KickassTorrents (KAT), currently the largest torrent site, has had several of its domains seized, along with the arrest of its alleged owner:
The U.S. Government has arrested the alleged owner of KickassTorrents, the world's largest torrent site. The 30-year-old Ukrainian was arrested in Poland today and is charged with criminal copyright infringement and money laundering. In addition, a federal court in Chicago has ordered the seizure of several KAT domain names.
With millions of unique visitors per day KickassTorrents (KAT) has become the most-used torrent site on the Internet, beating even The Pirate Bay. Today, however, the site has run into a significant roadblock after U.S. authorities announced the arrest of the site's alleged owner.
The 30-year-old Artem Vaulin, from Ukraine, was arrested today in Poland from where the United States has requested his extradition. In a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, the owner is charged with conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and two counts of criminal copyright infringement.
It also appears that Apple was involved in making the arrest possible:
The complaint further reveals that the feds posed as an advertiser, which revealed a bank account associated with the site. It also shows that Apple handed over personal details of Vaulin after the investigator cross-referenced an IP-address used for an iTunes transaction with an IP-address that was used to login to KAT's Facebook account. "Records provided by Apple showed that tirm@me.com conducted an iTunes transaction using IP Address 109.86.226.203 on or about July 31, 2015. The same IP Address was used on the same day to login into the KAT Facebook," the complaint reads.
That will teach you not to use iTunes. Several of the proxy domains as well as the status site also appear to be down.
Update: Can KickassTorrents Make a Comeback?
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The head of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), former U.S. Senator Chris Dodd, has suggested that his organization was crucial in getting KickassTorrents taken down:
Earlier this year KickassTorrents was taken down following a criminal investigation into the site's alleged operators. While the U.S. Department of Justice handles the case, based on an FBI investigation, they were not the only ones involved. According to comments made by MPAA boss Chris Dodd, Hollywood played a crucial role as well.
[...] "We have now established a global hub — an office in Brussels. It has been tremendously successful in closing down Kickass Torrents, the single largest pirate site in the world," Dodd told Variety in an interview. The major movie studios have helped in similar criminal cases before, so this doesn't come as a complete surprise. Generally speaking, however, the MPAA is not particularly open about the role it plays in federal investigations.
Although the takedown of KickassTorrents was a major success for Hollywood, piracy remains a problem. It's even come to a point where Dodd himself is using the "hydra" terminology, which The Pirate Bay's crew first brought up a decade ago. The MPAA says that successes are still being booked every day, but they require more sophisticated methods than were used in the past. "We make great inroads, but it is a problem that isn't going away. Some days I do feel it is hydra-headed. But in the past few years, we have developed a more sophisticated and efficient way of dealing with piracy issues."
The next day (December 15th, 2016), the site was resurrected (albeit with a huge traffic load causing timeouts):
Shortly after the shutdown, several KAT-crew members regrouped in an effort to get the community part of the site back up. They launched the Katcr.co forum as their new home and hinted that torrents could come back too, in the future.
Today is the big day as Katcr.co (KATcr) has now launched a fully operational torrent site, which looks identical to its predecessor. The site starts with a clean user database but many members of the original staff are on board. "The majority of our original Staff, Admins and Moderation team joined us after Kat.cr went down – which is something we're very proud of. This shows the loyalty, dedication and real love for KAT that we all share," The KATcr team told TorrentFreak.
[...] Perhaps just as importantly, many of the site's renowned uploaders are also back. As a result, the site will be populated with a lot of fresh content right from the start. "We have all our major uploaders on board and they continued to share tirelessly even before the torrent engines returned. The torrent community can continue to expect to see uploads from all the names they know and trust," the KATcr crew says.
The relaunched site does seem to be experiencing some growing pains and continues to experience timeouts due to high traffic.
Previously: KickassTorrents Alleged Owner Arrested, Domain Names Seized
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 21 2016, @01:08PM
That explains why I couldn't get to it last night.
(Score: 3, Funny) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday July 21 2016, @01:10PM
I know, right? Whatever shall we do without the only torrent site on the net?
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 21 2016, @01:33PM
I found KAT's interface and community to be the best in recent years, which explains the popularity.
(Score: 1, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 21 2016, @02:04PM
Maybe if enough of these largest popular torrent sites drop off the internet, the backward idiots who torrent will wake up and stop using obsolete technology from 2001. We have broadband and the cloud, now. Peer-based jigsaw distribution is so very unnecessary.
(Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 21 2016, @02:06PM
Amen to that, there're a plethora of sites that mirror the most recent scene releases on non-shit, unrestricted DD hosts. Torrents have been redundant for a long time.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by tangomargarine on Thursday July 21 2016, @02:35PM
Maybe if enough big sites get taken down, idiots who torrent will realize that putting all their data in big sites that can get taken down is a better idea than what they're doing.
FTFY.
Storing illicit, copyrighted data in the cloud and expecting it to not vanish at any given moment is insane.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 21 2016, @03:05PM
Dozens of copies of each file are mirrored across multiple independently operated small sites. Copies are expected to vanish in DMCA takedowns, others remain, more copies are made. It's called redundancy. If you've ever visited a library, you might notice the library's collection contains multiple copies of popular books, to deal with theft and loss. The vast collection of illicit copyrighted data in the cloud is not so different.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by tangomargarine on Thursday July 21 2016, @03:17PM
As is the vast collection of copyrighted data on people's torrent-linked computers.
I'm still not hearing any compelling argument for why one should abandon that and switch to storage providers who can and will drop you at the merest hint of the authorities looking in their general direction.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 21 2016, @03:33PM
It's really, really, really simple, bro. File storage providers have safe harbor protection under the law. Home users uploading torrents of pirated shit don't.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 21 2016, @03:50PM
"My brother taught me to torrent when I was 15, and now I'm 30 and I'm too old to change," say torrent users.
(Score: 2) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Thursday July 21 2016, @04:32PM
If home users are doing it, it is not likely to be considered commercial infringement (may even be completely allowed under fair dealing or fair use). That makes it a civil, rather than criminal matter.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 21 2016, @07:25PM
Even personal infringement is now a crime according to some federal statute that was mentioned here or on the green site.
P2P transmission OR download of infringing works can now land you a criminal charge, not including civil penalties the recording industry will sue you for thanks to the slam dunk of having a successful criminal charge against you to base their case on.
That is the real reason for the push of legalizing marijuana. All those cells taken up by potheads need to be cleared to make room for their replacements: copyright infringers. Our encroaching police state is not in fact getting smaller, just changing its priorities from 'public good' rhetoric to 'corporate good' rhetoric.
(Score: 2) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Thursday July 21 2016, @08:03PM
The rub is that it is not infringement if it falls under "fair use" (section 107 of the US copyright act), or "fair dealing" (section 29 of the Canadian copyright act).
However, section 1204 . Criminal offenses and penalties [copyright.gov] of the US copyright act says:
Sections 1201 and 1202 deal with the "Circumvention of Technological Measures." The fact that TPMs (DRM) supersedes Fair use has been a criticism of the DMCA.
For the Canadian act, you want to look at section 42 [justice.gc.ca] for Criminal remedies.
...so in Canada, you can still circumvent TPMs for personal use without being deemed a Criminal.
As an exercise to the reader, you may want to look up Polish copyright law.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by edIII on Friday July 22 2016, @01:05AM
Ahhhh, yes that will work out brilliantly. What will they do when 5,000 parents storm the prison, kill the guards, and rescue their children being punished for downloading a song or movie? The government *greatly* underestimates the number of people sharing files on the Internet and possibly infringing upon copyrights. They think a lot of kids smoke dope? Wait till they find out how many kids actually infringe upon copyright. They're looking at a reality whereby the vast majority of everyone under 25 (The kids pushing out TBs) could be sent to prison. This isn't like the drug war where we can specifically target black people and minorities to scoop up into the private prison system. It's going to be much worse, and affect a far larger demographic.
You can't criminalize small acts of infringement without nearly locking up an entire nation. We saw the effects of a drug war first hand, and I don't believe we're going to allow a 2nd war on the people to provide profits to private prison billionaires. Even if you think you could.... you couldn't afford it. With that many of the poor, disillusioned tax base citizens locked up you will see tax revenue plummet while the burdens of holding people in prison increases.
