Most BitTorrent users know what it’s like to be treated like 2nd-class citizens on the internet. If anti-p2p organizations had their way, everyone would believe that every user is a thief, dedicated to bringing the media companies to their knees with illegal downloads and decaying morals. If they aren’t closing down BitTorrent trackers around the world, they’re taking legal action against individuals to bully them away from their hobby and putting out triumphant press releases declaring that ‘good’ has triumphed over ‘evil’.
Most people in the file-sharing community know that BitTorrent users aren’t evil and people generally see through the propaganda. However, like it or not, sometimes the likes of the MPAA are right.
At least one BitTorrent user is bad and has used his client for pure evil.
Klaw is a character from the Fantastic Four comics who designed a device able to convert sound waves into physical objects. After many complex twists and plots, Klaw was transformed into a being made from ‘living sound’ and after further adventures that this writer can only dream about understanding, Klaw was attacked by Ms Marvel who absorbed his sound blasts causing ‘his form to lose cohesiveness’ and he was sucked inside his own weapon. Painful.
Now, in a turn of events likely to inspire further wild anti-piracy propaganda, the character Wizard from the comics has done the unthinkable. He fired up his BitTorrent client, downloaded some sound samples and used them to clone Klaw back to life. Marvel Comics discovered this nefarious BitTorrent use and has documented it in Fantastic Four Issue #549.
It’s not clear which samples he downloaded or if they were copyrighted or not but rest assured, should the MPAA or RIAA lawyers come knocking, Klaw should be able to deal with them.
Ironically enough (again), people are obtaining the comic – you guessed it – by downloading it from BitTorrent.
