But I'll bet if speeding fines were that high, nobody would speed!:-) The thing is, those "Shifting bits around" also happen to be ILLEGAL!! If he were making copies of files he created, and was sent to jail for that, I could see the problem.... "Shifting bits around" may not require a lot of physical effort, nor any great intelligence, but in his case, the shifting was ILLEGAL.
If you are trying to compare Harriet Tubman to Mr. Tresco, I'm laughing my ass off! On a morality basis, Mr. Tresco isn't even a gnat on an elephant's ass. He is a common crook, plain and simple. I would argue that slavery is immoral, and that those who fight against immorality have a "higher cause", but to even put Mr. Tresco into this category is laughable.
The point is, if you don't like the law, that still doesn't entitle you to break it, and get away scot free. You need to do your part, as part of the system, to change the laws. If you break the law because you don't like it, don't complain about getting caught.
The fact is that most people dealing in warez aren't making any money from it.
So what?!?! It's not a prerequisite to make money from something for it to be illegal.
They're often not stealing things which they would otherwise buy. They're not causing anyone any physical pain. They're not taking money directly from anyone's wallet.
Uhhhh.... Rationalization anyone??? IT'S STILL AGAINST THE LAW!
And yet these people - often, young kids who spend most of their time just chatting with one another
*and stealing software*
- are faced with the risk of *years* in prison. This is ridiculous.
Break the law, pay the price....
Irrespective of whether you think piracy is "wrong", I find it incredibly difficult to believe that anyone genuinely thinks that someone should be *sent to jail* for this kind of thing
I do! Break the law, pay the price... Don't like the law? Work to change it...
- least of all when, for example, people who drive drunk often aren't sent to jail.
So work for greater enforcement of drunk driving laws...
It is *wrong* that crimes that ostensibly affect big business carry a greater punishment than do many crimes against humanity. It is *wrong* that people should be locked up for several years for this kind of thing
One of us is getting repetitive.. Break the law, pay the price...
who amongst us doesn't have the odd mp3 lying around, the odd tape copied from a friend, the odd copy of Office made on numerous computers?
Actually, if you read the comic book you'd know that, in addition to his claws, *ALL* of Wolverine's bones are made of adamantium. Katz may be a little over-generalizing, but not totally wrong...
Also, his personality is not exactly effusive, and I think that's the point. Sure he may be going to a bar to have a brewski, but he's not out socializing, and being a "party dude"...
Because of the speed and efficiency with which you can mow down ten or twenty people?
That's where tougher enforcement and stiffer penalties come in, not new laws. If I kill 20 people, I damn well better get caught fast (enforcement), and I damn well better get punished (penalties). Nowhere in this equation do new laws come in.
If I make one copy of a movie, whether digital or analog, it's not enforced very well nowadays. One murder sure is, though, and I'll bet there's a lot fewer murders than copyright infringers.
I'll say it again, as so many others have. Vigorously enforce existing laws, and the problem will abate, if not go away completely...
But with digital content and the Internet, a home computer user can share a perfect copy of any content with potentially millions of other people, with minimal time and effort. Doesn't that pose an immediate danger to copyright holders?
We ALREADY HAVE LAWS TO DEAL WITH THIS! We don't need any new ones!!
If I make a digital copy of a copyrighted work, and post it on the Internet, I've broken ALREADY EXISTING LAWS!
Just because I may choose to "tape" programs on my TiVO, or on my PC, doesn't mean I've surrendered "fair use". Even if I burn them on CD, as long as they are for my personal use (like a VCR tape is), then there's no problem.
The quality of the reproduction, and the speed at which it can be distributed, are different in the digital world, but that doesn't mean we need new laws. Breaking copyright is breaking copyright, plain and simple...
I'd like to give all the scientists and engineers involved directly involved with this project a big 'fuck you'.
We have big bombs, and we have little bombs... We have big nukes, and soon we will have small nukes... Use the right tool for the job, I say...
As for all those scientists and engineers, would you rather have them quit so that only our enemies could come up with new war-making technology?? Personally, I'll sleep a lot better at night knowing that our top scientists and engineers are working on this stuff... War ain't pretty, but in this day and age it's still necessary, and I'd rather the US be in the lead than anyone else, ya know?
Because it prevents you from "fair use". Encrypting a DVD means you can only play it on "approved" players, or with licensed software. If you want to play a DVD on a computer platform where no software exists, you CANNOT write your own, or use one that the MPAA has not blessed.
Imagine only being able to play audio CDs on certain players, or needing special "licensed" ($$$) software to play them on computers...
Imagine having a VHS tape that won't work on certain machines...
Imagine paying for and downloading a book in electronic form that you can read on your wife's PC, but not on your Mac...
If it is necessary to break the DMCA in order to allow me to "fairly use" a DVD, which is worse (legally)? The fact that I broke the DMCA, or the fact that I can no longer "fairly use" a DVD that I validly purchased?
