123 Stories To Learn About Internet Censorship

Let's learn about Internet Censorship via these 123 free stories. They are ordered by most time reading created on HackerNoon. Visit the /Learn Repo to find the most read stories about any technology.

1. Why Godaddy is low key the most dangerous company on the internet

Godaddy, a domain reseller, wrongfully censored ALL hackernoon.com sites and subdomains for over 18 hours. Businesses should not host on godaddy.

2. Video Game Piracy: CS.RIN.RU Says Cash is Needed to Stay Online

CS.RIN.RU is probably the largest forum dedicated to video games piracy on the planet. However, after a reported 17 years in operation, the site's sponsor has reportedly decided to stop funding the site. As a result, the gaming pirates' paradise will have to rely on user donations to keep going.

3. YouTube Cartoon Featuring Creepy Bugs Bunny Copyright Claimed By Warner Bros.

A dark parody cartoon depicting a washed-out Bugs Bunny as a sex offender has been hit with a DMCA complaint by Warner Bros. MeatCanyon, a channel with more than 66 million views, has responded with a new animation in which characters mourn his passing, stating that since Warner claimed the content as its own, they have now confirmed that "Bugs was a struggling rapist all along."

4. Let Web3 Flow: Democratizing Data Ownership to Curb Malpractice

Web3 is the attempt to come full circle in how data is shared by democratizing ownership.

5. The Internet Belongs to Everyone

Normalizing the behavior of businesses to set the social standards for freedom of expression is a slippery slope.

6. Domain Fronting 101: What is Domain Fronting and How Does it Work?

Domain fronting is one technique that hackers use to bypass internet censorship. This method is used to access restricted sites that would typically be blocked.

7. Pirate IPTV Box Seller Arrested By LAPD, ABS-CBN Files Multi-Million Dollar Lawsuits

Media giant ABS-CBN has filed two US lawsuits worth millions of dollars in damages against two men they accuse of supplying pirate IPTV devices to the public. One of the men was arrested earlier this month by Los Angeles Police Department following an undercover sting operation.

8. I Just Got Banned from r/Bitcoin - The Irony Is Strong With This One

However scarce or unknown it may be in the crypto and Blockchain sector, I have never stopped and I have never pulled back, even when even today, in my part, when I talk to him about this technology and of course Bitcoin (BTC), a laugh is what I get.

9. John Van Stry Wins Piracy Case, Reducing Damages Claim To $9,000

Author John Van Stry has won his copyright infringement lawsuit against former Pirate Party of Canada leader Travis McCrea and his long-defunct eBook download platform eBook.bike. After a year of stressful litigation, the court asked the author to consider reducing his $180,000 damages claim to $9,000 to avoid a full trial. Van Stry accepted but with McCrea now claiming to be broke, it remains to be seen whether the amount will ever be recovered.

10. Popcorn Time Isn’t “Back From The Dead” But the New Version is Borked

This morning several news articles celebrated the "return" of Popcorn Time after it apparently went offline a few years ago. This claim simply isn't true, neither is the assertion that the just released version of the app works as well as the previous one. In fact, Popcorn Time is facing a wave of complaints from users experiencing a wide range of problems that simply didn't exist before.

11. Judge Asks Author to Consider a Massively Reduced Claim after Suing eBook.bike for Infringement

The copyright infringement lawsuit filed by author John van Stry against former Pirate Party leader Travis McCrea may be edging closer to financial discomfort.

12. Anime Fans Find ‘Pirate’ Subtitles in Netflix Streams of City Hunter

Netflix subscribers in France shared a wry smile over the weekend when a screenshot from the anime movie City Hunter was shared on Twitter. The screenshot revealed that the subtitles hadn't been obtained from an official supplier. Instead, they were apparently culled from a 'pirate' file distributed by an IRC channel specializing in anime content, one that could've been dead for some time.

13. Comcast Got FBI to Pursue Gears IPTV Case - Claims YouTuber OMI IN A HELLCAT

Popular YouTuber OMI IN A HELLCAT was raided by the FBI last year in connection with his 'pirate' IPTV service Gears TV.

14. Russia Pirate Sites Dump 1XBET in Favor of Identical Yet Legal 1XStavka

A study published in 2019 revealed that controversial gambling company 1XBET, known for placing adverts on pirate sites, had become the third most active online advertiser in Russia.

15. Jehovah’s Witness Body Uses DMCA to Subpoena YouTube For ‘Apostate’ Identity

The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, the supervising body and publisher for the Jehovah’s Witness religious group, is using the DMCA to obtain the identity of a self-proclaimed 'apostate'. In a filing at a New York court, the group demanded that Google should hand over the identity of a person who allegedly uploaded videos of sermons to YouTube without permission.

16. Main Domain of Kim Dotcom's K.im Project Set To Be Reclaimed

After falling into third-party hands the main domain of Kim Dotcom's K.im project is set to be reclaimed. The Isle of Man domain recently expired and was quickly snapped up but, following a dispute process, it could be transferred back to the crypto project in a matter of days. Documents reviewed by TorrentFreak reveal that there was an attempt in December to sell the domain back for $100,000.

