[GermanBJJ]

Originally Posted by kartaron

Digg just sacrificed itself to protect the ability of users to steal intellectual property. Yay thievery.

Oh fuck that. Perhaps our resident IP attorney can shed some light on the issue but suing Digg because USERS post the code is as dumb as someone suing Sherdog because users illegally post copyrighted photos (which we do.)

Copying code should probably be illegal and actively cracking a code might be illegal but telling people how to crack a code should be protected speech. That's all Digg users are doing.

I could make an internet post telling all of you how to build a few bombs (which I do at my ranch legally) and the government shouldn't be able to do anything about it.

[Mithra]

Originally Posted by kartaron

Like Napster... all the 'rebels' who defiantly opposed the RIAA and ****llica now pay .99 per download at Itunes.

Exactly....the individual companies take all the heat while the "rebels" will just move on and find somewhere else they can get what they want...

The users ask(more like demand) the founders do what they want out of "loyalty", but in reality that loyalty will be a one way street.

Kind of like a street fight with one guys friends egging him on and then running away letting him get pummeled...

[kartaron]

Originally Posted by illmatic

i don't really know alot about this code stuff, but could the hd dvd people have put this code out there to compete against bluray?? if people can download your format wouldn't that make you alot more popular?

Maybe if it had been released once it had become a standard. Now it might become a struggle to convince studios to release expensive and nearly flawless copies of their archives only to see them become freely traded on the internet for free. They might have trouble rationalizing the risk... Especially since HD DVD has a higher clarity than 35mm is able to deliver which makes HD DVD. That means future media will not be able to deliver a better quality image or sound than what will be free.

[GermanBJJ]

On a side note: do you know what my favorite combination of letters and numbers is? When I was a small child, they came to me as if in a dream. Jesus came down and clearly said, "My child. The key to the universe is 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0."

It was pretty creepy. Oh well, just wanted to tell ya'll an irrelevant story. Sorry to hijack the thread.

[kartaron]

Originally Posted by GermanBJJ

Oh fuck that. Perhaps our resident IP attorney can shed some light on the issue but suing Digg because USERS post the code is as dumb as someone suing Sherdog because users illegally post copyrighted photos (which we do.)

Copying code should probably be illegal and actively cracking a code might be illegal but telling people how to crack a code should be protected speech. That's all Digg users are doing.

I could make an internet post telling all of you how to build a few bombs (which I do at my ranch legally) and the government shouldn't be able to do anything about it.

Look at the RIAA, thats exactly what they are doing. Look at how normal DVD codecs were protected. The studios have a huge investment in their product, Microsoft has a huge investment in their product... they have deep pockets to try to stifle the public trading.

[GermanBJJ]

Originally Posted by kartaron

Look at the RIAA, thats exactly what they are doing. Look at how normal DVD codecs were protected. The studios have a huge investment in their product, Microsoft has a huge investment in their product... they have deep pockets to try to stifle the public trading.

But they shouldn't sue Digg. Digg is just a communication medium. If you and I plan a drug deal on paper, can the government go after Pulp Paper Co.? If I defame you by shouting things through a bullhorn in Times Square, is Bullhorn Co. liable?

[Mithra]

Originally Posted by GermanBJJ

On a side note: do you know what my favorite combination of letters and numbers is? When I was a small child, they came to me as if in a dream. Jesus came down and clearly said, "My child. The key to the universe is 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0."

It was pretty creepy. Oh well, just wanted to tell ya'll an irrelevant story. Sorry to hijack the thread.

lol

[kartaron]

Originally Posted by GermanBJJ

But they shouldn't sue Digg. Digg is just a communication medium. If you and I plan a drug deal on paper, can the government go after Pulp Paper Co.? If I defame you by shouting things through a bullhorn in Times Square, is Bullhorn Co. liable?

They crushed napster and Grokster (and probably more) and those were just P2P servers that didnt even carry the illegal traffic.

I dont know the law but it has something to do with willingly being a facilitator of illegal activity. Napster only exists today due to their deference to following the guidance of the RIAA and the investment and takover by some industry giants.

I dont like the tactics of the RIAA (and lately the courts are on the road to limiting the power of the lawsuits due to some extremely poor decisions to prosecute) but intellectual property has very few real methods of protection.

[GermanBJJ]

Originally Posted by kartaron

They crushed napster and Grokster (and probably more) and those were just P2P servers that didnt even carry the illegal traffic.

I dont know the law but it has something to do with willingly being a facilitator of illegal activity. Napster only exists today due to their deference to following the guidance of the RIAA and the investment and takover by some industry giants.

I dont like the tactics of the RIAA (and lately the courts are on the road to limiting the power of the lawsuits due to some extremely poor decisions to prosecute) but intellectual property has very few real methods of protection.

I think the problem here is quite clear: we have new technology brushing against underdeveloped property law in a court presided over by 60 year old judges.

In all seriousness, I don't see the "willing facilitation of illegal activity." Anytime you have a file transfer program (or ANY means of transference), illegal activity is going to be shuttled through that means. How much illegal activity is done through the mail? Do you blame the Post Office? P2P is simply a file sharing protocol (for both legal and illegal purposes.) What's the problem here?

It's just dumb. I will admit I am not the most tech-savvy individual around, but even I think it's rather obvious.

[bunnyclaws]

Originally Posted by kartaron

They crushed napster and Grokster (and probably more) and those were just P2P servers that didnt even carry the illegal traffic.

I dont know the law but it has something to do with willingly being a facilitator of illegal activity. Napster only exists today due to their deference to following the guidance of the RIAA and the investment and takover by some industry giants.

I dont like the tactics of the RIAA (and lately the courts are on the road to limiting the power of the lawsuits due to some extremely poor decisions to prosecute) but intellectual property has very few real methods of protection.

We are talking about passing on information to circumvent security technology. Digg users were sharing information on how to bypass DRM technology. This is only illegal because of the abuse of DMCA which makes it illegal to attempt to circumvent DRM technology. This is an insane law.

Protection of copyright material is expected of the government but the DMCA/DRM goes far beyond that. I can see where it would be illegal to distribute copyrighted material but to make it illegal to discuss methods in order to circumvent DRM technology? We are not even talking about theft here. We are talking about bypassing security methods.


P.S. does anyone remember trading movies and music back in the day on IRC, USENET and FTP and Napster users were considered N00bs?