TorrentFreak Email Update

Nintendo Nukes Hugely Popular iOS Game Boy Emulator

Posted: 14 May 2014 02:45 AM PDT

Emulating old or defunct hardware to allow the playing of ‘retro’ games is a growing activity fueled by nostalgia and ever-increasing processing power. Emulating old arcade games via software such as MAME has a fanatical following on PC but the rise of the smartphone and tablet has brought a whole new fanbase on board.

It’s now possible to emulate classic games on both iOS and Android devices, some via official apps and others via less authorized routes. Traditionally iOS has been the less flexible route due to the need for users to jailbreak their devices but in recent months the latest version of a Game Boy emulator has been tearing things up by allowing direct installation, no hacks needed.

GBA4iOS works very well indeed. The no-jailbreak installation on iPhone or iPad is achieved by exploiting a loophole in Apple's Developer Enterprise Program and once in situ the user has access to countless games, accessible via an inbuilt browser and third party ROM sites. The latest version even has Dropbox integration.

The emulator is the brainchild of high-school student Riley Testut who back in February reported that the latest version of the software alone had achieved more than one million downloads. Now, however, the 18-year-old has the might of Nintendo of America to deal with.

Up until a few hours ago GBA4iOS was hosted on Github, but now the gaming giant’s legal team has hit the code sharing website with a takedown for the popular emulator.

“We represent Nintendo of America Inc. (“Nintendo”) in copyright matters. Certain material posted on the web site located at www.gba4iosapp.com infringes copyrights owned by Nintendo. GitHub, Inc. is identified as the internet service provider for this web site and IP Address 192.30.252.153. This notice is provided pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 USC § 512,” the notice begins.

“Nintendo requests that GitHub, Inc. disable public access to the web site at www.gba4iosapp.com. This web site hosts a downloadable mobile application for iOS that provides users with access to unauthorized and illegal copies of Nintendo's copyright-protected video games in violation of Nintendo's exclusive rights.”

Nintendo signs off with a note that it would appreciate Github’s “expeditious removal” of all infringing content. Somewhat immediately, Github complied.

Riley Testus reports that while the emulator will continue to work, at least for now there will be no new downloads.

The teenager, who is very open with his identity online and is currently on an internship with Bottle Rocket Apps, has a new version with multi-player support in the pipeline but this action from Nintendo is bound to cast a huge shadow over that release.

Fighting it out with one of the world’s largest games companies at such a tender age is unlikely to end well, so if people have a copy of the software, archiving it now might be a wise decision. It could be the last one ever.

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

“U.S. Prisons Play Pirated Movies to Inmates”

Posted: 13 May 2014 10:12 AM PDT

In 2010 Richard Humphrey was sentenced to 29 months in prison for operating several pirate sites, including the popular USAWarez.com and USATorrents.com.

Earlier this year Humphrey, who is a well-known and controversial figure in the warez community in various roles, went back to jail after he violated his probation of an unrelated offense. This time he was sent to Lorain Correctional Institution in Ohio, where he was surprised to see that pirated copies of “Ride Along” and “Wolf of Wall Street” were being played for inmates.

According to Humphrey the movies were shown while they were still playing in theaters and had clear earmarks of being pirated copies. Baffled by this apparent display of deviant behavior by prison staff, Humphrey notified the Deputy Warden and the Warden about his complaint.

Below is a copy of the kite (written request) that was sent to Warden Clipper, who confirms the reported issue. “Your concerns have been addressed in the past but it appears that this activity is still taking place,” Clipper writes.

The kite Humphrey sent

TorrentFreak got in touch with Mr. Humphrey who is baffled that prison staff are committing the same kinds of crimes some of their inmates have been convicted for. This isn’t exactly the correctional influence one would expect from these institutions, Humphrey says.

“If people are going to prison for copyright infringement, prison mind you, where they are supposed to be paying their debt to society and rehabilitate for their crimes? How is it that the prison itself is showing pirated movies?” Humphrey says.

“Why are people even being punished and sent to prison for rehabilitation when it’s clear that the system isn’t able to restrain itself from the same type of activity,” he adds.

After his release last week he contacted Warden Clipper again in a phone call to follow-up on the issue. She reiterated that the complaint is being taken seriously and that the matter is being looked into. Clipper couldn’t say, however, whether the officer responsible has been questioned about the issue.

TF contacted Lorain Correctional Institution for a comment on the allegations and a spokesperson informed us that the issue is still being investigated. Thus far, however, no pirated materials have been uncovered.

“Please note that this matter is still under investigation. Warden Clipper received two kites from this inmate both of which she took seriously. No contraband has been found pertaining to this matter and nothing can substantiate this inmate’s claim,” we were told.

“Due to Warden Clippers concern regarding copyrighted movies this investigation will remain ongoing. There have not been any other complaints from any other inmates or staff concerning this matter,” the spokesperson added.

Of course, other inmates are unlikely to complain about pirated movies, as they probably enjoy the free entertainment. For them it’s the only option to watch the latest blockbuster movies shortly after they premiere.

According to Humphrey, the Lorain Correctional Institution is not the only prison where pirated movies are shown to inmates. During his youth he was detained at Lorain County Juvenile Detention Center, where the same issues took place.

Looking back at his time there, Humphrey says this may have played a role in his fascination for piracy, which eventually led to him starting several pirate sites, and a subsequent 29 month stay in a federal prison.

According to Humphrey these probably aren’t isolated incidents that only occurred in these two institutions either. He believes that this is a broader issue apparent in all layers of society, prisons included.

Humphrey finally notes that the solution of the issue lies with the movie companies, not the infringers. He believes that the content producers should come up with affordable and good platforms so movie fans can watch their favorite movies in all formats as soon as they are released.

Until then, however, prisons should probably stay away from DVDrips, CAMs and Telesyncs.

A message from Humphrey

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