Z-Library: More Domains Seized Than Any Other Pirate Site in History
After much legal wrangling, in May 2015 the Stockholm District Court ordered the Pirate Bay’s .SE domains to be handed over to the Swedish state. While the loss of thepiratebay.se and the lesser known piratebay.se had important symbolic value, the Punkt SE registry – which defeated rightsholders’ attempts to hold it liable for Pirate Bay’s infringements – warned that domain seizures would prove ineffective in the fight against piracy....
Link-Busters Sent a Billion DMCA Takedown Requests to Google Search
It’s no secret that online piracy presents a major challenge to copyright holders. With owners of pirate sites largely unresponsive, search engines and other online intermediaries are often asked to intervene. In most cases, these takedown efforts are outsourced to third-party companies. These outfits scour the web for links to infringing material and subsequently ask the operators of these sites and services to take action. Google...
What Killed Fmovies? Death By a 1000 Cuts, One Killer Blow, Or Possibly Both
Some may measure the importance of Fmovies by highlighting its popularity. With an estimated 190 million visits in March 2024, the argument sits on solid ground. Others may point towards the site’s presentation; glossy, informational, responsive, and arguably even better presented than platforms operated by its legal competitors. Or maybe the site’s almost flawless uptime record was its most impressive feature; if a site is offline,...
Sports Streaming Services Fight Piracy With… a Very Affordable Bundle
In recent years, rightsholders of major sports events have repeatedly complained that piracy of live sports is getting out of hand. Ideally, they would like to see updates to the current legislative frameworks, so the problem can be targeted more efficiently. Most of the discussion is focused on tighter enforcement and more restrictions, including site blocking and automated takedowns. However, there are other roads that lead to Rome,...
Russia Slams Google’s ‘Censorship’ Yet Deleting 5.6m VPN Links is Just Fine
Those who have taken an interest in the words of Dmitry Peskov since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, will have noticed that Vladimir Putin’s press secretary is loyal, if nothing else. In respect of his commentary on matters important to the Kremlin, it can be difficult for foreigners to appreciate the finer details; is he always trying to mislead or just most of the time? Take for example a statement early February 2024, just a few...
Anna’s Archive Loses .GS Domain Name But Remains Resilient
While movie and TV show piracy is increasingly attracting for-profit piracy operations, pirate libraries continue to wave an ideological flag. Portals such as Sci-Hub, LibGen, and Z-Library say they strive to collect and preserve as much written content as possible. That includes books, academic papers, and magazines. This preservation drift has awakened book publishers and other rightsholders. In recent years, we’ve seen several...
