
Whether the repositories are reinstated or not, it seems like Popcorn Time will live to see another day.Download this free streaming app and instantly watch HUNDREDS and HUNDREDS of FREE feature-length movies and TV shows on your iPhone and iPad. GitHub spokespeople did not respond to Motherboard's request for comment. And abused it has been, time and time again, by companies looking to settle a score via copyright.Ī spokesperson for Popcorn Time told Motherboard in an email that the team did file a counter-claim, and that GitHub has said the repositories will be online again after 10 business days. It also means that rightsholders are given the benefit of the doubt from the jump, making the system ripe for abuse. This arrangement gives content-hosting services like GitHub (or YouTube, or Twitter) some plausible deniability and lets them avoid paying onerous copyright infringement settlements themselves. After a takedown, repository owners can file a counter-notice for a shot at having their content reinstated. If the notice concerns specific files in a repository, the owner has a chance to make any requested changes, but if the rightsholder alleges that an entire repository is infringing, then GitHub skips right to deleting it. The GitHub website explains that all a rightsholder has to do is fulfill the basic requirements of the DMCA notice (sort of an honor system thing, as any statements are made under threat of perjury), and it will comply. So, while the MPA takedown is a blow to transparency, it doesn't hinder piracy itself. Moreover, the main GitHub page for Popcorn Time is still online and so are the repositories for its Android app and website.


Crucially, this only means that the open source code for the app was removed from the public, but the app itself is still available for download from the Popcorn Time website and works perfectly fine.
