Feds Using Seized Domains to Promote Anti-Piracy PSA

[DarthFennec]

Oh yes, the financial repercussions of downloading a movie are huuuuge 9_9
`Oh my god I stole a $15 DVD so now the movie industry suddenly has to fire this boom operator!'? How the hell does that work?

I don't pirate, but I do support piracy to an extent. I think it's aesthetically wrong on the part of the movie industry to take your money for something you might not end up liking, as it gives them the excuse to make shitty films built entirely around cool looking previews. And the more people buy those kinds of tickets, the more films like that there will be. I don't want to support those movies, and I do want to support the movies that are actually good, and the most obvious way to do that is if the cinemas refunded our tickets due to crappy films. Why not? You can get a refund for anything else you buy, if you're not happy with it. The way I see it, when I see a movie at a cinema, I'm paying for their service of showing it to me on a big huge screen in a dark room, because that's all I'm getting out of it. If I miss it there, I'll stream it from Megavideo. If I don't end up doing that, I'll borrow it from my public library. I am simply not going to spend money on a movie if I haven't already seen it. If I think it's good, I'll buy it. If I decide to watch it a second time later on, I'll buy it. But if I haven't seen it yet, I refuse to support it, until I know for sure that I want to. Without piracy, I miss out on a lot of films that I might otherwise have liked and bought. I used to pirate, and I can safely say that since I stopped, I've seen substantially fewer new films, and I've bought substantially fewer DVDs. You paranoid assholes in the movie industry are losing money, due to my lack of piracy. And if that causes the boom operator to lose her job, it's not my problem.

So let me get this straight. Given the option to fire a hardworking crew member or take $7 out of Michael Cera's considerable paycheck, you choose the former, and then you blame me for it? What is wrong with you?

 

[Treblaine]

A pirate is a pirate.

Wait so this:

is the same as this:

(lol at how desperate the studios are to call people who share their media by the same name as murderous raping criminals of the high seas)

 

[Formica Archonis]

Am I the only one that finds this wildly ironic. "We are going to pirate your site to stop piracy ARHG" Course we aren't really stopping piracy we're just talking about it.

...How is taking hold of a site legally piracy?...

As long as they didn't pull a DHS and knock thousands of legitimate sites out while trying to get a few bad ones.

 

[ProjectTrinity]

A pirate is a pirate.

Wait so this:

is the same as this:

(lol at how desperate the studios are to call people who share their media by the same name as murderous raping criminals of the high seas)

Lolwhoa no! One is prettier

I'll rephrase:

A pirate is a pirate
An Internet pirate is an internet pirate

Yeesh.

 

[Mcupobob]

This is almost as worse as those 1950's anti-pot PSA's or in fact any PSA the government throws out.

 

[Scott Bullock]

Now maybe this is just me, but the repurposing of websites that were seized using a method deemed dubiously legal at best to pimp a video seems downright inappropriate. While Homeland Security surely has the right to do with the sites what it will, that's just bad PR.

This doesn't make sense. Does ICE have the right to do as they please with seized domains or not? First you call the legality of the seizure into doubt and in the very next sentence say that Homeland Security can do whatever they want.

OT: I'm ambivalent about piracy. One the one hand it is theft, after a fashion; on the other hand the content providers bring a lot of it on themselves with various anti-customer policies which drive people to piracy for reasons that have little or nothing to do with wanting a free movie.

If they had seized the sites in such a manner that people weren't calling out the legality of the seizures themselves left and right, then using the sites for their own devices wouldn't seem so... off-putting. To me, at least. Under normal circumstances I wouldn't care, but they shouldn't really be flaunting something they obtained in such a questionable manner.

 

[x-machina]

Has a PSA ever worked? I mean, has anyone ever changed their outlook on any subject at all. Because of a minute a half commercial?

 

[Treblaine]

A pirate is a pirate.

Wait so this:

is the same as this:

(lol at how desperate the studios are to call people who share their media by the same name as murderous raping criminals of the high seas)

Lolwhoa no! One is prettier

I'll rephrase:

A pirate is a pirate
An Internet pirate is an internet pirate

Yeesh.

It's like a before and after picture montage.

"heeey, I think I'll try torrenting..."

"AAAUUURGHH! Avast me hearties! I'm downloading all 6 seasons of Sex and the City!"

 

[Enkidu88]

Okay, somebody tell me who played the guy giving out the DVDs? I swear to god I know him and it's just driving crazy.

 

[ProjectTrinity]

A pirate is a pirate.

Wait so this:

is the same as this:

(lol at how desperate the studios are to call people who share their media by the same name as murderous raping criminals of the high seas)

Lolwhoa no! One is prettier

I'll rephrase:

A pirate is a pirate
An Internet pirate is an internet pirate

Yeesh.

It's like a before and after picture montage.

"heeey, I think I'll try torrenting..."

"AAAUUURGHH! Avast me hearties! I'm downloading all 6 seasons of Sex and the City!"

Dude, someone needs to make a parody video on that montage! lol

 

[Dogstile]

pirate is a pirate.

...

Seriously?

Just as a point of debate. Say I downloaded a game that was of high quality but didn't have a demo (I don't know what games DO have demos off the top of my head, so i'm not going to name one that doesn't, because i'd more than likely be wrong) for the purpose of seeing if it ran before I brought it.

Would that make me the same as all these other pirates?

