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Alleged founder of world’s largest BitTorrent distribution site arrested

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Re: Alleged founder of world’s largest BitTorrent distribution site arrested

#191

Post by olalonde »

Sacho wrote: post #189
olalonde wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lots of cognitive dissonance on HN regarding IP rights. Also, see any previous post where a Chinese company is accused of stealing IP or cloning apps.

Is it cognitive dissonance, or simply different people commenting? HN is not a hive mind.

Can't say for sure, just the feeling I get. HN comments usually seem pre-dominantly pro or anti copyright depending on context (e.g. "big company fails to comply with GPL" would result in mainly pro copyright comments while "bittorrent site gets shut down" would mainly result in anti copyright ones).

Re: Alleged founder of world’s largest BitTorrent distribution site arrested

#192

Post by ricksplat »

eggy wrote: post #145

Aside from the legal technicalities here, I mostly ponder the future of IP. I think Napster positively affected the music distribution world in the long run. I am not very black-and-white on this issue, however, since there are many contradictions by both sides. I read the majority of comments here on HN about dated business models, big corporation dislike, the old executives don't understand the new market, etc...,…

I would also suggest, that in the case of the clothing, the artist is probably not credited. Zara are claiming it as their own original work so she can't even claim copyright.

Re: Alleged founder of world’s largest BitTorrent distribution site arrested

#193

Post by ricksplat »

olalonde wrote: post #188
eggy wrote: post #145

Aside from the legal technicalities here, I mostly ponder the future of IP. I think Napster positively affected the music distribution world in the long run. I am not very black-and-white on this issue, however, since there are many contradictions by both sides. I read the majority of comments here on HN about dated business models, big corporation dislike, the old executives don't understand the new market, etc...,…

Lots of cognitive dissonance on HN regarding IP rights. Also, see any previous post where a Chinese company is accused of stealing IP or cloning apps.

In the case of stealing: You deny somebody else the possibility of buying the product.

In the case of cloning: You deny the progenitor the claim to its creation.

In the case of downloads: You make a copy of something. Whether it equates to a lost sale or not is a the point of contention. In many cases it may simply be the case that the product is unavailable, at all, or through conventional distribution channels.

In fairness that goes to a certain extent for cloning as well, but the big issue there is an unwitting consumer can buy a clone thinking it's the real thing, with possible consequences for the consumer, and perhaps even damaging the image of the creator of the original product.

Re: Alleged founder of world’s largest BitTorrent distribution site arrested

#194

Post by samzub »

eggy wrote: post #145

Aside from the legal technicalities here, I mostly ponder the future of IP. I think Napster positively affected the music distribution world in the long run. I am not very black-and-white on this issue, however, since there are many contradictions by both sides. I read the majority of comments here on HN about dated business models, big corporation dislike, the old executives don't understand the new market, etc...,…

I think the moral difference may lie in the balance of power between the IP holder and IP infringer :

In Zara vs indie designer, Zara steal the design and uses its power to distribute and sell it to the whole world. The indie designer cannot compete, or fight. The fact that Zara used her designs will not advertise her own products or make her money (maybe it did after the public outcry, but I guess it will not be the case for every indie designer).

In torrent website vs content producers, the torrent website or its user are not more powerful than the producers. They do not put the producers' business at risk. Everyone knows who made the original product, and may buy some genuine products or derivatives : torrenting can act as advertisement.

One of the other justifications for torrenting is that the content is not available in your country. Similarly, the indie design was not available in all countries. But the source of the issue is different : a small business may not distribute to the whole wold because of logistics, whereas producers and distributors voluntarily block content from being available when it could be.

Re: Alleged founder of world’s largest BitTorrent distribution site arrested

#195

Post by 2muchcoffeeman »

chongli wrote: post #163
2muchcoffeeman wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the truth is that the system is rigged and this supposed to serve a few > multinational corporations that feel their profits are severely cut due > to copyright infringement, meanwhile posting record earnings. Ignore that the system is rigged for the moment. I think it is safe to say these companies really like making more money. I have always wondered why then, they spend so much effort enforcing copyright laws ra…

Contracts with regional exclusivity give the content producers something a subscription model never will: a lump sum of risk free, up-front cash. People calling for global Netflix kumba ya with all content available are simply asking for producers to take a haircut.

