20th Century fox vs Newzbin

[NathanE]

Reading the court judgement it does come across as though the site operator was a bit aloof over the years. He totally believed that he was immune from any prosecution.

This quote is a particularly good example of that. Openly discussing such things on his own forum was never such a bright idea really:

We may also move the logs off the Newzbin servers, onto completely unrelated servers in another completely unrelated part of the Internet, and then log via SSL to them. (thus, no logs can be taken without our consent – but I judge the odds of server seizure to be negligible, as it'd be jumped on by our lawyer with complete glee)."

Another critical point was this:

Q. Well, in fact you have added these categories, haven't you?
A. Yes, I think I did.

The prosecution seemed to go in the kill once he admitted that all the "categories" on the site were created by himself.

Perhaps the future site that will surely replace it in a few months time will be more community driven. Instead of the siteop creating the categories or doing any "meta" changes to the site, it could all be powered by a user voting system.

 

[n111ck]

i think binsearch.info lets you do that

Thanks.

 

[jamoor]

one falls, three will take it's place

 

[Locky]

Another one down and another one will be created in it's place.

 

[peterattheboro]

Just looked for my post in here and it's been deleted?

Only suggested an alternative website to everything else that's being said?

 

[Locky]

Tbh the nature of what's on indexing sites is not really in ocuks policy to allow links to said sites and it may be in breach of copyright.

I think that's why asking for links of this manor get deleted.

 

[ChrisJSY]

I have absolutely ZERO sympathy for Rupert Murdoch.

However, I do agree that people who use Newsgroups or P2P to steal movies, TV programmes or music don't really deserve much sympathy . . . if you want it that much - pay for it.

Would you change your opinion if you look at the viewpoint of, I pay a TV license so I can watch TV shows. I prefer watching on my pc, rather than watch it on tv or record it, or watch it on iPlayer, to watch it from a file on my PC.

There's little difference in the end of the day, I'm not stealing something I already pay for or couldn't have seen without paying extra. It's the means I chose to watch it.

But I assume you mean people who pay for shows they can't watch?
I'd personally blame networks not showing foreign shows over here quick enough and slacking behind by years.

So shoot me, I download US shows which will inevitably air in the UK in months/years but I would have paid my tv license/sky subscription anyway.

Who loses out? Nobody.

 

[Nexus]

Does the American film and music industry really affect us that much?

Yes.

Working in the film industry here in the UK myself, most of the work comes in from the US, and it keeps a lot of people in jobs. Or it did, as the recession has massively reduced the number of loans being given out for films to be made.

Just because a film, or say some music is American, or owned by an American company doesn't mean that is necessarily who made it or was part of a team working on it. There are thousands of people all over the world contributing to various most big budget films these days.

So yes, it does effect jobs in this country as well as abroad.

 

[Clairvoyant]

I dont use newsgroups.

But arent they just the same as torrent sites. That they dont hold any files. So if Torrent sites can get taken down. Wont it be the same for News groups.

 

[The Running Man]

i want them to go after google, afterall google is what found me the torrent on newzbins website or whatever...

the difference being that google have more money than those who want to sue, making it an even more interesting potential income...

 

[ozzy]

Slightly OT, but Peter Serafinowicz seems to have a level head when it comes to downloading .. http://gizmodo.com/5539417/why-i-steal-movies-even-ones-im-in

 

[chrisxuk]

I dont use newsgroups.

But arent they just the same as torrent sites. That they dont hold any files. So if Torrent sites can get taken down. Wont it be the same for News groups.

Or are the files being stored on servers in somewhere like Russia where the laws regarding piracy are different from here?

 

[asim18]

But arent they just the same as torrent sites. That they dont hold any files. So if Torrent sites can get taken down. Wont it be the same for News groups.

No, usenet servers do hold all the files.

Or are the files being stored on servers in somewhere like Russia where the laws regarding piracy are different from here?

Again, no. There are Usenet servers world-wide (including the UK and USA) holding the same files.

