TorrentFreak - News
TorrentFreak is a publication dedicated to bringing the latest news about copyright, privacy, and everything related to filesharing.
Popular torrent site TorrentGalaxy has been offline for two weeks, with no explanation from its operators. Members of the site's staff are also being kept in the dark, and many fear the site may never return. To the delight of copyright holders, the site's troubles are now being felt across the torrent ecosystem after the site's upload bots also stopped working. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
After 15 years or so of relatively plain sailing, comment platform Disqus is cracking down on sites that violate its terms of service. Pirate manga and anime sites have received notifications that Disqus will no longer provide services after copyright infringement came to its attention. With evictions now spreading to sites including FitGirl Repacks and KickassAnime, it's a race against the clock to export years of chat in the 24/48 hours notice given. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
Swedish businessman Carl Lundström, founder of the telecoms company Rix Telecom and one of the Wasabröd heirs, died in a plane crash on Monday. Lundström played a pivotal role in the Pirate Bay's rise to fame by supporting the site early on. For his involvement in the site, he was eventually sentenced to four months in prison. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
A new industry-backed report reveals that only a small fraction of takedown notices targeting pirated live streams result in suspensions, with dedicated server providers showing the lowest responsiveness. Rightsholders see the data as evidence that a previously issued recommendation by the EU failed to have an effect. Consequently, more needs to be done to tackle live streaming piracy. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
Meta's legal battle over its alleged use of pirated books as AI training data continues to deliver new twists. Fresh allegations that Meta may have shared data with third parties while "leeching" from torrents have added a critical layer to the legal dispute. The book authors obtained permission to put a spotlight on Meta's "leeching" activity and, in addition, requested summary judgment on copyright infringement. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
Following a complaint filed two years ago by a national pay-TV broadcaster, police in Germany say they now have three main suspects in custody following a huge law enforcement operation. Over 150 officers carried out searches against 18 suspects in 17 locations, with the aim of shutting down an as-yet unnamed illegal streaming operation with an estimated 30,000 subscribers. The three men, aged between 36 and 59, face charges including suspected commercial computer fraud, which carries a potential sentence of 10 years imprisonment. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
Anora was the big winner at the Oscars a week ago, securing awards for best picture, actress, and director, among others. This major achievement puts the movie in the spotlight and increases interest through both legal and illegal channels. Fresh data collected by TorrentFreak shows that pirate downloads surged right after the awards ceremony ended. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
In December 2024, Microsoft Threat Intelligence identified a malware campaign stemming from pirate streaming sites. Using iframe malvertising redirector URLs to generate revenue, and redirects up to five layers deep, malware payloads hosted on GitHub, Discord and Dropbox, acted as a dropper for additional payloads hosted elsewhere. Microsoft says the goal was to steal information and it believes almost a million devices were infected. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
A former employee of a disc manufacturing company in Memphis has been indicted on charges of stealing and selling pre-release DVDs and Blu-rays of popular films, including "Spider-Man: No Way Home." The indictment links the sales to widespread availability of the movie on pirate sites. The defendant faces charges of criminal copyright infringement and interstate transportation of stolen goods, with potential penalties of up to 20 years imprisonment. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
New research on ad-funded piracy centers on manga site Tu Manga Online (TMO). After switching to a new domain 'zonatmo.com' around September last year, it took just 90 days to transform a new start into half a billion visits per month. According to the research, the site's revenue generating scheme is an open secret. Yet, for unknown reasons, nobody tries to stop it. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
Nintendo celebrated victory over French file-hosting service 1fichier.com this week. The French Supreme Court denied the filehoster's appeal and upheld a piracy liability ruling in favor of the gaming company. The ruling confirms that hosting platforms can be held liable if they fail to remove pirated content when asked. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
As Spain's pirate site-blocking crisis persists for the fourth consecutive week, LaLiga's decision to block Cloudflare continues to affect innocent internet users and websites. Cloudflare took legal action last week hoping to stop LaLiga in its tracks. In a parallel process, cybersecurity group RootedCON has asked a court to strike out LaLiga's blocking authority. Meanwhile, RootedCON says moves are underway to undermine the authority of their lawyer. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
