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BitTorrent Blamed for Matrix2 Downloads

MartyJG writes "The BBC are running a story on how Matrix Reloaded is available via P2P. This time BitTorrent is taking the heat for the distribution - even though there's no company behind it to drag over the coals. The story speculates about the source of the copy, suggesting it's from a film or digital source rather than a cinema-screen-leech." Despite this piracy, the flick has made over $365M already. Including my tickets. Twice.

847 comments

  1. Slashdotting of BitTorrent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Great work guys. I'm downloading Matrix: Reloaded right now with BitTorrent and the whole thing is about to get Slashdotted. Thanks.

    1. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by klmth · · Score: 5, Informative

      I know this is a joke, but I'll bite.
      Due to the swarming nature of BitTorrent, additional users downloading a file will not slow your downloads down. Quite the contrary - everyone will experience speedier downloads.

    2. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by glesga_kiss · · Score: 1
      additional users downloading a file will not slow your downloads down

      In theory, yes. Async connections are the realistic spanner in those works...most down more than they up.

    3. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by LordoftheFrings · · Score: 0, Redundant

      Actually, if it is Slashdotted, then the file will download faster. In the case of P2P, especially with a system such as Bitorrent where you are forced to upload, more users generally means faster speed.

    4. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by klmth · · Score: 1

      Is this because of clients requesting connections and not transferring anything, thus leading the server-peer to choke?

    5. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by AntonyBartlett · · Score: 0, Redundant
      Great work guys. I'm downloading Matrix: Reloaded right now with BitTorrent and the whole thing is about to get Slashdotted.

      Actually BitTorrent is built to survive a slashdotting. You can't download without providing upload capacity (because essentially you are trading fragments of the file with peers). Thus the idea is that as demand grows for a particular file, so should the supply of bandwidth

      On the other hand, there is a central component, which is vunerable to a cease-and-desist.

    6. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by klmth · · Score: 1

      This used to be the case with bittorrent. Recent clients have howevered eliminated the forcing of an upload, thus allowing them to leech others.

    7. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by akadruid · · Score: 4, Interesting

      This has been proved by the Slashdot effect in the past.
      For example, the latest Doom 3 video, although just 31mb, was almost impossible to get hold of by regular download, yet I found that BitTorrent maxed out my connection, giving me 60k/sec all through.
      The days of smoking servers are over, Slashdot is powering the age of fast downloads.
      Well, with a bit of imagination anyway.

      --
      "Those who cast the votes decide nothing; those who count the votes decide everything." (attrib. Joseph Stalin)
    8. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by incentive · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If someone put the matrix up for grabs, why not grab it. I am surprised that BitTorrent was the only P2P program mentioned by our friends at the BBC. I mean come on, IRC ring a bell?

      --
      Stay far from the timid, and live the pharse the skys the limit.
    9. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by descentr · · Score: 2, Informative

      I think he was talking about asynchronus connections themselves like ADSL. 128kbit up, 1.5 mbit down. By its very definition, ADSL can't send nearly as much as it can receive, creating an imbalance.

    10. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by klmth · · Score: 4, Interesting

      There has been quite some interest around designing a p2p hypertext transfer protocol. P2P has been proven to work very well with large files, where latency isn't much of an issue. When you download two gigs, you don't care if it takes thirty seconds for the download to begin.

      A decentralized p2p web-server network would be an interesting project, and certainly the bittorrent protocol could be a base for serving large files, but for serving small files direct connections are better. Perhaps a giant web-server pool that would simultaneously request webpages from the entire network and initiate a transfer with the first server to respond would work. However, there has so far been no development work towards this.

      The Circle is an interesting project which aims to create a p2p network for .debs

    11. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How is this a troll? If anything it's kind of funny. You moderators are on crack.

    12. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by yppiz · · Score: 5, Interesting
      In theory, yes. Async connections are the realistic spanner in those works...most down more than they up.

      BitTorrent enforces balanced downloads. If you are on an asynchronous line, expect to see download rates no greater than your upload rate.

      Here's the relevant section from the BitTorrent FAQ:

      Q: I don't want you stealing my bandwidth! How can I stop it from uploading?

      A: You could hack the source to not upload, but then your download rate would suck. BitTorrent downloaders engage in tit-for-tat with their peers, so leeches have very little success downloading.

      --Pat / zippy@cs.brandeis.edu

    13. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by MindStalker · · Score: 1

      Anything I can do about being behind a firewall and not really being able to upload?

    14. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by AKnightCowboy · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Well, that's a good idea as long as there's a strong way to identify the people serving and the people downloading the files in case of nefarious activities. We wouldn't want people distributing illegal material afterall. For example, you have the innocent Slashdot user pulling down Debian ISO images, while the slightly more illicit act of downloading Matrix 2, and the despicable act of distributing child pornography are occuring. No matter how good of an argument you can make for the legitimate uses, the illegitimate ones will always outweigh it.

    15. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by Fweeky · · Score: 1

      Being able to "promise" to leave the BitTorrent client alive long after the download's complete could balance this out, though, no?

      Obviously this would require some way of persistantly identifying and tracking a host, so if they've shown themselves to typically leave the client running it can give them preferential treatment. If enough people did this, it should balance out the extra bandwidth usage, since there will be a lot more (admittedly slow) sources to swarm from.

    16. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by prinzip · · Score: 1

      Why should we adopt the precaution principle? It's one of the only sector of our society where we adopte that attitute (The USA are telling to everybody the the europe is bad to adopt that attitude with GMO)

      --
      Bombing for peace is like fucking for virginity!
    17. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by Feztaa · · Score: 5, Interesting

      That isn't entirely accurate.

      Many times, i've been the only leech on a file with 2 or 3 seeds, and I download just fine, even though there's nothing for me to upload.

      Also, even when I'm not the only leech, my downloads commonly go 50 to 60 k/s, while the uploads only go 10 or 20. I suppose it all depends on the popularity of the file, though. My connection is capped at 150 down and 50 up. In the past, I've had one torrent that maxed both of those :)

      When you read that FAQ entry, it's probably more accurate to say that your client's willingness to upload will allow it to download quickly, not so much the rate at which you are actually uploading.

    18. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      how long did it take y'all 2 download????

    19. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by h4x0r-3l337 · · Score: 1

      That's got more to do with the fact that most people still use traditional download methods, whereas bittorrent users are still in the minority. The .torrent files still need to be hosted somewhere, and we've all seen what the slashdot-effect can do to a website. Even if everyone "only" needs to download the .torrent file, that's still tens of thousands of hits in a very short period of time.

    20. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by Sethb · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      I like BitTorrent a lot, I've been using it to grab Alias episodes the last few days. I've never watched the show, but now that my TiVo is starting to look pretty empty, a co-worker convinced me to start watching Alias. So far, I like it, and there's a great BitTorrent listing here:

      Alias Archive

      I haven't as much luck getting movies, they seem to take forever, but I grabbed Red Hat 9 via BitTorrent, and it was damned fast when it debuted...

      --
      When in danger or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout. --Robert A. Heinlein
    21. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Really. I frequently download 160Kb/s, even when I cap my uploads at 3Kb/s (I use the experiemental client). I rarely, if ever, notice it slowing my DL due to my slow UL.

      BTW, the only reason I cap my uploads is so nobody else in the house whines about lag. Not that it helps when the client maxes out the DL anyway... Somebody want to add a DL cap to the experimental client?

    22. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by devilspgd · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I can justify it. I've seen it in the theatres, I plan on seeing it again, and I plan on buying the DVD the day it comes out. Somehow, I don't think anybody would care if I download it since they're still making their money off me.

      --
      Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day, but teach a man to phish...
    23. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your a dumb ass. You dont you go suck thier cocks you cock sucker. I have paid $30 to see and I am going to drive 5 hours to watch it a the Imax. You cought one.

    24. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by Malor · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yep, freedom is bad. People might misuse it to do things of which the government doesn't approve.

    25. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by ichimunki · · Score: 1

      I paid my $5 to see it in the theater-- and wow did that movie suck! I could justify downloading this movie since there's no way in h_ck I'd pay for any further copies of the movie. They aren't going to make another cent off me, so it's not like they're losing anything if I download it. In fact, if I don't get a free copy of Reloaded, the odds that I'm going to go see Revolution are increasingly slim, since I won't have built up any momentum for it. So in a way, they are more likely to get more of my money if, and only if, I can watch Reloaded once or twice more at no charge.

      --
      I do not have a signature
    26. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by leviramsey · · Score: 1

      Other than port-forwarding, no.

    27. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      honestly IRC SUCKS compared to bittorrent - provided you can find your file on a bittorrent site and the tracker is not down. irc, you sit waiting for a bot, then you wait in their queue for 5 hours before it finally starts downloading at maybe 50kb/sec from the ONE person serving it, and you hope your irc connection doesnt time out lest you wait in the q for another 5 hours

    28. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by JJahn · · Score: 2, Interesting

      BitTorrent having balanced downloads is not true in my experience. I have a 1.5/128 cable line, and with Torrent (un-modified) I regularly can download at the 1.5 or very near it, but am only uploading at 128k.

    29. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Yep, freedom is bad. People might misuse it to do things of which the government doesn't approve.

      Even worse, people might use it to do things of which society doesn't approve. There is no civilized society I'm aware of outside of the Catholic priesthood that condones child pornography.

    30. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by rmadmin · · Score: 1, Troll

      Wow, your pretty full of yourself. "It sucked, therefor I should get it for free." Uhm.. Ok.. if you say so. So just by me saying that all the music made on this planet sucks, does that justify me downloading all of it for free? And they should let me download it for free in hopes that I'll listen to future *suck* music because of it? Pfft.. wake up ichimunki, the drugs have you.

    31. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by Yablo · · Score: 3, Informative

      Forward TCP ports 6881-6889 to the machine that will be doing the torrenting.

    32. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, I don't rightly know, Bubba. How long did it take y'all over thar in Georgia?

    33. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by ichimunki · · Score: 1

      Wow, you really need to lighten up. On the one hand, I was serious. The movie was horrible. I won't be paying for it again (please note that I didn't get to see it for free, I have already paid once to see this film-- I don't think you understood that, which is why I'm saying it again explicitly). They won't lose any of the money I've already given them if I happen to get a free copy from somewhere.

      On the other hand, you missed the sarcasm. I have no more right to a free copy than the person I was responding to does. However, in both cases, the amount of money to be made off the consumers is about the same (in my case, very little, in his case a bit more). Either copying is justified because it is, or it isn't. Whether you have seen the movie in the theater eighty times and bought the VHS, the DVD, the VCD, the collector's edition VHS, the director's cut DVD, the holographic version, the computer game, and Carrie-Anne Moss' latex outfit off eBay or not, the justification for copying has the same validity.

      --
      I do not have a signature
    34. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by SScorpio · · Score: 1
      You might want to try out the program NetLimiter from http://www.netlimiter.com

      I'm using it with great success. Since your running the experimental client I assume your running windows. Just install the program and limit BitTorrents downloaed to 140Kb/s.

      One thing I really like about NetLimiter is that it will carry the limits over to all processes. Say you have three Torrent d/ls going. I have 32Kb/s up so I could limit it to 28Kb/s up and that will allow all three downloads to have to share 28Kb/s while still leaving 4Kb/s so I can still surf the web.

    35. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by maxpublic · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If it sucked, why would you want it? I saw the movie in the theater and it did, indeed, suck big green donkey dicks. It *blew*. I can't imagine wasting my time downloading a copy of this crap.

      Max

      --
      My god carries a hammer. Your god died nailed to a tree. Any questions?
    36. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by Guspaz · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I believe BitTorrent will allow you to exceed your upload rate if there is network bandwidth to spare.

    37. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by cheese_wallet · · Score: 1

      Perhaps the idea of bitTorrent can be applied to web browsing. It might be somewhat problematic for dynamic pages (work around with a timeout I guess), but it would be an interesting experiment.

    38. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by jaxle · · Score: 2

      What about freenet? It is really slow right now, but it could be used for this sort of thing.

    39. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by new-black-hand · · Score: 1

      They have, and they are called Akamai. Their "edge-network" system also works with dynamic pages with some slight modifications on the server-end.

    40. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Even worse, people might use it to do things of which society doesn't approve. There is no civilized society I'm aware of outside of the Catholic priesthood that condones child pornography.



      That's child molestation, next time get it right!

    41. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by CvD · · Score: 2, Informative

      You could even out the imbalance by leaving your bittorrent download thingy on for a period of time after the download is finished. The period of time would be the download/upload ratio * the time it took to download the file. In this way you'll have uploaded the file at least once and contributed your share.

      Cheers,

      Costyn.

    42. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by descentr · · Score: 1

      Yes, that would be a solution, but with the ADSL line example I gave above, it takes about 13 hours to upload a 700 MB file such as The Matrix Reloaded AVI. If they're anything like most users, they'll be trying to download other files by this time, either forcing those downloads to wait in a queue until the upload bandwidth has caught up or again causing an imbalance.

      I think I read above that BitTorrent measures your capability to upload, but still allows you do download faster than this speed... I really have no idea though since I haven't ever used it before.

    43. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by jooon · · Score: 3, Informative
      Actually, it is the rate you are uploading that counts. A peer have a list of other peers. This peer list is sorted by how fast they serve you. You upload to the top three on this list. That's basically it.

      But that doesn't mean your download rate is limited to your own upload rate. In simple statistics. Your download rate is the average of all the total current upstream divided by the number of people downloading. But of course nothing is average. It's above and it's below. :)

    44. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I use btdownloadcurse and there is an option to limit the upload, i'm capped at 400kb/sec download and 60 upload and when i downloaded matrix i had set the upload limit and 20 and was still getting over 300kb/sec download ...

    45. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by ionpro · · Score: 2, Insightful
      ...I am surprised that BitTorrent was the only P2P program mentioned by our friends at the BBC. I mean come on, IRC ring a bell?

      Sure does. But IRC isn't automated P2P: you download from one person at a time, there is no centralized source for searches, etc. So, technically, it's "peer-to-peer" in the English sense of the word, but "server/client" in the technological sense.


    46. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're posting to slashdot and you've never seen japanese animation?

    47. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by shadowjk · · Score: 1

      You can still upload. The tracker will give you a list of peers to connect to. Your client will try to connect to as many as it can. If you have parts of the file that other peers are interested, your client will send them to the interested peer.
      Note that all connections have been initiated from your side of the firewall.
      Unless the firewall restricts uploads, only keeps track of 10 connections or something equally horribly low, you might still have problems.
      Of course, this wont enable you to download/upload from other firewalled peers.

    48. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by Jpauls104 · · Score: 1

      It also mentions that BitTorrent works on a ratio, so it is not exactly download/upload. Also, I found when there was nobody to upload to, mine also went fast. I did however notice, once I started uploading to all, my download speed dropped also...

    49. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      In fact, on most trackers I participate, it is considered extremely impolite not to leave Torrent open after you've finished downloading.

      I've heard stories, but I don't know if they're true, that the trackers also track who is leeching and so on, and set an 'evil bit' on your tracked profile which might result in shaping by peers - of course, this is only applicable if you use the same tracker a lot, and it might not be true.

    50. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by Mike+Buddha · · Score: 1

      It is a joke, as long as the Tracker isn't flooded, which is exactly what happened.

      There is a limit to what BT can do.

      --
      by Mike Buddha -- Someday the mountain might get him, but the law never will.
    51. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by Feztaa · · Score: 1

      Your download rate is the average of all the total current upstream divided by the number of people downloading.

      I don't think that could be farther from the truth -- not everybody downloads at the same rate, of course.

    52. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      BitTorrent - I'd like to put my penny's worth in here. Movie Torrent's and other p2p's actually give the viewer a real heads up! Beyond all the media hype and controls, when one goes to the shops and sees a movie they have downloaded Months ago on the shelf, one can better decide if buying the product is actually worth while! etc. And all the talk of the 'Quality', what rubbish. Enforced quality more like! You dont hear the movie producers complaing about the 29/25 FPS instead of the dvd quality or what ever when their movies get onto the TV networks do you! Also within the community it seems that when something is eagerly awaited - like the matrix 2 (as per your example), people wont download it until they've seen it at the cinema, even then they buy it at the store when it comes out. Now as for Slashdot putting the focus on the torrent scence, perhaps you should direct your attention towards more pressing things that affect humanity, rather than things that anger some facet of Hollywood (Glitz-gamour and ultimately bull***t).

    53. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Emule(an edonkey client) is great for movies(not to mention seasons of tv shows) , though now that i think about it i'm not sure what the linux status is in Emule land.
      It is an open source project however, so maybe.

      No adware, spyware etc etc. No need to host 40kb files for the tracker sites, they only need an URL pr file. Filehashing that works.
      A 'brownie-point' system that works (records of who uploads to you are stored by each client, your place in their queues dependant on how much you've uploaded to them, this helps to create 'loops' between users downloading, and more importantly, sharing ,the same file(s) ).
      In the last 2-3 months i've dowloaded 130GB and uploaded 230, ker-ching eh?
      I could go on...

      Oh, you need to leave it running 24/7 for best results and ....snip!

    54. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by MindStalker · · Score: 1

      I have just a plain ol everyday ipchains NAT firewall, with no real special rules (and I can change them if I need to), but bittorrent just sits there and maybe occasinally I will get 1KB connection for a minute then it will go back to 0 again. I'm on a 512Kb DSL line. Any suggestions?

    55. Re:Slashdotting of BitTorrent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      if any 1 still wants matrix reloaded cd 1,2,3 download edonkey 2000 at www.edonkey2000.com

  2. Link? by override11 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Someone plz post the bit-torrent link? :)

    --
    No I didnt spell check this post...
    1. Re:Link? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      a small google search should help you, i have seen it several places, but I won't link to it here, but I guess others will. And I have not downloaded it nor will I since I want to expirence it at the movie theater. I think the first was a cam version and then came a telesync, but I can't confirm that as I haven't looked at them.

    2. Re:Link? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

      This is all I have:

      http://ukraine-mobi.4.com1.ru/The.Matrix.Reloade d. SVCD.TS-Centropy.torrent

      But I think the "TS" means it's a TeleSync, so this is probably not the one the article is talking about.

    3. Re:Link? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      http://10mbit.com/suprnova/the.matrix.reloaded.div x.ts.daduck_sn.torrent

    4. Re:Link? by override11 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Thats the first thing I did was see it in the theatre. You know, every movie that looks to be worth it, I have went and seen. I think the movie industry wants to blame P2P'ers for their lack of 'estimated growth', but I think they are just making shitty movies. Good ones I have no problem paying for, or seeing 2 times (lord of the rings), but I will still download it later. :P And no worries, its allready 1/2 way complete.

      --
      No I didnt spell check this post...
    5. Re:Link? by km790816 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Careful of the link, there was an extra space in the original.

      http://10mbit.com/suprnova/the.matrix.reloaded.div x.ts.daduck_sn.torrent

    6. Re:Link? by f0rt0r · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Ahh, you are the opposite of me. I like to prescreen the movie before going to see it in the movie theatre. I barely got the second half of the telesync version before I went to see it at the movies. Luckily the first half was good enough to make me think it was worth my money to go see.

      Btw, you act as if you can't both download the movie and watch it in the theatre, you can. Pretty much every movie I have watched in the movie theatre was prescreened by watching a cam/screener version of it beforehand.

      Oh, and remember to wait for the credits to finish after the movie ends, you get to see a preview of Matrix Revolutions that is coming ( I think ) this
      November.

      --
      I can't afford a sig!
    7. Re:Link? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative
    8. Re:Link? by zangdesign · · Score: 4, Funny

      Great. So now you're reducing /. to a warez board.

      --
      To celebrate the occasion of my 1000th post, I will post no more forever on Slashdot. Goodbye.
    9. Re:Link? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Reducing ?!

    10. Re:Link? by override11 · · Score: 1

      I am? Seems to me /. is all about communication in all its forms. If you try and limit what can go on ./, it wont be the same. You gotta do the same as everyone else, set your preferences to weed out the crap and wade through the rest. :)

      --
      No I didnt spell check this post...
    11. Re:Link? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's another *big* reason why movie piracy is common. The MPAA in its wisdom staggers worldwide movie release dates. For example, X-Men 2 will premiere in India on May 30, and Reloaded a month after that.

      Pirated copies of these movies are often available on the local markets (as MPEG-1 video CDs typically brought in from Malaysia or Indonesia) just days after the US release, in one case that I know of (Tears of the Sun) it was actually available a little *before* the US premiere.

      Sure, the quality of most of these prints suck, but for most people in South and SE Asia, the lure of seeing the latest and greatest is enough to ignore that. And if they like the movie, they see it in the theatre anyway when it's released -- upto 6 months later.

    12. Re:Link? by LineNoiz · · Score: 1

      Oh, and remember to wait for the credits to finish after the movie ends, you get to see a preview of Matrix Revolutions that is coming ( I think ) this November

      How nice. Make people sit through twenty damn minutes of credits (I've never seen so many credits before) to see a 60 second trailer for the next movie. It's not even all that great. Normally, I just about squirt when I see a trailer for a kick-ass movie, but in this case the twenty minutes of waiting just kinda soured the whole thing for me.

      --
      "Quotation is a serviceable substitute for wit." --Oscar Wilde
    13. Re:Link? by waldo2020 · · Score: 0, Troll

      don't bother, it was a crappy disjoint movie without plot and without an ending. the effects, esp. cloning are overdone. waste of BW

    14. Re:Link? by d3ut3r0n · · Score: 1

      While it would be nice if it were this simple, they are the ones making the movies and thus hold the rights. It's their movie, not yours. Sure, it sucks paying to go and see something crap - everything is nicer when its free, right? Well, trust me, they aren't going to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on the hope that you (or half of american-movie-fan-asians) will go and see it a second time because you liked it after seeing a pirated copy. They want your money even if you didn't like it. ...and before you say "exactly, that's why they can't have it" - think twice. If the world ran this way, business wouldn't.

    15. Re:Link? by mustangsal66 · · Score: 1

      How about the Hulk ?

      I'll have Terminator 7 available in a few hours :)

      --
      Why worry? Each of us is wearing an unlicensed "nucular" accelerator on his back.
      Sig changed for readability by G.W.
    16. Re:Link? by cduffy · · Score: 1

      If the world ran that way, true, some business models would be unprofitable -- but that's not to say that business wouldn't run at all.

      A world in which consumers paid only for goods and services they considered to be of adequate quality after having full knowledge of them could in fact be considered a *better* world.

    17. Re:Link? by Natty+P · · Score: 0, Troll

      "If the world ran this way, business wouldn't."
      Yeah, I forgot... "business" is based on raping your customers through their wallets. Oh, wait... I actually meant that to be sarcastic.

    18. Re:Link? by xtrucial · · Score: 1

      Disjointed? Sure you didn't get the multipart download and missed a few chunks? ;-)

    19. Re:Link? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      the Centropy Telesync is currently the best quality release (out of about 5)

      i dont think a better one will be out until there is a DVD screener or retail DVD rip released.

    20. Re:Link? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm downloading it right now, I already paid to see it two times, and popcorn and the whole shebang to boot. Am i that bad for watching it NOW while i wait to PAY for the dvd?

    21. Re:Link? by ichimunki · · Score: 1

      Oh, and remember to wait for the credits to finish after the movie ends, you get to see a preview of Matrix Revolutions that is coming ( I think ) this November.

      And here I thought Reloaded was the trailer for Revolution.

      --
      I do not have a signature
    22. Re:Link? by MagneticMountain · · Score: 1

      Terminator 7 rocked, but I liked 5 better.

    23. Re:Link? by aardvarkjoe · · Score: 1

      That's a laugh. Tell that to the people who get slapped down for badmouthing slashdot.

      --

      How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
    24. Re:Link? by override11 · · Score: 1

      There is a differencce between badmouthing and removing the comment. If I though that admin's were going to remove politically incorrect comments, I dont think I would come here any more. Those comments are half the fun! :)

      --
      No I didnt spell check this post...
    25. Re:Link? by override11 · · Score: 1

      True, it is nicer when its free. Consider this: Any large enough organization / company, when threatened, will react just like a human body will. The white blood cells (the lawyers, PR folk, advertisers, etc) will rush to the scene of the problem and try like mad to fix it. The body does not care that it might be GOOD for you, the white blood cells still rush there. Maybe it is time for this business model to die! What is basically happeninng is that a decades old business model is being threatened by newer digital technology. These huge companies can no more change their main focus than I could mutate to breath CO2, it just isnt going to happen. They are going to survive for a long while yet, but it will be a painful death, and they will go down fighting. But they will go down. :P

      Sorry about the crazy analygy, just made sense to me and thats what matters, right? :)

      --
      No I didnt spell check this post...
    26. Re:Link? by Thud457 · · Score: 1

      Hmmmmm.... "the free exchange of goods or services between equals" without privelage or bias, where have I heard that one before?

      --

      the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

    27. Re:Link? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You have to take in to consideration people like me, who after downloading the X-Men 2 SVCD and popping it in the home theater DVD player, prevented a family of five from needing to buy movie tickets when it was sitting in front of them.

      Viva piracy!

    28. Re:Link? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Get over yourself. /. is free exchange of info, not your plank for self-righteous bs.

    29. Re:Link? by HobbitGod42 · · Score: 1

      So... we should all go out and waste money on seeing movies like 'Legally Blond 2' or that new movie with the chick from Nsync and the guy from American Idol... or is it the guy from Nsync and the chick from American Idol? Anyways... Most people that I know paid to see Matrix Reloaded(I did... Twice) I also downloaded it. The only people that have watched it with me are the same people that bought tickets and already saw the movie. Sure its still theft... But the studio made their money off of me (Twice) and my friends.

    30. Re:Link? by aardvarkjoe · · Score: 1

      For most people, an editor doing multiple downmods is essentially the same as removing the comment. It's not at all unusual for a story to have several hundred posts, a large percentage of which are at -1. Very few people read more than a few of them.

      My comment was simply that /. isn't much of a free and open forum. It's been demonstrated multiple times that if the editors don't like a comment, they'll break the rules in order to get rid of it. Although they might not be actively censoring particular political views, I really wouldn't trust them not to at some point in the future.

      --

      How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
    31. Re:Link? by zangdesign · · Score: 1

      Actually, I'm not sure that the editors are doing it. Enough people modding something down will have the same effect. It's entirely possible that we are just looking at suppression of the few by a mob who want their head on a pike for possessing startling or unpopular views.

      You know, kind of like the real world.

      Excuse me, I have to go organize the pitchforks and torches brigade. It's our Wednesday in the park and if we miss our turn, the peasants get really snippy.

      --
      To celebrate the occasion of my 1000th post, I will post no more forever on Slashdot. Goodbye.
    32. Re:Link? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Be not as 'sure' as you want. It HAS happened before.

    33. Re:Link? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Reducing? ;)

    34. Re:Link? by Jpauls104 · · Score: 1

      Of course you will watch it in theater over downloading any version out there. I personally can't wait for the imax version of Matrix. So I heard Matrix Tres is going to be out in imax the very same day and the regular out-dated theaters!

    35. Re:Link? by aardvarkjoe · · Score: 1

      Try looking up some of the "post of doom" threads. Dozens of comments going from +2 or higher to -1 within moments of each other. And, of course, the outright refusal to allow people to see whether a post was moderated down by an editor or other user practically screams that Taco's aware that his underlings abuse the unlimited moderation privelege.

      They can run the site however they choose, of course, but I do think that people should at least be aware that the comments they read are censored by the /. crew.

      I will say, however, that I'm sure that the majority of stupid moderation is done by regular users, and not the editors. It would be rather interesting to be able to see who does what.

      --

      How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
    36. Re:Link? by blixel · · Score: 1

      This is hardly DVD quality. This is just a crappy video camera setup. You can see the Theater "Exit" sign at the beginning of the movie and the camera even "drops". The sound is pretty horrible too.

    37. Re:Link? by d3ut3r0n · · Score: 1
      I know it is cool to have a copy of it but they, the owners, also want to make money off you when you buy the DVD. There's much more to it than just the initial movie marketing. In fact, I heard somewhere recently that the gaming industry has far surpassed the film industry in terms of revenue - but that's another topic...

      Anyway, you may have images of these big wigs rubbing their hands together over pots of gold and mountains of cash, plotting to get you in your sleep... but really, they're not. I'll say it again: it - is - a - business. Whether you agree with it or not, what they are doing is legal and it's part of the society we have created. Trying to change or having differing opinions about the laws of business is also allowed (well, in most countries), but you're not allowed to bring change by pirating stuff and deciding what you'll pay for.

      When I was younger, I too would have loved to have found a movie like the matrix or lotr on the net for free and probably would have downloaded it - but now I'm an adult - I have been in the "business world", helped deals go through etc.. - I understand why anyone would be pissed off at losing revenue. It's like if you're a software engineer trying to sell your own software and decided they'll pirate software from people they don't like. Again, because you don't agree morally with someone's actions, doesn't mean you should break the law or, at the very least, be a hypocrite.

      I understand that sometimes fans get so emotionally attached to things that they don't see the reality of the business behind their interest. Their attachment makes them believe that, somehow, the movie/song/drawing/piece is partly theirs. No matter how often artists accepting awards might lead you to believe this idea.... it's not "yours" inherently. It's theirs! You buy the right to view it once at the cinema. You buy the right to watch it privately many times on DVD.

      Yes, these business wouldn't exist without fans - but that's the magic of an economic market - supply and demand. If they were "raping" people for money, people should stop paying attention to their stuff.

      (and lets not forget that no one is forcing you to see any of these movies - it's a choice of entertainment, not a compulsory sex-ed video in junior high).

      So, before you bring on a barrage of abuse claiming that I'm a tree-hugging maniac or law abiding do-gooder or god bother, stop. I believe in neither god nor greenpeace. I'm just being rational, yes I write software, yes I buy software, dvds, and go to the movies.

    38. Re:Link? by boots@work · · Score: 1

      According to a recent Economist article, X-Men 2 was nearly simultaneously released around the world to prevent this problem. Perhaps they're wrong?

  3. Let's see by octalgirl · · Score: 3, Funny

    Let's see the MP** go after this one....

    1. Re:Let's see by Bonker · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Who modded the parent redundant?

      One of the most important features of Bittorrent is that it is almost completely decentralized. Rather than even p2p sharing, it's just swarm downloading. This decentralization is ultimately what will protect it from the incredible litigation powers of the MPAA and RIAA.

      Also of note is its noted ability to be used for non-infringing purposes, such as the download of the aforementioned Redhat 9 ISOs. I'm certain that Redhat is *gleeful* that the ISOs are available over Bittorent rather than everyone trying to pull them off of their server and their mirrors. This non-infringing use will be a saving grace when legal-types start examining bittorrent for lawsuit fodder.

      --
      The next Slashdot story will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and slashdot the links early!
    2. Re:Let's see by h4x0r-3l337 · · Score: 1
      One of the most important features of Bittorrent is that it is almost completely decentralized.

      Almost, but not completely. Somebody still has to host the .torrent files.

      Also of note is its noted ability to be used for non-infringing purposes

      Give it a year and 99% of its use will be for piracy. The remaining 1% legitimate use will not save it in court.

    3. Re:Let's see by S.Lemmon · · Score: 1

      Actually the thing about bit torrent is it's *centralized* and not ideal for piracy. Torrents must be hosted and so must the tracker. Pirate torrents are about the same as hosting the file on a website and you don't see them trying to make HTTP illegal.

      All the copyright owners need do is notify or shut down those hosting the site or tracker. Yes it may start up again somewhere else, but that's also true of a web or FTP site. BitTorrent is just a file transfer protocol designed to distribute large file without needing massive servers. In many ways it's still *intentionally* just as centralized as traditional methods.

    4. Re:Let's see by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      BitTorrent is centralized heavily.

      First, the .torrent files themselves must be hosted and consumed.

      Second, the .torrent files refer to a Tracker that must remain online. Peers communicate with the Tracker to find seeds and other peers to download from.

      Which leads to the third part.. Go get one of the newer advanced BitTorrent clients. Some of them list all peers that your system can see, detailing their progress completion, IP address, and how fast they are moving data to-and-from you.

      Now, who's to say someone from the **AA can't hop onto a tracker and get a bunch of IP's of infringers? Each infringer is hosting part of, or all of a file. These files are crc checked and everything, they can concievably prove that you are making this data available to all. These infringers have nothing to hide behind because they are chasing a single file, not 'sharing' or whatever else you want to call it on Kazaa.

      Anyway, I love Bittorrent. It's a great way to do the P2P thing, but don't pretend you're invincible.

    5. Re:Let's see by Chester+K · · Score: 1

      One of the most important features of Bittorrent is that it is almost completely decentralized.

      Other than the centralized tracker server, of course. How long do you think it would be able to go on before the MPAA makes forwarding any packet containing the text ".torrent" illegal?

      --

      NO CARRIER
  4. Matrix???? by cansecofan22 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Maybe the copies are another form of control... Give us a grainy low res version to excite us and then grab the $8 admission to the movie.... The matrix has us!

    --
    "If ignorance is bliss, why aren't there more happy people in the world?"
    1. Re:Matrix???? by log0n · · Score: 1

      haha, fo rizzle

    2. Re:Matrix???? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, the copy that I have is quite nice. Not grainy at all. I doubt it is from a digital source or whatever they say because it appears to have been shot at a slight angle when you pay attention to the straight buildings in the background

    3. Re:Matrix???? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You obviously didn't see the "good" svcd version; it's just about dvd quality.

    4. Re:Matrix???? by rjch · · Score: 2, Interesting

      If you had bothered to read the article (or even the story submitted as is!) you would have noticed that this is a high quality copy, supposedly from the original film, complete with surround sound. (Even though I've already seen it twice - once at the cinema and once at the drive-in - methinks I might even hunt around for it... I'm not going to see it in the cinemas again, anyway)

    5. Re:Matrix???? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Yeah, no shit. Stealing from the movie makers is one thing, but I don't give a shit about stealing from the movie theaters. This weekend I went to go see a movie, and the sound was all fucked up. So I went and got a manager and said "fix it." They still didn't fix it, so I demanded a refund. I got the money back for my tix, but what about the $10 shitty popcorn and the $5 coke? I'll continue to rip those fuckers off until they start giving me what I pay for. I fucking hate movie theaters, they complain that VHS and piracy is hurting their business but bullshit, they do it to themselves. I'd just as soon stay home where I can control the picture and quality and not get ripped off. Fuckers.

    6. Re:Matrix???? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not that I'm an authority, but I've read in many places (it's been mentioned often by Ebert) that theatres don't make much off of the price of the movie. I guess most of the box office revenue goes to the distributors. Theatres make thier money on the snack bar, and that's why the prices are crazy.

    7. Re:Matrix???? by Alan+Partridge · · Score: 1

      what?

      --
      That was classic intercourse!
    8. Re:Matrix???? by mashx · · Score: 1
      Not at first: it is a sliding scale over time, such that the distributors get their money in the first weeks, and depending how successful the film is, after that the theatres get get a larger percentage of the revenue as it goes on.

      Of course, they don't change the price of the popcorn, but that ain't never stopped me from taking my own whiskey.

      --

      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~
    9. Re:Matrix???? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's not surround sound. You refer to the Centropy release. It is actually a telesync - cam on tripod at movie screen in empty cinema, with direct sound feed. It's just a really, really good telesync - Centropy are the Grolsch of telesync'ers - they take longer over their capture, postprocessing and encode, for a better taste, and they only let you download it when it's ready. ;)

    10. Re:Matrix???? by mobets · · Score: 1

      ummm... don't get popcorn or drinks? They are over priced and not all that good.

      --

      It was me, I did it, I moved your cheese
    11. Re:Matrix???? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, it was available on one of the main torrent listing sites as the 2.3GB SVCD we all now know of 4 days after it hit movies.

  5. oh dear, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ..getting ready for another killing of some bittorrent sites today. dammit. Let's hope that the ones that are left, still have their rewrite rules in place. :D

  6. Wow! by Verteiron · · Score: 4, Funny

    The Matrix Reloaded is available through BitTorrent? Wow, thanks BBC, I never would have known that without that story! Now I just gotta find that .torrent file...

    --
    End of lesson. You may press the button.
    1. Re:Wow! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you find it, link me up! This screener is getting annoying.

    2. Re:Wow! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      http://10mbit.com/suprnova/the.matrix.reloaded.div x.ts.daduck_sn.torrent
      (730 MB, DivX)

      http://10mbit.com/suprnova/The.Matrix.Reloaded.S VC D.TS-Centropy.torrent
      (2.6 gb, Bin/Cue) - Great quality...a little dark in places, but essentially like watching it in the theater.

    3. Re:Wow! by Rufus211 · · Score: 0, Troll

      fuckin morons...how bout we just start posting links to all the IRC channels, and news groups, and warez sites, and private FTPs out there. The entire point of this article was that yes, BT can be used for illegal stuff (like this), but so can anything else.

    4. Re:Wow! by sjgman9 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      In 1999, I saw the Matrix 3 times in theaters - $25
      I already saw the movie in theaters once. $10.
      I will see it with my dad. $20
      I bought the first Matrix DVD. $20
      I bought the Matrix Revisited DVD $20
      I will buy the Animatrix DVD -- unknown cost.
      I will buy Reloaded on DVD - $20
      I will see Revolutions, twice in theaters, $20
      I will buy Revolutions on DVD - $20

      Lets see. I spent (or will spend) at least $155 dollars on a high quality movie trilogy. I really like the movie. I might even buy the videogame.

      The Matrix Reloaded has made $355 million dollars. In two weeks. It could easily make upwards of $1 Billion. The first one might have made that much when everything globally is added up.
      Production costs for all 3 movies, I am guessing are at least $350 million dollars (Matrix - 50, Reloaded, 150, Revolutions, 150).

      The movie studio is turning a profit from a well-made movie with a huge following. They are decrying the very themes the movie espouses (hacking -- I mean cracking :), deviant behavior, pirate broadcasting, fighting power). Ironic. For all the money turned over to them, they are not happy. For all the profit they are making on an excellent work, they are not happy.

      If you want to completely eliminate movie piracy, do not make movies. Somewhere, someone will use a DVcam and film a movie. Somewhere, someone will bribe a pimply-faced projection operator to transfer a film print onto a computer.
      Somewhere, someone will use DeCSS to watch a DVD they BOUGHT to remove territorial restrictions. Maybe someone with less ethics will make it widely available to downloaders everwhere else.

      Billions of dollars. Many hours involved in a fictional story by millions of people. That money could have easily have gone elsewhere, whether the movie was "pirated" or not. You made a good movie. Be happy. We are paying to see it. Laugh to the bank. Gleefully. Keep making good movies and you will have our business. Just accept the fact that some people will redistribute copies of movies. If it gets people to be bigger fans of movies, then its just a cost of business.

