Domain: torrentfreak.com
Stories and comments across the archive that link to torrentfreak.com.
Comments · 688
-
Changing principles make for bad outcomes
We will never sell-out our and compromise our principles. It would be like murder.
Failing to post to social media is not like murder. But more importantly, one could reasonably read this as being true no matter what happens. One merely has to understand that whatever the organization does, no matter how contradictory today's choices are given yesterday's statements of uncompromising principles, the organization always acts in line with their current principles.
Consider that organization representatives sometimes lie (or is that "compromise their principles"?). Cloudflare tells the public "Even if it were able to, Cloudflare does not monitor, evaluate, judge or store content appearing on a third party website." and Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince said "We're the plumbers of the internet. We make the pipes work but it's not right for us to inspect what is or isn't going through the pipes." even as pro-ISIS websites used Cloudflare's website caching service. It was reported that changing this would be submitting to "mob rule". From the coverage on Gizmodo.com
Prince explained in an internal email to staffers that he doesn't think CEOs of internet companies should be in the position of policing content on their networks—he told Gizmodo he thinks that's a job that should ultimately be left up to law enforcement if the content violates the law—but felt pushed to act because the operators of the Daily Stormer are "assholes."
"I realized there was no way we were going to have that conversation with people calling us Nazis," Prince said. "The Daily Stormer site was bragging on their bulletin boards about how Cloudflare was one of them and that is the opposite of everything we believe. That was the tipping point for me."
Rather than post a followup, or use his apparently ready-made access to media to let everyone know that Matthew Prince and Cloudflare do not agree with the Daily Stormer's politics but stand up for free speech and not "inspect[ing] what is or isn't going through the pipes", on August 16, 2017 Prince said he "woke up [one] morning in a bad mood and decided to kick them [the Daily Stormer] off the Internet." (really, he was kicking Daily Stormer off Cloudflare). It seems wise to be prepared for a here-and-gone-again service model even from organizations whose principles once seemed so clear and uncompromised.
-
Re:Fragment too much...
To add one to the list:
https://rarbg.to
Fun fact, creators have found the pirates too. Fuck the middlemen wanting their cut.
The problem is, however, that people have to notice the film first. That’s a tough job when there’s virtually no marketing budget available. This is why Gardner and his team at Rare Legend Films decided to reach out to RARBG, one of the top torrent sites.
Realizing that pirates will get their hands on the film anyway, he sent the film’s master files to the site, whose in-house release group FGT turned those into torrents of varying qualities.
The releases come with a special note from Gardner himself, who explains why his production company took this unconventional step.
“The thing they never tell you when you are making your film is that you won’t have enough money for marketing and without it, no-one will see your film. Maybe torrenters can fill that gap and spread the word on independent films,” he writes.
The director sees torrenters as trendsetters. This is why the film came out on RARBG before the official Amazon release. While there are no obligations, a donation or plug are welcome of course.
“So we are giving it to torrenters a little earlier than anyone else. If you like our movie. Please donate. Throw us a clam, a shekel or two. Tell your friends, your family and everyone you know,” Gardner adds.
Trusting in your audience might be the smart thing to do. Time for some disruption.
-
Public Service Annoucement:
For all of you people that was to stay far, far away from these evil sites, the site list is below.
And for all of you people that want to see what the fuss is all about, the site list is below.
Infolink
2ddl; 8maple.ru; 9anime.is; Addic7ed; Anilinkz; Animefreak; Animeshow; Avxhm; azmaple.com; Bilutv; Bt-scene; Cartooncrazy; Cmovieshd; Ddlvalley; DailyTVFix; Dnvod; dramacity.io; dramahk.me; Fmovies.io; Glodls; Gogoanime; Hdpopcorns; hindilinks4u.to; hkfree.co; icdrama.se; icdramase; ilovehks.com; IPTorrents; Kantv; Kimcartoon; Kissanime; kisscartoon.ac; m4ufree.com; Masterani.me; Myanimeseries; Nyaa; Nzbplanet; Ondarewatch; Openloadmovies; Opensubtitles.org; Otakustream; Phimbathu; Putlocker.ac; Putlockerhd.co; qooxi.net; Rmz; Rutracker.org; Scnsrc; Seasonvar; Seriesfree; Solarmoviez; Soul-anime; streamtvb.com; Subscene; Subsmovies; Torrentday; Torrentfunk; Torrentmovies; Tvbox; Tw116; Two-movies; Ultra-vid; Usabit; VexMovies; viewasian.tv; Vkool; Vmovee; Watchanimeonline.me; Watchcartoononline.com; Watchcartoononline.io; Watchonlinemovies; Watchseries-online; woaikanxi.cc; Yify-movies; Yifysubtitles; Ymovies.tv; Zimuzu; Zooqle. -
Re:Ended?
