OT: Is it Ok ( morally ) to download songs/movies etc

[MIG]

We all do it - but does that make it right ? Do we believe the record label owners/artistes/moviestars when they tell us that us making illegal copies and distributing them , is like stealing from them ?

Is it morally right ( legally we know the position , right - its illegal - or is it ?)

Thoughts....

Lets be a bit more innovative and turn this into a poll ( using the Mods magic wand !), lets see what the consensus is and why ?

[MIG]

I think sharing movies/songs for non commercial purposes is Ok and I vote yes!

[catwoman]

Morally, it's not okay to use illegal copies even if you aren't selling them. But who cares? :-p

[MIG]

Mona: I am sorry to say this but the joke is in bad taste - can you pls change it - I see the gist is funny but not the actual thing about brain tumor?

Thanks Bahan.

[Daoud]

I wonder what the position of downloading music and movies, and buying pirated movies and games is Islamicly. Well some people might say movies and music in its self is haram, so |-D

[Raz]

Mona change your sig at once. That is an order! How dare you insult the great Mohammad Sami?!

[Schiller]

A q before we proceed MIG, define morality

[sajjad]

this is gonna be fun......awaiting MIG's response to proceed

[Geordie Ahmed]

who on earth voted NO?

I think we have a Sony,IMG etc worker amongst us |-D |-D

[Waqar's inswinging yorker]

MIG - they tend to crack down on heavy users who use highspeed internet access - lets not forget ppl download with ISDN LINES!!!! - typically 500 songs is safe. Recently they cracked down on a few ppl - one got fined £5,000 - remember max penalty is £10 000, also one fool had downloaded 10,000 songs - what an idiot - ur gonna get done for that

[MIG]

All u illegal downloaders : What do I mean by Ok ( Morally ) - well - do you feel that taking away the livelihoods of people who work in these industries is Ok, even though there may be legal loopholes to help you ( see WIYs post above )

Or do you think that this has no effect on their livelihoods ?

I once wrote a program to teach kids URDU and sold it on the Internet. Then my sales kinda dried up and I couldnt understand - turns out someone in Pak was making copies and selling to people !! Oucchhh now thats gotta hurt !

[adi 101]

if the albums got only one good song then download it but if its a good album you should buy it

[MIG]

if the albums got only one good song then download it but if its a good album you should buy it

I agree , that would be the thing to do - but you know, personally, I always like a variety of songs - that would mean , I never end up buying....

[feather]

It is simply wrong. We all download these things I for one download software applications that would have cost me 1000's of dollars otherwise to buy. Since I am only trying them to see how they work I just download for that purpose most of the time and than buy the original copy after that.

I mean these people depend on the sales of music and movies as they get a share of the revenue so it is same as if we were stealing some thing from one. they do make good amount of money but who am I to say it is enough for them maybe it isn't.

In Pakistan everything is copied once it comes into the market. In many ways this holds us as country back too...because not many companies are willing to hire so many people to make a software that is going to be copied and sold all over pakistan for 1/100 of the price the very next day.

So I feel this isn't only about music n movies but lot of other things as well

[MIG]

More views and votes pls....

[Schiller]

If its merely a question of money then its too long a debate perhaps.

and if morality is based on islamic principles alone then perhaps theres no doubt its immoral. otherwise, its one of those topics where theres no easy way of getting to right or wrong.

[MIG]

sitting on the fence....sitting on the fence....nahnahnahnananana

[Schiller]

:oD :oD
you caught me there :oD

[MIG]

:oD - I do it all the time so I know !

[Officer Barbrady]

boys I have an avatar as well now. :-D :?d

[Schiller]

:oD :oD

marooned - the man with Razzler in his sig

and Mig - Our man on the fence :oD

[Officer Barbrady]

:oD

I find nothing wrong in downloading all I want (movies and music mostly not into software as such) . I don't care if record companies lose out on money. It s a selfish world and they should find better ways to make people stop. Till such time...

[Schiller]

you incorrigible lad. what will your mother say when she reads this? im telling her now :oD

[Waqar's inswinging yorker]

I finally figured it out why Mig asked the question - Mig u just want to download as many barney episodes as possible!!!

[MIG]

too late - I accepted the poll verdict and got busy already....

[Schiller]

if your morality will be dictated by us then not even wishing you good luck would help :oD

[Officer Barbrady]

Are barney episodes available?

[MIG]

Barney is an international star, ofcourse, episodes are available - ( each episode hand crafted by Steve Waugh and inscribed with your name, 10 easy installments......)

[Officer Barbrady]

How Not To Get Sued By The RIAA For File-Sharing

http://www.eff.org/IP/P2P/howto-notgetsued.php

(And Other Ideas to Avoid Being Treated Like a Criminal)
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced on June 25, 2003, that it will begin suing users of peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing systems within the next few weeks. According to the announcement, the RIAA will be targeting users who upload/share "substantial" amounts of copyrighted music. The RIAA has stated that it will choose who to sue by using software that scans users' publicly available P2P directories and then identifies the ISP of each user. Then, using the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), the RIAA will subpoena the ISP for each user's name, address, and other personal information in order to sue that user.