 

[hecticpicnic]

I think this video is so cliché and i don't really care.But its kinda true the independent music/movie industry and independent shops are suffering hugely.I mean the big guys aren't suffering(how much did avatar make again?) and the government just wants VAT off you.But hey that's capitalism,its what ever the consumer values the product at.All the niche markets in Ireland have collapsed in recent years.And i do think people should get paid,dor not even intellectual property because sampling and covering songs should all be free,but if spent 20,000
producing something its like a punch in the gut when people download.I what i really hate is people who don't buy anything anymore and just download everything because eventually all we will be left with is lady gaga's and Michel bay movies.And i do think if you can aford to buy coffee everyday you should donate online to people who need it e.g. free albums ,sites that provide a special service with out ads or even translators of manga.I guess somepople are completely without compasion.

P.s another thing these people who do the crazy download are probably upper middle class(most i know anyway,and if you can afford a broadband connection and a big hardrive your grand)so they could fuck'n buy this shit themselfs.

p.p.s I actually download loads of music.But if i like something i buy it on vinyl..well i did before my local record store closed.

 

[razer17]

Yes there are differences in the circumstances and such. However, they are fundamentally the same, in that there actions are the same, motivations differ, but the act is the same. A pirate is defined by his act, not his reasons.

Whether you pirate because you have no money, or you do it just because you want to, it's the same. Some countries piracy is basically the only option, but that doesn't mean it is any more morally right for them to pirate than for anyone else. Either way it is the same crime.

 

[razer17]

pirate is a pirate.

...

Seriously?

Just as a point of debate. Say I downloaded a game that was of high quality but didn't have a demo (I don't know what games DO have demos off the top of my head, so i'm not going to name one that doesn't, because i'd more than likely be wrong) for the purpose of seeing if it ran before I brought it.

Would that make me the same as all these other pirates?

Yes, seriously. A pirate is a defined by his actions. As such, no matter the motivation it is still pirating. Downloading a game to try it is not the same as downloading a demo.

Plus, when you are pirating games, you get them from torrents (unless your actually on the cracking scene, in which case you obviously aren't just there for demo) and if you are using torrents then you are most likely uploading. So even IF you only downloaded it to see if you like it, you are also uploading it so people who just don't want to pay benefit from you.

 

[Zigot66]

What bothers me about this is that they aren't saying "Don't download/watch movies for free, because it is illegal", they're trying to guilt me/you/whoever. It is not the government's domain to say what is morally right or wrong, it is their domain to say what is legal and illegal.

I don't know about you, but I would much rather be told not to do something because there is an arbitrary law against it (not that anti-piracy laws are necessarily arbitrary) than to be told that by doing that same thing I have become a worse person, and that I should feel bad about it.

Laws are rigid, they apply equally to all and can be changed if the people will it.
Morals are set by the individual and can be as malleable and illogical as the individual wishes.

 

[yookiwooki]

"I'll take the movies because fuck her."
-- Only logical response to the guy that I can think of.

This commercial is a better approach than the other anti-piracy PSA's I've seen though.

 

[w00tage]

See, now this is why we shouldn't let government have direct access to media. They are perfectly capable of taking a creative approach and then using it to spread lies so big they can't be called "big lies". They have to be called "huge lies" or "ginormous lies", etc.

People in the movie industry do not lose their jobs because of piracy. No one in any production industry has EVER lost their job because of piracy. Because in order to pirate something, it has to be MADE first. But something like this looks oh-so-good to the lawmakers that depend upon movie industry campaign contributions, and I've no doubt that the people responsible are getting career boosts from those same lawmakers.

So grats govt. You've just proved that regardless of how well we're defended against outside threats, internal corruption is alive, well and being supported by taxpayer dollars.

 

[Jumplion]

What makes this even more hilarious is that the "no soul" guy would have had to sign a release form for them to legally show his identity.

 

[ProjectTrinity]

Yes there are differences in the circumstances and such. However, they are fundamentally the same, in that there actions are the same, motivations differ, but the act is the same. A pirate is defined by his act, not his reasons.

Whether you pirate because you have no money, or you do it just because you want to, it's the same. Some countries piracy is basically the only option, but that doesn't mean it is any more morally right for them to pirate than for anyone else. Either way it is the same crime.

Why yes, but that was never really my argument. I even called a murderer a murderer. My argument was that a pirate who pirates with actual better reasons without fancying up his or her excuses will always be someone more morally conscious than the barker.

Case in point: Yeah, they're branded the same name, but I'm willing to argue that there are different types of pirates worth saying they're better or not than other pirates. Same way as we're all branded humans. Some or morally better, some are not. Unless we're willing to argue the comparison that stealing to feed your family is just as rotten as stealing to sell your stolen goods, just because you're still a thief, then I don't see a reason to object to what I'm saying.

 

[Zigot66]

-snip-

-snip-

Yes, seriously. A pirate is a defined by his actions. As such, no matter the motivation it is still pirating. Downloading a game to try it is not the same as downloading a demo.

Plus, when you are pirating games, you get them from torrents (unless your actually on the cracking scene, in which case you obviously aren't just there for demo) and if you are using torrents then you are most likely uploading. So even IF you only downloaded it to see if you like it, you are also uploading it so people who just don't want to pay benefit from you.

I'd like to point out that you can turn off uploading, so it is possible to just download something to see if you like it without supporting the other pirates.