DMCA regulations


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Have I given any direct indication that I was speaking to you?  If so, I'd like to see you highlight it in this thread, little member.  That being said, I think it would facilitate this discussion if you didn't assume anything about me or what my post says.  There is an ongoing discussion here about digital rights, what is and isn't scribed in law, and the legal nature of specific instances of downloading

:rolleyes:

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How about the fact that you addressed the post to me?

joekr...let's tone it down a bit.

Then you continue to discuss points which I brought up.

First thing, the DMCA is a US law. Why you are arguing that it applies to you in Canada, I have no idea. But given your current inaccurate stance towards that law, you best be paying attention to what Canada brings in.

It's inaccurate for a couple reasons. The majority of which, timdorr and bangbang have already described. Bottom line, yeah you can make yourself a backup copy of the actual dvd you bought. No where in the DMCA does it give you the right to download another copy. What it DOES say, is that it's illegal to distribute copies of said material. When you choose to download those illegal copies, you are aiding and abetting the distributor. If you happen to be using bittorrent, you are also uploading to other users while downloading, making you fully liable for that illegal distrubution.

Then you add,

If you are caught with those illegally obtained copies, you WILL be prosecuted under the DMCA law. You can complain and moan all day saying we are wrong, but in the end it's just a poor justification for your activities. On top of that, a very poor understanding of your rights

Surely you would have addressed everyone else if you weren't speaking to me directly :rolleyes:.

What do you mean just words? Everything you type is just words. How do you know if someone is going to do something they say or not through a forum post. You don't... I for one did not like this movie enough to pay $40+ CAD for it when it comes out. The internet access was paid for; I downloaded this movie because I could and found it to not be high enough in quality of entertainment for me to purchase it later on (especially for such a high price).

I see no problem in doing the above. Next Year I want to buy a laptop, however I don't know how they all perform so I'm gona consider stealing all of them to see which one of the lot is worth buying. Since it's my petrol and all to get to the shop then theres no real problem with me robbing them. Not like all the parts in the PC are worh the RRP anyway.

Joekr, you can just stop it now.. we all know that you're always right and nobody can be smarter than you or can correct you about anything. But, the fact of the matter is you still don't know everthing about the DMCA.

It is a well know fact, that people who download files, songs, or whatever thru the internet, it can be monitored, they can get your ip number, know exactly what file you are getting, if it's copyrighted material, and who you are getting it from. Knowing all that, it would not be a monumental task for them to flag your download, if it is copyright protected material, to "inject" into your download a warning. Thus... a person who has lawfully obtained the right to use a copy of a computer program may circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a particular portion of that program for the sole purpose of identifying and analyzing those elements of the program that are necessary to achieve interoperability of an independently created computer program with other programs . . . to the extent that any such acts of identification and analysis do not constitute infringement under that title.

Only technology will conquer technology, not laws. Nex time I suggest you read the entire DMCA.

Edited by oddcrap

Did you read about the case? It has nothing to do with this discussion. Still waiting for that proof.

Actually, three different mods (including yourself) have made the following statements:

- Even owning a legal copy of the disc does not grant one permission to obtain it, also, via illegal means. - bangbang23

- Downloading from these distributors includes you in the crime. - bangbang23

- Technically, the software used to rip DVD's has be deemed illegal (remember dvdcopyx?). Also, as soon as the user distributes the file and you download it, the crime moves past the DMCA and onto federal copyright grounds. - bangbang23

- Downloading isn't making a backup. You're obtaining a copy from another user. Your license entitles you to a backup of your copy, not someone else's. - timdor

- Again, you have a very warped view of how this works. You're allowed to make a backup copy of your copy of the material. Your license doesn't give you right to view the material in every form in every case. As a result, it also doesn't give you the right to obtain your backup from another user's copy (which is what you do when downloading). - timdor

- When you choose to download those illegal copies, you are aiding and abetting the distributor. If you happen to be using bittorrent, you are also uploading to other users while downloading, making you fully liable for that illegal distrubution. - you

None of these statements have been backed up with excerpts directly from the DMCA or any other document.  The onus of proof is on you three... I have read the DMCA, I suggest you do the same.  Nowhere does it say one cannot download a movie he/she has a license to, period.  If it's not in there, it isn't a violation of the DMCA.  Here's a link to the DMCA, go nuts.  Until one of you can prove to us all that one may not download a movie he/she owns a license to, I don't see any further reason for us to continue this discussion... you're expecting me to just believe you :rolleyes:.

