More Powerful Than The Government?

[Switeck]

Originally posted by JmiF+22 April 2003 - 13:11--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (JmiF @ 22 April 2003 - 13:11)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>I also think most juries, if invited to apply their common sense, would accept that file sharing resulted in lost sales to the record company.[/b]

I also think most juries, if invited to apply their common sense, would accept that letting friends &#39;borrow&#39; your music CDs and movies results in lost sales for music and movie studios even if those CDs, DVDs, and tapes are NOT copied.

And it&#39;s also why they want to plug the &#39;analog hole&#39;... to make THAT illegal too&#33;

There may come a day when, just like software activation schemes, that you can only listen to a song or watch a movie on your media center and you won&#39;t be able to share it with friends -- under penalty of law. It&#39;s already legal for media corporations to DO that, it&#39;s just not technologically possible.

Originally posted by -JmiF@22 April 2003 - 15:51

Originally posted by -clocker@22 April 2003 - 21:45

Originally posted by -JmiF@22 April 2003 - 14:39
Like I say I am not saying it is not an illegal act. Just that the crime is not theft.

I think we agree in the main, now we&#39;re down to picking nits.

We agree almost entirely.

In fact I think I am supporting your point. People don´t realise what they are supposed to be doing wrong. So they call it stealing.

However as you say it´s difficult to protect - defend yourself if you don´t understand what you are accused of.

If we&#39;re going to pick nits, I&#39;d like to point out that what is illegal may not be morally wrong -- and vice-versa&#33; You&#39;ve basically stated this in other words, but I am adding this to put it more bluntly. With physical theft, there are far fewer gray areas -- but with &#39;intellectual property&#39; the concept of theft is very thorny indeed.<!--QuoteBegin--JmiF@22 April 2003 - 15:39
I&#39;m sorry but I cant accept that infringement of copyright law is stealing. I am not saying that is is not illegal, it is an infringement of the relevant copyright law. However it is not stealing.

In the UK The Theft Act (1968 I believe)requires that you intend to permanently deprive the owner of the goods you steal.[/quote]I agree, what we&#39;re accused of stealing isn&#39;t CDs and DVDs -- they&#39;re still in stores collecting dust because fewer people are buying them. What&#39;s really at stake is ideas and how they&#39;re being used.

"Thought crimes": RIAA is accusing us of stealing their ideas. But even that&#39;s not true, because we are just copying them -- not destroying/hiding the originals. So maybe we&#39;re just copying and misusing their ideas. Which is the reason why they want to outlaw even the most conservative form of &#39;fair use&#39;... because what they think is &#39;misuse&#39; is not what the law says -- even though they&#39;ve been actively rewriting the laws in THEIR favor for a VERY long time...

Copyrights and Patents make it possible to corner the market and even in extreme cases to have only 0% of it at the same time... (like out-of-print books/music/movies and "strategic" patents that exist only for use as a legal cudgel against anything vaguely resembling competition.)
It is the creation of artificial scarcity for the sake of making a profit.
Monopolists drool at such power&#33;

1984 (the book) mentioned how double plus ungood this is...

[MagicNakor]

Completely unrelated to the rest of the topic but for the last line in Switeck&#39;s post :

I don&#39;t think it&#39;ll be very much longer before they actually do start cutting down the dictionary. Most people have abridged dictionaries nowadays. AOL-speak is becoming far far too common. So, I&#39;ll ask you this:

how r u?
a/s/l? omg&#33; lol&#33;
cu l8r

I have to stop now, or I&#39;ll start dropping my IQ.

[TIDE-HSV]

I Qt 2

[clocker]

Originally posted by MagicNakor@22 April 2003 - 20:29


I have to stop now, or I&#39;ll start dropping my IQ.

Doh&#33;

[Jibbler]

Originally posted by Switeck@22 April 2003 - 20:45
Copyrights and Patents make it possible to corner the market and even in extreme cases to have only 0% of it at the same time... (like out-of-print books/music/movies and "strategic" patents that exist only for use as a legal cudgel against anything vaguely resembling competition.)
It is the creation of artificial scarcity for the sake of making a profit.
Monopolists drool at such power&#33;

Great fucking post. I really like the part about "out of print" items. Disney is famous for this. In fact, I saw a commercial tonight where they mentioned Toy Story 1 and 2 will only be available for a short time, then they go back into the vault. The vault? What the fuck is that? Oh how I hate Disney. Disney does so much good, you can&#39;t say bad things about Disney. That nearly un-American&#33;

[clocker]

Originally posted by Jibbler@22 April 2003 - 21:18
Oh how I hate Disney. Disney does so much good, you can&#39;t say bad things about Disney. That nearly un-American&#33;

You seem conflicted this evening, Jibbler.

[TIDE-HSV]

Ah, the "Mouse." Having had a couple of kids work for the Mouse, I have a certain perspective on Disney and an intense dislike for Eisner. I still remember the look on his face when Charlie Gibson said he never thought he&#39;d be working for the "Mouse." He saw that Charlie got fired, but then he had to bring him back. I also remember his reminiscing with a childhood buddy (on TV) about their tough time growing up (in summer camps in the Catskills). Sherman Arnold, former Attorney General and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, wrote in his book "Folklore of Capitalism," "The fruits of monopoly are not in vast profits, but rather in a sound sleep." Of course, if you&#39;re Gates or Eisner, I guess the vast profits can yield an even sounder sleep.

[Jibbler]

Originally posted by clocker+22 April 2003 - 22:44--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (clocker @ 22 April 2003 - 22:44)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin--Jibbler@22 April 2003 - 21:18
Oh how I hate Disney.&nbsp; Disney does so much good, you can&#39;t say bad things about Disney.&nbsp; That nearly un-American&#33; &nbsp; &nbsp;

You seem conflicted this evening, Jibbler. [/b][/quote]
That was my rich sarcasm showing its evil head again.

[clocker]

Which explains why I&#39;m a insomniac...


* damn it Jibbler&#33; you screwed up the post sequence&#33;*

[clocker]

Originally posted by Jibbler@22 April 2003 - 21:50

That was my rich sarcasm showing its evil head again.

Does your rich sarcasm have a sister?