Apple Blocks iTorrent App From EU Alternative App Marketplace [Updated]

[DEMinSoCAL]

So if I steal something, but I was never going to buy it that makes it a victimless crime? I’m not sure how that logic works



Well, that’s just public perception and not reality. It’s just like some people think that if you eat grapes in the produce section at a grocery store, it’s not shoplifting. It’s shoplifting.

first part -- if you steal something from a store that the shop owner has paid for is different because, yes, the shop owner is now out that money he paid. The worth of a digital file is different. It doesn't cost the studio or software maker anything if I torrent it. If I was never going to pay for it anyways, they're still out nothing.

second part -- almost any fresh produce stand i go to wants you to taste the grapes or strawberries or watermelon first, so you can see how good it is. A grocery store is no different and to be honest, I don't ever recall the grapes having been picked over so badly they're unsaleable. Also, where I live, the grape bags (and cherries, etc.) are all open to "test" before buying.

 

[JonathanX64]

Great news. Zero tolerance for piracy.

Such a close-minded take.

Westerners could never comprehend a family earning 700 dollars per month, with a kid only having access to some old PC (which has to be shared with all the siblings) as their only form of digital entertainment.

Pirating cool movies, anime, and classic video games is what helps those people broaden their horizons and live more fulfilling lives. And you'd much rather have children accessing that instead of predatory F2P games or free TV shows. Don't even pretend otherwise.

If you can afford to buy all the digital stuff you want — good for you, but please don't take this privilege for granted.

 

[kevcube]

Piracy is theft. It's up to people to decide if they are OK with stealing content or not, but it's disingenuous to claim that piracy isn't theft.

piracy is theft. but torrenting is not piracy.

 

[germinator]

The whole idea that Apple can control what app I can run on MY phone is ludicrous and needs to die.

 

[Jumpthesnark]

I wasn't talking about Streaming I was taking about Buying / Purchasing a digital copy which Netflix isn't in the business of selling copies anyways so your example doesn't apply. For example Sony, Apple and other platforms where you can own a digital copy. As I said owning isn't owning anymore because of some licensing issues. Again I repeat I'm talking about Owning/Buying not renting or Streaming services.

Way to miss the forest for the trees.

I was trying to use streaming as an example, but you still seem to miss the point. The rules are the same. You don't own the digital copy, you have purchased a license. And the terms of service that came with that copy tell you everything you need to know.

I know they're impossibly long and purposefully difficult to read, but people should really read the terms of service some time. It's what they're agreeing to, after all.

Do you really want to own a copy of a movie? BUY A PHYSICAL COPY.

 

[Jumpthesnark]

If buying a movie doesn't mean you own it, then it isn't stealing to download it.

You haven't bought a movie. You have bought a license to watch a movie, after agreeing to the terms set by the license holder.

Sometimes I really wonder if people are being purposefully obtuse, of if they honestly don't understand.

 

[neomorpheus]

Came in here expecting the usual Apple can do no wrong commenters.

Of course, I was not disappointed. There are plenty of uses for torrents that are legal guys. It’s most likely Apple just doing the usual malicious compliance…

Its not only the rabid cult members that are doing this.

Its everywhere.

These mega corporations are fleecing us and these people dont want us the consumers, to fight back.

Examples:

Purchased games in digital form removed from the store and your library, but no refunds.

Purchased movies in digital form? Same as above.

Games publishers recently said that we dont own the games, because we purchased a license.

Or one of my favorites, not being allowed to install whatever the hell i want in my iOS devices because apple said so, regardless of paying thousands of dollars for them.

Hell, cant even install another OS in them even if i wanted to.

Bonus, the biggest trigger of them all? Give ME the option to sideload apps on my supposedly owned iOS device!

 

[R2FX]

Here's 3 off of the top of my head, all legal: Downloading files to 3d print. Downloading archives of stories. Downloading ISO's to use with UTM.

thanks! sounds like super niche use cases though and you can achieve all of it by connecting iPhone to Mac and use cable

 

[SeaFox]

even when you buy physical media on a disk you don’t own music on the disk. You buy a license to use those goods.

If what I'm buying is a license and not the physical media, then legally I should be entitled to replacement discs if my CD/DVD wears out or is lost or stolen. The RIAA/MPAA want to play both sides. They claim your purchase is only for the physical item you bought in the store, but then change to saying you paid for legality in consumption per terms they set to control how you use it.

 

[mrochester]

You haven't bought a movie. You have bought a license to watch a movie, after agreeing to the terms set by the license holder.

Sometimes I really wonder if people are being purposefully obtuse, of if they honestly don't understand.

This has always been the case. In the past though it was pretty much impossible for the license to be revoked unless someone came to your house and took your record/tape/CD/DVD/BLU-RAY away from you.

Content you access from someone’s server online is very easy to revoke the license and prevent you from having access.

Basically the enforcement of license revocation is now much easier.

