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Bob’s Burgers Animator Helps Seeding The Show’s Torrent

Bob’s Burgers is a new animated sitcom which first aired on Fox last weekend. With nearly 10 million viewers and the highest rated premiere of the season, the show had a pretty decent start. On BitTorrent there has been plenty of interest as well, even from someone who’s actively involved in the production. In fact, one of the show’s animators has been proudly seeding the first episode on the semi-private BitTorrent tracker Demonoid.

bobThe new TV-season started last week with the debut of several new series, including the animated sitcom Bob’s Burgers on Fox. As with all TV-shows, the first episode of Bob’s Burgers also ended up on BitTorrent, where one downloader stands out above the rest.

In a torrent discussion at Demonoid.me, the largest semi private BitTorrent community, a commenter with the nickname “TANP1′ claims to have a special relationship with the show. Unlike the regular downloaders, he is actually involved in the production of Bob’s Burgers, or so he claims.

“Nice to hear that people liked the show, I’m an animator on it so it’s nice to hear something positive from all the negative I’ve been hearing about! I’m going to keep seeding to support my show,” TANP1 wrote a few hours after the torrent was published on Demonoid.

Of course, anyone can claim to be an animator of the show, but as we will point out later in this article this one turns out to be legit. This is where it gets interesting.

Other commenters on Demonoid seem to be genuinely surprised and honored that one of the animators approves of their actions, since makers of such big productions are generally negative towards ‘unauthorized’ downloads. In a follow up comment TANP1 adds some more insider insights to the ‘sharing’ crowd.

“There are 13 eps for the show coming out, they’ve been well received by the everyone at the studio so far so we’re hoping everything will turn out and it’ll gain more of an audience as it goes,” he says.

The commenter went on to further state that if you view to end credits his name is listed there.

With that last comment TANP1 did give away more than he might have wanted to do. It is of course great that someone from the production team of a popular show approves of torrenting, and we welcome such an open stance. But, at the same time we got very curious about the identity of the torrenting animator, if only to verify the legitimacy of his claims.

Since it’s hard to hide something on the internet nowadays, it only took a few Google searches to find out that the nickname and the birthday of the commenter are linked to an animator featured first in the credits list of the episode. So, the story seems to check out and we applaud TANP1 for making Bob’s Burgers available – in more ways than one.

Update: We’ve been in contact with the animator and agreed to alter some of the info mentioned in the above article to address his concerns.

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  • Trollface

    I don’t like bob’s Burgers. The jokes are funny but the main characters look more like some weird humanoid alien worm people.

    • some guy

      TF, this is a reall asshole move you just made. first one ive found in the forever amount of time that i’ve been subscribed, but you just did all the work of the publishing company for them. now poor chris will probably be fired, and never get hired into another career similar to what he has/had. Never overestimate the knowledge of the enemy.

      • stan

        Couldn’t you just put your shitty comment in a queue rather than replying to unrelated, but the first one?

  • Trooper

    Sure is refreshing to see that some people from the industry actually understand that it’s better to work WITH the P2P community than to fight with them.

    Seeding the first episode of the show can only increase viewership and for sure will create a positive relationship between viewers and producers.

    If only the old dinosaurs who run the rest of the industry could understand that too!

  • Trooper

    #1 If you remember, The Simpsons didn’t look too good either in their first season.

  • J

    Nice that you make it so easy to find out who it is, and make the laws work easier than it has.

  • IDK ABOUT THIS

    I realize that as a blog, you guys need stories to work with. But if you really gave a crap, you wouldn’t be making a spectacle out of this. The dude wants to keep his anonymity so you tell everyone exactly how to find out who he is? I know you didn’t outright name him but if a Fox exec were to see this they wouldn’t need to look very far to find out who it is.

    Is it really worth it to possibly further the chances of this guy losing his job just to say “hey see? torrenting is a-ok!”???? As if that weren’t the point of every single post you make. If this were an anti-piracy site, this article would only need a few minor changes to read more like “look at this awful man, helping pirates”.

    I’m a fan of the blog and a daily downloader but try to respect this dudes privacy and realize that there are consequences for people in the industry that support piracy, whether that’s right or wrong doesn’t change those consequences or the minds of these rich dudes at Fox. Outing people is not really a great way to support them or their cause.

  • NayNayAndThriceNay

    Ok the guy wanted to remain anonymous… for quite obvious reasons. In this case, it should of been respected.

    When someone is using their anonyminity for nefarious reasons then exposure is warranted. Not when they are using it for “good” purposes.

    YOU ARE NOT DOING ANY FAVOURS EXPOSING THE GOOD GUYS!

