Slashdot Mirror
Live from Iran, Film88
MemFun writes "The now defunct Movie88.com has became Film88.com. These are the guys that are streaming a ton of movies for $1 a piece (but not allowing you to save the movie). Of course, to avoid all the Tinsel Town Club baddies (mpaa) from shutting them down, they are now based in Iran of all places. We just finished watching the free Harry Potter movie they are offering. Question: Does this make me a criminal? I really like the selection of movies they have and stream or not, it's still pretty cool to have the ability to watch some those movies that are never on TV any more."
CLIT posts first, as always.
The
A country often criticized by the US for lack of freedoms, has us beat on this one. ;-)
Jeeze, no wonder they can only charge a dollar, do you know how many movies are illegal in Iran?
And the lag must be atrocious, I mean, what are they running the site off of, a T1? Come on guys...
I still can't get over the iran part...
Linux is dead.
LU
muahahaha
Yes. You're funding terrorists.
"You're just scared like a little white pussy. I'll fuck you till you love me, you faggot!"
I believe it's illegal for U.S. persons to conduct *any* business with Iran, so how do they expect to get paid? "Europeans only?"
I know I should just look, but I'm too lazy. Do they run digitally copied versions of the movies? Or do they do analog-only version and have certain "playtimes"? I'd guess digital of some sort...
That's a whole lot of bandwidth if that's the case though, ouch. If you figure regular TV is 640x480, and you're trying to spit out 20-25FPS at 10-15k per image? Youch.
I'll have to check it out and give it a try.. Theres some newer movies recently released I'd like to take a look at.
Yup. So what?
Iran has more liberal governmental control over movies than the USA!
With Mozilla on Linux, film88 didnt detect my RealPlayer plugin. I have to find a way to bypass their JavaScript...
If you're not a Liberal in your 20's, then you have no heart.If you're still a Liberal in your 30's you have no brain.
We just finished watching the free Harry Potter movie they are offering. Question: Does this make me a criminal?
<SARCASM>
I just robbed this bank and killed this girl. Does this make me a criminal?
</SARCASM>
Seriously, aren't you asking that question a little late? If its what you want to do, may as well do it until you're satisfied. What's the point of stopping in the middle for a change-of-heart?
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
It will be interesting to see whether the MPAA goes after you. I'm hoping they do. You clearly broke the law, and deserve to be punished!
Answer: Yes, that does make you a criminal, you fucking moron.
Also, $1 does not equal free. Goddamned idiot.
I know that my opinion will probably be in the minority here, but I believe it's only fair that the MPAA tries to shut down such a site. This is quite simply stealing on a large scale of their property.
Tom>br>Otherwise, I am against other media regulations such as DVD regions.
I can't help but wonder, will this service be available in Iran itself? How many of the movies offered online are illegal to watch in Iran (for promoting "sex," "immorality," and being "anti-Islamic?") Will local religious fundementalists shut down the service before the MPAA can?
Notice how the author says "We just finished watching the free Harry Potter movie they are offering"
/.'ed soon.
Then he submits the story.
Smart guy...it'll be
I hope that someday we will be able to put away our fears and prejudices and just laugh at people. - Jack Handey
ianal, but:
You are not in violation of copyright. You may be in violation of a law which makes it unlawful to knowingly conspire to commit copyright violation by the Iranians. The Iranians are not in violation of copyright if they aquired the films in Iran, as Iran afact does not respect American copyright.
There is no way that I'm gonna signup to this site to view movies for a buck! I'm not taking the chance that my name and information is being sent to some Islamic fundamentalist in Iran, who will do God knows what with the info.
:)
I'll stick to watching movies the legal way: downloading AVI's from Usenet!
Attention all planets of the Solar Federation! We have assumed control! - Neil Peart
Whoda thunk it.
We can slashdot a site that is hosting just regular text, and then we link to a site hosting movies. I bet that film88.com lasted about 5 minutes after the story was posted. Oh well, I guess I'll have to wait till later to watch Harry Potter for free.
On another note... for all the people who hate the MPAA for price gouging, yatta yatta yatta, etc, and are boycotting it... If you can watch the movie for free from this site are you still going to boycott it?
"Well kids, you tried your best, and you failed. The lesson is, never try." -Homer Simpson
The MPAA sues and destroys every legitimate business that they could have made some sort of deal with.. and they move to Iran.
When are these bozos gonna realize that internet entertainment content is here to stay? Hopefully this will make them make fair deals with exisiting internet content distributors.
Fundamentally, it's up to the provider of the materials to verify that they have the proper licensing, not the consumer. However, if you definitively know that the provider does not have the appropriate permissions, this may not apply.
As always, IANALAIHWAMcB*
(*Although I Have Watched Ally McBeal)
Ooh, a sarcasm detector. Oh, that's a real useful invention.
You know... that big frozen thing north of the United States? Like a state, but not one? There are actual people there, and many of them have actual money (that they can also get in handy US form.)
For more information on this place called Canada, check out the CIA Factbook. Now, I just wonder if their igloos are wired for the internet.
he could broadcast movies on his commodore 64 from Afghan.
you should only support the site if it funnels any money made to nicaraguan rebels to help fight the good fight.
It's a pity that Film88.com's going to get my money instead of the MPAA.
"Derp de derp."
Ahhh.... /. effect. .02 cents.
Pretty
And I've done my
I'm happy.
If the MPAA doesn't get them, the slashdot crowd will take care of it.
I can still clearly remember the day I was captured, even though it is now
.... sir", I replied trying hard not to look directly at him
....", Captain Bartek's speech was slightly
.... sir ..... master .....", I stammered out, looking at the floor.
more than fifty years ago. I was just 18.
The summer rain had been pouring down heavily all morning and the ground
had been transformed into a vast treacherous bog for miles around. By
mid-afternoon our battalion's tactical retreat, which had started the day
before with such promise, had been halted as trucks, armour and horses had
all been sucked into a hopeless struggle against the very earth
itself. Neither I nor my comrades were in any position to help as we found
that just the effort of walking exhausted us, the deep muddy earth clinging
to our legs like the stinking arms of the dead pulling us down into hell.
What had started as a tactical manoeuvre had been transformed by the forces
of nature into a dangerous trap. We were easy quarry for the Communists'
air power, and I prayed to heaven that the aircraft of the so-called
People's Liberation Army were out of range, or that they were unaware of
our desperate situation. But heaven was either not listening that day, or
it was too busy to bother with us.
I was vainly trying to pull my left leg from a knee-high muddy grip when I
heard the engines. A faint distant drone at first, but my heart was already
filling with a mortal dread. Then I saw them. There were six evil
metal-clad vultures heading straight for us. Within seconds, I knew, their
high-calibre machine guns would start spewing white hot death down upon my
comrades and me. Within a minute or two I would be in the middle of a vast
filthy abattoir, the brown mud united with the blood of men and horses -
but would I be alive to see its horror?
I was sure my life would end on that turbid field in Hubei province. I
threw myself face down onto the rancid ground and waited. The next minute
seemed to last an hour and a million thoughts ran through my mind - I guess
my life was flashing before me.
I recalled my infancy and childhood in Hong Kong, and my parents' struggle
to send their only son to a British-run school on my father's modest salary
as a clerk with a small American trading firm. I learned excellent English
and did very well at school, winning the prize for the school's best
student. The Westerners, the 'gwei-lo', had given my family some modest
degree of security in a China which had been in nightmarish turmoil from
the day I was born. First the warlords, then the Japanese invasion, and now
the struggle to keep the motherland free from the vast prison camp into
which the Communists wanted to consign the whole Chinese people.
I talked about joining General Chiang Kai-Shek's army the day after I
completed my schooling. My mother begged me not to join the army. My father
was trying to organise a scholarship for me to attend university in England
- he wanted me to study engineering - and he told me that he did not want
his only son killed in the endless Chinese wars.
But I was idealistic and full of patriotism, and I wanted to see China
free, strong and independent. That was two years earlier and I had been 16
and I was immortal. I ran away to Shenzhen and joined General Chiang.
I was much better educated than the vast majority of General Chiang's
recruits and, notwithstanding my youth, I was made a lieutenant after a
mere two week crash course at the officer training school. I was so
proud. I remembered sending a photo to my parents of their 16 year old son
in an officer's uniform, hoping that I could bring a little happiness to
them. I have that photograph still, which I recovered from my father's
estate. In a youthful hand I had written 'Lieutenant Tam Hong-Sha, your
loving son'. I knew that my parents would be angry, disappointed and, above
all, fearful that I had run off to the army.
I grew up very fast. In the two years since joining the army I had seen
things that a kid should never witness. Even now, I cannot bear to think or
talk about them. Sometimes, though, I still dream. They are dreams which
always cause me to wake up in the middle of the night, sweating and
crying. On that day in 1948 in Hubei province, I was determined that I
would either escape or die - I would not allow myself to be taken prisoner
by the enemy.
I heard the terrifying roar of the aircraft engines bearing down on us and
then the sound of their machine guns opening up. I pushed my face into the
mud and covered my head and ears with my arms. There were scores of
horrible human shrieks and the sound of hundreds or thousands of bullets
tearing into the mud with an eerie oozing sound, followed by a satanic
hissing as the mud boiled. I begged the gods to spare me. After that I
remember that I lost control of my bladder and bowels. With hindsight's
benefit this was neither surprising nor a sign of cowardice. But I remember
feeling deeply ashamed of myself at that moment - and then I passed out.
II.
I was awakened by a sharp pain in my ribs. I raised my head from the mud
wiped the filth from my eyes, and saw the fuzzy image of a soldier standing
over me. He was pointing his rifle at me and screaming something over and
over. After a moment I heard what he was saying - 'Stand up now and put
your hands over your head!'.
I tried to raise myself up, but I was now stuck so fast in the mud that I
couldn't even lift my torso. The soldier's screaming then became hysterical
and he aimed the rifle straight at my head. I tried to explain my
predicament, but my mouth was full of mud, and I could only sputter and
cough. At that moment, another voice with a strange accent, called out in
Chinese 'Don't shoot him, I want him alive'. I swivelled my head to get a
glimpse of my saviour. He was a gwei-lo, but wearing a military uniform. I
realised then, with sudden alarm, that the uniform belonged to the PLA.
He strode over to me, and ordered the Chinese soldier to help him lift me
up. They each grabbed one of my shoulders, and with a loud squelching
sound, I was ripped from the mud. I felt that I had been lifted from my
grave.
I noticed that it was just getting dark, so I must have been lying there
for about three hours.
The Chinese soldier frisked me for hidden weapons, and then the two of them
half-dragged and half-carried me to a nearby vehicle which appeared to be a
covered truck with tracks for handling the mud. They heaved me into the
back of the truck where I fell with a painful thud. I struggled to my knees
and looked around.
I was not alone. There were about twelve other survivors of the attack,
some of whom I recognised. None of my friends were among them. They, too,
were all covered in mud and most of them were wounded, some of them
badly. There were also two vicious looking PLA guards armed with machine
guns. One I guessed was about 25, short and muscular while the other was
quite tall for a Chinese and about 30 years old and thin. By this time it
was almost dark, and the truck roared to life and lurched forward causing
me to topple over onto my back. One of the guards gestured me to seat
myself on a long board on which the other uninjured prisoners were perched.
The guards told us there would be no talking, and the journey proceeded in
silence for about three hours. On the way one of the wounded prisoners
died, but the rest of us were forbidden from offering him any comfort.
When the truck finally stopped, it was very dark. Those of us who were able
to walk climbed out the back and I could see a long wooden hut with a light
peeping through a window shutter. I was oddly reminded of a lighthouse.
There were four of us who could walk unassisted. All of us were very young,
about 18 to 22. We were very frightened, though determined not to show it
to each other or to our two guards. The guards ordered us into the hut.
We all walked over to the hut and through its open front door, the guards
behind us pointing their guns at us. Inside was a large bare room lit by
gas lamps. At the far end of the room was a plain table behind which was
seated the same gwei-lo who had saved my life on the battlefield. He was
still dressed in his PLA uniform, but I could now see that he was about 35
years old, very fair skinned with green eyes, high cheekbones and fair
hair. I guessed he was a Russian, or perhaps from some other East European
country.
He looked at the four of us who were made to line up in front of him. We
were a pretty dismal sight. Four frightened young men, cold, hungry,
thirsty and filthy. But we were the lucky ones. I also smelled like a
sewer, and I found it difficult to walk or stand with any degree of dignity
in my soiled trousers. I was grateful that the other three prisoners
affected not to notice my condition; their pretence enabled me to salvage a
little face. They were still my comrades after all.
The gwei-lo surveyed us. He addressed us softly in perfect, but
strangely-accented, Chinese: "Remove your clothing". We hesitated. He
simply repeated the order, just as softly but this time with an element of
quiet menace in his voice. We all began to take off our mud-caked
uniforms. The gwei-lo looked at us intently and with an odd expression on
his face - what seemed like a mixture of scientific detachment and
enjoyment.
My three comrades stripped down to their underwear. I removed also my
underpants (they had become unbearable) but left my undershirt on. I
covered my sex organs with my hands. We were still filthy, the mud having
seeped through to the skin.
The gwei-lo glared at us: "I meant ALL you clothing", he hissed. We all
hesitated again, just for a couple of seconds. But that was more than
enough. One of the guards stepped forward, and with the butt of his rifle
hit the lad next to me in the small of his back. He crumpled to the ground
crying out in pain. The other guard ripped the boy's underclothes off him,
leaving him naked and writhing on the floor. The rest of us immediately
removed our underwear, all covering our boyhood with our hands.
"That's better", said the gwei-lo. The guards lifted up the lad from the
floor and made him stand upright back in line. "You will do exactly as I
say without hesitation. Remember that your lives are completely in my
hands".
"Now, you are all to be cleaned up. After that you will learn what is to
happen to you".
III.