17. YouTube Refuses to Process DMCA Counternotice for ‘Creepy Bugs’ Cartoon

An artist who uploaded a parody cartoon to YouTube and received a strike against his channel following a Warner Bros. complaint has been denied the opportunity to fight his corner. MeatCanyon uploaded a cartoon featuring a creepy 'Bugs Bunny' and later appealed using a DMCA counternotice. YouTube, however, refused to pass the notice on and dismissed the claim.

18. MangaDex Returns Under a New Domain, Confirms Legal Issues

After several days of downtime, manga scanlation giant MangaDex has reappeared online. In addition to confirming the existence of a DMCA subpoena first reported here on TF last week, MangaDex says it has legal issues that have resulted in the temporary loss of its .org domain and removal from Cloudflare. It is now operating under a new domain while the problems are dealt with.

19. Activision Subpoenas Ordering a DMCA for Reddit, to Recognize a Modern Warfare's Warzone Leaker

In response to the many Call of Duty Warzone leaks appearing online, Activision has been filing aggressive takedowns on copyright grounds. According to documents obtained by TorrentFreak, the gaming giant has also obtained a DMCA subpoena from a US court, which compels Reddit to hand over the personal details of a user who allegedly posted a leaked image to the site.

20. Barlow's Declaration of Independence of the Metaverse

Governments of the Old Industrial World, you weary giants of flesh and steel, we are the inhabitants of the Metaverse, the new home of free minds.

21. US Movie Companies Prosecute YTS Users Plus The One With a VPN

The operator of YTS recently 'settled' a lawsuit that was filed by the US. movie company Wicked Nevada. Soon after, the same movie company joined other filmmakers to sue several users of the notorious torrent site. According to the complaint, the rightsholders know the email addresses that the defendants used to register with at YTS, as well as the VPN IP-address of one user. This raises some questions.

22. Keeping Speech Free: Tools to Improve US Digital Media Literacy and Critical Thinking

Free speech is a pillar stone of democracy, which makes digital media literacy essential for a healthy society. But what is media literacy?

23. Italian Court Orders 'Preventative Measures' Against IPTV Providers

An Italian court has ordered 'preventative measures' that requires the websites of 15 'pirate' IPTV providers to be blocked in the country. The complaint was filed by top Italian soccer league Serie A after the IPTV providers reportedly broadcast live matches without permission. How effective the blocks will be remain to be seen, however.

24. Christian Rapper Who Filed Lawsuit Against Katy Perry Gets an Infringement Complaint

Katy Perry's writers lost a $2.8m lawsuit against Christian rapper Flame last year over the use of a handful of notes. Musician Adam Neely published a hit video on YouTube slamming the lawsuit but in a bizarre twist, Perry's publisher Warner Chappell has now filed an infringement complaint against Neely. Not only have they claimed all of the advertising revenue from his video, they've turned the entire matter into an unbelievable trainwreck.

25. First Ever Interpol 'Red Notice' in South Korea, Issued Over a Copyright Violator

South Korean authorities say they have rquested their first ever Interpol 'Red Notice' in an effort to apprehend the suspected operator of a torrent site that indexed around 455,000 copyright works. Information released by the Ministry of Culture and National Police suggests that the unnamed person is Australian. Police are demanding his or her arrest and extradition.

26. My Open Letter to Jack Dorsey and Everybody on Twitter

Twitter seems like a good product. Even up until the time of this article, I am still using it. However, some questions arise in regards to how Twitter is functioning and even its origin story.

27. The Invisible Man, Emma, and The Hunt Hit Pirate Sites After Rushed VOD Releases

A decision by Universal Pictures to quickly make movies available on VOD services due to the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in the inevitable. Titles including The Invisible Man, Emma, and The Hunt, which are still in their theatrical windows, are now all available for download on pirate sites, just hours after release.

28. YouTube Fair Use: Documentary Makers Defeat Gaye, Thicke, Bee Gees & Jackson

In December 2019 a web-series dedicated to debunking copyright and copying myths was hit with four copyright complaints over the alleged illegal use of tracks from Robin Thicke, Marvin Gate, Bee Gees and Michael Jackson. However, the makers of The Creativity Delusion: Geniuses Steal, decided to fight back and have now defeated every single claim against their video. Fair use, they say, is worth fighting for.

29. Why Did Kendall Jenner Get Sued For Using a Video of Herself?

Model Kendall Jenner generates considerable sums from her Instagram account but according to a lawsuit filed in California, not all of that is raised legally. The complaint states that Jenner obtained a video of herself taken by a third-party and posted it on Instagram, in breach of copyright law. After gaining almost 23 million views, the owner now wants up to $150,000 in damages.

30. ACE Coalition Seizes Four More ‘Pirate’ IPTV Domains

The Alliance For Creativity and Entertainment has been quietly comandeering more pirate site domains, presumably as part of settlement arrangements with their former owners. One domain relates to a previously announced case but three others, all connected to pirate IPTV, are reported today for the first time.

