FADPA: MPA’s Export-Only Site-Blocking Primed For Full Strength U.S. Launch
When U.S. site-blocking proposals died alongside SOPA in 2012, major Hollywood studios and their music industry counterparts, switched up their plans a little. A SOPA victory would’ve sent a powerful message that site-blocking is a reasonable response to infringement, and that U.S. partners overseas should follow the example. Yet even with no victory to celebrate, for more than a decade the MPA promoted site-blocking measures to any...
Pirate Libraries Are Forbidden Fruit for AI Companies. But at What Cost?
Earlier this week, various rightsholder groups submitted their recommendations for the 2025 Special 301 Report. This annual overview, compiled by the U.S. Trade Representative, highlights countries that fail to live up to U.S. copyright protection standards. Various groups stressed the importance of copyright protection when it comes to new AI technologies. They argued that foreign governments should be mindful of potential copyright...
Court Rejects Musi’s Bid to Force Apple to Reinstate its Music App
Last September, Apple removed popular music streaming app Musi from its App Store, affecting millions of users. Apple’s action didn’t come as a complete surprise. Music industry groups had been trying to take Musi down for months, branding it a ‘parasitic’ app that skirts the rules. IFPI took the lead, calling on other music industry players and YouTube to complain to Apple as well. The mounting pressure eventually paid off. Delisting...
Pirate IPTV: Sweden Mulls ‘Viewing Ban’ as Illegal Subscriptions Soar 25%
With the original Pirate Bay generation now all grown up, those few years of pirate rebellion aired on the world stage have been fading in Sweden for quite some time. On the rapidly evolving internet, such things are inevitable. Yet, even those most dedicated to The Pirate Bay’s downfall may take a moment to consider how things were, and how that led to the almost unrecognizable piracy arena that exists today. The Pirate Bay didn’t...
New Bill Aims to Block Foreign Pirate Sites in the U.S.
For a long time, pirate site blocking was regarded as a topic most U.S. politicians would rather avoid. This lingering remnant of the SOPA debacle drove copyright holders to focus on the introduction of blocking efforts in other countries instead, mostly successfully. Those challenging times are now more than a decade old and momentum is shifting. Today, Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) introduced the Foreign Anti-Digital Piracy Act...
TorrentGalaxy Pleads Financial Difficulties, Asks Users to Chip In
Founded in 2018, TorrentGalaxy has grown to become a leading player in the torrent ecosystem. The site was launched by former members of ExtraTorrent, a popular torrent site that had just shut down. The founders of TorrentGalaxy aimed to provide a home for ExtraTorrent ‘refugees’ but, over time, it evolved into one of the leading torrent sites. Earlier this month, the U.S. Trade Representative flagged TorrentGalaxy among the most...
