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July 17, 2007

The Latest Harry Potter Book Hits BitTorrent

Duncan Riley

169 comments »

harrypotter.jpg

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, the latest and last of the wildly popular Harry Potter books that is due to go on sale this weekend, has hit BitTorrent. Various torrents of the novel consist of photographed pages (as above) with reading quality that isn’t perfect, but for desperate fans readable enough. Whilst the validity of the hype surrounding Harry Potter may be subject to debate, what the leaking of the book does demonstrate is that the days of the mainstream media and publishers strictly controlling the dissemination of information has well and truly past; simply where there is a fan with a will, there is a way.

For educational purposes only, the Harry Potter book can be found by searching The Pirate Bay.

(via Torrent Freak)

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 17th, 2007 at 6:55 am and is filed under Web 2.0 News & Ideas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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Comments

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  1. MarcT

    July 17th, 2007 at 6:59 am

    I wonder how long it will take before it is on Scribd.com

  2. AdvertiseSpace

    July 17th, 2007 at 6:59 am

    Why do you report criminal activity like this? It only promotes it, and causes people who would normally not seek out material like this to consider it. Shame on you.

  3. Fantasy Futures Exchange

    July 17th, 2007 at 7:01 am

    surprised it took so long

  4. Duncan Riley

    July 17th, 2007 at 7:04 am

    Advertisespace
    Promoting criminal behavior?, there wouldn’t be one reader of TechCrunch who has never heard of BitTorrent and file sharing, so it’s not exactly a new subject for them.

  5. Silbo

    July 17th, 2007 at 7:08 am

    i love Harry Potter
    http://www.vdoob.com/english

  6. listikal

    July 17th, 2007 at 7:11 am

    I don’t exactly agree with promoting this either. This would have popped up on Digg anyway, but this one thing that will never have protection.

  7. Richard Miller

    July 17th, 2007 at 7:13 am

    Everybody knows about it but it seems like nobody wants to talk about it. It’s like a taboo kind of thing.
    BTW, it is almost the same case with the movies and pretty much everything that attracts attention. Pirates are hunting for every piece of information on the web nowadays.

  8. wtf

    July 17th, 2007 at 7:16 am

    was the techstars/ycomb post taken down? I read it in my rss reader and it is no longer available.

  9. Wilco

    July 17th, 2007 at 7:22 am

    Because something’s not legal doesn’t make it wrong. We live in a new age where ideas, information and media are free. If you like it or not is beside the point. Personally I feel it’s morally wrong to charge money for something that can be coppied into infinity. And yes, that can’t be done with books and cd’s and dvd’s. But it can with it’s content.

    There’s nothing sacret about law. They come and go, and it’s about time a few of them leave because quite clearly they weren’t ment to cover content that can be coppied to infinity and back.

  10. Bonyboy

    July 17th, 2007 at 7:27 am

    I think reporting on this issue is fine, but giving people the tools to go to find it isn’t right. And just because you’ll find it somewhere else gives you no right to post this.

    Why don’t we start posting links to movies not yet out so we can get a look at them as well?

  11. Internet Evangelist

    July 17th, 2007 at 7:43 am

    I am sure Duncan knew the first comments or the 90% of the comment section would be as it is going now. Posts like these come up to basically sense the community pulse.

  12. Matt

    July 17th, 2007 at 7:50 am

    Who cares if it’s legal. That’s not the issue. The most important question is: Does Harry get killed?

  13. Ben Kessler

    July 17th, 2007 at 8:07 am

    Who has the time to photograph all those pages? Sheesh.

  14. Viet

    July 17th, 2007 at 8:09 am

    This is surely an irrelevant post.

  15. Matt Jones

    July 17th, 2007 at 8:10 am

    Its’s deathly Hallows, not Hollows… you can see it says Hallows in the photo - just a heads up.

  16. Tim

    July 17th, 2007 at 8:15 am

    I can’t imagine trying to read an entire book by looking at photos of another book on my computer.

    That is some serious die-hard dedication. to both create it and use it.

    Crazy.

  17. Wicked Keemo

    July 17th, 2007 at 8:16 am

    Hey Duncan, what’s BitTorrent? :P
    Advertisespace, you whiney dumbass…

    Good catch Duncan.

  18. Luis Brudna

    July 17th, 2007 at 8:23 am

    Bad post. Maybe you can delete it. :-)

  19. Jesse

    July 17th, 2007 at 8:31 am

    @10

    Interesting philosophy, I have all the Wilco CD’s that you guys gave out for free.

  20. Aditya Anand

    July 17th, 2007 at 8:31 am

    Firstly I really like your blog, though I have never commented.

    Please Please Please remove this post. Harry Potter fans love their books. No doubt many will read it (illegally) though they will anyways be buying the book I am sure. The problem is simply that I do not want people having their MSN nicknames telling me that “Harry Potter killed Voldemort, and Harry was killed by Snape” or even through posts like yours. This is pathetic. Please understand.

    Giving the link to the torrent site for ‘educational purposes’, why not say that you frikkin’ want more hits? Please, it is a sincere request.

  21. Brian

    July 17th, 2007 at 8:32 am

    Is this relevant to web 2.0?

  22. The Law

    July 17th, 2007 at 8:32 am

    Duncan, you are now an accessory to the crime. You can’t skirt the issue by prefixing it with “for educational purposes only”.

    “For educational purposes only, the vault combination at First Bank and Securities on Main Street is 34-2-16. The guard change is at 9 PM, and the backdoor will be left unlocked.”

    Yeah, good luck dodging a criminal complaint on that one!

