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Archive for the ‘Legal’ Category

August 24th, 2012 BitTorrent Network, CopyFight, Legal Comments Off

Movie Studio Wants to Bankrupt Pirate Bay Founder

Movie company Yellow Bird has asked the Stockholm District Court to declare Pirate Bay founder Fredrik Neij bankrupt. Neij, who currently lives in Asia, owes the movie studio nearly $1 million in damages for his role in operating the BitTorrent site. Yellow Bird hopes to recoup some of this money through the bankruptcy, but Neij informs us that there’s not much to take.

November 2010, the Swedish Court of Appeal found three people behind The Pirate BayImage is Loading..... guilty of criminal copyright infringement offenses.

Fredrik Neij, one of the original founders of The Pirate Bay, was sentenced to 10 months in prison and ordered to pay several million dollars in damages to various movie and music companies.

One of the companies is the Swedish film studio Yellow Bird. The movie company is entitled to nearly $1 million (6.6m Swedish Kroner) in damages but thus far they haven’t received a penny.

In an attempt to recoup what little they can, Yellow Bird filed a petition at the Stockholm District Court this week requesting that Neij be made bankrupt. If granted, Neij (known online as TiAMO) would be barred from running a business and his finances would be taken over by a trustee.

Under Swedish bankruptcy rules individuals remain in debt and can’t simply start over with a clean slate. But according to the 34-year-old Pirate Bay founder the request is not going to change much for him.

“It doesn’t really matter what they do, I still have no assets they can take,” he told us.

Yellow Bird’s motives for filing for Neij’s bankruptcy are unclear, but they wouldn’t be investing time and resources if there wasn’t something to be gained. Once Neij has discussed the issue with his lawyer he’ll decide on an appropriate response.

February this year the verdict against Neij and his co-defendants was made final when Sweden’s Supreme Court announced its decision not to grant leave to appeal. However, Neij has not given up completely. Together with Peter Sunde he filed appeals with the European Court of Human Rights in June.

While Neij and Sunde are no longer involved with The Pirate Bay, the two haven’t said farewell to the file-sharing business. Last year both Pirate Bay founders teamed up again to start a one-click file-hosting service called Bayfiles.

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August 23rd, 2012 BitTorrent Network, CopyFight, Legal, Net Stuff, Peer to Peer, Pirate Talk Comments Off

Anti-Piracy Law Firm Will Publicly Humiliate The Clergy, Police & Arabs

A German law firm will hit a new low next week, even for companies engaged in the file-sharing settlement letter business. The company says that from September 1st it will begin publishing the details of individuals it claims have infringed their clients’ copyrights by sharing hardcore pornography online. To make matters worse, they’re threatening to target churches, police stations and Arabs first. Neither the Pirate Party nor Anonymous are happy and now the latter are threatening action of their own.

When the RIAA embarked on its file-sharing settlement letter campaign last decade it unwittingly created a monster. Although the music industry group discontinued its actions in this field some time ago, dozens of other companies – notably in the porn business – followed in their footsteps.

The exact figures aren’t clear, but several hundred thousands individuals have been pursued for cash settlements for file-sharing in the United States and around Europe the problem is even worse. Germany has been hit by the trolls particularly hard, and it is from there that a new horror story is developing.

In a statement on its website the Urmann law firm explains that a large number of the file-sharing cases it is involved in end in settlements, a situation that is “often more useful than going through the courts.”

However, the company says that if necessary it will go to court to get justice for its clients, but there are things it can do to persuade stubborn individuals to pay up instead of having a hearing.

Starting September 1st, Urmann says it will begin publishing the personal details of Internet account holders it claims have violated their clients’ copyrights. The exact number is unknown, but Urmann previously claimed to have the identities of 150,000 individuals.

According to comments made by the law firm to Der Spiegel, the bulk of the firm’s clients aren’t record label owners either – they’re sellers of German hardcore pornography.

But the worst is yet to come. According to comments an Urmann insider made to Wochenblatt, the law firm is planning to target the most vulnerable people first – those with IP addresses registered to churches, police stations and – quite unbelievably – the embassies of Arab countries.

