[Article] The Bit Torrent Effect

[tommygunn]

The Bit Torrent Effect
Fascinating article on Bram Cohen, the creator of the software, and possible repercussions and future uses of it.
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.0 ... _tophead_2

[dreyfuss]

thanks for posting this, i enjoyed the article, i'm not a pirate downloader or anything but i thought this part of the article was great

"The Pirate Bay is a BitTorrent tracking site in Sweden with 150,000 users a day. In the fall, it posted a torrent for Shrek 2 . Dreamworks sent a cease-and-desist letter demanding the site remove it. One of the site's pseudonymous owners, Anakata, replied: "As you may or may not be aware, Sweden is not a state in the United States of America. Sweden is a country in northern Europe [and] US law does not apply here. ? It is the opinion of us and our lawyers that you are fucking morons." Shrek 2 stayed up."


beautiful

[scottitude]

Thanks for posting the link; great read.

In an unprecedented move, LokiTorrent is refusing to bow to the MPAA, instead forcing them into court.

In less than a month, Loki-users have donated $32,479 toward legal fees which their counsel estimates will near the $100,000 mark. The site states:
"Every penny of this fund will be going towards legal and other costs associated with saving peer-to-peer as a whole. This may sound like a lot of money, but legal fees are VERY expensive, and $30,000 (the 1st month) is the minimum required."

Here's an image of the actual complaint they received.

Loki freakin' ROCKS!

[srb]

Hadn't checked out Loki until now....looks like a great alternative to supr

[chris]

Thanks for posting the link; great read.

In an unprecedented move, LokiTorrent is refusing to bow to the MPAA, instead forcing them into court.

In less than a month, Loki-users have donated $32,479 toward legal fees which their counsel estimates will near the $100,000 mark. The site states:
"Every penny of this fund will be going towards legal and other costs associated with saving peer-to-peer as a whole. This may sound like a lot of money, but legal fees are VERY expensive, and $30,000 (the 1st month) is the minimum required."

Here's an image of the actual complaint they received.

Loki freakin' ROCKS!

I guess the donations didn't come in fast enough; Check it out: http://www.lokitorrent.com/index.php

[srb]

Looks like www.sharelive.com is gone also

[chris]

Looks like www.sharelive.com is gone also

It's working for me... although I don't have an account, and didn't log in, the site loads up like normal.

[scottitude]

...I guess the donations didn't come in fast enough; Check it out: http://www.lokitorrent.com/index.php

That sucks. I don't support illegal downloads of any kind but Loki was the best resource for tons of TV shows and other stuff that didn't neccesarily violate any copyright.

I can't wait for the ineveitable day (and I hope it comes during my lifetime) when the entire state of California viloently slides into the Pacific Ocean taking the money-grubbing conglomerates, the over-priced real estate, and shallow parasites of the entertainment industry with it. With very few exceptions, Hollywood movies of the last ten to fifteen years are a waste of celluloid.

[chris]

Here's a great site that I use, and seems to be on the up and up : http://www.btefnet.net/

Loads of peers, great speeds, and just about every TV show available for download.

[LastStop]

Here's a great site that I use, and seems to be on the up and up : http://www.btefnet.net/

Loads of peers, great speeds, and just about every TV show available for download.

Very nice...

[mark]

That sucks. I don't support illegal downloads of any kind but Loki was the best resource for tons of TV shows and other stuff that didn't neccesarily violate any copyright.

downloading TV shows doesn't violate copywrite law? huh? last time i checked a TV show had a copywrite.

and in this day and age, i have a hard time believing that people never download anything illegal. you have never downloaded an MP3 from kazza? never downloaded a crack for a shareware program you really liked?

[chris]

As I understand it, items recorded from TV and then redistributed for personal use, do not violate any copyright laws. The issue with movies is the same as with CDs...

