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VPN Service will Block BitTorrent and Keep Logs to Settle Piracy LawsuitErnesto Van der Sar, 11 Oct 11:56 AM A group of movie production outfits, in

VPN Service will Block BitTorrent and Keep Logs to Settle Piracy Lawsuit Ernesto Van der Sar, 11 Oct 11:56 AM A group of movie production outfits, including affiliates of the film studios Millennium Media and Voltage Pictures, filed a lawsuit against VPN.ht in March. The companies accused the VPN provider of promoting the piracy app Popcorn Time to its users, noting that a VPN.ht IP-address was repeatedly used to share pirated films. After filing the original complaint, the copyright holders increased the pressure. They obtained a temporary restraining order that required PayPal to freeze the assets of VPN.ht's operating company Wicked Technology Limited. VPN.ht Fights, then Settles This order was a major setback for Wicked Technology and its owner, an Algerian citizen named Mohamed Faouani, who hoped to turn things around. In a motion to dismiss filed in May, the defendants argued that they are not subject to the jurisdiction of the Virginia federal court. Wicked Technology and its owner are represented by attorney Benjamin Maskell, who stresses that VPN.ht didn't specifically target people in the state. In fact, Faouani had never heard about Virginia before he was sued. "Faouani has never traveled to the United States, and had never heard of the state of Virginia prior to this lawsuit. He does not have an interest in, use, or possess any real property in Virginia. He has not transacted any business in Virginia or contracted to supply services or things in Virginia." As the case appeared to head towards a 'jurisdiction' battle, both sides came together behind the scenes to resolve the matter out of court. In August, the parties already informed the court that they were working on a settlement, which has since been finalized. Blocking BitTorrent and Keeping Logs The movie companies agreed to drop their claims against Wicked Technology, VPN.ht Limited, and Mr. Faouani in exchange for a far-reaching injunction. This proposed order and injunction was approved by Virginia District Court Judge Rossie D. Alston Jr. recently. The VPN service will, among other things, prevent its subscribers from using the BitTorrent protocol on its US-based servers. This blockade is independent of the nature of the traffic, which could also be non-infringing. "Within 30 days of entry of this order, the Wicked Entities are ORDERED to use their best efforts to implement technological measures designed to prevent subscribers of the VPN.ht VPN service from using the BitTorrent protocol with Wicked's VPN servers in the United States." In addition to blocking BitTorrent traffic, the defendants also agree to store IP-address logs of the IP-addresses that are linked to its US servers. These logs will have to be stored for at least a year and should be able to point to specific users. "Said log records shall include the identification information of the subscriber as stored in the records for the Wicked Entities," the injunction reads. Disclosing Logs While the above will already spook quite a few VPN subscribers, the injunction goes even further. VPN.ht also agreed to disclose the relevant logs when the movie companies notice that a VPN subscriber uses the service to pirate one of their films. "In the event that Plaintiffs have confirmed infringement of the copyright protected works set forth in Exhibit 1 to the Amended Complaint (Dkt. 7) by a subscriber to Wicked's VPN, and upon request by Plaintiffs, the Wicked Entities shall provide to Plaintiffs the log entries pertaining to such subscriber in respect of the claimed infringement." IF VPN.ht accurately blocks all BitTorrent traffic on its US servers, the movie companies should be able to identify any pirates in these log entries. That said, the agreement is a clear sign that VPN.ht's no-log policy no longer applies to its entire network. Looking at the VPN.ht website we don't see these changes reflected in the company's privacy policy yet. We are not sure whether its US-based servers are still operational, however, and VPN.ht didn't immediately reply to our request for comment. PayPal Unfrozen The order and injunction also come with some good news for VPN.ht and its owner. Their previously frozen PayPal accounts are now unlocked. In addition, all other restrictions that were part of a preliminary injunction are lifted as well. Most importantly perhaps, all copyright infringement claims against Wicked Technology, VPN.ht Limited, and Mr. Faouani are dismissed. This means that the lawsuit now only lists the anonymous operators of Popcorntime.app as defendants. A copy of the order and injunction, signed by Virginia District Court Judge Rossie D. Alston Jr., is available here. VPN.ht is not the only VPN service to be targeted with a piracy lawsuit this year. Several others, including Surfshark, VPN Unlimited, Zenmate, PIA and ExpressVPN are targeted in similar cases. There is no indication that these other providers are considering a settlement. