indigo6alpha | 145 points
We're seeing a lot of content being taken down, even the ones with the link and the key posted separately. It's been known for a while that this sub is monitored by many Anti-Piracy outfits ([email protected], [email protected], etc.) and the content here gets indexed on various "search engines" and whatnot.
Making this sub private would definitely slow down (not stop) these elements. But the huge downside is that many, many regular users will lose access to the content. We would need to manually add each and every one who requests access to the "Approved Submitters" list for them to see/add content.
An alternative solution that I thought of, for this particular problem, would be to create a chrome extension which will encrypt your links (mandatorily) before they're posted and will only decrypt it for viewing if you're logged in. Now, this is a very rough idea and has many flaws, the most obvious one being the browser dependency.
I'd like to know what you guys think of this solution, and also if you have any other such ideas which can be used.
I honestly don't think we should go private. Here are my reasons:
And let's be real, mods are only people too and they shouldn't be working on all this crap. So what I think we should do is just keep going the way we are right now except for titles. In the titles we could just replace an A for example with a 4 and an e with a 3 to keep them from indexing our posts. I know that using the search would be a lot harder but then again this reddit going private would mean too much work for the mods and / or a loss of a good source for many people who only download from here.
[-] Zonemasta8 | 30 points
Is there a way for people with over 500 or 1,000 karma to instantly get in and the rest is up for the moderators to decide?
[-] GodSubstitute | 6 points
This seems like a relatively decent gateway but also allowing most legit users access.
- It would be a ton of work for the mods to manually add people and check whether they are to be trusted
I agree on every point, but I wanted to touch on this quickly:
How do you even check if someone is a trusted person? How do you even know if any of the people you've previously approved have started taking down content, or even WHO of those people are doing it?
Frankly, we can't police or control the users of this sub. Putting up roadblocks do not slow down or solve anything, it just makes it harder for the regular users to actually use this subreddit while at the same time just adds to the amount of work, most of which is entirely unnecessary as it's
/u/indigo6alpha even said it in his OP: There is no solution. All content is eventually removed. Even with the suggested roadblocks, that content is removed at the end. The only difference is the added steps for the users that don't actually influence the end result; but only influences the amount of steps mandatory to take before they get to see or add to the content in this subreddit.
TL;DR: Going private wouldn't solve anything, or prolong content life; it would only add inconvenience for the users.
[-] PmMeSteamWalletCode | 3 points
Yeah and also naming the content on mega something like "Family movie" in place of the actual title would help
[-] exoticpickle | 2 points
But that wouldn't help if they are monitoring this sub
[-] tohrd2cntrl | 3 points
Time to start begging for karma!
I'd also like to see this place stay public. Most(?) links seems to stay up for months, so this is still working well. But maybe there could be a more challenging process for getting the link, like captcha and/or waiting times.
Here's my 2¢. Having this subreddit go private would be a terrible idea. Here's why;
The likelihood of a person using mobile, or the reddit app to download from their phone is highly unlikely, so a web extension isn't a bad idea, but prying eyes can get a web extension as well. Varying how we post and using code to k33p th0s3 pry1n9 3y3s fr0m l00k1ng, but I personally think that won't do much. It's pretty easy for even a bot to figure out what you're doing.
Alternate propositions:
Edit: Scrolling through here, I found some interesting methods that I'd like to add:
[-] [deleted] | 1 points
MegaDownloader. This uses Steganography to hide a message in a .jpg, so a better alternative to cryptography. This is kind of the end all of end all's when it comes to keeping things hidden, but I'd love to know what everyone else thinks.
The Enemy can just use MegaDownloader as well. And steganography doesn't help when The Enemy already knows that (say) an image contains a hidden message. So when images are posted on this sub along with the password necessary to extract the hidden Mega URL, The Enemy won't have a problem extracting it, too.
[-] ProfessionalMartian | 1 points
[-] olympiad23 | 45 points
hi this is fbi
please delete sub
thx
[-] [deleted] | 14 points
no u.
[-] tohrd2cntrl | 4 points
new numbah. who dis?
[-] LuluListens | 31 points
Going private would be good, but it'd be hard to vet users. I mean, I use this subreddit rather regularly, and try to help users when I can, but I do not make posts myself. I am not sure how we could tell if it is someone like myself, or a corporate stooge of sharehate.
