After close to ten years of legal debate over the thorny issue of pirate site blocking, Austria is now one of many countries in the EU that restricts access to such sites.

The legal path was one of the more difficult ones to date and it took until November 2017 for the Supreme Court of Justice to definitively rule that The Pirate Bay and other “structurally-infringing” sites can indeed be blocked, if rights holders have exhausted all other options.

The Court based its decision on the now-familiar BREIN v Filmspeler and BREIN v Ziggo and XS4All cases that received European Court of Justice rulings in 2017.

In January 2018, T-Mobile was asked to block several new sites, including thepiratebay.org, thepiratebay.red, piratebayblocked.com, and pirateproxy.cam. However, the ISP feared the blocking had the potential to violate net neutrality rules since the domains aren’t specifically listed in a court order and are only considered ‘clone’ sites.

As a result, the ISP reported itself to the Austrian Regulatory Authority for Broadcasting and Telecommunications (RTR) for a potential net neutrality breach. Several other ISPs including A1, Drei, Kabelplus, Liwest, and UPC later followed suit.

In December 2018, T-Mobile was asked to block more domains – kinox.sg, movie4k.org, movie4k.am, movie4k.pe. The company highlighted no unusual issues, noting that the domains “correspond to those which have already been blocked on the basis of a court decision.”

The company now reports that following a request in March, it has also taken action to block a further 22 domains which are claimed to be involved in copyright infringement.

These include several Kinox, Movie4K and Movie2K-related domains, plus burning-series.net, serienstream.be, streamkiste. tv, serienjunkies.org, and cinemas.to.

The list also includes the popular sites bs.to and s.to, platforms that were recently blocked by Vodafone in Germany without a specific court order, under fear of repercussions from music rights group GEMA.

While it doesn’t want to breach a separate and unrelated court order in Austria, T-Mobile still has concerns over potential net neutrality breaches after blocking the domains listed in the latest batch.

“The listed sites, in terms of their content as well as their design and functionality, are largely the same as those that had to be blocked due to judicial decisions,” it notes.

“At the same time, we have sent a letter to the regulatory authority to have these restrictions checked for compatibility with the TSM Regulation (net neutrality).”

In January 2019, telecoms regulator Telecom Control Commission said it will get involved when an ISP block is requested, triggering a supervisory process and a full review by the agency. Informal blocking of domains following a simple request from rights holders was therefore ruled out.

Moving forward, however, ISPs in Austria are still calling for an “independent judicial body” to confirm the legality of any blocking requests in advance to ensure that a minimum of time and resources are expended on the process.

The list of domains blocked by T-Mobile in the latest batch are:

– bs.to
– burning-series.net
– s.to
– serienstream.be
– streamkiste. tv
– serienjunkies.org
– cinemas.to
– kinox.si
– kinox.io
– kinox.sx
– kinox.sh
– kinox.gratis
– kinox.mobi
– kinox.cloud
– kinox.lol
– kinox.wtf
– kinox.fun
– kinox.fyi
– movie4k.sg
– movie4k.lol
– movie2k.nu
– movie4k.sh

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With around a quarter of a billion monthly users, Reddit is one of the most important sites on the Internet.

The site plays host to millions of live discussions on countless topics ranging from the mundane to obviously controversial.

Recently we’ve reported on the troubles being faced by /r/piracy, Reddit’s most popular sub-Reddit focused on piracy discussion.

In an article published mid-March 2019, we reported how the moderators of the forum were making best efforts to keep content on the right side of the law and within Reddit’s rules. Just a handful of days later, however, the moderators received notice from Reddit that they were receiving too many copyright complaints from rightsholders.

For a sub-Reddit that has strict rules forbidding anyone posting links to infringing content, the notification came as a disappointment. While some complaints were legitimate (some people simply won’t abide by the rules and some posts do get missed), many were not. This placed the forum’s moderators between a rock and a hard place.

According to some of the copyright notices filed with Reddit, simply posting an alleged pirate site homepage URL warranted a complaint, even when that URL didn’t link to any infringing content. We’ve seen the same kind of issues before, when copyright holders have made attempts to have site homepages delisted from Google, despite their content never appearing there.

