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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?"
Tell participants that you don't want them doing any copyright infringement, and that the RIAA, MPAA, and the BSA have been invited.
They either show up or they don't.
If they do, you've basically ensured that any copyright infringement will be taken care of.
If they don't, you've invited the people who care about copyright infringement of their products, and fulfilled your duties in trying to prevent copyright infringement by telling participants not to do it.
That's the best solution to me. Don't monitor anything yourself, don't play cop.
The I games by Multiplay in the U.K which are 1000 man lans have a no file policy
They have a system that cans for network shares and locks the connection out of the network until it is disabled. If that share had any copyrighted material they might throw you out.
Saying that, just hand round CD's and DVD's. Or even USB2 HDD's. Theres way round it, inless they have a guard on every row.
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I've long thought that software developers will eventually make software piracy impossible, (or at least difficult or irrelevant), by relying more on online content.
I'm not referring to online copy protection, but in actual value-added content. For example, it's not always meaningful to pirate the client of a MMORPG, since the meat is in the subscription content. Similarly, the developer of a first-person shooter might offer server-based content -- maps and tournaments -- that's not available on the client side.
Most folks who copy media seem to do so casually; might this provide them an incentive to pick up a full copy, making the argument about end-user piracy moot?
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You do NOT want to take the legal and time responsibility for file sharing on your LAN. Simply make a statement that tells people not open file shares of any kind and that you take no responsibility whatsoever for anything found outside the official server, but also state that you don't have the time or resources to monitor the LAN for violations.
Lots of employers make their employees take drug tests as part of the hiring process and some of them even subject their employees to drug tests during their employment. Usually, such practices are justified as being required by the Drug Free Workplace Act of 1988. But, such justifications are false. All the DFWA requires are drug awareness programs, and the definition of such a program is almost entirely left up to the employer, they can be as simple as handing out dilbert anti-drug pamphlets to new employees.
How is this connected to software piracy at lan parties?
It is advice via analogy.
Do as the smart companies do with respect to drugs. Formulate a policy forbidding piracy, hand out a pamphlet of piracy boojums and then don't worry about it unless somone actively brings an act of piracy to your attention. You will have covered your ass, which is all any organization outside of the BSA and SPAA needs to do, and at the same time wasted as few of the precious non-profit resources on fighting someone else's battle.
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
Hmm...
;)
It would be nice if you could offer an alternative to copying games. What happens if little Billy shows up, sees how awesome UT2004 is, and wants to play it, but he doesn't own a copy? The answer would be to get a few cases of popular games to sell to attendees.
If you're lucky, you could get a local or web retailer to sponsor the event by providing you with software to sell and donating the profits to the charity you've lined up. Even that doesn't work out, I bet some of your staff could help you get a few copies of UT2004 to sell.
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