The Secret Online Piracy Club You've Never Heard Of

[@Monsuco]

If companies no longer consider buying to be owning then how is pirating stealing?

[@thewhitefalcon8539]

HA! This is so true

[@tekh_ops7855]

True Brother

[@AlbedoAtoned]

Another irony is that publishers have no problem selling games they know to be broken, especially in cases like the Steam Manhunt release. For 13 years, the game in it's default state is unplayable because the executable being sold on steam only had it's copy protection removed (or rather the exe file was made before the copy protection was added in the original release). But it still had the anti-piracy features in the exe and because it had no copy protection, the game thought that it was pirated, and would do all sorts of things that made the game unplayable. The irony is that pirates had a perfectly working version since release because the crack group patched out all of those features, so the only ones who were actually affected by it were paying customers who bought it on steam. Rockstar knew that the game didn't work as is, people put up with it because Rockstar just happened to leave the old Razor crack for the game in the same folder titled test dot exe. All that needed to be done to make it work on newer versions of Windows was patch the signature in the header out since it was made before Windows Vista began reading those particular bytes in the header. But it's ironic that to play the game one just bought, cracking it isn't just recommended, it is absolutely necessary. Publishers may not regularly release games that literally need a crack to properly run, but they do regularly release games that are buggy, perform badly, that seem unfinished. And it is expected that gamers will buy it on release, and then maybe later the developer will patch it so the gamer can properly play it. Publishers have no problem essentially committing fraud, but they get so worried that somebody might steal it. DRM costs money to implement, so it's really telling that many publlishers seem to prioritize making their game harder to pirate than making a good game that runs well and is worth paying for. You would be surprised how often a publisher thinks like this. Even some console games get DRM, that generally nobody is even interested in playing anyway. For instance, there is DRM in a Smurfs Wii game. It took years for anybody to find out because who's playing the Smurfs on the Wii?

[@PplsChampion]

it's not stealing in either case. pirating is duplicating not stealing. nobody is deprived of property or salary, you are only depriving speculators of royalties/dividends, which is morally fine by me, as a fellow speculator. id say 'except dont pirate small indie projects' but there's no point cuz but nobody does that.

[@dinglemcdangledongle]

fr

[@MisterConscio]

Piracy is what keep Retro Games alive nowadays.

[@AfonsoBucco]

and the only things you can run on poor or old hardware.

[@steVENOM]

and the sad reality is that, with more games (even single-player ones) becoming online-only, the definition of a retro game is constantly changing to include games that may have only released a decade ago or sooner.

[@migovas1483]

Amen

[@WlatPziupp]

Nintendo even used a rom hack of Mario for their mini console, it came with the signature of the person who ripper and uploaded it so this is just undeniable fact. Nintendo, the Disney of games when it comes to copyright enforcement, considered piracy a better option than what they had themselves

[@platyhelminthes2877]

Oh wow, I'd never heard of that - that is so wild! @@WlatPziupp

[@擻]

without torrenting so many thing can get lost, artificially locked out of laziness or greed, not be preserved in it's highest quality

[@EricMurphyxyz]

I love remembering the time when Nintendo sold a rom they downloaded because the pirates kept better care of their own archive than they did

[@yurimodin7333]

its like no one can even play the Tron video game that came out after the sequel because Disney wouldn't pay for the Duenuvo license anymore.

[@MonsieuxChat]

@@EricMurphyxyz Yup, even Rockstar re sold Midnight Club but not their version, but the one cracked by Razor1911... sad

[@SuperTort0ise]

​@@yurimodin7333not true plenty of people can, just not the ones who bought it...

[@Lucifer_TheLight]

​@@EricMurphyxyzRockstar are doing the same thing right now in 2023 on Steam selling their older games with the cracked executables from Razor cracking group.

[@BloodPlusPwn]

gotta love how the government works so hard to ensure that predatory companies are protected from passionate consumers!

[@RandomBlackBox]

Judge: So you pirated content from 10 years ago that cant be bought because the company does not sell it anymore and would not lose profit from your action? Pirate: Yes. Judge: You are here bye sentenced to death by firing squad Pirate: What?! That cant be right!! Big company: *Hands money to judge an law makers* Jude: I am just following the law kid

[@Gustavozxd13]

@@RandomBlackBox average tuesday for nintendo

[@theedwardian]

​​@Gustavozxd13 Not really, there are literally millions of fangames and romhacks everywhere. Just settle these issues cowboy style, someone tries to enforce an unjust law? Settle the issue with the enforcer. 💀 Rinse and repeat until they stop knocking on your door.

[@qwertykeyboard5901]

Liberal "democracies" be like:

[@nonono4160]

@@RandomBlackBox it's called capitalism:) vote with your wallet (that barely can afford rent) while i vote with mine (that can afford luxury lifestyle for dozens of people without affecting my bottom line)

[@SuspiciousZorua]

So many Shakespeare plays were saved only by the people in the back scribbling down notes to copy them. Piracy has and always will be at the heart of media preservation.

[@IcedLance]

Imagine book publishers burning down libraries for letting people read books for free.

[@dabrams84]

They would if they could.

[@theRPGmaster]

@@wesanatorf465 Yes, exactly. The Internet Archive.

[@yokiryuchan7655]

A lot of libraries let you rent movies to for free.

[@gunther-x8d]

​@@dabrams84 I mean, no, they wouldn't. Book publishers give books to libraries to lend. If they didn't want them to have them they could just stop.

[@dabrams84]

@@yokiryuchan7655 I like to say that it's not free but that we pool together our tax dollars to pay for it so that people don't get it in their head that it's undeserved.

[@fineman1064]

piracy is surely illegal... but it's not necessarily immoral

[@milk-ub9zo]

And even so it's way more of a gray area; as a individual you won't get in trouble for torrenting copyrighted works.

[@thewhitefalcon8539]

​@@milk-ub9zopeople in some countries do. Germany has it down to a science. Torrent one file and get a $1000 lawyer bill in your mailbox within a week.

[@milk-ub9zo]

That's pretty crazy. I'm from America and you won't really get in trouble unless you maintain a tracker @@thewhitefalcon8539

[@Akab]

And Drm is legal and absolutely immoral

[@Proferk]

@@Akab I kinda have mixed feelings about this. A company trying to prevent piracy and modding is not necessarily "immoral", but at the same time, pirates will still eventually bypass the drm, and the people who'll be suffering from the drm's low fps would be the people who bought it legitimately

[@tccraig]

Of course I would never download a car, that's immoral (wink wink)

[@Utrilus]

But would you download a jailbreak for a car, that least you accelerate a bit faster and unlock the heated seating?

[@joshuahess7197]

Proceeds to thingaverse and downloads a car.

[@rendarecorrentecomopcoes2336]

I would never ever download a car if it meant I was downloading the car from someone else, and it meant that the legitimate owner of said car could not use his property anymore. But if this imaginary car was a magical car, that could be infinitely replicated and me, my mom and my dog each could own a copy of said car and no one would be deprived of their own car, then I would for sure download this car. I would call it an utopia of infinite resources.

[@exosproudmamabear558]

Which idiot wouldnt want to copy and paste a car ? Car companies would have slightly less revenue but people who are copy pasting will probably buy second hand cars since they do not have money which they means they would have increased second hand car demand therefore increase the second hand car prices. In short it will be better to copy paste cars

[@mx338]

Everyone would download a car, cars are expensive pieces of shit, why would I want to make Elon Musk or VW shareholders money.

[@aquaintsound]

I'm getting my library science master's degree in the US. Legally, we cannot archive most music. Streaming literally means we can't even lend our patrons music if there isn't a physical release.

[@ENNEN420]

Gaming is the same say since every time the government asks them and the RIAA if they're taking proper steps to archive their historical media, they always nod their heads, give lip service and slip the judge a few bands. Piracy is moral and is nothing theft but I wish it was. Imagine downloading Frozen or the newest Arianna Grande album and they just don't have it anymore.

[@Gigachad-mc5qz]

I would pirate it anyway, keep it on a cold storage

[@SolidOilegg]

Hey mate, I am from Russia and torrenting are sorta legacy here. My dad told me how to torrent, I told my son how to torrent ( He is just 10 years old, but catched up very good ! ) , and I'll make sure that my son someday will tell his son how to torrent :) And I truly can't understand people who are saying that it is immoral, I'd better donate directly to the author, artist, or developer rather than buy right to download content from some service. Best regards.