      Microsoft doesnt care too much about piracy. Why? People get hooked on their software like drug addicts. When they get in a corporate environment, its what they know. Their companies want to be properly licensed, so they pay for software.

      Look at Macromedia. People download and crack trials of their software. They learn how to use it. When they get into corporate environments, they have users who will put it to good use and put it on a corporate expense account.

      Piracy will always happen. Get over it and spend money on making GOOD movies, not inane shit. Your industry has the luxury of making people pay for movies before seeing them. True, somone can download a crappy cam version, but to see it in full cinematic glory on a digital projection screen is well worth the money being charged. Be happy. For your own sake and bottom line.
      After all, the Matrix is not ISHTAR

    5. Re:Wow! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That'd be too cool. We could /. chans as well as websites.

    6. Re:Wow! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      404 on both.....

    7. Re:Wow! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      retard alert! take out the spaces

    8. Re:Wow! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Aw, don't cry. I'm sure you can still feel l33t without your precious secrets that put you on your fabulous pedestal.

    9. Re:Wow! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Hey! I liked Ishtar!

    10. Re:Wow! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I downloaded the Centropy version.. The colors are dark in places, but the images are clear. Most noticably, the freakin top and bottom parts of the movie are cropped off to make it look like a wide screen dvd with the tops of everyones head lopped off and that was really annoying. Matrix Reloaded is not a movie you want to watch a tele-sync version of. I went and saw Matrix Reloaded in the theater but I downloaded the movie to re-watch the ending, cause that shit went by fast!

    11. Re:Wow! by JoeKokomo · · Score: 1

      How many are downloading this? What are your speeds?

    12. Re:Wow! by fernd1 · · Score: 1

      I was waiting for the: Download a copy off of BitTorrent: Priceless!

    13. Re:Wow! by Anonym1ty · · Score: 3, Funny

      In 1999, I saw the Matrix 3 times in theaters - $25
      I already saw the movie in theaters once. $10.
      I will see it with my dad. $20
      I bought the first Matrix DVD. $20
      I bought the Matrix Revisited DVD $20
      I will buy the Animatrix DVD -- unknown cost.
      I will buy Reloaded on DVD - $20
      I will see Revolutions, twice in theaters, $20
      I will buy Revolutions on DVD - $20

      Being able to have a fun computer copy for free on top of all I spent.... Priceless

    14. Re:Wow! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey guess what? You're a 'tard. Its not about who wrote the software, its about who ownz it. If I wrote a sweet app for a skate-board shop and they paid me to do it, its their app that they can do whatever the fuck they want with. Do you think that microsoft's programmers gets compensation everytime a copy of winblows with their solitare code is sold? Your argument might have worked, but you said that I wrote custom code for the dudes, cause thats different than me writting a tool that i sell to everyone. I got my $1500 to write it as agreed upon. The $45k that was missed is just perfect hindsight 20-20 vision. And what the parent of this dribble was saying is that when people download a crappy cam version of the Matrix Reloaded its not hurting anyone in the pocket book. If its hurting anyone, its the people whose pr0n downloads are slowed down, because their ISP is bogged down with sending people crappy cam movies. HAve a great day

    15. Re:Wow! by gid-goo · · Score: 1

      DO NOT BUY THE VIDEOGAME! I checked it out at E3 last week. It's terrible. Some of the worst animations I've ever seen. Holy crap is it bad. Another Shiny special. 47 million dollars worth of crap.

    16. Re:Wow! by jea6 · · Score: 1

      Sjgman9, You can download it. Nobody else, just you. Please post your receipts, too. JIC.

      --

      sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.
    17. Re:Wow! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How the hell do i download this????

    18. Re:Wow! by Spittles · · Score: 1

      In 1999, I saw the Matrix 3 times in theaters - $25
      I already saw the movie in theaters once. $10.
      I will see it with my dad. $20
      I bought the first Matrix DVD. $20
      I bought the Matrix Revisited DVD $20
      I will buy the Animatrix DVD -- unknown cost.
      I will buy Reloaded on DVD - $20
      I will see Revolutions, twice in theaters, $20
      I will buy Revolutions on DVD - $20

      Watching the powers that be squirm in their seats as their products get shot around the free world at the speed of light - Priceless :)

    19. Re:Wow! by ehiris · · Score: 1

      Does this mean that you have absolutely no desire to see it in IMAX? Just picture how much money they'll lose if everybody will watch the movie in 300x200 instead of IMAX.

    20. Re:Wow! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The only problem with that is something called oportunity cost.

      There are several oportunities here.
      shut DOWN the guy who stole from you. It makes a nice example and the other shops will see it is better for you to get your 1000 bucks then sued for 250k and possible jail time. There is probably AT least a breach of contract there. Also dont think the other owners will think less of you. They actually may think more of you. It shows your willing to FIGHT for what you made. It is a busness relationship. Its not the buddy system. At the very least they will think twice before crossing you. People who run sucessfull busness's do not let things like that get in the way of making money.

      make better versions. If there is one warez dudes hate is having an older version. They will want a more current version even if its minor bug fix. You could even word it in such a way that it makes it look like it will eat ALL their data. Then make it phone home with the ip address. This also creates a busness oportunity. You KNOW they want your stuff. Send them advertisments extoling the new and great version.

      You are also forgeting a market here. The 'who cares' market. They will NEVER buy it. They are willing to take it IF it is free. But other than that they will never touch it. These people are not 'lost sales.' They were never sales in the first place. Dont think for a second these do not exist. This also means your product probably has to high of a price. Maybe for 50 bucks they would have bought it. Instead you wanted to gouge em, or in your terms get what you deserve. Deserves has NOTHING to do with busness. It is about how much it costs you to make it and how much people are willing to part with. If marginal revinue is equal to marginal cost your making good money. If it costs you money on each sale your busness model is BROKE.

      Now on every micro econ curve there are people who will take things for 10k and there are people who will take things for free. There is also a price for how much it costs you to make 20 of something and 5000 of something. Maybe for 10k your willing to make 5000 of something, then for 50 dollars your willing to make 1 of something. Its your supply curve. Usually where those two graphs meet is where the optimal profit is.

      Now with exact copies of something in there it depresses the demand curve. It does not flaten it. There are less people willing to part with more money. But there are STILL people who will.

      Now lets take the example that is being used in the main thread. Matrix available for FREE. Its one of THE highest grossing movies ever. Sure there will be some lost sales. But there are several oportunites being missed here. What if instead of here is the movie in the theater. But in three weeks it will also be on DVD also. Who would BOTHER to copy it. They have created an artificial scarcity. What is going on is a natural reaction to scarcity. Nature abhores a vacume. Take for example India. You can not see that movie there right now UNLESS you pirate it. That is a HUGE oportunity loss there. Simpliy because they want to reuse the celleuoid to save a bit of money. Yet obviously people there want to see it otherwise you would not find vcd's on the street of it.

      Now for the other side. There are just cheap bastards out there. They will not pay for it if they can get it for free. EVEN if its of lower quality. That is just how they are.

      But think about this. Who is also going to go buy the DVD when it comes out. The last one was top 10 for a YEAR on dvd charts. The next one will be there for at least a month. To me thats a very good ROI.

      My whole point with this? Simple its not about what you deserve to get. Its what people are willing to PAY to get it. In this case people are willing to risk jail time and some bandwidth to get the movie. Even if you spend 300 years working on something. People will not necesarily buy it. But if you give it away, SOMEONE will at least try it...

    21. Re:Wow! by evilviper · · Score: 2, Interesting

      This makes a PERFECT example of why Gnutella still kicks BitTorrent's ass... First of all, I believe (based on some comments posted on this thread) that server was down for some time, which made the links useless. Also, the primary source (whatever bittorrent calls it) is apparently down, so those links don't work.

      In other words, people know the file is floating around, and know the name of it. You provided even more information, yet you probably aren't able to download it at all.

      With Gnutella, instead of a link to a file, you would have posted a SHA1 hash of the file, and those with Gnutella installed could simply search the network for files with that hash. No matter how many systems went offline, changed IP addresses, etc., nothing would stop Gnutella nodes from downloading/sharing the file, unless every single node that had it was shut down.

      That said, I think Gnutella has just a couple things to learn from bittorrent. It would be nice if Gnutella could share pieces of partially downloaded files, and it would be nice if Gnutella incorporated some anti-leech system like bittorrent has. Those two things are the only things bittorrent has, that Gnutella doesn't, yet Gnutella has many more great features on top of that.

      --
      Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
    22. Re:Wow! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      you forgot to post a "please /. this site so no one else will get to use it for days and days" at the end of your post, capt'n asshat.

      now suprnova is supposedly down for good. go back to kazaa before you inflict anymore damage.

    23. Re:Wow! by Dan+B. · · Score: 1

      It would be nice if Gnutella could share pieces of partially downloaded files, and it would be nice if Gnutella incorporated some anti-leech system like bittorrent has.

      Well, I use WinMX on a crappy old PII that just sits in the corner of the den and, hums along nicely. I know it's Windoze and all that, but with MXmonitor kicking all the leeches, it really is a better solution than GNUtella. It shares partial files, but has no in-built anti leech stuff which is a minor issue.

      Just my 2c.

      --
      Dan. -- So what if it's spelt wrong, nobody's perfect
    24. Re:Wow! by stephanruby · · Score: 1

      The production cost for making episode 2 and episode 3 was over 500 million dollars. But your point is still valid, I'm sure they will recoup their losses.

    25. Re:Wow! by stephanruby · · Score: 1
      "Look at Macromedia. People download and crack trials of their software. They learn how to use it. When they get into corporate environments, they have users who will put it to good use and put it on a corporate expense account. "

      The CEO of Macromedia was actually bragging about this a few years ago. Nowadays, the company needs more cash than marketshare, and I guarantee that you won't be able to find the cracks of the more recent MX versions.

      For the people interested in the pre-MX versions, my advice is to google the cracks of those versions, and then buy used books that still contain the version of the pre-MX trial software.

  7. It's only a matter of time by TopShelf · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Without a company to go after, it's only a matter of time before the MPAA goes after a few users a la the RIAA over the last couple months. Considering that studios put oodles more money into a major movie release than a music CD, they have plenty more to "lose" from P2P trading...

    --
    Stop by my site where I write about ERP systems & more
    1. Re:It's only a matter of time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      And that's exactly what should be done. That's what should have been done in the days of napster. The tool is not illegal, the crime is.

    2. Re:It's only a matter of time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unless my numbers are wrong, the GAMING industry is much larger than the MPAA and you don't see them going after the small percentage of people that "aquire" the games without paying for them.

      Then again, the gaming industry has a slightly different view of themselves and their customers. They typically aren't out there to make hundreds of billions of dollars, they want to make kick ass games that make enought to allow them to make more kick ass games. They also don't assume that all their customers are theives that are "stealing" from them.

      IANAL but I believe that there needs to be a "willful deprivation of use" of some sort to be considered theft anyway.

    3. Re:It's only a matter of time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What wonderfully circular logic.

    4. Re:It's only a matter of time by h4x0r-3l337 · · Score: 1

      Not circular at all. If I whack your brains in with a hammer, should hammers be banned thereafter?

    5. Re:It's only a matter of time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Considering that studios put oodles more money into a major movie release than a music CD, they have plenty more to "lose" from P2P trading.

      They also have a lot more to lose when the movie is over hyped and sucks and I only watch it once in the theatres rather than go see it a couple of times.

    6. Re:It's only a matter of time by aborchers · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I know this isn't a very popular point of view 'round here, but going after the people "sharing" the works is actually what the copyright industry *should* be doing under their existing legal protections. What they are doing instead is trying to buy/manipulate the law to the point where they've turned our potentially liberating technology into an esophagus from the corporate content industry to the consumer. I for one, would prefer they prosecute offendors under their existing protections rather than turn our PCs and other computing devices into next-generation cable TVs...

      --
      Trouble making decisions? Just flip for it.
    7. Re:It's only a matter of time by frodo+from+middle+ea · · Score: 1

      No but, there should be a restraining order on you and you should not be allowed to use the hammer, even if you claim that its for some legit woodwork project you are working on.

      --
      for the last time people, I am "frodo from middle eaRTH", not "middle eaST".
  8. Village Roadshow pictures is sueing themselves. by Trespass · · Score: 5, Funny

    Their lawyer was quoted as saying 'This one is the exact same thing as the last one. Same gimmicks, same fast-food mysticism. I believe we have a strong case for plagarism'.

    1. Re:Village Roadshow pictures is sueing themselves. by LynXmaN · · Score: 1

      Maybe that was a twitch in The Matrix.
      You better run, the Agents are after you!

      --
      May the source be with you!
  9. BitTorrent is being used for piracy? by FosterKanig · · Score: 5, Funny

    I guess next you will tell me that people use Kazaa for porn.

    1. Re:BitTorrent is being used for piracy? by nelsonal · · Score: 1

      A few weeks ago there was an article in the Wall Street Journal that was shocked to announce just that.

      --
      Degaussing scares the bad magnetism out of the monitor and fills it with good karma.
    2. Re:BitTorrent is being used for piracy? by peter_gzowski · · Score: 4, Funny

      Kazaa is used for porn. CNN told me so.

      --
      "Now gluttony and exploitation serves eight!" - TV's Frank
    3. Re:BitTorrent is being used for piracy? by Loopsnut · · Score: 1

      Thats the funniest thing i've seen in a long time. Beware parents, kazaa is used for porn.

    4. Re:BitTorrent is being used for piracy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "During the hearing, a committee staffer showed how easy it is to access pornographic images. The staffer performed a Google search to reach Kazaa, then once on Kazaa searched for Britney Spears. Hundreds of downloadable files then appeared on the screen." Britney Spears = Porn ?

  10. Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by neildiamond · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Most of these early bootlegs are filmed on a VHS camcorder with people's heads in the picture. If I was planning on seeing Matrix in the theatre, I wouldn't download a garbage version. If I wasn't planning on seeing it in theatres, I might consider it, but I'd probably still wait for the DVD. How does this hurt them?

    1. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Ahem.... Perhaps you missed this detail from the BBC article:


      Although it is not unusual for pirate copies of blockbuster films to appear on the internet soon after release, they are often of poor quality, filmed on a hidden videcamera by a cinemagoer.

      The picture is often jerky, with poor sound, punctuated by ambient noise in the cinema.

      But the copy available using BitTorrent appears to be have made from a film print, and is in widescreen format with surround sound.

    2. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      If you bothered to read the article, you would know that the Bittorrent version is actually a high quality copy with surround sound, unlike the two telesyncs already up on sharereactor.

    3. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by shmuc · · Score: 1

      Actually, this footage is very clear for a bootleg. The person filming it sat in a perfect spot. Along with the clear picture, the sound is decent. It's worth the download.

      --

      Efren Belizario
      headspeak.com
    4. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      As somebody who downloaded the centropy released 2 days before the Matrix Reloaded broke in theateres, I have to say you are a fool who has no idea on the advances taken with ripping movies. The Matrix Reloaded I have is a 3 cd SuperVideoCD. The sound and video quality are AMAZING for a theater rip, which is why they think it may have been ripped from a digital theater. I've watched it on my 19 inch monitor and 45 inch tv and the quality is probably 75% that of a DVD. Not bad for 0% of the price.

    5. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by AlgUSF · · Score: 5, Funny

      I'll probably rent it on DVD when it comes out, because my girlfriend doesn't want to see it. I guess she doesn't understand the responsibilities of dating a geek?

      --


      I want my rights back. I was actually using them when our government stole them after 9/11.
    6. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      it's still a telesync, just a VERY GOOD one (and svcd, divx/xvid or even dvd-r (yep, matrix was the first maybe...) are used in stead of the crappy vcd format that is usual for telesyncs...)

      http://www.vcdquality.com/image.php?id=13129
      http://www.vcdquality.com/image.php?id=13311

    7. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by bigjnsa500 · · Score: 0

      This version isn't the crappy one. The Centropy release is obviously from a digital source

      --
      This is a test. This is a test of the emergency sig system. This has been only a test.
    8. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by garcia · · Score: 0, Troll

      PLEASE RTFA.

      This was a DVD widescreen copy w/surround sound.

    9. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by ramzak2k · · Score: 2, Interesting

      no kidding, I got to see XMen 2 in this way (was called TCO subbed version) & decided I would stay away from any copies of Matrix. Downloading bootlegs might make sense if the highlight of the movie is the story. For movies where special effects is the king, it makes no sense to watch a crappy video version with wolverine sounding like he has got a cold.

      --

      Siggy Say, Siggy Do
    10. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      NO it isnt. the bbc reporter doesnt have a qlue. it is a telesync. ie cam video, direct sound source

    11. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by cdrudge · · Score: 4, Insightful

      After seeing the moving on opening day, I went straight home to see if I could find it on BT. Started downloading it and completed it after a day or two. Started to watch the first 3 minutes and promptly deleted both VCDs. The movie was grainy like it was filmed on a 8mm video camera. It also had an annoying 4 degrees of tilt and the bightness was constantly fading up an down. The sound was good though, as long as you don't mind it fading from left to right to both to neither.

    12. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by msheppard · · Score: 1

      However: If you already SAW it in the theater, and just need a crappy version so you can watch it again and make sure you understood everything that was going on, then a VHS - heads in the front version is just fine.

      In particular, I need to hear scene from "The Source" a few more times to really get it. Similar to the Oracle scene in Matrix1, I'm just not fast enough to digest what the dialog is.

      That and Trinity's ass.

      M@

      --
      Krispy Cream is people
    13. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by dissy · · Score: 1

      > How does this hurt them?

      Even though i understand the meaning of your post (And i 100% aggree with you and then some!) I just had to point out:

      Remember: this is the USA.
      It doesnt have to hurt them, they dont want to be 'not hurt', they want control over their works.

      Remember, if they truely believed in using copyright, anything over 14 years old the public owns. If all they cared about is not being hurt finantually, this would be fine. The laws have been changed so copyright doesnt do what it was intended (better all of mankind) but now its to provide never-ending control over works.
      Which of course Worsens all of mankind.
      I mean, why bother making art if the public isnt allowed to ever have it?
      With copyright as-is, there is no difference between someone making art and copyrighting it, and not making that art, as far as the public is concerned.

      So, to answer your question, it hurts them because they said "Dont do that" and we arnt obeying, and laws they ruined already are the only defense aginst it :)

    14. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by attobyte · · Score: 1

      Then I think you need to watch it alone. You can not call your self a geek if you havn't watch it yet. OUTRAGE I say what a OUTRAGE!!!! Shame on you!!!!!!

      --
      I didn't use the preview button, so get over it!!!!

      Mike

    15. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That thing didn't even pre until the 17-18th. The movie opened on the 15th. Not to mention the shitty angle that all of the recent CTP TS copies have.

      They corrected their colors only to end up with a shitty angle from where they record.

    16. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I guess she doesn't understand the responsibilities of dating a geek

      Obviously she does not, judging from her paradoxical action of "dating a geek".

    17. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by GNUman · · Score: 2, Informative

      Just read it here:

      TRANSCRIPT Architect-Neo

    18. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by Alan+Partridge · · Score: 1

      "finantually"

      Oh Jesus, that's fucking priceless! And who said that Americans were illiterate, slack-jawed slobs, eh? Not me, that's for sure!

      --
      That was classic intercourse!
    19. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      he might be talking about the 21st (or so) opening in some other countries...

    20. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by GroovBird · · Score: 2, Funny

      The best part about being a geek is going to see it, love it, and then come on /. and bitch about how much it sucks and about the philosophy of it and yadda yadda yadda..

      Love it.

      Dave

    21. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by msheppard · · Score: 1

      Aces! Thanks GNUman. I guess I should have assumed this text was out there.

      Aprapos, Vi rox.

      M@

      --
      Krispy Cream is people
    22. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Warner opted not to do a digital projection release for Matrix 2, so it has to be a telesync or some other type of film-to-video transfer, unless there are DVD screeners to rip from already.

    23. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's not worth my bandwidth to see this on a 15" screen, no matter how good the quality is. Now, if my monitor was as big as the theater's screen, *drool*

    24. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by frodo+from+middle+ea · · Score: 1

      dude, you f***ing made my day. that was brilliant

      --
      for the last time people, I am "frodo from middle eaRTH", not "middle eaST".
    25. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by GuyMannDude · · Score: 1

      Then I think you need to watch it alone.

      I agree. You can't go to a movie with a pretty girl and still call yourself a geek. You have three choices: (a) go with a bunch of geek friends, (b) go alone and make sure to still close enough to the popular kids that they can throw popcorn and candy at you, or (c) go see it with your mommy, again making sure that all the cool kids with dates notice that you're there with your parents.

      GMD

    26. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      First off, if you actually have a living girlfriend, you don't qualify as a geek. Fortunately you seem to qualify for pussy-whipped loser from the part about not going to see the movie.

    27. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by kin_korn_karn · · Score: 1

      Most of these early bootlegs are filmed on a VHS camcorder with people's heads in the picture

      Hey, if it sucks, at least you've got a headstart on the MST3K version!

    28. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by NanoGator · · Score: 1, Troll

      "If I wasn't planning on seeing it in theatres, I might consider it, but I'd probably still wait for the DVD. How does this hurt them? "

      The Matrix gained a lot of hype. The movie presumably opened in USA before it opened anywhere else. People in other markets could download the crappy quality movie and discover it's actually very boring, thus resulting in not wanting to see it.

      Now the 'very boring' bit is my opinion, but it's very much an important aspect of this strange world the MPAA lives in. At VHS quality, the movie's not being shown at it's best. If people see the downloaded one and not like it, thus not going to the theater to see it, the MPAA calls that a loss. If the movie is really high quality and the downloading of it still satisfies their need to see it in the theater, then the MPAA calls that a loss. They're going to continue operating in this stupid mode until they improve the theater going experience.

      Frankly, $3 for a candybar is going to do more to cause internet piracy than making the content availabe.

      --
      "Derp de derp."
    29. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1
      But the copy available using BitTorrent appears to be have made from a film print, and is in widescreen format with surround sound.

      Which sounds like the opinion of someone who has downloaded and watched it. I nominate him as first lawsuit victim.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    30. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by LiENUS · · Score: 1

      i went with a girl :/
      then again i also didnt like the movie... does this mean im no longer a geek?

    31. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by jonbrewer · · Score: 1

      Then I think you need to watch it alone. You can not call your self a geek if you havn't watch it yet. OUTRAGE I say what a OUTRAGE!!!! Shame on you!!!!!!

      I have to wait another two weeks until the SO is back from the other side of the planet before I can go watch "Reloaded" in the theater without her being upset. I've downloaded a few telesync versions but have not watched more than two minutes in to them, cause telesync sucks! If I can get a divx screener I'll watch it from home before going to theater, but I've looked everywhere and have had no luck.

      Indeed one can still be a geek without having yet watched "Reloaded"

    32. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by dissy · · Score: 1

      What a pointless fucking reply.

      You need to stop looking at the words and look at the meaning behind them. After all, that is why words exist, to communicate an idea.

      First, I think I did a fairly good job expressing my idea under the curcumstances, and even with the (mass amounts of) typos, instead of asking me to be more specific or clear on an idea, the only contribution you can possibly make is an insult?

      Second, did you at all think that there may be a reason beyond being stupid?

      Oh well, I dont know why im bothering, its not like you care one way or another.

    33. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by Hall · · Score: 1

      I'm guessing the person who filmed this did so at 4:00am, let in the door by the theatre manager, set up the camera exactly where they wanted, tapped into one of those jacks for hearing-impaired people for audio, and left the theatre 'til it was done.

    34. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The BBC is wrong, the only copies available are Telesyncs at the current moment. Given, one or two of them are VERY well done...but there is no 'digital copy' available. It hasn'y been released. The BBC is playing this up a bit much.

    35. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No-one wants a crappy cam. That's why not a single one of the Matrix Reloaded releases, not even the first one by ESO, was a cam - they went straight to telesync. No other people in the cinema, even if the release was rather rushed and would have needed postprocessing. You want a bad cam, go and laugh at that Johnny English cam. That one's so bad, it's almost good again (better than seeing the movie, that's for sure).

    36. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wrong. It's an analog source. Grok the noise and film grain. It's just a very, very good analog source, as good as they should be (well, a tiny tiny angle, but that'd just be bitching).

    37. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      The picture is often jerky

      Seems like one Matrix fan got a little too excited while filming the screener

    38. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      "curcumstances"

      Sorry, you were just beggeng for it!

    39. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by LeBlueBoy · · Score: 1

      That's why you wait for the Centropy release... It's my guess that this is what the BBC is going on about. All Telesyncs are not created equal, in fact, some should (like the version you downloaded) be considered Cams.

    40. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by Temsi · · Score: 1

      I'm gonna go out on a limb here...

      If you want to see it, and you girlfriend doesn't, that automatically means you can't go without her?

      OK everybody, say it with me:
      "you're whipped!"

      Now, go and get your balls back from the mason jar under the sink where she stores them, re-attach them, then call up a buddy and go see the friggin' movie if you want to see it!

      Who wears the pants in this relationship anyway?

      --
      -- This sig for rent.
    41. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by 1lus10n · · Score: 1

      okay now find an ASCI text version of trinity's ass .......

      --
      "Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe." --Albert Einstein
    42. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And the BBC article is either lying, or the reporter is half blind, or has spent his days twiddling thumbs installing spyware on his office PC to the point where it runs so slow that he wouldn't be able to tell a DVD from a 160x80 window with a bootleg.

      There are only bootlegs done with cameras-in-cinema of reloaded so far.

    43. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by rat7307 · · Score: 1

      Here you go:

      00

      And a bonus:

      (.)(.)

      --
      Burma?
    44. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      On the other hand, while the article does state that the BitTorrent copies are digital rips... it's quite, quite wrong.

      There are two telesync SVCDs which are probably of excellent quality (I know that the Centropy one is at least), a DIVX created from one of these telesyncs and a file which claims to be a sample of a DVD Screener of Reloaded and an unseeded file (ie no source) which claimed to be the DVDRip itself. This was about a day before the Big Slashdotting(tm) and as far as I could tell the "DVDRip" was a signup scam to get people which went like this:

      BT user: This file isn't seeded!!! Help I need my Matrix Reloaded!! Oh, by the way is it real?
      Other BT user: Yes it's real!! It's also on this website here http://blah
      BT User: I had to sign up for a bunch of porn site mailing lists first but now its downloading!!! (not through bittorrent)

      MUCH LATER:
      BT user 1: It's real, I've got it!!!
      BT user 2: I think it's fake, they make you sign up for porn mail first, AND they wouldn't have dvd screeners now because they'd just get pirated and its not award season in Hollywood AND you're just some troll on here to get us to sign up for pornmail!!!

      And so on and so forth.

      As a sibling post has already stated it is likely that the BBC journalist was confused either by the quality of the telesyncs or by those weird claims of a dvdrip. No matter how big the readership, how prestigious (or not) news service, a clueless journalist is still after all... clueless.

    45. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That should be "begging" I think?

      Here's a link you might like... erhm... need:

      http://www.verbix.com/languages/english.shtml

      Now go and play with your verbs... maybe you can learn something.

    46. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by cfuse · · Score: 1

      Am I the only one who wants to see this movie at the movies?

      Sure, I may download it after I have seen it at the movies but I don't have a screen as big as the movies or a sound system that is as good.

      If I watch a movie at home I have to put up with interruptions from a 5 year old every 15 minutes, and interruptions from a 38 year old every couple of hours. If I go to the movies and somebody makes too much noise I can tell them to shut the fuck up without upsetting anyone I care about.

      I can get popcorn and sugar coated crap that I don't have to prepare myself - and if I make a mess someone else cleans it up.

    47. Re:Does Anyone Really Want a Crappy Bootleg? by Alan+Partridge · · Score: 1

      "Second, did you at all think that there may be a reason beyond being stupid?"

      Well, no. You see, it's become possible as computers have grown more powerful to actually have your machine check your text input against a database of known words, and inform you when you have made an error. In more advanced systems, it's actually possible to have the software automatically correct any mistakes that you may have made through typing (or sheer ignorance). Even better, it's often possible to "train" these sytems to not flag your own peculiar idioms of local spellings.

      The overall effect is much like a traditional dictionary, but much faster and customisable.

      You should try such a program out. Really.

      --
      That was classic intercourse!
  11. At last.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Slashdot subscriptions have real added value... subscribers can get their copy of Reloaded before the whole site gets /.ed

  12. Who cares by plazman30 · · Score: 0, Insightful

    Haven't they figured out yet that the people that download this crap will NEVER EVER actually buy the DVD release. If you're going to spend DAYS downloading some crappy copy over a P2P network rather than spend a lousy $10 to see it, then that's sad. My time is worth more than a $10 movie ticket. I'll see it in the theater and buy the DVD when it comes out.

    1. Re:Who cares by jonnyfivealive · · Score: 1

      i dont have to be watching the screen while my movie downloads. ive been downloading movies lately while ive been packing to move. occasionally, i even play them while im packing.

      of course i did pay to see the matrix in the theater...

    2. Re:Who cares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't generalise. I saw it at the cinemas. I downloaded the torrent. I also plan on buying the DVD. Maybe the second step would be unnecessary if they released the DVD as soon as it was out of the cinemas.

    3. Re:Who cares by LordoftheFrings · · Score: 1

      No doubt your time is worth more than the price to see it. But are you really sitting at your computer watching the progress bar slowly increase? Doubtful. IMHO, it is not sad to start the download then take off for a little while, to return to a low-res, crap copy of a box office smash hit.

    4. Re:Who cares by redink1 · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Haven't they figured out yet that the people that download this crap will NEVER EVER actually buy the DVD release.

      I beg to differ. I downloaded Fight Club off of some file sharing network a couple years ago. I heard it was good from a friend, but never got around to watching it. I was extremely impressed, so I bought it later that week. The same thing happened with Donnie Darko. There's something just *good* about owning a movie you know is good.

    5. Re:Who cares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If by "days" you mean 5 hours, and if by "crappy" you mean "near DVD quality", then well... you get the picture. You'd spend less time getting this than waiting to go to a theater...

    6. Re:Who cares by DarkZero · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Haven't they figured out yet that the people that download this crap will NEVER EVER actually buy the DVD release. If you're going to spend DAYS downloading some crappy copy over a P2P network rather than spend a lousy $10 to see it, then that's sad. My time is worth more than a $10 movie ticket. I'll see it in the theater and buy the DVD when it comes out.

      Two things. One, it doesn't take days to download it, it takes hours. Three hours on a broadband connection, if you had actually read the article before speaking ignorantly. Second, the people that rent the DVD for $5 from Blockbuster or at an even lower price from Netflix aren't going to buy the DVD, either.

      Oh yeah, one more thing. The guys that download the film can do something else while it downloads. They can click the link, then walk away for three hours while it downloads, and then click the file to start it up. What were you doing while the trailers, commercials, pathetic trivia questions, and advisories not to talk during the movie were playing before the movie started?

    7. Re:Who cares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Easiest way to get a 5 on Slashdot: "I pirate things like crazy, but still occassionally buy it."

      The nerds swoon. What a hero! He is an expemlar for us all! (downloaddownloaddownload) Let's throw a tickertape parade!

    8. Re:Who cares by acidrain69 · · Score: 1
      Haven't they figured out yet that the people that download this crap will NEVER EVER actually buy the DVD release. If you're going to spend DAYS downloading some crappy copy over a P2P network rather than spend a lousy $10 to see it, then that's sad. My time is worth more than a $10 movie ticket. I'll see it in the theater and buy the DVD when it comes out.


      Really? Then why did I spend over $180 on the Neon Genesis Evangelion DVD discs when I already owned bootleg copies of the subbed VCDS? Also, no one chained you to a chair and made you count bits while it downloaded. Normally you set something to download, put it in the background, and go DO SOMETHING ELSE.
      --
      -- Having a Creationist Museum is like having an Atheist place of worship
    9. Re:Who cares by Dynedain · · Score: 1

      Haven't they figured out yet that the people that download this crap will NEVER EVER actually buy the DVD release.
      I beg to differ. I downloaded Fight Club off of some file sharing network a couple years ago. I heard it was good from a friend, but never got around to watching it. I was extremely impressed, so I bought it later that week. The same thing happened with Donnie Darko. There's something just *good* about owning a movie you know is good.


      Actually, you just partially proved his point....people who download the "crap" will never buy the DVD. However, if people download good stuff, there is a likelyhood of them buying the DVD.

      --
      I'm out of my mind right now, but feel free to leave a message.....
    10. Re:Who cares by llamalicious · · Score: 1
      What were you doing while the trailers, commercials, pathetic trivia questions, and advisories not to talk during the movie were playing before the movie started?
      That's what girlfriends are for...

      ...wait, no, I'm posting to slashdot... nevermind.
    11. Re:Who cares by fenix+down · · Score: 1

      Really? Then why did I spend over $180 on the Neon Genesis Evangelion DVD discs when I already owned bootleg copies of the subbed VCDS?

      Because you're an idiot?

      I'm only partially kidding. I bought the DVDs too, but I only just now realized that I actually spent almost 200 fucking dollars on that box of plastic. Jesus I'm a moron. I could've bought a chair with that kind of money...

    12. Re:Who cares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Only Michael Eisner "owns" movies.

    13. Re:Who cares by caluml · · Score: 1
      200 fucking dollars
      I could've bought a chair with that kind of money...

      Heh, of all the things to think of buying with $200...

    14. Re:Who cares by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So you're saying that all the producers have to do to be profitable is... stop making crap movies?

      Excellent. I'm behind you 100%.

    15. Re:Who cares by plazman30 · · Score: 1

      Well, the only movies I have downloaded have been porn. And there have been some issues.

      While I d/l over broadband, my connection slows down.

      The sending server doesn't always stay up and ends up disconnecting me.

      There a 2 types that download:

      1. Those that saw the movie and want to see it again. This group has paid already so, the MPAA made their money

      2. Those that will NEVER pay to see the movie. These people just won't go see it unless they download it.

      Either way, the downloaded isn't costing the movie industry anything.

    16. Re:Who cares by plazman30 · · Score: 1

      Ok, maybe I should say...

      The groups of people that download the movie and do not buy the DVD later, still would not buy the DVD even if the download is not available.

  13. Slashdotted by itsnotthenetwork · · Score: 0

    They don't have to sue anyone to shut this down, they just release the story to slashdot and watch all the bit torrent sites go down.

  14. How much is enough? by Azghoul · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The writeup says it all: The friggin' movie has made 365M already! Not to mention to utter PILES of cash from all the merchandizing and cross-promotion...

    I don't know what it cost to make, but to whine that "a few hundred million isn't enough, those bastards are ripping us off" doesn't leave me with a whole lot of sympathy.

    How much is enough, Hollywood?

    1. Re:How much is enough? by praxim · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I don't know, but I'm posting this from work right now, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want someone else who has nothing to do with my work determining when I've made enough money from it and telling me I'm "whining" if somebody steals it.

    2. Re:How much is enough? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How much is enough, Hollywood?

      just a little bit more....

    3. Re:How much is enough? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yea, i saw an interview with the bros and they said both reloaded and revolutions cost about 400 mil to make total, so already a 165 mil profit is nothing to hide behind..

    4. Re:How much is enough? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Define "stealing" for us...

    5. Re:How much is enough? by Rick.C · · Score: 2, Informative
      The movie has grossed $365M. That's not net. Given the screwy way Hollywood plays with the numbers, we may never know the true net.

      Of course, this benefits Hollywood because they can throw out whatever numbers they want in any given situation/argument and no one can ever prove them wrong.

      --
      You were 80% angel, 10% demon. The rest was hard to explain. - Over The Rhine
      "Math in a song is good."-Linford
    6. Re:How much is enough? by KenRH · · Score: 1
      I do not support piracy, and I would not want to watch The Matrix Reloaded on anyting less than a cinema screen with THX sound anyway :-).

      But the fact that the movie has made huge amounts of money, and that other movies in the future will make huge amounts of money, piracy or no piracy, has a lot of weight when they try to obliterate fair use and show DRM down our throats.

    7. Re:How much is enough? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can't steal a film (easily - i suppose you could round up every copy in the world and hide them...). You can infringe on the copyright of the film copyright holder.

      Not the same thing.

      I would be all for your right to make as much money as you want if you're doing honest work. Making a film once then profiting off it in perpetuity is not honest work.

    8. Re:How much is enough? by stephenry · · Score: 2, Funny

      Well then! Get back to work and stop wasting your companies money reading slashdot! :-)

    9. Re:How much is enough? by bishmasterb · · Score: 1

      They are certainly allowed to make as much money as they are capable of.

      I might also point out that they took a big gamble, not when making the sequels of course those are sure things, but when the studio fronted $60M (?) for the first film on two directors with ONE film (non-action at that) under their belts (as directors). That was a huge gamble, they won, and they deserve every penny they get.

    10. Re:How much is enough? by JCholewa · · Score: 1

      > The movie has grossed $365M. That's not net.
      > Given the screwy way Hollywood plays with the
      > numbers, we may never know the true net.

      If the government *really* let me report my net income instead of my (admittedly "adjusted") gross income, they'd be paying me money each year.

      Gross income *is* what's important. It's how much money the film made. How much happens to have been pissed away by the filmmakers is less relevant, and using the net as a meter doesn't help to discourage skyrocketing expenditures.

      --
      -JC

    11. Re:How much is enough? by eggz128 · · Score: 1
      How much is enough, Hollywood?


      When its made enough to offset all the POS movies that lose money?
    12. Re:How much is enough? by JimDabell · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want someone else who has nothing to do with my work determining when I've made enough money from it and telling me I'm "whining" if somebody steals it.

      Absolutely. But in the case of copyright infringements against the copyright holders of the Matrix, this is not a valid argument.

      The sole reason that they have special reproduction rights over Reloaded is because they are working for us, the public.

      The entire point of copyright is to reward people who create original works. We reward them by allowing them sole reproduction rights over their works for a limited time. Then the works pass into the public domain, which they would have done instantly without copyright law.

      The idea is that we are rewarding them for something we will eventually possess collectively. Creators are essentially working for the public. So I wouldn't say that we, the public, have nothing to do with their work.

      Of course, this system is breaking down as our (the public's) property gets dragged further and further out of reach by extensions to copyright periods, copyright holders are attempting to extert more control than simple copyrights, and people are infringing on those copyrights more and more.

    13. Re:How much is enough? by tmark · · Score: 1

      How much is enough, Hollywood?

      Why don't you ask the shareholders of the companies behind these movies how much "is enough" ? The movie companies have an OBLIGATION to their shareholders to make as much money as they can, and if I were a shareholder I would expect them to honour that obligation. I don't want any company I'm invested in to decide they've made "enough", when there is more to be made. I want the company to make all the money it can for *me*, and let *me* decide what I want to do with any supposed 'excess'.

