Piracy

[Norsefire]

Source: http://www.riaa.com/faq.php

Software piracy is a massive problem today. Record and production companies lose billions per year due to piracy.

One credible analysis by the Institute for Policy Innovation concludes that global music piracy causes $12.5 billion of economic losses every year, 71,060 U.S. jobs lost, a loss of $2.7 billion in workers' earnings, and a loss of $422 million in tax revenues, $291 million in personal income tax and $131 million in lost corporate income and production taxes. For copies of the report, please visit www.ipi.org.

People work hard to produce the music and movies that you enjoy; thus it is unjust and immoral to steal it. And piracy is theft, just like going into a store and shoplifting is theft.

Hopefully, you all agree with me thus far; now, what to do about piracy? Honestly, it does not seem to me like people are doing anything major to fix it.

Technologically, can't there be a way whereby we can store the data and make it unbreakable? And the software should, upon executing, send reports to the company, and if it is unregistered, the company will know.

Legally, we need to make it more practical for the companies to sue. Right now, they will lose alot of money suing pirates; instead, it should be that if a record company sues a pirate and wins, the pirate has to pay the legal fees of the company as well as additional compensation at a minimum of, say, $10,000 per megabyte of pirated software.

Of course, we could also introduce capital punishment for piracy; though that would be difficult to enforce, and I am sure I am alone on that stance (since we must be sympathetic to the criminal, of course!)

 

[cosmictraveler]

Source: http://www.riaa.com/faq.php

Software piracy is a massive problem today. Record and production companies lose billions per year due to piracy.



People work hard to produce the music and movies that you enjoy; thus it is unjust and immoral to steal it. And piracy is theft, just like going into a store and shoplifting is theft.

Hopefully, you all agree with me thus far; now, what to do about piracy? Honestly, it does not seem to me like people are doing anything major to fix it.

Technologically, can't there be a way whereby we can store the data and make it unbreakable? And the software should, upon executing, send reports to the company, and if it is unregistered, the company will know.

Legally, we need to make it more practical for the companies to sue. Right now, they will lose alot of money suing pirates; instead, it should be that if a record company sues a pirate and wins, the pirate has to pay the legal fees of the company as well as additional compensation at a minimum of, say, $10,000 per megabyte of pirated software.

Of course, we could also introduce capital punishment for piracy; though that would be difficult to enforce, and I am sure I am alone on that stance (since we must be sympathetic to the criminal, of course!)

The actual artists that make whatever it is that is recorded make very little of the profits from the actual recordings because the industry only allows them to receive about 3 to 5 percent of what the industry makes from whatever it is they record. Is it "fair" that those who do all the actual work get so little while those at the top take it all for themselves? This is, to me, a far better question to ask. Most entertainers make the bulk of their money from live performances, not CD's or other recordings.

 

[Norsefire]

The actual artists that make whatever it is that is recorded make very little of the profits from the actual recordings because the industry only allows them to receive about 3 to 5 percent of what the industry makes from whatever it is they record. Is it "fair" that those who do all the actual work get so little while those at the top take it all for themselves? This is, to me, a far better question to ask. Most entertainers make the bulk of their money from live performances, not CD's or other recordings.

I know that, but how is that relevant at all to the issue? Piracy is still theft, and artists will still lose money.

 

[codanblad]

i agree more should be done, maybe they should try and control the media players which people use, and add programs to them which detect pirated stuff and won't play them? if windows was in on it, everytime you go online there's an auto-update of illegal players, and windows won't let you use non-approved piracy friendly players. i clearly know nothing about this kind of shit though.

Of course, we could also introduce capital punishment for piracy; though that would be difficult to enforce, and I am sure I am alone on that stance (since we must be sympathetic to the criminal, of course!)

lol, i hope you're alone on that one, that seems excessive to me. the fines already seem heaps excessive, and its punishing 0.0001% of the perpetrators for what everyone is doing. its clearly not a deterrent cos there's an 'it won't happen to me' mentality and invisible victims.

a loss of $422 million in tax revenues, $291 million in personal income tax and $131 million in lost corporate income and production tax

are you sure you oppose piracy?

