Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard
For the past several years, copyright holders in the US and Europe have been trying to reach out to file-sharers in an effort to change their habits.
Whether via high-profile publicity lawsuits or a simple email, it's hoped that by letting people know they aren't anonymous, they'll stop pirating and buy more content instead.
Traditionally, most ISPs haven't been that keen on passing infringement notices on. However, the BMG v Cox lawsuit seems to have made a big difference, with a growing number of ISPs now visibly warning their users that they operate a repeat infringer policy.
But perhaps the big question is how seriously users take these warnings because – let's face it – that's the entire point of their existence.
Sixty-five thousand five hundred thirty-five but if they sent one more I'd start again.
Source: https://torrentfreak.com/how-many-piracy-warnings-would-get-you-to-stop-180422/
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Gaaark on Tuesday April 24 2018, @01:40AM (1 child)
From the 99 warnings of beer dept.
Use a VPN.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @01:46AM
Poverty-stricken neighborhoods and lawlessness go hand-in-hand. That's why the seedy-looking building on the edge of a certain neighborhood went largely unnoticed; it blended in perfectly with its surroundings. What was in this building, and what was its purpose? An ordinary person would be afraid to investigate, but there was indeed a purpose to this place. The nature of that purpose, however, betrayed the expectations one would have after noticing the building's appearance.
Inside. Cheering. Shady individuals gambling. A large cage in the center of the room, big enough that fights could take place inside of it. And dogs. One might assume that this place was clearly used for dog fighting, but that couldn't be further from the truth. That was because of a certain change; a change in the criminal underworld.
Even criminals began to be concerned about the rights of animals. As such, they could no longer make dogs fight one another, since that would result in serious injuries for one or both of them. Thus, a new game where dogs needn't be injured was invented, and the spectators here were gambling on the result of that game. More specifically, they were gambling on how long the target would last against the dogs. Just as the room seemed as though it would burst with excitement, the prey was released into the cage with the dogs. Now, it was time for the game to begin!
The vicious dogs charged at the prey and sunk their teeth into it. The woman screamed as the dogs' fangs pierced her naked body. At the sound of the prey screaming, the spectators cheered in delight. Which gambler would emerge victorious? Everyone was cheering for the woman's demise, but each of them hoped it would happen at a different time so they could be the winners. Then, it ripped off; one of her ears, that is.
Thunderous cheering drowned out the woman's bloodcurdling screams. With many of her fingers barely remaining attached to her body, and with several massive wounds, the woman's motion was almost gone. Then, one of the dogs bit into her neck without mercy. That did it; the woman became one with silence, and the game came to an end.
The winners - who had been the closest to guessing how long the woman would last - cheered, but even the losers cheered. It was a game where everyone could enjoy themselves and no one would be hurt. Yes, no animals or people would be hurt...
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @01:42AM (5 children)
Where can I buy mp3s of most books and be able to copy those mp3 files onto my dumb, tiny, and multi-day battery life MP3 player? I've only found services which let you download DRMed files. The audio versions are also often more expensive than the physical copies. That's simply unacceptable.
When are copyright holders going to deliver what customers want? It's really sad that the pirated copies are better than the legal copies.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @04:41AM
Never.
Instead of waiting an eternity, see what is available today, e.g. https://librivox.org/ [librivox.org]
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @11:36AM (3 children)
Let's not be hypocritical - Amazon sells DRM free, un-watermarked mp3s, exactly what you want. They have for years.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Pino P on Tuesday April 24 2018, @02:10PM (1 child)
Amazon MP3 is music, not audio books. Last I checked, the Amazon-owned audio book service Audible used digital restrictions management. Or when did this change?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @02:48PM
Whoops, missed that parent was talking audiobooks, not music. You're right.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @04:10PM
Sigh, people on the Internet just don't read.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by looorg on Tuesday April 24 2018, @01:45AM (1 child)
I'll think about it when I actually get the first one, so it will definitely require at least one.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @02:10AM
Have you, my dear friend, figured out why the children scream when ugly obese men force them to play 'Privates'? Well, have you? Because I have. I have, and I love it.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @01:46AM (48 children)
I'm not worried because I don't pirate anything. If I want it bad enough to listen to it or watch it I buy it. The content creators deserve their piece of the pie.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday April 24 2018, @02:00AM (34 children)
You've got it all wrong. It isn't the creators pie being guarded. It's the corporate pie. Those silly bastards in suits can't write songs, or stories. They can't act. They can't do jack. Instead, they write contracts for gullible artists to sign. They toss the artist a few crumbs, while they devour the cake, and the loaf of bread, and the pie too.
