I don't know anything about the Home Recording Act, since I'm not an American, but I do know that under a number of international treaties (which the USA has signed up to), the reproduction of copyrighted material is a crime.
There is no theft of physical property involved, but there is theft of intellectual property, which, whether immoral or not, *IS* a crime.
The Law is *NOT* on the side of people who copy the files. It does seem as if it *MIGHT* be on the side of companies like Napster, who can prove that they haven't broken copyright. However, Napster have never once tried to claim that none of their users are breaking copyright, they are simply attesting that what their users do is nothing to do with them.
You're right, though, that the morallity has nothing to do with the Law. As I'm writing this post, I've got music from a 14 hour play-list coming out of my speakers...
Simon.
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E-mail: spiffo@spiffo.co.uk
ICQ: 100081043
Web site: http://www.spiffo.co.uk
There's somthing worse than only liking one song on an album and realising that you'd have had to buy the whole album before Napster...
...And that's when you like a band so much that you want every single song on their new album, but you have to spend ages trying to find out what they're all called so you can download them all one by one!
There should be an easier, one-click way of doing things...
Simon.
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E-mail: spiffo@spiffo.co.uk
ICQ: 100081043
Web site: http://www.spiffo.co.uk
Slashdot Mirror
I don't know anything about the Home Recording Act, since I'm not an American, but I do know that under a number of international treaties (which the USA has signed up to), the reproduction of copyrighted material is a crime. There is no theft of physical property involved, but there is theft of intellectual property, which, whether immoral or not, *IS* a crime. The Law is *NOT* on the side of people who copy the files. It does seem as if it *MIGHT* be on the side of companies like Napster, who can prove that they haven't broken copyright. However, Napster have never once tried to claim that none of their users are breaking copyright, they are simply attesting that what their users do is nothing to do with them. You're right, though, that the morallity has nothing to do with the Law. As I'm writing this post, I've got music from a 14 hour play-list coming out of my speakers... Simon. -- E-mail: spiffo@spiffo.co.uk ICQ: 100081043 Web site: http://www.spiffo.co.uk
There's somthing worse than only liking one song on an album and realising that you'd have had to buy the whole album before Napster...
...And that's when you like a band so much that you want every single song on their new album, but you have to spend ages trying to find out what they're all called so you can download them all one by one!
There should be an easier, one-click way of doing things...
Simon.
--
E-mail: spiffo@spiffo.co.uk
ICQ: 100081043
Web site: http://www.spiffo.co.uk