NZBMatrix Closes Their Website 144
An anonymous reader writes "Hot on the heels of the closure of Newzbin2, this morning the usenet NZB indexing website NZBMatrix closed shop in the face of another DMCA notice. NZBMatrix allowed users to sift through messy usenet groups and quickly find data for download. NZBMatrix's API allowed automated polling from various clients, making it one of the more popular NZB sites. This is one of the last public NZB indexing sites, leaving mostly invite-only underground sites. A sad day for usenet users everywhere."
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What?
I havn't used usenet for years, but this is the last one? Comeon...
Just googles and I was able to find a couple sites that seem to offer the same service.
indexing != access. though, since you're going to end up paying for binaries access anyways, it's not that much of a hassle to use some other nzb site or find nzb's with the usenet providers search.
Re:No More Public Usenets (Score:5, Informative)
The best combo is predb.me / nzbindex.nl
Astranews sucks now too much content is missing.
Going to need to use a NL only provider without US Servers.
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Going to need to use a NL only provider without US Servers.
Any suggestions? Anchordudes used to be a good source for usenet servers, but the info that they have seems to suggest that there aren't any non-US based services that they know of anymore, and that most of the hundreds of usenet providers are just reselling the few backends that exist.
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I use a combination of astraweb and sunnynews. It tends to be that if one doesn't have it, the other does. Combined the two will run you $16ish a month. Worth every penny IMO.
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They could make pretty big bucks with a service like that with that price point as well, but the problem is you have to get basically all of them on board. This is difficult because all of them want to lay down their own terms and prices, and they all think that they deserve a bigger slice of the pie than the next guy.
I think the major issue is that they're still ensconced in the cable world right now. When that falls apart (which I strongly believe it will) they'll have to find a new distribution model. Wi
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They could make pretty big bucks with a service like that with that price point as well, but the problem is you have to get basically all of them on board.
Isn't that what Hulu was supposed to be?
Re:No More Public Usenets (Score:5, Informative)
There are some good newznab based providers that I tend to rely upon the most. They work great, and there's basically nothing stopping anybody from building their own.
There's also binsearch.info. Binsearch is easily the most comprehensive nzb index in existence, only downside is that it is also unfiltered, but the bad stuff is easy to spot (e.g. passworded rars are marked as such, and NZB's that aren't anywhere near large enough to be what they claim to be are obviously not what you're looking for.) Generally if I need something obscure, binsearch is a great last resort if nobody else has it.
Automation? (Score:2)
The best combo is predb.me / nzbindex.nl
I don't see any API links on those sites. Is it possible to configure them as search providers in automated download tools like SickBeard and CouchPotato?
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Nah, they'll have to be added to SB/CP as an option first (by SB/CP developers). No way to just "plug in" a new search provider that I know of.
Even if there's no API, maybe SB/CP it could screen-scrape the results?
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You don't always need an api key to use the rss feed of a site. Sick beard will work just fine with most rss feeds that point to an nzb.
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You're too retarded to be around a computer. Grab a glass of water, have a sip, pour the rest on said computer, you have no use for it
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Funny thing is, ask a regular joe was a newsgroup is, and they'll probably re-direct you to Google News search.
NZBMatrix had a great community, like Demonoid (Score:5, Insightful)
You could always rely on a decent number of comments for popular releases to filter a good download form a bad one.
Sad to see this one go, as I had relied on it more and more well before Newzbin closed its doors.
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It's almost like there should be some sort of NET that people could USE to talk about things, sorta like a web forum, but not requiring the use of a web browser, and definitely not requiring a central point of failure like a web server. Servers could pass forum posts between each other via TCP over some unused port, like, say, port 119.
Another 10 bucks wasted (Score:5, Insightful)
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I think "I paid them $10 yesterday for a month/quarter/year of service and today they closed their business" is a pretty clear cut case for transaction reversal.
Of course, if they declared bankruptcy it would be different since you'd probably have to get in line with all the other creditors...but it seems like they just decided to close because the future didn't look good.
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How nice of them to accept premium payments up to the day they closed.
I joined 3 months ago, best $10 i ever spent!
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$10- 3 years ago. Definitely the best. I wonder what this means for sickbeard and the like.
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$10- 3 years ago. Definitely the best. I wonder what this means for sickbeard and the like.
SB has its own indexer for episodes (SBIndex, it's in the config).
As for "the like", however, if you can find a free/premium provider still around (look around on this thread, and you'll probably find a couple) that support the same arguments in their search as NZBmatrix does (there are a few), then you can get by with adding your own providers
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He paid $10 for higher retention, what he used that for is his business.
What if he used that for Linux ISOs? Do you know if he did? What if he didn't? He has no rights otherwise?
Does he even live in a country where Big Content have their hands in lawmaking? That's right, you don't even know any of that, so don't assume.
