KICKASSTORRENTS Disappears From Google After Penalty

<article class="hentry entry entry-single" id="entry-108130" style="border-right-color: white; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 28px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 2em;">Following what appears to be a severe penalty, popular torrent site KickassTorrents has become pretty much unfindable in Google. Meanwhile, the top search result in many locations points to a scam site that's serving malware to its visitors. For now, only DuckDuckGo presents the real site as a main result.<br /><br /><br /><img alt="KICKASSTORRENTS Disappears From Google After Penalty" height="279" src="https://torrentfreak.com/images/kickass.jpg" title="KICKASSTORRENTS Disappears From Google After Penalty" width="400" /></article><article class="hentry entry entry-single" id="entry-108130" style="border-right-color: white; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 28px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 2em;">With millions of visitors per day KickassTorrents (KAT) is arguably the most visited torrent site on the Internet, outranking even the notorious Pirate Bay</article><article class="hentry entry entry-single" id="entry-108130" style="border-right-color: white; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 28px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 2em;">After several domain hops KAT has been operating from the KAT.cr domain name for a few months now. However, in recent weeks many infrequent visitors have experienced trouble locating the site, leading to all sorts of problems.<br /><br />Traditionally, the site has been easy to find through Google by entering the search terms “KickassTorrents” or “Kickass Torrents,” but this is no longer the case.<br /><br />In fact, the official KAT.cr address is nowhere to be found in the top results. Instead, people see the unknown and unaffiliated Kickasstorrents.eu domain on top in many locations, as the screenshot below shows.<div class="entry-content" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-left: 0px;"> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;"> </div> <center style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 24px;"> <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Google’s KickassTorrents search results</strong><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></center> <center style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 24px;"> <img alt="KICKASSTORRENTS Disappears From Google After Penalty" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-108134" height="440" src="https://torrentfreak.com/images/googlekick.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" title="KICKASSTORRENTS Disappears From Google After Penalty" width="600" /></center> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;"> </div> <br /><br />The KAT team informs us that Google began to penalize its pages a while ago, for reasons unknown. Perhaps there are ways to solve the problems, but the site is currently not doing any search engine optimization (SEO).<br /><br />“It’s already about five or six months since we started to experience some kind of penalty from Google. The issue is that we were not performing any SEO activities at all,” KAT says.<br /><br />What makes matters worse is that .eu site which tops Google search results is a scam. It doesn’t offer any torrents but instead <a href="http://i.imgur.com/rrWmQum.png">prompts visitors</a> to download File_Downloader.exe, which appears to be <a href="http://www.freefixer.com/library/file/File_Downloader.exe-134494/">malware</a>.<br /><br />The KAT team finds it unfortunate that Google is sending tens of thousands of visitors to a shady site and encourages people to check the official <a href="https://www.facebook.com/official.KAT.fanclub">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/kickasstorrents">Twitter</a>accounts for the latest official domain name.<br /><br />Interestingly, not all search engines treat KAT the same. In Bing the site’s official domain name is not on top either, but it’s listed on the first page. DuckDuckGo does the best job, <a href="https://duckduckgo.com/?q=kickasstorrents&ia=about">identifying</a> the correct domain and even tagging it as an “official site,” which is quite useful to estranged KAT users.<div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;"> </div> <center style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 24px;"> <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">DuckDuckGo’s KickassTorrents search results</strong><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></center> <center style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 24px;"> <img alt="KICKASSTORRENTS Disappears From Google After Penalty" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-108137" height="429" src="https://torrentfreak.com/images/duckkick.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" title="KICKASSTORRENTS Disappears From Google After Penalty" width="600" /></center> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;"> </div> </div> </article><div class="entry-tools" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;"> <section class="pbx-tags" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">credit:torrentfreak</span></section></div>

KICKASSTORRENTS Disappears From Google After Penalty

Following what appears to be a severe penalty, popular torrent site KickassTorrents has become pretty much unfindable in Google. Meanwhile, ...

