Crackdowns on TV show torrents

pitfallharry219

pitfallharry219

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Anybody else getting hassled about TV torrents lately? I've been warned twice in the last week by my ISP about downloading shows. The first one was understandable, as it was Entourage. I can see how that's a problem because HBO is pay TV. But then I got another call about downloading an episode of Heroes, which is kind of stupid seeing as how it's free on TV. They temporarily disconnected me for the whole weekend. I've been downloading shows for two or three years now and only in the past week have I heard anything about it from my ISP. So is anyone else being contacted?
 
I've been downloading unlicensed anime for years and haven't heard a thing from any ISPs. How do you they contact you? Phone? E-mail?
 
[quote name='pitfallharry219']They called me and told me to delete everything I had downloaded.[/quote]

"Delete everything!"
"Ok"

That's all you have to say; even if you don't do anything.
 
The reason they care is if you're downloading the show, you're watching it when you want and without commercials. The reason those shows are on TV for free is because you have to watch commercials. The more popular the show, the more the can charge for commercials. So, if you aren't watching, they can't ask as much.

In a round about way, it is stealing. Not that I give a shit and don't do it myself, but they are well with-in justifiable reason to not want their properties downloaded even though they are broadcasted for "free".
 
You should do the right thing and stop dling. I know everyone does it but at least your getting warned first and not a lawsuit from the studio. There's a good chance that your provider can give your info away because your actually breaking your contract by dling illegal videos.
 
[quote name='Kayden']The reason they care is if you're downloading the show, you're watching it when you want and without commercials. The reason those shows are on TV for free is because you have to watch commercials. [/quote]

In the beginning, there were no commercials and people had to pay for the tv. Then they implemented commercials saying that the customers won't have to pay as they were already making the stations earn money through the advertisements. That was around 50 years ago. So they're making money twice on us.
 
[quote name='Kayden']The reason they care is if you're downloading the show, you're watching it when you want and without commercials. The reason those shows are on TV for free is because you have to watch commercials. The more popular the show, the more the can charge for commercials. So, if you aren't watching, they can't ask as much.

In a round about way, it is stealing. Not that I give a shit and don't do it myself, but they are well with-in justifiable reason to not want their properties downloaded even though they are broadcasted for "free".[/quote]

I tape everything on VCR and fast-forward through commercials (each break is approx 3.5 min)

I haven't received a notice yet!
 
[quote name='camoor']I tape everything on VCR and fast-forward through commercials (each break is approx 3.5 min)

I haven't received a notice yet![/quote]

I use a VCR too, but when things have schedule conflictions and there isn't a free VCR, it's nice to be able to download them and watch them whenever.
 
yea we got caught in our apartment downloading Heroes, that was a few months ago, and recently we got caught downloading The Land Before Time....yea...


the last one was off Demonoid, off a private tracker, so watch out yo.
 
your ISP doesn't it's mainly HBO/NBC/ Universal/etc, contacting you ISP about you downloading copyrighted material and threatening to sue and what not.
 
the DMCA managed to get uppidy with some of my residents in the dorms for uploading X-men 3. So i'd say they're cracking down on just about everything.
 
One of my friend had the same thing happen to him while he was getting last week's entourage episode. I guess they are started to get serious about it.
 
[quote name='AshesofWake']yea we got caught in our apartment downloading Heroes, that was a few months ago, and recently we got caught downloading The Land Before Time....yea...


the last one was off Demonoid, off a private tracker, so watch out yo.[/quote]

The tracker is irrelevant. The ISP can just look at your packets and see what you're downloading. However, if someone within a broadcast company is a member of the tracker they can just copy down the IP of everyone they connect to and then track you down that way.

