Anyone into torrents?

inspiredsports

avelanchefan wrote: »

Well I for one do torrents, have been doing them now for over 7 years. Been caught twice. The first time was on a public tracker (ISOhunt) that my son decided to download from. Got dinged for downloading the music from the video game Vice City.

Second time was on a private tracker from probably the best and "most" secure torrent site out there. That one freaked me out a little bit. Contacted the admins on that one, and a lot of people got hit, and they were planning a little attack of their own when chatting with them about it on mIRC. The admins were not happy that somehow the MPAA got into the site from an invite.

I mostly did it for the Wii, XBOX, and Xbox360 games. I have now moved on from that. But I still check out three torrent sites daily. I have a TV torrent site, a regular torrent site, and a music torrent site I belong to.

What were the penalties in the 2 instances when you were caught?

steveinaz

[bending finger manipulation]"Danny isn't here Mrs. Torrents."[/bending]

jinjuku

rdb2001 wrote: »

No offense but the people who are still using limewire and peer to peer sharing are crazy anyways. Those places are filled with viruses. Newsgroups are a another story. But its all wrong but to each its own.

At least with News Groups (talking early 90's) there was a certain amount of technical accumen that you had to have to even get there. There was a lot of good to come out of Usenet and it's BBS counter part Fidonet.

Spent a lot of time in dcomp.vpn and the like.

AsSiMiLaTeD

Lasareath wrote: »

What do you guys think about watching videos on youtube?, If the Artist is not getting royalities from that video then are you stealing?

It's not stealing because one can reasonably assume that the videos on youtube are there with the permission of the owner, otherwise they'd be taken down. One can reasonably assume this because videos are taken down all the time at the request of the original owner.

So if I find a video of a full episode of CSI on there, I assume that CBS is good with it, otherwise they'd just have it taken down

Bobsama

inspiredsports wrote: »

You don't have "cop in a box" cameras in your neck of the woods?

Right now they only have them on traffic lights (and any ticket issued is legally binding). Stop signs can't be far behind.

Not on street corners like that. Maybe on some highways and definitely around toll booths. I am personally disgusted by such surveillance.

PrazVT

My intersection has 'em facing in all directions. Got a nice $557 ticket for not stopping fully before turning right on a red. I got to watch the video online to further enjoy that experience. yay.

cokewithvanilla

Utorrent + Peerblock + demonoid for music

Here's the thing, the way you get caught with a torrent is by uploading to or downloading from the company that produces it (or someone representing them). They catch people by sharing. When you share or download, you see everyones IP who is going in and out... they do this, send your ISP the info and you get a littler cease and desist letter. X number of these and something might happen... I've heard people who've gotten hundreds.

I download all my movies instead of ripping/encoding... its faster. When I used to use torrents for movies, I got 3 notices in as many weeks (after 3 years of silence). It is obvious that NEW movies, NEW music, and NEW tv shows get the most attention. If you wait a few months, or a year, your chance of getting a notice is slim.

Solution to all this? use usenet You download at your connection speed, and you download from a server that DOES NOT LOG YOUR ACTIVITY (even if they get investigated for piracy, you won't get hit). You have a SSL connection too. Worst thing your ISP or anyone else can generally find is that you are downloading a lot from a certain location, which isn't illegal. Usenet has more movies than all the torrent sites combined, as for music, that is generally by request.

edit: I'm gonna be honest, it is easier/quicker/more convenient for me to download software/movies/music than it is for me to buy it. There is often a bigger selection, and I don't have to leave my house or wait on shipping. I can see why people would use this method... the industry has not provided a better way. Yes, pay for your stuff... but hell, download it while you're waiting the 5 days for shipping.

oh, and if you want to know what I think about the 'thieves' that use it? more power to them. The industry needs to invest in infrastructure in order to keep their customers. Paying needs to be made easier than stealing... plain and simple. They need to stop wasting their money on copy protection that is easily beaten and focus on providing a product with value.

ben62670

What is the link to usenet? I tried and failed?

cokewithvanilla

heres the news sever I use:

http://www.astraweb.com/

heres the client I use

http://www.newsleecher.com/

falconcry72

demonoid is where it's at for high quality lossless music; especially jazz and classical. Most of the artists i download are dead, or the albums aren't in production anymore.

cokewithvanilla

falconcry72 wrote: »

demonoid is where it's at for high quality lossless music; especially jazz and classical. Most of the artists i download are dead, or the albums aren't in production anymore.

