New Anti-Piracy Law

[AB_Adam]

Hey everyone I needed a place to vent my frustration about this topic and this seemed like a good place. For years now I have been one of the many many people to get movies,tv shows, and music from torrent sites and have a large collection that I enjoyed adding to on a weekly basis. Now I know that this was never a moral thing to do and there were times that I would pay for an album through ITunes to help support a certain artist or pay to see an actual movie here and there that deserved my money but it was just so easy and a great way to save money on the low buget films or unknown artists that I was just checking out.

Well tonight I get home and check my email and what do I find but a message from Comcast listing the last 3 movies I downloaded, my personal information, IP Address, and a warning that if I continued to illegally download that my service would be suspended and legal action could be taken. Now upon further research I read that today there was a new act put in place by all major ISP providers and movie studios that all persons that pirate licensed materials will be subject to internet speeds reduced and certain services suspended until you stop the activity and to get your speed back you will have to call the ISP provider and talk to them to have it restored.

All I have to say is, THIS SUCKS!!!!!!! This is how I get all my tv series and movies that I miss or dont go out to see or the indie films that never get to theaters that are good.

Thanks for allowing me to vent and if anyone knows of a way to get around this I would love to know how. I am going to go crazy not being able to download anymore content.

[sarah_ab]

Sorry it sucks that you are being spared jailed time and fines for breaking the law...

it must be awful...

thats like getting pulled over for speeding when you are really speeding, and only getting a warninig.. and still complaining!!!!!

be lucky they didn't coimpletely cut off your service and refuse to let you be their customer again!

[bbgirlmichelle]

I doubt anyone is going to help you break the law here, there are other forums better suited to that purpose if you still feel so inclined.

You should be very happy that you only got a warning, most people that get caught are getting court summons and have to either settle with the movie industry or go to court (and we all know how that turns out).

Years ago I used to download the occasional show or movie to see if it was worth spending money on, but as the industry started cracking down I started buying everything, it's just not worth the risk. The $10,000 settlement that I would have to pay the movie industry if caught will buy me a lot of blu-rays and dvds

[AB_Adam]

I know that its a stupid rant because I did get off lucky but Im just pissed I got busted and have to change my ways again. Just wanted to vent because I was naive and thought I was untouchable using all the methods to cover my tracks that I used. I have saved close to $100,000 by using dvd rippers and then torrents for 5yrs now and guess I should consider it a bonus I wasnt caught sooner.

[ItchyTasty]

Legally:

You can buy dvds and music dirt cheap online on ebay and amazon, as I never EVER buy music or dvds in the shops in public like HMV as it's always very overpriced (ie: a big rip off).

2nd hand in a good condition even cheaper on ebay,amazon,etc.

There's very easy loopholes and methods to get round it, but can't say on here.

One thing I can say is there are sites where you can watch movies online for free to decide if they are good or not. If good, you can order them off amazon or ebay to keep. That's how I got a huge 400 or so dvd and a few blu-ray collection.

I don't buy dvds I haven't heard of to WASTE MONEY if they are shit and have to sell them on again.

I mostly download legal dj mixes or podcasts from many sites.

Here's a varied legal dance music dj mixes site I use:

http://www.dontstayin.com/groups/dj-mixes

Legal reggae/ragga/dub mixes: http://www.bloodandfire.co.uk/db/viewforum.php?f=3

The reason I don't download films, not the legal issues. But the quality fucking sucks or it's got broken links or malware/trojans imbedded to it.

Who wants shitty mpeg or so films in lousy video tape like quality when dvds or even better blu-rays give wicked quality, especially on my full HD 1080P 32 inch Panasonic tv.

[AB_Adam]

Thanks for the tips and site lightning, I really appreciate it. I was on a site that was located in europe and was closed to outsiders and unlisted on all search engines. I got directed there from a old friend that got in on the ground floor and the quality was always HD and amazing. I used programs to re-route my IP and the website server bounced its address around too but somehow I got noticed, hence the anger of defeat in my first post. I am going to look further into the tips you provided.

[drynot]

The way I look at things nowadays is that I can afford the odd movie and new cd that comes out on the market. I am also supporting someone elses livelyhood by paying for stuff instead of downloading it.

