Entertainment Industry Pushes To Make Mininova Useless

from the it's-a-search-engine dept

Mininova, the latest BitTorrent search engine to raise the ire of the entertainment industry is currently engaged in a court battle with BREIN, an anti-piracy organization, in the Netherlands. Apparently, BREIN is making a variety of highly questionable demands of Mininova, including that it be responsible for installing filters to block certain content (at Mininova's own expense) and that it stop indexing torrents from trackers that allow public uploads. In other words: even if Mininova is considered a search engine, the industry hopes that it can set the rules of what can and cannot be searched. Hopefully the court sees through these arguments. Separately, the article appears to report that BREIN made false statements, including the idea that famed BitTorrent uploader aXXO had been given "VIP" status on the site. The only problem? Mininova offers no such thing. So which is more unethical? Creating a search engine for certain types of files, some of which may be infringing? Or lying in court?

Filed Under: bittorrent, netherlands, search engines
Companies: brein, minivoa

Record Labels Continue Their Attack On Spanish File Sharing Programmers

from the just-can't-stop dept

We've seen a series of efforts by the big four major record labels to shut down file search engines and software in Spain, despite the fact that such systems have been ruled legal in the country in the past. In one case, they were able to get one guy to cop a guilty plea and get jail time, because he couldn't afford to fight the charges. The latest such story is actually getting covered by the Associated Press, as the big four record labels are going after yet another programmer who created some file sharing apps, trying to charge him with "unfair competition" and demanding $17.5 million. Part of his defense is that Spain has a music levy on blank media, and thus it should be legal for anyone to download (other cases in Spain have ruled that personal downloading isn't a violation) -- and, thus, not a violation to create tools for such downloads. It'll come as not much of a surprise, that the record labels disagree. They'd prefer to get their piracy tax and shut down any attempts to share music at the same time.

Filed Under: bittorrent, file sharing, injunctions, search, spain

Recording Industry Tries To Shut Down Search Engine In Spain Without Allowing It To Defend Itself

from the fairness-not-needed dept

Last month, we wrote about how the recording industry was able to pressure the operator of a BitTorrent search engine into pleading guilty despite not actually having broken the law. The site in question didn't host any infringing files, but merely linked to a variety of files. Previous lawsuits had shown that, in Spain, merely linking is not infringement. But with the cost of a huge court case, the operator found it cheaper to just settle. Emboldened by this, it appears the industry is going after other sites as well, despite the earlier court rulings finding such sites legal. TorrentFreak notes that in one case, against the search engine Agujero.com, the local recording industry reps demanded an immediate injunction against the site, without even allowing the site's operators to give its side. Luckily, the judge did not fall for this, and after a hearing in which both sides presented their position, is allowing the site to continue operating while the trial continues, noting that shutting down the site: "might cause irreparable prejudice to the defendant." It's good to see another reasonable ruling, though troubling that the recording industry tried to push for an immediate injunction.

Filed Under: bittorrent, file sharing, injunctions, search, spain
Companies: agujero.com

Indie Record Label Sponsors isoHunt BitTorrent Tracker Site

from the more-labels-that-get-it dept

While the major record labels keep insisting that BitTorrent and tracker sites are somehow evil and need to be shut down, more and more indie artists and labels are recognizing that they actually are quite useful promotion and distribution platforms. We've pointed to some in the past, but the latest is a label called Honor Roll Music, which is promoting one of its popular acts by buying ads on isoHunt, the popular BitTorrent site. The ad links to a torrent file so people can easily download the music of the band, Awesome New Republic. Of course, if the major record labels had their way, these creative promotion techniques wouldn't be allowed. Sometimes when we talk about innovative business models, defenders of the old system say that those are fine, but there's no reason to change copyright or stop these lawsuits because those models still work. Yet, this shows how that's not true at all. If the entertainment industry successfully shuts down these sites, it precludes these types of models and promotions. Once again, we see how this is really all about stomping out innovation rather than any legal issue.

Filed Under: bittorrent, record labels, sponsors
Companies: honor roll music, isohunt

Comedian Louis CK Gets BitTorrent Content Removed By Asking Nicely

from the please,-thank-you dept

A reader, who prefers to go by the name Angry Young Man, points us to an interesting set of comments on a torrent of a recent stand up comedy performance by the comedian Louis CK, where it appears the comedian himself showed up on Mininova and asked nicely for the content to be removed, even explaining his reasoning:

HI. I'm Louis CK. Can you please take this down? This show is a work in progress and was not intended to be passed around the internet. I have absolutely no problem, personally, with file sharing, and if you take everythign I have on the market on DVD, CD, and put it up for free downloading, I don't care. But this is an artistic and personal request. Please take this torrent down. thanks.

Following that, the guy who uploaded the torrent complied:

Sorry Mr. CK, I have taken down the direct downloads and asked Mininova and ViPeers to remove the torrent. I thought you would have preferred the reverse, your live concerts in ****ty audio quality would be ok, especially for what you said about NBC taking down your Late Night appearance, and your high quality DVDs and stuff wouldn't be ok since you need ***** for that stuff. I sincerely apologize for the torrent and the misunderstanding.

And people say that those putting up torrent files don't respect artists?

Filed Under: bittorrent, louis ck, respect

Filmmaker Releases Film Via All Torrent Sites, Says Pay If You Like It

from the piracy,-huh? dept

It looks like yet another filmmaker has realized that obscurity is a much bigger threat than piracy. Matthew Krum lets us know that the makers of the movie BLANK have decided to release the movie on all torrent sites, while also offering up a DVD version and a donation offering on their site. While I'm not a huge fan of give it away and pray business models, you have to like the attitude these filmmakers have:

No one should have to pay for a film they did not like. No one should be denied the right to enjoy the art of film.