      I don't see anyone here crying that we should donate money to movie companies that spent a lot of money to produce a box-office bomb.

    14. Re:How much is enough? by dissy · · Score: 2, Insightful

      > I don't know, but I'm posting this from work right now, and I'm pretty sure I
      > wouldn't want someone else who has nothing to do with my work determining when
      > I've made enough money from it and telling me I'm "whining" if somebody steals
      > it.

      Well, too bad. I mean seriously, you have no options to do that.

      The two options are

      1) You copyright your work. In that case the public owns your work after 14 years (I do not observe the new laws, explained below)

      2) You do not copyright your work, in which case you have no say so anyways.

      Copyright was made to 'determine' how long you have to profit before the public gets your work.
      It was setup this way to better man kind by giving us encentive to create.

      TO use copyright as it is now, there is no difference to the public if you make a copyrighted work and never let the public have it, and if you dont make it in the first place (The end result is the same, the public doesnt get anything)

      Given the choices, I could care less if you stop making things. No difference to me than if you made it and dictate that i cant use it anyways.

      Its people like you that dont care to see humans as a race advance, and just want to be greedy and horde everything for yourself.

      If you dont want to give your work back to the public to better mankind, then stop bitching when the public doesnt want to help you.

    15. Re:How much is enough? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      THERE IS NOT A DOLLAR AMT THAT IS ENOUGH! I paid to watch it in the theatre and my GF and my brother and then i downloaded it. so is that a statistic now saying that u lost 1 ticket. NO u made u money on 3 people. i d/led it just to see it again once i see it twice in theatres! :-)

      DAMN ITS ALREADY IN THE TOP TEN OF ALL TIME BOX OFFICE RECORDS FOR MAKING THE MOST MONEY! It will be in the 6 spot as of today! (not yet but once the stats get updated it will be)

    16. Re:How much is enough? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're wrong:

      1. The Wachowskis have given no interviews since just prior to the release of the first movie, and

      2. The reported production cost of the two sequels is $200 million total, plus $100 million for marketing. There are rumors that final costs went above that, probably during post-production, but if so, nobody has ever said exactly how high.

    17. Re:How much is enough? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      thats not the point. the point is that they are making so much money then complaining that piracy stoppped them from making more. which in this movies case piracy did not lose them much if any money at all. in many peoples cases it made the matrix2 more money. Quality Movies and Music make money. no matter if they are pirated or not. WE WILL NOT PAY FOR CRAP MOVIES OR MUSIC IS THE POINT AND ITS HARD TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE CAUSE OF THE QUANITITY OF CRAP THAT COMES OUT.

      when movies suck and we pay tons of money to watch them people get mad and do not want to pay anymore so they resort to PREVIEWING the movie first to see if the experence is worth the cost.

      and with the RIAA the tatics they are using are turning off anyone wanting to buy cds. I BUY STUFF THAT GETS THE band/group THE MONEY DIRECTLY! i will not buy something that funds a company to come after me if they are going to try and force Crappy music on us without being able to listen to it before we buy. yes some store have that but do u want to stand for an hour? or wait in a line to stand for an hour?!

    18. Re:How much is enough? by spectecjr · · Score: 1

      2. The reported production cost of the two sequels is $200 million total, plus $100 million for marketing. There are rumors that final costs went above that, probably during post-production, but if so, nobody has ever said exactly how high.


      From pro.imdb.com:

      Matrix Reloaded:
      Budget: $127,000,000 (USA)
      Gross Receipts: $209,505,000 (USA) (23 May 2003)

      Matrix Revolutions:
      Budget: $110,000,000 (USA)

      -------------

      Initial marketing reports indicate more than $100MM spent on marketing (reaching nearly $300MM), but I can't confirm that.

      --
      Coming soon - pyrogyra
    19. Re:How much is enough? by spectecjr · · Score: 2, Funny

      I would be all for your right to make as much money as you want if you're doing honest work. Making a film once then profiting off it in perpetuity is not honest work.

      So just what is "Honest Work"?

      Garbage Removal?

      Road laying?

      Making License Plates?

      Simon

      --
      Coming soon - pyrogyra
    20. Re:How much is enough? by smg_mrBlonde · · Score: 0

      Define "stealing"??? He is posting from work!!! I dont think he understands his own definition of stealing :)

    21. Re:How much is enough? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Absolutely. But in the case of copyright infringements against the copyright holders of the Matrix, this is not a valid argument."

      Why isn't it a valid argument? While I fully agree that copyright terms are too long, I think it's completely reasonable for them to expect their work to stay out of the public domain for more than two weeks. Post that again in twenty years, and it'll make a heck of a lot more sense.

    22. Re:How much is enough? by no_opinion · · Score: 1

      What are you talking about? Just because someone produces a copyrighted work and makes it available to the public does not mean that they forfeit the rights to it. The copyright laws limit what you can do with a work - even one that you as a consumer bought. The fact that this is widely ignored has nothing to do with whether it is legal or not (just like speeding).

      Your last statement claims that the good of the many (the public) outweighs the rights of the individual (the content creator). If you believe that, you're probably not from a country that believes in anything like the bill of rights. Artists and musicians have rights (at least in my country) and the public cannot legally trample them. What happens in practice is a different story...

    23. Re:How much is enough? by LiENUS · · Score: 1

      his point is copyright law originally said after 14 years the public owns it not the artist however now it is up to 75 years or whatever before copyright expires and that he feels we should ignore the extensions and just pirate it after 14 years (which in all honesty i agree)

    24. Re:How much is enough? by repetty · · Score: 1

      "How much is enough, Hollywood?"

      As much as they deserve?

      --Richard

    25. Re:How much is enough? by fenix+down · · Score: 1

      Hey, if you don't have the work ethic to support your family with a series of daring bank heists like us honest working Americans, you can just move to Soviet Russia and let their daring banks heist you, filthy communist.

    26. Re:How much is enough? by JimDabell · · Score: 1

      The point I was responding to was that we have no business saying that Revolution copyright holders have made enough money. I'm specifically pointing out that copyright is essentially a public matter. I'm not addressing the larger issue of whether hundreds of millions is enough profit for a movie, or how much time is appropriate for a movie to remain locked up (or even whether time is an adequate measurement).

    27. Re:How much is enough? by moncyb · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yeah, "Artists and musicians" have rights, but they don't have more rights than everyone else. They don't have the right to sue new technologies out of existence just because those techonolgies may be used for copyright infringement. They don't have the right to force an DRM censorship system upon everyone, just because it may stop some people from infringing copyrights.

      Your right to defend yourself ends when it requires you to take away the rights of many innocent people.

    28. Re:How much is enough? by moncyb · · Score: 2, Interesting

      So, would you want your company to be sued into the ground and lose your job because someone may possibly use the product you produce for some illegal purpose or it may harm someone? Would you want to be denied the ability to ever use the product or any similar one because someone may use it for an illegal purpose or it may harm someone?

      This is exactly what the MPAA and RIAA are doing. I doubt you would like it if you were on the receiving end of their crap. Just about any product can be a scapegoat in this way. Even their movies and music. Some people claim sex and violence in movies and music cause real crimes. By the {MP,RI}AA's logic, they shouldn't be in business either.

    29. Re:How much is enough? by dissy · · Score: 1

      Have to ask (Hate to post to an old thread, but...)
      Why am i on your foe list?
      This is the only comment i can find where you and i have anything relating on slashdot.. so was just curious.

  15. Still making their money.... by Doom+Ihl'+Varia · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I've paid about $30 so far to watch The Matrix: Reloaded. Reloaded has provoked many philosophical debates. Is Neo a genuine Jesus-like messiah? Is there a Matrix within a Matrix? Then there is speculation on what will happen next. Is it so wrong, after paying $30 total to see it in theatres, to download a low quality telesync just to double check your facts for arguements sake?

    1. Re:Still making their money.... by gfxguy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Let's face facts - you probably don't have the same profile as the majority of people downloading the movie.

      On the surface, I agree with you - I've seen it, and even if I downloaded a copy I'm going to buy it when it comes out on DVD anyway. Yet, if I downloaded it, they'd claim I "cost them" $30 or so (1 ticket price and one DVD price).

      But the fact is that it is their content and as long as it's available to you (currently in the theater). There's never been a good argument for piracy, but then there's no evidence that piracy is really costing them money anyway. I wish they'd wake up and smell the coffee - every time a newer, better, more flexible medium comes along they throw a shit fit, and yet end up making more money than they ever did before.

      --
      Stupid sexy Flanders.
    2. Re:Still making their money.... by Doom+Ihl'+Varia · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I believe The Matrix: Reloades is a special case. Of all the people online I know of several people who paid to see the movie and then downloaded. Yet, I know not a single person who has simply downloaded without seeing it in a theatre. I realize this is only anecdotal evidence and prooves nothing, I am comepelled to believe that wide spread piracy without paying is not nearly as bad as the MPAA would like everyone to believe.

    3. Re:Still making their money.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Good question !

      You've allready payed for the privilige to see the performance of all the artists involved (they get their share), so should you be forced to pay twice ? (No, I don't mean you should be able to get into a cinema for free the second time around :-)

      If it's really the "stealing off the performers" we're talking about, it should be permissable, because you've payed them allready.

      You should be able to get the same performance (in this case: film) on CD/DVD/video/etc. for a fraction of the "normal" cost (material & transport cost only), because you (let's repeat it once more) *have payed your dues* !

      But let's be realistic here guys & girls, that kind of stance won't fill the pockets of the companies that sell film & music, so I'm probably (when you ask them) just some stupid guy with strange idea's :-)

    4. Re:Still making their money.... by ryanvm · · Score: 4, Funny

      Is it so wrong, after paying $30 total to see it in theatres, to download a low quality telesync just to double check your facts for arguements sake?

      Yes. It is wrong that you are that much of a dork.

    5. Re:Still making their money.... by reboot_imminent · · Score: 1

      Is piracy as much of an issue as the studios say? (let's ignore current download times for right now - assume we'll all have big fat pipes in the future)

      I love reloaded, went to see it a couple times already, going to see the IMAX version - all in all, I've shelled out WAY more than the cost of a brand spanking new DVD. Why? Because it's a great flick and for the theater experience (so I can eat the $8 popcorn and $4 sodas ;) That works fine for good movies... but guess what? I don't go to see that many movies, frankly because most of them aren't even worth the $3.99 to rent when they hit the stores!

      The studios aren't losing any box office revenue if I were to download the film, because I sure as hell wasn't going to see it in the theater. Blockbuster might have a legitimate gripe, losing my $3.99, but all they (or the studio) has to do is offer a legitimate download service with some bandwidth and I'd be more likely to pay to download from them. Save them some production costs on physical media, warehousing, distribution, etc... saves me from slow downloads and having to return films. Hey Apple - how about iMovies?

      Trying to blame downloading for taking away sales on crappy films is crazy, for me it all boils down to the movie itself...

      (Oh, and yes, I'll be buying the dvd when it comes out...)

    6. Re:Still making their money.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Same here.

      Saw it in the theater, left with many questions, want to see specific parts again

      problem with going back to the theater to see it again, is that you can't ff or rew to see parts again! And I desperately need to see it again

      I'll download it first, and I will purchase the dvd as soon as it hits the streets

    7. Re:Still making their money.... by lburdet · · Score: 1

      same goes for many of us i think... i've seen it repeatedly also, but keep having arguments with friends about fienr details, stuff that you don't necessarily notice when watching... in that case, getting a bootleg just to ffwd to the scene is no big deal imo.
      Sort of like an index... even though the index to many books is made readily available online, i still buy the book to read it.

    8. Re:Still making their money.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      EXACTLY!

    9. Re:Still making their money.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There was no way I'd watch a downloaded copy before seeing it in the theatre.

    10. Re:Still making their money.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I did. I've seen a downloaded copy, but I still plan to see it in the theater. Of course, that'll be the dollar theater, because I don't plan on spending a whole lunch dollar amount to watch "groovy special effects". The "plot" I could live without, but I will see it in the dollar theater for the special effects. And then, I'll buy a DVD of it too, for my collection.

    11. Re:Still making their money.... by markdesign · · Score: 1

      Thats so true I downloaded the matrix reloaded to watch the "architecture and Neo" conversation. I finally understand what they are talking about after the 6th time watching it. (with taking notes) No way i'm paying $60 bucks in ticket prices to get the story just because i'm slower then other poeple.

    12. Re:Still making their money.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      , I know not a single person who has simply downloaded without seeing it in a theatre. I realize this is only anecdotal evidence and prooves nothing, I am comepelled to believe that wide spread piracy without paying is not nearly as bad as the MPAA would like everyone to believe.

      I've downloaded the movie, watched it, enjoyed it, and have no intention of paying to go see it in a theatre.

      Posted anonymously for obvious reasons.

  16. ha! by hatrisc · · Score: 1

    Ive had a copy on vhs for weeks now!


    that's what i'd be saying if i had bought that copy from that guy on the subway.

    --
    I write code.
    1. Re:ha! by hoggoth · · Score: 1

      > Ha! Ive had a copy on vhs for weeks now!
      > that's what i'd be saying if i had bought that copy from that guy on the subway.

      Damn! I paid that subway scam artist for a tape of Barney with a Matrix Reloaded label on it! That's what you'd be saying.

      --
      - For the complete works of Shakespeare: cat /dev/random (may take some time)
  17. Social Event by KrunZ · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Movies like the Matrix, Lords of the Rings etc are social events. People will watch it in the cinema among their friends family no matter how easy it is to get at divx copy.

    1. Re:Social Event by inaeldi · · Score: 2, Funny

      Speak for yourself, Mr. Social. Signed, A social reject

    2. Re:Social Event by KrunZ · · Score: 1

      SORRY - wrong forum!

      It wasn't supposed to be posted in the SINGLE-MALE-GEEK-LIVING-IN-A-CAGE-COMMUNITY-SLASH. ORG

    3. Re:Social Event by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I downloaded it (BitTorrent), the Centropy release, took one night on an ADSL 512 connection. Had it before the UK premiere.

      Watched it on a projection TV from the edge of my pool, had a few beers, had a few friends around. Personally I preferred it like that. In my opinion the copy was good, no random heads in the way, sound was good too.

      Most of my family went to see it at the cinema though - each to their own, I'm not a huge Matrix fan anyway (heresy).

      Personally I'm not quite sure of the social advantage of seeing movies with a bunch of over excited 15 year olds (my local cinema).

    4. Re:Social Event by tmark · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Right. *Noone* watches movies by themselves. And the BT downloads aren't going to hurt DVD sales at all, because watching DVDs are somehow "social events" in ways that divx rips aren't.

    5. Re:Social Event by ReelOddeeo · · Score: 1

      People will watch it in the cinema among their friends

      But how would you get them all into the same cinema, let alone into the same city or country? How would you recognize their faces?

      Movies like the Matrix, Lords of the Rings etc are social events.

      What is this strange new word you use? Isn't this some kind of disease or something? I think I've heard this word before.

      --

      Those who would give up liberty in exchange for security and DRM should switch to Microsoft Palladium!
    6. Re:Social Event by ryanvm · · Score: 1

      People will watch it in the cinema among their friends family no matter how easy it is to get at divx copy.

      Fuck that. Nothing ruins a movie for me more than the social aspect of it. I don't know about you guys, but I about pull a Lawrence Fishbourne every time somebody's cell phone goes off or they can't shut the hell up.

      For me anyway, the only reason I still go to the movies is because I don't have a 52" widescreen HDTV. I would be SO happy to never go to a theater again.

    7. Re:Social Event by lubricated · · Score: 1

      Yeah social as in everyone gathered around the big tv and surround system. All happy to see the matrix while also able to pause the movie in order to piss get snacks etc... All without having to be in the company of other peoples loud kids, the person behind you with the fucked up laugh or (insert your favorite annoyance here). Plus because of the bonus of no other people with you, your family can talk and be as annoying as they want. Furthermore there aren't too many movie theaters that allow you to drink beer while watching a movie.
      Watching the movie at home is superior to watching the movie at a theater where all you get is a bigger screen(audio quality can be better or worse depending on your home theater and the theater quality).

      --
      It has been statistically shown that helmets increase the risk of head injury.
    8. Re:Social Event by GroovBird · · Score: 1

      I do watch movies myself and I am not ashamed to admit it. My girlfriend is not as fond of movies as I am, and she doesn't mind me going with my friends or alone.

      There is no shame in going to a theater by yourself. I equally enjoy watching with friends. Unless they can't keep their mouth shut.

      Dave

    9. Re:Social Event by golgotha007 · · Score: 1

      a social event? you are correct.
      look folks, classical music is easy to obtain, even downloadable! then why is it every time i go to the orchestra, it's always jam packed?

      it's a social event, an outing.

    10. Re:Social Event by Jedi+Holocron · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I disagree. I design theatres on a daily basis. There is a distinct difference here between "cinemas" and "theatres." (and yes, I know you refered to cinemas)

      The cinematic experience is not a shared social event. It is a event shared between you, the viewer, and the screen, the performer. Seating in cinemas is designed so that you have a face on view of the screen and minimal peripheral vision of the rest of the audience. It is all about you going to watch the screen.

      The theatrical experience, aka live perfomance, is more of the shared social event that you refer to. There is back and forth shared experience between you, the audience, and the performer. Likewise, the seating in a theatrical venue is designed with a degree of peripheral vision to include the other members of the audience around you. The whole of the audience is pushed forward to bring them closer to the stage/performer. Back in the history of theatres, it was actually more important to go to the theatre to be seen by the rest of the audience than to actually see the show.

      Compare that to a dark cinema with stadium seating wider than the average arse in the US (pretty wide!).

      Now, I prefer to see a movie in a cinema..in the dark, with the click of the projector humming in the background under the THX sound. (I suspect they will have to artificially produce that projector hum when digital projection takes over. Mark my words!!!)

      Thanks for the rant.

      'nuff said

    11. Re:Social Event by Merk · · Score: 1

      So do I, and if you think about it, why not? What kind of social interaction do you have with people anyhow, you don't talk to other people during the movie, unless you're a complete ass. You don't even make eye contact because your eyes are on the movie screen.

      Interacting with friends before or immediately after the movie is nice, but the actual viewing of the movie with friends vs. alone isn't very different.

    12. Re:Social Event by CProgrammer98 · · Score: 1

      If I go see a movie, I want to be immersed in it. It matters not whether I go with friends or family. If they are there, then that's fine as long as they don't start yammering when I'm experiencing the show. Equally, I will enjoy the movie just as much if I am by myself.

      I can't even watch tv if someone is talking over it. On the few occasions I sit down to watch a show, I want to watch it and listen to it with 100% concentration, no distractions from other people.

      Your assertion that *nobody* watches movies alone is just plain wrong.

      --
      And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour Isaiah 3:5
    13. Re:Social Event by Alan+Partridge · · Score: 1

      DEMENTED and SAD, but still kind of social

      --
      That was classic intercourse!
    14. Re:Social Event by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 1

      > Movies ... are social events.
      Yeah, a social event(s) full of freakin jerks who won't STFU.

      > People will watch it in the cinema

      I beg to differ ...

      http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s= &t hreadid=257348

      My Plasma blows away *any* movie theater experience.

    15. Re:Social Event by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1
      you don't talk to other people during the movie, unless you're a complete ass

      Really? I find short quips exchanged with people around me to be one of the reasons why I prefer watching a film with people than alone. They point out things I've missed, and offer alternate interpretations of events / comments. I reciprocate. None of this interaction is above a whisper, or more than a couple of words at a time, so no one else has their viewing harmed by our behaviour.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    16. Re:Social Event by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, you idiot, that's not what is meant by 'social' here.

      It's a social event insofar as you're going to a publically accesible location to watch a film with a bunch of other people. So the fact that you go alone, and the fact that you only see the screen is irrelevant. The sense of the word 'social' here refers to the fact that the audience as a whole laughs and lets out ooohs and aahs as a generally collectively whole. When you see something cool on the screen and you hear the others in the theater react accordingly, that adds something to the experience.

      This is why the MPAA was full of shit when the DVD format first came out and they claimed it would be the end of the cinematic experience. Because if people could see a DVD of equal quality, they reasoned, people would stop going to cinemas and just wait for a DVD release. That never happened because of the social nature of the cinema.

    17. Re:Social Event by ShinmaWa · · Score: 1, Interesting

      I design theatres on a daily basis

      I didn't realize there was such a high demand for theatres that you can design several every day.

      The cinematic experience is not a shared social event. [...] It is all about you going to watch the screen.

      Bull. Utter bull.

      Consider this:
      - When Star Wars was re-released in 1997, people around the world flocked to the cinemas to watch it again, even though everyone had seen it many times before and most probably owned the videotape. Did people go to watch it for the piddling of new footage? Maybe a little. Did people go to watch it because the screen was really big? Maybe a little. Did people go to watch it because of the shared experience of watching it with a lot of other people in a cinema? Hell yes.

      - Mystery Science Theatre 3000 - The Movie. Watching it at home is nothing -- NOTHING -- in comparison to experiencing it with a hundred others who are laughing with you. Watching it at home simply paled in comparison. I'm sure most comedies are the same way. This is why a lot of TV sitcoms have a laugh-track (and historically a live audience). It simulates a shared audience where there is none. The experience somehow feels hollow without it.

      - People tend to feel uncomfortable watching a film in a cinema when few people are there. I know that's certainly true in my case. If it was just about me and the screen, people wouldn't care in the slightest how many people were there with me.

      - If it was just about me and the screen, why have cinemas at all? Why wouldn't the cinemas have faded with the advent of the VHS player and DVDs? People certainly predicted it -- and yet the growth of the box office continues, with attendance and box office gross records being broken every summer it seems.

      --
      The /. Effect: Thousands of users simultaneously accessing a site to not read its content.
    18. Re:Social Event by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nice job. Not only did you steal it for yourself, you also treated your mates to a free public showing of someone else's IP.

      Does your mother know she raised a thief?

    19. Re:Social Event by GlassUser · · Score: 1

      That right there is one of the best things about watching a movie in a theater. Problem is, when I go with a certain best friend, she and I turn it into Mystery Science Theater night. Of course, most of the time half the theater is laughing more at what we say . . .

    20. Re:Social Event by fenix+down · · Score: 1

      Ah, but it's very social for those of us who go just to piss you off. We have after-parties and everything.

    21. Re:Social Event by Frizzle+Fry · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Consider this:
      - When Star Wars ...

      No mention of Rocky Horror?! I think that would end it right there.
      --
      I'd rather be lucky than good.
    22. Re:Social Event by Merk · · Score: 2, Informative

      Oh, we hear you, and you piss us off, but mostly we're too polite to say anything, or we figure the evil glares we throw your direction will clue you in... but I guess not.

    23. Re:Social Event by AzrealAO · · Score: 1

      Seeing Rocky Horror is as much a theatre experience as it is a cinema experience, it can't be held up as a typical cinema experience by ANY stretch of the imagination.

    24. Re:Social Event by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Does your mother know she raised a thief?

      Does YOUR mother know she raised a corporate WHORE?
      I guess you learnt your whoring from her.

  18. OMG: Bittorrent killed Trinity at end of Matrix II by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  19. 100s of Agent Smiths... by Junior+J.+Junior+III · · Score: 4, Funny

    Those hundreds of Agent Smiths that Neo had to fight were actually multiple streaming BitTorrent threads. It all makes sense now.

    --
    You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
    1. Re:100s of Agent Smiths... by victorvodka · · Score: 5, Funny

      This is getting off topic I know, but I thought Neo's battle with 100s of Agent Smiths was a great metaphor for what I do to my spam every blessed day.

      --

      The flag just makes more sense than the constitution. - Judas Gutenberg

    2. Re:100s of Agent Smiths... by Poeir · · Score: 1

      Congratulations. For the first time in years, I'm looking forward to get my e-mail.

      --
      Sigs are like bumper stickers.
    3. Re:100s of Agent Smiths... by SolubleFrank · · Score: 1

      Fight it for a few minutes then fly away?

      --
      Feed me a stray cat.
  20. So what? by Stargoat · · Score: 5, Interesting
    This is nothing new. People have been downloading movies for at least three years. Simply because this movie is new and popular, is this suddenly an issue that needs to be addressed? The answer is no. There is nothing here more serious than the downloading of an MP3. In fact, it might even be less of a problem. After all, the price of a movie ticket ($7.50) is cheaper than the price of a CD ($12.00).

    So all I can say is: Bah.

    --
    Hoist Number One and Number Six.
    1. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      where the hell do you buy your cds? all of the cd stores i've been in the last few years charge $18-$20 a cd. or is this a post from the past? did you use one of the hand-made black holes to post?

    2. Re:So what? by John3 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      It's considered "news" because the Matrix Reloaded is such a marketing success. Every media outlet is trying to find a way to come up with a new story covering the movie, so this P2P article is just another angle. If a sea of Keanu biographies and rehashes of the Matrix philosophy, this P2P article probably seemed "new" to the editors even though it's just another article about piracy/sharing.

      --
      "We make our world significant by the courage of our questions and by the depth of our answers." Carl Sagan
    3. Re:So what? by thetamind_pyros · · Score: 1

      Downloading movies with BitTorrent is nothing new. People have been downloading movies by other means for at least three years. Simply because BitTorrent is new and popular, is this suddenly an issue that needs to be addressed? The answer is no. There is nothing here more serious than downloading The Matrix from Kazaa. In fact, it might be even less of a problem. After all, the download speed of Kazaa (67 KB/s) is faster than the download speed of BitTorent (35 KB/s).

      So all I can say is: Kazaah.

      --
      Host localhost (127.0.0.1) appears to be up ... good.
    4. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "People have been downloading movies for at least three years"

      I'm on dialup, tell me about it...

    5. Re:So what? by moosesocks · · Score: 1

      After all, the price of a movie ticket ($7.50) is cheaper than the price of a CD ($12.00).

      Um.... Yeah. Right. How is that a fair comparison? With a movie ticket, you (ie. ONE PERSON) get to see the movie once, at a set time, in a set location, with hundreds of other people. And the insensitive clods even have the nerve to make us buy THEIR POPCORN!

      With a CD on the other hand, you can listen to it as many times as you want, in anyplace you want, and you can even invite as many friends as you want, FOR FREE! And the best of all.... you can make your OWN POPCORN while listening to it, or any food for that matter. (And CDs now can be legally downloaded for $10 a'la Apple)

      --
      -- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
  21. To be practical ... by JSkills · · Score: 1
    Doesn't this movie simply demand to be seen in some big screen format (either the actual theatre or in some nice home theatre system) with the properly set up sound etc.?

    I understand how certain people don't want to see this movie pirated, but one the other hand, couldn't seeing a grainy version of the film with bad sound quality only want to make you pay the money to either go to the theatre or buy the DVD?

    It's not like the actual DVD has been ripped and that's being pirated around the net. Now that would be a different story wouldn't it ...

    1. Re:To be practical ... by kisielk · · Score: 1
      It's not like the actual DVD has been ripped and that's being pirated around the net. Now that would be a different story wouldn't it ...


      Actually, if you read the article, that's almost precisely what has happened:

      But the copy available using BitTorrent appears to be have made from a film print, and is in widescreen format with surround sound.
    2. Re:To be practical ... by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 1

      Doesn't this movie simply demand to be seen in some big screen format

      Not when I want to watch it in the comfort of my bed in the middle of the night.

      --
      "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    3. Re:To be practical ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Doesn't this movie simply demand to be seen in some big screen format (either the actual theatre or in some nice home theatre system) with the properly set up sound etc.?

      After seeing it yesterday evening in a local theatre all i can say about this is: No.

      Reloaded compared to the original movie just sucks. It is a decent action flick, but IMHO the action and fight scenes were much better in the Matrix, and sometimes the CGI just looks crappy in Reloaded. And the music sucked plain and simple.

      Ok, go on, flame me to death.

    4. Re:To be practical ... by EpsCylonB · · Score: 1

      I call bullshiat, the best version avaliable is centropy, it's definitely a cam, apretty damn good one but still a cam. Unless a dvd screener has surfaced in the last day or so with out me knowing then the article is BS.

    5. Re:To be practical ... by attobyte · · Score: 1

      I would bet that 99% of the people downloading it already seen the Movie. and prolly 50% of them seen it more then once.

      --
      I didn't use the preview button, so get over it!!!!

      Mike

    6. Re:To be practical ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was going to download it but then I saw it in the theatre. Stopped that thought right away!

    7. Re:To be practical ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      While normally on Slashdot the call to RTFA trumps all the rest of the BS spewed here, in this case the article is the BS as no dvd rip is yet circulating, certainly not on BitTorrent. Yes, the best version is the Centropy telesync and the video is very good, but the sound is only passable ( I suspect they had trouble capturing just how LOUD the film is. ) It is certainly not a dvd rip.

    8. Re:To be practical ... by I.+M.+Bur · · Score: 1

      A friend of mine actually downloaded this without seeing the film before. It was because we both went to the midnight premiere and he slept thru 3/4 of the movie straight. After realizing it (in the morning at home), he said he wants to see it as well and downloaded a copy. BTW, we already have tickets purchased to see it once more, this time in the early afternoon hours :)

  22. So they suspect an inside job? by GMontag · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The story speculates about the source of the copy, suggesting it's from a film or digital source rather than a cinema-screen-leech.

    Wow, sounds like the culprit is an insider! Perhaps someone should contact these guys and point out the "inadvertant error" in their analysis before the real criminals get away?

    1. Re:So they suspect an inside job? by moncyb · · Score: 1

      They don't care. They just want to blame someone else for their problems. If they were caught trafficing drugs, they'd say it is the car's fault. If they jumped off a cliff and broke their legs, they'd probably try to sue the person who made the cliff!

  23. Film source? Nonsense. by CiaranMc · · Score: 5, Informative

    This is pure nonsense. There are about 6 different versions of Reloaded floating about online but all the ones I've seen are Telesyncs.

    There aren't any screener versions or similar online yet... believe me, I'd have looked!

    At the end of the day, I can't imagine any Matrix fans are going to download the movie rather than seeing it on the big screen and/or buying the DVD.

  24. Matrix reloaded AVIs ain't what you think by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 4, Funny

    I've tried getting the movie 3 times with eMule, and each time it wasn't Matrix but a porn movie. The female characters were reloaded alright, but not the Matrix ...

    I guess I'll just go the theater to see it.

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    1. Re:Matrix reloaded AVIs ain't what you think by Jugalator · · Score: 1

      But... eMule use file hashes.

      How can you possible pick a fake release?

      Oh, it was a JOKE! ;-)

      --
      Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
    2. Re:Matrix reloaded AVIs ain't what you think by wo1verin3 · · Score: 5, Funny

      could you put the porn up on BitTorrent please? I've been trying to download porn and every time I wind up with a dvd-rip of Matrix Reloaded :(

    3. Re:Matrix reloaded AVIs ain't what you think by etcpasswd · · Score: 1

      Lucky that you got atleast porn. I got some other stupid movies on Kazaa, before I turned to BitTorrent for reliable piracy.

    4. Re:Matrix reloaded AVIs ain't what you think by beebware · · Score: 1

      FastTrackMovies.com is good if you are using Kazaalite or other "clones". Click on the sig2dat file, download the exact film/tv series you want!

    5. Re:Matrix reloaded AVIs ain't what you think by etcpasswd · · Score: 1

      True. But for some reason there aren't too many of those files for doanload that are hashed (didn't try for Matrix, but some others I searched before). So I ended up downloading by search.

    6. Re:Matrix reloaded AVIs ain't what you think by moncyb · · Score: 1

      I guess I'll just go the theater to see it.

      I wouldn't bother if I were you. The movie sucked. It wasn't nearly as good as the first one. It looks like the marketing people decided what to put in it. "Let's put in some porn, but we'll have to downgrade it so we can get an R rating. Then we'll add some karate moves and special effects, and we're done!"

      In fact, just watch a porn movie, a kung-fu movie, and some computer generated images. You'll be much more satisfied.

    7. Re:Matrix reloaded AVIs ain't what you think by moncyb · · Score: 1

      Oh yeah, and for a "special" bonus, they add a big "to be continued" message at the end of the movie. (I think they used some sort of replacement word for "continued", but you get the picture.)

      The movie is just like what TV networks do during sweeps month. A bunch of cheap tricks to get people to see it. Nothing really good.

    8. Re:Matrix reloaded AVIs ain't what you think by MyHair · · Score: 1

      Whoah.

    9. Re:Matrix reloaded AVIs ain't what you think by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Priceless...

  25. overrated by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The movie is overrated,really.
    I can't believe it has gotten 7.5/10 on imdb.com.
    Taco has seen it twice to understand their obfuscated frustration ?
    I seriously recommend Adaptation (Nicolas Cage) which is more surprising than this Matrix2 piece of shit.
    Now wait : if you want to see some really good stuff, re-watch Dogma.

    1. Re:overrated by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Now wait : if you want to see some really good stuff, re-watch Dogma.

      Well that explains a lot. Speaking of overrated...

      Does your head smell exactly like your ass?

      Just admit that the Matrix went over your head.

    2. Re:overrated by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      you are a fag.

    3. Re:overrated by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Matrix 2 was a big pile of dog terd. if you think that the pop philosophy is worth discussing then it is far more likely that you're not mentally capable of handling real philosophical discussions. And forget the pop philosophy. The editing was shit, the agent smith fight scene was a shit job of CGI, the dialog was shit and finally the acting was shit. The Bros pulled the worst acting performance out of L-Fish since pee-wee had him doing cowboy bob. This movie is targeted at undereducated half-wits and drug users and Prince. About two years too late, also. But, hey if that's your thing, then rock on. The movie is still shit.

  26. That's not how it works... by Ron+Harwood · · Score: 4, Interesting

    You'd actually want more people trying to download it at the same time... because that provides many more upload sites at the same time.

    Bittorrent is a really clever technology... I was able to download RedHat 9.0 in minutes rather than hours when it was made available.

    1. Re:That's not how it works... by cdrudge · · Score: 5, Insightful

      To a point, yes. However, if a tracker gets overloaded, everyone suffers.

    2. Re:That's not how it works... by TheSync · · Score: 1

      Yes, but how much CPU & bandwidth does a tracker really require?

    3. Re:That's not how it works... by allgood2 · · Score: 5, Informative

      True, but the websites that host to the bit torrent files are very vunerable to slashdot effect. The last article on Slashdot crumled some of the more popular sites. Three of my five favorite sites were down for 2-5 days. That said, once people grab the files and actually start downloading, when there is a more than 60 people streaming the file, downloads rock.

    4. Re:That's not how it works... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      A lot, apparently. Torrentse.cx is almost constantly overloaded, and they're supposedly using a custom tracker to handle the load. They're probably handling at least 1000 simulatenous BT downloads. A couple hundred Slashdotters could kill just about any tracker without too much trouble.

    5. Re:That's not how it works... by TheSync · · Score: 2, Informative

      Thanks for the info. BitTorrent seems to be a good solution for distributing bandwidth (probably over 100 Mbps for the 1000 simultaneous downloads), but perhaps we need to examine a more distributed model for the effort of tracking.

    6. Re:That's not how it works... by Aliencow · · Score: 1

      Suprvnova.org's tracker requires at least 30KB/sec of constant bandwidth, when not slashdotted..

    7. Re:That's not how it works... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      I hope no one here blames me if I'm a little bit wary of contacting a host with a name like Torrentse.cx!!

    8. Re:That's not how it works... by Jagasian · · Score: 1

      Torrentse.cx's tracker has also been under a DOS attack. So factor that into your equation. The truth is that trackers have an overhead, but for files greater than 50MB in size, the overhead is negligible compared to the bandwidth saved by using BitTorrent.

    9. Re:That's not how it works... by Jagasian · · Score: 4, Interesting

      These DOS attacks, against popular BitTorrent trackers, are coming from an unknown source. Some conspiracy nuts think that the MPAA and RIAA are to blaim. They have talked about doing such things before... but DDOS attacks aren't politically correct in corporate America, so I find this hard to believe.

      My personal opinion is that, since BitTorrent is taking away from IRC based file transfers, a few powerful IRC trolls are mad that they are losing influence, and therefore they are trying to destroy BitTorrent through the use of DDOS attacks, hoping that most IRC users will stick to IRC file transfers as opposed to switching over to BitTorrent, after seeing that most popular BitTorrent trackers keep timing out.

    10. Re:That's not how it works... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      OK, solution: Find a way to host torrents on Freenet, or restructure the protocol so that trackers are part of it too? It does scale better than anything else at the moment though.

    11. Re:That's not how it works... by chefbimbo · · Score: 1

      I bet you can find people outside the US that are willing to do those for money. I mean DDoSing trackers is obviously easier than going after them.

    12. Re:That's not how it works... by cpeterso · · Score: 3, Funny


      The solution is to distribute .torrent files using BitTorrent. Maybe you'll soon seen URLs to filenames like the_matrix_reloaded.torrent.torrent. ;-)

    13. Re:That's not how it works... by k-rad · · Score: 2, Informative
      Speaking of more people to increase download speeds, help out by downloading the new Half-Life gameplay video. here

      bit-torrent required of course.

      .end_blatantmisuseofslashdot

      --
      --->----
    14. Re:That's not how it works... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That is the most ridiculous theory I've ever heard.

    15. Re:That's not how it works... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'd have to agree. Why would IRC folks give a flying fuck anyway? Because they are losing leachers? Right. It's not like you have to exclusively use IRC or BT.

    16. Re:That's not how it works... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't be afraid - but keep in mind that if your referrer to Torrentse is slashdot, you end up getting the T*bgirl. The site is real, and ( quasi- ) safe, but make sure you refer it from somewhere else

    17. Re:That's not how it works... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Damn, I'm getting 160kb/s right now on this torrent. Nice link!

  27. Follow the White rabbit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative
  28. Where is the problem? by TWX · · Score: 1

    I don't download movies because I like nice high quality imagery. I'll acknowledge that even exceptions to the bull occur sometimes, like this example, but I want to enjoy the experience. I'd gather that most people who download movies either weren't planning on buying the movie in the first place, or have already seen it, and have given at least some money for the experience. Either way, the studio has gotten all of the money it's realistically going to get.

    --
    Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
  29. It's a bit of a joke really ! by bushboy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Considering that some people are seeing the movie more than once and how much it has grossed so far, complaining about illegal downloads seems so redundant, it's almost laughable !

    I'll take a bet 95% of people who have an illegal copy of the movie have paid to see it.

    There's no substitue for seeing a movie like the matrix on a big screen.

    --
    A slashdotting - you get the stick first and then the carrot !
    1. Re:It's a bit of a joke really ! by FreeMars · · Score: 3, Insightful

      There's no substitue for seeing a movie like the matrix on a big screen.

      Too bad so many of the multiplex theaters don't have a big screen any more. Just 10 or 12 small to mid-sized ones.

