Cloudflare, a global internet infrastructure company, offers various services to millions of users, including connectivity and privacy tools.

While primarily a conduit for internet traffic, Cloudflare occasionally hosts content permanently on its servers.

The company’s approach to copyright complaints differs based on the role it plays. If Cloudflare merely passes traffic along (for a website using their CDN), they forward DMCA takedown notices to the actual hosting provider, which is often hidden from public view.

When Cloudflare actually hosts reported content, it will remove or disable access to it, following the procedures set forth in the DMCA, 17 U.S.C. § 512(g) .

Cloudflare Copyright Takedowns on the Rise

Historically, Cloudflare hasn’t hosted much content. Therefore, it’s no surprise that the number of takedown requests for this type of content has been rather minimal, averaging between 1 and 3 reports per year between 2018 and 2020.

In the years that followed, this number started to pick up. According to Cloudflare’s latest published transparency report, the company received 376 DMCA reports in the first half of last year . More recent data is not available yet.

In addition to the transparency report, which is published with a delay of more than a year, Cloudflare also started sharing takedown requests with the Lumen Database . These are updated weekly, and suggest that the takedown volume is growing.

Pirate Sites Targeted

Thus far, Cloudflare has shared more than 2,000 takedown notices publicly, most of which are from 2024. These notices target URLs from Cloudflare pages , Images and R2 , including links that are typical pirate sites, such as yts.cx, ytsmovie.cx, limetorrents.unblockedstream.online, and movielair.cc.

Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN , for example, reported several domain names that are currently blocked by local court orders. Through these notices, the group asks Cloudflare to inform the website owner and the hosting company to shut these sites down.

“This letter is to a) inform the owner of the Website of the infringing and illegal character, with the demand to immediately cease the operation thereof, and b) inform the hosting provider concerned of the infringing and illegal character, demanding to immediately cease its services in relation to this website,” the notice reads.

These types of notices are not new. Cloudflare has received complaints for many large pirate sites, including The Pirate Bay. In this case, however, Cloudflare appears to be involved in hosting.

HTTP Error 451

Takedown notices for passthough services are not recorded as valid takedown notices. In hundreds of recent instances, however, Cloudflare did take action, replacing the reported URLs with an HTTP error 451 notice.

The HTTP 451 Error code was invented for situations where content is made inaccessible for legal reasons. Cloudflare uses this for DMCA takedown removals, linking these to the Lumen Database reports.

For example, the yts.cx link to a pirated copy of “Bad Boys II” is made inaccessible by Cloudflare, honoring the takedown request. This is a targeted intervention, as all other yts.cx URLs remain accessible.

The same applies to the URLs of other pirate sites that are presumably hosted by Cloudflare. The company makes the reported URLs unavailable, as requested, while keeping the other URLs untouched. The 451 error notice is Cloudflare’s way to inform the public that it complied with a copyright complaint.

In addition to the classic pirate site URLs, Cloudflare also made plenty of other content unavailable, including streaming sports stream playlists reported by beIN , and an infringing Zelle Pay app .

The full extent of Cloudflare’s presumably increased takedown activities remains unknown, but the company’s forthcoming transparency reports are expected to provide more details.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

After investing huge resources into tackling pirate IPTV platforms as significant as the one reportedly taken down last week , a little stagecraft should be as expected when authorities and rightsholders declare victory.

Information suggests that the blackout impacted supply across Europe and beyond, so a small amount of window-dressing on the number of users affected and profits generated don’t really have a misleading impact. There’s no denying the importance of the operation either; a lot of information was shared by the authorities and while difficult to confirm, in general most things felt coherent and unforced.

As previously highlighted, negatives related to these types of operations usually receive no mention, even when so serious that they completely undermine statements made just hours previously .

There’s nothing like that following last week’s operation, but it will be a serious concern that end-users whose providers relied on those streams were mostly without service for just 48/72 hours, several sources suggest.

Clearly, users of these services need to be dissuaded.

The Importance of User Attitudes

There are well-publicized efforts to convince users of pirate services that they’re incurring various risks, up to and including being sent to prison.

