When you hear the term YIFY, the first thing that springs to mind is free movie downloads. But do we even know what the initials stand for? Is this legal? How does it function?
YIFY is a peer-to-peer movie distribution community. Users may utilise their websites to exchange high-quality, new and old movie files using bit torrent. Others download and save them to avoid paying to view movies in cinemas.
Yiftach Swery, the group’s founder, was a computer science student at The University of Waikato. Their headquarters were in New Zealand. It was established in 2010. People mistook the letters YIFY for the name of the founder, Yiftach Swery (YIFY). They stand for Y-your I-input F-feels Y-yucky, according to abbreviations.com.
In 2015, Hollywood’s Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) shut down the original YIFY website.
Toy Story 1 and 2 were the first movies the gang posted to Kickass torrent in 2010. The issue of legality has been raised for some time.
Is it thus legal?
Hollywood interests in New Zealand took the founder to court. They all decided, however, to resolve the dispute outside of court. The founder was permitted to remain anonymous.
When approached for remark, Yiftach Swery compared their operations to Netflix’s streaming service.
He said that subscribers to this service may watch as many movies and TV shows as they wanted. One may argue, though, that Netflix offers a subscription model where users pay monthly, which is legitimate. YIFY, on the other hand, claimed that customers share their account details with friends and family who may watch all accessible movies without subscribing.
Although this may appear to be a powerful argument, the truth is that two wrongs do not equal a right. Another point of view expressed by YIFY was that preparing a movie for a torrent takes a long time. They saw their effort as charitable because the persons engaged gained nothing from it. This argument was intended to help them with the moral side of their profession
YIFY also attempted to defend its actions by claiming that its services are for people all around the world who have limited bandwidth or hard drive space. These YIFY torrents are intended for these individuals to access available stuff.
However, as mentioned below, there are three sorts of persons that have opposing views on the moral issue:
- Those who will download content illegally without regard for the repercussions or legality.
- Individuals that download content are well aware that it is not legal, moral, or ethical.
- Law-abiding persons who would not unlawfully download stuff
The moral and ethical element does not come into play here. Downloading, viewing, or selling copyrighted information without the express and written consent of the owners is called piracy and is illegal.
Enough debating the legality of torrents; now consider the legality of torrent downloading. What does the law say about those who download these torrents?
Is downloading torrents illegal?
Pixelprivacy.com has outlined the potential implications of unlawfully downloading copyrighted information. Downloading torrents from torrent sites is not unlawful in and of itself. However, downloading and spreading copyrighted information without the owners’ express and written consent is prohibited.
The truth is that there is always the possibility of being apprehended by the police. It is acceptable and authorised to download non-copyrighted stuff. There are no laws that relate to this.
In many countries, the government and internet service providers (ISPs) collaborate to catch people who disseminate restricted information. ISPs may be summoned by competent authorities or a court order to provide personal information if someone is suspected of downloading protected content.
ISPs simply need an individual’s IP address to determine who is downloading stuff and where they are located.
Copyright Trolls are firms that specialise in detecting content pirates based on their IP addresses. They negotiate arrangements with copyright holders that allow them to capture and prosecute content pirates on their behalf.
What technology is used by YIFY to record videos with extremely high resolution and size?
It is not yet obvious what kind of software they use. Video encoders such as Handbrake and format factory, on the other hand, are thought to be among them. A combination of software, denoisers, and filters would result in an output file in the X264 encoding format that YIFY uses.
They employ the best settings. The bitrates are kept low, resulting in reduced rendering time while yet ensuring a smaller file size. Because YIFY is a community of skilled encoders, it takes a lot of teamwork to create a great system.
Another significant point is how content thieves, in this example, YIFY, obtain high-quality movies so quickly and easily.
Though YIFY never answered this question directly, a Quora.com user provided some explanation. Movies are released on different dates in different nations, according to him. When film studios have finished distributing films all around the world, they prepare for internet premieres and DVD releases. Piracy begins at this point. Web rips and DVD rips begin to circulate on the internet. YIFY and other uppers may now access, compress, and upload high-quality videos.
However, many have questioned YIFY’s full HD (1080p) releases. They lack visual detail and auditory quality, as well as 5.1 audio capabilities. This situation is the consequence of choices made by YIFY in order to reduce file size while maintaining video quality to acceptable levels for the general public.
