After Demonoid, Canadian Music Labels Take on BitTorrent Trackers
Written by enigmax on October 18, 2007After the CRIA forced Demonoid to block access to Canadian users, four recording labels have turned their attention to two other BitTorrent trackers hosted in Canada, issuing them with Cease and Desists. At least one intends to stand and fight.
There was quite a stir during the last month when we announced that Demonoid had been forced to temporarily close following legal pressures. The site returned but blocked Canadian users under orders of the CRIA. Now it appears that this was just the start of action against Canadian BitTorrent trackers.
Following a Canadian newspaper article which branded them ‘The Pirates of Quebec’, two BitTorrent trackers have been targeted by a collective of Canadian music labels.
The administrator of the 1 year old, 46,000 member ‘QuebecTorrent‘ has received Cease and Desist letters from 4 record labels and is being threatened with further action if they don’t comply.
The demands are:
a) Close the site www.quebectorrent.com and any other site of similar nature which you operate.
b) You must agree to never again directly or indirectly operate any other service which enables the sharing of music.
c) You must post a message clearly indicating the closure of the site and inform your users that sharing music via p2p networks is forbidden by Canadian copyright law unless permission is obtained and royalties paid.
In contrast to the situation at Demonoid who chose to block Canadian users rather than close or re-locate, it appears that QuebecTorrent (QT) don’t want to take this lying down and are hoping to fight this action.
Currently the members are being rallied with a view to obtaining donations - the administrator of QT told TorrentFreak that their lawyer is charging 250$ CAD/hour and although he is financing some of the fight, he simply cannot raise all of the funds.
He told us: “The fees so far are confirmed at 2000$ CAD. I am asking the users for 1500$ and I will pay the rest.”
He also outlines two scenarios - if QuebecTorrent loses in court, it will be very bad for P2P as a favorable legal precedent for the majors would result in an anti-p2p ‘crusade’.
Equally, victory could create a favorable legal precedent for P2P which would benefit the whole file-sharing community.
In summing up, the administrator says that he has a stark choice - either people donate to support the legal defense of the site or he will have no choice but to close it in the face of pressure from these labels.
Anyone wanting to help QuebecTorrent fight should consider donating.
Stay tuned, updates to follow
Previously: DomPlayer Rips Off aXXo BitTorrent Fans for $$$
Next: BitTorrent to be Pimped by Nobel Prize Winning Theory
57 Responses
Stand up!
saggy. teh cria suxx baggz0rz. But seriously, this could just mean the death of peer-2-peer file sharing in Canada… I hope things don’t keep going this way, or next thing you know the Canadian gov’t will have to cut off all internet access, or at least go all censorship-crazy like China… I can see the C&D now…
From: CRIA
To: Everyone
Teh intertrron suxxorz, since you can put stuff on it. Some people might put our music on it, so here are our demands:
1) Kill teh inertweb. Make it die. Or at least make it go somewhere far away.
If our demands are not met we will cry and hire lots of really expensive lawyers to lay the smack down on some little people.
Sounds like Napster and WinMx all over again
Everytime these aHOLES want/try to shutdown a tracker, I just pirate more. They are really not helping the p2p community, but are making it worse. These aHOLES are doing more harm then good. Oh, btw the way, I still use torrenspy LOL
I can’t believe their demands…
as if closing the site isnt enough, the are making him do these as well?
b) You must agree to never again directly or indirectly operate any other service which enables the sharing of music.
c) You must post a message clearly indicating the closure of the site and inform your users that sharing music via p2p networks is forbidden by Canadian copyright law unless permission is obtained and royalties paid.
yes, stand up. Fuk is going to pay your legal fees…
After the Lokitorrent fiasco, I don’t think anyone will ever donate money for “legal fees” again. What did that guy run off with? $46K? Once bitten, twice shy.
You can’t say everyone is like LOKI. What he did was unforgivable. And cheated the entire bittorrent society. If he has stood up & fought none of this wouldn’t have happened.
