Supported by Hollywood and other content industries, Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN has a long and well-established track record.

The group celebrated its 25th anniversary on Monday, with now-retired director Tim Kuik receiving a royal decoration as Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau for his achievements.

While Kuik undeniably proved to be a major player in the anti-piracy field in recent decades, BREIN’s work continues without him. BREIN’s recommendations for the EU’s upcoming Counterfeit and Piracy Watch List were made public a few days ago and include several notable developments.

We’ve recently highlighted how the MPA and Sky called out various pirate sites and services, as well as intermediaries who reportedly could do more to combat piracy. BREIN’s submission continues down the same path with, again, a strong focus on intermediaries.

“All stakeholders in the internet ecosystem, including hosting providers, DNS providers, cloud services, advertising networks, payment processors, social media platforms, and search engines, should proactively work towards reducing support for well-known infringing sites,” BREIN writes in its submission.

Evolving Hosting Challenge

BREIN highlights the importance of the “Know Your Customer” (KYC) principle, arguing that intermediaries should properly identify their customers. They believe this principle should legally apply to all intermediaries. This would help enforcement efforts, as pirate sites and services often operate anonymously.

The evolving hosting landscape is one of the challenges highlighted by BREIN. Large Dutch hosting providers are increasingly positioning themselves as “mere conduit” services. They provide content neutral services to resellers, who ultimately serve the pirate customers. Without KYC requirements, however, it’s often difficult to identify the ultimate targets.

“These resellers are often however not cooperative or not even responsive. And even if they are responsive and willing to provide information, the information is usually not verified.”

BREIN nominates several hosting companies for the EU’s piracy watchlist, including Amarutu Technology, Private Layer, Alexhost, Virtual Systems, SERVERS TECH, and Packet Exchange. These companies can be characterized as ‘not responsive’ or ‘not cooperative’, the group writes.

Namecheap Doesn’t Cooperate

In addition to hosting providers, BREIN also mentions several domain name services, including Sarek Oy and 1337 Services. The latter is best known under the name Njalla, the privacy-focused domain registration intermediary founded by Pirate Bay co-founder Peter Sunde.

These companies reportedly fail to respond to BREIN’s requests. This critique is not new, however, as other rightsholder groups have lodged similar complaints in the past.

A more surprising entry comes in the form of domain registrar Namecheap. The U.S. company is a large player internationally and typically adheres to the law. However, BREIN claims that Namecheap has proven ‘uncooperative’ when it comes to voluntarily blocking pirate sites.

BREIN says that it reached out to Namecheap multiple times over the past years. Among other things, the company was asked to take action against domain names that Dutch ISPs have to block in the Netherlands.

Presumably, BREIN hoped that Namecheap would voluntarily block these sites as Google does in the Netherlands. However, Namecheap doesn’t want to take action in response to a foreign court order, where the company is not listed as a party, and says it will only share customer details when presented with a U.S. court order.

“BREIN has requested Namecheap in several instances to cease providing their services to these evidently illegal websites that are now blocked in the Netherlands, as well as to provide BREIN with the customer details,” BREIN writes.

“Namecheap has never complied with these requests and always insists on a US court order and is therefore willfully uncooperative as these cases clearly concern evidently illegal websites.”

Namecheap and other companies called out in submissions are not explicitly accused of breaking any laws. However, it’s clear that BREIN and other rightsholders are frustrated by the lack of voluntary cooperation from these intermediaries.

Blocking Works

BREIN’s submission has a heavy focus on intermediaries but also reports that Dutch pirate site blocking efforts are paying off. These blockades target The Pirate Bay, 1337x, EZTV, KickassTorrents, YTS, Flixtor, Lookmovie, Anna’s Archive and Library Genesis.

In addition to the platforms’ main domains, the dynamic Dutch blocking orders allow BREIN to add new proxies and mirrors to the list as soon as they appear.

One might expect that the total list of blocked domains would grow over time, as new alternative domains appear on the scene. However, BREIN’s data shows that this is not the case. The number of blocking targets is relatively stable, with many proxies and mirrors disappearing off the radar.

