Although the actions appeared to be significant, at the time of publication we were unable to name even one site that could have been caught up in this massive anti-piracy sweep. BREIN and the MPAA weren’t naming any sites in fear of boosting their profile should they return, which made it impossible to determine the scope of their actions.

However, shortly after we published the article about the MPAA shutdowns a staffer of a well-known torrent site got in touch, informing us that they were of of the casualties. The site in question – DarksideRG – is a relatively small community where torrents are posted in a forum, but it made a name for itself a few years ago as being the ‘home’ of aXXo.

To the older crowd the name aXXo will ring a bell as one of the best known DVDrip releasers. Between the fall of 2005 and March 2009, those four iconic letters were attached to hundreds of torrent files that linked to pirated movies. In the release notes of these files there always was a link back to DarksideRG.

Over the years the aXXo brand went on to achieve cult status. While there have been endless debates in the file-sharing community about the sources aXXo used for releases, for many the tag became synonymous with quality, dominating the searches on all public torrent sites. As a result, aXXo has grabbed the attention of scammers, the mainstream press and even documentary makers.

TorrentFreak spoke to a staff member at DarksideRG who informed us that they are indeed one of the 39 Dutch-hosted sites that has been pulled offline. Although this may sound dramatic, in reality the site’s owners were kindly asked by their hosting company to relocate, following complaints from BREIN and the MPAA.

DarksideRG’s hosting company Leaseweb had to ask the site’s owner to leave because BREIN has previously won a case in The Netherlands against a torrent site hoster. DarksideRG was notified about the complaints in advance and was given enough time to secure their files. The forum has been temporarily replaced with an announcement that it is in the process of moving servers.

Despite the setback, DarksideRG is not planning to keep their forums offline for very long. “Bags have been packed and we’re expecting to be down for around a week whilst a new home is found. Unfortunately we can’t discuss details for obvious reasons but we’ll be back,” the staffer said.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

In the years that followed the aXXo brand went on to achieve cult status. For many it became synonymous with quality, dominating the searches on all public torrent sites. As a result, aXXo has grabbed the attention of scammers, the mainstream press and even documentary makers.

For reasons unknown, aXXo stopped uploading torrent files to the usual places in March 2009, leaving millions of desperate followers behind. One of the people who appreciated aXXo’s contributions is Alexander Støver, a Norwegian musician who produces electro under the name Binärpilot.

In a newly released album, Binärpilot has dedicated the first track to mourn aXXo’s absence with the following lyrics:

Where have you gone?
You had become such a good friend
Don’t take too long
To come back home
Come back home

All things end
But we can’t pretend that it doesn’t hurt
Anonymous space
Lacks grace
And it would rather see you burn

In true aXXo spirit, the track and the entire album can be downloaded for free of course. This is the business model Binärpilot has embraced since he started making music. Instead of asking people to pay for his music, he makes money through donations, bookings and merchandise.

Aside from publicly showing his appreciation for a DVD-ripper like aXXo, Alexander has been very vocal about how piracy is affecting the music industry.

“I’ll sum it up for you,” he wrote in a blog post on the topic. “It’s not hurting the artists, it’s hurting the industry behind the artists. And that is, in my opinion, the beauty of it; Contrary to what they want you to believe, piracy is (if anything) saving music, because it’s bringing a corrupt and exploitative machine down to its knees.”

As an artist, Alexander personally has very little to worry about illegal downloads, since he’s not charging for his music in the first place. Instead of complaining about the lack of income from music sales, he attributes most of his success to the people who are sharing his work for free.

“I’ve never charged a dime for any of my music, but thanks to the internet I’m making a fair amount of money through donations and ad revenue. Money I never would have seen if it wasn’t for so-called pirates downloading and uploading my music,” Alexander says.

“And most important of all, this is money I can spend with a clear conscience, knowing I never sacrificed my artistic integrity to fit some sort of corporate formula. Now, I’m not making a living with my music, and with the status quo I don’t think I ever will, but that’s not because of pirates, and it never will be. In fact, I salute them.”

