Tuesday, December 24, 2019

TorrentFreak's Latest News

 

Dutch Filmworks Takes Quest to Identify Alleged Pirates to the Supreme Court
Ernesto, 25 Dec 06:13 AM

Piracy settlement letters have become a serious threat in countries all round the world.

Until now, Dutch Internet users have been spared from this practice but local movie distributor Dutch Filmworks would like that to change.

Two years ago the company received permission from the Dutch Data Protection Authority to track the IP-addresses of BitTorrent users who shared pirated movies.

However, that was only the first hurdle. The next step was to identify the subscribers behind the IP-addresses and Dutch Internet provider Ziggo didn't want to share any customer data without a court order.

The case went to court, where the movie company requested the personal details of 377 account holders whose addresses were used to share a copy of "The Hitman's Bodyguard".

This didn't go as planned for Dutch FilmWorks. In February, the Central Netherlands Court denied the company's request for data and last month the Court of Appeal reached the same conclusion.

Both courts concluded that Dutch Filmworks' plans lacked transparency and it's not clear what the movie company plans to do with the personal data it obtains. Dutch Filmworks said that it could either warn subscribers or request damages, but the criteria remain a guess.

It also remains unclear how large the proposed settlements will be. An initial figure of €150 per infringement was mentioned in the past, but this number could also be significantly higher.

The movie company is unhappy with both verdicts and told the Dutch newspaper NRC that it will take the matter to the Supreme Court. This means that the 377 account holders from ISP Ziggo remain at risk.

In theory, it's not impossible to obtain an order compelling Dutch Internet providers to hand over personal details of accused pirates. However, the previous verdicts make it clear that Dutch Filmworks has to come with a concrete plan.

Ultimately, the Supreme Court must find a balance between the privacy rights of subscribers and Dutch Filmworks' intellectual property rights. When there's too much uncertainty for accused subscribers, their rights tend to weigh stronger.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons.

Hive-CM8 is Looking For Frozen 2 and Star Wars Screeners
Ernesto, 24 Dec 07:19 PM

At the end of the year, movie industry insiders traditionally receive the screener copies that are used to vote on the Oscars and other awards.

As is tradition, quite a few of these advance screeners will leak on various pirate sites. Last Christmas, the first screeners had yet to leak, but this year pirates got their presents early.

The first screener copy that leaked last week was 'Uncut Gems,' which was soon followed by 'Portrait of a Lady on Fire.' This week 'JoJo Rabbit' followed, and just a few hours ago a copy of 'A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood' appeared online.

The movies came out via release groups EVO and Hive-CM8, which both have a track record of getting their hands on these screeners.

Hive-CM8 has drawn considerable attention in the past due to the timing and volume of its releases. Four years ago high-quality copies of some of the hottest Hollywood productions appeared online, with some titles even beating their official theatrical releases.

This sparked outrage from Hollywood and an unprecedented apology from Hive-CM8. Going forward, the group promised not to release any movies too early. And indeed, in the three years that followed, leaks came later and in lower numbers.

However, that doesn't mean that the group plans to stay away from blockbuster titles entirely. In the notes that come with today's release of A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Hive-CM8 specifically fishes for some top titles.

"We are looking for frozen/star wars/1917/knives out. Who wants to be the hero that can get that for us?" the group writes.

While that may sound appealing to some people, it also shows that the group doesn't have access to these screeners yet. This means that it's very possible that they won't leak at all.

Last year, Hive-CM8 called upon the public to help them get Creed 2, Destroyer, Mortal Engines, Frontrunner, Vox Lux, and Marven. However, of these screeners only Destroyer made it onto pirate sites.

Needless to say, there is quite a bit of risk involved with these leaks. People who share them through BitTorrent are already at risk, but the sources of these leaks are prime candidates for criminal investigations.

Despite changing its release schedule to accommodate Hollywood, Hive-CM8 shows no intention of halting its activities. It apparently has its security in order and mentions that protecting sources is its main goal.

"We will remove all kind of watermarks and digital tracers. If its not possible or suspicous security they wont get out, there is no need to do every title if its not secure enough, we dont want to burn a source [sic]," the group writes.

That said, Hollywood and enforcement agencies are certainly keeping a close eye.

Last year, the number of screener releases reached an all-time low with 'just' eight making their way to pirate sites. Thus far the count is at four this year.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons.

Crisis Looms as YouTube Faces Permanent Blocking by Russian ISPs
Andy, 24 Dec 10:25 AM

As the most popular video hosting platform on the Internet, YouTube is awash with both legal and unlicensed content. However, since the company is responsive to copyright complaints, it is largely protected by the safe harbor provisions of the DMCA.

The system is far from perfect and is nowhere near comprehensive. False positives, abusive copyright claims and the sheer volume of uploads make it almost impossible to police the platform to a standard acceptable to everyone. The same can be said of the Internet has a whole but with automated and manual takedown tools, YouTube does what it can.

One copyright holder that isn't happy with YouTube's efforts is Russian publishing giant Eksmo and its anti-piracy partner AZAPI, the Association for the Protection of Copyright in the Internet. It says the YouTube system "does not always work" so has decided to step up its efforts to protects its clients' rights.

As a result, Eksmo recently filed a court case against YouTube and the video platform of local search giant Yandex, claiming that the sites offer pirated audio copies of the sci-fi novel 'The Three-Body Problem' by the Chinese author Liu Cixin.

The December complaint was initially rejected due to lack of evidence but on appeal, the Moscow City Court has now ruled that YouTube and Yandex.video must remove the content or face having it blocked by local ISPs. According to a report by local news outlet Vedomosti, the content in question still exists on both platforms.

According to a statement from the Moscow City Court published by TASS on Monday, it has now taken preliminary measures against both sites.

"The court ordered Yandex.video and YouTube to remove the link to the Cixin audiobook. As a security measure, the court imposed a block on this material on both hosting sites," the press service said.

The Court spokesperson had no comment on the potential for YouTube or Yandex.video to be permanently blocked in Russia but it appears that AZAPI has plans for just that.

"We are ready to go to court using other books. If the complaints are satisfied, we can insist on the eternal blocking of Yandex.Video and YouTube in Russia," AZAPI chief Maxim Ryabyko informs Vedomosti.

AZAPI represents the interests of Russia's biggest publishers so the possibility for additional complaints is substantial. What remains unclear is the standard to which YouTube is being held. If the site receives a valid copyright complaint against a specific URL, it usually removes the content in a timely manner. However, that doesn't necessarily prevent the same content from being uploaded again. At least from AZAPI's perspective, this appears to be a case of repeat infringement.

"There were situations even when, after making a court ruling, we continued to find controversial copies on this platform," Ryabyko says.

From the limited comments available, AZAPI seems to be demanding a "takedown, staydown" arrangement in response to its complaints, something which goes beyond Google's responsibilities under the DMCA.

Whether AZAPI's threats are ultimately designed to bring YouTube to the negotiating table is unclear but having the site blocked in Russia seems like the nuclear option, particularly when YouTube offers a number of special tools that may help to prevent further infringement.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons.

 
 
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