I think that's what they're trying to achive with busting a bigger site.
People are afraid that their sites, and thus the owner itself will be prosecuted by US law, even if he's not from the US.
However, I can see how BTjunkie isn't like megaupload, thus earning money, and subsequently being accused of "money laundering", yet people behind the torrent sites are afraid they can expect the FBI on their door, even if they're somewhere in Europe or Asia.
And that is stupid.
Even if SOPA isn't being pushed through, the governments (or at least the big companies) are trying to go this route and strike fear into people who run the website... and after that, they'll go after the endusers (aka you and me).
Well, and even if SOPA isn't pushed through, kinda secretly nations worldwide signed ACTA (with a few exceptions; Holland being one as far as I know), which is similar to SOPA, but not just limited to US connections.
If anything, I would like a unbiased report that states how torrent sites are actually making people "lose" money. Or downloading in general, because by their logic, it would mean that if you download something, you would've bought it otherwise. If I download 5 movies a week... I don't know if I can justify buying those as well. That's their faulty reasoning.
Let's put it the other way, I can only spend my money once. So all money saved from buying that movie I want to see, that CD I want to hear and god knows what I download, is being spent elsewhere. Because I don't know anyone who's like "oh hey, I downloaded this cd, so I'm putting 10 bucks on my savings account". That money is being spend on whatever you want... other hobby's, going out, groceries, stuff like that. Those other companies, not being Universal and such... they actually make a profit because they offer services people will cater to, now that they don't have to "worry" about paying for media. Let's see how it's gonna work out for those big companies, if people have to choose between groceries and actually "paying for entertainment".
Still, I can see how one could say "i'm an artist, I don't do it for free"... but if you're an artist and you're in it for the money, than I seriously question your motivation for being in said industry. That being said, I can understand stuff can't be for free, but those companies aren't bankrupt yet, cause we still have multimillion dollar movies coming out each year, and apparently boxoffice sales prove that people will pay. It's silly to just see them whining over "but we want more of your money".
Yes small companies go bankrupt, small record stores have a hard time, but can someone actually PROVE that it is because people download records? I remember independant record stores in my area, and they're still doing fine. Yes, the internet has affected them a bit, but not because of people pirating songs, it's because I can get the same album from elsewhere in an online store for half the price including shipping. And don't even forget ebay, which has people sell new products for really, really cheap.
If they are willing to blame the internet, blame it on the ease of use. Blame it on the people who innovated browsers, because if I'd have to have a PhD. to just order stuff online, I'd be more than willing to go to the store and buy the physical product there.
Besides I don't get the commotion about pirating things either way, because you're putting a "virtual luxury item" out and you're whining people aren't paying X for it. That's the wonder of computers... virtual things. Yes, I know there can be a lot of work put in a virtual item, but come on... if you're willing to make people pay for it, make it something they can't "pirate". But then again, the theatre isn't really booming business either... cause that experience is kinda "real". Yes, you can record if with your phone and show someone the video, that still isn't the same as being there... just like seeing a live dvd isn't the same as attending the concert. if people are like "yeah, it's the same"... hook them up to those pods from the matrix already.
One last things; That'll keep some people thinking.
What if we push through those acts like SOPA and such, and we actually frame people for downloading in making up a false datastream. After all, it's virtual, and you could easily erase virtual tracks on your own pc... the server never lies... or am I getting paranoid now?
