Court Gives IFPI Permission To Identify Pirate Bay Users

Chasing down individual file-sharers is something the major labels largely left behind several years ago, but in an unusual development the IFPI has now won the right to identify dozens of Pirate Bay users that allegedly downloaded and shared an album before its official release. The CEO of Universal, the…

Hurt Locker Makers Return to Sue 2,514 BitTorrent Users

Voltage Pictures, the makers of the Oscar-winning movie The Hurt Locker, have filed a new lawsuit at a federal court in Florida. By targeting at least 2,514 alleged BitTorrent users, Voltage Pictures hopes to recoup several million dollars in settlements to compensate the studio for piracy-related losses. In total, more…

The History of File-Sharing

Last century filesharing was a fringe hobby, only for geeks who were lucky enough to own a computer that could dial into the World Wide Web. How different is that today, where filesharing has become daily routine for hundreds of millions of people worldwide. In just a few years swapping…

Mediafire Starts Blocking FilesTube Search Traffic

File-hosting service Mediafire decided to block all incoming traffic from the popular media search engine FilesTube. Commenting on the move Mediafire's co-founder explains that it was a logical step as their service was never intended to be indexed in public.

RapidShare Overtures Snubbed, “Must Do Better” Say Labels

This week, file-hosting service RapidShare published an anti-piracy manifesto with guidelines on how cyberlocker and cloud hosting sites should conduct their business going forward. But the proposals from the Swiss-based service, which go far beyond their requirements under the law, received a lukewarm reception from rightsholders who say they don't…

Kim Dotcom Lashes Out Against “Corrupt” US Government

The US judge handling the Megaupload case noted today that it may never be tried due to a procedural error, a comment that has sparked the anger of Megaupload's founder. Kim Dotcom is furious with the US Government for destroying his businesses and rendering hundreds of people unemployed. According to…