TorrentFreak Email Update |
| When Guided by Google, Legal Music is Quicker Than Piracy Posted: 13 Jul 2014 03:39 AM PDT
The argument is that Google should take responsibility for what the wider Internet is doing by doctoring its search results and AutoSuggest/AutoComplete features in order to promote legal content while relegating pirate sources to the poor leagues. The record labels claim that little has happened on this front so we decided to carry out some tests of our own. How quickly could we find both legal and illegal popular music using only Google’s search and suggestions? The rules Searching for the current Billboard Top 10, we carried out two searches for each track. One would aim to find infringing content and the other only legal options. We entered no more letters of a song than needed and stopped when Google began guiding us with its AutoSuggest options which we accepted. Any more than ten keypresses or clicks overall would be classed as an abort. Track #1 – Fancy – Iggy Azalea Featuring Charli XCX Search for unauthorized download Google Search Entry – “fancy_” Total keypresses and clicks before listening = 9 Search for authorized track Google Search Entry – “fan” Total keypresses and clicks before listening = 5 Winner: Legal option (VEVO/YouTube) ————————————————————————————— #2 Rude – MAGIC! Search for unauthorized download Google Search entry – “rud” Total keypresses and clicks before listening = 6 Search for authorized track Google Search entry – “rud” Total keypresses and clicks before listening = 5 Winner: Legal option (VEVO/YouTube) ————————————————————————————— #3 Problem – Ariana Grande Featuring Iggy Azalea Search for unauthorized download Google Search Entry – “probl” Total keypresses and clicks before listening = 7 Search for authorized track Google Search Entry – “prob” Total keypresses and clicks before listening = 5 Winner: Legal option (VEVO/YouTube) ————————————————————————————— #4 – Am I Wrong – Nico & Vinz Search for unauthorized download Google Search entry – “am_” Total keypresses and clicks before listening = 6 Search for authorized track Google Search entry – “am i w” Total keypresses and clicks before listening = 8 Winner: Pirate option (MP3Skull) ————————————————————————————— #5 Stay With Me – Sam Smith Search for unauthorized download Google Search entry – “stay_w” Total keypresses and clicks before listening = 9 Search for authorized track Google Search entry – “stay” Total keypresses and clicks before listening = 5 Winner: Legal option (VEVO/YouTube) ————————————————————————————— #6 Wiggle – Jason Derulo Featuring Snoop Dogg Search for unauthorized download Google Search entry – “wigg” Total keypresses and clicks before listening = 7 Search for authorized track Google Search entry – “wig” Total keypresses and clicks before listening = 5 Winner: Legal option (VEVO/YouTube) ————————————————————————————— #7 – Summer – Calvin Harris Search for unauthorized download Google Search entry – “summer_” Total keypresses and clicks before listening = Aborted (more than 10) Search for authorized track Google Search entry – “sum” Total keypresses and clicks before listening = 5 Winner: Legal option (VEVO/YouTube) ————————————————————————————— #8 All Of Me – John Legend Search for unauthorized download Google Search entry – “all_o” Total keypresses and clicks before listening = 8 Search for authorized track Google Search entry – “all_of_me_j” Total keypresses and clicks before listening = 13 Winner: Pirate option (MP3Fon) ————————————————————————————— #9 – Maps – Maroon 5 Search for unauthorized download Google Search entry – “maps_maro” Total keypresses and clicks before listening = 12 Search for authorized track Google Search entry – “maps_m” Total keypresses and clicks before listening = 8 Winner: Legal option (VEVO/YouTube) ————————————————————————————— #10 – Turn Down For What – DJ Snake & Lil Jon Search for unauthorized download Google Search entry – “turn_d” Total keypresses and clicks before listening = 9 Search for authorized track Google Search entry – “turn” Total keypresses and clicks before listening = 6 Winner: Legal option (VEVO/YouTube) Conclusions From the above results we can see that when using only a song title and then taking Google’s suggestions, most of the time those searching for pirate content will take longer to access it than those looking to go legal. However, what we’re talking about here is a difference of a handful of clicks, which is hardly the accessibility chasm the RIAA and BPI were aiming for. Pressuring Google and sending millions of DMCA takedown notices every month appears to have had little effect on pirate availability. Also, it’s also worth noting that if the YouTube/Vevo results were ignored in our tests or removed from Google results altogether, finding legal alternatives would become much harder since iTunes and similar sites are rarely, if ever, on the first page of Google results following either a ‘pirate’ or ‘legal’ search for music. Google has told the record labels that they need to do something about that themselves, by making their sites more crawlable, but it appears that security concerns have hindered progress on that front to the point that sites like MP3Skull with relatively tiny budgets can beat them at every turn. It’s difficult to blame anyone but the labels and their partners for that problem. Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.    |
| Pirate Bay Requests Support For Its Imprisoned Founders Posted: 12 Jul 2014 12:24 PM PDT
At the start of this weekend the torrent site decided to feature something a little more personal. The site currently displays a banner asking visitors to send their support to two of the site’s original founders. Gottfrid Svartholm and Peter Sunde are both in prison at the moment and could use an uplifting note or two, the message suggests. “Show your support by sending them some encouraging mail! Gottfrid is only allowed to receive letters while Peter gladly received books, letter and vegan candy,” the TPB team writes.  Peter Sunde is serving the sentence he received for his involvement with The Pirate Bay. He’s being held in a high security prison in Västervik and recently requested a transfer to a lower safety class unit. Gottfrid Svartholm has already served his Pirate Bay sentence but currently stands accused in Denmark of hacking into the mainframe computers of IT company CSC. He faces up to five years in prison and his trial will start in two months. When Gottfrid served his Pirate Bay sentence in Sweden he also received numerous letters and cards. He later sent a video out to thank everyone for the support he received. "I would like to thank everyone who has supported me in any way, very much, it has meant a lot to me,” Gottfrid said at the time. "I don't have the time or the possibility to answer many of the letters but you should know that I read each and every one of them and it has really helped me a lot.” — For those who can’t read the image above, the addresses for Gottfrid and Peter are as follows. Gottfrid Svartholm Warg Peter Sunde Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.   |
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