Daniel Voyles

This post became too long for one sitting, so it has been divided. Read the first part here.

Now we can move into the point of my original post – file sharing sites, BitTorrent, and other methods of distributing media are not piracy. They are methods of distribution. Piracy can be defined loosely as robbing or violence committed against someone or something (a corporation perhaps). When someone downloads a movie via Megaupload or a song via Frostwire they are not robbing anyone nor committing an act of violence. The RIAA and MPAA would have you believe that they are being robbed of income they would have received if the CD/DVD would have been sold in a store. That seems like a reasonable analogy, but they ignore the fact that research has been performed that shows one of three things:

1. The person is a fan of the artist or movie and will purchase the work anyway.
2. The person would never have purchased the music or movie.
3. The person has purchased the item previously and is obtaining a digital copy.

Think about those items. If #1 is true, then the RIAA/MPAA has not lost any money. The person who got their copy of the work through an illegal distribution channel is going to give money to pay for the work, they merely used a different path to get the work at one point. If we consider #2, then the RIAA/MPAA still have not lost any money because the person has no intention of purchasing a DVD/CD or going to the theater. #2 is what the big corporations point out and hope you don’t think about too much. #2 has always existed, however this person can now download and have the music easily instead of making a tape copy or ripping a CD to their computer. #2 would never have purchased the work even if file sharing sites did not exist.

I am most likely to be in the #3 category should I ever download a work. I have purchased only a few CDs in the past few years for myself. Generally, I attribute this to getting older and not caring for much pop music. Still, I have purchased several hundred CDs and DVDs over my lifetime. If my ‘Alice in Chains:Unplugged’ CD gets scratched, I would easily consider downloading a copy from a torrent. Does this make me a criminal? No, it means that I used an illegal distribution channel to obtain another copy of a work that I paid for previously. The big corporations do not like this because it does not use hard media channels they control like DVD or CD purchases.

None of these acts constitutes piracy. What these acts do amount to is using illegal distribution channels to get a copy of a work. People obtained an illegal copy without using the proper distribution channel. There was no violence. There was no robbing since 1 and 3 will pay or have paid for the work downloaded, and 2 has no intention of ever paying for the work. Unfortunately piracy is an emotional word that people can relate to, and the news outlets can use this word to scare you or sound interesting.

That is my explanation of why there is no such thing as piracy. Yes, a copy may have been made illegally, but that means copyright law was broken. This does not mean someone or something (company) was robbed or violently attacked. People sold illegal copies of cassettes and CDs at flea markets however they were just called criminals. The same can be said for those using file-sharing websites, but it sounds much more evil to call them PIRATES. While these vicious pirates keep making illegal copies, the industries keep making record profits.

Go read this Time article. Yes, I know, I’m horrible for asking you to read.

Go read #3. Read it again. Once more now.

Why is our country hosed? Because the companies (executives) are here collecting fat paychecks. We peons are scraping to get by and buying crap at Wal-Mart, Target, Sears, etc. that is made in China. Hence middle-class jobs are gone. The execs get richer, and we have no middle-class anymore.

But that’s okay, you go save $1.25 on your toothbrushes while the Chinese buy your country with your money.

Germany has the right idea by supporting companies that produce/invest in-country. THAT is what we need here and now. Continental in Mount Vernon is German-owned. Guess what – if they can get a part from Germany instead of buying it up the street, they do it. THAT is how you keep an economy going.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted on my nephew’s blog..so here goes.

Have you heard about this?? Probably not..

Congress is going to nationalize the financial services industry today (H.R.4173), which is about 20% of our economy(passed the House, 12-11-09).

Feds have already nationalized the auto industry (GM & Chrysler).

Feds have already nationalized the mortgage industry, 90% of all mortgages since March have been bought by Fannie/Freddie.

Feds have already nationalized the college loan program (private banks can no longer offer these loans).

Feds are about to nationalize HealhCare (which is 17% of our economy).

Feds have proposed to nationalize ALL public transportation (light rail & subways) in the country

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Feds-outline-tougher-oversight-plan-for-subways_-Metro-8641705-78823507.html

Feds are planning to nationalize ALL waterways in the country (HR 2749, http://swordattheready.wordpress.com/2009/10/14/marxists-in-the-politburo-move-to-seize-control-of-all-water/)

Feds are planning to nationalize ALL power plants through the EPA (C02 restrictions), even if Congress doesn’t pass Cap & Trade.

