This time it may be for good – at least in Canada that is.
It was about a month and a half ago that Demonoid was shut down due to apparent pressure by the Canadian Recording Industry Association(CRIA). The site reappeared a few days later, but was forced to begin blocking Canadian visitors.
Now it seems that the CRIA has successfully pressured Demonoid’s ISP into discontinuing its rental of servers to the very popular BitTorrent tracker site.
A message on the site now reads:
The CRIA threatened the company renting the servers to us, and because of this it is not possible to keep the site online. Sorry for the inconvenience and thanks for your understanding.
Apparently blocking Canadian visitors was not enough. But, shouldn’t it be legal in Canada if it technically complies with Canadian copyright laws? As usual the CRIA doesn’t seem to care and Demonoid will no doubt be forced to pack up and move elsewhere once again. Maybe Sweden will be its next stop.
What’s interesting to also note is that the CRIA has been reduced to little more than a front for foreign music interests. After the much publicized departure of virtually all canadian music labels last year following a dispute over radio content rules and grant programs for emerging artists, it became truly apparent to all that the “C” in the CRIA means anything but Canadian these days and should instead read “Cartel” to accurately describe its desire to control the supply and demand of all things music. At the very least it ought to drop the “C” and add an “A,” for all it is is a foreign subsidiary of the RIAA.
Yet, despite all this the CRIA is allowed to throw its weight around in Canada and to pressure ISPs to shut down sites even if they seem to comply with Canadian laws. So much for national sovereignty and net neutrality.
The move also goes against the results of a study funded by the CANADIAN GOVT no less that concluded that P2P and file-sharing services actually increase physical CD sales. The Impact of Music Downloads and P2P File-Sharing on the Purchase of Music: A Study For Industry Canada, a a newly commissioned study by Industry Canada, a ministry of the federal government, includes some of the most extensive surveying to date on the music purchasing habits of the Canadian population.
Conducted by Birgitte Andersen and Marion Frenz of the Department of Management at the University of London in England, the study concludes that illegal file-sharing does not cause a decrease in music sales as the music industry has insisted all along. In fact, it does just the opposite, in that it apparently tends to actually INCREASE music purchasing.
"Our review of existing econometric studies suggests that P2P file-sharing tends to decrease music purchasing," says the study. "However, we find the opposite, namely that P2P file-sharing tends to increase rather than decrease music purchasing."
Apparently the results of the survey are irrelevant to the CRIA who still seem to be suffering from the delusion that each illegal music download represents a lost physical sale. It’s reminiscent of what the what the general manager of the Australian music industry’s anti-piracy unit, Music Industry Piracy Investigations (MIPI), said recently in that "It’s not rocket science to work out that if you get your music for free, why would you go out and buy it." But, it only proves that it understands file-sharing about as much as they understand rocket science.
It’s not as rare an occurrence as the music industry might think for file-sharers to go out and actually buy a physical album they have already downloaded for free online. Why? It’s called supporting the artist for one, but also to make sure they have a high-quality version to listen to. Not every music file available online is encoded at 320kbps or in .FLAC format. The norm is usually 192kbps, and if you really dig the album it probably won’t cut it when you try to crank it up on your home theater system.
Plus, not every artist is available online or would be something you would normally be exposed too. Being that I live in the United States it’s not like I get to hear about new artists in other countries. P2P allows me to grab a track or an album and get more involved in the UK music scene for example. It also gives me a reason to go out and see bands from there when they pass through town. How does this not benefit the music industry?
Do they really want music to remain a dumbed down industry where it consists of radio, MTV’s TRL, and Wal-Mart? Judging by the pressure it’s placed on Demonoid’s ISP I think we all know the answer to this one.
Looking for more stuff to watch or download?
Canadian Gov’t Study: P2P Increases CD Sales
Has Demonoid Been Shut Down by the CRIA?
Demonoid Back Online, But Blocking Canadian Users
Tips on how to not get busted for file-sharing
3 Quick Ways to Watch Movies for FREE!
3 quick ways to watch TV shows for FREE
BitTorrent torrent sites & search engines
uTorrent – A Beginner’s guide to BitTorrent downloading
TVLinks Alternatives for Free TV Shows & Movies
News Tip? Comment? Suggestion? jared@zeropaid.com
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this may be a good thing for Canadians casue not maybe Demonoid might move their servers to a different country and start allowing Canadian users to access the site! …..Maybe
@MrGonxo
Oddly enough u may be right although it was pretty easy to still visit the site via a proxy of course.
