Marvel and DC Comics Join Forces to Target BitTorrent
Written by enigmax on November 22, 2007When Demonoid disappeared recently, many people were sad at losing access to a great selection of comics. Those people are about to become even more upset as Marvel and DC Comics launch a twin strategy to shutdown a comic torrent community and target usenet uploaders.
A little while ago when Marvel mentioned BitTorrent in one of its comics, it seemed quite an amusing thing to do. Seen by some as a gentle swipe at an unauthorized source, perhaps suggesting an uneasy but peaceful co-existence.
A couple of months down the line and this analysis couldn’t be further from the truth. Marvel are getting into the online digital comic business these days and their attitude seems to have changed. It’s time to take down trackers and take on Usenet uploaders.
Popular comic book tracker Z-Cult FM was threatened by Marvel and DC Comics, as site admin ‘Serj’ explained: “We got legal letters from both Marvel and DC Comics who have been working together to send us these legal threats. We are currently dealing with the legal issues and they have given us 3 days before they are forced to take anymore action.”
As a precautionary measure, Z-Cult FM voluntarily took down their tracker to take a little time to assess the situation and double check the authenticity of the demands. “We have confirmed one of the legal letters is 100% from DC Comics when a phone call was made to DC Comics who confirmed the email and its contents” said ‘Serj’, “As of today we were unable to contact Marvel and we are trying again tomorrow just to 100% confirm it.”
Right now the site itself is back online but is not currently offering torrents. Marvel had demanded that the site be completely shutdown to which ‘Serj’ says: “We will never let the main Z-Cult FM site die even if that means torrent free.”
Those comic fans who get their fix from Usenet don’t escape supply problems either. A prolific scanner/uploader known as ‘Oroboros’ has revealed he’s done releasing comics on Usenet. He said: “I’m done with the newsgroup. I got a DMCA notice from my newsgroup service. I have no posting abilities. I can’t even post a message saying I have to stop posting. If anyone can get to the group, please let them know that I’m done. They have my IP address in the notice and this is my one stated warning.”
However, ‘Oroboros’ didn’t say he was going to stop releasing completely, just on newsgroups: “I’m not done with scanning. It’s just the newsgroup that I can’t access anymore. I will still scan and release into the wild like I did a year and 1/2 ago.”
Another high note, Z-Cult FM’s admin just announced some really good news. Seems that there are benefits to having your material available on BitTorrent after all. Serj explains:
“A comic publisher we talked to while ago who wanted their books banned from our site for their own reasons have just PMed/Emailed me to revoke the ban and are happy for us to share their files here.”
Seems like the start of a great relationship!
Previously: PickyPirate: Metacritic Meets BitTorrent
Next: Forced Exodus of BitTorrent Sites Is Imminent
67 Responses (Add yours or TrackBack)
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buhahaha comics are for kids and nerds
who gives a fuck??
Comics are the reason I can read and write so well, they are 20th Century mythology and everyone needs to read them. I love Comics and have been affected by this media for my whole life.
Hey NIN,
ever watched Sin City? Yes? Moron!
With kind regards to everyone else
Ben
I had totally forgotten comic books existed till I started reading some from BitTorrent…
to be honest not yet..
but its a movie based on comic
but read a comic those days cmon…
I love comics. Just not the super-hero kind. Well, perhaps when I’m stoned …
“buhahaha comics are for kids and nerds
who gives a fuck??”
If they get their way it’ll be more than comics that you won’t be able to source.
It’s full on war.
haha, comics, never really got in to them, however, i will now look up some so i can see if i enjoy them or not, maybe this will mean i have something to read when doing homework? hmmmmm… perhaps, oh and NIN, comics are just as important as books or TV or any other media. it all amounts to the same thing, entertainment.
“buhahaha comics are for kids and nerds”
……wait……i thought computers were for nerds! wtf are we all doing here? omg we’re nerds. oh yea. forgot.