      If I have to watch on a small screen I'll watch at home.

      --
      Email: slashdot3@FreeMars.org (Address will be abandoned when it gets spam.)
    2. Re:It's a bit of a joke really ! by tmark · · Score: 1

      So what if people have already paid to see the movie ? Why does watching it once, twice, or five times exonerate people from illegally copying it ?

      The very fact that these companies have made a movie good enough that people want to see it multiple times means they should be compensated multiply for producing such a movie.

      And you're right, there is no substitute for seeing a movie - almost any movie - on a big screen. So what ? People STILL pay for pay-per-views, and people STILL pay for DVDs, and people STILL pay for video tapes, and there are STILL people who will watch a rip instead of going to the movie that 1st or 2nd or 3rd time. This all means that the companies are still losing something from these rips, regardless of the somewhat hollow "no substitute" argument.

    3. Re:It's a bit of a joke really ! by gregmac · · Score: 1
      This all means that the companies are still losing something from these rips, regardless of the somewhat hollow "no substitute" argument.

      Not that I disagree, but that's not a totally valid argument. That makes the assumption that the people ripping it would have otherwise gone to the theater in the first place, which may not be totally true.

      Now, just because they aren't going to watch it in the theater doesn't mean they should be allowed to watch it for free.. but it also doesn't mean the movie is losing money they otherwise wouldn't have had anyways.

      .

      --
      Speak before you think
    4. Re:It's a bit of a joke really ! by Dun+Malg · · Score: 1
      So what if people have already paid to see the movie ? Why does watching it once, twice, or five times exonerate people from illegally copying it ?

      I don't think it exonerates them; it just goes to show the absurdity of the "we lost money" argument. How many of those P2P-obtained VCD viewings would have realistically turned into ticket sales if the movie was unavailable online? The problem is, it's not a 1-to-1 conversion. It's not like people have found a way to sneak into a movie theater. People have found a way to view a substandard version in the comfort of their own home. With the price of movie tickets as high as it is, the number of people who can afford to indulge in repeat viewings of a movie is pretty low, and the number who are also willing to do so is smaller still. Essentially, I don't think "exoneration" is the issue (insert diatribe re: corps buying favorable legislation), but rather it's a question of morality. Is it really wrong to engage in activity that (while illegal) doesn't actually cause someone a measurably significant loss? Getting mad at people who watch for free and weren't going to pay anyway is like getting mad at a bum for retrieving and reading the newspaper you just threw away instead of buying one from the machine.

      --
      If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
    5. Re:It's a bit of a joke really ! by pacc · · Score: 1

      Actually, matrix is bound to be playing in one of the big theaters and then you can actually enjoy the smaller screens playing double duty as sub-woofers for the big screens sound effects...

    6. Re:It's a bit of a joke really ! by moncyb · · Score: 1

      The RIAA/MPAA's whole excuse for terrorism, creating censorship systems, and suing companies was they were losing money, so they have the "right" to do so. Should the guy who created BitTorrent be sued? Should users of BitTorrent be subject to DoS attacks? Should all computers be disabled so BitTorrent and other programs the MPAA disapproves of can't be run? I don't think so.

  30. Twice by rjamestaylor · · Score: 0, Troll
    • Despite this piracy, the flick has made over $365M already. Including my tickets. Twice.
    Once to film it and another to watch it, hmmm??
    --
    -- @rjamestaylor on Ello
    1. Re:Twice by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Troll? Not funny, perhaps (definitely, now that I've had coffee). Off-topic, sure. But Troll? Do the moderators even know what the designations mean? This one didn't. Who is going to read my lame attempt at a joke and be compelled to answer my scandalous charges? What reader is going to be pulled into an off-topic diatribe based on my leading comments? Dumbass moderator.

    2. Re:Twice by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      fuck off

  31. theatre sneak-in by victorvodka · · Score: 5, Funny

    Though it's true the Matrix Reloaded is a far better film to see on the BIG SCREEN than in some cheesy little window on my PC, my enjoyment of it that way (and I took my wife with me to see it too!) did not contribute anything towards the 380 million dollars it has collected to date. Why? We snuck in! Never pay to see a movie at a megaplex... just leave your coat in your car and claim you're returning from a cigarette break. It's the punk rock thing to do!!

    --

    The flag just makes more sense than the constitution. - Judas Gutenberg

    1. Re:theatre sneak-in by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Being so cheap, I'm surprised you can afford smokes, a coat, or a car.

    2. Re:theatre sneak-in by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm sure Mommie and Daddie foot the bill for most of that stuff

    3. Re:theatre sneak-in by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      hmm, what about when they ask for your ticket stubs?

    4. Re:theatre sneak-in by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "It's the punk rock thing to do!!"

      Way to stick it to the "man" there Jello.

    5. Re:theatre sneak-in by victorvodka · · Score: 1

      You left your bag in the theatre.

      --

      The flag just makes more sense than the constitution. - Judas Gutenberg

  32. Clearly indicating..... by reality-bytes · · Score: 1

    ...that the majority of families these days are disfunctional and are incapable of socialising in the home.

    --
    Ripping an new rectum in the fabric of spacetime.
  33. They are just pissed... by caffeinex36 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Becuase Bruce Almighty made more money than them....they have to come up with some excuse for a shitty Jim Carrey movie beating them. Wouldn't you?

    Rob

    1. Re:They are just pissed... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      bruce almighty has been on bittorrent for a day or 2 already as well ;)

    2. Re:They are just pissed... by akadruid · · Score: 2

      Save your mod points.
      No need to click on the article, it compares Bruce Almighty's first week with TMR's second week.
      A noticebly more scientific study is available at IMDB.com.
      To be fair to CNN, they do point out their article is crap, with a quote from Warner Bros.
      You can't compare an R-rated movie over a holiday period with movies that appeal to a broad family audience.
      This would appear to be what they have done - and further bias it by comparing chalk with cheese.

      --
      "Those who cast the votes decide nothing; those who count the votes decide everything." (attrib. Joseph Stalin)
    3. Re:They are just pissed... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In the end it's about money anyways, no matter how many ways you slice it or compare it.

      Also, I'm not sure how much money Bruce almighty cost to make..but I'm sure it was much less than reloaded, which cuts into your profit margins.

      Now the real question is, how many people p2p bruce almighty compared to Matrix, as the target audience is different.

    4. Re:They are just pissed... by JustKidding · · Score: 2, Funny
      'Bruce Almighty' topples 'Matrix' sequel

      i read that as "'Bruce Almight' topless 'Matrix' sequel."

      That's just disturbing

    5. Re:They are just pissed... by mbourgon · · Score: 1

      You mention Bruce costing less to make than Reloaded. Probably, depending on everyone's paycheck. However, (and I doubt this enters into anyone's decision on whether to make a movie) in 10 year people will probably still be buying the Reloaded DVD, whereas I don't see that happening with Carrey. Just rent/buy his latest flick - I doubt too many people are going to go back looking for his stuff. All this IMHO, since I hate Carrey. More so since all the 75' screens were showing Bruce this weekend instead of Reloaded.

      --
      "Sometimes a woman is a kind of religion, she can save your soul & set you free from all your sins" - Bad Examples
    6. Re:They are just pissed... by the_truk_stop · · Score: 2, Funny

      However, according to the estimates in USA Today, The Matrix: Reloaded dropped 50% in sales from opening weekend to this past weekend. Granted, that's an estimate, but that's still one big drop. I'd be willing to bet that a significant factor for that drop is the pirating of the movie.

    7. Re:They are just pissed... by moncyb · · Score: 1

      No, people found out how shitty it is. The original movie was somewhat decent. Reloaded is a bunch of crap slapped together to capitalize off of the first one's reputation. Yeah, the special effects were good, but only 10 year old kids go to see a movie just for special effects.

    8. Re:They are just pissed... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The USA Today is always right, any paper with that many colourfull graphs has gotta be right.

  34. Real Menace by slaker · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Digital piracy has become a real menace," - Jack Valenti (see, I RTFA!)

    I'd say SARS is a real menace. Or AIDS. Or rednecks in the white house. How many people has my piratred copy of Matrix 2 killed? Injured even?

    OK, there was the Russian. But I didn't know he was standing there when threw the CD.

    Clearly ones and zeroes are dangerous things. We shouldn't be teaching these things in school. Think of the children! Won't someone think of the children!

    Oh, the humanity.

    Jack Valenti must not have a very good grip on reality if he thinks my vain effort to figure out if Carrie-Anne Moss shows either of her no-doubt perfect nipples in that one scene is in any way dangerous to civilization as we know it. Fucktard.

    --
    -- I wanna decide who lives and who dies - Crow T. Robot, MST3K
    1. Re:Real Menace by cdh · · Score: 1
      Or rednecks in the white house.

      No doubt, thankfully Clinton is gone now.
    2. Re:Real Menace by slaker · · Score: 3, Funny

      Being from the midwestern US, having been raised in a town with a population under 100, and actually attended a marriage of second cousins, I'm not without qualification to make the following statement:

      Clinton was more of a hillbilly than a redneck.

      --
      -- I wanna decide who lives and who dies - Crow T. Robot, MST3K
    3. Re:Real Menace by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      True, that whole Lewensky thing only occurred because Chelsey was away at college.

    4. Re:Real Menace by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Be thankful he was there at all, otherwise you'd have to make do with your old Carter jokes.

    5. Re:Real Menace by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Chelsea, honey... Mommy's gone shopping, and Daddy has a new cigaaaaaarrrrr...."

    6. Re:Real Menace by evilviper · · Score: 1
      I would say that AIDS is a real menace in that it gets a huge chunk of funding, while other diseases which kill more people are getting far less funding, and big names are pressuring the US Gov to spend even more on it. What's more, it's a disease that is completely fucking preventable (no pun intended).

      Jack Valenti must not have a very good grip on reality

      No, but then that is only typical of most Americans, many of which are more interested in 6 people that died in the shuttle, than the tens of thousands dying because of Bush's US foreign policy...

      my vain effort to figure out if Carrie-Anne Moss shows either of her no-doubt perfect nipples in that one scene

      You are watching the wrong movie. You obviously should check-out Red Planet.
      --
      Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
  35. Re:Film source? Nonsense. by stratjakt · · Score: 5, Insightful

    No, but many non-matrix fans will download it just for the sake of seeing it, instead of waiting to rent it at blockbuster.

    The rental industry is getting killed by movie piracy online. If you're a fan of a film, you'll go to the theatre to see it.

    But all those so-so films that you tell yourself "I'll wait and rent it", can now be downloaded free-as-in-hobo at your leisure.

    Of course we only need justify this the same way as we do with MP3 'sharing'; Why should I pay to see a movie that only has one good character and the rest is filler?

    --
    I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
  36. I downloaded it by terbor · · Score: 1

    already. But I haven't watched it. I plan to see it in the theater this week and then watch my download multiple times to figure out all the things I missed or said "WHA?" about. I wouldn't pay to see it in the theater more than one time. And I'll buy the 3 DVD set of Matrix movies when it comes out.

  37. $2 by jonnyfivealive · · Score: 1

    thats what i payed to see it the sunday after it was released. no waiting in lines, either. at a good theater, too. i dont know why this theater was so cheap, but i dont care. no mafia in oklahoma, that cant be it... oh well.

  38. P2P day? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It must be P2P day on slashdot.

    I was watching the news before and saw a kid killed his parents and got the idea from The Matrix. Then I changed the channel and the Simpsons were on, it was the one where Marge wants Itchy and Scratch cancelled because Maggie hit Homer over the head with a hammer and they were protesting outside the place where they make Itchy and Scratchy.

  39. Re:Matrix 2 - Read before you see this movie: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0



    Trinity DIES!!!

    And then Neo reaches into her chest cavity and grabs her heart like in Mortal Combat and squeezes it!! And then he eats it!!!


  40. DOWNLOAD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The bittorrent for Matrix Reloaded is available here: clicky clikcy!
    Leech it, spread it, and laugh in the faces of DMCA, MPAA, and BBC!
    Okey, not BBC, but you get the idea.trms.

    1. Re:DOWNLOAD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      Connecting to 10mbit.com[218.188.158.34]:80... failed: Connection refused.

      Satan. :(

    2. Re:DOWNLOAD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      works here.

  41. Just In: Cisco Routers Blamed for Matrix2 Swapping by smd4985 · · Score: 5, Funny

    In other news, the Associated Press is reporting that 85% of Matrix2 bootleg bytes flow over Cisco routers. Therefore, Cisco is to blame for bootlegging. Several users reported that their Cisco products simply began downloading a Matrix2 bootleg without their permission.

    --
    smd4985
  42. How is this wrong, if... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I already purchased tix and went and watched the movie. Granted, my memory isn't as good as divx, but I've already paid for the experience.
    I'm going to buy the DVD when it comes out. What's the diff if I watched it at the theater, dl a p2p copy and then later buy it too?
    This could apply to music as well. What about something I already own? For instance I have hundreds of cassettes. Could I morally download copies of these songs from a p2p?

  43. Amazing how wrong they get theese things by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    The copy of matrix reloaded they are probably talking about is a telesync by centropy. It is shot whith a dv cam in a theatre, with a direct audio feed, encoded to svcd, 3 cd's, and has been all over the net for over a week...

  44. BitTorrent Version??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


    Guys, what the fuck? wake the hell up eh, no wonder people are so ignorant on p2p issues, even slashdotters don't know better. There is no goddamn BitTorrent version of the matrix 2 that is higher quality, BitTorrent is a godamn distribution mechanism.

    The elites that bring you all your prized cracked software happen to get their hands on this great movie, and released it. If it gets to BitTorrent, it's not a fucking BitTorrent version, give credit where it is due!

    So many people don't have a clue, and slash trolls are feeding that. BitTorrent has nothing to do with the matrix, or the fact that it is being moved around on their system.

    Centropy is the group that did the matrix 2, they kickass :P

  45. Re:Well, no duh by TallEmu · · Score: 1

    Nothing wrong with jacking off over Carrie Ann Moss all day.

  46. Here's a hint by rabtech · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Release the DVDs earlier, and people will buy them instead of downloading. And those who still download probably wouldn't have bought a DVD anyway - for them the choice was a) don't have it or b) pirate it. They were not open to choice c) 'buy it' in the first place. That is the fallacy that the MPAA/RIAA rely on when citing "piracy concerns" - they assume that everyone who has Item X would have paid for it if it were not available in pirated form; that is a faulty assumption.

    The fact that large-scale movie piracy (and indeed, any piracy) is happening is an indicator that people are largely unsatisfied with the current prices and/or distribution methods.

    --
    Natural != (nontoxic || beneficial)
    1. Re:Here's a hint by gfxguy · · Score: 1

      I agree that the "we lost x dollars" argument is easily proved false, but the movie's only been out for a couple of weeks, for crying out loud.

      What is a reasonable amount of time? Maybe movies should now go straight to DVD? I just watched Star Trek: Nemesis last night. It came out on DVD last week, it was released in the theaters only six months ago, I don't think that's bad at all - and the Reloaded DVD will, in all likelyhood, come out a week or two before the next movie. That'll be about six months.

      I know I'm probably older and have more patience than the average slashdotter, and there are some movies that they needlessly delay a really long time, but most movies come out in a reasonable amount of time, IMO.

      --
      Stupid sexy Flanders.
    2. Re:Here's a hint by tmark · · Score: 1

      I think the only thing large-scale movie piracy shows is that many people would rather get things for free than pay for them. If DVDs were $5, people would still be ripping them and trading them for free.

    3. Re:Here's a hint by tuffy · · Score: 1
      I think the only thing large-scale movie piracy shows is that many people would rather get things for free than pay for them. If DVDs were $5, people would still be ripping them and trading them for free.

      But not very many, to be sure. Consider that if one works for $10/hour, a $5 DVD is worth half an hour of their time. Between downloading, extracting and burning a DVD, it'll likely take more time than the disc is worth - making the $5 disc a better deal. Even at $15-20 a disc, it's still much more convenient to buy them than to muck around transferring 4+ gig files over the network.

      For poor student folk with a surplus of bandwidth and shortage of cash, pirated movies are somewhat viable. But for most people, it's hardly worth the effort.

      --

      Ita erat quando hic adveni.

    4. Re:Here's a hint by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The next matrix movie is coming out this summer sometime, not in six months or a year.

      And it will suck as hard as the last one did.

    5. Re:Here's a hint by aardwolf64 · · Score: 1
      The fact that large-scale movie piracy (and indeed, any piracy) is happening is an indicator that people are largely unsatisfied with the current prices and/or distribution methods.


      That, plus (point #1) pirates are cheap bastards. I have a friend that would rather burn a lower quality copy that purchase the DVD regardless of the price. By your logic, the movie industry should just lower its price to free because (see point #1).
    6. Re:Here's a hint by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      That is the fallacy that the MPAA/RIAA rely on when citing "piracy concerns" - they assume that everyone who has Item X would have paid for it if it were not available in pirated form; that is a faulty assumption.

      But the "slashdot fallacy" is just as egregious --assuming that NO ONE who pirated item X would have bought it if it hadn't been available to download.

    7. Re:Here's a hint by angle_slam · · Score: 1
      It came out on DVD last week, it was released in the theaters only six months ago, I don't think that's bad at all - and the Reloaded DVD will, in all likelyhood, come out a week or two before the next movie. That'll be about six months.

      It'll probably make more financial sense for the studio to re-release Matrix 2 a couple of weeks before Matrix 3 is released, then release a 2-DVD edition of both movies.

      But I do see the position of those who say there is too much lag between movie release and DVD release. I have a small child and it is very hard for me to go to the theater and watch movies. Often, a movie will come out and, if it were available on DVD, I would rent or buy right then as an impulse purchase. After 6 months, the desire to see the movie isn't as strong. By summer 2003, I forget what the "must see" movies of Winter 2002 were.

    8. Re:Here's a hint by Progman3K · · Score: 1

      >The fact that large-scale movie piracy
      >(and indeed, any piracy) is happening is
      >an indicator that people are largely
      >unsatisfied with the current prices
      >and/or distribution methods.

      Is that really it?

      Or is it that it is so easy, and when people are not afraid of being caught, they steal?

      It just seems to be human nature that people take the easiest way out, even if they KNOW it's not the right thing to do...

      The only way I can see piracy not happening is if people could obtain the items quicker and cheaper legally than by piracy...

      That would be tough to accomplish.

      --
      I don't know the meaning of the word 'don't' - J
    9. Re:Here's a hint by Lord_Dweomer · · Score: 1
      " Release the DVDs earlier, and people will buy them instead of downloading."

      Ah....but thats a double-edged sword, because while you would then give people the option of buying the dvd vs downloading (a free copy), you also then give them less time to milk every last fucking dime out of us in the theaters.

      --
      Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
    10. Re:Here's a hint by shadowjk · · Score: 1

      Nemesis was amusing. I was going to wait the 6 or 8 months for it to get to the cinema here, but it never came. That's actually one movie I *really* wanted to see in the cinema, and they never showed it, bastards. Ah well, I have my revenge. *pats bootleg*

    11. Re:Here's a hint by gfxguy · · Score: 1
      But I do see the position of those who say there is too much lag between movie release and DVD release. I have a small child and it is very hard for me to go to the theater and watch movies. Often, a movie will come out and, if it were available on DVD, I would rent or buy right then as an impulse purchase. After 6 months, the desire to see the movie isn't as strong. By summer 2003, I forget what the "must see" movies of Winter 2002 were.


      I'm with you on that (happy parent of a four year old and 19 month old). In fact, after seeing the original Matrix, I didn't see a movie in a theater for two years.

      But, while I enjoy them, if I forget what the "must see" movies were, I don't necessarily consider that a bad thing. Beside, if you go to the video store once a week (which is about right for us), you peruse the new releases, and if there's nothing interesting, you look elsewhere.
      --
      Stupid sexy Flanders.
  47. Here's that torrent file by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    http://www.torrentfiles.com/downloads/matrix.reloa ded.ts-esoteric.torrent

    Someone mirror it please in case torrentfilies.com goes down.

    1. Re:Here's that torrent file by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the centropy version posted above was ten times better

      www.vcdquality.com is your friend.

    2. Re:Here's that torrent file by Fweeky · · Score: 1

      That's the esoteric telesync (hence "ts"); not exactly one of the better rips.

      If you must try a telesync (basically a cam with decent sound and equipment to keep the cam in sync with the frames), go for the Centropy one; they are the undisputed kings of telesync releases.

    3. Re:Here's that torrent file by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nice Job :)
      http://www.torrentfiles.com/modules.php?op=mod load &name=News&file=article&sid=19&mode=thread&order=0 &thold=0

      Where did all the Bittorents GO?
      Posted by: Admin

      UPDATE: Downloads Section has been de-activated.... the /. story along with the bogus BBC story have left me with no choice at the moment.... i plan to bring them back, but right now all the money that goes to this site comes from my pocket, and to be honest, the pocket is getting a bit low with the bandwith these stories produce. Some people have asked how they can donate to the site. This is someting that i cannot allow, i believe that sites like this should be free, so i will not accept any money.... thanks anyway. As far as the downloads go, we are going to wait this one out... when the scene cools off a bit, we will be back.... Thanks again.... We will keep you up-to-date as things progress....

      N0cturnal

      "Where did all the bittorrents GO?" I know this is the question in all of your minds.... well, blame the media.... BBC has reported a completely bogus story about the pirateing of Matrix Reloaded...

      http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/29 40 270.stm

      This has caused alot of panic in the BT community... even though most of the story is just made up... and NO, there is no version of the Matrix Reloaded that is the quality that this story claims... so dont ask... We will stay online for as long as possible, everyone is keeping there heads low at the moment.... We hope the whole community can pull though.... wish us luck.

  48. Uh oh by FunkyELF · · Score: 1

    While I would normally disagree with you on this point since major action movies people will normally fork over money to watch in the theater, I have seen a copy of this and when watched on someone's xbox it is actually really good quality. I doubt it is from a digital source since you can tell it was shot from below the screen aiming up a little bit.

    I was at a little LAN Party last weekend and while there were little nerds there with their Matrix II backgrounds watching it in Windows...they also claimed to have seen the movie several times in the theaters.

  49. Re:MODS GET A CLUE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Which rip is the best one? Centropy? There's a ton of them out there, trying to figure out what to download. :)

  50. Factual inaccuracy in the linked Article by Andy_R · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Apart from the obvious one that the 'low quality DVDs' are probably exactly the same data that is being touted as a high quality bit-torrent file...

    There was no 'co-ordinated worldwide release' for Reloaded, here in Britain we got it a week an a half later than the US.

    There were a whole host of pirate versions on alt.pictures.binaries.divx before the film was even released over here.

    As for a solution to the problem, I've seen the film at the cinema, and I'd buy it on DVD, but guess what, there is no legitimate DVD yet.

    I'd be tempted to download a divx as a stop-gap until the DVD is released (in it's final, most complete version) but I know that divx files rarely play back with sound even with the latest 5.05 release of the divx codec for Mac.

    --
    A pizza of radius z and thickness a has a volume of pi z z a
    1. Re:Factual inaccuracy in the linked Article by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Use MPlayer for OSX. You'll never want to use quicktime player again...

    2. Re:Factual inaccuracy in the linked Article by MKalus · · Score: 1

      This is one thing that disturbs me to no end as well.

      For some reason Quicktime doesn't play it back correctly, yet any other play (VCL) works just fine, what is it with Quicktime and Audio anyways?

      M.

      --
      If you want to e-mail me, use my PGP Key.
    3. Re:Factual inaccuracy in the linked Article by Kalak · · Score: 1

      Try the 5.06 OSX beta or run your files through DivX Validator before playing. I can't speak for the Matrix, but this has worked for some other files (Anime) that have been missing sound. DivX Validator makes a copy of the files, so it needs drive space, but it works pretty quickly.

      --
      I am, and always will be, an idiot. Karma: Coma (mostly effected by .hack)
    4. Re:Factual inaccuracy in the linked Article by Gabhlan · · Score: 1
      Download VLC (Video Lan Client) :
      http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/ 14738
      It'll play back almost any DivX file around, audio as well. The QuickTime codecs you download for DivX suck big time, VLC is the real deal.

      There shouldn't be a space before the /14738 in the URL, Slashdot sucks :/

      --
      The wind blew so cold
      The fan won't turn any more
      Files die in the heat
    5. Re:Factual inaccuracy in the linked Article by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You need to get mPlayer 2.0 OS X for your Mac, dude. It's a port of the Linux version, and it has become essential on my G4. It plays files that Quicktime chokes over, and with ease. It can manage VBR audio codecs, which is what causes QT problems, I think. Just head on over to Version Tracker and grab the latest version.

    6. Re:Factual inaccuracy in the linked Article by RestiffBard · · Score: 1

      totally off-topic but have you tried VLC? or mPlayer? Both play every format I throw at them with ease.

      --
      - /* dead coders leave no comments */
    7. Re:Factual inaccuracy in the linked Article by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Quicktime conforms to the AVI specs.

      No one else does.

      IIRC, the basic problem involves mp3 frames being split where the AVI specs don't allow it, everyone else just plays 'em, Quicktime gets crotchety because it's technically incorrect.

      The validator etc automagically rejoin the frames in keeping with the spec, which makes QT happy.

      VLC/mplayer/etc work because they don't use the Quicktime engine, so they can play any broken whacked out formats they like. Any player that uses QT has this problem.

    8. Re:Factual inaccuracy in the linked Article by Stormie · · Score: 1

      There was no 'co-ordinated worldwide release' for Reloaded, here in Britain we got it a week an a half later than the US.

      There was more of a co-ordinated worldwide release than usual. I believe Reloaded opened in a record number of countries simultaneously. But the UK still got screwed, as always. I have no idea why the UK is always the last English speaking country in the world to get Hollywood movies. Surely it's a more lucrative market than Australia and New Zealand?

  51. You're right by JSkills · · Score: 1
    Jeez I should cut down on the caffiene and/or take some ritalin or something. All I saw was this part ...

    Low-quality copies of the film on DVD have also been reported for sale at a major traders' market in London.

    Although it is not unusual for pirate copies of blockbuster films to appear on the internet soon after release, they are often of poor quality, filmed on a hidden videcamera by a cinemagoer

    I must have missed the important part of the story.

    Mod me down with a vengance - I deserve it :-(

  52. Problem is, its EQUALLY distributed. by Viewsonic · · Score: 2

    So if they go after ONE person, they also have to go after the other 700 million people downloading as well because not one person is more accountable than any other. It's entirely balanced distribution, and finding the original contributor is all but impossible after it has been released to more that one machine. I dont think they could drag anyone to court and honestly answer why the other 699,999,999 people aren't there as well, it would be discrimination.

    1. Re:Problem is, its EQUALLY distributed. by ReelOddeeo · · Score: 5, Informative

      So if they go after ONE person, they also have to go after the other 700 million people downloading as well

      Try telling that to the officer when you get a speeding ticket. "Well, I was going as fast as everyone else."

      I think you misunderstand. Hope you don't learn the hard way.

      They discover that your ip is offering this unauthorized copy of a copyrighted work. They investiate. Track you down. Some days later, you get served with legal process. (Or arrested?)

      You are guilty of a crime. It doesn't matter that everyone else is also doing it. It doesn't matter if they don't even go after all the other people.

      All they need to do is make a few very public examples. For this reason, I'm sure they'll sue you for $300 milliion, and then settle for $15,000. Just as the RIAA recently did with four students. This had the effect of completely stopping piracy of copyright works owned by RIAA member companies.

      --

      Those who would give up liberty in exchange for security and DRM should switch to Microsoft Palladium!
    2. Re:Problem is, its EQUALLY distributed. by EpsCylonB · · Score: 4, Funny

      This had the effect of completely stopping piracy of copyright works owned by RIAA member companies.

      Excuse me ?...

    3. Re:Problem is, its EQUALLY distributed. by Anonymous+Custard · · Score: 1

      So if they go after ONE person, they also have to go after the other 700 million people

      Actually, law enforcement has the power to apply the law when they see fit. It's one of the main problems with our criminal justice system; two people could engage in exactly the same criminal activity, and if one of those people has friends in the department, he'll never get charged, while the other guy will. It's frightening how much power comes with the choice of who to prosecute. Companies friendly to the government can sneak by regulation-compliance checks, so they can run dirtier (and more profitable) factories, while their non-lobbying counterparts have to spend money getting their factories up to date.

    4. Re:Problem is, its EQUALLY distributed. by etcpasswd · · Score: 1

      How about the one (or more) who created the .torrent in the first place? Sounds like a target to me. Don't get me wrong; I'm not trying to say that who created the .torrent is the only one who violated the copyrights. But my point is this: In case of a P2P like Kazaa it is not clear who the original author is; but with BitTorrent, author can be tracked down.

    5. Re:Problem is, its EQUALLY distributed. by ReelOddeeo · · Score: 4, Funny

      Shhhhhh! Don't let them know. :-) Let the RIAA believe it was successful.

      --

      Those who would give up liberty in exchange for security and DRM should switch to Microsoft Palladium!
    6. Re:Problem is, its EQUALLY distributed. by agurkan · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Interesting. In Turkish law it does matter if everybody else is doing it or not. Canonical example is riding a bicycle without a license. According to law, they can confiscate your bike and hold you overnight for doing that, but it is never enforced. If a police officer arrests you because you are riding a bike w/o a license, you can claim that he is abusing power and picking on you. It might not have an effect :-( but there is a law against that kind of behaviour from enforcement. I'd think any civilized country would have a similar law. Law enforcement agencies cannot pick the people and the time to enforce the law. Now the disclaimer, for civil matters the damaged party can go after anybody they want. They don't have to go after everyone so for this matter "everybody does it" won't hold in court.

      --
      ato
    7. Re:Problem is, its EQUALLY distributed. by aminorex · · Score: 1

      > You are guilty of a crime.

      Are you so sure of that? What crime, exactly?
      Can you refer to U.S. Code?

      As I understand it, since I am not making a copy,
      I'm not violating copyright. Since I'm not
      benefiting from any copying which is occurring,
      I am not even subject to credible accusation of
      vicarious infringement (as in the Napster case),
      which isn't a crime anyhow -- it's a tort.

      Someone downloading from me may or may not be
      creating a copy illegally, but I have no way of
      knowing that. I do know that it is *possible*
      for someone to be using my node to contribute
      bits to the construction of an illegal copy,
      but then the same is true of my car parked on
      the street.

      --
      -I like my women like I like my tea: green-
    8. Re:Problem is, its EQUALLY distributed. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, law enforcement has the power to apply the law when they see fit.

      Wrong.

      "Da ossifer dun pick on me 'cuz I'se black!"

    9. Re:Problem is, its EQUALLY distributed. by sudog · · Score: 1

      It's not a crime. It's a civil offense.

    10. Re:Problem is, its EQUALLY distributed. by aminorex · · Score: 2, Funny

      > I'd think any civilized country would have a
      > similar law. Law enforcement agencies cannot pick
      > the people and the time to enforce the law.

      C'mon, we're talking about the United States of
      bloody America here. The purpose of law in the USA
      is to create a condition in which everyone is
      equally vulnerable to being imprisoned and gang
      raped, so that every one will keep their head down
      and their mouth shut. This is not a "civilized"
      country like, say, China, or Saudi Arabia. It's
      the rabid, frothing, nuclear-bombing madman of
      the world.

      --
      -I like my women like I like my tea: green-
    11. Re:Problem is, its EQUALLY distributed. by cduffy · · Score: 1
      Actually, law enforcement has the power to apply the law when they see fit.

      Wrong.
      Certainly, they may not have some legal right which permits that, but it most certainly happens. As an example: My father was a city council member in the town where I grew up. One day he went in to work at the electric company, where he was manager, and forgot to turn off the silent alarm. Two policemen, neither of whom knew he worked there, responded to the call. The younger one drew his weapon and called to his senior officer -- who came in and immediately told him, "that's a councilman, you idiot!"; they apologized and left. (Incidentally, the city council determines the local police department's funding).

      Note that they didn't recognize my father as a legitimate employee, but rather as a councilman, and took no further action or inestigation on that account. One would presume that if they'd found anyone else there they would have verified his credentials for being there -- no? But in practice, even if not in theory, the police have the ability to look the other way when they wish.

      For that matter, pretextual traffic stops are entirely legal in the US -- there was a Supreme Court case to that effect -- so the police can pull people over for minor traffic violations, or not, completely based on their own discretion (such that if they have the pretext of a legitimate traffic violation, they can pull someone over because they look out of place -- being a black man in the wrong neighborhood, perhaps, as it was in the event of the aforementioned court case).
    12. Re:Problem is, its EQUALLY distributed. by bheading · · Score: 1

      The funny thing is, the BBC have basically admitted the piracy in this news article - if they've been able to make a judgement on the quality of the downloaded material then they must have at least watched (part of) it, to say nothing of actually having downloaded it themselves. Life would get *very* interesting if the BBC got sued by FACT (our nearest thing to the MPAA/RIAA).

    13. Re:Problem is, its EQUALLY distributed. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      keep rationalizing, maybe even you will believe yourself someday.

      does your mother know she raised a thief?

    14. Re:Problem is, its EQUALLY distributed. by Minna+Kirai · · Score: 1

      Try telling that to the officer when you get a speeding ticket. "Well, I was going as fast as everyone else."

      Works absolutely fine. "I was keeping up with traffic" is a highly effective excuse.

      In terms of roadway safety, if everyone is going 80mph and you drive 55, YOU are creating a hazard. (If cops really wanted speed limits obeyed, there are more effectively but less profitable approaches than what they use today)

    15. Re:Problem is, its EQUALLY distributed. by maxpublic · · Score: 1

      This had the effect of completely stopping piracy of copyright works owned by RIAA member companies.

      What alternate reality are you from? The sharing of mp3s is more common now than it has ever been. You can check this out for yourself by trying any one of a dozen of file sharing programs.

      Apparently people aren't terribly frightened of the RIAA or MPAA.

      Max

      --
      My god carries a hammer. Your god died nailed to a tree. Any questions?
    16. Re:Problem is, its EQUALLY distributed. by jroysdon · · Score: 1

      Unless someone trojans a server and uses that to point the .torrent at. Yeah, you can shut down the trojan server, but with all the unpatched vulernable Windows boxes available, folks can just put up more and more .torrent files.

      The problem here is that you'd lose connectivity to all the other folks who had the file already downloaded.

      For research purposes, I've checked each tracker server so far that I've found a .torrent file listed on Slashdot, and that tracker server is offline or not responding.

    17. Re:Problem is, its EQUALLY distributed. by Anonymous+Custard · · Score: 1

      the police can pull people over for minor traffic violations, or not, completely based on their own discretion

      Exactly. Or even if they want to harass someone in particular, they can tell their buddies to pull over a certian car whenever they get the chance; 5 mph over the limit, no turn signal, anything.

      When society changes so that certain laws, like speed limit laws, find themselves out of date, and most people break them, the police get way more authority than they should have. It should be that most people obey the law, and the few who break it are caught and punished. Instead, most people break the law, so the police get to pick and choose who to single out. The same applies to industries, where when republicans are in power, regulations over republican-dominated industries tend to be less strictly enforced. Too scary:-(

    18. Re:Problem is, its EQUALLY distributed. by GreenBugsBunny · · Score: 0

      (If cops really wanted speed limits obeyed, there are more effectively but less profitable approaches than what they use today)

      Example? (not a troll, I'm genuinely interested)

    19. Re:Problem is, its EQUALLY distributed. by GhettoFabulous · · Score: 1

      Try telling that to the officer when you get a speeding ticket. "Well, I was going as fast as everyone else."

      Actually, you can use that as a legal defense... It's keeping flow with the traffic, which to a certain extent you are allowed to do. If every person on the turnpike happens to be going 75 mph, you won't see a cop pull anybody over. Hell, they tailgate people doing 55 or 60.

      Besides, what the RIAA is doing is more like arresting 3 people at a city wide riot. You can't charge 3 people for all of the property damage, or even for 3 percent of the damage.

    20. Re:Problem is, its EQUALLY distributed. by volkerdi · · Score: 2, Informative

      Try telling that to the officer when you get a speeding ticket. "Well, I was going as fast as everyone else."

      Actually, in California you can tell that to the judge and if they can't produce a "speed survey" that's sufficiently recent from that stretch of road showing that you were travelling at least 10% faster than the average car, it's thrown out.

      Now if we can just get some fair use legislation for P2P, we'll be all set. As long as you're not downloading 10% more than the average user, hands off, it's "fair use".

    21. Re:Problem is, its EQUALLY distributed. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      does your mother know she raised a thief?

      Does YOUR mother know she raised a corporate WHORE?
      I guess you learnt your whoring from her.

    22. Re:Problem is, its EQUALLY distributed. by zangdesign · · Score: 1

      That's MR. rabid, frothing, nuclear-bombing madman of the world to you, you commie pinko.

      --
      To celebrate the occasion of my 1000th post, I will post no more forever on Slashdot. Goodbye.
    23. Re:Problem is, its EQUALLY distributed. by eat+potato · · Score: 0

      Try telling that to the officer when you get a speeding ticket. "Well, I was going as fast as everyone else."

      Bad analogy... I'm not sure if it's totally legal, but (at least here in the US) if the traffic on the highway is all doing 70mph, then no cop will pull you over for doing 70.

      OTOH, if the overall traffic flow is going at 55 mph, then you have no excuse to be over 55 mph.

    24. Re:Problem is, its EQUALLY distributed. by Cplus · · Score: 1

      Have you seen the pace cars used in races? I heard several years ago about a guy getting busted for going 120 km/h on a major highway in Toronto which was the flow of traffic on the 401 on any day. He and his buddies got in their cars after he lost in court and drove side by side at the speed limit and backed the whole city up. I believe the moral of the story was that they got arrested again and are generally considered dumbasses. Though that is one way of making people go the speed limit.

      --
      "Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality." -- Dalai Lama
    25. Re:Problem is, its EQUALLY distributed. by Sabriel · · Score: 1

      Hmm. Okay, so they got your IP, they go after you, it doesn't matter if thousands of others are doing it... what happens if you then give them the IP addresses of the thousands of others? Do they have a duty to investigate and prosecute all of those people, or can they be selective? Just curious.

    26. Re:Problem is, its EQUALLY distributed. by abiogenesis · · Score: 1

      Nope. If somebody did it WITHOUT being punished, it will hold. There is the notion of "previous case" in Turkish law too (emsal karar).

      --

      Donate free food to the hungry at The Hunger site.
    27. Re:Problem is, its EQUALLY distributed. by agurkan · · Score: 1

      we are going on a tangent here but i need to make this correction. cases that do not go to trial cannot set precedent. to set a precedent someone has to commit the act, be charged, be prosecuted and be acquitted. IANAL but my father and brother are.

