After Hijacking Site, Scammers Move to Seize Shareaza Trademark
Written by enigmax on March 02, 2008After taking control of Shareaza.com, imposters trying to pass themselves off as an open-source dev team have stepped up their action to destroy the GNU GPL licensed project. In an audacious move, lawyers representing Discordia Ltd have filed to register the “Shareaza” trademark at the US Patent Office.
In a December 2007 hostile takeover, a company took control of Shareaza.com, the domain name used previously for the real, open-source Shareaza P2P client. The real Shareaza client is 6th in the Sourceforge all-time Top 10 downloads and is completely free (GNU General Public License), but this company is passing off its own closed-source software as the real thing. Essentially, they are stealing the Shareaza brand name and goodwill from right under the operators noses in an effort to crush the project.
Last week, the corporate battle against this almost defenseless collective of people working on the Shareaza project took a somewhat miserable twist when the operators of the fake Shareaza site (Discordia Ltd) threatened legal action against the real Shareaza, all because of a comment made by a user on their forums.
If you’re starting to get a little annoyed that this company is pushing its luck, you may be interested to know that their lawyers - Meister Seelig & Fein in New York - have links to the new owners of iMesh and Bearshare, both initially free, both now converted to pay services after legal action.
So if it doesn’t unsettle you that some music-industry backed company has come in and stamped all over a GNU GPL project, took their domain name, passed their own software off as the real thing and threatened legal action, then maybe this will:
On January 10th 2008, lawyers representing ‘Discordia Ltd’ filed for registration of the ‘Shareaza’ trademark at the United States Patent Office. As yet, the trademark has not been granted to them but according to staff at the real Shareaza project, it must be urgently contested. Discordia claim that the first commercial use of the Shareaza trademark was December 17 2007 but other documentation suggests Discordia claim copyright since 1999. The real Shareaza project has been running since 2004.
If Discordia are successful in their application, it will put the original real Shareaza in a position where they infringe on the imposter’s trademark and will doubtless be subjected to legal action.
According to a source at the real Shareaza: “Discordia Ltd. under which the trademark was sought is a Cyprus shell company designed to shield MusicLab, iMesh, parent companies and business partners from the exceedingly high risk of liability in this case. Private information will not be disclosed, however there is significant circumstantial evidence regarding the source of their unethical and illegal behaviors that ought to be brought to light for the greater internet community.”
The real Shareaza guys are calling out for support, you can read exactly what they need here, but they are also calling on all of the budding internet investigators out there to research Discordia, iMesh, MusicLab and lawfirm Meister Seelig & Fein to dig up any information that could be of use to them in fighting these imposters.
To defend against the trademark application, the Shareaza team really need support as the financial burden is quite high, they explain:
No Shareaza developer or enthusiast has ever recieved money as a result. However, several volunteers now out-of-pocket for hundreds of dollars are facing the prospect of thousands. Shareaza has always been and will always remain free, non-commercialized software - regardless of the high value of its use that must be protected. Donations will now begin to be accepted for the sole purpose of partially compensating these unfortunate expenses. (Including a possible $900 at very short notice.) A ChipIn account has been established for PayPal (account/credit card) payments large or small. Please consider sending at least the loose change in your account to show your appreciation for enthusiasts who could scarcely afford these costs themselves. Feel free to offer in other ways as well.
Personally I think this is a very worthy and symoblic cause. No-one likes being bullied, particularly by the music industry so when they choose to pick on people with few resources, the only way they can be beaten is if people stick together and act together. Shareaza isn’t my favorite client - even with its support for BitTorrent - but it’s free in every possible way with its GNU GPL license and these people from Discordia are determined to tear it all apart. It’s unthinkable that they can be allowed to get away with it.
Discordia should consider this statement about the legal standing of trademarks:
“Immoral, deceptive or scandalous matter or matter which may disparage or falsely suggest a connection with persons, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols or bring them into contempt or disrepute is not trademarkable.”
The real Shareaza team sends the final message:
You Can Help Most of All by Spreading the Word - SHAREAZA™ is the property of the Shareaza development team.
You can donate to the cause by clicking here.
Previously: BitTorrent Rip Off Sites, and How to Avoid Them
Next: Nine Inch Nails Uploads New Album on Torrent Sites
124 Responses (Add yours or TrackBack)
SHAREAZA™ is the property of the Shareaza development team.
-just spreding the word lol
i don’t like that company….
All i can say is wow..
cant believe people are allowed to do this stuff..
Those bastards…
This is just plain sick. Discordia are a bunch of bullies who need to be stopped like YESTERDAY. I love Shareaza. Been using it for years and I believe there is sufficient evidence that the “fine” folk at Discordia are the ones doing the plagerizing.
Given the attack on the GPL and open source moment that this whole case represents, where are the EFF on this one???
Doh!
moment = movement
Good for them, it seems the Shareaza folk are run by a bunch of incompetent morons…
This company is passing-off it’s product in a deliberate attempt to capitalize on the success of an open source project, they’re not eligible for a trademark. The devs need to get WIPO to get their domain back, first attempt should be to write to discordia and ask — politely.
Yes but the US government says they have the right to do what they please because they were the first to claim copyright even though the others were their first.
Blame USA. Canada has no responsibility in this stupid shit this time…
Shareaza another useless software like kazaa full of malware & virus.
Only dumbs using them :)
Dear consistent yet caring fans of Rapper Alliance,
It fills my body with absolute disgust (and freight) to have to write something like this to such a strong, large fan base as yourself. Now days it seems as if any person with 3 dollars and a can of green beans can act like me, and well, fact is, it hurts, it really hurts, it really hurts, it really hurts,,,,. So to make a long story short, (there are fakes out there ruining the true rhymes that can only come out of the true Rapper Alliance lips/keyboard!). I am hereby retiring. It was fun, TorrentFreaks.
Deeply caring,
but never sharing,
nigga bust my chops and he’ll be pairin’ with my mack 10 NIIGGGGGGAG NIGGGAGAA WHAT IMA BEAST
Rapper Alliance (The Real One, nigga)
The devs need to hire a competent lawyer as this trademark app would be EASILY shot down. The mark WAS in commercial use by the original dev team prior to 2007, and proof of such would be the end of the the line for the corporate assholes trying to claim first-use rights.
