Movies, TV shows, and music have all proven popular with online pirates for years but with fast Internet connections now widespread, streaming live television is on the increase.

This presents a unique problem for football leagues hoping to generate large revenues from fans keen to catch the big game on TV.

There are dozens of pirate sites available today willing to provide that content for free, a point not lost on Danish anti-piracy group Rights Alliance (RettighedsAlliancen). Figures provided by the group indicate that between February 2018 and February 2019, locals made 18 million visits to the most popular illegal live sports services.

To help counter this threat, Rights Alliance teamed up with Spanish top-tier football league LaLiga in legal action designed to prevent local Internet users from accessing the sites.

In a case filed on February 8, 2019, LaLiga demanded that local ISP Telenor should prevent its subscribers from accessing 10 sites (list below) that infringe its copyrights by showing live matches. LaLiga suggested DNS blocking as a possible method but Telenor asked for the whole injunction to be denied.

LaLiga stated that that previous rulings from the European Court of Justice found that the English Premier League owned copyright in its broadcasts, which included videos, music, highlights of previous matches and graphics.

When these are made available to the public, it is only the rightsholder that holds an exclusive license to do so. The same holds true when such broadcasts are made available to a “new audience” – i.e one that the rightsholder hadn’t initially taken into account, such as unauthorized streaming over the Internet of an otherwise terrestrial broadcast.

As is becoming typical in similar cases, the local court referenced other important rulings from the EU Court, including GS Media, BREIN v Ziggo and BREIN v Filmspeler, to determine if the protected works were being made available to the public in contravention of EU law.

Nine of the ‘pirate’ services listed in the complaint were ultimately deemed to be infringing due to them offering copyrighted works and generating revenue via advertising. The tenth, Spain-based RojaDirecta, requested more time to respond to LaLiga’s complaint, so the site will be dealt with at a later date.

On April 15, 2019, the Court of Frederiksberg handed down its order, which requires Telenor to block the listed sites using a “technical solution” such as DNS blocking. The provider is also required to block other domains that appear in future which facilitate access to the same sites. These will be advised by Rights Alliance under strict rules laid down by the Court.

Under the Danish ISP Code of Conduct, other major ISPs in Denmark will also implement the blocks against the sites in the complaint.

This is an important case in Denmark for both LaLiga and Rights Alliance, one that paves the way for blocking of unlicensed live sports and general TV portals in general.

LaLiga’s Audiovisual Director Melcior Soler welcomed the decision.

“Audiovisual Piracy is illegal and has great consequences, not only for us, but for the league and the future of the game, so we are very happy that RettighedsAlliancen has joined us in the fight. We know that Denmark is at the forefront of the development of digital tools to fight online piracy, and this is a big issue for us,” Soler said.

“We are now looking forward to seeing the effects of the blockings and hope that they can serve as an example for other countries, so that we can stand together in the fight against online piracy.”

The full order (supplied to TF by Rights Alliance) can be found here (pdf).

The site names, which are partially redacted in the order, are as follows:

• livetv*****
• tvron*****
• ronaldo7****
• kora-star****
• live.harleyquinnwidget****
• myfeed2all****
• stream2watch****
• jokerlivestream****
• kora-online****

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

In recent years, millions of users around the world have turned to Android-based applications for their piracy fix.

They’re mostly free and easy to install, quickly providing access to the latest movies, TV shows, live sports, and PPV events.

Entertainment industry groups have long insisted that users of these applications are putting themselves at risk of malware and similar issues, but it’s fairly uncommon for them to go into much detail.

That changed today with the publication of a study carried out by the Digital Citizens Alliance in conjunction with network security company Dark Wolfe Consulting. Some of the key findings concern the popular live streaming application known as Mobdro.

The researchers say that after installing the Android application, it forced an update and then forwarded their Wi-Fi name and password to a server that identified as being located in Asia. Mobdro then started to seek access to media content and other legitimate apps on the researchers’ network.

“Researchers observed that the app that sent the user’s wireless name and password up to an external server in Indonesia then began probing the network and talking to any file-sharing services on the Local Area Network. It also ‘port knocked,’ a process to look for other active malware,” they write.

“[A]fter the initial update, the device accepted commands from a threat actor. Those commands may come from the app itself or from the movie streams. With each selection of content, the user opens the door to a new set of commands and malicious payloads from a threat actor to a device in use.”

It’s not explained how the video streams themselves could contain malware. Mobdro is believed to scrape the web for content, much like Kodi add-ons do, and security experts haven’t seen malware in video streams.

However, the researchers state that the “commands in the apps or from the movie streams” were “either encrypted or encoded, making it difficult to analyze for infection.” It’s a vague statement that the study builds on, noting that encrypted commands could perform an update, retrieve malware, take part in a DDoS attack, or obtain files stored on the device or network – such as images, movies or documents.

