Many users of jailbroken iPhones will be familiar with the Installous application. Installous, from the people at Hackulo.us, allows the simple installation of apps previously available from the official Apple App Store - but free of charge with Appulous, of course.
This system hasn’t had much serious competition but all that changed recently when a new service/app appeared. Known as ‘Mega’, this application/system currently offers direct downloads of a staggering number of App Store apps, over 4000 at last count - a full list is available here.
However, while Installous operates on a donation basis and doesn’t host any copyright infringing content itself, Mega offers its services via paid subscription - $9.99 for 1 month, $23.99 for 3 months and $41.99 for 6 months - which at least in part probably reflects the large costs associated with Mega hosting the content themselves.
It’s also alleged that Mega ‘borrowed’ some code previously developed for Installous and this along with the ‘pay for warez’ issue seemed to really motivate the Installous crew, and they set about ruining this money maker.
“If you’re forced to spend money to use a service, you should be spending it on the actual apps you get, not making some greedy pirate rich,” said coder Kyek. And with this Kyek created a new application known as ‘Grabulous’. Once downloaded from the Hackulo.us repo on Cydia, this software allows iPhone users to instantly download any of the 4000+ apps from Mega’s servers - free of charge.
The stated aim of Grabulous is to give iPhone users the Mega service for free, or alternatively crash the Mega servers through being overloaded by non-paying users. “Both options are cool with us,” says Kyek.
TorrentFreak spoke with Murda, founder of iPhone hack site FunkySpaceMonkey who explained he had no time for Mega. “Grabulous should be saluted and applauded by consumers AND devs. This is common sense, it’s not cracking , it’s not hacking. Paying for cracked apps is a crime against common sense.”
“To be honest I think Mega tried it and thought they could outsmart everyone. But unfortunately (for them) the iphone/touch community proves itself to be a fantastic one once again,” Murda told TorrentFreak. “Mega had a major ‘uppercut’ from Hackulous when they released Grabulous but everybody smelled the fish right away, and we are not shy to send a message out to the people, and warn them. That is why we are here.”
Of course, the release of Grabulous didn’t go unnoticed by the people over at Mega and this ignited a round of technical cat and mouse as Mega tried to block Grabulous, with at least some initial success. Kyek promised a new version of Grabulous to get around these measures but at this point in time it looks as if Mega has taken the hint that charging subscriptions for access to warez is unacceptable to some.
In a statement, Mega has advised that they will no longer require monthly subscriptions but will instead ask for donations while supporting this revenue stream with advertising. Due to this new system, users will be limited on the number of apps they can download each day, dependent on server load.
“They should have done this since the very beginning,” noted Murda.
The Appulo.us service itself has been down for a week after they outgrew their hardware - and their budget. On the first day of taking donations Appulo.us received $3000 but said they wouldn’t return until they had received enough money to rent 3 servers (up from 1) for 6 months. The service is back in operation today.
Post from: TorrentFreak
30.Mar.09 
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Mininova’s content distribution platform has been around since 2007. All files published on the content distribution platform are both tracked and seeded by Mininova. This ensures high download speeds while the publishers don’t have to worry about seeding the files themselves.
The service is mostly used by independent artists, but record labels are also interested. Today, the Dutch record label Beep! Beep! announced a partnership with Mininova, which will see the site distribute the label’s complete discography for free under a Creative Commons license.
BitTorrent has proven to be an ideal marketing tool for musicians, writers and other creative minds who want to promote their work and engage fans. Up until now, though, there was no easy solution to monetize their releases. A new feature from Mininova changes that, as it allows content publishers to offer their newly born fans the option to buy related products.
In just a few clicks, users of Mininova’s content distribution platform can now add links to CDs, concert tickets, merchandising or other products they want to sell alongside their torrent release. The new feature integrates a link to products in the artist’s myshopify.com store, as the record label Beep! Beep! has done with one of their latest releases.
The label even gives Mininova users a 20% discount for helping out with seeding. According to the label, the reason why they have decided to give all their albums away for free is simple. “Because it’s only fair not to pay for something you haven’t heard yet,” they say.
“In our opinion torrents are an excellent way to present you with our music. That’s why Beep! Beep! and Mininova have teamed up. We like the fact that you’re taking the effort to get to know new music. In fact, we’d like to thank you for downloading and seeding our music by giving you a discount on our hardcopies,” the label announced.
Mininova co-founder Niek told TorrentFreak that the shop links will go live for users of the content distribution system some time later today. It’s good to see that Mininova not only helps to distribute content, but also help artists to pitch their gear to interested fans.
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30.Mar.09 TorrentFreak Comments Off
This week there are five newcomers. Jim Carrey’s Yes Man was downloaded the most and leads the chart.