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I'll repeat myself because you missed my point....under the DMCA, Fair Use only applies to the actual copy you purchased. Your whole argument is based upon Fair Use applying only to the content, which is incorrect. Fair Use is based around each copy of something to be wholly separate. It's never been otherwise. Again, you are trying to twist the words of the DMCA to support your argument.

Until you provide some kind of proof that states Fair Use is based on the content, and not the disc, this discussion is over. Actually, it never should have started.

As far as who I address in my posts...again, you did the assuming. You were called on it, and yet again...nothin.

Joekr, you can just stop it now.. we all know that you're always right and nobody can be smarter than you or can correct you about anything. But, the fact of the matter is you still don't know everthing about the DMCA.

It is a well know fact, that people who download files, songs, or whatever thru the internet, it can be monitored, they can get your ip number, know exactly what file you are getting, if it's copyrighted material, and who you are getting it from.? Knowing all that, it would not be a monumental task for them to flag your download, if it is copyright protected material, to "inject" into your download a warning. Thus... a person who has lawfully obtained the right to use a copy of a computer program may circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a particular portion of that program for the sole purpose of identifying and analyzing those elements of the program that are necessary to achieve interoperability of an independently created computer program with other programs . . . to the extent that any such acts of identification and analysis do not constitute infringement under that title.

Only technology will conquer technology, not laws. Nex time I suggest you read the entire DMCA.

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i suggest you start reading the entire thread. they already covered the point you are trying. its obvious you are refering to bittorrents as the distribution where your ip is easily accessible. this is by no means the only way of transfer. there are other means in obtaining data where you do not share.

Interesting thread here. The only thing it highlights to me is that copyright laws are lagging behind the technology, thus impeeding growth. Personally I hold the multicorporations and companies behind the industries of entertainment for this, trying to squeeze profits from us before finally common sense takes over and the law is changed.

With electronic music and movie distribution (its coming soon I'm guessing) on a high I think copyright should allow that your music file is copied to create a backup, and its freely available to use on any platform/player. The great thing about PC's and the whole mp3 'boom' was interoperability, but Digital Rights Management is trying to cripple the way we buy and use music.

This whole idea about entertainment should be free is ridiculous!

Do you people know how long it takes to mix a song where all the instruments sound clear and they don't get in the way?

There are many forms of 'art' in a cd. The artwork, the musicality, the lyrics, the engineering, the production, etc. These cd's don't magically produce themselves. In order to make a good sound for a band you have to have EXPERIENCE and SKILL. How would you like it if someone said "screw your job, it's not as important as someone else's and you shouldn't be paid."?

This seems to be the thing I'm getting from this thread. For some reason you think entertainment is made overnight. And you expect them to be cheap or FREE? Give me a break. If I spend 12 hours mixing ONE song, I better damn well be compensated. The band couldn't do what I do, and the listener sure as hell couldn't do it either. It's kind of like how these kids that knock down other bands and yet can't play an instrument for anything. Production of music takes a lot of knowledge in waves, how sound works and how sound can be manipulated, and how to properly use them in context.

ever heard of Audio ENGINEERING? Yes, that's right, it's an engineering degree/field and it's just as complex as any other engineering field. Should I work for free because some kid thinks that it's easy to record music? Hell no.

And the same thing goes for movies....you simply have NO right to steal things that aren't created by you. They were created for you, but at a cost.

Like I said before joekr, you'd make a hell of a lawyer, but just not in America. You would loose the case in the first day because YOU are manipulating the DMCA and taking things out of context so you can make your downloading legal. Or try to at least....

and why haven't you answered my question still? you seem to reply to everything we say, yet you haven't replied to this.

If you can burn a dvd, and you own the dvd, and apparently you have DVD media which to burn onto. Why can't you make 'backups' of your current discs? If you have all the supplies to steal a dvd-r, why can't you create your own? That's what fair-use is. You have the technology to do it, you just want to get movies you have no intention of buying. You can sit here and type whatever you want and claim that you aren't downloading. It's still obvious, even if we can't prove it.

This whole idea about entertainment should be free is ridiculous!

Do you people know how long it takes to mix a song where all the instruments sound clear and they don't get in the way?

