The bane of the motion picture industry, torrent website The Pirate Bay, has fired a shot across the bow of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and other copyright groups. The Pirate Bay has now released their new browser plug-in called Torrents-Time. Users searching video torrents now get a “Stream It!” icon that will launch the plug-in and lets users stream video from the torrent without ever leaving the site.
This add-on is available for both Mac and PC users and has been in development for a while. It first was available through Popcorntime-Online.io, a browser-based edition of Popcorn Time. Popcorn Time was a Windows app that allowed streaming of peer-to-peer torrented videos. Popcorn Time has since all but folded due to legal issues arising from copyright groups and other issues within the company. However, the technology lives on thanks to the pirate community.
The link launches a separate browser window that first offers a subscription to a virtual private network (VPN) service to protect viewers from exposing their IP address. Many bit torrent users utilize VPN’s in order to avoid detection from those who would target them for the illegal practice of watching copyrighted material and then seek to prosecute them. Then it uses standard torrenting techniques to find others who have the movie file. The movie begins streaming once enough peers are located.
The Pirate Bay has in recent years taken most of the direct blows from copyright groups that have attempted to take down the underground sites that allow users to avoid having to pay to watch copyrighted material.
While not everything on The Pirate Bay infringes on copyright, other sites have made use of technologies that make movie piracy easier. The copyright industry is playing catchup in attempting to enforce copyright through legal means. In the meantime, the pirate community continues to sail on unabated.
Copyright infringement and piracy is an issue in every area of intellectual property. Creative ideas and processes are worth real money and there will always be those that seek to get around the law. That is why protecting your intellectual property rights is important.
At Greenberg & Lieberman, we focus on protecting every area of our client’s patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. If you have a good idea, no doubt there are others who may try to cash in on it, too. Contact one of our lawyers helping clients with intellectual property rights today at our toll-free number at (888) 275-2757, or you may use the contact form here on our website.
