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Mininova Starts Filtering Torrents
Dreen writes with this snippet from TorrentFreak: "Just a few days before their court appearance, Mininova, the largest BitTorrent site on the Internet, has started to filter content. The site is using a third-party content recognition system that will detect and remove torrent files that link to copyright-infringing files."
I use Mininova often, primarily to find torrents for two TV shows I watch regularly.
So the question is - what are the alternatives?
Well, I downloaded the latest Lost torrent from it yesterday without any problem (sorry, I can't wait until they decide to air it here in Europe), so the filter is apparently not very good.
under dutch law, downloading music & movies is LEGAL!
[citation needed]
I think the Windows 7 Release Candidate was the only one
I'm too lazy to double-check, but I would be mightily surprised if MS had consented to unregulated 3rd party distribution of any version of windows. Just because MS lets people freely download it from their own servers, and possibly those of a handful of designated 3rd parties, doesn't mean they've given permission for just anyone to distribute it.
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
FTA: Mininova co-founder Niek told TorrentFreak that the system will be tested for 12 weeks with only a few titles.
Apparently it's not very effective... http://www.mininova.org/search/wolverine/seeds
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Downloading is in fact legal in many jurisdictions. But the problematic thing with Bittorrent is that it makes you an uploader as well, and that decidedly isn't legal in many jurisdictions.
Where in europe? :)
The latest Lost episode is on sky one this weekend. It's only a 3 day wait.
(not that I don't agree, I downloaded it too)
Bear in mind that the takedown requests are based on the "Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act (OCILLA)" and is a law in the United States and should therefore have no legal basis in another country.
http://www.mininova.org/tor/2569928
This is one of their "featured torrents". It's called "How to bypass mininovas copyright filter". I'm mildly amuzed.
I would guestimate that 3/4 of the OP comments which don't agree with this course of action are people who are actively using Mininova to search for copyrighted material, against the terms of the applicable license. Apparently BitTorrent is predominantly used for copyright infringement.
Well done for proving the RIAA / MPAA right, boys. You're a true help to the cause.
Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
I know it's a wiki, but it's a carbon copy of the real lawbook, it's just the only page I could find that allows me to directly link to the article.
Let me translate something for you:
"Als inbreuk op het auteursrecht op een werk van letterkunde, wetenschap of kunst wordt niet beschouwd de verveelvoudiging welke beperkt blijft tot enkele exemplaren en welke uitsluitend dient tot eigen oefening, studie of gebruik van de natuurlijke persoon die zonder direct of indirect commercieel oogmerk de verveelvoudiging vervaardigt of tot het verveelvoudigen uitsluitend ten behoeve van zichzelf opdracht geeft."
Which you can translate loosly to:
"It is not considered copyright infringement if a copy is made solely for the purpose of own practice or study without direct or indirect commerical gain, and when the copy is only meant for himself".
If you want to read it yourself, here is a shoddy google translation: here
In short, under Dutch law, it's legal to make copy's of copyrighted works (be it a movie, music or a piece of text), only if it's for yourself and does not give you a commercial gain. This rule was originally built to support people making back-up copies for them selves, but applies to the internet too. What you CAN'T do is upload copyrighted files (uploading = distribution), and this whole legal blurb doesn't apply to applications (uploading or downloading of software is both illegal).
Your turn.
Correct - usually these sites are targeted under a "facilitating [whatever]" type thing;
"Hij benadrukt daarbij dat er, volgens hem, niets grijs is aan illegale torrentsites en trackers. 'Zij faciliteren de inbreuk en de torrents zijn ook een onmisbaar bestanddeel van de inbreuk. Dat is onrechtmatig, en een strafbaar feit,'" - citing Tim Kuik, BREIN (kinda like the riaa and mpaa and whatnot rolled into one).
To translate..
