Giganews is still dandy and sickbeard doesn't require nzbmatrix to operate. No manual process here.

12/9/2012 8:47:23 PM

How does sickbeard find the shows that aren't being listed by name anymore?

12/9/2012 9:04:57 PM

They are on multiple indexes. Nzbmatrix was just one. Sickbeard uses a few others for grabbing shows. No one's stopped uploading shows with names.

12/9/2012 11:05:03 PM

Quote :

"No one's stopped uploading shows with names."

Ummm...ok.

Credibility -1000

And if any targeted show is being put up on any index site, that's just making the DMCA Lawyers' jobs that much easier for them. Eventually they will all die, or be pointless to anyone that doesn't use a usenet provider that ignores takedown requests.

12/9/2012 11:51:03 PM

^Ummm...ok what? Everyone's still uploading per usual. Just because nzbmatrix went down doesn't mean the multitude of other index sites (private/public) are down.

I mean not to mention the DMCA really only has authority in the US. There's index sites run outside the US you know.

[Edited on December 9, 2012 at 11:55 PM. Reason : s]

12/9/2012 11:55:37 PM

Quote :

"Everyone's still uploading per usual."

That's just not even remotely true, and if you think that's what's happening you clearly haven't been paying attention to the state of things.

Quote :

"There's index sites run outside the US you know."

This isn't about the index sites. As has been said multiple times by multiple people, the index sites aren't what's important here. If somebody uploads a show or a movie and 10 minutes later it gets removed from 99% of the servers out there it doesn't matter what country your index site is in, people won't be able to download it.

Which leaves uploaders with two choices. They can upload things as normal, allow them to be indexed and easily found by all the users (and lawyers) and removed almost instantly, or they can take whatever measures required to hide their content from the lawyers and let people try to find it on their own. The indexing sites are becoming the enemy here by "tattling" out where the shows are being posted.

I'm not disputing that your setup works, for now. But I can't see how it will work for much longer. Unless more usenet providers start ignoring DMCA takedown requests, or everybody switches to the (seemingly one and only) provider that does, NZB sites, indexers and services like supersearch are going to be useless and die off.

12/10/2012 12:21:40 AM

I think you're being overly pessimistic but we'll see.

12/10/2012 12:23:42 AM

It's not pessimism, it's the reality of what's already happening.

12/10/2012 12:31:14 AM

Quote :

"I rarely use index sites or search engines and have taken to downloading the headers manually for the few groups I follow. It's a small time consuming process (10-15 minutes per day) but it does allow me to see everything that's posted and download the "coded" things that are there but not indexed due to them not having a proper name. So far it's worked for me and I have been able to get all the shows that I watch without too much hassle. But I doubt it's something that most people who are used to the automation of Sickbeard and Couch potato will tolerate."

Could you dive a little more into this? I'm definitely willing to put in the work to get what I'm looking for.

While I will miss the convenience of Sickbeard, I can live.

12/10/2012 8:14:34 AM

I repeat sickbeard works fine. There's a multitude of other index sites out there. Not to mention even if you aren't using Giganews I found sickbeard will grab the files before they are taken down (when I had usenetserver). Another nice feature of having it automated.

12/10/2012 9:57:37 AM

Well, now it's time to get back into the scene...

12/10/2012 10:53:31 AM

Quote :

"Could you dive a little more into this? I'm definitely willing to put in the work to get what I'm looking for. While I will miss the convenience of Sickbeard, I can live."

Sure. Newsgroups aren't really all that different from pop3/smtp email setups. In fact, most of the versions of the popular email clients (Netscape, Outlook Express) from 10 years ago had newsgroup support built in, just because it is so similar. Basically a newsgroup is pretty much like a pop3 mailbox that everyone has permission to access. And just like old school email where you could log on with your dial up account and pull down just the headers (who it was from/the subject/timestamp info/etc) you can do the same thing with newsgroups.

So I use newsleecher to subscribe to about 5-6 different groups. Newsleecher keeps track of when the last time I checked each group was so about once a day I will tell newsleecher to update the headers, which means it goes and downloads information about every single thing that has been posted to that group since the last time I checked. It then groups things together and shows me a list, much like unread emails, of every single thing that is there to be downloaded. For popular groups like a.b.teevee, there averages about 1.5 million headers a day. On my connection I can get about 500,000 headers a minute.