10 Nov 22, 2007 at 17:42 by machQuote mach
“buhahaha comics are for kids and nerds”
……wait……i thought computers were for nerds! wtf are we all doing here? omg we’re nerds. oh yea. forgot.
Burn.
I buy comic trade paperbacks. Sometimes I discover new stuff with the help of torrents.
There is need for more comic trackers. If you become a hydra it is harder to stop distribution as well as force old media dinosaurs to adapt.
I’m not so interested in Marvel or DC comics myself, but what interest me is the DMCA notice to a usenet uploader.
I know this site is called “torrentfreak” and not “usenetfreak” but it’s not very common for oganisatiosn to target Usenet, is it? Mostly that’s probably because there are only a few uploaders… ?
Comics are indeed for Kids… but there is a gr8 Adult following!!!…
The moment these cock-suckers at the MPAA and many other Cunts like BREIN… start to no make profit.. they bitch and complain about P2P.
Take it from the Japanese… everything is free and all the money that is to be made is from Endorsements and many other venues!…
and yeah… Mark from MPAA you know who you are… “A Big Fuck You”… from us here @ the Delgado Mob. Layer!!!!
When new series come out i tend to give the first book a try but then i go out and buy them comics are allways gonna be best on paper.
guess when such & such book sells out & Marvel/DC proudly place that on their news page, torrents are sure f’ing up their whole business plan. not to mention the rate they kick out graphic novels is quicker than dvds. those who torrent comics never had interest in collecting the issues in the first place. if they took the time to do quality scans of their book in the first place people might actually subscribe to their new online system, jagged & pixelated back issues wont. check marvels online comics, they suck compared to the scans people toss out there. not to mention people often scan all the adds, so the money you took for that advertising (that takes up half an issue) is acutally getting to people. WAKE THE F UP Marvel/DC!
[quote comment="221060"]buhahaha comics are for kids and nerds
who gives a fuck??[/quote]
Yes comics are for “nerds” who do you think runs this website, the trackers you download from, and so on. Yes, you made yourself looks like a complete idiot. ::hats off to the ass-hat::
To everyone else, HAPPY Turkey DAY!
Don’t laugh guys there is nothing more scary than taking a comic book away from a nerd. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was an all out hack blacklash from this.
most comic readers download to sample.
reading on a monitor sucks and you can’t take it into the bath with you :)
scans are the best thing to happen to the comic industry…i would not own or even know of 85% of my collection without the scans and the scanning community
It was bound to happen one day and here it is
Nerds rule the world. they run everything important. they succeed, because they’re tenaciously insightful. Your Doctor is a nerd. When you need a triple bypass, a nerd will do it. The computer your using was designed by nerds. The car you drive was designed by nerds. Even the food you eat was tested by nerds to make sure its safe.
Comics are more intellectually stimulating than most media, and it’s a shame they’re a dying art form. But it’s not because of torrents, its because America is getting stupider by the day. Look to our pathetic myspace/reality TV/kicked in the balls movie humor based society for the root of that.
Many friends who have started browsing comic torrents actually started buying comics; the reason being they were avert to spending $ on something they were unfamiliar w/. comic prices have risen quite steeply since the 80s & 90s. torrents give them a means to become comfortable w/ the genre’s & make informed decisions on what books they want to purchase physically.
i fear the removal of sites like ZCult will inevitably lead to comics becoming even more niche & shrinking even smaller into the crevice of past art forms. hopefully if this does happen, Marvel & DC will have the levelheadedness to rescind their mistake and attempt to mend their relationship w/ their consumer base community.
Typical corporate reaction to “lost” profits.. sue your customers who are doing your marketing for you. Absolutely brilliant.. I’ll never buy another Marvel or DC comic again. You FAIL Stan Lee!
Seems like every single corporation on earth still thinks that they will only lose profit on bittorrent. I wonder how long it’ll take them to open their eyes.
You spelled my name wrong. ;)
I wouldnt have the entire bleach manga series legally if it werent for the scans i read first.
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