Thursday, January 10, 2008

BitTorrent-mania

In 2008, I started experimenting with the whole BitTorrent thing. First I had to grapple with the ethical concerns - do I really feel bad about downloading movies and music without paying? Sure, there are laws...but in my opinion, they are ridiculous. However the ethical question still remains - am I stealing? In my mind, I don't think I am. Look, I pay Netflix less than $20/month and get all the movies I want to watch, and then some...so how much am I really taking out of the pockets of the movie people?

I am also someone who likes to own movies - if I really like it I will buy it. That goes for what I watch via BitTorrent - if I like it, I will buy it for my library. I downloaded "Charlie Wilson's War" and thought it was brilliant - when it is released on DVD, I will buy a copy.

So I come down on the side of not feeling guilty about downloading. You may differ, and I respect your opinion. But there is also a part of me that gets that rush like George being a bootlegger in that episode of Seinfeld.

So I have my newly acquired Xbox, and I am downloading movies and converting them to .MP4s, transferring them to a memory stick, and plugging that into the USB port. It is an excellent setup, and I am really enjoying the Xbox for more than just games.

There is no real meaning to this post - I am just kind of ranting. Feel free to comment on the legality, ethics, or just your own setup for downloading and watching...as well as any tips, tricks, et cetera.

11 comments:

OONR7 said...

which bittorrent app do you use?

Anonymous said...

I recommend Azureus as your BT client.

Anonymous said...

What are the best torrent sites?

Tom C said...

I use Azureus as my client, and I prefer http://www.mininova.org/

Anonymous said...

Nice to see there are more than 2 posts...I still love your stories! and FYI - utorrent is great! Dexter seasons 1&2 are on there and all of 24!

Anonymous said...

I've tried most of the bittorrent sites, and mininova tends to have the highest quality. Just read the comments before you download, you can usually ensure you are getting a good file based on that.

Tom C said...

Why are you up so late?

Anonymous said...

Tom C, what are your favorite Xbox games?

Anonymous said...

mike, it all begins and ends with cod4!!!

interested to see what tom c. says.

Anonymous said...

Dang!!! Post something else already! I'm tired of keep coming back and nothing is new! Geeeeeeez. :)

Anonymous said...

Do you like Call of Duty over Halo?