Google Started Censoring File-Sharing Search Results

Google turned out to follow through on its last month promise “to prevent terms related to piracy from Autocomplete.”

Indeed, Google is keeping its promise made in December 2010 to “better address bad apples using the web to violate copyright.” As you might remember, Google’s 4-part plan for “Making Copyright Work Better Online” contained a promise to prevent terms associated with online piracy from Autocomplete. That’s exactly what the search giant did.

However, the Google team seems to choose terms without any customer feedback or sensible criteria. For example, the search engine banned the terms like uTorrent, BitTorrent, MegaUpload, and RapidShare. Meanwhile, it didn’t include The Pirate Bay, Vuze, Mediafire, or Transmission in the ban list. In other words, BitTorrent and uTorrent are actually the sole BitTorrent applications banned from Autocomplete. Unsurprisingly, BitTorrent Inc. found the censorship far too aggressive, particularly when Google singled out its legally trademarked name of all things.

BitTorrent Inc. Vice-President pointed out that although they do respect the search giant’s right to set algorithms to deliver proper search results, the company’s trademarked name is actually fairly unique. That’s why BitTorrent Inc. is sure that anyone typing the first several letters must get the same easy access to search results as with any other organization. Besides, there’re lots of likewise legal BitTorrent search results that will now be affected by Google’s new filter.

BitTorrent Inc. is not the only company showing its discontent. MegaUpload has also found itself on the wrong side of the filter. The guess is that now the cyberlocker should take time to rethink its recent comments made about Google also being a “rogue website”.

And, of course, RapidShare will surely find the censorship particularly offensive, because German and US courts have repeatedly ruled that third parties, but not the service itself, are responsible for copyright infringement.

Meanwhile, it’s quite interesting to see what Google will do next. It has already established a baseline for preventing terms “closely associated with infringing material” from those shown in Autocomplete, but it’s not clear whether it will leave it as is, or add more of them and which ones.

The Pirate Bay Launched Threatening Site

The world’s largest BitTorrent tracker The Pirate Bay is known for being a thorn in the side of the entertainment industry for a while. Nevertheless, it hinted that things still can take a turn for the worse. The matter is a new project launched by the TPB crew, titled “The Music Bay”, and promising that the music industry now has a great reason to be very, very afraid.

First of all, it was several years ago that The Pirate Bay registered a domain which hasn’t been very active thus far – themusicbay.org. Actually, when it was launched, there were plans to develop the most efficient music-sharing software ever. However, the plans were put aside because some other projects were more important.

Nevertheless, the domain didn’t fall into oblivion, as recently rumors started to circle that this domain name might be put to use after all. Although at the moment it is setup to serve ads for TPB site, as soon as this spring The Music Bay could be hosting a great surprise for the entertainment industry.

For example, the currently active subdomain fear.themusicbay.org is now containing a hint that something is “coming soon”. However, The Pirate Bay operators are reluctant to reveal any specific details about the site. At the same time, their intentions are quite obvious, considering their words related to the record labels. Precisely, they said that the industry can’t even imagine what is going to be rolled out in the near future. Although the industry has been complaining bitterly about piracy for years, now they have a real reason to be scared. The only thing The Pirate Bay crew released is that “it is going to be a special surprise for the IFPI’s birthday”. Perhaps, even a festival will be organized in Rome, where IFPI was born. IFPI, by the way, is the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, founded under Italian fascist government of Benito Mussolini in April of 1933.

No more details have been released by The Pirate Bay, so it will be not just a big surprise for the music industry, but for everyone, including us. As for now, all the rumors and comments can be interpreted in many ways – without any information on the oncoming project, it can only be treated now as a mere domain name, registered and used for the sole purpose of threatening the already paranoid record labels.

WikiLeaks Collected Data From P2P Networks

A company called Tiversa is engaged in providing “P2P Intelligence services”. It recently made an interesting report, revealing some examples in which information published on WikiLeaks appeared to first have been exposed by government employees that used file-sharing programs on PCs containing sensitive information.

It’s not the first time that the reports emerge, saying that classified data is being inadvertently available on file-sharing networks. The public has already seen Congress holding a number of hearings proclaiming the chances of a so-called “cyber Pearl Harbour.”

Usually it was suggested that the information has been sought by spies, or “bad actors”. However, no-one has ever considered that the information would be collected and leaked by individuals with good intentions.