31. Court Authorizes ‘Dynamic’ Pirate Site-Blocking in Spain

A Spanish court has handed down an order that will compel local ISPs to block pirate sites and services, primarily to prevent the unlicensed distribution of live football matches. Several interesting novelties can be observed in the ruling, including that broadcaster Telefónica Audiovisual Digital can add new sites, IP addresses, and URLs, without judicial oversight.

32. Cloudflare Agrees to Stop Caching Pirate Content in Japan, If Court Declares Sites Illegal

In 2018, four of Japan's largest manga publishers filed a motion at a Tokyo court demanding that Cloudflare stop providing services to several 'pirate' sites, including Mangamura replacement Hoshinoromi. The companies now reveal that a settlement has been reached with Cloudflare to "stop the replication" of the sites on its Japan-based servers, if a court declares them illegal.

33. Pirate IPTV Supplier One Box Fails to Put up a Defense, Ordered to Pay $3.8m

In 2019, 'pirate' IPTV supplier One Box TV found itself on the wrong end of a DISH Networks lawsuit. Filed in a Florida court, the complaint alleged that the IPTV supplier was transmitting DISH programming unlawfully via the Internet. After failing to put up a defense, One Box TV and its owner have now been ordered to pay $3.8 million in damages.

34. A Suggestion: How Can Parler Become Truly Censorship Resistant?

Unsurprisingly, I am not a big fan of censorship. The social network known as Parler aims to be a censorship-resistant social network or form of alternative media to Twitter.

35. What Happened to Megaupload?

Chairman and CEO Mitch Glazier has been oulining some of the RIAA's successes since he joined the industry group. Interestingly, he went straight to the Kim Dotcom and Megaupload case, which he described as a "huge significant victory". While the case hasn't yet gone to trial, its destruction more than eight years ago may be a good enough result for the RIAA.

36. Another Lawfirm Sues 'Copyright Troll' Malibu Media

A law firm hired by notorious 'copyright troll' outfit Malibu Media is suing the company over breach of contract and unpaid bills. According to a lawsuit filed this week by The Lomnitzer Law Firm, Malibu 'circumvented' an agreement between the companies by hiring other attorneys to conduct litigation. The law firm is also demanding that Malibu pay more than $280K to settle its debts with the company.

37. YTS Claim Makes It More Obvious That Pirates Should Be Vigilant

One of the most common recurring questions in respect of downloading, sharing and even streaming, is whether service X or platform Y is 'safe' to use, from a copyright-infringement perspective. Recent developments show that no matter how safe users think they are, security is something that should never be taken for granted.

38. The Subpoena Orders Cloudflare To Hand Over The Identities of Uploaders

Adult movie company AMA Multimedia has obtained a DMCA subpoena from a Washington court to help it track down individuals who uploaded content to various 'tube' sites. The subpoena orders Cloudflare to hand over the identities of uploaders and potentially site operators too but given the way the content seems to be delivered, it remains a question whether the former will be possible.

39. Facebook Deems Copyright Misuse As One of the Site's Major Threats

Facebook says that it takes abuse and misuse of its 'Rights Manager' system very seriously. The company sees this type of abuse as one of its main challenges and it spends a lot of time making sure that legitimate content isn't blocked. The social media giant made these statements in a recent "Article 17" stakeholder meeting at the EU Commission.

40. NBCUniversal Sued For Using New York Photographer's Photos

New York-based photographer Mark Seliger has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against NBCUniversal demanding millions of dollars in damages.

41. As UK Pirates Swarm to Live Sports & Movies, Hardcore Pirates Diminish

The UK's Intellectual Property Office has published the latest edition of its Online Copyright Infringement Tracker report. Illicit consumption of movies increased considerably over the previous period, with a new category of live sports leaping almost to the top of the infringement tables. Interestingly, the report also highlights a significant decrease in hardcore pirates.

42. Russian Watchdog to Place a Blockade on Pirate Apps

Russia is planning action against apps that facilitate access to pirated content. If app developers don't quickly respond to a request from authorities to cease distribution of their software, telecoms watchdog Roscomnadzor will demand action against platforms such as Google Play and Apple's App Store. Failure to respond could result in ISP blockades.

43. Nintendo Launching a New Round of DMCA Complaints (Inadvertently Helping Microsoft as Well)

Nintendo has launched a new wave of DMCA complaints at Google in an effort to make piracy-enabling devices harder to find. In common with previous efforts, the gaming giant is making strategic use of DMCA anti-circumvention notices, to permanently delete listings from search results.

44. Man Who Sold Pirate IPTV Must Pay £521,000 or Face Five More Years in Prison

A man who was sentenced in 2018 to 4.5 years in prison for selling pirate IPTV devices to pubs and clubs has been ordered to pay £520,000 to the public purse. Failure to come up with the funds will result in John Dodds having his prison sentence extended by an additional five years. The Premier League, which brought the action, welcomed the judgment.