If it were just the artists, then you might have a point to make.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @02:05AM (33 children)
It is not a consumer's responsibility to manage the accounting practices of the publishers, et al. If the artists are not getting their fair share then that is their battle to wage. Pirating the content - especially when pretending to do it because you don't like corporations - does not put a penny in the pockets of the content creators.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday April 24 2018, @02:25AM (16 children)
It is the consumer's responsibility to spend his money wisely. There's no point in making the suits richer. Going down to your local bar, and tipping the live band does more for culture than paying the suits for their exploitative contracts.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @02:54AM (12 children)
Most on the bands I listen to do not play at my local bar. Many of them are no longer together, nor where they when I bought the CD. Some of them were even dead at the time or are dead now.
Your plan really limits what I can listen to (unless I download it without paying like you do).
(Score: 3, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday April 24 2018, @02:58AM (11 children)
So, do you imagine that the money you spend on vinyl, or cd or whatever is benefitting those dead artists? How does that work?
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @03:16AM (10 children)
The estates of deceased artists, performers, writers, authors, etc continue to get their residuals. For someone who claims to be more intelligent than everyone else you sure ask some dumb questions.
Here's the difference between you and me when it comes to this topic: I don't care that you download content without paying (see how I didn't use your trigger word "pirate"?) but you not only care that I do pay for content, you are trying to convince me that I am not only wrong to do so but that I am unintelligent for doing it.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @03:26AM
The estates of deceased artists, performers, writers, authors, etc continue to get their residuals.
Yeah, well, that's the rip off. Those people did nothing to earn that. Bunch of damn rent collectors is all they are. Fuck them! I support the creator/performer, not some stupid license holder.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by bzipitidoo on Tuesday April 24 2018, @05:47AM (6 children)
I think everyone will agree that artists deserve compensation.
But copyright is fundamentally broken, and unfair to all of us. Technology has advanced to make the distribution of music far, far cheaper than ever before. The music industry has grudgingly, after great pressure, conceded that 99 cents is a fair price for a song. Of course, they would rather charge $20 for an album with one good song and half an hour of filler.
However, price is not the main issue, it is the model. the model of paying for each copy. There are several other perfectly viable business models, but the industry likes to pretend that they're no good, and only holy copyright can possibly compensate artists fairly. To uphold that business model, we are all not to use more than a fraction of our technology's capabilities, reaping its immensely increased access to science and art, and huge savings. That is what is so unfair. Our public libraries ought to be allowed to store and disseminate digital copies of everything. It would make them far more useful and be much more convenient for us. So much, much better to download a copy from the comfort of home, rather than spend time and energy traveling to a library branch, and then travel there again to return the item. Or be subjected to the outrageous late fees libraries tend to like to impose-- fines that can quickly exceed the value of a physical copy. Library books would be searchable. I am not at all happy that Google gets special dispensation to index copyrighted books while libraries are denied.
Could we have found the Cure for Cancer by now, if science was freely available online and not so frequently copyrighted and patented to the nth degree, and locked behind paywalls?
(Score: 2) by Pino P on Tuesday April 24 2018, @02:21PM (5 children)
The poor reviews of many of crowdfunding's "success stories" (the OUYA console and the game Mighty No. 9) have given crowdfunding a bad reputation. How would you suggest to fix crowdfunding? Or what model other than copyright or crowdfunding did you have in mind?
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Tuesday April 24 2018, @05:00PM (3 children)
Yes, crowdfunding is the biggest. Fix it? It's not that crowdfunding needs fixing so much as better support. We need better laws and other official support. Too many important services are in the hands of private corporations whose top priority is money, not service. They have never stopped trying to monopolizing markets so they can gouge customers. Services such as Facebook are notorious for throwing our privacy out the window for more money. YouTube is another big site that seems to have wrestled special privileges from rights holders and the people, privileges which should not be exclusive to YouTube or Google. Seems the Post Office or a new agency should be in the business of providing Internet service and privacy, so fundamental has that become to our society, while the private providers can continue business much like FedEx and UPS. At the other end, a business such as Humble Bundle is a great crowdfunder, but I worry that they could go defunct and I would lose access to all the games I'd bought but haven't yet gotten around to downloading and playing. We've seen that sort of problem all too often with music services in which the customers lose access to the music they bought whenever the servers go down for any reason, and the DRM can't verify their right to listen to their locked files, and just defaults to forbidding access because the music industry just knows everyone steals.
Another piece of the puzzle is the digital notary. Certainly we don't want to enable plagiarism, and digital notaries, private or public, whose certs the courts accept as proof of authorship, seem like a really good idea. That's the sort of support I'm talking about, a legal framework for a service like that to function well.
The copyright hoarders need to be pushed harder. They enjoy entirely too much legal support. That Copyright Alert System which is now defunct is the sort of thing I mean. It allowed them to violate due process and seriously inconvenience people just on the accusation of piracy, never mind proof. The ISP was required to shut off Internet access to anyone they accused. Happened to me 3 times. Then there's the DMCA takedown. They were given the power to have any video or song removed in an instant, just by alleging that it violated one of their copyrights, and we've all seen how that's been abused to take down videos that didn't violate copyright. In some cases in which the item may or may not violate copyright, we've learned the requests came from accusers who didn't actually own the rights in question and therefore had no standing to make a takedown demand.
(Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Tuesday April 24 2018, @09:55PM
This is it in a nutshell. The cartel that runs the entertainment controls, or fights to control, every aspect of distribution, especially the revenue. When artists sign with the cartel, they give up everything but what they can gain from live performances. They lose control of the rights to their recordings, and where and when they can be heard. Refuse to sign and you are blocked from commercial radio, television, no large arena will allow you to perform there and so on. The vast majority of artists get a signing bonus for that and nothing more. For the rest of their careers they are in debt to the label.
(Score: 2) by Pino P on Sunday May 06 2018, @11:04PM (1 child)
A digital notary like Copyright.gov, operated by the US Library of Congress? For under 50 USD, an author can register his claim to authorship of a particular work. U.S. courts accept registration with Copyright.gov as prima facie evidence of authorship, and it also entitles the author to statutory damages for any infringement occurring afterward.
Then the accuser perjured himself.
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Monday May 07 2018, @01:56AM
Copyright.gov isn't enough. For one thing, it costs far too much. The high price helps cut frivolous copyrighting, but I had in mind a near free service. A totally automatic and free digital notary service would be great, but might have to charge a little something to keep it from being spammed into oblivion. To keep it simple, the service wouldn't bother checking for plagiarism. The idea with that is to let the timestamp sort out plagiarism issues. The plagiarized copy should have the more recent timestamp.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday April 24 2018, @05:08PM
I've always been skeptical when it came to crowdfunding. Please fund me, so I can do this thing I can't afford to do and haven't ever done before. Just doesn't inspire confidence in someone or their product. There's also a Ton of junk to sift through to find anything interesting, because it's easy to have an idea. Crowdfunding is investment in an idea, not the purchase of a finished project. Don't invest, if you "can't lose" your investment.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @08:32AM
Ah, the famous "Ad novi imperatoris vestimenta suam" argument ... bravo!
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Gaaark on Tuesday April 24 2018, @11:11AM
Courtney Love deserves Nirvana residules, why?
Oh: because she married him, she should own the rights to Nirvana's songs over, you know, Nirvana's band members.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by Pino P on Tuesday April 24 2018, @02:15PM (2 children)
Waiting outside the bar's door until your twenty-first birthday is no fun. It's the result of alcoholic beverage regulation in many states in SN's home country.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday April 24 2018, @02:46PM (1 child)
Heh. One of my uncles ran the dinky little bar in the village back home. I never bothered him while I was in school. Never asked for a drink, never suggested that I might want a drink. After I joined the Navy, I swung by the bar one evening, and asked for a beer. Uncle was happy to serve a beer to his sailor brother's sailor son. Never asked about my age. For a couple of years, I went in and ordered a beer every time I was home.
For my 21st birthday, I took leave, and made sure to go down to the bar for a drink. Sat at the bar, pulled out my ID, and showed it to Uncle. "Uncle Don, how about my first legal beer, please?" Uncle was dumbfounded. "You've been coming in here for a couple years now, and you weren't old enough?" I just pushed my ID a little closer to him.
That was some funny shit! Mom and Dad didn't think it was so funny. :(
(Score: 3, Interesting) by cmdrklarg on Tuesday April 24 2018, @06:50PM
That's one thing that irritates me. You were old enough to die for your country if your ship sank (assuming you served on a ship), but not old enough to have a beer.
I for one would most certainly let my 18 year old have a beer if it weren't illegal (IIRC in MN if I give him one in my own home it is an affirmative defense, still means he'd have to go to court).
The world is full of kings and queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Thexalon on Tuesday April 24 2018, @02:29AM (15 children)
As someone who's done some "content creating" in my time, and knows other folks who are more in the industry than me: GP is right, the benefits usually go to executives at the handful of companies that control almost all media in the US [businessinsider.com]. The main method they use for this is by making the "content creators" as you term them constantly in debt to the company, and making lots of costs "recoupable" from the royalties, so any money that is made goes to paying off the debt, not paying the people who made the thing.
Don't believe me, read what Courtney Love had to say about record contracts [gerryhemingway.com]. Not much has changed since she wrote that.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @02:51AM (11 children)
I don't disagree that many artists get screwed by bad deals. But they agreed to the terms of the contact and should have had their lawyers review the deal and warn them of the dangers and pitfalls. At some point people are responsible for their own actions, including entering into contracts.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday April 24 2018, @03:01AM (2 children)
Right. And, at what point does society, as a whole, reject those bogus contracts?
"You, the artist, are obligated to produce art, for as long as we can profit from your art. In exchange, we'll make you famous, and we'll treat you like a pampered pet, for as long as the company can profit from doing so. You, the artist, must sign over all rights and benefits, to us, the company. The company has no obligations to you, the artist. We may throw you away at any time, with or without cause."
