File-Sharing For Personal Use Declared Legal In Portugal

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File-Sharing For Personal Use Declared Legal In Portugal

Posted by timothy on Thursday September 27, 2012 @04:17AM from the as-long-as-it-involves-kale dept.

New submitter M0j0_j0j0 writes "After receiving 2000 complaints regarding 'illegal file sharing' from ACAPOR regarding P2P networks, the Portuguese prosecutor refused to take the case into court on the premise that file sharing is not illegal in the territory if files are for personal and not commercial use. The court also stated that the complaints had, as sole evidence, the IP address of users, and that it is a wrong statement to assume an IP address is directly related to one individual. TorrentFreak has a piece in English with more details (original source in Portuguese)."

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A little bit of sanity... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-27 04:23 · Score: 5, Funny

...among a lot of insanity...let's just see what German...err, the EU has to say about that.
1. Re:A little bit of sanity... by fustakrakich · 2012-09-27 04:45 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  Yep, even their drug policy is a bit more same than the rest of the world's, and it's paying off with less addiction.
  More file sharing will bring increased sales.
  
  --
  “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
2. Re:A little bit of sanity... by crazycheetah · 2012-09-27 05:08 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  They proved it with the drug policy enough that the world AIDS organization (forgive me for forgetting the real name of that organization) decided to declare to the world that everyone needs to follow in suit, which they've only done prior to that in declaring AIDS is caused by HIV (because Russia was denying it). Of course, most countries have said fuck you to that.
  The question is if they're going to be able to prove that it's actually effective with file sharing, though. And then if anyone is going to give a shit that they proved it (I have a feeling the US in particular, unless a revolution happens, is going to deny any proof Portugal gives here).
3. Re:A little bit of sanity... by TheGratefulNet · 2012-09-27 05:39 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  your point (or, *a* point) is taken: since the country, there, is not a big producer of entertainment goods (at least not for export) - they could only be representing their people and not any one local industry. ie, this is what society is/was always meant to be about! the government sticking up for the peoples' rights and interests. even if some corp interests lose out, the people are what matters.
  USA: learn from this!
  (sigh. who am I kidding!? we'll never change. never. dammit.)
  
  --
  
  --
  "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
4. Re:A little bit of sanity... by mcgrew · 2012-09-27 05:49 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  The question is if they're going to be able to prove that it's actually effective with file sharing, though
  Multiple studies have already proven it. One study, in fact, was commissioned by a book publisher wanting to find out how much money he was losing to piracy. Since unlike MP3s and movies, books don't hit the net for two or three weeks, the researchers looked for the pirates and then at sales figures. Rather than the expected drop in sales, there was a sales spike, do doubt caused by the "buzz" the pirate version caused.
  But don't expect that to sway anyone from the MAFIAA, though.
  
  --
  Free Martian Whores!
5. Re:A little bit of sanity... by SolitaryMan · 2012-09-27 08:22 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  I don't think it is important whether or not it is good for business. What important is, if it *fair* and good for society.
  Sharing some hardware tools with your neighbor may be bad for hardware maker's business, but if somebody says it should be illegal, I'd say fuck you.
  
  --
  May Peace Prevail On Earth
U.S. law still applies by crazyjj · 2012-09-27 04:25 · Score: 5, Funny

Portuguese citizens need to be reminded that they're still under the jurisdiction of U.S. law, and WILL be extradited to the U.S. for breaking any IP laws!

--
What political party do you join when you don't like Bible-thumpers *or* hippies?
1. Re:U.S. law still applies by ammorais · 2012-09-27 04:30 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Portugal actually have laws that even prevent an U.S. citizen from being extradited under certain circumstances.
  http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=pt-PT&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.parlamento.pt%2FLegislacao%2FPaginas%2FConstituicaoRepublicaPortuguesa.aspx%23art33
2. Re:U.S. law still applies by hpacheco · 2012-09-27 04:31 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Portuguese citizens need to be reminded that they're still under the jurisdiction of U.S. law, and WILL be extradited to the U.S. for breaking any IP laws!
  there's no extradition agreement between the U.S. and Portugal
3. Re:U.S. law still applies by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-27 04:39 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Seriously, look at a map
  I did, there's only two places on it: The US, and US Drone Territory.
4. Re:U.S. law still applies by alendit · 2012-09-27 04:46 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Portuguese citizens need to be reminded that they're still under the jurisdiction of U.S. law, and WILL be extradited to the U.S. for breaking any IP laws!
  This post contains dangerous levels of sarcasm and thus required by Poe's Law to have at least a single emoticon (smiley). The poster may be considered himself warned.
5. Re:U.S. law still applies by c0d3g33k · 2012-09-27 04:49 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  It's sarcasm, people. Whooosh!
6. Re:U.S. law still applies by jamstar7 · 2012-09-27 05:41 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Portuguese citizens need to be reminded that they're still under the jurisdiction of U.S. law, and WILL be extradited to the U.S. for breaking any IP laws!
  there's no extradition agreement between the U.S. and Portugal
  Didn't stop then from going after Noriega in Panama and it's not stopping them from going after Assange in Sweden and Dotcom in New Zealand. Does the term 'extraordinary rendition' ring a bell?
  
