Community Newsletter: Q&A: Is peer-to-peer software such as LimeWire legal and safe to use?
- 3/23/07 12:14 PM
Logic & Swiss Cheese
by papgas - 3/27/07 4:55 AM In reply to: Your Logic Has More Holes Than Swiss Cheese by iconoclasttDude. What makes you believe that you do not pay for everything you even touch. You have already prepaid for numerous things and services you cannot even think of.
You name some ways of post paying. Does the way you - we - pay make any difference.
Do not stick to a monetarian term. Even if you go high up on a mountain to live alone, you will have to pay. Think about it; you have, I am sure, the common sense and logic to understand it.
As for "greed" and "... charge more than when it was expensive to produce", do not play it cool. If you think it is expensive you are allowed not to buy it. But you are not allowed even to think that you can steal it. Otherwise, you will make me think that your beautiful spouse is too expensive for you and since I like her, I should come over and get her, either because I can pay (for) her or because I think - like you - that she should be free and belong to the puplic and thus to me.
Memory may have holes like swiss cheese, logic definitely not.
People need to WAKE UP.
by baldbunny619 - 3/24/07 10:30 PM In reply to: i dunno............... by D3V1ANT 1Both the music industry and consumers need to realize a couple of things that are kind of redundant and oxymoronicly the same concept:
MP3's and CD's are both TRASH!
Due to the fact that CD's can barely endure the trip to and then home from the store without a scratch, warping or outright defectiveness, I no longer buy them in order to actually use the CD itself. I copy the CD image to my hard-drive once and then file away the CD for the sole purpose of legally protecting myself should I be accused of piracy.
I DO NOT rip MP3 copies of my music as MP3 files(and moreso the low-bit formats suitable for internet sharing) are so pathetic I could get a better copy of a song by recording it to tape off of an FM radio. The legality of that aside, MP3's are suitable for little more than sampling music, which people tend to forget is what the format was developed for.
Forget for a moment that most teenagers will ignore all sorts of skips, snaps, crackles and pops, just so long as they don't have to pay for it; there are those of out there who will purchase music we don't like for our so misguided friends, just so that WE won't have to suffer through such trashy versions of music we don't like anyways, nevermind that their parents might break down and buy them actual CD's for the same reasons.
The music industry recoups its "losses" several times over through such mechanisms, BEFORE we count the fact that millions of us have had to purchase the same CD's over and over because, as I mentioned before, they are TRASH.
I personally believe I should be able to sue the music industry for trying to convince all of us and these kids that what they have is actually stolen Intellectual Property. The closest thing to a crime possessing and listening to an MP3 while not owning the album it came from resembles to me is pollution, MAYBE littering, but something that RESEMBLES what was once, maybe, a mediocre rendition of an often recycled composition resembling a song is not worth the court fees and needlessly raised prices the industry would like to force on we consumers.
DO NOT LET THEM TELL YOU THAT YOU CAN NOT DOWNLOAD OLD MUSIC
by ScoopNJ78 - 3/25/07 10:06 AM In reply to: People need to WAKE UP. by baldbunny619The recording industry wants you to believe that copywrite last forever and thus songs that are over 34 years old still can not be
downloaded free BULL!!!!!!!!!!!!! Copywrite is for 17 years with a renewal for another 17 years, THAT IS IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As for downloading, I find that I can not complete the majority of my downloads as people jut get off of it. I have 15 files that I am trying to get right now that are at 80% or above. Frustrating
ScoopNJ
Length of copyright protection... from the law itself
by David Eaton Productions - 3/25/07 10:13 AM In reply to: DO NOT LET THEM TELL YOU THAT YOU CAN NOT DOWNLOAD OLD MUSIC by ScoopNJ78I posted this before, but it bears repeating...
Actually, the Law states that for works publised AFTER Jan. 1, 1978, the term is the life of the author, PLUS 70 years.
For works published or copyrighted before Jan. 1, 1978, the term is 28 years if owned by an individual, and an additional 67 years if owned by a corporation (which 99.9% of recordings are.) Therefore, the total is 95 years.
The details are here:
http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap3.html
Here is an excerpt...
§ 302. Duration of copyright: Works created on or after January 1, 19784
(a) In General. — Copyright in a work created on or after January 1, 1978, subsists from its creation and, except as provided by the following subsections, endures for a term consisting of the life of the author and 70 years after the author's death.
And here is the other...
§ 304. Duration of copyright: Subsisting copyrights6
(a) Copyrights in Their First Term on January 1, 1978. —
(1)(A) Any copyright, in the first term of which is subsisting on January 1, 1978, shall endure for 28 years from the date it was originally secured.
