MediaDefender Busted September 15, 2007
Our friends over at torrentfreak recently discovered a huge cache of internal emails that were made public from MediaDefender. The sole purpose of MediaDefender’s “Miivi” site was to trick people into uploading copyrighted material, and bust them for it. These emails discuss everything from Miivi to fake torrents.
From the TorrentFreak article:
“When TorrentFreak reported that Media Defender (MD) was behind the video site MiiVi, they cast doubt on us. Now, in what is surely the biggest BitTorrent leak ever, nearly 700mb of MD’s emails have gone public. When MD’s Randy Saaf found out we rumbled MiiVi he said, “This is really f***ed.” This is too, but much more so.”
So give it a read, it’s very enlightening stuff.
Free Download 11, Please Share Labrador’s Summer Sampler August 5, 2007
When a major record label bends even a tiny fraction of an inch away from their old world busyness model the press goes wild. Independent record labels treat their fans much better and they do it all the time but they hardly ever get noticed in the mainstream media. Labrador Records is one of those independent labels giving away their Summer Sampler as a 68 track (mp3) download for free. They tried to release this years free download on their own servers but things didn’t work as planned. Heres how they put it.
“Well, putting the massive 68-track Labrador Summer Sampler 2007 on our server didn’t work quite as smoothly as we’d hoped. I don’t know if we overestimated our server or underestimated the need of good music this summer. Either way, it’s been taken care of now.
Download Labrador Summer Sampler 2007 from Piratebay here!”
You can download the entire sampler via torrent (~350MB ) or listen to full releases from Labrador’s artists here. This is a good example of how P2P file sharing helps connect independent artists and record labels to their fans. And it’s all free and legal! And Please share it on The Pirate Bay!
Free Download 10, “Good Copy, Bad Copy” August 2, 2007
The folks that produced the documentary “Good copy, Bad copy” have released it as a free download (link to Pirate Bay torrent) Thanks /.
This is a great film about our culture in the digital age and the impact copyright law has on artists today. This is a must see film which includes interviews with Girl Talk, Danger Mouse, Lawrence Lessig and more.
Steal This Film August 29, 2006
In 2006, a group of friends decided to make a film about file sharing that they would recognize, and they did just that! In part 1 of this series Stockholm, Summer 2006 (link to torrent) the film documents the raid on the popular torrent sharing web site Pirate Bay. The MPAA somehow got the US to pressure the Swedish government with trade sanctions if the Swedes didn’t break their own laws in the process of taking the site down (BB post with more).
From the site,
“We wanted to make a film that would explore this huge popular movement in a way that excited us, engaged us, and most importantly, focused on what we know to be the positive and optimistic vision many file sharers and artists (they are often one) have for the future of creativity”
One of my favorite parts of the video is a clip with actor Richard Dreyfuss who says (time index ~23:25)
“I think that the laws going to be re-writen as the technology insists that it is. It’s not a question of right or wrong anymore. People will do what they want to do in order to get what they want….whats the line about.. ‘behind every great fortune lies a great crime’. So, the guy’s who started this business cheated somebody to get there and so now they are being cheated perhaps.“
This really is a fantastic documentary and a slice of our digital culture. Go steal it and see for your self!
Free Download 8, Don’t Download This Song! August 22, 2006
Weird Al has released a song about file sharing entitled “Don’t Download this song” (thanks BoingBoing!). You can download it from his MySpace page or from www.dontdownloadthissong.comtracks/DDTS.mp3 when the server recovers from the millions of pirates trying to download it.
The lyrics are a hoot,
“You don’t want to mess with the RI-double-A
They’ll sue you if you burn that CDR
It doesn’t matter if you’re a grandma
Or a seven year old girl
They’ll treat you like
the evil hard-bitten criminal you are…”
and
“…don’t download this song
or you’ll burn in hell
(and you deserve it)…”
It’s good to see artist’s standing up for what they believe in.
The Contrarians, Should copyright be abolished? August 13, 2006
Michael Geist was one of the people interviewed on this cool CBC Radio show, The Contrarians (link to mp3).
from the CBC website
“The Contrarians is a radio show about unpopular ideas that just might be right. Each week, host Jesse Brown invites listeners to step outside of their intellectual comfort zones and try an unorthodox opinion on for size. You may be surprised by what starts making sense.”
Jesse Brown explores problems with current copyright law through examples and insightful interviews. I love the quote below (from time 22:05), but it occurred to me that this wonderful utopian library of the future already exists for millions of people (more…)
RIAA gives children of dead defendant 60 days to grieve August 12, 2006
One of the many thousands of people being sued by the RIAA, Larry Scantlebury, passed away before the case was resolved. So the RIAA is graciously giving the family 60 days to grieve before they depose Mr. Scantlebury’s children. From the Warner Bros. v. Scantlebury motion filed August 8 in Michigan
“3. Plaintiffs do not believe it appropriate to discuss a resolution of the case with the family so close to Mr. Scantlebury’s passing. Plaintiffs therefore request a stay of 60 days to allow the family additional time to grieve.”
Thanks to Recording Industry vs The People for reporting this story.
Update:
The RIAA has dropped the suit out of “an abundance of sensitivity“. Isn’t that special.
Files are not for sharing! June 24, 2006
Matthew Baldwin and Goopymart have an informative yet humorous on-line book for kids called Files are not for sharing.
This book is a must read for young people trying to understand file sharing.
“What is sharing?
Sharing is when you give something to someone else, like a cookie or a toy.
What happens when you share?
Your friend has a cookie and a toy and you have nothing.”
