Why the Newzbin ruling helps web hosts

@Richard Jukes

Well Google use web crawlers to build their search database. They don't employ "editors" to build it for them. Google do have a functional "notice and takedown" process. Google do no encourage people to download copyrighted material. Google do not take money for doing so. So Google and other search engines comply with the law.

The "Google do it" argument is popular among freetards, but it is nonsensical. Google and other mainstream search engines index everything they can find on the web. That's all they are, big automated web indexers. Copyright law like any law relies to an extent on intent. The court found that there was clear evidence that Newzbin intended to assist in copyright infringement and to profit therefrom. Where is the evidence that Google set out with intent to assist in copyrigt infringement.

Next you'll be telling me that the Highway's agency are breaking the law because they have created a road network that allows people to drive in a manner that breaks the law.

@LAGMonkey

Newzbin aren't the only ones. Look at thepiratebay, their arrogance was (and continues to be) staggering. Either these people believe that the law is other than it is, or they have a peculiar view of morality and a belief that the law will reflect their moral beliefs.

Of course there are a lot of people out there with a curious view of morality. For example there are those who think it's immoral that some of us go out to work and earn money to buy nice things and it is therefore moral for them to break steal that property. Some people are surprised to learn that many thieves do believe they are morally in the right even when they know they are legally in the wrong, but this is in fact the case.

Thanks for the effort, though it doesn't clear much for me.

But then I'm a bit of a techie, and look at how it works: This thing indexes, but does not host. Therefore, not infringing. Trying to divine ``intent'' is what makes law murky, and in my limited opinion, needlessly so. But then lawyers need to eat, too.

But alright, if this is in fact what you say it is, namely a message saying that with a working takedown and no sillyness about how silly the law is you're home free, then well, I might accept that. Except that it also shows just how finnicky the law is. And in my techie mind, needlessly so.

Plus that whatever the law says and quite regardless of what moral viewpoints you could take regarding infringing of the law including based on original intent of the law, the copyright holding conglomerates have long since lost my respect by their repeated display of utter greed and contempt for their revenue generators, nee customers. And that is still perfectly legal. It may not be so legally but it certainly feels like industrial scale abuse of law. That recently made it explicitly into someone's business model to boot.

It doesn't exactly fill me with a warm fuzzy feeling of trust in the system. Spelt more accurately thus: The certainty they'll find new innovative ways to screw over the common man makes me want to puke.

Personally having read the verdict...

I think the MPA kinda dupped the judge into thinking life without newzbin would be much worth than it really is.

Ok so newzbin points you to files where normally you would have to use a bit more time finding the files, but it's not like you would have to read every header and indiviually select each one.

Supersearch for example would search the headers for you and whilst maybe not quite as accurate could give similar results.

Caseium (or however you spell it), has talked about moving away from editors to an automated process for a while, it will be interesting to see where newzbin goes next and how it effects the other nzb index services.