Grooveshark Shuts Down & Apologizes to the RIAA

Owned and operated by Florida and New York based Escape Media, Grooveshark has been a fly in the recording industry’s ointment for almost a decade.

Founded in 2006, the company had an abrasive relationship with the world’s largest record labels, one that led it into legal conflict on a number of occasions.

Nevertheless, Grooveshark built an extremely popular product. With a reported 35 million users per month (Spotify has around 60 million), the company attracted high-profile advertisers including Mercedes Benz. It also managed to pull of limited licensing deals with big labels.

But for some time the writing has been on the wall. With a defense under the DMCA in tatters (it was revealed the site’s founders and staff had uploaded copyrighted music to the site themselves), a case brought by the major labels (UMG Recording Inc et al v. Escape Media Group Inc et al) was bound to come to a sad end this week.

With $736 million in potential damages floating around on the horizon, the conclusion was never likely to be good. And, as expected, a few hours ago the upstart music venture delivered the bad news.

“Today we are shutting down Grooveshark,” the company announced.

“We started out nearly ten years ago with the goal of helping fans share and discover music. But despite best of intentions, we made very serious mistakes. We failed to secure licenses from rights holders for the vast amount of music on the service.

“That was wrong. We apologize. Without reservation,” the company said.

Revealing a consent judgment arrangement with the RIAA, Grooveshark confirmed what many observers had feared. There would be no chance of a resurrection.

“As part of a settlement agreement with the major record companies, we have agreed to cease operations immediately, wipe clean all of the record companies’ copyrighted works and hand over ownership of this website, our mobile apps and intellectual property, including our patents and copyrights,” Grooveshark said.

The statement represents a huge change in attitude from a company that built its business on perceived protections offered by the Digital Millenium Copyright Act. But in the end, however, the legislation offered no safe harbor.

Instead, and probably through gritted teeth, Grooveshark’s farewell notes that although it was indeed a pioneer in an under-served market, obtaining permission from the labels (rather than forgiveness) is the right way to approach the market.

“At the time of our launch, few music services provided the experience we wanted to offer – and think you deserve. Fortunately, that’s not longer the case. There are now hundreds of fan friendly, affordable services available for you to choose from, including Spotify, Deezer, Google Play, Beats Music, Rhapsody and Rdio, among many others,” the company said.

“If you love music and respect the artists, songwriters and everyone else who makes great music possible, use a licensed service that compensates artists and other rights holders. You can find out more about the many great services available where you live here: http://ift.tt/1GB1P8N;

Although short, the RIAA’s statement gets straight to the point.

“Escape Media today entered into a consent judgment with a permanent injunction with Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group.

“Under terms of the settlement, Grooveshark founders Josh Greenberg and Sam Tarantino admit to creating and operating an infringing music service and Escape Media agrees to significant financial penalties if the terms of the settlement are not followed,” the RIAA said.

“This is an important victory for artists and the entire music industry. For too long, Grooveshark built its business without properly compensating the artists, songwriters and everyone else who makes great music possible. This settlement ends a major source of infringing activity,” the RIAA said.

For Grooveshark the show is certainly over and in final words to its loyal fans, the company thanked them for their commitment.

“It has been a privilege getting to know so many of you and enjoying music together. Thank you for being such passionate fans. Yours in music, Your friends at Grooveshark April 30, 2015.”

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

XE Market Analysis: Europe - May 01, 2015

EUR-USD extended to a new two-month peak of 1.1266 in New York PM trade before settling to narrow range trading near 1.1200. EUR-JPY and other euro crosses have seen a similar price action, while the dollar itself has managed to recover some recently lost ground against other currencies following perky U.S. data on Thursday. USD-JPY recovered from its foray to the mid-18s and is back in familiar territory in the mid-119s. Cable saw quite a sharp correction to the low 1.53s after peaking at 1.5498 on Wednesday. This occurred as EUR-GBP stormed to three-week highs on Thursday.

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XE Market Analysis: Asia - Apr 30, 2015

The dollar rallied early in the session, following a 15-year low initial jobless claims print, and an uptick in ECI. After peaking at 1.1250 in London, EUR-USD slipped to 1.1117 lows following the data. As Wall Street faltered however, the euro made its way back over 1.1200. USD-JPY meanwhile, rallied to 119.89 highs, after finding support into 118.50 overnight. This level has marked the low for the past month. USD-CAD found buyer into the 1.200 mark, before rallying over 1.2130 on initially weaker oil and gold prices.

