What on EArth is going on with Astraweb?

[noodles]

Seems like nothing on Astraweb is complete anymore...

Have I missed something?

[Beck38]

Been running very nicely for at least 3+ weeks or so now, no wobbles or large gaps noticed.

Of course, this does not include organized crime 'hit' items such as pro wrestling, p0rn, or the like, so if any of those are your 'delights' then you need to 'get tight' with those providing such fare.

[megabyteme]

Wondered what happened to all the naked midget wrestling vids... :sadwalk:

[jsmith1299]

Yeah they are aggressively pulling of posts. I think it may be time to look for a new provider. Anyone have any recommendations?

[Beck38]

Since at least 95+% of all BR/HD posts are either name obfuscated, rar encrypted, or both, and it's been so long since I've seen any SD/DVD pulled (mostly are not obfuscated OR encrypted) that I can't remember when, and even captures from pay channels are rarely yanked (although the few that are, have NO obfuscation or encryption simply because the folks posting them are either lazy or rely on folks using automated downloading systems), but the majority simply aren't, and aren't being pulled, so I don't have a clue what you're talking about (unless it's the aforementioned OC material)

If indeed it's material that is obfuscated/encrypted, then it goes to show that the pay-walled (or otherwise) web sites that distribute the 'keys' have been cracked or entered in some way, which is the downfall of such 'systems'.

So which is it?

[famoussasjohn]

Haven't been having any issues downloading with Astra. Are you using the SSL and both US and EU servers?

[Beck38]

I just spent the better part of the last couple of days leeching the heck out of Astra/US, several of the listings were completely in the 'open' (no obfuscation, no encryption) and the others were extremely minor obfuscation/no encryption), both BR rips and several pay-tv 'captures'; no problems whatsoever.

I'm sure that there may be some 'stuff' I don't really care about that may have been 'targeted'. In particular, some series with roots in George RR Martin, which I've read occasionally for decades but in which the fantasy aspects tend to leave me a bit out of it in general (not real sci-fi in the general sense). But I'm sure that there are tons of 'quick draw' systems out there to capture those postings.

[bikertyke]

When i found out they use bots to remove content i switched to Usenetnow and never fail to get my downloads.

[Beck38]

When i found out they use bots to remove content i switched to Usenetnow and never fail to get my downloads.

If they aren't checking the things manually for verification they are taking down, they'll eventually end up in Federal Prison for violating the DMCA, if anyone simply titles a posting to generate that takedown but isn't the actual content. So I rather doubt it, but if so, they are running right to the edge of that perp walk.

Then again, like I've always said, a simply minimum amount of obfuscation generally means that it'll last just about forever, so if the posters don't use a tenth of a nano-watt of brain power, then they pretty much deserve what happens.

[g2thes]

Some files disappear due to DMCA complaints.