Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1984
Three Sentenced For Placing Advertising on Pirate Sites - TorrentFreak
While there are several business models that are able to keep pirate sites up and running, advertising is one of the most popular.
With huge amounts of traffic landing on both torrent and streaming platforms, even with low-quality adverts it’s possible for both site owners and advertising companies to generate decent profits.
Until now, pirate site operators have been the main targets for law enforcement agencies but a recently concluded case in Germany shows that the authorities are prepared to extend their reach when required.
According to Germany-based anti-piracy group GVU, the Leipzig District Court has now sentenced three employees of an Internet advertising agency to prison terms for aiding and abetting copyright infringement.
The investigation was led by the Integrated Investigation Unit Saxony (INES) at the Saxon Attorney General’s Office and supported by the GVU with analysis and insights.
“The defendants had brokered advertising space on well-known piracy portals such as kino.to or iload.to and displayed lucrative banner ads on a large scale,” GVU reveals.
“In this way, they achieved profits of more than 350,000 euros. They were aware that they were involved with structurally infringing sites, which apparently offered almost exclusively copyrighted files for download and streaming.”
The sentences for the trio were considerable, despite not being directly involved in the running of the sites. The manager of the agency received a sentence of one year and eight months, with two programmers each receiving one year and four months in prison. However, since the defendants confessed, all sentences were suspended.
“The verdict sets a significant precedent because up to now no advertising agency in Germany has ever been prosecuted for its support of illegal portal sites,” GVU concludes.
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Tuesday December 11 2018, @12:36PM (4 children)
This sure looks like lawyers and IP owners seeing a large pile of money and an opening, and deciding to go for it. Smaller fish aren't pursued, not because they are any less culpable, but because they aren't worth enough.
Doesn't seem that the advertisers did anything wrong. Should they have to judge their customers? Is a gas station owner liable if bank robbers refuel their getaway vehicle at one of his stations?
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 11 2018, @01:51PM (3 children)
If the gas station owner knew they were bank robbers on the way to a bank robbery, and yet willingly allowed them to fill their escape car at his gas station, then yes, I think he's liable (IANAL, however).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 11 2018, @05:57PM
Okay, that's your opinion. Try to think it as far as it goes and see if any problems with that viewpoint arise.
No matter what. I'm interested in knowing which law applies in the case of these advertisement brokers.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday December 11 2018, @09:16PM
No, but if the Gas Station owner, knew there was a certain banker robber clientele and setup advertisements for them specifically. Sure, I might could see them being culpable. How hard is it to not sell your advertisements on "The Pirate Bay" or whatever is trendy in the "Pirate" world? Pirate sites would be easily crushed, without advertisement funding. So, the real fight is between the MPAA/RIAA and Advertising Agencies. Though, perhaps, "Pirate" sites are easily funded by others without Advertisements? I really don't know how costly it would be to run a site like that and / or the level of interest from your average "Pirate." My thoughts on the whole issue are summed up in "the path of least resistance and poor people with internet." Generally, if you charge a nominal fee for a service, people will pay for it. I would hold up Netflix as that poster child as far as videos are concerned. On the other side we have Comcast, Dish, DirecTV, etc. Their math isn't realy math.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 1) by easyTree on Wednesday December 12 2018, @12:12AM
The 'gas' station owner has no responsibility to police the rest of society. They sell people 'gas.'
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday December 11 2018, @02:31PM
Salty Spice is right: I'm in the wrong line of work.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 3, Touché) by KritonK on Tuesday December 11 2018, @03:05PM
Before reading this news item, I didn't know of any pirate sites. Now I know two.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 11 2018, @03:59PM (2 children)
people need to stop sucking up to the establishment goons and quit registering your companies and quit funding them through income taxes. we need to operate with privacy coins and decentralized exchanges. develop coop protection forces to keep them out of our business. fuck the "authorities" of the world.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 11 2018, @04:27PM
Yeah!
Obviously we'll need to pay the coop protection forces somehow.
I understand the mob calls it protection money, so that's bad.
Governments call it tax, so that's bad.
Maybe we should call it "Contribution to Organized Anarchy Protocol".
Then when people ask how you are dealing with the lack of government, you can say you're COAPing.
Oh. And we need to have a proper democratic process where we vote for the people who lead the coop protection forces.
Not sure, but this all sounds somehow familiar.
(Score: 1) by easyTree on Wednesday December 12 2018, @12:14AM
But but but but but they have self-nominated themselves to be in-charge!
(Score: 3, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday December 11 2018, @06:38PM (1 child)
Well I'm all for shortening copyright and I believe that noncommercial copyright infringement should not be illegal.
But, making money off of other people's work does seem wrong to me. They should probably go after the site and not the advertisers. But, I'm not really opposed to the general concept.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 12 2018, @04:20AM
They're making money off of advertisements when people visit the website. This is entirely different from selling the content itself.