The guards led us into an adjoining room. There was located a makeshift
shower consisting of a single canvas bag with a shower nozzle suspended
from a hook on the ceiling. We were to take turns under this shower. When
the water ran out one of the lads refilled it from a bucket. The two guards
watched us closely. The first lad under the shower looked about 21. He was
given a bar of soap by the taller of the two guards. The guard watched as
the boy lathered himself.
"What's your name?" demanded the taller guard. "Private Wei Mun-Sim"
answered the boy sheepishly. The guard said harshly, "wash behind your
foreskin so that I can see you do it properly". Sim blushed, but did as he
was told. "That goes for all of you" barked the guard. I wondered why the
guard had issued such a strange order, but I had no idea what lay in store
for us.
I couldn't help staring at Sim. I found myself thinking that there was a
beauty in him. I had caught myself with such thoughts about other men from
time to time in the Army, but had always brushed them aside. But there was
something really beautiful about Sim. He was about 5'7" tall, possessing a
wiry frame and a smooth hairless body except for a small wispy pubic patch
and traces of black hair on the lower legs. His eyes were especially
beautiful - almond shaped. I remember staring at his flaccid cock as he
cleaned it and noticed his small perfectly smooth balls. Just at that
moment I started to have a powerful erection, and I quickly tried to cover
myself with my hands.
The taller guard, however, noticed me. He walked over to me and knocked my
hands away; I let them drop to my sides. He laughed loudly and shouted to
his friend to look. They both looked at my naked groin with its rampant
hard-on. The attention I was now receiving from everyone in the shower room
didn't cause my cock to go soft. On the contrary it got harder and jutted
out engorged at a sharp angle almost parallel to my torso, my cockhead
fully released from its foreskin. I had never felt so embarrassed and
confused. The taller guard took hold of my cockhead with his thumb and
forefinger, pulled it down so that it pointed at the floor, and then let
go. My cock jumped back up so that it hit my abdomen with a loud smack,
wobbled a couple of times and then resumed its earlier posture. Both the
guards roared with laughter.
The shorter guard then came over with a huge smirk on his face, told me to
spread my feet apart, bend over and grab my ankles. I obeyed instantly,
trembling. He walked around behind me and I felt him fondle my cock and
balls for a second or two before placing something small in my arse. The
two guards roared again. Looking up from between my ankles I could see that
he had stuck the long stem of a yellow flower into my arsehole, so that it
protruded about six inches from me.
"Stand up" the shorter guard snapped. I did so, bringing my feet together
at the same time. The taller guard hurried out of the shower room while
everyone else stared at me. My erection wouldn't go away and, to make
matters worse, I felt myself blushing all over. "He looks like a flower
pot, all red and yellow!" guffawed the guard. The other naked boys didn't
laugh, they just stared slack-jawed.
The taller guard then came back in with a camera, and ordered me to stand
sideways to him. He then took about six or eight photos of me with my erect
cock sticking out in one direction and the flower sticking out the other
way. At one point my cock began to droop, but the younger guard grabbed my
boyhood and, with a half dozen stokes, pumped it back up to full strength.
The taller guard ordered the other three naked lads to continue showering
and to do a good job. While they obeyed the shorter guard grabbed Sim,
soaking wet and shivering, by the elbow and dragged him over to me. "You
like this one, huh?" he demanded.
I didn't answer, but just stared at the floor for a couple of seconds. Just
then, he struck me a powerful blow across the face with the back of his
hand and I spun around falling onto the floor on my back. "Get up!", he
screamed furiously. I struggled to my feet. "Answer all my questions when I
ask them, or next time it'll be a bayonet!" he yelled. "You like this boy?"
- it was a demand, not a question.
"Yes", I answered - I could taste blood inside my mouth and the flower had
fallen out of my arse, but my cock was still hard.
This time, he grabbed my balls and twisted them violently, until I yelled
in pain. "Yes, SIR" he yelled. "Yes, SIR" I replied.
He seized Sim by the hair and forced him onto his knees in front of
me. "Suck his cock" he ordered. Sim didn't hesitate; he was as frightened
as I was. He swallowed my cock and began quickly sucking, while the taller
guard resumed taking photos from many different angles. Sim's face was
twisted into a grimace, but at first I wasn't sure if it was because he was
disgusted by his task, or because I had not yet showered and my cock was
still covered in mud and dried piss. Then I noticed that his cock, too, was
getting hard.
"Don't cum in his mouth - pull out and cum onto his face" the taller guard
ordered. "Yes, sir" I gasped. After few moments the younger guard inserted
two of his fingers roughly into my arse, and I could feel myself coming
quickly to climax, so I pushed Sim's head away from my cock and instantly
shot a load of cum onto his face, much of it landing in his wet hair. The
older guard took a lot more pictures of us while my cock slowly went soft
and my cum slid down Sim's face. He then ordered both of us to shower.
After we had all showered the two guards ordered the four us to line up and
march back into the office where we had earlier been ordered to
strip. Being marched around together naked like that made me feel even more
humiliated.
The gwei-lo was still there, still seated behind his desk. We all lined up
about six feet in front of him. The taller guard ordered, "Put your hands
behind your heads and place your feet wide apart". We obeyed, and the
gwei-lo gave us all a good long look, taking particular notice of our naked
crotches. Sim, who had not cum inside the shower room, still had a partial
erection which caused the gwei-lo to chuckle.
"Are they properly cleaned?" the gwei-lo asked the guards. The shorter
guard nodded, pointed to me, and said "this one likes having his cock
sucked - the boy with the hard-on did him in the shower room".
The gwei-lo nodded and smiled. "It seems we may have at least one, then".
"Well, now" said the gwei-lo in his strangely accented Chinese, "the time
has come for you boys to learn something about why you are here, and what
will be expected of you".
IV.
"You are lucky", the gwei-lo said. "You have been taken prisoner, but you
are to have a choice about your fate".
"You have been brought to the PLA's Special Recreation Unit. The SRU is a
prison unit, but a prison unit of an unusual kind. The purpose of this unit
is to provide rest and pleasure to officers of the PLA, foreign advisers to
the PLA and to selected enlisted personnel as a reward for outstanding
service. We provide comfort girls and comfort boys to our patrons,
depending on their taste. Should you remain attached to the SRU, you will
perform the role of comfort boys. A comfort boy's task is to serve the
SRU's patrons in whatever way the patrons wish. Sometimes this will involve
giving massages, washing clothes, making tea or light meals, singing,
reading or dancing for the patrons. Almost all of the patrons, however,
will want you for sex. Sometimes the sex is gentle, and sometimes it is
very rough. Whatever they want you for, and whatever they want you to do,
it is a comfort boy's job to please the patron and to do whatever he
wants. The patrons are almost always men. On rare!
occasions, we are used by women patrons. Specialised training is provided
for the SRU's comfort boys. Some of the training is harsh, and you remain
prisoners. By and large, however, the life of a comfort boy is preferable
to the alternative."
The gwei-lo paused, sipped some tea from a small blue and white bowl, lit a
cigarette and looked each of us in the eyes before continuing: "The
alternative is transportation from here to a regular military prison
camp. You have no doubt heard stories about our prison camps. Life in the
camps is extremely harsh, rations are minimal, and the camps are located in
the North near the border with our Russian brothers where the climate is
extremely hostile. You will be expected to labour at the SRU when not on
comfort duties, but camp labour at our regular military prisons is
especially harsh and often dangerous, and many prisoners do not survive
it. If the climate and the labour do not kill you, the guards or the dogs
might do it anyway. To those guards, you will be counter-revolutionary scum
and enemies of the people. To us at the SRU you will be assets contributing
to our inevitable victory."
The gwei-lo leaned forward on the desk and stubbed out his cigarette. He
got up from his desk and walked around behind us. The taller guard softly
told us to keep our eyes facing front and not to watch the officer. Out of
the corner of my eye I could see him inspecting one of the other boy's back
and arse.
>From behind us he said: "Your chances of surviving the war and returning
to your families after we have won will be much greater if you choose to
remain with the SRU as a comfort boy. The choice is yours. But whichever
option you select, this will probably be the last free choice you will
make".
Then he was silent for what seemed about three minutes. I sensed him behind
me. Suddenly, I felt his hand gently feeling my arse - first the left
cheek, then the right. As he reached between my legs to fondle my balls my
cock began to stiffen, and I heard his breath quicken slightly and a slight
grunt of approval as he felt my growing erection from this unusual
angle. My cock was encouraged with a few skilful downward strokes from his
hand.
The gwei-lo walked slowly back to his desk and resumed his seat, leaving me
standing there, hands behind my head and legs apart, with an unconcealable
rampant erection. I could see without moving my neck that all the other
boys also had full or partial erections, and I guessed that he had given
them similar treatment.
"If you decide to stay at SRU", the gwei-lo continued, "you must learn that
you have no will of your own, and that you belong to the SRU and its
patrons. If you learn this, you will survive the war. If not, you will be
sent to one of our regular military prisons or - depending on the nature of
your offence - shot".
"It is very late now. You will make your decision by the morning and inform
me at our meeting then. In the meantime, the guards will take you to your
sleeping quarters for tonight. We will meet at twelve hundred hours
tomorrow."
At this the gwei-lo abruptly stood up, took one last long look at us four
naked and erect boys. When he looked at me I thought a slight smile came to
his lips for just a moment. He asked me, "You are an officer?".
"Yes", I replied. At this, the shorter guard came around in front of me,
and with his middle finger give the tip of my erect cock a savage
flick. The pain was awful, and I let out a tortured howl, tears coming to
my eyes. It felt like an electric shock. I never realised that such a small
action could cause such incredible agony.
"Yes SIR", the guard yelled in my face. "Yes sir", I echoed.
The gwei-lo stepped in front of me and stood a mere foot away. He examined
the front of my body very carefully. The guard's sudden assault on my cock
had caused it to go completely limp. The foreigner gently took hold of my
balls with one hand and slowly increased the pressure on them. He gazed
intently at my face as the pressure slowly grew. His green eyes sparkled,
and I felt powerfully attracted by his beautiful blond hair and handsome
pale features. When the pressure became very painful, I began to wince.
Keeping hold of my balls, but no longer increasing the pressure, the
foreigner leaned forward, and very softly whispered in my ear: "You're
enjoying this, aren't you?". I paused for a brief moment, before whispering
back in a quavering voice, "Yes sir".
Releasing me and turning to the older guard he crisply ordered: "Take their
details and secure them!" Then, pointing to me, he said: "But bring this
one to my room - I want to teach him a few tricks".
With this, the foreigner turned sharply on his heel and strode out of the
door into the night.
V.
As soon as the gwei-lo officer had left the room, the taller guard sat down
at the desk while the shorter one stood behind us where I couldn't see him.
"Keep your eyes front!", the shorter guard barked threateningly.
We four boys remained standing, naked, legs apart, hands behind our heads
and looking straight ahead. I felt humiliated and frightened. But I also
experienced an odd curiosity - a deep un-nameable desire to remain and
submit to these men. Never before in my young life had I experienced such
confusion.
"I'll take your names and other details", the taller guard casually said
while picking up a pen. As he took our particulars I learned that Sim was a
private aged 19, one year more than me though he looked a little older,
from Hubei province. The other two were both corporals. Ma Teng-Cha was 23
and came from Shanghai. The last lad was Lee Guan-Ming, whose home was in
Fujian province, aged 21.
"I am comrade-Sergeant Bo, and my colleague behind you is comrade-Corporal
Yang", the older guard said casually. "We are not really your guards. We
are more your keepers. Before joining the PLA, I kept horses on a large
estate for my family's landlord. That old bastard is dead now, the PLA
having given me the pleasure of killing him myself. Corporal Yang kept
pigs. So we know all about looking after animals. Whether you are treated
like horses or pigs will depend mostly on you. If you obey our commands
completely, and speak only when spoken to, and if you show proper respect
then you will be kept like a valuable breeding horse. If you do not, then
you will be treated like the pigs I suspect you really are."
Out of the corners of my eyes I could see that the two older lads'
erections had wilted and that their naked uncircumcised cocks now rested
limply against their balls. Sim, however, maintained a raging hard-on with
his foreskin completely retracted and his pinkish-yellow cockhead pointing
emphatically to the ceiling. He was standing on my left, and I could sense
his concentrated embarrassment.
Sergeant Bo paused for a moment while he assessed Sim's genitals. "Let's
hope you can perform like that for the Captain", Sergeant Bo said at last,
breaking into a crooked smile.
"You have already met the Captain", Sergeant Bo continued addressing all
four of us. "He is the foreign officer. You are to call him 'master' from
now on. He is in charge of all the comfort boys - the male animals - in the
SRU. You will call Corporal Yang and me 'sir' at all times. In the morning,
if you decide to stay in the SRU, you will be interrogated by an
intelligence officer and your induction into the SRU will begin. If you
decide to leave the SRU, you will be transported to a regular military
prison and interrogated there".
This was my first chance to get a good look at Sergeant Bo. Even seated he
was obviously tall for a Chinese, maybe about 6 feet, and of sturdy build
without being stocky. He didn't have the peasant look of most soldiers, and
he spoke in clear and fluent Chinese. His face was long and angular, with
striking black eyebrows. His nose was like a westerner's, not at all
flattened as is often the case among our people. Even his close-cropped
black hair had a unique and faintly fashionable look to it, not like the
product of a typical army barber. He wore silver wire-rimmed glasses when
he wrote. The over all effect was of a tall, handsome Chinese man aged
about 30-33. No wonder the landlord had chosen him to be the groom for the
estate's precious horses.
After a pause of a few seconds, Sergeant Bo looked past us to Corporal
Yang. "Have I missed anything?", Sergeant Bo enquired.
"Questions" was Corporal Yang's only reply.
"Oh yes", Sergeant Bo said absently. "Now is your chance to ask any
questions. I am not obliged to answer, and remember to address me as
'sir'."
