a result Popcorn Time&#8217;s website is no longer loading. However, what&#8217;s even worse for those who use the fork is that the application itself also stopped working as it requires the domain to load the user interface.</p>
<p>The developers quickly switched the site over to <a href="http://time4popcorn.com">time4popcorn.com</a>, but it will take some time to update the application.</p>
<p>&#8220;At the moment the desktop and iPhone versions aren&#8217;t working but in a few hours we&#8217;ll update the desktop version to the new domain and it should update automatically for most and will work,&#8221; the Time4Popcorn team tells us.</p>
<p>&#8220;If for some reason some users didn&#8217;t get the automatic update, they&#8217;ll be able to re-download the app from time4popcorn.com,&#8221; they add. </p>
<p>The issues with EURid show that the domain name is a weak link. This is problematic, especially for an application that claims it &#8220;will never be taken down.&#8221; The developers realize this and are working to resolve the vulnerability.</p>
<p>&#8220;From the next update, beta 5.0, this kind of scenario will be nearly impossible. This incident of the service being shut down like this will be very unlikely to happen,&#8221; the team notes.</p>
<p>One of the questions that remains is why EURid believes that the contact information is inaccurate. Is this the result of a routine check, or were they tipped off by an entertainment industry group? The latter doesn&#8217;t seem unlikely.</p>
<p>The Time4Popcorn team doesn&#8217;t appear to be worried though, and plans to continue improving their application as soon as the issue is resolved.</p>
<p>&#8220;This is a small kick to the balls at the moment, but we&#8217;ll come out of this much stronger and way better,&#8221; they say. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95003
title: FBI Screens Interns On Their Piracy Habits
uri: FBI-Screens-Interns-On-Their-Piracy-Habits
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/E-zw6G33Zs0/
content:
<p><a href="media/dc7e9c56.usdoj.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/usdoj.jpg"><img src="media/66fcfffc.usdoj.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/usdoj.jpg" alt="usdoj" width="190" height="190" class="alignright size-full wp-image-91397"></a>Over the last decade the FBI has been involved in numerous file-sharing related investigations, mainly in respect of large scale copyright infringement.</p>
<p>In 2005 the FBI <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/how-the-fbi-dismantled-a-bittorrent-community-080630/">shuttered EliteTorrents</a>, a popular &#8216;private&#8217; BitTorrent community that came to a sticky end after making available a pre-release &#8216;workprint&#8217; copy of Star Wars Episode III. By 2010 the agency was focusing its resources on Operation in Our Sites, an initiative which closed down several domains including the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/ninjavideo-admins-and-uploaders-indicted-by-grand-jury-110910/">notorious NinjaVideo</a>. Then two years ago the FBI played a key role in the closure of Kim Dotcom&#8217;s Megaupload.</p>
<p>While few would doubt the gravity of the cases highlighted above, it may come as a surprise that in addition to commercial scale infringement, the FBI also views unauthorized personal copying as a serious offense. While it may not actively pursue individual pirates, it doesn&#8217;t want them in-house.</p>
<p>Monday this week <a href="http://www.statehornet.com/news/federal-bureau-seeks-sac-state-students-for-service/article_4f14150e-4f21-11e4-a30e-001a4bcf6878.html">Sacramento State</a>&#8216;s Career Center welcomed the FBI for a visit concerning recruitment of students for its <a href="https://www.fbijobs.gov/2.asp">paid internship program</a>. One of the topics discussed were historical actions that could exclude applicants from the program.</p>
<p>In addition to drug use, criminal activity and even defaulting on a student loan, students were informed that if they had illegally downloaded content in the past, that could rule them out of a position at the FBI. It appears that to the agency, downloading is tantamount to stealing.</p>
<p>While some students might be tempted to tell a white lie or two about their piracy experiences during their initial interviews, that appears to be a dangerous course of action. All responses are recorded and sent to a polygraph technician and if the student fails the lie detector test they are excluded from the FBI forever, even if they tried to cover up the smallest thing.</p>
<p>But what if applicants have a bit of personal piracy to hide, but choose to tell the truth? Information is limited, but a 2012 posting on <a href="http://www.911jobforums.com/f58/finally-found-out-certain-why-fbi-unexpectedly-discontinued-my-application-64655/">911JobForums</a> by a rejected applicant reveals that while honesty might be the best policy, it can be enough to rule someone out of a job.</p>
<p>&#8220;My reason for posting this is to help give fair warning to those who don&#8217;t think pirating copyrighted information from the internet will trip them up later on. While I sometimes ask myself what might have been, I can honestly say I gave it my best shot,&#8221; the poster explains.</p>
<p>&#8220;I had downloaded songs while at college 10 years prior (300+) and a few recently (<20). I had an illegal copy of Windows XP in my possession and 10 years ago had watched fewer than 8 pirated full-length movies which I had downloaded then promptly deleted. I had copied a Redbox DVD to my iPod I wasn't able to watch before returning but then promptly deleted the movie after watching once."</p>
<p>According to the student-run newspaper <a href="http://www.statehornet.com">The State Hornet</a>, the FBI are interested in the amount of illegal content applicants have downloaded, so it&#8217;s possible that people downloading very small amounts might be shown leniency.</p>
<p>Those interested in how the polygraph procedure itself works can find details of the equivalent CIA test <a href="https://antipolygraph.org/cgi-bin/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1308957294">here</a>. Interestingly the writer has a tip for former pirate students.</p>
<p>&#8220;[The CIA] were concerned mostly about crime, drugs, and misuse of technology systems.  Downloading music, though it is illegal, does not disqualify you.  Most people especially college students did this, just pretend you didn’t know that it was illegal,&#8221; he notes. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95061
title: Pirates Prepare to ‘Blockade’ Anti-Piracy Outfit
uri: Pirates-Prepare-to-Blockade-Anti-Piracy-Outfit
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/giqIeG9CeoA/
content:
<p><a href="media/5ceed422.stop-blocked.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/stop-blocked.jpg"><img src="media/07db73b3.stop-blocked.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/stop-blocked.jpg" alt="stop-blocked" width="200" height="168" class="alignright size-full wp-image-72076"></a>In addition to corporate blocking solutions that categorize sites as unsuitable for viewing audiences based on their own <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/uk-porn-filter-triggers-widespread-internet-censorship-140702/">secret rules</a>, almost every month news breaks of entertainment industry groups aiming to have sites blocked at the ISP level.</p>
<p>Most recently Austrian anti-piracy group VAP <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/court-orders-immediate-pirate-site-blockade-141003/">completed</a> its mission to have two streaming sites &#8211; Movie4K and Kinox &#8211; blocked by local ISPs. The achievement was the culmination of years of work through the Austrian courts right through to the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/eu-court-isps-can-be-forced-to-block-pirate-sites-140327/">European Court of Justice</a> and back again.</p>
<p>Several local ISPs (UPC, 3, Tele2 and A1) are now all blocking the sites and it&#8217;s widely expected that not only will VAP return for blocks of additional sites, but it will also be accompanied by recording group IFPI who will take on Pirate Bay and other sites.</p>
<p>In the meantime, however, the <a href="https://www.piratenpartei.at/demo-gegen-netzsperren-freitag-10-10-2014-1400-uhr">Austrian division</a> of the Pirate Party is complaining loudly about what they view as web censorship. So today, just a few hours from now, they intend to give the Hollywood-affiliated group a small taste of their own medicine.</p>
<p>At 2pm Austrian time, party members and their supporters say they will descend on VAP headquarters in Vienna to air their opinions on blocking and other censorship measures. The organizers hope that their small offline &#8216;blockade&#8217; will in some way mirror those experienced online.</p>
<p>Under the slogan &#8220;Block the Blocker&#8221;, the pirates say they will form their own symbolic obstruction outside <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Wiedner+Hauptstra%C3%9Fe+63,+1040+Wien,+Austria/@48.1904563,16.3621201,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x476da82aa6f03d07:0x27c16bd66e9dec5c?hl=en">Wiedner Hauptstrasse 63</a>, 1040 Vienna, to raise awareness of why web filtering is highly problematic and useless for protecting artists. It&#8217;s a position <a href="http://derstandard.at/2000006372510/Gruene-wollen-Antrag-gegen-Netzsperren-einbringen">broadly shared</a> by several political parties in Austria including the Greens.</p>
<p>Of course, the pirates won&#8217;t be able to fully block access to VAP&#8217;s building, since that would be against the law. However, if they did manage to achieve that somehow &#8211; even unintentionally &#8211; VAP employees could simply enter their workplace through another entrance, or perhaps an adjoining building.</p>
<p>And with Kinox now circumventing the ISP blockade after adding a new .TV domain, there won&#8217;t be a pirate present today who doesn&#8217;t appreciate that irony.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=94921
title: Hollywood Studios Willingly Advertise on Notorious ‘Pirate’ Site
uri: Hollywood-Studios-Willingly-Advertise-on-Notorious-Pirate-Site
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/D2lmetutzsI/
content:
<p><a href="media/3e3f1f7f.vk.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/vk.jpg"><img src="media/2dca634d.vk.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/vk.jpg" alt="vk" width="180" height="180" class="alignright size-full wp-image-72276"></a>The Russian social network <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VK_(social_networking_website)">VKontakte</a> (VK) has long been criticized for its passive approach to piracy. The site is flooded with unauthorized content including movies and music, all uploaded by its millions of users.</p>
<p>As a result the United States Trade Representative has labeled the site a “notorious market” on several occasions. While VK has taken <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/vkontakte-signs-memo-to-combat-movie-piracy-140429/">some steps</a> to address the issues this year, copyright holders are far from satisfied. </p>
<p>This week the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA), which represents MPAA, RIAA and other entertainment industry groups, called out VK as one of the worst piracy havens around. The U.S. Government is organizing a hearing on Russia&#8217;s WTO implementation and in a request to testify the IIPA points out that piracy is rampant in the country. </p>
<p>&#8220;Russia is home to several of the U.S. Government&#8217;s &#8216;Notorious Markets&#8217; for copyright piracy, especially digital piracy,&#8221; IIPA&#8217;s Eric Schwartz writes (<a href="media/d0dfc536._Implementation_and_Eric_Schwartz_Request_to_Testify_6403345.pdf" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/IIPA_2014_Russia_WTO_Implementation_and_Eric_Schwartz_Request_to_Testify_6403345.pdf">pdf</a>).</p>
<p>&#8220;One such Notorious Market is vKontakte, the most popular online social network in Russia, and the largest single distributor of infringing music in Russia; it is also a hotbed for online piracy of movies and television programming.&#8221; </p>
<p>Despite the numerous complaints that have been submitted to the Russian authorities, widespread piracy remains a problem on the social network. Last year Russia implemented a new law that would allow copyright holders to have structurally infringing websites blocked, but attempts to target VK have failed thus far.  </p>
<p>&#8220;To date, the Government of Russia has taken little or no action against this site, or the other sites or services identified by the U.S. and other foreign governments and copyright rightsholders. This is symptomatic of the problems of ineffective enforcement in Russia,&#8221; Schwartz adds.</p>
<p>The critique of VK is not new. The MPAA and other copyright holders have complained about it for years. Having this in mind, we were surprised to find that several Hollywood studios still advertise their content on VK.</p>
<p>In recent months copyright holders have been lobbying advertising networks to stop doing business with so-called pirate sites. However, major movie studios including Warner Bros see no problem with having a presence on VK. </p>
<p>Below is a screenshot of the <a href="http://vk.com/wbrussia">VK profile</a> of Warner Bros. Russian branch, which currently has 146,780 members. Aside from promoting new movies, they also list several music tracks they don&#8217;t appear to hold the copyrights to. </p>
<p><center><strong>Warner Bros. on VK</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/c18c6f52.warnervk.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/warnervk.jpg"><img src="media/c18c6f52.warnervk.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/warnervk.jpg" alt="warnervk" width="873" height="823" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-95108"></a></center></p>
<p>Warner Bros. is of course not the only studio with an official VK account. <a href="http://vk.com/universalpicturesrussia">Universal Pictures</a> has a dedicated page for Russian fans too, and so do <a href="http://vk.com/disneyru">Disney,</a> Marvel and <a href="http://vk.com/foxrussia">20th Century Fox</a>.</p>
<p>The above are just a few examples. There are many other companies represented by the IIPA who have a profile on the &#8220;notorious pirate site&#8221;, <a href="http://vk.com/microsoft">Microsoft</a> included. </p>
<p>So instead of asking Russia to take action against the site, shouldn&#8217;t these companies stop advertising on it first? Considering the fact that they place VK in the same category as The Pirate Bay, that would make sense. </p>
<p>Or perhaps the Hollywood studios will create an official Pirate Bay profile, to start uploading trailers of their latest movies there as well&#8230;?</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95100
title: ISPs Agree Voluntary Pirate Site Blocks
uri: ISPs-Agree-Voluntary-Pirate-Site-Blocks
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Apr1X4BWENM/
content:
<p><a href="media/0ba91d62.throttle.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/throttle.jpg"><img src="media/269797aa.throttle.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/throttle.jpg" alt="throttle" width="200" height="200" class="alignright size-full wp-image-8967"></a>When it comes to pirate site blockades, Denmark is somewhat of a pioneer. Way back in 2006 in a case initiated by the IFPI, a court ordered ISP Tele2 to block Russian MP3 site, AllofMP3.</p>
<p>Another case ended in <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-blocked-by-isp-080204/">victory</a> for the music group in 2008, with a blockade of The Pirate Bay the end result.</p>
<p>In 2011 the music industry looked to expand its list of blocked domains by using anti-piracy group Rettigheds Alliancen (Rights Alliance) to attack US-based streaming service Grooveshark via the courts. A matter of months later the coalition of 30 rightsholders <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/court-orders-isp-to-block-grooveshark-120221/">prevailed</a> in a case in which Grooveshark took no part.</p>
<p>While the entertainment industries are now well capable of obtaining blocking injunctions against pirate sites, each action has to be targeted at a specific service provider. That means that while an injunction might be issued against one ISP, rival ISPs are free to carry on providing access.</p>
<p>This week, however, all that changed.</p>
<p>Following negotiations with anti-piracy group Rights Alliance, the telecommunications industry in Denmark has signed a Code of Conduct  which will ensure that blockades are put in place country-wide.</p>
<p>The agreement ensures that when a court issues an injunction against a single ISP ordering it to implement DNS blocking against a &#8216;pirate&#8217; site, within days all rival ISPs will voluntarily implement a similar blockade.</p>
<p>Speaking for the telecoms sector, Jakob Willer of Tele Industrien said that industry-wide regulation will support the growth of authorized services.</p>
<p>&#8220;In the telecommunications industry, we find it important to ensure rapid and effective implementation of regulatory decisions across the entire industry. It is also important to ensure the development of legitimate online services, where consumers can find what they are looking for and the artists can get paid for what they have created,&#8221; Willer said.</p>
<p>Rights Alliance chief Maria Fredenslund is pleased with the agreement which will assist her group and its members to more easily block &#8216;pirate&#8217; sites at the ISP level. Under the Code of Conduct, ISPs will block domains within seven days of another provider being issued with an injunction.</p>
<p>Commenting on the agreement, Minister for Culture Marianne Jelved said that it&#8217;s important for rightsholders to have tools at their disposal when they feel that their music, movies and books are being used online without their permission.</p>
<p>&#8220;I am glad that the copyright holders and telecommunications companies in this area are working together to ensure that we have the most creative and legal digital content. The new Code of Conduct is an important step in this effort,&#8221; Jelved said.</p>
<p>The Code of Conduct also allows for expanded blocking if &#8216;pirate&#8217; sites move to new IP addresses or domains. However, the code states that should wrongful blocking occur due to rightsholder error, then the rightsholders will be liable to the ISPs for any financial costs incurred.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95131
title: UK IP Chief Wants Schools to Teach Copyright Ethics and Morals
uri: UK-IP-Chief-Wants-Schools-to-Teach-Copyright-Ethics-and-Morals
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/zAdC_rOTR60/
content:
<p><a href="media/5d378082.uk-flag.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/uk-flag.jpg"><img src="media/4d28e669.uk-flag.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/uk-flag.jpg" alt="uk-flag" width="200" height="179" class="alignright size-full wp-image-86005"></a>Mike Weatherley, a Conservative MP and Intellectual Property Adviser to UK Prime Minister David Cameron, has pushed various copyright related topics onto the political agenda over the past year.</p>
<p>Previously Weatherley suggested that ISPs should be <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/ip-advisor-hold-isps-responsible-for-facilitating-piracy-131226/">held responsible</a> for pirating users, that search engines should <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/uk-ip-chief-google-blacklist-pirate-sites-140530/">blacklist pirate sites</a> and that persistent file-sharers should be <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/uk-considers-throwing-persistent-internet-pirates-in-jail-140123/">thrown in jail</a>.</p>
<p>Ideally, however, UK citizens shouldn&#8217;t be sharing or downloading content without permission to begin with. This is an issue the IP-advisor hopes to resolve with his latest set of recommendations, which center around copyright education and awareness. </p>
<p>In a 51-page report (<a href="media/3087d4f9.11.pdf" data-original-source="http://www.mikeweatherleymp.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/11.pdf">pdf</a>) that was just released Weatherley stresses the importance of copyright awareness and education, especially for the younger generation. This is needed as respect for copyright has declined in recent years and some even believe that sharing copyrighted material without permission is not a big deal.</p>
<p>&#8220;There is &#8230; a certain level of tolerance for the idea that IP infringements could be considered legitimate. Some believe that illegal activity online is a social norm, with no moral implications,&#8221; Weatherley writes.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are at risk of an entire generation growing up with different levels of respect for IP and copyright in particular. Should this social contract disappear, there could be longer-term consequences beyond the immediate, short-term negative impacts experienced by the creative sector,&#8221; he adds.</p>
<p>In his report the IP-advisor makes several recommendations for how this trend can be countered. Through a broad set of education measures he hopes that copyright will regain respect from the public. </p>
<p>&#8220;Education and consumer awareness programmes that seek to change current behaviour or influence future actions are essential for nurturing a greater culture of respect and value for the UK’s creative economy, and to negate the impact of infringement.&#8221; </p>
<p>The report mentions that several of the education efforts have already been set in motion. This includes PIPCU&#8217;s <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/police-begin-placing-warning-adverts-pirate-sites-140729/">warning banners</a> on pirate sites as well as the upcoming scheme to <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/uk-isps-and-copyright-holders-praise-new-piracy-warning-system-140719/">warn alleged copyright infringers</a> through their ISP.</p>
<p>One of the future goals is to bring copyright into the classroom. To achieve this Weatherley recommends to add copyright education to the school curriculum, starting with the youngest kids in primary school.</p>
<p>&#8220;The school curriculum needs to prepare pupils &#8211; from early years through to the end of secondary school and higher education &#8211; for the 21st century knowledge economy. Interaction with IP is a daily occurrence for many young people, and yet it is widely ignored within the education system,&#8221; the report reads. </p>
<p>As a secondary form of public education, the BBC should also start broadcasting programming that stresses the value of copyright through various channels. This to ensure that the message reaches a wide audience.</p>
<p>&#8220;Given its reach and public service broadcasting remit, the BBC should create a copyright education programme using online, on-air and face-to-face channels,&#8221; Weatherley recommends.</p>
<p>With these initiatives and other changes, the IP advisor hopes to change people&#8217;s attitudes towards copyright. This should then lead to less online piracy in the long run which may reflect positively on the economy. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, the report doesn&#8217;t mention who should be involved in creating the educational messages, should they be implemented. The only stakeholders that have been consulted recently are the major copyright holder groups, which may lead to a biased perspective. </p>
<p>To avoid an <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-and-riaa-teach-copyright-in-elementary-schools-now-with-fair-use-140906/">unbalanced curriculum</a> as we&#8217;ve seen in the United States, it may be wise to also involve representatives from the consumer side, library organisations, or alternatives to strict copyright licensing such as Creative Commons. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95077
title: Gottfrid Svartholm Hacking Trial Nears Conclusion
uri: Gottfrid-Svartholm-Hacking-Trial-Nears-Conclusion
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/vCP-s2mefoI/
content:
<p><a href="media/95944c6f.gottfrid.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/gottfrid.jpg"><img src="media/2ae4dc32.gottfrid.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/gottfrid.jpg" alt="gottfrid" width="174" height="222" class="alignright size-full wp-image-10141"></a>The hacking trial of Gottfrid Svartholm and his alleged 21-year-old Danish accomplice concluded this week in Copenhagen, Denmark. Gottfrid is most well known as one of the founders of The Pirate Bay, but his co-defendant’s identity is still being kept out of the media.</p>
<p>The sessions this week, on October 7 and 10, were used for summing up by the prosecution and defense. Danish language publication DR.dk, which has provided good coverage of the whole trial, reports that deputy prosecutor Anders Riisager used an analogy to describe their position on Gottfrid.</p>
<p><strong>Prosecution: Hands in the cookie jar</strong></p>
<p>&#8220;If there is a cookie jar on the table with the lid removed, and your son is sitting on the sofa with cookie crumbs on his mouth, it is only reasonable to assume that it is he who has had his paws in the cookie jar,&#8221; he <a href="http://www.dr.dk/Nyheder/Viden/Tech/2014/10/07/154242.htm">said</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;This, even though he claims it is four of his friends who have put the cookies into his mouth. And especially when the son will not reveal who his friends are, or how it happened.&#8221;</p>
<p>Riisager was referring to the evidence presented by the prosecution that Gottfrid and his co-defendant were the people behind hacker attacks on IT company CSC which began in 2012.</p>
<p>The Swede insists that while the attack may have been carried out from his computer, the computer itself was used remotely by other individuals, any of whom could have carried out the attacks. Leads and names provided by Gottfrid apparently led the investigation nowhere useful.</p>
<p><strong>Remote access unlikely</strong></p>
<p>That third-parties accessed Gottfrid&#8217;s computer without his knowledge is a notion rejected by the prosecution. Noting that the Pirate Bay founder is a computer genius, senior prosecutor Maria Cingari said that maintaining secret access to his machine over extended periods would not have been possible.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is not likely that others have used [Gottfrid's] computer to hack CSC without him discovering something. At the same time the hack occurred over such a long time that remote control is unlikely,&#8221; she said.</p>
<p>And, Cingari noted, it was no coincidence that chatlogs found on Gottfrid&#8217;s computer related to so-called &#8220;zero-day&#8221; vulnerabilities and the type of computer systems used by CSC.</p>
<p><strong>Dane and Swede working together</strong></p>
<p>In respect of Gottfrid&#8217;s co-defendant, the prosecution said that the 21-year-old Dane knew that when he was speaking online with a user known as My Evil Twin (allegedly Gottfrid), the plan was a hacker attack on CSC.</p>
<p>Supporting their allegations of collusion, the prosecution noted that the Dane had been living in Cambodia when the attacks on CSC began and while a hacker attack against Logica, a crime for which Gottfrid was previously sentenced, was also underway. The Dane spent time in a café situated directly under Gottfrid&#8217;s apartment, the prosecution said.</p>
<p><strong>Why not hand over the encryption keys?</strong></p>
<p>When police raided the Dane they obtained a laptop, the contents of which still remain a secret due to the presence of heavy encryption. The police found a hollowed-out chess piece containing the computer&#8217;s SDcard key, but that didn&#8217;t help them gain access. Despite several requests, the 21-year-old has refused to provide keys to unlock the data on the <a href="https://qubes-os.org/">Qubes OS</a> device, arguing there is nothing on there of significance. According to the prosecution, this is a sign of guilt.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is very striking that one chooses to sit in prison for a year and more, instead of just helping the police with access to the laptop so they can see that it contains nothing,&#8221; senior prosecutor Maria Cingari said.</p>
<p>Cingari also pointed the finger at the Dane for focusing Gottfrid&#8217;s attention on CSC.</p>
<p>&#8220;You can see that [the Dane] has very much helped [Gottfrid] with obtaining access to CSC&#8217;s mainframe. It is not even clear that he would have set his sights on CSC, if it had not been for [the Dane],&#8221; she said. </p>
<p><strong>Defense: No objectivity</strong></p>
<p>On Friday, defense lawyer Luise Høj began her closing arguments with fierce criticism of a Danish prosecution that uncritically accepted evidence provided by Swedish police and failed to conduct an objective inquiry.</p>
<p>&#8220;They took a plane to Stockholm and were given some material. It was placed in a bag and they took the plane back home. From there they went to CSC and asked them to look for clues. This shows a lack of an independent approach to the evidence,&#8221; she said.</p>
<p>Furthermore, the mere fact that CSC had been investigating itself under direction of the police was also problematic.</p>
<p>&#8220;The victim should not investigate itself. CSC is at risk of being fired as the state&#8217;s IT provider,&#8221; Høj noted.</p>
<p><strong>Technical doubt</strong></p>