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Movie Studios Give ‘Pirate’ Sites a 24h Shutdown Ultimatum

In recent years Hollywood has tried several tactics to deal with so-called pirate sites.

Through lawsuits against isoHunt, Hotfile and Megaupload, for example, or by targeting intermediaries such as search engines, Internet providers and hosting companies.

The most direct option, however, is to simply contact the site owners directly. This is what the MPAA’s European branch has been doing lately.

During recent weeks various sources have informed TorrentFreak about emails received from Jan van Voorn, the MPA’s Vice-President Global Content Protection, Internet Operations. The emails all use standardized language and have been sent to a wide variety of services ranging from some of the biggest torrent indexes, to linking sites and hosting services.

The MPA mail puts the site operators on notice and alerts them to European jurisprudence under which they may be held liable for linking to pirated movies and TV-shows.

“Without prejudice to our contention that you are already well aware of the extensive infringements of copyright, this Notice fixes you with actual knowledge of facts and circumstances from which illegal activities […] are apparent,” Van Voorn writes.

Among other things the email mentions that Article 14 of the E-Commerce Directive requires sites to stop offering infringing material. In addition, the Hollywood group cites other recent cases supporting their claim.

Without making a specific threat, the MPA demands that site operators stop offering infringing material within 24 hours.

“This Notice requires you to immediately (within 24 hours) take effective measures to end and prevent further copyright infringement. All opportunities provided by the Website to download, stream or otherwise obtain access to the Entertainment Content should be disabled permanently,” the email reads.

Interestingly, the movie studios are not just worried about pirated films. Towards the end of the email they also point out that some sites are using movie posters without permission.

“Finally, we draw your attention that any use of the artwork of the Entertainment Content (e.g. movie or TV show posters) (‘Artwork’) is prohibited without authorization of the rights holder. Since the MPA Members haven’t authorized the Website to publish the Artwork, the Website is infringing copyright on that basis as well,” Van Voorn writes.

For now the threats haven’t made too much of an impact. Only one site that we know of has shut down after receiving the email recently, and that’s the relatively unknown link site micromkv.com.

TF contacted the movie industry group for more details on the efficiency of the campaign. The MPA didn’t provide any details but informed us that the emails are standard notices sent to websites that carry infringing content.

“These notices ask respectfully that effective measures be taken to stop further infringement,” an MPA spokesperson says.

“This activity is part of the MPA’s ongoing strategy to curb copyright infringement, encourage consumers to use legal sources of content and increase the viability and quality of those services that actually pay creators for their work.”

It remains unclear whether the MPA will take legal action against the warned sites, or if the group will focus its anti-piracy efforts elsewhere.

—

One of MPA’s emails is posted in full below.

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

Russia Continues To Deteriorate

     Russia has been suffering for the last year.  Their problems began after the West imposed sanctions in response to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.  This cut Russian business off from much-needed financing.  The next economic shoe to drop came from low oil prices.  This was especially painful because oil accounts for 50% of Russia’s exports and government revenues.  These two events led to a sharp decline in the ruble; at its worst level over the last year it lost half its value versus the dollar.  In mid-December, to defend its currency, the

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XE Market Analysis: North America - Apr 30, 2015

The EUR-USD surge continued, though this time gains were driven by across-the-board euro advances, while the dollar itself managed to perk up against some currencies, including sterling, the yen and dollar bloc units. The euro stormed to a new two-month high of 1.1249, buoyed by an above-forecast Spanish GDP number and growing weight to market narrative that the ECB may be obliged to taper its QE program at some point. The euro gained strongly against other currencies. EUR-JPY surged to two-month high of 133.72 and EUR-GBP to a 17-day peak of 0.7267.

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Historic Pirate Bay Domain Decision Will Arrive Early May

A small Scandinavian country in Northern Europe, Sweden has become a key battleground for international copyright holders looking to stamp their authority on millions of BitTorrent users. Attacking the sites they populate is a key strategy and above all others the destruction of The Pirate Bay is paramount.

Born and developed in Sweden, the now notorious site is no longer the most popular in the world (that crown is currently worn by KickassTorrents) but its profile ensures it remains a target with massive propaganda value. When The Pirate Bay is crushed a corner will have been turned, Hollywood and the record labels believe.

Over the years the site has been squeezed out of Sweden, and Sweden has been squeezed out of the site. Numerous court orders and raids have ended its physical presence in the country and its Swedish management have long since gone.

Indeed, as far as its operations at this moment are concerned, the only big connection the site has with Sweden is its domain name – ThePirateBay.se – and authorities are now doing whatever they can to break that most visible link.

