Yes, the MPAA is suing us.

Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2006 3:42 pm

i am not a lawyer, but i do believe i remember some legal stuff that relates to this "lawsuit" by the MPAA. as far as i remember, the USA law has changed to where the only way the RIAA and MPAA can get internet information about a person or website is by "suing". remember all those secret "lawsuits" by the RIAA that the victim never knew about? i am guessing that the MPAA is just trying to be slightly more legit about its witchhunt by publicly announcing their "lawsuits". but no telling if they will actually follow through with a real lawsuit or not. the MPAA may just stick with phony public announcements of lawsuits and RIAA style propaganda. my point is (if my memory is correct) that the MPAA announcing a lawsuit is the first step before they can get enough internet information to even be able to have their lawyers write up a legal cease and desist letter. isohunt should move hosting overseas as soon as possible just to get out of reach of MPAA because the MPAA can, and possibly will, shut down internet services to the website. and if isohunt's internet account is stopped, then that would get in the way of migration to another host.

Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2006 3:47 pm

This is very horrible news! I only recently found this site (FYI: I’m no good when it comes to computers), but I know the benefits of P2P software firsthand, I have an underground death metal band (i.e. CannibalCorpse/Dying Fetus/Deicide) and with the help of P2P I have been able to spread my music far and wide. The damn MPAA, I’m sorry to say, is too damn powerful. The reason that they are so powerful is obvious, they possess more money than any of us here, and unfortunately all of the net geeks in the world would not band together financially for a cause of this magnitude. The thing about this whole situation is the fact that all of these lawsuits are revolving around music. Music and concerts are more popular than ever, but the quality of today’s music totally sucks a**. People are paying more for less and it’s making these f**** extremely rich. Since everyone is not willing to lend help financially for the courtroom battle that will ensue, there is another way to weaken the MPAA, stop making them rich. Tell everyone i.e. friends and relatives to stop buying cd’s, stop going to overpriced concerts, stop buying over priced merchandise, and let the MPAA deal with that. I’m sure it’ll work, it worked for the movie industry (they’re hurting really bad). BOYCOTT BOYCOTT BOYCOTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2006 3:55 pm

o man not this site, i want us to win so ill help out as much as possible im with ya all the way.

Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2006 5:37 pm

This site is one of the best site that I don't want to go down. Count me in as I am ready to donate to whatever I can.

Before I buy some stuffs for myself this is where I can get a review of most software where you don't want to pay for it then find out that it doesn't do what you need to be done!

Of course you can't paid for everything in life but if you can get something for FREE then it's better than nothing.

For me the pigs like RIAA or MPAA only want their money full in their pockets in term of revenue because they run a business. I don't blame them for that but they should consider themselves to do better than just chasing these sites.

Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2006 6:58 pm

What freaking douchebags. It's like they get bored and try to find a way to spend their time. ISOHunt is a tracker and they have ALL of their copyright policies set clearly out, assholes.

UGH the MPAA just bothers me to no end. They seriously are violating American rights.

Well, great luck to you ISOHunt. If they lose the lawsuit, sue their asses for wasting your time.

Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2006 6:58 pm

Mkilbride2599 wrote:

Well, this sucks. Don't be like Lokitorrent and raise over 30,000$ and fail^

best of luck.

First off, Lokitorrent is the scum of the pirate world. I don't know how much you've looked into the Loki case, but that whole raising money scheme was a way for Loki to get money for HIMSELF, _not_ for the case. By the time he started accepting donations, he had already settled out of court, and started the process of giving the MPAA all of the information on Lokitorrent's users. So it was a scam, and I feel sorry for those who were taken advantage of.

Anyways, back on topic. My understanding of isoHunt is that the owner, Gary (IH) is Canadian. As such, he is subject to Canadian laws, and this is the basis for my post. If I'm wrong, then just view this post as informative. Wink

I'd like to point you to this article from 2004, which still has president in today's Canadian law:
http://p2pnet.net/story/1118

The case dealt with the CanadianRIA (a pawn of RIAA), and the gist of it was that :

Quote:

putting music into a computer directory that might be shared remotely by someone else doesn't constitute copyright infringement under Canadian law

This is true for movies, games, etc.

This article explains more about it:
http://www.canadiancontent.net/commtr/article_633.html

The decision of the courts makes it practically impossible to prosecute file sharers in Canada.