I am honestly not aware of what Netflix contracts look like.

I'd have thought they also pay lump sums to get the streaming rights per territory.

Also I am proposing the subscription increases to get access, possibly per territory you want access to.

Re: Alleged founder of world’s largest BitTorrent distribution site arrested

#196

Post by ricksplat »

2bitencryption wrote: post #101
ekianjo wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No you can't, all the content there is DRM'ed. I believe many people care about running their videos where they like. For example, Amazon video does not work at all on Linux because there is no DRM support there.

You're confusing streaming (renting) with purchasing. On iTunes, EVERYTHING is DRM free. If you purchase it, you get a mp4 (or mov), and that's it. No DRM. So nothing is stopping you from paying for much of this content legally.

I have another corner case: Audio books.

I was infuriated to discover when I bought one on my computer in work it was then just about impossible to transfer it to any device that I could actually want to listen to it on (without resorting to hacks, or the analogue hole - through which it would have amounted to about 6 CDs of content).

The licence was not transferable to other devices either so I couldn't just download it again either.

Re: Alleged founder of world’s largest BitTorrent distribution site arrested

#197

Post by avree »

brute wrote: post #49
avree wrote: post #32

Can't read this site because of their adblocker detection.

Use uBlock Origin instead or dive into the wonderful world of adblock-blocker-blockers (such as Anti-Adblock Killer or Fuck FuckAdBlock)

I use uBlock, on Safari.

Re: Alleged founder of world’s largest BitTorrent distribution site arrested

#198

Post by jacobolus »

youngButEager wrote: post #190
ank_the_elder wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"How much did Return of the Jedi cost to make?" "$32.5 million" "And how much was the revenue?" "$475 million" "So you had a $442.5 million profit!" "No, no. We had no profit - we use Hollywood accounting" Repeat for Forrest Gump, Spider-Man, etc. Real sad, these modern morals. Real sad. If you don't respect others, they ain't gonna respect you.

You can try but you'll never be able to rationalize stealing from someone. Especially when you use someone(s) else's actions to try to justify stealing from them. You folks are young. If you're lucky enough to learn some of these things, the fact that a lot of bad karma will suddenly disappear from your life and things will go shockingly smoothly -- will only be the dessert. The real banquet will be knowing that you…

> you'll never be able to rationalize [copyright infringement]

He just did.

Rationalize, transitive verb (Mirriam-Webster): 1. to bring into accord with reason or cause something to seem reasonable: as [...] b) to attribute (one’s actions) to rational and creditable motives without analysis of true and especially unconscious motives ; broadly : to create an excuse or more attractive explanation for

* * *

The comments here, whether you agree with the explanations given or not, are a textbook example of rationalizing an action. Perhaps you meant he will never be able to justify copyright infringement?

Re: Alleged founder of world’s largest BitTorrent distribution site arrested

#199

Post by sergiotapia »

benbristow wrote: post #186
sergiotapia wrote: post #143

So that's why KAT's been down all day. Two things: If you're going to build a torrent indexer, don't profit from it. Keep it alive yourself, with NO ads, just plain HTML and JS and images. Second: This is why I vastly prefer usenet.

But you have to pay to access Usenet - sort of defeats the point. And the whole retention thing sucks.

Sonarr + Usenet + Nzbgeek, no issues whatsoever and I can download my public access public broadcasted tv shows at my full ISP speed.

Re: Alleged founder of world’s largest BitTorrent distribution site arrested

#200

Post by ricksplat »

ekianjo wrote: post #69
bathory wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i don't remember robin hood lining his pockets with truckloads of money he made off of the dodgy ads that all these torrent sites serve. and if its not ads, then it's the donations.

I don't remember Robin Hood being poor in the first place.

Indeed Sir Robin of Locksley had been knighted so he was no mere rogue ...
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