There are many forms of 'art' in a cd. The artwork, the musicality, the lyrics, the engineering, the production, etc. These cd's don't magically produce themselves. In order to make a good sound for a band you have to have EXPERIENCE and SKILL. How would you like it if someone said "screw your job, it's not as important as someone else's and you shouldn't be paid."?

This seems to be the thing I'm getting from this thread. For some reason you think entertainment is made overnight. And you expect them to be cheap or FREE? Give me a break. If I spend 12 hours mixing ONE song, I better damn well be compensated. The band couldn't do what I do, and the listener sure as hell couldn't do it either. It's kind of like how these kids that knock down other bands and yet can't play an instrument for anything. Production of music takes a lot of knowledge in waves, how sound works and how sound can be manipulated, and how to properly use them in context.

ever heard of Audio ENGINEERING? Yes, that's right, it's an engineering degree/field and it's just as complex as any other engineering field. Should I work for free because some kid thinks that it's easy to record music? Hell no.

And the same thing goes for movies....you simply have NO right to steal things that aren't created by you. They were created for you, but at a cost.

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are the people who mix and create movies paid regardless of sales? i have no idea but from you previous post i assume ur a dj. so you would know.

Hi all. I might repeat someone else. I skimmed the last two pages but I thought I might join in as this is a very interesting subject. No law suit has ever been used against a dowloader (full leecher, bit torrent upload doesn't apply with that as it's far to complicated to sue every one across mutliple copies), of any media, it's always against the uploader. To succesfull argue a case against a dowloader is very wobbly ground, at the moment. The uploader, we can all agree I think, is the one person where it's definatly illegal. Nothing more can be said until they change the law and define fair use.

The thing that media distributers need to do is attack the problem against the sheep, the everyday users who download because they can, ie. everyone, including myself. The problem has built up to the level it has now ever since the public have been able to buy media to keep for themselves. The fact that it is now only a "problem" is due to the backward media companies. This is not new and hasn't come along slowly. It doesn't take a genius to see where technology has been heading, and is heading (Massive price hikes for HD content is going to bring it to breaking point) Consumers are ****ed off, and they have shown that by doing things that make them uncomfortable, then getting used to it and not caring. The only way to fight the problem because its a fact that it isn't going anywhere. They can slap on as much DRM on everything as the like and it won't make a bit of difference. All it needs is one person in the world to crack it and then thats it for the next decade and another format update, then it will happen again all over again. If they saved the money forgot the DRM gave that saving to the consumer, with good value for money extras and quality. The people will come back.

That is If you take the arguement that they have gone at all. Which I don't. DVD sales have gone up since release. CD sales have gone up steadily since they were first introduced. DVD sales have SLOWED down in the past six months, I would attribute that to a lack of good content and savey consumers mindfull of the very soon HD versions.

Bottom line. They are competing with their own products on an Expensive/Free (but morally questionable) basis. People can get over their morals and still have money. You give some one ?100 to steal an old ladies seat on a bus. They would do, and so would I. Corporations can't beat human nature. They have to offer people something they will think is better. How many people buy bottled water.

edited for not making sense :DD

Hi all. I might repeat someone else. I skimmed the last two pages but I thought I might join in as this is a very interesting subject. No law suit has ever been used against a dowloader (full leecher, bit torrent upload doesn't apply with that as it's far to complicated to sue every one across mutliple copies), of any media, it's always against the uploader. To succesfull argue a case against a dowloader is very wobbly ground, at the moment. The uploader, we can all agree I think, is the one person where it's definatly illegal. Nothing more can be said until they change the law and define fair use.

The thing that media distributers need to do is attack the problem against the sheep like, I will ge this because I can tribe ie. everyone, including myself. The problem has built up to the level it has now ever since the public have been able to buy media to keep for themselves. The fact that it is now only a "problem" is due to the backward media companies. This is not new and hasn't come along slowly. It doesn't take a genius to see where technology has been heading, and is heading (Massive price hikes for HD content is going to bring it to breaking point) Consumers are ****ed of and they have shown that by doing things that make them uncomfortable, then getting used to it and not caring. The only way to fight the problem, because its a fact that it isn't going anywhere. They can slap on as much DRM on everything as the like and it won't make a bit of difference. All it needs is one person in the world to crack it and then thats it for the next decade and another format update and it will happen again. If they saved the money forgot the DRM gave that saving to the consumer with global value for money. The people will come back, if you take the arguement that they have gone at all. Which I don't. DVD sales have gone up since release. CD sales have gone up steadily since they were first introduced. DVD sales have SLOWED down in the past six months, I would attribute that to a lack of good content and savey consumers mindfull of the very soon HD versions.