Binärpilot’s latest album Nordland, including the track aXXo, can be downloaded for free on his official website. If you like it, please consider chipping in a few bucks so he can buy some bread.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

However, to the delight of millions of his loyal fans aXXo seemed to have returned today. After nearly five months of absence two new uploads were submitted to Mininova a few hours ago – both were uploaded by the ‘official’ aXXo account and appear to be legit.

The last time aXXo reappeared after taking a long break, the symbolic title “I Am Legend” was the first torrent to be uploaded. This time around aXXo appeared more humble with the release of “Kung Fu Panda” and “Bee Movie.” But these are not the only oddities.

Strangely enough both titles have been uploaded before by aXXo, about a year ago. A quick look at the torrent file reveals that these new aXXo torrents were indeed created months ago. The only thing new about them is that they’ve been re-uploaded to Mininova.

What is even more strange is that aXXo was not the only user to upload these titles yesterday. Dozens of new “Kung Fu Panda” and “Bee Movie” torrents were submitted to Mininova yesterday, some by well known uploaders like FXG, FXM and KLAXXON who have all been inactive for weeks or months.

The issue seems to be specific to Mininova since none of the uploaders have added these old torrents to the other sites they generally upload to, such as Darkside.rg in aXXo’s case. So what happened then?

While we don’t have any conclusive evidence, our best guess is that there was a glitch in Mininova’s system that caused these ‘new’ uploads to appear all of a sudden. This would mean that aXXo fans will have to wait a little longer for his return and that shouting about a comeback is a perhaps a little premature.

Update: The torrents have been removed by Mininova, but torrents for the same movie titles (all uploaded on August 6) are still listed.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

A few weeks ago, some blogs and commenters on Mininova picked up on this and reported that aXXo decided to go underground, releasing his torrents only on a few private trackers. Interestingly, he would also have left Darkside RG which was considered to be his home for years, and where he posted the following message only weeks ago.

“My home is my beloved Darkside and as i’ve said so many times before on each of my torrents…. Be aware of bogus sites and lamers,” aXXo wrote.

So here are some facts. There is indeed a staff member called aXXo (with identical capitalization) on Speed.cd. He joined the site in January 2008 and has been uploading (some) aXXo rips after they appeared on public sites such as Mininova. After aXXo stopped releasing torrents elsewhere, aXXo on Speed.cd continued to upload movies.

But is this member called aXXo on Speed.cd the real deal? No, not even close. A quick comparison of the codecs used on these “new” aXXo releases and an examination of some of the metadata such as the ripping software and specs, clearly shows that it is not the same aXXo his fans know and love.

Also, it is a bit strange that the mystical aXXo only uploaded his releases sporadically onto the Speed.cd tracker before he stopped releasing on public sites three months ago. To us, these are all clear signs that we’re dealing with an impostor here.

For years aXXo has been warning followers to “beware of bogus sites and lamers,” but apparently that didn’t help much. Over recent weeks, thousands of people signed up at Speed.cd, and according to a poll on the site, most of them joined because of the ‘aXXo’ releases.

The aXXo user on the private tracker is clearly enjoying his new status, and has even changed the NFO files bundled with his releases to point to Speed.cd instead of DarksideRG. In the comments he is chatting with his new found fans and explaining why he decided to leave Mininova and Demonoid.

The site’s operators on the other hand are welcoming the many donations made by aXXo’s followers. “Since axxo is part of this site I have donated $10,” one user commented after buying some upload credit and VIP status. There are even better deals though. Three months of VIP access is only $50 and you’ll get a star next to your nickname as bonus.

Then again, if thousands of people can’t spot the difference between the uploads of aXXo and the fake aXXo, does it really matter? We’re inclined to say no, if it wasn’t for the price lists and money begging going on at that site.

Let’s hope that they don’t have the MPAA fooled and end up with their servers raided by the authorities. That would be a shame.

