The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has just heard a long-running case involving The Pirate Bay, Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN, and a pair of local ISPs. Should the infamous torrent site be blocked at the ISP level, even though it may not be a direct infringer itself? In 2014, The Court of The Hague handed down its decision in a long-running case which had previously forced two Dutch ISPs, Ziggo and XS4ALL, to block The Pirate Bay. The case was filed by local anti-piracy outfit BREIN, which faced defeat when the Court ruled that the blockade against the popular torrent site restricted the ISPs’ entrepreneurial freedoms. As a result, The Pirate Bay was unblocked in the Netherlands. However, BREIN wasn’t done and the anti-piracy group pressed on, taking the matter to the Supreme Court. Acting on advice from the Advocate General, in November 2015 the Supreme Court postponed its final decision, referring key questionsto the EU Court of Justice. Yesterday, the hearing took place yesterday before the European Court of Justice (ECJ), which was asked to decide; – Whether The Pirate Bay communicates infringing content to the public – Whether the operator of a website communicates copyrighted works to the public when it indexes and links, but doesn’t host content itself. If not, the Court was asked to decide whether TPB can be blocked for facilitating infringement. This is a big moment for BREIN, who will have been encouraged by a decision handed down by the ECJ in September. In that case, Playboy defeated Dutch blog GeenStijl.nl, which had deliberately published links to content it knew to be infringing, but didn’t host itself. In the Playboy case, the ECJ found that when a person knew or ought to have known that a posted hyperlink provides access to an illegally published work, the provision of that link constitutes a communication to the public. It further found that when hyperlinks are used for profit, those displaying such links are expected to carry out checks to ensure that the relevant works have not been illegally published. If they have been published illegally, that too represents a communication to the public. BREIN believes these parameters can be applied to the Pirate Bay case. “We argue that rights holders have not granted permission to distribution of their works via TPB and TPB actively and knowingly maintains a collection of infringing links (over 90% is infringing) for profit. Moreover, TPB itself makes magnet links of the torrent links. So it is infringing,” BRIEN chief Tim Kuik informs TF. “The service providers [Ziggo/XS4All] say that TPB facilitates infringement but does not infringe itself. Their arguments seemed all over the place. “They shamelessly said TPB is neutral and passive like Google but at the same time also agreed it is unlawful, not like Google. Also, one of their arguments to reject blocking was that it is more proportionate for BREIN to go after infringing users (their own subscribers),” Kuik adds. But while BREIN and the ISPs battle it out, the anti-piracy group has gained support from a heavyweight ally. “The European Commission says that it stands on the side of BREIN: both civil and criminal law can be enforced against services like TPB that facilitate infringement, even by blocking access to the site by service providers,” BREIN says. “France and Spain also took part in the hearing and argued, contrary to the opinion of the Commission but in line with BREIN, that TPB itself is infringing. They also argued that access to TPB must be blocked, which happens in those countries already.” The Advocate General will issue his advice on January 19, 2017, and a ruling is expected to follow about three months later. https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-blocking-case-heard-by-european-court-of-justice-161028/

Tracker's Name : UHDBits (UHD) Genre : HD MOVIES / TV Sign-up Link : https://uhdbits.org/register.php Additional information : UHDBits (UHD) is a VIETNAMESE Private Torrent Tracker for HD MOVIES / TV