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But I'll bet if speeding fines were that high, nobody would speed! :-) The thing is, those "Shifting bits around" also happen to be ILLEGAL!! If he were making copies of files he created, and was sent to jail for that, I could see the problem .... "Shifting bits around" may not require a lot of physical effort, nor any great intelligence, but in his case, the shifting was ILLEGAL.
If you are trying to compare Harriet Tubman to Mr. Tresco, I'm laughing my ass off! On a morality basis, Mr. Tresco isn't even a gnat on an elephant's ass. He is a common crook, plain and simple. I would argue that slavery is immoral, and that those who fight against immorality have a "higher cause", but to even put Mr. Tresco into this category is laughable.
The point is, if you don't like the law, that still doesn't entitle you to break it, and get away scot free. You need to do your part, as part of the system, to change the laws. If you break the law because you don't like it, don't complain about getting caught.
The fact is that most people dealing in warez aren't making any money from it.
So what?!?! It's not a prerequisite to make money from something for it to be illegal.
They're often not stealing things which they would otherwise buy. They're not causing anyone any physical pain. They're not taking money directly from anyone's wallet.
Uhhhh.... Rationalization anyone??? IT'S STILL AGAINST THE LAW!
And yet these people - often, young kids who spend most of their time just chatting with one another
*and stealing software*
- are faced with the risk of *years* in prison. This is ridiculous.
Break the law, pay the price....
Irrespective of whether you think piracy is "wrong", I find it incredibly difficult to believe that anyone genuinely thinks that someone should be *sent to jail* for this kind of thing
I do! Break the law, pay the price... Don't like the law? Work to change it...
- least of all when, for example, people who drive drunk often aren't sent to jail.
So work for greater enforcement of drunk driving laws...
It is *wrong* that crimes that ostensibly affect big business carry a greater punishment than do many crimes against humanity. It is *wrong* that people should be locked up for several years for this kind of thing
One of us is getting repetitive .. Break the law, pay the price...
who amongst us doesn't have the odd mp3 lying around, the odd tape copied from a friend, the odd copy of Office made on numerous computers?
Me....
Actually, if you read the comic book you'd know that, in addition to his claws, *ALL* of Wolverine's bones are made of adamantium. Katz may be a little over-generalizing, but not totally wrong...
Also, his personality is not exactly effusive, and I think that's the point. Sure he may be going to a bar to have a brewski, but he's not out socializing, and being a "party dude"...
Because of the speed and efficiency with which you can mow down ten or twenty people?
That's where tougher enforcement and stiffer penalties come in, not new laws. If I kill 20 people, I damn well better get caught fast (enforcement), and I damn well better get punished (penalties). Nowhere in this equation do new laws come in.
If I make one copy of a movie, whether digital or analog, it's not enforced very well nowadays. One murder sure is, though, and I'll bet there's a lot fewer murders than copyright infringers.
I'll say it again, as so many others have. Vigorously enforce existing laws, and the problem will abate, if not go away completely...
But with digital content and the Internet, a home computer user can share a perfect copy of any content with potentially millions of other people, with minimal time and effort. Doesn't that pose an immediate danger to copyright holders?
We ALREADY HAVE LAWS TO DEAL WITH THIS! We don't need any new ones!! If I make a digital copy of a copyrighted work, and post it on the Internet, I've broken ALREADY EXISTING LAWS! Just because I may choose to "tape" programs on my TiVO, or on my PC, doesn't mean I've surrendered "fair use". Even if I burn them on CD, as long as they are for my personal use (like a VCR tape is), then there's no problem. The quality of the reproduction, and the speed at which it can be distributed, are different in the digital world, but that doesn't mean we need new laws. Breaking copyright is breaking copyright, plain and simple...I'd like to give all the scientists and engineers involved directly involved with this project a big 'fuck you'.
We have big bombs, and we have little bombs... We have big nukes, and soon we will have small nukes... Use the right tool for the job, I say...
As for all those scientists and engineers, would you rather have them quit so that only our enemies could come up with new war-making technology?? Personally, I'll sleep a lot better at night knowing that our top scientists and engineers are working on this stuff... War ain't pretty, but in this day and age it's still necessary, and I'd rather the US be in the lead than anyone else, ya know?
Because it prevents you from "fair use". Encrypting a DVD means you can only play it on "approved" players, or with licensed software. If you want to play a DVD on a computer platform where no software exists, you CANNOT write your own, or use one that the MPAA has not blessed.
Imagine only being able to play audio CDs on certain players, or needing special "licensed" ($$$) software to play them on computers...
Imagine having a VHS tape that won't work on certain machines...
Imagine paying for and downloading a book in electronic form that you can read on your wife's PC, but not on your Mac...
If it is necessary to break the DMCA in order to allow me to "fairly use" a DVD, which is worse (legally)? The fact that I broke the DMCA, or the fact that I can no longer "fairly use" a DVD that I validly purchased?