BitTorrent Trackers Close En Masse After Pirate Bay Verdict

[Aussie Rebel]

Interesting......

BitTorrent Trackers Close En Masse After Pirate Bay Verdict

Several private BitTorrent trackers including Nordicbits, Powerbits, Piratebits, MP3nerds and Wolfbits, have closed down after the Pirate Bay verdict came in last Friday. Other trackers are set to follow this example in what could be the greatest voluntary tracker collapse ever.

Operating a BitTorrent tracker from Sweden is not as fun as it used to be, last Friday ruined all that. What was once considered a safe haven for BitTorrent sites, is now a Bermuda Triangle for some previously very active BitTorrent trackers. The harsh verdict against the four individuals involved with the largest BitTorrent tracker on the Internet led to worries among those who operate similar sites in Sweden and elsewhere.

In the days following the verdict, several large and small BitTorrent trackers have decided to close down and more are expected to follow suit in the days to come. One of the sites that has closed its doors is NordicBits, which displays a message citing the verdict as one of the reasons for the closure.

We have to shut down the site now due all circumstances. We don?t have time to do anything to the code, we don?t have interest in it, we don?t have any more money and the biggest reason is The Pirate Bay info.

Rumors say that at least a dozen trackers will discontinue operations in the days to come including Swebits, who have already shut down their tracker but not the site itself. SeedIT, a relatively small community is another tracker that?s decided to shut - they posted their latest torrent a few hours ago, titled:
?RiP.SeedIT.We.Have.always.been.the.best.of.the.be st.Love.love.love.XXX-RIP?

Several of the trackers that are now offline were operated by Swedes, who are worried that they might be facing legal troubles as well. In addition, there are many other BitTorrent trackers hosted in Sweden run by non-Swedes - time will tell how they respond.

The Pirate Bay continues business as usual as the defendants appeal their case, but in the meantime the Swedish anti-piracy lobby will use the verdict to their advantage. Uncertain times.

Source: http://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-t...erdict-090420/

[papagmp]

Interesting - it will be interesting to see what the overall impact on torrent downloads will be.

[woj]

it's all fun and games till someone ends up in jail...

[candyflip]

Music pirates are also the group who actual SPEND the most money on music as well.

http://i.gizmodo.com/5219587/study-f...an-non+pirates

[JB.]

It's just people panicking like when Scott McCausland was jailed.

[blogsy]

good stuff...it about time the torrent sites had some pain

[crockett]

Where are the typical GFY "time shift" retards to tell us it doesn't really matter..

[gideongallery]

Originally Posted by crockett

Where are the typical GFY "time shift" retards to tell us it doesn't really matter..

torrent traffic is fluid, downloaders/seeders will just move to the open trackers that choose to continue operating.

More traffic for the pirate bay. If a user didn't know about the pirate bay, guarrenteed they do now.

[UFGators2007]

Its really nothing amazing. This crap happens all the time and soon...very soon a new medium will open up for people to trade (steal) songs, videos, programs. There is always another avenue!

[Agent 488]

Originally Posted by candyflip

Music pirates are also the group who actual SPEND the most money on music as well.

http://i.gizmodo.com/5219587/study-f...an-non+pirates

those studies are total bs. i have bought like two cds since napster and everyone else i know is the same.

[Snake Doctor]

Originally Posted by crockett

Where are the typical GFY "time shift" retards to tell us it doesn't really matter..

When you think about it, prison is really just another form of time shifting.

[pornguy]

Something new will takes its place.

[gandalfuy]

Yeah, it look like they got scared. But they wont arrest every owner of overy torrent place.

[candyflip]

Originally Posted by budsbabes

those studies are total bs. i have bought like two cds since napster and everyone else i know is the same.

It's not about purchasing CDs, which they have. People who download "free" music are the biggest purchasers of downloadable and hardcopies of their music.

