US goes on offense against digital piracy

Originally posted by Glz00
If you use Peer Bocker you can see who can see you,

Looks like a handy tool, US jail looks nasty!

Can you ? How can you be 100% certain who is on the other end. People put way too much faith into solutions like this and sit back unabated.

brill

i download movies why because every single dvd o buy sputters and skips after being played one time. i download tv shows because the tv shows i like all come on when i am at work. and don't say why don't you get netflicks because i got it but all the new stuff is only available on dvd.

Originally posted by Romanian

Originally posted by THE_PROFESSIONAL

Now corporations can have the right to donate money to congress

Wow, did not know this one. So, what is the point of electing a government then? This destroys the concept of democracy ! Like it was not bad enough, the representative democracy was a half fraud already!

Well there you go. The truth is democracy itself was and is a fraud, sadly we dont know how the ancient Greeks, did with there version of democracy, this current version of democracy that america is pushing and forcing upon the middle east is the same one, as it is in eupore.


The European union is a falling empire, it would be the same for the middle east, if they push ahead with this nonsense that is democracy.


corporations have more then the governments.

I think we're all dodging one of the main issues (besides the huge economic crash we're in): media releases of all kinds from music to films have been stagnating over the last two decades. I've seen about 3 or 4 movies in the last 10 that should have even been made. We're being sold remakes, spin-offs, sequals, and rip-offs of classic movies merely updated with more drug use and perversion turning half of what we see into softcore porn bloopers, occasionally with a gun thrown in. Now this is a wide generality but it makes me think of the story of the monkeys writing shakespeare, we got the good movies way back in the day and now we're getting whatever was spared from the incinerator. Musically it's not much different, computerized vocals over a computerized beat. Why pay for something that requires no thought or talent? As with movies there are a few different bands out there I have great respect for, they get my money, the rest of them should get a real job and stop relying on electronics.

In terms of software...oh where to begin, the large list of pre-shipped and some still unpatched vulnerabilities is reason number one. Why pay for something when it's already broken? Next would be the outrageous prices for certain types. Microsoft office, used for just about everything related to business on a windows based system will set you back 150 -200, thats even with a student/teacher discount. Photoshop, a few hundred, the Master Collection, I believe was about 3500 a few months ago. The visual studio ide/compiler will set you back 700, and these are just a few which are required for many school/college coursework these days. I'm going to leave out the os, it's the most vulnerable piece of software but usually comes with the computer when you buy it from a store (but still too expensive for the rest of us, especially if you have any plans on abiding by the eula, if you're reading this I highly doubt you are though).

Sorry for this (probably fairly belligerent) rant, but if they want to cut down on piracy, they need to get these corporations to come out with something that's worth the price tag.

I think now days it would be quite stupid if you don't download without a proxy in place. (I'm saying this out of knowledge and not experience )

Streaming content, the viewer should not be liable either as they can state that they accidently came across the link not knowing what the content was in it.

reply to post by Dilligaf28


patriots are rebels....of the best kind

WTF is the point of the NBN in Australia then?
Massivley fast speeds so I can what?... send/receive my email quicker?

The internet is for downloading.
Take away what majority download while at the same time spending the majorities money to make it faster and more accessible

I found this awhile back while I was looking up some info for a friend. Thought you all might enjoy a little info from the RIAA
www.riaa.com...

Originally posted by Caintic
I found this awhile back while I was looking up some info for a friend. Thought you all might enjoy a little info from the RIAA

www.riaa.com...

Looks like they're preparing an argument that "piracy killed the u.s. economy." I wouldn't be surprised if that's how this little "crack down" gets passed.

Originally posted by Agit8dChop
WTF is the point of the NBN in Australia then?
Massivley fast speeds so I can what?... send/receive my email quicker?

I had exactly the same thought the other day, all these bigger and better plans coming out from the likes of Bigpond and TPG, what do they think people are doing with 500gb plans?

Originally posted by JJDoggie84
I wonder if that's why EZTV.IT has been down for a few days... I pray that the grubment hasn't gotten it yet

Theyre based in the Netherlands iirc, and they go down a lot.

btchat should be mirroring..

damn novaking lol

but I dont think the US govt. will do much to 'em..