ThePirateBay.se (the site’s main domain) and PirateBay.se (a lesser used alternative) are being targeted by Prosecutor Fredrik Ingblad, the man behind the operation that took the site down in December. Filed back in 2013 at the District Court of Stockholm, the motion targets Punkt SE, the organization responsible for Sweden’s top level .SE domain.

This week the parties met in the Stockholm District Court, each putting forward their side of the argument. Ingblad didn’t respond to TorrentFreak’s offer to contribute to this article, but we know that he believes that Pirate Bay domains are criminal tools that enable copyright infringement, tools that should be confiscated by the state.

Punkt SE, on the other hand, maintains that holding a registry responsible for infringement has no basis in law. Furthermore, disabling domains is an ineffective way to deal with infringement.

“We believe it is wrong to pursue legal action against a top-level administrator like .SE to take away a service from the internet,” Punkt SE’s Maria Ekelund informs TF.

“To confiscate a domain name is ineffective and disproportionate to achieve the impact of the earlier judgment, that is, to suspend access to the service itself.”

In 2009, Swedish ISP Black Internet was ordered to stop providing Internet access to The Pirate Bay. The ISP initially declined to appeal the ruling but appeared to change its mind after its infrastructure was subjected to a huge cyber-attack.

While the appeal was granted, the ISP failed to have the original decision overturned and subsequently blocked all traffic into and out of the IP addresses used by The Pirate Bay. For The Pirate Bay, the dream of trouble-free hosting in Sweden was largely over.

But still, the site has found a way to stay online, no matter where in the world it has thrown anchor. Punkt SE believes that taking away Pirate Bay’s domain will do little to change that.

“To remove a domain name can be likened to taking away a sign that shows the address to a store operating illegally. Just because the sign disappears, does not mean the business disappears,” Ekelund adds.

“However, we think it is good that the issue should be examined because the legal situation is unclear. This case differs from previous cases because it is not only directed against the holder, but also directly against .SE.”

So now the waiting begins. In less than two weeks the Stockholm District Court will hand down its decision. Victory for Punkt will underpin the registry’s stance on limited liability and will buy The Pirate Bay more time. A win for the prosecutor will deliver a fairly serious blow to the site and draw a line in the sand for others looking to embark on similar adventures.

But, perhaps more importantly, in the event the Court sides with the prosecution, Sweden will at last rid itself of the site that put the country in the crosshairs of the United States. No longer serviced from Swedish soil, with hardware or domain names, The Pirate Bay will be cut adrift to float at sea.

Where will it dock next? That will remain a secret, at least for now.

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

XE Market Analysis: Europe - Apr 30, 2015

EUR-USD drifted back under 1.1100 after yesterday's big rally to 1.1188, which is the highest level seen since Mar-3. The rally smashed through a number of previous daily highs seen through Mar-18 and Apr-6 between 1.1014 and 1.1052, which now revert as support levels. Sub-expectations U.S. GDP and a dovish spin from the Fed drove the dollar lower, with markets now looking September as the earliest date for a policy tightening as such as move by June now looks off the cards.

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XE Market Analysis: Asia - Apr 29, 2015

The dollar plunged through the morning session, after much weaker Q1 GDP data dented sentiment, doubly so ahead of an FOMX announcement that was already expected to lean on the dovish side. EUR-USD opened just under 1.1000, and make its way to 1.1188 highs ahead of the Fed. The pairing eased back slightly ahead of the 14:00 EDT statement release, before falling back on the Fed's downgraded economic outlook, and on general profit taking. The greenback moved lower against the other majors through the morning, taking USD-JPY to 118.61 lows.

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Showtime and HBO Sue Over ‘Pre-Piracy’

HBO and Showtime are no stranger to online piracy. Their TV-shows are pirated millions of times each month.

Nevertheless, both companies are not known for suing pirates or website owners, until now.

Yesterday the two companies filed a complaint at a federal court in Florida targeting the websites boxinghd.net and sportship.org. Both are accused of planning to stream the upcoming Mayweather v Pacquiao fight.

In a unique pre-piracy case, the companies accuse the sites’ owners of various copyright related offenses of an event that has yet to take place.

The suing parties have invested many millions of dollars which they hope to earn back in part through pay-per-view sales. But instead of the $89 to $100 people in the U.S. have to pay, both sites promise free access.

“There are no authorized online streams of the Coverage for delivery to United States audiences,” the complaint clarifies, adding that the defendants “are seeking to benefit from this high profile, live Fight by infringing the rights of Plaintiffs.”