And they actually are offering additional benefits for those who pay: access to the same group as they make their next film, allowing them to see the behind-the-scenes filmmaking process in action:

Basically the consumer pays what they think the film was worth to them. They will also have the option to sign up for a newsletter for our next film. In this newsletter there will be a username and password to a web forum so they can follow us through pre production, production and post production of our next film, a cool bonus for those who wish to follow the filmmaking journey from beginning to end first hand.

On top of that, the filmmakers seem to have convinced their whole crew to buy into this process:

The thing that makes this film unique is that it is a co-op based concept where are the entire cast and crew worked on a deferred percentage of the films gross. In other words, the cast and crew own a percentage of the films gross, so the profits are not going to Hollywood executives but instead into the pockets of the filmmakers themselves. Again the objective is to use profits from this film to make another movie and release it in the same manner.

It doesn't look like my type of movie, but if you like these types of movies, go check it out. It's great that they're releasing the movie this way, though I still think they could put in place a few more incentives to get people to actually pay for additional benefits -- similar to what many musicians are doing these days. But, at the very least, this is a great start.

Filed Under: bittorrent, blank, movies

Government-Owned Norwegian TV Station Launches BitTorrent Tracker

from the legitimate-uses... dept

As some entertainment industry folks continue to insist that BitTorrent tracker search engines have no redeeming value, we keep hearing more and more stories of content providers willingly and eagerly putting up their own torrent trackers, knowing that it's an incredibly efficient means of distributing their content. In the past, we've seen TV networks in Australia and Canada do this with individual shows, and now TorrentFreak is reporting that the government-owned Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) has set up a BitTorrent tracker for distributing a bunch of its shows, noting that: "This type of distribution is reliable, cheap and popular with our audience." Indeed. Not only that, but by running its own tracker, NRK realizes: "we will get better statistics and gather important data about how this technology works." Even better, it plans to share some of that data for others to learn from as well.

The shows will be DRM-free, and it's looking to employ a Creative Commons license on the content "to allow full freedom for our audience." Definitely nice to see someone not going down the same well-trodden road of self-defeat:

"It is important for us to start experimenting with new distribution methods. We don't want to do like the music industry. Running around thinking that people will keep driving down to a record store when they can have the content delivered with the push of a button at home."

If only some others in the entertainment industry would recognize the same thing.

Filed Under: bittorrent, culture, norway, sharing
Companies: norwegian broadcasting

TV Network 'Leaks' Its Own Shows On BitTorrent

from the catch-up-television dept

To be honest, I've never quite understood why TV networks and TV producers were so freaked out about online file sharing. After all, they already made their content free to view via television -- and adding more ways to see that content should only increase the value of the shows. That's especially true for shows that people want to stay up on and not miss. The more ways people can see it, the better, because it keeps them engaged and coming back for more. And, after some initial false starts, we are seeing some of that with things like Hulu. But, unfortunately, Hulu is still quite closed off and limiting (regional limitations, streaming -- rather than downloads, and some content disappears).

Others, however, seem to be grasping the value of making the content more widely available. A reader using the name PCVirus, sends in the news that down in Australia the TV network Nine Network has been leaking full, high quality downloads of the show Underbelly 2 via BitTorrent, right after the show airs. The network folks note that they see it as "catch-up television"; making sure that fans don't miss an episode. Not only that, but they encourage fans to share the show via whatever file sharing system they like. The only questionable thing, though, is the claim that the content will "stop working once the season finishes airing." Not quite sure how that works, but even that seems pretty lame. They're doing that because they're afraid it might cut into DVD sales, but as we've seen over and over again, if you give people a reason to actually buy the physical product, plenty of people will. So, make the DVDs include tons of extras -- and maybe some other types of benefits (opportunity to appear on the show?) and fans will buy.

Filed Under: bittorrent, leaks, tv, underbelly 2
Companies: nine network

A Record Label That Embraces BitTorrent

from the good-for-them dept

While the major record labels still insist that BitTorrent and any sort of file sharing is evil and needs to be wiped out, it's great to see some indie record labels fully embracing how BitTorrent is actually a much cheaper and much more efficient distribution and marketing tool. Take, for example, Open Your Eyes Records, who not only embraces BitTorrent, but has now teamed up with one BitTorrent tracker, What.cd, to distribute all new tracks that way. Even though for many readers here this doesn't need to be repeated, this is (once again) more evidence that BitTorrent and BitTorrent trackers have plenty of legitimate purposes -- and the efforts to shut them down completely are quite short sighted.

Filed Under: bittorrent, record labels
Companies: open your eyes records

Australian Filtering Boss: Turning Off Blog And Comments

from the but-listening...-we-swear... dept

With the story earlier this week about Australia's Broadband Minister, Stephen Conroy, considering adding BitTorrent filtering to the country's ISP filtering/censorship program, it was notable that Conroy said he was paying close attention to the commentary about the program online -- including various blogs and social network systems like Twitter. That was actually a small glimmer of hope mixed in with the ridiculous policy -- but it appears that Conroy has decided he'd really rather not listen to the conversation on his own blog. While that post about BitTorrent filtering got a lot of attention, it also got a ton of comments, and now Conroy and his team are turning off their blog and closing down the comments. Way to communicate with the people...

Filed Under: australia, bittorrent, blogs, censorship, comments, filters, stephen conroy