The Internet Infrastructure Coalition is urging the U.S. Government not to blindly follow the RIAA and MPAA's input regarding online piracy threats. The group, which represents tech firms including Google, Amazon and Verisign, warns that the future of the Internet is at stake. Earlier this month, several copyright holder groups sent their annual “notorious markets” submissions to the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). The U.S. Government uses this input for the Special 301 report, an overview of threats to various copyright industries. The recommendations usually include well-known piracy sites such as The Pirate Bay, but increasingly third-party technology providers are also added to the mix. For example, this year the MPAA and RIAA identified domain name registrars as possible piracy facilitators. In addition, several “rogue” hosting providers were mentioned, as well as CDN provider Cloudflare. The inclusion of these technology companies is a dangerous development according to the Internet Infrastructure Coalition (I2Coalition), which counts Google, Amazon, Verisign and Dreamhost among its members. The I2Coalition submitted a rebuttal to the USTR this week in which they outline their concerns. They warn that if the MPAA and RIAA have their way, the entire Internet could be put at risk. “Certain submissions favor an approach to intellectual property and infringement protections that would be harmful to the Internet infrastructure marketplace, and therefore to the Internet itself, as well as the global U.S. and global economies,” they write. The main problem is that the entertainment industry groups “vilify” specific technologies instead of the marketplaces themselves, as the Special 301 process is supposed to do. For example, MPAA’s characterization of Cloudflare as a service that creates “obstacles to enforcement” as it helps pirate sites to “hide,” is inappropriate according to the coalition. “Technologies themselves cannot be bad actors. Further, a number of submissions characterize technologies and those using the technologies using unnecessarily inflammatory language.” In addition to misguided statements about technology, I2Coalition also argues that the submissions show a misinterpretation of the obligations domain name registrars have under the Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA). Ideally, the MPAA and RIAA would like domain registrars to suspend domain names that are accused of copyright infringement, but most refuse to do so without a court order. Rightfully so, according to I2Coalition. “Both the vilification of technology, and misconstruing of the RAA have one goal in common: forcing Internet infrastructure companies to act as intermediaries in intellectual property disputes,” the group writes. “This is not the answer to intellectual property infringement, is not the purpose of the Special 301 process, and proposals to expand the use of these companies as intermediaries are misguided.” Using a page from the entertainment industry playbook, the technology companies stress that billions of dollars are at stake if the Government steers policies in the wrong direction. “The Internet infrastructure industry generates more than $100 billion in annual revenue and is growing at a rate of nearly 20% per year. “Creating regulatory and legal hurdles to the industry’s progress will not only negatively impact the architecture and viability of the global Internet, it will also impact the overall economy, which is dependent on the continued growth of the Internet infrastructure industry.” The rebuttal and other submissions will form the basis of the U.S. Government’s Special 301 Out-of-Cycle Review of Notorious Markets, which is expected to come out later this year. — I2Coalition’s full submission is available here (pdf). https://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-and-riaas-anti-piracy-plans-harm-the-internet-161027/

Tracker's Name : TorrentMaster Genre : MOVIES / GENERAL Sign-up Link : http://torrentmasters.eu/regisztracio.php Additional information : TorrentMaster is a HUNGARIAN Private Torrent Tracker for MOVIES / GENERAL

Tracker's Name : Huntorrent Genre : MOVIES / GENERAL Sign-up Link : http://huntorrent.eu/account-signup.php Additional information : Huntorrent is a HUNGARIAN Private Torrent Tracker for MOVIES / GENERAL

Tracker's Name : TheSportsTorrentNetwork (TSTN) Genre : SPORTS Sign-up Link : http://www.tstn.eu/signup.php Additional information : TheSportsTorrentNetwork (TSTN) is a Private Torrent Tracker for SPORTS

The popular movie streaming service Fmovies.to has only been around for a few months but already it's listed among the most popular websites on the entire Internet. This hasn't gone unnoticed by copyright holders including the Philippine media conglomerate ABS-CBN, which is suing the site in a U.S. federal court. Pirate video streaming sites are booming. Their relative ease of use and on demand viewing makes them a viable alternative to P2P file-sharing, which has traditionally dominated the piracy arena. Over the past months, several newcomers appeared on the scene, some of which have quickly grown to become serious traffic magnets. Fmovies.to is one of these relative newcomers. In tandem with the similar looking 123movies.to, the streaming service has built a user base of millions of people since the start of the year. The downside to this success is that copyright holders are bound to come knocking, and this is exactly what has happened. A few days ago Fmovies.to and its operators were sued in a Florida federal court by the Philippine media conglomerate ABS-CBN. In a complaint filed at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, the media company brands Fmovies as a classic pirate site. “Defendant’s website is a classic example of a pirate operation, having no regard whatsoever for the rights of ABS-CBN and willfully infringing ABS-CBN’s intellectual property,” the company’s lawyers write (pdf). “As a result, ABS-CBN requires this Court’s intervention if any meaningful stop is to be put to Defendant’s piracy,” the complaint adds, explaining that several of its movies are freely available on the site. An ABS-CBN movie playing on Fmovies ABS-CBN accuses Fmovies.to of unfair competition and several counts of both trademark and copyright infringement, direct or through the site’s users. In doing so, they argue that the streaming service has cause them substantial harm. “Defendant’s Internet-based website business is an illegal operation, infringing on the intellectual property rights of ABS-CBN through its distribution and performance of ABS CBN’s Copyrighted Works and using the ABS-CBN Marks to promote, advertise, and distribute such content.” At this point it’s unclear who is operating the site. The media company notes that the domain names are registered anonymously so it’s very possible that the operators are not from the United States. However, ABS-CBN argues the court has jurisdiction over the defendant since the site is operating in the state of Florida. Through the court case the media conglomerate is seeking damages, which may run to millions of dollars. In addition, they request a permanent injunction to bar the operators from running Fmovies. This includes a request to seize the site’s current and future domain names that are tied to copyright infringements. This is not the first time ABS-CBN has gone after pirate sites and recent history shows that the consequences can be quite severe. In a default judgment last year, a U.S. federal court in Oregon ordered the operator of several tiny streaming sites to pay $10 million in damages to the company. However, with a user base of millions of people, Fmovies.to is by far the largest movie streaming site to be targeted in a U.S. Court, although probably not the last. https://torrentfreak.com/major-pirate-movie-streaming-site-fmovies-sued-in-us-court-161026/