In Greece right now there are hundreds of news articles (unrelated to the events of last week) reporting on a “landmark” and/or “historic” decision by a local court to send a pirate IPTV subscriber to prison for five months. We reviewed a total of 62 of these articles and selected two for illustration purposes within this article (translated from Greek) .

Leaving aside that a casual reader might believe the sentence was connected to events last week ( zero action reported in Greece by Europol), the article is consistent with the majority of dozens of others in claiming a “historical precedent” (first time a user has received a custodial sentence), a “significant shift” in judicial attitudes, and interestingly “a return to the rule of law.”

Common Details in the Majority of Articles

There appears to be no question that the defendant was indeed a pirate IPTV subscriber, but pleading not guilty with the defense outlined below seems quite the long shot. There seems no reasonable basis to criticize the Court’s conclusion that the defense lacked credibility, at least how the case is being reported.

“The judges concluded that the consequences of piracy cannot be considered ‘minor,’ given the enormous damage it causes on multiple levels,” a report from Skair.gr reads.

The Skai article is cited on many occasions as the source of this news, likewise a video news report from sister company Alpha TV.

Effectively a Single Source For All Articles

Both Skai and AlphaTV news are owned by broadcaster Alpha Satellite Television SA and in their reports, both state that the trial judges rejected the notion that the defendant’s viewing of pirate IPTV streams was anything other than a serious matter.

“According to the evidence presented at the trial, pay-TV piracy causes serious economic and social consequences, such as revenue losses for the Greek State from the non-collection of VAT and tax revenues and the parallel circulation of ‘black money’,” Skai reports.

“It causes damage to Greek society from the loss of jobs and the non-payment of remuneration to creators. And it increases crime as pirate organizations have a clear criminal organization structure with a multitude of parallel criminal crimes. And finally, piracy causes financial disaster for providers from revenue losses and degradation of the quality of services.”

These talking points are well-worn industry standards across the world. The articles state that these claims were provided in evidence, so these aren’t necessarily the words of any or all of the three judges. Yet this is where things start to get interesting.

The Important Details Are Those That Didn’t Get Reported

Let’s start with the basics that any journalist would include in the most mundane of reports. Despite being central to the entire ‘historic decision’ the defendant almost seems irrelevant.

Privacy issues surrounding real names aside, there is no indication whether the defendant is a 29-year-old man from the Athens area, or a grandmother in her sixties from Thessaloniki. Since this was a criminal case, details such as when the investigation began or even when the person was arrested and what for – nada, nothing.

And there’s the Court where the historic decision was handed down, the Athens Court of Appeals for Misdemeanors. If we assume that having “Court of Appeals” in the title means what it says, logically this can’t be the first trial. So when was the first trial, what were the allegations, in which court did it take place, and what was the outcome?

For that matter, on what basis was there an appeal? Did the defendant get found not guilty? If so, when was the announcement and if not, why wasn’t there an announcement in the interests of balanced reporting?

Given the industry standard evidence in respect of the damage caused by IPTV, it should be safe to assume there is an injured party, such as a broadcaster or similar rightsholder.

Who is that party or parties?

Perhaps more to the point, why isn’t that party and all the other major rightsholders in Greece, all over this landmark decision and wringing every last piece of value out of it? Having got a headsup on the historic event, why isn’t a single source mentioned in the initial report?

Why hasn’t any major rightsholder welcomed the decision in public? This is exactly what many have been demanding for the last few years yet now, all of a sudden, nobody wants to own it, celebrate it, or even give it a mention?

Nobody is Going to Prison

Why many reports insist that the anonymous defendant is going to prison is unclear. A source familiar with the Greek legal system informs TF that a five-month sentence would almost certainly be suspended, likely for a period of three years.

Effectively, if the defendant stays on the straight and narrow, no prison time will be served. Interestingly the issue of compensation hasn’t been reported at all, which is very unusual when the entertainment industries are involved. Again, the suspended aspect of the sentence would likely ensure nothing would be paid anyway.