Bottom line. They are competing with their own products on an Expensive/Free (but morally questionable) basis. People can get over their morals and still have money. You give some one ?100 to steal an old ladies seat on a bus. They would do, and so would I. Corporations can't beat human nature. They have to offer people something they will think is better. How many people buy bottled water.

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i buy bottled water.... 3 bucks for a case of 24 have 6 cases downstairs.

I'm not a DJ. I'm an engineer and I work in a real studio. I don't use stupid programs with pre-made beats that sound like crap.

Those people sometimes are paid regardless, but lately in the industry they are making people wait up to 6 months before we even get our money. They send us a check once the cd is completed, but again, lately they have been penny pinchers (the labels).

All the loss of sales kill everyone. Not just the RIAA and the bands. We get paid a lot less, and then we get rushed to do ****ty production jobs. Just imagine your boss coming up to you and saying "well, we decided were going to pay you less, but hey....there's good news.....you don't have to do as much work now!!!"

That's the situation that's currently going on with labels. we're not getting paid as well as we should be, especially for the amount of work that it takes.

I'm not a DJ. I'm an engineer and I work in a real studio. I don't use stupid programs with pre-made beats that sound like crap.

Those people sometimes are paid regardless, but lately in the industry they are making people wait up to 6 months before we even get our money. They send us a check once the cd is completed, but again, lately they have been penny pinchers (the labels).

All the loss of sales kill everyone. Not just the RIAA and the bands. We get paid a lot less, and then we get rushed to do ****ty production jobs. Just imagine your boss coming up to you and saying "well, we decided where going to pay you less, but hey....there's good news.....you don't have to do as much work now!!!"

That's the situation that's currently going on with labels. we're not getting paid as well as we should be, especially for the amount of work that it takes.

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i see. i assume you blame the 'piraters' for what is taking place? are sales really taking that big of a hit?

How much is it out of the tap. Tap water has many more regulations slapped on it, and has to be of a much higher standard than bottled water. Look it up.

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water is pretty cheap where im living, flate rate fee (for now) few hundred a year. its probably cleaner, but tap water smells and taste like crap. i've grown up on boiled tap water, but ever since they bottled water and made it so cheap, i've been on that instead (past year). its jsut more convienent. go biking, do my sports.... goto work... take transit, driving. its nicely bottled and easy to take. boiling water and waiting for it to cool is now seen as hassle for me.

water is pretty cheap where im living, flate rate fee (for now) few hundred a year. its probably cleaner, but tap water smells and taste like crap.  i've grown up on boiled tap water, but ever since they bottled water and made it so cheap, i've been on that instead (past year).  its jsut more convienent. go biking, do my sports.... goto work... take transit, driving. its nicely bottled and easy to take. boiling water and waiting for it to cool is now seen as hassle for me.

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Fair enough. Pay for convenience; that makes sense. I just don't buy bottled water, because it sounds ridiculous and if tap water is just as good (or better) taking a few seconds to fill up a bottle myself rather than paying some one to do it for me makes more sense. You do know that all they do to put water in the bottles is fill it from a tap; it doesn't flow from a mountain stream. Tap water might taste better where I live anyway. That sounds a bit bitchy reading back, that?s not how it's meant, I just hate to see people getting ripped off, myself included, I brought bottled water because of the taste, same as you but just realised it was stupid.

Anyway, bit off topic, sorry.

edit: if I am out and about I do buy it bottle form.

Fair enough. Pay for convenience; that makes sense. I just don't buy bottled water, because it sounds ridiculous and if tap water is just as good (or better) taking a few seconds to fill up a bottle myself rather than paying some one to do it for me makes more sense. You do know that all they do to put water in the bottles is fill it from a tap; it doesn't flow from a mountain stream. Tap water might taste better where I live anyway. That sounds a bit bitchy reading back, that?s  not how it's meant, I just hate to see people getting ripped off, myself included, I brought bottled water because of the taste, same as you but just realised it was stupid.

Anyway, bit off topic, sorry.

