Cisco Systems Names Chuck Robbins Next CEO

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1QZC0zO7Agqhc1wL5BQ7vddcEFuEthyt_iwYr2VNDAsBEqdDtMKrj8JFyQU077hgB5iwQ_UAFMXbLDKC1TmDnD1k9zTQFPQ7c-pn0emmXwBNlt0WlIcvU_mzf3uvgLy0wSp32281G1D4/s1600/chuck.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Cisco Systems Names Chuck Robbins Next CEO" border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1QZC0zO7Agqhc1wL5BQ7vddcEFuEthyt_iwYr2VNDAsBEqdDtMKrj8JFyQU077hgB5iwQ_UAFMXbLDKC1TmDnD1k9zTQFPQ7c-pn0emmXwBNlt0WlIcvU_mzf3uvgLy0wSp32281G1D4/s400/chuck.JPG" title="Cisco Systems Names Chuck Robbins Next CEO" width="400" /></a></div> <br /><br />Cisco Systems appointed Chuck Robbins as its next CEO, ending the 20-year run of John Chambers, viewed by many as an icon in Silicon Valley.<br /><br />Robbins will take over effective July 26, said Cisco in a statement released Monday. Chambers will stay on as Cisco's executive chairman and head the company board.<br /><br />"We've selected a very strong leader at a time when Cisco is in a very strong position," said Chambers in a statement.<br /><br />Shares of Cisco (CSCO) closed up 0.1% at $29.17. They're up nearly 5% for the year but are still less than half of what they were in 2000, before the dot-com bust.<br /><br />Chambers joined Cisco in 1991, helping the networking giant boost its revenue from $1.2 billion when he became CEO in 1995 to $47 billion as of Cisco's 2014 fiscal year.<br /><img alt="Cisco Systems Names Chuck Robbins Next CEO" height="400" src="http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/9065941e142eb769bb76794c742e08d1e14ee558/r=300/http/www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/9065941e142eb769bb76794c742e08d1e14ee558/r=300/http/www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/abb1675a1b84c6dba6d08c10b0ac6e6ea33b0574/c=313-0-2607-2294/local/-/media/2015/02/25/USATODAY/USATODAY/635604672414879601--John-Chambers-2007.jpg" title="Cisco Systems Names Chuck Robbins Next CEO" width="400" /><br /><br />USA TODAY<br /><br />With Chambers, Cisco was one (really) big family<br /><br />"His legacy will be he's the guy who built Cisco even though he wasn't the guy at the very beginning," says Forrester analyst Glenn O'Donnell.<br /><br />The shift at the top has been expected for a while, says O'Donnell, as Cisco joins other companies transitioning into newer businesses including the cloud. "As great a spokesman as John Chambers is for Cisco, I think it's going to need a different personality to lead it forward."<br /><img alt="Cisco Systems Names Chuck Robbins Next CEO" height="400" src="http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/9065941e142eb769bb76794c742e08d1e14ee558/r=300/http/www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/9065941e142eb769bb76794c742e08d1e14ee558/r=300/http/www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/3836c753e6a8d773bb9c7d4b322928182a5238e9/c=767-0-3806-3040/local/-/media/USATODAY/promo/2014/10/01/1412178074000-XXX-CES-hdb2385.JPG" title="Cisco Systems Names Chuck Robbins Next CEO" width="400" /><br /><br />USA TODAY<br /><br />Chambers' tenure was a tale of two eras<br /><br />For its next CEO, Cisco leans on another company veteran in Robbins, who joined in 1997. Robbins most recently served as Cisco's vice president of worldwide operations.<br /><br />"The opportunity that lies ahead for Cisco is enormous, and the ability to lead this next chapter is deeply humbling and incredibly exhilarating," said Robbins.<br />&lt;!--iframe--&gt;<br /><br />Robbins is seen as a "very respected" tech leader with a strong understanding of the cloud, says FBR Capital Markets analyst Daniel Ives. "Cisco as well as many of their traditional IT tech stalwart peers are facing challenges in their move to the cloud and need visionary leaders to be in the CEO helm for this all-important growth period," he says.<br /><img alt="Cisco Systems Names Chuck Robbins Next CEO" src="http://imgur.com/QFtuvMy.jpg" title="Cisco Systems Names Chuck Robbins Next CEO" /> <br /> <br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;">credit:usatoday </span>

Cisco Systems Names Chuck Robbins Next CEO

Cisco Systems appointed Chuck Robbins as its next CEO, ending the 20-year run of John Chambers, viewed by many as an icon in Silicon Valle...

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Zuckerberg, Tech Investors Fund AltSchool Initiative

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcBhKRkfO7F3RPlj6bN4kDVYOuq1Nk7KMlH77wGycKqCFKc5w_aXM3ljWN6jKKNi_1XixF9vpF15SX54KCMeSUosQX_s-E0FDP-K5XzbfA_L7mjIXzU6J2tR0StnElRE08vgDy4nNbQM8/s1600/mark.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Zuckerberg, tech investors fund AltSchool initiative" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcBhKRkfO7F3RPlj6bN4kDVYOuq1Nk7KMlH77wGycKqCFKc5w_aXM3ljWN6jKKNi_1XixF9vpF15SX54KCMeSUosQX_s-E0FDP-K5XzbfA_L7mjIXzU6J2tR0StnElRE08vgDy4nNbQM8/s400/mark.JPG" title="Zuckerberg, tech investors fund AltSchool initiative" width="300" /></a></div> <br /><br />SAN FRANCISCO – Education reform just got a $100 million boost from a range of high-profile tech investors including Mark Zuckerberg and Laurene Powell Jobs.<br /><br />AltSchool, a 2-year-old software-fueled elementary school initiative started by ex-Googler and Aardvark founder Max Ventilla, announced Monday a $100 million Series B round led by a mix of established venture capital firms and powerful social-good investors. To date, AltSchool's has raised $133 million.<br /><br />AltSchool uses proprietary software that provides students with a personalized "playlist" lesson that teachers can keep close tabs on. Currently, a few hundred students in four Bay Area classrooms use AltSchool tech, and three more California classrooms are expected to come online this fall, plus one in Brooklyn.<br /><br />"It's atypical to raise this much this quickly, but it will allow us to be aspirational," Ventilla tells USA TODAY. "The fact that we've got a mix of traditional investors and not-for-profits means we're blurring the lines. Everyone has the same vision, that it's good to have well-capitalized companies going after problems in large spaces."<br /><img alt="Zuckerberg, tech investors fund AltSchool initiative" src="http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/9065941e142eb769bb76794c742e08d1e14ee558/r=300/http/www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/9065941e142eb769bb76794c742e08d1e14ee558/r=300/http/www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/01395768f29d4c843ac33145e6879e60391cdb59/c=410-0-1946-1536/local/-/media/2015/01/22/USATODAY/USATODAY/635575297708167580-XXX-money-Mandaro-20150115-192703.JPG" title="Zuckerberg, tech investors fund AltSchool initiative" /><br /><br />USA TODAY<br /><br />Change Agents: One tech vet's education dream<br /><br />Besides substantial investments in the round by Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan's Silicon Valley Community Foundation as well as Jobs' social justice-focused Emerson Collective, round leaders also include Series A investors Founders Fund and Andreessen Horowitz.<br /><img alt="Zuckerberg, tech investors fund AltSchool initiative" src="http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/6c54c42b8214f617215800637cfdca9e170ee6b5/c=91-0-846-568&r=x383&c=540x380/local/-/media/2015/05/01/USATODAY/USATODAY/635661094090337469-AltX.png" title="Zuckerberg, tech investors fund AltSchool initiative" /><br /><br />AltSchool offers teachers a more detailed way to interact with students via proprietary software. (Photo: AltSchool)<br /><br />"It happens to be a great software investment that also will transform education as we know it," says Andreessen partner Lars Dalgaard. "The bias in this country toward standardized testing drives me crazy. We need to be teaching kids how to ask questions, not just to answer them. AltSchool can make education much more dynamic."<br /><br />Education reform is a subject that's been debated almost as long as there's been education. But with the mushrooming of society's technological capabilities, there's a growing push to leverage tech to radically shift the way children learn.<br /><br />Examples of tech-enabled education trends include online learning (so-called MOOCs, or massive open online courses) and tweaked collegiate experiences (San Francisco-based Minerva gathers students in the same city but their professor interactions are all online). But none has reached critical mass and most don't focus on the critical early-learning phase.<br /><img alt="Zuckerberg, tech investors fund AltSchool initiative" src="http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/786ca09f1b2969bfd1bf2281dffca6e62af11e90/c=318-0-5298-3744&r=x383&c=540x380/local/-/media/2015/05/01/USATODAY/USATODAY/635661066363768276-altschool-21734.jpg" title="Zuckerberg, tech investors fund AltSchool initiative" /><br /><br />Max Ventilla, founder of AltSchool, has a vision for education that allows teachers to be their best selves leveraging technology. (Photo: Tom Hood)<br /><br />For Founders Fund partner Brian Singerman, investing in AltSchool was simply a matter of "recognizing something that would have been great for me growing up, because kids simply don't learn at the same pace. AltSchool is a combination of technologists and educators joining forces to help teachers do their job better. They want to get away from the lectures and toward small-group education."<br /><br />AltSchool aims to keep the traditional teacher-student and student-student relationships intact while using software to allow teachers to better assess the individual learning needs of each student, says Ventilla.<br /><br />"We haven't had a new model in education for some time," he says. "Montessori schools are progressive, but that's an idea that's over 100 years old and there's no real role for technology in it. We think you can have intensely personalized learning aided by tech while preserving the benefits of one-on-one interactions."<br /><br />Ventilla says his team presently consists of 110 employees, about 45 of whom are engineers. He is baffled that education seems to buck the traditional formula that defines success in tech.<br /><img alt="Zuckerberg, tech investors fund AltSchool initiative" src="http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/c1caf5695b434f668f6b56551bc089814ff322fc/c=58-0-965-682&r=x383&c=540x380/local/-/media/2015/05/01/USATODAY/USATODAY/635661067799151879-jobs.JPG" title="Zuckerberg, tech investors fund AltSchool initiative" /><br /><br />Laurene Powell Jobs is one of the Series B investors in AltSchool, through her social-justice fund Emerson Collective. (Photo: Stephen Lam, Getty Images)<br /><br />"In tech, desirability goes up the more people use something, and yet in education it's the opposite," as in, Harvard is very desirable in part because it will admit so few, he says.<br /><br />"We will use this new funding to further explore the best practices in teaching, with a goal to create a platform that's available to all. Why are teachers still creating lesson plans from scratch? Why are they reinventing the wheel?" Ventilla asks.<br /><br />"The energy should be put into tweaking lesson plans, assessing the student and communicating with parents. Our students are ranked 36th among developed countries (in math) and aren't doing much better in reading and science. That's got to change."<br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">credit:usatoday </span>

Zuckerberg, Tech Investors Fund AltSchool Initiative

SAN FRANCISCO – Education reform just got a $100 million boost from a range of high-profile tech investors including Mark Zuckerberg an...

