Are You Notaninja?

On February 23, 2006 the MPAA issued a press release about various takedown targets to stop file sharing.

Sadly, they are targeting indexing sites, which will essentially do nothing but mildly inconvenience a few people in their search for a specific file. These files are all still out there.

Probably the largest target was the Razorback2 network of eDonkey servers. A few of the articles I have seen talk about how many users and files these servers had stored. Sadly, they all miss the point. These were strictly index servers. They pointed a user to other users with the same file. Which means that at most they incovenienced users who, instead of connecting to a Razorback server, were automatically connected to a different index server and then went about their business.

Every time they target one of the major index sites, several others spring up to replace them. The battle keeps escalating, with the MPAA always at least one step behind. They took down Napster for storing data centrally, up springs several alternatives that no longer do that. They start taking down public index websites and several spring up that require registration. They take down indexing websites and the people turn to non-indexed search methods. Yes, it may make it a little bit more difficult for the truly casual user, but if someone really wants to find something they can still turn to their favorite web search engine or go back to the old ways of getting things. Several spring to mind that I don’t believe have been targeted simply because they are not as easy to use.

I would also argue that all the publicity they generate with their takedowns and lawsuits is detrimental in that the general public finds out that such sites exist. I know that I was barely aware of Napster prior to the lawsuits.

And since I’m having a difficult time closing this, I’ll steal the ending from an article on Ars Technica:

Is the MPAA fighting a battle it can’t hope to win? It depends on the victory conditions. Certainly many of these web sites will be replaced with others, and life will go on; this has happened more than once before in the wake of a major torrent search-site takedown. Of course, most are in agreement that even if the MPAA’s aggressive legal tactics finally manage to put the public realm of piracy under close watch, users will simply move towards private file sharing networks that will allow them to evade detection and unwanted snooping. One must ask, however, if this is not the point. If piracy cannot be eliminated, driving it underground may seem like the next best option.

Although the MPAA’s frustration with piracy facilitators is understandable, the MPAA could better serve its own interests by working to establish a legal alternative to file sharing that can provide consumers with flexible and affordable Internet content delivery capable of meeting the needs of modern consumers.

Been awhile, thought I’d put together a little jingle.

For background music to put the words too, use “Lazy Sunday” by SNL….

Stupid Monday, woke up for work,
Wrote to Kevbo, told him my boss was a jerk,
Hello, whaddup K, yo Goofdawg what’s rockin’,
You feeling da vibe, yes sir, let’s write somethin shockin’,
But first, let me think, breakfast is needed now,
Let’s see if the fridge has some food, or if Ev ate all the chow,
The apartment is bare, but Ev hasn’t been here all week,
He an Drew left town, to the ‘rents they left to seek,
So where the food be at, we just bought it yesterday,
We need a meal before work, or else we shall pay,
The cupboards are empty, the shelves they are bare,
So who took the food when we the only ones there,
A bug comes along, step on that sucker,
Now I know where the food has gone, damn those little fuckers,
It musta been those cock(what!) roaches of uptown,
We hate those cock(what!) roaches of uptown,
Let’s kill them cock(what!) roaches of uptown,

We stop at the store, to pick up the bug spray,
You gonna die little bugs, we shall make ya pay,
Don’t forget the ants, and the mice are suspicous,
for taking all the food, yes it musta been delicious,
Hold out the can, shake it up for effect,
Sprayed it at the ants, and where they have crept,
Placed out the mousetraps, I hope I hear them SNAP,
Brings smiles to my face, while I take another crap,
In the bathroom y’know, with the Norman Rockwell,
Whoever decorated it like that, must be crazy as hell,
Killing what we find, and finding what we killing,
The ones left behind, are apparently illin’,
So as I went to bed, our work has been finished,
The pests in that place, we thought we had diminished,
When I awoke to screaming, it got up everybody in the place,
A bug had landed on Kevbo, while he slept, on his face,
It musta been those cock(what!) roaches of uptown,
We hate those cock(what!) roaches of uptown,
Let’s kill them cock(what!) roaches of uptown,
The damn cock(what!) roaches of uptown.

Goof Out

Hey, it’s review time, so please feel free to use the following comments while writing your reviews. They should go well with HR departments.

(1) ”Since my last report, this employee has reached rock
bottom…..and has started to dig.”

(2) ”His men would follow him anywhere, ……. but only out of morbid
curiosity.’

(3) ”I would not allow this employee to breed.”

(4) ”This employee is really not so much of a ‘has-been’, but more of
a definite ‘won’t be’.”

(5) ”Works well when under constant supervision and cornered like a
rat in a trap.”

(6) ”When she opens her mouth, it seems that it is only to change
feet.”

(7) ”He would be out of his depth in a parking lot puddle.”

(8) ”This young lady has delusions of adequacy.”

(9) ”He sets low personal standards and then consistently fails to
achieve them.”

(10) ”This employee is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot.”

(11) ”This employee should go far, ….. and the sooner he starts, the
better.”

(12) ”Got a full 6-pack, but lacks the plastic thing to hold it all
together.”

(13) ”A gross ignoramus-144 times worse than an ordinary ignoramus.”

(14) ”He certainly takes a long time to make his pointless.”

(15) ”He doesn’t have ulcers, but he’s a carrier.”

(16) ”I would like to go hunting with him sometime.”

(17) ”He’s been working with glue too much.”

(18) ”He would argue with a signpost.”

(19) ”He has a knack for making strangers immediately detest him.”

(20) ”He brings a lot of joy whenever he leaves the room.”

(21) ”When his IQ reaches 50, he should sell.”

(22) ”If you see two people talking and one looks bored, ….. he’s
the other one.”

(23) ”A photographic memory but with the lens cover glued on.”

(24) ”A prime candidate for natural deselection.”

(25) ”Donated his brain to science before he was done using it.”

(26) ”Gates are down, the lights are flashing, but the train isn’t
coming.”

(27) ”Has two brains: one is lost and the other is out looking for
it.”

(28) ”If he were any more stupid, he’d have to be watered twice a
week.”

(29) ”If you give him a penny for his thoughts, you’d get change.”

(30) ”If you stand close enough to him, you can hear the oceans.”

(31) ”It’s hard to believe that he beat 1,000,000 other sperm to the
egg.”

(32) ”One neuron short of a synapse.”

(33) ”Some drink from the fountain of knowledge;….. he only
gargled.”

(34) ”Takes him 2 hours to watch 60 minutes.”

(35) ”The wheel is turning, but the hamster is dead.”

Goof Out