• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years old?

Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years old?

  • No, it's not wrong. We should change the law so material that old is public domain.

    Votes: 22 62.9%

  • It's technically wrong, but not really a big deal.

    Votes: 7 20.0%

  • Yes, it's wrong. The copyright owner has the right to control it, even if he's an heir.

    Votes: 5 14.3%

  • Not sure.

    Votes: 1 2.9%
  • Total voters
    35
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

Superfly said:
What is Spotify?
Click to expand...

Spotify is a commercial music streaming service providing DRM-protected content...

I'll stop right at DRM. There's simply so much wrong with DRM
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

RabidAlpaca said:
Spotify.com

It's sick as hell. Completely free, you can simply type in an artist, and pull up every one of their albums. You can then make your own playlists and play any song on demand any time you want.

If you're in the US, I believe the first 6 months are commercial free. After that there's the occaisonal commercial. You can pay $5/month for zero commercials and mobile/mp3 usage.

I have absolutely zero reason to pirate music, because I can legally listen to anything I want 24/7.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I will look into this. Thanks.
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

Superfly said:
He is NOT distributing it. How do you get that? If he burned Game of Thrones onto a DVD and sold it at a flea market for $10 a disk, he's distributing it. If he watches Game of Thrones on HBO and misses an episode, and he gets it off bit torrent or wherever, and watches the episode that he missed - how is he distributing it? Distributing means taking something and selling it for profit. How is that what he's doing?

Edited to add: I guess, technically you could consider what he's doing as distributing, if he regularly goes online and allows his HD to be leeched by others. I just don't see it as the same - I don't see it as wrong, as say, mass producing copies and selling them at a flea market. If he's just going online to see the episodes he's missed, there's nothing wrong with it.
Click to expand...

Because of how torrent works he's both a downloader and a distributor. I get my stuff from the usenet and ftp topsites where there is no distribution element on my part.
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

Dr. Chuckles said:
I've been downloading material since ftps. So i'm not getting on some moral high horse here, just pointing out some basic facts. Also, I don't think there is a distinction in place for only partially sharing material, at least legally
Click to expand...

Oh, those RIAA and MPAA asshats wouldn't think so, of course, but let's face it, all files are just 1's and 0's, it's only when those 1's and 0's are put together in a specific order that they become copyrighted. If I don't serve up those bits in that order, then I haven't transmitted that particular sequence. Like I said, the legal eagles don't care about that, but the more they tighten the screws, the more people like me who pay lots of money to keep their little empire alive start thinking maybe we should do other things with their money.
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

Dr. Chuckles said:
HBO was actually pretty smart keeping their content close to the vest. All the other channels did licensing their material to netflix accomplished was make someone else a huge player in the market. That's why netflix lost most of their content a year or two ago. Those early contracts were finally meeting their death and no content provider wanted to renew them at the original price
Click to expand...
As startrek learned its much better to have every single episode on their StarTrek website and just stick in PBS commercials. :D SMART.
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

Dr. Chuckles said:
HBO was actually pretty smart keeping their content close to the vest. All the other channels did licensing their material to netflix accomplished was make someone else a huge player in the market. That's why netflix lost most of their content a year or two ago. Those early contracts were finally meeting their death and no content provider wanted to renew them at the original price
Click to expand...

I highly disagree. HBO has pissed off a LOT of people. HBO series are pirated possibly more than just about anything else. You can't even legally stream HBO series without having a cable HBO subscription. It's ridiculous, and they'll have to change their business model.
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

madman said:
Spotify is a commercial music streaming service providing DRM-protected content...

I'll stop right at DRM. There's simply so much wrong with DRM
Click to expand...

As a side note, this is one of my many objections to win8. Years ago most hardware and OS makers refused to roll DRM into their products. They're gradually, and quietly, doing it now (boiling the frog).
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

Cephus said:
Oh, those RIAA and MPAA asshats wouldn't think so, of course, but let's face it, all files are just 1's and 0's, it's only when those 1's and 0's are put together in a specific order that they become copyrighted. If I don't serve up those bits in that order, then I haven't transmitted that particular sequence. Like I said, the legal eagles don't care about that, but the more they tighten the screws, the more people like me who pay lots of money to keep their little empire alive start thinking maybe we should do other things with their money.
Click to expand...

My favorite contradiction is satellite TV. Right now the satellite companies are beaming their channels through my property (it blankets the continent). If I build a device to capture those signals they're sending onto my property, I'm breaking the law. How the hell does that work?
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

RabidAlpaca said:
I highly disagree. HBO has pissed off a LOT of people. HBO series are pirated possibly more than just about anything else. You can't even legally stream HBO series without having a cable HBO subscription. It's ridiculous, and they'll have to change their business model.
Click to expand...

but as you can see from some of the earlier articles, they established HBO.go as a brand. If you could have just accessed all their shows via netflix, then that brand, and tthe demand for access to it, wouldn't even exist
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

clownboy said:
As a side note, this is one of my many objections to win8. Years ago most hardware and OS makers refused to roll DRM into their products. They're gradually, and quietly, doing it now (boiling the frog).
Click to expand...

