According to an infamous anti-piracy PSA that just recently celebrated its 20th birthday, downloading a copy of a movie is the same as stealing a physical disc from a regular store, stealing a handbag, or even stealing a car.

These claims remain factually incorrect but at the time the PSA was released, rightsholders needed to drive a simple message home. While the act of stealing is instantly recognized by billions all over the world, two decades ago downloading a movie was still relatively new, mostly invisible, and didn’t even require physical media to exist.

Conflating a crime people understood with the act of downloading a movie may have helped some understand a new concept, but that still didn’t make the stealing claims true. In this context the unforgettable campaign slogan ‘Piracy is a Crime’ wasn’t the universal fit it claimed to be either. Nevertheless, twenty years later similar tactics are still in use, despite piracy itself being much more broadly understood.

Piracy Isn’t Always a Crime, Even When Dressed Up as Something Else

As telecoms regulator AGCOM warns that people who simply use pirate IPTV subscriptions risk having their details forwarded for prosecution, a case with alleged offenses dating back to January 2017 has been progressing in the background.

In summary, a man from Gallarate in northern Italy operated a website where pirate IPTV subscriptions were sold. After making payment via Postepay accounts that don’t provide anonymity, customers gained illegal access to streaming content owned by companies including Mediaset, Sky, DAZN, and Disney, but paid them nothing for the privilege.

In 2017, Europe’s highest court confirmed that simply streaming pirate content is illegal under copyright law, but prosecutors in Italy had a different idea. All 23 pirate IPTV subscription buyers were prosecuted for the crime of receiving stolen goods. It didn’t go well.

Two Different Case Tracks, Same Outome

Thirteen of the defendants opted to be heard under an abbreviated procedure which was heard recently, with the remaining nine defendants appearing before Judge Bianca Maria Todaro at the Court of Lecce in April this year.

The prosecutor argued that the defendants effectively profited from the cheap subscriptions and knew they were illegal. The company now known as Mediaset Premium spiced up the criminal procedure with an €80,000 civil claim for compensation.

Lawyers for the defendants argued that a decision dating back to 2005 clearly shows that, since violations were exclusively of an administrative nature, all of their clients should be acquitted of the alleged crime.

In her decision, Judge Todaro noted that the defendants had indeed purchased the pirate IPTV subscriptions, but had done so for strictly personal use. With no aggravating factors suggesting anything other than private consumption, the Judge said no crime had been committed. And since an administrative sanction was applicable, criminal convictions for receiving stolen goods were ruled out.

The administrative sanction for each defendant was €154, with a 33% discount available for those who settled their account within 60 days.

Thirteen IPTV Pirates Acquitted

The remaining 13 defendants appeared before Judge Roberta Maggio last week, charged with exactly the same crime of receiving stolen goods.

Judge Maggio acknowledged the purchase of the illicit subscriptions but said there was no evidence to show that any of the defendants sold, distributed, or held subscriptions for resale purposes.

Indeed, the decision states that the defendants’ possession of the subscriptions was for “purely personal purposes.” Since that is an administrative matter to be settled with a payment of €154 (minus 33% discount for prompt settlement), no crime of receiving stolen goods ever took place.

Under Italian legislation passed in 2023, those who simply use or view copyrighted content without permission face an administrative fine of between €154 and €5,000. The decisions handed down by both judges indicate that a first time offense of possessing an illegal IPTV subscription for personal use is €154, an amount only likely to increase for subsequent offenses.

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

According to an infamous anti-piracy PSA that just recently celebrated its 20th birthday, downloading a copy of a movie is the same as stealing a physical disc from a regular store, stealing a handbag, or even stealing a car.

These claims remain factually incorrect but at the time the PSA was released, rightsholders needed to drive a simple message home. While the act of stealing is instantly recognized by billions all over the world, two decades ago downloading a movie was still relatively new, mostly invisible, and didn’t even require physical media to exist.

Conflating a crime people understood with the act of downloading a movie may have helped some understand a new concept, but that still didn’t make the stealing claims true. In this context the unforgettable campaign slogan ‘Piracy is a Crime’ wasn’t the universal fit it claimed to be either. Nevertheless, twenty years later similar tactics are still in use, despite piracy itself being much more broadly understood.