I was the youngest of the four prisoners. But as the only officer in our
little group, I felt it my responsibility to speak up for the other
men. "As prisoners of war, we are entitled to be treated with some
respect", I blurted out. "Why are we naked - when do we get some clothes?
...... sir".
Sergeant Bo glared at me. "It is well that you called me 'sir'. But you
must also learn to use a respectful tone. And you must also learn not to
look directly at us when you speak but to keep your eyes on the ground." I
immediately averted my gaze. "Were it not for the fact that the Captain
has required your presence for his entertainment tonight, you could expect
a beating."
Rising from behind the desk and coming over to stand in front of Sim,
Sergeant Bo casually fondled Sim's erect cock with one hand, causing him to
squirm slightly. Speaking to us all Sergeant Bo said, "My horses, and
Corporal Yang's pigs, never wore anything unless we put something on them
for special occasions or particular purposes - a bridle, a saddle, a
collar, a bow. It will be the same with you if you stay in the SRU. Naked
men are easier to control and less likely to attempt escape."
Moving his hand to gently cup and weigh Sim's smooth balls, Sergeant Bo
continued: "Your nudity will also remind you of your inferior status and
your special function here. Horses and pigs have no privacy. Everyone can
see the whole animal. The keepers and the other livestock can see when an
animal relieves itself, when it eats and sleeps, and when it has an
erection. So will it be with you. Sometimes, like the farm animals, the
keepers and the other livestock will see you get fucked. Just accept
it. Some patrons like to meet a comfort boy who is properly and modestly
dressed, before perhaps slowly unwrapping their little parcel. Others
prefer to have the boy completely naked from the first, or 'dressed' in a
special and exciting way. We are well aware of the preferences of our
regular patrons. You may be permitted to wear something above the waist in
cold weather if you are well behaved, but you will normally be kept naked
unless one of your keepers specifically directs other! wise."
Sergeant Bo paused and turned his attention to Sim's tits, drawing little
circles around them with his thumb: "The SRU is not for your benefit. It is
for the pleasure of the patrons. Even so, your nakedness will better allow
your master and keepers to ensure that you remain fit and healthy, for the
patrons' benefit. You will be unable to hide anything here. But you will
receive lots of healthy food and plenty of good exercise."
"Sir", I said looking at the ground, "respectfully, this is not the Chinese
way. Our people are extremely modest and nakedness is shameful. Please to
reconsider."
"You are seriously trying my patience", Sergeant Bo intoned as he
relinquished a playful probing of Sim's navel, and came over to me. He
grabbed my left tit and gave it a savage and very painful twist, causing me
to yelp. "You think I do not know Chinese ways? Most of those old ways are
to be swept aside with our victory. The ways of the SRU are clear. We have
many comfort boys already and this is our procedure. In this unit, you will
be our property with no more rights than farm livestock. Your kind have
treated the People like cattle for centuries, now it is your turn. If your
nakedness contributes in some small way to our victory, then it is not
shameful but glorious."
"May I speak?" said Corporal Yang from behind us.
After a nod from Sergeant Bo, Corporal Yang proceeded, "None of you has a
rank any more. I put a flower up your arse officer-boy and had your pretty
little whore friend with the hard-on suck you off for the benefit of our
camera. Judging by the amount of spunk you blew all over him, you were
having a good time. Do you think you have any weight to throw around here?
And another thing; Sergeant Bo and I get horny from time to time. The
Captain - your master - lets us use the comfort boys for our pleasure
provided we don't permanently mark them. It's one of our perks. We are also
responsible for supervising your training in the art of pleasing the
patrons. I'm really looking forward to a session with you,
officer-boy. You've got a really cute butt, like two small ripe melons -
one of the nicest I've seen. And I've seen dozens of bare butts on our
comfort boys from all possible angles. I'll bet I can get you to squeal
like a Hubei pig with my cock rammed right up your tight little!
virgin arse - though you might not be a virgin by morning if the Captain
needs a fuck tonight".
I was stunned into silence, but felt a strange mix of humiliation and
excitement at what the 'keepers' had said. Mercifully, though, I did not
get an erection.
"Anything else?", asked Sergeant Bo after a short pause.
At this point I heard Cha, the oldest lad, speak for the first time, with a
distinctive Shanghai accent but in a nervous pleading tone: "Sir, I want to
see my family again. But I don't want to catch the sex diseases. I could
not return to my parents if I had those things. I'd rather go to the
regular prison".
Sergeant Bo looked at him and said clearly and deliberately enough for us
all to hear: "No need to worry about that. You will be serving people very
important to us, and the SRU guarantees them that its comfort boys are
clean and healthy. The same doctors who look after our top commanders will
give you a thorough weekly examination. They will make sure that you are
kept in good condition for our clients' safety and pleasure. The sick are
removed from pleasure duties until they are fully rehabilitated. We find,
however, that it is very rare for our livestock to catch anything from the
sorts of people who are usually the SRU's patrons. Furthermore, the
existence of the SRU makes it unnecessary for our leaders to seek risky
entertainments elsewhere. If you are used sexually by a non-regular patron
you'll normally be examined three days later, and you won't be available
for pleasure duties with another patron until that has happened. If you
stay with the SRU, and if you perform yo! ur duties with subservience and
diligence, your chances of eventually returning home alive and in excellent
health are very high."
Sergeant Bo returned to the desk and sat down. Lighting a cigarette and
stretching his legs he said: "There is also the chance that one of our
patrons might take an interest in you. It happens occasionally. These are
often powerful or influential people, and scum like you who have fought us
may need protectors after our inevitable victory. Certainly, you should do
nothing to displease a patron. You may even grow to enjoy aspects of your
life here. Most of the comfort boys quickly learn to enjoy the sex, or at
least to approach their task professionally. This is more likely when
prisoners are given an initial choice to remain with the SRU. Prisoners who
are completely repelled by the idea of a comfort boy's role will usually
choose a regular prison.
Sergeant Bo blew an expertly formed smoke ring while casually crossing his
legs: "My strong advice to you is to accept your chance to stay with the
SRU, unless you are actually made sick by the idea of having sex with a
man. Some of our patrons strongly prefer boys who are 'real men', as they
are sometimes called - though most prefer a masculine boy who can show some
pleasure in his duties. There are worse ways to survive a war, and much
worse ways not to survive."
Then there was silence for about half a minute. Sergeant Bo stubbed out his
cigarette, looked past us to Corporal Yang and said: "I think that's
it. Take these three [pointing to Sim, Cha and Ming] to the cell but leave
our pretty little officer-boy with me. I'll prepare him for the Captain's
quarters".
With that, Corporal Yang marched the other three prisoners naked out the
same door by which the Captain had earlier gone, and I was left alone with
Sergeant Bo.
VI.
Sergeant Bo remained sitting behind the Captain's desk as he lit another
cigarette. While he took his first few puffs, he considered me
intently. "You look younger than eighteen", he said at last.
"I am eighteen
and to sound respectful.
"Well you are - or were - an officer. I suppose you really couldn't be any
younger than you claim. You do look young, though. I'd guess your age at
sixteen. In any event, you'll certainly be popular with several of our
regular patrons who prefer their boys to be young and pretty". Sergeant Bo
continued scrutinising me pensively, but remained silent for another minute
or so. Then, suddenly, reaching under the desk, he produced a camera,
pointed it at me, and took my picture. The flash blinded me for a moment,
and I was left blinking and dazed until my sight returned.
"You may stand easy for now", he said he made a sweeping gesture in my
direction with his hand.
I felt relieved to be able to lower my arms and stand a bit more naturally
- though being completely naked in front of this menacing stranger seemed
far from natural. So, I covered my genitals with my hands.
Finally rising to his feet, he rubbed his chin as though considering a
riddle and looked at the wall. Speaking aloud, but as though to himself, he
said "Captain Bartek requires your presence tonight. That probably means he
wants to fuck you." At this, I felt as though I'd been slapped on the face,
and I must have blushed a deep red. I also felt my rectum involuntarily
tighten.
Turning to me he continued, "But the difficulty is you are not yet actually
part of the SRU. So the question is, do I take you to him as if you were a
comfort boy or do you get some clothes? The Captain is fastidious about
these things, but I'm not sure about this situation. I think the right
thing is to dress you. That way Captain Bartek can decide once I hand you
over".
Sergeant Bo walked over to a large cupboard next to the door leading to the
shower room. He removed a package and tossed it at me. Reflexively I caught
it. "Put these on", he ordered. "This will be your uniform when,
occasionally, you are allowed to wear something".
Wrapped in brown string was a bundle of black cotton. After untying the
string I saw what looked like a pair of black pyjamas. The short-sleeved
shirt had no buttons, and I quickly pulled it over my head. Once I had
pulled on the short pants I needed to tie them with a white cotton cord
threaded through the waist. The pants had a slit in the front, like
pyjamas, which I adjusted to hide my boyhood. The attire wasn't much; it
was light, very baggy, and there were no underwear or shoes. But it was
clean and I instantly felt much less exposed. I also felt a bit braver, and
I recalled Sergeant Bo's earlier observation that naked men are easier to
control and less likely to attempt escape.
Looking back, I sometimes wonder at how and why I remember such small
details. This initial encounter with the SRU in that wooden hut all those
years ago now seems simultaneously intensely real and vaguely dream-like. I
guess I sensed that every word, every action, and every gesture was
decisively shaping the rest of my life; indeed, they could determine
whether I would live at all. Each small detail of those first few hours was
seared into my memory, like a smoking brand into the flesh of an ox.
I had dropped the long piece of string which had tied the black
uniform. Sergeant Bo ordered me to pick it up and to hand it to him. He
took the string, went back to the desk, produced a pair of handcuffs from a
drawer, and cuffed my hands behind my back. Then he swiftly reached into
the slit of my pants, pulled it open and yanked out my cock and balls. He
roughly tied one end of the string tightly around the base of my balls and
took the other end in his hand. "If you drop something you will always pick
it up", he said. "Do you think we are to do these things? I'll now take you
to Captain Bartek's quarters. If you don't keep up, your balls will be very
sore by the time we get there. And I'm pretty sure you'll need them both
for the Captain tonight".
Leading me by the string leash wrapped around my balls, Sergeant Bo left
the hut and stepped out into the warm night.
VII.
I struggled to keep up with him, and every few paces my balls would receive
a violent and painful tug. After a couple of minutes, and in spite of my
gait being impeded by an inability to swing my arms, I got the measure of
Sergeant Bo's stride and was able to keep in step behind him. This greatly
reduced the pain inflicted by the string noose around my balls.
We walked across what, in the dark, appeared to be a large grassy square,
and then down a gravel path which hurt my feet. After we had walked for
about three minutes past a line of wooden huts, Sergeant Bo stopped outside
a larger one and untied my balls before shoving my cock and painful balls
back into my pants and adjusting the slit to cover me up.
He knocked on the door of the hut, and a voice I recognised as the
Captain's replied "Enter!"
Grabbing me by the back of the neck, Sergeant Bo steered me roughly into a
brightly lit room in which the Captain was seated at a small table with two
other men. They were playing cards. The smell of cigarette smoke and liquor
hung rancidly over the table. Cigarette ash and an empty bottle of Russian
vodka littered the floor, while the table was adorned with overflowing
ashtrays and small glass tumblers.
After my eyes adjusted to the bright light I could see that the two men
were, like Captain Bartek, gwei-los - white Europeans. They wore uniforms
which I didn't recognise, but impressive flashes on their shoulders
indicated that they were officers of some sort. One of them was about
forty, balding and quite stocky. The other, clearly younger, was probably
in his mid-twenties (although it's always hard to guess a gwei-lo's
age). He was as tall as Captain Bartek with wavy brown hair and very fair
skin.
"Ah, Comrade-Sergeant Bo
slurred and his foreign accent had become much thicker. "I see you've
brought the entertainment". His older companion sniggered loudly.
"Yes Comrade-Captain", replied Sergeant Bo, standing to attention. "The
other prisoners are being secured by Corporal Yang". Speaking to me,
Sergeant Bo yelled, "Stand to attention in front of the officers!" I
snapped to attention, but felt an uncomfortable tenderness in my
balls. Strangely, the pain was accompanied by a growing erection. I hoped
it wouldn't be noticed through my baggy black pants.
Sergeant Bo took three large steps over to the table and handed Captain
Bartek the key to my handcuffs.
"Well done, well done. You may go, Sergeant Bo".
Sergeant Bo saluted and marched crisply out of the hut, closing the door
behind him.
The three seated card players assessed me through a slightly drunken
haze. The older one pointed at me and said something to Captain Bartek in a
language that sounded possibly Russian. The Captain replied in the same
language with a mock-sly tone, and the three of them roared with laughter.
Looking at me Captain Bartek said, "My friends speak only a little
Chinese. As none of us are paid anything worth gambling, I have agreed to
bet you on the next hand. If I win, I get half a crate of the finest
vodka. If I lose, the winner gets to do whatever he likes with you
tonight. Are you worth six bottles of vodka, boy?"
"Yes
"If I lose, you'd better be. I don't like to cheat on friends".
The younger gwei-lo dealt a hand, and after two or three minutes, the three
of them again roared laughing. The older one and Captain Bartek pointed at
the younger gwei-lo and shouted happily in their language.
"Lieutenant Solokov has won you, boy", Captain Bartek said. "You're his for
tonight, or until he falls over drunk". The older gwei-lo laughed again,
but Solokov who had 'won' me, seemed not to understand.
Solokov spoke to me in his language, and Captain Bartek translated,
"Comrade-Lieutenant Solokov wants to know if it's true what I told him
earlier - that you enjoyed our little encounter this evening at the
reception hut".
"Yes master", I said softly. Solokov seemed to understand this much
Chinese.
"I've also told him that you have not yet agreed to join the SRU. He wants
to know if you've made up your mind".
