So anyone got in trouble with the authorities for copyright infringement?

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For real, this is a serious question, even if I am posting it annonymously.

Seeing as how everyone on this forum obviously has no problem with warez, has anyone, or does anyone know someone who has gotten in some kind of trouble with the authorites?

― forreal, Friday, 19 November 2004 20:02 (twenty-one years ago)

erm... "warez"?

― Mr. Snrub, Friday, 19 November 2004 20:22 (twenty-one years ago)

*cough* NARC *cough*

― noodle vague (noodle vague), Friday, 19 November 2004 20:25 (twenty-one years ago)

Seeing as how everyone on this forum obviously has no problem with warez, has anyone, or does anyone know someone who has gotten in some kind of trouble with the authorites?

You know this is a music discussion forum, yes?

― Tantrum The Cat (Tantrum The Cat), Friday, 19 November 2004 20:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Well, he/she/it is from Pitchfork, after all.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 19 November 2004 20:33 (twenty-one years ago)

So is Pitchfork now a front for the Feds, or what?

― noodle vague (noodle vague), Friday, 19 November 2004 20:35 (twenty-one years ago)

No, Pitchfork is now the ass end of the internet.

*rimshot*

― Tantrum The Cat (Tantrum The Cat), Friday, 19 November 2004 20:36 (twenty-one years ago)

If this person was from the Feds, wouldn't they know if anyone here had been in trouble?

― Billy Dods (Billy Dods), Friday, 19 November 2004 20:48 (twenty-one years ago)

Judging by their track record on counter-terrorism, I'd say no.

― noodle vague (noodle vague), Friday, 19 November 2004 20:50 (twenty-one years ago)

Of course none of us have gotten in trouble for copyright infringement.
We pay for all our music, movies, and software.

― Felonious Drunk (Felcher), Friday, 19 November 2004 20:50 (twenty-one years ago)

ok i confess. i've illegally downloaded every metallica song ever, and illegally shared them with dangermouse so he can create illegal metallica/beatle bootlegs, which he'll send back to me so i can illegally sync them up with stolen metallica and beatles video footage, which i'll compile on dvds for sale for $5 on 42nd street. i also stole the original of the declaration of independence because i heard there was a treasure map on the back.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Friday, 19 November 2004 21:01 (twenty-one years ago)

and?

― M1chael Ph1lip Ph1lip Ph1lip Ph1lip Ph1lip Ann0yman (Ferg), Friday, 19 November 2004 21:05 (twenty-one years ago)

nice try!

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Friday, 19 November 2004 21:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Well now I don't believe you!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 19 November 2004 21:07 (twenty-one years ago)

look dudes. IF the treasure map was in fact there -- and i'm not saying it was -- and IF the treasure was in fact where the map said it was -- i'm not saying that either -- i'm gonna need the money to pay for lawyers when the warez police come after me. so you can't have any!

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Friday, 19 November 2004 21:09 (twenty-one years ago)

Or, just perhaps the Department of Justice is after ME, and I'm looking for someone who could give me advice?

No. It's more likely that I'm a NARC.

― anonymousagain, Friday, 19 November 2004 21:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Confession time: I did find myself in a little hot water for sampling the Pozo Seco Singers' "I Can Make It with You" on the song "Hex Assembly" from my 1997 album Wockenfuss Warez Simulacrum. I didn't loop the thing, and the sample was just a few seconds long, so I don't know how you guys detected it, but whatever. My bad, good work on your part, and that all-Pozo Seco covers album agreed upon in the settlement is due out shortly. Can we please drop this now?

― briania (briania), Friday, 19 November 2004 21:17 (twenty-one years ago)

I had to stand up in court once and say that a C90 with a copy of Motown Dance Classics, which I had never bought, belonged to me. It was found in my thief's girlfriend's bedroom.

The policeman expressed it nicely. "I have here a Motown Dance Classics tape, marked Alan. Alan, is this yours?".

As I said "yes", it flashed through my mind that the whole thing might be Berry Gordy's set-up to catch me for the pirated album.

But in fact it was the piece of evidence that nailed the thief, Narvinder Baines.

He had stolen 250 of my records, but they didn't find them, only the Motown tape. They made him pay me back in instalments of 25p, but then he stopped writing the cheques and they said they couldn't be bothered chasing him.

All my parents' singles were in those gone. Years later, two of my '80s singles turned up in Oxfam. Not the ones I wanted.

Sorry, not about IP any more.

― Acme (acme), Saturday, 20 November 2004 01:35 (twenty-one years ago)

Getting back to the original question that began the thread, it seems that the answer is 'no'.

― cdwill, Saturday, 20 November 2004 04:31 (twenty-one years ago)

a new round of lawsuits happened today, though

― kyle (akmonday), Saturday, 20 November 2004 04:33 (twenty-one years ago)

It's amazing how nobody ever believes that somebody is getting in trouble with authorities because of music piracy, and if the question is ever asked, everyone either assumes the person is a NARC (as if that makes ANY sense at all!) or make sarcastic remarks about how it'd never happen. Do any of you have any idea how many people are actually sitting in prison for piracy right now?

http://www.cybercrime.gov
Read up on it, idiots.

For those of you who aren't idiots, this reply isn't directed at you.

