Torrentz.eu Domain Name Suspended 226
First time accepted submitter S37Rigor Mortis (1601271) writes "Torrentz.eu, the largest torrent search engine on the Internet, has had its domain name suspended following a request from the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit in the UK. The site continues to operate under two alternative domains, and is hoping to move the .eu domain to a new registrar." Update: 05/27 12:53 GMT by T : That was quick; the site is back, "after the owners pointed out that its suspension was illegal."
Criminal scum (Score:3, Insightful)
These criminal scum need to be stopped. The City of London Police are abusing their power to enforce civil matters and shut down legitimate search engines. Apparently no-one is watching the watchers.
Since when... (Score:5, Insightful)
I should like to point out that I, a registered voter and taxpayer, have never been asked whether I want my taxes spent on something so monumentally stupid as a Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit. And I suspect that its creation was an idea planted, bought, and paid for by You-Know-Who.
Re:Criminal scum (Score:5, Insightful)
Try googling "harry potter torrent" and see what links you get. It indexes content, legitimate or otherwise.
Re:Criminal scum (Score:4, Insightful)
Try googling "harry potter torrent" and see what links you get. It indexes content, legitimate or otherwise.
No, there is a big difference because Google's main intent is not to promote piracy.
It's Back ... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Brits still think they own the world... (Score:5, Insightful)
Really, from what I've been able to read so far the City of London Police "made a request" and the registrar agreed to that request.
Not saying this is right or wrong, just questioning the fascist bit.
Re:Criminal scum (Score:3, Insightful)
I think a lot of Slashdot users can't cope with the fact that the law and software algorithms work differently.
Re:Brits still think they own the world... (Score:5, Insightful)
Fascists very seldom use violence, or even direct threat of violence. They create an environment where they don't need to.
When you say "made a request", what exactly do you mean. "Made a request" means that it was implied that the registrar somehow would be held accountable or that they otherwise would be given a hard time if they didn't comply then it is perfectly fair to claim that the police has fascist tendencies.
With the right intonation and in the right environment "It would be unfortunate if you didn't comply" or "I would be disappointed if you didn't comply" is far more threatening than "I will hit you if you don't comply"
Re:Criminal scum (Score:4, Insightful)
Wait, this search engine located at youtube.com - is that not primarly used for pirating music and videos? At least that is what I use it for, almost to 99%. And youtube.com is a service run by Google.
Re:Criminal scum (Score:2, Insightful)
"possibly more thqan 99% of users- use torrentz.eu purely for copyright infringing uses. I know I do, and so do most of my friends. I'd also estimate that less than 5% of Google users are looking for infringing files."
But if looking at absolute numbers the amount of people searching for infringing files in Goole is way larger than in torrenz.eu. Basically you are saying the corner dealer has to go to jail because he sold drugs to 99 people and his sandwich to one, where Walmart is ok because they sold drugs to 5000 people, but also sold sandwiches to 95000 people. Either indexing content is ok or it isn't.
Re:Brits still think they own the world... (Score:5, Insightful)
Really, from what I've been able to read so far the City of London Police "made a request" and the registrar agreed to that request.
Not saying this is right or wrong, just questioning the fascist bit.
Let's say you live in an apartment. What if they "made a request" to your landlord to lock you out of your own apartment, and the landlord dutifully complied. Perhaps you might feel differently if your stuff was taken in such a manner.
Re:Do we have a better file sharing solution? (Score:5, Insightful)
Because the software market would completely tank if large file sharing was legal.
There is so much wrong with this post:
1. File sharing in general is legal. Sharing certain specific files may be illegal in certain jurisdictions.
2. The legal side of the problem is separate. In many spheres of life there is an area of untracked relations between people. Small cash transfers, personal presents, favors, discussions, meetings. I understand that the governments want to control, censor and tax all of this as much as possible, and at least ask for voluntary self-reporting in many cases. But I feel this "breath room" is important to keep the society sane, and we should have an equivalent in the digital world.
3. The software market would not tank even if file sharing became easier. There are risks in downloading software from untrusted sources, and people who can afford it (or cannot afford the risk) normally buy it. Then there is also support, upgrades, special deals and so on. Media market has more to worry about, but also not as much as they claim.