I found myself - heard myself - saying "Yes master, I wish to be part of
the SRU". In spite of the pain in my balls, or perhaps because of it, I
felt my cock continue to stiffen inside my black pants. I knew I had taken
a huge step, but something deep inside me felt incredibly calm and content.
"I knew it - I can spot them" said Captain Bartek triumphantly, who then
appeared to translate my reply for his two companions. Solokov broke into a
broad smile, revealing a set of startlingly white teeth.
"You understand what you have chosen?", Captain Bartek asked.
"Yes master", I replied in a calm level voice.
At this point my fully erect cock appeared through the slit in the front of
my pants, and the older gwei-lo almost fell of his chair in uncontrolled
drunken laughter. The laughter was infectious. The sudden appearance of my
cock right at the moment of my consent to join the SRU, combined no doubt
with the lubricant of vodka, resulted in all three once again falling about
the table in gales of laughter. My hands firmly secured behind my back, I
spent a few moments trying to squirm my hips so as to bring my erect cock
back inside my pants - but to no avail.
As soon as the three gwei-los had managed to compose themselves, Solokov
gestured for me to approach him. I walked over to stand right next to him.
"Don't look at a patron unless you are invited to!" snapped Captain
Bartek. I looked away at the floor.
Solokov tugged at the knot holding up my pants, and they fell to the
floor. He tapped my legs indicating that I should stand with my feet
apart. I stood there naked from the waist down as my erection jutted out at
a steep angle. Captain Bartek dealt another round of cards, and the three
of them continued playing while Solokov fondled my cock and balls with his
left hand, holding cards in his right. Occasionally, his hand would reach
between my legs and probe my arse. Several times he attempted to push a
finger inside my arse, but my muscles automatically tightened and denied
him entry. Fortunately, Solokov did not attempt to force his finger inside
me.
This went on for maybe twenty minutes as the three companions played
several rounds of their game, chatting among themselves in their faintly
ugly language. The smoking and drinking continued. I grew increasingly
excited by Solokov's fondlings and masturbation of my cock, and eventually
I could feel myself beginning to cum. As I groaned loudly, all three
stopped their game to watch me as I shot three or four long streams of
creamy white cum over Solokov's arm, trousers and boots, and onto the floor
and card table.
Solokov let forth a long appreciative whistle and relinquished his sticky
grip on my cock. The older gwei-lo emitted a contented 'mmmmmm".
With a faint smile on his face, which hinted at approval, Captain Bartek
said "Clean it all up boy". I looked at him with apparent bewilderment. My
hands were cuffed behind my back, and I didn't know where or how to get a
rag. Sensing my confusion he said "Lick it up with your tongue, boy".
I started by licking my cum off Solokov's uniform and his hand, which he
held out for me. I felt enormously embarrassed by the orgasmic display I
had just given the gwei-los, and now I was being humiliated in this most
bizarre way - naked below the waist, still partly erect, hands cuffed
behind my back, licking up my own cum in front of three obviously amused
spectators.
I had never tasted cum before, and it was strangely salty and tangy. After
I'd cleaned up Solokov's hand and clothes I proceeded to his boots. I had
to get on my knees for this and bend forward awkwardly. While licking my
white cream off his boot in this exposed position, Solokov took has chance
to shove a finger into my arse-hole, and got it half way in. Startled, and
with my hands cuffed behind me, I fell forward flat onto my face with my
arse sticking up in the air. This produced yet more hilarious laughter from
my audience.
My face landed in the puddle of cum which had hit the floor, and as I
managed to recover my kneeling position, it clung wetly to my right cheek
and chin. Instantly, Solokov lifted me up by the armpits onto my feet and
shoved my head at the cum which had landed on the card table. Bent over the
table at the waist I licked at the three or four spots of cum which had
fallen there. When I tried to stand again the older gwei-lo grabbed the
back of my neck and held my head to the small table.
On the edge of my vision I saw Solokov unbuckling his belt and lowering
first his khaki trousers, and then his white boxer shorts to his knees. For
a brief moment I caught glimpse of a sight which caused me almost as much
dismay as the realisation that I was about to be fucked for the first time
in my life. Solokov's pubic hair was not black - it was a very light
brown. Furthermore, his cock was considerably longer and pinker than
anything I had seen on my own countrymen. Not only that, but his cock had
no foreskin! For a brief moment, I even wondered whether Solokov was human
at all.
This alarming thought was cut short by the feeling of Solokov's large hands
gripping my naked hips and the head of his large cock pressing against my
arse-hole. Solokov shoved hard, and I felt as though I would be split open,
but only his cock head penetrated my gateway. I cried loudly in pain as the
muscles in my rectum tightened involuntarily.
I heard Solokov speak in his language to the other two, and in a moment he
withdrew his cock. Captain Bartek then applied something wet and slippery
to my arse-hole with two fingers, and I glimpsed Solokov rubbing the same
stuff over his cock. The older gwei-lo continued pinning my neck to the
table with one hand.
Solokov then resumed his fucking position behind me, and with two hard
thrusts pushed his large cock all the way into me. I screamed in pain and
began to sob, but Captain Bartek shoved my discarded black pants into my
mouth. Solokov began a slow fucking motion while leaning on the top of my
buttocks with his hands. Captain Bartek and the older gwei-lo continued
speaking to Solokov in their language, and I had the impression they were
directing or advising him.
After about two or three minutes of Solokov's gentle fucking I began to
feel more relaxed. Sensing this, the older gwei-lo let go of my neck and I
began to enjoy the sensations in my arse. I still felt uncomfortably split
by Solokov's slowly moving cock, but I also began to feel its warmth, its
firmness and its width. It was an invader, but an exciting one. Then, as I
grew more accustomed to it, I became aware of his balls delicately drumming
against my buttocks with each gentle stoke of his cock. My own balls, which
had given up their seed twice already that evening, stirred once more and I
could feel my cock stiffen in its uncomfortable confinement between my
belly and the table top.
At last, I surprised myself as I let out a low throaty moan of pleasure,
and Captain Bartek removed the pants from my mouth. After a few more
minutes, during which the older gwei-lo had opened his fly and begun
masturbating himself while observing Solokov and me, Solokov's pace
quickened. His thrusting became energetic, and he leaned forward, grabbing
my pecs. Then he started seriously bucking inside me and he called out
something loudly in his language, his two companions shouting back
encouragement to him. Within moments, and for the first time in my life, I
felt my arse filling (or so it seemed) with the hot cum of another man.
Then, in an instant, Solokov withdrew his cock from me and I suddenly felt
much more comfortable - but also strangely empty. Captain Bartek removed my
handcuffs and, placing a hand under my chest, raised me to a standing
position. I could feel a small amount of Solokov's cum trickling out of my
arse and down the inside of my leg, and my cock was fully erect again.
"Remove your shirt", Captain Bartek ordered. He took the shirt from me
tossed it over a chair. "Now go and clean up Lieutenant Solokov".
Now I got a good look at Solokov. He was more than six feet tall and had a
really handsome face with light brown eyes and a strong chin. He stood in
front of me with his pants around his knees and his bizarre sexual region
on display. In addition to the oddities I had previously noticed, I could
now see that his balls were larger and hairier than anything I had ever
seen on a Chinese. I wondered if all the gwei-los looked like that with
their pants off.
I sensed what I had to do. Not having been given any cloths or towels, I
knelt in front of Solokov and licked and sucked his cock, balls and pubic
area until he was clean. Even limp, his cock must have been as long as
most Chinese when erect. When I placed my hands on his buttocks to steady
myself, I noticed also that Solokov's arse was large by Chinese standards
but very firm.
Finally I ceased my licking, and Solokov raised his trousers and buckled
up. He gestured for me to stand. As I rose, my knees wobbled beneath me and
I suddenly felt totally exhausted and a little nauseous. It must have been
about three in the morning by this time, which meant it had been about nine
hours since I was 'rescued' from the battlefield, about 15 hours since I
had eaten, and about 21 hours since I had slept. During that intense time I
had been through some of the most terrifying, stressful and exciting
experiences of my whole life. Also, to my dismay, I had discovered a
central truth about myself which had previously been hidden.
All together, it was far too much for me. I fell forward towards Solokov
and passed out.
MacOS X: UNIX for the washed masses.
I've never ever seen a single message advocating theft or stealing of anything on Slashdot. However, I have seen messages in favor of "unauthorized" viewing or copying. To those who have no idea what the words theft and steal mean, these are considered theft or stealing. However, this ignorant view is gone once you learn what the words mean.
You paid with what? A Credit Card? Oh boy, I can see it now...
Terrorist: "10 Sam missles please.....oh, my credit card? {where is that damn American credit card number I have......} Just charge it to Joe Momma, Main St. USA."
IRAN? Hello? Who do you think is on the receieving end of this money?
For $1.00 you can get speeds of up to 300Kbs. For $1.50 you can get speeds of 500Kps, but that's only available on newer movies, such as Ali.
Personally I think this is a great idea. It's not really direct competition with movie theatres or video stores; it's a new niche that won't eat into either market and should be embraced by the MPIAA. Oh well.
--
I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me - Churchill
Is slashdot broken. Comments posted by logged in users aren't showing in the user history.
If you found out it didn't make you a criminal, would you continue on watching guilt-free?
If it did make you a criminal, would you stop?
Why don't you just call up your local representative and ask him to make up a comprehensive personalized list explaining how to live your life every minute?
Dude, you have harrydotted my free slashpotter stream! Damn you.
Their poor servers are totally /.ed by geeks. You could have atleast left out the link to give them a few extra minute or two.
they are in Iran. How do you sue them?
Where does your user name come from? What book/movie? I've seen it before but cannot remember where.....
This is actually very good, though I seriously question the legal aspects of what they're doing. It's nice to see some are adapting to this new world of streaming media and computers instead of trying to buy new laws to stick to old and "trusted" ways of doing business. USA moneyhungry executives might learn something from all this, after they're done suing them and their families of course.
"It may not work flawlessly, it may not be perfect, but it IS!"
Anataka suki desu. Itsumo. Itsumademo.
Does this make me a criminal?
No, but their use of your credit card #'s might make you look like one.
-Sean
Put the site up on slashdot and *BOOM* we take it down.
Whatever method you used, look for the MPAA to try to interfere with it, or get the government to do the interfering.
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
How are they preventing you from saving it? While you might not be able to save the file using the RealPlayer client, it wouldn't be that hard to record the stream on a network level. As I understand it, you can rig squid to cache realplayer (we've been thinking of doing at the school where I work so classes can watch stuff without killing our bandwidth). Couldn't you just do that locally and then copy the file out of the cache when you're done watching?
Narrative
have you seen those TV commercials about buying drugs "helps kill judges" because you are funding terrorists? These commercials forget to mention that:
cpeterso
A HREF="f/?a=1 x f
2 reasons:
1.) It's COMPLETLY FREE
2.) I can download VCDs and SVCDs of new movies and watch them on my TV. Screw you towelheads, I'm going home.
Linux is dead.
LU
I guess that name was kicking around in memory along with Doctor Velospian (sp?) and Ruby Jack Kennedy. You should be modded up because of your name alone.
Hey dudes,
There's a site called http://www.intertainer.tv where you can watch movies and TV shows. The prices are higher, but they've been around since last Oct or Nov. I've used them a couple of times and they're not too bad.
I think the price for movies is a bit high, but I'm willing to support this site. I'd like to prove to the industries involved that I'll pay for content I'm interested in.
It's worth a gander if you're remotely interested in this stuff. You can find out if it'll suit you or not before you pay anything. (They have previews for movies etc, all for free.)
"Derp de derp."
There a a big difference between the philosophies of the software libre movement and the philosophies of people who copy files without the copyright holder's authorization.
Software libre is not about this. Yeah, RMS rants about how it would be nice if copyrights did not exist, but I don't think he would want to be in such a world. I do not think I would want to be in such a world myself. There is content out there that down right takes a lot of money to create. Movies. Music that uses an orchestra or session players. Video games. Content that would not exist in a world without copyrights.
Now, one of the things I love about the internet is that there is a lot of really great content out there which the copyright owners freely shares. mp3.com has a lot of really talented bands giving their music away (it's a shame that mp3.com is a borderline spamhaus; if you give them your email address, even when emailing a band to say you like their music, you end up on mp3.com's spam list). The whole software libre thing is about giving away some excellent software. Many authors are giving away their books. Free home-made movies. And so on.
There is enough free content out there that, dare I say, I do not think anyone needs to download copyrighted content without authorization to have a compelling internet existance. So it puzzles me that Slashdot continually links to "file sharing" programs and to pirates who share content without authorization.
I completely agree that the RIAA and the MPAA have always been overzealous about copyrights. The HRAA was an abomination; it killed the consumer DAT. As an electronic musician in the early 1990s that had to spend $1200 instead of $300-$600 for a digital tape deck because of the RIAA's actions, I am no friend of their copyright overzealousness.
However, the path of civil disobediance is not to copy movies en masse so that people can view movies without paying for them. Such self serving actions do not look very good in the harsh light of the courtroom; I think such activities contribute to the large number of lost court cases which are trying to fight the abomination called the DMCA.
If you wish to fight the DMCA and the even more evil children of the DMCA, it is important to make a clear stand that we are against this because the law is wrong, not because it gets in the way of having our pirated content fix.
- Sam
The secret to enjoying Slashdot is to realize that it should not be taken too seriously.
Couldn't get real player to work with the site.. it's not worth the money, you might as well use the effort to scrounge up some higher quality divx's that you can view at ANY time you want without eating your bandwidth.
Film88 offers new movies at 1 dollar a piece for streaming.
MPAA and its cronies have a fit. Huddle together to see whats the best they could do. Disagree on forcing Bush to send a SAM in to the heart of Iran
Jack Valenti registers on Slashdot with a new nick "MemFun", posts the story on Slashdot
Sits back and waits till Film88 gets slashdotted in to oblivion.
Laughs, walks away holding the hand of a 20 something.
