P2P/Download News

Mass-BitTorrent Lawsuits Stopped Over Unlicensed Attorney

Added: Yesterday Thousands of people who have been sued for downloading movies can breathe sigh of relief, for now at least. A Florida judge has stopped 27 mass-BitTorrent lawsuits because the attorney for the copyright holders appears to be unlicensed. The cases are likely to be dismissed and the plaintiffs will not be allowed to demand settlements from the accused file-sharers. Read the full torrent story on TorrentFreak.

European Court of Justice To Examine ACTA For Rights Breaches

Added: Yesterday The European Commission says it is referring the ACTA anti-piracy treaty to the European Union's top court. The Court of Justice will be asked to assess whether ACTA is incompatible with the EU's fundamental rights and freedoms including freedom of expression and information. An ECJ ruling should "cut through this fog of uncertainty" says the EU's trade chief. Read the full torrent story on TorrentFreak.

Pirate Bay’s Peter Sunde on the Copyright Mafia

Added: Yesterday Two days ago I read the news that The Pirate Bay will probably be blocked in the UK. It was decided by the High Court, which funnily enough is not the first place where one would expect a court case to first appear. It seems to have been put on a fast track, which in itself raises questions and concerns. Read the full torrent story on TorrentFreak.

Megaupload Founder Kim Dotcom Released From Prison

Added: 2/21/2012 Kim Dotcom has been released from prison after a New Zealand judge granted him bail. The Megaupload founder will be the subject of strict conditions including no Internet access after the prosecution expressed fears he might reopen the site. Dotcom will now continue his fight against extradition to the United States on copyright infringement, racketeering and money laundering charges. Read the full torrent story on TorrentFreak.

Police Raid File-Hosting Site, Arrest Operator and ISP

Added: 2/21/2012 German police have shut down the cyberlocker Skyload.net and arrested the alleged owner along with a person who provided hosting services to the site. The actions are part of an ongoing sweep against people connected to the popular movie streaming portal Kino.to. Skyload's operator is suspected of uploading more than 10,000 films to Kino.to's paid affiliate program. Read the full torrent story on TorrentFreak.

Court Orders ISP To Block Grooveshark

Added: 2/21/2012 A group of more than 30 rightsholders have won their case targeted against Grooveshark in Denmark. A court agreed that both the streaming music service and its users infringe recording label copyrights and granted an injunction forcing an ISP to initiate a block of the service. The anti-piracy group behind the action hopes that other ISPs will now follow suit. Read the full torrent story on TorrentFreak.

The Pirate Bay Faces UK ISP Block After High Court Ruling

Added: 2/20/2012 In a case brought by major recording labels including Sony, EMI and Warner, today a judge in the High Court ruled that The Pirate Bay and its users breach copyright on a major scale. The ruling means that it is almost inevitable that The Pirate Bay will face a nationwide UK ISP blockade in the coming months. Read the full torrent story on TorrentFreak.

Pirate Bay ISP Block Challenged For Censoring Lawful Content

Added: 2/20/2012 The censorship of The Pirate Bay, which is slowly spreading to ISPs all around Europe, is designed to reduce the availability of unauthorized media, but the site also allows artists without a corporation-backed delivery mechanism to self publish to the world. However, since blockades are a blunt instrument, their work is being wiped out too. On this basis, the legality of a recent Pirate Bay blockade is now being questioned. Read the full torrent story on TorrentFreak.

Top 10 Most Pirated Movies on BitTorrent

Added: 2/20/2012 The top 10 most downloaded movies on BitTorrent, 'Tower Heist' tops the chart this week, followed by 'Underworld Awakening'. 'Immortals' completes the top three. Read the full torrent story on TorrentFreak.

A Responsible Citizen Not Only Shares Culture, But Destroys The Copyright Industries

Added: 2/19/2012 Do you remember the start of large scale file-sharing? Just in the borderline between the dial-up BBSes and internet-connected systems, as Napster just was gaining critical mass? As people learned the skills of sharing culture, the copyright industries didn't think people would keep doing so for long, that people in general would prefer to remain "honest". Read the full torrent story on TorrentFreak.