P2P
Britain’s new Internet law — as bad as everyone’s been saying, and worse. Much, much worse.
Nov 21st
The British government has brought down its long-awaited Digital Economy Bill, and it’s perfectly useless and terrible. It consists almost entirely of penalties for people who do things that upset the entertainment industry (including the “three-strikes” rule that allows your entire family to be cut off from the net if anyone who lives in your house is accused of copyright infringement, without proof or evidence or trial), as well as a plan to beat the hell out of the video-game industry with a new, even dumber rating system (why is it acceptable for the government to declare that some forms of artwork have to be mandatorily labelled as to their suitability for kids? And why is it only some media? Why not paintings? Why not novels? Why not modern dance or ballet or opera?).
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/11/20/britains-new-interne.html
UK Anti-Piracy Plans Slammed By Liberal Democrats
Nov 20th
Details of Lord Mandelson’s draconian pro-copyright plans contained in the Digital Economy Bill leaked out yesterday, provoking a wave of dissent. The Liberal Democrats have now made a statement, voicing dismay at this “utterly shameless” attempt to introduce major rules without proper Commons assessment.
http://torrentfreak.com/uk-anti-piracy-plans-slammed-by-liberal-democrats-091120/
Mininova Breaks 10 Billion Torrent Downloads
Nov 18th
Despite negative court verdicts against the two leading torrent sites, the BitTorrent popularity surge is still underway judging from ever increasing download figures. Mininova, the most visited BitTorrent indexer, broke an impressive record today. Since its inception, the site has served a dazzling 10 billion torrent downloads.
http://torrentfreak.com/mininova-breaks-10-billion-torrent-downloads-091118/
Hollywood Takes OpenBitTorrent’s ISP to Court
Nov 18th
The Swedish hosting provider Portlane is being sued by several Hollywood movie studios for hosting the standalone BitTorrent tracker, OpenBitTorrent. The movie studios are claiming that OpenBitTorrent is a re-branded copy of The Pirate Bay tracker that shut down yesterday.
http://torrentfreak.com/hollywood-takes-openbittorrents-isp-to-court-091118/
The Pirate Bay Tracker Shuts Down for Good
Nov 17th
Today marks the end of an era, as The Pirate Bay team announces that the world’s largest BitTorrent tracker is shutting down for good. Although the site will remain operational for now, millions of BitTorrent users will lose the use of its tracker and will instead have to rely on DHT and alternative trackers to continue downloading.
http://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-tracker-shuts-down-for-good-091117/
MC Hammer: STOP… The Music Piracy Crackdown
Nov 16th
MC Hammer, rap phenomenon and self-confessed geek, has kicked the major music labels in their over-sized pants with regard to their anti-piracy strategy. Hammer said that the labels’ decision to go after individual filesharers and ISPs has failed, because it only alienated paying customers.
http://torrentfreak.com/mc-hammer-stop-the-music-piracy-crackdown-091116/
Leaked Documents Reveal Anti-Piracy Cash Operation
Nov 15th
A source inside lawyers Davenport Lyons and their partner DigiProtect has leaked sensitive documents detailing how the companies generated profit from porn. They show how the pair extracted money from alleged file-sharers, how the revenue was split and how individuals were ranked to decide who to chase and who to leave alone.
http://torrentfreak.com/leaked-documents-reveal-anti-piracy-cash-operation-091115/
HttpTorrents: Download Torrents Without BitTorrent
Nov 15th
Launched in early 2009, KickassTorrents is one of the fastest growing torrent sites on the Internet. The site has already conquered the hearts of many BitTorrent fans thanks to its user-friendliness, and just recently it partnered with httpTorrents to offer the option to download files over http.
http://torrentfreak.com/httptorrents-download-torrents-without-bittorrent-091114/
Swedish Internet Traffic Recovers After Initial IPRED Scare
Nov 15th
When Sweden’s IPRED legislation came into force on April 1st this year, the country saw a massive 30% drop in Internet traffic. Many attributed this to Internet user fears associated with increased powers of anti-piracy groups. Now, 8 months later, traffic is completely back to normal and on track to exceed pre-IPRED levels.
http://torrentfreak.com/swedish-internet-traffic-recovers-after-initial-ipred-scare-091113/
MPAA Shuts Down Town’s Municipal WiFi Over 1 Download
Nov 12th
“The MPAA has successfully shut down an entire town’s municipal WiFi because a single user was found to be downloading a copyrighted movie. Rather than being embarrassed by this gross example of collective punishment (a practice outlawed in the Geneva conventions) against Coshocton, OH, the MPAA’s spokeslizard took the opportunity to cry poor (even though the studios are bringing in record box-office and aftermarket receipts).”
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/11/12/mpaa-shuts-down-enti.html