Tracker's Name : Kufirc Genre : XXX Sign-up Link : http://kufirc.com/register.php Additional information : Kufirc is a HUNGARIAN Private Torrent Tracker for XXX

Despite KickassTorrents being taken offline during the summer, the battle to have clones and copies blocked by ISPs continued this week in the Australian Federal Court. Music industry groups and service providers argued over the implementation of blockades, with an old classic raising its head once again. Who will pay to protect the labels' copyrights? Back in April, members of the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) and Australasian collecting society APRA AMCOS teamed up to file the music industry’s first ‘pirate’ site blocking application Down Under. Filed at the Federal Court under section 115A of the Copyright Act 1968, member labels Universal Music, Warner Music, Sony Music and J Albert & Son demanded that then leading torrent site KickassTorrents (KAT) should be blocked by the country’s ISPs. Arguing that KickassTorrents showed a “complete disrespect for music creators and the value of music”, the industry groups asked leading ISPs Telstra, Optus, TPG, and Foxtel to stop their subscribers from accessing the site. However, during the summer that job was effectively carried out for them by the US Department of Justice, which shut down KickassTorrents and had its owner arrested. But despite the disappearance of the site, the Aussie case has continued. The music industry is now focusing on the many clones, copies, and wannabees that are using the KickassTorrents name to get traffic, despite having nothing to do with the original site. This week the parties were back in the Federal Court. The ISPs aren’t fighting the blocking demand per se, but as usual there’s a dispute over who will foot the bill for legal proceedings and will shoulder costs of implementing the blockades. None of the ISPs are objecting to paying for the blocking systems to be put in place. However, they want rightsholders to pay for the initial implementation and ongoing maintenance of a block, which according to ComputerWorld will be put in place for three years. ISP Optus estimated a cost of AUS$12,500 (US$9,533) to put blocks in place. TPG informed the court that following initial setup, each domain name would cost $50 to block. Simplifying the rolling injunctions demands made by the movie and TV industry in the blocking case against The Pirate Bay and others, the music industry is seeking straight-forward DNS-based blocking backed up by a system which would block subsequently appearing clones, mirrors, and proxy sites. The record labels and their allies foresee an application to the court containing details of any site they wish the ISPs to block, with the ISPs given 10 days to object to the blocking demand. The court would then decide whether the parties would need to appear before another hearing in advance of the domain being added to the blocklist. Of course, KickassTorrents no longer exists so the continuing of a case to have it blocked is somewhat unusual, to say the least. Illustrating just how far removed the case has shifted from its original aims is an image posted by CNET, which shows the original domains the industry wanted blocked, and how that has completely changed following the demise of KAT. – Kat.al is an incomplete snapshot of KAT before it went offline. – Kattor.zyx has nothing to do with KAT, redirects to another site. – Kickass.cd is a clone of The Pirate Bay. – Kickasstorrents.immunicity.date is another ‘snapshot’ site. – Kickass.pe is completely inactive – Kickass.Ukbypass.download (see Kickass.cd) – Kickass.Unblocked.tv (see Kickass.cd) The case (which now has only tenuous links to KickassTorrents) continues alongside the movie industry’s blocking case against The Pirate Bay. That too is experiencing argument over who will pay for what and has also been affected by takedowns. The Pirate Bay, isoHunt, Torrentz, TorrentHound and Solarmovie are featured in that action, but only the first two domains are intact after last three permanently closed (1,2) in recent months. Only time will tell whether the expense and inevitable game of whac-a-mole will be worth it, but all the signs point to this being a complex battle with no definite end. https://torrentfreak.com/aussie-kickasstorrents-blocking-battle-continues-despite-takedown-161025/

We hope you will all extend a warm welcome and congratulations to both Sn1p3r31337 and Mopthefloor who have recently joined the staff team. We believe that they will both be invaluable in assisting the current staff team in the daily administration of TtN.