  23. Mike

    July 17th, 2007 at 8:32 am

    I would be very surprised if this story doesn’t appear on the mainstream news soon anyway (if it’s not already). And it goes to show that ‘content’ providers still haven’t managed to lock down their works before release (surely an issue to consider if you’re in the content business) and that it’s not just an issue for the film industry…

  24. Jesse

    July 17th, 2007 at 8:36 am

    HARRY POTTER DIES!!

  25. the_q

    July 17th, 2007 at 8:38 am

    I seen this book on the torrents over 3 months ago on the torrent sites…
    Kind of slow reporting this….
    plus the movie is out on torrents…..
    huh?

  26. Spojax

    July 17th, 2007 at 8:46 am

    How much money does it take to live off a story? Are we the ones that promote and then complain? Lets not be to hard on someone that passes on info. It is after all, free to all, after some time. Maybe we should all wait, after all, do you like supporting rich people?

  27. Dan

    July 17th, 2007 at 8:49 am

    Wilco, are you crazy?

    Like it or not, the AUTHOR of that book gets PAID FOR THE WORK THEY DO through SALES OF THAT BOOK.

    Noy paying for your copy deprives the author of their profit. Downloads without renumeration are not onlly illegal, but immoral.

    Now don’t get me wrong, the publishing industry is just as bad as the recording industry. They make too much money off of other people’s work.

    But buying your copy of the work is how the author gets paid. That is the bottom line.

  28. KJ Lingrow

    July 17th, 2007 at 8:54 am

    SNAPE DIES KILLING VOLDEMORT SO THAT HARRY CAN LIVE

  29. Dawn

    July 17th, 2007 at 8:56 am

    They are spending $20million for security to protect against this kind of thing. They have every right to “throw a fit” as do the readers who don’t want to know what’s going on until they have the book in hand and are reading it for themselves.

    The spoilers who are out there like BitTorrent and Jesse above are beyond disgusting, IMO. I wish they could all be told the final scores of the sports games they sit down to watch and see how they like it.

    And Duncan I am one TC reader who has never heard of BitTorrent. I don’t appreciate that you threw this is my face today. What has it got to do with the usual TC content that I come here for???

  30. Studio Stefke

    July 17th, 2007 at 8:57 am

    the owner just wants to score in Google knowing very well this will be a very much wanted search term over the next couple of days

  31. TekWek

    July 17th, 2007 at 9:03 am

    ummm……who gives a fuck?

  32. AdvertiseSpace

    July 17th, 2007 at 9:05 am

    Ducan,

    Can you please explain what is ‘educational’ about telling us that someone is doing something illegal and telling us what site it is on?? It’s the same as a major newspaper reporting that on the rise in carjacking and explaining that the tool used is a common 1/4 screw driver, that you can get at home depot, and describing in detail how to steal a car. It is the same stupid writing that Toronto Life magazine once wrote about how to get an illegal gun from the US into Canada. Or when the National Geographic channel has a special on ‘tanks’ and shows the weak spots on a US tank and the best way to destroy them. Or ‘How to make a mail box pipe bomb’ etc. etc. Just because other media sources report how to break the law or do stupid things, doesn’t mean you have to jump on board and report it. And of course I’ve heard of bit torrent and file sharing. I’ve heard of kiddy porn too, but it doesn’t mean that I advocate it.

  33. Ravishankar

    July 17th, 2007 at 9:10 am

    I am an anti piracy consultant. Tracking this leak, following are the details.

    Update: The PDF Version, Doc Versions are also Available.
    The Conversion of the the PDF and doc versions into a audio book should be out within the next hour.

    Authenticated as the original not a fan fiction.

  34. Brian Lash

    July 17th, 2007 at 9:11 am

    @Advertisespace:

    Calm down.

    -Brian

  35. Jesse

    July 17th, 2007 at 9:16 am

    @Dawn

    Harry Potter doesn’t die… I was just playing…

    oops…

    JK :D

  36. Aditya Anand

    July 17th, 2007 at 9:16 am

    Brian, you surely ain’t a Harry Potter fan; are you? I doubt if you have even read the all the HP books.

    For heaven’s sake Duncan you can disable comments!

  37. Ravishankar

    July 17th, 2007 at 9:17 am

    cool and calm but frustrating as a technologist. These publishers should have gone in for a better electronic security.

    I have all the Digital Finger prints and Digital forensics details about the images published.

    But the laws and legislations deter anti piracy consultants like me from deploying countermeasures.

    all my posts are data driven.

  38. Chad

    July 17th, 2007 at 9:17 am

    There are no laws or rules that say we cannot talk about crimes that are taking place. Sure, putting books, music etc…up for free download is illegal. But there are no laws saying we can’t talk about it. Newscasters talk about this stuff everyday. Whether it be rape, murder, thievery etc…Just because we’re now in the internet and not on tv doesn’t change anything. If people want to steal something that badly, they don’t ‘need’ techcrunch articles or any other website to tell them how. They’ll find out how to get what they want, regardless of where the information comes from.

    Whether or not people have heard of torrents is completely and totally irrelevant. A large majority of TC readers have heard of torrents because its part of the technology industry-and there have probably been countless articles that bring up torrent use written BY techcrunch users as well.

    Spoilers are also irrelevant. If you don’t wanna know what happens in the books, then don’t read posts that talk about the book!