The site’s owners would then profit from these free streams though various advertisements. The example below includes a screenshot of the boxinghd.net site, which has since been removed.

HBO and Showtime argue that the anticipated stream of the fight will infringe on their rights and cause irreparable damage.

To stop the sites’ operators from linking to streams of the event the companies have asked the court for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction. In addition, HBO and Showtime demand damages to compensate for the expected losses.

The lawsuit has already had some effect as boxinghd.net has thrown in the towel and is no longer advertising the fight. Time will tell whether sportship.org will be knocked down too.

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

US Q1 GDP: poor, as expected, with silver linings

First quarter GDP was poor, but at least remained positive.  This was no surprise, as readers of my Weekly Indicators columns know.  Weekly measures of rail transport, steel production, and some shipping measures were all poor, in addition to consumer spending, for virtually the entire first quarter.  This showed up in monthly measures of industrial production and retail sales.  This is also vindication for the Atlanta Fed's "GDPNow" calculator, which as of now was right on target.

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TV Show ‘Empire’ a UK Hit Thanks to Pirates, Star Says

Following its debut in the United States in January, TV show Empire certainly made its mark on its home audience. Pulling in close to a season average of 13 million viewers, the hip-hop focused drama exceeded expectations.

Indeed, by the time the first season finished on Fox mid March, 23 million were tuning in, with the New York Times describing the show as both “sizzling” and “pretty perfect.”

Of course, like the vast majority of U.S. productions, home audiences were always going to get the opportunity to enjoy Empire first. However, thanks to the Internet and a network of unofficial online distributors, Empire was soon being exposed to a much wider audience.

Within hours of its premiere January 7, 2015, Empire S01E01 was circulating on torrent and streaming sites, an attractive proposition for potential viewers elsewhere who had heard about the show’s popularity in the United States yet had no legitimate way to get in on the action.

According to stats gathered by TorrentFreak, on average the show was being downloaded more than 250,000 times per episode via BitTorrent, a number that doesn’t include many thousands of additional views on various streaming sites worldwide.

But while distributor 20th Century Fox wasn’t particularly keen on Empire being seen outside the United States (the company sent dozens of complaints to Google for the show to be delisted from search results), Empire star Taraji P Henson sees things quite differently.

“The only way that it [Empire] got over to the UK is because people were streaming it [illegally]. They [UK television companies] wouldn’t have known the show was that important, or that people wanted to see it, if they weren’t streaming it,” Henson told the BBC.

The actress, who plays the role of ‘Cookie’ in the show, echoes the position of Netflix, which notes the popularity of content with pirates and uses that as an indicator of whether it should invest in shows.

“You guys were streaming, and I know it’s a bad thing, but when the material is good people will find it. Thank you. Thank you everybody. People didn’t think it would do well over here,” Henson added.

After its success in the U.S., Empire was picked up by UK TV channel E4. Nick Lee, a buyer for the channel, didn’t reveal whether the show’s piracy ‘successes’ were a factor in snapping up the drama but did note that there was plenty of interest.

“We just think it fits so well on the channel,” he said. “There was huge competition. I think most channels in the UK wanted it.

And after Empire enjoyed its premiere in the UK last night, it became clear why. The show was well received by critics and fans alike.

Downloads of Empire are now at much more modest levels than they were in January but that situation should change when the show’s second season premieres in the United States during the fall. A US-UK simultaneous release will almost certainly be too much to ask.

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

XE Market Analysis: North America - Apr 29, 2015

EUR-USD pushed above 1.1000 amid a general bid in the euro. EUR-JPY extended higher into three-week territory, and EUR-CHF pushed its head above 1.0500. 'Greeoptimism' (new look negotiating team, ECB lifting of ELA), data showing Eurozone bank lending picking up, firm German manufacturing orders and state inflation data, and positioning into the FOMC, were all at play. Sterling tagged along the euro's ride higher, with Cable trading above 1.5400 for the first time since Mar-2, and GBP-JPY foraying further into eight-week high ground.

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Music Industry ‘Shuts Down’ Top Torrent Trackers

OpenBitTorrent, PublicBT and Istole.it have long been the three largest BitTorrent trackers on the Internet, coordinating the downloads of 30 million people at any given point in time.

This means that these non-commercial services, powered by the open source Opentracker software, handled a staggering three billion connections per day – each.

We say handled, because the trackers have been offline since mid-January. The trio mysteriously disappeared and as a result of a court ruling in Germany they’re not coming back either. At least not at their German hosting provider.

