Any big users of the eDonkey2000 network will already have noticed that huge servers such as Razorback2 seem to have disappeared. The Federal Belgian Police raided and seized the servers yesterday. For those not familiar with how an ed2k server works, it does not host any files, either copyrighted or other, but it does index their location on the network. The eDonkey2000 network consists of many servers located around the world that work in a similar way.
In addition to the servers being seized, Swiss authorities arrested the site's operator at his residence in Switzerland and searched his home. The push behind the legal action came from the Motion Picture Association (MPA). "This is a major victory in our fight to cut off the supply of illegal materials being circulated on the Internet via peer-to-peer networks," said Motion Picture Association (MPA) Chairman and CEO Dan Glickman. "By shaving the illegal traffic of copyrighted works facilitated by Razorback2, we are depleting other illegal networks of their ability to supply Internet pirates with copyrighted works which is a positive step in our international effort to fight piracy."
The Press Release issued is full of spin once again. The MPA claims the actions were aimed at cutting off a major supply and facilitator of illegal files to several popular illegal file swapping networks. Firstly, how are file sharing networks illegal? Copyright infringement taking place on the network may be illegal depending on where you live, but the networks themselves remain legal. Also, I don't see how Razorback2 was there to supply other networks of illegal files, remember Razorback2 hosted no files, it was an eD2K server.
The MPA also claimed that the motive for running the server was financial because it collected donations and made money from advertisements on its website (which were sometimes pornographic). The MPA knows that many of the top file sharing software companies make a profit from their software through advertising, this has nothing to do with making money from piracy. With the same argument you could sue Google, or perhaps manufacturers of blank media because piracy probably makes up a large percentage of their use.
The MPA also decided to go back to another aspect of P2P that has been screamed by entertainment companies in the past; some people shared child pornography or terrorism videos (bomb making videos, they claim). Firstly, child pornography is something 99% of P2P users would prefer is not shared on their favorite networks. That being said, people also would have preferred if DVDs and VHS tapes weren't used in the trade of child pornography, or that newsgroups aren't used for the purpose. However, with any technology, there will always be abuse.
According to anti-child porn groups, the biggest child pornography problems on the net come from sources like Russian & Japanese sites. The MPA doesn't care about this though because it doesn't need to discredit Russian sites (or others) to justify a raid on a P2P server. As for terrorism videos and bomb making instructions, what exactly qualifies as this type of material? Would the movie "Fight Club" qualify for example? If you wanted to blow up something, this movie might provide you with small details that can help and provide you with the motivation, but its not a terrorism video because its "art" apparently.
I don't think the availability of bomb making instructions on a P2P network will spur a massive number of terrorist killers around the world, and rest assured that existing terrorist groups know already how to make bombs and don't need to find instructional videos. You can be also sure that most sharers of that kind of material share it because it interests them to know how its done, not because they want to be the next group mentioned on CNN. Again, let's remember that the Razorback servers hosted no child pornography or terrorist training videos, these were shared by users of the eD2K P2P network.
"Razorback2 was not just an enormous index for Internet users engaged in illegal file swapping, it was a menace to society," said Executive Vice President and Worldwide Anti-Piracy Director John G. Malcolm. "I applaud the Swiss and Belgian authorities for their actions which are helping thwart Internet piracy around the world." Since the Razorback servers didn't host any files, the files were instead traded by users; the enormous amount of people who used the Razorback servers all the time will simply move on to other available eD2K servers, which means the content is still on the network and the closure of the Razorback servers will just be a hiccup.
It will be interesting to see how this develops in the near future.
Source:
Slyck
The Press Release issued is full of spin once again. The MPA claims the actions were aimed at cutting off a major supply and facilitator of illegal files to several popular illegal file swapping networks. Firstly, how are file sharing networks illegal? Copyright infringement taking place on the network may be illegal depending on where you live, but the networks themselves remain legal. Also, I don't see how Razorback2 was there to supply other networks of illegal files, remember Razorback2 hosted no files, it was an eD2K server.
The MPA also claimed that the motive for running the server was financial because it collected donations and made money from advertisements on its website (which were sometimes pornographic). The MPA knows that many of the top file sharing software companies make a profit from their software through advertising, this has nothing to do with making money from piracy. With the same argument you could sue Google, or perhaps manufacturers of blank media because piracy probably makes up a large percentage of their use.
The MPA also decided to go back to another aspect of P2P that has been screamed by entertainment companies in the past; some people shared child pornography or terrorism videos (bomb making videos, they claim). Firstly, child pornography is something 99% of P2P users would prefer is not shared on their favorite networks. That being said, people also would have preferred if DVDs and VHS tapes weren't used in the trade of child pornography, or that newsgroups aren't used for the purpose. However, with any technology, there will always be abuse.
According to anti-child porn groups, the biggest child pornography problems on the net come from sources like Russian & Japanese sites. The MPA doesn't care about this though because it doesn't need to discredit Russian sites (or others) to justify a raid on a P2P server. As for terrorism videos and bomb making instructions, what exactly qualifies as this type of material? Would the movie "Fight Club" qualify for example? If you wanted to blow up something, this movie might provide you with small details that can help and provide you with the motivation, but its not a terrorism video because its "art" apparently.
I don't think the availability of bomb making instructions on a P2P network will spur a massive number of terrorist killers around the world, and rest assured that existing terrorist groups know already how to make bombs and don't need to find instructional videos. You can be also sure that most sharers of that kind of material share it because it interests them to know how its done, not because they want to be the next group mentioned on CNN. Again, let's remember that the Razorback servers hosted no child pornography or terrorist training videos, these were shared by users of the eD2K P2P network.
"Razorback2 was not just an enormous index for Internet users engaged in illegal file swapping, it was a menace to society," said Executive Vice President and Worldwide Anti-Piracy Director John G. Malcolm. "I applaud the Swiss and Belgian authorities for their actions which are helping thwart Internet piracy around the world." Since the Razorback servers didn't host any files, the files were instead traded by users; the enormous amount of people who used the Razorback servers all the time will simply move on to other available eD2K servers, which means the content is still on the network and the closure of the Razorback servers will just be a hiccup.
It will be interesting to see how this develops in the near future.
Source:
Slyck
