Do you admit to filesharing?

I imagine disclosure of "illegal" activity depends on your surroundings. At school (graduate level), the topic is seldom mentioned. Certainly, many of the professors I have come across in the past few years have had at least articles published (if not more), and may have issues with copyrights being stepped on.

Many of the students I encounter have decent to good, professional jobs and they would not want anything to jeopardize what they have worked so hard to achieve. If they are downloading stuff, they aren't talking.

Personally, I find all of this to be a VAST library. I have written about that concept in the past, but believe those posts have been deleted by now. I wish people could be more open about their access to filesharing. I know prior to Napster getting shut down there was less fear of prosecution, and people spoke more openly about grabbing music, books, movies, etc. The good old days when reading a digital book, or listening to a song was not a crime against humanity...

So, how open are you with real-world people you encounter. Do people talk to you about movies, BT, etc. Or is all of this a dirty little secret you do in your alternate life online?

How are you defining "filesharing"?

You mention "illegal activity" so should we assume that this does not include downloading from one-click hosting sites, Usenet, music download sites like MP3skull, video streaming sites, or even the old standby methods like FTP and IRC? -- since all of these methods are (in most countries other than Japan) 100% legal to the end user because no uploading takes place. Unlike the situation a half-dozen years ago, there are many ways to get illicit files to your heart's content without exposing yourself to any legal risks.

As for me, word has gotten around over the years among people I know that I can usually find just about anything, so I often seem to get a full plate of requests, even if it's of the "friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend" kind. It used to freak people out whenever I'd play a movie on TV that was not even in cinema yet, but sadly, those pre-releases are now almost extinct.

But no, I never told anyone when I was involved in the 0-day scene, which was before the big busts.

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Originally Posted by zot

How are you defining "filesharing"?

You mention "illegal activity" so should we assume that this does not include downloading from one-click hosting sites, Usenet, music download sites like MP3skull, video streaming sites, or even the old standby methods like FTP and IRC? -- since all of these methods are (in most countries other than Japan) 100% legal to the end user because no uploading takes place. Unlike the situation a half-dozen years ago, there are many ways to get illicit files to your heart's content without exposing yourself to any legal risks.

As for me, word has gotten around over the years among people I know that I can usually find just about anything, so I often seem to get a full plate of requests, even if it's of the "friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend" kind. It used to freak people out whenever I'd play a movie on TV that was not even in cinema yet, but sadly, those pre-releases are now almost extinct.

But no, I never told anyone when I was involved in the 0-day scene, which was before the big busts.

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All of the methods you mentioned would count, IMO, as filesharing since someone initially uploaded the file, and everyone else is downloading it. I'm no champion of copyright laws (they are a barrier in the free-flow of information in the information age). However, I believe there is a stigma attached to filesharing- at least in the US. There is a strong campaign to get the message out that downloading=stealing. And if someone steals, then it follows that they are a thief.

I am not so much interested in arguing over legality, but would like to know if most people tend to do this in private (kinda like downloading filthy, raunchy porn :naughty: ), or do so openly. I can certainly see how various countries would have substantially varied social views.

Anyone from an outside country happy with the US cramming its laws down your throats? And, of the countries that have cracked down on "piracy" has the propaganda mentioned regarding "theft" made a difference in how downloading is perceived socially?

I never hide the fact that I do when asked.

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Originally Posted by Funkin'

I never hide the fact that I do when asked.

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Yeah, but most people you talk to sell crack. :P

True. And I think they know that if they ever were to snitch on me that I would turn around and snitch on them and let the authorities where their stash houses are. So this is why I have no doubts when letting the people around me know what I do.

Rather than being somehow ashamed, downloaders were often, I'd assume, proud of the fact that they could amaze and impress people.

I'm thinking back to the early internet days when the computer 'geeks' got a reputation for having tons of cool music that was not (legally) available anywhere in the country. This was long before iTunes, back when the record industry flatly refused to offer digital music and sued manufacturers of MP3 players. These people could hardly be considered "stealing" music because there was simply no way to buy it back then.

It was much the same way with Japanese Anime. Only the 'geeks' even knew it existed back then. The only (legal) alternative was to fly to Japan - obviously not a feasible alternative. Ironically, copyright "piracy" of their products has made the Anime industry a fortune by spearheading the expansion into new markets such as the USA and Europe where they never even intended to offer their products, ever. "Piracy" also provided these companies with valuable market research as well as word-of-mouth promotion -- completely free.

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Originally Posted by megabyteme

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The good old days when reading a digital book...