The chart above shows, for example, that the number of blocked Pirate Bay domains dropped from more than 200 in 2018, to around ‘just’ 50 today.

“It is also striking that over time the average number of proxies and mirror websites per platform decreases so that the total number of blocked sites has not increased. Apparently, many proxy sites give up if they are blocked long enough,” BREIN writes.

Emerging Threats: AI and Vinyl

In addition to traditional pirate sites, the submission also lists several more recent “trends”. This includes IPTV services, which continue to gain traction. Interestingly, vinyl is also listed in this section as a popular counterfeiting target.

“The revival of vinyl simultaneously causes a rise in the manufacturing and selling of unauthorized vinyl in the form of counterfeit and bootleg albums originating within and outside of the EU,” BREIN writes.

While phonograph records are by no means a new technology, as they date back more than a century, it is easier to manufacture and sell counterfeits today. And with more music fans buying vinyl records than CDs, BREIN sees it as a trending threat.

At the other end of the spectrum, BREIN mentions artificial intelligence. The group has previously gone after ‘illegally’ compiled datasets that consist of copyrighted works, such as books. It wants to make sure that the EU keeps a close eye on developments and notes that the arrival of the European AI Act is a positive step.

In conclusion, BREIN’s recommendations highlight the complex and ever-evolving landscape of online piracy. While site blocking has reportedly proven to be an effective tool, the group stresses the need for greater cooperation from intermediaries and heightened vigilance in addressing new threats.

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A copy of BREIN’s full submission to the European Commission is available here (pdf)

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

In recent years, rightsholders of major sports events have repeatedly complained that piracy of live sports is getting out of hand.

Ideally, they would like to see updates to the current legislative frameworks so the problem can be targeted more efficiently. These comments have prompted lawmakers to look into the matter but, for now, the status quo remains.

That’s not to say that it’s impossible to address sports streaming piracy under current laws. The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment has used its network and law enforcement connections to take out several large sports streaming operations , for example.

U.S. Domain Seizures

The U.S. Government also proved its abilities late last year, when it seized dozens of sports streaming-related domains in a FIFA World Cup-themed enforcement push.

In the initial wave, Homeland Security Investigations took down 55 domain names operated by pirate sports streaming sites and, in a follow-up , several more were pointed to a seizure banner.

This high-profile action affected millions of pirates and was successful in shutting some sites down permanently. SoccerStreams, one of the main targets, initially moved to a new domain but later announced that it had shut down permanently .

New Crackdown?

Earlier this week, several websites associated with brands that were targeted by U.S. seizures suddenly became unreachable. The domain names of popular sites such as NFLbite.com, NBAbite.com, and freestreams-live1.top stopped resolving.

More than a dozen sports streaming domains appeared to be taken out. These domains were registered through Njalla, which advertises itself as the “world’s most notorious privacy provider for domains.”

Privacy doesn’t mean that domains will remain online at all costs though. Njalla changed the nameservers of the domains to 1-ceci.njalla.do, 2-nest.pipe.ma, 3-pas.njalla.in, sending traffic into a sinkhole. Or as the French would say, Ceci n’est pas .

Indian Court Order

Given the recent history, it seemed likely that the U.S. Government might be involved, but that’s not the case. Njalla informs us that it took action following a court order from the New Delhi High Court in India.

“The domains are all with our ICANN-accredited partner and it’s out of both ours and their hands because of the court decision,” Njalla explains.

If Njalla or its partner, presumably Tucows, ignored the court order the latter would risk losing its ICANN accreditation. That could effectively put the company out of business.

Njalla still doesn’t have all the information but may share more details in the future, if the domain registrants give permission. What’s clear is that the targeted domains can’t operate through Njalla.

Not All Domains Remain Suspended

This enforcement action isn’t as broad as it first appeared, however. Several domains that initially pointed to “suspended” nameservers have resurfaced again on their original nameservers. Apparently, these domains are not listed in the court order.

