Epic Games' efforts to take several "Fortnite" cheaters to court over copyright infringement continues. In one of the cases, the defendant, who's still a minor, has asked the court to dismiss the complaint. The kid's attorneys, however, argue that the court doesn't have jurisdiction and that requiring a minor to defend himself in another state would be unreasonable. Frustrated by thousands of cheaters who wreak havoc in Fortnite’s “Battle Royale,” game publisher Epic Games has taken several to court. The game developer isn’t trying to bankrupt these people financially. It is mainly interested in preventing them from cheating in the future. The main strategy thus far has been to ‘settle’ the cases. Several accused cheaters have signed consent judgments, promising not to cheat or engage in any copyright-infringing activity going forward. This includes the popular YouTuber Golden Modz, who settled his case earlier this year. Despite these widely publicized lawsuits, cheaters will be cheaters. The problem persists and some still openly sell cheats online while posting YouTube videos to promote their work. This includes a YouTuber called CBV, who was sued by Epic Games a few weeks ago. The games company is pursuing the minor (referred to as C.B. in the complaint) with several claims, including copyright infringement and breaches of the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provision. While plenty of kids would be terrified facing a lawsuit like this, CBV didn’t appear to be impressed. In a YouTube video discussing his troubles, the 14-year-old states that he won’t make Fortnite videos anymore. But his tone is far from apologetic. “Fuck epic games. I mean, at least they can’t come after my channel anymore. I’m never gonna make another video. But if they really want to come at my neck for 100 Mil then they can just fuck their brand on their own,” CBV notes. “They’re going to attempt to bankrupt my family just because I made Fortnite cheats. Just cause I allegedly made Fortnite tonight cheats and played this game while making YouTube videos,” he adds. In its complaint, Epic Games indeed seeks damages. However, the statutory maximum in this case, where one work is at stake, wouldn’t exceed $150,000, which is far from $100 million. CBV is trying to make the point that it would look bad if Epic Games pursues massive damages from a relatively small cheater, who’s not even an adult. While that may be, arguments like that don’t win a lawsuit. The YouTuber’s attorneys, however, have more arguments why the case should be dismissed. This week they filed a motion to dismiss the case. Among other things, they point out that the court doesn’t have jurisdiction over their client and that requiring a minor to defend himself in another state would be unreasonable. “Defendant C.B. is a child who lives in Illinois with absolutely no connection to North Carolina. Nonetheless, Plaintiff Epic Games, Inc., a multibillion company, wants to drag him into court here,” they write. “Exercising jurisdiction over C.B. would be unfair and unreasonable, as well as forbidden by the United States Constitution,” the attorneys add. One of the additional issues highlighted is that the TOS and EULA are not enforceable, because a minor can not enter into a legally binding contract. In fact, both Epic’s TOS and EULA specifically state that the signee has to be an adult. In the YouTube video, CBV notes that the case is “kind of a joke,” adding that Epic Games surely doesn’t need the little money that he has, as they just hosted a 100 million dollar tournament. However, reading through the paperwork it becomes clear that this lawsuit, which is similar to the ones that have been filed in the past, isn’t really about money. The main issue Epic Games appears to be concerned with is to stop CBV from promoting and selling hacks. Epic has previously asked YouTube to remove several videos where this activity is promoted. Since CBV submitted DMCA counternotices to reinstate a video, Epic has to file a lawsuit, otherwise the video will automatically become available again after 14 days. In other words, the lawsuits may not be about bankrupting and defendants, as we have suggested before, but mostly an indirect effort to ensure that certain hacking-related YouTube videos remain offline. Or as Epic Games puts it in the original complaint. “Defendant’s submission of a DMCA counter notification, which requires YouTube to restore the infringing content unless Epic files an action seeking a court order to restrain Defendant from engaging in infringing activity, creates a continuing risk of copyright infringement.” It will be up to the court to decide whether it has jurisdiction over the 14-year-old and if Epic’s claims hold up or not. — A copy of the motion to dismiss, filed on behalf of the alleged cheater, is available here (pdf). Source: Torrentfreak.com

