WebProNews

Tag: SOPA

  • Wikimedia Foundation Now Officially Off Of GoDaddy

    The Wikimedia Foundation announced that all of its sites have been migrated away from GoDaddy to MarkMonitor. The transition was completed on Friday, and the foundation it was done so without interruption to services.

    Wikimedia began talking about leaving GoDaddy in late 2011/early 2012, though it has taken a while to pull off. This was of course, in response to GoDaddy’s position on SOPA/PIPA.

    @jimmy_wales
    Jimmy Wales    @jsweder @GoDaddy We are moving. They will not get another penny. We are being thoughtful about choosing. 61 days ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    When Wikipedia blacked out in protest to SOPA, it was seen by 162 million people.

    “After exploring numerous alternatives, the Foundation’s legal team decided that MarkMonitor could best provide the comprehensive services that we needed,” said Wikimedia Legal Counsel Michelle Paulson. “MarkMonitor is a U.S.-based registrar with an office in San Francisco and has substantial experience managing other high-traffic domains. The company will help the Foundation consolidate and centralize management of all of its domains, will provide services needed to manage a global domain portfolio and will better protect our domains with additional security features.”

    “The Foundation was already utilizing MarkMonitor’s brand protection services and we found their dedicated customer support team’s work to be exceptional,” Paulson added. “The use of their domain management services ensures greater efficiency in the handling of the Foundation’s trademark and domain name portfolios.”

    While there was certainly a lot of hype about others leaving GoDaddy (as there was following the whole elephant scandal), the numbers of those who fled were really not all that big.

  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Opening In Stop Motion

    The Internet, and in turn, the users who populate, is/are notorious for keeping intellectual properties alive, long past their shelf life has expired. In fact, this continuing interest helps revive many of these titles, essentially breathing life into properties that may otherwise die.

    The example that leads this post is another great contribution from the user-generated pile. This time, the subject are the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the method of delivery is stop motion animation.

    The video was brought to us by Kyle Roberts, and it uses over 4000 individual images, including over 60 hand-drawn creations. Naturally, the characters used for the stop motion aspect are action figures, and considering the extensive line Roberts and his crew had to pick from, it’s easy to see why the work is such a success.

    According to the YouTube page, the creation was sponsored by “the Toy and Action Figure Museum, curator Kevin Stark designed many of the pieces in the original 1990 TMNT toy line.” Is that enough for the SOPA crowd or would such a creation require the permission of Nickelodeon, the now-owners of the TMNT property? Other credits include:

    With over 4,000 individual pictures, Kyle Roberts and crew wanted to recreate the nostalgic 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon introduction in stop motion. Artist, Nathan Poppe, created over 60 hand-drawn images to establish a bright and vibrant backdrop to complement Roberts’ use of action figures. The original TMNT theme song was covered by Oklahoma native band, The Boom Bang, in their “garage surf punk” style. Each of these pieces can stand alone by themselves, but when infused together they create a radical tribute.

    Hat-tip to Best Week Ever for pointing this out.

  • “Irish SOPA” Signed Into Law By Minister Sherlock

    “Irish SOPA” Signed Into Law By Minister Sherlock

    You may recall that during the whole nasty business with our own SOPA and PIPA, there was a similar law going through the rounds in Ireland. This “Irish SOPA” faced heavy resistance from many within the Irish and global community while Anonymous launched #OpIreland in protest.

    Unfortunately, it appears that these efforts were in vain as Minister of Research and Innovation Sean Sherlock has confirmed that the European Union (Copyright and Related Rights) Regulations 2012 was signed into law according to a post on the Irish Labour Party Web site.

    Now that the bill is signed and made law, Sherlock urges Irish citizens to move onto better things. What better things? He says to “focus now on making Ireland a model of international best practice for innovation, and ensuring that our copyright laws facilitate the achievement of this goal.” As part of this renewed focus on innovation, Sherlock also announced the next stage of the Copyright Review Committee, which seeks to update Ireland’s copyright legislation in the name of “removing barriers to innovation.”

    Sherlock admits that there was a bit of concern over how vague the bill was and that it might be abused by content holders. He assures the citizenry that the High Court, who will be in charge of any legal cases brought forth by this bill, is receiving “significant guidance” from the Euroepean Court of Justice. Any cases regarding this new law will have to abide by certain rules:

    Freedom to conduct a business enjoyed by operators such as ISPs;

    The absolute requirement that an ISP cannot be required to carry out general monitoring on the information it carries on its network;

    Any measures must be fair and proportionate and not be unnecessarily complicated or costly;

    The fundamental rights of an ISPs’ customers must be respected, namely their right to protection of their personal data and their freedom to receive or impart information.

    Sherlock made a lengthy statement about the law and what it means for the Internet industry in Ireland. I think it’s appropriate to reprint his statement in full:

    “I believe that in Ireland we must build on our very substantial achievements in the creative and digital media industry, and become a model of international best practice for innovation in this area. Ireland is home to some of the world’s most innovative Internet companies, and we are determined to grow our reputation as a location where smart people and smart companies can innovate in this fast-moving arena.”

    “On many previous occasions I have outlined the reasons why it is necessary for us to proceed to sign this Statutory Instrument in order to ensure compliance with our obligations under EU law. As there are clearly many diverse interests, it is important that interested parties come together and work in a constructive way to map the path forward. For this reason I am particularly anxious that the consultation paper launched today is studied and comprehensively responded to by all interested parties.”

    “The challenge now is to examine what measures we can take to develop Ireland’s laws in this area in such a way as to provide the greatest possible encouragement for innovation in the creative and digital industries to take place here.”

    “This is a very complex area of law, which affects industries that are developing at lightning pace, and where the interests of many diverse and changing parties interact with each other. My ambition to make Ireland a model of international best practice in this area will not be easily achieved, and as this debate develops I urge all interested parties on all sides to come together and work in a constructive and realistic way to the benefit of all.”

    “In that context, I am happy to launch the consultation paper of the Copyright Review Committee. I am committed to reviewing and updating the Copyright legislation currently in place in order to strike the correct balance between encouraging innovation and protecting creativity. This paper has been prepared by the Copyright Review Committee in response to submissions received and public engagement. I urge all interested parties, including information providers and ISPs, innovators, rights holders, consumers and end-users, to study it carefully and engage in a constructive debate on all the issues.”

