Limewire

[Mahone]

well free and easy are very huge factors, the next factor I would vote is availability issues-the "I want to see this now" factor. generally quality, lack of ads, or the ability to skip parts take a back seat to those influences.

This is true also. Some countries have to wait quite some time afterwards for movies to be released in their country.

sometimes, sometimes it's porn with that name on it

This can also be true, but you can generally have a good idea of what it is you are downloading. If you know it's a single 4 minute MP3, you're going to be looking for around 4-7MB in size. Anything much bigger or smaller isn't what you want.

If you want a movie file, depending on resolution and codec, you could be looking anywhere between 700MB and 7GB.

It can be the real deal altho usually with asian subtitles, and sometimes its the real deal with malware embedded in it. with peer to peer filesharing, you ultimately don't know what you're getting .

With bittorrent, you get user reviews of the torrent file too.

actually the majority of piracy is someone buying or getting their hands ona good or high quality DVD and have the equipment and or software to bypass the the copy protection , and then ripping it. File sharing that ripped copy makes the problem worse.

Exactly, hence why the adverts making piracy look like people recording movies in cinemas on tape based camcorders are extremely outdated.

Some people don't have the knowhow or technical expertise to bypass the copy protection, and there are many different types of copy protection, like purposely corrupting data within the DVDs so that copied versions of it will break. Sometimes it requires expensive hardware in order to be able to bypass that copy protection. Getting it via a filesharing program is far easier, so even if they do own the DVD, they will still have to download a pirated version to get it onto their computer so they can stream it to their iphone, as an example.

I prefer the itunes model- it's a little more secure. things like spotify are great as long as they have the means to pay for each copy thats downloaded, or if they have made arrangements with the copyright holders... but relying on advert income is a bit of a gamble (altho good if you can do it right).

I don't like the idea of DRM - at all. Until it's DRM free, I wouldn't use it.

most of the time but not always. I"ve had malware embedded inside files with other extensions other than .exe

You can get media files which require you to download an infected codec, you can also get files which may exploit a bug in the program you use to play the file, but generally no, it's not possible to attach an excutable file to MP3 files, or AVI files etc. Providing you are fully updated with your OS and software and use common sense, you'll be fine.

Edited October 28, 2010 by Mahone

[RachelleDrew]

Then why do you do it?

/QUOTE]

Because I want to. That's my answer.

On another note, why is it legal for me to share everything else I own with friends and family...but I cannot share with strangers? How is that different? I bought it, why can't I share it? SOMEBODY on Limewire paid for those tracks of music, if they PAID for it they aught to be able to use it as they see fit. If they want to open their computer files up for sharing, they paid for it so it's their business.

Oh my goodness, I shared my David Bowie CD with my brother the other day! HEAVENS NO, WHAT HAVE I DONE???

[RachelleDrew]

Besides, Torrents are better anyway.

[Dravin]

Then why do you do it?

/QUOTE]

Because I want to. That's my answer.

On another note, why is it legal for me to share everything else I own with friends and family...but I cannot share with strangers? How is that different? I bought it, why can't I share it? SOMEBODY on Limewire paid for those tracks of music, if they PAID for it they aught to be able to use it as they see fit. If they want to open their computer files up for sharing, they paid for it so it's their business.

Because that isn't how copyright works. When you purchase a physical CD the medium is yours to do with as you wish, which is why you can loan a copy to a friend without legal issues. However, when you buy music you don't (unless stipulated in the purchasing agreement) buy a right to copy it. That was granted to the person making copies (from the person who created to work to begin with) be it a CD or an MP3 (or novel), but not to you. There are of course exceptions built into the law such as fair use, but that is the quick and dirty of why it is okay to loan a CD but not make and distribute copies.

If you are making an ethical argument (as opposed to talking about the law). Do you believe it is justifiable for someone to purchase a novel (still in copyright) and photocopy (or otherwise duplicate) the entire work and distribute it to their friends? What about a business duplicating and selling copies? If not, why not? If so, then congratulations, you're consistent.