    Just because there is a link (there isn’t a link now, but there might have been?) or a key word to tell you where to obtain illegal content doesn’t break any laws. I can tell someone where to buy a gun (legally or illegally)-that doesn’t mean their going to commit a crime. Also, a pro for the torrent controversy-many pieces of information, such as Old Time Radio (of which I am a huge fan) are much easier obtained through a torrent rather than scouring websites for hours trying to find free ‘legit’ downloads.

  39. Ravishankar

    July 17th, 2007 at 9:23 am

    Countermeasures I meant was busting these illegal torrents.

  40. SurfNinja

    July 17th, 2007 at 9:29 am

    At least remove the link in the main post that goes directly to the torrent.

    Brutal.

  41. Don Wilson

    July 17th, 2007 at 9:36 am

    Just downloaded it, looks like the real deal.

    I couldn’t care less, though.

  42. The Pope

    July 17th, 2007 at 9:38 am

    BEATRIX KILLS RON!!

  43. Ravishankar

    July 17th, 2007 at 9:38 am

    this is not a torrent. Files uploaded on free files hosting servers. Either a complaint has to made as per law. or hack the server and delete the link which is possible if the law enforcement agencies permit Depending upon the response from the hosting companies.

    All my posts are data driven.

  44. Mike Street

    July 17th, 2007 at 9:39 am

    Boo for this report! Save the ending and details so that people can enjoy the box. Do not spoil the end of the book for people.

  45. Dominic

    July 17th, 2007 at 9:42 am

    Arrington,

    Your excuse is lame. You’re promoting illegal activity by placing the link on your site. It’s no different than putting a link on your sife to illegal on line gambling sites. Situation ethics for a lawyer. How novel. NOT ! ANything to bring the creaders in and satisy your advertisers.
    Pitiful to say the least

  46. Dominic

    July 17th, 2007 at 9:43 am

    DON WILSON

    and anyone else who downloads this is a THIEF. PERIOD !

  47. Greg

    July 17th, 2007 at 9:44 am

    I can’t possibly see how reading an 800-page novel online could be worth saving a whopping 18 bucks and getting a few-days lead on B&N. So I don’t think the Torrent will cut much into sales.

  48. Karm Khanna

    July 17th, 2007 at 9:46 am

    Long time reader, first time commentor. I love this site, don’t start my day without it.

    It does an excellent job, as it does with this post….except for the last line.

    “For educational purposes only, the Harry Potter book can be found by searching The Pirate Bay. (via Torrent Freak)”

    Really? You did seem to have put some thought into it. So why didn’t you just go with…”For covering my ass legally, blah blah blah”. Both, unnecessary and distasteful.

  49. Ken

    July 17th, 2007 at 9:48 am

    I don’t see why everyone is getting their panties all bunched up.

    If your swayed to download the book because someone posted it on here or on Digg, than you’ve got far worse problems to worry about.

    I just think it’s funny to see how much harder it is to keep such a thing on lockdown considering some of the stories I’ve seen about the extraordinary measures being taken to make sure the book isn’t leaked.

  50. Ben

    July 17th, 2007 at 9:54 am

    Could you at least spell it correctly: Hallows

  51. COD

    July 17th, 2007 at 9:59 am

    I just checked and there were only 7 seeders. It’s gonna be a very slow download. Although if I remember to check again tonight, I bet there are over 100 seeders. Personally, I can wait for Amazon to deliver the book on Saturday. My son will read it in one sitting, if it comes early enough I may even be able to take it to bed with me Saturday night.

  52. Lee

    July 17th, 2007 at 9:59 am

    All those who are so offended by posting a link to the scene of the crime sound like they have some sort of personal stake in the financial success of the final HP book. Otherwise, you’re just sounding like some whiney ass claiming some imaginary moral high ground. Shame on _you_.

    To think that copyright protection laws are in place to protect authors _moreso_ than protecting the publishing industry is misguided fantasy. Do you really think the authors and makers of books and music will go starving? Really?

    All you law abiding, upstanding citizens so indignant and infuriated would’ve made fine Nazis: It’s the law, you must obey! Laws are man made, that is, but people like you and I. We don’t always get it right.

    Information wants to be free. Copy to infinity.

  53. Blogger

    July 17th, 2007 at 10:02 am

    Does anyone know at what time exactly, the book went up on Bit Torrent?

  54. Pierre

    July 17th, 2007 at 10:11 am

    That is lame and irrelevant….
    On digg I would understand but here on techcrunch….

  55. Victor Franqui

    July 17th, 2007 at 10:19 am

    I am not going to lie for about 20 minutes i debated on finding the torrent and downloading and then i said you know what. I love this series and it has given me and my family hours upon hours of enjoyment so I decided to wait and buy the book.

  56. Nate

    July 17th, 2007 at 10:31 am

    The fact that this subject has generated such a controversy in the comments is all the justification TechCrunch needs for running this story.

    Conflict is, more or less by definition, news.

  57. Ulrike

    July 17th, 2007 at 10:38 am

    The story is already up on:
    PC World
    The Inquirer
    Canada.com
    ZDNet
    All Things Digital
    Knoxville News Sentinel
    Among others

    I appreciate the heads-up. I’ll have to be really careful to avoid the real spoilers for the next couple of days.

  58. shaun

    July 17th, 2007 at 10:59 am

    Haha who has the time to do all this?

  59. muchadieuaboutnothing

    July 17th, 2007 at 11:13 am

    @ Nate- one of the only sensible things I’ve seen in this thread.

    Piracy is a loaded term. Blame capitalism- see a need, fulfill a need.

  60. Jessica

    July 17th, 2007 at 11:15 am

    “At least remove the link in the main post that goes directly to the torrent.

