After years of anti-piracy campaigns, there’s a tendency to wonder whether the secret sauce of success is right around the corner or just as elusive as it’s ever been.

Yet, even briefly considering the perspective of those creating these campaigns can be a fairly sobering experience. There’s a blank sheet of paper and this campaign has to work, what can it possibly say that hasn’t been said before?

Even more important than simply being original, is there a type of messaging that won’t be ignored or ridiculed straight off the bat, yet goes on to deliver real results?

While advertising agencies will always claim to have a great solution, the default for most anti-piracy messaging is negativity, with few campaigns reaching the public without at least some element of fear.

Whether the fear focuses on direct consequences for the consumer or the broader impact on others, it’s often amplified by direct threats.

There Must Be a Better Way

Published on Thursday by researchers at the prestigious Autonomous University of Madrid (la Autónoma), Incentivizing SVOD Platform Subscription Intention through Tiered Discounts and Anti-Piracy Messages acknowledges the challenge piracy presents.

Rather than focusing on the negatives, the researchers argue that a more positive approach, one that incentivizes people not to pirate while acknowledging loyalty, can improve relationships with customers, make them happier, and even lead to improved profitability.

Some platforms offer better prices in exchange for a one-year subscription commitment, but tiered discounts based on subscriber loyalty are much less common. The researchers say there’s almost no public research on their effectiveness. With their study, which also examines two types of anti-piracy messaging, they aim to fill that gap.

Effectiveness and Conditions

Through a nationwide survey in Spain, the researchers asked 883 subjects who subscribe to streaming platforms and make use of illegal sites, to report their intention to subscribe to a hypothetical new platform (‘Flixio’) constructed by the researchers. The study had two objectives:

• Identify the conditions under which the intention to subscribe to an SVOD platform is enhanced by four types of incentives (tiered advertising/loyalty discounts and prosocial/threatening anti-piracy messages)

• Explore the extent to which each type of incentive and the evaluation of platform content comparatively contribute to enhance subscription intention

So what combinations worked best for Flixio and why?

Tiered Advertising Discounts

In respect of Tiered Advertising Discounts , the study found that users’ opinions on advertising in general predicted to a high degree whether they were satisfied with the tiered offer. For example, the discounted ads tier satisfied users with a more positive attitude towards advertising. The advertising-averse were satisfied by paying the full price and seeing no ads.

“This result can be understood through social exchange theory: SVOD platforms can improve their relationships with users by offering tiered advertising discounts that match the specific dispositions of the different user groups, each of which will perceive a better cost-benefit balance in customized contract terms,” the study notes.

In general, platforms should run ads that users view positively and ditch those they do not. When consumers have a positive attitude towards a platform’s ads, tiered advertising discounts should become more attractive.

Tiered Loyalty Discounts

The study found that the interaction between loyalty level and attitudes to loyalty shows that subscription intention was enhanced by offering tiers with enough variety to satisfy a range of attitudes.

By offering appropriate discounts to those with a positive attitude to loyalty, and offering non-discounted rates still pleasing to the loyalty averse, subscription intention was enhanced along with the opportunity to build stronger relationships with users.

“In addition, this incentive should not only be aimed at retaining subscribers, but also at strengthening the perceived utility of being loyal users, because rewarding loyalty has a well-documented reinforcing effect on loyal attitudes and behaviors,” the researchers add.

Prosocial Anti-Piracy Messaging

The study considers two main types of anti-piracy messaging. The first, prosocial messaging , asks pirates to consider the effect of their consumption on others, such as harm to film industry workers and how piracy compromises the quality of future productions.

The researchers say that confirmation of this approach may help to explain why prosocial anti-piracy messages are sometimes seen as effective and why sometimes they are not.

“The effectiveness of these messages depends on whether the user of pirated SVOD content perceives them as sufficiently credible and has enough sensitivity to justice. If a prosocial message is not believable, illegitimate users will easily criticize its content and continue to justify their unauthorized behavior,” the study found.

“If illegitimate users are not sensitive enough to recognize themselves as perpetrators and benefactors of an injustice against copyright holders, the message will not have the desired effect.”

On a practical level, those deploying this type of messaging should assume that it will be ineffective against lower justice-sensitive users. On the plus side, when messaging contains “highly credible claims and arguments” higher justice-sensitive users are likely to be persuaded.

Even Credible Threats Are Ineffective

The second type, Threatening messaging , asks pirates to consider the potential negatives, such as being caught and having to deal with the consequences in the legal arena.

The study’s findings on the effectiveness of threats surprised the researchers. Even when people found the threats credible and also feared punishment, the likelihood of them subscribing to legal platforms did not increase. The paper mentions two possible reasons for this outcome.

First, while the threats may have discouraged piracy, they didn’t necessarily motivate people to pay for content. Second, the particularly strong threats used in the study may have backfired, triggering a defensive reaction and resentment towards the message sender. This aligns with the psychological theory of reactance, where people resist attempts to limit their freedom.