    Poor show TF.

  • ALSO

    You should really edit this and take out his username and the notes on how you can find out his real name. Why not just delete the whole post? User comments on demonoid is not news. Neither is the fact that many in the various media industries (myself and friends included) are in support of piracy.

    Please respect people’s privacy so that more like us can continue to work and not lose our jobs. I’m not saying that we should be hush hush about it, or deny it, I actively talk about supporting piracy openly. I just think that singling this guy out (and then identifying him when he specificly said he didn’t want to be) when he didn’t intend this to posted around on blogs is the wrong way to spread the good vibes within the industry.

  • Ninja

    LoL awesome. Hopefully the new generation of animators and entertainment peepz will be better than the idiots sitting in MAFIAA’s thrones. I’m seeing this in my country, slowly the new generation is taking over and I’m starting to see things changing. That’s plain awesome.

    Hope this show gets a freakin lot of audience. While I don’t like the Simpsons style/look I might as well as take a look, the animator’s initiative made it appealing at least for a try.

    MAFIAA could learn a thing or two about this positive publicity.

  • Anonymous

    #6 I totally agree. TF shouldn’t be posting this information.

    I’m happy this guy is helping out like this, but he needs to remain anonymous for his own sake.

  • pharter

    This guy is gonna get so fired, and perhaps sued, if this story stays up as-is.

  • Maxime

    I strongly disagree with TF’s decision to post this, and would like to see the entire article removed ASAP.

  • Anonymous

    @ #8

    That’s just it, the new generation in the industry is much more often in support of piracy and way more savvy about monetizing our work in innovative ways.

    That being said, piracy is still a touchy subject in the upper echelon of the ladder. So posts like this can only lead to it becoming more of a stigmata in the industry. It’s not as hush hush as you may think but if we start getting singled out like this it WILL lead to less people being open about it. And obviously we dont need that happening if we want a brighter future.

    @ #10

    Totally agree. TF, Ernesto, you need to edit this. This post is completely reckless and irresponsible of you.

  • ex

    Agree with the rest, what the hell were you thinking exposing this guys identity to everyone. Great job Torrentfreak , I guess you just want the to make a big fuss about something no matter the cost

  • Anonymous

    Bad decision to publish this.
    Strongly suggest it is not followed up.
    Little guys have a hard enough time defending their actions as it is without TF dropping them in the sh*t.

  • WTF!!!!!!

    Why in the H3LL would you go to the trouble to expose this guy, TF???

    Will you spare no expence for a story?

    He’ll probably loose his job now and no telling what else may happen.

    Good Job Ernesto

  • random pirate

    It’s not TF’s problem that he went out and said he’s one of them… Once it was known that 1 of the animators is seeding they can find him so easily, without torrentfreak’s help…

  • Anonymous

    just got this guy fired probably

  • anonislegion

    I agree this is a pretty shady article and goes a long way to damage any integrity you people had.

  • NamesDontMatter

    Slow news day? even given that why the hell would you post his name… ridiculous

  • okokok

    It’s not hard to put something like this together. Pick a fairly popular name of some unknown guy out of some credits, search for it on google. Find a username that some person with the same name uses. Use it somewhere else & do something crazy or illegal. Framed up.

  • XIIIth

    okokok, it’s not that easy. I mean someone would have to be a mastermind to pull something like that off.

  • Maenad

    Shame on you TorrentFreak. You did not need to bring such close scrutiny to this guy who is clearly supporting BT. You already know that the anti-pirating groups read your articles, you have just thrown this poor guy under a bus for no reason. Boo to TF.

  • mouse

    Right, because Ernesto is the only one smart enough to figure it out. They need to pull this story because this is the only way they will ever know this guy’s identity. Get a clue people.

  • Anonymous

    Day 6.. you go to mental hospital.

    ffs you are paranoid

    ..

    WHERE s the page on demonoid ?

  • jim

    funny show. BECAUSE OF THE TORRENT, since i missed the premiere, i will now set my DVR to record every new episode.

  • Anon

    I’m disappaointed to see a lot of comments against publishing the way you can find him but the post isn’t uptdated deleting that information. C’mon Ernesto, I know that you don’t to get him fired, please update if you really care.

  • Joe

    All those complaining about how TF revealed the name of this guy are clearly just freaking out now that they realize how “anonymous” they really are. Any clear headed individual would understand that it takes only a few minutes (if that) to find the identity of someone as sloppy as this — TF presenting the results of such a basic search hardly makes a difference.

  • Anonymous

    filesharefreak’s sharky arrested ?

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  • commenter

    The show is available to view on Fox TV’s website. Streaming only, and for a limited time, of course.

