Goodbye, LokiTorrent. - MPAA Strikes Another One Down.

[Fandim]

Farewell, you will be missed.


(Article):
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One of the only BitTorrent hubs willing to battle the major movie studios has been shut down by Hollywood.

A notice from the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) has gone up on LokiTorrent, saying a court order has grounded the site. "You can click but you can't hide," the notice reads. "There are websites that provide legal downloads. This is not one of them." The site's operator gave into the MPAA despite vowing to fight the studios with other people's money.

"The operator of that site, Edward Webber, agreed to not only pay a substantial settlement with even greater financial penalties for any further such actions, but by Court Order must provide the MPAA with access to and copies of all logs and server data related to his illegal BitTorrent activities, which will provide a roadmap to others who have used LokiTorrent to engage in illegal activities," the MPAA said in a statement.

LokiTorrent had been one of the only major BitTorrent hubs to stay up and running after the MPAA sent out a flood of lawsuits. The hubs serve as meeting grounds for file-traders looking to pick up software, music, movies and other content.

LokiTorrent had raised more than $40,000 from its fan base to help its legal battle against the MPAA. It's unclear if that money went straight to the MPAA. LokiTorrent has not responded to a request for comment.

The Loki shutdown comes as the MPAA filed a second round of lawsuits against BitTorrent and eDonkey site operators. Netcraft earlier today reported that LokiTorrent went offline - apparently just the MPAA took it over.
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[canadateck]

Good Riddance.

[Fandim]

I'm not a .torrent user myself.. (Dont really download much fo anything except from iTunes)...But I'm always sorry to hear when something like this happens..

Wonder how long until someone files a Racketeering suit against the MPAA? heh. Doubt it'll happen tho.

The MPAA's approach to fighting piracy seems much more effective than the RIAA's...specifically targetting the sites etc themselves, not the users.

Seth

[EvilWizardGlick]

I'm not a .torrent user myself.. (Dont really download much fo anything except from iTunes)...But I'm always sorry to hear when something like this happens..

Wonder how long until someone files a Racketeering suit against the MPAA? heh. Doubt it'll happen tho.

The MPAA's approach to fighting piracy seems much more effective than the RIAA's...specifically targetting the sites etc themselves, not the users.

Seth

One site goes down ten more appear. Those ten have better methods that are more secure.
There is no stop to file sharing. The recent National lampoon action of releasing the DVD while the film is still in theaters maybe on the right track.
As I understand it people who file share actually buy MORE of the material they like. The problem is usually that material is not by the artist being promoted, but other more talented artists.
How many independent excellent quality films get bought because someone fileshared? How many Hollywood big media pieces of shit don't because someone file shared?
Last I knew Big media had massive profits across the board, despite file sharing. And those massive profits have NEVER led to a reduction in price.
A few years ago one of the media anti-piracy guys gave a speech in Europe. He clearly stated that filesharers will win. They will develope better more secure methods of delivery.
Which is what is happening right now.
Screw Big Media, their MPAA/RIAA stooges and Big Busness governments. They can all rot in hell, where their greedy actions will take them.

[RottenFoxBreath]

of course the money went to the industry,he wanted to "sell " the site,and then 2 months of "donations" to fight them,more than likely it was to pay them off.
if he surfaces soon,his head will be stood on i reckon.

[Gurm]

Funny, their trackers are all still up. Hehe.

And Mufftorrent (same people, same server bank) is still up.

I call "fake" until proven otherwise.

[That Bastid]

I wonder how those who contributed to his defense fund feel about his handing over their names, email addresses & ip #'s as part of his deal.

[Fandim]

Hmmm...LokiTorrent & MuffTorrent are still up? That's wierd, lol...I dont think they're joking, though.. But maybe he just has a sick sense of humor.

[Gurm]

Maybe it is true. Mufftorrent is now down. Can't connect to trackers. Sad.

[Nilfennasion]

Simple way to counter this. Go back to small groups that share physical discs in local areas. That was the way it worked in the early 1980s, and I am racking my brain trying to remember a singular arrest taking place around the time.

[Fandim]

Simple way to counter this.

Dont pirate material.

Easy enough, eh?

[Capmaster]

Simple way to counter this. Go back to small groups that share physical discs in local areas. That was the way it worked in the early 1980s, and I am racking my brain trying to remember a singular arrest taking place around the time.

We used to be able to dial in to a BBS, get a list of all the local BBS'es and numbers, and join. There were even BBS'es grouped according to the types of files they had

On the other hand, I had a 2400 baud modem and it took a looooong time to download 100K

[That Bastid]

I had a 2400 baud modem and it took a looooong time to download 100K

I remember being excited about the leap from 300 to 1200 baud. I couldn't imagine how that much data could move over a phone line.

[ViRaL1]

They're up to 1200 baud? Man, I need to upgrade. I don't see why people get all bent out of shape about the sites going down just because they happen to offer some legitimate downloads. If your local Wal-Mart happened to offer what the legislature considers illegal access to narcotics in addition to the thousands of usefel AND legal products they carry every day, they'd be shut down just as quickly.

