6 ms·

What's the catch? I have a few trust issues when someone wants to pay his own money to give me access to mostly illegal content. Somebody just spent time makin

by wmt 12y ago

What's the catch? I have a few trust issues when someone wants to pay his own money to give me access to mostly illegal content. Somebody just spent time making a torrent streaming service, and is now paying for the bandwidth it takes to download that torrent content AND to upload it to your browser. What I could quickly see about the service is that the facebook "app" of it doesn't have too many users[1], dyn.com[2] handles the site DNS (not free) and redstation.com[3] hosts the service (not free). [1] https://developers.facebook.com/tools/explorer/?method=GET&path=720087414746210&version=v2.1 https://developers.facebook.com/tools/explorer/?method=GET&p... [2] http://who.is/whois/joker.org http://who.is/whois/joker.org [3] http://tools.pingdom.com/ping/?target=149.3.133.138&o=1 http://tools.pingdom.com/ping/?target=149.3.133.138&o=1

graystevens 12y ago
I'm assuming you can extract a nice amount of personal information from 'private' torrents and links. Excellent way to harvest accounts of private torrent sites for your own personal gain.
- jsmthrowaway 12y ago
  That isn't how private torrents work. They contain a key that identifies the user who downloaded it, for bookkeeping purposes on the site (tracking bytes in and bytes out for ratio purposes), but you cannot get into the site's UI from the information in the torrent. This was a deliberate design decision in most private tracker software, notably Gazelle, because it was accepted that people would post the .torrent files in other places. Many trackers also limit the IP addresses that are permitted to join a swarm based upon the same identifier in the torrent file; all of the ones I've been in have required me to disclose the IP addresses of my seedboxes, and attempting to use another IP address would get my account flagged for a ban. So no, your assumption is completely incorrect. Even if someone shoved a passthepopcorn torrent in there, (a) that person would likely get banned from ptp, (b) it probably wouldn't work in the first place because joker's servers couldn't join the swarm and (c) the information that the owner of joker can glean from such a torrent file would be almost entirely useless unless the goal is boosting the ratio of the user. As much as you'd assume about something you've never used, private torrents are actually a well-oiled, quite secure machine. It's easy to think of pirates as incompetent, but Gazelle is actually decent software and the biggest problem I ever faced while involved in that scene was DDoS attacks against the trackers.
  - aroch 12y ago
    >This was a deliberate design decision in most private tracker software, notably Gazelle, because it was accepted that people would post the .torrent files in other places Err no. Passkeys were designed so that you could track users without needing IP address -- IP tracking is fragile and doesn't work with multiple peers/ip, which happens very frequency. > Many trackers also limit the IP addresses that are permitted to join a swarm based upon the same identifier in the torrent file Once again, not really. Most sites don't really care what IPs you use (so long as they aren't part of blanket banned regions or similar). PTP does not require you disclose your IP, they don't care if you use multiple IPs, and doing so will not flag you for a ban. There are better ways of finding bad users, which includes sharing between trackers. >(a) that person would likely get banned from ptp, (b) it probably wouldn't work in the first place because joker's servers couldn't join the swarm and (c) the information that the owner of joker can glean from such a torrent file would be almost entirely useless unless the goal is boosting the ratio of the user. A) No, they wouldn't. B) Unless joker.com is using a custom bittorrent app (highly unlikely) they can join the swarm just fine
    - deleted 12y ago
      [deleted]
  - graystevens 12y ago
    Charming - it's been a while since I've touched a torrent, let alone a private one, things have obviously changed. Last time it was around, the equivalent of an API key was stored within the torrent file, allowing anyone in possession of the file 'access' to the website. By access, I mean access to RSS feeds and the like, allowing someone to effectively utilise the account with HTTP(S) calls. Edit: Still appears to be the case. Get the users unique code (call it what you will) from the .torrent, and understand the RSS URL structure for said website, and you've got yourself download links for all the torrents by using someone else's account.
    - deleted 12y ago
      [deleted]
tomp 12y ago
Ads. MegaUpload (and all other "upload"/filesharing websites), Grooveshark. Google and Facebook are not really giving you access to mostly illegal content, but are still paying their own money for the bandwidth (which is huge, in the case of Facebook).
Codename47tr 12y ago
I think after few months, it'll not be free. This is the trial
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
foobarqux 12y ago
The catch is the owner is clueless. If it doesn't close due to load in a few days it will close due to liability in a few weeks.
- wmt 12y ago
  I would've disagreed with your assessment, but then the guy came out with his (probably) own name and picture @ https://twitter.com/ufukaltinok https://twitter.com/ufukaltinok
  - pault 12y ago
    Looks like he's Turkish? I know the put.io team is located in Turkey, and they run a similar service (albeit paid), so copyright infringement might not be a legal issue for residents there.
    - wmt 12y ago
      Apparently they are making (or made already?) it easier to sue people in Turkey for p2p copyright infringement. However, the fact that put.io is still up tells a lot about how effectively those laws are enacted. http://adventuresinankara.com/2012/07/30/adapt-or-die-guest-blogger-takes-a-look-at-turkeys-new-law-on-downloading-music-and-movies/ http://adventuresinankara.com/2012/07/30/adapt-or-die-guest-...
namsterdamus 12y ago
No catch really, This isn't new my friend ran server farms that did this same thing in china and asia. Originally they served as proxy servers for delivering censored content in China but then due to the availability of massive server farms he tested out a service that streamed torrents, even megauploads links, zip files, etc all from a single site. I think it was called PaperBus. Because the farms are in China it was cost effective and could transfer torrents relatively quickly server to server after which it would eventually have many of the files already cached and could continue to serve it up faster.
corford 12y ago
Off-topic but does anyone here have any first hand experience with redstation.com ? Hadn't heard of them before but have just checked their prices and they're in the same ball park as Hetzner. Surprised me given they are a UK based operation (our hosting always seems to be more expensive than equivalent stuff on the continent).
rasz_pl 12y ago
Downloading movies is perfectly legal in many European countries.
- Bpit 12y ago
  Perfectly legal is way different than not pursued ...
  - rasz_pl 12y ago
    Yes, and in many countries it is _perfectly legal_. In Poland for example its even legal to make copies of movies and music for your closest family and friends. Only commercial distribution is prohibited.