Urmann insists that it is completely entitled to take this action because the law is on its side. The company is leaning on a 2007 Federal Constitutional Court ruling that deemed it legal for law firms to publish the names of their clients’ opponents in order to advertise their services. However, there is some debate if the ruling applies since it was targeted at commercial opponents, not regular citizens.

Bernd Schlömer of the German Pirate Party describes the law firm’s threats to undermine the privacy rights of individuals as “shocking” and says that Urmann’s actions could be construed as “legal coercion.”

Perhaps not surprisingly, the loose-knit activist collective Anonymous are also unhappy and are hinting at action of their own.

“A law firm has announced that shortly it will publish a so-called enemies list on the web,” the group said in an announcement.

“Once the list of Urmann and colleagues is online, we will take care of it!”

Urmann courted controversy last year when it started an auction to sell the unpaid settlements of 70,000 alleged file-sharers to the highest bidder.

August 18th, 2012 BitTorrent Network, Legal, Legal Issues Comments Off

Demonoid Domain Sale Banned Over Legal Issues

After several turbulent weeks with DDoS attacks, the shutdown of its servers and a criminal investigation into the site’s owners, trouble continues for the Demonoid BitTorrent tracker. After the site’s domain names were put up for sale last week, domain market place Sedo has now delisted them citing “legal issues.” As time progresses the hope of a comeback for what was once one of the largest BitTorrent communities continues to fade.

After being pulled offline by a DDoS and suspected hacker attack, nearly two weeks ago Image is Loading....news broke that Demonoid’s servers had been shutdown in the Ukraine.

The action followed a request from Interpol, with the music group IFPI later taking credit for the takedown. While some of Demonoid’s users still expect the site to reopen with a new hosting provider, a comeback appeared less likely when the three main Demonoid domains were listed for sale last week.

Demonoid.me, Demonoid.com and Demonoid.ph were put up for sale at the popular domain name and website marketplace Sedo, but as it turned out, not for long. Two of the three domain names have now been de-listed due to legal issues.

Anyone wishing to buy the .PH or .COM domain now see the following message;

“Due to possible legal issues associated with this domain, Sedo is not able to offer services for the domain. Please consider selecting an alternative domain.”

Interestingly, the .ME domain which acted as the primary Demonoid address for more than a year, has not been de-listed by Sedo.

 

Banned over “legal issues”

Image is Loading.....We contacted Sedo who informed us that while they take a neutral position in copyright issues, the company has an obligation to protect its users.

“In addition to processing notice-takedown complaints from third-party rights holders, Sedo also employs an internal listing suspension policy when we’re made materially aware of a domain that is either subject to ownership dispute or under investigation by relevant law enforcement,” a Sedo spokesperson told us.

“This is done to protect potential buyers from purchasing a domain where its use and ownership could be threatened after the purchase for unforeseen circumstances. In such situations, the listing user is informed and once they can provide documentation demonstrating the domain’s clear title, the listing will be reinstated.”

While Sedo said it “can’t go into specifics”, the company suggested that no third-party or law enforcement group had ordered the de-listing of the domains. Sedo did not respond to our question why the main .ME domain is still for sale.

At the moment we haven’t heard from Demonoid as to why the domains are being sold, or what this means for the site’s future. If there is any.

August 18th, 2012 BitTorrent Network, Legal, Net Stuff, Pirate Talk Comments Off

Police Warn Internet Users Not To Pay Fines To File-Sharing Fraudsters

Police in Sweden are warning Internet users not to send money to criminals trying to extort money from alleged file-sharers. The sophisticated scam began when unsuspecting cell phone users browsed an infected website which somehow extracted information from their devices. This was followed up by a mailed allegation of copyright infringement and a cash demand for between 90 and 195 euros to be paid into a foreign bank account. Swedish Antipiratbyran say the scheme is nothing to do with them.

n many countries around the world, especially the United States, Germany and the UK, hundreds of thousands of Internet users have received letters from rightsholders demanding cash settlements to make supposed copyright lawsuits go away. The cases rarely end up in court, leading some to label these schemes “legal blackmail”.

Nevertheless, and erroneous accusations aside, the vast majority of these projects operate within the law, which is more than can be said for a new scam currently hitting Sweden. Unsuspecting Internet users are receiving demands for almost two hundred euros in letters that claim they have been engaged in illegal downloading.