Of course, all of these issues are extremely relevant and could be easily cleared up in a handful of minutes. Instead, a story with no cited source has effectively become the single source of truth without providing any of the important details that might explain why such a long sentence was warranted.

Previous convictions perhaps, or breaching an injunction? Absconded foreigner, we’ve seen that before . It’s all guesswork really, unlike the details of another anti-piracy initiative that’s stated on record as actually working.

Cosmote TV / Nova Deal Was a Success

In the summer we reported how two of the largest streaming platforms in Greece launched a highly experimental approach to tackling piracy; cheap bundles, to lower the costs for legitimate viewers.

Cosmote TV and Nova signed a new deal designed to provide customers with access to more sports for less money. Starting on August 23, subscribers of one service could get content from the other, for a minimal extra charge. According to a Business in Brief report, that really hit the spot.

The value brought by the summer agreement between Cosmote TV and Nova was pointed out by the CEO of OTE, Kostas Nebis, during the analysts’ briefing on OTE’s figures.

Mr. Nebis emphasized that through the agreement Cosmote TV subscribers increased in the third quarter, with the number of new subscribers setting a new record in September. He estimated that this upward trend will continue until the end of this year, while also in 2025 it will give a boost to the company’s figures.

He noted that the promotional period, during which Cosmote subscribers had free access to Nova’s sports content, ended at the end of October, while at the beginning of this month, the application of the additional charge of €3 on a monthly basis began. Something that will be seen in the group’s revenues, in the figures it will announce in the first quarter of 2025.

Mr. Nebis emphasized that piracy is receding, but many steps still need to be taken. The penetration of legal subscription television in our country is 30%, a much lower percentage compared to the average of European countries.

It’s rumored that Greece will soon begin fining IPTV subscribers €600, payable to the Greek tax office, should they be unlucky enough to have their personal details exposed in the event their supplier gets busted. It’s unlikely that those numbers will be extremely high so perhaps having a prison sentence hanging in the air could prove useful.

Credible sources prepared to go on record are useful too, but the people can’t have everything.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Over the past several years, Destiny 2 creator Bungie has pursued legal action against several cheat sellers and cheat makers.

This has resulted in a number judgments and settlements in Bungie’s favor, but the gaming company isn’t done just yet.

Furthering its efforts to protect the integrity of its games, last year Bungie filed a second lawsuit against numerous individuals allegedly involved in cheat maker and distributor operation Ring-1 .

Filed at a Washington federal court, the complaint named numerous defendants with others listed as John Does. While it would have been easy to let these ‘anonymous’ cheaters slide, Bungie vowed to leave no stone unturned, stating that the days of cheating “without fear of consequences are over.”

Relentless Pursuit to Unmask Cheaters

Bungie’s strongly worded warning was no bluff . During the past year, the game company used third-party discovery to gather more information on both the named defendants and the anonymous Does. Over a dozen names and nicknames were added to the lawsuit, and more could follow.

In August, Bungie filed a sealed motion for expedited discovery, requesting permission to subpoena additional third parties for information. The request was granted a month later, but the names of the target companies were redacted.

The United States-based cryptocurrency exchange Kraken was later confirmed as one of the targets. Kraken is a brand of Payward Inc. and a few weeks ago Bungie sent a subpoena to the company, requesting detailed information on the owner of a Bitcoin wallet.

Bungie Goes After Kraken Bitcoin Wallet

The subpoena doesn’t explain the relevance of the requested information, at least not publicly, but Bungie is asking for details related to the multi-signature wallet 36io3TPCi2i6muiBoiNkkJLCnw38PgrQWs .

According to blockchain data, this wallet was used to send and receive more than ten bitcoins between March 2021 and November 2024 . At the time of writing, however, the wallet is completely empty.

Bungie is interested in any and all information relating to the wallet and its owner. This includes personal details, transaction records, access records, withdrawals, deposits, communication, IP-addresses, and more.

Wallet Owner Objects

The owner of the wallet remains unidentified for now, but the John Doe is not pleased with Bungie’s evidence gathering tactic. This week, they submitted a motion to quash the subpoena, arguing that it fails to comply with federal rules and international privacy regulations.

