Source: CNet News. June 30th. Check it out Here.
A week after U.S. Vice President Joe Biden Warned that the government would start cracking down on illegal file sharing, the feds swooped in and seized assets belonging to operators of accused movie-pirating sites.
The government on Wednesday also took control of at least seven of the sites in question: Movies-Links.tv, Now-Movies.com, TVShack.net, Filespump.com, Planetmoviez.com, ZML.com, ThePirateCity.org, Ninjavideo.net, and NinjaThis.net. More than a dozen bank, investment, and advertising accounts were seized, and authorities served search warrants on residences in several different states.
Authorities are searching for operators of the sites as part of an ongoing criminal investigation, according to Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The crimes that the operators are accused of committing weren't clear, but some of the sites are accused of distributing film copies prior to their theatrical release.
As of 3 p.m. PDT, some of the sites were still operating, but government officials said they anticipated the sites would come under government control within hours.
The investigation involved multiple law enforcement groups, including the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and ICE, a unit of the Department of Homeland Security.
Last week, Biden and Victoria Espinel, the U.S. intellectual property enforcement coordinator, told reporters that they wanted to send a message to counterfeiters and pirates that this administration was intent on protecting the nation's intellectual property. Espinel directed a statement at those people who trafficked in phony goods or unauthorized music and movies: "We have committed to putting you out of business."
ICE and the Department of Justice both suggested Wednesday that these types of seizures and investigations are just the beginning.
More to come
That's right boys and girls, the Federal Government is now shutting down websites and Law Firms owned by corporate movie makers are Suing Private Citizens who are using Peer to Peer programs like LimeWire and uTorrent. That's right, they're even shutting down Peer to Peer programs and Suing every day "Joe Blow" users who have downloaded Movies, Games, and MP3's. If you'd like the proof of this happening right now, there's some mess going on about the movie "Hurt Locker" which some guy shared on LimeWire. Now the makers of the movie are Suing the distributers such as the makers of LimeWire and even going as far as to file suite against 5,000 yet un-named people. Don't think they are, that they can't? They ARE!!! Here's Proof!!! The Government themselves have started shutting down domains and are petitioning ISP's for their users names and home addresses so that other law firms can also file suite against home users just for "watching" something online without even having downloaded it to their computer. Seen this picture anywhere lately?
Source: CNet News. June 11th. Check it out Here.
In Arizona, a law firm called White Berberian recently began advertising on its site that it will defend those accused of illegal file sharing by Dunlap Grubb & Weaver. That is the firm, which also goes by the name U.S. Copyright Group, that is filing lawsuits on behalf of filmmakers who claim their movies were pirated by thousands of peer-to-peer users.
In addition to the Oscar-winning film "The Hurt Locker," Dunlap Grubb represents about a dozen movies, including "Far Cry" and "Call of the Wild 3D." The law firm has said that it will sue more than 50,000 alleged file sharers.
So far, it appears thousands of people have received settlement offers from Dunlap Grubb and many are confused about their rights. Typically, people learn about being accused of violating copyright law from their Internet service providers, which inform them that they have received a subpoena to turn over their identity to Dunlap Grubb.
The law firm usually follows up with a form letter informing the accused that someone using their Internet protocol address was illegally sharing one of the films. Dunlap Grubb then tells the accused file sharer that they can settle the case for $1,500 if they move quickly. If they wait, the firm will charge them $2,500 and if they decide to fight it out in court, Dunlap Grubb can ask for up to $150,000
That's right, another 500,000 people are going to be sued. That's Half A Million People!!! Not rich people. Not Hard Core pirates. Not the people who ripped the movie and put it up on the Internet. Normal users or even parents who's kids installed LimeWire and the parents didn't even know what it was, much less that it was technically being used for something "Illegal". LimeWire is just the start too. Now that the Government is in on the action you can bet that all these other Peer to Peer services will be next, and that includes torrents.
