Stop Online Piracy Act

[TSD]

As I know my feelings are wrong and misaligned, the piracy of a song or something to the end user, it not that big of deal, there is just so much out there now a days with most of it being shit, that no one wants to pay for it anymore. Real piracy to me is if this stuff was being stolen and then resold for profit to someone else. That absolutely to me is piracy. Or if the product is being deluted, changed, counterfited is some way. but that doesn't really apply here because we are talking about online. The biggest offender here is probably porn, in that it's ripped off and reused for profit all over the place. Music too, but I don't see it being resold as much as just straight up downloaded.

I've never bought that argument with music either. If its shit why are you downloading it, even for free.



Its more or less I tend to get annoyed by the self righteousness of the Pirate community. Frankly I dont care what they do, but when they try to excuse it through some sort of superior principal, its like oh **** off.



The fact is none of them would walk into a store and physically steal, the same exact product.

 

[IceHogsFan]

I have not read up on this bill but I have a question.



Is this the usual scenario where the government has the right attention but by the time they draw up a bill with a resolution it has become a total cluster?

 

[MassHavoc]

I've never bought that argument with music either. If its shit why are you downloading it, even for free.



Its more or less I tend to get annoyed by the self righteousness of the Pirate community. Frankly I dont care what they do, but when they try to excuse it through some sort of superior principal, its like oh **** off.



The fact is none of them would walk into a store and physically steal, the same exact product.

You can not buy it all you want but when it's all the same timbaland, american idol, ::insert what ever country person it is:: BS being produced, you download it because it's what you are told is a hit, and then you delete it when you find out it sucks. Especially if it's the full album. Maybe not the single song but albums in general you download to try out, then they suck and you delete them. I dont' even bother downloading shit anymore. I can't tell you the last time I illegally downloaded something.



I used to do it for some of the big expensive programs and games cause I didn't have the money. I was afraid to buy them because I didn't want to waste the money or I didn't really need the program just wanted to play around with it. I didn't know if I would like it. You say get the demo but those suck most of the time too.



It's funny a lot of the stuff I used to download for free, now that I have the money I buy it. I got exposed to a lot more stuff and learned what was good and what wasn't.

 

[TSD]

I have not read up on this bill but I have a question.



Is this the usual scenario where the government has the right attention but by the time they draw up a bill with a resolution it has become a total cluster?

The problem with it, is the verbiage in the bill is WAY too broad. Basically, potentially the government could use it to shut down or stifle any US based website it sees fit using this bill as its foundation, add to that a boom in litigation for bullshit claims that would technically be supported by it, which many ecommerce sites have been freaking out about (i.e. take someone selling something on Ebay using a photo from the manufacturers website, ebay could potentially be shut down for that). The sponsors of the bill said its only intent is to protect copyrights, but come on, and the patriot act is "only" used to catch terrorists.

 

[TSD]

You can not buy it all you want but when it's all the same timbaland, american idol, ::insert what ever country person it is:: BS being produced, you download it because it's what you are told is a hit, and then you delete it when you find out it sucks. Especially if it's the full album. Maybe not the single song but albums in general you download to try out, then they suck and you delete them. I dont' even bother downloading shit anymore. I can't tell you the last time I illegally downloaded something.



I used to do it for some of the big expensive programs and games cause I didn't have the money. I was afraid to buy them because I didn't want to waste the money or I didn't really need the program just wanted to play around with it. I didn't know if I would like it. You say get the demo but those suck most of the time too.



It's funny a lot of the stuff I used to download for free, now that I have the money I buy it. I got exposed to a lot more stuff and learned what was good and what wasn't.

I agree with you that music as a whole is shit, but theres plenty of outlets to listen to a song FREE, then choose whether or not you want to pay for it. I just think its a cop out to justify their actions. Like I said I dont care if people download music illegally, I just wish they wouldnt act like they are justified in their actions. Maybe 15 years ago when you had to buy a cd of filler to get the one radio hit you wanted, but thats all gone the way of the dodo, hell on amazon you can listen to like a minute of every song before you buy it, theres no excuse.



