{"id":455501,"date":"2022-05-31T15:00:20","date_gmt":"2022-05-31T12:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/will-hollywoods-lawsuits-shut-down-your-favorite-vpn\/"},"modified":"2022-05-31T15:00:20","modified_gmt":"2022-05-31T12:00:20","slug":"will-hollywoods-lawsuits-shut-down-your-favorite-vpn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/will-hollywoods-lawsuits-shut-down-your-favorite-vpn\/","title":{"rendered":"#Will Hollywood\u2019s Lawsuits Shut Down Your Favorite VPN?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3dfe41e140b\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3dfe41e140b\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/will-hollywoods-lawsuits-shut-down-your-favorite-vpn\/#%E2%80%9CWill_Hollywoods_Lawsuits_Shut_Down_Your_Favorite_VPN%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;Will Hollywood\u2019s Lawsuits Shut Down Your Favorite VPN?&#8221;<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-2' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/will-hollywoods-lawsuits-shut-down-your-favorite-vpn\/#Not_Just_a_Concern_for_BitTorrent_Users\" >Not Just a Concern for BitTorrent Users<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/will-hollywoods-lawsuits-shut-down-your-favorite-vpn\/#Hollywood_and_Torrenters\" >Hollywood and Torrenters<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/will-hollywoods-lawsuits-shut-down-your-favorite-vpn\/#Torrenting_and_VPNs\" >Torrenting and VPNs<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/will-hollywoods-lawsuits-shut-down-your-favorite-vpn\/#Hollywood_VPN_Lawsuits\" >Hollywood VPN Lawsuits<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/will-hollywoods-lawsuits-shut-down-your-favorite-vpn\/#Hollywood_Escalates\" >Hollywood Escalates<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CWill_Hollywoods_Lawsuits_Shut_Down_Your_Favorite_VPN%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;Will Hollywood\u2019s Lawsuits Shut Down Your Favorite VPN?&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<figure style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"type:primaryImage wp-image-807912 size-full\" data-pagespeed-lazy-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/shutterstock_1257797101.jpg?width=398&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1 400w, https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/shutterstock_1257797101.jpg?width=1198&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, 400w, 1200w\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/shutterstock_1257797101.jpg?width=1198&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"A judge's gavel.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" data-crediturl=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/law-concept-background-1257797101\" data-credittext=\"Zolnierek\/Shutterstock.com\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"type:primaryImage imagecredit\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/law-concept-background-1257797101\">Zolnierek\/Shutterstock.com<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>If you want to torrent copyrighted material, a VPN will hide what you\u2019re doing. Well, for now, at least: If it\u2019s up to Hollywood, torrenters will soon no longer be able to hide behind anonymous IP addresses provided by VPNs and they\u2019re taking VPN providers to court to make it h<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>en.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Not_Just_a_Concern_for_BitTorrent_Users\"><\/span>Not Just a Concern for BitTorrent Users<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Over the last few years, several VPN providers have found themselves on the receiving end of legal action on behalf of the movie industry. Some cases have been won by VPNs, but others have led to VPNs pledging to track certain users or even going out of business altogether.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s take a look at some of the cases that have been brought forward, their fallout, and what it means\u2014not only for the average torrenter, but for all VPN users. Will Hollywood be able to shut down your favorite VPN?<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Hollywood_and_Torrenters\"><\/span>Hollywood and Torrenters<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Movie studios and distributors have never made it a secret that they want to stamp out the piracy of their products. Torrent sites have been a particular target for lawsuits and in a few cases their complaints have led to government action. Examples include the world-famous <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.engadget.com\/2014-12-16-pirate-bay-shutdown-explainer.html?guccounter=1&amp;guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9kdWNrZHVja2dvLmNvbS8&amp;guce_referrer_sig=AQAAABQ91-hUCdNxSQsH9v-y5BubFqs_pTN1MY3xVw90jMP9IBrQkd1iXbRhTJSPSOZQHBuMVt1CxKw-TorGrSw_jX6tEe6wOr3t1Rz1YNN633dZTHXhQsIuaMoszuYGb15FY2erpiQ764w_cuabLnuWOZhLahkdrVo3uVo7upyHb248\">The Pirate Bay<\/a> as well as <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/money.cnn.com\/2016\/07\/21\/technology\/kickass-torrent\/index.html\">Kickass Torrents<\/a>, both of which were taken down by law enforcement.<\/p>\n<p>Though these were touted as massive wins for copyright law, the fact is that they were hollow victories, at best. The Pirate Bay was up and running again while the crime scene tape was still hanging. Right now, you could visit any of a hundred proxy sites and have access to the full catalog of pirated material.<\/p>\n<p>The biggest change for torrenters has been that you can now be fined for committing software piracy. If you were to use Bittorrent now to download a popular Hollywood film, you could expect some kind of notice to appear in your digital or physical mailbox warning you to knock it off or face fines.<\/p>\n<p>These fines are no joke, either: In 2009, a Boston jury made a man <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Business\/story?id=8226751&amp;page=1\">pay $675,000 in damages<\/a> for downloading 30 songs, while, in 2021,\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/police-arrest-six-in-connection-with-private-torrent-sites-seedboxes-211104\/\">Danish police arrested<\/a> six people that were running a torrenting site. Your author has also received menacing letters from copyright watchdogs while living in the United States in 2016, threatening unnamed fines and action for downloading a Hollywood film.