It's odd though as I didn't think "Peer to Peer" programs had "Servers" that could be shut down that would stop a program from working but apparently they do. Some how they can shut down programs like LimeWire and uTorrent as well as sue the people who made it and are using it. ISP's are willingly handing over records of everything your IP downloads and every website you visit. Chances are if you even go to what will soon be a "black listed" site your name will go onto a "watch-list" or you'll soon be getting a statement from your ISP quickly followed by a court notice that you are being sued.
YouTube was granted a "Exception" because it actively takes pirated and copyrighted materials down and because it has plenty of content that is "User Made" and not copyrighted. Check out this article on CNet News about the differences between YouTube and LimeWire and how exactly one can be shut down and not the other.
Web copyright: YouTube up, Lime Wire down. Source: CNet News. June 30th
This is only the beginning everyone. The sh!ts hitting the fan and the common people are about to feel the pinch of the Heavy Hand of Corporate Government.
I think perhaps I failed to make my point clear. I wasn't arguing FOR piracy, I was arguing against the anti-piracy arguments/claims. What I'm trying to point out is that one of the primary arguments used by anti-piracy people is crap, and most people know it. As with any debate the goal is to convince the other side you are right. Using clear faulty arguments again and again won't convince people. Also the industry needs to assess the reasons people pirate and deal with it appropriately.
It's similar to the the way children who are never taught WHY they shouldn't do something go wild when they leave home. Threats of punishment are extremely inefficient at deterring behavior when the entity that is in charge of punishment goes away. Piracy is an instance where the ability to punish the people is lacking. So rather than threatening and trying to punish, education is a better approach, but of course that requires facts and proper arguments not the crap I always hear about "losing XXXX$ for ever pirated copy" which everyone knows is false, regardless of what should be.
Further, most people who pirate have some sort of justification they tell themselves and others (not saying it's legitimate) but people are extremely "gifted" at justifying their behavior so they can continue to believe they are 'good people'. Some of these justifications I mentioned in my previous post, and the industry would be well served to pay attention to them and figure out which ones they can eliminate. For example, the "try before you buy" justification can be easily dealt with through demos and honest marketing. Make it so people aren't likely to buy a game and feel ripped off because they were misinformed about what the game was and had no ability prior to purchase to become adequately informed. The "try before you buy" justification is not going to be appropriately dealt with through legal action. That will only further increase the "us vs them" mentality a lot of people have. If the industry goes around slapping people who are already feeling ignored and lied to this is not going to breed good will.
As long as the industry is viewed as an "out-group" by the consumers they will suffer for it. In-group and out-group dynamics are well documented in academic literature and one of the distinguishing features is that people have little to no sympathy, especially not empathy, for those belonging to out-groups. Stardock is again an exception to this. Frogboy makes a point to be considered part of the in-group of gamers rather than cutting himself off and being viewed as "one of them."
So to reiterate in short form, piracy = bad, many arguments against piracy = bad, solution to piracy = complicated and not just law suits all over.
Everybody is making some good points but I feel the financial leverage used by the movie and music industry to pressure the government into doing it's dirty work is wrong. If they feel like they have had their IP stolen then they should use their resources to gather evidence and bring a civil suit. Granted the ball is already rolling and I think we have not seen the worst of this yet, what happens when someone can't meet the settlement price? Do we stock the Federal prisons with illegal file sharers, force the I.R.S. to garnish their wages for life or let the movie and music industry deal with it and come up with a better way to distribute their product? The HDMI encryption for Blue-Ray movies has already been broken so in theory if some one was so inclined, 1080P video can be recorded and duplicated for illegal use. Also if any one is interested in free music and video, check out The Internet Archive http://www.archive.org/ there are tons of free stuff there.
So all in all in a nut shell. In order for it to stop the corporate idiots running the show have to do the right thing by people and we all know that isn't going to happen. Money talks period!
That's what I've been saying all along... government already created the civil courts for them to pursue IP infringements, etc, now they want the government to act as police, judge, jury and executioner as well.
