btefnet.net is no more

Idiots. Complete, utter, idiots. Who's running the show, so to speak, at the studios that put out all the TV that clogs the air and cable? I'd like to sit them all down in a room and knock all their heads together like dominos in a row. Another facet of a brilliant piece of technology was apparently squashed tonight as the site btefnet.net that hosted super fast downloads of TV shows went down. The technology behind it is the BitTorrent (background via NPR) wherein a de-centralized network of people download files while simultaneously allowing others to download from them. The beautiful part comes from the fact that one user can begin downloading a file from someone else even before that other user has the complete file. Brilliant. It's the only way to share these large files without having to have a farm of servers to meet the needs.

Anyway, an NPR commentator said it best when he voiced the opinion that the TV studios need to proactively come up with an option people who illegially download their shows can buy into (figuratively and literally). I want to watch my show(s) on my computer whenever I want and I don't want a Tivo and don't want to wait until a set of DVDs come out two years later. It's all to pathetic that they can't just look toward a success like Apple's iTunes store and not say "Hmm... Let's sell our shows at a buck a pop and license out the BitTorrent technology to help us deliver our content in a cost effective manner."

But that's not going to happen. Another technology will push itself forward then be squished before someone finally gets the hint. TV is dying and the studios need to get in on this before we all move on and obtain our entertainment from somewhere else.

Or I could just stop watching TV... Nah.

Comments (15) | To Top

5/13/2005 @ 7:33am

Its big corporate brother and big government brother squashing creativity.

by Sherry

5/14/2005 @ 4:56am

can anybody maybe tell me if these has been a replacement for btefnet.net somewhere where all the uploaders now seed there torrents??

by emil

5/14/2005 @ 8:54am

Don't know of a replacement yet myself but I can tell you the MPAA is completely missing out on an opportunity to snag some easy money here by not coming up with an iTunes-like service for downloading shows. They're missing the cart here and won't know it until it's too late for them. Then, once somebody comes up with a profitable, legit way to do all this the MPAA will either sue them or head to the Congress or the Senate to beg them for some giveaway of a law.

Someone needs to take them down a notch.

by KevinFreitas

5/14/2005 @ 9:07pm

is there another -program i can use to download my three favorite shows>

by roberta cragg

5/14/2005 @ 9:44pm

Looks like the only best bet I can find is http://www.mininova.org/ We'll see what transpires over there.

by KevinFreitas

5/16/2005 @ 11:54am

There are alternatives to BTEFNET's website, but they are either dodgy or not as convenient.

Don't count BTEFNET out just yet, though -- this just in from the EFNet irc server #BT:

< @oblivionx> [Request] Message:[The #BT Website is currently down. Releases are on hold until we have a better understanding of the current situation. We have NOT been sued or been contacted by the MPAA! Please be patient and do not PM the ops. We will keep you guys updated.] - SysReset 2.53

by Oxalá de Mangueira

5/16/2005 @ 12:39pm

That's good news. Hopefully this will be resolved and everyone can get back to being pioneers in the realm of digital TV downloading. I know it's the future -- does the MPAA?

by KevinFreitas

5/23/2005 @ 9:47pm

----JUST POSTED Monday, May 23rd, 2005 at 8:38pm----
#BT will no longer be releasing any torrents or have a website| thanks everybody

by nForcer

5/24/2005 @ 6:10am

Well, I suppose that's that then. It's a sad day for flexible choice in media.

by KevinFreitas

5/28/2005 @ 4:05pm

try this possibly replacement site.

http://www.xtvi.com/

by NUJaBe

6/16/2005 @ 1:19am

http://www.torrentspy.com

by Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Flim

6/25/2005 @ 6:58am

GAH check out the new btefnet..... is it corporate owned now or do #bt still have control.... either way membership fees need to be paid and silly enough they think that most people will actually join. We already pay for cable.... why the fuck do we have to pay for tv shows now? We watch them for a price already. Why are sites like btefnet getting attacked?

by cryptic

8/18/2005 @ 10:08pm

btefnet is now searching.com and you can search for torrents. Give it a try.

by john gotts

8/18/2005 @ 10:13pm

I should also point out that Searching.com is going to meta-search every possible bittorrent site we can to help find the torrents that you want. BTEFNET is gone but Searching.com will be a great replacement. The site is up now for the first day and we will do our best to improve from here. Any suggestions are welcome and I will continue to check this site for how we can make it better.

Cheers

by john gotts

9/12/2005 @ 6:25pm

Hm.
I want the RSS feed back :-( . It is way too complicated to keep track of the aired shows without it.

by drakh