PirateBay, MiniNova Refute TargetPoint Rumors

[SlyckTom]

Last week, reports recirculated that Empornium.us has been purchased by the online advertising company TargetPoint. While numerous articles purport that TargetPoint has purchased Empornium, evidence of this is virtually non-existent. Caught up in the rumor mill is ThePirateBay and MiniNova, two large BitTorrent indexing/tracking sites accused of selling a percentage of their ownership to TargetPoint.

On July 6, fans of the BitTorrent tracker/indexing site Empornium were greeted with a disturbing forum message. According to the forum post, Empornium was purchased by the Israeli advertising firm TargetPoint.

“A company, TargetPoint, has taken control of the site. They are charging new members to join, and it is thought by the general populace of the forum that they may, eventually, charge current members to retain their membership as well.”

The claim has erupted into a whirlwind of controversy that engulfed ThePirateBay.org and MiniNova.org. Reports circulated that TargetPoint also has a significant financial claim (37% ownership) of ThePirateBay.org and a “special relationship” with MiniNova.org. These reports were <a href=http://torrentfreak.com/targetpoint-is-buying-bittorrent-sites/ target=_blank>propagated</a> by TorrentFreak and MegaNova <a href=http://blog.meganova.org/2006/07/10/the-worlds-biggest-bittorrent-conspiracy-unfolds/ target=_blank>articles</a>.

It appears the allegations of TargetPoint’s interest in MegaNova, ThePirateBay, and MiniNova stem from a media broker named Daniel Oded. A representative of Random Media, Mr. Oded’s job is to mediate and help negotiate online sales. Mr. Oded is reported to be an employee of TargetPoint; however this is not the case. Mr. Oded provided free-lance assistance to TargetPoint approximately one year ago, for tenure of three months.

Mr. Oded flatly refuted the claim that he is in any way the new owner of Empornium. Additionally, he states his involvement has been exemplified to an inaccurate degree.

“I negotiated the deal between the owners of Empornium and the new owners, but I do not own the site.” Daniel Oded told Slyck.com.

Mr. Oded told Slyck.com that his mere negotiation of the sale has been interpreted as his own personal ownership. The identity of the new co-owners of Empornium is confidential, and Mr. Oded was not permitted to reveal this information to Slyck.com. Mr. Oded noted however, some members of the original ownership are still onboard. He emphasized the site was never intended to become a pay site; however financial difficulties stemming from escalating server costs and maintenance forced the change. The site will be free when registration is open, however when registration is closed a "donation" will be required to participate.

It should be noted that Daniel Oded's refutation is in response to ex-Empornium administrator and moderator's contention that he is indeed the new owner - a contention that is gathering steam in the ex-Empornium ranks.

Whoever the new owners are, TargetPoint also unilaterally denies any financial or ownership interest in not only Empornium, but any of the BitTorrent sites named in the controversy. TargetPoint was likely named as an owner because Daniel Oded at one point last year worked with the company as a freelancer for a period of three months.

“TargetPoint is an advertising network,” Ofer Eshed, the development manager of TargetPoint told Slyck.com. “We advertise with various sites most of them belong to the entertainment industry. TargetPoint does not own any commercial sites. For that matter, we do not own any of the following sites: Empornium.us, Puretna.com, ImageFap.com, ThePirateBay.org and MiniNova.org.”

TargetPoint also confirmed that Mr. Oded provided free-lance assistance approximately one year ago.

ThePirateBay, in its typical jockeying manner, found humor in the situation.

“Well, that was just funny as hell to read,” PirateBay representative “brokep” told Slyck.com in reference to the <a href=http://blog.meganova.org/2006/07/10/the-worlds-biggest-bittorrent-conspiracy-unfolds/ target=_blank>MegaNova blog</a>.

“TargetPoint does not own any part at all of ThePirateBay,” Brokep continued. “ThePirateBay is owned by three individuals and that's it. We used to work with TargetPoint before, currently we do not. We might in the future again, I don't know. That's all when it comes to our relationship with TargetPoint.”

