Slashdot Mirror
Android Piracy Sites Seized By US Government
Dupple writes with news that the DOJ took a few Android app piracy sites offline. From the release: "Seizure orders have been executed against three website domain names engaged in the illegal distribution of copies of copyrighted Android cell phone apps, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Department of Justice's Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates of the Northern District of Georgia and Special Agent in Charge Brian D. Lamkin of the FBI's Atlanta Field Office announced today. The department said that this is the first time website domains involving cell phone app marketplaces have been seized. The seizures are the result of a comprehensive enforcement action taken to prevent the infringement of copyrighted mobile device apps. The operation was coordinated with international law enforcement, including Dutch and French law enforcement officials."
Wow, judging by the above comments, the apple trolls/shills are out in full force! Will the real tim cook please stand up?
but most of the good apps and games aren't available in the uganda google play store
Does this not make you scared: "In most cases, the servers storing the apps sold by these alternative online markets were being hosted in other countries, and our international law enforcement partners assisted in obtaining or seizing evidence stored on these servers."
I really hate the extent to which the US is exerting its thought crime laws in other sovereign nations. I guess not so sovereign any more.
Hmm, the humour and sarcasm seem to have been be lost on you.
"In most cases, the servers storing the apps sold by these alternative online markets were being hosted in other countries, and our international law enforcement partners assisted in obtaining or seizing evidence stored on these servers."
Besides, it shouldn't be law. In my opinion the law is immoral.
Hmm, the humour and sarcasm seem to have been be lost on you.
Does this not make you scared: "In most cases, the servers storing the apps sold by these alternative online markets were being hosted in other countries, and our international law enforcement partners assisted in obtaining or seizing evidence stored on these servers."
I really hate the extent to which the US is exerting its thought crime laws in other sovereign nations. I guess not so sovereign any more.
Hmmm ... labelling copyright violations as "thought crime laws" is what makes me more scared. Come on, people -- we're talking about apps that cost the same as a cup of coffee (if not less). If you've ever written software, you'd know how much work it is; why do people get so upset at having to occasionally pay to support an independent developer?
(disclaimer -- personally, I release all my software as free and open source, but I also believe that it's completely fair and reasonable if people want to charge for what they write.)
Copyright infringement is a civil matter.
1. Copyright infringement is not theft. It's a crime under the law, but it is not defined as theft, otherwise it wouldn't be a separate thing, called copyright infringement.
2. Why is it a criminal offence to steal? Why is the government involved in judging people criminally for theft? Why shouldn't it be a completely private matter between the 2 private sides? OK, when it is stolen from government or when government is doing the stealing, then it would make sense, but government being involved in theft cases? It's a private matter, it should be left up to the private security and civil courts to deal with. Do you really want a thief being locked up in government prison rather than being forced to just return the goods and/or repay the damages (plus a large fine, maybe a 3 times value of the stolen goods?) What does it matter to you if a thief is in jail - you are still out of property, and now you are going to pay taxes to keep him in jail.
You can't handle the truth.
Or even think about anything that is copyrighted!
Once you read your copy... you MUST erase it from your mind immediately. And your copy has only been licensed for one reading.
Thought crime? Have you even read 1984? A thought crime is a "crime" in which the mere desiring something contrary to the law is itself a punishable criminal act. No proposed copyright law has come even close to being a "thought crime." You do genuine civilian libertarians absolutely no good with this extremist hyperbole and only make the rest of us copyright minimalists look like idiots.
Heck, while I'm at it, I have news for you. We have these modern law enforcement mechanisms called "extraditions" and "international partnerships." This means that if people from your country screw over the US Government in the US, you help us stop them. Believe it or not, the US Government has actually done this in reverse on behalf of foreign countries such as when it puts Americans in prison for going to places like Uganda and Thailand to rape children or when it arrests Americans who raise funds for guerrilla groups abroad.
Does this not make you scared
Yes, your shrill, deliberate mis-use of the term "thought crime" and purposeful embrace of the practice of ripping off thousands of man-hours of work in order to save the cost of a cup of coffee - that is scary. Because it shows just how entrenched the entitlement-minded leech culture is.
Stop Global Whining.
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
But there isn't an Android piracy problem!
It depends on how one defines "piracy problem," like e.g. at what point does piracy become a problem and when it isn't a problem, and who is it a problem to anyways? Is it a problem if there's over 1% piracy rate? If so then iOS, Android, BB, Windows, OSX, Linux, BeOS, DOS and so on would have a "piracy problem." Or is it a problem only when popular things are being pirated? Atleast I don't see law enforcement ever going after pirates for spreading some niche product that only appeals to a small base, even if the piracy rates in that base were over 90%. Is piracy a problem to the users, is it a problem to developers who are actually still making nice profit even with 40% piracy rates, or is it a problem to publishers who cry foul even about a single pirated copy even if they're raking in cash like madmen, all just because they want every single last penny in their pockets? I don't see users complaining about piracy, and I see plenty of developers who simply ignore piracy as long as they're generating profit, I only see these money-hungry entities complaining.
Even if we just focus on the fact that there's piracy on Android-platform we have to look at its surroundings: Android is very similar to e.g. Windows in terms of end-user-oriented openness, allowing one to install and remove software freely. Only Android, however, is getting flak for piracy at the moment, piracy on PCs is being ignored. Why? Well, because people like OP like to jump on whatever happens to be the new trend, because developers these days are trained to believe that any amount of piracy whatsoever is a problem, and because, well, most Android-apps are crappy, shallow pieces of sh*t and cost mere pennies -- the general populace won't see the apps worth much if even the developers themselves don't, therefore said populace won't see it as a loss for the developer if they just pirate the things instead. Combine said arbitrary worthlessness with an open platform and it's no wonder piracy exists.
