UK Courts move towards blocking access to The Pirate Bay

[Belfaborac]

That's pretty amazing...

[cjr72]

Originally Posted by Belfaborac

That's pretty amazing...

Nothing amazes me anymore when it comes to our Congress Critters... It took me a while to find it but here it is:

http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2004/11/65704

However, under the proposed language, viewers would not be allowed to use software or devices to skip commericals or promotional announcements "that would otherwise be performed or displayed before, during or after the performance of the motion picture"

[plib]

Originally Posted by Belfaborac

PS: it feels slightly surreal to be having a competition about who is the greater luddite...

Actually I'd say the luddites are the ones who aren't using ad and tracking blocking software.

My personal recipe = Firefox + AdblockPlus + Adblock Plus Element Hider + Adblock Plus Popups + NoScript + Better Privacy + Ghostery + Cookie Monster
+ Customize Google

Can't remember the last time I saw an ad. Add the free Malwarebytes scanner and Comodo Firewall programs plus your choice of anti-virus and you can have a much more enjoyable and secure internet experience for zero dollars and about 10 minutes of your time to install.

Doesn't sound luddite to me.

I also have DD-WRT firmware, plus Optware The Right Way and most of frater's scripts, including the adblocking pixelserv script, on my router but that's a little more investment in time, though not dollars - and it does ensure that doubleclick.net is consigned to the ninth circle irretrievably!

If anyone is reasonably computer literate and does have a compatible router, which includes most Linksys/Cisco home routers, Asus, D-Link and Netgear routers, then I would highly recommend looking at the DD-WRT firmware. However flashing third party firmware to your router does have the possibility of bricking it if you don't follow the instructions EXACTLY, so don't use it if you're not confident of your skills. That said, thousands of people do use it with no problem and with frater's OTRW it can turn your $50 router into something much, much more capable. Anyone interested should definitely read the support forums before installing, users with Broadcom chip based routers should probably start that reading with the Peacock Thread. It's a little bit of work to install, but it's well worth it, particularly if you're running a home network behind it.

[Belfaborac]

I have to confess that the last paragraph might (almost) as well have been written in Sanskrit. Anyway, the luddite part was more a reference to my (and spindlegirl's, I assume) unwillingness to partake in today's all-pervasive consumerism and IQ-sapping "entertainment".

[spindlegirl]

Originally Posted by Belfaborac

I have to confess that the last paragraph might (almost) as well have been written in Sanskrit. Anyway, the luddite part was more a reference to my (and spindlegirl's, I assume) unwillingness to partake in today's all-pervasive consumerism and IQ-sapping "entertainment".

Heh, true - I am behind the times on a lot of our consumer culture. I didn't mean the "luddite" thing literally, more of a quirky way of saying I am (deliberately) ignorant of some modern fads due to just blocking some of it out.

[plib]

Originally Posted by Belfaborac

I have to confess that the last paragraph might (almost) as well have been written in Sanskrit. Anyway, the luddite part was more a reference to my (and spindlegirl's, I assume) unwillingness to partake in today's all-pervasive consumerism and IQ-sapping "entertainment".

Fair enough. I'm in agreement with that viewpoint also, though I probably wouldn't call in "Luddite", I'd be more tempted to call it "evidence of basic intelligence and good taste"

Flashing third-party, after market firmware to your router isn't to everyone's taste but it's possible because they are virtually all Linux based devices, so Linksys etc. had to release the source code for their firmware and a whole bunch of people have taken that code and improved it. The end result is a much more capable router, but they work fine as basic home routers with the manufacturer firmware as long as you don't want to use them for anything too advanced.

If it sounded like Sanskrit then it probably wouldn't be a good idea to mess with it!

Edit: Of course if Linksys had been able to copyright their firmware then the after market developers wouldn't have been legally allowed to improve their firmware......but then again if Linux had been copyrighted then Linksys wouldn't have been able to use it for free in the first place!

[Belfaborac]

Originally Posted by plib

Fair enough. I'm in agreement with that viewpoint also, though I probably wouldn't call in "Luddite", I'd be more tempted to call it "evidence of basic intelligence and good taste"

Why, thank you Sir!

If it sounded like Sanskrit then it probably wouldn't be a good idea to mess with it!

Ok, that was something of an overstatement, but I'll probably leave my Broadcom 6368 based device alone all the same. I would be interested in hearing in what way it might be more capable post-flashing though and maybe others may be too.

Oh, and as far as Open Source software is concerned you're preaching to the choir.

[plib]

Originally Posted by Belfaborac

I would be interested in hearing in what way it might be more capable post-flashing though and maybe others may be too.

I'm no guru on DD-WRT and I haven't installed some of the more advanced options like VPN hosting, but I do have one old 54GL as a WAP and have another I'm going to set up as a repeater bridge, used the QOS rules, altered the antenna strengths for what seems to give the best throughput, used DNSmasq for my internal network and DHCP, plus a few other things. Most useful has been installing Optware The Right Way by a guy called frater. The link gives a list of what OTRW can do, and for a general quick list of features why don't you start with this.