Overall, the researchers suggest that overly aggressive anti-piracy messages are not an effective way to motivate people to subscribe to legal streaming services.

Conclusion

The study ultimately concludes that, by offering tiered discounts in exchange for advertising exposure, and by acknowledging and rewarding loyalty with discounts supported by prosocial anti-piracy messaging, streaming platforms can improve relationships with consumers and enhance business.

In many respects, the findings in the study boil down to common sense. When companies meet or exceed subscribers’ expectations, customers tend to be happy and in turn, that contributes positively to loyalty. When expectations are not met the opposite is true and no amount of threats will ever change that, or repair any shred of loyalty left behind.

That may be why threat model never goes away; it poisons a generation of consumers and just when it fades, people run out of innovative anti-piracy ideas. Then the cycle begins all over again, with threats that become more exaggerated as the years roll by, with the same predictable results.

Incentivizing SVOD Platform Subscription Intention through Tiered Discounts and Anti-piracy Messages (Ignacio Redondo, Diana Serrano) is available here (pdf, not peer-reviewed)

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

In recent years, rightsholders of major sports events have repeatedly complained that piracy of live sports is rising through the roof.

They’ve called on lawmakers to tighten legislation and urged law enforcement to take the problem much more seriously.

Last month, U.S. authorities took action by seizing several domain names of sports streaming site Streameast, which has millions of monthly users. The seizures were carried out by the book but didn’t achieve the desired effect, as Streameast remains available through alternative domains.

According to the site’s operators, it won’t stop until sports streaming is more affordable to the public. The sweet spot is unknown, but price reduction plans are being openly discussed.

Affordable Sports Streaming

A few weeks ago, sports streaming services in Greece significantly reduced their bundle prices in an attempt to combat piracy . The decision resulted in many happy consumers who now feel that they’re getting their money’s worth.

Similar initiatives have started to surface elsewhere too. For example, Turki Alalshikh a member of the Saudi Royal Court and the driving force behind many large boxing events taking place in Saudi Arabia, called for lower PPV prices this week.

Speaking with TalkSport , His Excellency suggested that high prices drive people to pirate sites and services, which is ultimately bad for the sport.

“I dream of a PPV with a good price to make the fans happy and subscribe and get them to watch it legally. Usually when I see a high PPV, a lot of people go and watch the fight illegally and this is not healthy for boxing and the platform,” Alalshikh said.

The solution is simple. Alalshikh will try to make the prime fighting events in Saudi Arabia during the Riyadh Season available for £20 in England and less than $20 around the world.

“If I give the fans good fights at a good price then I will increase the fanbase,” Alalshikh explained.

Make It Free!

While these drastic price reductions would be a major step, some want to go even further. This includes American boxer Chris Algieri, who has a suggestion that will appeal to even the most hardcore pirates.

The boxer and former kickboxer appeared on Probox TV , discussing a price reduction plan proposed by Alalshikh. According to Algieri, $20 might still be a hurdle for many people, so it makes more sense to go all the way and offer access to PPV events for free.

“I don’t know if it’s a way to fight the piracy because $20 is still $20. If you’re going to steal it, free is better than $20,” Algieri said. “Just make it free,” he added.

In theory, $20 per viewer could bring in more revenue per event than $40, if the total number of viewers more than doubled. However, offering access to streams without charge is not really a sustainable business model.

Algieri is aware of this and doesn’t propose to make fights free forever. Instead, he sees it as a temporary measure to build the sports fanbase. After that, events can start to charge again.

For now, free PPV events is likely a step too far for organizers. Algieri believes that the proposed price reductions would be a good start, and he is curious to see if that would disproportionately increase the number of viewers.

“I do like the idea, that it’s allowing fight fans to watch their favorite fighters at a price tag that’s not exorbitant, that’s not keeping them from being able to watch their favorite fighters,” Algieri said.

Dana White and ‘Streameast’ Enter the Octagon

While price reductions are music to the ears of boxing fans, not everyone agrees. UFC CEO Dana White, for example, told reporters on Tuesday that he sees more benefit in an offensive approach, by going after pirates in court.

“I won’t tell you extensively what we do every event, but we go after piracy hard and you saw a few years ago we started prosecuting people,” White said. “That’s how you combat piracy. Start f*cking prosecuting people for stealing.”

White’s aggressive tone towards pirates isn’t new; similar threats have been made in the past.

Joshua vs Dubois will be available for £19.95 in the UK, with prices elsewhere yet to be officially confirmed. As far as we know, however, UFC hasn’t taken any action against people who consume pirated streams, yet.

That said, White’s fighting words may be sufficient for some not to try the ‘pirate’ alternatives, including the previously mentioned streaming platform Streameast. For some, Dana’s stance on piracy is a form of entertainment in its own right.

A comment from ACD MMA on X about the rivalry triggered a response from the ‘Streameast News Network’, which is unrelated to the Streameast site.