      --
      ato
    28. Re:Problem is, its EQUALLY distributed. by UltimateZer0 · · Score: 1
      They investiate. Track you down. . .

      Investiate? I could be wrong and that might actually be a word, but I don't think I want ANYONE investiating me!

      ---

      --

      --- I'm going to get a score of -1 for this post because the mods are fuckers.

  53. Without a Compant To Go After? by ihatewinXP · · Score: 5, Insightful

    -- the source of the copy, suggesting it's from a film or digital source rather than a cinema-screen-leech--

    Howabout going after themselves? I remeber a few days before Episode II came out I had a copy...and it was terrible. Sure I watched it and was wowed but when the movie came out I still went and saw it. Now if YOUR OWN COMPANY leaks a pristine digital copy it seems to me that the problem is your own company and not a file format (.torrent). And as many people pointed out, Ive seen matrix twice now and I garuntee you anyone searching out reloaded on bit torrent is A. a huge fan and B. will or has already shelled out to see it.

    If they start to sue individual users since there is no company ill boycot the 3rd movie. Just like ill never buy a CD again (i support my artists by buying a tshirt at concerts, that is where they make money) the only thing you can do these days is vot with your dollar.

    You guys (and gals) talk so much shit about the MPAA but who pays their salaries? You do. Everytime you see the matrix / LOTR your paying their lawyers to hunt people down. Never forget that.

    --
    ---- The real Slashdot is still here. You just have to browse at -1 to read the comments.
    1. Re:Without a Compant To Go After? by Alan+Partridge · · Score: 1

      I'll

      ill means something completely different

      --
      That was classic intercourse!
    2. Re:Without a Compant To Go After? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You shouldn't complain about other people's grammar. Use a period you loser!

    3. Re:Without a Compant To Go After? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And c) Live in a shithole in the middle of nowhere with a crappy theater that won't be showing it untill august at the earliest...

    4. Re:Without a Compant To Go After? by Avakado · · Score: 1

      You guys (and gals) talk so much shit about the MPAA but who pays their salaries? You do. Everytime you see the matrix / LOTR your paying their lawyers to hunt people down. Never forget that.

      On the other hand, they wouldn't hunt down anyone if nobody pirated. I might fund the hunting, but you're the one who's encouraging it. Never forget that.

      --
      The world will end in 5 minutes. Please log out.
  54. Don't need no BitTorrent by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can share the Matrix on Slashdot. Here :

    _O__-._O__
    _|\___\|__ Dodge this !
    _|_____|__
    _/\____/\_

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    1. Re:Don't need no BitTorrent by robson · · Score: 1

      _O__-._O__
      _|\___\|__ Dodge this !
      _|_____|__
      _/\____/\_
      Boy, you pirates just keep pushin' the MPAA and RIAA. Why do you feel justified in stealing the hard work of hundreds of gaffers, effects artists, and yes-men?
      I tell ya, next thing you know people'll be whistling copyrighted songs in public!
  55. Three Times! by Icephreak1 · · Score: 1

    Yo, I've seen the movie three times in theatres already, with a fourth viewing slated for the upcoming IMAX release. Post the link, because I'VE EARNED IT.

    - IP

  56. And what "site" would that be? by WD · · Score: 1

    The BBC? Do you think they linked to the bittorrent file?

    The BitTorrent URL itself? You obviously don't understand how BitTorrent works....

    1. Re:And what "site" would that be? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      in any case the BT URL's posted here *have* been slashdotted. You obviously don't understand how http works...

    2. Re:And what "site" would that be? by zsmooth · · Score: 1

      It's you who doesn't understand. BT does require a centralized tracker, and those DO get /.'ed (especially after the last /. story on BT.)

    3. Re:And what "site" would that be? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Au contraire my underinformed parent-poster, it seems that it is you who is in need of some education. The grandparent-poster may, or may not understand how bittorrent works but he got it right at least (and was quite clearly doing so in the context of a joke.) You on the other hand are wrong, bittorrent requires a central tracker which essentially serves ip addresses to the peers. Those who run trackers generally provide websites alongside which serve as forums and repositories for torrent files. It is these sites which can be and are slashdotted and, if one of the threads in this discussion is correct, come under DDOS attacks.

    4. Re:And what "site" would that be? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And they did. All the decent sites and most of their trackers: SuprNova, torrentse.cx, candystore, filesoup, bounceme, ns9 -- the list goes on.
      Suppose it doesn't matter in itself, but thousands of potential bt users will have been alienated by their frustrating experience.

      The MPAA couldn't have organised it better!

  57. BitTorrent? Just shows how clueless they are.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative
    Who gives a damn about BitTorrent?

    Newsgroups are where it's at. All three cd's of the Centropy SVCD release are in many of the alt.binaries groups.

    Criticising BitTorrent shows just how clueless these guys are. Always aim at the end-user sharing program, and never at the underlying violators who are hosting the actual data being shared. Maybe if they went after Centropy, something might get done, but then again where could we go to download status symbols and be sup4r l33t??

    Can't help noticing that it still somehow managed to gross a totally ridiculous amount of money..

  58. Let me see by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So I guess the Matrix people would want to sue the people that came up with BitTorrent, right? But what if someone wrote a file sharing program, but split it in two seperate pieces that on their own do nothing, but when you combine them (copy A + B C) it becomes the final program?
    Of course you need to set it up as being two totally indepedent sources for A and B... Sounds very hard...

    1. Re:Let me see by Graspee_Leemoor · · Score: 1

      "But what if someone wrote a file sharing program, but split it in two seperate pieces that on their own do nothing, but when you combine them (copy A + B C) it becomes the final program?"

      Now there's an idea! Split it into 9 parts and scatter it throughout the known universe.

      "The Quest for the p2p client of 9 parts. An adventure for 4-6 characters of level 10-14".

      graspee

  59. This happened with the first Matrix by skraps · · Score: 1

    All of my friends had copies of the original Matrix on their PC's. It contributed to the popularity in a big way as far as I saw. The coolness factor of having a digital copy was almost cult-like.

    If I hadn't first seen the Matrix for free on a friend's 17 inch monitor, I doubt I would have ended up paying to see Reloaded on the opening night.

    --
    Karma: -2147483648 (Mostly affected by integer overflow)
  60. Same price I paid by shepd · · Score: 1

    Well, $12 CDN for 4 movies at a drive in. Of which all but Malibu's Most Wanted were much better.

    Here I sit brokenhearted,
    Paid $3 and and wasn't outsmarted.

    --
    If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC
  61. I downloaded it, then went to the theaters by CrazyJim0 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I was just way impressed with the extra long fight scenes... I enjoy long fights.

    We wouldn't have went out to see it and have a nice night out if I didn't argue it would be good to see. I wouldn't have argued it was good if I didn't download it.

    I always make it a point to try and make sure the artist gets my coin if the artist deserves it. Theres so much crap out there, I feel if more people do as I do, then more talented and original artists will be weeded from corporate respawn.

  62. This just in... by CommieLib · · Score: 1

    Guns responsible for murder, cars responsible for accidents, tractors responsible for farming.

    --
    If your bitterest enemies are people who hack the heads off civilians, then I would say you're doing something right.
    1. Re:This just in... by Anopheles · · Score: 1

      This one of the stories at CNN.com today:

      Most believe drivers, not cars, are biggest danger

      This is terribly bad news for Stephen King. I guess it's a good thing he retired, what with no longer being able to write a believable story about possessed cars...

      I guess he better go back to walking country roads... no scratch that...

  63. Rental industry being HELPED by online sharing by phr2 · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I've heard that online file sharing has led to DVD's making it into the rental stores much sooner after the theatrical release than used to happen. That means people are getting to rent DVD's while the movie is still sort of fresh. The rental places can only benefit from that.

    I've also heard that movie theaters are in far more trouble from video rentals than they could possibly be from file sharing. Who wants to go to some sticky-floor theater and eat overpriced greasy popcorn and pay $10 per person for tickets when you can rent a DVD and watch it on your home theater with your friends for less than the price of one ticket? Viewers are starting to figure that out.

    These days I hardly ever go see big-release movies in the theater. I saw Spiderman and LOTR 1 and that's about it. Oh yeah, Attack of the Clones because a friend dragged me to the theater. I haven't seen LOTR 2 yet and I'm looking forward to seeing it, but I'm going to wait for a DVD rental. If that puts another nail into the MPAA's coffin, I'm all for it.

    1. Re:Rental industry being HELPED by online sharing by tbmaddux · · Score: 1
      Who wants to go to some sticky-floor theater and eat overpriced greasy popcorn and pay $10 per person for tickets when you can rent a DVD and watch it on your home theater with your friends for less than the price of one ticket?
      I find that I often get better sound on my home theater setup than at my local cinema where it is hard to find Dolby Digital and DTS in theaters. It is also, as you say, less expensive and usually cleaner. The cinema can win out, though, with a more immersive experience and a better picture. In particular, the freedom to pause my DVD player at home can break the flow of the film.
      --
      Can't you see that everyone is buying station wagons?
    2. Re:Rental industry being HELPED by online sharing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I also heard your mom was a two-bit whore, but that doesn't make it true.

    3. Re:Rental industry being HELPED by online sharing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are dumb. First, I've never in my life seen a $10 movie ticket. Second, according to your faulty "piracy is helping the industry" logic I can do society a favor by driving around town, running over pedestrians and children, and smashing into cars. Because hey - the hospitals will make more money. The funeral homes will make more money. And the auto dealers will make more money replacing the cars I smash up. So, gosh, look at all the people who win!

    4. Re:Rental industry being HELPED by online sharing by pi+radians · · Score: 1

      I haven't seen LOTR 2 yet and I'm looking forward to seeing it, but I'm going to wait for a DVD rental. If that puts another nail into the MPAA's coffin, I'm all for it

      The MPAA profits from you seeing it in theatres or renting it for home. The only group that get really killed with the higher demand for renting is the cinemas.

      The file sharing probably hurts the retailers the most. You can download a movie or rent it for 4 bucks. But why would you pay $20 - 30 for that same movie? That is why DVD extras will become so important.

      --

      sin(6cos(r)+5A)
    5. Re:Rental industry being HELPED by online sharing by mattsucks · · Score: 1

      If that puts another nail into the MPAA's coffin, I'm all for it.

      And when the MPAA (and its member companies) are dead and gone, who makes the next Spiderman or LoTR or AoTC or Matrix IV: Buffer Overflow ?

      The extremes on either end of this spectrum (MPAA wins, nobody can do anything with any movie without ponying up $7 vs. "freedom" wins, no financial incentive for making $100M movies) benefit noone.

    6. Re:Rental industry being HELPED by online sharing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      MPAA is actually sorta smart (unlike RIAA), and understands that they make their real money from home sales -- the Matrix 2 is going to be far more profitable on DVD than on celluloid.

      You can already see this in how they frontload the marketing in order to make all the boxoffice sales in the first 2 weeks. Most non-blockbuster pictures are out of the theaters after 3 weeks anyway. Also, nearly all hollywood films are shot for video -- lots of closeups and you can practically see the pan-n-scan box.

      Within 2 years, most films will have simultaneous cinema, DVD, and PPV releases. (Talking about the average films like Bruce Almighy, not the Matrix-style blockbusters, but those will come along eventually.) Face it -- Most Americans are fat lazy assholes who can't get off their sofa, whose most prized possession is their TV set, and hate other people anyway. Home release is the only sane business model.

    7. Re:Rental industry being HELPED by online sharing by heXXXen · · Score: 1

      Who would want to pay $5 to watch a scratched DVD that skips around?

      I don't eat greasy popcorn, I'm not a fatass. And student tickets here (my preferred theatre is at Universal Studios Orlando) are only $5.50.

      Crowd reaction is a big part of the movie experience. It is important to see the big movies right when they come out so you can be in a packed theatre.

      I would much rather go to the theatre. I haven't been to Blockbuster in years.

    8. Re:Rental industry being HELPED by online sharing by DeadScreenSky · · Score: 1

      AFAIK, no major movie studio funded the lastest Star Wars films. Independently produced films (even cheap ones like Blair Witch Project) have managed to pull in large profits from time to time.

      What's more, if by some chance the MPAA did die (I find that unlikely, but the parent poster did suggest it), there are very good chances that another organization would rise up to take its place. That organization could even be better than the MPAA. Could also be worse, but hey... :P

      The MPAA and its current member organizations are not indispensible. They just want us to think that. Films will always be created. Nature abhors a vaccuum. etc. etc.

      --
      There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion. -- Francis Bacon
  64. .torrent link by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative
    1. Re:.torrent link by ceejayoz · · Score: 1

      Doubt it - the "ts" in the filename means telesync, which means someone set up a camera in the theater and hooked the sound up to the theater sound (usually with a hearing aid thing provided by them). They're generally pretty shitty quality.

  65. CD and script by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I used bittorrent to download both the script and the matrix reloaded 2 cd set. The soundtrack is not that great but hey, it was free. I haven't read the script, and probably won't, but I will keep it like the hoarding little child that I am. I wasn't game to download the movie itself for several reasons, a) I thought it would be some dodgy copy by someone sitting in the theatre with a handycam, b) I want to experience the full effect of seeing it in a cinema, c) frankly, my hd is full, and will take me a week or so to get a new one.

  66. Re:Film source? Nonsense. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is pure nonsense. There are about 6 different versions of Reloaded floating about online but all the ones I've seen are Telesyncs.

    Actually there is a DVDrip quality version out there. It's 3 SVCD's. I have no idea how someone got a copy this good, but it's VERY good. Perhaps the best rip I've ever seen :)

  67. ___ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Despite this piracy, the flick has made over $365M already. Including my tickets. Twice.

    That's a good little consumer. Be sure to save some money for 3.

  68. downloaders are paying customers too by CountJoe · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Yeah, I downloaded the Matrix Reloaded using bit torrent. But I also watched the movie twice in the theatre and refused to watch the download until I had seen it in the theatre. And I'm willing to bet most of the people who downloaded it watched it in the theatres as well.

    This is especially true for this movie because so much of the draw is the visual effects and the whole theatre experience. It was well worth the cost of the ticket to see it in the theatre.

    I would never replace the theatre experience with a poor-quality download.

    1. Re:downloaders are paying customers too by pointwood · · Score: 1

      I bought 2 chocolade bars yesterday, so it's okay that I steal one today?

      Even if you paid to watch "Reloaded" one million times in the theater, it wouldn't matter - it's still just as illigal to download that copy of "Reloaded" like you did!

    2. Re:downloaders are paying customers too by Smidge204 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I bought 2 chocolade bars yesterday, so it's okay that I steal one today?

      Here's the only issue with that argument, and erally the biggest problem with "piracy" in general.

      Each candy bar has to be manufactured seperately. Each one uses up x amount of resources (sugan, cocoa, milk, etc) and is therefore intrinsically worth a certain amount, since it takes time and money to produce a steady supply of these resources (manpower being a resource as well).

      A movie, especially in a digital format (DivX, etc) is produced ONCE. Each copy uses up no extra resources (except maybe hard drive space). Every time you make a copy, nobody has to get back in front of the cameras, rebuild sets, spend hours in a makeup room, no more cars are thrown of bridges and nobody spends all night creating complex computer generated sequences.

      Once the movie is made, there is no longer any resources required to duplicate and maintain it. Therefore, it has no intrinsic value.

      How can you really "steal" something that, physically, has no intrinsic value?

      That's the real issue here.
      =Smidge=

    3. Re:downloaders are paying customers too by DarkRabbit · · Score: 1

      I bought 2 chocolade bars yesterday, so it's okay that I steal one today?

      So, by watching it at home I've consumed it and it can never be watched again? Neat! What part of my PC eats the bits?

    4. Re:downloaders are paying customers too by pointwood · · Score: 1

      I get you point and yes, I call would still call it theft. What if it isn't a movie, but some company secret that some cracker got from the company network? The data could be research data, that was worth a lot to competitors, but it didn't cost anything to make that copy the cracker got, did it?

      No, it didn't cost them anything that you downloaded that copy, but it not up to you to decide whether you should have the right to do it. They made it, so it's their decision. They have decided to sell it on a DVD soon - do you think that all these illigal copies doesn't hurt the DVD sale at all? and when the DVD is released, illigal copies will be made - don't you think that will hurt the sale? Do that cost the makers money? Yes it do.

      If it had no value, why do people download it?

  69. A little perspective by morcheeba · · Score: 3, Interesting

    $365mil is a lot of moolah; it needs a comparison.

    Let's assume the worst case scenario*: Every college student in the united states downloads the movie and don't pay their $7 to see the movie in a theater. There are about 5 million college students**, so that works out to $35 million. That's ten percent of the total. And that total is still rising -- the movie hasn't been out that long, and the DVD is still far away.

    * Ok, this isn't the worst case - sorry to be us-centric and imply that college students are the pirates. But, this is their propoganda and I'm following it to the MPAA's extreme.
    ** 1.3 mil college bound seniors * 4 = guesstimate

    1. Re:A little perspective by StupidKatz · · Score: 0, Redundant

      Your figures make the (incorrect) assumption that not a single downloader will buy a copy of the "legit" DVD. Not one. If one does, then your figures are all for naught.

      Yes, there are those that will not buy the DVD. Now, they just download an inferior from the 'net instead of stealing a physical DVD from a merchant (who then eats the loss). Rule-breaking is bad, but I'm embarassed by the MP/RIAA's baby-faced temper tantrum: "WAAAAH! THEY'RE STEEEAAALING OUR THEORETICAL PROFIIIIITS! WAAAAH!".

      I'm also thoroughly disgusted that they managed to get that completely bunk DMCA passed. Forget milk: Got money?

    2. Re:A little perspective by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      I'm in college. I saw it in theaters twice. I will see it sometime in the next week or two for the IMAX release. The day the DVD comes out, I'm buying it. I've downloaded 4 different versions off of bittorrent. So far one was a porn and one was of tolerable quality. Guess I can't get this one because all the bt sites are down (thanks /.). Hmm...Now that I think of it, this is the cycle for nearly every decent action movie released this year. Happend with Daredevil, X2, and now Matrix Reloaded. I'd say the movie industy's gotten my fair share of money. I'm by far not the only one who watches movies like this, as about 10 of my friends were with me at every showing I mention, and my friends at different universities tend to do the same thing. All in all this works out to about $50 a person (8+8+9+25), and for the most part my friends will likely buy the dvd too, so that's $500 just between my small group of friends, just for the movie. Did I mention that I'll be buying the Animatrix as soon as the DVD comes out (got that off bittorrent early too mind you), and I will buy Enter the Matrix later this week (got it early off bittorrent, all this money on the matrix adds up, gotta get my next paycheck).

      I'm sick of being accused of causing these companies a loss of money. I go to concerts and buy CDs, and rip them to ogg to store on my backup server, completely legitimatly. I buy DVDs, I go to the movies, often times more than once. Media industry: this can change, are you sure you really want it to?

  70. rip? by jonnyfivealive · · Score: 1

    maybe im misinformed, but how exactly can it be a rip when it hasnt been encoded on a dvd yet? are you *gasp* without a clue?

    1. Re:rip? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Perhaps some Hollywood guy ripped a internal telecine, or dumped it right off the Avid. DVD isn't the only digital source in the world.

    2. Re:rip? by jonnyfivealive · · Score: 1

      it was my understanding that the term "rip" applied to decoding. avid is not encoded and tho my knowledge of telecine is limited, i dont think they are either. rip doesnt apply to all digital sources. clever use of the word avid trying to impress me tho.

  71. Well darnit by Com2Kid · · Score: 1

    I downloaded the low quality Esoteric release. :-P

    Props to whatever group got the HQ copy out, now just to sort that distrobution out from the 50 other LQ copies floating around!

  72. Arr, they be rich! by gobbo · · Score: 5, Interesting
    "Despite the availability of pirate copies, The Matrix Reloaded has made more than $363.5m at the box office worldwide so far. "

    Piracy: a crucial part of viral marketing.

    Pirates have been given a bad rap, historically. History is written by the victors, remember. Many of the pirates from the great sailing age freed slaves and the indentured, set up their own kingless mini-republics and functional anarchies, and would appear more modern to us than their other contemporaries.

    See this excert from TAZ on pirate utopias or this article or google it. And of course if you're really into the spirit of things, you could goof around reading No Quarter Given.

    "They vilify us, the scoundrels do, when there is only this difference, they rob the poor under the cover of law, forsooth, and we plunder the rich under the protection of our own courage. Had you not better make then one of us, than sneak after these villains for employment" - D. Defoe

    1. Re:Arr, they be rich! by m1chael · · Score: 1

      reverse psychology its not :)

      --
      I know you are psychotic, but please make an effort.
    2. Re:Arr, they be rich! by belloc · · Score: 1

      History is written by the victors, remember.

      Yes, and revisionist history is written by whomever the hell wants to make up their own version of the truth.

      Belloc

      --
      I got more rhymes than Jamaica got Mangoes.
    3. Re:Arr, they be rich! by Maul · · Score: 1

      Very interesting information. It is hard to say how much of it is fact, and how much of it is "revisionist nonsense," but nonetheless it would seem to call all "pirates" nothing more than bloodthirsty thieves would be incorrect. While no doubt they were violent, it seems as if some of them viewed themselves as Robin Hood style figures.

      As far as the "modern" software/music/movie "pirate" term, I believe it is a bit of a misnomer. "Bootlegger" or "Copyright Violater" would be more appropriate.

      --

      "You spoony bard!" -Tellah

    4. Re:Arr, they be rich! by Darth · · Score: 1


      Pirates have been given a bad rap, historically. History is written by the victors, remember. Many of the pirates from the great sailing age freed slaves and the indentured, set up their own kingless mini-republics and functional anarchies, and would appear more modern to us than their other contemporaries


      I'll freely admit to not being an authority on the subject of pirates, but i cannot think of a single pirate who set up a functional anarchy. Most pirate ships were pure democracies. They were also equal opportunity employers (well, kinda). Black slaves were freed and many joined the pirates. There were even a few female pirates (though they hid their gender from their fellow pirates).

      Pirates were also endorsed by governments against their adversaries (England supported many pirates against the Spanish in the Carribean. That is, until they were no longer needed. then they were arrested and killed)

      That being said, there's not really a relationship between traditional pirates and what are now being called pirates.

      --
      Darth --
      Nil Mortifi, Sine Lucre
  73. But you didn't really download it by Zog+The+Undeniable · · Score: 4, Funny

    The Matrix program just made you *think* you did, so you could believe you were sticking one on The Man. This made you happy and contented so the machines could suck a few more amps out of your neural synapses.

    --
    When I am king, you will be first against the wall.
    1. Re:But you didn't really download it by Fweeky · · Score: 2, Funny

      So, how much energy they can leech from you is linked to your happiness? Damn, I must be about ready for being replaced as faulty.

      Psst, Matrix supervisors, fix me up with a girlfriend and I'll make sure I generate a few more watts to help, uh, boost your fusion processes.

      <waits...>

      Bah. The service here sucks; I'm off to Cyberia*.

      (* Cyberia: Ref; Red Dwarf book _Last Human_. A computer-generated reality tuned to be your own personal hell)

  74. the article portrays by m1chael · · Score: 1

    this as if it were something new. just because the matrix is cool doesnt make this any more news than equilibrium conspiracy theories.

    --
    I know you are psychotic, but please make an effort.
  75. lol @ downloading a theatrical release by brad-x · · Score: 1

    Count me in as a moviegoer, there's no substitute. I want to go see it again!

    Why on earth would you download a badly done copy of something you can pay for the best quality of?

    In my world we have little bits of currency with which we can purchase (for the most part) quality controlled goods and services. Some of you should check that out.

    --
    // -- http://www.BRAD-X.com/ -- //
    1. Re:lol @ downloading a theatrical release by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Video and audio quality are only part of the movie-watching experience. Other qualities people lack when going to movies:

      * That asshat with the cell phone.
      * The mother who frowns and threatens to report you for pouring vodka in your Coke.
      * The mall rent-a-cop who calls the cops on your joint session in the parking lot outside the theater.
      * The line you have to stand in to get refreshments
      * The other things I missed, like having to drive to the theater and find parking, etc.

  76. In other news... by jdreed1024 · · Score: 5, Interesting
    ...Ford is being blamed by families of pedestrians who got hit by cars. 3M is being blamed by the RIAA for producing CD-Rs which pirates can used to store music on. Oh, and Sony is being blamed by parents whose kids are dumb because they watch TV all the time.

    *yawn*. All things can be used for good or evil. Duh. What would be ideal would be for the BitTorrent folks to publicly denounce this. Or add a little disclaimer to their page (like Apple did with Rip Mix Burn) saying "We do not endorse or support the use of BitTorrent for illegal activities".

    Now, here come the cries of "waaah, censorship, you're a fascist, etc". But think about it for just a second. All BitTorrent would be saying is "look, we created this to solve the problem of distributing things like ISO images to hundreds of people. We didn't create this to help you download the matrix. We stronly encourage you not to use it for that". That's not censorship, nor is it selling out. (Unless, of course, they really did create BitTorrent specifically for downloading movies.) They can't actively prevent you from downloading illegal files, but they can tell you that they think it's not such a bright idea.

    Napster, Kazaa, and all the others really couldn't pull the "people can download anything from our networks, not just music" without the entire world laughing. Seeing as how BitTorrent has been used by RedHat and others to distribute ISOs, they actually can pull that argument and have it stick. And I really hope the BitTorrent folks don't pass on this opporuntity. Because then the RIAA has two choices: 1) accuse RedHat and others of supporting piracy by encouarging BitTorrent (which, while it would have MSFT dancing with glee, just isn't going to stick in this day and age); 2) suck it up and realize that tools can be used for both good and evil

    --
    There is no sig, there is only Zuul.
    1. Re:In other news... by TeknoHog · · Score: 1
      We didn't create this to help you download the matrix.

      I doubt even BT would be enough for downloading the entire Matrix. Especially considering that you're inside it.

      --
      Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
    2. Re:In other news... by Feztaa · · Score: 1

      All BitTorrent would be saying is "look, we created this to solve the problem of distributing things like ISO images to hundreds of people. We didn't create this to help you download the matrix. We stronly encourage you not to use it for that".

      The author of BitTorrent has the latest Mandrake and RedHat ISOs on his website. He doesn't have Matrix Reloaded. I think that speaks for itself.

    3. Re:In other news... by majcher · · Score: 1
      (Unless, of course, they really did create BitTorrent specifically for downloading movies.) From Bram's website:
      I am a technological activist. I have a political agenda. I am in favor of basic human rights: to free speech, to use any information and technology, to purchase and use recreational drugs, to enjoy and purchase so-called 'vices', to be free of intruders, and to privacy. [...] I further my goals with technology. I build systems to disseminate information, commit digital piracy, synthesize drugs, maintain untrusted contacts, purchase anonymously, and secure machines and homes.
      Not saying that's wrong - I'm all for it. I'm just sayin'.
    4. Re:In other news... by neutz · · Score: 1

      And don't forget McDonalds for making us fat.

    5. Re:In other news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      3M? Please. Taiyo Yuden. Only the best for my warez.

  77. Bittorrent link by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Thank you BBC! Thank you Google!

    Bittorrent link

  78. VHS? by WD · · Score: 1

    VHS, huh? You've got to be kidding. How exactly would you sneak that into a theater? A backpack?

    1. Re:VHS? by bofkentucky · · Score: 1

      That projectionist making 5.25/hr in the booth would be where I would start...

      --
      09f911029d74e35bd84156c5635688c0
    2. Re:VHS? by NanoGator · · Score: 0, Troll

      Never heard of VHS-C?

      --
      "Derp de derp."
  79. Impossible by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you are going to see the Matrix or Lord of the Rings, you don't have any friends to begin with.

  80. Wheres the news here?? by arock99 · · Score: 0

    Matrix Reloaded was available a day before it was released on Torrent...old old news STOP POSTING TORRENT NEWS. Every time I go to sites they are down now because of the #@# slashdot effect. Its killing the best file sharing program out there

    1. Re:Wheres the news here?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Everything scales but the trackers. Consider it as a test for BitTorrent, a test it has failed. It is still centralised enough to be slashdotted, whereas overnet and freenet still work perfectly. It's clear what BT needs to do to handle real load spikes - decentralise the trackers!

  81. BitTorrent? What about IRC? by incentive · · Score: 1

    Anyone who knows peer-2-peer sharing is aware that IRC is by far the largest network around. Yet, new programs spring up every week for file sharing, and most of them shut down later down the road, yah Napster anyone? IRC has continued to stay online despite the amount of piracy that transpires on the IRC network. Also the amount of 'warez gatherings' that take place on IRC is unprecendented by any other network today. So how can we assume that BitTorrent is a problem?

    --
    Stay far from the timid, and live the pharse the skys the limit.
  82. in related news... by MORTAR_COMBAT! · · Score: 2, Redundant

    "BitTorent Blamed for Matrix2 Downloads"

    Gun blamed for killing spree

    Circular saw blamed for rash of new buildings

    Gasoline blamed for smog

    People kill people with guns. People build buildings using various tools. People burn gasoline in their cars. People illegally download the Matrix: Reloaded.

    --
    MORTAR COMBAT!
    1. Re:in related news... by m1chael · · Score: 1

      it was the butterfly...

      --
      I know you are psychotic, but please make an effort.
  83. You are kidding yourself. by ArcSecond · · Score: 1

    Have you been asleep? The point is not to win in court on the merits of the case. The point is to force the poor schmucks whose names they pick from a hat to give up.

    I believe they normally attach a settlement document to the letter telling them they are going to lose everything they own in court costs defending themselves. Unless the EFF does something about it.

    --

    I've got a bad attitude and karma to burn. Go ahead. Mod me down.

  84. Piracy Bullshit by Cackmobile · · Score: 1

    Even though this will probably become one of, if not the biggest, selling movie ever, yet they will still calim piracy hurts them. Most people will go see it at the cinema but will want to watch it at home again and not have to wait 6 months or what ever till it comes out. Do u think they will realise. doubt it.

    --
    -- Karma Karma Karma Karma, Karma Chameleon - Boy George
    1. Re:Piracy Bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And most parents, before allowing their children to go see the movie, will want to screen the movie first by downloading the movie and watching it. Then give it their approval to allow their children to see it on the next family outing.

  85. GNU/Agent GNU/Smith by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Think about it: In the Matrix Reloaded, GNU/Smith touches anyone else, and they become GNU/Smiths. He is just as viral as the GPL!

    And it's not like they only get a GNU/Smith arm in their othervise normal bodies, they turn completely GNU/Smith.

  86. Funny you mention this :-) by BLKMGK · · Score: 3, Funny

    I bought a NEW DVD from COSTCO no long ago. Got home and discovered I had already purcahsed the DVD previously so I put it on the shelf to give to a friend. Gave it to a friend later on, they cracked the seal, put in the DVD - label matched the cover - and were treated to the hated purple Barney!

    I laughed my ass off when they called me up bitching and insisted on getting the DVD back. I can hardly wait for someone to ask to borrow it :-) Unfortunatly I don't recall off the top of my head which one it was - funny as hell though!

    --
    Build it, Drive it, Improve it! Hybridz.org
    1. Re:Funny you mention this :-) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      lie. "i don't recall off the top of my head.." that's something you remember. ever think about becoming a writer? :p

    2. Re:Funny you mention this :-) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Take it back to Costco if you don't want to keep it for the gag factor. I bought a 32" TV there several years ago and it started acting strange. Because the warranty period (2 years) had expired, I took it back to Costco and got a cash refund on the spot, no hassles.

  87. The article is full of shit... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    All the released copies are not from a digital source, they are all telesyncs, and 1 or 2 cams (that were released first). Just check any/all of the release sites on the net, and you'll see.

    mikerosoft

  88. bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ok, I haven't downloaded the matrix myself, but from what I've seen on forums and such there is no "high quality" copy out there.

    I went and saw it opening night. The movie was great, but why the hell would I want to download it? Next thing we know imax will be blaming piracy for lower then expected sales on matrix tickets.

    In some respects a clampdown is going to be good for all the security/privacy buffs out there. Already we have programs like freenet and peerguardian. So far few people have had a motivation to use things like encryption. Well, now they will. The downside of this is that its going to make terrorists and other criminals harder to track. Usually most people are pretty shortsighted and fail to see the full consequences of their actions until after the fact. Then some other special interest group comes up with another "solution" which hurts everyone else except themselves.

    Its just too bad that the RIAA and MPAA are lieing through their teeth. They are just using "piracy" to get more laws passed that are specifically in their own favor.

    We all know their more motivated in increasing their profits, rather than by fear of loosing them. Of course every business wants to make a profit. The sad part is that by using the government to achieve their goals, they are hurting society as a whole.

    Hell, I suspect there are very few people out there that downloaded the movie, that didn't actually see it in theaters. If they did download it, it was because they wanted to rewatch some cool part which they just weren't willing to fork over $7 or $10 to see twice.

  89. Taco should realize by medham_the_keen · · Score: 0

    That, if pirates couldn't download the movie illegally, the Matrix: Reloaded would have grossed that much more. Thus, industry executives have a legitimate need to enforce their intellectual property rights.

    I fail to see what's controversial about this.

  90. Nah! by BLKMGK · · Score: 1

    The rental industry is being killed by the fact that for the cost of a rental or two you can BUY the silly DVD! I buy several a month and haven't rented a video in at least a couple of years. At first they refused to stock DVD in my area and now tey have them but I could care less becasue I buy the ones I'm interested in at a local discount chain. Renting doesn't make fiscal sense for me and isn't terribly convenient for me....

    P.S. I seldom watch movies in the theater either. I have seen Matrix Reloaded and XMen2 though. Both of them cost me MORE than what a DVD would've even at matinee prices! $12 entrance and the woman spends a ton at the consession - DVDs are WAY cheaper...

    --
    Build it, Drive it, Improve it! Hybridz.org
    1. Re:Nah! by GroovBird · · Score: 1

      Where I live, I can rent a movie for about $4, but to buy the same movie I pay about $30. That's not just "a rental or two".

      Besides, I usually watch them on my PC, so I rip the DVD, bring it back 15 minutes after taking it out and the shop can re-rent it out again the same day while I can enjoy it two nights or something.

      I rented 150 DVDs last year. The clerk looked it up. Don't tell me I'm the reason sales are going down.

      Dave

    2. Re:Nah! by BLKMGK · · Score: 1

      Movies are costing me $10-19 tops. Rental is at least $4 a night. If you forget to take the silly thing back in time you get hit with penalties. Newer movies are given shorter rental periods of course.

      I want to hear 5.1 surround sound when I watch so I don't rip DVD - not sure SVCD supports that but my player doesn't anyway so...

      To each his own but when I line up at the local discount store to look at DVD on a weekened the aisle is 2 deep with people browsing to buy DVD. I currently own more than 250 of the little suckers and any night I can't find something good to watch on the dish there's always a selection of movies to choose from and I don't have to sweat the rental thing. When friends come over there's always something there for them to watch. One of these days I hope used DVDs are as easy to find as used CD too - I've not bought a NEW CD in years, screw them.

      Mind you I NEVER bought VHS stuff ebcause it was a media that degraded too easily - DVD has proven to be a worthwhile medium in my case. Yes, I hate the MPIAA as much as anyone...

      --
      Build it, Drive it, Improve it! Hybridz.org
    3. Re:Nah! by GroovBird · · Score: 1

      Good point.

      However I would like to point out that I was specifically talking about ripping: making a 1:1 copy of the original so that I can enjoy it in the original quality for as long as I see fit. I do not find it worthwhile to keep it on my PC for more than 2 days, which gives me enough time to visit IMDB, see the goofs for myself, watch all the extras and I never have to pay the late-return penalties.

      Oh, and I live just across the street of my favorite rental store.

      Dave

    4. Re:Nah! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What about Netflix? $20/month...the price of a new DVD. They ship you the first three movies in your queue to you -- after that, as soon as they receive one from you, they send you the next DVD in your list. In the D.C./NoVA area, turnaround time is three days from the time you send in a movie until you receive another one in the mail.

      Postage is pre-paid by Netflix as well. All you do is watch the movie and throw it in a mailbox.

  91. They have to be kidding by Gyorg_Lavode · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Ok, so a quality version is pirated. These are the same people who released 4 of the animatrix shorts for free? I thought they would have realized that their real fans want the dvd. The film has grossed roughly 350 in the box office so I find it hard to say their being hit there, (didn't the first film gross about that in it's entire run?) And the people downloading to get a copy at home are most likely either teenagers who 1: aren't (or shouldn't be for an R movie) their target audience, and 2: are likely to find a way around buying it anyway.

    The majority of their target are probably 20's-30's, working males. Many of them downloading it are probably only filling the gap between when they no longer want to see it in the theater and when they can get the DVD. I did the same thing for LotR:FotR and LotR:TTT. I downloaded the movie, but the second that dvd comes out I"m getting the extended edition. Why? I want to watch the movie now, but I want the actual DVD when I can get it. Will I download Matrix Reloaded? Maybe. Will I buy Animatrix, matrix:reloaded and matrix when they come out on dvd? Of course. (And yes I realize matrix is out, I want to get it w/ reloaded though.)

    350 million in a couple of weeks is not "'debilitating' for the industry no matter how they slice the pie.

    But hey, at least bittorrent is getting some advertising in.

    --
    I do security
  92. does it really matter if there is a download or no by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yes, I downloaded the move (I had it Friday morning, May 16 even while reading Cnet news stories where "no known copies were on the net")
    Yes I have seen it in the cinema, yes, I've watched the download. Yes, I had a copy of the first Matrix on CD, I watched that and saw it in the cinema also, twice.
    Yes, I bought the first DVD, yes, I'll buy the second DVD. What pattern do we see here? What do you suppose I'll do with the third Matrix?

    Where's the big deal here? Huh?

  93. slow downstream? by shmuc · · Score: 2, Funny

    thanks to the /. and bbc postings, downloading this bootleg will be in bullet-time.

    --

    Efren Belizario
    headspeak.com
  94. .NET act by JeffSh · · Score: 3, Interesting

    the original poster reminds me of an interesting point.

    IANAL, but if a user is not sending the entire file, is she/he actually committing a crime by the net act?

    The .NET act defines copyright infringement by sending like $1000 in stuff over a 6 month period. since a section of a movie is valueless, doesn't that make .torrent a gray area?

    intriguing, at the very least.

  95. MOD PARENT UP, GRANDPARENT DOWN by ChrisCampbell47 · · Score: 1

    ... please, no points today. RTFA et cetera.

  96. Governing Dynamics by user+no.+590291 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I wonder if anybody at the MPAA has bothered to see "A Beautiful Mind"? If they did, they might realize that getting a piece of a really large pie is sometimes better than getting an entire small pie.

    1. Re:Governing Dynamics by Yet+another+account · · Score: 2, Funny

      Jack Valenti and Hilary Rosen always go for the blond chicks.

