Torrentfreak: “Kim Dotcom Announces United States Political Party” plus 1 more

Kim Dotcom Announces United States Political Party

Posted: 02 Dec 2014 12:16 AM PST

Just twenty-four hours ago Kim Dotcom was staring disaster in the face, his freedom hanging in the balance on the words of a New Zealand judge.

U.S. authorities claimed that Dotcom had breached his bail conditions on several occasions in the hope they could place the businessman back behind bars.

With his legal team mostly resigned, Dotcom faced the court with a single lawyer and pulled it off. Allegations against him dismissed, the German left the court a free man, ready to fight another day.

Not content with cruising speed, this morning Dotcom stomped his foot on the gas once more, announcing what could be his biggest challenge yet.

“The Internet Party is coming to the United States in 2015,” he announced on Twitter.

The political arena is no stranger to Dotcom. The Megaupload founder pumped millions of dollars into the original New Zealand-based Internet Party in the lead up to the 2014 elections there, although that foray into politics ended mostly in disappointment.

One of the administrative issues faced by Dotcom in his New Zealand campaign was his nationality. As a German he could not stand himself, so instead the Internet Party forged a partnership with the Mana Party whose leader ultimately ended up losing his seat.

In the United States Dotcom will face similar hurdles, but it appears plans are already in place to not only shake up politics, but to do so using players from some of the very industries currently hounding him.

“Stay tuned for our celebrity founders from the music, film and Internet industry,” Dotcom teased this morning.

Cracking the United States will be no easy task and will require more funding than the estimated $3m Dotcom pumped into his New Zealand campaign. However, Dotcom possesses considerable skills in grabbing the attention of the media so will be a great asset on the PR front, a role he has confirmed.

“The Internet Party US will be well funded and run by American citizens. I will help with Public Relations ;-),” he wrote.

The funding issue could also prove to be an interesting one since only last week Dotcom announced that he’s “officially broke”. Despite having earned $40 million since his assets were seized back in 2012, Dotcom says his luxury lifestyle and hefty legal bills have swallowed it all up.

In a parting shot this morning, Dotcom again protested his innocence and denied U.S. government claims that he’s a fugitive and likely to flee. The icing on the cake was a reference to a certain Clinton and her anticipated presidential run.

“I’m not a pirate. I’m not a fugitive. I’m not a flight risk,” Dotcom declared. “I’m your Internet Freedom fighter AND Hillary’s worst nightmare in 2016!”

In the wake of the Internet Party’s election defeat in New Zealand, Dotcom declared his brand “poisoned” and briefly retreated out of the spotlight. However, recent headlines have shown there is still a broad appetite for Dotcom’s unique blend of drama, but whether US citizens will want that injected into their politics remains to be seen.

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

FilesTube Transforms ‘Piracy Haven’ into Licenced Movie Aggregator

Posted: 01 Dec 2014 08:21 AM PST

Founded in 2007, Polish-operated FilesTube is the largest meta-search engine for content hosted on cyberlockers such as Uploaded, 4Shared and Mediafire.

At one point in time the site had several million visitors a day, but this popularity decayed in recent years in part through Google’s anti-piracy measures.

The site does still have plenty of visitors though, and last month it was highlighted by the RIAA as one of the top pirate sites on the Internet.

Hoping to shake off this pirate image, FilesTube shut down its search engine today. Instead, it transformed itself into a video portal through which users can watch licensed content, for free.

“FilesTube is now a film aggregation platform, using third-party video players. The business model change means that the site is now an aggregator of only licensed content,” a spokesperson tells TF.

“Users now have the option to stream films and series directly on FilesTube. These are free, legal, and can’t be downloaded,” FilesTube adds.

The change from a search engine of virtually all popular online media to a licensed platform is a big one. The site now lists relatively unknown content and not the Hollywood blockbusters many users were used to. Music, books, games and other media categories are entirely gone.

With the move to a licensed platform FilesTube no longer has to rely on shady ads and pop-unders. This increases revenue potential as the site can run higher value advertisements.

To build traffic FilesTube is offering partners hard cash in exchange for traffic. The site has been hit hard by Google’s algorithm changes in the past so it can’t rely on search engine traffic anymore.

“As one of our marketing channels FilesTube has started an affiliate program. Now Filestube users can earn up to $10 per 1000 visits by promoting legal content on websites and social media,” FilesTube tells TF.

During the coming months FilesTube will continue to expand its content library and hopefully add more mainstream content. At the site time, it hopes that the remnants of its pirate image will fade away.

Google has received more than 10 million DMCA notices for the site, and currently downranks the site in its search engine. Similarly, a UK High Court order still requires the country’s major ISPs to block access to the site.

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