Philippine Record Labels Get Government To Play Whac-A-Mole With Kickass Torrents

from the no-prizes dept

Mon, Jun 17th 2013 4:32pm — Timothy Geigner

Around and around we go, when the futility will stop, nobody knows. I'm referring, of course, to a large swath of government and industry groups around the world that apparently just love to play whac-a-mole with torrent sites, which don't host infringing files. If you're not familiar with the carnival game of the same name, it goes something like this. A mole pops out of a hole and you bludgeon that little bastard with a man-hammer. Then another one pops up from another hole. After bashing that one, another one pops out elsewhere. This goes on for exactly as much time as it takes the person playing to decide it would be much more productive to consume thirty corn dogs and puke all over themselves.

The face that launched a thousand mallets
Image source: CC BY 2.0

The latest challenger in this stupid, stupid game? The Philippines. At the request of the Filipino record industry, with some help from their US counterparts, the government seized infamous torrent tracker site Kickass Torrents. The government notes that they're only following the lead of the United Kingdom, who similarly censored KAT back in February. So, once again, we have private industry managing to get government to act as their knee-cap hit squad. Rather, that would be a decent description if the mole wasn't able to simply pop back up out of another hole, which it did.

Local record labels and the Philippine Association of the Recording Industry said that the torrent site was doing “irreparable damages” to the music industry and following a formal complaint the authorities resorted to seize of the main domain name. The torrent site hasn’t given up and is operating as usual under a new domain name.

In other words, this was a pointless exercise in parlor game futility. Instead of finding new ways to compete, the recording industry would rather whack away at those pesky moles. My advice? Well, I suggest, as always, corn dogs.

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Filed Under: copyright, philippines, torrents, whac-a-mole
Companies: kickass torrents

66 Comments

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silverscarcat (profile), 17 Jun 2013 @ 4:27pm

Mmm... Corndogs...
Does it come with ketchup?
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Zakida Paul (profile), 17 Jun 2013 @ 4:36pm

Turn on that proxy

Block averted

Pointless action

Money wasted

Nice business model these people have
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2013 @ 4:46pm

Re:
You forgot:

- Use next in line domain name.

Damn pirates keep getting smarter by the minute.

They learned all the dirty tricks.

How to use LLCs as proxies for business, how to use proxies around the world, how to use fiscal paradises.

The Kickasstorrents guys are even using artwork the reminds Hollywood, those guys are really, really teasing the industry.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2013 @ 4:54pm

I would suggest cotton candy
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2013 @ 4:58pm

I can't believe you're such a hardcore supporter of the corndog industry.
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out_of_the_blue, 17 Jun 2013 @ 5:02pm

Wrong animal. Pirates are RATS eating the seed corn.
You city folk don't know that moles are not only harmless but beneficial, aerate the soil and so on. -- Oh, forgot what store you people set by appearances: bet you're disturbed by mounds they make on your purty lawn. I kind of like them.

Anyhoo, you run with a silly metaphor so as to drop all hint that pirates stealing content could be bad in at least two ways: further dulls the minds of the thieves with empty entertainment, and prevents those who made it from getting due reward.

Just because you're thieves who CAN steal someone else's property doesn't mean that you should (even if you think they still have it, whole). Stealing is corrosive to your soul. You flaunt it, though it's nothing to be proud of in nature -- let alone scale. You're PETTY SNEAK THIEVES.
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Aidian Holder, 17 Jun 2013 @ 5:03pm

What's the legal theory behind this stuff?
Refresh my memory someone, please: what's the legal theory that government's cite when going after torrent pointer sites like KAT? I know UK & Phillipines systems are different than U.S., so give me any or all of 'em. Is it inducement? Contributory infringement? Total buffonery?
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jameshogg (profile), 17 Jun 2013 @ 5:10pm

Re: Wrong animal. Pirates are RATS eating the seed corn.
It is COPYRIGHT that prevents people from getting their due rewards.

I resent your implication that the copyright infringers who upload such great art to deviantArt have to surrender their rights in the name of "protecting fruits of labour". Do you not know the definition of doublethink?

