This week we have two newcomers in our chart.

The Legend of Tarzan 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 weekly movie download chart.

Ranking	(last week)	Movie	IMDb Rating / Trailer
torrentfreak.com
1	(…)	The Legend of Tarzan ()Subbed HDRip	6.6 / trailer
2	(1)	Independence Day: Resurgence (Subbed HDRip)	5.6 / trailer
3	(5)	Warcraft	7.7 / trailer
4	(…)	The Jungle Book	7.8 / trailer
5	(8)	Jason Bourne (CAM/TS)	7.4 / trailer
6	(2)	The Nice Guys	7.7 / trailer
7	(3)	Batman: The Killing Joke	7.3 / trailer
8	(6)	Central Intelligence	6.9 / trailer
9	(7)	The Secret Life of Pets (HDTS)	6.8 / trailer
10	(4)	X-Men: Apocalypse (Subbed HDRip)	7.7 / trailer

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.

It’s been two and a half weeks since the shutdown of KickassTorrents, the world’s leading torrent site, but beyond the US criminal complaint and the arrest of its owner, little fresh news has been made available.

In the background, however, the wheels turn.

As revealed last week, Ira Rothken, Kim Dotcom’s lawyer, will be representing KAT founder Artem Vaulin in his battle with US authorities. Rothken sees parallels with the Department of Justice’s battle against Megaupload, so in some respects the cases will compliment each other.

But as Vaulin languishes in a Polish jail, the work of US law enforcement continues. Part of the KickassTorrents complaint supports seizure warrants against several of the site’s domains, as listed below.

KickassTorrents.com has already been seized and currently displays the familiar Homeland Security/Department of Justice seizure banner.

Kastatic.com, a domain utilized for some technical aspects of the site, is also in the hands of the United States government.

Thekat.tv has been taken too and is being directed to the familiar SeizedServers.com. It does not currently display the banner, however.

All three of these domains were under the control of the US-based Verisign registry, which might explain why they were seized so rapidly. That being said, the Tonga-based Kickass.to also fell quickly into US hands, despite the ccTLD being a famous hold-out for all kinds of pirate sites. It too displays the seized banner.

Others are taking longer to process, such as the Philippines-based Kat.ph. That domain hasn’t been used for some time though, despite being involved in earlier legal disputes.

Interestingly, Kat.cr, the site’s main domain, and Kickass.cr, a memorable backup, are both sitting dormant and not yet directing to a seizure banner. The Costa Rican domain registry in control of them is staying tight-lipped over their status, informing TorrentFreak that local legislation forbids them from providing details.

“According to the Republic of Costa Rica Law on Protection of Persons against the use of their Personal Data (Law No. 8968), we are not authorized to provide information of any kind about .cr domains to third parties who are not the owners of the domain,” the registry told TF.

However, we can see from the domains’ WHOIS entries that one of them is sporting an unexpected update.

Despite all its troubles, somehow Kickass.cr has been put up for sale. Those interested in purchasing the memorable domain are directed to the SEDO marketplace where they are invited to submit an offer. After two bids the price being asked is a ridiculously low $230, but anyone is free to offer as much as they like.

While someone may be tempted to offer real cash (rather than our Monopoly money), it seems unlikely any sale will go through to completion. Firstly, the US government is determined to get its hands on the domain but separately it also shows some unusual markers in its status which suggest any sale won’t be a smooth one.

In the meantime, many other KickassTorrents-owned domains appear to have been overlooked or are of no interest to the United States. At least a dozen separate domains owned by KAT-related entities remain active. Crucially, however, none point to a useful torrent website.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.

Five years ago, several people connected to the video streaming and download site NinjaVideo were indicted by the U.S. Government on copyright infringement and conspiracy charges.

The landmark case resulted in several convictions, including a 22 month prison sentence for one the site’s founders, the outspoken Hana Beshara.

The convictions date back several years ago. Beshara, who received the longest sentence, served her time and was released last summer. However, that doesn’t mean that the case is closed.

One of the indicted NinjaVideo members, Zoi Mertzanis from Greece, is still at large. Mertzanis, AKA “Tik,” was allegedly one of the most active uploaders on the site.

“Mertzanis supervised most of the European-based uploaders, including directing uploaders to locate specific infringing copyrighted content for the NinjaVideo.net website,” the DoJ wrote in the indictment.

However, despite several successful convictions and plea agreements, the Greek resident still hasn’t been caught.

As a result, the now 40-year-old woman is currently featured on Interpol’s “wanted” list. Interpol issued a so-called “red notice” for the former Ninjavideo uploader, indicating that she’s wanted for extradition.

Mertzanis’ Red Notice listing on Interpol’s wanted site

According to our knowledge, Mertzanis is the only person associated with a streaming or download site listed on Interpol’s website.