The CRIA (RIAA) tried again in 2005, this time trying to get information on the users of ISPs (including Rogers, Bell, etc... And I'm proud to note that Rogers, my IP, said they still would have refused if the courts said yes! Very Happy

).

The first local court they went to REFUSED to allow them to the information. They then tried to appeal to the Federal Court of Appeals, and were THROWN OUT.
http://www.slyck.com/news.php?story=796

The main issue with these suits is that they have NO EVIDENCE. The RIAA CLAIM to lose money to sharing, _but_ they cannot give EXACT numbers! Without this evidence, the Canadian Courts will not even LISTEN to them anymore.

With things gone the way they have, the MPAA (sorry, don't know the Canadian version..) has NO FOOTING what so ever in Canada. The moment they take this case to Canadian courts, they will also be thrown out.

And the beauty thing to do is this Gary: If they do sue you, and you get the papers, file for HARASSMENT! Make the sum high... say, 1 Million, or whatever. Make sure you collect all the evidence (which shouldn't be hard.. I've collected some of the facts for you here... the main thing being that they've already tried and failed) for the harassment. When the judge gets to your counter-sue, he'd probably find the MPAA guilty and give you some of the money. Wink

This will make the MPAA think twice about coming after Canadians again.

Also, the servers might be in the states, but server locations can change. As you've said in the other topic (in your reply to them), you as a citizen aren't subjected to American laws.

Keep on fighting, my pirate brother, and if you need help, we will all fight with you. It was definitly a good choice to hook up with the EFF. Smile

Good day to you and yours.

Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2006 7:56 pm

I think many of us have been thinking about copyright for a long time now. Many of us since the farce that happened with Napster.

I don't think any of us have a problem paying for a service that is reasonable and that results in the artists or people who made the product seeing some of the compensation. However, we know from tracing the money that a large chunk of the money is eaten by the corporation and is not given to the creators/artists.

Has anyone truly calculated what an artist who sold a million copies of a single song at $0.10 per copy would get if not for the corporation? They would get $100,000 just for that one song!!! That is more than adequate compensation for anyone. If they keep at it and produce more and more hit songs they will make good money. In the case of musicians most of their money comes from touring. So, then... where does the $15 - $20 for 10 to 15 songs on a CD go then? Into some pencil pushers behind a desk. If they help the artist they should indeed be paid for it.... but, they should not get all of the wealth.

So, when the RIAA and MPAA talk about how we are stealing. WRONG, they are stealing. They steal from the people they represent all of the time. The paradigm is changing and they just have not caught on. They are fighting a losing battle. Yes, there will be casualties on our side which is evolution.... but, they are fighting a losing battle. Instead of embracing the change and figuring out an inexpensive way to capitalize upon the new paradigm they are trying to fight progress.

Now as to copyright. Plug COPYRIGHT HISTORY into google and do some research. Copyright was created to protect the artists/creators of goods. At the time it was created you would have the person needing the copyright trying to survive on a meager income from their literary work, or song. Without the protection they would make no money. Well, that is not the case today. In fact ways to manipulate the system and give someone with no creative talent the ability to act as a middle man for such an "artist" to give them money has turned into the situation where the middle man is now collecting most of the revenue for the "artist" and the artist only receives a fraction.

One of the big items of interest was the player piano rolls. Copyright was heavily influenced by player pianos because, they were putting artists/musicians out of work. These are legitamet justifications for copyright. That is not the case with the RIAA and MPAA today. THEY are stealing from us by charging extortionary rates for services and NOT passing the fees we pay onto the artist proportionatly.

Further, their claim that they lost $3.8 billion or whatever the amount was in revenue. No, they did not. That figure is assuming that those of us who downloaded things would have paid for their service if we could not download it. I long ago decided they were not representing the artist and I doubt I'd watch most of the things I download if I could not download them. Being able to watch or listen to things first has made them more money in my case because, I have paid for things I really like after first downloading them. I am tired of paying top dollar for crap though.... so, I will typically TRY BEFORE I BUY now. I am poor.... I am lower class... I struggle. They want to sue me and throw me in jail.... be my guest. I have a wife, and four kids... we barely get buy on about $20,000/year. So, I figure if they throw me in jail the U.S. Department of justice will then be spending in excess of $30,000 a year to care for me in prison... and my family will likely have to be on Welfare... costing them more. Right now... their scare tactics mean little. They and many other corporate agendas have been steadily raping us for years... keep on artificially inflating prices on many things. They've pushed me as far as they can.

