Online File Sharing & Piracy

[Rufys]

I really don't get cases like Megauploads and Kim Dot Com, and now the founders of the Pirate Bay...

clicky linky

It would be exactly like Holden being prosecuted for ram raiding a supermarket because it was a car they manufactured that enabled the crime to be committed.

Technology really isn't understood by those who are legislating and policing it.

[minux]

It would be exactly like Holden being prosecuted for ram raiding a supermarket because it was a car they manufactured that enabled the crime to be committed.

I disagree, unless of course Holden create cars just to be used for illegal activities?

Piratebay are there for one reason, for people to share copyrighted material, illegal software, illegally obtained movies etc. If they started out as a freeware setup, sure, they would have a case, but they did not.

[Rufys]

Fair enough... The name "The Pirate Bay" does infer that it was setup to enable piracy. I get that. But it's a file sharing service and that service itself is not illegal. It only becomes illegal when something that holds a copyright is deliberately shared.

If I provide a service of test shooting a gun at a user provided target that I never get to see (for say analysing the forensics of the fired round), and sets up a living human as a target, it is them that has caused the illegal act and not me. I know that's not an ideal example for comparison but hopefully it conveys what I'm trying to say.

[minux]

Fair enough... The name "The Pirate Bay" does infer that it was setup to enable piracy. I get that. But it's a file sharing service and that service itself is not illegal. It only becomes illegal when something that holds a copyright is deliberately shared.

If I provide a service of test shooting a gun at a user provided target that I never get to see (for say analysing the forensics of the fired round), and sets up a living human as a target, it is them that has caused the illegal act and not me. I know that's not an ideal example for comparison but hopefully it conveys what I'm trying to say.

If the pirate bay moderated what was put in place then sure, I could say it is not to enable piracy. Fact is though, they are aiding criminal activities by providing a non moderated arena to do so. It is the site owners responsibility to moderate. I dare say the courts see it in a similar light.

As for your service for a test fire. You pulled the trigger and as such you would most likely face manslaughter charges with the person placing the target looking at some sort of murder charge.

Online piracy sites cannot really be compared with anything, they are a whole different matter.

[Rufys]

hmmmmmmm....

[87RB30VL]

It's a tough one, because it's a grey area. YES, they own the site which is hosting all these illegal videos, BUT saying that, it's exactly the same as, say, Woolworths at Smith Park [Example area, not real], if it was the place to go to get drugs, would Woolworths be held liable for aiding criminal activities? Pirate Bay etc, are public sites, where anyone can join and post, having said that, Terms and Conditions hold them unresponsible for any illegal activity because you're required to register, which means you ACCEPT THOSE T's & C's.

That's why it's such a grey area. I understand people's opinions on it, though, aiding illegal downloading etc, but it's very hard to pinpoint someone for it. How they blamed the MegaUploads guy is a pretty dog act.

[Rufys]

Pirate Bay do NOT host the content that's being distributed...

[minux]

It's a tough one, because it's a grey area. YES, they own the site which is hosting all these illegal videos, BUT saying that, it's exactly the same as, say, Woolworths at Smith Park [Example area, not real], if it was the place to go to get drugs, would Woolworths be held liable for aiding criminal activities? Pirate Bay etc, are public sites, where anyone can join and post, having said that, Terms and Conditions hold them unresponsible for any illegal activity because you're required to register, which means you ACCEPT THOSE T's & C's.

That's why it's such a grey area. I understand people's opinions on it, though, aiding illegal downloading etc, but it's very hard to pinpoint someone for it. How they blamed the MegaUploads guy is a pretty dog act.

If woolworths were invoting drug dealers a place to use to sell drugs then yes, they would be charged with criminal offences. These sites are doing exactly that, providing a place for people to break the laws.

T & C's mean squat when it comes to legal issues.

[Drawnnite]

Pirate Bay do NOT host the content that's being distributed...

but still they are an accessory to the crime. (remember that from school in like yr 10 =P)
they would know what they are doing is wrong.

im sort of happy this is happening but sort of not.
hopefully it will bring the people who deserve it the right royalties.
but at the same time it will mean allllways buying everything.... so prices may end up going up.

for the record *pun not intended* i still go into a shop and buy a cd. or buy a cd from online cd stores (cds you cannot get here)

[87RB30VL]

So, on this accessory to criminal activities thing, does this mean that YouTube should be shut down, and the founders arrested, because you can go on YouTube and watch Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 etc of heaps of movies?

[Drawnnite]

So, on this accessory to criminal activities thing, does this mean that YouTube should be shut down, and the founders arrested, because you can go on YouTube and watch Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 etc of heaps of movies?

im not 100% sure as im not a lawyer. but technically yes they can be.
as they are allowing such copies to occur.
there are many bits and pieces to this though. so i doubt it would ever happen.

but as said before, they knew what they were involved in is illegal (copyright etc laws). and they allowed it to happen, through what they owned.

but are you actually able to "download" said videos directly from youtube?
from my experiences with youtube it's a View only site.

but as you have said yourself, its a massive grey area.
so only time will tell.

