Page 1 of VCD - A LEGAL POINT OF VIEW

I release its illegal to sell em and to copy films
what if you own some ? or get given em via the internet
suppose it depends if you sell em on or hire em out
cant you keep em for ` personal use `

Funny innit, you say youv`e got half an ounce of weed for personal use and you get away with, say the same thing about a harmless pirated film and your still up s*** creek without a paddle.

Enemy

i suppose its coz piracy helps fund terrorist organisations.. ( so they say at the beginning of films ) and could jeopardise the future of film making...
still why dont they close down sites offering VCDs or internet sites offering sharing facilities ?? Cant get me head round it !

If studios could stop piracy full stop, don`t think twice that they wouldn`t just go ahead and do it. Alas they can`t because humans have rights, and only the police can raid your home and even then only with a warrant.

So this creates the ultimate human rights protection system, whereby they are forced to target the sources, and actually the only people who are diddling them out of money (but thats a side issue, as its all about cutting it off closest to the source to stem the flow of illegal goods) instead of those who are using them.

Whilst the majority of the population has indulged in copyright theft at least once in their lifetime, morally most of us don`t have a problem with copying things for friends, and thats a hard attitude for studios to combat, because they are ultimately governed by the laws that governments put in place, who are voted in by the majority of people. Catch 22.

But it actually is a fact that organised crime is attracted to whatever makes it the most money for the minimum effort and risk, which means drugs and pirated goods. It`s a lot easier to pirate goods and flog them through a distribution network than steal legitimate goods and not get caught, because your reducing your chances of being found out before you make your money and run.

What I think these messages should say, instead of saying they help fund terrorism, is that they give bucket loads of cash to organisations that sell drugs and rip off people in many other ways. It would be more accurate but less sensationalist. Either way who wants to give money to a crook?

As for targetting sites that offer sharing facilities, they can`t stop them now, and they know it. Napster used a central server to store information on what we all had offered up for sharing on our PCs, hence why it was able to be targetted as it was in a position to know what files might be illegal or not.

All modern sharing networks use peer to peer and are therefore not central server based, so the legalities of stopping it is a minefield and will always prove fruitless.

Well......what about making a backup copy of VCD`s, Like you can with CD Software?

Software companies allow you to make backup copies of their CD`s as long as you dont distribute the copie(s), Also that you can install on other machines (Like ya friends) only if you Unistall the software from your machine first, before you install on a friends machine. Then only one copy can be used as particular software licences state.

So would this theory be wrong for films?

Make a backup copy of your film, "Lend" your backup copy to a friend as long as your not watching your film at the same time as him then your not breaking the law?

Just a thought?

Paul
Bored at work and just dribbling on..... :-)