[@kongoubongo1114]

I'd like to add: You might not be in with a private tracker, but you can always backup your obscure content in long-term storage. Archive everything.

[@spectr__]

Wise words!

[@qwertykeyboard5901]

And dump and upload the firmware of your devices!

[@theRPGmaster]

I wish there was a more long-term stable solution. After I die, what then? Will anyone even salvage any of the data?

[@kiwihuman]

@theRPGmaster the internet archive, accepts uploads check if your content is available there, and if not, upload anything missing.

[@doofsdoofs]

Have children, the parts between your legs are designed to preserve things. @@theRPGmaster

[@Akab]

Funfact - some artists "leak" their own creations as a torrent to get it out there for more people to enjoy. 😁

[@JimBoom92]

free music for free people

[@iamlorddems3859]

Also they don't really make money on the sell of cds

[@theRPGmaster]

"Seed what you leech" - Machinae Supremacy, a great band.

[@Bossfightmedia]

@@theRPGmaster Agreed, they are sick. Very underrated too.

[@theRPGmaster]

​@@Bossfightmedia Hell yeah brother. Repeat: Machinae Supremacy, for anyone who wasn't sure what to listen to.

[@JimiGosu]

Remember people, record labels, game developers, and movie studios don't like customers sharing their latest songs, videogames, and movies with their friends because it means your friends aren't buying their products. If you don't buy it, THEY DON'T WANT YOU TO HEAR, PLAY, OR SEE IT. But a lot of us grew up in a time when these things absolutely had to exist in a physical medium in order to use them. You could borrow a tape/CD/videogame from a friend or family member AND CORPORATIONS COULD DO NOTHING TO STOP YOU. Now that everything is digital, it's more difficult. It's more risky and YOU STAND AT THE END OF THE BARREL OF THEIR OVERPRICED LEGAL DEPARTMENTS.

[@JOnuC]

Creators are now moving towards a patron only business model. Social media is fu**kd. The new trend slowly gaining popularity is that creators use their copyright to target social platforms instead of regular people. If social media, like KZbin permits engagements on their content then the platform would have violated copyright. All kinds of engagements are reserved for patron only platforms. This means these big tech platforms will have to remove user engagements feature from their site for most content. Lets see how these tech tycoons like copyright now 😂.

[@2yt4u.14.]

And they are activly ruining the retail market by increasing the cost of consoles with disk drives and stuff.

[@TimPortantno]

Hilarious that what took down WhatCD was Santana's neighbors being pissed at his loud party, so they recorded his new album before it was released and uploaded it there.

[@danieldover3745]

The point about never truly owning your content if it's DRM locked is so true. It's a point I really struggle to get people to understand. People will get so salty when I point out that they do not "have" 5000 songs in playlists on Spotify, Spotify has them, until Spotify doesn't. People roll their eyes when I say these services can and will go belly up. It happens all the time, and I think we're heading for another bit of "Creative destruction" soon; that's why all the streaming services keep raising their prices and splintering, because they're in a death spiral. The way things worked in the 2010s will not last into the 2030s. Hell, it isn't even really that way now. If you want a media file, have it on your system, and have it backed up in a local and off-site backup. It's the only way to be sure.

[@anneshepard]

Yup. I was in the middle of my tv show and then it was gone. If only we could buy flash drive with the content or something.

[@thechugg4372]

I wonder why they roll their eyes, I have 3k songs on spotify, and everytime I scroll down one of them disapears for no reason, so they should know it's already happening.

[@TheNerd484]

I think everyone's noticed that when they scroll down their youtube favorites playlist, there are always videos that have been removed since last time

[@stalkerscarface]

@@TheNerd484 Yeah, I get notice on top of the screen everytime I open a playlist that "unavaliable videos are hidden", quite a few songs are missing and I can't even remember which ones.

[@Void_Dragon]

Fun fact, Spotify started up with its initial songs, pirated, all of them. When they got big enough, they got the licenses.

[@kokorochacarero8003]

Why do people love to pretend torrenting is a thing of the past?

[@EricMurphyxyz]

It's definitely past its heyday, but it's still around

[@littlered6340]

Probably because it's illegal I feel like a lot of people ask this question when the answer is "don't admit to crimes on the internet"

[@sebastiangonzales46]

@@EricMurphyxyz its the past, present and future

[@transforgoku]

Conformity, laziness, digital iliteracy and hive-mind logic, it's for the same reason why linux for desktop will never be mainstream, people don't want to mess with "geeky stuff" and prefer to be locked inside their apple/microsoft/google/etc. bubble...

[@thechugg4372]

@@littlered6340 hum sir, torrenting is a legal way to download things....

[@para_207]

if only digitizing cassettes and vinyl was easier and less expensive...

[@1pcfred]

I've had systems setup that could digitize records. I don't recall it being all that hard. That's what line out and line in are for. It's just an electrical signal. Like a microphone, but not the microphone. The difference is in the voltage level and the impedance. All you need is the wire with the right ends on it. Computers take submini jacks. Stereos are 1/4" jacks or RCA.

[@CMDRSweeper]

@@1pcfred I am guessing that is the cheap method, you can easily do it on the cheap. But I suspect for high quality standards, the prices rise pretty fast, so it all depends on your standards.

[@MikAnimal]

@@CMDRSweepernope not very expensive at all. Well depends on whether you live in USA or Sudan but for us chatting here no real issues. Good line out, decent line in sound card … free software or pay for it if you want. At this point AI enhanced audio tools can probably now or very soon “upscale” or “fix flaws” in the file for cheap. Adobe has something that does this already I believe. Nope you can digitize all ur music host it for personal streaming or take in on local storage or send to others online like like in this video. It’s just less steps to type it into KZbin or Spotify and people are lazy. People stopped torrent sharing due to the lawsuits the entertainment industry piled on a few poor people when it all started.

[@1pcfred]

@@CMDRSweeper what are you going to do with a higher quality file than any device can play back? The base bitrate of the audio device in my PC is higher than CD quality. So it's good enough. You could master professional audio on a run of the mill PC today.

[@CMDRSweeper]

@@1pcfred Well my boy, you would be surprised. You can argue until the cows come home with audiophiles and those that are out to preserve records in this way, and for that type of usecase, you would be shocked. Is it any better? Debatable as it may be hard to prove with an analogue medium. So that is why I say, the expense is down to your standards...

[@AlexZanderMuro]

Still have my whatcd coasters and rippy stickers from the site. Being there also made you reconsider how you should back up your collections of everything. When it could eventually be the only copy still in existence, you start to focus on preservation instead of just convenient backups. Really provides a whole mindset shift being a part of a community like that.

[@Agnes.Nutter]

I was a latecomer, only joined in 2013 or so, but I did get a couple stickers. Still holds a place of honor on my main water bottle :)

[@8saiharamasukoi]

ITT reals only

[@baitmaster8706]

@@Agnes.Nutter I came late as well, there were stickers?! My sticker is the ever lasting bookmark that I will never delete. RIP WCD

[@kankurou1010]

Thats so cool!

[@testicon]

Move along

[@cmorche]

I wrote my highschool senior paper on piracy and remember referencing Trent Reznor and some of the same studies you did, but my teacher was having none of it 😢 Barely passed that class, but she ended up getting fired for touching kids so I guess I got the last laugh. Though she just moved to another district and taught there...

[@delusionalibra.]

whaaaattt

[@JustCallMeQwerty]

The American justice system is a joke.

[@re4perthegamer]

@@delusionalibra. ah yes the english version has 1 more a

[@bytesabre]

This is the result of the companies treating music and film as products and not art, and think of it as something disposable

[@RippahRooJizah]

To be fair, that's how it is with some consumers as well, and even some content creators.

[@JOnuC]

Creators are now moving towards a patron only business model. Social media is fu**kd. The new trend slowly gaining popularity is that creators use their copyright to target social platforms instead of regular people. If social media, like KZbin permits engagements on their content then the platform would have violated copyright. All kinds of engagements are reserved for patron only platforms. This means these big tech platforms will have to remove user engagements feature from their site for most content. Lets see how these tech tycoons like copyright now 😂.

