P2P Blog

Sneak peak: BitTorrent expands live streaming tests

Mon, 3 Oct 2011 17:22:07 -0700

BitTorrent founder Bram Cohen and his company are moving forward with its P2P live streaming project, expanding field trials and courting indie bands to stress test Cohen�s algorithms. However, it could still take months before BitTorrent Live is ready for prime time. Continue reading on NewTeeVee.

Tags: NewTeeVee, BitTorrent

Hotfile sues Warner Bros., claims wrongful takedowns

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 09:57:48 -0700

Warner Bros. systematically abused an automated takedown system provided by Hotfile, the file host claims in a countersuit against the studio. The claims made by Hotfile include information on the behind-the-scenes actions taken by Hollywood to enforce its rights against file sharing on cloud file hosts. Continue reading on NewTeeVee.

Tags: Hotfile, Warner, NewTeeVee

German rights holders want to sue Kino.to viewers

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 22:51:23 -0700

Have you ever watched a TV show episode or Hollywood blockbuster on a website that didn�t have the proper licenses? Then you could be in trouble, at least if the example of Kino.to catches on. Rights holders are threatening to sue users of the now-defunct site. Continue reading on NewTeeVee.

Tags: kino.to, newteevee

German Rights Holders Go After 300,000 P2P Users Per Month

Tue, 31 May 2011 12:11:01 -0700

German content owners have been busy pursuing alleged infringers: Local ISPs have to hand out around 300,000 names and addresses of file sharers caught in the act ever month, according to data from a German industry association. Will we see similar numbers in the U.S. soon? Continue reading on GigaOM Broadband.

Tags: Germany, lawsuits, gigaom

BitTorrent Debuts P2P-Powered Social One-Click Hosting

Thu, 12 May 2011 12:38:37 -0700

BitTorrent�s new Project Chrysalis client now makes it possible to share files of unlimited size with your friends even when you�re not online. The company is caching files and using a revamped UI to make the facilitation of BitTorrent downloads much easier than before. Continue reading on NewTeeVee.

Tags: BitTorrent, Chrysalis

RapidShare Starts Selling Games. Are Movies Next?

Mon, 2 May 2011 21:18:49 -0700

The controversial file hoster RapidShare has taken a first step towards entering the digital content business: The company launched a download store for video games last week, and it is promising its end users to enable the sale of any kind of file soon. Continue reading on Newteevee.com

Tags: rapidshare

Will the MPAA Taget RapidShare, Megaupload or Dropbox?

Wed, 9 Feb 2011 14:56:13 -0800

Hollywood has set its sight on file hosters like Hotfile.com, which was sued this week by the MPAA�s member studios. Many of the legal arguments made against Hotfile could also easily be applied to RapidShare, Megaupload and even cloud-based backup and file synching services like Dropbox. Continue reading on NewTeeVee.com.

Tags: hotfile, rapidshare, megaupload, dropbox, newteevee

EFF: 75,000 People Sued for Porn File Sharing

Mon, 17 Jan 2011 22:14:15 -0800

Looks like mass lawsuits aren't just for Germans anymore: The Electronic Frontier Foundation is estimating that some 75,000 people have been sued for allegedly sharing pornographic movies in the US. This revelation comes as part of a new amicus brief (PDF) the civil liberties group just filed on behalf of 500 file sharers, asking an Illinois judge to squash a lawsuit against people accues of sharing videos from First Time Videos LLC, better known under the porn brand FTVGirls. A footnote of the amicus brief states:

"As of January 14, 2011, by an informal count, well (over) 75,000 people have been sued in similar (in some cases nearly identical) complaints arising from the alleged infringement of pornographic movies. This includes 4507 individuals sued in the Northern District of Illinois alone, in nine separate lawsuits. In addition, mass copyright complaints based on non-pornographic movies have also been brought against over 13,500 people in the District of Columbia."

I just wrote a story about lawsuits like these on NewTeeVee, explaining how German rights holders have filed more than half a million of such lawsuits in 2010. It looks like U.S. rights holders are well on their way to repeat these numbers, unless courts step in - which is of course exactly what the EFF wants. The group blogged on Monday:

"Friday's brief is the latest of EFF's efforts to stop copyright trolls -- content owners and lawyers who team up to extract settlements from thousands of defendants at a time. Tactics include improperly lumping defendants together in one case and filing it in a court far away from most of the accused people's homes and Internet connections. When adult film companies file these predatory lawsuits, there is the added pressure of embarrassment associated with pornography. All of these factors can convince those ensnared in the suits to quickly pay what's demanded of them instead of arguing the merits of their case in court."

It's worth noting that not everyone in the porn biz ready to sue the file sharing masses. Pink Visual's Allison Vivas told me recently that she has no intention to sue individuals, and Private CEO Berth Milton even said that piracy is promotion. Watch the entire interview with him embedded below:

Tags: porn,, eff,, lawsuits

P2P Lawsuits Gone Wild

Mon, 17 Jan 2011 21:53:32 -0800

German rights holders have turned litigation against file sharers into a money machine that just keeps on giving. P2P activists estimate estimates that Germany�s BitTorrent users faced more than half a million lawsuits in 2010. Some people even got sued multiple times for the same file. Continue reading on Newteevee.com.

Tags: germany,, lawsuits,, porn,, newteevee

Audiogalaxy Returns, Choruss File Sharing Plans Falter

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 21:15:39 -0700

Music sharing pioneer Audiogalaxy returned this week, but not with the features its former users � or its founder � hoped to offer. The former Napster competitor found that, even with music-industry support, a legal file-sharing service is a long way from becoming reality. Continue reading on GigaOm.com.

Tags: choruss, audiogalaxy, jimgriffin, gigaom