Earlier this week a Hamburg court ordered a local hosting company to stop servicing the three trackers. In addition, the company has to hand over the personal details of the operators.

The ruling follows a complaint from the music industry group BVMI and is the first against so-called standalone BitTorrent trackers. These trackers do not host or process any infringing material themselves and are a content neutral part of the BitTorrent ecosystem.

According to BVMI CEO Florian Drücke the music industry has recently expanded its focus beyond traditional torrent sites such as The Pirate Bay, to include these standalone trackers.

“Without the Tracker, it will be much more difficult for those who offer and seek illegal content to make the first connection,” Drücke says.

The downside, however, is that legal torrents also use these trackers to coordinate connections.

According to Christian Solmecke, a German IT lawyer who has experience with file-sharing cases, the verdict comes a a surprise.

“The court ruling amazes me. Apparently the court assumes that BitTorrent trackers are by definition something illegal. This is not the case,” he says.

The lawyer doesn’t deny that the trackers play a role in both legal and illegal transfers, but they are content neutral and merely passing on metadata, similar to a DNS provider.

“By the same argument these BitTorrent trackers are switched off you might ultimately forbid an ISP to continue to provide Internet access to end users, if copyright violations are committed,” Solmecke adds.

While the three targeted trackers have been offline for months already, the ruling means that these type of services had better avoid Germany as their home base in future.

“Apparently, the music industry sees the entire BitTorrent network as ‘evil’,” Solmecke concludes.

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

XE Market Analysis: Europe - Apr 29, 2015

EUR-USD extended to a three-week peak of 1.0991 during the late NY session yesterday, and has since consolidated in an narrow ranged just off here. News earlier in the week that Athens has revamped its negotiating team has supported the euro. Good demand has been seen in EUR-JPY, too, which logged a three-week peak yesterday. EUR-CHF has also sprung higher, to the 1.0500 area. Elsewhere, USD-JPY edged out a nine-day low at 118.75. Declines from levels above 120.00 over the last week reflect broader dollar weakness for the most part.

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XE Market Analysis: Asia - Apr 28, 2015

The dollar fell early in N.Y. trade on Tuesday, as more weak U.S. data drove the point home ahead of Wednesday's FOMC announcement, that the Fed may well be on hold through the remainder of the year. Consumer confidence took a hit in April, largely due to the rebound in gasoline prices, and a messy geopolitical backdrop. The markets will still need to contend with Q1 GDP data on Wednesday ahead of the Fed, where forecasts have been downgraded over the past several weeks. EUR-USD bounced to 1.0990 highs, from lows near 1.0920, as USD-JPY settled in under the 119.00 level.

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Demonoid Blocks Adblock Users – Fair or Fail?

There’s no such thing as a free lunch, or the so the saying goes. Nevertheless, every day millions of people use online services such as Google without paying a penny. It’s a situation the Internet generation has become very accustomed to.

For millions of BitTorrent users, things move to the next level. After using any of the thousands of available torrent sites for free, content such as music, movies, TV shows, software and games flood into homes around the world, without cash directly forming part of any transaction.

Of course, none of these mechanisms are truly free and for most public torrent sites it is advertising that provides the fuel to keep things running smoothly. While torrent site users don’t usually pay for access directly, by being a viewer of torrent site advertising and therefore a potential consumer, a convenient business arrangement allows ‘free’ access to ‘free’ content.

Unless you’re a user of the semi-private tracker Demonoid, that is.

In recent days Demonoid, once one of the most popular sites on the Internet, implemented new terms of access. If users don’t wish to contribute to revenue streams by viewing embedded advertising, they are now completely barred from the site.

Disabling the popular Ad-Block browser plug-in does re-enable access to Demonoid but of course with that comes the reappearance of sometimes intrusive advertising, something which users of Ad-Block wish to avoid.

Aside from familiar ‘fake’ buttons emblazoned with the words “Play” and “Download”, a strip of gaming focused ads adorn the site’s main page. While these aren’t too bad, annoying and rotating full-screen pop-under ads also make an appearance.

For Demonoid and the majority of other similar sites, having users view ads is a vital part of site operations. Even if there is no intention to turn a profit, servers and other infrastructure still has to paid for and advertising is the number one way to make that happen. Just lately, however, even that hasn’t been as easy as it once was.

