SCC Invites Now Available For 48 Hours Only

October 20, 2010 by sharky

Thought we’d fill you in on a monumental newsflash - just in case you haven’t heard, SCC has just now granted free invites to all members (everyone should have received between 1 to 3 invites). The catch is this: they must be used up within 48 hours.

Update: October, 22nd 20:11:54 - 7 hours ago. Due to unforeseen downtime, the 48 hours has now been extended until October 24th ~14:00 GMT.

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CHDBits Not Open for Signup, But Invites are Aplenty

September 24, 2010 by sharky

What used to be a modestly difficult invitation to find, torrenters may have noticed that CHDBits invites have become increasingly prevalent on torrent-invite forums, as well as on tracker forums themselves - all due to CHDBits‘ new promotion. From now until October 7th, aspiring members have an exceptional opportunity to join one of BitTorrent’s best HD trackers. Aside from a very brief period of open registration more than a full year ago, never before has there been a better time to finally stake your claim to an account.

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SaveTheCoratee (StC) - Mac Tracker is Officially Dead

August 04, 2010 by sharky

Wondering where StC went? All signs suggest that SaveTheCoratee, a once semi-popular ratioless Mac tracker is dead and not coming back. StC now holds company with the defunct VortexNetwork which went offline earlier this year, leaving the BT world with just one true Mac tracker. Inside information suggests that the Mac OS torrent community is now relying on the true backbone of the scene, and that’s Brokenstones - or is there a new alternative? Perhaps there’s a spinoff tracker for StC refugees after all…

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APNet Closes; Alternatives For Public PreDB and Torrent Races

July 03, 2010 by sharky

What was once a popular hotspot for scene info regarding pred scene releases, DDL-Blog races and an indexer of torrent races - the era of APNet has come to an end. Also known as anotherp2p-net on the IRC circuit, APNet’s owner has cited lack of time coupled with financial issues in relation to the server it’s hosted on - both are said to blame for APNet’s demise. RIP APN; listed below are some alternative public IRC (and web) preDBs that scene freaks should find useful.

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Online Media Streaming, Torrents and More at BitLite.com

June 26, 2010 by sharky

BitLite is a brand new online multimedia storage service that comes with a twist: full BitTorrent support. Users are able to upload .torrent files locally or even from a remote torrent URL. And since the service works entirely on the server-side, download speeds are incredibly quick. Once completed, multimedia files (video, music & images) can then be streamed in a browser to provide flawless online playback. Listen to albums, create a playlist, view image libraries, and stream movies (even in 1080p HD) in full-screen mode just like as though if you were watching it on a home computer.

Being fresh out of the box and still in beta, BitLite is looking for 200 ‘live’ testers to help gauge how well capacity handles demand. For a short time FileShareFreak is offering a special free BitLite signup link available to the first two hundred lucky people:

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DidItLeak Lives On - New Music Leak Sites Fill The Void

June 23, 2010 by sharky

The once-popular music leak blog DidItLeak.co.uk domain is set to disappear in a couple of days, bringing down with it the legacy of a pioneering and extremely brave frontman. The late Alan Carton was the mastermind behind DidItLeak - a popular blog (that evolved into a very prosperous Twitter @diditleak) which entertained readers with endless tipoffs for music releases that came out on P2P in advance of street dates. And popular it was!

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VCDQ.com is Reborn - A PreDB With Amazing Extras

May 26, 2010 by sharky

Forget what you thought you knew about pre-database sites. VCDQ.com - easily the Internet’s most popular and longest running preDB/dupechecker - received a major overhaul recently. Gone are the usual drab, boring lists of endless releases - VCDQ has been revamped into what could quite possibly be the Net’s best media-related database for both P2P and scene releases.

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Donation Woes - Can PayPal Wipe Out Private Trackers?

