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Threshold for Piracy?
bigwayne writes "A continuing source of internal discussion, among the organizers of Zion LAN, is the topic of how strict we are to be concerning software piracy. It just seems common sense that a LAN party would be a perfect place to share music, software, movies, and do other reprehensible acts. However there isn't much, outside discouraging the act itself, that we can do to actually stop these things. One strong argument is that the legitimately obtained software we provide shares the same distribution method that the illegally obtained software does, and I wonder if this creates a double-standard far outside of any legal situation it creates. Another part of this also concerns our particular situation (our LAN is being hosted by a non-profit charitable organization), in that we'd be ethically remiss if we sat idly by and let such things happen, unmitigated. So, where do we stop passively caring about piracy, and when do we start cracking down? Are the circumstances of a LAN party such that trying to stop it is overambitious?"
Inform all participants in advance of your decision, and set a zero tolerance policy.
Request that anyone who does not wish to adhere to "no piracy" rules to not attend the event.
If they insist on attending and engaging in copyright infringement, round them up and politely escort them off the premises.
Just make it a policy that copyright infringment at the event is unaceptable and if your caught you will be expelled from the event. . .
Other than that , dont treat people like criminals
They may do it , they may not , but if you start putting in checks your going to make it a rather unplesant experiance for people
The only things certain in war are Propaganda and Death. You can never be sure which is which though
Is it me or is this just strange? You mean every time a group of people gets together, somebody has to make sure they aren't exchanging the "wrong" information?
I'm trying to imagine how this will play out 10,20,50 years from now, when we all have wireless portable storage devices in our shirt buttons that automatically record anything and everything. Are we supposed to police every group of kids? Will there be a special Kopyright Kops that checks every get-together and sleepover? "All clear sir, unauthorized data storage devices have been neutralized!"
As long as you aren't creating environments strictly for the purpose of copyright infringement (try using that word instead of bullshit "piracy"), then I don't see why you have to do anything at all.
Why does everything computer related now have to be so concerned with 'piracy'? Why is it suddenly everyone's job to patrol everything you do to make sure you haven't commited the heinous crime of copying a cd? It's a sad state for the world to be in.
When you buy a game, you could get an extra "LAN party" CD that can be passed around and copied however you want. It could install game clients that will function as long as one licensed installation is on the network. I'm sure the publisher would rather be selling a unique copy of the game to each player, but let's look at the reality of the situation:
- You go to the party and somebody says "Hey let's play Super Machoman Elite Team Force 3000!"
- You don't necessarily want to buy this game, but you need to install something to play with your buddies.
- Somebody hands you a disc and you install it. You maybe tell yourself that you'll uninstall it or buy the game later.
- But do you?
The point of having a "LAN party" installer is not to make extra copy protection, which can obviously be circumvented. Just make it easier to make temporary installations that work only at the party. It will be more convenient for people to avoid pirating games that way. And as the licensed owner of game you can pass around a disc without fear of it getting pirated.You need to balance common sense with your policies.
For example, if there is rampant out in the open piracy, it will reflect poorly on your event and could even possibly open you up to some claims of liability.
At the same time, you're not the BSA or SPA either, it's not your job or responsibility to make sure that no one has any pirated software on their machine.
Basically, make it known that piracy is not allowed. Anyone caught engaging in the act of software piracy will be asked to leave. And then stick to it.
If someone's screaming "Hey I got Episode III, who wants to grab it?" you give him the boot.
If someone quietly lets a friend grab his copy of Episode III without bringing it to anyone else's attention, there's nothing you can do about it.
LK
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
Ask a lawyer. Preferably one that knows something about copyright law.
If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else.
If the BSA or RIAA or MPAA comes a knockin', send them packing.
If the police decide to make themselves known, tell them that you're not responsible (as posted) and that copyright infringement is a civil (not criminal) matter.
You're not these people's parents, IANAL but you don't have squat to worry about.
If anyone complains, escort them off the premises. Worry more about your building's insurance policy than about being the thought police.
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
It's piracy, its illegal, its going on during your watch. Stop it.
How? And why? When you're hanging out with your friends, do you body slam them if they try to exchange copyrighted material? Do you call the RIAA, MPAA, or BSA and report it? What do you do to stop copyright infringement on your watch? All I see is a holier-than-thou attitude with no suggestions (practical or impractical) to back it up.
"The newly born animals are then whisked off for a quick run through a giant baking oven." --heard on Food Network
Why not just block SMB traffic? Some people have shares set up for a reason and it sucks to reconfigure them just for a LAN party.
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
There are some that argue that copyright as it exists today is itself unethical - not only is it theft from the public domain but the punishments are out of proportion compared to serious crimes like murder and rape.
Remember that the law in general has very little to do with ethics - ask anyone working for a Fortune500 company and they can tell you that "corporate ethics" are just CYA for lawsuits that might hurt the company and not about actually "doing the right thing."
For the most part, copyright is simply a default contract between creator and consumer. Do you make a big effort to prevent any other 3rd party contractual violations by members of your LAN parties? Like taking steps make sure they won't default on their credit card bills? Or what about other even more criminalized behaviours like 17 year olds hooking up with 16 year olds for a little satutory rape after the lan party? Or maybe just an underage drinking and pot smoking party?
It seems to me that unless you are a Copyright Crusader, there is nothing more nor less important about copyright than a whole host of other grey areas that you could just as well be concerned with.
When information is power, privacy is freedom.