[@AlbedoAtoned]

It's sad that no industry seems to follow Gabe's words of wisdom. Ideally, an entertainment industry would make absolute certain that if they sold something, be it a song or a movie or a game, that that piece of media would always be available for people to buy and play. In 10 years, 20 years, 50 years or however long, I should be able to play any of the games I bought, on whatever hardware or PC is current, without needing an internet connection. Sadly, much of the entertainment industry is too focused on getting people to buy what is new, and rebuy what they already bought (but only put out some of it.) With gaming it is the most dire. A study came out a few months ago that showed that 87% of all retro games are unavailable commercially , retro in this referring to games made before 2010. The gaming industry is adamantly against any attempts to preserve gaming history. And the reason is that they are terrified that if somebody could play an older game, they would see no reason to buy newer games. The industry is outright admitting that they don't think modern games have anything to offer over retro games. When they do port or remaster retro games, these come with their own caveats. Nintendo's old Virtual console on the wii did not properly carry over to their newer consoles. You could technically transfer purchases to a Wii U, and play them through the Wii U's vWii (it had actual wii hardware in it). But if you wanted to use the gamepad, you had to buy them from the eshop and the best Nintendo offered was a discount for any titles you already bought on the Wii. The 3DS also had an eshop and the 3ds shared games with both, but none of the games you bought on the wii u or 3ds was shared with the other (the 3ds also didn't get the discount either). This means you could have paid for the same rom file 3 times. The Switch then did away with the Virtual console entirely, and now offers a two tiered subscription for a small selection of games for different consoles. To get access to n64, gba, and genesis, you have to pay for the higher tier (costs 50 a year), or be a part of a family plan on the higher tier (costs 80 a year, can be used by up to 8 people at once). If you know a few people who have Switches and want the service, it isn't the worst deal imaginable. But I just would not be able to justify paying 50 a year for games I have already bought. On PC, a lot of ports of older games come with Denuvo. It's crazy, because you can often play those games on PC through emulation, so it makes no sense to put DRM on the PC version. Pirates will just emulate so the publisher is punishing paying customers. Ports also often miss something. The recent Red Dead Redemption ports lack the multiplayer, which is interesting because the 360 version is still playable online through backwards compatibility on the newest xbox consoles. Speaking of said RDR port. The main thing people were wanting was a remaster or remake of it, and also to get a proper PC port. This game is playable on PC through emulation, but if a proper PC port came out with no BS, I guarantee most PC players would just prefer to buy that. And with the advent of the Steam Deck and other handheld PCs, a Steam release makes a lot of sense. History has shown that piracy will always be at least somewhat necessary. As I mentioned, in an ideal world most people would prefer the convenience that buying their media brings. Steam isn't perfect here, but it is the most convenient with almost no friction between the user and playing their games. If a game has DRM, there is always the possibility that it can prevent you from playing what you bought, Ubisoft games are notorious for this since they tend to wrap their games in 3-4 layers of DRM. But Steam itself and even Steam's DRM Steamworks hasn't caused me any issues in the 11 years I have used the platform. Ironically, I have had more issues on my consoles. Since becoming a PC gamer, even though I do buy consoles for more options, I don't really have a particularly high opinion on them. They almost always at some point call for homebrew to get the full value out of them, and the work to get them to do what a PC can do out of the box makes them less useful to me. And something that console gamers always miss the point in the physical vs digital debate because almost all of the problems with digital games comes from console games. On PC, if a game has a DRM free version for sale, or it has been cracked, then there is no problem imo with buying it. If some publisher says screw you and messes up the game or takes it from you, you can just pirate it. If you paid for it, there is absolutely no moral issue with pirating it. PC is also the natural home for emulation. Many PC gamers play most of their console games on a PC through emulation. But on consoles, unless you hack it you are always at the whim of the console dev and publishers. They can ban your account and you lose all of your games. The console itself has a lifespan that requires you be able to fix it in order to play those games since backwards compatibility isn't guaranteed. Both the PS5 and Series S|X make the SSD a point of failure. The PS5 SSD is soldered in, but even if you unsoldered it and put a new ssd in, it won't work. The Series consoles don't solder theirs in, but they write keys to the ssd that change constantly, and so even if you were to clone it's ssd to a new one, it would likely not work. Backups won't work. The end result for both of these consoles is that when the SSD dies, you have to send it in for repair by Microsoft/Sony. And if they ever stop servicing those consoles, then the console is a paperweight. It's ironic that the industry whines about piracy, but more and more it is the industry that drives the need for piracy. They screw over their consumers, they don't trust them so they put DRM in their releases that often barely run at times. Recently, Irdeto managed to get create an anti-emulation DRM for Switch games. Their reasoning is that because Denuvo is a harder DRM to crack, many pirates were choosing to emulate the switch versions of games to play them. Problem is that this only affects some pirates, but it affects all who emulate. And for a console that is notoriously underpowered, the last thing it needs is DRM to hurt performance even more. Ironically, many emulated Switch games because emulation runs the games better than the Switch itself. When Pokemon Scarlet and Violet were released, it was and largely still is unplayable on the Switch. Through emulation you can get playable framerates though. Tears of the Kingdom also had huge performance issues, often going below the 30fps cap, but emulation can bring it to a stable 60. And the kind of games where a person would choose switch emulation over a native PC port are often because the performance on the PC version is borked, often not helped at all by having Denuvo in it as well. So Irdeto is seen as wanting to take that away as well. Even though Denuvo can't be blamed for all of the performance problems of most games, that publishers will often release a half-baked unfinished port and still have the gall to put DRM on it paints a picture that not only do they not care about providing an experience worth paying for, they appear to have absolute disdain for consumers. And Irdeto, in providing the DRM itself and siding with the publishers makes them seem just as culpable. Similarly, publishers have updated games before with no changes other than it has DRM, which does nothing since pirates had a version without said DRM already. Until the industry gets is shit together and stops antagonizing consumers who almost always will prefer a proper release they can pay for and support, piracy will go nowhere. While you can't 100% eradicate it, Valve showed it was possible to turn pirates into paying customers by providing a service that was better than what pirates were getting for free. In other words, by considering piracy a form of competition and actually working to provide a better service, many who would have pirated or who were pirates before became paying customers. The industry at large prefers to pretend that it isn't a form of competition though, they prefer to fight using DRM and the results have always been meager in comparison. Still the industry has doubled, tripled, and quadrupled down, and hurt paying customers in their war against piracy. Instead of treating pirates as potential customers, they treated customers as potential pirates. And by making piracy often the only way to truly own things (or even the only way to be able to play those games in general), they are their own worst enemy. They are bringing this on themselves.

[@HamidKarzai]

Hey don't praise Valve too much now, they've also severely eroded the concept of media ownership, they're just not as awful about it as others. You don't buy games on Steam, you buy subscriptions that grant you access to games. Despite paying full price for these products you aren't allowed to sell your games to others or pass down your collection to your children. I saw a reddit post wherein someone contacted customer support trying to change the email on their dead father's account and they were like "nope, in this situation you're actually not entitled to use this account at all" and banned the account.

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

@@HamidKarzai To me Valve is still DRM, just the "more user friendly" side of DRM. Fortunately, I was able to rid myself of my Microsoft abuser entirely when support for Windows 7 ended and now just run Gentoo Linux (and a bit of BSD) on all of my systems. I also stopped with this "games as a service" nonsense around 2010 (the single exception being Fallout 4 in 2015) so now everything I play is older or a modern indie game and all running on Linux. The good thing about that, of course, is that I don't have to find rich parents each with a kidney to donate so they can buy me an overpriced and proprietary NVIDIA GTX 9090 RTX FAB AOK GPU to play games on because my idea of "fun" isn't paying a $70 entry fee for the privilege of buying DLC for the next 18 months by which time I may get a finished game. As such, I try not to buy on Steam any more and just go to GoG - if there's an older game that I already have on Steam then I will just wait for a GoG sale and buy it on there in an attempt to live a "DRM free" life.