All that said the developers and publishers themselves are to blame for their problems: make your apps worth not pirating, and either develop only for walled-garden platforms or accept piracy as a fact of life and ignore it as long as you're still generating profits.
The fandroids said so!!! This is all just Apple FUD!!
No, I'm not an iShiny faggot, either.
To be honest, your sexual orientation is not relevant here nor does it reflect on your intellect in any way or form. The use of terms like "fandroids," "iShiny," and "faggot" along with multiple exclamation marks and the lack of any kind of argument whatsoever does, however. I do realize your comment was an attempt at trolling Slashdot-users and you were hoping for some enraged comments which is why I so much enjoy responding to these kinds of attempts with calm, coherent comments -- think of it as reverse trolling, if you will.
the only reason people pirate on android is because we have shitty developers like the guy who decries piracy as the reason for him making a shitty app.
see how this circle works?
make apps that aren't openly hostile to your customers and/or basically stupid, and guess what? people are more than happy to pay for them, especially if they are well made.
It's immoral to allow some to determine the distribution of their work for a limited time?
No, it is not immoral.
However, the current definition of "limited time" is immoral, thereby negating the intent of the US Constitution.
Prove anything by multiplying Huge Number times Tiny Number
Because they are a tool for capitalism, that's why.
- what does capitalism have to do with it? This is merging of the government power with corporate interests, it's done in a way that benefits the politicians as well as some corporate interests.
OTOH it hurts other corporate interests (it hurts competition) and it hurts the consumer.
This is not about capitalism, this is simply corruption. Corruption is government stealing individual liberties from people and selling them to SOME people with money.
You can't handle the truth.
It's immoral to allow some to determine the distribution of their work for a limited time?
Yes, it is. You don't do it by yourself, you know? You go to nanny State and papa Government and beg them to please, pretty please, violate the property rights of every single other human being on Earth for your own benefit, so that my computer isn't mine anymore, it's the government's, which now merely allows me to use it in the ways they deem right and legit. That's quite immoral, yes.
Which isn't to mean authors shouldn't be rewarded. But they should be rewards in whatever way the free market develops, not by way of employing the full force of the hugest apparatus of violence ever assembled in the History of mankind.
Conservatism: (n.) love of the existing evils. Liberalism: (n.) desire to substitute new evils for the existing ones.
That was satire? Don't quit your day job.
Yes. I'll have to rethink my dreams of supporting an extravagant lifestyle by posting on Slashdot.
The world is made by those who show up for the job.
I am an indi developer. I worked for 1 1/2 years to create my game Block Story
I can see my game all over pirate sites, and their download count completely eclipse my sales. I could be working full time on my game by now if only 1/3 of those users legally purchased the game.
Every day I send takedown notices to multiple sites, which are a problem, because I have to disclose where I live in those notices. Not exactly something I enjoy doing, and I waste time doing this instead of developing more. Only to see the app being reposted in a few hours.
Moreover, my game competes to some extent to Minecraft PE, and I have a lot of reviews saying: don't by this, go get Minecraft PE for free instead at . So am having to compete with pirate copies of other games as well as my own game.
So before you say this is not a big deal, try living off of an android app. IT IS A BIG DEAL.
Why would anyone looking for a mobile version of minecraft prefer your knockoff over the original?
There is an entire team of developers making a living off of minecraft. The pocket edition alone is raking in money hand over fist and would easily support a full dev team on its own. It's interesting how you blame piracy of minecraft PE for loss of sales. It doesn't seem to be hurting the original authors at all. Minecraft also started on the PC which has about 10x the piracy rate of android and has raked in millions in sales before it was even released. I don't play minecraft myself, my kid does. I tried out a half dozen knockoff demos (I don't pirate) before the PE version came out, might have even tried yours. He wasn't interested in the slightest. "That's just a rip-off", he would say. I imagine that the majority of the people who pirate your game end up doing the same.
If you want to make a living off a game, try doing something original. I don't think you are evil for doing a knockoff but even my 8 year old recognizes that it is pretty lame. It looks like you put in a lot of work trying to profit off of someone elses success. Now, you are mad that others also want things for free. You seem competent enough as a programmer. You should use the experience you've gained and create something of your own.
I can sympathize with your feelings, and I can completely understand your reaction. I've considered Android development also, and this concern has made me hesitant. However, I think that you overlooking some things and overestimating the impact (just as many publishers do).
The simple truth is, the reason that so many people pirate your game is because they can. Trying to stop it from happening is like playing whack-a-mole. It will continue popping up elsewhere (or maybe even in the same place). You are far outnumbered.
There are many pirates, many flavors of pirates, and many different motivations for piracy. But there is one thing that many will have in common... they probably wouldn't have bought your game anyway.
I would guess the majority of pirates fall in these categories:
Sure, it would be nice if 1/3 of pirates bought your software, but I think that is grossly overestimating how many pirates would have bought your app if piracy wasn't an option. I think that 1/10 would be overoptimistic. Additionally, reduced piracy also could mean reduced exposure.
At least, that's how I see the issue...
Though I do wish that more people felt more awareness of the fact that these apps take a lot of time and sacrifice to develop before pirating them.