Marijuana.com

dedbr

This caught my eye this morning and I think it's a good topic....

Should the music companies be able to send you a bill for downloading music? Are they out of control with sending college students bills for their supposed illegal downloading?

Have the laws caught up with the internet, or are we still living with the laws of a past society?

What would you do if they sent you a bill?


Some Where In Ded Land...........

__________________
"Two roads divereged in a wood- and I, I took the ono less traveled by- and it has made all the difference.......Robert Frost

No law or ordinance is mightier than understanding.
Plato


Posting Guidelines!

 

Buzzby

Theft is theft. Someone went to the trouble of producing the music, did not declare it "public domain", and those who appropriate it ought to pay for it.

I write software. I put in a lot of effort and time getting things just right. I support the software I write when support requests come from legitimate license holders. I get ten times as many support requests from people who have no clue that they've stolen my intellectual property.

In the world of computer shareware, it's estimated that 5% of the people who use an application pay the modest fee unless it's "disableware", i.e. the software will only work for a trial period and then shuts down.

Everyone wants something for nothing. Most of us wouldn't think of walking into a music store and walking out with a bunch of CDs under our coats. I would hope that most of us don't steal because it's unethical. I know many of us don't steal because it's illegal and we might get caught. I wonder why these same people don't consider it unethical or illegal to steal someone's intellectual property? Is it only because there is a lower probability of getting caught?

__________________

sterbo

Another good question.
It seems to me that while sending 'bills' out to college students sounds a bit Draconian the fact is that this issue has been on the forefront of the news for quite some time now. I think that most people, certainly college students are well aware of what they are doing. How they feel about the legal issues are of course a different matter.
I agree with Buzzby that "theft is theft". We may not like the fact that while downloading copyrighted music is so easy and seeming innocuous, the bottom line is that it is still stealing.

A very complex question. At the moment, I think it's a mixed bag.

Be pissed at myself and pay it.

As a point of reference - There is quite a lot of music available that is available for us to download freely either due to copyright expiration or it being in the 'public domain'. I understand that is is a small fraction of the whole but it's available none the less...
.

__________________

dedbr

I pay for the internet connection. But who really expects to pay for information? Screw it, I'll go back to the library.....

This is the music and information highway........ and you don't need a license to drive on it.........There are no rules. There is ettiquite, but we for the most part want info or a song at the touch of the button.

Will we reach a point where everything is free to browse or download off the net.......... How many times a day do you hit copy? Should the person who wrote the paper recieve a payment every time you copy their work?

Food for thought.......


Some Where In Ded Land.......

Anarleaf

If they sent bills for illegal downloading they're would be millions of people charged. I don't agree with illegal file sharing but, what they're doing now is absurd. Most cases of people being charged have ridiculously high fines.
When you steal using P2P, there isn't one less copy if you were to steal it from a store.

 

sterbo

How refreshingly novel; guiltless thievery...

.

dedbr

Guiltless thievery? I down load info all the time. When are these reference materials and other enjoyments gonna be a bill in the mail? A separate for every site?

Some news sites you must register and pay a small fee to read their content. Is this right? Should we expect the web to be free, even as Buzz says, people get his programs without authorization or reciporcation for his services.

Will websites become a pay per view experience? Will this soon become the profit potential to keep it new and improved?


Some Where In Ded Land..........

sterbo

Guiltless thievery?, why's the sound of it a bit like dancing?
Well, since we're morphing here then - we can only hope that "reference materials and other enjoyments" will be forever as they are. After all, you've touched the genesis and if the (I hate to say it) usual cast of idiots fuck it up by inserting their bodily fluids in whats precious to the rest us then I hope I'm down for the bunker...

What the people want the people will get
Enjoy it my Bro, I fear the worst - which is, by the way - not like me.
.

Some Where In Ded Land..........,
got your back my friend, any time anywhere...

1tokeovertheline

I won't buy a CD just to get one good song anyway. At least if I download it I am listening to their music. If a band comes out with a CD full of good songs I will buy it.

Buzzby

You drive down the highway for free. When you go through the drive-through at Burger King you pay.

I want to have a new truck. That doesn't make it OK for me to steal one.

If we reach that point, no one will bother to produce a professional quality product. Why bother?

There is a world of difference between copying something which the copyright holder has put out on the internet and copying something which has been stolen from the copyright holder. Copyright laws include something called the "Fair Use Doctrine", which allows copying and use for certain limited purposes.

Music piracy isn't about stealing physical property, it's about stealing intellectual property. Your statement is entirely meaningless.

I'm sure that's a great comfort to the artists and their families. You can go to legitimate music download sites and pay for the tracks you want to want. The only reason that you and others don't is because you know you can probably get away with theft.