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Terrarium TV Dev Says He Could Hand User Info to Authorities


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Last week NitroXenon, the developer of popular 'pirate' app Terrarium TV, announced he was shutting the project down for good. While that was a big enough blow to fans around the world, the developer has worrying news for former users. NitroXenon informs TorrentFreak that if required, he'll give up user data to the authorities.

terrariumtv.jpgTerrarium TV was one of the most impressive ‘pirate’ apps in recent years. Utilizing video content hosted on file-hosting platforms, it grew to become a serious competitor to apps like Showbox and Popcorn Time.

Last week, however, developer NitroXenon announced that the project would be shutting down

“It has always been a great pleasure to work on this project. However, it is time to say goodbye. I am going to shut down Terrarium TV, forever,” he wrote.

“I know this day will come eventually. I know it would be hard to let go. But it is really time for me to move on to other projects.”

As always, people wanted to know why the project was really being shut down. TorrentFreak spoke with NitroXenon who told us….very little. When questioned he refused to speak about his motivation, which of course led to speculation, some of it reasonable, some of it less so.

The big possibility, of course, is legal threats. Given that NitroXenon refused to answer, we might deduce that he’s under pressure not to speak. However, no substantial facts were available to definitively back that up so we had to take his statement at face value.

And then this weekend, out of the blue, NitroXenon scared thousands of Terrarium TV fans with a surprise announcement.

Former users of Terrarium TV, who didn’t immediately uninstall the app as NitroXenon had previously advised, suddenly started receiving notifications on their devices.

“Uninstall immediately!” one warned. “Your IP address and location are being tracked!”

“We can’t guarantee that details won’t be shared upon request,” advised another.

 

terr-warn.png

 

These kinds of notifications are not what the average user expects and of course, panic ensued. Was this some kind of scare tactic to ensure the last few people uninstalled the app or were the notifications sent out of genuine concern for users?

On Sunday, TorrentFreak was able to reach NitroXenon and ask him what on earth is going on. He had nothing reassuring to say.

“I’m just telling the truth,” he told TF. “Almost every app tracks user’s IP [addresses]. And if I must [hand] the info to authorities then I’ll do it.”

Other than this statement, NitroXenon had nothing to add. However, on behalf of people getting the scary notifications, we asked the obvious question. Why would NitroXenon retain logs after the application had been shut down and why, if he hasn’t been asked to retain them already, didn’t he simply purge them?

We received no response but if we have to analyze this situation, we’d say that something doesn’t feel right here.

Presuming for a moment that NitroXenon has come under pressure to a) shut down the app and b) not speak about the fact that he’s been threatened, that would fit the current pattern of developers who have found themselves in a similar situation over the past few months.

That being said, if IP address and location details are indeed being logged (the app had permissions for location), then why publicly warn users that is the case? The data has already been logged and deleting Terrarium now probably isn’t going to make much difference. Also, if the aim is to collect details of pirates, why sabotage that by giving out a warning while, potentially, undermining a non-disclosure agreement?

That leads us to the possibility that these are scare tactics but, put very simply, we have no proof either way. There might be a threat and there might not but we’ve never heard of a case where people who have simply streamed content (rather than uploaded) have been pursued by content companies.

There are several other possibilities too, including that NitroXenon got sick of the whole project and decided to burn the thing to the ground (unlikely, given how friendly he was in the past) or maybe he’s having his strings pulled by parties keen to send a message to movie and TV show pirates.

To our knowledge, this is an unprecedented development for ‘pirate’ applications, no matter what is going on behind the scenes. Whether users choose to uninstall the app moving forward is their prerogative but it seems unlikely that IP address evidence would prove of much use in this case, given that Terrarium never hosted the infringing content itself.

There are no guarantees, of course, so the rumors and speculation will continue, including that a hostile third-party, not content companies, have taken over both the app and NitroXenon’s Reddit account…..