45. Texas Court Orders Easybox IPTV to Pay $9.9m in Copyright Infringement Damages

A judge at a Texas court has ordered two individuals behind the pirate IPTV service Easybox IPTV to pay $9.9m in copyright infringement damages. In a judgment handed down this week, the judge awarded the maximum $150,000 in statutory damages for each of 66 copyrighted works willfully infringed by the defendants via their unlicensed streaming platform.

46. Saranya TV's Owner Arested For Broadcasting A Pirated Copy Of The Hit Production

On January 9, action thriller movie 'Darbar' enjoyed its theatrical release in India. Bizarrely, just three days later, a pirated copy of the hit production was illegally aired on cable TV. The makers of the movie immediately filed a complaint with police who, according to local reports, have now arrested the channel owner and begun the process of confiscating equipment.

47. Olympic Committee and Leading Soccer Organizations Urge the US Trade Apply Pressure

The International Olympic Committee and leading soccer organizations including FIFA and the Premier League are urging the United States Trade Representative to apply maximum pressure to Saudi Arabia over TV piracy. While beoutQ's illegal satellite broadcasts stopped last August, its set-top boxes now present an Internet-based pirate IPTV threat, the sports groups say.

48. Proposal to Gab.com and Andrew Torba: Let's Crush "Big Tech" Together

One of the people in tech that gets an unfair bad rep is Andrew Torba. Infact, I had a Gab account since 2017, and though I am barely active, I don't have many problems with the service.

49. Japanese Government Approves New Bill to Criminalize Manga Piracy

The government of Japan has approved a new bill aimed at reducing the downloading of pirated content from the Internet. The new law, which is targeted for Jan 1, 2021, will criminalize the downloading of manga, magazines and academic material with prison sentences of up to two years. Operators of pirate linking sites will also face up to five years behind bars.

50. Nintendo Shuts Down Kickstarter Campaign For Violating Animal Crossing Copyrights

A law firm acting for Nintendo of America has shut down a successful Kickstarter campaign for alleged breaches of copyright. According to the gaming giant, the fundraiser used characters and images from the Animal Crossing series without obtaining the necessary permission.

51. AMD Uses DMCA to Mitigate Massive GPU Source Code Leak (Updated)

AMD has filed at least two DMCA notices against Github repos that carried "stolen" source code relating to AMD's Navi and Arden GPUs, the latter being the processor for the upcoming Xbox Series X. The person claiming responsibility for the leak informs TorrentFreak that if they doesn't get a buyer for the remainder of the code, they will dump the whole lot online.

52. WEF 2023 Summary: Metaverse Control, Online Censorship, and Financial Centralization

WEF 2023 Summary: The Urgent Need to Control the Internet, Censor Information, and Centralize Finance

53. New Anti-Piracy Campaign Piles On The Scare Tactics But Who’s Scared?

Yet another major anti-piracy campaign launched last week declaring that visiting pirate sites exposes passwords, photos, plus financial and medical records to criminals intent on ruining people's lives. This scare tactic approach is gaining momentum around the globe, with claims that it has a positive effect on the public. But does it, or should it, really?

54. John Van Stry Claims That Former Piracy Site Owner Is Trying to Bust Him

Since early 2019, author John Van Stry has been spending huge sums of money in an effort to bring the former operator of download site eBook.bike to justice. The site itself has been down for months but legal costs are mounting to the point that Van Stry feels there might be an effort to bankrupt him. As a result, a practical win for either side seems a distant proposition.

55. Unofficial Paywall-Free COVID19 Archive Consumes Half a Terabyte of Bandwidth

With the world still grappling with the new coronavirus outbreak, an unofficial paywall-free archive of scientific papers is spreading hope, not disease, to the scientific community. Speaking with TF, the operators of the project reveal that since its launch under a week ago, visitors from all over the world to the 5,300+ study resource have consumed almost half a terabyte of bandwidth.

56. Red Dead Redemption: Damned Enhancement Modder Counters Take-Two Lawsuit

The developer behind the Red Dead Redemption: Damned Enhancement Project is fighting back against a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by Take-Two. Among other things, Johnathan Wyckoff states that he believes he was working within the rules published by Take-Two, which state that the company will not generally take legal action against non-commercial single player projects.

57. Russia's Search Engine Anti-Piracy Deal Drawn Out Until 2021

The ground-breaking anti-piracy deal signed by Russia-based content and Internet platforms in 2018 will not be written into local law any time soon. The agreement, which sees search engines voluntarily delete allegedly-infringing links, was supposed to be formalized in recent months but in the face of complexities and parliament being tied up with other things, will now be extended until 2021.

58. Movie And TV Show Portal Attacks Google With Odd DMCA Notices

Movie and TV show information portal AlloCiné has reportedly sent a wave of DMCA notices to Google to have allegedly-infringing content taken down. Unfortunately, however, the complaints are littered with clearly erroneous URLs that target everything from Netflix and Amazon listings to news reports from sites like Wired, plus content on rival movie portals such as JustWatch and Rotten Tomatoes.

59. How MalwareBytes Once Blocked Pirate Bay Service

MalwareBytes persistently blocked an essential element of the Pirate Bay platform due to the presence of "a few" cryptocurrency miners on a secondary domain.