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @03:24AM (1 child)
Society should reject contacts that individuals enter into willingly? What kind of communism are you preaching?
Look, at some point people are responsible form their own actions whether it is signing a contract thinking they are going to become a big star or pirating content because they feel that paying for it would put money into more pockets than just the artist.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @03:30AM
It's the same kind of "communism" that says you can't sign yourself into slavery, or do other similar things. It's the kind of "communism" that attempts to protect ordinary people from vicious sociopaths and psychopaths who care about money above all else. Of course, we all know that anything that isn't 100% unrestrained dog-eat-dog capitalism is communism.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday April 24 2018, @03:06AM (3 children)
BTW - thanks for exposing yourself. I believe that you are the same ac who expressed concern for starving artists above. Your most recent post clearly states that you don't give two shits about those artists. You're a shill, and not a very good one. Thank you for confirming that.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @03:20AM (2 children)
I am not the AC who mentioned or offered support for starving artists. I'm the one who said artists are responsible for any contract they sign.
Just a reminder - just because someone disagrees with you does not make them a shill.
(Score: 2, Touché) by nitehawk214 on Tuesday April 24 2018, @02:31PM
So says the person shilling for the music industry.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 25 2018, @08:23PM
Look fucko the music industry is full of predators. You people are the natural enemies of everyone in tech, the RIAA and MPAA are dwarfed both financially and in terms of social impact by the tech industry. Yet you assholes are constantly a fucking thorn in our side.
I used to pay for all content.. really.
Now I pirate out of spite for my enemy.
If the tech industry was even fractionally as power hungry as you and your club for psychopaths we would have dominated the world back in the 90s. I want your industry to die I don't need you to make music and for that matter we don't even need hollywood to finance movies. I hope your industry dies and then lawyers descend on the corpse to pick it dry and then every girl group who ever gave a blowjob for a record deal comes out of the woodwork to #metoo every single one of you cocksuckers in front of your kids.
(Score: 2) by Arik on Tuesday April 24 2018, @05:12AM
Doesn't counter the point that the media companies are evil and you're stupid for obeying their dictates and internalising their corrupted definitions as your own.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @08:04AM
They are the ones responsible for signing those contracts, but the rest of us shouldn't be. We shouldn't be the ones paying for the artists' mistakes. We should be allowed to do the capitalist thing and vote with our wallets to support the artists, not the executives. The whole corporate communism idea of paying lazy executives for doing nothing of value should not be enforced by law, at least not outside communist countries such as North Korea.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @08:35AM
Weasel alert! Change of subject detected! Let's get back to "poor artists" angle.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @10:37PM
I didn't sign those contracts. I have no relationship at all with those companies.
Why should they have any say at all in how I arrange the bits on my hard drive?
(Score: 1) by loonycyborg on Tuesday April 24 2018, @07:13AM (2 children)
Such a situation is created and enforced by copyright law. That's its original purpose: to criminalize competing with leading publishers who basically act as oligopoly. If you had a slightest chance to go to other publisher who doesn't rip you off so much they wouldn't behave so. But such a publisher will never exist until copyright law is abolished.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday April 24 2018, @02:30PM (1 child)
Mmmmmm . . . you're kinda on the right track, but, you've missed the target a little. Copyright seems to have occurred before the major publishers happened. Copyright wasn't created at the behest of publishers, it was actually meant to protect artists. And, in it's original form, it said little more than, "If there's a dollar to be made from this work, then the author gets part of that dollar."
Unfortunately, copyright law has been hijacked, maimed, and mutilated by the likes of Walt Disney and his company. Today, it appears that copyright law exists for the benefit of publishers, and damn the artists.
(Score: 1) by loonycyborg on Wednesday April 25 2018, @08:56AM
This is incorrect. Copyright originally started as government backed monopoly for particular british publishers established after invention of printing press. Since their efforts to make this monopoly permanent feature stalled due to public being uncooperative they rebranded it as "protection for authors" but it never changed its nature. It cannot actually protect author's right because whole system isn't designed for it. It exists only to shield particular publishers from competition via government intervention.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Tuesday April 24 2018, @02:01AM (2 children)
How do you know you'll like it if you can't see it?
If you don't have HBO, how do you know Game of Thrones is worth subscribing to HBO?
https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/downloads-dont-matter-20130226-2f36r.html#ixzz2LywE7AZ2 [smh.com.au]
GOT director saying piracy helped GOT due to buzz, etc.
You torrent GOT, you like it, you subscribe, which he'd rather you do then not pirate it and not subscribe.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @02:10AM
I don't. But Personally, I would never subscribe to a service for just one show or series or title.
I don't know if a movie will be good before paying to see it in a theater. I don't know if a band is going to sound good live before I buy a ticket. I don't know if a team is going to play well or suck rocks before I go to the game.
Of the many risks I take in life these are all rather insignificant.