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Flash didn't decide a month ago he was going to shutdown today, he decided when he got the mass DMCA takedowns. Not like it was a plot to get your $10 bucks and run.
Only one thing (Score:1)
Google != Internet
Nzbmatrix != Usenet.
A sad day for whom, you say? (Score:2)
*.binaries.* downloaders are a much smaller set than "Usenet users everywhere."
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Are you really sure about that?
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Yes, its not even a little bit hard to confirm, you just open a client, list groups that have new messages 'today'.
Once most people grow up, they just buy software rather than warez it.
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Hear hear. I don't think I've illegally downloaded a game since Steam's selection got so big pretty much anything I'm ever interested in gets released there. The situation when it comes to getting TV shows and movies legally online is simply atrocious. If outside the US, it's pretty much non-existent.
Sickbeard + Usenet has been my savior for a number of years now. I guess it won't be long until I should cancel my Usenet subscription and put that money into a VPN service and use torrent instead.
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you just open a client, list groups that have new messages 'today'.
And find 90% of them are spam selling sport shoes or fake watches, or Bollywood porn.
Thanks to Google Groups, spam has swamped just about every text newsgroup. I was an avid news junkie for more than 10 years, but have barely looked in in the last five. It's so sad to check on what used to be an active community and find a few forlorn posts in a sea of spam.
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Unless you want to drown in Gucci spam, you're still going to be moderated.
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Need to decentralize (Score:2)
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There are no 'decentralized' systems on the Internet. Not even newsgroups, which are about as close as you can get.
Just because you apply the word decentralized to something you don't understand, doesn't make it true.
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LimeWire was GPL... that's why FrostWire existed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LimeWire [wikipedia.org]
The network was so centralized that the openness of the program didn't mean much. FrostWire went Bittorrent only soon after LimeWire was shutdown to avoid legal trouble.
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Re:Need to decentralize (Score:5, Insightful)
They're going after the Usenet providers as well, via automated DMCA takedown requests. The providers have no choice but to comply (and to keep up, also automating the process), which means content is effectively gone within hours of being uploaded.
The irony when it comes to TV shows/movies is the same as it used to be with the music industry: the stuff being downloaded is largely not available to buy online legally. I wish they would put their efforts into making this content available for purchase instead of wasting their time trying to stem the flood of copyright infringement.
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This.
The loss of NZBmatrix and it's bastard ilk are no loss for actual Usenet users - only for those (mis)using it to shar
Re:I am not sad (Score:5, Insightful)
How is this moderated up so high. No provider was forced to shudder their doors because of the huge size of the binaries groups. Just dont carry the group. Usenet discussion died because of spam and web forums.
Re:I am not sad (Score:5, Informative)
This comment is factually correct, although it's modded down because it is contrary to someones worldview, that's often the case with Slashdot negative moderation. I used to run a NNTP server for a small ISP in 1994. I just filtered out the worst offending binary groups when the cost became prohibitive. I ran an NNTP server on a 486 with a couple scsi drives just fine with just the text groups. I can't imagine it being a "huge cost" to any ISP without the binaries.
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Usenet died when it was opened to the great unwashed masses. AOL was the start. .signature footer.
The golden age of usenet was only possible because it was largely restricted to intelligent educated grown-ups. Or at least college students who were a minority enough that they soon got pulled into line with netiquette. That was the day with everyone used their real names, and many had their phone number in the
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Binaries never killed usenet. It only forced some providers to go text only (there are many and pretty much all are free, google them). Email and groups (yahoo groups, gmail groups and other newsletter service) is what really killed usenet.
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What about the ability to handle spam?
Spam was a problem for usenet in the early 90s (when I left). Can't imagine what it's like now.
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That's why you have an indexing service like nzbmatrix and nzb files. You never actually usenet itself.
Re:I am not sad (Score:5, Informative)
The text groups are not dead; not by a long shot, and for some topics they're still a great first place to look (Perl questions or Lisp for example).
Go to aioe.net (org?) for a free text group provider. Albasani is another, although the owner, Alexander Bartolich sadly passed away suddenly earlier this year so it's not clear how much longer that site will be around. EndlessSeptember - or something like that - is also providing free text groups.
And the forum at www.dictatorshandbook.net is technically a news server. Connect to it with a news client (Unison, SLRN, Knode, TIN, Pine, Thunderbird) to give it a try and remember how much awesomer NNTP threads are relative to web forums or -- gack -- AJAXy Facebook-type stuff.
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Any free fast binary usenet services? [grin]
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Any free fast binary usenet services? [grin]
Yup! But you can only access it from the restaurant down the block that offers free lunch. You know the one, right? Across the street from the unicorn zoo?
