Delete your file share apps RIGHT NOW !
p2pnet news view RIAA | Freedom | P2P:- The situation with the RIAA, MPAA, and all the other corporate organisations, is now completely out of control.
Vivendi Universal (France), Sony BMG (Japan and Germany), EMI (Britain), and Warner Music (US), and their hundreds, if not thousands, of associated companies, subsidiaries, part-ownerships, and so on, claim they’re being devastated by people who share with each other online.
The truth, though, is: they’re doing the devastating.
Hook line and sinker
I had an email from an RIAA victim — a student — who said she was going to kill herself because she’d heard from someone at an (the?) RIAA extortion settlement centre categorically promising her she’d be taken to court unless she came up with more than $9,000 to buy the RIAA off.
She said she was already up to her neck in debt because of school loans and had absolutely no way of finding that kind of money, or anything like it, that she couldn’t sleep, couldn’t study, couldn’t live a normal life because of the worry.
Hook line and sinker
The Big 4 has spent millions of dollars on a PR blitz which has turned a handful of subpoenas into non-existent court cases in which thousands of Americans have been sued by their RIAA.
Except they haven’t.
Only one person, Jammie Thomas, has seen the inside of a civil court, and even her case being re-heard.
The labels say when people share digital music files with each other, they’re depriving the music industry of sales.
It’s arrant nonsense, but the mainstream media swallow it hook line and sinker, and the labels have, through helpful politicians such as senator Dianne Feinstein, MPAA / RIAA representative, transformed this PR BS into legislation designed to further their interests, and no one else’s.
Back to her studies and on with her life
“I have problems sleeping, my hair is falling out in ungodly amounts, I’m having a hard time concentrating in class, but most of all I hate the fact that I’ve pulled my entire family into this.
“My dad helps me all the time figuring out what I should do, my mom listens to me when I’m having a bad day and need someone to cry to, my brothers and sister, I’m sure get jipped on the time my parents spend with them, and there’s always that perpetual question “hey isn’t your sister being sued or something for downloading music?”.
“Right now it doesn’t seem like this is ever going to end, I’m just now entering the tunnel and the light is miles away.”
That’s Brittany Kruger who’s had her life completely disrupted by an RIAA subpoena.
I eventually had a long telephone conversation with the girl I mentioned earlier, the one who was threatening to kill herself, and she said she, too, would write something about her experiences.
But she changed her mind after her parents agreed to bail her out.
She wouldn’t tell me the price, but she said she now hoped she’d be able to get back to her studies and on with her life.
I hope she does. But I have to say her escape is at the expense of providing the RIAA with another statistic, and another reason to keep on with their brutal sue ‘em all campaign.
[Note: My wife and I were just talking about this girl and although it hadn't occurred to me when I was writing this, part of the 'agreement' with the extortion centre would have been a commitment not to discuss the case publicly, although Miss X didn't say that - JN.]
False impressions
Hundreds of millions of people around the world share music and other files with each other every second of every minute of every hour of every day, and the chances of any one person being by the RIAA, or anyone else, is practically zero.
The movie and music industries have subpoenaed a few thousand people.
How many of those subpoenas have been actually translated into court cases?
A tiny fraction, in the scheme of things.
But by virtue of the fact the entertainment cartels own, or can influence by various means ( threatening to withhold advertising dollars, for example) print and electronic media which disseminate information to the world, they’ve been able to create the entirely false impression that significant numbers of people have been successfully prosecuted for the non-existent crime of file sharing.
In other words, even if the threat of a file sharing case against you personally is slim to the point of being non-existent, the climate of fear is very real and p2pnet tech editor will Surfer will, over the next little while, be going into detail about how you can protect yourself, his P2P and File Sharing 101 being the first instalment. So stay tuned on that.
Six ways to protect yourself
Meanwhile, don’t give them any more ammunition to use further down the road. Because their claim that they’ve stopped suing people is just more corporate crap.
Here are six things you can do right now to protect yourself, and number one is:
1. DON’T UPLOAD OR DOWNLOAD ANOTHER FILE UNTIL YOU’VE FOLLOWED THE FIVE STEPS BELOW, SUGGESTED BY P2PNET TECH EDITOR SURFER »»»
2. Delete or uninstall Kazaa, eDonkey, and/or BitTorrent/uTorrent. (Kazaa is almost impossible to remove; you may have to export what you want to keep, and nuke your computer with a clean operating system installation.)
3. If you don’t have a router (NOT the one your provider gives you!), buy one TODAY! They’re easy to set up. If you can’t afford a $50 router, consider firewall software such as Norton.
4. If you have ANY kind of remote access to your computer configured that allows RDS (Remote Desktop), ARD (Apple Remote Desktop), folder sharing, iPhoto, Flickr, or any other ‘external’ access to your computer from the outside, turn it off RIGHT NOW.
5. If you use a social network (MySpace, or FaceBook), STOP and delete it, immediately. And once again, consider a clean OS installation.
6. If you’re on a Mac, buy LittleSnitch and install it. If on another platform, research this tool and find an equivelant for your platform and install it.
Drastic? It isn’t.
Meanwhile, although thanks to the Net, people everywhere can communicate with each other instantly at any time, it also means decentralisation.
You may think you’re only one person and that without a group, you can’t do anything. But that’s not the way it is.
Every time you – not your buddies, not your sister, not your uncle or aunt, but you – don’t buy a corporate music CD, you’re adding anotfher vital element to the critical mass which’ll ultimately force the entertainment industry to realise they depend on us, and not the other way around.
They’re terrified of that.
And there’s another way the individuals and entities which comprise the movie and music industries depend on you.
Are you a sysop, an admin, a tech, a programmer, an accountant, a secretary who works to keep the corporate records straight and their systems online? Or do you know someone who fills these, or similar, roles?
Think about it.
Jon Newton – p2pnet
February , 2009
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February 14th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
I really hope that list is a joke. The only one that will help prevent getting sued is #1, although everyone should do #3 regardless.
February 14th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
@ Joe: Why would you think it’s a joke? It isn’t.
Cheers!
February 14th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
Lets’ brain storm here. Do there is a way we can eradicate all the parasites in the recording industry?
YES! WE CAN!
February 14th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
This list is by someone very naive.
If anyone is using p2p softwares like kazaa, limewire, gnutella… you should disable uploading of files. I know doing just leeching is bad.. but its better than getting subpoenas from RIAA.
Nowadays you can rip songs from youtube using some firefox plugin.. but the quality will not be good.
If you are using bit-torrent.. you can not stop sharing while you are downloading.. so try not to use bit-torrent for latest songs.
