Before the advent of the Internet, regular computer enthusiasts looking for software had few options other than to buy boxed software from specialist computer stores or paw through magazines looking for mail order outlets. Distribution routes were poor but for those with a like-minded friend – or a friend of friend – pirate copies were never too far away.

Of course, when the Internet took off things changed massively. Free software became available to anyone willing to persevere, not just those with access to a private BBS. Applications for just about any purpose were uploaded to the Internet thick and fast and as a result manufacturers had to think even more about their copy protection mechanisms.

But while software houses were applying anti-piracy measures to their products, plenty of groups were at work stripping them out and sharing DRM-free versions with close friends and associates online. Inevitably though, so-called “cracked” software leaked out, meaning that pretty much everyone could gain access to zero cost software, often on the day of release – 0day as it’s known.

Created way back in 1999, one such group was LineZer0. More commonly known by the characters Lz0, the group has operated for an incredible 14 years and to say they have been prolific would be a massive understatement.

During that time Lz0 has delivered an incredible 30,000 software and games releases for desktop machines and handhelds (including iPhone and iPad), each designed to be enjoyed only by the reclusive ‘warez’ scene.

LineZer0 ASCii Art

“We do not wish for our releases to be widely spread across web boards, P2P networks and the like. While we do know that occurs we strongly urge people to not share these titles at such places,” Lz0 stated in their releases. Few took any notice.

Typing the term ‘Lz0′ into any search engine or torrent site reveals endless streams of cracked software from hundreds of companies, for anyone to download and enjoy, for free. But for Lz0 and their countless fans, the final curtain came down prematurely yesterday.

Over the weekend someone in the warez scene released information that was obtained as part of a security breach against Lz0 in 2009. While assuring people that much of the data was related to closed sites and individuals who have since left the piracy scene, Lz0 felt it had no option other than to close down the group and retire completely.

“We’ve shared a long and fun road, and we’re sad that this is how it ends,” Lz0 said in a statement.

The group confirmed that the names Lz0 and Lz0PDA will be put completely to rest – no one will ever be able to genuinely use those tags again. Additionally, hundreds of software companies will be able to breathe a collective sigh of relief, at least until other groups take up the slack. But annoying companies was never LzO’s stated aim.

“Our releases are made to make sure that the end-user is able to fully test a title before going into a purchase as well as give the end-user an opportunity to make backup copies of titles he or she already owns,” the group said. “Please do respect our stance on this and make sure that you buy the required licenses upon deciding to buy the product. Respect the software authors that have put time, money and effort into creating the title you now have in your hand.”

Finally, for some the joy of cracked software was not the tools themselves, but the entertainment value of the additional items groups like Lz0 packaged with their releases. For many – piracy dramas aside – the kind of music and graphics illustrated below provided the most intoxicating mix.

Lz0: 1999-2013

Source: Huge Software Piracy Group Calls it Quits After 30,000 Cracked Titles

For years international TV-fans have complained about long release delays.

In some cases people had to wait up to a year to view their favorite show after the U.S. release, which is unacceptable for most die-hard fans.

Responding to this criticism the TV industry has systematically improved traditional release windows. The recent premiere of The Walking Dead’s fourth season is a prime example of how the industry is adapting to the signals pirates have been sending for years.

To remove one of the incentives for people to grab an unauthorized copy of the show, Fox International Channels premiered the show in 125 countries a day after it first aired on US television.

“We want to prevent the spoilers for sure, we also want to make sure [international viewers] get the best version of the show — not some pirated version,” Liz Dolan, Fox International Channel’s chief marketing officer told The Wrap.

Unfortunately for Fox, however, pirated versions are available in better quality than most legal streaming options. Also, the download numbers have not declined, quite the opposite.

Data gathered by TorrentFreak shows that 16 hours after the first episode appeared online more than half a million people had grabbed a copy through one of many torrent sites. This is more than last year’s season premiere, despite the legal viewing options.

Interestingly, most downloaders come from the U.S. where there is no release lag at all.

