News More torrent sites under the spotlight

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2006/02/24/more_torrent_site_lawsuits/

 

NZB-Zone & BinNews dont keep the data either all they do is index Usenet.

Something that could easily be done by hand(time consuming) or with the majority of newsreader apps out there.

Shaky ground coz is basically the same as using google to search for serialz & crackz

So are they gonna target Google, Lycos, Ask, Yahoo etc ??

 

I was thinking the same thing when I was writing the story - it's a huge grey area.

 

The problem with them making it more public, is that it is actually bringing more people to downloading using those methods. It's basically giving the sites free publicity. After supernova was shut down, it made some mainstream news and alerted people about bittorrent.
It's nice to think that the action the MPAA and RIAA (I think I got the names right) is actually doing the opposite of what they hope.

 

That's what pisses me off. It goes from underground to every man and his dog thinking "oo that's how they do it" and making the problem worse.

Not only that you get idiot editors on other net sites writing in a way that makes it sound like p2p is illegal, not the sharing of illegal material.

 

find it odd they're going after those 2 and not newzbin who actually created the NZB format...
maybe thye just have a better legal disclaimer thingy

 

It's all about publicity for THEM, too. your average joe might have figured out how to use BT and then found IsoHunt, but knows little about the legality of either product. By suing IsoHunt, you scare those average users away from that site, and possibly even from BT altogether.

They're not doing this to win the lawsuit, they're doing this to scare those who don't know the rules better. They're counting on bad reporting, widespread attention, etc. If they win the lawsuit, it's bonus, and if not they can blame the fact that the sites are getting out under a scapegoat clause that they're not actively hosting the files. Either way, they win and get their message all over the papers that P2P is illegal (note that distinction, as Bindi mentioned...they want P2P to be illegal, it rivals the way they do business).

The problem is that law of forseeable consequences, one of which being that if you use this scare tactic too much, it loses its teeth. We've now seen them do similar things with Napster, Kazaa, Grokster, EDonkey (once already), but each time their legal recourse has gotten smaller and smaller...and honestly they're building smarter mice each time they add a new mousetrap.

 

Even if it does scare some people away, it still doesn't remove the fact that p2p traffic actually increased after supernova was taken down. I see ther idea, but it just isn't working.

 

It also needs to be mentioned that this is the kind of history that torrentbox has with the MPAA.

Taken from : http://isohunt.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9273&highlight=mpaa

 

thanks Trekari - really insightful post.

 

If the MPAA manage to take torrentspy etc down then another search engine will just rise from the ashes. Torrenting is too popular for the loss of a couple of torrent sites to kill it off.

 

If the mpaa can't stand torrent spy why do they release films there before DVD

 

Though what Trekari posted was good, it's old. Here is what isohunt.com has to say on this matter:

As Reported Everywhere, MPAA issued a press release that thay are now suing isoHunt.com, TorrentBox.com, and a number of other BitTorrent, eDonkey and Newsgroup indexing sites. I still have yet to receive a formal cease and desist letter directly from MPAA Legal, but all seems to indicate this is for real and it's only a matter of time.

This is somewhat a followup to the series of MPAA letters we've received a year ago.

At this point, it is still uncertain what they are actually suing us for, considering we have a thorough copyright policy outlining our stance and takedown procedures. It is sad that despite our best efforts in helping out copyright owners, in both disabling copyright infringing links to their works everyday while for others, helping them distribute their works globally and cheaply using P2P technologies, it is still not enough for the MPAA. Have they ever learned from the VCR or Napster? When will corporations stop fighting technology and learn to embrace it?

To this end, us, isoHunt.com and TorrentBox.com, are forming a coalition together with other P2P operators being sued and yet to be sued, and if possible with the help of the EFF, we will fight for the right for technological progress and the legality of the search engine itself. It is too early right now to say what we need for help from you, but if the MPAA will not back down, I'm sure we are going to need your help. And no, we will not go the way of LokiTorrent or Suprnova.


They've not actually received anything yet, and are still waiting.

Amazing them lawyers are

 

this sounds like very bad form on the part of the MPAA.

 

Bad form?

When have they ever been better than this ? This is all they do ....

 

I chalk this one up to the death of movie theatres and marketing, people no longer want to pay fifty dollars to go see a movie instead they would rather download it at home and watch it in a comfortable enviroment where they can pause, rewind, and not have to sit through annoying commercials. I really believe that 90% of the people who download movies just don't feel that they are getting their moneys worth at the theatres.

Lets face it, their are people out there like me and you who don't want to waste a sizeable portion of their paycheck just to go to the movies and see a film they didn't like.

Now as far as games and software, there are reasons why I think these get pirated as well. The main problem with software today is the fact that its getting overly expensive due to production costs. I kind of look up to Valve Software cause they have really took the initiative on skipping that whole stage by creating a service that allows the user to buy and purchase games online and play them within a reasonable time frame depending on your download rate. iTunes and Valve are really ahead of the game as far as other software/music distribution models and for their initiative I applaud them.

People will argue the DRM fact on iTunes, but honestly I feel that the its necessary to stop other companies and people from distributing something that they don't have rights to distribute. Yes you might own the song, but you do not own the rights to distribute it, now as far as letting your friends listen to the music I would think that falls under common sense.

 

is their any site where we can formally stick 2 fingers up to the riaa and mpaa??

if there isn't would anyone be interested in making one?

 

Not many people are foolish enough to try and empty the ocean with a thimble, but I'm glad that the MPAA and the RIAA don't let common sense come in the way of a good lawsuit

 

Well you could send a letter:

"Under the DMCA I am formaly issuing this put up notice (oposit of take down) for my two fingers. Look at them please. Good.

yours faithfully blah blah"

 

I like it. Letter wrote, picture taken, and now awaiting trip to the post office.