Piracy Isn’t Always a Crime, Even When Dressed Up as Something Else

As telecoms regulator AGCOM warns that people who simply use pirate IPTV subscriptions risk having their details forwarded for prosecution, a case with alleged offenses dating back to January 2017 has been progressing in the background.

In summary, a man from Gallarate in northern Italy operated a website where pirate IPTV subscriptions were sold. After making payment via Postepay accounts that don’t provide anonymity, customers gained illegal access to streaming content owned by companies including Mediaset, Sky, DAZN, and Disney, but paid them nothing for the privilege.

In 2017, Europe’s highest court confirmed that simply streaming pirate content is illegal under copyright law, but prosecutors in Italy had a different idea. All 23 pirate IPTV subscription buyers were prosecuted for the crime of receiving stolen goods. It didn’t go well.

Two Different Case Tracks, Same Outome

Thirteen of the defendants opted to be heard under an abbreviated procedure which was heard recently, with the remaining nine defendants appearing before Judge Bianca Maria Todaro at the Court of Lecce in April this year.

The prosecutor argued that the defendants effectively profited from the cheap subscriptions and knew they were illegal. The company now known as Mediaset Premium spiced up the criminal procedure with an €80,000 civil claim for compensation.

Lawyers for the defendants argued that a decision dating back to 2005 clearly shows that, since violations were exclusively of an administrative nature, all of their clients should be acquitted of the alleged crime.

In her decision, Judge Todaro noted that the defendants had indeed purchased the pirate IPTV subscriptions, but had done so for strictly personal use. With no aggravating factors suggesting anything other than private consumption, the Judge said no crime had been committed. And since an administrative sanction was applicable, criminal convictions for receiving stolen goods were ruled out.

The administrative sanction for each defendant was €154, with a 33% discount available for those who settled their account within 60 days.

Thirteen IPTV Pirates Acquitted

The remaining 13 defendants appeared before Judge Roberta Maggio last week, charged with exactly the same crime of receiving stolen goods.

Judge Maggio acknowledged the purchase of the illicit subscriptions but said there was no evidence to show that any of the defendants sold, distributed, or held subscriptions for resale purposes.

Indeed, the decision states that the defendants’ possession of the subscriptions was for “purely personal purposes.” Since that is an administrative matter to be settled with a payment of €154 (minus 33% discount for prompt settlement), no crime of receiving stolen goods ever took place.

Under Italian legislation passed in 2023, those who simply use or view copyrighted content without permission face an administrative fine of between €154 and €5,000. The decisions handed down by both judges indicate that a first time offense of possessing an illegal IPTV subscription for personal use is €154, an amount only likely to increase for subsequent offenses.

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

According to an infamous anti-piracy PSA that just recently celebrated its 20th birthday, downloading a copy of a movie is the same as stealing a physical disc from a regular store, stealing a handbag, or even stealing a car.

These claims remain factually incorrect but at the time the PSA was released, rightsholders needed to drive a simple message home. While the act of stealing is instantly recognized by billions all over the world, two decades ago downloading a movie was still relatively new, mostly invisible, and didn’t even require physical media to exist.

Conflating a crime people understood with the act of downloading a movie may have helped some understand a new concept, but that still didn’t make the stealing claims true. In this context the unforgettable campaign slogan ‘Piracy is a Crime’ wasn’t the universal fit it claimed to be either. Nevertheless, twenty years later similar tactics are still in use, despite piracy itself being much more broadly understood.

Piracy Isn’t Always a Crime, Even When Dressed Up as Something Else

As telecoms regulator AGCOM warns that people who simply use pirate IPTV subscriptions risk having their details forwarded for prosecution, a case with alleged offenses dating back to January 2017 has been progressing in the background.

In summary, a man from Gallarate in northern Italy operated a website where pirate IPTV subscriptions were sold. After making payment via Postepay accounts that don’t provide anonymity, customers gained illegal access to streaming content owned by companies including Mediaset, Sky, DAZN, and Disney, but paid them nothing for the privilege.