I've been doing this for at least 2 years now, and I find it's a good way to see things that are uploaded that I wouldn't normally be looking for. I've got into several British TV shows this way. Anyway, lately a lot of the shows that are being posted aren't being named properly, and are only identified by a numerical code or ROT-13 cipher. The problem with that is that the indexing sites are still picking up on these coded posts somehow and indexing them as normal so people with automated setups will still get their shows. While they think they are doing a favor to their users, they are really doing a massive disservice to the community as a whole because they are making it very easy for even unlabeled content to be found by the lawyers and removed. But most, if not all shows are eventually posted by individuals and not the mega posters and most of that isn't indexed so it's usually available. But only to people like me that don't use index sites.

Quote :

"I repeat sickbeard works fine. There's a multitude of other index sites out there. Not to mention even if you aren't using Giganews I found sickbeard will grab the files before they are taken down (when I had usenetserver). Another nice feature of having it automated."

Sigh. You really aren't getting it. Of course it works fine for you because your situation is very unique. a) you're using the one usenet provider that doesn't respond to DMCA takedown requests and b) you have retardedly fast internet. I am only able to get 3Mbps where I live so for shows that are being targeted, they literally get deleted before I can download even the non-HD version. Your precious index sites that you won't stop talking about are killing usenet, and now they have become just as much an enemy to the community as the DMCA takedowns are. Individual posters are having to go out of their way to repost content in a way that the index sites can't see. So enjoy your wonderful index sites while they last, because pretty soon it's inevitable that either they will all die off, or they won't have anything left to index because usenet will be dead.

12/10/2012 11:55:35 AM

I think you're missing my point. I'm looking at all the groups/headers I usually d/l from and they're all still being uploaded normally. Even when I wasn't using giganews (usenetserver) I rarely ever had a problem with something being taken down. Sure it's probably due to me grabbing it prior to it being pulled down. All I'm saying is I think you're vastly over estimating the issue.

And how is my situation unique? From the people I know and everyone I read about in forums everyone has multiple index sites they use and they also do it the old fashioned way (updating headers in groups).

You seem to be the one in the unique situation who's having issues. Not me or anyone else I've talked to.

12/10/2012 12:50:58 PM

I'm not having issues. I've been able to download every episode of every show since this started without changing a thing about the way I use usenet. But that's BECAUSE I don't use index sites. You're the one that felt the need to switch to a service that costs 300% more than the one you were using previously. That might not be a big deal to you, but I refuse to do that on principle alone. At that point you're approaching the cost of just getting DirecTV and a DVR.

You keep insisting that index sites are the solution, but I'm telling you they are the problem. The lawyers are using them to automate their takedown requests in the same way that end users use them to find shows. Only people with superfast internet connections will be able to use them to get shows and downloading old episodes is now a thing of the past thanks to these sites.

At this point I'm starting to feel like I'm trying to teach calculus to a dog.

12/10/2012 1:32:59 PM

Quote :

"I'm not having issues. I've been able to download every episode of every show since this started without changing a thing about the way I use usenet. "

So why:

Quote :

"I am only able to get 3Mbps where I live so for shows that are being targeted, they literally get deleted before I can download even the non-HD version. "

Those two statements don't seem to go together...

Quote :

"That might not be a big deal to you, but I refuse to do that on principle alone. At that point you're approaching the cost of just getting DirecTV and a DVR."

Because $25/month is close to DirecTV and a DVR how?

Quote :

"You keep insisting that index sites are the solution, but I'm telling you they are the problem. The lawyers are using them to automate their takedown requests in the same way that end users use them to find shows. Only people with superfast internet connections will be able to use them to get shows and downloading old episodes is now a thing of the past thanks to these sites. "

Yes I understand what you're saying about index sites but from what I understand the DMCA take downs are directly targeting usenet providers based upon what's uploaded. In fact there's been people out there who have proven it's semi-automated. They'll upload non-copyright material with a string similar to a copyrighted movie and it'll get automated taken down without ever being indexed to any indexing site.

I think the point you're missing is they're targeting usenet directly. Not necessarily the index sites. No code will prevent automatic take downs if they re-adjust their scripts to look for the new fields. If you and I can figure out that file A = TV B they sure as hell can do it with these automatic take downs. I'm simply saying index sites aren't necessarily the only problem. It's usenet as a whole.

My dog is very good at calculus.

12/10/2012 1:40:17 PM

Quote :

"Those two statements don't seem to go together..."

It does if you read the part where I said that people are now having to go back in and manually upload versions of the show that are specifically designed to hide from index sites and search engines. I'm saying an automated setup wouldn't work for me because even if I started to download a show the second it got posted, it would get pulled before I had a chance to download it. I am probably in the minority with only having 3Mbps, but even if you had 20Mbps, I can see where if you had two HD shows downloading back to back, the 2nd one would get pulled before you got a chance to download it. I still maintain that automated setups aren't going to work for much longer (assuming that the list of targeted shows keeps growing like it has been)

Quote :

"Because $25/month is close to DirecTV and a DVR how? "

DirecTV plans start at $29.99 a month.

