Matrix Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 The operator of YTS recently 'settled' a lawsuit that was filed by the US. movie company Wicked Nevada. Soon after, the same movie company joined other filmmakers to sue several users of the notorious torrent site. According to the complaint, the rightsholders know the email addresses that the defendants used to register with at YTS, as well as the VPN IP-address of one user. This raises some questions. Last week we reported that the operator of YTS, one of the most visited torrent sites, resolved a piracy lawsuit that was filed against it by movie outfit Wicked Nevada. In a consent judgment, the YTS admin agreed to pay $150,000 in damages. In addition, he promised not to share torrents of the film “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, And Vile.” What is most unusual about the agreement is that the torrent site itself remains operational. This means that, aside from the hefty damages award, YTS can continue its business as usual. However, that doesn’t mean that its users can’t be targeted. Soon after our coverage, we noticed that Wicked Nevada filed a new lawsuit together with several other movie companies including Dallas Buyers Club, Bodyguard Productions, and Rambo V Productions. This complaint is also related to YTS, but targets alleged users of the site over alleged copyright infringement. The movie companies list a group of Doe defendants and a Hawaiian man named Harry Beasor. According to the complaint, all defendants registered an account with the YTS website using their email address. In addition, their IP-addresses were linked to pirating films of the movie companies that filed the suit. While lawsuits against alleged BitTorrent pirates are not new, this complaint stands out and raises quite a few concerns. Apparently, the movie companies know the email addresses for some registered YTS users. Not only that, but they also know which torrents were downloaded from the site using the accounts and what IP-addresses were used, as the complaint makes clear. “Defendant Harry Beasor used the YTS website to download torrent files associated with Plaintiffs’ Works from Internet Protocol (‘IP’) address 91.207.175.82 associated with his VPN service,” it reads, specifically mentioning the movies London Has Fallen, Mechanic: Resurrection, and I Feel Pretty. “Defendant Harry Beasor used the IP address of the VPN service because he knew that he was copying the Works without a valid license and therefore in violation of Plaintiffs’ exclusive rights,” the complaint adds. The movie companies point out that YTS openly advertises the use of a VPN. According to the torrent site, it’s a good option for users to protect themselves from expensive lawsuits. TorrentFreak reached out to the attorney of the filmmakers, Kerry Culpepper, to find out how this private user information was obtained from the site. He informed us that, at this moment, he cannot comment on the matter in public. This leaves us with little more than speculation. A likely scenario is that the YTS operator gave up the user information as part of the negotiations. This would not be unprecedented, as the developer of the app CotoMovies shared similar information with the film companies in the past. We contacted YTS for a comment on this possibility, but at the time of writing, we have yet to hear back. What is clear is that the movie companies linked emails that were used to register with YTS to actual IP-addresses. All the Doe defendants are users of the ISP Spectrum, who the copyright holders hope to expose through a subpoena. Mr. Beasor used a VPN, which appears to have been Private Internet Access, but the rightsholders already have his name and no additional subpoena is requested. The complaint doesn’t make it clear how the movie companies tracked down the name of Mr. Beasor. The most likely scenario is that the email address gave this away, but we were unable to confirm this independently. While clear details are not available, the lawsuit shows that using a VPN is not very helpful if there are other leads that point to one’s identity. If someone uses an easily identifiable email which can be linked to a VPN address that was used with the same account, even the best VPN doesn’t protect one’s privacy. That said, the movie companies’ case is certainly no shoo-in. People who register an account with YTS don’t have to confirm their email address, so anyone can sign up with a random address, including those of other people. In addition, most VPN IP-addresses are used by dozens or hundreds of people at once, so it’s impossible to prove without a doubt that one person shared a single file at any given point in time. Especially since many VPN providers don’t keep logs that could help to identify a single user. That said, the fact that the movie companies are going after YTS users, claiming to have access to details that are only supposed to be available in the torrent site’s user database, is quite worrying, to say the least. A full copy of the complaint, filed by Fallen Productions, Inc., Criminal Productions, LHF Productions, Millennium Funding, Bodyguard Productions, Hunter Killer Productions, HB Productions, Rambo V Productions, TBV Productions, Colossal Movie Productions, Venice PI, Colossal Movie Productions, Headhunter, Dallas Buyers Club, Definition Delaware, and Wicked Nevada, obtained by TorrentFreak, is available here (pdf) Source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 2 hours ago, Mach1 said: Apparently, the movie companies know the email addresses for some registered YTS users. Not only that, but they also know which torrents were downloaded from the site using the accounts and what IP-addresses were used, Unfortunately, movie companies can't able to do much to sue registered YTS users as YTS is accessible worldwide, anyone can use temp email to register regardless where they are. Also, suing registered YTS users on a basis of email used and IP address is absurd, as if it's from other countries, they can't sue due to jurisdiction restrictions (ie. US laws can't apply to other countries). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven36 Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 12 hours ago, Edward Raja said: US laws can't apply to other countries Tell that to Kim Dotcom who had all his money took by the US government you could use a temp mail to get on megaupload also tell that to the owner of Kat that is in jail you could use a temp mail to get on it as well. All they have to do is catch you profiting off US copyright . Every torrent website that ever been #1 been shut down even if they came back and if they do then people have migrated somewhere . Once you become the most used you have a target on your back the USA's FBI and other Countries Law Enforcement is watching you . It worse than it use to be even because now the EU has a list of sites they dont like as well. There days were numbered when made the most used torrent site . The guy who made YTS.AG is a moron he can fall easy by taking a deal or fall hard when the Law shuts him down. There no TPB they pay fines and do take downs . KAT followed DMCA and see were it got them. Something TPB never done was take down files the founders went to prison and gave the site to someone else is the reason it is still is running but it been shut down before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 8, 2020 Share Posted January 8, 2020 8 hours ago, steven36 said: other Countries Law Enforcement is watching you not really much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven36 Posted January 8, 2020 Share Posted January 8, 2020 12 hours ago, Edward Raja said: not really much. Not really much ? It was not the USA who put the owners of TBP in jail or Dutch uploaders on KAT in the past Or put most all the torrent groups from the UK in jail . the OP It's about most likely YTS handed over IPs and emails of people who downloaded torrents . Downloading in the USA is only a civil matter it's to fine users that were to stupid to cover there tracks . They most likely not even worried about people outside the USA .If they really was they would sue them from there country not from the USA courts. As far using a VPN it's not fool proof , you read about people getting letters all the time on reddit.com with a vpn were they were not using a kill switch and that most likely how they got the guy with the vpn. It's really not even againt the law to download torrents in the USA they are legal stuff you can download and torrent files if not used are not infringing. they have to be able to prove you downloaded the contents of a copyright infringing torrent. It's not very hard because they be watching all the time. But winning in a USA court most of the time can be problematic and even if they do win don't mean they will even see any money from downloaders .But some people are always stupid enough to settle with them like the Admin of YTS was. if he closed his site it would of made sense but as long as the site is running and they see he will pay they wont stop tell he shuts down or runs out of money . You can just go to another site and get there torrents and some sites have there stuff on filehost . I never use there site no way i really dont like x264 mp4 i rather have x265 mkv but will dl them if i can't find nothing else . YTS.AG have always been shady people say they behind EZTV and ET cloned torrent sites as well. They ride on famous sites name that close down that already made a name for themselves . When they 1st cloned YIFY site TF warn users not to be using it , that it was not safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 8, 2020 Share Posted January 8, 2020 3 hours ago, steven36 said: If they really was they would sue them from there country again, the US lawyers should be able to know how to properly sue people from other countries. for example, engaging US lawyers to sue people located at Indonesia, they can't because they didn't practice law in Indonesia. they could engage local lawyers, but they can't use US laws. this is what I called, jurisdiction problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven36 Posted January 8, 2020 Share Posted January 8, 2020 18 minutes ago, Edward Raja said: again, the US lawyers should be able to know how to properly sue people from other countries. for example, engaging US lawyers to sue people located at Indonesia, they can't because they didn't practice law in Indonesia. they could engage local lawyers, but they can't use US laws. this is what I called, jurisdiction problems. Why would they bother? that's not how Hollywood works they have world wide powers they even had stuff removed on Russian sites by Russia . They can get more done in the EU and UK than they can in the USA . They use Europe to do there biding . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 Luckily, Asian and African countries are out of the fray. It's their less of concern tho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debebee Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 shouldn't it say OUT OF THE FRAY' ¿ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 44 minutes ago, bayer said: shouldn't it say OUT OF THE FRAY' ¿ Yeah, I changed it tho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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