60. ‘Academic’ Torrent Client Hopes to Shake up the Entertainment Industry

Researchers at Delft University of Technology have secured another €3.3 million in funding for academic research into the ‘Internet-of-Trust’. The money will in large part be used to continue development on the Tribler BitTorrent client. Professor Johan Pouwelse, who leads the Tribler lab, hopes that the software and underlying technology will shake up the entertainment industry by shifting the balance of power.

61. Court Of Appeal Refuses Kim Dotcom's Access To Outlawed Spy Recording

The New Zealand Supreme Court has declined Kim Dotcom's appeal in his bid to access private communications captured illegally by the country's spy agency. Dotcom will still be entitled to damages for the unlawful intrusion into his private life but he says this matter is not about money. Instead, he seeks to hold the GCSB agency accountable for its illegal behavior, for the benefit of all New Zealanders.

62. Disney Claims Rights to Denmark’s The Little Mermaid Statue

A woman who uploaded one of her own photographs to print-on-demand site RedBubble says she has been hit with a takedown notice by Disney. The photograph, which features the 107-year-old The Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen, apparently violates Disney's rights. According to a copy of the complaint, the statue depicts one of "Disney's Princesses".

63. Rivendell Makes History By Reporting 500 Millionth Infringing URL To Google

This week anti-piracy company Rivendell made history by reporting its 500 millionth infringing URL to Google. Speaking with TorrentFreak, the founder of Rivendell and sister company LeakID says that his team works closely with Google and finds the search giant very cooperative and helpful. He credits pirates for being resourceful but loves finding ways to "outsmart" them.

64. When you’re blocked online, can you just DIY your own internet?

The internet is public infrastructure that has been highjacked by corporations and governments. Let's change that.

65. NeverMind the Tornado Cash/Solana GitHib Attacks

In August, thousands of Solana wallets were drained of their funds in an epic GitHub hack. Mitja Goroshevsky, lead dev of GOSH, explains what went down and why

66. Men Selling Pirate TV Boxes Found Guilty Under The Fraud Act

Two men who sold piracy-enabled TV boxes and encouraged buyers to access content without an appropriate subscription have been found guilty after a four-day trial in the UK. The individuals, who will be sentenced later this month, face potentially lengthy sentences under the Serious Crime Act 2007 and Fraud Act 2006.

67. Is "Balkanized" Internet The Dark Future of Decentralized Internet?

There’s a thin line between decentralization and the “balkanization” of the internet.

68. How To Tame The Tech Giants of Silicon Valley

Everyone's angry at the tech industry these days! Tech companies continue to cement their place as some of the most powerful companies in the world, and taking shots at them has become a popular sport. Most recently, Facebook and Twitter suppressed a controversial New York Post article, raising accusations that the social networks are putting their thumbs on the scale of the upcoming election.

69. Two Piracy-Configured ‘Kodi Box’ Sellers Handed One-Year Suspended Sentences

Two men who sold piracy-configured set-top boxes and coached the public on how to use them to access infringing content have been sentenced to one-year prison terms under the Fraud Act, suspended for two years. The pair, who supplied 'BlackBox.tv' devices, must also do 120 hours of unpaid work.

70. Jetflick Piracy Trial Experiencing Delay After Canadian Govt Hands Over The Evidence

The trial of six defendants who allegedly operated the 'pirate' streaming service Jetflicks will now take place in July 2020. The delay is in response to Canadian authorities handing over masses of discovery data, including subscriber information and support tickets of the defunct service. The original request for information was made around 22 months ago.

71. YesPornPlease Restricts Access as PayPal & Cloudflare Are Asked to Unmask Operators

Following a massive lawsuit filed by adult entertainment giant MG Premium, video site YesPornPlease temporarily shut itself down. It is now operating behind what appears to be geo-based blocking mechanism that promotes the use of a VPN. Meanwhile, MG Premium wants permission from the court to force several US-based service providers including Cloudflare and PayPal to reveal what they know about the site's operators.

72. Ebook.bike Holder Is To Get Sanctioned After Failing To Produce Discovery

Former Pirate Party Canada leader and Ebook.bike operator Travis McCrea is facing the possibility of crippling sanctions if the plaintiff in his copyright infringement lawsuit has his way. After McCrea failed to produce discovery as ordered by the court, the legal team of author John Van Stry are moving in for the kill, demanding sanctions that have the potential to undermine any chance of McCrea winning his case on the merits.

73. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t: Censorship, Decentralized Networks and Moderation

The current landscape has given newfound attention to the concept of deplatforming and led many to wonder what the right solution is.

74. ApolloTV Streaming App Shuts Down Following ACE Cease-and-Desist Notice

Movie and TV show streaming app ApolloTV has shut down following threats from the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment. The global anti-piracy coalition hand-delivered a cease-and-desist notice to the developer behind the software, the terms of which he immediately complied with.

75. Court Calls Cloudflare for Denying Access to Copyright Infringement or Face Penalties or Lockup

This week visitors to pirate music site DDL-Music were greeted with a rare 'Error 451' message from Cloudflare, indicating that the site had been rendered unavailable due to legal reasons. It now transpires that following legal action by Universal Music, Cloudflare was served with a court injunction , which threatened fines and potential prison time for non-compliance.

