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GitHub has received a DMCA from MPA about torrent tracker nyaa.si

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Re: GitHub has received a DMCA from MPA about torrent tracker nyaa.si

#151

Post by jsmith45 »

jchw wrote: post #98
maltalex wrote: post #63

The title is misleading. This isn't some generic torrent tracker. The repo in question is the source of a specific site - nyaa.si [0] which according to the complaint is preconfigured to share copyrighted material: > The identified files and code are preconfigured to find and provide infringing copies of our Members’ film and tv content to Nyaa.si users in violation of copyright law. This is probably what makes this…

Please don't, however, baselessly propagate their claims. As far as I can tell it's bullshit. The source code may be for nyaa.si but it just contains normal torrent tracker code. Take a look at the files listed: > https://github.com/nyaadevs/nyaa/blob/master/utils/api_info.... Online here: https://gitlab.com/SIGBUS/nyaa/-/blob/master/utils/api_info.... See anything remotely suggestive? Not I. > https://github.com/nya…

I'd say that first one (api_info) is semi-plausible in terms of being "configured" for piracy, in that it hard codes the production API of the site, and I assume the data accessible therein is largely piracy.

It is also true that one would need to modify quite a few places to make this codebase sensibly usable for anything non-piracy. Even if an Anime studio decided to make their back catalog available over torrent (for some reason), this site really is not designed for their needs.

However, I strongly suspect this list of files is roughly the set that have 'nyaa' as a stand alone word (i.e. not part of a snake case word or other compound). I suspect they loaded the code into a search engine, and searched for "nyaa.si", and flagged all results. Many search engines will treat the '.' like a space, will filter out "si" as being too short, and thus search for "nyaa", and only find results for that when it exists as a separate word.

Re: GitHub has received a DMCA from MPA about torrent tracker nyaa.si

#152

Post by [deleted] »

Hamuko wrote: post #90
bitcharmer wrote: post #3

Can someone knowledgeable explain to me how a tracker source code violates DMCA? What's next, hard disk manufacturers? Internet providers?

> by virtue of the operation and further development of the Bittorrent website Nyaa.si’s “nyaa” repository (the “Project”) Basically the fact that the world's most predominant installation of the site (Nyaa.si) is serving a whole bunch of copyrighted materials through torrents makes the code itself violate DMCA.

[deleted]

Re: GitHub has received a DMCA from MPA about torrent tracker nyaa.si

#153

Post by ihuman »

Hamuko wrote: post #115

> Specifically, at the URL, the Repository hosts and offers for download the Project, which, when downloaded, provides the downloader everything necessary to launch and host a “clone” infringing website identical to Nyaa.si (and, thus, engage in massive infringement of copyrighted motion pictures and television shows). I'd like for Motion Picture Association to publish a step-by-step guide on how I can engage in mass…

> Because I imagine at some point in the guide they'd tell me to generate torrent files of copyrighted files I have and upload them to the site, which is really outside of this project.

One of the files they link to is a utility for uploading torrent files (/utils/api_uploader_v2.py). As far as I can tell, it doesn't generate the torrent files, just uploads them.

Re: GitHub has received a DMCA from MPA about torrent tracker nyaa.si

#154

Post by TazeTSchnitzel »

jniedrauer wrote: post #110

This site is mainly used to share Japanese media. The streaming services have really dropped the ball in this area. They either don't simulcast to other parts of the world (netflix), offer terrible subtitles that are worse than fan translations (netflix, crunchyroll), or just plain never release content for international audiences. I pay for every relevant streaming service I can, and even when I can access legal, of…

> This site is mainly used to share Japanese media.

In fact, non-CJK media is explicitly prohibited by its terms.

So it's a bit strange to see the MPAA making the takedown and mentioning their biggest members (all Hollywood) in the press release. I suppose the US subsidiaries or partners of certain Japanese media companies might be members of the MPAA?

EDIT: Ah right, one of the companies named is Sony Pictures, which owns a US anime distributor (Funimation).

