tagged w/ Torrents
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KickassTorrents, one of the fastest growing and most visited torrent sites on the Internet, has been pulled offline after an inquiry from the Ukrainian authorities. The site’s main server was shut down and the site’s founder and his team are currently setting up shop outside the country. KickassTorrents is expected to return in a few days
love the way the pirate bay stays strong! no one can stop them
http://torrentfreak.com/kickasstorrents-taken-down-after-copyright-concerns-100812/KickassTorrents, one of the fastest growing and most visited torrent sites on the... more
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Specialty Film Researcher and Consultant Jeremy Juuso turns a spotlight on the how piracy increases for films released day and date on multiple formatsSpecialty Film Researcher and Consultant Jeremy Juuso turns a spotlight on the how... more
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The U.S. Copyright Group (USCG) has been all over the news in recent months. The lawyer group sued thousands of BitTorrent users who allegedly file-shared motion pictures belonging to their clients, including the Oscar-winning Hurt Locker. However, it turns out that USCG are not copyright purists either, as they have blatantly copied the website of a competitor without permission.
http://torrentfreak.com/u-s-copyright-group-steal-competitors-website-100730/The U.S. Copyright Group (USCG) has been all over the news in recent months. The... more
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For many years movies have been released onto the Internet, trickling down the so-called ‘piracy pyramid’ from elitist and private sites. Now a new breed of release groups are starting to make waves, bringing media directly to the masses. Today we take a closer look at this scene and speak to groups on the frontline to see what makes them tick.
http://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-releasers-are-the-new-kids-on-the-piracy-block-100729/For many years movies have been released onto the Internet, trickling down the... more
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An anti-piracy group has revealed that when it comes to shutting down torrent sites, it is the undisputed king of the Internet. BREIN, which works on behalf of the Hollywood movie studios, says that not only has it shut down several Usenet indexers and streaming sites already in 2010, but hundreds of torrent sites too. There is also torrent site carnage going on in The Netherlands.
http://torrentfreak.com/anti-piracy-group-stuns-the-world-with-torrent-site-massacre-100715/An anti-piracy group has revealed that when it comes to shutting down torrent sites,... more
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After their former hosting provider received an injunction telling it to stop providing bandwidth to The Pirate Bay, the worlds most resilient BitTorrent site switched to a new ISP. That host, the Swedish Pirate Party, made a stand on principle. Now they aim to take things further by running the site from inside the Swedish Parliament.
http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-party-to-run-tpb-from-parliament-010702/After their former hosting provider received an injunction telling it to stop... more
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While they may never be able to truly defeat piracy and drive it from the lurking depths of the internet, copyright protection attack-dog organizations like the RIAA and MPAA have long dreamed of the day when they would no longer have to pay for their own copyright enforcement. Now that dream is on the verge of coming true, thanks to the Obama administration.
After countless lobbyist dollars from the music and film industry and a brief "public review", the administration rolled out its vision to fight piracy yesterday afternoon. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden -- whose blunt speech has sometime left him in trouble -- did not mince words.
He states, "This is theft, clear and simple. It's smash and grab, no different than a guy walking down Fifth Avenue and smashing the window at Tiffany's and reaching in and grabbing what's in the window."
The sound-byte comparing downloads to stealing jewels from New York City's finest jeweler quickly lit up the web. Bob Pisano, interim chief executive officer at the Motion Picture Association of America praised the VP, "It is especially critical that the United States has an effective framework for protecting creative content online and enforcing intellectual property rights in the digital environment."
According to the Obama administration, the RIAA, and MPAA, the world economy is pretty much doomed if we don't start prosecuting pirates at home and abroad. Without such a crackdown, businesses will go bankrupt the coalition argues. Biden states, "Piracy hurts, it hurts our economy."
Interestingly, the statements seem to fly in the face of a recent Government Accountability Office study released to U.S. Congress earlier this year, which concluded that there is virtually no evidence for the claimed million dollar losses by the entertainment industry. That study suggested that piracy could even benefit the economy.
Another noteworthy study from three years back notes that virtually every citizen violates intellectual property laws in some way on a daily basis.
The White House press release was full of buzz phrases, but short on details. It did however indicate that the U.S. government may increasingly monitor filesharing networks and BitTorrent sites and assist media groups in their prosecution/threat letter efforts. It speaks of improved "law enforcement efforts at the Federal, state and local level."
The biggest effort, though, will be devoted to cracking down on piracy websites in the U.S. and overseas. The administration was short on details of how exactly it would convince piracy-loving nations like China to change their ways, but it did say it would try to do so by "being as public as we possibly can" about infringement.
The press release states, "As we shine the spotlight on foreign governments that have rogue actors doing illicit business within their borders, it's the government's responsibility to respond."
