Alleged Pirate Site Operator Arrested, Family Crowdfunds “David vs. Goliath” Defense
Sports streaming services are popular worldwide, with different regions having their local favorites. In Latin America, the Magis TV brand is particularly popular but another name also popped up more frequently: ‘Al Ángulo TV’. Al Ángulo was available through various domain names as well as an Android app, offering access to a variety of pirated sports streams. As its logo suggests, football was a particularly popular sport on the...
Spotify Takes Down EeveeSpotify; ‘Reborn’ Version Immediately Surfaces
With nearly 700 million monthly active users across over 180 markets, Spotify is the world’s most popular music streaming service by a significant margin. The streaming giant has always positioned itself as a competitor to pirate services, but its success also relied on pirates. In the early days, Spotify allegedly used MP3s from The Pirate Bay to populate its beta service. The notorious Swedish torrent site was instrumental in other...
Two Alleged Pirate IPTV Operators Sent to Prison For Contempt of Court
A little over three years ago, SmoothStreams was considered one the most reliable and well-known pirate IPTV providers. Several years of what appeared to be fairly plain sailing in relatively calm waters proved to be deceptive. Following a years-long investigation, a huge coalition of entertainment industry companies including Bell Media and Rogers Media, members of MPA-Canada (Motion Picture Association Canada) and ACE (Alliance for...
‘Ad Blocking is Not Piracy’ Decision Overturned By Top German Court
There’s little doubt that online businesses reliant on advertising revenue are negatively affected by increasing use of ad blocking solutions. Yet it’s thanks to abusive and invasive ads, and threats to privacy due to incessant online tracking, that ad blockers became so popular. There’s a good argument today that an effective ad blocking solution is not just a way to keep out an avalanche of mostly unwanted advertising. In many cases...
Court of Appeals: DMCA Subpoena Shortcut to Unmask Pirates Remains Closed
Under U.S. law, rightsholders have an option to identify alleged copyright infringers without directly having to file a lawsuit. Instead, they can request a DMCA subpoena which is typically signed by a court clerk and don’t require any judicial oversight. Specifically, they allow rightsholders to obtain the personal details of anonymous alleged infringers from third-party internet services where the infringing material was stored or...
Sky’s Piracy=Malware Campaign Aims For ‘Holy Grail’ of Behavioral Change
From its initial launch and relentless coverage in the media for a solid 18 months, there had to be something more to the BeStreamWise anti-piracy campaign than initially met the eye. Anti-piracy campaigns come and go; BeStreamWise made itself comfortable in people’s living rooms, took over the Sky remote, and even now still refuses to leave. Those who took refuge online found little respite. BeStreamWise has maintained a constant...
