MPAA Not Done With TorrentSpy Yet
Written by Ernesto on October 12, 2007Over the past months the TorrentSpy crew has made several drastic changes to their website. They have stopped hosting .torrent files, and even banned US visitors. However, this is not enough according to the MPAA who has filed another complaint and asked the judge for sanctions against the popular BitTorrent site.
In August, a federal judge ordered TorrentSpy to log all user data stored in RAM. In a response to this decision - and to ensure the privacy of their users - they decided that it was best to block access to all users from the US. However, the MPAA now argues that TorrentSpy is ignoring the court decision.
TorrentSpy, once the most visited BitTorrent site on the Internet has already taken some serious hits from the MPAA and are now facing another attempt to try and knock them out for good. Earlier this week we reported that TorrentSpy’s traffic, and thus their revenue have plunged after they banned US visitors, but it seems that the movie studios wont stop until the site shuts down completely.
In court documents obtained by CNET News.com we read: “(TorrentSpy) took steps to make the Server Log Data unavailable for the express purpose of avoiding compliance with the (court) order. This claim should be seen for what it is: another illegitimate attempt by defendants to evade authority of this court and the May 29 order.”
And to make it even worse, the MPAA has now asked the judge to rule that the .torrent links offered (not hosted) by TorrentSpy are illegal and infringing copyright - which is an absurd demand of course.
TorrentFreak asked Justin, the founder of TorrentSpy, for a response and he told us: “They are attempting to distort the fact that we have never logged user actions on the site into something entirely new and different. Lets put this into playground terms:”
PUNK: “Teacher! His friends hit me!”
TEACHER: “Did they actually hit you? How many times? When? Where?”
PUNK: “I have no idea! I think they did though – I just don’t like him!”
BOY: “I didn’t hit him. My friends never did either.”
PUNK: “Make him start tracking his friends! Where they go and what they do.”
TEACHER: “OK. Start tracking them.”
BOY: “Well since you bring it up, my friends don’t even go to his school…”
PUNK: “Waaaaahhhh! He is a meanie! Punish him!”
I guess we all know who the punk is here. Stay tuned!
Previously: Polish Pirate Party Files for Registration
Next: Anti-Piracy Organization Domain IFPI.com Now Owned by The Pirate Bay
53 Responses
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busy news day
Once again, the **AA can’t understand that torrentspy and many other torrent sites are SEARCH ENGINES therefore DO NO HOST the material.
Do you guys see google hosting images? If you click, lets say the sun, you are directed to some space site, not some other place in google.
Same goes with torrents (almost). If these sites go down, at least we have google.
Ernesto, I think your the one who should grow up. Putting the whole thing in playground perspective is a childish thing to do.
Torrentspy has never been about doing the legal thing and thats ok. I use torrents because it’s illegal. Admitting it isn’t a bad thing. So Torrentspy and Torrentfreak need to stop beating around the bush.
Torrentspy is in the wrong hosting torrent files, or even pointing people in the direction of torrent files in the eyes of the RIAA and MPAA and it does not matter what you think or believe, so stop trying to play innocent and try to remember the last time you downloaded something legal on Bittorrent.
Grow up Ernesto.
[quote comment="185480"]Ernesto, I think your the one who should grow up. Putting the whole thing in playground perspective is a childish thing to do.
Torrentspy has never been about doing the legal thing and thats ok. I use torrents because it’s illegal. Admitting it isn’t a bad thing. So Torrentspy and Torrentfreak need to stop beating around the bush.
Torrentspy is in the wrong hosting torrent files, or even pointing people in the direction of torrent files in the eyes of the RIAA and MPAA and it does not matter what you think or believe, so stop trying to
play innocent and try to remember the last time you downloaded something legal on Bittorrent.
Grow up Ernesto.[/quote]
OMG! SHUT DOWN GOOGLE!!!! They’re infringing on intelectual property!
Just look!
http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&q=%22The+office%22%2B%22torrent%22
RYL, Torrentspy is s search engine that indexes torrent sites. So is Google, MSN Live Search and every other search engine on the internet. Get over it. Ernesto’s illustration is pretty accurate actually.
You give an arm, the want a leg.
Its better to burn out than fade away.
[quote comment="185480"]Ernesto, I think your the one who should grow up. Putting the whole thing in playground perspective is a childish thing to do.
Torrentspy has never been about doing the legal thing and thats ok. I use torrents because it’s illegal. Admitting it isn’t a bad thing. So Torrentspy and Torrentfreak need to stop beating around the bush.
Torrentspy is in the wrong hosting torrent files, or even pointing people in the direction of torrent files in the eyes of the RIAA and MPAA and it does not matter what you think or believe, so stop trying to
play innocent and try to remember the last time you downloaded something legal on Bittorrent.
Grow up Ernesto.[/quote]
Sorry, but ‘illegal’ has the implication that it’s a criminal offense. It is not. Copyright infringment is a civil matter. Now, putting links has been ruled many times to bot be an infringment of copyright.
