Got A Message from Comcast about abuse violations (1 Viewer)

[Jeff Kleist]

Eric, point 1 is correct, but he's still distributing the copy whether he realizes it or not. Just because you really didn't know the 2 pounds of cocaine were under your seat doesn't mean they won't bust you for it(to use a harsh example)

 

[BrianB]

2 if he had the movie on his hard drive legally, and it can be done legally, just not from DVD, he might not have realized that it could be "seen" from the net with whatever software he was using for whatever porpose

Oh come on.

 

[MikeAlletto]

Just because its available out there to be shared over P2P networks doesn't necessarily mean it has been shared. Who knows, he could have ripped it himself to watch on a laptop or something. Fair use says you can make a copy.

Steve Bjorg: I don't believe anyone here has said: "Go steal that movie, download it 2, 3, 4, 5 times. Burn it on a dvd and sell that sucker." Everyone here has been commenting in a calm way. Just the fact that there is a 2 page discussion at all is proof that the area in question is extremely confusing and an extreme grey area as far as whats legal and whats not. There are ethical issues which your comment touched on, but no one should be trying to push their ethics on anyone else. No one here is better than the other person based upon what they feel is right when it comes to a copy of a movie on someones hard drive. I'll do what I feel is right and you do what you feel is right, but at no point should you tell someone else what they "should" be doing.

As far as creating something digital, I write software for a living. But our stuff is written and supported in such a way in that you could download the server and client right now and you wouldn't be able to do anything with it without a license key and support.

 

[Brian W. Ralston]

Fair use says you can make a copy

Yeah...for yourself. Not to distribute to others. The key here is the internet allows an international distrubution like no other. Making copyrighted material, that you do not own the copyright on, available for distributing to others is against the law. Period.

Now....there are dozens of arguments expressed here that will try to justify the practice (...."it's like loaning it to a friend")....but in the end, they all violate copyright law. Hence the warning that was sent by Comcast.

Glad we all can talk about this in a civil way though.

 

[Steve Bjorg]

Mike,

Sharing copyrighted material through a P2P network is illegal. It's only for private consumption that there is a grey zone, but then it wouldn't be called sharing either (more like backup).

As far as creating something digital, I write software for a living. But our stuff is written and supported in such a way in that you could download the server and client right now and you wouldn't be able to do anything with it without a license key and support.

You know, that's exactly how I want my DVD-player to work. Each time I insert my DVD, it will grant me a viewing license and make sure that no two licenses are ever active at the same time. Not only do the studio then know what I watch, but also when I watch it.

It this really the direction in which you want to push the issue?

 

[Todd Hochard]

As far as creating something digital, I write software for a living. But our stuff is written and supported in such a way in that you could download the server and client right now and you wouldn't be able to do anything with it without a license key and support.

Why won't you give it away for free, or allow me to distribute it for free? After all, that's what P2P is all about.

Oh, that's right- you like to be PAID for your services.:rolleyes

 

[MikeAlletto]

Why won't you give it away for free, or allow me to distribute it for free? After all, that's what P2P is all about.

Oh, that's right- you like to be PAID for your services.

You want it? Its really big and you won't be able to do anything with it anyways. Because part of what I get paid for is customizing it to work in the customers system. Out of the box (well there really isn't a box) it doesn't do much. Oh and it doesn't run on windows or mac or linux. You got an IBM AIX box sitting around not doing anything? Do you have a transcription system in your house that can feed it data or a radiology or lab system? Oh and you need to pay a 3rd party for their software and a key, we don't control that. Hey you asked...

 

[Steve Bjorg]

Mike,

I think it's pretty much black & white. If you make it publicly available, -- regardless if anyone grabs it or not -- it is illegal, because you didn't have a license to do so.
Also ignorance is no excuse, so the person can't say 'I didn't know it was shared publicly'. Similarly, if indeed it was known it could be stolen, but it wasn't the intent to share it publicly, then making it available in such a form is negligence.
Regardless of which way you cut it, it amounts to illegal, punisheable activity.

I left my sprinkler out on my front lawn overnight. If someone stole it then thats illegal, but no one did, but the possibility was there so does that still make it illegal?

Bad example. Substitute 'sprinkler' with 'gun' and leaving it in an accessible place is then illegal.

 

[Glenn Overholt]

I think that they would prosecute by just saying that it was made available for public distribution, unless they actually did download it. It might be kind of fun to make up a huge junk file, rename it as a movie and make that available. I'd love to set them up on something like that.

Jeff, I'd like you to loan me your driver's license. - Oh, no? Oh, you earned and paid for it. Ok, forget that idea.

I got together with 19 other friends yesterday and we decided that there are just too many new DVD's coming out on Tuesday. We decided to just buy one of them. On Wednesday we'll bring them into work and pass them around. In 20 days I will have seen all twenty movies for the price of 1. Not a bad deal. Legal? Oops, wrong question. Would the studios consider it legal?

Glenn

 

[AjayM]

I got together with 19 other friends yesterday and we decided that there are just too many new DVD's coming out on Tuesday. We decided to just buy one of them. On Wednesday we'll bring them into work and pass them around. In 20 days I will have seen all twenty movies for the price of 1. Not a bad deal. Legal? Oops, wrong question. Would the studios consider it legal?