(Score: 2) by TheRaven on Tuesday April 24 2018, @08:36AM
A study like that well over a decade ago was what made me stop pirating. If a company isn't willing to make a product available in a format and at a price that I consider acceptable, then I don't want to accidentally help their balance sheet by advertising it for them. I would love to see all of the DRM-backing studios 'win' the war on piracy and then realise that their circulation is dropping below the point of profitability. Maybe their successors will realise that the best way of making money is to transform potential customers into customers, rather than treat existing customers as potential criminals.
sudo mod me up
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @02:18AM (5 children)
A "Troll" for paying for things? Is this really what has become of our culture? I work hard for a living and I can spend my money anyway I see fit, and that includes paying for music or movies or whatever entertainment I choose to consume.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday April 24 2018, @02:32AM (4 children)
Not a troll for paying for "things". Maybe a troll for paying for imaginary property, and for conforming to all the DRM hoops imposed on you. Unless . . . you're just another shill. There are plenty of those around!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @02:46AM (3 children)
A troll for paying for content? Music is not imaginary. Movies are not imaginary. And anyone who would dare to comment that they pay for content must be a shill? Don't you mean anyone who disagrees with your practice of not paying for content is a shill? You proudly shout from the rooftops that you don't pay for content, and voicing that opinion is fine, but claiming to pay for content means I am a shill?
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday April 24 2018, @02:55AM (2 children)
Have you tipped any artists, lately? I have.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by MostCynical on Tuesday April 24 2018, @03:14AM
I tip by attending gigs/performances, and buying merchandise.
I buy music from artist's sites, directly, or from the band, at the gig.
My money goes to the artist, not "the record company"
I buy cds and rip them to whatever format I need.. FLAC, mp3, whatever.
Record companies had a place, before internet created instant, worldwide sharing
They still have a place, but only because they are part of the "traditional media" controlling radio stations.
Apple and Google are just the same, pretending you can't have promotion without "help"
People are, unfortunatley, lazy and things like itunes make it easy to get alot of music.
Alot of the good stuff requires .. active looking, and reading. If someone (review/blog/whatever) says "this band/songs sounds like (band you've never heard of)", then you can go and check them out.
Word-of-mouth works as well on the internet as on the street... and then you can find new stuff, and, again, buy straight from the band.
No need for any record companies; lots of performers have realised this, so we are seeing the death throes (it will take years, and they won't go away - too many consumers are, as I said, lazy)
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @03:32AM
I tip everyone, from the counter girl at the deli, to any waitstaff (including the local restaurants were I eat for free), to my mechanic, to the landscapers who make sure I've left for the morning before starting up their noisy machines, to the local youth sports teams that collect money or have car washes, to my mail carrier and UPS driver and FedEx driver at Christmas, and everyone in between. And that includes any local band I see or a donation to any local playhouse I visit.
(Score: 2) by Apparition on Tuesday April 24 2018, @02:23AM
Exactly. Now, once I purchase something, I'll gladly liberate it from DRM if it's so encumbered, but I will purchase content I want to read/watch/listen to as I want to support the creators and show both the creator and publisher that there is demand for said content.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Pino P on Tuesday April 24 2018, @02:13PM (1 child)
I'd be interested to hear where I might buy a lawfully made copy of the film Song of the South or the TV series Spartakus and the Sun Beneath the Sea (the English dub of Les mondes engloutis). Or a lawfully made copy of the film Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night in a format playable on North American players that is newer than VHS.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @04:13PM
THIS! This is what the idiot "I'll just buy it" crowd does NOT understand.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 26 2018, @04:57PM
lmao! stfu, you retarded bastard!
(Score: 5, Insightful) by requerdanos on Tuesday April 24 2018, @01:51AM (32 children)
I have never been much at operating boats, much less using them to attack other boats and kidnap and/or murder the passengers and crew in order to steal their stuff [webstersdictionary1828.com]. I am just not 'bent' that way.
I am not sure a "warning" is appropriate for those that do. "Bob, you've killed 76 people and stolen the cargo and contents of seventeen ships at sea. This is your fifteenth warning." Makes no sense.
And I further don't see how an ISP would be involved? Why not direct police or military involvement? Are we sending the marauders "strongly worded e-mails" instead of protecting the ships at sea?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @01:59AM (29 children)
Your refusal to accept additional/new definitions of a word, or the expansion of the English language, doesn't stop a word from meaning what you don't want it to. In fact, willful ignorance undermines any other arguments that you make.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday April 24 2018, @02:03AM (23 children)
And, you've got that backward. When we accept the terminology that someone pushes on us, then we have allowed them to create and set the narrative.
File copying is not piracy. Piracy involves rape, pillage, death, theft. File copying results in zero death, zero pregnancies, zero pillaging, and no lost property.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @02:14AM (17 children)
Society accepts or rejects these types of things. You don't have to like it for the rest of society to use the term.