    Brutal.”

    Why? It’s convenient.

    How about you display some self-control and not click on it.

  61. Don Wilson

    July 17th, 2007 at 11:30 am

    “Dominic”

    A thief steals to enjoy said stolen product. I have not seen any of the movies nor do I intend to read them. The author, nor the publisher, did not lose any money from my downloading of a hundred horrible quality pictures by some idiot who wasted his time.

    And last I checked, it’s spelled “online gambling sites” and not “on line gambling sites.”

    And since you brought up advertisers, clearly you have no idea about online advertising, or in your case “on line” advertisers. I know many who would pull advertising if Michael linked directly to a torrent or even hosted the torrent on his site, so don’t dare suggest that he did this to pull in more money. Stop believing what the movies say in regards to people doing things for money.

  62. Alex

    July 17th, 2007 at 11:39 am

    Scholastic is angry

  63. Ali

    July 17th, 2007 at 12:01 pm

    To everybody asking themselves why Arrington is writing about Harry Potter and torrents, get a grip on yourselves and take your head out of the hole once in a while.

  64. Obama

    July 17th, 2007 at 12:48 pm

    I dont see why this article is generating so much controversy. The fact that Duncan tries covering his ass with the “For educational purposes only…” cracks me up, but that is just part of the environment we live in today. The content of the article is clearly news for those who clicked on the link to read the article and there is nothing morally wrong with that.

    For the crazies who think accessing this book illegally is alright because information that can be copied infinitely should be free, uhm, thats the dumbest thing I have heard in a long time. Someone devoted several years to putting down on paper what your imagination was incapable of doing; I dont think compensating them for that effort is a bad thing. Besides, the price reflects the demand and you cant really blame the author for that.

  65. Brennial

    July 17th, 2007 at 12:50 pm

    None of the retailers who sell copies of the new book will make a dime because of the ridiculous discounts they have to offer to be competitive with Wal-Mart and other mega-retailers. J.K. Rowling is already a billionaire. Who am I supposed to be worried about losing money because a few tech-savvy people jump the gun and read the book for free? My bet is that in another couple of years we’ll see “special edition” versions of all seven books come out with a new chapter thrown in that takes place between the novels so that all the rabid fans can chuck the copies they have now and buy the books all over again. Stop crying about huge corporations taking a very, very minimal hit to their bottom line and balance that with all the extra free exposure the book is getting.

  66. Edward

    July 17th, 2007 at 12:57 pm

    Legality issues aside, why the hell is this even on TechCrunch?

  67. Doug Strickland

    July 17th, 2007 at 12:59 pm

    I think that the point of the post was that we’ve come to the point where publishers and other media sources have lost control. It doesn’t condone stealing.

    It seems to me like another case of creative destruction. Old way: Write book, guess how many people will read it, print it, ship it to big rooms with other books for sale. New way: ? Who knows.

    We know that eReaders aren’t there yet, people still like walking around with a thing in their hands. the feel, smell, character of books is still there. nostalgic perhaps, but there are still people that want books. Now however, there are people wanting other media as well.

    I imagine that publishers are considering electronic distribution, rather than just burying their heads. But how can they protect the content without entering into the same DRM game that the music industry is dealing with? I thin that there are fortunes waiting for the creators of the next way to safely distribute books electronically.

    From a user perspective, I think about how I use music. Sometimes, I hear a song on the radio, check it out on itunes, then buy it, and maybe a couple more from the cd. Other times, I but the whole cd from iTunes - to get the artists whole idea. In some cases though I go BUY the cd. I want the liner notes, I want the case, I want the feel of the ‘old’ thing. Just like vinyl has its comeback, I think that there will always be people that like to wander around with a book in their backpack. If you can find a way to charge people for legitimate electronic copies… you’re going to be rich.

  68. steve

    July 17th, 2007 at 1:11 pm

    There’s a new Harry Potter book coming out!!! OMG! Sweet. What took the author so long to write the second book? It’s been forever!

    (JK - thanks for giving me something to do for 5mins during an otherwise slow day!)

  69. riley duncan

    July 17th, 2007 at 1:34 pm

    “A fan with a will”. That´s true. An explosive mix against the markets hehehe

  70. ND

    July 17th, 2007 at 1:41 pm

    The comments here are almost as bad as those on Slashdot. Shame.

  71. Doug

    July 17th, 2007 at 1:42 pm

    To Wilco:

    Congratulations, you’ve posted the dumbest comment on the thread. Your grand prize is a kick in the ass, thanks for playing.

    Here’s you post:

    “Because something’s not legal doesn’t make it wrong. We live in a new age where ideas, information and media are free. If you like it or not is beside the point. Personally I feel it’s morally wrong to charge money for something that can be coppied into infinity.”

    Funny, because in this “new age”, ideas and information do not create themselves out of thin air. Books don’t write themselves. People write books and create things, not machines. And I would bet that most people reading this thread work on intellectual property. Software code, information content, etc. So by your logic they shouldn’t get paid for their jobs either, because what they do can be freely copied into infinity.

    It takes brains, creativity and work to make the content that you say is “free”. It only takes an idiot to copy it.

  72. Ron

    July 17th, 2007 at 1:46 pm

    The real question is… “Will it blend??”

    Like most TechCrunch readers, I’m sick of hearing about this “Web 2.0″ fad and could care less about new technologies and Internet companies. Please, more Harry Potter news, piracy links (for educational purposes of course), and more viral videos!! U ROCK DUNCAN! TECHCRUNCH #1!!

