In the beginning, when only Unix existed, there was the Internet and Usenet. Most people are only familiar with the web part of the Internet. In fact, many people think that the web and the internet are the same thing. This mindset will become even more pervasive and ingrained after one of the most popular and free Usenet indexers in the world, Newzbin announced that it would close.
The history and reinvention of Usenet
You see, before Vint Cerf came up with his magical idea of โโthe web that we now use and love, the most popular way to interact online was through a system known as Usenet. It was created in 1980, making it as old as our beloved homeland.
Unlike the web, which is based on centralized servers, Usenet makes use of a distributed system of computers known as news servers that store and forward messages to each other using what are known as "news sources." Think of it as a kind of precursor to torrents. The files are even divided into small bits to facilitate transmission between computers.
The idea is to make sure there is not a single point of failure. This system had to be resilient, since it was created during the dial-up era. Users would dial Usenet and connect directly to available computers to "read the news." Usenet has contributed a lot to the web and the Internet that we have today. It's where things like FAQs, newsfeeds, and spam were invented.
There was a time when, to speed things up, ISPs also had a local cache of popular newsgroups on their own Usenet servers. Unfortunately, those days are behind us. These days, free Usenet servers and indexes are rare. Now you have to pay for them. This is because Usenet has become something else.
You see, while most people prefer ThePirateBay and pirate streaming sites due to their ease of use, Usenet plays a significant role in the piracy community. The files you see on pirate sites are often recoded from high-quality files posted by secret release groups on Usenet. These files are called Remux. These prolific hackers and their followers have been a breath of fresh air for the Usenet community.
Is that how it works:
- Launch groups create a channel on Usenet
- They upload things and share what are known as .bin files that are similar to .torrent files. These small files point to the various parts of the movie or TV show files.
- Indexers conveniently collect and list these files
- Consumer hackers sign up for Usenet and use automated tools like Sonarr to get files to their computers
Believe me, while torrents are the most popular way to hack files, they are:
- Not as fast as Usenet, where Gigabit download speeds are fairly common
- It is not critical to the pirate world like Usenet is. Usenet is where the hidden world of hackers and release groups operates. It is the home of Scene.
While this is the main reason that Usenet still exists, it is also the reason you face problems. Copyright motives are painfully aware that while pirated streaming and torrents are a threat to their income, curbing the effects of Usenet produces more devastating results. When a scene (launch group) is compromised, there is a massive drop in the number of pirated TV shows.
You do not believe me? See what happened when the members of the SPARKS group were captured. New pirated content dried up on the internet. This meant, in turn, that groups known to the public as YTS had nothing to re-code and present to the public as well.
Newzbin was also one of the last good Usenet indexers not to target pirated media. Unfortunately, even that didn't save them from the threat of copyright holders who were determined to see them doomed. Its closure marks the decline of the original Usenet era. Now, Usenet will likely evolve into a complete alternative to torrents.