 

[uacd]

you NEED a torrent app to download Linux distros right??

Or are we just trying to download movie / music torrents directly to iPhone dear developer?

There is no point of downloading movies anymore nowadays, there are many Eastern European websites operating in grey area which show you two (usually casino) ads and you can watch any movie on these websites. I cannot provide any links but it is fairly easy to do. Reddit and built-in translator help a lot in searching how to do that, I believe there are already guides on YouTube. Btw this method doesn’t even require to use VPN since you are not breaking any rules by visiting a website with “free-for-all” content.

The only issue is that you need to manually choose “Eng. original” as a movie language in the video web player, because other audio tracks are usually Ukrainian or Russian translations.

P.S: with adblock it is even nicer since you can watch movies for free. It is useful for old movies you cannot find on Netflix or other platforms.

Also lots of decent movies are uploaded to archive.org, it is technically piracy but really not. We are now in post-pirate age where piracy is easier than ever before.

I believe for music torrent is no more used too because lots of old distributions are now non-functioning, torrenting sites are mostly dead and so on. For example recently I wanted to download discography of one Dutch DJ and there was simply no one to seed, it was a pity because I needed it purely for offline listening on my old devices.

As I mentioned, as we entered post-pirate age there are lots of workarounds so you no more need to download anything unless you need it offline. On YouTube (website, not app!) you find any song, lock screen, click “play” thru control center controls on your iPhone and it magically streams with locked display. On SoundCloud there are many tracks from newer artists because they simply decided to distribute them free of charge

 

[canadianreader]

You haven't bought a movie. You have bought a license to watch a movie, after agreeing to the terms set by the license holder.

Sometimes I really wonder if people are being purposefully obtuse, of if they honestly don't understand.

People understand the licensing issue and they're mad at this broken and unethical system. You can acknowledge reality and be against it at the same time. The system is broken and piracy is the symptom.

 

[Martin Bland]

I hope the EU steps up now

The EU is unlikely to champion a torrenting app because of its association with piracy.

 

[svish]

Waiting to see whether Apple will clarify. However will not be surprised if Apple is actually deciding to block the app.

 

[Unami]

There are essentially no valid use-cases for having a torrent client on an iPhone or iPad other than piracy.

Torrent helps people to steal things.

As a content creator, I do use torrents to send bigger files across the pond or to other continents where internet connectivity is not that great. One big advantage of a torrent is that you can resume it, if you've lost your connection. Another one that it's free and there is no size limit. Sending files >15GB over something like wetransfer often doesn't work when connectivity at the receiving end breaks down after a few gb - same with .ftp where not every client can resume an interrupted download and not every client of mine is able to download and use one which does. icloud drive is often too slow and downloads are then interrupted as well, because it takes too long (e.g. when the ip of the recipient or sender changes automatically every 12 hours, or sometimes it feels like they are just not very stable and stall after an hour or so).

Granted, I usually wouldn't use a phone for a 16+ hours torrent-upload, but I would, if I'm e.g. abroad in a remote location but have filmed something long and newsworthy and want to send that to my workplace. Although, I'm not sure one can create torrents with iTorrent - haven't tried it yet, because iirc it was in beta and required one to be a paying patreon customer of the developer.

If creating content is your job though, and the money you make from that job (and so that content) is how you pay your rent/mortgage and pay for things at the supermarket, then it's a different story.

Sure, but let's also get real here: If you're a content creator who does his own content, and has to pay the bills from selling that, piracy is usually not an issue. Nobody is going to pirate the ad you're producing, nor will somebody uploading your songs hurt your personal business. If you produce something that creates a real demand, there's more than plenty of income from youtube, live performances and streaming services. If you just hardly break even, there won't be enough interest to create enough piracy demand to hurt your barely existing business. The only ones that are afraid of piracy are big companies who dream up some imaginary lost sales in an ideal world where population has grown but the audio cassette and streaming services have never been invented. At least that's my impression, as someone who has worked in the film and music industry on both sides (small creator & big worldwide media conglomerate) for 25 years.

 

[CopiumWafu]

Torrent helps people to steal things.

Screw them.

Update
Replies to this comment are amazing. The Internet has created a culture where people feel entitled to everything, everywhere, all at once. Content creators need paying, call it piracy call it theft, I don’t care, you’re still taking things you haven’t paid for.

"I cannot think of a reason, thus it must be bad". Lol, okay gramps.

 

[ForkHandles]

As a content creator, I do use torrents to send bigger files across the pond or to other continents where internet connectivity is not that great. One big advantage of a torrent is that you can resume it, if you've lost your connection. Another one that it's free and there is no size limit. Sending files >15GB over something like wetransfer often doesn't work when connectivity at the receiving end breaks down after a few gb - same with .ftp where not every client can resume an interrupted download and not every client of mine is able to download and use one which does. icloud drive is often too slow and downloads are then interrupted as well, because it takes too long (e.g. when the ip of the recipient or sender changes automatically every 12 hours, or sometimes it feels like they are just not very stable and stall after an hour or so).

