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Kein Corona-Wunder: Russischen Behörden zufolge ist die Zahl der Covid-Toten vermutlich drei Mal so hoch wie bisher angegeben
Britisches Gericht entscheidet heute über die Auslieferung des WikiLeaks-Gründers in die USA. Die Bundesregierung ging zuletzt etwas ehrlicher mit dem Fall um
Continuing a long-standing annual tradition, today we publish our list of the most popular torrent sites at the start of 2024. Ranked by traffic estimates, we see that YTS remains on top, closely followed by 1337x and anime torrent site NYAA. TorrentGalaxy continues its rapid rise, ending up in fourth place.
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
YTS remains at the top of the list in 2024, as the torrent indexer continues to draw millions of visitors per day.
That’s quite an achievement considering the legal troubles the site has faced in the past, plus the fact that it only features movies.
The annual list of popular torrent sites remains largely unchanged. There are a few positional changes, but the list almost entirely consists of the same names as last year.
There is one unavoidable newcomer, following the closure of RARBG. While some RARBG knockoffs came close, the vacant spot is filled by a familiar name, LimeTorrents, which made a comeback after being absent last year
We have limited the list to globally available English-language torrent sites, which means that sites such as Rutracker.org, Yggtorrent.qa, Etoland.co.kr, and Zamunda.net are not included, even though they have substantial traffic numbers.
Finally, we have to stress that the yearly ranking is based on single domain names. If proxy sites and alternative domains were taken into account, The Pirate Bay and others would rank higher.
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Below is the full list of the top ten most-visited torrent site domains at the start of the new year. The list is based on various traffic reports. Please note that this list is created as a historical record, to keep track of the popularity of these sites over time.
We do not recommend or endorse using any of these sites. Some are known to link to malicious ads, at least incidentally. BitTorrent technology itself is not illegal but may only be used to share content with permission from the rightsholder.
YTS.mx is the unofficial successor of the defunct YTS or YIFY group, which shut down a few years ago.
YTS has been the target of several lawsuits in the U.S. over the past few years. The operator signed a consent judgment and agreed to hand over user data to rightsholders. As a result, several YTS users received settlement requests or were sued instead.
In 2024, 1337x retains its spot in the top three. Unlike some other sites, it has a dedicated group of uploaders and bots that provide fresh content daily.
1337x offers a wide variety of torrents. The site banned official YTS releases after the above-mentioned controversy.
NYAA.si is a popular resurrection of the anime torrent site NYAA. While there is fierce competition from alternative pirate streaming sites, the torrent portal continues to do well, climbing two positions compared to last year.
Launched a little over five years ago, TorrentGalaxy is a relative newcomer. It has a dedicated group of uploaders and an active community. In addition to torrents, TorrentGalaxy also makes some releases available for streaming.
After celebrating its 20th anniversary a few months ago The Pirate Bay has now dropped to the fifth spot.
The Pirate Bay continues to operate from its .org domain but is also available through many proxies. If all proxy domains were counted, the notorious torrent site would still battle for the first spot in this list.
FitGirl Repacks is by no means a traditional torrent site. It is the home of a popular repacker who releases slimmed-down cracked versions of popular games, which keeps download times to a minimum.
FitGirl, who we interviewed in 2020, publishes torrents on other sites too but also offers magnet links of their own, which is why we included the site here.
Skidrow and RELOADED are two iconic game-cracking groups. This likely served as inspiration for the people running Skidrowreloaded.com, which is a blog-style release site featuring popular game releases.
The site’s X account has been banned, but the domain itself remains online, keeping the seventh spot after last year’s debut.
EZTV.re is a controversial TV-torrent distribution group that hijacked the EZTV brand from the original group, which was forced to shut down soon after.
The site still has some decent traffic, mostly from loyal TV-show followers who haven’t junked on the streaming bandwagon.
LimeTorrents has been around since 2009. Like many other entries in this list, it is blocked by ISPs in countries around the world, which seems to hurt overall traffic somewhat. It dropped out of the top 10 last year but made a comeback in 2024
Due to IGG-Games’ popularity, another gaming-focused site is listed in this year’s Top 10. IGG-Games has made headlines on a few occasions and continues to draw in millions of monthly visitors
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Disclaimer: We use various data checks, including reports from Similarweb. Proxies and clear copycats of working sites are excluded. Please keep in mind that many sites have mirrors or alternative domains, which are often not taken into account here. The yearly list is published as an informational / news resource. The 2023 torrent site list is archived.
