Month: March 2020

This week we have three newcomers in our chart.

Jumanji: The Next Level is the most downloaded movie.

The data for our weekly download chart is estimated by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only. All the movies in the list are Web-DL/Webrip/HDRip/BDrip/DVDrip unless stated otherwise.

RSS feed for the articles of the recent weekly movie download charts.

This week’s most downloaded movies are:

Movie Rank	Rank last week	Movie name	IMDb Rating / Trailer
Most downloaded movies via torrents
1	(1)	Jumanji: The Next Level	6.9 / trailer
2	(…)	Spenser Confidential	6.3 / trailer
3	(2)	Frozen II	7.1 / trailer
4	(6)	Spies in Disguise	6.8 / trailer
5	(…)	Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn	6.5 / trailer
6	(3)	Knives Out	8.0 / trailer
7	(…)	Sonic The Hedgehog	6.8 / trailer
8	(7)	Ford v Ferrari	8.2 / trailer
9	(8)	Joker	8.8 / trailer
10	(4)	Charlie’s Angels	4.2 / trailer

Drom: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, torrent sites and more. We also have an annual VPN review.

Eine einfache Aktivierung für eSIM verspricht eine neue Serversoftware von Ericsson. Sie läuft bisher nur mit zwei Samsung-Smartphones, soll aber für mehr Geräte erweitert werden. (Server, Smartphone)

Die Atom-Knappheit macht auch vor den NUCs nicht halt: Um dennoch günstige Mini-PC anbieten zu können, kramt Intel Modelle von 2018 hervor und steckt CPUs von 2017 hinein - zumindest grundlegend. (Intel NUC, Prozessor)

Amazon bietet die Technik seines kassenlosen Supermarkts für andere Einzelhändler an. Das Ganze nennt sich Just Walk Out und funktioniert im Unterschied zu Amazon Go ohne Amazon-Kundenkonto. (Amazon Go, Onlineshop)

Die Paketverwaltung des Debian-Projekts Apt unterstützt in Version 2.0 die Muster von Aptitude. Das Werkzeug soll außerdem eine bessere Leistung liefern und sicherer sein. (Debian, Linux-Distribution)

Fast alle kompromittierten Konten in Azure Active Directory hätten laut Microsoft durch Mehrfaktorauthentifizierung geschützt werden können. Die bietet der Hersteller zwar an, verlangt dafür aber teilweise nicht unerhebliche Geldsummen. (Microsoft, Cloud Computing)

Hochverfügbarkeit reicht manchmal nicht: Kritische Anwendungen müssen selbst dann noch weiterlaufen, wenn ganze Rechenzentren unbrauchbar werden. Doch wie realisiert der Admin Desaster Recovery sinnvoll? Eine Übersicht. Von Martin Loschwitz (Server, POSIX)

While the vast majority of movies eventually appear online in pirated form, when they do so before their theatrical release dates there is always controversy.

These exclusive release windows are aggressively protected by the studios and when people breach them, by placing a cammed copy online, for example, a response can be expected. When leaked high-quality copies are made available, this can trigger the involvement of heavyweight law enforcement agencies.

Late Friday, the City of London Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) revealed that following a joint investigation with the then Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA, now MPA), a 31-year-old-man has now been jailed for his part in a pre-release movie releasing operation.

According to PIPCU, an investigation by the MPAA previously identified an individual using the alias Dark999 who was offering pre-release movies for sale. One of those movies was Fast & Furious 7 which, at the time, had not been released in cinemas. It was later discovered that Dark999 was Malik Luqman Farooq, a man from Halifax in the UK.

When officers from PIPCU searched Farooq’s home, they found a pre-release copy of Fast & Furious 7 and 15 other movies, all of which were yet to be released in cinemas. Action by the police ensured that Farooq was unable to leak Fast 7 online but after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud committed between September 2014 and April 2015, on Friday a judge at Southwark Crown Court sentenced him to 27 months in prison.

“Fast & Furious 7 was the second highest grossing movie in 2015,” said Detective Constable Abdun Noor at PIPCU following the sentencing.

“Industry estimates show the potential loss suffered, had the film been released before the official cinema date, would have been substantial. Our investigation ensured Farooq was arrested before he was able to release this particular film to the public.

“Digital piracy causes significant damage to the companies involved in producing films, not only in terms of profits, but also in terms of putting jobs at risk,” he continued.

“Anyone who is thinking of committing digital piracy, like Farooq, should see this case as a warning. Piracy is not a victimless crime and we will ensure these criminals are brought to justice.”

Little has been heard about this specific investigation until now. Police issued a statement in April 2015 indicating that they’d arrested a then 26-year-old at his workplace in Leeds in connection with the leaking of high-quality movies. Farooq was not named at the time but given that a search also took place at the suspect’s home in Halifax and many other details match, it’s now clear this was Farooq.

At the time the arrest was welcomed by Sylvester Stallone, who believed that police had detained one of the individuals responsible for leaking the movie Expendables 3 in 2014. Whether that movie was considered as part of the case against Farooq in the UK is unclear but Farooq’s troubles may not be over yet.

In December 2018, a federal grand jury in California indicted five men for allegedly offering pre-release copies of hundreds of movies and TV shows via the Internet. Farooq is listed as one of the suspects.

According to the Department of Justice, he allegedly sold access to more than a dozen “stolen pre-release or contemporaneous-release films” over a period of two years. He is alleged to have used online aliases including Dark999, the name also mentioned by PIPCU.

Four other men – Aditya Raj and Jitesh Jadhav, both assumed residents of India, Sam Nhance, believed to live in Dubai, and Ghobhirajah Selvarajah of Malaysia – are listed in the indictment, together charged with offenses including conspiracy to commit computer fraud, unauthorized access to a computer, aggravated identity theft, and copyright infringement.

According to the indictment, the group began offending prior to May 5, 2013 and continued to May 20, 2015.

The Department of Justice claims that Farooq, Raj, Nhance, and Selvarajah rented servers from companies including OVH which were used to store pirated copies of movies that had been illegally obtained from servers operated by movie, distribution, and other third-party companies. One of those movies was Expendables 3 which according to the indictment was sold by Farooq to an undercover MPAA investigator.

The case in the United States is being investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations with assistance from PIPCU in the UK. French and Canadian authorities are reported to have cooperated in obtaining evidence stored abroad.

Drom: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, torrent sites and more. We also have an annual VPN review.

Teslas Fabrik in Grünheide ist eine Chance für die strukturschwache Region. Die brandenburgische Landesregierung hat sie erkannt und Tesla die Vorteile verdeutlicht - mit der Aussicht auf Fördermittel sowie Arbeitskräfte aus der Region und dem nahen Ausland. (Gigafactory Berlin, Elektroauto)

Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator und etliche andere Apps zur Zwei-Faktor-Authentifizierung haben keinen Schutz vor Screenshots eingerichtet. Eine Schadsoftware soll dies bereits ausnutzen. (2-FA, Google)