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how much awesomer NNTP threads are relative to web forums or -- gack -- AJAXy Slashdot-type stuff.
FTFY
Indexing Bots (Score:2)
They say once they're done with this latest DMCA notice they'll be left with "an impossible task of policing our indexing bots." I'm not aware of any law requiring content to be filtered as it arrives, so why would they have to police their indexing bots?
What's wrong with binsearch? (Score:3)
Binsearch.info is coming back with relevant results still, that's what I've always used, and it does an acceptable job.
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But how long will it last? It won't last forever. What other good ones are there like it?
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I think it will last. Binsearch doesn't categorize on pirated goods. It just provides a string search function. I never subscribed to nzbmatrix but I think they provided graphics to show what movies people were getting, and stuff like that, and categorized based upon pirate goods. Binsearch does no categorization that I know of.
Too many people... (Score:5, Funny)
Too many people violated the first rule of USENET.
Re:Too many people... (Score:5, Interesting)
That's not really the point. Yes, Usenet is old, but it was generally unknown to the majority of your average computer users. For years, the MAFIAA has been going after torrenting, with seemingly no knowledge of the capabilities and common use for Usenet. Now all of the sudden, NZB sites and Usenet providers have been getting hit with the DMCA notices. Again, seemingly it's apparent that the MAFIAA has only recently become aware of Usenet, so spagthorpe was using a funny and appropriate movie reference to point out that a lot of people couldn't keep the Usenet secret to themselves.
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That's because of the sophistication of the people the RIAA and MPAA employ to battle copyright violations. They are gettign better, or perhaps, people who have been in the "scene" for a long time are more than willing to cash in (sell out) and collect bounties on takedown notices.
Torrents offer a revenue stream through legal intimidation of its users, but usenet is still a problem for the RIAA and MPAA, so as the legal revenue stream of suing (or threatening to sue) torrent users dries up, they are left wi
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You have to become your enemy to defeat him, huh?
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Torrents offer a revenue stream through legal intimidation of its users, but usenet is still a problem for the RIAA and MPAA, so as the legal revenue stream of suing (or threatening to sue) torrent users dries up, they are left with cleaning up the remaining sources of pirated media.
Also, Usenet policing isn't self-funding like torrent policing is. You can't extort money from the users, because downloading copyrighted works isn't, as far as I'm aware, illegal. It's the uploading that's unlawful.
Torrent swarms conveniently provide the IP and content of the seeders, and every swarm will have many seeders. With Usenet, you have only one uploader, who is typically going to be very difficult to track down. And once you track that person down, you have only one person to try to extract money
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Why not use another method? (Score:1)
It's not like NNTP is the best way to download stuff anyway.
Bittorrent, HTTP and IRC/DCC all have their advantages, and they're alive and well.
Re:Why not use another method? (Score:5, Insightful)
I wish I could convey in words how obvious it is that you have no idea what you are talking about.
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You're welcome to try.
NNTP to download things has become irrelevant. Nowadays it's costly, annoying, has short history and isn't really faster than other methods.
Re:Why not use another method? (Score:4, Insightful)
You've just further reinforced our impression.
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You sir, are a troll and an idiot.
I take it you think only the scene makes proper releases too?
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You just keep diggin' that hole deeper, loufoque. Keep on digging.
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Erm, this is just flat out not true... I don't know if you're trolling or seriously that ignorant.
let's see...
DCC: Extremely Slow - majority of people have slow upload with their ISP, and on top of that most people who serve files have multiple slots, which cuts your download speed even further. Not to mention download queues, or the file server going offline. Not to mention it is not safe, I used to run an Mp3 channel before and I know people who got pulled up by the RIAA. XDCC is also just as bad.
Bit
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ROFL
bittorrent
ROFL
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Care to mention any IRC channels or DCC hubs where I can download stuff. I thought not. I can point you to a number of usenet indexes and servers. That is advantage of usenet is, you dont need secrecy, and you dont get nailed like bittorent.
Re:Why not use another method? (Score:4, Interesting)
See xweasel for an index.
thanks for the motivation! (Score:1)
I went from reading this this morning to running my own newznab in 4 hours.
GREED wins again. (Score:1)
Greedy MPAA and cable giants making more than there share strike again.
It's not like people that were downloading episodes of TV shows are suddenly going to buy the $50 season on blu-ray or ay $150 a month for overpriced cable TV..
At least I hope not. They will either do without, or get Netflix... Until greedy ISP's start charging you by the megabyte kills off the Netflix, Hulu, AOD, etc.. option.
nzbs.su invites? (Score:4, Insightful)
Mod Parent Down (Score:1)
There is no site like that. Don't google it or try to find it. Just go back to eMule or whatever you use. Newsgroups are dead, as are all NZB sites. Tell your friends.
Alternatives (Score:1)