 

[Tefal]

No, usenet servers do hold all the files.

But these sites aren't server owners they are search engines only.

 

[Durzel]

I find the mentality that it's a-ok to copy someones time & effort pretty amazing to be honest, it seems there are a lot of people out there who see it as their right to pirate stuff and that somehow the likes of TPB and Newzbin being taken out of commission is "wrong"?

Do you all seriously consider that any intangible content "deserves to be free" and that the creator of it - irrespective of whether they happen to be some random guy programming in their spare time hoping to one day sustain themselves with the proceeds of selling their work or a behemoth like EA - doesn't deserve recompense for their efforts?

I seriously don't understand how it is that some people are happy to pay someone for their intangible expertise (e.g. plumber, mechanic, etc) but when it comes to software - movies, music, games - the author deserves to be ripped off?

Piracy is sustained from the fact that there are still people out there going out and buying albums, buying games from shops and visiting the cinema. If everyone pirated stuff (i.e. paid nothing for it) where do you envisage the money comes from to reward or even sustain the people that created the content? They've got to pay the bills as well, they can't pay their mortgage with good will...

Food for thought?

 

[asim18]

But these sites aren't server owners they are search engines only.

Ah yes. You're right.

 

[Nexus]

I find the mentality that it's a-ok to copy someones time & effort pretty amazing to be honest, it seems there are a lot of people out there who see it as their right to pirate stuff and that somehow the likes of TPB and Newzbin being taken out of commission is "wrong"?

Do you all seriously consider that any intangible content "deserves to be free" and that the creator of it - irrespective of whether they happen to be some random guy programming in their spare time hoping to one day sustain themselves with the proceeds of selling their work or a behemoth like EA - doesn't deserve recompense for their efforts?

I seriously don't understand how it is that some people are happy to pay someone for their intangible expertise (e.g. plumber, mechanic, etc) but when it comes to software - movies, music, games - the author deserves to be ripped off?

Piracy is sustained from the fact that there are still people out there going out and buying albums, buying games from shops and visiting the cinema. If everyone pirated stuff (i.e. paid nothing for it) where do you envisage the money comes from to reward or even sustain the people that created the content? They've got to pay the bills as well, they can't pay their mortgage with good will...

Food for thought?

Spot on!

 

[Neodite]

Not everyone uses usenet to pirate you know!

It's the fastest way to download files. Why spend days waiting for a torrent or P2P? =\

 

[Random Guy]

Do you all seriously consider that any intangible content "deserves to be free" and that the creator of it - irrespective of whether they happen to be some random guy programming in their spare time hoping to one day sustain themselves with the proceeds of selling their work or a behemoth like EA - doesn't deserve recompense for their efforts?

I think the model has moved on to a choose-who-to-recompense situation because of piracy. Many people pirate because of a lack of cash to shell out on the stuff they want. If the movie studios (who btw had their biggest ever year of revenue last year) would reconsider their RRP for digital media, that would be the best incentive to reduce piracy. The Music Industry had to do it the hard way, but they eventually made change of a sort. Also in terms of sympathies, I think many would find it difficult to empathise with your average hollywood exec/studio, who are not willing to engage in any meaningful debate in this matter.

 

[Wossi]

As someone else said, I pay my tv licence so why can't I watch tv episodes I've downloaded? Sure I could wait, but in the case of Castle, I'd be waiting for a couple of years only to find it on an obscure tv channel. Downloading it means I can watch it in better quality than what I'd see on tv and with full surround sound. I also don't have to watch sit through adverts either so I've saved myself about 20 minutes, only really good to me not the network.

Movies, really there is no justification for downloading them, except for maybe ones you cannot buy anymore or, in the case of Peter Serafinowicz, downloading something you already own to make it easier to watch. I've got a DVD of Dead Man On Campus, went to watch it at the weekend and realised that it's region 1 and I don't have a region free DVD player, within 10 minutes I had downloaded the movie and was watching it. The people behind the movie haven't lost out as I already bought it.