The data for our weekly download chart is collected by TorrentFreak, and is for informational and educational reference only. Currently both DVDrips, DVD Screeners and R5 rips are counted.
RSS feed for the weekly DVDrip chart.
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30.Mar.09 TorrentFreak Comments Off
Last week we ran a poll asking why our readers use BitTorrent. We were really impressed with the feedback with more than 14,000 readers taking the time to vote. Following on from this success, this Sunday we’re asking you guys a new question.
This week the press has been buzzing with the ‘news’ that the music and movie industries will be working with ISPs to send out infringement notices to alleged copyright infringers. Of course, this has been going on for years already but the indications are that the tracking of file-sharers will intensify and with this will come an increase in warnings.
These warnings are designed to frighten people away from file-sharing networks but the million dollar question is: Will these scare-mails work? Let’s find out.
How would you respond to an RIAA/MPAA copyright infringement warning?
Upon receiving a warning via my ISP I would...
Post from: TorrentFreak
29.Mar.09 TorrentFreak Comments Off
With the recent trial out of the way, it seems The Pirate Bay team have had more time for development of the site. Just last week they announced the addition of personal RSS feeds. This week we revealed that they will also offer a new IPRED-busting VPN service.
That’s not all though, the team has recently rolled out a new feature which is almost guaranteed to spark controversy. Visitors to a torrent details page on the site - such as this random Ubuntu torrent - will notice the addition of a brand new button labeled ‘Share on Facebook’.
Users clicking this button will be taken to the Facebook where the torrent will be added to the user’s profile. Anyone browsing the user’s profile page can simply click on the torrent and provided a torrent client is installed, download begins straightaway with no need to visit the Pirate Bay site.
The entertainment industries are obviously not amused by this new feature. A representative from the IFPI told the Swiss newspaper 20 Minuten that offering links to torrents that point to copyright works is illegal in Switzerland, while referring to the ShareReactor case .
Increasingly, social networking sites such as Facebook are used to share files with users linking to BitTorrent sites or file-hosters such as Rapidshare and Megaupload. Anti-piracy outfits see this as a new threat and request the site’s operators to remove the links.
Two weeks ago the Brazilian recording industry took action and managed to pressure the moderators of one of the largest groups on Google’s social network Orkut to shut down their group. But, when the 921,000 member group was closed, new ones soon took its place and the sharing continued.
Pirate Bay’s Peter Sunde says that they haven’t seen any complaints regarding the new feature. “As far as I know, no rights-holders have complained to us yet,” while noting that any complaints they do receive get deleted immediately.
When asked if The Pirate Bay had permission from FaceBook to implement the new feature, Sunde said they didn’t feel the need to ask. “They monitoring their protal every day - they should have noticed it long ago,” he added. Facebook declined to comment on the issue.
Post from: TorrentFreak
28.Mar.09 TorrentFreak Comments Off
It’s has been a good week for the entertainment industry lobbyists. Hundreds of news outlets wrote in detail about how the RIAA and MPAA are negotiating with Internet service providers to warn alleged copyright infringers. No one seemed to notice that this isn’t really news as they’ve been working together for years, with ISPs passing on warnings to their customers on behalf of the studios.
It all started with rumors about two US ISPs, Comcast and AT&T, who were said to be doing a three-strikes deal with the RIAA. It soon became known that this rumor was completely fabricated, but not before hundreds of other news oulets reproduced the story. At the end of the week it turned out that there was no news at all.
Yes, the RIAA, MPAA and other outfits do plan to send copyright infringement warnings to ISPs, but they’ve been doing so for at least half a decade. Every other month these Hollywood lobbyists pitch their anti-piracy efforts to the public, and that’s exactly what they are paid for. This doesn’t mean, however, that something is about to change.
The anti-piracy outfits are happy with all the free publicity of course, that is exactly what they are after. Their purpose is to scare people. In this post we hope to clear up some of the misunderstandings, as we show that the scary stories published this week have no substance at all.
Copyright infringement warnings?
For years, content owners such as record labels or movie studios have been sending copyright infringement notices to ISPs, who are legally obliged to forward these to their customers. Some ISPs simply ignore them, while others faithfully forward the emails to the customer account associated with the infringing IP-address. Many ISPs don’t keep records of these events.
So, is my ISP spying on me?
No. This is a common misunderstanding. ISPs don’t look into your specific downloading behavior, they never have and there is no indication that this will change anytime in the near future. All the ‘evidence’ comes from organizations that work for the copyright holders.
What do they know about me?
If you receive a warning, all copyright holders know about you at this stage is your IP-address and what files were (partially) shared via your account, or more accurately - the bill payer’s account. The MPAA, RIAA and others don’t know your name and they never will unless they get a court order forcing your ISP to hand over the information. In the bigger picture, this is very rare.
