Posts by Prophet

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KickassTorrents has hit new heights as the world's leading torrent site. Following a recent surge the site has just entered the Alexa Top 70, a rare feat for any similar platform. While excellent presentation, timely content, and good uptime have played their part, it is KAT's community that almost certainly has visitors coming back for more.

katFor a decade, TorrentFreak has produced charts of the world’s most popular torrent sites. These annual lists provide a regular snapshot of a constantly changing and volatile landscape.

Back in 2007, torrent index Mininova was ruling the waves as the world’s most popular torrent site. Notably it became the first site of its kind to break into the Internet’s top 50 sites overall. Almost a decade ago The Pirate Bay was only big enough to take third place.

In 2008, TPB took the lead, pushing Mininova back into second place. A year later TPB was still maintaining the number one slot, followed closely by meta-search engine Torrentz. Meanwhile, a lesser-known site called KickassTorrents was sitting patiently in the wings.

The Pirate Bay was the runaway leader in 2011, posting an Alexa rank of 76, more than 90 places ahead of its nearest rival. But by this time KickassTorrents was closing fast, taking the #4 most popular torrent site slot just behind the original isoHunt and Torrentz.

A year later, KickassTorrents (by now also referred to as KAT) had improved its position yet again. Continuing the trend, in 2013 the site stepped up to take second place behind the mighty Pirate Bay.

For KAT, 2015 would become its most important year to date. After TPB suffered domain issues and an almost catastrophic raid on its datacenter, KAT took the coveted top spot as the world’s most popular torrent site.

At this point a much lower Alexa rank of 151 was enough to do the job but KAT kept its foot on the gas, building up to rank 85 by the start of 2016. However, in keeping with its meteoric rise, KAT still wasn’t done. This week the site entered the Alexa top 70, quite possibly the only torrent index to do so since Mininova in 2007.

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So what’s KAT’s secret? That isn’t a question easily answered but it’s clear that the people behind the site really know what they’re doing. On a basic level the site’s uptime is impressive, especially given the difficult nature of running a torrent index. It also carries a massive library of torrents that somehow manages to remain useful despite the site complying with thousands of DMCA notices.

But while many other sites progress by doing the basics well, KAT goes much further. Firstly, it’s a very good looking site while also being easy to navigate. It has a good search engine. It’s quick to load. In fact, it does everything one would expect of a good regular website. As a result it’s relatively rare to hear users complain.

And that brings us to the special sauce that few other sites in this niche can offer.

Largely thanks to the way the site is designed, KAT has developed perhaps the best torrent-based community publicly available on the Internet today. The site’s forums are buzzing with the kind of activity one used to see on dedicated file-sharing discussion platforms back in 2005. Most of those have long since died out but somehow the Kickass community is thriving with the same spirit a decade on.

Of course, there are always a few rotten apples out to spoil the barrel, but KAT’s community is largely comprised of people seeking to help others. Comment is generally constructive and those who step out of line are swiftly dealt with. That, coupled with KAT’s special achievements awards (think Xbox achievements but for torrents), people are incentivized to contribute, thereby making the site better for all involved.

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So for now, KickassTorrents is not only the world’s most-visited torrent site in the public space, it’s probably the most enjoyable one to use too. Additionally, KAT not only facilitates access to content but also provides an excellent social platform for its users. That means people feel at home when on-site and miss it when they’re away – even when they have nothing to download.

Moreover, Kickass makes users feel at home and when people feel at home, they look after what they have. The resulting loyalty is a recipe for success, and there’s no sign that the site’s popularity will fade anytime soon.

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Last month the Swedish Court of Appeal ruled that two of the Pirate Bay's oldest domains will be forfeited to the Swedish state. However, Pirate Bay co-founder Fredrik Neij is dissatisfied with the result and has now filed a further appeal. Sweden's Supreme Court must now decide whether to take the case.

In 2013, anti-piracy prosecutor Fredrik Ingblad filed a motion targeting two of The Pirate Bay’s oldest domains, ThePirateBay.se and PirateBay.se.