In 2017, Europe’s highest court confirmed that simply streaming pirate content is illegal under copyright law, but prosecutors in Italy had a different idea. All 23 pirate IPTV subscription buyers were prosecuted for the crime of receiving stolen goods. It didn’t go well.

Two Different Case Tracks, Same Outome

Thirteen of the defendants opted to be heard under an abbreviated procedure which was heard recently, with the remaining nine defendants appearing before Judge Bianca Maria Todaro at the Court of Lecce in April this year.

The prosecutor argued that the defendants effectively profited from the cheap subscriptions and knew they were illegal. The company now known as Mediaset Premium spiced up the criminal procedure with an €80,000 civil claim for compensation.

Lawyers for the defendants argued that a decision dating back to 2005 clearly shows that, since violations were exclusively of an administrative nature, all of their clients should be acquitted of the alleged crime.

In her decision, Judge Todaro noted that the defendants had indeed purchased the pirate IPTV subscriptions, but had done so for strictly personal use. With no aggravating factors suggesting anything other than private consumption, the Judge said no crime had been committed. And since an administrative sanction was applicable, criminal convictions for receiving stolen goods were ruled out.

The administrative sanction for each defendant was €154, with a 33% discount available for those who settled their account within 60 days.

Thirteen IPTV Pirates Acquitted

The remaining 13 defendants appeared before Judge Roberta Maggio last week, charged with exactly the same crime of receiving stolen goods.

Judge Maggio acknowledged the purchase of the illicit subscriptions but said there was no evidence to show that any of the defendants sold, distributed, or held subscriptions for resale purposes.

Indeed, the decision states that the defendants’ possession of the subscriptions was for “purely personal purposes.” Since that is an administrative matter to be settled with a payment of €154 (minus 33% discount for prompt settlement), no crime of receiving stolen goods ever took place.

Under Italian legislation passed in 2023, those who simply use or view copyrighted content without permission face an administrative fine of between €154 and €5,000. The decisions handed down by both judges indicate that a first time offense of possessing an illegal IPTV subscription for personal use is €154, an amount only likely to increase for subsequent offenses.

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

In 2018, Canada’s Federal Court approved the country’s first pirate site-blocking order .

Following a complaint from major media companies Rogers, Bell and TVA, the Court ordered several major ISPs to block access to the domains and IP-addresses of pirate IPTV service GoldTV.

Site Blocking Appeals

There was little opposition from Internet providers, except for TekSavvy, which quickly announced an appeal . According to the ISP, the blocking injunction threatened the open Internet, just to advance the interests of a few powerful media conglomerates.

Canada’s Federal Court of Appeal disagreed and in 2021 it concluded that the blocking order can stay in place. According to the Court, site-blocking injunctions are an available option under the Copyright Act and they don’t violate freedom of speech or net neutrality.

Hoping to turn the tide, TekSavvy petitioned the Supreme Court to review the impact of site blocking on the open internet. However, Canada’s highest court declined to hear the case, effectively establishing Canada’s judicial site blocking route.

Blockade Evolves and Expands

The initial GoldTV blocking order was valid for two years. After that, rightsholders had to go back to court to request an extension. That happened indeed, and as time went on the blocking targets have evolved quite a bit.

After two years, none of the original domains were included in the blocking order. This is no surprise, as the original target domains were discontinued and replaced by new ones.

In 2022, the Federal Court approved the latest update, which included the domains destv.me, 905iptv.com, firtio.club, jiocdn.cc, new4k.co and zkat.me, as well as dozens of related subdomains. Most of these domains are still online today, linking to IPTV stalker portals.

Rightsholders Let Blocking Order Expire

While the blocking measures were still effective earlier this month, rightsholders Bell, Rogers, and TVA have decided not to request any further extensions. This effectively means that the blocking measures expired last weekend.

In a letter to the court, the plaintiffs state that they do not intend to further extend the duration of blocking the order. In addition, they have decided to discontinue the underlying lawsuit against the ‘unknown’ GoldTV defendants.

The media companies provide no further details on the decision, but it’s possible that the costs of keeping the blocking order intact weigh stronger than the perceived benefit. Unlike in some other countries, the rightsholders must compensate ISPs for the costs incurred.