Thats the only reason I give PC game pirates somewhat of a pass, Publishers have been really shitty about putting out quality demo's of late and reviews can hardly be trusted.

 

[Bringmepie]

Crap! Wikipedia is blacking out in protest tomorrow to give us a taste of "the future that might yet be", how on earth will my sister's 100-level English students at I.S.U. complete their papers on time!



http://www.wbez.org/no-sidebar/photos-websites-go-dark-protest-sopa-legislation-95608

 

[roshinaya]

The ones crying the most about music piracy are the big labels who have made billions selling manufactured crap and are the least hurt by online piracy. The ones that are most hurt are the small indie labels and record distributors. Hundreds, if not thousands, of them have gone under the past years. They are however the first and very fast to latch on to alternative ways to distribute music. There are things like bandcamp that they can charge whatever they want for a download of their newest tracks in any format. Then there are bands like Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails who are practically giving away their music for free and offering exclusive versions of their new albums to the die hard fans, but they have already made their millions the old fashioned way so it's feasible for them to do so.

For myself, the ability to download music has helped me discover a ton of artists and music that I would have never heard of. And I've spent a lot of money supporting these artist by buying their records. So it's a two-way street. Some people simply steal the music and then there are those that pay for the music once they found what they like thanks to online piracy. It's also interesting to see that vinyl sales are up after a decline. Maybe people are getting tired of having their music as boring digital files that they listen to from their shitty speakers on their laptop or phone and want to enjoy the full sound of a record while admiring the artwork of the album.

 

[supraman]

I've never bought that argument with music either. If its shit why are you downloading it, even for free.



Its more or less I tend to get annoyed by the self righteousness of the Pirate community. Frankly I dont care what they do, but when they try to excuse it through some sort of superior principal, its like oh **** off.



The fact is none of them would walk into a store and physically steal, the same exact product.

Music I hardly pirate anymore, I just load up slacker if I want to hear music. Games, if I am undecided about a game or a review has me worried then I pirate it. Take Stronghold 3 for example. The first Stronghold was a blast, 2nd one sucked. So I was leery of the 3rd one, so I pirated it, checked it out and was very glad I didn't pay for it because it sucked, I don't even have my pirated copy anymore. Hell I'll download games and then forget I DLed them and never play them. I did that with portal 2 and Warhammer 40k Space Marine.

The problem with it, is the verbiage in the bill is WAY too broad. Basically, potentially the government could use it to shut down or stifle any US based website it sees fit using this bill as its foundation, add to that a boom in litigation for bullshit claims that would technically be supported by it, which many ecommerce sites have been freaking out about (i.e. take someone selling something on Ebay using a photo from the manufacturers website, ebay could potentially be shut down for that). The sponsors of the bill said its only intent is to protect copyrights, but come on, and the patriot act is "only" used to catch terrorists.

Another thing to consider is it won't really stem piracy. They'll find another way.

 

[BiscuitintheBasket]

We have been reading the bill in question at work because of how we give Internet and web access classifies us as a ISP a hosting site. What is interesting is that it's purpose is to extend existing laws to speed up the persue of offending ISP's and hosters. Those that already have the content and copywright rights can already do so, but the process is slow. Honestly I think it is much ado about nothing since what people are griping about can already be done. Sure there are the fears that all of these ISP's and hosters are going to be instantly shut down, but there are a shit load of ISP's and hosters...it is not like there is time to even "stiffle" 1% of them in even a decade, and another can come up pretty quickly. It is more to speed up the process against the biggest offenders.

 

[LordKOTL]

Music is not my biggest concern, but movies/TV/broadcasts. Their main problem is accessibility. While Youtube/Hulu are starting to change that, really, the biggest problem is again, accessibility.



For someone who lives in the area in which you're considered part of the Blackhawks home blackout zone, and in the zone for WGN america as opposed to WGN chicago, you should understand exactly what I mean. If the game is on WGN, and at home, you can (a) attempt to get tickets to the game, which will run you well over $100/person when all is said and done. Otherwise, there is no way for you to catch the game legally unless you tune in the AM radio feed...