(B) In the case of —
(i) any posthumous work or of any periodical, cyclopedic, or other composite work upon which the copyright was originally secured by the proprietor thereof, or
(ii) any work copyrighted by a corporate body (otherwise than as assignee or licensee of the individual author) or by an employer for whom such work is made for hire,
the proprietor of such copyright shall be entitled to a renewal and extension of the copyright in such work for the further term of 67 years.
riaa screwed themselves
by sonymaster101 - 7/22/08 7:40 PM In reply to: Length of copyright protection... from the law itself by David Eaton Productionsbasically what the riaa got themselves into can be described as this.
-there is an item in a dark room, in the back of a building, yet everyone has access to it. there is no security guards or cameras, yet the owner of the item says you cant whatsoever take photos of it. is that going to stop people? there are always going to be pitfalls of technology. the internet helps regular people get info, but also helps others that dont have such good intentions. Say, the us is preparing a tactical strike on a foreign country, and trying to do so in secret. 60 years ago that could be done without question today, the second the media knows about it the media puts it on the internet and the enemy knows. but can you say using this that the internet is bad? the whole ordeal with itunes DRM was pointless anyways because all you needed was a freeware app to strip the drw and leave the music in the file. Poeople will always find a way to get something without paying for it. and are more prone to steal if they think they wont get caught (and 99.99999% of poeple who download music illegally never do.) no one like the riaa because they are trying to control what poeple do with their music. for instance, legally: you have to pay for a dvd twice if you want to watch it on the dvd and your ipod.
you talk trash good...
by bigkahones51 - 3/25/07 1:47 PM In reply to: People need to WAKE UP. by baldbunny619It's kind of a shame to observe a conceivably articulate person using their intelligence to rationalize thievery.
Swat those chimps
by patchington - 3/22/07 4:51 PM In reply to: what if I owned the cd at one point... by piookRoommates who are stealing? I'd swat those chimps across the poop deck and call in the local juvenile authorities. Put the fear into them. Find adults to live with. Get a girlfriend. Poof.
norton anti-virus
by andrewsawsome21 - 10/12/07 9:28 PM In reply to: LIMEWIRE by lofts23just to let you know, norton anti-virus is the worst anti-virus ever! my recomendation is avg internet security or atleast mcafee free anti-virus powered by aol!!! i know that norton is bad because i have done a scan on my computer and it had found 0 items when it was going really slow(my computer)!!!!!! i downloaded mcafee and it found 213 trojan horses!!!! NORTON IS THE WORST ANTI-VIRUS IN THE WORLD!!!!!
norton is great
by sonymaster101 - 7/22/08 7:30 PM In reply to: norton anti-virus by andrewsawsome21ive used norton since 2002, and it really goes above and beyond. i keeps out about 100% of viruses, not as good on spyware, but that's why i use spyware terminator. it is by far the most polished antivirus/internet security suite available.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
by jmwaddill - 3/24/07 2:04 PM In reply to: Limewire- good or bad? by filmtexI have read through this entire thread, the complaints, gripes, excuses, envy, justification for stealing, etc. The answer is if it is copyrighted then you have to pay for it. It has been created by someone and they own it and expect and legally so, to be paid for their work. If you loose or break it (CD) it is your fault not theirs. You can pick it apart all day but it is simply a point of who owns it. No one is going to arrest you if you rip a cut off for you little sister, use common sense. Will they arrest the millions who are downloading illegally, no but it could be you they arrest. Just because others are doing it does not make it right.
The last time I checked American economy was based on capitalism. There is nothing wrong with someone or corporation making millions of dollars. Also these corporations pay out millions in stock dividends to the public who own stock in those companies.
I can't help but notice that many of the post on this and other threads are obviously written by people who lack the basic abilities to communicate in the English and or American language. It is difficult to read a post that has no paragraphs, capital letter, punctuation spacing between words and improper syntax and confusing thought patterns. Get and education, find a good job, earn enough money and you can buy all the music you want and no have to ever steal anything.
I only use limewire to load music that I have on phonograph
by turfmanrick03 - 12/23/07 6:48 AM In reply to: Limewire- good or bad? by filmtexsince I do not have a machine that I can load songs that I have on phonograph records into my computer, I have been getting them off limewire. I use my computer to run my stereo system, and having media on the computer keeps me from having to turn the records over all the time
Limewire
by journeyman4 - 3/9/07 3:44 AM In reply to: Is peer-to-peer software such as LimeWire legal and safe to use? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
As far as I am aware it is not illegal, as it is a sharing site, and as regards problems, I have experienced non, I have got Audio books, and loads of music without any problems (upto now dont want to tempt fate)I have been using Limewire for several months now.
