What is Digg?141 Comments
- feaks, on 10/12/2007, -2/+127Yeah cause I'm sure the MPAA never heard of EZTV before this story was submitted here....
- ThinkBox, on 10/12/2007, -2/+115I was hoping he would ask him where EZTV is located. I want to know which direction I should be praying toward.
- CLucas916, on 10/12/2007, -10/+84Congrads to EZTV, they truly are a great group.
- SlackerCSB, on 10/12/2007, -1/+36I think you're giving Digg waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much credit.
- MrMacMan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+26Perhaps what his reference to '-1' day is releases like a a few recent shows like Heroes where an episode is released in canada the day before it is released in the U.S.
His implication that one can go into the future to get the release and bring it back is nevertheless funny. - merkul, on 10/12/2007, -18/+43EZTV meet the MPAA if this story hits the frontpage.
- lala, on 10/12/2007, -1/+26Yes, eztv is always displayed in the torrent filename so it's not like the mpaa never heard of it...
- Boggibill, on 10/12/2007, -2/+26EZTV is spread all over the world. We are not "stationed" in one country.
(I guess this would be the correct place to put it) - MrMacMan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+24The understand the MPAA is movies and EZTV distributes mostly TV shows right?
- Zera, on 10/12/2007, -0/+22@mdhauke "Yeah, let's advertise it and make it even a bigger target for the industry."
Agreed. The more idiocy from Hollywood we can encourage the better.
Napster was just a few ten thousand broke college kids before Metallica publicized and popularized it. Even my Grandma heard about it in the news and installed Napster for herself as a result! The legal pursuit of Napster forced the creation of Gnutella (and it's dozens of clients - some of which continue today) Morpheus, WinMX, Grokster, Bearshare and Kazaa. The pursuit of Hotline lead to emule and edonky. Continual litigiousness lead to Bittorrent, and eventually Trackerless torrents. The pursuit and publicity of Supernova.org resulted in literally hundreds of replacements to serve the now much larger torrent community, which had been small until the publicity of supernova in the news.
Now before anyone corrects my timeline, I just did that off the top of my head, some of those sequences of events might be slightly different and I KNOW I left out dozens of file sharing systems, but that's not the point. The important part is that every legal act and threat has merely publicized and created a need for a faster, better, more efficient successor. Necessity is the mother of invention. I mean, do you remember how bad Napster was? If the person you were getting a song from turned off their computer, you only got a partial file, but wouldn't know it until the song ended early! And compared to now, that's a distant memory.
In short, Hollywood nonsense has always resulted in more and more file sharers, better file sharing systems, and better quality shared content. So there's no reason worry. Every litigious act is met with equal and superior technological response, and more people interested in using that technology. Every. Time.
What Hollywood needs to realize is that piracy means they have fans who LIKE what they're doing, but aren't getting it in a format they want. Hollywood is in an industry where they have two choices on how to proceed. They can either try to stop file sharing, and reduce their sales through villainizing themselves, or they can embrace it, and realize that people like to pay for things if it's of reasonable cost and quality, and easy to access. Much of Hollywood IS taking this sensible approach, iTunes Music Store, TV shows on the creator's website, etc. But it has to continue. DRM on iTunes is like Gun Control for a Nation. It only affects the people obeying the law, and it NEGATIVELY affects those people. Don't hurt your paying customers with DRM. It's theirs, make it as easy for them to USE and ENJOY your product as possible. Does that mean they might share those files with someone who didn't pay for it? Maybe. But that's free exposure! You've gained a fan! They will buy the next episode instead of waiting for their friend to go out of their way to give it to them. DUH. But it better be DRM Free, and in reasonable quality. If it's not, you'll FORCE your buyers to find a superior product. HOW is this hard to understand????
Let's all just try to get along here. This is SO easy. - kurttrail, on 10/12/2007, -2/+24Think of TV torrents as an Open Source DVR, and timeshifting isn't illegal under US Copyright law.
