The Needles: Goodbye, Mr. (Mod)Chips
- Thread starter Andy Chalk
- Start date
I think it was Finland, that a few years ago, passed a law that said something like it was only illegal to copy something if the data protection system employed actually worked.
Given the number of people who use iTunes and or make backups of their games and movies for their personal use would have to number in the hundreds of thousands. Now while the Mafiaa cartels are drooling at the prospects of chiseling so much money out of people who can't afford it, you have to wonder; Would the Police rather be chasing murders or some kid who makes a copy of his cd for safekeeping. Police the world over have stated that copyright infringements are very low on their "to-do" lists.
Given the number of people who use iTunes and or make backups of their games and movies for their personal use would have to number in the hundreds of thousands. Now while the Mafiaa cartels are drooling at the prospects of chiseling so much money out of people who can't afford it, you have to wonder; Would the Police rather be chasing murders or some kid who makes a copy of his cd for safekeeping. Police the world over have stated that copyright infringements are very low on their "to-do" lists.
Given how broadly the law is written it could easily apply to something as common and necessary as backing up your computer's hard drive to an external drive or even somewhere out in the cloud. Taken at its broadest it could be applied to mirrored websites that showed copyrighted material (the material being maintained on multiple servers). Heck I suspect a sizable percentage of the Canadian government would violate the law simply by maintaining legally required backups of computer data (the software is DRMed).
Thing is though, what if their arrest quota is down? Just raid a kid's iPod and BAM! A bazillion dollars in fines. Easy way to hit targets if they're struggling.008Zulu said:
What if they want to harass you, say at a political rally (democratic rights?! Noooo! Beat them up!) - they might be able to charge you on suspicion of copy-protection circumvention as just one of the many trumped-up charges police are notorious for when they want to fuck up your day (assuming they go as far as to name a charge...)
It's great how the wording of that part basically gives them carte blanch to fuck with almost anyone who uses digital media. It's even better how the police are rapidly becoming the corporation's strong arm - what ever happened to 'protect and serve'? You don't see cops tackling hookers and drug dealers, and yet there are high profile cases of kids being sue for tens or hundreds of dollars for copying 30 songs. Someone's got their priorities wrong - at least from a humanitarian point of view.
I've got a question, and if I sound like a dick, it's not intentional.Andy Chalk said:
There are a good amount of people who don't think filesharing (or "piracy") is wrong, but all Escapist news posters and staff seem to. Are staff members told they have to take an official stance of "against all piracy", or is it just a big coincidence?
My main problem is that, to me, it's looking way too close to big corporations choosing the laws that get made, just because they can afford to buy politicians.
Sure nail someone with a thousand movies, ten thousand albums and a few hundred console games downloaded, but where you're spending tens of thousands of dollars of police money on nailing a kid with 30 songs, knowing you're not going to get more than about $10 a month from him for the next 700 years, I'd personally prefer the police attention to be on crime that hurts people, not companies.
Sure nail someone with a thousand movies, ten thousand albums and a few hundred console games downloaded, but where you're spending tens of thousands of dollars of police money on nailing a kid with 30 songs, knowing you're not going to get more than about $10 a month from him for the next 700 years, I'd personally prefer the police attention to be on crime that hurts people, not companies.
I'm surprised at how many people still think iTunes has DRM. Apple finally realized how much they had against them by offering a blatantly inferior product. No disc, no box, no box art, no manual, and unable to be used for anything besides iTunes.
But OT. To me it seems this bill will fail because of that protected clause. If not, it will add a clause to circumvent that in some seemingly nice way, but will actually turn the bill into nothing. Unfortunately, I don't think there is an easy way to write out a law to combat piracy. Unfortunately it's more of a common sense thing, and even a well meaning law relying on common sense as the reason to question or arrest someone scares people, and rightfully so i.e. the Arizona immigration law.
But OT. To me it seems this bill will fail because of that protected clause. If not, it will add a clause to circumvent that in some seemingly nice way, but will actually turn the bill into nothing. Unfortunately, I don't think there is an easy way to write out a law to combat piracy. Unfortunately it's more of a common sense thing, and even a well meaning law relying on common sense as the reason to question or arrest someone scares people, and rightfully so i.e. the Arizona immigration law.
Obviously I'm not a member of the Escapist Staff, but I think piracy could be likened to a competitor taking the articles someone on the Staff writes and giving them no compensation for taking said hypothetical article.danpascooch said:
I'm sure you've heard similar comparisons before, and mostly they've been involved in flame wars. Please, please don't anyone turn this into any sort of attack, it goes no where.
One could even say I'll pirate your "if I sound like a dick, it's not intentional" statement.
Actually, I'm not talking about whether I believe piracy is alright or whether it's wrong, I'm simply wondering if the Escapist staff all happen to be heavily against it coincidentally, or if they're told they have to be for PR purposes.RRilef said:
Well, once people are being charged by the hundred and sent to prison for making mixtapes, I'm hopeful the feds will begin to see the error of their ignorance. But, then again, federal ignorance is a tough hill to climb. I'd like to see how they will look to enforce this.
Go ahead, Canada. Hamstring your technical industry.
The rest of the world will go to technology conferences in other countries - Singapore, maybe, or Hong Kong - and we will tell the venture capitalists:"Hey, whatever you do, *don't* start a tech company in Canada, the government wants to arrest anyone who understands computers."
Canada's loss is Asia's gain.
The rest of the world will go to technology conferences in other countries - Singapore, maybe, or Hong Kong - and we will tell the venture capitalists:"Hey, whatever you do, *don't* start a tech company in Canada, the government wants to arrest anyone who understands computers."
Canada's loss is Asia's gain.
There's no policy that I've ever heard of. I think you'll find that Escapist writers are generally against piracy because we've actually put quite a bit of thought into the matter.danpascooch said:
But there's a difference between being against piracy and being for draconian, corporate-driven copyright laws. I want to see content creators paid for their work. I want to see large-scale infringers busted and punished. But I also want the rights of the individual consumer protected. This bill comes close to finding that happy middle ground, but not close enough.
I dont think it's illegal as the steam software offers its own feature of backing up the games however unless it has been cracked it dont see any problems unlike other PC gamers like me who buy the physical products then back it up on our own local network via storage devicesDiligent said:
Ahh, yes, because there's nothing you could legally use an R4 for, such as turning your DS into a mini-tablet or media player.squid5580 said:
And PSP hacking? Solely for downloading and playing commercial games, it has nothing to do with improving the web browsing, recording in-game footage, using VoIP, or playback of more than the small handful of supported media formats and sizes.
No bill which ever criminalizes duplication of any kind, save that which directly causes harm, is acceptable. Just like no law prohibiting any form of speech save that which directly incites violence is acceptable. In both cases, the burden of proof is on the accuser.Andy Chalk said:
If it would become illegal to burn copies of purchased music from iTunes, I see no reason that it would not also apply to every other digital distribution system.mad825 said:
Backing up,trnascodeing and copy protection circumvention is a right our liberties grant us...its a shame fascism is growing more popular by the day.....