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25 Websites To Help You Make More Money In Between Gigs

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpKhaPa46WnYV2tTbMezgPQ-CApW3lgP3703X4whj_dQGj40l-RahBwOOWYNdznAVeh78iBlCcGDtwBObdLTLFu8ShQKIrssr-uiIGN0m4Jch9JszZiM1IQcsjLCYOXouBkZptiasnXGU/s1600/make+money.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="25 Websites To Help You Make More Money In Between Gigs" border="0" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpKhaPa46WnYV2tTbMezgPQ-CApW3lgP3703X4whj_dQGj40l-RahBwOOWYNdznAVeh78iBlCcGDtwBObdLTLFu8ShQKIrssr-uiIGN0m4Jch9JszZiM1IQcsjLCYOXouBkZptiasnXGU/s400/make+money.png" title="25 Websites To Help You Make More Money In Between Gigs" width="400" /></a></div> <br /><br />Yesterday, over 100 million dollars was made by people without a job. How did they do it? They had something to share. Remember in grade school when you shared your sandwich with the kid next to you? Well, there are now websites that hook you up with those who want what you have (apartments, cars, theater tickets, spouses, you name it), making helping others profitable. You can earn money if you have spare time, a spare room, or a spare tire. <br /><br />Now, when I travel, I stay with delightful people in their homes, use their neighbors’ car, and call on Uber to take me to the airport. I also make money on the home I’ve vacated, renting it out through a service that does that sort of thing. I’ve gone from spending money on vacation to making money on vacation. I even found a great graphic designer on Elance.com (link is external) and found my book editor from her Craigslist (link is external) ad. <br /><br />So, if your Kickstarter campaign didn’t turn your venture into Google, if you’ve aged out of the workplace, or you’re waiting for your big break, here are some ways you can take advantage of the new sharing economy. <br /><br />1. Airbnb (link is external) out a room — Yes, ‘Airbnb’ is now used as a verb, just like Google. If you live in or near a desirable location (you can lie about your age and your weight, but this is harder) and have an extra room (or don't mind sleeping on the couch) you can earn around $100 a night hosting travelers. Minus some fees, that brings in something like 35K a year! (Also check out: Misterbnb (link is external) (a gay-friendly take on Airbnb), VacationRentals (link is external), and VRBO (link is external)). <br /><br />2. Walk a dog. According to Rover.com (link is external) (ready to be your best friend), you can make $40 a day by dog-sitting. Take in two dogs and do the math. If you commit to 4 days a week, that comes to almost $17K a year. (Other ideas: DogVacay (link is external), Care.com, (link is external) and Fetch! Pet Care (link is external)). <br /><br />3. Do you look cute in a chauffeur’s hat? Drive people around. If you’ve got a full house, you may want to get out for a few hours and go for a drive. Why not get paid for it? Uber (link is external) drivers who work just a few hours a night, five nights a week earn over $26K a year. (Check out Lyft (link is external) and SideCar (link is external), as well). <br /><br />4. Sell stuff on eBay. (link is external)We all have shoes we no longer wear, sweaters we’re sick of, a fondue set or Turkish coffee maker we never use. There are folks willing to buy just about anything. Got a hobby? If not, get one, and then start monetizing it on sites like eBay (link is external), Amazon, (link is external) Craigslist (link is external), Etsy (link is external), and Threadflip (link is external). Even the most unlikely hobby can fatten up your bank account. Someone I know fixes old watches and then sells them on eBay, bringing in up to $100 a week. I know another guy that made $20K one year by reselling paint-by-number kits. (Hint: People love old crap. The kitschier, the better. Earn some green for that spring clean). <br /><br />5. Help someone. Lend a helping hand and TaskRabbit (link is external)will put some cash in it. This site outsources people’s errands (grocery shopping, housekeeping, repairs, etc). The user lists a task and others post bids. What you earn depends on the task, but even just a few errands a week could bring in $15K a year. FancyHands (link is external) and Craigslist (link is external) offer a similar deal. If you're great with kids, check out Care.com (link is external) and SitterCity (link is external) (I know someone who charges $25 an hour-- IN CASH!) If you're interested in branding and advertisement, Gigwalk (link is external) is a cool way to get paid for helping companies do market research. <br /><br />6. Can you write? Are you tech-savvy? Got an hour or two to spare? Become a freelancer and earn money for your skills, without even leaving the couch (or putting on pants!) Sites such as oDesk (link is external), Elance (link is external), PeoplePerHour (link is external), Freelancer (link is external) and Guru (link is external) list 100,000+ jobs every month within a wide range of job categories. The best part is its flexibility: long-term, short-term, pay-by-hour, pay-by-project - there's something for literally everyone. How much you make depends on the kind of work you're doing, but even writing up a short blurb for a website can earn you $50 or more. <br /><br />Now, SHARE this with your friends and followers so they, too, can cash in on the SHARING economy!<br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">credit:psychologytoday </span>

25 Websites To Help You Make More Money In Between Gigs

Yesterday, over 100 million dollars was made by people without a job. How did they do it? They had something to share. Remember in grade s...

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Does Eating Your Carrots Make You More Creative?

 <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyHdBMZOe3gu_Cu5enNtUSrbFLj72YbqSVmzk2QWSuQufe2NSQNqubWdODWcVuhecbcHsinWaqTcYTGbz5xkk2TBiY-sK4uBSfm7QgHF0GYftbiX-QBhCurydu-2bnmbmyc8RnNgtd6LU/s1600/Vegetables.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Does Eating Your Carrots Make You More Creative?" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyHdBMZOe3gu_Cu5enNtUSrbFLj72YbqSVmzk2QWSuQufe2NSQNqubWdODWcVuhecbcHsinWaqTcYTGbz5xkk2TBiY-sK4uBSfm7QgHF0GYftbiX-QBhCurydu-2bnmbmyc8RnNgtd6LU/s400/Vegetables.jpg" title="Does Eating Your Carrots Make You More Creative?" width="400" /></a><br /> Eating my veggies always makes me feel self-nurturing and virtuous, and that’s a boost to my happiness and self-esteem. But the mental health benefits of a well-nourished mind don’t end there. A new study hints that eating fruits and vegetables might also make me more curious and creative. <br /> <br /> In previous studies, people who ate more fruits and vegetables reported feeling happier and more satisfied with their lives. This relationship persisted even when researchers controlled for factors such as income, education and physical activity. <br /> <br /> In the new study (link is external), more than 400 young adults completed daily online diaries for two weeks. Each day, they recorded what they were eating, feeling and doing. Below, lead researcher Tamlin Conner (link is external), Ph.D., a psychology lecturer at the University of Otago in New Zealand, explains what the results revealed. <br /> <br /> What were the key findings of your study? <br /> <br /> Dr. Conner: On days when people ate more fruits and vegetables, they reported feeling much happier than they normally did. But even more strongly than happiness, daily fruit and vegetable consumption predicted states of eudaemonic well-being — how engaged and inspired people felt that day, how interested and curious they were in their environment and how creative they felt. In fact, these patterns for flourishing were almost twice as strong as the patterns found with happiness. <br /> <br /> Might it be that people who ate fruits and veggies also tended to stay healthier and exercise more, and that’s what helped them flourish psychologically? <br /> <br /> Dr. Conner: This is a good question. If people were having a healthy day, they might eat better, exercise more and feel better because of the exercise, not the diet. However, in follow-up analyses, I controlled for daily exercise and daily health ratings, and the original findings still held. <br /> <br /> How could eating fruits and vegetables enhance someone’s psychological well-being? <br /> <br /> Dr. Conner: I think there is likely to be a connection between fruit and vegetable consumption and the motivation or drive to engage in daily life — approach motivation, in scientific terms. There are biologically plausible pathways by why fruits and vegetables could promote engagement. <br /> <br /> Vitamin C might be a key pathway here. It is an important co-factor in the production of dopamine, which is critical to mood and motivational drive. A recent study (link is external) found increased vitamin C levels in the blood following kiwifruit consumption, with corresponding improvements in emotional vitality. <br /> <br /> B-vitamins and complex carbohydrates in fruits and vegetables also promote the synthesis of dopamine and serotonin, which are important to daily mood. At this stage, however, I cannot say exactly what the mechanism might be. <br /> <br /> Because your research was correlational, it wasn’t possible to show causality. Could it be that feeling engaged and curious led to choosing healthier foods? <br /> <br /> Dr. Conner: Yes, that’s very possible. There is a growing awareness that happiness and health are tightly linked, and the connection is bidirectional. This is why I’m shifting into intervention research, so that I can test for causal patterns and biochemical mediators. <br /> <br /> I have a study running right now that aims to increase young adults’ fruit and vegetable consumption over a two-week period. This will allow me to test the causal effects of eating more fruits and vegetables on mood, engagement and curiosity. I will also be looking at a few select biochemical mediators, including vitamin C. <br /> <br /> In the meantime, what are the practical implications of your research? <br /> <br /> Dr. Conner: Pay attention to what you eat each day for a week, and then try to incorporate more plant foods the following week. Although at this stage I cannot say with certainty that eating carrots will make you more creative or that fruit will help you flourish, the evidentiary base is growing. So it probably wouldn’t hurt to hedge your bets and opt for a carrot rather than a candy bar if you want to feel better.<br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">credit:psychologytoday</span>

Does Eating Your Carrots Make You More Creative?