How do you do it? Corporations have to start paying the bulk of the taxes, to PAY each of us stinking dirty pirates (arghhhh!) to stay in prison at a regular average yearly salary. Uh, huh. So those greedy fuckers are just going to let the wealth of their corporations transfer to the private prison industry.... that doesn't provide people paying money for IP licenses on a go-forward basis.
Criminalization of copyright to that extent is never going to happen.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by edIII on Thursday July 21 2016, @07:20PM
"Yeah, just like it's super simple bro. Just go to this website, man, and then after running all the Javascript and shit, you download your file completely malware-free and then I pocket some fundage from the file share site. Come on man, it's a sweet setup. Get the file from me!"
Uh, huh. Go fuck yourself shill. You just want to the money from people hitting up your links.
The ONLY thing wrong with torrents is a lack of encryption, security, anonymity, and privacy. Some of that has been layered onto torrents already, btw. Encrypted torrent connections exist, as well as private and encrypted trackers. Even better, there are trackers out there they obfuscate and smartly deliver peers instead of acting like a massive peer directory that can be scraped.
You're correct about one thing. Torrents do need to evolve, but that doesn't mean devolving into some malware laden business model including profit.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Thursday July 21 2016, @07:53PM
Even better is when they want you to register for a free account beforehand.
Hahahahaha no.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 21 2016, @03:45PM
The compelling argument is that the people posting files to storage providers get paid when folks DL from them but they don't get shit from torrents.
(Score: 3, Touché) by arulatas on Thursday July 21 2016, @04:25PM
Is that you MegaUpload?
----- 10 turns around
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday July 21 2016, @02:49PM
Indeed. The UI was almost as good as Demonoid's was/is.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 5, Funny) by LoRdTAW on Thursday July 21 2016, @01:24PM
I was so scared knowing this terrorist was on the loose! I'm so glad the USA put forth the resources to capture this criminal mastermind in his homeland of Poland. God knows what dastardly deeds this crook would have carried out against the good people of the USA. I hope he gets the chair!
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 21 2016, @03:00PM
Somebody owes me a new keyboard. I almost choked when I read the following. " “I observed […] that they were all running the same Linux Gentoo operating system, and that they contained files with user information, SSH access logs, and other information, including a file titled ‘passwd’ located in the ‘etc’ directory,” the HSI agent writes."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 21 2016, @03:38PM
Yeah I saw that "passwd" file on TV. Hackers use it all the time apparently. This was some show about a fight club for hackers. I think it was called Mr. Roberto.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 21 2016, @05:02PM
Is that the show about the rapist drug dealing criminal who tries to get past a wall some dude named Trump built?
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Thursday July 21 2016, @07:49PM
I think its a sign of desperation. In the 90s, the US made it the explicit policy of government to export jobs for a temporary benefit of the 1%'s stock portfolios. As we continue to eviscerate our ability to make things that people want, we are left with making movies and music that people want. The problem is, a machined piece of aluminum and glass takes more than a little effort and investment to duplicate. In contrast, a song file takes almost no effort or investment. So those monied interests are now really keen on a global criminal system targeting people who duplicate because otherwise, what will happen to their portfolios?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by jdavidb on Thursday July 21 2016, @01:32PM
He ought to be facing a lawsuit from copyright owners. Not arrested and under lock and key.
Actually he ought to be completely free and doing what he's been doing.
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Francis on Thursday July 21 2016, @02:03PM
I'm curious on what basis he's being brought to the US. Any crimes he might have committed weren't in the US and the local laws ought to apply.
Oh, wait, that might mean that he'd get a fair trial and probably wouldn't face the possibility of jail time.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 21 2016, @03:48PM
Jews have a lot of power in the US and EU. When you mess with Jews, even if it is a civil rather than criminal issue, they will have you Incarcerated if not murdered.
