What is the point of invite-only music bittorrent sites? And how does one go about getting invites?
March 19, 2006 10:13 PM Subscribe
What is the point of invite-only music bittorrent sites? And how does one go about getting invites?
The question pretty much says it all. I always have trouble finding albums from the bands I like because the bands are often fairly obscure. I have heard that invite-only music sites often cater to these types of bands. But how would I go about getting an invite? And are invite-only sites such as these more secure/anonymous?
The question pretty much says it all. I always have trouble finding albums from the bands I like because the bands are often fairly obscure. I have heard that invite-only music sites often cater to these types of bands. But how would I go about getting an invite? And are invite-only sites such as these more secure/anonymous?
Crap, sorry, I'm not yet eligible to send you an indietorrents invite. My bad.
posted by twiggy at 10:18 PM on March 19, 2006
posted by twiggy at 10:18 PM on March 19, 2006
According to all the ILM posts where people beg for Oink or IndieTorrent invites, you should go to their chat rooms (which I believe are open to everyone, don't know how to access them though, I think IRC?) and pal around with the mods and members and someone will probably give you an invite.
posted by apple scruff at 10:29 PM on March 19, 2006
posted by apple scruff at 10:29 PM on March 19, 2006
invitations make it easier to enforce the code of silence.
posted by TTIKTDA at 11:41 PM on March 19, 2006
posted by TTIKTDA at 11:41 PM on March 19, 2006
I can send you an invite for oink (oink.me.uk) if you like. Let me know by email: blahtskATyahooDOTcom.
Just promise me you'll read the FAQ and follow the rules.
posted by blahtsk at 11:41 PM on March 19, 2006
Just promise me you'll read the FAQ and follow the rules.
posted by blahtsk at 11:41 PM on March 19, 2006
Seeing as how the last person to ask this question also got invites from several people, there seems to be a super secret back door way to get into these sites. Ask about it on metafilter.
posted by JackarypQQ at 1:08 AM on March 20, 2006
posted by JackarypQQ at 1:08 AM on March 20, 2006
Best answer: At last check, OiNK had discontinued its #invites chat room; there's now a message board for that feature.
As for the rationale, what Twiggy says is basically on point. Each site has its own set of rules and its own code of conduct. Invites are a means of enforcing (a relative degree of) quality control and a "trust system" in terms of having a user base that not only understands the rules, but takes such responsibilities seriously and contributes proactively towards the welfare of the site.
Theoretically, invites can only be issued by users who have proven their mettle enough to extend the privilege to a select few of their own acquaintances. Invites are usually only available for a user to give away after they have uploaded a certain amount of material and/or have maintained a healthy ratio between material contributed (seeded) and material received (leeched). There's an assumption that people who care enough to proactively manage their seed:leech ratio will take similar precautions with the quality and consistency of uploaded materials in terms of bitrate, documentation, rip quality, and any other supplementary materials or prerequisites established by the site(s) in question.
What they don't want are people who simply drop in, overload the servers with leech requests, and disappear overnight without having contributed to either the cultural or financial well-being of the community in question. Likewise, there's a certain aspect of keeping things "under wraps" by using the invite system. The more (unregistered, untracked) users on a site, the greater the likelihood that more and more people will overload the servers, send torrent traffic through the roof, flood the community with crappy, subpar material, and generate enough street-level buzz to attract the undue attention of certain people/agencies.
I think of it as being similar to the system that allows "after-hours" clubs to stay open and serve liquor well after the rest of the city's been forced to shut down: keeping a respectable closed loop with a series of gatekeeping checks allows one a little more latitude than letting just anybody rush the bar and cause total chaos in the neighborhood.
Elitist? Uh-huh. Fair? Arguably. Necessary? Absolutely.
posted by mykescipark at 1:20 AM on March 20, 2006
As for the rationale, what Twiggy says is basically on point. Each site has its own set of rules and its own code of conduct. Invites are a means of enforcing (a relative degree of) quality control and a "trust system" in terms of having a user base that not only understands the rules, but takes such responsibilities seriously and contributes proactively towards the welfare of the site.
Theoretically, invites can only be issued by users who have proven their mettle enough to extend the privilege to a select few of their own acquaintances. Invites are usually only available for a user to give away after they have uploaded a certain amount of material and/or have maintained a healthy ratio between material contributed (seeded) and material received (leeched). There's an assumption that people who care enough to proactively manage their seed:leech ratio will take similar precautions with the quality and consistency of uploaded materials in terms of bitrate, documentation, rip quality, and any other supplementary materials or prerequisites established by the site(s) in question.
What they don't want are people who simply drop in, overload the servers with leech requests, and disappear overnight without having contributed to either the cultural or financial well-being of the community in question. Likewise, there's a certain aspect of keeping things "under wraps" by using the invite system. The more (unregistered, untracked) users on a site, the greater the likelihood that more and more people will overload the servers, send torrent traffic through the roof, flood the community with crappy, subpar material, and generate enough street-level buzz to attract the undue attention of certain people/agencies.
I think of it as being similar to the system that allows "after-hours" clubs to stay open and serve liquor well after the rest of the city's been forced to shut down: keeping a respectable closed loop with a series of gatekeeping checks allows one a little more latitude than letting just anybody rush the bar and cause total chaos in the neighborhood.
Elitist? Uh-huh. Fair? Arguably. Necessary? Absolutely.
posted by mykescipark at 1:20 AM on March 20, 2006
I've been wanting invites to indietorrents and oink.me.uk for quite awhile. I had an account in good standing long ago on oink.me.uk, but it was deleted due to inactivity (I was on dialup for a summer).
I'd really like to be invited O' Benevolent Ask Metafilter...
