As one of the most iconic game manufacturers in the world, Nintendo has been fighting piracy for many years.

Most action is taken by the company’s in-house anti-piracy division or through trade groups such as the ESA.

However, this month the City of London Police also offered a helping hand.

The dedicated Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) arrested a 43-year-old man at a residence in Lowestoft, accusing him of being a prominent ‘modder’ of Nintendo Switch consoles.

“PIPCU officers arrested and cautioned a 43 year old man at an address on Rotterdam Road, Lowestoft in relation to copyright offenses. Hard drives, microchips and computer equipment were seized at the same address,” PIPCU announced.

The police note that “modders” are criminals. However, in this case, the suspect was cautioned and no further action was taken.

According to PIPCU, piracy is not a victimless crime. Not only are the games companies impacted directly, but people who sell modded consoles are at risk as well.

Some games may not work on modded consoles, PIPCU warns, and downloading pirated files is a risky endeavor as well, since people may run into malware and viruses.

“If you’re looking to buy a Nintendo console as a Christmas gift, make sure you know who you are buying from, otherwise you could get more than you bargained for,” PIPCU’s Detective Constable Daryl Fryatt says.

“If you buy a gaming console that gives illegal access to pirated content, you could be exposed to malware and identity crime,” he adds, urging consumers to “Play safe” and “play fair.”

The announcement specifically mentions Christmas, which is a popular time of year for the video game industry. As such, Nintendo will be happy with the police assistance.

That said, Nintendo itself is also taking action against “modders.” Earlier this month the company filed a lawsuit against alleged sellers of modded consoles and pirated games in the US. This case remains pending.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons.

Source link

After long negotiations, the Canadian Government agreed earlier this year that the country’s current copyright term will be extended by 20 years.

This change was part of the trade deal negotiations with the US and Mexico. By extending copyright protection to life plus 70 years, ‘rightsholders’ will be able to generate more profit, the argument goes.

While that may work in theory, Canadian singer Bryan Adams believes that large intermediaries such as the major record labels will benefit the most. Creators often sign away their rights early on, which means that they don’t benefit from any extensions.

In a brief to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, Adams notes that copyright law is out of balance. As such, large companies stand to benefit more from a copyright extension than individual creators.

One of the problems, according to Adams, is the fact that intermediaries hold the bigger bargaining chip. Creators who want to earn a living may sign away their rights in their first deal, something they may regret later on.

“Creators deal with one or few intermediaries; they sign up creators all the time. Creators striking a first deal sign anything that is presented to them; an intermediary rarely needs to sign up this creator,” Adams writes.

“Copyright law is about balance, a balance which was and remains at risk between creators and intermediaries. Copyright law works not so much for creators as for intermediaries; extending the duration of copyright will benefit them, not creators.”

The imbalance can be easily addressed, according to Adams. While it may be too late to revert the agreed copyright extension, there’s a change that will put more power in the hands of creators. And it only requires changing one word in the Copyright Act.

Right now, Canadian copyright reverts to a creator’s heirs 25 years after “death.” By changing the word “death” to “assignment”, creators terminate a copyright assignment while they’re still alive.

This means that the starting artists who signed away their rights to an album to a major label at 20 years of age, can get those rights back at 45. It’s a major change, but not unprecedented, as the US has a similar copyright-termination policy after 35 years.

Adams’ recommendation

Adams already discussed the proposal earlier this year when he appeared before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, but the brief he submitted discusses the advantages in great detail.

Among other things, he stresses that the change in termination policy would empower creators, which will also be good in light of the planned copyright extension.

“Including a termination right in Canadian copyright law would help to ensure that real world copyright law works more in favor of creators. It would also help reduce some of the unintended effects of the upcoming extension of copyright.

“Canada is now more or less duty-bound to increase copyright protection by 20 years, to ‘life + 70’. Extending the duration of copyright essentially enriches large firms of intermediaries. It does not put money in the pockets of most creators,” Adams notes.

By granting a copyright termination right the expected benefits of an extension don’t go to the intermediaries. At the same time, creators will be able to profit more from their work. It’s a giant step forward and only requires changing a single word in the Copyright Act.

—

A full copy of Adams’ brief, first highlighted by professor Michael Geist, is available here (pdf).

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons.

Source link

At the end of every year we take a look at the most-downloaded TV-episodes among torrenting pirates.

The list was headed by Game of Thrones for six years in a row, but this reign has now come to an end.

With no new GoT episodes in 2018, the title was up for grabs and The Walking Dead has seized this opportunity.

This doesn’t come as a complete surprise, as the AMC series was already the runner-up since 2014.

Episodes of The Walking Dead are downloaded millions of times. The show has a steady following and is currently in its ninth season. The series may continue for a few more years as the producers previously said that they have enough material to keep it alive for several more seasons.

Apart from the change at the top, there are a few small changes. Most of the entries in the top ten have been featured in the list at least once before in previous years. Titans is the best-ranked newcomer in fifth place.

It’s worth noting that BitTorrent traffic only makes up a small portion of the piracy landscape. A lot of people use streaming sites and services nowadays, which generally do not report viewing stats.

