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Sort of back but completely dead.
Pic on sign up is completely shit, I've give up loads and even this time it took me 50 refreshes to even see the stupid thing.
Yes I am stoi and no, blackcats is never coming back, I got arrested 5 years ago, I went to court twice in London, 400 mile journey (there and back) last year, I pleaded guilty but didn't get sent to prison, thank god. I don't even own a PC, so I haven't used any filesharing since I got arrested, coppers took everything and destroyed it after the case
I'm not saying don't do it, go for it, just far to risky for me.
Anyway, only joined and posted this as I'm a bit pissed tonight, but what the hell is going on with this forum and filesharing in general, it all seems to have died a miserable death.
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Re: Sort of back but completely dead.
Wow! So glad to hear from you again, especially the part about dodging a lengthy stay at a government hotel ;) No one seemed to know anything after the 2016 bust (not even pjcnet whom as I recall was also arrested), which made the whole thing even more worrying.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Stoi2
what the hell is going on with this forum and filesharing in general, it all seems to have died a miserable death.
Everyone's on Reddit and Telegram now :ghey: By the way, check out https://filesharingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=460179 if you want to recover your original account.
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Re: Sort of back but completely dead.
Pjcnet was with me in the Dock, 1st time I've ever met him, he got slightly less than I did but neither of us got time at her majesty's pleasure.
I will check that link out soon, but I lost my sign up email when I had to hand it over to the police, but will still check it out soon. Thanks.
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Re: Sort of back but completely dead.
Okay, I am intrigued now (or maybe just plain nosy): What's the tl;dr on this story? :)
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Re: Sort of back but completely dead.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Stoi2
Pjcnet was with me in the Dock, 1st time I've ever met him, he got slightly less than I did but neither of us got time at her majesty's pleasure.
Interesting; I don't recall him mentioning this anywhere, but perhaps it was better to be discreet (or I just missed that particular comment).
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I will check that link out soon, but I lost my sign up email when I had to hand it over to the police, but will still check it out soon. Thanks.
Making a note to keep my offline backups hidden under a floorboard or something just in case...
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Originally Posted by
Caballero
Okay, I am intrigued now (or maybe just plain nosy): What's the tl;dr on this story? :)
Search this forum or /r/trackers for Blackcats Games a.k.a. BCG. The impact was such that TorrentFreak reported on it (when they rarely pay attention to private trackers) and GGn (then a second-rate alternative) considered shutting down just to avoid trouble.
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Re: Sort of back but completely dead.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Caballero
Okay, I am intrigued now (or maybe just plain nosy): What's the tl;dr on this story? :)
You've been around the torrent scene for 10+ years, how you not know who or what Blackcats-Games/Stoi is?
Pretty sure they are the reason, torrent sites no longer take paypal as a donation method.
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Originally Posted by
Stoi2
got slightly less than I did but neither of us got time at her majesty's pleasure.
Got slightly less, but neither of you guys got time.....So, you got some form of UK/British probation and it's over?
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Re: Sort of back but completely dead.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
EyeCandy
You've been around the torrent scene for 10+ years, how you not know who or what Blackcats-Games/Stoi is?
I've been around the newsgroups for more years than I care to admit, but I never got into torrents, so forgive my ignorance. :)
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Re: Sort of back but completely dead.
Personally I thought stoi was some sort of a greeting, like "Stoi you doing?".
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Re: Sort of back but completely dead.
Glad to see you are well and free mate. The BCG shutdown was one of the most serious blows at piracy at its time, and we were all concerned by your sudden disappearance.
Your work will forever hold a place in many torrenter's hearts, feel glad about it and live fully, my dear brit.
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Re: Sort of back but completely dead.
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Originally Posted by
EyeCandy
Pretty sure they are the reason, torrent sites no longer take paypal as a donation method.
What.cd had already dropped PayPal several years ago at the time, as had others. Hoping your account was never locked due to "suspicious activity" or someone accidentally (or intentionally) reporting you wasn't very nice, and the cryptocurrency boom created safer ways to receive donations. Pretty sure BCG's bust was the final nail on the coffin, though.
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Originally Posted by
Cabalo
Glad to see you are well and free mate.