A single DMCA anti-circumvention notice, sent by Nintendo on the one-year anniversary of its 2024 lawsuit against Yuzu, showed just how much things can change in a year. Targeting nine repos linked to Switch emulator Ryujinx, the domino effect led to the removal of 4,238 repos. Elsewhere, the distilled components of Yuzu's demise can be found in recent takedown notices From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
Members of the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) filed two separate copyright infringement lawsuits yesterday, targeting the alleged operators of IPTV services including 'Outer Limits IPTV', 'Shrugs' and 'Zing'. Amazon, Netflix and several major Hollywood studios demand an end to the infringing activity and an award for damages, which could run to millions of dollars. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
The BBC, Premier League, and Sky have submitted a joint response to the UK investigation into Google's search dominance, calling for tougher anti-piracy measures. The rightsholders argue that Google's current efforts to combat piracy are insufficient to prevent piracy. They propose a "Know Your Customer" (KYC) requirement for advertisers and a transparent repeat infringer policy to address the issue. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
A court in Murcia, Spain, has ordered Google to testify in a criminal case concerning IPTV app, NewPlay. Football league LaLiga, whose matches were allegedly offered illegally through the app, previously called for the directors of Google, Apple, and Huawei to face criminal charges. LaLiga criticized the companies for failing to disable copies of NewPlay already installed on users' devices. Google and Huawei must now testify as 'profit-making participants' in an alleged piracy scheme. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
In response to several court orders, Cloudflare geoblocked more than 400 sports streaming piracy domain names on its pass-through service in France last year. Notably. Cloudflare says that, despite requests, it has not blocked any websites through the 1.1.1.1 Public DNS Resolver. That last comment is relevant to the renewed site blocking push in the United States. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
Aggressive pricing led to Amazon's Fire TV Stick being installed in millions of homes. By tearing down a key barrier to entry, Amazon hoped to profit from subsequent sales of premium content. Two decades earlier, Jeff Bezos stressed the importance of strong branding to fend off copycats. In 2023, that theory would be put to the test when one of Amazon's strongest brands was dumped in mud, then dragged through it for the next 18 months. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
Before the Oscars are handed out early March, the Motion Picture Association (MPA) has announced its own annual awards. Wicked director Jon Chu is a proud recipient, but the bulk of the accolades go to lawmakers and the U.S. Government's IPR Center, who helped to combat online piracy. Perhaps not coincidentally, those lawmakers could help to push a pirate site blocking bill over the line. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
A sustained campaign by U.S. authorities has led to the seizure of a growing number of pirate sports streaming domains. The IPR Center is now listed as the owner of dozens of .DEV domains, which were signed over as part of the seizure operation. Previously, close to a hundred .APP domains linked to piracy suffered the same fate. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
A renewed attempt to introduce site blocking in the U.S. emerged in late January when U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D) introduced the Foreign Anti-Digital Piracy Act. The FADPA bill received the MPA's full support, and it now transpires that similar legislation is being prepared by U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R). A recent meeting to discuss the 'American Copyright Protection Act' was attended by Disney, Paramount, and Amazon, plus Google, YouTube, and Verizon. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
After facing years of critique from rightsholders, Telegram has reportedly upped its anti-piracy game. That is further evidenced by the recent removal of Z-Library's backup Telegram channel, as well as a popular Z-Library download bot with tens of thousands of users. Both are now "unavailable due to copyright infringement." From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
Already reeling from the economic fallout of the Ukraine war, sanctions, and rampant inflation, Russia's legal streaming services now face a new threat: increased state restrictions. Draft law aims to make the availability of distribution certificates dependent on meeting state perceptions of traditional moral values, for both new and existing content libraries. In the illegal market, unregulated pirate sites face no such restrictions. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
In France, rightsholders have taken legal action to compel large VPN providers to support their pirate site blocking program. The aim is to reinforce existing blocking measures, but VPN providers see this as a dangerous move, leading to potential security issues and overblocking. As a result, some are considering leaving France altogether if push comes to shove. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
The RGXX range of handheld games consoles are seen by many as the perfect way to dip an initial toe in the emulation waters. Manufactured by Anbernic in China, devices often arrive with a Micro SD card loaded with more games than can be reasonably played in a lifetime. Whether that will continue is unclear but with a new firmware update, retro games can be browsed on-screen, downloaded for free straight to devices, and then installed in seconds. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