There’s little doubt that the behavior highlighted above is not something the average person would expect from a video streaming app. However, it should be noted that the Mobdro software actually asks the user to grant permission to their photos, media, files and device location.

Most will blindly grant those permissions instead of declining, of course, and it sounds like the researchers followed that lead.

Furthermore, in view of the researchers’ findings, it’s also worth highlighting the chaotic situation that surrounds Mobdro and many similar apps that facilitate access to illicit streams of movies and TV shows. Crucially, these aren’t allowed on official platforms like Google Play.

So, where it was once pretty obvious where the ‘official’ app could be obtained, there are now a large number of ‘fake’ sites also offering ‘hacked’ variants of the software, any one of which could have experienced tampering. The researchers do not reveal the source of their installation files.

Another point of interest is raised when the researchers note that the software they installed also makes it possible for a “threat actor” to log in to a user’s device and then navigate away from the device to the Internet, effectively posing as the user online.

While this initially seems like a shocking claim, anyone who reads the official app’s EULA before installing the software will see for themselves that Mobdro is pretty upfront about this unpopular ‘feature’. Users of the software that choose not to see adverts find themselves agreeing to become peers on the (in)famous Luminati network, meaning that their bandwidth and IP address can indeed be used by others.

It’s far from ideal (who wants their connections used by others apart from Hola users?) but the site that hosts the software makes this clear, to those who bother to read the small print at least. Which is probably very few people indeed, sadly.

TorrentFreak requested comment from the operators of the official Mobdro client but at the time of publication, we were yet to hear back.

The full report, ‘Fishing in the Piracy Stream: How the Dark Web of Entertainment is Exposing Consumers to Harm’ also contains information previously covered in earlier TorrentFreak articles. It can be found 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.

Plex is a multifunctional media server that allows users to easily organize all their entertainment in one place. 

Whether it’s movies, music, TV-shows, or photos, Plex can organize and index, making the content ready to stream on a wide variety of supported devices. 

The technology itself is content-neutral, which means that it can be used both legally and illegally. In this case illegally, due to the often copyright infringing content. Much like the Kodi platform, Plex seems to be rather popular among pirates. 

There are a variety of places where access to “Plex shares” are being offered, sometimes in exchange for a small fee. Those who sign up can then stream from a library of movies and TV-shows that’s regularly updated by the owner. 

While sharing a small Plex library privately with a few friends isn’t going to be noticed easily, things change when access to a treasure trove of pirated videos is offered in public places. This is what a Dutch Plex user learned the hard way. 

Earlier this week the man in question informed fellow Plex users on Tweakers that he was approached by local anti-piracy group BREIN, which had become aware that he was running a Plex share with 5,700 movies and 10,000 TV-shows. 

Since these were offered without permission, BREIN requested a €750 settlement plus an additional €500 for each day the share remained online. The user in question, who publicly stated that he downloaded the videos through Usenet and torrents sites, admitted his wrongdoing and swiftly complied.

This is the first time we’ve seen this type of settlement with the owner of a Plex share, but it may not be the last. According to BREIN Director Tim Kuik, his organization keeps an eye on all kinds of piracy-related activity, also on Plex. 

“BREIN and its participants are alert on any kind of server being used to give unauthorized public access to content. In this matter we received information from a third party which enabled us to determine widespread infringement by the person in question,” Kuik informs TF.

Interestingly, the audience of the Plex server, as described by BREIN, differs quite a bit from the user’s own account. 

The Plex user, who has removed his initial posting, said he shared with two friends and his parents. However, BREIN, which had an informant with access to the server, said the audience was substantially larger. In addition, it was being advertised in public places such as Discord and Reddit.

“The customer base consisted of visitors who – for a fee or not – were given access to the media server’s library to view films and/or series,” the anti-piracy group wrote in an announcement.

“Customers were also given the opportunity to submit requests for films and/or series that they would like to see, which were subsequently made available,” BREIN added.

BREIN’s statement is backed up by readers from Tweakers. In response to a news report, they posted links to Reddit posts that suggest that the user in question, or someone linked to this person,  indeed offered his share with a much larger group. However, the user in question denied this. 

Whether the owner had just a few users on the Plex share or many more is ultimately irrelevant. The person in question admitted to downloading the files through torrents and Usenet, which in itself is against the law.

The question remains how BREIN obtained the personal details that were used to send the registered letter.

According to the user, the address in the letter contained a typo he made in his PayPal account. He also used a different name with PayPal, which was mentioned in the letter as well. This suggests that BREIN somehow received this information via the payment provider, but this remains unconfirmed. 

Plex doesn’t appear to be directly involved in the matter, as it generally informs users following copyright complaints, which hasn’t happened. We reached out to the company, which informed us that it respects user privacy as well as rightsholders’ rights.

“We take our customers’ privacy extremely seriously. Per our terms of service and privacy policy, libraries are owned and managed by our customers, and we have no access to the contents of their files,” a Plex spokesperson informed TorrentFreak.