Festering Gazelle - drawn by apb for last year's Halloween Gazelle Drawing Competition It's getting to that time of year again where we can take our minds off of the mundane process that is daily life and dive into our imaginations during the Halloween festivities. We've survived another year and the apocalypse is not yet raining down on us. To celebrate Halloween this year, we've set up a few contest that we invite you all to take part in! Not only do we hope you have fun in taking part, there are bunch of really nice goodies to be given away, including copious amounts of upload credit and even real game keys!Despite Halloween being celebrated mainly in the US, we hope users from the rest of the world take this opportunity to join in on the fun and get a little bit ghoulish over the coming weeks. We have two events for you to take part in, and the information on each can be found in the following threads.On top of these great events, we have a bunch of fantastic new site features in the works that we wish to steadily share with you over the coming weeks and months, so make sure to stay tuned!GGn Halloween Avatar CompetitionGGn Halloween Costume CompetitionGet creative, enjoy yourselves, and snag yourself some great goodies!Happy Halloween from the GGn team!

English You can still donate only via BTC, Paypal never again. We're almost (90%) got what we need for the server to keep us running and some reserve too. Find all you need about BTC HERE Thanks to all who donated!In addition, we would like to remind you that the door for our Dev Team is still open, just throw a PM to http418 for more infos.

Happy Halloween all! With a aim of getting our users thru this scary time, we have Global Freeleech and a Pumpkin Carving Contest. GFL will run from the 28th of October till the 2nd of November, starting and stopping 10pm UTC.

Warner Bros. says a talent agency effectively ran its own pirate site when it ripped DVD screeners and streamed them to associates via Google servers. In a lawsuit filed Monday, Innovative Artists stands accused of copyright infringement and breaching the DMCA after screeners under its control leaked to torrent sites. When so-called DVD screeners of the latest movies leak to pirate sites, studios are among the first to highlight the damaging effects. Often the copies are of excellent quality, a gift to millions of file-sharers worldwide but a potential headache for subsequent official distribution efforts. While studios have had the means to track screeners back to their sources for a long time, when compared to the number of leaks it is relatively rare for industry insiders to face civil legal action. That changed yesterday when Warner Bros. Entertainment sued talent agency Innovative Artists. In a lawsuit filed in a California federal court, Warner accuses the agency of effectively setting up its own pirate site, stocked with rips of DVD screeners that should have been kept secure. “Beginning in late 2015, Innovative Artists set up and operated an illegal digital distribution platform that copied movies and then distributed copies and streamed public performances of those movies to numerous people inside and outside of the agency,” the complaint (pdf) reads. “Innovative Artists stocked its platform with copies of Plaintiff’s works, including copies that Innovative Artists made by ripping awards consideration ‘screener’ DVDs that Plaintiff sent to the agency to deliver to one of its clients.” Given its position in the industry, Innovative Artists should have known better than to upload content, Warner’s lawyers write. “The actions Plaintiff complains of are blatantly illegal. That illegality would be obvious to anyone, but especially to Innovative Artists, a talent agency that claims to promote the interests of actors, writers, directors and others whose livelihoods depend critically on respect for copyright,” the complaint adds. Only making matters worse is the fact that some of the DVD screeners ripped by the agency leaked out beyond its platform, which was actually a shared folder on its Google Drive account. According to the complaint, Warner Bros. discovered something was amiss when content security company Deluxe Entertainment Services advised that screener copies of Creed and In the Heart of the Sea had appeared on file-sharing sites. Both movies were made available by Hive-CM8, a release outfit responsible for many leaks during December 2015. Crucially, both contained watermarks that enabled them to be tracked back to the source. “Because the screeners were ‘watermarked’ — embedded with markers that identified their intended recipients — Plaintiff traced the copies to screeners that Plaintiff had sent to an Innovative Artists client, in care of the agency,” the complaint notes. “Instead of forwarding the screeners directly to its client, Innovative Artists used illegal ripping software to bypass the technical measures that prevent access to and copying of the content on DVDs. Innovative Artists then copied the movies to its digital distribution platform, where those copies became available for immediate downloading and streaming along with infringing copies of many other copyrighted movies.” While the allegations are damaging enough already, they don’t stop there. The complaint alleges that the agency also gave others access to the screeners stored on Google Drive in return for access to other titles not yet in its possession. “Innovative Artists traded access to some of its unauthorized digital copies of movies in exchange for unauthorized copies of content possessed by third parties. For example, in one case, Innovative Artists granted an assistant at another company access to the digital distribution platform because the assistant had provided a screener to Innovative Artists for a title that was not already on the platform,” Warner writes. For copyright infringement, Warner Bros. seeks actual or statutory damages, up to the maximum of $150,000 for willful infringement, attorneys’ fees, and an injunction. For the breaches of anti-circumvention provisions when Innovative ripped the DVDs, the studio claims the maximum statutory damages as permitted by the DMCA. https://torrentfreak.com/warner-bros-claims-agency-ran-its-own-pirate-movie-site-161025/