the US government repeals Network Neutrality, and passes laws requiring ISPs to block certain web sites
No need to repeal NN, it's already baked into the rules. ISPs cannot block or slow lawful content and lawful traffic. Lawful is actually a higher bar than "legal," and there's nothing in NN that says the US cannot define specifically what is lawful content and lawful traffic.
Just for your edification, here is the link to the latest proposals from the MPAA, in which they describe, among other thinks, "Illegal internet protocol television services," (that would be unlawful traffic), and "Additionally, illegal applications that can make legitimate streaming devices infringing can be found through a myriad of legitimate and specialty app repositories," (which would be your unlawful content).
-
Cloudflare doesn't seem free-speech friendly
Without commenting on the people of OFAC, taking Noam Chomsky's explanation of standing for freedom of speech precisely for views one doesn't like (seen in context in the movie Manufacturing Consent where Chomsky defends Robert Faurrison's freedom of speech while not supporting his thesis—the segment begins around 2h24m21s and Chomsky's concise response about freedom of speech to a questioner is at 2h10m52s), I'm reminded that Cloudflare is the organization that also switched from a position that was content-neutral to picking and choosing whom to do business with based on what Cloudflare was caching. Torrentfreak.com covered this in an article concerning Cloudflare "kicking off" the Daily Stormer from their service according to Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince: "I woke up this morning in a bad mood and decided to kick them off the Internet." he claimed. This was a radical shift in policy from what Prince claimed about Cloudflare just a few weeks prior, "Even if it were able to, Cloudflare does not monitor, evaluate, judge or store content appearing on a third party website" and "We're the plumbers of the internet. We make the pipes work but it's not right for us to inspect what is or isn't going through the pipes". So apparently Cloudflare was able do precisely what he said it could not do, and Cloudflare did in fact make such evaluations even while Prince apparently misrepresented these facts to the public.
-
Re:False premise for DRM.
Eventually though, investors will realize this is just a load of shit. Just make good games and you'll get showered with money.
Not so young padawan, CEO's have discovered the ultimate "3%" via locked down games and gacha/gambling mobile games. They want to bring that to all games. Mobile is making profits that is on route to eclipse the entire PC and Console game market combined because of the locked down nature of smart phones and the fact they've put gambling interface on it for the super rich, super stupid, and super impulsive. That 3% is what game companies are now after.
There was just a story here about Rockstar having the largest weekend haul with their new game
Rockstar has drm out the wazoo and who's game is fully drm'd for shark cards, which is why they were threatening hackers. They want those mtx and gambling money badly. Same with epic and fortnite. Now they are fully incentivized never to give you the game you are paying for ever again.
https://torrentfreak.com/epic-games-sues-youtuber-golden-modz-over-magical-fortnite-powers-181012/
-
and fox can just copy an old video and then ban it
-
Re:Tell me how
50 years ago most of my peers borrowed records (12" vinyl) and copied them to cassette tapes. The music industry complained but did not go bust. Youtube ripping is just today's copying to cassette. I agree that it is breaking copyright but it won't kill them, indeed it may be that Piracy Can Help Music Sales of Many Artists, Research Shows.
-
Don't "be done" with software freedom.
Sorry I'll have to pass how Firefox these days. They are making to many decisions that really should be mine not there's.
