digg

Join DiggAbout

Discover and share the best of the web!
Learn more about Digg by taking the tour.

uTorrent Takes on the BitTorrent Scammers

torrentfreak.com — P2P ’scam sites’ masquerade as genuine file-sharing sites but con inexperienced file-sharers into paying ’subscriptions’ for free software, such as BitTorrent clients and bombard them with ads and popups. uTorrent has had enough of one such site making profit from their work and is stepping up to the mark to hold them accountable.

Bury
show profanity settings
expand all
  • AnteChronos, on 10/10/2007, -26/+10One thing that I always like to point out in situations like these (because I'm anal-re tentative that way) is that it's not typed "uTorrent". It's "µTorrent", with a Greek mu as the first letter, and pronounced "micro-torrent" (like how µs is read micro-seconds).
    • LANjackal, on 10/10/2007, -0/+21Maybe you should tell users how to type a mu while you're bitching at them.... could be more effective :)
      • AnteChronos, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6Easy method to use (but hard to remember): Alt + 230 (on the numpad). More involved but easier to remember: Open character map. Double-click the character (it automatically copies to the clipboard). Paste. Both of these solutions are Windows-centric. For other OSs, RTFM.
      • 1n4007, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3German keyboards use a second modifier key. That plus 'm' types µ :P

        btw ümläüts röck
    • maxtypezero, on 10/10/2007, -1/+25guess what. the website is utorrent.com. maybe you should email them and tell them to change their domain to alt230torrent.com
      • AnteChronos, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Because non-ASCII charaters aren't allowed in domain name, or course. But look at the site, and *every* instance of the name is "µTorrent".
    • bsolidgold, on 10/10/2007, -1/+9Suck an egg, you anal RETENTIVE (it's one word, you no-talent ass-clown) bastard. If you had two brain cells to rub together you might be able to come up with a spark of something intelligent to say. Alas, you don't.
    • thedarkwolf, on 10/10/2007, -2/+5The greek letter µ pronounce mu (mew) is exactly what it stands for. It does not say micro torrent. its mew-torrent.

      the micro prefix is usually only associated with the metric system
      • 9a3eedi, on 10/10/2007, -5/+2Mew torrent? ....... Let's fork "Mew-torrent" and call it "Pika-torrent" lol
      • AnteChronos, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4"the micro prefix is usually only associated with the metric system" Which is exactly the point, actually. µTorrent is invoking the "micro" connotation of mu to emphasize its small size and memory footprint.
    • rebopper, on 10/10/2007, -5/+3Anal-re tentative? What does that even mean? You have scheduled a proctological examination again, but don't know if you can make it?

      EDIT: You suck! or µ suck! Whichever you prefer.
      • RyanWilliams, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1It's an idiom.

        But yeah, seriously, how pedantic can you get? Who is seriously going to bother inserting a greek letter all the time when most people just read and pronounce it as uTorrent anyway? And indeed, as mentioned above they themselves had to use a U in the domain name which is evidence that the crew see it as a perfectly appropriate alternative.

        Lamery.
    • rebopper, on 10/10/2007, -4/+2Digg me down. Apparently I suck too.
  • LANjackal, on 10/10/2007, -5/+4Good move
    • misterjangles, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I have to say that I nearly did a spit-take when I read this. Any bit-torrent related software, site, etc sending out a cease and desist letter is just about the most comical thing I can imagine. oh yea, but the didn't intentionally make the client for stealing. boo f--ing hoo! whaa whaaa all the way to mommy guys. we all know what people really use the software to do.