Ingblad filed a complaint against Punkt SE (IIS), the organization responsible for Sweden’s top-level .SE domain, arguing that since The Pirate Bay is an illegal site the domains are tools used to infringe copyright. On this basis they should be suspended, Ingblad said.

The case was heard in April 2015 and a month later the Stockholm District Court ruled that The Pirate Bay should forfeit both ThePirateBay.se and PirateBay.se.

The case went to the Court of Appeal and last month the ruling of the District Court was upheld.

But as is so often the case with Pirate Bay legal action, the show isn’t over yet. Following the ruling, site co-founder Fredrik Neij indicated he would take an appeal to the Supreme Court. That has now been filed.

“Fredrik Neij moves that the Supreme Court, by the modification and elimination of the District Court and Court of Appeal’s decision, should reject the prosecutor’s request for Fredrik Neij’s forfeiture to the right of the domain names piratebay.se and thepiratebay.se,” Neij’s lawyer Jonas Nilsson writes in a translation sent to TF.

The situation is somewhat complex. In 2012, Neij transferred the domains to a person named Supavadee Trakunroek. However, the Court of Appeal found that transaction to be mere ‘paperwork’ and that in real terms Neij had retained control of the domains.

With that in mind the question remained – should the domains be ‘seized’ from Neij or from IIS, the organization responsible for Sweden’s top-level .SE domain?

The Court found that domain names should be considered a type of intellectual property, property that is owned by the person or organization that purchased the domain. Therefore, in this case IIS is not the owner of the Pirate Bay domains, Neij is.

It is this aspect of the ruling that Fredrik Neij is now appealing to the Supreme Court.

“Fredrik Neij argues that the District Court and the Court of Appeal wrongly concluded that a domain name is a type of intellectual property that can be confiscated in accordance with copyright law,” his appeal reads.

With the appeal now filed it is up to the Supreme Court to decide whether to take the case. Domains used for illegal activity have been seized in Sweden before, but none have been fought as actively as this one.

Meanwhile, The Pirate Bay is operating from the .org domain it began with, all those years ago.

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Google and GoDaddy have promised to do their best to ensure that their advertisements are not promoted on pirate sites. The two prominent tech companies have signed the "anti-piracy pledge" of the Trustworthy Accountability Group, a relatively new group that aims to cut funding to pirate sites.

TAGIn recent years various copyright holder groups have adopted a “follow-the-money” approach in the hope of cutting off funding to so-called pirate sites.

Part of this strategy are voluntary agreements between rightsholders, advertisers, and advertising agencies, with the goal of preventing ads from showing up on torrent sites and other pirate portals.

The Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG) is a relatively new player which helps to facilitate these efforts. TAG coordinates an advertising-oriented Anti-Piracy Program and has already signed up several large companies across various industries.

A few days ago two large tech companies, Google and GoDaddy, joined up to TAG, with both taking the “Anti-Piracy Pledge.”

Speaking with TorrentFreak, TAG explained that Google has taken the pledge as an advertiser. This means that their own advertising services are not “validated” and approved just yet. However, this is something they are working on.

“Google has signed on as an advertiser by taking the Pledge. They are also actively working to become a self-attested DAAP for their ad delivery services,” TAG informs us.

By signing the pledge both companies agree to “take commercially reasonable steps to minimize the inadvertent placement of digital advertising on websites or other media properties that have an undesired risk of being associated with the unauthorized dissemination of materials protected by the copyright laws…”

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The above means that future Google and GoDaddy advertisements may work more closely with TAG certified partners, which carry the “Certified Against Piracy” seal featured at the top of this article.

Once Google is approved as a self-attested Digital Advertising Assurance Provider, it can carry the same seal for its own services.

Becoming certified is not cheap. There is a registration fee of $10,000 and another $10,000 is required to carry the seal. However, TAG informs us that these costs can be waived for smaller businesses.

The MPAA applauds the steps taken by Google and GoDaddy and the Hollywood group hopes that more companies will follow in their footsteps.

“We also hope that more ad networks and intermediaries involved in the ad chain, like those run by Google, will come to the same conclusion – associating good brands with bad sites is bad business and harmful to creators and consumers,” MPAA’s Farnaz Alemi said.