Quote :

"I think the point you're missing is they're targeting usenet directly. Not necessarily the index sites."

Regardless of where they're getting their info, it's still coming from somewhere. Either an index site or a search engine. Perhaps they're making their own index by manually downloading headers. That part doesn't matter, and that's what you continue to not understand. As long as it's possible for you to go to ANY site/service, type in the name of a show, and get a pointer back to where you can download that show, then that content is going to be targeted. At a best case scenario all an index site can tell you is "here's where this content will be available for the next 10-15 minutes" If that's all you expect usenet to be, is an extremely temporary location to download a file, then I guess you're in luck. Personally, I'd prefer that that retention rate you see on the signup page actually meant something.

12/10/2012 2:11:33 PM

Quote :

"Regardless of where they're getting their info, it's still coming from somewhere. "

But from what I've read they're manually updating headers and using text mining to automatically request take downs on file types with copyrighted names in them. Why someone was able to upload a non-copyrighted file with a copyrighted name and it got automatically taken down. My point being indexing sites aren't the issue or even in the picture here. They're directly scanning the headers/groups for copyrighted material. If you or I know code A = TV show A then so will they. It won't matter what they upload them as.

That's just what I read. I could be wrong. I don't know.

12/10/2012 2:54:07 PM

haven't been following the usenet ridiculousness but catching up now as a lot of my downloads have been failing with a very low number of blocks missing and i'm getting angry

the last few posts lead me to believe there is no known fix / workaround yet?

12/10/2012 5:28:08 PM

mpaa/riaa finding matching header names in popular groups, auto downloading and verifying the content would be very fast and effective. so then, you'd say, have the pirates start posting stuff with random names and then have the indexers handle the translation from show to random name. but then the mpaa or whatever could just either download and check everything the brute force way (not really hard given their resources) or they could simply use the same indexers to identify their content to be checked.

so really because the number of usenet providers is so low everyone there is pretty fucked as long as the providers allow the mpaa/riaa the ability to submit instant takedowns on their content.

eventually they'll get it to a science and takedowns will be almost realtime.

the "scene" will probably still be ok to use usenet for distribution if they password encrypt their files and only hand the passwords out to their friends (meaning not you). personally i havent used usenet since torrents came around. even though torrents create a mechanism for tracking what people are stealing that usenet doesnt have, the strength in numbers and the pushback from ISPs on requests from content owners make it relatively safe for the moment. my guess is torrent trackers will be the next target after usenet is taken care of. podunk private trackers would be pretty easy to hit since they arent gonna have the legal means to fight back. then all that would be left is to cleanup the big guys (pirate bay) through systematic legislation in the remaining countries that harbor them.




[Edited on December 10, 2012 at 5:40 PM. Reason : a]

12/10/2012 5:37:36 PM

It's been trending this way for years... private/scene index/searches will be fine. You leachers will just have to suffer, or cough up some dough for a sub.

[Edited on December 10, 2012 at 7:26 PM. Reason : .]

12/10/2012 7:25:03 PM

Quote :

"It's been trending this way for years"

Maybe for child pornographers or other groups that don't feel like operating out in the open, but up until a few months ago you could go to any search engine site and type in the name of any TV show, movie, video game, program, ebook, etc and be downloading it in seconds. What kind of trends are you referring to?

12/10/2012 7:42:03 PM

I don't see why anyone in the scene would choose usenet for distribution. I always assumed those releases showed up the way they did just because someone had access to a top (read: dump) somewhere and was being nice and sharing. Same with the private torrent sites. That content still mostly gets distributed on a ring of ftps and a member probably has a seedbox setup to help out the torrent community or to build a ratio for things he can't get through his archives.

The content isn't going anywhere, it just seems that usenet may not be such a viable delivery option anymore.

12/10/2012 7:56:08 PM

Quote :

"I always assumed those releases showed up the way they did just because someone had access to a top (read: dump) somewhere and was being nice and sharing."

same

12/10/2012 8:02:40 PM

i dont disagree, i just meant that if anyone was still gonna use usenet at all for posting this stuff the masses wouldnt be able to get it and thats the goal of the content owners.

12/10/2012 8:07:23 PM

Quote :

" What kind of trends are you referring to?"

The trend of reality.

