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Saturday, August 5th, 2006Saturday, August 5th, 2006

Download Meet The Fockers Via BitTorrent

by Shawn @ 3:15 am · filed under Movies, MPAA

You may or may not know, the MPAA and BitTorrent "joined forces to protect film copyrights" (the MPAA's words, not mine) last November (see press release).

Search for Torrent Files

  
From Bram Cohen (BitTorrent CEO):

“BitTorrent, Inc. discourages the use of its technology for distributing films without a license to do so. As such, we are pleased to work with the film industry to remove unauthorized content from BitTorrent.com’s search engine.”

From Dan Glickman (MPAA Chairman and CEO):

“We are glad that Bram Cohen and his company are working with us to limit access to infringing files on the BitTorrent.com website,” said Glickman. “They are leading the way for other companies by their example.”

So, uhm... I wonder how well that's working out for the MPAA these days... They are the MPAA's strategic partner, so I can only assume that what they do with movies has the MPAA's full blessing. With that in mind, I went to BitTorrent.com, and did a search for the movie that I allegedly downloaded via BitTorrent. BitTorrent.com will give you 15 different options for downloading Meet The Fockers.

They are even kind enough to give you some HTML you can copy/paste so you can find anything you want (see search box in the upper right of this post).

Now by the MPAA's own definition, BitTorrent.com is a "facilitator" on the Pyramid of Internet Piracy.

It seems to me like it's a very odd and confusing message the MPAA is giving to everyone. On one hand, they promote the usage of BitTorrent.com in their own press releases, yet they issue another release outlining the "Pyramid of Internet Piracy", which includes one of their major strategic partners.

Huh? So the MPAA wants to sue the bottom feeders on the pyramid, but publicly promote the facilitators. Maybe the MPAA will just keep moving up the pyramid and start promoting "top sites" and "suppliers" too. {shrug} I don't generally consider myself a stupid guy, but I'm confused.

Although when you think about it, it may actually be a brilliant idea... "Let's show consumers how to download our movies, then we can extort bill them for $2,500. Check it out, we just sold a $9.43 DVD for $2,500 (a 26,500% markup)."

UpdateWTF??? Talladega Nights (a movie that just came out in theaters today) is available for download via the MPAA's partner site. I didn't download it myself, but I can only assume it's a free download?

The MPAA's press release let us (consumers) know that BitTorrent.com has been working with the film industry to remove unauthorized content from their search engine. So I can only assume these are authorized distributions of movies? Giving away movies via the Internet on the day the movie comes out in theaters just seems like an odd business model to me. They should put together an affiliate program, so we can trick our friends into illegally downloading movies and then we could get a cut of the settlement. Gimme 40%, and I'm down. I'll promote the hell out of it. :)

I'm starting to think that maybe it's not me that's destroying the movie industry, maybe it's the MPAA.

12 Responses to “Download Meet The Fockers Via BitTorrent”

  1. James Says:
    August 5th, 2006 at 10:54 pm

    It seems to me that there are so many holes in the argument both the MPAA and the RIAA are putting up, but no one has the technical knowledge, or money to hire a lawyer WITH the technical knowledge to defend them. So, they just end up paying the settlement and are done with it. I mean, c’mon, they’re submitting screenshots as evidence? Like a screenshot isn’t editable. An IP address, because those ALWAYS lead directly to the person that downloaded the files? Or, the MAC address, which can be changed in XP in a few minutes. I guess with enough money and lawyers, you can force anyone to give you more money.

  2. James Says:
    August 5th, 2006 at 10:58 pm

    I like the Google advert that was up as I was writing my last comment.
    “Download Torrent Spy(tm) - Unlimited Music, Movies & Games. Latest version - 100% guaranteed.” Maybe they should go after Google for “facilitating” illegal downloads.

  3. Jonathan Says:
    August 6th, 2006 at 7:30 am

    Way to go Shawn. You aren’t dumb and I think you are gonna win this one buddy.

  4. Joe Says:
    August 7th, 2006 at 6:10 am

    Wow, you know, the only way to know for sure is to actually follow the links and see if you really can download a copyright protected work for free. However, once you’ve done that, you’ve just allowed them to come after you. I would have to agree, this smells like a scam.

    Before I go on, let me just say that, the people that produce these works have a right to make a profit doing so. The also have a right to take reasonable steps to protect their work. A few years ago, Metallica was pretty vocal about Napster and, frankly, I think they were right. This is how they make their living and they have a right to do so without people trying to redistribute their product for free. I would agree with the MPAA and RIAA that this is, indeed, theft.