I’m pretty sure Demonoid will come back. I hope they find a safer country than Canada to host from.
This is bullshit. I really hope sweden never gives into the bs other countries have. If I ran a country and some bastard from the RIAA called me up and said “this violates US copyright law #190342342 (some made up number)… I would laugh and tell him to kiss my ass. I think it’s ridiculous that the US thinks it owns the world… and that every country must obey it’s law. Canada should be ashamed. If I were in government there I’d have the CRIA shut down.
Well it’s not always that simple jamyour41. U.S. movie and music lobbies probably knows how to press you where it hurts.. or at least the assumption is such. For example they pressured Russia to clamp down on piracy (allofmp3.com) if they’re to be inducted into WTO. Here’s an article that talks about it:
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20061128/141547.shtml
this is bullshit…is the CRIA full of illiterates? or don’t they ever read the news? haven’t they seen the research in their own country that says p2p ENHANCES sales? screw that retarded bunch i hope demonoid moves to sweden once and for all.
Unfortunately with Canada having such a close if unwanted connection with the US if the US says jump financially Canada does they know that if the US decided to REALLY put the pressure on they could make life difficult and for the CRIA to pressure an ISP to shut down a website that while technically legal is unfortunately involved in a legal ‘grey area’ the Canadian gov’t and the ISP aren’t going to cry too loudly self preservation again a fantastic motivator. As you say Demonoid may just move abroad which would solve a few problems on one level but which would create problems on another would they have to move the WHOLE operation to Sweden or could they run it from Canada and use servers in Sweden this still involves Canadian ISP’s controlling the Swedish servers catch 22 it seems. A shame though and a sad loss as Demonoid was clean (no porn no dodgy ad’s etc.) and probably one of the safest to use.
Those bastards….
Recording artists hate the sound of 192 KB/s .mp3 files. Even CD is a bit ruff as the doggie said when asked it’s opinion.
@rfbgb
Took the words right outta my mouth.
noooo…
I am not sure how the US became the police of the WTO but it seems since many other countries out there are involved they should all stand up for their own laws and tell the US if they want their goods they will let them do what the hell they want in their own country. Besides the US is the biggest IMPORTER in the world not exporter. We need them. Without the other countries we would be sunk. They control things not us. Besides I am tired of my tax dollars going to tell other countries what the hell to do. The Government shouldn’t be lackies for the RIAA and MPAA.
Yeah but the MPAA and RIAA have the money to grease the wheels of our government. It’s not about being a lackey.. it’s about greed on the government and the industry side.
Also U.S. may be be the biggest importer in the world but as far as music and movies go it’s probably the biggest exporter.
I hope that this serves as a lesson for any OTHER torrent site that thinks that simply blocking access to certian users in other countries is going to get the authorities off their back!
I thought it was stupid back when they started blocking canadian users and I think it is stupid now! It didn’t do them any good! Meanwhile a lot of people were shut out of the site just because they lived in Canada.
Either MOVE to a country that does not give a fuck about copyright or take your chances where you are….but DON’T make your site inaccessable to users just because they live in another country. That little trick did not work. You cannot appease those bastards so don’t even try.
Same goes for the RIAA and MPAA as well as the CRIA.
Great big FUCK CANADA from me to our northern neighbor. I can’t wait to see the new file sharing protocol those PB guys are working on.
still hoping that somehwere on this green earth is a country that would let p2p work fine! i hope thats not asing for too much according to history every new technology is met wit resistance until those resisting find it usefull to their own benefit…and we should all know that p2p isn’t just about demonoidtrrntspy or some other great site or the app they use…so all the law suits and pressure can be applied but there is always another way…
“Great big FUCK CANADA from me to our northern neighbor. I can’t wait to see the new file sharing protocol those PB guys are working on.”
What the hell do you have against Canada moron? Fuck you.
Hey meyou you little faggot bitch I said FUCK YOUR COUNTRY that means you and your mother too when I find the bitch I will make her suck it and bitch slap your ass and make you say thank you with every shove.
Demonoid forum is up.