TorrentFreak Email Update

EZTV Fights Piracy By Going Much Further Than Google

Posted: 01 Apr 2014 03:01 AM PDT

EZTV is undoubtedly the most popular TV-focused torrent site on the Internet today. Founded way back in 2005, it is also one of the oldest with nine full years under its belt.

Through its indexing of all popular TV shows, EZTV has become the go-to venue for torrent downloaders but behind the scenes the site has been wrestling with a copyright predicament. Instead of sending in takedown notices via email, in recent months several studios switched to sending theirs in via regular mail, overloading the site’s staff in the process.

“For the first few days UPS turned up with a couple of small boxes of notices, but it was soon several crates a day stacking several feet deep,” EZTV informs TorrentFreak.

In a bid to solve the crisis, EZTV decided to speak with the two studios responsible for sending the majority of the notices. The outcome of the discussions, which were facilitated by the MPAA, was unequivocal – EZTV would have to massively change the way it does business.

EZTV went back to the drawing board. Which model could they emulate to show that they were now a completely neutral, content agnostic platform? Which company, by virtue of the fact that it had never been sued by the studios over its indexing, could EZTV emulate?

It was obvious – GOOGLE.

Visitors to EZTV today can see the outcome. Instead of the layout users have become accustomed to over the past near-decade, EZTV now sports a minimal Google-style search engine beneath a new and rebranded EZTV logo.

All TV show categories have gone and all that remains are descriptions pulled from the Internet using algorithms licensed from Google. Completing the sterilization of the site, all torrents have been deleted and now only magnet hash values of content specifically searched for by the user are listed.

But EZTV’s operators wanted to do more. Realizing that Google’s Auto-Complete and Auto-Suggest features only serve to direct people to infringing content, EZTV now filters these from Google’s API and hence its own search results. Not suggesting stuff before people had even asked for it was a key MPAA-pleasing move.

Honing the business model that has enabled Google to avoid being sued by any Hollywood studio over its search results, EZTV went further still. Working closely with City of London Police’s new Operation Creative, EZTV has filtered out not only all major brands’ advertising, but all advertising entirely.

“We’ve never had any advertising on EZTV but noticed how little trouble Google has had monetizing links to potentially infringing content. With that in mind, we decided nearly a decade ago to go much further, but we’re only really shouting about it now,” EZTV told TF.

Unsurprisingly, the MPAA are pleased with the results.

“By working with the industry, EZTV has successfully removed all financial incentives for it to exist by cutting off its own revenues for the last nine years,” the MPAA said in a statement. “This is just the kind of action that will save jobs and fuel innovation.”

The changes, which were phased in during the past month but visible over the past few hours, were expected to solve all of EZTV’s problems, but this morning at the site’s spacious New York offices a different picture was emerging.

“Becoming just like Google is proving to be a nightmare. Just like them we’re now receiving millions of notices every hour,” EZTV told TF in phone call a few minutes ago.

“UPS just turned up with a convoy of trucks. We’re scanning the notices as quickly as we can but the folks at Chilling Effects have already run out of space.”

Whether EZTV will continue to emulate Google into the future is unclear, but at this point it seems that going back to the way they were might be the best option.

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

Civil Rights Lawyer To Fight U.S. Govt. in Internet Piracy Case

Posted: 31 Mar 2014 09:56 AM PDT

In the summer of 2012, the FBI with assistance from French and Dutch police shut down applanet.net, appbucket.net and snappzmarket.com, three sites that offered Android apps outside Google’s ecosystem.

The action was heralded as ground-breaking, with the authorities seizing the domains of these alternative stores and putting up the now-infamous FBI banner to inform visitors of their fate. Together it was claimed the sites were responsible for millions of dollars in losses to software producers.

News of the shutdowns came in August 2012, but it took until last week for the U.S. Government to provide a significant update. The Department of Justice revealed that two of the three operators of the Appbucket site had signed a plea deal with the Government and now face sentencing in June.

But while the Appbucket guys appear to have accepted their fate, the former admin of Applanet certainly has not. Speaking with TorrentFreak, Attorney Rain Minns says her client is still under fire, but won’t be giving in.

“It is extremely unfortunate that some of the young people targeted by the government's dragnet have been forced to plead guilty,” Minns told TF.

“But this is an inevitable, and incredibly sad and disheartening, consequence when the United States unleashes the power and resources of the most powerful nation on earth against defenseless citizens who, like Aaron, care about free and open world-wide access to publicly available information, and who have not earned any significant income for their efforts.”

But while Minns says that the mere threat of a long prison term is enough for even the most innocent citizen to plead guilty, that isn’t going to be happening in Aaron’s case.

“Aaron is an extraordinarily brave and ethical young man, who is not willing to buckle under the pressure of the government's abusive practices. He believes that someone should stand up to abuse of power, and he is willing to put himself at risk if that is the only way to keep information sites free and open.”

To that end and in an effort to level the playing field against the Government, Minns informs TF that Aaron’s legal team has just received a significant boost.

“After an extensive vetting process, I have now been joined by Attorney Antonio Ponvert III, an accomplished and much-feared civil rights lawyer from Connecticut who, to put it plainly, has enjoyed kicking the government's ass for almost 25 years,” Minns explains.

“Antonio's task is to take the offense in Aaron's case, focusing on the government's violation of state and federal civil rights laws, the First Amendment free speech implications of the government's tactics, and the substantial reputational and financial harm that the D.O.J. has inflicted, and will continue to inflict on Aaron. One can be sure that a damages case is coming down the pike if, and when, an indictment is forthcoming.”

Through his lawyer Aaron informed TF that while it’s a pity that the Appbucket guys were “forced to buckle under the heavy-handed threats of the government”, he wishes them luck as he looks forward to his own day in court.

From the tone of the language employed by Rain Minns and by extension Antonio Ponvert, there appears to be plenty of appetite for a fight, should the Government decide to go the whole way against Aaron. If they do, Minns is confident he will prevail.

“It is not even close to a fair fight anymore. And we look forward to the battle,” she concludes.

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