The Pirate Cinema – Displaying Downloads As They Happen

May 22, 2013 by Yonah · Comments
Filed under: Announcements & Events, Digital Media, Mobile Phones, P2P technology, File-Sharing Programs, Networks & Services

Not only The Pirate Bay goes past the tremendous pressure of being a cast out, but it does so in style, with a little help we might add. The Pirate Cinema, a project by two enlightened minds, is putting downloads on the big screen (well, there are actually three of them). The room, besides the screens, has a viewing area (just like a movie theatre) for people to see downloads as they happen. Out of a mixture of 100 torrent swarms, TPC creates a new image (literally) about torrenting.

While millions upon millions of file-sharers use The Pirate Bay , third parties are also keeping their eyes peeled for IP addresses, file hashes, and anything that could build a scientific report on file-sharing, a copyright lawsuit or a list of IP addresses for the six-strikes program.

Nicolas Maigret and Brendan Howell are the two who came up with this daring idea. The Pirate Cinema takes the process of sharing and turns it into images.

If you happen to be at the Sight and Sound Festival in Canada, then you’ll have the chance of seeing what Nicolas and Brendan did – a room with three gigantic screens and a whole lot of computers connected to them.

“An aspect of the concept was to reuse the surveillance systems used by corporations, ISP’s and governments, for other purposes,” Maigret told TF.

“On the other hand, the idea was also to monitor the usages or activity of people on a large scale, and to capture the vivid activity of the communities involved in sharing practices. Lastly, I really wanted to consider this ongoing activity as a live infinite Mashup – a snapshot of global file disseminations,” the artist continued.

TPC’s core is made of Python and Libtorrent.

“The idea was to use only the necessary functions – a few lines of code, and to build our tool around it,” Maigret explained.

“Then we developed all the monitoring parts and later the decoding process using Gstreamer.”

There are two different ways in which the project can be displayed. First, downloads of the most popular torrents (hosted on TPB) are shown as fragments on the screen(s).

“The setup can involve as many as five computers, each monitoring the site for different kinds of files for a few minutes before gathering fresh input,” TF writes.

The second modus operandi is in the form of a live performance. Movie and music files are hand-picked, sort to say, by the operator, and then played just like you do with an instrument. Besides that, the three screens also show the IP addresses and their location.

“BitTorrent was a deliberate choice for many reasons. First of all it’s really a Peer-to-Peer architecture and that’s important even symbolically – people/peers are at both sides of each action,” Maigret said.

“Also BitTorrent is not only about mainstream medias, but theoretically open to all kinds of files and content. In a way, the Pirate Cinema reveals some potentials of this peer-based technical architecture.”

And since this is a peer-to-peer based project…

“This fragmentation loosens the exchanges between different recipients. A file can then be recomposed sample by sample until it is complete, from snippets emanating from separate users and in a disorderly manner. From a cinematic perspective this preliminary fragmentation of the media is also a fragmentation of the film material and of the narration,” Maigret continued to explain.

“It creates many formal specificities: random editing, weaving together different films frame by frame, glitches and merging of different fragments. When watching the installation, we can’t help ourselves interpreting the flows, it produces lots of connections and new narrations, from those chance combinations.”

As far as security and privacy is concerned….

“We saw it as a kind of game. Ever since the beginning of the project, we anticipated the operating modes of the system so that it could be presentable regardless of different countries’ legislations. For example, an encrypted connection to Sweden (iPredator / The Pirate Bay) is used to anonymize each machine used in the project. Fragments of the files are encoded and remain on our machine only temporarily.”

Want to learn more about The Pirate Cinema? Go here.

Tags: BitTorrent, file sharing sites, file-sharing, The Pirate Bay, the pirate cinema

Online Streaming Makes BitTorrent Drop Considerably in US, Report Claims

May 22, 2013 by Yonah · Comments
Filed under: Announcements & Events, File-Sharing Programs, Networks & Services, Legal P2P News & Issues

A new report from policy control company Sandvine states that BitTorrent accounts less and less for the traffic generated in the US

According to the recently published research, BitTorrent only generated 9.2 per cent of peak-period traffic over the past six months, compared to 20.5 per cent in 2012 and 26.4 per cent in 2011. The company points to streaming video services such as Netflix and the likes and the fact they have made improvements in terms of availability of their subscriber-based, paid-for, on-demand content for this great drop in popularity of the controversial file sharing protocol.

“We believe as more over-the-top Real-Time Entertainment sources are made available to subscribers in the future, the rate of decline in share will begin to accelerate,” says the report.

Reportedly, Netflix managed to hold on to a leading 29 per cent peak-period traffic share in the US. YouTube came in second, but also went up 1.6 per cent this year compared to last year (from 13.8 to 15.4 per cent).

Things, however, behave differently when it comes to Europe where BitTorrent peak period traffic share remained high at 40.63 per cent and in the Asia Pacific region where BitTorrent is still the undisputed leader of traffic (because, says the report, here services like Netflix have not penetrated the market yet).

From the report: “Subscribers are likely using applications like BitTorrent to procure audio and video content not available in their region. We believe that Filesharing’s share of traffic may have finally reached its peak in terms of traffic share and will begin to experience a steady and significant decline, as paid OTT video services continue to expand their availability throughout the region.”

Last month in an interview with MotherBoard, Matt Mason, BitTorrent’s Executive Director of Marketing and Content, brought arguments on why ISPs should seriously consider to use the protocol themselves.