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. Megaupload Lawsuits Remain in Limbo After Nearly 10 Years Passed Ernesto Van der Sar, 10 Oct 09:58 PM Ten years ago, online streaming hadn't fully caught on yet and Netflix still had dozens of active DVD-mailing locations throughout the United States. Streaming piracy was relatively new as well with most 'pirates' still downloading movies from torrent sites or cyberlockers. While cyberlockers have plenty of legal uses, copyright holders viewed most of these services as pirate portals. This included Megaupload, which was by far the largest platform in this business. Dark Clouds Looming In hindsight, the end of 2011 was a crucial period. Megaupload was more popular than ever, something highlighted in the "Megaupload Song", an unprecedented PR campaign featuring P Diddy, Will.i.am, Alicia Keys, Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, Kim Kardashian, Floyd Mayweather, and other stars. What Megaupload and its founder Kim Dotcom didn't know was that, at the same time, U.S. law enforcement was gearing up to bring the site down. A few weeks later, hundreds of Megaupload servers were seized while Dotcom's mansion in New Zealand was raided in a military-style operation. Fierce Extradition Battle The U.S. Department of Justice teamed up with New Zealand police and hoped that Dotcom and several other Megaupload defendants would be swiftly extradited. That was idle hope. The Megaupload defendants fiercely contested the extradition request, which they are still doing to this day. After spending millions of dollars in legal fees, the end of this process is still nowhere in sight. Without extraditions, the criminal proceeding in the U.S. remains pending and the latest update in the court docket dates back five years. RIAA and MPA Cases Postponed This delay also affects the civil cases filed by the RIAA and the MPAA, which plan to hold the Megaupload defendants liable for millions in music and movie piracy damages respectively. Since the civil cases can potentially influence the criminal proceedings, Megaupload's legal team previously asked to put these cases on hold, and last week they requested another extension, which was swiftly granted by the federal court in Virginia. With no objections from the MPA and RIAA, it is no surprise that the stay until April 2022 was granted. If anything, these motions serve as a bi-annual reminder of the lack of progress in the Megaupload case. The extradition process in New Zealand may very well continue for several more years. And in the event that the defendants are extradited, it will take much longer before the criminal case concludes. This means that 2022 may eventually become, 2023, 2025, 2032, and so on. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. Supreme Court Denies to Hear Prenda Lawyer's 'Piracy Honeypot' Appeal Ernesto Van der Sar, 10 Oct 01:33 PM In 2019, a U.S. District Court in Minnesota sentenced Paul Hansmeier to 14 years in prison, to be followed by two years of supervised release. Hansmeier was a key player in the Prenda Law firm, which pursued cases against people who were suspected of downloading pirated porn videos via BitTorrent. Hansmeier and fellow attorney John Steele went a step further though. Among other things they lied to the courts, committed identity theft, and concocted a scheme to upload their own torrents to The Pirate Bay, creating a honeypot for the people they later sued over pirated downloads. Appeal Fails Both attorneys pleaded guilty but Hansmeier reserved the right to appeal his failed motion to dismiss. The former attorney hoped for a better outcome. However, earlier this year the United States Court of Appeals affirmed the ruling, including the $1.5 million in restitution for the victims of the piracy honeypot scheme. This setback wasn't the end of the road though. Hansmeier continued to push back and filed several lawsuits, listing several federal defendants including U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota Anders Folk, among others. With these cases, Hansmeier attempts to legitimize the honeypot scheme, which he actually restarted from prison to make his point. In addition, he asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his appeal. Supreme Court Hansmeier petitioned the Supreme Court in July. According to the filing, there is a split among the lower courts on an important "materiality" issue that's central to his mail fraud and wire fraud conviction. While the former Prenda attorney doesn't deny that he trapped copyright infringers and failed to disclose crucial information to courts, the petition questions whether this can be qualified as an actionable scheme to defraud. This week, the Supreme Court decided not to take on the case. Hansmeier's petition was denied without further comment, which effectively closes this appeal option. The denial is another setback for Hansmeier, who continues to push back. In the civil cases, he accuses the authorities of actively hindering his legal efforts to challenge the criminal mail fraud, wire fraud, and extortion statutes In several filings, written from prison, the former attorney accuses the federal defendants of retaliating by putting him in administrative detention. Apparently, Hansmeier was thrown in "the hole" soon after he targeted several federal defendants in a series of lawsuits a few months ago. These restrictions prevent him from properly serving all defendants. "Within one week, Bureau of Prison officials placed Hansmeier in administrative detention, a/k/a the 'Hole', while BOP officials 'investigated' the above-captioned cases. Hansmeier has remained in administrative detention of 96 days and counting, while this 'investigation' continues," Hansmeier informed the court two weeks ago. "As a result of the foregoing illegal retaliation, Hansmeier has been unable to further his service efforts. As an administrative detainee, Hansmeier has access to food, water, a legal pad, a 4-inch pen, and not much else." Hansmeier asks for more time to serve all defendants. At the time of writing, the court has yet to respond to this request. However, it's clear that the convicted attorney is not giving up easily. Steele Prepares for Release The above stands in sharp contrast with how Hansmeier's former colleague John Steele approached the matter. Steele cooperated with the authorities from the start and received a reduced prison sentence of five years. According to recent court records, Steele is already planning for his release, which is less than three years away. His request for a supervised release in Arizona, where he will first be transferred to a halfway house when the time comes, was granted last month. — 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