Investigating the reaction of BitTorrent content publishers to antipiracy actions

During recent years, a few countries have put in place online antipiracy laws and there has been some major enforcement actions against violators. This raises the question that to what extent antipiracy actions have been effective in deterring online piracy? This is a challenging issue to explore because of the difficulty to capture user behavior, and to identify the subtle effect of various underlying (and potentially opposing) causes. In this paper, we tackle this question by examining the impact of two major antipiracy actions, the closure of Megaupload and the implementation of the French antipiracy law, on publishers in the largest BitTorrent portal who are major providers of copyrighted content online. We capture snapshots of BitTorrent publishers at proper times relative to the targeted antipiracy event and use the trends in the number and the level of activity of these publishers to assess their reaction to these events. Our investigation illustrates the importance of examining the impact of antipiracy events on different groups of publishers and provides valuable insights on the effect of selected major antipiracy actions on publishers' behavior.This work has been partially supported by the European Union through the FP7 eCOUSIN (318398) and TREND (257740) Projects and the ITEA2 TWIRL Project (Call 5-10029), the Spanish Government under the CRAMNET project (TEC2012-38362-C03-01) and eeCONTENT Project (TEC2011- 29688-C02-02), the Regional Government of Madrid through the MEDIANET project (S-2009/TIC-1468), and the National Science Foundation under Grant IIS-0917381.European Community's Seventh Framework Progra

Film factory losses: is BitTorrent a major responsible?

International audienceOnline piracy is an important challenge in the motion-pictures industry. Several studies have claimed that unauthorized content in online venues are reducing substantially the Box Office revenues while few other studies were not in favor of this claim. To understand better the impact of this phenomena early years, a study based on a large dataset is needed to analyze how different portals (e.g. BitTorrent) permitted movie downloads that help to increase revenue movie industry and it is also important to identify what type of movies were mainly affected. This paper aims to answer this question based on a dataset containing almost 15 million records obtained from around 3.25 million torrents' data collected from the BitTorrent portal and their detailed movie related records extracted from IMDB. In this study, we observe (i) the impact of online movie downloads on movie revenues in early years, which predominantly affect on low budget and independent movies, (ii) the correlation between screen period of movies in cinema to the availability of torrents, (iii) the fake torrents that are injected to the portals before and during the screen period of a movie. Apart from that this work analyses the movie viewer's feedbacks gathered from a questionnaire survey on user opinion and experiences about online movie downloads. We explored that, people used to be aware more about the online downloads and their related portals after introducing anti-piracy laws than before. We also suggest several other ways to help reducing online download rates of movies

The ecosystem for accessing TV series and films in Spain: An outline of the situation following the Intellectual property act 2015

La introducción generalizada de Internet de banda ancha ha transformado la forma tradicional de ver series de TV y películas. Más allá de los servicios legales hay un ecosistema ampliamente establecido que permite el acceso no autorizado a material con copyright; un ecosistema que en España representa un canal paralelo de consumo de contenidos. Hemos analizado los sitios web de los principales proveedores de enlaces en España durante un año, a partir de la entrada en vigor el 1 de enero 2015 del Texto Refundido de la Ley de propiedad intelectual (Trlpi). Nuestro análisis revela cómo el ecosistema ha alterado el equilibrio de este ecosistema y finamente se ha reorganizado. Sin embargo, en contraste con el objetivo de las medidas propuestas por la Trlpi, la nueva legislación no ha conducido a una reducción en el tamaño del ecosistema de la piratería en España. AbstractThe widespread introduction of broadband Internet has transformed the traditional way of watching TV series and films. Beyond the legal services there is a widely established ecosystem that provides unauthorized access to copyrighted material; an ecosystem which, in Spain, represents a parallel channel on which to view content. We have analyzed the leading link provider websites in Spain over a period of one year, since enforcement on January 1, 2015 of the Revised Text of the Intellectual property act (Trlpi). Our analysis reveals how the ecosystem has been reorganized and its balance altered. However, in contrast to the objective of the measures proposed by the Trlpi, the new legislation has not led to a reduction in the size of the piracy ecosystem in Spain.