[-] mactroneng | 2 points
Do you use other parts of reddit regularly? Perhaps a threshold on account age and minimum post + comment karma
[-] LuluListens | 8 points
Hmmm... Partially, anyway. I seldom post, sometimes comment. Haha. Goodness knows I only have 2 post karma and 84 comment karma. Would I be let in? I am not Christine H. McConnell! I don't make wonderful things!
[-] [deleted] | 7 points
You can buy reddit accounts.
[-] mactroneng | 6 points
Yeah but it still raises the barrier to entry.
[-] DIDNT_READ_YOUR_SHIT | 23 points
I prefer this to torrents, so if you go private, I want in. Otherwise, do what you like.
[-] [deleted] | 3 points
Same
[-] [deleted] | 2 points
same
[-] aadce520e20c2899f4ce | 1 points
same
[-] PeaceLoveCarsMoney | 1 points
Same
If the immediate goal is to obfuscate the subreddit, then making it private is the best option.
If the subreddit is private then there should be a mechanism to help the moderators approve access. A batch process or auto-approval. Something like that.
I think the biggest problem facing the subreddit is the indexing that is happening. The posts end up in search results on different search engines and content owners take note. Stopping the subreddit content from appearing in non-reddit searches is necessary for long-term viability.
Could making this subreddit a NSFW subreddit work? I know that this will show a warning page when visiting if you are not logged in. But I don't know if this will also apply to the search indexers.
[-] MenaceInside | 6 points
It does not prevent google from indexing it. Private is the only way.
[-] kamikazecow | 9 points
R/fullmoviesonvimeo did the same thing, went private and shortly after died out sadly. Not sure it would be the way to go
[-] starbuck93 | 7 points
Has anyone thought about moving the community elsewhere besides reddit, but in the same format as this?
[-] [deleted] | 2 points
[deleted]
[-] starbuck93 | 2 points
I mean, it would mostly be just an "authentication required" forum with admins and a bunch of users. Like private tracker sites. We could even do some IRC or something.
[-] GhostHawk666 | 2 points
That is what the Newsgroup NZB sites started doing when the heat got really bad. Only a few left that accept new members. This is a daunting situation but the scene always manages to survive.
[-] AmazingLarry7 | 7 points
I rely on this subreddit a lot since I first discovered it, and as long as I'll still be able to access it and the Mega's posted, I'm willing to use an extension or apply for the private sub.
[-] DegeneratesInc | 7 points
Chrome on a tablet? Please just... no.
[-] [deleted] | 5 points
Re extension: What would stop The Enemy from using the extension, too?
[-] indigo6alpha | 10 points
There's absolutely nothing we can do about the manual reporting. Even if we go private, there's no way we can tell if the person we're giving access to is a regular user or a copyright troll. This is to only deter the indexing, I suppose.
[-] uhnuhnuhnnn | 2 points
You could go private and vet new users based on thresholds for account age and/or comment/link karma. But that's a lot of work for moderators.
[-] Lego_Delorean | 5 points
As someone who is relatively new (This is actually my first post) to Reddit, but has been visiting for a bit now, a gateway would be fine. I just don't think that using a karma as a score to judge someone and let them in is that great.
That said, hopefully I'm doing this right.
Reddit accounts can be bought that already have a ton of karma so going by karma isn't really a good method.
There is a bot script which automatically approves a user as contributor based on the subject-line of a mod-mail.
So it would be possible to turn this sub private and not have mods do a ton of work. We could make a sticky post with the subject-message and username to message and give users 2-4 weeks time to take notice and write it down.
[-] Probate_Judge | 4 points
An alternative solution that I thought of, for this particular problem, would be to create a chrome extension which will encrypt your links (mandatorily) before they're posted and will only decrypt it for viewing if you're logged in.
I said something similar just the other day:
https://www.reddit.com/r/megalinks/comments/5ae56r/meta_netflix_monitors_this_sub/d9gkzba/
It got me thinking. I've seen plugins that replace words or do all sorts of random things with greasemonkey and other similar tools.. I was thinking that we could sort of post in code, say, the actual title is typed backwards, but a plug-in would flip it around for anyone who has it installed.