Like the OP I used to download stuff constantly. I even cancelled my cable Tv for 3 years because I could download all the TV I wanted from the net. However I am doing better financially these days so I feel that paying for stuff is the responsible thing to do. I tend to go to movies on 'cheap nite' and I try and buy all my X-box games from used game stores.

AB_Adam: I'm not judging you and I certainly don't know what your financial situation is like but IMO if you can afford it then its better for everyone in the long run to pay for it.

[Rockies Fan in Diapers]

I hate to say it so bluntly, but what in the H*ll were you thinking would Happen? I honestly find it sad & pathetic that you even thought that it was okay to do something wrong, & try to cheat the system. People wonder why our society is going down the C*apper, & why society has very little moral compass left, after this type of stuff Happens? *Shakes My Head in disgust.*

Rockies Fan.

[puffybedwetter]

Come on guys, I know he messed up but lets not pelt him with stones because of his rant, We all make mistakes sadly that's what makes us human. Hopefully OP can learn from his mistakes after he digests this experience and can make better decisions in the future.

Where's the support at?

[Bettypooh]

It's where the support for the artist was- non-existent

Bettypooh

[BBB]

I love how he admits to stealing 100k worth of merchandise...

[bbgirlmichelle]

I love how he admits to stealing 100k worth of merchandise...

That is pretty impressive, my collection of over 600 DVD's, Blu-Rays and TV Series' (that I have purchased) is valued somewhere between somewhere between $10,000 and $15,000.

[waynecook52]

It's where the support for the artist was- non-existent

Bettypooh

RIGHT ON BETTY.

[BabyGizmo]

i am a massive torrenter. i use them daily. the benefit i have with using SHAW Internet is that they dont pinch or even monitor your usage. if you go above your bandwidth, they simply bump you up to a higher lvl. and no reporting to the government.

i know you all thing torrent is bad, and illegal, and what not. but when used properly, its not all that bad. how many times have you bought a "good" movie and been disappoint that it sucked and you waisted your money. or why do you buy a CD from a bad that has ONE ok song on it and the rest sucks? you want a waste of money? buy from itunes or a similar place. DEM locked product means if you lose it (hard drive crash, new computer. ect.) its gone. i personally lost over $800 dollars in an unfortunate computer crash from itunes alone.

now, i torrent an Album. if i like it, i buy it. if it sucks (most modern music) i delete it and never speak of it again. My adobe master suit, witch cost 3 grand, was lost in the crash. adobe regesters your mac address online, makeing re-use of a product key imposable. calling in to explain the situation, they basically called me a liar and told me i had to buy it again. so you bet i used a pirated version.

if they want people to stop, they will have to try harder. music industry needs to make music that doesnt suck but for one song. movie industry needs to make movies people want to watch more than once (or why pay 20-40 bucks?). software industries need to be more forgiving and helpfull. simple as that.

[Clarkin]

(I didn't read any replies yet) Do you realize that the video store, music store n whatnot make a living by SELLING these things you are stealing.... Do you realize that the video store guy or music store guy or video game store guy might have needed services from what you do for a living. Since their hours are cut, or are laid off because sales are so low they can not afford to buy what you do helping make YOU money!

This is a MAJOR cause for the economy sucking ass! If every illegally downloaded movie or game or CD was actually purchased do you realize how much better the economy would be? I hope and pray that you find a cellmate named Bubba that wants your asshole and mouth every night!

When you download the people you hurt first are your neighbors that try to make a living working at (insert video,music,game store here)

Think of this if someone could take an hour or three off of your paycheck here n there you'd be pissed off.

Fuck all of you that illegally download because you feel you have the right not to pay. I hope that you and anyone you love has their house broken into or you lose your livelihood.

You deserve Level 9 - Cocytus of Dante's Inferno Hell reserved for people like Hitler. This is the deepest level of hell, where the fallen angel Satan himself resides. His wings flap eternally, producing chilling cold winds that freeze the thick ice found in Cocytus. The three faces of Satan, black, red, and yellow, can be seen with mouths gushing bloody foam and eyes forever weeping, as they chew on the three traitors, Judas, Brutus, and Cassius. This place is furthest removed from the source of all light and warmth. Sinners here are frozen deep in the ice, faces out, eyes and mouths frozen shut. Traitors against God, country, family, and benefactors lament their sins in this frigid pit of despair.