  • Dunst Joners

    LOL, no way dude now that is jsut way too funny.

  • Drag0nflamez

    @Trooper It actually was Season 0 (Tracy Ullman shorts) ;)

  • http://torrentfreak.com Ernesto

    To everybody who’s commenting on our decision to run this post, I totally understand these concerns.

    We, however, thought that it was certainly newsworthy that someone in the production team is positive about the show being shared. This is what we wanted to get out, and it would have been impossible to do so without verifying the source.

    If someone truly wants to be anonymous then he or she shouldn’t comment publicly, and pointing a finger at the credits is the last thing one should do.

    We’re not the first site to pick this up and although I can see why people might disagree with the article we’re here to report. Everything posted here is public info. Every day we make ‘editorial’ decisions, and this was one that we thoughtfully considered, like all the others.

    This said, I removed the Google link in response to the negative sentiments.

    Please understand though that these sentiments would be completely the opposite if this post was about a record company employee who admitted to uploading fake torrents. That would be the most epic thing ever right?

  • XxRaVeNxX

    @Ernesto Well, if he contacts you to remove it, you should respect his wishes…

  • XxRaVeNxX

    @Ernesto

    Comparing it a company employee who admits to uploading fake torrents is not the same thing, its not the same ballpark, its not even the same fuckin game.

    They done support what we do, we are against him.

    This guy does…its not the same try again

  • http://torrentfreak.com Ernesto

    @XxRaVeNxX

    There is nothing to remove really, all we posted here is what he posted on a site with millions of daily visitors.

    @XxRaVeNxX

    If TF would be a neutral ‘news’ outlet it would be exactly the same. I admit that we’re not, but it’s just to show that the responses are very subjective, the article is not necessarily.

  • Zippo

    I can’t possibly support a show that uses Comic Sans. lol

  • ?

    Bob’s Burgers = Bob’s Big Boy. Any relation, or coincidence?

  • harry krishna

    yugo ernesto. these guys sound like a bunch of fags on whether to come out of the closet. meanwhile, i’m sucking at the demonoid teat for all i’m worth. will follow up with an insightful and unbiased review.

  • DJDANKVT

    @ Ernesto

    Nevermind all the whiners commenting on here….they apparently don’t realize you didn’t torture the animator to make him speak about file-sharing. He broke his OWN cover under his OWN free will….not you….your just re-hashing somthing that’s already made public…

  • Anonymous

    fox sucks everyone they kill good shows and keep shit like family guy and the Simpson around forever.

  • Pingback: Anonymous

  • XxRaVeNxX

    Look at what you guys did…he went back and deleted his comments…

  • Brandon

    I watched the first episode of bobs burgers and although I might have chuckled once or twice I doubt that show will last long. Thats cool that Homey was seeding it though. I wouldn’t have been able to watch it if it hadn’t been a torrent…

  • James Brown

    Use a seedbox to be safe either way, animators are a part of the entertainment industry, and the industry is always trying to bust you, use this link for a good, safe box..

    http://pulsedmedia.com/clients/aff.php?aff=006

  • mr plop

    @28 lol

    filesharefreak’s sharky revealed as aXXo?

  • Eloh

    I loved the first episode! Saw it on Demonoid yesterday and thought about d’ling it. :)

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  • goog

    i have seen the show and the animation is poor

  • Info

    Oh man this went south really fast. Can’t wait to see how it ends.

    Just out of curiosity, how many views did this have before the final alteration.

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  • hotdog

    lol people complaining sounds like 1 person changing names over and over again.Ernesto screw the whinners keep the stories running don’t let down your guard to no one.

  • Sigh…

    So some of you really need a reality check. The reason so many of us where “whining” about this (and yes we were many, I’ll admit to writing 3 replies myself in response to other comments and to further my cause but thats besides the point) is because piracy goes much deeper than much of you care to realize.

    The upcoming generation of creatives was highly influenced by piracy. Many of us could not afford the tools or knowledge to do or even learn what we do without the internet and free information.

    This goes beyond downloading your favorite tv show to veg out on the couch to. Piracy enables us to better ourselves and excel at what we do. It’s a necessary part of our development. To many of you, it’s simply free culture. You can have whatever you want at the click of a button and enjoy from the comfort of your mothers basement.

    Those of us who are actually doing something with all of these resources (and thats probably most of you) realize piracy’s values, but we still need to make a paycheck. Without it’s not a reality for us to devote our lives to giving people music, movies, shows, art or any other form of entertainment. SOMEONE is always paying for it. Sometimes it’s the artist, who does it because it’s simply what they want to do and sometimes it’s a corporate sponser like Fox.

