At the turn of the last decade, the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) ended legal action against local ISP Eircom when the provider agreed to implement a so-called “three strikes” regime.

The agreement saw member labels including Sony, Universal, and Warner tracking allegedly-infringing Eircom subscribers online and Eircom forwarding infringement notices. Those caught three times would be eligible for disconnection from the Internet.

Under an agreement to give Eircom a level playing field, the labels targeted another ISP, UPC (later taken over by Virgin), with a demand to implement the same scheme. UPC dug in its heels and the case dragged on through the legal system.

In 2015, the High Court ruled in favor of the labels, rejecting complaints from UPC that it’s not an ISP’s job to police its subscribers’ activities online.

Now, more than three years later, the labels are back again with a renewed effort to have the graduated response scheme introduced more widely in Ireland. This time around, Sony, Warner and Universal are targeting Sky Ireland.

According to the Irish Times, Sky has told the labels it will comply with their demands but has asked that they obtain a court order first.

Sky, which is already collaborating with the Premier League to block infringing streams, said that it was “actively working” with the industry to deal with online piracy.

“It’s therefore important that companies like ours do what they can, alongside the Government and the rest of the media and technology industries, to help protect copyright,” Sky said.

“Copyright holders who believe broadband users have unlawfully shared content online have the option of taking their cases to court. If the order is granted, the service provider must comply and Sky would, of course, comply with any such order.”

Asking for a court order to be produced is standard form in such cases but given Sky’s track record in such matters, it probably won’t be putting up much of a fight. The issue of costs is likely to be a matter for dispute but putting the regime in place is unlikely to be a sticking point.

In response, the labels (under the Irish Recorded Music Association umbrella) initiated a claim in the High Court this week, with supporting papers filed by IRMA chief Willie Kavanagh.

IT reports that IRMA is also in talks with Vodafone Ireland to implement the same anti-piracy scheme but the ISP has “raised technical concerns and sought more time.” In any event, Vodafone is extremely unlikely to begin disconnecting customers without a legal basis so a court order will be required in this case too.

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

Yesterday morning we reported how concern was mounting for infamous games cracker ‘Voksi’ after he uncharacteristically failed to appear online.

Fears only increased when his REVOLT forum began diverting to the Ministry of the Interior in Bulgaria. While some of his fans thought it was some kind of elaborate joke, those closest to him suspected that something had gone terribly wrong.

And it had.

Speaking with TorrentFreak last evening, an obviously emotional Voksi told us that early Tuesday morning he received unexpected visitors to his home in southern Bulgaria.

Five or six officers, including two from Bulgaria’s General Directorate for Combatting Organized Crime (GDBOB) and others from a local police station, appeared at his door. They clearly had one thing in mind – his anti-Denuvo activities.

It appears that Denuvo’s new owner, anti-piracy outfit Irdeto, had filed a criminal complaint against Voksi with Bulgarian authorities. How police found him isn’t clear but Voksi told TF that he had at least one piece of loose information out there that would’ve made it easy.

Perhaps surprisingly given the powerful response, Voksi wasn’t arrested at his home. He had equipment seized (his main PC and a server) but even when he attended the local police station to make a statement later in the day, he remained ‘free’.

Clearly concerned about what will happen next, Voksi didn’t want to go into too much detail about his statement. However, we get the impression that he didn’t make it difficult for authorities and was as straightforward as possible with what probably amounts to a confession.

Voksi also wasn’t clear on what the charges against him might be, if there are any. He knows that the police spoke about the damage he had done to Denuvo but beyond that, details in respect of specific laws aren’t readily available.

Voksi also told us that during Tuesday he took the opportunity to contact Denuvo with some kind of offer to bring the whole situation to a peaceful conclusion.

The Bulgarian didn’t want to go into details on how the discussion went or what was said but he suggested that Denuvo felt the final decision might not be entirely theirs, considering the local prosecutor is now in charge of the case.

What happens to Voksi in the immediate future isn’t known but it’s clear that he won’t be continuing with his cracking work. For his REVOLT forum, the game is also over. Voksi informs TF that the authorities have already seized the domain so the site won’t be coming back.

Finally, Voksi has had zero representation so far. We double checked – no lawyer was provided to him before, during, or after questioning. He’ll be needing someone to help out in southern Bulgaria, close to the city of Plovdiv.

