Wow!  I never thought I would conduct a poll, but here goes.  It seems we are always talking about copyright infringement, pdfs, illegal CD's of info (and legal pdf's as well).   Well, how about a fun poll!

So here it isl - how many illegally copyrighted items do you think you own?  That's burned CD's, copied DVD's, copied Cassettes, illegal pdfs, photocopies and each and every single song you downloaded from Napster or anywhere else!

(estimates only, of course)


I'm fairly clean, I selected 11-50.


(By the way, the last option should read 2001 + and NOT 20,000+

I'm going with dozens and dozens...

I have cut down on the stuff by buying the actual products, but I know I'm still in that range with stuff I probably won't get unless its real cheap.

ShaneG.

g026r wrote:

(Oh, and shouldn't the last poll option be 2001+, not 20001+?)

Yes, but apparently I can't edit poll questions once somene has responded to it.  

The FBI, RCMP, or other law enforcement don't really care how many bootleg DVDs, CDs, Video Games, or Books you have in your place, so most places would stand up to a search.  Those are copyright violations and in most duristictions copyright is a civil matter. i.e.  there is nothing to be charged with, and it is the rights holder who must enforce the copyright in civil court.  That is why you here about the RIAA and the MPAA bringing all these suits against people.  It can get expensive and nasty, but it is not criminal.

Law enforcement does however care about the distribution of copyrighted works (for profit or otherwise), which depending on the duristiction is usually a criminal offence.  Hence all the raids and charges you hear about against bootleggers and online priacy sites.  But even then they only go after the very big offenders.  There is a criminal record, fines,  and possible jail time if you are found guilty.

Also copyright holders are often eager to portray copyright violation as theft since it serves their cause better to do so.  But it is important to remember it is not, and the law itself makes this distinction.  A theft of a tangible good deprives the victim of its use, and there is a financial cost associated with its manufacture and replacement.  The unauthorized copying of a work or illegal use of copyrights does not deprive the owner in the same immediate way.  There is a loss (or potential for loss) through  a diminishing value, and copyright law gives the owner the tools to make this case in a civil court and recover damages.

Anyways ...the first category of the poll doesn't make sense.     FBI should be changed to Author's Guild or something.  

Cheers!

islestrike wrote:The FBI, RCMP, or other law enforcement don't really care how many bootleg DVDs, CDs, Video Games, or Books you have in your place, so most places would stand up to a search.

Anyways ...the first category of the poll doesn't make sense.     FBI should be changed to Author's Guild or something.  

Cheers!

Sorry, I only had so many words available to attempt to be humorous.  I will consult my scriptwriters about this incident and admonish them for such a poor showing.  

I wondered about this - what if you get rid of the item - say you sell as CD to the used store.  Are any copies of songs you have no "technically" illegal?  Shouldn't you destroy them . . . "technically".

Islestrike is right. Except for the "duristiction" part......

I'm pretty sure I must be over 100.  BITD we bought very few Commodore 64 games, we always got copies of copies from friends.

Even though I fall into the last category "I'll be damned if I ever pay for ANYTHING!" because I have illegally downloaded over 2000 items, I find that I am ok with it.  Probably because the only company that I can fathom I have possibly hurt in my quest for illegal downloads is WoTC.  Yeah right.  

I figure I have in my small collection of illegally downloaded files:

3500+ .mp3 files (Most of the songs I already own on the 600+ CD's I own, the rest are one or two songs from a particular group that wasnt worth paying $15 for the album cause I only wanted the one song).  And I dont allow others to download the songs that I have so I am not distributing them further.

50+ music videos.  I seriously doubt that Van Halen cares that I downloaded a really crappy video of "Jump" without consulting them.

200+ pdf files of various D&D and other game system files.  90% of which I already own in hardcopy.  Another 5% I plan to own in hardcopy at some time in the future.  The final 5% is 3rd edition stuff that I dont plan to own but wanted to read for whatever reason.

300+ vintage arcade games.  Downloaded these copies of the rom files to play on the MAME emulator.  Rom's are ok to download if you actually own the original rom...yeah right like I can afford that!  90% of the companies that created these games are no longer in existence, and the other 10% don't care if their works are freely distributed.

That's pretty much it.  I really don't feel like a criminal though.  Maybe if I downloaded movies or current computer games for free I might feel bad.  That I dont do though.  I dont see why anyone would spend hours downloading a blockbuster type movie only to watch it in a itty bitty window with crappy sound.  I buy all the movies I own...never copied or downloaded.  Same with all the computer and console games I play.

I sincerely hope the FBI has better things to do, like maybe hunting down terrorists and serial killers, than come after me for a few hundred .mp3's that I didnt pay for.