How does a torrent uploader get paid?
There are four types of torrent uploaders, which are as follows:
The first are the typical file sharers. When someone listens to an album, like it, and distributes it online, or when someone reads a book and uploads it for the benefit of others who might enjoy it. They post items that fascinate them and then forget about it. They are not profitable.
Another type includes dedicated uppers who do it for the status. In order to gain a reputation, they are notorious for labelling items they submit with their names. They do it just for power. Money is not a concern. To them, it is all about who has done what and how much better than their colleagues.
The third category is for a restricted number of people who own websites and place advertisements on them to generate money. They are a relatively tiny group of people. Making torrents, increasing their popularity, and developing a brand is a lot of effort for one person. As a result, the majority of these users grab torrents from other websites and post them instead.
This last group consists of malware distributors. These individuals load trojans, adware, and spamware into torrents. They are hoping that someone would unintentionally download and install it. These individuals are typically found on major websites with large download capabilities and possibilities. This category includes individuals who post fraudulent movies and demand payment for the necessary codec before you can see them.
Overall, most torrents are uploaded by persons who do not want to profit from a torrent service. There is a co-sharing mentality that leads the community at its heart.
The dangers of utilising torrents
During our investigation, we emphasised the following four risks:
Malware dangers
Some websites’ content contains viruses that can ruin a computer system. After making any download, use a trusted antivirus application to scan it for viral infections or malware material.
Legal issues
As previously stated, downloading protected content is prohibited in many countries. As a result, if you download this information, you run the chance of encountering legal issues.
Vulnerability
When a user downloads, uploads, or shares a torrent file, internet hackers become involved and collect information about the user’s activity. This information might be very sensitive, organisational, or personal, and could be utilised badly or positively.
Data security
This may comprise, among other things, personnel data, remuneration, information regarding employee shareholders, and organisational policies.
In its top 100HD movie area, Pirate Bay features 72 YIFY movies. Over 4500 illegal titles have been shared on such sites in the last five years. YIFY is the greatest pirate bust in New Zealand’s history, with 3.4 million unique visits and 43 million views on the YIFY website in August alone.
For the entirety of its history, YIFY has been an arch opponent of the American film industry. For a time, the free distribution of the latest movies and TV series impacted theatre sales of some of the world’s blockbusters. Countries, on the other hand, are resolved to combat piracy with harsh penalties.
How to Use Torrents Securely
So we know there are some concerns about the legality of torrent ownership. We also know that visiting pirate sites like YTS-YIFY, BitTorrent, The Pirate Bay, Popcorn Time, TorrentFreak, and others comes with some hazards.
But suppose you’re yearning for a nice sci-fi movie and a bowl of popcorn. Is there a method to surf YTS movies torrents and the YIFY torrents main page without risking malware and virus attacks?
While dangers are always there, there are techniques to reduce them. So, here are some easy YIFY torrents solutions and measures to follow when browsing torrents safely:
- Do not access torrent sites when connected to a public Wi-Fi network. This is because they employ a peer-to-peer technology, which allows hackers to easily steal your data. If someone hacks into their system, they may easily obtain your personal information such as your name, email address, passwords, and other information. It may potentially result in the installation of malware on your machine. As a result, when viewing torrent sites, always utilise a private Wi-Fi connection to avoid hacking assaults and malware being placed on your computer system.
- Another option is to use a VPN or another form of proxy. VPNs are useful for browsing torrent sites and YIFY files since they hide your IP address. This way, no one will be able to trace you down. VPNs are also useful for remaining anonymous online.
- Avoid clicking on any questionable advertising or links. This is a basic guideline that applies to more than simply pirate sites. Advertisements on unauthorised torrent sites may lead to dangerous malware that might destroy your computer. You may also use a browser add-on like AdBlock to prevent viruses and malware from being placed on your computer system through pop-ups and other techniques.
Conclusion
The legality of this technique is questionable, but the facts are unmistakable. Copyrighted information is not intended to be unlawfully downloaded.
Everyone is responsible for avoiding dispute with authorities over piracy allegations. There are specific laws and rules that can be utilised against people who engage in these actions. Despite the use of VPNs to circumvent specified regulations, ISPs and other government authorities can still arrest connected people.