  73. mad

    July 17th, 2007 at 1:48 pm

    There world is warming at an alarming rate producing irrevocable change, there is famine in many parts of the world, there is a war going on in the Mid East….. yet Harry Potter is the big news…. humans truly do not derserve to continue to exist…..

  74. Dawn

    July 17th, 2007 at 1:58 pm

    “The fact that this subject has generated such a controversy in the comments is all the justification TechCrunch needs for running this story.

    Conflict is, more or less by definition, news.”

    BS. TechCrunch doesn’t cover literary news or even general news, they profile web companies.

    A lot of people here don’t seem to understand the huge hurt and disappointment all this leaking has caused all over the world. One tiny example: My daughter and I have been looking forward for months to going to the midnight party at our local bookstore Friday night, something she did with her now dead father when the last book came out. Now I can’t take her, because there will be too much chat about what happens at the end of the book, and I’m not going to allow her to be subjected to it, because it will spoil much of the joy of reading the book.

    The motive behind this isn’t to help readers! It’s to make a bunch of assholes like #28 feel powerful. It’s the same psychology as those who create computer viruses in order to reak havoc and destruction over strangers.

    TechCrunch should not have become a part of it! Some of us were ACTIVELY AVOIDING websites that could have has this spoiler crap on it. Who knew our balloons would be popped here, of all places?! I think it’s a great shame. Publishers do have responsibility to their audiences.

    Duncan should be glad he doesn’t work for me, cause if I didn’t fire his ass for helping lawbreakers and for disregarding the welfare of his own audience, I’d come damn well close.

    For all the crap “old media” takes, most of it well deserved, at least we think about the consequences of the stories we write and have standards for what is appropriate for the publication and what isn’t.

  75. Tony

    July 17th, 2007 at 2:23 pm

    It’s obvious to me
    No one would really read such low quality piracy. There will be nice PDF versions soon enough.
    The person who made it just wants traffic and publicity simple as that, and this clearly works because they got mentioned on techcrunch and are appearing on Digg too

  76. Concrete Stain

    July 17th, 2007 at 2:28 pm

    I hate harry potter; sucks that this post got 80 comments; - RB

  77. brocksamson

    July 17th, 2007 at 3:01 pm

    Cheers to Wilco & friends - and jeers to all you you brainwashed capitalist Javerts, positivist nonthinkers who think that money is needed to breed creativity and that all which is prohibited is always wrong. Welcome to the 21st century you bozos.

  78. Silvio

    July 17th, 2007 at 3:02 pm

    You try working very hard on something for ten years or twenty or even one year, and then have it stolen and bootlegged. You think creative work should be free? Who pays your rent? Will you pay mine? You think food and housing and cars and gas should be free too? When you go to work for free and make sacrfices to craft something very well, we can talk, techie.

  79. Doug

    July 17th, 2007 at 3:15 pm

    brocksamson: Spoken like a true idiot who has never published anything.

  80. Dominic

    July 17th, 2007 at 3:16 pm

    Dawn

    Kudos to you. I say fire the asshole. Chime in folks. Give him the heavho or boycott his post.

    I’m just wondering if TC and Digg have integrated the user base. These are the same dickheads who were cricifying the guy who sold Rivals.

  81. Ryan

    July 17th, 2007 at 3:24 pm

    Not newsworthy, not web 2.0, and gray line ethical. Wasting our time.

  82. Alex H

    July 17th, 2007 at 3:36 pm

    I love how bloggers have blatant disrespect for copyright.

  83. Doug S.

    July 17th, 2007 at 3:50 pm

    Wilco and Co.

    Here’s a free idea — piss up a rope.

    Welcome to the 21st century, where’s everything’s free and you can’t buy anything.

    Hope you don’t like to eat.

  84. Andrew

    July 17th, 2007 at 3:57 pm

    Thanks for the news, which will in no way prevent me from being at my local independent bookseller at midnight on the day of release, getting in line to buy the book at full price or something like it. Just because something can be obtained at no cost doesn’t stop it being purchased.

  85. Louise

    July 17th, 2007 at 4:05 pm

    This is just another sign that the old media is losing control of its empire! The future is upon us and I for one am not against the new media taking control. The artist’s can still make money, they just have to be open to new forms of media. It does not spell their end, it only enhances their opportunities to expand into other areas and make money by having books available for download online for a fee - cutting out the middle man.

    The protector’s of copyright, will, after a long fight, give in - and the new media will take control and make copyright illegal - at least that is what Davide Casaleggio is predicting.

    http://louisemartinbaker.com/2.....at-a-time/

  86. john wilckerbeck

    July 17th, 2007 at 4:20 pm

    Hermione dies. Welcome to the new world sleepy heads. Long live the hackers!

  87. Eric Schiller

    July 17th, 2007 at 4:46 pm

    As an author, I rely on royalties to pay for rent and my meds. Those who cheat authors of their royalties are thieves. JK Rowlings may be rich, but most of us work several jobs to make ends meet. Eliminate copyrights and there will be only amateur authors and there will never again be anything like Harry Potter. Or any good music. Or great films.

    Reward creativity and good research. Buy books, or get them from libraries if you can’t afford it. If you can’t resist downloading a bootleg, why not ask the permission of the creator first? I’ve provided some PDFs of my books when asked by someone with a good reason.

  88. Saagar

    July 17th, 2007 at 4:51 pm

    all hail techcrunch, the new popular source of pirated ebooks and movies :)

  89. Duncan Riley

    July 17th, 2007 at 4:53 pm

    Awake again, and interesting comments.

