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Huge New Global Anti-Piracy Coalition Will Tackle Manga & Anime PiracyAndy Maxwell, 03 Jan 11:50 AM In the summer of 2017, some of the world's large

Huge New Global Anti-Piracy Coalition Will Tackle Manga & Anime Piracy Andy Maxwell, 03 Jan 11:50 AM In the summer of 2017, some of the world's largest entertainment groups formed a huge coalition with a mission to reduce online piracy. Comprised of more than 30 companies, the Alliance for Creativity is now at the forefront of global anti-piracy enforcement. By combining its members' resources to tackle infringement wherever it may occur in the world, the cross-border nature of piracy is now being addressed more effectively. A new anti-piracy group set to launch this April appears to have similar goals in mind. International Anti-Piracy Organization (IAPO) At the heart of IAPO will sit the Japan-based anti-piracy group Content Overseas Distribution Association (CODA). Director Masaharu Ina informs TorrentFreak that CODA planned the foundation of the IAPO coalition last year and talks have been held with the Motion Picture Association (MPA), the Copyright Society of China, plus other organizations around the world. "Our plan is to start the new organization in or around April this year and share the information on piracy sites compiled in each country and provide same to the police of the country where the servers are located for example," he explains. Information shared with Nikkei indicates that copyright protection groups from around 13 countries will join together in a single international organization with the goal of disrupting piracy around the world. Focus on Anime and Manga In recent years, manga publications and anime content have enjoyed a massive international rise in popularity and with that a substantial rise in piracy rates. So, in common with their US counterparts that are also dealing with a global anti-piracy problem, companies in East Asia recognize that building overseas alliances is the logical step forward. At the time of writing, CODA has 32 members including manga and anime giants Aniplex, Kadokawa, Kodansha, Shueisha, Shogakukan and Toei. The MPA has six members including Disney, Netflix, Paramount, Sony, Universal, and Warner Bros. The China Copyright Association represents 450 local content companies. These along with additional groups from South Korea and Vietnam are all expected to participate in the IAPO. According to Nihon Keizai Shimbun, one of IAPO's goals is to deal with pirates wherever they are located. While servers located in Japan can be dealt with locally, very often sites use hosts overseas. Having international partners will improve the investigation process while encouraging police to take on more cases where greater damage is being caused overseas by locally-hosted piracy operations. In the event that local police responses to calls for investigations are sluggish, IAPO says it intends to escalate its requests to the relevant governments. Last year, CODA member Shueisha requested help from a US court in order to track down the operator of Mangabank, a giant manga site that in the wake of the move shut down its operations. 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

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YouTube's Innovative Content ID is No Substitute For Humankind's Greatest GiftAndy Maxwell, 02 Jan 11:28 AM Copyright infringement disputes come in

YouTube's Innovative Content ID is No Substitute For Humankind's Greatest Gift Andy Maxwell, 02 Jan 11:28 AM Copyright infringement disputes come in many shapes and sizes. They can be entirely justified, cynically malicious but, in most cases, utterly frustrating for at least one of the parties. What is rare, however, is for a copyright infringement dispute to have an air of sadness, especially when that affects both sides, albeit in different ways. I'm referring to the hugely controversial battle between Toei Animation and popular YouTuber Totally Not Mark we reported early December. A short summary: Manga/anime fanatic Mark Fitzpatrick makes high-quality reviews and posts them on YouTube. To date, his channel has received nearly 40 million views. Just recently, Japanese company Toei Animation used Content ID to remove around 150 of his videos claiming that the use of Toei clips infringed their copyrights. Mark believes his work is allowed under fair use but that didn't seem important to Toei. It was important to many of Mark's fans though, and with huge numbers flooding to social media to call for a Toei boycott, the situation had already spiraled out of control. Against this backdrop and Toei's apparent refusal to discuss the matter, Mark posted videos that were conciliatory but were perceived by some to have counterproductive undertones. This caused yet more conflict on social media with mud thrown at Toei, YouTube, Mark, and anyone else who dared to come out in support of any one of them at the wrong time or in the wrong way. It looked more like a bitter feud between mortal enemies than the usual celebrations of what manga and anime fans have in common. A quick search on Twitter today reveals that the conflict is sadly still ongoing. The aim of this article isn't to discuss the merits or failures of Content ID. Neither does it seek to provide an in-depth analysis of whether Mark's fair use claims stand up. Or indeed whether Toei had the right to do what it did which, intended or not, seems to have seriously damaged Mark's ability to earn a living. The point is that by agreeing to let YouTube's bots make technical decisions based on sophisticated yet somehow basic content matching, Toei allowed a piece of computer software to determine the nature of the company's first interaction with not just an influential manga/anime fan, but a potential business partner. Content ID was designed to tackle full-blown piracy but has zero ability to determine context or intent – malicious, well-meaning, or otherwise. It will grow in sophistication over time but it will never have the ability to predict the consequences of its actions. If it could it would've understood that Mark is an exceptional reviewer who loves manga and anime more than anything, is a wonderful promoter of Toei products, and has a loyal fanbase only too keen to empty their pockets buying Toei-like products. "Are you sure you want to remove all of this YouTuber's videos? (Y/N)" But to focus on YouTube here is a little unfair since Content ID solves many more disputes than it creates. No, the real problem is the underutilization of one of humankind's greatest gifts – that of communication. In a civilized world, there are few problems that can't be solved or at least improved simply by talking. Apparently, that was not considered a viable option. According to Mark, Toei's first display of unhappiness was to delete his videos and ignore his appeals for discussion. Maybe the company felt there was nothing to discuss but as I mentioned in conversation with someone I respect who's involved in the Japanese market, countless opportunities to exploit the situation for good (and for profit) were thrown away one after another, first by one side and then by the other. There was a real chance for everyone to come out a winner but by not engaging in discussion, negotiation and compromise, pretty much everyone involved lost. As Stephen Hawking once said, it doesn't have to be like this. "Speech has allowed the communication of ideas, enabling human beings to work together to build the impossible. Mankind's greatest achievements have come about by talking, and its greatest failures by not talking. It doesn't have to be like this. Our greatest hopes could become reality in the future. With the technology at our disposal, the possibilities are unbounded. All we need to do is make sure we keep talking." Happy New Year 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

