It seems like the content industry has managed to score another hit in its 'fight' against piracy, and this time, it's a big fish. Announced a few weeks ago already, Google has started censoring its auto-complete and instant features for an arbitrary set of search terms - such as 'bittorrent', 'torrent', 'rapidshare', and any terms derived from those (e.g. 'ubuntu torrent' is censored as well).
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2007-04-05
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What piracy is involved if I google "Ubuntu torrent"? That is perfectly legal! As the article says, bittorrent is a legal company and technology without anything to do with piracy. If a company wants to create demo CDs available via torrents, why not.
The Music and Video industries are just so damn stupid at anything they do (especially when it comes to free and open-source users), and to strong arming somebody like Google is absolutely ridiculous.
It's like saying hackers might run Windows OSes, so Google must now ban anything MS Windows related because hackers could find it useful!
Member since:2007-09-06
I dare say many Hackers already run Windows among other OS. Perhaps what you meant was "Criminals may use Windows so Google should block search results for that."
Actually, your Hacker example fits in nicely.
Big Media (content sales) would like the masses to believe that Bittorrent is evil and only ever used to comit evil.. and it'll eat your kids and pets of allowed into the home. The reality is that Bittorrent is simply a transfer protocol; one that works well and is popularily used for legal file transfers.
Big Media ("news outlets" now mostly info-tainment) would like the masses to believe that Hackers are inherently evil and only research and commit criminal acts. The reality is that most Hackers are well adjusted, social, self-motivated learners who focus on learning specific topics for recreation; the overly bias prejoritive representation does not reflect reality.
In both cases, corporates with vested self interest are misrepresenting reality at the expense of artists, researchers and the general civilian population.
Member since:
2005-07-06
Bittorrent (the company) is surely within their rights to mount legal action for being censored in spite of a legal business model.
Google, being a monopoly, wield to much power to be partial against another business.
I can see the EU mounting action about this as well, sadly, this often takes 2 years...
Member since:2006-09-15
Not a company? really?
http://www.bittorrent.com/
Member since:
2009-12-27
Member since:
2005-08-18
"torrent" auto-completes just fine for me using both google.com.ph and google.se.
That said, it's pretty f--king ridiculous. It's like censoring "http" and "ftp" since, you know, you can use those to download copyrighted material.
Out of interest, is the word "warez" also censored?
Edited 2011-01-27 20:46 UTC
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This is the year the the previously unstoppable google starts losing mindshare ... all it takes now is a suitably big beast (ibm, yahoo, bing even?) to get a decent search engine with a nice light ui ... and the fact that you know its results aren't prefiltered ... people will put up with a less than smooth experience for better results.
Just the perception that you're missing out will turn people away.
Its what drove people to google in the first place remember.
Edited 2011-01-27 20:59 UTC
Member since:2007-05-27
Just the perception that you're missing out will turn people away.
Its what drove people to google in the first place remember.
They will have to also provide results at least as accurate as Google goes otherwise the perception of "missing out" will be offset by the perception of "it doesn't know what I'm looking for".
This is NOT easy. How many millions has Microsoft spent trying to achieve result quality parity with Google?
Member since:2005-07-08
The good news is: it's already with us!
DuckDuckGo, it's my default searchengine since 3 months.
Very pleasant and load's of features, VERY good privacy policy and lot's of shortcuts
Very much recommended
https://duckduckgo.com/
Member since:2006-03-20
Member since:2005-07-06
Also try http://www.blekko.com it's different but once you learn to search the blekko way its handy too!
Member since:
2009-09-09
So much for net neutrality, Google. It would just seem awkward that Google do this, especially since they did this by choice.
But I guess it's not all that bad, I mean it still shows up in searches. It's just really a matter of pressing the Enter key. Now if they censored it the search terms altogether, that's a different ball game.
Edited 2011-01-27 21:20 UTC
Member since:
2011-01-17
I'm fine with the idea behind the move : to protect legal works.
However, they really messed up by targeting legal software used for completely legal means as well. Linux distributes itself through torrents and that's a bit ridiculous to block that. Hey, I reinstalled my Ubuntu the yesterday through that.