[quote name='camoor']I tape everything on VCR and fast-forward through commercials (each break is approx 3.5 min)

I haven't received a notice yet![/quote]
:roll: Do you know how dead set against VCRs Holywood and broacasting companies were? They didn't want people to have that ability. There is actually a fair use law with regards to TV broadcasts that says something to the effect of "you may record this program and rewatch it home for personal use only. You may not rebroadcast this in public/for profit without express written consent." So technically, any time you had a teacher that thought something was interesting on PBS and recorded it to show to the class, they were breaking the law and could have been fined rather heavily. Actually, I believe some people interpret it so strictly that even recording a show and giving it to a friend that missed it is a 'crime'.
 
[quote name='darthbudge']Ohhh Demonoid, I better stop dling Prison Break lol[/QUOTE]

Why would you d/l Prison Break when you can just go to Fox's website and watch it anytime you want, without commercials too?
 
Isn't there some law that doesnt allow ISPs to peek at what you are doing? Something about if they can check one person, then they can check everyone and then be liable for any illegal activity on their network.

Most likely it is like someone suggested - someone working for the studios looking at the peer list.
If you want to download tv shows, your best bet is IRC. No sharing involved, you just download from someone.
 
Yeah, it's the studios that get you, not your ISP. The ISP doesn't care, and then the studio threatens to take action against the ISP if they don't do anything that is why they tell you to stop. I got in trouble for downloading House. The Amazing thing was that NBC was the one who sent me the e-mail...
 
[quote name='pitfallharry219']Smithville. It's a regional one. They're also the local phone company. They're the only option for internet around here.[/QUOTE]

Thats the reason they want you to stop. They're the only place around, and a small company they are telling you to stop because they probably can't afford the wrath of a MPAA, (or whatever tv is) lawyer coming down on them.
 
[quote name='LiquidNight']OP: Peer Guardian 2[/quote]

Doesn't currently work with Vista yet, so I'm S.O.L. over here. I've just been DL'ing from EZTV and haven't had any problems. I don't see any problem with downloading TV shows if you miss them.

It's the same as having someone tape it for you and skipping the commercials. Haven't yet seen a PSA featuring Matthew Fox telling you that downloading a TV show is stealing. Because it isn't. It's not as if you're making money off of this, 99.9% of people are downloading cause they didn't catch it, and they don't know when (if ever) that episode will be repeated.

Now most of the stations are putting the big shows up for viewing in rather good quality, and very smooth within hours of it actually airing, with no commercials in between. So clearly they don't seem to see much wrong with it or they wouldn't post those. Do the movie studios post their movies up for you to watch a few weeks after they're out? Seriously.

Nothing wrong with it. Period.
 
[quote name='pitfallharry219']Yeah, I've heard about this, but I've also read that it doesn't always work.[/quote]

It works and don't believe the lies. If you can't use it, then use the blocklist manager and either the program bluetack provides (more difficult to use and set up compared to PG2) or use the safepeers plugin on Azureus.
 
[quote name='AshesofWake']yea we got caught in our apartment downloading Heroes, that was a few months ago, and recently we got caught downloading The Land Before Time....yea...


the last one was off Demonoid, off a private tracker, so watch out yo.[/quote]

Demonoid = unless something super obscure or random, then it's as good as a public tracker and can be accessed through sites such as torrentspy or mininova. It's "private' status is an illusion.
 
[quote name='hiccupleftovers']It works and don't believe the lies. If you can't use it, then use the blocklist manager and either the program bluetack provides (more difficult to use and set up compared to PG2) or use the safepeers plugin on Azureus.[/quote]

I agree.Use Peerguardian if you are doing this sort of thing.It's not a 100% guarantee that you will never get caught downloading but it is VERY effective.
 
I've probably downloaded hundreds of gigs worth (none of TV shows though) and never got a call from my ISP. If you want to watch Heroes that bad, all of the episodes are available on NBC.com for free. I never got into Heroes but watched all of the episodes over a single weekend a short while ago and am now ready to watch it on TV. Sucks for everyone here who watched it during its programming run and had to wait an entire week for some of those episodes because many ended with cliffhangers.
 
[quote name='ReaperZER0']Doesn't currently work with Vista yet, so I'm S.O.L. over here. I've just been DL'ing from EZTV and haven't had any problems. I don't see any problem with downloading TV shows if you miss them.

