eDonkey and BitTorrent users caught up in the latest Logistep anti-piracy sweep haven’t got much to smile about, facing threats, legal action and for many, accusations that are simply untrue. For those who would prefer not to have their privacy invaded by Logistep in the future, this anti-piracy cloud has a silver lining. Indications are, this system can be defeated.
A man from Columbus, Georgia has pleaded guilty to two felonies connected to the distribution of copyright works via the EliteTorrents BitTorrent tracker, which was shut down by the FBI in 2005. As a major uploader he faces 5 years in jail plus a $250,000 fine.
In March, TorrentFreak published an article which aimed to answer the question ‘Are Private BitTorrent Trackers Safe?’ Now, an internet piracy investigator has admitted that his organisation has successfully infiltrated private BitTorrent trackers and is actively collecting information.
Having outstayed its welcome in Germany, a company is bringing its legal strategy against file-sharers to the UK. Its first targets are 500 P2P users who illegally distributed a game according to the company, even though many of the victims never even heard of the game in question. All Filesharers receive a letter in which they are urged to settle the case for a relatively small sum of money. So who are the accusers and what quality of evidence do they hold?
Just two days after TorrentFreak reported that a clampdown on file-sharing in Italy was looming, reports suggest that police raids have closed down a major DirectConnect hub, netting equipment and the network’s major uploaders.
There is a statement you’ll often see on p2p forums, and in IRC channels. It usually comes in a discussion about “getting caught” or “letters been sent” and it goes something like “the safest thing is to join a private site. The other oft-proposed solution, blocklists, has been discussed before. Are private sites any safer though?
After a Court ruled that downloading films, music or software is not criminal if done for no profit, the Italian Vice Prime Minister said that the government will no longer turn a blind eye and declared that there will be a crackdown on sites hosted in the country.
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Below are TorrentFreak's most discussed articles of the past month. Join the discussion if you like.
Left Quote“The Pirate Bay has been one of the most important movements in Sweden for freedom of speech, working against corruption and censorship.
Peter Sunde Left Quote
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