I hope you loose your job, family, house and become the homeless guy on the corner people piss on for fun. Go fuck yourself with a dildo rolled in shards of glass and hot peppers and let someone chop your feet off. You deserve worse..... but that is a wish only the Flying Spaghetti Monster can provide.....

[Repaid1]

As last I knew there is no new law. It is hung up in the congress, see Senate bill S. 3804 called The Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) . Also at present it is not illegal to download any media, only illegal to upload it or "share" as in a P2P program. What happens in this instance is you join a swarm to download and as you do one or more of the IP's that are within the swarm are the Narks. The Movie companies mostly hire different firms to attach to torrent files and then subsequently log any one in the swarms IP then turn these lists over to the parent company. In turn these IP's are tracked back to the ISP who is required by law to turn over your name.

You can run and hide but they will find you eventually, 95% of the crap people sell you to protect yourself are actually Scams created by those who want to find you. Once they have your IP you will be monitored by your ISP for quite a while for activity. I am sure you are using a program called Peer Block, which tells you who is looking at your ports. I would suggest everyone get this program (free) and watch the data scroll on just who is watching what you do on your system. Not only is Big Brother watching you but quite a few other strange people too.

I would suggest that all of us take a look at Senate bill S 3804 as with all politics, it is a wolf in sheep's clothing:

If passed, this law will allow the government, under the command of the media companies, to censor the internet as they see fit, like China and Iran do, with the difference that the sites they decide to censor will be completely removed from the internet and not just in the US.

Please see the following article from the Huffington Post for more information.

Stop the Internet Blacklist

also:

DemandProgress on COICA

http://act.demandpro...t/?source=front

DemandProgress on domain seizures

http://act.demandpro...t/?source=front

And if you are a US citizen, please take the time to sign this petition

DemandProgress.org - Petition to Stop the Internet Blacklist!

Update: Also for US citizens, you can email your Senator from the following link and tell him or her your concerns about this bill

Tell Your Senator: No Website Blacklists, No Internet Censorship!

[~Skitty~]

Im more concerned about files i download from say, mediafire, or rapidshare. thats where i get most of my diaper porn :l im not looking forward to an email to my dad saying:

My ip

diaper porn

diaper porn

diaper porn

personal information

[Diapered Jason]

I would suggest that all of us take a look at Senate bill S 3804 as with all politics, it is a wolf in sheep's clothing:

If passed, this law will allow the government, under the command of the media companies, to censor the internet as they see fit, like China and Iran do, with the difference that the sites they decide to censor will be completely removed from the internet and not just in the US.

Please see the following article from the Huffington Post for more information.

Stop the Internet Blacklist

also:

DemandProgress on COICA

http://act.demandpro...t/?source=front

DemandProgress on domain seizures

http://act.demandpro...t/?source=front

And if you are a US citizen, please take the time to sign this petition

DemandProgress.org - Petition to Stop the Internet Blacklist!

Update: Also for US citizens, you can email your Senator from the following link and tell him or her your concerns about this bill

Tell Your Senator: No Website Blacklists, No Internet Censorship!

I am sorry Repaid, I smelt too much bullshit in those articles. I checked and it turns out, they are not right. What this bill does is it gives the Attorney General power to temporary remove (a restraining order) websites dedicated to infringement activities until it can be handled in a court of law. It has nothing to do with censorship.

Here is the summary of the bill.

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-3804&tab=summary

I do not condone the use of the internet for copyright infringement.

[lilJester]

ya know, i wonder if any of these companies (paramount, fox, lionsgate) ever though about this. Maybe people wouldn't be inclined to share like we do now a days, if they didnt charge 20 bucks for a showing at the theater.

