p2pnet - rss feed: Has p2pnet gone beyond the pale?
p2pnet :- I get up at around 3:00 am every morning, make a coffee, go downstairs and boot up p2pnet for the day.
The first thing I do is check incoming comments for SPAM because even with the excellent Akismet junkmail application, individual posts still get through, usually from China or the US, and have to be killed by hand.
This means I also see ‘good,’ so to speak, and today’s comments include items from catflap and Zathras.
Lately, interspersed with regular items, I’ve been running others centering on celebrities. They’re usually singers, usually young, and often, but not always, in trouble with drugs and alcohol.
This has upset catflap, who’s been p2pnet contributor for a long time, and he’s been posting ‘Miley Who?’ or ‘Amy Who?’ or ‘Britney Who?,’ and so on, under stories.
Fair enough, up to a point. But it was getting old and in a private email, I asked catflap to stop.
Under Hannah Montana / Miley Cyrus: Best of Both, he posts:
enough already.
miley who? miley who? miley who?
miley … who cares?
i’m starting to agree with the others here who’ve become disappointed with the types of “stories” appearing here on a daily - or sometimes twice-/thrice-daily - basis.
p2pnet has veered so far away from what it used to do well that now it’s become almost a tabloid and close to being a joke. it’s like reading an issue of Tiger Beat magazine.
i stay away from yahoo, google “news”, cnn (as often as possible) and other tabloid-esque websites and blogs. that’s not the type of news i’m interested in on a regular basis.
an interesting story once in a while about miley, kylie, paris, lindsey, kate and ashley, et al is sometimes a cute diversion, but i come to read p2pnet for interesting, real stories that affect myself and others interested in p2p and technology.
and i felt somewhat honoured when, a few years ago, jon asked me to become the official p2pnet roving reporter, to contribute on topical issues, to help him in research, and make more people aware of p2pnet.
i know all about jon’s lawsuits, and i know he has to do what he can to raise money and support his family on what p2pnet brings in, as well as attracting new readers. i’ve never been paid by jon, nor have i ever asked him to pay me.
but now i’ve become disillusioned by the nonstop nonsense pieces cropping up here regularly.
like others here, i’ve feel disenfranchised. p2pnet isn’t addressing many important issues anymore.
i used to consider p2pnet a news website. i don’t think i do anymore. but i hope i’ll be able to change my opinion some day soon.
i’ll continue to contribute when i have some news or an interesting interview.
i’m just so disappointed in the downward turn.
Under it, “Unfortunately I have to agree with Catflap,” says Zathras, going on:
I used to love coming to this site and was always eager to read Jon’s latest insights into the evolving world of p2p technology (and catflap’s articles were always intriguing as well).
I find myself visiting this site less and less and on the occasion I do visit, I believe it is far less informative than it once was.
I appreciate all the efforts Jon put forward to educate me (and hundreds like me) in the ongoing struggles against the media conglomerate.
I wish Jon all the best with his new diverse format.
But I think I must look elsewhere for the type of articles which interest me.
I’m really sorry catflap and Zathras feel like that. I really am. And several other people have said much the same in other comment posts.
Here’s why
I now include the types of stories which have upset catflap and Zathras for three reasons. Click here for another post on this:
But for now, and in brief:
1 - There isn’t much point in continually preaching to the converted so I started running items on the likes of Britney and Miley hoping to pull in new readers, especially younger people, who may not have come across the kind of problems discussed here —- for example the way students are being victimised by the money hungry corporate music and movie industries; the way the cartels are invading classrooms to quite literally brainwash young children, and so on. But these are far from being the only issues and every time I see something I think is relevant, I try to do a story or stories on it. Are the Miley-type posts bringing in new readers? Under every story there’s a count of visitors and the numbers speak for themselves. Do these new people see other content? I don’t know, but I sure hope so.
2 - The stories generate very small amounts of income. Words underlined in green are linked to advertisers and when they’re clicked, I get a small amount. I don’t know what yesterday’s came to, but for the four days prior: 14 January $7.08; 15 January $3.50; 16 January $12.67; 17 January $6.79. But at the end of the month, it can amount to a couple of hundred dollars, or more, and it all helps. Because I’d bet 99.9% of the people who come to p2pnet wouldn’t work for what I and my family live on. [NOTE: I’ve since cancelled the text ads mention here.]