The third incarnation of the popular Megaupload service just completed its first investment round, crowdfunding over a million dollars. With Kim Dotcom as the chief evangelist, the service hopes to revolutionize the file-sharing space next year. Interestingly, Megaupload 2.0 plans to outsource most of the storage to third-party providers and will manually review all takedown requests For many people Kim Dotcom is synonymous with Megaupload, the file-sharing giant that was taken down by the U.S. Government early 2012. While the underlying criminal case against its operators is still ongoing, Megaupload will soon be back in business. At least, a fresh incarnation of the service which will be different in quite a few aspects. This weekend Megaupload 2, or MU2, secured its first investment round. Through Max Keiser’s crowdfunding platform Bank to the Future, it raised well over a million dollars from 354 investors in just two weeks. That’s quite an impressive achievement for a service that has yet to be launched and for which many technical details have yet to be released. To find out a bit more TorrentFreak reached out to Kim Dotcom, who is not officially part of the venture but is operating as its chief “evangelist,” in part because of his ongoing legal cases. As things currently stand, Megaupload 2.0 won’t be fully operational on the planned launch date, January 20th next year. However, the company will release additional details on how it will operate and function at that date, which also marks the fifth anniversary of the takedown of the original Megaupload. “It is unlikely that we can make a full January 20th launch happen. The fund-raising was delayed and the legal team needed more time for the new setup. But we will reveal more details about Megaupload 2 and Bitcache on that special day,” Dotcom says. From what has been revealed thus far, Megaupload 2.0 and the associated Bitcache platform will allow people to share and store files, linking every file-transfer to a bitcoin transaction. This adds a layer of security for users of the service but also provides options for content creators to generate revenue. These bitcoin transactions will occur off the blockchain through Bitcache, since the blockchain itself wasn’t built to handle the massive volume Megaupload 2.0 envisions. The bitcoin element is not the only part that’s different from the original Megaupload though. Perhaps surprisingly, the new incarnation isn’t going to store all files itself. Instead, it plans to use third-party providers such as Maidsafe and Storj. “Megaupload 2 will be a caching provider for popular files on special high-speed servers that serve the files from ram. Long term storage will mostly be provided by numerous third-party sites that we are partnering with. You can expect more details on January 20,” Dotcom tells us. This means that MU2 will mostly act as an intermediary between other file-storage platforms, adding a separate layer of encryption through Bitcache. “MU2 via its third-party encryption providers will make sure that every file is encrypted on-the-fly. On top of that Bitcache will add an additional layer of encryption with its new ‘pay per download’ encrypted container.” How the pay-per-download functionality will work exactly is unknown. The transaction value is said to be “absolutely minimal” per individual transfer, but good enough for content providers to earn revenue. Another change compared to the original Megaupload is that the new service won’t offer unrestricted direct delete access to copyright holders. Instead, it will have a takedown procedure where all rightholder requests will be processed and manually checked by people. “Megaupload 2 will not provide a direct delete tool,” Dotcom says, referring to the many mistakes rightsholders made on the original service. “It will be a more time-consuming effort but because of mass automated takedown requests by the content industry with a failure rate of over 30% it has become a requirement to protect the rights of users.” Megaupload 2.0 will be the third file storage service to use the Mega brand. A year after the takedown Dotcom launched the privacy company, Mega, which is still operational today albeit without his blessing. From what we know thus far it’s clear that MU2 and Bitcache will be something quite different from both the original service and Mega. According to Dotcom, all changes will be for the better and he said that former Megaupload users will be welcomed with open arms. With over a million raised by investors already, MU2 is currently valued at well over $50 million. While this is still peanuts compared to the multi-billion dollar IPO the original Megaupload was working on, it shows that people have faith in Dotcom and his team. During the weeks to come more details about the new incarnation are expected to be released, which we plan to keep a close eye on. https://torrentfreak.com/megaupload-2-0-will-outsource-file-hosting-and-prevent-takedown-abuse-161025/

