Feds going after gaming pirates

[10sun]

DLing pirated stuff would technically be akin to just walking out the door with the books or the jeans and then coming back 3 days later and paying them if you liked it enough, I think. o_O

The thing is, with downloading: you are not limiting anybody else from purchasing the same material by downloading it online to try it out. It is still available for just as many people when you try it out.

A better analogy would be watching a concert from outside a stadium and then deciding to head over to the stadium instead of hanging out on the hill.

[Harrison]

Yes, "that law stuff is silly", because they were created by lobbyists and not out of any logical necessity for protection of anything.

Remember, there were much more silly laws in our past. You wouldn't follow them in hindsight, and we shouldn't follow these now.

Blindly adhering to a set of bullshit put in place by money, and not logic, is the basis of why I fucking hate this government sometimes.

The internet is going to be one fucked-up Gestapo-ran shit in 20 years if we let them assholes keep this type of shit up.

[Lyion]

This is about pirated software. My personal issue is I'm a software creator. I have friends who create games for a living. I have friends who are out of business due to software piracy, and I see a lot of people who don't respect or have any concern about the time and work others do, just being draconian with their finances.

This isn't a discussion of the validity of laws, or the correctness of the interpretation of how copyright should be handled. Those things are a horse of a different color. I have many thoughts on this.

Nor is this a political issue, as some have wrongly portrayed. The RIAA, MPAA, and all the 'gestapo' and lawyer entities doing the lawsuits are generally aligned with the DNC.

I do not agree there is an ambiguous area. If you sneak into an empty theatre, you aren't hurting anyone, but to me that's still wrong. If you steal a candy bar from a store, it also does little, but it is still theft. These are not arbitrary things, anymore than the guy who downloads the illegally uploaded copy of Game X, even if it's 'just to see' if he wants it is acting in a valid manner.

[Zanchief]

I have friends who are out of business due to software piracy

Hrmm well this is completely false.

[Kramer]

the basic issue is about people who understand that people live off the crap they create, whether it is text, music, art, games, etc.

some people like to justify not paying people for their work.

i imagine that once someone moves past thinking about economics and personal integrity at around the 8th grade level, they will begin to see, oh HEY, yeah, if I didn't pay for it and I am taking it then that isn't the best thing, and myabe even wrong.

at least admit that you are screwing someone over somewhere, whether you have to label them buraeucrats (sp?), metallica faggots, super-rich software companies, whatever.....

this whole issue for me is one of personal values and integrity...

i had a few thousands songs off Limewire back in the day, when it was still pretty useful, i came to a place personally where i decided i didn't want to do that anymore and i stopped.

now, as far as the govt. spending billions on this, well, that is another issue all together.

[Lyion]

I have friends who are out of business due to software piracy

Hrmm well this is completely false.

We're talking America. I'm sure in Canada there is no piracy and all independent professional software creators works are respected and not illegally copied.

[Zanchief]

You know for a fact that the sole reason your friends lost their jobs was because people downloaded them from the internet?

That's a pretty big assumption I think. A very good friend of mine works for Bio-Ware. He pirates games.

[Hylissa]

I'm sure in Canada there is no piracy and all independent professional software creators works are respected and not illegally copied.

That's right!

[Lyion]

Good to know! Check your inbox, Chief~

[10sun]

I have friends who are out of business due to software piracy

Hrmm well this is completely false.

We're talking America. I'm sure in Canada there is no piracy and all independent professional software creators works are respected and not illegally copied.

If they can compelling prove that their business went belly up due to piracy, that necessitates the fact that they know they were pirated and most likely whom pirated the software. That begs the question of why they did not file a suit against said pirates.

[kaharthemad]

People spent time and money to create that game. It is their 'property'. They sell it to make a profit. As a consumer, you have the right to buy it, or not. Downloading it illegaly is theft, whether you agree with it or not. You are stealing money directly from the people who made that game, as if you took right from their bank account.

Masters of Orion 3....that title alone is the reason I do a 'try before you buy now.

[Hylissa]

Just ... wow ...

http://www.cinematical.com/2007/08/03/19-year-old-arrested-charged-for-recording-20-seconds-of-trans/

On July 17th, Marymount University sophomore Jhannet Sejas (pictured) was celebrating her 19th birthday with her boyfriend at a screening of Transformers. Sejas, a Bolivian immigrant working two part-time jobs to support her education, was loving the flick. She wanted to show her little brother a clip from the film to get him excited to see it, so she took out her digital camera and recorded 20 seconds of the climax. The assistant manager of the theater saw her use the camera and reported it to the general manager. The general manager decided to bypass such reasonable steps as a) asking her never to record in the theater again, b) asking her to erase the footage or c) asking her to leave the theater, and simply telephoned the police. Within minutes, two police officers entered the theater, confiscated the camera, and charged Sejas with the crime of "illegally recording a motion picture."

Sejas says "I was terrified. I was crying. I've never been in trouble before." Sejas has been banned from the theater (where she frequently paid for and viewed films) for life, and she has to go to trial for the incident this month. She faces up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500. The Regal Cinemas Ballston Common 12 Theater decided to prosecute the case, which is a first for Arlington police. Kendrick Macdowell, general counsel for the Washington-based National Association of Theatre Owners, says that there has to be a "zero-tolerance policy at the theater level," adding "We cannot educate theater managers to be judges and juries in what is acceptable. Theater managers cannot distinguish between good and bad stealing."

[Reynaldo]

Just depends on who you believe.

I see nothing wrong with her getting in trouble for it. She did something illegal and got caught.

It goes back to the whole "demo" discussion in this thread. There have been 2 jillion commercials for transformers and any trailer you want is available on the net for free and legally. Why on earth would she even consider whipping out a camera to record in the theater to show her brother something the world has been saturated with months before the release of the movie.

[brinstar]

atta boy lyion, i knew you could sink in and take a good whack at it once you got done fiddlefucking around!

i like your thoughts on music and the sharing thereof, tbqh-- the only sticker on my truck features a poorly-drawn fish (not a phish, mind you) and the simple slogan "free sound"

[Harrison]

I have friends who are out of business due to software piracy

Hrmm well this is completely false.

I have to call major bullshit on this too.