« Borrowing a Page From Lysenko, Intelligent Design Theorist Demands Gov't. Hearings |
Main
| MPAA Shopping Draft Broadcast Flag Legislation »
May 12, 2005
MPAA Goes After Television BitTorrent Tracking Sites
Posted by Ernest Miller
C|Net News reports that the MPAA has sued a number of BitTorrent sites directing people to television programs (MPAA targets TV download sites):
The latest round of suits retains a focus on BitTorrent technology, which has been widely used online to distribute movies and films.
The suits are focused on the sites that serve as traffic directors for BitTorrent swaps, rather than on individual computer users uploading and downloading content. The MPAA also has sued individuals, but has not said how many people have been targeted.
The six sites sued Thursday include ShunTV, Zonatracker [Spanish], Btefnet, Scifi-Classics, CDDVDHeaven and Bragginrights. [links added]
What took them so long? Of course, the MPAA isn't going after the people who actually make BitTorrent work, those that download/upload using the service. So, very likely, these lawsuits will ultimately be useless and have no effect.
Comments (5)
+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: File Sharing
- RELATED ENTRIES
- › Kitchen Academy - Course II - Day 23
- › Kitchen Academy - Course II - Day 22
- › Kitchen Academy - Course II - Day 21
- › Kitchen Academy - The Hollywood Cookbook and Guest Chef Michael Montilla - March 18th
- › Kitchen Academy - Course II - Day 20
- › Kitchen Academy - Course II - Day 19
- › Kitchen Academy - Course II - Day 18
- › Salsa Verde
Ernest Miller pursues research and writing on cyberlaw, intellectual property, and First Amendment issues. Mr. Miller attended the U.S. Naval Academy before attending Yale Law School, where he was president and co-founder of the Law and Technology Society, and founded the technology law and policy news site LawMeme. He is a fellow of the Information Society Project at Yale Law School.
Ernest Miller's blog postings can also be found @
1. Unlucky One on May 12, 2005 03:13 PM writes...
Those people who say the MPAA won't mess with tv torrent sites are delusional. I am a prime example. People should start taking this stuff seriously because the end results are definitely serious.
Permalink to Comment2. Using it on May 12, 2005 04:34 PM writes...
If you are smart enough -- i.e. - use PeerGuardian, etc. and keep your blocklist up-to-date -- good luck to the MPAA in tracking you down. But as always, technology will always trump the law -- no matter what the MPAA/RIAA try.
Permalink to Comment3. KrZ on May 12, 2005 07:25 PM writes...
This is utterly pointless. After it has already aired, millions of people could have TiVo'd it anyway, thereby enabling themselves to fast-forward through the advertising content. You cannot view this as lost revenue. The majority of the people on those sites were ex-patriates who have no other way of watching those shows. Like me!
Permalink to Comment4. Dave on May 12, 2005 11:37 PM writes...
Hey Americans, welcome to Nazi Germany. Soon the MPAA will have it's own police force to search homes for illegal DVDs and computer files.
Permalink to Comment5. jatko on May 13, 2005 03:08 AM writes...
FUCK MPAA/RIAA , go out and catch REAL criminals and don´t destroy our sparetime !!
Permalink to Comment