“He’s desperate. Making up lies praying it scares away a few hundred people from clicking the link,” the unofficial Streameast account replied.

Some news sites confused this reply for a message from the actual Streameast service, making matters even more messy. Streameast hasn’t officially commented on White’s comments, or the price reductions, as far as we know. That said, they can surely get behind Algieri’s suggestion to make PPV streams free.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

It has been a rough couple of weeks for people who love cartoons but prefer not to pay for them.

The simultaneous disappearance of Aniwave and the connected Anix last week left a massive hole in the pirate market. The pair serviced at least one, and maybe as many as two, billion visits in the previous 12 months alone.

While those platforms focused on Japanese anime, KimCartoon offered a much wider variety of cartoons. From decades-old classics and sought-after rarities, to modern cartoons and other fan favorites, KimCartoon reportedly came up with the goods. At least it did, before it abruptly shut down this week.

KimCartoon before it displayed the end credits

Visitors to the site today, at least those not running MalwareBytes which currently blocks access to the domain, won’t see the colorful display above anymore. The site is reportedly gone for good with the finger of blame pointing firmly at U.S. copyright law.

Dead Due to DMCA

The screenshot below contains the message that surprised users on Tuesday/Wednesday this week. There has been no other announcement that we know of so the precise nature of the DMCA-related problems is still unclear.

A reference to the DMCA doesn’t necessarily have to be about takedown notices. In their own right, DMCA notices alone aren’t especially well known for their ability to shut sites down, at least not resilient ones like KimCartoon. The site has stayed online using its .li domain since at least 2021. With other domains, much longer than that.

Indeed, if we look at KimCartoon’s entry in Google’s Copyright Transparency Report, we can see that the site weathered at least one huge takedown storm last year and came out largely unscathed.

However, if “due to DMCA” is a reference to copyright law in general, KimCartoon has had more than its fair share of copyright infringement troubles.

Rightsholders Take Action in India and U.S.

In July 2020, just as the world was being turned upside down by the coronavirus pandemic, Disney Enterprises obtained a dynamic injunction at the High Court in Delhi which compelled local ISPs to block 118 ‘pirate’ domains .

The main targets were streaming platforms offering movies, general cartoons and Japanese anime, along with their proxy sites. Heading that list were 15 domains with KimCartoon and KissCartoon branding, many of which currently redirect to KimCartoon.li, the domain from which KimCartoon operated until earlier this week.

Just a handful of months later, in September and October 2020, the domain KimCartoon.to appeared in two separate DMCA subpoenas served on Cloudflare and the Tonic domain registry by the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment.

Whether those subpoenas resulted in any useful information is unknown but KimCartoon later switched to the .li domain still in use today with the other domains redirecting.

So What Killed KimCartoon? The DMCA or Maybe Something Else?

When a site like KimCartoon still enjoys around 10 million visits per month as it has done for years, shutting it down voluntarily is a pretty big deal.

With the finger pointing toward the DMCA, the shutdown notice fails to mention that an entire legal process in India, followed by not one but two ACE subpoenas, failed to shut down the site. Yet suddenly, ‘the DMCA’ has made it impossible to continue, even after all these years of weathering the storms and staying online.

So who shut the site down, and why was that suddenly possible? We don’t know for certain but if we rewind the years for a moment, an interesting picture emerges.

Diplomatic Moves, Reincarnation

In 2017, Ted Osius, U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam, held a meeting with Truong Minh Tuan, Vietnam’s Minister of Information and Communications. Vietnam raised concerns about “offensive” content on YouTube and Facebook. Since the content may violate local law, Vietnam felt that ideally, it would be removed or blocked.

Ambassador Osius’s request for assistance from Vietnam concerned three troublesome pirate sites. The United States believed their operators should be criminally prosecuted in Vietnam for pirating American content.

Following these discussions, in March 2017 one of the sites mentioned – 123movies – suddenly went offline. Had the discussions really gone that well?

An incredible chart from a 2017 Danish site-blocking study conducted by Rights Alliance shows that 123movies didn’t really die. An almost perfect mirror image of its carefully controlled demise (red line) can be seen as it rises almost identically once again (blue).

New name: GoMovies.

In the background, a Vietnam-based site called ‘Fmovies’ had been steadily accumulating traffic and in time, took the world by storm. That reign ended with Fmovies suddenly shutting down recently due to action by Vietnamese authorities with assistance from the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment.

When 123movies went offline in 2017 (or more accurately, morphed into GoMovies), another site mentioned by Ambassador Osius suddenly went offline too. That site was called KissCartoon and, according to reports, it had run into domain difficulties.. In parallel, a site called KissAnime began taking steps to distance itself from KissCartoon, most likely to avoid trouble itself.

The steps taken included a now-familiar rebranding exercise and the emergence of a new site called KimCartoon which, after many years online and despite enjoying around 10 million visits as recently as last month, suddenly shut down this week.

