Piracy, Legal or Not? Options

[medic]

I've noticed on this forum that they shut down almost every topic that has to do with any P2P program. Its not piracy to have a P2P program, or to use it. Its the way people use it. RealPlayer records what you play and sends it to there datacenter, that invasion of privacy, why aren't they getting sued. And NO they don't ask you if you want to participate in a consumer deal, they do it on there own will. The program is made to share information, so if you find a P2P program illegal, shut down all topics about AIM, Yahoo Messenger and MSN Messenger - they all have P2P in there, you can send files through them - but for some odd reason there not considered ILLEGAL and don't get stereotyped as PIRACY. Consumers label a P2P program as Piracy, I think it is unjust. Why isn't TiVo illegal - it records movies without commercials and you can then burn them to a CD. If I wanted I could go set TiVo to make a copy of Assault on Precinct 13 on HBO or Stars and then burn it to a DVD. I didn't pay for that movie, I pay for the channel - but that still does not make it legal for me to do that. So in what ways does you downloading the same movie off a torrent site have any different effect. The RIAA and MPAA are just looking for more ways to screw consumers over.

I am doing what one of the mods said, to post it in debate - so I did. And I bet it gets shut down again.

[antix10_kos]

I'm unclear on this issue....so if a mod looks at this post, please answer my questions.

Question 1: You can post about P2P programs on the boards, as long as your post has NOTHING to do with how to use them??? Is use defined as "troubleshoot/instruct" or "hack"? There is a big difference between someone posting about "how do i share this file?" and "how can i hack into other user's shared folders?"

Question 2: If "use" is defined as "troubleshoot/instruct" then why isn't ok to post on the boards asking for help, as long as it is in the appropriate place and follows board rules regarding content, langauge, etc.?

Question 3: In regards to the "crack code" post, the person was in violation of the no piracy policy, but why shut the whole topic down? That person should have been informed and the comment edited or deleted.

Question 4: Why put your head in the sand regarding this issue? I'd be willing to bet that at least a few people here use programs that they've "pirated" to make graphics, songs, etc. for their sites. People download things illegally and put them to use all of the time. Let's adknowledge this fact.

This one isn't aimed at anyone in particular, just a general statement about pay downloading.

There are a few reasons why "pirating" is popular.
1) It's free.
2) It's easy.
3) It's convienent.

There is only one reason why it is wrong
1) Record companies, retail shops, and artists don't get paid. Artists don't make a whole lot of money from record sales unless they are smaller band. Most larger bands make their money through touring, merchandising and endorsements. The real outcriers in this whole anti-piracy thing are the record companies, who are getting robbed blind.

I personally don't give a hoot about some record execs not being able to line their pockets. I buy enough albums (both cds and vinyls) to keep those jokers in business. I buy tickets to just about every show that comes my way. I own my fair share of band shirts, posters, books, etc. I support the industry and I still download music. I don't feel guilty about downloading, not at all.

Another point I'd like to bring up, what about buying used albums at CD Warehouse or pawn shops?? The record industry doesn't complain about that...I've bought about a 1/4 of collection used. No one makes money on those sales except the record store....

In regards to movies, TiVo is ok, people already pay for the TiVo reciever and their cable/ satelite service. Why slap yet another fee for recording or make it illegal to record with the TiVo? No one outlawed the VCR, which does basically the same thing....As long as you don't redistribute the content, it's ok.

Believe what you want to believe, but I refuse to pay for a song unless it's rare or something I really want.

NOTE: This post is not intended to be offensive or critical. I'm just trying to make a few points here, generate a bit of debate....