Neowin News Feed for: Piracy

After Forza, Subnautica 2 may have just leaked ahead of launch too

Pulasthi Ariyasinghe — Tue, 12 May 2026 17:32:02 +0000

Pirates have reportedly gotten a hold of Unknown Worlds' Subnautica 2 ahead of its early access release. This looks to be the third major game leak of this week alone. Read more...

Looks like Forza Horizon 6 just leaked on Steam, letting pirates play it already

Pulasthi Ariyasinghe — Sun, 10 May 2026 20:32:01 +0000

Microsoft is set to release Forza Horizon 6 later this month, but it seems a mishap on the Steam version has published the game early. Read more...

Death Stranding 2 PC version leaks on Steam, letting pirates play early

Pulasthi Ariyasinghe — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 12:30:01 +0000

It looks like pirates are playing Death Stranding 2 on PC ahead of the launch, just as the game is about to ditch its PlayStation 5 exclusivity officially. Read more...

Florida woman jailed over massive Microsoft "Genuine" Windows & Office activation key fraud

Sayan Sen — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 13:50:01 +0000

A Florida-based woman has been indicted over a massive fraud involving thousands of "Genuine" Windows and Office labels that often contain product activation keys. Read more...

ARC Raiders seemingly cracked letting pirates play online even without buying game

Pulasthi Ariyasinghe — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 21:09:59 +0000

Despite being an always-online multiplayer game, ARC Raiders may have just been cracked. The pirates are saying that they can even matchmake with players using purchased copies. Read more...

Italy hits Cloudflare with €14 million fine over Piracy Shield non-compliance

Paul Hill — Fri, 09 Jan 2026 10:38:01 +0000

The Italian Communications Authority has issued a landmark €14 million fine to Cloudflare for failing to block illegal content via its "Piracy Shield." Read more...

Anna's Archive now accounts for 5% of all URLs reported to Google for takedown

Paul Hill — Wed, 05 Nov 2025 10:46:01 +0000

Anna's Archive is now the number one piracy website for Google takedown requests as publishers attempt to reduce its visibility. Read more...

Nintendo sues ex-Reddit mod for $4.5 million in piracy lawsuit

Usama Jawad — Mon, 06 Oct 2025 23:38:01 +0000

Nintendo has filed a lawsuit against an individual allegedly responsible for distributing thousands of Switch games illegally. Read more...

Illegal streaming boom traced to jailbroken Amazon Fire Stick devices

David Uzondu — Sat, 31 May 2025 11:34:01 +0000

Companies are losing "billions of dollars" to piracy, and a new report identifies Amazon Fire Sticks as a primary device used to help users gain unauthorized access to content. Read more...

Amazon allegedly warns it'll "terminate" your account for screenshotting Prime Video

Sayan Sen — Tue, 13 May 2025 15:42:01 +0000

Amazon has allegedly started warning customers that it will "terminate" their accounts if they screenshot. Read more...

Microsoft silences Copilot so it can no longer help you pirate Windows 11

Taras Buria — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 10:50:01 +0000

Pirating Windows 11 with the help of Copilot? Not anymore, says Microsoft as it silences its AI assistant. Read more...

Want to activate Windows 11 for free? Just ask Microsoft Copilot

Taras Buria — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 15:12:01 +0000

Copilot, Microsoft's AI-powered assistant, won't give you a key for free Windows 11 activation, but it will gladly explain how to pirate it with a few clicks. Read more...

Former Microsoft employee pedals Windows 11 piracy, says Microsoft does not care

Taras Buria — Thu, 09 Jan 2025 17:32:01 +0000

Microsoft does not care if you pirate Windows 11. At least, that is what a former employee pedaling Windows piracy on X says. Read more...

Not torrents, but illegal live-streaming sites are the biggest enemy of the 2024 Olympics

Martin Hodás — Sun, 04 Aug 2024 06:46:01 +0000

Piracy evolves, too. The Olympics demonstrated that torrents are a threat of the past, as websites with illegal live streams are now main cause of headaches for intellectual property rights holders. Read more...