Further complicating the process is that the moderators of /r/piracy have no ability to respond to potentially false allegations. If a user makes a post that results in a copyright notice, only that user (or Reddit’s admins) are in a position to dispute the claim with the notice sender, so that rarely happens. Even if it does, nothing is made public.

Meanwhile, the notices keep building up, despite best efforts and whether they’re valid or not. Even people simply posting names of releases are being flagged for copyright infringement, something that isn’t illegal in any form. As a result, those posts too are now being removed, as quickly as the mods can reach them.

“I have begun unofficially removing release posts and it’s quite sad considering that a rather large bulk of our users look forward to them every day, I know I did,” moderator ‘dysgraphical‘ informs TF.

“We have had days when releases were the highlight of the day filled with hundreds of comments of excited people discussing the film. This has all been scrubbed now. We recently had an April Fool’s ‘Avengers: Endgame’ release post hit r/all and while the community was happy to meme on being fooled, a few users were concerned that copyright holders might act on it and have it removed.”

It’s nothing less than self-censorship in response to sloppy and/or fraudulent claims, but these are testing times.

But the really big issue here relates to the huge archive of posts already present on /r/piracy – some ten years’ worth of discussions. Is there anything in there that could warrant a surprise complaint? Apparently so, since rightsholders have been digging up issues from the past and complaining to Reddit.

This left the moderators of /r/piracy with a huge dilemma. Uncertain of what lay in the archives and only being in a strong position to be absolutely certain of the state of play more recently, they asked the community for input on the ‘Nuclear Option‘ – deleting every post older than six months old, just to be sure.

After the votes were counted, those in favor of deleting the archives outnumbered those asking for preservation by ten to one. All that was left was to find a way to begin deleting history, around 9.5 years of posts. A script was created and put into motion and the purge began.

“Given the speed, this might take weeks,” says moderator ‘dbzer0’, a nine-year veteran of the sub-Reddit.

It’s unclear when this sweeping process with be fully completed, but it’s hoped that it can keep the community alive. Not all of the moderators were in favor of the mass deletion since that, of course, deletes the community’s history too.

“The Scrubbing [as the deletion process is now called] is just a poorly, rushed attempt to elongate the community’s lifespan on Reddit,” dysgraphical says.

“We have already seen this performed in other subreddits in which mod teams have bent over backwards to please the administration by implementing their own set of stringent rules. These communities no longer exist.”

But the vote was cast and the final decision appears to have been a democratic one rooted in self-preservation. It does raise interesting points, however.

The recently highlighted situation shows that sub-Reddits devoted to controversial topics – especially those related to piracy – are at risk of being targeted. When they are, the copyright notice and counter-notice process is somewhat undermined.

While users can be banned for repeat infringements, it’s trivial to open a new account. And when the notices start to pile up on Reddit – legitimately or not – whole communities can be banned, despite working above and beyond the requirements of the law.

“The issue at hand is not that r/Piracy distributes copyrighted content, but rather that the discussion of digital piracy is no longer protected; it never was,” dysgraphical adds.

“As copyright holders continue pushing the envelope, by claiming that the mention of streaming sites infringe their IP, Reddit will continue complying and effectively ban r/Piracy. Copyright holders on Reddit no longer need to dig deep to find infringing content, they can pick any thread or comment at random that loosely relates to their IP, and file a DMCA takedown notice.”

To give a school analogy, it appears that if a few kids misbehave, get misinterpreted, or targeted incompetently, the whole class gets kept behind after school – before being permanently expelled. It’s effectively mass punishment based on the acts of a few – or the whims of bots.

Finally, subscriptions to /r/piracy have always been on the increase and are now edging towards 370,000 subscribers but the ongoing purge is having a clear effect on traffic to the sub-Reddit, when the two unusual peaks (including the April 1 surge) are discounted.

Whether the popular forum can fight back from this decline will remain to be seen but it’s clear that deleting most of its history is already causing pain. The big question is whether Reddit’s admins are taking note of this huge olive branch or whether they’ll still choose to chop down the whole tree regardless.