    “This is a valuable opportunity for all interested parties to express their views and to make a meaningful contribution towards shaping the future development of Irish copyright law. I am confident that the work being carried out by the Copyright Review Committee, with the interaction and input of the interested parties, will result in establishing Irish copyright law on a firm footing to encourage innovation, foster creativity and meet the challenges of the future with confidence”.

    There’s sure to be more protests and outrage at the signing of this bill. Its opponents are not going to go down without a fight.

    Speaking of fights, angry citizens have already taken to Sherlock’s Facebook page to protest the law.

    Irish SOPA Signed Into Law

    What do you think? Does Sherlock make a compelling argument in regard to the need for new copyright laws? Or do you think this was the wrong way to go? Let us know in the comments.

  • Lamar Smith Doesn’t Care About Personal Privacy on the Internet

    While SOPA is holding on to its dying breaths for dear life, Lamar Smith has apparently moved on to bigger and better things: Monitoring every aspect of your online behavior, details which would be available to any government agency without a warrant, all in the name of “protecting children” from the evils of adults, or something.

    Actually, Smith’s new draconian approach to Internet activity is nestled in his latest sponsored bill, H.R.1981, aka, the Protecting Children From Internet Pornographers Act of 2011. While the notion is a noble one–let’s be clear here, no one I know is advocating for child porn purveyors to be protected–it’s also a great method of subterfuge, because no one wants to hurt children, right? And if you add such an invasion of privacy to a bill, the overwhelming desire to protect children will prevent other politicians from voting against it.

    Or something like that.

    But, does protecting children mean massive invasions of Internet privacy should be tolerated, if not made to be outright legal? If Lamar Smith gets his way, then yes, yes it does. As pointed out by Boing Boing, over at MSNBC.com, Leslie Meredith points out some of the ridiculous details of Smith’s next move, one that is again hidden behind a “protect the children” mantra:

    The Protecting Children from Internet Pornographers Act of 2011 would require Internet providers to store the IP addresses they assign to a customer’s Internet-connected devices along with identifying information like the customer’s name, address and the credit card numbers… [IP addresses] can provide a pretty clear picture of your routine over time. People are creatures of habit. You probably check your email when you get up. You check it several times at work and again when you get home in the evening. With knowledge of your personal trail of IP addresses, it’s not too hard to decipher your daily activities.

    However, under Smith’s bill, records of both suspects and ordinary citizens would all be available to any government agency at any time, no warrant required. [Emphasis added]

    That’s right, Lamar Smith wants the Internet activity of every American stored, courtesy of IP addresses. Furthermore, he wants this information to be available to any agency that wants to access it, again, all in the name of protecting children.

    If this doesn’t sound like an end-around move to stick SOPA-like attributes to a Child Protection bill, perhaps I need to refresh my memory about such circumvention attempts. Not only does Smith’s bill include these Orwellian Internet regulation qualities, they’re actually worse than what was in the Stop Online Piracy Act. At least in SOPA, Smith never said he wanted every American’s Internet activity monitored and stored for later use.

    But hey, it’s for the kids so it has to be good for the population, right? That’s clearly the approach Smith is going for

  • Reddit Creates The Freedom Of Internet Act

    Reddit Creates The Freedom Of Internet Act

    The users of Reddit are more than just Internet warriors who fought bravely against SOPA and PIPA with the legendary Net blackout of January. They are also amateur legislators which they have proven by writing a law of their own.

    The law is called “The Freedom of Internet Act” and it seeks to be what SOPA and PIPA aren’t – a level-headed approach to dealing with copyright infringement on the Internet. What makes this law creation unique is that it’s posted in an open Google docs file that anyone can edit it. It’s similar to what the OPEN Act has done by allowing users to propose changes to the bill.

    The law has numerous articles that deal with various facets of Internet law and culture that the creators obviously feel must be considered in any proposed law. The first article addresses the most important concern right out of the gate – censorship. The law proposes that government can not pass any law that imposes censorship unless it meets strict criteria. That criteria is illegal content that is defined as thus:

    “All false information stored to misguide, scam, cause damage, trap users financially, or mutilate collateral are illegal content.”

    On the subject of culpability, the bill proposes that the only persons who should be held accountable for illegal content are those that upload it – not those that download such data.

    On a different note, only if the content contains 40 percent of the original work can it be considered as copyright infringement.

    ISPs can not be held accountable for the uploading of illegal content under their service. ISPs are also not allowed to monitor the data of their users. They also can not filter, restrict or distort any data being transferred over their network.

    As a final protection for the user, they can not be held accountable if they can prove that they didn’t know the work they were uploading was illegal.

    A short, but important article restricts ISPs or governments from being able to throttle users’ Internet as a form of punishment.

    The content removal section is somewhat similar to what is already in the DMCA except for a few key exceptions. Notice for the removal of content must be sent within 30 days of the deletion of the content. This will allow the uploader of said content to appeal the accusation that his content is illegal.

    On that note, ISPs must give notice to uploaders of infringing content that their content has been flagged for takedown.

    The bill also includes a provision that deals with groups who claim to own content that they don’t. I’ll let the bill itself explain in all its glory:

    Willful false claims of copyright infringement shall be treated and tried as equivalent to copyright infringement, and will only be diminishable on the sole condition of proof provided and accepted by a ruling court that supports the defendant’s reason for claiming infringement. No law or act shall diminish the liability wrongful claims of infringement shall carry as set forth by this act.

    To perhaps stop the recent trend of people in foreign countries being tried in the U.S., the bill states that anybody accused of infringement must be tried in the country where they committed the crime.

    In what would be a major change to current digital crime proceedings, there is a provision that says the courts can not use IP or MAC addresses as evidence to identify users as they are not reliable enough to determine identity.

    One of the biggest wins for the average citizen, however, is that the bill would require the government to reimburse any damages caused during the seizure of their property if it’s used as evidence.

    Article seven details the rights of the user. The biggest right is of course anonymity on the Internet. Everything a user does on their computer is considered private under the provisions of this bill with the only exception being if they are suspected of illegal acts.

    It also protects the right of the user to use proxies for anonymous Internet use. The state would also not be allowed to make any assumptions on the actions of a user based solely upon their efforts to protect their privacy.

    The liability of the user that has committed infringement can only be 110 percent of the calculated damage at market level.

