SOPA

[Jobydrone]

Whoa, major federal sting in New Zealand, four arrests made and the well known site Megaupload shut down for aiding and abetting copyright infringement.  Backlash from yesterdays blackout?  Seems too timely to be a coincidence to me.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/01/megaupload-shut-down-by-feds-seven-charged-four-arrested.ars

[KingIsaacLinksr]

I wouldn't put it past RIAA to suddenly pull this out, they hate Megaupload.

The timing of it is really suspicious. The day after the blackouts and one of the more well known websites gets killed?  Hmmmmm

King

[QuadShot]

Ok, now I'm not advocating government "Big Brother" stuff at all. I believe in freedom. BUT...aren't groups like this "Megaupload" encouraging piracy? Downloading ilegally is downloading ilegally, which is theft. So, who cares what the timing is? If they bust these people who are stealing, what does it matter WHEN they do it?

[KingIsaacLinksr]

Ok, now I'm not advocating government "Big Brother" stuff at all. I believe in freedom. BUT...aren't groups like this "Megaupload" encouraging piracy? Downloading ilegally is downloading ilegally, which is theft. So, who cares what the timing is? If they bust these people who are stealing, what does it matter WHEN they do it?

IF they are proven guilty in court then yes.  Go right ahead.  Lock them up.  I'm not defending Megaupload at all, I am just saying that the timing is suspicious.  But hey, if it was just a weird timing then whatever. 

And actually, Filesharing does not encourage piracy.  (Which is what Megaupload does).  It is the users themselves that take it upon themselves to share content that shouldn't be.  There are plenty of legitimiate uses for Megaupload.  Just like there is plenty of legitimate uses for YouTube (Which is vid sharing). 

I've never personally used Mega, I use Dropbox for anything I might want to share via a link.  :)

King

[Bryancd]

I am all for shutting down all the bit torrent sites trafficking copyrighted material. I have NEVER pirated any copyrighted material since the days of Napster and Limewire.

[Jobydrone]

Ok, now I'm not advocating government "Big Brother" stuff at all. I believe in freedom. BUT...aren't groups like this "Megaupload" encouraging piracy? Downloading ilegally is downloading ilegally, which is theft. So, who cares what the timing is? If they bust these people who are stealing, what does it matter WHEN they do it?

The concern for me has nothing to do with the timing, or even the "grey" area surrounding what the site is about which if I am not mistaken was offering server space for people to upload and download from and making money from advertising revenue.  My major issue has to do with the United States government charging into foreign countries and arresting non-US citizens that are operating a legitimate business in their own country...all to defend the MPAA and RIAA copyright claims.  Just seems a bit of a scary precedent.

[Bryancd]

This would all go away...if people would STOP STEALING! just because a network doesn't serve up the content you want to see when you want to see it, where you want to see it, and how you want to see it does;t give one carte blanche to pirate it! I hear on all these podcasts people laughing their butt's off about acquiring content "through other means" and sit their and justify their theft. Just because their is an internet doesn't give people the right to steal.

[ChrisMC]

This would all go away...if people would STOP STEALING! just because a network doesn't serve up the content you want to see when you want to see it, where you want to see it, and how you want to see it does;t give one carte blanche to pirate it! I hear on all these podcasts people laughing their butt's off about acquiring content "through other means" and sit their and justify their theft. Just because their is an internet doesn't give people the right to steal.

Yeah, I agree with this. I think it's become the norm for people to just download for free a new album, especially the generation behind me. That said, I used to copy many albums onto tape with my dual-tape deck and turntable. Sharing has been going on forever, except now the numbers are so staggering. It's a tough issue, but the answer isn't this thing.

[KingIsaacLinksr]

This would all go away...if people would STOP STEALING! just because a network doesn't serve up the content you want to see when you want to see it, where you want to see it, and how you want to see it does;t give one carte blanche to pirate it! I hear on all these podcasts people laughing their butt's off about acquiring content "through other means" and sit their and justify their theft. Just because their is an internet doesn't give people the right to steal.

Yeah, I agree with this. I think it's become the norm for people to just download for free a new album, especially the generation behind me. That said, I used to copy many albums onto tape with my dual-tape deck and turntable. Sharing has been going on forever, except now the numbers are so staggering. It's a tough issue, but the answer isn't this thing.

Except that the numbers aren't that staggering to begin with. 

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/04/us-government-finally-admits-most-piracy-estimates-are-bogus.ars

Our own government admits that the numbers aren't all that high as the RIAA and the MPAA make it out to be and that its mostly guessing with no formal collecting of data.

King

[Bryancd]

My wife has been working on a massive market research project for Disney in an effort to confront global piracy of their intellectual property, Internet and physical media. It is a big deal. Do you download illegal content, King? If so, how do you justify it?

[KingIsaacLinksr]

My wife has been working on a massive market research project for Disney in an effort to confront global piracy of their intellectual property, Internet and physical media. It is a big deal. Do you download illegal content, King? If so, how do you justify it?

*coughs* *looks around for Big brother* *;)* 

Do I download illegal content: Depends.

The main reason I download "illegally" is due to a lack of service options or consumer-rights-violating measures like extreme-DRM options or locked forever behind an ocean barrier.  And its a common attitude I might add. 