Another thing, being polite as #9 suggested will only encourage the bully, as this is a sign of weakness. I mean this seriously, the only thing besides the courts that might work would be a healthy dose of violence inflicted on anyone involved in this scam. If someone can post some dox on these assholes and have some of the boys drop by for ‘tune-ups’, I believe suddenly the attitude of these scammers would change. People tend to have quick attitude adjustments when they live in constant fear of getting their heads kicked in on their front lawn or having their houses firebombed. Not that I would suggest anyone do anything illegal like these discordia people are doing.
why not just change the name to something completly different and direct the users away from the hijacked names? does it matter to the people what the app is called?
[quote comment="302367"]why not just change the name to something completly different and direct the users away from the hijacked names? does it matter to the people what the app is called?[/quote]
True that..
Way not call it ShareazaII or something
YES! Violence is the answer! Never mind the thousands of avenues of resolution… Kill, kill, kill…
freaking morons…
I hate discordia as much as anyone, but fighting them in court is just what they want. Discordia wants to tie up the shareaza dev. team with lawsuits and waste their money.
I agree with previous posters: The truly subversive thing to do would be to change the name of the real shareaza.
But it looks like they aren’t going to do that. Well anyways, I wish the shareaza team the best of luck. If i weren’t poor, I’d totally donate to their cause.
Shareaza was and still is totally free.
We even said no to donations, as an ideal.
So no money for lawyers from the project. All the money spent, was given voluntarily.
Even the change of name is bad. Yet again, as a statement but also because users are confused enough.
And for the other things, Shareaza isn’t bad. Far from. It’s the networks it’s on. Networks which are anarchistic, free and open. So, easily exploited.
We encourage our users to use security filters. So, where’s your love? ;)
i’d change the name of the project, if you cant stop them, stop promoting a name that gives credit to them
waaaaaaaait ! what ?
your response is awaiting moderation ? WHAT IS THAT ? sry, you can do whatever you can to keep it clean :) even if you dont accept my post.
You are posting comments too quickly. Slow down.
ok ok, i will
only noobs use p2p anyways so I could really care less. I think its kind of ironic though. stealing something that’s used to steal something else.
will the real shareaza please stand up ? (nothing to do with the slim shady song so piss off copyright freaks) the parent companies have far to much influence in court so fighting them is useless that immoral crap in the post is useless because no one knows what immoral is anymore or deceptive or what ever you wanna call it
It’s their own funeral. Nobody will ever be using their payware.
iMesh, bearshare, napster, kazaa, all have died the day they become corporate crap.
[quote comment="302413"]only noobs use p2p anyways[/quote]then you’re the biggest noob here.
This is not even about “using p2p”.
Indeed, they should simply rename their stuff to “nuaza” or something, and sell the word “shareaza” plus domain names for a huge amount of useless money;
Nobody in their right mind will EVER use “shareaza” after these fools bought it anyway.
It will cost you maybe two days of work, but that’s nothing compared to the crap they’re in now. And it would be the best finger-giving action EVER!
Just one big fuck you to corporate idiots.
Many others have succesfully changed names in the past, like Windows Commander for example.
Oh the irony. P2P’ers taking the moral high ground becuase someone took something that didnt belong to them. Smacks of hipocracy dontcha think?
[quote comment="302434"]Oh the irony. P2P’ers taking the moral high ground becuase someone took something that didnt belong to them. Smacks of hipocracy dontcha think?[/quote]
Nope, I don’t think that at all. I think you are a little confused there.
P2P’ers don’t take things that don’t belong to them.
LOL, ok you keep telling yourself that. Unless the law in most countries escapes you, uploading or downloading ANYTHING for which you have no legal right to, i.e. without the express permisson of the copyright holder, it constitutes copyright infringement. There are no two ways about it. Of course if you live outside of the U.S. or 90% of Europe, you may not be subject to such laws, otherwise you’re basicaly a socialy acceptable thief, but a thief none the less. If you are in any doubt of that fact, I’d suggest you brush up on your copyright law instead of deluding yourself.
As many are posting the team need to get a little more organised, the appeal for a slush fund is the first step the second step should be to use some of that money to unmask the true owners or directors of discordia and expose their dubious business practices, after all we can all then sue them by name locally for misleading us with a fake shareaza update as they have mislead many folks already, lets see how many countries they can fight in at the same time.
As usual I notice we are seeing the usual barrel full of pro industry trolls here to say fighting is a waste of time, dont be mislead its not.
If we sit idle and do nothing to help the open src folks out we will lose many more open src projects straight after as the cartel will capitalise on any weakeness we show, lets not lose our favourite clients to a few sacks of manure who wear suits and rip folks off for a living.
Dont be selfish folks put your hands in your pockets and spare what you can, and remember as you donate that your letting this cartel front company know whos ass to kiss.
United we stand folks.
Free tune-ups for all Discordia asshats! :P
And a special attitude adjustment reserved for Jeffrey A. Kimmel and the other shysters selling out their legal oath for corporate money.
Hmm.. Nope.. Sorry .. I’m not a thief.
Say what you will, copyright violation is not stealing. You can continue to try to convince yourself that it is, and most likely you like in a fascist country like America, but that is not my fault, and neither is it anyone else’s.
[quote comment="302448"]LOL, ok you keep telling yourself that. Unless the law in most countries escapes you, uploading or downloading ANYTHING for which you have no legal right to, i.e. without the express permisson of the copyright holder, it constitutes copyright infringement. There are no two ways about it. Of course if you live outside of the U.S. or 90% of Europe, you may not be subject to such laws, otherwise you’re basicaly a socialy acceptable thief, but a thief none the less. If you are in any doubt of that fact, I’d suggest you brush up on your copyright law instead of deluding yourself.[/quote]
Spoken like a true corporate tool.
RE: DevilsAdvocate
Please show the proof of your claims, I have never seen one person sued for downloading files for personal use, perhaps your superior knowledge of the law can help you locate a precedent or case where this has been the case ?
Oh and please dont waste out time with cases of uploading as that is not the same thing despite many believing so after reading Cartel propaganda.
I await your reply with interest.
Dos @ Discordia Ltd.
