Several Piracy-Related Arrests Spark Fears of High-Level Crackdown In Nordic Region (torrentfreak.com) 37
A series of arrests that began in late August and continued into last week has sparked concerns that a relatively rare 'Scene' crackdown targeting the top of the so-called 'Piracy Pyramid' may be underway in the Nordic region. TorrentFreak reports: In a statement last week, Denmark's National Unit for Special Crime (NSK) announced that as part of a long-running investigation, a man was arrested on November 22 and then charged with copyright infringement offenses. NSK said its officers searched the home of a 47-year-old man in South Zealand (Sydsjaelland) and seized IT equipment in connection with illegal file-sharing and "copyright infringement of a particularly serious nature." "The case is about an organized network that has illegally shared extremely large quantities of films and TV series via file sharing services," said NSK Police Commissioner Anders-Emil Nohr Kelbaek. While noting that NSK had no further information to offer at this time, Kelbaek said he was pleased that NSK had arrested another suspect believed to have played a 'significant role' in the unnamed network.
Last week's arrest was only the latest in a series of arrests carried out as part of the same long-running NSK investigation into the illegal distribution of movies and TV shows. In late August, NSK arrested four people on suspicion of sharing "extremely large quantities" of movies and TV shows. NSK raided addresses in South-West Jutland, North Zealand and Bornholmand. A 43-year old was arrested at the last location, but it's claimed he lives elsewhere. In common with last week's arrest, all were charged on suspicion of "particularly serious" copyright infringement offenses. In an almost identical statement to that issued last week, Commissioner Anders-Emil Nohr Kelbaek said the case was about "an organized network that shares extremely large amounts of data, presumably in the form of films and series."
TorrentFreak sources report concerns that last week's arrest may be linked to Scene groups. Terminology used by NSK doesn't instantly rule that out and does seem to suggest something potentially more significant than other arrests over the past few years. According to NSK, the August arrests took place on August 28, 2023. Using information in Scene release databases we looked for Danish Scene groups and/or groups that were releasing Denmark-focused content before that date but then made no releases afterward; while that wouldn't provide conclusive proof that a group had been targeted, the method has proven useful in the past. While activity late August suggests nothing especially out of the ordinary, activity since the arrest last week stands in contrast. TF is informed that some groups may have gone dark simply out of an abundance of caution. It's also possible that the groups have nothing to release. Furthermore, there are many other global groups with no obvious links to Danish content or Denmark that also stopped releasing on November 21. The reasons for this are unknown but holidays in the United States may play a role.
Last week's arrest was only the latest in a series of arrests carried out as part of the same long-running NSK investigation into the illegal distribution of movies and TV shows. In late August, NSK arrested four people on suspicion of sharing "extremely large quantities" of movies and TV shows. NSK raided addresses in South-West Jutland, North Zealand and Bornholmand. A 43-year old was arrested at the last location, but it's claimed he lives elsewhere. In common with last week's arrest, all were charged on suspicion of "particularly serious" copyright infringement offenses. In an almost identical statement to that issued last week, Commissioner Anders-Emil Nohr Kelbaek said the case was about "an organized network that shares extremely large amounts of data, presumably in the form of films and series."
TorrentFreak sources report concerns that last week's arrest may be linked to Scene groups. Terminology used by NSK doesn't instantly rule that out and does seem to suggest something potentially more significant than other arrests over the past few years. According to NSK, the August arrests took place on August 28, 2023. Using information in Scene release databases we looked for Danish Scene groups and/or groups that were releasing Denmark-focused content before that date but then made no releases afterward; while that wouldn't provide conclusive proof that a group had been targeted, the method has proven useful in the past. While activity late August suggests nothing especially out of the ordinary, activity since the arrest last week stands in contrast. TF is informed that some groups may have gone dark simply out of an abundance of caution. It's also possible that the groups have nothing to release. Furthermore, there are many other global groups with no obvious links to Danish content or Denmark that also stopped releasing on November 21. The reasons for this are unknown but holidays in the United States may play a role.
I was expecting ... (Score:3)
I remember Nordic Piracy Crackdowns .. on BBS (Score:2)
And yet (Score:1)
All the NSK has accomplished was wasting everyone's time and money.