MiniNova.org’s administrator also was perplexed by the situation.

“I read the blog post, but I can only say this is the biggest bunch of lies I've ever seen in a single blog post. Mininova is not owned by TargetPoint, and we do not "steal" from Meganova in any way.”

Whoever is buying Empornium, it’s not TargetPoint, and they don't appear to have any ownership claim to ThePirateBay, MiniNova, or anyone else for that matter. Misinformation has its way of truly stirring the Internet, in ways that elevates personal rhetoric into the vernacular.

[Torrentfreak]

Note that I removed the claim of the "special relationship" with mininova three months ago.

And the 37% ownership claim is backed up by someone pretty close to the piratebay crew. He even corrected me when I first reported it to be a 70% share.

Oh, and by the way, Oded (one of TP's resellers) is the owner of 37% TPB shares (not 70%) and Empornium/PureTNA, not TP itself.

Apart from this, 3 torrent site admins confirmed to me that oded tried to buy their site with quite similar offers.

Misinformation has its way of truly stirring the Internet, in ways that elevates personal rhetoric into the vernacular

true, but the question is... who's right?

[curzlgt]

Nice article Tom. Always appriciate your connections and ability to get to the bottom of rumors.

[bogaa]

We had a recorded phone conversation which is now in posesion of torrentfreak.com admins. They can confirm the alegations. Targetpoint does own a part of thepiratebay and does have a vague relationship with mininova. The guy we spoke to was not odet it was ran yehud. From my emails:

Hi Bogaa,

It’s Ran from Targetpoint.

I wanted to speak with you about something please contact me or leave me a phone where I can reach you.
Thanks,

Ran

Later on when we made the news public, we received this email:

Hi Bogaa,

I got this earlier this week: http://torrentfreak.com/targetpoint-is- ... ent-sites/



I see you are doing nice PR for you site, as long as you didn't made us look bad that is fine with me!

Anyhow, happy holidays.
Bye and best regards,



Ran

edit: if http://puretna.com/ belongs to targetpoint and they dont have a share in tpb then why do I see a big banner on top stating: a piratebay modrated network??

[Super_Mew]

Hmm, well a lot of now former admins and mods from Empornium keep saying it was TargetPoint who took the site, and I see no reason for them to lie about it (see their IRC channel @ whatnet). For months the site was partially owned by TP and had advertisments from them, I can confirm that that much happened with my own eyes.

The only real dispute IMO is that the head admin disappeared and has not given word on the full story.

[Red_Blue]

Last week, reports recirculated that Empornium.us has been purchased by the online advertising company TargetPoint. While numerous articles purport that TargetPoint has purchased Empornium, evidence of this is virtually non-existent.

But what has been done to FIND such evidence, in addition to asking TargetPoint? It appears that the domain hasn't changed ownership at least since December 2005 ("Transworld Advertising" of Independence, Montana, probably a desk drawer company). I'm not so sure about the laws of Montana, but generally you should be able to get a list of company owners directly, in person, from its HQ physical address which is registered with local commerce authorities, unless there is a special law that provides confidentiality for company share holder records (these kinds of laws are usually only found in "offshore tax havens" of small island nations). It should also be possible to request this information remotely, but they might charge a reasonable fee for sending it. The point is that it should be on public record (even thought the records are kept by the company itself for non-publicly traded companies).

I don't know if it's against Israeli law to lie about your owndership arrangements (might be, depending on what is at stake), but TargetPoint could deny direct involvement while still have controlling interest of subsidiary level through several other shell companies.

So what this news reports, is TargetPoint's public denials about the claims, not fact as investigated by independent means.

TargetPoint was likely named as an owner because Daniel Oded at one point last year worked with the company as a free lance employee for a period of three months.

This is inaccurate, it's "a freelancer", not a "free lance employee", an employee relationship is entirely different from a freelance work contract. A freelancer is a contractor to the employer, not an employee.