The “John Doe” explains, for example, that the subpoena doesn’t provide any evidence explaining why the wallet information is relevant for the underlying lawsuit. In addition, it allegedly goes beyond geographical limits, as the wallet owner is a European resident.

The European angle is also important from a privacy standpoint. The wallet owner reportedly used a European affiliate of Payward, which is bound to European privacy regulations including the GDPR. This means that personal information can’t be shared with the U.S. without proper safeguards.

“Apparently, a Payward affiliate located in the European Union that provided services to Objector transferred Objector’s information to Payward in the U.S. It is unclear how the EU affiliate justified such data transfer to the U.S.,” the motion to quash adds.

“Without binding measures ensuring compliance with GDPR standards, any transfer of Objector’s personal data would be unlawful under the EU’s GDPR.”

To strengthen this privacy argument, the filing references several cases where U.S. companies were fined in the EU for privacy violations. Uber, for example, received a 290 million euro fine because it transferred drivers’ data to the U.S.

Responding to the motion, Bungie argued on Thursday that the “John Doe” should reveal their identity. The company argues that parties must presumptively litigate under their real names, and pseudonymous litigation is reserved for “unusual cases.”

The court has yet to rule on the motion to quash, but it’s clear that Bungie’s efforts to unmask alleged cheaters aren’t always straightforward. After years of court battles, this won’t come as a surprise to the video game company.

—

A copy of John Doe’s memorandum of law in support of the motion to quash is available here (pdf)

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

In August, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) seized several domain names linked to Streameast, a popular live sports piracy site with millions of users.

The seizures were carried out by the book but did not achieve the desired effect, as Streameast remains available through alternative domains.

According to the site’s operators, they won’t stop until sports streaming is more affordable to the public. That message appeals to pirates, but also to opportunistic pirate site operators, who’ve successfully cloned the Streameast brand.

When users search for “Streameast” on Google, the top result is often the copycat site ‘streameast.to’. Official Streameast domains, like streameast.co, are buried deep in search results, making it difficult for users to find the official streaming service. This is a major problem for Streameast but one that may ease, due to the anti-piracy group ACE recently taking action against these copycats.

ACE Seizes Sports Streaming Domains

Over the past few days, dozens of sports streaming domains became unreachable. This includes streameast.to, but also other cloned pirate brands such as crackstreams.dev, crackstreams.biz, nflstreams.gg, nflbite.io, nbastreams.gg, markkystreams.com, methstreams.me, and many others.

ACE has not yet commented on the domain seizures, but TorrentFreak is informed that the Motion Picture Association’s (MPA) anti-piracy unit is indeed responsible. This is also apparent from the ‘ns*.films.org’ nameservers used by the seized domains, which are registered to the MPA.

Clones & Copycats

Most of the seized domains, listed at the bottom of the article, are unaffiliated copycats of known brands. This includes thecrackstreams.to, previously known as crackstreams.dev and crackstreams.biz. This is one of the most popular domains with roughly three million monthly visits.

Streameast.to had by far the most traffic. With over 15 million monthly visits, it had more traffic than the official Streameast domains, partly due to the domain ranking higher in search engines.

Clones can be so convincing that even people who hang out in the official Streameast Discord channel can be misled. Yesterday, some people were wondering why the site was down, referring to the seized copycat domain, not the real Streameast.

Streameast Must be Pleased

While the ACE crackdown is a blow to the copycat sites, it’s also a surprising victory for Streameast itself. Weeks ago, Streameast operator ‘quick’ compared these copycats to criminal gangs and pleaded for action against them.

“It’s perplexing that while the real Streameast domain names are being seized, the sites created by gangs who set up fake Streameast sites are still operational. These gangs replicate every major streaming site, employing spam tactics to rank high on Google, and they have no ethical values,” quick told us at the time .

“I wish the USA would choose to deal with these gangs instead of targeting us,” ‘quick’ added.

Although the U.S. Government was not involved in these seizures, ACE inadvertently gave Streameast’s operator what he wanted.

