This should probably be in Tech Talk but I suppose its the question of right and wrong I'm addressing.
Now that one or two prosecutions have taken place for large volume uploaders, I see that all my favourite torrent sites have been wiped off the face of the earth.
We've kind of covered the rights and wrongs of music piracy before, but can letting me watch the odd Simpsons or Star Trek really be such a bad thing?
There used to be an enjoyable streaming version of CBS television (from Ohio) on the net, but the TVF blabbermouths (amongst others) couldn't stop spreading links to it so it was also pulled.
I'm not advocating the wholesale rip-off of broadcasters, but seeing an advance mpg of an tv show surely cant make such a dent in revenues, can it?
Downloading Telly Programmes
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Gavin Scott
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SuprNova.org has vanished! Doesn't stop me currently downloading 'Super Size Me' from Shareaza! In fact I think it was you who pointed me in the direction of both of these.
I've used torrent files to download TV shows that will have no hope in hell of being released in their original format on DVD... A Bit of Fry & Laurie for example.
I've used torrent files to download TV shows that will have no hope in hell of being released in their original format on DVD... A Bit of Fry & Laurie for example.
"That one!"
No idea how to set one up, but all I know is that it's a file that can downloaded from many users at once as opposed to one. So, you get the beginning of a film from one user, the middle from another, the end from another etc... Gavin will be more techy on this subject than me. 
"That one!"
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Gavin Scott
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A .torrent file (aka metafile) is a small file (with the extension .torrent) containing the information necessary for your Bit Torrent client (like shareazza) to download a larger file.
Its necessary to find these .torrent files, and website such as suprnova.org catalogued them as "movies", "tv shows", "games" and so on.
One of the greatest strengths (and weaknesses) of Bit Torrent Network is the lack of a single centralized hub. Instead, users download torrent files which tell their client which server to look on for information on how to connect to other users. These torrent files are found on web sites set up by Bit Torrent supporters, (who also run the servers that the clients communicate with)
Although there are millions of end users like me who have a few torrent files and downloads in my shared folder, there are internet users who store vast libraries of material and make it available to all. They are the ones being hunted down and prosecuted for copyright infringement.
Consequently, web sites like Suprnova.org have removed all of their torrent listings.
I understand from friends that there are dozens of discussion groups who are talking to each other about the way forward from here. I've been told to be patient.
Unfortuantely, the need for secrecy is such that most casual downloaders (which I would categorise myself as) may not actually find out where to go next.
Boo.
Its necessary to find these .torrent files, and website such as suprnova.org catalogued them as "movies", "tv shows", "games" and so on.
One of the greatest strengths (and weaknesses) of Bit Torrent Network is the lack of a single centralized hub. Instead, users download torrent files which tell their client which server to look on for information on how to connect to other users. These torrent files are found on web sites set up by Bit Torrent supporters, (who also run the servers that the clients communicate with)
Although there are millions of end users like me who have a few torrent files and downloads in my shared folder, there are internet users who store vast libraries of material and make it available to all. They are the ones being hunted down and prosecuted for copyright infringement.
Consequently, web sites like Suprnova.org have removed all of their torrent listings.
I understand from friends that there are dozens of discussion groups who are talking to each other about the way forward from here. I've been told to be patient.
Unfortuantely, the need for secrecy is such that most casual downloaders (which I would categorise myself as) may not actually find out where to go next.
Boo.
The owners of Suprnova.org are developing an experimental BitTorrent client called eXeem, which also has a decentralised system for obtaining torrent files, some people consider it a merge of the ideas from the likes of Kazaa, Grokster, eDonkey etc. and BitTorrent, taking the best from both to have a very flexible and very decentralised system for both obtaining torrent files.
It is in uncertain legal waters regarding torrent files, because as Gavin says these torrent files are simply metadata used to obtain access to a tracking server, to connect to peers (other users downloading the same file/group of files) and seeds (those who have full copies of the file/group of files and are providing other users connected to the tracking server with them).
I've no idea if this will come to anything, I hope it will, but the people on a witchhunt against p2p and other file sharing technology will someday realise that, as long as the Internet is a relatively free and open network, they can never win, someone will always develop better and better p2p technology to outwit the likes of the RIAA, MPAA etc.
(btw, you can still obtain torrents for television programmes if you know where to look)
It is in uncertain legal waters regarding torrent files, because as Gavin says these torrent files are simply metadata used to obtain access to a tracking server, to connect to peers (other users downloading the same file/group of files) and seeds (those who have full copies of the file/group of files and are providing other users connected to the tracking server with them).
I've no idea if this will come to anything, I hope it will, but the people on a witchhunt against p2p and other file sharing technology will someday realise that, as long as the Internet is a relatively free and open network, they can never win, someone will always develop better and better p2p technology to outwit the likes of the RIAA, MPAA etc.
(btw, you can still obtain torrents for television programmes if you know where to look)