Will Anti-Piracy Laws Ever Successfully Stop Piracy?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the effectiveness of anti-piracy laws in curbing piracy, exploring the implications of such laws on individual rights, and the challenges faced by lawmakers in addressing piracy in the digital age. Participants examine the balance between enforcing laws and protecting rights, as well as the evolving nature of piracy and the darknet.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants argue that anti-piracy laws are unlikely to effectively stop piracy and may infringe on the rights of non-pirates.
  • Others suggest that the responsibility for digital rights management (DRM) should lie with companies, although they express skepticism about the effectiveness of such measures without innovative approaches.
  • A participant questions the fairness of sacrificing rights in the name of combating piracy, prompting a discussion about the nature of rights and their limitations.
  • Concerns are raised about lawmakers' understanding of the issues, citing past legislation like PIPA and SOPA as examples of ineffective solutions.
  • Some participants propose that better enforcement of existing laws, rather than new laws, may be a more effective strategy against piracy.
  • Discussion includes the role of untraceable currencies like Bitcoin in facilitating illegal activities on the darknet, which some view as a challenge to regulatory efforts.
  • Examples are provided of various forms of piracy, including software, music, and books, highlighting the lack of enforcement in many cases.
  • A participant references a U.S. House resolution opposing U.N. governance of the Internet, suggesting a broader context of regulatory challenges.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a range of views, with no clear consensus on the effectiveness of anti-piracy laws or the best approach to address piracy. Some agree on the ineffectiveness of current laws, while others emphasize the need for better enforcement or innovative solutions.

Contextual Notes

Participants note the limitations of existing laws and the challenges posed by the evolving digital landscape, including the darknet and the use of cryptocurrencies. There is an acknowledgment of the complexities involved in balancing rights and enforcement.

Pythagorean
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Anti-piracy laws probably won't do much to stop piracy[1]. But they'll certainly take away rights of everyone (even non-pirates). Fair or not, this places them emphasis for DRM responsibility on the companies themselves (though still... a losing battle without clever social engineering).

This is actually a ten year old "proof" by four Microsoft engineers (the lead almost got fired for his paper). Today, the darknet is much bigger and stronger than when this paper was originally written.

[1] http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...-engineers-proved-copy-protection-would-fail/
 
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Pythagorean said:
Anti-piracy laws probably won't do much to stop piracy[1]. But they'll certainly take away rights of everyone (even non-pirates). Fair or not, this places them emphasis for DRM responsibility on the companies themselves (though still... a losing battle without clever social engineering).

This is actually a ten year old "proof" by four Microsoft engineers (the lead almost got fired for his paper). Today, the darknet is much bigger and stronger than when this paper was originally written.

[1] http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...-engineers-proved-copy-protection-would-fail/
Just because there will always be criminals doesn't mean we should ever give up trying to stop them.
 
Even at the expense of other people's rights? I don't think that's fair.
 
Pythagorean said:
Even at the expense of other people's rights? I don't think that's fair.
What rights are you talking about? If I buy a piece of software or other intellectual property, do I have the right to do anything I want with it?

Generally speaking, rights aren't absolute. For example, in the US we have the right of free speech, but a decision by the Supreme Court does not extend this right to shouting "fire!" in a crowded theater.
 
Sure, this doesn't need to be about idealism. The problem so far is tha law makers don't know what they're doing, as we saw from PIPA and SOPA.

m.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/post/overkill-on-internet-piracy/2011/12/11/gIQA9TK6nO_blog.html

The point here, though, is that an addition to to it violating rights... it's not effective.

Maybe the govt can come up with an effective solution with some clever innovation... Probably not though. More likely, each company will have to come up with a clever solution that fits their product.

Gaming companies, for instance, have started relying on server-based verification and emphasizing multiplayer.
 
That's another thing that has been squeezed out into the darknet... Bitcoins; an untraceable currency. Now people can deal drugs and lethal weapons online without consequence. Whoops!

The darknet is a true "free market," so it will quickly adapt based on human nature, not established ethical standards, leaving regulations one step behind, with their unintended consequences.
 
Pythagorean said:
That's another thing that has been squeezed out into the darknet... Bitcoins; an untraceable currency. Now people can deal drugs and lethal weapons online without consequence. Whoops!

The darknet is a true "free market," so it will quickly adapt based on human nature, not established ethical standards, leaving regulations one step behind, with their unintended consequences.

Tor was intended to be free and open source, this has then lead to allowing the bitcoins from black market (silkroad) to be transferred annonomously, the government created it with the intent of allowing criminals to be criminals to hide their own behaviour online so they can snoop on criminals and attempt to catch them.

This is getting off topic of piracy but to get back on topic, yes piracy will always win if the law's are not inforced, same with any law.

J walking (walking across a crossing when a red man is shown) no one gets punished (at least in australia) although it is illegal.
Pirating video games, majority of the non torrent sites have been taken down, they will never be able to stop torrents due to privacy laws there has been a few large busts though majority slip through the cracks.
Pirating audio/music, i remember reading a while ago of a raid on an 8yo's dora the explorer laptop or something similar due to downloading a song to listen to through pirate bay (directed from a google search) they then later on dropped all the fines associated with it and directed the girl/family to a site that they could listen to the music for free.
Pirating books/webpage content, almost every day in schools around the world and universities ect books are scanned into a digital form and webpages are printed into a hard copy, this is also against the law of copyright but there is no inforcement.

Yes there are a lot of things you can do that you will be fined for and also put in jail but copyright at the moment is not one of them unless you earn a higher revenue than the original creator.
 
Last edited:
"The U.S. House of Representatives has unanimously approved a resolution to oppose U.N. intent to govern and regulate the Internet"

http://www.zdnet.com/u-s-now-totally-unified-in-opposition-of-u-n-internet-governance-7000008382/

397-0 vote !

"...it is unfortunate and disappointing to see that the European Parliament appears to base its Resolution on misleading and erroneous conjecture put forth by certain companies who are defending their commercial interests, in particular when those companies are not even European companies."
 

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