<p>Computer technicians presented by both sides, including famous security expert <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/jacob-appelbaum-gives-testimony-in-gottfrid-svartholm-trial-140914/">Jacob Appelbaum</a>, failed to agree on whether remote access had been a possibility, but this in itself should sway the court to acquit, Høj said.</p>
<p>&#8220;It must be really difficult for the court to decide whether the computer was controlled remotely or not, when even engineers disagree on what has happened,&#8221; she <a href="http://ekstrabladet.dk/112/article5170115.ece">noted</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Why not take time to investigate properly?</strong></p>
<p>Høj also took aim at the police who she said had failed to properly investigate the people Gottfrid had previously indicated might be responsible for the hacker attacks.</p>
<p>&#8220;My client has in good faith attempted to come up with some suggestions as to how his computer was remotely controlled. Of course he did not provide a complete explanation of how it happened, as he did not know what had happened and he has not had the opportunity to examine his computer,&#8221; she <a href="http://jyllands-posten.dk/indland/politiretsvaesen/ECE7098320/Forsvaren-Derfor-skal-internetpirat-gå-fri/">said</a>.</p>
<p>Additionally, clues that could&#8217;ve led somewhere were overlooked, the defense lawyer argued. For instance, an IP address found in CSC&#8217;s logs was traced back to a famous Swedish hacker known as &#8216;MG&#8217;.</p>
<p>&#8220;The investigation was not objective. I do not understand why it&#8217;s not possible to investigate clues that don&#8217;t take much effort to be investigated,&#8221; Høj said. &#8220;The willingness to investigate clues that do not speak in favor of the police case has been minimal.&#8221; </p>
<p>A decision in the case is expected at the end of the month. If found guilty, Gottfrid faces up to four years in jail.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=94987
title: Twin Peaks Piracy Surges In Anticipation of Comeback
uri: Twin-Peaks-Piracy-Surges-In-Anticipation-of-Comeback
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/lCe9hW1eIbM/
content:
<p><a href="media/ed9be0c9.twinpeaks.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/twinpeaks.jpg"><img src="media/ed9be0c9.twinpeaks.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/twinpeaks.jpg" alt="twinpeaks" width="250" height="173" class="alignright size-full wp-image-95096"></a>When the first Twin Peaks episode was broadcasted back in 1990, the World Wide Web didn&#8217;t yet exist. </p>
<p>But this week, nearly 25 years later, tens of thousands of people used it to browse to their favorite torrent sites and catch up with the show. </p>
<p>On Monday director David Lynch <a href="https://twitter.com/DAVID_LYNCH/status/519147574381379584">announced</a> the comeback of the cult show which kept millions of people glued to their TV screens in the early nineties. The show, that some consider to be the beginning of today&#8217;s TV series boom, will start a new season in 2016.</p>
<p>The Twin Peaks revival has made headlines all over the world and many millions of people are anxious to see how the mystery continues. </p>
<p>This renewed attention also increased interest in the first two seasons, both from old fans and the younger generation who never saw how it all started. This was also noticeable on various torrent sites, where the numbers of Twin Peaks downloads skyrocketed over the past few days. </p>
<p>The interest in Twin Peaks never faded away completely. But instead of a few hundred daily downloads, the various season packs are now being downloaded more than 10,000 times a day.</p>
<p>Counting all the different release it&#8217;s estimated that Twin Peaks torrents were downloaded 75,000 times over the last week. This includes mostly full seasons, or complete packs of both seasons.</p>
<p><center><strong>A few Twin Peaks downloads</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/50b0f272.twinp.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/twinp.png"><img src="media/50b0f272.twinp.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/twinp.png" alt="twinp" width="592" height="185" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-95170"></a></center></p>
<p>This statistic pales in comparison to recent TV-shows, which can get well over a million downloads per week, but for a series from the early nineties it&#8217;s pretty impressive.  </p>
<p>Most pirates seem to prefer the lower quality versions which are roughly 1.4 gigabyte for an entire season. Those pirates who prefer better quality don&#8217;t have to miss out though. There&#8217;s also a 79.99 gigabyte copy of &#8220;Twin Peaks: The Entire Mystery.&#8221;</p>
<p>Depending on the release, the number of active sharers for each of these files increased up to tenfold. This surge is slowly fading off as time goes by but it&#8217;s certainly a sign that there&#8217;s plenty of interest among pirates too.</p>
<p>Whether this will eventually help or hurt the Twin Peaks revival will remain an unsolved puzzle for now.  </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95179
title: Police Drop Charges Against Industrial-Scale ‘Pirate’
uri: Police-Drop-Charges-Against-Industrial-Scale-Pirate
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/gaihJjjVjIM/
content:
<p><a href="media/bc6e239e.cityoflondonpolice.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/cityoflondonpolice.jpg"><img src="media/31176dbb.cityoflondonpolice.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cityoflondonpolice.jpg" alt="cityoflondonpolice" width="200" height="82" class="alignright size-full wp-image-71397"></a>Early September news broke of another significant anti-piracy action carried out by City of London Police&#8217;s Intellectual Property Crime Unit.</p>
<p>After traveling 200 miles from their London base, PIPCU officers were assisted by Greater Manchester Police in raid carried out on a residential address in the Cheetham Hill area.</p>
<p>Their target was Zain Parvez, a 27-year-old whom police believed was the operator of a series of websites (CoolSport.se, CoolSport.tv and KiwiSportz.tv) which allegedly offered unauthorized access to subscription-only TV services, including matches from the Premier League.</p>
<p>Following <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/uk-police-make-third-pirate-streaming-arrest-140902/">Parvez&#8217;s arrest</a>, police used the word &#8220;industrial&#8221; to describe the scale of the operation, having seized 12 servers said to have illegally streamed sports globally. The picture below was released to the press to underline the gravity of the situation.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/adc04515.coolraid.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/coolraid.jpg" alt="Coolraid"></center></p>
<p>Instead of releasing him on bail, Parvez was kept in custody <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/police-throw-the-book-at-alleged-pirate-site-admin-140906/">under suspicion of offenses</a> under the Copyright Design and Patents Act 1988, engaging in money laundering, conspiracy to defraud and possessing or controlling an article for use in fraud.</p>
<p>But now, six weeks later, a surprising development appears to have undermined the case. After an appearance before magistrates the case went to Manchester Crown Court, at which point it was dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).</p>
<p>“Following consultations with the CPS, a decision has been made to cease the initial charges put before the court in relation to a man arrested by the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit on September 1 in Manchester,&#8221; a PIPCU spokesperson <a href="http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/charges-dropped-against-man-held-7921607">said</a>.</p>
<p>PIPCU says the investigation into Parvez&#8217;s alleged operation is still ongoing but with all the main charges now dropped, it&#8217;s unclear where the case can now go.</p>
<p>Parvez&#8217;s detention marked the third occasion an alleged streaming site operator had <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/police-arrest-streaming-site-admin-several-domains-suspended-140409/">been arrested</a> in the UK, but to date there has been no news of a successful prosecution.</p>
<p>The domains previously operated by Parvez are now all redirecting to a suspicious-looking site promoting Alibaba share deals, not City of London Police&#8217;s &#8216;seized site&#8217; banner as previously might have been expected.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak contacted Parvez for comment and will update this article with any response.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95182
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week – 10/13/14
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-10-13-14
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/2YmHWMq7z0A/
content:
<p><a href="media/5476e947.22jump.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/22jump.jpg"><img src="media/5476e947.22jump.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/22jump.jpg" alt="22jump" width="300" height="169" class="alignright size-full wp-image-95185"></a>This week we have three newcomers in our chart.</p>
<p>22 Jump Street is the most downloaded movie.</p>
<p>The data for our weekly download chart is estimated by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only. All the movies in the list are BD/DVDrips unless stated otherwise.</p>
<p><a href="http://TorrentFreak.com/category/dvdrip/feed/"><strong>RSS feed</strong></a> for the weekly movie download chart.</p>
<table class="css hover">
<thead>
<tr>
<th width="12%"><strong>Ranking</strong></th>
<th width="15%"><strong>(<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-movies-of-the-week-141006/">last week</a>)</strong></th>
<th><strong>Movie</strong></th>
<th width="18%"><strong>IMDb Rating / Trailer</strong></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tfoot>
<tr>
<td colspan="4">torrentfreak.com</td>
</tr>
</tfoot>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>1</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/22_jump_street/">22 Jump Street</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2294449/">7.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qP755JkDxyM">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/transformers_age_of_extinction/">Transformers: Age of Extinction</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2109248/">6.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYDGqmxMZFI">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/stretch_2014/">Stretch</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2494280/">6.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceJa68mIDu4">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sex_tape_2014/">Sex Tape</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1956620/">5.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxl4aOyHSwo">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_purge_anarchy_2014/">The Purge: Anarchy</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2975578/">6.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzFCDqKE4yA">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/edge_of_tomorrow/">Edge Of Tomorrow</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1631867">8.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUmSVcttXnI">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lucy_2014/">Lucy</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2872732/">6.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnKVv8Lp_xU">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/earth_to_echo/">Earth to Echo</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2183034/">5.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMlcdEtAiBA">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(7)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/x_men_days_of_future_past/">X-Men: Days of Future Past</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1877832/">8.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsjtg7m1MMM">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(8)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/good_people_2014/">Good People</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1361318/">5.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rC17twr50WU">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95176
title: “Megaupload’s Imaginary Copyright Crimes Should be Dismissed”
uri: Megaupload-s-Imaginary-Copyright-Crimes-Should-be-Dismissed
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/PitlYz-N_3g/
content:
<p><a href="media/9a9629f5.megaupload-logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/megaupload-logo.jpg"><img src="media/9a9629f5.megaupload-logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/megaupload-logo.jpg" alt="megaupload-logo" width="250" height="208" class="alignright size-full wp-image-95191"></a>Acting on a lead from the entertainment industry, the U.S. Government <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/megaupload-shut-down-120119/">shut down Megaupload</a> early 2012.</p>
<p>Since then the case hasn’t progressed much. Kim Dotcom’s extradition hearing has been delayed until 2015 and most of the recent court proceedings dealt with how the seized assets should be handled.</p>
<p>Two months ago the Department of Justice <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/u-s-government-wants-kim-dotcoms-cash-cars-140904/">launched</a> a separate civil action in which it asked the court for a forfeiture of the bank accounts, cars and other seized possessions of the Megaupload defendants, claiming they were obtained through copyright and money laundering crimes.</p>
<p>Megaupload has now responded to these allegations at the federal court in Virginia, with a motion to dismiss (<a href="https://pdf.yt/d/PEAQMkh8HpzE-WVS">pdf</a>) the complaint. According to Megaupload&#8217;s lawyers the Department of Justice is making up crimes that don&#8217;t exist.</p>
<p>One of the main arguments is that the Government accuses the Megaupload defendants of secondary criminal copyright infringement, a crime that doesn&#8217;t exist under common law. </p>
<p>&#8220;The crimes for which the Government seeks to punish the Megaupload defendants do not exist. Although there is no such crime as secondary criminal copyright infringement, that is the crime on which the Government’s Superseding Indictment and instant Complaint are predicated,&#8221; Megaupload&#8217;s lawyers write. </p>
<p>&#8220;That is the nonexistent crime for which Megaupload was destroyed and all of its innocent users were denied their rightful property. And that is the nonexistent crime for which the Government would now strip the criminal defendants, and their families, of all their assets,&#8221; they add.</p>
<p>In addition, Megaupload mentions another argument why the Court doesn&#8217;t have jurisdiction over the case. It&#8217;s a requirement that the infringements took place in the United States, but the DOJ&#8217;s compliant fails to back that up. </p>
<p>&#8220;Tellingly, the Complaint and the Superseding Indictment together fail to identify a single instance in which an act of infringement — particularly an unauthorized upload or download — occurred entirely within the United States,&#8221; the motion reads. </p>
<p>This is true for the alleged infringements committed by Megaupload users and also for the 50 Cent track Kim Dotcom allegedly distributed himself. There is no mention or proof that this infringement took place in the United States. </p>
<p>&#8220;Although the Complaint alleges that Kim Dotcom personally distributed a link to a copy of a copyrighted work on, and has received at least one infringing copy of a copyrighted work from, the Mega Sites, the Complaint never alleges where that occurred,&#8221; the lawyers argue. </p>
<p>Based on these and several other arguments Megaupload&#8217;s legal team has asked the Court to dismiss the DOJ&#8217;s complaint. At the very least, they want the case to be put on hold until the criminal case is completed.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak spoke with Megaupload lawyer <a href="http://www.techfirm.com/">Ira Rothken</a> who explains that this is the first time that they called out the Government for prosecuting &#8220;nonexistent&#8221; crimes. </p>
<p>&#8220;For the first time in the case, with this  motion to dismiss, we are attacking the merits of the DOJ&#8217;s core copyright claims. We are optimistic that the Court will find that there is no such thing as criminal secondary copyright infringement,&#8221; Rothken tells TorrentFreak. </p>
<p>The Government&#8217;s efforts are no surprise to Megaupload&#8217;s legal team. The civil attempt to obtain possession of the assets fits a pattern of meritless claims according to Rothken.</p>
<p>&#8220;The DOJ is trying to win the Megaupload case on procedure rather than the merits,&#8221; Rothken told us.  </p>
<p>&#8220;We are hopeful the US Court will finally decide the threshold copyright issues in Kim Dotcom&#8217;s and Megaupload&#8217;s favor and bring this global legal matter to a rapid end.&#8221;</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95257
title: TVMC Battles Popcorn Time Via Google Play
uri: TVMC-Battles-Popcorn-Time-Via-Google-Play
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/WRd_-MrYZrQ/
content:
<p>After months of prime-time exposure the various Popcorn Time apps have become some of the most talked about file-sharing applications around today. Almost every other week the application, in <a href="http://popcorntime.io/">one guise or another</a>, becomes a <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/popcorn-time-legal-investigation-switches-domain-141014/">newsworthy event</a>.</p>
<p>However, the idea of presenting content in a pretty interface is not new. XBMC, now officially known as the Kodi Entertainment Center, has been a popular choice amongst movie and TV show fans for many years. While the app itself provides little direct access to content, a myriad of third-party plugins streamlines the process massively.</p>
<p>That being said, in terms of simplicity Popcorn Time has the market sewn up. The straightforward install and configuration process is a snap for almost anyone and while a fully-loaded XBMC/Kodi setup beats it in many respects, getting that setup right is not easy for beginners.</p>
<p>With that in mind the people at <a href="http://tvaddons.ag/">TVAddons</a> think they have a solution. Currently only <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ag.tvaddons.xbmc">available on Android</a>, TVMC is XBMC/Kodi but in a convenient and almost ready-to-go package. Once the software is installed the user is guided through a no-fail setup process to activate the main plugins that provide access to a wide range of movies, TV shows and sports.</p>
<p>Despite the smooth setup, it&#8217;s still not quite Popcorn Time in terms of simplicity of interface, but content-wise it appears to hold all the cards with direct access to PrimeWire, Project Free TV, IceFilms, USTVnow and Veetle, among others. Legal content is available from all of these sites, but the decision of what to view will be down to the user.</p>
<p>While Popcorn Time is BitTorrent-based, TVMC pulls content from streaming sites. This, its creators say, means their system is more secure for users.</p>
<p>&#8220;Unlike the popular app Popcorn Time which gives you access to similar<br>
content, through torrent technology instead of streaming links, TVMC does<br>
not turn the end-user&#8217;s device into a server, it simply streams content<br>
directly from file hosts such as GorillaVid, NovaMov, Billion Uploads,&#8221; TVAddons say.</p>
<p>The other slight advantage TVMC has over Popcorn Time is availability. Unlike its rival, TVMC is currently sitting on Google Play&#8217;s store ready for download. At $0.88 its affordable, but definitely not as cheap as the current <a href="http://popcorn-time.se/">free version</a> of Android Popcorn Time. However, for those prepared to do a manual install, TVMC is available for free via the <a href="http://www.tvaddons.ag/tvmc-android/">TVAddons site</a>.</p>
<p>Overall, TVMC is really XBMC for beginners but the big question now is how long the software will remain accessible on Google Play. History tells us that if it&#8217;s still downloadable this time next week, that will be a major achievement.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95227
title: Popcorn Time Under “Legal Investigation,” Switches Domain
uri: Popcorn-Time-Under-Legal-Investigation-Switches-Domain
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/semY0CZ5YVA/
content:
<p><a href="media/373f7cd8.popcorn.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/popcorn.png"><img src="media/b134dbd9.popcorn.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/popcorn.png" alt="popcorn" width="203" height="102" class="alignright size-full wp-image-89282"></a>Branded a &#8220;Netflix for Pirates,&#8221; the Popcorn Time app quickly gathered a user base of <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/popcorn-time-installed-1-4-million-devices-u-s-140901/">millions of people</a> in just a few months. </p>
<p>There are several successful <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popcorn_Time">versions</a> of the application available online, and last week the most popular fork ran into trouble. Out of the blue Time4popcorn.eu had its domain name <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/popcorn-time-domain-name-suspension-breaks-app-141009/">suspended</a> by the EURid registry. </p>
<p>TorrentFreak spoke with the developers who contacted EURid hoping to get the domain name back. They were informed that the suspension was the result of an ongoing legal investigation that could take weeks to complete. </p>
<p>&#8220;Apparently there&#8217;s some sort of legal investigation going on against us in Belgium and this is what started this whole thing. This is what made EURid remove our domain just like that without any warning,&#8221; the Time4Popcorn team says.</p>
<p>What prompted the investigation is unknown and EURid refuses to release any further details, but it seems likely that a copyright holder group filed a complaint with the domain name registry.</p>
<p>Resolving the matter, if possible at all, would require the fork to show proof of identity. This complicated matters even further and the developers therefore decided to permanently move to a new domain name.</p>
<p>From today the Time4Popcorn name will be dropped as the fork is switching to the new <a href="http://popcorn-time.se">Popcorn-time.se</a> domain name, hoping that this won&#8217;t be such an easy target.   </p>
<p>&#8220;Our main agenda was to get a domain that will stay. Something that will not be taken down as easily as our .eu domain got taken down. We have a feeling that an .es domain will be much harder to remove, but we don&#8217;t really know for sure,&#8221; they say. </p>
<p>The developers stress that everything is working as usual on their new domain. The domain troubles have been a setback but the service itself will never be taken down.</p>
<p>The domain troubles haven&#8217;t gone unnoticed by other Popcorn Time forks either. The Time4Popcorn version used to be the number one search result but this spot now goes to <a href="http://PopcornTime.io">PopcornTime.io</a>, the fork that initially took over from the original developers. </p>
<p>PopcornTime.io informs TorrentFreak that they have been working hard to keep up with the growing demand.  As a result of the ranking improvement PopcornTime.io saw its traffic quadruple, with hundreds of thousands of new visitors flocking to their site. </p>
<p>Time4Popcorn, now known as <a href="http://Popcorn-time.se">Popcorn-time.se</a>, hopes to regain some of this traffic in the months to come as they roll out new features and updates.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95248
title: Anti-Piracy Group Plans to Block In Excess of 100 Sites
uri: Anti-Piracy-Group-Plans-to-Block-In-Excess-of-100-Sites
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/OAA0b3vnLGQ/
content:
<p><a href="media/5ceed422.stop-blocked.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/stop-blocked.jpg"><img src="media/07db73b3.stop-blocked.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/stop-blocked.jpg" alt="stop-blocked" width="200" height="168" class="alignright size-full wp-image-72076"></a>When copyright holders turn to the courts for a solution to their problems it&#8217;s very rare that dealing with one site, service or individual is the long-term aim. Legal actions are designed to send a message and important decisions in rightsholders&#8217; favor often open the floodgates for yet more action.</p>
<p>This is illustrated perfectly by the march towards large-scale website blocking in several regions around the world.</p>
<p>A topic pushed off the agenda in the United States following the SOPA debacle, web blockades are especially alive and well in Europe and living proof that while The Pirate Bay might the initial target of Hollywood and the record labels, much bigger plans have always been in store.</p>
<p>A typical example is now emerging in Austria. Having spent years trying to have streaming sites Kino.to, Kinox.to and Movie4K blocked at the ISP level, anti-piracy group VAP has just <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/court-orders-immediate-pirate-site-blockade-141003/">achieved its aims</a>. Several key local ISPs began blocking the sites this month but the Hollywood affiliated group has now admitted that they&#8217;ve had bigger plans in mind all along.</p>
<p>Speaking with <a href="http://derstandard.at/2000006700110/Antipiraterie-Verein-VAP-will-hunderte-weitere-Seiten-sperren-lassen">DerStandard</a>, VAP CEO Werner Müller has confirmed that his group will now work to have large numbers of additional sites banned at the ISP level.</p>
<p>Using a term often used by Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN, Müller says his group has compiled a list of sites considered by the movie industry to be &#8220;structurally infringing&#8221;. The sites are expected to be the leaders in the torrent, linking and streaming sector, cyberlockers included. IFPI has already confirmed it will be dealing with The Pirate Bay and two other sites.</p>
<p>The VAP CEO wouldn&#8217;t be drawn on exact numbers, but did confirm that a &#8220;low three digit&#8221; number of domains are in the crosshairs for legal action.</p>
<p>Although Austria is in the relatively early stages, a similar situation has played out in the UK, with rightsholders obtaining blocks against some of the more famous sites and then streamlining the process to add new sites whenever they see fit. Dozens of sites are now unavailable by regular means.</p>
<p>If VAP has its way the blockades in Austria will be marginally more broad than those in the UK, affecting the country&#8217;s eighth largest service providers and affecting around 95% of subscribers.</p>
<p>Of course, whenever web blockades are mentioned the topic of discussion turns to circumvention. In Austria the blockades are relatively weak, with only DNS-based  mitigation measures in place. However, VAP predicts the inevitable expansion towards both DNS and IP address blocking and intends to head off to court yet again to force ISPs to implement them.</p>
<p>Describing the Internet as a &#8220;great machine&#8221; featuring good and bad sides, Müller says that when ordering website blocks the courts will always appreciate the right to freedom of expression.  </p>
<p>&#8220;But there&#8217;s no human right to Bruce Willis,&#8221; he concludes.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95278
title: Teen Pirates Pay For Movies More Often Than Non-Pirates
uri: Teen-Pirates-Pay-For-Movies-More-Often-Than-Non-Pirates
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/xyzqz-0dPJs/
content:
<p><a href="media/59260ee0.sadpirate.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/sadpirate.jpg"><img src="media/8d252f04.sadpirate.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/sadpirate.jpg" alt="sadpirate" width="160" height="187" class="alignright size-full wp-image-47490"></a>Over the past few years Australia has been labeled one of the world&#8217;s hotspots when it comes to online piracy, with movie and TV show companies criticizing the public for obtaining content without paying for it.</p>
<p>Countering, Australians have complained fiercely about being treated as second-class consumers, with products often appearing months after their debut in other territories. There are signs that entertainment companies are beginning to listen, but piracy will probably be a difficult habit to break in the short term.</p>
<p>A new study published today claims that not only are the numbers of pirates increasing, but they&#8217;re also pirating more frequently.</p>
<p>Commissioned by the IP Awareness Foundation which counts the MPA, Foxtel and other key industry players among its members, the study found that 29% of Aussie adults aged between 18-64 are regular or occasional pirates, up from 25% last year.</p>
<p>The anonymous study also reveals some interesting trends as teens progress towards adulthood. In the 12 to 13 year-old group active pirates made up 14% of respondents but just a year later this doubles. Among 14 to 15 year-olds, active pirates increased to 29%. </p>
<p>By the ages of 16 and 17 this figure had grown even further to 36%. </p>
<p><center><img src="media/cced8329.teen-pirates.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/teen-pirates.png" alt="teen-pirates"></center></p>