76. The Problem with Centralized Internet

Corporations' increasing control over the internet is threatening our digital freedom. Let's try and learn why decentralized internet is the future.

77. Kim Dotcom Domain Case Solved, Followed By Bid To Halt Extradition

After falling into third-party hands, the main domain of Kim Dotcom's K.im project has been returned following a settlement agreement. While this progress is being welcomed by the Megaupload founder, even more serious matters lie on the horizon. Will the New Zealand Supreme Court decide against extradition to the US? Dotcom predicts that while close, the judgment will not go in his favor.

78. The Great Firewall of China is Not so Great, Afterall

We crack open the technology that keeps 1.4 BILLION people walled in

79. Instagram Takes Down IPA Due To The DMCA Violation

Facebook-owned Instagram has taken down an independently developed API claiming that it violates the anti-circumvention provisions of the DMCA. The complaint claims that the tool 'Instagram-API' allows unauthorized access to Instagram users' posts, which the company says are copyrighted works to which it grants protected access.

80. Popular eBook Platform eBookee Losing Control Of Its Main Domain

Popular eBook download platform eBookee has lost control of its main .org domain. The suspension was carried out by the Public Domain Registry

81. Bad Boys For Life Leads Wave of Early Movie Releases Flooding Pirate Sites

As cinemas around the globe continue their shutdowns in response to the coronavirus pandemic, a number of movies are now enjoying early digital releases. Of course, many of these are also hitting pirate sites, with Bad Boys For Life, Bloodshot and The Gentlemen currently proving most popular with downloaders.

82. YesPornPlease and VShare.io Go Offline Following Massive Copyright Lawsuit

YesPornPlease, an adult-focused video site that was until recently servicing more than 100 million visitors per month, has disappeared following the filing of a lawsuit in the United States. The complaint, filed by Mindgeek-owned MG Premium, also targets hosting site VShare.io, demanding a broad injunction and potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.

83. French ISPs Block Dozens of Pirate Sites Following Movie Industry Action

For several weeks, French Internet users have reported difficulty accessing dozens of unlicensed streaming and torrent sites. It now transpires that following legal action by several movie industry groups, a Paris court handed down a ruling ordering some of the country's top ISPs to prevent their customers from accessing around 36 platforms.

84. Censorship: From Ancient Greece To Today's Big Tech - A Brief Overview

It is no secret that big tech has been actively monitoring and censoring users.  The past three years have seen a big rise in reported censorship events by the likes of  Youtube, Google, Facebook, and Twitter.

85. MPA Takes Further Action on Pirate Video App TeaTV, Requests Github To Consider 17 U.S. Code

TeaTV is one of the most popular 'pirate' video apps around, providing ready access to movies and TV shows. The app received mainstream media attention in 2019 and following on from that exposure, the MPA has been trying to disrupt the application. The movie industry group is now asking code platform Github to take down three versions of the application while considering its repeat infringer policy.

86. Zero People Charged With Online Pirating, Swedish Prosecutor's Office Reports

For the first time in almost a decade, not a single person was charged with a file-sharing or streaming related crime in Sweden during 2019. The news comes from the Prosecutor's Office, which reveals that just 23 offenses were reported during the year, the lowest number since 2010.

87. 99.9% of Content Will Be AI-Generated by 2025: Does Anyone Care?

Soon AI bots will create 99.9% of all content on the internet. This creates serious problems for free thinking and creativity. Can we solve these problems?

88. PortalRooms Going Dark Leaving Behind Millions of Avid Users

PortalRoms, a popular index for ROM and emulators for a wide range of gaming systems, has disappeared without trace. Up until a few days ago the site was servicing more four million visitors per month with links to download content via torrents. However, after domain issues hit the site last October, history may now be repeating itself for the ten-year-old site.

89. Viral Marketing Firm is Pirating Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video & HBO Go

A viral marketing company is engaging in blatant copyright infringement as part of a new campaign. MSCHF has launched AlltheStreams.fm, a 'pirate radio' site that is currently streaming shows from Netflix, Disney+, HBO Go and others with zero permission from copyright holders. The company informs TF that once one network shuts it down, five others will take their place....

90. Plex Slammed By Huge Copyright Coalition For Not Policing Pirates

Plex has become the latest neutral technology to get slammed for not doing enough to prevent movie and TV show piracy. According to pro-copyright lobby group CreativeFuture, which represents more than 560 companies and organizations, Plex - like Kodi - is a "dangerous digital media player" that has joined the ranks of "internet heavyweights who refuse to take responsibility for the criminal behavior on their platforms."

91. Lawsuit Filed Against BitTorrent, The Company Accused of Illegal Profiting

A lawsuit filed against BitTorrent owner Rainberry Inc, TRON Foundation's Justin Sun, and one of his colleagues, is based in employment law. However, the allegations it contains could pique interest in Hollywood, with claims that movies including The Lion King were involved in a "fraudulent scheme" to "make a profit from the illegal piracy of those materials."

