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[esquire]

The internet free-for-all is coming to an end. Darn, I should've stolen more free stuff.

 

[turnbuckle]

Defenders of this say we have things like Netflix, Hulu, and other legit means of getting content. The problem is that those services are offered at a price or with limited advertising because they're meant to deter piracy. More aggressive piracy laws would likely see companies make these alternative methods of acquiring content either more expensive or less available.

Actually, now that people are accustomed to getting their media digitally I imagine content providers will leverage this by reducing/restricting license use. We already see it in gaming with these 1 time use codes for new games; how far away are we from digital downloads of music or video to be restricted to a single device? I'm probably getting a little ahead of myself, but nothing would surprise me.

But it's a tricky topic - piracy is theft regardless of how ubiquitous it is. That people are used to breaking the law shouldn't be a defense against enforcement. On the other hand, the amount of real damages suffered by any company by an individual pales in comparison to the potential punishment that individual could face.

As far as the enforcement of the perceived intent of piracy? That's fucking terrible. This whole thing is fucking terrible, but that's by far the more repugnant part of this announcement.

 

[datruth29]

Of course it is good. People are "richer" because they can enjoy more music/movies/TV than ever while paying less. The money they don't spend on that kind of entertainment can be use on something else, the next more urgent needs. Of course, there are some losers, mainly the producers of music.

Just like there would be losers if we could somehow create tomatoes out of thin air. But that would be a great boon for mankind. Digital music/movies CAN be created "out of thin air" nowadays, you can copy a song or a movie an infinite amount of times.

But movies/songs aren't created out of thin air. Somebody has to spend a lot of time creating that content.

 

[Vipershark]

He states, "This is theft, clear and simple. It's smash and grab, no different than a guy walking down Fifth Avenue and smashing the window at Tiffany's and reaching in and grabbing what's in the window."

 

[Trent Strong]

This is good news for me, because I could never figure out what torrents are, or how they work, or where to get them, or how to keep them from infecting your computer with viruses, etc. The only piracy "site" I know about is Limewire, and that's crap. I'm forced to buy everything because I'm not good with computer, and I want everyone else to have to suffer as I suffer. I can't even figure out how to get porn for free.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

no way this stands as written. too broad.

 

[blame space]

http://www.buzzhumor.com/videos/4123/Chappelle

 

[teh_pwn]

Defenders of this say we have things like Netflix, Hulu, and other legit means of getting content. The problem is that those services are offered at a price or with limited advertising because they're meant to deter piracy. More aggressive piracy laws would likely see companies make these alternative methods of acquiring content either more expensive or less available.

Actually, now that people are accustomed to getting their media digitally I imagine content providers will leverage this by reducing/restricting license use. We already see it in gaming with these 1 time use codes for new games; how far away are we from digital downloads of music or video to be restricted to a single device? I'm probably getting a little ahead of myself, but nothing would surprise me.

But it's a tricky topic - piracy is theft regardless of how ubiquitous it is. That people are used to breaking the law shouldn't be a defense against enforcement. On the other hand, the amount of real damages suffered by any company by an individual pales in comparison to the potential punishment that individual could face.

As far as the enforcement of the perceived intent of piracy? That's fucking terrible. This whole thing is fucking terrible, but that's by far the more repugnant part of this announcement.

The government isn't banning piracy, they're trying to limit what it perceives (or better what corporations told them) are the logistical devices of pirates. Protocols like bittorrent can be used by businesses, but if banned all that will happen is businesses will be forced to spend money to transition, while pirates simply reinvent bitorrent by renaming it.

I'm really tired of the government spending tons of money and limiting people's rights in the name of what's good. They should keep their disastrous nutrition advice, lobbyist driven warfare, and war on drugs to themselves.

 

[Elfforkusu]

Defenders of this say we have things like Netflix, Hulu, and other legit means of getting content. The problem is that those services are offered at a price or with limited advertising because they're meant to deter piracy. More aggressive piracy laws would likely see companies make these alternative methods of acquiring content either more expensive or less available.

Actually, now that people are accustomed to getting their media digitally I imagine content providers will leverage this by reducing/restricting license use. We already see it in gaming with these 1 time use codes for new games; how far away are we from digital downloads of music or video to be restricted to a single device? I'm probably getting a little ahead of myself, but nothing would surprise me.

But it's a tricky topic - piracy is theft regardless of how ubiquitous it is. That people are used to breaking the law shouldn't be a defense against enforcement. On the other hand, the amount of real damages suffered by any company by an individual pales in comparison to the potential punishment that individual could face.