On the back of a report that LaLiga and Telefonica sought enhanced blocking measures to counter use of Encrypted Client Hello, LaLiga's earlier suggestion that blocking Cloudflare has judicial support, seems worthy of a closer look. Indeed, a process that authorizes dynamic junctions in Spain suggests a super-streamlined system that puts piracy-fighting above all else. At the same time, there are few obvious measures to prevent overblocking affecting third-parties. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
GitHub's latest transparency report reveals that the company received 2,000 valid DMCA takedown notices last year, resulting in the removal of over 31,151 projects. Targeted repositories included copied code, but also pirate apps, IPTV playlists, and many Nintendo Switch emulators. Circumvention takedowns increased slightly, but GitHub notes that these continue to be heavily scrutinized. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
Greece continued to expand anti-piracy efforts in 2024, issuing a record-breaking number of blocking decisions. Most blockades target live sports streams offered by illegal IPTV subscription services. To increase the deterrent effect, a new legislative amendment makes it possible to fine subscribers of these services up to 750 euros. However, this may prove challenging. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
Altice, parent company of Internet provider Optimum, agreed to disclose the personal details of a hundred alleged music pirates. The request comes from a group of prominent record labels and is part of an ongoing copyright infringement liability lawsuit. Altice, meanwhile, will receive anti-piracy information, including that related to a letter the RIAA previously sent to BitTorrent Inc., the owner of popular torrent client uTorrent. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
After the gloves came off earlier this week, Cloudflare has asked a Spanish court to declare LaLiga's “disproportionate” piracy blocking measures illegal. Details are currently scarce, but Cloudflare looks set to challenge the legitimacy of the court's original order. LaLiga and Telefonica sought enhanced blocking measures to counter internet users' adoption of Encrypted Client Hello. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
In one of the AI lawsuits faced by Meta, the company stands accused of distributing pirated books. The authors who filed the class-action lawsuit allege that Meta shared books from the shadow library LibGen with third parties via BitTorrent. Meta, however, says that it took precautions to prevent 'seeding' content. In addition, the company clarifies that there is nothing 'independently illegal' about torrenting. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
Altice, parent company of Internet provider Optimum, must disclose the personal details of a hundred alleged music pirates. The request comes from a group of prominent record labels and is part of an ongoing copyright infringement liability lawsuit. Altice, meanwhile, will receive anti-piracy information, including that related to a letter the RIAA previously sent to BitTorrent Inc., the owner of popular torrent client uTorrent. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
After admitting it deliberately blocked Cloudflare to prevent a pirate IPTV service reaching users in Spain, LaLiga warned it would continue for as long as necessary to prevent live sports piracy. With thousands of innocent website owners and internet users suffering as collateral damage, a new LaLiga announcement reveals that two additional pirate IPTV providers with 400,000 local users have also been blocked, again by blocking Cloudflare. Charts and graphs produced by internet users leave little to the imagination. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
The Hanoi People's Procuracy in Vietnam has issued an indictment against two men said to be the operators of the massive Fmovies piracy empire shut down last year. The indictment offers detail on when the men first met, when their plans for Fmovies began to take shape, and how the site generated revenue. Last year the MPA described the shutdown as a "stunning victory." New revelations are indeed stunning, but extremely puzzling too. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
Trouble continues for popular torrent site TorrentGalaxy. The site, which is seen as a notorious piracy market by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, has been unreachable for days. While some believe that the end has come for the site, technical troubles certainly can't be ruled out. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
At least on paper, Real-Debrid's November 2024 announcement detailing new anti-piracy measures, suggested a tough time ahead for the popular platform. Under pressure from dozens of powerful rightsholders, Real-Debrid's position looked precarious to put it mildly; not precarious enough for the service to throw in the towel, however. Three months later, a 16% drop in traffic is painful but non-fatal. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
Google has completed the busiest twelve months ever on the DMCA takedown front. The popular search engine processed a record-breaking 3.5 billion takedown requests during the year. Ironically, this milestone is in part a byproduct of ongoing anti-piracy measures, including site blocking and search engine removals, with no end in sight. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
