TorrentFreak Email Update

Parents of Pirate Site Admin Sentenced For Money Laundering

Posted: 28 Jun 2014 02:48 AM PDT

Back in February 2012, Italian media began reporting on the sudden closure of two popular file-sharing sites said to have 270,000 users.

Acting on a court order, the Guardia di Finanza (financial police) seized the domains of Scaricolibero.com and Filmgratis.tv and ordered ISPs to block the IP addresses of the sites’ servers in the Netherlands. The order also authorized seizure of bank accounts connected to the site.

The order was granted based on allegations of copyright infringement from local entertainment companies and claims of receiving stolen goods/money laundering. At the time the sites were said to be making around $300 a day from advertising.

It’s taken more than two years but this week the Italian legal system finally wrapped up the case against the sites’ former operator and his family accomplices, finding all three guilty as charged.

Fortunately the now 23-year-old will not spend any time behind bars, having been handed a 22 month suspended sentence after generating around 137,000 euros from the sites. Interestingly, his parents also became involved in the case after allowing their bank account to be used to collect advertising revenue.

“The parents, who owned the bank account where the money from ads were allocated, were sentenced for money laundering,” Enzo Mazzo of music industry group Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana informs TorrentFreak.

The couple received a 10 month suspended sentence after benefitting to the tune of 48,000 euros.

“It’s a very good decision,” Mazza adds. “Our anti-piracy team FPM assisted during the case and we are really satisfied with the decision which has shown clear evidence of the link between piracy and the collection of money through advertisements.”

In the future FIMI and its local associates will be looking to take a more proactive approach by stopping revenue reaching pirate sites in the first place. Earlier this month a new Italian coalition announced its plans to continue the “follow-the-money” theme being played out around Europe and the United States.

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

Comcast Must Share Six-Strikes Warnings with Copyright Troll, Court Rules

Posted: 27 Jun 2014 08:31 AM PDT

Last year the RIAA and MPAA teamed up with five of the largest Internet providers in the U.S. to begin issuing warnings to alleged copyright infringers.

As part of this partnership the ISPs have to store all warnings their customers receive. Opponents feared that this data could be used against these individuals in court, which is specifically permitted under the agreement.

"The Content Owner Representatives [MPAA / RIAA] or any other member of the Participating Content Owners Group may use such reports or data as the basis for seeking a Subscriber's identity through a subpoena or order or other lawful process," the agreement reads.

However, as it turns out, the first legal consequences aren’t a result of action taken by Hollywood or the major record labels. They come from the adult video publisher Malibu Media, a so-called copyright troll that has filed over 750 lawsuits against alleged infringers this year alone.

In their case against Kelley Tashiro, a middle-aged female nurse from Indianapolis, the company had trouble proving that an infringement actually took place. But instead of backing down, they put their money on the six-strikes warnings databases.

Malibu asked the court to order Comcast to release all data being held as part of the Copyright Alert System. While Malibu is not part of the program, this data may show that the Internet connection was used to share pirated content on more occasions.

"DMCA notices and six strike notices are relevant because these notices may prove a pattern of infringement or notice that infringement is occurring or both," Malibu noted in its motion.

A copy of the recorded copyright infringements wasn’t enough for Malibu though, the company also asked for details of Tashiro's bandwidth consumption, suggesting that this could indicate whether she is an infringer or not.

"Bandwidth usage is relevant because people who are heavy BitTorrent users use significantly more bandwidth than normal internet users," the company's sweeping generalization reads.

This week Indiana District Court Judge Mark Dinsmore granted Malibu’s motion, which means that Comcast will be ordered to share the requested evidence.

“Plaintiff's Motion is GRANTED. Plaintiff may serve a third party subpoena on Comcast and Comcast should comply with Plaintiff's Subpoena Duces Tecum
for deposition as outlined in Plaintiff's Motion,” the Judge writes.

Comcast has not yet responded to the order, but considering the sensitivity of the subject the Internet provider is expected to file an appeal.

Currently it's not known whether Tashiro has ever received a copyright alert, but the RIAA, MPAA and other participants in the Copyright Alerts System will not be pleased with these latest developments.

The Center for Copyright Information, which oversees the program, has always emphasized that the program respects the privacy of Internet subscribers. Having it used against alleged downloaders by copyright holders that are not even part of the scheme is bad PR for them, to say the least.

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