How to never miss an episode with BitTorrent and RSS

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How to never miss an episode with BitTorrent and RSS

There's a great new app floating around that automatically downloads and saves your favorite programs via bittorrent. I haven't used TVtorrent before so I'm not sure how complete it is, I bet you'd have to stick to fairly popular shows if you really wanted to get every episode.

People have been building apps with bittorrent and rss before, but this is the first automated app I've heard of that combines the two to grab just the shows you want. Sounds a lot like the app wished for here.

by Matt Haughey November 14, 2004 in News

Comments

This is new? I've been using this for months now.

Personally, I recommend the other RSS Feed Plugin because it is much more user friendly. (http://azureus.sourceforge.net/plugin_details.php?plugin=rssfeed)

Posted by: Pinwiz at Nov 14, 2004 4:13:26 PM

The problem with this is that it is not necessarily legal. I Tivo episodes of Star Trek Enterprise, but I noticed that the TVTorrent version are HDTV (and not carried by my cable provider, yet). So I would just download the TvTorrent version and watch that on my laptop, especially when I had a flight somewhere. That is until I got a cease and desist letter from Paramount via my cable company! I am certainly not going to risk my internet connection over this. But it is an excellent way to get TV.

Posted by: Rob Cannon at Nov 15, 2004 7:09:52 AM

How in the heck did Paramount track you down over bit torrent?

Posted by: Craig at Nov 15, 2004 7:32:39 AM

Via the IP address. My IP address with my cable provider is assigned by DHCP, but it hasn't changed in 5 years. You can trace the IP address in any kind of peer-to-peer charing network.

Posted by: Rob Cannon at Nov 15, 2004 8:10:59 AM

Rob, how many episodes did you download? That sounds absurd.

Posted by: Rob Really? at Nov 15, 2004 6:37:06 PM

Rob, since you know so much about TCP/IP I was wondering if you could give us all some tips...

What service provider are you using? Going 5 years with the same IP address, given that you don't pay for a Static IP, is quite an accomplishment. This service of yours has never gone down and given you a new IP when it came back...in 5 years? Awesome.

And btw, your story is very hard to believe.

Posted by: Jason at Nov 15, 2004 6:40:38 PM

Try using eMule or eDonkey to find any show out there. Portals like sharetv.net and the-realworld.de have info on the shows and ed2k links to eMule. I mostly use BeyondTV, but I always miss something so eMule helps out.

Posted by: MrBlank at Nov 15, 2004 8:45:50 PM

Actually, my friend in Providence RI doesn't have cable and got turned onto BT. He was downloading movies and tv shows and got a letter from his cable modem provider to stop downloading Paramount titles too.

So they are on the lookout. But I've never gotten any such thing myself, perhaps I download from tv production companies that don't care? :)

Posted by: Brian at Nov 17, 2004 9:35:26 AM

Keep getting caught? Use the SAFEPEER plugin for Azureus.

Posted by: John at Nov 17, 2004 11:42:57 AM

... salivating at the prospect of automated d/ls of Lost and Desperate Housewives (for the wife ;))

Posted by: dippy at Nov 18, 2004 9:44:20 AM

Not sure why its so hard to believe someone could have the same address for years. DHCP doesn't have to equal different IP address every time your connection drops. I have service through Knology and I've had the exact same IP (without paying for a static - something I don't even think they advertise as an option) for almost 3 years now. In that time I've had several outages that caused my connection to be down for a few minutes up to a few hours. I've also replaced my wireless router in addition to manually forcing a disconnect and reconnect a few times to troubleshoot an issue. Same IP, every time.

Don't believe me? I don't care - look up DHCP reservations and marvel at how this just might be true.

Posted by: Mike Stanley at Nov 24, 2004 6:05:07 AM

Why make this all more accessible, most good torrent sites are now closing up registration which they previously implemented to stop the next wave of newbies, I imagine i'll end up back in newsgroups because it still requires a small amount of skill and patience to get what you want.

Posted by: panpan at Nov 25, 2004 7:28:04 AM

Regarding getting busted...

It is extremely easy to get caught by the RIAA or MPAA if you use bittorrent to download copyrighted material. Even if your IP changes every time you log on, your ISP keeps a record of such things - it's very easy and wise for them to do so. None of the p2p apps are truly secure, but Bittorrent is the LEAST secure of them all, as has been admitted by its creator. BT was designed for speed, not security.

I had the same experience as Rob - I downloaded two episodes of Charmed via BT and approximately a month later I got the same standard cease and desist email from comcast, my ISP.

All you yahoos that think the copyright cops a re 3 steps behind you are living in fantasy land. It's costing them money, so they WILL find a way to stop dissemination or at the very least punish those who do it.

Posted by: motherstalk at Dec 12, 2004 9:56:59 PM

WOW OMG The same thing happen to me!
I downloaded an episode of Enterprise on torrent because i had to work, and missed it, and i got my cable modem service cut off for it!
I dont get whats the big deal! I watch the show all the time, and if they put these seasons on dvd id buy them!
I dont think its right to make such a big deal over tv shows!
Movies which are in movie theaters is another story...