Re:And yet (Score:4)
You'd probably feel differently about that if you were one of the ones on the receiving end of a raid. It won't do anything to stop piracy -- you'd have better odds of saving the Titanic with a bucket brigade -- but it will ruin a few lives. Nordic prisons aren't American prison and American prison ain't Russian prison, but at the end of the day, a comfortable prison is still a prison. :(
The scene crew I've always kind of wondered about. I have access to a zero day site where these crews upload their stuff. Most of them don't even use VPNs. They claim nobody has ever been DCMA'ed -- much less arrested -- based on their site. That may or may not be true. Either way, I seriously question the arrogance of going out of your way to conduct piracy at near industrial scale without even bothering to TRY and hide. I won't speed without running Waze and keeping a sharp eye out for the police and speeding doesn't put my freedom in jeopardy....
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You'd probably feel differently about that if you were one of the ones on the receiving end of a raid.
Not really, though I would also have additional feelings.
It won't do anything to stop piracy -- you'd have better odds of saving the Titanic with a bucket brigade -- but it will ruin a few lives.
And that is precisely why I said what I said. It does absolutely nothing to solve the "problem" that they perceive. They feel like they got a victory when they didn't actually accomplish anything at all. Kelbaek, just like everyone else in the public eye against piracy, doesn't have a clue what he is doing or talking about. They can barely wrap their head around what exactly the "problem" even is.
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The photo ops (err, I mean "sting operations") my local police conduct against shoplifters don't appreciably decrease shoplifting rates. Not even in the short term. They still snag a non-zero number of shoplifters though.
Piracy at this scale is illegal pretty much everywhere, so, for better or worse, you're rolling the dice if you do it. You probably won't get caught but I'll confess that I do not understand the folks that invest time and real money into the "scene". There are better ways to stick it
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They still snag a non-zero number of shoplifters though.
Of course. But does it solve shoplifting? Or put a stop to it? No. Because, outside of a very small fraction of all shoplifting, shoplifters do so out of some sort of desperate need. And unless violence is involved, the sting is just a waste of resources that could be better appropriated. It not actually helping anyone - even the business, really.
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You're missing the point my friend. I have never claimed it will stop or even significantly slow down piracy. Quite the opposite actually. I'm just pointing out the fact that it is illegal and questioning the sanity of risking one's freedom -- no matter how slight the risk may be -- to help strangers get free copies of movies and TV shows.
Re shoplifters, I'm going to respectfully disagree with your "very small fraction" claim. That is part of it to be sure but most shoplifting these days is done at sca
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There's also a significant fraction of people who do it because they can. I know someone who pulls six figures and shoplifts, in part for the thrill, in part to stick it to the man (despite the huge salary he's a socialist), and in part as a weird form of social protest.
It's not a protest, it's phycological disorder - which is like the #1 reason shoplifting happens. Shoplifting is something organized crime participates in, but it's not a big portion of their workings.
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Sure, but that's a relatively new feeling overall. Plus, people like me who prefer self-checkout. The only thing I don't like about it are when there are other people in my way, because they are stupid and slow at the self-checkout. Not to mention, that while you and many other think that way, very few of you, relatively, are actually doing it on that principal.
This reminds me of a chalkboard gag... (Score:1)
Oh no! (Score:2, Troll)
Not movies and TV show files! Won't someone think of the children?!
Copying isn't theft.
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Pirating Disney and making the rodent angry is a heinous crime against humanity. It kills children and makes small kittens cry.
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What now, is it a heinous crime against humanity or does it kill children and make small kittens cry? It can't be a crime against humanity and hilarious entertainment at the same time, can it?
This has all the seasonal clues... (Score:2)
...of a grand Hallmark scheme [forbes.com].
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Well, as long as they're small.
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But it is theft. It's income theft. You consume content without paying (directly or indirectly through having to endure ads), so therefore the original owners are missing out on income, that's called theft. You might not think it's a serious crime, but I wonder how you would feel if you poured a lot of your time and money into a product and people would just 'steal' it without compensating you for it, so you won't be able to pay your morgage, food, healthcare, etc.
yeah Yeah, I know the excuse, "but otherwis
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Happens all the time. My grandpa was a bricklayer, and now people live in the homes he built, but have they ever paid a dime to me? No.
Gramps should have composed some songs, then I could still nickle and dime his work.
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You know what, you're right.
On the other hand: give me a way to purchase (and archive locally) a movie/series, no DRM, no ads, no finicking around to find out whether I'm really getting 4k or not, I'll be buying.
I'm back to buying blu-rays, there are unskippable ads... Luckily i'm tech enough to know how to playback blu-rays using Kodi, so ridiculous "unskippable content" restrictions don't apply; that is until I get a too new bluray, of which the key hasn't been extracted yet. (Still technically piracy tho
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Actually, no. It is by now well established that copyright infringement benefits smaller artists and only reduces the income of those already rich.