3 - As I’ve said before, p2pnet isn’t a business: it isn’t entrepreneurial and was never intended to become a full-time occupation. But that’s what it is today and I count myself really lucky to be running this site. Sometimes I get up in the morning wondering why I bother, but everyone has off days and mostly, I feel privileged to be doing something which may be making a difference, no matter how small. I know ideas and stories which appear here for the first time are picked up elsewhere, sometimes by the mainstream media. p2pnet is rarely mentioned as the original source, but that’s standard and since the object of the exercise is to get the message out, it doesn’t matter.
When I started p2pnet in 2002, it was one of the very few sites which constantly and consistently covered the depredations of the RIAA, MPAA, et al, and tried to cover the victims and their stories.These days, even the lamescream on and off-line periodicals write about what’s happening. They often get it wrong and their stories are all too frequently slanted in the direction of the labels and studios. But it’s a start.
Now don’t get me wrong; I’m not claiming p2pnet is the reason this is happening. I know it’s not. But I’ve tried to be part of the movement to counter the non-stop bullshit and outright lies pouring in a constant stream from the movie and music industry cartels, and which are regurgitated as ‘fact’ by the corporate press, very significant numbers of whom are owned and/or controlled by the very same cartels.
And finally …
Another reason I’ve started running some of the celebrity stories is: I’m a recovering drug addict and alcoholic. I started using when I was 13 and stopped when I was 45.
So when I write about Britney or Lindsay or Amy or anyone else in their boat, I hope I’m also making kids who may think it’s glamorous to be like them, think twice.
Has the time has come for me to stop publishing p2pnet? Have I strayed too far off track and off topic?
It’s hard work and I’ll be 66 on February 6 and perhaps I should cease and desist, as I’ve been asked (ordered 
) to do by several companies.
I still have two court cases to deal with and they both spring directly from stories published in p2pnet. And there’s another lurking in the background.
I have no idea when they’ll be resolved or what the outcomes will be. But I’m no different from the people pilloried by the entertainment industry, with the music labels to the fore. I’m being sued by a very rich company and a very rich individual, and the third case involves an equally rich organisation.
They have adequate resources. I don’t have any.
However, I do have an 11-year-old daughter who’s being educated at home and thanks to p2pnet, she’s learning a lot about how the world operates, and that it’s important to stand up for something you believe in.
Emma is showing signs of wanting to do some writing. She’s working on a book and she’s already contributed one piece to p2pnet, with another on the way.
“p2pnet has veered so far away from what it used to do well that now it’s become almost a tabloid and close to being a joke,” says catflap. “it’s like reading an issue of Tiger Beat magazine.”
No one is forced to read about Britney or Amy or Miley. The stories are easily identified by their headlines. Don’t like them? Then don’t read them. There are still plenty of others of the type which have been appearing in p2pnet since Day One.
I’m sorry catflap and Zathras feel the way they do. But that’s what freedom of choice and freedom of expression are all about. Without the ability to choose, we all might just as well be dead —- or be content as unthinking corporate cash cow consumers.
End of sermon 
Cheers! And thanks. And all the best …
Jon Newton
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January 19th, 2008 at 9:48 am
Hi Jon.
Allong the same lines, recently I have been doing some thinking about posting more technical content on my blog. The problem is that it would disturb the flavor of the blog and turn off the few readers it might have.
When we create a blog it takes on a life of its own. People develop expectations on what content will be there. When you violate those expectations you violate an unspoken trust.
This is not to say that you shouldnt earn a living or blog about things that truely affect you as a human being, but perhaps p2pnet isnt the place to do that? It takes a few minutes to set up another wordpress site where you can express yourself without diluting what people want from p2pnet.
In any case, my hear goes out to you and famil. Thank you all for your hard work and keep up the good work.
-Marty
January 19th, 2008 at 10:10 am
You cannot please everyone, Jon. And do Catflap and Zathras have their own sites which do not have the problems they find in yours?
January 19th, 2008 at 10:17 am
” You cannot please everyone, Jon. And do Catflap and Zathras have their own sites which do not have the problems they find in yours? ”
Precisely.
I fully understand the reasoning behind the changes.
Makes perfect sense to me.
If I don’t wish to read an article, I won’t .. it’s that simple.
