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Telegram is Riddled With Tens of Thousands of Piracy Channels; Apple and Google Have Ignored Requests From Creators To Take Action (theoutline.com)
joshtops writes: Instant messaging platform Telegram, which is used by more than 200 million users, has had an open secret since its inception: The platform has served as a haven for online pirates. The Outline reports that the platform is riddled with thousands of groups and channels, many with more than 100,000 members, whose sole purpose of existence is to share illegally copied movies, music albums, apps, and other content. The files are stored directly to Telegram's servers, allowing users to download movies, songs, and other content with one click. Channel admins told The Outline that they have not come across any resistance from Telegram despite the company, along with Apple and Google, maintaining a 'zero tolerance' stance on copyright infringement. This permissiveness on Telegram's part has led to the proliferation of a cottage industry of piracy marketplaces on the service.
[...] The Outline also discovered several groups and channels on Telegram in which stolen credentials -- i.e., the username and password for a website -- from Netflix, Spotify, Hulu, HBO, CBS, EA Sports, Lynda, Sling, WWE Network, Mega, India's Hotstar, and dozens of other services were being offered to tens of thousands of members each day. The Outline sourced nearly three-dozen free credentials from six Telegram channels, all of which worked as advertised. The report says that content creators have reached out to Apple, requesting the iPhone-maker to intervene, but the company has largely ignored the issue.
In an unrelated development, a Moscow court cleared the way on Friday for the local government to ban Telegram, the messaging app, over its failure to give Russian security services the ability to read users' encrypted messages.
[...] The Outline also discovered several groups and channels on Telegram in which stolen credentials -- i.e., the username and password for a website -- from Netflix, Spotify, Hulu, HBO, CBS, EA Sports, Lynda, Sling, WWE Network, Mega, India's Hotstar, and dozens of other services were being offered to tens of thousands of members each day. The Outline sourced nearly three-dozen free credentials from six Telegram channels, all of which worked as advertised. The report says that content creators have reached out to Apple, requesting the iPhone-maker to intervene, but the company has largely ignored the issue.
In an unrelated development, a Moscow court cleared the way on Friday for the local government to ban Telegram, the messaging app, over its failure to give Russian security services the ability to read users' encrypted messages.
Apple and Google have no investment in Telegram, why should they be expected to solve this problem? You can use Safari and Chrome to download pirated stuff on your phone too, but I don't see anybody calling for Apple and Google to remove Safari and Chrome from telephones.
If creators have a beef with Telegram, take it up with Telegram Messenger LLP.
Where do they claim they're on the side of the people? Their whole statement is essentially longhand for "we do propaganda".
So, Telegram is .. general-purpose? This is like worrying about the fact that Harry Mudd uses the same kind of spaceship fuel as the rest of us. Your problem is with Harry Mudd, not the spaceship fuel. If you make it about the spaceship fuel, you're going to become the enemy of many space captains.
"Believe me!" -- Donald Trump
/sarcasm I'm shocked, shocked, I tell you that people are sharing files / video / music on the internet! Back in MY day we hoarded our one's and zero's! Only communists shared their data with a stranger. We practiced safe hex by being our corporate master's bitch!
Instead of asking the question: "When this many people are just outright ignoring copyright maybe this civil disobediance of Against Intellectual Property (written by a lawyer, go figure) is a call to re-think the archaic, capitalist concept of Copyright? Nah, let's go after Apple and Google instead which have NOTHING to do with this. "
Wait till these people find out that you can share "illegal numbers" through Skype, Google Drive, or even email !