Yep, and the search feature makes it easy... it's the only one I know of that you can select "Quality: Lossless"

oh, and on the subject of piracy, wasn't it ruled a long time ago that you can download it if you own it? Or was that just for games? That's the way I see it... if I own a copy of it and do not want to waste my time ripping/encoding, I can simply download it.... legal in my eyes

Almadacr

For me or someone else in Canada its simple its not illegal to download but to Upload :eek: , and i have to say it its very useful since i only download movies or music and because of that " 3 days after " was a buy and " Hereafter " its going to be a buy , and with music if i really want the album i will buy the CD plus i never downloaded games or software , but i don`t criticized someone who does it , only the ones that will try to profit from it . Normally i try to compare the downloads with the time that i was in school and could `t afford to buy some specific books , so i would toke a friend book and make it photocopies . For torrents i use normally Piratebay or Demonoid and as a downloader i use VUZE that was named before Azureus .

jinjuku

cokewithvanilla wrote: »

Yep, and the search feature makes it easy... it's the only one I know of that you can select "Quality: Lossless"

oh, and on the subject of piracy, wasn't it ruled a long time ago that you can download it if you own it? Or was that just for games? That's the way I see it... if I own a copy of it and do not want to waste my time ripping/encoding, I can simply download it.... legal in my eyes

I would love to know what service you have where it is quicker to download 1 or 2 GB of information then rip your DVD

bobman1235

jinjuku wrote: »

I would love to know what service you have where it is quicker to download 1 or 2 GB of information then rip your DVD

It's called "la la land".

I understand that people are going to do this stuff, and again, I've been guilty of it on rare occasion, but the cavalier attitude you guys do it with is mind-boggling.

jinjuku

bobman1235 wrote: »

It's called "la la land".

I understand that people are going to do this stuff, and again, I've been guilty of it on rare occasion, but the cavalier attitude you guys do it with is mind-boggling.

While I am not the thought police and what you do in your own home and how you obtain content is on the end user. I don't get how Polk as a company with it's own IP and Patents and Copyright to protect lets posts or threads that tread on those very things exists.

Even though torrents can be used for good, they often aren't. It's tough to separate water when it's mixed. There is nothing stopping an artist or distribution company from offering it's own torrent seeds if they are inclined to distribute that way.

We protect our software with a wrapper and a generous use license. But when business persons have fell afoul of that their outcome hasn't been good.

We had an employee from a business that paid to have our products protection measures compromised actually call us for technical support:eek:

(The crack was rather poorly done which is why they called)

Janne

ben62670 wrote: »

What is the link to usenet? I tried and failed?

I am using UseNext http://www.usenext.com/

PrazVT

I understand that people are going to do this stuff, and again, I've been guilty of it on rare occasion, but the cavalier attitude you guys do it with is mind-boggling.

In my case ... I did download mp3s from ftp servers back in high school (1996) when all this was new. So perhaps after 15 years, the moral aspects of it get dulled for some of us. Not saying it's right or wrong.

cokewithvanilla

jinjuku wrote: »

I would love to know what service you have where it is quicker to download 1 or 2 GB of information then rip your DVD

Usenet, newsgroups.. whatever you wanna call them. Download speed = internet connection speed.

I mentioned encoding. If you rip a BR, it might take a few hours, but encoding it can take 10. If you want a compressed movie, it is definitely quicker to download.

50mbps = 22.5 gig/ hour

oh, not to mention that you can queue up 30 movies and wait... no disc changing. And it doesn't tie up your drive... hell, you don't even need a br drive... and with encoding, you need a pretty nice computer, and while its doing it, forget watching a movie or tv on the same system.

Jstas

jinjuku wrote: »

While I am not the thought police and what you do in your own home and how you obtain content is on the end user. I don't get how Polk as a company with it's own IP and Patents and Copyright to protect lets posts or threads that tread on those very things exists.

What the hell are you talking about? Please, show me where once in this thread that ANY Polk Audio I.P. has been violated or compromised in any way.

Polk Audio has no concern in this matter. They do not police the users on their own personal systems. If users were using the Polk Audio site to share illegally obtained content then yes, they should be taking the hard line. Otherwise, Polk Audio has no bearing on any user's personal equipment or content.

Discussion of the topic does not detract from Polk Audio either. It's open discussion about a hot topic. While it may be a taboo thing in your eyes, Polk Audio doesn't really limit what can and can't be posted here.

If some people are admitting to the actions on an open, searchable, public forum, that's on them, not Polk Audio. If Polk Audio squashes that discussion over such silly concerns that you keep spelling out, they look like fascist overlords with no regard for free speech. Maybe that kind of behavior flies on your forums but here it usually gets the masses collective panties in a bunch.

The discussion isn't harming anything or anyone. If anything, it's been educational for some people. Condemning a discussion because "Even though torrents can be used for good, they often aren't." is asinine. Drugs can be used for good but they often aren't yet threads about whatever rock star or other celebrity is on what drug don't get removed. Why are torrents so taboo?

This is America. Discussion about illegal things may get you some attention, even unwanted attention but it's not a crime to talk about them. That's beauty of this country. Your comments and passive aggressive posts about having the thread shutdown are completely uncalled for. I really don't get how you can see it that way. With your cavalier attitude towards arbitrarily shutting down discussion and censoring speech because some moron somewhere might get offended by it makes me not get how anyone would give you the moderation keys to any forum on the Internet. Especially if you are so incapable of using any kind of common sense when performing those duties.

