Torrent Freak isn't the right one to ask about DMCA notices. They don't pirate themselves. They're careful about it. Where they get their money, I don't know. So of course all DMCA notices filed against them will be bogus.
I'm actually waiting to hear more stories about abuse. When I look around, I see plenty of pirate sites and I'm all but certain they're not paying royalties to the artists. These sites aren't escaping because they're obeying the law, they're escaping because prosecution is so difficult. It's hard to file the right DMCA notices because the sites are such fly-by-night operations.
My guess is that the DMCA doesn't go far enough. I'm all for giving people more rights to fight back against phony DMCA notices. If Torrent Freak wants some treble damages for filing a fake one, I'm all for it. But in return I would like the ability to file quick and deadly DMCA notices on the real pirates.