[To Dick Mustain]
Frankly, I can't find any statement, or even an insinuation by Mr. Ginnane,
that he has violated any copyrights or any laws. I can't find where he said
that he either sells or gives away copyrighted material of any sort, or that
he purchases any pirated products of any nature. And I haven't found any
statements by him offering to buy or sell such goods.
Absolutely correct. I do not give or sell copies of copyrighted materials to
anyone. I do not buy or sell such goods.
Where did he say that he had done anything in violation of copyright laws?
The laws prevent me from the unauthorized distributing of material of this
nature, even to family (or friends). However, copyright law does not prevent
me from being in constructive possession of intellectual property (including
the actual physical media on which it resides, which is not the same legal
thing) nor of incorporating said intellectual property in a further work
product of my own creation.
The "final installment of LOTR" (Lord Of The Rings) was just released into
theaters less than two weeks ago. I don't find any place on the web that this
film is for sale or download legitimately.
I did not purchase this movie, because it is not presently available for legal
sale to the public. Had I not been in Las Vegas at the time, I probably would
have been able to view the movie shortly before the general theatre release.
Businesses do not usually invest huge amounts of money in a product so that
me-generation folks who feel entitled can steal their property via technology.
Correct as a tautology -- but extranous to the discussion. Nothing was
"stolen" from anyone.
Whether one distributes that property for profit is not the issue.
The potential for profit is a PART of the issue -- in assessing "damages" --
but the crux of all the laws concerning copyright is INDEED "distribution".
(So your quoted sentence here is, unfortunately, completely wrong.)
Most of us realize that walking into a retail store and shoplifting a DVD for
one's personal use is illegal and unethical, no matter if you sell it to
another.
This is why I again suggest you visit http://www.slyck.com -- when you go into
a retail store, you are buying the PHYSICAL MEDIA, not the intellectual
property thereon.
You don't OWN the movie. When you pay 99 cents and download a song to your
iPod, that's NOT YOUR SONG.
Downloading copyrighted material is just as unethical. IMHO anyway.
Yes, Steve, you are entitled to an opinion, "humble" or otherwise 
-- but
the way the laws presently work, merely "downloading" anything is not legally,
factually wrong (or "unethical" as you put it). (It's what you do afterwards
with what you've got.)
This could quickly become a very long and tiring sidebar, and I think Tom
would be well within his rights to quickly kick it out of the message threads
here.
My suggestion?
You can assume that the people who run http://www.slyck.com have their own set
of biases, and you can also fairly assume that we're talking about some "grey
areas" in the law here. But if you want to see the lion's molars, you really
have to walk into the lion's den. (Must have MGM on the brain. :)]
The Slyck website has its own message forum and that's the best way you'll
quickly learn what's legal, what's not, and how to get around the subject
matter with competence. I recommend it highly.
/JJG
ยทยทยท
From: Bill Velek <billvelek@alltel.net>
From: "Steve Jacobsen" <sjacobsen53@verizon.net>