The ecosystem for accessing TV series and films in Spain: An outline of the situation following the Intellectual property act 2015

The widespread introduction of broadband Internet has transformed the traditional way of watching TV series and films. Beyond the legal services there is a widely established ecosystem that provides unauthorized access to copyrighted material; an ecosystem which, in Spain, represents a parallel channel on which to view content. We have analyzed the leading link provider websites in Spain over a period of one year, since enforcement on January 1, 2015 of the Revised Text of the Intellectual property act (Trlpi). Our analysis reveals how the ecosystem has been reorganized and its balance altered. However, in contrast to the objective of the measures proposed by the Trlpi, the new legislation has not led to a reduction in the size of the piracy ecosystem in Spain

Resistance commons : file-sharing litigation and the social system of commoning

textThis dissertation is an investigation into the practice of peer-to-peer file-sharing and the litigation campaign targeting individual file-sharers carried out by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) from 2003 to 2008. The competing conceptualizations of social relations which motivate the conflict over peer-to-peer file-sharing are explored using a combination of Autonomist Marxist theory and structuration theory. Peer-to-peer file-sharing is framed as part of the social system of commoning stemming from the recent ascendancy of immaterial labor within that sector of the economy dedicated to the production and distribution of informational and cultural goods. The RIAA litigation campaign is framed as a reaction to the emergence of new forms of social relations which are seen by the content-producing industries as subversive of revenue streams premised on commodity exchange in informational and cultural goods. The history of the RIAA litigation campaign is presented in detail with careful attention given to those instances in which defendants and other interested parties fought back against RIAA legal actions. The acts of resistance within the legal arena affected the ultimate potential of the litigation campaign to control the spread of file-sharing activities. Subsequent legal campaigns which have been based on the RIAA litigation model are also examined. These later file-sharing cases have been met with similar forms of resistance which have likewise mitigated the impact of legal efforts to combat file-sharing. In addition, a survey of file-sharers is included in this research as part of an attempt to understand the relationship between legal actions targeting peer-to-peer systems and individual file-sharers and the technological and social development of peer-to-peer systems. This research argues that file-sharing litigation has proven ineffective in turning back the flood of file-sharing and may have increased the technological sophistication and community ties among file-sharers. In the end, the conflict over peer-to-peer file-sharing is cast as a manifestation of a larger dynamic of capitalist crisis as content-producing industries attempt to come to terms with the contradictory tendencies of immaterial labor and the production of common pools of digital resources.Radio-Television-Fil

Who Watches the Watchmen: Exploring Complaints on the Web

The Web Conference 2019Under increasing scrutiny, many web companies now offer bespoke mechanisms allowing any third party to file complaints (e.g., requesting the de-listing of a URL from a search engine). While this self-regulation might be a valuable web governance tool, it places huge responsibility within the hands of these organisations that demands close examination. We present the first large-scale study of web complaints (over 1 billion URLs). We find a range of complainants, largely focused on copyright enforcement. Whereas the majority of organisations are occasional users of the complaint system, we find a number of bulk senders specialised in targeting specific types of domain. We identify a series of trends and patterns amongst both the domains and complainants. By inspecting the availability of the domains, we also observe that a sizeable portion go offline shortly after complaints are generated. This paper sheds critical light on how complaints are issued, who they pertain to and which domains go offline after complaints are issued

Revenue Losses: Exploring Strategies Required by Managers to Inhibit Movie Piracy

The piracy of movie products resulted in 72,000 lost jobs and $4.5 billion in lost wages to the United States economy in 2012. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore what strategies movie corporation managers use to inhibit piracy of movie products to achieve profitability. The sample consisted of 6 movie industry managers who managed movie corporations for not less than 5 years in New York City. The conceptual framework for this study was based on the general systems theory. Data were collected through face-to-face semistructured interviews. Transcript review and member checking were used to ensure credibility and trustworthiness of the interpretation of participants\u27 responses. The 3 major themes that emerged in the study include the perceived effects of movie industry managers\u27 marketing management strategies, legal management strategies, and customer management strategies for inhibiting product piracy. Findings from this study contribute to social change by indicating strategies that other movie industry managers may use to prevent piracy of product, sustain business, and reduce the negative effects of job loss. The results of this study thus may contribute to the prosperity of movie industry leaders, employees, their families, communities, and the local economy

Media piracy and enforcement in Brazil : costs and benefits; toward détente in media piracy, Rio de Janeiro (August, 2010)

The project analyzed policing and enforcement measures, media coverage, and the legal framework and institutional field of combat against digital and media piracy; how it is done and by whom, in order to evaluate pros and cons of current laws; who is benefiting, and from what measures and approaches. The results have been positive for public debate and policy recommendations, and for creating an innovative approach to the problem of copyright violations and piracy. Brazilian approaches to intellectual property were originally shaped by import substitution strategies designed to foster the growth of local industry. With detailed appendices in Spanish