- novaking, on 10/12/2007, -2/+22n0xie: The scene hate us, they hate all P2P groups as it deals with the public and they are all about being secretive. We pay the hommage by leaving their tag alone. We also repeatedly mention on the forums that we do not cap and that it comes from the scene. But of course you would know this, it's even stated on our FAQ (http://www.eztvefnet.org/index.php?main=faq). I would also like to make out that seeding 60,000+ peers for some shows is not something most other sites do well. We also do not accept donations or have any ads on our site. A point I wish was made in the article, but was not thought of at the time...
- SAOSiN, on 10/12/2007, -6/+21the site has 0day?...-1 day...you have no idea what your talking about.
- n0xie, on 10/12/2007, -12/+27Point 1.
How can you seriously believe that TV episodes are 'pirate' material. It's broadcasted on the tv fcol. It's not like you have to buy a ticket to watch a show. It has nothing to do with piracy whatsoever. Sure they cut out the commercials, but no one watches those anyway: people use commercial breaks to get something to drink, go to the restroom, yell at their kids, stuff like that. You can watch most shows basically for free anyway. The only people who use these sites are either not living in the states, or have missed a show, or really really really hate commercials.
Point 2.
EZTV gets credited for work other people do. They themselves do not cap the tv series. Rather they steal their material from the real release groups and dump them on the torrent train. There is something like honour among thieves (although technically I wouldn't classify TV-cappers as thieves) and I think EZ is getting way too much credit for their 'work'. 'Seeding' something isn't really rocket science: you need a semi-fast connection, and the files, that's it. Since they don't make the files themselves but 'steal' them, half the work is done for them already.
They're doing a nice job at distributing, but in no way do they deserve the respect they get from most people out there.
Point 3.
If this is considered piracy I guess everyone who owns a TiVo or a video recorder (you know those old basterds with the black tapes) can be considered pirates as well.
Point 4.
I will obviously get dugg down as people here tend to hate it when someone tells it how it is. - chris9902, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14EZTV isn't a very stealth operation. Just do a search for any TV show on any site and it's their stuff at the top of the list.
- SantaBJ, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15We do release four shows in 720p - Heroes, Lost, 24 and Prison Break.
- kkuphal, on 10/12/2007, -7/+20Whether you want to believe it or not, US copyright law defines what you can and cannot do with that free television content that comes into your home. Oh wait, it's not really free because it is paid for by advertisers, but that's beside your point. Regardless of how you feel, the law states that you cannot record these shows and distribute them to everyone in the world. You can for your own personal viewing (timeshifting even). So don't try to ascribe that what EZTV does is noble or legal somehow. It isn't. I'm sure I'll be dugg down for telling it how it is...
- smartsingh24, on 10/12/2007, -7/+19yeah, I'd rather this story get buried to keep it more of a "secret". Still, I am compelled to digg.
- se7yourselffree, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13EZTV must not be too worried about getting busted if they put their name in all their TV rips and on websites everywhere.
those guys are great. "LOL" EZTV gets me all my L-Word eps. many thanks. - SantaBJ, on 10/12/2007, -1/+121. Our content is (usually) pirated material. Let's be honest here. But the real question here wasn't whether this was true or not; it was how we feel about it. Torrentfreak split the question in two because the answer was extensive ^^ The real question, which we answered, was whether we think what we are doing is wrong. And we don't, because it isn't. If you read further down you'll see that we do have some faith in the "legal" alternatives, but until those catch up to us in usability the market will need a player like EZTV to keep "nudging" them in the right direction.
2. As Nova already stated, the scene hates us. We know this, and there's nothing we can do to change it. That doesn't change the following facts, however:
a) We are running a site with a lot of traffic without any income whatsoever.
b) Streamlining the seeding process takes a lot of work.
c) Handling the large volume of releases takes a lot of work
d) Troubleshooting is a bitch
e) Handling the whiners...well, you should have first-hand knowledge on this point, n0xie. :)
I could go on...but in the end, all that matters is that we're doing a public service on our own spare time. Be grateful.
