For the Torrent Fans ... Ouch

Mark · 05-08-2008, 05:04 PM

I was just reading this on another forum. For all of those people who own or visit Torrent type sites ... Here is your future :

Quote:

May 7th, 2008
MPAA wins $111m from bankrupt TorrentSpy
Posted by Richard Koman @ May 7, 2008 @ 4:40 PM

A federal judge in L.A. awarded the Motion Picture Association of America a $111 million judgment against TorrentSpy.com, the file-sharing site that shut down in March, AP reports.
TorrentSpy operators Valence Media LLC were hit for $30,000 per violation for nearly 3,700 illegal movie and TV shows.

“This substantial money judgment sends a strong message about the illegality of these sites,” said Dan Glickman, Chairman and CEO of the MPAA. “The demise of TorrentSpy is a clear victory for the studios and demonstrates that such pirate sites will not be allowed to continue to operate without facing relentless litigation by copyright holders.”
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/industry-news/467073-for-the-torrent-fans-ouch.html

Valence is seeking bankruptcy protection in the U.K.

http://government.zdnet.com/?p=3791

Have a nice Day

weblord · 05-08-2008, 05:10 PM

this made my day nicer too. have a nice day to you as well.

TechQueen · 05-08-2008, 05:16 PM

Nice Read, thanks Mark.

But i am sure that, the owners of "Torrentspy.com" would have already made atleast 500K from the site.

Mark · 05-08-2008, 05:18 PM

What good is 500k - When you now legally owe 111 Million ?

liquidcherry · 05-08-2008, 08:20 PM

Originally Posted by Mark

What good is 500k - When you now legally owe 111 Million ?

500k could by you a cheap a$$ sneaky lawyer...

????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=467073

Cheers,

Frank

**-Nick-** · 05-08-2008, 08:52 PM

Great news. Its good for many industries not only the motion pictures one

dax · 05-10-2008, 12:48 AM

Originally Posted by Mark

I was just reading this on another forum. For all of those people who own or visit Torrent type sites ... Here is your future :

Torrent is a sharing technology, it does not equal to sharing copyrighted matherials only. For example, if you want to share linux distro .iso file of 700 MB, it is always easier to share it thru torrent than to put it for download from 1 location.
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=467073

On the other hand, MPAA, RIAA, etc. can shut down or threat to as much as they like, but those who want to share copyrighted matherials will find another way, and another... It is something that unfortunatelly cannot be stopped by shutting down 1 or 2 sites...

IMHO, until now, torrent is the best sharing technology invented, where bandwidth capacity is divided into many people who are interesed in that particular file. This is why i don't like generalisation of this matter

labrocca · 05-10-2008, 02:01 AM

Are you saying that most torrent trackers turn a blind eye to the illegal downloads? That tactic didn't work for Napster and it's not going to work for Torrents. Eventually most of the major players will get shut down.
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=467073

Sure...some will always exist or new methods will be found but intellectual property protection is important to our global economy. Torrent is great technology but in truth...it's mostly used to circumvent copyrights.

Quote:

For example, if you want to share linux distro .iso file of 700 MB, it is always easier to share it thru torrent than to put it for download from 1 location.

I don't see the RIAA going after legit sites offering linux distro torrents. They are clearly targetting players in the movie and music torrent field.

Dean · 05-10-2008, 03:38 AM

What exactly did they do wrong? They just hosted .torrent files which are like 5kb text files. I thought torrent sites were legal because they didnt actually host the illegal content. This is a big blow for a lot of torrent websites.

Peter · 05-10-2008, 04:39 AM

napster did not host any files either. They gave people the mechanism to get copyrighted material illegally.

squid · 05-10-2008, 04:50 AM

Torrenting and file sharing has to be the biggest grey area of the internet. It's never going to go away and the problem of it will never be solved. I think the reason it exists is because the prices we're expected to pay for Music and films and other type's of media is obvious extortion. The multi-billion dollar companies think it's totally fair to charge £20 for a film when that's more than most people earn in 3 hours. Same with a CD, the average CD over here is around £10, yet these company's are selling millions of these, surely they should realise that whilst they charge such stupidly high prices, people will torrent them.

