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Posted

MPAA Caught Uploading Fake Torrents

 

 

It is no secret that the MPAA and other anti-piracy organizations track down alleged pirates by uploading fake torrents. Up until now it was always unclear where those files came from, and how to identify them.

 

The MPAA and other anti-piracy watchdogs try to trap people into downloading fake torrents, so they can collect IP addresses, and send copyright infringement letters to ISPs. They hire a company to put up fake copies of popular movies, music albums, and TV series. They even use pirate like filenames such as “Battlestar Galactica S03E07 REPACK DSR XviD-ORENJi” and “Miami Vice[2006]DvDrip[Eng]-aXXo“.

 

One of the btjunkie admins has found a unique way to identify trackers that host these fake files, which makes it easy to efficiently remove them.

 

Virtually all the servers that spread these fake files are located in Southern California and Las Vegas. The administrators of these servers follow patterns that make it easy to identify them. The content of the trackers and seed amounts make them stand out. There are more unique characteristics, but we wont reveal all the tricks because they could take counter measures. Here are some examples of servers that host and track fake torrents:

 

Tracker 1, Tracker 2, Tracker 3 & Tracker 4. (Screenshots: One & Two)

 

All the information was provided to me by one of the admins of btjunkie, who works together on this with other torrent site admins. He says that the MPAA and friends use a variety of tactics. The tracker will either stall everyone at around 90% or the content will just be a blank monochrome screen.

 

“I really think this is being done by professionals with a budget, that’s a lot of servers to setup and it takes some expertise to setup in the manner that they did it,” says the btjunkie admin. “I don’t think I really need to say who would spend money on something like this.”

 

Here are some good examples of how these fake torrents clutter up the search results. Virtually all of those X marked torrents are coming from the ip-ranges we mentioned, and are fake files. The good thing is that Torrentportal’s report system is well used by their users.

 

The server boxes that host these torrents fall in serveral ip-ranges, and are not yet blocked by blocklist software like peerguardian. Here are a few of the ranges that were discovered recently. You can easily add these to the blocklist of your torrent client (if it supports one), filewall, or blocklist manager.

# 66.172.60.XXX, 66.177.58.XXX, 66.180.205.XXX, 209.204.61.XXX, 216.151.155.XXX

 

The anti-piracy servers use hostnames like 101tracker.dhcp.biz, aplustorrents.qhigh.com, bitnova.squirly.info, bittorment.ocry.com, and pirate-trakkrz.leet.la. All these hostnames can be traced back to the same IP Ranges, these ranges contain possibly hundreds of fake trackers, so feel free to block them:

 

A list of infohashes of fake torrents can be found over here.

 

Note that it’s not only MPAA material that is hosted on these fake trackers. It is more likely that the servers are owned and operated by an organization that logs IP addresses for several copyright owners and or anti-piracy organizations.

 

Update: according to one of out readers these ip-ranges belong to “Media Defender“, a company that is hired by copyright owners, to log IP-addresses. This reader, who worked for Media Defender until recently, confirmed that some of the torrents that were mentioned, are indeed on the MPAA’s list.

 

 

 

Taken from http://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-caught-uploading-fake-torrents/

 

 

 

 

Be careful out there!!

 

There are a ton of debates on the legality of this going on... they are distributing "Fake Files" then going after people for it.... when they are they ones uploading it....

 

Anyways just a heads up for everyone

 

 

 

Gerritt.

Posted

Tell your ISP that... and no... copyright infringement is still illegal in canada..

 

The fact that people believe that it is legal is infact false. Someone owns that music and they want to be paid for it...

 

Same goes with Free to Air Sat systems..

 

Someone OWNS the content.

 

 

Gerritt.

Posted

well I only download them so I can put them on my mp3 player easily

but I only download songs that I have already bought and have in my collection, so I have already paid to have the right to listen to them....

 

and honest I am saying that with a strait face....lol

 

oh and I did not have sex with that women, miss Lewinsky

Posted

The good guys win today, the bad guys win tomorrow. As soon as one or the other figures out a new way to beat the system, the other guys figure out a way to defeat them. That's pretty much how it's been going for the last decade or so. I don't see anything changing real soon. There's super geeks on each team. I wouldn't worry about it.

Posted (edited)

Geez...anybody wanna buy an ipod? :blink::lol:

 

 

 

PS.. Gerrett ..... Isnt FTA legal?...Only if you descramble it becomes not quite so legal.

Edited by Nipissing
Posted

Different medium, different decade, same issue. First it was reel to reel tape, 8 tracks and then cassetts(sp). Borrow a friends vinyl album and record it. Then VHS & Beta lol..two tape players and record a copy.....now DVD's, Ipods etc.... :blahblah1::blahblah1: and what Dan said.

Posted
Tell your ISP that... and no... copyright infringement is still illegal in canada..

 

The fact that people believe that it is legal is infact false. Someone owns that music and they want to be paid for it...

 

Same goes with Free to Air Sat systems..

 

Someone OWNS the content.

 

 

Gerritt.

If you define illegal as a crime (ie Criminal Offence) then, no it is not illegal. It is a violation of the user agreement. Copyright laws are civil matters. You cannot be arrested for it.

