EZTree Shuts Down

John3 writes "Easytree.org, a popular Bittorrent tracking site also known as EZT, shut down today after their ISP received threatening letters from attorneys. Unlike sites like Lokitorrent that have been shut down in the past, torrents on EasyTree were usually unreleased live musical performances rather than commercial product. Is a site that shares old Stevie Nicks, Frank Sinatra, and Ian Hunter live shows really that much of a threat to the music industry?"

Comments

that much of a threat to the music industry?

[Anonymous Coward]

Are they that much of a threat to the music industry?

No! They're not a threat at all. You see, all it takes is a letter from someone claiming to be a lawyer and they are shutdown. Easy Peasy.

Yes

[Hatta]

Is a site that shares old Stevie Nicks, Frank Sinatra, and Ian Hunter live shows really that much of a threat to the music industry?

Anything that provides quality product free of charge is going to cut into the sales of overpriced crap. What really scares them is that people may discover there's more to music than k0rn and j-lo.

Re:Yes

[AnonymousNoMore]

Yes and no. The majority of material spread by EZT was from bands that allow taping and there was no issue with that.

The things that led to the downfall of EZT was the availability of recordings of artists that do not allow taping and the fact that these recordings keep showing up on ebay.

Are old live recordings of Sinatra a threat to the industry? Hell yes. Have you heard the crap they pass off as music these days?

Re:Yes

[John3]

So instead of letting fans get access to these shows via torrents the music industry will drive them back to bootleggers who sell these shows on CD for a profit. Does anyone else remember when you had to buy a bootleg LP for $15 or $20 in order to hear studio outtakes or live unreleased shows? To me, the best thing about P2P networks is that they take the criminal middle-man (bootlegger) out of the equation and let the fans trade materials directly.

Re:Loaded questions and spin

[QRDeNameland]

torrents on EasyTree were usually unreleased live musical performances The key word in that sentence is USUALLY. As a (now former) EZT user, that "key word" is, in fact, wrong. The EZT moderators were quite meticulous in their identification and banning of any material that was officially released. Ditto for any material from artists who objected to their shows being posted there, such as The Allman Brothers Band. Offending torrents were, as far I could ever tell, banned before anyone ever got a chance to snatch them. Lots of those live performances ARE commercial stuff too. Go look at the CD aisle at Best Buy, and imagine that, there are plenty of professionally produced live concerts. Nope, wrong again, not on EZT...any such recording would have been banned in short order. They took great pains to comply with the law, and still they were shut down.