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Record Labels Shut Down FileWarez, Brazil's Oldest Pirate ForumAndy Maxwell, 26 Oct 10:23 AM At a time when an older generation of file hoarders wer

Record Labels Shut Down FileWarez, Brazil's Oldest Pirate Forum Andy Maxwell, 26 Oct 10:23 AM At a time when an older generation of file hoarders were still coming to terms with the disappearance of BBS-based communities, new friendships were being built in support of the next big thing. Peer-to-peer technologies such as Napster, Gnutella, FastTrack, and BitTorrent, revolutionized file-sharing but without the support of dozens of thriving forum-based communities, where people shared P2P tutorials, tips, news, and each other's company, things may have gone quite differently. Still, having served their purpose, many forums found themselves deserted too, their members lured away by the temptations of social media. Others were just getting started. 19+ Years Ago, FileWarez Was Born As far as we know, Brazil-based file-sharing forum FileWarez.com first appeared in August 2004, its domain name having been registered the previous month. The default language was naturally Portuguese and according to this image from the Wayback Machine, potential members needed a basic grip of the language to sign up. After all, Google Translate wouldn't exist for another two years. At some point in the years that followed, FileWarez shifted to a Netherlands .NL domain supported by filewarez.no-ip.biz, which may suggest a site regularly on the move. In 2008, unspecified problems saw the .NL domain dumped in favor of a new one. Riding out problems, various issues, and bouts of downtime, FileWarez.tv stayed in place for the next 15.5 years. Then two weeks ago, after establishing itself as Brazil's oldest file-sharing forum, FileWarez suddenly vanished. Left in the Dark When the main forum went down, other discussion platforms linked to FileWarez went down too. With its Discord and Telegram channels consigned to history, coupled with earlier news of a staff member passing away, not even the site's moderators were able to provide solid information. On Facebook, however, a post indicated that the site had been taken down by its operator. Sooner or later, the post predicted, the site would be targeted by law enforcement so in anticipation, all site data had already been deleted, to protect staff and users. "Thank you very much for all these years of sharing, a big hug and may this message find you well." IFPI Announces Demise of FileWarez In a press release Wednesday, global music industry group IFPI announced that "prominent illegal file-sharing forum, FileWarez," was shut down following co-ordinated action by record companies, anti-piracy body APDIF, and local cybercrime unit, Cyber Gaeco. "IFPI, the organization that represents the recorded music industry worldwide, alongside its Brazilian national group Pro-Musica, have welcomed the successful action against FileWarez.tv – one of the most prominent illegal file sharing sites in Brazil – by the Brazilian special cybercrime unit of prosecutor's office of São Paulo, Cyber Gaeco," the announcement reads. "FileWarez was the most established illegal filesharing forum in Brazil, dedicated to sharing illegal music content. While active, the site had more than 118,000 registered users with at least 24,000 monthly active users." Celebrations and Disappointment "We congratulate Cyber Gaeco on their action," added Melissa Morgia, IFPI's Director of Global Content Protection and Enforcement. "The site operated with no regard for the rights of music creators and has undermined the legal marketplace in Brazil. This is an important action in the continuing fight against piracy in the country." For former members with fond memories, both the community and what the site offered will be sorely missed. "I joined FW in mid-2013, I couldn't believe it when I saw the organization, the care and especially the safety. Something truly done by the community for the community," a former member wrote on Reddit. "Being able to consume films, series, games and software that I could not afford to access at the time through official means in such a simple and safe way was magical. I fell in love with [FileWarez] from the first access. If it's gone for good, it will be greatly missed, I hope not, but still, thank you very much for everything FileWarez and your amazing community!" Replacements or Opportunists? Links to alleged FileWarez clones and similar replacements present a dilemma for former users, especially those who can't accept it's all over. The temptation to check out similar-sounding domains might be strong, those listed below, for example. Demonstrating perfectly that anyone can buy a lookalike domain, all of the above were registered on October 17 by APDIF, one of the anti-piracy groups responsible for taking FileWarez down. It could've been worse. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. Instagram and Facebook 'Flag' IPTV Searches Over Piracy Concerns Ernesto Van der Sar, 25 Oct 09:57 PM Similar to any other online platforms that deal with user-generated content, Instagram and Facebook process thousands of copyright complaints daily. Simply responding to takedown notices isn't sufficient for all rightsholders, some of which mentioned Meta's companies as potential "notorious markets" in recent recommendations to the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). Meta Rebuts Notorious Markets Claims Meta is not happy with this and this week the company responded with a rebuttal. For starters, it points out that the USTR's Special 301 process is intended to map foreign copyright threats, not domestic ones. That would mean that as an American corporation, Meta has no place in the review. Zuckerberg's company writes that it fully supports the USTR's Notorious Markets List as a means to flag global piracy and counterfeiting threats, but expanding it to domestic companies goes beyond its scope. "[I]f the Notorious Markets List is to continue to advance U.S. trade interests internationally, it needs to remain focused on the underlying purpose of the Special 301 program: the identification of foreign countries and foreign markets that engage in or facilitate piracy and counterfeiting." Notorious? Many Anti-Piracy Tools Meta doesn't stop there. It continues the rebuttal by outlining the wide variety of anti-piracy and counterfeiting measures it has implemented over the years. Both Instagram and Facebook have anti-piracy tools that go far beyond the basic notice and takedown procedures required by law. This includes automated content recognition technology, for example, as well as an elaborate Intellectual Property Reporting API. Instagram also blocks hashtags linked to potentially problematic content. For example, the #Z-Library hashtag doesn't seem to exist, and tagging posts with #IPTV doesn't lead anywhere either. According to Meta, these types of interventions are meant to reduce the discoverability of potential copyright-infringing content. In the case of the hashtag blocks, it also allows Instagram to automatically disable accounts that repeatedly use these forbidden words. Anti-Piracy Popup Meta's rebuttal mentions that it recently added a new 'intervention' technique to its arsenal. To reduce piracy and counterfeiting, both Instagram and Facebook now show popups to users who search for controversial terms. It's unclear how many problematic terms Meta identified, but "luxury replica" and "IPTV" are explicitly mentioned. "Now, when users enter certain counterfeit- and piracy-related terms […] into the search bar on Facebook or Instagram, they are directed to a pop-up that explains Meta's policy against IP infringement and offered a link to Meta's IP Help Center to learn more," Meta writes. You Sure? Facebook and Instagram users can still reach the search results if they want, but Meta believes that this nudge will help to educate users where needed. "Only after users see this pop-up can they click through to see the results of their search. By adding this layer of friction, we are able to reduce users' engagement with potential counterfeit and pirated content – all while providing further education and transparency," Meta clarifies. Just how effective these and other tools are is unknown. Meta probably collects data on how people interact with these roadblocks so it would be great – from a transparency perspective – to learn what the click-through rate is. All in all, Meta believes that all the efforts it takes to combat piracy, should make it clear that their platforms should not be labeled as 'notorious piracy markets', even if they were foreign services. — A copy of Meta's full rebuttal, which it sent to the USTR a few days ago, is available here (pdf) From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. Are you looking for a VPN service? TorrentFreak sponsor NordVPN has some excellent offers. ©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