Rapid Nirvana
They are selling a service here... and as a rule, companies ask for payment. They are based in Iran so that certain associations in the USA cannot force them to close by draining their money through litigation. Did this website aquire licences to publicly play these movies? Will this website be blocked at the router by USA based servers?
Curse you rural Virginia!
Not really... The people who buy the movies are funding terrorists, but in some sick indirect way, it's kind of like the MPAA forced this to happen.
If they would have pulled their heads out of their butts and did a program similar to this in the U.S. it wouldn't have had to gone overseas and they could have ensured copyright laws being withheld.
You snooze you lose.
...Now that Iraq is off the hook.
; )
-b
A HREF="f/?a=1 x f
People want to pay for watching movies online with something like Film88. The problem is that the MPAA does not want the money.
It is a similar situation with Napster; I used it almost entirely to download music that I wanted to buy but the record companies would not sell it to me (again too lazy to take my money).
Sorry, I just find little reason for moral outrage of "piracy" of material the copyright holders refuse to sell in the first place. Certainly no financial loss is incurring; hell they don't even want the money.
Of course, this hand-chopping goes along with physical theft, stealing a loaf of bread, for instance...
So what is the penalty for IP theft? What part of the body to they cut off? The brain? Or part of the brain?
So, which half of the brain do they cut off? The side that controls the right hand, the side that is responsible for creativity, or the side responsible for analytical thought?
I tried every decent and legal way I could think of to resolve the issue w/the business before I rented the chicken suit
you support terrorism!
"But we were just kids having fun..."
A message from the partnership for a theft free america.
The MPAA is bad. I'd wager most of the technology-literate world has figured that out by now. They're moneygrubbing monopolists, no doubt about it.
The current system of copyright and distribution is broken - no doubt about it.
But when you steal something, you're still stealing it. No amount of arguments about how the Iranians don't subscribe to international patent law, or about the fact that Film88 bought the movies and are just renting them, will change that.
So through some miracle of legal justification, you may in fact not be breaking the law. That's for the courts (or politics) to decide. You're buying from a thief. That might not make you a thief by legal definition, but what does it make you by moral definition?
Oh, wait. I forgot. We're all geeks here, so the only moral imperatives are: 1) information wants to be free, and 2) anyone trying to impede my freedom in any way is evil.
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
A HREF="f/?a=1 x f
Are you trying to destroy the CLIT movement? Why put a division among the CLIT brethren?
One for all, and all for CLIT!
"Swiss Bank Account"
-Henry
"Useless organic meatbag" -HK-47
I know that I can contact my CC issuer, and say that a charge is fraudulent - and they will wipe it off my bill.
So in the very worst case, the CC companies soak up a few thousand in fraud - not so harsh considering the scandalous profits they must be making from 14.9% APR.
Please return to our wite when you using Windows*
Bah! let me know if the get a real web site that supports a standard rather than some proprietary !@!#$%
-- The morphemes of your disquisition are ascertainable, but they have eschewed an ambit of transpicuous exposition.
Many authors are giving away their books. Free home-made movies.
In all seriousness, are there any actual movie makers who are legitimately giving away their movies in watchable form (e.g. DivX)?
I would definitely take the time to download these, if I thought I could support a fledgeling industry. Do you know of any, though?
I'm outta retirement cause some AC fuck keeps impersonating me!
Quality straight pr0n goes here
A HREF="f/?a=1 x f
The thing that's amusing about the existence of this site is that it points out the tremendous idiocy of the MPAA. That is to say, that despite all of their efforts to shut down things like this, they pop up anyhow. They just show up in another jurisdiction and suddenly all the dumb laws and flawed technical protections are totally worthless.
If instead they were offering this service, right now, the operation in Iran would exist, and the MPAA would be making this money. I'm not going to sit here and suggest for a moment that this is somehow morally right, or justifiable. But I think all of this does make the point that the MPAA should stop trying to hold back the ocean with their legal brooms and start providing the services people want.
If they don't, somebody else will.
This sig has been temporarily disconnected or is no longer in service
The three parts of definition:
"1 a vt to take or appropriate without right or leave and with intent to keep or make use of wrongfully"
When something is copied, it is not taken or appropriated: the original copy is left behind. The copy is appropriated, but not the original.
" b vt to take away by force or unjust means"
Since there is no taking, B does not fit either.
"1 c vt to take secretly or without permission"
Same applies to last part.
There is a difference between taking something, and copying something and taking the copy. How upset would you be if someone in the middle of the night made a duplicate of the car in your driveway and drove away with the duplicate?
How can a movie company be a monopolist? Do you have to buy a license to shoot a movie?
Your arguments about stealing are correct however, the ability to do something does not mean you should do it.
I think that TV is like 320x240 in the US. That would reduce bandwidth by %75 (since it's a 1/4 of VGA). Just a minor correction, not trying to troll.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
NTSC has 525 scanlines. Not sure of the width though....
Thievery is when you take something from someone and they don't have it anymore, since you stole it. This is clearly morally and legally wrong. The taking of information is a much more grey area though. If I download Eminem's latest CD, rather than buy it at the store, is it stealing? Maybe--Eminem is out (a potential) $15. What if I download his CD, and can honestly say I wouldn't buy it, even if it wasn't on p2p? Well, in that case, he lost nothing and gained a listener. What if I've got $15 to spend and I pirate 3 different CDs, and buy the one I like the best? How about after hearing those CDs, I decide I just have to own 2 of them, and I scrounge up $30?
It's not a clear cut moral issue. What it really comes down to is this: are the labels and movie studios losing money due to piracy? All available evidence points to the notion that they're profiting from it. So far, that is. I figure the *AAs are working so hard to prevent piracy out of a (reasonable) fear that it will get out of hand and later on they will lose a lot of money from it. But until I see any evidence that piracy hurts the content distributers, I'll "pirate" with a clear conscience. And even after that, I'll buy from the musician-owned labels first.
I expect that Film88 buys DVDs, rips them, then streams them. So they have stolen nothing. What they are doing is circumventing the MPAA's business model, which may or may not be morally wrong, but it falls quite outside of "theft." We need new terms and new legislation to appropriately deal with this sort of thing.
c-hack.com |
A HREF="f/?a=1 x f
Taco didn't see any such movie (from Film88) because the italicized and quoted text is what the story submitter wrote, not the /. editor.
--
Internet Explorer (n): Another bug -- that is, a feature that can't be turned off -- in Windows.
A HREF="f/?a=1 x f
Congratulations, you are begging the question!
/They kind of go hand in hand. What do you think? Here's the poop.
consortium Pronunciation Key (kn-sôrt-m, -sh-m) n. pl. consortia (-t-, -sh-)
1.] An association or a combination, as of businesses, financial institutions, or investors, for the purpose of engaging in a joint venture.
2.] A cooperative arrangement among groups or institutions: a library consortium.
3.] An association or society.
4.] Law The right of a spouse to the company of, help of, affection of, and sexual relations with his or her mate.
community Pronunciation Key (k-myn-t) n. pl. communities
1.]
a. A group of people living in the same locality and under the same government. b. The district or locality in which such a group lives.
2.]
a. A group of people having common interests: the scientific community; the international business community. b. A group viewed as forming a distinct segment of society: the gay community; the community of color.
3.]
a. Similarity or identity: a community of interests. b. Sharing, participation, and fellowship.
4.] Society as a whole; the public.
Ecology.
1.] A group of plants and animals living and interacting with one another in a specific region under relatively similar environmental conditions. The region occupied by a group of interacting organisms.
*I'd like to think the last one is a perfect decsription. I don't know. I guess it's up for grabs. They both have a certain appeal. I would like to state my point in saying that it's liuke the W3C. Except were more like the World Wide Web Troll Consortium -- or the W3TC.
In short, I'm down with any CLIT!
a/s/l here. Sorry, adding domain tags to your s
Toldja it couldn't(shouldn't) last...
This is just crap. Ever hear of Bach, Mozart, or Beethoven? They're these old dead guys who used to write some tunes. A lot of them, in fact. They even got paid for it. And they didn't have copyrights.
Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage
tell people to not buy cocaine, since it helps fund the CIA which is an organisation that overthrows (Australia, latin america) or tries to overthrow (venuzuala recently) democratically elected governments that don't offer US corporations generous deals.
What are you fucking Che Guevara?
Its not the drugs that create the profits for terrorists, its the drug policies that create the potential profits.
How do you think Al Capone came around? Booze was around wayyyy before he was and it will be around wayyyy after.
Here's a chunk of code to detect stuff. This is from 'detect.php' which is what gets called when u click on the '100' or '300' button for "select your bandwidth". detect.php gets called as:
// Detect plugin for Netscape
// checking plugin
/. netizen beats me to it.
/detect.php?speed=300 << if you clicked the '300' button.
var RealPlayerG2=false;
var real=false;
function navPlugins() {
var plugs = navigator.plugins;
for (var i=0; i < navigator.plugins.length; i++) {
if (plugs[i].name.indexOf("Real") != -1) real=true;
}
}
function openClip() {
var newloc="real_err.php";
if (nav || opera) navPlugins()
else if (ie && mac) ieMacPlugins()
else if (ie && RealPlayerG2) real = true;
if (real) {
newloc="playfree.php";
}
document.location = newloc;
}
<BODY bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000" marginwidth=0 marginheight=0
onLoad="openClip()">
The BODY onLoad event calls openClip() which does the checks (I snipped the IE check code for brevity). Then if the checks found Real, then it should open 'playfree.php'. But i can't seem to get playfree.php to do much. I'll hack some more, unless another
Hack The Planet!
many of those scan lines are overscan though, the Black bars above and below the screen which are not viewable. THey often hold other data like closed captioning.
Actually they probably pay a percentage of the rental price / or xx cents per rental as a royalty - otherwise they'd be breaking the law too. The premium price for new movies is just another way for the industry to skim a little more off of the rental stores.
I didn't realize this site would be so shitty with Linux users, and I apologize for recommending it.
I had a hint that this'd be a problem, I think I remember that MS was pushing this site. I was vaguely aware that they use Media Player, but it didn't occur to me that they'd lock it to only Windows users.
Again, I apologize for not being a little more sensitive to the Slashdot audience..
"Derp de derp."
My great-grandpa came to america and became a bootlegger. My family has rose up through the ranks and to an upper-middle class level.
I buy drugs to help immigrants and the disadvantaged so that they to can enjoy the american dream.
I think your point is this. Downloading the file off of the internet is *NOT* stealing because it doesn't cause someone else a lack. I'm still undecided about whether or not it's right or wrong, but it's definitly not wrong the same way theft is wrong.
From the USA, a traceroute show that the IP traffic go through Teleglobe's network and leave north america near halifax (canada) through TAT-9 (a transatlantic fiber link running at 560 Mb/s)....
Then Teleglobe gives the traffic to "Telecommunication Company of Iran Data Communication Affairs" (the local telecom monopoly?) who then gives it to "SAFINEH" who seems to be an ISP/hosting company based in Iran (this information are for www.film88.com)...
But they also use a "cache" who is named cache.www.film88.com and who is colocated with "Trueserver", a colocation company based in Amsterdam (Nederland)...
All these information come from the use of traceroute and the Ripe/NetSol whois database.
I was unable to read the html source code of their site to know where the movies are streamed from...
Not an original argument so I'll post my own words (originally from January of this year.)
m )
They may not have had legal copyrights, but they had methods to protect their music.
Before copyright there were other ways to protect work. Mozart had a patron, Baroness von Waldstätten, who underwrote his needs so that he could spend the day doing whatever he wanted.
Because Mozart's patron allowed his music to be freely performed does not mean that it was always that way. Kings and princes always had court composers and they jealously guarded their music.
Handel's patron (George I, the first of the Hanoverian kings) jealously guarded "water music."
Please remember at the time you couldn't "copy" music unless you could sit in the audience with a quill pen and follow along! Actually Mozart could do this, but not many others.
It was easy to protect music back then and hard to steal it. Don't think people wouldn't have if they could. The technology didn't exist.
Jump ahead to the 1890's where the rampant bootleging of sheet music was a huge business (please refer to http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2000/09/mann.ht
From the above article a reference to Sullivan of Gilbert and Sullivan fame:
"The irate Sullivan filed lawsuit after lawsuit in U.S. courts, but only dented the trade. To prevent the pirating of The Pirates of Penzance, he long refused to publish the score; bouncers prowled every show to stop music thieves from writing down the melodies."
Let's face it, in U.S. society you are not going to do much with out being paid for it. So change the law, but until then buy what you use, or move to Canada where it is apparently legal now. (Yes, I know the original author lives there, I'm speaking to everyone else.)
Society values artistic works and society (Through the govenment) grants the creators a limited license to profit from their works in order to better society. That's the theory anyway. Maybe it's gotten out of hand, but the "music and information want to be free" approach doesn't really motivate humans to create great things.
Even throughout history people like Mozart have been motivated by "compensation" to produce new creative works.
Having people enjoy what you do is great, but even if they enjoy it how do you make a living if you can't sell it? If you sell one song to a company for a million dollars and that company sells two million copies of the song for one dollar each that is motivation for you to write more songs and for the company to buy more from you. If the company buys the same song and only sells one thousand copies at one dollar each, but later discovers two million copies have been made for free they are motivated to only pay you five hundred dollars for your next song, or to ask society to grant them a limited right to distribute your song, and the protection from counterfeits of your song.
So somebody loses. Either you no longer can make a living writing songs and you find other work, or the company lays off staff because they don't need a big distribution network anymore to deliver one thousand copies of a new song.
While you seem to have "higher ideals" about what is right and wrong it doesn't play in reality. Your carpenter analogy is flawed because I can't easily duplicate the house with little or no effort. If I could then you better believe the carpenter would want $5 for every night you spend in your new house because a new house would only be worth a few thousand dollars! There would also be much fewer carpenters who could make a living building houses (sort of like few musicians who can fully support themselves only selling songs.)