This should be interesting. The lawyers are idiots. Discordia are idiots. What they ought to do is consider what is happening/has happened to:
Bank Julius Bauer
The SCO Group
Microsoft
And all those other companies who choose to fight in court in the Internet age. This of course doesn’t mean that they can’t cause the Shareaza devs a lot of grief, but they will end up causing themselves a lot more. Get the netizens mad at you, and it’s amazing what they can find out, most of which you would never want public.
Let’s get them.
[quote comment="302459"]RE: DevilsAdvocate
Please show the proof of your claims, I have never seen one person sued for downloading files for personal use, perhaps your superior knowledge of the law can help you locate a precedent or case where this has been the case ?
Oh and please dont waste out time with cases of uploading as that is not the same thing despite many believing so after reading Cartel propaganda.
I await your reply with interest.[/quote]
I guess you must live under a rock, becuase you seem to be truely ignorant of the law. For a start, the law is an ass, I dont agree with it and I am not a coporate tool. I am also not blinded by my own stupidity and not afraid to call a spade a spade, and I include myself in that being as I rip off copyright holders on a regular basis. As for proof of my claim, as you are to lazy to do it yourself (back to ignorance);
RIAA Rep Encourages Downloader To Drop Out Of College To Settle Alleged illegal downloader trying to raise money to pay $3,750 settlement instead.
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1528420/20060411/id_0.jhtml
Mom Sued Over Music Downloads
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/25/AR2005122500618_2.html
Sony and Warner Bros. Successfully Sue a Downloader for $222,000 in Minnesota.
http://netforbeginners.about.com/b/2007/10/14/sony-and-warner-bros-successfully-sue-a-downloader-for-222000-in-minnesota.htm
RIAA Bags 493 More Swappers
http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/news/2004/05/63579
Downloaders face the music as record industry sues
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/315599_music14.html?source=mypi
Default Judgment Issued against the Santangelos
http://www.slyck.com/story1379_Default_Judgment_Issued_against_the_Santangelos
Finaly
http://www.zeropaid.com/news/9037/First+File-Sharing+Trial+Ever+-+Day+2:+‘We’ve+Sued+More+than+26,000+People+So+Far’
I mean I could go on and on and on. Like I said, carry on deluding yourself.
They’ve literally just opened a hive of bees…the swarm will descend on them it’s going to be insane.
[quote comment="302459"]RE: DevilsAdvocate
Please show the proof of your claims, I have never seen one person sued for downloading files for personal use, perhaps your superior knowledge of the law can help you locate a precedent or case where this has been the case ?
Oh and please dont waste out time with cases of uploading as that is not the same thing despite many believing so after reading Cartel propaganda.
I await your reply with interest.[/quote]
Haha are you serious? Or do you only read the bits of p2p news that suit your little filesharing utopia. There have been numerous judgements against filesharers in tha past couple of years. Just becuase you aint heard about them doesnt mean they aint happened.
http://sharenomore.blogspot.com/
Hey DevilsAdvocate, could you stick to the one nick.
Anyway, i’m off to go get myself some new movies. Oh , how these new anonymous filesharing services are great. LOL
And yes, they are out there, and getting better. Soon, it’ll be impossible to track anyone on these things.
Poor copyright owners, their days of illegal behavior are nearly over. Time to get a real job, and be of some benefit to society.
I will paste this news in my blog on the dating site ———— Tallmeet.com ——- And as a part-time model, I uploaded my best photos, the members there said I am amazing. here are many people like me. interested in?Just search the username, you may want to check them first.
[quote comment="302448"]Of course if you live outside of the U.S. or 90% of Europe, you may not be subject to such laws, otherwise you’re basicaly a socialy acceptable thief, but a thief none the less.[/quote]
Fuck you idiot.
Maybe someone needs to send a message to these dicks.(Message read DDos)
[quote comment="302448"]LOL, ok you keep telling yourself that. Unless the law in most countries escapes you, uploading or downloading ANYTHING for which you have no legal right to, i.e. without the express permisson of the copyright holder, it constitutes copyright infringement. There are no two ways about it. Of course if you live outside of the U.S. or 90% of Europe, you may not be subject to such laws, otherwise you’re basicaly a socialy acceptable thief, but a thief none the less. If you are in any doubt of that fact, I’d suggest you brush up on your copyright law instead of deluding yourself.[/quote]
Yup, a thief. A thief, stealing from thieves. We’re right, we’re wrong, woop de day does it really matter? Stealing from thieves, violating violaters, oppressing oppressors - or letting them get away with it.
Is the lesser of two evils ever justified? I’d say so.
How about, is the lesser of two evils ever morally acceptable? I don’t think so.
But is it ever necessary to make a decision between two evils, and to choose the lesser of the two? Absolutely.
If you disagree, just ask any leader of any organization in history.
[”POSTING TOO QUICKLY” can suck my
They need to file a case against discordia for “passing off”/”palming off”/Unfair competition which is upholdable under U.S law.
Article 10bis of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (as signed by the U.S)
[quote](1) The countries of the Union are bound to assure to nationals of such countries effective protection against unfair competition.
(2) Any act of competition contrary to honest practices in industrial or commercial matters constitutes an act of unfair competition.
(3) The following in particular shall be prohibited:
(i) all acts of such a nature as to create confusion by any means whatever with the establishment, the goods, or the industrial or commercial activities, of a competitor;
(ii) false allegations in the course of trade of such a nature as to discredit the establishment, the goods, or the industrial or commercial activities, of a competitor;
(iii) indications or allegations the use of which in the course of trade is liable to mislead the public as to the nature, the manufacturing process, the characteristics, the suitability for their purpose, or the quantity, of the goods.
[/quote]
Discordia is the Roman goddess of strife. Her Greek counterpart is Eris, her Greek opposite is Harmonia, whose Latin counterpart is Concordia.
Discordianism is a modern religion centered on chaos; it was founded circa 1958–1959 by Malaclypse the Younger with the publication of its principal text, the Principia Discordia. Widely regarded as a parody religion, it has been called “Zen for roundeyes”, based on similarities with absurdist interpretations of the Rinzai school. Discordianism recognizes chaos, discord, and dissent as valid and desirable qualities, in contrast with most religions, which idealize harmony and order. Eris, the Greek mythological goddess of discord, has also become the matron deity of the religion Discordianism.