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If you've ever tried water by Evian you'll release even their name is taking the **** out of you. After all Evian backwards is naive:p:p

i see. i assume you blame the 'piraters' for what is taking place? are sales really taking that big of a hit?

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i dont necessarily blame them....i do blame the industry and i think they waste tons and tons of money, but still...this topic has gotten heavily off topic anyway...now we're talking about water....

someone just close this

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Before we dive in, you can view the different SKUs released so far since the 2025 series launched for Home and SMB users, with the most important specifications listed along with the MSRP listed below: SKU CPU Cores Memory Link Price F2-425 Intel N5095 4 4 GB DDR4 2.5 GbE x1 $249.99 F4-425 Intel N5095 4 4 GB DDR4 2.5 GbE x1 $369.99 F2-425 Plus Intel Core N150 4 8 GB DDR5 5 GbE x 2 $399.99 F4-425 Plus Intel Core N150 4 16 GB DDR5 5 GbE x 2 $569.99 F4-425 Pro Intel Core N305 8 8 GB DDR5 5 GbE x 2 $699.99 F4-425 Pro Intel Core N350 8 16 GB DDR5 5 GbE x 2 $799.99 The F2 in the product name means two 3.5-inch HDD bays, where F4 is four 2.5-inch bays. First impressions Like with the F8 SSD Plus packaging, the F4-425 Pro is using the upgraded box materials, which certainly look better than a plain cream colored box with TERRAMASTER stamped on the sides. The box gives off a premium feel and certainly adds a positive vibe to first impressions. In the box F4-425 Pro TNAS device Power adapter LAN cable (CAT 6) Quick guide [full online guide] Limited warranty notice Screws (for HDD bays) Stickers 2x rubber feet (spares) Design As has become kind of common with TerraMaster, certainly in the last three years, the 2025 F2- and F4-series have received a makeover that really adds to the premium feel of the NAS. Gone are the plastic shells, now replaced with an aluminum outer shell, with the front and back retaining the textured black plastic we saw on the 2024 models. Some key differences from the 2024 series include placing the power button back on the front, along with the addition of a Type A USB port. It's not much bigger or heavier either; in fact, it weighs 500 grams less than the F4-424 Pro. It's slightly shorter in height and depth (length), but only by a few millimeters. The front and back do retain a similar style to the 2024 series. On the front, you just have your four bays along with LED indicators for the HDDs and power. The welcomed change is having a USB port on the front for quick access, should you need to back up a USB drive, for example. Around the back, from top to bottom, you have a reset pin hole, an HDMI port, two 5 GbE Ethernet ports, two USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) Type A ports with a Type-C port below them, and a connector for the barrel port power source. Again, there's no Kensington Security Slot present, which is a bit of a shame considering it's a data storage device. Left side Right side On the left and right of the F4-425 Plus, it is completely smooth aluminum with a TERRAMASTER logo printed on both sides. On the bottom, there are some holes to assist ventilation. Unlike with the F4-425 Plus, the rubber feet did come unstuck during the teardown, which was also an issue on the 2023 series. It seems like other customers have lodged complaints about them, as TerraMaster now includes two spare rubber feet in the box, in case any of the preinstalled ones are lost; however, this seems more like a papering over the cracks solution rather than actually fixing the issue with better quality rubber stand-offs. There are also four screws that must be removed in order to access the internals. Teardown Upon removing the four screws, you can slide the device out of its shell to reveal the three NVMe M.2 slots (PCIe 3.0 X1) and single SODIMM slot connector, which is populated with a single 16GB DDR5 4800MT/s module. I added a couple of MP44Q M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSDs (2 x 4TB) that can be availed on Amazon for $492.99 that TEAMGROUP supplied us with, along with a 250GB 970 Evo Plus that my colleague Chris White sent me by accident and let me keep a few years ago. As I have said in previous reviews, TerraMaster support staff actually encourage installing whatever you want on their devices, and happily, the USB port for the bootloader is now easily accessible should you want to use it for your own flavor of NAS OS, such as TrueNAS, Unraid, or maybe Xpenology. Yes, because TerraMaster has now switched to a 256 GB NAND Flash card (3rd photo above) for the TOS bootloader. This is also replaceable, but you can also simply add a USB bootloader, access the BIOS, and tell the F4-425 Pro to boot from that instead of the Flash card. Unlike earlier iterations of TerraMaster NAS, you don't have to tear this down any further than the four screws on the outer shell in order to be able to access and manage the memory, NVMe slots, and