There is a concerted effort around the world to stop major brands from advertising on so-called ‘pirate’ sites, so the pool of agencies willing to place ads on sites like Demonoid is dwindling. Solutions are still being found (Demonoid ads include well-known gaming outfits and large betting companies) but with site blocking around Europe and measures by Google to downrank sites, overall traffic is dwindling.

With reduced traffic comes reduced revenue, a situation that may have prompted Demonoid to introduce its “No Ad-Block” policy in order to maximize returns, but even that has its unintended side effects.

One of the pages that doesn’t carry ads is the “upload page” where Demonoid users can upload content to the site – content that arguably keeps the site going more than the ads do. Whether that’s intentional is unknown, but at least one user with 500 plus torrents to his name tells TF that he won’t be using the site or seeding while the Ad-Block policy is in place.

“Some of us support the site by uploading content. Now I haven’t uploaded in a while, but I still support some 535 of my past Demonoid lossless torrents with a fast connection. Torrents I uploaded some three to six years ago,” the user says.

“For now I think I will boycott the site. The few lossless people that post only on Demonoid aren’t posting right now. So I can get content from KickAss.”

Of course, there is another large can of worms to be opened. By blocking non-contributing users because they aren’t ‘paying’ for content, some might argue that Demonoid is submitting to similar methods currently employed by the studios and labels when they apply for ISP site blocking injunctions.

In both cases perceived content free-loaders are being barred from the system. Granted, both can overcome blocks relatively easily, but it’s nevertheless interesting how torrent sites and their arch enemies feel compelled to take similar steps to protect revenues when the going gets tough.

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

XE Market Analysis: North America - Apr 28, 2015

The euro remained well bid following news yesterday that Athens had chopped Finance Minister Varoufakis from the negotiating team. The dollar's yield advantage over the euro has also narrowed, too, albeit moderately, over the last couple of trading days, shrinking to the 175-76 bp area from around 180 bp at the 10-year T-note over Bund comparison. EUR-USD hit a new three-week high at 1.0931, surpassing yesterday's peak by four pips. Euro crosses also advanced, even EUR-CHF which sprung to a one-month peak at 1.0475.

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XE Market Analysis: Europe - Apr 28, 2015

The euro continues to ebb and flow in sympathy with the ebb and flow of Greek exit concerns, rising in the latest phase on news that Athens has revamped its negotiating team. The dollar's yield advantage over the euro has also narrowed, albeit moderately, over the last couple of trading days, shrinking to the 175-76 bp area from around 180 bp at the 10-year T-note over Bund comparison. EUR-USD logged a three-week high at 1.0926 yesterday, breaching the 50-day moving average on route, which is currently sitting at 1.0887.

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XE Market Analysis: Asia - Apr 27, 2015

The dollar was broadly lower to start the N.Y. week, likely as the market prices in a pushed back FOMC rate lift-off. While few expect a rate hike at the next meeting in June, due to recently soft U.S. data, there has been growing expectations for a Autumn, or even a 2016 start to normalizing rates. As a result, dollar sellers stepped up today, looking for a more dovish Fed outlook. EUR-USD cleared 1.0900 to post three-week highs of 1.0926. as USD-JPY briefly at least, gave up the 119 handle.

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Police Arrest Potential Mayweather / Pacquiao Pirate

The highly anticipated Mayweather / Pacquiao fight later this week is destined to become the most pirated live sports event in history.

Hundreds of thousands, if not millions of fans, will tune into various pirated streams to avoid paying for the “fight of the century.”

This prospect has many rightsholders worried. Sports streaming sites can expect an avalanche of takedown notices as soon as the broadcast starts, but TV outfit ABS-CBN is also taking a more proactive stance.

The company filed a complaint with the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG) which led to the arrest of Jonathan Dela Cruz, an IT professor at a local university.

The professor, described as one of the most wanted movie and TV pirates, is the alleged operator of pinoy-tv-replay.com.

In addition to triggering the local investigation, ABS-CBN filed a lawsuit at a federal court in the United States (pdf). In the complaint the company mentions various trademark and copyright infringements as well as Dela Cruz’s plan to stream the Mayweather / Pacquiao fight.

“Defendant Dela Cruz’s pinoy-tv-replay.com website also promises to offer a live stream channel of the upcoming Floyd Mayweather v. Manny Pacquiao boxing match, which will be offered by ABS-CBN and other legitimate entertainment companies through various platforms,” ABS-CBN writes.

The TV company added a screencap of the advertisement for the unofficial broadcast which Dela Cruz allegedly used to lure in visitors.

To stop any further infringements ABS-CBN asked the Florida court for a temporary restraining order, which was granted a few days ago.

