Ph!N:D [er]

“

I feel that people are continually missing the point when it comes to "piracy" and all these attempts by the US government and entertainment industry to reduce it.

I had better explain first what "piracy" is in this context, it is the act of infringement of the rights to copy a work that is protected by law.

Thats all it is, copying something when you don't have the right to.

We have copyright as a system to encourage new creative works, artists and others will be assigned sole rights to reproduce their works for a period of time, this part everyone knows.

The part people forget is that copyrights are supposed to end, the created works are supposed to enter the public domain, and the artists are supposed to be encouraged to produce a steady stream of new work, rather than just living off of their one hit wonder.

Of course these days, artists sell their rights to the big corporations who handle all the hard work of duplication and distribution, they see these works as their money train and have fought hard to extend the duration of copyright "for the artist".

"So what about piracy, which is what I asked about in the first place?" you ask.

Ways to reduce piracy already exist, Steam is one and I'm sure you can think of others, but it's not about reducing "piracy", it never has been, and the effect of "piracy" is massively overblown, we have all seen the numbers the RIAA and MPAA use and we already know they are bogus.

When head people in the entertainment industries call the purchase of second hand DVD's "piracy", when they claim losses on major films, when they sue old ladies with no Internet, and when they push for new laws in secret it becomes clear what all this is about.

Greed, control, arrogance, entitlement and no small amount of desperation.

How dare you rip your CD's? how dare you buy second hand? how dare you walk past that billboard the company spent money on and not buy their overpriced, DRM'd, rootkitted plastic pop product?

These bastards are going to fight tooth and nail and use any and all underhanded tactics they can in order to control what you buy, what you see, and if they get their way, what you think and do.

"Piracy" is an excuse, "the children" is an excuse, and your government loves it because they get to control what you do as well, and if recent events are anything to go by they are forcing it down the throats of every other country any way they can.

You want to know what we can "do" about "piracy"? fucking ignore it and go after the real criminals, extending copyrights is theft, suing for thousands over a few songs is theft, taking away our rights "for the children" is theft.

The Internet, our rights and the rights of our children, and free speech are under attack, not just in the US but worldwide.

We all have to do something.

– sal_vager 

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Reposted from datenwolf via 02mydafsoup-01