Based on a sample of more than 30,000 people who shared the show via a BitTorrent client, we see that the United States is in the lead with 15.5 percent of the total. This means that even though people can stream the episode for free, many still preferred to download it through a torrent site.

In the U.K and Australia there was a slight delay but even legal availability couldn’t prevent people from pirating the season opening. With 11.7 and 10.1 percent these countries are second and third respectively. The Philippines and Canada complete the top five with 8.8 and 6.8 percent of the total.

sample N=33,918

#	Country	%	City	%
torrentfreak.com
1	United States	15.5%	London	3.8%
2	United Kingdom	11.7%	Melbourne	2.8%
3	Australia	10.1%	Manila	2.3%
4	Philippines	8.8%	Sydney	1.8%
5	Canada	6.8%	Stockholm	1.7%
6	Brazil	3.3%	Lisbon	1.4%
7	The Netherlands	2.7%	Athens	1.3%
8	Sweden	2.5%	Brisbane	1.2%
9	France	2.3%	Helsinki	1.1%
10	Poland	2.2%	Amsterdam	1.1%

Fox has to be applauded for making the show available quickly in so many territories, something that was unthinkable half a decade ago. It’s safe to say that the download numbers would have been much higher without these efforts, although at the moment piracy is far from defeated.

In part this might be because some prefer the unauthorized download option simply out of habit. This is especially true for U.S. file-sharers. As we reported earlier this year, many people who pay for a Netflix subscription downloaded Netflix’s exclusive Arrested Development release, preferring the download experience over online streaming.

There is also another group, one that simply doesn’t want to pay for a subscription, which is required in Australia for example. It’s also possible that they are just unhappy with the viewing options currently on offer. In many countries viewers still have to tune in at a fixed time slot while many prefer to program their own viewing schedule.

The challenge for the entertainment industry is to take away these leftover incentives, and make sure that the legal options become the default. For some people it may be too late to be converted, but for most there’s still hope.

Source: Pirates Jump on “The Walking Dead” Despite Legal Options

To the Western public the name Xunlei might not ring any immediate bells, but in China its software is used by hundreds of millions of people every month.

Previously the company’s BitTorrent client was crowned the most used BitTorrent software in the world, beating uTorrent and several other popular clients.

Xunlei’s website offers a searchable index of billions of media files which users can download with the proprietary Xunlei software. The company is partly owned by Google and in recent years has evolved into the leading player in the online file-sharing space.

Recently, however, the company ran into trouble when people spotted suspicious software on their systems signed with a Xunlei security certificate. A thorough investigation from ESET now reveals that Xunlei the company has been spreading malware to Windows and Android users.

While it’s unclear how the application is distributed, the windows installer “INPEnhSetup.exe” that spreads the suspicious files is directly connected to the Chinese file-sharing giant. Besides the security certificate, the application also calls home to the Xunlei-owned domain kankan.com

Once the “dropper” is installed it loads an Office plugin which among other things downloads an Android application. This application is then installed on all Android devices that are connected to the computer, which subsequently installs several other seemingly harmless applications.

ESET looked at all the technical details of the software distributed by Xunlei and has categorized the application as a malicious program under the name Win32/Kankan.

“The use of a fake Office plugin to gain persistence, the ability to silently install Android applications, and the backdoor functionalities, confirm the validity of the concerns of Chinese users and explains why ESET detects this program as malicious, under the name Win32/Kankan,” ESET’s Joan Calvet writes.

“There are still some open questions, like the original infection vector and the exact reason the Android applications were installed,” he adds.

While it remains unclear whether Xunlei’s popular BitTorrent client was used to spread the malware, the company has admitted that its employees were responsible for the development and distribution of the suspicious software.

During a press conference Xunlei apologized for their mistakes. The company said that the personnel responsible were acting without permission and have since been fired.

For affected users Xunlei has released an uninstaller and according to ESET the number of infections has dropped significantly since its release, as can be seen in the graph below.

Source: Google-Backed File-Sharing Service Spreads Malware

Over in the United States and indeed many other countries around the world, operators of file-sharing sites are treated harshly when they are identified by studios, record labels and police. However, in the UK there has been a new trend developing to deal with smaller sites that aren’t generally up for a fight.