Most citizens are unaware about most of this, or haven’t put the pieces of the puzzle together.

Welcome to the USSA (United Socialist States of America).

The fight is on, to take our country back..

Dave

In the first entry of this series, I explained some of the legal ways to get your television shows legally. I feel bad that I forgot to mention Netflix. You can watch some movies instantly using their service.

Now into the hazy world of ‘questionable’ ways to get television, music, and movies. What I talk about here and how you feel it applies will depend on how you interpret it. The reason for this is that the laws in our country are designed to deal with tangible and firm things like printed books, records, and actual reels of film. These laws were written before computers were common and before written, recorded, and filmed material could be transferred all over the world within minutes.

Many laws have been written to try to close the gap between written law and technology, but they mostly fail miserably. Most prominent of this legislation is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The DMCA was written by Congress, therefore it was written by people who are generally ignorant of technology (in my opinion) and who are heavily influenced by lobbyists. Lobbyists are paid by companies like RCA, Paramount, Sony, etc. So, who do you think the DMCA favors? Correct.

With that history out of the way, we can move forward with our review of the blurry area: copies of compact discs, DVDs, and other material you own. When you buy a CD, you do not get unlimited rights to do whatever you want with it. You only get a copy that you can listen to, or watch if it is a DVD.

Now, like with an article in a newspaper, there is such a thing as ‘fair-use’ that lets you use pieces of the article for parody, discussion, etc. However, you cannot reproduce the whole work without permission. That is just plagiarism. With a CD/DVD, you are allowed to make a ‘backup copy for archival purposes’ as long as you own a legal copy of the original work.

Here is the ironic part: you cannot make a backup copy of the CD/DVD if it has any kind of copy protection, according to the DMCA.

So, it is legal to have a backup according to law, but you cannot make that copy. Kind of twisted isn’t it? To my knowledge, there is no significant challenge to this contradiction so that we can know what is illegal and what isn’t.

I have gone over all of this explanation to say that if you can legally make copies of DVDs and CDs, then you could rip them to your laptop or desktop computer. Once they are on your hard drive you can watch them any time you like and not have to worry about the discs becoming scratched or lost. The discs will be safely stored in your closet.

With more and more television shows being released on DVD as complete seasons and some complete series’ runs, you could easily pick up your favorites, rip them to your PC and watch them at your leisure.

For that matter, you could find a site to download recordings of your favorite new shows and keep them on your drive. Networks say that this is illegal, and we geeks say it is no different than using a VCR to record from TV like many people did less than 5 years ago.

Use your own judgment, as I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. Tread carefully and read up before you make any decisions about whether to rip anything or download episodes of shows.

Note: This was originally penned by Dave on August 1, but I think he forgot about it. I’m taking liberty and posting it. If he doesn’t want it up, he can remove it or have me. Just wanted to post it.

Did you ever wonder why the $787B stimulus bill isn’t working, why only 15% of the money has been spent as of today, why 2 million jobs have been lost SINCE the bill was passed, why businesses are closing their doors, why the next wave to hit will be the commercial property foreclosures, why the Dems are going for nationalized health care, (they have already passed S-CHIP health care bill which spends $10B to cover “children” up to the age of 23), why Biden says you get out of debt by spending MORE money you (we) don’t have?

Did you ever wonder why it seems the administration is doing everything just the opposite of what might actually help our economy?

This will explain it. It’s an old idea, which is actually being put into action, before your very eyes:

The Cloward/Piven Strategy is named after Columbia University sociologists Richard Andrew Cloward and Frances Fox Piven. Their goal is to overthrow capitalism by overwhelming the government bureaucracy with entitlement demands. The created crisis provides the impetus to bring about radical political change.

Full article:

http://tinyurl.com/b2ac6b

It’s so infuriating watching these clowns (Senators) on Cspan… Every Republican amendment to ensure the healthcare plan meets Pres. Obama’s claim that this bill will CUT healthcare costs is voted down, 13 to 10.  The Dems on the committee will not let anything pass which limits the bill’s costs. Everything passed increases the government healthcare costs to over $1.2 Trillion by years 5-11 after passage….        THIS IS ABSOLUTELY CRAZY… As Sen. Gregg says, “this bill will lead us to financial insolvency as a nation”(Sen. Gregg is a “fiscal hawk” and was the Republican who Obama nominated for Commerce Secretary, but declined the offer eventually when he saw the President’s spending plans) . I think California is leading the for way for us (watch for the Feds to guarantee CA bonds and IOUs).

