TorrentFreak

Single Movie Download Could See Swedes Prosecuted

The Swedish Government wants to implement a change in the law which has the potential to make Sweden one of the toughest countries in the world to share files. Currently file-sharer identities can only be obtained following crimes worthy of a prison sentence, but if the authorities have their way the threshold will be lowered to include any offenses which could lead to a fine.

EU Court Bans Anti-Piracy Filters On Hosting Services

In a legal battle between music rights group SABAM and social networking site Netlog, the European Court of Justice delivered an unprecedented ruling today. The Court ruled that hosting sites can’t filter copyrighted content as that would violate the privacy of users and hinder freedom of information. The case at the highest European court has far-reaching consequences for many online services including cyberlockers and BitTorrent sites.

Music Industry Mulls Suing Google Over “Pirate” Search Results

The recording industry considers filing a lawsuit against Google for allegedly abusing its dominant market position to distort the market for online music. Industry groups including IFPI and the RIAA want Google to degrade links to “pirate” websites in its search results. IFPI has obtained a “highly confidential and preliminary legal opinion” to see if they can force Google to step up its anti-piracy efforts though a lawsuit.

Book Publishers ‘Shut Down’ Library.nu and iFile-it

The book download portal Library.nu and cyberlocker ifile.it appear to have ‘shut down’ voluntarily after a coalition of book publishers managed to get an injunction against the two sites. According to the complaint, the sites offered users access to 400,000 e-books and made more than $11 million in revenue in the process.

Megaupload Co-Founder Released On Bail

The co-founder of Megaupload has been freed on bail by a judge in New Zealand. Mathias Ortmann will be the subject of strict conditions including no Internet access. The US will now rely on a United Nations treaty to extradite the Mega team. Separately, it was revealed that the FBI remotely monitored last month’s raids and congratulated New Zealand police on their work.

UK Seize Popular Music Blog, Arrest Operators and Threaten Readers

As part of a criminal investigation the UK Government has shut down the popular blog RnBXclusive which posted news, commentary and links to music. Authorities have arrested the owners of the site for allegedly defrauding the music industry. In addition, the Serious Organised Crime Agency is threatening users of RnBXclusive that they face 10 years in prison if they downloaded music through the site.

IIPA Reports BitTorrent Sites and Cyberlockers To US Government

The IIPA, which counts major entertainment groups such as the MPAA and RIAA among its members, has listed many BitTorrent and cyberlocker services in its latest submission to the USTR. Hong Kong based Megaupload neighbor Filesonic is listed as an “infringing distribution hub” while Pirate Bay, isoHunt, Demonoid and others get notable mentions.

Dutch Parliament Rejects ACTA On Human Rights Violations

ACTA Anti-Piracy Treaty Criticized by EU Parliament President

FilePorn Adult Torrent Site Joins Cheggit, Shuts Down

RIAA: “Misinformation May Be a Dirty Trick, But It Works.”

Russia’s Largest BitTorrent Tracker Under Huge DDoS Attack

Reddit and WordPress Urge Congress to Shelve SOPA/PIPA

Turbobit.net Blocks US Visitors After MegaUpload Shutdown

QuickSilverScreen Streaming Links Site Calls It Quits

BitTorrent Giant BTjunkie Shuts Down For Good

Tribler Makes BitTorrent Impossible to Shut Down

The Pirate Bay Moves to .SE Domain To Prevent Domain Seizure

MegaUpload User Data Soon to be Destroyed

Pirate Bay Founders’ Prison Sentences Final, Supreme Court Appeal Rejected

Top 10 Most Popular Torrent Sites of 2012

Continuing a long-standing New Year's tradition, we present an up-to-date list of the world's most visited...

What’s The Best VPN / Proxy for BitTorrent?

Privacy is important on the Internet, and BitTorrent users are certainly not excluded. Already, hundreds of...

5 Ways To Download Torrents Anonymously

With anti-piracy outfits and dubious law-firms policing BitTorrent swarms at an increasing rate, many Bittorrent users...

BTGuard Review: How Does it Work?

With the entertainment industries lobbying for increased powers to spy on BitTorrent users, many downloaders are...

Optimize Your BitTorrent Download Speed

BitTorrent can be fun, as long as you get decent speeds. Not satisfied with your current...

Random Links