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MPAA Threatens World’s Premier Usenet Indexer

torrentfreak.com — Newzbin, considered by many to be the internet ’s premier indexer and .nzb provider, is under legal threat from the MPAA. The site, which was the creator of Usenet’s answer to the .torrent file, will likely have to undergo significant changes in order to appease the movie studios.

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  • guillebravo6, on 05/28/2008, -8/+44dugg, torrent freak has great industry news!
    • kenvsryu, on 05/29/2008, -11/+3keep the news about torrents please.
      • Aensland, on 05/29/2008, -1/+8I'd like to hear any news about the p2p/downloading scene, not just on torrents.
    • gabacho2, on 05/29/2008, -5/+16Rule 1 of Usenet...
    • harris, on 05/29/2008, -0/+7Actually, the news is wrong. Newzbin was threatened by the MPA not the MPAA. MPA is the international version of the MPAA -- two separate organizations.
  • vfreak2, on 05/28/2008, -7/+29Great, just when I get into usenet and discover its wonders, the leading nzb indexing site gets harrassed. At least many other (and free-service) ones are becoming very good anyway. Like newzleech.com. Still, nothing is like Newzbin.

    Unfortunately, as usenet explodes with popularity I guess it will get more attention from the MAFIAA. The good thing is, you will NEVER be able to be identified if you only download files, and those who upload usually know how to protect themselves pretty well.

    And I hope, as it does get more popular, other great nzb sites will spring up if Newzbin goes awry.
    • WiseWeasel, on 05/29/2008, -5/+71As usenet explodes in popularity? Usenet has been around about as long as the internet has, and if it hasn't blown up by now, it's not going to. It's much too convoluted for most typical users, and it's not going to ever be all that popular except for the most geeky.

      Stop throwing out names for alternative sites. The first rule of usenet is that we do not speak of usenet (mostly because it's too much of a pain to explain, but that's besides the point)...
      • Aensland, on 05/29/2008, -10/+6"Stop throwing out names..."

        Oh please, as if it wasn't trivial to look them up. All this "rule x: you do not talk about fight club" crap has all the "protection" of tissue paper. If casual downloaders take an hour or two to get started by following some links and reading up, you think the xxAAs' thugs can't? They get paid to do that shet too.
        • AngelBunny, on 05/29/2008, -0/+7actually not talking about sites do help especially when it comes to top sites.
      • LocalDocal, on 05/29/2008, -7/+5Yes, as Aensland said. I myself already discovered Newzleach, Newzbin, and various other sites. Because people told me? No. Because I went on Google and searched for 'Usenet'. Honestly, this elitist rule of 'Don't talk about Usenet' is rather imbecilic, and it doesn't work.

        Personally, I'm not a big fan of Usenet (try it for a few days and didn't like it), but if certain websites are, indeed, getting more popular, then eventually, it's going to appear more and more often when people search for keywords. This should be obvious. Instead, we get people who quotes Fight Club, and 'wittily' discourages people by saying that Bittorent is better, and that Usenet sucks.
    • kingatrock, on 05/29/2008, -7/+1WiseWeasel, exactly!! I've converted about 15 friends since I was introduced to it and I always start with.. keep this to yourself!
      Stay strong newzbin!
      • dubloe7, on 05/29/2008, -0/+10'and I always start with.. keep this to yourself!'
        ironically while breaking that rule...
        • mem2, on 05/29/2008, -0/+9The bigger laugh is that usenet is older than the world wide web and yet teenagers think its the Internet's best kept secret.
          alt.get.a.clue.bin
    • insinuate, on 05/29/2008, -8/+3www.nzbmatrix.com
    • raytibbitts, on 05/29/2008, -1/+35"just when I get into usenet"

      Didn't you make sure no one was following you.
      I blame you for all of this.
    • zaibatsu, on 05/29/2008, -8/+6We never talk about fightclub. Godamn Maki, you broke the rule. even if Newzbin needs our help we have channels for that.

      I'm not actually pissed, But we need to do all we can to keep newsgroups out of the headlines.

      So say we all

      Z
      • cmikesell, on 05/29/2008, -4/+1You do realize you sound pretty stupid when you relate things to fight club right?

        newsgroups are great, usenet is great.

