Internet Archive Enables Over 1,000,000 Torrents Of Books, Music And Movies

from the torrent-away dept

We sometimes hear people say that BitTorrent as a technology is only good for infringement. We know that's not true, but then people will point to examples of how frequently it's used for infringement. Of course, that's meaningless when you look at both the larger picture and the nature of trends. When new distribution technologies are introduced, it's not surprising that they're used that way because there's so little legitimate activity on the system. But that changes over time. Remember, when the VCR first came about, nearly all activity on it was described as "infringing" by some, because there was no legitimate content being offered. However, obviously, over time that changed and more and more legitimate content was offered.

Over the years, we've certainly seen an increase in content being offered via BitTorrent, but today there's a big addition: the Internet Archive has enabled over one million torrents of books, music and movies from its collection.
The Internet Archive is now offering over 1,000,000 torrents including our live music concerts, the Prelinger movie collection, the librivox audio book collection, feature films, old time radio, lots and lots of books, and all new uploads from our patrons into Community collections (with more to follow).
And while some ignorant organizations may declare that the Internet Archive is a "rogue site," I think most people recognize that it's a wonderful repository of all sorts of legal content, much of which is now available using the rather efficient distribution technology BitTorrent.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: archive, bittorrent, books, creative works, movies, music
Companies: bittorrent, internet archive


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    gnudist, 7 Aug 2012 @ 8:27pm

    HOW DARE YOU FILTHY PIRATES DOWNLOAD COMPLETELY LEGAL CONTENT

    I'll bet you're in league with google and netflix(more like PIRATEFLIX) to destroy american values like proping up failed business models and suing innovative products to obivion!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 7 Aug 2012 @ 8:27pm

    The copyright mafiaa's ambulance chasers will be all over these looking for a smoking gun.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 7 Aug 2012 @ 10:21pm

      Re:

      Actually, Internet Archive is a little late to the party. Bittorrent has been around for, what, over a decade? Pop the champagne! It's innovation time!

      Warner Bros. was experimenting with Bittorrent over six years ago already.

      Not to mention Snocap had a digital rights registry and licensing for music on p2p networks ready to go eight years ago, but there was no takers. Talk about a failure of imagination.

      But no, it's cool that you can use a slightly different protocol to download the same content that has been available for free for years. That will show, um, them!

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 8 Aug 2012 @ 10:28am

        Why that reply? No-one said that BitTorrent was the issue.

        Why that reply? No-one said that BitTorrent was the issue.

        Anonymous Coward, Aug 8th, 2012 @ 10:19am

        I certainly hope that BitTorrent has been around for at least ten years - I've been using it for at least that long. Yes, it was my post to which you replied so pedantically.

        The failed attempt at pedantry aside, you're doing exactly what the copyright mafiaa wants you to do - conflating the medium and the media with copyright infringement. That's like calling all Fords illegal because a few Fords have copied Ford hubcaps.

        The mafiaa tried (and failed) to propagate the same phony conflation with mp3's fifteen years ago - calling anyone who had electronic music files (mp3, wav, etc) a pirate (go try to tell Apple that iTunes is piracy).

        People such as yourself must be capable of better reasoning than that.

        I had hoped we were beyond such trivial crap, but since you're using what I thought was a dead lie to misdirect (whether you did it intentionally or not), I guess not.

        So let me say this: using BitTorrent is (and always has been) perfectly legal and the media transferred via BitTorrent (mp3, mp4, FLAC, avi, text or whatever) is also perfectly legal as a format.

        The copyright mafiaa's ONLY gripe over which they can sue (sure, they despise legitimate competition and no doubt tell all kinds of lies to fight it, but they haven't bought off enough politicians yet to get more bs laws passed so they can sue over competition) is that the content of media might "infringe" (by their definition of the laws that they already bought with your money (been to a movie lately - where do you think some of the huge profits from the outrageous price you paid go?))

        The point of the post is that a HUGE flood of new material is now available for them to scrutinize and find any cause they can to shut it all down regardless of the legality of the bulk (a typical hollywood-style hysterical reaction) and thereby use copyright as a way to unfairly fight fair valid competition.

        I could write a lot more, but I don't want to waste the energy further rebutting a pointless post.

