Copyrights - respect the law - please read

[EarlyMon]

I have often come out warning our membership, both publicly and privately, about the serious nature of the escalation of copyright enforcement.

Last year I told of the individual who got 10 years in a US Federal penitentiary for operating a cutsie-pie media website - the kind that links to copyrighted movies and TV shows, but says, disclaimer, we aren't responsible if these links go to a site with illegal content, and by the way, here's this week's blockbuster! Nice. Real cute, but for the next 9 years, his job will be to make little pebbles out of big rocks, because prosecutors and juries aren't stupid.

Everyone knows that you don't get something for nothing.

Well, here's that next step in the enforcement escalation I warned about last year.

Copyright Wars escalate: Britain to extradite student to US over link site

Now we are importing criminal offenders of our laws if we can extradite them. Think long and hard about that, my friends.

In addition to that, I warned that enforcement would be stepping it up and making examples of end-users. Civil monetary penalties already existed. Jail time could be coming next.

I wasn't believed by a number of folks when I made my last two predictions. They both came true.

Violating copyrights is immoral, illegal and it depresses the family dog something fierce.

Please don't do it, and if you don't want to obey the law, please don't make AndroidForums.com a party to your acts. Whether it's ripping off movies, books, shows or software, none of that has a place here.

And to the vast, overwhelming majority of our membership that doesn't pirate, and who may kindly remind others of this and who report these sad few occurrences on our site, I want to extend my deepest personal thanks!

 

[SUroot]

I can't believe that! That's disgusting!

 

[jmar]

Well said my friend!

jmar

 

[EarlyMon]

I can't believe that! That's disgusting!

I can't speak to British law and only follow legal developments here.

While we cater to an international membership, we are a US site. Let's discuss the right or wrong of the extradition in the Politics and Current Affairs forum.

Here, let's please focus on respecting copyrights on our forums.

 

[TJGoSurf]

I've always said if they make things easier to get, people will pay for them. I used to download everything, I couldn't get them on my TV without having a dvr which is expensive. Now I can go on Amazon on my TV and buy/rent movies and tv shows. I haven't used a torrent in years.

 

[argedion]

I can imagine what would happen to grass roots app developers if app stealing became as rampant as the music and movie stealing was; we'd likely see whole categories of apps and widgets being overtaken by high tech piracy operations eventually employing their own developers, squeezing out the legitimate ones; basically starving them out of the app business.

Yes this has already happened their Names are Microsoft and Apple.

 

[argedion]

Neither Microsoft or Apple develop for the Android platform, nor are they likely to given that each has a rival mobile OS. Let's keep on-topic, please.

wasnt talking just android platform. Just in general of the whole "Piracy" issue. Both have been "accused" of doing such. So I feel it was very much on "Topic" In my last post I stated that Those Companies who can "fight" piracy as far as having the money to do so will survive. The fact that they can be pirates themselves is a fact worth considering.

 

[EarlyMon]

Let's make this our generic copyright thread.

 

[argedion]

That's fine. I wasn't aware that the thread I was in was "Android only"

I was Modded and thats fine just as long as we stay fair

 

[EarlyMon]

Well, with your posts over here, you're now un-modded, that seems fair, the other thread was just focused to a single, narrow area.

So, let's continue -

I'm not clear on your ideas though about Apple and Microsoft here.

 

[argedion]

Well, with your posts over here, you're now un-modded, that seems fair, the other thread was just focused to a single, narrow area.

So, let's continue -

I'm not clear on your ideas though about Apple and Microsoft here.

not to sound like a ranter. I know I've read articles in older PC mags back in the day that had both of them at one time or another being accused of "Stealing" the code or the "idea" of this particular program or that particular program. (To be honest some were disgruntled employee's looking to get their share) Some however claimed to be working a "Joint Venture" However I'm having trouble finding any supporting articles at the moment and don't even have a hard copy of any mag at this point. The actual point did go to the fact that Piracy/Copyright infringement is done at all levels even on those levels of Corporate bullying.

A look at the way corporations do business to better the profits of themselves all the while of putting the competitors out of business. Which I felt at the time was an example of what Frisco had stated:

we'd likely see whole categories of apps and widgets being overtaken by high tech piracy operations eventually employing their own developers, squeezing out the legitimate ones; basically starving them out of the app business.

All I was doing was pointing out that these things are happening. However correctly yes they are not limited to android devices. Also I do not have any proof of this currently going on in the android world as right now there is no "Major Player" in the android market.

I also believe in Open Source which could further view me as radical and not as factual. So I will ensure that I am being fair with my statements for now on.

 

[EarlyMon]

Actually, corporate bullying by the big desktop makers is rather well-known. Look no further than the Netscape debacle with Microsoft. Better, look at the once-independent apps for the iPhone that were ushered out of their App Store and replaced shortly thereafter with an Apple version of the same app. This was in the in the Apple press for several cases, end of 2010, beginning of 2011.

I think the parallel would be Google bullying a small dev and taking them over - I won't say that has or hasn't happened, but I would say I'm not aware of that happening for the Android platform yet.

 

[argedion]

I know this is truth. The bullying is what got them where they are. Those examples only strengthen my original statement. Just having the articles to back me up make me seem more knowledgeable and less radical.

I'm sure Google has Don we it's fair share of bullying after all they are a major player

 

[EarlyMon]

OK - let's name all of the Google apps for Android.

Let's look at all of them being free.

Let's look at the fact that there are alternatives to their apps in the Market.

That's where the parallels break down.

And as Android and Chrome are their only 2 os offerings, I am unsure how else to draw parallels.

I am not arguing that they are squeaky clean, but so far, it looks like it's going in the other direction. Oracle's claims for ripping off intellectual property are falling fast, and I don't even know what to make of the German judge upholding Apple claims as unique when a Dutch judge found that Apple claims were false.

If I could get a clear bead on the area you're referring to, I could most likely scrape up the articles.

 

[argedion]

OK - let's name all of the Google apps for Android.

Let's look at all of them being free.

Let's look at the fact that there are alternatives to their apps in the Market.

That's where the parallels break down.

And as Android and Chrome are their only 2 os offerings, I am unsure how else to draw parallels.

I am not arguing that they are squeaky clean, but so far, it looks like it's going in the other direction. Oracle's claims for ripping off intellectual property are falling fast, and I don't even know what to make of the German judge upholding Apple claims as unique when a Dutch judge found that Apple claims were false.

If I could get a clear bead on the area you're referring to, I could most likely scrape up the articles.

If I could get a clear bead I could probably do so for myself. I participated in a self experiment. That almost killed me. Something's survived those few decades however memory is not one of them The darkside of self experimentation. blots and microdots skinny smelly mushrooms got picked in the night. Flourishing jungle from which I came years of the above have damaged my brain. Wiskey and weed took me by hand and led me to that hallucinogenic land.