Yes, that is perfectly legal as long as nobody made a copy of it. If you have the original in your hands and it was paid for, you have a legal license to view. It doesn't matter if you borrowed it, it was gifted, you paid $9,000,000 on e-bay.

Andrew

 

[Tekara]

I am quite assured that I am rather steadfast in my nihilist beliefs. there will be no improvement in music or art if there is not disregard for current material. there is a severe lack of tasteful media released by today's hollywood, with the current brand of "sex" induced media it makes me wonder what will become of us in the future.

I feel for those that tie themselves up in the production of filth, nonetheless I will not support them. supporting mundane materials will only beget more mundane materials. Yes, my nihilism does injure those that shouldn't be injured, but as in all conflicts, there will be unintended casualties. I have no worry for them, any human who possesses the desire will continue on.

now do not think I am some mass horder of material, as I am quite sure I suggest, I have no taste more a majority of modern material ans as such own very little of it. I own legitimate CDs of my favourite musicians and I own legitimate copies of movies that I love. but I will never pay for movies or music that I do not like, but how is one to ever know whether he likes it or not?

 

[AjayM]

but how is one to ever know whether he likes it or not?

Yea, I walked into Ruth Chris the other night, I wasn't really sure if I would like it or not. So I told that dude standing in front to bring me out some food so I could "test" it first before I bought it. :rolleyes

Name some other minor purchases that you have made, say under $50, that you got to "sample" before you bought it.

Andrew

 

[Tekara]

have you never been to a candy store before? or how about an ice creame shoppe? both places will gladly hand you a free sample of the materials they are selling.

 

[BrianB]

but I will never pay for movies or music that I do not like

I guess you never go to the cinema, Rob?

 

[Todd Hochard]

but how is one to ever know whether he likes it or not?

So, are you saying that you collect movie trailers? I didn't think so.
Walk into that ice cream shop, eat the ENTIRE double dip cone, then tell them it sucked, and you won't pay for it. See what happens. Now, see if you can do that hundreds of times.

If you don't want to buy it, pay your $4 and rent it.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Exactly, the IMDB and other sites store hordes of movie trailers, which are 5MB or less download.

 

[John*Jones]

this is turning into a good thread. yes it's illegal, but it brings up some interesting questions.

i don't think you can compare sampling of a ice cream to a trailer. with the sample of ice cream you pretty much now what you're going to get. but i have seen a number of great trailers only to be completely let down with the movie itself. with music, at least popular music, it's easy enough to sample the song with the radio. with movies you have to rely on reviews, word-of-mouth etc. and sometimes a $4 rental is too much to spend on a truly bad movie.

anyway, i'm not trying to justify such actions but i do have some sympathy for people not willing to pay their hard-earned money on an awful production.

 

[AjayM]

have you never been to a candy store before? or how about an ice creame shoppe? both places will gladly hand you a free sample of the materials they are selling.

You're not sampling though, you're stealing the whole thing then justifying it by saying "Oh I'm just trying it out".

You're not downloading a 30 second snip of music, nor a 5 minute extended trailer, you're getting the whole thing. See the difference?

Andrew

 

[Tekara]

ah, but what is sampling? they do not give me but a few of the ingredients in the ice cream and tell me to image the what the rest will taste like. But yet, I am told to invision the movie but from a few scenes?see, if I were to only "sample" a 30sec of whatever, it would be the same as if I only tasted the milk used in making the ice cream.

Now since you are wondering what I equate to my version of sampling, it would be to watch the movie completely through one time and then if I were to ever watch the movie again I would have to pay for it. And yes they do have materials like that, the premiere of the last james bond movie included a one time use DVD that destroyed itself in 7 days I believe.

think about it, everywhere you can sample materials, they give you a one shot deal of the whole thing. if you where to ask aspirin for a sample, they would send you a one shot trail of their fully working medicine, not some piece of it that doesn't do anything. In clothing stores, I can try on the complete outfit to see if I like it's feel, fit, looks, etc not just one sleeve of a shirt.

DVDs and music CDs are a consumer product just like everything else and should be treated as such, they aren't magic and surely shouldn't be considered something greater than what it is in it's basic form.

makes you think, now doesn't it?

bytheby, no I don't go to the cinema, my home theater in all it's mediocrity is superior to the sound systems they use in the local theaters. it's so bad that the dialog is a pain to understand and there's a horrid echo off the back wall. though I do watch the movie channels off directTV if that's irony enough for you, yes I do pay for DirectTV, but I must admit the price difference makes me at least feel better about it.

 

[AjayM]

makes you think, now doesn't it?

What makes me think is all the excuses people use to justify stealing. Oh we just want to sample it. Oh we would have never bought it anyways. Oh we're doing it to rip off the studios. Oh we're getting even with the studio's who don't pay the artists. Etc, etc.

Would you take such a stand if there were a 80% chance you would get caught, arrested and charged with a felony for theft?

I have yet to see anybody stand up and say that they do this because it's easy, free and there is little chance of getting caught.

Andrew
Who has downloaded MP3's because it's easy, free and little chance of getting caught and know's it wrong.