The international law enforcement action against Xtream Codes and what appear to be several entities using its services is a complex affair. While some will argue that the IPTV management service was a neutral player offering no illicit content, it's becoming ever more clear that the authorities are viewing things from an entirely different and sometimes confusing perspective.
Millennium Films is utilizing the US court system to put pressure on sites, services and apps that are linked to piracy. After the shutdown of the popular CotoMovies app, the company has now switched its attention to several sites that were 'linked' to the app, including Verystream and Streamango.
Police in Italy have announced a huge anti-piracy operation against the company operating popular IPTV service management system Xtream Codes. Searches are reportedly underway in several countries including Italy, the Netherlands, France and Bulgaria, in a claimed effort to dismantle the company's entire infrastructure.
A German law firm has threatened to file a criminal complaint against domain name registrar easyDNS. The Canadian registrar refuses to hand over personal details of an allegedly copyright infringing customer without a valid court order, nor is it planning to pay the proposed €1,481 in damages and fees demanded by the law firm.
Switzerland's National Council has passed amendments aimed at modernizing the country's copyright law to make it more fit for the digital age. While services that host pirate sites or distribute content can expect a tougher ride moving forward, users will still be able to download pirate content for personal use. Furthermore, Swiss Internet service providers will not be required to prevent their customers accessing pirate sites.
Through the Federal Court, Bell, Rogers, and Groupe TVA are hoping to obtain the first Canadian pirate site blocking order. The companies believe that website blocking is an effective way to deal with pirate sites but Internet provider TekSavvy sees things differently. The ISP describes the proposed measures as ineffective and inappropriate.
The top 10 most downloaded movies on BitTorrent are in again. 'Dark Phoenix' tops the chart this week, followed by ‘John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum'. 'Aladdin' completes the top three.
A lawsuit filed in Canada targeting Best Buy, Staples and other retailers, claims the companies knowingly sold "pirate devices" to customers. Filed by Super Channel owner Allarco Entertainment, the suit further alleges that staff gave advice to customers on how to pirate content or have devices modified to do so. While currently unnamed, the lawsuit states that up to 50,000 customers could potentially become part of the legal action.
One of the prerequisites of beating piracy is that content is available legally for a fair price. In recent years, however, movies and music are increasingly becoming fragmented over a variety of paid subscription services. According to a UK Government report, this may be the reason why piracy is making a comeback.