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The results and analysis for Blu-ray (and DVD) sales for the week ending 19th December 2015 are in. A trio of new releases, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials and Ted 2, and Holiday sales helped …
The results and analysis for Blu-ray (and DVD) sales for the week ending 19th December 2015 are in. A trio of new releases, Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials and Ted 2, and Holiday sales helped Blu-ray record 2015's best results!
Read the rest of the stats and analysis to find out how Blu-ray (and DVD) did.
During December five men from the UK received sentences totaling 17 years after leaking thousands of movies onto the Internet. In an earlier article we revealed how the men were tracked down. Today we’ll look more closely at what police and the Federation Against Copyright Theft were looking for when the men were raided.
Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.
Following a three year investigation by Hollywood-backed anti-piracy group the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT), in December five of the UK’s most prolific movie pirates were sentenced to more than 17 years.
The men, who were behind several interrelated movie release groups including RemixHD, 26K, UNiQUE, DTRG and HOPE/RESISTANCE, were tracked down with techniques detailed in our earlier article but when FACT and the police came knocking, what were they looking for?
TorrentFreak has obtained documents which reveal FACT’s “forensic strategy” in the case and details how the anti-piracy group sought to link the suspects with data gathered in the early stages of the operation.
A check-list shared with police underlined the need to corroborate existing intelligence and, if that was not possible, to determine whether suspects were involved in similar activities.
Find evidence of a conspiracy
As highlighted previously, FACT had long since abandoned attempting to prosecute defendants on copyright infringement grounds, largely since the maximum penalty in the UK for online offenses is ‘just’ two years. Working instead towards charges of Conspiracy to Defraud, officers were instructed to find evidence which would show that the defendants worked in concert (conspired) to defraud.
Since the case was about movies there is little surprise that evidence sought included information linking the defendants to the capturing or camming of movies or anything which indicated copyrighted video had been encoded.
The most obvious items to be searched for included the movies themselves but FACT and the police also searched for video encoding and conversion software plus anything that suggested the defendants were involved in counterfeit DVD production.
On the conspiracy side, it’s clear that securing evidence of communications was crucial. Those carrying out the raid were keen to secure not only emails, but Internet chat logs plus any other related documents such as spreadsheets.
Evidence of uploading infringing content to the Internet plus any discussion of doing so was desired. It was hoped that in part this could be achieved by finding logs from FTP software used to upload videos to servers operated by some members of the release groups.
Logs, logs, software – and more logs
While garage mechanics have their own unique tools to fix an engine or change some oil, Internet pirates’ tools largely exist in the digital domain. However, while the use of a wrench can be forgotten as soon as it’s been placed back in the box, pieces of software tend to have longer memories.
As a result, finding software on the machines of suspected pirates is a top priority since not only do these paint a picture of their owner, but they also carry detailed logs that can incriminate others.
On the machine of Sahil Rafiq police found lots of software designed to manipulate video and audio alongside ripping, encoding and torrent software. A copy of the DRM-busting software DVD Fab was also used in evidence.
At the time of the raid Rafiq’s machine was actually encoding a film but an inspection showed that the machine had been used for encoding before. Server logins, usernames and other passwords also provided useful pointers to previously monitored online behavior.
Also in apparent abundance were logs retained by chat software. The logs detailed links with groups releasing movies on the Internet and revealed discussions with Rafiq’s co-defendants alongside general comments indicating activity in the piracy business.
As is usually the case, FACT took an interest in Rafiq’s cellphone. According to evidence collated by the anti-piracy outfit, this device contained several messages from torrent sites which offered thanks for uploaded torrents.
Reece Baker’s machine had actually been wiped clean and a new operating system installed around two weeks before the raid. While that might have been a good start, when FACT arrived the machine was encoding the movie Gangster Squad which Baker had obtained from a Chinese torrent site.
The presence of the software VirtualDub was also viewed as a negative, as were logins which revealed Baker’s connection to the pirate group DEYA and a dozen uploads to ExtraTorrent.
In common with the others, Baker’s computer also carried lots of chat logs which detailed encoding and uploading of movies. Discussion surrounding the “de-dotting” of cams were seen as a negative as were incriminating comments made over Skype.
Baker’s phone was also seized – that contained a reminder for Rafiq’s birthday.
Like the others, Graeme Reid’s computer contained encoding and ripping software. It also had logins to a server used by the group and chat logs indicating that Reid was the leader of release group RemixHD and involved in another called UNiQUE.
A batch of emails showed how Reid had collaborated with others to source, encode and release movies. In total 1,725 torrent files were found plus DVD copying software.
Ben Cooper’s computer was also found to contain software for encoding and editing movies and carried chat logs confirming that he operated a server used to store films encoded by the groups.