        Anyone who disagrees may feel free, however, to read this post as often as it takes to get the point(s) through your head(s).

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 7 Aug 2012 @ 8:33pm

    This will teach them.

    Mafiaa whine: Help us - our past is stealing our future!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      gnudist, 7 Aug 2012 @ 9:12pm

      Re: This will teach them.

      *hands MAFIAA some cheese*

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Ninja (profile), 8 Aug 2012 @ 3:33am

      Re: This will teach them.

      I recommend a good read for you Mr MAFIAA: "About Bananas" with 1,097,810 downloads (http://archive.org/details/AboutBan1935).

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Shmerl, 7 Aug 2012 @ 8:40pm

    Kudos to Internet Archive! It's a great resource, and their Wayback Machine is often indispensable.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    E. Zachary Knight (profile), 7 Aug 2012 @ 8:54pm

    This actually looks really, really awesome. I can't wait to peruse the site.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      gnudist, 7 Aug 2012 @ 9:15pm

      Re:

      "peruse the site"

      Looks like we gots us ne of dem elitist intellectual types here!

      You think you're better 'n me cause you know fancy words?!

      RUN BACK TO GOOGLE COMMIE

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 7 Aug 2012 @ 9:39pm

    Impossibru. Torrents are all illegal. ILLEGAL, DAMNIT YOU FITLY PIRATE SCALLYWAG! WHY MUST YOU--- Nnngh.... Brain... Cell's... Depleting...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      DannyB (profile), 8 Aug 2012 @ 6:19am

      Re:

      > Brain... Cell's... Depleting

      Error.

      Logical fallacy detected.

      Depletion of brain cells presupposes there were brain cells before the depletion process can begin.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        Niall (profile), 9 Aug 2012 @ 5:16am

        Re: Re:

        I think he meant his brain cells were depleting due to emulating the wrong-headedness of the MAFIAA, as opposed to saying that the MAFIAA have any brain cells to start with. Better get your irony meter and parsing machine checked out :)

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 7 Aug 2012 @ 9:48pm

    not many people are still critical of things like bittorrent, It has always been about the misuse of any technology that is the issue..

    a gun can be very usefull if you need to gather food, but if it's misused then that is the fault of the person misusing the technology, not the underlying technology..

    This is a basic precept of existance, and life, you cannot work that out Masnick ???

    why continue to proporgate the belief that it's the technology, not the criminals ?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 7 Aug 2012 @ 9:58pm

      Re:

      Whoosh.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Loki, 7 Aug 2012 @ 10:37pm

      Re:

      I rather think he can work it out given that your statements pretty much sum up the general gist of the arguments of this site for over a decade now.

      I am not quite sure how pointing out that it is the entertainment industry that are the ones who keep insisting that it is the technology, not the misuses of such, that are the problem, and then consistently debunking those claims time and again, is somehow propagating the myth.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 7 Aug 2012 @ 10:59pm

      Re:

      And you win the prize for completly misunderstanding Mike's arguement. Here's your gold plated dunce cap.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 7 Aug 2012 @ 11:13pm

      Re:

      You're the same idiot who thinks police should never be filmed for brutality, aren't you.

      Go jump in a lake and boil your head.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Niall (profile), 9 Aug 2012 @ 5:17am

      Re:

      The same could be said of the paid-for, over-reaching laws the MAFIAA so rely on. "It's the laws, not our own stupidity and viciousness!"

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 7 Aug 2012 @ 9:56pm

    I believe it fair to say that the majority of persons who have expressed concerns associated with torrents have not done so in the context of "torrent technology". Such "technology" is content neutral. Where concerns have come to the fore is with respect to how some persons have chosen to use and/or exploit the technology, many times in open defiance of the rule of law.

    For example, IsoHunt did not get its behind in a sling because it involved torrents, but because the person behind the site deliberately chose to turn a blind eye and deaf ear to what was being done using his site. YouTube at first embarked on this path, but to its credit it has moved in a direction consistent with law. Many of the Cyber Lockers likewise embarked along this path, which is a terrible shame because it unnecesarily gave the technology and all it has to offer a bad name.