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Utorrent Flagged As ‘HARMFUL’ By Anti-Virus Companies And Google

Several anti-virus vendors have begun blocking uTorrent after identifying the software as malicious or potentially dangerous. In addition, Google Chrome is currently blocking several pages on uTorrent's official website. According to the reports the popular file-sharing application is linked to riskware and trojans.<br /><br /><br /><img alt="Utorrent Flagged As ‘HARMFUL’ By Anti-Virus Companies And Google " height="266" src="https://torrentfreak.com/images/utorrent-logo-new.jpg" title="Utorrent Flagged As ‘HARMFUL’ By Anti-Virus Companies And Google " width="400" /><div> <br /></div> <div> With millions of new downloads per month uTorrent is without doubt the most used BitTorrent client around.<br /><br />The software is the main source of revenue for the San Francisco based company BitTorrent Inc. and generates income through advertisements and bundled software.<br /><br />The latter now appears to be causing trouble as several anti-virus vendors have begun listing uTorrent as a security risk. The scanning result below from VirusTotal shows that at least six anti-virus applications, including ESET and Symantec, have flagged the software as problematic.<br /><br />The anti-virus scans associate the uTorrent.exe file with Trojan.Win32.Generic!BT and the controversial <a href="https://www.sophos.com/en-us/threat-center/threat-analyses/adware-and-puas/OpenCandy/detailed-analysis.aspx">OpenCandy</a> bundling software. While this isn’t the first time that uTorrent has been flagged in this manner, we haven’t seen it being reported by this many independent tests before.<br /><br />uTorrent’s Virustotal results<br /><br /><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/images/utorrentvirus.jpg"><img alt="Utorrent Flagged As ‘HARMFUL’ By Anti-Virus Companies And Google " src="https://torrentfreak.com/images/utorrentvirus.jpg" title="Utorrent Flagged As ‘HARMFUL’ By Anti-Virus Companies And Google " /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />In addition to action by the anti-virus companies, uTorrent is also being blocked by Google in several ways. When attempting to download the latest stable release of the torrent client, Chrome flags the software as malicious and <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/images/utmal.jpg">blocks the download</a>, although this only appears to happen sporadically.<br /><br />Google is also actively <a href="http://utclient.utorrent.com/offers/beta_release_notes/release_notes.html">blocking</a> several pages that link to uTorrent and other BitTorrent Inc. software. According <a href="https://www.google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?site=http%3A%2F%2Futclient.utorrent.com%2Foffers%2Fbeta_release_notes%2Frelease_notes.html&client=googlechrome&hl=en-US">to Google</a>, parts of the uTorrent website contain “harmful programs.”<br /><br />uTorrent.com warning in Chrome<br /><br /><img alt="Utorrent Flagged As ‘HARMFUL’ By Anti-Virus Companies And Google " src="https://torrentfreak.com/images/utorrentharm.jpg" title="Utorrent Flagged As ‘HARMFUL’ By Anti-Virus Companies And Google " /><br /><br /><br /><br />The same “harmful software” warning from Google <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/chrome-blocks-major-torrent-sites-over-harmful-programs-150710/">also prevented millions of people</a>from accessing popular torrent sites earlier this month.<br /><br />A Google spokesperson informed us that this was the result of the company’s increased efforts to block programs that make “unexpected changes” to people’s computers.<br /><br />“Google Safe Browsing’s ability to detect deceptive software has steadily improved,” the company <a href="http://googleonlinesecurity.blogspot.nl/2015/07/more-visible-protection-against.html">explained</a> in a recent blog post.<br /><br />“In the coming weeks, these detection improvements will become more noticeable in Chrome: users will see more warnings about unwanted software than ever before,” Google adds.<br /><br />These and the other uTorrent threat reports all seem to be triggered by bundled third-party software bundled. There is no indication or evidence that the BitTorrent client itself is harmful.<br /><br />Update: BitTorrent Inc’s Jordy Berson provided the following comment.<br /><br />“BitTorrent’s products are developed in a secure environment, are securely signed and virus scanned. Our safety record has been consistently good. We are very conservative with partner ads and offers, using a small subset of available offers that are subject to our security and suitability tests.<br /><br />Meanwhile, security vendors and browser security teams have the difficult task of tuning their heuristics and their block lists to catch offenders without implicating harmless software. The increase in false positives in recent months is a result of security companies becoming more aggressive with their tuning in the category of “potentially unwanted programs.” The issue is not unique to uTorrent, and we and other desktop software companies report false positives when they are spotted, with excellent cooperation from most security vendors.<br /><br />We have stated this to our users for some time in the <a href="http://help.utorrent.com/customer/portal/articles/2054417-antivirus-detecting-torrent-install-as-malware">support section of our Web site</a>, located here.”</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">credit:torrentfreak</span></div>

Utorrent Flagged As ‘HARMFUL’ By Anti-Virus Companies And Google

Several anti-virus vendors have begun blocking uTorrent after identifying the software as malicious or potentially dangerous. In addition, G...

