Sunday, April 30, 2017

ATM-Style Kiosk Pumps Out Pirate Movies to USB Sticks

For more than 30 years, consumers have obtained music and movies written to polycarbonate discs. CD, DVD and now Blu-ray discs are recognizable across the world as a cheap and pretty reliable carrier for large volumes of digital data.

While it may take a while before Blu-ray takes its final breaths, CDs and DVDs are already on borrowed time. For the younger generation already accustomed to storing huge amounts of data on tiny MicroSD cards and USB sticks, a plastic disc carrying content is almost as outdated as a vinyl record.

With this in mind, millions of consumers would welcome the idea of getting their movies in convenient formats such as AVI or MP4. This would enable them to freely move content from device to device, without having to spend more money. Of course, entertainment companies don’t like that idea at all, especially when it comes to movies.

That’s where SwiftMedia comes in, and it’s a sight to behold.

Spotted by a TorrentFreak reader in a shopping mall in Ethiopia, this bright yellow kiosk looks like an ATM. However, on closer inspection it reveals itself to be a self-service media machine that does everything that RedBox can do (and more) without a plastic disc in sight.

A SwiftMedia terminal in situ (credit)

“At the beginning of this year, All Mart (the Walmart equivalent here) brought in a new machine. It’s basically a monitor with a USB port but shaped like an ATM. It’s called SwiftMedia and there’s a guy who ‘maintains’ it,” our source explains.

“Basically you go to this very big store and you approach the machine and you plug in a USB drive. The screen will turn on and it will let you browse through a massive archive of movies.”

Screen close-up

As mentioned earlier, this is a completely disc-less system, meaning that transfers of all content purchased from the machine end up on a customer-provided USB stick. Needless to say, DRM and copyright protection aren’t high on the agenda for this unusual and innovative machine.

All the movies – on USB

Prices are cheap too, with packages available for 25, 50 and 100 birr ($1, $2 and $3). Feature movies reportedly cost between 3 and 5 birr (13 to 22 cents) depending on the movie release date, with older movies costing more. Documentaries weigh in at the top of the range with single songs and TV shows costing 13 cents.

“At first I assumed these movies had their rights lifted or something because well, you know, but then I later found out that the movies I had first seen were just there on release day,” our source continues.

“Apparently the maintenance guy torrents all day and stores the data on his drive, the drive shown by the SwiftMedia monitor. This would not have been a big deal as this is Ethiopia and the allegedly democratic government has bigger issues.”

Of course, something like this wouldn’t last five minutes in the West and certainly wouldn’t appear in a shopping mall, let alone Walmart. So TorrentFreak contacted Escape Computing, the company that appears to be behind the project, to find out more about their enterprise.

At the time of publication we had received no response, but we did manage to track down a job listing posted last year where the company sought an individual to act in a sales and technical capacity.

It’s not clear whether the position was filled but whoever got the job certainly has a unique role to fulfill in this unusual yet somewhat innovative project.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.



from TorrentFreak http://ift.tt/2pLD38W
via IFTTT

Skytorrents: A Refreshing Ad-free and Privacy Focused Torrent Site

Many file-sharing fans see torrent site operators as like Robin Hood, serving free goods to the public at great risk with minimal financial incentive.

Copyright holders, on the other hand, portray the same people as greedy criminals who are exploiting their work for financial gain, subjecting the public to malicious ads.

While there is no standard torrent site owner, the truth often lies somewhere in the middle. Many site owners make money but not the millions that are sometimes claimed. And yes most sites have shady ads, but that’s often because these are pushed by the advertising networks they use.

A torrent site without ads is rare, but a few months ago a newcomer appeared that promised just that.

When Skytorrents first showed up, advertising an ad-free and privacy-focused service, we were skeptical. They wouldn’t be the first to start this way but change their tune when visitors started coming in.

However, months later the site is still around, so we decided to ask why they do what they do and how they are able to survive.

“We will NEVER place any ads. The site will remain ad-free or it will shut down. When our funds dry up, we will go for donations. We can also handover to someone with similar intent, interests, and the goal of a private and ad-free world,” Skytorrents’ operator informed us.

“The main motivation is to showcase an ad-free experience to users. We are giving something good back to society.”

Setting up a torrent site without ads isn’t hard, but the privacy element is trickier. To achieve this Skytorrents has had to make a lot of concessions, both in design and the general functioning of the site.