JK Rowling and John le Carré are among thousands of authors whose work is being offered free on one of the world’s biggest book piracy sites. Writers including Joanne Harris and Tracy Chevalier have told The Times of their anger that their work is being given away without their permission by Ocean of PDF, a website that hosts almost 42,000 titles by 8,800 authors. The site, which appears to have uploaded its first title in December, has only recently come to the attention of publishers such as Penguin Random House, which has issued it with “a significant number of takedown demands”. The website owners have ignored them and said that they intended to “keep it active as long as we can”. The site’s mission statement declares: “We believe that knowledge . . . should be free and accessible to everyone around the globe. There are many developing countries where you cannot easily buy your favourite books. They are literally out of reach to many people.” Harris, whose novel Chocolat is one of 14 of her titles available on the site, said that it would put authors and publishers out of business. “Ocean of PDF are copyright thieves,” she said. “There’s nothing in what they do that helps either authors or readers. On the contrary, they’re contributing to the decline in diversity in publishing, the falling earnings of authors and the disappearance of small presses. “Their claim that they are helping people who find it hard to get access to books is disingenuous, at best.” The website, which appears to be hosted in Bulgaria, includes a notice that claims that it wishes to support authors. It states that “making money as an independent author isn’t easy” and encourages people who illegally download books to “leave a nice book review on Amazon” and recommend that their friends buy a copy. Chevalier, whose novel Girl with a Pearl Earring is among three of hers on the site, said that this statement was an admission that pirated books were damaging to authors. She added that more than a quarter of her sales were ebooks, which would vanish if readers thought it was acceptable to get her work for nothing. “Talk about cheek. Take 25 per cent from a writer’s average wage, which is estimated at just £10,500 a year by a new survey from the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society, and many will have to stop writing. Simple as that,” she said. The owners of the site have concealed their identity by registering the domain with the American company Godaddy, which has so far declined authors’ appeals to deactivate it.

Representatives of the American film industry have penned a letter to the US Department of Commerce regarding the trafficking of counterfeit goods and streams. Co-written by members of the Motion Picture Association of America, the Independent Film and Television Alliance, CreativeFuture, and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the letter highlighted the increase in piracy activity and copyright infringement. The report presented a series of recommendations for administrative action to the department, including cooperation between legitimate content platforms and the creative community, encouraging the Department of Justice to prosecute instances of online copyright infringement, and restored access to WHOIS data via the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. The differentiation between peer-to-peer networks, BitTorrent portals, direct download cyberlockers, and streaming hosting services also reinforces the scope of the current piracy problem in the online marketplace. The letter also emphasised the threat posed by digital piracy to cybersecurity, as illicit websites often contain malware, including viruses and spyware. The representatives who authored the report had also reached out to payment processors, online advertisers, domain name providers, online marketplaces, web hosting services and reverse proxies in an attempt to curb the current influx of digital piracy. The report concluded by requesting the department’s endorsement of such measures to combat online copyright infringement.

When Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN caught up with an eBook pirate, the company gave the man a chance to settle relatively cheaply. However, after failing to pay up, a judge has now ordered the man to pay three times as much money cited in the original agreement. “Whoever burns his buttocks must sit on the blisters," says BREIN chief Tim Kuik. Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN is famous for taking on pirates both large and small. From The Pirate Bay to people dealing in IPTV boxes and sundry media, BREIN is rarely out of the headlines for long. One of BREIN’s current strategies is to track down pirates, make them admit to their crimes, and then negotiate a settlement. This usually involves agreeing to cease-and-desist and handing over some kind of cash payment, to go towards any supposed losses incurred by its copyright holder partners and the costs of pursuing the case. While some people keep to the agreed terms, others do not. BREIN says it doesn’t let these cases lie. Case in point, a man who sold pirated copies of eBooks in the Netherlands. According to BREIN, the 38-year-old operated under the name Ebookplaza and Alexnav, selling thousands of eBooks via sites including Marktplaats.nl, Speurders.nl and Tweedehands.nl. This caught the attention of BREIN, who tracked the man down. “Taking into account the man’s capacity to pay, BREIN reached a settlement consisting of a declaration of abstention with a penalty clause and a contribution to the costs of 450 euros,” BREIN said in a statement this morning. BREIN believes its original offer to settle was reasonable but still, no payment was forthcoming. The man did not respond to reminders and a summons was returned marked as “address unknown.” But despite the relatively small settlement amount, BREIN wasn’t prepared to let the case go. After discovering the man had protected his data with the authorities, BREIN took steps to find out where he now lived and after a procedure discovered he hadn’t moved away at all. BREIN sent in the bailiffs who were handed email ‘evidence’ that the case had been dismissed. According to the anti-piracy group, that email was faked. “That the email was forged was not only apparent from the incorrect terminology – after all, it is not a criminal case – but in particular because the sender’s address was not in use at the time. BREIN then summoned the man. He did not appear at the session,” the anti-piracy group explained. As a result, a judge sitting in Eindhoven has now awarded BREIN an even higher amount plus costs – 1,421 euros – with interest added on top until the date the amount is settled in full. “This man got a very reasonable settlement and now he has to pay a lot more. We will not let him escape that,” says BREIN chief Tim Kuik. “Whoever burns his buttocks must sit on the blisters.” Source: Torrentfreak.com