To be fair, the admin is only asking for donations from his own users and he seems to be being fairly transparent about costs.
Ed Webber threw his donation net far and wide for Loki. This isn’t anywhere near the same scale.
If people feel good about giving $5, it soon mounts up to pay the legal bills. If it goes wrong, $5 isn’t so much.
I’ve been looking at the Canadian top albums, top singles, etc lists… Maybe if the CRIA started promoting actual *talent* then we might get some artists who can outsell Fergie and Justin Timberlake… Honestly, the only 2 Canadian albums in the top 20 (sales) this week were Kain and Diana Krall… Krall is an international darling, so I’m almost ashamed to call her Canadian. At least Kain rocks, though the only reason his album sales were so high is that Quebecois are rabidly… well.. Quebecois. Sure, his album is big on p2p sites, but he’s selling well too. Maybe the CRIA needs to start looking for more actual talented Canadian artists…
For Fack Sakes… When do they start going after users now?
When did the laws change in Canada with regards to piracy? Its good this guy is fighting it, for all I know the laws haven’t changed and their is a precedent he can use.
“According to the Federal Court, in a decision issued March 31, 2004, neither downloading a song for personal use nor merely making that file available to others to download from your computer (without some more active sharing activity) amounts to infringement under Canadian copyright law. The court ruled that “the mere fact of placing a copy on a shared directory in a computer where that copy can be accessed via a P2P service does not amount to distribution” or “authorization of the reproduction of sound recordings” under the Copyright Act. However, this decision has been appealed to the Federal Court of Appeal, so the issue remains in legal limbo.”
I am from Quebec and I just donated 25$ and i am not even a member of this site. It is important to support any fight in your country against these big corp.
Like NetMaster I’ve just made a donation to support QuebecTorrent.com even if I’m not from this country! We have to support our community, whatever language and country…
thanks all for your support really appreciated :)
I’ve also made a donation of $50 even though I’m not a member of quebectorrent. After what happened with Demonoid I’m glad someone is willing to fight - hopefully they can set a precedent.
I am really disappointed in the loss of Demonoid in Canada. It was very useful to me for things not available on other sites, such as a lot of BBC audio programs. When I clicked on my Bookmark and got that message, it was a sad day.
I donate regularly to my favourite private tracker, because I appreciate all that I get from it. I want to do what I can to keep the scene running and not being destroyed by threats and lawsuits.
What the hell?! Music sharing is 100% LEGAL in Canada….. Why is this not making any sense?
“Music sharing is 100% LEGAL in Canada”
Is it but majors are trying to scare the little guys so…
As for Demonoid, IT IS still available for Canada.
Just use a proxy site, type in the url of Demonoid and voila!
Everyone email the retard who posted those articles…
tpeloqui@lapresse.ca
Tell him what an ass he is and explain to him why it’s bad journalism.
Uh yeah.. demonoid was slow enough as is, using a proxy would make it horrible… tracker owners should realize at one point that they need to become invite-only or simply closed registrations if they want to avoid those problems down the line… well, it can’t hurt.
Feel like helping out? Or just bitching at someone for your girlfriend cheating on you? Call the CRIA anti-piracy hotline at 1-800-668-8820 !
How much has TorrentFreak donated?
The fact of the matter is that there is precedent that p2p sites are LEGAL in Canada. If the CRIA comes after me and my tracker which is also hosted in Canada, I intend to represent myself. They can use scare tactics all they want, there is precedent / court orders / laws all confirming that p2p and file sharing is LEGAL in Canada. They are just trying to scare sites into shutting down, Demonoid just wimped out in my opinion. CRIA can BRING IT!
I hope they shut it down.
Quebec sucks.
[quote comment="189620"]I’ve been looking at the Canadian top albums, top singles, etc lists… Maybe if the CRIA started promoting actual *talent* then we might get some artists who can outsell Fergie and Justin Timberlake… [/quote]
FWIW the CRIA is the Canadian arm of the RIAA, i.e US music. They have no interest in “Canadian music” unless it is on their labels. So like you say pushing the next Timberlake on the word *is* their job.