Probably Just a Coincidence

Coincidentally or not, sites with billions of visits per month, all with connections to Vietnam, all of which have undergone rebranding exercises over the years, shut down only last week; aniwave, soap2day, zoroxtv, bflixhd, animesuge, anix, mov2day, 2flix, sflixtv, filmoflix, flixhive, and vidsrc, to name a few.

In another surprise coincidence, a message identical to that displayed on 123movies/gomovies when it officially shut down in 2018 reappeared announcing this round of shut downs.

None of the sites said they had shut down due to the DMCA as KimCartoon did this week, but it’s rare for anything in the piracy world to appear in a gift-wrapped package with a neat little bow on it.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

The web is riddled with copyright infringing content, ranging from full-length blockbuster films, through small music samples, to reposted celebrity photos on social media.

Not all of these offenses are equally problematic. Law enforcement authorities may go after the operators of large-scale pirate sites or services, but posting short film clips without permission typically doesn’t lead to trouble.

Sharing Nude Scenes of Reddit

Last year, we reported on a Danish case where a then-anonymous person shared small clips of films online in a subreddit. This type of ‘organized’ copyright infringement is seen as more problematic by rightsholders and in this case, the nature of the clips was all-important too.

Instead of posting random clips, the group was dedicated to nude scenes of Danish female actors. These were taken out of context and posted online, for the group’s more than 6,000 members to enjoy. In addition, the same clips appeared on pornographic websites.

The unauthorized activity was considered a slap in the face by the actresses, many of whom complained to local media. They felt violated by the actions and called on Reddit and the authorities to respond.

Actress Andrea Vagn Jensen, who has had one of her explicit scenes shared online, told DR that there’s a huge difference between appearing naked in a film and being posted on Reddit.

“It’s just abuse. You deliver something for the production and the story, and then you end up being molested that way,” Jensen said.

Police Arrest 39-Year-Old Man

The complaints caught the attention of Rights Alliance , which reported the issue to the police on behalf of the Danish Actors’ Association and the respective rightsholders. While these clips may not directly hurt revenues, copyrights also have moral rights which include the right to integrity, which could come into play here.

Rights Alliance also called on Reddit to take the matter seriously. While many of the problematic clips were already removed at that point, the group urged Reddit to implement upload filters to prevent future trouble. That included banning external URLs.

It’s unclear whether these demands were translated into action by Reddit but the police certainly took the matter seriously. This week, the National Unit for Serious Crime (NSK) announced that a 39-year-old man from Valby had been arrested and charged with copyright infringement.

“The arrested person is suspected of being behind extensive sharing of video clips with nude scenes from Danish feature films and series on various pornographic websites and the social media Reddit,” NSK writes.

The r/SeDetForPlottet subreddit is no longer online today. After the earlier media coverage, the group was made private and eventually shut down but for the suspect, this case is far from over.

Real People

NSK Police Commissioner Anders-Emil Kelbæk is pleased with the arrest. Not just in the interest of rightsholders, but also the actresses who felt abused by the unauthorized activity.

“I am satisfied that we have now been able to make an arrest in this case. Both actors and rights holders have rightly felt offended when nude scenes have suddenly been shared in an entirely different context than the one they were intended for,” Kelbæk says.

Rights Alliance Director Maria Fredenslund is happy with the outcome as well, as it sends a clear message that there are serious consequences for posting short copyright-infringing clips out of context.

“The case here deeply affects the rights holders involved and emphasizes what can be at stake when content is shared without permission and out of context,” Fredenslund notes.

“Any film or television production is created by real people with personal boundaries and artistic visions that are seriously violated by this kind of illegal sharing. Great praise must go to NSK for their effort in investigating the case,” she adds.

The r/SeDetForPlottet group, allegedly operated by the suspect, was inspired by the popular English-language subreddit r/WatchItForThePlot . The latter remains online today and has over 1.4 million subscribers.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

In 2020, publishers Hachette, HarperCollins, John Wiley and Penguin Random House sued the Internet Archive (IA) for copyright infringement, equating its ‘Open Library’ to a pirate site.

IA’s library is a non-profit organization that, among other things, scans physical books in-house so these can be lent out to patrons as e-books.

This “Controlled Digital Lending” (CDL) practice allows for only one copy of a book to be lent at a time, mirroring the traditional library lending model. At the same time, however, CDL bypasses the publishers’ e-book licensing model.

Publishers vs. Internet Archive

The in-house scanning service at the Internet Archive (IA) differs from the licensing agreements entered into by other libraries. These agreements see libraries license ‘official’ e-book versions from publishers, who charge for every book that’s lent out to patrons.

The major book publishers eventually ran out of patience with IA’s DIY approach, filing a lawsuit that kicked off a major legal battle four years ago. The publishers equated IA’s lending operation to piracy and, last year, a New York federal court concluded that the library is indeed in the wrong .

The court’s decision effectively put an end to IA’s self-scanning library, at least for books from the publishers in suit. However, IA was not giving up that easily; in December the non-profit filed its opening brief at the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, hoping to reverse the judgment .