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Google Translation: PFL & Q&A ! Hello everyone ! Once again, thanks to the generosity of all our users, FreeLeech Pool is full! This will take us to a new FL session that will begin on Thursday, August 15th at 20:00 UTC+2 and end on Sunday, August 18th at 23:59 UTC+2. As usual, all the torrents you download will not be deducted from your ratio. This is the best time to refuel before school starts! In addition, the theme of this FL will be Science Fiction. All movies, series, BD, comics, books, BO, video games etc. of Science Fiction will be on double upload. Which means that in addition to the general FL, all Science-Fiction torrents will double the upload you make! We would like to thank you for your investment, your returns and your sharing. These frequent FLs are the result of the efforts of all users. Also know that the next Pool will be increased again. The reason is simple, the site comes to 6 months of existence, the points are earned more easily and therefore the pool must expand to make room for everyone. �� Finally, we wanted to talk about a Q&A project (Questions & Answers) that will take place during the first week of September (final date to be defined). The purpose of this Q&A is to meet up one evening where you can ask us any questions you want, and we will answer them as best as possible. Some will remain unanswered for security reasons. Of course, we will address as many topics as possible (projects, dev, financing, staff ...). We will inform you shortly of the location of this session: either on our shout or on our IRC. Have a good day, enjoy your holidays and good luck for those who work! The staff.

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Google Translation: Win a pair of tickets to SZIN! II. https://p1.picsto.re/sq45k.jpg Prizes: • 7 pairs of passes SZIN performers and program at https://szin.org/ The passes are named and not transferable, and the personal data of the winner(s) are required for their receipt. The game page is here: Prize Draw Further information: Policy You will be able to answer the questions until 2019-08-26 09:38:59. Draw and announce of the winners on the day of the closing of the game!

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Free Leech Time. 2019-08-06 - 2019-08-11 11:59:59 4 days remaining (Please do not hit 'n' run, keep the torrents seeded)

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Google Translation: Mining Competition Hey! Every user can enter the mining competition quite easily (as long as the components are not broken down). Knowledge: Go to -> mining.php mining page and select monero (xmr) and start mining. You can increase or decrease the settings that your component gives. Here you can see the statistics: monero_stats.php - The first who has mined 30M wins - The runner-up (who has mined 30M) wins as well, and of course the 2nd runner-up also. Prizes: 1. First place: Potential class rise, 2TB upload 2. Second place: Potential class rise, 1TB upload 3. Third place: 500GB and 10,000 bonus points (Now the stats for those are "reset" so everything starts at the same point).

Google Translation: The promotion will apply until Monday (at 23:59 - 12 August 2019) The promotion offers a DOUBLE purchased package from the DONATE tab The promotion applies to the packages selected below. Explaining so that everything is clear. Buying in turn, you get: VIP for 3 months - you get the VIP range for 6 months instead of 3 VIP for 6 months - you get the VIP range for 12 months instead of 6 VIP for a year - you get a VIP range for 24 months instead of 12 Package D0LBY_DIGITAL - you get 2x D0LBY_DIGITAL package STERE0 package - you get 2x STERE0 package We invite you to take advantage and thus support the site.