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Top 10 Most Pirated Movies Of The Week – 07/20/15

<article class="hentry entry entry-single" id="entry-108378" style="border-right-color: white; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 28px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 2em;">The top 10 most downloaded movies on BitTorrent are in again. 'Insurgent' tops the chart this week, followed by ‘Jurassic World.' 'Ted 2' completes the top three.<br /><br /><br /><img alt="Top 10 Most Pirated Movies Of The Week – 07/20/15 " height="257" src="https://torrentfreak.com/images/insurgent.jpg" title="Top 10 Most Pirated Movies Of The Week – 07/20/15 " width="400" /></article><article class="hentry entry entry-single" id="entry-108378" style="border-right-color: white; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 28px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 2em;">This week we have one newcomer and one returnee in our chart.<br /><br />Insurgent is the most downloaded movie.<br /><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.<div class="entry-content" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 24px; padding-left: 0px;"> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;"> <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/category/dvdrip/feed/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #353f45;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">RSS feed</strong></a> for the weekly movie download chart.</div> <table class="css hover" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.9em;"><thead style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <tr style="box-sizing: border-box;"><th style="background: rgb(183, 183, 183); border-bottom-color: rgb(224, 0, 94); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(255, 71, 148); border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: white; border-right-width: 1px; border-style: none solid solid; box-sizing: border-box; color: white; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;" width="12%"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Ranking</strong></th><th style="background: rgb(183, 183, 183); border-bottom-color: rgb(224, 0, 94); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: white; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: white; border-right-width: 1px; border-style: none solid solid; box-sizing: border-box; color: white; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;" width="15%"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">(<a href="https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-movies-of-the-week-071315/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: white;">last week</a>)</strong></th><th style="background: rgb(183, 183, 183); border-bottom-color: rgb(224, 0, 94); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: white; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: white; border-right-width: 1px; border-style: none solid solid; box-sizing: border-box; color: white; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Movie</strong></th><th style="background: rgb(183, 183, 183); border-bottom-color: rgb(224, 0, 94); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-color: white; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(255, 71, 148); border-right-width: 1px; border-style: none solid solid; box-sizing: border-box; color: white; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;" width="18%"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">IMDb Rating / Trailer</strong></th></tr> </thead><tfoot style="background: rgb(231, 231, 231); border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.75em;"> <tr style="box-sizing: border-box;"><td colspan="4" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0.5em 0.6em;"><br /></td></tr> </tfoot><tbody style="box-sizing: border-box;"> <tr style="box-sizing: border-box;"><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">1</strong></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;">(…)</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;"><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/insurgent" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #353f45;">Insurgent</a></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2908446/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #353f45;">6.6</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suZcGoRLXkU" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #353f45;">trailer</a></td></tr> <tr style="background: rgb(244, 244, 244); box-sizing: border-box;"><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">2</strong></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;">(1)</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;"><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jurassic_world/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #353f45;">Jurassic World</a> (TS/Subbed HDrip)</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0369610/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #353f45;">7.7</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFinNxS5KN4" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #353f45;">trailer</a></td></tr> <tr style="box-sizing: border-box;"><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">3</strong></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;">(7)</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;"><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ted_2/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #353f45;">Ted 2</a> (Subbed HDrip)</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2637276/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #353f45;">6.9</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3AVcCggRnU" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #353f45;">trailer</a></td></tr> <tr style="background: rgb(244, 244, 244); box-sizing: border-box;"><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">4</strong></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;">(3)</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;"><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/home_2015/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #353f45;">Home</a></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2224026/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #353f45;">6.8</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyqZf8LiWvM" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #353f45;">trailer</a></td></tr> <tr style="box-sizing: border-box;"><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">5</strong></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;">(2)</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;"><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/spy_2015/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #353f45;">Spy</a> (Subbed HDrip)</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3079380/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #353f45;">7.5</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltijEmlyqlg" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #353f45;">trailer</a></td></tr> <tr style="background: rgb(244, 244, 244); box-sizing: border-box;"><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">6</strong></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;">(4)</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;"><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_longest_ride" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #353f45;">The Longest Ride</a></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2726560/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #353f45;">7.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUS_Q7FsfqU" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #353f45;">trailer</a></td></tr> <tr style="box-sizing: border-box;"><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">7</strong></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;">(5)</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;"><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mad_max_fury_road/?" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #353f45;">Mad Max: Fury Road</a> (WEB-DL)</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1392190/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #353f45;">8.5</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjBb4SZ0F6Q" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #353f45;">trailer</a></td></tr> <tr style="background: rgb(244, 244, 244); box-sizing: border-box;"><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">8</strong></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;">(8)</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;"><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/get_hard/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #353f45;">Get Hard</a></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2561572/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #353f45;">6.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEqrpuU9fYI" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #353f45;">trailer</a></td></tr> <tr style="box-sizing: border-box;"><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">9</strong></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;">(10)</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;"><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cinderella_2013/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #353f45;">Cinderella</a></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1661199/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #353f45;">7.3</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRuHM6rLSF8" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #353f45;">trailer</a></td></tr> <tr style="background: rgb(244, 244, 244); box-sizing: border-box;"><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">10</strong></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;">(back)</td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;"><a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kingsman_the_secret_service/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #353f45;">Kingsman: The Secret Service</a></td><td style="border: 1px solid rgb(231, 231, 231); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.1; padding: 0.75em 0.8em;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2802144/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #353f45;">8.1</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl8F-8tR8to" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #353f45;">trailer</a></td></tr> </tbody></table> </div> </article><div class="entry-tools" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;"> <section class="pbx-tags" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">credit:torrentfreak</span></section></div>