I have donated to ISOHUNT... Given my income that was a big step. If I could donate more. I would. I'll still help how I can... and I will continue to do so.

I can say that FEAR and INTIMIDATION are all they can use against us. I hope you ALL will fight and let them know they can't keep pushing. We've been pushed enough.

We've been conditioned to bow down and give in. Break the conditioning. Are you willing to lose some of your material possessions to fight this? I am... Are you willing to put a line in the sand and say... "you can't cross this line" and stand by it?

The world is going to crap in many ways not just in the MPAA and RIAA issues... it will continue to do so unless we seriously examine the paradigms by which we live and are willing to make some changes, break some habits, create some new habits, and break the conditioning.

I LOVE artists... I'd pay $0.10 to $0.25 per song in a heartbeat and pay a lot of money if I knew it went straight to the artist. Since, I know it does not I don't give a damn about the RIAA and corporations representing artists. I'll go to concerts when I can so I know the artists still receive the money.

I LOVE movies... I'd pay a reasonable amount for access to TV episodes and such (reasonable is $0.50 - $1.00 per episode/movie) as long as the money went to the people who made the movie and not to some middle man who takes most of that money. I do realize the MIDDLE MAN has made facilities and such that enable movie producers to do more than they would be able to by themselves. So, fine. Give them a fee but, don't let them take your entire arm while your holding out your hand.

I LOVE video games... This is something I typically try before I buy now though.... $50 for crap is not something I can afford. If something is exceptional I'll go buy 1 or more copies as soon as I can.

I LOVE literature... I buy books. They are getting expensive though.

APPLICATIONS (Photoshop, etc) - If I was wealthy or only used that application for my day to day income I could possibly afford $500+ for a single application. Since, I do not.... I cannot afford it. Some of these programs I have NOT purchased legal copies because, they priced them out of my range. So, I either copy them or I consider myself a lower class human being who never should have the right to use those applications. So, if Photoshop were priced well for example I'd own a copy now... as is I use it for maybe 10 minutes here and there about once a month. This is only a single application. To stay up with the technology I have to copy... otherwise, only the independantly wealthy people would have the right to LEARN new tech. And I doubt any of us here are independantly wealthy... otherwise we'd consider forking over a big chunk of money in helping fight for our future rights with the likes of ISOHUNT, NITESHDW, NAPSTER, or whatever the future may hold.

HYPOCRITS: I used to fall for the "We price our product the way it is due to not having a large enough market.... or due to piracy." Micro$oft used that with Microsoft Office when Word Perfect still dominated the market and Office was like $80. Then Office successfully took over corporate america and eventually the world and became the standard.... The price jumped to $100 - $200. Based on their earlier statement the price should have decreased. It did not. So, I saw the hypocrisy. This hypocrisy is pervasive.

This is a large rant... but, it is an important topic... and I felt the need to state my piece.

Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2006 9:15 pm

Represent for 10+ loyal users of IH but don't have active accts to speak up their minds. We just want to say that we'll stand by your side to the end!!!

Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2006 11:31 pm

These MPAA workers are stupid!

And they lack common sense. If i like something - i mean - if i really like it - i will buy the origiunal ... not cause they say so .. cause i wanna help the author, but hell no, Stopping trackers, torrents, p2p, will just stronger the scene! To download a torrent with an music album i have to have:

1 PC (950$)
Software - 150$
1 NetConnection (30$/month)
Power - 450W/H *(0.20$/KW)
-------------------------------

I agree to that : Whomever makes money by selling media downloaded from
internet - faking the Originals deserves prison or worse!
But as user .. if u wanna listen to a song before u buy it .. u may have the right to do so!

WTF is wrong with this world!!!!???

Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 12:16 am

ChemShadow wrote:

http://www.mpaa.org/press_releases/2006_02_23.pdf

niteshadow.com should sue the MPAA for slander, since its not the same as niteshdw.com

I think the MPAA is being really silly here. Do they plan on selling 700mb versions of their movies? What if people like George Lucas say NO? Does the MPAA know what a 700mb movie would look and sound like on a TV? Pretty crappy quality I think, and not worth their time, effort or money.