TorrentFreak spoke to someone close to the Ninjavideo case who informed us that Mertzanis’ fugitive status has negative consequences for the convicted co-conspirators who already served their time. Because the case remains open, they are still waiting for the return of several personal items that were seized.

The Ninjavideo case has been one of the most prominent successes of the U.S. Government’s “Operation in Our Sites” campaign. If Mertzanis is caught and extradited, she is facing a prison sentence of at least several months, based on the previous convictions.

The harshest sentence was handed to NinjaVideo founder Hana Beshara, 22 months in prison and a payment of $210,000 in damages to the MPAA. Fellow admin Matthew Smith received 14 months in prison and was ordered to pay back just over $172,000.

Ninjavideo uploader Joshua Evans received 6 months in prison and $26,660 in restitution. Justin Dedemko was not listed as part of the NinjaVideo conspiracy, but was sentenced to 3 months in prison and ordered to repay the MPAA $58,004.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.

At TorrentFreak we have been keeping a close eye on the torrent ecosystem for more than a decade.

During this time, many sites have shut down, either voluntarily or forced by a court order.

This week meta-search engine Torrentz joined this ever-expanding list. In what appears to be a voluntary action, the site waved its millions of users farewell without prior warning.

The site’s operators have yet to explain their motivations. However, it wouldn’t be a big surprise if the continued legal pressure on torrent sites played a major role, with KAT as the most recent example.

And let’s be honest. Running a site that could make you the target of an FBI investigation, facing over a dozen years in prison, is no joke.

Looking back at the largest torrent sites of the past 15 years, we see a familiar pattern emerge. Many of the sites that make it to the top eventually fall down, often due to legal pressure.

Suprnova (2004)

Suprnova was one of the first ever BitTorrent giants. Founded by the Slovenian-born Andrej Preston, the site dominated the torrent scene during the early days.

It was also one of the first torrent sites to be targeted by the authorities. In November 2004 the site’s servers were raided, and a month later Preston, aka Sloncek, decided to shut it down voluntarily. The police investigation was eventually dropped a few months later.

Lokitorrent (2005)

When Suprnova went down a new site was quick to fill its void. LokiTorrent soon became one of the largest torrent sites around, which also attracted the attention of the MPAA.

LokiTorrent’s owner Ed Webber said he wanted to fight the MPAA and actively collected donations to pay for the legal costs. With success, as he raised over $40,000 in a few weeks.

However, not long after that, LokiTorrent was shut down, and all that was left was the iconic “You can click but you can’t hide” MPAA notice.

TorrentSpy (2008)

In 2006 TorrentSpy was more popular than any other BitTorrent site. This quickly changed when it was sued by the MPAA. In 2007 a federal judge ordered TorrentSpy to log all user data and the site opted to ban all U.S. traffic in response.

March 2008 TorrentSpy owner Justin Bunnell decided to shut down completely and not much later his company was ordered to pay the Hollywood studios $110 million in damages.

Mininova (2009)

After TorrentSpy’s demise, Mininova became the largest torrent site on the net. The name was inspired by Suprnova, but in 2008 the site was many times larger than its predecessor.

Its popularity eventually resulted in a lawsuit from local anti-piracy outfit BREIN, which Mininova lost. As a result, the site had to remove all infringing torrents, a move which effectively ended its reign.

Today the site is still online, limiting uploads to pre-approved publishers, making it a ghost of the giant it was in the past.

BTJunkie (2012)

In 2012, shortly after the Megaupload raid, torrent site BTJunkie shut down voluntarily.

Talking to TorrentFreak, BTjunkie’s founder said that the legal actions against other file-sharing sites played an important role in making the difficult decision. Witnessing all the trouble his colleagues got into was a constant cause of worry and stress.

“We’ve been fighting for years for your right to communicate, but it’s time to move on. It’s been an experience of a lifetime, we wish you all the best,” he wrote in a farewell message.

isoHunt (2013)

The shutdown of isoHunt a year later wasn’t much of a surprise. The site had been fighting a legal battle with the MPAA for over a decade and eventually lost, agreeing to pay the movie studios a $110m settlement.

As one of the oldest and largest sites at the time, the torrent ecosystem lost another icon. However, as is often the case, another site with the same name quickly took over and is still operating today.

EZTV (2015)

The story of EZTV’s demise is quite different from the rest. The popular TV-torrent distribution group shut down last year after a hostile takeover.

Strangely enough, many people don’t even realize that it’s “gone.” The site continued to operate under new ownership and still releases torrents. However, in solidarity with the original founders these torrents are banned on several other sites.

YIFY/YTS (2015)

What started as a simple movie release group in 2010 turned into one of the largest torrent icons. The group amassed a huge following and its website was generating millions of pageviews per day early last year.

In November 2015 this ended abruptly. Facing a million dollar lawsuit from Hollywood, the group’s founder decided to pull the plug and call it quits. Even though various copycats have since emerged, the real YIFY/YTS is no more.