February 14th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
Problem with this is Bittorrent has legal uses, which I do use it for.
Lots of people and businesses have a solid legal uses for it as an
efficient distribution platform.
The truth is .. NONE of those things can prevent you from being sued.
The methodology being used by the RIAA has had them suing the dead,
the computerless, and a shared PRINTER.
You can follow ALL of those steps and still be sued.
Even if you have never had KAzaa or any other sharing app,
you can still be sued.
That’s the problem.
IF you are sued, they will make you pay through the nose to PROVE YOUR INNOCENCE.
A direct contradiction of the laws of our land.
THAT is what we should be focusing on.
Eliminating tools that have significant LEGAL uses isn’t the answer.
February 14th, 2009 at 7:10 pm
Hey Dred:
Who said eliminate (except Kazaa
)?
Clear the decks. And then …
Cheers!
February 14th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
EPIC FAIL
LIKE DRM this is a way to DPM =Digitally Protection MORONS.
and quite the this has legal uses , try saying somehting useful like here is what we can do to fight these MORONS.
Ya think they care what legal uses anything has ( SONY ROOTKITS )
Stop yapping and start DOING somehting like i dunno ya got a printer?
print up some stuff just walk around handing them out one day.
start a local news letter about p2p or whatever.
GO GO GO and DO DO DO.
February 14th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
go interview sourceforge.net JON
the ifpi or mpaa is suing them for a ton of applications INCLUDING A FTP application called filezilla.
Even vuses azureus is nailed and id be saying in court if were here then bring over utorent and get it all in one ….
ya that will whack Warner brothers bit torrent investments good.
February 14th, 2009 at 9:31 pm
Jon,
Why are you all the sudden so paranoid? I’ve never seen anything on here like this, with a focus on spreading fear. It’s the wording that is spreading the fear.
You know, I saw an interesting advertisement from the US Air Force wanting people who can hack to work for them. Yeah, their goal is to have a software program that can hack any OS at any patch level! Good luck with that! While not impossible, imagine, seriously think about that, how large of a program would it require to attack any version of Windows (not too hard but still), OS X, any Linux distro, any Unix flavour, etc…. that sounds like quite a task.
It will be even more challenging if people would proactively update their software, use firewalls, use routers, avoid leaving their shared files in folders accessible by filesharing programs, turn OFF filesharing programs when not downloading, clean up their browser cache, minimize their use of filesharing programs, etc…
Those are just common practice techniques. True, the masses do not necessarily understand that, but scaring them into it doesn’t really help them learn to think either! Education without fear might work better as they will understand why they need to do these things and then they can think ahead.
Just my 2cents.
February 14th, 2009 at 10:51 pm
uh jon..wtf?
DON’T UNINSTALL ANY P2P APPS!
(OK…GET RID OF KAZAA)
USE UTORRENT VERSIONS 1.6.1 OR EARLIER!
DON’T EVER USE WI-FI FOR P2P!
USE PEERGUARDIAN!
DON’T BE AFRAID!
FILESHARING IS NOT ILLEGAL!
BITTORRENT IS NOT ILLEGAL¨!
SHARING WHAT YOU’VE LEGALLY PURCHASED IS NOT ILLEGAL!
DON’T UNINSTALL ANY P2P APPS (EXCEPT KAZAA)! THAT’S WHAT THE LAMESCREAM MEDIA AND CARTELS WANT YOU TO DO!
BUT YES, DO CERTAINLY UNINSTALL KAZAA! IMMEDIATELY!
NEVER STOP DOWNLOADING OR UPLOADING. NEVER STOP SHARING. NEVER STOP YOUR FILESHARING ACTIVITIES! THAT’S WHAT THE LAMESCREAM MEDIA AND CARTELS WANT YOU TO DO!
February 14th, 2009 at 10:55 pm
” BUT YES, DO CERTAINLY UNINSTALL KAZAA! IMMEDIATELY! ”
On that, I can agree completely.
” USE UTORRENT VERSIONS 1.6.1 OR EARLIER! ”
Just curious, why 1.6.1 or earlier ?
Later builds have Protocol encryption.
Why the preference ?
February 14th, 2009 at 10:59 pm
on utorrent versions…
the BitTorrent company – now owned by the cartels – bought utorrent after version 1.6.1.
any later versions were/are built by them. and i don’t trust them. many people still use 1.6.1 for this reason. i’m one of them.
February 14th, 2009 at 11:00 pm
Sounds like a good enough reason to downgrade.
February 14th, 2009 at 11:10 pm
Read the comments here Catflap, it appears that 1.6.1 is the first version of
utorrent to INCLUDE the problem you are referring to.
http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2007/02/torrent_161_upd.html
Quote:
“AZ devs at first denied, then said it was only anonymous info about how the client was working, then our staffers discovered that the packets being sent back contained your total UL stats, your total DL stats, and your ISP name/info. We replied to AZ with this information, and in a seeming panic, they did two things:
1. Admitted privately that this had been going on with ALL recent AZ stable releases for the last 12 months”
February 14th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
AZ is azureus, right?
i don’t use it.
as far as 1.6.1…i got it before the announcement of the buyout was made – and as far as i can remember, it was way before they actually bought it. i have build 490. maybe the newer 1.6.1 is a different build.
if i’m wrong, then i guess I’ll downgrade.
EDIT:btw, my 1.6.1 “About” says: “©2006 Ludvig Strigeus…Thanks for using this FREE program. I hope you like it. If you paid for it, get a refund! Thanks to Serge Paquet, zygron, and Firon for all the help.”
I doubt the cartel versions have the same “About” info.
February 14th, 2009 at 11:52 pm
you can get older versions of utorrent here:
http://www.oldversion.com/uTorrent.html
February 15th, 2009 at 12:01 am
Love that cartoon up top Jon, could be closer to the truth than you think.
February 15th, 2009 at 12:26 am
I consider myself pretty paranoid about this kind of stuff but using ancient versions of uTorrent because BitTorrent bought it out is stupid. If uTorrent secretly spies on you and sends your info to the **AA, wouldn’t someone have found out by now?
February 15th, 2009 at 12:50 am
such a can of omg we opened. don’t think we are trying to sanctify opinion, demoralize use, or freak out people using fear. get a grip. this is just an exersize (sp?) in ‘getting the word out’.
yes, you can still be sued, no, this is not an inclusive gospel list, yes, some of it sounds paranoid, whatever, thats not the point.
we are on your side, hello? u wanna be a better pirate than me, go right ahead. I know I’ll never see a settlement letter, or ISP email. ever.