Publishers Win at Court of Appeal

During a hearing in June, both sides defended their positions. At the time, the court didn’t appear to be entirely convinced by IA’s arguments. This was confirmed by an opinion and judgment from the three judge panel published a few hours ago.

After reviewing the evidence, circuit judges Steven Menashi, Beth Robinson, and Maria Kahn, affirmed the lower court’s order. They conclude that IA’s self-scanning approach can’t be classified as fair use under U.S. copyright law.

The court understands that libraries are burdened by e-book licensing fees, which can make book lending relatively expensive. However, that doesn’t give IA the right to create its own e-books and lend those out instead.

“IA asks this Court to bless the large scale copying and distribution of copyrighted books without permission from or payment to the Publishers or authors,” the appeal court’s opinion reads.

“Such a holding would allow for widescale copying that deprives creators of compensation and diminishes the incentive to produce new works. This may be what IA and its amici prefer, but it is not an approach that the Copyright Act permits.”

Fair Use?

The Internet Archive hoped to rely on a fair use determination. It stressed that the in-house e-book scanning approach is transformative, because it enhances access to books, especially for those who cannot easily visit physical libraries.

The fact that the organization has no profit motive and only lends out as many digital copies as they have physical copies, should also favor fair use, they argued.

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals ultimately disagrees. For one, the court emphasized that simply digitizing a book is not transformative, as it does not create a new purpose or character. The digital copies served the same function as the original books – reading.

The court reasons that IA’s free digital lending could serve as a substitute for purchasing or licensing e-books, potentially harming the publishers’ revenue. That also goes against a fair use determination.

The court further stresses that while IA is a non-profit, its activities to have a commercial aspect, as it indirectly benefits from its partnerships and donations. That, again, weighs against fair use.

Harmful

The court of appeal had to find a balance between the interests of rightsholders and IA. In this case, it concludes that the scale tilts in favor of the book publishers.

In essence, the court prioritized the publishers’ right to control the reproduction and distribution of their works over IA’s goal of expanding access to knowledge. While IA’s actions are potentially beneficial in some ways, they ultimately harm the market for the publishers’ books, the court concludes.

“While IA claims that prohibiting its practices would harm consumers and researchers, allowing its practices would―and does―harm authors. With each digital book IA disseminates, it deprives Publishers and authors of the revenues due to them as compensation for their unique creations,” the opinion reads.

The decision means that IA’s e-book lending approach remains off-limits, as it applies to these copyrighted works. This may not signal the end of the legal battle, however.

IA is clearly disappointed by the outcome, but it hasn’t thrown in the towel yet.

“We are disappointed in today’s opinion about the Internet Archive’s digital lending of books that are available electronically elsewhere. We are reviewing the court’s opinion and will continue to defend the rights of libraries to own, lend, and preserve books,” IA writes.

—

A copy of the opinion from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals is available here (pdf) , and the associated judgment can be found here (pdf) .

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

In June 2022, Canada’s Federal Court handed down a ‘dynamic’ blocking order to prevent live NHL games from being viewed via pirate IPTV streams.

Obtained by companies including Rogers, Bell, The Sports Network, and Groupe TVA, the injunction was the first of its kind in Canada and had flexibility built-in by design. That was only the beginning and just like the UK and other countries in Europe, more applications resulted in more blocking injunctions being granted, each more adaptive than the preceding one.

In April 2024, a new application caught the eye. Led by Bell, Fubo TV, Rogers, and The Sports Network, the rightsholders requested permission to block pirate streams of three different sports; NHL and NBA games, plus matches played in the UK’s Premier League.

Greater Efficiency Through Collaboration

Since obtaining an injunction is a time-consuming and expensive process, the application in April aimed to significantly improve efficiency. Instead of separate proceedings for each sports league’s content and each time new content is broadcast, the applicants bundled everything into a single track process.

An announcement this morning by anti-piracy company Friend MTS confirms that collaboration to increase efficiency in court, also extends to pirate IPTV monitoring and blocking activities under the authority of the injunction.

“Friend MTS, the leading provider of video content security solutions, today reported that numerous video service providers in Canada have uniformly chosen Friend MTS as their partner of choice to prevent piracy with Dynamic Delivery Server Blocking (DDSB),” the announcement reads.

While Friend MTS describes the formation of “an industry-first collaboration” it doesn’t actually name any of the companies involved.

However, it does mention NBA, NHL, and a “nationwide court order to dynamically block access to any servers hosting broadcasters’ pirated content,” which certainly narrows things down.

An additional note, that the collaboration “saves money and time by reducing court application fees and appearances while simultaneously protecting billions of dollars of sports content rights,” leads directly to the following copyright owners or exclusive licensees.

Rogers Media Inc., Rogers Communications, Inc., BCE Inc., Bell Media Inc., CTV Specialty, Television Enterprises, Inc., The Sports Network Inc., Le Reseau des Sports, (RDS) Inc., and Groupe TVA Inc.