[crockett]

Originally Posted by Snake Doctor

When you think about it, prison is really just another form of time shifting.

This is true..

[mozadek]

rapidshare > torrents

[Ethersync]

Finally this piracy problem is over and the music business is saved

[JD]

god damn it... i just lol'd in my pants...

[Profits of Doom]

Originally Posted by mozadek

rapidshare > torrents

My thoughts exactly, most people that discovered Rapidshare and similar file hosting sites gave up on torrents shortly thereafter...

[kane]

Originally Posted by candyflip

It's not about purchasing CDs, which they have. People who download "free" music are the biggest purchasers of downloadable and hardcopies of their music.

The question is does downloading that free stuff actually lead to sales or are these just music junkies who download and buy and would be buying anywhere if nothing were free?

I have a feeling a decent number of these people were people who would have been buying music anyway.

[candyflip]

Originally Posted by kane

The question is does downloading that free stuff actually lead to sales or are these just music junkies who download and buy and would be buying anywhere if nothing were free?

I have a feeling a decent number of these people were people who would have been buying music anyway.

I'm sure you have the occasional hoarder, but for the most part these people are downloading the free stuff, like people used to listen to the radio. They have no problem paying for music that they find and enjoy.

[mynameisjim]

lol at the studies that show downloading increases sales.

Make a graph of the growth in torrent music filesharing compared to record label revenues. I bet it looks an awful lot like a big "X".

[candyflip]

Originally Posted by mynameisjim

lol at the studies that show downloading increases sales.

Make a graph of the growth in torrent music filesharing compared to record label revenues. I bet it looks an awful lot like a big "X".

Yeah. But that's NOT because of the file sharing. It's more because it's all about selling singles now and not full albums. People WILL NO LONGER spend $15 for an album that has 1 or 2 good songs on it. That model is dead. When you can only make $1 per sale instead of $15, revenue is going to slip.

And the study had nothing to do with downloading increasing sales anyhow. Lol at the guy who can't read.

[Dirty Dane]

The kids got scared..... This proves that much of the piracy is calculated risks. By shutting down voluntary, they also know they are doing something illegal.

If all countries can agree about similar laws, and struck hard on all levels, they will be forced underground, and piracy will be limited. I think its just a matter of time when this happens.

[mOrrI]

Well it will never end...

[gideongallery]

Originally Posted by Dirty Dane

The kids got scared..... This proves that much of the piracy is calculated risks. By shutting down voluntary, they also know they are doing something illegal.

If all countries can agree about similar laws, and struck hard on all levels, they will be forced underground, and piracy will be limited. I think its just a matter of time when this happens.

please torrents are one legal precedent from being just as legal as a vcr. The vcr was illegal too before the betamax case overturned the lower court ruling.

Just because some people don't want to spend 100k defending themselves against a missapplied legal precedent doesn't mean they know what they are doing is illegal, it just quite simply that they don't want to incur the expense of fighting for their rights. They will let the pirate bay fight the fight, and then relaunch after it is 100% legal.

[kane]

Originally Posted by mynameisjim

lol at the studies that show downloading increases sales.

Make a graph of the growth in torrent music filesharing compared to record label revenues. I bet it looks an awful lot like a big "X".

A big part of it is also the shift to a digital singles business model. It used to be if you had a hit song on the radio and a fan wanted the song they had to shell out for the full CD. So the label knew a hit song would bring in big revenue. I once had a record label A&R guy (back when I was a music journalist) tell me that a top ten hit single would mean about 15-18 million in revenue for the label. Now instead of buying a record for $12-$18 you can just pay 99cents and get the one song you like.

I'm not saying downloaders haven't hurt labels, they have and I think they have hurt them badly, but the availability of he single and the fact that the record labels are focused on hit songs, not good records has hurt them as well.

[After Shock Media]

Didnt most music pretty much used to come out as singles all of the fucking time?

[kane]

Originally Posted by After Shock Media

Didnt most music pretty much used to come out as singles all of the fucking time?

Kind of. You used to be able to buy some singles with a B side so you were actually getting 2 songs when you bought it. But usually those were anywhere from $4-$6 each. So you could get it, but it was pretty expensive and not all singles were available, pretty much just the hits.

Now you can buy any song from any album you want.

[Emil]

Both my favorite trackers shut down. Fucking sucks.
I now have to use some crappy Norwegian tracker.

I will pay anyone for a invite to a good private tracker with scene releases.

[$5 submissions]

Wasn't there some sort of plan to have a server array out in international waters or something like that?

[Pleasurepays]

Originally Posted by budsbabes

those studies are total bs. i have bought like two cds since napster and everyone else i know is the same.

yeah... i call bullshit as well... i don't defend it, i know its wrong.. but i can't remember the last CD i bought either. its been many years. i'm not some obsessed weirdo who has 6000 downloaded CD's... but the reality is that its just easier to download something and listen to it. the idea that someone is then going to buy it is pretty far fetched. why buy something thats already on my ipod, cd quality, i can listen to in the car etc? charity? i'm sure some people do... there's no question about that. but i just can't believe that downloading free CD quality music for playback on digital devices and for drag and drop burning to CD's somehow helps music sales.

[Pleasurepays]

Originally Posted by gideongallery

please torrents are one legal precedent from being just as legal as a vcr. The vcr was illegal too before the betamax case overturned the lower court ruling.

Just because some people don't want to spend 100k defending themselves against a missapplied legal precedent doesn't mean they know what they are doing is illegal, it just quite simply that they don't want to incur the expense of fighting for their rights. They will let the pirate bay fight the fight, and then relaunch after it is 100% legal.

a vcr didn't connect you instantly to a library of anything and everything every produced and allow you to instantly reproduce it in perfect quality. vcr's didn't allow very effective sharing or reproduction of anything.

you can keep arguing all you want... you're in serious denial... like anyone else thats staunchly defending theft, your issues are with authority, not purported "rights" and you are arguing what any reasonable person understands to be a losing argument. you can't compare any point in history or any technology with the scale of theft that's possible and happening now with torrents. the legal system is catching up and people will start going to jail. everyone wanted to yell "fuck you" from the mountain top at those who actually produce entertainment and software and now these industries are screaming "fuck you" back with the governments on their side.

but you're entertaining for sure... so please don't stop.

so please... break this all down, sentence by sentence, point by point as you do... so i can ignore it.

[Dirty Dane]

Originally Posted by gideongallery

please torrents are one legal precedent from being just as legal as a vcr. The vcr was illegal too before the betamax case overturned the lower court ruling.

Just because some people don't want to spend 100k defending themselves against a missapplied legal precedent doesn't mean they know what they are doing is illegal, it just quite simply that they don't want to incur the expense of fighting for their rights. They will let the pirate bay fight the fight, and then relaunch after it is 100% legal.

This is not really about the tracker itself, but the content and the way its organized. Obviously it is not legal (in Sweden) to organize piracy this way. Otherwise they wouldn't go to jail... And if I'm not mistaken, this was not about the website and all trackers at pirate bay, but just some few.

I think in Sweden, you do not pay the costs if you win. So its about calculated risks, as I said. Do you think they would shut down their trackers, if the pirate bay guys were not sentenced? I don't think so. However, I'm not only talking about calculating the risks vs the laws right now, but also politics. In the end, its the lawmakers, local and international, that will decide the future of internet. And pirates ruin the privacy and freedom with and on internet... ironically something they "fight" for...

Actually, the costs, time and effort, are the factors keeping copyright holders away from doing something. Only those organized and with money, can do something. This lack of protection is a political question now, and with the growing amount of piracy, I think the only solution is the politicians to decide on which levels they will interfere. These steps are of course unfortunate, but it will happen. Unless everyone shut down their trackers