Created by software developer Elias Saba and released on the Amazon Appstore in November 2016, ‘Downloader’ offered two things; an empty URL field and a download button.

Downloader was intentionally basic but as a former Fire TV Product Manager at Amazon, Saba knew that a simple tool to transfer files would solve a fundamental shortcoming. Over 50 million installs of Downloader to date speak for the software’s popularity but in May 2023, progress came to a screeching halt.

Several Israeli TV companies filed a DMCA complaint at Google Play alleging that Downloader offered copyrighted content. The companies supplied no details of the content allegedly infringed and said nothing about how ‘Downloader’ somehow managed to violate copyright law.

Google suspended Downloader leaving Saba no other option than to file a DMCA counternotice. The developer was forced to wait 10 business days for the complainants to respond and a total of 20 days for Downloader to be restored. After almost three weeks offline, Downloader had lost 47% of its active users.

Just six months later and it’s happening all over again.

Another Baseless Copyright Complaint

Speaking with TorrentFreak last evening, Saba calmly explained that a new DMCA takedown notice, filed by India-based anti-piracy outfit Markscan, had resulted in Google suspending Downloader once again. The news was delivered by Google on Sunday evening via the notice below.

Deficient DMCA Notice, Entirely Deficient Claims

Given Downloader’s limited capabilities, even a sensible discussion on the merits would’ve required Markscan to come up with something special. In the event, the DMCA notice filed at Google Play falls substantially short of the established minimum standard for removing a single URL, let alone an app boasting 50 million downloads.

In response to a request to ‘Identify and describe the copyrighted work’ allegedly infringed, the response ‘Properties of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.’ is especially unhelpful.

In 2022, Warner revealed that its library consists of more than 145,000 hours of programming, including 12,500 feature films and 2,400 television series comprised of more than 150,000 individual episodes.

Alleging infringement of just one of these copyrighted works would’ve been trivial, had the DMCA notice stated a valid claim against an app that carries and indexes zero content, and is substantially less functional than a web browser.

Google says that it was notified that Downloader “allegedly infringes upon the copyright of others, and violates applicable copyright laws in the relevant country/jurisdiction.” Logic suggests that any alleged infringement would indicate a violation of United States copyright law. However, if we take Markscan’s home turf as an example, are vague allegations acceptable in India?

Just two examples picked at random ( 1 , 2 , pdf) show that takedown notices filed by the same team offer a level of detail likely to meet standards almost anywhere. Why this wasn’t replicated in the complaint against Downloader raises serious questions.

Another DMCA Counternotice, More Time Offline

On Monday evening, Saba filed an appeal at Google Play and 24 minutes later received notification that it had been rejected.

As a result the developer followed up with a DMCA counternotice . No response had been received at the time of writing.

Shortly after, Saba was contact by Google AdMob who informed him that ads in the Downloader app will stop being served if it isn’t restored by Tuesday (today). The background to this message is interesting, as Saba explains.

“You see, I never had ads in my app and relied solely on donation buttons in the app. But when the app was suspended last time, I learned those donation buttons stop working, even for people that already had the app installed,” he informs TorrentFreak.

“As a backup plan, in case the app was suspended again, I added ads to the app for the first time. Now I know it was a mistake going with Google for the ads since, evidently, they break those as well when the app is suspended. I just can’t catch a break.”

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

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An event organized by Spanish football league LaLiga took place at the Museum of Arts and Sciences of Valencia yesterday.

LaLiga were joined at “Fight Against Piracy in Sporting Events” by Víctor Francos Díaz , Spain’s recently appointed Secretary of State for Sports and president of the Higher Sports Council (CSD), and MEP Iban García del Blanco .

Citing data recently published by the European Intellectual Property Office, which found that piracy in the EU grew by 3.3 % in 2022, the CSD president said piracy remains a problem for sports groups like LaLiga and for governments around Europe. That report didn’t actually contain any data on the IPTV-based piracy plaguing LaLiga, but there’s no doubt that the league has its hands full.

Scale of the Problem

LaLiga’s efforts to contain IPTV piracy services began eight years ago and according to local media , La Liga’s anti-piracy department now detects over 46,000 IP addresses around the world broadcasting pirated live sports.

LaLiga chief Javier Tebas reported that during the first five days of the new Spanish football season, it had “eliminated” 58 Android-based piracy apps believed to have been downloaded by four million users worldwide. Tebas said that 800,000 of those users are in Spain where they use the app to watch pirated football streams.

The figures relating to Apple devices are smaller, around a million users worldwide, 300,000 of them in Spain. Overall that’s roughly 1.1 million users of these pirate apps in Spain, a considerable number but only part of the overall picture.

