Matrix Posted October 12, 2018 Share Posted October 12, 2018 Acting on a criminal complaint filed three years earlier, in 2016 police took down Rarat, a private torrent site based in Sweden. Using information handed over by PayPal, police subsequently made arrests. This week two men were ordered to pay around $440k in damages, a sentence described as "a scandal" by a writer whose movie was leaked on the site. While sites like The Pirate Bay have become household names due to their resilience and high-profile among users, copyright holders, and law enforcement bodies, there’s a vibrant underbelly of lesser-known torrent platforms. Often working on an invitation-only basis, these ‘private’ trackers, as they’re known, fly comparatively under the mainstream radar. Nevertheless, few escape the negative attention of copyright holders who are keen to bring them to their knees. One such platform was Rarat.org, which achieved local fame in Sweden after it grew to become one of the country’s top private torrent sites. During November 2016, however, it became clear that the show was over. In a message posted to the site’s homepage, it was revealed that the platform’s operators were in trouble and the site had been shut down. “This week Rarat was subject to a search, seizure, and arrest. This follows a 2013 complaint from a film company that tracked down our PayPal payments. Damages in the millions of krona are feared. The site will now be closed,” the notice read. Around a month later, Rights Alliance lawyer Henrik Pontén, who represents several copyright holders, said that Nordisk Film, SF, and Disney had filed a criminal complaint against Rarat back in 2013. As mentioned in the Rarat announcement, PayPal – following requests from Rights Alliance – assisted in the case. This allowed the authorities to identify the person who had been receiving Rarat’s donations. A special unit of Sweden’s Department of National Police Operations then managed to track down one of the site’s operators. He was arrested and taken in for questioning on suspicion of copyright infringement. Several computers were also seized as evidence during a house search. Stockholm’s Public Prosecution Office later confirmed that the investigation was at an early stage and may turn up more suspects. During the almost two years that followed, little was heard about the case. This week, however, it was revealed that two men in their thirties have been handed conditional sentences for their roles in running the site. The pair, from the city of Jönköping in southern Sweden, were sentenced by Sweden’s Patent and Market Court for distributing at least 113 pirated films via Rarat. They were ordered to pay a total of SEK 4 million (US$440k) in damages to rightsholders. Anti-piracy outfit Rights Alliance, which was involved in the case from the beginning, said in a statement this week that Rarat specialized in distributing Swedish films very early, often before they had been officially released. This, Rights Alliance said, resulted in “extraordinary damage” to “cultural heritage”. Anders Nilsson, a writer on the movie Lockdown that was pre-released on Rarat, condemned the Court for handing down what he perceives to be an overly lenient sentence. “It’s a scandal that the punishment is so low for stealing the movies we create and putting them out before they premiere,” Nilsson said. “The effect is just the same as stealing the salary for our work, and it is also done by commercial organized crime,” he added. Condemnation also came from Henrik Pontén of Rights Alliance. “The problems with film piracy are far greater in Sweden than in other countries. The low punishment has no effect and new illegal film services appear all the time,” Pontén said. “Sweden’s very high acceptance for infringing the rights of film creators has led to huge and permanent damage to the sensitive Swedish film industry.” source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acting on a criminal complaint filed three years earlier, in 2016 police took down Rarat, a private torrent site based in Sweden. Using information handed over by PayPal, police subsequently made arrests. This week two men were ordered to pay around $440k in damages, a sentence described as "a scandal" by a writer whose movie was leaked on the site. While sites like The Pirate Bay have become household names due to their resilience and high-profile among users, copyright holders, and law enforcement bodies, there’s a vibrant underbelly of lesser-known torrent platforms. Often working on an invitation-only basis, these ‘private’ trackers, as they’re known, fly comparatively under the mainstream radar. Nevertheless, few escape the negative attention of copyright holders who are keen to bring them to their knees. One such platform was Rarat.org, which achieved local fame in Sweden after it grew to become one of the country’s top private torrent sites. During November 2016, however, it became clear that the show was over. In a message posted to the site’s homepage, it was revealed that the platform’s operators were in trouble and the site had been shut down. “This week Rarat was subject to a search, seizure, and arrest. This follows a 2013 complaint from a film company that tracked down our PayPal payments. Damages in the millions of krona are feared. The site will now be closed,” the notice read. Around a month later, Rights Alliance lawyer Henrik Pontén, who represents several copyright holders, said that Nordisk Film, SF, and Disney had filed a criminal complaint against Rarat back in 2013. As mentioned in the Rarat announcement, PayPal – following requests from Rights Alliance – assisted in the case. This allowed the authorities to identify the person who had been receiving Rarat’s donations. A special unit of Sweden’s Department of National Police Operations then managed to track down one of the site’s operators. He was arrested and taken in for questioning on suspicion of copyright infringement. Several computers were also seized as evidence during a house search. Stockholm’s Public Prosecution Office later confirmed that the investigation was at an early stage and may turn up more suspects. During the almost two years that followed, little was heard about the case. This week, however, it was revealed that two men in their thirties have been handed conditional sentences for their roles in running the site. The pair, from the city of Jönköping in southern Sweden, were sentenced by Sweden’s Patent and Market Court for distributing at least 113 pirated films via Rarat. They were ordered to pay a total of SEK 4 million (US$440k) in damages to rightsholders. Anti-piracy outfit Rights Alliance, which was involved in the case from the beginning, said in a statement this week that Rarat specialized in distributing Swedish films very early, often before they had been officially released. This, Rights Alliance said, resulted in “extraordinary damage” to “cultural heritage”. Anders Nilsson, a writer on the movie Lockdown that was pre-released on Rarat, condemned the Court for handing down what he perceives to be an overly lenient sentence. “It’s a scandal that the punishment is so low for stealing the movies we create and putting them out before they premiere,” Nilsson said. “The effect is just the same as stealing the salary for our work, and it is also done by commercial organized crime,” he added. Condemnation also came from Henrik Pontén of Rights Alliance. “The problems with film piracy are far greater in Sweden than in other countries. The low punishment has no effect and new illegal film services appear all the time,” Pontén said. “Sweden’s very high acceptance for infringing the rights of film creators has led to huge and permanent damage to the sensitive Swedish film industry.”