Multiple pirate streaming apps removed after making their return to the App Store

Sagar Naresh Bhavsar — Thu, 01 Aug 2024 05:38:02 +0000

Following their removal from the Apple App Store a few weeks ago, multiple pirate streaming apps were once again listed on the App Store, which currently seems to have been taken down by Apple. Read more...

Popular anime piracy portal 'Animeflix' shuts down

Aditya Tiwari — Fri, 05 Jul 2024 20:02:01 +0000

Animeflix, the piracy portal that allowed people to stream anime online, has shut down without prior notice. Its operators announced the demise in a message posted on their Discord server. Read more...

High-quality copy of Dune: Part Two leaks early, pays tribute to an infamous pirate group

Martin Hodás — Mon, 08 Apr 2024 09:20:01 +0000

Dune: Part Two, is about to hit the streaming services in the upcoming weeks. However, a high-quality rip from an unknown source is already circulating online in the waters of internet piracy. Read more...

Sanctions turn 70% of Russian gamers into pirates

Paul Hill — Fri, 21 Jul 2023 15:04:01 +0000

Following sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, gaming piracy levels have rocketed. Research has found that 7 in 10 gamers have engaged in game piracy over the last year. Read more...

Popular movie and TV torrent site RARBG suddenly shuts down after 15 years

John Callaham — Wed, 31 May 2023 16:32:01 +0000

The RARBG site now only has a brief and rambling message stating the reasons why it has shut down, which include deaths of some team members due to COVID-19, higher inflation and more. Read more...

Nintendo hacker Bowser released from prison, will pay off fine for the rest of his life

Usama Jawad — Tue, 18 Apr 2023 13:04:01 +0000

Hacker Gary Bowser from the infamous Team-Xecuter Nintendo piracy group has been released early from prison. However, he will likely be paying off fines to Nintendo for the rest of his life. Read more...

Microsoft Weekly: Free USB drives, Bing AI in Edge, and pirated Windows

Usama Jawad — Sat, 18 Mar 2023 22:36:02 +0000

Our latest edition of Microsoft Weekly is jampacked with news about Microsoft handing out free USBs to Insiders, the integration of AI in even more Redmond products, and pirated Windows (!). Read more...

User claims Microsoft support activated their Windows 10 copy with pirated script

Taras Buria — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 11:22:02 +0000

A user on Twitter with the handle @TCNOco claims that Microsoft support activated their Windows 10 copy with an unofficial (pirated) script after a failed attempt to use a legitimate key. Read more...

Class-action lawsuit filed against Microsoft's GitHub Copilot for software piracy

Usama Jawad — Fri, 04 Nov 2022 03:08:01 +0000

A programmer has filed a lawsuit against Microsoft, GitHub, and OpenAI for their GitHub Copilot tool, alleging that it basically allows Microsoft to profit off of the work of others, without consent. Read more...

Denuvo rolls out Nintendo Switch Emulator Protection to halt piracy on PC

Pulasthi Ariyasinghe — Wed, 24 Aug 2022 14:32:01 +0000

Piracy protection giant Denuvo says PC pirates are opting to emulate Nintendo Switch versions of games when PC versions have tough protections on them, and is now offering an anti-piracy solution. Read more...

Denuvo is now going after DLC pirates with its new DRM solution

Pulasthi Ariyasinghe — Sat, 02 Jul 2022 06:20:01 +0000

The Denuvo digital rights management software is getting an upgrade, with maker Irdeto now offering a solution that prevents PC game owners from acquiring DLC content from stores without paying. Read more...

UK ISPs stop issuing educational copyright infringement notices

Paul Hill — Sat, 20 Jul 2019 22:28:02 +0000

UK ISPs have ceased sending educational copyright infringement notices. The campaign started just over two years ago but now the focus will shift to advertising and social media campaigns. Read more...

Camcorder pirates in India could face up to three years in prison and $14,000 in fines

Usama Jawad — Thu, 10 Jan 2019 07:54:01 +0000

A proposed amendment to India's Cinematograph Act suggests that camcorder pirates in India should face up to three years in prison and pay fines up to $14,000 if they distribute copyrighted content. Read more...