Terminology and Definitions Are Important

What LaLiga means by “eliminated” isn’t clear and that in itself muddies the waters when trying to build a picture on achievements and failures. On one hand, the complete destruction of 58 apps and their infrastructure would be a monumental achievement but if 58 apps were only removed from app stores or blocked by ISPs, any gains might already have been wiped out as pirates adjust.

The tell-tale signs that “eliminated” means something other than total destruction were evident as Tebas outlined another problem facing LaLiga. While it may well have restricted the availability of dozens of apps, LaLiga is in no position to do anything about the copies that have already been downloaded and installed on users’ phones.

Tebas describes this as another problem LaLiga faced, which probably speaks volumes about the status of the “eliminated” apps. If we assume that non-functional “eliminated” piracy apps are useless and therefore of little concern to LaLiga, only functional apps are problematic. If the already downloaded apps can still rely on functional internet infrastructure, getting rebranded apps back into the marketplace won’t be a problem for pirates.

That being said, Tebas believes that eliminating downloaded apps has value, and it appears that work towards that is already underway.

LaLiga is “Talking to Google”

“That is another of our fights: that those who have them downloaded on their mobile phones already have them and now we have to work to eliminate them,” Tebas said, as quoted by local media.

“We are talking to Google and other platforms so that they can be located on those mobile phones. If it can be done and it is done, for example, for crimes such as child pornography, for intellectual property, which is stealing, they should have to do it too.”

It’s been quite some time since the protection of intellectual property and the protection of children have been mentioned in the same sentence, and longer still since anyone has advocated for equivalent countermeasures.

That could mean that the protection of intellectual property is getting ahead of itself but without similarly huge financial lobbying power, it’s more likely to reflect child protection falling behind.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

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Japanese manga comics remain massively popular online but with that comes high levels of piracy that publishers are struggling to contain.

On top of dedicated websites pulling in tens of millions of visits each every month, there’s a thriving market of Android and iOS apps offering premium manga content for free but without appropriate licenses.

Many of these apps, especially those Android-based, are made available outside official app ecosystems, but some still make their way onto Google Play and Apple’s App Store, with all the convenience that entails. To have the apps removed, publishers file takedown notices with Google and Apple but as recent court documents suggest, takedown notices aren’t always successful.

Kadokawa Sent Takedown Notices, Apps Stay Up

On June 16, 2023, manga publisher Kadokawa sent two takedown notices, one to Google and another to Apple. In broad terms the notices are identical, the only differences being the recipient and links to the content to be taken down.

The notice sent to Google lists works by manga artist Kugane Maruyama and requests the removal of two apps; one titled ‘SuA Manga Đọc truyện tranh’ and another titled ‘Mangalek’.

The takedown notice sent to Apple lists three works by two manga artists – Shachi Sogano and Patora Fuyuhara – and requests the removal of three apps: ‘Manga Reader: Comic & Webtoons’, ‘Manga Reader: Top Manga Here’, and ‘Manga Reader – Comics and Novels’.

Whether these takedown requests are more complex than they first appear is unknown, but it seems that neither Google nor Apple removed the apps in question. At the time of writing they remain available both on Google Play ( 1 , 2 ) and Apple’s App Store ( 1 , 2 , 3 ).

Kadokawa Files DMCA Application at California Court

It’s possible that Kadokawa always intended to take further action, whether its takedown notices were effective or not. In any event, the manga publisher has now filed requests with a California court to compel both Apple and Google to hand over the identities of the apps’ developers.

The information requested from both companies is broadly the same and comprehensive. (Apple request shown below)

– Any and all information showing all names, addresses (including postal codes and addresses used for address (PIN) verification, e-mail addresses (including email addresses used for recovery or other purposes), and telephone numbers (including, but not limited to, those required for Apple account registration);

– Any and all information showing access log (including dates, times, IP addresses, and access type) of each of the Infringer’s Accounts, including access log along with timestamp for each login (namely, login history);

– Any and all information showing (a) all names, telephone numbers, and addresses (including postal codes), any payment method, including but not limited to credit card holders, bank accounts, registered with; and (b) the type of the payment method and the name of the company or financial institution associated with such payment method registered with any and all of the Infringer’s Accounts.

Publicly available information suggests that some of these apps and/or their developers may have links to full-blown pirate sites, so any information obtained here may prove useful in progressing investigations elsewhere.

Kadokawa’s DMCA subpoena application can be found here (Google 1 , 2 / Apple 1 , 2 , 3 , pdf)

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.