MPAA targets Usenet – files lawsuit against news servers

OK, someone please explain to me how the MPAA can tell who has *downloaded/leeched* anything from the usenet? Unless they can subpoena the server logs to see who connected to it and what was transferred? How does MPAA moniter traffic into/out of a usenet server?

Appears to be a a lot of confusion out there, and given what and how bit torrent actually works, something is not quite right here, and the sites in question merely index the files and not directly host them? Oh well, time will tell, if it is pure US MPAA propaganda, or they are trying to get the paid for in the pocket Congress to pass the DMCA on steriods act, to outlaw all fair use in preparation for the upcoming Bluray/HDTV launch?

I dont see how the above mentioned sites relate to the Usenet ?

me grandpa is a fisherman wonder if he as a usenet ? maybe the riaa mpaa whoever will take is net as well and make him unemployed oh dear wonder if i can get him a job in a fish n chip shop off that old boat ah well will have to wait n c

Dont record off the TV cos they'll have you in the end.

yeah whatever...this story is so lame.

Well the access to usenet servers is meant to anonymous and not logged and i dont think legally they could force them to start logging without informing the customers of this. If they continue on this path i might just get there latest releases and mail it to hundreds of people just to fuck the mpaa off.

This does not target the actual newsgroups, just sites that loudly proclaim the things available and offer easy web interfaced downloading. I would prefer we talk about something else as the usenet is way to complex for most folks and the quality of everything there is aweful and you can't find anything you want and its really just a bunch of kiddie porn anyway. Now run along and sue some old grannys.

Now this hits closer to home. I love usenet because it's still kinda like the wild west in that anything goes. It's not all KP & it is not that difficult to learn how to access/find stuff/post stuff. There are over 100,000 different groups covering any topic you can think of. Sure there is a lot of crap, but there is good stuff to be found everyday. With a threat like this, I'd imagine that most ISP's will drop their low end free newsgroup service (or at least binary groups) & you'll be left with a 3rd party service if you want access. No big deal since true usenet junkies do that already.

why does everyone say it is hard to use, its not at all, usenet is a really easy to access unless you call entering a news server with a user name and password hard. you select the articles or binaries you want and bingo you've got them, most often in a fraction of the time torrents would take. realistically think about it a second, how much traffic goes through any one of the major usenet companies a month? i'm not even going to guess and i really don't care about an exact number, the point is its massive. they also don't log downloads etc (or so they at least claim). so i ask anyone, how are the mpaa going to do anything about it? they could sue the companies, yeah ok so there going to sue some very large (and many) companies along with isp's for providing access to what amounts to freedom of speech. the reality is, the mpaa are not going to solve the issue of piracy....ever. its there own fault for high prices of films coupled with weak copy protection on current generation discs. they can bring down as many sellers of pirated dvds and as many p2p hubs/torrent index sites as they like, more will always pop up. people always find a way and there will always be a market for such products. the only way to solve the problem is to make it so there is no demand for pirated material, good luck with that one.

i've gotten quite used to NZB's. The size of certain newsgroups are getting so big, it'd take a day to get all the headers. But shutting down nzb sites, they wouldn't stop usenet, but they'd make it alot harder to get stuff.

Will the RIAA and MPAA sue CDFreaks next?

These faceless farts (RIAA and MPAA) will probably target IRC next. What then ? charging people for singing in the toilet or shower ? Charging people for watching videos in the car ?

The only answer I see in fighting against these Hitler state organizations is to fight back with physicality.. sure, it may be wrong, NOTHING else works.

"OK, someone please explain to me how the MPAA can tell who has *downloaded/leeched* anything from the usenet? Unless they can subpoena the server logs to see who connected to it and what was transferred?" 1) They can't and 2) they can't. There is no way to track Usenet use externally and anyone attempting to do so must obtain provider records. Even then, it's extremely unlikely that provider records are detailed enough to enable the fine details necessary for prosecution ("can you prove person X downloaded a given file from your server?" "no - I can only tell that IP address X connected to the server at such and such a date and time" "so there's no non-repudiation?" "no" "oh well - case dismissed"). 2) Privacy laws prohibit access to said records (at least in civilized countries like Canada) Even in less civilized countries, the same laws that prevent a telco from being liable for drug deal conversations made using its infrastructure prevent a provider from being liable for any content downloaded using it. This also applies to Usenet carriers. And of course there's always providers based in France or any similarly enlightened country - the Internet knows no boundries.
[edited by Roj on 25.02.2006 16:08]

Amendment to the above: On a paid usenet server it can be provied that accound X connected to the server at such and such a time - but not what it downloaded. The logs required to track usage of that nature would be Biblical in size.

I can't work out if this is sarcasm, or really the most misinformed post I've seen in a long time. Usenet is like the holy grail. All releases find usenet first, then usually spawn out onto torrents. Usenet is possibly quality than probably all the torrents out there combined. The only thing is it doesn't last past x days. But at least you know if it's available, you're going to get it - fast. Usenet is a great resource for text conversation too, I remembered the days it was the best place to discuss programming difficulties and such before message boards became more main stream. I still find it a great place to get a high-level of technical discussion with certain issues. Oh well.
[edited by NexusHelm on 25.02.2006 20:58]

Or to be as safe as possible (and still be on usenet), use a provider that (at least) claims to not keep records....

Sadly, I think you're correct. The only thing these gangster style organizations will recognize are hits on their very lives.

MPAA/RIAA etc have had it pretty easy up to now. In the era of Tom DeLay, Jack Abramoff and mass Republican party corruption and cronyism, they've been able to easily buy legislation that enforce their desires and greed. And with a dumbass President who has no problems with leaning on all foreign governments to fall in line with everything the Republicans want. Hopefully that will change soon.

Okay, a word from the inside (of your ISP): The ISP can definitely tell what you've been picking up off the newsgroups, but most only care if you've been leeching gigabytes of material, and only because of the Acceptable Use Policy on your account that specifies how much stuff you can send or receive on their network. Most people will never run awry of those parameters, unless they are hosting images for popular eBay auctions or have a website that gets a lot of hits/has a lot of content. It's unlikely that your ISP gives a rat's ass what you do on the Usenet, in your email, or on your webspace unless they detect you're at your specified throughput limit or -- as the matter is in the article above -- some external body has a reason to think you're doing something illegal. And the RIAA/MPAA wouldn't know anything about what you've received through your newsreader. Nothing, nada, not a clue, untraceable by anyone but your ISP. (SENDING is another matter, but blame yourself if you didn't mask your IP address or your email addy for posting.) If you can't beat 'em, scare 'em into thinking they're beaten. Next thing, the RIAA/MPAA will be trying to prevent the ISPs from carrying those Usenet channels (as has happened in some binaries groups known for carrying dubious images) since they can't stop the flow of material on those channels.

I just came from the outerspace, can you please tell me, is this the year 1984 already?

Sorry again: did some one require a patent for a "mind's policing"? Is it already an established business in this Planet?

Yes. It is 1984. Anyway, Big Brother will continue their shakeoffs. One thing: the usenet is a lot older than the world wide web and a lot more complex in nature. Its almost a living creature, 25 yrs old, and has a lot of quirks. But they wouldn't bother to know what it is, or what its used for. Bummer, these corporations are only a turn away from Boycott-Alley.