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Pirate Bay co-founder Peter Sunde may have thought he'd left the notorious site behind, but the legal system has other plans. The Helsinki District Court has just ordered him to pay $395,000 to record labels including Sony, Universal, Warner and EMI, after their content was shared illegally via the platform.

peter-sundeContent creators and distributors are some of The Pirate Bay’s most vocal critics, describing the platform as a piracy haven that deprives artists of their income.

However, in recent times criticism of the site has expanded to include one of the site’s founding members. Peter Sunde, aka brokep, is one of the most recognizable people in the file-sharing space yet he has openly called for the site to die, deriding it as a shadow of its former self.

But far from being able to leave the site behind as he physically did many years ago, Sunde – who has both Finnish and Norwegian ancestry – now finds himself in the midst of a new Pirate Bay related problem.

Following a ruling from the Helsinki District Court, the 37-year-old has been ordered to pay several major record labels around $395,000 (350,000 euros).

Sony Music Entertainment Finland, Universal Music, Warner Music, and EMI Finland sued Sunde claiming that the music of 60 of their artists has been shared illegally through The Pirate Bay.

Earlier court action means that Pirate Bay is blocked by Finnish service providers including TeliaSonera and Elisa but of course, this made no difference to the site’s operations.

Finland’s DigiToday reports that there is no accusation that Sunde shared anything himself but the lawsuit from the record labels held him responsible.

Sunde did not appear in Helsinki to defend himself so the Court handed down a default judgment. He is now ordered to pay the full amount plus costs of around $62,000 (55,000 euros) to the local branch of IFPI.

He also faces a fine of one million euros if the content continues to be shared via The Pirate Bay but how he is supposed to do anything about that isn’t clear.

Sunde and Pirate Bay co-founders Fredrik Neij and Gottfrid Svartholm owe large sums of money to copyright holders following adverse decisions in cases dating back years. None of those judgments have been satisfied and there’s no reason to believe this one will be any different.

Copyright trolls operating in the UK will be doing so a little less confidently this morning after being slammed in the House of Lords yesterday. Lord Lucas named and shamed several companies involved in the practice, describing them as scammers and extortionists while urging the government to take action.

lucas-smallThe Intellectual Property (Unjustified Threats) Bill was introduced in the House of Lords during May 2016.

Among other things, the draft legislation (pdf) aims to protect companies and individuals from threats of expensive IP litigation where no infringement has taken place.

While aimed largely at patents, trademarks and other design rights, during a Lords Grand Committee hearing yesterday the hot topic of unfounded threats against Internet users was thrust onto the agenda. Lord Lucas, who previously tackled the infamous ACS:Law, was again at the forefront.

“The world is full of people who like to play a junior game of what this bill addresses. A few years ago I had a small role in the demise of ACS Solicitors which were thankfully sacked by the law society,” Lord Lucas began.

“They were shaking down Internet users for allegedly infringing copyright on pornography and other low grade media. Their evidence was extremely suspect and was never tested in court. ACS made its money from their threats and never took anyone to court, though it used the courts to target its victims via Norwich Pharmacal Orders.”

But while ACS:Law is well and truly dead, others in the UK have now resumed shaking down Internet account holders with the aim of securing fast cash settlements. From his speech yesterday it’s abundantly clear that Lord Lucas is unhappy at this unwelcome development.

“Some careless person has dropped blood onto the ashes of ACS and the same scam is alive again. The same thin evidence. They have an IP address, they have not revealed how they get that IP address. But, given that IP address, they go through the same Norwich Pharmacal [ISP disclosure] procedure,” he told those assembled in the Moses Room, the main venue for grand committees.

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As has become clear during the past few years, companies involved in so-called Speculative Invoicing in the UK have learned from ACS:Law’s mistakes. Probably quite sensibly (they tend to feel the wrath of the Solicitors Regulatory Authority) no lawyers are involved in the threats being made to Internet subscribers. This fact has not escaped Lord Lucas.

“This time, to remove the vulnerability that ACS found, the solicitor involved, Wagner and Co, withdraws after obtaining the Norwich Pharmacal Order, so they’re not involved in the threat processes which are undertaken by shell companies. There doesn’t seem to be any redress for people threatened or for ISPs who are asked to comply with Norwich Pharmacal orders,” he said.