“If you are a lawyer or someone who wants to fight, or just someone who wants to express his feelings, you can contact me currently over the RVT Discord or personally on Discord – Voksi#3486,” he concludes.

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

Last month, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) asked the public for input for its International Internet Policy Priorities.

The NTIA has an important role in President Trump’s administration, acting as a principal adviser on telecommunications policies.

In recent weeks various stakeholders submitted their input. Yesterday, for example, we highlighted the MPAA’s submission which argued that action is required as the current “lawless” Internet chills free speech.

However, not everyone agrees with this stance. Mozilla, the creators of the Firefox browser, sees regulation and copyright legislation in particular, as one of the largest threats to an open Internet.

In its submission, Mozilla’s Senior Policy Manager Heather West asks the NTIA to help preserve the Internet’s openness.

“One of the key elements that makes the internet an incredible global resource is its openness. ‘Open’ means that anyone can publish or invent online without asking for permission, and that the technologies used to run the Web are transparent and understandable.”

More restrictions are a threat to the open Internet, Mozilla argues. It specifically highlights intellectual property laws, which include copyright, as one of the dangers.

These laws restrict people from using the full potential of the Internet. Instead of more restrictions, Mozilla promotes the idea of a more flexible approach, such as Creative Commons licenses.

“Intellectual property laws stifle creativity and innovation if they are too restrictive about sharing and remixing – particularly for educational and non-profit use, which would be permitted under ‘fair use’.”

“We need to reform laws that are outdated, and support the growth of licensing alternatives like the Creative Commons,” Mozilla adds.

Mozilla agrees with the MPAA that copyright legislation in the US and abroad hasn’t kept up with the pace with the Internet. However, both groups clearly have different ideas on how to move forward.

Where MPAA and other pro-copyright groups want stricter copyright regulation, Mozilla wants fewer restrictions, and both ask the Government for support.

“Internationally, the NTIA and Department of Commerce should support efforts to keep the internet open. Open innovation on the internet is threatened by bad policies, the devaluation of common standards, and the fragmentation of the global internet.”

As an example of present threats, Mozilla mentions the EU’s copyright modernization proposals, which would increase liability for online services and introduce a so-called ‘link tax’.

“It is clear that leadership is necessary; the EU is currently in the final stages of negotiation on a copyright proposal that would threaten the future of the internet,” Mozilla warns.

Mozilla notes that the challenges ‘we’ face are complicated, but that they can be tackled if all stakeholders collaborate to find the right solutions. However, if the NTIA submissions show anything, it’s that this will be nearly impossible.

On one side there are groups such as Mozilla, EFF, Public Knowledge, Center for Democracy & Technology, the Internet Association, Cloudflare, and Google, warning against the adverse effects of restrictive regulation.

On the other, there are copyright holder groups such as the MPAA, RIAA, The Software Alliance, the Copyright Alliance, and others, urging for better protection for creators.

Both argue that they want to protect freedom of expression and the free flow of information, but they differ greatly in how this goal should be achieved.

—

An overview of all NTIA responses is available here.

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

Late last week, the now-infamous cracker known as Voksi hit the headlines once again after defeating the latest variant of the Denuvo anti-tamper technology.

The 21-year-old Bulgarian has made it a personal mission to bring down the world’s most hated anti-piracy system and regularly sets to work when a protected game is released. Last week’s successful attack on Sonic Mania Plus was an important step but those who know Voksi best understand the guy rarely rests.

Soon after he cracked the Denuvo protection on Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia, the latest updates of Tekken 7 and Injustice 2, and delivered a new crack for Prey and its latest DLC.

“There is no point of using Denuvo anymore,” he told us late last week.

This unprecedented level of activity has led some to joke that Voksi’s not a human but some kind of robot that’s around all the time and doesn’t need to sleep. However, throughout the course of yesterday concerns have been mounting that all is not well in Bulgaria.

Voksi was last seen online very early yesterday morning. He’s not been seen in any of his usual hangouts since and no one we’ve spoken to has heard or seen any news. While this isn’t alarming in itself, other developments seem more serious.

Voksi is the leader of cracking group REVOLT which has its home at the Revolt.group forum. Yesterday and seemingly coinciding with Voksi’s disappearance, the REVOLT forum disappeared without warning. Again, this isn’t extraordinary when taken on its own but real concern is building over what appears to have replaced it.