 

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I was reading about this some of the the people who reversed it too work it sends out a warning  were the dev can track you, they didn't remove all the checks , but there is one version out there were the person reserved it  were he removed the tracking feature and it don't call home . If this dev turns his users in it shows what a asshole he really is .But like many apps  that done this in the past when you crack them there is always someone smart enough to crack them were they want call home lol.   If a app calling home got people in trouble  almost everyone on this site would  been in trouble by now. 

 

I got warnings like this from apps before , blah , blah , blah  we logged your ip and nothing ever happened like from DU Meter. You take this risk every time you use cracked software a good example would be registering IDM we all know the dev want turn you in, he will just try to blacklist you . And if he did turn anyone in it would posted all over the internet .     If you use a vpn when streaming,  he dont have your ip no how , he just has your vpns. .:tooth:

 

 
Quote

 

I havent looked at the update, but previous versions 1.9.2 or before has in fact asked for location when you first start the app. You dont need to allow it for any reason, but its very odd. You could just pop the latest version, give it location allowance and pop open Fiddler and log the requests being made and confirm. Im almost 100% sure its a scare tactic just to get people to uninstall and let me tell you why.

1 - Server Usage
It would be a LOT of requests being sent to a server and I can tell you now either it would be down a lot, or theres no server at all.

2 - Terrarium TV STILL WORKS
It can still be used if you patch out the closure message menu which is relatively a simple process. Terrarium TV uses NO SERVERS of its own (Im not 100% sure, but I think they have 1 small one just to update "Trending" tab for TV Shows but thats about it).
This also stacks up to server usage, he isnt going to go out his way to pay $$$$ to host a server just for legal pressure if that is the case.
Since TTV still works, no one uninstalls it as they dont need to. You could even use an old version of TTV thats Update Patched (basically every "mod" version).
Only thing that doesnt work is some various API's which again can be patched.

3 - Since TTV still works, people are using it
This scare tactic is sent out to try get everyone to uninstall so its "actually" gone.
Since it still works, no one uninstalls but the goal is to essentially delete it from existence. So send out some scary notifications (ooOOoo spooky) and get people to uninstall.

4 - Hes not under legal pressure, but hes worried of it
Ive a feeling hes not under legal pressure but worried mainly as if my above points are correct and hes trying to completely erase it from existence, who would need to do that when abandoning a project? Just leave it? If they want a half broken non maintained app installed, good for them, why the need to scare people into uninstalling? Well ill tell you. Lets say hes NOT under legal pressure, but lets say he believes he might be, soon, then getting rid of the evidence would be a good idea. So thats what hes trying to do.

 

 

 

Most software when they shut it down they shut the server down too, ether the software stops working  or it keeps working ,Just like when Limewire got closed down you had to patch it too work again, then when Frostwire removed Gnutella client it had to be  patched to make the old version work again and people used it for years and there still is a fork of limewire that still work out of the box. What will make Terrarium stop working in the end will be websites changing stuff around unless someone updates it. But they will  be a fork out soon were you want need to use it. if he was going to help the feds out with a honeypot he sure would not warn you he was logging, he would do it without even warning you this just a scare tactic.. :rofl:

 

He already got a bunch of peoples info from were he done donation versions before, id be more worried about if i donated too him,  when he stop making donation versions he made a lot of his users mad , I tested Android apps before unless they cracked to remove ads there not even worth using ..It reminds of windows apps from the 1990s early 2000s with all them ads. Limewire had all them peoples info who bought the Pro version too and they never came after them, for it too hold up in court they have to catch you in the act of streaming witch just a civil offense witch would be almost impossible because it uses only hosters.  If the MPPA or ACE gave him a C&D he dont have copyright protection and if he took your info to court he would most likely go to jail .  That's whats wrong with Android DEVs And KODI addon DEVs  they dont  know the difference in what's legal and what is piracy if they did they would keep it underground to begin with and would be much harder to catch. But there finding out the hard way. Some devs have wised up and only have private groups off the www and you have to be  a member to get  there apps and addons. So anything posted on the www was a leak .   :lol:

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itroXenon informs TorrentFreak that if required,  he'll give up user data to the authorities.