 

[Norsefire]

i hope you're alone on that one, that seems excessive to me. the fines already seem heaps excessive, and its punishing 0.0001% of the perpetrators for what everyone is doing. its clearly not a deterrent cos there's an 'it won't happen to me' mentality and invisible victims.

I don't understand the 'excessive' idea. Just don't do crime. Then there isn't a problem; if you do, then you chose to and you will be removed accordingly. Why bother with excessive or not? Don't do crime. That's the idea.

I dunno; call me a strict disciplinarian.

are you sure you oppose piracy?

Yes; I may oppose taxation but I also oppose theft, and they are stealing.

 

[cosmictraveler]

I know that, but how is that relevant at all to the issue? Piracy is still theft, and artists will still lose money.

Artists are paid by what is sold. If something is pirated then it isn't sold therefore no one makes anything. Most artists , like movie actors, are given payment in ADVANCE of their movies being made. Therefore again the artists will not lose anything because they are paid for their work ahead of time of distribution. Look at Avatar, it is grossing all kinds of money, do you think it isn't being pirated right now? I think it is yet they are still making HUGE profits, so who is getting hurt???

 

[Norsefire]

Artists are paid by what is sold. If something is pirated then it isn't sold therefore no one makes anything. Most artists , like movie actors, are given payment in ADVANCE of their movies being made. Therefore again the artists will not lose anything because they are paid for their work ahead of time of distribution. Look at Avatar, it is grossing all kinds of money, do you think it isn't being pirated right now? I think it is yet they are still making HUGE profits, so who is getting hurt???

They are still losing money because of the people that did pirate it, however. It is theft any way you cut the cake; stop trying to make excuses.

 

[codanblad]

I don't understand the 'excessive' idea. Just don't do crime. Then there isn't a problem; if you do, then you chose to and you will be removed accordingly. Why bother with excessive or not? Don't do crime. That's the idea.

I dunno; call me a strict disciplinarian.

can we trust law enforcers/courts etc. enough to give them that power, given both human error and abuse of power? how do you feel about the statement 'power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely'.

society has too many dumb people to let it control people's lives to that extent. where can you go when you disagree with the law, other than the freakin jungle?

Yes; I may oppose taxation but I also oppose theft, and they are stealing.

that was just a joke

 

[Norsefire]

can we trust law enforcers/courts etc. enough to give them that power, given both human error and abuse of power? how do you feel about the statement 'power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely'.

society has too many dumb people to let it control people's lives to that extent. where can you go when you disagree with the law, other than the freakin jungle?

Aren't you the one espousing democracy?:bugeye:


Thus, as I have stated, we must be absolutely ruthless upon those that flout the law. And piracy is a massive problem.

 

[codanblad]

Aren't you the one espousing democracy?:bugeye:

Thus, as I have stated, we must be absolutely ruthless upon those that flout the law. And piracy is a massive problem.

i espouse a chillaxed democracy where dumbasses hopefully get fooled into making chillaxed decisions.

why is society so important to you that you would have people killed simply for having different opinions? people are important. shit happens, at least you don't get killed for downloading the latest jonas bros. song (which i assume we all did).

at the end of the day, i'd rather artists get robbed than have a system imposing capital punishment whenever it feels like it, that kind of power begs to be abused.

 

[Norsefire]

i espouse a chillaxed democracy where dumbasses hopefully get fooled into making chillaxed decisions.

Interesting; well, that is why I am against egalitarianism: don't let the dumb asses vote in the first place! Though let us not digress and instead focus on the topic of piracy.

 

[codanblad]

Interesting; well, that is why I am against egalitarianism: don't let the dumb asses vote in the first place! Though let us not digress and instead focus on the topic of piracy.

ok, well to sum up my argument.

