4 ms·

Show HN: Instantly stream torrents in the browser

ChrisGranger 12y ago
Again? You just posted this yesterday...
- milankragujevic 12y ago
  Yes and nobody has noticed it. I read the rules, if the story hasn't got much attention it can be re-posted. I'm very sorry if I miss-interpreted the rules and in that case the mods can delete the story, but I'm not sure that I did.
- FatalLogic 12y ago
  I'm glad it was reposted. It seems quite interesting, for the coding challenge, the legal issues, and so on link to yesterday's discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9321810 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9321810 (and 8 months ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8079694 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8079694)
captn3m0 12y ago
This has been tried by a lot of people earlier, and it was _always_ invariably shut down. I remember joker.org as the last attempt. Why would this last any longer?
- milankragujevic 12y ago
  I'm not sure. If I can finance the servers with ad money, I can continue to move servers, open new accounts, etc... Currently it's on DO but when I get enough money I will switch to a Russian off-shore host where nobody will bother the website. I'm open to legal advice.
  - undefined0 12y ago
    Don't host in Russia. Pre-2012 Russia had lacked copyright laws, not anymore. I advise you to host in Switzerland. If you want multiple locations, jumping between Brazil, Latvia, Moldova, Luxembourg and Panama I would recommend. You're currently using GoDaddy as a registrar... massive mistake. Switch to an offshore accredited registrar. I recommend https://www.nazwa.pl/domeny/ https://www.nazwa.pl/domeny/ (Poland), https://regtons.com/en/support/accreditations/ https://regtons.com/en/support/accreditations/ (Czech Republic), if needed I can tell you of a trusted Latvian registrar by email. Also, Tonic.to & Vunic.vu but these are only for .to and .vu domain names. ISNic.is is good if you're getting a .is domain extension. Legally speaking, as long as you don't make the suggestion that you are aware of users voilating copyright law and don't promote infringement (either via a 'Recent downloads'/'Top Downloads' list), you should be fine. Also, it's always safer to incorporate and not to involve other people (conspiracy laws could bite you then). If you're using ffmpeg on your server, you're altering the video and can be liable for copyright takedowns but if you don't modify the file you're then considered a proxy/cache (but that's EU, I don't know whether it's the same in Canada).
    - milankragujevic 12y ago
      I'm not using ffmpeg on the server, just proxying the file. I don't even cache it. Thank you for the excellent advice. Just one question, do you think this is legal in Amsterdam (where the main server is hosted) and in France? I know it's probably illegal in the US, but then again everything is thanks to the reach of MPAA.
      - undefined0 12y ago
        The website in itself is not illegal, even in the US. However, the copyright cartel have strong influence and pressure hosting providers to ban you. The Netherlands is okay for some websites (file hosting) but bad for other similar sites (file sharing). You're in a new niche, so it's hard to know how you're provider will reach under pressure from BREIN and other anti-piracy units. It's something you'll have to learn from experience. In addition to my previous comment, it's also worth noting that Romania is very good for your type of website and they offer very cheap, high quality and fast bandwidth - Voxility.com and M247.ro come to mind. From my assumption, you should be fine in the netherlands but it is known that the MPAA is currently planning to sue Leaseweb for hosting cyberlockers in the Netherlands. So that might pose a risk to you in the future. I would be amazed if Adsense didn't suspend your account when you get popular. Once they do so, your biggest challange will be finding a way to generate revenue for your website. File hosts/sharing sites all use low paying ad networks, that's why you see installer adware mixed with popunders and a dozen ad banners on those sites. I recommend using two ad networks at a time so if one suspends you, you'll not be drained of funds. Video ads are the highest paying when you're unable to use adsense. AOL's Be-On network is fantastic (you can earn the same amount as Adsense with that network).
mijoharas 12y ago
I just get "Error loading media, file not found". Is the site under load due to hacker news traffic or is there something else going on? seems an interesting project, technically speaking.
- milankragujevic 12y ago
  Yes, I just switched from Apache to nginx and I'm testing it now. Apache is just too CPU intensive for DO's cheapest instance. I'm also finalizing install of 2 new servers. edit: it works now. edit 2: the new server is working and is splitting the load.
milankragujevic 12y ago
People, please be patient. There is very high load on the servers, I just added a third OVH server, and it should slowly balance out. If it doesn't work please try again.
milankragujevic 12y ago
It's interesting that about 40% of the streamed content is porn. That's something that I don't find surprising for some reason.

