ABS-CBN, the Philippines’ largest media and entertainment company, takes head-on pirated websites. ABS-CBN has come down harshly on pirated sites and filed a lawsuit against several unauthorized streaming sites at a district court in Oregon, as piracy is not accepted. Websites like Pinoy-tube.com, Pinoystreaming.com, Pinoytvko.biz and a dozen others were charged with trademark and copyright infringement. Some of these websites have no evident connection to the United States and are controlled by diverse/different people.
Online piracy is a term used to describe the illegal replication of copyright resources from the Internet. Pirated websites are a big menace to the various industries on the World Wide Web, i.e., the Internet. One of the worst affected industries due to piracy is the e-entertainment industry, which frequently complains that they do not have any means to target pirate sites; most notably, phones are operated from overseas.
ABS-CBN requested a temporary restraining order to stop the sites from working/functioning as quickly as possible. This was completed under seal without the prior knowledge of the defendants. There was the possibility that pirated websites’ owners or defendants could transfer the benefits of their last illegal activities to new websites, i.e., they would switch domain names, continue their operation as usual, and entirely erase their status quo for legal proceedings.
The crux is that ABS-CBN appealed for power to take the sites offline before the owners of the pirated websites knew that they were getting sued and were devoid of a chance to defend themselves. While that may appear to be a lot to ask for, Judge Anna Brown granted the request.
Against alleged pirate sites this month, it was not the first ex-parte injunction to be handed down. A similar thing happened in the Expendables 3 case, although this order was not nearly as extensive as the one against the Filipino streaming sites.
City of London Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU):-
Another move to stop pirated websites from flourishing has come from the London police. They have started placing banner advertisements on websites presenting pirated content illegally. This is a welcome move from the London police in terms of a continuing effort to end the practice of piracy sites earning money through advertising. The messages/banner will ask users to close their web browsers and appear instead of paid-for ads displayed on pirated websites.
Detective Chief Inspector Andy Fyfe from the City of London Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) said, “On illegal websites when advertisements from well-known brands appear, they unintentionally fool customers into thinking the site is genuine by lending pirated website look of authenticity”. So, when the banner is placed on the piracy website, piracy site owners will find it challenging to make their pages look authentic.
To tackle IP crime and disrupt criminal profit, this new initiative is another step forward. Detective Chief Inspector Andy Fyfe from the City of London Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) says disrupting advertising on these sites is very crucial, and this is why it is an essential part of Operation Creative, as Copyright infringing websites, aka piracy websites, are making massive sums of money through advertisement placement.
UK Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) continues its attacks on piracy-related domains; it has shut down several torrent site proxies and the proxy service Immunicity.org. The Domains now display a banner warning that the police are investigating the matter, and domain names have been “detained” by the police.
In the UK, almost 50 websites offering pirated content have been blocked by their internet service providers as per the court order, either through peer-to-peer sharing or direct download.
Whether it is the start of a new movement has yet to be seen but considering the broad measures judges are willing to sign off, pirated websites have much to fear.
PIRACY WEBSITES :
As per filings from the Motion Picture Association of America and the Recording Industry Association of America, the mentioned sites have been subjected to enforcement actions, or they may warrant further investigation because of their Piracy content :
- Putlocker.com
- Rapidshare.com
- PirateBay.se
- Aiseesoft.com
- Baixedetudo.net
- Darkwarez. pl
- Ex.ua
- Extratorrent. cc
- Free-tv-video-online.me
- KickassTorrents.com
- Kuaibo.com
- Mp3skull.com
- Rapidgator.net
- Rutracker.org
- Seriesyonkis.com
- SlySoft.com
- Torrentz. EU
- Uploaded.net
- vKontakte.com
- Wawa-mania. EC
- Xunlei.com/Kankan.com
- Zamunda.net/Arenabg.com
- Zing. vn
- IsoHunt.com
- GouGou.com
- PaiPai.com
- Immunicity.org
- Piratereverse.info
- Kickassunblock.info
- Katunblock.com
- movie2kproxy.com
- h33tunblock.info