(Score: 2) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Thursday July 21 2016, @04:24PM
From the Torrenf Freak article:
So it looks like they did a sting operation with money tied to the USA. I wonder if Torrent sites should seriously consider geoblocking the US.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 21 2016, @04:45PM
Many less mainstream sites have been doing that for a long time.
(Score: 2) by Zz9zZ on Thursday July 21 2016, @05:02PM
Well now I understand why these sites pop up so quickly, that's a ton of advertising money!!!
~Tilting at windmills~
(Score: 3, Interesting) by edIII on Thursday July 21 2016, @07:29PM
Funny you mention that. I don't do anything from the U.S, but from servers in Finland. I look up torrents there, I operate torrents there, etc. I even surf the web from there. All downloads are SFTP encrypted with strong keys and algorithms.
Of course, KAT is a public torrent site. The private torrent sites (most closed for membership now) are still running strong. All of our torrents are encrypted, our trackers encrypted, and to my knowledge, operates on donations. One of the sites I was on did put a single ad from Google, but it hasn't worked out too well since the vast majority of the membership refuses to make any allowances in ad blocking. Pleas, threats, etc. didn't work. They finally pulled down the banner asking to disable Adblock.
The U.S isn't as big of a problem as the lack of private and encrypted obfuscating trackers.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by PizzaRollPlinkett on Thursday July 21 2016, @06:55PM
Ars in their coverage explains this - the KAT site was hosted in Chicago for a while. Big, big mistake.
(E-mail me if you want a pizza roll!)
(Score: 1) by Yaa101 on Friday July 22 2016, @02:16AM
Oh, wait, that might mean that he'd get a fair trial and probably wouldn't face the possibility of jail time.
In Poland? you must be joking here.
No comment...
(Score: 2) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Thursday July 21 2016, @04:20PM
I think they are arguing that because of ad revenue, the website is a commercial endeavour. In the past 10 years, the definition of copyright infringement was expanded to include people "facilitating" copyright infringement.
- Copyright Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-42) [justice.gc.ca]
Of course, TFS claims he is being extradited to the USA not Canada where the servers were hosted. I will comment below why they think they have jurisdiction.
(Score: 2) by jdavidb on Thursday July 21 2016, @05:58PM
I think they are arguing that because of ad revenue, the website is a commercial endeavour.
I still don't think that should entail imprisonment.
In fact I think ad revenue is a reward for a job well done distributing valued cultural works to society in this case. But even if the law disagrees I still don't believe a prison sentence is right here.
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
(Score: 2) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Thursday July 21 2016, @06:12PM
Part of my point was that the law was recently changed to make running a torrent search engine a criminal act:
unless you can show that the majority of the downloads fall under "fair dealing", or have some other copyright license (like the GPL for Linux ISOs).
Not sure it is possible to avoid run-on sentences when discussing legal matters (so many conditionals to add in).
(Score: 2, Offtopic) by E_NOENT on Thursday July 21 2016, @01:32PM
But if you write some vexatious crapware "init system" (that actually ends up screwing over the entire F/LOSS community for eternity) you get a nice juicy paycheck from redhat.
I'm not in the business... I *am* the business.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 21 2016, @01:36PM
s/redhat/defense department/
(Score: 1, Disagree) by letssee on Thursday July 21 2016, @01:43PM
Ehm, frustrated much?
Something with apples and oranges.
And of course doing something illegal will get you in trouble while writing bad software for a living won't.
(and that's good. Half the people here would be in jail).
(Score: 1) by jdavidb on Thursday July 21 2016, @04:13PM
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
(Score: 3, Touché) by Nerdfest on Thursday July 21 2016, @01:55PM
How nice of Apple, protecting their customer's privacy and only providing information when served with a warrant. They should start their own ISP.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 21 2016, @02:38PM
> Apple handed over personal details of Vaulin after the investigator cross-referenced an IP-address used for an iTunes transaction
This story is pure irony.
Mega-pirate finally busted because he made a lawful purchase of digital media.
I started pirating because it was so much cheaper and easier than going to the store.
Now I pirate because its the best way to have privacy - nobody over my shoulder taking notes on every show I watch, when I watch it, where I watch it, etc.
