And before you say that taking from your house isn't the same, you were not given permission by the people selling these items to take them freely.  So anyone taking your items from your house when you haven't given them permission would be the same thing.

But alas, I bet you have some (bullshit) rationalization for that too.

It's not against the law to have avatars based on characters.  It isn't against the law to use characters as avatars.  It would be against the law to pass around The Dark Knight.

Now you criminals are just grasping for straws.  Seriously, making comments about avatars??!

Maybe this will calm him down:

http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=MOE10050&mode=retail

Only $13.99, a dollar off the list price! And for only $2 more you can upgrade to COLLECTOR'S GRADE!

But be careful:

"General Safety Warning: Products sold by BBTS may be intended for Adult Collectors. Products may contain sharp points, small parts, choking hazards, and other elements not suitable for children under 16 years old."

Might want to learn how to read.  Just a few comments down:

And yes, while this isn't the best legal advice, the simple fact is that all of it is true, and the guy is attempting extortion fees.  He is subverting the law for personal gain, which makes him no different then pirates.

I just love these small time Americans who think there is only one country in the world and they control everything. I read a film review 10 minutes ago in which the author rails against the corporate interests controlling 'the worlds largest democracy', and no, he did not mean India.    

Hum.

Here ya go, from copyright.gov...

http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap5.html

Notice the words 'private financial gain'.  That means that when you download something to not buy it you are commiting a federal offense, because you are saving money on what is a marketed good.  You also cannot argue that you are not commiting a crime by privately downloading and sharing with others as you are again doing it for private financial gain for you and others.  Arguing that a nonexistent market of avatars which nobody profits from is ludicrous, esp. when downloading is an established CRIME.

You could very much make that argument if their was a market.  As of now it falls under fair use.  I don't profit in any way by having Batman as an avatar, but I would if I downloaded the movies.

With all of this said, I will not go thru life expecting handouts.  If someone is good I buy it, if not I don't go and grab it.  I know the rules, and if something happened the only way that the law would truly help me is if I was innocent.

If having a Batman avatar became illegal I would remove it.

I've been reading along and enjoying the discussion, but did not really want to get involved in such a negative thread. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure where I stand on the issue of Piracy. I've switch majors from Classical Studies to Computer Science, and I understand the need for copyright laws. But I can also open my eyes to the evidence before me and see a very real need for an overhaul of the current copyright system. It's simply not working.

Then I read the above, and I felt a strong urge to play Devil's Advocate opposite DarkKnight.

First off--what theft? What stealing? Your analogy is flawed by the simple fact that no theft has taken place. I'm not merely playing with semantics, here, as under American law, piracy is not theft, but copyright infringement.

If you came to my home, made duplicates of everything I owned, and gave those away for free, I think I might be a little uncomfortable. Some of my things have a lot of sentimental value. I might be mildly embarrassed to see some of those things outside the context of my life, or privacy of my own home. But it wasn't theft.

Robin Hood: So stealing from a corrupt government and/or illegitimate government is fine with you? For future reference, where exactly do you draw the line? I had the impression you were a hard-liner for the rule of law. Theft Is Theft, is it not?

On a personal note, why do write in such an abrasive way? Your posts seemed designed to insult and offend. You are openly rude to people who have haven't acted in such a way to you, before or after. Some one brings up Sarah Palin, and you go off on a very odd and very angry persecution-complex tirade, when no one in this thread had discriminated against you. You throw around a lot of labels, calling the people trying to have a real discussion with you "liberals" and "criminals," and telling them to "get out of their parents basement." You go further to implying that these "criminals" (that is, everyone in this thread and anyone who has ever committed piracy) is no different from murderers and rapists.

I believe, despite their current flaws, copyright laws they have very real merits and a very real purpose. I believe they need their advocates, especially in places like this thread, where people are being exposed to the types of debate that will help shape their opinions on such important legal and social matters. But I don't believe that you are the right person for the role. You're actively insulting and alienating everyone here. You aren't participating in the discussion. You aren't trying to change the way people think, or shore up the arguments of those who are strongly against piracy.

Now that I've posted in this thread, and don't share your opinion, I must be one of those "criminals." I don't appreciate that. I don't appreciate the accusation that I pirate software, and I very much do not appreciate the implication that I am a rapist or murderer.

EDIT: I'd written this before seeing the posts on page 5. I guess people finally grew tired of DarkKnight's insults.

Black-market sales, counterfeit (knock-off) goods production etc. have been around forever but there are a couple of rather large differences between that and your attempted comparison with digital piracy.

The black market and counterfeit production actually represent an economy of their own primarily but not exclusive to the fact that not just anyone can counterfeit a designer dress/purse etc. (for example) and not just anyone can then distribute same.

