tagged w/ Torrent
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The Obama administration told a federal judge Friday the $1.92 million jury verdict against a Minnesota woman for sharing 24 music tracks on Kazaa was constitutionally sound despite defense claims it was unconstitutionally excessive.
After the June verdict against Jammie Thomas-Rasset, defense attorneys urged U.S. District Judge Michael Davis to set it aside or reduce dramatically the $80,000-per-song award, arguing it was “excessive, shocking and monstrous.”
In response to that challenge to the Copyright Act, with allows damages up to $150,000 per song, the Justice Department told Davis in a 26-page brief that the verdict should not be overturned on grounds it was unconstitutionally excessive.
“The current damages range provides compensation for copyright owners because, inter alia, there exists situations in which actual damages are hard to quantify,” the government wrote. (.pdf) “Furthermore, in establishing that range, Congress took into account the need to deter the millions of users of new media from infringing copyrights in an environment where many vi0lators believe that they will go unnoticed.”
At the time of the Minnesota verdict, Thomas-Rasset, 32, was the nation’s only file-sharing defendant to go before a jury out of the 30,000-plus cases brought by the Recording Industry Association of America the past five years. Most all defendants settled out of court for a few thousand dollars. Trial for the second defendant to go before a jury ended last month with a $675,000 verdict in favor of the RIAA for sharing 30 songs online.
It is not unusual that the government weigh into a case in which the constitutionality of the law is at issue. The Obama administration, and the Bush administration have weighed in on lawsuits in which the Copyright Act was under the microscope – always in support of the law.
But Friday’s filing was the first time the government announced that an eye-popping $80,000 per track damages award was not excessive.The Obama administration told a federal judge Friday the $1.92 million jury verdict... more
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Most Pirate Bay users were genuinely upset when they found out that their favorite torrent site would be acquired by Global Gaming Factory (GGF) at the end of August. For a small subset of these fans, this move is more than an inked deal, as the coolness and even the credibility of their tattoos is in jeopardy.Most Pirate Bay users were genuinely upset when they found out that their favorite... more
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The UK Pirate Party has been officially registered at the Electoral Commission and is hoping to follow in the footsteps of its successful counterpart in Sweden. With all the recent controversy surrounding anti-piracy legislation and lawyers going after alleged file-sharers, the party has become necessity.The UK Pirate Party has been officially registered at the Electoral Commission and is... more
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The top 10 most downloaded movies on BitTorrent, ‘Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs’ tops the chart again this week followed by ‘The Hangover’. ‘I Love You Man’ completes the top three.
ice ageThis week there are four newcomers in the top 10, including ‘Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs’ that tops the chart this week.
The data for our weekly download chart is collected by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only. All the movies in the list are DVDrips unless stated otherwise.The top 10 most downloaded movies on BitTorrent, ‘Ice Age: Dawn of the... more
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This week the world’s first torrent hosting service was born. Named Torrage, the sole purpose of the site is to provide a platform where both individual users and large torrent indexers can host their torrents. It is currently in use by EZTV as well as the former BitTorrent giant Suprnova and the makers hope that others will follow.This week the world’s first torrent hosting service was born. Named Torrage, the... more
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Torrent.kg, the biggest torrent site in the Asian country of Kyrgyzstan, has been shut down on allegations of copyright infringement. The police seized the site’s servers pending an investigation, but in the meantime the country now has its own version of OpenBitTorrent to keep the torrents flowing.Torrent.kg, the biggest torrent site in the Asian country of Kyrgyzstan, has been shut... more
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After being jailed for his part in uploading a pre-released Star Wars Episode III in 2005, the admin of the EliteTorrents BitTorrent tracker is finally a free man. Around 3 weeks ago Scott was removed from the US government’s monitor list and he now shares his thoughts with TorrentFreak.After being jailed for his part in uploading a pre-released Star Wars Episode III in... more
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Global Gaming Factory (GGF) is set to acquire The Pirate Bay by the end of August, but once the deal is closed they will set their sights on other torrent sites, in the hope of expanding their business even further. In time, GFF hopes to buy as many torrent sites as possible and turn them into ‘legit’ businesses.Global Gaming Factory (GGF) is set to acquire The Pirate Bay by the end of August, but... more
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The future Pirate Bay owners have big plans for the site and according to the CEO there is no doubt that the sale will go through. Since most interest thus far has come from the US, the company plans to get a listing at the NASDAQ, making it easier for people to trade stock in addition to files.The future Pirate Bay owners have big plans for the site and according to the CEO... more
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One of, if not the oldest BitTorrent communities still around today has been targeted by police and anti-piracy officers. The owner of FileSoup, one the most enduring sites since the introduction of the BitTorrent protocol, was arrested by police and denied his phone call and legal representation for more than seven hours.One of, if not the oldest BitTorrent communities still around today has been targeted... more
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Last week the Amsterdam Court issued a default judgment in favor of BREIN versus The Pirate Bay, ordering the site to be blocked in The Netherlands because the defendants didn’t show up. In a response to this verdict, The Dutch Consumers Union says it is disappointed that the judge ruled in favor of the anti-piracy outfit without looking into the content of their demands.Last week the Amsterdam Court issued a default judgment in favor of BREIN versus The... more
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The top 10 most downloaded movies on BitTorrent, ‘I Love You Man’ tops the chart again this week followed by ‘The Hangover’. ‘Road Trip: Beer Pong’ completes the top three.