Where are THEIR sites ?
How much work do they put in them ?
January 19th, 2008 at 11:30 am
I agree with Paulus and with Dreddsnik.
I don’t fault catflap and zathras for their opinions, and I can tell that they sincerely do appreciate what Jon does, but in my view loyalty to the good guys is paramount. If Jon has to broaden his market a bit, to survive, that is fine with me. As Dreddsnik so aptly put it, “If I don’t wish to read an article, I won’t… it’s that simple.”
In response to Jon’s question, no, p2pnet has not gone beyond the pale. It continues to be making an important contribution.
And if it has to experiment a bit to bring in new readers, and with them new advertisers, that’s totally fine in my book.
January 19th, 2008 at 11:33 am
Now, can you share any info on any good Paris Hilton litigations I can cover on my blog?
January 19th, 2008 at 11:33 am
This is one of four news sites (the other three are all tech news) which I read on a daily basis. While one or two of the other sites do cover the p2p issues and lawsuits they often do so from a pro-cartel point of view. As, indeed, the mainstream news media does (from a much more pro-cartel view).
One of the other sites I read also runs stories like this and attracts lots of comments of “what’s the IT angle?” from some readers. It is done for the same reason as it is here; to draw readers in by improving the google page rankings. It also has the added benefit that extra people means extra people for clicking on the ad links which generates revenue to support the site.
As Jon says if you don’t want to read the celebrity stories then don’t. Perhaps you could change your bookmark away from the main page to the p2p category (http://www.p2pnet.net/categories/p2p) which would make it easier for you to avoid them.
Now part of the problem for catflap and Zathras may be the drop (perceived or real I’m not sure) of stories directly related to p2p; I think part of this is that p2p in general has been under siege for quite a while and the different forms available has been dropping.
I remember even just a couple of years ago that there was many more applications out there. Now, admittedly, I tried very few (I’ve only ever used DC++ and BitTorrent and the latter I haven’t used for quite some time; since the death of suprnova I think) and some of the others I hear came loaded with malware but they did exist and others existed that were sans malware. And now they don’t.
p2pnet is largely a lone voice in the world in that it doesn’t repeat verbatim the press releases of the media cartels (unless quoting them for the purposes of lampooning) and we need to do what we can to support it.
If you do feel that the celebrity stories and the like are a problem, then how about trying to help Jon out. I’ve seen articles here before which bore names other than Jon’s; if you want more p2p stories and less celebrity stories then how about helping out by finding this type of story and sending them to Jon?
Instead of complaining, be constructive.
January 19th, 2008 at 11:52 am
I have to agree also - I think of some of the “celebrity” stuff as “a break from your normally scheduled programming.” Since I don’t normally read the going ons of the young and the restless on sites that purvey most of that kind of stuff, it doesn’t bother me when in the course of a day, there’s one article (that I can choose to read or not) here amidst all the good reporting I’ve come to expect on p2pnet. If it helps out with things, then so be it! Keep the excellent articles coming as well, and I come back daily. Thank you Jon for what you do!
January 19th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
I don’t read much of the celebrity stuff because, like others, it just doesn’t interest me. However, ignoring it costs me nothing. Your reasoning is sound. Just keep doing what you’re doing.
January 19th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
We all pound the entertainment cartels for there refusal to evolve, their
inability to change when change is necessary.
Now jon is pounded for evolving, for changing when change is necessary for growth ?
That seems strange, and wrong.
January 19th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
I agree with the two individuals in the respect that p2p has veered from what it used to be but one must admit that if had not veered , it would probably no longer exist as a site which I check everyday as the first or second item on my agenda. I just ignore the items that I have no interest in and go to the items that I do have an interest in. As long as the site continues to provide articles and references to articles of the nature that p2p was started for, I will be here.
One must do what is necessary to survive and if your other articles help those with the same problems that you had in the past, more power to you. This is one of the few times I write so obviously I feel that your presence is important to us. thank you
jack
January 19th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
I, like many others here, agree that the side stories do not take away from the overall content. While sometimes I don’t have interest in the celeb stuff, other times it’s a nice break. I NEVER read that stuff elsewhere, I read 90% tech blogs/news with a little BBC on the side to keep up on major world affairs. I don’t watch E! or MTV or any other crap TV…so I guess I could say when I look at the RSS feed and I see celeb stories, sometimes I ignore them and sometimes, well, curiosity gets the better of me. I can see how a contributer might have something to say about the stories that accompany their own, and I also know that resistance to change is basic human nature, so yeah at the risk of being redundant, I don’t fault catflap or zathras for their opinions either. I do have my reservations however, about people who like to complain rather than give constructive criticism! All that aside I just wanted to state that I support whatever this site does, so long as it doesn’t loose track of its primary mission, I could care less about the extra filler.