It's a shame you're reaching such a radical decision with no clear indication of how you'll achieve this desired end. The other popular browsers (Edge, Safari, Chrome, or Opera) are proprietary (nonfree software, user-subjugating software). So without more information it seems like you're likely going to choose a browser that will, ironically, give you considerably less control over your browser and you'll end up making a choice to have fewer "decisions that really should be mine not [theirs]". You're overreacting in response to something that is literally a preference change away (as far as we know now). Encrypted DNS lookups could be a very good thing, but pushing users into using a particular DNS server is bad and choosing an organization with a track record for going back on their promises (as Cloudflare is famous for doing) makes this decision worse.
But regardless of the change or how easy it is to switch the behavior back to using only your preferred DNS server and never informing an unwanted third-party about your browsing, the saving grace of Firefox remains the same: Firefox is licensed such that one can make a free derivative browser (as others have done). We're all allowed to inspect the code, make changes, run the now-trusted version, and help others by distributing a derivative browser. You can't legally do any of that with other popular browsers.
We make free software better by improving it and using the improved versions, not abandoning free software when it becomes inconvenient or undesirable. The privacy you obviously, and rightly, want to keep depends on software freedom.
-
Re:Website blocking works, the data is coming in
you want a useful study ? https://gizmodo.com/the-eu-sup... SO useful they hid it , SO useful a MEP had to invoke their own laws on data disclosure and free information against them (yea ofcourse pirate party, who else would go against lobbyright these days?) thats how useful it was and it will very likely confirm mafiaa and breinbaf worst nightmares : the only ones losing money are the ones sponsoring the copyright trolls because it barely makes a dent compared to all the lawyer and troll money thrown at it, its not about sounds business, its about competitive psychopaths and their need to "win" even if its against all reason back when the world was young i had the silly idea if you do business you scrap that what costs you more than that what gets you, otherwise you're closer to an NGO (but i always had weird ideas) on top of that : https://torrentfreak.com/japan... https://www.japantimes.co.jp/n... while https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu... https://torrentfreak.com/inter... most people here think anime is cartoons is pokemon shall i rest my case, because its pointless, clearly, like the whole intellectual and expert world advising against internet filtering and then they vote PRO
-
Re:Website blocking works, the data is coming in
you want a useful study ? https://gizmodo.com/the-eu-sup... SO useful they hid it , SO useful a MEP had to invoke their own laws on data disclosure and free information against them (yea ofcourse pirate party, who else would go against lobbyright these days?) thats how useful it was and it will very likely confirm mafiaa and breinbaf worst nightmares : the only ones losing money are the ones sponsoring the copyright trolls because it barely makes a dent compared to all the lawyer and troll money thrown at it, its not about sounds business, its about competitive psychopaths and their need to "win" even if its against all reason back when the world was young i had the silly idea if you do business you scrap that what costs you more than that what gets you, otherwise you're closer to an NGO (but i always had weird ideas) on top of that : https://torrentfreak.com/japan... https://www.japantimes.co.jp/n... while https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu... https://torrentfreak.com/inter... most people here think anime is cartoons is pokemon shall i rest my case, because its pointless, clearly, like the whole intellectual and expert world advising against internet filtering and then they vote PRO
-
fox this this some time ago
-
Re:That's a massive tax
I'm going to advance the hypothesis that Uganda will soon see a massive boom in VPN network use.
The Ugandan government is way ahead of you and already blocking VPNs.
-
Re: freeze peach
YouTube don't have a monopoly: other sites are available.
The monopoly is on public discourse, not the ability to post videos in the Internet. ADL, SPLC, and activist insiders would not be pushing so desperately to censor stuff if they didn't think the sites had enough of a monopoly to shift political discourse. The act indicts itself. It is no different than a mob throwing a printing press into the river. It should disgust any American.
You refer to dailystormer.name?
Seems they've found a home on the web despite the dreadful victimization they suffered.
They are mentioned multiple times in Ajit Pai's 200 page announcement (p.152) about ending net neutrality. He sees the social monopolies as bigger threats to free speech than the last mile monopolies.
He is not a good guy. He's not planning to do anything useful about social monopolies or last mile monopolies, and both are problems.
But he's right about this one specific argument.