These people ought to remember that DRM kills sales. When Sony eliminated DRM from a lot of their products, sales went up. People get pissed off when companies assume they are crooks and generally say screw it, you think I'm stealing from you, I might as well just do it.
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

In the end there will always be content hubs because people always love suggestions. But also in the end there will be pretty much no more TV. Every TV will have internet and you can just go to whatever website you want and watch that content for that show. Then additional flat charges could be applied to "extra content" sales like all the behind the scenes stuff for super fans.
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

RabidAlpaca said:
My favorite contradiction is satellite TV. Right now the satellite companies are beaming their channels through my property (it blankets the continent). If I build a device to capture those signals they're sending onto my property, I'm breaking the law. How the hell does that work?
Click to expand...

You don't have to even build a device, you can go buy one that is commercially available. Screw these morons.
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

RabidAlpaca said:
My favorite contradiction is satellite TV. Right now the satellite companies are beaming their channels through my property (it blankets the continent). If I build a device to capture those signals they're sending onto my property, I'm breaking the law. How the hell does that work?
Click to expand...

There's a twist to that. The content is now encrypted and it's not the reception that makes you a pirate, but the unauthorized and illegal use of their decryption.
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

Cephus said:
These people ought to remember that DRM kills sales. When Sony eliminated DRM from a lot of their products, sales went up. People get pissed off when companies assume they are crooks and generally say screw it, you think I'm stealing from you, I might as well just do it.
Click to expand...

Diablo3 made HEAPS in DRM sales but that's because they piggy backed a cashcow plot into a adolescent fantasy and hoodwinked a nation of eager neck-beards. I don't think they will be getting away with that little trick again. Then again Lucas did it 3 times in a row. :p
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

Fiddytree said:
You're joking, right? It's not.
Click to expand...

Yes, in actuality i am. The Supreme court has stated it's OK.

The Supreme Court's decision in the case of Sony v. Universal City Studios, involving the home use of video recorders and the federal copyright law, determined that the former did not infringe on the latter as long as the copied material was not used for profit. By the end of 1983 there were eight million video recorders in use in the U.S.; that number would soar as the legality of home recording seemed settled. Nonetheless, the studios lobbied Congress for a law that would attach a royalty or surcharge to the sale of VCRs and blank tapes.
Click to expand...

However, im merely pointing out that how can it be legal to copy a TV show on to a personal device that you own (VCR) but it's illegal (unethical/immoral) when you copy something onto your personal computer. Hell, it's all transmitted over the same medium.

This is what i dont get.
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

clownboy said:
There's a twist to that. The content is now encrypted and it's not the reception that makes you a pirate, but the unauthorized and illegal use of their decryption.
Click to expand...
Oh yeah, I get that. My buddy had a satellite box with an unlocked card giving him all the channels. If the signals are on my property, they're mine to do with as I please.
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

clownboy said:
As a side note, this is one of my many objections to win8. Years ago most hardware and OS makers refused to roll DRM into their products. They're gradually, and quietly, doing it now (boiling the frog).
Click to expand...

Some people claim DRM is BIG BROTHER. And i know many dont like BB

Why DRM Sucks
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

dirtpoorchris said:
Diablo3 made HEAPS in DRM sales but that's because they piggy backed a cashcow plot into a adolescent fantasy and hoodwinked a nation of eager neck-beards. I don't think they will be getting away with that little trick again. Then again Lucas did it 3 times in a row. :p
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, that's a game I didn't buy either. :roll:
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

Cephus said:
These people ought to remember that DRM kills sales. When Sony eliminated DRM from a lot of their products, sales went up. People get pissed off when companies assume they are crooks and generally say screw it, you think I'm stealing from you, I might as well just do it.
Click to expand...

Yes, but that was only because the Sony DRM caused major problems when folks tried to use the content legitimately on the PC. They've made great strides in the tech. Now, with a few exceptions, the public only notices it's got DRM rolled in if they try to display pirated content.
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

Cephus said:
Oh yeah, that's a game I didn't buy either. :roll:
Click to expand...

You may not have but it still made heaps do to bamboozelment. You were wise not to. My initial instincts told me not to and I did anyways.
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

RabidAlpaca said:
Oh yeah, I get that. My buddy had a satellite box with an unlocked card giving him all the channels. If the signals are on my property, they're mine to do with as I please.
Click to expand...

There's the rub, it's not the signal that's protected but the encryption/decryption.
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

clownboy said:
There's the rub, it's not the signal that's protected but the encryption/decryption.
Click to expand...

And they put their encryption on my property without my consent. Tough titties.
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

Luna Tick said:
You would think that really old TV shows (40 years or more) would have expired copyrights, but that's often not the case. Do you believe it's wrong to download such shows from unauthorized sources such as torrents?

Just to be clear, the question is about shows 40 years old or more which do not have expired copyrights.
Click to expand...

I believe intellectual rights have gotten out of hand. Yes, shows over 40 years old should be in the public domain.
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

Hatuey said:
Who cares if it's immoral? It's illegal.
Click to expand...

So when it was illegal to hide a runaway slave it didn't matter if it was moral or not?
 
Re: Is it immoral to download from unauthorized sources (c) TV shows over 39 years ol

RabidAlpaca said:
And they put their encryption on my property without my consent. Tough titties.
Click to expand...

They don't broadcast the decryption algorithm and they didn't put the decryption on your property. Subscribers rent the decryption.

I'd guess that water and electric lines run through your property, you still have to pay for access to those services.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom