P2P file sharing question???

[SkiManiac]

As far as I know it is safe to download any material, "mp3 in general" as long as you don't share with others, am I correct?

I'm doing some christmas holiday music downloading so I'll be all done by the holidays, I have what, 4 songs downloaded so far? Yeah, so I only have 4 mp3's on my computer and I'm not sharing them with anybody else because of the suing these days...

So, with me not sharing am I pretty safe from the goverment?

[dtcarson]

The RIAA, technically, not the government, is placing civil suits against 'egregious offenders'. They aren't too clear about this, but they seem to be focusing on people who are sharing a large number of files [which actually makes sense--dry up the source.] Technically, while using P2P in itself isn't illegal, transferring any copyrighted material, whether it be mp3, .txt, .mpg, whatever, could set you up for civil and/or criminal penalties. If they wanted to find you. Not every speeder gets a ticket.
Downloading only does remove you from the 'sharing' aspect, but your ISP should still be able to access records of what you downloaded, from whom, etc.
It's a shame, P2P is potentially one of the coolest new Internet technologies, but people think 'P2P = MP3 piracy.'

[waydwolf]

I keep hearing Princess Leia in my head as she said to Tarkin, "The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems
will slip through your fingers."

The RIAA and MPAA are essentially usurping the rights and indeed duties of copyright holders and suing on their behalf with or without their say-so. It is the responsibility of a copyright holder to enforce his or her own rights, not a watchdog agency third party. The Supreme Court should finally get that put before them because if the courts continue allowing this, they are as much by fiat invalidating the law as written by congress without actually ruling it invalid and on what constitutional grounds. The courts do not have the right to do so and cannot overrule the legislative branch except where the legislative branch oversteps the constitution.

Think about it. Are you allowed to sue someone because of supposed damages they did to a third party, a situation in which you yourself are not directly or indirectly involved in any meaningful fashion? Do the machine trade industries sue on behalf of Cincinatti Milicron or Bridgeport for infringements on their patents?

[HarryD]

When you installed that P2P crap, you got some spyware as well. It's only a matter of time before the Feds come knocking... on your door.

[dtcarson]

Some p2p, and some freeware in general, does include spyware. You can run spybot or adaware to find most of the spyware, sometimes disabling them cripples the program, but there are also non-spyware versions of some software.
I don't think the govt' has gotten involved into spyware yet; most of the spyware is 'targeted marketing' kind of things. I don't have a problem with ad-ware, but I seek out and destroy spyware on my machine.
And if the Feds wanted you based on your computer activities, they wouldn't need Gator or BonziBuddy spyware to do it.
At work the other day I and an IT guy were working on someone's computer. This person used to be a supervisor. She was getting random IE popups. We ran ad-aware, and found 257 instances! It's a wonder she could do anything at all. And this was a work computer, at work.

[SkiManiac]

Alright, no more p2p sharing for me. I'm proud to say that I'll be deleting the program along with all seven songs.

Thanks for the help.

[Unthinkable]

It's a shame, P2P is potentially one of the coolest new Internet technologies, but people think 'P2P = MP3 piracy.' By and large it is though. Shareware, copyrighted software, copyrighted music, copyrighted movies, you name it and its being freely traded like pokemon cards via p2p.

[dtcarson]

True, yes...but P2P in itself isn't illegal, and a lot of new technology is used by the 'underground' first. And all those things you mention have been traded/given away/sold for years, just using other methods. Perhaps it's more widespread now, and P2P/napster/kazaa sure do get a lot more publicity than say websites or binary newsgroups, so that helps feed the fire.
The tool itself is just a tool--like a gun or a knife are tools. They shouldn't be illegal, but doing certain things with them should be.

[RichW]

There is an amazing amount of stuff that is in the public domain or for which copyrights have expired. I like downloading old-time radio shows for example, all of whcih are in the public domain.

[pez2002]

Alright, no more p2p sharing for me. I'm proud to say that I'll be deleting the program along with all seven songs.

Thanks for the help.


Stopped 2 months ago im done



But im still keeping my cable connection There is no way im going back to dial up i got something in the mail from peoplepc the internet dial up connection service Yeah like id waste my money on that Crap :nono2:

[Steve Mehs]

When you installed that P2P crap, you got some spyware as well. It's only a matter of time before the Feds come knocking... on your door.

Harry, most people with Kazza at least, are using the spyware free version, Kazaa Lite.

I'm still downloading stuff, I'm not letting this scare me. Being on modem is an advantage with having different IPs everytime logging on to the internet. I never sharded anything on Morpheus or Kazza. With Napster I didn't mind people uploading from me, but with the programs that enable the user to download from multiple sources I'd have people uploading from me all the time.

[lastmanstanding]

"There is an amazing amount of stuff that is in the public domain or for which copyrights have expired. I like downloading old-time radio shows for example, all of whcih are in the public domain."

Rich,

I am finding that out this weekend. My son has a history report due and asked for help with the research. I am finding entire history textbooks circa 1930 and before online, free for the accessing. The report is about Colonial America, so the older texts are just fine for this project.

Did anyone here that they are trying to greatly lengthen the copyright period, to something in excess of 75 years after the death of the author? That would certainly change things. I suppose that would extend to music and video as well.

LMS

[RichW]

LMS

Pre-1978 works have a much shorter copyright life than those published after 1-1-78. In 1998, the "Sonny Bono" copyright act extended the copyright term by another 20 years. I am not up on all the specifics, but have this comment.

The orignal concept of copyrights (and patents, for that matter) was to give the creator a chance to make money by gubbamint giving him/her and exclusive right to teh work for a limited number of years before it went into the public domain. This means that the copyright owner can even trump free speech. You commit an illegal act if you sing a copyrighted song in public, even if you get no money for it. By continually extending the terms of the copyright, the original concept of eventually benefitting the public domain is being subverted. I would venture to say that 90% of the works under the extended terms have little or no residual commercial value, yet they are being withheld from full public use. That darn "liberal" media again! :)

[lee635]

The latest version of Morpheus allows you to download a list of known record company IP addresses to block from your machine. Also, it allows you to configure your p2p link to run through a "high anonymous" proxy. Morpheus will give you a list of foreign proxies, so it looks like your machine is located, say in Hong Kong instead of Pigsknuckle Arkansas...

[lastmanstanding]

LMS

Pre-1978 works have a much shorter copyright life than those published after 1-1-78. In 1998, the "Sonny Bono" copyright act extended the copyright term by another 20 years. I am not up on all the specifics, but have this comment.

The orignal concept of copyrights (and patents, for that matter) was to give the creator a chance to make money by gubbamint giving him/her and exclusive right to teh work for a limited number of years before it went into the public domain. This means that the copyright owner can even trump free speech. You commit an illegal act if you sing a copyrighted song in public, even if you get no money for it. By continually extending the terms of the copyright, the original concept of eventually benefitting the public domain is being subverted. I would venture to say that 90% of the works under the extended terms have little or no residual commercial value, yet they are being withheld from full public use. That darn "liberal" media again! :)


I wonder how long the Tolkien family can hang onto the Lord of the Rings? That franchise looks like it can run for quite a while, as does Star Trek.

LMS