Such efforts have shown mild success. After lots of threats against the Swedish government by the U.S., the European Union nation finally tried admins with the nation's largest torrent site The Pirate Bay last year and found them guilty. The trial was later exposed to be a perversion of the justice system, with the judge who gave the verdict have multiple ties to copyright protection organizations. The verdict -- $3M USD in damages and a year of hard prison time for the admins -- is currently being appealed.
The White House's vision is perhaps a prelude to the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, which will go before Congress later this year. The bill would make P2P or BitTorrent client development a criminal offense if the distributed software was used for infringement. It also implements an interesting provision called "imminent infringement", which allows the government to charge people who they think might be about to infringe with a civil offense (for example if you searched "torrent daft punk"). This is among the first official "thought crime" provisions to be proposed by the U.S. government. The bill also makes it a criminal offense to bypass DRM.
Ultimately, it should be interesting to see how American taxpayers react to President Obama's decision to spend their money on efforts to prosecute them and try to choke out piracy at home and abroad, particularly when the current evidence is inconclusive of its effects. One thing's for sure, though. Top politicians on both sides of the aisle are firmly behind the music and movie industry anti-piracy and money-collection efforts
Guess were starting a war on media piracy next?While they may never be able to truly defeat piracy and drive it from the lurking... more
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In response to the country’s “3 strikes” Hadopi legislation, last week a French ISP began offering a service to block file-sharing on customer connections for ‘just’ 2 euros per month. It didn’t take long for awful vulnerabilities in the system to be found which breached not only the privacy of subscribers, but exposed them to new security threats.
France’s big, bad, scary Hadopi legislation and the systematic tracing, monitoring, reporting and disconnecting of file-sharers is all but here, so it seems there’s no better time for other companies to start making money from it.
Last week saw French ISP Orange take the opportunity to start providing a service which, at least on the surface, is designed to put the minds of subscribers at rest. For a 2 euro per month payment, Orange is offering a service which “allows you to control the activity of computers connected to your internet line, from downloading ‘illegally’ using peer-to-peer networks. You can protect up to three computers connected to the same internet line.”
The software, which is Windows-only, runs in the background and utilizes a blacklist maintained and updated by Orange. Precisely what is on that blacklist remains a secret.
http://torrentfreak.com/isp-attempts-to-block-file-sharing-ends-results-in-epic-failure-100614/In response to the country’s “3 strikes” Hadopi legislation, last... more
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Voltage Pictures and the US Copyright Group are teaming up to sue "tens of thousands" of P2P users who downloaded the film The Hurt Locker illegally. A lawyer from the group confirmed the studio's plans to the Hollywood Reporter Wednesday, noting that the scope of this lawsuit is much more far-reaching than the copyright group's past pursuits.
The Hurt Locker, like many other Hollywood films, was leaked onto BitTorrent months before its official release in theaters. It wasn't a particularly high-grossing film—it only made $16 million—but it did end up winning six Oscars. Undoubtedly, the film's early leak online combined with the relatively low earnings is part of the reason Voltage and the US Copyright Group decided to sue. The lawsuit has not yet been filed, but the firm expects it to happen later today.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/05/hurt-locker-torrenters-prepare-to-be-sued.arsVoltage Pictures and the US Copyright Group are teaming up to sue "tens of... more
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The new release of MechWarrior 4 has crashed the game maker’s distribution servers. The central distribution server collapsed last weekend when tens of thousands of people attempted to download the free game. To distribute the game to the public effectively and without issues, the game’s makers will now switch to BitTorrent exclusively.
http://torrentfreak.com/game-maker-switches-to-bittorrent-after-server-crash-100505/The new release of MechWarrior 4 has crashed the game maker’s distribution... more
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Following the announcement that Hans Pandeya is having a second shot at buying The Pirate Bay after last year’s failed attempt, it appears he has a rival bid. Media reports state that the GGF boss will now buy the site for $10 million, but TorrentFreak has managed to get $11 million together and will buy the site tomorrow afternoon at 3pm.
http://torrentfreak.com/torrentfreak-to-buy-pirate-bay-for-11-million-100428/Following the announcement that Hans Pandeya is having a second shot at buying The... more
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Last year, The Pirate Bay moved to an ISP that has facilities located in a former NATO nuclear bunker. It has operated with them successfully for some time but we can now reveal that Hollywood movie studios are threatening the ISP with a legal strike over its servicing of TPB and several other sites. The ISP’s owner, however, is in no mood to capitulate.
http://torrentfreak.com/movie-studios-threaten-strike-on-pirate-bay-nuclear-bunker-100422/Last year, The Pirate Bay moved to an ISP that has facilities located in a former NATO... more
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A report released by the Government Accountability Office questions Hollywood’s billion dollar losses claims, citing a lack of evidence as the main reason for the doubts. On the other hand, the Congress-commissioned report emphasizes that piracy may also benefit the entertainment industries and third parties.
The PRO-IP Act is a United Stated law that aims to combat copyright infringement by increasing civil and criminal penalties for offenders. As part of the Act, Congress has instructed the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to quantify the impact of piracy on the economy. The results of this investigation have now been published in a report.
