This is my “open letter” to tracker staff about “invite forums” and how TPS fits into the scheme of things. I mention repeatedly that I consider TPS as a Bittorrent community of people with shared interests, and is a community which has sections for invite requests/offers, as well as direct recruitment by trackers. Nonetheless, I have resigned myself to the fact that the outside torrent world basically considers us an “invite forum.” Since many of our members, including me,  initially joined TPS looking to get tracker invites, I’m not about to dispute this view.

So invariably, the topic of “invite forums” may pop up in tracker forums and IRC discussions. I see almost always, the opinion tracker staff have of “invite forums” is negative. Basically they talk about how these places are a cesspool of bad users willing to play every trick in the book to score an invite to their tracker. By “bad users” I mean the collectors, traders, cheaters, invite sellers, and banned ex-members. Some tracker rules and guidelines will specifically forbid giving out invites to their tracker on invite forums, and will threaten to ban anyone caught obtaining their membership from an invite offer or request at an invite forum.

Well let’s compare TPS with those other places. For one thing, the other places will often have the word “invite” in them (even spelled backwards). There is no question those places exist for members to request or giveaway invites, often in a reckless manner. There are some which allow trading, or encourage their members  to giveaway invites in order to be able to receive them, which in my mind is the same thing as trading.  They may have no or few restrictions on which tracker’s invites can be offered, and have no consideration of a tracker’s rules. It’s no wonder tracker staff despise those places. (To be Devil’s advocate I will note that am sure good members of trackers have come from those “other places” as well.)

At TPS tracker staff are welcome to join and see what goes on inside. If a tracker doesn’t want their invites offered here, the tracker goes on the “No Movement” list and there is no offering or requesting of invites from that tracker. We also try to guide our new members into becoming responsible and good members of their trackers, and those who are known to be bad users get put on the “castaway” list – banished from TPS.

Now that I’m through defending TPS, I want to give my opinion on the whole concept of private trackers and invitations. Tracker staff, whether or not invite forums exist, you can’t stop a bad user from joining. If anything, the best of the bad can find ways to join your tracker with ease and are experts in avoiding the banhammer. The paradox is, the more a tracker tries to keep bad users out, the more desirable it becomes to such a user. Increasing invite rarity or eliminating them altogether will only make the tracker more attractive to the bad user. Other measures, such as having a “secret” url will make the tracker seem more “elite,” and as I’ve written before, the users who are fixated on joining a tracker they perceive as “elite” are the ones trackers would least want in their tracker. Should a tracker convince an invite forum to follow their rules, then the rule-breaking just goes underground. I note that at TPS, the staff will not snoop in on our members’ PMs or private IRC conversations.

There is an opinion circulating in the filesharing community, that the whole concept of tightly restricting access to private trackers will lead to their downfall. The greatest example of this is the “high-definition” tracker which opened invitations to their tracker after having very few for a long time. The result was numerous offers to sell their invites popped up on the internet.  Another example is the new tracker which pulls the “elite” card while still getting started (no invites on forums, secret url, fake login page). The result: they come across as pretentious and potential good users will get turned off.

Please note my opinions are solely my own and not representative of TPS. My intention is not to offend tracker staff, but to provide a contrarian opinion.

I’ve been away from the blog and TPS for a bit since I was on vacation, so to make up for it, here’s some tidbits from my vacation, with emphasis on things that reminded me of filesharing.

While flying on the plane out of LAX (Los Angeles International) into Dulles International (Washington D.C.), I read those throw-away magazines that are on the plane. I saw the “entertainment menu” of the music and movies available to flyers and thought how quaint this concept of in-flight entertainment is. Instead of  being forced to watch or listen to what the airline is feeding you, you can just download the entertainment you want, put it on your iPod or laptop, and you can be entertained with what YOU want to watch or see.

I visited quite a few historical sites which were important during the Revolutionary War. It was emphasized that American patriots like Patrick Henry were largely considered traitors and criminals by the powers that be (the British Crown) but today are considered heroes. Someday, when copyright laws are changed for the better, perhaps the early filesharers will be thought of in the same way.

I visited museums which had the history of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. I also had the pleasure of seeing the original documents in the National Archives building. Of note, the tour guide said that it is the responsibility of the U.S. Federal Government to provide for the “Daily Welfare” of the nation, and he listed what that entails, and mentioned copyright laws. That is why the DMCA law is federal legislation, and why copyright battles are fought in U.S. Courts, including the Supreme Court of the U.S., and why U.S. filesharers are always wary of “the Feds.” I also laughed when I read about how someone who made a copy of the Declaration of Independence in the late 1700s was actually sued for copyright infringement by someone claiming to be the official printer of the document. Whoever he was, a tip of the hat from one pirate to another.

Speaking of pirates, the Smithonian Institute museums have a section on the old pirates of the 1700s-1800s. I learned that the stereotypes of pirates (saying “Arr” and “walking the plank”) come from the popular media and that real pirates weren’t like that at all. Also, early sailors could become legal pirates by getting a “Letter of Marque” and becoming a “Privateer.” One of the rationalizations privateers gave is that they can steal booty from another ship if the booty was stolen in the first place. Interesting concept. Imagine if downloading content from “the scene” would be legal since the content was stolen to begin with!

One highlight of my trip was being able to enter the gallery of the U.S. Congress and watch actual congressmen work on making the laws of our country. I only mention this to encourage people to get active in the political process, vote, and let your legislators know what you believe in. I mentioned before TPS has an extensive news and politics section for those interested in political subjects.

I also went on the official tour of the White House, but they kept the tourists in the “public” section and we were nowhere near President Obama. While I was there he was busy in another section of the White House firing General McChrystal. (Oh to be able to have witnessed that live!)

I have more stories to tell and vacation pictures to share, but I have to get the pictures uploaded. The pictures will be in the extensive “Photography and Art” section at TPS in the next few days.