Forget copyright, push forward with assurance contracts, and stop being such a Luddite.
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Zos (profile), 17 Jun 2013 @ 5:12pm

lmao. KAT was down for about two hours. i honestly thought it was just maintenance or something until i caught the torrentfreak article the next day.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2013 @ 5:22pm

Knowing the trolls could not resist this thread I popped it to see which one was begging for a report button hit.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2013 @ 5:24pm

Re: Wrong animal. Pirates are RATS eating the seed corn.
And you trolly folk don't seem to know that piracy is not only harmless (as proved by every serious study ever done) but beneficial ( as suggested by every serious study ever done), protects artists from obscurity and so on.

Oh forgot what store you people set by appearances: bet you're disturbed by the mounds of copyright infringing activity now visible thanks to the internet but I kind of like them. After all, torrents and indexing sites etc show the power and ingenuity of regular people just trying to get things to work, simply and easily.

Just because a thief, thinks he can prevent anyone else from doing anything they want with their own property doesn't mean that you should.
Stealing away rights of people to do what they like with things they have bought, even if that is to share it with others who would never otherwise have heard of it, aren't sure they want to spend money on it without trying it out, or actually can't afford to spend money on it - just because you can and because of purely "imaginary" losses that are supposed to (but don't) occur, doesn't mean you should.

Trying to control other people is corrosive to society and individual liberties. The **AA's flaunt it, though it's definitely nothing to be proud of, whether in nature or when it gets to the scale of corrupting governments and international trade agreements. There is nothing petty about the thievery going on by the legacy incumbents here.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2013 @ 5:24pm

Re: Wrong animal. Pirates are RATS eating the seed corn.
I'd suggest you take this information and create the more accurate game "Whack-a-Rat," but you'll probably run afoul of the original copyright holder.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2013 @ 5:37pm

Re: Wrong animal. Pirates are RATS eating the seed corn.
Woo... not just name-calling, but CAPS LOCK NAME CALLING. Ouch!
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Anonymouse, 17 Jun 2013 @ 5:41pm

employment
Yeah if i was the music and video studios i would be demanding that the mpaa actually do something to earn the money they are sucking from the artists. LOL imagine the conversations.

mpaa: we are slowly stopping the pirates but it is taking time,

studios: but we are losing sales and hundreds of trillions of dollars a day...

mpaa: , we are slowly wining...

studios, we are bankrupt...

mpaa give us some more time,lol
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anonymouse, 17 Jun 2013 @ 5:43pm

Re: Wrong animal. Pirates are RATS eating the seed corn.
Umm to steal something you have to actually take it, we as pirates are not taking anything from anyone, they still have their files to play with.But it seems like they are too busy playing with themselves.
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Scott Yates (profile), 17 Jun 2013 @ 5:46pm

Perjury charges?
If they are claiming �irreparable damages�, I think someone should file perjury charges since these �irreparable damages� seem to be nowhere in sight.

�irreparable damages� must be very loosely defined?
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2013 @ 5:46pm

whac a mole

Dumb meme is dumb.

All law enforcement is whac a mole. Duh.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2013 @ 5:47pm

Shoplifting? Whack-a-mole.
Heroin dealing? Whack-a-mole.
Speeding? Whack-a-mole.
Tax evasion? Whack-a-mole.
Murder? Whack-a-mole.
Pickpocketing? Whack-a-mole.
Child molestation? Whack-a-mole.

But you're right, this crime is different. It's special, because it allows all of you cheap, freeloading, shitbags to get something for nothing.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2013 @ 5:49pm

Re: Re: Wrong animal. Pirates are RATS eating the seed corn.
And meanwhile, you have been unjustly enriched. Fucking parasite.
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That One Guy (profile), 17 Jun 2013 @ 5:50pm

Re: What's the legal theory behind this stuff?
It's the 'Because we got hefty 'donations' to do so' legal theory I think.
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Scott Yates (profile), 17 Jun 2013 @ 5:53pm

Re: anon coward
First, there is no crime involved here.
Second, the Whack-a-mole references the stupid attempt to censor them via a single dns action.

