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Manga Publishers Seek Google Analytics Data to Back $14m Piracy Damages ClaimErnesto Van der Sar, 07 Jun 12:50 PM Despite the growing availability o

Manga Publishers Seek Google Analytics Data to Back $14m Piracy Damages Claim Ernesto Van der Sar, 07 Jun 12:50 PM Despite the growing availability of legal options, online piracy remains rampant. In Japan, manga comics are a particularly popular category. Publishers are attempting to deal with this issue by ramping up enforcement. This recently led to major success when a Cloudflare probe helped to shut down 13DL, Japan's largest pirate site. These enforcement efforts are intensifying but they are not new. Back in 2019, Japanese authorities arrested the operator of Mangamura, one of the leading manga pirate sites at the time. Mangamura had only been around for roughly two years but according to Japan-based anti-piracy group CODA, it caused well over $2 billion in damages to the local manga industry. The operator of the site, Romi Hoshino, was held responsible and eventually pleaded guilty in a criminal prosecution. In 2021 the Fukuoka District Court sentenced Hoshino to three years in prison and more $650,000 in fines. This is a serious sentence, no doubt, but the publishers weren't done yet. Publishers Demand Millions in Piracy Damages Last summer, manga publishers Kodakawa, Shogakukan, and Shueisha filed a civil lawsuit against the former Mangamura operator. Together, the companies requested 1.9 billion yen in damages. That's close to US$14 million based on today's exchange rate, without taking into account the 5% interest rate on top. According to the complaint, Mangamura had around 100 million monthly visits at its peak. This arguably made it one of the largest pirate sites in history with the now 31-year-old Hoshino as the main defendant. "The monthly visits went up to 100,000,000, and based on [CODA's] calculation, the amount of the damages was estimated to be approximately 320,000,000,000 yen. Due to the large scale of the infringement, it was recognized as a social problem and named the 'worst piracy site in history'," the complaint reads. Japanese complaint (translated) This lawsuit is very much a Japanese endeavor but this week the manga publishers made an appearance at a California federal court where they requested subpoena to obtain vital information from Google and Cloudflare. Google and Cloudflare Data is Crucial Mangamura allegedly used the services of the American tech companies as part of its daily operations. The publishers believe that data from the companies could help to substantiate its claims. This includes Google Analytics data to back up the visitor numbers, for example. Similarly, Cloudflare may have traffic stats as well and both companies should be able to connect the Mangamura operation to the main defendant. "In support of the Applicants' claims in the Lawsuit, additional information would be needed to verify (a) the accuracy of the calculation of their damages claimed in the Lawsuit, and (b) the identifying information relating to Mangamura to show the connection between Mangamura and Hoshino," the subpoena request reads. "[T]he number of visits or accesses to each of the Infringing Websites and the identifying information relating to the Mangamura would be critical in the Lawsuit," the publishers add, adding that Google and Cloudflare are the only parties that can provide access to it. From the subpoena request The request was filed in court yesterday and has yet to be signed off on. In addition to the main mangamura.org domain, the less-frequently used manga-mura.net is also listed. The domains reportedly had different Google Analytics IDs. Sending a Message Whether Google and Cloudflare can deliver the requested information has yet to be seen. In any case, the publishers are determined to hold the operator of the defunct site financially responsible for the damages they suffered. The Japanese complaint mentions that Hoshino likely had help from co-conspirators but no other names are listed. The Tokyo District Court did previously fine two advertising companies for placing ads on Mangamura. Neither of these companies show up in the publishers' civil lawsuit. Despite the fact that there's only a single target in the Japanese lawsuit, the publishers hope that their legal action will eventually make other pirate site operators rethink their actions. "We hope that the lawsuit will be conveyed to operators around the world and will deter them [from pirating]," Shueisha's head of PR, Atsushi Ito, said previously. — Copies of the subpoenas requested by the three manga publishers are available here (Google/Cloudflare) and the associated application can be found here. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. Dodgy RARBG Knockoffs Thrive as Former Users Seek Refuge Ernesto Van der Sar, 06 Jun 08:58 PM Last week the popular torrent site RARBG closed its doors. The operators cited personal and financial reasons for the surprise decision, which came as a shock to many. In recent days there have been plenty of attempts to restore the old database. Some are considering the launch of new sites to keep the RARBG spirit alive but collecting metadata and copying a site's design isn't the main challenge. The shutdown is significant in the sense that a major supplier of pirated content was taken offline. Taking on that role isn't easy; it requires the right connections, technical expertise, and a willingness to risk being taken to court, or worse, thrown in jail. RARBG Clones and Copycats Despite the risks, there are plenty of RARBG-themed sites that have seen a flurry of new visitors in recent days. Some launched specifically for the occasion but others were around long before the site said farewell. What motivates people to run these sites can be difficult to identify. Some operators may believe that they're doing a good deed by harboring refugees, but there are also those that willingly try to deceive people into believing that RARBG is still operational. Over the past few days, we received multiple tips from the public claiming that RARGB.to was back online. And indeed, those who visit that URL will end up at a site that looks like RARBG. When people end up at that site using the referral site below, it may seem like the site is indeed back online. Until reality kicks in. Those who look more closely will soon realize that it's all a façade. RarGB.to isn't the same as RarBG.to and altering the text of the hyperlink, as was done here, doesn't change that fact. However, it hasn't stopped the site from welcoming millions of new users. Known Trickster Interestingly, this knockoff site isn't new. The operation has been around for years already and hijacked visitors from the original RARBG during this time. It often ended up higher in Google's search rankings, which helped it to grow to millions of monthly visitors. With RARBG gone, this number will likely skyrocket effortlessly, to potentially over a million visitors per day. While the knockoff site does offer torrents, it is merely a collection of material sourced from external sites. The copycat operation doesn't share any 'original' content and sneakily monetizes the RARBG brand, which is obviously starting to pay off now. There are many sites like this. The motivations of the people running it may be different but most claim that they simply want to 'fill the void' RARBG left behind. However, scraping torrents and links from third-party sources and wrapping them in RARBG foil does little to achieve that goal. RARBG is Gone The reality is that RARBG is not coming back. We asked the RARBG team for a comment and they confirm that there are no official proxies, mirrors, or rebuilds. The real RARBG is gone, period. But does it matter? Before we even finished the sentence above, some people will have discovered a 'new RARBG'. Apparently, this is simply how these things go. That doesn't come as a surprise, of course, as we have seen this trick play out a few times before. After all, there are plenty of KickassTorrents, Extratorrent, and Torrentz clones around today, even though the original sites have long gone. Also, the YTS website, which is arguably the largest torrent site in the web, once started as a knockoff. That site releases its 'own' branded content today, but it has privacy issues that put it into a bad light in recent years. Whether one of the RARBG copycats or clones will eventually stick is hard to predict at this point, especially since the unavoidable legal pressure has yet to kick in. One thing is for sure, however; any and all RARBG 'replacements' have absolutely nothing to do with the original site. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. Rightscorp Taps Indie Labels to Fuel New Wave of Piracy Settlement Action Andy Maxwell, 06 Jun 02:16 PM At a time when a limited number of rightsholders were demanding thousands of dollars from alleged BitTorrent pirates, Rightscorp focused on the budget end of the market. By attaching settlement demands to DMCA notices sent to ISPs, Rightscorp hoped these would be forwarded intact to subscribers. Rather than demand large sums, Rightscorp requested a relatively small amount, typically around $20, an amount payable through a dedicated portal. Not all ISPs passed the notices on but, thanks to those that did, Rightscorp believed it had a strong base to build on. Over the next few years, the plan to turn piracy into profit failed to meet its key objective. At the time, Rightscorp was a publicly listed company but was hemorrhaging money. In 2014, the company revealed a $2.2m loss for the previous year, $6.5m in losses since the company launched in 2011. After reporting even more losses a year later, Rightscorp stared into the abyss, but then a key