If we're going private and vetting members one-by-one, we need consistent vetting procedures (like a marking schedule/risk matrix). We'll need to develop some rudimentary OPSEC measures.
-Age of account: 90 days or less is suspicious
-Check user history: does user actually write threads or replies regularly?
-Other measures yet to be determined
Seems perfect for most users but what about those like me that just pry and never reply or write threads? I'm sure there are some of us around!
Well there are quite a lot of lurkers on reddit.
[-] DIDNT_READ_YOUR_SHIT | 4 points
One more comment: if we do decide to go private, we should implement a manual method of approval and that should be based on account age (6 months is good) as well as the type of shit people post - it's hard to explain, but a netflix/comcast shill woudn't bother keeping an account active for months at a time with edgy comments. As an example, if you look through my posts it will be obvious that no actual comcast/netflix employee would troll as much incoherent garbage as I do. If they DO start doing that, then it's a win-win-win because we cost their company even more money while they sit doing nothing, THEY get to post on reddit while doing nothing, and we get to see a bunch of people trolled. Sounds like afuckin plan to me /b/ros
I use this sub daily and this is the first comment i think ive ever done on reddit. If it goes private im not sure how id prove im worthy
[-] CausalProjectIon | 3 points
I haven't been as active since some of my links got caught but I'd be down for private or the link. I kinda like the link idea b/c it sounds cool and anything to stop automated searches would be good. I guess this is just a neutral post...
I think that there should be one subreddit(for eg : megakeys) for the keys and there could be number of keys posted for a single link in which only one key works while rest of them are fake . Another thing that could be done is that the key could be crypted depending on the date which the link was posted .
[-] wateraj2001 | 3 points
Going Private will definitely help this sub. Only big problem like u said was adding people. When people like me and probably a lot here has been using this sub for about a year and not get added will really hurt this community.
i'd rather see this place go private than require a chrome extension. Honestly, neither option would keep this place from being monitored, but making it private would keep it from being indexed and require actual accounts. If you can set up a script to auto-approve join requests from people with a decent amount of a karma it'd help.
[-] [deleted] | 2 points
I think putting links in a text file or pastebin and then just putting a link to that would do a good job of slowing down them getting taken down.
[-] [deleted] | 2 points
I wrote a post while ago that got upvoted, but then all these anti-piracy guys came in to downvote. It was about a request system. I suggest hosting our own reddit clone, as reddit software is open sourced.
Also, Disney is shit anyways, HBO and AMC are infinitely better. Fuck you Disney, I wouldn't watch your shit even if you paid me.
[-] andylaw366 | 2 points
Making the subreddit private would only increase burden on the mods, how would you decide which user you can allow? Maybe filter people based on account age? Using karma to do so would be pretty unfair to lurkers. Another way would be to make contribution to the sub a requirement.
I can see the logic in both going private and keeping things status quo (mostly to maintain visibility for people looking for subs just like this), so unfortunately my input is invalid.
I suppose going private would be good, if the mods would check not well known uploader. So they would check post history, age of the account and so on. So the chances of "fakes" comin through would be minimised.
[-] [deleted] | 1 points
I would ne down for private if I could get an invite I posted somethings that have never been here before.
Would it be feasible to make an extension that encrypts the IP and file/folder names when downloading? There is certain info needed to report a file to Mega, can it be masked, so the OP(uploader) is the only one who has the correct data? And the downloader has to rename the file from encrypted gibberish to whatever they want?
But yeah, I have to agree with others, that privatizing the sub is a bad way to go. I just watched the death of Crack Status and would hate to see MegaLinks go down that road.
Peace
[-] brand0nwalker01 | 1 points
I think maybe make a forum outside of this reddit could do the trick, that way if mass take downs do happen we can at least all fallback there and leave this place, still that's not fool proof either but it maybe an option.
One way to let people in is to have them contribute something if it goes private. Even if it's something small.
You could make the subreddit private, and have an auto moderator bot approve people with a certain amount of karma, and manual approval for all others.
+1 vote for going private.
I propose adding a sub like r/megapvt or sth.
That way you can test there first and see how it goes.. It's the same for Private/Public Trackers.
With over 20k Subscribers I don't think this sub will ever come "clean".
