Stop Online Piracy Act

[rpm]

Piracy websites must watch out

US lawmakers introduced a bill on Wednesday that would give US authorities more tools to crack down on websites accused of piracy of movies, television shows and music and the sale of counterfeit goods.

 

[andrekrit]

Ouch! Seems like the effect of this law will be far reaching. Most torrent sites will probably come under fire. They mention "foreign" sites as well... will they suspend access to a site by revoking its DNS entry (if the domain is hosted in the US)? I see lots of protests and outcries in the near future .

 

[Shayd]

Honestly I am quite happy to pay for my content as long as the price is good and I can get it DRM free in a digital format.

 

[Mouse]

Honestly I am quite happy to pay for my content as long as the price is good and I can get it DRM free in a digital format.

That's what this law will prevent from happening.

 

[Psykro]

Piracy has been with us for as long as we have had computers. The industry needs to learn that how to convert those that download pirate content to paying customers, not burn them.

 

[BaronBuffoon]

I don't think that that is entirely true, Mouse. There is a good deal that one can pick up cheaply if one shops around for specials and is prepared to wait for items to hit the bargain bin. DRM remains a nuisance even in countries with copious amounts of broadband: one may not be able to legally play a given game further down the line if the authentication servers no longer exist.

If I understand correctly, games on GoG are DRM free[?]

 

[Cicero]

Piracy has been with us for as long as we have had computers. The industry needs to learn that how to convert those that download pirate content to paying customers, not burn them.

True, and it'll still be there if this law is passed.

 

[BaronBuffoon]

....only, it will probably burrow deeper into the Underground, and possibly find a way to ensure that only those who are in the know can find servers hosting ill-gotten gains.

 

[Fader4]

Piracy has been with us for as long as we have had computers. The industry needs to learn that how to convert those that download pirate content to paying customers, not burn them.

These people operate under the fallacy that every pirated copy is a lost sale. Its simply not the case and many people would rather go without than pay for anything.

 

[BouncyNinja]

i think that if movies / music was more reasonably priced, the piracy would be waay less

 

[AstroTurf]

Scare tactics and patriotism.

Politicians should keep their noses out of this.

 

[Mouse]

I don't think that that is entirely true, Mouse. There is a good deal that one can pick up cheaply if one shops around for specials and is prepared to wait for items to hit the bargain bin. DRM remains a nuisance even in countries with copious amounts of broadband: one may not be able to legally play a given game further down the line if the authentication servers no longer exist.

If I understand correctly, games on GoG are DRM free[?]

Yes that is correct, GOG games don't have DRM, Humvle Bundle games also have no DRM. Both are available without any conditions except that you pay for them (and it is a very reasonable price)

However, its big content yet again that is the problem. Everything they touch ends up being tainted with DRM and ridiculous conditions attached.

For example, a friend wanted to buy music on Amazon. He wanted the digital download which would be instantly available once he paid. Instead he was presented with "not available in your region" and the only other option was to order the CD, wait for it to be delivered and potentially having it arrive damaged or not arrive at all. So he pirated it.

Do you blame him?

I used to play guitar hero and was willing to buy the add on track packs but also had "not available in your region" issues.

and regarding tv shows: DSTV HD is still sub standard, you have to follow their times to watch things, while being expensive as well compared to what's on offer in other countries.
Why the different pricing? You could argue that Multichoice are being greedy, and that definitely is part of the problem, but I think another part is that content owners are charging different rates for different regions for the same content.

Access to good NZB servers costs R120 and you get proper HD, 1 to 2 days after the Americans get it, without DRM and with the ability to watch whenever you have time. If this were a legal channel costing more than it does now, I would still prefer it to DSTV.

Which sounds like a better deal for consumers?

All these laws being passed are maintaining an environment that is the same as having our telecoms environment with a few suppliers dictating how things work. It leads to higher prices and poor service.

 

[Wyzak]

I find it quite interesting that the bill appears to target sites who "sell" content. This will possibly provide a loophole for many torrent sites who just distribute without charging anything.

 

[Necuno]

Piracy websites must watch out

US lawmakers introduced a bill on Wednesday that would give US authorities more tools to crack down on websites accused of piracy of movies, television shows and music and the sale of counterfeit goods.

How to effectively start the end of piracy:
1) removal of zone locked, region and related.
2) removal of exclusive suppliers and their prick behavior like megarom granting btgame exclusives. SK and Numetro's bull**** handling of movie distribution and so on.
3) removal exuberant pricing models and too many middle men in the kitchen.
4) releasing content (games) unfinished and then punt it off as dlc or releasing game in multiple parts whereas it should have been one title.
5) less repeat and quality shows without having us watch a kak load of old things over and over again.