-efforts should be made to make piracy more difficult. (anti-piracy media player idea in prev. post)

-artists/production companies should invest in alternative distribution methods, ie. download stuff online, profit from advertising rather than purchases. we don't live in a perfect world, sometimes you gotta cut your losses.

-laws don't deter if people don't think they'll be caught, aim at increasing detection not increasing punishment. (my views on punishment in prev. posts)

-increase anti-piracy sentiment in schools, kids love propaganda. people who would never shoplift use pirated stuff, perhaps its a matter of making people understand.

 

[Norsefire]

ok, well to sum up my argument.

-efforts should be made to make piracy more difficult. (anti-piracy media player idea in prev. post)

Yes.

-artists/production companies should invest in alternative distribution methods, ie. download stuff online, profit from advertising rather than purchases. we don't live in a perfect world, sometimes you gotta cut your losses.

I suppose.

-laws don't deter if people don't think they'll be caught, aim at increasing detection not increasing punishment. (my views on punishment in prev. posts)

If we do both, then that ought to definitely deter piracy; and as I said, capital punishment for piracy + advanced detection will definitely, more than anything else, reduce the number of pirates. It is sending a clear message to the pirates; and why feel sorry for them? They chose to steal. Don't worry about being 'too excessive'.

-increase anti-piracy sentiment in schools, kids love propaganda. people who would never shoplift use pirated stuff, perhaps its a matter of making people understand.

Definitely.

 

[codanblad]

If we do both, then that ought to definitely deter piracy; and as I said, capital punishment for piracy + advanced detection will definitely, more than anything else, reduce the number of pirates. It is sending a clear message to the pirates; and why feel sorry for them? They chose to steal. Don't worry about being 'too excessive'.

i'd rather people get 'robbed' (robbed suggests violence, intrusion, hence the ' 's) than give the government that power/kill people. i know too many 16 year olds who shoplifted but grew up and became valuable members of society, and 'the system' is a weapon we shouldn't sharpen.

 

[Norsefire]

i'd rather people get 'robbed' (robbed suggests violence, intrusion, hence the ' 's) than give the government that power/kill people. i know too many 16 year olds who shoplifted but grew up and became valuable members of society, and 'the system' is a weapon we shouldn't sharpen.

The government has the power to throw you in prison for life; so it doesn't matter, really. And the government's job is to punish wrongdoers. And why worry if evil men die? That is a good thing, no?

I am not against giving people second chances, but only if they want it. If they don't, then society shouldn't tolerate them. So we must send a clear message to the pirates.

 

[codanblad]

The government has the power to throw you in prison for life; so it doesn't matter, really. And the government's job is to punish wrongdoers. And why worry if evil men die? That is a good thing, no?

I am not against giving people second chances, but only if they want it. If they don't, then society shouldn't tolerate them. So we must send a clear message to the pirates.

they have that power only if you commit the worst kinds of crime, not any crime. in australia life is 25 years or something. i don't believe in good/evil. society is made of people, individuals matter.

other than these points, we're just rehashing, i've already given my views on appropriate punishment, risks/negatives of empowering government etc.

 

[Norsefire]

I find it ironic that you are against more government power and yet you are a left-winger. Though I digress.

But what of the suing idea? We need to make it efficient and practical for the companies to sue individual pirates.

 

[PsychoTropicPuppy]

How about using better marketing strategy?

 

[Balerion]

The internet obviously puts law enforcement, particularly when concerning piracy, at a disadvantage. Unfortunately, there's no real way to prevent such file-swapping. There are ways around every sort of file protection. I guess as long as you're able to copy your music onto your computer, there's going to be a way to pirate it.

The only way, at least in the foreseeable future, to help the recording industry, is to make detection and prosecution easier. But all of that stuff gets into some real gray area itself, so I'm not sure there's ever going to be a good way to stop it.

 

[spidergoat]

They are still losing money because of the people that did pirate it, however.

You can't prove it. You can't count your chickens before they are hatched.