 

What authorities ? Lawyers threatening to sue You, If ... It's Cease-And-Desist - No Authorities.

Otherwise the Place would've already been shut down.

 

Legally, there is no way that some Attorney can leverage him to fork the UserData over.
What they might do is "If you .. then we won't press charges to the full extent."

to get ahold of email addresses to scare User into: "Either YOU pay USD (Amount) ot WE will

hand over the usage-data to the Authorities.." ... Have a wild guess, how many out of a 100 will pay ANY Amount...

 

If someone here is a Registered User .. don't freak out. None of the "Authorities" will get active,

because it's a civil matter.

 

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1 hour ago, nonspin said:

It's Cease-And-Desist

Thats what i fell like it was MORPHEUS TV Android app , Blamo ,UrbanKingz Kodi Addon repos all have shut down in the last 30 days. The MPAA have hired lawyers to go after streaming , before when they went after websites they threaten the owners some of them shut down out of fear and some of them told the MPAA to get lost and still running tell this day.

 

MPAA Hires Law Firm to Tackle Streaming Piracy Threat

https://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-hires-law-firm-to-tackle-streaming-piracy-threat-180910/

 

MORPHEUS TV SHUTS DOWN - WHO'S NEXT ??

https://www.docsquiffy.com/2018/08/21/morpheus-tv-shuts-down-whos-next/

 

Blamo Repo Offline: Get the Latest Information Here

https://koditips.com/blamo-repo-offline-kodi/

 

Terrarium TV Shuts Down, Says NitroXenon

https://heavy.com/tech/2018/09/terrarium-tv-nitroxenon/

 

YTS / YIFY Signs Unprecedented Settlement With MPAA

https://torrentfreak.com/yts-yify-signs-unprecedented-settlement-with-mpaa-151105/

 

MPAA: We Shut Down YTS/YIFY and Popcorn Time

https://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-we-shut-down-ytsyify-and-popcorn-time-151103/

 

MiniMKV , Popcorn Time  were some more that shutdown when they went after the sites back then .Popcorn Time  being and app was forked and still there working versions. They sent PSARips a letter they refused to shut down they been suspended  a few times but always comeback and are still going. They hire lawyers to threaten them and this time they hire them to go after streaming .

 

Europe Shut Down 845 Piracy Sites in 2016, MPAA's Chris Dodd Says .

https://variety.com/2017/digital/news/mpaa-chief-chris-dodd-praises-europe-for-shutting-845-pirate-sites-in-2016-1202453859/

 

I bet you anything it is the MPAA who is shutting them down now like they always have,  i guess they thought ACE was not getting enough done . :tooth:

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The term "shut down" implies that it was done by a court order.

The MPAA issues "Cease-And-Desist"-Letters THREATENING to file the lawsuit ..

.. Most of the 845 simply forfeit the Domain and register a new one to circumvent it.

 

Litigation Lawsuits are VERY expensive and very time consuming - That's the main reason why

the number is that high - They just fold and call it a day.

 

Plus, do you really think that the Courts have had the time and resources to hear 845 trials in 2016?

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1 hour ago, nonspin said:

Plus, do you really think that the Courts have had the time and resources to hear 845 trials in 2016?

it says the EU blocked there users from 845 sites in 2016  it most of the time only takes one  hearing to block 100s of sites. If they chose to use a proxy or vpn  to circumvent it. there no longer blocked most of the time if they change domains  they just block them as well.

 

It takes years to get one case to go threw in the USA but in other countries just block users from accessing the sites  and they lose users . People who use Kodi and things  in the EU have trouble getting the addons to work  because the websites they use in the addons  be blocked and many streamers hate vpns because it slows them down.

 

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