    As I noted on the hype question: not everyone is in to Harry Potter, so non-Harry Potter fans think this post is a waste…probably expected.

    However, Harry Potter is a massive story worldwide, whether you like it or not. TechCrunch has regularly tracked file-sharing stories, from take downs of Pirate Bay and other sites through to the tech behind it; this story fits that pattern. As for promoting illegal activity: I purposely didn’t link to the Torrent because of the legal issue, however unless you’re completely retarded it would take all of about 5 seconds to find it. As for spoiling the launch for some: no one said you have to download it, and certainly my wife (who has pre-ordered the book BTW for the Saturday release here in Australia) didn’t want to know about it, you don’t either .

  90. Saagar

    July 17th, 2007 at 4:59 pm

    Duncan, From you comment above I understand that Techcrunch has indeed come a long way from a professionally maintained blog to a blog of personal criticism and directed comments against readers who question the credibilities of such a popular blog. Great progress indeed :)

  91. A

    July 17th, 2007 at 6:00 pm

    People, get a grip.

    No one will spoil the book for you unless you actively click on the link, search for the book, and download it.

    There are so many fake spoilers out there right now that you wouldn’t be able to distinguish between a real vs a fake spoiler anyways. Anything is pretty much possible, so just chill out.

  92. Nathan

    July 17th, 2007 at 6:06 pm

    Stupid Stupid Stupid… Ya’ll are soooo ignorant! “Illegal book downloading” has been around since the beginning of books….. It’s called a friggin LIBRARY. I’m sure many of you won’t call the hundreds of thousands of people that will get Harry Potter 7 from the Public Library “immoral” as you do to the people that get it off the web.

  93. TekWek

    July 17th, 2007 at 6:14 pm

    Yeah Duncan you don’t have to defend yourself man and certainly not call your readers retarded….I mean they found your blog didn’t they…..they can’t be that retarded

    you wrote what you think was right and people talk shit on the internet all the time, so its personal…..haven’t you seen Jay Strike and silent Bob go to Hollywood? in case it didn’t release in Australia you can download it from pirate bay……I would have given the link but I think you are smart enough to find it

  94. TekWek

    July 17th, 2007 at 6:16 pm

    typo alert I meant “not personal” now back to downloading top 500 rock and roll songs of all time

  95. Dinorider

    July 17th, 2007 at 6:54 pm

    this is just another fanfic, a “good” one indeed… they tried to copy MaryGrandPre’s style!

    but IT IS FAKE!

  96. KYJurisDoctor

    July 17th, 2007 at 6:55 pm

    Where is it and is it legal?

  97. Duncan Riley

    July 17th, 2007 at 7:05 pm

    Saagar + others
    I wasn’t calling readers retarded, I was simply noting how insanely easy it was to find the book on Bit Torrent, as others have said (and thanks Commenter 91) get a grip!
    If you’ve taken an observation about how easy it is to find something on bittorrent as a personal attack against readers, it says far, far more about your own insecurities than ANYTHING I have written.

    Dinorider
    There are a couple of copies out there, I believe there is a fan written version but from what I can gather the one with the pictures of the book is the real deal. Having said that I’m not a Harry Potter fan and I’ve never read a Harry Potter book (although I have seen the movies) so I’m probably not qualified to judge :-)

  98. Duncan Riley

    July 17th, 2007 at 7:11 pm

    fyi to all those questioning the validity of this being a story: The Wall Street Journal is running it. Some commenter’s would be pleased to know that their comments on this thread are included in the WSJ piece.

  99. Dawn

    July 17th, 2007 at 7:23 pm

    >As for spoiling the launch for some: no one said you have to download it,

    Oh, please…surely you’re not this stupid or do you just think we are?

    I don’t have to kiss a guy or even be anywhere near him to catch the disease he’s spreading either. You made yourself and TechCrunch a carrier.

    Publishing can’t and won’t let this copyright abuse stand. It is too high profile, there is too much at stake for them, and they have all the money and other resources they need to find who is responsible and to extract whatever justice is possible at this point. The idiot(s) who took the book and put it on the Internet will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and tons of people will make their life hell for being the spoilers they are, mark my words.

  100. adasd dasd

    July 17th, 2007 at 7:26 pm

    Spoilers, lol

    Ron dies.
    Lupin dies.
    Percy dies (this death occurs before the wedding, inevitably throwing events into chaos).
    Voldemort dies.
    Snape dies.
    Details aren’t needed. Just say BELLATRIX KILLS RON!

    Snape’s loyalty? I found this to be the saddest part of the book. As many people guessed, all was not what it seemed with Dumbledore, and the two did indeed have a plan that would eventually result in Snape killing him. But, Snape was only in on things for personal gain, and when Voldemort learns of this, he is obviously furious with Snape. Snape tries to make up for things by luring Harry to him, but Harry manages to escape, and Voldemort kills Snape before the final conflict.

    I don’t know what all these rumours are about Voldemort kidnapping Ron, it’s a complete lie. Ron is killed by Bellatrix Lestrange in The Battle of Hogwarts, but Neville manages to finish off Bellatrix after Ron weakens her before his death.

    Harry is not a horcrux.

    As I’ve already stated, Voldemort kills Snape.

    Voldemort is killed in the Department Of Mysteries. He baits Harry about his parents, Sirius, Dumbledore and Ron. which turns out to be the worst thing Voldemort could have done. As Voldemort steps out into the circular bit with many doors, Harry opens the locked door, and Voldemort is destroyed by the blinding light, which heals Harry, who seems close to death (he does not die).