    There’s more to this proposed bill and it’s constantly changing. Be a part of the creation at the Google Docs page for it. You can also join the conversation at the FIA subreddit.

    I highly doubt that a crowdsourced bill would ever be considered before Congress, but I’m willing to believe in anything.

    Do you think Reddit’s bill is a better alternative to even the OPEN Act? Or is it just wishful thinking on the part of the Internet? Let us know in the comments.

  • ACTA Referred To European Court of Justice

    Is the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement treaty, otherwise known as ACTA, compatible with what is referred to as the EU’s “fundamental rights and freedoms?” Some EU officials are asking that very question, and to help determine the answer, EU trade chief Karel De Gucht indicated the highly-flammable — at least from a social sense — piece of legislation would be referred to the EU’s highest court, the European Court of Justice.

    What happens if, after careful deliberation, the EU court decides that ACTA is not compatible with the rights De Gucht discussed? Does that delay, if not entirely kill the ratification process? While there have been a number of countries to sign the ACTA treaty — The United States, Japan, Canada, Australia, to name a few — would a ruling against it stop the treaty in its tracks? Considering the fact that ACTA has to be ratified by the European Union parliament, proceedings that are supposed to happen this summer, such a ruling could derail the oft-protested treaty.

    De Gucht’s discussed his motivations during a press conference, via Reuters:

    “This morning, my fellow commissioners have discussed and agreed in general with my proposal to refer the ACTA agreement to the European Court of Justice,” said EU trade chief Karel De Gucht, referring to the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.

    “We are planning to ask Europe’s highest court to assess ACTA’s compatibility with the EU’s fundamental rights and freedoms, such as freedom of expression and information or that of protection,” he told a regular news briefing.

    While the Polish government initially tried to downplay the massive amount of protesting ACTA received, especially from their citizens, it’s clear the global backlash against ACTA has not fallen on deaf ears.

    While some countries have put their signatures on the treaty, a number of prominent members of the European Union — Germany, Poland, the Netherlands — have decided to delay their commitment, at least until the EU parliament weighs in. Now that the European Court of Justice is involved, their position may be revealed a little sooner.

    Hat-tip to Marcelo Bing for the lead image.

  • The Anti-SOPA System Administrator’s Todo List

    The Anti-SOPA System Administrator’s Todo List

    Todo lists are a great way to plan ahead for the day’s events. It gives an idea of how to divvy up your time. What, however, would such a list look like for a systems administrator who is firmly against SOPA/PIPA and any other Internet regulation the United States government introduces?

    It might look something like this, courtesy of the news section at YCombinator.com:

    Today’s sysadmin todo list:

    0. Get corporate membership with EFF.
    1. Identify all applications with user-generated content.
    2. Move all associated domains to a non-US based registrar.
    3. Migrate DNS, web serving and other critical services to non-US based servers.
    4. Migrate yourself to a non-US controlled country.

    I’m sorry for US sites and users. Your government is hell-bent on turning the internet into a read-only device like TV, easily regulated and controlled. The population will be required to sit quietly and keep their eyes glued on the screen so they don’t miss the ads, with any infringers deemed terrorists and pedophiles and thus deserving of summary punishment by DHS squads.

    Hopefully the internet will route around the damaged segment, and the rest of us can continue to enjoy the amazing interactivity it has brought our society.

    As TechDirt points out, the attitude of the government, as well as the content industry’s lobbyists, is one that doesn’t seem to mind if these very valid criticisms exist. TechDirt refers to at as the “what’s the big deal” attitude, and it’s quite fitting, especially when you consider the haphazard disregard federal law enforcement couldn’t care less about the multitude of gigabytes worth of legitimate content on Megaupload.

    All they cared about was taking down a notorious file-infringing service.

    There is one caveat to the sysadmin todo list, and it concerns moving to a non-US DNS servers and registrars. After SOPA took its initial public relations beatdown, Lamar Smith quickly surfaced to amend the bill to only target foreign sites. So while the government might not be able to seize a site with the characteristics the todo list describes, if SOPA were to pass, they could very well block it.

    Whatever the case, if you’re at all worried about getting seized, perhaps a move to another non-US-based service might be in order.

    Lead image courtesy.

  • Anonymous Continues Anti-ACTA Attack On U.S. Government

    At some point, there’s going to be a massive, mainstream media-friendly bust where a bunch of 20-somethings are led away for the world to see, with FBI officials holding press conferences claiming the scourge of the Anonymous hacker group has been eliminated. Until that time, however, sit back and enjoy the ride as Anonymous takes down yet another site, all in an effort to speak out against SOPA, PIPA, and, of course, ACTA.

    Anonymous’ latest round of victims included websites serving the Federal Trade Commission (business.ftc.gov), as well as the follow FTC consumer protection sites, Consumer.gov and NCPW.gov, which highlights National Consumer Protection Week. As of this posting, all of the sites are still down. As is normally the case, Anonymous boasted about the takedowns on their social media communication outlet of choice, Twitter:

    @AnonymousIRC
    AnonymousIRC    PWND ROOT’D AND RM’D http://t.co/WuNcaYZt and many many others #Anonymous #AntiSec #OWS #ACTA 8 hours ago via LulzTweeter ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @AnonymousIRC
    AnonymousIRC    ohai, other one PWND ROOT’D AND RM’D http://t.co/NodvZF3q and many many others more #Anonymous #AntiSec #OWS #ACTA 8 hours ago via LulzTweeter ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @AnonymousIRC
    AnonymousIRC    FTC ROOT’D [Video used on the defacement] http://t.co/grb074xg #Anonymous #AntiSec #OWS #ACTA #CocksAlwaysCocks 8 hours ago via LulzTweeter ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    This is about as close we’ll get to a press conference from the jaded Anonymous group, so for those of you who want to delve into the subject in order to find out what motivates this group, you should probably go the Twitter route and use direct messages. Besides, it’s pretty clear what pushes Anonymous into action — dissatisfaction with the establishment and their attempts to regulate the Internet, among other things.

    The group also posted a manifesto of sorts over at Pastebin.com, which begins eloquently enough with the following greeting, “Dear Fuctarded Troglodyte Clusterfuck (FTC).” From there, the fun really begins:

    Even more bothersome than your complete lack of competence in maintaining your own fucking websites and serving the citizens you are supposed to be protecting, is the US federal government’s support of ACTA. You really want to empower copyright holders to demand that users who violate IP rights (with no legal process) have their Internet connections terminated? You really want to allow a country with an oppressive Internet censorship regime to demand under the treaty that an ISP in another country remove site content? Well, we have a critical warning for you, and we suggest you read the next few paragraphs very, very closely.