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Torrenting_and_VPNs\"><\/span>Torrenting and VPNs<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>To avoid these punitive measures, there is one powerful tool torrenters can use: virtual private networks. These handy tools can spoof your IP address (one of the most important ways in which you can be identified online) and thus make torrenting safe again. Even if a copyright watchdog sees you torrenting files, there\u2019s nothing that can be done as you can\u2019t be tracked.<\/p>\n<p>Read all about how VPNs work if you\u2019re a little fuzzy on the details.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, you could go up to the VPN in question and request users\u2019 details to find out who has been torrenting what, but as most VPNs don\u2019t keep logs (or at least claim to not keep them), there is nothing to find.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Hollywood_VPN_Lawsuits\"><\/span>Hollywood VPN Lawsuits<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>That hasn\u2019t prevented studios and movie distributors from trying, though, and over the last few years plenty of suits have been filed. Some are focused on forcing VPNs to start logging user information, while others have focused on getting some kind of remuneration or even shutting services down.<\/p>\n<p>For example, in one case, VPN provider <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.privateinternetaccess.com\/\">Private Internet Access<\/a>\u00a0was\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.techspot.com\/news\/87343-anonymous-vpn-users-could-uncovered-movie-company-lawsuit.html\">sued<\/a> in a bid to get information about customers that had downloaded the film <i>Angel Has Fallen<\/i> \u2014 apparently having had to watch the film wasn\u2019t punishment enough. In this instance, it seems that legal action was contained to threats as PIA never received a subpoena for the records.<\/p>\n<p>A little more serious was the lawsuit brought against LiquidVPN, a small provider which rather aggressively advertised itself as a great solution to torrent and stream pirated material. The suit <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/arstechnica.com\/information-technology\/2021\/09\/film-studios-sue-liquidvpn-for-10-million-but-is-it-fair\/\">alleged $10 million in damages<\/a>. It seems that, rather than pay, LiquidVPN upped sticks and simply disappeared. Pretty unpleasant for anybody that prepaid a year of use, we guess.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Hollywood_Escalates\"><\/span>Hollywood Escalates<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>To a certain extent, you can expect suits like our two examples above; after all, the film industry is worth billions and they don\u2019t want to miss out on a single penny due to piracy. It\u2019s no wonder then that when a company lawyer sees a loophole they could exploit they\u2019re going to give it a shot. However, it seems like Hollywood is now <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/hollywood-piracy-vpn-lawsuits\/\">turning to some decidedly nasty tactics<\/a> to persuade judges to take action against VPNs.<\/p>\n<p>A good example was seen earlier this year when lawyers representing more than 20 movie studios and distributors took a number of VPNs to court, including some of the biggest VPNS in the business, like <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/uxnzmft.com\/offer\/coupon?offer=3monthsfree&amp;a_fid=howtogeek&amp;data1=htg&amp;data2=807819\">ExpressVPN<\/a> and PIA.<\/p>\n<p>Not only was it argued that VPNs were aiding in downloading copyrighted material, but also that VPNs make it easy to distribute child porn, organize terrorist attacks, and spread hate speech, among other horrendous crimes.<\/p>\n<p>In their defense, the VPNs in question put up that the Hollywood lawyers were pretty much just trying to rile up the judge and jury by equating their services with giving a platform to such nasty activity.<\/p>\n<p>In the end, this suit was settled on undisclosed terms, but it does show that Hollywood is willing to pull out all the stops in their battle against piracy. If lawyers can equate VPN use with truly heinous crimes like distributing child porn or placing bomb threats in the minds of people and especially judges, it could very well be that VPNs will see their activities badly curtailed in future.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n setTimeout(function(){\n  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n  {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n  n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n  if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n  n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n  t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n  s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s) } (window, document,'script',\n  'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n   fbq('init', '335401813750447');\n   fbq('track', 'PageView');\n  },3000);\n<\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. 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Well, for now, at least: If it\u2019s up to Hollywood, torrenters will soon no longer be able to hide behind anonymous IP addresses provided by VPNs and they\u2019re taking VPN providers to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":455502,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/shutterstock_1257797101.jpg?height=200p&trim=2,2,2,2","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-455501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=455501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455501\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/455502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=455501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=455501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=455501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}