If your IP can be identified on the internet, then stop doing whatever it is that identifies it. I’ll explain what CAN be done with your IP in another article. and it ain’t pretty (we call it an ‘underwear’ check, cause when im done, i know your underwear size.)…
you can still use usenet. hahahahhaahh…
stw
February 15th, 2009 at 12:54 am
and surfer is spelled with a small ’s’.
February 15th, 2009 at 4:41 am
Bullet says to go to www [dot] shareaza [dot] com for the safest client around.
While that may have been true at one point prior to the domain being taken over
around October 2007, it is no longer the case. That is a fake version being pushed
by Discordia, LTD., and is a scam (and also is apparently loaded with spyware).
The real Shareaza can be downloaded from http://www.pantheraproject.net/
He is either unaware of the takeover of Shareaza’s domain or is a Discordia shill
trying to deliberately mislead people.
As for torrents, people should try to avoid downloading the latest music, movies, etc.
from them, as they are most likely to be watched by MAFIAA spies. If you must download
something recent and popular, using PeerGuardian or the torrent client’s own IP filters
may help prevent you from receiving a DMCA notice or getting sued.
February 15th, 2009 at 5:20 am
ok i know the person that brought the issues of the DOS ability on utorrent and right after that post a hacker anonymously …hehe… posted how data was going to and form as well . Versions were ONLY after 1.6.1beta .THAT client is how they gather a lot a data people.
Firon the admin of hte board dissmissed that hackers claims and those versions were site banned all over. If you use it i odnt wnat you near me.
OH and rtorrent on windows with cygwin , with modified make files fo rparsing.Check.
rtorrrent with ssl check.
visiting sites with ssl, check.
pgp desktop for encrypting hard drive files, check.
Laughing at peeps that dont do it, Priceless.
In fact i’d like to thank you cause its so difficult to get at the rest of us they will get the rest of you 1st.
GO NOOBS.
February 15th, 2009 at 5:25 am
btw what happens in canada when you sue me and i have no money and likely never to ever have any.
HaHA is this why they sue the disabled and poor?
February 15th, 2009 at 5:49 am
Not that I support the **AA companies they represent, but what if people STOPPED downloading/filesharing for a specified time period? It would have to be several months, like 6 months or so.
Could we then not say “Look, you said 80%/95% of internet traffic was due to illegal filesharing, well bullsh*t, we’ve not transferred a single file, legal or illegal, in 6 f–king months! and your revenues are STILL falling, even though people have purchased LEGALLY consistently as before” ???
Could we not try an experiment to prove they are full of it and bring this to congress and say “Look, they are full of it, here’s proof, you’ve been snowballed, lied to, and you bought it hook, line, and sinker. You’ve also been taking their money to pass legislation in their favour.”???
How about it? How about a pirate experiment to prove they don’t know what they are talking about? And have raw data to back up our claims, something those companies have never actually brought fourth!
February 15th, 2009 at 6:12 am
Uhh…
Okay, I’m gonna piss everybody off (again):
1. “But it has LEGAL uses!!!” == irrelevant. The corporate vermin have never been interested in whether something has “legal” uses or not. In fact, as it stands now, they fucking OWN “the law” (in that they’ve not only successfully gutted the “public domain”, but gotten the supreme court to denuce the phrase “limited time” of any substantive meaning. According the the “Eldred” decision, congress can gleefully keep extending copyright “protections”, and do so retroactively, JUST SO LONG AS the “New” period is claimed to be something other than “infinity”.
See how this works? These fucking corporate vermin (and their mindless apologists) just LOVE to blather about how copyright is neccesary to “strike a balance” or permit “the artists” to monetize content or etc. etc.
Bottom line is: they fucking HATE the idea of any copyright monopoly EVER expiring again, and will do everything they can to ensure that such a thing never happens.
But here’s the kicker (and this is the part that nobody actually seems to be able to get their mind around):
2. The more filesharing increases — and THE MORE BLATANTLY, OBVIOUSLY, UBIQUITOUSLY OUT-IN-THE-OPEN IT IS — the more difficult it for these assholes to actually ENFORCE their precious, precious perpetual monopoly. What am I advocating, here?
3. Given the fact that IP addresses are NOTHING like phone numbers/street addresses etc. (which is one of the reasons these fuckwits at the RIAA ended up suing a printer), it doesn’t make one fucking bit of difference WHAT “they” (if there even IS a specific “they”) see on your connection.
If anybody has become so shit-in-their-pants paranoid as is indicated by this discussion, then the RIAA/MPAA/perpetual monopolists HAVE one, and we ARE all nothing but whiny little shits.
It takes ZERO talent/effort/skill to put the latest manufactured RIAA-sanctioned “flavor of the month” out there — in fact, the RIAA, despite all of their shit-mewling to the contrary, probably LOVES when the stupid cattle waste time and effort on Britney/Milli Vanilli/Amy Crachhouse, etc.
I respect the person who took the time and effort to create a torrent containing a full site-rip of that 78 RPM records website. Now THERE”S a damn good idea: he/she not only spread a bunch of great music that folk’s aren’t likely to hear on their local Clear Channel station, but now, the “content” can’t be stopped or taken down nearly so easily.
Think about this, people: all the great stuff we’ve probably all grabbed down from various “music blogs”, but so much of it is so damn vulnerable because it’s either stuck behind Rapidshare/megaupload links which go dead periodically, or the MAFIAA pigs cease-and-desist the blog into the ground at random.
How about more of that, huh?
The advantage to this is that the RIAA doesn’t give a shit about a significant proportion of the music blogs for the same reasons WE think they’re cool: namely, the stuff doesn’t fit neatly into their formulaic, cookie-cutter mold.
I don’t have the resources or time to do that kind of thing (long story, Jon knows some of the details), but suffice it to say that I only have a VERY limited amount of HD space as it is, and I have to concentrate on converting MY OWN (lawfully purchased) collection of albums/45s/cassettes/reels.
But to my way of thinking, using p2p tech. like Bittorent to create “decentralized backups” of the stuff on music blogs kills two RIAA vultures with one stone: It’s yet another way to shit all over their oh-so-precious and oh-so-perpetual monopolies AND it protects/preserves “content” which would otherwise be vulnerable to destruction.
February 15th, 2009 at 6:16 am
Another advantage to BTing music blogs would be to provide even LESS incentive for people to buy/rent/”license” the RIAA’s latest cookie-cutter bullshit.
February 15th, 2009 at 7:31 am
” I consider myself pretty paranoid about this kind of stuff but using ancient versions of uTorrent because BitTorrent bought it out is stupid. If uTorrent secretly spies on you and sends your info to the **AA, wouldn’t someone have found out by now? ”
Someone did.
Google is your friend.
