Interview: aXXo, The Most Popular DVD Ripper on BitTorrent
In real life, aXXo is probably just an average person, but on the Internet he’s a celebrity, with over a million people downloading his DVDrips every month. The search term “aXXo” is among the top searches on every torrent site, and even anti-piracy organizations use his name to trap people into downloading fake torrents. We had the chance to ask him a few questions, and find out a little more about him.
For those of you who never heard of aXXo, he is responsible for hundreds of DVDrips that find their way to millions of PCs around the world. Most of the rips are 700MB, made to fit on a single CD. Some have criticized his preference for single CD rips because of the inferior video quality, but most pirates agree that he does a great job.
Earlier this year aXXo temporarily stopped uploading movies because axxotorrents.com was trying to profit from his name. After a few weeks that site went down, and aXXo continued releasing DVDrips.
Most of the time it is impossible to track down the source of DVDrips, especially with people from “the scene“. But aXXo is not a member of the scene, and although was not very talkative either, he was at least willing to answer a few questions.
TorrentFreak: When did you start ripping / uploading DVDrips?
aXXo: When I was about 15 or 16 I got into backing up my old DVD’s. History from there.
TorrentFreak: What motivates you to share these movies?
aXXo: Why not? If I see a great film I believe everyone has the right to be entertained by it.
TorrentFreak: Don’t you think that ripping and uploading these (copyrighted) movies is wrong?
aXXo: No not really. It was just for me and some mates at first.
TorrentFreak: Are you alone in this, Or do you get help from others?
aXXo: No help, It’s all me.
TorrentFreak: You seem to prefer 700MB rips, and not higher quality ones, why is this?
aXXo: Very little (if any) Loss of quality, and will fit on a Single Music CD.
TorrentFreak: On which torrent sites do you release this movies, and why not just on one?
aXXo: There are quite a few I release to. Many people prefer one site over the rest, and I want to spread these as much as possible.
TorrentFreak: What do you think of sites that (mis)use your name, like axxotorrents.com?
aXXo: This is a touchy subject. I have nothing against any of them, it was a complete misunderstanding and the issue has been cleared up. They are reliable, And I have checked every torrent on there thus far to be real.
TorrentFreak: How can people tell if the torrent is not a scam, or a fake torrent?
aXXo: If it’s a RAR archive, It’s not mine. My rips will contain 2 or 3 files. One info and one .avi files. On occasion a .txt file but that will stop.
TorrentFreak: Where do you get the movies, and do you use scene releases as well?
aXXo: …
TorrentFreak: Do you think that distributing these (copyrighted) movies is morally wrong? That is, do you consider sharing shows to be the same as stealing?
aXXo: Thank god in this country we don’t believe in copyright infringement. It’s just sharing entertainment, nothing more.
TorrentFreak: Okay, perhaps this one is easier to answer. What is your favorite BitTorrent site?
aXXo: I don’t have one. Darksiderg.com is where my original releases are, But I release to many. Superfundo, Demonoid, MiniNova, The Pirate Bay.
TorrentFreak: Anything you want to add to this?
aXXo: Upload what you’ve downloaded, and then some.
TorrentFreak: Thanks!
aXXo: You’re welcome.
Previously: Mosts Popular DVDrips on BitTorrent (wk10)
Next: The Pirate Bay’s Torrents Quadruple in a Year
91 Responses
Pages: [1] 2 3 4 » Show All
The problem with aXXo is that he’s easy to track down. It’s not hard to find his real name, and the city where he lives on Google.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the FBI / MPAA are watching him at this very moment.
He is easy to find?
Hmm. Anyway, axxo if you are reading this thanks matey!
Peace.
Great interview :)
Just incase make sure you have your Peer Guardian 2 running :)
http://phoenixlabs.org/pg2/
If he lives in the US, how has the MPAA not killed him yet?
Toxicity, he sleeps with a Masamune Katana under his bed (http://xkcd.com/c225.html) and has dispatched several of the MPAA hitmen.
if he isnt 18 yet they are probably just waiting till he is to get him
He’s the new Robin Hood.
aXXo,
Thank you for your torrents!
AxxO is ruining the integrity of the whole scene architecture.
I”m curious how torrentfreak actualy got an interview? And WOW he’s only a teenager. I actualy wanted a bit longer interview but heck anyone who can get an interview with the great axxo is a hero of mine :)
there is no such scene group as “axxo”, at least i didn’t find any track of it.
can someone enlighten me?
axxo touched my peepee and made me cry :(
This phony is second hand.
Ha has not released anything.
He uses real scenereleases and put them on torrentsites.
This guy’s a great big phony!
Damn newbies
And this made me laff ahahhah
“TorrentFreak: What do you think of sites that (mis)use your name, like axxotorrents.com?
aXXo: They can go to Hell, we are here for the community, and will never ask anything in return.”
Like you yourself do newb. Take credit for other peoples work.
To the first comment i doubt its tat easy to find aXXo via Google and his name and address or FBi would be knocking at his door now.
Not everything that’s written is true, for one–axxo speaks spanish, so he/she is not your typical US teen (that’s not even true, also)
Maybe this interview was faked?
I dont know…
we will never know.
Appreciate your time for the interview aXXo. I second the American Teenager presumption too…
[quote comment="62036"]Not everything that’s written is true, for one–axxo speaks spanish, so he/she is not your typical US teen (that’s not even true, also)[/quote]
The “American teenager” was info I got from other sources, not from aXXo himself. That is obviously info he doesn’t want to give away.
But the interview is absolutely legit, otherwise I would have come up with something better ;)
[quote comment="62010"]AxxO is ruining the integrity of the whole scene architecture.[/quote]
how is axxo ruining the scene architecture…?
I couldnt care less how aXXo gets the torrents, if he’s a “fake” or what. All I know is I always download his torrents because I know they are the real thing, and worth the download, plain and simple.
Thanks aXXo!!!
Like some people have said this newb is not scene and does not have his own sources. All he does is dupe scene releases then uploads them on stupid public torrents trackers. Thats why you wont find him on any newsgroup, irc channel or private tracker. He is simply ruining the scene and he needs to go to hell.
Anyone who can afford $25-50 for a DSL/Cable connection can afford $8.50 for a movie. Get real kiddo.
How much does the coffee, pack of smokes on Monday and a magazine cost, eh? Around the same if not more.
2 references to this post
Pages: [1] 2 3 4 » Show All
Responses are closed
All remaining responses will continue to be archived. Thanks to all who made serious comments.