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Five 'Fantastic' Piracy Predictions for 2022Ernesto Van der Sar, 01 Jan 12:13 PM With the empty bottles of sparkling liquid still on the table, Torr

Five 'Fantastic' Piracy Predictions for 2022 Ernesto Van der Sar, 01 Jan 12:13 PM With the empty bottles of sparkling liquid still on the table, TorrentFreak plans to tread into uncharted waters today. We don't make predictions every year, but when we do, they usually take a while to come true. For example, the "Pirate Coin" we envisioned in 2018 took more than three years to arrive. Sort of. That said, it never hurts to let imaginations run wild for a while, so here's what we've come up with this year. Needless to say, a pinch of salt is in order. The Pirate Bay Sells Its Logo as an NFT NFTs were all the rage last year and the months to come will offer plenty of opportunities to grab some free cash. That should be music to the ears of The Pirate Bay crew, while they are still working out what to do with their token. Over the past two decades, The Pirate Bay has been the shining example of an early blockchain adopter, so NFTs would fit right in. Especially when they request payment in their own TPB token. The first offering will be an NFT for the iconic Pirate Bay logo, which will sell for roughly $19,229. This NFT will come with several perks, including VIP uploader status and a counterfeit passport of the micronation Sealand. Soon after, all archived TPB doodles will be sold as NFTs as well. These images that are tied to these NFTs will of course be shared freely on The Pirate Bay and elsewhere. The buyers can be assured though, no matter how many people copy the images, they still hold the unique NFT rights. Copyright Holders Sue an Electricity Supplier In recent years copyright holders have filed a variety of lawsuits against third-party intermediaries that allegedly facilitate piracy. This includes DNS providers, ISPs, hosting companies, advertisers, and VPN providers. This year we expect to add an electricity supplier to this list. The multi-billion-dollar energy industry profits from nearly all aspects of the piracy ecosystem. And they have never disconnected a single client for copyright infringement. The problem starts with the pirate suppliers, including scene groups. When they crack or rip content they always use electricity, and the same electricity is used to power the servers of their topsites. Once the pirated music and movies make their way to public pirate sites – which are powered by energy – millions of people use electricity to illegally stream or download the pirated files. Despite this obvious connection, power companies are all turning a blind eye to this massive infringement. Ultra-Niche Streaming Platforms Take Off The success of Disney+, HBO Max, and other streaming services has inspired the movie industry to launch more 'niche' products for film fans. Disney is the first to start with Marvel+, which will air Marvel-themed movies and TV series six weeks before they land on Disney+. A combined subscription to both services is available at a discount. Netflix soon realizes the potential of branching out. The streaming platform will move all of its exclusive content to Netflix Xtra in the summer of 2022. This new service will host all Netflix originals, which will only be available for three months after their premiere on the regular Netflix platform. Toward the end of 2022 independent film companies will jump on board. Millennium Films will take their Olympus/London/Angel "Has Fallen" series of all streaming services to launch HasFallen+. A lifetime subscription sells for $49 and comes with three movie posters and a sticker pack. Guess what this has to do with piracy… The First 'Prophylactic' Site Blocking Order Copyright holders have managed to get pirate sites blocked in dozens of countries and this trend is not going to stop. However, simply blocking existing domain names and IP-addresses is not longer sufficient. The next move is obviously to block domain names before they exist. This will ensure that 123movies, The Pirate Bay, or any random torrent site can't simply move to a new domain to evade the blockade. The High Court in Delhi, India, is the first to acknowledge this hydra monster threat. It therefore agrees to a prophylactic 'wildcard' order that blocks all domain names that include 123movies, tamilrockers, piratebay, and IPTV. After two weeks the order is revised after several complaints from legitimate domains that use the word torrent, including TorrentFreak and the Spanish city Torrent. The High Court unblocks these domains and instates a complaint board to deal with similar problems going forward. Premier League Introduces Anti-Piracy Time-Outs (VAR) Piracy is a massive problem for live sporting events. Regular takedown notices need to be processed in near-real time to be effective. In 2021, sports organizers' concerns were backed by the EU, which proposed a maximum takedown window of 30 minutes. In addition, the Premier League and EUFA obtain more dynamic blocking orders, which compel ISPs to take swift action while football matches are ongoing. These enforcement options are welcome but they're not enough. To frustrate pirates even further, the Premier League will decide to buy itself some more time. At the start of the 22/23 season, all matches will have two Video Anti-Piracy Restriction (VAPR) time-outs. These VAPR time-outs are essentially five-minute breaks that will buy anti-piracy specialists some extra time to take down infringing streams. To fill these gaps, TV