Man Pleads Guilty to $23m YouTube Content ID Scam
A man at the center of a copyright scam that abused YouTube's Content ID system to fraudulently obtain more than $23m to the detriment of artists has entered a plea agreement with the US government. Webster Batista Fernandez wrongfully claimed to own.....»»
MPA Wants Stricter Online Identity Checks to Catch Pirates
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) would like stricter identity checks to become part of a new trade agreement between the U.S. and the Indo-Pacific region. These new obligations should apply to hosting companies and other online services. In addit.....»»
New Phase of ‘Operation 404’ Targets Pirate IPTV & TV Streaming Sites
'Operation 404', a Brazilian anti-piracy initiative carried out with support from the US and UK, claimed more successes this week. Police executed 13 search and seizure warrants against three TV piracy sites, two illegal streaming portals, and an IPT.....»»
Spanish Pirate Site Operator Gets Two-Year Prison Sentence, Mother Walks Free
A Spanish man who operated five pirate sites, offering a wide variety of content, has received a two-year prison sentence from a Madrid court. At trial, the parties agreed to suspend the sentence on the condition that he pays €500,000 in damages an.....»»
YouTube Rippers Appeal $83 Million Piracy Verdict
The operator of YouTube rippers FLVTO.biz and 2conv.com has announced that he will appeal the piracy verdict, where the RIAA won $83 million in damages. According to his attorneys, the legal process has gone off the rails, as the music companies didn.....»»
Illegal IPTV Streaming: Four Receive Prison Sentences Totaling 10+ Years
Four individuals connected to the illegal streaming of copyrighted content have been handed prison sentences in the UK totaling more than 10 years. Three men and a woman were convicted of fraud and money laundering for offenses against broadcasters i.....»»
RuTracker Found Itself Unblocked in Russia So Immediately Blocked Itself
Infamous Russian torrent site RuTracker is one of many pirate sites that are permanently blocked by the Russian authorities for failing to remove copyrighted content. However, when the site suddenly became accessible again this month, RuTracker took.....»»
MPA: Google’s Delisting of Thousands of Pirate Sites Works
The MPA has teamed up with Google to remove pirate site domain names from search results in countries where these are already blocked by ISPs. No court has ordered Google to take action but the company is voluntarily complying with "no-fault" ISP inj.....»»
We’re Turning Off The Comments…
When we started this site more than sixteen years ago, we never expected it to last this long. The fact that TorrentFreak is still around today is in large part thanks to our loyal readers. The commenters have played their part as well but, eventuall.....»»
PrimeWire: We’ll Ban ‘Pirate’ Streaming Sources, Introduce Upload Filters
One of the best-known pirate streaming sites says it will go to extreme lengths to prevent its latest new domain from being seized. In a response to a lawsuit filed by a coalition of major Hollywood studios and Netflix, PrimeWire claims it will ban a.....»»
U.S. Senators Introduce SMART Copyright Act to Combat Piracy
U.S. Senators Thom Tillis and Patrick Leahy have introduced the SMART Copyright Act of 2022. The bill requires online hosting services to implement standard technical protection measures, designated by the Copyright Office. Rightsholders see the prop.....»»
Pirate IPTV Sellers Who Refused to Pay a Cash Settlement Get Sued & Lose
In 2018, a court in the Netherlands ruled that companies selling access to a pirate IPTV playlist acted illegally, even though they weren't the suppliers of the infringing streams. The decision was a win for Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN, which later.....»»
Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week – 03/21/2022
Every week we take a close look at the most pirated movies on torrent sites. What are pirates downloading? 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' tops the chart, followed by ‘Turning Red'. 'The Adam Project' completes the top three. From: TF, for the latest new.....»»
YouTube Rippers Ask Google to Remove ‘Copycats’ From Search Results
The operator of MP3Juices and YTMP3, two of the best-known YouTube downloaders, is taking action to protect these valuable brands. The sites have many copycats and competitors that use the brands' keywords to attract search traffic. The operator want.....»»
Court Prohibits Convicted Lawyer from Filing New Copyright Lawsuits
Paul Hansmeier, one of the convicted attorneys behind the controversial Prenda Law firm, is no longer allowed to file new copyright cases in the District of Minnesota. The court issued the restrictions and dismissed over a dozen pending cases, throug.....»»
Watch Tower vs. McFree: Nonprofit Defends Critic’s Fair Use & Anonymity Rights
'Kevin McFree' recently fended off a Watch Tower DMCA subpoena after a judge found that his critical animations were protected under fair use. However, Watch Tower is aggressively pursuing a separate copyright lawsuit, one that deals with exactly the.....»»
Anti-Piracy Company Asks Court to Keep Filings Secret as TorrentFreak Might Report On Them
Anti-piracy company MarkMonitor is a trusted partner of the major record labels. Among other things, the company provided evidence and testimony for the ongoing piracy lawsuit against Internet provider Bright House. This week, MarkMonitor asked the c.....»»
Triller Abandons Multi-Million ‘Jake Paul’ Fight Copyright Infringement Lawsuit
In 2021, social media company Triller launched an aggressive $100m legal campaign against entities that allegedly streamed the Jake Paul vs Ben Askren boxing match without permission. It hasn't really gone to plan. In fact, Triller has now dismissed.....»»
WIPO’s Pirate Site Blocklist Expands to 4,042 Active Domain Names
The pirate site blocklist for advertisers, maintained by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), has grown to well over 7,000 domains names, of which 4,000 are active. To make the "WIPO Alerts" system more transparent, the public can now.....»»
Two More ‘Ringleaders’ of Torrent Site ‘Asgaard’ Sentenced in Denmark
Following investigations by anti-piracy group Rights Alliance, police have been rounding up people who played prominent roles at Danish private torrent site Asgaard. This week two more people were convicted of copyright infringement offenses. Both we.....»»