Same for you! I tried to get in touch via e-mail after you went inactive (it was a Yahoo address) just to know what's up, but never got any response :(
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Re: Sort of back but completely dead.
Safe yes, well, not so much, just got out of hospital with 2 surgeries, type 2, haven't looked after myself at all, heel ulcer, got infected, could have lost my right foot 3 weeks ago, waiting for plastic surgeon surgerie. Wake up call though as I can't walk much at all.
I got 22 months suspended for 18 months, 240 hours community service (which I can't do as above) 32 hours regab which is crap and struggling with) £1000 Court costs which I can't pay, as 1: Its not live 2: I'm skint as fuck ��.
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Re: Sort of back but completely dead.
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Originally Posted by
Stoi2
heel ulcer, got infected, could have lost my right foot 3 weeks ago
Sounds horrible and I'm so pleased it didn't come to that. Without our health we really are nothing.
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Re: Sort of back but completely dead.
oh! It is a separate email I use for this kind of "activities" and that I don't pay much attention to :pinch: I never saw an email of yours... Like, a lot of dumb kids were trying to "dox" me back in the day, and I always knew how to not leave a significant online footprint. I remember you were quite a level minded guy and much more mature and realistic about your activities than the average kid who mostly inhabitates the trackers ecosystem, and where it could lead you to. It's a fucking shame that out of so many trackers run by very shady personas, they went after you.
I'm really curious, why or what triggered them to specifically target you and BCG, a niche site? There were (and are) much bigger sites for the authorities to chase.
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Re: Sort of back but completely dead.
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Originally Posted by
Cabalo
There were (and are) much bigger sites for the authorities to chase.
Paypal(Paper Trail to his bank account) mixed with location(UK)
The main reason places such as www.iptorrents.com, taunt authorities, and allow anyone to signup with 'donation' since they are based out of Russia.
Pcjnet thought it wasn't a good idea to use paypal for torrent sites back in the day, prior to BCG being taken down.
https://www.reddit.com/r/trackers/co...mment/cvw3z9o/
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Re: Sort of back but completely dead.
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Originally Posted by
Cabalo
oh! It is a separate email I use for this kind of "activities" and that I don't pay much attention to :pinch: I never saw an email of yours...
I sent at least two, one from a @ml1.net address with my name on it, another from a Hotmail where the username ends in 6. The first might have been dropped silently due to the weird domain (not to mention Fastmail has closed all free accounts since), but I was hoping the second would get through. In any case, these posts prove you're not dead, so no worries :happy:
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I'm really curious, why or what triggered them to specifically target you and BCG, a niche site? There were (and are) much bigger sites for the authorities to chase.
All private trackers are protected to some extent by the fact public ones are bigger, lower hanging fruit that's easier to pick. Under normal circumstances, the choice between an invite-only site with a member count in the low five digits and a public one with literally millions of users is obvious. However, my guess is that (as EyeCandy pointed out) at some point British cops noticed BCG's proverbial Achilles' heel and wanted to "make an example" out of it, as they'd already done with ScT and OiNK.
With that said, I hope no one's delusional enough to think today's top trackers are impenetrable armored fortresses. The 2007 MediaDefender leak clearly proved otherwise, and if anything, their budget and motivation is even greater now.
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Originally Posted by
EyeCandy
The main reason places such as
www.iptorrents.com, taunt authorities, and allow
anyone to signup with 'donation' since they are based out of Russia.
You know, to this day I'm amazed by how despite their massive size, operational costs and frequent open signups, TL has had zero legal trouble that I can remember, not even a domain seizure. They must be based out of Mars :alien:
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Re: Sort of back but completely dead.
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Originally Posted by
Stoi2
what the hell is going on with this filesharing in general, it all seems to have died a miserable death.
you base this off what exactly?
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Re: Sort of back but completely dead.
On a sidenote, are you in touch with any of your former staff? regs, Cirno, altinertia et al.? I remember the last one as the technical mastermind behind the SP system, which was ahead of its time (though some complained about the restrictions on partial seeding).
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Re: Sort of back but completely dead.