    If ACTA is signed by all participating negotiating countries, you can rest assured that Antisec will bring a fucking mega-uber-awesome war that rain torrential hellfire down on all enemies of free speech, privacy and internet freedom. We will systematically knock all evil corporations and governments off of our internet.

    While this does go on for a few more paragraphs, the closing of the previous tells you everything you need to know about the mindset of Anonymous and those who are outspoken against the infamous Internet regulation bills and treaties. They, like many in the 20-something generation, feel the Internet does indeed belong to them.

    Is this way of thinking wrong?

    The group also posted a video during their takedowns, which also does a good job of relaying their message:


    While the video is fun, the fact that it does feature a commercial at the beginning is humorous. The revolution may not be televised, but it does need to be monetized, apparently.In light of these latest Anonymous shenanigans, what are your thoughts?

    Are their actions counterproductive or just the kind of message the U.S. government needs to see?

  • Bulgaria Joins the No ACTA Crowd

    Did this past weekend’s anti-ACTA movement in Europe get their message across to the ruling governments? While the fallout is still being measured, at least one country has decided to say “no” to the treaty, putting them with the small, but growing group of foreign governments that, at least at this point, have rejected ACTA.

    The latest country to deny ACTA ratification is Bulgaria, but it appears as if Bulgarian government officials are taking the same approach Germany’s government did. That is, ACTA won’t be signed at least until the EU parliament weighs in. There is, however, some resistance to the nature of the treaty itself, as well as a reluctance to help an industry that “has not adopted to the digital age.”

    Over at RT.com, the comments from Bulgaria’s Economy and Energy Minister Traicho Traikov indicate Bulgaria is in no hurry to ratify ACTA:

    Bulgaria’s Economy and Energy Minister Traicho Traikov says Sofia will not ratify the agreement until the EU member states elaborate a joint position on the document.

    Bulgarian authorities have made the decision to halt the already signed agreement after street protests. Thousands marched through the capital Sofia and 16 other cities.

    Apparently, citizen-led public dissent is still an effective method to get your message out. In light of the #Occupy Wall Street movement, who knew? In this day and age of American protesters getting peppered sprayed in the face for peaceful demonstrations, it’s refreshing to see there are still some governments that listen and give credence to the wants and desires of the citizens.

    What a novel concept.

    In order to solidify Bulgaria’s postion in the ACTA fight, Minster Traikov said, “Authors’ copyright should not be placed above human rights.” If he said that in the United States, MPAA CEO Chris Dodd would threaten Traikov with a lack of financial support from the film industry going forward.

    As RT.com indicates, Bulgaria is the sixth EU state to reject ACTA, joining the likes of Germany, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Estonia and Cyprus.

    Lead image courtesy of wait74 over at Flickr.

  • CIA.gov Not Available, Anonymous Takes Credit [Updated]

    Update: CNN is reporting that sites affiliated with Mexico’s mining ministry and the state of Alabama were also taken down. They’re also reporting that the CIA’s site was back up by this morning, but cia.gov is currently down from where we are sitting.

    What you’re seeing is a screenshot of what happens when you try to access the CIA’s website — CIA.gov — as of the time of this posting. As per usual, Anonymous is taking credit for the takedown.

    No, the outage probably won’t last for a long period of time, but even if Anonymous is erroneously taking credit for the site being down, the connection is being interrupted by some entity. As the news of this particular takedown spreads, it will inevitably lead back to the “is Anonymous helping when they do things like this,” and while that’s valid, the ease at which they, or whatever entity they are covering for, accomplishes these takedowns says a great deal.

    For one, these nuisances, even if they are using tools developed by “real hackers,” have a knack for taking down big targets and doing it in a very public manner:

    @YourAnonNews
    Anonymous    CIA TANGO DOWN: https://t.co/b7vU3R1B #Anonymous (via @RT_America) http://t.co/Tl0p1QK0 1 hour ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Furthermore, these takedowns are making an absolute mockery of the security the United States government uses to “protect” their multitude of sites. This isn’t a small, random government department being temporarily removed from the Internet, it’s the CIA, perhaps one of the most infamous, most powerful acronyms in world, especially the one we currently reside in.

    And Anonymous, or whatever group they are covering for/taking credit for, is toying with their secure web presence.

    The only problem is, the CIA has many more resources than these hacker groups do, and if they find out who is responsible, we’ll probably never find out about it, but the world will, in all likelihood, have one less hacker to worry about.

    H/t to Boing Boing for the heads up.

  • The Great Battle of Skyrim: When Video Games, Mods And YouTube Come Together

    There’s no denying the absolute runaway popularity of Bethesda’s Skyrim. A quick Google search of “Game of the Year, 2011” reveals as much, but make no mistake, the popularity of the game is well-earned.

    What makes a great thing even better, however, is when fans offer their take on an already-great intellectual property, much like YouTube user Tyrannicon has provided us. Uploaded on February 7th, the video has already amassed over 700,000 views, thanks in large part to its promotion on sites like Joystiq and to a lesser extent, Reddit.

    As you can see, the video absolutely takes an awesome thing and adds just a touch more “awesome” to it:

    According to the video’s description , the video was made with the following characters:

    Epic machinima battle of 500 Draugr, 200 skeletons, 500 Dwarven Warriors and a dragon using mods and console commands.

    And for all you SOPA/ACTA watchers out there, Tyrannicon even added something of a copyright disclaimer, one that extols the virtues of fair use:

    Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.

    Would that be enough, under a SOPA-controlled Internet, to satiate the copyright enforcers?

  • Megaupload Takedown Didn’t Impact Piracy At All

    Clearly, the lessons that Napster offered about piracy all those years ago have yet to sink in with the authorities that are trying to “clean up” the Internet.

    According to a study conducted by DeepField Networks, as pointed out by BGR.com, while the Megaupload takedown did have an impact on global web traffic, it did little-to-nothing to stem file-sharing traffic, web traffic that’s often looked at as the acts of copyrighted content pirates.