January 19th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
I read p2pnet everyday. Its almost one of the first sites I go to. I consider the site a blog. I expect when I first come to the site their will be some tech stuff, whats up with the several lawsuits going on, and anything else that might peak my interest. I dont mind reading the happenings of celebrities cause I also go to TMZ and those types of sites. Cause as much as I may not like them or what they do they do have an impact on people.
Somedays there may not be enough tech type stories to fill the day so if some other stuff is thrown in then I dont mind. Its up to Jon to find stories that will atract more readers. Someone may happen to come a across a Miley story and happen across another story and boom they might want to check out the site more often.
You have my support Jon no matter what stories run here, because they will always interest someone.
-Jay
(a fellow VI resident)
-Also Im curious why sometimes after I post a comment I get this:
“You are posting comments too quickly. Slow down.”
January 19th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
-Also Im curious why sometimes after I post a comment I get this:
“You are posting comments too quickly. Slow down.”
who knows why? when that happens just wait a few seconds and try again.
January 19th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
I get the “posting to quick” message as well for the very first post. However I know what it is on my end. Partly NoScript partly http blocked. I open those and it will pass the post.
Still I find that I don’t read as many articles as I used to read here. As was suggested, if the title of the article doesn’t interest, I don’t bother.
I’ve see a few of the “who” posts, even made one or two myself. Prehaps the difference in that is that I have no clue who they are. Not a TeenyBopper, don’t watch tv. So the who, wasn’t a comment on lack of substance but I guess a comment on the lack of exposure to something I care nothing for. Who really did mean “who?”
I do find that I wander a good bit. P2Pnet is my homepage, has been for a long long time. Sort of followed Jon from the other place.
I do know that news articles don’t just happen to pop up when you need it. Sometimes there are dull newsdays. Have even made comment to such nature from time to time, not to goad Jon but just as a side comment that prehaps the quality was a little off that day.
Still I’m still here reading, maybe just not as feverantly.
January 19th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
What ‘other place’ do you mean?
January 19th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
I have been highly concerned too about the lack of any focus on the central topic this site is supposed to be dedicated to.
I surely don’t mind like a story or 2 a day on celebrities, but lately really it seems to be like 6-8, and maybe I’m just managing to miss the stories that actually ARE on the topic of this site, but I struggle to recall a whole bunch.
To me it feels like the noise to signal on this site has literally gone to be about 90% noise, 10% signal.
I would have no problem at all with whatever content they wanted to publish if the celeb noise didn’t clog up the few spaces in my RSS feed reader and (probably) make me miss some of the stories I actually subscribed to the feed to read.
So my conclusion is, if there was some way to filter that stuff out of the RSS, those stories wouldn’t bother me in the least, but until that happens, I am paying less and less attention to the articles on this site, and seriously weighing whether to unsubscribe.
January 19th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Hi:
To Paulus, I was an (unpaid) associate editor on musicdish.com and for a brief time, a (paid) editor on Boycott-RIAA.com / dmusic.com.
My friend Bill Evans (who founded Boycott-RIAA, selling it when he couldn’t afford to support it any more) also worked on the sites. We both left when we could no longer stomach the way they were being managed. But I was also running p2pnet at the same time.
The reference might also be to OTRiCS, a site I started in the 1990s. It became pretty popular as well and I had to close it down when the expense became too much.
To p2ponly, “lately really it seems to be like 6-8,” not even nearly.
Cheers!
January 19th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
As someone who has read her sister’s Tiger Beat mags back in my misguided youth :), I have to say that this site has very little in common with TB.
Jon, as I have mentioned before, I don’t have a problem with the celebrity news. If people are upset about inclusion of this type of news, they also have the option of sending you a few bucks every once in a while - if more people did this and on a regular basis, you might not need to include the celebrity stuff.
