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Also stream new releases from Preoccupations, Alice Bag, and Trouble and Mike WiLL Made-It View the full article

‘Set-top’ devices such as Amazon’s Fire TV have sold in their millions in recent years as the stream-to-your-living room craze continues. Many commercial devices are intended to receive official programming in a legal manner but most can be reprogrammed to do illegal things. Of course, this behavior has nothing to do with the manufacturers of such devices but a case launched in Mexico last year really took things to the next level. Following a complaint filed by cable TV provider Cablevision, the Superior Court of Justice of the City of Mexico handed down an order in June preventing the importation of Roku devices and prohibiting stores such as Amazon, Liverpool, El Palacio de Hierro, and Sears from putting them on sale. The ban was handed down in an effort to tackle the amount of pirated content being viewed through the devices. News circulating at the time suggested that sellers on social media were providing more than 300 channels of unauthorized content for around US$8 per month. Of course, the same illegal content consumption also takes place via regular PCs, tablet computers, and even mobile phones. No one would consider banning them but the court in Mexico clearly didn’t see the parallels when it dropped the hammer on Roku. Later that month, however, a light appeared at the end of the tunnel. A federal judge decided to temporarily suspend the import and sales ban, which also instructed banks to stop processing payments from accounts linked to third-party pirate services. “Roku is pleased with today’s court decision, which paves the way for sales of Roku devices to resume in Mexico,” Roku’s General Counsel Steve Kay informed TorrentFreak at the time. “Piracy is a problem the industry at large is facing. We prohibit copyright infringement of any kind on the Roku platform. We actively work to prevent third-parties from using our platform to distribute copyright infringing content. Moreover, we have been actively working with other industry stakeholders on a wide range of anti-piracy initiatives.” But just as the sales began to flow once more, the celebrations were almost immediately cut short. On June 28, 2017, a Mexico City tribunal upheld the previous decision which banned importation and distribution of Roku devices, much to the disappointment of Roku’s General Counsel. “Today’s decision is not the final word in this complex legal matter,” Steve Kay said. Indeed, since that date, Roku and retailers including Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, Office Depot, Radio Shack and Sears have been fighting to have Roku devices put back on sale again, with several courts ruling against the appeals. Then last week there was another blow when federal judges in Mexico City and Torreón decided to keep the original suspension in place. Forbidding the “importation, commercialization and distribution” of Roku devices, the judges maintained that Roku devices could be used as an instrument for “dishonest commerce” in violation of Mexico’s copyright law. The main argument in support of the ban is that Roku devices can still be used by people to gain access to infringing content. As a result, Cablevision believes that Roku should modify its devices to ensure that piracy isn’t possible in the future. “It is necessary for Roku to make adjustments to its software, as other online content distribution platforms do, so that violations of copyrighted content do not take place,” a Cablevision spokesperson said. The decision to ban Roku devices can still be appealed. The company informs TorrentFreak that further legal action is on the cards. “There have been several recent court rulings related to the ban on the sale of Roku devices in Mexico. In fact, a Federal court in Mexico City has already determined that the ban was improper; however, the ban remains in place,” says Roku spokesperson Tricia Misfud. “While Roku’s devices have always been and remain legal to use in Mexico, the current ban harms consumers, the retail sector and the industry. We will vigorously pursue further legal actions with the aim of restoring sales of Roku devices in Mexico.” Despite a nationwide sales ban, people who already have a Roku in their possession remain unaffected by recent developments. Since the use of Roku devices in Mexico and elsewhere is completely legal, current users will still receive regular software updates. In associated news, Mexico’s Telecommunications Law Institute (IDET) reports that the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI) has been blocking URLs used to distribute unauthorized content and apps. While that will undoubtedly prove unpopular with pirates, one hopes that its execution is somewhat more precise than the wholesale banning of the entire Roku platform. Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons. View the full article

Post Malone releases the music video for "Psycho" featuring Ty Dolla $ign. View the full article

Isolation also features Thundercat, the Internet’s Steve Lacy, BADBADNOTGOOD, Jorja Smith, Bootsy Collins, and others View the full article

Shabazz Palaces, Noname, and more also set for Granfalloon: A Kurt Vonnegut Convergence View the full article

All the music news you need to know on March 23, 2018. View the full article

Lisa Marie Presley also appears in the “Tattooed in Reverse” visual View the full article