    DeepField’s study is revealing on a number of levels, including explaining the amount of web traffic Megaupload accounted for:

    As the largest file sharing service on the Internet, MegaUpload downloads represented 30-40% of all file sharing. In the space of an hour, Internet traffic globally plummeted by an astounding 2-3%. Press releases heralded a major blow to the theft of intellectual property.

    That being said, whatever chilling effect the Megaupload takedown had was only temporary, if at all:

    The main impact of the MegaUpload takedown?

    Well, file sharing has not gone away. It did not even decrease much in North America.

    Mainly, file sharing became staggeringly less efficient. Instead of terabytes of North America MegaUpload traffic going to US servers, most file sharing traffic now comes from Europe over far more expensive transatlantic links.

    So that’s why Lamar Smith was so adamant about SOPA only targeting foreign sites. Clearly, he knew the Megaupload takedown was coming, and as a result, foreign web entities would fill the hole — almost immediately — that a seized Megaupload left behind.

    DeepField also offers graphics to back up their findings:

    (image)

    (image)

    Of course, as indicated earlier, these are lessons we’ve already learned when Napster was shut down. What happened then continues to be the case, as Napster clones popped up here, there, and everywhere.

    Remember eMule and Kazaa?

    Did the law enforcement agencies — backed by politicians who have been bought and paid for by the entertainment industry — actually think this would stem the piracy tide they are trying so hard to fight? Or was this a case similar to the drug busts of old? Something like what the Christian Science Monitor pointed out while reporting on a drug raid in Mexico:

    Mexico seizes 105 tons of marijuana in Tijuana. Does it matter?

    Considering DeepField’s findings, this kind of headline easily fits the Megaupload takedown and the overall impact it had on file-sharing piracy.

  • Study: Piracy Does Not Harm U.S. Box Office Sales

    Despite the claims of the MPAA and other supporters of SOPA and PIPA, file-sharing does not negatively impact box office sales in the U.S., according to a new study conducted by economists from Wellesley College and the University of Minnesota.

    The focus of the study is on lag times between U.S. release and foreign release. The study found that longer gaps between a movie’s release in America and its release in foreign countries led to increased piracy in those countries, and correspondingly lower box office sales. The study estimates that pre-release piracy impacted foreign box office sales by as much as 7%
    In the U.S., however, box office sales were not impacted by piracy at all. The study concludes that the impact of piracy is driven primarily by the lack of legal availability of content in foreign markets.

    The study was conducted by economists Brett Danaher and Joel Waldfogel. Danaher is an assistant professor of economics at Wellesley College. Waldfogel is a professor of applied economics at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. The paper is currently under peer review preparatory to publication in an academic journal. Here is the abstract:

    Hollywood films are generally released first in the United States and then later abroad, with some variation in lags across films and countries. With the growth in movie piracy since the appearance of BitTorrent in 2003, films have become available through illegal piracy immediately after release in the US, while they are not available for legal viewing abroad until their foreign premieres in each country. We make use of this variation in international release lags to ask whether longer lags – which facilitate more local pre-release piracy – depress theatrical box office receipts, particularly after the widespread adoption of BitTorrent. We find that longer release windows are associated with decreased box office returns, even after controlling for film and country fixed effects. This relationship is much stronger in contexts where piracy is more prevalent: after BitTorrent’s adoption and in heavily-pirated genres. Our findings indicate that, as a lower bound, international box office returns in our sample were at least 7% lower than they would have been in the absence of pre-release piracy. By contrast, we do not see evidence of elevated sales displacement in US box office revenue following the adoption of BitTorrent, and we suggest that delayed legal availability of the content abroad may drive the losses to piracy.

    Some entertainment companies are already becoming aware of the losses caused by delaying international releases. The BBC network in recent years has begun airing some of their most popular shows (e.g., Doctor Who and The Graham Norton Show) on BBC America on the same day that they air in the UK.

  • Germany Delays Signing ACTA

    Germany Delays Signing ACTA

    Have all the anti-ACTA protests started to sway European politicians? Maybe this weekend’s plans for mass protest is what did it, but there does appear to be some headway being made against the overreaching attempts at Internet regulation that have permeated throughout the collective social conscious.

    According to various reports, Germany will not be signing the controversial treaty, at least not anytime soon. Perhaps the Germany is waiting for the EU parliament to issue its vote of consent, but that won’t happen until later this year, sometime in the summer.

    According to a Google translation of an article appearing in Spiegel.de, German government officials offered the following response for their ACTA delay:

    The minister, Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger (FDP), has now made ​​it clear that in Germany first before a decision is to decide the EU Parliament. “It is good that the public debate about ACTA, both on and offline so committed is done,” the justice minister said on Thursday. “The EU must now decide whether it needs ACTA and wants,” said Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger. “This must be approved by the European Parliament only once. All controversial issues are being discussed at European level and must now be answered.”

    While the translation is responsible for the broken English-like response, it appears as if Germany’s government officials won’t act until the controversy surrounding the bill is addressed. Conversely, it also seems as if the German government is waiting on the EU parliament to weigh in before their vote is offered.

    While that may indeed be the case, the fact German officials are acknowledging the controversy surrounding ACTA and other Internet regulatory treaties and laws, which indicates the protests are indeed being noticed. With that in mind, if the following Hatebreed masterpiece isn’t the theme song of the anti-ACTA movement, something needs to change:


    Keep fighting the good fight, you Guy Fawkes-masked groups.

  • Alan Moore Discusses Guy Fawkes Masks, Protests

    If you’ve been following the anti-Internet regulation hubbub, as well as Anonymous’ hijinks, then you’ve undoubtedly noticed the masks many protesters have been wearing, exactly like the lead image suggests.

    While these masks have become incredibly popular because of these protests, and because Anonymous has adopted them as their logo, for those who may not know, the masks were first made popular by Alan Moore and his V for Vendetta comic series. Inspired by the story of Guy Fawkes, the protagonist in “V” also dons the Guy Fawkes mask as part of his ensemble.

    Because of the resurgence in popularity of the masks, the BBC asked Moore to discuss his viewpoint on the use of these masks. Considering his rebellious nature against the establishment, it’s not surprising to see Moore supports seeing the masks he introduced to the public used in such a manner:

    After that, it wasn’t long before the character’s enigmatic Time-Warner trademarked leer appeared masking the faces of Anonymous protesters barracking Scientologists halfway down Tottenham Court Road.