Tags: BitTorrent, file sharing service, file-sharing, ISPs, p2p

Teacher Detained By Police After Uploading A $4 Dollar History Book

May 21, 2013 by Yonah · Comments
Filed under: Announcements & Events, Digital Media, Mobile Phones, P2P technology

After receiving a complaint filed by the book’s author, Latvian authorities decided to detain a history teacher who uploaded the manual on his website to help his students learn. Now, he risks getting two years in jail, a fat fine or to be forced to work for his community.

The name of the Latvian teacher is Pāvels Jurs, a young mind whose intent was to help his class get the information they need via the internet. To that end, the history teacher had put up a website where his students could access history topics, watch presentations, and get the help they need to learn. His purpose was to provide with education not just for his pupils, but also for those who can’t afford the “luxury” of buying a book, even if it’s as low as $4. Jurs’ “pay it forward” technique was recognized by the country’s Ministry of Education, the Latvian mass-media informed.

However, all this did not matter to the Economic Crime Bureau. Four police officers detained the professor, but not before searching his home, and seizing his personal computer.

After two hours of questioning, Jurs was informed that he’s being guilty of a “serious offense” that could get him two years in jail. Two years for a $4 dollar book. Two years for someone who did not profit from uploading the book, except maybe a couple of “thank you” notes from bookworms and students.

Meanwhile, his website was shut down, leaving students without resources right during their exams.

“Is there really such a need for punitive action against these methods of teaching, such as the maintenance of a websites from which I did not receive any benefit, but, on the contrary, cost most of my salary payments for maintenance? I understand that I have violated copyright laws, but is it really necessary to act this way?” Jurs told a local media website.

A settlement was discussed, but details remain undisclosed.

Tags: books, copyright, copyright infringement, file-sharing, legal

Two Major Movie Hubs Blocked By UK’s ISPs

May 21, 2013 by Yonah · Comments
Filed under: Announcements & Events, Entertainment Industry, File-Sharing Programs, Networks & Services, Movies, MP3, Digital Audio & Games

After a successful campaign against The Pirate Bay, Newzbin and Kat.ph (all three websites are completely blocked throughout the entire island), UK’s anti-piracy measures expand to Movie2k and Download For All, two important movie hubs.

Although not confirmed, the case against the two portals was filed by the MPAA; as such, Movie2k and Download For All could go completely dark on the island.

UK’s prominent internet service providers (BT, Sky, Virgin Media, TalkTalk, and EE) are already receiving court orders, demanding them to censor their customers’ access to the aforementioned websites. At the time being, BT, Virgin Media, and Sky had confirmed that they’ve complied with the order. Here’s what their statements read:

“The block on Download4All and Movie2k should start at some point today,” a spokesperson for BT said.

“This is in addition to Newzbin, Pirate Bay, Fenopy, H33t and Kat which BT’s already blocking access to in compliance with previous court orders.”

As for Virgin Media, the ISP said:

“Virgin Media has received an order from the Courts requiring it to prevent access to Download4All and Movie2K in order to help protect against copyright infringement. As a responsible ISP, Virgin Media complies with court orders addressed to the company, but strongly believes that changing consumer behaviour to tackle copyright infringement also needs compelling legal alternatives to give consumers access to great content at the right price.”

Sky had also confirmed that Movie2k and Download For All are being blocked starting with May the 20^th, 2013.

While UK citizens can still access blocked websites through available proxies (including The Pirate Bay), PirateReverse.info informed that they’ve already taken measures to keep Movie2k alive on the island. So, there’s some good news there, after all.

“We’ve just deployed movie2kproxy.com (in record time), still working on getting the images to load properly but should all be fixed shortly,” the crew told Torrent Freak.

PirateProxy.net had confirmed that they will (also) join the fight.

Tags: anti-piracy, BitTorrent, BT, censorship, download4all, file sharing sites, file-sharing, legal, movie2k, sky, UK, Virgin Media

WhereToWatch.org – MPAA’s “Plan” To Curb Piracy

May 21, 2013 by Yonah · Comments
Filed under: Announcements & Events, Entertainment Industry

Just as the website’s title suggests, WhereToWatch is a portal that informs the American public about which websites offer legitimate video content. We’re almost certain that the regular user will go and check MPAA’s website before watching a video online, but is this the best of what the movie industry can offer?

A pretty big list of legal video services (categorized into movie services and TV stations), including Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, ShowTime, Verizon (On Demand), HBO Go, and iTunes, are shown on MPAA’s website, along with a message from the industry that goes like this:

“Want to get movies and TV shows easily and quickly online, on your tablet or on your mobile device? Here’s a fast-growing array of ways to find and connect with the content you love. This list is aggregated based on services available to users in the U.S. While the set of services offering movies and TV shows differ by country, several of these are available in multiple countries.”

A decent question would be: “Considering that even people who have never used the internet know about Amazon, Netflix and services alike, how exactly will WTW going to fight piracy?”

Well, here’s the thing: opening up a website with plenty of legal alternatives is way easier than coming up with an anti-piracy legislation that preserves your online/offline rights, while keeping content creators happy. But does the MPAA care about its consumers and money makers? We’ll leave you answer that question.

As far as WTW is concerned, MPAA’s Chairman Chris Dodd said:

“There have never been more ways to access movies and television legitimately online, and those platforms continue to grow and develop thanks in large part to a copyright system that encourages innovation, risk and growth.”

“The companies I represent are committed to continuing to create and develop the best ways for audiences to enjoy the entertainment they love.”

Tags: amazon, anti-piracy, Hulu, legal, movies, MPAA, Netflix, TV, US, wheretowatch