TorrentFreak Email Update

Webhost Refuses To Censor Its Own ‘Pirate Bay’ Anti-Censorship Tool
Megaupload Judge To Issue Order On Return Of User Data “Shortly”
Top Artists Line Up for Kim Dotcom’s Megabox

Webhost Refuses To Censor Its Own ‘Pirate Bay’ Anti-Censorship Tool

Posted: 30 Jun 2012 03:59 AM PDT

Back in January we reported on the fruition of a new anti-censorship project.

The resulting ‘RePress’ tool was developed by webhosting company Greenhost and allows anyone with a WordPress blog to create a proxy for sites subjected to Internet censorship around the world.

The tool’s creators list many usage examples, such as unblocking Amnesty.org, Blogspot, Wikileaks, TorProject, plus the one that caught our eye – The Pirate Bay. But by adding Pirate Bay unblocking functionality to their tool, Greenhost have now attracted the attention of Hollywood via their very own Dutch proxy – anti-piracy outfit BREIN.

The All4xs site where RePress is hosted is reporting that BREIN has ordered them to take down the RePress plugin on the basis that it’s a dedicated Pirate Bay unblocking tool. BREIN believes that since it has won several cases recently against sites offering Pirate Bay proxies – not least against the Dutch Pirate Party – All4xs should take note and comply.

Greenhost, and by extension All4xs, see things rather differently. They say that RePress is very much a generic tool since it unblocks a range of sites and is not designed to specifically unlock The Pirate Bay. On that basis they have refused to comply with the takedown.

“This plugin allows people who live in dictatorships such as China or Iran to still access the open Internet. This is vital in a society that is increasingly dependent on digital resources,” wrote Green Host Director Sacha van Geffen in his response to BREIN.

“All4xs.net will stay online with all content intact.”

But according to the anti-piracy outfit, failure to comply with their demands could have serious repercussions, including the filing of a criminal – not civil – complaint against Greenhost. Arnoud Engelfriet, a lawyer specializing in Internet law at the ICTRecht law firm, told TorrentFreak that he believes the threat lacks credibility.

“The criminal complaint would be an allegation of criminal contribution to copyright infringement (secondary infringement). That’s a baseless accusation in my view,” he explained.

“The law explicitly protects hosting providers against criminal liability, as long as they comply with a takedown order from the court. BREIN admits that Greenhost is a hosting provider (‘intermediary’) because their claim for a takedown is based on a Copyright Law provision directed against intermediaries.”

However, according to Engelfriet there is an even more important issue at hand.

“The State’s Attorney (‘Openbaar Ministerie’) has a longstanding policy of not prosecuting copyright infringement unless it is extremely large-scale, threatens the public health or has connections with organized crime.

“A few years back a case against an Edonkey-index site was thrown out because the court said the prosecution had not demonstrated how they alleged infringement met the criteria of the policy,” Engelfreit concludes.

Dutch news outlet Webwereld predicts that BREIN will now move to obtain an ex-parte court ruling against Greenhost in order to force them to comply.

Source: Webhost Refuses To Censor Its Own ‘Pirate Bay’ Anti-Censorship Tool

Megaupload Judge To Issue Order On Return Of User Data “Shortly”

Posted: 29 Jun 2012 12:50 PM PDT

It’s been almost six months since Megaupload’s servers were raided and seized by U.S. authorities, a long time if you have valuable data stored on the companies now-frozen infrastructure.

That’s the predicament sports reporter Kyle Goodwin found himself in after he chose Megaupload as the company to host his videos. Ever since he’s been campaigning for the return of his files with the invaluable help of the EFF. Together they filed a motion demanding a workable solution to enable him, and other users, to regain access to their data.

Today the EFF appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia to continue the fight, in the face of what they describe as a government failure to assist Goodwin and other lawful Megaupload users to retrieve their property.

According to Bloomberg, during the hearing prosecutors argued that users such as Goodwin should be treated as “unsecured creditors” who should file civil actions against either Megaupload itself or Carpathia Hosting, the company where Megaupload housed its rented servers and where the data remains in limbo.

In Court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Peterson described Megaupload as a service provider as opposed to an entity that holds people’s property. "A file-copying service is what Megaupload provided," he said.

In response, Judge O’Grady noted that Goodwin wasn’t asking for a service to be restored, but his videos back. "He's asking for his data back, and that's property, right?" he said.

O’Grady did not make a decision on return of the data today, but indicated that one will come soon.

"We'll look at it a little further and issue an order shortly," he concluded at the end of the hearing.

According to PC World, during the hearing O’Grady rejected a request from Megaupload’s lawyers to challenge the Department of Justice’s seizure of Megaupload assets, describing the request as “premature” while noting he’s still considering their motion to dismiss.

Source: Megaupload Judge To Issue Order On Return Of User Data “Shortly”

Top Artists Line Up for Kim Dotcom’s Megabox

Posted: 29 Jun 2012 05:55 AM PDT

Megabox first appeared in the news late last year, following the release of the “Mega Song” promo.

The song featured top artists including P Diddy, Will.i.am, Alicia Keys, Snoop Dogg and Kanye West, endorsing the now-defunct Megaupload. At the time, Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom explained that he had plans to put the “dinosaur record labels” out of business with the release of Megabox.

A month later, however, the Megabox domain was seized as part of the criminal case against Dotcom and other members of the so-called “Mega Conspiracy”. While many thought this was the end of the ambitious plans, Megaupload’s founder recently announced that Megabox is not dead yet.

In fact, the events of the past half year make Dotcom more motivated than ever before.

“I am totally excited about changing the music industry forever and giving the power to the artists,” Dotcom told TorrentFreak today. And he has reason to be excited.

Despite the legal woes, Megabox can still count on the support of many of the world’s top musicians. According to Dotcom, several of them have agreed to try the “free music” model.

“Some of the world’s top artists have lined up to launch with us and I want to make sure that they have the launch that they deserve. And of course the same is true for all the hidden talent out there, the artists who want to use Megabox as a launch pad,” Dotcom says.

Megabox

megabox

The basic idea behind Megabox is simple. Give the public access to free music, and cut out the big labels so artists get properly compensated from the revenue being generated.

This revenue comes from the Megakey application that users have to install. Megakey works like an ad blocker, but instead of blocking ads it replaces a small percentage with Mega’s own ads. Those who prefer not to install the app have the option to buy the music instead.

“Music will be free for users who install the Megakey App. Anyone who does not like the App can just purchase the music,” Dotcom explains.

If successful, Megabox will be bad news for the major record labels, who currently enjoy a large cut of music sales. Depending on the revenue that’s generated, for artists Megabox may be an improvement as they get to keep nearly all of the money that comes in.

“These new solutions will allow content creators to keep 90% of all earnings and generate significant income from the untapped market of free downloads,” Dotcom says.

“I created an innovation that could solve the piracy problem,” he adds

That last part is important. Megaupload’s founder believes that this “free music” business model has the potential to decrease music piracy. It won’t be the solution preferred by the major labels, but artists should be encouraged by the offering.

In the weeks to come Kim Dotcom and his colleagues are hoping to get Megabox ready for a public release once there’s more certainty concerning the ongoing extradition attempt. Definitely something to keep an eye on.

Source: Top Artists Line Up for Kim Dotcom’s Megabox

The Pirate's Press

Saturday, 30 June 2012