  Eating my veggies always makes me feel self-nurturing and virtuous, and that’s a boost to my happiness and self-esteem. But the mental he...

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Microsoft Logs IP Addresses To Catch Windows 7 Pirates

A presumed pirate with an unusually large appetite for activating Windows 7 has incurred the wrath of Microsoft. In a lawsuit filed at a Washington court, the Seattle-based company said that it logged hundreds of suspicious product activations from a Verizon IP address and is now seeking damages. <br /> <br /><br /><img alt=" Microsoft Logs IP Addresses To Catch Windows 7 Pirates " height="243" src="http://torrentfreak.com/images/microsoft-pirate.png" title=" Microsoft Logs IP Addresses To Catch Windows 7 Pirates " width="400" /><br /> Due to the fact that one needs to be present on most computers in order for them to work at all, operating systems are among the most pirated types of software around. <br /><br />There can be little doubt that across its range in its 29 year history, Microsoft’s Windows operating systems have been pirated countless millions of times. It’s a practice that on some levels Microsoft has <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/microsoft-weve-always-had-freemium-its-called-piracy-141021/">come to accept</a>, with regular consumers largely avoiding the company’s aggression. <br /><br />However, as one or perhaps more pirates are about to find out, the same cannot be said of those pirating the company’s products on a commercial scale. <br /><br />In a lawsuit filed this week at a district court in Seattle, Microsoft targets individuals behind a single Verizon IP address – 74.111.202.30. Who he, she or they are is unknown at this point, but according to Microsoft they’re responsible for some serious Windows pirating. <br /><br />“As part of its cyberforensic methods, Microsoft analyzes product key activation data voluntarily provided by users when they activate Microsoft software, including the IP address from which a given product key is activated,” the lawsuit reads. <br /><br />Microsoft says that its forensic tools allow the company to analyze billions of activations of Microsoft software and identify patterns “that make it more likely than not” that an IP address associated with activations is one through which pirated software is being activated. <br /><br />“Microsoft’s cyberforensics have identified hundreds of product key activations<br /> originating from IP address 74.111.202.30…which is presently assigned to<br /> Verizon Online LLC. These activations have characteristics that on information and belief, establish that Defendants are using the IP address to activate pirated software.” <br /><br />Microsoft says that the defendant(s) have activated hundreds of copies of Windows 7 using product keys that have been “stolen” from the company’s supply chain or have never been issued with a valid license, or keys used more times than their license allows. <br /><br />In addition to immediate injunctive relief and the impounding of all infringing materials, the company demands profits attributable to the infringements, treble damages and attorney fees or, alternatively, statutory damages. <br /><br />This week’s lawsuit (<a href="http://ia601507.us.archive.org/10/items/gov.uscourts.wawd.214013/gov.uscourts.wawd.214013.1.0.pdf">pdf</a>) follows <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/microsoft-sues-does-for-activating-pirated-software-141208/">similar action</a> in December 2014 in which Microsoft targeted the user behind an AT&T account.<br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">credit:torrentfreak </span>

Microsoft Logs IP Addresses To Catch Windows 7 Pirates

A presumed pirate with an unusually large appetite for activating Windows 7 has incurred the wrath of Microsoft. In a lawsuit filed at a Wa...

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The Pirate Bay Is Down (Updated)

The Pirate Bay is down at the moment, causing a mild panic among many BitTorrent users. With the raid of last December fresh in mind some fear the worst, but the current issues appear to be caused by an SSL problem. <br /> <br /><br /><img alt=" The Pirate Bay Is Down (Updated) " height="400" src="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-bay.jpg" title=" The Pirate Bay Is Down (Updated) " width="386" /><br /> After weeks without any significant outages, the Pirate Bay has become unreachable since a few hours. <br /><br />With <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/swedish-police-raid-the-pirate-bay-site-offline-141209/">the raid</a> of a few months ago still fresh in memory some fear that the problems may be of a more serious nature. <br /><br />It’s currently not clear what’s causing the problems. What we do know is that the site’s domain name is currently working properly. <br /><br />The Pirate Bay currently displays a CloudFlare error message suggesting that TPB has an invalid SSL certificate. <br /><br />This may be the result of a misconfigured or expired SSL certificate, which causes problems for sites that use CloudFlare’s full (strict) SSL feature. <img alt=" The Pirate Bay Is Down (Updated) " src="https://torrentfreak.com/images/tpbssl.jpg" title=" The Pirate Bay Is Down (Updated) " /> <br /><br />Interestingly, some users report that they can still access the site via the Tor network, including the popular Pirate Browser. <br /><br />The Tor traffic goes through a separate server, and it appears that this part of the site’s infrastructure is not going through CloudFlare. <br /><br />TorrentFreak reached out to The Pirate Bay team for a comment on the situation and we will update this article if we hear back. <br /><br />Update: The site is back for most people now.<br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">credit:torrentfreak</span>

The Pirate Bay Is Down (Updated)

The Pirate Bay is down at the moment, causing a mild panic among many BitTorrent users. With the raid of last December fresh in mind some f...

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Hollywood Urged Cameron To Keep DVD Ripping Illegal

A few months ago the UK Government legalized copying of MP3s, CDs and DVDs for personal use, as that would be in the best interest of consumers. A common sense decision for many, but leaked emails now show that Hollywood fiercely protested the changes behind the scenes. <br /> <br /><br /><img alt=" Hollywood Urged Cameron To K" height="358" src="http://torrentfreak.com/images/uk-flag.jpg" title=" Hollywood Urged Cameron To K" width="400" /><br /> To most consumers it’s common sense that they can make a backup copy of media they own, but in the UK this was illegal until late last year. <br /><br />After consulting various stakeholders the Government decided that it would be in the best interests of consumers to legalize copying for personal use. <br /><br />Perhaps unsurprisingly, not all copyright holders were in favor of the legal changes. In fact, emails published from the Sony Pictures Entertainment hack reveal that Hollywood wanted to stop the plans by urging UK Prime Minister David Cameron to keep Hollywood’s interests in mind. <br /><br />The first email mentioning the issue was sent January last year. Here, Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton was informed that MPAA boss Chris Dodd wanted him to give Cameron a call. <br /><br />“Essentially, Dodd thinks (and we agree) it would be helpful for you to call Prime Minister Cameron if you are willing in order to ensure our position is fully considered,” <a href="https://wikileaks.org/sony/emails/emailid/106890">the email</a> from Sony’s Keith Weaver reads. <br /><br />According to Weaver it was still uncertain whether Hollywood’s concerns would be properly heard in Parliament. <br /><br />“This is because prior interactions with the U.K. government over the last few months have left us with no certainty that our concerns will be addressed in the proposal that will be presented to Parliament for an up or down vote in February,” he explained. <br /><br />Hollywood’s stance is that copying for private use should remain illegal if there are legal options available. <br /><br />“A private copy exception must not apply in the event there are commercially available services that achieve the same need,” Weaver wrote. <br /><br />Examples such as <a href="https://www.myuv.com/">UltraViolet</a> show that there is no market failure in the UK, and that private copying exceptions aren’t needed, in Hollywood’s view. <br /><br />On the contrary, technical protections and restrictions are needed for legal services to flourish. <br /><br />“We need to rely upon a legal framework that respects the technical protections necessary launch new consumer-oriented commercial services – this is key to our ability to make investments in films and great new TV shows,” Weaver added. <br /><br />From the emails it’s not clear whether or not Sony’s CEO called Prime Minister Cameron at the time. <br /><br />However, a few months later in June 2014 Lynton and Cameron had a meeting where the issue was prominently listed <a href="https://wikileaks.org/sony/emails/emailid/111867">on the agenda</a>, along with other anti-piracy issues. <br /><br />Despite the lobbying efforts at the highest level, the protests of the MPAA and Sony Pictures were not successful. After a brief delay the private copying exceptions eventually <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/uk-government-legalizes-cd-ripping-cloud-backups-today-141001/">became law in October</a>.<br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">credit:torrentfreak </span>

Hollywood Urged Cameron To Keep DVD Ripping Illegal

A few months ago the UK Government legalized copying of MP3s, CDs and DVDs for personal use, as that would be in the best interest of consu...