    Hopefully, as time passes and these technologies come to be used to facilitate legitimate endeavors by their users, these initial perceptions will change.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 7 Aug 2012 @ 11:49pm

      Re:

      I believe it fair to say that the majority of persons who have expressed concerns associated with torrents have not done so in the context of "torrent technology". Such "technology" is content neutral.

      Would be so nice it was true. Content holders have a consistent history of fighting against any alternative distribution and reproduction means they don't control: banning private copying/archiving technology (eg. DVD backup software, VCR hardware), forcing usage limitations (HDMI, "plugging the analog hole"...), Closing down filesharing sites/services, introducing new taxes (media burners & blank media).

      They are the natural enemies of anything bypassing their former control was via mechanical reproduction & distribution. Which is fairly natural a mindset for them considering how long it took so long for the music industry to concentrate into just a handful of majors.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Loki, 7 Aug 2012 @ 10:51pm

    And while some ignorant organizations may declare that the Internet Archive is a "rogue site,"

    (Pulls out entertainment industry dictionary)

    Rogue Site - any website that does not generate large profit margins that are exclusively ours, or that we at least get the lion's share of.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 7 Aug 2012 @ 11:04pm

    It would appear that the freetards have taken over that site too, deciding to use it's legal content as more shielding for their illegal activities.

    It's sick to see the using the good stuff as a sort of digital human shield.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 7 Aug 2012 @ 11:28pm

      Re:

      You're missing the point. I guess such thinking will go away as the older generation fades away into history.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 7 Aug 2012 @ 11:36pm

        Re: Re:

        How am I missing the point? They are specifically choosing a very controversial way to "distribute" stuff, putting a million files out there that will be used in the next court case to show "non-infringing uses". It's a freetard wet dream - which makes me think that one or more of the leading 'tards got into a position of control and worked it out.

        It's really sad.

        it's not "older generation thinking", too bad you can't seem to think. Is that an issue for the "younger generation", having too short of an attention span to work things out?

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 8 Aug 2012 @ 12:11am

          Re: Re: Re:

          Cultural preservation and widespread availability is a very important topic. An organisation tasking itself to that is an asset to mankind. People like you usually feel no obligation to contribute to that. All of the thinking is strictly about who's making money. It's very hard for them to imagine there's other dimensions like progress, access to culture,... If we relied on Big Media into ensure things don't get lost to the future.

          On a sidenote, that "freetard"-ing is so retarded. Like something being free is always suspicious. Someone providing something for free must have a hidden motive. I guess it stresses even more what the sole focus of people who spread this language are: strictly money and who gets it. Benefits to society of free circulation of arts, common cultural good, the very natural act of sharing the good stuff with one another, etc, can't be considered.

          On a funny note I can't help but notice how "freetards" is almost an anagram of "free trades". You guys are a lot about trade. But nowhere near to freedom.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          PaulT (profile), 8 Aug 2012 @ 12:39am

          Re: Re: Re:

          "They are specifically choosing a very controversial way to "distribute" stuff"

          It's only controversial in the minds of morons who are unable to separate the tool from the usage - people who do the equivalent of attacking Ford whenever one of their cars is used in a robbery. In the minds of everybody else, the only question is why they took so long to use such a useful method to distribute their legal content. Perhaps they had to wait because morons keep attacking the tool?

          But, I see you firmly fit into the moron camp, so we're done here.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 8 Aug 2012 @ 8:29am

          Re: Re: Re:

          Your post presumes nefarious intent on the people putting up and downloading this free (as in $0 and as in freely available/unencumbered) content. That's the bothersome part. It also presumes the free content is worthless, just as bothersome.

          But it also fails to acknowledge facts,... bandwidth is being used to access this content (people are downloading it). So, it has to have some value,... as educational material on industry cooperation with gov't programs and propaganda (and potentially even as academic material in coursework), or as entertainment (it may be pretty laughable, even if only to people who are sitting in a circle, inhaling vapors from illegal plants). And it also has pure historical value. Given both of those, which are substantial non-infringing uses,... It almost does not matter if it only represents a small fraction of bit torrent use...

          It also strikes me as odd that someone would go to such lengths to build up a download history on a thing like this, just to cover illegal use. It is also odd that the academic types who would create these archives would want to support, in any manner, illegal content exchange. I think it more likely they wish to support a useful tool for its original, intended, and lawful purpose.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 8 Aug 2012 @ 9:43pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          I think your tinfoil is malfunctioning.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Lawrence D'Oliveiro, 8 Aug 2012 @ 12:34am

      Re: It's sick to see the using the good stuff as a sort of digital human shield.