It would seem the MPAA got to Niteshdw’s sci-fi torrent site. They’ve got their moderators acting like MPAA hoodlums, threatening members of their own site just to make the MPAA happy. One of the site’s moderators went so far as to threaten one of their members via a PM that his/her IP address would be released for MPAA use. It’s a shame to see such a great torrent and forum site go down that way. The MPAA dosen’t even have to do anything anymore, the moderators for that site are doing their dirty work.

Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 12:59 am

You should also put into contrast this one....

The electronics industry keeps coming out with new devices that "lock out" the coding that keeps certain types of media on the type specific devices, i.e. - Playstation 3 and the hardware cores of new gaming. Blu ray DVD players I've heard will, too. In doing so, the MPAA, RIAA, or even the gaming comittee that oversees all the production and safeguards on gaming, media, or other means of electronic entertainment devices will have surplused the market in closing off the only means the local user enjoys.

This to me seems like a square peg in an insane asylum. To think ahead on this one, those of us who like to bring our systems over to our buddys' houses and game or watch movies will now have to figure out how to play a game or watch a movie where the code has been digitally rubbed off the disc via the laser that reads the digiDNA before alloting it to the hardware. Therefore, if it doesn't "exist" as far as the code to the system, the coded material doesn't reflect as apparent to the media reader.

And this is the way I look at the whole thing ultimately. Five parts, five realistic means for retort.

1. We all buy something that appeals to us, whether or not it's tied into some corporate company or liscensed franchise. It works. It fills us. It does what it's supposed to do until it either expires, stops working, breaks, becomes too expensive to maintain, or another fad trend just like it kicks in and we buy the next best thing compared to the relics we adored a week ago.

2. We all listen to a different type of music. * * * Unless we're all clones of the same host, preprogrammed with the same tastes and all, we'll never be the same when it comes to the idea of what we like. True, as a result of some superior research on data transfers, we've come a long way from 1970 to now. Then, we'd have to have waited a week to fill a 5.25" 128k diskette via a download. Now, we can fill five or six DVDs worth of content, depending on speed, within an hour. This is the antagonist to the story.

What with people like myself, as well as the rest of the e-world out there, we've become semi-attached to the idea of downloading things on a regular basis. The convenience of media at little to no cost, forefitting the rest of a particularly crappy CD, for example, makes it all the more alluring to those of us who actually do it. We try to fill a book's worth of volumes, attaining those things that make the most sense at the moment, running from trend to trend, band to band, or even go to the ones that stick out monumentally in our hearts. This is why some people in the recording industry are clinching their asscheeks a little harder when filling the gas tank of their H3s or Ferraris. We like their music. We can get it for little to nothing. To cure my foot in mouth, I've done it on several occasions. I dig on music I like. That's why I do it. I'm limited to certain quantities, because the music I like is particularly rare. The albums don't exist for the most part, and the only people that HAVE them put some copies online to the public, on torrent sites like these. And, the lowest price for one of the albums I'm digging on is close to 225 dollars for a one hour CD.

And anyways, with radio, we've got the option to free and unlimited music choice, even if it's not the style we mostly enjoy.

The fact that I can find things otherwise unfindable, or altogether unattainable through my limited means of income on IsoHunt.com is friggin' fantastic! That's exactly why I come here. That's why I fight for the rights of others when it comes to argument or debate, forum based or real life.

Now, back to the blabbering....

3. We all watch videos and content of a cornucopia of varieties. * * * There are certain companies that are starting their On Demand services online. So, the MPAA has banded together to stream their God forsaken content online now? Like I had stated before, like a square peg in an insane asylum. If they were truly worried about keeping their content offline, they'd have locked out and shot down the entities that allow streaming media, be it IPTV, IP based access to box office cable services, or free streaming media of any variety, even porn. That is to say, everything has a defintive cost, and can solely be liscensed to those who created it. That would also mean, at that point in time, that everyone that played in the movies or media from the dawn of their airing would have to sign off on their ability to be seen in public, and doing so would only be valid the day of their active role in the media finalizing and being aired. To go on, if the media style is only valid after the day it was signed off on by the little guy, the big guy would be aware of the fact that the littler guy may allow usurping, "STEALING, BORROWING, OR RIGHT TO PRIVILEGE". Now, if that's the probable, then the outer based group of friends that were given privelege might have been given copies of the movie. Does that make any sense, or am I just blowing hot air?