January 19th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Hi Dorothy:
“… they also have the option of sending you a few bucks every once in a while - if more people did this and on a regular basis, you might not need to include the celebrity stuff”.
I’m working on a way to bring in some income so I’ll won’t so completely dependent on p2pnet, but I won’t know if that’s going to take hold until sometime this summer.
Meanwhile, I have to admit I’m now finding the tales of horror which are a routine part of a celebrity’s day pretty interesting, in a macabre sort of way.
(I should point out Dorothy made a handsome donation to p2pnet and that after telling her what I was going to do, I passed it on to the Kapan Kids, on which there’ll be a new post tomorrow.)
Cheers!
January 19th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
I believe that p2pnet still does a great job, i don’t mind the mentions of celebrities. they are only human beings after all. they have problems. those problems are just as important as the p2p problem this site is devoted to covering, raising awareness of those problems can only be a good thing. keep up the good work!
January 19th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Glad to see somebody else thinks p2p is a pathetic mess.
Can’t bring yourself to admit that “filesharing” and it’s attendant scene came out of a desire to get “free” mp3s, whether those producing/distributing the music wanted that, or not.
Can’t bring yourself to admit the anti-commercial bias that underlies everything you put on this site. Even the idea that the organization representing those who CREATE the content you people want “for free” might actually take steps to fight back annoys you. Anybody who cries foul on the p2p scene is declared to be an “RIAA troll”.
So now, in addition to your usual sloppy bullshit, you’ve decided to become the internet equivalent of the National Enquirer. Another step downward for an already cheesy site.
But I will give you one thing, Newton: that “I’m going to have to sell the site” scam worked out brilliantly. We all bought into it, and it probably drummed up vast amounts of readership for your bllog-by-any-other-name, here.
Keep up the good work: it’s not like being anti-corporate, anti-commercial, and/or defending rampant theft is that difficult. It certaintly doesn’t take any kind of moral fortitude.
January 20th, 2008 at 12:23 am
when i wrote my original reply i emailed jon with the link (so he’d be instantly aware of it), knowing it would probably be made into a posting and would subsequently generate a flurry of responses both negative and positive.
jon and i have known each other for quite some time in both a “professional” and “personal” sense - inasmuch as the limitations of a 7,000+ mile internet friendship can allow. it wasn’t the first email i’d ever sent him.
i’ve also called jon several times on the telephone over these past three years to discuss several lawsuits, articles, interviews, publicity matters, and general chit-chat. (and i never reversed the charges
).
we’ve also had a few arguments by email as well as on the phone, and i don’t believe jon took my so-called “attack” as personally as some others seem to believe he did - or indeed that i meant it that way at all. but it does seem those others have transfered their own emotions to jon, much as a client might do with their psychoanalyst.
i don’t shit where i eat - and i certainly wouldn’t “attack” jon on a personal level. my comments are my own, and how i feel about the direction p2pnet has taken recently. and i know jon understands that even if no-one else does.
i’m not interested in a pat on the back or a slap in the face either way. but i wanted to say what i said, and i said it.
all of the contributors and (most of) the readers do appreciate what jon does for the p2p/technology community as a whole, and my comments are not to be construed as otherwise. for without p2pnet, it’s true, there might not be even half the number of message boards and news sites dedicated to bringing the rights of the consumer/customer to the forefront and exposing the corrupt business practices of the corrupt conglomerates which used to rule and dictate to the unwashed masses.
in response to a couple of the replies above: you don’t need to know whether or not i’ve ever donated money to p2pnet. that’s strictly between myself and jon.
and…
i’ve had my own p2p-based message board, as well as having been a moderator on several others and recognized as a “visiting/guest staff” on still others because of my association to p2pnet.
as a regular reader of, and contributor to, p2pnet, i of course don’t belittle the good work that jon does. nor do i ignore the financial and legal situations he and his family are in. i do what i can to help him and he knows that. no-one else need be concerned.
i’ve said it publicly (and privately to jon) before that i’m grateful to him for inviting me to be part of his “staff”.
although he’d often told me he’d like to be able to pay me and the other contributors, and at one time there was a chance of that happening, i never pressed him on it or demanded he send me a check. that’s not why i stay here, and jon knows that.
my only beef (and my reasons) - which i won’t go into again - is detailed in my reply. i don’t care if anyone agrees with me or not.
so there.