Update: A topic on Speed.cd linking to this article was quickly removed….

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

The aXXo brand has achieved cult status and for some has become synonymous with quality. Over the years aXXo has grabbed the attention of scammers, the mainstream press and even documentary makers. So, when he goes silent it is quickly noticed and the demand from his fans for news or an update quickly grows.

This isn’t the first time that aXXo has taken a break from releasing. Last year there were no new releases for a full four months but eventually aXXo made a glorious return with the topical release of “I Am Legend.” Little is known about the reasons behind aXXo’s current absence, although he has not disappeared completely.

We can confirm that aXXo has been logging into his account at Mininova, which means that we can safely conclude that aXXo is still among us. When he plans to surface again is unclear, but time will tell.

It is fascinating to see how aXXo has gathered a following of millions of people in the years after he started uploading his first torrent. As always, opinions differ and controversy always surrounds aXXo. He is God to some, while others despise him for his lack of crediting ‘The Scene’ but it’s difficult to criticize his commitment or appreciate the pressure he is undoubtedly under on a daily basis.

Fact is, however, that every aXXo upload is good for a guaranteed entry in our movie download charts, adding up to millions of downloads in a few weeks. It may be Hollywood’s worst nightmare, but many independent film producers will dream of having their films ripped by aXXo, ensuring that they are associated with a global brand with an unprecedented reach on BitTorrent.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

Uploading fakes to a BitTorrent network is relatively easy, but keeping the torrents active is a much more difficult task. The moderation teams on private trackers remove fakes as soon as they appear – if people are stupid enough to even try to upload them. Other directories such as The Pirate Bay and Mininova, however, are more difficult to police due to their open nature but these sites continually battle fakes too.

There are several forces driving this phenomenon. Of course, the likes of the MPAA and their partners like to upload fakes in order to waste downloader’s time and to monitor their activities. That said, there are others who are uploading fakes in order to make themselves money, with many of the fakes simply encouraging the use of malware such as Domplayer, or sending the user ostensibly to get passwords to view the video, but in reality directing them to spammy sites.

Unless you’ve been on Mars for a few years, you will be aware that aXXo is one of the strongest BitTorrent-related brands and as such, the aXXo name is ripe to be exploited with fake torrents and the schemes behind them. This morning, Mininova was bombarded with hundreds of fake aXXo torrents linking to various malware and spam schemes. Luckily the moderation staff at Mininova are very much on the ball, and their skills and experience allowed them to remove them very quickly. Indeed, the thousands of users at Mininova also help by informing the site that a torrent is not what it should be, but it’s an on-going battle.

When a fake is removed from the site, the IP address of the uploader is also banned, meaning that unless the uploader gets himself a new IP, he won’t be able to upload any more. However, the problem is a lot deeper than just the odd person here and there uploading a fake. Just recently malware and spam peddlers have been advertising online for people to work for them on a freelance basis, uploading fakes to torrent sites and getting paid for each one. Hundreds, maybe thousands of people have taken them up on their offers, getting paid around 20 cents for each successful upload. The scammers mitigate the effects of their worker’s IPs being banned by torrent sites by advertising for people with dynamically assigned IP addresses, while encouraging them to use proxies.

We spoke with Moe1210 at Mininova who told us that for them, although time consuming, the aXXo fakes are easiest to spot, and they are often removed from the site in a matter of minutes. However, due to these teams of hired individuals doing the uploading, the sheer number of fake torrents is significant. Even though the mod team are checking the site every 5 minutes, sometimes in that period 50 fakes could’ve been uploaded. On a regular day, the amount of fakes uploaded can reach 2,500.

In the ongoing battle the scammers are getting a little smarter, adjusting the way they operate as the challenge is met by Mininova. They became aware that at certain times of the day the fakes stayed on Mininova for longer periods before being removed, which was down to fluctuating staffing levels due to people having to sleep, rest and venture back into real-life every now and again. To counter this, Mininova now have a worldwide team which cover the major time zones.