Up until this point no live companies had been named, but there would be no escape. A well-briefed Lord Lucas covered them all and had some advice for anyone whose path they cross.

“If anybody comes across the names of Hatton and Berkeley, RangerBay, GoldenEye International, Mircom International and TCYK …I really urge them to put [their correspondence] in the bin. The current scammers aren’t pursuing anyone [in court] they’re just after threats, and extortion, and shaking people down,” he said.

“I applaud our government for helping businesses avoid unjustified threats but I would really like to know what they intend to do to help the granny [accused by TCYK recently] who is being threatened by their smaller, nastier cousins with allegations that she has been downloading illegally.”

Describing the companies above as “villains laughing at and abusing the system”, Lord Lucas called for citizens to be given the ability to respond to trolls with a “sue or desist” letter, which would render any further threats (short of court action) punishable by law.

“Wouldn’t that be a good right for citizens who are being threatened in any circumstances?” he said.

Joe Hickster, the administrator of troll-watching site ACS:Bore, welcomes Lord Lucas’ comments.

“Lord Lucas has lent legitimacy and sobriety to a cause of much concern for those in receipt of letters from the likes of Hatton & Berkeley, Goldeneye International, Ranger Bay, TCYK and Mircom,” Hickster told TF.

“This may be a real turning point in the fight against copyright trolling in the UK. With the ISPA shortlisting TCYK as ‘Internet Villain of the Year’ this week, lets hope this intervention from Lord Lucas will embolden them to send guidance to their members, to stand up and say NO! to these trolls.”

Only time will tell how the government will react to Lord Lucas’ calls, but more than ever something needs to be done to force the UK’s copyright trolls to either put up, or shut up.

Can someone infringe copyright by revealing a fact from an unaired (possibly unfilmed) TV show? That's the assertion of AMC, whose lawyers have threatened the operators of The Spoiling Dead community with a lawsuit if they reveal who got killed in the last episode of the series. TorrentFreak has obtained a copy of the threats, and they're quite something.

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The Spoiling Dead Fans (TSD) is a community of hardcore The Walking Dead fans who have an even greater interest in the show than most. As their name suggests, they’re dedicated to obtaining all the latest information about the hit show – including information not yet in the public domain.

There have been suggestions recently that TSDF might reveal the identity of the individual who Negan killed with ‘Lucille’, his barbed wire covered baseball bat. As the cliff-hanger from the final episode of the last series, it’s pretty important to fans. As it turns out, it’s massively important to makers AMC too.

In a posting on their Facebook page this week, the operators of The Spoiling Dead told their 364,000 followers that AMC had contacted them with legal threats.

“After two years, AMC finally reached out to us! But it wasn’t a request not to post any info about the Lucille Victim or any type of friendly attempt at compromise, it was a cease and desist and a threat of a lawsuit by AMC Holdings, LLC’s attorney, Dennis Wilson. They say we can’t make any type of prediction about the Lucille Victim,” they wrote.

TorrentFreak has obtained a copy of the letter sent to TSDF in which AMC’s attorney at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP lays down the law. Surprisingly for a show that hasn’t aired and potentially hasn’t even been made yet, the law being laid down is copyright in nature.

“AMC is aware that The Spoiling Dead Fans site is promoting your claim that you have received copyright protected, trade secret information about the most critical plot information in the unreleased next season of The Walking Dead,” the letter begins.

“You also state that you plan to distribute this purported highly confidential information despite your knowledge that such distribution, if the information is indeed accurate, is unauthorized and will greatly damage AMC, distributors of The Walking Dead as well as Walking Dead fans awaiting the new seasons’ release who wish to watch their favorite show unspoiled.”

AMC’s claim that any spoilers will amount to copyright infringement are somewhat eyebrow raising but according to the company this ground has been covered before.

“The release of plot summaries and particularly the types of crucial plot elements that you have stated you intend to release, have been found to constitute copyright infringement. Specifically, in Twin Peaks Productions vs. Publications International, the Court ruled that publishing a work that ‘recount[s] for its readers precisely the plot details’ of a fictional work constitutes copyright infringement.”

