Take that file-swappers!
A big blow to parasitic companies..
Monday, June 27, 2005 by Frogboy | Discussion: WinCustomize News
Today was a big win for those of us who value intellectual property. Companies like Grokster and Kazaa and others who profit off of enabling people to conveniently steal software, music, videos, etc. are now on notice thanks to today's Supreme Court ruling on the issue.
The Supreme court found that peer-to-peer providers are indeed liable for how users make use of their network. I for one am pretty pleased with this outcome on a number of levels.
A few years ago, Napster took the world by storm. Its developer was hailed as a visionary and the company became a household name. But many developers, including us, were pretty unhappy with the whole thing. Automated piracy is not revolutionary or innovative. Many companies (including Stardock) had thought of such file sharing concepts in the past but did not invest in them because it would be difficult to keep people from pirating. But companies and individuals with fewer scruples not only went forward with such ideas but profited greatly from them and won both fame and fortune.
These companies exist, IMO, purely to profit from people pirating other people's work. Perhaps these guys will find real jobs now and earn money honestly.
The Supreme Court wrote:
"There is no evidence that either company (Grokster or StreamCast) made an effort to filter copyrighted material from users' downloads or otherwise impede the sharing of copyrighted files," Souter wrote. "Each company showed itself to be aiming to satisfy a known source of demand for copyright infringement, the market comprising former Napster users."
While the court will, in future cases, need to clarify some of the elements of its ruling, I think this is a big win for people who create intellectual property. I don't have a huge angst about piracy per se, but I have a lot of angst about companies in the business of profiting from it.
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Reply #102 Friday, July 1, 2005 1:45 PM
Reply #103 Friday, July 1, 2005 4:59 PM
Reply #104 Friday, July 1, 2005 6:01 PM
Reply #105 Friday, July 1, 2005 6:12 PM
| you can be rest assured that another similiar operation will spring up and people (including me, cos theres no (edited for language) way I'm paying $22 dollars for a single cd |
I suppose you will feel the same way when anything you try to sell gets taken away from you by someone that feels they shouldn’t pay for it. I sure will jump to the chance to do it, especially since you think it's the correct thing to do.
And by the way, now days you don’t need to purchase the entire CD, there are ways to buy just the song/s you like from any CD for as low as .99 cents. But as you eloquently put it, that wont satisfies you because on the long run you just want to 'steal' them.
| So it’s a superficial "victory" at best. |
Yeah, that is until you get busted and penalized, only then you would know how 'superficial' the victory is.
Arrogant ignorance never cease to amaze me
Reply #106 Friday, July 1, 2005 7:16 PM
Tabbed browsing aka here is somehow 'invented by Apple'? Gee...I didn't realise Jobs thought up the idea of Index cards.....I'm actually willing to bet they existed before he was a sparkle in his old man's eye....
There's a lot of 'if's in post #100 which renders the comments valuless....
| Laws can and will be broken and this (when they get all the rules straightened out) will be no different. |
Yes, they probably will....since they already are. The laws of criminality pertaining to 'accessory' will catch more than just the Kazaa-clone profiteers. If a person buys a commodity and then allows it to be 'taken/shared' by someone else he is just a fool who fails to adequately protect his property...like buying a car but leaving it unlocked with the keys in it for anyone to 'borrow' if they wish. Too many people see this as 'stupid' but different from 'P2P' as in that case the commodity is duplicated, not taken as such.
The 'duplication' is a violation of copyright [usually].
Now, if the 'taker' takes in the full knowledge that it violates copyright/IP Law, etc as established within current statutes he may be found guilty of 'receiving'....and one great benefit is 'ignorance is no excuse' so even if he's unaware the first he might learn of it is the knock on the door.
I dunno....all this 'I want my P to P' [sounds like a song]...is probably all down to being an 'age' thing. What's the bet that those vehement proponents are all around their teens?
What's the bet they have scant regard for property rights because they are barely old enough to have 'property'?...
Oh, wait...now I'm 'age-ist' which denies all validity of argument...
Reply #108 Friday, July 1, 2005 7:52 PM
Reply #109 Friday, July 1, 2005 7:58 PM
Reply #110 Friday, July 1, 2005 8:20 PM
Reply #111 Friday, July 1, 2005 8:23 PM
Reply #112 Friday, July 1, 2005 9:01 PM
The 'right or wrong' is not determined by the individual, OR by 'some random person on the net'. It's decided by those within society entrusted with the determination of 'right or wrong'. We call them the 'Legal System'.