It's interesting that you seem to equate all those actual crimes with a site that commits no crime at all.

Obvious shill is obvious.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2013 @ 6:00pm

Re: Re: anon coward
Yes, there is crime being committed, and yes the author brought up whacamole. In his title.

You're about as sharp as bowling ball, aren't you?
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2013 @ 6:04pm

Re: Re: Re: Wrong animal. Pirates are RATS eating the seed corn.
Such a pity that copyright infringers tend to be the people who spend the most money on the areas they infringe in or that hypotheses would really gain some ground.
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Some Other Guy (profile), 17 Jun 2013 @ 6:21pm

Re:
Particularly given all the powerful evidence that torrents hurt the corn-farmers. :)
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Scott Yates (profile), 17 Jun 2013 @ 6:23pm

Re: Re: Re: anon coward
Please show me where the site committed an actual crime. I can't seem to find that anywhere.

Yes, the author brought up Whack-a-mole and used the term correctly and in-context. You however, did not. Even after I pointed this out to you, you STILL do not seem to understand the context involved.

Maybe you should go back to Sparkle Lanes and see if its your turn to roll your rock down the lane. I am not sure you are ready for another reading comprehension lesson.
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Masnick = Coward, 17 Jun 2013 @ 6:26pm

You know who else likes to play Whac-A-Mole??

Mikey "the Milkman" Masnick.

He has to block the IPs of people who challenge him. He's so scared of me that he doesn't know what to do.

I'm not going anywhere, Mikey.

Blocking me makes it worse.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2013 @ 6:54pm

Re:
Care to back up that claim that he's blocking IP's? Considering how people here have made a point in the past that they don't block the IP of people, Mike included, I couldn't imagine you passing up the chance to prove him wrong with an actual fact.
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Automatic Grammatizator, 17 Jun 2013 @ 6:55pm

Re:
You sound just like Porky, the villain in Mother 3.
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horse with no name, 17 Jun 2013 @ 6:57pm

Good move
I cannot think of any country that would want to be directly associated with piracy in any form. While you consider it whack-a-mole, the reality is that it's just simple for each country to look at it and go "we don't want to be a haven for criminal in any way".

Don't think of it as a whacked mole, think of it as another country off the list of places for the pirates to hide out, even virtually. The list keeps getting shorter, those moles are not reproducing.
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That One Guy (profile), 17 Jun 2013 @ 7:02pm

Re: Re:
His comments are probably just getting reported and hidden so fast that he just assumes an IP block, rather than having to face the fact that people aren't willing to humor him anymore.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2013 @ 7:57pm

Re: Re: Re: Wrong animal. Pirates are RATS eating the seed corn.
So there's a monopoly on "unjust enrichment" held by Mitch Bainwol. Got it.
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Atkray (profile), 17 Jun 2013 @ 8:15pm

Re: Wrong animal. Pirates are RATS eating the seed corn.
Once again you miss the point and are wrong.
You apparently have never had to shoot a horse that stepped in a hole left behind by one of your harmless moles.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2013 @ 8:16pm

Re: Re: Re:
Yes, This!
Since his posts are basically spam, in the future, just click the report button and scroll down - do not comment or rant. This is the last time I will post any response to this persons deranged, self-indulgent Spam!
Pass the message.
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AC Unknown, 17 Jun 2013 @ 8:19pm

Re: Re: Re: Wrong animal. Pirates are RATS eating the seed corn.
I call shenanigans. You know those tax cuts your Hollywood paymasters got? That's "unjust enrichment".
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David Lowery, 17 Jun 2013 @ 8:38pm

Re:
It's not something for nothing. I pay a lot for my VPN and proxy service.
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David Lowery, 17 Jun 2013 @ 8:43pm

Re:
I see you took my advice about dropping your AC and actually being somewhat acountable. Baby steps bro. Baby steps.