Additionally, a torrent file is not a copyrighted file, it is a metadata file, without any actual copyrighted material in it. Saying metadata is copyrighted by the owner of the data it’s about also means that movie reviews are copyrighted by the movie studios - they’re metadata (or data about data) just the same.
So, we have a site that is linking to (not infringing copyright) metadata files (also non-infringing) that it is not hosting.
The thing you don’t realise is, the lawyers, and the clients they represent are two different entities. the client gives broad outlines of the situation, and the desired outcome, and the lawyer does whatever actions he/she/they feel are necesary to achieve that goal. Now, lawyers are like all other hourly workers, and will trying and take more time to do a job than is needed. That way they can bill more.
That way, an action like that, as part of an ongoing case, adds more work, and more expense to the legal bills on both sides. If this motion fails, so what, someone still has to pay for the costs of it.
[quote comment="185493"][quote comment="185480"]Ernesto, I think your the one who should grow up. Putting the whole thing in playground perspective is a childish thing to do.
Torrentspy has never been about doing the legal thing and thats ok. I use torrents because it’s illegal. Admitting it isn’t a bad thing. So Torrentspy and Torrentfreak need to stop beating around the bush.
Torrentspy is in the wrong hosting torrent files, or even pointing people in the direction of torrent files in the eyes of the RIAA and MPAA and it does not matter what you think or believe, so stop trying to
play innocent and try to remember the last time you downloaded something legal on Bittorrent.
Grow up Ernesto.[/quote]
OMG! SHUT DOWN GOOGLE!!!! They’re infringing on intelectual property!
Just look!
http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&q=%22The+office%22%2B%22torrent%22
RYL, Torrentspy is s search engine that indexes torrent sites. So is Google, MSN Live Search and every other search engine on the internet. Get over it. Ernesto’s illustration is pretty accurate actually.[/quote]
i was going to concur…but then i found out that the google links were to other torrent search engines
nonetheless your point is correct
The US court has no authority over torrentspy, it is in a different country and they block access to American ips. If the court agrees with MPAA demand then it is another great example of pathetic America justice system.
@ruinyourlife: it is still not considered illegal to index. It is a defense, respect it. And Why the hell would anyone stop ‘beating around the bush’, when their could be more serious consequences in court.
[quote comment="185499"]i was going to concur…but then i found out that the google links were to other torrent search engines
nonetheless your point is correct[/quote]
Learn to search; this goes to everyone.
http://torrentfreak.com/google-filetypetorrent/
I realize they are not doing anything illegal and no side is right, But stop trying to make Torrentspy out to be a huge victim thats just stupid. Have YOU ever downloaded something illegal? Yes? Then you have infringed on someones copyright, and that is illegal. No matter how much you sugarcoat it.
Sharing a CD or movie between 2 people is not illegal. If your friend gets you a CD for your birthday, the RIAA is not going to arrest you right? Right, because he payed for the CD.
Somebody pays for the CDs we download, and then gives a copy to his friends. That isn’t illegal.
[quote comment="185516"] Have YOU ever downloaded something illegal? Yes?[/quote]
Nope, I tend to steer clear of downloading illgal stuff, which, if you want to go by facts rather than hyperbole, is basically child porn. You said earlier you downloaded illgal stuff, thats pretty much the only thing illegal.
for the last time, copyright infringment is not criminal, therefore infringing copyright is not ‘illegal’. If it were, then it would be US V. Thomas, and not Capitol V. Thomas. Civil, Criminal, two different things, please try and understand that.
Ben Jones FTW. LOL
[quote comment="185480"]Ernesto, I think your the one who should grow up. Putting the whole thing in playground perspective is a childish thing to do.
[/quote]
Perhaps before people are allowed to post on this blog, they should be required to answer some basic questions about the article so as to prove that they read it, and have at least a basic understanding of what was said.
If you read with even a small amount of care, you will note that the playground analogy was a quote from Justin, the founder of TorrentSpy, and not from Ernesto. Ernesto did not put “the whole thing in playground perspective”, he simply quoted someone.
you know google added a torrent searching gadget to there iGoogle website so i wouldnt be the least bit surprised if they were the nest on the chopping block dont you think?
I DON’T KNOW HOW, BUT THIS IS TORRENTFREAK’S FAULT!!!! JERKS STOP SPREADING PROPGANDA
ok this articles becoming pretty fail. torrent spy’s become the MPAAs bitch. serves them right to indexing other’s torrents so they can make money. karma bit TS in the ass. these claims don’t really seem like they’d hold up in court though so i doubt TS has TOO much to worry about
I’m so sick of people trying to justify the use of P2P. Maybe downloading copyrighted material isn’t “illegal” as some of you seem so quick to point out, but it’s still wrong no matter how you slice it. Illegal, criminal, civil, it doesn’t matter. You’re still STEALING something that doesn’t belong to you.
Do I use P2P? Fuck yeah I do. Like no tomorrow. Games, music, apps, all that shit. The only difference between me an a lot of other people is that I don’t try to act like I’m not doing something I shouldn’t be doing. I know damn well that I should go out and buy those things if I want them. The only thing is, I DON’T GIVE A SHIT.