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Top 10 Most Pirated Movies Of The Week – 05/04/15

<div class="entry-summary"> <div class="entry-lead"> The top 10 most downloaded movies on BitTorrent are in again. 'Kingsman: The Secret Service' tops the chart this week, followed by ‘Seventh Son.' 'Furious 7' completes the top three.</div> </div> <div class="entry-content"> <img alt=" Top 10 Most Pirated Movies Of The Week – 05/04/15 " class="alignright size-full wp-image-105227" height="281" src="https://torrentfreak.com/images/kingsman.jpg" title=" Top 10 Most Pirated Movies Of The Week – 05/04/15 " width="400" /><br /> This week we have four newcomers in our chart.<br /> Kingsman: The Secret Service is the most downloaded movie.<br /> 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 BD/DVDrips unless stated otherwise.<br /> <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/dvdrip/feed/"><b>RSS feed</b></a> for the weekly movie download chart.<br /> <table class="css hover"> <thead> <tr> <th width="12%"><b>Ranking</b></th> <th width="15%"><b>(<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-movies-of-the-week-042715/">last week</a>)</b></th> <th><b>Movie</b></th> <th width="18%"><b>IMDb Rating / Trailer</b></th> </tr> </thead> <tfoot> <tr> <td colspan="4"><br /> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">credit:torrentfreak</span></td> </tr> </tfoot> <tbody> <tr> <td><b>1</b></td> <td>(…)</td> <td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kingsman_the_secret_service/">Kingsman: The Secret Service</a> </td> <td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2802144/">8.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl8F-8tR8to">trailer</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td><b>2</b></td> <td>(…)</td> <td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/seventh_son/">Seventh Son</a> </td> <td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1121096/">5.5</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXiNkOjM7oM">trailer</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td><b>3</b></td> <td>(2)</td> <td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/furious_7/">Furious 7</a> (CAM/TS/R6)</td> <td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2820852/">8.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yISKeT6sDOg">trailer</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td><b>4</b></td> <td>(…)</td> <td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/american_sniper/">American Sniper</a> </td> <td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2179136/">7.4</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MItGoIxoVGk">trailer</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td><b>5</b></td> <td>(…)</td> <td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/get_hard/">Get Hard</a> </td> <td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2561572/">6.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEqrpuU9fYI">trailer</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td><b>6</b></td> <td>(1)</td> <td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jupiter_ascending_2014/">Jupiter Ascending</a> </td> <td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1617661/">5.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4ZzMkDLjWI">trailer</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td><b>7</b></td> <td>(3)</td> <td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fifty_shades_of_grey/">Fifty Shades of Grey</a> </td> <td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2322441/">4.2</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfZWFDs0LxA">trailer</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td><b>8</b></td> <td>(6)</td> <td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/avengers_age_of_ultron/">Avengers: Age of Ultron</a> (CAM)</td> <td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2395427/">8.3</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAUoeqvedMo">trailer</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td><b>9</b></td> <td>(4)</td> <td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/interstellar_2014/">Interstellar</a> </td> <td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0816692/">8.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vxOhd4qlnA">trailer</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td><b>10</b></td> <td>(5)</td> <td><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_cobbler_2015/">The Cobbler</a> </td> <td><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3203616/">5.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMVGScC0vDA">trailer</a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </div> <br /> <section class="pbx-tags"><b></b><br /></section>

Top 10 Most Pirated Movies Of The Week – 05/04/15

The top 10 most downloaded movies on BitTorrent are in again. 'Kingsman: The Secret Service' tops the chart this week, followed ...

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MPAA Funds Pro-Copyright Scholars To Influence Politics

This week the MPAA opened applications for a new round of research grants, hoping the result will be "pro-copyright" academic papers. In an email leaked in the Sony hack the movie industry group further says it's looking for pro-copyright scholars who they can cultivate for further public advocacy. <br /> <br /><br /><img alt=" MPAA Funds Pro-Copyright Scholars To Influence Politics" height="262" src="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mpaa-logo.png" title=" MPAA Funds Pro-Copyright Scholars To Influence Politics" width="400" /><br /> Last year the MPAA started a new <a href="http://www.mpaaresearchgrants.org/">grants program</a> inviting academics to pitch their research proposals. <br /><br />Researchers are being offered a $20,000 grant for projects that address various piracy related topics, including the impact of copyright law and the effectiveness of notice and takedown regimes. <br /><br />Last month marked the silent start of a new round of grant applications for the fall of 2015. <br /><br />There’s no public announcement but MPAA boss Chris Dodd previously said there’s a need for better and unbiased copyright related research to find out how recent developments are affecting the film industry. <br /><br />“We need more and better research regarding the evolving role of copyright in society. The academic community can provide unbiased observations, data analysis, historical context and important revelations about how these changes are impacting the film industry…,” Dodd noted. <br /><br />While Dodd’s comments about unbiased research are admirable, there also appears to be a hidden agenda which until now hasn’t seen the light of day. <br /><br />In an email leaked in the Sony hack MPAA General Counsel Steven Fabrizio <a href="https://wikileaks.org/sony/emails/emailid/111948">explains</a> to the member studios that they’re soliciting pro-copyright papers. The April 2014 email further reveals that the MPAA hopes to identify pro-copyright scholars who can be used to influence future copyright policies. <br /><br />“As you know, as one component of our Academic Outreach program, the MPAA is launching a global research grant program both to solicit pro-copyright academic research papers and to identify pro-copyright scholars who we can cultivate for further public advocacy,” Fabrizio writes. <br /><br />Needless to say, soliciting pro-copyright papers and spotting pro-copyright scholars for public advocacy doesn’t sound very unbiased. <br /><br />Perhaps for this reason the MPAA has decided not to publicize the initiative too much. There was no press release on the official site regarding the grants and it’s also unknown which scholars received last year’s grants. <br /><br />While $20,000 is relatively modest, the MPAA is also funding scholars outside of the grant program with much more. Last November we revealed that the MPAA had donated over a million dollars to Carnegie Mellon University in support of its piracy research program. <br /><br />Thus far the Carnegie Mellon team has published a few papers. Among other things the researchers found that the <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/megaupload-shutdown-boosted-movie-revenues-130307/">Megaupload shutdown worked</a>, that piracy mostly <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2132153">hurts revenues</a>, and that censoring search engine results can <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/search-engines-can-diminish-online-piracy-research-finds-140916/">diminish piracy</a>. <br /><br />As expected, these results are now used by the MPAA as a lobbying tool to sway politicians and influence public policy.<br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">credit:torrentfreak </span>

MPAA Funds Pro-Copyright Scholars To Influence Politics

This week the MPAA opened applications for a new round of research grants, hoping the result will be "pro-copyright" academic pap...

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Anti-Piracy Measures Putting Internet Users At Risk

While entertainment companies and authorities believe they are necessary to stem the tide of online infringement, many current anti-piracy strategies are putting Internet users at risk. Domain suspensions, seizures, plus search engine down-rankings are all playing a part in creating a less-safe online environment. <br /> <br /><br /><img alt=" Anti-Piracy Measures Putting Internet Users At Risk " height="326" src="http://torrentfreak.com/images/danger-p2p.png" title=" Anti-Piracy Measures Putting Internet Users At Risk " width="400" /><br /> While it’s not entirely clear when the theory first appeared, the notion that cutting the head off one file-sharing site results in the creation of several others has been in circulation for many years. <br /><br />The analogy, regularly referred to as the file-sharing ‘hydra’, is often deployed in response to action taken by entertainment companies and local authorities. Tripping off tongues somewhat easily, the defensive reaction paints anti-piracy measures as a futile waste of time. <br /><br />Nevertheless, the outrage these measures often provoke suggest that they do have some impact, if only the raising of blood pressure and gnashing of teeth among site users. Whether or not they reduce overall piracy rates long-term remains to be seen, but right now these strategies are almost certainly undermining the safety of Internet users. <br /><br />Domain attacks – blocks <br /><br />Attacks against site domains come in various shapes and sizes but all are designed to limit a site’s ability to remain operational. While they are undoubtedly an annoyance to site owners, they also cause problems for site users. <br /><br />For example, many leading ‘pirate’ sites are <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/court-orders-uk-isps-to-block-popcorn-time-150428/">blocked by ISPs in the UK</a>. The blocks are easily circumvented <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">using a VPN</a> but in the case of some of the bigger sites, hundreds of proxy and mirror sites have appeared to facilitate access. <br /><br />The end result is that there are now dozens of Pirate Bay and KickassTorrents clones, lookalikes, mirrors and proxies. Long live the hydra, right? Well not quite. <br /><br />We’ve already seen the chaos and confusion these sites can cause and the situation isn’t getting any better. It is now very likely that hundreds of thousands of casual users think they are using a relatively trustworthy known site when they are not. Sadly, many clones are filled with aggressive and sometimes malicious ads not present on the original site. <br /><br />Domain attacks – suspensions and seizures <br /><br />As documented on many previous occasions, a key strategy of the entertainment industries is to put pressure on domain companies and registries to stop them providing domains to pirate sites. One of the sites hit on a number of occasions is KickassTorrents (KAT). <br /><br />KAT has lost several domains in recent years including KAT.ph (<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/kickasstorrents-domain-seized-after-music-industry-complaint-130614/">music industry action</a>), Kickass.so (<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/kickasstorrents-taken-domain-name-seizure-150209/">unconfirmed</a>) and more recently <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/kickasstorrents-domain-seized-within-24-hours-next-stop-cr-150424/">KickassTorrents.im</a>. <br /><br />Currently the site is operating from KAT.cr (Costa Rica) but ever since the last switch a steady stream of apparently confused site users have been writing to TF and posting on sites including Reddit. <br /><br />“I never had to sign up for KAT before, why is it asking me to now?” one asked. <br /><br />“Why is Kickass asking for my credit card details?” questioned another. <br /><br />Obviously one of these questions is more serious than the other, but both have straightforward explanations. Some users are so confused about which domain the site is operating from they are using any number of fake sites instead, some of which are asking for credit card details. <br /><br />It’s a horrible situation provoked entirely by action against the official site’s domains, but are so many casual users being affected? <br /><br />Search engine downranking <br /><br />For years Hollywood and the recording industry have been placing immense pressure on Google to stop presenting ‘pirate’ sites in its search results. After resisting for some time, Google began tweaking it algorithms to downrank sites that have the most copyright complaints logged against them. <br /><br />In October 2014, Google made its biggest changes yet which resulted in traffic to torrent and other file-sharing sites <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/googles-new-downranking-hits-pirate-sites-hard-141023/">taking a nosedive</a>. And now, thanks to decisions made by Google, a simple search for KickassTorrents presents listings that do not include the real site at all, but fake sites looking for money instead. <br /><br /><img alt=" Anti-Piracy Measures Putting Internet Users At Risk " src="http://torrentfreak.com/images/kick-goog1.jpg" title=" Anti-Piracy Measures Putting Internet Users At Risk " /> <br /><br />Deliberate disruption – but at what cost? <br /><br />While blocks are easily circumvented, it is clear that forcing sites from domain to domain undermines their reputation with users. To those not keeping up with the news on a regular basis, disappearing sites seem unreliable due to their own incompetence. When they are ‘found’ using Google but then start asking for credit card details, users must really begin to think the worst. <br /><br />While this must be music to the ears of Hollywood and the music industry, one has to question how many innocent victims are getting caught up in this mess. <br /><br />“I registered for a free trial to obtain pdf of washing machine manual but ended up with free trial of Fat Games which is all games, so had to ring this number to cancel trial,” <a href="http://www.tellows.co.uk/num/02033000135">said</a> a user of the <a href="https://www.tacomedia.net/signup?sf=media">dubious service</a> running hand-in-hand with fake site KickassTorrents.to. <br /><br />Living in the ghetto <br /><br />The instances detailed above are just the tip of the iceberg. With every new seizure, suspension and blockade, more scammers will see opportunities to make money by tricking users to sign up to bogus services while obtaining their credit card details by deception. <br /><br />Of course, none of these problems can be blamed directly on the music or movie companies since they aren’t the ones running the scams. That being said, whenever concern is expressed for the well-being of Internet users supposedly <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-reports-top-pirate-sites-u-s-government-141027/">exposed to malware</a> on pirate sites, at some point that concern should be extended to those subjected to malware and identity fraud as a result of anti-piracy strategies. <br /><br />Yeah, don’t hold your breath.<br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">credit:torrentfreak</span>

