TorrentFreak Email Update

Putlocker Rebrands as Firedrive, User Files Remain Intact

Posted: 15 Feb 2014 03:12 AM PST

Despite only being online for a few years, much of Putlocker’s existence as a file-storage site has been tarnished by accusations from Hollywood.

Back in 2011 the MPAA categorized Putlocker as a “rogue site”, operations that amount to a “direct threat to our community and the millions of hard-working Americans that rely on it for their livelihoods.”

Hollywood’s problem with Putlocker is that its users regularly upload movies and TV shows to the service without permission. Links to these videos are then posted on third-party streaming portals, enabling visitors to watch the latest blockbusters for free. Putlocker has always insisted that it’s complied with the letter of the law and by 2012 it was fighting back.

"Putlocker takes a strong stand against copyright infringement and in the past year and a half we have taken down hundreds of thousands of infringing files and blocked the accounts of hundreds of repeat offenders," the site told TF at the time.

Despite the public statements and apparent copyright takedowns, Hollywood’s position on the site has remained unchanged. Up to and including their latest submission to the USTR, the MPAA has continued to insist that Putlocker is a “notorious market.”

USTR’s 2014 report on Putlocker PutlockerUSTR

Earlier this week, however, and in parallel with Hollywood’s latest accusations, Putlocker simply disappeared. Visitors to the domain were redirected to a completely new site with a brand new name – Firedrive.com. What followed was a steady stream of emails to TorrentFreak asking if we could shine any light on developments. Here are our findings.

“Putlocker has been under active redevelopment for over a year under a new management and development team. It was decided to rebrand the site, in order to get a fresh start,” the Firedrive team told TF.

The new site certainly looks fresh, with a brand new design that makes it look more like a competitor to the revamped Mediafire than some kind of alleged pirate hangout. Firedrive offers 50GB of free storage for everyone, with files accessible on any device along with features to share files as privately or as publicly as the user might like.

FireDrive SS

“Firedrive has all the features of Putlocker like free unrestricted access to files, streaming of media files, and mobile access, but that's just the start. Firedrive has a wide array of new features that really make it a unique product. These include groups, public profiles, filedrops, advanced file permissions, document viewing, and much more,” Firedrive explains.

While Firedrive is clearly looking towards a fresh start, former users of Putlocker will be pleased to know that their data has been fully shipped over to the new site.

“Firedrive has all the user accounts and files that were on Putlocker, so users can just login with their old credentials and have access to their data. Anyone who had a Pro account on Putlocker, will continue to have a Pro account on Firedrive,” TF was informed.

Other features to make FireDrive even more accessible are currently in the works, including desktop and mobile applications, syncing across devices, and end-to-end encryption.

The additions are likely to please users, but whether the changes will be enough to improve the site’s image with Hollywood remains to be seen.

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

Most Europeans Download and Stream Pirated Movies

Posted: 14 Feb 2014 09:24 AM PST

The European Commission has released a new report on the film viewing habits of Europeans this week.

The report, titled “A profile of current and future audiovisual audience”, draws its conclusions based on a survey of 4,608 respondents between the ages of 4 and 50 scattered across Europe. The participants were taken from a representative sample of ten different countries including France, Germany and the UK.

One of the main findings is that up to 97% percent of all Europeans are film viewers, but that the majority don’t pay for the films they watch over the Internet.

“Nearly 70% of Europeans download or stream films for free, whether legally or illegally,” the European Commission reports.

The study does not distinguish between legal and illegal downloads, but half of all respondents said they downloaded or streamed films because cinema tickets and DVDs are too expensive. This suggests that the films they watch come from “pirate” sources.

More than two-third (68%) of film viewers said they downloaded movies without paying, and half of this group did so on a weekly basis. Streaming free movies is slightly less popular with 56% of the total, but it’s still something half of the population has experience with.

Downloading and streaming is most common among Europeans in the 16-25 age group. In addition, there is a small difference between men and women, with the former downloading and streaming slightly more.

One of the main questions is why so many people prefer free copies over paid alternatives. It may come as no surprise that price is an important factor here.

The chart below shows that the price of cinema tickets, video on demand services and DVDs is a key motivation. Half of all people say they prefer free films because the legal alternatives are too expensive.

The fact that some films are not available yet also plays an important role, and is mentioned by 30% of the respondents.

Why people pirate

The report also offers some further insight into regional differences in motivations. For example, the high price of legal films is mentioned by only 39% of Romanians, but by 64% of the French.

A lack of legal alternatives is often mentioned as a key motivation in Romania, Croatia and Poland, with around 35% in these countries. In France, the UK and Lithuania, availability was least mentioned with little over 20%.

According to the European Commission these high download and streaming numbers are no surprise, and it suggests that the film industry itself holds the key to lowering high piracy rates.

“The study finds that this is not surprising because, while the public takes a lot of interest in films as a whole, the nearest cinema is often some distance from them and the choice on screen is frequently rather limited,” the European Commission writes.

“It suggests that the European film industry can increase revenues by exploiting different types of profit-making online platforms to increase the availability of films and reach new audiences,” the Commission notes.

While the report signals some key trends, the movie industry is likely to disagree with the conclusion that it’s up to them to make a change.

Instead, Hollywood is likely interpret the findings as an affirmation that pirates are cheapskates out to save money, and therefore tougher anti-piracy measures are required.

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