Information provided in a typical copyright warning.
How did they track me down?
The copyright holders hire companies such as BayTSP and DtecNet to track down people who share certain titles on BitTorrent and other file-sharing networks. They join the swarm and request files from others. When someone shares a piece of the file with them they log the IP-address, look up the ISP and send out a copyright infringement notice automatically. Unlike the file-sharers, these companies are authorized to download these files, so they are not infringing copyright themselves.
Will I get sued if I receive a warning through my ISP?
No. These copyright infringement warnings are not related to any legal action. Copyright holders do go after people who share their work on file-sharing networks, but this has nothing to do with the warnings they send out via ISPs.
Will they take my Internet away?
No. Although there is a lot of talk about “three strikes” policies, no ISP has agreed (or was forced) to disconnect users after they receive their third warning. In New Zealand they came close to implementing a law that would require ISPs to do this, but this proposal was pulled.
In France they are also considering three strikes legislation, but this has not passed into action yet. In Ireland the largest ISP Eircom said it would disconnect repeated infringers only if they receive a court order.
It is worth mentioning though that ISPs may cut off people whenever they think it’s necessary. Cox does this in the US for example, without an agreement with the MPAA or RIAA. ISPs have terms and conditions and most forbid copyright infringement, but really this is just to cover their own backs under the law.
Do I have to be worried?
Receiving a regular infringement notice is nothing to be worried about. However, if you download copyrighted files without authorization from the copyright holder you are breaking the law in some countries. If you receive a warning without having shared anything yourself (which happens quite often) then there’s nothing to worry about.
Can I protect (hide) myself?
If you don’t want to be spied on when using BitTorrent the best option is to hide your IP-address. You can do so by subscribing to a VPN service or by using software such as TorrentPrivacy. Blocklist software such as PeerGuardian is often recommended, but it is also highly ineffective as the lists are never fully up-to date or accurate.
What’s the point in all this?
The MPAA and RIAA don’t want their products on file-sharing networks and they use these warning emails to deter people from sharing these files with others. Since it’s much cheaper (and effective) than suing people, this is now their strategy of choice. Using news outlets to spread their doom and gloom scenarios is just part of their operation.
In the future the amount of warnings they send out to alleged infringers will increase and the studios and ISPs will work together to keep the associated operating costs down, if that’s not what they’ve already been doing in their recent meetings. It’s just the old model, scaled up with a rumor or two on top.
Let’s move on already.
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28.Mar.09 TorrentFreak Comments Off
The torrent, titled “Where did the money come from?” exposes some of the policeman’s passwords and account details, including some documents relating to a house he recently bought. The title hints at Keyzer’s short employment at Warner Bros. while he was working on the police investigation, but this implied link seems a little tenuous.
According to the release info the documents were released by the ‘Keyzer Defender’ and were obtained from Keyzer’s girlfriend’s Hotmail account. “These attachments are taken from mails in the Hotmail account belonging to Jim Keyzer’s girlfriend. Also included are login credentials and some of Jim’s passwords,” it reads.
Keyzer has contacted the Pirate Bay team and said that he found it unfortunate that his girlfriend was hacked because of his involvement with The Pirate Bay case. He did not ask for the torrent to be removed, which shows that he learned at least one thing during the investigation.
Release Notes.
Keyzer became the subject of some controversy when he started working for Warner Bros. before the Pirate Bay investigation was closed. After a short stay at the movie company Keyzer terminated his leave of absence, and returned to the IT Crime Unit in Stockholm.
The Pirate Bay crew were not amused by Keyzer’s dual role, and filed a complaint with the police. The police looked into the case briefly but decided not to investigate it because there was “no reason to believe that a crime has been committed by anyone employed by the police.”
During the Pirate Bay trial Keyzer inexplicably disappeared but now weeks later, his girlfriend appears to have been dragged into the dispute. The Pirate Bay certainly provokes a certain passion in their fanbase, and some are clearly prepared to go to extreme lengths to show that their beloved site is not to be messed with.
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27.Mar.09 TorrentFreak Comments Off
For the third time in a year the European Parliament has spoken out against tougher anti-piracy legislation that would allow alleged file-sharers to be disconnected from the Internet based on evidence from anti-piracy lobby groups. Instead, they chose to protect rights and freedoms of Internet users.
The report from Greek MEP Stavros Lambrinidis concerning security and the protection of fundamental freedoms on the Internet, has been accepted by an overwhelming majority. The European Parliament adopted the report with 481 votes in favor, 25 against and 21 abstentions. French proposals that would allow a ‘graduated response’ aka ‘3 strikes’ regime to deal with alleged copyright infringers were rejected.