(Now's the part where I wait for him to come back with some vein-popping, insulting bout of verbal diarrhea...)
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2013 @ 9:06pm

Re: Re: Re: anon coward
please show me on this doll where the nasty pirate touched you
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2013 @ 9:13pm

Re:
Every tiome I try to comment on a pro copyright blog with polite, well researched counterpoints they NEVER show up leaving only the "copyrigth can do no wrong" comments.

And yet EVERY dissenting opinion on techdirt IS STILL VIEWABLE.

If you want to complain about censorship complain to the people on your own side that do it
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2013 @ 9:33pm

Re: Wrong animal. Pirates are RATS eating the seed corn.
Lying is corrosive to the soul.

So it is a safe assumption from the quantity of lies that you tell, that you have no soul left.

I guess when you lie as much as you do, eventually, you are going to start to believe in your lies.

The rest of us on the other hand, can still see your lies for what they are.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2013 @ 9:59pm

Re: Wrong animal. Pirates are RATS eating the seed corn.
Does it matter?
Have you ever seen a mole or a rat care about copyright?
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Manok, 17 Jun 2013 @ 10:28pm

Just as I am surprised why on earth all these download sites are constantly DDOS-ed... (who on earth could be behind that, other than...???) I find that TechDirt lately has a lot of copyright advocates clouding the threads.

The internet obviously need a Snowden-like whistleblower from within the music industry, perhaps that will get things back to normal...
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2013 @ 10:55pm

Re: Re:
Joe would not know what an actual fact is if it walked up and smacked him in the face with a fish.

That is why he makes up his own facts to suit his agenda
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2013 @ 11:34pm

Re: Re:
Hit 9 moles to move on.

Note: The industry will force another bill through if you hit too many, saying that it's necessary to stop pirates altogether, but if you don't hit enough, they'll complain that you're not doing enough to stop piracy and push the same one through.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2013 @ 11:35pm

Re: Good move
To use your analogy, yes, they are. Ever heard of proxies? Both the pirates and the people living in those countries will use them to continue doing what they were always doing, and the industry will continue to see piracy rates until they work out the cause of piracy rather than simply try to stop the effect.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2013 @ 11:45pm

Re: Good move
Yep the list keeps getting shorter have you seen it recently?
http://kickass.to/

Meow.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2013 @ 11:46pm

Re: Re: Re: anon coward
Ignoring the MAFIAA?
Sure pal whatever you say.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2013 @ 11:48pm

Re: Wrong animal. Pirates are RATS eating the seed corn.
I believe you are mistaken there are no "RATS" on the internet, only "CATS".

Meow.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Jun 2013 @ 1:54am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Wrong animal. Pirates are RATS eating the seed corn.
No they don't.

They do enjoy lying on un-scientific questionnaires tho.
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PaulT (profile), 18 Jun 2013 @ 3:04am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Wrong animal. Pirates are RATS eating the seed corn.
Do you have proof of that, or just the bullshit that the **AAs and their defenders pull out of their arses every time they're proven wrong?
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PaulT (profile), 18 Jun 2013 @ 3:11am

Re: Re: Re:
Either that, or his constant obsessive anonymous posting is just getting caught as spam and held for manual review. 10+ posts in minutes on different articles with basically the same wording would get caught in such a filter, and I know from whining in the past that this site has such a filter (usually followed by the whining being made to look even more stupid a while later when the original post attempts are approved and visible). Hell, I've even had posts caught myself when I've posted a couple of links and forgot to log in. But I didn't act like a toddler with bipolar issues when it happened, unlike the mentally disturbed subject in front of us here.
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PaulT (profile), 18 Jun 2013 @ 3:14am

Re: Good move
So, are you so stupid that you think that hiding an IP address or domain name actually stops any piracy, or so technically clueless that you don't know how laughably trivial such blocks are for people to bypass?

If only you people would support actions that were actually effective instead of these idiotic games that only make you look stupid, and do nothing to address your problems...
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Dark Helmet (profile), 18 Jun 2013 @ 3:18am

Re: Re: Wrong animal. Pirates are RATS eating the seed corn.
"I'd suggest you take this information and create the more accurate game "Whack-a-Rat," but you'll probably run afoul of the original copyright holder."