The above companies are clearly listed in the April application and the dynamic injunction handed down in July . Interestingly, it appears that the flexibility of the injunction was utilized before the ink even had a chance to dry.

UFC and MLB Enter Pirate IPTV Blocking Arena

On July 9, 2024, the same day the injunction was granted by the Federal Court, the applicants filed a motion to expand the scope of the injunction with additional content owned by other rightsholders.

These received no mention in the injunction but since a provision in the order allows for additional rightsholders to be added, these were somewhat more quietly introduced via amendment.

The addition of UEFA seems to be limited to the coverage of Euro 2024 but in respect of Major League Baseball (MLB) and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), ongoing protection of events seems logical, and indeed turns out to be the case.

To the extent of our knowledge, the involvement of UFC and MLB hasn’t been widely publicized. However, the details of content to be blocked by Canadian ISPs (Bell Canada, Eastlink, Cogeco, Fido, Rogers, Sasktel, Teksavvy, Telus, Videotron, and Vmedia) appears as a subsequent amendment to Schedule 1 of the order handed down on July 9, 2024.

Confirmation that rightsholders are working together, and that all monitoring and IPTV target acquisition will take place under one roof at Friend MTS, indicates a blocking program capable of expansion without causing too many headaches.

If other countries’ programs are taken as guidance, expansion is almost guaranteed.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

For a torrent site, TorrentGalaxy is still a relative newcomer. The site is barely seven years of age while others have been around for over two decades.

In that timespan, however, TorrentGalaxy secured a key place in the torrent ecosystem. Not only does it serve millions of users directly, its ‘release’ groups also distribute torrents across other popular sites, including The Pirate Bay and 1337x.

This role has been challenged over the past few days. On Sunday, the site replaced its usual appearance with a cryptic message, “TGX Forever” , without any further explanation. Meanwhile, the site’s health status page was replaced by an even more ominous note: “Executing End-Program.exe…,” it read.

Without a word from the site’s operators or moderators, users were left guessing. Was this just a temporary ‘outage’, similar to the one a few weeks earlier , or were there serious issues behind the scenes?

TorrentGalaxy Returns

Today, after three days, the site reappeared in its usual form, as if nothing ever happened. TorrentGalaxy.to works just fine, and the same is true for the status page, which makes no mention of the recent drama.

In addition to the websites, the TGx upload bots have also resumed their normal operation, it seems. The TGxGoodies account on 1337x uploaded more than a dozen new torrents in the past hour.

Over the past days, we have received multiple reports citing unconfirmed “moderators” who claimed that the site had indeed shut down. These conclusions were premature, it seems.

Why?

The main question is why TorrentGalaxy’s operators have spooked users. It’s clear that they fancy this ‘mystery’ approach, but they wouldn’t take the site offline without a reason either.

Legal issues and hosting problems are often a reason for outages, but we have seen no signs of either. Maintenance or other technical problems could also offer an explanation. For example, it appears that one of TorrentGalaxy’s SSL certificates expired on August 31, after which it went offline.

Whatever the reason, the next time the site puts up a “TGx Forever” banner, it’s likely not the end of the site. Until it is, of course.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Pirate IPTV providers have a tendency to come and go, and some struggle to provide consistently high-quality streams.

Through reliability, stability and quality, subscribers were attracted to the SmoothStreams brand; the availability of masses of unlicensed content was obviously the main reason to stay.

SmoothStreams had been under investigation since 2018 and in the summer of 2022, major entertainment industry companies were at Canada’s Federal Court aiming to bring it all crashing down.

After filing a complaint mid-June, by the end of the month Bell Media, Rogers Media, Columbia Pictures, Disney Enterprises, Paramount Pictures, Universal City Studios, Universal City Studios Productions, and Warner Bros., had the permission they needed.

An interim order containing an interim injunction, required SmoothStreams’ alleged operators, Marshall Macciacchera and Antonio Macciacchera, to shut down the entire SmoothStreams system and hand control of its infrastructure to an independent supervising solicitor (ISS).

The order enjoined the men from dissipating, transferring, or concealing assets, and required them to authorize banks and other financial entities to disclose details of their assets. Court authorization, which allowed the plaintiffs to search premises linked to Marshall and Antonio and seize evidence – without having to give any prior warning – arrived courtesy of a controversial Anton Piller order.

Details of the operation , which spanned the homes of the defendants and other locations, appear in our earlier coverage .

SmoothStreams before being dismantled

Yet despite those events taking place over two years ago, the lawsuit against Marshall and Antonio Macciacchera (dba SmoothStreams), plus companies allegedly under one or the other’s control – Arm Hosting Inc., Star Hosting Limited, and Roma Works Limited – has thus far focused on the alleged conduct of the defendants during the raids, not necessarily the alleged conduct that led to the raid taking place.

Contempt of Court (Antonio): Serious and Expensive

As reported late 2023 , after failing in various ways to comply with the Court’s orders in 2022, both defendants faced the prospect of being held in contempt.