    In order for us to change the value system of entertainment while still staying true to the pirate inside us, we need to be active in showing it’s legitimacy, but yeah, sometimes we need to lower our heads in front of the fatcats who write our checks. They are a dying breed anyway. Eventually, it will be our generation at the top and we will have figured out how to better monetize our work, it’s already happening.

    When you SINGLE out a creative person for supporting piracy when they are caught off gaurd, you put a crosshair on them for anti-pirates. When that happens it gives the big wigs an opportunity to ‘make an example’ of that person, which will only scare others into hiding. Some people are more vocal than others, and that’s great, but some people are not in a position to be and you need to respect that.

    tldl; I know you think it’s cool to download everything for free and say ‘haha screw fox’ but think about the people that REALLY put that content together for you in the first place. If you’d like to see quality stuff, have some respect and try to give a crap appreciate them before you click download. If not, fine. Enjoy your endless supply of corporate garbage that will only continue to deteriorate if the real creatives are locked out of the industry. Grow up.

  • Sigh…

    To summarize my last novel of a reply, it’s like a group of rebels putting out articles which not only out their leaders, but lead the enemy directly to their location. How does this make any sense to you? The fact that you don’t care just says alot about you. You just DONT CARE. All you want is free crap, who cares who makes it or the level of quality, it’s free and you’re soooo getting over on people lololol??!!

    THINK!

  • tanp1

    herpa derpa derp thanks TF, now i’m unemployed :D

  • N

    If we, as torrenters, are capable of doing the best job of outing our own bad security, then let’s do it. People who we like will suffer the consequences of bad security (what a shocker!), but the net effect is better security. I support the original story.

  • gogogo

    Piracy is the poor man’s foot in the door to the same industry we want to pirate. The old men that ran the biz with complete authority and NO competition in the 50s are dying off, and EVERYONE has an opportunity to take part in things now. Lets try to be smart about our actions until we are on top. This was just a bad move.

  • J

    Not everyone is a security expert, N. You make a valid point but really, what was the point of posting this article? TF is a biased blog, if they want to flip the tables on themselves then so be it, but we all know that the only reason half of us read this dribble is because we are down with the cause. If you start screwing that cause backwards and slow it’s progression then why should we care to read this in the first place? EVERYONE has an agenda.

  • J

    lol drivel*. goodnight all.

  • N

    @54 TF regularly posts articles about protocol flaws that would allow anti-pirates to snoop in on downloaders, despite encryption, VPNs, etc. That doesn’t seem like a heavy bias to me. At the very least, there is no focus on ‘protecting’ the disclosure of blatant security flaws.

    What you’re suggesting seems to be what is referred to as ‘Security through obscurity’. That is, securing yourself by keeping quiet about how one can easily compromise your security. This is not true security at all & I refuse to endorse it.

  • J

    @56 To me, its just more like, who cares about this? The only people that can gain from that info is someone that would want to cost the poor guy his job. It’s not news. It was a damn comment thread on demonoid. It’s a slow newsday and TF was grasping onto whatever non-story they could, while possibly hurting someone that seems like a good dude.

    I’m in no way supporting censorship, I just don’t see the point of posting it in the first place. It’s a poor excuse for journalism. People like torrentz. People seed torrentz, even people in the biz. That’s just not new or interesting information to me.

  • J

    And YES “TANP1″ was a moron for posting those details about himself. But still ITS NOT NEWS! Ok for real now, my tv shows just finished downloading so I’m laying down and passing out before I drool on my keyboard.

    I present you the floor to no doubt shatter my logic and present a better argument with the last word. This was fun bro! :P

  • N

    “This guy screwed up – don’t make the same mistake”

    is news worth noting imo.

  • Baloo2

    “The torrent you requested was deleted by its owner or a moderator.”

    It seems like the torrent no longer is available on Demonoid…

  • Baloo2

    It has also been removed from Youtube and Megavideo.

    Still can be found on good ol’ Eztv though… :)

  • FOUL

    Even if this person had already compromised himself, you did not have to further expose them. It still amounts to outing one of our own.

  • Anonymous

    You do realize that — under the current laws — this guy (one of the show’s animators) can actually be fined for copyright infringement…right?

    Think about that for a few minutes.

  • anon

    @#1 + #3

    Animation is like Home Movies 10 years later, not Stimpsons.

    Coach’s voice should tip you off.

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  • Stephen

    The original article has already been copied (almost word for word I think) to another torrent site so the update is too little too late.

  • MM

    I love how bob is voiced by H. Jon Benjamin (FREAKIN ARCHER!) If it was not for him and Kristen Schaal i would not bother.

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