Please?
posted by blasdelf at 2:48 AM on March 20, 2006
I'd really like to be invited O' Benevolent Ask Metafilter...
Please?
posted by blasdelf at 2:48 AM on March 20, 2006
I recieved an invite to OiNK from a fellow Mefite, and my gratitude is everlasting. Now if some kind soul had one for indietorrents, that would not suck, too.
posted by signal at 4:43 AM on March 20, 2006
posted by signal at 4:43 AM on March 20, 2006
Oh, and top respond the question: OiNK will automatically ban you if your ratio drops below a certain amount, so you usually have many more seeds than leechers for any file. It's the gift economy at work.
posted by signal at 4:45 AM on March 20, 2006
posted by signal at 4:45 AM on March 20, 2006
if anyone's got a spare invite for OiNK i'd be eternally grateful, I'll be good I promise, matthewmurtaghATgmailDOTcom
posted by brilliantmistake at 6:05 AM on March 20, 2006
posted by brilliantmistake at 6:05 AM on March 20, 2006
I'll shamelessly request as well...I nearly cry when I think of the days when Sharingthegroove was up. :-(
email in profile, if anyone feels giving.
posted by griffey at 7:09 AM on March 20, 2006
email in profile, if anyone feels giving.
posted by griffey at 7:09 AM on March 20, 2006
i too have been lusting for an OiNK invite. i'd very much appreciate a chance for an account. you can hit me up email-style via profile.
posted by lotsofno at 7:10 AM on March 20, 2006
posted by lotsofno at 7:10 AM on March 20, 2006
This is all very interesting to me. My roommate's on OINK, but our college tracks and limits outgoing traffic, so I have no idea how he keeps a decent share ratio. What do they want you to keep it at? 1.0?
posted by danb at 7:19 AM on March 20, 2006
posted by danb at 7:19 AM on March 20, 2006
Okay I sent you all invites. Please be good or I'll lose my own account.
Except blasdelf! Sorry! The invite page says if you already had an account I can't send you one. I think you'll have to plead your case to the admins.
posted by blahtsk at 7:27 AM on March 20, 2006
Except blasdelf! Sorry! The invite page says if you already had an account I can't send you one. I think you'll have to plead your case to the admins.
posted by blahtsk at 7:27 AM on March 20, 2006
Rats! I've tried before to get them to reactivate my account, but have never had any luck.
Could you send one to blasdelf@plastic.com out of pity for my poor, disgraced, temporarily-dialup-stricken soul?
posted by blasdelf at 7:33 AM on March 20, 2006
Could you send one to blasdelf@plastic.com out of pity for my poor, disgraced, temporarily-dialup-stricken soul?
posted by blasdelf at 7:33 AM on March 20, 2006
Quick everyone who wants an invite post!
(Oh and I'd like one please, Shanevsevil(at)gmail(dot)com?)
posted by shanevsevil at 8:39 AM on March 20, 2006
(Oh and I'd like one please, Shanevsevil(at)gmail(dot)com?)
posted by shanevsevil at 8:39 AM on March 20, 2006
I got help for my problem from a fine man on the OiNK IRC server, now I have an OiNK account again! Hooray!
posted by blasdelf at 9:18 AM on March 20, 2006
posted by blasdelf at 9:18 AM on March 20, 2006
Crap, now the problem seems to be that OiNK has a hard cap at 59,000 users. Now I have to keep attempting to sign up, hoping that someone elses account will be deleted just in time for me to take their place.
posted by blasdelf at 9:37 AM on March 20, 2006
posted by blasdelf at 9:37 AM on March 20, 2006
The first law of invite-only torrent site questions is that they will invariably degenerate into pleas for invites. (See above.)
danb, concerning your question, the OiNK rules say this: "This is a torrent site which promotes sharing amongst the community. If you are not willing to give back to the community what you take from it, this site is not for you. In other words, we expect you to have a share ratio close to or above 1.0."
posted by mykescipark at 10:20 AM on March 20, 2006
danb, concerning your question, the OiNK rules say this: "This is a torrent site which promotes sharing amongst the community. If you are not willing to give back to the community what you take from it, this site is not for you. In other words, we expect you to have a share ratio close to or above 1.0."
posted by mykescipark at 10:20 AM on March 20, 2006
I used to have a demonoid registration, but lost it due to a long summer of dialup inactivity. If there's still any invites floating around after all of that, can someone hit me up at the email in profile?
posted by Orrorin at 11:23 AM on March 20, 2006
posted by Orrorin at 11:23 AM on March 20, 2006
Dang, I'm late to the party again. If anyone's still reading this and has an invite to either Oink or IndieTorrents, I'd love a little help -- and I promise to seed. Email's in the profile.
posted by Acetylene at 5:17 PM on March 20, 2006
posted by Acetylene at 5:17 PM on March 20, 2006
Just in case I wasn't clear before, I would also like an IndieTorrents invite. Mail in profile.
Question: are there any good private movie trackers?
posted by signal at 5:52 PM on March 20, 2006
Question: are there any good private movie trackers?
posted by signal at 5:52 PM on March 20, 2006
invitations make it easier to enforce the code of silence.
This is very true, except people aren't very silent about Oink. Other sites I've seen will ban you for mentioning the site publicly or linking to it, and with closed membership that is a very big threat.
posted by smackfu at 12:12 PM on March 27, 2006
This is very true, except people aren't very silent about Oink. Other sites I've seen will ban you for mentioning the site publicly or linking to it, and with closed membership that is a very big threat.
posted by smackfu at 12:12 PM on March 27, 2006
This thread is closed to new comments.
If you like, I can send you an indietorrents invite... let me know.
posted by twiggy at 10:16 PM on March 19, 2006