It's one thing for them to want to protect their interests, but to be able to enlist government to become their thugs and bullies is totally wrong. It sets a dangerous precedent, meaning that anyone with enough money can buy laws and 'law' enforcement to suit themselves. Then government is no longer run by the people for the people, but rather it is an extension of corporations.
Yup, the people of the US need to get on to their elected representatives and DEMAND better... or ELSE, find another job. Otherwise, the next US... er,World president is the head of Fox Studios, the VP is head of Warner music, and rest of the world gets flushed down the same shit chute the movie and music moguls are flushing you down right now.
I mean, it's no coincidence that big Arnie became Californian Governor. Today it's California, tomorrow it's the entire US, the day after that it's the world. OK, maybe that's a little melodramatic, but you get the point, right?
I read as I listen to Pandora Radio.
When is our beloved government going to take action and and sue game developers for the out-and-out fraud they inflict upon the gaming community every day? I mean, hell, even the game Elemental doesn't match the box it came in, and obviously was shipped in an unfinished state. When is Brad going to send me a $1500 check?
Maybe us pirates got tired of being ripped off by retards working at software development studios.
Bye
I find it funny that some seem to think their entitled to the IP at a price they want or "Justifiably" they steal it.
lux·u·ry (lgzh-r, lksh-)n. pl. lux·u·ries
ne·ces·si·ty (n-ss-t)n. pl. ne·ces·si·ties
2.
Using the price argument is silly at best for luxuries, u will not die if you dont have the latest 50cent song, or the latest movie. Sure you might not be the coolest kid on the block, but that's the breaks.
All digital data in essence is a luxury, music, movies, etc. no where in the constitution of the US or governing laws of other countries I have read have I seen guarantees of luxury to the general populace.
hell People are starving in the streets but yet here we have folks vehemently defending their "rights" to steal luxuries, and act as if its the corporations duties to provide them at prices they want?? wow step back in to reality folks... U have the right to make music if you wish, not to steal another's music.
If people spent half as much time trying to help with medical reform in this country or other real issues as they do defending their rights to steal "toys", we would all be in a much better place to live..
Jeez how pathetic..
I'm finally going to weigh in on this. I couldn't get through 10 pages of debate.
I'm a software pirate. Not a distributor; a downloader. You can feel however you want about that, myself, as a consumer, got tired of being defrauded by software developers almost all of the times I went to go buy a game. I got tired of grabbing games based upon the screenshots on the box, only to find out the screenshots on the box are nigh on impossible to achieve with the game. I got tired of "actual game play images" being digitally rendered movie cut-scenes that were not part of the other 90% of the 8-bit game I was playing. Blizzard was really good at advertising cut scenes. Except their games didn't suck, so I didn't care. I did learn that "actual gameplay footage" didn't necessarily mean "my gameplay footage." I was actually a reformed pirate, I stopped pirating games because of debates like these, until I picked up a copy of Two-Worlds. "This is what oblivion should have been!" It sounded good, until I realized they had written their own reviews of the game. That was the last game I bought without knowing exactly what I was buying (Except for Elemental, obviously).
I pirated half-life, then bought 4 copies of it. I pirated Heroes III, then bought 3 copies of that, 1 copy of Heroes IV, and 4 copies of Heroes V. I *buy* Stardock games because they have resolved every problem and issue I've had with the gaming industry that drives me to piracy, the wrote the gamers bill of rights, I want to support their anti-DRM, customer service approach to gaming. I *SUPPORT* Stardock's approach to the software gaming genre. Honestly, they write the kind of shit that makes me pirate games, honestly. I also own 2 copies of SINS and 2 copies of Elemental. I support the studio even if I think most of their games suck.
If I buy a crap car, or better yet, a ferrarri with a VW Bug engine, I can return the car, I have civil recourse, I have lemon laws. I take my car to a mechanic for an oil change and instead he pisses in my distributor, I have deceptive trade practices act. I buy any product with mechanical or design flaws, defects or damage, I can return it for an exchange or refund. Software is the *ONLY* product that's sight unseen. Even in the movie industry (I don't pirate movies) I get trailers, teasers, commercials, I get free bits of the movie to give me an indication if I'll like the movie or not. Even in movies, if the movie screws up, I can complain to the manager and get a free movie voucher.
