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Movie, Music, Gaming & Publishing Groups Join ISPs in Deal to Block PiracyAndy Maxwell, 06 May 09:25 AM In terms of drama, excitement, politics and

Movie, Music, Gaming & Publishing Groups Join ISPs in Deal to Block Piracy Andy Maxwell, 06 May 09:25 AM In terms of drama, excitement, politics and at times pure theater, Sweden's connection with iconic file-sharing battles is unrivaled, largely due to the antics of The Pirate Bay. At least for a while, the battle lines seemed to be clearly drawn. 'Greedy' entertainment industry giants lined up on one side, with The Pirate Bay, its founders, and what felt like universal public support on the other. But as the dust of these battles began to settle, a new front opened up. ISPs – Dumb Pipes or Piracy Facilitators? As proud maintainers of non-discriminatory 'dumb pipes' that exist to facilitate the free flow of all information, many ISPs in Sweden stood strong while distancing themselves from the copyright infringements of their customers. They did not endorse illegality but for them it was a matter of principle. We don't monitor and we don't interfere. We are neutral. In 2014, a coalition of major recording and movie companies put that disconnect to the test by suing Bredbandsbolaget (Broadband Company), warning that if the ISP didn't block The Pirate Bay, it would be held liable for copyright infringement. Following a trial in 2015, Bredbandsbolaget emerged victorious and then, following an appeal, the result was reversed in 2017. Ultimately it was decided that under EU law, copyright holders can indeed obtain blocking injunctions against any ISP whose services are used to commit copyright infringement. ISP Telenor, which would later swallow up the Bredbandsbolaget business, was furious. It described the prospect of ISPs having to block websites as "a dangerous path to go down" and described website blocking as an ineffective way to stop online piracy. That was just over five years ago and, unsurprisingly, even the strongest opinions are subject to change. Faced with a relentless entertainment industry with the law on its side, Telenor and several other Swedish ISPs have now decided to team up with their former rivals to ensure that future site-blocking is carried out in the most effective way possible. Entertainment Industries and ISPs Sign Agreement The big problem for rightsholders today is the cumbersome nature of the site-blocking process – it's time-consuming and expensive. Even when an injunction orders an ISP to block a site, the order does not apply to another. Then more pirate sites appear or relocate, some with new names. What the entertainment industries really want is a process that takes much less time and eliminates wasteful repetition. It appears that major ISPs in Sweden broadly agree. As reported by Swedish anti-piracy group Rights Alliance, the entertainment industries and major ISPs have now signed an agreement to operate a simplified and more efficient process to handle blocking orders. "The industry agreement means that several internet providers are included in one and the same court case and that the parties at an earlier stage in the process exchange information about the scope of the action. The simplified process means that the court, upon application from the right holder, can focus on the core issues and decide whether a website should be blocked or not, while maintaining legal certainty," the announcement reads. Unusually yet commendably, the parties have opted for transparency. The details of the agreement are open for scrutiny and reveal what appears to be a practical arrangement. It recognizes the inevitability of injunctions in the right circumstances and the need to implement blocks efficiently while maintaining due process, court oversight, and the ability to deal with circumvention techniques. Huge Numbers of Rightsholders Involved Rather than have all rightsholders sign individually, major industry groups are their representatives in the agreement. The Motion Picture Association flies the flag for Hollywood's major studios and Netflix, while local media companies are represented by Nordic Entertainment Group, Nordisk Film Distribution, Svensk Filmindustri and TV4 Media, among several others. Recording industry giant IFPI will ensure that music is properly protected, local gaming industries will rely on Dataspelsbranschen, and the Swedish Publishers' Association will take care of members representing 70% of the local market. The ISP signatories include communications giants Tele2, Telenor and Telia, all household names in Sweden. Expansion and Future Goals The published agreement also makes it clear that further expansion is planned and encouraged, applying equally to rightsholders and ISPs. Prospective members will be subject to conditions but given that they could play a role in changing the law, supporters are unlikely to be in short supply. "The parties to the agreement have also agreed to jointly strive for new and clear legislation for administrative blocking in Sweden," Rights Alliance notes, referencing systems in other countries that can block sites in a matter of days. The documents relating to the agreement can be found here (1,2,3) From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. Filmmakers Target Thousands of Alleged BitTorrent 'Pirates' in