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ISPs and Rightsholders Unite to Block Pirate Sites in GermanyErnesto Van der Sar, 11 Mar 04:46 PM ISP blocking has become a prime measure for the en

ISPs and Rightsholders Unite to Block Pirate Sites in Germany Ernesto Van der Sar, 11 Mar 04:46 PM ISP blocking has become a prime measure for the entertainment industries to limit the availability of pirate sites on the Internet. In recent years thousands of domain names have been blocked throughout Europe, Asia, Latin America, and even Down Under. In most countries, these blockades are handed down by courts. However, extrajudicial schemes and voluntary agreements between Internet providers and copyright holders are no exception. This is also true for Germany, where a new plan was unveiled today. Clearing Body for Copyright on the Internet A coalition of the country's largest ISPs and copyright holder groups launched the "Clearing Body for Copyright on the Internet" (CUII) which aims to block the most blatant pirate sites. While CUII doesn't rely on court judgments, there is some form of oversight. When copyright holders report a pirate site, a review committee first checks whether the domain is indeed linked to a website that structurally infringes copyrights. The review committee consists of retired judges who are familiar with copyright matters. If they conclude that a domain is structurally infringing, the matter is referred to the German government's Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) to confirm that a blockade will not violate net neutrality. If there are no problematic issues detected, ISPs will have the green light to implement a DNS blockade. Structurally Infringing Sites The definition of a structurally infringing website can be open to interpretation but only the most blatant pirate sites will be targeted. As concrete examples, CUII mentions thepiratebay.org, kinox.to and goldesel.to. "The offerings of these platforms are specifically targeted at the infringement of copyrighted works. If there is legal content on the platform, its size is not significant in the overall ratio of legal to illegal content," CUII writes. While the referenced sites are likely candidates to be blocked, the first domain name on the list is the streaming portal S.to, according to a press release from BNetzA. This site is already blocked by Vodafone. ISPs and Rightsholders Are Pleased Both copyright holders and Internet providers are happy with the landmark code of conduct, which is the result of a lengthy negotiation process. The ISP's are pleased with the oversight from BNetzA, which ensures that net neutrality isn't violated. At the same time, they are happy to draw a line under a decade of court battles. "With the establishment of the Clearing Body, we have jointly found a way to obtain independent, and, at the same time, extremely high-quality decisions on how to deal with copyright blocking claims against Internet access providers," says Judith Steinbrecher, who assisted ISPs in the negotiations. No Silver Bullet The establishment of the CUII means that it will become more difficult for German Internet users to access pirate sites. However, it won't solve the piracy problem completely. As noted by the German news site Tarnkappe, DNS blockades can be easily circumvented by switching to Google or Cloudflare's DNS server, or people may simply use a VPN. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. Operators of Pirate Site 'Movie-Blog' Convicted, ACE Seizes Domains Andy Maxwell, 11 Mar 11:04 AM In October 2019, coordinated raids in Germany, France, and the Netherlands, shut down Share-Online.biz, Germany's largest file-hosting site. Local anti-piracy outfit GVU noted that this was the first time that the operators of a file-hosting platform had been targeted in a criminal procedure. Evelyn Ruttke, Managing Director of GVU, added that linking sites – including DDL-Warez, Boerse, Movie-Blog and MyGully – played a part in allowing users to access pirated content stored on Share-Online. Alliance for Creativity Targets Movie-Blog In November 2020, TorrentFreak learned that global anti-piracy coalition Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) had obtained DMCA subpoenas in the United States compelling the Tonic domain registry to hand over whatever information it held on around two dozen 'pirate' sites. The list included ddl-warez.to, boerse.to and movie-blog.to, which had all been previously linked to Share-Online by GVU. Earlier this week, TorrentFreak learned that several domains operated by Movie-Blog (movie-blog.org, movie-blog.sx and movie-blog.tv) had begun redirecting to the ACE anti-piracy portal, a clear sign that nothing good had come of the platform. ACE now provides information explaining why they are in control of the domains and what led to their seizure. ACE Supported Criminal Investigation ACE, which represents the interests of dozens of major content companies (including the studios of the MPA), says a criminal investigation into Movie-Blog took place, leading to substantial law enforcement action. The site was pulling in an estimated 65 million visitors per year, so was a fairly successful operation. Two individuals were eventually charged by the public prosecutor with massive copyright infringement. This led to their conviction last month at the Aurich District Court, with the criminal proceedings spported by ACE throughout the trial. "On February 25, the Aurich Court convicted the two operators to a delayed 22-month imprisonment sentence for commercial unlawful exploitation of copyrighted works. Both must also pay fines and all seized equipment will be destroyed," an ACE statement reads. A delayed or suspended sentence means that those convicted will not necessarily see the inside of a prison cell unless other aggravating factors come into play, such as new or repeat offending. ACE Welcomes the Conviction "We applaud law enforcement's efforts to have this case brought to court as well as the conviction achieved today by the public prosecutor," says Jan van Voorn, Executive Vice President and Chief of Global Content Protection for the MPA, referencing the sentencing back in February. "As ACE continues to fight piracy by working with a strong network of global allies, we are grateful to our partners in Germany for creating a solid deterrent effect in the market. The dedication of resources to fight IP infringement supports jobs in the audiovisual sector and bolsters the local creative economy as well." Given that ACE visibly targeted the Tonic-controlled movie-blog.to domain last year, it's of interest that unlike the other variants, it doesn't yet appear to be under the anti-piracy group's control. Indeed, the domain is currently being offered for sale by GoDaddy, prices on application. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. ©2021 TorrentFreak | Office 21338 PO Box 4336 Manchester, North West M61 0BW United Kingdom Web Version   Preferences   Forward   Unsubscribe     Powered by Mad Mimi®A GoDaddy® company