By citing a specific case one might conclude that AMC’s attorney is confident that the cases are similar, but reading the details casts more than just a little doubt on his claims.

The historical case in question involved the publication of a book by Publications International which covered in detail the first eight episodes of the 1990/91 TV series Twin Peaks. The big question was whether this use of copyright works was protected under fair use but in the end the court decided the publisher had gone too far.

The court found that the defendant’s “detailed recounting of the show’s plotlines went far beyond merely identifying their basic outline for the transformative purposes of comment or criticism” adding:

Because the plot synopses were so detailed, and in fact lifted many sections verbatim from the original scripts, the court found that defendant copied a substantial amount of plaintiff’s original works.

This hardly seems to mirror the situation playing out alongside a potential spoiler of an unaired episode of The Walking Dead. Presumably that spoiler can be achieved by saying a single name too, which by no stretch of the imagination amounts to a substantial part of any show.

Merits of the argument aside though, AMC doesn’t appear in any mood for messing around.

“By advertising the illegal disclosure of intricate plot details of an unreleased episode of The Walking Dead without authorization, you will willfully and intentionally impair the commercial viability of the show and thus AMC’s ability and incentive to continue to produce creative works such as The Walking Dead,” the company’s attorney continues.

“In light of the above, we demand that you repudiate your intent to leak the ‘Lucille Victim’ by confirming that you will cease and desist from that illegal disclosure and/or assisting others in the illegal disclosure.

“Should you fail to do so, AMC will file a lawsuit against you to enjoin your harmful illegal activities and seek to obtain money damages and injunctive relief to address your conduct.”

Whether the threats have any legal basis will probably never be known for sure but in the meantime The Spoiling Dead crew are having a pretty awful time of it. As a result they’ve decided not to take any chances.

“AMC has been harassing us for four days now by contacting our homes, our family members and our employers; even posting on this page and personal social media accounts. We are fans of this show just like you and aren’t a commercial operation that makes profit. We have families and careers to think about,” they explain.

“After consultation with our legal counsel, we have responded to AMC that the TSDF staff will not be posting our prediction on who gets Lucilled on any of our outlets.”

Speaking with TorrentFreak, ‘Shinyfirefly’ of TSDF said that while AMC insist that a disclosure about the ‘Lucille Victim’ was about to be made, no one from the company has provided that detail.

“[AMC} say that we claimed we received some illegal, protected information and that we said we were going to disclose the Lucille Victim based on that information. But they never identified WHERE the claim they say we made was. Even in our response to them we said we could not repudiate that claim because they didn’t identify it. They still haven’t. They are guessing,” Shinyfirefly said.

“It would be stupid of us to say something like that. All we ever said is that we were close to a confirmation and should be able to post who we thought it was in a couple weeks. There are lots of ways to confirm things and plenty of them legal.”

While the identity of the ‘Lucille Victim’ has always been a hot topic among Walking Dead fans, it’s now likely that following the legal threats from AMC the interest will leak over into the wider mainstream, thus making it even less likely it will remain a secret.

It’s understandable that AMC want to protect their storylines, but this is not pre-Internet 1980 and the days of secrets like Who Shot J.R.? are long gone.

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Last week hundreds of thousands of people downloaded a copy of the blockbuster "London Has Fallen," and some of these pirates are in for a nasty surprise. To recoup some of the losses, the makers are sending automated $300 'fines' to those who get caught. In addition, over a thousand U.S. citizens have been sued.

download-keyboardMany Hollywood insiders see online piracy as a major threat, but only very few are willing to target file-sharers with lawsuits or settlement demands.

Millennium Films and LHF Productions, two companies behind the blockbuster “London Has Fallen” have no problem crossing this line.

A few days ago a high quality Blu-Ray rip of the movie appeared online, more than a week before the official release. Since then hundreds of thousands of people have pirated the film, much to the outrage of the studios.

To compensate the potential revenue loss of these and earlier leaks, LHF Productions has filed lawsuits against more than 1,000 people in recent weeks.