USB bootloader. However, if you need to access the NAND Flash card or CMOS battery, then eight more screws (four on each side) need to be removed in order to take off the rear panel with the 120mm fan, and then the motherboard can be lifted off and removed from the SATA connector PCB. There's also no risk of threading the screw holes, because the four that hold the shell in place are metal on metal, while the screws that hold the rear panel on do screw into plastic. Either way, like last time when I reviewed the F4-425 plus, I was just happier to see larger screws being used. Overall, it follows some great improvements in build quality from the 2024 series and earlier. Setup BIOS The F4-425 Pro includes an Aptio BIOS from American Megatrends [1, 2], and you can setup pretty much everything here including the boot order, which is locked to the UEFI OS, however above that choice you can enable or disable booting to the USB bootloader so this would still allow you to switch to a USB stick with an alternative bootloader and boot from it, or disable it to instead always start from the first disk with an OS installed on it. Initial Setup Setup is roughly the same as the F4-425 Plus, along with the new TOS 7 setup dialogs, so there will be no surprises here. Upon connecting to the LAN and booting up, the F4-425 Pro can be reached by navigating to http://tnas.local. If that doesn't work, you can use the local address assigned via DHCP, which you can find using the TNAS PC desktop application, which is essentially a TerraMaster NAS finder. The setup process is pretty straightforward, through a wizard, and in full below: TOS 7 Initialization As you can see, TOS 7 received a new coat of paint, and the initialization requires fewer interactions. Happily, TOS no longer decides to throw all disks into the same Storage Pool; 2.5-inch HDDs are allocated into Storage Pool 1. This is because two of the HDDs are allocated to hold system files. Previously (with TOS 5 and 6), if you pre-installed HDDs and SSDs, they were all placed into Storage Pool 1, even if you did not select the SSDs for inclusion during the onboarding. TOS 7 Setup On first boot, there is a tutorial and some steps to take to harden the TNAS (or not), which includes an immediate update from TOS 7.0.0616 to 7.0.0706, of which the changelog screenshot is also included in the above gallery. It must be noted that the Security Advisor still contains (in my opinion) a pretty major bug in that if you enable SPC and then do the required rebooting, the Security Advisor still says that SPC is disabled. TerraMaster provided the following statement about it: It is disappointing that TOS 7 has been in beta since December, and this OOBE issue is still there. Shutdown option has moved Instead of a Taskbar option to manage the NAS, all of these options have been moved to a "Start panel", initially I didn't see it and my contact had to show me how to power off the F4-425 Pro. To logout, reboot or power off you can find those controls at the top right of the Panel. It is also possible to power off through the TNAS mobile app beta. Storage setup Above, you can see the steps I took to create the Storage Pools and Volumes. I made a second Storage Pool using TRAID on two 4TB MP44Q SSDs (which, in this instance, is similar to RAID 5), and finally, I added the 250GB 970 Evo Plus drive as Hyper Cache on Storage Pool 1 in Balanced mode. Registering If you decide not to lock down the F4-425 Pro in Security Isolation Mode (blocking all external connections), then you could set up a TNAS device ID through the Remote Access setting in the Control Panel (which must be unique). This works in combination with an online TerraMaster account. TOS 7 TNAS Online Creating a TerraMaster account and linking the device online activates the warranty when you provide proof of purchase and the serial number, but it also gives you access through the TNAS mobile app, which allows you to complete certain operationsб including powering off and restarting the NAS remotely. A TNAS mobile update is required to gain access through TOS 7, and this is provided on the TerraMaster website, as it is not yet on Google Play. The app is evolving all the time and has made leaps and bounds since I first started reviewing TerraMaster devices almost three years ago. It is not quite there yet if you are comparing the likes of Synology, which, sadly, a lot of users online do all the time. OpenClaw setup One of the main selling points of the new F4-425 Pro is the inclusion of OpenClaw, with TerraMaster claiming that it is "powered by the world's first AI-native TOS 7 OS, supporting local-first smart workflows and independent data control." However, I immediately ran into problems trying to enable OpenClaw. After waiting 20 minutes at the "Enabling" message of the OpenClaw app following installation, I decided to do some searching online and discovered that it couldn't complete the installation process due to SPC being enabled, which is something TOS 7 immediately recommends to be enabled on first boot. SPC for NAS (TOS 7) is basically the same principle as UAC in Windows; it blocks executables from being launched by non-Super Users. After reaching out to my contact about these issues, I received the following response: Anyway, this only became clear when I closed the OpenClaw app screen and clicked on the OpenClaw icon in the taskbar; that is when I saw the message about disabling SPC. I think, due to the fact that this is a requirement, this should be a prompt during the installation process, not when closing the App Market and then trying to launch OpenClaw. There's also no 'Getting started' guide for people like me who have never used OpenClaw. I tried to add an LLM and discovered the tutorial led nowhere. That's when I started looking around the official TerraMaster forums, and I found a guide that helpfully explains that you won't get anywhere with OpenClaw unless you have a paid plan, which is disappointing because I imagined there would be an option to use a local LLM as I do in SubtitleEdit with Whisper-XXL. In addition, with the marketing imagery on the official site, it says that the OpenClaw feature is "all processed 100% locally for absolute privacy." which led me to believe that I could install a local LLM, not one that required paid tokens. In any case, TerraMaster does not provide guidance for this new feature, which was also a selling point of the F4-425 Pro! My contact also provided clarification about the above points I raised with TerraMaster Since it is not in the scope of the review to add paid services, I'll leave that to the people who are more qualified with OpenClaw. F4-425 Pro Surveillance App TOS also comes with a Surveillance app, which is not installed by default; it can be found in the App Market recommended section. In addition, after installing, it doesn't drop a shortcut on the Desktop or top taskbar, but you can "Send to Desktop" from the App Market listing for the app for a quick way to open it. Adding my Reolink POE doorbell camera was painless. TerraMaster doesn't appear to have a repository of preconfigured cameras; instead, the camera must be added using ONVIF or RTSP. No mobile Surveillance app TerraMaster still doesn't have a dedicated Surveillance app, although from searching online, Surveillance can be used and managed through the TNAS mobile app. I tried this with the updated TNAS mobile app beta in combination with TOS 7 and got a message that Surveillance was "Only accessible through web browser," so I reckon this must be limited to the stable versions of TOS 6 and the mobile app. More quirks In addition, whenever I minimized the Live View window in the browser Surveillance app, the feed appeared to switch to the Low-bandwidth stream, and there was no way to get the High-quality stream back. To get the High-quality stream back, I had to close Live View and then reopen it. Benchmarking A pretty cool feature of the TOS 7 is that it allows you to install directly to the NVMe M.2 SSD. In order to do that, you would have to leave out any HDDs during initialization, and even then, the system partitions are always written to two HDDs when they are eventually added. With three NVMe slots, this also gives an interesting scenario where you could build a TRAID storage Pool for installing all your apps and Docker on, and keep the third for SSD cache on the HDD pool. Limitless options! SATA PCIe 3.0 X1 A CrystalDiskMark test on a mapped network drive from within a Windows 11 25H2 PC (image above) connected over a 5 GbE hub was well within acceptable ranges. Although the read result on SATA was a little less than with the F4-425 Plus, for some reason, while writes were generally better. SATA PCIe 3.0 X1 I also ran the NAS Performance tester, which tests the link speed performance. As you can see, it pretty much maxes out the 5GbE connection. Of course, you can also opt to bond the two 5 GbE connections for a bit more umph, but I didn't do that. TOS 7, which, as of testing, is still in Beta, comes with an App Center that has a bunch of handy programs you can install right off the bat, such as Emby, Plex, Docker, as well as in-house Backup and Surveillance solutions. As you can imagine, any media streaming services you would want to host off the F4-425 Pro will work great, thanks to the Intel Core N350 CPU and its 16 GB of DDR5 memory. Accessing from mobile is only possible if Security Isolation Mode is disabled, which can put your NAS at risk from external sources, so there was no way to access it from the TNAS Mobile app. It's also quiet. I had this sat next to my computer on my work desk for the past week, and I did wonder if the noise I was accustomed to with NAS devices would annoy me, but all I could hear was a soft whirring of the rear fan (which was a little annoying) when the disks were not actively copying or reading data. Conclusion So what have I learned? Unfortunately, this release raises a few important questions and concerns that I feel haven't been adequately addressed. What I didn't like Our variant shipped with TOS 7 beta, and it's advised not to use it in a