Every single week thousands of copyright holders and anti-piracy companies demand that Google removes links to allegedly infringing content.

The effort required to deal with this deluge is considerable. Google has received as many as 11 million requests in a single week and in 2014 alone the search giant processed some 345 million URL takedowns.

While it’s believed that most takedown requests are accurate, Google still does its best to ensure that erroneous notices don’t negatively affect legitimate online services. Google regularly rejects overbroad and inaccurate notices but like everyone else, the company isn’t perfect.

The latest head-shaker arrives courtesy of anti-piracy outfit Takedown Piracy (TDP). Acting on behalf of porn outfit Wicked Pictures, TDP sent Google a notice containing thousands of URLs targeting dozens of well and lesser-known file-sharing sites.

Sadly, however, the notice also targeted coding site Github – over and over and over again. And Google complied.

“The materials reported in this notice are the copyrighted DVD/videos of Wicked Pictures,” the notice begins.

Not exactly.

Impure Takedown

Two URLs targeted – github.com/yahoo/pure and github.com/yahoo/pure/releases/ belong to the Pure.css project. Described as “a set of small, responsive CSS modules that you can use in every web project”, Pure.css is owned by Yahoo.

Apparent reason for takedown: Wicked has a movie titled Impure Hunger

On the rebound

“Rebound is a java library that models spring dynamics. Rebound spring models can be used to create animations that feel natural by introducing real world physics to your application,” the project’s lead in begins.

Sadly, TDP thinks that this BSD-licensed Facebook-owned project’s URLs (1) (2) infringes on its client’s copyrights.

Thanks to another takedown, a separate project of the same name exploring “collisional dynamics” and operated by several academics is now harder to find too.

Their crimes? Wicked’s “Stormy Daniels” has a movie called Rebound.

Get down Netflix

In June 2013, Netflix announced Lipstick, the company’s open source Pig workflow visualization tool.

Unfortunately for the movie streaming outfit TDP believes that their Github project located at https://github.com/Netflix/Lipstick infringes Wicked Picture’s copyrights.

Another project, also titled Lipstick, was also accused of doing the same.

Reason for takedown? Wicked has a movie title containing the same word.

A wickedly poor choice of name

If only the people behind the free Linux-based operating system openSUSE had been a little more cautious. When selecting a name for their network configuration tool located here there were millions to choose from.

But by titling their project ‘Wicked’ they became sitting ducks for several URL takedowns by an adult company of the same name.

The same goes for Wicked Charts, whose main URL for their “beautiful and interactive javascript charts” has been delisted from Google. The Schneems ‘wicked’ project likewise.

No pushover

Wicked Pictures’ 1999 movie Pushover has a lot to answer for too.

Takedown Piracy hit Google with demands to delist the main URLs for no less than ten Github projects simply because they had the word ‘pushover’ in their titles.

https://github.com/Thibauth/python-pushover

https://github.com/tcnksm/vagrant-pushover

https://github.com/substack/pushover

https://github.com/sps/pushover4j

https://github.com/qbit/node-pushover

https://github.com/laprice/pushover

https://github.com/kryap/php-pushover

https://github.com/danesparza/Pushover.NET

https://github.com/jnwatts/pushover.sh

https://github.com/dyaa/Laravel-pushover

https://github.com/erniebrodeur/pushover

Tip of the iceberg

The above are just a few examples from a single takedown notice which can be viewed on ChillingEffects. It makes disappointing reading.

In Takedown Piracy’s defense the company has sent 39.6 million URL notices to Google since 2011. However, that will be of little comfort to the many legitimate projects which are now harder to find due to the company’s errors.

Conclusion: Always blaming Google

Taking a wider look at Google’s Transparency Report, one discovers that Github is being targeted on a regular basis by a wide range of copyright holders. Few if any bother to send a notice to Github itself. If they did they might make few mistakes, but carpet-bombing Google is much easier, quicker and cheaper.

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

Blocking of file-sharing related sites is becoming widespread in Europe, particularly so in the UK. In fact, it’s now almost impossible to access a top torrent site from any of the country’s leading ISPs, with the notable exception of OldPirateBay since the site is so new.

Users in the United States can’t rest easy either. As reported here in December, the MPAA is working hard to introduce site-blocking by utilizing creative interpretations of existing law. It seems unlikely that Hollywood will stop until it gets its way.

It’s becoming clear that Internet users everywhere will need to prepare if they want unfettered access to the Internet. While that can be achieved using premium services such as VPNs, there will always be those looking for a free solution. Today we have news of one such product.

In appearance PirateSnoop looks a lot like the popular Chrome browser. In fact the only immediate giveaway that things are a little different is the existence of a small pirate-themed button on the right hand side of its toolbar.

Underneath, however, PirateSnoop is based on the freeware web browser SRWare Iron which aims to eliminate some of the privacy-compromising features present in Google Chrome. PirateSnoop is then augmented with special extensions to enable its site unblocking features.

PirateSnoop (PS) was created by the team at public torrent site RARBG. While certainly less referenced by the mainstream media than The Pirate Bay for example, RARBG is now the 7th most popular torrent site in the world and a force to be reckoned with. It was also blocked by major UK ISPs recently.

Anti-censorship agenda

“Nazi Germany had less censorship than we have today on the Internet,” the PS team informs TorrentFreak.

“However you are not paying for the Internet itself to your ISPs, but for the carrying of the Internet connectivity. ISPs are legally enforced by their countries to block content and what we are worried about is that little to none of the ISPs decided to fight any blocking court order.”

