TorrentSpy Ordered By Federal Judge to Become MPAA Spy

[u-Bob]

TorrentSpy, one of the world's largest torrent dump sites, has been ordered
by a federal judge to monitor its users in order to create detailed logs of
their activities which must then be handed over to the MPAA.

On May 29, TorrentSpy - one of the web's most famous .torrent dump sites was
told by federal judge Jacqueline Chooljian in the Central District of
California that despite the site's privacy policy which states they will
never monitor their visitors without consent, they must start creating logs
detailing their user's activities.

http://torrentfreak.com/torrentspy-o...f-of-the-mpaa/

[ServerGenius]

which they won't ever do....mark my words

[TampaToker]

good thats a start

[KimJI]

They wont do it, so they will shut down the site and throw the people in jail. It's a good start. But one of the fundamental problems is the sponsors supporting the torrentsites. That is the reason im working on this idea www.piratealert.com

[Donkey Punch]

lol damn.. glad I don't do torrents

[DWB]

That is a first step... I'm happy to hear it.

[ServerGenius]

Originally Posted by KimJI

They wont do it, so they will shut down the site and throw the people in jail. It's a good start. But one of the fundamental problems is the sponsors supporting the torrentsites. That is the reason im working on this idea www.piratealert.com

Nope they won't get shut down coz they're not US. No jurisdiction weird as
it is what they're doing is NOT illegal at least not where they are.

[ServerGenius]

They're hosted at leaseweb in Holland

[TampaToker]

Originally Posted by KimJI

They wont do it, so they will shut down the site and throw the people in jail. It's a good start. But one of the fundamental problems is the sponsors supporting the torrentsites. That is the reason im working on this idea www.piratealert.com

ah you never know i was at a p2p confrence last june and i was sitting right next to Sam Yagan from edonkey. After talking to Sam for a short time he did not come off as cocky but confident. It was kinda funny listening to sam and the MPAA lawyers going back and fourth.

Needless to say edonkey is gone now and sam and his partner settled at $30 million.

Here is what is on front page of edonkey now lol


The eDonkey2000 Network is no longer available.

If you steal music or movies, you are breaking the law.

Courts around the world -- including the United States Supreme Court --
have ruled that businesses and individuals can be prosecuted for illegal
downloading.

You are not anonymous when you illegally download copyrighted material.

Your IP address is xx.xx.xx.xx and has been logged.

Respect the music, download legally.

[TampaToker]

Originally Posted by ServerGenius

They're hosted at leaseweb in Holland

Well shit thats whole different ball game then

[KimJI]

Originally Posted by ServerGenius

Nope they won't get shut down coz they're not US. No jurisdiction weird as
it is what they're doing is NOT illegal at least not where they are.

dident know it was legal in your country. Im amased it is. Arent you a member of the EU? because as far as I know the EU made rules about this a few years ago

[Aussie Rebel]

Good start, now I cant wait till they start going after the sponsors that pay the torrent sites bills

[ServerGenius]

Originally Posted by KimJI

dident know it was legal in your country. Im amased it is. Arent you a member of the EU? because as far as I know the EU made rules about this a few years ago

Yes they are but just linking to the material without having it on your servers
to the best of my knowledge isn't illegal.....google does the same.

[TimBlaze]

Good start for sure, but i dont know how effective it will actually be

[ServerGenius]

it has to be said that I'm not really uptodate with the torrent/p2p stuff so I could wrong.

[KimJI]

Originally Posted by ServerGenius

Yes they are but just linking to the material without having it on your servers
to the best of my knowledge isn't illegal.....google does the same.

It is. First of all its facilitating a service specifically aimed at sharing pirated content. Its not like the site have a category for sharing vacation pictures. Its primary focus are copyrighted content.

The way Google indexes sites are different, and that have also been made clear by the court.

There have been loads of cases in the EU with "Deep-linking" as they call it, where even kids below the age of 15 get fined huge amounts for posting links on forums. (the case against Sharereactor.com)

[ServerGenius]

Originally Posted by KimJI

It is. First of all its facilitating a service specifically aimed at sharing pirated content. Its not like the site have a category for sharing vacation pictures. Its primary focus are copyrighted content.

The way Google indexes sites are different, and that have also been made clear by the court.

There have been loads of cases in the EU with "Deep-linking" as they call it, where even kids below the age of 15 get fined huge amounts for posting links on forums. (the case against Sharereactor.com)

That's still different coz the people POSTING got fined not the site that
indexes the links. If the site is just an index or crawler that indexes links
then you bypass the whole service facilitating pirating content.

If it would be that easy then all of them would have been closed by now.
Thepiratebay.org gets sued on a daily basis and is still live

[ServerGenius]

Not trying to be the smartass of this thread....I would like to see them gone
as much as the next guy in this thread

[KimJI]

Originally Posted by ServerGenius

Not trying to be the smartass of this thread....I would like to see them gone
as much as the next guy in this thread

Dont see you as such. You are free to think what you want

I'm not a expert in legal matters, I'm just referring to old cases

[ServerGenius]

from www.torrentspy.com

Hello Friends of TorrentSpy,

This message is to inform you about recent efforts by the motion picture studios to shut down TorrentSpy. As you may know, in February 2006 the major movie studios and their Washington lobby, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), filed a lawsuit against TorrentSpy and other search engines.