You know, I don't think it works the same if you paint the fascists as victims:
First they came for the Nazis
And i did not speak out
Because I was not a Nazi.Correct, if you're a sloppy virtue-signaller who wants to boastfully rightthink on twitter, it does not work for you to have a free speech discussion about Nazis because people go "wow just wow," or they expose you to mockery which defeats the entire purpose of your narcissistic "engagement".
If, on the other hand, your goal is to preserve the political benefits of free speech and our country's democratic legacy, you will realize as EFF does that defending free speech necessarily involves defending obnoxious speech every time because people who don't believe in frozen peaches go for the low-hanging fruit, and intentional or not, it becomes a wedge for them. This is already happening: people didn't speak out for the "Nazis," so they are coming for Damore, Prager U, gun videos, etc.
Every single time.
-
Re: Does not compute
-
Re:VPN recommendations
Link to the link:
https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-providers-no-logging-claims-tested-in-fbi-case-160312/- The Phantom Linker
-
Re:"Publisher Says" ... nuff said
But is there really nothing to this? One of the related stories for this is https://yro.slashdot.org/story/16/08/24/1639200/cloudflare-faces-lawsuit-for-assisting-pirate-sites which is another similar content lawsuit. But in that lawsuit, the plaintiff is actually using Cloudflare's kicking off the Daily Stormer as evidence toward their liability for hosting pirated content: https://torrentfreak.com/daily-stormer-termination-haunts-cloudflare-in-online-piracy-case-170929/. If something comes of that in the previous case, it might sink Cloudflare in this one as well. Any legal experts able to comment on this possibility?
-
Re:This is why we need net neutrality
Net neutrality does not mean you get to copy copyrighted material. If you do that, stop having an iot thermostat.
But the ISP would be cutting off your internet connection merely because the copyright holder thinks you're pirating their material.
What happened to innocent until proven guilty?
How do we know the copyright holder isn't making a mistake?
-
Re:So don't use PureVPN
What VPN would you suggest, and how do you know they actually do what they say they do
... in writing?PIA. They've also been tested in court as keeping no logs at all.
-
VPN safe if you used established ones
https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-s...
Never heard of these VPN services, but if you stick to VPNs that have been reviewed and tested for privacy over the years they are fine. See above link for good reviews..noticed PUREVPN was never reviewed?
-
Re:Torrentfreak get shut down for it.
How did "Torrentfreak get shut down"? TorrentFreak is a news site about file sharing and Internet privacy. It hosts the featured article, and this article is still viewable in the United States.
Might you have confused TorrentFreak with a site that actually hosts, links to, or tracks infringing torrents?
-
Like this...?
-
Ten Network can't blame pirates
This former network CEO (I'm not sure about his position in this former company) is wrong. The reason for this is just streaming, just Netflix or something else. Torrent alone is not a factor in this at all. For instance TCM Nordic closed down on 1st June due to drop in viewing and this is not first time that Turner Network close down television stations. They have closed down Silver and Showtime (I think it was) in the Nordic countries (where I live) due to drop in revenue and viewing of those stations (all where subscription cable television only stations, either included in a package or part of an extra channels people where able to buy).
Television networks are going out of business the same way newspapers did few years ago and nothing is going to change that fact. Blaming it on piracy is stupid and not according to facts or data on this matter.
None pay-walled article.
-
Re:Can they do it?
The EU has no such regulation (this is what we were discussing). I'm pretty sure that since Italy already passed a law making it illegal to Uber, a law saying that accessing the site is illegal and blocked at the ISP level would be constitutional. The UK does it a lot. And, for instance Italy has done it before.
As for proxies, I addressed that in my earlier post.
-
Re:Relevant links
More VPN providers than you can throw a bucket of sticks at: https://thatoneprivacysite.net...
TorrentFreak 2017 survey: https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-s...
I've moved from PrivateVPN (seem incompetent) to CyberGhost premium (slow, dodgy untrustworthy they essentially log), NordVPN next.
Valve/Steam f**ks over VPN users, downloads go at 40KB/s whilst using VPN, they seem to think it's up to them whether I use a VPN, like fuck you valve, that isn't your choice to make.
