TorrentFreak Email Update |
- Major File-Sharing Sites Go Dark To Protest Anti-Download Law
- Top 10 Most Shared Movies on BitTorrent
- MPAA/RIAA Lobbied Extensively In Favor of Domain Seizures
| Major File-Sharing Sites Go Dark To Protest Anti-Download Law Posted: 20 Dec 2010 02:54 AM PST A coalition of file-sharing sites are voluntarily taking themselves offline to protest against the likely passing of new legislation tomorrow. The sites, which together are believed to generate up to 70% of Spain's Internet traffic, will display a black page warning that if the so-called Sinde Act is approved, their sites could disappear forever. Earlier this month, cables leaked by Wikileaks showed that Spain had bowed to US pressure to introduce the law.
However, as shown by diplomatic cables recently leaked by Wikileaks, under pressure from the United States, the Spanish Government proposed new legislation to close loopholes and provide sweeping new anti-filesharing powers. The Sustainable Economy Law (LES) is likely to be approved in Spain tomorrow and is expected to pose a real problem to file-sharing sites. The legislation, popularly known as the Sinde Act in reference to its main driving force Minister of Culture Ángeles González-Sinde, has been widely protested but could be fully adopted as early as February next year. The law will provides for the creation of a Commission on Intellectual Property under the Ministry of Culture. It would have the power to deal with complaints against websites that link to copyright movies, music and software, including blocking and taking them offline. The opposition to the passing of the legislation is growing, not least due to the decision by Congress to approve the Sustainable Economy Law in a single meeting. Although the bill will pass to the Senate, Congress will be able to ignore any amendments introduced there. In response, many of Spain’s largest file-sharing sites will be protesting today by voluntarily taking themselves offline. Each will display the message shown below (translated from Spanish) and link to anti-censorship website No al Cierre de Webs. The list of sites includes Cinetube, DivxTotal, Mydescarga, Peliculasyonkis, Series Danko, Seriespepito, Seriesyonkis and SuBTorrents. It is believed that in total the sites, which have millions of pageviews, help to generate up to 70% of Spain’s Internet traffic. However, the new law could take them offline very quickly indeed. Following complaints by rightsholders to the Commission on Intellectual Property, site status would be reviewed by a court which would then be required to take action within 4 days. Article from: TorrentFreak. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top 10 Most Shared Movies on BitTorrent Posted: 20 Dec 2010 12:49 AM PST The top 10 most downloaded movies on BitTorrent, 'Inception' tops the chart this week, followed by 'The Social Network'. 'The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader' completes the top three.
Inception is back on top again as the most downloaded movie of the week. The data for our weekly download chart is collected by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only. All the movies in the list are DVDrips unless stated otherwise. RSS feed for the weekly movie download chart.
Article from: TorrentFreak. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MPAA/RIAA Lobbied Extensively In Favor of Domain Seizures Posted: 19 Dec 2010 09:26 AM PST The recent action by US authorities against so-called rogue websites comes on the heels of significant lobbying efforts by two well known anti-piracy groups. In the last quarter the MPAA and RIAA together spent a total of $1.8 million on lobby efforts in Washington. Public records reveal that the industry groups focused heavily on legislation and authorities involved in domain name seizures. In recent months the topic of domain name seizures has been reported heavily in the news and discussed widely. US authorities took down dozens of ‘copyright infringing’ domains and the 'Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act' (COICA) was drafted to make such takedowns even easier in the future. Both the recent domain name seizures and the proposed COICA bill were encouraged by the MPAA and RIAA. However, the role of the RIAA and MPAA has not been limited to passively applauding the actions of the Government. On the contrary, both groups lobbied extensively for more Government control over domain names. A look at public filings reveal that the outfits spent more than $1.8 million in the third quarter of 2010 on lobbying efforts directly targeted at the COICA bill and the authorities that carried out the recent domain name seizures. Money, that as it stands now, was well spent. The RIAA’s filings at the Office of the Clerk reveal that the music industry trade group invested the most, $1.29 million in total. This money was spent on a variety of subjects, including the COICA bill and ACTA. In total, the RIAA listed nine copyright/trademark lobbyists including its CEO Mitch Bainwol. The MPAA on its turn spent $520,000 on lobbying efforts in the third quarter. Part of the money went to lobbying efforts at the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the authorities that were responsible for the recent domain seizures. In addition, the MPAA lobbied for three-strikes anti-piracy initiatives such as ‘graduated response’ and legislation that targets digital piracy on ‘rogue sites’ such as COICA. The MPAA lists three lobbyists including Michael O’Leary who previously served as counsel to the former Senator Joe Biden. Indeed, the same Joe Biden who is now the Vice President and declared war on digital piracy earlier this year. “Piracy Is Theft, Clean and Simple,” Biden said at the time. Although it is no secret that the MPAA and RIAA spend millions of dollars in Washington every year, it is worth looking into where that money goes. From public filings it becomes apparent that the US Government’s move to commercial censorship is also reflected in the lobbying efforts by the entertainment industry. And that’s just part of the influence. Aside from trying to influence lawmakers and the authorities, both groups are also playing their role in law enforcement. As we reported last Friday, the MPAA helped out Homeland Security with the application for the seizure order of Torrent-Finder and other sites. It is of course impossible to measure if any of the lobbying efforts did indeed have an effect on the increased anti-piracy actions by the US Government, but considering the money that the MPAA and RIAA spent on lobbying, it wouldn’t come as a total surprise. Article from: TorrentFreak. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In recent times, Spanish courts have ruled repeatedly that subject to some fairly minor conditions, operating a file-sharing site falls within the boundaries of the law.
This week there are three newcomers in the list including The Social Network which was previously listed as a DVDscr. | You are subscribed to email updates from TorrentFreak To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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