January 20th, 2008 at 3:03 am
I have a suggestion! Create a second RSS feed without all that tabloid stuff. It would help tremendously.
January 20th, 2008 at 6:10 am
I have only been Reading p2p for about 6 months, I do agree that some of the stories do veer a little too much. But at the same time I do on occasion have a spazim of the arm and click the wrong headline and i have found myself enjoying a few. But a second RSS feed would be a VERY good idea.
January 20th, 2008 at 7:29 am
If you don’t like the tabloid stories, DON’T read them… it’s that simple. lol
Henry Emrich, have we introduced you to Sam I Am - you two should go out on a date sometime
January 20th, 2008 at 11:07 am
i think the celeb posts are interesting on top of all the other topics posted here!
i say keep up the good work
i always try to click a few sponsored links for this site
January 20th, 2008 at 11:36 am
“Henry Emrich, have we introduced you to Sam I Am - you two should go out on a date sometime”
shudder. two nasties having a ball
January 20th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
If I said Catflap’s post hadn’t troubled me, initially, I’d be lying. But it didn’t last for long and meanwhile, the comments (most of them anyway
) were really encouraging. I post every day without a lot of feedback and it’s good to know my efforts aren’t totally wasted 
I get half-a-dozen or so emails a month and most of them are in a vein similar to Henry’s. And who knows? Maybe he’s the author of some of them. heh.
Following catflap’s post, the proportion of negative versus plus was about the same as the comment posts, and one was particularly pleasing.
Morg has been posting occasional anonymous comments for about as long as catflap. He’s never told me his name but he’s based somewhere in Europe and works for the corporate entertainment industry. Movies or music? I don’t know. But I suspect music.
”For various reasons,” he emailed me, “I do not post as often as I would like, but I still read p2pnet fairly regularly and I can tell you this: your efforts are not going unnoticed and p2pnet is regular and required reading in certain quarters, which might surprise you, although I suspect not. So keep it up.”
I plan to, Morg, and everyone else.
Thanks for your support. It means a lot.
Cheers!
(PS - As vitriolic as Henry is, I can respect the fact he at least has the courage to sign his name, unlike Sam I Am.)
January 20th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Catflap, you are speaking from both sides of your mouth. You say “i don’t shit where i eat - and i certainly wouldn’t “attack” jon on a personal level.”
You also say P2PNet has “veered so far away from what it used to do well that now it’s become almost a tabloid and close to being a joke”.
How personal can you get?
Why would you want to still be associated with something like that?
Just asking.
January 20th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
P2PNet ftw
keep it up Jon! I read this blog every single day, and its been amazing to actually watch the process through which p2p has turned from a minor issue into a somewhat international issue, and its been an experience to read the reports on the ongoing battle between corporate SOBs and internet users, I’ve never seen any other subject documented with this much precision in any other online blog.
Keep up the good work!!! 0_0
January 20th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Well, I wanted to be fair about this, so I went and, for the first time, actually looked at the main page, instead of my RSS feed of the page.
It is very frustrating, it really makes it look like somehow I am managing to miss, in my feed reader, a large majority of the types of stories I actually subscribe to the feed for. I hadn’t really had any previous concept of just how prolific the story authors here are, and it really changes the percentages I suggested before.
I’m not sure if there is any solution for this. I went and counted the stories posted for the 18th, a pretty busy day, and they totaled 15, the exact number of slots I have in my feed reader, so I really shouldn’t be missing stuff.
I guess the reason the numbers I mentioned earlier seem so high is I wasn’t really able to divide the stories by date looking at them through my feed reader. So I was looking at the window of stories posted over one evening and the following pre-afternoon when I’m usually online.
It is kind of difficult to get a true feel for the percentages of stories falling into the various p2p-related stories (including the p2p, MPAA/RIAA, DRM, and sometimes open source categories).
All that said, I really do greatly appreciate this site for the content I AM actually interested. The only other sites I’ve been able to find on this subject with RSS feeds are zeropaid, slyck, the p2p category on download squad, and torrentfreak, and of all those only TF seems to publish anything remotely like a substantial amount of (on topic) content compared to p2p.net.
If anyone can point my at any RSS Feeds (I dont visit sites lacking feeds) I am missing, I would greatly appreciate such.