Over my 50mb/s connections I've seen 9-30 mb/s with steam using expressvpn
-
Relevant links
More VPN providers than you can throw a bucket of sticks at:
https://thatoneprivacysite.net...TorrentFreak 2017 survey:
https://torrentfreak.com/vpn-s...I've moved from PrivateVPN (seem incompetent) to CyberGhost premium (slow, dodgy untrustworthy they essentially log), NordVPN next.
Valve/Steam f**ks over VPN users, downloads go at 40KB/s whilst using VPN, they seem to think it's up to them whether I use a VPN, like fuck you valve, that isn't your choice to make.
-
The Ultimate Piracy Machine...
The researchers forgot to include The Kopimashin in their turd/study...
-
Check the log policy
Many VPN services have a no log policy. Always review the policies of a VPN when you join. Here is a fairly good list to start from: I'm rather fond of VPN services in Sweden and Italy myself. https://torrentfreak.com/anony...
-
Take a look at the illustration.
Take a look at the chart the illustration, Maybe it's just me but it kinda looks like charts that reflect who has a computer and who is proficient with it.
-
Re:Definitely not worth it
Actually they do care about that money too
... they care about ALL money that they can possibly get, hence their "anti-piracy" efforts. DMCA notices are basically free but the lawyers behind them aren't ... when they got the DMCA passed into law and now when they continue to abuse it they show that they care.
It would be a far better world if the profits that you mentioned were sufficient for the movie studios, especially with how they manage their tax liabilities, but the cold reality is that they continue to go after people. Here is a recent example: https://torrentfreak.com/holly... -
Bogus URLs
Yup it's basically that.
With the additional peculiarity that here, "www.knownquestionablesite.com" will spit a valid page with suggestions, no matter what you throw as a name afterward (even if "big.name.move.html" isn't in their database, it would still give a list of not necessarily related download links).
So they are not exactly issuing DMCA about links that don't even exist (these URLs do not return 404s), only DMCA about links that are not in google database (random links that elict a random answer from the website).
The claim is borderline bogus because, as mentioned, the website return random non related download suggestions. So the website is not necessarily infringing on the DMCA submitter's IP. On the other hand, as the result page is random, Google can't prove that the submitter didn't get their IP showing by random chance on the result page on the precise occurence when they tested the URLs about which they decided to file the complain.
So currently Google is deciding to accept the submissions. But that could easily get changed in the future.
-
Re:piracy is not theft
Repeat the meme!
piracy is not theft piracy is not theft piracy is not theft
Software cannot be stolen!
-
Re:MegaUpload
I read the wikipedia page too, but the prosecution's side ignores the technical reason why they didn't necessarily delete the files. I read an example of the file deletion thing, it was on these lines:
1. user1 makes a copy of the file for personal use (legal);
2. user2 makes a copy for sharing in his blog (illegal according to American laws)
3. user3, the rights holder, makes another copy of the file, for private use (legal).If they deleted the file because of a notice on user2's link, the other users that had legitimate access to the file would have their legal property destroyed.
But about them not "playing nice", that's arguable, and my point is that according to the "rights holders", youtube is both a violator AND isn't playing nice, see 1, 2 and RIAA Says YouTube is Running a DMCA Protection Racket. They are all about how youtube and google are pirate heavens and are not helping enough in the good fight. In TFA they are talking about well-known loopholes (claiming/implying youtube should be doing something about it).
Megaupload was taking down the links for infringing content, that means that the alleged pirate lost access to the file, but without destroying the data of those users that were never accused of infringing anything. This is what caused controversy, the prosecutor thinks they should have deleted people's files.
The fact that they were complying with the DMCA notices the way google and everybody else does should be enough. People shouldn't have to do more than what the law says, they should to as little as possible. Specially if going through extra lengths would hurt legitimate users. Being prosecuted or not shouldn't be about playing nice with the powerful or about being one of them.
While megaupload is being prosecuted, and torrent sites are constantly being persecuted, Google is the big pirate. The best way to find a torrent is still googling FILENAME .torrent and to find a song is still youtube. They are not prosecuted because it is google. -
Re:Torrentfreak article
Thank you, but please learn to hyperlink. Makes it a lot more convenient for the others here.