92. Geo-Blocking Should Be Illegal - Change My Mind

Geoblocking has no longer become a method for business, but a veiled form of censorship. Our constant battle for free speech has become more obvious.

93. Doom Eternal Debacle May Have Dismantled Denuvo DRM on Debut Day

In what appears to be a monumental screw-up somewhere in the game's supply chain, the Denuvo anti-tamper technology deployed on Doom Eternal may have already been compromised. Early purchasers of the game discovered a folder in the game's directory containing an .exe file that can be used to replace the original one protected by Denuvo.

94. The Internet Archive's National Emergency Library Controversy

The National Emergency Library recently launched by the Internet Archive now finds itself in the middle of a controversy.

95. The Pirate Bay: Over 2.5 Petabytes Are Still Being Seeded

The Pirate Bay has revealed some intriguing statistics on its decentralized archive of data. Over the years more than 6.7 petabytes of data were made available through the site. Less than half of this is still being seeded. The data further reveal that the 2014 raid did some serious damage to the infamous torrent site.

96. US Congress Starts on New Copyright-Focused Initiative

A new copyright-focused initiative has got underway in the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property. Its goal is to evaluate the 22-year-old Digital Millennium Copyright Act with a view to modernizing the legislation to better deal with today's Internet following the dramatic changes of the last two decades.

97. Anti-Piracy Chief: Pirated Content is Now Harder to Find in Search Engines

An anti-piracy memorandum aimed at removing allegedly-infringing content from search engines is beginning to have an effect in Russia. That's according to the chief of the Internet Video Association, an anti-piracy group representing the interests of numerous licensed online video distribution platforms.

98. Cloudflare Displaying Rare 'Error 451' to German Visitors, Deny Access to a Music Piracy Site

CDN company Cloudflare is displaying an extremely rare 'Error 451' to German visitors who attempt to access a music piracy site. The message currently affecting DDL-Music.to states that the site has been rendered "Unavailable for Legal Reasons'. Contrary to Cloudflare's own error code guide, no explanatory legal demand specifics have been published.

99. The Art of War: Tutorial For Pirate Sites Owners And Their Antagonists

There have been countless anti-piracy strategies deployed over the years and pirates have deployed their own in response. In the end, the parties "at war" aren't so different and may even benefit from the same techniques. The most fundamental ones aren't new either, having been around for at least 2,500 years.

100. Viral Headbutt Video Taken Down Following Gogus Copyright Complaints

A man from the US became a hero last year when a video of him subduing a man who had headbutted someone in the face went viral. The video has been reposted numerous times since but is regularly taken down following bogus copyright complaints. However, the censorship efforts massively backfired this week when someone tried to delete a Reddit thread using a DMCA anti-circumvention notice. Duh...

101. ACE Scalps Ulango TV App Seizing Domain

The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment has claimed another scalp in the 'pirate' IPTV space. The UlangoTV app provided free access to thousands of unlicensed TV streams but there was also an option to pay for more reliable content. Today, however, its clear it is unlikely to be returning after its domain was taken over by the global anti-piracy coalition.

102. Streaming Site Nites.tv Gets The "Seizure" Notice, Causing More Talks

Movie and TV show streaming site Nites.tv hit the mainstream during the past few weeks, with news sites on several continents reporting on the platform seemingly out of nowhere. Now, however, the site is redirecting to the anti-piracy portal of the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment after an apparent seizure. Strangely, a number of things don't add up.

103. Manga Scanlation Communities Are Against Unleashing Enmity

Huge scanlation platform MangaDex recently revealed that legal pressures had, among things, restricted its ability to receive donations from users. Following our report, a server administrator connected to several other groups gave us additional insight into these anti-piracy efforts. Amid the hostilities, however, it appears that all the scanlation community really wants is to improve the chances of manga titles arriving in the West.

104. Man Who Leaked Pre-Release Movies Online Sentenced to 27 Months Prison

A UK man who leaked pre-release movies online has been sentenced to 27 months in prison after pleading to one count of conspiracy to defraud. Malik Luqman Farooq of Halifax was part of a group that obtained copies of movies from a post-production company in the United States. In 2018, Farooq was indicted by a federal grand jury in a related case that is yet to go to trial the US.

105. Why Do We Urgently Need Web 3.0?

Mass censorship and de-platforming have been normalized at such break-neck speed that a new totalitarian milestone appears almost every month. Fortunately, cryptocurrencies have already paved the road ahead for a brighter, less surveilled future, leading to Web 3.0.

106. Does Web 3.0 Need Web Servers?

Internet censorship doesn't only affect those breaking the law. The decentralized browser DeBot Contest on Free TON is working towards an alternative.

107. YggTorrent Website Lost Control Over Its Main Domain

France's largest torrent site YggTorrent has lost control over its main domain. According to the site's operators, YggTorrent.ws was suspended by the domain registrar without providing additional information. Given that Alexa reports that YggTorrent is one of the most-visited websites in the whole of France, the disruption is likely to affect millions of visitors.