We guess that hiring hackers and turning a blind eye to identity theft is not enough for the movie studios and the MPAA. Now they want to know who you are, what you search for, and what you download. In short, it is the view of the movie studios that websites should not allow anonymous use and your activity on the Internet - anywhere - is their business.

The really scarry thing is that if we lose this court battle, the movie studios will be able to go after any search engine or website and force them to collect data about YOU. It is not an exaggeration to say that losing this fight is a nail in the Internet's coffin.

We have spent the last year challenging their relentless campaign against the 1st Amendment and personal privacy laws Worldwide. We have succeeded in delaying the court order to turn on logs while we appeal it. TorrentSpy will not create logs of what you do on the site without your consent.

While we use Google Analytics for website statistics, TorrentSpy servers have never tracked your IP Address, the searches you make, or how you use the site. We are dedicated to your privacy and we are fighting for your rights!

[ServerGenius]

ya see they present themselfes as a search engine....for torrents.

[Emil]

But they're not even the tracker! They won't know if I download a movie or not, or am I wrong?
They may know if I clicked on a torrent but not if I downloaded it...

[potter]

Ditto to post #21 & #22. They are merely a search engine dedicated to torrents. Torrents are not illegal in any form. It's just the fact most torrents are torrents of copyrighted material. However what people make torrents of has nothing to do with TS.com. And as Emil said, I don't think torrentspy has anything to do with the tracking of torrents. They merely allow you to search and download .torrent files. The tracking is completely third party.

[RawAlex]

Originally Posted by potter

Ditto to post #21 & #22. They are merely a search engine dedicated to torrents. Torrents are not illegal in any form. It's just the fact most torrents are torrents of copyrighted material. However what people make torrents of has nothing to do with TS.com. And as Emil said, I don't think torrentspy has anything to do with the tracking of torrents. They merely allow you to search and download .torrent files. The tracking is completely third party.

Potter, it is a nice try on their behalf to try to cover themselves in the veil of legality. It's a nice try, but it fails.

let's say you live in an apartment building, and each unit has been converted into a drug den, each run by a dealer pushing various forms of illegal narcotics. You stand at the front door, and when people say "who's got heroin", you say "apartment 2, and yeah, here is your 50% for AFF". "who's got weed" "Apartment 3, 4, and 8 - have you considered chatting live online at cams?".

You aren't selling the drugs, after all, just providing a search engine for drugs.

Conspiracy to commit an illegal act is a crime in an of itself. Without a torrent search engine or listing service, there would be little chance that surfers would randomly find torrents. The illegal act of distribution STARTS with the search...

None of this is about privacy or human rights. You don't have the right to steal.

[ServerGenius]

Originally Posted by RawAlex

Potter, it is a nice try on their behalf to try to cover themselves in the veil of legality. It's a nice try, but it fails.

let's say you live in an apartment building, and each unit has been converted into a drug den, each run by a dealer pushing various forms of illegal narcotics. You stand at the front door, and when people say "who's got heroin", you say "apartment 2, and yeah, here is your 50% for AFF". "who's got weed" "Apartment 3, 4, and 8 - have you considered chatting live online at cams?".

You aren't selling the drugs, after all, just providing a search engine for drugs.

Conspiracy to commit an illegal act is a crime in an of itself. Without a torrent search engine or listing service, there would be little chance that surfers would randomly find torrents. The illegal act of distribution STARTS with the search...

None of this is about privacy or human rights. You don't have the right to steal.

You're threory is flawed...torrent sites don't make commision on torrent
downloads, they make money on selling banners/traffic. Also telling some
junkie where is the nearest crackhouse isn't illegal. (At least not where I live)

[astounding]

Aha right. Just like they said the MP3's that are no digitally signed (by original author) will be illegal if found on your PC, hence you'd go to jail if found.

[gideongallery]

Originally Posted by RawAlex

Potter, it is a nice try on their behalf to try to cover themselves in the veil of legality. It's a nice try, but it fails.

let's say you live in an apartment building, and each unit has been converted into a drug den, each run by a dealer pushing various forms of illegal narcotics. You stand at the front door, and when people say "who's got heroin", you say "apartment 2, and yeah, here is your 50% for AFF". "who's got weed" "Apartment 3, 4, and 8 - have you considered chatting live online at cams?".

You aren't selling the drugs, after all, just providing a search engine for drugs.

Conspiracy to commit an illegal act is a crime in an of itself. Without a torrent search engine or listing service, there would be little chance that surfers would randomly find torrents. The illegal act of distribution STARTS with the search...

