Hi all (or those who have yet to adjust their email filters <g>),
First off I'm not a lawyer so don't know the ins and outs of the AHRA, hell I
don't even live in the states so its irrelevant to me in the EU. However I do
have a rough idea on what is and isn't legal, a good idea on what would
generally be considered ehical, and a perfect idea on what I believe.
Seems Neil and Steve are going at it hammer and tongs, and while I
personally prefer the way Steve views things, I doubt from a legal position
that he has a leg to stand on. As Neil keeps on asking...
> If what you say is true, when would somebody ever need buy an original CD?
> So long as somebody always had an original copy, and no money changed hands,
> given your perspective nobody would ever need buy a copy.
>
> Don't music and video libraries do a bomb in your neck of the woods? ;-)
... it's hard to argue with that. Of course since I bought into minidisc, the
number of CDs I buy has dropped somewhat. The number of CDs I borrow,
be it from friends or a library more than compensates.
And yes, the library (it's a public library with books mainly which claims to have
one of the largest, if not the largest selection of CDs in the UK) seems to do
a good turnover of music and videos. If there were more guys like me, far from
needing funding from the local council I bet they would make a very healthy
profit, be able to buy more books for free borrowing, provide more computers
for free internet access to those who cannot afford a computer, and still be
able to provide funds to support other local services.
It would be a win-win situation for everyone except the evil greedy capitalist
record companies and high-street stores which rip you off. Perhaps a grant
for artists could be provided from the libraries profits. BTW in case you still
havent realised, I would love some sort of utopian socialist society where
everything is freely available to everyone and knowledge is the driving force.
And I don't just mean music, software is fair game and the internet is a real
positive force for the sharing of all forms of media. Why not get a copy of a
game from the 'net for free if the copyright owner chooses not to publish any
more legal copies. This happened with "Elite III - First Encounters" and the
result was at least one site sticking it online as a free download. And why not?
Before downloading it, I rang around half a dozen large software retailers, dug
through bargain buckets of old games first and couldn't find it so I trawled
'round the net until I found a site where a like minded guy knew of its rarity
and decided that was wrong.
Yes, of course Neil, what he did was legally wrong- no doubt whatsoever
about that but no-one lost money by what he did, instead many peeps will
have gained much enjoyment from it so in my opinion thats fine in my book.
*Please Note* -- all of the above is presented as hypothetical views and
actions and I am not stating I have carried out any of the above actions, or
would condone doing so. So there :-)
Cheers,
PirateGaz -- "hoist the sails and fly the Jolly Roger, there be treasure out there!"
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