Anti-Piracy Measures Putting Internet Users At Risk

While entertainment companies and authorities believe they are necessary to stem the tide of online infringement, many current anti-piracy ...

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Why ISPs Should Stop Forwarding Piracy Settlement Demands

<br />Every day thousand of Internet subscribers receive a piracy warning from their Internet provider. Increasingly, these notifications also include a settlement request ranging from $20 to hundreds of dollars. According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, ISPs should protect their customers from these invasive tactics. <br /> <br /><br /><img alt=" Why ISPs Should Stop Forwarding Piracy Settlement Demands" height="272" src="http://torrentfreak.com/images/rightscorp-real.jpg" title=" Why ISPs Should Stop Forwarding Piracy Settlement Demands" width="400" /><br /> There are many ways copyright holders approach today’s “online piracy problem.” <br /><br />Some prefer to do it through innovation, while others prefer educational messages, warnings or even lawsuits. Another group is aiming to generate revenue by obtaining lots of small cash settlements. <br /><br />Rightscorp and CEG TEK have chosen the <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/expendables-3-downloaders-told-to-pay-up-or-else-140918/">latter model</a>. Their emails are sent as regular DMCA notices which many ISPs then forward to their customers, often with a settlement demand included. <br /><br />Both companies send <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/us-internet-providers-receive-1-1-million-piracy-settlements-per-week-140726/">millions of warnings</a> to U.S. Internet providers every year, but how these are handled varies per ISP. Some, including Charter, forward the entire notice, while others such as Comcast strip out the settlement details. <br /><br />To find out more about the legality of these notices, and the options Internet providers and subscribers have, TorrentFreak sat down with Electronic Frontier Foundation (<a href="https://www.eff.org/">EFF</a>) staff attorney Mitch Stoltz. <br /><br />According to Stoltz, Internet providers should carefully review what they’re forwarding to their users. Under U.S. law they are not required to forward DMCA notices and stripping out settlement demands is in the best interest of the consumer. <br /><br />“In the U.S., ISPs don’t have any legal obligation to forward infringement notices in their entirety. An ISP that cares about protecting its customers from abuse should strip out demands for money before forwarding infringement notices. Many do this,” he says. <br /><br />“An ISP can also choose not to forward notices at all if they are deficient, misleading, or inaccurate,” Stoltz adds. <br /><br />Misleading notices <br /><br />The notices these companies send are designed to threaten and pressure the recipient, who is often not the person who downloaded the allegedly infringing material. <br /><br />“The problem with notices demanding money from ISP subscribers is that they’re often misleading,” Stoltz notes. <br /><br />“They often give the impression that the person whose name is on the ISP bill is legally responsible for all infringement that might happen on the Internet connection, which is simply not true.” <br /><br />Some of the notices mention disastrous consequences, such as excessively large jury verdicts against file sharers who previously had to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages. <br /><br />However, they forget to mention that these type of piracy cases almost never go to court. Similarly, ISPs rarely disconnect casual copyright infringers. <br /><br />“Rightscorp, for one, has never sued an accused file sharer. Having an ISP forward a demand for money also makes it seem like the ISP will cut off the subscriber if they don’t pay, which is also not true– most ISPs don’t ban customers just because a penny-stock outfit in Santa Monica asks them to,” Stoltz says. <br /><br />Legal repercussions? <br /><br />As a result of the threatening language many subscribers fear that they might be made bankrupt. The reality, however, is that nothing usually happens if they opt to ignore the threats. <br /><br />Stoltz advises people who receive a notice not to reach out to the sender. Instead, they should carefully consider their options and consult a lawyer if needed. <br /><br />“Circumstances vary, and it’s always a good idea to talk to a lawyer about your specific situation. Be cautious about communicating with any company or lawyer that accuses you of copyright infringement – they will use anything you say against you. Stop, think, and read carefully before you decide to send money or information.” <br /><br />In theory ISPs do have the right to disconnect an account after a subscriber receives multiple notices, but this is relatively rare. The same is true for lawsuits. As far as we know neither Rightscorp nor CEG TEK have taken a file-sharer to court. <br /><br />“They would rather scare a hundred people into paying $20 than spend thousands on a lawsuit against one person,” Stoltz says. <br /><br />The problem remains that even a minuscule chance of getting in trouble is enough for some to pay up. Some people just want the whole thing to go away, that’s what the settlement model is based on. <br /><br />The only way to make this threat disappear is for Internet providers to either strip the settlement demands, or simply toss all notices in the trash.<br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">credit:torrentfreak</span>

Why ISPs Should Stop Forwarding Piracy Settlement Demands

Every day thousand of Internet subscribers receive a piracy warning from their Internet provider. Increasingly, these notifications also in...

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Kim Dotcom Awarded Millions For Legal Bills And Living Expenses

<br />Kim Dotcom has succeeded in getting more of his seized funds released by the courts in New Zealand. In addition to millions for legal expenses, the entrepreneur will receive $128K per month including $60K to pay mansion rent, $25,600 to cover staff and security, plus $11,300 for grocery and other expenses. <br /> <br /><br /><img alt=" Kim Dotcom Awarded Millions For Legal Bills And Living Expenses " height="291" src="https://torrentfreak.com/images/dotcom-laptop.jpg" title=" Kim Dotcom Awarded Millions For Legal Bills And Living Expenses " width="400" /><br /> How much does it cost to enjoy a reasonable standard of living in the modern world? A couple of thousand dollars a month? Three thousand? Four? <br /><br />For Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom, none of these amounts scratch the surface, a problematic situation considering all of his assets were previously seized by the U.S. and New Zealand governments. <br /><br />In February a “broke” and “destitute” Dotcom <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/destitute-kim-dotcom-begs-high-court-for-millions-150226/">appeared</a> before Justice Patricia Courtney, asking for living expenses and a massive cash injection to pay historical and current legal fees. Dotcom was previously granted around US$15,000 per month to live on but high costs had left him “penniless”. <br /><br />Following the hearing Justice Courtney’s ruling is largely good news for Dotcom, with the Judge taking into consideration claims by authorities that the entrepreneur has funds in a trust that could help pay his expenses. <br /><br />“The trust’s major asset is its shareholding in Mega Ltd, said to be worth more than $30m (US$22.6m). In evidence Mr Dotcom said that there were difficulties in selling Mega shares because they were blocked from being sold until the planned listing of Mega, which is now scheduled for late May 2015 (though it is possible that this date will be pushed back). There was no evidence to the contrary,” the Judge’s ruling reads. <br /><br />“I have concluded that Mr Dotcom does not have the ability to meet his legal and reasonable living expenses from trust assets because, on the evidence, those assets are not sufficiently liquid.” <br /><br />Noting that he still owes former lawyers around US$1.5m, the Judge said that Dotcom’s estimate for financing his legal battle <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/kim-dotcom-avoids-u-s-clutches-for-three-more-months-150501/">against extradition</a> is between US$1.5m and US$3m. This amount will be released from currently restrained government bonds. <br /><br />Next up was the Dotcom family’s accommodation costs. Rent on the now-famous mansion amounts to US$754,000 per annum under a lease Dotcom signed in February 2013 and which expires in the same month 2016. The Judge decided that terminating that lease would result in additional costs. <br /><br />“If [Dotcom] were to terminate the lease in order to find a more modest home, he would immediately be exposed to a significant contractual liability for the existing rental in addition to the costs of any new accommodation,” the Judge writes. <br /><br />“Little would be saved by requiring Mr Dotcom to move into more modest<br /> accommodation pending the expiry of the lease; it is more likely that the total amount required to house Mr Dotcom and his children and meet his lease commitment would actually prove greater than simply remaining where he is. <br /><br />“I therefore accept that, in the particular circumstances of this case, a figure of $80,000 (US$60,300) per month is reasonable for accommodation.” <br /><br />The Judge also considered Dotcom’s claims for items like security, staff wages and other general expenses. <br /><br />Dotcom currently has eight staff but the Judge felt that five would be sufficient to assist with cleaning, cooking, shopping, managing the grounds and caring for Dotcom’s children. <br /><br />“I allow $25,000 ($18,850) per month for staff,” the Judge said. <br /><br />Turning to Dotcom’s request for $20,000 (US$15,000) for groceries, fuel and maintenance etc, the Judge said this was a little high considering Dotcom’s estranged wife Mona could be expected to chip in. <br /><br />“On the basis that the children’s mother can be expected to contribute to<br /> some of these costs I consider that the figure of $20,000 (US$15,000) is a little high and would reduce that to $15,000 (US$11,300) per month,” the Judge added. <br /><br />In addition to the legal fees mentioned earlier, in total Dotcom was awarded $170,000 (US$128,000) per month to cover living expenses. <br /><br />“Mr Dotcom may have access to that figure each month pending the expiry of the lease on the property,” the Judge said. “At that point I would expect that the position will be reviewed.”<br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">credit:torrentfreak </span>

