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108 Comments
- greves, on 10/12/2007, -5/+101Great news to hear that not everyone is America's lapdog. Way to go Italy!
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+66The pirate bay should buy italy
- ajb2015, on 10/12/2007, -13/+56"convinced to one year in prison"
not only is the word you are looking for spelled "convicted," but it isn't even the right word. It is "sentenced." - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+38Best food in the world, 2 hour work days and all the downloads you can get? I so envy these guys :-D
- skidogallard, on 10/12/2007, -0/+28So, who's moving to Italy now?
- computerdude33, on 10/12/2007, -0/+23BREAKING NEWS: US population down by 100 million, Italy up by same number
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+21Wow, the prosecuting lawyer must've been mighty persuasive to convince them to go to prison.
- InSeverance, on 10/12/2007, -3/+22Finally...a country with an ounce of common sense
- dillonish, on 10/12/2007, -1/+20Thomas Paine had Common Sense.
- Phible, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15@xXRobbyXx
it's it's - tidu, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15"convinced to one year in prison"
They were given a choice?
"We're giving you two years in prison"
"make it six months"
"One year, and that's final"
"Okay. - AniceAtheist, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13Cause of your lobbyist controlled government.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11Common sense isn't all too common, i'm afraid.
- xXRobbyXx, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11its viva Italia
- xoxuxox, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=print_story&articleid=VR1117957867&categoryid=19
"In a blow to Italy's campaign against piracy, a Rome court has ruled that the unauthorized downloading of copyrighted movies, music and video games is not a crime if the downloader does not profit from the action.
In 2005, a Turin court sentenced two men to a year in jail and fined them several hundred euros for using a computer server at the Turin Polytechnic Institute to store and distribute copies of video games, films and CDs in 1999.
The jail time was cut to three months on appeal. But last week, a Supreme Court judge overturned the sentence completely, saying the act wasn't criminal because the duo saw no commercial gain.
In 2003, Silvio Berlusconi's government passed one of Europe's toughest copyright laws, modeled on the EU's copyright directive, passing down stiff fines for commercial pirates and individual downloaders. But the law is rarely enforced and authorities struggle against film and music piracy from organized crime groups and individuals.
Fimi, Italy's trade group for professional musicians, on Monday downplayed the Supreme Court decision saying it would have little impact on the anti-piracy law as the two men were charged under an older, weaker law." - JesusFaction, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7why oh why can't you link to the ACTUAL article
http://www.pittsburghpostgazette.com/pg/07026/756542-96.stm - cavadela, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9I heard the Pirate Bay just bought a town there
- diggsIt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Bragging
- Ramtech, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I need to find a hosting in italy...
lol - blackjack75, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Surely a small island off the coast of italy would beat a cold platform on the coast of Britain.
- hiscity, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5We can check out books or videos of copyrighted material from a library -- no problem.
We can watch copyrighted material at a motel or someone else's home -- no problem.
We can loan or give each other copyrighted material -- no problem.
We can even sell copyrighted material second hand -- no problem.
I have to agree with the Italians. As long as people aren't distributing copyrighted material for profit -- I don't see a problem. Clearly laws about online sharing should be consistent with other types of sharing.
The funny thing is that with all the sharing going on -- advertisers haven't figured out yet how to promote products as background props in the videos and other copyrighted material that is being massively shared. If the "piracy" rates are correct -- then they are ignoring a massive distribution and market. What's the difference between advertising on the side of bus or billboard you see in a video and the same signage you see driving down the road?
As for artists and other producers losing income, without advertising and marketing they wouldn't survive anyway.
Then there's hollywood. They're "neo-communists" except of course for their own products. From each according to their ability to each according to their need, eh comrade? And the taboo that no one wants to admit is that computing, entertainment, gaming, books, music, etc. are often addicting. There's an emotional bio-chemical hook, likely just as addicting (and considering the obesity epidemic) and just as deadly as drugs, nicotine, or alcohol.
So frankly the anti-sharing faction is just as nuts as the hard-core pirate-everything fans. Most of it, free or not, just isn't worth the time to watch or the bother to keep, unless you're a fanatic. - AniceAtheist, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5It is legal here in Canada. we call it Fair Dealing instead of fair use. Canadians have paid for the right to copy for personal use. Every blank tape, DAT,CD, CDR and DVD you purchase includes a fee that the Canadian Recording Industry Association receives. And these levies go directly to the artists, songwriters and performers
Although two member of parliament (our congress) are planning on screwing everything up.
From Boing Boing:
Bev Oda (the Canadian Tory Heritage Minister who funded her campaign with money from the big entertainment, software and pharma companies) is poised to bring down new copyright legislation that will plunge Canada into the dark ages, outdoing the USA for sheer boneheaded lunacy.
meaning worse then DMCA since it won't have any Fair Use provisions in it. Those aware of what she plans on doing are already organizing to fight it, and even if it passes if there are no provisions to protect everyday citizens it probably won't stand up in court. But the is always at least one nut in government doing stupid things like this. - diggsIt, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Great Boccie balls for Italy.
- jacobsor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5The article: "analysts said violating a copyright, for example by breaking copy-protection technologies in place, remained illegal even if downloading the material had been decriminalized."
- scabbers, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8Yeah boo hoo, cos after all capitalism is all about ethics.
- bmson, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@Cleanlyness
Europe has also one of the lowest unemployment rate in the world and highest pay in the world.