    2. Re:Governing Dynamics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dumbass crack-addled moderator. You wouldn't know a troll if it bit you in your sorry ass.

  97. Let's have revolutions then! by hornal · · Score: 1

    Now it truely will be concluded. And an appropriate title to boot!

  98. Re:Film source? Nonsense. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Believe me, it's out there. And it's not a low quality shaky cam. Your kung-fu is weak.

  99. They should be blaming a different P2P network by tuffy · · Score: 1

    The word of mouth for "Reloaded" has been mediocre at best, so not as many people are shelling out for multiple screenings. The result is a very "front-loaded" movie that's going to be hard-pressed to make $300 million. If "Revolutions" isn't a better film, I expect it won't hang around the #1 spot for long either. Ultimately, bootlegs or no, the best way to make a lot of money at the box office is to make a very good film that people tell their friends to see.

    --

    Ita erat quando hic adveni.

    1. Re:They should be blaming a different P2P network by tuffy · · Score: 1

      $300 million domestically, I mean. Sorry for any confusion.

      --

      Ita erat quando hic adveni.

    2. Re:They should be blaming a different P2P network by banana+fiend · · Score: 1

      It's an R-Rated movie, people are not bringing their kids to see it for the 13th time. That's the big difference between this and attack of the scones and spiderman. How many adults went to see spiderman 5 times? How many kids saw it multiple times? How many teenage girls saw titanic 100 times? You reach a more adult audience, you reach an audience who will mull over it and buy it on DVD. "sentio aliquos togatos contra me conspirare" could also mean "I know people are coming together to make music against me" :))

      --
      Johns: Well, how does it look now? Riddick: Looks clear.
    3. Re:They should be blaming a different P2P network by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's the big difference between this and attack of the scones and spiderman.

      Is this a spinoff of Attack of the Tomatoes but with a British twist?

  100. MPAA Shouldn't Freak .... by bizitch · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The one advantage the movie industry has with piracy is the fact that to really enjoy a movie like The Matrix - you gotta go see it on the BIG screen with Dolby/THX at bone crushing volume

    Try doing that at home without the wife ripping your head off ...

    --
    ---- "Logoff! That cookie shit makes me nervous!" - A. Soprano
    1. Re:MPAA Shouldn't Freak .... by TeknoHog · · Score: 2, Funny
      Try doing that at home without the wife ripping your head off ...
      mention "wife" on Slashdot.. DOES NOT COMPUTE
      --
      Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
  101. I think it's an inside job!! by sglafata · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The MPAA and the RIAA keep blaming the people who are downloading this stuff, yet they never look at how this stuff gets out there in the first place.

    Where can a high-quality version of this movie or any other movie come from than from the people who work with it in their own studios? That's where they need to concentrate their efforts if you ask me.

    If it is available to download, then people are going to download it, including myself. But how did it get out there?

    Think about it!!

    --
    "If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit."
  102. Let's do the math by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Now this is just me, not counting any friends (yes, I have friends, in real life, that actually leave the house)


    The Matrix

    • $50 - saw the movie 5 times
    • $20 - bought the VHS tape (pre-dvd player)
    • $20 - boutht the DVD

    The Matrix: Reloaded
    • $50 - I will see this one at least as many times
    • $20 - DVD

    The Matrix: Revolutions
    • $50 - yep, I'm sure I'll see that one at least a few times also
    • $20 - DVD
    • $60 - compilation DVD of all 3 matrix's (matricees?)


    That's $290 of mine they will have by the time all of this is over. Do I feel guilty for downloading the torrent so my roommate (who would never pay to see a movie on the big screen) can see it? Nope, sorry, don't feel any guilt at all.

    A crappy DIVX or MPEG will prevent only a few potential customers from buying the DVD. People that want the DVD will get it (AND perhaps the DIVX/MPEG), people that wouldn't buy the DVD wouldn't matter anyway.

    As long as we are allowed to freely send bits between each other on the internet, there is nothing anyone can do to stop P2P. Writing up big news stories will only fan the flames.

    My god, $365M is amazing. I think any sympathy for them is gonna be difficult to find...
    1. Re:Let's do the math by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      My god, $365M is amazing. I think any sympathy for them is gonna be difficult to find...

      It's a lot if it cost them $250M to make the movie, but what if it cost them $400M?

    2. Re:Let's do the math by Rosonowski · · Score: 1

      Reloaded cost 150m. They already covered that in domestic grosses. I don't disagree, they have the right to make all the money they want on it. I still have my copy sitting on three CD-Rs, though. Plan on getting the DVD, too.

      Thing is, when I go to see it, I get carded (how many sixteen year old kids do they get in there with goatees and stubble?) and that aggravates the hell out of me. And then there is the guy in front of me who makes the outgoing call...

      --
      01101001 01100001 01101101 01101110 01101111 01110100 01100001 01101100 01100001 01110111 01111001 01100101 01110010
  103. Hypocrisy by kin_korn_karn · · Score: 3, Insightful

    OK, you rail against the MPAA but pay twice to see shallow garbage like "The Matrix Reloaded"?

    I didn't expect journalistic integrity but I'd like to see a longer-than-10-second attention span..

    1. Re:Hypocrisy by m1chael · · Score: 1

      unfortunately movies dont affect people at all, thats why there is so much product placement and action. [im talking about movies in general].

      --
      I know you are psychotic, but please make an effort.
  104. You too can waste space! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sad when the worst cinematic disappointment of the year makes headlines for piracy. Or perhaps the article was proclaiming that you can finally go see this highly anticipated sequal without wasting your money, and thus not being totally disappointed when you come to discover that the movie SUCKS!

    Matrix Reloaded deserves to be pirated.

  105. It's their own fault... by Remik · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...for making a movie about Philosophy and then charging $9 to see it. No one with a philosophy degree can afford to pay $9.

    -R

  106. Exactly right, the matrix is WORTH PAYING FOR by jcrb · · Score: 0

    most of the crap that gets put out these days isnt even worth the price of a DVD-R to burn your priated copy onto. Dito for the sluge that gets sold as music, and they act like the only possible reason their sales are down is p2p?? Morons.

    --
    -jon
  107. Re:Film source? Nonsense. by vDave420 · · Score: 1
    This is pure nonsense. There are about 6 different versions of Reloaded floating about online but all the ones I've seen are Telesyncs.

    There aren't any screener versions or similar online yet... believe me, I'd have looked!

    At the end of the day, I can't imagine any Matrix fans are going to download the movie rather than seeing it on the big screen and/or buying the DVD.

    Centropy version is damn good. No heads, voices, etc. True TSync, hi SVCD quality. Almost as good as a screener. Not a thing to knock about it, though.

    That one is probably the best of 5 or 6 versions available, of which i have watched 2 others (saw apm and esoteric versions as well).

    The funniest thing was reading the article (http://216.239.51.100/search?q=cache:ndMnHLKK9rAJ :www.silicon.com/news/500019/1/4168.html%3Fet%3Dse arch+have+seen+files+named+Temple+said+articulated +that+MPAA+seen+a+file+on+the+internet+that+actual ly+sequel&hl=en&ie=UTF-8) stating that no real copies of Matrix were online, while I was downloading my 2nd complete, working copy. heh

    Anyone saying that "I can't imagine any Matrix fans..." obviously hasn't seen the releases that are available.


    -dave-

    Blatant ad: Use BearShare client for all your p2p needs!

    --
    The pig browse. With Google. Sigh is to the chicken. Chicken is fool. Giggle. The DailyWTF giggle.
  108. This has been said already..... by 222 · · Score: 1

    But seriously.... With movies as epic and entertaining as the Matrix trilogy, LoTR... etc, watching a cam or TS is just not an option. (At least the first time around).
    The experience of watching a movie on the big screen just can't be compared to a digital cam mounted in a movie theatre. (And watching my drunken friend fall on some girl in the middle of the movie adds a special something. heh.)
    Id also like to point out that, in this case, the movie has pulled in well over 300 MILLION dollars. The second 2 movies were reportedly made for 300 Million. That means that Revolutions is paid for. Any money from that movie, unless im missing something, would be considered profit.
    If it has anywhere near the success of Reloaded.... Warner Bros will not be hurting.
    You just have to realize, there is no good TS

  109. Thanx! by xanadu-xtroot.com · · Score: 1

    Thank you, slashdotters. I wasn't aware of this. There's even a gentoo ebuild for it...

    # emerge bittorrent

    /me is compiling now.

    --
    I'm not a prophet or a stone-age man,
    I'm just a mortal with potential of a super man.
  110. We know why this movie is so popular. by MongooseCN · · Score: 2, Funny

    Everyone is trying to figure out the recipe for the OrgAsMo Cake.

    1. Re:We know why this movie is so popular. by robi2106 · · Score: 1

      I thought he slipped her something that made her piss her pants. But may be I just take the less-naughty possibility.

      robi

  111. **** MOD PARENT UP **** by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Seems genuine from here, but then I'm still downloading.

  112. Re:Just In: Cisco Routers Blamed for Matrix2 Swapp by f0rt0r · · Score: 2, Informative

    Very funny. I have one. "College student sued for having copy of 'The Matrix Reloaded' on his computer. When asked for his take on the ordeal, he replied 'Copyright violation? Piracy? I thought this
    ''Internet'' thing was a subscription to a music/movie download service. I mean, what am paying these monthly fees and being forced to look at all the ads for anyhow?"

    --
    I can't afford a sig!
  113. Hah...I got your social event by GT_Alias · · Score: 5, Funny
    Yeah man, it was definitely a social event the night we caught it. If the people couldn't bring their friends or family with them, they sure as hell could have them call on their cell phone! I'm sure the caller was enjoying the movie vicariously through the movie-watcher, and I know we were all enjoying the incessant bleeps and burbles of cute little ring patterns.

    And hey, don't let age be a factor in bringing that family. Got an infant!? Grab an extra diaper or two and bring 'em right in with you! After all, what infant wouldn't love special effects blasting at 1000 db with flashing explosions lighting up the room. They were absolutely screaming with joy!

    1. Re:Hah...I got your social event by orius_khan · · Score: 1

      I'm sure the caller was enjoying the movie vicariously through the movie-watcher, and I know we were all enjoying the incessant bleeps and burbles of cute little ring patterns.

      Luckily, there were only a couple phone rings during our showing on opening night. Our group heartily shouted "OPERATOR!" in unison whenever an audience member's phone went off. Maybe after the first two outbursts the rest of the dumbasses realized they could be next and actually turned theirs off...

      --
      Sometimes the best solution to morale problems is just to fire all the unhappy people.
    2. Re:Hah...I got your social event by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't forget about the wonderful 20 minutes of commericial ads they put on at the beginning of movies now...

      There's no doubt, movie theaters are an artifact of the past and the theater-owners are working hard to ensure a speedy retreat into oblivion.

  114. A Traders market in London by Cackmobile · · Score: 1

    I doubt it. it will be on every street corner by now. I live in london and u can get pirate dvds any where. Dudes just set up stalls on the side of the road in a shopping area or come into pubs selling them. Might have to get my self a copy.

    --
    -- Karma Karma Karma Karma, Karma Chameleon - Boy George
  115. They could've made more than $365 mill.... by beef3k · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...if they'd put the thing up for grabs themselves to whoever was willing to pay, say 5 bucks for the download. People like myself who really want to see this movie will still be headed to the cinemas.

  116. Re:Film source? Nonsense. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's been said, but why not say it with an example.

    The rental industry is dying because they're greedy bastards.

    Unless you're fast on the trigger a new release costs $7.80 to rent.

    Yet I can buy the thing for $15.99.

    Or I can get it from Pay Per View for $3.99.

    I can't think of a lot of reasons to rent at most stores anymore. Fortunately, one very smart local store only charges $1 per day to rent movies, and, of course, they're doing better than ever.

  117. I'll download it.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I've seen it twice, and I'll be likely to shell out my $8.50 - $13.50 (depending on theater and day) atleast once more to go see it gain, and then I'll download it, and then most likely watch it again.

    Most people who are probably downloading the Matrix have probably allready seen it ATLEAST once in theaters allready, if not more.

  118. no company behind it by h4x0r-3l337 · · Score: 1
    This time BitTorrent is taking the heat for the distribution - even though there's no company behind it to drag over the coals

    So what? There doesn't need to be a company behind it in order to assign blame. It would be handy if they wanted to sue somebody though. But with websites like www.torrentfiles.com having banner-ads, it would be easy for the movie company's lawyer to argue that they're promoting and profiting from piracy, and have them shut down. Then it's on to the next site.

  119. Where can I download it with BitTorrent? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Help me out please. Post anonymously if you want to avoid being moderated down. Thank you vary much.

  120. Gross, not net! by Thud457 · · Score: 1
    I thought it was SOP in Hollywood to always work the numbers out so that your net was always 0. How else are you going to ensure that the artists are properly screwed in a consistant manner?

    Always take gross points. Net's for chumps.

    --

    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

  121. APM Telesync by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    While not the one mentioned in the article, the APM telesync (1.2 GB) is supposedly one of the higest quality ones released to date.

    You may want to check it out.

    1. Re:APM Telesync by pacc · · Score: 1

      Checking it out doesn't have to involve piracy, you can use TorrentSpy to get info about how much piracy is really going on and consider if this story is hype or not

      The Centropy version had about 1300 people trying to download while the Esoteric one had about 650. You could probably blame the slashdot effect for some part of these figures since I doubt that most people normally would download 2.4 Gb files...

    2. Re:APM Telesync by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ok, wtf? I'm downloading at 4KB but uploading at 14KB?

    3. Re:APM Telesync by Hall · · Score: 1

      The "Centropy" release is supposed to be the "best". It's 2.25gb total...

    4. Re:APM Telesync by njosnavelin · · Score: 1

      it happens to me too. right now, i'm downloading at 13k, and uploading at 27k. i'm cool with that; sharin the love baby

    5. Re:APM Telesync by RedDevilCG · · Score: 1

      When I finished the download I ended up with some .cue and .bin files. What do I do with these?

    6. Re:APM Telesync by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When I finished the download I ended up with some .cue and .bin files. What do I do with these?

      Drag the BIN files to the recycle BIN. If it warns you that the files are too big to fit, just hit OK anyway.

    7. Re:APM Telesync by BJH · · Score: 1

      They're VCD/SVCD files. Play them with MPlayer.

  122. Where can I download it with BitTorrent? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Help me out please. Post anonymously if you want to avoid being moderated down. Thank you vary much!!!

  123. No effect by whereiswaldo · · Score: 1

    Every Matrix fan will go and see the movie and/or wait for it on DVD. The pirated copy basically allows someone to preview it to be sure it's not a piece of crap (which I'm sure it isn't), so I wouldn't get my knickers in a knot over this.

  124. Re:Film source? Nonsense. by Dun+Malg · · Score: 1
    But all those so-so films that you tell yourself "I'll wait and rent it", can now be downloaded free-as-in-hobo at your leisure.

    The only dilemma I run into is whether to pull it off P2P or hacked DirecTV PPV. It's a tough call: should I "steal" from Blockbuster or from Rupert Murdoch?

    --
    If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
  125. Re:100s of Agent Wil Smiths... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Shut up!

  126. Torrent links for Matrix Reloaded by dark-br · · Score: 4, Informative

    None of those are digital copys, only DTS but i got the REAL PROPER and its quite good quality.

    ESOTERiC Release

    REAL PROPER-APM Release

    Centropy SVCD Release

    Daduck-sn Release

    1. Re:Torrent links for Matrix Reloaded by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thanks alot for posting the suprnova torrent links on slashdot.

      Too bad the tracker and website are now down for good because of it.

      You might get the torrent still, but thats as far as you'll get with no tracker.

    2. Re:Torrent links for Matrix Reloaded by jonabbey · · Score: 1, Flamebait

      Um, why the hell would you do this? Here's a newsflash.. piracy of copyrighted works is like terrorism.. it provides a justification for extreme countermeasures. Downloading movies is selfish, stupid, and short-sighted.

      Especially on a site like Slashdot that is nominally filled with Linux fans.. the Linux "movement" is something akin to PBS, in which people can voluntarily support and share high quality content. It's not a no-morals Pirates R' Us deal, whatever SCO might say, and asses like you who pirate valid copyrighted materials are poisoning the well for everyone.

      Give it the fuck over.

    3. Re:Torrent links for Matrix Reloaded by ganiman · · Score: 0

      Not that I'm complaining or anything, but Slashdot is helping to host links to illegal copies of Reloaded. Now the MPAA will start blaming Slashdot instead of BitTorrent. Thanks for the links though man.

      --
      geek n performer who performs morbid or disgusting acts, as biting off the head of a live chicken
    4. Re:Torrent links for Matrix Reloaded by eyeye · · Score: 1

      Here's a newsflash.. piracy of copyrighted works is like terrorism..

      You've been watching fox news haven't you.

      Even the weather reports are :"There is a low pressure front approaching, we think it might be terrorists".
      --
      Bush and Blair ate my sig!
    5. Re:Torrent links for Matrix Reloaded by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh well, life goes on.

      One tracker site dies, another takes its place.

      Maybe you should quit whining like a little bitch if you're not gonna help out.

  127. In other news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The BBC has claimed that the Matrix is a hollywood hoax perpetrated by... oh wait, never mind.

  128. Matrix Traffic by gearry · · Score: 1

    In an update to a previous story it is now reported that Matrix: Reloaded P2P downloads account for 10% of all net traffic. The MPAA is mobilizing in conjuntion with major ISPs like MSN and AOL to ensure that this does not happen in the future. Meanwhile in the real world energy production rates have increased 31% as millions of humans experience increased amphetimine levels. "The success of the simulation known as 'Trinity' on males specimens ages 14-26 has been remarkable", notes Analyst #31425. The Central Division for Human Stimulation is anticipating similar results later this year when they release the next installment of this package.

    --
    like g-a-r-y, only different
  129. Matrix Reloaded Stolen worldwide by Networkpro · · Score: 1

    I bought a copy of the movie on DVD in Kuwait for 7 dollars (thats 2.12 Kuwati Dinars) the day it came out. So don't give me guff about it only being on VHS and in poor quality...

    1. Re:Matrix Reloaded Stolen worldwide by Zed2K · · Score: 1

      Just because its on the dvd medium now doesn't mean the quality is dvd quality.

    2. Re:Matrix Reloaded Stolen worldwide by Networkpro · · Score: 1

      Having watched it I beg to differ...this was a digital to digital copy, not Analog to digital... One would think that the theaters copies are not so secure.

    3. Re:Matrix Reloaded Stolen worldwide by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      a friend of mine grabbed a copy in spain , dvd rip perfect quality, only trouble is the audio is in spanish, seems as if the English release is the only one that isnt available, oh well we can only wait

    4. Re:Matrix Reloaded Stolen worldwide by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      You got a copy in Kuwait???

      This tells me the Matrix piracy may have spread throughout the Middle East, perhaps a copy has even made its way into the hands of Saddam or his sons.

      ...and people say that internet movie piracy is not terrorism!

    5. Re:Matrix Reloaded Stolen worldwide by Kredal · · Score: 1

      hehe, when I was stationed over there, I bought a bunch of movies in Kuwait city... great place for illegal copies, since the police really don't give a darn about it.

      --
      Whoever stated that signature sizes should be limited to one hundred and twenty characters can just go ahead and kiss my
  130. Slashdot - Your Ultimate Warez Source by cgibbard · · Score: 1

    Thanks BBC and Slashdot! As soon as this was posted I googled for "bittorrent matrix reloaded" and found the torrent immediately. Good thing there was this story, or I never would have thought to look for it.

    I find the great thing about bittorrent is that there's a lot of great stuff (TV, movies) out there to download and you don't need to be a member of the scene to get it.

    I find the bad thing about it is that sometimes you have to pretend it's 1997 and you're using a 28.8 modem to download the files. (Even with uploads enabled and shaped.)

  131. The Centropy telesync was enough for me... by Fweeky · · Score: 1, Troll

    ... to know it wasn't worth throwing money at. It may have been a wildly successful film, but I won't be contributing towards it.

    Is Neo a program running in some sort of meta Matrix, along with Zion etc? Well, get this -- I don't care! The characters are shallow enough for me not to bat an eyelid if they all get wiped out, and the storyline's convoluted and, frankly, boring enough for me to not be drooling over the next movie.

    Endless "woo-we-can-slow-the-camera-down!!!11!1111" special effects do not impress me enough to put up with an otherwise laughable movie.

    I think maybe I'm just spoiled by books. Anyone fancy making a handful of movies based around Nightsdawn? Revelation Space? Slant? Fallen Dragon? Well, don't bother; I don't think anyone in a position to do such a thing has the skill to do it properly.

    *sulks*

  132. Matrix Reloaded BitTorrent Link by biffnix · · Score: 1

    The Matrix Reloaded (just one link)

    Hey, it worked for me. I'm now getting a 220k download speed.

    Thanks, Slashdot!


    Biffnix
    --
    Don't Die Wondering
    1. Re:Matrix Reloaded BitTorrent Link by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Matrix Reloaded (just one link)

      Hey, it worked for me. I'm now getting a 220k download speed.

      Thanks, Slashdot!


      Until you posted it here that is!

      Nice going dumbass, lol

    2. Re:Matrix Reloaded BitTorrent Link by smart.id · · Score: 1

      Perhaps if you knew what Bittorrent was, then you'd realize more people downloading = more people uploading, and therefore faster speeds. But nice going, dumbass!

      --
      blog & fiction: jd87
    3. Re:Matrix Reloaded BitTorrent Link by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      right. until the indexes get DoSed. Play Again Soon!

  133. straight from the theatre by golgotha007 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    after watching the Matrix in the theatre here in Saint Petersburg, Russia, imagine my surprise that upon taking the metro home, i saw a metro vender selling the mpeg4 CD for $2. full color cover and everything.
    as soon as i got home, it was already available on our apartment network. sheesh!

  134. The Matrix Reloaded, Torrent and Costs by SB5 · · Score: 1

    Let's see, the movie has been out for what 2 weeks(?), and it has already cleared production costs of BOTH movies, the third film hasn't even been released and it is already paid for by the second film. They are 65 million dollars in the black, something most companies today are having very much trouble doing (thanks Arthur-Anderson and Enron!)

    Second thing on my mind is BitTorrent, I haven't tried downloading it, but I have to admit if the .torrent file gets slashdotted, and if the people downloading make sure they have a 1:1 ratio of uploaded megs to downloaded megs, then the torrent will stay alive, and be extremely fast. The few problems I have with BitTorrent is the fact that a Slashdotting(or DDoS attack) does it good, but also if the file isn't popular it takes forever to download, and in my opinion this is sort of because BitTorrent doesn't have a nice GUI that allows myself, a W2k user, to serve various files whenever I want. Let's say I downloaded this movie, or the RedHat .iso's, The easiest way to serve these files is to redownload them, unlike KazaaLite, I can serve certain files whenever I want.

    When BitTorrent crosses that final threshold, then it will be extremely successful, at the moment it is definitely in my books a genius solution to a complicated problem.

    --
    If what you are reading sounds funny, or sarcastic, lame, or stupid
    it is because it is supposed to be. just laugh
  135. Not downloading to be used by Zed2K · · Score: 1

    People are downloading it just because they can. They aren't really using it as a replacement to seeing it in the theater. Those people that do had no intention of seeing it in the first place. They are losing no money off people downloading this. The quality of the download is horrible too. It'll be on DVD come November just in time for the final one anyways.

  136. DRM and movie theatres by landoltjp · · Score: 1

    This is not a troll for flames, but wouldn't movie theatres be prime candidates DRM-based media distribution?

    I believe that a fairly rigid agreement exists between the film distributor and the various theatres regarding the procurement, showing, and return (or destruction) of these movies. I imagine that such an agreement would be in place to protect the property of the distributor (one-sided, to be sure).

    The article discusses a pirate copy made from "film print [...] with surround sound" So, either Matrix:RL was distributed as Digital-only, or it was shipped in the can, and the Digital Surround sound is on the firm. In either case, there is still an amount of digital data being pushed around; enough that DRM could be put in place.

    Such DRM could be used to control presentation of the movie; the media would be 'keyed' to each individual theatre (and I'm sure this would be a logistical hassle, but that's an aside). The movie (digital audio or full presentation) could be 'time-locked'. Also, the media projectors would not be allowed to copy the movie to another type of media; only project it.

    Also, since some DRM and digital information is being provided, would it not be possible to introduce some 'watermarking' so that the original media holder could be tracked?

    (This is my first post to slashdot, so please forgive any transgressions on my part)

  137. Enough! by ihatewinXP · · Score: 1, Troll

    Enough with the spelling nazi bullshit. Why not try to, I don't know, further the discussion instead of pointing out typo's and spelling errors (which I will admit I made more than a few in the original post).

    Yes I'll and ill are not the same thing, but please.

    I guess if you don't have any original ideas then being a spelling nazi or fr0st p1st idiot is about the only thing you can do on /.

    --
    ---- The real Slashdot is still here. You just have to browse at -1 to read the comments.
    1. Re:Enough! by Alan+Partridge · · Score: 1

      If you can be bothered with SOME punctuation, why not fucking finish the job?

      By the way, if your post had made any sense, I might have posted a reply to it other than just correcting one aspect of it - it cannot be a typo if you do it twice.

      --
      That was classic intercourse!
    2. Re:Enough! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      typo's

      Your inability to use an apostrophe is quite remarkable. Why should people take you seriously if you are not willing to make yourself intelligible?

    3. Re:Enough! by Mafiew · · Score: 1

      I agree, I'm sick of having to wade through a bunch of posts nitpicking about some spelling or punctuation error so that the poster can feel like they're the queen of the grammar fairies or something. Note: This post intentionally not gone over with a fine tooth comb for errors because I have more important things to do and this isn't a fucking novel.

  138. Re:MODS GET A CLUE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    I downloaded the Esoteric version -- it has flicker, tilt, and really crappy sound. Then I downloaded the centropy version, which was supposedly much better. It has horrible keystone distortion, and the image is severely cropped on the bottom and right edges (the cropping is very apparent in the scene where Neo is talking to the architect and the wide shots show them both standing on opposite sides of the screen).

    Conclusion -- neither version is a "rip", and neither has "incredible" quality.

  139. Who cares? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I wish i had downloaded Matrix Shitloaded instead of spending 9 bucks at the box office and another 5 on coke and popcorn just to see a shitty movie. Mindnumbing dialogues, fighting szenes that Bruce Lee already had made better, endless repetition of the same digital effects... and on top, the "To be continued" non-ending. Fuck you, i'm gonna download that piece of shit so that the makers have some more reason to whine about lost sales.

  140. Fake by Rufus211 · · Score: 1

    First of all, a quote like "the copy available using BitTorrent" is just inane, kinda like saying the copy available using FTP or HTTP (which if you know anything about the warez scene, everything is available on private FTPs far before it was publicly available on BitTorrent or anything else).

    Second, their said release does not exist. Simple rule of thumb, if it's not listed on vcdquality or nforce, it doesn't exist. And neither list this "film print" version, only the normal "hidden videcamera" ones.

    1. Re:Fake by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm guessing there's still IRC groups releasing things like this, but the likelihood of them obtaining a DVD screener before the 'major' groups is about the same as a midget riding a turtle up to my door, knocking, waiting for me to answer and then attempting to kill me with a butterknife.

    2. Re:Fake by Rufus211 · · Score: 1
      as a midget riding a turtle up to my door, knocking, waiting for me to answer and then attempting to kill me with a butterknife.
      damn, that has to be one of the funnies mental pictures I've had in a while! =)
  141. Barnum said it best... by ssclift · · Score: 0, Troll

    "No publicity is bad publicity." ... and some folks still don't know it ...

  142. I downloaded it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The quality of the download was poor which in my experience is unusual because screeners are so prevalent (did they keep a tight wrap on screeners for this one?)
    The bottom line is the movie its self was terrible, I am glad I downloaded it and didn't see it in the theaters 8$'s for this schlock would've been an insult.

  143. Ready for download! by Thud457 · · Score: 1
    The Matrix Reloaded in glorious ASCIIvision!

    And boy, are my fingers tired!

    --

    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

  144. MPAA needs to clean its own house by Quixadhal · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If the movie was leaked from a film or digital source, then it seems to me that the MPAA needs to settle down and take care of itself before they start wagging fingers at everyone else.

    How do movies get leaked? Who has access to them? What potential fines/penalties/criminal charges can and should be levied aginast people who actually have physical access to prints or digital copies?

    If it was a digital copy leak... how was it done? If it was copied over a network, why wasn't it secured? Why wasn't in ecncrypted to prevent this in the first place?

    Seems to me that the MPAA has much bigger problems than a few people who want to copy semi-decent quality rips of their products to watch on little tiny desktop monitors after they've already gone to see it in the theatres and helped make the movie a huge sucess.

    It doesn't matter if there's a spoon or not.

  145. Well. by autopr0n · · Score: 1

    Actualy I got a VCD copy of the first Matrix from a friend at a LAN party a few weeks after it came out. Of course, I'd already seen it in the theater about 3 times before then, but I just wanted to be able to see it again on the cheap. (of course, one of the times in the theater I got in with a theater employee so it was free... hrm, I wonder if the MPAA would try to sue over that)

    The copy was off of a cam but it wasn't the final release of the movie. All of the music was missing and a few scenes were gone. The whole bar scene was pretty strange without the rob zombie playing. You could hear footsteps and glasses clinking.

    Anyone else ever see that file?

    --
    autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
  146. Ssssh! by Fweeky · · Score: 3, Funny

    Humans Blamed for Piracy - MPAA Lobbies for their Extermination
    Posted by CmdrTaco on 2003-05-27 15:32

    Damnit, too late.

    1. Re:Ssssh! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      RIAA: "Hand over your flesh.. We DEMAND IT!" *BOOM*

  147. mmmmm, pie! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When come back, bring pie!

  148. Am I the only one... by teridon · · Score: 1

    who downloaded it just to get screenshots of Trinity's ass?

    --
    I hold it, that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing. -- Thomas Jefferson
  149. *sigh* by M.C.+Hampster · · Score: 1

    I thought the anti-Microsoft sentiment was bad, but not this bad. The law is called the "NET Act", not the ".NET Act".

    --
    Forget the whales - save the babies.
  150. determining ip is easy, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    the main problem with enforcing the law is that, while it is relatively easy to track down the location of a computer, it is much harder to prove who is responsible for downloading copyrighted material, if the computer happens to be accessible by multiple people.

    1. Re:determining ip is easy, but... by WormholeFiend · · Score: 1

      this is exactly what happened in the "Mafia Boy" case. the cops listened to the phone conversations from the house to determine who was doing the DoS attacks. as a side "bonus", they nailed "mafia boy"'s father on charges of uttering threats.

  151. Re:MODS GET A CLUE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can anyone out there recommend when one to download. I'm downloading the DaDuck DiVX version right now (only around 700MB total file size), so I'm probably not getting the best verion available.

  152. this is a non-news item by j4ck50n · · Score: 1
    is it any surprise? i mean c'mon. every movie and tv show these days is pirated one way or another. is it cos of the P2P aspect it is special?

    if its not on P2P its on usenet or IRC, big deal. if i wanted a headline about pirated movies premiering on the net, i will read wired. this is stupid...

  153. Reason to see it twice by GeekDork · · Score: 1

    First time, I saw it in sneak preview (one hour before the pre-premiere began, at half the price). The German dubbed version. They somehow got the voices... wrong. Really, Morpheus sounds like a 3 year old.

    Tonight, I'm gonna see it OV. All this in spite of the movie being a little sub-standard. It's rather cool, but also terribly overloaded with effects.

    Did I mention that I'll probably buy the DVD? And did I mention that I'll probably rip the DVD because I can't afford a second player at the moment?

    --

    Fight hunger. Filet a politician and send him to a 3rd world country of your choice.

  154. Piracy isn't a problem... by TheGreatOrangePeel · · Score: 2, Insightful

    When I buy a CD or movie, the bulk of what I feel I'm paying for is quality of the product and the fact that I like the production and want to support the artist(s) that produced it. I personally am out there sampling stuff because I'm board. Being a person who hates spending money, I can admit that I've bought 2 CDs and a half dozen DVDs (and a 'to buy' list 7 DVDs long) because of p2p. Knowing myself, I can honastly say that I would not have bought a single CD, and maybe only one or two DVDs, nevermind the computer to watch/listen to them on...

  155. Worldwide releases by RenHoek · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Say what you want about P2P programs and movie leeching. One of the most notable effects for me was that we don't have to wait half a year anymore in the rest of the world before we get to see a good movie!

    The best example is Star Wars I. When this movie was released there were actually people in Europe that FLEW OVER TO THE USA to watch that movie. Can you believe the insanity?

    That was also the movie that really rocked the internet for being on the internet _before_ it was released officially.

    I downloaded SW1 two days after the USA release and watched it in the public computer room at my university where I drew a huge crowd. Including 2 guys who _had_ tickets already to fly over. (I thought SW1 sucked though. I'm happy I didn't spend money on tickets)

    I'm pretty happy P2P movie leeching happened so that I was able to see LOTR in the theater right away. I did buy tickets for that one, and enjoyed it a lot.

    I haven't downloaded the new Matrix film nor did I get it on the net. I'm pretty sure the internet version is of low quality so that doesn't tempt me too much. I don't have the need to go to the theater because I think it's probably going to be pretty mediocre if you don't count the fighting scene, so I'll just wait for a DVD release at the movie rental.

    1. Re:Worldwide releases by jafuser · · Score: 4, Funny

      When this movie was released there were actually people in Europe that FLEW OVER TO THE USA to watch that movie. Can you believe the insanity?

      Don't tell everyone that... Now the MPAA will lobby Congress to restrict all international flights when they release a new movie.

      --
      Please consider making an automatic monthly recurring donation to the EFF
    2. Re:Worldwide releases by Centinel · · Score: 1
      Don't tell everyone that... Now the MPAA will lobby Congress to restrict all international flights when they release a new movie.

      Why would the MPAA want to hinder people from flying to the US to spend money in a movie theater, where a substantial portion of the revenues collected at the box office go back to Hollywood?

    3. Re:Worldwide releases by dougmc · · Score: 1
      Why would the MPAA want to hinder people from flying to the US to spend money in a movie theater
      Actually, the MPAA would encourage it ... as long as the airlines paid a portion of the revenues collected back to the MPAA.
  156. Theatre still has appeal by phorm · · Score: 1

    Um... how about those that:
    a) Like the crowd experience. Funny movies are cooler when you have a whole theatre cracking up.
    b) Aren't pampered or rich enough to have a home theatre
    c) Prefer to see the movie when it comes out, rather than having it spoiled by all your friends talking about it so that you know half the story by the time it's out on DVD.

    1. Re:Theatre still has appeal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Funny movies are cooler when you have a whole theatre cracking up.


      I hear you. Whole theatre cracked up on "wiping your arse with silk".

      Quite a lot of lines and stuff, on third or fourth viewing (one ESO 0day, one cinema, one ctp, and another cinema), are actually pretty damn cheesy. It's more of a campy action movie than it wants to be, IMHO. Not as cool as the first, but it doesn't suck. ;)
  157. No control, no problem. by twitter · · Score: 1
    Yes, the Matrix has us. A high quality, surround sound version was available two weeks after opening, the movie is a block buster and made 365,000,000 anyway, and we are supposed to feel guilty. Sorry, it don't work that way.

    An eye candy movie is worth seeing big screen and will be untill home equipment can telepathically convince you that you are looking at a 100 foot wide screen and listening to a small army of speakers. Then the Matrix really will have you. In the mean time, go to a matinee, the one I saw cost $4.50. I would have gone to see it even if the Wolchoski brothers had mailed me a DVD. Those movies that are not worth going to see big screen, I'll just rent. If the local video store does not have it, then I'll consider making my computer spend 3 hours downloading it, but I've usually got better things to do.

    Advertisments on TV, the Radio, in the sky and on the walls, but never in our dreams.

    --

    Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.

  158. Typewriter Blamed for Mein Kampf by reallocate · · Score: 1

    That makes as much sense as "Bitorrent Blamed for Matrix2 Downloads".

    The people responsible for piracy are the people who download the pirated copies.

    --
    -- Slashdot: When Public Access TV Says "No"
  159. Watching a movie by ajs318 · · Score: 1
    Despite the availability of pirate copies, The Matrix Reloaded has made more than $363.5m at the box office worldwide so far.
    Then that's 363 500 000 good reasons not to complain about it. For crying out loud, how much money do you want?

    Reasons why buying a bootleg of a movie is no substitute for seeing it in the pictures:

    Screen sizes. The biggest computer monitor I've ever seen was square on half a metre. So the screen measured 400 * 300mm., but at a 16:9 aspect ratio you can only use 400 * 225mm. Effective diagonal size = 459mm. Mine at home is only 320 * 240mm., 16:9 area 320 * 180mm., giving an effective diagonal of 367mm. There are TV sets, usually 16:9, in the 800mm. class; these are modern enough to have SCART [Peritel] input and so probably would work with a modern graphics card with video out. I've never actually measured a cinema screen, but it is safe to say they would be measured in metres.

    Sound. Computer speakers are notoriously poor, because otherwise they would reveal the imperfections in most cheap sound cards, outrageous claims made regarding output power notwithstanding. 2kW requires the best part of 10 amps at 230V. 'Nuff said.

    People. Seeing a film in the cinema is a social occasion. There is no substitute! You get to do all sorts of cool stuff when you aren't at home - like peeing in communal toilets, smuggling food and beer past security, sneaking a crafty fag in a no-smoking area, &c.

    Cheap DivX CDs aren't going to hurt Hollywood's pockets any more than cheap audio CDs hurt Michael Eavis's pockets.
    --
    Je fume. Tu fumes. Nous fûmes!
    1. Re:Watching a movie by eyeye · · Score: 1

      Screen Sizes: Get a 22" monitor or TV out to your
      big screen TV and sit closer.... What actual benefit do you get by having a massive screen and sitting far away from it? You don't get anything - the cinema does, they only have to have one projector.

      Sound: Get a good pair of headphones and you will beat the fidelity in a cinema.

      People: This is a reason NOT to go to the cinema, to avoid people who are unable to behave (like you, by your own admission).

      --
      Bush and Blair ate my sig!
    2. Re:Watching a movie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      People. Seeing a film in the cinema is a social occasion. There is no substitute!

      Yeah, nothing like the experience of a couple squealing brats behind you throwing greasy popcorn all over the place or a teenage horndog sitting in the row in front of you finger-banging his girlfriend while she moans.

      Can't be a real movie without the unwashed masses to provide the atmosphere, ya know.

    3. Re:Watching a movie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What you need is a good LCD projector, a great 5.1 surround system, and your mates in the flat cracking open beers and heckling the movie's funny bits. Problems solved, twice as social. Works for me!