        The best part is, nobody has been able to touch them in the last 20+ years, and for the foreseeable future it's perfectly safe no matter how much we talk about it.

        I love usenet
        • eviltandem, on 05/29/2008, -0/+6er... that's because nobody talks about it moron...

          Walk down the street and ask any random person what napster or kazaa is, and most of them know. I'm as of yet to meet the non-geek that doesn't stare at me like a deer in headlights when you say something about that-which-shall-not-be-named.

          As long as the thing stays quiet and small then there's just no upside to going after it. It would cost more to attack than it is costing to just leave it alone. If it gets big and well known, then there is reason to pay attention to it.

          If napster had had 2 users on it, then there would have been no real upside to suing them out of existence. Spend hundreds of thousands, or millions, to recover maybe a few hundred dollars?
    • mrsteveman1, on 05/29/2008, -4/+1Really? you think news services don't at least keep logs of which IP downloaded which file?
      • eviltandem, on 05/29/2008, -0/+3last i checked distribution, not downloading, was illegal.
      • vfreak2, on 05/29/2008, -0/+1And even for uploading, some servers delete logs after a very short time anyway.

        But given the amount of chastising I've been given from more experienced users, I wont mention the server I use that e.g. does that, just in case it's shut down or something.
    • richbleak, on 05/29/2008, -7/+3Vfreak, no one is impressed with your "knowledge" about usenet. You are a ***** tool. The problem with usenet is that all the napster and Kazaa file sharing retards are going to catch on and ***** everything up. Go die in a hole somewhere.
    • Tenoq, on 05/29/2008, -0/+2Wait, you mean I don't have to make my own NZBs? WTF? Why didn't someone tell me this earlier? I've been doing it the hard way all along. :p
  • netburnr, on 05/29/2008, -1/+51Welcome to the 90s MPAA.
    • dubloe7, on 05/29/2008, -0/+10I think you mean 70's
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenet
      usenet actually predates the internet by several years.
      • Pixelante, on 05/29/2008, -8/+3It predates the web, not the internet. Wise up.
        • dubloe7, on 05/29/2008, -0/+9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet#Creation
          The first TCP/IP-wide area network was made operational by January 1, 1983 when all hosts on the ARPANET were switched over from the older NCP protocols to TCP/IP.

          I looked it up before I posted, I didn't feel the need to post my entire train of thought along with it, do you need to know that at some point during typing this post I felt like eating bacon?
        • Pixelante, on 05/29/2008, -1/+0At which point? I'd like to duplicate the experience.
        • Pixelante, on 05/29/2008, -1/+1Anyway, I stand corrected. Those who networked before TCP/IP tend to identify the Internet with ARPAnet a little too much for comfort.
  • ScottDaMan, on 05/29/2008, -7/+85Nothing to see here people, move along to your torrents please.
  • Clugenheim, on 05/29/2008, -9/+16HAVE SEX WITH THE MPAA!
  • PainToad, on 05/29/2008, -17/+30This is old news. Go back to suprnova TorrentFreak