—

Information gathered by TorrentFreak suggests that the following domain names were seized. The complete list may be longer. These domains will likely be redirected to the “ Watch it Legally ” page in the near future.

thestreameast.vip, thestreameast.pro, thestreameast.gg, thestreameast.club, streameast.to, sportsurge.io, rnbastreams.net, redditmlbstreams.cc, nhibite.io, nflstreams.gg, nflbite.io, nbastreams.gg, nbabite.io, mmastreams.to, mmastreams.io, methstreams.me, methstreams.club, methstreams.cc, givemeredditstreams.me, footybite.io, boxingstreams.to, boxingstreams.io, crackstreams.club, crackstreams.dev, crackstreams.biz, thecrackstreams.to, streameast.to, markkystreams.com

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Apple’s position on obviously infringing movie and TV show streaming apps is that they’re not allowed on the App Store, period.

Hoping to reach a massive but restricted audience, so-called ‘stealth piracy’ apps employ trickery to circumvent Apple’s vetting process.

Over the past couple of years, stealth apps have made the headlines on a number of occasions and even attracted the attention of an Expert Group at the EU Intellectual Property Office Observatory. In general terms, these apps disguise themselves as a game or some other benign tool then once downloaded, users are able to ‘activate’ new functionality, such as streaming the latest movies and TV shows illegally.

Spreading Secrets

Whether a combination of secret key presses on a predetermined screen, or spinning around six times while holding an iPhone, secrets to unlock stealth apps eventually find their way to the intended recipients. According to Taiwan’s Criminal Police Bureau, there’s money to be made in the secret-spilling business.

In a statement issued today, police say that while investigating various online communities and websites, they discovered that “two prominent internet celebrities” were providing stealth app tutorials and download links. These allowed users to install apps such as “Multiple Choices” and “Shapes Find the Difference” from Apple’s App Store and then unlock them to obtain the pirate booty hidden inside.

In this case, Taiwan deployed a “special task force” to investigate the case and determined that the booty was live broadcast TV content owned by a member of Content Overseas Distribution Association, the Japan-based anti-piracy group also known as CODA.

Investigation and Raids

Authorities say that the investigation unit consisted of the District Prosecutor’s Offices in Taichung and Tainan, and the Intellectual Property Investigation Team of the Criminal Police Bureau.

Searches were executed on September 6 and October 29, 2024, at residential addresses in three locations; Taiping District in Taichung City, Anping District in Tainan City, and Zhubei City in Hsinchu County.

The three key suspects are all men, identified by a single name and their respective ages;

• Liang – 73 years old
• Shen – 62 years old
• Lin – 80 years old

Police say they were able to seize a number of items from the suspects’ residences including the following: 53 articles published on the website backend, 25 illegal video apps, 2 USB flash drives, 1 iPad, 1 mobile phone, 1 memory card, and various electronic records .

“The investigation found that this type of illegal app software initially disguised itself as a legitimate program not associated with video content. It then went through Apple’s App Store verification process before being made available for download,” a police statement reads.

“After installation, users could switch the software to pirated video mode by entering specific keywords or commands. The suspects used a well-known website operated by an individual to publish articles and provide download links, generating advertising revenue through click-through rates.”

Credit: Criminal Police Bureau Operational Diagram

All three suspects were arrested on suspicion of violating the Copyright Act. The case was transferred to the Tainan and Taichung District Prosecutors’ Offices for further investigation.

Large Audiences

It appears that content generated to support stealth app users can attract a decent sized audience. The two famous but currently unnamed influencers reportedly have over 400,000 followers and used their online presence to direct traffic to the stealth app tutorial website.

The articles on those sites were reportedly viewed 553,551 times. The apps linked in those articles allegedly provided access to a wide range of infringing content, from movies, TV shows, and anime, to live TV broadcasts and documentaries.

The unnamed copyright holder behind the complaint estimates the market value of the content infringed at NT$600 million ($18.5m)

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

With the arms race between pirate sites and rightsholders showing no obvious signs of cooling down, the online piracy landscape is becoming increasingly complex.

