Private Tracker Invite Trading on the Rise, Thanks to Google Wave Invites

October 07, 2009 by sharky

Move over, trader forums - there’s some stiff competition muscling in for a piece of the action on torrent tracker invite trading. The Internet has gone completely bonkers for Gwave invites, and private trackers are caught in the middle - as seen at the new Google Wave Invites service. While GWI isn’t affiliated with Google or Google Wave whatsoever, Google Wave Invites have taken the ‘net by storm, and tracker invites are - of course - a popular staple of the trades, giveaways and requests. Unquestionably, this has scam written all over it on multiple levels - but try telling that to the traders.

Recently confirmed on October 1st by Scott Yates, an editor for Examiner.com, reported ‘That “Google Wave Invite” Link is a Scam‘ - referring not specifically to just GWI, but to any link that promises an early invitation to Google Wave. This is truly the case: there are no sites that give out unconditional invites to Google Wave just yet, which is still very much in beta/limited preview (and invite only, but internally) and anyone who wants in early still needs to apply directly.

While GWI began as a method to assist hopeful individuals in joining Gwave early, it’s quickly spiraled into a free-for-all involving torrent trackers, Lockerz invites and everything else in between. Members can "Swap Invite For Services" - as witnessed in the example below, this asshat is offering invites to Demonoid for an invite to Google Wave, seen in this thread.

The post above was from October 6, 2009 and yet Demonoid has been offline for more than three weeks now. Thankfully, the poster below him enlightened the masses on this crucial detail. What does this tell us? Nothing positive about the threads, or accuracy (not to mention the authenticity or integrity of the members). And that’s just the beginning…

Let’s move on to the "Swap Invite for Invite" section. New threads are beginning to trickle in for torrent tracker invites (and accounts) being offered up in exchange for Gwave invites. Some members will even sacrifice their What.CD accounts for early access.

As we witnessed yesterday, new threads at GWI were turning up that had nothing to do with Gwave. Trades for tracker invites are being offered directly for other trackers, although most of these threads have now been removed.

Surely this is not the only invite scam out there involving trackers, it’s merely one of many. GWI in itself is just one example of how invite-crazed the ‘net really is, and unfortunately Gwave has spun private trackers into the middle of the madness. For the record, FileShareFreak has no invites to Gwave (although we did apply).

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