Again? You just posted this yesterday...

milankragujevic 12y ago
Yes and nobody has noticed it. I read the rules, if the story hasn't got much attention it can be re-posted. I'm very sorry if I miss-interpreted the rules and in that case the mods can delete the story, but I'm not sure that I did.
FatalLogic 12y ago
I'm glad it was reposted. It seems quite interesting, for the coding challenge, the legal issues, and so on link to yesterday's discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9321810 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9321810 (and 8 months ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8079694 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8079694)

This has been tried by a lot of people earlier, and it was _always_ invariably shut down. I remember joker.org as the last attempt. Why would this last any longer?

milankragujevic 12y ago
I'm not sure. If I can finance the servers with ad money, I can continue to move servers, open new accounts, etc... Currently it's on DO but when I get enough money I will switch to a Russian off-shore host where nobody will bother the website. I'm open to legal advice.
- undefined0 12y ago
  Don't host in Russia. Pre-2012 Russia had lacked copyright laws, not anymore. I advise you to host in Switzerland. If you want multiple locations, jumping between Brazil, Latvia, Moldova, Luxembourg and Panama I would recommend. You're currently using GoDaddy as a registrar... massive mistake. Switch to an offshore accredited registrar. I recommend https://www.nazwa.pl/domeny/ https://www.nazwa.pl/domeny/ (Poland), https://regtons.com/en/support/accreditations/ https://regtons.com/en/support/accreditations/ (Czech Republic), if needed I can tell you of a trusted Latvian registrar by email. Also, Tonic.to & Vunic.vu but these are only for .to and .vu domain names. ISNic.is is good if you're getting a .is domain extension. Legally speaking, as long as you don't make the suggestion that you are aware of users voilating copyright law and don't promote infringement (either via a 'Recent downloads'/'Top Downloads' list), you should be fine. Also, it's always safer to incorporate and not to involve other people (conspiracy laws could bite you then). If you're using ffmpeg on your server, you're altering the video and can be liable for copyright takedowns but if you don't modify the file you're then considered a proxy/cache (but that's EU, I don't know whether it's the same in Canada).
  - milankragujevic 12y ago
    I'm not using ffmpeg on the server, just proxying the file. I don't even cache it. Thank you for the excellent advice. Just one question, do you think this is legal in Amsterdam (where the main server is hosted) and in France? I know it's probably illegal in the US, but then again everything is thanks to the reach of MPAA.
    - undefined0 12y ago
      The website in itself is not illegal, even in the US. However, the copyright cartel have strong influence and pressure hosting providers to ban you. The Netherlands is okay for some websites (file hosting) but bad for other similar sites (file sharing). You're in a new niche, so it's hard to know how you're provider will reach under pressure from BREIN and other anti-piracy units. It's something you'll have to learn from experience. In addition to my previous comment, it's also worth noting that Romania is very good for your type of website and they offer very cheap, high quality and fast bandwidth - Voxility.com and M247.ro come to mind. From my assumption, you should be fine in the netherlands but it is known that the MPAA is currently planning to sue Leaseweb for hosting cyberlockers in the Netherlands. So that might pose a risk to you in the future. I would be amazed if Adsense didn't suspend your account when you get popular. Once they do so, your biggest challange will be finding a way to generate revenue for your website. File hosts/sharing sites all use low paying ad networks, that's why you see installer adware mixed with popunders and a dozen ad banners on those sites. I recommend using two ad networks at a time so if one suspends you, you'll not be drained of funds. Video ads are the highest paying when you're unable to use adsense. AOL's Be-On network is fantastic (you can earn the same amount as Adsense with that network).

mijoharas 12y ago

I just get "Error loading media, file not found". Is the site under load due to hacker news traffic or is there something else going on? seems an interesting project, technically speaking.

milankragujevic 12y ago
Yes, I just switched from Apache to nginx and I'm testing it now. Apache is just too CPU intensive for DO's cheapest instance. I'm also finalizing install of 2 new servers. edit: it works now. edit 2: the new server is working and is splitting the load.

milankragujevic 12y ago

People, please be patient. There is very high load on the servers, I just added a third OVH server, and it should slowly balance out. If it doesn't work please try again.

milankragujevic 12y ago

It's interesting that about 40% of the streamed content is porn. That's something that I don't find surprising for some reason.