  160. The only solution - zero day offical DVD's by SuperKendall · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If they really wanted to cut down on piracy, all they would have to do is offer zero-day official DVD's - they could have just the movie with no extras for $5. Most people would probably buy that to get a great copy, and also go to the theater as well for the experience...

    They can then offer the DVD later with all the extras, and most people would buy that too. At least for movies like the Matrix... it would probably only be a good plan for mega-movies and not smaller stuff.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:The only solution - zero day offical DVD's by Kalak · · Score: 1

      Sound like a variation on "direct to video" which is in Anime all the time and has been seeing increasing use in kid's animation in the US. There's like 20 "Land Before Time" videos now. Just enjoy the movie in the theater if you want, and suggestive sell the DVD on the way out. "Would you like a DVD with that popcorn?"

      This would be great for me, since I wouldn't have to skip work or hire a babysitter to see a move inless than 6 months after it's released.

      --
      I am, and always will be, an idiot. Karma: Coma (mostly effected by .hack)
  161. Box office takes by Theaetetus · · Score: 1
    Purely informational reply, from boxofficemojo.com (cool site):

    Matrix: Total Gross: $171,479,930

    Matrix Reloaded: Total as of May. 26, 2003: $209,505,000 (Estimate)
    Overseas Gross (as of 5/25): $154 million / 8,924 screens / 62 markets

    -T

    1. Re:Box office takes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think you're forgetting DVD sales.

  162. Duck! by el-spectre · · Score: 1

    You're a brave man/woman posting that here... I agree with you, but you'd better duck the flames.

    --
    "Faith: Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of things without parallel." - A.B.
  163. Re:MATRIX 3 PLOT (sshh...keep this quiet) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ok...heres the plot of matrix 3 (next version due out next year) :
    neo goes into coma in the end of matrix 2 (the current one). trinity takes over and goes into the matrix to explore (remember she was reborn and has the same abilities as neo) after being rescued by another ship. eventually our two heroes figure out that they havent actually woken up but their current lifestyle is also part of the matrix along with zion (remember how zion keeps getting recreated according to the architect? yup..thats it). eventually neo + trinity figure out how to hack the core OS of the matrix and everyone lives happily ever after...or something. ends not fleshed out fully yet...wait for the writers.

  164. Re: a Matrix within a Matrix? (-1 Offtopic) by gesualdo · · Score: 1

    Every time I log on to America's Army, There, any MMORPG, or even Slashdot, I'd say that I'm entering an alternate Matrix. If only I could disconnect from "reality" as easily as I can from slashdot. (go go gadget meditation!)

  165. Re:Film source? Nonsense. by Robber+Baron · · Score: 1

    The rental industry is getting killed by movie piracy online. If you're a fan of a film, you'll go to the theatre to see it.

    But all those so-so films that you tell yourself "I'll wait and rent it", can now be downloaded free-as-in-hobo at your leisure.


    And if they keep churning out shit like Pearl Harbor, how is that a bad thing? Would you feel good about having paid to see that garbage? No, you'd feel ripped off...but ever try to get your money back from the movie industry after being subjected to a colossal rip-off? Ha! Now even though a significant portion of their business is based on screwing their customers they have the temerity to complain if they're on the receiving end??? I say turnabout is fair play! Mind you, I won't even allow a colossal turd like Pearl Harbor to occupy valuable space on my hard drive! Make quality, entertaining movies and I'll be happy to pay to see them a multitude of times. Try to screw me and expect to get some of the same in return.

    --

    You're using her as bait, Master!

  166. ...On this whole piracy thing... by fzammett · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I've read through most of the posts up here, and while most or either (a) jokes about the Matrix or (b) actually somewhat reasonable in their tone, a percentage, as always are (c) attempts to justify or moralize piracy. This always bugs me to no end, and now I believe I finally have a real logical argument to make against piracy without resorting to the simplistic "it's just wrong" argument...

    What you are stealing from a movie company, record label or software developer is a SERVICE that you otherwise would have paid for, not a tangible product, not intellectual property, not potential income, but simply a service.

    By way of example, let's say you get a copy of Photoshop. Sure, it's $699 or whatever it goes for today and you wouldn't have bought it anyway. Fine, no argument about lost income then, Adobe can't claim a loss on something they wouldn't have gotten in the first place.

    However, you now have the service of that program with no compensation to the author. It's not so much the copy of the program being a problem, but the fact that you aren't paying for the service it provides.

    As an admittedly contrived analogy, let's say you grab a guy off the street and make him mow your lawn at gunpoint. You are benefiting from his service without conpensating him. Had you not held the gun to your head, you would have had to compensate him for providing the service. While I admit there is nothing analogous to a gun when copying software or a movie, the argument still holds.

    What service does a movie provide? Well, assuming it's not an utter piece of crap, entertainment is of course the answer. Therefore, to get a copy of the Matrix and watch it and enjoy it is deriving benefit of the service that movie provides without compensating those that should be compensated for creating it.

    THIS is why piracy is wrong. No analogies to stealing a car, no arguments about lost potential profits, nothing like that. Simply put, a service is being stolen, and that is wrong.

    Since this is Slashdot, and everything has to have a Microsoft spin one way or another, let me point out that this is the reason that Microsoft is pushing for a service-based model of the world. If you use Word for an hour, you are making use of the services the program provides for that timeframe. Hence, you are in essence renting it. In fact, to force people to purchase the software as we do today is actually worse for us as consumers in many ways. If you rent a car for a week but only drive it for two hours on Monday, your still paying for that entire week whether you used the car or not. This happens with software too. Microsoft has come up with some essnetially arbitrary value and assigned it to their software. You pay that amount and use it as much as you want. You might think you make out good because you use the software so much that the price seems good, but you also might use it so little that when calculated your paying on the order of $50 an hour or something (I'm pulling numbers out of my ass to illustrate the point, they may or may not be remotely accurate).

    Microsoft however recognizes the essential fact that what they are selling is not a tangible product, but the service of a piece of software. This is also why you license software rather than purchase it outright incidentally. By offering software as a service, as the marketing monkeys have told us they want to do, they are in essence charging us for the real thing we are purchasing from them, the service, rather than a convenient representation of that (the software itself in purchaseable form). We will pay for the exact amount of that product we use, not some arbitrary amount. Note that I'm not saying I'm for this, mearly that it is a more accurate way of charging people and in effect is charging for what is actually being purchased, which is not really the case today.

    --
    If a pion (n-) collides with a proton in the woods & noone is there to hear it, does lamdba decay into the source pa
    1. Re:...On this whole piracy thing... by m1chael · · Score: 1

      be a rebel just like neo.
      you see the irony?

      --
      I know you are psychotic, but please make an effort.
    2. Re:...On this whole piracy thing... by eyeye · · Score: 1

      As an admittedly contrived analogy, let's say you grab a guy off the street and make him mow your lawn at gunpoint. You are benefiting from his service without conpensating him. Had you not held the gun to your head, you would have had to compensate him for providing the service. While I admit there is nothing analogous to a gun when copying software or a movie, the argument still holds.

      No.. it doesnt at all. You need to stop trying to use analogies if you can't think them through.

      They aren't providing a service.
      --
      Bush and Blair ate my sig!
    3. Re:...On this whole piracy thing... by fzammett · · Score: 1

      Oh yes, that's a tremendous retort. I feel so foolish now.

      If I need to think through my analogies, you need to hire a think tank firm to compose your responses.

      --
      If a pion (n-) collides with a proton in the woods & noone is there to hear it, does lamdba decay into the source pa
    4. Re:...On this whole piracy thing... by ScottBob · · Score: 1

      Microsoft however recognizes the essential fact that what they are selling is not a tangible product, but the service of a piece of software.

      The fact that I can go into Wal-Mart and pick up Microsoft software packaged on a disk inside of a box, carry it to the register, pay for it, then take it home, makes it seem like a tangible product to me and everyone else.

      Then again, another service, phone service that comes in the form of prepaid phone cards can also be bought off a rack, purchased and carried home as a tangible product. The fundamental difference? Phone cards have a limited number of minutes and once they're gone, throw away the card and buy a new one or "refill" the old one.

      I think renting software has already been tried, but people can hack the expiration date of the software.

      I think the profits for software and entertainment ought to come out of the insanely high price of a broadband connection, then having the broadband connection would allow us to download anything we want no matter what it is and grant us the license to use it as we see fit.

    5. Re:...On this whole piracy thing... by rtechie · · Score: 1

      I've read through most of the posts up here, and while most or either (a) jokes about the Matrix or (b) actually somewhat reasonable in their tone, a percentage, as always are (c) attempts to justify or moralize piracy. This always bugs me to no end, and now I believe I finally have a real logical argument to make against piracy without resorting to the simplistic "it's just wrong" argument...

      No, you're making a moral argument. Morality is totally arbitrary, that's why there is no such thing as a "logical" moral argument.

      What service does a movie provide? Well, assuming it's not an utter piece of crap, entertainment is of course the answer. Therefore, to get a copy of the Matrix and watch it and enjoy it is deriving benefit of the service that movie provides without compensating those that should be compensated for creating it.

      However, software/movies/etc. are not a service. If they were, their would be provisions of the quality of that service, and there are not. If seeing "The Matrix" was a service provided by the movie company, you should be able to demand your money back if you get "bad service" i.e. the movie was poor. Just like if you recieve a poor meal at a resturant, or get a bad haircut in a salon.

      I think the record industry, for example, would be very reluctant to put themselves in a situation where someone could buy a CD and then return it for full price whenever they got bored with it. How could they do this? Well, if you define a CD as a "service", and the "service" is essentially permanent (you can play the CD over and over again) then the "service" is ONGOING. So if at any point during the "service" the customer is dissatisfied, the customer can return the CD for full price. Even YEARS or DECADES later.

      Unless you're going to argue that by purchasing the CD you're entering into a non-revokable service agreement with the record label. This is the kind of crap that software companies are pulling with EULAs and it won't fly (contracts require EXPRESS, not implied consent).

      THIS is why piracy is wrong. No analogies to stealing a car, no arguments about lost potential profits, nothing like that. Simply put, a service is being stolen, and that is wrong.

      And now you've dragged out the moral absolutism. NOTHING is ALWAYS wrong in every situation. Not even stealing. I don't mind using "stealing" to refer to illegal copying because nothing is ever 100% wrong.

      Is stealing food to feed your starving family wrong? Most people would say no.

      Is stealing a weapon from someone who is about to shoot an innocent person with that weapon wrong? Again, most people would say no.

      In the case of the record/movie/software companies, the moral question is simply this:

      Is it wrong to steal from evil people? For example, is Robin Hood wrong because he stole from the Sherrif of Nottingham? Again, most people would say no.

      The point is that many /.ers feel that the Big 5 record labels and many movie studios and large software companies are evil, so it's not wrong to steal from them (even if we consider illegal copying actual stealing). FWIW, to a large extent I share this point of view.

      Now of course I can't "prove" what I'm saying. It's a moral argument, you can't win.

    6. Re:...On this whole piracy thing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is zero on topic content to your response so don't critisize others...
      You should feel embarassed and try to think before you post rather than immediately attacking anyone who critises you.

    7. Re:...On this whole piracy thing... by rixkix · · Score: 1

      Excellent argument. You should've been modded up.

  167. Then destroy the Internet by mmol_6453 · · Score: 2, Funny

    I guess you need to go out and destroy the Internet, then, huh?

    --
    What's this Submit thingy do?
  168. Pick their fights better by SomeOtherGuy · · Score: 1

    Much like the Metallica VS. Napster debate, I think using a success story that moves millions no matter what the "pirate" rate is a bad move to gain the publics sympathy.

    On the other end of the spectrum with the little guy "piracy" is more of a promotion than anything also. (Getting their name out there).

    I think the people who have a legitimate beef would be the artist that sells 25K records, or a movie that opens to a week at $500,000....Those are the people (if they offer a quality product) that are going to be hurt by Joe and Jane (Pirate).

    --
    (+1 Funny) only if I laugh out loud.
  169. Hypocrisy by spakka · · Score: 1

    'The Matrix' portrays as heroes those who ignore law enforcement, especially with respect to computer crime. The owners should be thrilled that people are practising the Matrix ethos in real life, instead of getting all Agent Smith about it.

  170. Only availible to... by kcb93x · · Score: 1

    But make the zero-day DVDs only availible to those that have tickets, say, you can buy them after watching the movie, at the counter, by handing over your ticket and $5 bucks or whatever. I know if I found a movie very cool, I would certainly buy a copy. Probably the second 'full-featured' DVD as well.

    --
    There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
  171. A pirate I was meant to be.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    ..trim the sails and roam the sea!

    (This is just ridicoulus)

  172. yeah! free theater. by twitter · · Score: 1
    a little dark in places, but essentially like watching it in the theater.

    That's just the suspend mode. Tap your Zaurus Wrench Icon, goto the power and light utility and then press the upbuton on the darken and suspend mode to 3 x 3600 seconds to get 3 hours of bright viewing. Oh yeah, you might also want a compact flash wireless card to remote mount the storage and have your Zaurus plugged into the wall so the battery does not die.

    Other than that, Yep, just like the theater! I really felt like I was there. It's impossible, but it set me free. I'm unplugged, so to speak.

    --

    Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.

  173. is everyone on crack or what ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


    hmm lets see if i kill the tracker or it goes down ((ri|mp)aa slashdotting etc) you cant get the file

    lets have a go with the matrix , oh look connection refused

    doesnt sound very decentralised to me

    ok let me try again, oh wait i have to wait now for it to hammer my drive as BT scans the entire 1.2gig file !, ok lets sit back and wait while it cooks up my drive, ok 10min later connection refused again hurrah what a highly optimised piece of shit

    im sorry but this is probably one of the worst p2p applications i have ever used, i cannot believe that anyone could think its any good, all te other p2p applications have the same features except they work (md5 hashs,swarming,bandwidth management etc)

    oh well at least my trashbin will like it

  174. Re:MATRIX 3 PLOT (sshh...keep this quiet) by JJahn · · Score: 1
    Actually after seeing Reloaded I walked out thinking that would be what happens in the last one.

    It definitely wouldn't surprise me at all.

  175. THIS GUY'S LINK IS A PORN SITE! by doublem · · Score: 1

    WARNING. POPUPS AHOY!

    Thank God I'm using Mozilla and could block popups from the site.

    You rotten son of a bitch. Now I'll be the third person in the company to be reamed out for "Inappropriate Internet use"

    You miserable SOB.

    --
    "Live Free or Die." Don't like it? Then keep out of the USA
    1. Re:THIS GUY'S LINK IS A PORN SITE! by Jugalator · · Score: 1

      Oops. :)

      I used Opera so I didn't even know that site had popups. Well, serves the IE losers right. Especially if you're an IE loser browsing /. at work. :)

      --
      Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
  176. Re:Film source? Nonsense. by Jeff+DeMaagd · · Score: 1

    Do you have any figures to show that rentals are being hurt because of movie downloads?

    How do you know they aren't being hurt by cheap DVD sales? WB pushed cheaper DVDs specifically to bite back at Blockbuster.

  177. what $365 Million? by LuxFX · · Score: 1

    Where did this number come from? Matrix2 has made $209 Million, not $365 Million. (as of May 26, 2003)

    what is this, the new government-run slashdot?

    .

    --
    Punctanym: alternate spelling of words using punctuation or numerals in place of some or all of its letters; see 'leet'
  178. Animatrix DVD release date = June 1 by Ride-My-Rocket · · Score: 1
    1. Re:Animatrix DVD release date = June 1 by rkz · · Score: 1

      Fuck buying it, download the DVDRIP - perfect quality:
      Here you go bitches

  179. Re:Am I the only one... morpheus was right! by m1chael · · Score: 1

    so thats where the machines get all the power from, methane! makes you wonder why they didnt go for cows though...

    --
    I know you are psychotic, but please make an effort.
  180. Heh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    SuprNova Is Apparently offline now....we'll see how long it takes for them to get back up. They apparently shutdown every few weeks whenever a BT articles comes up on /.

  181. Timing? by Such_a_geek · · Score: 1

    Hmmm. I wonder if the industry's sudden interest in BitTorrent has anything to do with Matrix Reloaded not making as much as the studios hoped.
    Not to be overly cynical or anything, but I imagine that some of the studio flacks who promised their bosses that this was the next Spider Man are sweating through their Hugo Boss. But luckily, they've got a perfect way to deflect criticism; blame the Internet bogeyman that's destroying copyrights! Yeah, we didn't overhype this movie to the world (and, more importantly, our investors)! It was, uh, (checks list of P2P networks) BitTorrent!

  182. Blaming BitTorrent by joeytsai · · Score: 1

    Lawyer - This is about BitTorrent.

    Pirates - You are here because The Matrix is about to be downloaded. Its every fight scene, all of its entirely pretentious dialogue.

    Lawyer - Bullshit.

    Pirates - Cluelessness is the most predictable of all corporate responses. But, rest assured, we have many ways to pirate and we have become exceedingly efficient at it.

    --
    http://www.talknerdy.org
  183. Unless u have a Home Theatre System by thinktank2 · · Score: 2, Informative

    You are wasting your time downloading a pirated movie. Besides... who would like to watch a movie like Matrix on anything less than a gaint screen ?

    1. Re:Unless u have a Home Theatre System by attobyte · · Score: 1

      Then don't buy the DVD.

      --
      I didn't use the preview button, so get over it!!!!

      Mike

  184. Still, I could see it coming... by Peterus7 · · Score: 1
    I mean, when you have a movie that's about a nerd who becomes god like, you're bound to have it be all over the P2P channels!

    I'm suprised the movie industry isn't trying to put all sorts of viruses on it or whatever. Or find the people who pirate it and stick little spiders into their navels.

    Still, I think a lot of the people who pirate it have also seen it on the big screen... Because, well, the movie leaves a lot of questions unanswered, which I need to see it at least 5-6 more times to fully catch (plus, all the little things), so yeah, I could see where both pirating it and seeing is a real possibility.

  185. Perfect! by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    I think your idea is the best possible way to do it - then the theaters would still get a lot of traffic, and some small cut from the DVD's sold so it would not be so threatening to them. Not only that, but under your plan it's a lot more practical to sell DVD's for just about any movie and not just blockbusters as it's an impulse purchase at that point and getting even more money from people going to the theater than just the cost of the ticket.

    Ok, the plan is solid - how long before "they" realize it's the thing to do?

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  186. OK, now how about one for cxoffice? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Let's see how many linux pirates there are...
    Any takers? Who has the torrent for crossover office?

    1. Re:OK, now how about one for cxoffice? by rkz · · Score: 1

      I dont have the BT link but this is the Edonkey link! have fun!!

      ed2k://|file|install-crossover-plugin-1.1 .2.sh|8337090|12feb85e67914fa2b424f568cfe819c7|

      Strip spaces as usual ( between the 1.1 and the .2 )

  187. Going Downhill by attobyte · · Score: 1

    I think the MPAA is going after it. I am down to 3k a sec.

    --
    I didn't use the preview button, so get over it!!!!

    Mike

  188. Re:Film source? Nonsense. by liquidsin · · Score: 1

    Conspiracy theory anyone? The MPAA makes a high quality rip of Reloaded, sticks it on BitTorrent, bitches about the "piracy" to the media, then sits back and watch their logs for IPs of all the "thieves". Nail a bunch of them with lawsuits and now everyone's afraid to download from BitTorrent.

    --
    do not read this line twice.
  189. Too funny by go3 · · Score: 1

    Some of the Suprnova.org kiddies are wanting to try to DDoS slashdot. Morons don't have a clue. Its like their entire life was taken from them today. Losing suprnova.org is worth it for the comedy value its generating.

  190. Seems to me by localman · · Score: 1

    ...that there is a strong correllation between the number of downloads and the number of dollars. Doesn't this hold true for all movies?

    For me, seeing a small copy of the movie simply gets me excited to see it in the theatre again. I don't think there are many people who would watch it on their computer instead of going to the theater.

    1. Re:Seems to me by forkboy · · Score: 1

      I think the movie industry's big problem is not with people not seeing it in the theater, but rather that they believe less people will buy the DVD when it is released if they have a decent copy they snagged off of P2P. (Much like the RIAA thinking that mp3 distribution hurts cd sales rather than concert ticket sales)

      While I don't think their fears are founded, this is most likely their reasoning as box office sales are obviously not dropping.

      --
      This message brought to you by the Council of People Who Are Sick of Seeing More People.
    2. Re:Seems to me by localman · · Score: 1

      You're probably right... although I don't see DVD sales dropping either. The original Matrix is the number one selling DVD right now, and I'm sure there's a million and a half downloads of that out there :)

  191. Video on demand by Eccles · · Score: 1

    Here's a question: could this be a pathway to video on demand services? Ok, you have to do something to prevent the pay stuff distributing over the free channel, but free stuff with banner/footer ads could be distributed this way, and perhaps some encryption system could be developed to prevent most of the piracy of other things.

    --
    Ooh, a sarcasm detector. Oh, that's a real useful invention.
  192. Say it with me by CaptainSuperBoy · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Cars blamed for drunk driving deaths
    Guns blamed for armed robbery
    Airport security blamed for terrorism
    Music blamed for school shootings
    McDonald's blamed for fat people

    I could go on...

    1. Re:Say it with me by Argon+Sloth · · Score: 1
      McDonald's blamed for fat people


      This rips open an old wound in my heart. McDonalds used to have a promotion every so often where they would sell a 'bucket of fries' not technically a bucket, but still big enough to hold a batch of fries. During one promotion they were called Dino-Sized Fries, in another Millionare Fries, or Adventure Fries. They had these buckets so often there were even enough generic "M" buckets left over so we could induldge in a bucket bewtween very special offers.

      But then, some fat bastard had to sue McDonalds for making him obese removing all chances the rest of us had at enjoying the bucket'o'fries.

      Now that supply of buckets at my local McDonalds have been depeleted, I may never see my gluttony sized fries again.
      --
      Laziness is a virtue, anyone who bothers to tell you otherwise, is clearly lacking it.
  193. Was on other P2P networks a week before release. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Look on Bitzi (a searchable P2P index).

    I noticed that the movie was available a week before the official release, but at the time I was only looking for the soundtrack (which I have since purchased after listening to).

  194. well... by 2MuchC0ffeeMan · · Score: 1

    if they didn't have that mind boggling end scene, people wouldn't have to download it to see it 9 times to understand it

    --
    Runnin' On Empty .... I'm Still Alive
  195. Tracker by jroysdon · · Score: 1

    Seems to me, all you have to do is go after the tracker server listed in the .torrent URL. The tracker server is the centralized server that all hosts using a .torrent file must connect to in order to find the end-content.

    Here is a sample from one of the Matrix 2 .torrent files at suprnova:
    d8:announce40:http://suprnova.dyndns.or g:6969/anno unce7:comment76:Matrix Reloaded - single CD - DivX Telesync - 576 x 252 - very good quality!13:creation datei1053692711e4:infod5:filesld6:lengthi10313728e 4:pathl29:Matrix.Revolutions.Teaser.avieed6:length i1542e4:pathl38:The.Matrix.Reloaded.DivX.TS-DaDuck .NFOeed6:lengthi8943616e4:pathl45:The.Matrix.Reloa ded.DivX.TS-DaDuck.Sample.avieed6:lengthi711053312 e4:pathl38:The.Matrix.Reloaded.DivX.TS-DaDuck.avie ee4:name34:The.Matrix.Reloaded.DivX.TS-DaDuck12:pi ece lengthi524288e6:pieces27860:

    Seems to me you could also go after dyndns.org with a court order to have them to give you control of the suprnova account. Of course, their AUP forbids 'illegal' use of dyndns.org accounts:

    12. MEMBER CONDUCT

    The Member is solely responsible for the contents of his/her usage of the Service. The Member's use of the Service is subject to all applicable local, state, federal, and international laws and regulations. The Member agrees: (1) to comply with all local, state, and federal laws regarding the transmission of technical data exported from the United States through the service; (2) not to use the Service for illegal purposes;


    In fact, looks like someone already got to dyndns.org or perhaps the suprnova account owner didn't want any trouble or their IP address revealed:
    suprnova.dyndns.org. 14396 IN A 127.0.0.1

    1. Re:Tracker by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yup, their IRC channel just got banned too...

  196. Re:Film source? Nonsense. by repetty · · Score: 1

    "The rental industry is getting killed by movie piracy online."

    Slashdot users vastly over-estimate their own importance. Funny how people dismiss the overstated piracy figures of the MPAA until it begins to feed their egos.

    Ten lonely guys gathered in a dorm room don't constitute any sort of problem for anyone but themselves.

    Years ago everyone was fretting about the dubbing of VHS rental tapes. In the end, it didn't matter.

    You get what you pay for, even if it's a digitally perfect rip-off.

    --Richard

  197. not the bootleg I've seen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I saw a bootleg this weekend that included some nice shots of the theater while the bootlegger was getting settled in. Nothing like big, bright exit signs at each side of your screen to remind you that you are watching a low quality bootleg.

  198. GOBBLES! by EvilAlien · · Score: 2, Funny

    Maybe GOBBLES got another contract!

    --
    perl -e 'print $i=pack(c5, (41*2), sqrt(7056), (unpack(c,H)-2), oct(115), 10)'
  199. BitTorrent does not let you hide by Splork · · Score: 4, Informative

    Get a clue! bittorrent is not a privacy protecting lawless-idiot hiding p2p client. it is meant for big LEGAL downloads.

    In order for bittorrent to work someone has to run a tracker. that is the centralization point. it is the single server on the net making the download possible by coordinating the peers for that download.

    Legal entities take note: if you're going to sue someone first, sue the tracker operator(s)! Once that is said and done its EASY to simply ask any tracker for a list of peers serving the content to the world. Those are your next obvious targets.

    bittorrent as an application is no different than running a simple web server hosting the content from a legal standpoint. it just saves on hosting bandwidth problems by using the downloading peers as a coordinated distributed cache during times of high load.

    1. Re:BitTorrent does not let you hide by kryptkpr · · Score: 1

      If I had some mod points, I'd Mod parent up!

      BT users are EXTREMELY easy to track!

      A tracker is more then willing to send you as many IPs as you'd like, that are currently downloading any one file. This makes it -extremely- easy to track you down.

      Don't use BT for illegal files, that is not what it was meant for!

      --
      DJ kRYPT's Free MP3s!
    2. Re:BitTorrent does not let you hide by Lord_Dweomer · · Score: 1
      Makes sense then that the next step is to make a p2p program that lets people search for BT links and acts as a 100% decentralized tracker. Let's see the lawyers take THAT one out.

      --
      Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
    3. Re:BitTorrent does not let you hide by sik0fewl · · Score: 1

      Woah, woah. Don't sue the tracker operators. That's like suing Geocities.

      Anybody who creates a torrent file can use any tracker they choose. I better not get sued because people are using my tracker to distribute Matrix 2.

      --
      sik0fewl

      --
      I remember when legal used to mean lawful, now it means some kind of loophole. - Leo Kessler
    4. Re:BitTorrent does not let you hide by Splork · · Score: 1

      Anybody who creates a torrent file can use any tracker they choose. I better not get sued because people are using my tracker to distribute Matrix 2.

      ah, trackers are completely open (or at least many out there are)? in that case, sorry for the modded up half confusion above that has no doubt spread because nobody reads anything more than once on this sound-bite culture mindset of a site.

      sue the seeds and potentially the websites hosting the torrent file describing the hashes of the parts instead.

  200. What's the crime? by crashnbur · · Score: 1

    From what I understand, downloading isn't the crime; sharing is. Then again, it's criminal to use a stolen car stereo even if you bought it legitimately. Would someone like to point me to or explain the laws that clarify the criminal aspects of downloading and sharing copyrighted content (specifically movies in this case)?

    1. Re:What's the crime? by jroysdon · · Score: 1

      I could see the movie studio going after you for illegal possession of their copyrighted work. IANAL, would that be a civil suit?

    2. Re:What's the crime? by crashnbur · · Score: 1

      If I deleted it, what would be their proof? I know that evidence of a filename on my hard drive might seem damning, but what proof would they have that the filename matched the file itself? How much access would they actually have to my computer if I'm not redistributing the file? Presuming I wouldn't have bought it anyway, I'm doing them no harm.

    3. Re:What's the crime? by jroysdon · · Score: 1

      Better do a DoD 7 (or is it 14) time erase of your hard drive, not just a file delete. I believe Computer Forenscics (sp) tools can go back 7 times on a hard drive and recover data.

    4. Re:What's the crime? by crashnbur · · Score: 1

      Why not buy a new hard drive? Take a magnet to the heads and platters of the old drive, then roast it on an open flame. Problem solved. (This would be the expensive but more entertaining alternative.)

  201. Re:Film source? Nonsense. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A twin film source telecine, taken from at least two copies of the film to evade countermeasures, probably destined for a 1 or 2 CD XviD rip, is strongly rumoured to exist, but is still undergoing processing and encoding; the group in question is not hurrying, seeing as a good quality telesync (ctp) is already out.

    Just a rumour at the moment though. I'll believe it when I'm watching it.

  202. Wheres the ShareReactor for BT? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is there such a site for BT? I want to test this network out but Ive only been able to find scattered links.

    1. Re:Wheres the ShareReactor for BT? by fliplap · · Score: 1

      torrentse.cx

      yes, it really is. No, it has nothing todo with goatse.cx. They just thought it would be a funny name.

  203. Digital leech? BULL by the_2nd_coming · · Score: 1

    my buddy has it and I looked at it...after scolding him for downloading it.....and you can clearly tell that it was an off screen copy....you can not only see the EXIT sign on the sides of the screen at the start but the camera moves 2 or 3 times during the film.

    the camera was very stable after the begining so I assume it was on a tripod...probably some crooked Theater manager that turned the film on after everyone was gone and took the time needed to tape it.

    --



    I am the Alpha and the Omega-3
    1. Re:Digital leech? BULL by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      " my buddy has it and I looked at it...after scolding him for downloading it....."

      yeah, right. just admit it, bitch!

  204. Re:Film source? Nonsense. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That is Centropy. That is an analogue telesync done properly, with time, care and attention instead of hurrying to get it out the door like the other groups (although if you look very carefully, and measure, there is a slight angle - it's almost perfection though). ESO were there first, but Centropy are the ones who won't get nuked until the DVD screener (or telecine?) arrives.

  205. Where is the piracy of ... ? by gosand · · Score: 1
    Piracy will always happen. Get over it and spend money on making GOOD movies, not inane shit.

    This is true. How much money is wasted on movies that nobody sees? I am sure you can download copies of truly bad movies on the internet, yet they aren't bitching about those. You don't see a news story that "Little Nicky" is available on P2P. Actually, that would be MORE of a reasonable arguement, that this movie didn't make any money because it was available for download on the internet. (we know it isn't true, in this case, the at least the argument would make sense.)

    But instead, they make the argument against movies that make the MOST money. The Matrix Reloaded had the highest gross opening weekend EVER for an R rated movie. Yet they are bitching that piracy is killing them. The last time I heard a story about how piracy was killing the movie industry was when this little unheard of film called Spider-Man came out. Or was it that other movie that lost millions of dollars called "Lord of the Rings something something"

    Doesn't anyone else see the irony here? They are complaining that piracy is ruining their business yet they are still breaking box-office records.

    --

    My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.

  206. Is dead. by DHR · · Score: 1

    ERROR (10:42 AM) -
    Problem connecting to tracker - (10061, 'Connection Refused')

    Seems that torrent can be slashdotted after all

    1. Re:Is dead. by klparrot · · Score: 2, Funny

      It's trying to connect to suprnova.dyndns.org, but they've changed the DNS entries to point to 127.0.0.1. Try pinging it, it'll come back fine from 127.0.0.1.

    2. Re:Is dead. by Rosonowski · · Score: 1

      ... I don't know if that was a joke or not. I hope it is.

      --
      01101001 01100001 01101101 01101110 01101111 01110100 01100001 01101100 01100001 01110111 01111001 01100101 01110010
    3. Re:Is dead. by martyn+s · · Score: 1

      Well why don't you try pinging it guy? It's not a joke.

    4. Re:Is dead. by shadowjk · · Score: 1

      My bet would be that they made it point to localhost solely because it was mentioned on slashdot posts claiming that the site or tracker would have an alleged bootleg allegedly available for download, allegedly through bittorrent, allegedly.

  207. No INTRINSIC value. by StupidKatz · · Score: 1

    Learn English, to speak, you must!

    While it may or may not be morally wrong to download copyrighted data (wrong, IMHO), it still doesn't make the label of "theft" accurate. No physical goods have been stolen, so it can't be "theft" in a legal sense.

    What sickens me is that They've made this sort of thing, a civil matter, into a criminal matter. That's morally wrong.

    1. Re:No INTRINSIC value. by pointwood · · Score: 1

      I'm sorry, english isn't my primary language - let's continue in Danish ;)

    2. Re:No INTRINSIC value. by Smidge204 · · Score: 1

      Exactly what the parent post said.

      What makes this such a problem issue is not whether or not you have the right to have the 'information' without paying, it's that you can't really claim a loss if it really didn't cost you anything persay. There's no way you can prove that someone who downloaded the movie would have gone to the theater to see it if it wasn't available online.

      By the same logic, one would think they'd make it illegal to watch a (purchased/rented) movie at a friend's house if they could. Wouldn't that technically be "stealing"? You're watching it without paying, after all...

      Most people don't consider that many people worked hard to produce something fairly significant (in scope) like a movie. They just want to be entertained. Going to the theater is part of the experience, and that's why M:R still nabbed over $350Mil even though there's bootlegs all over the place...

      Unfortunately nobody in Hollywood (or most other places apparently) seems to understand that more people will pay for a good product than not, even if they can get it for free.

      *Remembers the good-old days of self-published Shareware and Donationware*
      =Smidge=

  208. ...the very meaning of our lives by TrekkieGod · · Score: 4, Funny

    I believe it is our fate to be here. It is our destiny. I believe this day holds for each and every one of us...the very chance to download the matrix. When I see thousands of us here, on slashdot, and a program that thrives on distributed downloading, I do not see a coincidence.

    --

    Warning: Opinions known to be heavily biased.

  209. I SALUTE YOU, SIR! by StupidKatz · · Score: 1

    This, my friend, is precisely what needs to happen.

    Thankfully, as a member of "teh furrie fandum," I am (apparently) a non-human. Whew! Who says thinking Faline's cute isn't a survival trait?

  210. stategic criticism by bigpat · · Score: 3, Informative

    Sounds a bit like big media has made a strategic decision to criticise file sharing whenever their revenues don't meet initial estimates. Works nicely to cover their own overblown estimates and lays the groundwork for more federal intelectual property laws. While in reality the file trading has a negligable effect on their revenues and really they are just seeking legal controls on the medium which will maintain the high equipment costs that will keep the barriers to entry high for small movie makers. This is restraint of competition at it's simplest and most underhanded.

    Also, if they are so concerned about the state of their art, why don't they focus on making the movie theatres enforce a modicum of civility. Last time I went to the movies (for the matrix reloaded) two people's cell phones rang and they answered them... they had conversations that went something like "hey" ... "I'm at the movies" ... "Watching matrix reloaded"... "yup"... "right"... "uh huh" "do you think I can call you later?"... "oh okay" ... "yup" ... "alright" ... "I'll call you tonight, or maybe tomorrow" ... "bye" And that was the shorter of the two. Not to mention the man that seemed to have no understanding that his constant commentary might disturb those around him... We ended up moving only to suffer the constant questions of a confused 10 year old kid with his father, I can't blame the kid, but the father should have known better.

    A company can't charge $10 a pop for that kind of experience and then complain that they aren't getting all the money you deserve. You deserve what you get.

  211. Oh yea?? by YT · · Score: 1


    Well might as well blame FTP, HTTP, hell even SCP and SFTP as well. Jeez it's not like Bittorrent is the only place to get this stuff. Oh of course the two other biggies, newsgroups and IRC.

    jeez.

  212. pirates should stop complaining by compiler+e+rror · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I really don't understand the "Wanhh, the movie industry isn't giving me exactly what I want exactly how I want it, so I'm going to steal it since they're clearly ripping me off... yet I'm doing nothing wrong" mentality.

    I actually help pirate movies and games, and I think any attempt to justify my actions is ridiculous. I know what I'm doing is wrong; I'm not foolish enough to pretend it isn't.

    The movie industry has the right to produce crap and distribute it however they like. They have the right to charge you $100 a ticket. And guess what... even if they did, you STILL wouldn't have any right to sneak into a theater or pirate the movie. If you think they're charging too much, or they're taking too long to get the DVD to you.. tough shit. I know it's painful to hear, but you don't have any rights when it comes to movies.. unless you've already paid your money.

    It's absurd: Someone makes a product you want, but you don't need. They don't want to sell it to you at the price you would like to pay for it.. and they don't want to give it to you (in DVD form, in this case) when you want to receive it. Too damn bad. It's THEIRS.. they can do with it whatever they please. If you have a problem with it, then don't support them... but it's never justifiable to steal something you merely WANT, simply because you can't legitimately obtain it in a manner that would please you.

    That being said... I pirate some stuff because I want it quickly, and half of the stuff I seriously wouldn't buy even if I couldn't pirate it.. For the most part, I just enjoy collecting things. If someone makes a product that I think should be supported, I pay for it. I do not think, however, that what I'm doing is okay. I just acknowledge that I'm not the most morally upstanding person around. Piracy supporters: Stop fooling yourselves.

    1. Re:pirates should stop complaining by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      They have the right to charge you $100 a ticket.

      Nope. Anti-trust laws kick in a some point. Oh, and if they abuse copyrights too much, the law even allows for them to be voided. The world's not a simple, black and white, place.

  213. Also a good idea by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    Selling direct to video stuff right in the theater also seems like a good plan - I wonder why there has not really been a combining of movie theaters with DVD sales? It seems like the most natural place to buy movies.

    Disney got this exactly backwards with recent moves to release direct to video stuff in theaters first (Peter Pan 2 for instance). Instead they should have tried to push that stuff to people buying tickets for first-run stuff!

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  214. me too by hobo2k · · Score: 1

    me too!!

  215. Bittorrent = fast by Wehesheit · · Score: 0
    --
    This P.I.G. will walk on the water, This P.I.G. will walk on the sea, This P.I.G. will walk whereever he wants.
  216. Just... by Pingular · · Score: 0

    pointing out a couple of inaccuracies. The matrix reloaded was on the internet 2 weeks before it came out in cinemas. Since when have you been able to download 1.4 gig in 3 hours on a normal broadband line? You can't just get the matrix reloaded on bitorrent, it's available on sharereactor and even KaZaA. Learned is spelt learnt. The executives were probably expecting it to be on the internet. The picture is not often jerky with poor sound quality, in fact I've never downloaded and movie that was jerky. The film in cinemas contains the trailer for the next matrix film reloaded also. The caption under the photo of Neo reads: The third film, The Matrix Revolutions, will open in November, which leads you to think the photo is that of the next film, when in fact it's a photo of the 2nd film, where Neo goes to see the Creator. Thanks for you time, sorry if it's a little messy :0

    --

    When anger rises, think of the consequences.
    Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC)
  217. not decentralized by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Bit torrent has a few flaws that prevent it from being a "good" piracy tool. First, in order for it to work you need someone to host the torrent and you need a tracker.