While the GoldTV blocking measures are now discontinued, most of the targeted domains still appear to be up and running. These specific IPTV portals are not particularly popular today, but they were certainly not eradicated.

New Blocking Targets Take Priority

Rightsholders haven’t been sitting still, of course. The GoldTV case was the first test case; broader and more dynamic blocking efforts have followed since. These affect live streams of popular sporting events.

This summer, rightsholders including Bell, Fubo TV, Rogers, and The Sports Network obtained a blocking order that covers multiple sports . The organizations sought to secure a blocking order for new NBA, NHL and Premier League games, identifying three “John Doe” defendants.

Meanwhile, there is an ongoing proceeding in Canada against popular streaming site Soap2Day. The site officially shut down last year after a complaint was filed, but rightsholders could still try to obtain a blocking order to target its ‘copycats’.

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

In 2018, Canada’s Federal Court approved the country’s first pirate site-blocking order .

Following a complaint from major media companies Rogers, Bell and TVA, the Court ordered several major ISPs to block access to the domains and IP-addresses of pirate IPTV service GoldTV.

Site Blocking Appeals

There was little opposition from Internet providers, except for TekSavvy, which quickly announced an appeal . According to the ISP, the blocking injunction threatened the open Internet, just to advance the interests of a few powerful media conglomerates.

Canada’s Federal Court of Appeal disagreed and in 2021 it concluded that the blocking order can stay in place. According to the Court, site-blocking injunctions are an available option under the Copyright Act and they don’t violate freedom of speech or net neutrality.

Hoping to turn the tide, TekSavvy petitioned the Supreme Court to review the impact of site blocking on the open internet. However, Canada’s highest court declined to hear the case, effectively establishing Canada’s judicial site blocking route.

Blockade Evolves and Expands

The initial GoldTV blocking order was valid for two years. After that, rightsholders had to go back to court to request an extension. That happened indeed, and as time went on the blocking targets have evolved quite a bit.

After two years, none of the original domains were included in the blocking order. This is no surprise, as the original target domains were discontinued and replaced by new ones.

In 2022, the Federal Court approved the latest update, which included the domains destv.me, 905iptv.com, firtio.club, jiocdn.cc, new4k.co and zkat.me, as well as dozens of related subdomains. Most of these domains are still online today, linking to IPTV stalker portals.

Rightsholders Let Blocking Order Expire

While the blocking measures were still effective earlier this month, rightsholders Bell, Rogers, and TVA have decided not to request any further extensions. This effectively means that the blocking measures expired last weekend.

In a letter to the court, the plaintiffs state that they do not intend to further extend the duration of blocking the order. In addition, they have decided to discontinue the underlying lawsuit against the ‘unknown’ GoldTV defendants.

The media companies provide no further details on the decision, but it’s possible that the costs of keeping the blocking order intact weigh stronger than the perceived benefit. Unlike in some other countries, the rightsholders must compensate ISPs for the costs incurred.

While the GoldTV blocking measures are now discontinued, most of the targeted domains still appear to be up and running. These specific IPTV portals are not particularly popular today, but they were certainly not eradicated.

New Blocking Targets Take Priority

Rightsholders haven’t been sitting still, of course. The GoldTV case was the first test case; broader and more dynamic blocking efforts have followed since. These affect live streams of popular sporting events.

This summer, rightsholders including Bell, Fubo TV, Rogers, and The Sports Network obtained a blocking order that covers multiple sports . The organizations sought to secure a blocking order for new NBA, NHL and Premier League games, identifying three “John Doe” defendants.

Meanwhile, there is an ongoing proceeding in Canada against popular streaming site Soap2Day. The site officially shut down last year after a complaint was filed, but rightsholders could still try to obtain a blocking order to target its ‘copycats’.

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

In 2018, Canada’s Federal Court approved the country’s first pirate site-blocking order .

Following a complaint from major media companies Rogers, Bell and TVA, the Court ordered several major ISPs to block access to the domains and IP-addresses of pirate IPTV service GoldTV.

Site Blocking Appeals

There was little opposition from Internet providers, except for TekSavvy, which quickly announced an appeal . According to the ISP, the blocking injunction threatened the open Internet, just to advance the interests of a few powerful media conglomerates.