[quote comment="302496"][quote comment="302448"]Of course if you live outside of the U.S. or 90% of Europe, you may not be subject to such laws, otherwise you’re basicaly a socialy acceptable thief, but a thief none the less.[/quote]
Fuck you idiot.[/quote]
Oh did I touch a nerve. You must be American. My last response is awaiting moderation, so you’ll have to wait till a moderator sees fit to aprove it to get the proof as you cannot be bothered to google for yourselves. Uploading downloading, its all the same, unless you are using usenet. So in order to download you have to BE uploading, so Quartz your point is moot, and, well pointless.
[quote comment="302434"]Oh the irony. P2P’ers taking the moral high ground becuase someone took something that didnt belong to them. Smacks of hipocracy dontcha think?[/quote]
and
[quote comment="302474"]
Haha are you serious? Or do you only read the bits of p2p news that suit your little filesharing utopia. There have been numerous judgements against filesharers in tha past couple of years. Just becuase you aint heard about them doesnt mean they aint happened.[/quote]
Get your heads out of your asses - there are plenty of valid legal uses for p2p networks (think livecd distribution). Just because there are a group of people who use p2p protocols for somewhat less than savory enterprises does not mean that the whole of p2p are thieves. You can’t just paint broad overarching brush strokes and expect them to fly. Try again.
@changing Shareaza name peeps:
Changing the real shareaza name only shows this corporate bully that they can do whatever they want - and no one will stand in their way. What /needs/ to be done is to a. have someone from the team sue them for infringing on the GPL license (if they aren’t providing the complete derivative source code), as well as any other issues that are relavent. It would certainly make sense to contact the EFF here as well.
Seriously though, capitulating to them does not help Shareaza and certainly makes it difficult for them in the future if these imposters decide to continue to pursue them. Ever stop to think that their plan might just be to continue pursuing them until they just /stop/ developing..?? Worse yet, what if this is just the beginning of a protracted battle against other OSS p2p apps? Don’t run from them - kick them in the nugget now so you don’t have to do it later.
–
Jerome
Devilsadvocate is throwing the truth at p2p users, and with all honesty, downloading copyright is theft. I may not care about the RIAA and MPAA. But I do want the bands, game makers and some of the film makers to keep making new shit.
Back when the scene wasn’t as large as it is now, the releases put in their nfo, “If you like the game, Buy it”.
I am not saying buy every game, but the game your really into, should be supported by the people who like it, YOU & me.
[quote comment="302517"]Devilsadvocate is throwing the truth at p2p users, and with all honesty, downloading copyright is theft. I may not care about the RIAA and MPAA. But I do want the bands, game makers and some of the film makers to keep making new shit.
…
[/quote]
Keep in mind - it’s the user’s, not the software, doing the stealing. The software has many valid legal uses. Besides peeps - this isn’t about what people do with the software - it’s about one companies attempt at stealing a GPL’d OSS project wholesale - keep your focus.
[quote comment="302513"]Get your heads out of your asses - there are plenty of valid legal uses for p2p networks (think livecd distribution). Just because there are a group of people who use p2p protocols for somewhat less than savory enterprises does not mean that the whole of p2p are thieves. You can’t just paint broad overarching brush strokes and expect them to fly. Try again.
Jerome[/quote]
I couldnt agree with you more. However, you would have to agree that the majority of p2p is not legitimate, and this alone is the sole reason for the unscrupulous taking advantage of the vunerable in p2p. If everyone were using p2p only for downloading linux distros, or legal p2p content there would be a fraction of the malware and fakes on p2p networks. If Shareaza were not used by a majority of illegal downloaders, this article wouldnt be here plain and simple.
The only logical solution in this case can be to turn the forces of Anon or /b/ loose against these people.
C’mon…who’s with me?
Anons+ /b/ + /i/ vs. the RIAA battle royale?
Donated & dugg. Lets show them what open source movement is capable of.
[quote comment="302513"]
What /needs/ to be done is to a. have someone from the team sue them for infringing on the GPL license (if they aren’t providing the complete derivative source code), as well as any other issues that are relavent. It would certainly make sense to contact the EFF here as well.[/quote]
My previous comment is awaiting moderation, but there’s also passing/palming off law as covered by unfair competition sections of the Paris Convention, of which the U.S is a signatory.
Using that, it should be possible to stop discordia in its tracks regardless of whether they used the GPL code or not.
And yes, the EFF should definately have an interest in this case.
[quote comment="302351"]Shareaza another useless software like kazaa full of malware & virus.
Only dumbs using them :)[/quote]
That is one the stupidest statements.
Shareaza is Open Source and is on sourceforge.net. It does not have any malware and/or spyware.
This is about an open source software’s name being hijacked and has nothing to do with whether not P2P is legal.
Commenting on the legality of P2P in an article about brand hijacking is like arguing about drug abuse when people are talking about a drug company stealing a drug researcher’s trademark.
DevilsAdvocate, if you are to argue whether not P2P is legal, it would be much more effective to do it in a more related article than this one. Just because someone might be trademarking “AK-47″ doesn’t mean you should start yelling how Izhevsk Mechanical Works (or whatever company that should rightfully own the trademark) deserves it because you believe guns should be illegal and banned due to people killing people.
HAHAHA…what a bunch of maroons…
It’s called Karma…
What goes around, comes around…
You reap what you sow…
I still like the old fashioned approach by finding these lawyers and kicking them in the head afew times.
If anything, you get the satisfaction of kicking the shit out of a lawyer, that’s just worth paying for.
Nonetheless, EFF should be contacted asap.
Or you could ask the President of iMesh for clarification. His name is Talmon Marco, and his email address is durasio@hotmail.com.
KTHXBAI
[quote comment="302546"]This is about an open source software’s name being hijacked and has nothing to do with whether not P2P is legal.
