posted
Quite. They had the same question come up when VCRs were new, and the ruling was that so long as no profit is made by the distributers, it's perfectly legal.
-------------------- "This is why you people think I'm so unknowable. You don't listen!" - God, "God, the Devil and Bob"
Registered: Mar 1999
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quote:Originally posted by Cartman: Right, IF you get caught doing something that's against the law. Which using a file-share program (in and of itself) is NOT.
Not at the moment.
Using them to download illegal music is, however. Which is what they are mainly used for. Look how people deserted Napster after it became impossible to use it to get copyrighted works. People aren't complaining about this because of the valuable service to society that P2P programmes provide...they're complaining because they won't be able to get the tunes they want.
And the TV programmes, to be fair.
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
Registered: Mar 1999
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Cartman
just made by the Presbyterian Church
Member # 256
posted
"Not at the moment."
Nor should it ever be.
Look, I won't deny that P2P networks are about the most wretched hives of scum and villainy you can find on the internet. But that's not the issue here. Encroachment on personal liberties is. When you ban software because of a specific function (a function that, again, isn't intrinsically illegal) built into it, when you (well, not you, but the juridical arm of a government that happens to be sponsored by organizations with an interest in regulating the flow of information such that it flows THEIR way) dictate what I can and cannot run on MY computer because I MIGHT use that software for criminal activities, you open the door to gross violations of due process and privacy. THAT is what is wrong about these tries "to stop people from stealing music", NOT that people will no longer be able to get the tunes they want. I could not care less about the latter, but the former has me VERY concerned.
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted
The thing is - file sharing of music also allows music that is NOT available to BE available... old records, discontinued cds etc. Is THAT illegal?
Should people be denied music that is only available to a handful of people around the world?
Personally, I have discovered more artists BECAUSE of things like p2p and mp3s than I would have if I just relied on going to the record store and buying random artists. Radio doesn't cater to my musical tastes.
-------------------- "Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica." - Jim Halpert. (The Office)
quote:Originally posted by Cartman: "Not at the moment."
Nor should it ever be.
Look, I won't deny that P2P networks are about the most wretched hives of scum and villainy you can find on the internet.
Well, I can see that someone has'nt been trying to find online scum very hard.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
*shrug* Stepping aside from whether taking part in P2P networks should be criminal, the better question might be whether or not this is the best crime to be assigning prison terms of up to 10 years. Prison in the US isn't exactly the a low cost proposition. I mean really, doesn't your justice department have better things to do?
Registered: Mar 1999
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"They had the same question come up when VCRs were new, and the ruling was that so long as no profit is made by the distributers, it's perfectly legal."
That was long before the DMCA existed, though. Are you sure it's still true? If it is, then how would that differ from distributing music for free? Either way, you're freely distributing something that people would normally have to pay for (even if that "payment" is merely having to sit through TV commercials).
Registered: Mar 1999
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Cartman
just made by the Presbyterian Church
Member # 256
posted
quote:Originally posted by Jason Abbadon: Well, I can see that someone has'nt been trying to find online scum very hard.
Nevertheless, you must be careful. And you're interrupting a dramatic moment. Quiet. B)
"They had the same question come up when VCRs were new, and the ruling was that so long as no profit is made by the distributers, it's perfectly legal."
That was long before the DMCA existed, though. Are you sure it's still true?
quote:Originally posted by Grokca: Downloading is not illegal in my country. So I can download all I want.
Unless Canada truelly is the craziest place in the world, I'm going to suggest that downloading copyrighted music is just as illegal over there as it is everywhere else.
And I'll also say that I do largely agree with you, Cartman. I'm just not keen on the ever so slight hypocricy that comes up on stuff like this, eg "I never download illegal music, ever!". But yeah, 10 year prison sentences are stupid, music is vastly overpriced, etc etc.
Andrew: Such as what? Exactly how many songs are available on Kazaa that are impossible to buy anywhere, ever? And if your TV is anything like ours, it'll be almost impossible to not find a music channel that caters to you.
Regardless, do you really just type random words into Kazaa and download everything that comes up?
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
Registered: Mar 1999
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quote:Originally posted by Omega: Actually, the vast majority of my KaZaa use is for sharing episodes recorded off a television, which is perfectly legal. If anyone wants any good Andromeda I'm sharing it right this second.
Sharing TV eps isn't illegal? But surely by watching Enterprise and 24 online and then not watching them when they appear on Sky, I'm depriving them of ratings, which means that the advertisers who ultimately provide the capital that makes the show are losing out? And we all know how important the advertisers are. . .
Well, ratings are based upon how many people they know are watching a show. Do they actually have any way of telling whether you, personally, are watching it? If not, you aren't really affecting the ratings.
Registered: Mar 1999
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The club I belonged to here in IL, nothing but a private bar really, pays royalty fee's, as anyone must that runs a juke box or has bands come in. The cost of which can't be that expensive, for the club anyway, or the cheap bastards there wouldn't have any music except CMT, VH-1, etc....
So, CC turns Flare in to a non-profit group, which can be nothing more that a place for a meeting of disimilar minds, we pay the dues, and have royalty rights...
-------------------- "You are a terrible human, Ritten." Magnus "Urgh, you are a sick sick person..." Austin Powers A leek too, pretty much a negi.....
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