While IP has always been created through time it has always been protected by rule, religion, or force. People didn't share fire - they stole it from each other. The Egyptians didn't give their knowledge of mummification away to anyone that asked. The Library of Alexandria (aka "The Kings Library") wasn't a place you or I could lend a book from. Knowledge really was power. Ptolemy III paid the sum of fifteen talents of silver (a vast amount) to be allowed to copy the works of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides.
So while the ancient scholars and composers may not have had our modern day protection of copyright, please don't confuse that with no protection at all.
Pardon the OT post...
Hamas,... have some really horrible actions on their hands, but they are not more horrible than what the state of Israel is doing to the palestinian population since 30 years(namely: human rights violation, deportation, united nations resolutions violations, geneva conventions violations, legalization of torture, houses destruction, Sabra and Chatila massacres,...)
Okay, I don't want to hear a fucking thing about what is being done to the Palestinians until they themselves stop being perpetrators of violence. Tell me this -- how the hell do they expect other countries (especially Israel) to treat them peacefully as a result of their continued terrorism? That is absolutely assbackwards...they keep bombing Israel, but they want Israel to leave them alone. It's okay for them to perpetrate violence against Israel, but it's not okay for Israel to defend itself. Whatever.
Killing people with a human bomb, or shooting at them with an F16, Apache helicopter or Merkava tank gives the same result
So does flying a loaded 767 into a 100+-story office building full of innocent civilians from a third-party country, right? I don't care what is going on where; that action can NEVER be justified. You do that, you are a murderer. You are a murderer, you are a criminal and as such deserve to be ostracized from society.
The slim legal front is made by paying $1 (or watching the free sample), thus giving you legal rights to watch the movie (Hell, a movie ticket in Iran would probably cost less than a $1 or close to it) BUT NOT RECORD IT.
If you want to record it get onto Kazaa, grokster, etc etc etc and d/l the dvd rip. Go to blockbuster and get SmartRipper and rip it yourself. Buy a bootleg vcd in HK. etc, etc, etc. You'll get much much better quality than 300kbps.
There are countless illegal ways for you to get the movie. As much as the MPAA might dislike it, this one is legal. And they are powerless to touch a server in Iran. They might make all US ISPs to redirect film88's to an MPAA copyrights page or something, but its still legal.
There are various ways to save the stream, StramBox for W% or various proxies for both w% and linux. But that wold be just as bad as any of the above examples.
Offtopic?
is slashdot (atleast in the short term), as its we've killed it quite completely.
I feel sorry for the folks that were watching when we hit it. I wonder what the refund policy is?
NanoGator is suggesting that becuase he paid somebody for the service, he's morally in the right, particularly because the service isn't available from the 'correct' vendor.
Actually, paying the $1 means he is recieving stolen goods. That's no better than downloading the movie for free from somewhere else. Could be morally worse, because the thief is being funded..
Don't confuse 'fair use' issues (how it's used once it's been purchased in one format) with a complaint about the preferred format not being available. That's entirely the business of the owner of the material.
Actually, had Israel not stolen Palestinian land, deported palestinians, destroyed their houses, refused passage to ambulances with critically ill or pregnant women inside at checkpoints, ... they wouldn't have got bombs.
Palestinians hit on Israel because Israel make them suffer, they don't hit on them just for the fun of it, they want their freedom, since Israel refuses to comply with the UN resolutions, human rights, it continues to build settlements on stolen land,... there's no reason anymore for the palestinians to talk peacefully with someone who doesn't even listen to them.
During the Oslo peace process, very few violent actions from the palestinian side occured, they were done by extremist groups and these people were arrested at that time, but during these 10 years, they didn't see any palestinian state, and israeli settlements doubled in occupied territories. Israel didn't want peace, they got war.
Palestinians use violence because they suffer violence since 1948, they didn't start it. Their land and freedom was stolen, they want it back, and that's perfectly normal.
Thievery, hmm. Yes, the taking of information (music, movies) is a grey area. But I think the moral issue is pretty much clear cut. Someone made a movie, and expects people to pay to see it. You copy it and watch it without paying. Are you going to buy the movie later? Is this helping their profits? You ar not taking anything physical from them? Even if the answer is "yes" to all of these, I still think you are wrong. You are not a "thief" or a "pirate" perhaps, but you are still morally wrong. It is their movie, to be distributed and sold as they please, at the price they want
Yes, movie and record companies are gouching the customers and I dislike it as much as the next guy. I also dislike the way they are denying our basic rights, by putting content control and copy protecting in everything. But denying companies the intellectual rights to their own work, means denying anyone those rights. Some people are happy to forego payment for their work, but I'll be damned if that means that anyone should do likewise!
You don't like their price? Don't buy their wares. But don't copy them either. You are not depriving them of anything physical, but you are not any better than someone shoplifting a few DVD's because he thinks they are too expensive.
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
Ah, yes, the same brand of nuclear hyperbole that brought us "the VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone" (Jack Valenti, head drone of the MPAA). I've learned to be suspicious when someone's argument seems to depend on conflating the action in question with some horrible, nasty action, all out of proportion. I worry when people make their point by insisting on emotionally-charged words with only dubious links (if any) to the topic at hand.
But then again, what do you expect from an industry that believes "copying a piece of intellectual output with the approval of a copyright holder" is precisely the same as "rape and pillage on the high seas"?
The Mongrel Dogs Who Teach
your association here is revolting. Taking someone's life is very different than copying material.
Umm... it's not necessarily coming from IRAN...
(this is harry potter...)
Proto Local Address Foreign Address State
TCP fred:2174 customer.redbus.trueserver.nl:http ESTABLISHED
512 of them are seen on most tv's
1) Information wants to be free and it is ok to share it (i.e. movies and such) because sharing is morally, but not legally justifible.
2) "Sharing" of information is legally and morally wrong.
My New Theory (tm) says that most people think the sharing of the disputed information (ie movies and such) is morally wrong. However, given the fact that the information is so difficult to obtain in a reasonably priced fashion many people resort to sharing or theft. If the peonple who created the information had a way to advertise and distribute it themselves things would be vastly different. Enter the internet.
Ex. Why do we need a movie studio to produce quality films? (We don't, but please bear with me) Who has the couple hundred million on hand to create a movie? The movie studio has the necessary capital and also claims all rights to the film. Once the film is made the actors and others working on the film get paid a very handsome sum of money. Once they are paid the studio can then rape^H^H^H^H recoupe from consumers their expenses... plus some. If the actors were willing to take a pay cut and cut out the movie studio could not films be made that we could stream on the internet for a $1 or maybe go to a theatre and pay $1 to watch.Personal example StarWars EP2:AOTC was a decent movie. I paid my $8 dollars or so to watch it on opening night. I will not spend another $8 to watch it again, but if I could see it for a $1 or stream it to my home for a $1 I would have watched it several time by now. Of the $8 I spent how much did George Lucas and the actors, etc. receive? I do not know the exact amount, but my guess is somewhere in the range of $1-$2. If I could stream that same film with all the profits going to the information creators they would have received double maybe triple that amount by now.
Anyway my theory makes sense to me (probably to noone else), but will there be anyone who has the courage to attempt this (legally) and take on the rath (and revenue stream) of the MPAA.
-the_crowbarHave you read the Moderator Guidelines
the school assigned me a roommate and it turned out he was a unhygenic slut who has had sex (often unsafe) with over 70 people. and i got genital herpes from him because he used my towel. of course, he never told me he had herpes until i found out i was infected. and it was due to his carelessness. i want to kill him.
even if the government cant get you .. .. ...
..
even if the mpaa can shut you down
you can get fsckin slashdotted
anyway , who wants to watch hairy potter
An interesting note... Arab Muslims and Persian (Iranian) Muslims follow different sects of Islam. They are akin to the Protestant and Catholic sects of Christianity. They don't get along all that great, from what I hear, at least when it comes to religion... much in the way Catholics and Protestants have a distaste for each other. (I know some 7th-Day Adventists that don't even consider Catholics Christian, but that's somewhat extreme). I believe that Arabs are primarily Sunni and that Persians, and many other kinds of non-Arab Muslims, are mostly Shi'a.
The problem with Iran is that it is run by an extremist religious government, just like Afghanistan was with the Taliban. Most Arab nations, such as Lebanon, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, are 90% Muslim, but the clergy does not hold absolute political power, as they do in Iran. One thing they ingrain into our minds here in the US is the importance of the seperation of Church and State. I think we grow up knowing that it is important, without necessarily understanding why. When you see what a Church-run-State does to a country (under the Shah, Iran was a much nicer place to live), I think it makes a lot more sense.
I think religious governments do tend to be extremist, and extremist governments are dangrerous, which is why we fear Iran right now. I know several Persians, and I don't know any of them that wanted the Ayatollah Khomeni's revolution, and they certainly don't like the current religious regime. It's just important to seperate the religion and people of a country from the government.
-If
Run a pencil-and-paper RPG campaign with your far-off friends: Gametable!
Where'd film88.com go? It all makes perfect sense now. Slashdot is in league with the MPAA/RIAA and is using its power to censor - or as we call it, 'slashdot' - any sites that the aforementioned associations have a gripe with. It's just so devious, it makes me sick...
Even though it is OT. :)
It'd be nice if people could recognize fringe thinking and radical groups as distinct from the main body of the people in a given area. This kind of muddy thinking could have everyone thinking that anyone from Arkansas in inbred, anyone from the Midwest is some sort of pseudo-skinhead militia nut, or that anyone from the American South must believe in Slavery. Or that all Canadians are polite.
The truth is: Generalizations suck. They are automatically problematic when used to describe humans. And when you start treating everyone who has the same facial geometry and skin tone the same (shades of the bad old days long, we had hoped, gone by), you automatically start tossing out the baby with the bathwater, the bad with the good. You do a disservice to a lot of innocent, hard working folks and at the same time you probably focus on one threat vector or problem group and in so doing make it more liely you'll miss others.
-- Mal: "Well they tell you: never hit a man with a closed fist. But it is, on occasion, hilarious."
Do "X" in/from country "A" and you're a criminal, because "A" has a law against it.
Do "X" in/from country "B" and you're not a criminal, because "B" doesn't have a law against it.
Or have I missed something? Maybe the question is more of a moral one (Lawful/Unlawful doesn't necessarily mean Right/Wrong).
---DonaldP
Afterburner GameBoy Advance Lights Sold and Installed! Check it out!
Great, now you guys are using the slashdot effect to shut these guys down, playing right into the hands of the MPAA!
This site just adds more fuel to the fire for their freedom-sucking legislative endevours. "See!! See!! - look at the piracy that runs rampant if you don't let us have draconian control over all content! See?!"
Don't label something "offtopic" unless you know the topic well enough to tell what's on topic.
When you've got the /. effect comming at you.
Madona's Like a Virgin.
I'm not sure what they have in common either. Arn't you glad the big five music publishers can make lots of money off the works of both? If there were no copyrights in their present form, and people were not so damn greedy, I might be able to download a nice recording of both instead of being forced to endure endless cycles of the latter.
You must be smoking some powerful stuff if you think Mozart, Bach, Beetoven or Vivaldi would mind if the Girl Scouts of America sang their tunes. Yet the RIAA sued the Girls Scouts for singing "America the Beautiful" around the capfire. The RIAA won. Hmmm, it seems to be a matter of intent that makes the difference between that world and this one. Ever knew a piper that told other pipers that they could not play his tunes? Yet that's what the RIAA would have you believe. The RIAA's use of technology is perverse. You would think that we would all have more for less now that publishing is so cheap. Instead we have less and less for more and more.
There's only one thing I can agree with about this thread. Popular music should not be duplicated.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
Anyone have a mirror? :)
Know someone who is stealing cable? Report them!
Well, the first time I have ever heard of this site so I signed up. The first 2 movies I selected, Rush Hour 2 and Ocean's Eleven both timed out with a connection error. And unfortunately once you have selected the movie and clicked on it to view, you can't remove it from your list. Hopefully I can watch them within the next 3 days or I lost out on the cost of the movies. I you're going to start a project or site with this, the first priority would be bandwidth and making sure people can watch the movies they pay for.
My sig of choice is Marlboro
In all the various discussions there is the notion of "nothing is being copied" etc etc.
My question has always been- what exactly is a "copy"?
Various ambiguities follow:
When watching streaming media, there is a good chance that it will at some time be stored in its entirety in memory or on disk.
Have I then "made a copy" of it?
Say I take it and re-encode it to another format- have I "made a copy"? (The argument is "no I haven't- look the 2 files' binary contents are totally different")
Say I modify it in some way, through some filter or something. Is it not then my own work?
There's all sorts of semantic shit that can be pulled here- heheh
I browse at +5 Flamebait- moderation for all or moderation for none.
MemFun asks, 'Does this make me a criminal'?
Of course you are a low life, thieving, despicable, rottten, bad person, for stealing from those huge, faceless, unaccountable, music supply monopolies... errrr, corporations.
You are BAD, Bad, bad, and should be shot, or dismembered on National Television as an example to those who dare to resist their will.
You bad boy...
nslookup is telling me the domain does not exist.
Unlike conventional radio, the receiving individual is personally transmitting a request for the infringing material. Something ought to be wrong with that. Also, with all this legal vs. moral talk, we have to remember that technically this isn't illegal, the company in question found a loophole in the system.
This article has it all. "MPAA/RIAA bad," check. "Cheap movies good," check. Oh, and of course, since the MPAA/RIAA are doing something distasteful, it's okay for everyone else to throw their scruples out the window.
I don't like the MPAA/RIAA, either. But I'd much rather give them my $5 than see a red cent line the pockets of the Iranian government. As unsavory as the entertainment business can be, at least they only pretend to blow people up.
So yeah, you're a criminal--happy?
If you want cheap movies, go to the damned matinee.
!#@%*)anks for hanging up the phone, dear.