The cases are filed against “does” who are only known by their IP-address, with the studio then trying to uncover their real identities by subpoenaing their ISPs. After their personal info is released, the accused Internet subscribers will get a settlement offer, which can go up to several thousands dollars.

A relatively straightforward way to recoup damages, but there is an even easier option. In addition to the lawsuits the film’s production company Millennium Films has started sending automated settlement demands to U.S. Internet subscribers.

These settlement offers bypass the courts and are sent as part of a DMCA notice. Several Internet providers voluntarily forward these notices to the account holders associated with the infringing IP-addresses.

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The language in the notices will be quite intimidating to some. After listing the evidence, Millennium Films’ anti-piracy partner CEG TEK warns that the subscribers could face a potential lawsuit.

“CEG informs you that you may be held liable for monetary damages, including court costs and/or attorney fees if a lawsuit is commenced against you for unauthorized copying and/or distribution of the Work listed above,” it reads.

However, the letter also offers a way out. By settling the case right away and paying $300, all problems will go away. To increase the pressure, CEG TEK adds a hard deadline that expires after a few days.

“If you fail to respond or settle within the prescribed time period, the above matter may be referred to attorneys representing the Work’s owner for legal action. At that point the original settlement offer will no longer be an option, and the settlement amount will increase significantly,” the company adds.

Those who follow the link are directed to the settlement page where the suspected pirates can pay their dues directly through a credit or debit card.

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CEG TEK is not a new player on the scene, but it’s rare to see notices for such a high-profile movie. The company mostly works with players in the adult industry, who typically demand a few hundred dollars per infringement as well.

Despite all the anti-piracy activity, thousands of people are still sharing “London Has Fallen.” This means that there’s enough potential for more lawsuits and automated fines.

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The Dutch anti-piracy outfit BREIN is going after two anonymous Usenet uploaders, who shared more than 2,000 books in total. The group requested the personal details of the users from their providers, but they refused to hand them over citing privacy concerns. As a result, BREIN is now taking the matter to court.

uploadDutch anti-piracy group BREIN has targeted the operators of pirate sites for more than a decade, but more recently it began going after uploaders as well.

Over the past several months the group has tracked down several prolific uploaders and has now announced intentions to take these efforts a step further.

While many efforts have focused on BitTorrent uploaders, BREIN is also keeping a close eye on other sharing platforms. This includes Usenet, which despite staying out of the piracy headlines, remains relatively popular.

Representing several large book publishers, the anti-piracy group is going after two anonymous Usenet users, who allegedly uploaded more than 2,000 books to newsgroups.

BREIN has already contacted their Usenet providers, Eweka and Usenetter, who in response cancelled the accounts in question.

However, they refused to hand over any personal details. According to the providers, they are no longer allowed to share personal data under the e-Privacy regulation if an account is disconnected.

BREIN contests this and is now taking the matter to court. According to the group this case isn’t about regular data retention policies, instead, it’s a unique situation where the enforcement rights of the publishers should outweigh privacy concerns.

A local court will now review both positions. The court has already stated that it will review the circumstances under which BREIN requested the data, when the users’ accounts were still active.

If BREIN succeeds then the group has an extra tool in their arsenal, making it easier to expose prolific uploaders. This could also spell trouble for BitTorrent uploaders, as BREIN could try to request personal information from their ISPs.

BREIN director Tim Kuik informed TorrentFreak that they are hoping to recover damages from the uploaders, as well as information on other large scale infringers.

“Our primary interest is to stop the infringements, furthermore to settle costs and damages or to sue for those on behalf of the injured right holders. Possibly the infringers may have information on other persons involved,” Kuik says.

According to Kuik, BREIN has a good chance of a successful outcome. Under Dutch jurisprudence, ISPs can be obliged to hand over personal information of customers if the infringing activity is plausible and the aggrieved party has a legitimate interest.

This isn’t the first time BREIN has gone after serial e-book infringers. Last year, a Dutch court ordered Google to hand over the personal details of a user that sold pirated books in the Play Store. In that case the court concluded that the rights of copyright holders outweigh the user’s rights.

I would remove them personally, makes the lists less bloated

Thanks for the great work btw

Quote from robocop1967

Thought I recognised the face but couldn't put it with the blond bonce.It's Aaron Ramsey isn't it?