[@mr2meows]

not reading allat

[@AlbedoAtoned]

I disagree. I think people look back at the past with rose tinted glasses. On the PC side, games may have came on disc, but they had activation limits, and often far worse DRM, including some that actually damaged hardware. Other games had DRM that required you keep all of the materials that came with the game and if you lost any of it, you could potentially be locked out of the game. In other words, the concept of ownership was always flaky at best. Consoles also had issues here. Console game cartridges and discs are prone to damage and bitrot. They can be lost in natural disasters like fires and floods. They can be stolen from you as well. So if you wanted to ensure that it was always playable, you make backups (multiple even), and store those backups in multiple places. But consoles don't typically play backups without modification first. Console devs and game publishers don't want you making backups of the games you bought, and they have traditionally made efforts to hinder this. If you can't make a backup of something you have, can you really say you own it? IMO, this is far more important to ownership than being able to sell something. Take a look at any box for a game and you will see the legalize stating you are merely buying a license. The so called erosion of game ownership didn't exist because it was always like this. Gamers just didn't notice or care because they believed that if they had a physical object, that it would count. The industry has never believed that you owned your games. Now consoles largely use discs for install media, you install the base game and it updates. A lot of games come incomplete on the disc or cartridge. Quite a few Switch games for instance that have multiple games on it only actually have one of the games and the other is downloaded. The worst is that some of them give a code for the other games and treat it as DLC, meaning you still need the cartridge inserted and if you sell the cartridge, the buyer has to buy the other game. An example of this is Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD. The cart has FFX on it, and X-2 was provided as a DLC code. And of course I mentioned in the other comment that newer consoles have a finite lifepsan. Since you need the hardware to play the game, the fact that consoles are so locked down and designed to potentially be paperweights when their SSD dies. The SSD is a part that will not last forever. Even if the rest of the console is well maintained, and lasts for decades before wearing out, the SSD will not last as long so when it dies the console is as good as dead if Sony/Microsoft isn't servicing them anymore, unless there are efforts by the gaming community to work around it. Before I became a PC gamer. I had all sorts of issues with consoles. I had a PS2 destroy several of my games, it would give them circular scratches, I have had to replace consoles since I was young and didn't know how to replace parts like the disc laser and often the refurbished systems wouldn't last longer than a week. Eventually I got one that lasted several years before the disc drive stopped reading discs entirely. But at that point I discovered how to mod the memory card and using a PC dvd drive I was able to rip my PS2 discs to ISO format and install those to a hard drive to use in the PS2. After going that route I never went back. Similar homebrew exists for pretty much every console. You can even use homebrew to backup license files for digital games. If you access to that feature, whether a game is digital or physical ceases to matter imo. When I became a PC gamer, I managed to build a library of games much larger than I did on console. A lot of people around me would sell their games when they beat them so they could buy new games, but I tended to keep them since I might want to play them again (and I usually did). But I learned that PC gaming was in general much cheaper in the long run. If I had a choice between buying a game on Steam for 5 dollars, or buying it on console for 10 and selling for 5, I would consider steam the better option. They're both the same price in the end, but if you don't sell then the second option costs you more, selling on the other hand means you lose access to the game (legally). And of course the game is vulnerable to damage, destruction, or theft. Steam also isn't the first digital store for gaming. They were just the first to do it correctly and sadly still one of the few to do it correctly even today. The industry has always been heading in the direction of Digital sales, and without Steam, there wouldn't be a blueprint for how to do it well enough to appease consumers developers and publishers all at once. Now a days, there are many different digital stores and they either focus on one of those groups at the expense of the others. GOG focuses so much on consumers, but as a result doesn't have as much developer or publisher backing. And they rely entirely on trusting consumers to do the right thing (like not buy a game then share the installer with all of their friends and family). Itch focuses mostly on developers (especially indie developers), but again they don't really have much publisher backing. Most other stores like Ubisoft Connect and Epic offer nothing over Steam, as they focus entirely on publishers and it shows. Steam is balanced where even though they do give devs the possibility to use DRM and Steamworks is DRM, Steam and even steamworks isn't entirely all take no give for consumers. Steamworks provides a lot of features and Steam itself also provides a lot of features that consumers like myself heavily appreciate. Steam also is one of the main reasons why Linux gaming is even viable for so many today. This has helped many people get into using Linux over Windows, even for just a bit. And because of Proton, the Steam Deck became a possibility. Whereas most o the PC handhelds had a price tag upwards of 1000 dollars, the Steam Deck became one of the most affordable ways to get into PC gaming. This is why I will generally go for the Steam version, even over GOG a lot of times, because even if Steam is DRM, it provides me a lot in exchange. I cannot say the same for services like Ubisoft Connect. I genuinely would prefer to not play a game at all than have to open Ubisoft Connect because it's given me so much trouble over the years. And unlike Steam/steamworks, Ubisoft's DRM has never provided me any benefits as a user.

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

@@mr2meows Sure, your choice. And for some people, living a life in complete ignorance is something they cherish highly.

[@klebleonard]

I never used a VPN as a kid to download stuff, it was always "legal" to pirate things, atleast in eastern Europe, I had pirated everything, great times

[@UnknownOverwatchSoldier]

Glad the Ministry of Communication of Indonesia is stupid so deeper information like this is alien to them.

[@genghiskhan6688]

Third world CHADs like us never had to deal with cringe wectoid crap like "copyright laws" lel.

[@klebleonard]

@@genghiskhan6688 and I hope it stays that way, I would never want to live outside of eastern Europe, people dont know the beauty of brutalistic architecture, freedom and our culture

[@i7sreact931]

Same in Brazil

[@Eichro]

One of the few things about Brazil which I still like is that authorities are very lax about this stuff, you dont even need a VPN because virtually nobody gives half a damn

[@Raxyz_0]

I find it funny that not even something like piracy is exempt from needing connections AND money for the best experience.

[@knghtbrd]

Money isn't required for a pretty damned good experience, just the best one. And connections aren't hard to make. Be helpful and friendly. Yes, MOST trackers are not terribly friendly communities (they're full of pirates after all), but *people* often are. And all you need is one of those to give you an invite.

[@milk-ub9zo]

@@knghtbrd Do you have any advices on how to get inside these enthusiastics communities?

[@fish3977]

​@@milk-ub9zoget started on some of the sites with interviees like myanonamouse or redacted/Orpheus

[@hardVatsuki]

​@@knghtbrd in the video it was stated that you need to share something to be able to download something, what average torrent user can share? For example, I do have CD album of one my fav bands but I am certainly sure that album is already uploaded on that site, so I have nothing to offer. I can seed torrents all the time, but thats about it.

[@Akab]

​@@milk-ub9zoeasy, just be a nerd... 😅 But seriously, most I've seen require you being either a total nerd about something or being known/ a long time user within those groups.

[@anon_y_mousse]

I used to be the staunchest anti-piracy person ever. Over time the industry has proven that it is far too greedy for its britches and far too selfish to share anything. Copyright should go back to 1791 and be 14 years, but more importantly, everything should be digitized with high quality files and be sold DRM free on multiple services. Anything less than that is a slap in the face to the customers who they have come to think of only as consumers. While I still would never advocate for piracy, I would still like to see the majority of these evil corporations go out of business. We need to start over from scratch in a lot of industries, not just music, and it may take a revolution of sorts to make it happen.

[@djbmw1]

Ever recorded a tv show, news episode, etc on VHS? How about recording your favorite radio song on casette? Did you pay the recording artist when you recorded it? Also, keep in mind that copywrite law varies country to country which gets real interesting when it comes to the global "internet".

[@TheShivABC]

@@djbmw1 that song that was recorded was paid for by the commercial licenses attached to the station that played it, think of it like video game manufacturers wanting a cut of a pre-owned game you sell to a person that was already bought retail from a store long ago, same for tv, its already paid for by the commercial licenses attached to it

[@djbmw1]

@@TheShivABC it would be nice if it worked that way, but it doesnt. While you're correct that the broadcaster has paid fees to a performance rights organizations (“PROs”) for the right to broadcast a copywritten work into public space, that transmission itself is now a new copywritten work, along with the DJs voice introducing the track, etc. So, to legally record a radio broadcast you need to seek approval from the copywrite holder of the BROADCAST, and not the music track. This is the current law in Canada, the US, and Australia. Fun, eh :-)

[@JOnuC]

Advocate for piracy bro.

