MPAA Ignores Usenet, Goes After Bittorrent

mjeppsen writes "The Motion Picture Association of America is turning a blind eye towards movie piracy on Usenet, going after torrent link sites instead. PC Magazine says it is because the studios are in bed with GUBA, who is also shilling downloadable movies for the MPAA at a premium price."

Comments

MPAA doesn't need "moral high ground"

[the Gray Mouser]

The article misses a major point.

The MPAA is perfectly free to choose who to go after. If they choose to allow GUBA to continue (at least for now), that is their right. It doesn't take away from their valid position to protect their copyrights.

As an aside, I had never heard of GUBA before this. I may have to look into it...

No

[Average_Joe_Sixpack]

It's just easier to find and sue torrent abusers.

As long as there's pay, MPAA will play?

[Dark Paladin]

It seems that the primary difference, from what I've been reading, between Guba.com and bittorrent is at least with the former, the MPAA has a chance at some money coming their way. From the FAQ:

What is the difference between buying and renting a video on GUBA Premium?

Rent - If you rent a video on GUBA Premium it will be available for viewing from your computer for a limited period of time (most likely 24 hours). The 24 hour period commences at the moment that you click on the "Play" button in Windows Media Player (and not when you begin the download.) Rental videos most often restrict what you can do with the video--meaning that you can't burn it to CD or copy it to another computer. Please note that depending on license terms you may have up to 30 days to begin playing the video before which time it is no longer accessible. Be sure to check the details on your "My Favorites" page.

Buy - If you buy a video on GUBA Premium it is available for your enjoyment indefinitely, usually on up to 2 devices (check the individual file for the specific license rights.) In addition, you can back it up to a DVD-R or sync it to a Windows capable ("Playsforsure") mobile device.

Explanations for all of these rights are defined in the FAQ listed below (My Rights for Renting & Buying Videos.)
Why am I not able to play the movie I just rented/bought?

Your computer must have the following minimum system requirements to play the movie you rented/bought:

        * Operating System: Windows 2000 Professional, Windows XP Home, Windows XP Professional SP-2 or Windows Media Center
        * Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher
        * Windows Media Player 9 or higher
        * A 300KBps or better Internet connection: We recommend Cable or DSL connection

So right there, Guba has some sort of DRM system in place that keeps people from just watching any movie at any time - and since they use the Usenet archives at times to snag their movies, the MPAA doesn't have to worry about "clean" copies - they'll still get paid for crappy Usenet archive copies that Joe Geek ripped from the DVD.

But there's something else that Guba offers as well: tracking of content. Does Hollywood want to know what movie might be a good pick? What if there's been a lot of traffic in "Santa Claus versus the Martians", and it's pretty constant - maybe rereleasing the DVD will make some cash.

Either way, the selective nature of just what the MPAA will go after and what they won't is rather interesting. I read through the artcle which seemed to show pretty clearly that the MPAA can ignore copyright violation when it wants to. Anyone else have a better idea than I why that may be?

Re:Bittorrent is centralized, Usenet is decentrali

[Hoi Polloi]

Lets be honest, the real reason they aren't going after it is that usenet is little known outside of IT circles and is pretty user unfriendly (at least to a layman).

Re:Uh-huh

[kentrel]

I agree. For a site full of supposedly intelligent people there are a lot of angry boys who think it's their right to download the latest shit the MPAA\RIAA have to offer, and fuck them if they try to protect their investments. Whether it's their right or not is a legal issue - the real question is why do they waste their time on that shit anyway, whether they get it for free or not? Are hours of their lives watching this crap really well spent?

When they're on their death beds will they look back on their lives and say "I'm glad I never kissed a girl, it was much more fun watching the latest Hollywood bullshit, then bitching about it, and all for free, hahahalolroflmao..."