The Oscars is the biggest award show of the year and is closely followed by hundreds of millions of movie fans.

This week the new nominees were announced and as usual that triggered a spike in sales, theater visits and illegal downloads.

The interest of torrent users for Best Picture nominee “The Theory of Everything” quadrupled almost instantly, and several other titles saw similar spikes.

With help from Andy Baio, who has been collecting detailed piracy stats for the Oscar-nominees since 2003, we can also reveal how many of the films are already available along with some other interesting trends.

What stands out immediately is how widely available the films are. Of all 2015 nominees, except documentary and foreign films, 34 of the 36 films (95%) are present on pirate sites.

Only the animated feature film “Song of The Sea” and best original song nominee “Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me” have yet to appear online.

The films that are available don’t all come in perfect quality of course. “Beyond the Lights,” for example, only leaked in a CAM (camcorded) version. Most, however, are available in relatively decent screener, DVDRip or comparable quality.

Ironically enough, nearly all of the pirated screener copies appear to have been leaked from Academy sources.

The data further shows that it takes an average of 25 days until first leak appears online. In 2015 retail DVDs leaked faster than in previous years, in part due to shorter release windows.

“Two Days One Night” leaked the earliest, with a DVD quality copy of the movie becoming available more than two months before its official U.S. release date. “The Grand Budapest Hotel” took the longest with a total of 88 days.

While relatively unknown films see a serious spike in downloads after the nominations, most interest goes out to the traditional blockbusters. Of all nominees The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies remains the most popular with more than two million downloads over the past week.

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

Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number is a 2D top-down video game developed by Dennaton Games and published by Devolver Digital. It’s the follow-up to the original Hotline Miami which developed into a fan favorite shifting hundreds of thousands of units in its first weeks on sale.

While HM2 is set to ride on its predecessor’s successes, its nature means that the some gamers will not be seeing the game on shelves, virtual or otherwise. The problem lies with HM2’s depiction of sex and violence, often in the same scenes.

Kotaku, for example, has a report on one particular scene which involves lots of killing rounded off with what appears to be rape. While this scene isn’t the only culprit, it’s all been too much for the Australian Classification Board, the body tasked with ensuring titles are suitable for a local audience.

According to government guidelines, publications that “depict, express or otherwise deal with matters of sex, drug misuse or addiction, crime, cruelty, violence or revolting or abhorrent phenomena in such a way that they offend against the standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable adults to the extent that they should not be classified” will not be classified.

As a result the Australian Classification Board has now effectively banned Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number in Australia meaning that Aussies won’t be able to get their hands on the title. Well not by official means of course.

Normally this kind of situation would see gamers disappearing off to torrent sites hoping to obtain the title without being caught. However, thanks to HM2’s developers they can not only still do the former but can do so without any fear of the latter.

The move was uncovered by Reddit user Max Cartwright who wrote to Jonatan Söderström, co-creator of Hotline Miami, expressing disappointment at the game being banned.

“As you obviously are aware, Hotline Miami 2 has been refused classification in Australia. This killed me, knowing that there is no legitimate way to purchase one of my most anticipated games,” Cartwright began.

“My question to you is, how would you, as the developer, most prefer me to obtain your game? I was thinking maybe I could torrent it and donate to you directly, but I’m not a fan of torrenting games and I don’t want to get in legal trouble.”

Söderström responded, and it was everything Cartwright could’ve hoped for.

“If it ends up not being released in Australia, just pirate it after release,” Söderström said. “No need to send us any money, just enjoy the game!”

With the email confirmed as genuine it now seems that Australians will not only be able to bypass the censors but do so with permission – a somewhat unique situation for commercially available title.

For their part, Devolver Digital have expressed disappointment at the decision not to classify but say they have no plans to censor the title.

“We are concerned and disappointed that a board of professionals tasked with evaluating and judging games fairly and honestly would stretch the facts to such a degree and issue a report that describes specific thrusting actions that are not simply present in the sequence in question and incorrectly portrays what was presented to them for review,” the company said.