Top 10 Most Pirated Movies Of The Week – 07/20/15

The top 10 most downloaded movies on BitTorrent are in again. 'Insurgent' tops the chart this week, followed by ‘Jurassic World....

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Most Aussie Pirates Are The Industry’s Best Customers

A survey commission by the Australian government has found that more than a quarter of all local Internet users consume content illegally online. Interestingly, while 7% of the population were found to be hardcore pirates who spend nothing on legitimate content, those who pirate and also buy legally are the industry's best customers.<br /><br /><br /><img alt="Most Aussie Pirates Are The Industry’s Best Customers " height="400" src="https://torrentfreak.com/images/spongepirate.jpg" title="Most Aussie Pirates Are The Industry’s Best Customers " width="326" /><div> <br /></div> <div> As Australia continues to grapple with its online piracy problem, a new report commissioned by the office of Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has revealed both the scale of the problem and an interesting twist.<br /><br />Carried out in conjunction with the UK government and executed by TNS Global, the survey of 2630 people found that 26% of the population aged 12 years and up – 5.2 million people – had consumed illegal content online during the first three months of 2015.<br /><br />That doesn’t mean that one in four Aussies never put their money in their pockets though. The survey found that just 7% of the population are hardcore pirates who never pay for anything and only consume illegal content. Other pirates buy legitimate content to some extent.<br /><br />When drilling down further, however, the figures appear to worsen. Of all Internet users over 12 who also consumed media content in the first quarter of 2015, 43% said they had done so illegally. Movies proved the most popular among pirates, with 48% saying they had obtained them online without permission. Music came in second place with 37%, while TV shows (33%) and video games (22%) took up the third and fourth slots.<br /><br />In terms of piracy volumes, the survey found that music was the most-download content with an estimated 254 million tracks obtained in the first quarter of 2015. Around 95 million movies, 82 million TV shows and 9 million video games add to the total.<br /><br />On average, Aussie pirates downloaded or streamed around 16 items of content each in the first three months of the year, with music proving the most popular by file volume followed by TV, movies and video games.<br /><br />When looking at overall consumption of digital content, around 66% of movies were obtained illegally versus 36% of TV shows. Music tracks and video games were neck-and-neck with 30% and 29% respectively.<br /><br />When it comes to methods for obtaining unauthorized content the survey results present a slightly confused picture.<br /><br />“Infringers were far more likely than non-infringers to use peer-to-peer methods,<br />in the form of BitTorrent software (26%), uTorrent (28%) and Pirate Bay (19%),<br />whereas 5% or less of non-infringers said they had used these services,” the survey notes.<br /><br />Of course, uTorrent is BitTorrent software and the Pirate Bay requires the use of BitTorrent software in order to function. But in any event, it appears that BitTorrent methods are more popular with those who obtain content illegally than those who do not.<br /><br />But perhaps the biggest question is what motivates these individuals to pirate.<br /><br />Among all pirates, 55% said they consume content illegally because it’s free and a sizable 51% cited ease of access and convenience as a primary motivator. Speed was a factor among 45% of respondents, with 21% noting that they did not wish to wait for content to become available locally.<br /><br />Interestingly, among pirates who said they never buy any content, 27% said they download illegally in order to “try before they buy”. Among those who consume legal and illegal content, that figure jumps to 38%.<br /><br />So what might cause pirates to change their ways?<br /><br />Perhaps unsurprisingly almost four out of ten infringers said cheaper prices on legal services would help. However, the next most popular responses were all about availability. If all content was made available legally that would help 38% of infringers to change their ways while 36% said that timely availability of content when compared to the rest of the world would be a good motivator.<br /><br />Yet another sign that better legal services are the key to reducing infringement came with pirates’ assessment of <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/aussie-isps-advocate-three-strikes-solution-to-piracy-150220/">various measures</a> the government and rightsholders have lined up to tackle infringement.<br /><br />Nearly a quarter of infringers said that the thought of being sued might help them change their ways while just 17% felt that a letter from their ISP could deter them from further piracy. Although not currently on the agenda, 21% said that Internet suspensions might prove effective.<br /><br />Interestingly, when asked if anything at all could stop them pirating, just 5% of all infringers said nothing could, rising to 10% among hardcore “buy nothing” pirates.<br /><br />Finally, the survey provides yet another timely reminder that branding all pirates as enemies of the entertainment industries is a very bad idea. When looking at four content types – movies, TV shows, music and video games – the survey found that those who consumed a mix of legal and illegal content SPENT MORE on legal content than those who only consume content illegally.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">credit:torrentfreak</span></div>

