While third-party Kodi addons remain popular with those seeking free access to premium video, standalone apps for Android and iOS have gained traction in recent years.

Easy to install and use on set-top boxes, tablets and phones, these tools often provide a Popcorn-Time or Showbox-like experience, offering the latest movies and TV shows in a familiar Netflix-style interface. On the one hand, they’re popular with users but Hollywood studios and other content creators consider them a risk to their business that needs to be countered.

ApolloTV is a relatively recent addition to the growing market. Available for iOS and Android, the application gained a reasonable following and is featured in dozens of tutorials and YouTube video installation guides. At the time of writing, however, it seems highly unlikely that the project will continue.

Over the past several days, rumors began to circulate that ApolloTV would be shutting down. The whispers suggested that the application’s developer had been targeted by copyright holders and as a result, the app would be discontinued. Counter-rumors suggested that the developer simply wanted a way out so TorrentFreak approached ‘Sam’ directly to find out.

“I received a cease and desist from the Alliance 4 Creativity – the same people who took down Openload and Streamango – citing ApolloTV making available copyrighted works copied and hosted by unaffiliated third parties without permission from the copyright holder,” Sam informs us.

The claim seems reasonable given the circumstances. ApolloTV didn’t host any content of its own but did provide access to content hosted on third-party file-hosting platforms, a common feature among similar ‘scraper’-type applications.

As TF discovered, Sam made little to no effort to hide his identity so it appears that ACE had few difficulties tracking him down. However, while we reached him easily via email, ACE managed to discover his home address which enabled them to serve the cease-and-desist notice by hand.

“I was surprised that I actually received the cease and desist physically, in person (it was delivered by a court officer), at my home address,” he explains.

Sam says that he doesn’t have the time or the resources to fight a lawsuit and since ACE were very reasonable, he’ll be complying with their requests immediately. He doesn’t want to go into too many additional details but says that as part of the settlement, he will need to shut down the project’s Github page and hand over the Apollo domain to ACE.

At the time of writing, the official ApolloTV repository on Github has been taken down. ACE nor the MPA appear to have filed any official DMCA takedown requests with the developer platform so at this point things seem to be progressing quickly on a voluntary basis.

TorrentFreak sought comment from ACE on the reported action but, at the time of publishing, we were yet to receive a response.

Drom: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, torrent sites and more. We also have an annual VPN review.

Last September, gaming giant Nintendo filed a lawsuit against the game download portal RomUniverse.

The website, which also allows users to download movies and books, stands accused of enabling massive online copyright infringement, including that of many popular Nintendo titles.

“The Website is among the most visited and notorious online hubs for pirated Nintendo video games. Through the Website, Defendants reproduce, distribute, monetize, and offer for download thousands of unauthorized copies of Nintendo’s video games,” the company wrote.

RomUniverse profited from these copyright infringements by offering paid premium accounts that allow users to download as many games as they want, Nintendo further alleged.

The site’s operator, Los Angeles resident Matthew Storman, clearly disagreed with these allegations. Without an attorney, he decided to defend himself in court and responded to Nintendo’s claims by filing a detailed motion to dismiss.

This motion eventually failed after Nintendo picked it apart. The court instead ruled that Storman had to face the charges and file a reply to Nintendo’s complaint.

The reply was initially due in January, but the court later agreed to push this deadline back. That was done to allow the RomUniverse admin to attend a Federal Pro Se Clinic to get free advice on how to fight the gaming company on his own.

After the brief delay, Storman filed his answer to the complaint at the California federal court. Still without an attorney, he maintains his innocence and denies all allegations of piracy and infringement.

The site operator states that he is unaware of any infringing content that was uploaded to the website. And if there is any, these uploads may be legally protected by the first sale doctrine.

Storman likens his site to other platforms that deal with user-uploaded content. He therefore argues that he can’t be held liable for uploads carried out by others because he is entitled to safe harbor protection.

“Defendant provides copyright owners access to all files that are arranged by uploaded title only. This is required under 17 U.S. C and an implied contract with Nintendo, where Nintendo has full access to all contents to locate any potentially infringing material..,” Storman writes.

That the site also collects membership fees is not a problem as long as Nintendo doesn’t remove any content from the site, according to the admin.

“Defendant is unaware of content. Furthermore, Nintendo can request removal of any material it has a good faith believe to be infringing. Defendant may receive potential membership fees as long as Nintendo does not remove all material,” he writes.

In an attempt to turn the tables, Storman argues that Nintendo profited from his site. RomUniverse.com and the associated NDSUniverse.com, serve as free advertising vehicles for the gaming company which generated profit from it, for which the site owner never received a penny.

“Copies on the Website originally from Nintendo when seen by users is a positive advertising asset to Nintendo. It is part of an implied contract with Nintendo over the last 10 years. This advertising asset can be calculated and measured by Nintendo in cooperation with Defendant,” Storman adds.

The response to the complaint includes several of the arguments that were also made in the motion to dismiss. However, it also does a step further, by demanding damages from Nintendo.

