Furling the Jolly Roger
Double bad news for those who would, er, share files. Two of the top file-sharing apps/sites have been hit with lawsuits and/or cease and desist order.
In the heyday of what is now affectionately known as "pirating," sites like Kazaa were popular places to find applications, movies, and mostly, music, that owners had uploaded to share. While technically there's little that can be done, particularly in the case of video and music, to stop an owner from giving the original, or a copy, of a song or a movie to a friend, the idea of wholesale sharing is another story altogether - at least, it is if you're the RIAA or MPIA. And needless to say, the software industry has been busily trying to prevent the sharing of software, to the extent that they've made it darned hard on anyone who buys the software to use it!
(Dear Software Manufacturer,
Yes, it is true that sometimes people's computer's crash, sometimes multiple times. Sometimes people buy new computers. Sometimes, they work on more than one machine - but since they're only one person, they can usually only work on one machine at a time, and there's isn't some nasty "other" person "stealing" your software.
When you tie a particular copy of software to a particular computer, you're making it very hard for the owner of the software. Sometimes, users just aren't in a position to deactivate one instantiation of software before wanting to load that application onto another machine. See above, "crash."
Surely there is a better way?
Thanks,
Disgruntled User)
In the news recently, two stories highlighting the fact that while things have been quiet lately, the heat is definitely not off those who would infringe on copyright restrictions. In short, Limewire (the website that inherited the mantle of top peer-to-peer sharing website), and Pirate Bay (the website that was most frequently accessed for locating and downloading torrents) have run into significant trouble.
Limewire, in fact, has been taken down. Access the Limewire website, and you get this message: "LimeWire is under a court order dated October 26, 2010 to stop distributing the LimeWire software. A copy of the injunction can be found here. LimeWire LLC, its directors and officers, are taking all steps to comply with the injunction. We have very recently become aware of unauthorized applications on the internet purporting to use the LimeWire name. We demand that all persons using the LimeWire software, name, or trademark in order to upload or download copyrighted works in any manner cease and desist from doing so. We further remind you that the unauthorized uploading and downloading of copyrighted works is illegal."
Uh, yeah, they didn't know people were posting copyright material. Ok.
And the four men who started Pirate Bay have been sentenced to jail terms, and stiff fines, by a Swedish appeals court. Of the two, this one is by far the more controversial ruling, given that Pirate Bay is really nothing but a search engine. Users have to have a torrent downloader installed, and Pirate Bay isn't really involved in where, how, or why you download a torrent.
Observers have wondered why Google has kept notoriously mum on this subject, as it has strong implications on web searching in general. A corollary: if I search for a gun on Google, find one, buy one, and then shoot somebody - can Google be held liable? It's a question that should, in light of the fact that Homeland Security has just seized a number of web domains ("The Department of Justice has obtained seizure orders against a slew of commercial websites accused of selling a wide variety of counterfeit commodities, including DVD box sets, music, software, sports equipment and handbags—82 sites all told."), have us feeling a profound sense of disquiet.
While stopping the wink-wink-nod-nod "I'm not responsible" file sharing enabling of a site like Limewire is one thing, taking it to the next step and halting what amounts to searching (which granted, can lead to illegal activity, but isn't guaranteed to do so), is, not to put to fine a point on it, overstepping, and doesn't signal anything good to the free use of the Internet - which most of us who care about such things support.
It's definitely a topic we'll be watching as the story unfolds.
In the heyday of what is now affectionately known as "pirating," sites like Kazaa were popular places to find applications, movies, and mostly, music, that owners had uploaded to share. While technically there's little that can be done, particularly in the case of video and music, to stop an owner from giving the original, or a copy, of a song or a movie to a friend, the idea of wholesale sharing is another story altogether - at least, it is if you're the RIAA or MPIA. And needless to say, the software industry has been busily trying to prevent the sharing of software, to the extent that they've made it darned hard on anyone who buys the software to use it!
(Dear Software Manufacturer,
Yes, it is true that sometimes people's computer's crash, sometimes multiple times. Sometimes people buy new computers. Sometimes, they work on more than one machine - but since they're only one person, they can usually only work on one machine at a time, and there's isn't some nasty "other" person "stealing" your software.
When you tie a particular copy of software to a particular computer, you're making it very hard for the owner of the software. Sometimes, users just aren't in a position to deactivate one instantiation of software before wanting to load that application onto another machine. See above, "crash."
Surely there is a better way?
Thanks,
Disgruntled User)
In the news recently, two stories highlighting the fact that while things have been quiet lately, the heat is definitely not off those who would infringe on copyright restrictions. In short, Limewire (the website that inherited the mantle of top peer-to-peer sharing website), and Pirate Bay (the website that was most frequently accessed for locating and downloading torrents) have run into significant trouble.
Limewire, in fact, has been taken down. Access the Limewire website, and you get this message: "LimeWire is under a court order dated October 26, 2010 to stop distributing the LimeWire software. A copy of the injunction can be found here. LimeWire LLC, its directors and officers, are taking all steps to comply with the injunction. We have very recently become aware of unauthorized applications on the internet purporting to use the LimeWire name. We demand that all persons using the LimeWire software, name, or trademark in order to upload or download copyrighted works in any manner cease and desist from doing so. We further remind you that the unauthorized uploading and downloading of copyrighted works is illegal."
Uh, yeah, they didn't know people were posting copyright material. Ok.
And the four men who started Pirate Bay have been sentenced to jail terms, and stiff fines, by a Swedish appeals court. Of the two, this one is by far the more controversial ruling, given that Pirate Bay is really nothing but a search engine. Users have to have a torrent downloader installed, and Pirate Bay isn't really involved in where, how, or why you download a torrent.
Observers have wondered why Google has kept notoriously mum on this subject, as it has strong implications on web searching in general. A corollary: if I search for a gun on Google, find one, buy one, and then shoot somebody - can Google be held liable? It's a question that should, in light of the fact that Homeland Security has just seized a number of web domains ("The Department of Justice has obtained seizure orders against a slew of commercial websites accused of selling a wide variety of counterfeit commodities, including DVD box sets, music, software, sports equipment and handbags—82 sites all told."), have us feeling a profound sense of disquiet.
While stopping the wink-wink-nod-nod "I'm not responsible" file sharing enabling of a site like Limewire is one thing, taking it to the next step and halting what amounts to searching (which granted, can lead to illegal activity, but isn't guaranteed to do so), is, not to put to fine a point on it, overstepping, and doesn't signal anything good to the free use of the Internet - which most of us who care about such things support.
It's definitely a topic we'll be watching as the story unfolds.
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