[Harry_Palms]

Whois data on puretna:

Registrant:
puretna.com
Administrative Contact:
Administrator, Domain oded_daniel@hotmail.com
puretna.com


Contact Info for TP:
oded.d@targetpoint.com

Look familiar? Laughing

Admin list for Emp:
http://empornium.us/promoted.php

odeddaniel (Porn King of the Porn)
canono (Porn King of the Porn) <---noosie changed the nick, LAME!
morgies (Porn King of the Porn)

No matter how you slice it, rationalize it, or try to hide it pTNA and Emp now have these things in common: Target Point, Imagefap, Noos and D. Oded

[devilwolf]

Israelis are not known for their nice business tactics - nor are they known for running transparent corporations.

"Owning" a pirate torrect site is a very high risk venture for a corporation. There is not a lot of anti-pirate enforcement against porn torrent sites currently, but if somone group starts to make a corporate profit off pirate porn, someone else is gonna start suring for a cut and anti-porn regulatory agencies such as the US DOJ and US States AGs are gonna start looking for criminal and civil cases.

So my theory is that TP owes shares in one or more sites that it is using cutouts, so it can never be proved that TP has any liability, but TP can control the sites and make a profit.

Most of what I have seen on EMP is pretty standard for a coporation taking over a community site.
1) Purging staff
2) Implimenting an "improved" fee structure.
3) Draconian censorship of critics on the site.
4) Use of FUD.

Anyone here who has been the receiving end of acquistition or merger has probably experienced this. Either as an employee/staffer or as a user (such as having your cable/DSL provider acquired).

[SlyckTom]

But what have been done to FIND such evidence, in addition to asking TargetPoint? It appears that the domain hasn't changed ownership at least since December 2005 ("Transworld Advertising" of Independence, Montana, probably a desk drawer company). I'm not so sure about the laws of Montana, but generally you should be able to get a list of company owners directly, in person, from it's HQ physical address which is registered with local commerce authorities, unless there is a special law that provides confidentiality for company share holder records (these kinds of laws are usually only found in "offshore tax havens" of small island nations). It should also be possible to request this information remotely, but they might charge a reasonable fee for it. The point is that it should be on public record (even thought the records are kept by the company itself for non-publicly traded companies).

I think the burden of proof is on those who make the claims. If they're so positive that TargetPoint owns some stake in TPB, MiniNova, or Empornium, I want to see the evidence. Don't get me wrong however, I intend to pursue this.

[timmyfl]

Hmm I havent been to Empornium in a long time, hell I forgot my password. If what is written is true I guess people will just leave. This isnt like a couple of years ago when Empornium was the tracker for porn.

[Torrentfreak]

I think the burden of proof is on those who make the claims. If they're so positive that TargetPoint owns some stake in TPB, MiniNova, or Empornium, I want to see the evidence. Don't get me wrong however, I intend to pursue this.

Just talked to Oded, he told some interesting stuff. I'll make a new post asap to clear some things up.

I'm pretty sure now that targetpoint does not own empornium, but the fact is that the new owner is doing bussiness with an advertisement company who decided to charge for new account when a certain treshold is reached.

I also have a source that can verify the TPB share story, but that's hard to proof since it's the his word against TBB's

It's not over yet

[SlyckTom]

Is it ever?

Look forward to your followup...

[cramer]

edit: if http://puretna.com/ belongs to targetpoint and they dont have a share in tpb then why do I see a big banner on top stating: a piratebay modrated network??

Simple: search ranking trickery.

[cramer]

But what has been done to FIND such evidence, in addition to asking TargetPoint? It appears that the domain hasn't changed ownership at least since December 2005 ("Transworld Advertising" of Independence, Montana, probably a desk drawer company).

Indeed. In many cases, you cannot believe those at the heart of the issue(s).

And for the record, the domain registration for empornium.us is 100% bogus. "Daniel Aidlin" may or may not exist. The rest is just wrong.

[Btw, the domain was pulled by goDaddy this past Christmas for .US nexus requirement violation(s).]

[doejohn2k3]

Registration will continue to be free for all users, new and old.

This is actually false. The are currently charging for memberships. A forced donation is not a donation.