    Shortly thereafter it began manifesting at anti-globalisation demonstrations, anti-capitalist protests, concerted hacker-attacks upon those perceived as enabling state oppression, and finally on the front steps of St Paul’s…

    It also seems that our character’s charismatic grin has provided a ready-made identity for these highly motivated protesters, one embodying resonances of anarchy, romance, and theatre that are clearly well-suited to contemporary activism, from Madrid’s Indignados to the Occupy Wall Street movement.

    Moore also comments on the protests themselves, approving of the nature of these citizens who are eager to speak out against various government positions, and it’s clear he embraces the public’s backlash towards their respective governments:

    Today’s response to similar oppressions seems to be one that is intelligent, constantly evolving and considerably more humane, and yet our character’s borrowed Catholic revolutionary visage and his incongruously Puritan apparel are perhaps a reminder that unjust institutions may always be haunted by volatile 17th century spectres, even if today’s uprisings are fuelled more by social networks than by gunpowder.

    Some ghosts never go away.

    Considering the protests that are scheduled to go on all over Europe on Saturday, expect Moore’s pride in these protesters to grow even further, as masked citizens take the streets to speak out against ACTA, all while securing a modicum of personal privacy.

  • Anti-ACTA Protests Going Worldwide Tomorrow

    While there’s no way of knowing if the upcoming anti-ACTA protests will have the same chilling effect the Internet blackout did on SOPA/PIPA, citizens on a worldwide basis are preparing to speak out against the ACTA treaty.

    Loudly.

    Tomorrow (February 11), is being set aside as a day of global protest against ACTA and perhaps the newest enemy of the Internet, TPP. While these protests are largely focused in Europe, this is not just a problem facing citizens of the European Union. Keep in mind, U.S. citizens, that President Obama has shown outward support for ACTA, even as his cabinet derided SOPA/PIPA.

    Much like the massive anti-SOPA movement, the web, especially social media, is helping facilitate these protests. Over at KillACTA.org, the folks who run FightForTheFuture.org have set up something of a protest meet up utility, complete with a Google Map showing where various protests are occurring.

    There’s also a “Write Your Official” widget, which spells out the anti-ACTA manifesto quite clearly:

    I urge you to vote no on ACTA and to communicate its severe problems to your colleagues. ACTA’s vague language locks us into obsolete copyright and patent laws, preventing democracies from updating their laws to unlock new economic and social opportunities.

    It criminalizes harmless remixes by ordinary users if they achieve “a commercial scale” (art 2.14.1) which many amateur videos do on sites like Youtube. And it criminalizes legitimate websites by making them responsible for user behavior (“aiding and abetting” art 2.14.4).

    Worse, it permanently bypasses the democratic process by empowering the “ACTA Committee” to “propose amendments to [ACTA]” without your approval. (art 6.4) In other words, it’s impossible to know what you’re voting for.

    The global movement against the US law SOPA showed that internet freedom is a crucial issue which belongs in the legislative process of each country. You should view ACTA as an attempt by a handful of companies to circumvent the democratic process, and you should vote against it.

    Thank you. Please reply if you have any questions.

    KillACTA.org also features embeddable widgets for sites that want to join the protest on Saturday. As indicated, the embeddable map shows where the fun will be had, especially if you’re against ACTA:


    As you can see, while there is representation in the United States, it pales in comparison to our European friends. Perhaps the success of the anti-SOPA movement ended the American public’s interest, but as our European counterparts demonstrate, the fight for a properly regulated Internet is still going. It should also be noted that despite being “on the ropes,” SOPA and PIPA are not dead.

    Facebook is also playing a major role in relation to organizing these anti-ACTA protests. Over at the STOP ACTA! page, there is a list of events going on all over Europe, and it’s clear our European Union neighbors, at least the citizens thereof, are not going to simply accept ACTA without a fighting back.

    In Germany and France, for instance, there will be protests in multiple cities:

    FRENCH:
    Aix en Provence : https://www.facebook.com/events/244421288966558/
    Ajaccio : https://www.facebook.com/events/133197000134763/
    Albi : https://www.facebook.com/events/168765856565763/
    Amiens : https://www.facebook.com/events/100287056765109/
    Angers : https://www.facebook.com/events/199634866800799/
    Annecy : http://www.facebook.com/events/257782500958741/
    Avignon : http://www.facebook.com/events/205603019536597/
    Bayonne : https://www.facebook.com/events/170881226348001/
    Besançon : http://www.facebook.com/events/350055058338859/
    Bordeaux : http://www.facebook.com/events/362717853754753/
    Brest : https://www.facebook.com/events/115942121861376/
    Caen : https://www.facebook.com/events/228618757227112/
    Chambery : https://www.facebook.com/events/288493647877788/
    Clermont-Ferrand : http://www.facebook.com/events/326849087360202/
    Corte : https://www.facebook.com/events/185750778193305/
    Dijon : https://www.facebook.com/events/274825002587428/
    Douai : https://www.facebook.com/events/102456923212099/
    Dunkerque : https://www.facebook.com/events/120665031389535/
    Grenoble : https://www.facebook.com/events/291033160951733/
    Limoges : http://www.facebook.com/events/321440564560770/
    Lille : http://www.facebook.com/events/199934440105717/
    Lorient : http://www.facebook.com/events/231912796892759/
    Lyon : https://www.facebook.com/events/227033324049150/
    Marseille : https://www.facebook.com/events/371810592833698/
    Metz : https://www.facebook.com/events/223962574358248/
    Montpellier : https://www.facebook.com/events/308322049214315/
    Nancy : https://www.facebook.com/events/297319746990736/
    Nantes : https://www.facebook.com/events/336368539718367/
    Nevers : http://www.facebook.com/events/257478177653829/
    Nice : http://www.facebook.com/events/226142050807952/
    Nîmes : https://www.facebook.com/events/284365168292336/
    Orléans : https://www.facebook.com/events/144336802350023/
    Paris : https://www.facebook.com/events/261953107207192/
    Perpignan : https://www.facebook.com/events/335195069845376/
    Poitiers : https://www.facebook.com/events/335663953135037/
    Porto-Vecchio : https://www.facebook.com/events/270343909700151/
    Quimper : http://www.facebook.com/events/175748819198384/
    Reims : https://www.facebook.com/events/261712197231360/
    Rennes : https://www.facebook.com/events/284421551613274/
    Saint Brieuc : https://www.facebook.com/events/355899707762027/
    Saint Denis (Ile de la Réunion) : http://www.facebook.com/events/355272381151834/
    Strasbourg : https://www.facebook.com/events/317988148239037/
    Tarbes : https://www.facebook.com/events/336009553098334/
    Toulouse : https://www.facebook.com/events/312007895501972/
    Tours : http://www.facebook.com/events/282746828454027/
    Troyes : http://www.facebook.com/events/322202587818097/

