TorrentFreak Email Update |
- Aussie Anti-Piracy Group Backflips On 3 Strikes Backflip
- Top 10 Most Pirated Movies on BitTorrent
- Camcorder Piracy Epidemic Forces Studios To Delay Screenings
- Who’s The Police And Who’s The Crook, Anyway?
| Aussie Anti-Piracy Group Backflips On 3 Strikes Backflip Posted: 13 Jun 2011 05:13 AM PDT As reported earlier this month, a new report from the UN heavily criticized the notion of disconnecting Internet subscribers on the basis that they may have breached music or movie copyrights. Last Monday, just a few days after the UN report generated dozens of headlines, Sydney Morning Herald published an article titled ‘Music and film industries split over pirates’. The parts of that piece that piqued our interest most were the quotes obtained from Music Industry Piracy Investigations (MIPI) by SMH Technology Editor Asher Moses, which are reproduced verbatim below: “Sabiene Heindl, general manager of the music industry’s anti-piracy arm, Music Industry Piracy Investigations, today said there needed to be “mitigation measures” for those engaged in repeated illegal file sharing but “such measures would not include termination of internet accounts”.” Considering the worldwide implications of such a statement, TorrentFreak contacted the BPI in the UK for comment since in common with MIPI, the BPI also have the Big Four records labels as paymasters. We wanted to know if this statement by MIPI represented the start of a general softening of attitudes. We received no reply from the BPI. Now MIPI have issued a press release on the matter. But instead of making things better, by appearing slippery they might have made them worse. “Music Industry Piracy Investigations, the anti-piracy organisation for the Australian music industry, strongly rejects recent misleading media reports that it is not supportive of a graduated response model to discourage illegal file-sharing,” the release from Sabiene Heindl reads. “MIPI remains firmly committed to its goal of working with Internet Service Providers to implement an industry led graduated response scheme in Australia that will encourage legal content consumption online.” First off, SMH did not say that MIPI doesn’t support a graduated response, only that Heindl said, quote, “…such measures [for dealing with infringers] would not include termination of internet accounts.” The reasonable conclusion to be drawn from that comment is that MIPI support “mitigation measures” up to, but not including, Internet disconnections. So has SMH’s Asher Moses suddenly decided to throw his reputation down the drain by making up quotes? “The quotes are clear in my original story for anyone to look at,” Asher told TorrentFreak, standing firmly behind his report. “Also at the time the story went up, and even until this day, MIPI has not once said the story misrepresented their position,” he added. So MIPI felt strongly enough to issue a press release in which it criticized a “misleading media report”, but didn’t feel the need to contact the publication or writer directly to pursue a clarification or correction? Something doesn’t sit right here, that much is clear. Asher believes that the MIPI backtracking can be explained by them getting into hot water with their “overseas counterparts” following last week’s Australian government statement which questioned the UN report and indicated continued support for 3 strikes and disconnections. But even with this latest press release, MIPI still can’t find it in their hearts to use straightforward language detailing their exact stance on disconnections, and have chosen to lean on their interpretation of existing legislation instead. “While temporary suspension of the internet for repeat infringers is the preferred sanction under an industry led code this does not in any way preclude termination remaining within the current safe harbour provisions of the Australian Copyright Act which deals with copyright infringement more broadly,” they add. So, is that last paragraph to be interpreted as MIPI support for disconnections or is it an attempt to shift responsibility to the feet of ISPs? Maybe Asher Moses can get another quote from Sabiene Heindl. Source: Aussie Anti-Piracy Group Backflips On 3 Strikes Backflip | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top 10 Most Pirated Movies on BitTorrent Posted: 13 Jun 2011 12:16 AM PDT
X-Men: First Class is 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.
