Anti-Piracy Group Stuns The World With Torrent Site Massacre
Written by enigmax
An anti-piracy group has revealed that when it comes to shutting down torrent sites, it is the undisputed king of the Internet. BREIN, which works on behalf of the Hollywood movie studios, says that not only has it shut down several Usenet indexers and streaming sites already in 2010, but hundreds of torrent sites too. There is torrent site carnage going on in The Netherlands and we’ve failed to report on any of it.
When it comes to reporting on BitTorrent-related news and issues, we try our very best to cover every angle here at TorrentFreak. Admittedly we can’t cover everything and sometimes it’s hard to constantly turn out positive articles which fill our readers with optimism that the Internet isn’t about to taken over by evil corporate entities hell bent on web-wide file-sharing destruction.
Today, however, we have a big apology to make. We’ve let you all down and we’ve let ourselves down too by completely missing one of the biggest developing stories the BitTorrent world has ever known. We’ve totally neglected to cover what can only be described as a wholesale slaughter of file-sharing venues in The Netherlands, and for this we wholeheartedly apologize.
Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN, who have previously given Mininova, The Pirate Bay, Demonoid and What.cd a hard time in varying degrees, have been busy. And when we say busy, we aren’t messing around. During the last few months it’s up for debate whether the group’s staff have had time to sleep. If they’ve even stopped to eat it would be, frankly, somewhat of a surprise.
According to BREIN, which works mainly on behalf of the Hollywood studios but has branched out to work for other rightsholders in recent times, during the first half of 2010 it shut down a staggering 422 “illegal websites”.
While the whole world was focused on the U.S. Government taking down less than 10 sites this year but making a huge song and dance about it, BREIN was quietly showing them how it’s really done.
In addition to 5 Usenet indexers, 6 streaming sites, an FTP server, and 29 sites linking to material on one-click hosters, this most prolific and apparently effective of anti-piracy groups took down 384 torrent sites in the last 6 months. That’s more than 2 torrent sites culled every day this year and we’ve failed to report on just about every one of them.
In an attempt to fill this gap, TorrentFreak contacted BREIN boss Tim Kuik for information but we didn’t do very well at all. We were told that they aren’t releasing the URLs of the sites since they only detail those that they take to court and naming them would only give them increased traction and popularity.
We also tried to find out their names through our own network but yet again we failed miserably. For this we apologize. A bloodbath going on under our noses, in our own community, we didn’t even notice and we still can’t give you details since it appears all the corpses have been buried in unmarked graves surrounded by a wall of silence.
The worst part is that this failing on our part is nothing new. All the signs were there a few months ago that BREIN was capable of carrying out yet another massacre in 2010, just as they did last year.
In 2009, BREIN said it shut down 35 eD2K servers, 38 streaming video sites and 14 Usenet portals/NZB sites. It also took responsibility for the destruction of an unprecedented 393 BitTorrent sites. We didn’t notice, but strangely neither did anyone else.
So what were we able to find out about the closures?
“The take down most often takes place through the hosting provider,” Kuik told TorrentFreak. “We also obtain identity details from the hosting providers but these sites tend to register under a false name. If the site changes to another hosting provider, we will contact that provider. In case all else fails we will go for blocking of the site by access providers. Currently there is court case pending about that.”
If BREIN is allowed to continue this rampage there won’t be any torrent sites left by 2012 and we’ll be left with literally nothing to report on. TorrentFreak will die, but really we only have ourselves to blame. Nearly 800 torrent sites gone already and not a whisper from us? A shameful performance. We’ll try to improve, for all our sakes.
http://torrentfreak.com/anti-piracy-group-stuns-the-world-with-torrent-site-massacre-100715/
Categories: Changing Society, Community, Entertainment, Media, Music, Social Change, Society and Culture, Technology Tags: Anti-Piracy, Bit Torrent, brein, enigmax, file sharing, Music, streaming, TorrentFreak, Usenet Indexers
>>>>>>> What Ties This All Together <<<<<<< >>>>>>>> Friday, July 16, 2010 <<<<<<<
This is the original, 60’s, counter culture, LA Free Press. Today’s Best Alternative View & Our Old Hippie Headlines, Too! A Head Trip for Smart Minds.