-
News of their demise is greatly exagerated
As of two weeks ago, KAT is back on the scene.
-
Re:How will this stop copyfraud?
Fox did as well.
https://torrentfreak.com/fox-s... -
Re:IANAL
-
Re:Shocking!
This study cost the MPAA $1 million. Bought and Paid study. https://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-...
-
Re:This won't end badly..
Wouldn't it be great if ISP's were actually held liable? They would be begging to be put under common carrier regulation within days!
Uhmmm IIRC the US gained a six strike system back in 2012
https://torrentfreak.com/isp-s... -
Re:Always on the cards
I'm from Australia and faced a similar decision a couple of years back when similar laws were passed.
My criteria included a lack of logging of user activity. It's not enough (I believe), to find a provider in what is nominally a neutral country. Nor to find a provider that claims that they will keep your data private. If the data exists, it _will_ be available.
Private Internet Access doesn't keep user activity logs. They do keep some records, such as payment information. This has, reportedly, been tested with respect to enquiries by the FBI for example. They have a decent number of end points. They've pulled out of countries where they would have been compelled to keep records.
Caveat - no association with PIA, just a satisfied customer for the last ~2 years
-
Related, what.cd shut down
What.cd Shuts Down Following Reported Raids in France
What.cd wasn't a mere torrent site, it was a library of alexandria for audiophiles. What was lost will probably never be recovered. This should be a crime against humanity, but no, muh copyrights...
-
Re:Latest DRM works.
Haven't recent games released this year come with DRM that is yet to be cracked? It seems strange to make the statement that it doesn't work while for the first time since forever there is a solution for developers which actually does.
It took some time for the first title, but it seems the gates are cracked and slowly opening.
-
Re:Goodbye, World Wide Web.
Here in Canada, there was this law suite, http://www.michaelgeist.ca/200... , the kind of thing that would put the average person in prison for a long time. The slap on the wrist, https://torrentfreak.com/recor...
Must be nice to infringe for $6 billion and only have to pay $45 million, one hell of a good profit margin. -
Re:18 U.S. Code S 2319 - Criminal infringement of
Well to be fair, they're actually trying to charge him with "criminal secondary copyright infringement" which is not a real thing. Secondary infringement is a civil issue and has never been defined as criminal. https://torrentfreak.com/presi...
-
Re:Selling stolen stuff
Well of course it's felony, it always is when copyright infringement is criminal and not civil. But you're missing the most crucial part: they are NOT charging him with "copyright infringement" they're charging him with "secondary copyright infringement". Which is not a crime. It can be a civil issue, but there is no such thing as criminal secondary copyright infringement. And all the other charges hinge on that first charge. https://torrentfreak.com/presi...
-
Re:Oh boy. Another scam.
Can't dispute anything he's said, has to break down into insults. How a-typical. I remember playing with and against him in Quake, he was a jerk. But even at that, the shit that the US did was so far outside of what should have been allowed that anyone with a functioning brain should be on his side. Funny though, how he wants his extradition hearing televised and the US government is going nonononononono we can't let that happen. Sure does say a hell of a lot about the state of affairs doesn't it?
-
Satellite Internet on the high seas?
Reminder that copyright infringement is not "piracy".
In fact a recent court decision declared it slander:
https://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-...
https://www.gnu.org/philosophy... -
Re:Still original content
The media cartels (MPAA etc) are trying to starve out Netflix by jacking up their licensing fees, onerous international distribution agreements, etc etc.
That's why Netflix has gone all in on their original programming.
It is funny Neflix does the same for their original content. https://torrentfreak.com/netfl...
-
Re:Which is worse, Verizon or Comcast?
Whereas this forced upgrade is a new way to forcibly fuck their consumer and I find it pretty reprehensible, at least Verizon
has had a pretty documented history of protecting their customers ID's from the *AA. Got to hand it to them for that, -
Re:It's inevitable
You mean like this: "U.S. prisons play pirated movies to inmates" https://torrentfreak.com/u-s-p... ?