And the longest working days in the western world and that is all in Iceland. - peregrine, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Well this makes me wonder why Italy is becomeing one of the old countries in the world? Sounds great.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Dont forget about their cars :)
- amphoterous, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I'm moving to Italy.
- richstyles, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I wonder if there's a political agenda behind it though.
- SpookyET, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Ti amo, Italia!
- wickedsun, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@Avalontor
Yeah, and taking someone's picture actually steal their soul.
When you take a physical copy, in Fantasyland, it's the same as downloading it. In the real world, however, when you download a copy of something, you are not depriving anyone of anything other than "a potential sale". A physical copy is not the same as a digital copy (something from which you can make an infinite number of copy). - AniceAtheist, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2No it goes beyond that we had a case that went to the supreme court in regards to downloading and the court refused to overturn the appeals court decision that stated pretty much the same thing the Italian courts have stated. That personnel use is ok as long as it is not for gain.
- ThetaDot, on 10/12/2007, -5/+7Okay, I'm truly not trying to be contrived here, so can someone explain to me how this is good for everybody (including companies)?
If a million people download an app or some other piece of data with value, isn't that a loss of a (million x the cost of the product) for whoever owns it and is trying to sell it?
I'm genuinely interested in trying to understand the other side on this issue.
To me, it just looks like everybody is looking for free stuff?? - greyfedora, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Hold on a second -- it may not be a criminal offence, but that doesn't mean it's not illegal. Even in the U.S., not many people are going to jail for illegal filesharing, but they are being sued.
- jacobsor, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6Totally inaccurate. According to the article, the Italian court held that the downdloading is not a *crime.* However, it is still copyright infringement, which is still illegal under Italian law.
TFA: "Analysts said violating a copyright, for example by breaking copy-protection technologies in place, remained illegal even if downloading the material had been decriminalized." - RedbeardUH, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Unnecessarily alarmist headline.
- frant1c, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@everyone that noticed the "convinced" error: I apologize, my fingers were faster than my brain.
- Neticule, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4"If a million people download an app or some other piece of data with value, isn't that a loss of a (million x the cost of the product) for whoever owns it and is trying to sell it?"
If your logic is that everyone that pirated it would have bought it instead, yes. But that is NOT the case. Photoshop is very highly pirated, probably around a million copies at the least. However, if people were not able to download it, that doesnt mean they would have the 500 bucks to buy it, probably only 5% of those million downloads, at most, could justify a purchase like that (professional artists, etc).
Even with games, alot of people cant justify spending 50 dollars for a game they will possibly play for 3-4 days, so they pirate it instead.
Some argue that it actually increases sales for some software as well. I have pirated things, i will be honest, but if I end up using whatever it is for more then a few days, and see myself using it alot, i WILL go buy the full program. Some people use the pirating method as a way to basically get a FULL trial version, which most games dont have. and if it really is good, and worth it, most people dont mind paying, they just have to JUSTIFY a reason for spending that much!
The point is, yes, companies do lose some money from pirating, but not anywhere near in the realm of what alot of people say they do, because the fact is, most people that download something, wont necessarily have bought it otherwise. And the other way around, some people wouldnt have bought a game/program if they hadnt downloaded it and tried it out first. - jamthehut, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2i live in italy. I download like crazy. I justify it because w/o torrents I would have missed %90 of the films that were released (even internationally) in the past 3 years. And the %10 that do come here (usually 4-5 months later) are with awful translations overdubbed so you miss a whole dimension of the movie anyway.
Am I going to see the italian dubbed Borat when it comes out in March? Hell no. The placards at the cinema don't even translate the title correctly: it's grammatically correct! - Cglass, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2They have candy and movie night there :D
- Shirokun, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3The same goes for Spain Too (The law exists here since the 70s when people started sharing tapes)
And trust me when I say that loads of artists are happy with this, because the Internet is great advertising for them.
Artists don't win money from the CD's but from the concerts. - AniceAtheist, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Another good reason why downloading is useful.
Wait till everything switched to High-Def and it starts costing $40 per movie. you'll see how even more people start downloading. What are you going to arrest people for not being able to afford to be part of the culture. And even the ones that can afford it, so what. Aren't there issues that affect more Americans that government should be working on?
How many people in a country of 300 million are actually negatively affected by downloading movies. seriously give me a break, those against it just sound like unpaid corporate mouthpieces. - afruff23, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Canada's major cable ISP's block bittorrent traffic. Downloading in US>>>>>>>>Downloading in Canada
- williamdyer, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2If you read the U.S. Constitution one things sticks out: The ONLY right artificially created by the Constitution is copyright. The rest are inalienable rights. That is, they exist with or without governments that actually respect those rights. Copyright was created for the common good. When it stops being for the common good, get rid of it, or pare it back to a minimum. It simply does not have the same standing as inalienable rights.
- masterc, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"who were initially convinced to one year in prison"
I don't know about them, but I'm not going to let anybody convince me to go to prison... - Misesean, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3"Capitalism" is effectively just another word for "system of private property". Private property and copyrights are mutually exclusive; therefore capitalism and copyright cannot coexist. http://www.mises.org/journals/jls/15_2/15_2_1.pdf
- WhiteRaven, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Doesn't downloading something that is legally for sale automatically mean the downloader is profiting? The software or media is worth something. That's profit.
- ep53, on 02/02/2008, -0/+1+ All the fashion designers that come from Italy....Gucci, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana,
- Misesean, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"I have something of value that I paid less for than it was worth."
If you buy anything, that's still true. Else why would you buy it? -
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