The courts have said that taping a show on your VCR and watching it later is legal... they called it timeshifting. So, in my opinion, this is just the 21st century version of taping and watching later.

If I was to rebroadcast the program even for non-commercial purposes, that's where the copyright issue would show up.

[jerremy]

Hi all,

Just read through the thread (and the linked article) and I had a few thoughts... Thoughts that are posted to further the discussion, not to antagonize or to start a battle.

How is:

"The Pirate Bay is a BitTorrent tracking site in Sweden with 150,000 users a day. In the fall, it posted a torrent for Shrek 2 . Dreamworks sent a cease-and-desist letter demanding the site remove it. One of the site's pseudonymous owners, Anakata, replied: "As you may or may not be aware, Sweden is not a state in the United States of America. Sweden is a country in northern Europe [and] US law does not apply here. ? It is the opinion of us and our lawyers that you are fucking morons." Shrek 2 stayed up."

....Beautiful?

How would we feel if the article read like this:

"The Pirate Bay is a BitTorrent tracking site in Sweden with 150,000 users a day. In the fall, it posted a torrent for The Tragically Hip's new album, 'In Between Evolution'. The Hip's management sent a cease-and-desist letter demanding the site remove it. One of the site's pseudonymous owners, Anakata, replied: "As you may or may not be aware, Sweden is not a province in Canada. Sweden is a country in northern Europe [and] Canadian law does not apply here. ? It is the opinion of us and our lawyers that you are fucking morons." 'In Between Evolution' stayed up."

Is it because we have no 'involvement' in Shrek 2?

We get angry at eBayers who sell Hip shows. Chris and myself have notes on our sites telling users to not torrent or upload the Hip Live Series tracks - which users have respected.

...and I know...

Insert rant about how the representative organizations for the recording industry and the motion picture industry:

• Charges to much for CDs, DVDs, movie tickets
• Treats their represented talent poorly
• Treats the consumer like a thief

...etc., etc.

NONE of what you can come up with is an excuse for stealing.

I may REALLY want a Hummer. I hate GM, they charge too much for the Hummer. I'll just go to the lot and take one.

I have no inherent right to own a Hummer... Just as we have no inherent right to the hard work by creative individuals - be it a movie or a music CD.

Take these hated and loathed organizations out of it... What do you have left? An artist or a group of artists that have created something you want to own or listen to or enjoy. Why would you not support this artist or group of artists by purchasing their creation - further encouraging the possibility of enjoying more from this artist.

Just because movies and music are available in a format in which it is easy to copy and distribute - does not make it right to steal it.

Maybe if we start to think about this by substituting an artist or a director or a writer we care deeply about, you may think twice about stealing Shrek 2 from the net and either to to the movies to see it or rent or purchase the DVD - supporting the artist who created it.

Just my 2¢ - and a look forward to the continued discussion of this topic.

Jerremy

[dreyfuss]

if i like something i pay for i'll buy it, its that simple now i don't download movies or anything like that and any mp3's i've downloaded are unavailble comercially (demos or remixes), also i havn't downloaded mp3's in over a year.

as for the cost of movies if you'll notice the price has come down the last couple months, from $12 to just under $10 at famous players and at ciniplex odeon ita gone from $12 to under $9, (i don't know if this is nation wide or just near me) i've already seen more movies these last couple months than i did all last year, thats not saying much because i've only seen 3 movies recently

ps, who in there right mind wants a " hum v" i mean deep down inside they're still a GM, i don't understand how a $90 000 vehicle can have the worst initial quality (for people not in the auto industry this means whenever there is a new modle it's filled with quality problems/recals) and still have people buying it. that and its ugly

[VioletlightHeron]

I differentiate between people who download songs because they are too cheap to buy the mass produced crap (Britney, Avril, etc) they want to listen to and those who download bands they've never heard of to check them out and then go out and buy their cds or go to their shows. I've never downloaded movies or software for that matter. But you have a point that it is still stealing from the artist.