TorrentFreak

After an epic journey through the legal system, much of it shrouded in secrecy, an anti-piracy group has finally tracked down an individual it said uploaded a first-run movie. In the end the IP address evidence didn’t identify the correct person, a confession did. But were there ulterior motives behind this witch hunt?

BitTorrent Inc. has released a new App for uTorrent that allows users to find out what others people are saying about a torrent they’re downloading. Users can also join the discussion and use uTorrent to tweet about torrents. With the new App, BitTorrent Inc. hopes to streamline discussions about torrents on Twitter, and encourage torrent sites to adopt the new standard to make it a success.

The Vuze team has released version 4.5 of the popular BitTorrent client. With this latest release users can easily optimize their settings based on an elaborate speed test, which should increase download speeds in many cases. In addition, users can now transcode, transfer, and playback downloaded files on many of the most popular Android phones.

The Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill, which allows for large fines and six month Internet suspensions, has already passed its first reading in the New Zealand Parliament. However, according to copyright advocates, it doesn’t go far enough. Instead of simply disconnecting repeat infringers, they are calling for a heavier punishment that would take people’s right to Internet access away.

After an earlier ruling went in iiNet’s favor, the ISP and the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft were back in Federal Court for the fourth straight day of the appeal today. AFACT, representing many Hollywood studios, argued that Internet subscribers should be held accountable not just for their own infringements, but for those carried out by anyone using their account.

In 2007 the Pirate Bay crew resurrected the legendary BitTorrent site Suprnova.org, which had shut down due to legal pressure three years earlier. The legend returned, but due to a combination of circumstances it remained just a shadow of what it once was. This week, The Pirate Bay crew returned the domain to its former owner who now has big plans for the site.

It’s the third day in Federal Court for the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft and ISP iiNet. As they continue to pick over the ruling handed down several months ago by Judge Cowdroy, the Court wonders if the appeal will actually solve the copyright infringement dispute between the sides.

Most content producers only see the dark side of piracy but every now and then we encounter a rare exception. Jeff Vogel, president and head programmer for Spiderweb Software, admits that piracy is not an absolute evil. Sometimes it’s actually OK to pirate his games, and he explains why.

Early 2010, a Swedish court banned Pirate Bay co-founders Gottfrid Svartholm and Fredrik Neij from operating the site. Last month, the site’s former spokesperson Peter Sunde was also banned and faces a heavy fine for non-compliance. He has now appealed that decision, with his lawyer describing the court ruling as “political gagging”.

Yesterday the Federal Court saw the return of two old rivals, the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft and ISP iiNet. The pair were there to fight the appeal of the decision handed down several months ago by Judge Cowdroy and today, on day two of the hearing, iiNet lawyer Richard Cobden began setting down the ISP’s case.

The top 10 most downloaded movies on BitTorrent, ‘Sex and the City 2′ tops the chart for the second week in row, followed by ‘Operation Endgame’. ‘The Ghost Writer’ completes the top three.