Limewire itself is not illegal, but, (and it’s a *big* but)…
by MarkFlax - 3/9/07 4:11 AM
In reply to: Is peer-to-peer software such as LimeWire legal and safe to use? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hi Brandy.
Limewire is one of the P2P, (Peer to Peer), group of applications. Peer to Peer means that people of like minds connect together to share files. The Wikipedia site defines Peer to Peer quite well;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer_to_Peer
Limewire, BitTorrent, Morpheus, there are others, are all enablers that allow people to connect together through the internet for the purpose of downloading files and sharing those files with others. These P2P enablers are not of themselves illegal. They are just freely available software programs. However, it is what these programs are used for that is often illegal.
They are most commonly used to download music, films, and other programs, amongst other things. The question of legality is one that you may be able to answer yourself, but here is a couple of examples;
1] The film Ice Age
This is a film distributed through the entertainment company 20th Century Fox. I suspect the film is freely available through P2P applications.
Normally, if you wanted to watch this film at home you would purchase the film on DVD from a recognized retail outlet, either in the high street or online. That way, 20th Century Fox at some stage receives a payment for producing and distributing the film.
But if you download the film through a P2P application, how does 20th Century Fox receive the monies they are entitled to?
Ice Age is copyrighted in countries all around the world. That means that it is protected by copyright laws in every country in the world. If it isn’t protected in any particular country, 20th Century Fox would not distribute it in that country. That protection means that *copying* the film is illegal. It probably more correctly means *copying the film for unauthorized distribution* is illegal.
You may think, and many others do, that 20th Century Fox, and others like them, are such large and rich companies that they should allow people who don’t want to purchase the film to see it anyway, for free. But the principle remains. It is their property and making it freely available is against the law.
2] An album by Corrine Bailey Rae
I have chosen this artist because she is a fairly new performer, and so is at the start of her career. I could have selected many others.
It would not surprise me that Corrine Bailey Rae’s first album is available on such P2P networks. Her work is also copyrighted and she also has intellectual rights on her words and music.
If you and others think that 20th Century Fox are wealthy enough to afford the loss of income through P2P downloads and file sharing, what about artists like Corrine Bailey Rae? Where is the fairness to her if she loses income through file sharing of her music and songs?
The principle remains the same. Sharing her albums over the internet, (or any other medium), without purchasing them through official retail outlets is theft, and piracy.
3] Software
Much software is available on these networks. But, as with films and music, much of this software is owned by people and companies, and they have the right to expect revenue from making their software available for general use.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The entertainment industry is suffering major loss of revenue through such file sharing networks. By their very nature, entertainment artists, (including the big players like 20th Century Fox), have to display their works and perform them in public. The works they produce are not private. But that does not mean that the public have a right to see, listen, enjoy their works free of charge.
The same applies to software applications. Why should people who have taken the time, effort and money to develop software see that software stolen from them through P2P networks?
The question of legality is a difficult one and is being fought through the courts all over the world. One of the first major players in P2P, Kazaa, developed by Shaman Networks Ltd, have recently lost a number of court battles, particularly in Australia, against the use that their software has been put to. Kazaa now abide by the letter of the law and they distribute their software with the following warning;
“Copyright: Sharman Networks Ltd does not condone activities and actions that breach the rights of copyright owners. As a Kazaa user you have agreed to abide by the End User License Agreement and it is your responsibility to obey all laws governing copyright in each country.”
Whether that is sufficient for the courts remain to be seen.
Individuals are now being prosecuted for distributing such copyrighted files on these networks. If you receive illegal files, you may, in effect, be receiving stolen goods. If that’s the case, then you are also liable to prosecution.
Other risks
There is considerable risk to downloading files using P2P networks.
Although many of the major P2P applications say they are free of spyware and adware, such downloaded files are often the vehicle for viruses, trojans and spyware. You download such files at your risk. These files are often seeded with such malware by the owners themselves, or their agents, or simply by individuals who relish spreading malware across the internet.
Finally:
Don’t be persuaded by others who may reply here and say that P2P is not illegal, or such music, film, software should be free. I don’t know your personal circumstances, but ask yourself this. If you were an artist, how would you react if your hard work was being shared illegally and losing you your hard earned revenue? How would you feel if it was your son or daughter who was the artist?
Good luck
Mark
Dont sweat it
by lvinglis - 3/10/07 7:55 AM In reply to: Limewire itself is not illegal, but, (and it’s a *big* but)… by MarkFlax
I have used limewire for years and have not had any legal problems or with my system. Dont rely on what you are told do some research and see for yourself.
Do some research?
by MarkFlax - 3/11/07 10:03 AM
In reply to: Dont sweat it by lvinglis
Which aspect about the legality, or otherwise, of downloading copyrighted content do you propose I research?
Mark
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