Skytorrents

Users will not be able to create an account, for example, as that created a weak spot. The same is true for Javascript, which isn’t used at all.

“For example, using a CDN breaches user privacy. As far as complete privacy is concerned, either there is complete privacy or zero privacy. For maintaining complete privacy, we do not use cookies, java scripts or user logins. We also do not have any moderators,” Skytorrents informed us.

The result is a surprisingly fast and clean search engine, that runs from a CentOS operated server with a bunch of C code, but without common tools such as PHP or MySQL.

As for the torrents, these are all collected from BitTorrent’s DHT network. Before they are listed all torrents have to pass through two spam detection algorithms which get better and better every day.

In addition, there is also a separate tool that “confirms” torrents to be genuine. While 99% of the torrents are spam-free already, for “genuine” torrents this goes up to nearly 100%.

“We also have another algorithm which validates and marks genuine torrents. However, note that 99% of listed torrents are spam free. A genuine marked torrent can be assured 99.99 % of the time,” Skytorrents’ operator says.

At the time of writing, Skytorrents lists 12,645,486 torrents and the site’s operators plan to keep expanding their database, as well as the number of users while keeping their ad-free and privacy oriented values.

Whether they will be able to pull this off has yet to be seen, but over the past few months they’ve kept their promise.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.



from TorrentFreak http://ift.tt/2qlp07l
via IFTTT

Saturday, April 29, 2017

Premier League Asks Google to Take Down Facebook’s Homepage

Removing search results is nothing new for Google. The company has been cleaning up its search index for years, in response to complaints from copyright holders.

Every week the search engine processes millions of requests. In most cases these claims are legitimate, but every now and then innocent web pages are mistakenly targeted.

This week we stumbled upon a takedown notice that’s clearly not right. The request was sent by NetResult on behalf of the Premier League, and targets a wide variety of sports streaming related sites.

“The reported URLs are offering unauthored live streams of Premier League content,” it reads, listing the homepages of sites such as streamsarena.eu, letsfooty.com, tvlink.in and sportcategory.com.

While targeting the homepages of these sites is already quite broad, it also lists the main Facebook.com URL among the infringing domains, asking Google to remove it from the search engine entirely.

Premier League Takedown Notice

Google has investigated the claims, including the Facebook one, but decided not to comply with the notice in question, leaving Facebook’s homepage in search results.

In situations like this, we can see how easy erroneous takedown claims can easily lead to over-blocking. It’s good to know that, despite receiving millions of requests per day, the search engine is still able to spot most of these flaws.

Unfortunately, however, not all mistakes are easily caught, especially when they concern smaller sites.

Just a few days ago we noticed that a page from the copyright troll blog DieTrollDie was removed from Google’s search results because it mentioned a torrent hash of a Lionsgate film, and another blog had several court filings removed from the results for the same reason.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.



from TorrentFreak http://ift.tt/2qjwLL2
via IFTTT

HTPC News Roundup 2017 Wk 17: Nvidia Shield 4K Google Play support, Kodi and DRM, In-browser uTorrent

htpc-news-feat-image-wk17Welcome to the htpcBeginner HTPC News Roundup, April 28, 2017 edition! This week saw rumors of an in-browser uTorrent client, Kodi and DRM talks, Nvidia Shield 4K Google Play support, and more. Read on for the latest in HTPC news and updates! htpcBeginner Recap In case you missed them, here is a recap of all […]

HTPC News Roundup 2017 Wk 17: Nvidia Shield 4K Google Play support, Kodi and DRM, In-browser uTorrent is a post from htpcBeginner.



from htpcBeginner http://ift.tt/2pgeOyj
via IFTTT

What Now For ‘Pirate’ Boxes & Streaming Following the ECJ Ruling?

On Wednesday, the European Court of Justice handed down its decision in the long-running case between Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN and Filmspeler.nl.

Filmspeler sold Android-type devices with Kodi software installed. However, it augmented otherwise legal setups with third-party addons designed to deliver infringing content to customers.

Filmspeler’s owners felt that its pre-configured devices were legal, but both BREIN and ultimately the ECJ disagreed, with the latter noting that their sale amounted to a “communication to the public” in respect of infringing content.

So what does this decision mean for the sale of so-called “fully-loaded” devices in the EU? In the very short term, probably very little. Longer term, some changes probably lie ahead.