Now that that pipe dream is over and fatcat$$$ won't allow it, we will not see end of piracy now and forever.

:edit
Removal of DRM. It's the one of the root causes of piracy, I have not seen GOG nor CDProjectRed suffer because they don't use DRM.

 

[reedOsama]

For example, a friend wanted to buy music on Amazon. He wanted the digital download which would be instantly available once he paid. Instead he was presented with "not available in your region" and the only other option was to order the CD, wait for it to be delivered and potentially having it arrive damaged or not arrive at all. So he pirated it.

Do you blame him?

yah I do... he could have ordered it and had it been lost, damaged or whatever THEN he could have pirated it (with a clean conscience).

I don't see why you guys try so hard to justify your pirating, we all know it's wrong and we all do it. I just can't see why you'd try to convince everyone that it's actually the people who are selling the products fault that you pirate.

What really annoys me is the double standard... it's fine to pirate entertainment but go into the software thread and mention that your Windows is copied and everyone's all over you (my windows isn't cracked by the way get it... nevermind:erm

 

[ToAsTeD]

i think that if movies / music was more reasonably priced, the piracy would be waay less

Definitely agree, if prices were reasonable people wouldnt have to pirate things and it would be less mission to simply pay for it and download it.

 

[gregmcc]

The yanks just trying to throw their weight around again.

 

[TJ99]

I don't think that that is entirely true, Mouse. There is a good deal that one can pick up cheaply if one shops around for specials and is prepared to wait for items to hit the bargain bin. DRM remains a nuisance even in countries with copious amounts of broadband: one may not be able to legally play a given game further down the line if the authentication servers no longer exist.

If I understand correctly, games on GoG are DRM free[?]

Yes, they are. But Good Old Games are just that. Old. I love me some classics but what about when you want new games? I wanted Battlefield 3 but it forces you to use EA's ****ty fake-Steam DRM system. I've read forum posts from people who resorted to cracks to get the game just to run, but then of course you can't play multiplayer which is the whole point. Not to mention the absurdity of having to crack something you bought, just to get rid of crap that shouldn't be there in the first place. Another example of Big Content (EA in this case) screwing over the people who WANT to give them money, while those who pirate it are laughing their asses off since they have no Origin, no DRM nonsense of any kind. And yes, there's always the issue of what happens when the authentication system is no longer availabe. That's why I still think of Steam as a rental service.

 

[Nerfherder]

Yes that is correct, GOG games don't have DRM, Humvle Bundle games also have no DRM. Both are available without any conditions except that you pay for them (and it is a very reasonable price)

However, its big content yet again that is the problem. Everything they touch ends up being tainted with DRM and ridiculous conditions attached.

For example, a friend wanted to buy music on Amazon. He wanted the digital download which would be instantly available once he paid. Instead he was presented with "not available in your region" and the only other option was to order the CD, wait for it to be delivered and potentially having it arrive damaged or not arrive at all. So he pirated it.

Do you blame him?

I used to play guitar hero and was willing to buy the add on track packs but also had "not available in your region" issues.

and regarding tv shows: DSTV HD is still sub standard, you have to follow their times to watch things, while being expensive as well compared to what's on offer in other countries.
Why the different pricing? You could argue that Multichoice are being greedy, and that definitely is part of the problem, but I think another part is that content owners are charging different rates for different regions for the same content.

Access to good NZB servers costs R120 and you get proper HD, 1 to 2 days after the Americans get it, without DRM and with the ability to watch whenever you have time. If this were a legal channel costing more than it does now, I would still prefer it to DSTV.

Which sounds like a better deal for consumers?

All these laws being passed are maintaining an environment that is the same as having our telecoms environment with a few suppliers dictating how things work. It leads to higher prices and poor service.

Yes, i'm not that bothered with DRM its the region blocking thats the main thing... I have the speed and cap to access things like Netflix and iPlayer but they block it. Never mind that they could even host the content here and make it even better for us... no, they wont even let us access it with expensive international bandwidth.

Its even worse with Games... take a look at operation Rainfall:http://oprainfall.blogspot.com/
Where the Americans are losing out this time. Games are made for the Euro zone and not America, the games exist in english but Nintendo refuse to make an NTSC version even though the Americans are begging for them ! WHY ??
Pretty much the best thing they can do is crack their consoles and run illegal software so that they play a Euro version of the game they paid for.

As long as these guys are working against us, we will work against them.

 

[FrankCastle]

I read somewhere that almost 60% of internet traffic is torrents.Imagine the billions ISP's stand to lose if the powers that be get their way.
How about if TPB and KAT etc charge a small 'membership' fee and these funds are given directly to the owners of the product.
Everybody wins.