I for one prefer to buy my music, but I've fallen into many situations where I've found i cannot get the music legally, because the company's that are involved with the distribution make it so damn hard to. iTunes is a good example, i have to pay by credit card, yet i can't legally have a credit card.
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=467073

The music and film industries have caused this themselves.

Dean · 05-10-2008, 05:01 AM

I disagree squid. People will steal anything if they can and its so easy to steal this stuff and thats why they do it. However you do have a point because if a movie was cheaper to buy then the bandwidth and time needed to dl it then theoretically more people would buy it.

Mark · 05-10-2008, 05:04 AM

Originally Posted by squid

It's never going to go away and the problem of it will never be solved.

If enough people get nailed like the site above ... It may. Of course there will always be countries that will not want to assist others trying to protect their copyrights/works as well. Me personally - I'm torn both ways ... On one side I'm all for protecting peoples software , rights , etc ... But at the same time I was a Youtube junkie for a good while watching old videos and concert footage you simply can not find on the market any longer if ever at all ...

squid · 05-10-2008, 05:05 AM

Originally Posted by Dean26

I disagree squid. People will steal anything if they can and its so easy to steal this stuff and thats why they do it. However you do have a point because if a movie was cheaper to buy then the bandwidth and time needed to dl it then theoretically more people would buy it.

Of course there will always be people that think "If i can get it for free, why not?" but then i have to say, a lot of people I've spoken to who torrent, torrent for one reason:
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=467073
They don't want to waste their money. Imagine if a film was $5 - People wouldn't have to think "Dare i risk spending $35 on this film?" anymore, they can simply buy it, if they don't enjoy it, then they've lost nothing, whereas it's a big risk with $35, so instead of risking it, they torrent.

-NC- · 05-10-2008, 06:06 AM

imho, in addition to the cost, there is also a huge convenience factor:

convenient:
- hear song
- want song
- download song
- listen to song at leisure

inconvenient:
- hear song
- go to shop
- shop don't have song
- look for legal download
- find it, but it's DRM'd to the point where it is almost unusable
- go back to shop or amazon
- order and pay for full album just to get one song
- wait
- album arrives
- rip album to mp3
- throw away cd
- listen to song at leisure

basically, the recording industry has to make it more convenient to legally download than it is to illegally download.

xXDanteXx · 05-10-2008, 06:11 AM

I agree with squid. The big companies have caused this themselves.

For example in my country if i want to buy a legit game for my XBOX 360 it would cost me approx 100$ but if I buy that same game from pirated disc store (which they themselves download through torrents) it will cost me only $2

Peter · 05-10-2008, 06:14 AM

Originally Posted by xXDanteXx

I agree with squid. The big companies have caused this themselves.

For example in my country if i want to buy a legit game for my XBOX 360 it would cost me approx 100$ but if I buy that same game from pirated disc store (which they themselves download through torrents) it will cost me only $2

Now go and research where that $100 goes about 60%-70% is actually the shop that sold it to you (unless it wasan independant as they have less buying power).
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=467073

Same goes for cd's and dvd's

-Alex- · 05-10-2008, 08:07 AM

Yep, I can relate to Dante....Over when I lived at Russia for a bit I could get cd's dvd's video games, all I wanted for peanuts....

It would be...what? 75 cents or so per cd...maybe 1$ per dvd...and 1$ per video game.

And of course, they all worked perfectly fine.....

labrocca · 05-10-2008, 01:29 PM

Originally Posted by Dean26

I disagree squid. People will steal anything if they can and its so easy to steal this stuff and thats why they do it. However you do have a point because if a movie was cheaper to buy then the bandwidth and time needed to dl it then theoretically more people would buy it.

