Month: December 2016

It took a change in the law and significant effort from rightsholders but this week the Aussie content industry’s dreams of website blockades came to fruition.

In a ruling handed down by Justice John Nicholas of the Federal Court, The Pirate Bay, Torrentz, TorrentHound, IsoHunt, SolarMovie, and dozens of proxies and mirrors were ordered to be blocked by ISPs including Telstra, Optus, TPG and iiNet.

While this process has certainly taken a long time and been somewhat controversial, if nothing else the ruling of the Federal Court is comprehensive. It’s clear that every conceivable loophole has been closed to not only tackle fluid pirate sites but also to protect rightsholders and ISPs from liability.

Firstly, it’s worth pointing out that the Federal Court has stated clearly that all blocks can be challenged. Any website operator negatively affected by the blocks, whether that’s a ‘pirate’ site owner or some ancillary actor, can appeal to the Court to have the block overturned.

They must provide evidence as to their status and the reasoning behind their request to qualify but that’s normal in any case. Of course, it’s extremely unlikely that any “overseas” pirate site operator will file an appeal but if an innocent party is affected, they have a chance to get things put right.

One of the lessons learned from injunctions in other jurisdictions is that when sites have been blocked, proxies, mirrors, and other workarounds have quickly appeared to evade the bans. The Australian court order deals with that eventuality in a very streamlined manner.

When copyright holders spot domains, URLs or IP addresses that facilitate access to blocked sites, they merely have to file an affidavit with the Court stating which locations the sites are attempting to operate from. The ISPs listed in the original court order will be required to block these new additions within 15 days.

In an effort towards balancing things up, the Court has also built in a mechanism designed to limit over-blocking.

If the copyright holders have a “good faith belief” that any target IP address, domain name or URL has permanently stopped infringing or facilitating the infringement of copyright, they must advise the ISPs within 15 days, in writing. From that point, ISPs will no longer have to block the locations in question. Whether copyright holders will advise ISPs promptly will remain to be seen, however.

Clearly, ISPs are required by law to block the domains detailed in the order. However, should they need to unblock them temporarily to maintain their regular systems or the blocking mechanism itself, that is permitted. Also, abandoning site-blocking in the face of a security threat is also allowed.

That being said, the ISPs can’t suspend blockades without taking action. In the event of a suspension, ISPs must advise the copyright holders of the issues being faced by 5:00pm of the next business day. They then have three days to reblock the sites or obtain permission for a further extension.

Finally, the blocking order handed down this week against The Pirate Bay and others is not indefinite. Initially, it will be in effect for a period of three years. However, six months before it’s due to expire the copyright holders can ask for an extension.

In common with having additional proxies, mirrors, and IP addresses added to the order, all they have to do is file an affidavit with the Court stating that the sites are still infringing. That should be enough to obtain a further three years’ worth of blocking.

New injunctions will need to be obtained to block additional sites not mentioned in the original order but with a system as apparently streamlined as this, there doesn’t appear to be too many roadblocks ahead.

The full judgment can be found here.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.

An amazing Japanese with the YouTube username of talapz has come up with an amazing popping picture book made with LEGO bricks! What’s cool is that you can open it up (or close it) like a real popping picture book and it will reveal a big structure complete with the zen garden, and even a […]

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Electronic Arts hat einen Nachfolger für Star Wars Battlefront noch nicht offiziell angekündigt. Trotzdem hat ein Manager jetzt erneut über die für Ende 2017 geplante Fortsetzung geplaudert - und über die Kampagne. Allerdings wird nicht nur Battlefront 2 die Solospieler in den Sternenkrieg schicken. (Star Wars Battlefront, Electronic Arts)

Unter anderem in Foren dürften viele ältere Fotos künftig nicht mehr angezeigt werden: Dropbox will den Ordner "Public" ab 2017 umwandeln, sodass endgültig keine Verlinkungen darauf mehr möglich sind. Viele Nutzer sind empört. (Dropbox, Computer)

Rund um die Uhr Computerspielen und Streamen - das steht im Januar 2017 wieder auf der Dreamhack Leipzig an. Das Digital-Festival kommt mit einigen Neuerungen. (Dreamhack, Messe)

Pirated copies of the latest Hollywood movies leak all year round, often ripped from DVDs, Blu-rays or online streaming platforms.

Towards the end of the year, however, some real gems appear online in advance of their theatrical debut in what many have dubbed “screener season.”

Screeners are advance copies of recent movies which are generally sent out to critics and awards voters. These high-quality releases are subjected to intense security precautions by the studios, as they are highly sought after by online pirates.

Still, over the years hundreds of these screeners have leaked early. Most people probably remember last year’s spree of high profile screeners released by the Hive-CM8 group. These allegedly came from the talent agency Innovative Artists which was later sued by Warner Bros.

This year, however, things have been quiet on the screener front. While many have been sent off for review, the first have yet to leak to the public. That is, if they ever leak at all.

2017 screeners?

Looking at recent history, it’s almost unthinkable that no pirated screener copies will appear online. For more than a decade a healthy number have leaked from Hollywood’s own connections.

Below is an overview of the leaks per year, based on data from Oscar piracy watcher Andy Baio. These are only for movies that eventually received an Academy Awards nomination, so the actual number will be even higher.

The data clearly show that the major movie studios have managed to limit the leaks somewhat over the years, thanks to their increased security measures. But they’re far from perfect, as last year’s bump shows.

Leaked screeners of Oscar nominated films per Oscar year

Although it’s still relatively early, Hollywood will be happy to hear that based on this data it has never taken so long before a screener has leaked online.

In all years that were previously documented the first leaked screener came out before December 16th. This means that today’s absence of 2017 screeners is definitely noteworthy.

That said, the bulk of the leaks are often published late December or in January, so it’s too early to draw any conclusions. Time will tell if there are going to be any presents for pirates this Christmas.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.

Abzocke im Internet sorgt immer wieder für Ärger. Bisher muss jeder Betroffene allein dagegen klagen. Eine geplante Gesetzesreform könnte die Kunden stärken - und das Bundeskartellamt zu einer Verbraucherschutzbehörde in Massenfällen aufwerten. (Verbraucherschutz, Soziales Netz)

Mit trägen Tritten und holprigen Schritten entkommen wir im Staffel-Finale von Golem retro_ in Alone in the Dark aus dem Derceto-Herrenhaus und haben befreien gleichzeitig den Weihnachtsmann. (Golem retro_, Spieletest)

From site blocking in Australia to site blocking in Sweden, read the news roundup for the week ending December 18, 2016

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