February 15th, 2009 at 8:27 am
lol, you leech off public trackers and wonder why you got busted?
“oh, i think it’s because i used the wrong client version”. . . doh.
February 15th, 2009 at 8:32 am
Why is that shareaza link from “bullet” still up? Some unsuspecting schmuck’s gonna download it, aren’t they?
February 15th, 2009 at 9:32 am
As for LittleSnitch to other platforms, most of the decent firewalls have those features (like comodo).
February 15th, 2009 at 11:12 am
see, now we are fostering intelligent thought, and I cant believe I just read that Henry supports file sharing.
February 15th, 2009 at 11:29 am
Viva la Pirat’ Byran
February 15th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
catflap
actually the 1.6.1 version (built490) is the first version where already the bittorrent programmers were in charge of the code if i remember correctly.
IIRC back at that time around then there was the discovery with the ability to crash µtorrent with a malformatted *.torrent file and it was ludde “coming” back as programmer in the last beta (built 489) before the final 1.6.1 version (that was then the named 1.6.1 build 490 that got shipped while still having him as copyrightowner mentioned).
Back then the fact that the copyright notice was still the old one and therefor wrong was mentioned in their forums too. (if you want you can check the old versions with what build they actually changed it. (if you have no virtual windows install to run older/newer version without affecting your live “install” you can run the uT’s selfcontained if you put a blank txtfile named “settings.dat” in the same folder where the exe file is. and if you start µT via a shortcut with parameter “/recover” you can even run different versions at the same time uneffected from each other) See link below for (what I consider genuine) ut versions.
So if one is paranoid that ut went evil once the BT programmers got their hands on the code he should either use the 474 the 1.6 final which is completely ludde written as far as I remember (but has this vulnerability with malicious .torrent files) or use the beta 1.6.1built489.
Actually the Official 1.6.1 b490 that was also back then released on the utorrent was released as not a beta but claimed to be a “real” version since it had the vulnerability fixed.
you can get these older versions also from the german utorrent pages archive that the german/austrian guy -nick “schnurlos” in the ut forums- set up back then.
http://utorrent-deutsch.de/Archiv.html#utorrent_Programmdateien
February 15th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Morning, all:
Paranoid? Just because I think everyone is out to get me, does that make me paranoid?
With surfer’s help, what I was trying to do was make the point we don’t have to sit here watching it all happen. We can actually do stuff. It may be extreme, but we CAN do it.
And just imagine what would happen if everyone, everywhere, staged a user protest strike for, say, three days. CDs, iPods, DVDs, so on and etc, would sit idly on the shelves. No downloads from corporate sites such as iTunes, RealNetworks, and the other two or three. No need to worry about Napster II: it doesn’t count anyway.
And just imagine if all corporate system and admin staff everywhere went sick for three days (the least damaging of various possibilities in this arena).
Three days would be nothing for us but it would sure as hell show the corporations who depends on who.
I realise, of course, it would take a huge collaboration to make that happen, and that I’m just shooting my mouth off. Again. But given the communication possibilities opened up by the Net, versions of this scenario could be put together and over time, the effects would be cataclysmic.
For the corporations.
They never thought Communism would die in Russia. They never thought the Berlin Wall would come down. They never thought a black guy would end up in charge of America. They never thought …..
And there’s another aspect. If people stopped downloading corporate crap – like really stopped – independent music would get a lot more exposure. Which is the way it should be anyway, IMO.
Cheers!
February 15th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
@Jon
“And just imagine what would happen if everyone, everywhere, staged a user protest strike for, say, three days. CDs, iPods, DVDs, so on and etc, would sit idly on the shelves. No downloads from corporate sites such as iTunes, RealNetworks, and the other two or three. No need to worry about Napster II: it doesn’t count anyway.
And just imagine if all corporate system and admin staff everywhere went sick for three days (the least damaging of various possibilities in this arena).
Three days would be nothing for us but it would sure as hell show the corporations who depends on who.”
Indeed. If we could stop it being consumed completely, as in a dead stop and never restarted, I’d be all for it. Big Media and all their coke-snorting low lifes would go bust inside a month. But hey, here’s dreamin’.
This is why I’d never buy an Apple iPhone. The DRM restrictions in that thing are really quite grotesque. What, pay a high $ price just to get fucked over? No thanks.
February 15th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
Jon, everyone, what are the odds we could actually do that? What are the odds we could engage in a no-buy session for a week? Just one week! What are the odds we could engage in a no-download (legal or not) or no-fileshare week or so?
If we COULD collaborate that, even 50% of the people participating would really hit home and could prove we’re not full of it and they are.
Anyone good with Photoshop and slogans?
February 15th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
i alread said that if we all world wide just refused one month to apy for our net costs and said NET NEUTRLITY and no SHAPING
hteyd get the hint but no one would do it of course
February 15th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
CHRoNoSS:
Why not try anyhow? We’ll need to really plan it if we want participation. We’ll need the fear mongering of An Inconvenient Truth + War on Terror + Financial Crisis of the Century combined, and then we can pull it off!
Hey, Bush was great at fear mongering, and he owns an iPod, why not get him involved? (sarcasm).
Seriously though, there MUST be a way to make it happen! One month, no illegal file sharing, no purchases of new computers or iPods or CD’s or DVD’s or going to movies. Feel free to watch TV or any of the many movies you’ve already downloaded.
Turn off all filesharing abilities to help those who don’t know how to stop the addiction. Turn off PirateBay and the like. Just stop it all for one month.
Hmm… yeah, we’ll need Bush’s help, we could use the ultimate fear tactic, “Obama is sick and the person most familiar with the White House and the current state of affairs will resume control until Obama is better. Welcome back GW Bush as President. Now to keep all good, you’ll need to stop filesharing or he’ll start up his foreign policy and Paulsen will get to work on the economy.”
February 15th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
well, I could try to “red x” every upload that comes in, not only the fakes from MAFIAA.
But I doubt i will be a MOD then for much longer.
February 15th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
“I’m just shooting my mouth off. Again.”
Right. “Cataclysmic.” With all due respect Jon, the military and most pertinent federal agencies were canvassed and brought into this in the early part of Bush’s second term. The lead time for these kinds of legal initiatives is fairly long. Surprises from Cuomo, Biden and Obama’s Justice department already in the pipeline are as gratifying as they are impressive. Simple common sense. Just as there is little value in a geographic region if it cannot be made law abiding and secure, so is the conventional wisdom about the network we share. In all honesty Jon, you’ve seen nothing yet. Nothing.
