[OT]"Copyright infringement" vs "piracy" (was Re: Paypal)

Chris Travers wrote:
> You cannot compare anonymously downloading pirated software

If you call it "pirating" to obtain a copy of a work that is no longer
published, that was written, performed and originally published by
people who are long since dead, then you're playing the RIAA or BSA game.

Using the term "piracy" to describe copyright infringement dilutes the word.

"Piracy" means raiding a ship at sea and taking its goods by force (ie:
the maritime equivalent of highway robbery). It is also associated (by
law) with the slave trade. Thus the crime of piracy means you take goods
by force, deal in slaves, or associate with people who do so.

The act of taking a copy of a copyrighted work and not crediting the
source or paying royalties, is "copyright infringement". It's not even
theft, since the person who made the work is not deprived of the use of
their work, only the royalties thereof.

So please, call a spade a spade.

> I am all for destroying our system of record labels today (I do NOT think
> they serve much of a purpose anymore) but you have to replace it with
> something better,

That something better was MP3.com - sign up unknown artists, distribute
their songs as MP3s. A whole album for $US6 (plus download costs and
time), most of which goes to the artist? What a deal! I loved it, it's
just a pity the RIAA didn't like the competition.

I'm certain that groups such as orchestras and garage bands would love
to have the opportunity to be published without selling their lives to
the RIAA.

One of the reasons I love Free software is that I can happily use it and
modify it to my heart's content without fear of recrimination. If I have
a problem with (for example) tcpdump, I can change the software to do
what I want it to (eg: parse a new protocol I'm working on) - and if the
work is good enough, the author of the program will actually be *happy*
that I've done something with it.

How do you think the RIAA would feel about you sending them a
dance/house album that you've composited and blended from a bunch of
their copyrighted works? You'd end up in gaol in no time flat. How do
you think Microsoft would feel about you sending in a bugfix to Excel?
You'd end up in gaol for reverse engineering without permission, for
starters (isn't the DMCA wonderful? aren't extradition treaties wonderful?)

I personally don't see the sense in copyrights and patents on software -
innovation in the software industry is usually incremental. I believe
Free software will triumph over proprietary software simply because the
authors have the freedom to borrow ideas and build on other's successes.

Alex Satrapa