92 year old WWII vet bootlegs 300,000 DVDs and sends them to American soldiers in Afghanastan

[bipolarpatient93]

just because you sign upto do something doesn't mean you shouldn't be allowed these kind of things.

How odd, no one said they should be *denied* them I don't think. Just not for giving them pirated junk.

civvies tend to be the first ones to complain when soldiers snap overseas, but the reason they snap is because they have no way of setting off steam.

Yeah, let's shift the blame. Not one who's big on personal responsibility are you?

OT: what this guy did was wrong but lets face if more people sent them care packages and movie companies sent a couple of movies to each base he wouldn't have needed to do it in the first place.

He didn't *need* to do
it in the first place. Sure they didn't get much. Doesn't mean they deserve it pirated for them then.

wasn't really shifting the blame just saying that stuff can be avoided if measure are taken in the first place

 

[Grey Day for Elcia]

Let's not reward hired murderers with free entertainment, k?

 

[Mcupobob]

Any 92 year all that pulled that off deserves to get off scotch free.


Its in the constitution.


OT: Honestly no strong feelings on this one way or another just wanted to make a joke.

 

[NiPah]

Guess I find it hard to believe you see the need for a military when you say it?s a bad choice to join, and instead of feeling bad for their suffering feel they should leave the military.

It's a bad choice to join right now. Did you forget the now, or did you drop it on purpose?

Ok, so you support the military but think its a bad idea to join now, you also feel they do not deserve any special treatment such as getting some bootlegged DVDs since even though their job is a hell hole they can always leave (resulting in possible life in prison or death as seen by the commander in charge).

 

[NiPah]

Let's not reward hired murderers with free entertainment, k?

You gotta work a bit on that there Elcia, you started out good but breaking the third wall and using a Simpsons' quote limits the effectiveness.

 

[Grey Day for Elcia]

Let's not reward hired murderers with free entertainment, k?

You gotta work a bit on that there Elcia, you started out good but breaking the third wall and using a Simpsons' quote limits the effectiveness.

It's a well known position of Bill Hicks. I don't give two shits about the Simpsons.

 

[-Dragmire-]

On topic, I think the MPAA going after this guy would be PR suicide. Plain and simple. So of course, they're going to do it.

They will. The way copyright law works, if you know about the violation and don't go after it, you lose the right to go after future violators.

That sounds more like the rules surrounding Trademarks. It's a different set of rules usually to do with the naming of a product(a recent trademark issue was the Bethesda vs Mojang dispute over Mojang trying to trademark the word scrolls).

 

[CrazyCapnMorgan]

Let's not reward hired murderers with free entertainment, k?

You gotta work a bit on that there Elcia, you started out good but breaking the third wall and using a Simpsons' quote limits the effectiveness.

It's a well known position of Bill Hicks.

It is, and I know that part of his skit very well!


I have done one tour in Iraq and have 8 years in the ARMY reserves, and I agree (in the universal sense) with Mr. Hicks' view on the military.

The one thing I have a bitter disgust for is that phrase "Support the Troops". Yeah, and you know when you hear that the most? AFTER we've sent them to a foreign country. And, to evolve an idea from Bill Hicks, if anyone disagrees with me on this, that's fine - but do me one favor OK? If you're so fucking pro-military and you "support the troops", DON'T send them war. You wanna support the troops? Send them to strip clubs. Or parties, or dinner, or a concert or whatever involves NOT infringing on someone else, K? K.

 

[Grey Day for Elcia]

Let's not reward hired murderers with free entertainment, k?

You gotta work a bit on that there Elcia, you started out good but breaking the third wall and using a Simpsons' quote limits the effectiveness.

It's a well known position of Bill Hicks.

It is, and I know that part of his skit very well!


I have done one tour in Iraq and have 8 years in the ARMY reserves, and I agree (in the universal sense) with Mr. Hicks' view on the military.

The one thing I have a bitter disgust for is that phrase "Support the Troops". Yeah, and you know when you hear that the most? AFTER we've sent them to a foreign country. And, to evolve an idea from Bill Hicks, if anyone disagrees with me on this, that's fine - but do me one favor OK? If you're so fucking pro-military and you "support the troops", DON'T send them war. You wanna support the troops? Send them to strip clubs. Or parties, or dinner, or a concert or whatever involves NOT infringing on someone else, K? K.

Oh god, yes. So much yes. A country having a military is fine (sadly, in the state of the Earth, it's really a must), but sending said military to other countries to bomb the shit out of them and murder people they've never met is not okay. Get your dicks out of every one else's pie and look after your own backyard, k? In case you didn't notice, there are people starving to death and living on the streets on our own fucking doorsteps. If we ever sort ourselves out and live in some perfect country, then we can talk about the world.

We aint gonna achieve peace as a species and (to channel Bill) explore outer space together as one people in perfect harmony, through fucking the little guys in the ass.

 

[rosac]

Well, all work and no play is bad for soldiers, and this guy just gave them a lot of stuff to keep themselves entertained when they're away from their families. I respect that. Because seriously, the last people you want to go crazy when you're out in the other side of the world is your squad mate, when he/she is armed. The fact that rapes of women in the us military are on the increase (Probably due to increasing numbers of women, but still) shows why entertainment is vital.

It may not be a legal act, but it is a MORAL act, in my opinion, and before I get shot to pieces by the debaters, I know that this isnt a magic, cure all mental illnesses/stop all rapes etc technique, but saying it won't help at all is also extreme.

 

[Abedeus]

For saintly reasons? No, they chose it because they believed that it was the right thing to do. Considering the terrible cost it could come at, they have my respect. I wouldn't have the balls to go into a combat situation like that. That's why I feel they deserve my respect, even if I totally disagree with what they're doing.