Instead of compensating Nintendo, Storman wants the gaming company to pay up instead. He demands $150,000 per copyrighted work for the false allegations of infringement, as well as $2,000,000 for each false counterfeiting claim.

On top of that, Storman also wants Nintendo to “permanently approve all copying, distributing, selling, performing, displaying, playing, or otherwise using any copy of an [Nintendo] copyrighted work, or any derivative thereof.”

Storman’s demands are the exact opposite of Nintendo’s, which requested the same damages for the alleged infringements and wanted the site admin to permanently cease (instead of approve) the copying of any copyrighted works.

While Storman’s reply is certainly a bold move, we expect that Nintendo will have a different view on the matter. The company’s legal team may also point out several procedural and technical issues, as it previously did.

In any case, it will be a major challenge to defeat a company of this size in court, without any legal representation. For now, however, both RomUniverse.com and the associated NDSUniverse.com remain online.

—

Matthew Storman’s answer to Nintendo’s copyright infirngement complaint is available here (pdf).

Drom: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, torrent sites and more. We also have an annual VPN review.

Over the past several years the sale of TV devices pre-configured for piracy has become a big deal all around the world.

Largely avoiding the inconvenience of scouring potentially dozens of websites looking for movies and TV shows, automated software tools embedded in these set-top boxes have provided a simple way to access the latest content from the comfort of an armchair.

The software of choice is often the Kodi media player which in itself is entirely legal until modified for piracy purposes with third-party add-ons.

Such devices can be bought online or commonly in the UK, via shops and market traders. This was the business of Londoners Thomas Tewelde and Mohamed Abdou, who sold modified ‘Kodi Boxes’ to the public via a stall at Bovingdon Market in Hemel Hempstead.

Their activities attracted the attention of Hertfordshire Trading Standards officers who carried out a covert purchase operation in July 2017. They found that not only were the set-top devices illegal but also fell short of electrical safety standards.

Earlier this month the men went on trial and after four-day hearing, were found guilty by a jury of offenses under the Serious Crime Act 2007 and Fraud Act 2006. Sentencing took place at St Albans Crown Court last Friday.

“This is not a victimless crime, every legitimate subscriber is a victim,” the judge commented during the hearing, as per the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT), which assisted with the investigation.

“It may not be possible to calculate loss but it will be significant given the usual charge for services, number of devices, and period over which the enterprise appears to have operated. Another serious factor is that components were unsafe. It is clear that immediate prison sentences are justified for this type of offenses.”

‘Immediate prison sentences’ in this case comes with conditions. While Tewelde and Abdou were handed one year each in prison, the judge suspended those sentences for two years, meaning that if the pair keep out of trouble, they will avoid a stretch behind bars. Nevertheless, both are still required to complete 120 hours of unpaid work and must also pay £1,000 in costs.

Despite the potential for more serious punishment, the sentences were welcomed by the parties involved in the prosecution.

Andrew Butler, Head of Regulatory Services at Hertfordshire County Council, described the sentences as a “great result” for Trading Standards while FACT Chief Executive Kieron Sharp issued the customary warning to others involved in or considering the same line of business.

“This sentence shows that if you are involved in the sale of illicit devices you can receive a criminal conviction for fraud that will have a detrimental effect on your life,” Sharp said.

“We urge consumers to remain mindful of counterfeits and illicit goods being sold at markets as many illicit streaming devices have failed to meet UK safety standards, potentially risking the lives of loved ones if installed in the home.”

The sentencing comes close on the heels of several other pieces of news related to unlicensed streaming and related devices in the UK.

Last week, John Dodds, who was previously sentenced to serve 4.5 years in prison for selling pirate IPTV devices to pubs and clubs, was ordered to pay £520,000 to the public purse. The court warned that failure to comply will mean an additional five years for the man who was convicted in a Premier League-led prosecution.

Also last week, FACT revealed that a man who previously received a 16-month prison sentence relating to the supply of set-top boxes configured to receive Sky and BT Sport broadcasts without a subscription was ordered to hand over £10,000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act. In his case, non-payment will result in an additional six months in prison.

Last Wednesday, FACT investigators and the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU) reportedly visited an address in North West England to execute warrants related to a “significant provider of illegal streaming activity.” At this stage, no further information is being made available by FACT or the police so who the target was or indeed the precise nature of the activity remains unclear.

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

Last December Internet provider Cox Communications lost its legal battle against a group of major record labels.

Following a two-week trial, the jury held Cox liable for the copyright infringements of its subscribers, ordering the company to pay $1 billion in damages.

Heavily disappointed by the decision, Cox later asked the court to overturn the verdict, or at least lower the damages. According to the ISP, the $1 billion figure is ‘shockingly excessive’ and “wholly disproportionate” given the circumstances.

The record labels clearly disagree. They just responded to Cox’s request with a scathing motion summarizing why they believe the verdict is well deserved. In fact, it could have easily been higher.

With over 10,000 works being part of the lawsuit, the potential damages could’ve reached $1.5 billion, they write. That Cox is happy with the outcome is understandable, according to the labels, but they stress that it’s warranted based on the “bountiful” and “damning” evidence.