[Bettypooh]

Guess I'll jump in here again- I have my kevlar and nomex diaper cover on so I should get through it OK Unless an album just came out yesterday, you can hear most or all of it online plus read reviews from those who have bought it without downloading it, so there's no excuse that will stand up to close scrutiny ISP's vary in how they deal with this. Being independent companies each has it's own methods, but Comcast was one of the first to knuckle under to the government pressure to actively go after torrent users And while I am against those who DL because it's cheap, I am against ALL government regulation of the internet It's none of their effing business to regulate what is essentially the voice of the entire world You are permitted to have some P2P files ( I think it's 100) and really, that's plenty for most people. I despise thieves- and if you're DL'ing because you don't want to pay then you are stealing Artists deserve to be paid for their work. What if you found your next paycheck cut in half and your company simply explaining that half your work was stolen so they can't pay you for it? Would you go to work the next week? Maybe now it's clear what is really going on with P2P

The internet is the ultimate in freedom But with this unregulated freedom comes a personal responsibility to not abuse it. Much the same as the kiddie porn which is online nobody makes you go there and look or DL except you. Nobody should have to suffer because they didn't do wrong- but if there is too much wrong being done, someone is going to step in and regulate things, which hurts the honest people too I'm a fan of the rock group "The Cars" and they have a new album out. They've posted a couple songs free for us to entice you to buy their album. I can't afford to pay for it though I want it badly I can have it waiting for me here when I get home from work- it's easy to do- but I'm going to wait until I can buy it, even of that takes me a couple weeks Why wait? Why not DL it and buy it later, thus avoiding the issue of never paying? Because I like these guys and I think these guys deserve their full paycheck on time too.

Even if it is legal, P2P sharing to avoid paying is morally wrong. P2P has it's uses, but those who abuse it are going to kill it for everyone. This is the 21st century and by now everyone should understand that everything you do (or don't do) affects everyone else

Bettypooh

[AB_Adam]

For all of those who have bashed me the last few hours I can say that I definitely deserved it. I was in the wrong for using torrents and there are no hard feelings there. I became very addicted to going home from work and just picking off the latest movie out there. In some groups of coworkers and family it was something that to them was very impressive that I had the know how to get these this and lead to a few friendships with coworkers.

That is why I went on my little bitch fest last nite with my post without stepping back to see the big picture that I got lucky with a warning before legal action was taken and I was screwed. And for those who think I never paid to support any artist out here, I did support hose artists such as underground musicians, musicians that I had followed for years, and film makers that had a distinct style I enjoyed. I do owe a lot to be repaid into he entertainment industry and I will definitely be picking up alot of movies and music from itunes on a monthly basis.

For a lot of you his was the first time you were able to get an impression of who I am and man did I make a bad one. I would hope over time I can show you that I am not the jagoff you saw in this post and a better person than this that learned his lesson.

[BabyGizmo]

you know, despite what it all ammounts to, im still gonna torrent. because i dont just download to steal. i download my immages for desktops. i download music that cannot be bought from underground sources and local bands. i get grated access to games through torrents because direct download is to effin slow. torrenting should not be clumped with evil. and if the ocasional movie or telivision show should end up on my hard drive, than thats ok too.

i view this is a way that most of us do with our diapers. i do it, but not everyone needs to know. does the government need to know i piss my panties? nope. and the same with what i do online.

[Repaid1]

I have a side note. I can and do torrent and I will tell you why. Many years ago I was unaware of the torrent world. I did however know what Napster was. I never put two and two together.

I do remember people coming into bars from time to time with the worst copies ever of bootleg movies and getting around $10 for a copy. Flash Forward. It seems as though atleast in my neck of the woods almost every convenience store and most bars are now being taken over by..well let's just say they don't pay taxes and seem immune from the law. I can go into just about any in my neighborhood and see these bootleg movies.. ON THE SHELF! In fact at one local check cashing place there is a guy in a big white van that parks in the lot. He puts a huge 6 foot sign up on the median grass. He Advertises his activities. Yet local law enforcement never does anything to him or the others. Why is that? Why does this government of ours tell the American people you can't do it, we will censor your right to do it, we will block you access to do it! Yet these same laws, of Illegals and those that should be, are immune?