[/quote]
Slightly off topic yes, but in defence to my initial statement, and all relevent none the less. The reason for the hijacking is simple. Its exactly the same reason they sued Bearshare. If it is easier and cheaper to go after the p2p applications people use than it is to go after each and every filesharer using the application, thats what they will do. In the case of Bearshare iirc, it was given up as part of a settlement, whereas in the case of Shareaza its a legal dispute more about brand ownership and trademarks and the application itself is fodder. Of course this is worrying as it may set a legal precident and leave any filesharing application that has not been regigistered as a brand or whos name is a registered trademark, open to similar takeovers wether the application itself is public licence or not. I still stand by my statement however that had the majority of users of these application been legitimate, this would not be an issue. Filesharers themselves are partialy responsible by their actions, which has resulted in yet another p2p application having defend itself.
Shareaza is useless anyways, gg’d.
[quote comment="302434"]Oh the irony. P2P’ers taking the moral high ground becuase someone took something that didnt belong to them. Smacks of hipocracy dontcha think?[/quote]
Oh dear, have the idiots invaded our comment section yet again?
Go watch a real movie for once:
http://stealthisfilm.com/Part2/download.php
and this time, try and UNDERSTAND it.
Get a clue, fool. You’re living in the dark ages.
[quote comment="302570"]Slightly off topic yes, but in defence to my initial statement,[/quote]No it isn’t. What do you think? That the people on planet earth will grow a liking for idiots like you somehow? For fools and corporations ruining their software and freedoms? Then you’ve got some waking up to do, mister. If anything, the HATE is growing because of this. And if you can filesharing (and copying data) “theft”, which it isn’t, this sort of actions from lawyers and disturbia (or whatever their sucky name is) will ONLY CAUSE more advanced “theft”. The incentive to NOT share files is lowered by news like this.
[quote comment="302528"]Keep in mind - it’s the user’s, not the software, doing the stealing.[/quote]What stealing? Can you provide examples of the “stealing” you so easily think you can drop here? Copying data is NEVER stealing, it is USING sold and available tech of today, nothing more nothing less.
[quote comment="302578"][quote comment="302434"]Oh the irony. P2P’ers taking the moral high ground becuase someone took something that didnt belong to them. Smacks of hipocracy dontcha think?[/quote]
Oh dear, have the idiots invaded our comment section yet again?
Go watch a real movie for once:
http://stealthisfilm.com/Part2/download.php
and this time, try and UNDERSTAND it.
Get a clue, fool. You’re living in the dark ages.[/quote]
Already seen both of them. I never said I agreed with the law, I never said the law made any kind of sense, I never said the law was right or just, of couse some of you are not smart enough to see that. It doesnt matter WHAT your opinion is of the law and you can argue semantics all you like, it does not change the law nor does it change the accepted interptitation of it. Copying IS illegal, unless you have the rights holder’s permission to copy ANY work or intellectual property that is protected either by national or international copyright law. That is a fact. You can despute that it is fact, but then you just look stupid. Well its a bit too late for that.
I suggest you read, and absorb some facts instead of spouting the same old uneducated ‘it aint illegal’ nonsense.
http://www.copyright.gov/ <-US copyrigt law
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/copyright/index_en.htm <-European copyright law
[quote comment="302570"][quote comment="302546"]This is about an open source software’s name being hijacked and has nothing to do with whether not P2P is legal.
[/quote]
Slightly off topic yes, but in defence to my initial statement, and all relevent none the less. The reason for the hijacking is simple. Its exactly the same reason they sued Bearshare. If it is easier and cheaper to go after the p2p applications people use than it is to go after each and every filesharer using the application, thats what they will do. In the case of Bearshare iirc, it was given up as part of a settlement, whereas in the case of Shareaza its a legal dispute more about brand ownership and trademarks and the application itself is fodder. Of course this is worrying as it may set a legal precident and leave any filesharing application that has not been regigistered as a brand or whos name is a registered trademark, open to similar takeovers wether the application itself is public licence or not. I still stand by my statement however that had the majority of users of these application been legitimate, this would not be an issue. Filesharers themselves are partialy responsible by their actions, which has resulted in yet another p2p application having defend itself.[/quote]
Slightly off topic? You mean greatly.
It’s John Doe’s fault for having his money robbed because money provokes the evil thought of robbery. It’s Shareaza’s fault that their name is being hijacked because Shareaza can be used to download copyrighted content.
[quote comment="302582"][quote comment="302528"]Keep in mind - it’s the user’s, not the software, doing the stealing.[/quote]What stealing? Can you provide examples of the “stealing” you so easily think you can drop here? Copying data is NEVER stealing, it is USING sold and available tech of today, nothing more nothing less.[/quote]
Some of you people are blatently stupid. Copyright infringement=copyright theft, theft=stealing. What part of that has trouble penetrating your thick heads?
[quote]It’s OK to use copy or publish other peoples work if I don’t make any money out of it
No, except in specific circumstances permitted under fair dealing/fair use rules, any copying or publication without the consent of the copyright owner is an infringement, and you could face legal action[/quote]
[quote]If I change someone else’s work I can claim it as my own
The act of copying or adapting someone else’s work is a breach of copyright. Also any adaptation will be legally regarded as a derived work; so if you simply adapt the work of others, it will still be their work, and they have every right to object, (and are also entitled to any money you make from their work).
[/quote]
[quote]Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, is the current UK copyright law. It gives the creators of literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works the right to control the ways in which their material may be used. The rights cover: Broadcast and public performance, copying, adapting, issuing, renting and lending copies to the public. In many cases, the creator will also have the right to be identified as the author and to object to distortions of his work.
[/quote]
..and so it goes for US law too. Y’all some ignorant fools.
[quote comment="302575"]Shareaza is useless anyways, gg’d.[/quote]
Does not matter, if it is or not; it matters that a open source project is being attacked.
file sharing falling like a house of cards. all you thieves / bandwidth hogs must be shakin in your boots. :)
[quote comment="302603"]file sharing falling like a house of cards. all you thieves / bandwidth hogs must be shakin in your boots. :)[/quote]
I am guessing that is sarcasm because of the “:)”. If not forget about what application it is and remember it is a open source project, and this will not stop anything as there is always going to be a way to communicate with each other electronically. :)
yeah so. enough with the stealing/copyright infringement bullshit, its offtopic. stfu, go talk to a wall.
Yea, I usually see myself as Robin Hood, I “steal” from the real thiefs and give to the needing(read: me)
In most civilized countrys, copyright infringement != theft as they are two separate laws.
