Do you support piracy? Honestly?

[url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070501/ap_on_re_as/japan_angry_magicians_1… sue over revealed tricks[/url]

[url=http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=internetNews&storyI… says Viacom lawsuit threat to Internet use[/url]

(Links from [url=http://www.drudgereport.com/]Drudge Report[/url])

I think in Google's case, if they are being tardy over video fingerprinting that is one thing but it is unrealistic to hold them accountable for their users' unauthorised violations. Which raises the question of whether Google should sue the violators or give Viacom a list. Personally I think it's generally wrong but I do understand the sharing of a TV clip, the use of images either as avatars or as Shabbat Shalom illustrations and extensive quoting provided the link is given. I also think artists should view copyright violations as inevitable but strike back against movie and music piracy by flooding the relevant upload or sharing sites with extremely poor copies.

When I go to my local market, I used to see people selling foreign tobacco and cigarettes. Now when I go there I see Chinese people selling dvd's (2 for £5), which is really cheap compared to buying an original copy.

When I used to borrow them from a mate, the picture quality was surprisingly good for a pirated copy.

I'm not into films so I do not buy dvd's, I only watch it if comes on tv.

It was in our local newspaper that a guy was arrested after he was found to having thousands of pirated dvd's, he was convicted recently.

[quote]At a pound a disc, anyone can see the attraction of the pirated DVD collection - particularly when the quality is improving all the time.

In fact such is the scale of the market now - its estimated there are two for every household across the UK - its more profitable, in fact, than crack cocaine.

[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2005/07/05/scam_dvds_featu…]
There is a short video clip when a reporter goes undercover.

There are obviously cost-benefits because the production costs are next to nothing. Thus the producers are being ripped off. That is why copyright is protected. I have downloaded pirate movies and I guess the logic is a) I want to watch it now, in bed and b) the producers won't starve. But I'm regretting it, seeing as it's theft. This thread is my turning point. I'm going straight. 🙂

Downsides are variable quality, and watching rubbish because it's there. Upside is I've seen every South Park episode made to date including those not yet broadcast in the UK. But I could have waited. :oops: Sorry Matt and Trey. I won't do it again.

i always buy my dvds from the chinese ...they r great quality copys...

its such a waste of resources for the police to harass people for selling pirates...

it may be technically illegal but only in the eyes of the law...

one guy in southall recently got 15 months after getting caught with £200,000 grand worth of bootleg bollywood dvds!!...very harsh sentence...he would have got less for robbing someone at knifepoint...

wembely market always getting raided by these petty council killjoys as well...

the music and film production companys are the real criminals...they should cut their prices or everyone will carry on snapping up the bargain offers from the triads...

I second that!

They're robber barons! Why would you pay 25 bucks for a DVD when you can download it in twenty minutes?!

yo ho ho and a bottle of milk

In America when the MAFIAA go after kids - that is where I draw the line. And they do go after kids. Some not even 10 at the time of the purported "crimes".

What you may not know is that the RIAA is now trying to make ALL recordings on net radio have royalties going to them - whether or not the artist actually is a member - or even wants to charge for his/her productions.

([url=http://slashdot.org/articles/07/04/29/0335224.shtml]Slashdot Story[/url])

If an artist decided to collect on this royalty collected on its behalf, it will have to cough up and join the RIAA.

The RIAA should be abolished. Its practices are way too shady for a legitimate business.

And for the Record I am not much of a music fan. i do not really listen to any at all.

PS copyright infringement is illegal. However it is not "piracy". That is a different crime altogether.

PPS MAFIAA (Music and Filmic Industry Ass. of America) is a fictional merger of RIAA (Recording Industries Ass. of America) and the MPAA (Motion Picture Ass. of America.)

[quote="Admin"]In America when the MAFIAA go after kids - that is where I draw the line. And they do go after kids.[/quote]
For a second there I thought you were talking about the Italian Mafia, with the extra A as a typo error.

There is not much difference between the two.

I stream TV shows such as Prison Break, not sure if it is considered to be downloading.

Is that illegal?