Suppliers

There can be little doubt that one of the first places people turn to for such devices are places like eBay. But despite some recent UK tabloid claims that the auction site had banned their sale, a cursory search today reveals hundreds of listings for devices that are clearly configured for piracy.

Over time – whether due to eBay tightening its policies, more aggressive reporting of infringing listings by rights holders, or increased caution on the part of sellers due to prosecutions – it’s likely that these kinds of blatant ‘pirate’ listings will become much less common. However, sellers will find subtle ways to get their message across, without attracting too much attention.

For instance, people hoping to watch satellite TV without paying for an expensive subscription can head over to eBay and pop the otherwise benign terms “satellite” and “gift” into the search box. Hundreds of listings appear, the majority of which offer a pirate subscription to an illegal card-sharing service. ‘Pirate’ box sellers are likely to employ similar tactics in future.

While sprawling, eBay is relatively easy to police but the same cannot be said of the listings that appear in local classified papers. These ads are often placed by regular people who have nurtured a small cottage industry selling a few boxes per week. These people could find themselves targeted by authorities, but sheer numbers will dictate that most fly under the radar.

For suppliers still intent on shifting volume, safer strategies exist.

Pirate addons? Get ready for a DIY boom

This week’s ECJ ruling has nothing to do with the sale of basic hardware and everything to do with infringing software. In other words, if box suppliers sell devices with little other than an operating system installed, they are not breaking the law. This presents a problem, however.

A typical ‘pirate’ box buyer hasn’t got the knowledge to turn an Android device into a piracy machine, that’s why he bought the thing off eBay in the first instance. This means that these kinds of people will be much less likely to buy if they have to mess around themselves. However, if they only have to click a couple of links to get going, that probably won’t be too much of a problem.

That’s certainly the case with native Android apps such as Showbox, Popcorn Time, Mobdro, and Terrarium TV, which are all installed to a set-top device with a couple of clicks, even by the complete novice. With this in mind, it’s likely that sellers will very gently direct customers to sites offering the software and tutorials, rather than take the risk themselves.

Custom installers for Kodi (such as TVAddons’ Fusion) are also widely available and will no doubt gain further traction if the availability of pre-configured ‘pirate’ boxes is restricted. Expect there to be a lot of innovation in this area, with an emphasis on making this as close to a ‘one-click’ process as possible.

But will users be breaking the law using these setups?

In a word – probably.

Up until this week, it was widely believed that users who merely stream pirated content are not breaking the law. It was a position even held by UK Trading Standards, who have an important prosecution pending against a box seller.

But the ECJ’s decision published on Wednesday appears to have removed all doubt, noting that a “copyright-protected work obtained by streaming from a website belonging to a third party offering that work without the consent of the copyright holder” does not qualify for exemption from reproduction rights.

In other words, streaming copyrighted content from an illicit source is now just as illegal in the EU as downloading from an illicit source. So what does this mean for the average ‘pirate’ box user? In the short term, probably not a great deal.

When a user downloads or streams infringing content, whether that’s from a file-hosting site, streaming portal, or even YouTube, no third parties are legally able to get in the way to monitor what’s going on. The user’s connection is directly communicating with the source, and unlike BitTorrent, there are no easily monitored and potentially risky uploads going on.

So yes, streaming is now apparently confirmed illegal but will remain a hidden offense carried out by dozens of millions of people all around the EU. Even in the face of an ECJ ruling, only their consciences will stand between them and illicit content, whether a box seller installed the addons, or if they did the deed themselves.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.



from TorrentFreak http://ift.tt/2qivJ1G
via IFTTT

Friday, April 28, 2017

Dev Journal: Android Leanback suggestions, search and voice typing

Although we released Kodi v17 not long ago our developers never stop and already work hard towards the next version. Version 18 will have the codename Leia as announced in this article. Different from past years where we combined several new features in one article we will handle them separately for the upcoming Kodi v18 to not overwhelm you too much in one go.

At times you do wonder what else could still be added to Kodi as it has been made quite feature complete over the past years. Well I can assure you this and several other upcoming features will make your Kodi experience from the couch even more awesome than it already was. The feature in this article will certainly come to shine if you have a device running Android TV.

