Earlier today we reported how RapidShare is throttling accounts of free users to drive away pirates. Now, just a few hours later, the popular file-hosting service is entirely unavailable for users without a premium account. All download links go to a ” 404 Not Found” page instead (example). For paying…
Last week Library.nu went offline after a coalition of the world’s largest book publishers obtained an injunction against the site. Instead of offering download links to books, the site suddenly redirected to Amazon.com. A few days later the site also had its domain name revoked by domain registrar Nunames. While…
In January the Court of The Hague ruled that Ziggo, the largest ISP in the Netherlands, and competitor XS4ALL have to block access to The Pirate Bay. For BREIN, the Dutch anti-piracy group that started the court case, the verdict wasn’t quite enough. The Hollywood-backed group wasted no time issuing…
During the last week, users who rely on RapidShare's free service have been complaining of reduced download speeds. Several theories have been circulating, mainly focusing on the file-hoster trying to drive users to take up premium accounts. But according to RapidShare the reason is simple - to drive pirates away…
Responding to a question asking what film directors think when people torrent their work, filmmaker Heather Ferreira responded with an unusual tirade against the MPAA. According to her, the movie industry group is a censorship outfit that restricts the creative freedom of filmmakers. As such, the MPAA is hurting the…
Sweden's second largest torrent site has shut down its operations with immediate effect following threats from Antipiratbyrån. In closing, the site - which appeared in Google's 2010 Zeitgeist report - bemoaned the "fascist tendencies" of the entertainment industries. Meanwhile, Sweden's Pirate Party is celebrating the influx of hundreds of new…
Thousands of people who have been sued for downloading movies can breathe a sigh of relief, for now at least. A Florida judge has stopped 27 mass-BitTorrent lawsuits because the attorney for the copyright holders appears to be unlicensed. The cases are likely to be dismissed and the plaintiffs will…
The European Commission says it is referring the ACTA anti-piracy treaty to the European Union's top court. The Court of Justice will be asked to assess whether ACTA is incompatible with the EU's fundamental rights and freedoms including freedom of expression and information. An ECJ ruling should "cut through this…