My life as an ex computer pirate

QABoy

QABoy

QABoy

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Joined
14 Jan 2004
Posts
532
I was telling this story to dmpoole the other night and he thought it would be good to tell here.

Just over five years ago at six in the morning, police and Trading Standards came through my front door and raided my home. I was lucky that all the stuff I'd pirated had gone by 10pm the previous evening and there was no copied stuff in the house. However, Stevie Wonder could see that I was up to no good because of the duplicating towers and all the blank cd's, labels and boxes. They cleared my home of everything computer related and then followed me to work where they found nothing. The eventual outcome was that I'd lost everything computer related and I couldn't own a home computer for five years. They went through bank statements to see where me and the wifes finances didn't match up and to be honest I was very lucky. All holidays were taken in this country and paid for with cash. All my illegal earnings and been frittered away in pubs, restaurants, watching rock bands all over the country and no money was found. They lifted floorboards, went up the chimney and every nook and cranny to see if I was saving money but they found nothing. I wasn't big time but I was earning a decent second wage from it.
At the same time a mate of mine hadn't been so clever, he was big time and they found loads of copied stuff ready to go out. He'd saved thousands and bought a house on the proceedings. He'd also been to Florida five years on the trot. They took his house, car and toys away.
Three years ago I asked for a pardon to get computers for my kids and I was allowed laptops with DVD rom drives but I've never used a computer in the house for nearly five years. I joined these forums about four years ago and did my basic bit of computing on my works PC.
Anyway, my time is soon up and I don't think I'll ever have another PC for myself because it really scared me and I still poo my pants thinking they may come through the door anytime.
As for piracy then just don't do it because the laws are even stricter now.
 
Lucky escape.

Piracy is crime on the high seas!

How, if they had only circumstantial evidence could they ban you for owning a computer for five years? They couldn't really prove you committed copyright infringement, could they?

Glad I only "pirate :rolleyes: " for my own use!
 
um, just because you have a PC doesnt mean you have to pirate stuff....

its not an addiction is it??
 
The closest calls I've heard of is a few acquaintances receiving warning letters off their ISP about illegal activity on their network.

I think you're not targeted by the police unless you're a major contributor to the problem, not a casual downloader. It still doesn't mean you should do it though.

However I still firmly believe — despite not infringing copyright myself — that the police should have bigger fish to fry. Sure, it reduces genuine sales and costs record and film labels millions a year, but they're hardly bankrupt are they? :p
 
I can rent the majority of things from work for free now anyways so i never really bother, only thing i cant get is music, which i dont really bother with now anyways. The only real copied stuff i have is off the DVD recorder off the TV.

Interesting read mate, and it certainly sounds like you were pretty lucky you didnt come off worse.
 
gjrc said:
um, just because you have a PC doesnt mean you have to pirate stuff....

its not an addiction is it??
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I would have gone out and bought a Mac. :D

"No officer, it's not a PC, ask Apple."
 
What do you expect when you sell it on, you are asking for trouble.

Some people see it as a harmless money earner but its up there with drug dealing imho.
 
cheets64 said:
What do you expect when you sell it on, you are asking for trouble.

Some people see it as a harmless money earner but its up there with drug dealing imho.
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Not really tbh, drugs can actually kill people, whereas listening to music, or watching a film can't.

I think many people see pirating as a victimless crime.
 
If they found no money, no pirated goods, and no unmatched finances why were you charged and banned from owning computers?

Surely owning CD duplicating towers is not a crime.
 
iCraig said:
However I still firmly believe — despite not infringing copyright myself — that the police should have bigger fish to fry. Sure, it reduces genuine sales and costs record and film labels millions a year, but they're hardly bankrupt are they? :p
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I think the issue for the police is that piracy can be used by individuals or groups to fund other illegal activity.
 
Noun

piracy

(nautical) robbery at sea; taking a ship away from the control of those who are legally entitled to it
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It really winds me up that this word became acceptable to use instead of copyright infringement. How many people who copy software use cutlasses and eye patches? Eh? A few might have wooden legs and parrots though.



Yaarrrrr!

Etymology

From Old French pirate < Latin pirata (‘sailor,’ ‘pirate’) < Greek πειρατής peirates (‘brigand,’ ‘corsair’) < πεῑρα peira (‘trial,’ ‘attempt,’ ‘plot’) < Proto-Indo-European base *per- (‘to try’).

Noun

pirate (plural: pirates)

One who plunders at sea; commonly attacking merchant vessels, though often pillaging port towns
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:D ;)

250px-Piratey%2C_vector_version.svg.png
 
LordSplodge said:
How, if they had only circumstantial evidence could they ban you for owning a computer for five years? They couldn't really prove you committed copyright infringement, could they?
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If he was so obviously in the wrong - I doubt he'd have had the bottle to contest it. No doubt the OP realised that he was very lucky in this case and was probably happy with the outcome.

For the person who asked why he's not buying a PC now, because piracy isn't an addiction. My guess would be that the OP feels the police may come back at any time, just to check up. I'd suspect he just doesn't want to give them ANY reason to start tearing up his house again. Sure its probably a little over cautious, but I can see why he might want to avoid PC's in his house.
 
div0 said:
If he was so obviously in the wrong - I doubt he'd have had the bottle to contest it. No doubt the OP realised that he was very lucky in this case and was probably happy with the outcome.
.
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Doesn't matter how much in the wrong he was. The law had no real evidence and if it was me I'd have been to my lawyer faster than you can say "ahoy me harties"
 
div0 said:
If he was so obviously in the wrong - I doubt he'd have had the bottle to contest it. No doubt the OP realised that he was very lucky in this case and was probably happy with the outcome.

For the person who asked why he's not buying a PC now, because piracy isn't an addiction. My guess would be that the OP feels the police may come back at any time, just to check up. I'd suspect he just doesn't want to give them ANY reason to start tearing up his house again. Sure its probably a little over cautious, but I can see why he might want to avoid PC's in his house.
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To be honest I was relieved that it happened. For the previous four years I'd been in a trap I couldn't get out of. People relied on me for their stuff and of course greed also played a part. Taking away my PC was the least of my worries and I didn't want to argue the point. I've got on fine without a PC even though the laptops are on broadband upstairs and the wife does all her internetting on them.
 
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