Thanks Apple for confirming my suspicions.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 21 2016, @04:31PM
The guy running the site doesn't actually need to purchase stuff from Apple to put on his site. From what I understand about such sites, other people around the world do that for free.
So how did they get the big fish rather than the small fry?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by number6 on Thursday July 21 2016, @02:55PM
.https://kickasstorrent.cr/
IP = 104.27.178.111
download using Magnet links; Torrent links not working
for analysis of above domains, see:
.https://www.robtex.com/en/advisory/dns/cr/kickasstorrent/
.https://www.robtex.com/en/advisory/dns/104/27/178/111/
(Score: 2) by number6 on Thursday July 21 2016, @04:47PM
.https://kattorrentes.com/
IP = 104.18.63.212
download using Magnet links; Torrent links not working
for analysis of above domains, see:
.https://www.robtex.com/en/advisory/dns/com/kattorrentes/
.https://www.robtex.com/en/advisory/ip/104/18/63/212/
(Score: 1) by toddestan on Saturday July 23 2016, @10:16AM
That https://kickasstorrent.cr/ [kickasstorrent.cr] site is a scam. The magnet links are fake, and if you try to download any of the torrents, it asks you to sign up for a "free" account and then redirects you to some other site where they want a credit card. Uh huh, sure.
The https://kattorrentes.com/ [kattorrentes.com] actually looks like a mirror, but seems to be about 4 months out of date.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by PizzaRollPlinkett on Thursday July 21 2016, @03:59PM
Yes, every few years, they go after another kingpin to bring him down and make an example. So far, since Napster launched, nothing has even slowed down file sharing. Each kingpin who falls just opens up opportunity for dozens more to rise. I've been around since the cassette tape duplicating days, and I see the same pattern. This time, the crackdown is going to stop sharing for good. So sharing explodes as people try to share all they can before it's gone. This leads to more sharing than ever. For example, I just started seeding my Engelbert Humperdinck and Christy Lane torrents again.
But did you notice that Facebook and Apple had been tracking this guy for a long time, building up a database of everything he did, and the government got it? That's scary. All these companies are building these vast databases of your activity, and the government can come in and get it any time they want. Like I always say, the only way to win is not to play.
Yes, folks, we've come to this: It's safer to pirate your music on the dark web than it is to use iTunes...!
(E-mail me if you want a pizza roll!)
(Score: 1, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 21 2016, @04:25PM
It's safer to pirate your music on the dark web than it is to use iTunes
You couldn't have picked a more anachronistic example. Internet radio sites have provided free music openly and legally for the past 18 years. Nobody needs to pirate music anymore.
I've been around since the cassette tape duplicating days,
Is that why you didn't notice the law changed in 1998? Get with the times.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 21 2016, @04:48PM
Unless say, you want music in a non-shit quality or favor music of a non-mainstream nature that will never be legally available from such portals.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 21 2016, @05:37PM
Because, Engelbert Humperdinck is too hard to find!
http://www.jango.com/music/Engelbert+Humperdinck/_more_songs?limit=250&np=all [jango.com]
http://www.azlyrics.com/e/engelberthumperdinck.html [azlyrics.com]
Oh no, what if it's not shit quality? You'll think of another excuse, like say, a song is missing.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 21 2016, @05:49PM
Go ahead and find the Polish Sirion's Lorien demo legally.
(Score: 2, Informative) by lgw on Thursday July 21 2016, @08:22PM
Nobody needs to pirate music anymore.
Is there anywhere you can buy CD-quality downloads for even the majority of mainstream music? (Not even the fringe stuff.) Heck, I'd take 320 mp3 as "good enough" if flac is somehow difficult. I have a vast array of (legally obtained) crappy mp3s, and that's nice and all, but it's not what I'm actually interested in.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Friday July 22 2016, @10:20AM
Get with the times.. Drive with your headphones in, listening to massively lossy mp3s, turn it up loud enough to hear over the sirens (damned ambulance wants to get past*)nso you also get massive distortion as well..
Nuance? Hah!