????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=467073
I agree...people are thieves the second they think they can get away with it. Ever heard of taking candy from a baby? Essentially that's what Torrents do. Traditional media companies represent an incredibly easy target and the torrents are the candy. People don't think they will get caught or prosecuted. They do not believe they will have any negative consequences to their actions. They are far removed from the situation because it's on the internet.

Who here would walk into a store and try to snatch a game or music cd? So what makes it any better to download it? Because no one is watching? Eventually the courts and ISP's are going to find ways to prevent thefts and law enforcement will start cracking down on serious offenders.

If someone here was to be part of click fraud everyone would scream blah blah..theif, scammer, lowlife. But hey..download music, movies, and games from torrents and it's A-OK? BS.

What's the major difference? People actually get caught in click fraud. If google didn't care then EVERYONE would click fraud and just say ...well it's no biggie.

blah

Chicken · 05-10-2008, 02:20 PM

Originally Posted by labrocca

I agree...people are thieves the second they think they can get away with it. Ever heard of taking candy from a baby? Essentially that's what Torrents do. Traditional media companies represent an incredibly easy target and the torrents are the candy.

By buying that $40 CD you not supporting the artist, your supporting the record label. Artists make almost nothing off CD's unless they have sold millions of CD's. I do download all the music I want. If I didn't I still wouldn't go out and waste my money on buying the CD. Id rather use that money and attend a concert of theirs that they actually make money off of.

Peter · 05-10-2008, 02:30 PM

Chicken most tours dont even cover costs. Bands dont make money from them. The reason a band tours is to increase sales in their albums.

Chicken · 05-10-2008, 02:33 PM

Originally Posted by peter@flexiwebhost

Chicken most tours dont even cover costs. Bands dont make money from them. The reason a band tours is to increase sales in their albums.

Bands keep most of the money they make from their concerts. They make about nothing from CD sales unless their selling hundreds of thousands to millions. So if they don't make any money from tours then how are they making any money at all?

Peter · 05-10-2008, 02:38 PM

Originally Posted by Chicken

Bands keep most of the money they make from their concerts. They make about nothing from CD sales unless their selling hundreds of thousands to millions. So if they don't make any money from tours then how are they making any money at all?

No the person who makes the money from tours are the promoters. The only thing in tours bands make money from is merchandise (such as tshirts and cd's which unless they licence them themselves have to buy from the record company)

Chicken · 05-10-2008, 02:40 PM

Originally Posted by peter@flexiwebhost

No the person who makes the money from tours are the promoters. The only thing in tours bands make money from is merchandise (such as tshirts and cd's which unless they licence them themselves have to buy from the record company)

Thats what I was mostly talking about. Them making the money off the merchandise they sell at the tour. Not making money off the tour itself, sorry for not being more specific

labrocca · 05-10-2008, 02:43 PM

Originally Posted by Chicken

By buying that $40 CD you not supporting the artist, your supporting the record label. Artists make almost nothing off CD's unless they have sold millions of CD's. I do download all the music I want. If I didn't I still wouldn't go out and waste my money on buying the CD. Id rather use that money and attend a concert of theirs that they actually make money off of.

Great justification ...whatever floats your boat. I can guarantee that I know more about how the music industry works than you. Everything you just said...hogwash.
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=467073

Did you know that unless artists sell X records they actually OWE the record label money?

Do you realize how much record labels spend in order to help launch the artist?

Would you even know what bands to like if it wasn't for the record labels promoting these bands?

Tours ONLY happen because record labels are able to assist bands in their promotion.

Get rid of the record industry..and you get rid of bands.

