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Wednesday, February 6th, 2019

    Time Event
    9:11a
    The Walking Dead Mid-Season Opener Already Airing on Pirate Sites

    The Walking Dead is one of the most talked about and popular TV shows of recent times.

    The blood-and-guts zombie-fest is followed by millions of dedicated fans, who clamor to watch each new episode as soon as they air.

    The AMC show was renewed January 2018 for an impressive ninth season, which got underway early October last year. On November 28, 2018, episode eight (‘Evolution’) marked the mid-season break, with episode nine (‘Adaption’) set to air on TV this coming Sunday.

    AMC, however, dangled the carrot by offering S09E09 a week early to subscribers of its $4.99 per month AMC Premiere service. With no ads and on demand, it’s likely the offer will have tempted some Walking Dead fans to part with their cash. For everyone else, there are pirate sites.

    Visitors to torrent and streaming sites can now easily find ‘Adaption’ available to download or stream. The source for most copies is cited as WEBRIP, which means that they most probably originate from AMC’s service.

    While traffic to streaming sites for specific titles is not easy to measure, the main torrents for the latest episode of the hit show are proving to be very popular with downloaders, as they have for pretty much every episode since the show started. As it happens, last year the show reached somewhat of a peak on the pirate high seas.

    In TorrentFreak’s 2018 annual list of most-torrented TV shows, The Walking Dead took the top spot, with The Flash and The Big Bang Theory taking second and third places respectively.

    However, instead of going bananas over the revelation, AMC took to Twitter to celebrate the event, even though they chose to link to another publication reporting on our stats instead. Awww…

    We forgive you, AMC ;)

    Whether this leak of ‘Adaption’ will have an impact on viewing figures, either positively or negatively, will remain to be seen but AMC will have definitely figured piracy into the equation.

    The company is clearly well aware of its popularity among the pirating masses so it was always a matter of when the episode leaked, not if.

    Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons.

    4:01p
    Article 13 Moves Forward With French-German Deal

    After years of discussions, the EU’s copyright reform plans are in the final stages.

    Last month there was a temporary hiccup when negotiations were canceled after member states failed to agree on various crucial elements.

    However, that was never expected to be the end of it. And indeed, following a deal between Germany and France this week, things are moving forward once again.

    Both countries previously disagreed on the scope of Article 13. This article requires service providers to license content from copyright holders or, if that’s not an option, to make sure that infringing material isn’t re-uploaded to their servers.

    France and Germany agreed on these basics, but not on which services should be bound by it. France argued that commercial companies of any size should be covered, while Germany preferred to exclude small services with less than €20 million in annual turnover.

    This week the countries came together to reach a compromise. The new deal, made available via Politico, excludes companies if they fit within a set of three clear boundaries.

    If a service is publicly available for less than three years, with fewer than 5 million monthly unique visitors, and an annual turnover of less than €10 million, it is excluded.

    Companies that are excluded will still have to do their best to obtain licenses from rightsholders. However, they will not be forced to prevent infringing content from being re-uploaded.

    While the compromise protects smaller startups, Pirate Party MEP Julia Reda warns that it’s actually worse than some of the earlier proposals. The new obligations would also apply to older forums, including those of Ars Technica and Heise.de, she warns.

    “Countless apps and sites that do not meet all these criteria would need to install upload filters, burdening their users and operators, even when copyright infringement is not at all currently a problem for them,” Reda notes.

    The Pirate Party MEP calls on the public to share these concerns with their representatives, making it clear to them that Article 13 puts the future of the Internet at stake.

    EU copyright rapporteur Axel Voss, who’s one of the driving forces behind the plans, clearly disagrees. He believes that Article 13 and other proposals are needed to make sure that copyright holders get the money they deserve.

    In an op-ed in Parliament Magazine, Voss argues that Internet services are using their ‘safe harbor’ protections to escape liability and profit handsomely from distributing copyrighted material, while rightsholders don’t get proper compensation.

    “This cannot continue to apply. The platforms do much more than simply providing the infrastructure, which is why they can make the profits that they do,” Voss writes.

    Interestingly, the EU’s copyright rapporteur goes on to stress that, even though European companies are directly affected by Article 13, US-based services are the real target here.

    “Do we want to protect the creative sector in Europe, or do we want to leave it defenseless against the large US platforms? What is the value of our Europe’s creative industry to us?” the op-ed reads.

    With the new deal between France and Germany in hand, the Council will try to agree on a unified negotiation position for the final trilogue negotiation. If an agreement is reached there, the EU Parliament will vote on it a few weeks later.

    Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons.

    9:55p
    GTA V Cheat Maker Has to Pay $150,000 in Copyright Damages

    Over the past two years, there’s been a wave of copyright infringement lawsuits against alleged cheaters or cheat makers.

    Take-Two Interactive Software, the company behind ‘Grand Theft Auto V’ (GTA V), is one of the major players involved. The company has filed several lawsuits in the US and abroad, targeting alleged cheaters.

    Last August the company filed a case against Florida resident Jhonny Perez, accusing him of copyright infringement by creating and distributing a cheating tool. The software, known as “Elusive,” could be used to cheat and grief, interfering with the gameplay of others.

    The “Elusive” cheat was previously sold online at prices ranging from $10 to $30, depending on the package. Before filing the lawsuit, Take-Two attempted to find out exactly how much money was made in the process, but Perez failed to hand over detailed financial records.

    Initially, the game company was open to negotiating a settlement but, due to the lack of response, it saw no other option than to take the cheat maker to court. Perez, however, did not respond to the complaint which prompted Take-Two to file for a default judgment.

    According to the company, it’s clear that the cheat maker is guilty of both direct and contributory copyright infringement. As such, it asked the New York federal court for the maximum statutory damages amount of $150,000, plus $69,686 in attorney’s fees.

    Take-Two argued that these damages are warranted because the cheating activity resulted in severe losses. According to an estimate provided by the company, the harm is at least $500,000. In addition, the maximum in damages should also act as a deterrent against other cheat developers.

    This week the court ordered on the motion for default judgment, siding with the game company.

    “Take-Two has been irreparably harmed by Mr. Perez’s infringing conduct and will continue to be harmed unless enjoined,” US District Court Judge Kevin Castel writes in his order.

    “Mr. Perez’s Elusive program creates new features and elements in Grand Theft Auto which can be used to harm legitimate players, causing Take-Two to lose control over its carefully balanced plan for how its video game is designed to be played,” he writes.

    In addition, the Judge notes that the cheat discouraged users from future purchases and gameplay and that the unlimited currency cheat undermined Take-Two’s pricing and sales of legitimate virtual currency.

    The Court, therefore, finds the cheat maker guilty of both willful direct and willful contributory copyright infringement, as well as breaching Take-Two’s user agreement.

    Judge Castel ordered Perez to may the maximum statutory damages of $150,000 and an additional $66,868 in attorney’s fees. To our knowledge, this is the highest damages amount that has ever been awarded in a game cheating case.

    In addition to the monetary damages, the Court also issued a permanent injunction prohibiting the cheat maker from continuing infringing activities moving forward.

    Elusive hasn’t been available for sale since last year. It was taken offline after Perez was contacted by Take-Two.

    “After discussions with Take-Two Interactive, we are immediately ceasing all maintenance, development, and distribution of our cheat menu services,” a public announcement read at the time.

    At the time, the cheat maker informed its users that it would donate the proceeds to a charity which Take-Two could pick. However, the default judgment makes it clear that this money should go directly to the game company instead.

    A copy of the order granting Take-Two’s default judgment against Mr. Perez is available here (pdf).

    Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons.

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