Hmm, I wonder how fun it would to send them correspondance in french given they’ve sued quebec and the site is 100% french. *Wonders if they have a french speeking laywer*
all fund have been raised for the current fee
thanks everyone for your moral and financial support !!
its really appreciated
If the administrator would be willing to post verified financial records (i.e. receipts)for the legal fees, I and probably others, would be more willing to donate in the future. Thanks.
i asked my lawyer for that but he is not really willing to see is receipe around the internet so he told me not to do so (i was going to post it )
tho we have found a solution every update made regarding the cause will be posted on his laywer firm site and written by him
we think its the best solution for both of us to show our serious wihout showing the receipe also i will scan the 7 Cease and Desist letters and post them shortly
hoping this will satisfy mostly everyone
PS: sorry for my english :)
I just saw the administrator of QuebecTorrent post on the French blog linked here. Boy, he’s such an asshole. I’m afraid this cause is lost before it even started.
why am i an asshole ?
cause i did tell that the article was purely false ? wich was true and was only going to make thing worse ?
and that they never contacted anyone to see if the info was right ?
i did what i have to do to protect myself from false news ….
thats it …
No, you did not. You had harsh words and were totally unprofessionnal even though we publicly supported you.
Your attitude will cost you on the long run.
i did excuse myself too ….
and who is the most unprofessional here ?
the one publing false info or the one wanting to correct it ?
anyway sorry for my lack in manner but understand im stressed out at this momment and someting thing goes out wrong .
if you cant understand im human and stress i cant do anything else
I heard the cria is actually headed by the hard-rocker Bryan Adams, can someone confirm this??
Spiker, your blog isn’t helping QuebecTorrent.com at all when you or any clowns writting on it are telling unverified facts!
Example1: TV-QC.net isn’t close at all, they have put a fake index to avoid publicity, that’s it. If you take two seconds to type “tv-qc” on Google… You’ll see every single opened doors to it!
Example2: TV-QC.net never received any cease and desist letters from any group, organisation or company.
It’s a good thing to share verifyed informations, but it’s a shame to spread tha unverified shit all over the web.
Finally, the translation in english of the name of your blog could be easely be “bullshit.whateverblog.com”.
Think before any of your act!
Anyway thing are going a little bit off topic here
Thanks again everyone for the support : )
This just totally pisses me off. With the leaking of MD’s emails, one would think they probably gonna take some time to recover from the email disaster. However they somehow sped up the process of suing people. This is just so fuked up. I lost Demonoid, now another one? fuk CRIA.
what all the Bittorrent Trackers in/hosted in canada should do is go to the media..
since “According to the Federal Court, in a decision issued March 31, 2004, neither downloading a song for personal use nor merely making that file available to others to download from your computer (without some more active sharing activity) amounts to infringement under Canadian copyright law. The court ruled that “the mere fact of placing a copy on a shared directory in a computer where that copy can be accessed via a P2P service does not amount to distribution” or “authorization of the reproduction of sound recordings” under the Copyright Act. However, this decision has been appealed to the Federal Court of Appeal, so the issue remains in legal limbo.” but still 100% legal till the courts say otherwise..
once this gets out into the media with the trackers saying that they are following the laws of canada I’m sure more help would come to the trackers to help fight the lieing CRIA
a) Close the site http://www.quebectorrent.com and any other site of similar nature which you operate.
ha ha ha yeah..ok
b) You must agree to never again directly or indirectly operate any other service which enables the sharing of music.
there is free music out there, mainly produced by people who dont want to make money an easy way and actually do it coz they like it.
c) You must post a message clearly indicating the closure of the site and inform your users that sharing music via p2p networks is forbidden by Canadian copyright law unless permission is obtained and royalties paid.
at least one person paid for any music on a torrent, 1 > 0
http://www.lewebzine.net/index.php?showtopic=16974&pid=345958&st=0&#entry345958
CRIA are a bunch of cock fuckers. They are liars and I hope we crush their asses. These punks are being pressured by the homos in America. Canada isn’t composed of inbred hicks, just quite pussies, that once pushed bite back.