This isn’t the first time that the creators of Hotline Miami have rubbed shoulders with pirates. In 2012 the developer took the decision to give customer support and a special patch to users of The Pirate Bay who had downloaded the game without paying for it.

Playing nice with pirates worked out well two years ago. Let’s see how that pans out second time around.

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

Founded in 2005, the TV-torrent site EZTV has served torrents for nearly a decade.

Over the past several years it has maintained a steady user-base and with millions of users it’s undoubtedly the most used TV-torrent site on the Internet today.

This popularity hasn’t gone unnoticed by copyright holders. The site has already been blocked in the UK via court order and there are efforts underway elsewhere to frustrate the site’s operations.

Most recently EZTV ran into trouble with the Italian domain name registry NIC.it over some paperwork. Facing a possible confiscation of the EZTV.it domain name, they saw no other option than to switch to a new home.

Without going into detail, EZTV’s NovaKing tells TF that a complaint from copyright holders is likely to be the driving force behind the recent issues.

“NIC.it hasn’t been very cooperative in trying to find a solution. While they haven’t admitted it on the record, it wouldn’t surprise me if they were pressured by copyright holders,” NovaKing says.

EZTV’s domain registrar EuroDNS suggested several options to resolve the problems but all these paths were fruitless.

With the Italian registry not willing to cooperate, EZTV decided not to wait any longer and has now ditched the .it domain. EZTV swiftly relocated to a new home using the Swiss TLD EZTV.ch.

The Swiss domain name wasn’t chosen for any reason in particular, it was just the most convenient option for now.

“We have a stockpile of domain names in reserve. The Swiss domain was the easiest option as that was already partially setup, but we can easily relocate again if needed,” NovaKing says.

And so the Whack-A-Mole can continue for a while.

For EZTV the domain intervention is a relatively minor inconvenience. The site has faced bigger problems in the past. Just last month it was down for nearly two weeks after its servers were taken offline in the Pirate Bay raid.

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

Last week a flood of DVD screener copies of Oscar-nominated movies hit torrent sites. The Hobbit, Birdman, The Imitation Game, Selma, American Sniper, Unbroken, Big Hero 6, Into the Woods, and Big Eyes all appeared online.

But the leakers still hadn’t finished. The Gambler, Inherent Vice, A Most Violent Year and Kill The Messenger appeared on public sites and those more private, followed by Cake and Wild this week.

But while those are all Western titles, it is a movie hailing from the East that offers the most interesting back-story, from both political and piracy perspectives.

Partially financed by the Russian Culture Ministry, Leviathan tells the story of a man fighting against corruption in a Russia depicted as dark and cruel. Leviathan just picked up the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film and is also nominated for an Oscar.

Like all of its counterparts listed above, Leviathan too has leaked onto the Internet in DVD screener format. However, what is particularly interesting is how the movie’s makers are handling this development.

“All the films nominated for an Oscar have been downloaded by pirates. We are not going to pursue anybody,” Leviathan producer Alexander Rodnyansky told local media.

While that might be music to the ears of file-sharers, the response from fellow digital producer Slava Smirnov generates yet more interest in the movie. In solidarity with the filmmakers, Smirnov has just launched an independent website with the aim of taking donations from downloaders and forwarding that money to the crew of Leviathan.

“As a result of leakage of all films nominated for an Oscar in 2015, the film Leviathan was on the Internet before it hit the box office in Russia,” a note on the site reads.

“Here you can express gratitude to the team of the film, using a simple form to transfer any amount. Fundraising will continue until February 5, 2015.”

Speaking with local press, Alexander Rodnyansky said the team behind the movie appreciates the gesture.

“That’s an amazing story, it seems, unprecedented even. A talented young man named Slava Smirnov made this site on his own initiative and to him we are very grateful,” he said.

“If any of those who have downloaded and watched Leviathan would like to express their response to our film in a tangible form, they can do so through this website.”