ETA:

Here's a screenie of what you get immediatley after submitting the registration form: http://www.hidebehind.com/B16E806C

Note how it says you must donate to continue registration.

[zim]

HE is not the owner. and targetpoint is not the owner.


he doesnt say anything about it being owned by another shell company controled by targetpoint.. which is the way i'd do it. keep your eggs in seperate baskets.. lol

[devilwolf]

Under US laws a business can not provide accecss to adult material w/o some kind of firewall to keep out kids. So they can always claim that you have to donate to prove your an adult.

[cramer]

Under US laws a business can not provide accecss to adult material w/o some kind of firewall to keep out kids. So they can always claim that you have to donate to prove your an adult.

This one is a grey area. First, it's a bittorrent site, so there's no "adult content" on the site -- that comes from the members sharing stuff amungst themselves. Second, online payments don't provide any security in authenticating someone's age; how hard is it for a 12yo to get their parent's credit card? (answer: trivial)

[PS: it's not a business until you start forcing people to pay for access.]

[Spywhere]

Under US laws a business can not provide accecss to adult material w/o some kind of firewall to keep out kids. So they can always claim that you have to donate to prove your an adult.

I'd like the see the sec. code and actual text of this law.

[doejohn2k3]

Second, online payments don't provide any security in authenticating someone's age; how hard is it for a 12yo to get their parent's credit card? (answer: trivial)

Not to mention: How many 16 year olds have cell phones?

Answer: LOTS.

[bogaa]

more proof that the story is true: All the sites mentioned in the article have ads served by clicktorrent.info
This guy named oded daniel is an israeli (so is targetpoint, coinsidence?). Fact is that this mr oded is just a coverup for targetpoint.

Domain ID:D7984722-LRMS
Domain Name:CLICKTORRENT.INFO
Created On:29-Oct-2004 09:48:16 UTC
Last Updated On:26-Oct-2005 08:12:56 UTC
Expiration Date:29-Oct-2007 09:48:16 UTC
Sponsoring Registrar:Go Daddy Software Inc (R171-LRMS)
Status:CLIENT DELETE PROHIBITED
Status:CLIENT RENEW PROHIBITED
Status:CLIENT TRANSFER PROHIBITED
Status:CLIENT UPDATE PROHIBITED
Registrant ID:C7319492-LRMS
Registrant Name:Oded Daniel
Registrant Organization:
Registrant Street1:8 simtat hagderot
Registrant Street2:
Registrant Street3:
Registrant City:Savyon
Registrant State/Province:Not Applicable
Registrant Postal Code:12515
Registrant Country:IL
Registrant Phone:+972.972544999611
Registrant Phone Ext.:
Registrant FAX:
Registrant FAX Ext.:
Registrant Email:oded_daniel@hotmail.com
Admin ID:C7319494-LRMS
Admin Name:Oded Daniel
Admin Organization:
Admin Street1:8 simtat hagderot
Admin Street2:
Admin Street3:
Admin City:Savyon
Admin State/Province:Not Applicable
Admin Postal Code:12515
Admin Country:IL
Admin Phone:+972.972544999611
Admin Phone Ext.:
Admin FAX:
Admin FAX Ext.:
Admin Email:oded_daniel@hotmail.com
Billing ID:C7319495-LRMS
Billing Name:Oded Daniel
Billing Organization:
Billing Street1:8 simtat hagderot
Billing Street2:
Billing Street3:
Billing City:Savyon
Billing State/Province:Not Applicable
Billing Postal Code:12515
Billing Country:IL
Billing Phone:+972.972544999611
Billing Phone Ext.:
Billing FAX:
Billing FAX Ext.:
Billing Email:oded_daniel@hotmail.com
Tech ID:C7319493-LRMS
Tech Name:Oded Daniel
Tech Organization:
Tech Street1:8 simtat hagderot
Tech Street2:
Tech Street3:
Tech City:Savyon
Tech State/Province:Not Applicable
Tech Postal Code:12515
Tech Country:IL
Tech Phone:+972.972544999611
Tech Phone Ext.:
Tech FAX:
Tech FAX Ext.:
Tech Email:oded_daniel@hotmail.com
Name Server:PARK19.SECURESERVER.NET
Name Server:PARK20.SECURESERVER.NET

[rixstep]

TPB Raking in Millions

It's all coming together - in Switzerland and Israel.

