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19 Charged in Alleged Software Piracy Plot
Brainsur writes "
A federal grand jury has indicted 19 people on charges they used the Internet to pirate more than $6.5 million worth of copyrighted computer software, games and movies.The indictment outlines an alleged plot by defendants from nine states, Australia and Barbados to illegally distribute newly released titles, including movies like "The Incredibles" and "The Aviator," and games like "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005."
A warez group.
Not some super secret terrorist organisation out to destroy america's economy.
perpetually dwelling in the -1 pits
we don't make that distinction.
I have no idea how they managed to pirate $6.5 million in software. Assuming the average price of a movie is $7, they would have needed to pirate over 900,000 movies. And to think that they can only be given up to 5 years of prison. They should have to pay for all that stolen software, which is quite a figure even when divided by 19.
It's people like these who make it more and more difficult just to use software because of the security features they add. I can't tell you how many times iTunes has spontaniously wiped all the files on it.
- Nick
I thought of doing that, selling warez cds and dvds on ebays (even tho its prohibited and they watch for that, people still do it anyway). Guess what. There is no market.
Take a look at used software for sale on ebay. Thousands of used titles with no takers. The bottom has fallen out of software business long ago. Next to go was the music business, and then the movie business. Its not even worthwhile to duplicate them and list them.
There is such a flood of media and digital data, that its very hard to sell such a thing anymore. Ask any music artist or band trying to sell their cd. There just are no takers. Its gone long ago.
To think that PGA Golf and The Aviator are items in hot demand is laughable... me thinks we are being baited.
We can all sit back and relax once again.
The frustrating/disappointing thing about all these lawsuits and 'victories' over piracy is that with every win, groups like the MPAA/RIAA only feel more firmly that their new business model (CRUSH, SUE, EXTORT, EXTERMINATE!) is a successful and long term one. Each time a major 'piracy bust' hits the news it only further propagates the myth that Piracy is what's driving declines in Movies, Music, Software and Games. When the real culprit (though, obviously Piracy does play some part) is Quality, Price, and the Media (DRM disks, copy once CDs, Theaters, Star-Force, ect).
But then again, I'm preaching to the choir here...
I think that this headline, and even the beginning of the article, truly works as a scare tactic for the MPAA. No, I'm not thinking of a conspiracy, but think about how this situation worked in reality-
The defendants, many of whom worked in high-tech jobs, were members of "RISCISO," a "warez" community founded in 1993, according to the indictment. Warez groups are underground associations that use the Internet to illegally distribute copyrighted software.
Okay, right. A warez group got busted. Great. But the headline reads 19 Charged in Alleged Software Piracy Plot. Piracy plot? And the worst part, by far, is the opening of the article- A federal grand jury has indicted 19 people on charges they used the Internet to pirate more than $6.5 million worth of copyrighted computer software, games and movies. To the untrained eye, this seems just like every day Bob who downloaded a film or two...
I think it's a scare tactic. I don't like it. But then again, maybe I'm paranoid and stuff...
- dshaw
While I'm as big a fan as anybody of bootleg software, I still couldn't understand why the comment "I hope they throw the book at them." was modded down as FLAMEBAIT? I've noticed that the moderators seem to have an agenda and typically mod counter opinions down... Not very sportsman like is it? Ok... go ahead, mod me down too .....
Stuff like this makes me happy I use open-source that is free of cost :).
Anyone else find it ridiculeous?
While the slashdot crowd may boo and bitch about cracking down on people downloading or uploading a copy of something, it is a real problem.
Certainly, it should be pretty low on the priority list as far as the FBI or any government agency is concerned, but that doesn't mean it should be ignored when hard evidence can be brought against large-scale criminals, as these 19 supposedly are.
The problem with warez is that it's easy. While cracking DRM and copyright may not be simple, once that's done, it's easy for anyone and everyone to download it. It isn't even limited by speed- a fairly patient person could download, say, a Doom 4 ISO if they wanted.
Because of this ease, and the much lower risk of being caught (hence its prevalence), it is biting into income of companies. The numbers that they throw out may or may not be exact, but you can just shrug them away and say it hurts noone.
However, the penalties placed against some of these people are a bit odd. A slap on the wrist and a $100 fine doesn't really cut it for large distributors, but some of the jailtime and fines that I've read about seem unrealistic. After all, they are copying something, not taking it, so they aren't depriving the original owner of anything (assuming that the original owner didn't intend for the download.) Downloading a CD should bring far less of a penalty than stealing a physical CD from a store.
It is rightfully modded down because it's not bringing any new ideas to the table and is just making a rather inciting comment. In other words, trying to start a flamewar.
Bring a good, detailed argument about why non-profit copyright violators should be punished to the fullest extent of the law and then we can have a more reasonable debate.