Kim Dotcom Awarded Millions For Legal Bills And Living Expenses

Kim Dotcom has succeeded in getting more of his seized funds released by the courts in New Zealand. In addition to millions for legal expen...

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Torrents Are Good For A Quarter Of All Encrypted Traffic

<br />Encrypted Internet traffic is surging according to data published by Canadian broadband management company Sandvine. A new report reveals that 25 percent of the encrypted downstream traffic in North America is consumed by BitTorrent transfers, second only to YouTube. <br /><br /><img alt=" Torrents Are Good For A Quarter Of All Encrypted Traffic " height="354" src="http://torrentfreak.com/images/spy.jpg" title=" Torrents Are Good For A Quarter Of All Encrypted Traffic " width="400" /><br /> In recent years it has become apparent that BitTorrent users are increasingly <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-users-long-for-anonymity-111021/">searching for options</a> to hide their download footprints. <br /><br />Thus far, however, there was little information available on how much of all encrypted traffic is file-sharing related. A new <a href="https://www.sandvine.com/trends/encryption.html">report</a> published by Sandvine now provides some insight into this. <br /><br />To find out how much of all Internet traffic is encrypted, and what the most popular sources are, last month the company gathered data in collaboration with a North American fixed access network. <br /><br />The findings reveal that nearly 30% of all downstream traffic is encrypted. The majority of the traffic remains unencrypted (65%), and the small remainder has yet to be identified. <img alt=" Torrents Are Good For A Quarter Of All Encrypted Traffic " src="http://torrentfreak.com/images/sand.png" title=" Torrents Are Good For A Quarter Of All Encrypted Traffic " /> <br /><br />Looking at the individual sources of encrypted traffic we see that YouTube currently accounts for most of it. More than 11% of all downstream traffic comes from encrypted YouTube data, which is nearly 40% of all encrypted traffic. <br /><br />BitTorrent transfers come in second place with 7.2% of the total downstream traffic, which is good for nearly a quarter of all encrypted data. <br /><br />It’s worth noting that the report only looks at downstream traffic. BitTorrent’s share of upstream traffic is usually much higher, so the total percentage of all encrypted traffic will be well over 25 percent.<br />  <img alt=" Torrents Are Good For A Quarter Of All Encrypted Traffic " src="http://torrentfreak.com/images/sandenc.png" title=" Torrents Are Good For A Quarter Of All Encrypted Traffic " /> <br /><br />Another fact worth mentioning is that before YouTube made the transition to support secure data transfers, BitTorrent was the number one source of encrypted traffic according to Sandvine. <br /><br />With Netflix poised to move to encryption by default, the relative share of BitTorrent will probably drop even further in the near future. Absolute traffic is expected to keep growing, however. <br /><br />In response to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/aussie-anti-piracy-plans-boost-demand-vpns-150308/">various anti-piracy initiatives</a> and monitoring schemes around the world, BitTorrent users are increasingly turning to anonymizing services such as <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/anonymous-vpn-service-provider-review-2015-150228/">encrypted VPNs</a>. It will be interesting to see how this trend develops during the years to come.<br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">credit:torrentfreak</span>

Torrents Are Good For A Quarter Of All Encrypted Traffic

Encrypted Internet traffic is surging according to data published by Canadian broadband management company Sandvine. A new report reveals t...

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Music Industry ‘Shuts Down’ Top Torrent Trackers

<br />A regional court in Hamburg has ordered a hosting company to identify the operators of three iconic BitTorrent trackers that together coordinated dozens of millions of transfers per day. The order is the result of a complaint from German music group BVMI, which says it's behind the shutdown of the trackers shut down earlier this year. <br /> <br /><br /><a href="http://torrentfreak.com/images/opentracker.png"><img alt=" Music Industry ‘Shuts Down’ Top Torrent Trackers" height="290" src="http://torrentfreak.com/images/opentracker.png" title=" Music Industry ‘Shuts Down’ Top Torrent Trackers" width="400" /></a><br /> OpenBitTorrent, PublicBT and Istole.it have long been the three largest BitTorrent trackers on the Internet, coordinating the downloads of 30 million people at any given point in time. <br /><br />This means that these non-commercial services, powered by the open source Opentracker software, handled a staggering three billion connections per day – each. <br /><br />We say handled, because the trackers have been offline since mid-January. The trio mysteriously disappeared, but the German music industry group BVMI now takes credit for the shutdowns. <br /><br />According to BVMI’s lawfirm <a href="http://www.raschlegal.de/news/filesharing-netzwerk-schwer-angeschlagen-rasch-rechtsanwaelte-erreichen-abschaltung-der-drei-groessten-bittorrent-tracker-der-welt/">Rasch</a>, the hosting company took the tracker offline after they were ordered identify the operators. However, the host initially refused to disclose the personal details. <br /><br />In an injunction released this week a <a href="http://justiz.hamburg.de/landgericht-hamburg/">Hamburg court</a> ordered that the hosting company now has to hand over the personal details of the tracker operators. <br /><br />The ruling follows a complaint from BVMI and is the first against so-called standalone BitTorrent trackers. These trackers do not host or process any infringing material themselves and are a content neutral part of the BitTorrent ecosystem. <br /><br />According to BVMI CEO Florian Drücke the music industry has recently expanded its focus beyond traditional torrent sites such as The Pirate Bay, to include these standalone trackers. <br /><br />“Without the Tracker, it will be much more difficult for those who offer and seek illegal content to make the first connection,” Drücke says. <br /><br />The downside, however, is that legal torrents also use these trackers to coordinate connections. <br /><br />According to <a href="https://www.wbs-law.de/">Christian Solmecke</a>, a German IT lawyer who has experience with file-sharing cases, the verdict comes a a surprise. <br /><br />“The court ruling amazes me. Apparently the court assumes that BitTorrent trackers are by definition something illegal. This is not the case,” he says. <br /><br />The lawyer doesn’t deny that the trackers play a role in both legal and illegal transfers, but they are content neutral and merely passing on metadata, similar to a DNS provider. <br /><br />“By the same argument these BitTorrent trackers are switched off you might ultimately forbid an ISP to continue to provide Internet access to end users, if copyright violations are committed,” Solmecke adds. <br /><br />While the three targeted trackers have been offline for months already, the ruling means that these type of services had better avoid Germany as their home base in future. <br /><br />“Apparently, the music industry sees the entire BitTorrent network as ‘evil’,” Solmecke concludes. <br /><br />Update: The article was updated to state that the court order only requires the host to identify the operators. <br /><br />Rasch lawyer Mirko Brüß further notes that this case should not be compared with and ISP who provides Internet access to consumers. <br /><br />“It appears Mr. Solmecke is not familiar with the BitTorrent technology. He is obviously not aware of the fact that the “opentracker” software comes with a blacklist. The tracker operators were asked to add certain info-hashes to this blacklist but failed to do so within a reasonable period of time,” Brüß says. <br /><br />“After their ISP was made aware of this situation, he shut the servers down in order to prevent his own liability. This is basically the same as the established notice-and-takedown proceedings under the DMCA and cannot be compared to an ISP providing internet access to end users.”<br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">credit:torrentfreak </span>

Music Industry ‘Shuts Down’ Top Torrent Trackers

A regional court in Hamburg has ordered a hosting company to identify the operators of three iconic BitTorrent trackers that together coord...

