TorrentFreak

Today marks the end of an era for The Pirate Bay. The largest torrent site on the Internet has just removed all popular torrent files and made the switch to magnet links. The Pirate Bay team believes the move is needed to make the site future proof, and is confident that it won’t cause much trouble among users. “Just click the red button instead of the green one and all will be fine,” they say.

After several failed attempts, last week Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom was finally granted bail and freed from prison. After initially spending time with his wife and children, Kim agreed to share his thoughts with TorrentFreak. For a man whose just had everything he owns taken away from him, he is effortlessly composed and quietly confident.

RapidGator, one of the file-hosting sites that grew exponentially following the Megaupload shutdown last month, has been banned by PayPal. As a result, the Russian-based site says it will close the service in a month. According to PayPal, the RapidGator account was closed due to the “high risks” associated with processing payments to file-sharing services.

Kim Dotcom has been released from prison after a New Zealand judge granted him bail. The Megaupload founder will be the subject of strict conditions including no Internet access after the prosecution expressed fears he might reopen the site. Dotcom will now continue his fight against extradition to the United States on copyright infringement, racketeering and money laundering charges.

In a case brought by major recording labels including Sony, EMI and Warner, today a judge in the High Court ruled that The Pirate Bay and its users breach copyright on a major scale. The ruling means that it is almost inevitable that The Pirate Bay will face a nationwide UK ISP blockade in the coming months.

As part of a criminal investigation the UK Government has shut down the popular blog RnBXclusive which posted news, commentary and links to music. Authorities have arrested the owners of the site for allegedly defrauding the music industry. In addition, the Serious Organised Crime Agency is threatening users of RnBXclusive that they face 10 years in prison if they downloaded music through the site.

A 28-year old man from Comstock Park, Michigan, has been arrested and charged with criminal copyright infringement. Yonjo Quiroa is the alleged operator of nine of the sixteen streaming related domain names that were seized a few hours ago as part of ‘Operation Fake Sweep’.