And as for a user protest strike, if 100% of the routine illegal downloaders participated, there’d still be no measurable result from the damage already done. (oh wait, you said your “copies” don’t DO any damage. lol)
Illegal downloaders 1) are a very small minority of the people who regularly use the network but 2) don’t pay anything, anyway. Every day hundreds of millions of people all over the globe legally purchase/license and enjoy “for sale” entertainment product of every stripe; corporate, independent, solo, all of us supporting artists, their agents and their industries worldwide. The keyword is purchase and the industry cashflow remains huge, and will remain huge. More importantly, given the decade-long fucking you’ve administered to artists everywhere, they’ve never stopped signing with the agencies for promotional help and payment. The choice you give a new artist is work for free, sell t-shirts or sign with a label. lol Well done. The impact of some pathetic strike in favor of “illegally taking without paying” would likely not even register or gather more public scorn than anything else. You are a small minority, so knock yourself out. Seriously. I’d frankly love to watch you.
As I’ve predicted correctly all along, this will tighten until it tapers not because sheeple don’t care or corporate interest has to purchase votes in the legislature but rather, because the vast majority of the public online or off has never had a problem with music or movie product and has never seen value in piracy or allowing a wild west mentality to prevail indefinitely here or anywhere else. You are on the wrong side of history. The legislature represents the majority, remember? You have only ever been an embarrassing minority reveling in anarchy and that’s what you remain.
The paradigm shift is only now beginning, Jon, and at present, scarcely palpable. It’s just getting started. Soon enough, only those with degrees in IT will find avenues of escape from online surveillance and enforcement, becoming the modern day equivalent of a high end jewel thief. This situation government and industry can and will bear, just like a small degree of shoplifting is inevitable if it is really worth it to you. Hey, if you want to dedicate your life to digital theft and the possibility of increasingly serious punishment? Go for it. Personally, I’ll get creative, work my butt off, license legally and make a fortune.
So really, seriously, let’s see this so-called strike demanding your right to be illegal. I’ll purchase a ringside seat. For us on the legal side of the equation, this is just good entertainment…… of another sort.
February 15th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
@Jon: Sam I Am is baiting you. Sounds a bit trollish to me…
February 15th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
@Everyone:
Maybe we should set up a registration process to prevent trolling? Sam is over the edge. He even contradicts what his industry claims, so there’s proof he’s over the edge. And by “represents the majority, remember?” you mean “those who bribed Congress not to read the bill and just sign it” right?
You are dreaming Sam if you actually believe no one finds value in piracy. Maybe you should spend a few weeks away from the usual trolling actions and away from *Guilds* and actually listen to what consumers, your bread and butter, really think! Get both sides of the story, not the media either, view youtube and look at all the hate towards your industry. Your industry did that, not the pirates.
February 15th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
Surfer:
“And I can’t believe that I just read Henry Supports Filesharing”.
What the hell? Dude, how much more “supportive” of it can one guy be?
I really hope that was sarcasm/irony or something, because otherwise, you’re implicitly accusing me of being a “trojan horse” or playing both sides (like our old pal RIAARep, for example).
For the record:
1. The whole topic of “Intellectual property law” has been bought by multinational media conglomerates. There’s no possible debate on the merits of such laws once one sees how the lobbyists BUY themselves another extension just when their “protection” is ready to lapse. Further, the Eldred decision ensures that NOTHING will ever enter the “public domain” again in any meaningful sense of the term. Patents and copyright are SUPPOSED to expire — not extend on and on in perpetuity.
2. What people like Sam (unwitting victim of RIAA propaganda, or willing stooge, I dunno) don’t get, is that the current IP climate is actually harmful to everybody EXCEPT the RIAA’s stable of “signed” (more often than not, manufactured) “talent”.
My post on Cryptomnesia was, I hoped, demonstrative of how out of control these laws have become. I mean, they not only “protect” the ORIGINAL works, any RECORDINGS of said words, anything even remotely SIMILAR to those works (so-called “derivatives’), other works with a vaguely-similar chord progression or riff (Satriani Vs. Coldplay) — but they ALSO can be — and have been — used to extort money from people for — get this — “inadvertently” copying something.
At this point, the only conclusion any sane individual can draw is: the mere act of creativity itself becomes potentially dangerous, because how can you REALLY be sure that what you “thought up” isn’t a repressed memory?
What does this do to the notion of “inspiration?”
So yeah, not only have these laws gone way “too far”: we need to firmly repudiate the thinking behind them AT THE ROOT.
So hell yes, I’m supportive of file-sharing.
I’m supportive of remixes, mashups, music blogs, “Grey Tuesday”, and anything else which stands even a halfway-good chance of bitch-slapping IP “law” and the lobbyists who use it to destroy, into the dustbin of history.
So long as the RIAA/MPAA/corporate scumbags can portray these issues as the “sacred right of proprty”, they’re able to appear to have the moral high-ground. I mean, hey, it IS easy to mistake these issues as being about “not wanting to pay for stuff”.
(Anybody involved in the Open-source/Free software scene is already familiar with the old “gratis Vs. Libre” debate).
February 15th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
@DRM. Jon knows I’m not a “troll.” I do my homework, make the meetings, licence my IP, attend the seminars, follow the law and canvas the artists for their opinions which never once has there ever been the first shred of evidence that ANY of you actually do, more than just sit here and mouth off as if you actually knew something about anything pertinent.
Besides, anyone who actually encourages “Are you a sysop, an admin, a tech, a programmer, an accountant, a secretary who works to keep the corporate records straight and their systems online? Or do you know someone who fills these, or similar, roles? Think about it.” ………on his own page will attract plenty of attention without me having to troll to it. And Jon. I’ve been corresponding with a Mr. Paul Storer in the Rt Hon David Lammy MP’s Intellectual Property office in London. I’m trying to set up a last minute meeting before I fly over on Tuesday. Those Brits are getting serious about your illegal bullshit. lol
February 15th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
@ I Am Sam:
“Every day hundreds of millions of people all over the globe legally purchase/license and enjoy “for sale” entertainment product of every stripe; corporate, independent, solo, all of us supporting artists, their agents and their industries worldwide. The keyword is purchase and the industry cashflow remains huge, and will remain huge.”
That’s hilarious. But I know — you’ve been out playing with Andrew C and his funny friends again, haven’t you. Haven’t you? Come on, now, Sam. Admit it. It’s OK. No one’s going to hurt you.
“[..] only those with degrees in IT will find avenues of escape from online surveillance and enforcement, becoming the modern day equivalent of a high end jewel thief”.
What are you babbling about?
You managed to get one thing right, though: the paradigm shift is indeed only now beginning.
But no need for you to worry. You’re nothing to do with anything important anyway.