If you already have a Android TV device you are probably familiar with the main screen that shows some random tiles of YouTube videos and depending on the apps you installed some content of those as well. Finally the time has come that Kodi joins this elite group and will now be able to show it’s library content on the Android interface as well with full voice and search integration. You will get suggested content like unwatched random movies,and episodes to continue binge watching them till the end. For the music enthusiasts we show you random albums from your library to keep your listening as diverse as possible. Clicking on one of those tiles will jump straight to the information panel or listing inside Kodi where you can hit play.

Tags: 
Galleries: 


from Kodi News http://ift.tt/2oRfdDX
via IFTTT

Hackers Leak Netflix’s Orange is The New Black, Season 5 Premiere

tdo-logoMuch to the disappointment of studios everywhere, movie and TV shows leak onto the Internet every single week.

However, if what is unfolding today lives up to its billing, we could be looking at the start of one of the most significant piracy leaks of recent times.

Earlier this evening, the first episode of the brand new season of Netflix’s Orange is the New Black was uploaded to The Pirate Bay, months ahead of its official June release date.

So how did this unreleased content fall into the wrong hands?

As seen from the torrent details uploaded to Pirate Bay, the leak is the work of a hacking entity calling itself TheDarkOverlord (TDO). An extraction of the .torrent file’s meta data reveals a 1.1GB file named:

‘Episode1/ORANGEep5001_HDSR_CTM_ProResProxy_8.15.16-H264_SD_16x9.mov’.

In information sent to TF, the group says that sometime during the closing months of 2016, it gained access to the systems of Larson Studios, an ADR (additional dialogue recorded) studio, based in Hollywood. The following screenshot reportedly from the leak indeed suggests a copy that was in production and possibly unfinished in some way.

After obtained its haul, TDO says it entered into “negotiations” with the video services company over the fate of the liberated content.

“After we had a copy of their data safely in our possession, we asked that we be paid a small fee in exchange for non-disclosure. We approached them on the Eve of their Christmas,” a member of the group previously told us over an encrypted channel.

So who are TDO? According to several security reports, TDO is a fairly prolific hacking group (their spokesman says they are more than one) that has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks in recent months.

One, which targeted construction company Pre-Con Products Ltd, involved the leak of contracts and a video which purported to show a fatal accident. Another, concerning polyurethane and epoxy product company GS Polymers, Inc, resulted in a leak of data after the company reportedly showed a “disinterest” in “working” with TDO. The group has also targeted medical organizations and leaked gigabytes of data obtained from Gorilla Glue.

As is clear from its actions, TDO takes its business seriously and when the group allegedly contacted Larson Studios before Christmas, they had extortion (their word) in mind. In a lengthy business-like ‘contract’ shared with TorrentFreak, TDO laid out its terms for cooperation with the California-based company.

“This agreement of accord, assurances, and satisfaction is between Larson Studios (the ‘Client’) and thedarkoverlord, a subsidiary of TheDarkOverlord Solutions, a subsidiary of World Wide Web, LLC [WWW, LLC] (the ‘Proposer’),” the wordy contract begins.

In section 2 of the contract, headed “Description of Services,” TheDarkOverLord offers to “refrain from communicating in any method, design, or otherwise to any individual, corporation, computer, or other entity any knowledge, information, or otherwise,” which appears to be an offer not to leak the content obtained.

Unsurprisingly, there were a number of conditions. The subsequent section 3 reveals that the “services” come at a price – 50 bitcoins – plus potential late payment fees, at TDO’s discretion.

tdo-contract

TDO informs TF that Larson Studios agreed to the pay the ransom and even sent back the contract.

“They printed, signed, and scanned the contract back to us,” the group says.

A copy seen by TF does have a signature, but TDO claims that Larson failed to follow through with the all-important bitcoin payment by the deadline of 31st December. That resulted in follow-up contact with the company.

“A late fee was levied and they still didn’t hold up their end of the agreement,” TDO says.

In an earlier discussion with TDO after the group reached out to us, we tried to establish what makes a group like this tick. Needless to say, they gave very little away. We got the impression from news reports that the group is mostly motivated by money, possibly power, but to remove doubt we asked the question.

“Are you familiar with the famous American bank robber, Willie Sutton?” a spokesperson replied.

“In an interview, he was once asked ‘Why do you rob banks?’ To which replied, ‘Because that’s where the money is.’ It’s said that this exchange led to the creation of Sutton’s law which states that when diagnosing, one should consider the obvious. We’ll leave you to interpret what we’re motivated by.”