    The last thing UseNet needs is a bunch of Torrent noobs learning bout nzbs
    • ProjectRice, on 05/29/2008, -5/+19Well said
      Besides we need the noobs to get caught using ***** protocols to take the heat off us
      How I miss kazaa kiddies getting caught
    • kingatrock, on 05/29/2008, -5/+11I'm glad I'm not alone in this thinking. Um.. Torrents rule everybody i mean.. they pwn!
  • searcade, on 05/29/2008, -6/+7***** the MPAA, Don't let them ***** us!
  • soot, on 05/29/2008, -10/+2***** YOU FRANK
  • Devilboy666, on 05/29/2008, -3/+45I guess it was just a matter of time. Too many people breaking rules 1 and 2 of usenet
  • outlaw686, on 05/29/2008, -2/+9Pelt the MPAA buildings with gone bad sausage
  • username9000, on 05/29/2008, -11/+29bury this.
    • funkeepickle, on 05/29/2008, -5/+3I dugg it just to spite you.
      • jb0nd38372, on 05/29/2008, -4/+2He could have been talking about the article. I don't care, I enjoy the usenet; I'll bury you instead.
    • Stunn, on 05/29/2008, -2/+2The people who don't know about this won't care anyway.
  • wigginz, on 05/29/2008, -5/+25Nooooo!!!!! Who told them???? We've been operating quietly under the radar for 10 years and now they figure us out? Someone must have snitched...
    • NoVABaller, on 05/29/2008, -1/+910 years? You know NOTHING STFU and read, don't write.
    • shawnanigans, on 05/29/2008, -0/+3Could it be every NFO?
  • headzoo, on 05/29/2008, -4/+7Great. Looks like the party is over. I've been using Usenet and IRC to exchange files for over a decade.. long before Napster even came on the scene. I watched P2P networks and torrent sites come and go, and it never bothered me at all. I guess it was bound to happen.
    This is what happens when you let everyone and their mother join the party. These things are supposed to be kept under the radar.
    • NoVABaller, on 05/29/2008, -1/+10If you are doing it, it's clearly not "under the radar". Get a clue, usenet is no secret taboo entity.
      • Aensland, on 05/29/2008, -1/+6The idiots digging you down clearly think that by using usenet they're part of a special untouchable cult.
        • dn11, on 05/29/2008, -0/+2shhh... quiet, you'll have to show me the tattoos and give me a secret handshake before we can continue down this line of conversation.
      • headzoo, on 05/29/2008, -5/+4Since you're on 20 years old, I'm guessing you're part of the idiot culture that has popped up around Usenet over the past couple of years. Let me school you for a moment: There was a time when attaining files from Usenet was too difficult for your average computer user. Thus, only a "handful" of geeks were doing it. It was "under the radar".
        • NCg8r, on 05/29/2008, -1/+1Times change, pops!

          Yeah, I remember BBS "Adult Access" too...
  • FDL1, on 05/29/2008, -4/+11Newzbin inventing the NZB format was great and all, but does anyone really pay for NZB files anymore?
    • insinuate, on 05/29/2008, -1/+4one time $10 donation to nzbmatrix.com get me unlimited downloads.
  • handler, on 05/29/2008, -8/+2As long as they leave giganews alone. They are just now finding out about newsgroups?
    • NoVABaller, on 05/29/2008, -2/+5Yeah, you're the only one who knew until today, here's a star sticker.
  • kingatrock, on 05/29/2008, -3/+3Maybe we should bury this story to keep it under wraps lol. Not that theres a story here, mostly boring ron paul stuff.
  • virtualball, on 05/29/2008, -6/+15First rule about Usenet.....
    • zaibatsu, on 05/29/2008, -4/+6We never talk about fightclub. Godamn Maki, you broke the rule. even if Newzbin needs our help we have channels for that.

      You will have to deal with "The Trust"


      Muhahaha

      Z
    • funkeepickle, on 05/29/2008, -1/+2tell everyone you know about Usenet?
  • hartley, on 05/29/2008, -1/+18Remember kids, download your warez directly from your free isp provided news server. I would love to get a C&D letter from my ISP for downloading content from THEIR servers.
    • dubloe7, on 05/29/2008, -0/+4as would I, but unfortunately most ISP run usenet services either don't offer binary newsgroups, or have a binary retention of only a few days.
      • hartley, on 05/29/2008, -0/+3Very true. I used to have pay service for about a year when my then ISP capped their newsgroups at 4k a connection and a maximum of 3 connections.
        I loved the month long retention at first, but you can only get so much. Ive found the 2-3 day retentions much better as it only takes me a little bit of time to check my frequent groups every day, or every other day.
        My current provider (AT&T) has a pretty good binary selection and back when it was Bellsouth, they actually added a couple groups due to a personal request I sent using the online usenet group request service. *iirc, it was just an online email form that was sent to the news server admin for approval. they had no problems adding the a.b.g.sony.psp, and a.b.nintendo.ds groups*.
      • PopcornDave, on 05/29/2008, -0/+1So what would prevent you from running your own local news server on a Linux system? It's not like you'd have to let anybody have actual access to it beyond yourself, and you'd still be propagating Usenet posts in any groups you had wouldn't you?