What is left for the 'individual' is the decision to abide by the 'laws' or not. What society then demands is that those who decide to exercise their 'free will' and ignore the statutes/tenets imposed upon them is that they serve some form of penalty for so-doing. And from 'penalty' comes 'penal system', aka imprisonment, etc.
Everyone has the 'free will' to break any such 'law' they deem draconian or unjust or restrictive....but you are then obliged to suffer the consequences of so doing.
Food for thought....a paedophile will argue that he is NOT doing anything 'wrong'. In his version of reality he will declare that it is his 'right'. Fortunately for 'us', public opinion is at odds with their beliefs and they are prosecuted/punished.
A belief that a social 'rule' is an imposition does not justify its violation....and it certainly will not absolve you from retribution.
The right or wrong of a law is outside your determination...the justification or validity may be open to debate of 'fairness' or being excessive....but the longer a person remains a member of 'his' society the more he will come to dislike parts of it but will have to accept its rulings to remain a valid member of that society and not end up ostracized or excluded.
All facets or subsets of society have rules and impositions. Here on Wincustomize.com, because of our hosted content [artwork aka skins] we impose limitations which are defined by copyright, IP, etc....and for aeons have referred to transgressions of same as 'rips'. Other parts of the world might debunk property 'rights' but WC is not 'other parts of the world'....it's a US-based site, owned and run by a US-based Company [Stardock] which is [as you would expect] protective of its own IP and, through the ministrations of the site Admins assists in protecting the IP rights of its members/community.
Those who, for whatever reason or perception of 'wrongness', choose to defy our community's IP 'rules' are, by definition not 'community members'.
This is most commonly evident by whether the alleged 'member' is a giver or a taker...or, in other words [in our terminology] a 'skinner' or a 'user'.
Generally it is mostly the 'users' who want 'something for nothing' and generally it is the 'skinners' who appreciate IP protection and support it.
Sure, there's idealists in both camps.....but in this world nothing is ever really 'ideal'....
TANSTAAFL! Reply #115 Friday, July 1, 2005 11:40 PM
Reply #116 Saturday, July 2, 2005 12:19 AM
'moral high ground' sounds so fey.
'law abiding' is just not good enough for the rebellious yoof, though....
Reply #117 Saturday, July 2, 2005 12:47 AM
Reply #118 Saturday, July 2, 2005 12:56 AM
Oh, back when I was pushing 20 we had real issues to get all hot and sweaty about...a little skirmish called Vietnam...and trying to work out ways of not dying over there.
In the big scheme of things, not being able to steal mp3s anymore hardly rates, does it?...
Reply #119 Saturday, July 2, 2005 2:35 AM
| In the big scheme of things, not being able to steal mp3s anymore hardly rates, does it? |
why no i suppose not. today's youth are so.. immoral. perhaps we need our own war to go off and fight. one that takes place in another country. against an enemy we know little about. and for specious reasons we don't fully understand. oh wait we have iraq. except that was an unpopular war as well. perhaps contemporary youth are smart afterall. now there's a thought.
Reply #120 Saturday, July 2, 2005 3:45 AM
| why no i suppose not. today's youth are so.. immoral. perhaps we need our own war to go off and fight. one that takes place in another country. against an enemy we know little about. and for specious reasons we don't fully understand. oh wait we have iraq. except that was an unpopular war as well. perhaps contemporary youth are smart afterall. now there's a thought. |
-off thread-
Making the above comparrison only *makes* the point you are trying so hard to argue against.
Vietnam - over 10 years; over 50,000 dead soldiers; all 18 year olds subject to the draft, whether you agreed with the "police operation" or not; soldiers ridiculed and called "baby killers" upon arriving home; stupid missions that were determined by politicians looking at maps "don't cross this line".
Iraq - 2 years and talk of leaving is there, just not an artificial "leave by this date"; less than 2,000 casualties and a much higher survival rate amongst those wounded than ever before; an all volunteer force, no one is forced to serve; soldiers are beloved and treated as the heroes they truly are... at least here in Texas; missions determined by the military commanders themselves, and being passed off to the new Iraqi military as they are able to handle them.
Your comparison is insulting to those of us who did live through Vietnam.
-returning to thread-
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Reply #101 Friday, July 1, 2005 12:52 PM