      Payback is a bitch
  • lesty420, on 10/10/2007, -15/+4Closed source now so ***** 'em
    • DjDimitrious, on 10/10/2007, -0/+24µTorrent has always been closed source. what's being closed is the protocol specs.
    • mikesbaker, on 10/10/2007, -4/+2why because they were sick of people ripping off their code and claiming it as their own?
      • Jugalator, on 10/10/2007, -0/+14µTorrent was closed source since the day it was born.
      • AlexFerny, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2because the python BT client was GPL .. meaning you could use it under the GPL.
  • mikesbaker, on 10/10/2007, -12/+6#1 rule don't be a noob
    help for the noobs:
    use public trackers:
    isohunt.com - a meta search engine for torrents great site
    piratebay.org - just don't bother seeding
    mininova.org - good all round IMO better than the bay also don't bother seeding
    if you can't find it in those sites you probably are going to have really hard time finding it. also ALWAYS!!! read the comments on a torrent site. if it sucks or is in some other way bs it will be there
    if you really want the good stuff fast get on a private tracker. if you can figure out how to contact me you might get an invite
    torrentspy.com - BEWARE... rumor has it they went states evidence
    • mikesbaker, on 10/10/2007, -8/+2oh also if you are a wanker and love the pr0n here is the fastest one for you
      http://www.pussytorrents.org/index.php - pirvate tracker with open registrations
      • hbpencil, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1so I assume that you are a wanker then.
        • stimpack, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Find me someone who isn't a wanker?
    • emorgoch, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4You forgot http://eztvefnet.org for all your current TV shows
    • mikesbaker, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3anyone care to elucidate me as to why I'm being buried?
      • longbow486, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0pr0n
        • mikesbaker, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2its digg - so I don't think so. and if that was the case that would be the only thing getting buried and not the parent comment. sometime I don't get the will of the crowd.
      • bsolidgold, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Because you're a 'wanker' and use words like 'elucidate'.
        • mikesbaker, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1ah did I make you get out your dictionary
    • r3bol, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Whats the deal about not seeding on the pirate bay?
      I find e-donkey good for hard to find stuff.
  • naterpoke, on 10/10/2007, -15/+4isn't it hypocritcal that a person whom developed an app almost purely for trading and obtaining illegally obtained software is suing someone for doing just that with his program...
    • DCUK, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11Not at all considering it wasn't made with that intention you bonehead
      • naterpoke, on 10/10/2007, -6/+1o rly, well it seems like thats what its purely used for nowadays, but im sure he meant to write the software for trading open source graphic novels
        • Ravatar, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3BitTorrent has always been a transfer protocol for ANY data, it was not made for any specific purpose although it specializes in large amounts of data (iso images of Linux builds, for example). Just because people use his very flexible framework and protocol for a different purpose than what was intended doesn't make the creator or the protocol itself bad.
        • DCUK, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1What Ravatar said.

          This model was to transfer large files to large groups of people without the traditional costs involved.
      • misterjangles, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I might agree with you that the original version by Brahm wasn't made with that intention. But every client since then, they know full well what the software is used for 99% of the time. uTorrent in particular has warez search feature built right into the interface for crying out loud!

        I say ***** 'em. This is poetic justice in the truest form. Somebody is taking their hard work and using it to make a profit for themselves without paying the original author. This is *exactly* what pirate bay and all of the other ad-supported tracking sites do.

        They should send that cease and desist letter to themselves.
    • Zain123, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1It's "who", not "whom."
      • naterpoke, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1you're ***** illiterate
        • Zain123, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Read some grammar books and you'll see who's illiterate.
    • cspivack, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Nope, this website is making a profit off of their software. Bittorrent doesn't make money off of illegal downloads.
    • illegalcortex, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1(mainly to DCUK)

      And I guess you believe the smoking stores really do sell those "water pipes" strictly for use with tobacco, eh?
  • naterpoke, on 10/10/2007, -7/+0 ,.#A%R
  • Uranium118, on 10/10/2007, -2/+26If you're a complete moron, that's your own damn problem.
    • wiifm69, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Sounds like a sweet deal, you pay $42, and then you get access to free software. ***** yes
  • over9, on 10/10/2007, -9/+2I stopped using utorrent because they sold out to RIAA/MPAA and is closed source so I don't trust them anymore. Azureus is the way to go because it's open source and you can be sure there is no mucking going around with your information.
  • n3w5wh0r3, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3This is lovely. Cracking down on scammers and giving them 150,000 dollar fines. Sound like the FBI xD