        The MPAA may be able to squelch this particular instance, but good luck shutting down Usenet.
  • EXTER, on 05/29/2008, -11/+41██████░██░░░░██░░░████░██░░░░██░░
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  • ajamer, on 05/29/2008, -5/+31There is no usenet
  • payrow, on 05/29/2008, -8/+23DO NOT DIGG THIS - BURY IT.
  • celkin, on 05/29/2008, -9/+2I know it's already been said, but:

    ***** THE MPAA!!!!1!!11!!one!!!1!eleven!!![lim as x->0 of (sin x / x)]
  • mikemarino, on 05/29/2008, -9/+6SAGE SAGE SAGE SAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    NZBS DONT EXIST THIS IS NOTHING

    Seriously we don't pay for unlimited ssl encrypted connections to download posts about d and d.
  • TheJokerV, on 05/29/2008, -5/+4*****, guys the MPAA/RIAA isn't going to stop. They're attacking every form of data distribution we have. They need to be stopped. We need to fight back.
    • formergthing, on 05/29/2008, -0/+4don't worry sir, operation mayhem is under control.
    • cliffski, on 05/29/2008, -1/+2they dont attack legal distribution you ***** tool.
  • Ryan166, on 05/29/2008, -11/+1Newzbin ruled back in the day. Finding full length movies on usenet, and downloading them within the hour!
  • digitalmischief, on 05/29/2008, -8/+2all articles showing t-shirt thumbnails will be buried as spam
  • atb12688, on 05/29/2008, -1/+6This is industry news, but this is a paid service. And while it is unfortunate to see the MPAA go in this direction, .torrents are so much more significant. It doesn't hit home with this community unless it is in that realm. Taking away something that is free hurts so much more.
  • mrogi, on 05/29/2008, -4/+10If the MPAA ever shuts down Giganews...the terrorists have won.
    • infinitiesedge, on 05/29/2008, -0/+1Or if they haven't then they will. *Evil laugh*
  • TheCheeks, on 05/29/2008, -2/+3*****, now they're after newsgroups?!
  • xevidentx, on 05/29/2008, -1/+6mpaa sucks. make better movies plz
  • NoVABaller, on 05/29/2008, -2/+4Hey morons, RTFA. Usenet is not in danger, newzbin is, and not even that is for certain. Newzbin doesn't have any material actually on the site, it's simply usenet indexed.
    • SquigglyP, on 05/29/2008, -1/+4Usenet isn't in danger... yet.

      Seriously, are you that naive? This is just a first salvo into what is sure to become an ongoing fight to shut down all domestic - and if they can manage it, foreign - usenet servers under the auspices of preventing copyright infringement. The ramifications of any potential legal action stemming from this will be felt throughout the internet and the film and music industries. If an index file can be labled 'illegal' for being able to point to copyrighted material, then you could basically ban any networking system you'd like. Wanna ban the internet? That's what makes copyright infringement possible in the first place. Maybe we should ban CD and DVD roms, since that's how people get the movies and music onto their hard drives in the first place.
      • eviltandem, on 05/29/2008, -0/+2 We just need to make computers illegal, since their sole function is to steal copyrighted content!!
      • PopcornDave, on 05/29/2008, -0/+1So they're going to force people back to the old BBS system and Blue Wave news readers? Bring back dial up and 300 baud modems!
  • acidbathfan, on 05/29/2008, -1/+8I heard there's a bill before congress that will require every american to be chained to a theatre seat while the ushers rummage through our wallets for increased profits, it's really not that bad when you think about it; staring into a flash light for an hour and a half can be quite the spiritual experience..........step in to the light.
  • shdwsclan, on 05/29/2008, -2/+3Wow....they are moving up the ladder.....*****......
    Soon they will get the relays and the tops.........but I doubt it will ever come to that.
    They know about the entire hierarchy.....but a lot of it is untoucheable because the tops are encrypted and they have no access....the relays are actually protected by laws....so they cant touch that....
  • thrallie, on 05/29/2008, -1/+5This is not even close to the end of Usenet. Its a protocol that will never be banned as it has a legitimate use. I find out computer answers all the time using it, and I also get to download binaries. But there is no way to track someones downloading habits on Usenet unless you are on there computer. So no one here needs to worry about it. I never used Newzbin and never will, as I don't need to pay for an NZB site with tons of free ones out there.
    Stop making it seem like the end. Everyone acted like this when suprnova went down too.
  • SquigglyP, on 05/29/2008, -1/+9TCP/IP will be the next to go.