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Showtime and HBO Sue Over ‘Pre-Piracy’

<br />HBO and Showtime are not known to go after pirate sites, but the upcoming Mayweather v Pacquiao fight has proven to be an exception. Together with Mayweather Promotions and Top Rank Boxing the companies have sued two websites that announced intentions to stream the fight this weekend. <br /> <br /><br /><img alt=" Showtime and HBO Sue Over ‘Pre-Piracy’ " height="326" src="http://torrentfreak.com/images/maypa.jpg" title=" Showtime and HBO Sue Over ‘Pre-Piracy’ " width="400" /><br /> HBO and Showtime are no stranger to online piracy. Their TV-shows are pirated millions of times each month. <br /><br />Nevertheless, both companies are not known for suing pirates or website owners, until now. <br /><br />Yesterday the two companies filed <a href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/263525367/Hbo-Showtime-Fight">a complaint</a> at a federal court in Florida targeting the websites boxinghd.net and sportship.org. Both are accused of planning to stream the upcoming Mayweather v Pacquiao fight. <br /><br />In a unique pre-piracy case, the companies accuse the sites’ owners of various copyright related offenses of an event that has yet to take place. <br /><br />The suing parties have invested many millions of dollars which they hope to earn back in part through pay-per-view sales. But instead of the $89 to $100 people in the U.S. have to pay, both sites promise free access. <br /><br />“There are no authorized online streams of the Coverage for delivery to United States audiences,” the complaint clarifies, adding that the defendants “are seeking to benefit from this high profile, live Fight by infringing the rights of Plaintiffs.” <br /><br />The site’s owners would then profit from these free streams though various advertisements. The example below includes a screenshot of the boxinghd.net site, which has since been <a href="http://boxinghd.net/">removed</a>. <img alt=" Showtime and HBO Sue Over ‘Pre-Piracy’ " src="http://torrentfreak.com/images/streamingmanny.jpg" title=" Showtime and HBO Sue Over ‘Pre-Piracy’ " /> <br /><br />HBO and Showtime argue that the anticipated stream of the fight will infringe on their rights and cause irreparable damage. <br /><br />To stop the sites’ operators from linking to streams of the event the companies have asked the court for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction. In addition, HBO and Showtime demand damages to compensate for the expected losses. <br /><br />The lawsuit has already had some effect as boxinghd.net has thrown in the towel and is no longer advertising the fight. Time will tell whether sportship.org will be knocked down too.<br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">credit:torrentfreak </span>

Showtime and HBO Sue Over ‘Pre-Piracy’

HBO and Showtime are not known to go after pirate sites, but the upcoming Mayweather v Pacquiao fight has proven to be an exception. Togeth...

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Historic Pirate Bay Domain Decision Will Arrive Early May

<br />After hearing argument from both the prosecutor and the organization in control of Sweden's .SE domain names this week, the Stockholm District Court will now consider the fate of two key Pirate Bay domains. With a verdict due in less than two weeks, will the Court order a historic confiscation or will the notorious site maintain its Swedish links? <br /> <br /><br /><img alt=" Historic Pirate Bay Domain Decision Will Arrive Early May" height="356" src="http://torrentfreak.com/images/tpb-logo.jpg" title=" Historic Pirate Bay Domain Decision Will Arrive Early May" width="400" /><br /> A small Scandinavian country in Northern Europe, Sweden has become a key battleground for international copyright holders looking to stamp their authority on millions of BitTorrent users. Attacking the sites they populate is a key strategy and above all others the destruction of The Pirate Bay is paramount. <br /><br />Born and developed in Sweden, the now notorious site is no longer the most popular in the world (that crown is <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/top-popular-torrent-sites-2015-150104/">currently worn</a> by KickassTorrents) but its profile ensures it remains a target with massive propaganda value. When The Pirate Bay is crushed a corner will have been turned, Hollywood and the record labels believe. <br /><br />Over the years the site has been squeezed out of Sweden, and Sweden has been squeezed out of the site. Numerous court orders and raids have ended its physical presence in the country and its Swedish management have long since gone. <br /><br />Indeed, as far as its operations at this moment are concerned, the only big connection the site has with Sweden is its domain name – ThePirateBay.se – and authorities are now doing whatever they can to break that most visible link. <br /><br />ThePirateBay.se (the site’s main domain) and PirateBay.se (a lesser used alternative) are being targeted by Prosecutor Fredrik Ingblad, the man behind the operation that <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/swedish-police-raid-the-pirate-bay-site-offline-141209/">took the site down</a> in December. Filed back in 2013 at the District Court of Stockholm, the motion targets Punkt SE, the organization responsible for Sweden’s top level .SE domain. <br /><br />This week the parties met in the Stockholm District Court, each putting forward their side of the argument. Ingblad didn’t respond to TorrentFreak’s offer to contribute to this article, but we know that he believes that Pirate Bay domains are criminal tools that enable copyright infringement, tools that should be confiscated by the state. <br /><br />Punkt SE, on the other hand, maintains that holding a registry responsible for infringement has no basis in law. Furthermore, disabling domains is an ineffective way to deal with infringement. <br /><br />“We believe it is wrong to pursue legal action against a top-level administrator like .SE to take away a service from the internet,” Punkt SE’s Maria Ekelund informs TF. <br /><br />“To confiscate a domain name is ineffective and disproportionate to achieve the impact of the earlier judgment, that is, to suspend access to the service itself.” <br /><br />In 2009, Swedish ISP Black Internet <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-taken-offline-by-swedish-authorities-090824/">was ordered</a> to stop providing Internet access to The Pirate Bay. The ISP initially declined to appeal the ruling but appeared to change its mind after its infrastructure was subjected to a <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/ex-pirate-bay-isp-sabotaged-calls-in-police-090825/">huge cyber-attack</a>. <br /><br />While the appeal was <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/ex-supplier-of-pirate-bay-bandwidth-given-leave-to-appeal-091109/">granted</a>, the ISP <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/hollywood-lands-triple-strike-on-pirate-bay-openbittorrent-100522/">failed</a> to have the original decision overturned and subsequently blocked all traffic into and out of the IP addresses used by The Pirate Bay. For The Pirate Bay, the dream of trouble-free hosting in Sweden was largely over. <br /><br />But still, the site has found a way to stay online, no matter where in the world it has thrown anchor. Punkt SE believes that taking away Pirate Bay’s domain will do little to change that. <br /><br /><img alt=" Historic Pirate Bay Domain Decision Will Arrive Early May" height="234" src="http://torrentfreak.com/images/IIS-SE.jpg" title=" Historic Pirate Bay Domain Decision Will Arrive Early May" width="400" /><br /> “To remove a domain name can be likened to taking away a sign that shows the address to a store operating illegally. Just because the sign disappears, does not mean the business disappears,” Ekelund adds. <br /><br />“However, we think it is good that the issue should be examined because the legal situation is unclear. This case differs from previous cases because it is not only directed against the holder, but also directly against .SE.” <br /><br />So now the waiting begins. In less than two weeks the Stockholm District Court will hand down its decision. Victory for Punkt will underpin the registry’s stance on limited liability and will buy The Pirate Bay more time. A win for the prosecutor will deliver a fairly serious blow to the site and draw a line in the sand for others looking to embark on similar adventures. <br /><br />But, perhaps more importantly, in the event the Court sides with the prosecution, Sweden will at last rid itself of the site that put the country in the crosshairs of the United States. No longer serviced from Swedish soil, with hardware or domain names, The Pirate Bay will be cut adrift to float at sea. <br /><br />Where will it dock next? That will remain a secret, at least for now.<br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">credit:torrentfreak </span>

Historic Pirate Bay Domain Decision Will Arrive Early May

After hearing argument from both the prosecutor and the organization in control of Sweden's .SE domain names this week, the Stockholm D...

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Movie Studios Give ‘Pirate’ Sites A 24h Shutdown Ultimatum

<br />On behalf of the major Hollywood movie studios the Motion Picture Association (MPA) is demanding that pirate site operators shut down within 24 hours, or else. The recent push targets a wide variety of services, including some of the top torrent sites. Thus far, the only casualty appears to be a rather small linking site. <br /><br /><img alt="Movie Studios Give ‘Pirate’ Sites A 24h Shutdown Ultimatum " height="367" src="http://torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-running.jpg" title="Movie Studios Give ‘Pirate’ Sites A 24h Shutdown Ultimatum " width="400" /><br /> In recent years Hollywood has tried several tactics to deal with so-called pirate sites. <br /><br />Through lawsuits against isoHunt, Hotfile and Megaupload, for example, or by targeting intermediaries such as search engines, Internet providers and hosting companies. <br /><br />The most direct option, however, is to simply contact the site owners directly. This is what the MPAA’s European branch has been doing lately. <br /><br />During recent weeks various sources have informed TorrentFreak about emails received from Jan van Voorn, the MPA’s Vice-President Global Content Protection, Internet Operations. The emails all use standardized language and have been sent to a wide variety of services ranging from some of the biggest torrent indexes, to linking sites and hosting services. <br /><br />The MPA mail puts the site operators on notice and alerts them to European jurisprudence under which they may be held liable for linking to pirated movies and TV-shows. <br /><br />“Without prejudice to our contention that you are already well aware of the extensive infringements of copyright, this Notice fixes you with actual knowledge of facts and circumstances from which illegal activities […] are apparent,” Van Voorn writes. <br /><br />Among other things the email mentions that Article 14 of the E-Commerce Directive requires sites to stop offering infringing material. In addition, the Hollywood group cites other recent cases supporting their claim. <br /><br />Without making a specific threat, the MPA demands that site operators stop offering infringing material within 24 hours. <br /><br />“This Notice requires you to immediately (within 24 hours) take effective measures to end and prevent further copyright infringement. All opportunities provided by the Website to download, stream or otherwise obtain access to the Entertainment Content should be disabled permanently,” the email reads. <br /><br />Interestingly, the movie studios are not just worried about pirated films. Towards the end of the email they also point out that some sites are using movie posters without permission. <br /><br />“Finally, we draw your attention that any use of the artwork of the Entertainment Content (e.g. movie or TV show posters) (‘Artwork’) is prohibited without authorization of the rights holder. Since the MPA Members haven’t authorized the Website to publish the Artwork, the Website is infringing copyright on that basis as well,” Van Voorn writes. <br /><br />For now the threats haven’t made too much of an impact. Only one site that we know of has shut down after receiving the email recently, and that’s the relatively unknown link site micromkv.com. <br /><br />TF contacted the movie industry group for more details on the efficiency of the campaign. The MPA didn’t provide any details but informed us that the emails are standard notices sent to websites that carry infringing content. <br /><br />“These notices ask respectfully that effective measures be taken to stop further infringement,” an MPA spokesperson says. <br /><br />“This activity is part of the MPA’s ongoing strategy to curb copyright infringement, encourage consumers to use legal sources of content and increase the viability and quality of those services that actually pay creators for their work.” <br /><br />It remains unclear whether the MPA will take legal action against the warned sites, or if the group will focus its anti-piracy efforts elsewhere. <br /><br />— <br /><br />One of MPA’s emails is posted in full below.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <img alt="Movie Studios Give ‘Pirate’ Sites A 24h Shutdown Ultimatum " src="http://torrentfreak.com/images/mpamail.png" title="Movie Studios Give ‘Pirate’ Sites A 24h Shutdown Ultimatum " /><br /> <span style="font-size: xx-small;"> credit:torrentfreak </span>

Movie Studios Give ‘Pirate’ Sites A 24h Shutdown Ultimatum

On behalf of the major Hollywood movie studios the Motion Picture Association (MPA) is demanding that pirate site operators shut down withi...

