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TeknoTurd · May 12, 2005, 10:50 PM

MPAA targets TV download sites
By John Borland, CNET News.com
Published on ZDNet News: May 12, 2005, 12:47 PM PT

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-5705142.html

Continuing its war on Internet file-swapping sites, the Motion Picture Association of America said Thursday that it has filed lawsuits against a half-dozen hubs for TV show trading.

The trade association said that piracy of TV programming is growing quickly online, and that shows are as important to protect as big-budget films. This is the first legal action from the group that has focused most heavily on TV content.

"Every television series depends on other markets (such as) syndication and international sales to earn back the enormous investment required to produce the comedies and dramas we all enjoy," MPAA Chief Executive Officer Dan Glickman said in a statement. "Those markets are substantially hurt when that content is stolen."

The latest round of suits retains a focus on BitTorrent technology, which has been widely used online to distribute movies and films.

The suits are focused on the sites that serve as traffic directors for BitTorrent swaps, rather than on individual computer users uploading and downloading content. The MPAA also has sued individuals, but has not said how many people have been targeted.

The six sites sued Thursday include ShunTV, Zonatracker, Btefnet, Scifi-Classics, CDDVDHeaven and Bragginrights.
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Well this friggin sucks. Just a few weeks after I worked out all the bugs with the RSS Imported and had all my shows downloading automatically from BTEfnet it gets shut down.

As much as this sucks, I'm sick of people trying to rationalize doing things that are blatantly illegal, no matter what trading TV shows is illegal.

Wiskedjak · May 12, 2005, 11:19 PM

There are still sites up.

Is sharing shows illegal if the commercials are shared with the show?

starman · May 12, 2005, 11:40 PM

Originally Posted by TeknoTurd

As much as this sucks, I'm sick of people trying to rationalize doing things that are blatantly illegal, no matter what trading TV shows is illegal.

Well, just like how Napster started and now we have the iTMS, someone has to put up a LEGAL TV show download site.

As with listening to music, the paradigm of watching TV is shifting.

You can sit there on your high horse and say "downloading TV shows is illegal" but you know what, in this day and age there's NO REASON not to have a legal site. I'd pay $1 or so to download HD versions of shows I missed.

Unlike music, TV shows are sometimes shown once, and never shown again. I don't want to buy an entire box set of The Amazing Race a year after the season ended just to watch the one show I missed.

Mike

OwlBoy · May 13, 2005, 07:23 AM

Damn it, I go to download the newest Lost episode, and find this crap...

I ONLY download TV shows, not movies. I ALWAYS rent or buy those, but TV shows, I preferred the quality of the HDTV rips.

This sucks total ass. I call it time shifting TV, they call it theft

-Owl

cpt kangarooski · May 13, 2005, 07:34 AM

Wiskedjak--

Is sharing shows illegal if the commercials are shared with the show?

If it's illegal, that would only make it more illegal -- the ads are copyrighted too.

OwlBoy · May 13, 2005, 07:41 AM

Originally Posted by cpt kangarooski

Wiskedjak--

If it's illegal, that would only make it more illegal -- the ads are copyrighted too.

gururafiki · May 13, 2005, 01:10 PM

Originally Posted by cpt kangarooski

Wiskedjak--

If it's illegal, that would only make it more illegal -- the ads are copyrighted too.

Seriously? Thats insane! Is it illegal to record TV shows on tape and give it to friends? And what about TIVO. Does TIVO blur the lines between what is/in't illegal even more? Movies and music I can understand, but TV, which is broadcasted for free over radio waves should not be illegal to download IMHO.

Wiskedjak · May 13, 2005, 02:12 PM

Originally Posted by cpt kangarooski

Wiskedjak--

If it's illegal, that would only make it more illegal -- the ads are copyrighted too.

I don't know about that. Ads are among the primary source of revenue for tv shows. The producers of those ads shouldn't care how their ads are distributed, just that we watch them. As long as ads are produced and the tv producers are paid to insert them into the shows, it would seem to me that the revenue stream would remain intact, with the only people in the stream getting hurt being the traditional local distributers.

starman · May 13, 2005, 02:17 PM

Originally Posted by Wiskedjak

I don't know about that. Ads are among the primary source of revenue for tv shows. The producers of those ads shouldn't care how their ads are distributed, just that we watch them. As long as ads are produced and the tv producers are paid to insert them into the shows, it would seem to me that the revenue stream would remain intact, with the only people in the stream getting hurt being the traditional local distributers.

Then by that logic, adcritic.com should still be up.

Mike

Weyland-Yutani · May 13, 2005, 02:45 PM

www.adcritic.com

it is

cheers

W-Y

starman · May 13, 2005, 02:52 PM

It's not the same as it used to be, not by a longshot.

Mike

cpt kangarooski · May 13, 2005, 02:53 PM

gururafiki--

Seriously? Thats insane! Is it illegal to record TV shows on tape and give it to friends?

17 USC 501 and 106 indicate that it is illegal to reproduce copyrighted works, and illegal to distribute copies of them. There are exceptions to this, but they don't always apply. Generally when people tape TV shows, they're relying on 107, which is fair use. However, fair use does not always apply; it depends on the circumstances. There is a four-part test that's used to determine if a given use, considering all the circumstances, is fair or not.

So while taping TV shows and giving copies to friends might be okay at times, the burden is on the person doing it to show that it's fair, if there's a dispute. IMO some, but not all home taping is likely fair. Downloading is likely to be considered less favorably. And while limited distribution to friends and family (e.g. taping something and giving the tape to a friend) might barely be considered fair, uploading on the internet (which, incidentally is what happens when you use Bit Torrent, whether you know it or not) would virtually never be considered fair.

TV, which is broadcasted for free over radio waves should not be illegal to download IMHO.

In that case you might want to write your Congressmen.

WiskedJak--

it would seem to me that the revenue stream would remain intact, with the only people in the stream getting hurt being the traditional local distributers

It is not a defense to copyright infringement to say that it didn't harm the copyright holder financially, or that it helped them financially. It might be useful in a fair use analysis, but I wouldn't hold my breath, at least with regards to wholesale internet distribution.

starman · May 13, 2005, 03:03 PM

On a very basic level, doesn't this all seem like a cruel joke? Give something away for free, but arrest people that do the same.

Mike