TorrentFreak

During the past several weeks, with blockades of The Pirate Bay biting in both the Netherlands and the UK, sites which facilitate access to the world’s most famous torrent site have been popping up in their dozens. However, not all of these sites have users’ best interests at heart. Several, flying in the face of the very fiber of The Pirate Bay, have had the temerity to do the unthinkable – charge for free downloads.

Chasing down individual file-sharers is something the major labels largely left behind several years ago, but in an unusual development the IFPI has now won the right to identify dozens of Pirate Bay users that allegedly downloaded and shared an album before its official release. The CEO of Universal, the label behind the action, says infringers could be taken to court.

In an effort to combat online piracy, entertainment industry groups all over the world are pushing censorship of The Pirate Bay website. In the Netherlands such a Pirate Bay block went into effect earlier this year, but without the desired effect. Researchers from the University of Amsterdam have now revealed that the court-ordered Pirate Bay block has had no impact on the number of BitTorrent pirates.

Efforts by anti-piracy groups to make The Pirate Bay inaccessible have turned into a proxy war, quite literally. After the Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN managed to shutter several proxy sites, their Belgian colleagues at BAF are now attempting to do the same. The group has threatened to sue the owner of a proxy if his site stays online, but thus far the threat hasn’t had the desired effect.

Record labels and Hollywood have described The Pirate Bay as one of the biggest threats to their business, but thousands of artists clearly disagree with this view. In recent weeks more than 5000 independent artists have signed up to be promoted by the world’s largest torrent site. Those who were lucky enough to be featured are overwhelmed by the career boost and the positive responses from the public.

Breaking news just in from The Pirate Bay. The notorious torrent site has bought the exclusive rights to use Greece’s airspace. The Pirate Bay plans to use the new asset to advance their new project where GPS controlled drones will partially host the torrent site. The drone plan is yet another move to make it [...]

Hollywood-backed anti-piracy outfit BREIN is trying to stop the massive influx of Pirate Bay proxy sites that circumvent a court-ordered blockade in the Netherlands. The group obtained an injunction against one proxy and has threatened many others with legal action. While BREIN’s efforts appear to have had some effect, the question is for how long.