PirateSnoop vs PirateBrowser

The web-blocking features of PirateSnoop are similar to those of The Pirate Bay’s PirateBrowser, but there are some important differences. Although users are not rendered anonymous, PirateBrowser uses the TOR network. PirateSnoop sees this as problematic as torrent sites are increasingly blocking TOR IPs.

“The TOR network is abused by a lot of people – uploading fakes for example. It’s also used by DMCA agencies to scan sites. TOR is no longer an option to access sites. Its blocked on almost every site I know,” a dev explains.

Instead, PirateSnoop uses its own custom proxy network which utilizes full HTTPS instead of the HTTP used by basic proxies. Just like a regular browser to website connection, PS allows websites to see their users’ IP addresses (unless they’re using a VPN) in order to cut down on abuse.

Overall, PirateSnoop should be a faster browsing solution than PirateBrowser, its creators say.

Limitations and future upgrades

Currently several major blocked sites are supported by PirateSnoop but there are a couple of omissions. However, the team is prepared to expand the browser’s reach based on user demand.

“Any site that is requested to be added will be added immediately with no questions asked,” the team note.

The PirateSnoop team say they are committed to upgrades of their software to include proxy updates (added automatically upon browser restart) and full browser updates following any Iron browser core updates.

PirateSnoop can be downloaded here (using BitTorrent, of course).

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

For well over a decade TVTorrents.com has served TV fans from all over the world. The site started in 2003 as a public torrent index and later transformed into one of the best known private trackers.

In recent months, however, the site has suffered frequent outages. Citing hosting problems and technical failures, TVTorrents suffered weeks of downtime.

In a surprise announcement today, the TVTorrent’s owners mark the end of the road for the troubled site. Without providing any background to their decision, the site has shut down permanently.

“Due to recent events the site will not be coming back,” a message on the site’s homepage reads.

“Thanks for all the support and good times throughout the years. For all the haters, go hate on something else or get a life.”

The site leaves behind tens of thousands of users, some of whom have been regulars for more than 10 years. For them, there’s no other option than to find a new home.

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

Despite their reputation for being poor quality, so-called ‘cam’ copies of movies remain popular with movie fans. On the other hand, these bootlegs – which are the product of unauthorized in-cinema recording – remain terribly unpopular with the movie industry itself.

Over the years Hollywood has lobbied for draconian laws all around the world to deal with the problem. On home turf legislation is now particularly tough, with lengthy jail sentences for those caught recording the latest blockbusters. Elsewhere the strength of the law varies, but that hasn’t stopped the industry from using all of the tools at its disposal.

There have been a number of “camming” cases in the UK in recent years, some of which have resulted in lengthy sentences for the accused. And in what appears to be a world first, a trial currently underway in central England involves the prosecution of an individual alleged to have gone equipped to “cam” a movie in full 3D.

According to reports from Birmingham Crown Court, Ciprian Florea attended a Cineworld cinema in the city during November 2013 with the express intention of making an unauthorized copy of the space blockbuster ‘Gravity’.

Making effective camcorder copies of 3D movies is not straightforward but the prosecution said the 28-year-old had prepared for the job in hand.

Florea, a student of film technology at Birmingham City University, is said to have hired two special high-definition cameras the day before his arrest. These had been placed in a custom-made box in order to record the left and right eye as required for 3D imaging.

Florea admits making the device and taking it into the cinema, but denies he intended to make a copy of the movie.

“It is not disputed that the defendant made that camera. He says he did not intend to use it in the auditorium,” said Sally Cairns, prosecuting.

“The prosecution say that is exactly what he intended to do. That is why he went to the cinema, that is why he bought the tickets to see the 3D film Gravity on that night.”

With no specific “camming” legislation available to the prosecution, Florea stands accused of possessing a 3D camera with intent to commit fraud, i.e the recording and subsequent distribution of the movie.

“This trial is about piracy, film piracy,” Cairns said. “Specifically the illegal recording of films from cinema screens and then potentially distributing them, showing them, sharing them with others.”

According to the Birmingham Mail the case is also unusual in that Florea had not even reached the screening room before his device was confiscated by security.

“He had something around his neck, a sort of box,” a security guard told the Court. “I saw a red light and that is when I turned around. I though this could be a recording device. It did not look like a usual camera.”

The Federation Against Copyright Theft confirmed to TF that the case is underway but declined further comment. For the Cineworld chain involved in the case, this is the second time in the headlines in as many months.

In December 2014, Cineworld made headlines when staff called police to tackle children they believed had been recording the movie The Hunger Games. The innocent kids were cleared by police of all wrong doing.

A representative for Cineworld informs TorrentFreak that following the event the chain is now revisiting its policies.

“It is for the police to decide whether they feel it is appropriate to act on the information provided to them. In this case, the police decided that there were sufficient grounds for suspicion and chose to attend the cinema,” a spokesperson said.

“However, we have taken on board the concerns expressed by the parents and we are reviewing how the policy is applied to younger customers.”

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

OpenBitTorrent, PublicBT and Istole.it are three of the largest BitTorrent trackers on the Internet, coordinating the downloads of 30 million people at any given point in time.

This means that these non-commercial services handle a staggering three billion connections per day – each.

However, over the past several weeks the three trackers have been offline most of the time. While they have had their fair share of downtime in the past, it’s not often that these top trackers become unresponsive all at once.

OpenBitTorrent was the first to go offline early December. The domain name, registered to Pirate Bay’s Fredrik Neij, disappeared without notice leaving many downloaders in the cold.

Not much later the PublicBT and Istole.it trackers folded too. The latter was hit by the Pirate Bay raid as collateral damage, alongside several other BitTorrent related services.

During the weeks that followed the three trackers have worked hard on a comeback. There have been ups and downs, but now they’re all up and running again.

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