Bingo!! Nice one

I figured [MENTION=3]master G[/MENTION] would get it straight away being a gooner

I actually spoke to Chris Coleman and wished him good luck and he replied to me with a thanks mate

Seeing them all including Bale was really cool, but the one I really wanted to see was Joe Allen bit no sign of him

Quote from robocop1967

Bale is one.Maybe Ledley and Collins the other 2??

Correct on Bale and Ledley, nice one mate

The third person is also a pretty big star and this week made the news for bleaching his hair ;)

Can you name all 3 ?

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Quote from sandra

I am getting BT Sport 2 not found now, all the other BT channels are showing even though the HD ones are no longer clearing.

I have the latest Catseye channel list and I have done a manual transponder scan using 11344 H 27500 and 5/6 which shows a few channels coming up, including BT Sport 2 but I still get the same message, I have also done a whole satellite scan on both tuners and BT Sport 2 is not found.

I have a DM 8000

I need BT Sport 2 for Sunday's MotoGP and it would be nice to have it for Saturdays qualifying, please help :(

Display More

11344 H 27500 5/6 are definately correct, are you scanning DVB-S ? (not DVB-S2)

Thank you as always to Rat for these

Rat's Bouquets E2 SD FTA HD 2.6.2016

BT HD Channels Removed

Network Scan

True Crime and a couple of others updated

Thank you as always to Rat for these

Rat's Bouquets E2 SD FTA HD 27.5.2016

Few updates today

Police in Scotland say they are conducting the world's biggest 'pirate box' crackdown. Together with the Federation Against Copyright Theft, police are targeting sellers of Android-style set-top boxes and believe that thousands of pubs could be customers. In addition, three torrent sites have been closed down.

While Internet piracy has thrived on desktop machines for decades, it is now quite common to find the activity taking place in the living room. Expensive equipment is no longer needed and bulky machines have been replaced by much smaller HDMI-capable devices.

There are several types around but the most common have Android under the hood. Typically in small set-top or dongle format, these products can be loaded with media software from Google’s Play Store or invariably “side-loaded” with more unofficial products such as customized versions of Kodi, Showbox and Popcorn Time.

These cheap IPTV systems can provide users with access to a bewildering array of free content, from movies and TV shows to live sports and other PPV events. As a result, copyright holders around the world are mounting aggressive crackdowns on those who sell such devices for infringing uses.

Some of the most prominent actions have involved the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT), who together with police have conducted a number of raids in the UK in recent months. Most have taken place in England but news is now emerging of a large scale anti-IPTV operation underway in Scotland.

According to local police, two premises were raided in Glasgow this week as part of what they describe as the “world’s largest” investigation into pirate IPTV boxes which has been underway for the last 16 months.

While movie companies have shown an interest in these devices it appears the focus in Scotland is on the streaming of live sports broadcasts. These are officially offered by FACT partners the English Premier League (soccer) alongside distributors Sky and BT but individuals and pubs are obtaining them illegally.

Speaking with STV, police say that initial estimates of the scale of infringement are now being dwarfed.

“As of today we estimated about 500 pubs might be involved, but today’s investigation has suggested it could be thousands,” a spokesman said.

“This is undoubtedly the biggest operation of its kind in the world in terms of recovery. It’s a process that’s been done elsewhere but not on this scale, this is the biggest.”

In a comment FACT director general Kieron Sharp said that his organization is committed to working with law enforcement to crack down IPTV-related piracy, wherever it may be.

“Pub landlords, as well as the general public, need to be aware that IPTV and set-top boxes with apps and add-ons allowing the streaming of pirated TV, sports and films are very much illegal,” Sharp said.

“FACT will continue to work with police forces across the UK to crack down on the illegal sale of these boxes.”

In other action, police in Scotland say that in conjunction with FACT they have taken down three “major” torrent sites operated from the Edinburgh, Kilmarnock and Falkirk areas.

“We’ve been successful in removing these sites and work is ongoing to remove several more that we have identified, in what is undoubtedly a growing problem,” said Police Constable Andy Law.