Re: GitHub has received a DMCA from MPA about torrent tracker nyaa.si

#155

Post by Accujack »

c2h5oh wrote: post #148
hedora wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sooner or later, one of these projects will counter-sue for misuse of copyright. Misuse of copyright is when a copyright holder attempts to illegitimately expand the rights granted to them by their copyright in some work (in this case, quashing competition from distribution channels that are used to distribute unrelated copyrighted material). The normal punishment for misuse of copyright is the rendering of the copyr…

Actually no. DMCA is super one sided. All you need for DMCA takedown notice is "a good faith belief" that reported content is infringing copyright you own (or is owned by someone you represent). The opposing party has to prove that the claim was knowingly false and malicious for the claimant to be charged with perjury. The opposing party has to prove actual damages in court to get any compensation. You may get legal…

Right. The DMCA was written with the advice of the copyright holders' lawyers (and by them in some cases) and activists and others fought against it as hard as they could.

Even in 1998, the US government was corrupted by money. It's worse today, but this has been happening a long time.

Re: GitHub has received a DMCA from MPA about torrent tracker nyaa.si

#156

Post by flyingfences »

ihuman wrote: post #153
Hamuko wrote: post #115

> Specifically, at the URL, the Repository hosts and offers for download the Project, which, when downloaded, provides the downloader everything necessary to launch and host a “clone” infringing website identical to Nyaa.si (and, thus, engage in massive infringement of copyrighted motion pictures and television shows). I'd like for Motion Picture Association to publish a step-by-step guide on how I can engage in mass…

> Because I imagine at some point in the guide they'd tell me to generate torrent files of copyrighted files I have and upload them to the site, which is really outside of this project. One of the files they link to is a utility for uploading torrent files (/utils/api_uploader_v2.py). As far as I can tell, it doesn't generate the torrent files, just uploads them.

Torrent files in general, yes. Torrent files are not, by default, any sort of legal infringement.

Re: GitHub has received a DMCA from MPA about torrent tracker nyaa.si

#157

Post by fabianhjr »

jokethrowaway wrote: post #150

I think the only solution is self-hosting. Would a hosting provider (excluding AWS, given recent news) comply with these baseless requests? I'm personally done with Github. Gitlab is a bit too heavy to run but I can live with Trello and my own git server - all my OSS projects I care about have their own website anyway (ironically, moving from Github Pages to Netlify will be the most annoying part).

> Gitlab is a bit too heavy to run

For personal repos it would probably be better to go with Gitea or a similar lightweight forge.

https://gitea.io/

Re: GitHub has received a DMCA from MPA about torrent tracker nyaa.si

#158

Post by astrange »

wolco5 wrote: post #80
afavour wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's weird that we expect Github to do that, in a way. The repo might well be hosted on there for free, but we all want Github to spend a ton in legal fees to defend something they make zero cash from. I'm not sure what my point is here other than finding it sad that code hosting is so centralised.

We do. We want to see github or anyone defend any fake lawsuit against them.

Good thing there aren't any lawsuits against anyone then.

Re: GitHub has received a DMCA from MPA about torrent tracker nyaa.si

#159

Post by ihuman »

flyingfences wrote: post #156
ihuman wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Because I imagine at some point in the guide they'd tell me to generate torrent files of copyrighted files I have and upload them to the site, which is really outside of this project. One of the files they link to is a utility for uploading torrent files (/utils/api_uploader_v2.py). As far as I can tell, it doesn't generate the torrent files, just uploads them.

Torrent files in general, yes. Torrent files are not, by default, any sort of legal infringement.

I agree. I was pointing that file out because it supports what you were saying.

Re: GitHub has received a DMCA from MPA about torrent tracker nyaa.si

#160

Post by astrange »

TheDong wrote: post #105
daheza wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed that Github needs to push back, but we should also be contacting our legislature so that they are aware of the abuse of law.

Whether we contact our representatives or not, the MPA / Disney / etc have deeper pockets than we do. We've reached the point where a candidate for the senate will only get the nomination and have a chance to be elected if they spend a significant amount of money on their campaign. There's no campaign limits, so if you don't spend much, you're liable to lose. As a result, the people who run successful campaigns almos…

This year many high profile campaigns that spent the most money also lost, and the ones that won by spending the most were not "corporate" but were Bernie aligned.
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