production environment. I feel that's a bit limiting on an $800 device. The mobile app is also still in beta and does not support some of the first-party apps, like Surveillance, and it still has quite a few bugs. I am a bit confused about the OpenClaw marketing along with the F4-425 Pro. I feel like that if it's going to be a main selling point, then offer official guidance on how to get started with it. TerraMaster recommends enabling SPC, but then markets the NAS for use with OpenClaw, which requires disabling SPC to be able to use it, opening up genuine security concerns for the NAS; and that's before you get into the security concerns of OpenClaw itself. Of course, the above issues won't be a problem if you decide to install something else on it, or even go back to the stable TOS 6. I wish TerraMaster had just given TOS 7 as opt-in rather than shipping with it. TOS 7 has been available as a preview since December 2025 (so well before my last TerraMaster review), and according to a thread on Reddit where a user shared a screenshot from the TerraMaster Facebook page, it is scheduled to launch today, June 23, but there's nothing about that in the TerraMaster news blog. My contact confirmed over email that TOS 7 exits beta today. The rubber feet also deserve a mention as they continue to be a problem, with them coming unstuck the moment you shift the F4-425 Pro anywhere on your desk. What I liked What it comes down to, though, aside from what I already mentioned, you are still getting a quality, affordable device here, so recommending it will depend on the individual's use case. If you're just looking for a relatively small NAS device to manage virtual machines on, backup your files, and take care of your home theater streaming, then it is a great device that will certainly futureproof you for some time. It provides good performance, takes up little space, and is, on the whole, very quiet. Four bays afford proper redundancy using TRAID or RAID 5, and you can even expand on storage capacity by adding the 2-bay D5, or 4-bay D8 Hybrid DAS over a USB 3.2 (10Gbps) link. Considering the 2024 releases were more about power, with the likes of an Intel Core i5-1235U high-end laptop CPU under the hood, I asked my contact last time if we could expect more of the same in higher-end models and was told: It makes a lot of sense to use Intel's N350 chip inside a NAS; it is more than capable of doing what the F4-425 Pro is intended for, media streaming and backup. The only downside is still the clear lack of community and even staff support on the official forums. In the past, I have had topics go unanswered for days, or there would be generic-type "we've noted this and passed it onto our developer team" type responses. Along with the other things I mentioned, it all ends up costing it a couple of points. If you are comfortable with the command line, Docker, and setting up TrueNAS or Unraid, you'll be fine. You can do great things with this hardware. In TOS, the apps are a bit lacking, and things don't always work as expected.\ AI NAS?! What has become clear to me this year is that we are going to start seeing all kinds of "AI NAS" come to market, and while that might be good for us consumers, be diligent and research these claims. Although the F4-425 Pro technically comes with AI, it is really using a cloud service that is externally sourced off-device through the third party OpenClaw app. My colleague did review a newcomer to the NAS space earlier this year, and it includes a local AI assistant inside the Zettlab D4 NAS, and they do not even use AI in the product name, check out Chris' review here. Where to buy and a discount coupon However, it does not change the fact that this is truly a great entry-level home media-class NAS that you can buy right now. TerraMaster is having a 20% off launch discount, plus you can also still apply our unique 10% off coupon on checkout, which only works on the official website. So here is a breakdown of the pricing that is only valid on the official TerraMaster website. TerraMaster F4-425 Pro (N350) + 20% discount + 10% coupon = $575.99 TerraMaster F4-425 Pro (N305) + 20% discount + 10% coupon = $503.99 TerraMaster F4-425 Pro (N350) + 20% discount + 10% coupon = £525.59 TerraMaster F4-425 Pro (N305) + 20% discount + 10% coupon = £460.79 Use NEOWIN coupon code during checkout for 10% discount Over on Amazon US and UK, the F4-425 Pro also gets a 20% launch discount, but here, the above 10% coupon cannot be applied. TerraMaster F4-425 Pro (N350) for $639.99 at Amazon US (was $799.99) TerraMaster F4-425 Pro (N305) for $559.99 at Amazon US (was $699.99) TerraMaster F4-425 Pro (N350) for £583.99 at Amazon UK (was £729.99) TerraMaster F4-425 Pro (N305) for £511.99 at Amazon UK (was £639.99) As an Amazon Associate, when you purchase through links on our site, we earn from qualifying purchases.
    • well you can add a GPU for around $500, that's still around the price of Steam Machine but overall significantly better in performance.
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