How BitTorrent Plans To Get Sued
from the lawyers-are-scrambling... dept
While the entertainment industry may not really understand BitTorrent, they know they don’t like it, and they know they’ve been searching for a good reason to sue Bram Cohen, the creator of BitTorrent. It looks like he might be handing them just what they’re looking for. It appears that Cohen and a few others are getting ready to launch a BitTorrent search engine. Prior to this, the main reason that BitTorrent wasn’t getting sued, was because it was clear that the technology was just the protocol. Suing over BitTorrent would be like suing “FTP” or “SMTP email.” It’s just the protocol. The real issue, was the ability to search and find unauthorized material — which BitTorrent was totally separate from… until now. Hollywood has already gone after other BitTorrent search engines. While we agree that running such a search engine should be perfectly legal, clearly the entertainment industry doesn’t see things that way. After all, it’s just a search engine finding what’s already out there. There shouldn’t be anything illegal about that. However, with the Supreme Court still figuring out the final decision in the Grokster case, it seems like this BitTorrent search engine is the type of thing entertainment industry lawyers will pounce on. Of course, maybe that will just lead to another landmark lawsuit. The BitTorrent folks are being smart about the positioning on this one, by the way. They’re making it clear that they view this BitTorrent search engine as a way for anyone to distribute their own, homemade video works — rather than a system used to support unauthorized transfers of content.
Comments on “How BitTorrent Plans To Get Sued”
No Subject Given
“search and fine unauthorized material”
Not really a mispelling there, eh? Perfect RIAA app: Search & Fine unauthorized material! Download the new bt today! ;^)
Re: No Subject Given
“Not really a mispelling there, eh? Perfect RIAA app: Search & Fine unauthorized material! Download the new bt today! ;^)”
Ha! FRIAAdian slip… Fixed…
Why reinvent search engine?
Google already has the functionality built in to search out torrent files.
From Google Search, type in:
filetype:torrent mozilla
Replace ‘mozilla’ with anything else you might search for…
Re: Why reinvent search engine?
This trick worked this morning but now it doesn’t, maybe google broke it just in case?
Re: Re: Freedom of speach.
Torrents are legal, music, movie and game companys are rich enough. Boo-*uckin hoo! Let them go after every single torrent user, the will never win there battle and im damn glad of it 2.
Manditory Government Screening with Fee
“They’re making it clear that they view this BitTorrent search engine as a way for anyone to distribute their own, homemade video works — rather than a system used to support unauthorized transfers of content.”
On a non-technical issue that could potentialy wander into the technological domain on the Parliament Channel last week they were talking about a Bill that Canada’s Consevative govenment wanted to pass trying to regulate homemade video’s (Unfortunately I cannot find a link but perhaps someone out there could).
What I got of it was that if you make a video and wish to distribute/share it in any way it must first be preapproved and rated by the government and for a fee at that. (this includes all video! a personal art creation of a charity or even a church group has to pay and submit the material before it can be shared with other members of its group or the public).
Just thought this was an interesting story on the rites an individual has of creation and distribution of his own work and interests. The Conservtive spin on the issue is that this will help stop child pronography but as the brilliant NDP mpp Peter Kormos said there are criminal laws/codes for that and this bill is an attack on the freedom and rights of individual canadians in a free and democratic society.
As long as they remove links when they receive inf
Just the way TorrentSpy.com has done.
But they would have to remove the links/torrents promptly.
I think it’s as simple as that.
But, it’s very similar to the LokiTorrent case. Who’s gonna have time to really remove the links and torrents of thousands of infringing torrents every day.
They might sue them even if they remove torrents.
Waitaminute...
Shouldn’t the RIAA be going after Google next, since you can find pretty much anything on there? I mean, something seems wrong here…
yes