In early 2003, the members of several file-sharing news sites, ZeroPaid, Slyck and P2PForums, were greeted by an interesting press release. The press release was issued by an unknown organization dubbed “EarthStation5.com.” The client was released to the public a few months later in June. Amid much fan fair, the name “EarthStation 5” quickly spread across various file-sharing forums. With its assurance of anonymity and popularity of its name, EarthStation 5 (ES5) was off to a promising start.
The Company
In ES5’s initial emails, it described their workforce as a mix of ethnically various individuals.
“Our group is made up of many people, Jordanians, Palestinians, Indians, Americans, Russians and Israelis. Some of us are Jewish, some Christians, some Hindus and other of us are Muslim.”
“Believe it or not, we all love and respect each other.”
“We all work and play together. Our families on many occasions eat at the same dinner table. We trust each other and are very close friends with each other. As a group, the most important thing in our life is our children, our families and love ones and of course our friends.”
EarthStation 5 separated itself from other file-sharing companies by visibly and publicly thumbing their noses at the copyright industry. In the United States, such a position might prove to be a certain death sentence for any other file-sharing firm, however ES5 claimed one advantage. They claimed to operate in the city of Jenin, which is located in the West Bank (Palestine.) In addition, the company is incorporated in the Pacific island of Vanuatu.
On August 19, 2003, ES5 “declared war” against the RIAA and MPAA. The declaration, stated in a press release, was in response to a DMCA violation notice received by the company. At the time, ES5 was providing music and theatrically released movies in streaming format.
In response to the email received today from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) to Earthstation 5 for copyright violations for streaming FIRST RUN movies over the internet for FREE, this is our official response!
Earthstation 5 is at war with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Record Association of America (RIAA), and to make our point very clear that their governing laws and policys have absolutely no meaning to us here in Palestine, we will continue to add even more movies for FREE.
While the initial emails implied ES5 had an impressive workforce, it appeared that only three individuals ran the show. They were: Ras Kabir, President, “File Hoover”, lead programmer, and SharePro, forum administrator.
Read the complete story @ Slyck News