    GERMANY:
    Berlin: https://www.facebook.com/events/338799346153966/
    Bremerhaven: https://www.facebook.com/events/212489055513027/
    Dortmund: https://www.facebook.com/events/292927114099000/
    Dresden: http://www.facebook.com/events/155805177868102/
    Dusseldorf: http://www.facebook.com/events/228942327190942/
    Erfurt – http://www.facebook.com/events/204041156361455/
    Frankfurt/Main: https://www.facebook.com/events/129547730499332/
    Freiburg: https://www.facebook.com/events/313894588647456/
    Hamburg: http://www.facebook.com/events/159557767491881/
    Hanover: https://www.facebook.com/events/360437973983925/
    Köln: https://www.facebook.com/events/207644835998103/
    Leipzig: https://www.facebook.com/events/316277768408479/
    Mainz: http://www.facebook.com/events/169154469860540/
    Mannheim: http://www.facebook.com/events/267555573314186/
    Minden: https://www.facebook.com/events/310027772381359/
    Munich: https://www.facebook.com/events/117215651734097/
    Nordenham: http://www.facebook.com/events/182942588474388/
    Nürnberg: https://www.facebook.com/events/244916202249229/
    Potsdam: https://www.facebook.com/events/350079258349898/
    Regensburg: http://www.akv-r.de/2012/01/30/demoaufruf-acta-ad-acta/
    Saarbruecken: https://www.facebook.com/events/337811569584831/
    Stuttgart: https://www.facebook.com/events/144489442335635/
    Überall : http://www.facebook.com/events/182716005161256/

    The question is, will this anti-ACTA outcry fall on deaf ears? Considering the Polish government have already tried to pacify their citizens with more “ACTA isn’t as bad as you think” dismissives. Of course, if people took the apathetic approach and ignore their right to speak out, there’s no telling what state the Internet would be in. At least these protests bring light to the issue at hand.

  • Now You Can Carry The Pirate Bay In Your Pocket

    Last month we brought you news that controversial torrent hosting site The Pirate Bay was beginning a transition away from .torrent files in order to host Magnet links, which are both harder to block and require less bandwidth and server space than .torrent files.

    In that story it was reported that the switch to Magnet links would allow the entirety of The Pirate Bay to be stored on a USB drive. That has apparently been confirmed. The Pirate Bay user allisfine has posted a link allowing users to download the entire archive of The Pirate Bay’s Magnet links. The entire file, which purports to be every Magnet link The Pirate Bay hosts, is 90 MB. When unzipped, the archive expands to a whopping 164 MB. Which means that all of The Pirate Bay would fit on the smallest, cheapest USB drives available. Each entry in the archive file includes the Magnet link, the size of the file to be downloaded, and the number of seeders and leechers at the time the snapshot was taken.

    This goes to prove how difficult sites like The Pirate Bay are to shut down. While government action like SOPA, PIPA, ACTA, and the shutdown of MegaUpload are designed to curb so-called piracy, those who are intent on sharing copyrighted material have proven themselves extremely capable when it comes to finding a way around measures designed to thwart them. During last month’s SOPA blackout, The Pirate Bay insisted that they would survive any legislative attempts to shut them down. Meanwhile, recent data has shown that the US government takedown of MegaUpload has done nothing to slow the torrent (if you will) of file sharing being done on the web.

    Mirrors of The Pirate Bay are already all over the internet. They allow would-be file sharers living in countries where The Pirate Bay is blocked to continue to access the site. Now that the entire index of The Pirate Bay’s Magnet links can be shown to fit on a small USB drive, we can expect the number of mirrors to increase dramatically, further stymieing government efforts to block the site.

  • Is Harry Reid Slipping SOPA Into A New Cyber-Security Bill?

    Is Harry Reid Slipping SOPA Into A New Cyber-Security Bill?

    While details about a proposed cyber-security bill remain elusive, one frightful speculation seems to be making the rounds lately: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has not abandoned his effort to shackle the Internet.

    After Internet commoners and companies alike pushed back in a determined way last month against the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act, many were content to pat themselves on the back for defeating the bill. The bills, though, while delayed, were not convincingly defeated.

    Harry Reid appears unwilling to let SOPA go quietly into the night. An article published last night on RT reports that Reid may be trying to resurrect SOPA by couching it within a new cyber-security bill. Worse, the new bill would also reawaken the proposed Kill Switch bill from last year. Kill Switch, another Internet-regulating bill that was lobbied by Sen. Joe Lieberman, would instill the White House with the executive power to shut down the Internet in response to a cyber threat. Awesome, right?

    Last month, it was hard to imagine that any legislature could be worse for the Internet than SOPA. Now that Reid may be attempting to include Kill Switch with his renewed efforts to pass the bill, he may officially become the Dr. Frankenstein of monstrous bills that seek to muzzle the Internet.

    Watch this space for updates on what new horrors the Democrats in the Senate attempt to unleash on the Internet.

  • Richard O’Dwyer’s Mom Speaks Out Against US Control of the Internet

    In case you forgot, the story of Richard O’Dwyer fits right into the anti-SOPA/PIPA mood that permeates across the Internet, save for the United States government, of course. O’Dwyer ran a site called TVShack.net which posted links to downloadable copyrighted material, including, as the name suggests, television shows.

    For his actions, O’Dwyer was arrested by British police and was ordered to be extradited to the United States where he’ll face punishment for his site’s existence, even though, as his lawyer pointed out, O’Dwyer did not store the copyrighted content on any of his hard drives. Essentially, the Pirate Bay/we’re just like Google defense was used, which clearly fell on deaf ears. When O’Dwyer’s mother, Julia, learned of the sentence, she called the extradition treaty between the US and the UK “rotten.”

