Authors Put a Spotlight on Meta’s BitTorrent Leeching Activity
Updated: 2025-03-11 20:47:02
Meta's legal battle over its alleged use of pirated books as AI training data continues to deliver new twists. Fresh allegations that Meta may have shared data with third parties while "leeching" from torrents have added a critical layer to the legal dispute. The book authors obtained permission to put a spotlight on Meta's "leeching" activity and, in addition, requested summary judgment on copyright infringement.
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
Following a complaint filed two years ago by a national pay-TV broadcaster, police in Germany say they now have three main suspects in custody following a huge law enforcement operation. Over 150 officers carried out searches against 18 suspects in 17 locations, with the aim of shutting down an as-yet unnamed illegal streaming operation with an estimated 30,000 subscribers. The three men, aged between 36 and 59, face charges including suspected commercial computer fraud, which carries a potential sentence of 10 years imprisonment.
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Anora was the big winner at the Oscars a week ago, securing awards for best picture, actress, and director, among others. This major achievement puts the movie in the spotlight and increases interest through both legal and illegal channels. Fresh data collected by TorrentFreak shows that pirate downloads surged right after the awards ceremony ended.
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A former employee of a disc manufacturing company in Memphis has been indicted on charges of stealing and selling pre-release DVDs and Blu-rays of popular films, including "Spider-Man: No Way Home." The indictment links the sales to widespread availability of the movie on pirate sites. The defendant faces charges of criminal copyright infringement and interstate transportation of stolen goods, with potential penalties of up to 20 years imprisonment.
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Nintendo celebrated victory over French file-hosting service 1fichier.com this week. The French Supreme Court denied the filehoster's appeal and upheld a piracy liability ruling in favor of the gaming company. The ruling confirms that hosting platforms can be held liable if they fail to remove pirated content when asked.
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A single DMCA anti-circumvention notice, sent by Nintendo on the one-year anniversary of its 2024 lawsuit against Yuzu, showed just how much things can change in a year. Targeting nine repos linked to Switch emulator Ryujinx, the domino effect led to the removal of 4,238 repos. Elsewhere, the distilled components of Yuzu's demise can be found in recent takedown notices
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Members of the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) filed two separate copyright infringement lawsuits yesterday, targeting the alleged operators of IPTV services including 'Outer Limits IPTV', 'Shrugs' and 'Zing'. Amazon, Netflix and several major Hollywood studios demand an end to the infringing activity and an award for damages, which could run to millions of dollars.
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The BBC, Premier League, and Sky have submitted a joint response to the UK investigation into Google's search dominance, calling for tougher anti-piracy measures. The rightsholders argue that Google's current efforts to combat piracy are insufficient to prevent piracy. They propose a "Know Your Customer" (KYC) requirement for advertisers and a transparent repeat infringer policy to address the issue.
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A court in Murcia, Spain, has ordered Google to testify in a criminal case concerning IPTV app, NewPlay. Football league LaLiga, whose matches were allegedly offered illegally through the app, previously called for the directors of Google, Apple, and Huawei to face criminal charges. LaLiga criticized the companies for failing to disable copies of NewPlay already installed on users' devices. Google and Huawei must now testify as 'profit-making participants' in an alleged piracy scheme.
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In response to several court orders, Cloudflare geoblocked more than 400 sports streaming piracy domain names on its pass-through service in France last year. Notably. Cloudflare says that, despite requests, it has not blocked any websites through the 1.1.1.1 Public DNS Resolver. That last comment is relevant to the renewed site blocking push in the United States.
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Before the Oscars are handed out early March, the Motion Picture Association (MPA) has announced its own annual awards. Wicked director Jon Chu is a proud recipient, but the bulk of the accolades go to lawmakers and the U.S. Government's IPR Center, who helped to combat online piracy. Perhaps not coincidentally, those lawmakers could help to push a pirate site blocking bill over the line.
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A renewed attempt to introduce site blocking in the U.S. emerged in late January when U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D) introduced the Foreign Anti-Digital Piracy Act. The FADPA bill received the MPA's full support, and it now transpires that similar legislation is being prepared by U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R). A recent meeting to discuss the 'American Copyright Protection Act' was attended by Disney, Paramount, and Amazon, plus Google, YouTube, and Verizon.
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Trouble continues for popular torrent site TorrentGalaxy. The site, which is seen as a notorious piracy market by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, has been unreachable for days. While some believe that the end has come for the site, technical troubles certainly can't be ruled out.
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.