Why all of these items have been brought together in today’s issue of the Los Angeles Free Press
by Steven M. Finger
Right up front where it’s easiest to see, read it and it makes sense… ending our support of corporate ‘welfare’ [1] is best for our greatest good, as a society. Corporate entities need to produce products, things of value, be self-supporting, not parasitic. Perhaps parasitic sounds a bit cold? Am thinking that you’ve not gone there – it’s a corporation and, because of that, you’ve more likely chosen not to envision the symbiotic relationship. Rather, the picture is one where the host is drained, so damn the drainer. Best we stand up for ourselves before we are annihilated, and why should we be so good as to even permit them (those corporate entities) to find another path.
Ok, ‘nuff said. Let me divert you now, for the moment, with a couplet of articles [2], [3] on ‘sharing’. Illegal stuff for sure. In this case, corporate entities did produce something (movies and music) and, either with think their price is too, or we’d just rather not pay anything at all, and so we take it.
Now to that… wait for it… counter-point: What Retirement? I’ve got kids. (It’s item [4].)
And then I threw in one additional item [5], another factor to be considered – it’s all about fair play (in the corporate world, we know that as fair pay, and in families as a fair chance, mutual respect, and keeping in mind what’s best for all concerned. Different words, but ones that corporations would do well to heed.)
[1] http://losangelesfreepress.com/end-corporate-welfare-now/
[2] http://losangelesfreepress.com/rock-impresario-says-file-sharing-is-inevitable/
[3] http://losangelesfreepress.com/anti-piracy-group-stuns-the-world-with-torrent-site-massacre/
[4] http://losangelesfreepress.com/what-retirement-i%E2%80%99ve-got-kids/
[5] http://losangelesfreepress.com/lets-put-our-anger-to-work/
Categories: Business & Finance, Changing Society, Community, Entertainment, Family, Government & Politics, Media, Music, Social Change, Society and Culture, Technology, Unemployment Tags: Anti-Piracy, Bit Torrent, brein, Changing Society, college graduate employment, College Graduates, Corporate Welfare, counter culture, culture, employment, enigmax, file sharing, Giancarlo Casagrande, Greg Sandoval, hiring, Jon Taplin, Karin Kasdin, Ken Sundheim, Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, MomsRising.org, Music, Paycheck Fairness Act, Retirement, Society & Culture, Steven M. Finger, streaming, TorrentFreak, Usenet Indexers
Stop The Music! Artists Demand GOPers Quit Playing Their Hits
by Eric Kleefeld
If stereotypes held true, you would think that the Republicans would be the ones telling folks to turn that blasted music down. But this year — and indeed in many past election cycles — it’s the GOP that has been attracting cease-and-desist letters for pilfering music against the artists’ wishes. So let’s take a look at some of the more notable GOP music fails from this cycle, and cycles past.Senate candidate Chuck DeVore (R-CA) got burned for using for using altered-lyric version of Don Henley’s “The Boys of Summer” and “All She Wants To Do Is Dance” for his campaign’s Web ads. David Byrne is suing Gov. Charlie Crist (I-FL) for using “Road To Nowhere” in a Web ad during his previous Republican Senate primary fight, and of course, as we reported yesterday, Rush cut to the chase and told Senate nominee Rand Paul (R-KY) to stop playing “Tom Sawyer” and “The Spirit of Radio.”
The Orleans song “Still The One” has a special place in politics as it has been used not once without the band’s permission, but twice — and the first instance contributed to its author’s entrance into national politics. In 2004, the Bush campaign used the song at a rally. As the song’s main author, John Hall, told MSNBC in 2008: “George Bush was busy campaigning on an ‘ownership society,’ yet never asked me, the band, or the publishers for permission.” Hall and other stakeholders in the song quickly sent a cease-and-desist letter, and the Bush campaign dropped the song.
In 2006, Hall went on to be elected to Congress as a Democrat, defeating an incumbent Republican — an event that was spurred in part by his experience from 2004. “It was one of the things that got him even madder,” Hall press secretary Tom Staudter told TPMDC. And then in 2008, the Republicans used the song yet again, this time the ill-fated John McCain campaign. “This is yet another example of John McCain not learning anything from George Bush’s mistakes,” Hall told MSNBC, also adding: “The only one John McCain is Still the One for is George Bush.”