Perhaps you should
piradownload a more current dictionary?(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday April 24 2018, @02:22AM (12 children)
As part of society, I reject that type of thing. Most intelligent people do as well. Piracy is violent. File copy is not. You have accepted the brainwashing imposed by the MPAA and other maafiosa.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @02:40AM (11 children)
Citation?
The original definition of piracy is violent. Your "I don't want to call file copying 'piracy' because I don't want to be labeled by a word with negative connotations any more than I want to pay for things!" stance is cute.
I am not "brainwashed". I am one of those intelligent people who knows the difference between "piracy" involving ships on the high seas and "piracy" involving copying content. Only one is violent, though neither type of pirate likes being called a pirate.
(Score: 2, Offtopic) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday April 24 2018, @02:54AM (8 children)
Most people want to believe they are intelligent. And, of course intelligent people are harder to brainwash. But, your assertion that you are intelligent doesn't make you intelligent. Just how high did you rank on all those tests you took in high school and/or college? How many of them did you just blow out of the water? Were you suspected of cheating because you got impossibly high scores on the tests?
Again - I don't accept the narrative being forced down society's throat. It's bullshit. If you choose to believe the bullshit, so be it. Paying for a record does NOT put money into your favorite artist's pocket. Again, you'll do artists more good by tipping the band at your local bar, than offering up your hard earned cash to a record label.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @03:09AM (4 children)
How high did I score? Full scholarship off my pre-SAT. Never took the SATs and I graduated as a junior (I even skipped the 5th grade). Never was suspected of cheating because tests always came easy. What about you? Or do you not like the term "cheating" to describe getting around the test rules because it sounds bad?
Your assertions that people who disagree are not intelligent are comical. They remind me of someone who continually claims they are smart. Very smart. Smarter than anyone else.
IMNSHO, paying for a CD is the right thing to do. If the artist failed to secure an advantageous contract it is not my problem. I should not have to worry that they have their shit together before making a purchase. Refusing to pay for a CD because you suspect that the artist may not get what you feel they deserve is disingenuous ... unless you are sending them cash directly.
(Score: 3, Funny) by archfeld on Tuesday April 24 2018, @08:16AM
I am so smrt, so very smrt....SMRT
For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday April 24 2018, @02:25PM (2 children)
Dear parents or guardians of RUNAWAY1956,
We aren't sure if your child cheated, or should be sent straight to college. No child gets scores like your child got. In fact, few of our staff can get that high a score, and they created the test. Please don't enroll your child for any more of our tests. We will trash the test as soon as we see his name on it.
Thank you,
Staff of NEDT school testing
_______________________________
The ACT wasn't quite so bad -a few other people actually score as high as I did. ASVAB, very much the same, except for one little hole. That being linquistics and code.
Full scholarship, you say? Mine for the taking. Two of my sons also won full scholarships. I'm not terribly impressed with your scholarship. Some of us walk away from those scholarships, because they don't fit what we want or need to do in life.
(Score: 2, Funny) by realDonaldTrump on Tuesday April 24 2018, @03:20PM (1 child)
I guess we’ll have to compare IQ tests. And I can tell you who is going to win. The best linquist.
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday April 24 2018, @03:39PM
That's possible - depending on which test, and how it's weighted. STEM people don't spend a lot of time talking to their creations, and they certainly don't expect their creations to answer in some foreign language.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @03:33AM (2 children)
What, you mean the ones that require only rote memorization to solve? The ones that any moron with a tiny bit of motivation could ace? What do those have to do with his intelligence, exactly? They neither prove nor disprove that one is intelligent; they are only good for eliminating people who didn't even bother to rote memorize the material.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday April 24 2018, @03:04PM (1 child)
Different times, I guess. There was little rote memorization when I was in school. Sure, there was some - the times table, spelling rules, some more, I suppose. But, back then, education actually required some thinking. Besides which, I always wanted to know why things were this way or that. It wasn't good enough to memorize names, dates, facts, and figures. Always, "Why?"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @10:28PM
America's education system is and always has been based on Prussia's (even though it was modified), which was designed to churn out obedient worker drones, so I guarantee you that you're wrong. You simply failed to spot the problem. There are no 'golden age' of the American education system; sorry.
But you're not alone in thinking this. Even to this day, many people fail to see that what they're doing is actually just rote memorization because it's dressed up as something else. If one doesn't know what a real education looks like, then chances are one won't be able to spot the problem.
If you meant to say that schooling required some thinking, well, you're still wrong.
Maybe you, but it was by no means required. And that's the issue.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by bzipitidoo on Tuesday April 24 2018, @06:25AM (1 child)
No, I don't think so. If you're not a shill, you are brainwashed, and you'd do well to listen humbly and try to understand. You might even thank us.
