Why a Court Order to Block Internet Archive’s Open Library Was Put On Hold
Early August, we reported on a remarkable court order handed down by the Dutch Business Court in Brussels. It compelled internet providers, hosting companies, and other intermediaries to block access to several ‘pirate’ sites and deny access to payment providers. The targeted domain names are linked to known shadow libraries such as Anna’s Archive, LibGen, and Z-Library. However, the order also listed Internet Archive’s Open Library...
New Cloudflare Pirate Site Blocking May Already Involve Thousands of Domains
After 15 years of pirate site blocking by ISPs including BT, Virgin Media, Sky, TalkTalk, EE, and Plusnet, last month a new player quietly entered the UK site blocking arena. Cloudflare’s blocking measures in the UK were confirmed when attempts to access pirate streaming sites returned Error 451, indicating a site unavailable for legal reasons. To help visitors understand why access had been blocked, Cloudflare provided a link on its...
LaLiga Warns “You Get Pirated Football, They Get You”
Copyright holders have made numerous attempts in recent years to deter people from visiting pirate websites. Simply stating that piracy is illegal doesn’t appear to work very well, so anti-piracy messaging often tries to appeal to other emotions too. Anti-piracy campaigns frequently warn of the malware and security risks posed by some pirate operations, for example. These concerns are warranted as some sites and services have been...
Pirate Library Operator Arrested, Study Canceled For 330K Members
Piracy of movies, TV shows, music, games and similar content, purely for the purpose of recreation, is an internet wide phenomenon that would otherwise find funding from consumers’ disposable income. Once gainfully employed, piracy of leisure products largely becomes a matter of choice. In the educational context, textbooks can be both expensive and effectively mandatory for those seeking an education, a job, and the luxury of income...
Sky Chief Admits 3pm TV Blackout Fuels Piracy; Or Even Justifies It, Pirates Insist
The most hardcore pirates rarely feel the need to justify their consumption habits. For those who are a little less militant, reasons to pirate are in plentiful supply. Whether it’s availability, price, inconvenience, not enough choice, or too many choices, there always a reason for piracy being the more attractive offer. For their part, opponents often dismiss these reasons as convenient excuses, places to hide while defending what...
Unreleased Movie Screeners Leak Online, Including Star-Studded ‘In the Hand of Dante’
Next month, American filmmaker Julian Schnabel will be honored with the Cartier Glory to the Filmmaker award at the prestigious Venice Film Festival. Schnabel’s latest film In the Hand of Dante will have its world premiere at the festival, with a star-studded cast including Oscar Isaac, Al Pacino, Gal Gadot, Gerard Butler, Jason Momoa, and Martin Scorsese, who is also credited as executive producer. So far, very little official...