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

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Free access to information is a very hot topic, particularly in the academic field where many believe that putting studies behind a paywall is unethical.

This has led to the rise of ‘pirate’ sites like Sci-Hub, that aim to provide free access to information and education, for the betterment of the world.

But, when one considers how these sites operate, even this noble aim can prove controversial.

Much of the content offered by these types of platforms infringes copyright. That’s often publishing giants such as Elsevier, who in return have waged war on Sci-Hub in particular. Just this week, yet another blocking order against the site was handed down in France, with operator Alexandra Elbakyan pledging to continue as usual.

But what if there was another way to access academic content, studies, and textbooks without having to resort to piracy?

In 2018, several prestigious European research councils announced a major push for Open Access publishing, with a plan to limit the power of major copyright holders and ‘tear down academia’s paywalls.’

And, just this week, there was more news for academics and students to become cautiously excited about – the reintroduction of the Affordable College Textbook Act.

On Thursday, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Angus King (I-ME), Tina Smith (D-MN), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), along with U.S. Representative Joe Neguse (D-CO-02), introduced bicameral legislation with the aim of making high-quality textbooks available to students, professors, and the public, for free.

“One of the most basic higher education costs to students is often overlooked: textbooks,” Durbin said, citing figures from The College Board estimating costs of $1,240 per student, per year.

“In Illinois, we know federal support for open textbooks can be successful. Expanding this program to more states will mean lower costs for students to incur. This bill will help prevent the high cost of textbooks from putting students’ academic success at risk.”

Senator Smith said that when meeting with college students, they often talk about the cost of textbooks and how difficult it is to afford them.

“Sometimes textbooks are so expensive that students take the chance and don’t purchase them at all, and try to make it work without the needed material,” she said. According to U.S. PRIG, 65% of students choose to go without textbooks.

Of course, others resort to piracy too. Over the years we’ve reported on several initiatives to provide free or cheap textbooks to students, but many have either faded away or ended in criminal convictions for their operators.

There are even patents out there that attempt to prevent students from sharing their own books with others. Clearly, open alternatives are preferable to all of the above.

As per information released Thursday, the Affordable College Textbook Act, among other things, has these ambitions, should it eventually pass:

• Authorizes a grant program, similar to the Open Textbooks Pilot, to support projects at colleges and universities to create and expand the use of open textbooks with priority for projects that will achieve the highest savings for students;
• Ensures that any open textbooks or educational materials created using grant funds will be freely and easily accessible to the public, including individuals with disabilities;
• Strengthens existing price transparency so students can easily identify classes that use open textbooks when they register;

While the passing of the Act certainly won’t end piracy overnight, giving students options that don’t involve compromising their already limited finances or forcing them towards popular search engines such as Library Genesis has to be considered a step forward.

More information here and here

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ISP blocking has become a prime measure for the entertainment industry to target pirate sites on the Internet.

The practice has been around for over a decade and has gradually expanded to more than 30 countries around the world.

Last year Greece stepped in. Following a request from EPOE, a local anti-piracy group which represents the interests of major Greek copyright holders, more than three dozen sites were blocked, including The Pirate Bay.

That was only the start, it appears, as Greek music rights organization Grammo has now joined in as well. The group filed a blocking application with the Hellenic Copyright Organization (OPI), a special commission that falls under the Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports.

The targeted sites include the popular torrent sites RARBG.to, Torrentz2.eu, LimeTorrents, and TorrentDownloads. The list is further made up of various pirate linking sites, such as Ellinomania.eu, Warez‐bb.org, Newalbumreleases.net, Boerse.to, Greekddl.net, and Music‐bazaar.com.

Hellenic Copyright Organization reviewed the request and concluded that it meets all requirements.

Grammo, for example, said that it contacted the sites in question, but only received a response from Torrentz2. The torrent site did indeed remove the links, as requested, however, new links pointing to similar content appeared soon after.