I donated 10 dollars.
Hey Guy go fuck yourself
why not simply do as demonoid has done and block canadian traffic?
1. because demonoid is a mpaa shill
2. isohunt has not been approached in this manner
3. qt is a pawn
After supporting Demonoid for multiple years and sending in numerous donations…. I feel they have shit on us Canadians and let us down.
If the folks of Demonoid do not care about the Canadians that they have shit on… why should we support them?
We should start filing complaints with the Canadian Human Rights Commission…. as it is illegal to discriminate against us because of our Nationality!
SOUNDS LIKE A CLEAR CASE OF DISCRIMINATION TO ME!
Why should they use our countries Service Providers and laws for their site… yet shit on us as Canadian citizens?
Them pansies at Demonoid need to grow some nads!
Get up stand up stand up for your rights!
Maybe this has already been answered, but, why not just boycott sales and sharing of CRIA/RIAA music? There’s lots of great music that is not on a label controlled by those organizations.
Why not make the artists and their management choose if they side with music-lovers or the corporate machine?
Moi je dis que quebectorrent doit SE TENIR DEBOUT calisse de tabarnak ! LIBERTE D’EXPRESSION !!! F*ck CRIA !!
why not let Graham Henderson,President of the CRIA, know what douche-bag sack of shit you think he is :)
Graham Henderson
E-mail: ghenderson@cria.ca
phone: (416) 967-7272
Fax: (416) 967-9415
85 Mowat Avenue
Toronto, Ontario
M6K 3E3
http://www.fearthegooberzilla.com/pics/Kaneda.jpg.JPG
dude fuck canada. now they r screwing with my life and my music, its time these bitches had an enemy
The solution is simple, nobody buy any music produced by the companies involved, cost them millions lol.
Illegal in Canada? I am still looking for good references on that. About the “Federal Court, in a decision issued March 31, 2004 [...]“, the only thing I found is a judge stating that an anonymous name, sharing ’something’ (that may or may not be related to the file name) on a computer (P2P), at a specific date and time is NOT enough for that judge to force an ISP to break a client’s right to privacy.
According to the Canadian Copyright Act (R.S., 1985, c.C-42) you can clearly download, it’s legal; but the ’sharing’ and letting others download from YOUR computer (distribution) is unclear.
http://lois.justice.gc.ca/en/showtdm/cs/C-42
Hey, what’s that smell… It smells like… like… like… BULLSHIT to me.
c) You must post a message clearly indicating the closure of the site and inform your users that sharing music via p2p networks is forbidden by Canadian copyright law unless permission is obtained and royalties paid.
That statement is just utterly false. No laws have changed to state that, and they probably won’t ever be, if the politicians are smart enough (which, perhaps some aren’t, but enough are). Pure bullshit. Meaning of course, THIS WOULD NOT HOLD UP IN A COURT OF LAW.
The fastest way to push back hard on Canadian Record labels and the CRIA is to launch a counter suit asking the courts to rule against any further “blank media levy” payments to these companies.
That levy attached to all blank media in Canada is to reimburse them for this very thing.
If they wish to shut down PSP’s in Canada then they should be made to give up their levy checks…
Hit ‘em where they live, in the wallet!!!
[quote comment="190156"]Uh yeah.. demonoid was slow enough as is, using a proxy would make it horrible… tracker owners should realize at one point that they need to become invite-only or simply closed registrations if they want to avoid those problems down the line… well, it can’t hurt.[/quote]
Invitation only?? Rrrrright. Worked REALLY well for OiNk didn’t it…
[quote comment="209826"]dude fuck canada. now they r screwing with my life and my music, its time these bitches had an enemy[/quote]
R*tard. Nice attempt though. Spelling, making sense… Hope you weren’t actually thinking that anybody could possibly take you seriously.
It’d be good to know which record labels are behind the cease and desist orders, so those of us that still buy the occasional cd can steer clear of them.
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