They must be planting videos on torrents sites which are bugged with spyware in order to track down who ever is downloading these episodes...
Im not going to download these episodes on torrent again!
Im not risking getting sued over an episode...

Ill just buy the dvds, and watch it then...

Posted by: Jack at Dec 17, 2004 6:09:15 AM

I was wondering - is it illegal to DOWNLOAD copyrighted stuff via BitTorrent? Isn't it the UPLOADING and sharing to others that's illegal? Anyway, wouldn't want to live in USA with all your lawsuits and stuff - here in Sweden I think it's pretty safe to download. Especially when you watch the news and here all this stuff about "Kazaa this and Kazaa that" - I mean, who uses Kazaa anymore??? DirectConnect and BitTorrent rules :) (BTW, what's up with tvtorrents.net? I get one of those "will be available soon" pages... maybe they got caught? :)

Posted by: Magnus at Dec 21, 2004 5:54:32 AM

aaa

Posted by: fa at Jan 11, 2005 3:28:21 PM

Here in Spain it's legal to download anything! But only for evaluation... We have to delete the file after 24 hours. And of course everybody does that ;-)

Posted by: Eddlie at Jan 12, 2005 1:50:09 PM

At least it's a cease and desist letter... much more friendly than a letter asking your presence in court.

Posted by: Tom at Jan 12, 2005 4:00:14 PM

I do no belive that I can download 24 serius 3but I cant find the last part from 20.00 to 24.00, they do for a purphas or you need to pay just foe it, please try to help me find it so I can enjoin this show THANK YOU

Posted by: stef at Mar 2, 2005 11:41:36 AM

about the ip adress story i think either u r bloffing or you mean your local ip not remote ip

Posted by: BD2 at Apr 3, 2005 8:55:24 AM

isp's can reserve ip addresses so that their only issigned to sertain mac addresses

Posted by: harry at Apr 11, 2005 1:34:49 AM

Maybe I'm just stupid or something, but how can tivo let you save any tv show to their harddrive(Most likely the copyright will still be intact)and then burn them to a dvd to watch and keep, when you downloading them(with the copyright intact)to a pc harddrive or disc to watch and keep on the pc, be illegal.
WHAT IS GOING ON!!!

Posted by: Brett at May 5, 2005 12:53:57 PM

Last year I got a C+D letter from Paramount for downloading "Charmed" TV show.. Stop laughing!
Anyways, I did what they said "removed everything", since I'd watched them I really didn't want to keep gigabytes on the hard drive
and haven't messed with downloading again. I'd like to but am with others in that it's just not worth the hassle. There's always reruns 'till the cows come home and as for Paramount, after they cancelled Enterprise I'm thinking "I'll get even with them and not watch UPN anymore". So far I've pretty much weened myself from TV and wrote a DHCP server in my free time! Speaking of that, Yes.. he could have an remote IP for years. If he never turned off the computer for longer than the DHCP servers programed "lease time". Most of those by default are a couple of weeks. I know my DSL connection's lease time is much shorter than that.

When I was reading about the "hit man" company that Paramount has hired to track down the scum that's downloading their TV shows I read alot about the company. They "claim" to have inserted a digital trace in the HDTV versions of the shows that they can pick up from any part of the TV show that's on the wire. The take down notice is just that, you must NOT send out the copyrighted material. I have a theory that only the HDTV ones can be traced that way and the older TV shows can't. I'm not going to experiment with it anymore but wanted to share some of the current folklore about it.

Posted by: Ex_BitTorrent User at Aug 25, 2005 10:55:24 PM

About the IP...it's not rocket science and an IP lease from a DHCP server can be set to last indefinately. I recently had NTL cable installed and asked for a static IP, this is a service they dont offer. However, I eventually spoke with a technician who informed me that only after 4 hours of my NTL box being powered down would a DHCP release invoke and assign a new IP. This isn't an unusually long time and so it is quite likely that cable modem users on NTL at least in my area will never change IP.

Anyhoo...as for Paramount letter... I have seen such a letter with my own eyes received by a colleague after downloading lots of stuff over a BT ADSL connection. Many ISPs monitor all sorts of user usage blocking and monitoring child pornography and illegal movies etc.

Posted by: Jif at Nov 22, 2005 5:50:26 AM

so what your saying is if i try this there's a chance i can get cought?

plz replay to my e-mail address plz.

Posted by: Jared T. at Nov 23, 2005 7:46:21 PM

what if you go to a coffee shop or some other internet hot spot to download movies and shows? would they be able to find out your identity?

Posted by: mujan at Nov 28, 2005 5:12:33 PM

I am part of a ED2K site (www.hanger.org.uk/h)
come visit us.

Posted by: Inquisitor at Feb 15, 2006 3:10:21 PM

Just for the masses the way that the data is tracked is simply by the md5 hash. duh.

