Megaupload Pair Plead Guilty, Kim Dotcom Turns Anger on Former Friends
After 10 years of legal battles following the closure of Megaupload, former executives Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk want to put their ordeal behind them. The prospect of being extradited to the United States to face copyright infringement, racketeering and money laundering charges proved to be a heavy burden for the men, so when an opportunity emerged to stay in New Zealand, they took it. This May they announced that a deal...
Paris Hilton is One of the First Defendants at the ‘Small’ Copyright Claims Board
Last Thursday, the US Copyright Claims Board went live. Through this venue, hosted at the Copyright Office, copyright holders can try to recoup alleged damages outside the federal court system. The board aims to make it cheaper for creators to resolve disputes. There’s no attorney required and the filing fee is limited to $100 per claim. Accused parties also benefit as the potential damages are capped at $30,000. Those who prefer...
MANGA Plus Invites Users to Confess Piracy & Name Most-Used Pirate Sites
For many years Japanese manga companies had a tendency to ignore the majority of overseas markets, despite the potential for lucrative trade. However, powered by a global Internet and passionate fans with translation abilities, scanned copies of manga titles first trickled and then flooded into the West, creating a massive market and future demand for this Japanese cultural product where none previously existed. Manga pirates often...
Judge Recommends $150k Piracy Judgment Against Torrent Site Operator
Up until a few years ago, MKVCage was a popular torrent portal that also uploaded its torrents on other sites. This ended abruptly when the makers of the superhero film “Hellboy” took the site’s operator to court the summer of 2019. Movie company “HB Productions” accused the site and its Pakistani operator Muhammad Faizan of promoting and distributing pirated copies of the movie, hoping that this would put an end to the activity. And...
Nitro IPTV Loses $100m Piracy Lawsuit Leaving Hollywood Studios Fuming
In August 2021, US broadcaster DISH Network plus Sling and NagraStar sued pirate IPTV service Nitro TV. According to the complaint, Alex, Anna, Martha and Osvaldo Galindo were behind the unlicensed streaming service which obtained its content from DISH satellite broadcasts and Sling’s internet-based programming. Documents obtained by the plaintiffs revealed the sale of at least 100,363 subscriptions (‘device codes’) which allowed...
Torrent Site Blockades Don’t Change Old Piracy Habits Right Away
In March, a Dutch court ordered local ISP Delta to block access to the torrent sites 1337x, LimeTorrents, YTS, RARBG, Kickasstorrents and EZTV. In addition to the main domains, a long list of proxies and mirrors are included as well. And if new domains pop up, these can be swiftly blocked too. This is the second site blocking order in the Netherlands and a big win for local anti-piracy outfit BREIN. The anti-piracy group has spent...