In France, rightsholders have taken legal action to get large VPN providers on board with their pirate site blocking program. The aim is to prevent circumvention of existing blocking measures in place to reduce widespread copyright infringement. From the VPN provider's perspective, site blocking threatens online freedom. Swiss provider ProtonVPN describes blocking as 'a dangerous attack on Internet freedom on the altar of corporate greed'. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
Predictions of a looming music industry apocalypse, fueled by users of LimeWire and similar peer-to-peer apps, have long-since been replaced by all-you-can-eat music services. In Japan, most formats are celebrating double-digit growth, and even the CD market is holding its own. Meanwhile, the major record labels have targeted 20 ISPs to obtain the personal details of BitTorrent pirates, seeking damages for infringements dating back over two years. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
French football clubs held emergency talks after broadcaster DAZN withheld millions of euros in TV rights payments due this month. The dispute concerns DAZN's claims that Ligue 1 football league body LFP failed to suppress piracy and fell short in other areas too. Hopes of an amicable solution faded when DAZN paid 50% of the sum owed for February and put the other €35 million into an escrow account. LFP responded by launching legal action in Paris. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
Scammers exploited a subdomain of the European Food Safety Authority to actively redirect people to piracy scams and other dubious ploys. The pages that promised free content, including Super Bowl streams, appeared high in Google's search results. After being alerted, the EU agency swiftly addressed the vulnerability, but further vigilance is advised. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
Unexplained chaos at ISPs Movistar and DIGI has prevented some customers from accessing many sites using Cloudflare for over a week. Simultaneously, football league LaLiga stated they are working to shut down pirate streaming platforms, warning Cloudflare and others that they consider them responsible for profiting from piracy. Since statements now link these two events, Spain has a crisis on its hands. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
Last week, several innovative copyright protection tools were discussed at WIPO’s Advisory Committee on Enforcement. One particularly interesting presentation came from the Portuguese company NOS Technology, which highlighted its AI-powered anti-piracy tool. Among other things, the toolbox can help to block pirated content automatically, with a direct connection at the ISP level. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
BeIN, Miramax and MPA-affiliated anti-piracy group AVIA, have called out a Chinese company behind a device that disables anti-piracy codes embedded in video streams. Gotech was previously hit with a widely publicized $101m judgment following a Nagravision copyright lawsuit. Yet, not only was the amount never paid, the judgment was fully vacated. In what can only be described as a bizarre finale, GoTech now promotes Nagra as its partner. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
US authorities have initiated a new round of domain name seizures, targeting dozens of pirate sports streaming sites. Most likely by design, the enforcement action coincided with the Super Bowl. While the seizures may have frustrated many 'pirate' viewers, pirate streaming operations are not necessarily throwing in the towel just yet. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
Every week we take a close look at the most pirated movies on torrent sites. What are pirates downloading? 'Wolf Man' tops the chart, followed by 'Moana 2'. 'Nosferatu' completes the top three. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
Using tools broadly similar to those preferred by its Western counterparts, in 2024, Russia's Gazprom-Media suppressed online piracy by blocking 17,400 websites and 5,700 Telegram channels. Filing lawsuits at an average rate of more than 14 each week, Gazprom claims victory in 775 infringement lawsuits. Whether that amounts to 'winning' the piracy war is another matter. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
Recognition of transparency in the FADPA site blocking bill is welcome, but will it become reality? So far, many blocking regimes have lacked transparency. The true scale of site blocking action in Europe, let alone the world, is effectively proprietary information to which the public has zero access. It may be the ideal time for global site blocking to implement global transparency by default. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
In their ongoing battle against online sports piracy, French rightsholders are now seeking to extend site-blocking measures to VPN providers. Canal+ and the football league LFP have requested court orders to compel NordVPN, ExpressVPN, ProtonVPN, and others to block access to pirate sites and services. The move follows similar orders obtained last year against DNS resolvers. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
Freshly unsealed court documents reveal that Meta downloaded significant amounts of data from shadow libraries through Anna's Archive. The company's use of BitTorrent was already known, but internal email communication reveals sources and terabytes of downloaded data, as well as a struggle with limited availability and slow download speeds due to a lack of seeders. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
You can subscribe to this RSS to get more information