With Scott Hemming it was a similar story. Evidence of encoding, incriminating chat logs with his co-defendants, and logins for a seedbox.
Conclusion
While FACT had built a pretty strong case against all of the defendants during its preliminary investigation, it’s very tempting to conclude that without the troves of information found on their computers, things would have turned out very differently indeed.
Quite how many of the 17 years sentenced could have been avoided will never be known, but it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that the case would have faltered before ever reaching a court room.
Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.
Can pull out pharmaceuticals, chemicals used to make plastics, and more.
(credit: City of Boulder)
Clean water is essential, yet in certain parts of the world, it's very difficult to obtain. Unfortunately, our limited water resources are being polluted by chemicals from industrial plants, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and more.
Adsorbant materials composed of carbon are often used to remove many of these organic pollutants. However, they act slowly, typically miss hydrophilic micropollutants, and can be difficult to reuse.
Scientists working on developing inexpensive materials that can purify water quickly have been working with an insoluble polymer called β-cyclodextrin (β-CD)—a big loop of linked sugar molecules. Recently, they've discovered a way to cross-link β-CD using aromatic groups forming a porous, cross-linked complex. The porous, cross-linked β-CD has an increased surface area that significantly speeds the removal of pollutants.
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This year, US v. Graham is just one of several privacy cases we have our eye on.
(credit: Chris Wieland)
It has now been 2.5 years since the first Snowden revelations were published. And in 2015, government surveillance marched on in both large (the National Security Agency) and small (the debut of open source license plate reader software) ways.
Within the past year, Congress voted to end Section 215 of the Patriot Act—but then substituted it with a similar law (USA Freedom Act) that leaves the phone metadata surveillance apparatus largely in place even if the government no longer collects the data directly. Even former NSA Director Michael Hayden admitted in June 2015 that this legal change was pretty minor.
We also saw some notable 2015 reforms as to how federal law enforcement uses stingrays, the invasive cell-phone surveillance devices in use by everyone from local cops all the way up to the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The Department of Justice (the parent agency of the FBI) and DHS both announced new policies that require the agencies to get a warrant prior to deploying the snooping device.
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Three players and one coach from each nation vie for supremacy, $12,000 each.
Sebastian Anthony
The entrance to the World Magic Cup, hosted at the Fira de Barcelona.
23 more images in gallery
BARCELONA—England hasn't had the best of luck when it comes to World Cups in the last few years. In the Football World Cup, England went out in the group stage, not winning a single game. In the 2015 Cricket World Cup, England won a couple of matches but failed to advance to the knockout stage. And of course, earlier this year, at the Rugby World Cup hosted in England, we didn't even manage to get past the group stage. It's all been a bit embarrassing, to be honest.
Which is why I was excited when Wizards of the Coast invited me to the World Magic Cup in Barcelona. All four of the home nations—England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland—had qualified for the last major Magic: The Gathering event of the year. Here was a World Cup that we actually had a chance of winning.
Or so I thought.
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Today marks the start of a new year which will undoubtedly bring many more innovations and legal troubles related to file-sharing and piracy. We take a look at some recent developments and the stunning consequences they may have in 2016.
Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.
At the start of the new year the TF news desk often wonders how things can become even more extreme than the year before.
Today we decided to share some of these thoughts with you.
Granted, predicting the future isn’t an easy task, but the predictions below give plenty of food for thought and discussion.
This is an easy one really. After pursuing legal action against hundreds of thousands of people, many website operators, software developers, and even a large U.S. Internet provider, it’s only a small step to take.
Initially the RIAA and friends considered going after BitTorrent Inc., but web browsers such as Google Chrome and Mozilla’s FireFox pose an even greater threat. In their complaint the righsholders will blame the browsers for granting unrestricted access to millions of copyrighted works, through torrent, streaming, file-hosting and linking sites.
Popcorn Time sells. We’ve seen Popcorn Time applications for TV and movies, for music and even for porn. Copyright holders and tracking companies also jumped on the bandwagon and used the Popcorn Time brand to sell their schemes.
The Popcorn mania reached unprecedented levels in 2015 and it won’t end in the new year. During the months to come we’ll witness the launch of various new spin-offs including a Popcorn Time for recipes, allowing users to browse an advertising-free library of some of the hottest cooking instructions.
This is another shoe-in. A few weeks ago Cox Communications lost its lawsuit against music rights group BMG. The Internet provider was held liable for the copyright infringements of its users because it failed to disconnect persistent pirates.
The result is that Cox now has to pay $25 million in damages. However, the lawsuit also raised alarm bells at other major Internet providers, as most large ISPs don’t disconnect repeated infringers either. In 2016 copyright holders will raise the pressure by sending out dozens of millions of infringement notices.
