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In this episode we meet Samer Hassan (@samerp2p) researcher in decentralized collaboration, activist and Berkman Center fellow. We discuss why the swarm is safer than the cloud, the new decentralized tools powering resistance movements, and how and why the centralization of online services is a threat to our freedom.
With a background in Social Sciences, Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science, Samer is passionate about how to build free/open source privacy-aware decentralized systems (e.g. blockchain) to facilitate collaborative communities and social movements. He led the technical team that built the backend-as-a-service for collaborative apps SwellRT; the app for collaborative communities Teem, used by a diversity of social collectives; and the real-time collaborative editor JetPad, which aims to provide a fully-fledged free/open source alternative to Google Docs, and which is privacy-aware and decentralized/federated.

Showrunner & Host Jamie King | Editor Riley Byrne Original Music David Triana | Web Production Eric Barch


Presented by TorrentFreak

Sponsored by Private Internet Access & Premiumize

Executive Producers: Mark Zapalac, Eric Barch, Nelson Larios

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In this first episode of our new season, we interview Tamas Kocsis, founder and developer of the potentially revolutionary P2P platform, Zeronet. While it's a relatively new project with just a few thousand users, we love Zeronet: it gives us the ability to develop completely distributed websites, invulnerable to censorship of any kind. With Tor anonymity baked in, at least on the Windows version, that creates a very powerful environment for free expression. Tamas talks us through the history of the platform, some of the features he's working on at the moment, and his plans to add a BitTorrent plugin that may be able to provide distributed, anonymous video streaming - sounds like a new headache for Hollywood just around the corner. But Zeronet isn't just a about torrents: we also hear from Tamas how it can be used right now to set up anonymous messaging, forums, marketplaces, and more. Zeronet has the potential to be the platform that finally moves us past the constant "whack-a-mole" game being played between torrent sites and Big Entertainment. With Kickass Torrents and YIFY both having succumbed recently, and calls from TPB's Peter Sunde for more innovation from the P2P world, perhaps Zeronet is a project whose time has come.
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Showrunner & Host Jamie King | Editor Riley Byrne Original Music David Triana | Web Production Siraje Amarniss


Presented by TorrentFreak | Sponsored by  Private Internet Access

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The alleged owner of KickassTorrents was arrested last week, to be extradited from Poland to the United States. The site - at least the original version - remains offline. In this episode of STEAL THIS SHOW, we invite Peter Sunde, co-founder of The Pirate Bay, Andrew Norton, chairman of the US Pirate Party, and Gary Fung, founder of Isohunt, to discuss this critical event, its significance for the torrent community, and implications for the world of P2P. We discuss the propriety of extraordinary rendition for copyright crime, the question of how much money pirates are really making, and how the anti-P2P agenda is leading to further decentralisation. Kickass Torrents, we learn, is just one head of the many-headed hydra.

Showrunner & Host Jamie King | Editor Riley Byrne Original Music David Triana | Web Production Siraje Amarniss


Presented by TorrentFreak | Sponsored by  Private Internet Access

For sponsorship enquires, please email info@stealthisshow.com

Donate to STEAL THIS SHOW! We'll namecheck donors on the show, offer behind-the-scenes archive, transcripts and more!
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Featuring Ashwin Navin and Dave Harrison. Ashwin was one of the founders of BitTorrent Inc., and is now CEO of Samba TV; Dave was one of the inventors of BitTorrent streaming and is Samba's CTO. We discuss Screening Room, the founder of Napster's plan to bring movies to your living room on release day; the BPI's prodigious anti-piracy efforts and why the future may doom them to failure; and the ongoing war between Google and the MPAA. Finally, Ashwin and Dave share what they've learned since the early days of BitTorrent, hint at where things are headed in the world of online TV, point to a couple of interesting developments in the P2P world, and wonder if maybe free is not the future, after all.

Produced & Hosted by Jamie King

Edited & Mixed by  Eric Bouthiller

Original Music by  David Triana

Web Production by  Siraje Amarniss


Presented by TorrentFreak

This episode sponsored by  Private Internet Access

For sponsorship enquires, please email info@stealthisshow.com

Featuring Mike Masnick – CEO & Editor of Techdirt, and Evan Engstrom, Executive Director of Engine.  After discussing the extraordinary growth of academic filesharing site SciHub, the new Zeronet distributed torrent application Play, and yet another comeback from Popcorn Time, we talk about the plague of DMCA takedown notices afflicting YouTube creators, and why the law might not survive the acceleration of the digital media landscape... in its present form.

Produced & Hosted by Jamie King

Edited & Mixed by  Eric Bouthiller

Original Music by  David Triana

Web Production by  Siraje Amarniss


Presented by TorrentFreak

For sponsorship enquires, please email info@stealthisshow.com