[LINK] A Definition Of Piracy In The Digital Age

[Craig Sanders]

On Fri, Feb 06, 2009 at 01:36:28PM +1000, Lea de Groot wrote:
> On 06/02/2009, at 1:14 PM, Chris Gilbey wrote:
> 
> > But the big question is what constitutes piracy now in the digital
> > content space?
>
> Piracy is simply a breech of the defined Terms of Use of the content
> in question.

nope. piracy is an act of theft involving the illegal seizure of a ship,
boat or other form of aquatic transport. it often involves violence
and/or murder.

> No one ever said we couldn't pass old paperbacks around, so that isn't  
> piracy.

the fact that paperbacks are involved is irrelevant. there's no theft,
murder, or aquatic environments here. not piracy.

> The TOS of (most) e-books say the same can't be done, so sending on a  
> copy IS piracy.

again, no large bodies of water and no theft or violence.  not piracy.


you really ought to be careful how you use the term 'piracy' or
'pirate'. IIRC, in the 80s somebody here in .au was successfully charged
with copyright infringement of software, and was gloatingly referred
to as a pirate by a rep of the company who initiated the charges. he
successfully sued for defamation for the damage to his reputation from
the inappropriate and inaccurate representation of him as a pirate.



more importantly, you really ought to distinguish between a) the wishful
thinking level demands in the terms of many content providers and b)
what those same providers are legally entitled to demand. the mere fact
that something is written on a TOS does not automatically make it valid
or enforceable or legally binding.

craig

-- 
craig sanders <cas at taz.net.au>