Member since:
2007-02-22
Google Autocomplete and Google Instant are the biggest anti-features that clutter the Google interface. People who search for torrents using Google now have an improved user interface.
EDIT: Or not. Google seems to be back to using autocomplete and instant with the word 'torrent', at least.
Edited 2011-01-27 21:20 UTC
Member since:2010-06-08
Member since:
2006-12-05
"BitTorrent., Inc. is a completely legal company, and the technology around it is also completely legal. Yet, any search term containing these terms will no longer be autocompleted, including things like 'Ubuntu torrent'. People who want to learn about this legal technology through Google are now at a disadvantage."
F***ing bull****. Seriously, this is stupid beyond belief. I will do my part by seriously looking into search engine alternatives (Ixquick and DuckDuckGo are two possibilities I've heard of) as well as continuing to tell people about BitTorrent. As for BitTorrent use myself? I'll continue to use it, f*** you "content industry". And f*** you too, Google, for bending over for the little fleas.
System cleaned, rant over.
Edited 2011-01-27 21:25 UTC
Member since:
2009-07-30
This is actually quite funny. For instance:
Slackware -> load of suggestions
Slackware b -> load of suggestions
Slackware bi -> load of suggestions
Slackware bit -> umm, blank.
Don't you dare to lookup how to setup your serial port bitrate. Your activities are monitored and will be reported. PIRATE!
Member since:2005-06-29
Member since:2009-07-30
Yeah, I almost miss the good old simple days, when Microsoft was evil and Google said it won't be. Well, I've been getting this sense for a while that big evil is not to be found in Redmond, WA any more (I still stay clear of their products, but it's mostly matter of personal preference and what enables me to be efficient/productive rather than fight against evil at this point). Well, I've switched my default search engine to Bing now, we'll see how that goes.
BTW. Thom, you're style might be hard to swallow for some (even though really that is probably just lack of perspective and sense of humor on receiving end), but over all, good job on dragging big contents and their plots to open daylight. Appreciated.
Member since:2007-12-26
I don't want to use Bing because of dogmatic view of the world, but are there actually any good alternatives?
I know many other search engines but they only seem useful if you'd like to find pictures of Britney Spears, want to know the recipe of cake or want to know if that lump is malignant while being to lazy to visit a doctor.
Member since:2005-07-06
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I know many other search engines but they only seem useful if you'd like to find pictures of Britney Spears, want to know the recipe of cake or want to know if that lump is malignant while being to lazy to visit a doctor.
Aside Google, Yahoo and Bing, the only other search engine I know of that doesn't just echo a feed from the aforementioned is Ask.com
Member since:2005-07-06
This is my personal favorite - http://duckduckgo.com/
Its great and constantly improving.
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It doesn't matter whether we use it or not, there's plenty of not-so-technical people who do. Besides, once Google starts censoring stuff it's only a matter of time before the amount of censorship escalates. THAT is the thing people here are so adverse to, including me.
EDIT: Tried to straighten up my English. You shouldn't be writing comments in the middle of the night after been awake for 20+ hours and after carrying 3 truckloads of stuff to new apartment.. :S
Edited 2011-01-28 04:40 UTC
Member since:2006-12-05
Member since:2006-10-28
"idsoftware torrent" won't give any suggestion either.
But the first result was:
http://zerowing.idsoftware.com
and also correct my question to:
"id software torrent"
Zerowing is ID Software's Bittorrent Tracker.
Member since:2005-06-29
I tried the same test and had some interesting results.
Slackware = suggestions
Slackware b = suggestions
Slackware bi = suggestions
Slackware bit = "Google Instant is off due to connection speed. Press Enter to search."
Interestingly, my connection speed had not changed, and it's more than fast enough for autocomplete. Also I repeated this test numerous times and had the exact same results every time. If I typed "Slackware bittorrent" really fast I got the same connection speed error. If I typed it slowly, one character at a time I got suggestions after each letter until the "t", then it went to the error message.
Even stranger, "Ubuntu torrent" gave suggestions until I typed the first "t" on "torrent", and from that point the suggestion box simply didn't appear. There were no error messages. Once I had typed the full word "torrent" I started getting suggestions again, such as "Ubuntu torrent 9.04" etc.
