U Can See “American Gangster” Today
Posted on Oct 24, 2007 in National Issues
You can see Ridley Scott’s new film American Gangster, staring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, right now. No, it won’t be released in US theaters until next month. No, it’s not a trailer, and it’s not a trick. It’s the top download over at The Pirate Bay. Is this safe? Should you do it? What else is over at Pirate Bay? The top ten downloads at The Pirate Bay at the time of this posting were: American Gangster I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry Harry Potter And The Order Of The PhoenixPirates Of The Caribbean-At World's End
Ratatouille
License To Wed
Transformers
Heroes (TV show).
Pirated movies aren’t new. The authorities periodically try to shut down TPB, and sometimes they get sued. Prince sued them for pirated music last month.
However, TPB fights back -- they’ve got plans in place to be back up and running within hours, not days, of any shutdown at this point. Pirated movies at TPB are here to stay, apparently.
And, they have a page on their website where they post all the “cease and desist” letters and other copyright infringement threats they receive along with their admittedly rude responses.
In May 2007, TPB got hacked -- and the files identifying those who had used TPB services were taken. Yes, you have to sign in as a user to download and if you have done so before May 2007, then some hacker somewhere may know who you are … along with the other 1.5 million users. TPB reassures everyone, though, that all the info was encrypted so you shouldn’t lose any sleep over the hacking incident.
Should you use TPB?
Bottom line, right now users of TPB appear to be safe from prosecution. However, lots of money is being lost through TPB and since TPB is a Swedish group, it’s a lot easier for Americans to sue Americans in an American court. There's a risk here. Someday, someone is going to stop dealing with the Swedish guys and figure out how to go after the users.
Plus, it’s stealing, after all. Theft. TPB users are thieves, there’s no way around that plain fact. Just buy a ticket and support Americans making more movies, not some Swedish guys who are having lots of fun.
