4 ms·

To be fair, the Pirate Bay is almost exclusively tracking pirated software. It's also unfair to compare tapes and radio to the mass distribution and indexing ab

by jotto 18y ago

To be fair, the Pirate Bay is almost exclusively tracking pirated software. It's also unfair to compare tapes and radio to the mass distribution and indexing ability of the Internet.

kajecounterhack 18y ago
I agree, which is also why I think this spectrial was a mishap to begin with. They should have not attacked torrenting in general, they needed to attack the fact that Pirate Bay did nothing to remove torrents even by request. They also needed to show that Pirate Bay tracks almost exclusively pirated software/movies/music. They went after the wrong thing, because torrenting isn't inherently bad. It's only bad if people use it in the wrong way. Which, granted, happens a lot.
- mrtron 18y ago
  Clearly a technology is not to blame, or Google would be at fault for linking to them as well. But using torrents the 'wrong' way? File sharing is legal in Sweden, which is why they have been able to operate for this long in a very transparent way (in terms of who runs the massive site). Downloading music/movies is legal for personal use for me in Canada. Annoyingly, we pay a tax, but that is a whole other can of worms. Why would the Pirate Bay remove torrents by request? They are doing nothing wrong. The MPAA/RIAA's course of action should have been to try and track down and sue individual downloaders in the US. The reason they aren't keen on that anymore is the bad publicity of suing regular folks and especially children. I also really dislike the term 'wrong' here because it is not clear that it is wrong to copy a file. Downloads can lead to higher sales through exposure, and to me the rampant litigation to fight change (as demonstrated by the cartoon) is wrong.
  - jotto 18y ago
    There is no interpretation necessary, it is illegal/wrong to pirate MPAA and RIAA works. It doesn't matter if you think what they do is wrong - they have the law on their side.
    - vetinari 18y ago
      Illegal? Yes. Wrong? Not so sure. You should be able to download Queen songs or Steamboat Willie cartoon from the Internet. I see it as a form of civil disobedience against bought law. No matter how many trials the industry goes through, it will be not respected, because it is not balanced.
mrtron 18y ago
Tapes went well beyond what you are giving them credit for - the mixtape scene in rap pre-released compilations of hits and were massively popular. Many artists claim they went the equivalent of platinum on mixtapes in NY alone. The distribution chains were also quite complex and well defined. However - it also served as a method for new artists to gain exposure so artists would actually leak their own material to good DJ's, sometimes even paying them to use their material. So it was a symbiotic relationship, like downloading music is. It wasn't just teenage kids recording the radio. Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mix_Tape:_The_Art_of_Cassette_Culture http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mix_Tape:_The_Art_of_Cassette_C... if you want way too much information on it.
fabjan 18y ago
http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=pirate+bay+80+percent http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=pirate+bay+80+percent

by jotto 18y ago

To be fair, the Pirate Bay is almost exclusively tracking pirated software. It's also unfair to compare tapes and radio to the mass distribution and indexing ability of the Internet.

kajecounterhack 18y ago

I agree, which is also why I think this spectrial was a mishap to begin with. They should have not attacked torrenting in general, they needed to attack the fact that Pirate Bay did nothing to remove torrents even by request. They also needed to show that Pirate Bay tracks almost exclusively pirated software/movies/music. They went after the wrong thing, because torrenting isn't inherently bad. It's only bad if people use it in the wrong way. Which, granted, happens a lot.

mrtron 18y ago
Clearly a technology is not to blame, or Google would be at fault for linking to them as well. But using torrents the 'wrong' way? File sharing is legal in Sweden, which is why they have been able to operate for this long in a very transparent way (in terms of who runs the massive site). Downloading music/movies is legal for personal use for me in Canada. Annoyingly, we pay a tax, but that is a whole other can of worms. Why would the Pirate Bay remove torrents by request? They are doing nothing wrong. The MPAA/RIAA's course of action should have been to try and track down and sue individual downloaders in the US. The reason they aren't keen on that anymore is the bad publicity of suing regular folks and especially children. I also really dislike the term 'wrong' here because it is not clear that it is wrong to copy a file. Downloads can lead to higher sales through exposure, and to me the rampant litigation to fight change (as demonstrated by the cartoon) is wrong.
- jotto 18y ago
  There is no interpretation necessary, it is illegal/wrong to pirate MPAA and RIAA works. It doesn't matter if you think what they do is wrong - they have the law on their side.
  - vetinari 18y ago
    Illegal? Yes. Wrong? Not so sure. You should be able to download Queen songs or Steamboat Willie cartoon from the Internet. I see it as a form of civil disobedience against bought law. No matter how many trials the industry goes through, it will be not respected, because it is not balanced.

mrtron 18y ago

Tapes went well beyond what you are giving them credit for - the mixtape scene in rap pre-released compilations of hits and were massively popular. Many artists claim they went the equivalent of platinum on mixtapes in NY alone. The distribution chains were also quite complex and well defined. However - it also served as a method for new artists to gain exposure so artists would actually leak their own material to good DJ's, sometimes even paying them to use their material. So it was a symbiotic relationship, like downloading music is. It wasn't just teenage kids recording the radio. Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mix_Tape:_The_Art_of_Cassette_Culture http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mix_Tape:_The_Art_of_Cassette_C... if you want way too much information on it.

fabjan 18y ago

http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=pirate+bay+80+percent http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=pirate+bay+80+percent