TorrentFreak Email Update

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• Historic: The Internet Protests Anti-Piracy Bills
• Grooveshark Blocks German Users Over Licensing Costs
• RIAA Labels Demand Cash from Alleged BitTorrent Pirates

Historic: The Internet Protests Anti-Piracy Bills Posted: 18 Jan 2012 05:13 AM PST At TorrentFreak we’ve been covering copyright battles for more than half a decade. When a new anti-piracy bill emerges, wherever in the world, there has always been a push-back from civil rights groups and Internet users. Unfortunately, these protests are almost exclusively ignored by lawmakers. Could this pattern be broken today? Judging by the scope of today’s protests it’s now or never. In the coming hours hundreds of millions of Internet users will be confronted with blacked out pages and similar “strikes” in opposition to the PIPA and SOPA bills, and if enough people take action the people in Washington may just listen. The first signs are positive, but there’s still a long way to go. Here’s how YOU (corporate pawns) can help: - Tell Congress you oppose PIPA/SOPA. - Not in the US? Email the State Department. - Call your Senator. - Leave your computer and visit a Senator. - Discuss, share and inform others about the bills. For those who are wondering, TorrentFreak is not going dark. Our purpose has always been to inform the public, whether it’s the latest news or a call to action like this article. We believe we can contribute and achieve more by keeping the site online than to black out completely. That said, we are alerting all visitors to take action through the excellent censorship script put together by FAT LAB. To save an impression of today for future generations, we’ve listed below a few of the many protest pages being run today. Did we miss a good one? Paste a link in the comment section and attach a screenshot! Google Google has blocked its logo to protest PIPA/SOPA and added a link to a resource page where people can take action. Demonoid Demonoid, one of the largest BitTorrent communities, is going dark completely, with a nice spotlight effect. Firefox Firefox users will be welcomed with a dark themed default home page today, alerting people about the looming PIPA/SOPA threats. Reddit The online community Reddit will point the public to a resource site where they can take action. Wikipedia Wikipedia will be completely inaccessible for 24 hours, except the pages about censorship, PIPA and SOPA, of course. WordPress WordPress is joining the protest as well, and has decided to censor itself today. Minecraft Minecraft is protesting as well, but in red with the tagline “PIPA & SOPA, How About NOPA.” Source: Historic: The Internet Protests Anti-Piracy Bills

Grooveshark Blocks German Users Over Licensing Costs Posted: 18 Jan 2012 03:32 AM PST Grooveshark users in Germany officially became former users of the service today after the US-based music streaming site stopped offering its service there. Grooveshark has in excess of 30 million users, less than 10% of which are located in Germany. Rather than being presented with the usual page from where almost any music in the world can be found, local users were instead greeted with the following message: Due to unreasonably high operating costs, the notice reads, Grooveshark is now inaccessible from Germany. “We will miss you! You can write to us. We hope to come back one day,” it continues. “If you want to reduce the operating costs for both providers and Grooveshark, you can send a polite message to GEMA.” GEMA is the local music rights collections organization in Germany and according to its own stats has 64,000 members and represents more than 2 million rights holders. The organization has a history of licensing disputes, most visibly when it started blocking videos on YouTube in order to achieve a deal on its terms with the Google-owned company. The unpopular move was even met with criticism from prominent music industry players, including CEO of Sony Music, Edgar Berger, who suggested that members of GEMA’s supervisory board had not yet arrived in the digital era. “We want to see streaming services like Vevo and Spotify in the German market. [These platforms] must not be blocked by GEMA any longer,” he said. “Artists and music companies are losing sales in the millions.” Nevertheless, it’s unlikely that Berger will apply the same sentiments to Grooveshark’s plight. All the major labels – Sony, Universal, Warner and EMI – are suing Grooveshark over copyright infringement or royalty issues in the United States. That legal process was stepped up this week when Grooveshark sent a reportedly aggressive and broad-reaching subpoena to Digital Music News in an attempt to unmask a supposed whistleblower whose allegations form the basis of Universal’s copyright infringement lawsuit against the music streamer. On its German page, Grooveshark concludes its German departure message by suggesting that users test out the local Simfy music service as an alternative, but many will simply head over to Google and type “US proxy” instead. Source: Grooveshark Blocks German Users Over Licensing Costs

RIAA Labels Demand Cash from Alleged BitTorrent Pirates Posted: 17 Jan 2012 12:48 PM PST During the last decade the RIAA embarked on an online anti-piracy action which would later go down as one of the most controversial ever seen. After spending years on various educational campaigns, none of which worked, a new plan was put into motion. It involved monitoring P2P networks for infringements, unmasking the perpetrators, and then threatening to sue unless a large ‘fine’ or settlement was paid. Although the RIAA stopped its settlement actions against US citizens some time ago, the fallout from the campaign is still felt today, with cases ongoing against Jammie Thomas and Joel Tenenbaum. However, while those Stateside are no longer targets for the RIAA’s so-called “sue-em-all” campaign, the same cannot be said of citizens in Europe. In common with their counterparts in the gaming industry, the major labels – Universal, Sony, EMI and Warner – are all actively sending out cash settlement demands to alleged file-sharers. For the past several years, 2011 included, the labels have been pursuing cash settlements from German Internet users for the alleged sharing of music from dozens of major stars artists. A small sample is shown below: Universal Amy Winehouse, Blink 182, Bon Jovi, Eminem, Florence And The Machine, Jamiroquai, Jennifer Lopez, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Take That, The Black Eyed Peas, The Rolling Stones. Settlement amount demanded: 1,200 euros Sony AC/DC, Alexandra Burke, Alica Keys, Avril Lavigne, Backstreet Boys, Beyonce, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Foo Fighters, Kasabian, Kesha, Kings of Leon, Leona Lewis, Michael Jackson, Ozzy Osbourne, Pink, Pitbull, R. Kelly, Shakira, The Strokes. Settlement amount demanded: Up to 950 euros EMI Bryan Ferry, Coldplay, David Guetta, Depeche Mode, Good Charlotte, Gorillaz, Katy Perry, Snoop Dogg, U2 Settlement amount demanded: Up to 1,200 euros Warner Of the four labels, Warner appears to be least active, particularly when chasing settlements on behalf of major acts. Warner’s activities appear to be limited to local artists of limited international appeal. Settlement amount demanded: Up to 1,200 euros Although these labels are playing a major part in the settlement business, they are not doing so in isolation. Dozens of other labels are acting in their own right including RoadRunner Records, Ministry of Sound and Pink Floyd Music. As previously reported, getting payments from Internet users in Germany is trivial since the law there requires the accused to prove their innocence (rather than rightsholders prove guilt) and holds account holders responsible for the actions of others. So, despite their recent protestations in response to findings from YouHaveDownloaded, the RIAA would be found liable had they been judged by German standards. Although hundreds of thousands of people are currently being targeted for settlements in the United States for sharing adult titles, currently the major labels and movie studios there aren’t pursuing the strategy locally. That, however, could all change at the flick of a switch. Source: RIAA Labels Demand Cash from Alleged BitTorrent Pirates

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