Hungary Shuts Down BitTorrent Sites, Pre-Empts US Action
Written by enigmax on November 12, 2007Last week saw many Hungarian BitTorrent trackers and warez sites shut down by the police. Is it just a coincidence that the US is planning to put a federal prosecutor in Budapest, Hungary to “assist in the coordination of the enforcement of intellectual property laws”? Probably not.
Last week, Hungary witnessed some of the most aggressive action against BitTorrent trackers and warez sites the country has ever seen. Normally considered a relative safe-haven for file-sharers, Hungarian police conducted raids on six locations using around 80 police officers to seize around a claimed 100 servers. New information suggests this number has been exaggerated with the true number actually being around 30. In addition, home addresses were raided and hard drives seized.
Not only were the servers of torrent sites seized - such as those from Bithumen, BitLove, Moobs and GigaTorrents but also those of other warez sites, sms warez servers and 100% legal game servers. Other sites involved in the raids are Bitgate, Cinemastores, Darkside, Majomparade, Pretorians and Savaria which in true hydra-style have all returned. The private BitTorrent tracker Bithumen is also promising to return using a backup from one-week ago and some are reassuring its users that the server didn’t carry any IP addresses so they cannot be identified, although this is unconfirmed.
It seems that many completely innocent parties have had their servers taken. Although back now, the invite-only social networking site IWIW also went down temporarily during the raids. According to a source, the Hungarian police were extremely short of technical staff who might be able to identify the correct servers to take, so in the style of the Swedish police at last year’s Pirate Bay raid, they simply took them all.
The raids were co-ordinated by ASVA, a Hungarian industry association similar to the BSA and prompted many other torrent admins to take down their sites. Some were showing messages indicating the sites were down for maintenance or had some sort of technical difficulties.
Interestingly, last week, news.com reported on the introduction of a bill in the US - the so-called ‘Pirate Act’ which would allow the US Justice Department to file lawsuits against those it accuses of engaging in copyright infringement and, by way of compensation, send the financial spoils to the organization holding the copyright.
Tucked away at the bottom of the article is a possible indicator as to why this massive action was taken in Hungary. From the article:
The new version of the Pirate Act, in addition to civil enforcement, also:
* Creates an “operational unit” of at least 10 FBI agents to investigate intellectual property offenses. It requires the Justice Department to assign a federal prosecutor to Hong Kong and Budapest, Hungary, “to assist in the coordination of the enforcement of intellectual property laws” and allocates $12 million per year.
Although the Pirate Act isn’t in force yet, it’s not difficult to imagine the pressure which the Hungarian government must’ve been under from the United States. Cleaning up the ‘problem’ before the US arrives to really turn on the screws should relieve some of that pressure. Additionally, a lot of pressure data-wise was removed from the Hungarian internet infrastructure as disappearing sites caused a dramatic reduction in traffic.
As the dust settles it appears that torrent sites were not the main targets of the police but the pay to download warez sites, such as the ones which require payment by premium SMS message. It’s convenient for the authorities to portray torrent sites in the same light as pay warez sites and even though there is rarely a charge to use a torrent site, it’s easy to imply to the general public that they’re all criminals.
Further raids have been promised.
Thanks go to misnyo and _bc for translating
Previously: OinkPlus Adds Music Discovery to BitTorrent Sites
Next: 14 Year Old BitTorrent Hacker Threatens to Sue What.cd Users
51 Responses (Add yours or TrackBack)
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All the anti-piracy idiots are going on about how file sharing is theft. They’re the real thieves, stealing people’s servers like that.
it’s time we figure out a way to fight back. this is disgusting. We need to send a clear message to the labels, and to congress. Stop supporting a broken and dilapidated system, the record industry put themselves where they are.
http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200711/110707IP%20Enforcement%20Bill.pdf
That’s a text of the proposed bill, which is similar to the 2004 version that passed the Senate and the House and seems to have died in committee.
This will be the most damaging antip2p legislation passed. Authorizing the DOJ and FBI to use $20 million +++ to punish filesharers through civil penalties will mean a lot of trouble for pirates everywhere. I’d bet it passes no problem and we see news headlines by early spring about how they took down some major sites/uploaders.
On page 17 of the bill is the following:
“(1) PROPERTY SUBJECT TO FORFEITURE–
The following property is subject to forfeiture to the United States:”
Continued on page 18 is this:
“(B) Any property used, or intended to be used, in any manner or part to commit or facilitate the commission of an offense reffered to in subparagraph (A)”
Looks to me like they would like to seize our homes.
I think it’s time to start calling Senators and Representatives.
Here is some more great info about the bill http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200711/110707b.html
BTW, Leahy is a very respected politician that will get support from both sides.
@ 4 that is about using counterfeit bills and the seizure occurs only after someone is found guilty. See the section b it modifies here http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18/usc_sec_18_00002320—-000-.html
#2
That would be a good idea.