  --
  Understanding the scope of the problem is the first step on the path to true panic.
Hey.. by wbr1 · 2012-09-27 04:35 · Score: 4, Funny

Anyone got a lead on good Portuguese proxy servers I can torrent through?
Want to help me set some up?

--
Silence is a state of mime.
Portugal.... by wbr1 · 2012-09-27 04:37 · Score: 4, Funny

Enabling pirates since ~1577. Thanks!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Fernandez

--
Silence is a state of mime.
Re:Common sense and reason by Hatta · 2012-09-27 04:38 · Score: 5, Interesting

Also, possession of personal quantities of just about every drug has been decriminalized in Portugal, for about 10 years now. The result has been a decrease in drug use and all associated problems.

--
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
Re:In English by arielCo · 2012-09-27 04:45 · Score: 5, Insightful

No, I'm pretty sure that assaulting ships at sea and robbery in general is still punishable, even if you don't charge for your services.

--
This post contains no rudeness or derision of any kind. All arguments are friendly. Terms and exclusions may apply.
Re:Common sense and reason by macbeth66 · 2012-09-27 04:48 · Score: 5, Insightful

And drug abuse has not gone up as a result. Just think of the money the country saves on not prosecuting these cases. A small island of sanity.
Re:Common sense and reason by jamstar7 · 2012-09-27 05:03 · Score: 4, Funny

And drug abuse has not gone up as a result. Just think of the money the country saves on not prosecuting these cases. A small island of sanity.
Well, we can't have that. Cue 'discovery' of Al-Quaeda terrorist cells/terrorist training camps/oil/nuclear weapons programs/Julian Assange in Portugal in 5... 4... 3...

--
Understanding the scope of the problem is the first step on the path to true panic.
Drive it home by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-27 05:04 · Score: 5, Insightful

The result has been a decrease in drug use and all associated problems
I don't think you really drove the point home. What this literally means is that decriminalization of drugs results in:
- LESS crime
- LESS violence
- LESS injustice
- LESS corruption in government
In other words, decriminalization has the exact opposite result of what the government propaganda teaches us. That should immediately raise a red flag and cause a citizen to lose trust in government. The fact that drug use itself also goes down, rather than up, is just the icing on the cake. The reason drugs need to be decriminalized is not simply to lower drug use; it is for the much more critical reasons stated above.
Re:Common sense and reason by ZeroSumHappiness · 2012-09-27 05:28 · Score: 4, Funny

Any person using FTFY or editing my postings agrees to a US$50.00 prize

FTFY.
Exactly by ThatsNotPudding · 2012-09-27 05:33 · Score: 4, Insightful

Also, possession of personal quantities of just about every drug has been decriminalized in Portugal, for about 10 years now. The result has been a decrease in drug use and all associated problems.

This is a closely-guarded secret held under wraps by the US government, corporate-owned media, Big Pharma, and most especially the sickening for-profit prison corporations. You as a US citizen will NEVER hear about this on the news. Bill Maher should open every show talking about Portugal and compare it US prison statistics.
Downloading = Legal, "making available" not so by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-27 05:54 · Score: 5, Informative

Portuguese with some legal background:
It has always been legal to own or acquire (download) unauthorized copies of most content. *
It's legal to make how many copies you want for your own use and to share with other people
within your "personal" sphere.
What is illegal is "making such content available to the public", emphasis on "public" as in
"general public".
What the A.G. clarified is that, in the particular case of BT and similar P2P protocols,
the act of seeding a file you are downloading, or did just download, enjoys the same treatment
as if you were downloading using a traditional protocol, i.e., benefits from the "personal use"
exception.
This does not mean you can happily run a public W4R3Z FTP server with impunity, but it does clarify
an important issue re: the law vs P2P downloads that had had no previous legal interpretation.
It has also brought about an interesting IP != person argument which will be interesting to follow up on,
in case of more serious offenses.
AC
* thanks to the lobbying efforts of the BSA-equivalent in the 90s, computer programs are dealt with differently
and enjoy no "personal use" rights.