Valve's CEO said that piracy is a SERVICE issue.  Valve turned Russia, one of the former biggest gaming piracy wastelands, into one of its biggest markets thanks to Steam.  Did the population have to go with Steam?  No.  But they chose it because the value was good enough.  iTunes saved the music-industry's ass from Napster and Pirate Bay.  Why?  Because the service was better.  Hulu and Netflix have the potential to save TV/Movie from being pirated to death, but from what I can tell the content providers are refusing to adapt and as such, piracy is still rampant because Hulu and Netflix do not provide a superior option, at least for new content. 

I do not stand for piracy.  Piracy doesn't sit well with me and I always love to pay for content as long as its pro-consumer.  Things like iCloud have settled a lot of my issues with buying digital content, though movies-via-digital needs a lot of help.  (Ultraviolet is not it either).  The main reason I might download illegal content is a lack of service options.  If you give me a reasonable price and a reasonable product for what I'm paying for, I will pay for it.  If my only reason for pirating something is that I cannot afford it, then I can't afford it, I do NOT download it and it stays on my wishlist for whenever I get the funds to pay for the content via iTunes/Amazon/etc.    I learned long ago to be content with what I have.  The amount of stuff that I have acquired through alternative methods is small compared to the amount that I legitimately paid for.  Whether that is TV, Movie, Gaming, or otherwise. 

Tbh, even then, I can't be arsed to download TV shows anymore.  Even though I do pay for cable.  Even if the content is transmitted freely.  Even if it is to catch up on the shows I miss because my schedule is no longer TV friendly anymore.  2011 will be the last year I bother with new content and from now on I'm just going to stick with Netflix.  The commercials are getting insane, the shows are getting cancelled left and right and its clear they don't want to adapt to the internet since they keep pulling content from Hulu/Netflix.  So why should I support such an industry. 

Oh and Disney?  Its probably because they keep locking their content behind vaults.  Stop that practice and offer it on Amazon/iTunes and you'll probably severely reduce piracy. 

King

[KingIsaacLinksr]

And tbh, it should be just as illegal for the content providers to screw with their customers like they have just as much as it is illegal to pirate content.  Its not like these businesses go out of their way to be likeable, RIAA, MPAA, etc. 

Then maybe I would actually sympathize with them.  As it is, I would not shed a single tear if the TV, Movie and Music industry burned to the ground tomorrow.   

My 2cents. 

And yes, I know people on this forum work in these industries.  I am not pointing any of this at you. 

King

[Bryancd]

So because the content isn't available the way you want, it's ok to get it by other means. So until someone provides YOU with what YOU perceive s a better service, it's ok to steal. And that's a common feeling so that makes it ok. And yet somehow I manage to survive without stealing content.

[ChrisMC]

This would all go away...if people would STOP STEALING! just because a network doesn't serve up the content you want to see when you want to see it, where you want to see it, and how you want to see it does;t give one carte blanche to pirate it! I hear on all these podcasts people laughing their butt's off about acquiring content "through other means" and sit their and justify their theft. Just because their is an internet doesn't give people the right to steal.

Yeah, I agree with this. I think it's become the norm for people to just download for free a new album, especially the generation behind me. That said, I used to copy many albums onto tape with my dual-tape deck and turntable. Sharing has been going on forever, except now the numbers are so staggering. It's a tough issue, but the answer isn't this thing.

Except that the numbers aren't that staggering to begin with. 

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/04/us-government-finally-admits-most-piracy-estimates-are-bogus.ars

Our own government admits that the numbers aren't all that high as the RIAA and the MPAA make it out to be and that its mostly guessing with no formal collecting of data.

King

Isn't that kind of like the police saying that the jerks who broke into your house didn't take as much of your crap as we initially thought? Theft is theft. There seems to be a feeling that pervades with many people that they are owed things, and it just isn't so. People in this country love movies, they love TV. But when my friend sits at home and watches movies that are in the theater, movies he didn't pay to see, you can't tell me it doesn't affect the box office. These businesss exist to make money, not be likable. I agree that a large net would be cast due to this bill, a chainsaw where a scalpel is needed. But saying that piracy isn't a problem is kinda false...

[KingIsaacLinksr]

So because the content isn't available the way you want, it's ok to get it by other means. So until someone provides YOU with what YOU perceive s a better service, it's ok to steal. And that's a common feeling so that makes it ok. And yet somehow I manage to survive without stealing content.

Do not put words in my mouth Bryan, I do not tolerate that.  I did not say that because it is a common feeling that it is ok for me as well.  I was simply stating it as a fact/opinion, nothing more.  I also did not say that what I was doing was ok either.  It sickens me to even have to do it which is why I rarely ever do it.  99.99% of the time if its not available on the services I use, then I just move on.  I was using my opinion, however, to say why other people justify it.  Why other people will more likely pirate it.  Agree or disagree, its a problem that doesn't require a sledgehammer to fix. 

@Chris.  Your right.  But the MPAA and etc make this issue out to be this economy-crippling affair when really, we don't even know how much damage is actually being done.  Spouting off numbers is lying.  I hate. Liars.  And this whole SOPA and PIPA thing did not need to be shoved down our throats when there are far more important problems we need to deal with. 

As I said, I don't support it. 

King