A well organised conference with keyfigures, lawyers, politician etc.
As Ex-Oinker i’m very interested …
P2PIsHereToStay@LIVE.NL
leave it to the American government to make more enemies seems they are good at it. They wonder why everyone hates them around the world. well all they have to is look at their own actions. What a piece of shit government they got. They lie and cheat and murder and are surprised when others do the same to them. They have no regard for any law when it does not suit them but they want others to obey theirs.
leave it to the American government to make more enemies seems they are good at it. They wonder why everyone hates them around the world. well all they have to is look at their own actions. What a piece of sh*t government they got. They lie and cheat and murder and are surprised when others do the same to them. They have no regard for any law when it does not suit them but they want others to obey theirs.
Fucking U.S. Govt. is trying to set a standard policy. After 9\11 they feel they have the right to rule us all and take our freedom, just like their own citizens.
Fucking fuckers.
The US government is trying to protect US citizens’ rights. Surely, if the movies being shared on a tracker do not include those protected by US copyright law, the US government would not be taking action against them. But, when you upload material protected by US law, it is the government’s DUTY to enforce such laws. So, just because you are living in another country does not mean that laws affecting your ability to use copyrighted materials are void. I’d love to change the law to enable individuals to share files for personal use in some way, but until then, we must recognize that the US government is only doing what they must by law to uphold the same.
[quote comment="211343"]But, when you upload material protected by US law, it is the government’s DUTY to enforce such laws.[/quote]
No, it’s not. Copyright infringement is a civil offense. The copyright owner would have to sue.
@10.
“Surely, if the movies being shared on a tracker do not include those protected by US copyright law, the US government would not be taking action against them.”
Apparently you don’t know us very well, because we tend not to give a fuck whether it’s our business or not. If the RIAA or MPAA doesn’t like something, they’ll get the government to use that act and force them to pursue those outside of the U.S.
BTW: About Leahy, he was paid over 1 million dollars by the RIAA and MPAA.
+info
http://asva.info/index.html#eng
.
@ 11 Under the new act, the government would have authority and funding to sue on the copyright holder’s behalf.
@12 I highly doubt that a judge would overstep his jurisdiction by hearing a case that is not protected under US law. Furthermore, I trust the government agents at the FBI and DOJ to be smart enough not to waste their time over anything that is not copyrighted under US law.
YAY! Hungary does something and now we must blame the Americans with no proof! Oh man, it makes sooooooooo much since.
“It requires the Justice Department to assign a federal prosecutor to Hong Kong and Budapest, Hungary, “to assist in the coordination of the enforcement of intellectual property laws” and allocates $12 million per year.”
what? could someone explain this? are they gonna put a judge enforcing THEIR laws in ANOTHER country? who the f*ck would comply with that?
sense* haha, I confuse my words so easily.
@ 16 A prosecutor is just an attorney charged with investigating possible claims and then prosecuting those charged when necessary. No judge.
Everyone should move their hosting to Russia. The Rus don’t give a shit about American copyright laws, and have more nukes than GW Bush has healthy brain cells.
Here’s something I STILL haven’t figured out.
The cost of high-capacity data storage here in the States is falling.
I bought a 320 GB drive for 75 USD recently. Blank DVDs are about 15-25 cents apiece retail.
Why are the tools that facilitate easy music/movie/software piracy getting cheaper if piracy is such a problem in the US?
Wouldn’t it make sense to tax the people who buy the tools to make up for the lost income to the RIAA/MPAA/Microsoft, etc.?
I’ll happily start paying for content again once a few things happen-
1. When the RIAA/MPAA stops using the government’s agents (i.e. law enforcement) to be its bullies-by-proxy. ESPECIALLY in other countries.
2. When the RIAA/MPAA breaks down how the retail cost of a CD gets distributed among the artist, manufacturer, label, etc. Think of it as a list of ingredients.
3. When Hollywood and the recording industry start looking at p2p and torrents as a new type of media.
After all, if us pirates are able to reproduce EXACT digital copies and distribute them for free, then why can’t they do so at a profit? ITMS is a good example of this at work. It would help the enviroment and possibly lower their overhead considerably to boot.
Until then, I think it’s my moral obligation to keep piracy alive, since there’s no other way to ethically spread the word about creative works I appreciate.
BTW, I don’t neccessarily consider depriving the recording industry or Hollywood money a moral obstacle. Just ask the RIAA/MPAA how they treat the interests vis a vis the majority of their artists.
How’s it going, sociopaths?
The record industry is broken? Why, cuz you got away with stealing for a little while? Real funny.
And I can just see you douchebags trying to lobby Congress on your behalf; “Hello, I steal music, will you please stand up for my rights?”
ROTFLMFAO.
I’ll steal music regardless.
ROTFLMFAO
Go for it. Your life sucks, and I thank God every day I’m not you.
ROTFLMFAO
No need to thank god. You were a mistake anyway.
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