108. DISH Calls For $9.9m In Damages From Easybox IPTV

A lawsuit filed by US broadcaster DISH Network against Easybox IPTV looks set to end with significant cost to the men behind the unlicensed IPTV provider. In a motion for final judgment and permanent injunction, DISH is demanding $9.9m in damages for direct copyright infringement of 66 copyrighted works, broadcast by Easybox without permission.

109. ‘Hacked’ Netflix MENA Twitter Account Asks For Movie Torrent Recommendations (Updated)

Last night the Twitter account of Netflix in the MENA region suddenly had its 'N' logo replaced with a pirate-themed graphic. Then, in a series of bizarre tweets declaring a hack, followers were asked for recommendations on movie torrents. This morning Netflix apparently regained control and apologized but could there be more to this than meets the eye?

110. Introducing the "Future Web Standards", a new Covenant for Developers

This is part of the reason that I launched the Open Innovation License prior. However, I felt like the OIN isn't enough. I felt like more needed to be done for the open source community and even the outside world that wants to establish a certain standard.

111. How I bypassed Regulations to Setup Remote Access for a Client in China

Connecting to remote desktop users from China. What remote access program choose to bypass the blocking and how to translate during the session.

112. VPNs are the Heroes of Our Time

If you don’t like the way social media and other sites track you online ( and even offline), you should try a VPN.

113. How To Decentralize The Internet?

Can we decentralize the internet? Or are the blockchains of today not up to task? I speak to Pavel Prigolovko, of TON Labs, to find out how it can be possible.

114. DMCA Notices Took Down 14,320 Github Projects in 2019

Github has revealed that throughout 2019, the coding hosting platform took down more than 14,300 projects following DMCA complaints. Of the total notices received, only a tiny proportion was contested via counter-notice. Interestingly, the Microsoft-owned platform also reveals that one copyright complaint cannot be detailed as it's the subject of a gagging order.

115. Giant Pirate Platform Jetflicks Disguised as Aviation Video Service, US Government Reports

After being shut down by the FBI, Jetflicks and associated site iStreamitAll were described by the US Government as two of the largest unauthorized streaming services in the United States. A new filing in the Jetflicks case now reveals that the giant pirate platform ran alongside a fledgling aviation video service that quite literally failed to get off the ground.

116. Warhorse Studios Turning Tables on the Cracking Group to Prop up the Developer

The developer of action role-playing game Kingdom Come: Deliverance has hilariously turned the tables on the cracking group that first put a pirated copy of its game on the Internet. With its tongue planted firmly in cheek, the Czech company is now selling limited edition metal posters of Codex's game-accompanying NFO file, hoping that sales of the high-quality knock-off will "support the developer".

117. What Type of Anti-Piracy Campaign Is More Likely to Work on Infringers?

There have been dozens of anti-piracy campaigns over the years but which ones are more likely to work on illicit consumers? According to some of the findings in a government report published in the UK this week, different approaches may be needed to convince both casual and savvy pirates to stop or reduce their activities.

118. Internet Archive’s National Emergency Library is “Vile” Says Copyright Alliance

Last week the Internet Archive responded to the coronavirus outbreak by offering a new service to "displaced learners". Combining scanned books from three libraries, the Archive offered unlimited borrowing of 1.4 million books, so that people can continue reading while in quarantine. What followed was a huge backlash from publishing and pro-copyright groups, with the Copyright Alliance decribing the actions of IA's operator as "particularly vile."

119. Cyber Police Raid Advertising Agency For Working With Pirate Sites

Authorities in Ukraine report that officers from the cybercrime unit have raided an advertising agency in the capital Kiev for doing business with sites offering pirated movies and TV shows. Images released by the government show masked and armed officers targeting a building and herding out large numbers of employees.

120. Big Movie Studios Handed a Site-Blocking Injunction Against 86 Piracy Sites

A judge at the Federal Court of Australia has handed down a site-blocking injunction against 86 piracy-related sites accessible from 115 domains. The application, filed by the MPA including Netflix, plus Roadshow Films and several other studios, targets torrent sites, streaming portals, subtitle sites, and various related unblocking/proxy platforms. All must be rendered inaccessible by 50 local ISPs.

121. ‘Pirate’ iTunes Download Site and Three Others Targeted By the RIAA

The RIAA has obtained a DMCA subpoena against Cloudflare in an effort to unmask the operators of several 'pirate' music platforms including one offering iTunes content. The subpoena requires the CDN company to hand over names, addresses and account information of people allegedly behind infringement of tracks by Justin Timberlake, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Selena Gomez and more.

122. Checks, Balances, and Freedom: Censorship vs The Internet

Who wins in the battle of the internet and freedom of speech? 🥊 Amy Tom, Ellen Stevens, and Zaeem Shoaib chat about censorship and the internet. We all know tha

123. Fake News Vs. Censorship in the Battle for the Internet

In 2020, world events like the US general election and COVID-19 pandemic have shown us how both censorship and misinformation can become a political weapon. With lessons learned, how do we balance freedom of speech in 2021? Decentralizing online governance may be the answer.

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