Njalla informs us that the domain names that currently have a ‘clienthold’ status are the real targets. That appears to include freestreams-live1.top, which currently points to “shut-for-fraud.com” nameservers.

Needless to say, the domain suspension immediately stopped all traffic to this site, albeit with a slight delay due to DNS caching. However, sites that have previously survived U.S. domain seizures are not quick to back down, so the domain whack-a-mole will likely continue.

Demand for pirated streams doesn’t appear to wane either. A recent poll by Oddspedia among 3,200 American football fans shows that 93% don’t have any moral objections to using pirated streams. According to most respondents, the legal options are simply too expensive.

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Freestreams-live1.top is now on Clienthold. There may be more of these but without a copy of the court order, we’re not able to confirm that.

Below is a list of the domain names that (previously) pointed to suspended nameservers.

– rcrackstreams.com
– rboxingstreams.com
– nhlbite.com
– nflbite.com
– nbabite.com
– methstreams.link
– linestreams.com
– karmastreams.me
– karmastreams.com
– fsl-streams.click
– f1bite.net
– crackstreams.nu
– cokestreams.com
– buffstreams.sx
– boxingbite.net
– 2720pstream.tv
– 720pstream.nu
– 720pstream.me
– 101streams.net

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

Most large torrent sites target a global audience, but there are many local favorites as well.

YggTorrent , for example, is one of the largest French-language torrent sites on the Internet, serving millions of users per month.

The French site is not the typical torrent indexer. YggTorrent sees itself as a community instead, one with a dedicated tracker, something that’s quite rare these days. The site was founded in 2017, to fill the gap left behind when T411 closed shop .

Like any other site of its stature, YggTorrent faces constant pressure from anti-piracy forces. The site is blocked by French Internet providers following a court order and rightsholders are doing all they can to expose the identities of its operators.

YggTorrent Domain Name Troubles

Thus far, these efforts haven’t brought down the site. YggTorrent sees the blocking efforts as ‘fair game’ and trusts that users will find their way around any obstacles. However, a recent intervention goes a step too far, the site believes.

Earlier this week, the Yggtorrent.do domain was rendered inaccessible. The domain name was registered through Njalla (1337 Services) and pointed to Cloudflare nameservers. An ‘unknown’ third party then updated these to HOLD.NETIM.NET nameservers, effectively rendering the site inaccessible.

According to a YggTorrent operator, it’s not clear who took this action or why. Njalla doesn’t seem to be involved as all information is listed correctly there. The company instead told YggTorrent that the .do registry may have something to do with it.

Registry / Registrar?

While we can’t confirm anything at this time, the NETIM.NET nameservers suggest that the domain registrar Netim could be involved. Njalla typically uses a third-party registrar for its domains and Netim may be one of them.

We asked Njalla to confirm that it works with Netim but the company didn’t immediately reply. Netim didn’t respond to our request for comment either and the same applies to the NIC.do registry.

Whoever is responsible for this domain takeover, YggTorrent is not happy with the lack of due process and transparency.

“Frankly, we don’t find it normal that someone can hijack a domain name as they wish. Website blocking, ok, but outright taking control of a domain calls into question a lot of things like freedom of expression on the Internet,” one of YggTorrent’s operators tells us.

Down, Not Out

Needless to say, the domain takeover immediately stopped all traffic to the site, albeit with a slight delay due to DNS caching. YggTorrent shared a screenshot of its traffic stats on the day that this happened.

YggTorrent has no plans to throw in the towel. This isn’t the first time that one of its domains has been suspended, and it likely won’t be the last time either.

The torrent site previously lost its .com domain following a complaint from the French anti-piracy outfit SACEM. The .ws registry later took action against Yggtorrent.ws, following a complaint from an unknown party.

With the .do ‘suspension’ yet another domain name bites the dust. The torrent site swiftly moved to a .wtf domain, for as long as it lasts, and remains online at the time of writing.

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