    The cover art shows Voldemort + Harry at the Deathly Hallows, Harry is attempting to summon Voldemort’s Horcrux, as Voldemort is doing his best to keep the enchantment in place.

    No-one loses a body part, no idea where that came from?

    Also Harry does not get drunk whoever said that.

    Harry does not lose his powers.

    What’s the deal with the dragon on the US deluxe cover?

    The trio fly on it to get to the Deathly Hallows. Only Harry and Voldemort can fight on the Deathly Hallows, but this is not their final encounter.

    What’s happening on the UK kids cover?

    Gringotts. The trio are searching for the locket (it isnt there) but they get vital information on Ravenclaws book here.

    How’s the epilogue done?

    I didn’t like it. It was in the form of a newspaper article, a sort of ‘Where Are They Now?’ thing, 20 years on from the final showdown.

    You said Ron dies so what happens to Hermy at the end?

    As said, her love life isnt specified. But she becomes a Healer at St. Mungo’s.

    What’s Luna/Hagrid/Weasley twins/Neville’s fate?

    Becomes editor of Quibbler (her dad passes it on to her)/Remains at Hogwarts to this day/Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes becomes multinational/Herbology teacher at Hogwarts after Sprout’s death (old age she isnt killed)

    What happens to Voldy’s body in the end?

    Completely obliterated by the love from locked room.

    What are the horcruxes? How does Harry find and destroy them?

    Nagini/Locket/Cup/Ravenclaws Book. Symbol on UK spine is a device that enables Harry to locate ‘soul fragments’ if you will, Harry can destroy them a lot more easily than Dumbledore.

    What’s the deal with the mirror? How does RAB and Kreacher come into the story?

    Sirius has left an almost ‘voicemail’ message on the mirror, to advise him on destroying the horcrux. Kreacher has to tell the trio (on Harry’s orders) about the history of the symbol and where to find it.

    What’s the lies of Dumbledore chapter about?

    Neon was right about this, this is to do with the plan with Snape. I don’t know if he got lucky because the Grindelwald thing isnt even close.

    What happens to all the teachers? Who’s new headmaster etc?

    McGonagall is new headmistress.

    What’s Harry’s fate in the end? Job etc?

    Becomes an almost freelance Auror but refuses to work for the MoM

    Chapter summaries

    DARK LORD ASCENDING

    another first chapter that is not Harry’s point of view
    very dark
    first death
    Bellatrix and Voldemort interact
    IN MEMORIAM

    back to Harry’s point of view
    Dumbledore’s past
    Rita Skeeter appears here. Apparently, Harry is not pleased.
    THE DURSLEYS DEPARTING

    The Dursley’s leave Privet Drive
    THE SEVEN POTTERS

    Harry, Ron, and Hermione are reunited
    Death Eater attack
    another death
    very intense
    FALLEN WARRIOR

    another death
    one person loses a body part
    scenes afterwards set in the Burrow
    Apparently, Harry gets drunk!
    tells what happened with Ollivander
    THE GHOUL IN PAJAMAS

    general plan discussion all around
    Hermione is scary (lol)
    THE WILL OF ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

    Harry’s birthday! Ron gives him a funny gift.
    Minister of Magic is back
    Lupin is acting off
    THE WEDDING

    Weasley relatives, Luna’s father, and Krum all make ppearances
    Krum argues with Luna’s father over the symbol
    Dumbledore’s past again, which is not pleasant
    Kingsley makes an appearance with some bad news.
    A PLACE TO HIDE

    Harry, Ron, and Hermione leave the Burrow, and run into Death Eaters
    Hermione gets hit on by drunkards
    They go to Grimmauld Place
    KREACHER’S TALE

    Harry finds a letter from his mother saying disturbing things about Dumbledore
    R.A.B. is Sirius’s brother (everyone knew that, lol)
    lots of complex stuff on Horcruxes
    THE BRIBE

    setting is Grimmauld Place
    Harry has sent Kreacher on an errand
    Kreacher seems to be getting friendlier
    Lupin is still acting off, and states something extremely surprising (off in an easily irritated, jumpy way. We’ve also been told that Lupin/Tonks shippers will be over the moon, so, perhaps Tonks is pregnant?)
    Trio find out who has the locket, and they are shocked.
    MAGIC IS MIGHT

    Trio plan to get the locket from the ministry
    THE MUGGLE-BORN REGISTRATION COMMISSION

    Umbridge
    persecution
    THE THIEF

    Trio leave Grimmauld Place and Kreacher
    Trio stays in the woods.
    Harry sees through mind-link that Voldemort is not in the country, and is looking for a stolen object that has something to do with wands.
    THE GOBLIN’S REVENGE

    Ron does something weird.
    GODRIC’S HOLLOW

    BATHILDA’S SECRET

    Someone named Bathilda wrote the History of Magic book. IDK if this has anything to do with anything, but still, might be worth noting.
    THE LIFE AND LIES OF ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

    THE SILVER DOE

    Hermione is sleeping. Harry sees a Patronus and follows it. It leads him to a thing Dumbledore has left him. He is reunited with Ron. The entire scene with the destruction of the Horcrux and display of Ron’s insecurities happens.
    XENOPHILIUS LOVEGOOD

    The Tale of the Three Brothers
    “The Tale of Three Brothers” is a wizard children’s story. The story involves three objects called the Deathly Hallows. Three brothers, three objects, AKA the Deathly Hallows.
    Trio goes to see Luna’s dad
    He tells them a wizarding fairy story about three objects
    They are called the Deathly Hallow
    THE DEATHLY HALLOWS

