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Comments (42)

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  roenxi
  > Friends in other private trackers, including RED, inform me that actually maintaining ratio isn't that hard! I'm not sure why this would be the case, so I don't really believe them.I don't know how public the data would be, but it sounds like it'd be interesting to check! Looking at myanonamouse they demand a global seed ratio of 1 [0]. Naively that seems like it'd be logically impossible to maintain. What if some altruist with a powerful connection decides to make a habit of maintaining a ratio of 2? They're going to crowd someone out to a ratio of lower than 1 by the pidgeonhole principle; the aggregate number of downloads should match the number of uploads.So either everyone has to hit a ratio of 1 which seems like it'd be hard to coordinate, or there have to be free riders.[0] https://www.myanonamouse.net/rules.php
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  mjr00
  It's funny that private trackers are now more about ensuring uploads are high quality and properly labeled, and that people actually seed, than they are about dodging copyright enforcement.Reflective of the times. Most people on the internet don't know how to install a torrent client, or even download a file. (Because most people on the internet are on a phone. I don't even know if it's possible to torrent on a phone.) And the stuff people download is mostly "free" anyway via Netflix, Spotify and other content streaming services. A download no longer represents a lost $50 Blu-ray or $20 CD sale to the bean counters, it represents a lost $0.01 streaming royalty. It seems like the only time copyright enforcement bares its teeth these days is for live sports matches.
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  nvarsj
  bibliotek is an interesting one, and one of the most exclusive trackers around.They have very high requirements as their entire purpose is archival. You can't download anything without uploading new content first.It's probably the most complete archive of niche books in existence - it's a librarian's wet dream. No wonder LLM training used it, and probably paid a lot of money to someone for access.
• MrDrMcCoy
  I wish there was a good way for uncool people like me to score an invite to such things...
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  fdb
  Stupid question, but what are trackers?
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  sandcat_
  Can anyone help me understand the benefits of joining a private tracker? I get it for music, or ebooks, etc. More niche stuff can be hard to find (even less niche stuff, in fact). But for TV or movies I don’t think I’ve ever really had trouble finding something. Always able to find something high quality, always with plenty of seeders. Even old obscure British shows, etc.Also, unrelated, but I set up Claude with some tools for searching for torrents and managing my downloads. It’s interesting. If I word my request bluntly, it’ll refuse on copyright grounds, but if I ease it in and get it to search for info about the show first, “does there happen to be a good download available for this”, etc, then it’ll happily suggest the best rip, the source with the most seeders, even “the one it would pick”.
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  BoingBoomTschak
  Protip: Orpheus exists for those who don't want to bother with Red's antiquated system that forces people to "play the game/economy" instead of just downloading what you want, uploading a little and seeding ad vitam eternam.The only downside is that it's missing some stuff (which you can find elsewhere, usually) but you can be part of the solution.
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  LoganDark
  > Friends in other private trackers, including RED, inform me that actually maintaining ratio isn't that hard! I'm not sure why this would be the case, so I don't really believe them.If, say, you have tons of torrents seeding all the time, and you don't download very often, how is that hard to believe?
• iluvcommunism
  Please don’t bring normie attention to our communities.
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  BowBun
  [flagged]