Why No One Can Stop Torrents

[drgnmstr]

To the people wondering how the title is related to the article allow me to explain:

The article is pointing out how mass media is always portraying "torrents" as people downloading whatever illegal digital substance du jour that they happen to talking about at the time (music, games, movies, etc.) while ignoring the valid applications of p2p programs.

It accomplishes this by showing that there is a website that provides access to a number of open source, totally free, OS "torrents" (I am pretty sure that no will argue that downloading Linux through a torrent is illegal after understanding that it is free to begin with, if they didn't already know)

So the article is pointing out that no one can stop "torrents" and by extension p2p file sharing because if used properly it can be an efficient method of data transfer. Now, granted, maybe the article could have been titled "Why no one can stop p2p transfer" instead of torrents, it isn't as totally off base as some people here would think

Also as an extra indicator of a valid application of p2p sharing, any one who plays or has played World of Warcfraft you have all used a p2p sharing system. Blizzard's updater uses p2p to increase download speeds.

 

[azxcvbnm321]

Over the last 12 months, Linuxtracker has distributed over 180 Terabytes worth of Linux-based OS.

That's it? Only 180 Terabytes over an entire year and this is supposed to make us think that torrents are being widely used for something other than pirating? Please, we all know that 99% of the torrents are for pirated works, no one has a problem with legitimate torrents, but the fact is that most are illegitimate.

As pointed out, the article fails to mention any solution to the pirating problem, all it does is say that a VERY small amount of legitimate activity goes on so we're supposed to ignore the 99% of pirating activity just because a few dorks are using P2P to get Linux software?

I wish this mode of thinking would apply to warfare in the Middle East. That way Israel could carpet bomb the entire Gaza strip and kill everyone and be justified because 1% (actually far more than that) of the targets would be legitimate. The people on this board cannot have it both ways. It goes to show you how far thieves will go to justify their own behavior.

Oh, and I love the tactic of blaming the software makers for pirating. So if they stopped all DRM and allowed you to directly download the software (for a price of course) all illegal torrent activity would stop? Give me a break, thieves would just find another excuse, plus DRM is only a recent thing and in response to pirating. It is time for serious enforcement, and the people who legitimately use torrents should be all for getting rid of the illegal activity that is tarnishing the legitimate side of P2P. Toms hardware should be advocating harsh penalties for the thieves that threaten P2P, not excusing their behavior.

 

[neiroatopelcc]

[citation][nom]azxcvbnm321[/nom]That's it? Only 180 Terabytes over an entire year and this is supposed to make us think that torrents are being widely used for something other than pirating? Please, we all know that 99% of the torrents are for pirated works, no one has a problem with legitimate torrents, but the fact is that most are illegitimate. As pointed out, the article fails to mention any solution to the pirating problem, all it does is say that a VERY small amount of legitimate activity goes on so we're supposed to ignore the 99% of pirating activity just because a few dorks are using P2P to get Linux software? I wish this mode of thinking would apply to warfare in the Middle East. That way Israel could carpet bomb the entire Gaza strip and kill everyone and be justified because 1% (actually far more than that) of the targets would be legitimate. The people on this board cannot have it both ways. It goes to show you how far thieves will go to justify their own behavior.Oh, and I love the tactic of blaming the software makers for pirating. So if they stopped all DRM and allowed you to directly download the software (for a price of course) all illegal torrent activity would stop? Give me a break, thieves would just find another excuse, plus DRM is only a recent thing and in response to pirating. It is time for serious enforcement, and the people who legitimately use torrents should be all for getting rid of the illegal activity that is tarnishing the legitimate side of P2P. Toms hardware should be advocating harsh penalties for the thieves that threaten P2P, not excusing their behavior.[/citation]
Dude have you read the piece above? or something completely different?
Please point out where in the article it sais that because linux is being distributed via torrents, that everything not legal is to be ignored? and with only one number, the 180TB, where's your legitimate reasoning to claim that accounts for 1% of downloads? You don't have anything to compare it to, so it's basicly worthless in that regard. It only goes to show that the service is in fact being used, nothing more. And keep the politics of warfare out of it. It has lost nothing in this topic.
Also, where's your source for claiming that drm is only a recent thing? I remember when diablo 2 was new, I couldn't play it if I had my pioneer dvd-rom (expensive back then) plugged in, because of the drm. And diablo 2 is VERY OLD. The term DRM might not be centuries old, but the actual copy protection software is. And rights management is in essence copy protection with a prestiguous title.
All in all I don't think you're very well informed. And on top of that you seem to not cherish freedom of speech, or the freedom of the media. It's not the job of THG to dictate which penalties should be imposed on software pirates. And they're not defending the pirates either. They're merely stating the facts, clear and reasonably objectively. Something you could learn a bit from.