But that was only the tip of the iceberg for the McCain campaign — which was practically a walking Limewire setup. Jackson Browne also sued it for using his song “Running On Empty” in an ad, for which the two sides later reached an out-of-court settlement. Van Halen objected to McCain’s use of their song “Right Now” at a rally. The Wilson sisters from Heart strenuously objected to his campaign’s use of “Barracuda” to promote Sarah Palin. And finally, the McCain campaign used “Pink Houses” and “Our Country” by John Mellencamp, who sent a letter demanding that they stop.
Categories: Entertainment, Government & Politics, Music Tags: Eric Kleefeld, gop, GOP Music, Music
Easy Rider: Mainstream Loved it, Underground Buried it
by Steven M. Finger To be clear, by 'underground' I mean us, the LA Free Press. And even more precisely, Paul Schrader, our Film Critic back then. So while, as you can see from the advert for the movie, the Village Voice and East Village Other were sailing the mainstream of the New York Times, Schrader's review said what many true members of the counter culture felt ""Easy Rider" is a very important movie - and it is a very bad one, and I don't think its importance should be used to obscure the gross mismanagement of its subject mater." His viewpoint was one that those who were portrayed in the film. America's 'hippies', generally shared: OK, Dennis, you told all of America what we know to be true, they don't like us, but you made us about as deep as a cardboard cutout, and we don't dig the 'no hope' ending; thanks for including some great tracks, though. It should also be noted that if, in the community's view, Schrader's review was right on, it wasn't very popular with the management of the time, and he was summarily dismissed! To see the original review...
Categories: Entertainment, Music Tags: Dennis Hopper, Easy Rider, LA Free Press, Los Angeles Free Press, Movie review, Paul Schrader, Steven M. Finger
Where did those older dudes come from? OH, NO! It’s US!!
This is a shot from last year’s Topanga Days Festival. And, it’s a good guess that this year’s photo will be pretty much the same… guess we’ve gotten older(??)!
Take heart, here’s their mantra: “when you live in Topanga Time… you got all the time in the world! “ Hope you’re there, in spirit, at least.
(See story yesterday for performances and activities this Memorial Weekend, May 29-31.)
Categories: Entertainment, Music Tags: hippie festival, Topanga Days
Topanga Days
Country Fair “One Canyon One World”
May 29th, 30th & 31st 2010!
“Memorial Day Weekend”
10AM till 7PM Daily
May 29th, 30th & 31st 2010!
“Memorial Day Weekend”
10AM till 7PM Daily
(Tribal/Funk/Hip-Hop/Rock)
Kids Zone, Art Walk, Food & Drink, Healing Arts
Free Shuttle
Please, No Dogs or Animals!
The 37th annual Topanga Days Country Fair, May 29-30-31, is on a Beautiful Mountain Plateau in the Santa Monica Mountains as you leave the San Fernando Valley by way of Mullholland, and head toward Malibu. When you find it, it will BLISS OUT your Memorial Day weekend.
Topanga Canyon is known as being LA’s retreat for musicians, artists and creative lifestyles since before the “Sixties”. And yet, when you go, it seems that you’ve just arrived back into the very best of that time. Tie-dyed shirts, peace symbols abound, children, too. Everyone’s mellow, dancing at the strike of a chord, and the air always has that special quality to it. It is one of the world’s most uniquely creative and uplifting communities, and this weekend – as it has done for the past 36 years – they welcome us all to a Great Festival.
Topanga Days presents an array of music, featuring national headliners (Canned Heat, for gosh sakes!) and regional bands on three stages – for an entire list and schedule of the dozens set to perform (Ziggy Marley, Leo Nocentelli, Maria McKee, and, and) go to the website listed below.
And, as if music wasn’t enough, on all three days, the event continues their traditional pie eating contest, watermelon pit spitting, egg toss, and sack races! And, yet, still more…
There are arts, crafts, jewelry, clothing, and a bouquet of delicious food booths, authentic beer & wine bars, healing arts, and an Art Walk to inspire your senses all weekend. And it’s in Topanga!
1440 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd.
in Topanga Canyon
Telephone: 310-455-1980
Categories: Entertainment, Government & Politics, Music Tags: ca, hippie festival, los angeles