<p>It&#8217;s clear that the industry would like to have the older generation influence its children to download less or not at all and the study suggests that parental influence carries the most weight with teens.</p>
<p>Overall, 67% of respondents said it is their parents who provide the most guidance on how to behave online, with 19% citing schools and teachers. Interestingly, just 7% mentioned peers as an influence with 1% or less mentioning the government.</p>
<p>However, while parents appear to carry the most influence, the perils of illegal downloading aren&#8217;t at the top of their concerns. Not releasing personal details online was the most discussed topic, followed by virus and malware, unsuitable (18+) websites and care over financial details.</p>
<p>Although the topic of illegal downloading was last on the list overall, those who don&#8217;t pirate said their parents discussed the subject more than those who pirate regularly.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/44677fc1.teen-parent.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/teen-parent.png" alt="teen-parent"></center></p>
<p>Whether the parental discussions over malware paid off isn&#8217;t clear, but 63% of teen pirates said they were aware that ads on pirate sites could contain malicious software. But while aware of the risks, most had experienced no problems, with just 13% claiming an infection when downloading movies or TV shows or clicking ads on a pirate site.</p>
<p>Perhaps of most interest is the finding that teen pirates engage in legal media consumption habits at similar or improved levels to their illegal ones. Furthermore, teens who don&#8217;t pirate appear to consume less content legally than their pirating counterparts.</p>
<p>For instance, while around 35% of active downloaders obtain a movie from the Internet at least once each month without paying, 38% also rent a movie or TV show legally. Among non-pirates, this figure is just 27%.</p>
<p>Equally, while 37% of pirates admit to illegally streaming content at least once a month, 69% pay to see movies at the cinema. Among the non-pirates, the figure is just 49%.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/009b8534.teen-download.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/teen-download.png" alt="teen-download"></center></p>
<p>The findings also show that pirates are more engaged when it comes to consuming legal media online digitally. Some 46% of teen pirates said they download movies and TV shows from services such as iTunes each month while among non-pirates the figure is just 29%.</p>
<p>In respect of finding illegal content, just two main methods are cited by the teen respondents. A total of 59% said they go directly to their favorite sites to find movies and TV shows, while 22% said they used a search engine such as Google or Bing.</p>
<p>The study concludes by suggesting that anti-piracy education should be focused on the younger generation, to educate children before they reach 13 years-old when peer pressure kicks in and parents have less involvement.</p>
<p>A good balance might also be to work out how to get non-pirating teens as involved in buying legal content as their pirating counterparts.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95188
title: Pirates Become Biggest Political Party in Local Czech Election
uri: Pirates-Become-Biggest-Political-Party-in-Local-Czech-Election
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/vsiOpobQ1hY/
content:
<p><a href="media/d5875e74.ppcz.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ppcz.png"><img src="media/d5875e74.ppcz.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ppcz.png" alt="ppcz" width="275" height="100" class="alignright size-full wp-image-95283"></a>Last weekend there were local elections in the Czech Republic, and the <a href="http://volby.idnes.cz/komunalni-volby-2014.aspx?t=4&#038;o=5&#038;o2=CZ0411&#038;o3=554642">local Pirate Party</a> has dozens of candidates on the ballots. </p>
<p>The Pirates campaigned with a program that advocates more Government transparency, more involvement for citizens, less copyright monopolies and the use of free software.</p>
<p>This message was received well by the public as 21 Pirate Party representatives were voted into regional parliaments. In addition, several other Pirates gained seats through the lists of other local parties. </p>
<p>One of the biggest victories was booked in Mariánské lázně where the Pirates came out as the biggest party with <a href="http://volby.idnes.cz/komunalni-volby-2014.aspx?t=4&#038;o=5&#038;o2=CZ0411&#038;o3=554642">21% of the total vote</a>. This means that the Czech town may soon have its first Pirate mayor.</p>
<p><center><strong>Pirate Party seats in Mariánské lázně</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/f65f2e37.czp.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/czp.png"><img src="media/f65f2e37.czp.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/czp.png" alt="czp" width="540" height="280" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-95316"></a></a></center></p>
<p>The Pirate Party also did well in the capital city of Prague where it received 5.3% of the vote. This translates to four seats in the local parliament.</p>
<p>Despite the successes the Pirates don&#8217;t expect that they will govern in many regions. This may happen in a few places, but only if they can agree on a good program with the other parties.</p>
<p>&#8220;Generally we are against coalitions, especially in Prague, but in some regions with parties and people who are closer to our program we might govern,&#8221; Pirate Party&#8217;s Markéta Gregorová tells TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>According to Maša Čorak, co-chairperson of Pirate Parties International, the Czech success was welcomed after several disappointing results in other European countries. Talking to the <a href="http://piratetimes.net/pirates-to-enter-several-local-czech-parliaments/">Pirate Times</a>, she says that the victory will carry over to other countries.</p>
<p>‘I have no doubt that every single Czech pirate that succeeds in being an elected official will do a tremendous job in promoting our core goals and ideas and putting them back in the public spotlight. That is, after all, the beauty of this movement; a victory in just one country can be and will be a huge step forward throughout entire Europe,&#8221; she says.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95265
title: Google Removes Pirate Bay Search Box and Links
uri: Google-Removes-Pirate-Bay-Search-Box-and-Links
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/ZHb41JwPcW4/
content:
<p><a href="media/7c6b9504.google-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/google-bay.jpg"><img src="media/3a6fa524.google-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/google-bay.jpg" alt="google-bay" width="200" height="177" class="alignright size-full wp-image-21875"></a>About a month ago Google announced its new and improved <a href="http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.nl/2014/09/improved-sitelinks-search-box.html">“sitelinks” sections</a>. </p>
<p>This section appears when searching for keywords related to large sites, including YouTube and Twitter, and lists links to popular parts of the site.</p>
<p>Last week TorrentFreak <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/google-adds-custom-pirate-bay-search-with-autocomplete-141008/">reported</a> that The Pirate Bay had also been added to this list. This allowed people to use Google to search Pirate Bay pages, complete with a pirate-themed AutoComplete function.</p>
<p>While this unusual addition was the work of algorithms, it was bound to upset some entertainment industry groups. After all, many copyright holders have been asking to make sites such as The Pirate Bay less visible in the search results, and this change was doing the opposite. </p>
<p>This is how a search for The Pirate Bay looked like until yesterday, complete with a search box and prominent sitelinks.</p>
<p><center><strong>Pirate Bay search box and sitelinks</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/f0e40112.tpbsitelinks.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpbsitelinks.png"><img src="media/f0e40112.tpbsitelinks.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpbsitelinks.png" alt="tpbsitelinks" width="600" height="362" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-94932"></a></center></p>
<p>Now, less than a week later the search bar no longer appears for Pirate Bay related content. Even more so, other prominent sitelinks which have been in place for more than a year are gone too.</p>
<p>Today, the only things left are a few rather small sitelinks under the site description, as shown below.  </p>
<p><center><strong>Pirate Bay &#8230;.</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/58123396.google-sitelinks-gone-tpb.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/google-sitelinks-gone-tpb.png"><img src="media/58123396.google-sitelinks-gone-tpb.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/google-sitelinks-gone-tpb.png" alt="google-sitelinks-gone-tpb" width="600" height="346" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-95267"></a></center></p>
<p>TorrentFreak has confirmed that the sitelinks features were removed for several torrent sites including Isohunt.to and Torrentz.eu. For Google, Twitter and other sites the new search box remains online.</p>
<p>The removal of the search box and prominent links appears to be intentional. TorrentFreak learned that Google was not happy with the unintended feature for The Pirate Bay, and must have felt the need to take action. </p>
<p>While the removal may be a well intended move to keep copyright holders pleased, it places Google in a difficult position. It could be argued that if the sitelinks features have been removed due to the &#8220;infringing&#8221; aspects of a site, why still keep the site in search results at all? </p>
<p>To find out more TorrentFreak contacted Google, but the company didn&#8217;t wish to comment on the recent changes. Google did stress that the placing of the sitelinks is determined automatically. </p>
<p>&#8220;Not every site will get the sitelinks search box; it&#8217;s determined automatically based on a number of factors. As always, we&#8217;ll keep working to improve the quality of our search results,&#8221; a Google spokesperson says.</p>
<p>The comment evades the issue at hand, but it appears that these factors were changed recently to exclude The Pirate Bay and other &#8220;pirate&#8221; sites. </p>
<p>For now, however, all Pirate Bay pages remain indexed as usual. In that regard the recent change is mostly interesting from a political perspective, as a possible result on the entertainment&#8217;s continuing pressure on the search engine.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95352
title: Pre-Release Music Pirate Pleads Guilty in Landmark Case
uri: Pre-Release-Music-Pirate-Plead-Guilty-in-Landmark-Case
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/bAYnaiAoTE4/
content:
<p><img src="media/4ee85ff3.d-jesus.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/d-jesus.jpg" width="150" height="150" class="alignright">Earlier this month it was <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/bpi-set-to-privately-prosecute-pre-release-music-pirates-141005/">revealed</a> that following the lead of the Federation Against Copyright Theft, the BPI would begin their own private prosecution against alleged content pirates.</p>
<p>Their case involves former members of now-defunct file-sharing links forum Dancing Jesus. The site was taken down in 2011 following an investigation carried out by the BPI and IFPI, with assistance from the US Department of Homeland Security.</p>
<p>Two people were arrested by City of London Police, the owner of the site and the forum&#8217;s top uploader. Homeland Security assisted UK police by seizing a Dancing Jesus server hosted in the United States.</p>
<p>The trial, which began on October 6, took place at Newcastle Crown Court. One defendant, site owner and admin Kane Robinson of South Shields, had already pleaded guilty to illegally distributing music back in January 2014.</p>
<p>Richard Graham, the site&#8217;s alleged top uploader, went into the trial with a &#8220;not guilty&#8221; plea, but after evidence was presented in court earlier this week the Leicestershire man changed his plea to guilty. </p>
<p>“The guilty verdict confirms that posting illegal online links to music is a criminal offense which economically harms musicians and the labels that support them,&#8221; said David Wood, Director of BPI’s Copyright Protection Unit.</p>
<p>&#8220;Pre-release piracy, in particular, robs musicians of artistic control, leaving them with no say in when and how their music &#8211; which has taken blood, sweat and tears to produce &#8211; is released.</p>
<p>The case is significant in a number of ways, not least the scale of online infringement connected to the pair&#8217;s guilty plea. Add in the fact that Dancing Jesus was particularly well-known as a venue to obtain pre-release content and this becomes the most important UK music industry case since the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/oink-admin-found-not-guilty-walks-free-100115/">failed 2010 prosecution</a> of the infamous OiNK BitTorrent tracker.</p>
<p>Graham and Robinson will be sentenced under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Their fate will be determined by Judge Sherwin early next month.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95275
title: Freedom-Friendly Iceland Blocks The Pirate Bay
uri: Freedom-Friendly-Iceland-Blocks-The-Pirate-Bay
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Fk5C2bxCzxo/
content:
<p><img src="media/4e243e8b.tpb-logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpb-logo.jpg" width="222" height="198" class="alignright">In 2013, copyright groups including the local equivalents of the RIAA (STEF) and MPAA (SMAIS) reported the operators of The Pirate Bay to Icelandic police. It had zero negative effect on the site.</p>
<p>So, with a public anti-piracy awareness campaign under their belts, STEF and SMAIS embarked on a strategy successfully employed by copyright holders in the UK, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and other European countries. The groups issued demands for local ISPs to block not only The Pirate Bay, but also Deildu.net, Iceland&#8217;s most popular private torrent tracker.</p>
<p>Modifications to the country&#8217;s Copyright Act in 2010 authorized injunctions against intermediaries, so the chances of success seemed good. However, this was Iceland, a country strongly associated with freedom of speech. Could protection of copyrights trump that?</p>
<p>“This action doesn’t go against freedom of expression as it aims to prevent copyright infringement and protect the rights and income of authors, artists and producers,” the rightsholders insisted.</p>
<p>Initial legal action against ISPs faced issues, with one blocking request rejected on a procedural matter. Another featuring four plaintiffs was reduced to three when in May this year the Supreme Court decided that only music group STEF had the rights to claim injunctive relief.</p>
<p>But despite the setbacks, this week the rightsholders achieved the ruling they had been hoping for. The Reykjavík District Court <a href="http://www.ruv.is/frett/logbann-a-deildunet-og-pirate-bay">handed down</a> an injunction to ISPs Vodafone and Hringdu forcing them to block several domains belonging to The Pirate Bay and Deildu.</p>
<p>STEF Director of Policy Gudrun Bjork Bjarnadóttir told local media that the decision of the Court is an important event that will smooth the way for much-needed additional blockades.</p>
<p>&#8220;We will never reach a final victory in the battle so it makes sense for people to realize that it&#8217;s likely that new sites will spring up. However, following similar actions abroad visitor numbers to such sites have declined significantly,&#8221; Bjarnadóttir <a href="http://www.visir.is/buid-ad-koma-upp-nyjum-vef-i-stad-deildu/article/2014141019292">said</a>.</p>
<p>The domains to be blocked include thepiratebay.se, thepiratebay.sx and thepiratebay.org, plus deildu.net and deildu.com. Currently the injunction applies to just two ISPs and it&#8217;s unclear whether there will be an attempt at expansion, but in the meantime the effort is likely to be a symbolic one.</p>
<p>The block against The Pirate Bay will be circumvented almost immediately due to the wide range of reverse proxy sites available and Deildu has already taken evasive action of its own. Within hours the private tracker announced a brand new domain &#8211; <a href="http://iceland.pm">Iceland.pm</a> &#8211; one that isn&#8217;t listed in the court order.</p>
<p>ISP Hringdu says that the Court ruling runs counter to company policies.</p>
<p>“It is clear that [the ruling] is not in harmony with Hringdu’s policy regarding net freedom,”  director Kristinn Pétursson told <a href="http://www.visir.is/">Vísir</a>. “The company has placed great emphasis on the idea that our customers should have unrestricted access to the internet.”</p>
<p>Neither of the ISPs has yet indicated an appeal to the Supreme Court.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95369
title: Leaked TPP Draft Reveals Tough Anti-Piracy Measures
uri: Leaked-TPP-Draft-Reveals-Tough-Anti-Piracy-Measures
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/7dhmiG4T8_I/
content:
<p><a href="media/b997f7ba.copyright-branded.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/copyright-branded.jpg"><img src="media/db7b975c.copyright-branded.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/copyright-branded.jpg" alt="copyright-branded" width="250" height="164" class="alignright size-full wp-image-56211"></a>The Trans-Pacific Partnership, an agreement aimed at strengthening economic ties between the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Japan and eight<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Pacific_Partnership#Potential_members"> other countries</a> in the region, has been largely shrouded in secrecy. </p>
<p>Today whistleblower outfit Wikileaks sheds some light on the ongoing negotiations by <a href="media/d1159d1d.tpp-ip2-chapter.pdf" data-original-source="https://www.wikileaks.org/tpp-ip2/tpp-ip2-chapter.pdf">leaking</a> a new draft of the agreement&#8217;s controversial intellectual property chapter.</p>
<p>The draft dates back to May 2014 and although it&#8217;s far from final, some significant progress has been made since the first leak during August last year. </p>
<p>For example, the countries have now agreed that a new copyright term will be set in the agreement. No decision has been made on a final term but options currently on the table are life of the author plus 50, 70 or 100 years.</p>
<p>The proposal to add criminal sanctions for non-commercial copyright infringement, which is currently not the case in many countries, also remains in play. </p>
<p>The leak further reveals a new section on ISP liability. This includes a proposal to make it mandatory for ISPs to alert customers who stand accused of downloading copyrighted material, similar to the requirement under the U.S. DMCA. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.law.georgetown.edu/academics/academic-programs/graduate-programs/sjd/student-profiles/alberto_cerda_silva.cfm">Alberto Cerda</a> of Georgetown University Law Center points out that some of the proposals in the ISP liability section go above and beyond the DMCA.</p>
<p>&#8220;The most worrying proposal on the matter is that one that would extend the scope of the provisions from companies that provide Internet services to any person who provides online services,&#8221; Cerda told TorrentFreak. </p>
<p>This means that anyone who passes on Internet traffic could be held liable for the copyright infringements of others. This could include the local coffeehouse that offers free wifi, or even someone&#8217;s own Internet connection if it&#8217;s shared with others.</p>
<p>The leaked draft also adds a provision that would allow ISPs to spy on their own users to catch those who download infringing content. This is another concern, according to the law Professor.</p>
<p>&#8220;From a human rights viewpoint, that should be expressly limited to exceptional circumstances,&#8221; Cerda says.  </p>
<p>It&#8217;s clear that the ISP liability section mimicks the DMCA. In fact, throughout the TPP chapter the most draconian proposals often originate from the United States. </p>
<p>Law Professor Michael Geist notes that Canada has been the leading opponent of many of the U.S. proposals, which often go against the country&#8217;s recently revamped copyright law. Geist warns that the TPP may eventually lead to tougher local laws as U.S. pressure continues.</p>
<p>“As the treaty negotiations continue, the pressure to cave to U.S. pressure will no doubt increase, raising serious concerns about whether the TPP will force the Canadian government to overhaul recently enacted legislation,” Geist <a href="http://www.michaelgeist.ca/2014/10/new-tpp-leak-canada-emerges-leading-opponent-u-s-intellectual-property-demands/">writes</a>.</p>
<p>Compared to the previous draft that leaked last year there are also some positive developments to report. </p>
<p>For example, Canada put forward a proposal that permits countries to allow exceptions to technological protection measures. This would makes it possible to classify DRM-circumvention as fair use, for example. A refreshing proposal, but one that&#8217;s unlikely to be approved by the U.S. </p>
<p>If anything, the leaked TPP chapter shows once again that there is still a very long way to go before a final draft is ready. After more than three years of negotiating many of the proposals are still heavily debated and could go in multiple directions. </p>
<p>That is, if an agreement is ever reached.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95373
title: New Github DMCA Policy Gives Alleged Infringers a Second Chance
uri: New-Github-DMCA-Policy-Gives-Alleged-Infringers-a-Second-Chance
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/5Em_kYBFysU/
content:
<p><a href="media/3f278289.github.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/github.jpg"><img src="media/3f278289.github.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/github.jpg" alt="github" width="180" height="180" class="alignright size-full wp-image-95413"></a>Like other highly-trafficked domains relying heavily on user contributed content, coding and collaboration platform Github now publishes its own transparency report detailing copyright-related complaints received by the company.</p>
<p>Some of these DMCA notices have been reported here on TF in recent months, including <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-pulls-popcorn-time-off-github-140711/">one sent by the MPAA</a> which effectively ended Popcorn Time&#8217;s presence on the site and another sent by Microsoft <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/microsoft-gets-github-to-remove-infringing-xbox-music-app-140731/">targeting</a> an Xbox music app.</p>
<p>Now, in a move to bring more transparency and clarity to its copyright processes, Github has announced significant changes to the way it handles DMCA complaints. The company says that three major changes have been implemented in order to improve on-site experience and better serve users.</p>
<p>In the first instance, copyright owners will need to conduct their investigations as usual and send a properly formatted takedown notice to Github. Presuming it meets statutory requirements, Github will publish it in their transparency report and pass a link to the user in question.</p>
<p>At this point Github&#8217;s new policy begins to take effect. Previously the company would&#8217;ve immediately taken down the complained-about content but Github now says it wants to provide alleged infringers with a chance to put things right &#8220;whenever possible.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>24 hours to take action</strong></p>
<p>To this end, Github says users will have the opportunity to modify or remove content within 24 hours of a complaint. Copyright holders will be notified that Github has given the affected user this leeway and it will be down to the user to inform Github within the allotted period that the appropriate changes have been made. Failure to do so will see the repository removed.</p>
<p>Despite this wiggle room, not all complaints will result in the luxury of a 24 hour &#8216;action&#8217; period. Should a DMCA notice claim that the entire contents of a repository infringe, the repository in question will be removed &#8220;expeditiously.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>Forks will not be automatically disabled</strong></p>
<p>The second significant change is that when Github receives a copyright complaint against a parent repository, it will not automatically disable project forks. For that to happen any complaint will have to specifically include not only the parent&#8217;s URL, but also the locations of all related forks.</p>
<p>&#8220;GitHub will not automatically disable forks when disabling a parent repository. This is because forks belong to different users, may have been altered in significant ways, and may be licensed or used in a different way that is protected by the fair-use doctrine,&#8221; Github explains.</p>
<p><strong>Fighting back: Counter-notices</strong></p>
<p>As required by law, users affected by takedown notices have a right of reply if they believe they&#8217;ve been wrongly targeted. Sufficiently detailed counter notices can be submitted to Github for forwarding to complaining rightsholders. They will also be published in the site&#8217;s transparency report.</p>
<p>This right of reply is very important and one that appears to be under utilized. Earlier this month Github <a href="https://github.com/github/dmca/blob/master/2014-09-24-Sony-Fox-Dreamworks-NFL-WWE-NDTV.md">published a complaint</a> which targeted and took down a wide range of addons for the popular media player XBMC.</p>
<p>Apparently sent by &#8216;DMCA Secure&#8217;, a company that has no immediately visible web presence, the notice claimed to represent a wide range of copyright holders including Sony, Fox, Dreamworks, NFL and WWE, to name just a few.</p>
<p>The notice is unusual. While it&#8217;s common for the first three companies to team up, we&#8217;d never seen a notice featuring such a wide range of diverse rightsholders before. Also, while the functionality of the code could give rise to copyright issues, none of those companies own the copyrights to the code in question.</p>
<p>TF put it to Github that the complaint looked unusual and might even be bogus, but the company declined to comment on specific cases. Like many companies in similar positions, it appears Github has to take notices on face value and relies on users to submit counter-notices to air their complaints. None of the repositories in question have done so. </p>
<p>Github&#8217;s revamped DMCA policy can be found <a href="https://help.github.com/articles/dmca-takedown-policy/">here</a>, along with how-to guides on submitting <a href="https://help.github.com/articles/guide-to-submitting-a-dmca-takedown-notice/">takedown</a> and <a href="https://help.github.com/articles/guide-to-submitting-a-dmca-counter-notice/">counter notices</a>.</p>
<p>While Github is well-known in the technology sector, it may come as a surprise just how popular the service is. Around seven million people use the site and according to Alexa, Github.com is the 127th most-visited domain in the world.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95213
title: United States Hosts Most Pirate Sites, UK Crime Report Finds
uri: United-States-Hosts-Most-Pirate-Sites-UK-Crime-Report-Finds
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/q3QOj-3eKeM/
content:
<p><a href="media/f7575503.sam-pirate.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/sam-pirate.jpg"><img src="media/1d6334cc.sam-pirate.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/sam-pirate.jpg" alt="sam-pirate" width="230" height="130" class="alignright size-full wp-image-50542"></a>The UK IP Crime Group, a coalition of law enforcement agencies, government departments and industry representatives, has released its latest <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/annual-ip-crime-report-2013-to-2014">IP Crime Report</a>.</p>
<p>The report is produced by the UK Government&#8217;s Intellectual Property Office and provides an overview of recent achievements and current challenges in the fight against piracy and counterfeiting. Increasingly, these threats are coming from the Internet.</p>
<p>&#8220;One of the key features in this year’s report is the continuing trend that the Internet is a major facilitator of IP crime,&#8221; the Crime Group writes.</p>
<p>The report notes that as in previous years, Hollywood-funded industry group FACT remains one of the key drivers of anti-piracy efforts in the UK. Over the past year they&#8217;ve targeted alleged pirate sites though various channels, including their hosting providers. </p>
<p>Not all hosts are receptive to FACT&#8217;s complaints though, and convincing companies that operate abroad is often a challenge. This includes the United States where the majority of the investigated sites are hosted. </p>
<p>&#8220;Only 14% of websites investigated by FACT are hosted in the UK. While it is possible to contact the hosts of these websites, there still remains a considerable number of copyright infringing websites that are hosted offshore and not within the jurisdiction of the UK.&#8221; </p>
<p>&#8220;Analysis has shown that the three key countries in which content is hosted are the UK, the USA and Canada. However, Investigating servers located offshore can cause specific problems for FACT’s law enforcement partners,&#8221; the report notes. </p>