In response, large ISPs will have to disconnect millions of pirating customers.
Initially copyright holders will praise the actions as a clear victory, but they will have second thoughts when they realize that the disconnected subscribers are canceling their Netflix, Spotify, and other legal subscriptions in droves.
The world’s most notorious torrent site has had quite a few ups and downs over the years, but in 2016 there will be some truly remarkable developments. Initially we thought TPB could be working on a new website design after all these years, but that’s probably too far-fetched.
Instead we predict that the Pirate Bay’s low orbit server drones will finally take off, making the site even more resilient. In addition the TPB team will launch its planned application to decentralize the entire site and database among its users so it can withstand pretty much any raid.
In recent years the MPAA, RIAA and others have cyber-bullied Google to extremes. The rightsholders accuse Google of facilitating piracy and believe the company hasn’t done enough to address the situation. The MPAA even went as far as enlisting Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood to take Google out.
In 2016 the search giant will throw in the towel. Instead of fighting the mounting pressure it will give the MPAA and friends everything they want, without any form of oversight.
As a result, The Pirate Bay, KickassTorrents and various other pirate domains will completely disappear from the search index. The same is true for other websites rightsholders frequently send takedown notices for, such as Netflix, IMDb, The Hollywood Reporter, Rotten Tomatoes, Spotify and Pandora.
And remember, take down means stay down.
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Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.
Gamer können für 2016 Unerwartetes erwarten! Selten war zum Jahresanfang so wenig über die Pläne einiger großer Studios bekannt. Immerhin: Von VR-Headsets wie Oculus Rift und Playstation 4 wird es endlich die Endkundenversionen geben – und möglicherweise einen Wildwest-Abstecher von Rockstar Games. (Games, Ubisoft) 
Gamer können für 2016 Unerwartetes erwarten! Selten war zum Jahresanfang so wenig über die Pläne einiger großer Studios bekannt. Immerhin: Von VR-Headsets wie Oculus Rift und Playstation 4 wird es endlich die Endkundenversionen geben - und möglicherweise einen Wildwest-Abstecher von Rockstar Games. (Games, Ubisoft) 
Warner Bros. became the third major studio to announce their Ultra HD Blu-ray release line-up, following announcements by Sony and Fox.Only four titles, ‘Mad Max: Fury Road,’ ‘San Andreas,’ ‘The Lego Movie’ and ‘Pan,’ will be available o…
Warner Bros. became the third major studio to announce their Ultra HD Blu-ray release line-up, following announcements by Sony and Fox.
Only four titles, 'Mad Max: Fury Road,' 'San Andreas,' 'The Lego Movie' and 'Pan,' will be available on UHD Blu-ray initially, but the studio expects at least 35 titles to be available on the new near-4K format by year's end. No firm release date has been given for the first batch of titles.
Warner Bros. calls Ultra HD the next step in home entertainment, and also talked up the studio's commitment to other visual enhancement, such as HDR, that will also arrive via the new Blu-ray disc format.
"We are excited to take this next technological leap which will allow us to bring our audiences the best possible home viewing experience with crystal clear images and immersive audio," said Ron Sanders, President of Warner Bros. Worldwide Home Entertainment Distribution. "4K Ultra HD with HDR is the next, and most exciting, advancement in home entertainment, and with the anticipated proliferation of Ultra HD televisions in the coming years, our 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray product offerings will truly complement the stunning capabilities of this new generation of home entertainment hardware. Warner Bros. is fully committed to releasing a wide range of Ultra HD Blu-ray titles, including both new release titles and offerings from our vast catalog."
Warner's announcement follows that from Sony, which revealed its launch titles as 'The Amazing Spiderman 2,' 'Chappie,' 'Hancock,' 'Pineapple Express,' 'Salt,' and 'The Smurfs 2'. Fox announced last September that its launch titles will be 'Exodus: Gods and Kings,' 'Fantastic Four,' 'Kingsman: The Secret Service,' 'Life of Pi,' and 'X-Men: Days of Future Past'.
Lionsgate also recently announced plans to remaster its top 100 movies for 4K Ultra HD digital release and broadcast.
Nach langer Entwicklungszeit hat Twitter eine überarbeitete Version seiner App für OS X veröffentlicht - offenbar nach längeren firmeninternen Diskussionen. (
Nehmt dies, gute Vorsätze zum neuen Jahr: Das Fitness-Unternehmen Runtastic bietet seine App Runtastic Pro inklusive aller kostenpflichtigen Funktionen bis zum 3. Januar 2016 gratis an. Android-Nutzer müssen zur Freischaltung einen kleinen Umweg nehmen. (
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