PeerBlock is an outstanding application that I have been using since it's predecessor PeerGuardian ceased development a few years ago. It does an outstanding job at blocking known government IP ranges, RIAA IP ranges, private surveillance IP ranges, paid informants IP ranges, Military IP ranges etc... The more people that use the service the larger the database of undesireable connections will become. What the Torrent protocol needs is a highly encrypted packet scheme to throw off most ISP packet inspection, something that is currently lacking, however it is getting much better. The throttling of P2P traffic here in Canada by companies such as Bell and Rogers (two companies that monopolize the industry due to nanny state protectionism regulations) basically drove people to use download sites like RapidShare where instead of downloading a show or two of '24' every week via BitTorrent, they now download multiple seasons within just a few hours. Thier throttling bascially backfired on them.

The fact of the matter is many people hardly use BitTorrent sites any longer and have moved onto online download services where files are uploaded by so many users so quickly the download sites like RapidShare can't keep up with so called "pirated" files and remove them. Files are downloaded using standard HTTP and can be encrypted via SSL if you so desire, therefore ISP's simply see standard HTTP download traffic. For every file that is complained about by "spies", 100 copies of the same file are uploaded in it's place. It would be completely futile trying to stop it and would literally take an army of IT people in the thousands to constantly monitor traffic. Being a musician myself who has worked on everything from TV commercials to video games, without people downloading my music over the years I never would have been able to break into the industry. An industry where it's not how good you are but how good looking you are and who you know. For many electronic musicians the sharing of music is the only way of getting recognized.

Leahy's Protect IP Act (PIPA) or the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act," (COICA).

A BILL that all INTERNET USERS and CONTENT WRITERS WORLDWIDE should be very concerned about....

Read the bill here:
leahy.senate.gov...
www.techdirt.com...

Leahy's Protect IP Act is NOT about:
Whether LEGITIMATE copyright infringement or piracy is acceptable or not. I presume most already know that piracy, and the like, are criminal acts and breaking them can lead to fines, prosecution, jail time and civil suits. So, I think all who read this knows piracy is a CRIME with repercussions.

Leahy's Protect IP Act is MORE about:
A loosely worded law being enacted (or in this case, online rights and liberties being taken away). Even the name of the bill is misleading.
A bill like this WILL lead to widespread ABUSE and CENSORSHIP towards websites and website visitors that are NOT committing any acts of piracy.
Read the language in the bill if you question this statement. The extreme vagueness of the bill is the reason it was not passed THIS TIME. Yet, it will reappear - without a doubt.

Also, more than likely, there will be little or no accountability or repercussions from wrongful or erroneous "policing" or "censorship" actions due to these newly enacted laws. Every persons online activity will be at risk of becoming monitored, taxed, fined, or worse. Even those NOT perpetrating piracy. Eventually most online liberties as well as privacy will be stripped away all together under the guise of big medias "piracy" protection and regulation. It's like the future Patriot Act for the Internet.

To stop "piracy", the government must remove "privacy". It's that simple.

I believe in LEGITIMATE copyright protection WHEN it is financed by the media companies who wish to protect THEIR privately owned copyrighted materials through CURRENT legal methods (litigation, subpoenas, etc). I do not believe taxpayer money and government resources should be used to assist private companies in protecting private assets or maintaining profitability. This bill benefits and protects the media industry. Now what about US citizens?

When did the US gov decide to start using taxpayer money to protect private corporate assets (I.E. copyrights, intellectual property, etc) instead of focusing on protecting a persons constitutional rights? Yes, the government is attempting to prevent a (non-violent) crime of piracy and Theft of Intellectual Property - yet I think there are many more pressing issues that should be focused on with the diminishing US financial resources.

The US Gov is already seizing domains, without notice, that are NOT violating current piracy laws. Imagine what will happen when more aggressive "piracy" laws are passed?

ICE Seizes Domains, Including Sites Not Hosting Pirated Content:
www.digital-digest.com...
www.rawstory.com...

More information about the Protect IP bill:
news.cnet.com...
blogs.forbes.com...
news.cnet.com...
www.eff.org...
www.techdirt.com...
www.eff.org...
www.examiner.com...

They can never regulate the internet.. Even if they did somehow find a way it would scew them over.. do you really think the whole US population would sit back while they shut down the internet? Nope that would spark a revolution and they know that.. Im sure they are just trying to scare folks into not downloading anything, I really dont care and I will continue to download whatever I want no matter what law is passed, try and come get me.

reply to post by origamiandurbanism


Well, there are people who want this. After all not all people are criminals who think they don't do any damage by pirating stuff that is sold that a lot of people can live of the money that is made be selling the media.

You know, this forum is always such a "think about the people" forum. Think about the people who have to live on what they make. Cries of how sad it is that so many people lost their jobs - all the while, the same people are going ape# over a very good lawchange that may help so not more people lose their jobs, just because some idiots rather pirate media then pay for it.
Send them all to jail or fine them to hell. Maybe some day those damn pirates learn, what damage they do. After all movies or music aren't made by robots in some facility but by real humans who earn their living with it.