straycat19 Posted October 12, 2018 Share Posted October 12, 2018 Having a "private site" is no guarantee that law enforcement won't get in. Just the opposite, it makes them want to get in more than ever, since "private" indicates there is something that someone does not want seen. It is actually easy for them to get in. All they need to do is identify one user and tighten the cuffs till they squeal like a stuck pig, and they do. They will not only give up their login information but also information on friends on the site and anything else that will lessen their culpability. Some private sites are so small they fly under the radar. And if you think a VPN can protect you then think again. Some may claim not to keep records, but if you are seen as actually being on a site at the time, law enforcement can call the VPN provider and using the exigent circumstances rule of law demand to know what IP is accessing that VPN on that site. The FBI, Interpol, and Europol have created an excellent rapport with the major police organizations around the globe. This results in a "Gotcha!" unless you are such a small fry you aren't worth bothering with. People are just stupid, there is no other way to put it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven36 Posted October 12, 2018 Share Posted October 12, 2018 1 hour ago, straycat19 said: Having a "private site" is no guarantee that law enforcement won't get in. Just the opposite, it makes them want to get in more than ever, since "private" indicates there is something that someone does not want seen. It is actually easy for them to get in. All they need to do is identify one user and tighten the cuffs till they squeal like a stuck pig, and they do. They will not only give up their login information but also information on friends on the site and anything else that will lessen their culpability. Some private sites are so small they fly under the radar. And if you think a VPN can protect you then think again. Some may claim not to keep records, but if you are seen as actually being on a site at the time, law enforcement can call the VPN provider and using the exigent circumstances rule of law demand to know what IP is accessing that VPN on that site. The FBI, Interpol, and Europol have created an excellent rapport with the major police organizations around the globe. This results in a "Gotcha!" unless you are such a small fry you aren't worth bothering with. People are just stupid, there is no other way to put it. Do you even read the article before you even post ? It would not matter if the owner of this site used a vpn or not he was caught because of bad cybersect .. He gave paypal his real info to receive donations and they gave his info to Rights Alliance. No downloaders from the site was charged only the owners of the site was . So why are you telling us do you think we own a big torrent site ? They know the risk when they made the site and the millions they earn on sites out weighs the risk ..Most of the time when a private site shuts with in a week more open up to take its place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halvgris Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 if straycat's vpn thoughts where true all vpn users would be in jail by now and the police would monitor it. mind you everything is monitored passing us servers. sweden no legislation that can make vpn providers hand out ip's and since they don't store ip they have nothing to hand out. if they would they would breach their service agreement and may be sued accordingly by user/s. www.mullvad.se doesn't even store a username. if you pay by ordinary mail there is nothing connecting you at all to their service. www.nordvpn.com is run from panama which has nothing that will even bring this to court. they earn so much from the panama canal they resilant against usa, not like thailand which caved in and gave thepiratebay member up. lets just say money matters some officials in thailand scored big time. first sight of breach of vpn services kills it. hidemyass.com is still up but shouldn't be trusted they keept records. sidenote1. this is also why companies outsource helpdesk/support freight. it a company like ikea gets heat they will provide a bunch och papers saying their 3-party must obey this and that. this way they can kill all bad press just by pointing to the other company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Appline Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 On 10/13/2018 at 12:11 AM, straycat19 said: Having a "private site" is no guarantee that law enforcement won't get in. Just the opposite, it makes them want to get in more than ever, since "private" indicates there is something that someone does not want seen. It is actually easy for them to get in. All they need to do is identify one user and tighten the cuffs till they squeal like a stuck pig, and they do. They will not only give up their login information but also information on friends on the site and anything else that will lessen their culpability. Some private sites are so small they fly under the radar. And if you think a VPN can protect you then think again. Some may claim not to keep records, but if you are seen as actually being on a site at the time, law enforcement can call the VPN provider and using the exigent circumstances rule of law demand to know what IP is accessing that VPN on that site. The FBI, Interpol, and Europol have created an excellent rapport with the major police organizations around the globe. This results in a "Gotcha!" unless you are such a small fry you aren't worth bothering with. People are just stupid, there is no other way to put it. You are mistaking the owner and the ones who download. If users are smart enough to use a VPN, well, good luck catching them. Just make sure that the VPN provider has a zero log policy and is based out of 14 eyes jurisdiction, like NordVPN or BolehVPN Or Express. Of course, there are some bad examples which I won't name, but that doesn't mean that all of them will cooperate with law enforcement. Because if that was the case, we would get much more news about VPN users being caught. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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