I love you manThis week there are three newcomers in the top 10, including ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ that reappeared in the list as a DVDrip.
The data for our weekly download chart is collected by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only. All the movies in the list are DVDrips unless stated otherwise.The top 10 most downloaded movies on BitTorrent, ‘I Love You Man’ tops the... more
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After many drama-filled turbulent years, Peter Sunde, the infamous Pirate Bay spokesman, has resigned. Citing a complete lack of time, Peter says he wants to concentrate on new things, including several projects and a book. “I am leaving a role in order to be a person instead,” he said.After many drama-filled turbulent years, Peter Sunde, the infamous Pirate Bay... more
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In a late submission to the Canadian network management hearings of the CRTC, BitTorrent Inc. debunked some P2P myths and asked the committee to decide in favor of a neutral net. ISPs should look for other methods to deal with network congestion rather than discriminating against BitTorrent users, they say.In a late submission to the Canadian network management hearings of the CRTC,... more
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TNT Village, Italy’s most prominent torrent site has been compromised by hackers. Intimate details of the site’s operations including 50,000 usernames, passwords and email addresses have been leaked out onto the Internet. The site has taken precautionary measures but concerned users should change their passwords immediately.TNT Village, Italy’s most prominent torrent site has been compromised by... more
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In a few days time Global Gaming Factory is supposed to have gathered millions of dollars in funding so they can acquire The Pirate Bay. But according to Wayne Rosso, the former CEO of Grokster who was involved with GGF recently, this is unlikely to happen. Meanwhile, The Pirate Bay is giving GGF a week before they cancel the deal.In a few days time Global Gaming Factory is supposed to have gathered millions of... more
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The Pirate Bay tracks half the world’s torrents and it’s getting sold, which might be viewed as a bit of a disaster for the BitTorrent world. But The Pirate Bay isn’t really needed anymore, GGF can have it in August as planned and not much will change. All of the torrents will survive and carry on working. It’s time to pirate The Pirate Bay.The Pirate Bay tracks half the world’s torrents and it’s getting sold,... more
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The top 10 most downloaded movies on BitTorrent, ‘I Love You Man’ tops the chart this week followed by ‘The Hangover’. ‘Watchmen’ completes the top three just like last week.
I love you manThis week there are only two newcomers in the top 10, including this week’s most downloaded film ‘I Love You Man’.
The data for our weekly download chart is collected by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only. All the movies in the list are DVDrips unless stated otherwise.The top 10 most downloaded movies on BitTorrent, ‘I Love You Man’ tops the... more
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With anti-piracy outfits warning those who share copyrighted content and ISPs threatening to pull the plug on alleged offenders, many file-sharers have decided to protect themselves by going anonymous. To accommodate this growing demand, ItsHidden is now offering a free VPN targeted at those who want to protect their privacy online.With anti-piracy outfits warning those who share copyrighted content and ISPs... more
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A site which carries links to both live streaming sporting events and BitTorrent downloads has had the case against it kicked out by a judge. Rojadirecta.com was initially reported for copyright infringement by sports rights holder AudioVisual Sports back in 2007, but it’s been decided they have no case to answer.A site which carries links to both live streaming sporting events and BitTorrent... more
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