Cheers! And have fun!
February 15th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
Sam:
I honestly didn’t read anything you said (as per usual).
The only thing that DID catch my eye was something about “the paradigm shift is only beginning, Jon”.
What “paradigm shift” would that be, Sammy-Sam?
The ability of big corporations to buy themselves perpetual copyright extension?
Or maybe you’re thinking of the “paradigm shift” where government tries to fight a “war” that’s completely unwinnable. (”War on drugs”, War on “Terror”, etc. at nauseum.)
Don’t bother to respond — I’m well aware you’ll just sermonize and dodge questions (like the sad little troll you really are.)
One DOES wonder what a high-powered, “Stop the motor of the world”, Capitalist Ubermensch such as yourself is doing wasting time sermonizing on blogs. Shouldn’t you be off somewhere living that jet-set lifestyle you were bragging about?
February 15th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
” I mean, hey, it IS easy to mistake these issues as being about “not wanting to pay for stuff”.”
LMAO. Henry, you rock. And I’m out. Later.
February 15th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
Stay tuned for the Sam and Henry show. It’s always fun to see Henry dismember Sam.
Now that’s entertainment.
Cheers!
February 15th, 2009 at 7:10 pm
Yes sam and
- I’m sure every download is a lost sale.
- “Stealing” via p2p is just like taking the CD from the shop without paying
- p2p is inherently illegal.
And so the bullshit goes.
The only reason the UK is “taking this seriously” against their own electorate, is because the politicians are corrupt and bought and paid for. We both know that. Now stop lying and stop trolling.
February 15th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
@Jon, can we put this on youtube? Anyone good with Flash animation? We could get some great laughs with this and help us through the tough economy. Who knows, maybe even the ridiculous accusations and claims of ‘proof’ from Spam I Am, I mean Sam I Am, might actually sink in to Congress and they will wake up and put an end to foolish legislation.
Take a look at what Sen Gary Ackerman says to the Securities Exchange Commission, where the hell was this guy when the DMCA was created!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ys83oEAlvkM
February 15th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
@Jon Says:
February 15th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
You crack me up – stoppit! lol
February 15th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
Sam:
wow, you actually made a funny (on purpose, as opposed to the veritable cornucopia of hillariously misinformed stqatements and sermonizing in which you usually engage.) Good job!
However — (and this one’s for you, Jon:)
YOU are the guy who stated previously that the public domain would “Take” from your daughter. (I could go rummaging back through months of comment threads, but I can’t quite muster up the effort — having done that to you several times before and sent you slinking away like the weasel that you really are).
Beneath all of your bluster, sermonizing, attempts at character assassination, comparing p2p to rape because “both are illegal” etc. etc. — I see exactly two motivations:
1. “I don’t work for the RIAA, and don’t agree with their tactics” — except that you are in total agreement with the existing IP laws, AND everything the RIAA/MPAA corporate lobbyists have managed to buy themselves. How else to regard the notion that the public domain “takes” from the former rights-holder?
So, the expiration of patent ‘protection’ ALSO counts as a form of “taking?”
(This should be interesting, folks — Mr. Uber-Capitalist Bidnissman, if he’s the slightest bit consistent/principled, is now forced to admit that the “market competition” upon which the capitalist system supposedly depends is IN FACT nothing more than mass “theft” by one business from another, in that other competitors can only enter the field two ways:
They can either “buy” their way in (by paying the patent-holder for the “privilege” of entry),
Or, they can wait until the patent expires and (ahem) “takes” the monopoly from the former holder.
Of course, I’m not waiting for “Sam” to respond.
First, because despite his blustering idiocy, he’s not intelligent enough to formulate a coherent response.
Second, he’s a goddamn dishonest little RIAA fanboy whose whole purpose here — and on other sites — is to spew vast amounts of Grade-A RIAA-sanctioned bullshit while appearing to be the poster-boy for “Free enterprise”.
Somebody else take this one on: somehow, I’m just not up for yet ANOTHER round of whack-a-Sam right now.
How ’bout the we put “Sam” up against the “Against intellectual monopoly” folks?
(Not much of a challenge, sorry.)
But before I go, Got one more for y’all:
Sam: “File-sharers are only a tiny minority” (false claim, but I’ll play along.)
Let’s apply this to other social movements:
The “Freedom riders” in the 1960s were “only a tiny minority”, but they succeeded in getting an entire culture (save a few racist lunatics) to repudiate racial segregration.
Environmental activists were originally “only a tiny minority” — now even the most polluting industrial megaliths expend a vast amount of effort on at least APPEARING to “go green.”
Honestly, “Sam”: given the fact that p2p users are global, very much aware — and pissed off — about what IP lobbyists have done, AND tend to be at least marginally more tech-savvy than the mainstream — your “side” is — and has been — royally fucked for at least a decade.
(But then again, it IS hillarious to watch “free-market” wonks such as yourself gleefully predicting the rise of a totalitarian “Ministry of Information” JUST to preserve someone’s “Bidness model.”)
There, Jon: I’ve dismemeberd, drawn, quartered, eviscerated, boiled, burned, snorted, and shit “Sam I am” into yet another steaming heap. Glad to be of service
February 15th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
Thank you Henry. Educational as always.
Cheers!
February 15th, 2009 at 8:04 pm
Nice job Henry.
Glad you’re on OUR side.
February 15th, 2009 at 8:29 pm
I’m envisioning a “Sam vs. Henry” cartoon modeled after “Spy vs. Spy”…
… except the black one always loses.
: )
February 15th, 2009 at 9:47 pm
Thanks, All:
Somebody do me a favor:
1. Anybody who can nerve themselves up for it, please go digging around in the archives and find the bullshit where Sam was trying to Call Jon out to defend p2p “in his own voice”, and I challeneged him to pony up and actually THINK.
2. If the “against intellectual monopoly” person happens to be reading this: YOU play with him for awhile. I’m bored. Somebody else needs to be the resident troll-smasher for awhile.
February 15th, 2009 at 10:33 pm
“encryption will likely become licensed as it facilitates crime”
–Sam I Am in his propaganda piece for p2pnet feb 5th 2009
To sam I am:
Y123456O123456U123456 A123456R123456E123456 A123456 L123456O123456S123456T123456 C123456A123456U123456S123456E123456
signed, common sense.
February 15th, 2009 at 10:56 pm
Henry ,
The quote from sam you are referring to ..
” So Jon. Forget Free Thinker. Why not write an editorial in your own voice that offers an effective and eminently just path forward that provides a financial incentive to create and distribute art, music, movies, books, and still meets with your own view of how the world and the entertainment industry should work. ”
P2P net story 17212.