Driver arrested on suspicion of attempted murder View the full article

For years, springtime in Southern California has meant one thing for music lovers: the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, which once again will bring dozens of acts — and more than 100,000 fans — to the desert east of Los Angeles over two consecutive weekends starting April 13. But the annual... View the full article

John Carter Cash is an imposing yet reposeful presence as he leans his 6-foot-2 1/2 frame against one of the rough-hewn lumber beams supporting the porch roof of the Cash family cabin in a rural town 30 miles north of Nashville. He nods toward a woodsy knoll a few yards away and points out where... View the full article

According to the RIAA, ShareBeast.com and AlbumJams.com were responsible for the illegal distribution of “a massive library” of popular albums and tracks. With a nod to the sensitivity of pre-release piracy, the sites were blamed for offering “thousands of songs” that hadn’t yet reached their official release dates. In September 2015, U.S. authorities shut them down, placing seizure notices on both domains. The RIAA claimed that ShareBeast was the largest illegal file-sharing site operating in the United States, noting that the site’s IP addresses at the time indicated that at least some hosting had taken place in Illinois. “Millions of users accessed songs from ShareBeast each month without one penny of compensation going to countless artists, songwriters, labels and others who created the music,” RIAA Chairman & CEO Cary Sherman commented at the time. Two years later in September 2017, then 29-year-old former ShareBeast operator Artur Sargsyan pleaded guilty to one felony count of criminal copyright infringement, admitting to the unauthorized distribution and reproduction of over one billion copies of copyrighted works. “Through Sharebeast and other related sites, this defendant profited by illegally distributing copyrighted music and albums on a massive scale,” said U. S. Attorney John Horn. “The collective work of the FBI and our international law enforcement partners have shut down the Sharebeast websites and prevented further economic losses by scores of musicians and artists.” The Department of Justice reported that from 2012 to 2015, Sargsyan used ShareBeast as a pirate music repository, illegally hosting music by Ariana Grande, Katy Perry, Beyonce, Kanye West, and Justin Bieber, among others. Sargsyan linked to that content from Newjams.net and Albumjams.com, and granted access to the public. If Sargsyan had responded to takedown notices more positively, it’s possible that things may have progressed in a different direction. The RIAA sent the site more than 100 copyright-infringement emails over a three-year period but to no effect. This led the music industry group to get out its calculator and inform the DoJ that the total monetary loss to its member companies was “a conservative” $6.3 billion “gut-punch” to music creators who were paid nothing by the service. Given the huge numbers involved, it’s likely that Sargsyan hoped his 2017 guilty plea would result in a more forgiving sentence. Yesterday, however, the full weight of the law came crashing down. California resident Artur Sargsyan was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Timothy C. Batten, Sr., to five years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. The now 30-year-old was also ordered to pay $458,200 restitution and ordered to forfeit $184,768.87. “Sargsyan operated one of the most successful illegal music sharing websites on the Internet,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak. “His reproduction of copyrighted musical works were made available only to generate undeserved profits for himself. The incredible work done by our law enforcement partners and prosecutors in light of the complexity of Sargsyan’s operation demonstrates that we will employ all of our resources to stop this kind of theft.” David J. LaValley, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta, said that Sargsyan was warned several times that he was violating the law by illegally sharing copyrighted works, but chose to ignore the warnings. “His sentence sends a message that no matter how complex the operation, the FBI, its federal partners and law enforcement partners around the globe will go to every length to protect the property of hard working artists and the companies that produce their art,” LaValley said. Given the music group’s lengthy statements on the Sharebeast topic in the past, thus far the RIAA has been relatively brief. Welcoming news of the sentencing via Twitter, the major labels’ figurehead congratulated the law enforcement bodies behind the successful prosecution. “Congrats to U.S. Attorney BJay Pak + his team along with @TheJusticeDept CCIPS Division and @FBIAtlanta for their leadership on this important case,” the RIAA wrote. Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons. View the full article

Here are a bunch of little bites to satisfy your hunger for movie culture: Recap of the Day: Before going to see Pacific Rim: Uprising, recall what happened in the first Pacific Rim with help from this silly recap: Reworked Movie of the Day: Nerdist imagines Pacific Rim: Uprising as a 1975 release in this reworked trailer for the new sequel: Reworked Trailer of the Day: Aldo Jones is back with another surreal Weird Trailer version of an Avengers: Infinity War trailer, this time messing with its Super Bowl spot: Vintage Image of the Day: William Shatner, who turns 87 today, with co-stars Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley, director Robert Wise and creator Gene Roddenberry on the set of... Read More View the full article