It's not like I can pre-order a car and they ship me a frame with no engine because it's not ready yet. It's not like I go to a movie matine' and find out the third reel is missing because of production costs, and they'll sell it to me at full movie price later as an expansion pack. Even in the business sector, with desktop publishing, programming IDEs, etc. you get a complete and finished product. Yes, it's buggy, it has patches, but it's *DONE*. (with the exception of Windows Millenium). The Software Gaming sector is the only sector which it's deemed acceptable for some reason to defraud it's consumers with unmet expectations and misleading advertisments. Only the software gaming sector is able to sell us an unfinished product at full market price, then sell us pieces of the finished product, not once, but 3 times at full market price 3 times over.
Jafo can be an ass all he wants, go ahead and scream about how illegal it is. Selling me a turd wrapped up in an apple skin is fraud, which is illegal, both civilly and criminally, except the law protects your right to shit in an apple skin and sell it to me without me even being able to see the apple, and giving me no recourse to return the apple or even demand the apple I was expecting. The only recourse I have is to transfer your shit (apple skin and all) unto a new stooge.
There is only so many bites I'm willing to take out of your shit-apples before I pilfer that shit, cut it up, and make sure it's an apple inside before I purchase it. You can QQ all you want about theft, law, right/wrong, you give me civil recourse and laws that protect me from software fraud, then I'll eat my pirate words.
Stardock did exactly that with their gamer bill of rights. That's why I'm buying your shit-apples, even if I hate them. I put my money where my mouth is. I don't pirate your crap. I pirate the other guys' crap that's trying to rip me off with their shovelware. If they have demos, I download the demos. The software developer is *giving* me exactly what I want, the opportunity to try out their game before I fork over a boatload of cash sight-unseen. Fair game, fair call. I download demos a lot. If you're not openly advertising where I can get a demo of your game before I fork over cash sight unseen, I'll *find* a demo somewhere. If that demo happens to be full featured.... If I like the game, I'll buy it. If I'm still playing the demo 2 weeks later, I'll buy it. If I delete your demo off my HDD after 2 hours of gameplay, you haven't earned my $50. Sorry. Try harder next time.
I can say right now, I have no pirated software on my computer *at this moment.* Why? Because I bought everything worth taking up space on my HDD.
I can say I either previewed a demo, played a friend's copy, or illegally downloaded every legal piece of video game software I have on my PC right now before I purchased it too.
You can call it criminal all you want. I call it self-defense.
"So this is how liberty dies: With thunderous applause." Keep clapping guys.
I don't think is is right to steal, be it tangible or digital goods, but I do think it is up the the owners of intellectual property to enforce their rights through the proper channels. When they start sending thugs around to knock on peoples doors they have overstepped the mark and actually lower themselves to the criminal level.
Oh, and I say "thugs" because I saw some (hidden) news footage where representatives of a music company lobbed up on a 57 y/o grandmother's doorstep and made some outrageous threats unless she complied with their demands (for money) Yup, they even threatened to take her car in lieu of the cash... and at one point suggested that she had better not fall asleep. All pretty ominous stuff for a woman who 'd never even used a computer... and all caught on TV news cameras. It was reported that the harassment continued for several weeks and that after the woman died these thugs went after her grandchildren, who had used their laptop computer at the grandmother's home.
The above scenario is why I'm totally opposed to movie and music companies taking matters into their own hands... as in outside the structure of the legal system provided to them. Firstly, to demand monies not proven to be owed for products or services rendered by a given party is certainly extortion; and secondly, there is no guarantee they have the right person... given the rising occurrence of wi-fi theft and various methods illegal file sharers use to avoid detection... proxies and rerouting to other IP addresses, etc. In other words, too many mistake could and would be made.