By “steadfastly refusing” to permit the Independent Supervising Solicitor (ISS) to enter his home and execute the order, and after he “deliberately deprived the plaintiffs of the element of surprise,” on December 13, 2023, Antonio Macciacchera was found in contempt of court and ordered to pay the plaintiffs over US$70,800 in legal fees and other costs.

Even before this decision, the costs of defending the lawsuit in general were clearly taking their toll. Precise figures are unknown but even if close to the costs being incurred by the plaintiffs, legal bills of hundreds of thousands of dollars are a massive burden for most defendants. For the plaintiffs, still relatively small change, when all things are considered.

Marshall Macciacchera, who is said to have controlled SmoothStreams support companies Arm Hosting Inc., Star Hosting Limited (Hong Kong), and Roma Works Limited (Hong Kong), faced allegations that he failed to comply with the terms of the order which contained, among other things, the Anton Piller order and a range of injunctive relief.

An order handed down by Justice Rochester at the Federal Court in Ontario last month, made available to the public in the last few days, paints a grim picture of what has become a slow-motion nightmare for all parties, and a potentially ruinous money pit for the defendants.

Contempt of Court (Marshall): Serious and Horrendously Expensive

Following the execution of the interim order in 2022, the plaintiffs sought an order charging Marshall Macciacchera, and three of the corporate defendants (Arm Hosting Inc., Star Hosting Limited, and Roma Works Limited) with contempt for refusing to comply with many aspects of the order.

Justice Rochester describes Marshall as the president of Arm Hosting Inc. and the sole director of the other companies [corporate defendants]. In 2022, Justice Lafrenière concluded that Marshall and the corporate defendants had, on a prima facie basis, failed to comply with the order by “deliberately failing to make the required financial disclosures, refusing to answer numerous questions regarding their assets, various login credentials, and certain unauthorized streaming services.”

Marshall and the corporate defendants were charged and a contempt hearing took place in April 2023 before Justice Rochester, with further submissions filed up until January 2024.

Defendants Alleged Bias

The plaintiffs alleged that the defendants “lied, concealed and attempted to conceal evidence” and all remained in breach.

The defendants appear to have built their defense on the alleged misconduct of the independent supervising solicitor; searches that “robbed” Marshall of his dignity, allegations that the ISS is not independent but is biased and therefore lacks integrity, met similar claims including doubts over expert evidence, even suggestions that the Court may not be impartial.

These allegations were examined in detail, but it’s clear from the order they were poorly received.

“The Charged Defendants have failed to call into question ISS Drapeau’s independence and integrity. There is no indication that anything untoward occurred, despite the Charged Defendants attempts to make it appear that way,” Justice Rochester’s order reads.

“Allegations of bias or a lack of independence against a member of the legal profession acting as an independent supervising solicitor should not be made lightly. Such allegations strike at the very core of the duties incumbent on an ISS. In the present case, I consider that not only were they made lightly, considerable Court time was used seeking to call into question the integrity of ISS Drapeau when there was no foundation for doing so.”

Allegations that the Court acted with “partiality, unfairness, and in essence, bias,” faired no better. Justice Rochester notes that the defendants provided “no cogent evidence” and relied on “bald allegations” instead.

Breaches of the Interim Order

Justice Rochester’s 80-page order is detailed; in respect of the details surrounding the execution of the order in 2022, oftentimes excruciatingly so for the defense. The full order is linked below and the Judge’s key findings follow:

• Marshall failed to disclose the required technical information associated with SSTV Services
• Defendants failed to provide credentials for the required accounts, domains, subdomains and servers
• Marshall provided login credentials for the registrar account of armhosting.ca
• Marshall did not provide credentials for live247.tv or credentials for the Live247 streaming server
• Court satisfied that Marshall is able to access the required credentials to comply with the order
• Marshall intentionally failed to disclose information relating to the two Hong Kong companies
• Star Hosting Limited and Roma Works Limited intentionally failed to comply
• Marshall intentionally failed to disclose assets, accounts, and details of overseas cryptocurrency
• Marshall intentionally failed to disclose his computer password

“Having found that the requisite elements of contempt have been established beyond a reasonable doubt, I nevertheless retain a discretion to find the Charged Defendants not guilty of contempt,” Justice Rochester notes.

“I am not satisfied that a finding of guilt would be an injustice in the present case.”

Costs and Penalties

Having found the defendants guilty of contempt of the interim order, the next stage is a hearing to determine the appropriate penalty. But before that takes place, the issue of the plaintiff’s costs needed to be addressed.

“The Plaintiffs seek an all-inclusive lump sum in the amount of $375,312.93 [~US$277,000], payable forthwith, comprised of (i) 50% of their total legal fees incurred for the contempt proceedings; and (ii) their reasonable disbursements,” the order reads.

When deciding the actual amount to be awarded, many factors are considered, including the conduct of the parties involved. The defendants argued they should pay no costs given the manner in which the interim order was executed. Justice Rochester’s order delivers the bad news in a paragraph (item 6).