    If a service were to evolve from bittorrent that was like say kazaa, then the trackers would be targeted by the MPAA/RIAA. Not to mention although the bandwidth is greatly reduced, trackers DO take up a considerable amount of bandwidth for somebody. They must coordinate EVERY downloaded chunk of a torrent file exposing them to serious legal action.

    Then there is the issue of the torrent link, which is without a doubt no better than having a link to the real file. You're not protected by using BitTorrent, the MPAA just hasn't started shutting sites down yet. RIAA probably doesn't have as much to worry about since the technology isn't well suited for sharing mp3's.

    1. Re:not decentralized by ichimunki · · Score: 1

      RIAA probably doesn't have as much to worry about since the technology isn't well suited for sharing mp3's.

      Maybe not individual mp3s, no. But entire albums? Yes. In a non-lossy format? Not all that popular... yet. Or how about entire discographies as mp3s in a tarball? You bet yer hindquarters.

      When you look at things like Kazaa being one of the most downloaded programs ever, you've got to know that limited amounts of copyright infringement are no more serious to the general public than going a few MPH (or KPH depending on your jurisdiction) over the speed limit. People just don't care.

      The problem for BT is that in the face of Kazaa there is no impetus to form a user community which would expand the number of trackers running and host seeds in a more decentralized fashion. The few sites that list .torrent files seem to be frequent targets for DDoS. Well, that and the fact that the protocol itself is more of a proof of concept than a polished final version. I mean, what's with the eight separate ports that it tries to open? Why don't the clients get information from each other about other clients rather than having to centralize all of this meta-info thru the tracker?

      --
      I do not have a signature
  218. Paid then d/l by Stonan · · Score: 1

    I paid my $13.50 to see it in the moviehouses but The Matrix Reloaded is rather cerebral. I d/l it (via WinMX) and watched it a few times more to get all the dialogue. I paid once and that's good enough.

    I also use WinMX to preview some of the not-so-hyped movies to see if it's worth spending that much money to see it on the big screen. When movies were $5.00 and even $7.50 it was alright. I could justify it.

    But now incl. taxes you have to spend $15.00! Some of these movies don't even rate $5.00 as a worthwhile use of my money.

    I remember when actors and musicians were bards that had to perform for their dinner. Now the same people get millions of $$$. Some high-quality ones are worth the millions they have (maybe not 10s of millions but IMHO they do deserve 5-10 million OVER their careers, not for just one movie/album). Most don't deserve more than a few $100,000.

    The argument could be posed that athletes earn millions a season and professional sports is considered entertainment. This is true but I can justify athletes getting piles of cash - they have to stay in the peak of health for their entire careers, keep a strict diet and put their bodies through (at times) extreme physical 'torture'.

    Actors/Musicians just have to be able to survive their heavy-partying lifestyles. The only physical 'torture' is the posibility of overdose of drugs or booze. Sure you might say the psychological 'torture' of having to repeat a scene 15-40 times until a director says 'That 40th shot was good but I think we'll just use the 1st one...' but after the movie is complete or the album is finalized, it's done. 10-30 million dollars for a handful or two if months of mostly standing around waiting for the technical stuff to be set up, then do a small snippet of work, then added to make up 90 mins worth of film?

    Allowing for re-shoots, 90 mins of finished flim takes maybe 15-20 hours of the actor/actress actually doing their job - acting. For this they get millions?? This is why I have to pay so much to see a freakin' movie?!?!?

    Forget it! I'll d/l the movie and judge for myself if it's worth paying that much to see it on the big screen.

    Case in point: Star Trek Nemesis. It's an even numbered ST so according to the rule it should have been a good one. The advertising was really eye-catching. This was supposed to be a dark, scarey Start Trek. The only reason why it was dark was because everything was filmed with shadows and dark colors! It reminded me so much of another hyped movie that kinda flopped I thought the director of Alien3 was doing this! Not to mention that Data wasn't able to create another Soong-type android let alone Starfleet but a clone from a mining planet can with no problems at all?!?!?

    The amount of money these 'entertainers' are getting needs to be drastically reduced. That will never happen so the 'pirating' of movies and music will continue. Just like the 'war on video game crackers' for every one 'they' stop 5 more start up.

    --
    The GEEK shall inherit the earth...
  219. Bogus? by MoNkaholic · · Score: 1

    Taken from one of the aforementioned Bittorrent repositories that apparently have an amazing rip of Reloaded:

    "Where did all the bittorrents GO?" I know this is the question in all of your minds. . . . well, blame the media. . . . BBC has reported a completely bogus story about the pirateing of Matrix Reloaded. . .

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/29 40270.stm

    This has caused alot of panic in the BT community. . . even though most of the story is just made up. . . and NO, there is no version of the Matrix Reloaded that is the quality that this story claims. . . so dont ask. . . We will stay online for as long as possible, everyone is keeping there heads low at the moment. . . . We hope the whole community can pull though. . . . wish us luck."

    Apparently after the /. story was posted the D/L services provided by http://www.torrentfiles.com/ were taken down.

  220. They've got it all wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The studios should not be worrying about lots of people downloading their films. The real thing they should be fearing is releasing films that no one downloads. That's when they've got a problem on their hands.

  221. digital copy where? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    so which is the actual digital copy link? this is what i dont understand.

  222. The future of Bittorrent... by Chordonblue · · Score: 1

    ...will be dependent on it's ability to scale. It's already proven that it can scale unbelievably well for transferring files - something most Peer to Peer fall down on.

    What is increasingly becoming a problem are DDOS attacks and extra traffic killing the trackers. I think in order for Bittorrent to be fully effective it will need to decentralize the tracking system. This could be done by round-robining dedicated trackers to share the load, or even by having the users themselves take part in it.

    As it stands now, ever since Slashdot posted links to the favorite BT haunts, they've been slow, or non-functional.

    --
    "...Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam..."
  223. Bit Torrent Project dead? by Zepalesque · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I just went to the site:

    http://www.cen.uiuc.edu/~halm/offline.html

    It looks like the MPAA came by and shat all over the project.

    Where oh where can I find install links for Bit Torrent now? :(

    1. Re:Bit Torrent Project dead? by Such_a_geek · · Score: 2, Informative

      That particular site is down, but the main BitTorrent site is alive and kicking. Install links are there.

  224. Copyright Infringement by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... is your best entertainment value!

  225. I've seen 'em by curious.corn · · Score: 1

    CDRW with the divx are phisically floating around the campus but... I've seen it @ the cinema last Friday (Italian launch), will go tomorrow to see the english speaking version and will most definitely grab a DVD when it comes out... Matrix on divx is like a steak fillet cooked in a microwave; a waste.

    --
    Mi domando chi à il mandante di tutte le cazzate che faccio - Altan
  226. Freedom is bad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    mmkay?

  227. Where? Partial movies? by phorm · · Score: 1

    I haven't seen it up. Can't you at least post the link if you're going to tease us like this.

    Really, I think a use of BT that would satisfy **AA and still generate revenue would be to post partial movies. Then you get to see if the movie sucks, and if it doesn't you'll probably want to see the rest (doesn't help on movies with suckish endings, but ah well)

  228. Never mind the quality; there are other factors - by Progman3K · · Score: 1

    I bought a SuperBit edition of a movie I really like. SuperBit editions are encoded at a higher bit-rate and therefore have less compression artifacts and therefore take up much more room on a DVD.
    After watching the movie, I reflected that although the visual quality was great, I was a bit hungry for the additional materials that are usually on a movie's DVD, but SuperBit editions have none of those.
    So even if I were able to get the full-quality rip of the Matrix to watch, I'd probably want the rest of it too, so much the more reason to buy the official DVD...

    --
    I don't know the meaning of the word 'don't' - J
  229. I disagree 100% by Archfeld · · Score: 1

    as long as there is ONE user out there transfering LEGAL stuff then the use is valid. There are tons of EXISTING laws about copyright infrignment, IP theft, and Child Porn, use the current statutes and stop making a tool illegal.
    I am not trying to justify the people out there stealing, but just because a tool CAN be used to steal doesn't mean it should be illegal. There is no reasonable end to that line of thought....

    --
    errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
  230. The same Bruce Almighty... by AzrealAO · · Score: 1

    The same Bruce Almighty that took the box office lead from the Matrix in it's second week? The same Matrix that saw a 60% drop in it's second week?

    1. Re:The same Bruce Almighty... by 1lus10n · · Score: 1

      family holiday weekend + new comedy with good non-perverse actor = good weekend


      family holiday weekend + shoot-em up action flick rated R with semi-nudity = not so good weekend.

      call it a hunch but the matrix will be back on top next week, and will end up bringing in more money in the long haul .......

      --
      "Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe." --Albert Einstein
  231. The tracker is down. Thanks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The tracker is down. Who knows if it'll be brought back up anytime soon. Thanks for posting it to Slashdot, you moron.

  232. Just a musing..... by RdsArts · · Score: 1

    Many people point out how silly it is to say P2P is helping pirate the Matrix, but think about the other things we see.

    Doom and GTA3 being blamed for violence.
    TV being blamed for poor reading skills.
    McDonalds coffee blaimed for legs not being a proper cup holder.

    Is it really any shock, in a society that pushes the blame like this, that the MPAA and RIAA look at P2P programs as the culprits, not the pirates?

  233. time for a new poll by RestiffBard · · Score: 3, Funny

    Matrix Reloaded

    1. saw it in the theater
    2. saw it twice or more in theater
    3. theater, then Divx
    4. theater, then Divx, then Matrix box set
    5. there is no Divx

    --
    - /* dead coders leave no comments */
    1. Re:time for a new poll by ReeferCpe · · Score: 1

      Number 4.

  234. slashdot will kill bittorrent by dangil · · Score: 1

    everytime slashdot posts something about bittorrent, every bittorrent site goes off-line, and every tracker is DDoS, and mayham is bring upon bittorrent fans (Sorry for my bad english)

    please, NO MORE BITTORRENT POSTS.... PLEASE !!

    all with me say AYE !

  235. Re:MODS GET A CLUE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    www.vcdquality.com

  236. I'll still pay to see it by glenebob · · Score: 1

    I may just download the pirated copy. I may just watch a bit of it too. Before *gasp* even seeing it in the theatre!!!

    But here are two things you can be damn sure of:

    I WON'T sit here in my office chair and watch an entire movie, and I won't bother making it watchable on the TV either. Even if I did, I would still...

    I WILL pay to see it in the theatre. I will wait 'till the rush dies down, and go on a week night so I can get the best seat in the house (the ones down front with a railing in front of the seat, so I have a nice foot rest and no heads in my way :-). I will pay without questioning the price. I will do it more than once. I will also buy the DVD when it comes out.

    So in my case, there is no money lost; no matter how many times I may sit and watch an illegal copy of the movie, the movie industry will still get my money as if I hadn't seen this article.

    I think the movie industry spends more money bitching about piracy than it loses to actual piracy.

    1. Re:I'll still pay to see it by m1chael · · Score: 1

      these copies on the internet would hurt dvd sales more than anything (if thats true at all... what is true, this post? this red leather chair is cool?). this article has lost the plot.

      if the movie is shit it hurts sales. this is the most true truth. im not saying the matrix reloaded is shit (i thoroughly enjoyed it). sorry i had to make it so obvious but people have short attention spans and even shorter fuses.

      --
      I know you are psychotic, but please make an effort.
  237. Huh, you too? by moyix · · Score: 1

    Only I keep getting this bizarre video of a person hitting "refresh" on a 2-dimensional array of numbers...

  238. Question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sorry, but i'm a complete windows n00b.

    "It is essential that your complete downloader be able to receive incoming connections. If you're behind a firewall or NAT, you should forward ports 6881 through 6889 to your machine. (The first downloader uses 6881, the next 6882, etc.)"

    Does anybody know how to do that?

    1. Re:Question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
      It has to do with The Matrix. You see, the ships have to go to broadcast depth to connect to The Matrix. That depth is exactly 6881 meters from the surface, minimum. Sometimes, they can't get a connection to The Matrix, so they move away, one meter at a time until a connection is made.

      Now that you've downloaded BitTorrent, it would be silly to stop now. My advice is to download as many movies as you can. You might ask "But, wouldn't that make my a pirate?" I would just remind you that everyone knows they're doing it, it's just that no one talks about it. You would say "So, it's kinda like a secret society?" And I would say "Sure!"

      I suggest you call the movie theatre. They have someone on staff that can talk you through the setup of your firewall so you can reach the right depth for The Matrix port. The theatres are secretly pushing p2p sharing as a way to pressure movie makers to increase dividends. Be sure to tell them that you're a n00b too. They'll hear your hacker lingo, and thus know that you're not some lamer MPAA geek.

  239. This is different from sneaking in how? by Argon+Sloth · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I remember reading an article in the week before the Reloaded was released, that predicted that the R-rating would hurt ticket sales by a little, while also anticipating the movie to be one of the strongests box office draws of all time.

    In the past those age-challened would sneak into theatres to see these R-rated films. It was almost a rite of passage. Many of today's kids are more tech-savvy and probably more likely to download a bootleged copy than sneak into the theatre. Yet I cannot recall one case where the MPAA complained about lost money due to people sneaking into theatres. Particularly those big ones with designated exit doors, where one could patiently wait outside until a patron leaves the theatre.

    I'm sure the MPAA wouldn't try to crackdown on the theatres with relaxed security, because without the theatres, a lot of revenue is lost. 4 people can happily enjoy a DVD for $20 instead of seeing it in a theatre for $10 each.

    --
    Laziness is a virtue, anyone who bothers to tell you otherwise, is clearly lacking it.
  240. thanks slashdot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    thank you slashdot for ruining bt for the time being. the sites that have hosted these files and the trackers they were on have been taken down. everyone can thank the media and slashdot for this

  241. Animatrix by VariableSanity · · Score: 1

    Why is there not an article about the animatrix?? There is a real Xvid DVD-Rip copy floating around on the internet.

  242. Article Timing / Previous Story by bsd-mon · · Score: 1

    P2P hogs up to 60% of bandwidth...by the way, you can download the matrix here, here, and here.

    funny

    --
    To read makes our speaking English good. - X. Harris
  243. Bittorrent clarification by mig0 · · Score: 0

    Someone help me understand Bittorrent and "leeching" because the FAQ is worthless.

    It looks like to me that bit torrent is basically a client that lets you download files on the web, but seeks peers that are hosting files to make downloads faster. So if you're trying to download matrix.reloaded.mpg off bittorrent.org, the client seeks other sources of matrix.reloaded.mpg and uses them to make your download faster.

    Right?

    As far as the leeching goes... well that part I don't get. How does BT know what file's I have to 'share' or will it just let anyone download any file I have once the app is installed? That's where I don't get it.

    How can it prevent you from leeching if you don't have a web server or .torrent file on your computer?

    Unless it's using the file you're downloading as data to send to others (like say you have 20% of it completed... other people request the file too, so your source file is used to fill their needs as well?)

    1. Re:Bittorrent clarification by nstrom · · Score: 1

      Unless it's using the file you're downloading as data to send to others (like say you have 20% of it completed... other people request the file too, so your source file is used to fill their needs as well?)

      This is correct. As soon as you download the first chunk of the file (256KB-1MB) you start uploading what you've downloaded so far to other clients. BitTorrent works on a file-per-file basis, unlike more traditional P2P apps.

      You might find this page useful in explaining some things.

    2. Re:Bittorrent clarification by hkmwbz · · Score: 1
      BT will only "share" the file(s) you are currently downloading. It will only share the files that are "active" in the BT client. This is why you are encouraged to leave the BT window for a file open even after the download is complete - that way, others can still download from you. But the moment you click "OK" to close the transfer window once it is completed, you stop sharing and uploading to others.

      So they can't get just any file on your PC. It has to be a file you have downloaded using a .torrent, and it has to be "open" in the BT client.

      You can't leech because when you are downloading, you are uploading at the same time.

      --
      Clever signature text goes here.
  244. Empirical Evidence by syzme · · Score: 1

    I would think that I would be getting incredible download speeds from my Matrix Reoladed download right now, but not so. Even though I'm sure the download experienced an increase in traffic as a result of this article, my download speeds are ranging from 0 kbps to 15 kbps, nothing out of the ususal.

    1. Re:Empirical Evidence by lewp · · Score: 1

      If you're behind NAT or a restrictive firewall it helps to forward ports 6881-6889 to the computer running BitTorrent.

      --
      Game... blouses.
  245. crumble, crumble by maudite · · Score: 2, Funny

    Let's make sure that a /. story about BitTorrent shows up every few days on this site so none of the damn tracker sites work. They are as fragile as eggs anyway. The RIAA or MPAA or whoever must be paying .\ to do this knowing that the nerds will post in their comments a web address to "their favorite sites" and that other nerds will gangbang the damn sites. Thanks \..

  246. Studio careless with MATRIX? Disgruntled Gofer? by Tsu+Dho+Nimh · · Score: 3, Interesting
    And how could a high-quality film or digital copy of the Matrix Reloaded become available? The studio is the likely source.

    The DVDs are in production now, getting all the "extra" content together, subtitling and dubbing, coding digital copies for the scene selection jumps, etc. It's a lot of work to get them ready to send to the pressing plant.

    The film has to be converted to DVD file format first, because everything else depends on it, and multiple people will be using various copies of this file as they do their bit. All it takes is one low-paid studio gofer in a state of disgruntlement to slide a disk into his/her pocket and walk out the door. Burn a copy and upload it to somewhere and they have their revenge against the PHBs at the studio.

  247. They are missing their marketing opportunity... by rediguana · · Score: 2, Interesting

    If I had the opportunity to purchase a DVD on the way out of the theatre I would. Purchases are only possible with a ticket, and before you leave the ticket check section. They would milk it. The longer time there is between theatre and dvd release, the more pirating there will be. It will also reduce their potential revenue. Idiots.

    1. Re:They are missing their marketing opportunity... by m1chael · · Score: 1

      you would still be left with the people who are too cheap to buy the dvd anyway you want to sell it to them.

      normal people would go see it in the cinema even if it is released on the internet at a respectable quality because home theatres havent replaced cinemas yet.

      --
      I know you are psychotic, but please make an effort.
  248. Go see something that's not crap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Allow me to recommend a film, Rabbit Proof Fence by Phillip Noyce. It's a movie about how the Australian government used to behave with respect to Aboriginals. Kind of like the Matrix, except it's true. And it's not stuuuuuuupid.

    Don't be a sheep, see an intelligent movie.

  249. Yet another oh-so-usable app by __aamkky7574 · · Score: 1

    Having read the install instructions for BitTorrent, I decided it would be quicker to wait for the movie on DVD. P.

  250. No Doubt by Zaphod-AVA · · Score: 1

    I'd have to say that Gwen Stefani has the market cornered on No Doubt perfect nipples.

    -Z

  251. Then the HDTV version? by olddoc · · Score: 1

    Will you also buy 5 "Blu Disk" HDTV 1080i versions of all your matrix and animatrix disks when that format is available?

    --
    Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
  252. You'd never make it as an engineer. by purduephotog · · Score: 1

    You are going to estimate the worst case scenario... but it's not even realistic. For that many people to download, it would crap out practically every connection in the world
    So more realistic is 1 in 10, in which case your 10% becomes 1%. Now lets say half the college students are women (47%) and don't download it (unrealistic in the extreme, but would counterbalance the group that doesn't download and is male).... that means 1% becomes 0.5%
    Finally, the group that doesn't directly borrow it from their friends instead, and it may drop a bit more.
    Worst case scenarios are fine and dandy, but there comes a limit when a 200X safety factor is just plain silly.

    1. Re:You'd never make it as an engineer. by morcheeba · · Score: 1

      Yep, I did use an extreme case - but it was to show that even with the MPAA's exaggerations, downloads would be hard to make a dent. Maybe world bandwidth * days-since-release / filesize * $7 would be good, too. The more extreme, the less guesstimates, the easier to defend. Of course, reasonable estimates help complement the argument.

      Actually, I am an engineer -- a former rocket scientist, no less! :) I used to be a satellite engineer, where lots and lots of worst-case scenarios were piled on each other:
      Worst-case-input + worst-case-power-supply + worst-case-temperature-performance + worst-case-radiation-degradation-at-end-of-life + noise-margin = worst-case-output

      When we started out, we built a low-cost satellite without a lot of reliability study. After it was launched, experts found the MTBF to be something like 3 months. Seven years laters (on a one year design life), the batteries eventually wore out.

      Now, I'd never make it designing consumer items!

  253. If you eat too much in the Matrix.... by Spittles · · Score: 2, Funny

    Is it just my stretched monitor settings, but does the photo of Mr Morpheus on the BBC news site make him look a touch tubby?

    1. Re:If you eat too much in the Matrix.... by IdJit · · Score: 1

      Nah. Fishburne is pretty much built like a Sequoia trunk anyway.

  254. Am I the only one who thought it sucked? by Shabazz+Rabbinowitz · · Score: 1

    What a waste of air!

    But I can't wait for the next one, Revolution OS...

  255. I won't miss them by phr2 · · Score: 1
    You ask a good question and the answer lies in why we (well, some of us) go see such movies in the first place. We go not because they're deeply enlightening (read a book if you want that) or because they're that they get your pulse racing and palms sweaty (getting laid more often does a better job of that). Rather, we go see those things because they're part of our surrounding culture and if we don't see any of them it turns us into weirdos and recluses. When our friends groan "why does it have to be snakes?" we won't know what they mean. But if those movies didn't exist, we really wouldn't be any worse off, as we'd find plenty of other things to keep ourselves entertained and occupied.

    So let those studios shut down, or (more likely and more desirably) go back to making smaller-budget films that can be profitable without needing to rake everyone over the coals and trying to extend copyright legislation into our bedrooms. I'd even stop boycotting DVD purchases if that happened (I rent them so the rental store gets the money instead of the MPAA).

    The point about the big-theater experience and the expense of home theaters is valid, but it's not that big a deal to most people. I don't have an actual home theater and am a little extreme in not even having a TV set. But watching rented DVD's on my computer with small external amplified speakers works quite well, it's at least as good as watching on a TV. And as computer LCD projectors get cheaper, a real home theater-like experience gets both more affordable and less imposing on your living space (you can just have a little projector and roll-up screen that you can put away when not in use, instead of a huge rear-projection set that fills your room).

  256. Stupid Question by pseudochaotic · · Score: 1

    How do you play a bin/cue movie?

    --
    And the l33t shall inherit the 34r7h.
    1. Re:Stupid Question by NeMon'ess · · Score: 1

      you must burn it with fireburner or nero because that is a cd image

  257. The Lackings of cinema experience. by shadowjk · · Score: 1

    What MPAA and Hollywood in general could do, is try improve the cinema experience.
    I'm a person who doesn't go very often to the cinema. I grew up on the countryside, and the distance to the cinema was always too far, and besides, just wait a few years and the thing is on TV anyhow, where you can watch it in the comfort of your own home, not worry about drinking too much cola with the snacks, since you can go take a piss on the comercial breaks anyway.

    Anyhow... as someone who rarely visited cinemas, people always hyped to me that there was something better about it. Better image quality, better sound, etc... So now that I live in the city, I actually wetn to see Matrix Reloaded.

    I had been hyped up too much... Where to start, the picture, I suppose.
    The whitescreen has a number of flaws.. First, it's white, so you can't really get any black. It's some grey-ish colour. My computer monitor and tv is darker and has bigger dynamic range. This is only a minor issue, of course.
    Second, flickering. I don't know why people noticed this, maybe this 70hz (*snigger*) monitor has spoiled me, but the way that bright scenes flickered in the cinema really annoyed me and made me squirm in the seat.
    Thirdly, framerate. On a smallish TV or monitor, you really don't notice the crapness of 24fps. However, on the bigscreen, you notice it easily.. There was a very long highspeed panning scene in Matrix Reloaded.. It was absolutely awful to watch in 24fps. Seems as soon as there is a little bit of movement, everything gets blurry.

    Anyhow... if the movie studios would move on to, say, 48 fps instead of 24, cinemas would have an instant advantage over DVD and TV, and most likely bootlegs as well, since I atleast know of no consumer camera that can capture at doubleframerate.

    As how to fix the other issues, I have no clue if it's even technichally possible.

    Sound... well, the sound in the cinema quite frankly, sucked. My el-cheapo wireless headphones that are very bad, are even better. Low bass sounds sounded like somone stood behind the screen and shook a large sheet of thing metal around. The Dolby digital sound test, well, it failed, one of the speakers at the front started to crackle and rumble.
    I seem to remember reading that THX would fix this though, that the cinema would have to get certified first? Quality control is always good, and needed in this case, it seems!
    Adding *quality* stereo headphone outputs to each seat in the cinema would be a good thing, everyone could take their favourite high quality headphones with them for the ultimate experience.

    In summary, I would urge the movie studios and MPAA to *innovate* instead of blaming piracy.

    1. Re:The Lackings of cinema experience. by ShinmaWa · · Score: 1

      Its not really fair to blame the MPAA and the movie studios for the poor quality of the cinema you went to. Do you also blame HBO when the color balance on your television is messed up?

      Honestly, do you think Warner Brothers had any power to do anything about the short in the theatre's speaker, the quality of the physical screen, or the number or type of anemities offered to the guests?

      --
      The /. Effect: Thousands of users simultaneously accessing a site to not read its content.
    2. Re:The Lackings of cinema experience. by shadowjk · · Score: 1

      Apart from the speaker issue, the other visual issues are, as I've understood it, mostly technichal limitations with the current system.

      Perhaps there's some type of projector out there that can switch frames quick enough for the eye to not detect flicker, but I don't know, and if there is, does anyone know how widespread various speeds are?

      The other issues might very well be cinema dependent, but 24fps is something global to most material produced today. I've heard of 48fps theatres in France, but obviously not a lot is being made for them.

      I could also have complained about film grain, but Lucas is filming in digital now, so we can have pixelation artefacts instead of grain artefacts, yay!

    3. Re:The Lackings of cinema experience. by dododge · · Score: 1
      Perhaps there's some type of projector out there that can switch frames quick enough for the eye to not detect flicker,

      Just a data point: the flicker you see in a movie theater is usually 48 flashes per second. Each film frame is displayed twice.

      I've heard of 48fps theatres in France, but obviously not a lot is being made for them.

      Roger Ebert has been talking about some true 48fps system for a while now, so that might be what they're using in those theaters.

      For about 20 years there has been a 70mm 60fps format called Showscan, but I don't recall if they ever managed to create a feature film with it. It ended up being used for theme rides.

  258. i don't think so by exhilaration · · Score: 1

    my brother (age 12) and sister (age 18) can't stop playing the GameCube version - it looks freaking amazing

  259. But what if... by TephX · · Score: 1
    You can't go to a movie with a pretty girl and still call yourself a geek.
    ... you got the date by asking out a bulletin board?
    From khamm@andrew.cmu.edu Tue May 13 18:56:58 2003
    Date: Thu, 8 May 2003 13:02:43 -0400 (EDT)
    From: Kenn Brooks Hamm
    Reply-To: kenn@cmu.edu
    Newsgroups: cmu.misc.market
    Subject: Matrix ticket seeks date

    So, being a graduating senior, I just picked up a couple of tickets to The
    Matrix: Reloaded on Wednesday night. I am now looking for someone to give
    my second ticket to, in exchange for accompanying me. This is not a joke.
    This is not a left-myself-logged-in post.

    Qualifying factors:

    * Must be female

    * Must be a CMU undergrad student (freshman through 5th year senior is
    fine), although I might waive this requirement if you can make a really
    good case

    If you're interested, please submit by email to kenn@cmu.edu the following
    items:

    * A recent (last 2 years) picture of yourself, or a link to same

    * An essay of not less than 100 nor more than 200 words describing
    yourself (please do not include information I can retrieve with
    finger(1) - name, major, or class standing, in particular)

    * An essay of not less than 100 nor more than 200 words telling me why I
    should pick you over any other applicant

    If you have a personal website or webjournal, please include a link to it
    in your submission. Feel free to include any other information or links
    you wish, but make sure that the items listed above are clearly marked,
    and keep in mind that I may not go through such material, especially if it
    is voluminous.

    The deadline for submissions is Sunday, May 11 at 23:59:59
    (coincidentally, the same time as my 15-498 take-home exam is due). The
    winner will be notified by email by Monday, May 12 at 23:59:59. If I
    receive no acceptable applications by that time, my second ticket will be
    for sale for $9.50 (the same price I paid for it), but I hope I don't have
    to do that. I reserve the right not to pick a winner even if I do receive
    applications.

    If you want to know about me, please refer to
    <http://ragnar.nilmop.com/kenn/Kenn.html> for information, and
    <http://ragnar.nilmop.com/kenn/news/default.htm l > for my webjournal.

    Kenn
    See http://ragnar.nilmop.org/kenn/history/matrix.txt for the whole thread. (Quick note: the links in the above message don't work. Read the thread for the details why. Replace .com with .org if you just want to make them work.)
    --
    I metamoderate all Redundant and Offtopic moderations as Unfair.
  260. the obligatory...? by WormholeFiend · · Score: 1

    In Soviet Russia, Matrix bittorrents YOU!

  261. Re:MATRIX 3 PLOT (sshh...keep this quiet) by WormholeFiend · · Score: 1

    SPOILERS WARNING? plus, if you play the Enter the Matrix game, the Oracle says something about a child that must be born. Neo+Trinity=kid?

  262. efficiency! by bagsc · · Score: 1

    if you use bittorrent to only download from the lowest ping/highest bandwidths, you optimize the entire internet. by taking bandwidth from only the fastest routes, you reduce the strain on the rest of the internet.

    and since another article today said 60% of traffic is file transfers, this is saving everyone in the country/world resources, and therefore money. a 1% increase in a $100 billion industry (theres ~$80 bil/yr in networking equipment per year, so this is the right order of magnitude) means that bittorrent is producing $1 billion in savings per year. can't say precisely the impact here, but its potentially huge. gj bittorrent team.

    --
    http://www.accountkiller.com/removal-requested
  263. Yeah it sucks by Mafiew · · Score: 1

    The game isn't even worth the time and bandwidth used to download it. It runs pretty crappy, and it looks even worse. It's downright impossible to control and you have no idea what you're doing most of the time. It is blatantly obvious that they rushed it to make the release date. Well I'm talking about the PC version that is, I don't know about the XBox or PS2 versions which could very well be really cool.

    1. Re:Yeah it sucks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've rented the Gamecube version and it's really awful. I'm pretty sure they developed the game for PS2 and ported it across the board with little or no optimization for the other systems. I did try it on my buddies PS2 and the framerate still seemed ultra-choppy. And WTF is up with the driving/flying stages? Was someone at Shiny smoking crack? They should have just left that shit out of the game...

  264. well, with the action it's mostly cinema any way by jago25_98 · · Score: 1

    if it's got action in it I usually go to the cinema anyway, and it's an occassion anyway

  265. Wake up, MPAA by teknokracy · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This is the thing, a good movie will get good reviews, and YES people will still go see movies, until we get two storey screens in our houses. If a movie is crap however, nobody will go see it! And nobody will bother to make even a decent Telesync of it. Look on www.vcdquality.com... there are at least half a dozen rips of the matrix, and maybe one of movies like Daddy Day Care. And I bet you anyone who downloads TMR will go and see it in the theatres as well.

  266. Is every one insane or... by GrodinTierce · · Score: 1

    am I missing something? The price of a CD today is about 5 cents.

    --


    Tierce
    Who sponsors your feelings?
  267. Yet another by eeyoredragon · · Score: 1

    I also saw the movie in the theatre... twice. And, yes, I'll buy the DVD when it comes out. And, yes, I'll be watching the downloaded copy I got off the net until then. No harm done. As to the quality of the rip going around: the one I have is pretty good considering. It's about 1.2GB. To compare this to a DVD rip is laughable though. No one is going to be watching this instead of a DVD unless they just hate the movie.

  268. Rated R? by soliaus · · Score: 1
    Just to say something:

    And the people downloading to get a copy at home are most likely either teenagers who 1: aren't (or shouldn't be for an R movie) their target audience, and 2: are likely to find a way around buying it anyway.

    Shouldnt be in a R movie? Bah. Thats why I bought my ticket on fandango! The person didnt even bother to ask for id when the 15 year old presented her with a credit card and valiantly said "Fandango".
    So there.

    --
    Speaking at Defcon 12 - Credit Card Networks Revisted: Pen
  269. Re:Film source? Nonsense. by evilviper · · Score: 1
    I can't imagine any Matrix fans are going to download the movie rather than seeing it on the big screen and/or buying the DVD.

    I am a Matrix fan, but I'm also damn tired of being ass-raped by Hollywood.

    Gee, wouldn't it be fun to go stand in line for hours, to pay $10 to get a single ticket, so that I can sit and stand in filth, pay $5 for a can of watered-down soda, sit around for more than a half-hour of watching commercials and trailers for other movies which are supposed to encourage me to go through the same crap, only to be eventually rewarded by a (at best) movie that doesn't live up to reasonable expectations (at worst is complete piece of crap like Star Wars EP1), and has embedded dozens of product logos and endorsements that usually distract from the movie, and rub in your face the fact that you've gotten screwed-over every step of the way.

    Hmm, better stop myself now, because I could go on like this for pages upon pages.

    Personally, I LOVE P2P, if for no other reason than the use of it as a way to break the big-studio monopolies, and force them to serve the conumers (for once--finally) or die.

    I may buy the DVD later on, but only if it is under $10 fairly soon after it is released. There is no reason for any single-disc DVD to be any more expensive than that (and I sure don't want a full disc of extra crap).
    --
    Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
  270. Please Leave us alone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Torrentse.cx is a privatly run site. It was never ment for this many people and now as you can see thanks to you There is now an artical in the BBC.

    GG Slashdot

  271. All downloads are of shitty quality by llzackll · · Score: 1

    Go see it in the theater folks. The internet downloads look like you are watching a shitty japanese movie in vhs on a 30 year old color television.

  272. Taken down by Kelz · · Score: 1

    The main torrents have actually been taken down from torrentfiles.com. from the admin:

    Posted by: Admin on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 - 08:00 AM (2208 Reads)
    UPDATE: Downloads Section has been de-activated. . . . the /. story along with the bogus BBC story have left me with no choice at the moment. . . . i plan to bring them back, but right now all the money that goes to this site comes from my pocket, and to be honest, the pocket is getting a bit low with the bandwith these stories produce. Some people have asked how they can donate to the site. This is someting that i cannot allow, i believe that sites like this should be free, so i will not accept any money. . . . thanks anyway. As far as the downloads go, we are going to wait this one out. . . when the scene cools off a bit, we will be back. . . . Thanks again. . . . We will keep you up-to-date as things progress. .

  273. OF COURSE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    well obviously it will give you a list of IPs, how else would you connect to them to get the file?

    i don't really see this being a problem, are they going to go after the 300 users hosting a specific file? the IP list that BitTorrent gives doesnt give details on who is actually seeding the file, just a big list of possible people to connect to get the file from

  274. Centralized Searches and BitTorrent by billstewart · · Score: 1

    BitTorrent doesn't have a centralized source for searches either. A given file often has a centralized source, and there are popular tracker sites, just as there are popular websites, but Google is as close to a centralized source as any.

    --

    Bill Stewart
    New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
  275. XMEN 2 SVCD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    nevada.irchat.tv
    #suprnova

    You can get X-Men 2 (SVCD) Type: /ctcp azatoth get X-Men.2.SVCD.TS-Centropy.torrent

    To get Matrix Reloaded (SVCD) Type: /ctcp azatoth get The.Matrix.Reloaded.SVCD.TS-Centropy.torrent

    To get Bruce Almighty (SVCD) Type: /ctcp azatoth get Bruce.Almighty.SVCD.TS-Centropy-Sample.mpg.torrent

    Hope you all enjoy!

  276. Working Torrents by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Working Torrents:

    http://h55x311.delphi.afb.lu.se/~azatoth/torrent /

  277. Foe List and the Porridge man by moncyb · · Score: 1

    Most of the time I put anyone who seems annoying on my foes list. I usually look at past posts too, so it's not completely arbitrary.

    Upon review of your recent posts, you don't seem annoying. In fact, I almost wonder if, late one night, I intended to put you on my friends list, but my finger slipped? Not sure. Maybe I was in a bad mood that day.

    However, while looking through your posts, I found a very eeevveeil grammar nazi! Alan Porridge or something like that. Now there is a prized addition to my list! I have to wonder why he's not on your foe list after the senseless reaming he gave you...

  278. justification of theft is funny by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    some guy posted that it was ok since the company made a lot of money. how much money is ok? oh, the pirate decides.

    don't oversimplify the situation, a company with 1 blockbuster movie gets dragged back down by the 2-3 bombs it made before that. what did you think happened to all those movie failures anyways?

    anyways, its not your job to decide that someone else has too much money so its time to start stealing. do people that use this reasoning apply it to everything else? ussually no. why? they are afraid of getting caught stealing from stores/rich peoples houses.

    either way, its a piss poor justification. if your going to steal, atleast admit thats what your doing. your getting a service/product someone else worked hard to make for nothing. if its so cr@ppy, don't waste your time on it at all.

  279. It is blown out of proportion by danila · · Score: 1

    There will always be a pirated release of almost any movie very soon after it is first shown to someone. If studios are lucky, this will happen a days or two after the theatrical release. If they are out of luck, it will happen during the screenings for the press, a few days or weeks before the release. If they release it in the end of the year, Academy DVD screener will be pirated.

    BUT. There is huge "but". The fact that there is a release on vcdquality or even on Sharereactor (or any BT site) doesn't mean anything. It doesn't mean that the "executives who co-ordinated a worldwide release of the film in an attempt to thwart piracy" should be worried. They do not lose money because a copy of the film was leaked to the Internet, they lose money only when people choose to watch it instead of watching it in the theater.

    And I believe that the studio did the right thing in this case. A worldwide release ensures that the overhelming majority of people will first (or only) see the film in the theaters. Some will download a copy, because the DVD is not available yet, but the negative effect will be low. If the studios want to completely eliminate piracy, they can release the DVD on the same day, but they choose not to. It's their right and they probably know what they are doing (maximising profits), but then they need to accept a certain level of piracy.

    --
    Future Wiki -- If you don't think about the future, you cannot have one.