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Grooveshark Shuts Down & Apologizes To The RIAA

<br />To conclude a massive copyright infringement lawsuit launched by the major recording labels, Grooveshark shut down a few hours ago. Acknowledging mistakes had been made and apologizing profusely, the company said that it would delete all stored music and hand over its website and intellectual property to the RIAA. <br /> <br /><br /><img alt=" Grooveshark Shuts Down & Apologizes To The RIAA " height="187" src="http://torrentfreak.com/images/groove2.jpg" title=" Grooveshark Shuts Down & Apologizes To The RIAA " width="400" /><br /> Owned and operated by Florida and New York based Escape Media, Grooveshark has been a fly in the recording industry’s ointment for almost a decade. <br /><br />Founded in 2006, the company had an abrasive relationship with the world’s largest record labels, one that led it into legal conflict on a number of occasions. <br /><br />Nevertheless, Grooveshark built an extremely popular product. With a reported 35 million users per month (Spotify has around 60 million), the company attracted high-profile advertisers including Mercedes Benz. It also managed to pull of limited licensing deals with big labels. <br /><br />But for some time the writing has been on the wall. With a <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/labels-win-grooveshark-copyright-infringement-case-140930/">defense under the DMCA in tatters</a> (it was revealed the site’s founders and staff had uploaded copyrighted music to the site themselves), a case brought by the major labels (UMG Recording Inc et al v. Escape Media Group Inc et al) was bound to come to a sad end this week. <br /><br />With <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/grooveshark-faces-736-million-in-copyright-damages-150427/">$736 million in potential damages</a> floating around on the horizon, the conclusion was never likely to be good. And, as expected, a few hours ago the upstart music venture delivered the bad news. <br /><br />“Today we are shutting down Grooveshark,” the company announced. <br /><br />“We started out nearly ten years ago with the goal of helping fans share and discover music. But despite best of intentions, we made very serious mistakes. We failed to secure licenses from rights holders for the vast amount of music on the service. <br /><br />“That was wrong. We apologize. Without reservation,” the company said. <br /><br />Revealing a consent judgment arrangement with the RIAA, Grooveshark confirmed what many observers had feared. There would be no chance of a resurrection. <br /><br />“As part of a settlement agreement with the major record companies, we have agreed to cease operations immediately, wipe clean all of the record companies’ copyrighted works and hand over ownership of this website, our mobile apps and intellectual property, including our patents and copyrights,” Grooveshark said. <br /><br />The statement represents a huge change in attitude from a company that built its business on perceived protections offered by the Digital Millenium Copyright Act. But in the end, however, the legislation offered no safe harbor. <br /><br />Instead, and probably through gritted teeth, Grooveshark’s farewell notes that although it was indeed a pioneer in an under-served market, obtaining permission from the labels (rather than forgiveness) is the right way to approach the market. <br /><br />“At the time of our launch, few music services provided the experience we wanted to offer – and think you deserve. Fortunately, that’s not longer the case. There are now hundreds of fan friendly, affordable services available for you to choose from, including Spotify, Deezer, Google Play, Beats Music, Rhapsody and Rdio, among many others,” the company said. <br /><br />“If you love music and respect the artists, songwriters and everyone else who makes great music possible, use a licensed service that compensates artists and other rights holders. You can find out more about the many great services available where you live here: http://whymusicmatters.com/find-music.” <br /><br />Although short, the RIAA’s statement gets straight to the point. <br /><br /><img alt=" Grooveshark Shuts Down & Apologizes To The RIAA " height="400" src="http://torrentfreak.com/images/riaa-logo.jpg" title=" Grooveshark Shuts Down & Apologizes To The RIAA " width="393" /><br /> “Escape Media today entered into a consent judgment with a permanent injunction with Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group. <br /><br />“Under terms of the settlement, Grooveshark founders Josh Greenberg and Sam Tarantino admit to creating and operating an infringing music service and Escape Media agrees to significant financial penalties if the terms of the settlement are not followed,” the RIAA said. <br /><br />“This is an important victory for artists and the entire music industry. For too long, Grooveshark built its business without properly compensating the artists, songwriters and everyone else who makes great music possible. This settlement ends a major source of infringing activity,” the RIAA said. <br /><br />For Grooveshark the show is certainly over and in final words to its loyal fans, the company thanked them for their commitment. <br /><br />“It has been a privilege getting to know so many of you and enjoying music together. Thank you for being such passionate fans. Yours in music, Your friends at Grooveshark April 30, 2015.”<br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">credit:torrentfreak </span>

Grooveshark Shuts Down & Apologizes To The RIAA

To conclude a massive copyright infringement lawsuit launched by the major recording labels, Grooveshark shut down a few hours ago. Acknowl...

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Kim Dotcom Avoids U.S. Clutches For Three More Months

<br />Kim Dotcom's upcoming extradition hearing has been delayed by three months. The procedure was set to go ahead in just four weeks but the High Court says that would give the entrepreneur insufficient time to prepare his case. It will now take place no earlier than September 1, 2015. <br /> <br /><br /><img alt=" Kim Dotcom Avoids U.S. Clutches For Three More Months" height="400" src="https://torrentfreak.com/images/dotcom-laptop-150x150.jpg" title=" Kim Dotcom Avoids U.S. Clutches For Three More Months" width="400" /><br /> While trying to recoup as much of his seized wealth as possible, Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom is determined to avoid being sent to the United States where he faces the largest copyright case in history. <br /><br />On four previous occasions the German-born businessman has been granted delays to his inevitable extradition hearing but in March his luck appeared to run out. <br /><br />Through his legal team Dotcom asked the North Shore District Court for an adjournment until October, claiming that more time was need to prepare his case and those of co-defendants Mathias Ortmann, Finn Batato and Bram van der Kolk. The request was denied. <br /><br />Last month the parties returned to court with <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/dotcom-appeals-extradition-delay-ruling-colleague-lawyerless-150421/">a request</a> for a judicial review. <br /><br />Today and with some reservations, Justice Sarah Katz at the High Court granted the application, sending the matter back to the District Court to set a new hearing to take place no earlier than September 1. <br /><br />Justice Katz said that she believed that the delay was necessary for Dotcom and his associates to prepare their cases and have a fair hearing. <br /><br />“I have therefore concluded, with some reluctance (given the time that has elapsed since the plaintiffs were first brought before the courts) that the interests of natural justice require an adjournment of the 2 June 2015 extradition hearing date,” Justice Katz said. <br /><br />Previously, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/dotcom-loses-lawyers-then-they-erase-all-history-of-him-141113/">legal team issues</a> and associated financing problems have prompted Dotcom to seek delays to his extradition hearing, but this morning the Judge indicated that the current delay shouldn’t herald additional claims. <br /><br />“This [adjournment] should not be taken by the plaintiffs, however, as a signal that any ongoing funding or representation difficulties (if they arise) would be likely to justify further adjournments,” Justice Katz said. <br /><br />“On the contrary, the plaintiffs must take full responsibility for preparing for their extradition hearing on whatever new date is allocated, with whatever level of legal support they are able to secure.” <br /><br />The United States has been particularly vocal on Dotcom’s financial position with claims that the entrepreneur “improperly divested himself” of shares in cloud-hosting service Mega when that money could have been used for his defense. The Judge addressed those claims in today’s ruling. <br /><br />“[Dotcom’s] Trust Me Trust is said to be a sham and Mr Dotcom’s conduct in relation to it is said to amount to equitable fraud,” the judgment notes, adding that if such an allegation was true, further delays to any trial would not be tolerated. <br /><br />In the event, Justice Katz said the validity of the U.S. government’s claims would be determined in separate proceedings. <br /><br />“For present purposes I must give Mr Dotcom the benefit of the doubt on the issue. Further, the assets of the Trust Me Trust, whoever may ultimately be entitled to them, are currently subject to freezing orders,” Justice Katz wrote. <br /><br />Finally, Dotcom co-defendant Finn Batato, who previously applied for legal aid due to a poor financial situation, will now have to defend himself after that application was turned down. However, that is not viewed as a problem by the Judge. <br /><br />“Mr Batato will be able to derive significant benefit from the work undertaken by his former legal team prior to their withdrawal. He will also derive significant benefit from the fact that the other three plaintiffs are legally represented and the plaintiffs are taking a collaborative approach to extradition issues,” the judgment reads. <br /><br />While today’s judgment appears to rule out further delays to Dotcom’s extradition hearing, the history of this case has shown us to expect the unexpected.<br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">credit:torrentfreak </span>

Kim Dotcom Avoids U.S. Clutches For Three More Months

Kim Dotcom's upcoming extradition hearing has been delayed by three months. The procedure was set to go ahead in just four weeks but th...

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