I guess the question here is, how many of you would like stormtroopers landing on your doorstep with unproven claims to monies owed? You don't necessarily have to have stolen anything/illegally downloaded something... it could be something like NOT having purchased enough while you were at the grocery store. A bit far fetched? Maybe, but if music and movie moguls are allowed to extort monies on peoples doorsteps, when and where does it stop.
That's the thing, while some might see it as their right to steal/download illegally, there are those who are concerned about their diminishing civil liberties and human rights while corporate power and rights expand into their everyday living. I belong to the latter group and believe the greed within capitalism, if unchecked, will be the demise of civilisation as we know it. You can only take until there is no more to give.
I admire your courage, it took guts to be that honest here, and you do make some valid points.
As a software developer, let me say something that might shock a lot of people here: under certain circumstances, software piracy might actually HELP the little guy (the small developer companies). Believe it or not, but a common saying within the software developers community is "You know you've 'made it' when your software gets cracked for the first time".
You see, most smaller software development companies don't have the budget (or the know-how) to make marketing campaigns. You can make the best thing under the sun and it will still be as if it never existed if nobody knows about it. Also, since you can't get everybody to like your stuff (because we are all different), the whole thing is a numbers game: another common (if a bit innacurate) saying in the developers community is that out of 100 people who download your stuff, one will buy it (and 1% is a good percentage, trust me).
This percentage will also vary greatly according to who you are targeting. Distribute your software in China, and your download vs. buyers rate will be nearly 0%. Distribute your software on a community related to what you do, and the percentage might climb to 10% or higher.
Thus, promoting his stuff is one of the most important thing a software developer can do. Until a software company reaches a certain level, it is VERY difficult to get other people (other sites, blogs, news sites, etc...) talking about their stuff, no matter how good the things they do are. There is just 'too much noise' on the Internet, with everybody shouting at the same time in an attempt to get noticed.
So, with 1% in mind, if only 1,000 people download your game/utility/whatever in a month, only 10 people will buy it. 10 sales per month are not enough to make a living. But if 10,000 people download your software, 100 will buy it, things are getting better and if you really love what you do you can now make a living out of it, even if not a very decent one. Lets say this is the norm for the small software developer.
If 100,000 people download your software, on the other hand, 1,000 people will buy it, and that latter number is a whole different ball game. For a small, relatively unknown software company, it is VERY, VERY, hard to get 100,000 people to notice you every month. Usually the numbers are much lower.
Now, with software piracy, the percentage of downloaders vs. buyers will be reduced exponentially. It will no longer be 1%, but, say (and I'm making this up), 0.1%. So, to make the same 1,000 sales, you will now need to reach a million people. On the other hand, because of the nature of software piracy, you don't have to do anything to promote your stuff: the warez community will do it for you. So, instead of reaching only 10,000 people, you might end up reaching a million. At 0.1%, that's 1,000 sales in a single month. If you sell your software for $20 a pop, that's $20,000 right there.
As a software developer, I know one of my best months was when a very high profile warez site placed an entry for the *shareware* version of Winstep Xtreme by mistake! Of course, the numbers would probably have been much lower if it had actually been a cracked copy, but it still demonstrates what I am saying.
How do you think Microsoft Windows got to be the standard OS for billions of people worldwide? Because, at one point, it was also the most pirated software on earth. OEMs, retailers and big companies still had to license the OS from Microsoft, but the average Joe just grabbed the installation disk from a friend.
Of course, once a company reaches a certain level and everybody knows about their stuff, it no longer needs the exposure provided by the warez community. At this point, the difference between 1% and 0.1% is indeed pure loss of revenue.
Now, does this mean I condone software piracy? Of course not!
I'm just pointing another side of the coin that nobody talks about (yeah, I wonder why you'll never hear the RIAA saying this, hehe). In my opinion, the real danger of software piracy is that it gives people a feeling of entitlement, a 'why should I pay for it if I can get if for free'.
