The RIAA reveals its next target – Usenet

Intellectual Property, Internet
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It’s been the biggest mystery of the modern internet era – why have none of the anti-piracy campaigns bothered targeting usenet? The level of piracy on the “newsgroup” scene dwarfs the amount of movies and music available on newer file-sharing systems and Bittorrent, with hardcore web users swearing by the anonymous usenet system. It’s simple and fast, with decent news servers storing vast piles of material.

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It might all be about to end. The RIAA has aimed its latest legal WAR at web-based usenet access provider Usenet.com, claiming the site offers “the same functionality” as P2P software.

If you’re not aware of usenet this won’t be much of a worry. But for the internet old school who grew up on it, it’ll be a total disaster if the system is brought down. Usenet isn’t just about stealing episodes of Heroes and watching Michelle Ryan in Bionic Woman before you’re supposed to – there are thousands of discussion groups that give the system a legitimate right to exist.

Hopefully the glory days of usenet aren’t about to come to an end – there’s nothing finer than maxing out your internet connection on a decent download.

(Via Ars Technica)

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Gary Cutlack
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