3. And they are. Well, kinda. Ask the MPAA for a "better" explanation of the term "piracy" ^^
4. Well you should be. Hehe... Also, you're a liar. That's not "telling it how it is". - straxus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10"I'd have alot more respect for them if they would just admit they know what they are doing is illegal but they don't care. At least then they are being honest..."
He is being honest. He does know he's breaking the law, and he doesn't care. That's a foregone conclusion. What he's telling you in that interview is why he doesn't care. Actually, I think this quote from 'The Moon is a Harsh Mistress' puts it quite succently. "I will accept any rules that you feel necessary to your freedom. I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; If I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am responsible for everything I do." - Spelvin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Umm, yes, The MPAA is the one who has been going after TV torrent sites. They are heavily tied into the TV industry as well...
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-5705142.html - DoTheFandango, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8The MPAA isn't going to go for a TV Show distro.
- atelophobee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7does anybody not know that they are great? reliability is key!
ebfox- and don't consider it a plug as much as getting the info out there - it's better for everybody. (research torrents) - dasluvaluva, on 10/12/2007, -2/+91. Yes, you do "buy" a ticket. It's in the form of a cable bill. If people didn't watch commercials, it would be economically unfeasible for a company to continue budgeting them.
2. Completely Valid.
3. People with a TiVo still receive commercials (including those local ones that keep local businesses afloat), which is why TiVo's still legal. There was already a big hubbub with the 30-second skip on a TiVo, and advertisers still feel their losing revenue. That's why they want to integrate static ads during fast-forwards and rewinds.
4. You're getting dugg UP, so far. The fact of the matter is, the providing of TV shows via torrent removes any chance for immediate revenue (ala iTunes). We've already heard that The Office would've been on the chopping block after the 1st season if it weren't for iTunes purchases.
I still use bittorrent for TV Shows because I have an XBox360 I like to stream videos to (after encoding in WMV). iTunes is still *too* locked down with DRM. However, most people don't purchase the season DVD months later unless they're die-hard fans. Most downloaders are enthusiasts who don't reciprocate with further purchases. - ericrous, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6You assume that EZTV is located outside the U.S. (this is not clear). But, even if it weren't, there are VERY FEW countries left where you can get away with this without the MPAAFIA coming down on you. Even Pirate Bay, in one of the most open countries in the world, has come close to getting shut down on several occasions--just escaping by the skin of their teeth.
- novaking, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I'm guessing you haven't read our posts on here...
- Youtuber, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6live in the U.K so very grateful for site.. they sometimes even have UK shows which is helpful
- vagarach, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Well, you know, TV's also display pictures in motion, so the motion picture association may have something to do with it :D.
- SantaBJ, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Ehm, EZTV *never* releases TDS, VTV does. But they do release them through our channel and site so I guess confusion is bound to happen...
And use VLC. Everyone needs VLC. When stuff won't play, try VLC. If it doesn't work in there it probably won't work at all :] - Yoshi39, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6It actually has 0day releases (lost is up roughly 6 hrs after it has aired) and by -1 i think the parent meant screeners which are also available on eztv from time to time prison break being the latest one I can rember
- MrMacMan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7I want to point out that 'novaking' is a member of eztv... don't dig him down...
and in reference to novaking's statements -- eztv doesn't take donations, but the tracker provider does take donations. - Spelvin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Indeed as well as Heroes being released early don't forget SG-1. The season has one more episode left to be aired in the UK. So us Americans have not seen any new episodes and the series is almost done in the UK...
- n0xie, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Then pay hommage to LOL, NOTV, FoV, XOR and the rest, and thank EZTV kindly for re-releasing their stuff in the torrentworld.