The report puts the claimed ‘massive losses’ by the entertainment industries in a different light. After having interviewed many experts and plowed through the relevant literature, GAO writes that it cannot make any solid conclusions about the financial effect piracy has on the economy as a whole.
http://torrentfreak.com/u-s-government-recognizes-benefits-of-piracy-100413/A report released by the Government Accountability Office questions Hollywood’s... more
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While the UK Government had passed its new plans to combat illegal file-sharing, one of the country’s most prominent rock stars said he doesn’t mind people sharing his songs. Former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher used to copy music himself and says he hates “all these big silly rock stars who moan” about piracy.
http://torrentfreak.com/liam-gallagher-hates-rock-stars-moaning-about-piracy-100414/While the UK Government had passed its new plans to combat illegal file-sharing, one... more
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The Pirate Party of the UK has released its list of candidates for the forthcoming national elections. The ten candidates, spread across England and Scotland, were announced by the party executives earlier this week, along with a plea for funding to help contest the election.
http://torrentfreak.com/uk-pirate-party-announces-2010-election-lineup-100402/The Pirate Party of the UK has released its list of candidates for the forthcoming... more
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It’s been exactly one year since the introduction of the controversial IPRED anti-piracy legislation in Sweden and it has been a great success for everyone involved. Not only have legitimate online media availability and sales increased, piracy has both increased and decreased, pirates have been left alone and VPN providers are doing a roaring trade.
A year ago today, Sweden introduced its highly controversial IPRED legislation designed to make it easier find and take action against illicit file-sharers.
The entertainment industries, who were hugely in favor of the new law, said it would lead to decreases in illegal file-sharing, boost online availability of media and encourage citizens to spend money legitimately in official online stores.
http://torrentfreak.com/happy-birthday-ipred-the-best-anti-piracy-law-ever-100401/It’s been exactly one year since the introduction of the controversial IPRED... more
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After losing its High Court case against several Hollywood movie studios yesterday, Usenet indexing site Newzbin has responded angrily. They say that their defeat was the result of flawed evidence and the unfair legal might of the MPA, and have slammed the studios’ broken business model and monopolistic commercial practices.
Following a case brought by Twentieth Century Fox, Universal, Warner Bros., Paramount, Disney, Columbia Pictures, yesterday Usenet indexer Newzbin lost its High Court case.
Newzbin was found liable for copyright infringement and will later this week discover the terms of an injunction which will forbid it from indexing movies and TV shows to which the above complainants own the copyrights.
“We are very disappointed with the judgment,” said Newzbin in a statement emailed to TorrentFreak. “Regrettably the court has accepted the distorted and flawed evidence that Hollywood presented.”
http://torrentfreak.com/newzbin-slams-movie-studios-after-court-defeat-100330/After losing its High Court case against several Hollywood movie studios yesterday,... more
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In what looks like it may be a repeat of the RIAA’s litigation against individual music piraters, Eriq Gardner at THR, Esq. is reporting that over 20,000 movie torrent downloaders have been sued recently for copyright infringement by US Copyright Group in Washington D.C. federal court. Five lawsuits have been filed against people who illegally downloaded the films Steam Experiment, Far Cry, Uncross the Stars, Gray Man, and Call of the Wild 3D. Lawsuits on behalf of five more films targeting another 30,000 people are on the way.
According to Gardner, US Copyright Group is utilizing proprietary technology from a company called Guardaley IT which allows them to see which movies are being downloaded via torrent in real-time. The Group is suing on behalf of a coalition of independent film producers (not on behalf of the MPAA, which nonetheless expressed interest in using the technology).
Read more: U.S. Copyright Group Sues 20,000 Individual Movie Torrent Downloaders; Lawsuits Targeting 30,000 More Are On The Way | /Film http://www.slashfilm.com/2010/03/30/us-copyright-group-sues-20000-individual-movie-torrent-downloaders-lawsuits-targeting-30000-more-are-on-the-way/#ixzz0jiu4PLGEIn what looks like it may be a repeat of the RIAA’s litigation against... more
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Over the years would-be game pirates have been targeted in a number of ways such as through draconian DRM schemes and even viruses. Now it appears that file-sharers who thought they were going to download a high-profile interactive erotic novel have been instead treated to a security and privacy breach of epic proportions.
http://torrentfreak.com/fake-game-installer-punishes-pirates-via-epic-privacy-breach-100323/Over the years would-be game pirates have been targeted in a number of ways such as... more
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In a desperate cry for media attention, the filmmakers behind the flopped Danish movie Winnie & Karina have accused Piratgruppen of stealing their film. In two libelous press releases they fabricated a piracy threat from the local group of copyright critics, hoping to draw attention to the upcoming DVD-release.
http://torrentfreak.com/filmmakers-fake-piracy-threat-to-boost-sales-100324/In a desperate cry for media attention, the filmmakers behind the flopped Danish movie... more
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