There are bankers who fear that Obama’s plan is “to take total control of the financial system and money supply, a requirement of dictatorship”. http://www.businessandmedia.org/commentary/2009/20090708120623.aspx As this article goes on to say, many small business leaders actually believe that the Obama administration is deliberately, systematically, destroying the economy in order to gain more control over businesses, small and large a like.  Can you blame them feeling this way? Just look at AIG, Fannie & Freddie, GM, Chrysler, etc., all taken over by Obama even though he has no “legal authority” to spend or control our nations finances/businesses. This is why the bill to audit the Federal Reserve, proposed by Con. Ron Paul, will never be brought to the House floor by Speaker Pelosi, and a matching bill in the Senate was killed this week by Sen. Reid. The administration doesn’t want anyone to know what the Fed is doing, and where the money is going (at least $7T spent since last September and even the GAO Comptroller does not know where the money went).  We already have $1T+ deficits each year for the next 10 years in our government’s regular budget….and that’s before any new Healthcare costs are added. Medicare-Medicaid will be insolvent within 10yrs, with Social Security soon to follow that.  Here’s an idea, fix Medicare-Medicaid and Social Security funding 1st…. Then tackle national Healthcare after those are fixed.

I never thought I would see the day where the “sheeples” of America and our free press, would allow a “silent coup” of our nation.

I’m afraid this is not going to end well.

Dave K

My employer has laid off no less than 1/3 of its employees. Yesterday morning we had meetings with Man-Tra-Con and unemployment people. Lawyers are negotiating.

Some of you may ask why, if you know me very well you know why – DAMNED politicians.

I’m not talking about elected officials that are upstanding (in Illinois?) and try to do their jobs properly. I’m referring to the jerks that run this state. They have successfully raided the Underground Storage Tank Fund to the point that payments for work already completed in good faith and approved for payment by the IEPA are almost two years behind.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but if I let any debt go for a month I’ll be receiving phone calls daily at all hours. Apparently the state of Illinois can rape funds and move them around however they like. I’m sorry, these are called sweeps by the politicians so that the public doesn’t notice as much when the funds are stolen to pay for another social hour in Springfield.

Granted, these sweeps happen all of the time, but this time they are causing my employer serious issues that may even include closure. I consider the people I work with to be friends, and my friends are not getting paid and/or are laid-off thanks to flipping politicians ‘legally’ stealing money to go to pet or pork projects. It’s bullcrap.

For those who don’t know, the UST Fund is used to do a number of things. The most common that I’m aware of is removing/replacing petrol tanks from gas stations and cleanup of these sites so that there is no contamination. This keeps land ‘clean’ so that it can be sold and used safely. What happens when businesses that clean up these sites are all forced to close thanks to politicians?

I’m willing to wager that the politicians are still getting their paychecks and that welfare is continuing to be doled out.

Compact disc, mp3, tape, SuperAudioCD, DVD,etc.

We as a culture enjoy music. This is something that I think most anyone can agree is a fact. Now, types of music are a completely different matter for another forum. Some prefer rap, country, rock, religious traditional, or some other type or sub-type of music that could take forever to list here.

What I am pondering as I write this blurb is how we keep allowing ourselves to be forced into the latest and greatest new medium for enjoying the music we purchase. I caught the tail-end of cassette tape’s life, and purchased several Garth Brooks albums on that medium. (Yes, I like his music and have about everything produced. Still missing the McDonald’s CD if anyone knows where I can aquire one.) When compact disc came out, I purchased everything again in that medium.

The argument here would be that compact disc was a vast improvement in sound quality and lasts much longer than tape can/could. I’m willing to accept that to a certain degree, however why do I have to pay again for the ability to listen to music I already paid to listen to? I wouldn’t mind if I could ‘trade-in’ my cassettes and pay a small fee for the cost of the CD or whatever the new medium is, but paying the same or more for a catalog album seems ridiculous to me.

Compact discs have a negligible production cost (somewhere around a couple bucks last I checked), but yet they are continually priced at a 500% profit. How much of that is seen by the artist? I would wager not much. I understand that some cost is associated with studio costs and promotion, but I doubt it takes quite the markup that we see as consumers.

Now, we are faced with the mp3 upgrade. This new round lends itself to at least one quandry unseen previously – ripping from CD to mp3. There are a few caveats to this process, the DMCA and sound quality. More