The taking of our Internetz

[Green Dutch]

It was fun while it lasted

"Japanese Police Arrest 27 File-Sharers in Nationwide Show of Force
by Enigmax

Last year Japan introduced one of the toughest laws in the world for dealing with online piracy but with little visible action against file-sharers it was questioned whether the legislation would have teeth. That position has now dramatically switched, with police nationwide carrying out searches on 124 locations and arresting 27 people for online infringement. Those arrested face up to 10 years in jail."

http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=42986

[LAZER BEAR]

Whatever dude. Stealing is stealing. People work hard to produce movies and music and people feel entitled to just take them for free. Bring on the piracy laws, maybe then people will finally fucking stop stealing media.

[Green Dutch]

well its also the last place for free information too and thats another thing that we'll lose. Fuck the music...Thats exactly what they use to program the population.

[LAZER BEAR]

Piracy does not pertain to information exchange, piracy pertains to the stealing of media. Wouldn't it be nice as a musician or filmmaker, to put money into something and kn ow that you would receive payment from each fan? I hate it when people act as if they are being persecuted when they are committing the online equivalent of shoplifting CD's from a record store.

[EndorShores]

Piracy does not pertain to information exchange, piracy pertains to the stealing of media. Wouldn't it be nice as a musician or filmmaker, to put money into something and kn ow that you would receive payment from each fan? I hate it when people act as if they are being persecuted when they are committing the online equivalent of shoplifting CD's from a record store.

What if the files those guys were sharing were their self created sweet lo fi beats on the sp-forums????

As a artist how do u think you would ever get paid using samples. Do not some people consider that stealing???

Is art about "getting paid" or doing it for the love??
Enjoy the weekend.

[pootietang]

What I'm scared about is when copywrite laws limit our access to information/knowledge.

Two good movies on the music/film side are "good copy bad copy" and "rip! a remix manifesto"

[Unfolding]

Great topic! Good find too, Dutch.

To take 3rd angle, theft of widely available material is straight up theft. But these kind of over-reactions (27 arrested, potentially facing up to 10 years each) are symptoms of high stakes business (which sees liabilities when they could have seen opportunities 10, 15 years ago) not keeping up to social attitudes & governments taking business' side (hook line & sinker).

However that news article isn't telling the whole story. What content was being shared, how was it being shared, why was it shared, when was it shared (in one day? in one decade?), how much was being shared etc should be reported on to give it some context. A good journalist should at least raise the question if it can't be answered initially.

Plus arrests like this can often be triggered for different reasons. Organised crime, illegal porn for starters. In pretty much every jurisdiction charges can be layed after arrest. Go in with a warrant on a suspected target with soft & easily used reasons, charge the scumbags when the dark stuff is found.

Remember these folks haven't had their day in court. They haven't been proven guilty.

However using copyrighted material for no commercial gain with attribution to the source material's largely OK. Not that I'm a legal expert, just observing what tends to occur. That's how parodies don't tend to get sued unless there's defamation. It's also why places like Soundcloud don't get taken down (largely not profit driven content that frequently includes manipulated copyrighted material).

As with everything people do, laws will follow (good? bad? your call). So naturally governments (in the territorial sense) will try to put controls onto something that largely isn't territory but acts like it is (internet). These laws are a compromise (again, good/bad is your call), that's all. Folks already know how to work within & push the boundaries of local law.

But at the end of the day, buy shit that others make. People frequently don't value the work of others. Paying for it helps fix the balance.

What really worries me about this is the rise of poor journalism. The article has a tone that those arrested are guilty before going to trial & that the laws are too heavy. The writer's having it both ways. Freedom of information & expression doesn't mean we're all now qualified (or even free) to share information.

[susan balmar]

doesn't the film/music industry rip people off as well...?

[Unfolding]

Touche!

[hseiken]

The only reason these laws exist in any country is because media companies have lined the pockets of law makers. To them it's an investment (much like most special interest laws)...pay 10k to this asshole, get 100 dollars return on each dollar spent.

It's not about protecting anyone or anything. It's about money and never forget that. I have no sympathy when some or entity is swimming in millions of dollars and then get pissed when they 'only' make a couple million. Get over yourself, shut the fuck up and don't bother me with your million dollar problem. Some people can't afford a decent meal but still the guy making millions of dollars is going to bitch? Fuck off with that.

[edit] and to put things into perspective, at least for movie studios, when they started noticing a dip in their earnings (it couldn't POSSIBLY be because they're making shit movies! NOOOOOOOoooooo, never!) CEO's dropped the wages of the working class people who work on their movies so their paycheck would remain unchanged. So who's the real bad guy? The dude that downloaded the movie, or the greedy corporate dipshit who's running Rhythm and Hues out of business because he's a selfish prick?

[CULP]

I'm all for stealing

steal everything but if you keep it you should be obligated to buy it.


this is about big company money control.
the law will steal your soul, nevermind the shitty digital media that you downloaded. first they get into your computer and then they run up on your house.
This is like nazis burning books.
regulators.. shit...nate dog

have you ever bought a shitty videogame? or ten shitty vid games? that maybe you played for maybe 20 mins for the cost of $50+ a pop?. how about a bullshit movie... you cant return this stuff if it's shit, and im pretty sure we are still going through a recession..whos being robbed now.. I am not buying anything unless its worth it or I get to try it out,.
I research the shit out of gear before i drop c-notes


IF SOMETHING IS GOOD, GOOD PEOPLE WILL PAY.

[melodious]

IF SOMETHING IS GOOD, GOOD PEOPLE WILL PAY.

+1

[springwater]

"Steal when necessary." - Chuck Jones

Anyone aware of whats going on in the VFX community? Why everyone on facebook is turning their profile pics to green screen squares. Why the guy who accepted an award for Life of PI was played off to Jaws music and had his mic cut off the moment he brought up Rhythm and Hues?
Rhythm and Hues did most of the VFX for that movie and are going bankrupt. How a movie that won so many awards and was fucking visually amazing could not be piggybacked by the studio responsible for it. This is because Hollywood has been screwing a ton of of these post production studios out of money and putting a ton of people out of work and shipping their contracts overseas. I have a buddy that moned to India to work on american movies because of this problem. So when you think the director or the people who worked on a movie would be a lot richer because the fans didnt pirate their media, thats not really the issue.
Dont get me wrong, stealing is bad. And as an adult you can deal with the consequences if they arise but CAN all the Jehovah's Witness speeches about how bad it is to steal media. Just dont steal! But realise that the only people getting fucked out of this money are the people who were getting fucked long before the movie was released.

[tape smoke]

self senorship post #404/
i'm "tape smoke records".

and i don't support condone or endorse this message.