#66 annoyance.
Yea, the chance of me being sued/arrested or prosecuted for filesharing is slightly smaller then me being hit by lighting in my basement.
[quote comment="302591"]
Some of you people are blatently stupid. Copyright infringement=copyright theft, theft=stealing. What part of that has trouble penetrating your thick heads?
Y’all some ignorant fools.[/quote]
This is the age of the people, the age of democracy and freedom. We share and we care! So fuck u, bitch-ass! I hope you read the article which states that the RIAA and the other such industries have not paid the artists “”settlement dues”" they earned from suing such organisations and users like us. Then, why the fuck do ya think we shouldn’t be thick-headed to your words, sucker! I don’t understand based on what common-sense are you on their side? You must be some pervert left un-cared in your adolescence and gang-raped by stray dogs that you thought you could cover-up supporting these money-leechers and betray the common peeps. Hope you know that half of the wealth in this world is owned by these bastards due to such cases.
And last of all, most of us have bought and supported the materials tht we downloaded if they’ve served their purpose and our likes as they should! So STFU Biyatch!
DevilsAdvocate is clearly just a troll but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s literally just that: Some paid dog whose purpose is to derail the discussion and spread propaganda. Someone here explained what the word “discordia” means and I think this is actually a big fucking hint. They are likely some MediaDefender-like (as in cheap, incompetent but willing) business with financial support by the RIAA/MPAA. Don’t you remember Sony/BMG and their rootkit? I think this is same kind of deal and maybe even Sony and Bertelsmann again. Of course it’s likely just a test run because Shareaza is really just a shadow of its former self nowadays.
It is really not difficult to get their domain back and prevent Discordia from getting the trademark but it requires a few thousand dollars of lawyer fees nonetheless. The maintainers of Shareaza don’t have that and since they are not accepting donations, there’s really no way to win.
People like to believe that laws are better than the rule of force but in reality it’s really the same except that force has been replaced by money. The only people who are benefitting from the law system are lawyers and those with lots of money. The current law system is nothing but EPIC FAIL.
who gives a fuck? shareaza is a crap program. open source =/= always amazing.
this is probably just some stunt to draw loads of attention to shareaza because their userbase is dwindling.
It took me a while to notice that donating requires Macromedia Flash to be installed. WTF?! If it’s just a PayPal account, you should have linked to that directly. Also I wonder why they don’t use the SourceForge donation system in the first place.
[quote comment="302669"]who gives a fuck? shareaza is a crap program. open source =/= always amazing.
this is probably just some stunt to draw loads of attention to shareaza because their userbase is dwindling.[/quote]
You really didn’t read any of the article then. There are links to the registration at the United States Patent Office in the article. Anyway if you do not support OSS then STFUGTFO.
Welcome to the US, the land of litigation.
[quote comment="302335"]Given the attack on the GPL and open source moment that this whole case represents, where are the EFF on this one???[/quote]
These are the same “people” who call file sharers thieves, and terrorists now. What else can be thrown in. Pedophiles and rapists? Why not. This is like murderers taking someone to trial for not being politically correct.
[quote comment="302747"]These are the same “people” who call file sharers thieves, and terrorists now. What else can be thrown in. Pedophiles and rapists? Why not. This is like murderers taking someone to trial for not being politically correct.[/quote]
Exactly.
[quote comment="302713"][quote comment="302335"]Given the attack on the GPL and open source moment that this whole case represents, where are the EFF on this one???[/quote][/quote]
EFF, this is happening in your country; not going to help?!
It is wierd,I would of thought they would be all over this as it is a OSS based/hosted at sourceforge.net, which is American based.
[quote comment="302591"]
Some of you people are blatently stupid. Copyright infringement=copyright theft, theft=stealing. What part of that has trouble penetrating your thick heads?
[/quote]
Copyright theft? Copyright theft would be different from copyright infringment. I guess it would be the act of depriving someone of the state sponsored distribution monopoly of something. I hear that the members of the RIAA are pretty knowledgeable in such acts. I don’t see what it have to do with filesharing though.
Anyone who can’t understand the difference between ctrl+c and ctrl+x has obviously hit their heads too many times.
Discordia Ltd is BEGGING for a DDOS. Come on Anonymous, this is your call (Hell, march 15th is still a way away, you could do a little side-mission).
When you steal, you take something from somebody else.
However when you share, you make copy of something. It is not stealing.
Now on topic. Hijacking a domain name is stealing. Shareaza should react to it and not change its name. In case it changes who tells us that they wont come after shareaza’s new name…
Not a downloading case, despite the propaganda fanfare.
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1528420/20060411/id_0.jhtml
The famous Santiago case , once again an uploading case read the wording.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/25/AR2005122500618_2.html
once agin an uploading case , please read the wording, “sharing music”=uploading
http://netforbeginners.about.com/b/2007/10/14/sony-and-warner-bros-successfully-sue-a-downloader-for-222000-in-minnesota.htm
yet agin we see the term “swapper” , this is indicating the P2P folks where uploading not downloading files.
http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/news/2004/05/63579
Did you even read this article ?
“Kosenski said legal papers with which she was served included a list of dozens of songs her son had stored on the family computer.”
These words clearly indicate they where sharing files for upload.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/315599_music14.html?source=mypi
Now I really dont have time to waste on checking the others on your list as its clear you too are unable to differentiate between the copyright infringing “uploading” or breaching the owners right of copy . and downloading where so far no one has been sued to my knowledge.
If you can point to a single case I will be more than pleased to give it the once over, ignorance is after all it seems not my forte, but your own.
agreed, shareing isnt stealing, if i pay £10 for a album on cd the way i see it , its MINE if i want to share it i will i fookin payed for it.
oh and the shareaza thing is a bit naughty! that is blatent stealing, the real shareaza group should just change there name to something else i know they shouldnt have to but would prolly be easier and if everyone knows they wont use the hijacked version
[quote comment="302510"][quote comment="302496"][quote comment="302448"]Of course if you live outside of the U.S. or 90% of Europe, you may not be subject to such laws, otherwise you’re basicaly a socialy acceptable thief, but a thief none the less.[/quote]
Fuck you idiot.[/quote]
Oh did I touch a nerve. You must be American. My last response is awaiting moderation, so you’ll have to wait till a moderator sees fit to aprove it to get the proof as you cannot be bothered to google for yourselves. Uploading downloading, its all the same, unless you are using usenet. So in order to download you have to BE uploading, so Quartz your point is moot, and, well pointless.[/quote]
You dumbass. I can perfectly legal download anything, copyrighted or not, as much as I want.