[@JOnuC]

Creators are now moving towards a patron only business model. Social media is fu**kd. The new trend slowly gaining popularity is that creators use their copyright to target social platforms instead of regular people. If social media, like KZbin permits engagements on their content then the platform would have violated copyright. All kinds of engagements are reserved for patron only platforms. This means these big tech platforms will have to remove user engagements feature from their site for most content. Lets see how these tech tycoons like copyright now 😂.

[@systemhalodark]

The only problem with private trackers is that they remain a deeply imperfect solution to a structural problem; they are the equivalent of gated communities in so-called "3rd world" countries with high insecurity.

[@G0RSHK0V]

"Do you remember torrenting? Me, with the torrent in background: Let me think...

[@eiprofesoi]

The first ever song I heard of Nirvana was "come as you are", it was played without paying royalties to the band in a local radio station, yes, piracy sometimes contributes a lot more to spread music than legally possible ways

[@mr.jamster8414]

I'd love to do a pirate radio. Or better yet, broadcast T.V on the old analog system.

[@MrSnowFoxy]

its because as these record labels, game publishers, film production companies etc get bigger and bigger, so does their greed and hunger for an ever-increasing slice of the metaphorical pie until theres nothing left. its a destructive and archaic system driven by the desire to squeeze a brand for every penny you can, instead of letting it be available to purchase, should people want to support the artist and help the media naturally penetrate into the cultural zeitgeist through word of mouth and online sharing. Money ruins Everything, but its a necessary evil to put off the collapse just a little longer so we can daydream of better days.

[@shuenshuen]

​@mr.jamster8414 here in the netherlands on the countryside radio pirates are still going strong, its a whole culture. Making the biggest antennas, putting em up secretly somewhere to reach as far as possible and playing old LPs from the 60s onward. My uncle had one up in the tower of a church that could be heard in half the country. Took em 2 years to find it and seize it.

[@VV-wl8gb]

Amazing! What should I search for to find out more about these pirate radio stations?

[@KingShado69]

In Romania it is a cultural thing to have a "special site" where we get our needed files and it is still alive to this day.

[@luisouteiro]

Share pls!

[@KingShado69]

@@luisouteiro getting invite codes is kinda hard and I don't know you.

[@XTX767RT]

​@@KingShado69 ah yes the classic "guys i know this super awesome amazing site but i wont tell you anything about it"

[@coffeedude]

@@KingShado69 fl?

[@KingShado69]

@@coffeedude yes filelist

[@ItsMrLee]

12TB drive currently holding around 3tb of movies and TV. My personal netflix is certainly starting out great

[@davidmontroy3408]

To quote Matthew Mcconaughey in Wolf of Wall Street, "You gotta pump those numbers up. Those are rookie numbers in this racket."

[@defalt8558]

Looking for a 16 TB drive. Don't really know what to buy. Recommendations welcome. Right now, I have a 2TB drive full to the brim with media, 6TB downloaded and 125TB uploaded. Looking to rent a seedbox too.

[@escape808]

My personal NAS puts Netflix to shame.

[@aryanram02]

@@defalt8558 jesus christ you are a hero

[@Shephardsatan]

I bow down to you. I am still a filthy Netflix rat and paying for music. No seriously, I really wanna get away from paying for music. Ofc I'll pay for small artists stuff since that's cool, but let's be really honest here I doubt Deftones gives a fuck. I know how to convert Yotube videos but the sound is ass and files big, computer small.

[@Shajirr_]

That "you can download only as much as you share" rule is extremely debilitating to people with asymmetric connections. Like I have about 40 Mbit max download, but upload won't even reach 10

[@s8n..]

thats what seedboxes are designed for

[@thepokeball]

It sucks but it's the only way to assure that a lot of torrents don't die. Give back to the community you're borrowing from.

[@gordonfreeman1163]

@@thepokeball if a community is built upon leeching off these unfortunate people, is it even worth of existing?

[@LoganDark4357]

Dude, what do you mean? I have 900 down and 25 up. Your "asymmetric" connection amuses me...

[@theorphanobliterator]

​@@s8n..so i have to pay to download? how's that any different from just buying the media then

[@veto_5762]

My point about piracy is: if they don't sell it, why I wouldn't take it from another sources? I'm not going to feel bad for a group of corpos that can't fattom the idea of a person pirating their 10 year old game which they don't even maintain or distribute, and then just because they don't want that they have right to make it completly unavailable to everyone? I respect the law but we shouldn't put law over common sense

[@Aaliyashi]

I think what you meant to say is that you don't respect the law, you respect common sense. But I would agree with that

[@obeseperson]

Why respect the law? Lol even if media is available for legal purchase, just steal it at this point. Zero reason not to.

[@antares56]

the events leading to the actors and writers strike, show that they dont get paid shit, so torrenting only hurts the big fish. torrenting is not just an option, is a duty.

[@korakys]

The problem with modern media is that producers often also own the distribution side as well, forcibly separating them (and banning exclusivity) would go a long way towards removing the need for anonymous file sharing.

[@dieSpinnt]

The problem with modern people is that they think they have the right to get everything for free. And of course there is also the absolute greedy side of producers and companies that you describe. These before mentioned people don't know btw, that you can live WITHOUT all this fancy BS (music, gucci, etc.) ... or that boycotting is a viable option. But that needs dignity and some honesty ... which is miraculously something they do not invest in, because that is toooooo expensive, cumbersome, personally limiting. Man, scamming people with 1:1 to the millions copied sterile produced music-conserves, where the copying cost literally nothing is the worst in modern history. Including this horrible stardom-cult. RIP(the technique, not dying, you know what I mean, hehe) that S.! It's okay. Visit a concert of your favorite band. That is actually something of value and there they do something in exchange for the money. Oh ... and you meat real people and not only your mom shouting down the basement ... hehehe

[@danlowe]

@@dieSpinnt The problem is that modern people sit on a mountain of wealth that our society built for posterity. Many of them populists and progressives who endured truly draconian circumstances like the National Guard being used to force miners back to work or to clear public land of WWI veterans seeking the payment they were owed. A heritage of open forum universities like the one Thomas Jefferson established in Virginia. Museums, parks and now (supposedly) roadway infrastructure. The same national heritage that entrepreneurs and capitalists now think they're entitled to leverage in some public-private enterprise. So the frontier is monetized, public land is gentrified so you can only camp in a parking lot for the price of a motel room (itself built on a public roadway). I don't think Obama was wrong when he said "you didn't build that." Unfortunately he was a poser who doesn't believe anything I've said here and let the banks run away with the country. But it's not laziness to have public safety nets already built and paid for, especially in lieu of creating more fraudulent insurance companies or administrative industries. It's not laziness to want subsidies to correct the purchase power of a dollar with no gold standard or relying on international destabilization. Or just to have 90% of the money that was printed in my lifetime simply burned in a pile to make working wages functional again. There's nothing more American than quitting your job, because you're free to make your own path in life without needing a landlord, a financial advisor, a boss or a politician to give you permission to do it. And if they manufacture a kind of society where the law and purse are designed to create leverage so that you need their permission to avoid incarceration then thermodynamics and intellect would demand that you take it back from them by any means necessary.

[@danlowe]

I mean ffs imagine how much cheaper homes would be if 40% of 'single family' homes weren't owned and controlled by corporate landlords or hedge funds holding them illegally and fraudulently.

[@joshstarr6400]

I bought a couple CD's from a band that was around in 1999 to 2003. They are on Spotify and KZbin, but they have single digit views and it wouldn't surprise me if one day they disappear. It's a shame because they're so talented and unique. I'm glad pirates are dedicated to preserving even the most "insignificant" art.

[@stillwaitingforgodot3341]

Drop the band name! Promo opportunity lmao

[@rollinontheboard]

i agree with @@stillwaitingforgodot3341

[@Klinkertinlegs]

…welll…. Who is it?

[@Josh-jw3go]

Lol you complain about them getting low listens and then don't even drop the name

[@joshstarr6400]

dang y'all lol They're called Standbye. Two albums being Days Spent Waiting and The Coping Mechanisms.

[@CoolExcite]

Soy: Not paying for streaming services because you pirate media Gigachad: Not paying for streaming services because you don't consume media

[@industrialcream]

I've been a NIN fan for ages, but I didn't know Trent Reznor had supported piracy for as long as he has. Also, the funny thing about being an Australian NIN fan is that high CD prices of their album Year Zero down here are 1 of the reasons the band left Interscope Records (Trent's words at a concert were allegedly "go out and download the fucking thing for free" or something like that). They ended up releasing their next album - The Slip - for free via torrenting at one point.

