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Google has rejected DMCA removal requests filed by the MPAA for homepages and category pages on several suspected piracy sites.

Of the 81 URLs submitted for removal, only 21, or 26%, were actually removed. Google decided not to take any action on 60 URLs.

One rejected submission refers to the movie 'The Calling', with the URL being requested to be removed being that particular site's "new releases" page, with 'The Calling' being one of the listed movies on that page. The same website's homepage was also part of the DMCA takedown request for the movie 'Fury', which at the time of writing, did not actually feature on the homepage (which features dynamic and changing content).

Google does not provide any information on why a submission was rejected, Google previously told BitTorrent news website TorrentFreak that they do not take action on materials deemed "too remote from infringing activity". 

Most rights holders submit specific pages related to a specific title for removal, but this process can be drawn out and time consuming. The MPAA has been successful before in removing homepages in "strategic" takedowns, but it appears their tactics have fallen foul of Google's removal policies this time.

The results and analysis for Blu-ray (and DVD) sales for the week ending 15th November 2014 is in. How to Train Your Dragon 2 was the week's top seller, helping Blu-ray revenue and market share keep and improve upon last week's highs. 

You can read the rest of the stats and analysis here

From BitTorrent users spending big to Walmart customers not paying enough, read this and other news stories from the week ending 23 November 2014.

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Netflix's share of peak download bandwidth has grown in the second half of 2014, but only slightly, according to a report by network management firm Sandvine.

Sandvine's bi-annual Global Internet Phenomena Report shows that Netflix's share of peak download traffic in North America has grown from 34% in the first half to nearly 35% (34.98%) in the second half.

Showing Netflix's dominance in the region, Amazon Instant Video, the second largest subscription video-on-demand service, only accounted for 2.6% of peak download traffic. This was still more than double what the service consumed 18 months ago.

Netflix's global dominance may also grow thanks to the its official introduction into more regions next year, including into the Australasian region. But despite Netflix's lack of an official presence in that region, 2.5% of users, on an unnamed fixed network in the region, are already accessing the service via geo-unblockers, accounting for as much as 4% of peak downstream traffic.

The figures also show HBO's introduction of a standalone streaming product in 2015 can't any come sooner, with its current cable-tied HBO Go product only accounting for 1% of download traffic.

"With both Netflix and Amazon Instant Video gaining bandwidth share in North America during 2014, it will be fascinating to see how a standalone HBOGO streaming option will impact networks when it launches in 2015," said Dave Caputo, President and CEO, Sandvine.

The increasing popularity of legal streaming options may also be having an effect on illegal download traffic, with filesharing traffic continuing to shrink in all regions, except in Asia-Pacific countries.

A survey conducted by BitTorrent Inc has found that BitTorrent users are much more likely to pay for music and movies than the average Internet user.

The survey, which took place in September and involved 2,500 respondents, looked at the movie and music purchasing habits of BitTorrent users and found some surprising results.

An amazing 50% of those that responded say they buy music each and every month, making BitTorrent users, or at least those surveyed, 170% more likely to pay for music than compared to an average Internet user.

For paid streaming services like Spotify Premium, those surveyed are 8 times more likely to pay for such a service than average users. This is based on stats released by the music industry's own copyright lobby, which found that only 2% of Internet users have signed up for a premium account (compared to 16% of those surveyed).

On average, BitTorrent users spend on average $48 on music per year. Money that BitTorrent Inc hope that users will start spending on their own paywall music platform, BitTorrent Bundle. BitTorrent Bundle allows artists to distribute music directly via the BitTorrent platform using the company's own paygate system, allowing artists to received up to 90% of all revenue from music sales on the platform.

"BitTorrent Bundle was started based on this premise and we have more than 10,000 artists now signed up, with more to come. With 90% of purchase going to the content creators, BitTorrent Bundle is the most artist friendly, direct-to-fan distribution platform on the market," BitTorrent Inc.'s Director of Communications Christian Averill told BitTorrent news website TorrentFreak.

For movies, the results are just as encouraging. 52% of respondents say they buy movies on a monthly basis, with over a third of users spending more than $100 annually. 47% also paid to watch a movie at the cinemas in the preceding 12 month.

The enthusiasm of users when it comes to spending money, the same users often accused of being nothing but hardcore pirates, comes as no surprise to BitTorrent Inc's Christian Averill. And even those on the pro-copyright side have come to admit that pirates are also customers, sometimes the best customers when it comes to both music and movies.

"The results confirm what we knew already, that our users are super fans. They are consumers of content and are eager to reward artists for their work," says Averill.