Second U.S. Pirate Site-Blocking Bill Incoming: MPA, Google, Verizon Met to Discuss
Updated: 2025-02-26 23:19:10
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.
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
Already reeling from the economic fallout of the Ukraine war, sanctions, and rampant inflation, Russia's legal streaming services now face a new threat: increased state restrictions. Draft law aims to make the availability of distribution certificates dependent on meeting state perceptions of traditional moral values, for both new and existing content libraries. In the illegal market, unregulated pirate sites face no such restrictions.
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
In France, rightsholders have taken legal action to compel large VPN providers to support their pirate site blocking program. The aim is to reinforce existing blocking measures, but VPN providers see this as a dangerous move, leading to potential security issues and overblocking. As a result, some are considering leaving France altogether if push comes to shove.
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
On the back of a report that LaLiga and Telefonica sought enhanced blocking measures to counter use of Encrypted Client Hello, LaLiga's earlier suggestion that blocking Cloudflare has judicial support, seems worthy of a closer look. Indeed, a process that authorizes dynamic junctions in Spain suggests a super-streamlined system that puts piracy-fighting above all else. At the same time, there are few obvious measures to prevent overblocking affecting third-parties.
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
GitHub's latest transparency report reveals that the company received 2,000 valid DMCA takedown notices last year, resulting in the removal of over 31,151 projects. Targeted repositories included copied code, but also pirate apps, IPTV playlists, and many Nintendo Switch emulators. Circumvention takedowns increased slightly, but GitHub notes that these continue to be heavily scrutinized.
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
Greece continued to expand anti-piracy efforts in 2024, issuing a record-breaking number of blocking decisions. Most blockades target live sports streams offered by illegal IPTV subscription services. To increase the deterrent effect, a new legislative amendment makes it possible to fine subscribers of these services up to 750 euros. However, this may prove challenging.
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
In one of the AI lawsuits faced by Meta, the company stands accused of distributing pirated books. The authors who filed the class-action lawsuit allege that Meta shared books from the shadow library LibGen with third parties via BitTorrent. Meta, however, says that it took precautions to prevent 'seeding' content. In addition, the company clarifies that there is nothing 'independently illegal' about torrenting.
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Altice, parent company of Internet provider Optimum, agreed to disclose the personal details of a hundred alleged music pirates. The request comes from a group of prominent record labels and is part of an ongoing copyright infringement liability lawsuit. Altice, meanwhile, will receive anti-piracy information, including that related to a letter the RIAA previously sent to BitTorrent Inc., the owner of popular torrent client uTorrent.
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
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.
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At least on paper, Real-Debrid's November 2024 announcement detailing new anti-piracy measures, suggested a tough time ahead for the popular platform. Under pressure from dozens of powerful rightsholders, Real-Debrid's position looked precarious to put it mildly; not precarious enough for the service to throw in the towel, however. Three months later, a 16% drop in traffic is painful but non-fatal.
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
Google has completed the busiest twelve months ever on the DMCA takedown front. The popular search engine processed a record-breaking 3.5 billion takedown requests during the year. Ironically, this milestone is in part a byproduct of ongoing anti-piracy measures, including site blocking and search engine removals, with no end in sight.
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
In France, rightsholders have taken legal action to get large VPN providers on board with their pirate site blocking program. The aim is to prevent circumvention of existing blocking measures in place to reduce widespread copyright infringement. From the VPN provider's perspective, site blocking threatens online freedom. Swiss provider ProtonVPN describes blocking as 'a dangerous attack on Internet freedom on the altar of corporate greed'.
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.