January 20th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Thanks for going to the trouble, p2ponly.
Cheers!
Jon
January 20th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
I would be very sad if Jon were to quit publishing P2Pnet. I think it does a great service for many.
Several years ago, when my RIAA lawsuit first started, I had no idea what was happening, who these people were who were contacting me, or what any of this was about. I couldn’t find any body I knew who knew anything about it either. The only place I could find information at first was the internet. Back then, there were only a handful of sites to educate myself with. P2Pnet was one of those as well as Ray Beckerman’s, “Recording Industry vs. the People.” I will always be extremely grateful to these two sites as well as the people who run them. They have made a difference in my life.
As for myself, I don’t always read all the celebrity articles either, but I don’t think they are a bad idea if they draw more readers. I just simply skip over what I’m not interested in. I think using any way we can to educate people is useful. Not everyone ever is going to be interested in the same things. For myself, I try to keep my eye on the main principle behind all this. That’s what is really important to me. I hope to read P2Pnet for many years to come.
January 20th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Thanks, Tanya.
Cheers!
January 21st, 2008 at 12:54 am
How about somebody starts p3pnet? I liked the old p2pnet. I never gave a rat’s ass about celebrities, and I never will. I do care about “corporate vs us” stuff, you know, how a company does this or that hoping nobody will notice, and I’m like “Come on now! it’s 2008, Internet anybody! You can hide nothing”. It doesn’t have to be MPAA or RIAA all the time, they are not the only evil ones out there.
January 21st, 2008 at 8:26 am
I figure that it is human nature to expect to get news for free - on the radio/TV/blogs/newspapers.
Advertsising pays for it.
Why would p2pnet.net be any different?
Bring on the ads in whatever stories you have to print to send the eyes to them, my friend. Somebody has to pay the bills.
Those who advertise on p2pnet.net get my respect and my business.
Advertisers - are you listenening?
January 21st, 2008 at 11:52 am
Hey Jon,
I’m certainly NOT going to be “taking my ball and bat and going home” over this. I don’t know if you listen to any suggestions from the peanut gallery, but here is mine. I’m not saying don’t publish the celeb stories, but maybe a little less of them, and add in some other non p2p stories instead. I think AJFA had a good idea on that:
“corporate vs us” stuff, you know, how a company does this or that hoping nobody will notice, and I’m like “Come on now! it’s 2008, Internet anybody! You can hide nothing”. It doesn’t have to be MPAA or RIAA all the time, they are not the only evil ones out there.”
A good example of this are commercials on tv that advocate something, like say nuclear power. A commercial will come on saying how wonderful and necessary it is, then will say “paid for by concerned citizens for a better america”. As it turns out, the real creator of the commercial is the Nuclear power industry(note, the example I gave is hypothetical) Exposing this kind of crap is a public service. I was also thinking more nerd stuff like slashdot does. (the cool stuff section looks like an interesting idea)
As I already stated, this is just a suggestion from the peanut gallery, don’t let negative commenters (especially trolls) drive you off.
January 21st, 2008 at 2:15 pm
So Jon, you have anything to say about two RSS feeds?
January 21st, 2008 at 4:13 pm
Hi Havvy and Monkey:
p2pnet has plenty of p2p stories —- ask Henry
—- and frankly, I don’t think two feeds are needed.
However, I could do MORE celeb-type posts.
Jst kidding
Cheers!
January 22nd, 2008 at 3:31 pm
I operate a major filesharing support website and often come here to gather news items for the folks to browse over, this is good for me and this site as if they wish to read the juicy bits they are forced to pay you a visit..lol
I dont mind the celebrity material as its obvious its purpose is to gather a wider readership, what does disappoint me is the small quantity of “fake” stories published here with small notes at the bottom stating the invalidity of the information posted above, this not only is unfair but in effect steals time from folks like me who have other thing to do, could you ensure we dont see any more of those type of story?
If you need more publicity Jon just make a post stating so, there are many like me who are only too willing to ensure you get more readers here, you do after all present our side of the coin instead of the double header the entertainment industry try to foster on to us.
I for one am sure your core moral values are the same as before and accept you need a secure form of income, no one thinks otherwise from reading through the threads but I suspect they just need reassurance from you that the sites “flavour” is not diluted, give them that and lets leave this topic be, you have my trust at least Jon.