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Friday July 22 2016, @03:39PM
"Downloads now available in MP3 320 and FLAC files!" -- https://www.cdbaby.com/ [cdbaby.com]
Their CDs are also CD-quality.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by snufu on Thursday July 21 2016, @04:30PM
I feel safer already. I don't mind if people are murdered by police at routine traffic stops or if financiers steal billions from the working classes. But I couldn't sleep at night knowing someone somewhere was enjoying a movie without purchasing the privilege from the copyright holder. Eliot Ness would be proud.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 21 2016, @05:02PM
Eliot Ness enforced Prohibition, which was eventually repealed. On a related note, copyright has actually become more lenient in the new millennium than it was before, and the DMCA was a good thing. Oh crap, you've stopped reading, now haven't you? Never mind, I must be a troll. Nope, I can't suggest the idea that the DMCA could be amended and allow for an easy licensing process to treat pirated movie sites just like TV stations. That would be too easy.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 21 2016, @05:12PM
I can't suggest the idea that the DMCA could be amended and allow for an easy licensing process to treat pirated movie sites just like TV stations. That would be too easy.
Please, be my guest. Do all the suggesting you want. Suggesting is certainly quite easy.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 21 2016, @07:23PM
How about we amend the DMCA and get rid of the takedown notices (forcing copyright holders to go to court so people receive real due process), keep safe harbor, and get rid of restrictions on breaking digital restrictions management.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 21 2016, @10:47PM
The takedown process is a compromise that limits your due process in exchange for safe harbor. You can't have it both ways. You could instead get sued in court for every file your users upload, and after you pay your court costs and declare bankruptcy, you won't be able to afford to host a website anymore, which is what used to happen before the compromise.
But of course, you're not talking about safe harbor protection for intermediaries. Your irrelevant reference to DRM implies you're an idiot who thinks safe harbor applies to end users who upload infringing content.
You might as well have posted, "DMCA bad, because DMCA bad, and DMCA bad!"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 23 2016, @12:04AM
The takedown process is a compromise that limits your due process in exchange for safe harbor.
Forget such a worthless compromise. Copyright thugs have been violating our rights for far too long, and have even managed to get copyright terms that last over a hundred years. We don't need their permission to have both due process and safe harbor; they don't control us.
You can't have it both ways.
Why not? It's entirely possible to have both safe harbor and due process.
You could instead get sued in court for every file your users upload, and after you pay your court costs and declare bankruptcy, you won't be able to afford to host a website anymore, which is what used to happen before the compromise.
Again, keep safe harbor, get rid of takedown notices. Enough with your idiotic false dichotomy.
Your irrelevant reference to DRM
Digital restrictions management is absolutely relevant to the DMCA, you worthless mental midget. You're completely misunderstanding my comment. I said absolutely nothing about safe harbor relating to end users, so fuck off.
You might as well have posted, "DMCA bad, because DMCA bad, and DMCA bad!"
You may as well have posted, "I'm a straw man-using retard!" I specifically pointed out a few flaws with the DMCA; I didn't just call it bad.
But yes, circumventing due process *is* bad. Limiting the ability of users to reverse engineer and remove DRM in some cases is also bad. These things need to be fixed.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 22 2016, @08:41AM
We just make DRM illegal, have all copies require a serial number be attached (which can be verified online, documented in online payment history, and possibly also with a matching physical certificate for purchases made offline.)
Then if enforcement is needed, it is a simple matter of verifying the serial number, and if first sale doctrine is enforced, following the paper trail of physical transfers of said copy.
This solves the whole DRM issue, leaves annual licenses how they are, and provides a simple and auditable method of tracing 'ownership' of copies of intangible works.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 23 2016, @12:14AM
Sounds terrible for privacy, and it would also get in the way of sharing.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 21 2016, @05:21PM
don't forget layers upon layers of government leeches stealing money from people who make their money honestly. All these pigs do is postpone the evolution of the industry by insulating them from reality a little longer. Fuck hollywood and their henchmen at the FBI.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 21 2016, @09:12PM
Tho, since they host no infringing data, they have done nothing wrong, Its no more or less than google or Microsoft ( bing )
All these high profile media reported shutdowns will do is drive everyone to the dark-web, where it will be even harder to track. ( unless you are REALLY stupid of course )