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In the "good old days" the Feds didn't raid my house because my paperback copy of I, the Jury didn't somehow find it's way into 425,000 other libraries.:mellow:
As always abuse of a system leads to it's collapse.

Other than that if you can figure out a way that everyone can have everything they want without having to fairly compensate the people who produce it then please let me know.

I've never tried to fool myself into believing that downloading copyrighted materials isn't stealing, but do I feel guilty about it?

When it comes to music, yes...Sometimes I feel a bit of guilt because I know so little of the profits go to the musicians themselves. But I do occasionally buy direct from certain artists websites, where I know most of the profits go to them.
Also, a bit of guilt with software, because the majority of software developers make trial versions of their product for evaluation. My only excuse for downloading software is the simple fact that I couldn't afford it otherwise.

Now when it comes to movies, I don't really feel a bit of guilt. 98% of the movies I download, I would never have went to see in a theater, & most likely would never even have rented. Hollywood pumps out too much worthless crap for me to just take it on faith that any movie is going to be good enough to pay for. For the other 2%, there's a good chance that I will eventually end up buying them anyway (mostly)


Anyone that uses the sharing excuse when they download copyrighted things are just fooling themselves. It's theft, plain & simple. About the same as theft of services, like climbing the pole outside your house & tapping into the local cable TV line & getting it for free. You're not depriving anyone of anything, but it's still stealing.

Back on topic, yes, everyone that I work with knows I DL music , movies, software, books, etc., & most put in requests from time to time for these things. I have even taught a few of them how to do it themselves & even invited a few to certain trackers.

Do I think it's wrong? Yes. Will I stop? No...Not until prices become fair (unlikely) or I get busted (more likely)

Here, it's like built-in to our culture. You want something, you download it. I remember my school used to run pirated Windows. One of my teachers even asked me how to download from file hosters once :)

Some people actually buy music or DVDs when they want to "support the artist", but for the most part, admitting to downloading isn't going to achieve any negative reaction.

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Originally Posted by THIS THREAD

Do you admit to filesharing?

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Depends who asks... :)

IRL I generally discuss it with just about anyone, I just don't really go into details, and being Australian, I doubt it would even matter.

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Originally Posted by IdolEyes787

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Originally Posted by megabyteme

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The good old days when reading a digital book...

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In the "good old days" the Feds didn't raid my house because my paperback copy of I, the Jury didn't somehow find it's way into 425,000 other libraries.:mellow:
As always abuse of a system leads to it's collapse.

Other than that if you can figure out a way that everyone can have everything they want without having to fairly compensate the people who produce it then please let me know.

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It's the 'fairly compensate' bit I object to more than anything else, since with digital media we are talking about copies of the media, which once the production costs are covered generate phenomenal profits. These thousands of percent profit and the fact that companies (not the artists by the way the licence holders) can continue to make these profits for 30 years in the case of music and 70 years in the case of books is profit gouging. Before anyone goes but it is the law, it is a commercial law designed to protect the companies and their phenomenal profits there is nothing 'fair' about it.

I thought someone would attempt that line of defense but since the cost of my car,my house and the clothes I wear are all reflective of price gouging by mostly unnecessary middle men I'm not seeing an unique target for my righteous indignation here.:mellow:
Btw I lobbied long and hard for life to be fair too.:(

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Originally Posted by IdolEyes787

I thought someone would attempt that line of defense but since the cost of my car,my house and the clothes I wear are all reflective of price gouging by mostly unnecessary middle men I'm not seeing an unique target for my righteous indignation here.:mellow:
Btw I lobbied long and hard for life to be fair too.:(

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Then you can take my filesharing as a fuck you to the fact that the pricing isn't fair, believe me if I could figure out a way to swing my house and car for free I'd be one of the first to do it.

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Originally Posted by IdolEyes787

I thought someone would attempt that line of defense but since the cost of my car,my house and the clothes I wear are all reflective of price gouging by mostly unnecessary middle men I'm not seeing an unique target for my righteous indignation here.:mellow:
Btw I lobbied long and hard for life to be fair too.:(

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If any of the companies involved in the transactions you mentioned charged the same percentages, the market would allow for competition to undercut them. The Industries are enjoying the strangle-hold they have on the market. As a result, they are using their vast profits (not for improving their products) into bribing judges, politicians, and criminalizing what should be petty theft- if anything. Also, the artists have been getting ripped off by these same corrupt Industries for decades.

The internet has changed the lines of distribution, and made these distributors of others' work unnecessary. The fight- even at the threat of destroying the entire free internet, is a result of these distributors clinging to the glory days when they controlled access to these medium.