According to Tiversa, it has collected evidence proving that the whistle-blower website WikiLeaks may have used some P2P clients to collect classified data. Meanwhile, WikiLeaks CEO, Robert Boback, announced that it is doing searches themselves on P2P networks, and that there would be no chance that somebody else from Sweden is issuing the same searches and finding the same type of data. WikiLeaks claimed that the accusations are entirely false, but the company is pointing at the list of coincidences.

For example, in 2009 Tiversa detected 4 Swedish PCs that have been searching for and downloading content on file-sharing networks. It turned out that their searches resulted in finding a computer of Department of Defence in Hawaii sharing some survey file of the Pacific Missile Range Facility. The file, of course, was downloaded, and, what is more interesting, posted later on WikiLeaks.

Robert Boback pointed out that there are not that many whistle-blower sites to get you many documents, but if you are getting those documents yourselves, such data is out there and available.

Another example provided by Tiversa is a spreadsheet listing potential terrorist targets in California, also published on WikiLeaks. The document detailing locations of caches of bomb-grade fertilizers and other sensitive information turned out to have been shared by a California state employee, again through some P2P program. Tiversa adds that it has more examples in which information published on WikiLeaks proved to be first exposed by government employees using file-sharing clients on PCs with sensitive information.

Largest BitTorrent Porn Websites Closed Down

A couple of the Internet’s largest porn BitTorrent sites have announced that they permanently shut down. Empornium and PureTNA, having over 2.5 million members between them, when closed will leave a significant number of porn fans empty handed.

It started a few days ago, when the sites’ members discovered that the largest BitTorrent adult trackers PureTNA and Empornium have been routing to 127.0.0.1. Of course, the members of both services have been worried, because those 2 giants connected by the same management boasted a huge number of users.

For example, PureTNA had more than 1,330,000 members, and its fellow Empornium had a close number. Recently PureTNA’s database was almost 67 thousand torrents servicing around 630 thousand peers. Meanwhile, Empornium listed over 82 thousand torrents and 660 thousand peers. That is a huge amount of porn, just how their members liked it.

However, the sites’ users face the sad reality now, with the management of both sites confirming that they went permanently offline. The demands for elaboration have been declined, but the management of both trackers said briefly: “Such is BitTorrent life.”

The event was quite unexpected by the community, because both BitTorrent trackers had continued to grow, in terms of both torrents and membership. The rumours are that because of the lack of investment in code development, PureTNA and Empornium have become vulnerable to virus attacks, which led to one or both of the trackers being hacked a few days ago. Instead of pumping money into the services to prevent the attacks happening again, trackers’ owners chose to wipe hard drives in order to protect user privacy. Or, at least, so the story goes.

Another rumour (and a sounder one) is that the services buckled under legal pressure. A few weeks ago many porn websites and studios have issued legal orders to the sites. Curiously enough, PureTNA is still listed by Google, while a search for Empornium brings up a complete blank, creating an impression that the site doesn’t exist.

Regardless of the reason, whether it is hackings, legal pressure, or both, the BitTorrent trackers will not come back, which certainly marks the end of an era for BitTorrent porn consumers. In the end the sites’ owners could simply lose interest in developing further.

European Commission Will Force ISPs Fight Piracy

European Commission describes its status as “intermediaries between all Internet users and the copyright owners”. Thus, due to “unprecedented increase in opportunities to violate copyright”, the Commission has to explore the possibility of using their “favorable position” to fight digital piracy. In addition, the EC said that online market places and search engines will be forced to take some preventive measures.

A recent report from European Commission seems to suggest involvement by broadband providers, Internet marketplaces and search engines in the fight against digital piracy. The report recalls an earlier directive that was implemented 7 years ago and helped improve enforcement efforts. However, since then the web has created increased opportunities for copyright violation that the Directive didn’t foresee back in 2004. On the one side, the web has provided creators with the new opportunity to market their works. On the other side, Internet has also opened the door to new forms of violations.

The Commission says that part of the problem lies with rights owners who have been “unable” to keep up with the demand of legitimate digital content. Due to this unmet demand, a number of websites are currently hosting or facilitating the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted content, while the existing legislation isn’t suited to solve this problem. In short words, the report suggests that “intermediaries” between users and copyright owners be enlisted to help fighting piracy.

For example, Internet service providers are identified as a “key” component of the web, which allows users to access unauthorized content. Considering the fact that today’s efforts have so far failed to effectively stop or at least decrease the level of Internet infringement, it is decided that more powerful instruments are required.

The report admits that any regulations it considers should respect privacy laws and the protection of personal information. Meanwhile, it also says that it needs to find “a balance between the rights of both parties”.

The problem with the suggestion is that the Commission could never properly address unauthorized file-sharing, because it simply lacks an inherent profit motive. Moreover, it’s impossible to fully quantify what damages have been done to rights owners by each individual file-sharer. 

Ubisoft Introduced A Tool To Drop DRM Requirement

DRM requirement may have been the most ill-advised form of copy protection since the Sony Rootkit scandal. However, currently the Ubisoft is reported to release a patch for different games, including Assassin’s Creed 2 and Splinter Cell: Conviction, which are affected by “always on” DRM. The new tool doesn’t require a constant broadband connection any longer, but still needs a connection every time the game is launched.

It was 6 months ago that Ubisoft made headlines over a DRM system, which was ultimately backed off, choosing to use Steam. The controversy over the DRM started when a number of games required a constant broadband connection. Although the DRM was called a breakthrough in stopping piracy, it all went downhill from there for the company. Just 24 hours after the moment of official game release, its copy protection was cracked, enabling the illegal downloading and playing of the game anyway. Meanwhile, lots of users and observers pointed out that the constant connection was really degrading, especially for those with flaky broadband connections. As a result, it turned out that users of the pirated version of the game enjoyed smooth action, while users with legal copies would have the game freeze whenever their Internet connection gave out. Of course, fans of the game were furious to feel themselves less free than pirates.

Meanwhile, it went even worse when the servers responsible for the DRM eventually went down, locking out legal gamers but not affecting pirates. In other words, Assassin’s Creed 2 probably went down in history as a bright example of how copy protection can ruin the gaming experience.

Now, Ubisoft is reported to release a patch for its games having the “always on” DRM. In short words, the patch removes the requirement for a constant broadband connection, only leaving the necessity of having a connection for launching the game. Thus, after users boot the game properly, they can shut off their broadband connection and enjoy the game.

Most industry observers agree that Ubisoft finally took a step in the right direction, but no-one can deny that the damage has already been done for users who keep thinking that the company’s games simply don’t work. In fact, most users are rightly sure that requiring a broadband connection for playing a video game, even in a single player mode(!) is just ridiculous. 

BitTorrent Can Be Used for DDoS Attacks

A talk at the CCC (Chaos Communications Congress) made it clear that BitTorrent swarms can be easily exploited to take down large sites. In short words, vulnerability in the technology of “trackerless” torrents indeed makes it possible to trick downloaders of popular torrents into send a great number of requests to a chosen server, finally taking it down. Virtually, this makes BitTorrent quite an effective DDoS instrument.

Everyone knows that BitTorrent is in the list of the most effective tools for transferring huge digital files to many people simultaneously. As distinct from a central server, BitTorrent transfers tend to increase speed as more people share the same file. That is the reason why BitTorrent has evolved into the most popular file-sharing platform.

Imagine that millions of people are downloading files through BitTorrent daily. Meanwhile, in some instances over 100 thousand people are sharing the same file at the given moment. While such large swarms of peers are good for sharing, they can also be used for DDoS attacks, as the Chaos Communications Congress recently revealed.

CCC talk was titled “Lying To Neighbors”, and revealed that the DHT technology powering “trackerless torrents” can easily be abused, as BitTorrent downloaders are able to effectively DDoS a certain server. In fact, DHT’s function is to find peers with the same files without communicating with a central tracker, which ensures that your downloads will continue even when the central BitTorrent tracker goes offline. However, DHT can also be exploited to carry out a DDoS attack. In case there’re enough peers downloading the same file, this can effortlessly take down large sites. The sad side of all this is that the downloaders involved in the DDoS attack may be unaware of that.

Such DHT vulnerabilities aren’t new concepts for the developers. In fact, they have been discussed earlier, but still no agreement has yet been reached on them. Meanwhile, over the last months DDoS attacks became a common event, major part carried out under the flag of Operation Payback. However, those attacks required hundreds of users to actively participate simultaneously, while the BitTorrent DDoS is able to take down a server from a single computer.

It unclear whether BitTorrent developers are planning to act upon that DHT vulnerability to prevent that kind of abuse after it became known to everyone, or not.