Murdoch: illegal downloading is like stealing a handbag

Horse Towel? thats new. even if you aren't caught you still have stolen, you just haven't been penalized....

Hi guys
Widening the question a bit.

What's your take on say buying a DVD but then finding that it will only work on specific hardware in a particular country - and then being offered an "alternative" that will work on your laptop WHEREVER you are.

Same with music -- PAY for songs but when they have DRM in them what are you going to do -- get versions that DON'T have DRM or play restrictions on them.

What about lending CD's / DVD's to colleagues who *might* copy them or what about copying for your OWN use TV / Radio programs -- technically illegal but SO STUPID that it brings the entire law into disrespect.

I'll bet that NONE of the posters who are complaining the most about Piracy can honestly ever say that they've NEVER borrowed a tape, book, CD, DVD etc from someone else or have NEVER made a TV or Radio program recording. They've also broke the law (albeit a totally stupid and rediculous one at that).

If products didn't have so many restrictions on them and movies etc were released at THE SAME time a lot of piracy would disappear -- these days with FAST broadband you'd have to have an I.Q of about 3 to realize that if you only release a movie in one country it will be seconds before its copied and "available " in another.

Whatever the "Morality" of the argument most if not ALL the problems have been generated by Hollywood / Sony etc themselves. They had LOADS of warnings about how the newer digital methods rendered the old delivery systems useless -- but did they take any notice -- not until it was FAR TOO LATE.

You've got about as much chance now of stopping this stuff as making Water flow uphill whatever the "Moral Issues" are. You aren't going to fix it via technical solutions either -- it doesn't matter what encryption methods are used it doesn't take long before someone had broken them.

The whole business model needs to be looked at -- whether it's Education, Soceity in general or Corporate practices -- and some of these can be really greedy and "anti-soceity" too.

I DON'T know what the end answer should be - but attempting to log people's Internet usage / emails etc etc will NEVER work, and slinging a few youngsters in jail won't do the trick either.


Cheers
jimbo

I plead the 5th lol

but it is not a stupid law it is there to protect copyrights and keep people from pirating. I do think it is enforced incorrectly and that people who are charged $5million in court are being made an example. If you speed in your car you get a ticket for ~$100...you dont get fined 100,000,000 for the wrecks you could have caused by speeding because you happened to be next to 10-15 cars.

The use of Zones is to keep people from buying pirated stuff in say China and then bringing them back to the US or EU. I dont agree with the zone usage. if you make a product, you offer it to the world at a price. Dont sell it in the US for $50 and then China for $15, just sell it everywhere for $25 right?

illegal downloading is like stealing a handbag from someone who has many identical handbags.

it would only be like stealing a handbag if the original was deleted from where it was downloaded and the person who owned it had to call 5 different numbers to cancel all their cards.

I agree with the terminology of Stealing, I just dont think the analogy of a handbag is fitting

Thorsen said:

I agree with the terminology of Stealing, I just dont think the analogy of a handbag is fitting

My thoughts exactly.

Illegal downloading (the digital revolution) has forced a change in the market place. It is up to people like Murdoch and the film and music industry to find ways to win customers back. Murdoch simplistic analogy is not a way of doing that. Murdoch still lives in the past and brings no solution.