12/10/2012 8:43:27 PM

12/10/2012 9:00:42 PM

This is way more trouble than it's worth. I guess this kind of piracy is more for people who live with their mother and don't make enough money at Gamestop to afford a $10 DVD.

12/11/2012 1:05:55 PM

It's not about money. At least for me. It's about convenience. I already pay for cable and most of the content. It's about the interface.

I would easily pay $$$ to replicate my set up from some service but I don't see that happening anytime in the near future. With a nice HTPC + RF Harmony Remote + XBMC the interface and streamlined content is way beyond anything you can get from Tivo, cable, or any type of streaming app/content.

12/11/2012 2:39:35 PM

Quote :

"I would easily pay $$$ to replicate my set up from some service but I don't see that happening anytime in the near future."

It's amazing content providers haven't figured this out. If there was a legal, simple way to have all of my high definition commercial free shows automatically downloaded I would have no problem paying for it.

At some point we have to get away from this antiquated business model and actually use technology.

12/11/2012 8:20:20 PM

Quote :

"This is way more trouble than it's worth."

It's really not that much trouble. Anyone with half a brain should be able to figure out the basics in no time at all. I can understand why it's giving you trouble though.

12/11/2012 8:30:17 PM

Anybody else get the email from Astraweb that they are changing billing and no longer using 2CheckOut? Seems like it could be a precursor of bad news.

12/28/2012 4:16:46 PM

I did. I don't think it's really a bad precursor that a small vendor is no longer using some other small vendor that I'd never heard of.

12/28/2012 4:50:22 PM

How about when this is thrown into the mix?
http://hexus.net/business/news/internet/48493-paypal-cuts-usenet-providers-freezing-accounts/

In addition (not that it surprises me), this is in the privacy policy of the new billing company:

5. If instructed to do so by court order or in compliance with existing laws, personal information about registered users will be made available to law enforcement personnel. If a registered user is suspected of conducting illegal activities, especially if using utilities from this service, information about such activities will be turned over to the proper authorities for investigation.

It just makes me wary of reactivating, though I am tempted to go ahead with it. Any other opinions on this?

12/28/2012 4:57:54 PM

Any sway here between tweaknews and blocknews? I'm leaving Astraweb...

1/27/2013 4:47:28 PM

Anyone else now having trouble with Sickbeard? I was hanging on as long as possible, but now I keep getting errors loading the sick beard index.

nvm, it was a weird problem with one of the shows trying to find a non-existent episode. After a rescan and refresh it's working.

whew.

[Edited on February 3, 2013 at 7:58 PM. Reason : .]

2/3/2013 7:52:42 PM

It's amazing how many other indexes there are out there. I've got 6 providers (including sick beard index) lined up in Sickbeard. It just hits whichever one has the show first. Still haven't encountered a show that won't download.

2/4/2013 12:35:09 PM

Anyone noticed throttling from TWC over the last few weeks?

Was accustomed to downloads in the range of 3.5MB/s - 4.0MB/s. Now I am getting only 1MB/s consistently.

12/12/2013 6:02:31 PM

Are you using SSH? If not, and you're using a service that supports it, try turning that on. Or, again if your service supports it, try a different port number. Maybe TWC is just being lazy and throttling all traffic that comes across port 119 or 563.

12/12/2013 10:25:17 PM

You mean SSL? Yes I am using that along with the alternate ports as well. I have tried a mix of servers/ports on sabnzb with no luck.

12/12/2013 10:30:21 PM

Yeah, I meant SSL. Oh well, that's all the ideas I had.

12/12/2013 11:03:19 PM

Try using an open DNS server if you aren't already.

12/13/2013 10:03:46 AM

Quote :

"Anyone noticed throttling from TWC over the last few weeks?"

I've seen this too (in Gboro)...TWC has gotten to be absolute crap lately.

12/13/2013 1:54:22 PM

does anybody here remember the good ol' days

when newsgroups were used for actual news

12/14/2013 12:32:08 AM

I've been using newsgroups since 1997. And...no.

Always porn.

12/14/2013 2:16:25 AM

I'm talking about the early '90s

long before I actually had an internets connection

12/15/2013 10:34:14 AM

nope, because in the early 90's there was BBS which was used for the same shit.

12/16/2013 1:49:06 AM

Has anyone tried Popcorn Time? (http://getpopcornti.me/)

Basically it's streaming torrents instead of DLing them. Haven't heard anything about it on here.

3/11/2014 6:35:50 AM

That's not relevant to this thread.

3/11/2014 8:56:35 AM

I thought it was because anyone interested in newsgroups for movies/tv may stream torrents as well. Didn't think it was worth a new thread.

3/11/2014 10:53:04 AM