[-] greatflicks | 1 points
All the work by mods is greatly appreciated. As a relatively new member, with 0 uploads I would anticipate not being on the invite list, necessitating a PM to be checked etc, etc. Lots of ideas, not sure what the best solution is. If it goes private it sounds like the people who are really searching to get links down would still find them. Leave it status quo for a bit and see how it goes?
[-] LucasLovesListening | 1 points
I vote private. Ummmm...can I be part of the group?
[-] CrossEyedHooker | 1 points
Look, whatever you do I'm just making this comment to bookmark my presence. I deleted my previous account of many years.. for reasons. Whatever you do is fine by me so long as I don't lose access.
[-] outtyn1nja | 1 points
A minimum karma threshold would significantly limit unwanted spies -but you would have to auto ban anyone who posts in circlejerk subs.
[-] flammpanzer | 1 points
I really like this sub and would hate to lose it. I don't really post a lot on reddit but I'm on here daily, if you do go private hopefully I can find a way to still be in this sub.
[-] yapple-dapple | 1 points
I personally don't think it should go private as I generally lurk on Reddit on my phone and don't post content. If this sub becomes private, verifying legitimate users would be a pain in the ass and also would shut out people like myself who come here for content like westworld or other shows I normally couldn't access.
[-] 100percentkneegrow | 1 points
Whatever it takes, this sub is great. Maybe not a karma threshold but an account age threshold.
[-] bighugenerd | 1 points
as unpopular and harsh as it is i suggest taking the sub private and requiring people to post content - mods cant be expected to weed out good lurkers from bad lurkers and its not difficult to send up something - anything - to a server - so just make that the requirement for admission - i used to do torrents but my isp now is a snitch and i dont want this ruined too because one putz cant help himself
This is my most visited sub, besides never commenting or saying anything and that's the problem. Most people like me are just here to upvote cool things that people post, so I really hope casual users don't get thrown out because of this privateness.
I love this sub and down for whatever. Im more of a lurker comment once in awhile so if we go by karma i dont have much.
[-] NineOutOfTenExperts | 1 points
I'm not an uploader so my opinion may not matter. But I wouldn't add an extension to be able to post.
[-] random_raven | 1 points
I don't think going private will solve anything however to prevent indexing we can try changing title names like replacing letter e with 3 or mega with "abcd" in the links
[-] Ecoterrorist239 | 1 points
I personally think that the sub going private is a short term solution to a long term problem but I'm mostly just commenting so that if the sub goes private I can somehow verify I've been a lurker for quite a while.
I'm a lurker here. So privacy would be good but also hurt people who only lurk. I personally haven't had something good enough to share yet.
[-] IgnoreMyName | 1 points
I only found out about this a couple days ago and it's one of those subs that I check daily now for new content. Whichever way this issue goes, the thinges to consider are:
Just things that need to be considered. I wish the mods the best with whatever way they decide to go. Only thing I ask of them is for proper flairs. :) Pls.
Yeah, we definitely need a way to get rid of the takedowns. What if we implemented a method like the one that needs to verify that you're not a bot?
[-] Philosofossil | 1 points
Up for whatever works and keeps the content I have no means of acquiring with actual money, flowing.
[-] Cartmanishere | 1 points
I don't have enough technical expertise to actually contribute a helpful suggestion. If I had to weigh in, I definitely like the idea of the chrome extension. Tbh I don't know if it'll help or not, I just don't want to see this sub end one way or the other.
[-] primokarim | 1 points
I don't think it's a good idea, I've been lurking on this sub for months for HBO content (I live in Canada where HBO Now doesn't exist) and this is my first comment here. Reading the comments, I see many users are in the same boat.
[-] lurker093287h | 1 points
That is an interesting idea, I think the private sub would definitely slow down links being taken down but I agree that it would limit the number of people who are looking at things.
The encrypted thing is interesting but it seems like it might be a lot of work.
Another lurker, and a complete reddit newbie on top of that (literally created an account to post this comment). I just found this place a few weeks ago; have been visiting and using it daily since and loving it, but have to echo the others wondering how someone like me would be able to prove worthiness to a private sub.
[-] GhostHawk666 | 1 points
Been reading through this thread and didn't see anyone ask, so I will. When something is taken down, approximately how many days does it survive before the files are actually removed from Mega? In Newsgroup land we have seen some takedowns happen in a few hours for worst cases, but usually 2 days is the norm.