The quality of music has gotten incredibly poor the past few years...that's because record labels can't afford to take chances on anything that won't sell. Profits and sales are declining at a rapid pace.

bah...open thievery makes me sick...it's like a bank robbery in broad daylight

05-08-2008, 05:10 PM	#2 (permalink)
weblord NamePros Legend Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Philippines - www.Nabaza.com Posts: 19,784	this made my day nicer too. have a nice day to you as well. __________________ Nabaza.com - Amaia

05-08-2008, 08:52 PM	#6 (permalink)
-Nick- I'll do it Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: India Posts: 6,939 Follow @keralpatel	Great news. Its good for many industries not only the motion pictures one __________________ Delq\|Fhur\|Kegh\|Vhir\|Juhy\|Ruuz\|Jyos\|Jupt\|Vhek Webmaster Blog \| Software Downloads Makeup & Beauty Tips \| Sponsor Ads

05-10-2008, 06:06 AM	#15 (permalink)
-NC- Traveller Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Yet another city Posts: 1,419	imho, in addition to the cost, there is also a huge convenience factor: convenient: - hear song - want song - download song - listen to song at leisure inconvenient: - hear song - go to shop - shop don't have song - look for legal download - find it, but it's DRM'd to the point where it is almost unusable - go back to shop or amazon - order and pay for full album just to get one song - wait - album arrives - rip album to mp3 - throw away cd - listen to song at leisure basically, the recording industry has to make it more convenient to legally download than it is to illegally download. __________________ NameCooler.com

05-08-2008, 05:16 PM	#3 (permalink)
TechQueen NamePros Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 151	Nice Read, thanks Mark. But i am sure that, the owners of "Torrentspy.com" would have already made atleast 500K from the site.

05-08-2008, 05:18 PM	THREAD STARTER #4 (permalink)
Mark Hi :) Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: NC Posts: 9,537	What good is 500k - When you now legally owe 111 Million ?

05-10-2008, 03:38 AM	#9 (permalink)
Dean Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Melbourne Posts: 1,713	What exactly did they do wrong? They just hosted .torrent files which are like 5kb text files. I thought torrent sites were legal because they didnt actually host the illegal content. This is a big blow for a lot of torrent websites.

05-10-2008, 04:39 AM	#10 (permalink)
Peter NamePros Expert Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Scotland Posts: 5,074	napster did not host any files either. They gave people the mechanism to get copyrighted material illegally.

05-10-2008, 04:50 AM	#11 (permalink)
squid Account Closed Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Stafford Posts: 992	Torrenting and file sharing has to be the biggest grey area of the internet. It's never going to go away and the problem of it will never be solved. I think the reason it exists is because the prices we're expected to pay for Music and films and other type's of media is obvious extortion. The multi-billion dollar companies think it's totally fair to charge £20 for a film when that's more than most people earn in 3 hours. Same with a CD, the average CD over here is around £10, yet these company's are selling millions of these, surely they should realise that whilst they charge such stupidly high prices, people will torrent them. I for one prefer to buy my music, but I've fallen into many situations where I've found i cannot get the music legally, because the company's that are involved with the distribution make it so damn hard to. iTunes is a good example, i have to pay by credit card, yet i can't legally have a credit card. ????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=467073 The music and film industries have caused this themselves.

05-10-2008, 05:01 AM	#12 (permalink)
Dean Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Melbourne Posts: 1,713	I disagree squid. People will steal anything if they can and its so easy to steal this stuff and thats why they do it. However you do have a point because if a movie was cheaper to buy then the bandwidth and time needed to dl it then theoretically more people would buy it.

05-10-2008, 06:11 AM	#16 (permalink)
xXDanteXx NamePros Regular Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 228	I agree with squid. The big companies have caused this themselves. For example in my country if i want to buy a legit game for my XBOX 360 it would cost me approx 100$ but if I buy that same game from pirated disc store (which they themselves download through torrents) it will cost me only $2

05-10-2008, 08:07 AM	#18 (permalink)
-Alex- Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: West Coast, U.S. Posts: 1,185	Yep, I can relate to Dante....Over when I lived at Russia for a bit I could get cd's dvd's video games, all I wanted for peanuts.... It would be...what? 75 cents or so per cd...maybe 1$ per dvd...and 1$ per video game. And of course, they all worked perfectly fine.....

05-10-2008, 02:30 PM	#21 (permalink)
Peter NamePros Expert Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Scotland Posts: 5,074	Chicken most tours dont even cover costs. Bands dont make money from them. The reason a band tours is to increase sales in their albums.

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