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Piracy

Z-Library Releases Tor-Enabled Desktop Launcher To Improve 'Accessibility' (torrentfreak.com) 19

Pirate ebook repository Z-Library has released a dedicated desktop application that should make it easier to access the site going forward. The service is at the center of a criminal crackdown and has lost hundreds of domain names, which in part triggered the development of this new software. TorrentFreak reports: Over the past few months, Z-Library users accessed the site through a dedicated URL, which redirected them to a 'personal' domain that provided access to the library. This worked well but the entire operation could easily be wiped out by yet another round of domain seizures. The new desktop launcher, which is available on the Windows, Mac, and Linux platforms, will automatically redirect users to the right place, without being tied to a single domain name. The new desktop launcher, which is available on the Windows, Mac, and Linux platforms, will automatically redirect users to the right place, without being tied to a single domain name.

In addition to simplifying access, the new Z-Library launcher software is able to connect over the Tor network. This can help to evade blocking efforts while adding an extra privacy layer. The software may trigger a warning noting that it's from an unverified developer. According to Z-Library, this is a standard notice but, aside from the copyright infringement angle, people should always treat third-party applications with caution.

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Z-Library Releases Tor-Enabled Desktop Launcher To Improve 'Accessibility'

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  • by bubblyceiling ( 7940768 ) on Monday June 26, 2023 @08:04PM (#63635336)
    Knowledge should be free. Their efforts are truly valiant. Hope they succeed
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • Thus, the efforts of Z-Library are committing or facilitating mass intellectual property theft, (A.K.A., copyright violations,)

        Sorry, but no. You do not get do redefine copyright violation as theft. They are two totally different things.

        Copyright had the moral high ground when it balanced the needs of creators and the common good. It not longer does, so naturally many people do not feel morally compelled to obey an unjust law.

      • Knowledge should be free. Their efforts are truly valiant. Hope they succeed

        Knowledge is the result of labor. Someone went to the effort of finding something out that at some point,

        Those who "labored" used their winnings to lobby to bend the government to their favor and undo the original intent of copyright (aka to preserve culture and spread knowledge). Modern corporations do neither of those things. They have renegged on the public domain big time over the past 200 years. Just look at these give aways to publishers over the last 2 centuries.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]

        Copyright is a publically granted monopoly and as members of the public we can rescind it by disobeying whe

      • by VeryFluffyBunny ( 5037285 ) on Tuesday June 27, 2023 @02:56AM (#63635954)
        Many of the books & documents on Z-Lib simply aren't available by any other means to me, no matter what lengths I go to. This is true for millions of people around the world. Also, many of the books aren't available in digital formats, only print, so Z-Lib makes it possible to have second, more portable, searchable, backup copies of their book & document collections.

        In short, Z-Lib fills a gap that publishers have consistently failed to adequately fill. Or perhaps you think it's a good idea to prioritise profits & publishers' whims over access to useful information & opportunities for everyone in the world to learn.
      • Copyright is a privilege to WE let creators have in order to encourage creativity.

        Five years is a reasonable time for creators to privately profit from their creation before it returns to the public domain and everyone can benefit from the work and - more importantly - derived works it inspires.

        Proper use of the copyright privilege benefits the world.
        95-year terms are an ABUSE of the copyright privilege by the big corporations who bribed politicians to extend copyright terms to these ludicrous lengths.

        Fair,
        • by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

          Until then: PIRATE ON!

          Copyright is also what protects such thing like Linux from being "locked up" like the FSF so proudly declares.

          If you want to encourage piracy, then you're also encouraging companies to use GPL'd software without releasing the source code.

          That's the breaks - it's why GPL and such are "copyleft" licenses - they require copyright to be functional in order to work.

          I'm sure if copyright was 5 years long, companies would immediately switch to 5 year old releases of software just because they

          • "I'm sure if copyright was 5 years long, companies would immediately switch to 5 year old releases of software just because they no longer have the obligation to release source code."

            Five years is a long time in software...
      • by cascadingstylesheet ( 140919 ) on Tuesday June 27, 2023 @07:07AM (#63636244) Journal

        Knowledge should be free. Their efforts are truly valiant. Hope they succeed

        Knowledge is the result of labor. Someone went to the effort of finding something out that at some point,

        If only some dusty old white guys [stanford.edu] had figured out some way to balance these competing interests!

        Article I Section 8 | Clause 8 – Patent and Copyright Clause of the Constitution. [The Congress shall have power] “To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.”

        That said, the dusty old white guys thought that 7 years, renewable one time for another 7 years, was quite enough. I agree.

      • I work in a university. I get paid by the state to produce new scientific knowledge. This agreement seems fair to me, apart from journal publishers and other leeching middlemen. Maybe we should work on extending this system to other kinds of knowledge production as well.
      • What if I read the book, then tell a friend what it said? Is that IP theft as well? I've passed on (made a copy of) the information without compensating the author for their labor, after all.
      • You're advocating robbery.
        No he is not.

        If you want to discuss about stuff like this, you should know the meaning of legal terms.
        e.g. theft, burglary, robbery, piracy.

        It is not the same.

        Robbery - is usually an armed - assault, taking away physical property against the resistance of the owner - hence the weapons, to subdue the owner. However ripping the handbag out of the hands of an old lady, is already against he resistance and is robbery. Taking the handbag from the side of the bench she is sitting on, wh

    • by waspleg ( 316038 )

      They require a login. Respect gone.

  • Even with the entire torrent dump, it's just a database, numeric named files, and giant tars. The "view" into this mess is critical, otherwise it's worthless.

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