You don’t see the difference between downloading and uploading. If you want to donwload something, someone else must have uploaded it first. It’s only the one who upload it who can be held responsible (unless it’s like a server he or she uploaded it to, like RapidShare) for the action.
And by the way, I live in Norway - where you can only be responsible for distribution, which is uploading, and not downloading.
So bluah. Stick your head in a toilet or something.
[quote]Uploading downloading, its all the same, unless you are using usenet. So in order to download you have to BE uploading, so Quartz your point is moot, and, well pointless.[/quote]
You are making a legally speculative point based on an assumption a person using bit torrent, the fact is the law is not so clear and I dont use bit torrent.
If you are unable to see how this affects your whole arguement then can I suggest a decent lawyer called ray who will explain it to you ?
All the mother fuckers saying p2p filesharers are theives are fucking douche bags who don’t remember what they did when they were younger.
Also it is my belief that they truly do not grasp the concept of file”sharing” That or they are to moral which means they never had a fucking childhood life. They were probably wasting away in their fucking cubicle wondering how to get that promotion (usually gotten by sucking dick) to do this and that so they could have 1 week of vacation and a big house with a wife who fucks the shit out of the mail man… by the way he’s a fileshare’r
Sounds pretty much like a prime case for the EFF or the Software Freedom Law Center (http://www.softwarefreedom.org/).
I hope the developers contacted at least one of them asap when the sh*t started hitting the fan.
Yep, Hulk is right.
This makes me so GOD DAMN MAAAAAAAAD!
How the heck can those idiots do this to a team of normal software devs who publish there work under the GPL.
This is Corporate Bullying!
Something similar almost happened 2 or 3 years ago with eMule in Germany.
Perhaps the original Shareaza dev(s) should contact the eMule admins for some pointers …
This is a conspiracy from Vivendi Universal an Evil french company member of the RIAA and the main instigator of the law suit.
This is how these French parasites respect our laws!
I believe we should bomb their head quarter in France.
[quote comment="302703"][quote comment="302669"]who gives a fuck? shareaza is a crap program. open source =/= always amazing.
this is probably just some stunt to draw loads of attention to shareaza because their userbase is dwindling.[/quote]
You really didn’t read any of the article then. There are links to the registration at the United States Patent Office in the article. Anyway if you do not support OSS then STFUGTFO.[/quote]
i do support OSS, but shareaza is a crap example of it. people wank over things just because they are open source, this is one of those times. if shareaza was closed source proprietry software i doubt it would have got coverage at TF.
[quote comment="302591"][quote comment="302582"]What stealing? Can you provide examples of the “stealing” you so easily think you can drop here? Copying data is NEVER stealing, it is USING sold and available tech of today, nothing more nothing less.[/quote]
Some of you people are blatently stupid. Copyright infringement=copyright theft, theft=stealing.[/quote]Who made that nonsense up? I wasn’t asked about any of this, and 80% of the world with a brain, wouldn’t agree with it. YOU are the one who is stupid here, not me, not us. You’re living a lie.
If you DON’T want the world to copy the data that is available to them, then don’t create harddisks, laser-media, computersoftware, computer networks, the internet, etc. And try not to sell the technology at the same time as you’re trying to claim copyrights over the data the tech stores. As long as you allow people to have broadband connections and DVD burners, they will use them.
Copyright does not exist in a digital world. Wake up. Nobody can EVER “infringe” on “copyrights” if they don’t even exist. When data is available in a digital format, it is public domain. End of story. No law you make up will ever work against that, never. Laws like that are just meaningless words.
Now go cry in a corner and forget about ever claiming copyrights over digital media. You can’t.
[quote comment="302841"]All the mother fuckers saying p2p filesharers are theives are fucking douche bags who don’t remember what they did when they were younger.[/quote]P2P has nothing to do with age. I’m 42 years old and I damn well copy data as I damn well please. Nobody is telling me what to do with some ones and zeros on my drives.
[quote comment="302974"][quote comment="302703"][quote comment="302669"]who gives a fuck? shareaza is a crap program. open source =/= always amazing.
this is probably just some stunt to draw loads of attention to shareaza because their userbase is dwindling.[/quote]
You really didn’t read any of the article then. There are links to the registration at the United States Patent Office in the article. Anyway if you do not support OSS then STFUGTFO.[/quote]
i do support OSS, but shareaza is a crap example of it. people wank over things just because they are open source, this is one of those times. if shareaza was closed source proprietry software i doubt it would have got coverage at TF.[/quote]
Ture and that is reason for the TF coverage of the story, because if it was proprietary software, this would never happen.
Also come on, you can’t support FOSS and not think this is wrong.
Thanks for article, it was awesome ! write more! I’m waiting!
http://proxy4school.blogspot.com/
Don’t change the name. That’s letting these dicks win. The Shareaza name and infamy was already created and these fuckers are trying to steal all of the hard work and creativity that went into the original thing. If somehow the dicks do win this battle, then I propose fucking with them as much as possible by damaging the Shareaza name.. there are many ways to do it, like change the original program to suck complete ass, or create competing websites like shareazza and shareazazza and crap like that, similar to what these companies do to the legit sites. All of those products could be malware, leading people to believe that anything named share and za is not to be trusted. Just a thought. You can’t let them win, even if they do win, because it will show how they can push open source around without consequence.
maybe mediadefender defenders will come back to do something about discordia
[quote comment="302799"]Not a downloading case, despite the propaganda fanfare.
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1528420/20060411/id_0.jhtml
The famous Santiago case , once again an uploading case read the wording.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/25/AR2005122500618_2.html
once agin an uploading case , please read the wording, “sharing music”=uploading
http://netforbeginners.about.com/b/2007/10/14/sony-and-warner-bros-successfully-sue-a-downloader-for-222000-in-minnesota.htm
yet agin we see the term “swapper” , this is indicating the P2P folks where uploading not downloading files.
http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/news/2004/05/63579
Did you even read this article ?