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Originally Posted by
brento
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Originally Posted by
Stoi2
what the hell is going on with this filesharing in general, it all seems to have died a miserable death.
you base this off what exactly?
Probably cause this site is a shell of it's former self.
Like, you realize the news articles on the front page are news articles from 2016?
He didn't make the transition to reddit like everyone else did...
Edit: Man, your last post was in 2016.......you are exactly what Stoi was talking about.
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Re: Sort of back but completely dead.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
EyeCandy
Quote:
Originally Posted by
brento
you base this off what exactly?
Probably cause this site is a shell of it's former self.
Anything that has ever existed is a shell of it's former self.
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Re: Sort of back but completely dead.
Sorry to hear about your health troubles. I would be drinking and that too, im a little like that. I just happened to see your name and theres not much one can say really, but I wish you well with the surgery and speedy recovery.
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Re: Sort of back but completely dead.
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Originally Posted by
EyeCandy
Probably cause this site is a shell of it's former self.
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Originally Posted by
IdolEyes787
Anything that has ever existed is a shell of it's former self.
*its
And at least I don't miss dealing with scam reports :shutup:
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Re: Sort of back but completely dead.
Crazy. Don't know if you remember but I remember you and BCG. The first torrent site I ever joined. I heard about it on the MySpleen open forums when I was begging for an invite to join that site.
Anyways sucks what you went through.
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Re: Sort of back but completely dead.
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Originally Posted by
Funkin'
I remember you and BCG. The first torrent site I ever joined. I heard about it on the MySpleen open forums
Back in the day you could get in by using one of those tracker open signup checkers, and then jumping on the registration form like a rabid dog as soon as a free slot was available. :)
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Re: Sort of back but completely dead.
Dear Stoi, good to hear back from you, I wish you an uneventful recovery.
I remember BCG log-in (you had to write some words in search page of HDDs fake page to gain access to log-in page), and seeding system was ahead of its time. you did a great work with BCG, and was one of the smart, cooperative, and wise owners
take care bro
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Re: Sort of back but completely dead.
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Originally Posted by
Ahmed047
I remember BCG log-in (you had to write some words in search page of HDDs fake page to gain access to log-in page)
In hindsight, the only things the fake homepage achieved was purging members who didn't generate a keyword in time, and complicating the lives of the rest. Fortunately, it was only implemented for around two years as I recall.
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Re: Sort of back but completely dead.
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Re: Sort of back but completely dead.
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Originally Posted by
OlegL
Hey, stoi, best wishes!
You're still alive, Oleg?? Thought you would have eaten a bad clam by now! How have you been?
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Re: Sort of back but completely dead.
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Re: Sort of back but completely dead.
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Re: Sort of back but completely dead.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Stoi2
Safe yes, well, not so much, just got out of hospital with 2 surgeries, type 2, haven't looked after myself at all, heel ulcer, got infected, could have lost my right foot 3 weeks ago, waiting for plastic surgeon surgerie. Wake up call though as I can't walk much at all.
I got 22 months suspended for 18 months, 240 hours community service (which I can't do as above) 32 hours regab which is crap and struggling with) £1000 Court costs which I can't pay, as 1: Its not live 2: I'm skint as fuck ��.
Stoi! Good to see you man! Hope your health improves, but good to see you avoided the slammer!
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Originally Posted by
anon
On a sidenote, are you in touch with any of your former staff? regs, Cirno, altinertia et al.? I remember the last one as the technical mastermind behind the SP system, which was ahead of its time (though some complained about the restrictions on partial seeding).
I was a mod for a little bit. Regs was upset with me multiple times and banned me for a few offenses, but then begrudgingly allowed me to be a mod...for all of two months before I got too busy to deal with it. Then the site got taken down a month later, so maybe blessing in disguise. Talked with PJC on reddit a while ago and he seemed to be doing alright. Maybe two other members I frequently talk to but that's about it.
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Re: Sort of back but completely dead.
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Originally Posted by
TPMJB
Talked with PJC on reddit a while ago and he seemed to be doing alright. Maybe two other members I frequently talk to but that's about it.
That's grand. pjcnet is one of the few staff members in BT history I can only say good things about.