4. The age old question..... if a movie sucks, or even doesn't suck.... doesn't it still end up going through the box office cable stations, then off to a super station, and then trickles down to regular television, which still puts it in the future pretense of being seen without paying for it?

Enough said.....

and.....

5. Gaming..... no end in sight.....

We're revolutionizing the market at this very minute with the latest and greatest technology to the likes nobody would have thought possible 20 years ago. The games were epic, the people playing them, the first league of their kind..... World Class Gamers..... and as progression took center stage, so did the types of people playing them. Obscelete went to the little brother, and it was all, "Don't touch my system or you're dead!". As the games got better, so did the players, and so did the methods of trying to get games for little to no cost. For the longest time, it was statisticly impossible to charge a cartridge with an amalgum of several other games beyond the spectrum a system was capable of reading. What with modern mods, we've become capable of playing even PS2 games on an Xbox, due to the need or convenience? That part makes no sense, but it accomplishes my closing.....

We've come to the final agreement that the net has been too overregulated, and the fact that the expendable sciences such as network monitoring and the seemingly neverending quest to find the most offendable or illegal material online has been focused on P2Ps, and is the same slap in the face as several of the events in the past five or so years. The fact that there are people out there with the need to cut off people at the source to be entertained is like giving them full and direct view of the things that are truly wrong with everything in any facet of life itself. Our embodiment as men and women has given us the ability to choose any path in life, and it seems some people have gotten so uppity with the concept of land, money, stature in life, and law that these things that make us simple and pure are immortally meaningless. What we're bound to doing isn't always what we're bound to do always.

The MPAA has convoluted the rights of law and the RIAA is following their footsteps. It's surely the matter of the people that enjoy the media that the artist makes, and the fact that these same artists feel comforted in the fact that we appreciate them that should be the ultimate truth considered. The artists and actors have nice places to live, an abundance of resources in some cases, and the unlimited ability to bitch and be heard. So, the more we do, let it be the less they've got to worry about. They'll know for what it's worth that we appreciate them without saying so.

Written by a truly walking contradiction......,
~Zorpnic~

Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 1:42 am

First and foremost. Yes, we are able to download a file. Is it the same quality as the original? No. This goes to the extreme with the video files and audio files. Most of us who do tend to download a file, ALREADY OWN THE DAMN CD OR MOVIE.

The second thing that I would like to post is that the MPAA is being sued. Look up MPAA in google. They were caught doing the same crap that they "strive" for. I wouldn't worry about them, at least not for a bit.

What is the point to making art. Motion Pictures, and artists are supposed to be making art for the love of it, not the self gain. Sorry, anyone like Metallica (whom used to have my respect since I do own 4 of their cds legally), has since lost it.

Best of luck, I am behind you.

Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 2:01 am

Your all saying "we support till the end" blah bllah blah.. But when you get knocks on your door ya'll prolly go to that little corner of your room shaking.. Laughing

Im not riaa, mpaa supporter I LOVEEEEEEEEEE GETTING FREE STUFF Twisted Evil

Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 2:43 am

It would only accomplish so much, though.... shaking, sobbing, and wiping the dribblets of snot from my tear soaked face as the feds came in and beat everything electronic but the computer with a baseball bat. The fun part would be going about telling them how the mainstay of my collection is actually reacquired crap from the time my car got robbed. That, and the fact that I've had run ins with the feds before, and their narrow minded nincompoopery was the reason a car of mine was destroyed.......

I'm for whatever keeps stability amongst the God fearing. The God-like are the ones that try to rule over the God fearing. The ones that think the God-like are a joke are the same ones that will help topple the new Rome. Not so much so a lesson in theology. Just a lesson in logistics. Logic, and intelligent banter will be the final decider of this ongoing battle. Someone somewhere will see that someone's something did the one thing somebody wanted to see, and someone will want someone's something somewhere the one place that something shouldn't have been. Dig it? Thought so..... Very Happy

Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 2:57 am

Its all about money isnt it?

I have a lil motto... " If you can't take em down then why try"? this being to Torrent sites... there will always be p2p so why are people trying so hard?