Most Aussie Pirates Are The Industry’s Best Customers

A survey commission by the Australian government has found that more than a quarter of all local Internet users consume content illegally on...

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Youtube Faces Russia Web Block Over Pirate

YouTube has been given just days to respond to copyright infringement complaints or face blocking measures in Russia that for some could take down the whole site. The local telecoms watchdog says that since YouTube has failed to completely remove links to two TV series despite earlier complaints, action is being taken against the site.<br /><br /><br /><img alt="Youtube Faces Russia Web Block Over Pirate" height="284" src="https://torrentfreak.com/images/youtubeface.jpg" title="Youtube Faces Russia Web Block Over Pirate" width="400" /><div> <br /></div> <div> Following intense pressure from local and international entertainment companies, on August 1, 2013 Russia introduced a brand new anti-piracy law.<br /><br />Initially covering only movies, the law allowed websites offering ‘pirate’ content to be blocked by local ISPs if they fail to respond to complaints. Late November 2014 the law was further amended to include all copyrighted content except images.<br /><br />The legislation has been used dozens of times to threaten unresponsive sites with blocking at the ISP level, but in many cases operators have complied to ensure they keep off Russia’s blocklist. Surprisingly the world’s largest user-generated content site YouTube today finds itself perilously close to becoming a new addition.<br /><br />The problem dates back several months when TV shows owned by TNT-network appeared on the site without authorization. In April, YouTube received requests from local telecoms watchdog Roskomnadzor to delete the content and apparently responded in a timely manner.<br /><br />However, fresh monitoring carried out by Roskomnadzor this month reportedly found almost 140 links to the same content, an event that prompted the watchdog to initiate the start of the blocking procedure.<br /><br />“On the application of the right holder ‘TNT-Teleset’ and in accordance with a decision of the Moscow City Court from April 7, 2015, tentative interim measures of protection of the exclusive rights to [two TV series] have been implemented against social networking website YouTube.com,” Roskomnadzor announced.<br /><br />“Notification with a request to remove the unlawfully placed materials has been repeatedly directed at the administration of the Internet resource. Currently, access to the illegal videos has not been limited.”<br /><br />For YouTube, the clock is now ticking. Roskomnadzor is alerting Russian users that on Monday July 27 YouTube pages will be added to Russia’s national register of copyright violators. However, due to the way blocking is sometimes implemented, Roskomnadzor warns that for some the entire site may be rendered inaccessible.<br /><br />“The video hosting site has a huge audience, and for some users the resource could become completely unavailable,” Roskomnadzor’s Vadim Ampelonsky <a href="http://www.vedomosti.ru/technology/articles/2015/07/22/601731-roskomnadzor-vneset-youtube-s-reestr-zapreschennih-saitov-s-27-iyulya">told</a> local media.<br /><br />“The administration of YouTube has always responded to our needs and removed illegal content. But in [this case] this hasn’t happened for reasons that aren’t apparent to us. We very much hope that we will not have to put YouTube on the blocklist registry.”<br /><br />It’s unclear why YouTube hasn’t responded to the requests of Roskomnadzor. The company is usually responsive to complaints and it should be trivial to add the TV shows in question to its ContentID system so that uploads of the same can be spotted in the future. But in any event, YouTube has just days to respond before the banhammer falls.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">credit:torrentfreak</span></div>

Youtube Faces Russia Web Block Over Pirate

YouTube has been given just days to respond to copyright infringement complaints or face blocking measures in Russia that for some could tak...