If they allowed you to save the files, I would be rooting for Film88 all the way. But by imposing copy restrictions on material that they don't even have rights to in the first place, these guys seem sorta like a renegade quasi-meta-RIAA. [I tried to work "crypto-fascist" into that but couldn't quite swing it. Dang.]
I quess that this really is news since I did not know about this earlier...
The end result of no fees paid to film makers is the end of the film industry. This has already happened in Hong Kong. The formerly thriving Hong Kong film scene, which gave us the likes of Bruce Lee, is now gone. It was killed by bootleg copies used for both personal and theatrical release. I am not defending the MPAA or RIAA, I think they are evil thugs who want to destroy our liberty for corporate greed. Even so, if enough people use this or similar services in the long run there will be no more film industry. (And don't kid yourself: the same technology that makes a personal copy available will also be used for illegal theatrical presentations and bootleg DVDs.) Just imagine a future where no projects like Spiderman, Star Wars, or Lord of the Rings are made because illegal copies eat up all the profits.
Just like the great anti-drug commercials the feds are showin.
The CIA was created to overthrow the government of the one and only Iran.
Which they succeeded in, admirably, for a few decades at least... until Persians reclaimed their country from the Great Satan.
The religious fervor of the clerics can be seen as a barrier between democracy and tyranny. It's a sad by-product that there are many bad laws and bad penalties in Iran.
The alternative (American backed dictatorship) is far worse.
See: Saudi Arabia
There's a reason Lady Liberty is smoking a cigarette and looking mighty bulemic
...that Internet distrobution Supports Terrorism and that all file-sharing protocols and open source software should be banned from the US so they can go on ripping us off.
Oh well they don't make anythign I'd buy anyways, I buy all my music legitimately from bangintunes.com anyways...
CAn'T CompreHend SARcaSm?
Jordan and Iran to kitchen because I was Hungary and wanted some Turkey but I slipped on some Greece because I was Russian.
Q. Why don't you allow your users to download a movie?
A. We only allow our user to view a movie thru streaming. No downloading. Downloading will only create piracy. This is not our intention. Our intention is for the user to stream the movie at their convenience using broadband and if the user wants to have a collection of it, the user can buy the DVD or VHS from the Amazon.com. We will get a commission from the sale.
ha!
If she floats, she's a witch.
Madonna sucks, so it's okay to steal? I think you're trying to obfuscate the issue. There are lots of excellent recordings of Vivaldi down at the corner classical music store.
The RIAA is a bunch of assholes with jack-booted lawyers, so it's okay to steal? Again, you're blowing smoke.
Stealing isn't right, irregardless of whatever tertiary issues you care to bring up.
Let's see, and I know this is hard to follow, but... They left on their own free will. Israel kicked out a handful of palestinians and the rest left because they did not want to be in a war zone, their choice, not Israels. I mean Israel was in no shape to evict palestinians, it were outnumbered 11 to 1 by invading arab armies. Yet who took over the palestinian lands the UN gave them, was it Israel? Nope, Jordan and Egypt. Which controlled it until 1967. Now let's see what happened then, with 1993 Oslo Peace Accords Israel was moving towards an actual peace. Until the current intifada broke out (Might I add not because of Sharon, there has been strong evidence linking Arafat to plan it). That and most of the shabby treatment of the palestinians came because of the latest intifada. Before that Palestinians were allowed to work, travel, and regularly participate in Israeli society. Also, Palestinians, did start the violence in 1948, them and their arab Comrades. But hey, facts distort the picture people like you like to convey.
You get 485 visible lines, counting
the top and bottom half-lines.
(the 525 includes vertical retrace)
Some of the 485 will be covered up
by plastic, along with some of the
sides and even more at the corners.
People would complain if the picture
didn't go to the edge, but they don't
complain about a bit being chopped off!
So let's say you get 480 lines. This is
how much a DVD would store. Of these,
you get 240 (odd or even ones) displayed
every 1/59.94 seconds.
Vertical is even weirder. You get 720
pixels from a DVD. You can see about
160 black-white pairs from a VHS tape,
which you might call 320 pixels. Over
the air, brightness transitions happen
faster than color transitions. So you
get something like 640 pixels black/white,
or just a few hundred for color changes.
Over the air, stuff has to be bandwidth
limited. If you had just one black-white
transition, you could place it with
pretty much infinite horizontal resolution.
There's even a notch filter in the
black-white signal, since medium-high
frequencies are stolen for color info.
Is it hard to ship the DVD's around? Do you have to get a special box or anything?
No, it's brilliant... they mail you an envelope with the DVD inside (it's just a sleeve, you don't get a case). When you open the envelope, and tear off a part of it, what's left is the return envelope, postage paid! You don't even have to lick it closed, it's got adhesive protected by a plastic strip you just pull off.
I signed up last week, I've already got 3 DVDs, returned one, and one more is on the way, and I'm still on my 10 day free trial period.
They have a rating system on the site, where they try to recommend stuff a la Amazon based on your ratings, but it doesn't seem to work very well - probably not a large enough sample set... or their heuristics just suck. Amazon usually recommends stuff that's somewhat interesting, NetFlix just recommends random stuff.
-If
Run a pencil-and-paper RPG campaign with your far-off friends: Gametable!
What's the hype about Iran making revenue and supporting terrorism. It's a Thaiwanese company, so go bitch at them, not the Iranians.
Now mabie them thar silly people with towels on can stop sending us all their crazy half drunk half stoned cab drivers that talk like Apu from the simpsons
Just how gullible are /. readers? For Christ's sake, you see a link that mentions Iran and it's suddenly a bunch of terrorists trying to undermine the good old US of A and how, sniff, if this carries on there just won't be any more apple pie from our good patriotic RIAA and MPAA in the future. This notwithstanding the fact that the company in question is a Taiwanese company and that the same group of "intelligent people" had been critisizing the RIAA and the MPAA up and down the line ofr anything they did in the US.
So who exactly, are the racist uneducated morons here?
O_O!
:))
Man, if they had said that on the brochure that I half read (Heh yah i know... im lazy), I woulda started ages ago!
Dude, thanks!
*looking now*
"Derp de derp."
I have been looking for Joe's Apartment online and havn't found it, I checked, and this site dosn't have it either. I would go buy the DVD, but I don't wan't to own it (at least not with paying for it and shipping). I just want to see the singing cockroaches once more, is that so wrong? None of the video rental places around here have it.
-- Any comments seen here are not mine, but a mixture of alchohol and lack of sleep.
For Real, I've found this enterprising workaround I discovered to be pretty OK with most sites.
/movies/13146_300.rm HTTP/1.0
.
/. effect...!
1) Force RealPlayer to stream both RTSP/PNM over HTTP (Find it out yourself in Preferences....)
2) Get a proxy that can log requests (Proxomitron is a rare, good, free one for those of us on Windows; lots available for Linux). Config Real to use that proxy. Which means, ALL RealMedia requests go through the proxy...
3) Click the movie link once with proxy logging enabled. This will give you the http-accessible address of the RM file (i.e., the GET request and the Host header)
4) Concatenate the above two details and use an HTTP downloader....voila!
5) Sites like film88 WILL most probably require the custom http headers RealPlayer supplies. The quick and dirty way if you choose to use Proxomitron is to add header filters that add the required headers to EVERY request (GET) sent out to EVERY site (of course, each filter can individually en/disabled). Now, use your downloader through the proxy to get the file. For the adventurous, just write a custom HTTP proxy that does the dirty work of forging headers...
Sample excerpt from Proxomitron's log:
GET
Accept: */*
User-Agent: RMA/1.0 (compatible; RealMedia)
Icy-MetaData: 1
Bandwidth: 262200
GUID: 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000
RegionData: 0
ClientID: WinNT_5.1_6.0.9.584_play32_SF80_en-US_686_axembed
SupportsMaximumASMBandwidth: 1
Language: en-US, en, *
Host: cache36.film88.com
Accept-Language: en-US, en, *
Accept-Encoding: gzip
Connection: keep-alive
i.e., the URL is http://cache36.film88.com//movies/13146_300.rm
Not test-able because of the
But that would cost $4 vs. $1.
But that would let you watch it 4+ times vs. once.
For another thing, Blockbuster doesn't have a government-granted monopoly on DVD rentals. You may be able to rent an older release from a local store for $1.
Will I retire or break 10K?
There is content out there that down right takes a lot of money to create. Movies.
Movies. For free. An animated movie takes about 10 hours per minute to make using Macromedia Flash software (based on the time cost of making Irrational Exuberance). Now we've reduced the cost of producing a film by an order of magnitude or more without reducing its ability to tell a story.
Music that uses an orchestra or session players.
I understand that for sound recordings. But it should be cheaper to compose (at least some genres of) music in a tracker. I'll forgive you this time because many people confuse the copyright on a musical work with the copyright of a particular recording of that work.
Video games.
It doesn't cost very much to develop a Game Boy Advance game. The costs of GBA games lie largely in replication, marketing, and promotion. (Join gbadev@yahoogroups.com and read the last week of discussion to see why.)
Content that would not exist in a world without copyrights.
Some areas of the world without strong copyright protection have a thriving motion picture industry. Know how? Product placement is one way.
Will I retire or break 10K?
Stealing isn't right, irregardless of whatever tertiary issues you care to bring up.
If a composer has been dead for sixty-eight years, and you record his music, from whom are you stealing vt. Taking and carrying away, feloniously; taking without right or leave, and with intent to keep wrongfully; as, stealing the personal goods of another.
Much of the problem here (specifically in relation to the works of George Gershwin and other 1920s composers) relates to excessive copyright duration.
Will I retire or break 10K?
the original poster was pointing out that creative works will be made whether or not copyright exists.
In fact, there are some creative works that will not be made because copyright exists. An individual composer does not have the resources to license works by composers who have been dead for sixty years. This kills the entire sampling genre.
Will I retire or break 10K?
Sure it is... as long as the author/creator of the information says it's ok to share.
What if the author/creator is dead?
Now what if a playwright states "This play may be performed only by people with 99% or more African blood, even in areas where no African people live. All whites on the stage will be arrested. Oh, and my estate has a perpetual copyright on this play, so even 200 years after I die, my estate will still get 90% of the box office." Is that fair?
Will I retire or break 10K?
That's why copyright is limited, and that's why it expires!
Bullshit. Copyright in the United States and the European Union no longer expires.
Disney movies based on fairy tales
But anything based on Disney movies?
Will I retire or break 10K?
IMO, record companies should not have copyrights to the work of deceased artists
So you think it should be OK to arrange the offing of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls just to get the rights to sell 2Pac and Notorious B.I.G. CDs?
Will I retire or break 10K?
Through trial-and-error I found a relatively painless way to save real media streams to a file. I've only tried this on Windows XP, so your mileage may vary.
.tmp in it that is consistently increasing in size. In XP, it will likely be at "G:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Local Settings\Temp\" .rm extension. ;)
1) Get the latest RealOne player. Maybe not necessarily the latest, but I've only tried their current release.
2) Make sure the real media plugin is installed on your browser. And make sure your browser is set to keep at least a 300MB of storage cache.
3) Sign up for whatever movie you want to watch, and then play it.
4) Pause the player (*not* stop, pause).
5) Search around your fs for a temp directory with
6) Wait until the file stops increasing in size, and you think it's finished downloading (i.e. not just delayed).
7) Move the file and rename it with the
8) Open said file up with your favorite hex editor, and delete the leading zero-byte. (I guess this is Real's form of security-through-obscurity. Don't come running to me if you get the DMCA smack-down for doing this
Voila! You now have a fully functional real media file.
So what do I do if they take my credit card information and run?
Saying Java is nice because it works on all OS's is like saying that anal sex is nice because it works on all genders.
If there is one there will be the other. It is the basis of free enterprise although the MPAA and the RIAA have yet to recognise this fact or act acordingly.
Ok, so I'd pay $1 to watch a streaming movie of questionable quality on my small monitor ?
Now that strikes me as being a really dumb thing to do !
I can rent a DVD for under $2 and watch it on my massive TV with surround sound.
Alternatively, I can pay $4 to watch the movie on the big screen.
I just don't get it - ?
Why on earth would someone want to pay $1 for steaming movie quality, when as I mentioned above, for a little bit more, you can get 10x the quality ? - also, if your of the 'criminal?' persuasion, you can rip a rented DVD anyway !
A slashdotting - you get the stick first and then the carrot !
Here is the guide: http://www.geocities.com/streamgen/streambox.htm
.avi
Now you can pay 1$ and actually keep the film, heck you can even convert it to
Enjoy.
I assume this is legal as the media is downloaded to your cache just like any other media file.
movie88 vs. film88 - 88 stands for "Heil Hitler" here in Germany. As it is not allowed the say this publicly, 88 (H being the 8th letter in the alphabet) is commonly used by neo-nazis to get around this prohibtion.
/. community. Does anybody know something about the history of these names?
So many bars or shops carry the 88 in their name to show that they are meant for nazis.
As I couldn't find any explanation why film88 chose this strange name I give the question back to the
Here is a link to a "fatwa" (=holy decree) that bans piracy, release by top clerics in saudi-arabia & egypt.
3 /0 2/article10.shtml
guess it didn't get to iran just yet..
http://www.islam-online.net/english/News/2001-0
but hey, don't let any morals stop you. go ahead and donate money to the iranian islamic revolution. you know, those guys who estabished & sponsor hizb-allah in lebanon (which killed about 300 american marines in beirut)
it's called "Private Payments". Only for US people, though.
once you have logged the URL with your proxy you can download teh movies fine with wget
Half way through a film as well - looks like webservers and streaming servers went down simultaniously *sob*.
I hope it reappears - this is a BRILLIANT service which I wish I could get ligitimately.
It costs me in the order of $5.50 to rent a DVD or video - $9.00 to go see a film (Im in the UK). $1 dollar for a low quality streaming video...GREAT!!! I'll even go out and BUY DVD versions of the films I think are good so that I can get the quality. I so wish Hollywood would WAKE UP!!
