4ed torrents -How'd it happen?

[Mercurius]

I'm one of those folks that is always a few years behind technology (I'm just shopping for an mp3 player now), so I have no idea what a "torrent" is except that it is a downloadable file. I've heard that there are high-quality PDF torrents of the core books on the internet and I am wondering how that came about. I mean, from what I've heard, *ahem*, they aren't scans but high-quality PDF files. How did they become available? Did someone from Wizards with access to the original publication files set them up for free download? How is this possible otherwise?

(By the way, I understand that this is problematic for Wizards, but for the record I never find PDFs that appealing and will almost always buy the hard-copy if possible--so Wizards is still getting my buck).

 

[Harr]

All it takes is for someone on the inside, - a proofreader, a typesetter, a layout designer, anyone with any kind of access to the files - to get mad at their boss one day. They take the files, pass them to someone who can crack them and will do so just for the fun of it, they pass it to someone who doesn't mind the notoriety of having been the one who released them, and bang pirated pdfs.

It was really just a matter of time, what's notable is that it happened SO fast.

 

[phil500]

they broke 3 or 4 days ago, after the buy.com shipments arrived.

it is suspected it happened at the printer. they could be hi rez scans.

the torrent bit is just a way of filesharing thats a little more efficient than traditional ones, like napster.

thing with the internets now is that it only takes one hero/deuchebag to get them up and a few days later tens of thousands of people have em.

 

[Andur]

Word on the street is theft... Whether it be an inside job or not remains to be seen.

I can tell you that proof copies in the publishing industry are emailed around like nobody's business, so it could be a "pick" or it could be a "leak"...

 

[Boarstorm]

Someone with access to the files WotC sent off to the printers decided to be a ****. That could be an employee, an ex-employee, an employee of the printshop, a friend of any of the above, etc, etc.

As for what a torrent is... well, it's a little hard to explain with my level (not even close to paragon) of knowledge. Wikipedia could probably answer that better. But just think of files chopped into teeny tiny bits, with a different computer holding on to each bit, so you download 1% from this guy here, 2% from some guy in Sweden, 1% from Tron, 1% from ... and so on.

Kinda.

 

[Mercurius]

Thanks, that clarifies things. I just didn't see how it was possible to get high-quality pdfs without it being an "insider job."

As for legality, obviously it isn't, but to what degree? If Wizards found out who did it, could they sue? (They'd obviously get fired). And what about those that post it? And download it? I'm guessing that it is illegal to offer it for download, but maybe not to actually download it?

 

[Rechan]

If I didn't know any better, I'd say it was a rouse by The Rouse! Viral marketing. I mean, the pirated copies seem to have generated a flurry of discussion, interest, and I'm sure that afew people who looked at it decided they were going to buy the books*.

A torrent is basically chopping a file into little bitty pieces, and passing it out. Each person that gets a piece shares their itty bitty piece with someone else, so it multiplies.

*Yeah, I know, pirating is bad, and many people take PDFs and dont' buy the product. But you can't use just PDFs of the core rulebooks to run a game at a tabletop. There'd just be too much flipping back and forth. Hell, a fight involves 5 monsters; the flicking back and forth ebtween their stat blocks every round would be annoying.

 

[Szatany]

it is suspected it happened at the printer. they could be hi rez scans.

I'm no expert, but whatever they are they are not scans.

http://img173.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=62606_DD_122_631lo.JPG

 

[Harr]

As for legality, obviously it isn't, but to what degree? If Wizards found out who did it, could they sue? (They'd obviously get fired). And what about those that post it? And download it? I'm guessing that it is illegal to offer it for download, but maybe not to actually download it?

It's sad but I think there's very little anybody can do about it... IF they had a tight hold on the file's distribution and security they might find the original culprit and fire them, but likely not. If they spend a lot of resources and time on it they might get, out of the hundreds of sites that offer the torrent, if they are physically located in the US, 2 or 3 shut down. But likely not.

And once the pdfs find their way into a few peoples' home computers with a torrent program running, it is literally impossible to stop.

They only and best way to counteract it is for people to speak with their wallets and buy the books EVEN if the copies are out there. It's the only way to make it up to the writers and designers that worked themselves to the bone over it, and the only way that we can find to make the whole thing not matter so much in the future.

 

[Mercurius]

They only and best way to counteract it is for people to speak with their wallets and buy the books EVEN if the copies are out there. It's the only way to make it up to the writers and designers that worked themselves to the bone over it, and the only way that we can find to make the whole thing not matter so much in the future.

Agreed. And to be honest, before getting a look at the (very very impressive) PDFs I was "probably" going to get the books ASAP, but was thinking of waiting (until my new, better paying, job started in a few months)...now I'm definitely getting them ASAP.

To put it another way, my guess is that the percentage of folks that don't buy the books because they have the PDFs is quite small, and that it is off-set by people who, after seeing the PDFs, decide to get the books.