The approach, in place for a couple of years now, has been pioneered by the Federation Against Copyright Theft. The group, commonly known has FACT, has masterminded aggressive operations in the past, but is currently identifying the admins and owners of file-sharing focused sites and going to their homes in person for a ‘chat’.

Once they have the direct attention of the person involved their transgression is pointed out, usually the act of running a torrent or Usenet site that indexes copyrighted content. After the scare tactics the site owner is given a choice – shut down the site and hand over its domain to FACT or face the possibility of being dragged through the courts.

We’ve documented the process many times but never had the chance to see it first hand. However, a new video released by the BBC shows FACT turning up at the home of Tom, the owner of FindNZBs.info, a site that was shut down earlier this month following a FACT visit.

Early on it shows two FACT operatives, a man and a woman, knocking at Tom’s door. While Tom is in clear view, both FACT operatives have their faces blurred out. They present identity cards and gain access to what looks like Tom’s lounge.

FACT operatives turn up at the home of a file-sharing admin

The male FACT officer asks Tom if he is the site operator which he admits right away, denying the suggestion that anyone else is involved. FACT state that the Usenet indexer is facilitating the distribution of infringing content.

“When you say it’s infringing content, it’s just automated indexing. What’s the infringement? Tom asks.

“Your site deals predominantly, well only in NZBs,” the woman states.

“Well NZBs aren’t illegal,” Tom fires back.

Faces obscured, FACT make themselves at home

The woman then explains that the studios haven’t authorized the distribution of their content via NZBs. “So all NZBs are illegal?” Tom asks. “Yes,” she responds.

Of course, all NZBs are not illegal, only in some circumstances when they point deliberately to infringing content. What follows is a nuts and bolts argument over how indexers and Usenet works. None of it amounts to much within the scope of FACT’s intentions for the visit – the seizure of the site’s domain.

Tom is served with a notice as the male FACT operative explains that Tom will be expected to unlock the FindNZBs.info domain so that it can be transferred to the anti-piracy group.

Documents in hand, Tom signs over his website to FACT

“What this will do is that it will stop us from taking any further action in relation to this website,” FACT conclude. Tom signs the document and the website is immediately shutdown.

Checking the domain’s WHOIS records reveals that FACT is now its registered owner.

A follow up interview with Tom reveals his thoughts for the site and how it merely indexed material that is already present online.

“It could be a DRM-free ebook, it could be a Linux distro, but potentially it could be a film as well, hence the visit,” he told the BBC while still maintaining that he wasn’t breaking the law.

The video and subsequent interview, which at times gets a little awkward, can be viewed here.

Taking people to court in an effort to close their sites is an expensive process, even if settled fairly quickly. It seems that identifying a site operator – often from an unprotected domain WHOIS entry – and then calling round is a much cheaper way to go. Expect to see more of it in future.

Update: The admin of FindNZBs contacted TorrentFreak and explained how he was woken by FACT and the BBC at 07:45. He’s written up his experiences and a few other thoughts here.

Source: FACT Releases Video of File-Sharing Site Home Visit and Domain Grab

This week we have two newcomers in our chart.

The Internship is the most downloaded movie for the second week in a row.

The data for our weekly download chart is collected by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only. All the movies in the list are BD/DVDrips unless stated otherwise.

RSS feed for the weekly movie download chart.

Week ending Oktober 13, 2013

Ranking	(last week)	Movie	IMDb Rating / Trailer
torrentfreak.com
1	(1)	Pacific Rim	7.4 / trailer
2	(9)	White house Down	6.4 / trailer
3	(4)	Elysium	7.0 / trailer
4	(2)	The Internship	6.3 / trailer
5	(3)	The Lone Ranger	6.6 / trailer
6	(…)	Monsters University	7.5 / trailer
7	(…)	The Mortal Instruments City of Bones	6.4 / trailer
8	(7)	2 Guns (TS)	7.0 / trailer
9	(5)	After Earth	4.9 / trailer
10	(6)	This Is The End	7.6 / trailer

Source: Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week