Your other points come down to repititions of this. The fact that the copy is taken is beside the point-- the fact remains that a copy is indeed taken/appropriated.
But it is the copy that is "taken", not the original. No theft, since the original is not involved in the taking at all. Can't be theft if the taking is taking of what you own.
There is indeed a difference, but this difference has no impact on the applicability of the definition of "steal" to the practice of copyright infringement.
It has no applicability, since it is not theft. The use of the word "Steal" for IP infringement is nothing more than an attempt to charge the argument with emotion.
Like most analogies this one is bogus (as well as irrelevant to this discussion)
Show how it is bogus. It is actually perfectly apt. The car in the driveway is not stolen. The copy the guy made is not stolen, even if it is "Taken"... you can't steal something you created and own. It is very relevant. The car in the driveway is as much "stolen" as the movies are.
1/1800th of a night vision scope.
Evil is the money of root.
the dumb thing about it was you paid for something someone else stole.you couldve just downloaded it free here yourself instead of feeding an economy that would rather shoot your mother in the head that actually be of real service to you.
be a lil more patriotic and just d/l it yourself off p2p next time.
*Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
Step 1: Find a site they dont like, because /. /.-ing.
it's doing something they could be doing, but
wont, and it's "stealing money from our pockets"
Step 2: Post link to site on
Step 3: watch site crumble under the massive
-Ed
docbrown.net
Ed Wedig
Graphic design services
docbrown.net
Dammit. I wanted to say that, but I couldn't be so eloquent..
Our site is facing
techinical Proxy/Caching problem
at the current moment.
We will be back
online soonest possible.
Regards,
Film88
--------------------
Hmm, I think I can explain that for you...
Never confuse volume with power.
i too am a consumer willing to spend money to meet my needs. for instance, i'd really like a Boxster, but i think Porsche charges too much for one. so, i'll just take one off the lot and leave a $10 under the dealer's front door. i'm paying them for their merchandise, right? what's the big deal?
business is rarely a one-sided transaction - that's the big deal.
-c
I have discovered a truly remarkable proof which this margin is too small to contain.
The width of a scan line is unspecified. For as long as you respect the 4-to-3 ratio, you can have as many "pixels" as you want. What determines the "end of line" is a set width of black image at the end of the scan line.
This black line is the reason why a "black" image on TV is never quite black--not to confuse the scan line marker.
interestingly, this black end-of-line marker is what's removed for pay TV channels. The decoder knows a sequence of cycling colors that substitutes the black marker, and filters it out. More elaborate "encoding" method also involves inverting the image, and sometimes, dynamic marker updates based on info stored via the audio channel.
The US propaganda department is now busy writing more insightful ads, "I was just having a good time." "Everybody downloads movies" "My life, my computer." DOWNLOADING FREE MOVIES SUPPORTS TERRORISM.
hahahhahaha.
Why stick up for big business?
There's a small misunderstanding here. You don't need the Swiss bank account, Fim88 does. Your deposits go to Switzerland, which is not on the State Department's list.
Virg
$5.50 ! - wow, I think the UK video stores and cinemas should wake up - costs me about $1.70 where I live to rent a DVD and about $4.50 to see a movie.
... good old video tapes are better quality for the most part than a steaming video.
Then again, sufficient bandwidth to use a movie streaming service would cost me in the order of $200 a month - it's all relative I guess.
I still think paying $1 to see a low quality movie is daft tho
A slashdotting - you get the stick first and then the carrot !
Your credit card # is information.
Please share it with all of us. After all, it is "clearly a moral and good thing to do."
Thank you for sharing.
Ya, okay, my comment is a bit of a troll, but just because there are some cases where sharing info is good, even morally required, it doesn't follow that sharing any and all information is moral.
From their whois entry:
Domain Name: FILM88.COM
Registrar: NETWORK SOLUTIONS, INC.
Whois Server: whois.networksolutions.com
Referral URL: http://www.networksolutions.com
Name Server: NSIR1.FILM88.COM
Name Server: NSIR2.FILM88.COM
Updated Date: 27-may-2002
Which means that film88.com must have given Network Solutions a few dollars. Should the State Department be advised? Or is this not actually how sanctions work?
I think the largest funder for terrorists is the USA. They even fund people, they define themself as theorists. (Not to say that AlQuaida and co have much money from the USA, Islamists got to
fight against Russia.)
Iran is already one of the freest countries in
the whole area -- though not as free as Western
Europe or USA. People there are already for more
freedom and in most places the less of freedom is
just the policy wanting money for your freedom:
It's like in any other country: If people are wealth they will demand for freedoms.
Though one should not forget to help the rest of the world to get at least as free as iran, and not only keeping one's eye to make iran as free as the really free countries.
Well, *you* think it ought to be illegal for me to request infringing material, but that puts the burden of proof on the consumer. Of course, if it is clearly stated that these movies are unauthorized copies, then my complicity is plain. But under your rules, I'd have to verify the legality of every movie I rent from BlockBuster, buy a copy of at Best Buy, or watch on pay-per-view. Personally I think the law works fine the way it is. Any amendments will have to be worded very carefully.
I do not have a signature
Then why don't they organize an army and take their land back? Because they can't, are weak, and do not have a civilzed society. If the Palestinian people are so strong (as Arafat said after being Isreal's bitch) why can't they accomplish this against the "inferior jews"? And further more, all I see is the other Arab countries talking a big game, but no one is stepping up to help their muslim brothers against the weak jews, because they would get the smackdown put on their ass as well.
You domain hijacking @ss...
property
n. pl. properties
Something owned; a possession.
A piece of real estate: has a swimming pool on the property.
Something tangible or intangible to which its owner has legal title: properties such as copyrights and trademarks.
Possessions considered as a group.
The right of ownership; title.
An article, except costumes and scenery, that appears on the stage or on screen during a dramatic performance.
A characteristic trait or peculiarity, especially one serving to define or describe its possessor.
A characteristic attribute possessed by all members of a class. See Synonyms at quality.
A special capability or power; a virtue: the chemical properties of a metal.
- Marco
I hope you enjoyed the film as some of the money will ultimately end up in the hands of terrorists. My hat is off to you, Sir, for showing the aggregious stupidity to post a confession of your crime to a public forum such as this. The MPAA's goons will be with you shortly.
Please get it through your heads fellow slashdotters: BY DOING THIS TYPE OF THING YOU ARE GIVING THE POWERS THAT BE *EVERY RIGHT* UNDER CURRENT LAWS TO COME AFTER YOU. You are also giving, through your actions, the impetus for laws like the CBDTPA and the DMCA. To a very large, and I am convinced unrealized, degree we have ourselves to blame for our current predicament.
To fight unjust laws like the ones mentioned above you should write your congressman. They should also be challenged in court when borderline cases (like the one involving Digital Books) arise. VIOLATING THE LAW after after it is passed only convinces the "powers that be" that they were correct in the first place.
STOP IT... YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO FREE CONTENT IF THE CONTENT OWNER HASN'T LICENSED IT TO YOU FOR FREE. PERIOD.
Moderator: Go ahead... have your way with me. I just had to get this off my chest.
GJC
Gregory Casamento
## Chief Maintainer for GNUstep
You're thinking of the old iRaq's, which were always ill-tempered and slow. The new HP iRan's have plenty of bandwidth, and are now more USer friendly than ever!
works owned by an individual remain the exclusive property of that individual for his or her lifetime, then the property of that individual's estate for seventy years.
How much are you willing to insure me for that this number "seventy" will not increase further within the next fifty years?
After that term, the copyright expires
This means that for virtually all works, anybody who has ever seen the work commercially exploited will not live to produce anything from that work.
Many uninformed reactionaries have written that copyright is now perpetual, because Congress can extend it any time they want. This has always been true, within the limits set forth by the Constitution.
What limits? The "for limited Times" language of the U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 8, clause 8, has been declared moot by a District Court unless Eldred wins a Supreme Court battle.
It doesn't mean that copyright is meaningless, or that it doesn't expire.
But if Congress has the power to do everything short of explicitly stating that "Resolved, that it is the policy of the Congress of the United States to enact a 20-year copyright term extension act on every 20-year anniversary of the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act," then what is the substantive limit on Congress's power to make copyright perpetual in practice?
Will I retire or break 10K?
When one says, "Copyrights do not expire," that's an unambiguous statement of fact. In this case, it's a statement that's completely and utterly false.
No copyright has expired in the last four December 31s, and no copyright will expire in the next sixteen. The Bono Act follows a previous 19-year extension (Copyright Act of 1976). Let me rewrite what I said into what I originally meant:
As long as Congress continues to extend the term of subsisting copyrights, no copyright will ever expire in the United States. Congress shows no intention of deviating from a policy of successive term extensions.
Worse was posting that link to a web page that is so full of vitriol and bile as to be practically useless in any meaningful discussion.
Here's a much less biased link: clicky
Exaggeration for effect is one, and I think that's what this poster was doing.
How is "a 20 year extension every 20 years creates perpetual copyright in effect" an exaggeration?
Will I retire or break 10K?
> Because they can't, are weak, and do not have a civilzed society.
This is the sort of mentality that Osama bin Laden has seen from Americans and resorts to the violence he has committed.
I can't beleive you raise this argument. You must be a Jew yourself, for no honorable American would see any benefit in kindering Israeli Nazis.
> I mean Israel was in no shape to evict palestinians, it were outnumbered 11 to 1 by invading arab armies
The West was behind them out of guilt from the Nazis deeds and supplied its arms. Maybe they were outnumbered 11 to 1, but their arms were far greater than the Arabs.
> Oslo Peace Accords Israel was moving towards an actual peace
Don't be fooled my friend. The Oslo peace process was a mere PR campaign. The Israelis were acting to portrait themselves as peace-loving people, yet at the same time they were advancing their incursions into the Paletinean territory by forming settlement after settelment.
You are incorrect sir. Blockbuster does have an agreement for profit sharing in place for VHS tapes, but no such agreement exists for DVD's. As far as DVD's go they are exactly like you and me. They buy them, (or "rent" large quantities from distributors) and then use their "first-sale" doctrine rights to rent them. Legally you are allowed to rent movies you buy. If you have a large movie collection, you don't need to get "distribution" rights to the DVD's to rent them out. Ask any owner of a Blockbuster if you really want to know the whole story.
The movie streams were broadcasted from a dutch service provider. Site doesn't have much to do with Iran... Dutch authorities have forced the ISP to close the site.
Bye,
superheld.nl
Sheen is lending some star power to former U.S. attorney general Janet Reno 's campaign to unseat Florida Governor Jeb Bush, whose own campaign is getting a little help from his brother.
Sheen will join Reno for three days of campaigning and fundraising in West Palm Beach, Miami, Tampa and Orlando starting on Friday, Reno's campaign spokeswoman said.
Sheen plays President Josiah Bartlet on the Emmy Award-winning White House drama "The West Wing" and has been a longtime supporter of Democratic candidates and liberal causes.
"This is what you have to do when you can't get a real president for your campaign," Jeb Bush's campaign spokesman Todd Harris said, calling U.S. President George. W. Bush an "invaluable" asset to his brother's campaign.
Polls show Reno leading the race to become Florida's Democratic candidate. If she wins the September primary she will face the popular Republican incumbent in the November general election.
The governor has been given some high-profile help from the president, who has appeared at several fundraisers in recent months for the governor and for the Florida Republican Party.
"The fact that Janet Reno is being supported by the Hollywood liberal elite should not come as a surprise to anyone who has studied her record," Harris said.
The MPAA must have people in their pocket all over the world. (Note: the whole upgrading our router was just added this morning)
Dear Valuable Users,
Our site is READY now,
but we got to
wait for few hours
for our new lines
to take place.
We are upgrading our router
and this site will be off
for a few days
We feel sorry for
our contractor whose
proxy/caching was blocked
because of somebody's
reaction. (Without Court Order AGAIN!!)
Seems like the Terrorist is identified!!
Regards,
Film88
Please stop trying to force people to live under what you think is "fair".
I'm not trying to force people to live under what I think is "fair". On the contrary, I'm trying to force people to live under what the framers of the Constitution thought was "fair". Why should it be "fair" to let an author's estate deprive the public for 70 years? Thomas Jefferson advocated "limited Times" of about nineteen years. If the founding fathers wanted life plus 70, they would have passed life plus 70 as in the Bono Act, not 14+14 as in the Copyright Act of 1790.
Will I retire or break 10K?
Dear Valued Users and Geeks,
We wish to announce that due to the following factors, we shall cease
the operation of film88.com:-
1. There has been many technical complaints during our trial run. We
are satisfied with some technical results but feel that we have a duty
to find ways to resolve technical complaints before providing such
service. We shall be publishing our technical results soon and open
for public discussion for the benefit of everyone on our website.
2. We have made clear many times that we are not pirates. We have
proposed to major studios in Hollywood to pay 30% of our movie rental
price as copyright compensation. This represents a huge percentage
from our gross profit but we feel that a balance between innovation
and copyright compensation is important. However, Hollywood has
reacted negatively. We have to evaluate this issue. Perhaps we should
look for movies outside Hollywood but we hope that Hollywood will some
day offer such service. Perhaps we should wait for the development of
"Statutory Licence" for the movie industry similar to the Statutory
Licence for the music industry in US.
3. Some journalists have given us fair comments while others drag us
into politics. We have stated clearly that we are not involved in
politics (Iran or elsewhere). What happen to the fundamental concept
of Internet of being borderless and not knowing any nationality and
race? We are actually more keen in technical comments/reviews and to
resolve the copyright issue. We have no plans at the moment but the
innovation must go on..... We wish to apologize to all users, Geeks,
our service providers and Hollywood, and hope that they will accept
our apology for inconvenience caused, if any.
We can be contacted at film88@hongkong.com.
Thank you.
Film88.com