The Hobbit wins dubious honor of being 2013’s most pirated movie
While Game of Thrones took home the official title of the most pirated TV show of 2013, the most pirated film of the past year …
piracy
The top-10 most pirated TV shows of 2013
This was quite a year for big TV series and as a result, it was also a big year for pirating TV shows. The wildly …
AT&T wants to track your illegal downloads, ban access to file-sharing sites
A new AT&T patent awarded in mid November describes methods through which the Internet service provider may track the privacy-related habits of customers and assign …
Hollywood looks to raid Switzerland’s piracy safe haven
In Switzerland, it is completely legal for Internet users to download copyrighted content from illegal sources. As a result, file-sharing portals are very popular there, …
Trying to kill online piracy is all but pointless
You can start to see why copyright holders are getting so frustrated playing “whack-a-mole” with alleged piracy websites. TorrentFreak has compiled data from Google’s transparency …
Piracy isn’t destroying musicians’ ability to earn a living
Many musicians understandably hate online music piracy but there’s no evidence that it’s turning them into starving artists. Timothy Lee at The Washington Post’s Wonkblog …
AT&T notifies pirates that their accounts can be terminated [updated]
There might not be any evidence that the “six strikes” Copyright Alert System is having any effect on piracy, but the service providers are refusing …
Study shows ‘graduated response’ anti-piracy methods are useless
It has already been established that the “six strikes” anti-piracy system in the United States has failed to have any perceivable impact, and a recent study …
‘Six strikes’ Copyright Alert System has done absolutely nothing to stop piracy
After a great deal of controversy and several extensive delays, the anti-piracy Copyright Alert System was finally implemented this February for five of leading Internet …
The Pirate Party tries to get Sweden’s IT minister busted for copyright violations
Sweden’s Pirate Party has suddenly become very enthusiastic about enforcing copyright laws. TorrentFreak reports that the Pirate Party has found evidence that Swedish IT minister Anna-Karin …
Is Spotify helping kill off music piracy?
Artists may like griping about subscription-based music streaming services such as Spotify and Pandora, but they appear to be doing a lot to kill off music …
Game of Thrones gets pirated almost 80% more than any other show
It’s a pretty good bet that HBO could expand its paying audience for Game of Thrones if it gave viewers the option to buy season passes on …
French government decides against cutting off Internet access for alleged pirates
Good news for French Internet users: Illegally downloading the new Daft Punk album will no longer get your Internet service cut off. Ars Technica reports …
Google wants to starve pirates of revenue instead of outright blocking them
Google is getting sick and tired of the entertainment industry stamping its feet and demanding that it do more to block pirates from its search …
Not even Netflix is safe from pirates
Netflix has been helping cord-cutters save money for years, offering unlimited movie and TV show streaming for just $7.99 per month. Just because the service …
Anti-piracy group says companies should mimic ransomware techniques to fight alleged pirates
A prominent anti-piracy commission, whose members include former Utah governor Jon Huntsman and former U.S. Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair, has released a new report …
American diplomat begs Australians to halt Game of Thrones piracy
America’s ambassador to Australia wants the Aussies to act more like the Lannisters and pay their debts to HBO. Australia’s News.com reports that American ambassador …
How ISPs’ ‘six strikes’ anti-piracy program could wreak havoc on public Wi-Fi hotspots
Here’s another reason why Internet Service Providers’ plans to implement a “six strikes” anti-piracy system could be a disaster in the making: it will likely …
Windows 8 games can easily be pirated through simple hacks
It was bound to happen. Nokia (NOK) engineer Justin Angel outlined on his blog various tactics that can be used to pirate Windows 8 games distributed …
ISPs will basically break your Internet service if they catch you pirating too much content
Internet Service Providers have long promised/threatened to implement a “six strikes” piracy policy that provides six notifications to alleged pirates before their service is degraded or temporarily …
Court hits alleged Virginia porn pirate with enormous $1.5 million fine
Pirating massive amounts of gay porn via BitTorrent may not be as rewarding as it seems. According to BBC News, a federal court in Illinois …
U.S. government seizes three popular Android piracy sites
The Department of Justice on Wednesday announced that in connection with Dutch and French law enforcement agencies, it has seized three of the most popular …
Digital piracy cannot be stopped
From the early days of IRC to the creation of The Pirate Bay, online piracy has grown from a minor annoyance perpetrated by an underground community to …
Music industry again hoards Pirate Bay booty, starves artists
Wait, people didn’t really expect the music industry to share copyright infringement winnings with the people who actually make music, did they? TorrentFreak reported over …
Music industry’s anti-piracy playbook revealed: Site blocking, app removal and litigation
A leaked confidential report from the archaically-named International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) has revealed a wide range of strategies being employed by the recording …
Developer slams Android app store, calls it ‘broken’ and ‘designed for piracy’
Scottish app developer Matt Gemmell has written a lengthy blog post slamming Google (GOOG) for setting up Android in a way that makes app piracy insanely easy. Specifically, …
Rock stars say Google is to blame for enabling piracy
Several rock legends, including Elton John, Robert Plant and Queen guitarist Brian May, sent a letter to the Telegraph on Tuesday accusing Google (GOOG) of enabling …
Anti-piracy group fined for stealing music
Oh, the irony. A musicians’ rights group in the Netherlands was fined this week for stealing music from a client, using it without his permission …
‘Copyright cop’ anti-piracy ISP system delayed once again
Internet service providers are still planning to implement their plan to kick software pirates off their networks… at some point. The Daily Dot reports that the …
ACTA anti-piracy treaty dead following defeat in European Parliament
The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, or ACTA, has been defeated one last time following a European Parliament vote on Wednesday. The proposed legislation was often likened …