The rapper is co-producing and providing the original soundtrack to the Director X-directed film View the full article

Misunderstood is forthcoming View the full article

The follow-up to 2014’s Lazaretto has arrived View the full article

Behind his upcoming album, Good Thing View the full article

The numbers for 2017 were the best they’d been since 2008 View the full article

Lil Yachty drops the video for "Count Me In," featuring a cameo from Bhad Bhabie. View the full article

The convicted former CEO will appeal the forfeiture order View the full article

But don’t get your hopes up for a reunion View the full article

Featuring John Mulaney, Sarah Silverman, Tiffany Haddish, the Muppets, Post Malone, more View the full article

The music business grew by more than 16% last year to $8.7 billion, its highest level in a decade according to new figures released Thursday by the Recording Industry Assn. of America, the music industry trade organization. As has been the case in the last several years, growth was led by increases... View the full article

Update #2: The plot for the upcoming Deadpool sequel has been a closely-guarded secret. Until now, that is, as revealed in a fresh, new and extremely NSFW (Not Safe For Work) trailer. It revolves around the introduction of a team of superpowered characters. Watch the new, NSFW trailer below and check all we know below that. The action thriller will open in theaters on May 18. (Previously-published post below.) Update #1: We get out first look at Josh Brolin in action as Cable in a new teaser for the untitled Deadpool sequel. It all looks like a typical superhero movie until Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds), aka Deadpool, breaks the fourth wall, hilariously. Check out the NSFW (not safe for work) trailer below and note that the movie is now set for... Read More View the full article

“Class is coming to an end. It’s time for Graduation!” View the full article

After a film first shows up in theaters, movie fans usually have to wait a few months before they can get a DVD or digital download, depending on the local release strategy. This delay tactic, known as a release window, helps movie theaters to maximize their revenues. However, for many pirates, this is also a reason to turn to unauthorized sites and services. Many of the most pirated movie titles are not yet available to buy or rent online, but they are on The Pirate Bay, Fmovies, and elsewhere. Perhaps only a fraction of these pirates would pay, if they could, but release windows are not helping. This critique isn’t new and, according to a working paper published by Pepperdine University researchers, the tide is turning. Movie release windows are shrinking rapidly, for digital downloads at least. In their paper titled: Popcorn or Snack? Empirical Analysis of Movie Release Windows, the researchers compared the release windows of DVDs to those of electronic sell-through movies (EST) on iTunes, Amazon, and YouTube. EST movies are also called “download to own” and have a comparable release date to rentals, in most cases. The results show that between 2012 and 2017, the release windows for DVDs remained relatively stable at three to four months. However, for digital downloads there was a sharp decrease over the same period. “Based on our results, the EST release date has been approaching the DVD release date at a steady and significant average rate of about 23 days per year,” the researchers write. “Within only two years, we have seen the average EST release window shrink by more than half, from 255 days in the 2nd quarter of 2012 to 114 days in the 2nd quarter of 2014. The EST window has pretty much reached the average 113 day DVD window in our sample.” Shrinking window Since 2015, digital downloads actually have a slightly smaller release window than DVDs on average, making it the first release channel after movie theaters. While this is good news for movie fans, it’s uncertain if this trend will continue. The current release windows appear to be carefully chosen to ensure that they don’t cannibalize box office revenues. This is nicely illustrated in the figure below, which shows that 95% of all box office revenues are generated in the first two months, and 99% after four months. The optimal release window falls somewhere in the middle. That would also explain why the DVD release window isn’t shrinking any further. Cumulative box office revenue The researchers see room for further improvement, however. Decreasing the video on demand release window can cost a few percents of box office revenue, at most, but it might result in a significant boost in online sales. And with the piracy rates not showing any decline, movie studios might feel the need to experiment a little. “Given that most of the theater revenues are captured within the first two months and given that movie piracy shows no signs of slowing down, there will be increasing pressure for studios to release movies earlier in secondary channels to increase revenues coming from these channels,” the researchers write. — The full paper, written by Dr. Nelson Granados and Dr. John Mooney, is available here. Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons. View the full article