TorrentFreak Email Update |
- Pirate Bay’s Peter Sunde on the Copyright Mafia
- Megaupload Founder Kim Dotcom Released From Prison
- Police Raid File-Hosting Site, Arrest Operator and ISP
| Pirate Bay’s Peter Sunde on the Copyright Mafia Posted: 22 Feb 2012 03:41 AM PST
I left the site a few years ago to continue working on Flattr and other projects, but I’m just as interested in the questions regarding copyright, Internet and censorship as I’ve ever been. I keep following these issues and keep a close eye on the news. After having skimmed though the High Court decision regarding a UK Pirate Bay blockade I was intrigued by the claimants’ tactics. They appear to know who runs the site, but somehow decided not to include these persons in the suit. They put up a list of reasons, mostly rants, about how hard it is to find the people behind the site. But is it really? They still claim that two old friends and I remain as operators, along with the old owner of the ISP that TPB had back in 2005. However, they decided not to include us. (None of us are actually operators, which they probably know. Indeed, one of the people listed might not even be alive, we haven’t been able to reach him for ages.) The claimants also say they know which company owns TPB, but decided to not include it in the suit. Those who ever started a company know that you must put up an address, so it’s not hard to find a company rep. Addresses and such are always public information. So why are they not included? Is there a deeper underlying reason for that? Of course there is. Their main interest is not stopping TPB. They’re interested in making the telco industry liable instead. The ISPs are usually big corporations, the telco industry is in fact much bigger than the entertainment industry. They’re operating on a global scale with billions of customers. This means that they have lots of money as well as lots of potential customers for the entertainment industry. If the telcos could be held liable for any sort of infringement, and have to police the Internet, there would only be two possible ways to do so. One would be to shut down their business since it’s impossible to make sure that nothing illegal goes on in your network. The second option is to strike a deal with the entertainment industry. Just as with any other mafia, the entertainment industry wants protection money. To avoid lawsuits the telcos would have to pay. Either by forcing them to re-sell a service the entertainment industry control (like Spotify) or by charging them a set fee for each connection per month. The record companies have previously asked for $10 per month per Internet connection. But what about other creators? They don’t really care about that question. Porn, movies, bloggers, search engines are all bigger than music on the Internet. How much should we force-pay them? A few years back an Irish ISP called Eircom blocked their customers access to TPB. It was an out-of-court settlement which noone knows the details of. Either Eircom got paid or the other way around. That’s plain censorship – Eircom sold out the interest and rights of their customers without a court order to do so. Fortunately the other ISPs refused to follow. The recording industry really wants a landmark case in order to go demanding money from the telco industry. If they sued TPB they can’t make the telco pay the protection money. It’s a corrupt industry which has to be stopped!  About The Author Peter Sunde is the former spokesperson of The Pirate Bay. He’s currently working for the micro-payment service Flattr which he co-founded in 2010 Source: Pirate Bay’s Peter Sunde on the Copyright Mafia
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| Megaupload Founder Kim Dotcom Released From Prison Posted: 21 Feb 2012 03:59 PM PST
Dotcom had been held in custody since an anti-terrorist police squad raided his Coatesville mansion last month following a lengthy FBI investigation. While the prosecution argued that Dotcom would have the financial resources to flee the country, the Judge concluded that “none of significance” were found. An investigation did turn up four additional bank accounts in the Philippines but they were all empty. As a result the Megaupload founder was released from prison and will continue to fight the accusations of the United States, where he is wanted on racketeering, copyright infringement and money laundering charges. Although no longer in prison, Dotcom will have to abide by several strict conditions at his Coatesville house. No helicopters will be allowed to land on the premises, Dotcom will have to give police 24 hours notice should he choose to leave, and when he does there will be a limit of 80km to his travels. The Megaupload founder will also be denied access to the Internet. Dotcom’s lawyer Paul Davison tried to lift the Internet restriction by arguing that it was unrealistic since his client has to stay in touch with his US-based defense team. “It’s like saying he shouldn’t have access to a telephone, it’s such a fundamental means of communication,” Davison noted. Prosecutor Anne Toohey said that Internet access would increase the risk of a Megaupload resurrection in a jurisdiction where US authorities can’t touch it. Bram van der Kolk, Mathias Ortmann and Finn Batato, three other Megaupload employees named in the “Mega Conspiracy” indictment, were all previously released on bail. The former recently called on the New Zealand authorities to keep its dignity in its extradition dealings with the United States. Source: Megaupload Founder Kim Dotcom Released From Prison
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| Police Raid File-Hosting Site, Arrest Operator and ISP Posted: 21 Feb 2012 10:57 AM PST
An international operation shut down the movie streaming portal Kino.to and police made more than a dozen arrests. As collateral damage, several file-hosting services connected to Kino.to also went down. A few days ago Skyload.net, another cyberlocker with connections to Kino.to, was raided and shut down while the site’s alleged operator Maik P. was arrested. According to the authorities the 28-year-old operator was personally responsible for uploading more than 10,000 films . The German anti-piracy outfit GVU reports that after Kino.to was shut down Skyload continued its operation by linking unauthorized streams and downloads to alternative movie portals such as kinoX.to. Kino.to
Together with the operator of Skyload, the police also arrested Marcel E., the 25-year-old owner of the site’s hosting provider. Aside from providing hosting services to the cyberlocker, the Internet provider is also alleged to have hosted servers to release groups and movie streaming portals. How tight the connections were between the hosting provider and the file-sharing services is unclear from the information currently being made public. It is quite unusual for a hosting provider to get arrested for alleged crimes that were committed through clients. Both men have been charged with copyright-related offenses and face up to several years in prison if they’re found guilty. Several other people connected to the Kino.to ring have already gone on trial for their part in the site's operation and the main admin was recently sentenced to three years in prison. Together with the Megaupload shutdown, the actions against sites affiliated with Kino.to have drastically changed the cyberlocker business. In particular, rewards programs for uploaders became a liability and have been dropped by dozens of sites. Source: Police Raid File-Hosting Site, Arrest Operator and ISP
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As many of you know, I used to be the spokesperson for The Pirate Bay. 
Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom was released on bail by North Shore District Court Judge Nevin Dawson today.
On June 11th last year Europe witnessed one of the largest 
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