    wtf, lets just shut down the whole ***** internet for these movie studio retards. I can't wait for the law that prevents any sort of networking on the off chance that connecting two computers together will result in massive copyright infringement. When will someone grow a backbone and tell these assclowns to go ***** themselves. Torrents are not illegal. NBZ's are not illegal. Usenet is not illegal. File sharing is not illegal. Yet they fight and fight and fight until these services are shut down. WTF is wrong with the people in congress who are sitting idly by and allowing these ***** to so completely ass-rape our judicial system with this *****?
    • jp12380, on 05/29/2008, -0/+5It's the American way for corporations with lots of money to buy off people we elect into office.
    • eviltandem, on 05/29/2008, -1/+3First problem is nobody in Congress understands a single thing about any of the technology. They just have to take the guy from the *AA's word for it.

      Second problem is geeks could not really care less about educating them. Nothing quite makes me want to pull out my hair like trying to explain p2p to my almost 60 year old father. He just doesn't think about the world in terms of information management, and many attempts by me to explain it just ends up with him giving up on understanding it.

      Third is that the technology can evolve so much faster than the law that it's just easier, and vastly cheaper, to just keep running around the big guys than trying to actually stand and fight. By the time they get around to "destroying" something, we have better stuff waiting to take over anyway.

      To quote "Lord of War": The one's who know don't care and the one's who care don't know.
    • cliffski, on 05/29/2008, -1/+1grow up you ***** tool
    • PopcornDave, on 05/29/2008, -0/+1I suppose if you really wanted to send a message to the RIAA and the MPAA about messing with the internet and all, it would be to have a one month moratorium on online purchasing of all audio and video products. Hit them in the pocketbook and show them what can happen. Of course this would be most effective in say November...

      And of course it's all wishful thinking about a boycott, because we all know it's never going to materialize.
  • tdkyo, on 05/29/2008, -1/+15"The site, which was the creator of Usenet’s answer to the .torrent file,"
    Buried as inaccurate (description). Newzbin has been around much longer than Bittorrent.
  • Sinudeity, on 05/29/2008, -1/+2Collection growing:
    Communist Russia > RIAA
    Apartheid > RIAA

    Anything else?
  • zdiddy85, on 05/29/2008, -2/+4This is *****, TF is blowing this out of the water.

    STFU torrentfreak and stop making a scene, you're embarrassing me.
  • rmccs0x, on 05/29/2008, -6/+2easynews 4 life
  • Zaggynl, on 05/29/2008, -3/+2LEAVE USENET ALONE
  • makenshi, on 05/29/2008, -1/+1There is always XPAT - which only one of the three biggest providers supports. The advantage is that the search is run on the news server, returning all content available, none of which is out of date. The disadvantage is that you are usually restricted to searching one group at a time.
  • PopcornArsonist, on 05/29/2008, -0/+3I've seen this on a couple of other sites already, and every one of them has gotten this wrong.

    This is not the MPAA, this is the MPA--which is basically the international version of the MPA

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_Picture_Associ ...
  • DryMaltExtract, on 05/29/2008, -1/+1*****, NZBs are for the lazy. Just grab all the headers are peruse them with a nice looking program for that very purpose.
    • NCg8r, on 05/29/2008, -0/+2My autogyro gets 4 rods to the hogshead, and that's the way I likes it!
    • PopcornDave, on 05/29/2008, -0/+1Careful, they'll go after the programmers next.
      /sarcasm
  • theawp, on 05/29/2008, -0/+1What the hell is everyone tripping out about? There is essentially no story here. Like any other website they will do what needs to be done. Then the MPA MPAA who ever the ***** will then try and take down a provider and will get a swift kick to the mouth.

    Usenet will be here longer than us.

    Grow the ***** up and use newzleech.

  • dn11, on 05/29/2008, -2/+2BREAKING EXCLUSIVE NEWS: Usenet is not a secret!
  • amanoj, on 05/29/2008, -0/+1Next they'll be checking out this thing called the "Internet Relay Chat"!??!?! :P

    Whomever is in charge of the MPAA's witch-hunt needs to get with the times! Or maybe not.
  •  

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