"He stresses that, according to him, torrentsites and trackers do not operate in a gray area. 'They facilitate the infringements and the torrents are a necessary part of the infringement. That is unlawful and a criminal act,'"
So regardless of whether mininova hosts the data, or even hosts the torrent files, if BREIN so wishes, they can sue under Dutch law.. and they are suing (court case upcoming). Whether the judge will agree with BREIN is another matter - but realistically, he would, and the arguments would be more about what damages are to be awarded.
You have to remember that Mininova was always something secondary/tertiary - before first SuperNova and then TorrentSpy both went under.
It had became "largest" solely because RIAA/MPAA have eliminated already everybody larger than MN.
TokyoTosho probably remains now sole source of anime torrents.
All hope abandon ye who enter here.
And I know it's difficult for you to comprehend, but it's possible, even likely, that I'm not an American, and that I haven't set foot in the USA in more than a decade. The closest I've been to the US in recent memory was a flyover while I was on my way to the Netherlands Antilles (CuraÃao) for a vacation in January.
When have I said it's about breaking copyright laws?
If you actually read what I said, you'll notice that I said that it's appearances that matter. Mininova is trying to appear as though they are trying to help the copyright holders keep their rights, by removing copyrighted material when asked, and by trying to develop a filter. How effective that filter turns out to be is completely irrelevant. TPB responded to takedown requests by laughing at them and posting them publicly.
In other words, Mininova is trying to appear as though they are inhibiting the infringement, whereas TPB was trying to appear as though they were facilitating it. It's got nothing to do with whether or not the site itself is infringing on copyrights by linking torrents, and everything to do with how the site reacts to requests from copyright holders.
And appearances are all that matters. Mininova could implement a completely innefectual filter, but from having put it there in the first place, they can still claim that they're trying to help, and escape the kind of punishment that TPB has earned.
While I prefer not to flame, I feel I should point out that if you want any credibility, it helps to actually read what the person you're replying to is saying. This being Slashdot, however, I can forgive you for not doing so.
If you believe everything you read, you'd better not read. - Japanese proverb
"I don't intend to flamebait but seriously, the world doesn't spin around the US."
From what I've read many Swede's feel that Swedish copyright law is such to appease foreign corporate companies. Gee, I wonder where all those software companies are based? No, the world doesn't spin around the U.S. Unfortunately it does spin around large corporations.
And please, don't think you know the American public based on your small experience. We are hardly a homogeneous people.
TokyoTosho probably remains now sole source of anime torrents.
I use nyaatorrents and boxtorrents to get most of my anime.
If you want a anime release search try baka-updates.com
I see what you did there!
Have you ever heard of "mens rea"? A required element of almost every crime is a culpable state of mind of the actor. There's a huge difference between doing the actions required for a crime (like, taking someone's stuff) with a reckless state of mind, as opposed to a purposeful statement of mind. (Recklessness would be if one knows there's a good chance that the stuff they are taking doesn't belong to them; purposeful would be if one took the stuff because it didn't belong to them.)
For most crimes, negligence isn't a culpable state of mind. If you didn't know the stuff you took didn't belong to you, but a hypothetical "reasonable person" in your situation would have known it probably didn't belong to you, then you're negligent. But you didn't commit a crime. On the other hand, if you were reckless about it (and the prosecution can prove that beyond a reasonable doubt), then you did commit a crime.
The parallels to copyright infringement (if it's a crime and not just a civil cause of action) by torrent sites should be obvious. The Pirate Bay was clearly at least reckless - more likely, knowing, which is more culpable - where as mininova is probably trying to show that they were just negligent, and that their action in putting up a filter is an attempt to correct that negligence. The judge might interpret the filter as reducing their culpability from recklessness to negligence.
This is all based on American criminal law under the model penal code, not civil law, and not dutch law. IANAL, YMMV, infringement isn't stealing, etc.
Why expose your IP address by using a public tracker found on Mininova? It's just asking for trouble. Plus, the invite-only sites almost always have much better transfer speeds because ratio matters.
There is no -1 Disagree mod. Slashdot.org/faq defines mod options. USE IT.