- Boggibill, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5thinkbox: EZTV is spread all over the world. We are not "stationed" in one country.
- Fire4Effect, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5(Scene group)+EZTV+RSS+Utorrent=Television bliss
- radix33, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7"Read HD" meaning 720p for a 45-60 mins show would amount to ~1.2 gigs of Xvid file. Most people have 1.5mbps download/ 380kpbs upload cable/DSL lines so it would take them what, 15+ hours to download just one episode?
No thanks.
If you want OTA quality, watch it OTA. - TNHitokiri, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I really don't think EZTV is doing much harm as you usually can view the latest episode of a tv series on their website.
- suppressingfire, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Just because there's a low chance that a nielson family will use eztv doesn't mean that there's no chance. And because of the way extraplolation works, those 1 or two neilson families that might use eztv once in a while "blow up" and will significantly affect ratings. There are also other ways that advertising money is determined based on other more or less direct measures including Tivo and DVR monitoring and matching ad timing with web site hits. These are all bypassed when downloading shows.
And lets not forget pay channels and non-broadcast cable channels.
So yeah, there is a negative affect on the revenues of the same TV production companies that make the shows we love to download. - atelophobee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4you're clearly wrong. 1st, digg isn't exactly Fox News. 2nd, clearly those in charge of protecting tv shows from illegal rips already knew about EZTV well before this article was even thought up, much less put on digg
- Satertek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4The American Idol's frequently get released only an hour or two after they air. They're getting really fast.
- blackomegax, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4SantaBJ
720p/540p BSG too much to hope for? - SantaBJ, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4You, Sir, are wrong. If people discover a program on EZTV then come back to EZTV for future episodes, chances are the word will spread about the show. This is free publicity, and chances are it will increase ratings or at the very least increase DVD sales. The chances of having a negative effect on ratings are, as stated in the interview, slim to none - but to understand this, you will of course have to understand the Nielsen ratings system. Read up on it.
The fact is, if TV as an entertainment medium is to survive it will have to take steps to embrace new technology. If no one is pushing on them to make that leap, they will never do it. One thing is certain for any corporate entity - they LOVE the status quo, and needs to be *forced* to change it. - Yoshi39, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3It's located in Sweden where trackers are infact totally legal
P Address: 88.80.5.39 (ARIN & RIPE IP search)
IP Location: SE(SWEDEN) - TheRealXpax, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3They do deserve that respect. Not everyone has the time nor the desire to spend days of their lives in IRC making contacts. Many of us simply have lives that prevent that kind of dedication.
Having been part of the scene (not for TV, and about 5 years ago) I know how it goes. It's all about prestige and being elite. Giving the public access to things was never a priority for most of the groups I'd been a part of. They might provide a few bots in an open IRC channel, but for the public to get anything from them they'd have to spend hours hammering the bot and hoping to get a slot -- then wait days while it downloads at 2k/sec and hope that the bot doesn't disappear before you're done.
EZTV deserves a huge amount of respect for finding the quality releases and seeding them. The amount of bandwidth used to seed these torrents is immense compared to anything the actual cappers have. They might have a couple of nice FTP sites, but the overall bandwidth is nothing in comparison. They also deserve respect for the interface, the comments sections, search capabilities, multiple torrent links, quick replacement of nuked caps with good ones, etc. - aydin1954, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I think that EZTV is doing a public service allowing people outside the US to circumvent the discrimination of being forced to see the shows in badly dubbed versions, seeing them a year later if ever. With the increasing globalisation it does not make any sense to allow US viewers to see TV Shows on line free of charge or download for a very small fee actual episodes from the likes of iTunes and not allow this to people outside the US. If the US TV companies would understand this then there would be no need for any of this. But as long as they do not, till hell freezes over long live EZTV.
- robinator08, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Scenebanned
- unruled, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2eztv is nice in that it keeps me updated. Being a first tier seeder also doesnt hurt :)
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