€3bn Pirate IPTV Network Serving 22m Users “Dismantled” in Massive Operation
Law enforcement operations targeting pirate sites and services are often enthusiastically described as ‘large-scale’ or ‘major’. If reports emerging from authorities in Italy hold true, describing the international operation that culminated early this morning as massive, wouldn’t be an exaggeration. Operation Takendown is said to have targeted what may be the largest pirate IPTV network serving Europe, authorities say, and the numbers...
Court Rejects Appeal of Youtube-dl Hosting Provider ‘Uberspace’
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, alleging 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. GitHub also launched a...
Kim Dotcom Suffers “Serious Stroke” and “Cannot Communicate Effectively”
After Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the United States earlier this month, the world’s largest democracy confirmed a big win over Kamala Harris and a second term in the White House for the Republican. Over in New Zealand, Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom had spent much of November 5/6 posting to his account on X. Despite never having set foot in the United States, the outcome of the election had become increasingly...
Supreme Court Seeks U.S. Govt’s View on ‘Repeat Infringer’ Piracy Cases
In 2019, Internet provider Cox Communications lost its legal battle against a group of dozens of record labels, including Sony and Universal. Following a two-week trial, a Virginia jury held Cox liable for its pirating subscribers. The ISP failed to disconnect repeat infringers and was ordered to pay $1 billion in damages. This case is one of many. Other ISPs have been accused of being similarly lax in their stance against alleged...
Pirate Sites Play Possum While Boosting Counter-Enforcement Measures
A man who previously admitted selling pirate TV devices recently appeared at Liverpool Crown Court for sentencing. Hoping for leniency on three counts of fraud, Jonathan Edge’s defense evoked an image of a Robin Hood character stealing from the Premier League for the benefit of Sky TV-deprived local communities. That went as well as could be expected, especially in light of the defendant’s previous convictions for fraud. That the...
Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week – 11/25/2024
The data for our weekly download chart is estimated by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only. Downloading content without permission is copyright infringement. These torrent download statistics are only meant to provide further insight into piracy trends. All data are gathered from public resources. This week we have two newcomers on the list. “Smile 2” is the most shared title. The most torrented...