May 19, 2010 by sharky

Well-established public torrent sites have gone through a shitstorm in recent times - Mininova went legit, Isohunt & PirateBay are continuously under attack yet are still limping along. This is moot; as long are there are public trackers: new sites will gleefully rise to the task to fill the gap whenever a torrent indexer disappears - you can’t stop BitTorrent. But this article isn’t so much about the public sites. It’s about PayPal - and private trackers - and how donations intertwine with their survival.

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The Rogers Cable Fiasco Killed My Internet Access

May 03, 2010 by sharky

This article isn’t so much about filesharing than it is about my frustration with the megalomaniac service provider Rogers Telecom. Wondering where I’ve been? Blame Rogers - they inadvertently cut off my Internet access last week. It’s no secret that anyone in Ontario (and probably anywhere else that Rogers is offered) who subscribes to a High-speed Internet service is also able to receive a free TV cable signal with all the channels up to CH72 (called the "VIP" package). Users were/are able to simply put a splitter onto their incoming hi-speed coaxial and feed one end of it directly to the back of a television. Sweet deal, while it lasted - although I didn’t anticipate it to take down my Internet.

Literally scores of my acquaintances in both real-life and online have been hijacking free cable for as long as I can remember; I personally haven’t paid a single penny for cable in over 5 years. Well, it looks as though Rogers is finally putting the brakes on us freeloaders, and if it hasn’t happened to your neighbourhood yet - look out, it will soon. Rogers is installing a new generation of "filters" to block out the analog TV signal on high-speed subscribers. With millions of customers, users can expect some degree of technical problems associated with the upgrade, as witnessed by yours truly.

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Frylock (co-sysop of Etiv.in) Busted for Pot Possession?

April 17, 2010 by sharky

Looking at the calendar, April 1st has come and passed. Interpret the information below however you see fit. FSF received an alarming email tonight, purportedly from the wife of Frylock, "Elizabeth". In it, she explains that Frylock (Etiv.in’s co-sysop & founder) has been arrested in California on a serious drug charge related to marijuana possession. Evidence on Etiv’s forums seem to support this - but hey, look at the bright side - at least it’s not a kiddie porn bust.

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SCC v2 ‘Beta’ Has Finally Arrived, With New Features

March 08, 2010 by sharky

Some skeptics said this day would never come; others agreed that it was all part of a scheme to rake in more donations. After ongoing discussions spanning over the past two years in reference to a tentative beta release for SCC, finally it has come to fruition. The Internet’s #1 scene tracker has undergone quite a few new changes in SCC v2, although we doubt if it took the entire two years to code.

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Cinavia DRM Aimed to Stop Piracy On Blu-ray, PS3s

March 03, 2010 by sharky

Haven’t heard about Cinavia? Chances are, you will soon if you download pirated movies and attempt to play them back on a Blu-ray player or through a PS3. Cinavia is a somewhat new DRM technology that uses "audio watermarking" embedded into the audio stream portion of a movie. In a nutshell, what it does is compare the source of the audio to the format in which a movie was released (ie theatrical or commercial disc), and if the watermarked audio source detects a difference, the movie will either be mute (but most likely not play at all). So far, there have been at least two popular movies found on peer-to-peer that contain Cinavia DRM: TS/CAM versions of The Wolfman and Shutter Island.

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ScL is Back Online, But Torrentless

February 19, 2010 by sharky

Just a quick shoutout to all you ScL fans - ScL is now back online. But don’t jump up and down for joy just yet. The downtime has taken a toll on the site as it would appear as though they’ve lost all torrents. After nearly 7 long weeks of downtime, most of the site has been salvaged except for the torrents which unfortunately seem to be unrecoverable.

A senior staff member has now confirmed, "torrents are gone sorry, that part of the database got corrupted so only way to bring back ScL was to scrap that part." The latest message on their home/news page now reads:

Dear ScL Members,

 

As you know we have been down for some time now, and We are able to bring the site back to give our members some official updates.

 

So please stay tuned and check often for updates — ScL crew

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Vortex Network - Mac Tracker Nearing Its End?

