My life as an ex computer pirate
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Sinizterguy said:
No but the point here is, would they go to the cinema were pirate DVDs and downloads not available?
If they answer is even 'possibly' then someone is losing out...
No one is going to go and pay £7 to see a film at the cinema that they've already watched. That's just common sense.
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stoofa said:
Oh please!
One is stealing, the other is copyright infringement. 2 completely different things no matter what the big companies want you to believe.
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Chrisss said:Yes, and if you took away the option for them to buy a pirated copy, then there is a good chance they might have gone to see it at the cinema.
Edit: Think, please.
No. Those people I know would not go to the cinema. They just couldnt afford to.
I agree that there may be a very small proportion of people who might have gone to the cinema if alternates were not available. But it is not a significant number.
Anyway, let's agree to disagree as I understand what you are saying logically, but my scenario is much more likely. You haven't come up with anything conclusive enough to get me to change my views.
LordSplodge said:
How flimsy we'll never know. But it's not really the point, I'm putting across how I think I would personally react in a similar situation.
LordSplodge said:
But he knew he was guilty. Yes it would be up to the police to prove he was guilty. But when you know you are guilty, then why fight a fairly lenient punishment and risk getting a bigger one, if they do manage to make a strong enough case against you.
LordSplodge said:What is with the major offensive on IP/Copyright infringement? Yes it is a crime, but I think the police should be more concerned with solving serious/violent crime rather than worrying about a few artists/software devs/movie execs losing a few quid. I know a lot of the law makers in America are in the media's back pocket, are we going this way to?
Welcome to the Free World as run by the BPI/MPAA/RIAA whatever
It sounds to me like he was doing more than the odd cd/dvd for mates. Sounds like it was a fairly reasonable earner for him.
Sure its not the same as more serious/violent crime. But it's still a crime. It'd be bad news if the police just turned a blind eye to everyone who was doing this IMO. This is a few steps up from the usual, download/copy a cd for a bunch of mates.
Sinizterguy said:
You criticise the RIAA for pulling numbers out of their arse, yet you draw conclusions based soley on the views of a few people you know?
Secondly the cinema costs about 5-7 quid, I doubt pirated DVDs are much cheaper.
Lastly, I reckon my scenario is more likely.
Sinizterguy said:
Stop hanging around with poor people then
I know full well all my mates at Uni would go to the cinema more if it weren't for someone (don't look at me like that...) providing the films for free before they come out. We still go for the social occasion anyway though, it's something to do
Agreed! I think some people are being very silly... Especially the drug dealer commentwhitecrook said:
Downloading or even selling a pirated movie is nowhere near as bad as selling heroin to 16 year olds!Movies - someone is loosing out. For each 5 pirate movies I've watched, one of them I would have probably paid to see at the cinema. Although before I had watched any pirated movies, I simply hadn't seen many movies... so I'm not sure. Big movies I see at a cinema anyway (lord of the rings, matrix, etc). I wouldn't say with certainty "I would go to the cinema more often if pirate movies weren't available", as I do go to the cinema if there's a good enough movie playing there.
Software - I would be using Linux and open source programs if pirated software wasn't available. I certainly wouldn't be spending money on commercial software.
Games - I buy the games I want, but I "pirate" games I don't think I'm going to enjoy. 99% of the time, I'm right and the pirated game is rubbish and I'm glad I didn't buy it. If it's good, I buy a legit copy as I honestly hate having pirate games if I play them often - things just get tricky (updates, multi player, expansion packs, etc) and you don't have the feel of truley owning the game (box, manual, etc).
So really, it depends what you're pirating... I think the "worst" offence is movies, then games, then software. But in my opinion, none of them are really bad.
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div0 said:
If you would react that way, then that's fine. Even if I knew I was guilty as per the OP I would still fight them every last step of the way especially if the evidence was so weak/circumstantial.
How would they have managed to give him a more severe senstence than 5 years without use of a computer when they seemingly had no hard evidence? Given what we know if he had got good legal advice I am sure he could have walked away with not punishment.
I still think the police should be doing their job and protecting the public from serious and violent crime.
whitecrook said:
Finally the voice of reason. I can't stand those adverts that they make you watch in the cinema despite paying good money. You wound't steal a car...a bag...so on...
Downloading a movie/song/game whatever isn't theft it is copyright infringement. Nothing has been stolen. Why can't those thickos that make the adverts understand this? It isn't hard.
The problem I have with the whole anti-piracy gig from the RIAA, the MPAA etc is that they basically have red faces, they've pretty much been proven that the money they ask for movies and music is ludicrous, if the general public can move it around the globe with no cost then what are we paying the company for... IP... IP is ovverrated, when was the last time you saw christina aguilerra begging on the street because music pirates took all her money? Still living the high life? Think so, instead of being all 20th century on the issue they should think of ways to give the consumers what they want with in-home services...
For example, you can get an unlimited pass for the cinema to see as many movies as you want for £10 a month, so why not have an inhome service where they pay £10 a month and can download via a bittorret service as many titles as they wish? Why would anyone go to the peddlers on the street asking £2 - £5 per DVD?
For example, you can get an unlimited pass for the cinema to see as many movies as you want for £10 a month, so why not have an inhome service where they pay £10 a month and can download via a bittorret service as many titles as they wish? Why would anyone go to the peddlers on the street asking £2 - £5 per DVD?
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Burly said:
Yet you can pay lovefilm, blockbuster, er..rainforest et al a tenner a month and rent plenty of movies for as long as you want.
I think the greedy movie and music industry could lower the prices by a hell of a lot and still make plenty of profit. It's just their little "celebrities" would not be able to live in such large "cribs" and drive so many flash cars!
My heart bleeds...
Double Jeopardy would probably come into play here... although that may only apply if you've been acquited the first time round and if you've been convicted then it might not even be relevant, as you'd have spent your punishment. I should have paid more attention in my law lectures.AthlonTom said: