Major pirate website shut down

cimt · 22-10-2007, 23:06

Quote:

One of the world's most-used pirate film websites has been closed after providing links to illegal versions of major Hollywood hits and TV shows.

The first closure of a major UK-based pirate site was also accompanied by raids and an arrest, the anti-piracy group Federation Against Copyright Theft (Fact) said today.

Pretty disappointed by this, I never knew the site broke the law? Sure hope it re-opens in the future...

http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2195407,00.html

**Rob** · 22-10-2007, 23:09

hmm, and the "major site" isn't even named

cimt · 22-10-2007, 23:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rob

hmm, and the "major site" isn't even named

It is in the article, in the 4th paragraph.

Quote:

The arrest and the closure of the site - www.tv-links.co.uk - came during an operation by officers from Gloucestershire County Council trading standards in conjunction with investigators from Fact and Gloucestershire Police.

**Rob** · 22-10-2007, 23:20

Ah, didn't read past the break in the page where presumably there would be an ad banner

Gareth · 23-10-2007, 00:29

He's been made a bit of a scapegoat, imo. Admittedly he facilitated copyright infringement by providing the links but it would have been more impressive if the authorities had gone after Google, as most of the material was hosted on YouTube in any case. Instead they've taken the "low hanging fruit" option and got the small guy who doesn't have an army of lawyers backing himself up.

Guess maybe he should've hosted his site in Sweden.

Roy MM · 23-10-2007, 02:57

Damn, but we still have. http://www.tvlinkvault.com/

lauzjp · 23-10-2007, 03:05

I wondered where it had gone... a lot of the links stopped working during the past 7 days anyhoot

but I agree, I think the poor guy has been made a scapegoat. Now where's that online petition, eh...

v0id · 23-10-2007, 11:48

oink.cd being shut down is a major pirate website being shut down

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tees/7057812.stm

grubbymitts · 23-10-2007, 13:20

Oh well, Oink is gone. Everyone move to usenet.com

Oh bugger!

SOSAGES · 23-10-2007, 13:20

i can just see them going through a long list of members emails and all the donation accounts

i think people are slowing getting the fact that what u may think is harmless is actually illegal regardless of how u look at it. The options to obtain this type of content are quickly getting smaller and smaller, i hope you have top site access or some sneaky private FTP....

23-10-2007, 14:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by v0id

oink.cd being shut down is a major pirate website being shut down

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tees/7057812.stm

Yep, i know the owner quite well.

Wasnt just him who got arrested, few staff members have as well.

Really hitting alot of sites hard just lately, there is a slight rumour going around that torrentleech is under investigation as well, which obviously would end to them being raided, but hey ho look how many times PB has been raided, and they always come back

Glad i dont use torrents anymore though.

SMHarman · 23-10-2007, 19:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by SOSAGES

i think people are slowing getting the fact that what u may think is harmless is actually illegal regardless of how u look at it. The options to obtain this type of content are quickly getting smaller and smaller, i hope you have top site access or some sneaky private FTP....

Then these companies need to get better at providing distribution medium for their older assets. I agree you can rent the DVD for a current movie and many current and more popular old shows, but for example the BBC almost gave up production of the Blakes 7 series on DVD before they got all 4 out. If you want the episodes where else do you go?

Gareth · 23-10-2007, 21:46

Seems that the Gloucestershire police, acting on behalf of Trading Standards who were themselves acting on behalf of FACT (ps - how can one be a copyright thief..? Copyright infringement - sure, but copyright theft...?

) took this guy in not because of copyright infringement, as was initially suspected, but because of "suspicion of supplying property with a registered trademark, without permission".

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/10...trademark_law/

Quote:

Originally Posted by El Reg

Gloucestershire police have confirmed that a 26-year-old Cheltenham man at the centre of an investigation into the website TV-Links was arrested under section 92 of the Trade Mark Act, on suspicion of supplying property with a registered trademark, without permission.

The man was taken into custody on Thursday last week after an investigation by the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) and the local trading standards office. Initial reports from FACT said he had been arrested for "offences relating to the facilitation of copyright infringement on the Internet".

Eh...? WTF...? Can someone explain how providing a link to another web page hosted on another web server owned and managed by another company is deemed to be supplying trademarked property without consent?

The words "clutching" and "straws" seem very apt all of a sudden.

dragon · 23-10-2007, 22:12

Copyright should always be a civil case anyway

foreverwar · 23-10-2007, 23:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by dragon

Copyright should always be a civil case anyway

Be careful what you wish for, as civil law requires a lower burden of proof, actually making it easier to prove infringement. In a criminal case, the defendant is innocent until proven guilty beyond any reasonable doubt. However, in a civil case, the plaintiff must simply convince the court or tribunal that their claim is valid, and that on balance of probability it is likely that the defendant is guilty.