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
Der ARD-Fernsehfilm “Feinde” versucht sich an einer rechtsphilosophischen Grundsatzfrage
Bei den Demonstrationen gegen die Corona-Politik wird eine Mentalität deutlich, die keine positive Gesellschaftlichkeit kennt. Hintergrund und Kommentar
Alstom will Marktführer bei Zügen mit Brennstoffzellen-Antrieb werden. (Verkehr, Technologie)
I bought solar panels, a heat pump, a condensing boiler, and an electric car.
Enlarge (credit: Aurich Lawson / Getty Images)
A few years ago I started writing regularly about electric cars and the batteries that power them—technologies that are helping humanity transition away from reliance on fossil fuels. And as bad news continued to pile up about the harms caused by climate change, I started to think harder about my own carbon footprint.
So last year, my wife and I got solar panels for our roof. Then we replaced our air conditioner, getting a model with a heat pump capability. Shortly after that, our boiler sprang a leak and we got a new high-efficiency boiler. Then we purchased a battery electric car.
We haven't yet achieved a carbon-free lifestyle. The new boiler burns natural gas and we're keeping our old gasoline-powered car. We also have an oven and fireplace that run on natural gas. Still, our carbon emissions in 2021 will be far lower than they were in 2019. And we're on a path to radically reduce our carbon emissions over the next decade.
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Vor 60 Jahren, am 3. Januar 1961, brachen die USA ihre Beziehungen zu Kuba ab
Police, anti-piracy groups, and sports companies are fighting a battle, not only to prevent pirate IPTV services from operating but also to stop fans from becoming illegal streaming customers. Interestingly, a potent part of their arsenal consists only of carefully constructed words that, when delivered into the hands of the lazy and unscrupulous, can be amplified to distort and mislead.
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. We have some good VPN deals here for the holidays.
As a publication entirely dedicated to reporting on copyright, piracy, torrent and streaming sites (plus all things closely related), here at TorrentFreak we aim to tell all ‘sides’ of the story.
We do not shy away from reports that show that piracy hurts sales and we have no problem publishing research projects that show completely the opposite.
It’s called balanced reporting and it hurts absolutely no one. Indeed, the whole idea is to present people with facts and allow them to make informed decisions. Generally, it’s all wrapped up in a desire not to treat our valued readers with contempt.
Yesterday we published a piece with ideas about how pirate IPTV might prove less popular with consumers during 2021. But there’s another element too, one that deserves a closer look.
To clear a few things up before we begin, there’s no doubt that some piracy operations amount to organized crime. Large IPTV providers, with many staff and hundreds of thousands of customers generating millions in profit, could easily fall into that category. This isn’t a surprise to them, they know what they’re doing, and may or may not be ready to do the time. Their choice, their problem.
Also worthy of pointing out is that people who watch unlicensed streaming services are most probably committing an offense too under civil law in the EU and more specifically in the UK too, now that Brexit has been done. In some cases where they have clear intent, it’s also possible that they’re committing a crime too, i.e one punishable by the Crown.
So, let’s move on to the rant in hand.
British tabloids have a terrible record when it comes to reporting unbiased news. They regularly report in favor of specific political parties, ignore any positives presented by the ‘other side’, and always sensationalize the most mundane of topics while treating their readers as mindless morons.
But, arguably worse still, there are entities out there that seem happy to exploit this embarrassing blot on our society for their own ends. Anti-piracy groups have done it for some time but to see the authorities potentially stoking the fire too is not a great look and only detracts from their overall message, which is undoubtedly well-intentioned.
This tabloid feeding frenzy began when UK-based anti-piracy outfits were looking for media exposure. Not only for their own business promotion purposes, but also as part of entertainment company and broadcaster campaigns to drive awareness of the terrible things that could happen to so-called ‘Kodi Box’ owners if they were caught.
The problem, however, was that none of the journalists had a clue what they were writing about so simply spouted whatever they were told. Eventually, everyone in the country knew what ‘Kodi Boxes’ and similar devices could do, thanks to these ‘adverts’ in the mainstream press. It seems safe to say that this ill-conceived campaign failed to achieve its goals, unless those goals were to advise people on ways to avoid paying for content.
For many months the tabloids got bored with their sensational ‘Kodi Box’ reporting but then, fueled by press releases by the Federation Against Copyright Theft and Premier League, took an interest again. However, it wasn’t until the police got involved that their insatiable desire for ridiculous headlines and scare-pieces got the best of them and they started to appear all over again in 2020.
As reported here in September, police in the UK took down an illegal IPTV provider, noting quite correctly that the operators of such services face considerable legal implications. Of course they do, they’re running a criminal operation that probably involves all sorts of other offenses too, including money laundering.