Granted, I usually wouldn't use a phone for a 16+ hours torrent-upload, but I would, if I'm e.g. abroad in a remote location but have filmed something long and newsworthy I want to send to my work. Although, I'm not sure one can create torrents with iTorrent - haven't tried it yet, because iirc it was in beta and required one to be a paying patreon customer of the developer.



Sure, but let's also get real here: If you're a content creator who does his own content, and has to pay the bills from selling that, piracy is usually not an issue. Nobody is going to pirate the ad you're producing, nor will somebody uploading your songs hurt your personal business. If you produce something that has a real demand, there's more than plenty of income from youtube and streaming services. If you just hardly break even, there won't be enough interest to create enough piracy demand to hurt your barely existing business. The only ones that are afraid of piracy are big companies who dream up some imaginary lost sales in an ideal world where population has grown but the audio cassette and streaming services have never been invented. At least that's my impression, as someone who has worked in the film and music industry on both sides (small creator & big label) for 25 years.

I can easily legitimise the childhood murder of Hitler our Pol Pot. But murder is still bad.

Seeking to legitimise a service whose primary function is to allow users to freely distribute creator’s licensed content to billions is very similar.

Its core is rotten, it’s really that simple.

 

[ForkHandles]

"I cannot think of a reason, thus it must be bad". Lol, okay gramps.

“Oh yeah, I really like that song, I’m a big fan of that band, huge fan, massive! Nah, not big enough that I want them to be rewarded by even 1¢. What am I stupid?”

“Did you see that movie, man it was fantastic, I really got off on that dialogue, masterpiece! What you want I should actually have to pay for the pleasure they had making me happy, you nuts?”

Everything everywhere all at once!

 

[votdfak]

You sound like Metallica in '90s.

 

[ForkHandles]

You sound like Metallica in '90s.

Is it ironic that I was listening to Master of Puppets on my AirPods as I read your comments, or just coincidence?

Americans are curious, the country thrives on capitalistic ideals, the almighty dollar, except when it comes to content creator’s media then it’s socialism all the way baby, property is theft.

 

[Jamie0003]

Its not only the rabid cult members that are doing this.

Its everywhere.

These mega corporations are fleecing us and these people dont want us the consumers, to fight back.

Examples:

Purchased games in digital form removed from the store and your library, but no refunds.

Purchased movies in digital form? Same as above.

Games publishers recently said that we dont own the games, because we purchased a license.

Or one of my favorites, not being allowed to install whatever the hell i want in my iOS devices because apple said so, regardless of paying thousands of dollars for them.

Hell, cant even install another OS in them even if i wanted to.

Bonus, the biggest trigger of them all? Give ME the option to sideload apps on my supposedly owned iOS device!

Totally agreed!

 

[Jamie0003]

Since the article clearly states that torrents as a category aren’t banned and it’s limited to this app, your argument falls apart.

Ok so why was it removed?

Personally, I think it’s just classic Apple pettiness that they don’t want people downloading these apps. To defend otherwise is laughable, but I suppose we’ll find out soon enough

 

[surferfb]

Personally, I think it’s just classic Apple pettiness that they don’t want people downloading these apps. To defend otherwise is laughable, but I suppose we’ll find out soon enough

Then why ban just one torrenting app, not all of them? To me, that seems to imply that app in particular has done something to warrant its notarization being pulled. But maybe I’m missing something.

Full disclosure, I think it’s absolutely absurd that Apple is forced to let these apps use its intellectual property when it doesn’t want those apps on its platform, so I’m definitely giving Apple the benefit of the doubt here.

 

[Jamie0003]

Then why ban just one torrenting app, not all of them? To me, that seems to imply that app in particular has done something to warrant its notarization being pulled. But maybe I’m missing something.

Full disclosure, I think it’s absolutely absurd that Apple is forced to let these apps use its intellectual property when it doesn’t want those apps on its platform, so I’m definitely giving Apple the benefit of the doubt here.

How do you know it’s not the only torrenting app out there?

And I think it’s absurd that apples allowed to pull apps from AppStore’s they don’t manage. Doesn’t this defeat the purpose in them in the first place? Doesn’t sound like they should be able to, imo.

Can they do this on macOS, just out of interest?

 

[knappeduivel]

99% of the time whenever a developer claims Apple didn't provide a reason, they're ********ting.

Apple almost ALWAYS provides a reason, even if it sounds like a stupid reason, there is a reason.

And that 1% of the time when they didn't provide a reason, they eventually provide a REALLY GOOD REASON. Example: developer of Dash. His credit card was linked to review fraud and he even admitted it so.

99% of the time whenever a a forumber makes 99% and 1% claims it is totally unfounded. Please don't present fake figures as facts.