Month: May 2019

RapidVideo Blocks Pirate Sites Over Copyright Concerns

Popular file-hosting site RapidVideo has often been characterized as a piracy haven, something its operator fiercely denies. In line with this stance, the site has now started to ban visitors from what it sees as real pirate sites. To avoid liability and as preparation for Europe’s stricter copyright legislation, its operator says.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons.

RapidVideo is a popular file-hosting site that specializes in hosting videos.

Similar to other file-hosting services, it can be used for good and bad. The bad, in this case, is uploading pirated videos. 

Whether the site’s operators want it or not, that’s what many of RapidVideo’s users are indeed doing. A few months ago this resulted in a scathing report from Hollywood’s MPAA, which branded the site as a “notorious” piracy haven. 

The U.S. Trade Representative didn’t adopt this recommendation in its yearly overview. Whether RapidVideo’s outspoken response had anything to do with it is unknown. However, the video hosting site has recently taken several measures which are are not typical for a “notorious” site.

In April we reported that RapidVideo had shut down its pay-per-view rewards program, which was one of the MPAA’s main complaints. This week the video hosting service went a step further, by banning referrals from popular pirate video indexing sites.

The site’s operator informs TorrentFreak that referrals from the German sites Kinox.to , Streamkiste.tv , Filmpalast.to and Movie4k.to are now actively blocked. Instead of the requested videos, users now see the following message, translated from German.

“I’m sorry! This portal is temporarily not available based on a copyright protection claim. Unfortunately, this content is not available in your region.”

Blocked

The message is shown to all visitors from these four video indexing sites. They are shown based on the referring URL but, if these fail, RapidVideo is also considering adding IP-address blockades in the future. 

RapidVideo took the drastic measure because it’s particularly concerned about the German legal concept of ‘Störerhaftung’ (‘interferer liability’). This means that a third party can be held responsible for someone else’s infringements, even when it played no intentional part.

Add in Europe’s proposed Article 17, previously known as Article 13, and you get a volatile mix of potential copyright problems.  

“Article 13 is coming within a few months to 2 years, so the control has to become tougher, because ‘Interferer liability’ and ‘Article 13’ together are a bad combination,” RapidVideo’s operator tells us.

RapidVideo’s operator stresses that there could be more blockades like this when Article 17 is implemented throughout the European Union member states.

It is worth noting that the four targeted sites are all blocked by the German ISP Vodafone as well. This is also what RapidVideo mentioned to Tarnkappe as an additional motivation.

A video hosting service such as RapidVideo blocking ‘pirate’ sites is quite a game changer, to say the least. In the case of Kinox.to it appears to have had some effect already, as the site has removed all links to RapidVideo.

Movie4K seems to have taken another approach. When we tried to access a RapidVideo link from the site it went through an anonymous referrer service, which worked just fine.

But that’s the thing with blockades, there’s always a way around them.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons.

Pyur: United Internet unzufrieden mit Tele Columbus

United Internet äußerst sich offen über die Probleme bei seinem Kabelnetzbetreiber Tele Columbus (Pyur). Der Aufsichtsrat soll mit United-Internet-Experten für Technik und Vermarktung erneuert werden. (Tele Columbus, Börse)

United Internet äußerst sich offen über die Probleme bei seinem Kabelnetzbetreiber Tele Columbus (Pyur). Der Aufsichtsrat soll mit United-Internet-Experten für Technik und Vermarktung erneuert werden. (Tele Columbus, Börse)

US-Boykott: Etwas Erleichterung für Huawei

Huawei ist wieder bei wichtigen Industrieverbänden willkommen und eines seiner Smartphones ist wieder Teil des Android-Q-Betaprogramms. Für das chinesische Unternehmen hat sich die Lage im Zuge des US-Boykotts damit erst einmal verbessert. (Huawei, Goo…

Huawei ist wieder bei wichtigen Industrieverbänden willkommen und eines seiner Smartphones ist wieder Teil des Android-Q-Betaprogramms. Für das chinesische Unternehmen hat sich die Lage im Zuge des US-Boykotts damit erst einmal verbessert. (Huawei, Google)

Journalismus: Rundfunkrat will höheren Rundfunkbeitrag gegen Populismus

Journalistische Arbeit kostet Zeit und Geld. Mit einer Erhöhung des Rundfunkbeitrages könne man dem Populismus den Boden entziehen, meint der Vorsitzende des Rundfunkrats. Das gelte nicht nur für klassische Medien. (Rundfunkbeitrag, ARD)

Journalistische Arbeit kostet Zeit und Geld. Mit einer Erhöhung des Rundfunkbeitrages könne man dem Populismus den Boden entziehen, meint der Vorsitzende des Rundfunkrats. Das gelte nicht nur für klassische Medien. (Rundfunkbeitrag, ARD)

Besuch im Gefängnis: UN-Sonderberichterstatter besorgt über Assanges Zustand

In einem Statement spricht der UN-Sonderberichterstatter Nils Melzer von psychologischer Folter, nachdem er den Wikileaks-Gründer am 9. Mai im Gefängnis besucht hatte. Seine größte Sorge ist jedoch eine andere. (Wikileaks, Internet)