And here are some references for that:
https://www.escapistmagazine.c... [escapistmagazine.com]
https://www.forbes.com/sites/e... [forbes.com]
And the original study by the Swiss government (in German):
http://web.archive.org/web/201... [archive.org]
To sum up, all copyright enforcement does is making those already far too rich even richer...
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Actually, no. It is by now well established that copyright infringement benefits smaller artists
Yeah, no. What you linked to says no such thing--it says that people who download content without paying for it still spend money on games, movies, etc--not that they spend that money in ways that benefit the original author of any given work. In other words, they downloaded e.g. 'The Avengers' but went to the IMAX theater to see Oppenheimer.
Your rationalization above is the "I'll pay you in exposure" tack. Turns out that landlords don't take exposure on the first of the month when rent is due. Who knew
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My "rationalization" is the expert analysis I quote in simplified form. I guess your mind is just not capable of accepting that information and hence starts to hallucinate strongly.
Re:Oh no! (Score:5, Insightful)
people would just 'steal' it without compensating you for it, so you won't be able to pay
Oh come on, even Bill Gates doesn't believe that shit any more. Every day, your modern life depends on the advances made by hundreds of generations. We stand on the shoulders of giants, but we don't pay them rent. You are not obliged to pay the descendants of the wheel inventor every time you get in your car.
All we need from patent and copyright law is incentives. Some rights. You don't need to completely control every use of the work.
People should be able to share music and movies just as they do physical books. Not because they have some innate moral right, but because the alternative is draconian and completely unnecessary.
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But it is theft....You consume content without paying (directly or indirectly through having to endure ads), so therefore the original owners are missing out on income, that's called theft.
its copying... you still have your copy, now I have one. stealing is when I take yours and you have nothing left.
but I wonder how you would feel if you poured a lot of your time and money into a product and people would just 'steal' it
im going to hold comment until I see what it is youre actually making and how you value it.
Re: Oh no! (Score:2)
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Depriving someone from his/her income is theft
so flattening a taxi drivers tyre is theft? cutting the hamstrings of a jockeys horse is theft? enacting legislation banning gig working is theft? pouring petrol through someones letterbox, setting it alight and raising the alarm quickly enough for them to survive but not quick enough to avoid smoke inhalation, causing the people inside to be hospitalised, take an extended sick leave, miss six weeks of work thereby depriving him of income is theft?
You didn't pay for something you would have to pay for, that is theft.
so taking somebodys personal possesions is theft is it? stea
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You consume content without paying (directly or indirectly through having to endure ads), so therefore the original owners are missing out on income, that's called theft.
I'm with you in general on the "copyright infringement really isn't the same as stealing" bit being, at best, a rationalization, but the above is just an awful, awful take on the subject. Causing someone to "[Miss] out on income" is "theft?" Seriously? This may come as a shock to you, but there are these buildings called "libraries" where one can "consume content without paying" and it's entirely legal. Quelle surprise!
The "consumption" isn't the infringement, making the unauthorized copy is. Your line
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Re: Oh no! (Score:2)
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I can drive to Barnes & Noble, buy a shitload of books, and lend them to anyone I want to as long as I want to. I can take those books, donate them to my local library, and they can lend them to anyone they want to as long as they want to. There are, of course, dedicated SKUs the publishers have for libraries--but no library need buy those.
With regard to torrents, as I said I don't disagree with you--but, again, the infringement is not my family and I watching the torrent ("consuming the content witho
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But it is theft. It's income theft. You consume content without paying (directly or indirectly through having to endure ads), so therefore the original owners are missing out on income, that's called theft.
No. It is still copyright infringement. At this scale, it is criminal copyright infringement instead of civil copyright infringement, but it is till not theft.
If you "miss out on income" that is because you failed to make a sale. Copyright infringement may have influenced that failure to make a sale, or it may not. But that does not make it theft.
Words. Meanings.
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Re: Oh no! (Score:2)
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Their income is exactly the same whether I download it or not if I wasn't going to pay for it anyway.
The only reason $15 isn't enough for them is they've decided it isn't. They need to find a price that balances margins with piracy. Piracy is the only thing preventing the rates from heading to the moon.
The geography is completely off (Score:2)
I know they're quoting from the torretfreak article, but really?
"NSK raided addresses in South-West Jutland, North Zealand and Bornholmand"
There is no such place as Bornholmand in Denmark... But there is a "Bornholm".... So I'm 100% sure that is NOT what NSK claimed.
For the geographically uninformed: It's like calling somewhere "Califorland"...