Posted by: shadow at Feb 20, 2006 4:39:14 AM

Either way tivo is a pay service that's why it's legal if the guys at the top can't pay the actors and actress's the big bucks for their greedy butts, to act then no tv shows or movies and personally I find my life is much more interesting than daydreaming about spaceflight in my lifetime won't happen at least not warp drive. So, I say everyone drop the downloading and when it starts to cost them more money to run the site than they make from it maybe common sense will ensue and show them it's the little guys that pass the big dollars around. It's the same deal as vhs and macrovision and now copyrighted material. libdvdcss encryption. etc,. when I purchase a dvd with a movie on it according to current laws in the u.s. I own the dvd not the contents. Now that's retarded, oh by the way Supreme Court that new house or car you just bought you don't own the car just the space it occupies. Oh, my bad you don't own your house either because you are continually paying for it under the term TAX. The next time the judge tells me to go to jail I'll charge him/her a rental license fee for my time with 39.99% interest compounded monthly. at a rate of avg. annual income for U.S. citizen $85,000 + that's $29.00 hrly + interest or 1855.536 interest + monthly salary for time lost at work 6495.536 monthly + compounded interest till bill is paid. Let the riaa and there rich buttsniffing org's pay those legal fees and I'll sit in jail for 5 yrs and be a multi-millionare :?

Posted by: shadow at Feb 20, 2006 4:53:00 AM

toptorrents.org is good for new tv torrents.

Posted by: arkane at Apr 1, 2006 10:34:58 PM

If you are downloading via Bittorrent, or even P2P for that matter, then you should be using 'Peer Guardian 2' from www.methlabs.org

I read a post up above, and yes, it's 2 years old, but it still seems to hold true - MGM or Paramount WILL try to get you! That is unless you have a program like PG2 installed and running and then they can't "get a lock" so to speak on your IP. Some will say that this program doesn't work, but I have been downloading pirated movies and tv shows for YEARS!

The programs goes off a huge "blocklist", and I am 99.9% sure they are on there.

Good Luck!

Posted by: Alex Glasier at Jul 8, 2006 5:18:11 AM

Well here it is, I have read all legal documents and according to legal documents, paramount has no legal ground as long as you follow these tips.
1. You only download commercial tv shows...IE what pays for charmed or enterprise to be on the air.....Ford when they try to sell you a truck!!
So if you download commercial tv you are ok. Movies NO!!

2. YOu have a preveiw period of 24 hours. By law you can download a tv show and you have 24 hours to veiw it. After that you have to erase it. Thanks to the Millenium Act!

3. You may not redistribute the material...If you gain a profit off of it, then you have broken copyright in about 3 diffrent areas of the copyright act.

If you dont beleive me call a lawyer and ask them their opinion...I was informed by my lawyer for veiwing purposes that they would..So try using a diffrent P2P service..Like Limewire.
Limewire won a legal battle against RIAA over releasing personal information of their clients. ALso for them to be able to track you, they must get a court order to have cable/DSL company release your information..if you got a letter and did not authorize your ISP to release the information, I would hire a lawyer and sue shit out of them!

Posted by: James at Sep 21, 2006 4:16:07 PM

yeah i got caught for downloading a paramount movie from bitlord. and right now i put peer guardian on and guess what poped up again. Parmount like 50 times ... for them to track my downloading and my internet surfing. is what i feel an invasion of my privacy. but yeah..peer guardian is a life saver.

Posted by: Bob wilicon at Feb 15, 2007 7:25:52 PM

For those of you interested in following the industry's attempts to stop filesharing and control the design of new technology, I highly reccommend this site:
Electronic Frontier Foundation (http://www.eff.org/).
Specifically you should check out
http://www.eff.org/share/ (about filesharing) and
http://www.eff.org/IP/fairuse/ (about digital media devices).

Posted by: Laura at Mar 19, 2007 8:47:10 AM

"if you got a letter and did not authorize your ISP to release the information, I would hire a lawyer and sue shit out of them!"

Most of the time the company just sends a letter to your ISP with demands that they stop you from dowloading stuff and show your IP with what you downloaded and when.

Then the ISP just sends you an email notice saying that you got caught and should be more careful to not get caught again. The company threatening you usually doesn't receive any of your info and have no idea who you are (unless they catch you a bunch of times, then they might get a court order and get your info and sue you).

Posted by: vb at May 3, 2007 6:28:46 AM

I got a message from my cable company saying my internet account was temporarly suspnended, and that says the MDM asked for my info because I downloaded MGM Tv shows. MY cable company said they will not give out my info but MGM Knew exactly what i downloaded and when.

So be Careful

Posted by: Caught at May 29, 2007 9:30:53 PM

if bit torrent isint safe that what other program should i use?

Posted by: yanka at Jun 9, 2007 7:00:37 PM

how about just buying the DVD's (or renting them / ripping them)

That's the safest way not to get caught...

Posted by: James at Sep 20, 2007 7:18:26 AM

1. go to blockbuster
2. rent movies for 4$ each
3. use dvd decrypter to rip them onto computer
4. put it on dvd

YAY! everyone's happy....technically you paid money for the movie, nobody can track you because it wasn't online, and there you have your dvd's

Posted by: enfuego fuarez at Jan 2, 2008 11:31:13 PM