Canada Ernesto Van der Sar, 05 May 10:20 PM Piracy lawsuits come in different shapes and sizes. Rightsholders can go after pirate site operators, ISPs, hosting companies, messenger apps, or CDN providers, for example. Another option is to target the alleged pirates more directly in court. In those cases, they often offer a quick settlement to make the case go away. These so-called "copyright trolling" efforts have been a common occurrence in countries around the world. This also applies to Canada, where many cases go unnoticed by the public at large, even when thousands of people are targeted. Lawsuit Targets 1,282 "Ava" Pirates Last week, we spotted a message on Reddit from someone who received some legal paperwork from the law firm Aird & Berlis. The firm works for the film company Eve Nevada, which holds rights to the film Ava. "I just received a Statement of Claim today from Aird & Berlis LLP by registered mail. They are alleging I downloaded the movie Ava," the poster writes, asking for advice on how to handle this. Some suggest simply ignoring the letter while others recommend using a VPN in the future. However, the latter option not going to help now that the filmmaker's lawyers already know who they are dealing with. As it turns out, the Redditor is one of the 1,282 account holders targeted in a statement of claim filed at the Toronto federal court last year. Initially, these "Doe" defendants were only known by an IP-address. The IP addresses were captured by forensic software that monitored public BitTorrent swarms sharing Ava. The rightsholder then sent a piracy notice to the associated ISP, hoping that the infringing activity would stop. Two Advance Warnings Apparently, that didn't happen. And after a second notice didn't have any effect, the IP address was added to the claim. "This Second Notice indicated that the work had not been removed and that legal action may be taken as against such Defendant. The Defendant failed or refused to respond to the Second Notice and has continued his or her Unlawful Acts," the statement of claim explained. Eve Nevada eventually went ahead and obtained a Norwich Order, requiring the associated ISPs to identify the accounts linked to these IP-addresses. TorrentFreak contacted Canadian ISP Teksavvy which confirmed receiving an order to identify subscribers late last year. The ISP was legally obliged to comply with this order and it informed the affected subscribers via email that their details were being shared with the film company. "Simply put, we needed to comply with the court's Order. In other words, since we were ordered to disclose your name and address to the Plaintiff," Teksavvy wrote to the affected subscribers. "Unfortunately, now that they know your name and address, the Plaintiff can use it to advance their claim against you," the ISP added. From TekSavvy's Notification Template The Redditor was one of the identified account holders. After their personal details were shared, the filmmaker's law firm eventually followed up late last month via registered mail. While some people may be inclined to disregard the legal paperwork as spam, it can lead to some serious trouble. In the past, some of these cases have led to settlements of thousands of dollars, so contacting a lawyer is definitely advised. 4,006 "Hitman" Pirates Targeted Too The Eve Nevada case is not the only one active at the moment. Earlier this year, Hitman Two Productions, which owns the rights to "The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard," filed a statement of claim targeting 4,006 IP-addresses. TekSavvy informs TorrentFreak that it hasn't been informed about a Norwich Order referencing this case yet. However, the ISP was asked to preserve several relevant notices, which it will do for a period of 12 months after they were initially sent. How many of the targeted account holders will eventually end up settling is unknown. However, the statement of claim suggests that even those who didn't share any infringing material might be held accountable for the infringements of third-parties. "In this regard, the Plaintiff pleads that each Defendant possessed sufficient control over the use of his or her internet account and associated computers and internet devices such that he or she authorized, sanctioned, approved or countenanced the infringements as particularized herein, including by engaging in the Unlawful Acts." Unnoticed? It is important to occasionally shine a light on these mass legal campaigns. They can target thousands of alleged pirates with a single claim, which can cause serious trouble for the people involved. This particular case also highlights another potential issue. The Redditor claims that they never received any warnings from TekSavvy. Nor did this person see the email from the ISP, informing them that their personal details would be shared. We don't doubt that TekSavvy sent these emails, but it is certainly possible that the ISP had an outdated email address on file. In that case, the initial warnings over email never arrived. This should serve as a warning to keep one's contact information updated. — A copy of the Statement of Claim from Eve Nevada is available here (pdf). The docket for the Hitman Two Productions case can be found here. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. ©2022 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