event threw it a lifeline. A federal court in Virginia found that, by failing to take appropriate action in response to Rightscorp notices, ISP Cox Communications became liable for subscribers' copyright violations when they downloaded and shared music owned by music publisher BMG. Unprofitable But On the Money For at least five years Rightscorp had warned that ISPs risked huge liability if they failed to disconnect repeat infringers. The company hadn't been able to turn that into profit but momentum was building for companies with access to Rightscorp's historical piracy monitoring data. After being prompted by Rightscorp, the RIAA successfully sued Grande Communications and then won $1 billion in damages from Cox Communications, all underpinned by Rightscorp data. Can The Indie Market Give Rightscorp a Boost? Appeals in the above cases are still ongoing but Rightscorp's earlier warnings were proven correct. The big question now is whether Rightscorp can somehow turn that prophecy into profit. In an announcement this week, Rightscorp said that it had joined A2IM (American Association of Independent Music), a non-profit trade organization representing the independent music industry in the United States. "This collaboration aims to combat illegal peer-to-peer (P2P) torrent digital copyright theft and safeguard the rights of creators and content owners in the ever-evolving digital landscape. A2IM represents over 600 independent music labels and businesses, advocating for their rights and fostering a sustainable and vibrant independent music sector," Rightscorp's announcement reads. Rightscorp says it joined A2IM with the intention to "educate and service the interests of independent musicians, songwriters, and music publishers" based on its "proven track record of successful initiatives" but whether independent labels have any interest in complex ISP liability lawsuits is unknown. Collaboration or Just Networking? It's also unclear whether Rightscorp's definition of "collaboration" with A2IM goes any further than the benefits usually enjoyed by 'Associate Members' of the organization, i.e. having access to the labels and being in a better position to offer relevant services. After Rightscorp became an A2IM associate member, A2IM did publish an outline of Rightscorp's business proposals, which cover three main components: having pirates kicked off the internet, persuading pirates to pay a settlement, or using Rightscorp data to take legal action, presumably against intermediaries. "Once piracy has been detected, Rightscorp can provide termination notices to internet providers for their users who are infringing on copyrighted works. These notices serve as legal notification to internet providers of infringing activity from their customers," the Rightscorp 'spotlight' reads, alongside images from Ars Technica and TF. "Additionally, Rightscorp has established a Notice Settlement Model, which includes a 50/50 split for any amounts received, and ISPs will have the responsibility to forward our notices in adherence to DMCA requirements for termination of repeat infringement activity." ISPs Are Now Acutely Aware of the Rules While there's little doubt that ISPs are in a much more precarious position than they were six years ago, they have the benefit of knowing exactly what is required of them. The question is whether that will make them more – or less – cooperative. Rightscorp seems to suggest the former but the idea that it can send actionable "termination notices" to ISPs appears somewhat speculative on the cooperation front. Repeat infringer policies are for ISPs to determine and then actioned in a manner of their choosing. While that didn't go as planned previously, they're unlikely to make the same mistakes moving forward. As for the notice settlement model, that assumes that ISPs will forward cash demands to their customers along with DMCA notices. There is zero requirement for that under the DMCA but only time will tell how far ISPs will be prepared to go; the underlying threat for uncooperative ISPs is that Rightscorp data could be used to sue them. "Rightscorp also offers a Litigation Model, which is customizable based on the range of copyrights held in the data base. Successful litigation precedents have already been set by Rightscorp, and parameters of infringement within the data base can be tailored to your specific needs. Rightscorp's fee for this service is proportional to the scope of the complaint," the advert reads. There is no mention of the above on the Rightscorp website but we did find something unusual. Rightscorp.com has been the company's domain for years but located at Rightscorp.co, a domain registered just recently, a shiny new website has appeared featuring the logos of major labels, publishers and industry groups. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. ©2023 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