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BitTorrent Community Running For Cover?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the fun-and-games-over dept.

govatos writes "Bandwidth issues and DOS Attacks brought Bytemonsoon, a popular BitTorrent page down, but now pages are closing for scarier reasons. Torrentse.cx 'recieved a cease and desist letter during the day of Wednesday, July 16, 2003 for copyright infringement. The entire website has been removed and will not return.' Will corporate pressure kill the BitTorrent movement, or will it keep flying from site to site before it settles somewhere 'safe' like Sealand's HavenCo?"

4 of 740 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Somewhere 'safe' can be 'anywhere' by sfire · · Score: 5, Informative

    index/key/tracker files

    The tracker is a url of a server to contact. Take down that server, and the bittorrent files that contact it are no longer valid.

  2. Re:Still a single point of failure by batkiwi · · Score: 5, Informative

    Bittorrent was not designed as a way to anonymously get files, or to trick the RIAA, or anything like that.

    It was designed as a way for people to distribute large files without paying gobs for bandwidth.

  3. Re:Don't click on a *.cx link. by Qender · · Score: 5, Informative

    CX is the domain for christmas island:
    http://www.nic.cx/

    There are a few popular sites with that domain that have some nasty content. But it's still just a domain like .com, .net, .org, or .tk.

  4. HavenCo by Shippy · · Score: 5, Informative

    Actually, HavenCo is no longer a safe haven. Ryan Lackey will be doing a talk about the events that transpired in 2002 at DEFCON 11. Here's the text from the DEFCON Speakers Page:

    HavenCo: What Really Happened

    HavenCo, an attempt at creating an offshore data haven, was launched in 2000 by a small team of cypherpunks and pro-liberty idealists.

    During 2002, the Sealand Government decided they were uncomfortable with their legal and PR exposure due to HavenCo, particularly in the post-DMCA and post-911 world, and regulated, then took over the remains of the business, forcing the remaining founders out. While HavenCo continues to serve a small number of customers, it no longer is a data haven, and has exposed the ultimate flaw in relying on a single physical location in one's quest for privacy.

    Ryan Lackey was with HavenCo from inception until late 2002, and will tell exactly what happened (not the PR-friendly whitewashed version) from day one until the end, what lessons were learned, and how similar goals can be achieved in the future by motivated individuals and groups.

    --
    -Shippy