January 31, 2010 by sharky

It’s all the rage these days for private trackers to softly threaten their members into donating in order to keep the site afloat. This strategy isn’t entirely new, but the rising trend suggests that the onus is being shifted towards a majority of members who aren’t willfully donating. VortexNetwork, or "eye of the storm" is the latest tracker with one foot in the grave due to a lack of funds, and is scheduled to shut down as early as tomorrow if donation targets aren’t met by the end of January.

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Unique Topsite-Linked Service Provides Scene Releases, Not Torrents

January 29, 2010 by sharky

Scene Access - Coveted by many; enjoyed by few. While that statement isn’t entirely true, one of the most popular email requests we get here at FSF is from readers asking where they can find scene access. Our response is always the same: we can’t help you, not even point you in a vague direction. Until now, that is. We recently discovered a brand-new service offering direct access to scene releases (no torrents, no trackers) straight from the source: topsites. What’s the catch? Just as with private trackers that have access to the latest releases, any tracker sysop can tell you topsites that provide this content aren’t free - and neither is this unique new service known as Scene2Web. Many will dismiss this as being akin to P2L - and who are we to argue? However, this truly one-of-a-kind service offers some distinct advantages & security that not a single tracker can provide. And at just $10, it could even replace your seedbox.

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Waffles’ Haiti Donation Drive a Smashing Success

January 20, 2010 by sharky

Waffles.fm (and their generous members) has long been known as a private tracker with a big heart when it comes to donation drives - whether it be their participation in the annual Toys For Tots program, or charity food / book drives. Yesterday, Waffles announced a new donation promo to support Haiti, and by the look of things - it’s on pace to easily eclipse any and all records for donation drives thus far in Waffles’ history. Thus far more than 1,500 Wafflers have now participated, bringing in an estimated $75,000 (USD) for Haitian relief - and the numbers are growing fast.

Updates (March 19th): This has now ended. Waffles raised $84,012 | TehConnection - $6,353 | Wunza - $390

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DVDRSource and TVSource Merge to Create New Scene Tracker ‘XNT’

January 02, 2010 by sharky

With 2010 being just a couple of days old, already two new trackers have dropped off the Internet - sadly DVDRSource.org and TVSource.org are no longer with us. While this could be considered a tragic event, we think you’ll agree that the outcome is better than the sum of its parts - both trackers have merged into one new "Excellent" tracker at www.xnt.nu. Gone are the old limits of just DVDR & TV releases; XNT is an impressive all-encompassing ‘general’ scene tracker that’s really taken off with a bang. Registration is currently open but don’t expect this to last forever.

EDIT: 2010-01-06 Public registration is now closed.

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TorrentLeech Invites Being Handed Out On IRC

January 01, 2010 by sharky

If there was a People’s Choice award for best tracker, few would argue that TorrentLeech is at the top of the list. For those last few holdouts who don’t yet possess an account at TorrentLeech, what have you been waiting for? TL is currently offering invites through IRC, but don’t delay; this is said to end in roughly 12 hours.

EDIT: TL Invites through the channel are now closed.

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BitMeTV Implements a ‘Global Ban’ of Romania

December 31, 2009 by sharky

Chalk up another private tracker that brought out the banhammer against Romania. Two months ago, BitMeTV issued a warning to their Romanian users of a possible "global ban". Consider this to be some sort of "trial period" in which if Romanians didn’t clean up their act, further action would be implemented. Yesterday, BitMeTV made good on their threat, and has now globally banned Romania from the tracker - albeit this ban is only temporary (for now).

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HDBits Invites Cancelled, as Sellers Get the Jump

December 18, 2009 by sharky

Official news from HDBits now confirms that a recent announcement for a 24-hour open-invite slated for this Monday has been shelved for the time being, if not indefinitely. Certainly this is bad news for those on the outside looking in, but as a whole, the HDBits community is supportive of the decision. So, what caused the rollback of the invites? Simply for the exact same reason that the invitation system was disabled exactly one year ago to this day - invite sellers trying to make a quick buck.

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