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Pirate Bay Led Hollywood The Way, Co-Founder SAYS By Ernesto

<br />During his stay in prison, Pirate Bay co-founder Fredrik Neij was deprived of the Internet and forced to view broadcast TV. A grueling experience, but not as bad as it used to be, something the Pirate Bay can take credit for in part. Still, Fredrik believes that there's plenty of room for improvement.<br /><br /><br /><img alt="Pirate Bay Led Hollywood The Way, Co-Founder SAYS By Ernesto" height="400" src="https://torrentfreak.com/images/pirate-bay.jpg" title="Pirate Bay Led Hollywood The Way, Co-Founder SAYS By Ernesto" width="386" /><div> <br /></div> <div> Fredrik Neij, one of The Pirate Bay’s co-founders, was released early May after serving a 10-month prison sentence for his involvement with the site.<br /><br />He has since returned to his home in Laos, where he’s picking up his life again. Speaking with TF, Fredrik says that he didn’t miss computers or the Internet as much as he’d expected.<br /><br />What Fredrik missed the most about being ‘disconnected’ was instant access to news, information and entertainment. Instead of having access to the latest movies and TV-series without interruptions, he was forced to watch broadcast TV.<br /><br />“Watching broadcast TV again for the first time in roughly 12 years was gruesome. I don’t know how people stand the commercial breaks without going insane,” Fredrik tells TorrentFreak.<br /><br />However, the Pirate Bay co-founder also admits that quite a bit of progress has been made in recent years. In part, Hollywood and the video entertainment industry made these changes to give consumers something they would otherwise get on sites such as The Pirate Bay.<br /><br />“I saw a lot of things that probably would not have existed without The Pirate Bay, like every channel having their own streaming services, and the short time between US premiere and it being aired on networks worldwide, usually just a few days or a week,” Fredrik says.<br /><br />Netflix is a prime example of a video streaming service that has become a great success. But from a Pirate Bay user perspective there is still plenty of room for improvement.<br /><br />For example, people should be able to get all their video entertainment at one service, instead of having to <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/most-top-films-are-not-available-on-netflix-research-finds-140926/">use a dozen or so</a>. Similarly, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/eu-commissioner-wants-to-abolish-netflix-geoblocking-150227/">blocking access </a>to potential customers based on their location is an outdated business model that has to go.<br /><br />“While I think all the new streaming services are great, if they want to take on piracy for real, they need to combine all services behind a common pay-wall so you don’t need several accounts to follow your favorite shows,” Fredrik notes.<br /><br />“They also really need to address the geo-blocking problems and provide global availability of the all content at the same price. Until big media makes it as easy or easier to get all your media in one place no matter where you live, there will be a need for sites like TPB.”<br /><br />Of course, The Pirate Bay doesn’t use any geo-blocking tools and the site also has a content library that beats any legal service. Because of this, TPB’s co-founder believes that the site will remain popular for a while.<br /><br />Now that Fredrik’s back home he can catch up on Doctor Who and Archer again. He’s also closely following Pirate Bay related developments, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/swedish-police-raid-the-pirate-bay-site-offline-141209/">last year’s raid</a> in particular.<br /><br />“Back when I ran things it only took three days to get back up from a raid. The new team took a good 6 weeks, but they have been doing a good job on TPB these last few years, and eventually restored the site to its former glory,” Fredrik says.<br /><br />And even if the police managed to take the site down again, new Pirate Bays will take over as long as the demand is there.<br /><br />“Even if TPB is permanently shutdown, the December raid shows that there will always be sites ready to fill the void. One again showing that meeting consumer demand is far more effective than trying to enforce lobby-bought laws with no support among the general public,” Fredrik concludes.</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">credit:torrentfreak</span></div>

Pirate Bay Led Hollywood The Way, Co-Founder SAYS By Ernesto

During his stay in prison, Pirate Bay co-founder Fredrik Neij was deprived of the Internet and forced to view broadcast TV. A grueling exper...

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Why Good Looks Don't Guarantee A Great Relationship

