BitTorrent search site hits back

[XA04]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4853674.stm

It's about time torrent sites start to fight back.

[Spud1]

doubt they will win, they are in the wrong really and they know it - logically by hosting links to the copywrited files they are aiding in copywrite theft. If they only linked to legit torrents there would be no problem, or if they even attempted to implement such a system they would be ok.

[badass]

doubt they will win, they are in the wrong really and they know it - logically by hosting links to the copywrited files they are aiding in copywrite theft. If they only linked to legit torrents there would be no problem, or if they even attempted to implement such a system they would be ok.

Its not copyright theft. Its copyright infirngement.
In the same way price fixing isn't stealing from consumers. Its abusing their position.

[SittingBull]

Personally, I think it won't be long before the site is shut down - they are just obviously trying to prolong it's lifespan just to generate further profits in that time.

I'm just glad I've been "pirate-free" for the past 2 years (used to be heavily into torrents etc)

[Spud1]

Its not copyright theft. Its copyright infirngement.
In the same way price fixing isn't stealing from consumers. Its abusing their position.

well ok but either way it is still illegal

[TheAnimus]

thing is if they just have a spider which crawls to locate torrents, then hows that wrong?

Google indexes all kinds of illegal content.

[AlexB]

That's cool. Glad they didnt just bow under and close like so many sites have in the past.

Go Torrentspy.

[herulach]

The argument usually goes that even the sites that host the .torrent themselves arent actually hosting infringing material, merly a hash of it, And since the file never goes through their servers they should be exempt from comeback. Technically thats true, but when it comes to a middle aged judge who has no concept of the technology involved, it looks a lot like they are in fact infringing, when really they arent.

[yamangman]

That's not really the argument. I think it's as stated before that the site is merely an indexing application, like any search engine.

[poindextermatic]

Seems a bit unfair to me, its just a search engine after - if you type the name of a film and then torrent after it, google will pretty much do the same thing. Why dont they target the actual sites / ppl cracking / ripping the stuff in the first place instead?

[dave87]

Seems a bit unfair to me, its just a search engine after - if you type the name of a film and then torrent after it, google will pretty much do the same thing. Why dont they target the actual sites / ppl cracking / ripping the stuff in the first place instead?

Because they are individuals, and it takes a lot more work to find out who they are than to shut down big sites that have big arrows pointing to the owners.

[herulach]

That's not really the argument. I think it's as stated before that the site is merely an indexing application, like any search engine.

Ah, my apoligies, i thought they hosted the torrents too, /me must read article better

In that case then, they want to get on googles back too, as it preforms just as good a job of searching the sites (at least the non memebership ones)

[Spud1]

Seems a bit unfair to me, its just a search engine after - if you type the name of a film and then torrent after it, google will pretty much do the same thing. Why dont they target the actual sites / ppl cracking / ripping the stuff in the first place instead?

They do go after them There have been a few big busts recently (biggest being when fairlight and Razor got busted a few years back). These groups are the root cause of all this yes, but look at it from another perspective.

Bit torrent opened up what was previously a 'closed' community to the masses. Ok so there were always websites and methods that people could use to get hold of pirated software, but it used to require some technical knowledge - ftp access, irc knowledge, usenet access etc etc. Bit torrent is so simple and easy to use that anyone can do it, you don't need the knowledge anymore.

Consequently the number of people pirating films, software etc must have increased immensely over the past few years, I have no figures to back this up, its pure speculation, but logically it makes sense. Before P2P took off in a big way did you ever hear about a group being busted? (in the news I mean) Software/film piracy was not really in the media at all.

So anyway, my points are that as has been mentioned, it is a lot easier for the feds to go after bit torrent sites, and p2p applications as they are publically accessible, and usually there is a paper trail leading to the owners/administrators - with groups this just isnt the same, would require spending alot of time getting into the 'scene' so to speak, to get close enough to someone to bust them. Also, getting rid of and/or controlling P2P should dramatically reduce piracy, cutting off a large number of people from access to illegal material, and therefore reducing piracy.

Of course that is the theory - in practice it will never work. Each time a group gets killed many more appear in its place. The same goes for bit torrent sites, and P2P applications. It would be great to see them all disappear - the groups, the torrent sites, the p2p apps, but it just isn't going to happen

[BenW]

So is torrentspy still safe to use?

I probably download 2-4 torrents a month from them

[Spud1]

by safe to use what do you mean?

Downloading illegal files is never safe, there will always be logs kept somewhere, and p2p is even more unsafe as you never know who is connecting to you (only their ip address, and maybe one or 2 more details)

[iranu]

Another classic case of "The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers." The very nature of the internet means that there will be an infinite number of bittorrent sources and search facilities so it's totally pointless to try to crack down on it.

The media industry does not understand or rather refuses to acknowledge the real cause, which is over priced goods. The movie/record/games industry could easily earn more money than they could ever dream of by putting everything online and allowing you to download a movie/record for £3 but they simply do not have the vision to take advantage. They prefer to go with the tried and tested method of high prices for substandard merchandise in expensive high street shops. Innovate or die people.