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• US Pirate Party Launches Book

  A common criticism lobbed at the various Pirate Parties is that they ‘just want stuff for free’ and don’t produce anything; that if it were their work, they wouldn’t be so quick to offer things to download. Today, the US Pirate Party took on that criticism, by releasing their own book. Available to buy as [...]

• UK Copyright Consultation Wants Facts Not Fiction

  In the wake of the Hargreaves review the UK is undergoing another copyright consultation review. Of perhaps greater note than the Consultation itself though, is the accompanying notes on evidence. It’s clear the types of sloppy claims that have passed for evidence in the past aren’t going to be tolerated (any more).

• Megaupload, Universal and the DMCA-less Mega Song Takedown

  Last week, Megaupload’s Mega Song was on its way to becoming a viral hit, only to be removed from YouTube by a Universal Music takedown demand. Following the filing of a Megaupload lawsuit the song is now back online, but Universal are standing firm. The label says that they have a private arrangement with YouTube [...]

• Australian Copyright Meeting was ‘Off the Record’

  Just over a week ago, a meeting was held behind closed doors between the Australian Attorney General, ISPs, and representatives of major media conglomerates. As we reported when the meeting was first announced, it seems the meeting is a followup to the threat made by AFACT about a three strikes policy. The meeting, which took [...]

• Lib Dems Support Repeal of Digital Economy Act

  As reported a month ago, a proposal condemning the Digital Economy Act (DEA) was indeed brought before the Liberal Democrats’ Autumn Conference this week. The Liberal Democrats – the junior coalition member of the UK Government – were opposed to the legislation from the start and were the only major UK party to voice opposition [...]

• Hackers Target uTorrent and Bittorrent Websites

  Earlier today, the websites of BitTorrent Inc. (utorrent.com and bittorrent.com) were hacked. In what would seem (but isn’t) to be a vindication of the many ‘studies‘ equating P2P with malware, downloads of the torrent clients µTorrent and BitTorrent (aka mainline) were replaced with malware downloads. Shortly after this had happened, BitTorrent Inc. took the servers [...]

• Copyright Term Extensions Explained

  Copyright can be a bit of a difficult issue to understand, which is why anything that helps explain the issues in a way that can be easily understood is good. One topic that pops up now and then around the world is that of copyright term extension, with claims that it’s needed to foster creativity, [...]

• Is Copyright Only For the Big Guys?

  Over the last two weeks, two interesting copyright-related stories have appeared in online news reports. Both involve big media companies and small users, but not in the way we usually expect. In both instances, the large media companies “pirated” content instead of the users, and they seem to get away with it. This begs the question; is copyright only for the Big Guys?

• Copyright Infringement and Theft – The Difference

  A common recurring theme in the comments here on TorrentFreak is that P2P file-sharing is ‘stealing’. While such sentiments are often expressed by the industry lobby groups, it’s completely at odds with the law. It could also be the very LAST thing those bodies want.

NewsBits

The latest news from around the web, not covered on the frontpage

• RIAA: “Misinformation May Be a Dirty Trick, But It Works.”

  For years the RIAA has tried to convince the world that piracy is killing musicians. Supported...

• Russia’s Largest BitTorrent Tracker Under Huge DDoS Attack

  RUTracker, Russia’s largest BitTorrent tracker, has been dealing with the effects of a DDoS attack over...

• Reddit and WordPress Urge Congress to Shelve SOPA/PIPA

  A coalition of 70 groups, including Reddit and WordPress, are asking Congress to stop working on...

• Turbobit.net Blocks US Visitors After MegaUpload Shutdown

  In the aftermath of the MegaUpload shutdown, file-hosting sites continue to change their services. After Uploaded.to,...

• QuickSilverScreen Streaming Links Site Calls It Quits

  In the wake of the Megaupload raids and attacks on domains in the US and elsewhere,...

MostDiscussed

Below are TorrentFreak's most discussed articles of the past month. Join the discussion if you like.

• Cyberlocker Ecosystem Shocked As Big Players Take Drastic Action

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• Filesonic Kills File-Sharing Service After MegaUpload Arrests

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• BitTorrent Giant BTjunkie Shuts Down For Good

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• MegaUpload: What Made It a Rogue Site Worthy of Destruction?

  Comment Icon 415

• MegaUpload Loses Top Lawyer After ‘Outside’ Pressure

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RecommendedArticles

A selection of some TorrentFreak's classics dug up from our archives.

• Top 10 Most Popular Torrent Sites of 2012

  Continuing a long-standing New Year's tradition, we present an up-to-date list of the world's most visited...

• What’s The Best VPN / Proxy for BitTorrent?

  Privacy is important on the Internet, and BitTorrent users are certainly not excluded. Already, hundreds of...

• 5 Ways To Download Torrents Anonymously

  With anti-piracy outfits and dubious law-firms policing BitTorrent swarms at an increasing rate, many Bittorrent users...

• BTGuard Review: How Does it Work?

  With the entertainment industries lobbying for increased powers to spy on BitTorrent users, many downloaders are...

• Optimize Your BitTorrent Download Speed

  BitTorrent can be fun, as long as you get decent speeds. Not satisfied with your current...