<img alt="Syda Productions/Shutterstock" height="280" src="https://cdn.psychologytoday.com/sites/default/files/styles/article-inline-half/public/field_blog_entry_images/shutterstock_238625905.jpg?itok=GVGl8U-D" width="400" /><div> <br /></div> <div> <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, 'DejaVu Sans', sans-serif; line-height: 16.7999992370605px;">This should be encouraging for all relationship-seekers:</span></span><br />Shallow readers, beware: Your partner’s level of attractiveness means less than you think for the quality of your relationship.<br /><br />At least this is the conclusion of a new study exploring the science of close relationships, directed by psychologist Lucy Hunt and published in this month’s issue of Psychological Science. Hunt’steam surveyed 167 couples, either married or dating. They asked each partner to rate the level of satisfaction they currently experienced in their relationship. They also measured each partner’s attractiveness by having a group of trained undergraduates judge each partner’s looks (in other words, a scientific version of HotOrNot.com).<br /><br />Here’s what they found: Attractiveness was not in any way related to relationship satisfaction. Couples who diverged on ratings of attractiveness were just as happy in their relationships as couples who were similar in attractiveness.<br /><br />Hunt elaborates:<br /><br />“We found that romantic partners who were similarly attractive were no more likely to feel satisfied with their relationship than romantic partners who were not similarly attractive. Specifically, in our sample of dating and married couples, we did not find an association between partner matching in attractiveness and satisfaction with the relationship for either women or men.”<br /><br />Is this evidence that we should ignore our superficial instincts when considering whom to date? Not necessarily. Hunt cautions against jumping to the conclusion that physical attractiveness is an unimportant quality in finding a mate. "Physical attractiveness, itself, remains one of the most consistently and highly desired characteristics in a romantic partner,” she says. And, while ratings of objective attractiveness may not matter all that much, beauty is ever in the eye of the beholder.<br /><br />"Perceptions of a partner's attractiveness can change over time, deviating from the ‘average’ perception of that partner's attractiveness," Hunt says. "So even if most people might rate a particular person as a 5 out of 10 on attractiveness, that person's partner may rate the person as an 8. In short, it is not that physical attractiveness is unimportant, but rather perceptions of attractiveness can change, becoming increasingly unique as individuals get to know one another better over time."<br /><br />Hunt’s study also speaks to a broader debate in the field of close relationships research. “Our study suggests that similarity in attractiveness may not matter so much for relationship satisfaction,” she says. “This issue is still of some debate, with some evidence indicating that similarity in attractiveness does predict relationship satisfaction and some evidence indicating that it does not.”<br /><br />More research must be done to figure out how much attractiveness really does matter, but the lesson from this study is nevertheless a good one: Looks aren’t everything, and many other qualities—intelligence, fidelity, etc.—also make for a good mate and a happy relationship. "Even if a person selects a partner who is relatively (objectively) unattractive, it may be that that partner is high on a wealth of other desirable characteristics," Hunt says.<br /><br />Overall, Hunt believes that this research should be taken as a source of encouragement for relationship-seekers. “I think our findings are uplifting,” she says. “I would say that the goal is not to be as attractive as possible to the average person or to be instantly attractive at first glance, but to be attractive in the eyes of a particular individual one would be interested in pursuing.”<div> <br /></div> <div> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">credit:psychologytoday</span></div> </div>

Why Good Looks Don't Guarantee A Great Relationship

This should be encouraging for all relationship-seekers: Shallow readers, beware: Your partner’s level of attractiveness means less than ...

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How To Safely Store Food In An Emergency