Dela Cruz is now forbidden from operating any site that infringes ABS-CBN’s rights and the TV-company also gets control over his domain name. In addition, the professor faces millions of dollars in damages.

At the time of writing pinoy-tv-replay.com is not responding, although a cached version is still available through CloudFlare’s “Always Online” service.

ABS-CBN’s Elisha Lawrence is happy that the “pirate” has been taken off the streets and encourages the public to avoid sketchy websites that offer free streams.

“We are enforcing against these sites to protect our viewers. But in the meantime as we go after each and every one of these sites, protect yourself and your family and stay away from free sites and free streaming sites. Don’t pay the high price for free,” Lawrence said.

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

XE Market Analysis: North America - Apr 27, 2015

The euro gave back of last week's gains as Greek concerns flowed after last week's ebb. EUR-USD dipped to a low of 1.0821 from the upper 1.08s. EUR-JPY and other euro crosses came under moderate pressure, too. Sterling has been in correction mode after Friday's strong rally against the dollar to an eight-week high at 1.5188. The pair has drifted to a low of 1.5122 so far.

[EUR, USD]

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Grooveshark Faces $736 Million in Copyright Damages

Streaming music service Grooveshark has been through some turbulent times in its relatively short history, but events this week could determine the company’s future.

The dispute with the world’s largest recording labels in UMG Recording Inc et al v. Escape Media Group Inc et al is without doubt Grooveshark parent company Escape Media’s biggest challenge yet. At its heart is a copyright infringement claim that could run into hundreds of millions of dollars.

While the suit itself is complex, at its core is the complaint that Grooveshark co-founders and employees historically uploaded more than 150,000 infringing tracks to Grooveshark in order to increase its popularity.

“Please share as much music as possible from outside the office, and leave your computers on whenever you can,” wrote co-founder Josh Greenberg in an email to staff. “This initial content is what will help to get our network started—it’s very important that we all help out!”

As a result, last September U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Griesa ruled that the company’s two co-founders were directly and secondarily liable for infringing the copyrights of nine large recording labels.

Ahead of the trial which is due to begin today in the Federal Courthouse, New York, Judge Thomas P. Griesa delivered yet another blow to Grooveshark parent company Escape Media.

Noting that the case now involves ‘just’ 4,907 recordings (2,963 tracks plus 1,944 “employee uploads”) Judge Griesa said that the label plaintiffs have chosen to pursue statutory damages, meaning that if infringements are found to be “willful”, Grooveshark could be on the hook for $150,000 per track.

In the event the ruling notes that the court has already determined that Grooveshark acted both “willfully” and “in bad faith” although some defense will be allowed.

“Defendants may present proof as to the degree and extent of their willfulness or bad faith,” the Judge writes.

Among other things, Escape will argue that between 2007 and 2009 it showed good faith by approaching a number of the record company plaintiffs in an attempt to negotiate licensing deals.

“[The] court will permit defendants to present evidence at trial concerning the general factual background – but not the substantive financial terms – of the
parties’ negotiations for future licensing. Such evidence or argument must be tethered to defendants’ state of mind or conduct in infringing the Works in Suit,” Judge Griesa adds.

If the jury doesn’t buy the arguments of Escape / Grooveshark and decides it appropriate to award the top rate, Escape Media could be forced to pay in excess of $736 million in damages. The jury could also award much less, but it’s difficult to envision an affordable outcome to the case for the streaming music service.

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

Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week – 04/27/15

This week we have five newcomers in our chart.

Jupiter Ascending is the most downloaded movie.

The data for our weekly download chart is estimated by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only. All the movies in the list are BD/DVDrips unless stated otherwise.

RSS feed for the weekly movie download chart.

Ranking	(last week)	Movie	IMDb Rating / Trailer
torrentfreak.com
1	(…)	Jupiter Ascending	5.8 / trailer
2	(1)	Furious 7 (CAM/TS/R6)	8.8 / trailer
3	(…)	Fifty Shades of Grey	4.2 / trailer
4	(2)	Interstellar	8.8 / trailer
5	(…)	The Cobbler	5.8 / trailer
6	(…)	Avengers: Age of Ultron (CAM)	8.3 / trailer
7	(3)	Taken 3	6.1 / trailer
8	(6)	The Gambler	6.1 / trailer
9	(…)	Superfast!	3.9 / trailer
10	(4)	The Boy Next Door	4.4 / trailer

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

XE Market Analysis: Europe - Apr 27, 2015

Market conditions were pretty subdued in pre-European trade in Asia. EUR-USD settled in the mid-to-upper 1.08s early week trade after logging a three-week peak at 1.0900 on Friday. The 1.0900 level and the 50-day moving average at 1.0897 mark resistance. Support is at 1.0845 and 1.0769, which is the current position of the 20-day moving average. USD-JPY edged out a one-week low of 118.77 before recovering to the 119.00 area. The dollar is now trading back below its 20-, 50- and 200-day moving averages. The Apr-20 low at 118.53 and the Mar-26 low at 118.33 mark key supports.