You know, sadly, there was originally another Sam 'n Max reference in the article, with "puke" being "yuke", but it was edited out by someone who never played the game :(
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Niall (profile), 18 Jun 2013 @ 4:48am

Re: Re: Re: Wrong animal. Pirates are RATS eating the seed corn.
Go pay the plants for the air you breathe. Sheesh, talk about entitlement thinking!
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Niall (profile), 18 Jun 2013 @ 4:54am

Re: Re:
There are pro-copyright sites where you can actually comment? Wow, what do they use, pro-forma agreement forms?

Select:

a) Filthy pirates
b) Hard-working RIAA/MPAA/Congress
c) Rogue states
d) Pirates stole our BRAAAAAIIIIINSSSSS!!1!!!
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Mega1987 (profile), 18 Jun 2013 @ 4:54am

Re: Mmm... Corndogs...
with a Benny Hill Theme going on as the country I'm Living in, joins a pirate/torrent a'la Benny Hill chase...

I wonder what the politicians today in the philippines thinking? once you put something on the net, it's spread faster than a virus outbreak....
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Jun 2013 @ 5:58am

Re:
unlike our government they probably have real security measures in place and keep their people fat and happy from all the money they make that should be going to artists.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Jun 2013 @ 6:01am

The record companies probably wish it was just whack a mole.

In whack a mole games the moles don't progressively get harder to whack and the people in the arcade don't start rooting for the moles and sneering at you.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Jun 2013 @ 8:04am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Wrong animal. Pirates are RATS eating the seed corn.
Another night out of Paul batting .000 with the ladies, so he's here at the zoo tilting at windmills.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Jun 2013 @ 8:05am

Re:
You can say that again.
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PaulT (profile), 18 Jun 2013 @ 8:23am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Wrong animal. Pirates are RATS eating the seed corn.
Yeah, I find it hard to pull while at work at work before lunchtime when that comment was written. I'll be OK in 20 mins or so when I get out of here and head toward my local for a drink with my friends though, more options there.

What's your excuse? You're so confused by scientific facts such as timezones that the request for a citation has broken your feeble mind? You're so inept at defending arguments that you have to fight imaginary personality defects in people when they dare to ask trolls to defend their lies with evidence?
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Jun 2013 @ 8:40am

They should try to play it with some of the premium link gens I use. A few change their domain almost daily.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Jun 2013 @ 9:32am

Just to give you guys a heads-up on the political climate of my beloved country... a) You become a movie star, you run(and most of the time, win) for office. b) You become a recording star, you run for office. c) You become a sports star, you run for office.
My country is run by celebrities, go figure.
After the Clinton-Lewinsky thing, impeachment became our national hobby. Yes, our politicos impeach everybody for anything....
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The Groove Tiger (profile), 18 Jun 2013 @ 9:47am

"If you're not familiar with the carnival game of the same name, it goes something like this. A mole pops out of a hole and you bludgeon that little bastard with a man-hammer. Then another one pops up from another hole. After bashing that one, another one pops out elsewhere."

Ok, now imagine this variant:
There's a mole somewhere. Every few seconds he writes his name in a piece of paper and throws it out of a hole. You bludgeon that paper with the hammer. Then the mole writes his name in another piece of paper. Eventually, your arm falls off, while the mole lives happily eating nachos and watching mole porn.
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Capn' BarboSa, 18 Jun 2013 @ 9:47am

Hoist the Colors
Philippines be fools thinking they can sink our mighty ships. shame be to them thinking we haven't seen all your navy's plans to storm our seas. Kate.Ph was just a figurehead of our mighty ship and your phoney cannons may have destroyed that but we have others and we are willing to replace them faster than you can destroy them. Wack one three pop up. If this be the game you aspire we play then So be it.

Pirate
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The Groove Tiger (profile), 18 Jun 2013 @ 9:48am

Re:
Just in case it's not clear, this is what playing whac-a-mole with bittorrent files looks like.
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Dimz, 16 Jul 2013 @ 2:53am

proxys
find a full list of working proxys over at
www.dimz.co.uk/proxy

for a few of your sites
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