The existing toolbox of legal measures, such as action against domain names, site-blocking, search engine penalties, even whole-site deindexing, has led to the emergence of a new breed of shape-shifting, measure-evading, pirate sites.

Seemingly able to rebrand almost at will, it’s not uncommon for sites to reappear with new names and a new coat of paint, without any significant damage to existing traffic. Meanwhile, new sites and new brands, sporting multiple new domains, continuously vie for attention, as the illegal content continues to flow.

Human Moderators Can “Barely Keep Up”

In a statement issued this week, Japan’s Cultural Affairs Agency said the proliferation of illicit content online costs the country’s manga and anime industries billions of dollars each year in lost revenue.

Recent figures discussed as part of Japan’s comprehensive plan to combat infringement estimate the damage as somewhere between 1.9 trillion and 2.2 trillion yen (US$12.6bn and US$14.6bn); enough to “significantly increase Japan’s GDP” and “potentially eliminate” the trade deficit in content-related services, documents suggest.

The scale of the problem is well understood, but with an estimated 1,000 sites offering culturally significant manga and anime content for free, monitoring for the availability of pirated content online is a resource intensive task. Human moderators can now “barely keep up” due to the proliferation of illicit content online.

“Copyright holders spend a significant amount of human resources trying to manually detect pirated content online,” said Momii Keiko, a director at the Cultural Affairs Agency’s Copyright Division.

To level the playing field, Japan is looking towards a future where detection of illicit content will be less reliant on human intervention.

AI-Powered Pirated Content Detection System

To improve pirated content detection rates, Japan’s Cultural Affairs Agency has filed a supplementary budget request of 300 million yen (US$2 million) to fund a pilot program that will use artificial intelligence to detect pirated content online. The aim is to detect content using image and text recognition systems.

The proposed pilot is reportedly inspired by a similar program in South Korea. Announced mid-2023 by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the program aimed to overcome the limitations of manual work based on human resources, by automatically detecting the emergence of new, cloned, or substitute pirate sites.

At least initially, the pilot program in Japan will focus on pirated manga and anime. If successful it could also be expanded to other content such as films, TV shows, music, and content from Japan’s wider publishing industries.

Success of Automated Systems Totally Depends on Accuracy

The success of automated detection systems lies in their accuracy; nobody benefits if detections lead to false allegations of infringement, or if illegal content slips through the net. These concerns appear to be front and center in Japan as rightsholders continue to tackle pirate sites.

TorrentFreak was recently able to review a transcript of a discussion which focused on international enforcement efforts spearheaded by the Content Overseas Distribution Association (CODA).

While highlighting anti-piracy successes and challenges in various countries, emphasis was placed on the importance of balancing anti-piracy measures with freedom of expression and the protection of communications privacy.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

In recent years, music industry groups have become increasingly concerned by tools that allow users to download MP3s from online streaming services, including YouTube.

These so-called ‘stream-rippers’ violate the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provision; they argue.

This position resulted in thousands of circumvention takedown requests, which prompted Google to remove millions of stream-ripper URLs from its search engine. These removals also triggered a legal battle between stream-ripper Yout.com and the RIAA , which remains ongoing today.

YouTube hasn’t taken an official stance on the ‘circumvention’ argument but since its sister company Google honors these takedowns, it seems to agree with the music industry. However, not all MP3-related sites are inherently problematic.

MP3.to

A few weeks ago, Spanish music industry group Promusicae flagged hundreds of stream-ripper URLs in yet another anti-circumvention takedown notice. Grouped in with popular stream-rippers such as flvto, Y2mate, and 2conv was a clear outlier: MP3.to .

It’s important to note that MP3.to is not a stream-ripping tool. It cannot download content from third-party sites. Instead, this online tool focuses solely on converting audio files between MP3 and other formats.

File-conversion tools that convert MP3s, without built-in access controls such as DRM, are unlikely to violate the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provision. However, that didn’t stop Google from honoring the request and removing the URL from its search engine.