[Troy711]

Sadly it looks like the Internet is going to end up a sad and fapless place

[87RB30VL]

but are you actually able to "download" said videos directly from youtube?
from my experiences with youtube it's a View only site.

You can only download via KeepVid [Another website that downloads youtube vids to your desktop in video formats such as mpeg files, etc], but they have no "download" button on their site, although they have the "embed" code displayed on their site, for people to freely and publicly share the videos, official music videos, songs w/ static picture in background [for just the song], etc. But yeah, it's going to be a really really long and painful process. If they are really that ken on cracking down on it, though, they will find any way neccessary to do so.

[87RB30VL]

Strange they've targeted the Pirate Bay, though, since ######## and IsoHunt are such huge sites as well, especially ########. Also, most torrent sites have torrents from many many websites, which makes you wonder why they didn't just pull the plug on all the torrent sites in that particular link.

[87RB30VL]

Also, I just tried a search on ThePirateBay, and it seems to be running fine, so if you were one of the people who enjoy a bit of downloading, you'd better get in quick.

[87RB30VL]

5 Alternatives to The Pirate Bay

[acarmody]

but are you actually able to "download" said videos directly from youtube?
from my experiences with youtube it's a View only site.

Yeah, easily. Realplayer lets you download videos from pretty much any site. Just right-click the video and click "Download Video to Realplayer" or something like that an BAM, its on your hard-drive.

[Verynice]

http://thepiratebay.se/

[minux]

So, on this accessory to criminal activities thing, does this mean that YouTube should be shut down, and the founders arrested, because you can go on YouTube and watch Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 etc of heaps of movies?

Nope, youtube will be covered, they have a moderation item where such material can be reported and will be removed. If youtube staff find anything breaching copyright it will also be removed. There is a difference between moderating and having a free for all, this where tpb stuffed up.

I love being old school, i still use ftp's. If i couldnt download things I would never buy anything. We have almost 1000 original dvd's/blurays, all purchased because we downloaded a movie/concert and enjoyed it.

I am not for what is happening to tpb etc but you would be blind to think it was going to be ignored.

[87RB30VL]

We still buy stuff, like I said in a previous thread [I think it was the MegaUploads thread] if I enjoy a band, I'll buy their CD, if I think a movie looks good, I'll go see it. I remember our cousin downloaded the new Harry Potter movie years ago, I think it was the 3rd movie, before it came out, and the quality was so shit we ended up going to see it at the movies anyway lol.

But the government is stupid to think that they can try to stop piracy/file sharing. It will never stop.

[Rufys]

But the government is stupid to think that they can try to stop piracy/file sharing. It will never stop.

And that's the biggest point really. They gave mininova the ultimatum of removing all illegal content or shutting down. They chose the former and mininova still exists but only with legal material. So everyone (well, a LOT of people) switched to somewhere else like TPB but given the nature of how torrents work, there will ALWAYS be alternatives. The sites are just an index really. The content is on the computers of the global internet community. It can't be shut down one site at a time.

The irony of all this is that if everyone who's whinging about losing revenue from pirated content setup and hosted LEGAL HD ad free copies of the content online and charged a couple of dollars per download the people downloading content for free would become the minority. The iTunes model works! If they all just joined forces and had one big online multimedia shop, it'd word and their revenue would INCREASE.

[Essassin]

Pretty much hit the nail on the head there Rufys. Money is not an issue, pretty much the only reason I download movies and TV shows is to avoid the bloody ads.

The other great thing about a service like you suggested is there wouldn't be any uncertainty about the quality of the files, whether they are corrupt or have subtitles you can't get rid of etc. Even though a lot of torrent sites have a comment and rating system, you still come across dodgy ones from time to time.

Certainty of quality, good download speed (which would be easily provided if they joined forces) and lack of ads would be worth more than a few dollars to me.

[footy]

not to mention 90% of the decent shows worth watching don't come out in australia till milleniums later if not at all+ you have to wait for seasons to finish till you can purchase box sets. filesharing is a wonderful thing.

[MAG00]

The irony of all this is that if everyone who's whinging about losing revenue from pirated content setup and hosted LEGAL HD ad free copies of the content online and charged a couple of dollars per download the people downloading content for free would become the minority. The iTunes model works! If they all just joined forces and had one big online multimedia shop, it'd word and their revenue would INCREASE.

Speaking of money, not spending hundreds of millions of dollars on law suits etc. trying to fight a losing battle would help them save up a considerable amount of coinage as well.

Leave the system as it is you money hungry twats.

[ucwepn]

The argument could be valid as the hoon car of choice for P platers was usually a commodore v8 or a turbo and they outlawed them for P platers. And yes you can easily download from youtube I have downloadhelper addon for mozilla, great to get music vids