My point of the bill is the government is once again encroaching on our rights. Telling us what we can and can't do when we have laws in place stating it is Illegal, but yet choose who the law applies too. Somebody's hand is in the cookie jar. This has gone to far. The government only wants money and that money is ours not theirs. The simple thing is once they have this little censorship in place how hard is it to slide in the next one? What right does America have to tell other countries to conform to our rules? That is what this bill is doing. In plain black and white this bill censors the internet, you can sugar coat it anyway you want. Do you see a bill on the docket pertaining of the heinous child porn on the internet? Nope ya don't. Which is worse? Which one will provide money to line one or more congressperson's pocket?

Is taking things that isn't yours wrong, Hell yeah it is..Do we know it..HEll yes we do. If you get caught you have no one to blame but yourself. But and I say but, is letting the illegal, non tax paying person make money off the American working man better than letting the same American do for himself? That's what this bill does. Whether illegal or not isn't the point, taking away your right to make that decision is! Period!

What kind of domains can go on the list?

The list is for domains "dedicated to infringing activity," which is defined very broadly — any site where counterfeit goods or copyrighted material are "central to the activity of the Internet site" would be blocked.

What's so bad about that?

Well, it means sites like YouTube could get censored in the US. Copyright holders like Viacom argue that copyrighted material is central to activity of YouTube. But under current US law, YouTube is perfectly legal as long as they take down copyrighted material when they're informed about it -- which is why Viacom lost their case in court. If this bill passes, Viacom doesn't even need to prove YouTube is doing anything illegal -- as long as they can persuade a court that enough other people are using it for copyright infringement, that's enough to get the whole site censored.

Isn't the word censored a little overheated?

Not at all. In the US, the way things work is that if you're using the Internet to do something illegal, you're brought to court and the courts can shut you down. This bill would bypass that whole system by forcing Internet service providers to block access to sites that are otherwise up. People in other countries could still get to them, but Internet users in the US would be blocked. This kind of Internet censorship is exactly the sort of thing the US government has been criticizing China and Iran for -- just the other day, Obama told the UN that "We will support a free and open Internet." Now it turns out we're going to start censoring the Internet ourselves.

But it's just limited to copyright!

How long do you think that will last? Once the Attorney General has a system set up for censoring the Internet, everyone who has a problem with a website will want to get in on it. How long before it's expanded to block Wikileaks, pornography, gambling, anarchists, supposed terrorists, and anybody else the Attorney General doesn't like that day? If people are doing something illegal, the government should take them to court and shut them down -- not try to bypass due process by blocking their domain name.

Won't Internet users just work around the blacklist?

Yes -- at the cost of a major blow to the United States. Currently the United States is the global hub of Internet traffic, but if this law passes Internet traffic will be reconfigured to route around it. Companies will move their US servers and domain names overseas, Internet users will route their traffic through other countries (just like Chinese citizens have to do now!), and software will have to be reconfigured to no longer trust answers from American servers.

"We all use the web now for all kinds of parts our lives, some trivial, some critical to our life as part of a social world," says Tim Berners-Lee, creator of the Web. "In the spirit going back to Magna Carta, we require a principle that: No person or organization shall be deprived of their ability to connect to others at will without due process of law, with the presumption of innocence until found guilty. Neither governments nor corporations should be allowed to use disconnection from the Internet as a way of arbitrarily furthering their own aims."

[betahawk]

Interesting topic.

Here's my 2 cents.

Torrents, P2P, Filsharing is not going to go away. The community will and is adapting to how the riaa, mpaa and whoever else is trying to change or stop file sharing. My honest opinion is they are fighting a losing battle. The idea behind COICA I believe is good. How it will be enforced is what I believe will be the problem. The music / T.V. / Movie / Software industry need to change how they view it. Instead of dumping so much money into fighting the system to stop it need to embrace filesharing and use it to there advantage.

There are a few garage bands / independent filmakers / software companies who already do this and it works great for them. Maybe the large corporations should look at what there doing and follow there lead.

Hope all that makes sense.

[Diapered Jason]

The main complaint I see towards COICA is the old innocent till proven guilty argument, which will still hold true with the new bill. The only difference is the website will be removed before a court hearing, which I think is legal. I think is sort of like how a person committing a robbery goes to jail before a court hearing.

The other complaint I see is centered around what this bill may lead to. Oh, in time it will allow the Attorney General to do whatever he wants. Let me tell, that is the most stupidest argument, and it is scare tactic that is used all the time.