Really? Most of the people I know go to the army because they didn't go to college, or are incapable of finding a job anywhere except the army.

 

[Grey Day for Elcia]

Oh god, yes. So much yes. A country having a military is fine (sadly, in the state of the Earth, it's really a must), but sending said military to other countries to bomb the shit out of them and murder people they've never met is not okay. Get your dicks out of every one else's pie and look after your own backyard, k? In case you didn't notice, there are people starving to death and living on the streets on our own fucking doorsteps. If we ever sort ourselves out and live in some perfect country, then we can talk about the world.

Exactly. Fuck the rest of the world. We're America, god dammit.

Actually, I'm Australian. So... fuck you too!

(Obviously a joke, but some times you gotta say it, 'cause it's the internet and all, lol.)

 

[Trasken]

watch the MPAA call him a criminal, a disgrace to the service, and slap with a multimillion lawsuit complete with some jail time for trying to violate their copyright

 

[Nikolaz72]

Ah, so in other words you dislike the fact that the world has more options than your narrow view allows for.

No, if I don't want to support the military and some actions of the government I can go ahead and do so anyway because it isn't all black and white.

It also does not make my points hollow because I'm smart enough to know that extreme costs for not very strong beliefs is not a very good way to do things. But hey, you're not here to be honest, are you? You're going to ignore logic and attack me personally. Good job. Address the points, not the person making them. Or is logic too much of a problem?

You?re reaping the rewards of our military and yet say they are unnecessary, I provide some options on how to avoid the need for the US military and yet you say they are too great of hardships (to be fair to my point I also stated protesting was a way to fight this system), and in the end you have no compassion for those who suffer to bring you the lifestyle you enjoy.
That?s what makes your points sound a bit hollow.

They were under no pressure to do it and they can choose to refuse now. They're not physically addicted. There will be pain for refusing, but that's brought by their own choices. They have a way out.

So if they do not choose to leave the military you don?t feel bad for them when they are suffering?

Well I'm not going to be pleased with doctors getting free pirated movies either so, guess that's pretty irrelevant. But no, some more risk of being sick does something good. Joining the military now? Not really. Bad. Life. Choice.

Instead of pirated movies, maybe safe but unlicensed stuffed animals for children dying in a cancer unit? If they went with the licensed ones 10 kids would get them, unlicensed 1000 kids would get them, it?s a little off but I?m trying to relate it to the DVDs. Also could you elaborate on how much the military is needed right now? ?Not really? is a vague answer.

No, I wouldn't say that. Was it so hard to ask before implying BS like that?

Guess I find it hard to believe you see the need for a military when you say it?s a bad choice to join, and instead of feeling bad for their suffering feel they should leave the military.

Perhaps he doesnt feel that you dont need a military, but believes that you shouldnt be waging war and you do not need 80million trained and 2 million active. That it should be cut and those who complains about the war down in the middle-east and wants to have legalized crime as long as its for their sake should just 'leave'

 

[Mekado]

Pretty awesome guy, he's also somewhat immune to prosecution an anyone gong after him for -this- would get so much bad press it'd be suicide.

 

[Geliraden]

He payed money for the DVDs and the shipping, money he could have payed for actual LEGAL copies of those movies. So no, he had absolutely no reason to pirate the movies.

As was stated earlier the reason is clear, quantity, his reason for breaking the law was to give more soldiers the pleasure of watching a movie, instead of limiting it due to available income.
Or maybe he just hates Hollywood...
Whatever his reasons are, you cannot invalidate his reason, thats like saying there is no car there when clearly there would have to be a car.
You can, and are, judging his actions to be illegal and morally wrong. This is of course illegal, however to what level it is immoral we are conflicted on, does upholding the law and paying fees to the copyright holders of the movie warrant not sending movies to tens of thousands of soldiers? I say it does not, the limited loss of income the copyright holders will incur does not seem morally wrong when faced with the prospect of giving a solder a way to relieve some stress and get some enjoyment on the battle field.
And I will ask you as well, to what extent does this man deserve to be punished for his crime? to the full extent of the law? Or will you base punishment on something other then what is stated clearly in the law books?

I think the $30.000 to $100.000 he spent would have been plenty to buy enough movies and ship them out. It's not like every soldier needed to have 10 movies for him or herself. And if the guy really wanted to, instead of wasting time pirating and burning DVDs, he could have spent that time asking others to do the same thing he wanted to do, only legally. The fact is that there were other options, other LEGAL options, and it doesn't all have to be about quantity. Oh and just to be clear no, I wouldn't have him punished, his heart was indeed in the right place. It's just that his methods were extremely poorly chosen when there were many alternatives.

 

[remnant_phoenix]

I not pro-piracy in any way, and I do feel for the revenue lost by the movie companies, but, come on.

U.S. soldiers have to put up with REAL stress and trials. The MPAA fight against piracy and U.S. civilians like me argue about piracy on forums like this one. The latter is just really petty compared to the former.

From the bigger picture? My thoughts on his piracy in this case? Whatever. Let them have it.

Oh, and a 92-year-old man being THAT adept at piracy? Considering the usual technological ignorance present in his generation, that's boss.

 

[Wicky_42]

I am against piracy, scratch that, I am virtually opposed to piracy in every way shape and form, ... but this is different.

Lol, I love how this thread has all these militant anti-piracy types conflicted between their eternal hatred of copyright infringement and general bumming of the US military XD I mean, not necessarily just you, JWAN, but your type in general. You either despise piracy, or you don't. If you start making exceptions (It's for a good cause! The guy's old! But I like guns and manly men!) then, well, you're a hypocrite.