Instead of being greeted by the familiar forum, visitors to Revolt.group (RVT) are now being redirected to mvr.bg, the domain that identifies the website of Bulgaria’s Ministry of the Interior. Obviously, this link with the authorities is not what most people hope to see when they try to visit Voksi’s home.

Definitely not the Revolt forum

While domain redirects in the case of coordinated anti-piracy busts are fairly common, they are usually more informative than simply linking to the homepage of a government site. They tend to point to a specific message which can be both informative and a means to inform visitors that the game is up.

The way things stand, that doesn’t appear to be the case here. As far as we can see, the Ministry of the Interior site doesn’t carry any message or announcement that can be in anyway connected with some kind of raid or bust so it’s possible that something else is going on.

Previously, the Revolt.group domain pointed to an IP address in Sofia, Bulgaria. Now, however, it redirects to an IP address/server registered to SoftLayer in the United States which appears to be responsible for the redirect to the Ministry of the Interior. When taken together, none of this fits any expected patterns.

TorrentFreak has spoken with individuals concerned about Voksi’s whereabouts but all say (including some close to him) that they have no idea what has happened to him or the Revolt forum. Directly, we have two key ways of contacting the cracker and thus far, neither has been met with any success.

So, for now at least, it looks like a waiting game. We can confirm that Voksi is a real person so it’s possible he’s taken a break from his 24/7 cracking activities to recharge his batteries. Sadly, that doesn’t explain the issue with the forum. Other possibilities are also under consideration, including some kind of hack, hoax, or pending surprise reveal. Only time will tell.

Updates as we get them

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

Early June, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the agency that acts as the President’s principal adviser on telecommunications policies, requested comments for its Inquiry on International Internet Policy Priorities.

“Recognizing the vital importance of the Internet and digital communications to U.S. innovation, prosperity, education, and civic and cultural life, NTIA has made it a top priority to encourage growth and innovation for the Internet and Internet-enabled economy,” NTIA wrote.

“Towards that end, NTIA is seeking comments and recommendations from all interested stakeholders on its international Internet policy priorities for 2018 and beyond. These comments will help inform NTIA to identify priority issues and help NTIA effectively leverage its resources and expertise to address those issues.”

The MPAA has responded with a 38-page document detailing what it believes to be key issues facing the Internet and its users. It makes for interesting reading.

Increased cooperation from online platforms

The first issue, to which the movie group dedicates close to half of its response, centers on online platforms being shielded from responsibility for harms stemming from use of their services “even though most other businesses can be held culpable for such harms in similar circumstances.”

The MPAA doesn’t mention any particular platforms by name but it can be safely assumed that Google, YouTube, Facebook and similar services are in the crosshairs when it says that positive aspects of these sites are “increasingly clouded” by bad actors using them as “powerful tools for harmful and illicit ends.”

So what can be done? The MPAA says it’s not advocating for any particular solution but notes that it could be as simple as platforms agreeing to become more accountable while dealing with abuse on a voluntary basis.

Claiming that dominant online platforms are facilitating everything from intellectual property theft to malware propagation, cyberespionage, sales of drugs and trafficking of minors, the MPAA says that platforms themselves are best placed to get their own houses in order.

“The rationale is that the responsibility for harm prevention is more appropriately borne by the businesses than the customers who might be harmed, or that the businesses should at least take a prominent role in mitigating risk,” the MPAA notes.

“Often, businesses that serve as ‘platforms’ for illegal activity are better situated — and have more expertise and resources — to identify potential problems and take precautionary or remedial measures.

“They can more readily avoid what could be catastrophic consequences for the individuals, as well as help absorb what could also be catastrophic costs. And since the businesses are profiting from the public marketing of goods and services, there is an equity in expecting them to take on certain responsibilities and act with a requisite amount of care.”

Given past criticisms, the MPAA’s submission seems keen to dispel what it sees as the misconception that online enforcement is incompatible with free speech and the free flow of information.

Tackling the illegal activities detailed above is no more a violation of free expression online as it is in the physical world, the group notes, adding that platforms that refuse to deal with these problems are actually operating counter to these ideals.