Speaking of fake aXXo torrents, Moe1210 told TorrentFreak, “It’s a pretty pointless task uploading a torrent with aXXo in the title trying to trick people [on Mininova]. I’d say that 75% – 80% of our members know that if the torrent is not from aXXo’s account, its fake – meaning, if they check the ‘general’ tab and aXXo’s name is not in red letters, it’s fake! They [the scammers] have no way of spoofing this.”

Many fake torrents are using a tracker located at http://bt9.c7q.fast1010.info, which is hosted with Ecatel in The Netherlands. In order to trick users into believing the torrents it tracks are real, the tracker is faking the download statistics, as can be seen with this fake on TorrentPortal, which at the time of writing is reporting 76278 seeders and 82380 leechers.

The torrent contains an unusable video and a password.html file which claims to reveal a password to play the file, but instead leads the user into a quagmire of spammy sites.

Users looking to avoid these fakes should read our previous article entitled Stop Downloading Fakes and Junk From BitTorrent. In the meantime be aware that the same people behind the aXXo fakes are behind file names such as ‘Race to Witch Mountain 2009 DVDRIP XviD BangeR’, and ‘Watchmen 2009 DVDRIP SeedeRz’.

As a final thought, TorrentFreak asked Ecatel if they intend to do anything about the fakes tracker. They told us, “Ecatel does not allow any spam and malware in its network.” And then it became clear. The tracker hosted at Ecatel doesn’t host the content, the users do – like all trackers. Sometimes the law’s such an ass.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

An administrator on Darkside RG, the official home of aXXo explained at the time: “aXXo told us that he has decided to take a break, so you will not see new aXXo torrents anywhere for a while. Please show your support by keeping his torrents alive until he comes back, as always, he will post here first when he does.”

Now, after nearly four months of absence aXXo has returned, and uploaded his first .torrent on Darkside RG and other torrent sites. It’s the news that many BitTorrent users have been waiting for.

Marking his comeback with the movie “I Am Legend” could be seen as symbolic. Before aXXo decided to take a break, an estimated one million people downloaded his DVDrips every month. The search term aXXo was undoubtedly the most popular at many torrent sites. Although there are conflicting opinions in respect of the quality of his work, there can be no dispute that he was, and still is, very popular indeed.

While some see him in an almost religious light, others have been quick to take advantage of his popularity for nefarious purposes, or have used the aXXo brand to draw attention to their own releases, like KLAXXON did.

Even though some see him as a legend, aXXo certainly isn’t without his critics but whatever the position, his popularity is indisputable…..along with his modesty ;)

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

“So I was in my local John Lewis store a week or so back, and I was checking out their new little Apple mac area, which had lots of Macs on display, with some desks setup and other accessories. They also had some wall mounted iMacs. Imagine my surprise when getting closer to one of them to see ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest’ – ripped by Axxo playing.”

Using a ripped DVD is bit odd because this is certainly not the best promotional material. Regular DVDs or free HD-content looks much better on an iMac monitor.

One thing is clear though, aXXo’s presence has now moved beyond the Internet, and for him it must be flattering to see that commercial outlets appreciate his work. Perhaps this might motivate him to return?

The last official aXXo torrent was uploaded November 11, after that it has been awfully quiet. There were rumors that he got caught, others said he had an accident. However, the official statement is that he decided to take a break.

John Lewis was not available for comment, the MPAA probably wont appreciate it that much, but they have our support.

Update: John Lewis replied to Hexus with an official statement: “Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We have fully investigated the incident and the shop has removed and destroyed the clip. We have also taken the necessary steps to ensure that the replication and publication of pirate material in any form does not take place in our shops. This incident is not reflective of our policy and we take very seriously the copyright laws and would not intentionally break any of these rules or regulations.”