Canada’s Federal Court of Appeal disagreed and in 2021 it concluded that the blocking order can stay in place. According to the Court, site-blocking injunctions are an available option under the Copyright Act and they don’t violate freedom of speech or net neutrality.

Hoping to turn the tide, TekSavvy petitioned the Supreme Court to review the impact of site blocking on the open internet. However, Canada’s highest court declined to hear the case, effectively establishing Canada’s judicial site blocking route.

Blockade Evolves and Expands

The initial GoldTV blocking order was valid for two years. After that, rightsholders had to go back to court to request an extension. That happened indeed, and as time went on the blocking targets have evolved quite a bit.

After two years, none of the original domains were included in the blocking order. This is no surprise, as the original target domains were discontinued and replaced by new ones.

In 2022, the Federal Court approved the latest update, which included the domains destv.me, 905iptv.com, firtio.club, jiocdn.cc, new4k.co and zkat.me, as well as dozens of related subdomains. Most of these domains are still online today, linking to IPTV stalker portals.

Rightsholders Let Blocking Order Expire

While the blocking measures were still effective earlier this month, rightsholders Bell, Rogers, and TVA have decided not to request any further extensions. This effectively means that the blocking measures expired last weekend.

In a letter to the court, the plaintiffs state that they do not intend to further extend the duration of blocking the order. In addition, they have decided to discontinue the underlying lawsuit against the ‘unknown’ GoldTV defendants.

The media companies provide no further details on the decision, but it’s possible that the costs of keeping the blocking order intact weigh stronger than the perceived benefit. Unlike in some other countries, the rightsholders must compensate ISPs for the costs incurred.

While the GoldTV blocking measures are now discontinued, most of the targeted domains still appear to be up and running. These specific IPTV portals are not particularly popular today, but they were certainly not eradicated.

New Blocking Targets Take Priority

Rightsholders haven’t been sitting still, of course. The GoldTV case was the first test case; broader and more dynamic blocking efforts have followed since. These affect live streams of popular sporting events.

This summer, rightsholders including Bell, Fubo TV, Rogers, and The Sports Network obtained a blocking order that covers multiple sports . The organizations sought to secure a blocking order for new NBA, NHL and Premier League games, identifying three “John Doe” defendants.

Meanwhile, there is an ongoing proceeding in Canada against popular streaming site Soap2Day. The site officially shut down last year after a complaint was filed, but rightsholders could still try to obtain a blocking order to target its ‘copycats’.

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

Founded in 2018, TorrentGalaxy has grown to become a leading player in the torrent ecosystem.

The site was launched by former members of ExtraTorrent, a popular torrent site that had just shut down at the time. The founders aimed to provide a home for ExtraTorrent ‘refugees’ but, over time, it transformed into much more than that.

TorrentGalaxy Downtime

In recent months, TorrentGalaxy has faced considerable downtime. The original team sold the site to new operators, which offered an explanation for the earlier ‘ maintenance ‘ issues. However, the site continues to face trouble.

Technical problems have plagued TorrentGalaxy.to for nearly a week and yesterday the site became completely unreachable. The status update domain progalaxy.me has been offline even longer. There is no maintenance message on either of these sites.

Update December 13: Torrentgalaxy appears to be back in action. The uploads at other sites have yet to resume.

TorrentGalaxy’s owners have not informed the staffers about the reason for the downtime, nor is it clear how serious the issues are. Right now, visitors to the site will simply see a browser timeout notice, which suggests that part of its server infrastructure is disconnected.

Broken Upload Bots

At this point, downtime at a pirate site is hardly newsworthy. Due to ongoing anti-piracy efforts, websites are pulled offline every week. That said, TorrentGalaxy’s issues have a much broader impact than those at other sites.

Since the site also provides a steady flow of [TGx] releases to other torrent sites, the downtime will be noticeable there as well. This includes the popular ‘TGxGoodies’ uploader at 1337x and The Pirate Bay, whose releases stopped five days ago.

This isn’t just any other uploader either. TGxGoodies submitted close to 5,000 torrents to these sites in November, including many of the most popular releases.