MP3.to Fights Back

The removal, which also affected the associated AdSense advertising account, came as a surprise to MP3.to and directly harmed its business.

To remedy the situation, MP3.to’s law firm Boston Law Group sent a cease and desist letter to Promusicae, describing the takedown notice as defamatory and false. The attorney urged the music group to correct the error by issuing a retraction within ten days.

“The Notice’s allegations that the Website provides technology or tools used to circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to copyright works is categorically false and the Website unconditionally denies your allegations of wrongdoing.

“The Website does not decrypt any technological controls implemented to protect copyrighted works,” MP3.to’s cease-and-desist letter added.

In addition, MP3.to’s attorney Frank Scardino also sent a notice to Google explaining the situation. This letter explained that MP3.to adheres to relevant copyright law and doesn’t circumvent any protection measures.

Because there are no copyright infringements, MP3.to urged Google to undo all actions it took in response to the ‘false’ takedown notice.

“Therefore, the Website requests that Google disregard Promusicae’s Notice, restore Google’s Adsense account with respect to the Website, rescind any additional negative actions Google may have taken against the Website on account of the Notice,” the letter reads.

Google Restores MP3.to

After receiving these letters two weeks ago and conducting an internal review, Google eventually reinstated the MP3.to URL. The associated AdSense account is no longer affected either.

A Google spokesperson informed us that all websites impacted by takedowns are allowed to request a re-review, after which errors can be corrected.

“Our DMCA removals process aims to strike a balance between making it easy and efficient for rightsholders to report infringing content while also protecting free expression on the web. We provide extensive transparency and submit notices to Lumen to ensure accountability,” the spokesperson said.

Note: Google previously said that there is no formal counter notification process available under US law for circumvention.

Promusicae has not yet responded to a request for comment. It’s possible that this takedown request was an inadvertent error on their end, confusing MP3.to with a stream-ripper.

Familiar Target & More Backlash

MP3.to operator Johnathan Nader is pleased with the outcome. Regular readers may recognize the name, as Nader is also the owner of stream-ripper Yout.com, and is actively engaged in the aforementioned legal battle with the RIAA.

Nader, who has grown skeptical of music industry groups, finds it “interesting” that he is being targeted yet again. In this case, however, things were resolved in his favor.

This brings us to the final issue with Promusicae’s takedown request. As it turns out, MP3.to was not the only file conversion site targeted. The same notice also lists online-audioconvert.com , video.online-convert.com , and similar tools.

Although these reported websites do not appear to circumvent any technical protection measures, the listed URLs remain removed from Google’s search results at the time of publication.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Those who follow mainstream tabloid media in the UK should be familiar with the risks of online streaming piracy by now.

There’s no country in the world where more ‘pirate box’ or IPTV resellers have been prosecuted. Meanwhile, the number of suspects who have received official warnings runs in the hundreds.

Local police, in collaboration with anti-piracy group FACT , carry out many of these enforcement actions. This practice dates back more than a decade and in recent years only seems to have intensified.

New Pirate Streaming Crackdown

Today, FACT announced yet another successful ‘crackdown’ where cease and desist letters were sent to thirty suppliers of illegal IPTV services across the UK. The warning urged them to stop immediately, or face criminal consequences.

The main goal of the two-week enforcement effort was to disrupt and dismantle online piracy. While most suspects received warnings, South Wales Police arrested a 42-year-old man who’s allegedly involved in the pirate IPTV business through sales of ‘illicit’ Firesticks.

The suspect remains under investigation and may eventually face criminal charges. To further combat illegal IPTV services, FACT has also issued takedown notices to various social media sites and online marketplaces.

The latest actions were “highly effective” according to FACT. They follow less than a month after ‘ yet another ‘ person was sent to prison for their involvement in the pirate streaming business, which shows that consequences can be severe.

‘Serious Consequences’

To emphasize that piracy doesn’t go unpunished, FACT CEO Kieron Sharp issued a stark warning via the press.

“Our cease-and-desist measures are not just warnings — they are the first step toward holding offenders accountable. Many who ignored these notices in the past are now facing arrest and criminal charges. We strongly advise anyone involved in these activities to stop immediately,” Sharp says.