KickassTorrents (2016)

Three weeks ago Polish law enforcement officers arrested Artem Vaulin, the alleged owner of KickassTorrents. The arrest resulted in the shutdown of the site, which came as a shock to millions of KAT users and the torrent community at large.

Out of nowhere, the largest torrent index disappeared and there are no signs that it’s coming back anytime soon. The site’s community, meanwhile, has found a new home at Katcr.to.

Torrentz (2016)

Torrentz is the last torrent site to cease its operations. Although no official explanation was given, some of the stories outlined above were probably weighed into the founders’ decision.

—

So what will the future bring? Who will be the next giant to fall? It’s obvious that nearly nothing last forever in the torrent ecosystem. Well, apart from the ever-resilient Pirate Bay.

And there are several other alternatives still around as well. ExtraTorrent has been around for a decade now and continues to grow, and the same is true for other popular torrent sites.

At least, for now…

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.

For closing on 20 years, online piracy has been the bane of the music industry. Starting off relatively small due to limited speed Internet connections, the phenomenon boomed as broadband took hold.

In the years that followed, countless millions of tracks were shared among like-minded Internet users eager to keep up with their favorite artists and to discover those they never knew existed.

But with 2016 almost two-thirds done, legal music availability has never been better and the excuses for obtaining all content illegally are slowly disappearing over the horizon, for those who can afford it at least.

Nevertheless, one type of piracy refuses to go away, no matter how well-off the consumer. By definition, pre-release music is officially unavailable to buy, so money is completely out of the equation. Such leaks are the ultimate forbidden fruit for hardcore fans of all standing, including those most likely to shell out for the real thing.

This means that the major labels regularly cite pre-release leaks as the most damaging form of piracy, as they are unable to compete with the unauthorized copies already available. Release plans and marketing drives are planned and paid for in advance, and record companies are reluctant to change them.

As a result, such leaks are often followed by extreme outbursts from labels which slam leakers and downloaders alike. That’s perhaps understandable but there are better ways of getting the message over without attacking fans. Last week, drum and bass, dubstep, breakbeat and house stars Noisia showed how it should be done after their long-awaited album Outer Edges leaked online six weeks early.

“Friday night, while we were in the final minutes of setting up the stage for our first ever Outer Edges show, we received the news that our album had been leaked. We think you can imagine how bad we felt at that moment,” the trio told fans on Facebook.

“We realize it’s 2016, and things like these happen all the time. Still, it’s quite a setback. All the plans we’ve made have to be scrapped and replaced by something less ideal, because we have to react to this unfortunate situation.”

In the DnB scene Noisia are absolutely huge but despite their success have chosen to stay close to their fans. The trio run their own label (Vision Recordings) so have more control than many artists, thus allowing them to give fans unprecedented access to their music.

“So far in releasing this album, we’ve made a conscious effort to make every track that’s available somewhere, available everywhere. If you pre-ordered the album on Itunes or our webstore, you received the new track the same day it was first premiered on Soundcloud,” Noisia continue.

“We believe that users of all platforms should be able to listen to our music pretty much the minute it’s available anywhere else. In this philosophy, the availability of our whole album on illegal download sites means that we have to make it available on all platforms.”

So, instead of going off on a huge rant, Noisia leapt into action.

“We have immediately changed all our previous plans and made the whole album available to buy on our web store right now,” the band announced on the day of the leak.

Sadly, other digital platforms couldn’t move as quickly, so most only got the release on Friday. Physical products couldn’t be moved either due to production limitations, so they will appear on the original schedule.

“Even though we are unhappy about this leak, we’re still really happy with the music. We really hope you will enjoy it as much as we’ve enjoyed making it,” Noisia said.

With this reaction to what must’ve been a hugely disappointing leak, Noisia showed themselves to be professionals. No crying, no finger pointing, just actions to limit the impact of the situation alongside a decision to compete with free, both before and after the leak.

Nevertheless, Thijs, Martijn and Nik are human after all, so they couldn’t resist taking a little shot at whoever leaked their music. No threats of lawsuits of course, but a decent helping of sarcasm and dark humor.

“Thanks to whoever leaked our album, next time please do it after the album is out, maybe we can coordinate? Oh wait, that wouldn’t really be leaking… And besides, we don’t negotiate with terror..leaking persons,” they said.

“No, instead we will fold, and adjust our entire strategy. Take that! We hope you get stung by a lot of mosquitoes this summer, and maybe also next summer.”

Noisia’s next album will probably take years to arrive (Outer Edges took six years) but when it does, don’t expect to be warned months in advance. The trio are already vowing to do things differently next time, so expect the unexpected.

Noisia make a lot of their music available for free on Soundcloud, YouTube and ad-supported Spotify.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.