[@bounceb]

Ghosts I-IV was also released under a free license two months prior to The Slip

[@MidlifeRenaissanceMan]

Australia has always been screwed when it comes to recorded music. I remember it hitting $30+ a CD in the 90s. That would fill your tank, or almost cover your own weekly groceries or get you pretty damn drunk at a bar

[@Ozzianman]

​​​@@MidlifeRenaissanceMan30 bucks. That would barely give me a buzz in Norway. Man I miss the pubs in the UK... I don't ever go out drinking here because it's way too expensive. Cheaper to buy at the grocery store and have a house party.

[@MidlifeRenaissanceMan]

@@Ozzianman Same here now. $30 in the 90s you would be soaked. $30 now, not even 3 drinks at some places. Barely 3 drinks at others. Cheaper to run your own still

[@loldy3]

dont forget that trent also released the Broken movie on the pirate bay in like 2005-2007

[@jasonjasso666]

I don’t feel bad pirating because, for most things produced by big companies, the people involved have already been payed for their labor. It’s not good pay mind you, but that’s a separate issue.

[@davidmontroy3408]

stopped feeling bad after watching the first episode of MTV Cribs. Knowing that artists only receive a tiny sliver of the proceeds of their work's value, and it still makes them unreasonably wealthy.

[@lukadjo]

I'm pretty sure SAG-AFTRA (a union) released data showing they're actually for like less than 0.01-0.02 % of total revenue. The only people hurt by pirating content made by big corporations are the shareholders.

[@SethidusVorscye]

Yeah who are always the ones that benefit lol

[@angelbryan98]

Pro tip: Learn Russian.

[@CoasterMan13Official]

Wrong. Use a translator.

[@transforgoku]

Why? I don't want to hack Putin...

[@xr.spedtech]

Sascha from Russia...

[@DesertFoxWITHAFREAKINGKNIFE]

​@@transforgokuPutin himself said to us to pirate everything, western, russian, indian, japanese, chinese and whatever. Come on, check out our trackers, they're filled with everything you can think of

[@jellifygirl]

You don't even have to learn the language properly, just understanding enough keywords and bits of Cyrillic will go a long way.

[@TheMrsaintevil]

In my eyes, one of the reasons piracy will never die. As you mentioned about music, let's say: retro video games you can't buy anymore, same as other software. This is one of the reasons where I am guilty. I would be very honoured if I was oart of that type of community as it is part of preserving information.

[@nightmarerex2035]

or like steam is FORCING to upgrade to windows 10, so what about the games that work only on windows XP eta? think valve needs a nother lawsuit on that :/

[@Pie-jacker875]

@@nightmarerex2035 it's current year, stop running Windows

[@masterTigress96]

@@nightmarerex2035 Not if Valve will expand the functionality of Proton to not just run Windows games under Linux, but vice versa and make it possible to run older Windows games on newer Windows versions. I doubt that will happen anytime soon, but I doubt even less that a lawsuit has any more chance or succeeding.

[@AppleJuiss]

@@nightmarerex2035 Works on my machine (arch btw)

[@deathtrooper2048]

That wouldn't change anything, that's basically what modern Windows does.​@@masterTigress96

[@pmakcimq]

A real pirate follows always the code: If you like it, buy it. Arrrrrr

[@JohnnyYeTaecanUktena]

They also follow a code saying "Don't blab" when talking about sites that are still alive as any non trusted person can tip the ones that glow off thus the sea level will raise. And if there is a rumor that surfaces of the site dying then allow the normies to believe it is dead as less eyes on it. If you must tell someone of a site on a public forum it should be a test like in the form of a cryptic riddle befitting of a Pirate, and to find out what site you are talking about they have to solve the riddle as the riddle itself gives the answer Cryptic ways of entry just delays the inevitable as goodie two shoes always insist you put a shoe on that peg so they will try to crew despite not being wanted as their motive is to sink the ship as shoes should not be on water to them and everyone must wear two shoes

[@davidturcotte831]

Did you... did you pirate the official "You wouldn't download a car" image? Yes. Yes you did.

[@thewhitefalcon8539]

You wouldn't download "You wouldn't download a car."

[@iamagi]

Criticism and commentary

[@Brick_Eater_]

Funnily enough, the original ad didn't ever say you wouldn't download a car. Really, go watch it, it doesn't.

[@davidturcotte831]

@@Brick_Eater_ The very first one I saw says "Would you download a car?" Then they changed it up to the one that says "You wouldn't," but they had to stop running that one because they stole assets they put in the ad.

[@JohnnyYeTaecanUktena]

@@davidturcotte831 sweet irony lol

[@RiknelAtento]

The good thing about piracy in my country is that it isn't illegal to download pirated media, unless you are pirating to earn money. So if you just want to play a game or watch a movie and don't want to pay, is like "okay" it isn't legal and illegal, it's a gray area, because there are any laws against download pirated stuff for personal consume.

[@mrofinUtortxoF]

In most of the countries sharing in a crime (pirating). Downloading is not.

[@mrofinUtortxoF]

​@blob6591 you can't accuse a person downloading a program in financial losses. I mean, you always could, but time and money it costs is way more than possible profits. so as long as you are not sharing things AND using it for your personal needs (not for work), you're safe in most of the world.

[@mrofinUtortxoF]

@blob6591 also, i've never heard of such a case.

[@klaustrussel]

Pirating is morally good

[@lachlanraidal5100]

TLDW: Over centralised and gatekeepy music torrent site crushed by the state in a bid to enforce artificial monopolies on information. Moral of story keep torrent sites decentralised and open access. The point is to make media available to all not hide it in some exclusive walled garden.

[@theorphanobliterator]

agree, forcing people to have money and connections to access media directly contradicts the point of pirating

[@PropaneWP]

Back in the day, we used to send each other floppy disks in the mail. I miss those days. I miss that whole culture. Corporations argue that piracy is stealing. It's not. It's a softer crime, which has a lot of positive sides to it. Such as preserving history. Preserving culture. My counter argument is that they're stealing our culture. Not copying... Actually stealing. As in: taking something away that we'll never get back.

[@Synthetic-Chicken]

Hahaha thanks for the nostalgia trip, definitely remember doing this in Australia and NZ, and even later on with CD-Roms. Used to take blank CDs and change the formatting to burn up to 150-200 songs on one CD instead of 10-20, would then take that burnt CD home and rip the music to my own collection. Same as the old MP3/MP4 days of drag and drop music collections that would take 2 hours to transfer a few hundred songs hahaha.

[@CiCaruana]

It's sad that hearing someone willing to go further than the "But piracy is evil! I've never done it and nobody should, wink wink" song and dance and actually talk about torrenting communities has become refreshing. I get why online influencers especially wouldn't be caught dead even mentioning it, but plausibly deniable subtext being pretty much the only way torrenting gets discussed if at all still sings a bit.

[@chouts1]

I’m just tired of people larping as revolutionaries and seeing the same copypastas and quotes everywhere. That’s something that something that even effects this video

[@rps215]

It is good to know that many pirates also buy things, but as some DRM marketing goes that study that shows video game piracy did little to damage the profit margins was deliberately shoved to the bottom. I don't use VPN for that purpose, but you know that this region of mine (SE Asia) has some of the highest piracy rate. Steam did right by us with regional pricing and making payment easy. I bought all the games I used to pirate in the past even.

[@The_Divergent]

Same Lately steam have trial game isn't? Even though it's just for 7 days But still, old game have to preserve

[@warchefseed]

The archive aspect of it is super underrated. The same thing is happening to the game industry and digital-only copies of games.

[@chouts1]

Caucasian

[@mix-n-match834]

The yarr harr pirates were not only about stealing, murdering and stuff. They also had their treasures hidden in holes on nameless islands that you could not find on any map. It's the same for online piracy, I think?

[@KingKevin108]

KZbin showing me this first thing in the morning makes me think I'm probably on a list I shouldn't be on. Neat video though~

[@P4RK3R1Z3D]

I'm gonna see "limewire" in a history book before I break down and start sobbing uncontrollably.

[@shermansheepherda8488]

dial up

[@1Bagoly1]

Private trackers are cool, but the warez scene is even more obscure and hard to get into. You should make a video about that one as well.