― someofyouareidiots, Saturday, 20 November 2004 16:29 (twenty-one years ago)

The RIAA are not interested in sending file-sharers to prison. The show trials they're trying to conduct are designed to put the frighteners on people. It doesn't appear to be working at the moment.

I'm not a great believer in the sanctity of intellectual property, but I'd say that as far as copyright violation is concerned ones watchword should be "don't do the crime if you can't do the time".

Also, if I seriously wanted legal advice, I'd consider talking to a lawyer rather than an Internet music discussion board. But hey, I'm just an idiot.

― noodle vague (noodle vague), Saturday, 20 November 2004 16:41 (twenty-one years ago)

the RIAA are interested in getting easy money from the infringers by settling out of court.

― bill neil (inabillity), Saturday, 20 November 2004 16:54 (twenty-one years ago)

Judging by some of the kids they've targeted, they're not interested in collecting money from them. Seriously, this is a multi billion dollar business, what would be the point of trying to recoup a few thousand dollars from some DMB-loving students? Heavy fines or costs are simply being used as a deterrent, which, like I said, seems so far to be failing to deter. It's a battle they've already lost.

― noodle vague (noodle vague), Saturday, 20 November 2004 17:01 (twenty-one years ago)

xpost

I don't think the RIAA is interested in "easy money" as easy publicity. The fees they pay to lawyers and companies that do their dirty work (downloading, tracking people's IP addresses, etc) probably balances out the costs of settlement.

It's more about scaring people and keeping the "dark side" of the story in the public's mind. Each time one of these stories hits the wires, another couple thousand parents un-install a P2P program from their kids' computers.

― john'n'chicago, Saturday, 20 November 2004 17:11 (twenty-one years ago)

i think everybody here is fully aware that people DO get in trouble because of music piracy, and i think everybody here, or at least most of us, think that sucks. i think everybody here also hates anonymous posters and is generally inclined to pay no attention to what they say. so it's not the issue that's getting ignored here. it's the anon poster that's getting ignored. what exactly is it about his/her initial question that would require anonymity?

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Saturday, 20 November 2004 18:36 (twenty-one years ago)

i had a woman from ASCAP stop by the place i work and ask where the music i was playing was coming from. I told her it was my iPod and she asked if i had paid my ASCAP fees for publicly broadcasting the copywrite protected music. I quickly told her that when there are customers in the business (she was there before we opened) i only listen to the radio. She handed me a card and went to the next business to try and rustle some money from their pockets. Stupid C**T.

― biznotic, Saturday, 20 November 2004 18:47 (twenty-one years ago)

NAAAAAAAAAAAARC

― M1chael Ph1lip Ph1lip Ph1lip Ph1lip Ph1lip Ann0yman (Ferg), Saturday, 20 November 2004 18:49 (twenty-one years ago)

(x-post)
that's a core part of ascap's and bmi's business.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Saturday, 20 November 2004 18:50 (twenty-one years ago)

I used to work with a guy who had been an ASCAP "debt collector". He said that it's a sure lot of fun to travel around rural Arkansas, going into VFW halls, diners, and honkey tonks trying to get people to pay up for playing Haggard out in the open like that. So much fun that he decided he'd rather work at Kinko's instead.

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Saturday, 20 November 2004 19:17 (twenty-one years ago)

The RIAA isn't the only one going after intellectual property theft. John Ashcroft has created in his four tenure 13 CHIP offices, offices dedicated solely to battling copyright infringement. There are many people sitting in prison right now who the FBI went after. Congress is working on numerous bills that make criminal copyright infringement more serious than it already is. One possible addition to the law that is floating around at the moment is making civil cases involving copyright infringement (ie, RIAA suing people) automatically into federal cases, aka, resulting in inprisonment and a loss of citizens rights.

You people need to read a little more on the law and a little less Christian music reviews.

― narc, Saturday, 20 November 2004 19:37 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh yeah.

www.cybercrime.gov

Notice how that's a .GOV webpage, as in, the government runs it. That's not RIAA's homepage, despite how similar it may be.

― narc, Saturday, 20 November 2004 19:38 (twenty-one years ago)

Prolonged weed use can have such terrible consequences.

― noodle vague (noodle vague), Saturday, 20 November 2004 19:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Shit, really? It sucks that they're going after you, man. I'll download enough Metallica for the both of us while you're inside.

― M1chael Ph1lip Ph1lip Ph1lip Ph1lip Ph1lip Ann0yman (Ferg), Saturday, 20 November 2004 20:07 (twenty-one years ago)

Thanks, bro. Smoke lots of weed for me too. I'm going to miss my prolonged weed usage.

― narc, Saturday, 20 November 2004 21:33 (twenty-one years ago)

filesharing completes me. i wouldn't be nearly the same person without it. it has reignited a passion long-thought dead. sort of like the printing press.

― irrigation can save your village, Sunday, 21 November 2004 09:37 (twenty-one years ago)

so far all the RIAA infringement cases (more than 600) have been settled out-of-court for amounts ranging from $2000-10,000. A publicity/intimidation campaign and IMO not a successful one.

the ASCAP story is absurd, hilarious, chilling and typical.

look past the attitude and there's food for thought here. call me paranoid, but some of the trolls and random-googlers who turn up on ILM may not be as innocent and/or clueless as they seem.

― lovebug starski (lovebug starski), Sunday, 21 November 2004 12:12 (twenty-one years ago)

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