“If you’re supplying or using illicit streaming devices or illegal IPTV subscriptions, take this as a clear warning: you are breaking the law and risk facing serious consequences.”

whack-a-Mole

While reporting in UK media can be dramatic and overblown at times, there’s indeed a real threat, as is exemplified by the many convictions over the years. However, for reasons unknown, the numerous warning campaigns, dating back many years, have yet to solve the problem.

Even rumored ‘ Illegal Streaming Detector Cars ‘, and ‘home visits’ to as many as a thousand pirate streaming subscribers, don’t appear to have eliminated the problem.

One could argue that without the efforts from FACT and police, things would be even worse today. However, it’s notable that after sending hundreds of warnings, new pirate IPTV sellers continue to surface. It appears to be an endless whack-a-mole.

Finally, it’s worth noting that FACT repeatedly targets Amazon’s Firestick brand in their headlines. This reached the point where the term “dodgy Firestick” has entered the lexicon . While these devices can be exploited, there’s nothing inherently illicit about the hardware.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

In November 2018, DISH Network filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Jadoo TV and its CEO Sajid Sohail.

Jadoo TV distributed self-branded set-top IPTV boxes and later various software apps. The DISH complaint described Jadoo TV’s operation as a “deliberate, multi-year effort” to distribute its exclusively-licensed TV channels without authorization, amounting to direct, contributory, and vicarious infringement under 17 U.S.C. Section 501 .

From the beginning, DISH took the position that Sohail could be held personally liable because he authorized, directed, or participated in Jadoo TV’s copyright-infringing activities. Sohail argued to the contrary but in September 2020, the court found “plausible inference” that Sohail “authorized, directed, or participated” in the alleged infringement.

In June 2023, the court granted summary judgment against Jadoo TV and Sohail, finding them liable for direct, contributory and vicarious copyright infringement, noting that Sohail was personally liable as the “guiding spirit” behind the infringement carried out via Jadoo TV.

Final Judgment and Permanent Injunction

In a joint stipulation filed yesterday at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, DISH Network and Jadoo TV, Inc. and Sajid Sohail, filed a request that the Court enter a final judgment and permanent injunction.

“DISH and Defendants agree that a final judgment should be entered for DISH on Counts I, II, and III of the Amended Complaint for direct, contributory, and vicarious copyright infringement under 17 U.S.C. § 501 ,” the request reads.

“DISH and Defendants also agree that damages should be awarded to DISH in the amount of $24,969,911, consisting of statutory damages of $14,550,000
for 97 registered Works (calculated at $150,000 per Work) and Defendants’ profits of $10,419,911 for 159 unregistered Works. 17 U.S.C. § 504(b), (c)(2) .”

DISH and the defendants also agreed to the Court’s entry of a permanent injunction, effective immediately, enjoining Jadoo TV and Sohail and any other persons acting in concert, from infringing the plaintiff’s rights moving forward.

IBCAP Welcomes Conclusion of Long-Running Litigation

In an announcement welcoming the end of the long-running litigation which dates back to 2018, the International Broadcaster Coalition Against Piracy (IBCAP) celebrated the win alongside IBCAP member DISH.

“This final judgment and settlement marks the culmination of a six-year legal battle against one of the most popular South Asian services offering pirated content, Jadoo TV, and its CEO, who was found personally liable for the damages caused by his and his company’s copyright infringement,” says Chris Kuelling, executive director of IBCAP.

“Today’s announcement sends a strong message that the end of the road for a pirate IPTV service is a significant monetary payment and loss of your entire business.”

The statement also revealed the existence of a separate settlement, one that has a financial component but also potential implications for entities that conducted business with Jadoo TV.

“Jadoo TV and Mr. Sohail agreed to transfer all Jadoo TV customer lists to DISH, transfer all Jadoo TV trademarks and domain names to DISH, and pay DISH $1,500,000 by Feb. 20, 2025,” the statement reads.

Details of the final judgment and permanent injunction are available here ( pdf )

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.