I've got OTRW installed on an 8GB USB stick plugged into a Linksys 610N v2 and a couple of the more useful functions are the virtually unlimited log saves to disk (rather than being limited to RAM) and the nightly firmware backups to disk (so I don't have to re-enter all the options any time I change/update the firmware). The pixelserv (ad blocking), stop hack, stop hammer and Asiablock (intrusion detection/prevention) scripts are also prime reasons for installing OTRW. I used to have my SSL access on the standard port and it was interesting to see the logs of the hackers trying to get in every five minutes or so. They wouldn't, I use an RSA keyfile for access, but OTRW can block and/or log them for you if you want. (you can send the log files to their ISP's if they're in a jurisdiction that gives a damn - don't bother with the Chinese attempts though )

The combination of DD-WRT and OTRW is something I recommend, not just for functionality but also because it shows what OSS and not limiting access to and use of shared knowledge can create.

[jmaejr]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

Faster download of open source software for example.

Because getting it from the original website is not fast enough and TPB is the ONLY other place to get it...?!?

Originally Posted by Belfaborac

Lots and lots of reasons. For my part, I download all the (not that numerous) series I watch and stream them from my PC, rather than watch them on TV in the regular way. Why? Because the downloads come stripped of commercials, which ruin the viewing experience totally for me. I also get to see them when I want without having to buy a DVR.

I understand the reasons...it was mostly sarcastic because a lot of the people here are quite high and mighty when it comes to piracy that it surprises me that they would know of TPB...sorta like going to a whorehouse and claiming to only look at the girls.

Originally Posted by Ninjalawyer

And the game of piracy whack-a-mole continues.

Precisely...although it's more like bumbling around in the dark while blindfolded, claiming you know what the heck is going on. Megaupload shut down, TBP blocked...big deal! There are 150+ other file sharing sites and too many to count torrent sites...goes back to it all amounts to a grain of sand on the beach.

[carpetmojo]

Originally Posted by cjr72

........................................ scary bad job-killing cyber-terrorist pedophiles.

Ooer !!

I'd like a bit of protection from them nasty types please...................

[HansTWN]

At least the job-killing part is, of course, right. Piracy turns valuable property into worthless files, how should those involved in creating copyright protected materials keep their jobs if nobody pays for anything?

[Jyster]

Originally Posted by plib

I'm no guru on DD-WRT and I haven't installed some of the more advanced options like VPN hosting, but I do have one old 54GL as a WAP and have another I'm going to set up as a repeater bridge, used the QOS rules, altered the antenna strengths for what seems to give the best throughput, used DNSmasq for my internal network and DHCP, plus a few other things. Most useful has been installing Optware The Right Way by a guy called frater. The link gives a list of what OTRW can do, and for a general quick list of features why don't you start with this.

I've got OTRW installed on an 8GB USB stick plugged into a Linksys 610N v2 and a couple of the more useful functions are the virtually unlimited log saves to disk (rather than being limited to RAM) and the nightly firmware backups to disk (so I don't have to re-enter all the options any time I change/update the firmware). The pixelserv (ad blocking), stop hack, stop hammer and Asiablock (intrusion detection/prevention) scripts are also prime reasons for installing OTRW. I used to have my SSL access on the standard port and it was interesting to see the logs of the hackers trying to get in every five minutes or so. They wouldn't, I use an RSA keyfile for access, but OTRW can block and/or log them for you if you want. (you can send the log files to their ISP's if they're in a jurisdiction that gives a damn - don't bother with the Chinese attempts though )

The combination of DD-WRT and OTRW is something I recommend, not just for functionality but also because it shows what OSS and not limiting access to and use of shared knowledge can create.

I used to be computer savy, but now all this made me feel like when Charlie Browns parents are talking to him. Wa wa wa wa wa.

[Jyster]

Originally Posted by plib

Actually I'd say the luddites are the ones who aren't using ad and tracking blocking software.

My personal recipe = Firefox + AdblockPlus + Adblock Plus Element Hider + Adblock Plus Popups + NoScript + Better Privacy + Ghostery + Cookie Monster
+ Customize Google

Can't remember the last time I saw an ad. Add the free Malwarebytes scanner and Comodo Firewall programs plus your choice of anti-virus and you can have a much more enjoyable and secure internet experience for zero dollars and about 10 minutes of your time to install.

Doesn't sound luddite to me.

I also have DD-WRT firmware, plus Optware The Right Way and most of frater's scripts, including the adblocking pixelserv script, on my router but that's a little more investment in time, though not dollars - and it does ensure that doubleclick.net is consigned to the ninth circle irretrievably!

If anyone is reasonably computer literate and does have a compatible router, which includes most Linksys/Cisco home routers, Asus, D-Link and Netgear routers, then I would highly recommend looking at the DD-WRT firmware. However flashing third party firmware to your router does have the possibility of bricking it if you don't follow the instructions EXACTLY, so don't use it if you're not confident of your skills. That said, thousands of people do use it with no problem and with frater's OTRW it can turn your $50 router into something much, much more capable. Anyone interested should definitely read the support forums before installing, users with Broadcom chip based routers should probably start that reading with the Peacock Thread. It's a little bit of work to install, but it's well worth it, particularly if you're running a home network behind it.

Wow, i had some of those, but thanks for the tip, need to add more to firefox. I got to save this for later.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

At least the job-killing part is, of course, right. Piracy turns valuable property into worthless files, who should those involved in creating copyright protected materials keep their jobs if nobody pays for anything?

I'll believe that when the executives of entertainment corporations stop paying themselves massive salaries.

[LuvReadin]

Originally Posted by plib

Can't remember the last time I saw an ad. Add the free Malwarebytes scanner.

I personally find the Emsisoft scanner far superior to Malwarebytes - I have both, but so far, MB has never found anything E didn't, whereas E finds many things MB doesn't.