Comments on: File-sharing 'graveyard' still filling up

The MPAA's legal strategy hasn't done much to slow down online piracy of movies. But will that save TorrentSpy?

[SuprSpy79]

Typical Failed Strategies

Just like the drug industry, lets go after the user instead of the guys supplying the stuff.

Why not go after the hacker groups that are supplying the stuff, thats a lot smaller number than the bajillion end users out there. The suppliers will always do it because the can, even if 1 or none download the content, but if end users have no content to download, end of story.

Just my stupid opinion

[xaggroth]

Lies and misinformation.

I would just like to comment on a few things I saw throughout this artical. Personally I believe that if the author is going to put statistics the MPAA has given them into their paper then they should at least show the actual statisics that sharply contrast those of the MPAA. Truth is, 1/3 of the internet's traffic is NOT p2p sharing..
Secondly, the MPAA doesn't loose as much money as it says it does to p2p filesharing. If anything both the MPAA and RIAA have benefitted somewhat from this. More and more studies are showing that the actual cause for the decline in sales has to do with how much dvds cost as well as the average movie at any corporate theater.
The truth is, if the MPAA and RIAA are allowed to continue their assult on websites that do NOT profit off of their hosting of torrents, they will soon be granted the power to ask any site for their logs. This would be yet another attack on the privacy of individuals all in order for them to make more money and destroy those who are weaker than them.

[rich966]

Protect Yourself

Protect yourself from the shameless tactics of the MPAA to collect money that isn't theirs. Download PeerGuardian 2 and always have it running on your computer. Make sure that it is blocking MediaSentry, the RIAA and MPAA's illegal tracking program.

http://phoenixlabs.org/pg2/

[expatincebu]

Two words: Porn and Newsgroups

First, piracy does not hurt the music and movie companies in
the least. The most pirated media is pornography and that
industry is booming. If piracy really did hurt the XXX business
would be out of business. Most people who download pirated
movies would not buy them in the first place so it is not a lost
sale. Many downloaders buy movies if they really like them.

Second, don't use P2P. Use newsgroups instead. There is actually
more content available, it is totally anonymous, and it is under
the radar of the copyright goons.

Good downloading all!

[jayhawk73]

Shhhhhhh

Don't tell everyone about newsgroups!!! :) They are great but they are not totally anonymous. Most news services require registration and $$. Unless you pay by money order there's some way to track you. I use them but I never download copyrighted material.......

[Rants&Raves]

Very Poor Reporting

The article is full of factual errors and biases; 1) for example, the MPAA didn't sue Napster, Streamcast, and Grokster. The RIAA did. 2) Not once is the point of view of the copyright holders voiced; the only interviewees are the people who help with theft. 3) Ridiculous arguments are brought unchallenged: "Technology always wins". Technology is a support for a purpose. Purposes win or lose. The purpose here is not the technology; it is theft.

If you disagree with the law, the go change the law. In the meantime, it still is theft.

[sandonet]

You are incorrect

R&R
Please read deeper into the story. The MPAA's spokesman is quoted as well as Richard Charnley, an attorney who has worked for ABC and Fox. Also I said at that the entertainment industry was responsible for bringing the suits against Napster, Scour and the rest of the companies listed at the very beginning of the story. Thanks for reading. GS

[JayMonster]

Reading Not Reporting the problem here

Nowhere does the author claim that the MPAA sued Napster et. al. It was the "entertainment industry."

Nowhere does the author condone "stealing" but simply points out that the technology (i.e. Bitorrent, P2P, etc) can't (and probably shouldn't) be stiffled simply because the entertainment industry hasn't figured it out yet, and gives a brilliant example with the VCR. If the MPAA and their ilk had their way we would not be able to "steal" TV shows for later watching and use. Those same arguments would have also killed off "next gen" items like Tivo before they could have gotten off the ground under the same "theft" premise.

So, all in all, the biggest problem is you reading into the story things that just aren't there.

[kobe wild]

It's not death Its Evolution in action

You should not think of "dead" p2p applications are being in a grave yard.
All they have done is transformed and advanced.
Think of napster with that service you could only trade music files.
When it got killed Napster became kazaa, when that died kazaa became edonkey, when that died edonkey became emule, torrents, nzb, etc...
it's not death your seeing its evolution in action.

[ralfthedog]

P2P is not the main threat to the movie industry...

P2P is not the main threat to the movie industry, people making movies from home are. The quality of home production is ramping up fast. Soon random people off the street will be on par with the large studios.

If we want to save Hollywood, we must stamp out unauthorized creativity now!

[khuss66]

Theater Ticket Prices Are

read heading

[Rants&Raves]

You have corrected yourself

The original story claimed that "They... pursued Napster"; the previous name this pronoun was referring to was the MPAA. The new revised version now reads "The rights holders pursued Napster", which corrects the statement whose veracity I was previously arguing against.

As for quotes: so there is one from the right holder's perspective for every 9 arguing that theft is ok for technical reasons (technology marches on, etc.). This is clearly not an even story.

[sandonet]

Again you are incorrect

There are five people quoted in the story, two of them representing copyright holders. And to clarify, the MPAA, which represents the major Hollywood Studios suing TorrentSpy, was asked multiple times for an interview. The statement in the story was the group's reply.

[wildchild_plasma_gyro]

It's corruption

When you search for content on a P2P network you have to find the search criteria.
Most of the names people know is of populist developments.
This puts populism above the indie groups.
This in turn makes fat cats rich.
Itunes does very well but it by no means represents indie groups fairly and no judge really complains.
Mp3.com represented the indie scene and it got crushed straight away.
It's a god driven war chant minipulating domesticated people in essence readying for war with the tao movement proclaiming freedom to all and giveing power to but a few.

[batavier]

Arthur Murray Patents?

I always wondered: What if the same insanity that has engulfed the music/publishing industry, had infected people and organizations like Arhur Murray, Balanchine and other choreographers?

Every time you'd be dancing Foxtrot, Swing, some other social dance you may be liable for a hefty royalty fee. Same for a dance troupe performing an established chorography from say Cats or West-Side Story.

What would happen to dance studios? What would happen to shows like Dancing With The Stars, or America Got Talent? What would happen to any local or international dance competition?

Yet the creators flourish despite the fact that a given Salsa move does not require anyone to pay royalites to the first person or couple ever to come up with it.

And now think of famous plays in the world of sports....

[Orion Blastar]

All they have done is kill the search engines

for BitTorrent and the BT trackers are still online that actually send the bits of files back and forth over the Internet.

For every BT search engine you take down, five more will take its place. It won't stop the pirates that already share files on BitTorrent, it will only slow them down.

Now if you really want to make a dent, hit the BT Trackers and take them down. Otherwise you are just whistling in the dark.

Most people pirate songs and movies and software because the prices are too high. Try lowering them sometime to combat piracy.

MPAA and RIAA and BSA the more you squeeze the file sharing community, the more it slips through your hands like water.