[@zombiekilla7463]

you have to spend a day online to find some moderate sites or just have LUCK

[@thewhitefalcon8539]

Isn't that just people who were alive in the 1990s and formed a closed network

[@vylbird8014]

@@thewhitefalcon8539 The warez scene is what we had before p2p came along. It no longer holds the essential role it once did, but some scene groups are still around and their releases always make it on to p2p.

[@djbmw1]

@@thewhitefalcon8539 Warez sites came first,.. then P2P (Napster, Limewire,.. and Usenet which was the best of the bunch),.. then MANY years later Torrents came around

[@_endlessly]

​​@@zombiekilla7463 forums like scnlogme and euphoricvocals are pretty cool, you can make requests.

[@linusgoblin]

Its frightening to see how copyright laws destroys art. The control of media access has gone too far. Free the media, free the culture! Access to art should not be limited by whatever agenda companies push!

[@ariathyf144]

We have copyleft licences to prevent the doom of the media production but nobody use them. IMO that's what need to be brought into public awareness. Producing and consuming content that is trully free from this point on so in few years we will not worry about preservation as a digital society. Nor the artists nor the fans NEEDS the corporations when we donate directly to the artists.

[@randomtinypotatocried]

Learning more about copyright cases and it's scary how much more can be destroyed if these cases ever see a courtroom on how much gray areas there are thanks to the mess of a copyright system we have

[@Axiomatic75]

I miss the Napster times. You'd search for a song/band, find it and start downloading it and could then browse the entire music collection of people who shared it. I found a lot of great music that way.

[@HarakiriRock]

There are still thriving services that exist and do exactly this.

[@Axiomatic75]

@@HarakiriRock Really? Do you have names?

[@HarakiriRock]

@@Axiomatic75 Soulseek

[@_anon]

nicotine plus ​@@Axiomatic75

[@imonymous]

​@@Axiomatic75Try soulseek. It's pretty much napster with some more features.

[@jeremyccc]

Wow I miss what so much. The Collages people would make of record labels, or of themed albums.. I learnt so much about music. Some of my favourite memories were just downloading mass amounts of torrent files during free leeches and sending them over to a friend a couple neighbourhoods over to download for me because he had a 4MB broadband line. It was so incredible being part of that community and system that just WORKED

[@glitchy_weasel]

I mainly use it for content that is yet to be published in the west, like fansubs, etc. Never had the need for private trackers, since I usually find the content in public trackers to be acceptable for me. Though I was always curious about them. Good video!

[@kosmosXcannon]

Yeah I remember downloading fansubs off of their mIRC chats. Those were the good old days.

[@BaconMinion]

I'm willing to share and seed. I'M NOT WILLING TO TOLERATE FILTHY AUDIOPHILES.

[@Charlie-hv3dh]

Glad to hear more private trackers have popped up and are even more big than before.

[@hyperdawn814]

Basically soulseek but for pratricians

[@danii7120]

As a user of private trackers, this was a great video dude The difference between using a public tracker and a private tracker is like the difference between public and private healthcare, the quality and care found on private trackers is unmatched.

[@Yunes948]

can i humbly ask you to send me in the direct path of some of private trackers

[@danii7120]

@@Yunes948 while it is against our code of honour to simply direct you to one of these places, I can tell you that the entry level ones arent that hard to find or to get into Search torrenting and stuff on the web, and if you seek enough, ye shall find

[@Cookedfrfrfr]

@@Yunes948 fed

[@user2C47]

​@@Yunes948Congrats, you just got yourself barred from ever joining such a service.

[@itsberzerk9279]

Same pleasee

[@dylan.t180]

I hope they just make things available one day you shouldn’t have to break the law just to enjoy content Life is too short.

[@thewhitefalcon8539]

It will never happen. Billionaires always need more money.

[@thereagauze]

that one day is 75 years after the author dies right now.

[@thewhitefalcon8539]

@@thereagauze no, they keep extending it

[@jackharrow7147]

revolt

[@TIOLIOfficial]

9:00 - Man, I have been wondering once again what the second to last in the bottom right corner name of the artist is, because I always forget it. It's Ratatat. I heard "Loud Pipes" and "Wildcat" randomly on KZbin so long ago. I had my first KZbin account with THOUSANDS of great songs, videos, documentaries saved in HUNDREDS of KZbin playlists. It was such a great library of all the randomly saved videos from this site. But then, out of nowhere, my channel got deleted... I never got the explanation why. I never bullied someone or something similar, but it didn't matter. My channel was no more. So all those years of saving, discovering and listening to amazing music and other videos I found was for nothing. I was so sad. I forgot the name of the band that had a cheetah or another big yellow cat in front of a black background, but I went on a search. I found it thankfully and after listening to it the nostalgia just came back. I hadn't listening to that song in such a long time. I recently remembered the band, but couldn't think of the name of the song or the artist. I randomly saw this video recommended under another one I was watching and decided to play it, why not. And what would you know that the answer I was looking for randomly found me. Man. I love the internet.

[@flatterkatz]

I don't really torrent any more. But - I did torrent every audiobook I ever listened to because exactly of what you said at the end. I wouldn't mind paying amazon audible to get an audiobook. But I absolutely do not want DRM audio books that amazon can remove whenever they want, where amazon can demand which player I can use and so on. If Audible just gave you MP3s or flacs, I would have bought every single one. As it stands, I bought one cheap one, saw the absolute fuckery, and yarr harr'd from then on, didn't even finish that first one because I don't like their player.

[@davidmontroy3408]

One of my favorite Sci-fi authors offered free short story audiobooks of some of their stories, but I abandoned bothering with those, despite being legitimately free, because of the lack of portability of the files, requiring exclusive playback through their app on my phone.

[@98SE]

3:10 - As someone with Autism and ADHD, I thank you for the shoutout for maintaining my collection of cracked games haha!

[@pineapplefarmer7352]

intellectual property is an oxymoron and violates the nap, never feel bad about sailing the high seas

[@roycetaylor6529]

I was a power user on what, I truly miss those times, and never realized how cut short it would be

[@nemtudom5074]

0:06 Wait, Spotify shows you ads, even if you pay for their service? What the actual FK?

[@zachsad]

I'll admit, I pirated in the past.. I would certainly never do something like that today, with every streaming service having only increased costs 300% in the past few years

[@notusingpremium]

Why didn't they go out with a bang? Make all the torrents public and flood the world with good quality music. That would make the feds think twice before taking down a niche private music torrent host.

[@larzblast]

You didn't pay any attention to the video. Because private trackers incentivise their users to ensure quality releases and high availability, or they are exiled. Public trackers offer no incentive to actually care about initially uploading nor sharing.

[@notusingpremium]

@@larzblast but they are all exiled once they're taken down so again, why not flood the public trackers with good torrents? You don't seem to understand that their principles don't matter if they don't exist.

[@larzblast]

@@notusingpremium But that's where you grossly underestimate the spirit of the community. I have been through the transitions from the former to the latter after each takedown. The functionality and overall user experience of the private sites is something that puts commercial website developers to shame. Others are still running after at least 16 years, so takedowns aren't all that common, really. You will absolutely never see that in a typically neglected and abused public tracker, particularly because they are far more prone to being taken down than a private one.

[@Stimmenhotel]

Because it also is about security... Why do you think the database was "destroyed"? Because not everyone has opsec as good as your 1337 hacker. Using VPN on some of these private trackers was forbidden or just not needed at all. Don't know the latest developments in this scene, but about 15 years ago. You have to remember, you are sharing your (private) IP with everyone able to obtain this torrent + having able to be authenticated by the tracker. Anti pirating was/is a golden age for licence attorneys, collecting IPs and send out warnings with Injunctive relief and claims for damages. Also, another problem, private trackers taken down can't authenticate your hash anymore. So you won't receive any peers/seeders at all.

[@PaulTheadra]

(wipes tears from eyes) clapping ensues.

[@mickwolf1077]

Private torrent tracker sites are literally just a big decentralised shared cloud storage.

[@escape808]

They are pointless as using torrents is old technology. What I use is way more secure, untraceable and I DL at 200mbs. No I'm not saying what it is on YT comments.