“Kosenski said legal papers with which she was served included a list of dozens of songs her son had stored on the family computer.”
These words clearly indicate they where sharing files for upload.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/315599_music14.html?source=mypi
Now I really dont have time to waste on checking the others on your list as its clear you too are unable to differentiate between the copyright infringing “uploading” or breaching the owners right of copy . and downloading where so far no one has been sued to my knowledge.
If you can point to a single case I will be more than pleased to give it the once over, ignorance is after all it seems not my forte, but your own.[/quote]
Id say that was pretty much a full-on “SPNAK!1!” =]
Unlucky, DevilsAsshat…
[quote comment="303132"]maybe mediadefender defenders will come back to do something about discordia[/quote]
that would be so fucking awsome!
Has anyone unearthed any information on discordia yet ?
Did anyopne just say “lets point all our botnets at them”? :P
Just out of curiosity - how does a library pass off DVD’s, games & software to “check out” a.k.a. “Rent” (and if you lose the DVD, game and / or soft - you pay full retail price for which was usually donated!)- doesn’t this fall under some sort of infringement? Or does the U.S. Congress protect the libraries? I dunno - there is so much to this case… …I worry that Linux and uBuntu might never see the day where it reigns supreme over PC / Mac OS’s as we see them today.
Thanks TorrentFreak for the article - donated ;)
C0LDSH07(109), why don’t you ask a librarian? Libraries pay more than the normal price. Even the casette tapes have some kind of macrovision protection because when I tried to copy some of them a long time ago, I only got some noise out of it. Floppy disks where frequently lost or unreadable.
That said, it was definitely legal to make copies of library media for yourself for no additional fees. Nowadays I’m not so sure but I never owned a DVD nor do I read laws. So who cares anyway?
[quote comment="302510"][quote comment="302496"]So in order to download you have to BE uploading, so Quartz your point is moot, and, well pointless.[/quote]
You really are an ignorant twat. I’m an American and even I know of more than one bittorrent client which can be set to download without uploading anything in return.
No please go fuck yourself again as someone already suggested.
Where is the outrage about RIAA hypocrisy?
iMesh’s current CEO was the RIAA president and IFPI board member active in “antipiracy.”
He “liaises regularly with music industry partners” and then lies/cheats/steals open-source property, with SPPF help? WTF
http://www.shareazasecurity.be/forum/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=913
One line of code to download shereaza-fake every 5 minutes:
while true; do wget http://download.shareazaweb.com/ShareazaV4.exe 2>&1 | grep HTTP; rm ShareazaV4.exe; sleep 300; done
So does this mean shareaza doesn’t work any more as it won’t work on my system.
As the Americans learned so painfully in Earth’s final century, free flow of information is the only safeguard against tyranny. The once-chained people whose leaders at last lose their grip on information flow will soon burst with freedom and vitality, but the free nation gradually constricting its grip on public discourse has begun its rapid slide into despotism. Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master.
Commissioner Pravin Lal, “U.N. Declaration of Rights”
they sound a bunch of wankers dont they just claiming some company as their own ?
KILL THEM ALL THE NAZI FUCKERS!
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON SHAREAZA FORUM:
I had to say something, for what it’s worth. I’m disgusted. The check is in the mail. (http://shareaza.chipin.com/shareaza-support-fund)
—– Original Message —–
From: Arthur Wesley
To: action[at]eff.org
Cc: information[at]eff.org
Sent: Monday, March 31, 2008 6:37 AM
Subject: Overview of EFF’s Efforts to Protect P2P
Re: Shareaza (shareaza.sourceforge.net/) — legitimate and (shareaza[dot]com/) — forgery?
Please, in all honesty, how can you assert your support of P2P and ignore this blatant act of fraudulent abuse?
I am a software developer. You must understand the implication of not supporting open-source engineers. If corporate interests continue to bully, threaten and win, independent open-source software developers will simply give up. Shareaza is not the first… the death of Shareaza and *free* P2P will set a precedent! I dare not develop a fair and *free* public open-source alternative to “for-profit” offerings for fear of becoming too popular… suffering the wrath of this new model “corporate internet.” I remember when the internet was *free* and innovative — A *public* model for *free* communication and exchange. I have no affiliation with the (once *free*) P2P offerings. But I am not ignorant to what is behind this continued assault: The issue is not the millions of dollars lost in media revenue — are we that stupid? … Before the internet came to exist EVERYONE shared a good song or movie with a friend, just as you did or do. But if I enjoy the media, I would rather own it than STEAL it, just as you would…
SonyBMG is being sued for software piracy. We could both name countless other corporate monsters who stand accused or convicted of doing the same and worse… hardly breaking news. This marks the birth of a new internet: Pay as you go. Watch out! — big-brother is following… Whom do you support? I must have misunderstood…
Thank you.
(No reply is expected or desired.)
—
Now, this reply was not marked confidential, and there were no conditions appended, so I am posting it here. If this posting is inappropriate or in error, then I apologize. I just want the community to understand that their efforts on behalf of this cause matter:
Arthur,
EFF is currently in contact with Shareaza’s legal department. Those
communications are confidential, so I am unable to comment further.
Regards,
Eva Galperin
eva[at]eff.org
(http://www.shareazasecurity.be/forum/viewforum.php?f=46) http://www.shareazasecurity.be/forum/
I rarely bother with comment blocks on e-magazines; but an observation may be helpful in this instance. DevilsAdvocate is a paid troll. Last I counted this issue took 152 comments, and only a handful remained on-topic. Do you get it? The whole point of an industry-sponsored troll is to spend his or her time searching for issues on a list. Once discovered, they use multiple nicks to blast the comment block or forum with a single purpose: disrupt the community; keep the argument off-topic. I believe they earned their pay here. There are two methods to expunge a troll: one, ignore, they are easy to spot – think before you respond; two, keep a moderator on the board to delete and ban those few who abuse the community. Keeps this in mind and pass it around. Thanks.
this is just another example of the pure evil of the insane capitalist system….which just encourages the worst behavior in people.
this whole economic system is dominated by greed and immorality.
Any people who try to do good, and who are not motivated by greed & profits, always get stamped all over.
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