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| Camcorder Piracy Epidemic Forces Studios To Delay Screenings Posted: 12 Jun 2011 01:21 PM PDT
Over the past decade an awful lot of money has been spent trying to mitigate the problem. Intense lobbying in the United States has transformed camming into a serious felony and pressure on other countries, Canada in particular, has significantly reduced the number of copies from these traditional sources. But of course, there are always others ready to take up the slack and it appears that in recent times that role has been filled by Hungarian pirates. This year, probably using secret watermarks, the major studios including Sony Pictures, 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. have been tracing copies of first-run movies back to local cinemas. While the problem has existed for some time, a source familiar with the situation believes it came to a head recently when Hangover Part II turned up online just after its premiere. Videoed in a Hungarian cinema, this copy initially had fairly limited appeal due to its dubbed local language audio. But as usual, pirates have innovative tricks up their collective sleeves. Due to tough legislation (not to mention tools such as night-vision goggles) camming usually proves very difficult, say, in the United States. However, recording just the sound from a movie onto a small portable device is not. So, armed with the video to Hangover Part II obtained by a Hungarian release group and a soundtrack easily culled from an English-language region, pirates connected to the P2P release group ‘EP1C’ spliced the pair together producing an end product with massive appeal. This illicit release, added to the many others coming out of Hungary this year, appears to have caused Warner Bros to run out of patience. The studio has now announced that in order to stop piracy, for the foreseeable future their movies will not be released locally, on or even close to US release dates. In addition, Warner are said to have banned midnight screenings in Hungary altogether, presumably since these quieter times are more popular with cammers. In recent months many of the key illicit copies, including Hangover Part II, have been made available by a Hungarian release group known as CiNEDUB. Keep an eye on this group for the rest of the year for an indication of whether or not Warner’s strategy is working. Source: Camcorder Piracy Epidemic Forces Studios To Delay Screenings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Who’s The Police And Who’s The Crook, Anyway? Posted: 12 Jun 2011 06:43 AM PDT Governments all over the world, and in the so-called Free West in particular, look like confused sheep. They are applauding the net activists who are helping people communicate unhindered to get news out from repressive regimes, and at the same time arresting people who use the same technologies in their own countries. In the United Kingdom, you can get five years in prison for not revealing a password to an encrypted data set. Even if you have forgotten it. Even if it isn’t an encrypted dataset to begin with, but recorded astronomy noise, which looks just the same. If you can’t produce the documents that law enforcement says are in there, somewhere in the noise, then off to jail you go. In Sweden, the government has enacted laws that enable wiretapping of all your communications at any time without warrant or notice (the FRA act). In France, the government is trying to send people into social exile for sharing music. Where’s the police here, protecting our rights? We find them in the shape of activists. Governments are slowly discovering that the door to freedom swings both ways. If net activists are applauded as they help people in corrupt and repressed regimes expose secrets of the government, then those same technologies can and will be used in every country, even the ones who consider themselves good. Don’t all governments consider themselves good? It’s just the citizens who tend to disagree to a varying level. This pattern, where activists are seen as lawbreakers for doing what’s right, follows the patterns of history. It happens about every 40 years. 80 years ago, activists were protecting fundamental rights against law enforcement who opened fire on people who protested in the streets instead of being at work. The activists founded a new political movement — the labor movement, social democratic parties — that rewrote the laws and reshaped law enforcement to police our rights. 40 years ago, activists were protecting our environment against law enforcement who were protecting corporations that polluted way above what was allowed. The activists were the ones upholding the law and our rights; law enforcement and governments tried to prevent it from happening. In the end, the activism spawned green parties in many countries that reshaped law enforcement to stand on the side of the citizens, and not on the side of polluting corporations. And here we are today, with a global, unfettered right to communicate, share, observe, and inform. Law enforcement is cracking down on it. Activists are defying law enforcement and giving us tools that guarantee our rights. People have a duty to defy unjust laws. And until everybody finds the courage to do so, I am grateful and indebted to the activists who police and guarantee our fundamental rights. — — — Rick Falkvinge is a regular columnist on TorrentFreak, sharing his thoughts every other week. He is the founder of the Swedish Pirate Party, a whisky aficionado, and a low-altitude motorcycle pilot. His blog at http://falkvinge.net focuses on information policy. Follow Rick Falkvinge on Twitter as @Falkvinge and on Facebook as /rickfalkvinge. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This week there are three newcomers to our chart. 
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