[-] ultimateninja9 | 1 points
Is there a type of sub where it requires you to be logged in, but doesn't require an invite? Because maybe that would keep the sub out of search results without blocking access to everyone.
Also, could you require that links and keys be submitted as images? As in a literal image of the URL. That way no automated process could grab the links and keys.
[-] AlphysAssistant | 1 points
Throw me in if you do! I love this sub and use it almost daily. (Just wish there was more muppet content)
[-] _FRANKENSTEIN_ | 1 points
Would something like http://ncrypt.in/ or http://r4dm.com/ work?
[-] TheGoodSheep | 1 points
Here is a solution:
You have to say 'thank you' and a bot automatically sends you the key. So first of all you need a registered account, also you can maybe tell by the time frame which user is responsible for the take downs and ban him.
A Reddit account for this sub should have a certain amount of activity and should be a few months old. That's pretty common for other subs and websites who provide some kind of service. I think the least you can do is say "thank you" for the service people provide here, the whole "i never write anything" argument doesn't work for me in this case.
Private: Not a friend, but if it keeps this sub going, I would accept that in a heartbeat.
[-] halolordkiller3 | 0 points
I'm for it idc
I'm for a private subreddit. I'm not going to feel bad about disenfranchising people who aren't logged into reddit. And I'm also laughing hysterically inside that a traditionally liberal place such as reddit has organically come up with a perfect analogy for the need for voter ID laws. That being said I also am not a moderator so it obviously wouldn't add work to my day. I also definitely don't want to see some kind of scam put in place where we have to go to a site that makes us watch an ad for some reason so someone can try to monetize the subreddit, as happened a while back.
[-] hatemyjobZ | -6 points
Personally, I recommend a invite-like system. You would have to know someone who is in the sub to vouch for you.
well, then you invite someone you actually thought of being a normal user, turns out he is a copyright dude - then what?
[-] hatemyjobZ | 1 points
Invitation is usually based on trust, and you're responsible for your "invites". Look at how TorrentLeech works.
And I never said it was bulletproof, just brainstorming regarding OP.
[-] [deleted] | 207 points | Nov 02 2016 20:31:20
[deleted]
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[-] patataburger | 32 points | Nov 02 2016 21:29:13
I am in the same case as you. I think also that it would be very hard to verify everyone and casual users might get thrown out of the sub because of that !
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[-] [deleted] | 29 points | Nov 02 2016 23:42:27
I'm right there with you. I haven't commented or posted anything here since discovering this sub but I check it daily.
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[-] FaxImUhLee | 12 points | Nov 02 2016 23:29:27
Same. I mean, I try to help by PM'ing people that need help when I know what they need, but I'm not really active in talking.
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[-] Thegqreviewer | 11 points | Nov 03 2016 01:07:53
I second this. This is a quality sub that keeps getting better. Unfortunately it gets more difficult to keep things up. I check it daily, going invite only is appealing but how do you sort through the rats.
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[-] endante1 | 1 points | Nov 03 2016 17:54:50
it will be difficult to do so, but amazing if we could get that level of control.
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[-] xxb4xx | 3 points | Nov 03 2016 04:18:27
I give short movie reviews which I don't think anyone reads..
Can I still join??
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[-] mengheng | 3 points | Nov 03 2016 05:10:08
I agree with this.
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[-] enter_name_here1000 | 3 points | Nov 03 2016 06:44:27
same boat as you
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[-] colormeup82 | 2 points | Nov 03 2016 11:07:55
ditto
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[-] ZeroKarizma | 2 points | Nov 03 2016 14:36:56
Same here too. I love this sub and wouldn't want to get kicked.
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[-] csockey | 2 points | Nov 03 2016 20:07:26
The same down to a T.
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[-] SabreWolF9 | 2 points | Nov 04 2016 11:18:49
Same here, if you do go private, maybe you can set entry requirements like you need to be a reddit user for x number of days or also have a history of comments on other subs etc. I know it's not the best idea.
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[-] fissionforatoms | 1 points | Nov 03 2016 15:12:47
Same here
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[-] The_Glorious | 1 points | Nov 09 2016 05:07:25
Agree
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[-] SuminderJi | 1 points | Nov 10 2016 20:40:22
Same. Though I am willing to upload some stuff if needed.
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