Curiouser and curiouser.
-----
For reference, I live in the Southeastern United States, and I'm connected via T-mobile 3G with an average connection speed of 1.4Mbps, in Windows XP and using the latest Firefox release.
Member since:2009-07-30
I suppose:
a) this behavior might be geo specific.
b) they are still tweaking it.
At the moment: "Slackware bit" goes blank on suggestion and instant results for me. If I keep typing for instance bitrate, instant results resume to be displayed once I punch the "r" in, but not so suggestions.
If I dare and for instance try figuring out where to look for Slackware media distribution via bittorent. I get blank for suggestions and instant results "Slackware bit" through "Slackware bittorren". Funnily, once I hit "Bit torrent" I get some results displayed and few suggestions (client, package, firewall, howto).
I guess Google is still working on this and the goal would be to make censorship as seamless as possible. "What the eyes don't see, the heart doesn't grieve over."
Member since:2010-06-08
Member since:
2007-02-20
I am figuring out when I get proposals and when not, and that is FUN! From "bit" until "bittorren" I get a blank but with "bittorrent" I get a list of proposals, wow this is really funny! Looks like Google has Alzheimer or something like it.
Go on Thom, make a new headline "Google has Alzheimer!", I will see if google can find that.
Member since:
2011-01-27
Google have obviously been under a lot of pressure for years, and maybe if a lawyer was running the company they would do this stuff more often, but don't forget what they tried to do in China, what other company would do such a crazy thing? And now Larry Page is taking over, so I wouldn't expect him to be any less angry than all of us over this news.
Member since:2010-03-30
He's taking over. Has this been decided by someone below him in the hierarchy and he's discovering it now? I doubt it. I he was to be angry, he would have been and stopped this from happening. I fail to see why the deep-pocket juggernaut that Google is has to cave under that pressure. What kind of retaliation are they fearing?
So much for "do no evil" and "net neutrality". That's so hypocritical of them.
Member since:2007-09-06
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2005-07-06
http://duckduckgo.com/
it's pretty great and constantly being improved.
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2006-03-22
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That will work for exactly as long as it takes for media companies and Google to figure it out. It's a band-aid and not a final solution.
The only way to stop this kind of garbage (if it's even possible) is to put the big media companies out of business. Problem is, almost all of us are hooked. I personally listen to mostly indie and self-produced music these days, but not everyone's tastes lie that way. Also, what little television I like is all mainstream, and a lot of it is unsafe to torrent because they are really watching the p2p streams and reporting to ISPs. I wouldn't dare risk a box office torrent.
Besides, if you must stick with mainstream entertainment, why torrent movies at all (at least here in the States) when Netflix and Redbox are so cheap and easy? Gone are the days of $5 Blockbuster rentals that are never in stock on release day. Between the above services and free digital TV via the antenna in my attic, I'm covered on visual entertainment.
Member since:
2005-07-06
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Indeed. I hate autocomplete. And it's not like they're censoring the search results. So, it really doesn't affect me. And for that matter, if I'm looking for torrents, I'm not usually using google anyway. There are torrent sites for that.
The fact that the censorship is happening is somewhat worrisome, but all it really does is stop people from stumbling on bittorrent stuff. And it's not like people were going to stumble on it anyway, since it does take a bit of research to even know what a torrent is. so, the censorship is stupid, but it really doesn't do anything.
It's like setting up a one foot wall and refusing to tell people what's on the other side. You can clearly see over it, and you can walk over it just fine. It stops nothing. But they can say that they built a wall...
Member since:2005-11-13
Actually, I kind of like that they're removing this from auto complete, because it's rather annoying when you're NOT looking for torrents, and the first several pages of search results for whatever you're searching for are for downloading torrents.
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2010-02-12
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2006-12-24
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I want to note that the censoring mentioned here does seems to be disabled again over at my place in Holland.
