200,000 U.S. BitTorrent Users Sued

[bak0n]

If a terrorist attacked the RIAA, very few would be angered.

 

[Branden]

the RIAA seems to be the last organization to understand that a small amount of piracy is actually beneficial. most artists know this, many software/games developers know this, but the RIAA is still keeping their head in the sand.

we've all heard rumours of the study that found that pirating is primarily used for "try before you buy" and pirates spend much more on movies/music/games than the non-pirate (true in my case), or that record labels got hit with 7% decline in revenue shortly after napster was taken down. true or not, the fact remains piracy IS advertising.
when people pirate movies/music/games and enjoy them there's a chance they'll go BUY a legit copy that they wouldn't have otherwise, and even if they don't buy it they still advertise to their peers how enjoyable that movie/album/game is who, in turn, might buy it.

hell, i've even heard M$ wants a balance of upwards of 30% of their software to be pirated because it helps ensure their software dominance. true or not, it makes sense. everyone has M$ office because everyone else does, even if only most copies out there are genuine.

 

[silver565]

I'm from New Zealand. I know of artists here that are encouraging people to pirate their music. That way... it goes around the world

 

[fonzy]

The real problem now that everyone has internet is that they make you believe you can't live without it, in which case they can dictate to it's customers anything they want.

All ISP's are in it together.

 

[crewton]

[citation][nom]nexus9113[/nom]See, once a method of filesharing goes mainstream it all goes to shit. I used Bittorrent all through high school in the early 2000's and nobody knew what it was, so there was no attention being drawn to it because the one's who knew about it were usually the more tech savvy of the bunch, and smarter about protecting themselves. There was more comradrie in the community, and almost no viruses. Then EVERYONE found out about it, and here came the common idiots not protecting themselves, creating targets for virus makers and law enforcement, and getting the best sites to get torrents ripped to shreds (RIP Suprnova.org). Now the only ones that are "safe" and actually have good content are member only direct transfer clients, and some of those are slow as crap depending on who you connect to.[/citation]

Those were the good old days...I miss supernova as well. A friend and myself both had our IPs blocked in college thanks to supernova. He panicked and reformatted his hard drive.

 

[sykozis]

[citation][nom]bak0n[/nom]If a terrorist attacked the RIAA, very few would be angered.[/citation]
If a terrorist attacked the RIAA, he could hardly be considered a terrorist..... While our soldiers are busy fighting "terrorists" in foreign countries, our own gov't is supporting terrorists in our own country. The RIAA is nothing but a terrorist group using the judicial system instead of weapons to terrorize people. Their goal isn't to recoop money lost because of piracy, it's to make a profit. The RIAA makes more off the settlements than the recording industry they claim to be protecting does.

 

[sykozis]

[citation][nom]SILVER565[/nom]I'm from New Zealand. I know of artists here that are encouraging people to pirate their music. That way... it goes around the world[/citation]
There are artists in the US doing the same....and it still doesn't stop the RIAA from sueing people downloading music from these artists....even when the artist posts it for people to download freely. Was a thing on the news a couple years ago about a local artist that posted his own music for download...and had the RIAA file suit against him for it claiming "copyright infringement"....was pretty hysterical. He won in court obviously as they couldn't prove he did anything wrong being that he owned sole rights to the tracks he posted.

 

[kinggremlin]

The demand is there for things customers want, but in order to keep their tight control over things they have to abuse the legal system and our rights. If they would find ways to offer people the things they want for reasonable prices, there would be FAR less piracy.

Browse through Amazon and look at the cost of movies. There are about 1500 Bluray movies selling for under $15. There are plenty of much cheaper rental services as a well. Absolutely nothing justifies stealing luxury items, which movies and music fall under. Nothing. If you can't afford $15. Too damn bad. The reason movies and music are stolen so much is because it is easy to do, and no one ever thinks they will get caught. I wish Lamborghini would charge more "reasonable" prices for their cars so I can buy one. $200,000+ for a car is a completely insane price to charge for a car. That doesn't in any way justify me going to a dealership and stealing one, and then crying foul about my constitutional rights being violated when the authorities come after me using whatever methods they deem necessary.

 

[soo-nah-mee]

One word. Proxy.

 

[dread_cthulhu]

This is so pointless... I just wish someone would realize these organizations are nothing more than scam artists and force them to disband. But the US is ruled by the corporations, not by the people, and not by the president by any means. Big Business rules this country, and the government and Constitution are the costume they do it in. They play by the rules that were set down a couple centuries ago on the face of things, but they've wheeled-and-dealed, and bribed and cheated their way to being in control. The only thing they fear is the sheer mass of people they don't directly control... and they're working on ways to remedy that situation as well. Be warned, US citizens! Be warned! I'm one of you, and I fear the direction this country is headed in. I support the constitution, as it was written, and the amendments that really make life better! Not what it has become, and definitely not the way it's trampled on on a daily basis... Sigh...

 

[drwho1]

20,000 have settled?
Why would anyone settle with the RIAA?

 

[soo-nah-mee]

[citation][nom]dread_cthulhu[/nom]This is so pointless... I just wish someone would realize these organizations are nothing more than scam artists and force them to disband. But the US is ruled by the corporations, not by the people, and not by the president by any means. Big Business rules this country, and the government and Constitution are the costume they do it in. They play by the rules that were set down a couple centuries ago on the face of things, but they've wheeled-and-dealed, and bribed and cheated their way to being in control. The only thing they fear is the sheer mass of people they don't directly control... and they're working on ways to remedy that situation as well. Be warned, US citizens! Be warned! I'm one of you, and I fear the direction this country is headed in. I support the constitution, as it was written, and the amendments that really make life better! Not what it has become, and definitely not the way it's trampled on on a daily basis... Sigh...[/citation]This is so well stated that I am copy/pasting into a .txt file so I can read it once in a while and get motivated to save up for my move to northern B.C.