Edited October 28, 2010 by Dravin

[talisyn]

Nazis vs. Pirates. A tale as old as time...

[Blackmarch]

Nazis vs. Pirates. A tale as old as time...

and you didn't even see the ninjas ....

[DigitalShadow]

Because that isn't how copyright works. When you purchase a physical CD the medium is yours to do with as you wish, which is why you can loan a copy to a friend without legal issues. However, when you buy music you don't (unless stipulated in the purchasing agreement) buy a right to copy it. That was granted to the person making copies (from the person who created to work to begin with) be it a CD or an MP3 (or novel), but not to you. There are of course exceptions built into the law such as fair use, but that is the quick and dirty of why it is okay to loan a CD but not make and distribute copies.

If you are making an ethical argument (as opposed to talking about the law). Do you believe it is justifiable for someone to purchase a novel (still in copyright) and photocopy (or otherwise duplicate) the entire work and distribute it to their friends? What about a business duplicating and selling copies? If not, why not? If so, then congratulations, you're consistent.

Out of curiosity, what are the legal/ethical implications of recording something off the radio? You didn't buy it, it was freely broadcast over the airwaves. Is it still illegal and/or unethical to reproduce the copy that you made just from what was freely broadcast to you? If the music you are caught "stealing" was originally from a radio source, does it make a difference? Why or why not? As far as I know, you don't enter any sort of agreement or contract when turning on a radio.

[Wingnut]

and you didn't even see the ninjas ....

Well, clearly. If she'd seen them, they wouldn't have been ninjas worth seeing anyway.

Edited November 2, 2010 by Wingnut
correct tense

[Dravin]

Out of curiosity, what are the legal/ethical implications of recording something off the radio? You didn't buy it, it was freely broadcast over the airwaves. Is it still illegal and/or unethical to reproduce the copy that you made just from what was freely broadcast to you? If the music you are caught "stealing" was originally from a radio source, does it make a difference? Why or why not? As far as I know, you don't enter any sort of agreement or contract when turning on a radio.

My understand, which could be flawed, is that the law allows one to make a copy of the radio or television (for private use). Probably because it is broadcast (well if you don't have cable) to you regardless.. A quick search is turning up a yes it is legal with some citing Audio Home Recording Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia as solid justification. I don't know the act in question to know if such claims are justified or not, but the claims of yes coincide with everything I've been told to date.

Make no mistake, I am not an expert at copyright law.

Edited November 2, 2010 by Dravin

[RachelleDrew]

Because that isn't how copyright works. When you purchase a physical CD the medium is yours to do with as you wish, which is why you can loan a copy to a friend without legal issues. However, when you buy music you don't (unless stipulated in the purchasing agreement) buy a right to copy it. That was granted to the person making copies (from the person who created to work to begin with) be it a CD or an MP3 (or novel), but not to you. There are of course exceptions built into the law such as fair use, but that is the quick and dirty of why it is okay to loan a CD but not make and distribute copies.

If you are making an ethical argument (as opposed to talking about the law). Do you believe it is justifiable for someone to purchase a novel (still in copyright) and photocopy (or otherwise duplicate) the entire work and distribute it to their friends? What about a business duplicating and selling copies? If not, why not? If so, then congratulations, you're consistent.

Yup. I have no problem with that either.

[RachelleDrew]

Out of curiosity, what are the legal/ethical implications of recording something off the radio? You didn't buy it, it was freely broadcast over the airwaves. Is it still illegal and/or unethical to reproduce the copy that you made just from what was freely broadcast to you? If the music you are caught "stealing" was originally from a radio source, does it make a difference? Why or why not? As far as I know, you don't enter any sort of agreement or contract when turning on a radio.

That's a good point. I have no idea what the laws are regarding that. As a kid, I used to use my tape player to record songs off the radio all the time.