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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
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.
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.
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.
Automation - The Car Company Tycoon Game
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?
_____
Epidemic Groove - A casual RTS/Action hybrid for Windows
We're indie. We're working on our 14th game.
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.Piracy is easy to recognize:
Piracy consists of any of the following acts:
(a) any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft, and directed:
(i) on the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such ship or aircraft;
(ii) against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any State;
(b) any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a ship or of an aircraft with knowledge of facts making it a pirate ship or aircraft;
(c) any act of inciting or of intentionally facilitating an act described in subparagraph (a) or (b).
Remember, kids: Just say NO to violent crimes on or near the ocean!
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
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.
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.
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.
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
did you read the post? i dont recall it saying anything about policing, and brings up pretty much the same questions you ask (albeit without the sarcasm and lame attempts at humor).
As for the latter part, bittorrent wasnt created strictly for the purpose of copyright infringement either. For some reason that argument, while it has held so far, has created a huge commotion to say the least.
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.
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.
"The newly born animals are then whisked off for a quick run through a giant baking oven." --heard on Food Network