See http://lcd.satgnu.net/pics/desktop/gcensorship.png
Edited 2011-01-28 13:55 UTC
Member since:
2009-06-03
Member since:
2008-08-27
Time is proving me right. Those who have regarded Google as the messiah of our digital world are finally opening their eyes as their savior starts to retract its horns and claws. Like I said, the list of Top 5 evil companies is:
1. Apple
2. Google
3. <placeholder>
4. <placeholder>
5. Microsoft
Mark my words (I'm sure Google's spies already are): The world is not going to actually reach its end in 2012. 2012 is the year of Google's demise but because we have surrendered so much of our personal lives to them, it's going to impact us like the end of the world. This is just the beginning. Google is showing its true colors.
Member since:
2008-04-02
Member since:2005-07-08
It is incredible hard to get rid of Google.
For instance, in the Security Tab of Firefox are 2 tick boxes:
Block reported attack sites and Block reported web forgeries
These boxes are default on and it means that EVERY URL that you visit is send to a Google service that checks the website. Now, I don't know if Google uses this information but it does not matter: you don't want to give this information to Google!
I ticked them off. Note I had not any warning in 4 years when I was using it!
Also: if you really need Google as searchengine, there is great firefox plugin called GoogleSharing which is a proxy to Google. It ensures your IP cannot be associated to your search terms.
Member since:2006-04-10
There is a file in your Firefox profile folder named urlclassifier3.sqlite.
kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox#Files
Edited 2011-01-30 12:32 UTC
Member since:
2008-08-09
Man, this thread did me a huge service by pointing out duckduckgo, it is truly awesome. For the people who haven't tried yet, here is a sample of searches (list of what it can do here: http://duckduckgo.com/goodies.html):
http://duckduckgo.com/?q=volume+of+a+sphere+of+radius+sqrt%282~...
http://duckduckgo.com/?q=sweden
http://duckduckgo.com/?q=pw
Syntax to search other services (huuuge list here: http://duckduckgo.com/bang.html):
http://duckduckgo.com/?q=%21imdb+brazil
http://duckduckgo.com/?q=%21man+less
http://duckduckgo.com/?q=%21upackages+SDL
And the "normal" search results are great too (powered by Yahoo behind the scenes), all this with a great privacy statement: http://duckduckgo.com/privacy.html
OSnews needs to get a good review of this excellent service up on the main page at once 
Edited 2011-01-28 15:53 UTC
Member since:
2006-07-12
Maybe it is the purist in me, but I always disable the instantcomplete, safe search, sidebar, preview, localization and all other bells and whistles through firefox addons. I have no need for them at all so this at it's current state does not affect me the least. But i should mention that i do think censorship of other people is wrong by any definition and should not be permitted.
Member since:
2009-08-24
I think it would be a chance for me to try
http://www.yandex.com
which has a suggestion "slackware 13.1 torrent" third in it's list for "slackware". =)
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2009-07-08
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2006-09-18
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2006-08-18
Actions like this just don´t make any sense, even in Google´s literal self interest.
It´s basically abandoning any right to claim common carrier status.
If you want that status, you have to act as a neutral network provider. Any non-neutral acts remove that status, even for areas where you CHOOSE to act ´neutrally´, because you´ve demonstrated that you do not act neutrally ALL the time, and on principle, but only when you WANT to.
What this means, and what Google´s shareholders should question, is that Google is now more on the hook for any activities it facilitates.
Common carrier is Google´s best defense against Big Content, yet Google wants to throw it away to make them happy for some abstract reason... Fucking idiots. Even if they think they´re getting better treatment for YouTube or something, they´re making themselves utterly vulnerable in the long run.
Member since:
2005-07-07
Mostly likely this is a move to quash any legal issues that arise from "suggestions" Google makes concerning downloading copyrighted material. Static results will show EVERYTHING. These "suggestions" do not so if a torrent for copyrighted material shows up in these suggestions instead of the actual product (CD, etc) a case could be made that Google is encouraging copyright infringement.
As another comment pointed out if Google removed all references to "torrent" then this would be a real issue. As it stands I don't think it's a big deal. It's just not a fight worth fighting for Google.
Member since:
2011-01-29
Certainly I don’t understand such arrival on Torrent. Probably it is connected with pressure from legal owners. After such statement I for myself have found torrent search engine http://www.torrentoff.com. Fortunately today it is a lot of them. Thus I have solved for myself a problem of search of torrent-files.
Member since:
2005-07-06