Opensubtitles.org now blocked (at least) from Denmark

[SmallBrother]

As soon as I have the time for it, I will provide the same tutorial without advertisements.

So here it is, as promised, the tutorial how to set up a VPN for KODI:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=16994

[oss]

hi sorry for late reply. We received "nice" letter from Danish https://rettighedsalliancen.dk to block our site from Danish users. So on our end we detect if User IP is from DK, and if yes, then they are redirected there.

Thats all.

[SmallBrother]

Okay, thanks for the reply. So this mystery is cleared.

And thanks to Europol and RettighedsAlliancen for protecting the rich against the poor, the deaf, the amateurs. Oops, NO! I mean for protecting the health and safety of the general public

[6QhVmM]

We received "nice" letter from Danish https://rettighedsalliancen.dk to block our site from Danish users

They made you "an offer you couldn't refuse"? :-)

This a very slippery slope. Once it becomes known that Danish RettighedsAlliancen have succeeded in "convincing" you to block Danish users, what is keeping their counterparts in other European countries from sending you similar letters? This can spread like wildfire.

I'm guessing you didn't do this lightly just because you want to be nice to RettighedsAlliancen but because their request was backed by a credible threat. Would this be a letter you would care to share? If not, could you enlighten us as to the legal backing behind the request that you have honored?

Thats all.

That's also quite a lot...

[pooond]

Trying to download any subtitle for this movie: https://www.opensubtitles.org/en/search ... vie-563201 You get: "Requested page was blocked in response to a complaint we received under the DMCA, you can read more at ChillingEffects.org."

And now countries are being blocked to access the site. Why aren't other websites affected by this? Those subtitles and similar subs aren't affected on podnapisi, subscene, addic7ed and a clone like opensubtitlesdatabase or other sites, so why is OS always targeted by these entities?

It's BS why other sites get away with anything and OS has to comply with all laws known to man. I don't agree with it, and also think other websites are probably even making these entities target this site in particular (that's probably more paranoia). Eliminate the competition. Effers!

[SmallBrother]

Trying to download any subtitle for this movie: https://www.opensubtitles.org/en/search ... vie-563201 You get: "Requested page was blocked in response to a complaint we received under the DMCA, you can read more at ChillingEffects.org."

This is something else... Only about one particular subtitle.

Why aren't other websites affected by this? Those subtitles and similar subs aren't affected on podnapisi, subscene, addic7ed and a clone like opensubtitlesdatabase or other sites, so why is OS always targeted by these entities?

I hear some rumours that also other sites are target and being blocked.
Further, maybe we could take this as a compliment: we are the best

(...) and also think other websites are probably even making these entities target this site in particular (that's probably more paranoia). Eliminate the competition. Effers!

Thanks for the support. But I think it's not nice and not appropriate to undocumentedly accuse other subtitle sites of teaming up with the devil against us. In fact, I think they don't.

We received "nice" letter from Danish https://rettighedsalliancen.dk to block our site from Danish users

They made you "an offer you couldn't refuse"?

This a very slippery slope. Once it becomes known that Danish RettighedsAlliancen have succeeded in "convincing" you to block Danish users, what is keeping their counterparts in other European countries from sending you similar letters? This can spread like wildfire.

I (sadly) agree.

I'm guessing you didn't do this lightly just because you want to be nice to RettighedsAlliancen but because their request was backed by a credible threat. Would this be a letter you would care to share? If not, could you enlighten us as to the legal backing behind the request that you have honored?

By now I know all the ins and outs, but I leave it up to oss to reply whatever he wants to reply.

[oss]

well, this is slippery slope, on one side I dont have to block it, on other side it was already blocked in Denmark by authorities on DNS level, so I just make sure, that Denmark is solved completely.

[SmallBrother]

Actually, I changed my mind, and I do want to add something:

Would this be a letter you would care to share? If not, could you enlighten us as to the legal backing behind the request that you have honored?

It would not be a good idea to share more specific info. Because, instead of their counterparts having a rough idea, that would be a tutorial how to do it exactly. I rather write tutorials for Danish people how to use OpenSubtitles

As oss just said, it doesn't matter too much, Danish were blocked already anyway.
And RettighedsAlliancen is happy now.
Let it be.