The Charged Defendants are, jointly and severally, liable to the Plaintiffs for costs, payable forthwith, in a lump sum amount of $375,312.93, which is inclusive of legal fees, disbursements, and taxes thereon.

With costs of US$277,000 for contempt alone and the “appropriate penalty” yet to be decided, how this case continues to its ultimate conclusion is currently unknown.

SmoothStreams reportedly made around US$1.1 million per year, which sounds like a lot, at least until the unknown costs of the next year, or years, are factored in.

Justice Rochester’s order is available here (pdf)

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Manga and anime have become increasingly popular in recent years. These formats originate in Japan, but they are now popular all over the world .

Available in static and animated form, ‘hentai’ describes the adult versions of the above. With a growing audience of many millions of fans, hentai is also benefiting from the boom.

As with any type of media, not all consumers are paying for access. Anime and manga piracy is more prevalent than music piracy today, and hentai is no exception. The nHentai.net website, for example, had nearly 80 million visits in June this year.

Copyright holders are not happy with the unauthorized distribution of their content. Many take countermeasures, which often involves sending DMCA takedown notices to the ‘pirate’ platforms, but not all recipients respond by taking content offline.

Rightsholder Targets nHentai

California company PCR Distributing is one of the affected copyright holders. The company does business under various brands, including J18 and JAST USA, and sees nHentai as a major threat to its operation.

PCR obtained a DMCA subpoena a few weeks ago, requiring Cloudflare to unmask the people behind the site, which allegedly failed to process takedown notices. As is frequently the case, a court clerk swiftly granted the subpoena, requiring Cloudflare to comply. In this case, however, that wasn’t straightforward.

A few days after the DMCA subpoena was issued, lawyers representing nHentai slammed on the brakes. They argued that no personal data should be disclosed as the subpoena should have never been granted .

At the time of writing, the matter is still pending in court. NHentai’s opposition is well argued and certainly has a chance of success. However, even if the subpoena is quashed, nHentai’s legal issues are far from over, as PCR has just filed a full-blown copyright infringement lawsuit.

PCR Sues nHentai for Copyright Infringement

In a complaint filed last Friday at a California federal court, PCR describes nHentai as a popular ‘pirate’ site with dozens of millions of visitors. The site shares copyrighted material without permission, taken from digital or physical books, while the operators don’t allow users to upload content.

“NHentai.net is a widely visited platform for adult manga and doujinshi content, attracting over 79,000,000 visits per month,” the complaint reads.

“The website hosts a vast collection of hentai works, including commercially produced content, much of which, based on information and belief, is shared without proper authorization from the owners.”

The lawsuit emphasizes that nHentai doesn’t rely on user-generated content. Those types of services can typically rely on a safe harbor under the DMCA. In this case, however, nHentai can’t claim this protection, PCR argues.

“nHentai is not a user-generated content website. There is no user upload capability. Defendants are not ‘service providers,’ are not engaged in the storage of content at the direction of users, and thus are not entitled to any of the safe harbors afforded under Section 512 of the [DMCA].”

Failed Settlement Attempt

The complaint doesn’t identify the owners of nHentai, who have yet to be named. However, PCR and nHentai are certainly no strangers. Last October, attorneys for the alleged pirate site offered to confidentially settle all copyright infringement claims with PCR.

The proposed terms of the agreement are unknown, but PCR declined and insisted that nHentai should take down pirated copies of their works.

“In October 2023, the nHentai Defendants […] attempted to have PCR enter into a ‘HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL SETTLEMENT AND RELEASE AGREEMENT’ to settle claims, including copyright infringement, between the Plaintiffs and Defendants in this case. PCR declined the agreement and further requested the removal of its works from nHentai.”

Despite these efforts, nHentai allegedly failed to remove any of the infringing works in response to PCR’s takedown requests.

“Plaintiff or its agents sent DMCA compliant takedown notices identifying infringing works on Defendants’ website to the email address provided for reporting abuse. Additional DMCA-complaint takedown notices were sent to nHentai’s known service providers. However, 100% of the reported URLs remain active.”

Damages and a Broad Injunction

PCR accuses nHentai of various forms of copyright infringement and demands damages as compensation. In addition, the company seeks a broad injunction to effectively shut down the site.

The injunction should prohibit the site’s operator from infringing the copyrights of PCR’s works going forward and require the registrar of nHentai.net to transfer the domain to PCR.

If a domain transfer isn’t granted, the proposed injunction requires third-party intermediaries to block the domain in the United States. That would apply to search engines, hosting providers, ISPs, domain name registrars, domain name registries, and other service or software providers.

At the time of writing, nHentai has yet to comment on or respond to the complaint. However, given the site’s previous opposition to the DMCA subpoena request, we expect that it will file a response in due course.

—

A copy of PCR Distributing’s complaint, filed at the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, is available here (pdf)

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.