viewers will be entertained with advertisements, while people in the stadium can get some drinks and snacks. — Happy 2022! From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. Do Pirate IPTV Customers "Support Human Trafficking & Arms Trading"? Andy Maxwell, 31 Dec 07:02 PM There is no doubt that over the past 20 years, online piracy has transformed in many ways. While still not completely dead, the original "sharing is caring" ethos is now overshadowed by what is a largely commercial web of for-profit piracy services. In most jurisdictions, the operators of commercial piracy services commit crimes ranging from criminal copyright infringement to money laundering and fraud. So, by definition, pirate sites are run by criminals. Furthermore, if they do business systematically in even a small team, they can be officially labeled an Organized Crime Group (OCG). This status elevation of copyright infringers is useful for rightsholders. Instead of expensive and unpredictable civil legal action, law enforcement can be encouraged to engage in criminal prosecutions with the prospect of prison sentences for offenders. None of this is particularly new but in more recent years, the opportunity to 'upgrade' pirates in the eyes of the public and policymakers has proven too good to miss. The problem, it seems, is that Joe Public doesn't really consider streaming a movie or TV show to be a particularly serious matter. Neither do most people feel that media piracy should be given priority over burglaries, car theft, large-scale drug dealing, violent crime, child abuse or similar exploitation. But what if there was a subtle way to directly link illegal streaming to the most despicable of crimes, crimes that most people really care about? The headline of a recent Forbes article promised just that: "Sweden: Up To 600,000 IPTV Users Support Human Trafficking Every Month" it declared. If you don't worry about piracy then perhaps this will get you to change your mind, it suggested. Much of the article is focused on Sweden's problems with IPTV providers, their networks of resellers, and the users who buy their subscriptions. In a nutshell, Sweden should be harder on people who buy pirate subscriptions but it can't because the law and funding for law enforcement are lacking. The same is true for IPTV resellers, despite the estimated $45m per year they funnel to the "organized crime groups" providing the illegal streams. It's completely understandable that Sweden doesn't have the resources to go after hundreds of thousands of end-users but surely, funding is available to deal with the most heinous of crimes? "The effects of hundreds of thousands of customers transferring funds on a monthly basis to organized crime groups is being underestimated. Due to their tremendous and continuous incoming flow of funds, those organizations support everything from human trafficking to arms trafficking," says Anders Braf, CEO at Nordic Content Protection Agency, according to Forbes. The article goes further still. It cites law enforcement sources that claim pirate IPTV providers are closely connected to other major crimes too, including child abuse and drug shipments. If true, this could be the public relations coup the entertainment industries need but, in common with the overwhelming majority of similar claims made in the past, zero evidence is provided. According to Forbes, the reason for not backing up the claims is that the interviewed members of law enforcement insisted that details should not be disclosed in the article to protect "investigation tactics." They could, of course, have cited previous public cases where pirate site operators were also jailed for arms trafficking or, indeed, those where people smugglers were also sentenced for providing pirate streams. Unfortunately, and to the extent of our knowledge, none exist. Herein lies the problem. If pirate IPTV subscribers are to be convinced that their purchases are causing untold misery, they are going to need more than a few anonymous quotes to change their habits. But, more importantly, there is a much bigger picture than that. Al Capone, despite a laundry list of terrible crimes, was ultimately imprisoned for tax evasion. So, given that there is no money available in Sweden for dealing with pirate IPTV providers, sellers or customers, why don't the police concentrate on the bigger issues instead? If they can round up the arms dealers, people smugglers and child abusers (apparently already known to the country's anti-piracy groups) and prosecute them for those crimes, pirate IPTV disruption should be a welcome by-product. All of this is more easily said than done, anyone can see that. But, by attempting to link streaming to some of the worst crimes around, it actually draws even more attention to the fact that there are much more serious crimes that are deservedly given priority. No one is suggesting that pirate IPTV isn't a big problem for media companies, it absolutely is. To use their terminology, they are having their goods stolen each and every day. Anyone would say the same in their position since millions in profits are at stake, money that – by legal definition – is being unquestionably siphoned off by criminals. But of course, the general public already knows that, it's just that they don't see their viewing as particularly serious. One day, perhaps, they will see some real evidence that will change their minds. We'll be standing by to report on it in detail but until then, we'll be taking all such claims with a pinch of salt. 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