<p><center><a href="media/c65c4659.ushostpirate.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ushostpirate.png"><img src="media/c65c4659.ushostpirate.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/ushostpirate.png" alt="ushostpirate" width="527" height="540" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-95301"></a></center></p>
<p>The figure above comes as a bit of a surprise, as one would expect that United States authorities and industry groups would have been keeping their own houses in order. </p>
<p>Just a few months ago the US-based IIPA, which includes MPAA and RIAA as members, called out Canada because local hosting providers are &#8220;<a href="http://torrentfreak.com/canada-pirate-site-magnet-140210/">a magnet</a>&#8221; for pirate sites. However, it now appears they have still plenty of work to do inside U.S. borders.</p>
<p>But even when hosting companies are responsive to complaints from rightsholders the problem doesn&#8217;t always go away. The report mentions that most sites simply move on to another host, and continue business as usual there. </p>
<p>&#8220;In 2013, FACT closed a website after approaching the hosting provider on 63 occasions. Although this can be a very effective strategy, in most instances the website is swiftly transferred onto servers owned by another ISP, often located outside the UK.&#8221;</p>
<p>While downtime may indeed be relatively brief the report claims that it may still hurt the site, as visitors may move on to other legitimate or illegitimate sources.  </p>
<p>&#8220;The [moving] process usually involves a disruptive period of time whereby the website is offline, during which users will often find an alternative service, thus negatively affecting the website’s popularity.&#8221; </p>
<p>While hosting companies remain a main target, tackling the online piracy problem requires a multi-layered approach according to the UK Crime Group. </p>
<p>With the help of local law enforcement groups such as City of London&#8217;s PIPCU, copyright holders have rolled out a variety of anti-piracy measures in recent months. This includes domain name suspensions, cutting off payment processors and ad revenue, website blocking by ISPs and criminal prosecutions.</p>
<p>These and other efforts are expected to continue during the years to come. Whether that will be enough to put a real dent in piracy rates has yet to be seen.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95452
title: High Court Orders ISPs to Block Counterfeiting Websites
uri: High-Court-Orders-ISPs-to-Block-Counterfeiting-Websites
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/z1_U3VOIPgw/
content:
<p>Following successful action by the world&#8217;s leading entertainment companies to have file-sharing sites blocked at the ISP level, it was perhaps inevitable that other companies with similar issues would tread the same path.</p>
<p>Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A. owns several well-known luxury brands including Cartier and Mont Blanc and for some time has tried to force sites selling counterfeit products to close down. Faced with poor results, in 2014 the company wrote to the UK&#8217;s leading ISPs &#8211; Sky, TalkTalk, BT, Virgin Media, EE and Telefonica/O2 &#8211; complaining that third party sites were infringing on Richemont trademarks.</p>
<p>Concerned that Richemont hadn&#8217;t done enough to close the sites down on its own and that blocking could affect legitimate trade, the ISPs <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-logos-justification-for-website-blockades-cartier-says-140926/">resisted</a> and the matter found itself before the High Court.</p>
<p>This morning a decision was handed down and it&#8217;s good news for Richemont. The ISPs named in the legal action must now restrict access to websites selling physical counterfeits in the same way they already restrict file-sharing sites.</p>
<p>The websites mentioned in the current order are cartierloveonline.com, hotcartierwatch.com, iwcwatchtop.com, replicawatchesiwc.com, 1iwc.com, montblancpensonlineuk.com, ukmontblancoutlet.co.uk . In addition, Richemont identified tens of thousands of additional domains that could be added in the future.</p>
<p>A Richemont spokesperson told TorrentFreak that the ruling represents a positive step in the fight to protect brands and customers from the sale of counterfeit goods online.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are pleased by this judgment and welcome the Court&#8217;s recognition that there is a public interest in preventing trade mark infringement, particularly where counterfeit goods are involved. The Courts had already granted orders requiring ISPs to block sites for infringement of copyright in relation to pirated content. This decision is a logical extension of that principle to trade marks,” the company said.</p>
<p>Wiggin LLP, the lawfirm at the heart of website blocking action for the entertainment industry, acted for Richemont in the case. The company says that today&#8217;s judgment holds benefits for both rightsholders and consumers.</p>
<p>&#8220;In a comprehensive judgment, the court has considered the enforcement methods that are presently available to trade mark owners when tackling infringement online. The court has concluded that Internet Service Providers play &#8216;an essential role&#8217; and that the court can and should apply Article 11 of the Enforcement Directive to require the application of technical measures to impede infringement of trade marks,&#8221; Wiggin said.</p>
<p>According to a comment sent to TF by Arty Rajendra, Partner at IP law firm Rouse Legal, the decision is likely to be appealed.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95491
title: Google Will Punish “Pirate” Sites Harder in Search Results
uri: Google-Will-Punish-Pirate-Sites-Harder-in-Search-Results
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/4qJ6t0b8YZ4/
content:
<p><a href="media/7c6b9504.google-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/google-bay.jpg"><img src="media/3a6fa524.google-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/google-bay.jpg" alt="google-bay" width="200" height="177" class="alignright size-full wp-image-21875"></a>Over the past few years the entertainment industries have repeatedly asked Google to step up its game when it comes to anti-piracy efforts.</p>
<p>These remarks haven’t fallen on deaf ears and Google has slowly implemented various new anti-piracy measures in response. </p>
<p>Today Google released an updated version of its &#8220;<em>How Google Fights Piracy</em>&#8221; <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwxyRPFduTN2NmdYdGdJQnFTeTA/view">report</a>. The company provides an overview of all the efforts it makes to combat piracy, but also stresses that copyright holders themselves have a responsibility to make content available. </p>
<p>One of the most prominent changes is a renewed effort to make &#8220;pirate&#8221; sites less visible in search results. Google has had a downranking system in place <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/google-starts-punishing-pirate-sites-in-search-results-120810/">since 2012</a>, but this lacked effectiveness according to the RIAA, MPAA and other copyright industry groups.</p>
<p>The improved version, which will roll out next week, aims to address this critique.</p>
<p>&#8220;We’ve now refined the signal in ways we expect to visibly affect the rankings of some of the most notorious sites. This update will roll out globally starting next week,&#8221; says Katherine Oyama, Google&#8217;s Copyright Policy Counsel.</p>
<p>The report notes that the new downranking system will still be based on the number of valid DMCA requests a site receives, among other factors. The pages of flagged sites remain indexed, but are less likely to be the top results.</p>
<p>&#8220;Sites with high numbers of removal notices may appear lower in search results. This ranking change helps users find legitimate, quality sources of content more easily,&#8221; the report reads.</p>
<p>Looking at the list of sites for which Google received <a href="http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/copyright/domains/?r=all-time">the most DMCA takedown request</a>, we see that 4shared, Filestube and Dilandau can expect to lose some search engine traffic.</p>
<p>The report further highlights several other tweaks and improvements to Google&#8217;s anti-piracy efforts. For example, in addition to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/google-starts-censoring-bittorrent-rapidshare-and-more-110126/">banning piracy related</a> AutoComplete words, Google now also downranks suggestions that return results with many &#8220;pirate&#8221; sites.</p>
<p>Finally, the report also <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/google-targets-pirate-searches-promote-legal-content-140721/">confirms our previous reporting</a> which showed that Google uses ads to promote legal movie services when people search for piracy related keywords such as torrent, DVDrip and Putlocker. This initiative aims to increase the visibility of legitimate sites.  </p>
<p>A full overview of Google&#8217;s anti-piracy efforts is <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwxyRPFduTN2NmdYdGdJQnFTeTA/view?usp=sharing">available here</a>.  </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95426
title: Uploaded.net Liable For Failing to Delete Copyright Content
uri: Uploaded-net-Liable-For-Failing-to-Delete-Copyright-Content
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/W4v5m5l5uao/
content:
<p><a href="media/9d3faece.uploaded-logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/uploaded-logo.jpg"><img src="media/7134c7af.uploaded-logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/uploaded-logo.jpg" alt="uploaded-logo" width="200" height="79" class="alignright size-full wp-image-45446"></a>Having content removed from the Internet is a task undertaken by most major entertainment industry companies. While laws differ around the world, the general understanding is that once notified of an infringement, Internet-based companies need to take action to prevent ongoing liability.</p>
<p>A case in Germany involving popular file-hosting service Uploaded.net has not only underlined this notion, but clarified that in some instances a hosting service can be held liable even if they aren&#8217;t aware of the content of a takedown notice.</p>
<p>It all began with anti-piracy company proMedia GmbH who had been working with their record label partners to remove unauthorized content from the Internet. The Hamburg-based company spotted a music album being made available on Uploaded so wrote to the company with a request for it to be removed.</p>
<p>&#8220;In the case at hand, a notice with regards to some infringing URLs on the file-hosting site was sent to the given abuse contact of the site,&#8221; Mirko Brüß, a lawyer with record label lawfirm Rasch Legal, told TorrentFreak.</p>
<p>However, three days later the album was still being made available so the lawfirm sent Uploaded an undertaking to cease and desist. When the file-hosting site still didn&#8217;t respond, Rasch Legal obtained a preliminary injunction against Uploaded.</p>
<p>&#8220;After it was served in Switzerland, the file-hoster objected and the court had an oral hearing in September,&#8221; Brüß explains.</p>
<p>In its response Uploaded appealed the injunction claiming it had never been aware of the takedown notices from proMedia GmbH. Lars Sobiraj of <a href="https://tarnkappe.info">Tarnkappe</a> told TF that Uploaded claimed to have received an empty Excel spreadsheet so didn&#8217;t react to it, preferring instead to receive plain text documents or complaints via its official takedown tool.</p>
<p>Rasch Legal later sent another email but Uploaded staff reportedly didn&#8217;t get a chance to read that either since an email server identified the correspondence as spam and deleted it.</p>
<p>&#8220;We did not believe this &#8216;story&#8217; but thought they had just failed to process the notice expeditiously,&#8221; Brüß tolf TF.</p>
<p>In its judgment on the case the Hamburg District Court found that while service providers have no general obligations to monitor for infringing content on their services, the same cannot be said of infringements they have been made aware of.</p>
<p>However, the big question sat on Uploaded&#8217;s claims that it had never been aware of the infringements in question since it had never received the notices relating to them. In the event the Court found that sending the emails to Uploaded was enough to notify the service that infringements were taking place and that it must take responsibility for ending them.</p>
<p>&#8220;The Court followed our reasoning, meaning it is sufficient that the file-hoster actually receives the notice in a way that you can expect it to be read under normal circumstances,&#8221; Brüß says.</p>
<p>&#8220;There is a similar jurisdiction with regards to postal mail, where it is sufficient that the letter has reached your inbox and it is not necessary that you actually read the content of the letter in order for it to take legal effect. So here, we had proved that the takedown notice did reach the file-hoster&#8217;s mailserver, they only failed to act upon it.&#8221;</p>
<p>A ruling in the opposite direction would have opened up the possibility of other companies in a similar position to Uploaded blaming technical issues each time they failed to take down infringing content, Brüß explains. Instead, file-hosters are now required to respond quickly to complaints or face liability.</p>
<p>&#8220;So in essence, file-hosters need to make sure that they attain knowledge of all notices sent to them and act upon these notices expeditiously, or they face secondary (or even primary) liability. Also, the court stated that it does not matter by which means the notices are sent,&#8221; Brüß concludes.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95416
title: Jennifer Lawrence Gets Google to Censor Leaked Pictures, Sort Of
uri: Jennifer-Lawrence-Gets-Google-to-Censor-Leaked-Pictures-Sort-Of
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/sp8fLbdn4ZA/
content:
<p><a href="media/0a8e5ad0.pixelated.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pixelated.png"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-94734" src="media/0a8e5ad0.pixelated.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pixelated.png" alt="pixelated" width="250" height="228"></a>Over the past several weeks hundreds of photos of naked celebrities leaked online. This “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_celebrity_photo_leaks">fappening</a>” triggered a massive takedown operation targeting sites that host and link to the controversial images.</p>
<p>As a hosting provider and search engine Google inadvertently plays a role in distributing the compromising shots, much to the displeasure of the women involved.</p>
<p>More than a dozen of them <a href="http://pagesix.com/2014/10/01/lawyers-for-hacked-celebs-sue-google-for-failing-to-removing-nude-pics/">sent</a> Hollywood lawyer Marty Singer after the company. Earlier this month Singer penned an <a href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/241694649/Hacked-celebrities-threaten-to-sue">angry letter</a> to Google threatening legal action if it doesn&#8217;t remove the images from YouTube, Blogspot and its search results.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is truly reprehensible that Google allows its various sites, systems and search results to be used for this type of unlawful activity. If your wives, daughters or relatives were victims of such blatant violations of basic human rights, surely you would take appropriate action,” the letter reads.</p>
<p>While no legal action has yet been taken, some celebrities have also sent individual DMCA takedown requests to Google. On September 24 Jennifer Lawrence&#8217;s lawyers asked the search engine to <a href="https://www.chillingeffects.org/notices/2048561">remove two links</a> to thefappening.eu as these infringe on the star&#8217;s copyrights.</p>
<p><center><strong>The DMCA takedown request</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/6c043d0a.jlawdmca.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/jlawdmca.png"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-95431" src="media/6c043d0a.jlawdmca.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/jlawdmca.png" alt="jlawdmca" width="558" height="274"></a></center>Earlier this week the request was still pending, so TorrentFreak asked Google what was causing the delay. The company said it could not comment on individual cases but a day later the links in question were removed.</p>
<p>This means that both the thefappening.eu main domain and the tag archive of Jennifer Lawrence posts no longer appear in Google&#8217;s search results.</p>
<p>Whether this move has helped Lawrence much is doubtful though. The site in question had already redirected its site to a new domain at thefappening.so. These links remain indexed since they were not mentioned in the takedown request.</p>
<p>The good news is that many of Lawrence&#8217;s pictures are no longer hosted on the site itself. In fact, the URLs listed in the takedown request to Google no longer show any of the infringing photos in question, so technically Google had no obligation to remove the URLs.</p>
<p>A prominent disclaimer on the site points out that the operator will gladly take down the compromising photos if he&#8217;s asked to do so. Needless to say, this is much more effective than going after Google.</p>
<p><center><strong>The disclaimer</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/ae202a01.attention.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/attention.png"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-95437" src="media/ae202a01.attention.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/attention.png" alt="attention" width="545" height="120"></a></center></p>
<p style="text-align: right;"><a href="media/9a9aec16.Jennifer_Lawrence" data-original-source="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Lawrence">Photo via </a></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95418
title: Sports Streaming Site Hides Itself From The UK Piracy Police
uri: Sports-Streaming-Site-Hides-Itself-From-The-UK-Piracy-Police
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/aoTdRirYiqU/
content:
<p><a href="media/bc6e239e.cityoflondonpolice.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/cityoflondonpolice.jpg"><img src="media/31176dbb.cityoflondonpolice.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cityoflondonpolice.jpg" alt="cityoflondonpolice" width="200" height="82" class="alignright size-full wp-image-71397"></a>Over the past few months <a href="http://www.cityoflondon.police.uk/Pages/default.aspx">City of London Police</a> have been working together with copyright holders to take on sites that provide or link to pirated content.</p>
<p>The Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) uses a variety of measures to achieve its goals. This includes sending requests to registrars requesting the suspension of allegedly infringing domain names. </p>
<p>The sports streaming site Fromhot, also known as Sportlemon and Frombar, was one of the most recent targets of the latter strategy. The &#8220;franchise&#8221; has well over a million visitors per month but some of these went missing after the Frombar.com domain was suspended. </p>
<p>The streaming site does remain operational from several alternative domain names, which now point to Fromhot.com, but interestingly enough the site can no longer be accessed from the UK. </p>
<p><center><a href="media/f0023242.fromhot1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/fromhot1.png"><img src="media/f0023242.fromhot1.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/fromhot1.png" alt="fromhot1" width="547" height="243" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-95460"></a></center></p>
<p>A few days after its main domain was suspended the sport streaming site decided to block all visitors from the UK. It appears that this measure was taken in the hope of avoiding further actions from PIPCU. </p>
<p>TorrentFreak contacted the people behind the site for a comment on the unusual measure, but we have yet to hear back. </p>
<p>Frombar is not the first sports streaming site to be targeted by PIPCU. In May, PIPCU had the domain of the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/cricfree-bounces-back-after-uk-police-domain-seizure-140524/">Cricfree.tv streaming portal suspended</a> but its operator was able to bring the site back under a new domain.</p>
<p>In addition to the domain suspensions PIPCU also had several sports streaming site operators arrested. TorrentFreak previously <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/police-arrest-streaming-site-admin-several-domains-suspended-140409/">revealed</a> that the operator of BoxingGuru.co.uk, boxingguru.eu, boxingguru.tv and nutjob.eu was arrested during April. </p>
<p>This was followed by <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/uk-police-make-third-pirate-streaming-arrest-140902/">the arrest</a> last month of 27-year old Zain Parvez, who allegedly operated CoolSport.se, CoolSport.tv and KiwiSportz.tv. Parvez was described as the head of an &#8220;industrial scale&#8221; sports streaming operation but all charges against him were <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/police-drop-charges-against-industrial-scale-pirate-141013/">dropped</a> earlier this week.</p>
<p>Whether the blockade of UK traffic will keep PIPCU at bay has yet to be seen. The notice posted on the seized Frombar.com still notes that the site is &#8220;under criminal investigation.&#8221;</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95462
title: The Soaring Financial Cost of Blocking Pirate Sites
uri: The-Soaring-Financial-Cost-of-Blocking-Pirate-Sites
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/pcPvD_x1QVM/
content:
<p>On Friday news broke that luxury brand company Richemont had <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/high-court-orders-isps-to-block-counterfeiting-websites-141017/">succeeded</a> in its quest to have several sites selling counterfeit products blocked by the UK&#8217;s largest ISPs.</p>
<p>The landmark ruling, which opens the floodgates for perhaps tens of thousands of other sites to be blocked at the ISP level, contained some surprise information on the costs involved in blocking infringing websites. The amounts cited by Justice Arnold all involve previous actions undertaken by the movie and music industry against sites such as The Pirate Bay and KickassTorrents.</p>
<p><strong>The applications themselves</strong></p>
<p>The solicitor acting for Richemont, Simon Baggs of Wiggin LLP, also acted for the movie studios in their website blocking applications. Information Baggs provided to the court reveals that an unopposed application for a section 97A blocking order works out at around £14,000 per website.</p>
<p>The record labels&#8217; costs aren&#8217;t revealed but Justice Arnold said &#8220;it is safe to assume that they are of a similar magnitude to the costs incurred by the film studios.&#8221;</p>
<p>In copyright cases, 47 sites have been blocked at the ISP level = £658,000</p>
<p><strong>Keeping blocked sites blocked</strong></p>
<p>When blocking orders are issued in the UK they contain provisions for rightsholders to add additional IP addresses and URLs to thwart anti-blocking countermeasures employed by sites such as The Pirate Bay. It is the responsibility of the rightsholders to &#8220;accurately identify IP addresses and URLs which are to be notified to ISPs in this way.&#8221;</p>
<p>It transpires that in order to monitor the server locations and domain names used by targeted websites, the film studios have hired a company called Incopro, which happens to be directed by Simon Baggs of Wiggins.</p>
<p>In addition to maintaining a database of 10,000 &#8216;pirate&#8217; domains, Incopro also operates &#8216;BlockWatch&#8217;. This system continuously monitors the IP addresses and domains of blocked sites and uses the information to notify ISPs of new IPs and URLs to be blocked.</p>
<p>&#8220;Incopro charges a fee to enter a site into the BlockWatch system. It also charges an ongoing monthly fee,&#8221; Justice Arnold reveals. &#8220;In addition, the rightholders incur legal costs in collating, checking and sending notifications to the ISPs. Mr Baggs&#8217; evidence is that, together, these costs work out at around £3,600 per website per year.&#8221;</p>
<p>If we assume that the music industry&#8217;s costs are similar, for 47 sites these monitoring costs amount to around £169,200 per year, every year.</p>
<p><strong>Costs to ISPs for implementing blocking orders</strong></p>
<p>The ISPs involved in blocking orders have been less precise as to the costs involved, but they are still being incurred on an ongoing basis. All incur ongoing costs when filtering websites such as those on the Internet Watch List, but copyright injunctions only add to the load.</p>
<p><strong>Sky</strong></p>
<p>The cost of implementing a new copyright blocking order is reported as a &#8220;mid three figure sum&#8221; by Sky, with an update to an order (adding new IP addresses, for example) amounts to half of that. Ongoing monitoring of blocked domains costs the ISP a &#8220;low four figure sum per month.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>BT</strong></p>
<p>According to the court, BT says that it expends 60 days of employee time per year implementing section 97A orders via its Cleanfeed system and a further 12 days employee time elsewhere.</p>
<p>Each new order takes up 8 hours of in-house lawyers&#8217; time plus 13 hours of general staff time. Updates to orders accrue an hour of costs in the legal department plus another 13 hours of blocking staff time.</p>
<p><strong>EE</strong></p>
<p>For each new order EE expends 30 minutes of staff time and a further three hours of time at BT whose staff it utilizes. Updates cost the same amount of time.</p>
<p>EE pays BT a &#8220;near four figure sum&#8221; for each update and expends 36 hours employee time each year on maintenance and management.</p>
<p><strong>TalkTalk</strong></p>
<p>TalkTalk&#8217;s legal team expends two hours implementing each new order while its engineers spend around around two and a half. Updates are believed to amount to the same. The company&#8217;s senior engineers burn through 60 hours each year dealing with blocking orders amounting to &#8220;a low six figure sum&#8221; per annum.</p>
<p><strong>Virgin</strong></p>
<p>Virgin estimates that Internet security staff costs amount to a &#8220;low five figure sum&#8221; per year. Interestingly the ISP said it spent more on blocking this year than last, partly due to its staff having to respond to comments about blocking on social media.</p>
<p><strong>And the bills are only set to increase</strong></p>
<p>According to Justice Arnold several additional blocking orders are currently pending. They are:</p>
<p>- An application by Paramount Home Entertainment Ltd and other film studios relating to seven websites said to be &#8220;substantially focused&#8221; on infringement of copyright in movies and TV shows</p>
<p>- An application by 1967 Ltd and other record companies in respect of 21  torrent sites</p>
<p>- An application by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp and other film studios in respect of eight websites said to be &#8220;substantially  focused&#8221; on infringement of copyright in movies and TV shows</p>
<p>But these 36 new sites to be blocked on copyright grounds are potentially just the tip of a quite enormous iceberg now that blocking on trademark grounds is being permitted.</p>
<p>Richemont has identified approximately 239,000 sites potentially infringing on their trademarks, 46,000 of which have been confirmed as infringing and are waiting for enforcement action.</p>
<p><strong>So who will pick up the bill?</strong></p>
<p>&#8220;It is obvious that ISPs faced with the costs of implementing website orders have a choice. They may either absorb these costs themselves, resulting in slightly lower profit margins, or they may pass these costs on to their subscribers in the form of higher subscription charges,&#8221; Justice Arnold writes.</p>
<p>Since all ISPs will have to bear similar costs, it seems likely that the former will prove most attractive to them, as usual.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95514
title: Illegal Copying Has Always Created Jobs, Growth, And Prosperity
uri: Illegal-Copying-Has-Always-Created-Jobs-Growth-And-Prosperity
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/x3xttVlOa94/
content:
<p><a href="media/b997f7ba.copyright-branded.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/copyright-branded.jpg"><img src="media/db7b975c.copyright-branded.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/copyright-branded.jpg" alt="copyright-branded" width="250" height="164" class="alignright size-full wp-image-56211"></a>It often helps to understand present time by looking at history, and seeing how history keeps repeating itself over and over.</p>
<p>In the late 1700s, the United Kingdom was the empire that established laws on the globe. The United States was still largely a colony &#8211; even if not formally so, it was referred to as such in the civilized world, meaning France and the United Kingdom.</p>
<p>The UK had a strictly protectionist view of trade: all raw materials must come to England, and all luxury goods must be made from those materials <em>while in the UK</em>, to be exported to the rest of the world. Long story short, the UK was where the value was to be created.</p>