    But the matriarch didn’t stop there. In an interview with the World Socialist Web Site, Julia unloaded on the decision against her son with both barrels, and one of her primary targets was the U.S. government. Any emphasis added is ours:

    WSWS: There is a wider political issue in Richard’s case—and that is the attempts of the US government to clamp down on the freedom of the Internet and bring in new laws like SOPA, PIPA.

    Julia: I don’t know the detail of these laws, but I can see that it’s about America trying to control and police the Internet. Well, it doesn’t belong to them, does it? It’s wrong that America should lay laws down on the Internet for other countries. I don’t think America should rule the world.

    It’s like the case of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. They’re trying to get him, aren’t they? Because he exposed all their corruption and the evil things they were doing. Not just America, different governments. You know, you vote these people into power, and then you don’t really know what they’re getting up to until someone like Assange comes along and tells us their dirty little secrets. I don’t like these oppressive government regimes trying to take over the world, trying to take over the Internet.

    Would a “here, here” be overplaying my hand?

    Julia also points out that the extradition treaty between the two countries may have been improperly applied to her son:

    WSWS: Richard has never broken any law in this country? [the UK]

    Julia: We have been led to understand that it’s not a crime in this country. To be extradited to America, the offence has to be a crime in both countries. When they ask for your extradition, they say, “What’s the equivalent charge in the UK?” So they’ll just write copyright infringement.

    We have to prove what he did is not a crime in this country. The problem is the judges in the extradition court—they are not interested. Consequently, we lost that first fight at court. Richard’s barrister made the legal arguments in November, and the judge said, “You’ve got a good strong argument.” So did the prosecutor for the Americans. Then two hearings later, the judge tossed all that out of the window.

    Is this how the United States loses its postion as a world power? When the rest of the world revolts against US-led regulations that gut the Internet while making citizens of other countries criminals in the United States?

    If so, expect Julia O’Dwyer to be up in front.

  • SOPA and PIPA Are Not Quite Dead Yet

    While some may view the shelving of the infamous piracy bills as the death of both SOPA and PIPA, both bills remain alive with active supporters in both houses of the U.S. government. This means the bills are not dead at all. Dormant is perhaps a better descriptor, but make no mistake, the anti-piracy bills have not been buried and forgotten.

    As pointed out by TechDirt, Govtrack.us shows that, despite the incredible backlash both bills received, those that want to regulate the Internet with an ironclad fist have kept the bills on life support. Perhaps they are waiting for Americans to move to another trending topic before SOPA and PIPA “miraculously” return. Whatever the case, the opposition to a free and open Internet still exists, and with sufficient numbers, too.

    The remaining SOPA supporters, courtesy of Govtrack:

    Mark Amodei [R-NV2]
    Joe Baca [D-CA43]
    John Barrow [D-GA12]
    Karen Bass [D-CA33]
    Howard Berman [D-CA28]
    Marsha Blackburn [R-TN7]
    Mary Bono Mack [R-CA45]
    Steven Chabot [R-OH1]
    Judy Chu [D-CA32]
    John Conyers [D-MI14]
    Jim Cooper [D-TN5]
    Ted Deutch [D-FL19]
    Elton Gallegly [R-CA24]
    Robert Goodlatte [R-VA6]
    Peter King [R-NY3]
    John Larson [D-CT1]
    Thomas Marino [R-PA10]
    Alan Nunnelee [R-MS1]
    William Owens [D-NY23]
    Adam Schiff [D-CA29]
    Brad Sherman [D-CA27]
    Debbie Wasserman Schultz [D-FL20]
    Melvin Watt [D-NC12]

    Support for PIPA, the Senate version of SOPA, still has a heartbeat as well:

    Lamar Alexander [R-TN]
    Jeff Bingaman [D-NM]
    Richard Blumenthal [D-CT]
    Barbara Boxer [D-CA]
    Sherrod Brown [D-OH]
    Benjamin Cardin [D-MD]
    Robert Casey [D-PA]
    Thad Cochran [R-MS]
    Chris Coons [D-DE]
    Bob Corker [R-TN]
    Richard Durbin [D-IL]
    Michael Enzi [R-WY]
    Dianne Feinstein [D-CA]
    Al Franken [D-MN]
    Kirsten Gillibrand [D-NY]
    Lindsey Graham [R-SC]
    Charles Grassley [R-IA]
    Kay Hagan [D-NC]
    John Isakson [R-GA]
    Tim Johnson [D-SD]
    Amy Klobuchar [D-MN]
    Herbert Kohl [D-WI]
    Mary Landrieu [D-LA]
    Joseph Lieberman [I-CT]
    John McCain [R-AZ]
    Robert Menéndez [D-NJ]
    Bill Nelson [D-FL]
    Charles Schumer [D-NY]
    Jeanne Shaheen [D-NH]
    Tom Udall [D-NM]
    Sheldon Whitehouse [D-RI]

    Perhaps the most unfortunate discovery is seeing Al Franken’s name on the PIPA supporters list. Considering his personal crusade concerning location privacy in relation to mobile phones and their carriers, the fact that he supports such potentially destructive legislation is disappointing; but then again, Franken did get his start in show business, so perhaps he’s just supporting the industry that made him famous.

    Whatever happens to these pieces of legislation, it’s clear it’s going to take more than an Internet blackout to hold the attention of those officials who believe a regulated Internet is the only way to protect the future of the entertainment industry.

  • Tribler Aims To Circumvent Anti-Piracy Efforts

    The ongoing battle over legislation like SOPA, PIPA, and ACTA has focused on blocking access to sites like The Pirate Bay and others that provide centralized access to torrent files for users who want to download content. In the midst of all this sturm und drang, however, the makers of one torrent client have been quietly working to make such torrent discovery sites obsolete.

    Tribler is a torrent client that’s been around awhile – it’s currently up to version 5.5. Unlike other clients that require you to obtain .torrent files from the internet and then use the torrent client to open them, Tribler operates on a purely peer-to-peer basis. That is, instead of searching The Pirate Bay, IsoHunt, BTJunkie, or one of the other myriad torrent sites, Tribler’s search box brings you results taken directly from peers who have the files you’re looking for available to download. That means that search for and downloading a torrent file is completely decentralized. That in turn means no domains to seize and no websites to shut down, which makes laws like SOPA, PIPA, and ACTA even less likely to have any real impact on piracy than they already were.

    Tribler is open source, and is available for Mac, Windows, and Linux.

    [Hat Tip: TorrentFreak]