If piracy becomes the norm, then nobody will value software or music or whatever anymore, even the people who would normally pay for the stuff they get. And that is why piracy must be fought at all costs, but NOT by charging the *end user* ridiculous fines. I think the fight against software piracy (and many other issues that plague our society) should start in our schools, by educating our kids and teaching them to value the effort of others. That they, too, can get there if they work hard enough.
At most, organizations like the RIAA should go to the source, i.e.; after those who actually *crack* the software, and those who distribute and profit from piracy by putting advertisements on their sites.
Software piracy, like smoking cigarrettes, is actually a cultural thing, after all. In China, for instance, NOBODY will buy your software because they have a different culture where software piracy is accepted and even encouraged. No Western software company will ever make it in China until this way of seeing things changes. But can it be changed? Of course it can - look at what happened with smoking in the US (and is now happening in other countries), where smoking is now frowned upon instead of being regarded as a symbol of style and independence (i.e. the Marlboro man). That's a good thing because smoking is bad for your health and for your pocket (and I'm a heavy smoker, by the way ).
JC: Great post! I guess the difference between me and you is I'll probably be banned come Monday. LOL
I don't advocate theft by any means. Stealing is obviously wrong, otherwise, I wouldn't actually *own* all of my software now. But when people say "piracy" and most people are indeed referring to exactly what I do, "illegally" downloading software. And there is indeed very little distinction between those who steal and those who do not.
I will also agree that the single greatest threat of software piracy is the feeling of entitlement, "I have it, so why should I now buy it." I will, however, point out that in the piracy community, there is a very strong encouragement to "support the developers." Most of the .NFO files I see have notes at the bottom, "Don't be a douche. If you like the software, THEN BUY IT!" or other words encouraging downloaders to support the development companies that made the software to begin with.
Even the ones with less than noble intentions understand that their relationship with software development companies is a parastic one, and as a pirate, they have a vested interest in keeping those companies in business. If *everyone* steals software, then the companies will stop making software to be pirated. So, even in the worst case scenarios, promoting responsible software purchasing decisions is a matter of self-preservation.
Now, I'm not saying pirating is cool, and I'm definitely not advocating software theft. I think software developers should make their buck too.
I'm also saying there are reasons for piracy that do not include theft. I think Stardock has the proper answer to software piracy, remove all the reasons to do it.
It worked for me.
I sincerely hope not (and I would be *very* surprised if you were, hehe). I like the way you think, and a debate is only a debate when you have two or more opposing/different views.
I'm not quite sure about you 'probably being banned by Monday'.
I can do it...and Stardock has a zero tolerance for piracy.
However this is a debate/discussion....so you get to live [here] a little longer yet.
I really am curious what reasons there are for piracy...'that do not include theft'.
If you really think there are some...you are delusional, as are all pirates in the first place....
Laziness...greed....indifference....'sticking-it-to-the-man'....ignorance...petty-mindedness....plain arsehole....
Many.
Please be aware that the site from which you post is owned and managed and paid for by a software developer and hence piracy [of their product] adversely impacts upon yours [and everyone else's] opportunity to participate on this forum.
Bite the hand that feeds you and you'll get a slap.....your parents 'should' have taught you that many years ago....
Jafo, indeed, whatever reasons anybody comes up with, they are really just racionalizations/excuses to something everyone knows deep down to be 'wrong'.
But Mercestes attitude is a healthy one: he realizes and admits that software pirates are, in reallity, shooting themselves in the foot, as, for piracy to exist, there must be something to pirate, and for that, software developers need to be able to make a living on what they do. If a disease kills the patient, the disease will die too.
In the end, he does buy the software he likes even though he wouldn't need to - and that is actually more common that we, software developers, would like to admit.
Even my post pointing out some 'hidden' benefits of software piracy is not to be interpreted as 'Oh, you see, even a software developer admited piracy is good because...'. The benefits are not intended, they are just a by-product.
If getting a lot of exposure might be good for the unkown artist, the likes of Maddona really have no need for it anymore.
I think he knows. I identified myself with 'As a software developer...' hehe.