      It should be illegal to use legal services for legal stuff.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 8 Aug 2012 @ 3:11am

      Re:

      What is sick is the amount of speculation and baseless judgment in your post. Name calling, not a single shred of fact (let alone evidence), and heaping piles of your prejudiced opinion.

      Archive.Org is a pillar of the internet community. The service the provide (and have provided for a very long time) is of inestimable value to the very high minded goal of preserving human culture. They do this free of charge and without prospect of recompense... as a gift to the world.

      What, may I ask do you do for the world that entitles you to look down with scorn upon those noble people. I suspect that the Internet Archive's Live Grateful Dead Show collection alone is of more use to more people and provides more joy than what any ten negative posters like yourself will accomplish with their entire life's work.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 8 Aug 2012 @ 6:48am

      Re:

      Yes...the same freetards who came up with the idea of public libraries and they are just giving content away...

      I really think this is all a plot by the Obamanites to make our great nation a socialist regime.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 8 Aug 2012 @ 9:21am

        Re: Re:

        Don't kid yourself, Obama is in the right hip pocket of big content. His copyright "Czar," Victoria Espinel, has used every opportunity to cozy up to the MPAA and the RIAA.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 8 Aug 2012 @ 11:57am

          Re: Re: Re:

          He's reliant upon them for campaign contributions...hip pocket...hmmm...perhaps, but, if you think the alternative is any less beholden...there's this bridge I need to show you...

          link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Dannie blaze (profile), 8 Aug 2012 @ 1:26am

    Transformative works sites such as OverClocked Remix (a website that provides fan-created remixes and re-imaginings of video game music) has provided their product for free via torrent for a long, long time now.

    And before anyone gets on their high horse about remixes being infringing, OC Remix has a long history of being supported by the gaming industry, several of the sites remixers have gone on to produce music for game developers - such as Lee Brotherton/Bentley Jones hwo has done music for SEGA. And at least one entire game soundtrack (I believe it was one of the MegaMan games) has been produced entirely by OC remix contributors.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    herodotus (profile), 8 Aug 2012 @ 2:39am

    Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't this just a way for the Internet Archive to reduce its bandwidth costs?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 8 Aug 2012 @ 3:02am

    Archive.org

    All of this material has been available for download from them for years and years. The only news here is that they are offering another alternative to the existing direct download links and FTP options.

    Really a non-issue. Actual copyright generators are rarely perturbed by so-called infringement anyway... it is always those talentless boobs who use other people's copyrights to make their money. (And the shills they pay to make a fuss.)

    One day, the copyright makers will realize en masse that the people who are robbing them are not the pirates and kids swapping files... but rather the middle men, bloated corporations, and the associations they set up to protect their interests. (not those of the content creators)

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    anonymouss coward, 8 Aug 2012 @ 4:04am

    The real problem I should say is the current technology is way ahead of anything content creators can imagine. A writer spends 2 years writing everyday(sometimes more than 2) only to see the finished work in under 5 MB; a music artist, a producer spending millions of dollars on a movies, television; only to be copied and shared by billions for free.

    Iam predicting the media industries(books, movies, television, comics,etc) will crash just like 2008 in near future.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Ophelia Millais (profile), 8 Aug 2012 @ 4:42am

      Re:

      No, the real problem is that your completely off-topic post has nothing to do with topic at hand, which is that the Internet Archive, a clearinghouse for public domain and Creative Commons works, has added torrents to its mechanisms for downloading said content.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 8 Aug 2012 @ 7:12am

      Re:

      They will crash because they were built on lies and corruption, just like the real estate and financial industries.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Minimum Wage Shill, 8 Aug 2012 @ 8:32am

    But ... but ... but ... no one would ever make books without copyright!!!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 8 Aug 2012 @ 1:08pm

    Watch out!! TechDirt let everybody know about this site. So it will be taken down pretty soon too. Sometimes you should just shut up.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Mike, 6 Jun 2017 @ 12:48am

    Books

    Great Ideas, Thanks for sharing helpful, useful site and list.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.