As far as the enforcement of the perceived intent of piracy? That's fucking terrible. This whole thing is fucking terrible, but that's by far the more repugnant part of this announcement.

As far as I can tell, none of the ACTA bullshit ("perceived intent" and torrent crackdowns) is actually a part of this announcement -- despite what the article suggests.

Damn liberal media!

 

[Dreams-Visions]

The government isn't banning piracy, they're trying to limit what it perceives (or better what corporations told them) are the logistical devices of pirates. Protocols like bittorrent can be used by businesses, but if banned all that will happen is businesses will be forced to spend money to transition, while pirates simply reinvent bitorrent by renaming it.

or they perfect tools they already have. rapidshare, megaupload and others come to immediate mind.

 

[LM4sure]

The internet free-for-all is coming to an end. Darn, I should've stolen more free stuff.

nah, nothing is going to change. you'll be able to continue to get your free shit. kind of hard to stop bittorrent. you can stop the websites that host the torrents but that's about it

 

[KAP151]

This is good news for me, because I could never figure out what torrents are, or how they work, or where to get them, or how to keep them from infecting your computer with viruses, etc. The only piracy "site" I know about is Limewire, and that's crap. I'm forced to buy everything because I'm not good with computer, and I want everyone else to have to suffer as I suffer. I can't even figure out how to get porn for free.

 

[fallengorn]

double plus ungood

 

[MetalAlien]

The whole point is to get our money. We already give them the amount of money we are comfortable with, download everything else. We go to concerts to give money to the artist, download the song we like to avoid paying for a whole CD that we might not want.

They can try and force this to end, but now that we have tasted this freedom, we will never allow them to stop it.

They say they are going out of business, they are right. Because we have decided their business is not worth saving. We control this, they do not.

 

[Elfforkusu]

or they perfect tools they already have. rapidshare, megaupload and others come to immediate mind.

Perfect tools for who?

Rapidshare, megaupload, etc come to mind as the perfect tools for catching pirates in the act if the government really wanted to go that way. Just get legal access to the servers + match IPs to ISP data = free jail time for everybody!

It's a lot easier to track than the transient nature of Bittorrent, anyway.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

Perfect tools for who?

Rapidshare, megaupload, etc come to mind as the perfect tools for catching pirates in the act if the government really wanted to go that way. Just get legal access to the servers + match IPs to ISP data = free jail time for everybody!

It's a lot easier to track than the transient nature of Bittorrent, anyway.

o i c.

 

[ElectricBlue187]

Thoughtcrime we can believe in

 

[dragonlife]

Needs to be posted:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALZZx1xmAzg

 

[SolarPowered]

Again this isn't about banning piracy.

It's about banning the bittorrent protocol.

It's also about making it illegal for actual customers to bypass DRM. To give you an example of DRM, here's Assassin's Creed 2 on Amazon. 360/PS3 have an average review of about 4.5. PC about 1.5. Why? Because paying customers either can't play it because they are assumed to be a crook, and it has the nice effect of being unstable for their overall PC's OS which can be considered property.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001TOQ8R0/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Does this affect pirates? No because they crack it, along with the key, and other anti-theft devices. Meanwhile paying customers have to put up with this bullshit with their civil liberties eroded into labeling them into guilty until proven innocent. This isn't the walmart guy checking your receipt, it's the walmart guy following you home and monitoring your internet connection and fucking with your OS.

Likewise, all banning bittorrent does is:
1. Have pirate create a nearly identical protocol
2. Small businesses cannot use bittorrent, have to spend lots of money finding something else or spending tons of money on expensive, energy inefficient servers.

It's the same idea with those anti-piracy ads on consumer DVDs, FBI warnings. Only paying customers see this. Pirates remove it.

I may only be an average citizen who still isn't all that educated, but it seems to me that piracy is only a reaction to laws and distribution models that are outdated in todays time. I always wondered why most PC games had horrible ratings on Amazon when they burn up the charts on Steam, or why Music/DVD sales are slowing as sites like Netflix and Hulu gain huge audiences.

Maybe these corporations are run by idiots who just keep running into walls at full speed...

Perfect tools for who?

Rapidshare, megaupload, etc come to mind as the perfect tools for catching pirates in the act if the government really wanted to go that way. Just get legal access to the servers + match IPs to ISP data = free jail time for everybody!

It's a lot easier to track than the transient nature of Bittorrent, anyway.

