It seems I’ve hit a very tender nerve with my last article. I’ve read most of the replies so far, and have also posted replies to some of them. This discussion’s been getting a lot of action on several other sites as well.
That’s good because filesharers – the honest ones (and unfortunately gullible ones) - need to wake up to this new wave of scams.
I’m not about to retract my opinion, and I’m following up for one reason only: to clear a few things up because a lot of people are either not understanding what I wrote, or couldn’t be bothered to read my replies to some of the comments here and elsewhere.
First of all, it’s not labeled as “News”. It’s my opinion.
Regarding the two text files quoted in my article: I received them in a download of a film released by a group in the scene. I don’t know who wrote them, but many people seem to believe they’re my words, and attribute them to me. They are not my words!
I (and many, many others) are against these elitist so-called private, closed/invitation only trackers because they require registration, AND limit memberships, AND track ratios, AND beg for money, AND sell VIP memberships, AND do not publicly account for every cent they receive, showing exactly what their costs are and exactly where the money went. Not “OR”, but “AND”. There’s a big difference, and some people are misinterpreting me. These sites are the demented little brothers and sisters - the skeletons in the P2P family closet - which no one likes to talk about.
I don’t know of any BT sites that demand or require payments for torrent file access (other than for VIP memberships, no waiting times, and/or gigabyte credits), and I have never claimed that there are any. I’ve had to clarify that several times in my replies because some people are not reading or understanding what I wrote.
There are also open trackers that ask for money, but again, for the most part, they don’t publicly show their full accounts. I AM NOT against open trackers or listing websites asking for donations, for example pbay, mininova, newnova. I would just really like to see proof of what they do with all of the money they receive.
Without verifiable documentation of who’s getting the money and where it’s going, any figures that are posted by open or elitist trackers are worthless. These figures are usually posted (if they’re posted at all) in very small fonts, way up in a corner someplace where they’ll hardly be noticed. They can’t be verified, so no one – not even the donors – have a clue as to what the money is really being used for.
Don’t forget about Loki. He promised an open accounting of his books, but he never delivered anything other than a few unverifiable figures.
With more than US$40,000.00 in his pocket (most of which he said was to be used for legal expenses – hah hah!) he scammed everyone. Legal expenses? What legal expenses? He never proved it, as far as I remember. He just took the money. But at least his trackers were open to all.
I understand that server costs can become expensive, but that’s the risk one takes when one decides to open a tracker. I’ve always wanted to run my own open, public tracker, but I know I couldn’t afford to do it even on a small scale. And I would never, ever solicit donations or offer stupid elitist VIP memberships. Besides making me look greedy, I’d be attracting a ton of unwanted attention from the cartels.
And do you think they don’t know the names of the closed elitist trackers? Of course they do.
There are also some trackers which host illegal game servers and/or stream movies to members who have paid for VIP treatment. This is theft. It’s accepting payment for a service that must remain free – although streaming movies is a very dangerous and stupid thing to do anyway.
Donating time and help is one thing. Donating money to the elitist groups is another. And accepting that money is piracy and only gives more ammunition to the cartels for lamescream headlines proclaiming that all filesharers are pirates and earn money from it.
Some readers might remember me from the early Grokster and FTC/FTM forums. And some might know me from some current BT-based message boards. I’ve put in a lot of time and effort helping people at these places, and I’ve also received excellent help from other members there. I’ve seeded my own files, and I’ve reseeded them from time to time on request. No one can say I don’t value the sense of community and helpfulness that is a major part of filesharing. And no one can say I don’t contribute. But I have never asked for, or received, any money in return for giving assistance or seeding a file.
I can see a lot of people feel as strongly as I do on this subject. And I can also see that the majority of people here and elsewhere agree with me.
I also understand and respect the opinions of people who disagree with me. But it doesn’t make them right. ;)
Charity, helpfulness, sharing for free. That’s what p2p used to be all about. But ever since KaZaA introduced user ratings and banning technology for low-rated users, all that has changed.
These groups don’t seem to understand that even if they have 1,000 seeds on a file, it doesn’t guarantee a fast speed, which is what they promote. If all (or even a slight majority) of the 1,000 seeds were only uploading at their lowest possible rate, and there were several hundred or thousands of downloaders, the speed would be very slow, probably much slower than on open trackers with fewer seeds for the same file.
They also don’t seem to understand that allowing everyone and anyone open access to everything will bring in a lot more people, which actually will keep files alive longer and downloads faster. By restricting access to members only, these groups are also losing out on more sharing potential. But it’s the owners’ responsibility to pay for it – no one else’s.
P2p is meant to be free to all who want it. When money changes hands, it’s not a community anymore - it’s a business. Again, I’m referring to the elitist, closed trackers, and not to open trackers. Let the cartels try and use BitTorrent technology for their own worthless fee-based p2p services. We, as free filesharers – the true p2pers of the world – are better than that and will prove it when the cartels’ efforts fail. We’re better than them, so let’s show it!
I’m very glad this discussion has opened a lot of peoples’ eyes. I can’t say I haven’t learned a few things myself, but it doesn’t change my opinion. P2p must remain free. Boycott the elitists! When they get threatened with lawsuits, they’ll be begging for even more help from even more suckers!
Instead of feeding their greedy mouths, give that donation to Ms. Santangelo, or Alex Hanff, or Bairdoid or any of the many others who are fighting for your rights! These are the people who are fighting the good fight and deserve your help, because whatever the outcomes of their separate court cases are, they will have a direct effect on filesharing everywhere!
