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(CD) Pirates Take to the Ocean
rammstein_rulz writes "www.cdfreaks.com reports that asian CD pirates now produce thousands of pirated VCD's on anchored ships in international waters to avoid getting caught. Malaysian marine police have been asked to be on the lookout for pirate ships"
When you can do the same thing at your desk?
Someone tell those guys not to take the term "Pirate" litterally.
"Suck Emma, suck. 'Blow' is just a figure of speech!"
If voting were effective, it would be illegal by now.
Nonsense. There is no death penalty in any state of the European Union. We are civilized people here. That's a reason why the US can't join the European Union.
Owner of a Mensa membership card.
I believe that a vessel in internation waters is subject to the laws of its flag country -- the country in which the vessel is registered.
This is an example of an unreasoned, apocalyptic extremism that plays into the hands of the forces the poster so adamantly attacks.
Playing word games with "piracy" is pointless. Producing unauthorized duplicates of commercial products is known as counterfeiting. Most countries have laws prohibiting the creation and distribution of counterfeit goods. It's as illegal to market a counterfeit CD of the current flavor-of-the-week pop band as it is to sell fake Rolex watches.
By glibly saying "the enemy of my enemy is my friend", all you've done is made more enemies: You have aligned yourself with counterfeiters, a tactic unlikely to draw support from the mainstream public.
The enemies of your new friend are now your enemies.
-- Slashdot: When Public Access TV Says "No"
remember, this is the same as any "war". They are going to find a limited amount of anything (ie. drugs).
"Some guy wen down to X and bought 200 pounds of pot."
Newsflash: "Medicinal marijuana grower busted with 16 plants. An estimated 10oz's was taken of the streets. This marijuana would have gotten to a bunch of disabled people and AIDS patients. Glad that we saved the planet from these assholes!"
> but disasterous to their nation in the long run
I'm not saying i agree with their methods, but how exactly is it going to be disastrous for China in the long run? No-one would buy this software there at full price as it's simply not affordable. With the pirated versions people gain knowledge and skills that can get them jobs everywhere in the world! And it advances Chinas computer industry, so until the US lays a boycot on them for lack of copy-right prevention it'll do nothing but good for the country, seeing it doesn't loose any profit itself
The same probably applies here. The pressed CD's don't suddenly become legal but the police won't be able to seize the equipment involved as long as it stays out at sea. Of course the old radio pirates went on to become legal radio/tv stations when it was shown that a large portion of the citizens supported them. I doubt the same will occur with cd-pirates.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
It made a lot more sense back in the 1950's and 60's when Norweigian oil platforms in the North Sea installed some truly overpowered AM rigs and broadcasted music the BBC wouldn't play into the UK. (Paid for by the record companies who wanted the advertising.) Then, they were doing something that was legal in Norway, but not in the UK, and benefitted from being close to the UK, so a Norweigian maritime installation made perfect sense.
Here, the pirates are doing something that doesn't benefit from being done at sea, so why bother?
There should NOT be very much international law. We already have too much. The fact that Bush wants everyone else to follow it, but doesn't want the US to be accountable to it is only an illustration of the very problem with international law. Every country has different values and societies.
It is too hard to enforce, first of all. Second of all, it imposes the values of (mainly) the West on every country in the world.
If Afganistan wants to make heroin and opium until the cows come home, let them.
If Malasyans want to copy CDs and burn them, let them.
Creating international "bully forces" to impose Western values on other countries isn't going to do anything but cause more people worldwide to become "terrorists" who are out to "kill the West."
International law should be stripped down to cover war crimes like genocide. It shouldn't have any place outside the of things like that.
"You spoony bard!" -Tellah
One thing I've always wondered about is the use of region encoding, but on a much smaller scale. You mention how you're willing to pay $20 for a DVD, because you can't be bothered to spend the time ripping it - but what about someone who only makes $5 an hour? Is it worth THEIR time?
I have rather well-off friends financially who don't even blink an eye at plopping down $500-$1000 a month for PC software, whereas with my student status, that's more than I make most months. So, I resort to what most students do, and still use the software.
Now, we all know one of the big uses for region encoding is so that content producers can effectively price-fix their products: they know they'll still make a profit selling a CD for $5 in say, Malaysia, but not any more than $5 because the average Malaysian makes 1/4 of what the average American does (all hypothetically speaking).
With a very large wage gap between the rich and poor in the US, it almost makes me wonder: CDs for $5 (still making a profit, remember)would sell boatloads to poorer families who normally would just download them. HOWEVER, the richer folk among us would buy the CD, even if it was priced at $50.
Now the only thing left to do is have the **AA buy some legislation that allows it to check your financial status, and price your goods accordingly. "Look, we've nearly eliminated those evil pirates, AND we're being nice to the little guy!"
Wow, I think I just scared myself.
Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
And of course as soon as they do that some bright person will buy a million or so copies for 7 riggit each, ship them to the US, sell them for $10 a pop and make a nearly $10 million.
And that's one of the many reasons why things like Palladium are being developed - imagine region encoding on software. Except instead of a 2 or 3:1 price differential, we're talking 100 or 1000:1.
Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
I suppose if you lived in the 60's you'd say "I don't care about your principles and arguments--the law is clear: Niggers go in the back of the bus!"
At what point is a nation not a manmade structure?
A nation, in the final analysis, remains a nation when it fends off attack by challengers to its status. Sadly.
It is similar to my personal definition of intelligent life: a lifeform that shoots back at humans -- and wins. Whales would be considered ILF's if they fired frickin' lasers at the whalers.
Nations that want to remain nations, even if they are floating platforms in the ocean or spinning city-states in solar orbit, must have legal, economic, or martial ability to defend and counterattack.
Sealand exists because it isn't worth anyone's time to remove them. And a nation that simply removes Sealand will face really bad PR if they don't fabricate some excuse first: select 1) for pedophiles 2) for terrorists 3) for Drugs.
If Sealand gets private support, as offshore tax havens do, it will continue to exist, bar provocation. The pirates, however, will be sunk. No one is looking, and no one cares.