With hurricane season off to an early start, now's a good time to familiarize yourself with how to prepare for a power outage or other emergency situation. Heck, it's never a bad time, even if you don't live on the Eastern seaboard or in Tornado Alley.<br /><br />Since you can be without power for hours, days, or even weeks, one of the most important things to take into consideration is food storage and safety. Not only do you want to maximize the life of your perishables, but you also want them to besafe to eat.<br /><br />Read on and we'll explain how you can prepare your food for an extended outage, or skip straight to the second section if you're already in the midst of a power outage and/or storm for advice on what you can do right now.<br /><img alt="How To Safely Store Food In An Emergency" src="http://a3.images.reviewed.com/image/fetch/s--sTzkNfIj--/c_limit,cs_srgb,f_auto,fl_progressive.strip_profile,g_center,q_jpegmini,w_579/https://reviewed-production.s3.amazonaws.com/attachment/7a26bc59bdb14b09/flickr-e06158-empty-shelves.jpg" title="How To Safely Store Food In An Emergency" /><br />How can I prepare?<br /><br />If a storm is on the way, one of the best things you can do is freeze your food. The FDA recommends freezing both containers of drinkable water and perishable foods that you won't need right away.<br /><br />"Take your small water bottles and you can just stuff the freezer with those," says James Judge, a member of the American Red Cross Scientific Advisory Council. He adds that they will work much better than bagged ice when it comes to filling up remaining freezer space.<br /><br />Frozen water bottles can also be used as ice packs for coolers, and will help keep food cold longer. Make sure to freeze any ice packs you have lying around, and invest in some bagged ice to fill in the cracks in the coolers. If you don't own any coolers, now's the time to buy some.<br />You want to make sure both your fridge and freezer stay at or below 40 degrees once power is out.<br /><br />The FDA also recommends that you try to find stores that sell blocks of dry ice, as they'll be helpful if you're without power for multiple days at a time. If you don't fill your freezer to the brim, make sure to pack everything close together, so that when the power does go out, your food stays frozen longer.<br /><br /><br /><br />Purchase thermometers for both your refrigerator and freezer. You want to make sure both compartments stay at or below 40 degrees Fahrenheit once power is out. Any higher and you risk spoilage and/or food poisoning.<br /><br />If you live in a flood-prone area, store non-perishables and bottled water on shelves to keep it away from potential flood waters.<br /><br />Finally, don't forget to keep a good supply of non-perishable and canned foods that can be eaten without cooking. Ready.gov points out that you'll want to avoid foods that make you thirsty, so choose canned foods with a lot of liquid and reduced sodium.<br /><br /><br /><img alt="How To Safely Store Food In An Emergency" src="http://a5.images.reviewed.com/image/fetch/s--nIqCtgQK--/c_limit,cs_srgb,f_auto,fl_progressive.strip_profile,g_center,q_jpegmini,w_579/https://reviewed-production.s3.amazonaws.com/attachment/2622e1fe831a41cd/flickr-swire-power-outage.jpg" title="How To Safely Store Food In An Emergency" /><br />The power's out. Now what?<br /><br />First and foremost, do not open your fridge or freezer unless it's absolutely necessary. The FDA warns that your refrigerator will only stay cold for four hours and your freezer for 48 hours under ideal conditions.<br /><br />Some appliances may last longer—a Frigidaire spokesperson told us that their fridges can last anywhere from eight to 24 hours—but you should play it safe and use thermometers if you have them.<br />"If you're not sure if the food is good, don't try to taste it or eat some of it."<br /><br />If you expect to be without power for more than a few hours and it's safe to leave your home, buy some dry ice to keep your fridge and freezer cold. Now is also the time to pack coolers with ice and perishables if needed.<br /><br />When it does come time to eat, the FDA strongly urges you to thoroughly cook perishable foods, especially meats, to the correct temperatures. Make sure that the food is still cold before cooking it. If it has been above 40 degrees for more than two hours, do not eat it—throw it away.<br /><br />"If in doubt, throw it out," says the Red Cross's Judge. "If you're not sure if the food is good, don't try to taste it or eat some of it to find out if it's safe. That's dangerous."<br /><br />And if you do manage to prepare hot food, hold off on putting leftovers in the fridge.<br /><br />"The refrigerator or freezer may need to recover temperature, depending on the duration of power outage," says a Frigidaire spokesperson. "So it is advised to not load heavy or hot food loads into the refrigerator until it has recovered."<br /><br /><br /><br />And Frigidaire adds that you shouldn't add any foods to your freezer during the outage—only the refrigerator, if necessary.<br /><br />If you're dealing with flooding, have to remain in your home, and haven't done this already, move any non-perishable food and bottled water that has not been touched by flood water to high shelves.<br /><br />The FDA warns that any food that has come into contact with flood waters should be discarded. The only exceptions are canned foods, foods in sealed pouches, or foods that have been sealed in watertight containers. These can be sanitized with soap and clean water, followed by either being boiled in water for two minutes or sitting in clean water with bleach (1 tablespoon per gallon of water) for 15 minutes.<br /><img alt="How To Safely Store Food In An Emergency" src="http://a1.images.reviewed.com/image/fetch/s--9S_sAOdL--/c_limit,cs_srgb,f_auto,fl_progressive.strip_profile,g_center,q_jpegmini,w_579/https://reviewed-production.s3.amazonaws.com/attachment/1e287908b1f64f9b/flooded-kitchen-flickr-jessicafm.jpg" title="How To Safely Store Food In An Emergency" /><br />What should I do after the storm?<br /><br />You've made it through the storm and your power has come back on. Now you can begin the process of determining which food is still safe and what needs to be sanitized.<br /><br />First, check the temperature of your fridge and freezer. If they are still at or below 40 degrees, you can keep your food. If not, you will want to dispose of it for safety's sake. FoodSafety.gov has two handy charts for fridges and freezers that will tell you exactly what can be kept and what should be thrown away.<br />If you own any wooden cooking instruments that came into contact with flood water, dispose of them.<br /><br />If there was flooding, dispose of any non-watertight foods that came into contact with flood waters. The items that you keep should be sanitized with bleach. TheFDA says the same goes for any cooking surfaces or cookware.<br /><br />If you own any wooden cooking instruments that came into contact with flood water, dispose of them—you can't fully sanitize them. The same goes for refrigerators and freezers. You should also run your dishwasher three times to clear its water lines and clean out your ice maker with bleach.<br /><br />This might seem like overkill, but this is one case where it's better to be safe than sorry. The American Red Cross also suggests you download its Emergency app. It has a lot of the information we've included here, and plenty more. Please be careful and stay safe out there.<div> <br /></div> <div> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">credit:usatoday</span></div>

How To Safely Store Food In An Emergency

With hurricane season off to an early start, now's a good time to familiarize yourself with how to prepare for a power outage or other e...

Read more »