What follows is a summary of Cox wrongdoings, which includes policy decisions as well as many quotes from senior employees. In particular, their response to infringement notices, copyright holders, and persistent pirates.

According to the music companies, internal emails show that the ISP was well aware of the growing body of copyright notices it received. However, it did little to curb this problem, despite claims it made to the outside world.

The trial evidence repeatedly showed that Cox said one thing and did another, the labels write, adding that infringing customers could simply continue pirating.

“Cox said it had a policy that led to termination. But the evidence showed that Cox applied an unwritten policy that undid terminations, and then stopped terminating for infringement altogether,” the labels write.

The infringements continued while hundreds of thousands of subscribers reportedly had their accounts terminated because they failed to pay their bills.

“Cox said internet service was too precious to terminate lightly and it could never terminate business customers because they include hospitals and schools. But the evidence showed that Cox terminated over 619,000 customers—including 22,000 business customers — who were a month or so late on their bills.”

While Cox claimed to take abuse seriously, it deleted millions of notices it received from anti-piracy company Rightscorp, while capping the number other rightsholders could send. As a result, no action was taken for 90% of the notices it received.

These allegations are isupported by damning emails and quotes. This includes a statement made by the head of Cox’s abuse department, Jason Zabek, who is quoted stating “f the dmca!!!”

“For the cherry on top, Mr. Zabek and his top lieutenant crowed ‘f the dmca!!!‘ and ‘F the DRC!‘ (Digital Rightscorp) when celebrating the ‘silent deletion’ of infringement notices and Cox’s imposition of hard limits on all complainants.

“It is hard to imagine taking abuse complaints any less seriously or disrespecting copyright laws any more, and the jury agreed”

While more DMCA notices kept coming in, Cox ‘slashed’ the abuse department according to the record labels. The Technical Operations Center abuse team went from 14 members to four, which then lifted the load by ignoring all first notices and capping the daily volume rightsholders could send.

“Cox ignored the first notice to each subscriber, but it couldn’t ignore all of them. So instead it capped the number of notices it would accept from any copyright holder to a default limit of 200 per day, reluctantly increasing it to 600 for the RIAA over time,” the labels add.

The music companies allege that Cox’s “sham” policies and procedures provided a safe haven for pirates. In 2004, the company had a three-strikes policy to terminate subscribers, but as years passed that went up to a 14-strike policy. And even then, some terminated subscribers were easily led back in.

“Cox had several internal-only policies that made a mockery of terminations for copyright infringement. For years, it imposed ‘soft terminations’ with immediate reactivation and, incredibly, a clean slate for infringers,” the record labels note.

The reason for these lax policies was profit, the plaintiffs note. They argue that Cox kept pirating subscribers on board because they brought in a lot of money. This, again, is illustrated by internal communications.

“Email after email from Cox’s abuse team demonstrated this: ‘This customer will likely fail again, but let’s give him one more change [sic]. he pays 317.63 a month.’,” the labels note.

These unwritten policies allowed Cox to reap greater profits. In 2013-2014 alone, Cox earned $19.5 billion in revenues, with $8.3 billion of that being net profit, which in part was generated by repeat infringers.

“For example, Cox billed a residential subscriber who was the subject of at least 101 infringement notices $8,594 from February 2013 through 2016 — all of which Cox billed after it received at least 13 infringement notices for that subscriber,” the labels write

“To put it bluntly, Cox’s policies and procedures were a sham. The jury rightly understood that because of Cox’s actions and decisions, repeat infringement carried virtually no consequence and Cox profited handsomely as a result.”

Based on these and a wide variety of other arguments and examples, the music companies believe that the $1 billion verdict is well deserved. The court should, therefore, refrain from allowing a new trial or lowering the damages amount.

In addition, the companies also objected to Cox’s previous request for a judgment as a matter of law. The evidence supporting the jury’s verdict was abundant and legally sufficient, they note there.

—

A copy of the record labels’ opposition to the motion for lowering the damages or a new trial 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.

This week we have two newcomers in our chart.

Jumanji: The Next Level is the most downloaded movie.

The data for our weekly download chart is estimated by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only. All the movies in the list are Web-DL/Webrip/HDRip/BDrip/DVDrip unless stated otherwise.

RSS feed for the articles of the recent weekly movie download charts.

This week’s most downloaded movies are:

Movie Rank	Rank last week	Movie name	IMDb Rating / Trailer
Most downloaded movies via torrents
1	(4)	Jumanji: The Next Level	6.9 / trailer
2	(1)	Frozen II	7.1 / trailer
3	(3)	Knives Out	8.0 / trailer
4	(2)	Charlie’s Angels	4.2 / trailer
5	(…)	Guns Akimbo	6.6 / trailer
6	(…)	Spied in Disguise	6.8 / trailer
7	(6)	Ford v Ferrari	8.2 / trailer
8	(7)	Joker	8.8 / trailer
9	(…)	Superman: Red Son	6.3 / trailer
10	(5)	Parasite	8.6 / trailer

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