As always, these types of developments are fuel for rumors, which we won’t entertain here. To the delight of rightsholders, it is clear that the public torrent ecosystem is becoming more fragile by the day, which is a trend that shows no signs of abating.

Update December 13: Torrentgalaxy appears to be back in action. The uploads at other sites have yet to resume.

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

Founded in 2018, TorrentGalaxy has grown to become a leading player in the torrent ecosystem.

The site was launched by former members of ExtraTorrent, a popular torrent site that had just shut down at the time. The founders aimed to provide a home for ExtraTorrent ‘refugees’ but, over time, it transformed into much more than that.

TorrentGalaxy Downtime

In recent months, TorrentGalaxy has faced considerable downtime. The original team sold the site to new operators, which offered an explanation for the earlier ‘ maintenance ‘ issues. However, the site continues to face trouble.

Technical problems have plagued TorrentGalaxy.to for nearly a week and yesterday the site became completely unreachable. The status update domain progalaxy.me has been offline even longer. There is no maintenance message on either of these sites.

Update December 13: Torrentgalaxy appears to be back in action. The uploads at other sites have yet to resume.

TorrentGalaxy’s owners have not informed the staffers about the reason for the downtime, nor is it clear how serious the issues are. Right now, visitors to the site will simply see a browser timeout notice, which suggests that part of its server infrastructure is disconnected.

Broken Upload Bots

At this point, downtime at a pirate site is hardly newsworthy. Due to ongoing anti-piracy efforts, websites are pulled offline every week. That said, TorrentGalaxy’s issues have a much broader impact than those at other sites.

Since the site also provides a steady flow of [TGx] releases to other torrent sites, the downtime will be noticeable there as well. This includes the popular ‘TGxGoodies’ uploader at 1337x and The Pirate Bay, whose releases stopped five days ago.

This isn’t just any other uploader either. TGxGoodies submitted close to 5,000 torrents to these sites in November, including many of the most popular releases.

As always, these types of developments are fuel for rumors, which we won’t entertain here. To the delight of rightsholders, it is clear that the public torrent ecosystem is becoming more fragile by the day, which is a trend that shows no signs of abating.

Update December 13: Torrentgalaxy appears to be back in action. The uploads at other sites have yet to resume.

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

Founded in 2018, TorrentGalaxy has grown to become a leading player in the torrent ecosystem.

The site was launched by former members of ExtraTorrent, a popular torrent site that had just shut down at the time. The founders aimed to provide a home for ExtraTorrent ‘refugees’ but, over time, it transformed into much more than that.

TorrentGalaxy Downtime

In recent months, TorrentGalaxy has faced considerable downtime. The original team sold the site to new operators, which offered an explanation for the earlier ‘ maintenance ‘ issues. However, the site continues to face trouble.

Technical problems have plagued TorrentGalaxy.to for nearly a week and yesterday the site became completely unreachable. The status update domain progalaxy.me has been offline even longer. There is no maintenance message on either of these sites.

Update December 13: Torrentgalaxy appears to be back in action. The uploads at other sites have yet to resume.

TorrentGalaxy’s owners have not informed the staffers about the reason for the downtime, nor is it clear how serious the issues are. Right now, visitors to the site will simply see a browser timeout notice, which suggests that part of its server infrastructure is disconnected.

Broken Upload Bots

At this point, downtime at a pirate site is hardly newsworthy. Due to ongoing anti-piracy efforts, websites are pulled offline every week. That said, TorrentGalaxy’s issues have a much broader impact than those at other sites.

Since the site also provides a steady flow of [TGx] releases to other torrent sites, the downtime will be noticeable there as well. This includes the popular ‘TGxGoodies’ uploader at 1337x and The Pirate Bay, whose releases stopped five days ago.

This isn’t just any other uploader either. TGxGoodies submitted close to 5,000 torrents to these sites in November, including many of the most popular releases.

As always, these types of developments are fuel for rumors, which we won’t entertain here. To the delight of rightsholders, it is clear that the public torrent ecosystem is becoming more fragile by the day, which is a trend that shows no signs of abating.

Update December 13: Torrentgalaxy appears to be back in action. The uploads at other sites have yet to resume.

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