None of this is about privacy or human rights. You don't have the right to steal.

the problem with your arguement is that the DCMA has a safe harbour provision that protects you from the legal liability of copyright infringement as long as you take down offending content when the copyright holder makes a DCMA complient request.

as long as they are complying with the letter of the law then any illegal downloads are removed when the movie studio who made the movie makes such a request.
sure it is a paperwork nightmare but protection do exist.

[hungry hungry hippy]

Originally Posted by RawAlex

Potter, it is a nice try on their behalf to try to cover themselves in the veil of legality. It's a nice try, but it fails.

let's say you live in an apartment building, and each unit has been converted into a drug den, each run by a dealer pushing various forms of illegal narcotics. You stand at the front door, and when people say "who's got heroin", you say "apartment 2, and yeah, here is your 50% for AFF". "who's got weed" "Apartment 3, 4, and 8 - have you considered chatting live online at cams?".

You aren't selling the drugs, after all, just providing a search engine for drugs.

Conspiracy to commit an illegal act is a crime in an of itself. Without a torrent search engine or listing service, there would be little chance that surfers would randomly find torrents. The illegal act of distribution STARTS with the search...

None of this is about privacy or human rights. You don't have the right to steal.

ahahahaha this argument was pure shit, nice try.

so torrentspy turns into a mole, what's that mean.. people go to the other 100 torrent sites. you take one of them down, and more pop up?

you can't win. the cat left the bag years ago.

[slapass]

Originally Posted by hungry hungry hippy

ahahahaha this argument was pure shit, nice try.

so torrentspy turns into a mole, what's that mean.. people go to the other 100 torrent sites. you take one of them down, and more pop up?

you can't win. the cat left the bag years ago.

This is dumb. If it is illegal to run them and they prosecute just a few. Others will close and hosts will get nervous, etc. This is how you stop illegal activity.

[Michaelious]

Yeah they won't do it. They'll try and worm their way out of it.

[hungry hungry hippy]

Originally Posted by slapass

This is dumb. If it is illegal to run them and they prosecute just a few. Others will close and hosts will get nervous, etc. This is how you stop illegal activity.

and what if it isn't illegal in the country the site & its keepers are located....?

the world does not revolve around the US, sorry

[slapass]

Originally Posted by hungry hungry hippy

and what if it isn't illegal in the country the site & its keepers are located....?

the world does not revolve around the US, sorry

They have to proven to be illegal.... that is the point.

[nnweb]

anyone else notice they have the same attorney as AFF?

[Matt 26z]

If the MPAA succeeds in this, what is stopping a community of prudes in Hicksville from demanding that a porn site turn over logs so they can arrest citizens for bringing filth into their neighborhoods? There ARE places fucked up enough to do that.

[tiger]

Even if you are against torrents this not a good step.

What's next Google, Yahoo, MSN required to monitor all users activity?

[stev0]

Originally Posted by Emil

But they're not even the tracker! They won't know if I download a movie or not, or am I wrong?
They may know if I clicked on a torrent but not if I downloaded it...

exactly... they could track hits to the website and that's about it.

[Nails]

Originally Posted by Matt 26z

If the MPAA succeeds in this, what is stopping a community of prudes in Hicksville from demanding that a porn site turn over logs so they can arrest citizens for bringing filth into their neighborhoods? There ARE places fucked up enough to do that.

fucking awesome point, this is something that a few people who are spearheading this torrent deal aren't thinking of. What court battles are brought about or lost will have a negative effect on their porn income later.

[woj]

Originally Posted by nnweb

anyone else notice they have the same attorney as AFF?

heh, interesting...

[Pornwolf]

Raw Alex's analogy was pretty accurate.

Sure, it's a game of whack a mole... but steps have to be taken wherever possible. Until they figure out the best way to stop the advertising and monetization on torrent search sites and downloading apps this is all they can do.

It's interesting to see who supports torrents in this thread.

[KrisKross]

Originally Posted by RawAlex

Potter, it is a nice try on their behalf to try to cover themselves in the veil of legality. It's a nice try, but it fails.

let's say you live in an apartment building, and each unit has been converted into a drug den, each run by a dealer pushing various forms of illegal narcotics. You stand at the front door, and when people say "who's got heroin", you say "apartment 2, and yeah, here is your 50% for AFF". "who's got weed" "Apartment 3, 4, and 8 - have you considered chatting live online at cams?".

You aren't selling the drugs, after all, just providing a search engine for drugs.

Conspiracy to commit an illegal act is a crime in an of itself. Without a torrent search engine or listing service, there would be little chance that surfers would randomly find torrents. The illegal act of distribution STARTS with the search...

None of this is about privacy or human rights. You don't have the right to steal.

For the record, I'm not a torrent supporter. But your analogy is flawed. A SWAT team won't descend on Google's offices if I search for bomb making instructions, child porn or torrent files.

[Shoehorn!]

I'll be glad when all those fucking torrent sites are gone.

[Fap]

that sucks.. but they wont abide