Downloading illegally

[2Loose]

I always thought that that was legal, however at the weekend I read that it had just been made legal. That bit doesn't matter to me as half my vinyl is so obscure that it isn't available for downloading and I had to rip them all manually.

Citation needed? As I understand it, it is still illegal, but I do hope you are right.

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/bargains-and-rip-offs/article.html?in_article_id=500206&in_page_id=5

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technolo...of-iPod-fans-breaking-law-by-copying-CDs.html

 

[User169]

Citation needed? As I understand it, it is still illegal, but I do hope you are right.

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/bargains-and-rip-offs/article.html?in_article_id=500206&in_page_id=5

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technolo...of-iPod-fans-breaking-law-by-copying-CDs.html

I thought it was still formally illegal too - when I looked at the Patent Office website last week that seemed to suggest that proposals to change the law in this respect are still in the consultation phase.

As the Telegraph link points out though, "the industry" is not targeting those that format shift legally purchased items.

 

[2Loose]

you just wait...they'll get around to it.

I know that they are very annoyed that software can be sold on as they do not get a second slice of the pie ('cor, I could be management!) and are lobbying for changes to the law in that regard already. I can only assume that they haven't cottoned onto this potential source of profit yet.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

I always thought that that was legal, however at the weekend I read that it had just been made legal. That bit doesn't matter to me as half my vinyl is so obscure that it isn't available for downloading and I had to rip them all manually.

if that is the case then the whole idea of isps sending letters and ultimately disconnection will collapse completely.

1) the isp will have no idea whether that hypothetical kate bush album i downloaded was new to me or was merely a digital version of the cassette i bought back in 1985. thus the fact that my ip address downloaded a copy of the hounds of love would prove nothing without additional evidence.

2) if it was an illegal download, how can that be proved, short of getting a court order to seize my computer and record/tape/cd collection and cross-reference them? i suppose i could be asked to show the original, but as you could obtain a proper copy off ebay or wherever, that's hardly an avenue worth pursuing.

the necessity to download from bittorrent sites and the like is waning anyway; spotify/last fm etc and a copy of something like audio hijack will get you a growing collection of music you can stream and digitally record for your ipod without your isp being alerted, as these are legal music services. so, already, the legislation is already out of date and able to be circumvented. in any case, zipping and renaming e.g. cait_boosh_dogs_of_passion.zip could contain the whole album and be downloaded without triggering the isp's filters, which is what is likely to happen if the proposed legislation comes into force. and that's before people use ip proxies and the like to mask their ip addresses.

i am not saying that these circumventions are fair, but they will be the inevitable consequence of a poorly drafted law that is unlikely to stop the practice it is designed to.

it was always illegal to copy your friends lps onto a cassette, but everyone did it and i don't recall anyone every getting into bother for it unless they were selling these copies on. i suppose the only difference now is that the copies are of identical quality, sound-wise, as the originals.