And talking about being hurt by pirates, there is a certain Russian idiot I would like to put my hands on. Make him feel my pain. If you're reading this - and you know who you are - I have your IP address, you hear?!! lol
I still say the issue here isn't about whether or not it is reasonable to download stuff illegal is right or wrong. It is illegal and that is what matters. The issue lies in the vast difference between the punishment and the crime. What your kid managed to sneak past your protective software and download a 20 dollar movie? Well guess what sir, we are coming after you for your house, but being the kind people we are we will allow you to pay us $1500 to continue living your life. Keep in mind, if you fight us in court we will lock you there for ten years and bankrupt you that way. They are basically extorting 50 or so times the value of what was stolen from these people by using the threat of, pay it or you will never recover from the damage we will do you. Why can they get away with it? Lots and lots of money handed over to the right people. You people who are looking at things as right and wrong need to consider this. Is it right to destroy someone's life (with a $150k law suit) because they screwed up once? I think not. Should it be legal? Hell fucking no, not unless they damages can be clearly shown to be on the same level as the punishment for the crime.
Oh My f***ing God! The USA are going to estradate all the Chinese!
You guys don't take these fairy tales seriously do you? The US government will fine a few parents that have no idea what their kids are doing, inflict a little more pain to some poor family, amidst this crisis. Then go back to take care of their useless wars in some country their citizen have never heard about.
I mentioned this as part of the risk of illegal file sharing to a nephew who was doing it, and at the time he said something to the effect of: "So what? I got fuck all money, so the *expletives* can throw me in jail.".
Thing is, they'd have no authority to do so, no power of arrest, so what do they do then, beat him up, damage his car, take some of his property? It either forces them to break the law or go through the proper channels.... which what they really would rather avoid (cos no judge is going to award $1500 for a song) and why they're on the doorstep in the first place. Again, it comes down to extortion... and now they want government to play storm trooper and bully boy as well.
And what I find truly hypocritical... all the Americans who don't want government involvement in this, that or whatever, yet it's okay for government to get involved in breaking down doors to apprehend some dick who downloaded Barry Manilow or a Britney song. C'mon, get fucken real. Government already has enough stuff to cock up, without doing the bidding of some mega-rich music/movie mogul who'd rather avoid the expense of having to do his own dirty work.
Oh yes, it is dirty work orright... a family is without a 57 y/o mother and grandmother as a result of this thuggery... and she was 5000% innocent for fuck sake. And therein lies the rub... with multi-person households, wi-fi theft and IP address rerouting becoming more and more prevalent, how can they prove they have the right person when they bang on the door with their extortionate demands.
Hopefully the politicians with half a brain will see there is too big a margin for error here and distance government from being made the media industry's bully boys.
Starkers, perhaps this satirical article from The Onion will demonstrate for you, the ONLY way we could get our elected representatives to provide us with better, because voting them out of office doesn't change anything: American People Hire High-Powered Lobbyist To Push Interests In Congress http://www.theonion.com/articles/american-people-hire-highpowered-lobbyist-to-push,18204/
It seems to me, if people have to hire powerful lobbyists to get politicians to listen, American politics needs to be completely dismantled and rebuilt totally from the ground up, with absolutely no former politicians, parties or party members to be admitted whatsoever. If it takes a lobbyist to reach a representative and make them sit up and take notice, then currently, the 'so-called' elected representatives are NOT there to serve, they're there purely to feather their own nests.
No wonder i hate f**ken politicians so much... they're all tainted by greed/tarred with the same brush.
I am aware JC is a software developer, and I am aware that I'm posting on a "gaming site."