Copyright trolling is usually handled in the civil courts but over in Poland, things are getting out of control. Police have reportedly visited hundreds of homes and seized hundreds of computers, each alleged to have shared a movie without permission. There are fears that up to 40,000 people could eventually be affected. During the summer, Poland became entangled in what is likely to be one of the world’s most important copyright battles. Alleged KickassTorrents founder Artem Vaulin was arrested in the country, where he continues to fight extradition to the United States. Now Poland finds itself at the center of separate but related file-sharing controversy, this time related to the activities of copyright trolls and the authorities apparently working on their behalf. Like most areas of Europe, Poland is being targeted by aggressive content owners. These companies trawl torrent networks for IP addresses in the hope they will lead to people prepared to pay a settlement amount to make legal issues go away. But while in the rest of the continent these matters are generally a civil legal matter, in Poland police are deeply involved. According to several reports in local media, police have visited hundreds of homes across the country, seizing hundreds of computers alleged to have been involved in the sharing of a comedy movie titled “Screwed“. “We have established 2,600 downloads of the film. This applies to about 900 computers,” the District Prosecutor’s Office in Szczecin told local news outlet TVN24. The prosecutor’s office say that the seizures were made to protect evidence and stop infringement but the actions of the authorities are causing real concern. TVN24 reports that on a national scale as many as 40,000 people may have downloaded the movie and therefore risk being visited by the police. Also raising eyebrows is the evidence authorities are acting upon. It is unclear who obtained the IP address-based evidence or whether it has been subjected to any independent scrutiny. Also controversial is the basis upon which computers are being seized. The action is said to be primarily aimed at people who not only download but also redistribute content online. Of course, this describes most BitTorrent users perfectly, since downloading and simultaneous uploading is all part of the process. However, the authorities say that their main targets are people cashing in on mass distribution, and that does not accurately describe the general public nor the hundreds, perhaps thousands of people getting caught up in this sweep. Nevertheless, legal experts cited by local media insist that while downloading is a civil offense, uploading can be viewed as a criminal matter which could lead to fines or even imprisonment of up to two years. However, the wronged party – in this case a movie studio – can offer the alleged wrongdoer a way out if he or she pays compensation. The action is just one of many similar operations to hit Poland in recent months. A year ago, police seized around 1,000 computers alleged to have downloaded and shared the same movie. Somewhat worryingly, prosecutors later admitted that they did not verify the technical processes used by the distributors to identify the alleged infringers. It was also claimed that in some cases police advised suspects to settle with their accusers rather than face legal action. While it’s not unusual for police to act as mediators in all kinds of disputes, critics felt that the advice was inappropriate in an unproven copyright case. https://torrentfreak.com/police-confiscate-hundreds-of-computers-over-piracy-allegations-161024/

