Who you calling a pirate?
p2pnet.net News Opinion:- The RIAA, MPAA, et al, like to use the word ‘pirate’ for anyone who doesn’t buy ‘product’ from the Big Five labels or major studios. They also use ‘pirated’ for anything they haven’t sold.
However, there’s a lot more to it than that, as Dutch Legal consultant Raymond Blijd points out in his fk2w.com.
He strongly underscores a point p2pnet has been hammering for ever —– >
FILE SHARING IS NOT ILLEGAL.
He also gives emphasis to another of our oft-repeated phrases ———– >
A download does not equal a lost sale.
Blijd, a freelance legal ICT consultant and legal knowledge system engineer, lives in Amsterdam and you’ll be reading more from him on p2pnet.
In the meanwhile, Pirate?
Now read on >>>>>>>>>>>>>
Who you calling a Pirate?
By Raymond Blijd - From Knowledge to Wisdom
Looking at the news lately it seems like we all attack and rob at sea. Or am I mistaken? What is a pirate, anyway? Lets look at the pirates on the Internet (if there is such a thing) that everybody is talking about. Just to be clear: Is a pirate a copyright infringer?
First, I start looking up the word ‘pirate’ .
Cambridge dictionary states: ‘to illegally copy a computer program, music, a film, etc. and sell it’.
Dictionary.com: ‘One who makes use of or reproduces the work of another without authorization’.
OK. Let’s see what the experts have to say;
The RIAA definition: online piracy is the unauthorized uploading of a copyrighted sound recording and making it available to the public, or downloading a sound recording from an Internet site, even if the recording isn’t resold.(Ed: this will include some forms of streaming; www.riaa.com)
MPAA states: online motion picture piracy is the unauthorized use of copyrighted motion pictures on the Internet. It is illegal to sell, trade, lease, distribute, upload for transmission, transmit or publicly perform motion pictures online without the consent of the motion pictures’ copyright owner. (www.mpaa.org)
Those of you didn’t get the picture (no pun intended) let’s look at this again.
A) Most downloader’s do not sell files; they use files themselves or share them.
B) Authorization isn’t always required when using or reproducing works. US and European laws have broad ‘fair use’ clauses. For example; European laws state that caching and downloading is authorized because without it, we could all stop using the Internet. (Note: I mostly work with Dutch aka European law so I’m leaving the US laws in middle.)
C) Not all sound recording are protected. A lot of recordings are freely distributed by the owners themselves. Examples are the sound loops created for flash files by web designers and made available on flashkit.com.
D) According to (current) Dutch law the sole act of downloading a file (eg, movie) is legal even if it has been illegally obtain and distributed. This is also true according to Canadian law, although the CRIA (Canadian Recording Industry Association) is appealing the decision.
There you have it.
July 20th, 2004 at 4:24 am
May God (not allah) bless the Dutch, who seem to have the fair-headedness to apply the rules with the proper intent.
Here’s hoping the minority government in Canada will not address this issue any time soon, and that people shout out loud if they try to take music away from them.
Music should be free, concerts, should pay the player.
July 20th, 2004 at 4:46 am
Allah means God in Arabic, dumbass. You contradicted yourself.
July 20th, 2004 at 11:26 pm
I Love this website.
July 22nd, 2004 at 8:38 pm
Me too. Btw, shouldn’t have called who wrote that dumbass. Sorry. Was in a bad mood.
Muslims are not bad people in general. When people who say they’re Christians shoot someone or blow stuff up (like the whole country of Iraq), how come people don’t stop & harass them?
Muslims are just the new boogie man designed to dupe people into accepting a Department of Defense that steals 60% of US taxpayer money. A guy gets in office that has 100% ties to the energy/oil industry & defense industry & abracadabra, there’s a war… or oil, natural gas, petrol, & electricity prices go thru the roof, & stupid people are actually making excuses??? How stupid can people be not to notice the xtreme coincidences here??
July 22nd, 2004 at 8:43 pm
The Bush admin. is purposefully bankrupting the govt so the govt cannot enforce any laws that may stop the corporate juggernaut PLUS cut all the social programs that we pay for, then divert OUR money to whatever they want. &, stupid people’ll actually defend this theft.
This is a great, but evil, ploy. It started with Reagan.
July 25th, 2004 at 8:37 pm
Jazz,
I know that you had to set some responcibilities straight in your life,…. I am cool with that, I just am wondering why you did not put my name on the back of the album “Damita Jo”,…. or why you have not looked out for me trying to deal with my responciblies just like you. You see I might have needs and reasons for having you in my life as a blessing from GOD, and I know that you think that I am spoiled so you might be thinking that you are going to break me out of being spoiled and I am actually not spoiled,… I am starving, yes I am hungry for food and the security of having a roof when I go to sleep. I do love to love you with my life and by my own choice and i need your love from you the same way I give my love to you. FETTIE LOVE SINCE i cant listen to music I am gone
July 26th, 2004 at 12:16 pm
This is a great little movieby Jaqueline Salloum…..when I read “Muslims are just the new boogie man” this video came to mind.
http://www.jsalloum.org/planet.wmv
December 24th, 2004 at 9:43 pm
I also agree, All music should be free, and all file downloading should be free – not shareware nor trialware.. It should be all free “freeware with no pay”.
December 24th, 2004 at 10:02 pm
Allah is not the same God of the bible, Allah is the different god from islam, not Biblical Christianity.. Theres only 1 God “Deuteronomy 6:4-5″
More info:
http://www.greatcom.org/laws/
May 19th, 2005 at 2:35 am
I agree with you too. Spyware and Adware is somewhat illegal, why aren’t they working on getting the people that make them?