Interesting article:

http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20020919.html

Key quotes:

"'We have 100 percent coverage of peer-to-peer file sharing,' Ishikawa claims. 'If you are illegally sharing copyrighted materials, we know who you are.'"

"'There are people on the Net offering 50,000 to 60,000 files at a time for sharing. These people will get busted for sure.'"

"According to Ishikawa, we'll see major arrests in October of people who have been illegally (and flagrantly) sharing movies. With the evidence already gathered, the game is afoot, meaning this week is too late to stop sharing those movies and expect to get away with it. This might be a good time to get a lawyer."


...

This is the most ludicrous thing. You can rent pristene quality DVDs from Blockbuster for $3.50!! For some reason they are cracking down on predominantly cruddy-quality, or gigantic files that are extremely difficult to transfer. Are they going to come after me for taping movies off HBO next? Network TV? What if I leave the adds in?

Are they really losing money off "Attack of the Clones," "Lord of the Rings," "American Pie 2," and "Coyote Ugly" due to filesharing? What's more, are filesharers making money from sharing? GIVE ME A BREAK.

Until consumers have 30 foot screens in their homes, what is the problem??

Despite "letter of the law" issues, the reality is these are multi-million dollar PROFIT movies (well, except for Coyote Ugly perhaps), and the studios want more. They are, in effect, shaking down their customers for quarters.

Here's another quote:

"BayTSP is paid anywhere from $200 to $50,000 per month by owners of intellectual property -- primarily software companies, movie studios, and record companies -- to find who is illegally copying, distributing, or helping to distribute without permission their intellectual property."

Which industries are paying that $50,000 per month do you think?

Music sharing may be another issue, but SHUT UP HOLLYWOOD!


I say, boycott the next horrible, hyped up blockbuster. Seriously.

Gratis

I don' t think the little guy is at risk yet, however it IS currently illegal to share (without profit) more than $1,000 worth of copyrighted material every six months.

I don't know anything about BayTSP, but I don't think it's a fly-by-night operation:

"BayTSP tracks for the FBI the global carriage of kiddy porn. When a big child pornography bust takes place, it is generally on the basis of evidence gathered by BayTSP. "

"Dmitry Sklyarov [was] arrested at the 2001 DefCon security conference in Las Vegas for violating the DMCA by showing how to circumvent copy protection in Adobe's eBook software. The arrest was made on information supplied by BayTSP."


The "according to Ishikawa" quote regarding the FBI didn't really strike me as questionable. It seems to be the author making it clear that it's hearsay as opposed to a quote from the FBI. I assume the FBI has many theories about terrorist activities, and probably has told BayTSP "to look out for specific things."


I'm not being an alarmist, I just thought this was interesting especially to people who are, in fact, breaking the law.

In Germany we are allowed to download copyrighted material for "private" use but you are not allowed to UPLOAD it.

Yes its right filesharers who like copyrithed material are "guilty".

Morgwen

Yes I know this is German law.

An other example, you are allowed to use drugs but you aren´t allowed to own them.

Morgwen

I should have said that I was quoting US law.

This law is the NET (No Electronic Theft) act which (I think) is the current amendment of US copyright law http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/506.html

I posted about it here http://www.gnutellaforums.com/showth...threadid=13521

It says that anyone who "infringes a copyright willfully" by

1. reproducing or distributing copyrighted matierals for profit (including barter arrangements) or
2. reproducing or distributing, "during any 180-day period, of 1 or more copies... of 1 or more copyrighted works, which have a total retail value of more than $1,000,"

can be punished by various fines/jailtime.


I don't understand this $1,000 figure. What does "total retail value" apply to: "the copies" or the "copyrighted works?" What is the retail value of an MP3? Can I reproduce or distribute unlimited numbers of one copyrighted work if its retail price is below $1,000?

Then it says "evidence of reproduction or distribution of a copyrighted work, by itself, shall not be sufficient to establish willful infringement." ???


This is why I don't understand how ISPs can cancel accounts legally. The DMCA (digital millennium copyright act) says that ISPs who are aware of infringing activity must remove infringing content. However, how are they establishing infringement?


The RIAA site leaves this $1,000 information out somehow.

( http://www.riaa.org/Copyright-Laws-4.cfm )


Ahhhhh law.

Yes I know.

But this is an international forum, so I thought it is helpfull to post other laws too... I know only the German law.

Morgwen

I was wondering that myself. Out of those $1000, how many mp3s do you get? Besides, $1000 is not the same everywhere. For example, until this December and for the last eleven years, US$ 1 = 0.999 Pesos, but now US$ 1 = 3.60 pesos, so a CD that used to cost US$ 20 now it costs US$ 5.55 (but it still costs 20 pesos).

Another thing, how far can an US law affect me? AFAIK, you can't arrest me or fine me for something that I did here, as I'm not inside the US.

Ivan
"In the dark we make a brighter light"

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