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Originally Posted by megabyteme

Certainly, many of the professors I have come across in the past few years have had at least articles published (if not more), and may have issues with copyrights being stepped on.

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I'm not a professor, although I've been contemplating it as a career path recently. The benefits of being young, eh? Not knowing what to do with the youth. Anyway, I have many many publications and patents (at least applications for now) under my name, and unless someone is clearly using my work to make money, I always encourage them to spread my data and work. Anyone who e-mails me with keywords from my work gets an automated message asking them to spread the word with copies of the documents they reference. Just the same, many professors in esteemed universities do, and there has recently been a movement to abolish journals that's budding among the scientific community. I wouldn't assume that because they have publications that they support copyright. I personally abhor copyright. I'm not pretentious enough to believe I can have an original idea, nor conceited enough to think that any idea should be mine. It may be due to the generation they grew up in.

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Originally Posted by megabyteme

So, how open are you with real-world people you encounter. Do people talk to you about movies, BT, etc. Or is all of this a dirty little secret you do in your alternate life online?

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I'm very open about it. I'm always the person in the room who says "consider it on your computer, you'll find it there tomorrow morning." I don't go into details (eg. ratio of BT to Usenet), nor what I download for leisure (what movies I just got etc.), but it surprises most people right off the bat when they find out my copy of photoshop is pirated for example. I'm a regular music buyer, a regular movie goer (every Tuesday) and have purchased a laudable amount of books. I think what shocks people the most is the "why" not the "what".

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Originally Posted by Darth Rings

I'm not pretentious enough

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:blink:

I usually don't hide the fact that I download stuff. It's really simple. If you don't want me to download your work, then make it easily available to me at a fair price. And I can't stress "fair price" and "easily available" enough. I don't want to jump through hoops and get robbed to get "legal" access to content.

I take the view that people should be prepared to pay for 'new creation' . Twenty years on, copyright is just a licence to rip people off.

This is why I enjoyed sharing on RETROFLIX - all the films / tv were over 20 years old.

Perhaps it would be a good move to limit copyright to the first 5 years and during these 5 years , illegal sharing would carry heavy penalties.

After this period, the material would fall into the Public Domain.

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Originally Posted by megabyteme

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Originally Posted by Funkin'

I never hide the fact that I do when asked.

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Yeah, but most people you talk to sell crack. :P

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:lol:

Sure.Imo if someone would look down on me for selling copys of other peoples digital stuff, I would think they were real moralfags.I could do a whole lot worse people...not really.i don't have the hart to...

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Originally Posted by ziggyjuarez

Sure.Imo if someone would look down on me for selling copys of other peoples digital stuff, I would think they were real moralfags.I could do a whole lot worse people...not really.i don't have the hart to...

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Remember: ziggy says, "Don't be a moralfag!"

I think he's talking to you, Idol. :dry:

Hardly likely as he hasn't spoken to me since that time I got drunk and fucked his goat Dad Mom.

sure i tell people about it

why not?

they ask me to get them stuff lol

nobody cares

Most people I talk to understand filesharing's methods/techniques/morality/legality far less than I do. Therefore, I often find it either a terribly boring conversation piece or me delivering a one-way lecture. Either way, I freely admit it to anyone I talk to if it has any substance in the context of the conversation.

P.S. I am pretentious enough to __________

fill in the blank

To the people I'm sharing files with I do.

I've even got a personal set of morals for the whole scene - I figure if they've made millions (oh and ?billions?) they don't need more so I'll grab, but if they're just coming up/struggling etc I'll leave those files well alone. It's the case here in New Zealand that they haven't made boat-loads of cash yet, and I want these fantastic artists to make their millions (at the same time I'm glad that you can find the files online, as that means distribution to countries like your own yaknow)

Oh yeah, and fuck microsoft so they're stuff'll always be free 4sure

Come to think about it, a big reason why I've been involved has been a deep-seated "stick it to The Man" philosophy. I have not bought a single music CD or download - nor will I accept one as a gift - since 2003 when the RIAA started suing tens of thousands of P2P users in this country alone. It gave me a good feeling whenever I helped to distribute leaked albums -- just to rub salt into their wounds. :P

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Originally Posted by anon

Here, it's like built-in to our culture. You want something, you download it.

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That's the place for me! Around here, although some people freely accept the 'download culture' -- while others (such as the conservative religious faction) consider us outright criminals that should be locked up. :sick:

This is useful information to solve the problem whom does not know about it..Thanks for sharing Nice info..

Thank you sharing your knowledge. I like very much this quote

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Originally Posted by CMedical

Thank you sharing your knowledge. I like very much this quote

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It better be my quote you fucking one hit wonder twat.