“While ensuring that the Internet is more secure is a legitimate goal for our societies, we must monitor and restrict the use of surveillance and control techniques that threaten our freedoms, especially in cases which question its necessity, proportionality and effectiveness,” says the report.
In a clear snub to both the French government and copyright holders the report says, “Governments or private companies should not see the denial of such access as a means of imposing sanctions, as proposed in some countries in the union.”
The report further states that computer and electronic literacy is the new literacy of the 21st century and that guaranteeing Internet access to all European citizens is synonymous with guaranteeing education.
The French tried to protect their upcoming 3 Strikes law, but failed. An amendment proposed to read, “Access to the Internet should not be the subject of abuse for purposes of illegal activities and that a balance between the various basic rights guaranteed in Community legislation must be respected,” was rejected.
At this stage it is unclear if this pressure from the European Parliament will cause the French to reconsider their ‘3 strikes’ plans. It would not be the first time for Sarkozy to ignore the democratic vote.
Post from: TorrentFreak
27.Mar.09 TorrentFreak Comments Off
Founded in 2000, MediaDefender made a name for itself by polluting file-sharing networks and BitTorrent sites with fake files. Their methods were especially effective on sites that had little or no moderation and the company’s success didn’t go unnoticed.
In mid 2005, MediaDefender founders Randy Saaf and Octavio Herrera were paid $43 million for their anti-piracy company when it was acquired by ARTISTdirect. This seemed to be a good deal, particularly since the big movie studios were paying millions for MediaDefender’s services - but that situation didn’t last.
In August 2007 disaster struck when a database of MediaDefender’s internal emails leaked to the public. Every juicy detail of their anti-piracy campaigns were out in the open, including the tools they used. The hacker said that he initially didn’t plan to make the info public, but when he found out what MediaDefender were up to he was determined to “destroy them” - and so he did.
The emails were published on the web at MediaDefender-Defenders.com but now the site just diverts to The Pirate Bay. Despite the damage control efforts of MediaDefender, however, the emails are still available for download on some BitTorrent sites. This must have helped give the large movie studios the impression that MediaDefender is not the most capable company to entrust with the protection of their blockbuster titles.
MediaDefender Founders Randy Saaf and Octavio Herrera
A few months after the leak it became known that the data breach was proving exceptionally expensive, with MediaDefender’s parent company losing almost $1,000,000 because of the hack. As a result, their stock price plunged and is now valued at a measly two cents per share and the company’s activities have noticeably decreased. BitTorrent site administrators told TorrentFreak that MediaDefender are not as active as they used to be.
Many times we have predicted the downfall of MediaDefender but on paper the company is still alive. Its founders are no longer on board though. According to a SEC filing last month, MediaDefender has terminated the employment of Randy Saaf and Octavio Herrara.
Why the two left is not clear, but it’s the end of an era for sure. It wouldn’t surprise us if the company ceases to exist in the near future. Meanwhile, the two anti-piracy partners were elected to the Board of Directors of Jibro, Inc. a relatively unknown mobile entertainment company where they will continue to work together.
We wish them all the best.
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26.Mar.09 TorrentFreak Comments Off
On first sight, Wesley - the main character in the book - is not really different from the other kids in school. However, this quickly changes when the sewage treatment plant is in danger. In order to protect mankind Wesley transforms into TorrentBoy, a first class super-hero.
Wesley has a talking ‘tracker watch’ that is able to tap into the power of TorrentSphere when needed, and transform him into TorrentBoy. Together with a laser blaster-carrying, speech-impeded teddy bear named Crash, he defends the world against all evil, including giant leeches.
TorrentBoy Fights Giant Leeches
Although the book isn’t literally about BitTorrent, it is inspired by it says MCM. “The underlying concept of the TorrentSphere is that all people in the world are connected through a massive invisible network, and that the network makes us all smarter and better people.
“It’s BitTorrent philosophy, but very abstracted. Then again, TorrentBoy battles giant leeches. Take from that what you will,” the author adds.
The book is a pleasure to read, and certainly not just for kids. It has a Creative Commons license, which means that people are free to add, edit, remix and share the book for non-commercial use. In fact, the author encourages readers to do so with the TorrentBoy project that was launched in addition to the book.
With the project MCM hopes to get a swarm of people involved in the TorrentBoy series. The best ideas will get licensed, and those who help out will of course get their share of the revenue generated. All is explained in the video at the bottom of this article.
‘TorrentBoy: Zombie World!’ can be downloaded for free, but a paperback and e-book (.epub) version are also sold on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other book stores. TorrentBoy has to be on BitTorrent of course, so we’ve uploaded a torrent to Mininova as well.
More About The TorrentBoy Project
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26.Mar.09 TorrentFreak Comments Off
