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Torrentz Shuts Down, Largest Torrent Meta-Search Engine Says Farewell

torrentfreak.com

71–80 of 336 posts

Re: Torrentz Shuts Down, Largest Torrent Meta-Search Engine Says Farewell

#71
post #8

Oh wow, what's going on with torrent sites lately? I feel like we're "running out" of them somehow.

It's a tricky business running a torrent site. Unless it is fully decentralized, it can be shut down fairly easily. Starting a torrent site using the HTTP & DNS protocols is a lost cause. HTTP can be worked around, but DNS is very problematic. I think we'll see more and more torrent sites show up that leverages IPFS[1] or ZeroNet[2], but the second the main browser vendors adds support for something like IPNS (decent…

Don't forget Freeenet https://www.freenetproject.org/, which has the goal of anonymity. IPFS isn't anonymous and the IP address of users pinning the content is easily discoverable.

Freenet has at least one site that lists magnet hashes and inserts some of the torrent content directly into the network.

Re: Torrentz Shuts Down, Largest Torrent Meta-Search Engine Says Farewell

#72
post #53
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sharing, not stealing. It must be comfortable to judge people from comfort of a couch in 1st world country, right? What about point in constitution of many countries about free access to culture? Music stars make most of their money out of concerts anyways, and selling music is actual way to make money by huge labels. But you surely knew that only 10% of each CD goes to actual performers. And tbf - the only reason I…

It's theft of service, so it is stealing. And uploading many small pieces of files with up to millions of anonymous entities rather stretches the usual connotations of the word "sharing". Regarding constitutional directives, it's unreasonable to think that "free access to culture" is supposed to imply "steal movies, music and software via the internet". The idea that musicians make most of their money from gigging is…

Copyright infringement, not theft, not stealing; not simply sharing either. By labelling it 'theft' you are applying a rhetorical device created explicitly to discredit the act of copyright infringement on moral grounds before even considering any of the justifications held by the infringer.

This isn't a black and white scenario like stealing a car is (and even then there are nuances); the mere fact that millions of people engage in copyright infringement every day without any scruples whatsoever, is an indication that there is a disconnect between the law and reality, and between supply and demand.

Your standpoint can be better presented without the weasel words; it prevents being downvoted as a troll too.

Re: Torrentz Shuts Down, Largest Torrent Meta-Search Engine Says Farewell

#73
post #8

Oh wow, what's going on with torrent sites lately? I feel like we're "running out" of them somehow.

It's a tricky business running a torrent site. Unless it is fully decentralized, it can be shut down fairly easily. Starting a torrent site using the HTTP & DNS protocols is a lost cause. HTTP can be worked around, but DNS is very problematic. I think we'll see more and more torrent sites show up that leverages IPFS[1] or ZeroNet[2], but the second the main browser vendors adds support for something like IPNS (decent…

Instead of major browsers, could major torrent clients build in search functionality based on something like this?

Re: Torrentz Shuts Down, Largest Torrent Meta-Search Engine Says Farewell

#74

The reason piracy is so popular is because it is free and because it's incredibly convenient, in that order. The convenience factor is basically, if you want some content (movie, game) it's a simple search and download away (streaming torrents seem to be gaining traction). No legal alternative offers this level of convenience. I suspect piracy will become harder for the average user due to three letter agencies makin…

I'd say the opposite with regards to convenience, but maybe I've been away from the scene for a few years now Nowadays it seems more of a hassle to pirate content, especially here in the UK with torrent sites getting blocked by ISPs (necessitating a need for VPNs or proxy services) along with having to constantly find new sources for torrents as authorities crack down on sites like KickAssTorrents. I find it easier t…

I used to have a Spotify subscription. Then I moved out of Sweden and lost half my playlists. Never subscribed again.

I never had a Netflix subscription because I don't have a good enough connection to stream high quality videos - Additionally, I rewatch some series a lot. It's simply more convenient to have them on my hard drive.

The US gov is running around the internet policing copyright for very specific companies, acting like they're doing the world a favour. Calling everybody thieves. Threatening people with fines and prison. "You can just pay for a Netflix/Spotify subscription"... well, no, not everywhere and it's certainly not as convenient for everyone.

