Wednesday, January 18, 2006
More downloading stuff.
1:04 PM
I am a couple days late so I'll post two entries today.
Well... there are a couple interesting things to note. First, it is illegal to obtain and distribute this stuff. So where does it come from? You download peer to peer software. This allows me to connect straight to another person's computer and transfer files between us. This doesn't require a website or a place to host the file. Its just me and the other guy. This software isn't illegal partly because of the 1st amendment and partly because of the whole Betamax Vs. Universal and later MGM Vs. Grokster. The idea is that I use it to share stuff that I legally own such as pictures. This is what is cool about AllPeers and why it is legal. The strange thing here is that it is legal to have websites hosts tons and tons of files that instruct your Peer to Peer software where to connect to get what you want. Go to one of these sights, type in Peter Jackson's King Kong, download the file and open it with your software, connect, download, watch. This is legal because they don't actually infringe on copyrights. Some of the sites have even received Cease and Desists from major studios and companies. They post these letters on their sites and openly poke fun at them while pointing to the legal documents absolving them of any wrongdoing. So far they haven't been shut down. They are like VCRs. Sure you can use em to copy movies which is illegal but they aren't intended for that and the VCR companies can't be held reliable for what customers do with them. I guess that would be like trying to blame gun makers for violence. In fact the only way a company or site can be held liable is if they actively promote illegal copying so most of them just post a notice to the note of "These files are intended for backup purposes only. You must own the original file in order to download legally."
Well... there are a couple interesting things to note. First, it is illegal to obtain and distribute this stuff. So where does it come from? You download peer to peer software. This allows me to connect straight to another person's computer and transfer files between us. This doesn't require a website or a place to host the file. Its just me and the other guy. This software isn't illegal partly because of the 1st amendment and partly because of the whole Betamax Vs. Universal and later MGM Vs. Grokster. The idea is that I use it to share stuff that I legally own such as pictures. This is what is cool about AllPeers and why it is legal. The strange thing here is that it is legal to have websites hosts tons and tons of files that instruct your Peer to Peer software where to connect to get what you want. Go to one of these sights, type in Peter Jackson's King Kong, download the file and open it with your software, connect, download, watch. This is legal because they don't actually infringe on copyrights. Some of the sites have even received Cease and Desists from major studios and companies. They post these letters on their sites and openly poke fun at them while pointing to the legal documents absolving them of any wrongdoing. So far they haven't been shut down. They are like VCRs. Sure you can use em to copy movies which is illegal but they aren't intended for that and the VCR companies can't be held reliable for what customers do with them. I guess that would be like trying to blame gun makers for violence. In fact the only way a company or site can be held liable is if they actively promote illegal copying so most of them just post a notice to the note of "These files are intended for backup purposes only. You must own the original file in order to download legally."
As I said earlier I didn't realize just how big a problem this has become till I was looking at what is available. I have been seeing ads before movies on DVD about downloading movies being illegal. I always thought it was stupid because downloading movies is a waste. They are usually pretty poor quality and it takes 2-3 days. The only cool thing is you get to see movies while they are still in the theatres but it is usually a crappy tape someone made by sneaking a video camera into the theatre. Not my thing. Now people can rip DVDs right onto their computer which you can download and burn for use on your DVD player 5.1 Dolby and all. It is wrong and stupid to do this with movies when you consider you can rent or buy them for so cheap. These people are probably stealing money from the movie industry but I doubt it is very substantial yet. Movie people will say it is but remember that these are crimes of opportunity and just because someone can get something for free doesn't mean they would pay for it. It is still stealing but it isn't quite the same as stealing off a shelf where there is inventory involved.
Games are the same way but less so. Most of those stolen games would have been rented or played I would imagine. I'll probably get back to games later.
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