In Canada, your ISP may not give out your address or name to the RIAA or whomever is seeking it during a civil matter, which is why all the old cases against file sharers was dropped. It became unenforcable.

It is the same as photocopying a page from a book...it is a copyright infringement.

I had someone lift work I had done and found out the hard way...copyrights are almost as useful as paper umbrellas.

Posted

I don't think it's illegal to download personal files, they want the people that download and manufacture cds, dvds and print the same covers on them and sell them on the street and in some stores for $3-5 ect...

 

Once the music industry pays off the government enough money I think they'll make a new law to stop downloading.

Posted

I am glad you gave us a heads up Gerritt. And that torrent Miami Vice[2006]DvDrip[Eng]-aXXo looks familiar. I may have even dl'd it and it didn't work? Yikes!

I will have to save this thread and keep an eye on things from now on. Think it may be time to join some of those torrent forums.

Posted

My understanding of it is similar to Rick's. In the US, it's illegal to download and upload. In Canada, it's illegal to distribute copyrighted material (ie upload it), but it's not illegal to download.

Posted

My understanding of it is similar to Rick's. In the US, it's illegal to download and upload. In Canada, it's illegal to distribute copyrighted material (ie upload it), but it's not illegal to download.

 

The thing is about Bittorrent, you're doing both at the same time.

Posted (edited)

Hmmm.... Here it comes... be prepared...

 

 

Copyright law changes could leave consumers vulnerable

Last Updated: Thursday, January 11, 2007 | 9:39 AM ET

The Canadian Press

 

Ever recorded a television show or a movie so you can watch it later? Or ripped a CD so you can listen to it on your MP3 player?

 

With changes to Canada's copyright laws expected as early as next month, these mundane 21st century activities could theoretically be open to prosecution — unless the Conservative government steps in with expanded "fair use" or "fair dealing" protections for consumers.

 

Close observers of the file say all signs point to a new regime that will improve safeguards for major music, film and media companies and artists for unpaid use of their material, but neglect to make exemptions for personal use of copyrighted content.

'About as market interventionist as you can get'

 

"We're dealing with an industry minister [Maxime Bernier] that's tried to extricate government from the telecom area with a very strong deregulatory focus," said Michael Geist, the Canada Research Chair of Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa.

 

"Yet the kind of copyright reform that is being contemplated is about as market interventionist as you can get."

 

Amendments to the Copyright Act are fraught with problems, since there are so many players with contradictory views.

 

Exacerbating the situation is intense pressure from the United States, where Canada is considered a rogue when it comes to copyright and intellectual property. It still hasn't ratified a 1997 World Intellectual Property Organization copyright treaty.

 

Sources say the new legislation is ready, but Bernier and Heritage Minister Bev Oda are struggling on final wording. Two of the most controversial issues are called digital rights management and the closely related technological protection measures.

'People just assume it's free'

 

Graham Henderson of the Canadian Recording Industry Association, one of Canada's top lobbyists for stiffer copyright controls, notes that a variety of digital services have taken off in the United States and started to make up a large percentage of music revenues.

 

"In Canada, that's not happening and it's not happening because we have a culture here where people just assume it's free," said Henderson.

 

"It's a big black market effect and so instead of 25 per cent [of the market], it's eight per cent here. People are simply abandoning the marketplace altogether, and they've made the decision they'll just download the music and worry about how the artist gets paid later."

Exemptions for consumers urged

 

But what does this mean for the consumer who legitimately buys a song or a film, and wants to use it on several different devices?

 

Consumer advocates, such as Ottawa-based lawyer Howard Knopf, are urging the government to protect Canadians with wide exemptions in the Copyright Act for "fair use."

 

As well, a group of Canadian musicians, including the Barenaked Ladies and Broken Social Scene, have come out against the technological protection measures, arguing they actually stifle creativity and their relationship with consumers.

 

 

As I stated be careful. Rick Civial Litigation can be EVEN worse the criminal... 10's of thousands on lawyers fees the risk of paying the prosecuters fees then the acual judgement itself.. and you are still out thousands regarless of weather you win or lose... that is what they are counting on... OUTSPENDING YOU... I'll stick to itunes...

 

Taken from the CBC.

 

Gerritt.

Edited by Gerritt
Posted

Good read Gerritt, they have been putting up fakes for years now, and it impossible to tell its a fake untill you DL it (or read comments before you DL it)

 

It only a metter of time before we start seeing Canadians gettign charged for downloading copyrighted material - my guess is we will still get away tiwht it for a while - or you coudl just download using your neigbors unsecured wireless signal ;)

Posted

If you define illegal as a crime (ie Criminal Offence) then, no it is not illegal. It is a violation of the user agreement. Copyright laws are civil matters. You cannot be arrested for it.

 

In Canada you certainly can be arrested for copyright infringment. It is a criminal offence under the Copyright Act and comes with a maximum 5 year prison term and a one million dollar fine.

 

Here is the link from the Department of Justice, look at the heading titled Criminal Remidies.

 

http://lois.justice.gc.ca/en/showdoc/cs/C-...ga:l_IV-gb:s_42

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