I am, however, posting on a gaming site which has, in my opinion, takes a healthy approach towards dealing with software piracy. As I read it back when I was reading up on Sins of a Solar Empire, "We don't write the type of games people steal, we write the type of games people buy." Paraphrased, to be certain, but a valid point. Instead of writing cutting edge technology pirates are just drooling to "rip," they write the sort of games the paying gamer populace tends to buy most. Stardock also allievates one of my biggest gripes about the software gaming industry with their gaming bill of rights, don't remember which rule it is, but it's the right to a refund. If I buy a product and I absolutely hate it, I can return it and get my money back. So you're rather strong "pirates are criminals" attitude is something I find, honestly, to be quite surprising considering the company you work for. I always found Stardock's foward thinking approach to the gaming industry customer service sector to be quite vindicating to me. I guess deep down, I always felt like Brad was saying, "You've got a point, pirates. You *were* mistreated. Let us personally take care of that." So with you working at Stardock, taking such a negative view on "pirates" (aka me, my friends, my family), it kind of surprises me, honestly. Not saying Stardock is pro-pirate, just saying I feel like Stardock is pirate-savvy.
That being said, I, again, buy the games I pirate, if I like them. Now I'm pretty sure Chris Taylor would probably disagree and feel like I "robbed" him because I didn't buy SupComII. I personally did not feel like I needed yet another StarCraft2 clone with a cannon that shoots tanks (yes, tanks) at me faster than my factories can build defensive units and my commander can build point defenses. I didn't go "Man, this game sucks" and keep playing it for another month or two, I deleted it off my HDD, the install, the reg keys, the save games, the downloaded files, the torrent itself...which is harder than it sounds, really, because the stupid pirates didn't add in a descent uninstaller.
Did I *steal* Supreme Commander 2? Well, I possessed it for less than 2 weeks and I currently have no more copies of it, so as far as the licensing is concerned, I have sufficiently allievated myself of their intellectual property. Did Chris Taylor lose $50? Well, yes, yes he did, however, I don't feel like I should pay $50 to try his game with no recourse if I happen to hate it or it simply doesn't work, or, God forbid, the thing just isn't done yet or doesn't perform as advertised.
It's not a matter of cost. It's not a matter of me not having the money to spend, or complaining the luxury is "too expensive." It's not a matter of "I want it so I'll take it" mentality. No, this is marketing companies spending millions of dollars trying to convince me that I want a particular luxury item, and that I want it so much that I'd be willing to spend $50 for it, and when I do spend $50 on it, I find that I really did not want it afterall, but now I'm stuck with something I don't want, and the marketing guys have my $50 and they won't give it back.
You see it as theft of your hard work when I download your game. I see it as myself being defrauded when I purchase a game that isn't done or his heinously broken. Shovelware exists. It exists because software developers *know* that if they control what information we have on a game, they can trick us into buying their underbudgeted crap and there really isn't anything we can do about it. I mean, come on, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Rigs:_Over_the_Road_Racing I don't see what I do as theft. I accept that it's software piracy. I mean, it's not like I got this crap off of some friendly AOL site.
That being said, this is an interesting venue to argue the debate. Stardock wrote the gamer's bill of rights which confronts all the things I complain about. I haven't "previewed" any of your stuff illegally. You just released "Elemental" to a very negative audience. Let's admit it, some would say you definitly underdelivered that game, and I've read elsewhere that you violated your own bill of rights. Let's be fair. So that would lead me to conclude that *someone* at Stardock would agree that everyone else's approach to gamers is less than ideal, and that there is indeed a bad apple every now and then. Those two reasons are, specifically, why I "preview" games.
The point is moot here however, as you guys offer a refund policy and honestly, the casual gaming industry (Bejeweled, Luxor, Solitaire) is proving to be far more profitable than anything Stardock and related are doing. Low development costs, high rate of sales in the older "house-mom" generation. The kind of crap you find right after Hannah Montana's pony-farm adventure in the $5 software rack. And, people don't pirate $5 software.
Its all about freedom of information, mainstream media is failing to influence people because you can get the facts on the internet, if you think that only file sharing sites will be hit, wait a month and see if you can find any sites about 9/11 or any other conspiracy site.
If some kid downloads a $20 music cd from some site he is going to get sued, if the same kid stole the music cd from a store, he would get a slap on the wrist.
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