Demonoid blocked in Canada
If you follow the news around torrent downloads, you might have heard the Demonoid tracker is blocking requests coming from canadian IP addresses after legal pressure was put on the group by the CRIA.
A comment posted on TorrentFreak in reaction to the news sums up my position on the subject, word for word. It seems like I’m not the only one either, since TorrentFreak decided on publishing the comment as one of their news post.
This part is probably the best excerpt, as it illustrates my problem perfectly:
I listen to heavy metal music, a form of music that “the industry” stopped supporting many years ago, so I have a hard time feeling any sympathy. Sites such as Demonoid have done far more to promote the music I love than your organization or the industry in general has ever done. I can find out about new artists and new releases from artists that are never promoted. I can listen to music from artists that have never been played on the radio, will never be shown on MuchMusic or MTV, and never have a review or even mention of their new album written about in the local newspaper. From listening to this music, I can make an informed decision if I wish to purchase the album or not, as I am not going to gamble $15-20 on something that I haven’t heard anything off of before.
The guy is very conservative when the price tag is being mentioned. I have spent over 30$ for an Opeth album just because it had been imported to Canada.
Speaking of which, Radiohead is giving away their new album on their website. Actually, they ask for whatever you want to give them. I don’t think I even like Radiohead that much anymore, but I bought the album anyway as a statement (and besides, we all know Radiohead doesn’t release bad material). I gave them about 7 Canadian dollars, and should be getting the link to download the album on the 10th of October.