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BitTorrent Pirate Loses His Last Appeal
Vix666 writes with a link to a ZDNet article on the final chapter of a story we've discussed before: the first user convicted of piracy for using BitTorrent to download a movie has really, finally, lost his case. Chan Nai-ming was sentenced in November of 2005, lost an appeal in December of last year, and appears to have once again failed to convince a judge to let him out. "The Hong Kong government welcomed the judgment, saying it clarified the law regarding Internet piracy. 'This judgment has confirmed that it commits a crime and violates copyright laws for the act of using (BitTorrent) software to upload and distribute,' said customs official Tam Yiu-keung in a written statement. He added the judgment would have a deterrent effect, a view endorsed by industry watchdogs such as the Hong Kong branch of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry."
Chan had posted a message inviting BitTorrent users to download a movie on an Internet movie forum called "bt.movie.hk" using his "Big Crook" alias.
Thats similar to the motorbike guy who gave loads of speed cameras the bird because he thought he was safe.
Had it just occurred quietly no-one would have batted an eyelid.
liqbase
the first user convicted of piracy for using BitTorrent to download a movie has really, finally, lost his case.
No, he could have used any other protocol. He was not convicted for using Bittorrent to do anything. He was convicted for uploading a movie without having a license to do so.
(Sadly) this isn't the Chinese government kissing American butt. They've got some "bad" publicity last week, so this poor sap is being made an example of.
Meanwhile the RIAA and MPAA continue to lie, cheat and steal with politicans at their bidding (that's the DMCA Congressman).
The story is about a guy in HONG KONG. Hiding behind the US Consitituion does you no favours in this debate.
Will Americans PLEASE get it into their heads that NATIONAL LAWS ARE NOT INTERNATIONAL.
I like muppets.
True, but I think you'll find Linus is not short of a cent or two, as he is compensated via other methods for his hard work.
It may not have been his initial intention, but if you look at it as if we we're talking about the music industry rather than software, a band generally invests an awful lot of time and hard work at their own cost and distribute their work for free, with the hope of eventually being compensated. To extend the metaphor to almost breaking point, bands make most of their money on the road through touring, personal appearances and merchandise. Not far off of Linus's fees for public appearances, conferences and consultancy, where he makes most of his money, I assume.
To just take the music industry, one of the key issues with it is that the current measure of success, chart position, is based on product sales. Due to the nature of commercial radio's playlist policies, it is impossible to get on air on a mainstream show without a reasonable chart position. As such you can't reach most of your potential audience without sales, so people downloading illegally and not buying the songs does directly affect the audience you can reach. I'm not saying that this is the way it should be, I know enough people in bands signed to major labels that this approach has almost ruined, but it's the way the industry currently works to achieve a good level of success (i.e. to be able to support yourself and plan for the future via the music industry) and you have to live within it.
--- Band: Joey Ultra