The author of a bizarre virus which threatened to kill file-sharers has been arrested in Japan. Has he been arrested for making death threats? No! For writing the virus? No! This is the 21st century. He’s been arrested for copyright infringement, of course.
For the last four years people have been downloading the latest albums of their favorite artists, blissfully unaware that they have been modified. From The Pirate Bay to OiNK, downloaders have been getting unique versions, unavailable in the shops, all thanks to The Overdub Tampering Committee.
Morals are often defined by what the general public sees as right or wrong. Most people don’t feel that they’re doing wrong when they download an MP3 or share a movie, but in most countries they are actually breaking laws, laws which do not reflect what the general public considers to be legal, fair use, or even moral.
In just over a year the number of internet users file-sharing in Japan has increased by a staggering 180%, says the results of an online survey. The average number of files downloaded has more than doubled.
Everyone knows that a significant number of file-sharers are teenagers and young adults and they get their share of press. But what about the true kids – the under 10′s ? TorrentFreak makes itself feel old trying to keep up with the agile mind of a 9 year old file-sharer.
It turns out that P2P is not only an enemy for the major record labels, it’s also an excellent marketing research tool. In fact, MediaDefender is using piracy to help labels increase profitability.
A recent analysis of the latest P2P trends wordwide shows that BitTorrent is still the most popular filesharing protocol. BitTorrent traffic is still on the rise and responsible for 50-75% of all P2P traffic and roughly 40% of all Internet traffic.
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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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