At this early stage it is not exactly clear how the scam operates, but it is believed that Internet users browsed a website set up by criminals which had the ability to gather information from their phones.

After visiting the site, victims reported receiving an SMS followed up by a mailed cash demand from Arcad World Corp., a company registered at a post office box in Stockholm.

“You have downloaded copyrighted porn. Soon you will receive a civil claim. We ask you to pay it so that your illegal activity will not be a police matter. According to Swedish law, it is your duty to find out if the movies can be downloaded or not,” the scammers explain.

Victims are then told to send amounts between 90 and 195 euros to an account held at the Valartis Bank in Liechtenstein.

When action against illegal downloading is mentioned in Sweden, the name that often springs to mind is the infamous Antipiratbyran. That image was only reinforced when the scammers included a link to an Antipiratbyran webpage in their scam mails. The group says it has absolutely nothing to do with the letters.

“We have been approached by some 100 people across the country, consumer groups and others who are wondering what this is all about,” says Sara Lindbäck, a copyright lawyer at Antipiratbyrån.

Antipiratbyran’s advice is for letter recipients to inform the police and certainly not pay. In an announcement last evening the police said they are aware of the scheme.

“This is a new type of scam where the sender wants to intimidate the recipient into paying money. Anyone who receives one of these requests should absolutely not pay any money but should instead contact the police,” said Niclas Linér, Detective in cybercrime group at the Police Authority in Västmanland.

Police say that a person resident in southern Sweden is suspected of fraud.

Source

August 17th, 2012 #spectrial, BitTorrent Network, Legal, Pirate Talk Comments Off

Pirate Bay Founder Appeals Passport Revocation

One of the founders of The Pirate Bay is this month engaged in yet another battle. Fredrik Neij currently lives in Laos, Asia, and he and his wife are expecting their third child very soon. However, they need to cross the border to Thailand to give birth which is proving problematic – the Embassy of Sweden in Bangkok has revoked Neij’s passport.

Following the criminal convictions of Pirate Bay founders Peter Sunde, Gottfrid Svartholm Image is Loading....and Fredrik Neij, all but Sunde have kept a relatively low profile.

While the site’s former spokesman has been active online promoting his Flattr micropayment service largely from locations around Europe, both Svartholm and Neij took the decision to move to Asia.

Following his illness and subsequent no-show during the appeals process, little to nothing has been heard from Svartholm from his presumed Cambodia base. Neij too has been going about his business quietly but now finds himself in another battle.

According to a document dated August 6, Neij is currently appealing a decision by the Embassy of Sweden in Bangkok to revoke his passport.

The 34-year-old argues that the nature of his crime is not serious enough to warrant his passport being taken away and that by doing so the Swedish authorities will subject his family to unreasonable consequences.

Although it was long believed that Neij had been living in Thailand, according to embassy documents he actually lives with his wife and two children in neighboring Laos.

However, since Neij’s Thai wife is currently pregnant with their third child, the family want the freedom to go to Thailand for the birth. That means crossing the border which of course requires a passport.

“The children were born in the hospital on the Thai side of the border, where since birth they have received all necessary medical treatment,” Neij writes in his appeal.

“The reasons for this are primarily dictated by the standard of care and hygiene. As a result the family needs to occasionally cross the border for medical care and as a result of the pregnancy.”

Neij’s desire to have access to Thailand is understandable. Laos is one of the world’s few remaining communist states and is one of east Asia’s poorest countries. The country suffers from limited communications infrastructure and in rural areas electricity availability is poor. Aside from a short link across a bridge in the capital, Laos has no railways.

In June, the Stockholm District Court claimed that that despite an earlier ban, Neij – known online as TiAMO – had continued to have involvement in the operations of The Pirate Bay. As a result the Court handed him a 500,000 kronor fine ($74,400).

“There is no evidence, just the lack of evidence that I was not involved,” Neij told us.

“In civil cases it’s guilty until proven innocent and in a previous case I declined to give the details who I transfered the site to. They say if it’s not me, then I could easily say who it is.”

While Peter Sunde waits on the results of a public campaign for him to receive a pardon from Swedish authorities, the whereabouts of Gottfrid Svartholm remain unknown.

Source

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