“Hosts often believe they leave no footprint, but in reality we can trace sites back to an address and from there it leaves little scope for the culprit to hide their actions.”

Police have not revealed the names of the sites and there has been no indication in torrent circles of any large indexes or trackers going down. It therefore seems more likely that these are lower level sites rather than the “major” ones suggested by the police.

“Websites offering illegal access to films, music, games and books are threatening our creative industries and the 1.8 million people in the UK working in them,” said FACT’s Kieron Sharp.

“FACT is committed to tackling online piracy and together with our partners at the police and within industry, we will continue the fight to clampdown on anyone operating these sites within our own territories.”

These latest announcements come alongside news that FACT has lost the support of its movie studios partners alongside an estimated 50% of its budget. The MPA says it will carry out its own investigations from regional hubs in future.

Spanish police said on Wednesday they had arrested 30 people suspected of illegally distributing pay television content and of laundering the proceeds by investing in bitcoin "mining" centers for processing transactions in the digital currency, which use intensive computing power to generate more bitcoins.

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The arrests took place across Spain, including in the cities of Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Cordoba, police said in a statement.

Six bitcoin "mining" centers were seized in the raid, they added, after an investigation alongside Spain's tax office that started as a crackdown on a scheme to illegally decode and distribute pay-TV content.

The proceeds were allegedly laundered through investments in banking products, luxury cars, property as well as Bitcoin centers.

More here... http://www.cnbc.com/2016/05/25…y-in-bitcoin-centres.html

and here... http://www.reuters.com/article…rrests-idUSKCN0YG1YQ?il=0

HOLLYWOOD WITHDRAWS FUNDING FOR UK ANTI-PIRACY GROUP FACT

The UK's Federation Against Copyright Theft has received a major blow after the Motion Picture Association advised the anti-piracy group it will not renew its membership. The termination of the 30-year long relationship means that FACT will lose 50% of its budget and the backing of the six major Hollywood movie studios.

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The Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT)is the most aggressive private anti-piracy group currently operating in the UK.

In recent years the organization has been responsible for investigating dozens of alleged pirates and has secured many convictions, largely on behalf of its movie and TV industry partners.

Now, however, FACT faces a somewhat uncertain future after the Motion Picture Association, the movie industry outfit that supplies FACT with half of its funding, decided to pull its support for the anti-piracy group.

The MPA, which represents the interests of Disney, Paramount, Sony, 20th Century Fox, Universal and Warner Bros, has recently advised FACT that it intends to terminate its 30-year long relationship by not renewing its membership when it expires in six months’ time.

Speaking with Screen Daily, MPA Europe president Stan McCoy explained that local funding for FACT had been withdrawn in favor of financing larger regional hubs with a wider remit.

The relevant regional office dealing with the UK is the MPA’s EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) in Brussels which aims to provide “a nimble local presence and a direct relationship with local law enforcement.”

McCoy acknowledged FACT’s efforts over the last three decades but said that the changing nature of piracy, including the shift away from physical to online infringement, requires “a more flexible approach” than the one currently in place.

“We live in a world now where a piracy website can have its nexus in Sweden one day, then move in a few months to Eastern Europe, then to Thailand, or it can operate in all three of those jurisdictions at once,” McCoy said.

For FACT the withdrawal of the MPA and by extension the major studios is a massive blow. The MPA currently provides FACT with around 50% of its funding, leaving the balance to made up a range of partners including the UK Cinema Association, the Film Distributors’ Association, the Premier League, and broadcasters including ITV.

FACT confirmed that its MPA funding is being withdrawn and is said to be considering its options. In the meantime, however, it’s unlikely that the UK will become a care-free piracy zone. The MPA says it intends to continue its work protecting copyright in the UK which will include the pursuit of more site-blocking injunctions and increased cooperation with the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit.

That being said, it will be interesting to see how this situation plays out. FACT provided “boots on the ground” for the studios in the UK and undertook investigations against pirates that in some cases the police were reluctant to take on and in others carry through to a prosecution. Abandoning that local touch could be risky strategy for the MPA, but only time will tell.

Thanks for the share, I uploaded it to the site also

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Rat's Bouquets E2 SD FTA HD 22.5.2016

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