However, it was the fact that the police were sending out emails to customers of that service, advising them that they too could be held criminally liable, that became the focus of the headlines. And boy did the tabloids deliver.
In response to the police claiming that mere subscribers of these services could get a five-year jail sentence, the tabloids went into overdrive with sensational headlines that were repeated again recently when another illegal service received similar treatment.
The first problem is that the tabloids are around to sell newspapers and generate clicks, not to supply sensible or measured information. The second is that the police in the UK should be only too aware of the tabloids’ track record for scandal and if we take that as being the case, they could’ve been more responsible with the information provided to them. Ultimately, everything hinged on a single paragraph.
“Persons whom subscribe to services like the service provided by GE Hosting also commit a criminal offense contrary to s.11 of the Fraud Act which carries a maximum sentence of up to five years imprisonment, and/or a fine, and consequently results in a criminal record,” the police announcement read.
Or in tabloid-speak, IPTV customers are running the risk of getting locked up behind bars until 2025. While technically accurate, this is obvious hyperbole. The big worry is that those formulating the press releases may have considered the tabloids’ predictable handling of the information and recognized it as a valuable tool for keeping the public in line.
If we take the law on possession of drugs, for example, we can see that possession of a Class B substance (such as cannabis) can also result in a five-year prison sentence and/or an unlimited fine. On the facts, possession of a small amount suitable for a few joints could mean a five-year stretch (at least if the tabloids decide to run with it) but in reality, police are able to issue a warning or an on-the-spot fine.
So do the police generally go around warning small-scale stoners via the tabloids that half a decade in jail awaits them for their crimes? Absolutely not. But for the relatively unknown offense of receiving a TV service without intending to pay for it, the opposite appears to be true.
To be clear, the fraudulent offense in question is similar to someone jumping over the wall of a football stadium without a ticket or making off from a restaurant without paying. The point is there are levels to crimes like fraud and subscribing to a pirate IPTV service is not something that is going to put someone behind bars for five years. Here’s just one example that shows how ludicrous that proposition is.
In June 2020, Daniel Aimson, who was serving a six-year sentence for running a cannabis farm, was handed an additional 12 months inside for running a pirate streaming operation. Not subscribing to one – operating one.
Unlike IPTV subscribers who, under Section 11 of the Fraud Act are being threatened with five years inside for obtaining a service with an intent to avoid payment, Daniel Aimson pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud, which could’ve carried a ten-year sentence.
Just to add more meat to the bones, at the time Aimson was shifting 1,640 illegal IPTV boxes, making at least £300,000 in illicit profits (none of which was declared to HMRC), and causing Sky an alleged £2.12 million in losses, he was a serving police officer with Greater Manchester Police.
The point of this overly-long rant is simple. Knowingly subscribing to a pirate IPTV service with the intent of depriving a broadcaster is a crime in the UK but that information needs to be put into the public domain carefully. The police can’t be held responsible for how information gets used by the tabloids but there should be at least some duty of care when talking about the legal consequences.
The truth is that a simple subscriber to an IPTV service, absent of any seriously aggravating factors, is not going to prison in the current sentencing climate, let alone for five years. However, any conviction for fraud (no matter how small) has the potential to be a life-changing matter, especially when it comes to gaining or even keeping meaningful employment.
This latter fact cannot be disputed and it has the added bonus of being 100% accurate with zero elements of scaremongering. Even without the tabloid elements, those who place a value on their own quality of life should sit up and listen if given the facts.
What this approach doesn’t have is the propaganda factor that copyright holders and the tabloids absolutely thrive on. And that, unfortunately, could be the major drawback against it being adopted. The secret weapon in this war is the tabloids taking a grain of information and turning it into a scandal, and they don’t even have to be in on the secret or the operational details to do so.
They just do what they do best – insult readers’ intelligence on a daily basis. What the police and anti-piracy groups might consider moving forward is that they have the power to push them in the right direction when it comes to the news being delivered. It’s certainly worth a try and may even result in people taking the threats seriously, rather than dismissing them out of hand as scaremongering nonsense.
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. We have some good VPN deals here for the holidays.
US-Ermittler rätseln über die Motive der Angreifer. Diese haben weit mehr Behörden und Unternehmen infiltriert als zunächst angenommen. (Security, Malware)
Alstom will Marktführer bei Zügen mit Brennstoffzellen-Antrieb werden. (
US-Ermittler rätseln über die Motive der Angreifer. Diese haben weit mehr Behörden und Unternehmen infiltriert als zunächst angenommen. (
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