TorrentFreak

Earlier this week in a copyright infringement crackdown initiated by the Italian authorities more than two dozen file-sharing domains were placed on ISP blocklists. One of those domains was Rapidgator, one of the world’s leading cyberlocker sites. Rather than simply rolling over, Rapidgator is now fighting back with with the assistance of an Italian lawyer experienced in handling Internet-related litigation. ISPs are also reportedly filing appeals.

In what is being described as the biggest domain crackdown since US Homeland Security seized more than 70 domains in 2010, Italy has targeted more than two dozen BitTorrent, cyberlocker and other file-sharing sites. The Public Prosecutor of Rome has ordered the blocking of Rapidgator, Uploaded, BitShare, NowVideo, VideoPremium and many others, warning that he will progress the action internationally in order to properly seize their domains.

TorrentReactor is making a stand against the increasing censorship efforts targeted at BitTorrent sites. Less than two days after an Italian court ordered local ISPs to censor the popular torrent site, they have launched a free proxy to circumvent the blockade. The proxy, operating from the fitting domain “come.in,” works not only with TorrentReactor, but also with The Pirate Bay, KickassTorrents and Torrents.net.

Torrentreactor.net and Torrents.net will soon be inaccessible in Italy. Following an investigation by the country’s cybercrime police and the local music industry all internet providers are required to block access to the sites. A probe into the identities of the owners, who the authorities believe are profiting heavily from the sites, is ongoing. The move follows similar blockades against both The Pirate Bay, KickassTorrents and the now-defunct BTjunkie.

Australian pirates hoping to emulate their European counterparts and elect a pirate have had their hopes dashed today. The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Pirate Party had their bid to get on the ballot rejected. In a press release today the region’s electoral commission revealed that the pirate group fell short of the 100-member requirement by [...]

Italian police have arrested the 49-old operator of a handful of file-sharing sites that were previously shut down. The man, known online under the pseudonym “Tex Willer”, allegedly made over half a million euros profit from the sites. Besides copyright infringement, tax evasion, forgery and fraud, he is also accused of selling the email addresses of 300,000 users.

Last week we reported that the Italian cybercrime police shut down several file-sharing websites. The sites, which were connected by ownership, offered links to torrents and files hosted on cyberlockers. However, the actions were not without collateral damage. According to reports from the Italian media two perfectly legal sites were taken out by the DNS [...]