Kevin Wayne Williams wrote:
> necoandjeff wrote:
> 
>> Kevin Gowen wrote:
>>
>>> necoandjeff wrote:
>>>
>>>> Kevin Wayne Williams wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> necoandjeff wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> Paul Blay wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> "necoandjeff" <spam@schrepfer.com> wrote ...
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Bittorrent is not a hassle at all and it's completely free. And
>>>>>>>> it is lightning fast, particularly if you are downloading a
>>>>>>>> popular file (like a TV show shortly after it has been aired.)
>>>>>>>> Within 5 to 6 hours after a show has aired it can be found on
>>>>>>>> any bittorrent search service. An hour show (generally 350MB)
>>>>>>>> can be downloaded in a little more than half an hour usually.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Aren't you supposed to say "or so I have heard." or something at
>>>>>>> the end there?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> If I were still in the U.S., I might have.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> And that would matter because?
>>>>> KWW
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> 1. By downloading a television show that was broadcast over the free
>>>> airways in the U.S. and viewing it in my home, it is far from clear
>>>> that I'm violating any copyright laws. It isn't terribly different
>>>> from the "time shifting" that is achieved by Tivo or any VCR that
>>>> has been in use for the last 20-30 years. It's quite different,
>>>> however, from downloading movies or CDs that one would normally have
>>>> to pay for, which I do not do. I could just as easily be arrested
>>>> for all the videotapes of various television shows that I made while
>>>> living in the U.S. and brought with me to Japan, or if I enlisted my
>>>> parents to videotape shows and mail them to me here in Japan as an
>>>> alternative.
>>>
>>>
>>> I do not think your analogy is a good one. A copyright holder of a
>>> television broadcast would have a good case against the Bittorent-ing
>>> of the work as being an infringement of his exclusive rights to
>>> distribute and perform to the public. Your recording of broadcast
>>> television shows or having your parents do so would not be such an
>>> infringement.
>>>
>>> As an aside, I would also add that television shows broadcast by the
>>> networks are increasingly becoming works that one pays for as more
>>> series are being released to DVD season by season.
>>
>>
>>
>> Yes, yes, I know. There are very good arguments against it. But it 
>> remains
>> an untested legal theory. Plus you cut out my whole number 2 which is 
>> what
>> I'm really relying on.
> 
> That your criminal behaviour would be too much of a pain in the ass to 
> prosecute to make it worthwhile? Not the soundest moral foundation I've 
> encountered personal behaviour.

It might be criminal behavior, but it might not. It would depend on the 
retail value of the works he is illegally copying.

> It always is a shame when respecting someone's rights causes you a 
> trivial inconvenience.

Hey, it's as good a reason as any for sucking a baby into a jar.

- Kevin