“In fact, curbing such illicit activity promotes free expression by creating a safer, virtual forum where individuals feel comfortable to engage and communicate. In this sense, it is leaving lawlessness and bullying unchecked that is chilling free speech,” the MPAA adds.

Restrictions on domain name use for illegal sites, better WHOIS access

Most websites benefit from having a memorable domain name and pirate sites are no different. The MPAA believes that illegal sites shouldn’t have access to domain names and asks the NTIA to do whatever it can to prevent that from happening in future.

“[W]e hope the NTIA will help ensure ICANN, registries, and registrars are enforcing obligations that prohibit domain holders from using domain names in connection with illicit conduct. Doing so is critical to ensuring the multistakeholder model maintains the security, stability, and resiliency of the internet domain name system,” the MPAA writes.

The Hollywood group says that the contractual obligations for this to happen already exist, created through the multistakeholder process, in some cases as far back as 2001. Mechanisms are in place to prohibit domain name holders from using domains for unlawful activity, including via suspensions after a review process.

“Failing to enforce these provisions jeopardizes the credibility and accountability of ICANN and the multistakeholder governance model, and invites government intervention,” the MPAA warns.

Another thorn in the side of the MPAA is the current state of access to WHOIS data. The group urges the NTIA to advise Congress on legislation that will ensure the collection of accurate WHOIS data while providing access to such information in appropriate circumstances. The MPAA says that WHOIS data is a “cornerstone of online accountability”, one which assists with public safety, consumer protection, dispute resolution, and enforcement of rights.

Access to this data is currently under threat, not least due to the requirements of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The MPAA reports that its inquiries into 30 pirate site related domains in June yielded WHOIS data for just one, with all others denied, refused without a court order, or hindered by a domain privacy service.

“Except for the data behind privacy proxies, this information would ordinarily have been public, and even in privacy proxy cases, we sometimes had agreements in place to gain access to the underlying information to address piracy issues,” the MPAA says.

In conclusion, the Hollywood group is calling for a GDPR-compliant framework that allows access to WHOIS records for legitimate purposes such as intellectual property rights enforcement.

Criminal enforcement actions to deter the distribution of illicit streaming devices

The rise of illicit online streaming is showing few signs of slowing down so it’s no surprise that the MPAA is seeking assistance from the NTIA on this front. Specifically, the MPAA wants to see strong measures taken against those who promote and/or distribute so-called “fully loaded” set-top devices that are pre-configured for infringing purposes.

Given its track record of equating online piracy with other crime, it’s no surprise that the MPAA leads with the claim that pirate sites help to spread malware “into living rooms” due to the prevalence of streaming piracy devices.

“The issues relating to illegal streaming sites, devices, and applications — as well as the surrounding piracy ecosystem more generally — are thus closely linked to broader issues of cybersecurity. Combatting the former may well make significant contributions toward the latter,” the MPAA advises.

Highlighting the only major security event in recent memory (which was quickly fixed, incidentally), the MPAA makes much of an exploit that targeted how some media players handled subtitles. Last month the MPAA’s affiliates promised to detail more security issues but thus far has failed to deliver.

But aside from the somewhat transparent effort to paint pirate consumers as vulnerable victims, it’s clear that the main aim of the MPAA is to starve pirate operations of both cash and exposure by targeting everyone from sellers, payment processors and advertisers, to domain and hosting providers.

On top, it also wants some heavy-duty action by the authorities. The suggested targets are likely to send a shiver down the spines of many involved in the third-party Kodi addon community.

“Combatting the growth of streaming piracy requires coordination among all parties in a position to make a difference, including civil and criminal actions against creators of pirate add-on software and the repository websites that host them, against distributors of the preloaded devices, and against the entities streaming the content.”

As part of the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment, the MPAA is already undertaking civil action against various pirate box vendors. However, what it really wants is for the government to bring deterrent criminal prosecutions in order to shock some offenders away from the market.

Citing the shutdown of Megaupload and a reported 6.5 to 8.5 percent increase in digital sales for three major studios in its wake, the MPAA says that similar results could be achieved if the government took a more active role against players in the streaming market.

“We would welcome the NTIA’s voice in urging its sister agencies to bring criminal actions, as well as its consulting with the Customs and Border Patrol about the possibility of interdiction of illicit streaming devices entering the country from abroad,” the MPAA concludes.

The MPAA’s submission to the NTIA 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.