<p>Laws were written to lock in this effect. Bringing the ability to refine materials somewhere else, the mere knowledge, was illegal. &#8220;Illegal copying&#8221;, more precisely.</p>
<p>Let&#8217;s look at a particularly horrible criminal from that time, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Slater">Samuel Slater</a>. In the UK, he was even known as &#8220;Slater the Traitor&#8221;. His crime was to memorize the drawings of a British textile mill, move to New York, and copy the whole of the British textile mill from memory &#8211; something very illegal. For this criminal act, building the so-called Slater Mill, he was hailed as &#8220;the father of the American Industrial Revolution&#8221; by those who would later displace the dominance of the UK &#8211; namely the United States. This copy-criminal also has a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slatersville,_Rhode_Island">whole town</a> named after him.</p>
<p><strong>Copying brings jobs and prosperity. Copying has always brought jobs and prosperity. It is those who don&#8217;t want to compete who try to legislate a right to rest on their laurels and outlaw copying. It never works.</strong></p>
<p>We can take a look at the early film industry as well. That industry was bogged down with patent monopolies from one of the worst monopolists through industrial history, Thomas Edison and his Western Electric. He essentially killed off any film company that started in or at New York, where the film industry was based at the time. A few of the nascent film companies &#8211; Warner Brothers, Universal Pictures, MGM &#8211; therefore chose to settle as far from this monopolist as possible, and went across the entire country, to a small unexploited suburb outside of Los Angeles, California, which was known as &#8220;Hollywoodland&#8221; and had a huge sign to that effect. There, they would be safe from Edison&#8217;s patent enforcement, merely through taking out enough distance between themselves and him.</p>
<p>Yes, you read that right &#8211; the entire modern film industry was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_Hollywood_cinema#The_golden_age">founded on piracy</a>. Which, again, lead to jobs and prosperity.</p>
<p><strong>The heart of the problem is this: those who decide what is &#8220;illegal&#8221; to copy do so from a basis of not wanting to get outcompeted, and never from any kind of moral high ground. It&#8217;s just pure industrial protectionism. Neo-mercantilism, if you prefer. Copying always brings jobs and prosperity. Therefore, voluntarily agreeing to the terms of the incumbent industries, terms which are specifically written to keep everybody else unprosperous, is astoundingly bad business and policy.</strong></p>
<p>I&#8217;d happily go as far as to say there is a <em>moral imperative</em> to disobey any laws against copying. History will always put you in the right, as was the case with Samuel Slater, for example.</p>
<p>For a more modern example, you have Japan. When I grew up in the 1980s, Japanese industry was known for cheap knock-off goods. They copied everything shamelessly, and never got quality right. But they knew something that the West didn&#8217;t: copying brings prosperity. When you copy well enough, you learn at a staggering pace, and you eventually come out as the R&#038;D leader, the innovation leader, building on that incremental innovation you initially copied. Today, Japan builds the best quality stuff available in any category.</p>
<p>The Japanese knew and understand that it takes three generations of copying and an enormous work discipline to become the best in the world in any industry. Recently, to my huge astonishment, they even overtook the Scottish as masters of whisky. (As I am a very avid fan of Scottish whisky, this was a personal source of confusion for me, even though I know things work this way on a rational level.)</p>
<p>At the personal level, pretty much every good software developer I know learned their craft by copying other people&#8217;s code. Copying brings prosperity at the national and the individual levels. Those who would seek to outlaw it, or obey such unjust bans against copying, have no moral high ground whatsoever &#8211; and frankly, I think people who voluntarily choose to obey such unjust laws deserve to stay unprosperous, and fall with their incumbent master when that time comes.</p>
<p>Nobody ever took the lead by voluntarily walking behind somebody else, after all. The rest of us copy, share, and innovate, and we wait for nobody who tries to legislate their way to competitiveness.</p>
<p><center>
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<h3 style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:10px">
<div style="float:right;height:130px;width:39px;margin-left:20px;margin-right:10px"><img src="media/98818a80.Rick_Falkvinge_39x130.jpg" data-original-source="http://falkvinge.net/wp-content/themes/WpNewspaper/images/falkvinge/Rick_Falkvinge_39x130.jpg" style="border:none;-moz-box-shadow:none;-webkit-box-shadow:none" class="quimby_search_image"></div>
<p><span style="color:#3F3F3F;font-size:125%">About The</span> <span style="color:#FF3C78;font-size:125%">Author</span></p>
</h3>
<p style="font-family:PTSansRegular,Arial,Sans-Serif;font-weight:400;line-height:150%;margin-bottom:14px"><small>Rick Falkvinge is a regular columnist on TorrentFreak, sharing his thoughts every other week. He is the founder of the Swedish and first Pirate Party, a whisky aficionado, and a low-altitude motorcycle pilot. His blog at <a href="http://falkvinge.net">falkvinge.net</a> focuses on information policy.</small></p>
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<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95517
title: Kim Dotcom Must Reveal Everything He Owns to Hollywood
uri: Kim-Dotcom-Must-Reveal-Everything-He-Owns-to-Hollywood
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/LpkREux-SYQ/
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="dotcom-laptop" width="233" height="170" class="alignright size-full wp-image-76556"></a>Kim Dotcom has been associated with many things over the years, but one enduring theme has been wealth &#8211; and lots of it.</p>
<p>Even in the wake of the now-infamous raid on his New Zealand mansion and the seizure of millions in assets, somehow Dotcom has managed to rake in millions. Or did he also have some stashed away?</p>
<p>It&#8217;s an important matter for Hollywood. The businessman&#8217;s continued lavish lifestyle diminishes the financial pot from where any payout will be made should they prevail in their copyright infringement battles against the Megaupload founder.</p>
<p>The studio&#8217;s concerns were previously addressed by Judge Courtney, who had already ordered Dotcom to disclose to the Court the details of his worldwide assets. The entrepreneur filed an appeal but that hearing would take place in October, a date beyond the already-ordered disclosure date.</p>
<p>Dotcom took his case to the Court of Appeal in the hope of staying the disclosure order, but in August <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/dotcom-loses-bid-to-keep-assets-secret-from-hollywood-140829/">that failed</a>.</p>
<p>Dotcom complied with the ruling and subsequently produced an affidavit. However, he asked the Court of Appeal to overturn the decision of the High Court in order to keep the document a secret from the studios. That bid has now failed.</p>
<p>Following a ruling handed down this morning by the New Zealand Court of Appeal, Dotcom&#8217;s financial information will soon be in the hands of adversaries Twentieth Century Fox, Disney, Paramount, Universal and Warner Bros.</p>
<p>Court of Appeal Judges John Wild, Rhys Harrison and Christin French ordered the affidavit to be released to the studios on the basis that the information could only be used in legal proceedings concerning the restraining of Dotcom&#8217;s assets. And with a confidentiality clause attached to the affidavit, the public will not gain access to the information. </p>
<p>Another setback for Dotcom came in respect of who pays the bill for proceedings. The Megaupload founder&#8217;s attempt at avoiding costs was turned down after the judges found that having already supplied the affidavit as required, Dotcom&#8217;s appeal was not likely to succeed.</p>
<p>And there was more bad news for Dotcom in a separate High Court ruling handed down in New Zealand today. It concerns the extradition cases against not only him but also former Megaupload associates Finn Batato, Mathias Ortmann and Bram Van Der Kolk.</p>
<p>The theory put forward by Dotcom is that the United States and New Zealand governments had politically engineered his downfall in order to extradite him to the U.S. To gather evidence showing how that happened, Dotcom and the other respondents made a pair of applications to the extradition court (the District Court) requesting that it make discovery orders against various New Zealand  government agencies, ministers and departments.</p>
<p>The District Court declined so the respondents sought a judicial review of that decision claiming that the Court acted unfairly and erred in law. In today&#8217;s ruling, Justice Simon France said there was no &#8220;air of reality&#8221; that political interference had been involved in Dotcom&#8217;s extradition case.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is, as the District Court held, all supposition  and  the  drawing  of  links  without  a  basis,&#8221; the Judge wrote.</p>
<p>&#8220;Nothing suggests involvement of the  United  States  of America,  and  nothing  suggests  the  New Zealand  Government had turned its mind to extradition issues. These are the key matters and there is no support for either contention.&#8221;</p>
<p>Judge France said that as respondents in the case, the United States were entitled to costs.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95509
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week – 10/20/14
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-10-20-14
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/ItE2ruc6cfE/
content:
<p><a href="media/5476e947.22jump.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/22jump.jpg"><img src="media/5476e947.22jump.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/22jump.jpg" alt="22jump" width="300" height="169" class="alignright size-full wp-image-95185"></a>This week we have four newcomers in our chart.</p>
<p>22 Jump Street is the most downloaded movie for the second week in a row.</p>
<p>The data for our weekly download chart is estimated by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only. All the movies in the list are BD/DVDrips unless stated otherwise.</p>
<p><a href="http://TorrentFreak.com/category/dvdrip/feed/"><strong>RSS feed</strong></a> for the weekly movie download chart.</p>
<table class="css hover">
<thead>
<tr>
<th width="12%"><strong>Ranking</strong></th>
<th width="15%"><strong>(<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-movies-of-the-week-141013/">last week</a>)</strong></th>
<th><strong>Movie</strong></th>
<th width="18%"><strong>IMDb Rating / Trailer</strong></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tfoot>
<tr>
<td colspan="4">torrentfreak.com</td>
</tr>
</tfoot>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>1</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/22_jump_street/">22 Jump Street</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2294449/">7.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qP755JkDxyM">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/how_to_train_your_dragon_2/">How to Train Your Dragon 2</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1646971/">8.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9a4PvzlqoQ">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(5)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_purge_anarchy_2014/">The Purge: Anarchy</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2975578/">6.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzFCDqKE4yA">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/stretch_2014/">Stretch</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2494280/">6.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceJa68mIDu4">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/transformers_age_of_extinction/">Transformers: Age of Extinction</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2109248/">6.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYDGqmxMZFI">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/planes_fire_and_rescue/">Planes: Fire &#038; Rescue</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2980706/">5.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibAxkCJfvC4">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_giver/">The Giver</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0435651/">6.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvp6FnYWRZU">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/annabelle/">Annabelle</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3322940/">5.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xabuZwG3XyM">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(4)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sex_tape_2014/">Sex Tape</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1956620/">5.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxl4aOyHSwo">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(9)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/x_men_days_of_future_past/">X-Men: Days of Future Past</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1877832/">8.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsjtg7m1MMM">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95401
title: 4shared Demands Retraction Over Misleading Piracy Report
uri: 4shared-Demands-Retraction-Over-Misleading-Piracy-Report
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/WCevrKoV2gk/
content:
<p><a href="media/5542ef9f.profit.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/profit.png"><img src="media/6c985263.profit.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/profit.png" alt="profit" width="222" height="175" class="alignright size-full wp-image-94151"></a>Last month the Digital Citizens Alliance and NetNames released a new report with the aim of exposing the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/report-brands-dotcoms-mega-a-piracy-haven-140918/">business models and profitability</a> of “rogue” file-storage sites.</p>
<p>The report titled <em>Behind The Cyberlocker Door: Behind The Cyberlocker Door: A Report How Shadowy Cyberlockers Use Credit Card Companies to Make Millions</em>, is being used as ammunition for copyright holders to pressure credit card companies and advertisers to cut ties with the listed sites.</p>
<p>While some of the sites mentioned are indeed of a dubious nature the report lacks nuance. The &#8220;shadowy&#8221; label certainly doesn&#8217;t apply to all. Mega, for example, was quick to point out that the report is &#8220;grossly untrue and highly defamatory.&#8221; The company has <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mega-demands-apology-over-defamatory-cyberlocker-report-140919/">demanded a public apology</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.4shared.com/">4shared</a>, the most visited site in the report with over 50 million unique visitors per month, is now making similar claims. According to 4shared’s Mike Wilson the company has put its legal team on the case.</p>
<p>&#8220;We decided to take action and demand a public retraction of the information regarding 4shared&#8217;s revenues and business model as published in the report. Our legal team is already working on the respective notes to Digital Citizens Alliance and Netnames,&#8221; Wilson tells TorrentFreak. </p>
<p>As the largest file-hosting service the report estimates that 4shared grosses $17.6 million per year. However, 4shared argues that many of the assumptions in the report are wrong and based on a distorted view of the company&#8217;s business model. </p>
<p>&#8220;Revenue volumes in this report are absolutely random. For instance, 4shared&#8217;s actual revenue from premium subscription sales is approximately 20 times smaller than is shown in the document,&#8221; Wilson says.</p>
<p>4shared explains that its premium users are mostly interested in storing their files safely and securely. In addition, the company notes that it doesn&#8217;t have any affiliate programs or other encouragements for uploading or downloading files. </p>
<p>Unlike the report claims, 4shared stresses that it&#8217;s not setup as a service that aims to profit from copyright infringement, although it admits that this does take place. </p>
<p>To deal with this unauthorized use the file-hosting service has a DMCA takedown policy in place. In addition, some of the most trusted rightsholder representative have direct access to the site where they can delete files without sending a takedown notice.</p>
<p>This works well and the overall takedown volume is relatively low. Together, the site&#8217;s users store a billion files and in an average month 4shared receives takedown notices for 0.05% of these files.</p>
<p>In addition to their takedown procedure 4shared also scans publicly shared music files for copyright-infringing content. This <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/4shared-uses-unique-fingerprinting-tech-to-scan-for-pirated-files-130816/">Music ID system</a>, custom-built by the company, scans for pirated music files based on a unique audio watermark and automatically removes them.</p>
<p>Despite these efforts 4shared was included in the &#8220;shadowy cyberlocker&#8221; report where it&#8217;s branded a rogue and criminal operation. Whether the company&#8217;s legal team will be able to set the record straight has yet to be seen.</p>
<p>Netnames and Digital Citizens have thus far declined to remove Mega from the report as the company <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mega-goes-legal-issues-ultimatum-over-cyberlocker-report-140925/">previously demanded</a>. Mega informs TorrentFreak that a defamation lawsuit remains an option and that they are still actively pursuing the matter.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95583
title: Microsoft: We’ve Always Had Freemium, It’s Called Piracy
uri: Microsoft-We-ve-Always-Had-Freemium-It-s-Called-Piracy
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/6ygS9WCwgpo/
content:
<p><a href="media/d4825a36.microsoft-pirate.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/microsoft-pirate.png"><img src="media/b4f20436.microsoft-pirate.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/microsoft-pirate.png" alt="microsoft-pirate" width="225" height="137" class="alignright size-full wp-image-51663"></a>In recent years the &#8216;freemium&#8217; business model has gained much traction in many areas from gaming to software services. But while the portmanteau describing the phenomenon is a relatively new addition to our language, the idea behind the business model is not.</p>
<p>In the 1980s, those with access to Bulletin Board Systems would download programs and share them with their friends, all with the full encouragement of the software&#8217;s creators. Shareware, as it was known, often encouraged users to send off a snail-mailed registration fee in return for a code to unlock premium features. Although basic, freemium had been born.</p>
<p>Today the concept has gone way beyond those humble roots. The App Store and Google Play are awash with free-to-play games with premium addons, and services such as Spotify and Dropbox offer decent free levels of service to get users onboard and primed to start parting with real cash.</p>
<p>If Joe Public was pressed into a snap judgment, Microsoft would probably be more associated with premium than free, with the company historically charging sizable amounts for its Windows and Office products, for example. However, speaking with <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/102101929#.">CNBC</a>, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says that the company has always had an eye on the freemium experience.</p>
<p>The idea, the CEO notes, is to get people on board with a product they find useful. Then, when it becomes clear how users are utilizing the service, options to monetize become available alongside their demands for improved service. He uses the company&#8217;s cloud-storage service as an example.</p>
<p>&#8220;We want everybody to use OneDrive. And then when you are starting to use it for business, that&#8217;s when we want to monetize. So we do not want to have you only start using us when you have a business license or subscription. We want to have you use us when you just want to save any file or any document, any artifact of yours. And then have a natural way for us to monetize as you use more of it in the commercial context,&#8221; Nadella explains.</p>
<p>By now millions of people online are familiar with &#8216;freemium&#8217; in one shape or another but comments from Nadella suggest that while this business model has been leveraged by Microsoft for quite some time, the company had it forced upon them.</p>
<p>&#8220;Well, we&#8217;ve always had freemium. Sometimes our freemium was called piracy,&#8221; Nadella reveals.</p>
<p>&#8220;[The] thing that I don&#8217;t want us as a company to shy away from is usage first. Because I think if anything, the new competition has taught is that, you know, what matters is do not try to equate revenue and usage day one.&#8221;</p>
<p>The &#8216;piracy is promotion&#8217; angle is something rarely spoken about by company execs, probably in fear of endorsing an illegal activity and validating it in the eyes of piracy proponents. However, by speaking of it alongside &#8216;freemium&#8217;, Microsoft&#8217;s CEO appears to have confirmed what many have been saying all along, that getting people on board for free &#8211; via piracy if necessary &#8211; is one the first steps on the monetization trail.</p>
<p>Indeed, this belief his held so strongly in some quarters that there are some who insist that it&#8217;s preferable for people to pirate the software of company &#8216;A&#8217; than switch to the opposition, whether paid or not.</p>
<p>That said, what Microsoft does not want is people selling pirated copies of its premium products &#8211; that kind of &#8216;promotion&#8217; is never welcome. If people use a free sample of Microsoft products at home, the company isn&#8217;t likely to kick down the door. Do the same in a business environment, however, and things aren&#8217;t anywhere near as open-minded.</p>
<p>There are no signs that Microsoft is going soft on piracy but as business models change, as they have with <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/tired-of-the-war-on-piracy-adobe-hopes-to-turn-pirates-into-customers-130625/">Adobe&#8217;s Creative Cloud</a>, free tiers attractive to would-be pirates will become more commonplace. And that can only mean one thing for piracy rates.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95547
title: Retired Scene Groups Return to Honor Fallen Member
uri: Retired-Scene-Groups-Return-to-Honor-Fallen-Member
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/JwLeNj7eYZc/
content:
<p><a href="media/a52abd9a.rip.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/rip.png"><img src="media/a52abd9a.rip.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/rip.png" alt="rip" width="200" height="142" class="alignright size-full wp-image-95569"></a>To many people the Warez Scene is something mythical or at least hard to comprehend. A group of people at the top of the piracy pyramid. </p>
<p>The Scene is known for its aversion to public file-sharing, but nonetheless it&#8217;s in large part responsible for much of the material out there today. </p>
<p>The goal of most Scene groups is to be the first to release a certain title, whether that&#8217;s a film, music or software. While there is some healthy competition The Scene is also a place where lifelong friendships are started.</p>
<p>A few days ago, on October 17, the Scene lost Goolum, a well-respected member and friend. Only in his late thirties, he passed away after being part of the Scene for more than a decade. </p>
<p>As a cracker Goolum, also known as GLM, was of the more experienced reverse engineers who worked on numerous releases. </p>
<p>Through the years Goolum was connected to several groups which are now retired, some for more than a decade. To honor their fallen friend, the groups ZENiTH, Lz0, SLT and MiDNiGHT have made a one-time comeback.</p>
<p>Below is an overview of their farewell messages, which honor him for his cracking skills but most of all as a friend. Our thoughts go out to Goolum&#8217;s friends and family. </p>
<h4>ZENiTH: THUNDERHEAD.ENGINEERING.PYROSIM.V2014.2.RIP.GOOLUM-ZENiTH (<a href="media/8ef238e6.THUNDERHEAD.ENGINEERING.PYROSIM.V2014.2.RIP_.GOOLUM-ZENiTH.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/THUNDERHEAD.ENGINEERING.PYROSIM.V2014.2.RIP_.GOOLUM-ZENiTH.png">NFO</a>)</h4>
<p>ZENiTH, a group that retired around 2005, mentions Goolum&#8217;s loyalty and the love for his daughter.</p>
<p><em>&#8220;Goolum has been in and around the scene since the Amiga days but had never been a guy to jump from group to group, but stayed loyal and dedicated to the few groups he was involved in.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;We are all proud to have been in a group with you, to have spent many a long night sharing knowledge about everything, learning about your daughter who you where very proud of, and all the projects you were involved in.&#8221;</em></p>
<p><center><strong>ZENiTH&#8217;s in memoriam</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/c9992503.zenith11.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/zenith11.png"><img src="media/c9992503.zenith11.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/zenith11.png" alt="zenith1" width="596" height="541" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-95559"></a></center></p>
<h4>Lz0: CEI.Inc.EnSight.Gold.v10.1.1b.Incl.Keygen.RIP.GOOLUM-Lz0 (<a href="media/fe8df641.CEI.Inc_.EnSight.Gold_.v10.1.1b.Incl_.Keygen.RIP_.GOOLUM-Lz0.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/CEI.Inc_.EnSight.Gold_.v10.1.1b.Incl_.Keygen.RIP_.GOOLUM-Lz0.png">NFO</a>)</h4>
<p>Lz0 or LineZer0, split from the Scene last year but many of its members are still actively involved in other roles. The group mentions the hard time Goolum has had due to drug problems. LzO also highlights Goolum&#8217;s love for his daughter, and how proud he was of her.</p>
<p><em>&#8220;We all knew that he struggled in life &#8211; not just economical but also on a personal level and not the least with his drug issues. One of the things that kept him going was his wonderful daughter whom he cherished a lot. He often talked about her, and how proud of her he was. He was clear that if there was one thing in life he was proud of &#8211; it was that he became the dad of a wonderful girl.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re shocked that when finally things started to move in the right direction, that we would receive the news about his death. It came without warning and we can only imagine the shock of his family. It&#8217;s hard to find the right words &#8211; or words for that matter. Even though it might have appeared as that he was lonely &#8211; with few friends, he knew that we were just a keyboard away.&#8221;</em></p>
<p><center><strong>Lz0&#8242;s in memoriam</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/25cdbaaa.Lz0mem.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/Lz0mem.png"><img src="media/25cdbaaa.Lz0mem.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/Lz0mem.png" alt="Lz0mem" width="550" height="669" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-95528"></a></center></p>
<h4>SLT: PROTEUS.ENGINEERING.FASTSHIP.V6.1.30.1.RIP.GOOLUM-SLT (<a href="media/53264236.PROTEUS.ENGINEERING.FASTSHIP.V6.1.30.1.RIP_.GOOLUM-SLT.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/PROTEUS.ENGINEERING.FASTSHIP.V6.1.30.1.RIP_.GOOLUM-SLT.png">NFO</a>)</h4>
<p>SLT or SOLiTUDE has been retired since 2000 but returns to remember Goolum. The group notes that he will be dearly missed. </p>
<p><em>&#8220;You will be missed. It is not easy to say goodbye to someone who you have known for over a decade, trading banter, laughs, advice and stories. You leave behind a daughter, a family and a group of friends, who will miss you dearly.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;As the news have spread, the kind words have poured in. Solitude is releasing this in honor of you, to show that the values we founded the group on is the exact values you demonstrated through your decades of being in the scene. Loyalty, friendship and hard work. Our thoughts are with you, wherever you may be.&#8221;</em></p>
<p><center><strong>SLT&#8217;s in memoriam</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/605994da.SLT.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/SLT.png"><img src="media/605994da.SLT.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/SLT.png" alt="SLT" width="527" height="232" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-95561"></a></center></p>
<h4>MiDNiGHT: POINTWISE_V17.2.R2_RIP_GOOLUM-MIDNIGHT (<a href="media/1518a172.POINTWISE_V17.2.R2_RIP_GOOLUM-MIDNIGHT.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/POINTWISE_V17.2.R2_RIP_GOOLUM-MIDNIGHT.jpg">NFO</a>)</h4>
<p>MiDNiGHT hasn&#8217;t been active for nearly a decade but have also honored Goolum with a comeback. The group mentions that he was a great friend who was always in for a chat and a beer.</p>