"Products" that are assembled, distributed, stolen, re-distributed etc. ALL DIGITALLY, by any old joe and being exchanged by potentially millions within days cannot be compared to say a shovel you are able to return to your local Home Depot because it makes a weird scraping sound when you use it.

The problem is what denotes "physical" product these days?  In the digital world that definition seems murky at best.  I mean, if you took a digital picture of the above-mentioned shovel before returning it to your local Home Depot would you consider yourself still "possessing" that shovel?  Obviously not.  You would need to take several costly and time-consuming steps in order to keep a copy of said shovel (making your own mold etc. etc.).  Now lets say I'm a photographer and I take pictures of shovels for a living (this is assuming of course that my pictures can be considered a "product"....a definition which I admit is under contention).  You can quite easily copy my digital pictures and then re-distribute them to literally "the world".  Are you seriously suggesting that because its harder to define digital things as "products" and by extension easier to "steal" them that digital piracy is no different than buying a knock-off purse on the black market?

Digital media is in a category unto itself........if for no other reason than that I've already stated.  The definition of what exactly denotes "product" digitally is too damn messy and open for interpretation.  That coupled with the fact that the digital medium (the internet) which has always been looked at as the "free medium" is it's largest form of distribution.  As long as the transport medium (in this case the internet) remains largely un-policed there will be no way of curbing unauthorized access to digital product (even IF a consensus on the definition of "digital product" could be reached).

the Monk

The fact that you believe it isn't theft should say enough about you.  Also, extra points for trying to twist what I said bout Robin Hood.

For the record, I believe in the golden rule.  I would not want people to steal from me, and I would expect the same thing.

At the end of the day, people use these rules and laws to bring home money to feed their children.  They use rules that are no different then any in the past to make sure their children live properly, only to have criminals steal from them because they don't care.

You can whine all you want about what I say, but if you steal (and yes, you are) you are trash.  It's that simple.  You want to whine about rules while not caring about what you do to others.

I buy because I respect my fellow man.  I don't respect assholes.

Thank you louist for some perspective and the monk makes a good point as well.

Darknight you're wrong there.....

Everything has in fact changed.  That's what I meant by my post.  The definition of "physical property" has changed (by your own admission by the way) and that means that everything which hinges on previous definitions of "physical property" must also change.

Also, when you refer to online interactions as not "real life" your arguments lose credibility.........online interactions represent for many people a larger portion of their day than non-online interactions.....not ignoring the fact that if you deem the "digital world" not part of "real life"....then doesn't that negate your entire argument against software piracy?       just sayin.......hehe

Canada-Piracy Haven 

With all of the legal pressures against the first- and second-ranked BitTorrent sites, "Canada has earned a dubious distinction as a world hub for illegitimate file-sharing websites and a leader in Internet piracy," according to Globeandmail.com's Barry McKenna.

Further, Canada is in the "embarrassing position of harbouring 5 of the top 8 remaining unauthorized BitTorrent sites including the new number 1 ranked site, Isohunt," wrote technology attorney Barry Sookman.

Isohunt was founded in Vancouver by Gary Fung. Isohunt is not just popular in terms of BitTorrent sites, with as many as 100 million unique visitors going to the site every year; Isohunt also ranks among the 200 most popular Web sites of any kind on the planet.

Earlier this year, the Obama administration put Canada on its blacklist of shame -- a "priority watch list" of intellectual property laggards including the likes of China, Russia and Venezuela.

Canada has repeatedly vowed to put a framework in place to combat this unfettered piracy, but it has not happened as yet, and Canada finds itself not "just out of step with the United States, but with much of the Western world," wrote McKenna.

BitTorrent Legality in Canada

In terms of what manner the framework reform should take, there are some serious interpretive issues that should be addressed. While the initial seeder and subsequent downloader or leech of the copyrighted file may already be subject to Canadian copyright infringement, this may not be the case for the underlying BitTorrent site itself.

Since the actual BitTorrent site does not contain any copyrighted material, nor does it reproduce or distribute any of the copyrighted works, the BitTorrent site itself may not be deemed to constitute an infringing activity and thus may remain ultra vires to Canadian copyright law.

Further, if the BitTorrent site does not actively promote the infringement of copyrighted material, it may not be deemed, under Canadian copyright law, to induce copyright infringement.

The Canadian government recently completed a national consultation in an attempt to amend the Canadian Copyright Act. Critics, however, are dubious as to whether any amendments will actually be made to the number of previous failed attempts.

Without such an amendment or a binding legal decision addressing these specific issues, Canada may find itself on the intellectual property blacklist of shame for quite some time to come.

http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/Canada-Internet-Piracy-Haven-68969.html

Guess where I reside. Guess we are up there with Somalia lol. Can we expect smart bombs and tanks soon?