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Spotify’s Beta Used ‘Pirate’ MP3 Files, Some from Pirate Bay

torrentfreak.com

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Re: Spotify’s Beta Used ‘Pirate’ MP3 Files, Some from Pirate Bay

#61

Post by LordKano »

pmarreck wrote: post #54
LordKano wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The SNES certainly wasn't able to reproduce the arcade experience. The N64 should have been. Over the years, I have considered buying an old arcade cabinet just to re-experience the magic. I just need to find the space for it.

You should do that. Don't lose the wide-eyed kid inside. :)

Many years ago, someone made a PC based Killer Instinct emulator and I played it whenever I was feeling nostalgic.

I had problems getting it to run under XP, I wonder how well it would work under 7.

Re: Spotify’s Beta Used ‘Pirate’ MP3 Files, Some from Pirate Bay

#62

Post by oceanghost »

bitexploder wrote: post #53
oceanghost wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I strongly suspect, but cannot prove, that Skype was also exfiltrating audio files from the clients PC at one time. When they opened their high-quality audio service the songs had clear artifacts of having been encoded more than once. If you had access to the original uncompressed audio stream, you'd simply encode a higher quality version. Many albums weren't available for high quality streaming at all. The logical e…

That is probably a little out there. Skype was heavily reverse engineered back in the day. It is possible folks missed it, but Skype got a lot of RE attention. Plus, simpler reversing techniques like strace / Sysmon would have caught this sort of thing.

Oh god im an idiot. I meant Spotify. :)

Re: Spotify’s Beta Used ‘Pirate’ MP3 Files, Some from Pirate Bay

#63

Post by bitexploder »

oceanghost wrote: post #62
bitexploder wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is probably a little out there. Skype was heavily reverse engineered back in the day. It is possible folks missed it, but Skype got a lot of RE attention. Plus, simpler reversing techniques like strace / Sysmon would have caught this sort of thing.

Oh god im an idiot. I meant Spotify. :)

Ha, now that I would not doubt nearly so much :-)

Re: Spotify’s Beta Used ‘Pirate’ MP3 Files, Some from Pirate Bay

#64

Post by dTal »

dsp1234 wrote: post #29
TorKlingberg wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With a P2P architecture you basically have to use "super nodes" to get through firewalls. There are three main reasons Skype dropped P2P: * The nefariousness one: So Microsoft can let NSA and the cops listen in. * Because mobile clients don't work well with P2P. * Because servers and bandwidth got really cheap.

and because Skype didn't own the IP for their p2p implementation, or even the source code to it. "An executable-only object code form of the GI Software was licensed by Joltid to Skype, a well-known Internet-based company that provides users throughout the world with free or low-cost telephone services over the Internet. Skype did not obtain a license to the GI Software source code, however"[0] [0] - https://techcrun…

For some reason the notion that an arbitrary piece of desktop software might be an unholy mixture of proprietary binary blobs from different companies, and to which no one entity has the complete source code, fills me with dread.

Yet, dissonantly enough, this is exactly the model you accept if you use proprietary drivers on your system. Arguably, it's the model you accept if you use any proprietary software - programs are not perfectly isolated from each other.

If you found this revelation about Skype to be vaguely shocking, as I did, consider if your reaction is consistent when it comes to the other things in your life - like your Android phone.

Re: Spotify’s Beta Used ‘Pirate’ MP3 Files, Some from Pirate Bay

#65

Post by ionised »

kakarot wrote: post #48
charlesdm wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Of course, Spotify sucks now". Spotify is awesome and convenient. In comparison to other services, for me as a user, it's a clear winner.

In comparison to the other garbage, yeah it might be the winner. But it's still garbage. I was one of the first users of the beta program. At the time, Ludvig's philosophy of simplicity + hidden functionality via interactive views shone through the UI and it was very pleasant to use. The 5 star rating system was the icing on the cake. A step down in functionality from Amarok's playlist creation system, and lacking th…

I started using Spotify Premium while I was travelling recently (stick to Foobar2000 at home) and the UI seems utterly counter-intuitive.

Re: Spotify’s Beta Used ‘Pirate’ MP3 Files, Some from Pirate Bay

#66

Post by thirdsun »

aphexbr wrote: post #60
thirdsun wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No stupid geographic delayed releases, no stupid DRM where you have to prove you're not a thief every time you want to access the content, no internet connectivity requirements, etc. To be fair those haven't been issues with digital music purchases for a long time. Buying music couldn't be more convenient these days.

DRM might not be an issue any more (at least for purchases), but regional releases, platform exclusivity, etc. sure as hell are.

I thought we were talking about purchases, not streaming. How would DRM-free streaming work?

I haven't seen regional releases in ages.

Platform exclusivity? Again, for streaming maybe, but we were talking about purchases, right? I buy my weekly releases in a digital, lossless format from a range of stores. The files I receive are mine. Non of the issues you mentioned apply these days.

Streaming, however, while convenient can have disadvantages like the ones you mentioned. More importantly, you don't own your collection, you just rent the music and albums may disappear at any point.

However none of this justifies piracy since there's a flawless alternative: Buying music.

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