Microsoft Takes a Stab at iPod Packaging
I’m still not back yet from my vacation but I thought I’d push out a quick update that made me laugh this morning. How many of you have ever noticed the differences between the way Microsoft packages its products compared to its competitors such as Apple? Well, finally we can see what would happen if Microsoft took a stab at dressing up the iPod box.
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tvnzb.com Up for Sale
With the latest round of MPAA lawsuits announced, tvnzb.com has closed its doors. For those who may not know, tvnzb.com was one of the few sites on the internet that provided a RSS feed of NZB files for television shows posted on Usenet. The site never hosted any content but provided pointers on where to find files. As of February 25, 2006, the site had been completely removed and the front page read:
check this space for more news… tvnzb is for sale. If you would like to make an
offer email jon (at) binnzb.comFor those of you looking to fill the void we left, I highly recommend easynews. They have an AWESOME searching feature and http downloads. http://www.easynews.com. Give em a try for a month and I think you’ll like them.
Jon
For more info, join our IRC channel (#binnzb on efnet) or visit our forums.
The vague message did not specify if the domain, website or both are up for sale. In a thread on the forums, user mike10 directly asked:
Does the closure have anything to do with the recent lawsuits against NZB-Zone.com, BinNews.com[?]
To which candy-man, a NZB Server Admin presumably for tvnzb.com, responded:
Yes it does.
There’s too much of a risk involved in running a US-based NZB service. We do not have the resources or money to fight any lawsuit thrown at us. We’d end up loosing everything we have invested and then some.
With the sale of the domain, the buyer will also get the database and all files associated with the site, meaning they could open TvNZB back up if they wanted.
No one can fault the owners of tvnzb.com for shutting their doors. candy-man‘s sincere response echos the harsh realities of a world where the owners were forced to face the possibility of fighting on principle against MPAA intimidation tactics or losing everything they had not only invested in the project but beyond the cyber realm and into reality. The most logical choice is to sell the site to someone outside of the United States where the MPAA will have a much harder time prosecuting. No, tvnzb.com was never named in any MPAA lawsuit but it is one of the victims in the war of self-censorship. With that said, I sincerely wish the owners the best of luck in whatever direction they go in next. In the mean time, users will have to a replacement for the service until someone decides to purchase the site and rehost it.
Update (2.25.2006): tvnzb.com has been sold. The front page now reads:
TvNZB has been sold! The new owner should commence operations in a few days, so check back!
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MPAA Suing Torrent and NZB Indexing Sites
Apparently the MPAA/RIAA thugs have decided that suing dead people and children wasn’t working too well so now they’ve started phantom lawsuits against seven indexing sites. In the latest round of lawsuits, the MPAA is targeting both torrent and NZB indexing sites such as isoHunt, and NZB-Zone. Although the validity of suing sites which index (but not host) material like a search engine is questionable at best, it isn’t stopping the MPAA/RIAA from trying. What is even more peculiar about these filings is the defendants haven’t been informed yet. Instead, they have been reading about it on the sites like Boing Boing.
Slyck News was able to get a response from Gary (isoHunt) and Justin (TorrentBox):
“Funny, they didn’t email me,” Gary from ISOHunt said. “I’m not too concerned because we deal with copyright requests everyday, some of them from studios MPAA represents.”
“Justin” from TorrentSpy echoed Gary’s skepticism. “I guess I will learn more when I see what they have filed exactly. [I’m] not sure why they are suing when we comply with DMCA requests but I guess we will learn more down the road.”
In a thread on Slyck Forums, user d9binnews echoed the thoughts of defendant BinNews:
Well, we at binnews have not been given anything. We found out just like you guys, from the news sites. We are waiting to see what the documents say but we have never received anything from them. It goes without saying, we plan on fighting this as far as it needs to go.
In another thread, d9binnews continues by saying:
we have been storing funds for just this. … Now all we need is some actual papers that make this lawsuit official.
well we will not go down without a fight. our only concern at this late hour is hosting.. we are currently looking for an overseas host just in case they decide to go after our provider. We cant fault them if they waiver, so we want to be ready to flip the switch to a backup server overseas. If anyone has any suggestions, please either PM here or email.
It is pretty clear that the MPAA has yet to notify some, if not all, of the parties involved in the case. Until the filings are made public, we can only make guesses as to what the suit is alleging. What we do know is none of the torrent sites named run their own trackers but keep files pointing to trackers often times located on foreign soil. The NZB sites provide files that, like torrents, only contain pointers to locate files on newsgroups hosted on local ISP news servers. Chances are very high that the MPAA ISP is hosting much of the content on its news servers the NZB files on the defendants’ servers point to but no ISP was named in the suit nor should they be because of their role as common carriers.
MPAA, according to the press release, believes these sites facilitate infringements of copyrighted works but anyone can clearly see that argument can be applied to any search engine, VCR, DVD/CD recorder, video camera, computer, one-click hosting service and even broadband internet service. I’d even go as far as to say the human voice facilitate[s] infringements of copyrighted works by informing people of where to find these files. Are all those pieces of equipment and the human voice worthy of a lawsuit? No, but I’m sure the MPAA will try. The difference is that all the items listed have many legal uses so the MPAA argument may hinge on the fact that indexing services overwhelmingly serve to facilitate infringement without much other use. Even then, instead of suing indexing services, ISPs, or manufacturers of electronic equipment, the MPAA should be focusing on the end users infringing copyrights by fairly applying local laws. Is essence, this lawsuit punishes the billboard maker that says the home down street is unlocked instead of prosecuting the criminal that chooses to use the information to steal property (clarification: sharing copyrighted works is infringement NOT theft). Throwing a dragnet over these sorts of sites won’t stop users from committing copyright infringement–it will only slow them down until another site takes the place of the ones that shutdown.
Although I don’t wish any site to have to go through a defense against MPAA charges, I found it difficult to understand the reason for leaving Newzbin out of the suit. They are probably the biggest NZB site on the internet but the MPAA decided to not wrangle them into this round of lawsuits. Some have suggested that Newzbin’s location in the United Kingdom prevented their inclusion. Quite frankly, this explanation may have merit. If that is the case, then much like the OSX86China Forum that popped up after the recent DMCA related shutdowns of OSx86 related sites, these sorts of indexes will push their servers onto foreign soil. Can we all say whac-a-mole?
I’ve included the MPAA press release below. About the only information it provides is links to the sites for anyone who may not know about them already. Maybe the MPAA is hoping the flood of people going to the sites will bring them down through an unintended DDoS without any legal work being necessary?
Update (2.24.2006): I just wanted to point out that the MPAA pirates software. In this press release, scroll down to the footer of page 1 or 2. A link will pop up to Iteksoft. Strange, I would have thought that after the millions they’ve sued for that they could pay for a $30 piece of software.
Update (2.25.2006): isoHunt is not going down without a fight according to a posting on the front page. Apparently, isoHunt and TorrentBox have formed a coalition with the hope to fight for the right for technological progress and the legality of the search engine itself.
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