In einem Statement spricht der UN-Sonderberichterstatter Nils Melzer von psychologischer Folter, nachdem er den Wikileaks-Gründer am 9. Mai im Gefängnis besucht hatte. Seine größte Sorge ist jedoch eine andere. (Wikileaks, Internet)

Zotac expands its ZBOX Pico line of mini PCs with Intel Amber Lake

Earlier this year Zotac unveiled a pocket-sized computer called the ZBOX Pico PI470 featuring an Intel Core i7-8500Y Amber Lake processor, 4GB of RAM, 32GB of eMMC storage, and Windows 10 Home. You still can’t buy one yet, but now it looks like t…

Earlier this year Zotac unveiled a pocket-sized computer called the ZBOX Pico PI470 featuring an Intel Core i7-8500Y Amber Lake processor, 4GB of RAM, 32GB of eMMC storage, and Windows 10 Home. You still can’t buy one yet, but now it looks like the PI470 will have some company when it hits the streets. At […]

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Prime TX-700 Fanless: Seasonic hat das stärkste Passiv-Netzteil

Wer ein Netzteil ohne Lüfter sucht und viel Leistung benötigt, etwa für eine extrem leise Wasserkühlung, wird bei Seasonic fündig: Das Prime TX-700 Fanless ist Titanium-zertifiziert für mindestens 94 Prozent Effizienz. Das Prime PX-500 Fanless hingege…

Wer ein Netzteil ohne Lüfter sucht und viel Leistung benötigt, etwa für eine extrem leise Wasserkühlung, wird bei Seasonic fündig: Das Prime TX-700 Fanless ist Titanium-zertifiziert für mindestens 94 Prozent Effizienz. Das Prime PX-500 Fanless hingegen passt in das The First von Monsterlabo, ein Gehäuse um 200-Watt-Komponenten passiv zu kühlen. Von Marc Sauter (Seasonic, Netzteil)

Nreal Light: Augmented-Reality-Brille kommt für 500 US-Dollar

Nreal hat weitere Details zur Augmented-Reality-Brille Light genannt. Bis Ende des Jahres soll es die Brille für 500 US-Dollar geben, vorher wird eine Entwicklerversion zu einem höheren Preis erscheinen. (Augmented Reality, Wearable)

Nreal hat weitere Details zur Augmented-Reality-Brille Light genannt. Bis Ende des Jahres soll es die Brille für 500 US-Dollar geben, vorher wird eine Entwicklerversion zu einem höheren Preis erscheinen. (Augmented Reality, Wearable)

Cadillac revamps its sportiest lineup, adds new CT4-V and CT5-V sedans

The new V-Series cars will be more accessible, but don’t expect massive horsepower.

  • General Motors Vice President of Global Products Ken Morris unveils the 2020 Cadillac CT4-V and CT5-V. [credit: Cadillac ]


DETROIT, Mich.—On Thursday night, Cadillac took the wraps off a pair of new sporty sedans, revamping its V-Series performance lineup. One of the sedans, the CT5-V, is a souped-up variant of the new midsized four-door that launched at this year's New York auto show. The second is the CT4-V, a sporty version of the yet-to-be-seen entry-level CT4. But if you were expecting fire-spitting monsters barely suited for the street, you'll need to reset your expectations; these two new machines are more jalapeño than habanero.

Cadillac's V-Series was born in 2004 when the car maker shoehorned the Corvette's 5.7L V8 engine into its CTS sedan, giving us the CTS-V. Since then, track-focused performance versions of the CTS and ATS sedans (and the CTS-V wagon) have offered an American alternative to cars like the BMW M3 and Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio. But rather than turning everything up to 11 on these new models, the dial's been set to somewhere between 8 and 9. "It's a new take on the V-series. The current cars are only accessible to a fraction of the market. Not all customers want track time," said Ken Morris, GM's Vice President of Global Products.

CT5-V

When the regular version of the CT5 debuted in New York, in addition to an all-new electronic architecture it also featured a 2.0L four-cylinder engine. That's been swapped out for a 3.0L twin-turbo V6 for the CT5-V, which provides the car with 335hp (250kW). It will be available with all- or rear-wheel drive, but only with a 10-speed automatic transmission. Its handling has also gotten an upgrade with the introduction of Magnetic Ride 4.0, the latest version of GM's computer-controlled magnetorheological dampers that it says now provide a faster, better damping response no matter where you happen to be in the car's performance envelope.

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5G-Auktion: Etablierte wollen Preis für 1&1 Drillisch hochtreiben

Telekom, Vodafone und Telefónica wollen es 1&1 Drillisch bei der 5G-Auktion schwermachen. Der Chef des Netzplanungsunternehmens Seim und Partner interpretiert die bisherige Auktion anders als ein Professor vom ZEW. (Bundesnetzagentur, Telekom)

Telekom, Vodafone und Telefónica wollen es 1&1 Drillisch bei der 5G-Auktion schwermachen. Der Chef des Netzplanungsunternehmens Seim und Partner interpretiert die bisherige Auktion anders als ein Professor vom ZEW. (Bundesnetzagentur, Telekom)