Newzbin2 Closes For Good 204
AlphaWolf_HK writes "Newzbin2, one of the most recognized index sites for usenet, has closed for good. A statement reads: 'It is with regret that we announce the closure of Newzbin2. A combination of several factors has made this the only option. For a long time we have struggled with poor indexing of Usenet, poor numbers of reports caused by the majority of our editors dropping out & no-one replacing them. Our servers have been unstable and crashing on a regular basis meaning the NZBs & NFOs are unavailable for long periods and we don't have the money to replace them. To make things worse all our payment providers dropped out or started running scared. The MPA sued Paypal and are going at our innocent payment provider Kthxbai Ltd in the UK. Our other payment provider has understandably lost their nerve. Result? We have no more payment providers to offer & no realistic means of taking money (no, Bitcoin isn't credible as it's just too hard for 90% of people).'"
Censorship (Score:5, Insightful)
Corporations do it better than governments ever could.
No reason not to release codebase as open source (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Censorship (Score:5, Insightful)
Make no mistake about it, this IS the government doing it. What happened is the government has effectively given the MPAA governing powers.
The whole reason ACTA is currently law is because Hollywood basically purchased Obama. If he ran it through the houses, as is required in the constitution, it wouldn't have passed due to the recent furor over SOPA. So, he just ignored the constitution and signed it anyways. If you need proof, look here:
http://www.ustr.gov/acta [ustr.gov]
http://www.ustr.gov/webfm_send/1862 [ustr.gov] (PDF)
http://www.ustr.gov/webfm_send/1740 [ustr.gov] (PDF)
All of those "free" poses, endorsements, and photo shoots from Hollywood celebrities weren't actually free, and Obama knew that. He had to take care of those who got him elected in order to get re-elected. This is the "change" that many "hoped" for.
Aye, dreadful (Score:2, Insightful)
Very true, Google Groups must be the most atrocious service in existence from a major provider. If one of my students created something that appalling for a project they'd be very lucky to get through. It provides neither good functionality nor good aesthetics. The only adjective that comes to mind is "primitive", and given that this is a Google service, also "pathetic". Google should really be ashamed of their incompetence.
But nobody cares.
Re:Seriously (Score:2, Insightful)
Usenet is now widely used for broadcasting unauthorized copies of copyrighted material. Something like a gigabyte digitized movie would be split unto 100's of Usenet posts. One way to get the movie would be to manually find and download these 100's of posts one by one. Another way is with an automated client that would get an index file pointing to the 100's of Usenet posts, and use the index file ot retrieve the individual posts without manual attention. Putting the index file together required sitting around monitoring Usenet feeds figuring out what was what, distinguishing them from spam, etc. So where did the index files come from? Well there was a commercial company doing it, called newzbin2, the one you asked about. But it is now shut down.
Re:Censorship (Score:5, Insightful)
You talk as if loving the constitution is a bad thing.
I don't identify as right wing. In fact, I don't really like the titles of left or right. They make people take sides as if they were fans of a football team instead of thinking individually about individual issues. Sadly, that is all that the elections have turned in to, and why I have reservations about even bothering to vote, because the issues aren't even important. Why, for example, was Romney's dog a major issue?
Like most, you've bought into it. Just because I'm against Obama, you automatically identify me as the enemy.
I voted for Jeff Flake (for being anti-SOPA and anti-earmarks) and basically ignored the rest of the ballot.
Re:Censorship (Score:5, Insightful)
No, the government censors. DMCA? We're not allowed to talk about breaking digital locks. If you do, you go to jail. The MPAA themselves cannot put you into jail, but they can force the government's hand thanks to that law.
The MPAA can sue you as well. But ultimately, how do they collect? They can't just go to your home and start taking your belongings and drain your bank account. They need a court order for that. The government makes that possible, and they send in the police to take it and hand it over.
Re:Censorship (Score:5, Insightful)
The problem is that he is actually right.
Don't get me wrong. I'm certainly not a right-winger and very much pro-Obama, mostly due to lacking any sensible alternatives. When you're faced with the choice between shooting and stoning, shooting is still the less painful alternative. But to be successful as a politician in the US (at least if you're running for anything above local level) you need backers who stuff your war purse. You need people who buy you and who of course expect you to act in their interest.
In the US, you have the choice between two hookers for prez. Problem is, they won't blow you, you're just the poor idiot who gets to swallow the crap.
Re:Censorship (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Censorship (Score:3, Insightful)
The MPAA can sue you as well. But ultimately, how do they collect? They can't just go to your home and start taking your belongings and drain your bank account.
And it's the government that stops that from being possible.
Your point?
Re:Censorship (Score:5, Insightful)
very much pro-Obama, mostly due to lacking any sensible alternatives.
It's not sensible to support Obama either. He's every bit as corrupt as Romney would have been. If you voted for Obama, you voted to continue the farce. Shame on you.
Re:Censorship (Score:3, Insightful)
"I have this feeling that whoever's elected president, no matter what promises you make on the campaign trail - blah, blah, blah - when you win, you go into this smoky room with the twelve industrialist, capitalist scumfucks that got you in there, and this little screen comes down... and it's a shot of the Kennedy assassination from an angle you've never seen before, which looks suspiciously off the grassy knoll.... And then the screen comes up, the lights come on, and they say to the new president, 'Any questions?'
"Just what my agenda is."
Re:Censorship (Score:3, Insightful)
And that's the kind of comment idiots always make, if you disagree with someone just make him go away with a label. I might be classified as right wing but I do find myself agreeing with the so called left sometimes and then there are times I think both sides have it wrong. I think the current political climate enables all kinds of abuse because people are so divided they focus on each other rather than how our leaders are selling us all out. I was never a big fan of President Bush but most of what I disliked about his administration has been continued by President Obama. I actually wish President Obama was a better liberal because at least we might then have been able to get rid of the worst abuses of the Patriot Act.
Re:Censorship (Score:0, Insightful)
I concur with your first sentence and that of the GP that Obama was influenced by Hollywood money.
That said, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act is real.
Washington D.C. still has three Planned Parenthood locations open.
Iraq may have been a disaster, but we did not cut and run.
Bin Laden is very dead.
The estimated 32,000 women who were impregnated by rape last year still have options.
These things may not be as important to you as downloading the latest Anime, but they are to me. I want a President that protects all our rights, but I can't have one. This one seems to be managing a decent subset.
Colbert 2016!