Sounds to me like war on Piracy is going to be the new war on drugs...which fell flat on it's face after wasted decades, characterized by trillions of wasted dollars and ruined lives.

 

[Gaborn]

I think we should wait and read the bill before revolting.

Yeah, voting for Obama in the first place was revolting enough.

Seriously though, this shouldn't surprise anyone who looked at Obama's positions. This is ultimately about controlling people's behavior based on large sums of money and lobbying by a specific group. What they SHOULD do is find a way to adjust copyright laws and digital distribution to both protect artists and give greater access to media for consumers. That's a pretty basic law of business, make it as easy as possible to have people give you there money.

Targeting illegal downloaders is about as productive a strategy as targeting marijuana smokers, you're not going to affect the vast majority of people who do it and you're basically just spitting into the ocean.

 

[Slavik81]

nah, nothing is going to change. you'll be able to continue to get your free shit. kind of hard to stop bittorrent. you can stop the websites that host the torrents but that's about it

Bittorrent's really easy to stop with the right laws in place. It broadcasts your identify to everyone else you're sharing with. It was never designed to hide who is downloading what, so there's no real technical hurdle to tracking down all the people who are infringing.

Their argument is garbage. Might as well ban VCRs. Oh wait, they almost did.

 

[SolarPowered]

Targeting illegal downloaders is about as productive a strategy as targeting marijuana smokers, you're not going to affect the vast majority of people who do it and you're basically just spitting into the ocean.

or maybe...

 

[Kifimbo]

But movies/songs aren't created out of thin air. Somebody has to spend a lot of time creating that content.

I know, my comparison wasn't perfect. I was just pointing out that while some are losers, the vast majority of people are richer because content is so easily accessible.

 

[Diablos]

It's only a matter of time before ACTA (or at least part of it) becomes law. It's basically a global anti-piracy governing body. Other countries will feel the effect just as well, and it's scary. Also very sad that corporations continue to take over the world little by little.

While it appears as though Obama is making himself more unelectable by the month, it's hard to pin this on him 100%. Hillary would have done this too. That being said, I am very disappointed in him as I know Senator Obama was not caring nearly as much about this. In fact he spoke strongly of things such as net neutrality. He still does, but there's such a corporate bend to it now.

I think BitTorrent needs to go away, and fast. An alternative needs to be developed, something that will keep people anonymous. Whether you use it legally or illegally, new legislation would imply a complete invasion of privacy every time you download.

This very proposal shows the true colors of nearly all Washington politicians. They are indeed corporate pigs. Even if we had a President McCain with a split Congress right now, these kinds of things would still have been in the works. Just like the Telecommunications Act of 1996, it's something enough people in both parties will support because so many politicians are in bed with corporations that it doesn't matter. It's also very true that a great deal of these politicians don't know or care about how technology works, and thus they go along with it for the sake of bipartisanship.

Regarding "imminent infringement" -- wow, Bush must get really happy in his pants when he reads that. It's like an ode to him.

My question here is: how the fuck can you charge someone for potentially infringing? If someone goes to a BitTorrent search site, public or private tracker, and searches for a torrent of a leaked album... how is the government going to know you even attempted it, especially if you decided not to download? They'd need server logs from the site itself to be absolutely sure. Good luck with that.

The uh, thought, of thought crime legislation going mainstream in this country and the rest of the world leaves me absolutely terrified. We are losing our freedoms. And no, conservatives, you can't save the world from it either. It's a completely different animal that seems to be affecting a lot of the world.

All I can say is that the day ACTA or even its predecessor (i.e. this) passes will surely be a devastating one for the United States, the world, and a free society in general.

 

[spiderman123]

 

[Dragon]

This is BS. Hey Obama about Guantanamo Bay...oh right shit of course that shit isn't going to happen on your watch. Oh we're going to send more troops to Afghanistan? Glorious. I'm glad I voted for you so you could worry about fucking computer piracy (and make it take 10x as long to download Ubuntu).

 

[Diablos]

This is BS. Hey Obama about Guantanamo Bay...oh right shit of course that shit isn't going to happen on your watch. Oh we're going to send more troops to Afghanistan? Glorious. I'm glad I voted for you so you could worry about fucking computer piracy (and make it take 10x as long to download Ubuntu).

Heh, I don't think Obama will realize how much this legislation will hurt him with one of his crucial voting blocs should this actually pass.

 

[Zzoram]

It has the same effect as theft. Content creators don't get your money, but you get their product. If they spend millions of dollars creating a product, they have a right to ask for money if you want to enjoy it.

