December 17, 2022

TorrentFreak: Google’s Permanent Deindexing of Pirate Sites Spreads Across Europe

TorrentFreak: Google’s Permanent Deindexing of Pirate Sites Spreads Across Europe. “Google’s decision to completely deindex pirate sites from search results is spreading across Europe. Earlier this year the MPA admitted that around 10,000 domains had already been removed but today’s figure is likely to be much higher. Takedown notices on the Lumen Database and a report published in Lithuania cast additional light on a stealthy but massive piracy deindexing program.”

Tweaks & Updates 0
November 5, 2022

Bleeping Computer: Z-Library eBook site domains seized by U.S. Dept of Justice

Bleeping Computer: Z-Library eBook site domains seized by U.S. Dept of Justice. “Internet domains for the popular Z-Library online eBook repository were seized early this morning by the U.S. Department of Justice, preventing easy access to the service. Z-Library is ranked in the top 10k most visited websites on the Internet, offering over 11 million books and 84 million articles for free via its website.”

Security & Legal Issues 0
August 14, 2022

Motherboard: Widely Mocked Anti-Piracy Ads Made People Pirate More, Study Finds

Motherboard: Widely Mocked Anti-Piracy Ads Made People Pirate More, Study Finds. “An infamous anti-piracy ad from 2004 tried to convince us all that downloading a pirated movie is no different than stealing a car. We’ve all seen it, but according to a new study published in The Information Society, we were not convinced. In fact, the study found that by hugely overstating the negative impact of piracy, the ad may have caused people to pirate even more.”

Research & Opinion 0
July 28, 2022

Reason: You Can’t Stop Pirate Libraries

Reason: You Can’t Stop Pirate Libraries. “Are the proprietors of these pirate libraries freedom fighters? Digital Robin Hoods? Criminals? That depends on your perspective, and it may also differ depending on the platform in question. But one thing is certain: These platforms are nearly impossible to eradicate. Even a greatly enhanced crackdown on them would be little more than a waste of time and resources.”

Research & Opinion 0
July 24, 2022

TorrentFreak: Meta Hit With Massive Piracy Lawsuit Over Epidemic Sound Royalty-Free Music

TorrentFreak: Meta Hit With Massive Piracy Lawsuit Over Epidemic Sound Royalty-Free Music. “Meta has been hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit demanding at least $142 million in damages. Epidemic Sound, a company that provides royalty-free music to YouTubers and other creators, claims that Meta hosts 94% of Epidemic’s music in its own library, none of it licensed. According to Epidemic, this has resulted in billions of illegal views across Facebook and Instagram.”

Security & Legal Issues 0
July 16, 2022

TorrentFreak: Google Delists Hundreds of Pirate Bay Domains From UK Search Results

TorrentFreak: Google Delists Hundreds of Pirate Bay Domains From UK Search Results. “Google began to delist pirate sites from local search results last year. The search engine voluntarily complies with court orders targeted at third-party Internet providers. This is also true in the UK, where The Pirate Bay initially remained unblocked. A recent wave of removal requests corrected this initial oversight and hundreds of Pirate Bay domains have since been removed.”

Security & Legal Issues 0
July 5, 2022

The Next Web: The Pirate Library Mirror wants to preserve all human knowledge… illegally

The Next Web: The Pirate Library Mirror wants to preserve all human knowledge… illegally. “A new project has just launched with the goal of preserving all human knowledge. The problem? It’s illegal. The Pirate Library Mirror is what it says on the tin: a mirror of existing libraries of pirated content. The project focuses specifically on books — although this may be expanded in the future.”

New Resources 0
June 29, 2022

Bleeping Computer: US, Brazil seize 272 websites used to illegally download music

Bleeping Computer: US, Brazil seize 272 websites used to illegally download music. “The domains of six websites that streamed and provided illegal downloads of copyrighted music were seized by U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Department of Justice. 266 other websites part of the same network were also taken down in Brazil, with six individuals arrested in 30 search and seizure raids across the country.”

Security & Legal Issues 0
May 6, 2022

TorrentFreak: US Court Orders Every ISP in the United States to Block Illegal Streaming Sites

TorrentFreak: US Court Orders Every ISP in the United States to Block Illegal Streaming Sites. “More than a decade after U.S. lawmakers scuttled the controversial SOPA legislation that would’ve required ISPs to block pirate sites, a US court has demonstrated that the ability to block sites has been available all along. Injunctions issued in response to lawsuits against three pirate streaming services require every ISP in the United States to prevent subscribers from accessing them.”

Security & Legal Issues 0
April 29, 2022

New York Times: In Echo of Soviet Era, Russia’s Movie Theaters Turn to Pirate Screenings

New York Times: In Echo of Soviet Era, Russia’s Movie Theaters Turn to Pirate Screenings. “The screenings are reminiscent of the Soviet era, when the only way to see most Western films was to get access to a pirated version. Whereas those movies made their way to Russians in the form of smuggled VHS tapes, today, cinemas in the country have a simpler, faster method: the internet. Numerous websites offer bootleg copies of movies that take minutes to download. Some theaters in Russia are now openly screening pirated movies; others are being more careful, allowing private individuals to rent out spaces to show films, free or for a fee.”

Ukraine 0
April 25, 2022

TorrentFreak: Google Voluntarily Removes More Pirate Sites From its Search Results

TorrentFreak: Google Voluntarily Removes More Pirate Sites From its Search Results. “Over the past months, it has become clear that Google is voluntarily helping rightsholders to tackle online piracy. The search giant has now removed another batch of ‘pirate site’ URLs from its results in the Netherlands, just days after a local ISP was ordered to block them. While it’s a big step to take, Google hasn’t yet commented on the matter.”

Security & Legal Issues 0
April 24, 2022

Vedomosti: Movies, series and music from unfriendly countries legalized through compulsory license

Vedomosti, and machine-translated from Russian: Movies, series and music from unfriendly countries legalized through compulsory license. “The Russian authorities have found a way to keep films, series, music and other intellectual property in the country from companies from unfriendly countries that have announced they are leaving or suspending their activities in Russia. For this, a bill is being developed that expands the effect of a compulsory license, two interlocutors familiar with the discussion of the initiative told Vedomosti.”

Ukraine 0
April 18, 2022

TorrentFreak: DuckDuckGo ‘Removes’ Pirate Sites and YouTube-DL from Its Search Results (Updated)

TorrentFreak: DuckDuckGo ‘Removes’ Pirate Sites and YouTube-DL from Its Search Results (Updated). “Privacy-centered search engine DuckDuckGo has completely removed the search results for many popular pirates sites including The Pirate Bay, 1337x, and Fmovies. Several YouTube ripping services have disappeared, too and even the homepage of the open-source software youtube-mp3 is unfindable.”

Tweaks & Updates 0
March 30, 2022

Waypoint: Russian ‘Loop Hero’ Devs Tell Players to Pirate Their Game Because of Sanctions

Waypoint: Russian ‘Loop Hero’ Devs Tell Players to Pirate Their Game Because of Sanctions. “Four Quarters, the indie Russian game developer behind the surprise hit Loop Hero, are telling players they should pirate the game if they can’t find a way to buy it legitimately because of wide-ranging sanctions imposed on the country since its invasion of Ukraine in late February.”

Around the Search & Social Media World 0

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