<p><em>&#8220;Life won&#8217;t ever be the same again my friend. We could sit and chat for hours and hours, and even then we knew each other well enough that nothing more was required than a beer, a rant and a small *yarr* and we&#8217;d know it would all be good.&#8221; </p>
<p>&#8220;This time it&#8217;s not good mate. I am here, you are not. I can&#8217;t even begin to express how this makes me feel &#8211; except an absolute sadness.&#8221; </em></p>
<p><center><strong>MiDNiGHT&#8217;s in memoriam</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/ecf31295.midnight.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/midnight.png"><img src="media/ecf31295.midnight.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/midnight.png" alt="midnight" width="416" height="331" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-95560"></a></center></p>
<p>&#8230;</p>
<p>RIP Goolum 1977 &#8211; 2014</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95623
title: U.S. Government Shuts Down Music Sharing Sites
uri: U-S-Government-Shuts-Down-Music-Sharing-Sites
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/pxLszkwpWB8/
content:
<p><a href="media/4c969df4.IPRC_Seized.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/IPRC_Seized.jpg"><img src="media/4c969df4.IPRC_Seized.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/IPRC_Seized.jpg" alt="IPRC_Seized" width="299" height="224" class="alignright size-full wp-image-95626"></a>During the spring of 2010 U.S. authorities started a campaign to take copyright-infringing websites offline. </p>
<p>Since then <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_In_Our_Sites">Operation in Our Sites</a> has resulted in thousands of domain name seizures and several arrests. While most of the sites are linked to counterfeit goods, dozens of &#8220;pirate&#8221; sites have also been targeted. </p>
<p>After a period of relative calm the authorities appear to have restarted their efforts with the takedown of two large music sites. RockDizFile.com and RockDizMusic.com, which are connected, now display familiar banners in which ICE takes credit for their demise.</p>
<p>&#8220;This domain has been seized by ICE- Homeland Security Investigations, pursuant to a seizure warrant issued by a United States District Court under the authority of 18 U.S.C. §§ 981 and 2323,&#8221; the banner reads.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak contacted ICE yesterday for a comment on the recent activity but we have yet to receive a response. </p>
<p>The domain names are now pointing to the same IP-address where many of the previously seized websites, such as torrent-finder.com and channelsurfing.net, are directed. Both domain names previously used Cloudflare and had their NS entries updated earlier this week.</p>
<p>Despite the apparent trouble, RockDizFile.com and RockDizMusic.com&#8217;s Twitter and Facebook pages have remained silent for days.</p>
<p>RockDizMusic presented itself as an index of popular new music. Artists were encouraged to use the site to promote their work, but the site also featured music being shared without permission, including pre-release tracks. </p>
<p><center><strong>RockDizMusic.com</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/3cf14ddf.rockdizmusic.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/rockdizmusic.jpg"><img src="media/3cf14ddf.rockdizmusic.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/rockdizmusic.jpg" alt="rockdizmusic" width="600" height="400" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-95627"></a></center></p>
<p>RockDizFile used a more classic file-hosting look, but with a 50MB limit it was mostly used for music. The site offered premium accounts to add storage space and remove filesize and bandwidth limitations.</p>
<p><center>RockDizFile.com<br></br></center><center><a href="media/cafa9746.rockdizfile.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/rockdizfile.png"><img src="media/cafa9746.rockdizfile.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/rockdizfile.png" alt="rockdizfile" width="600" height="400" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-95628"></a></center></p>
<p>Both websites appear to have a strong focus on rap and hip-hop music. This is in line with previous ICE seizures which targeted RapGodFathers.com, RMX4U.com, OnSmash.com and <a href="http://Dajaz1.com">Dajaz1.com</a>.</p>
<p>The latter was seized by mistake. The record labels failed to deliver proof of alleged infringements to the authorities and after a long appeal the domain was eventually <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/feds-return-seized-domain-111208/">returned to its owners</a>. </p>
<p>This incident and the general lack of due process of ICE&#8217;s domain seizures has led to critique from lawmakers and legal scholars. The authorities are nevertheless determined to keep Operation in Our Sites going. </p>
<p>&#8220;Operation In Our Sites&#8217; enforcement actions involve federal law enforcement investigating and developing evidence to obtain seizure warrants from federal judges,&#8221; ICE <a href="https://www.ice.gov/factsheets/ipr-in-our-sites">states</a> on its website. </p>
<p>Once a credible lead comes in ICE says it &#8220;will work with the U.S. Department of Justice to prosecute, convict, and punish individuals as well as seize website domain names, profits, and other property from IP thieves.&#8221;</p>
<p>At this point it&#8217;s unclear whether ICE has targeted any of the individuals connected to RockDizFile.com and RockDizMusic.com or whether the unit has taken down any other sites in a similar fashion.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95609
title: Australians Face ‘Fines’ For Downloading Pirate Movies
uri: Australians-Face-Fines-For-Downloading-Pirate-Movies
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/Ids7x65m9ao/
content:
<p><img class="alignright" src="media/d45c68ed.dallas.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dallas.jpg" alt="" width="180" height="180">Much to the disappointment of owner Voltage Pictures, early January 2013 a restricted &#8216;DVD Screener&#8217; copy of the hit movie Dallas Buyers Club leaked online. The movie was quickly downloaded by tens of thousands but barely a month later, Voltage was plotting revenge.</p>
<p>In a <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/downloaded-dallas-buyers-club-the-piracy-lawsuits-are-coming-140207/">lawsuit</a> filed in the Southern District of Texas, Voltage sought to identify illegal downloaders of the movie by providing the IP addresses of Internet subscribers to the court. Their aim &#8211; to scare those individuals into making cash settlements to make supposed lawsuits disappear.</p>
<p>Now, in the most significant development of the &#8216;trolling&#8217; model in recent times, Dallas Buyers Club LLC are trying to expand their project into Australia. Interestingly the studio has chosen to take on subscribers of the one ISP that was absolutely guaranteed to put up a fight.</p>
<p>iiNet is Australia&#8217;s second largest ISP and the country&#8217;s leading expert when it comes to fighting off aggressive rightsholders. In 2012 the ISP <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/iinet-isp-not-liable-for-bittorrent-piracy-high-court-rules-120420/">defeated Hollywood</a> in one of the longest piracy battles ever seen and the company says it will defend its subscribers in this case too.</p>
<p>Chief Regulatory Officer Steve Dalby says that Dallas Buyers Club LLC (DBCLLC) recently applied to the Federal Court to have iiNet and other local ISPs reveal the identities of people they say have downloaded and/or shared their movie without permission.</p>
<p>According to court documents seen by TorrentFreak the other ISPs involved are Wideband Networks Pty Ltd, Internode Pty Ltd, Dodo Services Pty Ltd, Amnet Broadband Pty Ltd and Adam Internet Pty Ltd.</p>
<p>Although the stance of the other ISPs hasn&#8217;t yet been made public, DBCLLC aren&#8217;t going to get an easy ride. iiNet (which also owns Internode and Adam) says it will oppose the application for discovery.</p>
<p>&#8220;iiNet would never disclose customer details to a third party, such as movie studio, unless ordered to do so by a court. We take seriously both our customers’ privacy and our legal obligations,&#8221; Dalby <a href="http://blog.iinet.net.au/not-our-kind-of-club/">says</a>.</p>
<p>While underlining that the company does not condone copyright infringement, news of Dallas Buyers Club / Voltage Pictures&#8217; modus operandi has evidently reached iiNet, and the ISP is ready for them.</p>
<p>&#8220;It might seem reasonable for a movie studio to ask us for the identity of those they suspect are infringing their copyright. Yet, this would only make sense if the movie studio intended to use this information fairly, including to allow the alleged infringer their day in court, in order to argue their case,&#8221; Dalby says.</p>
<p>&#8220;In this case, we have serious concerns about Dallas Buyers Club’s intentions. We are concerned that our customers will be unfairly targeted to settle any claims out of court using a practice called &#8216;speculative invoicing&#8217;.&#8221;</p>
<p>The term &#8216;speculative invoicing&#8217; was coined in the UK in response to the activities of companies including the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/?s=acs%3Alaw">now defunct ACS:Law</a>, which involved extracting cash settlements from alleged infringers (via mailed &#8216;invoices&#8217;) and deterring them from having their say in court. Once the scheme was opened up to legal scrutiny it completely <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/acslaw-anti-piracy-lawyer-suspended-for-2-years-120116/">fell apart</a>.</p>
<p>Some of the flaws found to exist in both UK and US &#8216;troll&#8217; cases are cited by iiNet, including intimidation of subscribers via excessive claims for damages. The ISP also details the limitations of IP address-based evidence when it comes to identifying infringers due to shared household connections and open wifi scenarios.</p>
<p>&#8220;Because Australian courts have not tested these cases, any threat by rights holders, premised on the outcome of a successful copyright infringement action, would be speculative,&#8221; Dalby adds.</p>
<p>The Chief Regulatory Officer says that since iiNet has opposed the action for discovery the Federal Court will now be asked to decide whether iiNet should hand over subscriber identities to DBCLLC. A hearing on that matter is expected early next year and it will be an important event.</p>
<p>While a win for iiNet would mean a setback for rightsholders plotting similar action, victory for DBCLLC will almost certainly lead to others following in their footsteps. For an idea of what Australians could face in this latter scenario, in the United States the company <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/dallas-buyers-club-demands-thousands-dollars-bittorrent-pirates-140618/">demands payment</a> of up to US$7,000 (AUS$8,000) per infringement.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;"><sub><em>Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/huskyte/7512877940/">Michael Theis</a></em></sub></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95535
title: Photographer Who Sued Imgur Now Has a Pirate Bay Problem
uri: Photographer-Who-Sued-Imgur-Now-Has-a-Pirate-Bay-Problem
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/GGgwDgOHgXY/
content:
<p><a href="media/73a00587.boffoli1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/boffoli1.jpg"><img src="media/73a00587.boffoli1.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/boffoli1.jpg" alt="boffoli1" width="250" height="334" class="alignright size-full wp-image-95536"></a>When it comes to online piracy most attention usually goes out to music, TV-shows and movies. However, photos are arguably the most-infringed works online.</p>
<p>Virtually every person on the Internet has shared a photo without obtaining permission from its maker, whether through social networks, blogs or other services.</p>
<p>While most photographers spend little time on combating piracy, Seattle-based artist <a href="http://bigappetites.net/">Christopher Boffoli</a> has taken some of the largest web services to court for aiding these infringements</p>
<p>Boffoli has filed lawsuits against Twitter, Google and others, which were settled out for court under undisclosed terms. Last month he <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/photographer-sues-imgur-for-failing-to-remove-copyrighted-photos-140929/">started a new case</a> against popular image sharing site Imgur after it allegedly ignored his takedown requests. </p>
<p>The photographer asked the court to order an injunction preventing Imgur from making 73 of his photos available online. In addition, he requested millions of dollars in statutory damages for willful copyright infringement.</p>
<p>Imgur has yet to file an official reply to the complaint. In the meantime, however, Boffoli&#8217;s actions appear to have triggered another less welcome response. </p>
<p>A few days ago a user of The Pirate Bay decided to upload a rather large archive of the photographer&#8217;s work to the site. The archive in question is said to hold 20,754 images, including the most famous &#8220;Big Appetites&#8221; series.</p>
<p><center><strong>A torrent with 20,754 images</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/fb0644c6.tpb-boffoli.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpb-boffoli.png"><img src="media/fb0644c6.tpb-boffoli.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpb-boffoli.png" alt="tpb-boffoli" width="556" height="600" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-95598"></a></center></p>
<p>The image archive, which is more than eight gigabytes in size, had to be partly wrapped in an .iso file because otherwise the .torrent file itself would have been too large.</p>
<p>The description of the archive mentions Boffoli&#8217;s recent actions against Imgur, which could have triggered the upload. One of the commenters points out that the Imgur lawsuit may have done more harm than good, and a new Internet meme was born.</p>
<p>&#8220;Sued for 73 images, got 20,754 uploaded to TPB, LOL. About the Big Appetites series, if I ever get my hands on a copy, I&#8217;ll scan it at 600 dpi and upload it here, have fun trying to censor the internet, Boffoli,&#8221; the commenter notes. </p>
<p>TorrentFreak asked Boffoli for a comment on the leak and whether he will take steps to prevent the distribution, but we have yet to hear back. </p>
<p>While not everyone may agree with the lawsuit against Imgur piracy <a href="http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/09/one-mans-endless-hopeless-struggle-to-protect-his-copyrighted-images/">can impact</a> photographers quite a bit. It&#8217;s usually not the average Pirate Bay user that&#8217;s causing the damage though, but rather companies that use professional photos commercially without a license. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95701
title: Record Labels Obtain Order to Block 21 Torrent Sites
uri: Record-Labels-Obtain-Order-to-Block-21-Torrent-Sites
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/ugAGWJWkcF4/
content:
<p><a href="media/5ceed422.stop-blocked.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/stop-blocked.jpg"><img src="media/07db73b3.stop-blocked.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/stop-blocked.jpg" alt="stop-blocked" width="200" height="168" class="alignright size-full wp-image-72076"></a>Having ISPs block file-sharing sites is a key anti-piracy strategy employed by major rightsholders in the UK. Both Hollywood-affiliated groups and the recording labels have obtained High Court orders alongside claims that the process is an effective way to hinder piracy.</p>
<p>Last week these rightsholders were joined by luxury brand owner Richemont, which successfully <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/high-court-orders-isps-to-block-counterfeiting-websites-141017/">obtained orders</a> to block sites selling counterfeit products. The outcome of that particular case had delayed decisions in other blocking applications, including one put forward by the record labels. Today the High Court ended its hiatus by processing a new injunction.</p>
<p>The application was made by record labels 1967, Dramatico Entertainment, Infectious Music, Liberation Music, Simco Limited, Sony Music and Universal Music. The labels represented themselves plus the BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) and PPL (Phonographic Performance Ltd) which together account for around 99% of all music legally available in the UK today.</p>
<p>Through their legal action the labels hoped to disrupt the activities of sites and services they believe to be enabling and facilitating the unlawful distribution of their copyright works. In this case the key targets were the 21 torrent sites listed below:</p>
<blockquote><p>(1) bittorrent.am, (2) btdigg.org, (3) btloft.com, (4) bts.to, (5) limetorrents.com, (6) nowtorrents.com, (7) picktorrent.com, (8) seedpeer.me, (9) torlock.com, (10) torrentbit.net, (11) torrentdb.li, (12) torrentdownload.ws, (13) torrentexpress.net, (14) torrentfunk.com, (15) torrentproject.com, (16) torrentroom.com, (17) torrents.net, (18) torrentus.eu, (19) torrentz.cd, (20) torrentzap.com and (21) vitorrent.org.</p></blockquote>
<p>As usual the UK&#8217;s leading Internet service providers &#8211; Sky, Virgin, TalkTalk, BT and EE &#8211; were named as defendants in the case. The ISPs neither consented to nor opposed the application but participated in order to negotiate the wording of any order granted.</p>
<p>In his ruling Justice Arnold noted that the sites listed in the application function in a broadly similar way to The Pirate Bay and KickassTorrents, sites that are already subjected to blocking orders. Perhaps surprisingly, efforts by some of the sites to cooperate with rightsholders meant little to the Court.</p>
<p>&#8220;All of [the sites] go to considerable lengths to facilitate and promote the downloading of torrent files, and hence infringing content, by their users,&#8221; Justice Arnold wrote.</p>
<p>&#8220;Although a few of the Target Websites pay lipservice to copyright protection, in reality they all flout it. Although a few of the Target Websites claim not to, they all have control over which torrent files they index.&#8221; </p>
<p>Also of interest is that Court didn&#8217;t differentiate between sites that allow users to upload torrents, those that store them, or those that simply harvest links to torrents hosted elsewhere.</p>
<p>&#8220;Thirteen of the Target Websites (bittorrent.am, btdigg.org, btloft.com, nowtorrents.com, picktorrent.com, torrentdb.li, torrentdownload.ws, torrentexpress.net, torrentproject.com, torrentroom.com, torrentus.eu, torrentz.cd and vitorrent.org) do not permit uploads of torrent files by users, but gather all their links to torrent files using &#8216;crawling&#8217; technology. No torrent files are stored on these websites&#8217; own servers,&#8221; Justice Arnold explained. </p>
<p>&#8220;Nevertheless, the way in which the torrent files (or rather the links thereto) are presented, and the underlying technology, is essentially the same as in the cases of the other Target Websites.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Judge also touched on the efficacy of website blockades, citing comScore data which suggests that, on average, the number of UK visitors to already blocked BitTorrent sites has declined by 87%.</p>
<p>&#8220;No doubt some of these users are using circumvention measures which are not reflected in the comScore data, but for the reasons given elsewhere it seems clear that not all users do this,&#8221; Justice Arnold wrote. </p>
<p><a href="media/ec902f6c.bpi.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/bpi.png"><img src="media/cb62421b.bpi.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/bpi.png" alt="bpi" width="222" height="106" class="alignright size-full wp-image-94190"></a>Speaking with TF the BPI said that the 21 sites had been selected for blocking on the basis that they are amongst the most infringing sites available in the UK today. BPI Chief Executive Geoff Taylor said that having them rendered inaccessible would help both the music industry and consumers.</p>
<p>“Illegal sites dupe consumers and deny artists a fair reward for their work. The online black market stifles investment in new British music, holds back the growth of innovative legal services like Spotify and destroys jobs across Britain’s vital creative sector,&#8221; Taylor said.</p>
<p>&#8220;Sites such as these also commonly distribute viruses, malware and other unsafe or inappropriate content. These blocks will not only make the internet a safer place for music fans, they will help make sure there is more great British music in years to come.&#8221;</p>
<p>Finally, and mirroring a decision made in the Richemont case, Justice Arnold said that Internet subscribers affected by the block will be given the ability to apply to the High Court to discharge or vary the orders. Furthermore, when blocked site information pages are viewed by ISP subscribers in future, additional information will have to be displayed including details of the parties who obtained the block.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95682
title: Anti-Piracy Police PIPCU Secure Govt. Funding Until 2017
uri: Anti-Piracy-Police-PIPCU-Secure-Govt-Funding-Until-2017
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/ZhOaUzl54Tc/
content:
<p><img src="media/31176dbb.cityoflondonpolice.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/cityoflondonpolice.jpg" width="200" height="82" class="alignright">In a relatively short space of time City of London Police&#8217;s Intellectual Property Crime Unit has stamped its mark on the online piracy space in a way few other organizations have managed.</p>
<p>Since its official launch in September 2013 the unit has tackled online copyright infringement from a number of directions including <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/uk-police-make-third-pirate-streaming-arrest-140902/">arrests</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/uk-police-orders-registrars-to-suspend-domains-of-major-torrent-sites-131009/">domain seizures</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/city-of-london-police-launches-pirate-site-blacklist-for-advertisers-140331/">advertising disruptions</a>. PIPCU has <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/police-arrest-streaming-site-admin-several-domains-suspended-140409/">shut down</a> several sports streaming and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anti-piracy-police-begin-targeting-ebook-pirates-140921/">ebook sites</a> plus a <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/police-arrest-operator-torrent-site-proxies-140806/">large number of proxies</a>.</p>
<p>In June 2013 when the Department for Business, Innovation &#038; Skills announced the creation of PIPCU, Viscount Younger of Leckie noted that the Intellectual Property Office would provide an initial £2.56 million in funding to the unit over two years. </p>
<p>However, this funding was allocated on a temporary basis and was set to expire in 2015, a situation which prompted the Prime Minister&#8217;s former Intellectual Property Advisor Mike Weatherley to call for <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/uk-prime-minister-asked-for-permanent-police-anti-piracy-unit-funding-140414/">additional support</a>.</p>
<p>This morning the government confirmed that additional funding will indeed be made available to PIPCU enabling it to operate until at least 2017. </p>
<p>Speaking to the national crime unit at the Anti-Counterfeiting Group Conference in London, Minister for Intellectual Property Baroness Neville-Rolfe said that PIPCU would be boosted by £3 million of funding from the public purse.</p>
<p>&#8220;We’ve seen significant success in PIPCU’s first year of operation. This extra support will help the unit to build on this impressive record in the fight against intellectual property crime, which costs the UK at least £1.3 billion a year in lost profits and taxes,&#8221; Baroness Neville-Rolfe said.</p>
<p>&#8220;With more money now being invested in ideas than factories or machinery in the UK, it is vital that we protect creators and consumers and the UK’s economic growth. Government and industry must work together to give long-term support to PIPCU, so that we can strengthen the UK’s response to the blight of piracy and counterfeiters.&#8221;</p>
<p>City of London Police Commander Steve Head, who is the Police National Coordinator for Economic Crime, welcomed the cash injection.</p>
<p>&#8220;The government committing to fund the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit until 2017 is fantastic news for the City of London Police and the creative industries, and very bad news for those that seek to make capital through intellectual property crime,&#8221; Head said.</p>
<p>&#8220;Since launching a year ago, PIPCU has quickly established itself as an integral part of the national response to a problem that is costing the UK more than a billion pounds a year. Much of this success is down to PIPCU moving away from traditional policing methods and embracing new and innovative tactics, to disrupt and dismantle criminal networks responsible for causing huge damages to legitimate businesses.&#8221;</p>
<p>The news was also well received at music industry group BPI.</p>
<p>“The work of PIPCU to date has been invaluable in tackling piracy, which is recognized as a significant threat to musicians’ income, investment in new businesses and the growth of the UK’s creative economy,&#8221; said Director of Copyright Protection, David Wood.</p>
<p>“This funding demonstrates the commitment of the UK Government to promoting respect for intellectual property, which acts as the backbone of growth for our world-leading creative and digital media sectors.&#8221;</p>
<p>PIPCU, which is closely allied with the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), is a 21-strong team comprised of detectives, investigators, analysts, researchers, an education officer and a communications officer.</p>
<p>The unit also reports two secondees &#8211; a Senior Intelligence Officer from the IPO and an Internet Investigator from the BPI. The latter role was previously filled by the BPI&#8217;s Mark Rampton but according to his Linkedin profile he left his position last month. No announcement has been made detailing his replacement.</p>
<p>While PIPCU is definitely leaving its mark, not all operations have gone to plan. In one of its highest-profile actions to date, last month the unit <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/uk-police-make-third-pirate-streaming-arrest-140902/">shut down</a> what it described as an illegal and &#8220;industrial scale&#8221; sports streaming service in Manchester. However, in mid October all charges <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/police-drop-charges-against-industrial-scale-pirate-141013/">were dropped</a> against its alleged operator.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95644
title: Google’s New Search Downranking Hits Torrent Sites Hard
uri: Google-s-New-Search-Downranking-Hits-Torrent-Sites-Hard
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/tUlawhuzISw/
content:
<p><a href="media/7c6b9504.google-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/google-bay.jpg"><img src="media/3a6fa524.google-bay.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/google-bay.jpg" alt="google-bay" width="200" height="177" class="alignright size-full wp-image-21875"></a>In recent years Hollywood and the music industry have taken a rather aggressive approach against Google. The entertainment industry companies have accused the search engine of not doing enough to limit piracy, and demanded more stringent anti-piracy measures.</p>
<p>One of the suggestions often made is the removal or demotion of pirate sites in search results. A lower ranking would lead fewer people to pirate sources and promoting legal sources would have a similar effect, rightsholders argue.</p>
<p>While Google <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/google-starts-punishing-pirate-sites-in-search-results-120810/">already began</a> changing the ranking of sites based on DMCA complaints in 2012, it announced more <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/google-will-downrank-pirate-sites-starting-next-week-141018/">far-reaching demotion measures</a> last week. According to Google the new alghorithm changes would &#8220;visibly&#8221; lower the search rankings of the most notorious pirate sites, and they were right. </p>
<p>TorrentFreak has spoken with various torrent site owners who confirm that traffic from Google has been severely impacted by the recent algorithm changes. &#8220;Earlier this week all search traffic dropped in half,&#8221; the Isohunt.to team told us.</p>
<p>The drop is illustrated by a day-to-day traffic comparison before and after the changes were implemented, as shown below. The graph shows a significant loss in traffic which Isohunt.to solely attributes to Google&#8217;s recent changes.  </p>
<p><center><strong>Torrent site traffic drop</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/bb0f7667.traffic-drop.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/traffic-drop.png"><img src="media/bb0f7667.traffic-drop.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/traffic-drop.png" alt="traffic drop" width="1417" height="592" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-95665"></a></center></p>
