Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Mar 14, 2014 15:19:02 GMT -6
From:
variety.com/2014/more/news/movie-piracy-app-popcorn-time-is-dead-1201133600/
The anonymous crew behind Popcorn Time, a free app that let users stream a slew of Hollywood hits culled from pirate torrent sites, has pulled the plug on the project less than a week after gaining worldwide attention.
“Popcorn Time is shutting down today,” the app’s Argentina-based developers wrote in a message on its website Friday. “Not because we ran out of energy, commitment, focus or allies. But because we need to move on with our lives.”
The move comes after Popcorn Time’s app was removed by its hosting provider, New Zealand-based file website Mega, for apparent violations of the terms of service. Mega is run by Kim Dotcom, the notorious mastermind behind Megaupload, a cyberlocker that U.S. authorities shut down in January 2012.
Popcorn Time presented a menu of movies — including recent releases like “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” “American Hustle,” “12 Years a Slave,” “Frozen” and “Dallas Buyers Club” — culled from torrent piracy sites like The Pirate Bay. But instead of requiring users to download files via a BitTorrent client, the Popcorn Time software finds the selected titles from torrent directories and begins streaming titles within a few seconds.
The group behind the app, which said they are based in Buenos Aires, said the statement Friday that “our experiment has put us at the doors of endless debates about piracy and copyright, legal threats and the shady machinery that makes us feel in danger for doing what we love. And that’s not a battle we want a place in.
variety.com/2014/more/news/movie-piracy-app-popcorn-time-is-dead-1201133600/
The anonymous crew behind Popcorn Time, a free app that let users stream a slew of Hollywood hits culled from pirate torrent sites, has pulled the plug on the project less than a week after gaining worldwide attention.
“Popcorn Time is shutting down today,” the app’s Argentina-based developers wrote in a message on its website Friday. “Not because we ran out of energy, commitment, focus or allies. But because we need to move on with our lives.”
The move comes after Popcorn Time’s app was removed by its hosting provider, New Zealand-based file website Mega, for apparent violations of the terms of service. Mega is run by Kim Dotcom, the notorious mastermind behind Megaupload, a cyberlocker that U.S. authorities shut down in January 2012.
Popcorn Time presented a menu of movies — including recent releases like “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” “American Hustle,” “12 Years a Slave,” “Frozen” and “Dallas Buyers Club” — culled from torrent piracy sites like The Pirate Bay. But instead of requiring users to download files via a BitTorrent client, the Popcorn Time software finds the selected titles from torrent directories and begins streaming titles within a few seconds.
The group behind the app, which said they are based in Buenos Aires, said the statement Friday that “our experiment has put us at the doors of endless debates about piracy and copyright, legal threats and the shady machinery that makes us feel in danger for doing what we love. And that’s not a battle we want a place in.