To find out whether your name has been subpoenaed from your ISP, check out our Subpoena Query page.

More information about the RIAA lawsuits and responses to them, check out our RIAA v. The People page.

While there is no way to know exactly what the RIAA is going to do, who it is going to sue, or even how much music qualifies as a "substantial" amount, users of P2P networks can take the following steps to reduce their chances of being sued:

Either:
Make sure there are no potentially infringing files in your shared folder. This would ordinarily mean that your shared folder contains only files 1) that are in the public domain, 2) for which you have permission to share, or 3) that are made available under pro-sharing licenses, such as the Creative Commons license or other open media licenses, and
Remove all potentially misleading file names that might be confused with the name of an RIAA artist or song (e.g., "Usher" or "Madonna") from your shared folder.

Or:

Disable the "sharing" or "uploading" features on your P2P application that allow other users on the network to get copies of files from your computer or scan any of your music directories. We hate this option, but it does appear that it will reduce your chances of becoming an RIAA target right now. For instructions on how to do this for particular applications, EFF suggests (but cannot guarantee) the following links:
Grokster
http://www.grokster.com/helpfaq.html#Stop%20Sharing%20files
http://www.oit.duke.edu/helpdesk/filesharing/grokster.html
Morpheus
http://www.oit.duke.edu/helpdesk/filesharing/morpheus.html
http://penguin.cc.edu/peer/peer2peer.html#morpheus
KaZaA
http://www.oit.duke.edu/helpdesk/filesharing/kazaa.html
http://penguin.cc.edu/peer/peer2peer.html#kazaa
Aimster/Madster
Windows
http://www.oit.duke.edu/helpdesk/filesharing/aimster.html
Mac OS
http://www.oit.duke.edu/helpdesk/filesharing/aimster_mac.html
Gnutella
Mactella
http://www.oit.duke.edu/helpdesk/filesharing/mactella.html
Gnucleus
http://www.oit.duke.edu/helpdesk/filesharing/gnucleus.html
Gnotella
http://www.oit.duke.edu/helpdesk/filesharing/gnotella.html
LimeWire
MacOS
http://www.oit.duke.edu/helpdesk/filesharing/limewiremac.html
Windows
http://www.oit.duke.edu/helpdesk/filesharing/limewirewin.html
http://penguin.cc.edu/peer/peer2peer.html#limewire
BearShare
http://www.oit.duke.edu/helpdesk/filesharing/bearshare.html
http://penguin.cc.edu/peer/peer2peer.html#bearshare
iMesh
http://www.oit.duke.edu/helpdesk/filesharing/imesh.html
WinMX
http://www.oit.duke.edu/helpdesk/filesharing/winmx.html
http://penguin.cc.edu/peer/peer2peer.html#winmx


The RIAA appears to be targeting subpoenas at users who allow their computers to be "Supernodes" on the FastTrack P2P System (used, for instance, by KaZaA and Morpheus). In order to further reduce the risk of having your ISP subpoenaed or of being sued yourself, we recommend that you make sure your computer is not being used as a Supernode. To learn more about Supernodes and how to make sure your computer is not one, look here: http://www.whtvcable.com/fasttrack and http://helpdesk.princeton.edu/kb/display.plx?ID=9245. See also Disabling the Supernode function with KaZaA (PDF 331k).

If you receive notice that your ISP has been subpoenaed for your name and address, consider contacting www.subpoenadefense.org, where you can find information about how to defend your privacy and a list of attorneys willing to help. Contact your ISP and ask the people there to notify you immediately if they receive a subpoena seeking your identity.

If you receive a cease and desist letter from the RIAA, consider contacting Chilling Effects, where EFF and several law school clinics are creating a gallery of cease and desist letters along with basic information about the claims being made and your rights online.

Don't like the idea of turning off file-sharing or changing your file names to prevent stupid robots or RIAA employees from mistaking your files for infringements?

Neither do we!

Join EFF's campaign to make file-sharing legal while getting artists paid:

Contact your Congressional Representative and demand that Congress hold immediate hearings on ways to save P2P technology and file-sharing while ensuring that artists get paid.
Learn more about alternatives. EFF's peer-to-peer web pages gather together some of the best ideas and describe how similar sorts of technology changes have been handled in the past.
Tell a friend, family member, colleague or even stranger on the street about the damage that the RIAA is doing to the Internet, innovation, and consumer choice. There are over 57 million Americans who use P2P file-sharing -- more than voted for President Bush -- and millions more worldwide -- so chances are good that the person sitting next to you on the bus, walking beside you on the sidewalk or driving in the car in front of you is using file-sharing, too. Start the conversation.
Join EFF and support our efforts to protect file-sharing.