 

[retrig]

"More than 99 percent of the suits were directly targeted at BitTorrent, "

That's like suing Microsoft / Apple / Google / Mozilla every time child porn is viewed using their browser.

 

[chickenhoagie]

It's pretty simple guys. Our government isn't causing communism in our country, its the big corporations that have enough money to hire crooked lawyers all in it for the money, binding together to take away money from all the small people of america - making us surfs/peasants of the land serving their every word and command. Well, I'll tell you one thing..They can take all our money, and throw us in jail. But who is going to be left when you take us from our homes and all our belongings? And thats why in the near future, 1% of the people on earth will hold 99% of the wealth. Whatever happened to stopping Monopolies in this country?

 

[Kamab]

[citation][nom]kinggremlin[/nom]Browse through Amazon and look at the cost of movies. There are about 1500 Bluray movies selling for under $15. There are plenty of much cheaper rental services as a well. Absolutely nothing justifies stealing luxury items, which movies and music fall under. Nothing. If you can't afford $15. Too damn bad. The reason movies and music are stolen so much is because it is easy to do, and no one ever thinks they will get caught. I wish Lamborghini would charge more "reasonable" prices for their cars so I can buy one. $200,000+ for a car is a completely insane price to charge for a car. That doesn't in any way justify me going to a dealership and stealing one, and then crying foul about my constitutional rights being violated when the authorities come after me using whatever methods they deem necessary.[/citation]

Piracy isn't theft. This is a well established point in court, and you are implying people should face criminal charges for piracy, which isn't what the RIAA lobbies for. They just want money (that they wouldn't otherwise have gotten) and to spread fear.

 

[Guest]

Finally, progress.

I’m glad to see action is taken against those that steal from people trying to make a living. Pirates have driven the necessity for DRM – like what is happening with Diablo 3. Ten years ago, a CD key and a disc was all that was needed to play a game but people took advantage of the system and copied/stole a product. Companies lose potential profit. It is simple cause and effect. The solution is simple, stop stealing. If you can’t afford paying fines for stealing, stop stealing. Fines and jail time are a great deterrent for stealing so I hope this opens a lot more eyes and stops people from stealing.

Cartman did not need to pay for a security guard until people broke into his amusement park. Same concept. There would be no Anti-Virus programs if there weren’t turds making viruses. There would be no DRM if people did not steal. Pirates/thieves caused this to get out of control and it’s hurting everyone. Place blame on those who deserve it – not the ones enforcing DRM. You know who you are.

If I buy something, I want to own it. I don’t have any problem with DRM because I don’t believe in stealing from others. How would you feel if someone stole a product you made? Your hard work, taken without any reward for your efforts. I don’t know about you, but I don’t work for free.

 

[lisoffl]

TO ALL THOSE GETTING SUED,

Just go out and buy a copy of the movie(s)/DVD(s) (with cash only, no tracking) that you are accused of downloading illegally via the lawsuit. Then file a motion/answer with the circuit court or whatever stating that you bought the movie(s)/DVD(s) at a garage/yard sale (i.e. no receipt, no date; they can't use the time and day from your ISP as proof against you). And say I can do what i want with it/them, since i own it/them free and clear (like download a copy for your computer, because i don't own a TV or whatever). Once, you own the movie(s)/DVD(s), you can do whatever you want with it/them. Basically, once you own it; its yours to do what you want (burn/destroy the disc after you win the lawsuit). CASE CLOSED AND YOU WIN. You may even ask for a punitive damage reward for all the stress and anxiety the lawsuit caused to your health .

I hope everyone in trouble finds this useful. Good luck to you!

 

[anti-painkilla]

[citation][nom]SILVER565[/nom]I'm from New Zealand. I know of artists here that are encouraging people to pirate their music. That way... it goes around the world[/citation]

You are absolutely right, i have gotten into lots of music by putting it on my ipod, still copyright infringement. And for a lot of musician it is a great way to get there music out there. Too bad about the law that is about to come into effect.

The thing that annoys me, is I go to the movies roughly weekly. I PAY for the movies i wanna watch. BUT I dont wanna pay another $50 for a Blu-ray copy. It is the outdated cost of media that puts pirating as a preferential way to acquire media. Also I have a 55Gig cap and im not paying $30 for a 1080p copy when i still pay for the bandwidth.

Until they come up with a better method, I will keep downloading.

 

[kinggremlin]

[citation][nom]retrig[/nom]"More than 99 percent of the suits were directly targeted at BitTorrent, "That's like suing Microsoft / Apple / Google / Mozilla every time child porn is viewed using their browser.[/citation]


Seriously? Why am not surprised that 99% of the people who are pirating and against companies protecting their property are also never mistaken for a smart person?

99% of the lawsuits are targeting BitTorrent users, not BitTorrent the company. How dumb do you have to be to think somone filed almost 200,000 seperate lawsuits against one company?

 

[stryk55]

Instead of complaining about the actions/reactions of these groups, how about we avoid the situation completely? Stop pirating digital information, and stop defending those who do so.

Wrong is wrong, no matter what the justification. Digital theft is still theft. :-\