    And uTorrent wasnt developed for pirating, it was developed for file sharing.
    When someone abuses that, well, that isn't uTorrent's fault.
  • insomniac8400, on 10/10/2007, -8/+2This is way too hypocritical.
    • cquilliam, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Care to elaborate on why this situation is hypocritical? Just because some people use bittorrent clients to download illegal software, doesn't mean the author of uTorrent doesn't have any rights? By that logic, other software writers like Khaled Mardam-Bey (mIRC author) should not have any legal rights to their software because I can use mIRC to download pirated software. Hell, why don't I take Windows and re-package it with more spyware and sell it to people on the street, Microsoft shouldn't be able to do anything about it because people use Windows to pirate software....that is, according to that logic.

      Sorry, there are many people that use uTorrent for legal purposes. I don't remember what I did before torrents came out for downloading the latest linux distribution releases.
  • c0ldfusi0n, on 10/10/2007, -2/+4You mean themselves? Cause we all know Bram sold out to the MPAA.
  • insanebrain, on 10/10/2007, -4/+3paying for torrents ?? how stupid is you ?
  • dichotom, on 10/10/2007, -8/+3boycott utorrent
  • illegalcortex, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2"uTorrent has had enough of one such site making profit from their work and is stepping up to the mark to hold them accountable."

    Errr... If you replace "uTorrent" with any big content owner's name, how is this any different from why they want to crush most "genuine" file sharing sites?
  • Jitgos, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1As despicable as I think the offending website is I do not see why uTorrent should be able to stop it. For instance, a website that collects and organizes useful free information from all of the internet that would otherwise be hard for the average user to find should be able to charge a fee if they wish.

    I understand there are laws. I'm not talking about the law, I'm taking about what is really a crime. IP laws are not legitimate crimes.
  • DolphinGL, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Why are we caring about the fate of something now owned by the MPAA?
  • Dustmuffins, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Last I checked I used torrents to get stuff for free?
  • zeppo, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1uTorrent is now part of the MPAA/RIAA who gives a flying ***** what happens to them. I hope they get raped full force in the mouth, vagina, and ass!
    • over9, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1americans should not talk like this
      • aadnk, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I believe it's a quote/meme from 4chan, which itself originated from 2channel (or something like it). So no, they don't.
    • GuitarWizard, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Where is your proof?
  • stimpack, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Way to blow possibly the largest torrent user base. No matter how much people like uTorrent, its gonna be kinda dodgy using an MPAA client to download movies.
    • aadnk, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1So you would rather have those sites scam gullible people, instead of actively stopping them?
  • theblt, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Aren't they just doing this because many private trackers are banning uTorrent?
    • aadnk, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I don't see how suing scammers (or money-greedy pirate-companies) would change that. So no, I doubt it.
  • taosk8r, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0You know what.. OT, but I'm really REALLY pissed about the TOTAL B.S. reasons lameass who bought utorrent, Cohen or whatever, gave for not OSSing the BT 6.0 client.. What a LOAD OF UTTER CRAP! I'll stick to OS if I have to switch to Linux or OSX as my OS.. ***** Cohen unless he changes this crap!
  • FanelliJavion, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0The quality of strength lined with tenderness is an unbeatable combination, as are intelligence and necessity when unblunted by formal education.
  • BrayanTennison, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0A happy marriage perhaps represents the ideal of human relationship -- a setting in which each partner, while acknowledging the need of the other, feels free to be what he or she by nature is: a relationship in which instinct as well as intellect can find expression; in which giving and taking are equal; in which each accepts the other, and I confronts Thou.
  •  

    Login or register to add a comment

    Create a new account or login to join in the conversation on Digg. You'll also be able to Digg stories to help promote things you like.


© Digg Inc. 2008 — Content posted by Digg users is dedicated to the public domain.
DIGG, DIGG IT, DUGG, DIGG THIS, Digg graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, scripts, and other service names are the trademarks of Digg Inc.