If the stream has no rights to broadcast, then yes.

everyone should understand that piracy IS a serious crime.

Fair enough, you can say it eats into the profits of the multinational companies like record labels and film studios.

but you must remember that these companies hire a lot of normal people as engineers, artists, designers, cleaners etc etc etc

it is THESE low-payed workers who suffer, not the millinonaire CEOs

if you still want to watch films, TV shows and listen to music (nasheeds, obviously :oops: ) please remember that they require your money.

please people.

it is both illegal and, more importantly, IMMORAL

Piracy IS a serious crime.

However copying digitial/analogue signals is NOT piracy.

If the material is copyrighted, it is copyright infringement. Totally different crime. Still serious, but it is not piracy.

Calling it piracy is spreading FUD.

[url=http://www.piracyisacrime.com/]piracyisacrime[/url]

Don't support it. Report it!

I would have thought piracy is a type of copyright infringement. Admin, what you are saying about copying the signals went over my head, are you referring to streaming websites and chipped digi-boxes?

I am saying that downloading/copying a copyrighted file is not the same as sailing in a ship with a parrot on your shoulder looting and plundering those you come across where not only do you gain access to somethign you do not own, someone actually loses out to that exact same thing.

[url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6592795.stm]This article[/url] is about Piracy.

Everytime an organisation calls copyright infringement piracy, they are lying. This is a very popular lie.

I thought you were saying something more complicated.

Selling and disseminating cheaply copied files seems to fit the legal definition of piracy. I know that if I download a movie I am a lot less likely ever to rent it from the corner shop or buy it in the supermarket, and effectively I am using the product or an inferior copy without paying the makers. You can argue that I am not thereby stealing anything tangible, but since the digital files are what is for sale that seems a weak argument. It is true that the funding crime aspect isn't likely in the case of downloads, but the theft is just as real. For sure not all copyright infringement is piracy though.

[quote]Iran has no official copyright relations whatsoever with the United States.

Iran's government refuses to abide by WTO copyright laws, endorsing the free distribution of pirated software in ubiquitous quantities.

Iran however must eventually change this status when it becomes a full-member of WTO, as all members must abide by WTO's copyright regulations. However, USA had previously vetoed Iran's ascension to WTO 22 times, and as of 2007, actively refuses to support Iran's full-membership in the WTO.

There are in fact entire shopping centers in Tehran and other cities in Iran that specialize in the wholesale of pirated, often highly specialized software.

[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_and_copyright_issues]Iran and copyright issues[/url][/quote]
So would it be legal to buy the software from Iran and use them here in the UK?

I am NOT saying it is acceptable.

Just that it is not piracy. The internet is not the High Sea's

The crime is called Copyright Infringement. It is a serious one at that.

@MuslimBro - It would be legal to buy it in Iran and use it in Iran.

Since there are no distribution deals with Iran or the supplier - I would say it is still illegal here.

[size=11]*EDITED POST*[/size] Fair enough. Copyright theft isn't piracy as practised by Captain Hook. But piracy has entered common parlance as another word for [url=http://www.piracyisacrime.com/press/pdfs/1132%20LAW%20FLYER%20new%20A4… theft[/url]. I'm no expert so I looked it up on the link MuslimBro provided.

From Wikipedia:

"[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_infringement]Copyright Infringement[/url]" and "[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piracy]Piracy[/url]"

Apparently under the law the two terms are interchangable (look at the copyright infringement page). but there those who argue against that. 😛

We should call it copyright murder.

i have no problems with 'try before u buy'

It's the pesky law that does though!

[quote][b]YouTube facing football lawsuit[/b]

The English Premier League is to sue video-sharing site YouTube for alleged copyright infringement.

The football organisation said YouTube had "knowingly misappropriated" its intellectual property by encouraging footage to be viewed on its site.

Google-owned YouTube already faces a $1bn (£501m) lawsuit from media giant Viacom, accusing it of illegally showing clips from its TV shows.

YouTube has denied those claims, saying the suit threatens the internet.

[url]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6627135.stm[/url][/quote]