[@gordonfreeman1163]

@@escape808 nah, your stuff is some lamer bs. Check this out: up to smooth 50 Gbps, three layers of AI encryption and a sleek minimalistic design. Got it at the same place you got yours. Not telling what it is though :p

[@fifiytt785]

Shame ;/ ​@@escape808

[@59fzhqioy3mk6og5]

@@escape808 Tell us your secret

[@crackedeggs7407]

@@escape808edi wow

[@darealrulezbreaker9493]

really sad to hear that this community/family got ripped apart, i would have loved to know what its like to be a part of them but logging on one day and suddenly everything is GONE would break my heart.

[@Iog]

I remember a while back a couple of people on 4chan trying to find this dark twisted anime of school girls stuck in a bathroom, and resorted to end their sufferings. So say this anime was a myth. But maybe... somewhere on these grand lines, it was real. On another note, it really pains me that our tax dollars are going towards harming niche groups of citizens wanting to share what they should rightfully own. They basically ended up burning the Library of Alexandria. You would expect people to be more sensible in preserving culture, but no. Humanity doesn't run the world anymore. Corporate does. It's really saddening to think about. If I want to make a website to share stuff I rightfully bought, to say my long distance friends, that should not be illegal.

[@davidturcotte831]

Oh. About Netflix quality. You have to pay extra for 4k. But, it's only supported by Edge and Safari browsers. By default, Chrome and Firefox are restricted to 720p.

[@solitonmedic]

No one supports artists to a ludicrous degree than pirates. That is some irony right there

[@JeffisWinning]

You wouldn't steal a house. You wouldn't steal a rock in the woods. You wouldn't steal free pens at your bank. You would steal a movie or mp3 though.

[@holysauce4982]

Back then? Lad we here keep the tradition alive even today

[@davidletarte214]

sounds awesome; spotify only has 2 phantom surfers songs... several vindictives albums just missing also. being in love with obscure punk rock is a heartbreaking endeavor 😭

[@EricMurphyxyz]

Yep. There's still so much I listen to that Spotify still doesn't have.

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

An old guy like me would be remiss in not recommending "The Dickies" at this point as a reasonably obscure US punk band that are very good but old enough for me to already have their albums on CD anyway. I will check out a Phantom Surfer song or two based on your recommendation.

[@davidletarte214]

@@terrydaktyllus1320 i've met the dickies before! last time i saw them was with the queers in boston... definitely an underrated band

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

@@davidletarte214 I think they are still going, aren't they? I am in the UK and I know they've been over a few times in recent years but I always seem to miss them.

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

@@davidletarte214 I am liking some of the Phantom Surfers stuff I am finding on KZbin - definitely surf punk with a Dickies sense of humour. Good spot!

[@interdimensionalsailboat]

I don't listen to "normie music" and many tell me that what i listen to sucks. But that description of what can be found on there made me feel like a normie alright. 😂

[@brokenpianotunes1923]

I remember finding out about one of these back around 2010, because I thought it was weird that my mom would hoard old CD's of all kinds of different genres. I had no clue what it was, but over the years I found out that my non-tech mom was part of some huge music backup that was called ace or something along those lines. She even showed me a few Weird Al songs that I've still yet to be able to find to this day. It truly was something akin to Alex's library of modern day. I wish that I would have understood more of what it was back then so that maybe I could have had a hand in helping the community as well.

[@tvlkn9130]

Was big into 'OiNK' back in the day, introduced me to so much amazing music. Such a great community

[@bepstein111]

@14:49 shoutout to my freshman year dorm in the background of that photo! Emerson College is right around the corner from the Free Software Foundation, who I assume hosted the DRM demonstration

[@scientificidiot4165]

This is piracy in my opinion, many times the pirated material would never have been purchased even if piracy was not an option. Part of this interestingly enough is a decent evidence based case that those who appreciate the works of a person will give money through services like patreon just in order to support the creators they like, i hope open source is the new go to for most things with crowd funding on the most popular things.

[@genghiskhan6688]

>japan this, japan that lmao weeaboo BTW your videos have been turning funnier and funnier. Your delivery is just the best.

[@EricMurphyxyz]

Thanks, appreciate it! And yeah I used to be a major weeb as a teenager

[@monochrome_linux]

@@EricMurphyxyzthere is no such thing was "was a weeb" or "used to be a weeb". once a degenerate weeb, always a degenerate weeb. - Fellow weeb

[@ChucksSEADnDEAD]

The whole "Japanese release" thing is probably because in general it would be cheaper to import CDs to Japan than buying them domestically so labels had a Japan-only release with something extra to entice buyers.

[@fosres]

Great thumbnail! I like how you're videos are educational and fun.

[@masterelf12]

Torrenting was a BIG part of our childhoods, nothing like downloading fraps actually free version and not having to deal with that 30 second limit

[@nowonmetube]

I wish there was a legal way of everything / history being archived...

[@bustergundo516]

That's the issue. Companies can and will purge what they dont want people to get a hold of.

[@aryanram02]

@@bustergundo516 even if a company isnt cynical, its not cheap to host old stuff forever right? im all for sailing in the high seas but yeah

[@dvdefender]

Lol anytime someone on the internet talks about music piracy as a positive thing, they always mention Trent Reznor. He even went as far as posting one of his movie scores on Rutracker, iirc. Huge respect for the man, one of my favorite artists. But I wonder if his opinion on it is still the same as it was 15 years ago, or he got spoiled with all the work he has done with Beats, Netflix, Pixar and other big companies... Haven't seen him voicing his opinion on piracy in the recent interviews.

[@masterTigress96]

I suspect he is no longer allowed to publicly voice his opinion on piracy as a positive thing after being signed by Beats/Netflix/etc. as that could potentially incentivize or inspire people to pirate those productions that he has been a part of (or more).

[@Squiggy8440]

Here’s the other issue tho. Theres people, like me, who do care, want to contribute but are to broke to even afford buss fair. So, even though you aren’t paying 15 + per site/ app, you’re still going to have to pay up in some way.

[@jackharrow7147]

and you should pirate everything, it's literally no different from going to the library in that case

[@Squiggy8440]

Okay, but where do i go? The pirate bay is touch and go and google basically censors those sites, so even if i try to look, i wont get results

[@theorphanobliterator]

​@jackharrow7147 but you still cant have access to the wide majority of media because you need to be wealthy to enter these exclusive clubs

[@Noctivagus47]

"Remember torrenting?" - Sure, I'm torrenting right now

[@Tampsey]

Father: what do you want to be when you grow up son? son: A PIRATE!!!!!

[@ubcroel4022]

>I don't condone pirating I do, most of the subscription services suck.

[@Dr.Frogerston]

2:53 ⚠BORIS MENTIONED⚠

[@wasserruebenvergilbungsvirus]

I wish I wasn't German so I could use torrents. My sh!tty country is basically the only one where using torrents is harshly fined. Even with VPN you aren't completely safe. I have to use DDL websites for piracy here which are absolute crap.

[@theorphanobliterator]

theres a lot of great DDL sites that download faster than any torrent ive ever used.

[@kerravon4159]

Lol these "secret clubs" sound like _WAAAY_ too much work. I want free software, not a second job.

[@BoganBits]

I have twice experienced a private tracker disappearing on me after accumulating an impressive seed ratio

[@Airiusten]

I think it’s rad that there are private trackers around but it kind of sucks that you have to know someone to get in. As someone who does not know many people having to go and find someone to indulge in my passions like film and television, games, and music frankly sucks. Wish there were easier ways to get in.

[@theorphanobliterator]

its a bunch of snobs trying to cling to some form of exclusivity. why does anyone need to know what a variable bitrate mp3 is? they dont.

[@latuman]

There's always going to be a "what.CD". Always. The community didn't go anywhere. There is always motivation. But it's been ages since I've heard a tracker being seized. Maybe the popularity of streaming eased off the pressure?

[@kazuhira_miller]

okay but why gatekeep these rare music files and not publish them 4 everyone in the internet??

[@prodbyhx]

elitism

[@ENNEN420]

I love private torrent trackers! I love having to butter up a random schizo and giving into his delusions and dealing with their incoherent political rants for an invite! I love waking up to700 new DMs just for an invite so I can find a FLAC of some OST from a game that sold 50k copies! I love it!!!

[@randomchannel1035]

I love all private trackers