by Dark Kamui » Tue Aug 13, 2002 9:39 pm
You're paying your HOST? Oh well, the whole copyright loophole started going into effect after the DIVX/broadband revolution.
Merely a few years ago the BEST quality you could get online were "VCD" or "SVCD" rips that were so huge that only the ELITE broadband users in IRC channels had access to do them. Now any moron can get DSL or Cable without even knowing that it's FASTER than a 56k.
Usually fansubs, rips, or illegal thingamabob media files were distributed either in Real Player or M$'s ASF format. It was only after microsoft eliminated Mpeg-4's avalibity to be used in AVI files that hackers got pissed and later on "cracked" the codec themselfs...
In the old days broadband users were rather RARE compared to the numbers there are today. ISPs could give up to 50-100mb TRUE FREE HOSTING! Of course, in time that's changed as broadband has become more available, ISPs have to cut down costs, and the warez scene has literally forced all free webhosts to take counter measures to prevent the hosting and distribution of illegal files on their servers...
Hollywood really didn't take the DVD ripping scene seriously, that until some guy came to the office and said "look at this" and popped a 650MB CD that could play back the Matrix fullscreen at allmost DVD quality...
Now if you want to host any video file most hosts will say "FUCK YOU! It's illegal!" and will delete your account or files without even looking at them.
If you read the disclaimer VERY CAREFULLY before signing up with any webhost it's stated CLEARLY that they have full control and rights to terminate, delete, or disable your site/files as they see fit, even if you paid for it. Problem is most people don't even READ anymore...