...

...

...

Or, you can jump online to a site like, say, stoogetv and pull in the feed illegally. Rocky/WGN/NHL not making money on the game? **** 'em, they should have thought of that before blacking you out.



Or, think about older TV shows. Studios often fail to relese them on DVD/other digital format that some people want to see. Can't legally find them on DVD? Some site has it avaliable. The studio losing money because of the piracy? **** 'em. They should have thought of that and released the show.



That's how the standard human mind works on this. Call it a cop-out or theft all you want but most people really don't care as long as they get what they want.

 

[IceHogsFan]

Or, you can jump online to a site like, say, stoogetv and pull in the feed illegally. Rocky/WGN/NHL not making money on the game? **** 'em, they should have thought of that before blacking you out.



Or, think about older TV shows. Studios often fail to relese them on DVD/other digital format that some people want to see. Can't legally find them on DVD? Some site has it avaliable. The studio losing money because of the piracy? **** 'em. They should have thought of that and released the show.

I like your analogy but the issue with the WGN broadcasts and being blacked out is a Comcast issue. It is due to how they broadcast WGN.

HOWEVER, I still blame the Blackhawks because they know this yet continue to sign agreements with them without addressing the issue. If the Blackhawks really wanted to my guess is they could get that addressed.

 

[Tater]

I like your analogy but the issue with the WGN broadcasts and being blacked out is a Comcast issue. It is due to how they broadcast WGN.

HOWEVER, I still blame the Blackhawks because they know this yet continue to sign agreements with them without addressing the issue. If the Blackhawks really wanted to my guess is they could get that addressed.

Don't the Hawks own a quarter or so of Comcrap?

 

[The Mule]

This really helped me understand exactly what is wrong with SOPA and PIPA.



http://theoatmeal.com/sopa

 

[LordKOTL]

...and that's my point exactly. If Comcast, the Blackhawks, and any entity that stands to make money on the broadcast yammers about how the pirate feeds are costing them money, they need to re-evaluate how accessible they are making the games--especially with how many sell-outs the blackhawks have been having.



Another good example again would be tonight's game. It's on Vs (NBC Sports). My choices (being far out of market) for watching the game are the following:

• Get a ticket and a plane ticket to see the game...not going to happen 'cause I don't have multi-hundereds of dollars just sitting around.
  
• Get a premium cable/satellite package running about $60-80 bucks a month just to see about 5-6 blakchawks games per year.
  
• Watch a pirate stream or try and sidestep Gamecenter Live's blackout.
  
• Hope a local bar shows the game--hit or miss in this town.
  

Now, GCL costs about $20 per month--it also blacks out every NBC/Vs/NHLN game. If we assume the average team plays every other day, it roughly translates to about $1.33 per game. ****-all in a five-year plan, right? Except for the blackouts. The NHL could make money off of blacked-out games by adding an option to watch the games at a small premium that a good percentage of users will pay for (hell, charge $2-5 to watch a blacked out game and I'd pay it), and they could recoup money lost on advertising revenue. They won't. So, consumers will turn to a shitty, FREE, pirate stream or sidestep the blackout.



The logic? Make it avaliable for a fair price and we'll pay for it. If not, we'll get it anyway. We demand it, you supply it.

 

[MassHavoc]

I think the real reason people are so upset about SOPA/PIPA is that it will really limit what they can do at work, and possibly force them to actually do work.

 

[LordKOTL]

That should be a purvey of the company's ISP and IT policies, it should never be put in the hands of congress. Further, IMHO no law or act should ever be put into place in which it can enable nebulous limits of government power if it can in any way, shape or form be used to quash the rights of americans--even for the illusion of security.

 

[MassHavoc]

I was making a joke.

 

[LordKOTL]

I was making a joke.

Then my apologies, my sarc-o-meter is off today.

 

[supraman]

I think the real reason people are so upset about SOPA/PIPA is that it will really limit what they can do at work, and possibly force them to actually do work.

WTF would I do for 6 out of 8 hours of the day?