According to the Government-affiliated commission, the music group has made it clear that the targeted sites are involved in copyright infringement. This means that ISPs will soon be asked to expand their blocklists with the new domain names.

Before the blockades go live, the respective site owners were informed about the decision. There were given the opportunity to obtain proper licenses within ten days, or alternatively, appeal the decision.

“You may voluntarily comply with the applicant’s request or obtain from the applicant a relevant license within ten (10) working days from the date of receipt of the notification,” Hellenic Copyright Organization writes.

“Alternatively, you may raise your objections to the Committee within five (5) working days from the date of receipt of the notification, sending, at the same time, all the evidence showing, in particular, that there is no infringement,” the letter adds.

The Greek system is different from that of many other countries because it doesn’t involve a court.  It’s an administrative procedure which allows copyright holders to swiftly request pirate site blockades, without the need for lengthy and costly legal proceedings.

Whether the current blockades will help to deter piracy in a meaningful way has yet to be seen. As usual, there are several options to bypass ISP blockades, and the targeted sites themselves often offer alternative domains.

Following the previous blocking request, several popular Greece pirate sites, including Xrysoi, Gamatotv, Tenies-Online, Oipeirates, and Tainio-mania, swiftly moved to new domain names. These remain available today and are among the most-visited sites in the country.

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A copy of the blocking notification sent to the respective site operators is available here (pdf).

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Hundreds of thousands of German citizens (and quite possibly more) have been hit with settlement notices over the past 15 years.

The country is one of the most risky places in the world to share files without the permission of copyright holders, as plenty of Internet users have found to their detriment.

One such case, dating back to 2011, saw Universal Music send a letter to a family whose Internet connection was used to share the Rihanna album ‘Loud’. However, the case wasn’t straightforward.

The parents, to whom the letter was addressed, stated that they had no interest whatsoever in the R&B star. However, one of their three children did, and the parents actually knew which one had committed the infringement.

Relying on a local law that protects family members from having to testify against each other, the parents refused to hand over the identity of their infringing offspring. However, after the case was heard by the Munich Court of First Instance, they were themselves held liable and ordered to pay almost 3,900 euros.

The case then headed to the Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof – BGH) which resulted in another win for Universal.

The BGH upheld the decision of the Munich Court in 2017 and held the parents liable for infringement, reasoning if the parents knew who had committed the offense but refused to identify them, they should pay the fine themselves. But the show wasn’t over just yet.

The case then progressed to the Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgerichts – BVerfG ) which handed down its decision Wednesday.

Siding with the judgments of the lower courts, the BVerfG said that if the parents don’t want to identify which of their children committed the offense, then it is they who must be held liable and face the consequences.

“The fundamental right to respect for family life under Article 6 (1) of the Basic Law does not preclude a civil-procedural obligation on Internet access holders to disclose which family member used the connection if copyright infringement was committed via the connection,” the decision reads.

“On the basis of this ruling, the 2nd Chamber of the First Senate, with a decision released today, did not accept the constitutional complaint of a parent against a conviction for damages and reimbursement of charges, who knew which of their children had made copyrighted music available to the public, but in a civil case had not revealed that.

“Family protection is not intended to escape tactical considerations of personal liability for infringement of intellectual property rights,” the Court added. “The mere fact of living with other family members does not automatically lead to a disclaimer for the subscriber.”

While this sounds very much like a defeat for the parents in question, the ruling also clarifies points of law which may prove of importance to others who might find themselves in a similar position in the future.

Knowing who committed an infringement and refusing to hand over their information leads to liability, but not knowing who did so may produce a more favorable outcome, says Cologne-based lawyer Christian Solmecke.

“The Internet subscriber is not obliged to make any specific inquiries within the family. However, if he himself determines who the perpetrator is, then he must also name them – even if they come from his family environment,” Solmecke notes.

“The ruling leads to the conclusion that parents are now better off if they theoretically entertain the possibility that their children have committed the crime, but at the same time declare that they do not know the true culprit.

“If the parents know the culprit, they must betray him or they are liable themselves. If they do not know the culprit, the parents are released from liability,” the lawyer concludes.

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