February 16th, 2009 at 12:32 am
BTW here’s an idea and no offense jon ( hey want help organizing it lists of schill sites and there blogs?)be we must MUST goto other places where these people spill that propaganda and start mixing it up and speaking the truth.
NOW remember if you want to be part of this army to invade there blogs YOU NEED OT PROTECT YOUR IP
proxy servers ill setup
that’s another thing you need to add for browsing.
We need someone to make a list of all the bogs they use all the sites they have forums and get at it.
IT MADE ME sick to see a scout troop in the local radio station being brain washed.
I REFUSE TO ALLOW THIS TO MY DEMOCRATIC COUNTRY.
I have a printer
I have paper
I will print
YOU will read
we can use media like they do
we speak at corners
we can speak at bus stops
we can drop off miscellaneous cdrs of music everywhere.
we can organize new lan parties that trade stuff at them
YOU CANNOT STOP THAT CAN YOU
And im making a list keeping it tight,
of whose been naughty or nice
Chrono clause is coming to town
they are scared and using all the last cash to buy off all the laws not realizing it will DO NOTHING
WE ARE LEGION in number hundreds of millions and they are as they grow old and die dying off and disappearing.
The longer we last the more free it will be,
In a future i see movies made by people like open source software cause they love to do it.
ART HAS ALWAYS been A HOBBY. WE CANNOT ALLOW MONETIZATION OF CULTURE
its is EVIL TO DO SO.
February 16th, 2009 at 1:00 am
CHRoNoSS could you be any more of a nob
February 16th, 2009 at 2:31 am
Music is music. Kids are downloading music because it betters their lives. Most people eventually get their act together in life and pay for a hard copy. P2P atleast gets them listening to old bands that never got radio or TV play, bands like Saint Vitus, Mahogany Rush and Sir Lord Baltimore to name a few. If they love the music, what bigger success for the band could there be than more exposure like that.
February 16th, 2009 at 2:41 am
Chronos:
Much as I’m a fan of privacy etc., I really think the best approach with these people is the head-on one:
Of course create and use things like VPN and encryption and etc. But above all:
1. If you have the resources and time, pick a music blog, do as thorough of a “site-rip” as you can, and make a torrent of it.
2. NEVER pass up an opportunity to make “Sam” and his ilk look stupid.
3. DO NOT under any circumstances, pay “full price” for RIAA/MPAA product. (For my part, going to the movies doesn’t count, because there’s no physical product changing hands to give you the illusion of ‘ownership” like there is with a CD or suchlike.) Besides, the actual experience of going to the movies is still downright fun.
4. Whenever you DO feel the need to buy books/movies/music, ALWAYS make sure to “hide behind” things like the first-sale doctrine:
Remember: the “bargain bin” is your friend!
Realistically, the probability of getting sued/hassled/harassed by one of the “monopoly mafia” organization is vanishingly small, and becoming more remote as the volume of p2p traffic, music blogs, etc. increases
5. NEVER buy into the propaganda line that says IP is about the “sacred right of property”, or “protecting the artists” or whatever else they try to put over on you.
6. Some common “handles” (maybe sockpuppets) of pro-IP types I’ve noticed on various boards/blogs:
Sam I am, “Reasoned mind”, “Freetard”.
Oddly, they all repeat the same mistaken notions and RIAA-sanctioned talking points.
Please be sure to — as thoroughly as possible — refute their claims, and call them on their bullshit.
Rest assured: p2p and everything it represents — innovation, participatory culture, failure to blindly aquiesce to corporate bullying — scares these people shitless.
February 16th, 2009 at 3:57 am
Where is ” Spam i am” gone off to? Did the little TROLL run away? What a coward.
February 16th, 2009 at 7:18 am
i see so many people here, for and against p2p, who still equate it with so-called piracy.
piracy is stealing an object for profit.
p2p is stealing nothing and no profit is made – except perhaps by the lokis and other scum who charge admission to their so-called private websites.
many people here are still referring to something called “illegal filesharing”. what’s that? there’s no such animal. there’s no such law anywhere afaik which mentions it. there might be some obscure trial judgment that gives it (p2p) a similar label (and might be in the process of a successful appeal), but no law has been sanctioned against so-called “illegal filesharing”.
because it isn’t illegal and one has the right to copy and/or share what they’ve legally purchased. trading 1’s and 0’s is not illegal.
someone above – probably sam – said jon (and others here) have never talked to the performers or others in the entertainment industry.
that’s a lie.
a couple of years ago (i think) jon attended some kind of seminar in the UK and met with a BBC programmer. jon can remind us all of what took place.
i’ve also met with world famous musicians (and no-so-famous ones). they all agree with what i’ve said above and encourage it.
The Commitments (one of the most famous, recognizable, and approachable bands on the globe) who i interviewed in person for p2pnet are absolutely not against p2p, and encourage their fans to share their stuff. in fact, they even let us post a song of their’s here for anyone to have. they know that the record companies get the lion’s share of any profits and the performers are the last to see a dime – if anything.
they also do not receive a cent from sales or rentals of their movie – which has been seen by over a billion people, named the best Irish film of all time, and has secured a slot in the UK’s 100 best films of all time.
The Commitment, like all right-thinking people, know that p2p cannot be stopped. and that any endeavor to stop it creates hatred for the industry’s unions, besides being a waste of time, effort and money.
Peter Jackson has still to receive his full share of royalties for King Kong.
also, as i’ve written here before, Monty Python is giving their stuff away for free on gootube. in just a few months, sales of their works have skyrocketed to a whopping 23,000% increase.
sharing – or downloading absolutely does not equal a lost sale. it can, and does, increase sales, as has been proved time and again. it increases awareness of a film, tv show, record, which translates into sales of tickets and merchandise.
Joss Whedon created Dr.Horrible and shared it with the world. although he knew it would be recorded and shared, he also knew that his gesture would increase merchandise sales, itunes sales, and dvd sales. which it did.
i’ve personally bought many films and tv shows i’d downloaded. many others can’t be found on dvd anywhere anymore. but even many many more i’d never pay for because they aren’t worth it (to me)
many films and shows where i live are not shown in English. although the technology exists to air it in dual audio, the so-called rights are sometimes too expensive for the stations.
still more don’t reach my country on tv or dvd for sometimes months or years – if ever. one recent film was WALL-E. it was available on US dvd in 2008, but in my country I wasn’t allowed to buy it until the end of january 2009. i wasn’t even allowed to buy the NTSC version until then, either. i didn’t want to wait, and indeed i won’t be forced to wait. so i downloaded a copy in 2008.
but i did eventually buy my own WALL-E dvd in january.
these are situations created by the studios and movie houses who lobbied for this law. yes it’s a law, and a ridiculous one at that. the law states that while a film is still in theatres here, or a show is still (or yet to be aired) on tv, no version of it can be sold until it’s been on tv, or in the case of a film, until the official foreign language version is released here.
so once again, proof that a downloaded file doesn’t equal a lost sale. it increased the sale because i wouldn’t have bought it without first sampling it through p2p. i didn’t steal anything. someone gave me their 1’s and 0’s and put together they made a movie.