In partnership with pro-copyright group Creative Future, iKeepSafe has launched a competition asking students to submit projects that promote the creation and ethical sharing of content. Whether kids will take the time to read the small print is debatable, but doing so will provide a valuable lesson in getting a fair price for creative works. Children and students of all kinds are some of the most valuable assets to society. After all, they’re literally the future of the planet. As a result, hundreds of groups around the world dedicate themselves to protecting their interests, from general welfare and healthcare to Internet safety. One of the groups dedicated to the latter is the Internet Keep Safe Coalition (iKeepSafe), an alliance of policy leaders, educators, law enforcement and technology experts. iKeepSafe has launched a new initiative in partnership with pro-copyright/anti-piracy group Creative Future called the Contribute to Creativity Challenge. “We know that when students are given the opportunity to be creative, they not only learn to make conscious choices about sharing their creative work, but they also understand the value of respecting the rights of other creators,” iKeepSafe says. The challenge is a competition which requires students to submit electronic projects that center around the importance of behaving well online, such as respecting copyright and related rights. “To participate, each entrant will need to submit an electronic project educating others about the importance of being an ethical, responsible online digital citizen,” iKeepSafe notes. “The submissions will be judged according to the judging rubric and the winning entries will each receive a $75 Amazon gift card for books or classroom supplies.” For those submitting entries the exercise of considering what makes a good digital citizen should be an enlightening one. Indeed, the creative process itself should also be enjoyable and educational, further sweetened by the prospect of a few bucks should the entry be a winner. But for those young creators getting involved, there’s another equally valuable lesson to be learned from this exercise, even at the tender age of 12. It’s quite likely that some participating students will be considering getting involved in the business of content creation, whether that’s in the music, movie, TV, or publishing sectors. With that in mind, they should consider the terms and conditions of any contracts entered into. This competition is a great place to start. The Contribute to Creativity Challenge has five pages of T&Cs (pdf). They include rules that submitted content cannot infringe other people’s intellectual property rights or condone any illegal activities, which is fair enough. However, since this is all about being creative and respecting creators’ rights, we took a look at what rights these young creators will have over their content after it’s submitted to the competition and what uses it will be put to thereafter. “By entering the Competition, each Entrant hereby grants to Promoter and their assigns, licensees and designees a non-exclusive, irrevocable, perpetual license to use, copy, publish, and publicly display the Entry and all elements of the Entry (including, but not limited to, the Entrant’s name, city and country, biographical information, statements, voice, photograph and other likeness (unless prohibited by law)) in whole or in part,” the conditions read. Of course, some kind of license is required if the competition operators are to be able to do anything with the entries. However, it also means that whether the entrant likes it or not (or even understands the legal jargon), their submitted work can be published along with their photographs until the end of time by iKeepSafe, “in any and all media either now known or not currently known, in perpetuity throughout the universe for all purposes.” In perpetuity. Universe. All purposes. And, just to be clear, “without notification and without compensation of any kind to Entrant or any third party.” (emphasis ours) Of course, there will be many students who will relish the thought of their projects gaining some publicity since that could really help their profile. However, it seems likely from the conditions of the competition that what iKeepSafe really wants is free material for upcoming campaigns. “The Promoter shall have the right, without limitation, to reproduce, alter, amend, edit, publish, modify, crop and use each Entry in connection with commercials, advertisements and promotions related to the Promoter, the sale of Promoter’s products, the Competition and any other competition sponsored by Promoter, in any and all media, now or hereafter known, including but not limited to, all forms of television distribution, theatrical advertisements, radio, the Internet, newspapers, magazines and billboards,” the conditions read. The eagle-eyed will have noticed that student entrants grant iKeepSafe a non-exclusive license, which usually means that they are also free to exploit their works themselves, a luxury that an exclusive license does not offer. While that’s a good thing, a subsequent clause could conceivably muddy the waters. “Entrant agrees not to release any publicity or other materials on their own or through someone else regarding his or her participation in the Competition without the prior consent of the Promoter, which it may withhold in its sole discretion,” it reads. Just to be absolutely clear, there’s no suggestion that iKeepSafe are leading students down a dark path here, since their overall goal of promoting ethical behavior online is a noble one. That being said, would it really hurt to properly compensate student creators featured in subsequent campaigns that will largely exist to help businesses? After all, the message here is about being ethical, and with Creative Future on board – which represents rightsholders worth billions of dollars – there’s more than a little bit of cash lying around to properly compensate these young creators. Perhaps the key lesson for students and other creators to be aware of at this early stage is that some companies and organizations will be prepared to exploit their creative work while giving little or indeed absolutely nothing back. Today it’s a harmless school project competition entry on ethics, but in a few years time it could be something worth millions, ask George Michael. Finally, if being ethical and responsible really is the goal, perhaps students and competition operators alike should consider a much less restrictive Creative Commons license. https://torrentfreak.com/ikeepsafe-inadvertently-gives-students-a-valuable-lesson-in-creators-rights-161023/

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bitGAMER is now invite only! Due to the recent events of BlackCats-Games, we have decided to take steps in order to protect our community. bitGAMER is now invite only and will remain this way indefinitely. Our invite system is available for any members who have them, but please remember to invite trustworthy users that will maintain a positive ratio and be a good member of our community. //bG Staff

The Pirate Party in Iceland continues its shakeup of the local political arena. According to the latest polls the party now has a serious shot at taking part in the next Government coalition, with roughly 20 percent of all votes one week before the parliamentary elections. Founded in 2006 by Rick Falkvinge, the Pirate party movement has scored some significant victories over the years. The greatest success is the continuing presence in the European Parliament, but in Iceland the local Pirate Party is writing history as well. Iceland’s Pirates have a great track record already, with three members in the national Parliament. However, more may join in the future as the party has added many new supporters in recent months. With elections just a week away the tension is growing. The Pirates have been leading the polls for most of the year and are currently neck-and-neck with the Social Democratic Alliance to become the largest party in the country. This brings the Pirates in an unusual position where they have to start thinking about possible partners to form a coalition Government, for the first time in history. TF spoke with Ásta Helgadóttir, Member of Parliament for the Icelandic Pirate Party, who says that the party is ready to bring the change many citizens are longing for. “Firstly, by adopting a new constitution which has already been voted on in a non-binding referendum,” Helgadóttir says. “This will change how Iceland functions as a democracy, transitioning into a much more meaningful democracy. The Pirates are focused on decentralization of power, access to information and civil and human rights. The pillars of any meaningful notion of democracy.” Despite the Pirate name, copyright issues are not central to their plans. That said, they have spoken out against recent web-blocking efforts. Iceland’s ISPs have been ordered to block access to ‘infringing’ sites such as The Pirate Bay, which the party sees as a step in the wrong direction. The party fears that these censorship efforts will lead to more stringent measures. “These measures are not a solution and only exacerbate the problem. There needs to be a review of copyright law and how creators are compensated for their work,” Helgadóttir notes, adding that some ISPs are planning to fight the blockades in court. While the Pirate Party movement has always appealed to the younger generations, in Iceland it receives support across all age groups. One of their main selling points is a broad and clear vision for Iceland that breaks with the current political establishment. The Pirate Party was in part formed by supporters of the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative, a unanimously adopted parliamentary resolution to create the optimal environment for freedom of information and free expression. “This work is still under way but something the Pirates want to implement,” Helgadóttir says. “The resolution brings limited liability for intermediaries, whistleblower protection, enhanced source protection, due process, defamation law reform and data protection, among other things.” With just a week to go, there’s a realistic chance that the Pirates will book a historic election win, allowing them to govern the country during the years to come. In that regard, the timing could hardly be any better. With the recent revelations from the Panama Papers scandal and the banking crisis fresh in mind, people are longing for change. According to Helgadóttir, the party hasn’t set any specific goals in terms of a vote percentage they want to reach. Whatever the outcome, they will to their best to and steer the country in the right direction once again. “We do not have a specific target in terms of percentages. Our objective is to get the ball rolling on some fundamental issues, whether that happens with 10% of the vote or 40% of the vote is not paramount.” The parliamentary elections will take place next week, October 29. https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-party-on-course-for-historic-election-win-in-iceland-161023/