It's the same as having someone tape it for you and skipping the commercials.[/quote]
I can't look it up to say for certain, but as I said before, I'm pretty sure that it is illegal to tape something and share it with someone. Anything you tape is for your own use in your own home.

[quote name='ReaperZER0']Haven't yet seen a PSA featuring Matthew Fox telling you that downloading a TV show is stealing. Because it isn't. [/quote]
I'm sure they'd argue that point with you. They own that content. You are taking it without reimbursing them and without their approval. Like it or not, they do own it. Things on TV aren't totally free just because you didn't pay to watch it.


[quote name='ReaperZER0']It's not as if you're making money off of this [/quote] Irrelavant. You don't neccisarily make money every time you download a movie, game or music, but it's still illegal.


[quote name='ReaperZER0']99.9% of people are downloading cause they didn't catch it, and they don't know when (if ever) that episode will be repeated.[/quote]
Even if that wasn't a number you just pulled out of your ass, the "everyone is doing it" excuse has never made anything legal.


[quote name='ReaperZER0']Now most of the stations are putting the big shows up for viewing in rather good quality, and very smooth within hours of it actually airing, with no commercials in between. So clearly they don't seem to see much wrong with it or they wouldn't post those.[/quote]
Hosting their content on their own site is a far cry from legal to download off a torrent site. Watching it from their site still allows them to control the content and still retains you're viewership. You are still being exposed to their advertisements. Even if they don't have paid advertisers on their site, they're still engraining themselves in your mind by having you look at a site with their logos all over it.

They're still getting your attention and business.

Department stores put clothing on racks outside the store, just because it isn't in the store doesn't mean its ok to walk off without paying for it.


[quote name='ReaperZER0']Do the movie studios post their movies up for you to watch a few weeks after they're out? [/quote] Of course not. Movies are bound to have a DVD release, if they gave away the movies online, very few people would actually buy them.

Its a similar reason why they don't want you downloading TV shows. Streaming off their site isn't a full download for you to keep. When its time for the DVDs to be released, they can pull the episodes off their site, if not sooner.




[quote name='ReaperZER0']Doesn't currently work with Vista yet, so I'm S.O.L. over here. I've just been DL'ing from EZTV and haven't had any problems. I don't see any problem with downloading TV shows if you miss them.

It's the same as having someone tape it for you and skipping the commercials. Haven't yet seen a PSA featuring Matthew Fox telling you that downloading a TV show is stealing. Because it isn't. It's not as if you're making money off of this, 99.9% of people are downloading cause they didn't catch it, and they don't know when (if ever) that episode will be repeated.

Now most of the stations are putting the big shows up for viewing in rather good quality, and very smooth within hours of it actually airing, with no commercials in between. So clearly they don't seem to see much wrong with it or they wouldn't post those. Do the movie studios post their movies up for you to watch a few weeks after they're out? Seriously.

Nothing wrong with it. Period.[/quote]
 
i've been using torrents for years but haven't heard anything yet *knocks on wood*

These kinds of scares are periodic though-- they do a wave of notices every once in a while just to make people think they will get sued if they keep doing it. It actually works pretty well-- a lot of people are afraid to DL illegal stuff. we won't hear anything for a while, or maybe they'll do a random rash of lawsuits like the RIAA, then nothing for a year or so.

luckily, UW says they won't reveal any names or IP addresses to the RIAA or MPAA or anyone else :)
 
[quote name='Apossum']
luckily, UW says they won't reveal any names or IP addresses to the RIAA or MPAA or anyone else :)[/quote]All colleges used to say that... once they actually have a real threat of a lawsuit, don't count on it.
 
Wow, thank you Kayden for so brilliantly refuting every single letter I typed. I know now that it is futile to actually state your views on a messageboard, since you will undoubtedly be 100% wrong 100% of the time, no matter your position.

I'll go back to lurking... uh, now.
 
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