    Harry follows lead of DH story instead of Horcrux stuff
    He becomes stupidly obsessed over it, kind of like how he was over Malfoy in HBP
    Makes a huge mistake and gets the trio “captured”
    MALFOY MANOR

    A couple of people have died, one important
    Someone else is being kept in the manor
    Someone else dies
    The trio is tortured for info
    Dobby helps them escape
    Another someone else dies
    THE WANDMAKER

    SHELL COTTAGE

    GRINGOTTS

    THE FINAL HIDING PLACE

    THE MISSING MIRROR

    THE LOST DIADEM

    THE SACKING OF SEVERUS SNAPE

    THE BATTLE OF HOGWARTS

    THE ELDER WAND

    THE PRINCE’S TALE

    THE FOREST AGAIN

    KING’S CROSS

    THE FLAW IN THE PLAN

    EPILOGUE

    Pictures and shit

  101. Kathryn Zellich

    July 17th, 2007 at 8:58 pm

    Others have said it, but I must echo it: The person who CREATED the information OWNS it. It exists ONLY because of their energy, effort, and unique perspective. You have access to it only because they took the time to bring it into being.

    Artists of all types deserve to be paid for their labors. Most make very little money, yet enrich our lives through their creativity. What gives you the “right” to to relabel their work as “information” that should be “free” when it cost THEM so much to produce it?

    How much money JK Rowling should be allowed to make off her ability to envision new worlds and entertain millions of people? As much as she can! I don’t see any major sports figures taking a pass on extraordinary compensation for their extraordinary abilities, but no one thinks that’s surprising.

  102. Tim

    July 18th, 2007 at 12:02 am

    It doesn’t surprise me that a bunch of illiterate retards (When creating a plural form of a noun, you don’t use an apostrophe before the “s”–What the hell did you learn in grammar school, stupid idiots.) would think it’s “cool” or okay to illegally publish (illegally obtained) copyrighted works on the internet. Since most of you obviously aren’t able to even spell your own names, you have no idea whatsoever what it takes to spend 20 years of your life creating a story so fascinating that it’s sold literally hundreds of millions of copies. You can try to rationalize it by saying Rowling is “rich,” but she knows well (probably moreso than most of you) what it’s like to be poor (She was a single welfare mom when she started writing the series.), and she’s done more for those less fortunate than she, than any of you will ever even dream of doing. So go ahead and steal from her if it makes you feel so superior. And Duncan, no matter WHAT justification you try to use, this story is not an appropriate “news” item for this, or any other site, at least not when it includes any information on how to link to the actual site where the book may be downloaded. You should (and definitely DO) know better.

  103. jb

    July 18th, 2007 at 2:53 am

    The quality of debate on this issue is low. Too much passion.

  104. zzzz

    July 18th, 2007 at 6:10 am

    ★★★★★Zoie’s World Famous Ad-Free Blog with 15,000 pics
    http://carpetmunchworld.blogspot.com

  105. redwall_hp

    July 18th, 2007 at 7:46 am

    This is piracy, plain and simple. Also, it enables morons to ruin the whole event of book seven for people who have been waiting ten years for this book (I’ve been waiting six). Do you think serious HP fans want some idiot to drive by and yell something like “snape kills dumbledore” again?

  106. tara

    July 18th, 2007 at 8:29 am

    Well I wanted the spoilers because I am giving myself an ulcer wondering what will happen. Having said that I fully intend to stand in line for hours (as I always have) to buy the book. JKR was a wellfare single mom when she began the HP series. She deserves my money because of the joy she brings me and my family. Before HP who ever heard of waiting in line for childrens books? Kids reading over the summer? Kids books that are almost always over 600 pages sometimes 800 pages! Kids staying up all night long to finish and chat with friends the next morning. I say if you are reading the spoilers because you just can’t wait… I totally understand but buy the book out of respect. jmo

  107. tara

    July 18th, 2007 at 8:30 am

    ps

    Keep your spoilers to yourself. Don’t be a dick.l

  108. Alice

    July 18th, 2007 at 8:51 am

    Hey Duncan Riley - yer a cocksucking piece of shit you know that. If people want to buy into the hype then that is their business you fucking shit breathed asshole. Duncan you are probably the biggest a hole their is on the internet you small dicked lame brained fucktard. And the only reason that someone posted the pages was to get attention, not to prove some point about commercialism you stinking cunt. Hope yer dog gets aids.
    Arriverdeci Cocksucker

  109. Ben

    July 18th, 2007 at 8:59 am

    Oh that is really nice language. I feel as angry as you do Alice but that is really horrible. Duncan’s journalism is definitely not the best and his opinions are rather childish, but an attack like that with language like that is out of bounds. You should apologize, and the post should be deleted.

  110. Aaron

    July 18th, 2007 at 9:23 am

    Why do you blame Duncan even? He just reported a story that has been widely reported already - do you leave those kind of messages for every news outlet.

  111. Pam

    July 18th, 2007 at 9:45 am

    Dunan molested me in high school

  112. Nech Pech

    July 18th, 2007 at 10:50 am

    PEOPLE PEOPLE!! ABOUT TIME SOMETHING LIKE THAT CAME OUT. MS. ROWLING SHOULD BE GLAD THAT PEOPLE ARE GOING CRAZY FOR HER BOOK! INFACT I GOT CRAZY WHEN I WATCHED THE COVER PAGE ONLY. I EXPECTED OTHER PAGES. BUT WHATEVER. I CANT WAIT THOUGH AHH!!! LATZ PEEPS!!