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

It’s safe to say that KLAXXON’s name is inspired by aXXo, thereby using the popularity of aXXo to promote his/her DVDrips in the search results of BitTorrent sites. It’s an effective way to get attention because even after a month of absence, aXXo is still among the most searched keywords on most BitTorrent sites.

It turns out that KLAXXON’s timing was spot on. Intentionally or not, the rips (mostly older titles) started to appear on torrent sites a few days before aXXo posted his last torrent. The quality of the rips is not bad according to most of the comments. The only thing thats seems odd are the file sizes, they vary quite a bit, from 500MB to well over 1GB.

I doubt whether it’s wise, but KLAXXON even has a weblog with more details about the releases and a requests page where we read:

Please add your requests to the comments section below and klaxxon will try to provide the most popular requests. Please note this will depend on time constraints but klaxxon will endevour to satisfy as many of our loyal fans as possible. Thank you once again for your loyal support.

It looks like KLAXXON enjoys pleasing their “loyal fans” on their way to BitTorrent stardom. A hobby that turns out to be quite risky to some, I’m sure that the anti-pirates already placed their spotlights on this newcomer.

To be continued?

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

An estimated one million people download aXXo rips every month, so although there are conflicting opinions in respect of the quality of his work, there can be no dispute that he’s very popular indeed. While some see him in an almost religious light, others have been quick to take advantage of his popularity for nefarious purposes.

Today, aXXo fans visiting his page on The Pirate Bay were in for a shock, summed up this Pirate Bay user:

C01eMaN – 2007-11-07 00:19 CET:
Whats going on with tpb, all of axxo’s vids are disappearing, any1?

One by one, all torrents released after 7th September 2006 were deleted. But why?

A message on the Pirate Bay comment section seems to sum up the situation and this version of events has been confirmed by aXXo himself, in a couple of places.

hunter1980 – 2007-11-07 12:23 CET:
**************************NOTE**************************

Since the Piratebay staff doesn’t care for their VIP uploaders, then aXXo decided not to use TPB and he deleted his own torrents.

aXXo was constantly exposed to assaults and harassments from possible members of MPAA. Their strategy was to harass aXXo by posting absurd and accusing comments on aXXo’s torrents.

The latest assault incident was especially noticed on aXXo’s last torrent ‘The Simpsons’.
Hunter1980 and aXXo were involved in direct argue with possible members from MPAA.

Unfortunately, this strategy was a success. The strategy was based on rumors and the intention was to spread rumors and all this have had a negative side effects on naive people ( downloaders ).

Since PirateBay did not take any action towards ‘Organized attacks’, aXXo decided to delete his torrent on TPB. aXXo is continuing posting his torrents on mininova or other torrent sites since they care for their VIP uploaders.

***************************END*************************

In a show of protest, Hunter1980 says that he has also deleted all of his torrents from Pirate Bay.

The aXXo world isn’t going to end with the deletion of torrents from The Pirate Bay because they can be found on a number of other torrent sites but it’s never nice to see disputes in the torrent community, especially between great ‘brand’ names.

The deletions have sparked quite a lot of debate on various forums. Some people are angry at The Pirate Bay for allegedly not giving enough support to aXXo while some are wondering if deleting lots of torrents is an appropriate response. Others feel that all uploaders should get the same treatment at The Pirate Bay and that aXXo shouldn’t get special attention. Maybe the Pirate Bay crew simply don’t have time to give anyone special treatment?

Interestingly, not many people seem to be pointing the finger at those who may have made the metaphorical bullets for others to fire – the “possible members of the MPAA” deemed to have taken the original actions which ultimately lead to this (hopefully temporary) breakdown in communication.

If the original MPAA plan was to reduce the availability of aXXo torrents by taking direct or indirect action against them at The Pirate Bay, that sadly seems to have worked, albeit via a strange turn of events. Or maybe it’s nothing to do with the MPAA after all and this is just one big misunderstanding?

Either way, hopefully this aXXo head will be re-attached to the Pirate Bay section of the BitTorrent hydra before it becomes completely severed. Undivided, unconquered.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.