 

[Dead Man]

The bill would make P2P or BitTorrent client development a criminal offense if the distributed software was used for infringement. It also implements an interesting provision called "imminent infringement", which allows the government to charge people who they think might be about to infringe with a civil offense (for example if you searched "torrent daft punk").

I am staggered by this. If thing was in place during the 70's and 80's, there would be no vcrs, no photocopiers, no printers, no digital cameras. Holy shit.

 

[Diablos]

I am staggered by this. If thing was in place during the 70's and 80's, there would be no vcrs, no photocopiers, no printers, no digital cameras. Holy shit.

Pretty much. It's unbelievable that this is even in the works and being considered.

 

[thekad]

A criminal offense? Exactly how many people do they plan on prosecuting? Nothing will change.

 

[Diablos]

A criminal offense? Exactly how many people do they plan on prosecuting? Nothing will change.

Fines slapped onto your monthly ISP bill! :lol

 

[MetalAlien]

Worst case, besides boycotts, we have our million man marches and annual piracy parade.

 

[Zzoram]

The "imminent infringement" provision will immediately get struck down by the supreme court. Innocent until proven guilty. Thinking about committing a crime is not the same as having committed a crime.

 

[Gaborn]

A criminal offense? Exactly how many people do they plan on prosecuting? Nothing will change.

I think a lot of people hope, you're right but yes, we can only hope I suppose.

 

[spiderman123]

I think a lot of people hope, you're right but yes, we can only hope I suppose.

i you trying to say something

 

[Dragon]

Heh, I don't think Obama will realize how much this legislation will hurt him with one of his crucial voting blocs should this actually pass.

He was the one that pioneered internet campaigning that entire election!! What is wrong with him?

 

[perfectchaos007]

So people who voted for Obama hoped he would end

1. War on Terrorism
2. War on Drugs

Instead he just adds:

3. War on Piracy


I wonder what wars Obama will add next? I love paying taxes on these wars!!!!

 

[Dead Man]

The "imminent infringement" provision will immediately get struck down by the supreme court. Innocent until proven guilty. Thinking about committing a crime is not the same as having committed a crime.

Unless the thinking IS the crime...

/1984

 

[Diablos]

The "imminent infringement" provision will immediately get struck down by the supreme court. Innocent until proven guilty. Thinking about committing a crime is not the same as having committed a crime.

Maybe, maybe not. Nothing surprises me in this world anymore. We're talking about a Supreme Court that just treated corporations in political campaigns no differently than a living, breathing human being.

 

[Boombloxer]

Obama has always been an outspoken opponent of piracy. People who voted for him who didn't know that? Stupid.

Yea, this isn't new. The thought-crime thing is a bit troubling, but as long as this is enforced on a more international level, I'm willing to wait and see what happens.

It has the same effect as theft. Content creators don't get your money, but you get their product. If they spend millions of dollars creating a product, they have a right to ask for money if you want to enjoy it.

I agree.

 

[Gaborn]

i you trying to say something

That it's ironic a dedicated Obama supporter is praying for a LACK of change less than 2 years later?

 

[krypt0nian]

How embarrassing...

 

[joeblackisback]

i you trying to say something

I think you accidentally the whole sentence

 

[Ether_Snake]

Aren't governments supposed to be acting on behalf of their electorate? I somehow doubt anyone has been asking for this, except some companies and lobbying groups.

 

[SmokeMaxX]

I think the biggest issue at hand is no more free porn on the internet (except amateur). Amateur's great but...

 

[Zzoram]

Aren't governments supposed to be acting on behalf of their electorate? I somehow doubt anyone has been asking for this, except some companies and lobbying groups.

Governments always act on behalf of corporations and lobbying groups first.

 

[Chris R]

Aren't governments supposed to be acting on behalf of their electorate? I somehow doubt anyone has been asking for this, except some companies and lobbying groups.

Hey now, companies and lobbying groups are members of the electorate too, they just have more money to spend to get things their way.

 

[spiderman123]

That it's ironic a dedicated Obama supporter is praying for a LACK of change less than 2 years later?

thank god i'm Canadian

 

[totowhoa]

Aren't governments supposed to be acting on behalf of their electorate? I somehow doubt anyone has been asking for this, except some companies and lobbying groups.

It's well known that lobbyists act on the behalf of the people, hence the fact that people have thumbs up asses.

edit: super beaten, despite each statement being just as shallow as the next i learned long ago to avoid anything but shallow political conversation on GAF long ago dot dot dot.....