Trev123

I use Vuze to download music to see what it is like before I buy. Downloaded Amused To Death by Roger Waters yesterday and liked it and then went out and bought it.

ben62670

Trev123 wrote: »

I use Vuze to download music to see what it is like before I buy. Downloaded Amused To Death by Roger Waters yesterday and liked it and then went out and bought it.

That's how I roll. I have also purchased a few HiRez downloads and NIN's download HiRes 24/192 album. I'm done with SACD. All my music is ripped to my puter, and the CD's go into storage. BTW Amused to Death is a great album recorded in Q sound. It gives standard speakers a taste of how SDA's sound.

jinjuku

Jstas wrote: »

What the hell are you talking about? Please, show me where once in this thread that ANY Polk Audio I.P. has been violated or compromised in any way.

Didn't say it was. You aren't reading my post correctly.

Jstas wrote: »

Polk Audio has no concern in this matter. They do not police the users on their own personal systems. If users were using the Polk Audio site to share illegally obtained content then yes, they should be taking the hard line. Otherwise, Polk Audio has no bearing on any user's personal equipment or content.

Mods here delete threads of patently illegal content all the time

Trev123

ben62670 wrote: »

That's how I roll. I have also purchased a few HiRez downloads and NIN's download HiRes 24/192 album. I'm done with SACD. All my music is ripped to my puter, and the CD's go into storage. BTW Amused to Death is a great album recorded in Q sound. It gives standard speakers a taste of how SDA's sound.

Yes a very good quality recording.

Jstas

jinjuku wrote: »

Didn't say it was. You aren't reading my post correctly.

No, I'm not.

jinjuku wrote: »

Mods here delete threads of patently illegal content all the time

No, they don't. Threads get deleted because morons like you don't know when to shut your mouth and walk away. Not because anything is "patently illegal".

inspiredsports

It was nice and quiet around here, for a while, but . . .

jinjuku

Jstas wrote: »

No, I'm not.



No, they don't. Threads get deleted because morons like you don't know when to shut your mouth and walk away. Not because anything is "patently illegal".

Ok Idiot.

Funny, I see the Credit Card dump posts deleted all the time. They are just as illegal as members offering to send other members copies of CD's.

cokewithvanilla

Somehow, I bet this thread has been looked at by a mod and has not been taken down. There is no reason to throw insults back and forth about it. If you don't think it is legal or moral, that is your opinion... can't you just state it as such and leave it at that?

bobman1235

Legality is not an opinion. I have no problem wtih the discussion, but it's not an opinion. What you are doing is illegal.

ryanjoachim

"We find that file sharing has only had a limited effect on record sales," the study's authors wrote. "While downloads occur on a vast scale, most users are likely individuals who would not have bought the album even in the absence of file sharing."

From the news article posted on the front page.

Describes me perfectly. I only download what I would never spend money on anyways. This mostly extends to games - take MW2 through BO. I did my research and realized that the online play for both games was utterly terrible and useless, so why would I spend $60+ for a 1-time run through the single player campaign? I'm not saying the companies didn't spend a lot of money on that single-player facet...I'm just saying I'm not "stealing money from them". They never would have gotten my money in the first place.

I also download movies all the time...but I delete them after watching once. Most movies that come out nowadays aren't worth watching a 2nd time, unlike so many older movies (from before 2000). Music is the same way. I'll download some songs that I heard on the radio, but only after I check out the albums. 9 times out of 10 I only like the 1 song from the album.

Piracy in it's current form is only around because of groups like the MPAA, who are trying to force people to stay in the past. CD's and DvD's are like all technology...companies that use them need to evolve the technology and keep up with the times.

bobman1235

ryanjoachim wrote: »

I'm just saying I'm not "stealing money from them". They never would have gotten my money in the first place.

I also download movies all the time...but I delete them after watching once. Most movies that come out nowadays aren't worth watching a 2nd time, unlike so many older movies (from before 2000). Music is the same way. I'll download some songs that I heard on the radio, but only after I check out the albums. 9 times out of 10 I only like the 1 song from the album.

There are these things called rentals.... and even for games, pay for GameFly or something.

It doesn't matter if you otherwise wouldn't have given them money. You could steal something tangible from a store, and say "i never would have bought this anyway, so it's not really stealing." The disconnect for most of us is that when we do that, they are less one thing that they can sell, so you took something tangible, whereas with a movie, your taking it doesn't really diminish their ability to sell it to someone. But it doesn't chang ethe fact that they created this thing, and said "if you want it, you have to pay for it" and you said "well i'm taking it anyway." It's a very modern way of thinking that you are somehow owed something for free just because it exists.

The idea that the market hasn't come around is just absurd. You can buy songs for a dollar. You can rent movies from RedBox for a dollar. You can now preview songs online, 30 or 45 seconds of them, before you buy them. There's no excuse other than you're a cheap thief. If it's worth downloading, it's worth paying for.