<p>The downranking affects all sites that have a relatively high percentage of DMCA takedown requests. When Google users search for popular movie, music or software titles in combination with terms such as &#8220;download,&#8221; &#8220;watch&#8221; and &#8220;torrent&#8221;, these sites are demoted.</p>
<p>The new measures appear to be far more effective than previous search algorithm changes, and affect all major &#8216;pirate&#8217; sites. Below is an overview of the SEO visibility of several large torrent sites in the UK and US, based on a list of 100 keywords.</p>
<p><center><strong>Google SEO visibility torrent sites</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/9015dd96.seo-visibility.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/seo-visibility.png"><img src="media/9015dd96.seo-visibility.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/seo-visibility.png" alt="seo-visibility" width="1003" height="683" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-95664"></a></center></p>
<p>The true impact varies from site to site, depending on how much it relies on Google traffic. Confirming their <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-and-isohunt-respond-to-google-search-result-punishment-120816/">earlier stance</a>, The Pirate Bay team told TorrentFreak that they are not really concerned about the changes as they have relatively little traffic from Google. </p>
<p>“That Google is putting our links lower is in a way a good thing for us. We’ll get more direct traffic when people don’t get the expected search result when using Google, since they will go directly to TPB,” they said.</p>
<p>To get an idea of how the search results have changed we monitored a few search phrases that were likely to be affected. The before and after comparisons, which are only three days apart, show that popular &#8216;pirate sites&#8217; have indeed disappeared.</p>
<p>A search for &#8220;Breaking Bad torrent&#8221; previously featured Kickass.to, Torrentz.eu and Isohunt.com on top, but these have all disappeared. Interestingly, in some cases their place has been taken by other less popular torrent sites.  </p>
<p><center><strong>old</strong> &#8211; &#8220;Breaking Bad torrent&#8221; &#8211; <strong>new</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/4602a3e0.breaking-bad-torrent.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/breaking-bad-torrent.png"><img src="media/4602a3e0.breaking-bad-torrent.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/breaking-bad-torrent.png" alt="breaking bad torrent" width="960" height="480" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-95662"></a></center></p>
<p>The top torrent sites have also vanished from a search for the movie The Social Network. &#8220;The Social Network download&#8221; no longer shows results from Kickass.to, ThePirateBay.se and Movie4k.to but shows the IMDb profile on top instead. </p>
<p><center><strong>old</strong> &#8211; &#8220;The Social Network download&#8221; &#8211; <strong>new</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/d87f529a.the-social-network-download.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/the-social-network-download.png"><img src="media/d87f529a.the-social-network-download.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/the-social-network-download.png" alt="the social network download" width="960" height="600" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-95663"></a></center></p>
<p>Searches for music tracks have changed as well. The phrase &#8220;Eminem lose yourself mp3&#8243; no longer shows links to popular MP3 download sites such as MP3Skull.com, but points to legal sources and lesser known pirate sites.</p>
<p><center><strong>old</strong> &#8211; &#8220;Eminem lose yourself mp3&#8243; &#8211; <strong>new</strong><br></br></center><center><a href="media/dd169d9a.eminemp3.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/eminemp3.png"><img src="media/dd169d9a.eminemp3.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/eminemp3.png" alt="eminemp3" width="960" height="495" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-95667"></a></center></p>
<p>The traffic data and search comparisons clearly show that Google&#8217;s latest downranking changes can have a severe impact on popular &#8220;pirate&#8221; sites. Ironically, the changes will also drive a lot of traffic to smaller unauthorized sources for the time being, but these will also be demoted as their takedown notice count increases. </p>
<p>Rinse and repeat. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95678
title: Porn Piracy Cash Threats to Hit Virgin Media Customers
uri: Porn-Piracy-Cash-Threats-to-Hit-Virgin-Media-Customers
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/8PkqCYFe8N0/
content:
<p><a href="media/d7917c5c.trolloridiot.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/trolloridiot.png"><img src="media/fbb32cb9.trolloridiot.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/trolloridiot.png" alt="trolloridiot" width="180" height="135" class="alignright size-full wp-image-68500"></a>It&#8217;s been more than seven years since so-called copyright trolls first tried their luck with the British public. UK lawfirm Davenport Lyons, a company that attempted to mislead future targets with a semi-bogus <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/high-profile-high-damages-file-sharing-conviction-was-a-farce-100926/">high-profile damages &#8216;ruling&#8217;</a>, went into administration early 2014 but not before its partners were disciplined for targeting <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anti-piracy-lawyers-found-guilty-of-professional-misconduct-110610/">innocent people</a>.</p>
<p>The follow-up debacle involving ACS:Law was widely documented, with owner Andrew Crossley being forced to close down his business after being <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/acslaw-anti-piracy-lawyer-suspended-for-2-years-120116/">suspended</a> by the Solicitors&#8217; Regulatory Authority for misconduct. After misleading the courts, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/acslaw-owner-made-bankrupt-makes-crazy-tribunal-demands-110608/">bankruptcy</a> was just the icing on the cake.</p>
<p>None of this was a deterrent to porn outfit GoldenEye International. They embarked on a <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/pay-up-or-else-bittorrent-scheme-resurrected-in-uk-high-court-120309/">similar scheme</a>, sending letters to alleged file-sharers and demanding hundreds of pounds in settlements to make supposed lawsuits go away. However, GoldenEye learned from its predecessors by proceeding with caution and staying largely under the radar. But quite predictably and despite legal bluster and empty threats, the company took not a single case to court.</p>
<p>So today, quite possibly due to the tendency of the public to pay up rather than become linked with embarrassing porn movie titles, the porn trolls are back once again in the UK.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak has learned that last year four porn producers teamed up in an effort to force ISP Virgin Media to hand over the names and addresses of more than 1,500 subscribers said to have downloaded and shared adult content without permission.</p>
<p>The companies, none of which appear to be based in the UK, teamed up with Wagner &#038; Co, the London lawfirm also working with GoldenEye. They are Mircom International Content Management &#038; Consulting Ltd, Sunlust Pictures, Combat Zone Corporation and Pink Bonnet, Consultores de Imagem LDA.</p>
<p>Mircom International Content Management &#038; Consulting Ltd are active in Europe, particularly when it comes to demanding cash settlements from alleged file-sharers in Germany. Sunlust Pictures is an adult movie company founded in 2009 by former porn actress Sunny Leone, who &#8211; entirely unsurprisingly &#8211; has featured in copyright trolling <a href="http://fightcopyrighttrolls.com/tag/sunny-leone/">cases</a> in the United States. Combat Zone Corporation is an adult movie company based in California. They&#8217;re <a href="http://torrentlawyer.wordpress.com/discussions/combat-zone/">no strangers</a> to the cash settlement model either.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak contacted Mark Wagner at Wagner &#038; Co to find out what his clients hope to achieve in the UK, but unfortunately our emails went unanswered. The company doesn&#8217;t appear to have a working website and its <a href="http://www.lawandlegal.co.uk/solicitors/wagner-london/">address</a> relates to a house in residential area.</p>
<p>Fortunately, Virgin Media were rather more accommodating. In the past the ISP has been criticized for not doing more to protect its subscribers&#8217; personal details but it turns out the battle with Wagner &#038; Co has been going on for some time.</p>
<p>&#8220;We have contested the validity of Wagner &#038; Co&#8217;s claims (ongoing for 12 months), asking the Judge to thoroughly review the application and the supporting evidence. We have challenged the reliability of the software used to obtain evidence of infringement (FileWatchBT) and the accuracy of the data collected,&#8221; spokesperson Emma Hutchinson told TF.</p>
<p>But despite Virgin Media&#8217;s efforts the High Court took the decision to side with Wagner &#038; Co and order the ISP to hand over the details of its subscribers. While the situation is pretty grim, things could have been worse.</p>
<p>&#8220;The original request was for double the number of addresses than we have been forced to disclose, now fewer than 800,&#8221; Virgin explain.</p>
<p>&#8220;We advise any of our customers who receive a speculative letter from Wagner &#038; Co, who also represented Golden Eye International in action against O2 customers last year, to seek independent advice from organizations such as Citizens Advice,&#8221; the ISP concludes.</p>
<p>Restrictions placed on GoldenEye in previous procedures indicate that initial letters sent to Virgin customers by Wagner &#038; Co and its clients will not be as aggressive as the ones sent out by ACS:Law and will not contain a precise settlement amount. However, it is guaranteed that cash will be requested at some point.</p>
<p>Upon receipt of these &#8220;speculative invoices&#8221; there will be those who panic and pay up, and that&#8217;s their prerogative. But it&#8217;s highly likely that those who admit nothing and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/o2-be-customers-all-you-need-to-handle-a-ben-dover-file-sharing-letter-121204/">stand firm</a> will pay what they&#8217;ve always paid in UK cases &#8211; <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/how-anti-piracy-trolls-tried-and-failed-to-ruin-christmas-131225/">absolutely nothing</a>.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95751
title: Pirate Bay Sends 100,000 New Users to “Free” VPN
uri: Pirate-Bay-Sends-100-000-New-Users-to-Free-VPN
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/2AydRx9Inog/
content:
<p><a href="media/8f5f5fc8.froot-vpn.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/froot-vpn.jpg"><img src="media/8f5f5fc8.froot-vpn.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/froot-vpn.jpg" alt="froot-vpn" width="300" height="270" class="alignright size-full wp-image-95752"></a>With an increasing number of BitTorrent users seeking solutions to hide their identities from the outside world, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">VPN services</a> have seen a spike in customers in recent years. </p>
<p>Pirate Bay users also have a great interest in anonymity. A survey among the site&#8217;s users previously revealed that nearly 70% already had a VPN or proxy <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-users-long-for-anonymity-111021/">or were interested</a> in signing up with one. </p>
<p>For this last group <a href="http://thepiratebay.se/">The Pirate Bay</a> has an interesting promotion running. For the past few days the site has replaced its iconic logo with an ad for <a href="https://www.frootvpn.com/">FrootVPN</a>, a new startup that offers free VPN accounts.</p>
<p>The promo has has been seen by millions of people, many of whom very interested in the costless offer. </p>
<p>Since VPNs are certainly not free to run, many people are wondering if there&#8217;s a catch behind this rather generous offer. Previously TPB advertised an <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-did-not-launch-a-free-vpn-120827/">adware ridden</a> client so this suspicion is understandable.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak contact the Pirate Bay team for more information, and they informed us that the FrootVPN promotion is not a paid ad. It&#8217;s merely a friendly plug for a startup run by some guys they know.</p>
<p>While that&#8217;s assuring, it doesn&#8217;t explain how they can offer their service for free. We contacted the FrootVPN operators to find out more, and they told us that they started the free VPN to counter the commercialization of the VPN business.</p>
<p>&#8220;The whole idea behind FrootVPN was to provide a free simple VPN service without any bandwidth limitations. Of course the maintenance isn&#8217;t free but we had some resources over from our other projects from which we were able to launch FrootVPN.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;We are a bunch of guys who support freedom of speech and don&#8217;t like the idea that VPN providers charge so much money for just a simple proxy, especially since the bandwidth costs nowadays is so cheap,&#8221; FrootVPN tells us. </p>
<p>While a free VPN sounded like a good idea, the VPN service has become a victim of its own success. They gained 100,000 users in less than a week and admit that it&#8217;s not sustainable to keep the service free forever.</p>
<p>&#8220;The word has spread rapidly and we thank all our promoters including TPB for supporting us. We got 100,000 users within a week, which we never expected. However, this does indicate that we will be forced to charge something for the service in order to maintain it,&#8221; FrootVPN says.</p>
<p>FrootVPN&#8217;s VPN servers are currently hosted at Portlane, who have been very helpful in accommodating the growth. During the weeks to come they hope to increase their capacity and FrootVPN has already bought several new servers to keep the quality of the service on par. </p>
<p>&#8220;We have 20x servers running currently with 2x10Gbps total capacity. We have now additionally bought 40x more servers and 4x10Gbps bandwidth from Portlane which will be ready within a week or two. We hope that after this upgrade the quality of our service will be much better,&#8221; they say.</p>
<p>While they may have to charge a few dollars in the future, one of the main motivations of the FrootVPN team remains in line with The Pirate Bay&#8217;s original philosophy. That is, to provide tools that help to bypass censorship and promote freedom of speech. </p>
<p>&#8220;FrootVPN supports freedom of speech and want the Internetz to be an uncensored place,&#8221; they say.</p>
<p>Although free VPNs are often not the fastest, especially not when they are growing with tens of thousands of users per day, FrootVPN says it will try to keep up. In any case, &#8220;free&#8221; is an offer that&#8217;s hard to refuse for those who are on a tight budget. </p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95765
title: Pirate Bay Blockade Set For Icelandic Expansion
uri: Pirate-Bay-Blockade-Set-For-Icelandic-Expansion
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/_r_GXIIU5aY/
content:
<p><img src="media/4e243e8b.tpb-logo.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpb-logo.jpg" width="222" height="198" class="alignright">In common with many countries around Europe, the movie and music industries in Iceland have been working hard to cut down on copyright infringement online. To this end copyright groups including the local equivalents of the RIAA (STEF) and MPAA (SMAIS) have targeted the leader of the usual suspects, the notorious Pirate Bay.</p>
<p>After complaints to the police failed, STEF and SMAIS turned to web-blocking in the hope of achieving similar results to those netted by rightsholders in the UK, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark.</p>
<p>Following setbacks STEF decided to go it alone and earlier this month achieved the result they&#8217;d been looking for. The Reykjavík District Court <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/freedom-friendly-iceland-blocks-the-pirate-bay-141016/">handed down</a> an injunction to ISPs Vodafone and Hringdu forcing them to block several domains belonging to The Pirate Bay and Deildu, a private torrent site popular with locals.</p>
<p>Just two weeks later and it&#8217;s now becoming clear that STEF won&#8217;t be happy until all of Iceland&#8217;s leading ISPs are blocking too.</p>
<p>Earlier this week the rights group <a href="http://ruv.is/frett/stef-setur-fjarskiptafyrirtaekjum-afarkosti">demanded</a> responses from ISPs including Sím­inn, Tal and 365 Media as to whether the companies will agree to block Pirate Bay and Deildu in the wake of the Vodafone decision. Threatening legal action, STEF gave the ISPs until Wednesday to respond.  </p>
<p>According to local news outlet <a href="http://www.mbl.is/frettir/innlent/2014/10/23/logbannsmal_gegn_simanum_og_tali/">MBL</a>, 365 Media informed STEF it was willing to at least consider the idea but both Sím­inn and Tal appear to have rejected voluntary blocking, preferring official action through the courts instead.</p>
<p>Sím­inn said that it is not the role of communications companies to decide which sites should be closed and which should remain open so it would need to be presented with a formal injunction in order to block Pirate Bay and Deildu. In broad terms, Tali said the same.</p>
<p>As a result, lawyer Tóm­as Jóns­son says that STEF will now press ahead with its efforts to obtain injunctions against the ISPs that have raised objections. Procedural issues aside, which have dogged previous efforts, it&#8217;s likely that sooner or later STEF will achieve its aims.</p>
<p>Finally, there has been a trend recently for under-pressure sites to look at Icelandic hosting and local .IS domains in the belief they offer improved security over those available elsewhere. </p>
<p>While that may indeed be true, Iceland&#8217;s domain registry has <a href="http://www.mbl.is/english/news/2014/10/12/domain_name_used_by_islamists_suspended/">just canceled</a> an .IS domain that was operated by people with links to Islamic State.</p>
<p>&#8220;This is in fact a sad day for IS­NIC. We are very sad over this. It was not an easy de­ci­sion to do this. We had a rep­utaion for never hav­ing sus­pended a do­main name. That is not the re­al­ity any­more. These peo­ple have ru­ined that for us,&#8221; <a href="http://www.mbl.is/english/news/2014/10/13/mp_says_suspending_domain_was_wrong/">said</a> ISNIC director Jens Pé­tur Jensen.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95800
title: Embedding Is Not Copyright Infringement, EU Court Rules
uri: Embedding-Is-Not-Copyright-Infringement-EU-Court-Rules
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/XAQj-PCEcjA/
content:
<p><a href="media/da5322b2.carembed.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/carembed.png"><img src="media/da5322b2.carembed.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/carembed.png" alt="carembed" width="300" height="223" class="alignright size-full wp-image-95801"></a>One of the key roles of the EU’s Court of Justice is to interpret European law to ensure that it’s applied in the same manner across all member states. </p>
<p>The Court is also called upon by national courts to clarify finer points of EU law to progress local cases with Europe-wide implications.</p>
<p>This week the Court of Justice issued a landmark ruling on one such case that deals with a crucial and integral part of today&#8217;s Internet. Is it legal to embed copyrighted content without permission from the rightsholder?</p>
<p>The case in question was referred to EU’s Court of Justice by a German court. It deals with a <a href="http://curia.europa.eu/juris/fiche.jsf?id=C%3B348%3B13%3BRP%3B1%3BP%3B1%3B&#038;pro=&#038;lgrec=en&#038;nat=or&#038;oqp=&#038;dates=&#038;lg=&#038;language=en&#038;jur=C%2CT%2CF&#038;cit=none%252CC%252CCJ%252CR%252C2008E%252C%252C%252C%252C%252C%252C%252C%252C%252C%252Ctrue%252Cfalse%252Cfalse&#038;num=C-348%252F13&#038;td=%3BALL&#038;pcs=Oor&#038;avg=&#038;mat=or&#038;jge=&#038;for=&#038;cid=514173#section_documents">dispute</a> between  the water filtering company BestWater International and two men who work as independent commercial agents for a competitor. </p>
<p>Bestwater accused the men of embedding one of their promotional videos, which was available on YouTube without the company&#8217;s permission. The video was embedded on the personal website of the two through a frame, as is usual with YouTube videos. </p>
<p>While EU law is clear on most piracy issues, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_Directive">copyright directive</a> says very little about embedding copyrighted works. The Court of Justice, however, now argues that embedding is not copyright infringement.</p>
<p>The full decision has yet to be published officially by the Court&#8217;s website but TorrentFreak has received a copy (<a href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/244360017/EuGH-C-348-13-Framing">in German</a>) from the defendants&#8217; lawyer <a href="http://www.new-media-law.net/ger/anwaelte/knies.html">Dr. Bernhard Knies</a>, who describes it as a landmark victory.</p>
<p>The Court argues that embedding a file or video is not a breach of creator&#8217;s copyrights under European law, as long as it&#8217;s not altered or communicated to a new public. In the current case, the video was already available on YouTube so embedding it is not seen as a new communication.</p>
<p>&#8220;The embedding in a website of a protected work which is publicly accessible on another website by means of a link using the framing technology &#8230; does not by itself constitute communication to the public within the meaning of [the EU Copyright directive] to the extent that the relevant work is neither communicated to a new public nor by using a specific technical means different from that  used for the original communication,&#8221; the Court&#8217;s verdict reads.</p>
<p>The Court based its verdict on an earlier decision in the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/hyperlinking-is-not-copyright-infringement-eu-court-rules-140213/">Svensson case</a>, where it found that hyperlinking to a previously published work is not copyright infringement. Together, both cases will have a major impact on future copyright cases in the EU.</p>
<p>For Internet users it means that they are protected from liability if they embed copyrighted videos or images from other websites, for example. In addition, it may also protect streaming sites who use third-party services to embed videos, even if the source is an infringing copy.</p>
<p>During the days to come the Court of Justice is expected to issue official translations of the ruling as well as a press release. Many legal experts have been waiting for the decision and further analysis of the verdict&#8217;s implications is expected to follow soon after.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95714
title: Kelly Brook Wants Fappening Nudes Removed From Google
uri: Kelly-Brook-Wants-Fappening-Nudes-Removed-From-Google
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/-WP-Ga4MX9w/
content:
<p><a href="media/e84dd329.brook.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/brook.jpg"><img src="media/e84dd329.brook.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/brook.jpg" alt="brook" width="200" height="265" class="alignright size-full wp-image-95744"></a>Since late August hundreds of photos of naked celebrities have leaked online in what&#8217;s now known as &#8220;The Fappening.&#8221; </p>
<p>The leaks resulted in a massive takedown operation targeted at sites that host and link to the controversial images.</p>
<p>As a hosting provider and search engine Google inadvertently plays a role in distributing the compromising shots, much to the displeasure of the women involved.</p>
<p>Several celebrities threatened legal action against Google for its &#8220;unlawful activity,&#8221; demanding tgat the company should zap all their images. Others, including <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/jennifer-lawrence-gets-google-to-censor-leaked-pictures-sort-of-141019/">Jennifer Lawrence</a> and <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/google-refuses-remove-links-kate-uptons-fappening-images-140912/">Kate Upton</a>, used DMCA requests to remove the images from the public eye. </p>
<p>The famous UK actress, model and TV presenter <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_Brook">Kelly Brook</a> now joins this group as one of the latest Fappening victims. </p>
<p>Brook&#8217;s pictures leaked onto the Internet early October and last week she asked Google to remove three links to her pictures from search results, claiming that she holds the copyrights to the selfies. </p>
<p>The images are allegedly hosted on thefappening.so, and according to Google&#8217;s transparency report the request <a href="http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/copyright/requests/1568971/">is still &#8220;pending&#8221;</a>. However, during this week something unusual happened.  </p>
<p><center><a href="media/3d795caa.brook.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/brook.png"><img src="media/3d795caa.brook.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/brook.png" alt="brook" width="609" height="361" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-95772"></a></center></p>
<p>For reasons unknown, Google has decided to <a href="https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ncr#q=site:thefappening.so">remove all URLs of thefappening.so</a> from its search results. Whether the pages were removed because of the leaked pictures, or for another reason, is unknown. </p>
<p>Kelly Brook is not the only celebrity to ask Google to remove thefappening.so links, Argentinian singer <a href="https://twitter.com/Mel_Lezcano">Melina Lezcano</a> did the same last week.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak asked Google whether the removal of the entire domain name is due to its content or if there&#8217;s another reason, but we have yet to receive a response. </p>
<p>Whatever the reason, Brook and Lezcano&#8217;s takedown requests are moot. Whether they will be relieved is doubtful though, as most of the Fappening photos are still being shared through thousands of other sites.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95788
title: Lawfirm Chasing Aussie ‘Pirates’ Discredited IP Address Evidence
uri: Lawfirm-Chasing-Aussie-Pirates-Discredited-IP-Address-Evidence
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/RU1kysIKILg/
content:
<p><img src="media/d45c68ed.dallas.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/dallas.jpg" width="180" height="180" class="alignright">There are many explanations for the existence of online piracy, from content not being made available quickly enough to it being sold at ripoff prices. Unfortunately for Australians, over the years most of these complaints have had some basis in fact.</p>
<p>The country is currently grappling with its piracy issues and while there&#8217;s hardly a consensus of opinion right now, most of the region&#8217;s rightsholders feel that suing the general public isn&#8217;t the way to go. It&#8217;s painful for everyone involved and doesn&#8217;t solve the problem.</p>
<p>That said, US-based Dallas Buyers Club LLC are not of the same opinion. They care about money and to that end they&#8217;re now attempting to <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/australians-face-fines-for-downloading-pirate-movies-141022/">obtain the identities</a> of iiNet users for the purpose of extracting cash settlements from them.</p>
<p>Yesterday additional information on the case became available. An Optus spokeswoman told SMH that it had been contacted by Dallas Buyers Club about handing over subscriber data but its legal representatives had <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/telstra-optus-not-worth-chasing-in-dallas-buyers-club-piracy-crackdown-lawyers-20141024-11az39.html">backed off</a> when it was denied. The movie outfit didn&#8217;t even try with Telstra &#8211; but why?</p>
<p>So-called copyright trolls like the easiest possible fight and through iiNet they know their adversaries just that little bit better. According to Anny Slater of Slaters Intellectual Property Lawyers, documents revealed in the ISP&#8217;s earlier fight with Village Roadshow show that Telstra could well be a more difficult target for discovery.</p>
<p>The business model employed by plaintiffs such as Dallas Buyer&#8217;s Club LLC (DBCLLC) requires a minimum of &#8216;difficult&#8217; since difficulties increase costs and decrease profits. To that end, part of the job of keeping things straightforward will fall to DBCLLC&#8217;s lawfirm, Sydney-based Marque Lawyers.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for DBCLLC, Marque Lawyers have already shot themselves in the foot when it comes to convincing DBCLLC&#8217;s &#8220;pirate&#8221; targets to &#8220;pay up or else.&#8221;</p>
<p>In 2012, Marque published a paper titled “It wasn’t me, it was my flatmate! – a defense to copyright infringement?” which detailed the company’s stance on file-sharing accusations. The publication provided a short summary of cases in the US where porn companies were aiming to find out the identities of people who had downloaded their films, just as Dallas Buyers Club &#8211; Marque&#8217;s clients &#8211; are doing now.</p>