Surely you've heard the "copying is not stealing" argument? No one said they didn't want to compensate the artists. When you suggest people "don't want to pay for things", we all understood that you are calling everyone a bunch of thieves. Use of that disingenuous, flamebait line is what has me thinking you're a shill. It is only the mercy of the public, the sincere desire to compensate artists, that keeps the copyright model alive in spite of the bad manners-- the terrorism, legal lynchings, propaganda, and histrionics-- the industry has practiced. But no one appreciates being asked to pay for waste.
McDonalds is hurt whenever someone eats at Burger King instead, but that's not theft, nor illegal, nor immoral.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @08:15AM
I've noticed an interesting thing with the younger generation: They can see that copying is not actually stealing, so it becomes copying is just like stealing, except it's not. Stealing is illegal. Which ends up with the conclusion that copying is just like illegal, except it's not.
Because the narrative is focused on teaching people that copying is like illegal, rather than teaching about copyright law, the younger generation is starting to believe that copying is NOT actually illegal. If it was illegal, you wouldn't need propaganda pretending that copying is just like illegal.
(Score: 2, Touché) by Kawumpa on Tuesday April 24 2018, @08:15AM (3 children)
You mean like the Cambridge Dictionary:
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/piracy [cambridge.org]
(Score: 2, Troll) by realDonaldTrump on Tuesday April 24 2018, @01:50PM
So many websites have VERY LONG pages. And folks only read the beginning. Very hard to get to the bottom of some of those! But down below it says (Cambridge) about illegally copying movies & music. And that's what The Mighty Buzzard means. I know because the beginning of the article says it's about movies, music & TV. Not about the ships, that's very important too. But not what this story is about.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @02:13PM (1 child)
...Dude, if you scroll down a bit it also mentions the illegal downloading kind of piracy:
the act of illegally copying a computer program, music, a film, etc. and selling it:
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @10:49PM
Did you notice the bit about selling? Very few filesharers do that.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Gaaark on Tuesday April 24 2018, @02:24AM (2 children)
Just like hacking/cracking.
People have accepted the dumb media's definition of hacker over cracker.
Hackers hack: crackers crack, but now everyone is evil hackers.
Now if only we could get the media to start calling dumb fucks 'sheeple', we could have a real larf!
:)
"Tonight at 11, sheeple gets stuck in safe while trying to rob it!"
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday April 24 2018, @06:02PM (1 child)
Just like hacking/cracking.
I can understand continuing to fight a battle that was lost in the 1990's.
What I can't understand is continuing to fight a battle that was lost in the 1590's. [wikipedia.org]
The term "piracy" has been used to refer to the unauthorized copying, distribution and selling of works in copyright.[8] The practice of labelling the infringement of exclusive rights in creative works as "piracy" predates statutory copyright law. Prior to the Statute of Anne in 1710, the Stationers' Company of London in 1557, received a Royal Charter giving the company a monopoly on publication and tasking it with enforcing the charter. Those who violated the charter were labelled pirates as early as 1603.[7][not in citation given (See discussion.)] Article 12 of the 1886 Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works uses the term "piracy" in relation to copyright infringement, stating "Pirated works may be seized on importation into those countries of the Union where the original work enjoys legal protection."[8] Article 61 of the 1994 Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) requires criminal procedures and penalties in cases of "willful trademark counterfeiting or copyright piracy on a commercial scale."[11] Piracy traditionally refers to acts of copyright infringement intentionally committed for financial gain, though more recently, copyright holders have described online copyright infringement, particularly in relation to peer-to-peer file sharing networks, as "piracy".[8]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @10:54PM
Did you notice the word 'selling' in there? Maybe you should read the last sentence of your post again.
By your own definition, if I download something it is not piracy unless I sell it. The copyright cartel are currently trying to change that definition.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @10:53AM (1 child)
File copying results in zero death, zero pregnancies, zero pillaging, and no lost property.
That is not true: my girlfriend's second pregnancy was the direct of copying a file.
(Details withheld to protect the guilty)
--
You have the right to a 5 1/4" floppy
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday April 24 2018, @03:08PM
I might suspect that she plugged the ethernet into the wrong receptacle if the pregnancy was the "direct" result of copying a file. So . . . the kid isn't yours, but Ozzie Osbourne's kid?
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @02:16AM (2 children)
But at the same time, there's no reason that we have to use their inflammatory language to describe an activity that we are fine with. Just because a word exists doesn't mean you have to use it, or that you can't criticize others for using it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @02:28AM (1 child)
There are plenty of people all over the world who are fine with stealing, such as bankers, white collar criminals and other corporate thieves screwing honest people out of their money or their homes. They call it "business" rather than an inflammatory word like "larceny". Should we afford them the same courtesy?
In general, individuals don't get to decide what language society uses to describe or define things. Just because some people are OK with an act doesn't necessarily make the act OK.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @02:40AM
Afford them what courtesy? You don't have to do anything. They can use whatever terms they like, and you can either agree or disagree with their usage of those terms.