Finally, while Game of Thrones is excluded this year it doesn’t mean that the show isn’t being pirated. GoT torrents remain the most sought-after season bundles on torrent sites.

In fact, if all downloads from previous episodes and seasons would count, GoT would likely still be on top. This is also what IKnowWhatYouDownload suggests. We, therefore, have no doubt that it will return for a grand finale next year when the final season airs.

—

Below we have compiled a list of the most torrented TV-shows worldwide (most shared single episode). The ranking is compiled by TorrentFreak based on several sources, including statistics reported by public BitTorrent trackers and the DHT network. Full season downloads are not included.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons.

Source link

Back in 1991, when the World Wide Web (WWW) first became publicly available, few people knew what an impact it would have on the planet. Today, more than 27 years later, a world without the Internet is a prospect that even fewer people are prepared to consider.

There can be little doubt that the Internet is becoming greater by the day. Billions now rely on the network to fulfill what have become our most basic needs, with the free-flow of information enabling some of our greatest achievements in discovery, research, and education.

In 1994, when the Internet became publicly available in Sweden, it’s unlikely that even the people behind fledgling ISP Bahnhof could have envisioned what the web has become today. However, as one of Sweden’s first service providers, the company has since weathered many storms, particularly as the freedom of the Internet clashed with those who favor more restrictions, especially in respect of copyright enforcement.

For example, back in 2005 – when the war against file-sharing had really taken hold in Sweden – Bahnhof was effectively shut down as part of an anti-piracy raid. As a result, the company had harsh words for those involved, accusing the infamous Antipiratbyrån anti-piracy group of indirectly planting copyright-infringing content on servers connected to the company.

“How can Antipiratbyrån, which in the form of a lobby organization that works to curb the file-sharing culture, actively pay a person to upload tens of thousands of copyrighted files to a server that is then seized by the authorities?” CEO Jon Karlung asked at the time.

“It’s like distributing matches and petrol to a famous pyromaniac, then reporting him for a fiery fire when he’s heating a house.”

From this event, a pattern began to emerge. Bahnhof became an opponent of file-sharing crackdowns and a supporter of privacy, in 2009 famously refusing to store the IP addresses of customers so they could be pursued by the authorities.

A year later, Bahnhof became the proud host of Wikileaks, a controversial move given the organization’s efforts to expose secrets connected to the war raging in Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks. But it would be the company’s efforts to protect the privacy of its own subscribers that would grab most of the headlines.

In 2014, a landmark ruling from the European Court of Justice declared Europe’s Data Retention Directive a violation of Internet users’ privacy and therefore invalid.

The Directive had required ISPs to store data on the activities of their subscribers, including who they communicate with and at what times, plus other identifying information such as IP addresses. Bahnhof announced that it would stop capturing data with immediate effect.

Soon after, however, Swedish telecoms regulator PTS ordered Bahnhof to start storing communications data again under local data retention laws, warning the ISP that non-compliance would result in hefty fines. Bahnhof responded by offering its customers a free, no-logging VPN.

Ever since, Bahnhof has made headlines with its efforts to protect the privacy of its subscribers. The company also became an outspoken enemy of copyright trolls (1,2), labeling those who engage in the practice as greedy extortionists.

With the fight set to continue, Bahnhof CEO Jon Karlung says the company’s stance has its roots in being one of the longest-standing ISPs and a desire to keep the Internet open.

“I assume that our long-time fight comes from that we, once upon the time, were one of the first ISP’s existing. That era somehow represented a positive and genuine delight over what the big internet could be,” he tells TorrentFreak.

“I still remember those days. It’s not that everything was better before (I don’t think it was) but unfortunately many dark forces have taken over – or we are close to them doing so.”

It’s clear from Karlung’s comments that he sees his company as playing a role in defending the organic nature of the Internet against what he sees as a movement to sterilize the experience, often at the expense of privacy.

“One could reflect on this: What would happen if the Internet turned out to become a big cable-TV landscape controlled by Big Media, or if various and more and more commercial interests could ‘log in’ to your privacy?

“Or, if everything develops into a big totalitarian Truman Show where global cloud companies and states join forces in a nightmarish hunt against freedom of speech with Sauron like surveillance while investing in controlling the most profitable thoughts through social media, even if these thoughts enhance hate?”

As these and similar thoughts resonate with millions of freedom-loving individuals worldwide, Karlung clearly understands that he is in business too. The stance he’s taken means his company is not only seen as somewhat unique in the marketplace, it also earns plenty of merit points with current and future customers.

“As strange as it may sound, there is also a business idea in defending customers and their privacy. In the old days this could be described as the job of the mailman,” he concludes.

Somewhat ironically, Bahnhof itself is now the subject of a net-neutrality investigation in Sweden. After a court ordered the ISP to block websites related to Sci-Hub following a complaint from Elsevier, Bahnhof retaliated by partially blocking the academic publisher’s website.

Like many of Bahnhof’s moves in recent years, the aim is to defend the free Internet with the side-effect of provoking debate. Karlung says he’s looking forward to the discussions and has sent thanks to Sweden’s telecoms regulator for the opportunity.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons.

Source link