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Farmers Unable to Repair Tractors Because Copyright: Never a Side Effect, But Core Intention of Law

This week, there have been stories about farmers who can’t legally repair their John Deere tractors, as copyright monopoly legislation prohibits tampering with computer code in something you own. This has been described as an “unexpected side effect” of the copyright monopoly legislation in general and the DMCA/EUCD in particular.

That’s wrong. It’s not a side effect and it’s not unexpected. That is exactly what those laws intended to accomplish. Being locked out of your own possessions is not a side effect – it was the central point of the legislation and its core purpose.

As usual, the geeks who understood the deeper repercussions of this cried murder over the legislation at the time, and were summarily ignored by policymakers. Perhaps only now, when it becomes clear that it’s not just geek toys that are affected but everything in our everyday life, will more people become aware of how the copyright monopoly limits property rights.

This development, eroding property rights of everything, has been driven by the cartoon industry – by which I mean the copyright industry in general and Disney Corporation in particular.

It started with DRM, Digital Restriction Measures. Somebody thought it was both possible and a good idea to control how playback of video and audio could take place at people’s homes after they bought music and movies. (Imagine that translated to books, by the way, that publishers thought it possible to control how a book would be read – where, when and how.)

Digital Restriction Measures (DRM) were never about preventing copying, even though they were frequently presented as “copy protection”, mostly for PR purposes. They did absolutely nothing to prevent copying. They prevented playback. They controlled playback. They permitted or didn’t permit playback.

However, the technology didn’t work. The technology couldn’t work. It wasn’t broken at the technical level, or needed a little bit of improvement: it was broken at the conceptual level. It relied on the cartoon industry’s ability to prevent the owner of an object to tinker with their own property. (This is where tractors and cars come in.)

Obviously, if a computer is able to decode and decrypt a cartoon, then the owner of that computer is also able to instruct their own computer computer to decode and decrypt it (presumably a copy they bought and therefore also own), even against the cartoon industry’s desire for that possibility.

This is why DRM is broken at the conceptual level.

In this respect, there is no difference between a copy of a car or tractor – one of many identical sold objects off a production line – and a CD or DVD. You hold the receipt, you own it. The manufacturer doesn’t get to say what you do with your own property.

Or didn’t, at least.

The cartoon industry – copyright industry – realized that they needed to attack the core concept of the ability to hold property in order to prop up their crumbling copyright monopoly, and pushed for legislation that turned out as something called the DMCA in the US and the EUCD/InfoSoc in Europe. It “fixes” the conceptual problem with DRM by simply making it illegal to tinker with your own property when the original manufacturer, who sold the object to you, doesn’t want it tinkered with even after it’s been sold to you.

Yes, that’s a blatant intrusion into the very core concept of property rights. It also illustrates how the copyright monopoly, a governmentally-granted private monopoly, was always firmly in opposition to property rights (despite the copyright industry’s insistent attempts to reframe it as “property” for PR purposes, which is one of many lies from that cartoon industry).

As computers are spreading through society, into every aspect of our lives, so are the effects of the law that the copyright industry rammed through legislative corridors fifteen years ago.

John Deere claiming that farmers aren’t allowed to tinker with their tractors and other farming equipment is not an “unfortunate side effect” of copyright monopoly legislation. It was the core idea, all the time, to prevent owners of property to exercise their normal property rights. That was the only possible way the copyright monopoly was even slightly maintainable into a digital environment.

One has to ask whether it was, and continue to be, worth that price.

In any case, now that it’s not just geeks and nerds being affected by the cartoon industry’s wholesale slaughter of civil liberties but car owners and farmers and most ordinary people, one can hope that understanding of the fundamental idiocy of these laws can start to surface a little wider.

About The Author

Rick Falkvinge is a regular columnist on TorrentFreak, sharing his thoughts every other week. He is the founder of the Swedish and first Pirate Party, a whisky aficionado, and a low-altitude motorcycle pilot. His blog at falkvinge.net focuses on information policy.

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