IP Address Blocking Banned After Anti-Piracy Court Order Hit Cloudflare
With momentum building in favor of pirate site blocking measures elsewhere in Europe, Austrian ISPs took their opposition all the way to the country’s Supreme Court. Despite concerns over the implications for net neutrality, rightsholders’ interests prevailed. Like many of their foreign counterparts, Austrian ISPs soon found themselves compelled by court order to block torrent and streaming sites, those offering unlicensed musical...
Z-Library Petitions U.S. and Argentina to Cease ‘Illegal’ Criminal Prosecution
With nearly 14 million books available for download, Z-Library is one of the largest repositories of pirated books on the Internet. The site has millions of regular readers who find a wealth of free knowledge and entertainment at their fingertips. Z-Library’s very existence was put to the test last November when U.S. law enforcement agencies seized over 200 domain names connected to the site. The site survived this initial crackdown...
YouTube Rippers Run Out of Money, Give Up On $83m RIAA Legal Battle
Two years ago, the RIAA secured a major victory in its piracy lawsuit against YouTube-rippers FLVTO.biz and 2conv.com and their Russian operator Tofig Kurbanov. A Virginia federal court issued a default judgment in favor of several prominent music companies after the defendant walked away from the lawsuit. According to the order, there is a clear need to deter the behavior of Kurbanov who failed to hand over evidence including server...
DataCamp’s IPTV “Scam Judgment” Claims Withdrawn Pending Settlement
Copyright infringement lawsuits against pirate IPTV providers and those accused of assisting them, usually have a few common elements. To compensate for massive infringement, a demand for damages running to no less than eight digits often sets the stage, while an obligatory demand for a trial by jury shows early commitment to see things through. What typically follows are months of litigation followed by an announcement that there...
Pirate Site Survives ‘Operation: Sunstroke’ But Massive Lawsuit Awaits
At least on the surface, the story of Sdarot, Israel’s most popular pirate site, sounds quite similar to that of The Pirate Bay. Loved by millions and loathed by entertainment companies, both have demonstrated an unusual ability to remain online, despite overwhelming odds. But while The Pirate Bay has generated considerable revenue over the years, Sdarot’s existence and its ability to generate profit seem inexorably intertwined. The...
Youtube-dl Site Goes Offline as Hosting Provider Enforces Court-Ordered Ban
In 2020, the RIAA infuriated many players in the open source community by targeting YouTube-ripping tool, youtube-dl. The RIAA sent a takedown notice to GitHub, claiming that the software bypassed technological protection measures, in violation of the DMCA. GitHub initially complied but later changed course. After consulting legal experts, including those at the EFF, it restored the youtube-dl repository and launched a million-dollar...