    However, “reasonable steps” does not mean distribute for free through one of their partners. If this truly is the case, then the MPAA or RIAA doesn’t want me on the jury of any of those trials. You can’t give something away and then come back and accuse them of stealing.

  5. teefers Says:
    August 7th, 2006 at 12:48 pm

    why the confusion? if you do a little research on the justice system, you’ll realize there are absurd amounts of money to be made in incarcerating american citizens. in fact, the US has incarcerated a larger percentage of its citizens than any other country in the world! they claim to spend a certain amount of money on each prisoner every day but only spend about a dime in reality, and pocket the rest.

    the people in power don’t want to actually stop crimes, as these are the very things that fund their agendas in the first place.

    and joe, if metallica was so “right”, then why have they hopped on the MP3 release bandwagon with their latest album? no respect for those guys in this corner, sorry. you could have picked a better example.

    it’s always about the money. follow the money and you’ll see why things happen the way they do.

    good luck shawn, my thoughts are with you!

  6. Shawn Says:
    August 7th, 2006 at 3:52 pm

    I agree 100%… I have no problem with a company protecting their copyrights (or any other intellectual property), I just don’t think they are doing it is all.

  7. sandossu Says:
    August 8th, 2006 at 7:16 pm

    Shawn, MPAA should protect their copy/rights, but they are way too incompetent

  8. jungle Says:
    August 10th, 2006 at 7:29 am

    Shawn, the BitTorrent - MPAA “partnership” is only PR BS, if you know what I mean. BitTorrent is only escaping MPAA lawsuits because they take down from their index any movie the MPAA tells them to take down, which is what they are forced to do by law, and nothing more. If you find a recently released movie in their index it is only because the MPAA failed to give BitTorrent the take down notice for that movie, so that would be MPAAs own fault. Also, it may be that the movies you found are fakes, placed there by the movie studios themselves to make it more difficult for pirates to find the real one.

  9. steve Says:
    August 13th, 2006 at 7:39 am

    Joe has been drinking the RIAA’s Koolaid. Their stated reason for wanting to kill P2P isn’t the REAL reason.

    If I wanted a new RIAA song (lets suppose they actually still made music I’d actually WANT to download) all I’d have to do would be to tune in a Clear Channel radio station and sample away. It’s then trivial to cut the songs I want out and make MP3s of them.

    If you live in St. Louis, you can sample a half dozen full albums on a Sunday night from KSHE.

    The major labels (RIAA members) can keep their competetion (independant artists) off of the radio and offf of empty-v, but they can’t keep them off of P2P.

    Face it, I’m not going to buy a song I’ve never heard. The major labels actually are dying, but it’s because the stuff they put out is stuff nobody wants to hear! When I was in my twenties in the ’70s, I’d go to a bar and the bands, my age, who were covering the songs that were on the radio then.

    I go into a bar today, and the bands and audience are in their twenties, and the bands are covering the same music we listened to 30 years ago.

    No matter what genre; rock, country, whatever, the majors seem not to understand the music itself. You DON’T put flutes and violins in country music! And rock and roll never EVER whines in a minor key as all the so-called “rock” you hear on the radio these days does. The RIAA labels’ music is pathetic.

    And today, any decent band can cheaply and easily make their own record, unlike the vinyl album era. The record labels have lost their very reason for existance.

    The movie “Star Wreck - In The Pirkinning” must have the MPAA studios quaking in their boots; it’s better than any Hollywood B movie I’ve ever seen, and was produced entirely by amateurs.

    It’s not about keeping you from getting a free copy of Metallica’s “Free Speech for the Dumb”, it’s about keeping you from hearing that bar band who performs three states (or countries) over.

    Likewise, the MPAA can’t possibly be worried about their movies being shared with a fuzzy picture and distorted sound. They’re scared witless of “Star Wreck”.

  10. Bill Gates Says:
    August 14th, 2006 at 8:14 pm

    ALL BASES ARE BELONG TO SHAWN

  11. traci Says:
    August 15th, 2006 at 10:40 am

    Yep - I’m one of the “settlers”… it totally sucks what they are doing. It’s plain and simple - EXTORTION! My pc’s came up clean on the forensics. My brother in law is one of the top forensics experts in the US, and they STILL made me settle. Well, I could’ve paid my lawyer for it to drag on and on, but then again, I want my kids to go to (a good) college, so I made a choice.

    I just wanna give them a huge “BITE ME”.

  12. daniel Says:
    April 12th, 2008 at 8:18 pm

    i wan`t to download movie meet the fockers

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