As far as what Ben Jones’ opinion that sites who host .torrent files are completely innocent because they don’t supply any actual data and only metadata, I say get your head out of your pompous ass pal. Give me a break. That’s like saying someone who arranges a dope deal between two other parties is innocent because they didn’t actually touch the dope. They still facilitated the act and should be held just as, if not more liable than the two parties who actually did the dope deal. I say more liable because the fact of the matter is that without that “middleman” the dope deal would more than likely have never happened.
I’m not taking anyones side here but I think a lot of people need to quit playing all innocent and face the facts. I’d hate to see BT or any other P2P network go down just as much as the next guy. But at the same time if I had a stake in motion pictures or the recording industry I’d be doing the same thing they’re doing and try to put a stop to it any way possible.
99.99999 percent of all the .torrents hosted on just about any site are for copyrighted material. I know this and you know this. There are people out there who from sun up to sundown will claim they only download “legal” material from Bit Torrent. I just wanna know what the fuck they’re downloading all day.
Torrent sites exploit a weakness in the law. No complaints about that the law needs changing. See your Government.
However what Torrent sites do is profit from people who are breaking the law. Are they aiding and abetting law breakers? Needs to be sorted out in court.
But what they do need to do is log the users so they can stand up in court and PROVE it is not them downloading and uploading stolen copyrighted material. I suspect many Torrent and Tube sites are doing this, especially with porn.
They also need to be on hand to give this information to the copyright holders so they can prosecute the people who are breaking the law. Or do they want to be protectors of law breakers?
As for TorrentFreak maybe I should buy their copyrighted name on Zango and pop up a full page advert when a surfer arrives on their page. What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. Or would that be unfair?
[quote comment="185529"]Sharing a CD or movie between 2 people is not illegal. If your friend gets you a CD for your birthday, the RIAA is not going to arrest you right? Right, because he payed for the CD.
Somebody pays for the CDs we download, and then gives a copy to his friends. That isn’t illegal.[/quote]
Who let the moron out?
No one bothers because it’s not doing any harm. Sharing it with 1,000s does do harm.
Maybe if your boss told you he was firing you because too many were stealing and not enough buying you would feel pissed off. It’s not the boss who gets fired, it’s the guy at the bottom. Which I suspect would be you.
Companies employ people by selling their produce, when people steal it other people lose their jobs. And those people are not the bosses.
i have no sympathy for torrentspy. that site recommends malware to visitors. it also has a fake links to torrents that redirects to advert site.
good riddance to malicious sites like that.
[quote comment="185529"]Sharing a CD or movie between 2 people is not illegal. If your friend gets you a CD for your birthday, the RIAA is not going to arrest you right? Right, because he payed for the CD.
Somebody pays for the CDs we download, and then gives a copy to his friends. That isn’t illegal.[/quote]
Dude, PUT THE PIPE DOWN.
In reference to your first point, as long as the gift is an ORIGINAL copy of the album and not a duplicate. Of course it’s not illegal.
In reference to your second point, yes that would be illegal. You can make backup copies for personal use and archiving purposes but that’s it. Look inside the inlay of any recording or movie and you will clearly see that duplication and distribution of those copies is explicitly NOT permitted. How in Gods name do you come up with the idea that just because one person buys an original copy of a record or movie this somehow gives them permission to make copies for the whole neighborhood??? You’re an idiot dude.
I bet you never miss an episode of Bill O’Reilly or Hannity and Colmes do you? Fucking retard. I bet you worship those pricks because just like them, you’re talking out your ass, making points out of thin air that besides just sounding plain idiotic, have no actual facts to back it up.
Ladies and gents, my name is Crowe, and I’m here to clear up a few points.
There’s being right in the technical sense and being right in the realistic sense. Technically speaking, yes, downloading movies/music/whatever is illegal, but the question is–what is really being done? The term “e-theft” is stupid because no data is actually missing–just being copied.
Obviously, this is where the RIAA/MPAA lawyers have a problem. But the big question is–what is being stolen? Economically speaking, no money is being made or lost, and the people who pirate the stuff won’t bother themselves to go out and buy a copy of the original material–though this has been proven wrong many times, as in the case when Napster’s release caused CD sales to skyrocket to unprecedented levels.
Legalese issues aside, a lot of the people under the RIAA/MPAA umbrella–that is, Singers, Songwriters, Musicians, Directors, and Producers–detest the fact that their contracts essentially take an extortionate amount of money away from the people who MADE the original content. I refer you to that guy in the recent newspost who urged p2p users to “bury the label”.
It comes down to an issue of money, and it’s saddening to see the RIAA/MPAA spend so much money on more money that they never had or lost in the first place.
Rick Dublin I’ll say what most people won’t say. Stfu
Rick Dublin sez…
{
Do I use P2P? Fuck yeah I do. Like no tomorrow. Games, music, apps, all that shit. The only difference between me an a lot of other people is that I don’t try to act like I’m not doing something I shouldn’t be doing. I know damn well that I should go out and buy those things if I want them. The only thing is, I DON’T GIVE A SHIT.
}
Sounds like you’re an employee of Media Sentry. Get lost, shill.
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