[pooond]

Thank you, SmallBrother. I'm sure they're not involved with the devil, but one never knows for sure. :)
A few sites like YTS and others are blocked by a few ISP in my country, and I don't like the fact that Denmark is asking OS to be banned in their country when the servers of OS aren't even there. OSS should have ignored that letter or just said to them to implement their own blocks without any intervention from us.

This sets a very bad precedent for the future of subtitling sites if this becomes a norm.
I was talking to scooby007 about raising money for OS for improvements and legal fees for the future. :)

I suggested AirVPN and that they offer a referral fee if bought through certain links. I believe them to be one of the best user-serving sites rather than a self-serving VPN. By using the said VPN you will be able to use the VPN on at least 5 devices. If you're not in a rush, I suggest to buy it in 9 days on the 22nd, as they have good deals on at that time.
Any money raised by purchasing through the following referral-link will go straight to OS and not be used by me for VIP status. I will need more than €20 to withdraw and send to OS. Please PM me if you're able and let me know when bought through the following link so I can check the total accumulated. Don't worry if I don't respond to you, but I'll try to fill you in on any totals gained.

The VPN comes with a friendly-user-interface you can use from your PC, MAC or other systems. With this VPN I don't have a problem accessing any site from any device. Comes highly recommended by myself, scooby007 and apparently by SmallBrother as well.

Usually advertising isn't allowed, but for this special purpose, scooby007 granted me permission. This site means a lot to me, and I'm sure to you guys as well. You don't have to pay anything to OS directly. All you have to do is purchase the VPN through the link provided below and any money collected will go towards this site and hopefully give you a 100% zero log provider with excellent speeds. My ISP gives 150MBps, I get that same speed via AirVPN servers.

The link to purchase from is here: https://airvpn.org/?referred_by=376244

All the best guys, and I hope you are able to access opensubtitles and any other website via that VPN. Please do buy via the link though, so the proceeds can go towards a good cause.

Thank you

[ukendt]

About: well, this is slippery slope, on one side I dont have to block it, on other side it was already blocked in Denmark by authorities on DNS level, so I just make sure, that Denmark is solved completely.

This is not true. Noone uses the provider's DNS records. Most peeps use google or opendns or Clouflare or even other services in order to circumvent blocking attempts from the authorities. With all respect, we are not in China, Russia, Iran or any other country blocking peeps freedom to choose whatever they like. Of course VPN may be used and it will solve all problems. Many services are available at ebay, amazon and so on, at a very low charge. But this is no the point. As already stated, it may jeopardize the very intention of free internet. The answer to authorities requests is not and never will be asking members to use VPN services. Many boards, services and servers are running where authorities reqs doesn't mean anything.

[Entotre]

I would like to say a big thank you to SmallBrother who has been exceptionally helpful to me. And thank you to all who have posted interesting and enlightening info on this thread. It's kind of comforting to know I am not alone with my... problem!

Unfortunately, my particular problem seems impossible to solve. Said problem is that even though I signed up to AirVPN (which is indeed fantastic, by the way, I would heartily recommend it as per pooond's post) I cannot enable Chromecast to be used with a VPN.

Chromecast is "attached" to my Danish router and that's that - I am not sufficiently techinical of brain to start rootling around in my router settings.

So, using AirVPN at least enables me access to subtitles so I can watch content on my phone - no problem accessing subs from SO - although I can no longer access "other" sub sites through streaming apps (even when using AirVPN) which I could before all this RettighedsAlliancen mess.

Regarding RA...... is it at all feasible, or just my pure fantasy, that someone/some body of people might be challenging "The Authorities" over this? An appeal or somesuch? If anyone reading me does have knowledge of such an action, could they possibly point me in the direction of some info regarding same? I would be really grateful.

Also... just a small point... that letter from RA is dated December 2017. I am just wondering how/why it has taken two years to get ...... where we are now?!

So. That's my tuppennyworth for today. Happy Saturday to you all. :)

[pooond]

Chromecast is "attached" to my Danish router and that's that - I am not sufficiently techinical of brain to start rootling around in my router settings.
So, using AirVPN at least enables me access to subtitles so I can watch content on my phone - no problem accessing subs from SO - although I can no longer access "other" sub sites through streaming apps (even when using AirVPN) which I could before all this RettighedsAlliancen mess.