February 16th, 2009 at 7:30 am
JoeBloe:
“Sam” does this pretty often, actually:
1. He shows up here (or on Torrentfreak, or over on Ezee.se), issues some vacuous RIAA-sanctioned gibberish mixed with a good dose of condescension/blustering, all the while frantically denying that he’s trolling.
2. If I happen to spot him, I usually make it a point to troll-smash him pretty severely. Partly this is because I genuinely enjoy making him look even more ignorant than he already does, and party it’s because he tends to mention me. Primarily, however, it’s because I have a damn near eidetic memory, and a zero-tolerance policy toward corporate weasels.
See, “Sam’s” theory seems to be that if he dissapears for a few days/weeks/months, people will forget what a lying, ignorant, mindless little RIAA fanboy he really is. I’m not like that. Jon keeps saying that I should get “Sam” out of my mind, but I don’t — primarily because it’s HIS type who give the RIAA/MPAA/scumbags whatever air of moral legitimacy they manage to retain.
So whenever he shows up here or on another blog, I let him spew his idiotic nonsense for a while, and then challenge him — yet again — to actually defend his viewpoint as opposed to sermonizing about how p2p is a “temporary moral lapse” etc.
It’s not that the guy’s a coward, so much as completely, stubbornly, willfully ignorant.
So that’s how it works: he pops up, I methodically (obsessively) pick up exactly where we left off last time, and he retreats.
How many times have I done this, now? Six?
P.S.: a “coalition” containing the RIAA is about as useful as a “vegetarian cookbook” put out by the beef industry.
February 16th, 2009 at 8:59 am
yes Henry, it was a tongue in cheek comment that you support file sharing.
stw
February 16th, 2009 at 11:09 am
Run for the hills Sam…. Henry’s here !!! LMFAO.
February 16th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
Sam probably ran off to Torrentfreak, where he often trolls along with fellow MAFIAAtards known
as nubcakes and ReasonedMind.
Where he and his arguments are equally, (to quote Henry Emrich) “dismemeberd, drawn, quartered, eviscerated, boiled, burned, snorted,
and shot into yet another steaming heap.”
February 17th, 2009 at 1:16 am
I’m likely putting my age up for rips, but when i was young and cassette tapes became popular, EVERYBODY copied LP’s and radio to those portable little wonders. WITHOUT A SINGLE THOUGHT about copywrong, theft, or anything else about legality. And guess what??? NOBODY got sued, nobody complained about lost revinue(sp?) Fastforward to 2009…………newer tech allows us to “record” the music we want to hear by a new method :filesharing”, NOW flame me if you like, but I SEE NO DIFFERENCE between then and now, I get what i like, and when I can I buy a hard copy, but don’t preach to me about I’m stealing something!!
To quote surfer……”share the wealth”
February 17th, 2009 at 5:00 am
n01uo:
1. Absolutely true on all counts.
Unfortunately,
2. Whiny, corporate weasels see things differently, and — up until relatively recently — have been able to buy ever-longer monopolies. Read up on the history: patents and copy”rights” are SUPPOSED to expire. Well, what I see happening is: if the weasels won’t “permit” them to expire, somebody’ll MAKE ‘em expire: new technology coupled with an ever-increasing disdain for that collosal steaming heap of legal fiction known as “Intellectual Property”. Whether you look at 3rd world nations in Africa deliberately flouting patent “laws” (so their own citizens can have affordable medicine) or the millions upon millions of folks who in countless ways, tell the CopyFascists what they can do with themselves.
The funny thing is, I used to believe there COULD be a “balance” — a legitimate place for coercive monopolies such as copyright and patents. Ironically, it’s folks like “Sam” that disabused me of that notion. (That, and the fact that — unlike them — I can actually read.)
What the hell does “Sam” design, anyway? Sex-toys? Or does he do web-design?
It’s odd that you don’t hear more web-designers bitching about the emergence of blogging software, or trying to get it banned because it potentially threatens their “bidness model”.
Pardon me if I completely fail to shed even ONE tear for the poor, beleaguered RIAA/MPAA/IFPI and their various apologists.
February 18th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
That’s a very funny list you got there. Norton? If you want a security package that requires up to 1.3 GB of RAM (when the scan known as SONAR starts at random) then go ahead and get crappy Norton. With TrendNet routers being pretty darn good for cheap Chinese equipment and available at TigerDirect.com for about $30 or so, there’s simply no excuse for not having one. Software firewalls are a smoke screen: the traffic still hits your system’s IP stack and such software can easily break your system if it has a glitch. Plus, once you’re infected with the latest virus, firewall software is completely ineffective: viruses nowadays have this ugly tendency to patch kernel call tables and intercept certain system calls to give themselves a sort of “super-superuser” access to your system and prevent their removal.
The best solution is user education; anything else is a band-aid at best. Lesson one: put a hardware firewall between yourself and the Internet, typically in the form of a cheap NAT router. Lesson two: use Firefox instead of IE. Lesson three: porn doesn’t end in .exe or .js or .vbs or .doc, and TURN OFF HIDING OF FILE EXTENSIONS SO YOU CAN TELL THE DIFFERENCE! Lesson four: stop listening to Kim Komando; she’s sponsored by the crappiest software ever (PC Tools junk and Spy Sweeper), and actively endorses it.
As for MySpace and Facebook, if you’re actually putting personal information or pictures up and not marking it “private,” you need a serious wake-up call.
The guy who wrote that list needs to do some more research though…why in the blazing hell was LimeWire left off the list, and why are legitimate tools like torrent clients being listed? Surfer, man, I don’t know where you get your info, but you’ve missed the mark terribly with that list.
February 18th, 2009 at 10:20 pm
I really think that the end of the line might be the monopolies of the ISPs. The RIAA’s new brilliant plan to just have file sharers kicked off the internet can only work if there are only two or three ISPs in a given town.
Realy, how can you defeat that? Forget net neutrality, who will stop them? the FCC already went after Comcast for throttling, and now it’s suddenly the industry standard! Without real competition for broadband (why can’t this work the way dial-up did, with lots of companies buying acccess?) this story will end soon.