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Government officials and representatives from anti-piracy outfits from the United States, Europe and Russia met up in Brussels this week. The roundtable, “Combating Internet Piracy: International Practice”, focused on the need for international cooperation and the strengthening of copyright legislation. With the Internet and therefore online piracy having developed into a truly global phenomenon, anti-piracy groups everywhere are expanding their reach. What was once a semi-isolated affair has become a multi-agency, cross-continent operation, with governments and rights holders alike striving to share information and pool resources. An event this week illustrated where things are going, with representatives from around the world descending upon Brussels for a meeting hosted by the Motion Picture Association. The International Roundtable, titled “Combating Internet Piracy: International Practice”, saw government officials from Europe and Russia join representatives from the United States and the UK to discuss cooperation against piracy. The meeting (Photo via Роскомнадзор) According to information released by Russian telecoms watchdog Roscomnadzor and translated by the MPA, those gathered agreed that a “lack of intellectual property protection causes significant economic damage to individual rights holders and the global economy.” Of course, that message certainly isn’t new. Neither are mounting public claims by rights holders that Internet users are being put at risk through their visits to unauthorized sites. Those assembled agreed that consumers are negatively impacted from enjoying entertainment in a safe environment since pirate sites “are a fertile ground for identity theft, viruses, malware or spyware.” As mentioned earlier, anti-piracy groups and initiatives of all kinds now understand that collaboration is part of the way forward, whether that’s sharing information or working towards tougher legal frameworks. “In particular, participants acknowledged the need to strengthen international cooperation in the fight against IPR violations on the Internet and to continue sharing experiences in improving legislation, and law enforcement practice in combating copyright infringement in the digital environment in the EU, Russian Federation, and USA,” a summary of the meeting reads. Those at the meeting included representatives from the US “six-strikes” Copyright Alert System and the UK’s GetitRight campaign. Details are fairly scarce, but these groups are likely to have shared data on how educational messages affect the behaviors of Internet pirates and how voluntary agreements with industry players such as ISPs can become part of the anti-piracy package. Another item on the agenda was the role that search engines and user-generated content companies play when it comes to fighting online piracy. While Russia has its own issues with services like Yandex, for the US and Europe the focus is very much on Google and sites such as YouTube. Service provider liability and related legislative initiatives will continue to be hot topics in the months and years ahead. This is particularly true of the United States, where the safe harbor provisions of the DMCA are under scrutiny alongside a controversial debate on the so-called ‘value gap‘ claimed to be present on YouTube. https://torrentfreak.com/anti-piracy-outfits-agree-to-strengthen-international-cooperation-161022/

Maintenance is now over. Site and tracker should be back online and running strong again!You might notice a few minor changes on the site but overall most of the changes were simply to improve speed and stability. That said, there are a few more major changes...For Elite Gamers and up, you can change your custom title. Previously you could use HTML in the title. There were security issues with this so it has been changed to use bbcode. Additionally, we have decided to remove all main donation incentives going forward. Anyone who has already sent in a staff PM looking to donate will still receive the old donation incentives but for any new donations, no incentives will be provided. This mainly means that no upload GB's or invites will be given for donations, nor VIP status. You will still receive the donor heart for donating along with the few perks that come with it (such as being able to change your custom title).