by wmt 12y ago

graystevens 12y ago

I'm assuming you can extract a nice amount of personal information from 'private' torrents and links. Excellent way to harvest accounts of private torrent sites for your own personal gain.

jsmthrowaway 12y ago
That isn't how private torrents work. They contain a key that identifies the user who downloaded it, for bookkeeping purposes on the site (tracking bytes in and bytes out for ratio purposes), but you cannot get into the site's UI from the information in the torrent. This was a deliberate design decision in most private tracker software, notably Gazelle, because it was accepted that people would post the .torrent files in other places. Many trackers also limit the IP addresses that are permitted to join a swarm based upon the same identifier in the torrent file; all of the ones I've been in have required me to disclose the IP addresses of my seedboxes, and attempting to use another IP address would get my account flagged for a ban. So no, your assumption is completely incorrect. Even if someone shoved a passthepopcorn torrent in there, (a) that person would likely get banned from ptp, (b) it probably wouldn't work in the first place because joker's servers couldn't join the swarm and (c) the information that the owner of joker can glean from such a torrent file would be almost entirely useless unless the goal is boosting the ratio of the user. As much as you'd assume about something you've never used, private torrents are actually a well-oiled, quite secure machine. It's easy to think of pirates as incompetent, but Gazelle is actually decent software and the biggest problem I ever faced while involved in that scene was DDoS attacks against the trackers.
- aroch 12y ago
  >This was a deliberate design decision in most private tracker software, notably Gazelle, because it was accepted that people would post the .torrent files in other places Err no. Passkeys were designed so that you could track users without needing IP address -- IP tracking is fragile and doesn't work with multiple peers/ip, which happens very frequency. > Many trackers also limit the IP addresses that are permitted to join a swarm based upon the same identifier in the torrent file Once again, not really. Most sites don't really care what IPs you use (so long as they aren't part of blanket banned regions or similar). PTP does not require you disclose your IP, they don't care if you use multiple IPs, and doing so will not flag you for a ban. There are better ways of finding bad users, which includes sharing between trackers. >(a) that person would likely get banned from ptp, (b) it probably wouldn't work in the first place because joker's servers couldn't join the swarm and (c) the information that the owner of joker can glean from such a torrent file would be almost entirely useless unless the goal is boosting the ratio of the user. A) No, they wouldn't. B) Unless joker.com is using a custom bittorrent app (highly unlikely) they can join the swarm just fine
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
- graystevens 12y ago
  Charming - it's been a while since I've touched a torrent, let alone a private one, things have obviously changed. Last time it was around, the equivalent of an API key was stored within the torrent file, allowing anyone in possession of the file 'access' to the website. By access, I mean access to RSS feeds and the like, allowing someone to effectively utilise the account with HTTP(S) calls. Edit: Still appears to be the case. Get the users unique code (call it what you will) from the .torrent, and understand the RSS URL structure for said website, and you've got yourself download links for all the torrents by using someone else's account.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]

tomp 12y ago

Ads. MegaUpload (and all other "upload"/filesharing websites), Grooveshark. Google and Facebook are not really giving you access to mostly illegal content, but are still paying their own money for the bandwidth (which is huge, in the case of Facebook).

Codename47tr 12y ago

I think after few months, it'll not be free. This is the trial

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

foobarqux 12y ago

The catch is the owner is clueless. If it doesn't close due to load in a few days it will close due to liability in a few weeks.

wmt 12y ago
I would've disagreed with your assessment, but then the guy came out with his (probably) own name and picture @ https://twitter.com/ufukaltinok https://twitter.com/ufukaltinok
- pault 12y ago
  Looks like he's Turkish? I know the put.io team is located in Turkey, and they run a similar service (albeit paid), so copyright infringement might not be a legal issue for residents there.
  - wmt 12y ago
    Apparently they are making (or made already?) it easier to sue people in Turkey for p2p copyright infringement. However, the fact that put.io is still up tells a lot about how effectively those laws are enacted. http://adventuresinankara.com/2012/07/30/adapt-or-die-guest-blogger-takes-a-look-at-turkeys-new-law-on-downloading-music-and-movies/ http://adventuresinankara.com/2012/07/30/adapt-or-die-guest-...

namsterdamus 12y ago

No catch really, This isn't new my friend ran server farms that did this same thing in china and asia. Originally they served as proxy servers for delivering censored content in China but then due to the availability of massive server farms he tested out a service that streamed torrents, even megauploads links, zip files, etc all from a single site. I think it was called PaperBus. Because the farms are in China it was cost effective and could transfer torrents relatively quickly server to server after which it would eventually have many of the files already cached and could continue to serve it up faster.

corford 12y ago

Off-topic but does anyone here have any first hand experience with redstation.com ? Hadn't heard of them before but have just checked their prices and they're in the same ball park as Hetzner. Surprised me given they are a UK based operation (our hosting always seems to be more expensive than equivalent stuff on the continent).

rasz_pl 12y ago

Downloading movies is perfectly legal in many European countries.

Bpit 12y ago
Perfectly legal is way different than not pursued ...
- rasz_pl 12y ago
  Yes, and in many countries it is _perfectly legal_. In Poland for example its even legal to make copies of movies and music for your closest family and friends. Only commercial distribution is prohibited.