Spanish judge says downloading is legal

[rwenzori]

Another story from The Register:

A judge in the northern city of Santander in Spain dismissed a case against an anonymous 48-year-old man who shared digital music on the net.

Judge Paz Aldecoa of No. 3 Penal Court ruled that under Spanish law a person who downloads music for personal use can not be punished or branded a criminal. He called it "a practised behaviour where the aim is not to gain wealth but to obtain private copies".

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/11/03/spanish_judge_says_downloading_legal/

Their law sounds much like our law.

 

[hj2k_x]

awesome !

 

[Hein_JHB]

Cool lets download some music and tv shows

 

[krycor]

great {if only i had more bandwidth}

 

[DigitalSoldier]

Cool lets download some music and tv shows

you dont ?

 

[Ekhaatvensters]

I wonder what America has to say about this?

But it sounds cool, is our law really similar. I was pretty sure its illegal in SA?

 

[bwana]

I wonder what America has to say about this?

But it sounds cool, is our law really similar. I was pretty sure its illegal in SA?

A lot will probably be quite envious.

 

[Wisemansa]

YAY...... but hey we in SA with our government we wont innovate just immitate other countries and comdemn it

 

[Hein_JHB]

I download alot and I also need more bandwith 9gig cap can last me 3days

 

[kaspaas]

But it sounds cool, is our law really similar. I was pretty sure its illegal in SA?

it is irrelevant if it is legal or illegal in SA.

The size of your pocket to pay lawyers determines the law.

By the time the court says the big guys are wrong, you will be lucky if you still own your own pants - you will have lost your home, car and everything else already.

 

[Peter_J]

But it sounds cool, is our law really similar. I was pretty sure its illegal in SA?

It is not illegal to download MP3's for personal and private use under SA law. Hence it is not piracy. Please see these posts:

http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showpost.php?p=484542&postcount=34
http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showpost.php?p=502334&postcount=19

The latter refers to the Govt's own intellectual property guardian's page.