Later, the group stated that its only motivation is its “greed for internet money.”

TorrentFreak understands that the leak of this single episode could represent just the start of an even bigger drop of pre-release TV series and movies. TDO claims to be sitting on a massive trove of unreleased video material, all of it high-quality.

“The quality is almost publish quality. One will find small audio errors and video errors like lack of color correction, but things are mostly complete with most of the material,” TDO says.

TheDarkOverlord did not explain what it hopes to achieve by leaking this video content now, months after it was obtained. However, when questioned the group told us that the information shared with us thus far represents just “the tip of the iceberg.”

In the past few minutes the group has taken to its Twitter account, posting messages directed at Netflix who are likely to be watching events unfold.

This is a breaking news story, updates will follow

Update: The group has published a statement on Pastebin.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.



from TorrentFreak http://ift.tt/2oR5Eos
via IFTTT

Nvidia Shield TV adds 4K Google Play Movies and TV support

best streaming apps for NVIDIA SHIELD TV 2017 imageThe Nvidia Shield TV ranks as arguably the best streaming media box. When it launched in 2016, the Shield TV arrived as a beefy media streamer. A 2017 re-design further honed Nvidia’s offering as one of the top streaming media devices. It sports superb hardware in its Nvidia Tegra X1 APU. Running Android TV, the […]

Nvidia Shield TV adds 4K Google Play Movies and TV support is a post from htpcBeginner.



from htpcBeginner http://ift.tt/2pqq7CA
via IFTTT

HiFiBerry DAC+ and DIGI+ What you Need to Get Started

Do you listen to lot of music using a good old amplifier and a great set of stereo speakers? The HiFiBerry DAC+ or DIGI+ might be right up your alley. Maybe you are a lucky owner of a NAD 3020 amp and you have a priceless collection of vinyls, that you, like me, believe still sounds best on apms from 70s - 80s,



from HTPC Guides http://ift.tt/2qfZaBz
via IFTTT

Cloudflare Ordered to Expose Gay-Torrents Operator, Or Else…

Cloudflare has taken quite a bit of heat from copyright holders in recent months.

As one of the leading CDN and DDoS protection services, Cloudflare is used by millions of websites across the globe, some of which are notorious pirate sites.

However, instead of proactively taking down these sites, Cloudflare maintains its position as a neutral service provider. If copyright holders want them to take action, they have to follow the legal process.

This is the route adult company Flava Works is taking now. The company went to a clerk at the Illinois federal court and succesfully obtained a DMCA subpoena to expose the personal details connected to the account of the gay torrent community Gay-Torrents.org.

The order commands CloudFlare to hand over the personal details of the associated account holder within a month. This includes names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, account numbers, billing records and other identifying information.

Unlike regular subpoenas, DMCA subpoenas are not reviewed by a judge and only require a signature from the court clerk. However, in a letter sent to Cloudflare, Flava Works says that it’s considering further legal steps, if they’re needed.

The DMCA subpoena

The adult company explains that it sent three DMCA takedown notices to the company, but that dozens of copyright infringing files on Gay-Torrents.org are still being served through Cloudflare’s servers.

Flava argued that Cloudflare is required to take proper action against repeat infringers under the DMCA, and wants it to terminate the associated account in its entirety, or face lagal action.

“Accordingly, demand is hereby made upon you to immediately and permanently disable and remove the Infringing Site as a repeat infringer and terminate all related accounts,” Flava writes in its letter.

“Absent full compliance with this demand, our Client will be forced to investigate all legal remedies available to it, including, without limitation, bringing a civil cause of action against you to compel compliance.”

The adult entertainment company ends by saying that it would be in the best interests of all parties to avoid costly litigation, but clearly doesn’t rule out the possibility.

It’s doubtful, however, that Cloudflare will be sensitive to this kind of threat. The company has repeatedly said that it follows the letter of the law, and in its opinion this doesn’t cover the termination of clients solely based on third party claims.

TorrentFreak reached out to Cloudflare for a comment on the allegations. The company informed us that they have yet to be served with the subpoena, adding that it is Cloudflare’s policy to respond to proper court process once served.

To be continued.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.



from TorrentFreak http://ift.tt/2oQHpHd
via IFTTT