“Our terms of service are very clear that we respect copyright holders’ rights and customers agree that they must have rights to the content in their libraries,” the company added.

Finally, BREIN itself stresses that there’s nothing wrong with using Plex, as long as people do so legally. That is, using it to access files for which they have obtained permission.

“It is permitted to use Plex with legally obtained material,  as long as it’s for your own use,” the anti-piracy group notes. 

Those who share thousands of movies and TV-shows and share these in public, on the other hand, risk being caught at one point or another.

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

Avengers: Endgame is being tentatively billed as the biggest box office hit the world has ever seen.

The movie is set for release in the United States in two days’ time, when millions of Marvel fans will descend on cinemas nationwide to view the spectacular.

Interestingly, the companies behind the movie chose to release the movie in China first and as of 5pm local time today, it had already raked in around $90m in sales. That’s hugely impressive by any standard.

The decision to release in China, it was previously reported, was to help combat rampant piracy in the region. However, with millions of citizens hitting cinemas around the country of 1.3 billion people, there was always likely to be one here and there equipped with technology capable of recording the blockbuster once inside.

In anticipation of this somewhat inevitable event, TorrentFreak sources put systems in place to check for the movie being shared on BitTorrent. Between 4:00pm and 5:00pm local time, those triggers went off, indicating the jewel in Marvel’s crown had already hit the Internet.

Within minutes of the initial seed appearing, dozens of exclusively China-located users began sharing a 1.2GB torrent of the movie. There are also other variants, around the 2GB mark. We are currently unable to confirm the quality of those releases.

Data obtained by TF indicates that most initial sharers were using variants of the popular Chinese-market ‘Thunder’ torrent client, which can usually be identified via its client code beginning 7.10.35.XXX in newer variants. A sole uTorrent user from Vietnam (highlighted below) was one of the early seeds on one torrent.

The only good news for Marvel is that the version detailed above is of terrible quality.

“The image flickers constantly throughout. It’s semi-rotated and is littered throughout with watermarks for a gambling site that spin around the screen,” our source explains.

Due to the concerns about spoilers, we have no intention of posting additional screenshots (other than the above) that have the potential to ruin the movie for fans. However, we can confirm that the audio on this particular release is poor too.

Despite the release being touted in China as a TS (which should have direct audio) we are informed that there are plenty of crunching noises and intermittent coughing throughout. This version has English audio with Chinese subtitles.

If ever there was a case for viewing a movie how it should be seen in the cinema, this pirated copy reinforces that, with bells on. Whether improved versions are standing by is currently unknown.

Update: What appears to be the same copy has now begun circulating on some English-language sites, albeit in different file sizes.

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

Anti-piracy firms often portray copyright infringers as thieves that must be stopped or eradicated.

However, the people at UK firm MUSO have a different take on the piracy problem. The company offers its clients classic takedown tools but prefers to frame piracy as an opportunity rather than a threat.

MUSO believes that piracy audiences are great untapped pools of wealth. This is also a message it communicates to its clients, which include major players such as Sony Interactive, IMG, Entertainment One, and the European Union Intellectual Property Office.

In its early years, the startup received funding from the UK Government, but more recently it received backing from the more traditional venture capital firm Harwell Capital. 

This week MUSO announces that it has raised an additional £3.5 million in funding from Harwell. This is in addition to a £2.5 million investment it received from the same company two years ago, bringing the total for its Series A funding round to £6 million. 

The UK-based anti-piracy outfit says it will use the money to expand the company’s sales and marketing, so it can increase its market share in the digital media, gaming and live broadcast sectors. 

MUSO’s main goal remains unchanged. It will continue to focus on the more positive approach of converting pirates into paying customers, instead of disregarding this audience as ‘criminals.’

“Unlike other anti-piracy or content protection outfits, MUSO focuses on pointing out to rights holders and media distributors that piracy audiences are actually untapped opportunities, rather than enemies, or the criminals that we perceive them to be,” the company explains. 

MUSO founder and CEO Andy Chatterley, who’s a Grammy-nominated music producer, is happy with the continued support. 

“Harwell has been a hugely supportive investment partner, who provide far more than cash alone to the company. They understand our vision and objectives and bring significant advice and acumen to ensure we can execute on our continued growth plans in a most exciting market,” Chatterley notes. 

Aside from providing piracy takedown services and insights to its clients, MUSO also regularly publishes piracy-related data. Last week, for example, it revealed that the first episode of Game of Thrones was pirated more than 50 million times in 24 hours. 

In addition, the company has also helped to document the changing interests of the pirate audience, which has moved from torrents and direct downloads to streaming-based services in recent years.

There have been critical notes as well, of course. Last year MUSO and music outfit AIM announced that they managed to issue five million takedowns in just a few months, labeling their partnership as a great success. 

However, on closer inspection, it appeared that pretty much all these requests were sent to Google and that the vast majority of the reported URLs were not removed because they were not indexed by the search engine. 

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