Individuals can choose what terminology they use, and also advocate that others use different terminology. Of course, if someone criticizes your use of a certain word, you don't have to listen to them either. Really, this couldn't be simpler. Instead of trying to debate whether or not individuals have to tolerate a word being used in a certain context simply because it is often used within said context (they don't), how about debating the merits of someone's argument? If you think that "piracy" is a fitting term for copyright infringement, then explain why or why not. There's no other debate to be had.
(Score: 2) by number11 on Tuesday April 24 2018, @06:50AM (1 child)
When you agree that any corporation that claims ownership of something not actually theirs (e.g. the Harry Fox Agency re "Happy Birthday", or DMCA takedowns based entirely on filenames, or In N Out Burger claiming that Down N Out confuses customers in a country they don't even do business in) is guilty of fraud and (at least attempted) theft, then maybe we'll have something to talk about.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 24 2018, @05:51PM
They hang the man and flog the woman
Who steals the goose from off the common
Yet let the greater villain loose
That steals the common from the goose
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Tuesday April 24 2018, @02:19AM
ISP: International Seas Police (Naval Interpol)
As for email, let's see: Ensign mail? You know, when they wave the flags around to send a message? Sure, that must be it.
Yeah.
As in:
"Larboard side, send the Admiral an email to tell him to get bent!
...oh, he already IS bent....huh...he's always come off as such a hard, ramrod straight seaman! No wonder he's always talking about the 'salty waves'."
Arrrrrrrgh!
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Tuesday April 24 2018, @02:33PM
I love to read, I don't always have time. A year and a half ago, who would have guessed I'd be reading the Dictionary of 1828? But I am. Amazing! And it says "a bookseller that seizes the copies or writings of other men without permission" is a pirate. In 1828 they didn't have movies, they used books as their movies. They would flip the pages very quickly, it makes a movie. As I'm sure you know.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Gaaark on Tuesday April 24 2018, @01:57AM (6 children)
GOT suffered from piracy, but that helped it take off.
People bought the books (,I did and bought a set for my dad) then pirated the show, found out it was amazing and am buying the box set.
Some people buy the shirts, etc.
Piracy HELPED GOT and look at the franchise they've built with rumours of prequels etc.
Black sails suffered from piracy, but got me watching it. I'd be buying the box sets except they threw a huff over piracy and they borked the last season after ending it a season early.
HBO got it.
Starz didn't and now have a loser franchise I won't be buying. Dumb. Black sails was good: they killed it.
>>>>>
But Petrarca (GOT director) shrugged and said the illegal downloads did not matter because such shows thrived on "cultural buzz" and capitalised on the social commentary they generated.
https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/downloads-dont-matter-20130226-2f36r.html#ixzz2LywE7AZ2 [smh.com.au]
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 4, Insightful) by isostatic on Tuesday April 24 2018, @08:02AM (4 children)
Windows was on top for over a decade, and Office still rules the roost, because of illegal copying -- people with windows/office at work brought them home, installed them on their own computers, and that was what everyone grew up with.
If you had to buy Office and Windows in the 90s, I suspect the PC industry would look very different.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by kazzie on Tuesday April 24 2018, @11:54AM (3 children)
Office, yes. Windows: I'm not so sure. Most computer owners just used whatever OS was on their machine when bought, and only change when they buy a new machine. (Hence Microsoft's pains at getting people to upgrade to later versions of Windows when the interval between individuals' computer purchases got longer.)
Regardless, it's likely this will change as Microsoft tries to get everyone to switch to subscriptions for Office and Windows instead.
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Tuesday April 24 2018, @10:09PM (2 children)
In the 90s you got your computer from the local Mom and Pop shop, probably with DOS, but not necessarily MS Dos.
You then installed your copy of windows and office (and possibly offical MS DOS) which you borrowed from work, on 40-odd floppies.
(Score: 2) by kazzie on Wednesday April 25 2018, @04:55AM (1 child)
Ah, I follow now. Yeah, I can picture that in the pre-win95 era. (Our first home PC was bought after Windows 95's release.)
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Wednesday April 25 2018, @04:27PM
My first copy of windows 95 was from Dad's work. Windows 98 was a pirate copy from the local Mom and Pop (I think it was a pre-release too), and everything from 95 onwards was home built PCs.
I upgraded to Linux in 2000 so never dealt with any 'registration' issues, at least not on operating systems.
(Score: 2) by kazzie on Tuesday April 24 2018, @11:55AM
Compare with the shareware approach of the 90s: get them hooked, let them get their friends hooked, and then offer a way for them to give you money.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday April 24 2018, @01:57AM (2 children)
At a CDDA store
However I torrented shamelessly when I was homeless
But now I buy totally honest CDDA media
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 3, Touché) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday April 24 2018, @02:34AM (1 child)
What is a CDDA store? Are they located close to Walmart?
(Score: 3, Informative) by Freeman on Tuesday April 24 2018, @05:11PM
I'm pretty sure any legitimate store that sells one of these would do. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_Disc_Digital_Audio [wikipedia.org]
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"