Software Piracy Seen as Normal 1032
Spad writes "The BBC is reporting that people don't see downloading copyrighted material as theft, despite concerted efforts by the games, music and movie industries to convince them otherwise. The report, titled Fake Nation, claims that '[People] just don't see it as theft. They just see it as inevitable, particularly as new technologies become available...The purchase of counterfeit goods or illegal downloading are seen as normal leisure practices,' However, they also found that while people are generally not buying counterfeit software from dodgy dealers on street corners, they are still happy to purchase them from people they know at the office/pub/school in addition to downloading them.
Nobody can really be that suprised by the 'popularity' of downloading pirated software, but I was a little thrown by the apparent willingness of people to pay for pirated copies of it."
Not surprising (Score:5, Informative)
propaganda (Score:5, Informative)
Here (germany) these TV-commercials are as bad as the mainstream (streamlined) popmusic. They are without heart. In cinemas they often get booed at. They are even less convincing than the products these guys want to sell.
piracy is just a natural phenomenon (Score:4, Informative)
> [People] just don't see it as theft. They just see it as inevitable, particularly as new technologies become available...
Userfriendly has hit the nail on the head with this explanation [userfriendly.org] of the economics of software piracy. The costs of piracy had hit companies way back in late nineties, these days the piracy factor is calculated into the initial pricing. Where I was working before, they had estimated ~19% piracy rate for a mobile phone app. It is slowly starting to become a market force for the software industry - and the companies hate that. (price it too high, we'll pirate !)
The american corporate's blood sucking is slowly starting to show on the economy. what price for - America Inc (specializing in mergers with oil rich countries with dictators) ?.Re:Not surprising (Score:3, Informative)
"i wasn't gonna pay for it anyway, so it's not stealing"
because it isn't stealing.
Breach of contract isn't theft (Score:5, Informative)
In order for something to be theft, there has to be an "intention to permanently deprive". You have to take something away from someone. That's the legal definition.
If you copy something, the original is still perfectly usable. Nobody is deprived of the original for a moment.
The copyright "industry's" attempts to equate breach of copyright with theft has fallen upon deaf ears because people aren't that stupid; they know the analogy is stupid from the start.
Bodies which name themselves using the phrase "copyright theft" are open to public ridicule, because everyone knows that breach of copyright absolutely not the same nor even similar to theft.
Re:Not surprising (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Not surprising (Score:5, Informative)
" 2 fig. The appropriation and reproduction of an invention or work of another for one's own profit, without authority; infringement of the rights
conferred by a patent or copyright. "
It goes on to illustrate this with a few quotation, the earliest of which dates from 1771.
Re:Not surprising (Score:3, Informative)
It's not "piracy" in the traditional sense, the GP post is accurate on this point. The OED definition (note the 2 at the beginning, denoting a 2nd meaning) was intended to explain current usage of the word. i.e. It's not piracy, but we're gonna call it that anyways, so the definition of piracy needs to be updated to include the new meaning.
Re:NEWS FLASH! (Score:2, Informative)
It's not "theft", it's "copyright infringement" (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Not surprising (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Not surprising (Score:5, Informative)
theft (n)
the action or crime of stealing.
steal (v)
verb (past stole; past part. stolen) 1 take (something) without permission or legal right and without intending to return it. 2 give or take surreptitiously or without permission: I stole a look at my watch. 3 move somewhere quietly or surreptitiously. 4 (in various sports) gain (a point, advantage, etc.) unexpectedly or by exploiting the temporary distraction of an opponent.
piracy is not just a naval term (Score:3, Informative)
Re:BBC = _British_ Broadcasting Corp (Score:3, Informative)
I'm not quite sure where you got this information from, but I don't believe it to be true. Downloading of copyright data without the copyright owner's consent almost certainly is "making an unauthorized copy" under the meaning of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act. It is typically a civil offense, for which you can be sued by the copyright owner. Also, there are many additional circumstances that can turn it into a criminal offence. I recommend you read the act; it is available somewhere on the hmso.gov.uk web site -- google for it.
That's why we pay a levy on blank media.
There is no levy on blank media in the UK. The only country I'm aware of that has this system is Canada, although I'm sure there are others.
Re:164 year old prophecy comes true (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Not surprising (Score:3, Informative)
Where the fuck did you get that cockamamie idea? You clearly have absolutely no idea how electricity works. If I don't turn on my 1200kW arc furnace, that's 1.2MW of load that doesn't need to be carried by a turbine somewhere. The water behind the dam, the coal or gas for the boiler, or the uranium in the core needed to generate that 1.2MW is subsequently not used. You're a fucking moron.
Re:Yo douchebag (Score:2, Informative)
If you have any doubts about the definition of theft and piracy, just look to recent court actions.
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20040205
I like the judge's rebuke:
"Let me say what I think your problem is. You can use these harsh terms, but you are dealing with something new, and the question is, does the statutory monopoly that Congress has given you reach out to that something new. And that's a very debatable question. You don't solve it by calling it 'theft.' You have to show why this court should extend a statutory monopoly to cover the new thing. That's your problem. Address that if you would. And curtail the use of abusive language."
The judges here clearly viewed the use of 'theft' or 'piracy' to be an abuse of the terms, and I do as well. To equate making an unauthorized copy of a 3 minute song with actual theft or piracy is a slap in the face of everyone who's ever been robbed or an actual victim of piracy.