<p>&#8220;To find out the actual identities of the users, the [porn companies] asked the Court to force the ISPs to reveal the names and addresses of each of the subscribers to which the IP addresses related. The users went on the attack and won,&#8221; Marque explained.</p>
<p>And here&#8217;s the line all potential targets of Dallas Buyers Club and Marque Lawyers should be aware of &#8211; from the lawfirm&#8217;s own collective mouth.</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>&#8220;The judge, rightly in our view, agreed with the users that just because an IP address is in one person’s name, it does not mean that that person was the one who illegally downloaded the porn.</p>
<p>As the judge said, an IP address does not necessarily identify a person and so you can’t be sure that the person who pays for a service has necessarily infringed copyright.</p>
<p>This decision makes a lot of sense to us. If it holds up, copyright<br>
owners will need to be a whole lot more savvy about how they identify and pursue copyright infringers and, perhaps, we’ve seen the end of the mass &#8216;John Doe&#8217; litigation.&#8221; </strong></p></blockquote>
<p>So there you have it. Marque Lawyers do not have faith in the IP address-based evidence used in mass file-sharing litigation. In fact, they predict that weaknesses in IP address evidence might even signal the end of mass lawsuits.</p>
<p>Sadly they weren&#8217;t right in their latter prediction, as their partnership with Dallas Buyers Club reveals. Still, their stance that the evidence is weak remains and will probably come back to bite them.</p>
<p>The document is available for download from Marque&#8217;s <a href="media/de3e65dc.marque-update_5-june-2012.pdf" data-original-source="http://www.marquelawyers.com.au/assets/marque-update_5-june-2012.pdf">own server</a>. Any bill payers wrongly accused of piracy by the company in the future may like to refer the lawfirm to its own literature as part of their response.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95740
title: FACT Wipes ‘Pirate’ Sport Streaming Software From Github
uri: FACT-Wipes-Pirate-Sport-Streaming-Software-From-Github
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/83QN-h_1vxU/
content:
<p><a href="media/e26a1d7c.sportsdev.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/sportsdev.jpg"><img src="media/e26a1d7c.sportsdev.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/sportsdev.jpg" alt="sportsdev" width="180" height="175" class="alignright size-full wp-image-95759"></a>There are dozens, perhaps hundreds of sites offering either illegal sports streams viewable via embedded players or indexes of links to the same. It is these resources that were leveraged by SportsDevil, a piece of open source software popular in the various <a href="http://xbmc.org/">XBMC/Kodi</a> and <a href="http://www.tvaddons.ag/tvmc-android/">TVMC</a> communities.</p>
<p>Under development at Github, SportsDevil&#8217;s aim is to present its tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of users with links to external video sources via a convenient interface, covering everything from live NFL, Basketball, Baseball, Hockey and motorsports, combat sports such as UFC and boxing, plus football and soccer from both sides of the Atlantic.</p>
<p>This week, however, SportsDevil&#8217;s reign on Github was brought to an end following action from UK-based anti-piracy group Federation Against Copyright Theft. While FACT is closely affiliated with Hollywood studios, it also represents the rights of major sports broadcasters and rightsholders including The Premier League, British Sky Broadcasting Ltd and BT Sport.</p>
<p><center><img src="media/2192ce0d.FACT-SD.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/FACT-SD.png" alt="FACT-SD"></center></p>
<p>In its takedown notice, FACT explains what SportsDevil does and why it should be taken down.</p>
<p>&#8220;The files found at the following locations facilitate linking to sites known to provide access to streams of infringing content. The sites are subsequently scraped for links to various broadcasts including those whose copyrights belong to FACT members,&#8221; the group explains.</p>
<p>In addition to the ZIP files for the project, FACT targeted 47 configuration files enabling SportsDevil to pull links to content from sites such as FirstRowSports, Wiziwig.tv and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/cricfree-bounces-back-after-uk-police-domain-seizure-140524/">Cricfree</a>, a site that was targeted by PIPCU earlier this year.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak contacted FACT about the takedown and asked if this was the first piece of software to be taken down by the group.</p>
<p>&#8220;This is not the first time and with development of technology, we don’t anticipate it will be the last,&#8221; FACT told TF.</p>
<p><a href="media/9b46c1db.fact.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/fact.jpg"><img src="media/f002015f.fact.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/fact.jpg" alt="fact" width="180" height="133" class="alignright size-full wp-image-74060"></a>We also put it to FACT that although it&#8217;s pretty clear what SportDevil is designed to do, the tool itself is often far removed from actual infringing content and could be several steps down the linking chain. Does that present issues?</p>
<p>&#8220;That’s the point of what we’re doing. The tool is creating alternative ways of accessing content, and we view that as a likely offense,&#8221; FACT said.</p>
<p>Also of interest is the formatting of FACT&#8217;s takedown notice, which references neither UK law where its members are based nor US law where Github is located.</p>
<p>&#8220;Our takedown notices are modeled on DMCA notices. In this particular case, they were adapted to comply with Github DMCA policy,&#8221; FACT confirmed.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s worth noting that Github recently <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/new-github-dmca-policy-gives-alleged-infringers-second-chance-141017/">updated its takedown processes</a> to give projects more time to &#8216;fix&#8217; any issues following a DMCA complaint but it appears SportsDevil&#8217;s creators didn&#8217;t take up that opportunity.</p>
<p>TF spoke with an expert on this type of software who told us that while its removal from Github will be a setback, it won&#8217;t mean the end of the tool.</p>
<p>&#8220;If an addon&#8217;s repository is removed from GitHub, the addon author loses the ability to push further updates to the addon, so unless users install the author&#8217;s new repository (which they would have to do manually) further automated updates won&#8217;t take place,&#8221; he explained.</p>
<p>Finally, we asked FACT if it intends to target more software tools in future.</p>
<p>&#8220;Where we see a threat to our members’ content,  we’ll continue to seek appropriate ways of dealing with it,&#8221; FACT conclude.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95818
title: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week – 10/27/14
uri: Top-10-Most-Pirated-Movies-of-The-Week-10-27-14
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/3CpTeFxJ59M/
content:
<p><a href="media/7c933a4f.letsbecops.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/letsbecops.jpg"><img src="media/7c933a4f.letsbecops.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/letsbecops.jpg" alt="letsbecops" width="300" height="169" class="alignright size-full wp-image-95821"></a>This week we have five newcomers in our chart.</p>
<p>Let&#8217;s Be Cops is the most downloaded movie.</p>
<p>The data for our weekly download chart is estimated by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only. All the movies in the list are BD/DVDrips unless stated otherwise.</p>
<p><a href="http://TorrentFreak.com/category/dvdrip/feed/"><strong>RSS feed</strong></a> for the weekly movie download chart.</p>
<table class="css hover">
<thead>
<tr>
<th width="12%"><strong>Ranking</strong></th>
<th width="15%"><strong>(<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-movies-of-the-week-141020/">last week</a>)</strong></th>
<th><strong>Movie</strong></th>
<th width="18%"><strong>IMDb Rating / Trailer</strong></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tfoot>
<tr>
<td colspan="4">torrentfreak.com</td>
</tr>
</tfoot>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>1</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lets_be_cops/">Let&#8217;s Be Cops</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1924435/">6.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKIAZjs__Xc">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>2</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/step_up_all_in/">Step Up All In</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2626350/">6.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WfQemqSsFY">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>3</strong></td>
<td>(2)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/how_to_train_your_dragon_2/">How to Train Your Dragon 2</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1646971/">8.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9a4PvzlqoQ">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>4</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/teenage_mutant_ninja_turtles_2013/">Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1291150/">6.3</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZZ0PnDZdZk">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>5</strong></td>
<td>(1)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/22_jump_street/">22 Jump Street</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2294449/">7.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qP755JkDxyM">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>6</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/a_most_wanted_man/">A Most Wanted Man</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1972571/">7.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUyYBrlF_W8">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>7</strong></td>
<td>(&#8230;)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_expendables_3/">The Expendables 3</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2333784/?">6.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xD0junWlFc">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>8</strong></td>
<td>(8)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/annabelle/">Annabelle</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3322940/">5.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xabuZwG3XyM">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>9</strong></td>
<td>(3)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_purge_anarchy_2014/">The Purge: Anarchy</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2975578/">6.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzFCDqKE4yA">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>10</strong></td>
<td>(9)</td>
<td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sex_tape_2014/">Sex Tape</a> </td>
<td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1956620/">5.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxl4aOyHSwo">trailer</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95832
title: MPAA Reports The Pirate Bay to The U.S. Government
uri: MPAA-Reports-The-Pirate-Bay-to-The-U-S-Government
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/skdUoBehSXM/
content:
<p><a href="media/3b0329c8.mpaa-logo.png" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/mpaa-logo.png"><img src="media/fdb36aee.mpaa-logo.png" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mpaa-logo.png" alt="mpaa-logo" width="259" height="170" class="alignright size-full wp-image-89856"></a>Responding to a request from the Office of the US Trade Representative (<a href="http://www.ustr.gov/">USTR</a>), the MPAA has sent in its annual list of rogue websites.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak obtained a copy of the MPAA&#8217;s <a href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/244588028/MPAA-Notorious-Markets-2014">latest submission</a>. The Hollywood group targets a wide variety of websites which they claim are promoting the illegal distribution of movies and TV-shows, with declining incomes and lost jobs in the movie industry as a result.</p>
<p>These sites and services not only threaten the movie industry, but according to the MPAA they also put consumers at risk through identity theft and by spreading malware.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is important to note that websites that traffic in infringing movies, television shows, and other copyrighted content do not harm only the rights holder. Malicious software or malware, which puts Internet users at risk of identity theft, fraud, and other ills, is increasingly becoming a source of revenue for pirate sites,&#8221; MPAA writes.</p>
<p>Below is an overview of the &#8220;notorious markets&#8221; the MPAA reported to the Government. The sites are listed in separate categories and each have a suspected location, as defined by the movie industry group. </p>
<h4>Torrent Sites</h4>
<p>BitTorrent remains the most popular P2P software as the global piracy icon, MPAA notes. The Pirate Bay poses one of the largest threats here. Based on data from Comscore, the MPAA says that TPB has about 40 million unique visitors per month, which appears to be a very low estimate. </p>
<p>&#8220;Thepiratebay.se (TPB) claims to be the largest BitTorrent website on the Internet with a global Alexa rank of 91, and a local rank of 72 in the U.S. Available in 35 languages, this website serves a wide audience with upwards of 43.5 million peers,&#8221; MPAA writes. </p>
<p>&#8220;TPB had 40,551,220 unique visitors in August 2014 according to comScore World Wide data. Traffic arrives on this website through multiple changing ccTLD domains and over 90 proxy websites that assist TPB to circumvent site blocking actions.&#8221;</p>
<p>For the first time the MPAA also lists YIFY/YTS in its overview of notorious markets. The MPAA describes YTS as one of the most popular release groups, and notes that these are used by the Popcorn Time streaming application.  </p>
<p>&#8220;[Yts.re] facilitates the downloading of free copies of popular movies, and currently lists more than 5,000 high-quality movie torrents available to download for free,&#8221; MPAA writes. </p>
<p>&#8220;Additionally, the content on Yts.re supports desktop torrent streaming application &#8216;Popcorn Time&#8217; which has an install base of 1.4 million devices and more than 100,000 active users in the United States alone.&#8221; </p>
<p>The full list of reported torrent sites is as follows:</p>
<p><em>- Kickass.to (Several locations)<br>
- Thepiratebay.se (Sweden)<br>
- Torrentz.eu (Germany/Luxembourg)<br>
- Rutracker.org (Russia)<br>
- Yts.re (Several locations)<br>
 -Extratorrent.cc (Ukraine)<br>
 -Xunlei.com (China)</em></p>
<p>The mention of Xunlei.com is interesting as the Chinese company signed an <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-strikes-anti-piracy-deal-with-torrent-client-creator-140604/">anti-piracy deal</a> with the MPA earlier this year. However, according to the MPAA piracy is still rampant, and there is no evidence that Xunlei has fulfilled its obligations.</p>
<h4>Direct Download and Streaming Cyberlockers</h4>
<p>The second category of pirate sites reported by the MPAA are cyberlockers. The movie industry group points out that these sites generate million of dollars in revenue, citing the recently released <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/report-brands-dotcoms-mega-a-piracy-haven-140918/">report</a> from Netnames. </p>
<p>Interestingly, the MPAA doesn&#8217;t include 4shared and Mega, the two services who <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/4shared-demands-retraction-over-misleading-piracy-report-141020/">discredited the report</a> in question. As in previous submissions VKontakte, Russia&#8217;s equivalent of Facebook, is also listed as a notorious market. </p>
<p><em>- VK.com (Russia)<br>
- Uploaded.net (Netherlands)<br>
- Rapidgator.net (Russia)<br>
- Firedrive.com (New Zealand)<br>
- Nowvideo.sx and the “Movshare Group” (Panama/Switzerland/Netherlands)<br>
- Netload.in (Germany)</em></p>
<h4>Linking Websites</h4>
<p>The largest category in terms of reported sites represents linking websites. These sites don&#8217;t host the infringing material, but only link to it. The full list of linking sites is as follows.</p>
<p><em>- Free-tv-video-online.me (Canada)<br>
- Movie4k.to (Romania)<br>
- Primewire.ag (Estonia)<br>
- Watchseries.lt (Switzerland)<br>
- Putlocker.is (Switzerland)<br>
- Solarmovie.is (Latvia)<br>
- Megafilmeshd.net (Brazil)<br>
- Filmesonlinegratis.net (Brazil)<br>
- Watch32.com (Germany)<br>
- Yyets.com (China)<br>
- Cuevana.tv (Argentina)<br>
- Viooz.ac (Estonia)<br>
- Degraçaemaisgostoso.org (Brazil)<br>
- Telona.org (Brazil)</em></p>
<p>The inclusion of Cuevana.tv is noteworthy as the website stopped offering direct links to infringing content earlier this year. Instead, it now direct people to its custom &#8220;Popcorn Time&#8221; equivalent &#8220;<a href="http://torrentfreak.com/popcorn-time-users-get-fined-copyright-trolls-140515/">Storm</a>.&#8221;</p>
<p>Finally, the MPAA lists one Usenet provider, the German based Usenext.com. This service was included because, unlike other providers, it allegedly heavily markets itself to P2P users. </p>
<p>Later this year the US Trade Representative will use the submissions of the MPAA and other parties to make up its final list of piracy havens. The U.S. Government will then alert the countries where these sites are operating from, hoping that local authorities take action.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95827
title: Big Pirate Sites ‘Raided’, Admins on the Run
uri: Big-Pirate-Sites-Raided-Admins-on-the-Run
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/wA27MiDuz1E/
content:
<p><a href="media/4f1c3776.policedownload.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/policedownload.jpg"><img src="media/f2777976.policedownload-150x150.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/policedownload-150x150.jpg" alt="policedownload" width="150" height="150" class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-67910"></a>In June 2011, police across Europe coordinated to carry out the largest <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/kino-to-raided-in-massive-police-operation-admins-arrested-110608/">anti-piracy operation</a> the continent had ever seen. Their target was Kino.to and its affiliates, a huge illegal movie streaming operation with links to Spain, France and the Netherlands. </p>
<p>Ultimately several people <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/?s=kino">went to jail</a> and Kino.to disappeared, but it didn&#8217;t take long for replacement site Kinox.to to take up the slack. It&#8217;s been clear for some time that anti-piracy groups have had their eyes on the popular site and now action appears to have been taken.</p>
<p>Last week investigators acting on behalf of the Attorney General carried out raids in several regions of Germany looking for four main suspects.</p>
<p>A raid on a house in a village near to the northern city of Lübeck aimed to secure two brothers, aged 21 and 25 years-old. This pair, who reportedly live with their parents, are said to be the main operators of Kinox.to. According to <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/netzpolitik/kinox-to-grossrazzia-mit-durchsuchungen-in-vier-bundeslaendern-a-999250.html">Der Spiegel</a>, the raid drew a blank.</p>
<p>In total, six homes and businesses were searched and arrest warrants were successfully executed in Neuss and Dusseldorf. Two individuals, said to key players, were detained.</p>
<p>According to prosecutor&#8217;s office spokesman Wolfgang Klein, a Berlin-based payment service used by the suspects was also raided to ensure their &#8220;tax liability&#8221; &#8211; a <a href="http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Staatsanwaltschaft-gibt-weitere-Details-zur-Razzia-bei-Kinox-to-bekannt-2432236.html">reported</a> 1.3 million euros &#8211; is met.</p>
<p>In addition to commercial copyright infringement and tax evasion, the defendants are accused of a range of other crimes including fraud, extortion and arson. </p>
<p>Klein said the defendants had &#8220;made great efforts&#8221; to get rid of their competitors in the piracy market, utilizing verbal tactics and those of a more direct nature.</p>
<p>&#8220;They used all means and also carried out threats,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Sometimes even a car burst into flames.&#8221;</p>
<p>And from here the plot only thickens.</p>
<p>According to a letter sent by anti-piracy outfit GVU to its members, the people behind Kinox.to are also behind a string of other sites including streaming giant Movie4K.to. The ring of services is said to extend to pirate linking sites Boerse.sx and MyGully.com, and GVU even connects file-hosting services FreakShare.com and BitShare.com to the operation.</p>
<p>The prosecutor&#8217;s office says &#8220;lots of data&#8221; and &#8220;assets&#8221; were secured following the raids but at this point the location of the missing brothers remains unknown. Some reports suggest that they may have even left Germany a while back. Adding to the confusion, Lars Sobiraj at <a href="https://tarnkappe.info/meinung-kinox-war-wird-und-die-offenen-fragen/">Tarnkappe</a> says his sources suggest that the brothers in control of Kinox are in fact much older than 21 and 25.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, whether it was published by the brothers or someone else, an update has appeared on Kinox.to mocking GVU and thanking them for the attention.</p>
<p>&#8220;GVU: You make yourself more ridiculous than you are. But THANK YOU again for the extreme (priceless) advertising !!&#8221; the post reads.</p>
<p>And that&#8217;s one of the key points. Along with all of the other mentioned sites, Kinox.to and Movie4K remain operational. In fact, as far as we can see, not a single site is down.</p>
<p>Perhaps inevitably this has led to speculation that some kind of honey pot could be in operation, but according to lawyer Christian Solmecke, that seems unlikely.</p>
<p>&#8220;From my perspective, the users of kinox.to have committed no offense, because the pure consumption of streaming services is not illegal [in Germany]. This is certainly the case whenever any copy of the stream is produced on your own computer,&#8221; Solmecke says.</p>
<p>&#8220;In addition, the GVU &#8211; which here apparently launched the criminal complaint &#8211; is also known normally to tackle the problem at its root. This means that the company is going in against the big fish, which has been shown again with the current raids too.&#8221;</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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feed_id: http://torrentfreak.com/?p=95874
title: RIAA: The Pirate Bay Assaults Fundamental Human Rights
uri: RIAA-The-Pirate-Bay-Assaults-Fundamental-Human-Rights
url: http://feed.torrentfreak.com/~r/Torrentfreak/~3/8i_Quebddhw/
content:
<p><a href="media/b2c06132.tpbfist.jpg" data-original-source="http://feed.torrentfreak.com/images/tpbfist.jpg"><img src="media/0a0c9bd7.tpbfist.jpg" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpbfist.jpg" alt="tpbfist" width="180" height="193" class="alignright size-full wp-image-46108"></a>Following in the footsteps of Hollywood&#8217;s <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-reports-top-pirate-sites-u-s-government-141027/">MPAA</a>, the RIAA has now submitted its overview of &#8220;notorious markets&#8221; to the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR).</p>
<p>These submissions help to guide the U.S. Government&#8217;s position toward foreign countries when it comes to copyright enforcement. The RIAA&#8217;s report (<a href="media/f1cf9732.Notorious_Markets_Report_2014_final.odt" data-original-source="http://torrentfreak.com/images/Notorious_Markets_Report_2014_final.odt">odt</a>) includes more than 50 alleged pirate sites, but it is the introduction that draws most attention. </p>
<p>Neil Turkewitz, RIAA Executive Vice President, informs the Government that some of the rogue websites, and their supporters, falsely argue that they aid freedom of speech and counter censorship. </p>
<p>Specifically, the RIAA describes The Pirate Bay and other pirate sites as an assault on our humanity, suggesting that the right to protect one&#8217;s copyrights trumps freedom of expression.</p>
<p>&#8220;Some observers continue to suggest that the protection of expression is a form of censorship or restriction on fundamental freedoms, and some pirate sites cloak themselves in the language of freedom to justify themselves—sites like The Pirate Bay&#8230;&#8221; Turkewitz writes.</p>
<p>&#8220;We must end this assault on our humanity and the misappropriation of fundamental human rights. If the protection of expression is itself a restriction on freedom of expression, then we have entered a metaphysical Wonderland that stands logic on its head, and undermines core, shared global values about personhood,&#8221; he adds.</p>
<p>The RIAA says it&#8217;s hopeful that the piracy threat can be addressed if society and legitimate companies stop doing business with these sites. To do so, the public must stop conflating anti-piracy measures with censorship. </p>
<p>&#8220;We may not be able to eradicate piracy—there will always be an isolated number of individuals or enterprises who are prepared to steal whatever they can, but we can—and must—stop providing moral cover by conflating copyright enforcement with censorship, or by misapplying notions of Internet freedom or permissionless innovation so that they extend to an embrace of lawlessness.&#8221;</p>
<p>In recent months copyright holders have often hammered on payment processors and advertising networks to stop doing business with pirate sites. The RIAA reiterates this in their USTR submission, but also points a finger at the ISPs, at least indirectly.</p>
<p>According to the RIAA, BitTorrent indexing sites make deals with hosting providers to pay lower fees if they have more traffic. While this is standard business for most ISPs, the industry group frames it as an indirect source of revenue for the pirate sites. </p>
<p>&#8220;Indexing services can, and usually do, generate revenue from one or more of the following: advertising, user donations and suspected arrangements with ISPs whereby reduced fees are offered in return for increased traffic on the sites. The particular financial model, structure and approach vary from site to site,&#8221; Turkewitz notes.</p>
<p>Finally, the RIAA admits that some torrent sites process DMCA takedown notices, but believes that this is only an attempt to &#8220;appear&#8221; legitimate. In reality the infringing content is re-uploaded almost instantly, so the problem remains.</p>
<p>&#8220;As a result, copyright owners are forced into an endless &#8216;cat and mouse&#8217; game, which requires considerable resources to be devoted to chasing infringing content, only for that same infringing content to continually reappear,&#8221; the report reads.</p>
<p>Without specifying what, Turkewitz notes that torrent site owners have to do more if they really want to become legitimate services. </p>
<p>&#8220;It is imperative that BitTorrent site operators take reasonable measures to prevent the distribution of infringing torrents or links and to implement measures that would prevent the indexing of infringing torrents,&#8221; he writes.  </p>
<p>In addition to torrent sites the submission also lists various cyberlockers, blogs and linking sites which allegedly deserve the label &#8220;notorious market.&#8221; </p>
<p>Below is the RIAA&#8217;s full list as it was reported to the USTR. These, and the other submissions will form the basis of the U.S. Government&#8217;s Special 301 Out-of-Cycle Review of Notorious Markets, which is expected to come out later this year.</p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<p><em>- vKontakte<br>
- EX.UA<br>
- The Pirate Bay<br>
- KickAss.to<br>
- Torrentz.eu<br>
- Bitsnoop.com<br>
- ExtraTorrent.cc<br>
- Isohunt.to<br>
- Zamunda<br>
- Arena.bg<br>
- Torrenthound.com<br>
- Fenopy.se<br>
- Monova.org<br>
- Torrentreactor.net<br>
- Sumotorrent.sx<br>
- Seedpeer.me<br>
- Torrentdownloads.me<br>
- 4shared.com<br>
- Uploaded.net<br>
- Oboom.com<br>
- Zippyshare.com<br>
- Rapidgator.net<br>
- Turbobit.net<br>
- Ulozto.cz<br>
- Sdílej.cz<br>
- Hell Spy<br>
- HellShare<br>
- Warez-dk.org<br>
- Freakshare.com<br>
- Bitshare.com<br>
- Letitbit.net<br>
- 1fichier.com<br>
- Filestube.to<br>
- Music.so.com<br>
- Verycd.com<br>
- Gudanglagu.com<br>
- Thedigitalpinoy.org<br>
- Todaybit.com<br>
- Chacha.vn<br>
- Zing.vn<br>
- Songs.to<br>
- Boerse.to<br>
- Mygully.com<br>
- Wawa-mania.ec<br>
- Bajui.com<br>
- Goear.com<br>
- Pordescargadirecta.com<br>
- Exvagos.com<br>
- Degraçaémaisgostoso.org<br>
- Baixeturbo.org<br>
- Hitsmp3.net<br>
- Musicasparabaixar.org<br>
- Sapodownloads.net<br>
- Sonicomusica.com<br>
- Jarochos.net<br>
- Rnbexclusive.se<br>
- Newalbumreleases.net<br>
</em></p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://torrentfreak.com">TorrentFreak</a>, for the latest info on <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/copyright-issues/">copyright</a>, <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/pirate-talk/">file-sharing</a> and <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-services-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2014-edition-140315/">anonymous VPN services</a>.</p>
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