Its just a thought, and I'll probably be modded down as flamebait or worse, but after all the money that the US government has spent on anti-terrorism, and trying to find Bin Laden, perhaps this is just a result of the Republican Party telling groups they have some control over (no wanting to start that as an argument) that they better show some kind of progress for all the money spent...
All the money spent by the US government lately has achieved exactly what? There just have been no successes in all this, and I think that they (you know who 'they' are) are looking for successes as the election nears. I know that the *AA will be proud of how their 'campaign contributions' were spent... I am just wondering what the American public will think of how the dollars were spent... hunting down grandmas and wiretapping anyone and everyone...
Makes me think there just might be a conspiracy in here somewhere?????
Support NYCountryLawyer RIAA vs People
You cannot know anything unless you pay for it first- and without a money back guarantee. You cannot listen to music, see theater, or learn unless you pay- and without a money back guarantee. If I buy a lemon, and it's core is rotten and infested- I can return it. If I buy a music CD and the music is complete crap complete with DRM so that I can't actually play it- not only do I not get my money back but I don't even own the said piece of crap. It's a rental.
Is this how humanity evolved? Is this how we will be able to retain knowledge in the future? What the fuck are libraries but mass piracy collectives?
Here is the truth of it, and it will piss off pretty much everyone in this non-manufacturing based economy.
You either know something or you do not. It is either secret or it is not. And in the end, all things are known.
You cannot own knowledge. It was never yours to begin with. The language I am speaking now was giving to me by thousands of years of other English speakers. It is not mine to own. The word "fkucherry" that I just made up does not belong to me. It is a contruct of what I've learned from others. It is knowledge.
When this understanding is realized, say after a catastrophic event, then Linux will no longer need the GPL along with all other proprietary software/entertainment data. And the data that will be able to survive at that point will be open data, as Linux is today. It will save our asses- mark my words. Windows and all those shit programs that those people copied won't be worth a drop of piss. Nobody will be able to modify it. It will be useless.
And so here is what I think of arresting very smart people in high end technical positions. Maybe they know something that you don't? Maybe they aren't paid by people that get their money from PAC funded politicians. Maybe they are archiving data educating more people than your broken government ever could. Maybe we should all think about what this means.
I have to tell you that the moment Intellect and Knowledge became legal property is the moment that you have no "lawful" rights to your own thoughts. That does not serve anyone and never has.
"It is rightfully modded down because it's not bringing any new ideas to the table and is just making a rather inciting comment. In other words, trying to start a flamewar.
/.ers have a groupthink attitude that piracy is ok, and prosecution of it is a problem, since as I just mentioned the opposing opinion would not have been modded down. Therefore, moderating in /. is a form of censorship.
Bring a good, detailed argument about why non-profit copyright violators should be punished to the fullest extent of the law and then we can have a more reasonable debate."
But if he said, these guys got railroaded, it also brings nothing to the table but wouldn't have been modded down. As for a flamewar, you presuppose that
Vote for Pedro
Stop charging so much for software and you would see that $6.5 million drop down.
Ahhh, I see, but you didn't do it in the same mindset as the Feds. They chose CDs because it makes the number look really big, when the actual number of "stolen" items is actually much smaller.
A movie is only one DVD disc, but several CDs.
See how the game is played? The exact opposite of what you doing by fitting an appropriate form of data to the disk.
See how well it worked on you? You completely lost track of what the real issue was and started thinking in terms of analogous strawmen, even to the point of wondering about how they managed the logistics of that many songs.
Way, way more copyright violations than are actually being dealt with here.
When looking at the numbers in these releases think very slowly and very hard, because they are, quite deliberately, out to mindfuck you.
KFG
3 kids have been mugged, and one girl raped in the last 3 months within 1 block from the collage my girlfriend goes to and lives by.
It Make her and myself feel so much safer knowing that the goverment(s) are spending millions of dollars a year to help these companies keep evil software pirates behind bars.
TruePunk | Games
The problem seems to be that you are confused from the get-go:
The problem here is that these guys were NOT selling illegal copies. Go back to the few stories where Feds actually bust gen-u-ine counterfeit / piracy rings. Much fewer sympathetic replies.
Wait - you mean network geeks would be upset with asshats that abuse other people's bandwidth to make one of the best communication systems ever developed near useless?! I'm shocked. You also might note that these asshats would go away if profit was not a motive.
Oh no! How dare people demand that the very laws that incure hefty penalties on individuals should also be upheld against corporate interests - who again, are making money with their actions. You might also note here that the license being violated by individuals tends to limit distribution while the GPL intends to expand distribution.
If you want to stress that these folks broke the law - fine. If you want to make a point of why the law is good - fine. But please spare us from the Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer routine.