Hi,

AirVPN service is based on OpenVPN and maybe Chromecast TVs/devices don't have an OpenVPN app available. Therefore a direct connection is maybe not possible. OpenVPN is available for Android, Android TV, iOS, Linux, Mac, Windows but not for webOS which are LG TV's.

A workaround is possible. You can consider for example to connect a router that can run OpenVPN to the VPN service. The TV (and any other device you wish) behind that router can share the VPN connection. This means spending more money, which no one really wants to do. And don't worry about not being technically minded. There are plenty of videos on YouTube that help you to do this.

To evaluate such a solution and consider whether it may fit your needs or not, you might like to read here:
https://airvpn.org/forums/topic/22668-r ... mendations

Since you are already a member, from the "Client Area" go to "support requests" and open a ticket with them. And see if they can suggest anything else. Nothing should be blocked to you via that VPN.

Kind regards

[SmallBrother]

With all respect, we are not in China, Russia, Iran or any other country blocking peeps freedom to choose whatever they like.

Yes, we are not in China or so, but instead in what they call the "free and democratic" western world and thus 'we' rank ourselves much higher than those countries you mention. But that's just smart marketing and crowd manipulation. Meanwhile, slowly but steadily we are going to a situation where only the methods differ, but the result is the same. Sad, but reality.

As already stated, it may jeopardize the very intention of free internet. The answer to authorities requests is not and never will be asking members to use VPN services. Many boards, services and servers are running where authorities reqs doesn't mean anything.

Philosophically I definitely and totally agree. Personally, maybe/probably I would have reacted differently. But that's me. In reality it may be a case of choosing between doing what is 'right' versus 'surviving'. In that sense I can understand other people making other choices than I would do.

Chromecast is "attached" to my Danish router and that's that - I am not sufficiently techinical of brain to start rootling around in my router settings.

First of all, thanks for the thanks I am pleased if I can be of any help.

I know the last week you have been reading, reading, reading, so maybe I'm kicking an open door. It depends on which router you have, but the AirVPN forum has a bunch of 'how-to' tutorials for setting up routers: https://airvpn.org/forums/forum/15-how-to/ . Also, they have a config generator, including for routers. Log in > Client area > Config generator ( = https://airvpn.org/generator/ ). If you haven't seen or tried this yet, might be well worth a try. Some more stuff to read... I understand fiddling with your router is not very funny and may be scary, but if you manage to fix your router, you are set for once and for all.

Regarding RA...... is it at all feasible, or just my pure fantasy, that someone/some body of people might be challenging "The Authorities" over this?

Of course this is possible. Like I just wrote to ukendt, I would probably react differently. But I am not in that position, and I can imagine the people who are, make other choices.

that letter from RA is dated December 2017. I am just wondering how/why it has taken two years to get ...... where we are now?!

Yes, that's 'funny'. And they demand OS to act within seven days. The arrogance is infinite. An as funny answer would be "Yes okay, we will do what you want before 5 december 2021."

[ukendt]

Just to be clear: The redirect letter only affects TDC, forcing this company to prevent their users from accessing dl.opensubtitles.org and api.opensubtitles.org (unless users access the internet through other DNS, which most all do) among many other services.
Of course, this can't be the reason of your redirect (referring to a 2 years old court decision without relevance)
Maybe you should have redirected to some other explanation, true or not, but the TDC injunction.

Also, it may affect opensubtitles.org credibility, pointing to a not relevant injunction and trying to solve this issue with another domaine ( I won't write it here).
The simple and elegant solution was to grant access to all, changing to the new domaine (when in fact, this is the solution you now choose)

[coolburger]

Well, this sucks. I have both Kodi and Plex grabbing subs automatically and since one is running on a streaming box and the other requiring access enabled from WAN, putting these behind a VPN is not an option.

Rettighedsalliancen is a complete joke and has always been using scare tactics to try to have their way.
Apart from useless DNS blockings, I have never seen anyone comply with their demands the way OS seems to have -- and as the user above pointed out, the referenced court decision doesn't actually address why OS is redirecting Danish users.


Does anyone know, or would the site admins be willing to share what traffic exactly would need to be routed through a VPN in order to access opensubtitles.org and all relevant subdomains?