Shadowangel, I hear what you're saying but can you show me who has lost their job because of piracy?

I seriously doubt anyone from Hollywood to Microsoft have lost their jobs because of this issue.

The Hangover 2 just made 140 million dollars in 4 days. Microsoft continues to make a ton of money selling very questionable products. These are the things that get pirated the most.

The bigger picture is how exactly do you stop or enforce piracy? You can't, it's not going to happen, unless the government somehow finds a way to track everyone and then goes through with arresting or fining people, good luck with that. And a 5 year sentence for a 1st time offense? That is absurd and obviously a scare tactic, sort of like when that woman was sued for something like a million dollars for downloading some songs a couple years ago.

I honestly don't even think piracy is that big of a deal except that corporations, Hollywood, etc. are all about pinching every last cent from people, even when they continue to post record profits.

This might be a bad example, but remember when VHS tapes came out and the FBI put that ominous warning at the beginning of every tape? People still shared videos with friends, etc. Hollywood still made a ton of money. File sharing today is the same thing but on a bigger scale and Hollywood continues to make a ton of money.

Personally, as a big fan of movies I find it extremely hard to be sympathetic towards an industry that continually cranks out horrible remakes, sequels and films devoid of any sort of originality or risk taking, but yet continues to reap massive profits.

I'd like to know why this is being done by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) and the Homeland Security Investigations unit. Are they confusing Pirates (arrrrrr) with Terrorists?

While this bill is being sold to the sheeple(us) as the necessary for the fight against online piracy and those poor Hollywood producers who are losing money, I think the reality of the bill is it open all kinds of doors for them to spy on all downloads and uploads, not just pirated movies.

Just another way for Big Brother to check on us.

reply to post by ShadowAngel85


There are "people" who want this law passed?

What people? Do you mean filmmakers, musicians or corporations that OWN copyrighted materials?
If so, that makes perfect sense. If not, then tell me what people? Why would an everyday citizen care about big media profits resulting from a supposed piracy crackdown?

People seem to be trying to spin this as an economic issue or some kind of stimulus to the economy. Please explain how? Is this bill really going to stop or curb piracy? I doubt that. Attempt to gradually Invade privacy, control and censor the Internet and its users. Yes.

There is already very well established laws in place that prosecute, fine and imprison the illegal use of intellectual property (piracy). Just like there are already plenty of laws in place worldwide the allow the discovery and capture of those who commit piracy. So why more? What is the problem with current laws?

Also, what most Americans don't realize is that most piracy happens outside the US and sometimes impossible to enforced by US laws. Have you seen any civil lawsuits that include piracy violators from second and third world countries? I haven't. New American laws will not curb international piracy - where the gravest threat exists.

Protect IP is not a "law change' is a proposal for a new bill that will establish a whole set of new regulations and laws that directly conflicts with constitutional rights. There are already adequate laws in place to combat piracy. Piracy criminals are already being fined and prosecuted. I think anyone not understanding this, needs to investigate this bill a little more.

I own copyrights, yet consider it MY responsibility to protect them from theft, not the taxpayer. Yet, I do expect the law to assist me when I find an offender. Either way, since I'm not big media, I seriously doubt the US Gov is going to protect my intellectual property by running expensive online stings. I doubt I would even get acknowledged by a single return phone call. All those small time filmmakers, musicians, artist, and writers out there - forget about this law ever helping you, unless you are connected with a major media powerhouse.

If it's about "people" and "jobs", then show evidence of that. How is THIS bill going to help save or create jobs? Please explain. Shouldn't the US gov instead write bills that specifically target employment and the economy? There is absolutely no real evidence that substantial job loss is the result of piracy. There are more jobs being lost to global outsourcing.

See: arstechnica.com...

If anyone sincerely cares about job loss then they should be more concerned about bigger economic issues such as outsourcing, wreakless gov spending, excessive corporate salaries, wall street abuse and poor economic policies.

I question the true motives of anyone on this forum who supports or "wants" this bill. Until shown otherwise, I'm just going to presume that any supporters of this bill have some financial gain from this bill - such as increased intellectual property sales resulting in higher profit margins. So, when, and if, this bill ever get passed, get ready to get your hopes and expectations crushed (unless you are in bed with the big media elites).

Originally posted by Dilligaf28
reply to post by Tephra

 

Does it make me a patriot or a rebel that I read this and immediately fired up my file sharing software and started downloading stuff?

A patriotic rebel, the best sort of both types.