Re: [Full-disclosure] when did piracy/theft become expression of freedom

[Mike Hale <eyeronic.design@xxxxxxxxx>]

What you said doesn't follow.

Making a digital copy isn't burning down a business.  The analogy
linking 'piracy' with theft is ludicrous.

On Sun, Jan 29, 2012 at 11:50 PM, Christian Sciberras <uuf6429@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Byron, you don't protest to the government by burning down 100-year-old
> business, if you know what I mean...
>
>
>
>
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> On Mon, Jan 30, 2012 at 12:12 AM, Byron L. Sonne <byron.sonne@xxxxxxxxx>
> wrote:
>>
>> The thing that makes me laugh about all of this, and one of the key
>> things I learned from reading Gibbon's Decline & Fall is this:
>>
>> The number and frequency of laws passed regarding things directly
>> relates to how widespread these things are, and how they much the laws
>> are ignored and ineffective. Laws can't prevent a damn thing, they can
>> only specify remedies. As it is said, "it's only illegal if you get
>> caught".
>>
>> The cat is out of the bag and will never be put back in. There's no way
>> to stop people from 'illegally' copying copyrighted material.
>>
>> If they somehow managed to require and implement tech so that perfect
>> digital copies can't be made (unlikely) then people will simply use a
>> camera to record the video as it plays on the screen. Hey, wait a
>> minute, that sounds just like that screener I downloaded someone taped
>> in Russia! ;)
>>
>> If they manage to require and implement tech so that you can't trade it
>> over the internet (unlikely) then people will simply trade it on private
>> networks or, like we used to do in the old days, via sneakernet.
>>
>> The problem is that in an attempt to control the dissemination of
>> copyrighted material (and people are right, artists do have a right to
>> reap the benefits of their effort) the powers-that-be are stepping over
>> the line and into territory that impacts our ability to communicate in
>> the fashion we choose.
>>
>> It might be fine to try and prevent piracy but in the process of doing
>> so you are trashing the other desires of people that have nothing to do
>> with piracy.
>>
>> I'm sure if the copyright lobby had their way, they'd require us to wear
>> special glasses in order to see our laptop screens, on the assumption
>> that anything not explicitly licensed was assumed to be unlicensed, and
>> thus pirated, which we would be blocked from our field of view... and as
>> a result, some girl/guy who wants to write a simple freeware text editor
>> now has to jump through regulatory hoops and spend money to obtain a
>> special registration that allows their text editor to display to the
>> screen. This is a cheesy example, but I think it makes the point.
>>
>> In the guise of 'protecting artists and businesses' what is happening is
>> that the powers-that-be are requesting (and too often getting) powers
>> that allow them to trample on the general idea of freedom of
>> communications and other things people cherish.
>>
>> As a result, people are inclined to engage in the very behaviours that
>> elicited the laws and crackdowns, quite simply, as a way to raise their
>> middle finger and say "Fuck You".
>>
>> This is when piracy and theft becomes freedom of expression - when it's
>> done in protest.
>>
>> --
>> http://www.freebyron.org
>>
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>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Full-Disclosure - We believe in it.
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Full-Disclosure - We believe in it.
Charter: http://lists.grok.org.uk/full-disclosure-charter.html
Hosted and sponsored by Secunia - http://secunia.com/