STOCKHOLM (SvD) -- The file sharing site The Pirate Bay are operating with revenues far exceeding previous estimates. The most expensive ads cost €20,000 for a single day.

And that's only for the Scandinavian market.

With ad revenues from the entire planet the bottom line is even more attractive. The money is channeled through a company in Switzerland sharing an address with another company specialising in tax planning.

The controversial file sharing site The Pirate Bay is far from the innocent hobby project cofounders Fredrik Neij and Gottfrid Svartholm want people to think.

The police investigation of The Pirate Bay is about violations of copyright law because the file sharing site helps Internet users share files with copyright protected material.

The police will investigate how ad revenues are managed and if tax is paid. If the prosecutor can show that the site is being run commercially the suspects risk a harder punishment than if it's just a hobby project.

'The authors of the law spoke of one year in prison. The maximum penalty is two years', says prosecutor Håkan Roswall.

The past four months the Swedish company Eastpoint Media have sold ads for The Pirate Bay for an average of €60,000 per month, according to sales manager Luar Busó. The police raid on 31 May resulted in even more visitors to the site and prices for ads went up accordingly.

'The biggest ads today cost €20,000 and so far we've sold four', says Luar Busó.

Eastpoint sell ads for The Pirate Bay in the Scandinavian market. File sharing is most widespread in Sweden where many people have broadband. But The Pirate Bay runs in twenty five different languages and gets visitors from all corners of the planet.

In other countries other ads are shown. The total revenues are therefore much more than what Eastpoint arrange.

Eastpoint keep a bit of the revenues and then put the rest in an account with Random Media who in turn pay the money to the owners of The Pirate Bay. Random Media have a telephone number in Stockholm but an address in Geneva Switzerland. At the same address can be found Geneva Management Group (GMG). This latter company specialise in tax planning and estate management. They help corporations and private individuals move money to low tax countries with strict bank confidentiality where authorities can't control them.

GMG refuse to reveal their relationship with Random Media but they do offer a telephone number to Random Media's representative Daniel Oded. Oded works for Target Point in Tel Aviv Israel. In 1999 Oded received an international patent for a technical system for selling ads on the Internet.

When SvD rang Daniel Oded he refused to reveal what Random Media are and why the company have an address in Switzerland but a telephone number in Stockholm. And he refused to reveal where the ad revenues for The Pirate Bay disappear to.

'Who said I take care of the money? There are a lot of bit torrent sites. They all work the same way. Go after them instead', said Oded.

Gottfrid Svartholm refused to answer questions about these new revelations. Instead he referred SvD to cofounder Fredrik Neij who just happens to be out of the country and inaccessible.
http://rixstep.com/1/20060708,00.shtml

[Torrentfreak]

It's no secret that mr. Oded is serving ads to TPB.

[Anonymousse]

To quote a former mod/admin at Empornium:

"Like Broham said, I never claimed Oded owned anything. I personally had discussions with Oded a couple times while I was an Emp admin, and he represented himself to me as an employee of Targetpoint. Targetpoint was always represented as the investor, not Oded.

He also made it perfectly clear on more than one occasion that he did not want Targetpoint's involvement with the site publicly disclosed, even going so far as to have Noos log into our boxes and delete forum threads and threaten anyone, including admins, with box-banning if they said anything negative about Targetpoint. The latter occasion is when the "Targetpoint is full of shit" avatars disappeared.

So it comes as no surprise to me that he is desperately trying to deny Targetpoint's involvement. They know that corporate involvement in peer-to-peer, in porn, and a corporation asking for "donations" stinks."

This information is in the public domain and the source was somebody that was very close to the 'coal face' at EMP.

[IceCube]

...after all, everyone hates TPB and MiniNova. It's no wonder there is now such a rush to discredit them.