Sidenote: Spotify's content bootstrapping was a dump of music from TPB. If it weren't for piracy, we wouldn't have spotify. The system is broken.

Re: Torrentz Shuts Down, Largest Torrent Meta-Search Engine Says Farewell

#75

>TFW your children won't experience having access to all the software, music, and other content they could ever want just by knowing how to use a computer better than most people Feels bad man. Having access to a cracked version of Photoshop at 13 years old changed my life.

Same here. I wonder whether this experience with the free cracked version helped make Photoshop any more popular. If it was only used in the legal sense, costing hundreds, would it be so popular?

Re: Torrentz Shuts Down, Largest Torrent Meta-Search Engine Says Farewell

#76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a tricky business running a torrent site. Unless it is fully decentralized, it can be shut down fairly easily. Starting a torrent site using the HTTP & DNS protocols is a lost cause. HTTP can be worked around, but DNS is very problematic. I think we'll see more and more torrent sites show up that leverages IPFS[1] or ZeroNet[2], but the second the main browser vendors adds support for something like IPNS (decent…

Instead of major browsers, could major torrent clients build in search functionality based on something like this?

They definitely could, but there's barely any innovation in the torrent "market" anymore...

Re: Torrentz Shuts Down, Largest Torrent Meta-Search Engine Says Farewell

#77
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The double standard is incredible. Google would be well served defending the open web by supporting sites such as torrentz (via legal resources or otherwise), its unfortunate that the PR aspect prevents such a thing.

How would assisting copyright infringement benefit the open web? I see the mention of double standards but it seems very odd to me that someone would support copyright infringement (grabbing films etc.) and deem it acceptable yet we'd balk at someone either: a) not paying for software we were selling, or b) not paying for a software service we were selling. It doesn't add up.

Torrentz.eu provided links torrents but also provided a takedown feature where copyright holders could remove the torrents.

Whose to say that all the torrents were copyright infringement. Or even that copyright infringement laws applied equally in all parts of the world.

Google also provides links to torrents. That's the double standard.

Re: Torrentz Shuts Down, Largest Torrent Meta-Search Engine Says Farewell

#78
post #22

Good. Maybe this will deter people from stealing music, films and software. It's a disgrace that so many work so hard on their craft, only to have the fruits of their efforts ripped off by the immoral. I hope the authorities shut all these torrent search engines down, and prosecute the owners to the full extent of the law.

Are you aware that the authors are the least privileged in current copyright laws ? Where I live the state even invented a special tax on digital supports (USB, Hard Drives, etc...) to "favor the authors" because of "piracy". Never met a single author that benefited from that. And trust me I know a lot of them. Copyright laws were made, and exist, to privilege the industry (which does include authors, at the bottom,…

If there is a tax, that makes it legal. If I was paying a piracy tax then I would feel justified in pirating since I've paid for it.

But if the tax isn't going to the copyright holders, then sounds like the tax is stealing from the copyright holders also.

Re: Torrentz Shuts Down, Largest Torrent Meta-Search Engine Says Farewell

#80
post #53
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sharing, not stealing. It must be comfortable to judge people from comfort of a couch in 1st world country, right? What about point in constitution of many countries about free access to culture? Music stars make most of their money out of concerts anyways, and selling music is actual way to make money by huge labels. But you surely knew that only 10% of each CD goes to actual performers. And tbf - the only reason I…

It's theft of service, so it is stealing. And uploading many small pieces of files with up to millions of anonymous entities rather stretches the usual connotations of the word "sharing". Regarding constitutional directives, it's unreasonable to think that "free access to culture" is supposed to imply "steal movies, music and software via the internet". The idea that musicians make most of their money from gigging is…

Yup, except piracy always had a good impact on creators, sure it may hurts the big companies but it's the best way to promote non mainstream artists. If you download an album you weren't going to buy anyway it may incite you to go to a concert you wouldn't even consider before. The same thing can be applied to any pirated content.

Look at Game of Thrones, it's one of the most pirated content of all time. It's also one of the most popular and lucrative, book sales have skyrocketed, there is a lot of tie-in products and even HBO subscriptions have gone up. All while, and probably because, the show is so much pirated.

Sure piracy is stealing, legally, but it boosts the industry and really never hurts the creator, the only people saying that are big media companies that play victims while making bigger and bigger profits.

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