Nintendo's solution to Switch bootROM hardware exploit has been cracked

Boyd Chan — Sun, 25 Nov 2018 05:42:01 +0000

In less than a week, the revised secure boot process included in System Update 6.2.0 to thwart piracy and homebrew software leveraging a hardware flaw, previously thought immutable, has been cracked. Read more...

Nintendo settles for $12 million in lawsuit against married couple who operated ROM sites

Usama Jawad — Tue, 13 Nov 2018 16:48:01 +0000

Nintendo has settled for $12 million in a lawsuit that it filed against a married couple who were operating ROM sites. The accused have also signed off the websites, games, and emulators to Nintendo. Read more...

Google reveals results of its anti-piracy efforts in new report

Paul Hill — Wed, 07 Nov 2018 15:00:01 +0000

Google has released its 2018 'How Google Fights Piracy' report for all to read. The firm explained the measures it has taken to stop copyrighted material being illegally shared on its platforms. Read more...

Google may be fined in Russia for not following site-blocking rules

Usama Jawad — Sat, 03 Nov 2018 13:20:01 +0000

It appears that Google may be fined for not following Russia's site-blocking rule, which forces ISPs and search engines to connect to a database of blocked sites before displaying search results. Read more...

Reddit swings the ban hammer on several subreddits promoting piracy

Usama Jawad — Sun, 23 Sep 2018 05:24:01 +0000

Reddit has started banning several communities which exist for the sole purpose of promoting pirated content. Multiple subreddits which posted links to movies and TV shows have been closed for good. Read more...

EmuParadise takes down all ROMs from its website following Nintendo's legal actions

Tim Moon — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 07:40:01 +0000

Following weeks of legal actions from Nintendo to suppress piracy of its older games, the 18-year old retro game provider EmuParadise has removed all video game ROMs from its website. Read more...

Nintendo's anti-piracy measures arrive on the 3DS with the latest update

João Carrasqueira — Wed, 01 Aug 2018 05:48:01 +0000

A system update released for the Nintendo 3DS brings a similar anti-piracy system to what the company implemented on its Switch hybrid console last month, possibly banning users from going online. Read more...

Nintendo may be banning Switch game cards used for piracy from going online

João Carrasqueira — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 16:16:02 +0000

Reports have surfaced stating that Nintendo might be preventing game cards used for pirating games from going online, thanks to unique identification numbers assigned to each game card. Read more...

Sony begins sending copyright warnings to World Cup streamers

Paul Hill — Sat, 09 Jun 2018 13:04:01 +0000

Sony has been working preemptively to combat World Cup piracy online. The firm, which holds the rights to the event in some Asian countries, told streaming sites not to stream the event, or else. Read more...

CODEX claims to have cracked Microsoft's UWP protections and DRM

Muhammad Jarir Kanji — Fri, 16 Feb 2018 13:48:02 +0000

With the release of Zoo Tycoon Ultimate Animal Collection, the video game piracy group claims to have trumped the five layers of DRM protection included with content published via the UWP platform. Read more...

Google revamps image search to protect Getty Images' intellectual property

Jay Bonggolto — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 14:44:01 +0000

Google and Getty Images have signed an agreement to address copyright infringement issues involving Google Images; removing the 'View image' button that displays high-resolution photos. Read more...

UK Kodi box trader given suspended prison sentence

Paul Hill — Sat, 21 Oct 2017 01:18:01 +0000

A UK court has handed down a suspended sentence to a man who sold Android TV boxes which allowed people to access copyrighted material, including films and live sports, as a warning to others. Read more...

Well, that didn't take long. Shadow of War's DRM cracked in a day

Muhammad Jarir Kanji — Thu, 12 Oct 2017 23:54:01 +0000

Within 24 hours of the release of the new Middle Earth: Shadow of War by Monolith Productions, the game's Denuvo DRM technology has been cracked, making it possible to pirate the game. Read more...