[Nilfennasion]

I am an invalid autistic pensioner who has about $500 per fortnight to spend on rent, utilities, food, and other such necessities. If I have $20 left over to buy DVD+Rs at the end of all that, it is a bonus. Put simply, the MPAA's expectation that I will buy one of everything they put out is grossly offensive to me.

Of course, it never occurs to them either to put out stuff that people might feel is worth paying the full price for.

But seriously, the advantage of localised trading, for one thing, is that you don't have a network IP basically informing anyone who cares to look that you are downloading a movie.

[jaxxboss]

They're up to 1200 baud? Man, I need to upgrade. I don't see why people get all bent out of shape about the sites going down just because they happen to offer some legitimate downloads. If your local Wal-Mart happened to offer what the legislature considers illegal access to narcotics in addition to the thousands of usefel AND legal products they carry every day, they'd be shut down just as quickly.

Youre comparing apples to oranges. The web site is not offering these items, it is from users that are offering them on the web site. If illegal drugs are sold at walmart in the parking lot, you wont see the whole store shut down.
Now, I know you will say that the site owner didnt do anything to thwart this illagal activity and if he isnt a part of the solution then he is a part of the problem.. again, we can see that drugs are being sold on the city streets, but the city isnt held responsible.

There's a whole lot of ilegal stuff being sold on ebay, its not shut down yet. Yeah, they make a effort (half ass one) to thwart this, just like site owners do (from what we know or dont know and we really dont know so we cant judge now, can we).

Im tired.

[only_emo_kid]

Maybe it is true. Mufftorrent is now down. Can't connect to trackers. Sad.

didn't it say in the first post that the mpaa will track the ips from the guys server data and get them for illegal downloading also?

[ViRaL1]

They're up to 1200 baud? Man, I need to upgrade. I don't see why people get all bent out of shape about the sites going down just because they happen to offer some legitimate downloads. If your local Wal-Mart happened to offer what the legislature considers illegal access to narcotics in addition to the thousands of usefel AND legal products they carry every day, they'd be shut down just as quickly.

Youre comparing apples to oranges. The web site is not offering these items, it is from users that are offering them on the web site. If illegal drugs are sold at walmart in the parking lot, you wont see the whole store shut down.
Now, I know you will say that the site owner didnt do anything to thwart this illagal activity and if he isnt a part of the solution then he is a part of the problem.. again, we can see that drugs are being sold on the city streets, but the city isnt held responsible.

There's a whole lot of ilegal stuff being sold on ebay, its not shut down yet. Yeah, they make a effort (half ass one) to thwart this, just like site owners do (from what we know or dont know and we really dont know so we cant judge now, can we).

Im tired.

I'm not saying they're offering the items, I'm saying they're offering access to them. For your parking lot analogy, it would be closer to Wal-Mart hosting a swap meet in their parking lot (still their property) where it's known by not only them, but all the patrons and vendors that drugs are being trafficked by some vendors when Wal-Mart inspect and approve each vendors wares while their tent is setup in the lot. While every WaReZ link may not have a bright neon sign on it, it's as easy for the sites own moderators to find illegal material as it is for any other users looking for WaReZ to download for themselves.

[AlecWest]

(Article):
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One of the only BitTorrent hubs willing to battle the major movie studios has been shut down by Hollywood.

I guess this is something I'll never understand. I installed BitTorrent about a couple months ago ... and only because I heard there were certain Tsunami videos that were available only using that method. With 6 megabit broadband, I anticipated a quick download of these short videos ... but it took longer that I thought. And when the videos I was looking for were all downloaded, I found them all a bit cheesy ... barely VCD compatible.

Anyhoo, I can only imagine the patience required to wait for a DVD-quality film to download ... not to mention the wear/tear on a computer if film downloads are common ... and not to mention the risk of losing your broadband connection because an ISP gets skittish over your bandwidth usage. If I was that desperate to see a film, I'd just go out and rent it. And if it wasn't released yet, I'd just wait.

The ONLY time I've been tempted to do any kind of chicanery is when a studio sits on a film, refusing to release it ("The Dark At The Top of the Stairs," "Song Of The South," etc.). Even then, I'd explore more low tech methods of acquiring them. I just don't see the attraction for downloading movies.

[Gurm]

Maybe it is true. Mufftorrent is now down. Can't connect to trackers. Sad.

didn't it say in the first post that the mpaa will track the ips from the guys server data and get them for illegal downloading also?

Heh. There was just a press release indicating that the MPAA was "quite disappointed" because the logs basically gave them NOTHING. Just showed who had downloaded which .torrent files, but there's nothing criminal about having a .torrent file. Apparently the TRACKERS don't keep logs past the point where they're shut down. OOPS!

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Look, the fact is that the owner of Lokitorrent did nothing wrong. Nothing illegal. Nothing criminal. The MPAA has deep pockets, and has used their money and clout to trample on the rights of the individual. Legal precedent has LONG held that tracker sites - like their predecessors the "ftp site listing sites" - are completely legal. Just like your local supermarket bulletin board is not liable for the goods and services advertised thereon.

So it's a SAD SAD DAY for the individual. Someday, a federal judge is going to have the balls to enforce the law as written.