But while Rodnyansky offers his clear support to the fundraiser, he’s actually refusing to take any of its proceeds. The producer says any donations should be sent directly to the children’s cancer charity “Give Life” founded by actresses Chulpan Khamatova and Dina Korzun.

In the meantime Leviathan continues to be downloaded from dozens of sources, a situation worsened by the fact that the movie won’t go on general release in Russia until next month. That has prompted rumors that the filmmakers themselves leaked the movie. Rodnyansky refutes the claim.

“No, we certainly did not upload a copy of the film to the Internet. But be aware that there is always a risk of leakage, and it is huge,” Rodnyansky says.

“One of the most popular online issues (and it is not the most pleasant for me) remains the question of the Russian theatrical release date. Why does a full release in the Russian homeland come so late, after already rolling out in France, the UK, Switzerland, Korea and other countries?”

While angry over the leak and late release window, Rodnyansky is also disappointed that the quality of the copy being made available online is not up to standard. Nevertheless, there are some upsides, with various publications and the public now increasingly “warming” to the movie.

“These considerations guided me when I say that we will not pursue viewers who have downloaded ‘Leviathan’ before the premiere. Viewers we will not pursue, but [takedowns] on pirate sites – that is necessary,” Rodnyansky concludes.

Finally, there’s another twist that may only encourage pirate downloads of Leviathan, even when the movie screens next month. The DVD screener copy which leaked from an Academy member on January 11 is full and uncut. However, the Kremlin insists that Leviathan will have to be edited before release to remove unacceptable levels of profanity.

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

The unprecedented Sony hack has put cybersecurity on top of the political agenda in the United States.

Just last week Representative Ruppersberger re-introduced the controversial CISPA bill and yesterday President Obama announced his new cybersecurity plans.

New measures are needed to “investigate, disrupt and prosecute” cybercrime as recent events have shown that criminals can and will exploit current weaknesses, according to the White House

“In this interconnected, digital world, there are going to be opportunities for hackers to engage in cyber assaults both in the private sector and the public sector,” President Obama notes.

Together with Congress the Obama administration hopes to draft a new bill that will address these concerns. Among other things, the new plan aims to improve information sharing between private Internet companies and the Government.

Privacy advocates argue that this kind of data sharing endangers the rights of citizens, who may see more private data falling into the hands of the Government. President Obama, on the other hand, sees it as a necessity to stop attacks such as the Sony breach.

“Because if we don’t put in place the kind of architecture that can prevent these attacks from taking place, this is not just going to be affecting movies, this is going to be affecting our entire economy in ways that are extraordinarily significant,” the President cautions.

With the Sony hack Hollywood played a central role in putting cybersecurity back on the agenda. And although President Obama makes no mention of online piracy, the MPAA is quick to add it to the discussion.

In a statement responding to the new cybersecurity plans, MPAA CEO Chris Dodd notes that because of these criminals certain companies have their “digital products exposed and available online for anyone to loot.”

“That’s why law enforcement must be given the resources they need to police these criminal activities,” Dodd says.

The MPAA appears to blend the Sony hack with online piracy. It calls upon Congress to keep the interests of Hollywood in mind, and urges private actors including search engines and ISPs to help in curbing the piracy threat.

“… responsible participants in the Internet ecosystem – content creators, search, payment processors, ad networks, ISPs – need to work more closely together to forge initiatives to stop the unlawful spread of illegally-obtained content,” Dodd says.

Hollywood’s effort to frame online piracy as a broader cybersecurity threat is not entirely new.

Last year an entertainment industry backed report claimed that 90 percent of the top pirate sites link to malware or other unwanted software. In addition, two-thirds were said to link to credit card scams.

This report was later cited in a Senate Subcommittee hearing where the MPAA urged lawmakers to take steps so young Americans can be protected from the “numerous hazards on pirate sites.”

Whether a new cybersecurity bill will indeed include anti-piracy measures has yet to be seen. But for the MPAA it may be one of the few positive outcomes of the Sony hack, which exposed some of its best kept secrets in recent weeks.

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