Pathfinder 1E Holy heck! There's a guy STUPID enough to ask for pirated materials on the Pathfinder FACEBOOK PAGE!!!!

[Dimitrios]

I get the feeling that for some people, getting digital media (pdfs, music, movies, whatever) for free is their primary hobby, irrespective of what the media actually is.

 

[Warskull]

Erik Mona stepped up to make a comment on the matter, but do they have any recourse?

Not much, asking for pirated materials isn't really illegal. They would have to figure out who he is, track him down, and provide evidence that he is pirating their materials. Due to the misbehavior of the RIAA and their frequent fishing expeditions the courts probably wouldn't look to kindly on requests to search his computer without some solid evidence (beyond the post.)

Plus, it would have to be settled in civil court, meaning lawyer costs. On top of that it would only make Paizo look bad. Due to all the scumbag law firms essentially black mailing people and the way the RIAA, MPAA, and other copyright cartels have been handling the situation most legal action by a company regarding piracy immediately lands you in the public's bad will.

Probably their best play would be to link him to their storefront and make a cheeky comment.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

There is ALOT of miss information about what is and isnt piracy and even illigal.


I had at Gen Con a DM withh all the 3.5 pdfs tell us they were a gift from a friend so they arent illegal... becuse how would he know if they were paid for or not 'wink wink'

At a more local Con I took a pic of the page that had a spell I wanted with my Iphone becus eI didnt own the book but anothet player did (rathet then keep borrowing said book) The DM told me he would only allow me sto stay if I gave him my phone after the game to prove I deleted it becus ehe hates pirates... to be funny I texted the image to my friend at the con then showed him I deleted it.... then my friend showed him the text (again thinking we were being funny) and he wanted to call the cops on us... he did report us to the people running the con...

I hear people all the time online and irl claim it isnt really a crime becuse there is no victume...

I hear people online all the time claim that it is legal to scan your own book for your own purposes so it isnt illegal to down load them


I had a good laugh with a friend when4e was still knew becuse he bought a bunch of pdf only new warlock builds... then wanted to play one in my game but he couldnt figureout how to show them to me when he only has a desk topand i never go to his house...


The truth of the matter is I fault no one for the crime or defending against it... I only fault people who blatantlh brag about getting for free what i pay for... becus eIm not sure what the answers are

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I just spotted this. There is a person stupid enough to think that it is ok to ask for pirated materials..and also stupid enough to ask for it on the OFFICIAL Pathfinder RPG Facebook page!

Paizo should nail him right there! What the heck!?!?

https://www.facebook.com/groups/20416871387/



jh

Many people are dumb and egotistical. Many scofflaws leave a very public and visible trail of electronic evidence. Part of the evidence trail in the first WTC bombing was the guy trying to get a refund on the truck he used to deliver the bomb in. One woman got caught because she used her store discount card when she bought her murder/disposal kit- gotta get that discount!

Just this week, the story broke of the guy who asked Siri to help him hide the body of his murder victim.

http://www.businessinsider.com/murder-suspect-asks-siri-where-to-hide-dead-body-2014-8

First off it's not piracy, it's copyright infringement.

Point of information: "piracy" in this context is just a popular synonym for copyright infringement...which is itself just a special subset of the crime of "theft."

 

[Umbran]

If he's looking for a place to download the material for free, that would be theft/piracy of the material.

Copyright infringement only comes into it if they are printing the material for resale.

I believe you are incorrect. Copyright covers pretty much all forms of reproduction. Unauthorized copy of digital media copies of a work also count as copyright infringement, legally speaking.

 

[Charles Wright]

OK. I thought that if someone stole my book, then they stole my book. I didn't know that, legally, they've only copyright infringed me.

 

[prosfilaes]

Point of information: "piracy" in this context is just a popular synonym for copyright infringement...which is itself just a special subset of the crime of "theft."

No, copyright infringement is not a subset of the crime of theft. Totally different sections of the law. It's the violation of a state-given monopoly over certain actions, which is quite different from the taking of property. The US Constitution clearly separates it from the Lockean life, liberty and property, by justifying it as not an natural right and chronologically limiting it: "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times..."

 

[Morrus]

OK. I thought that if someone stole my book, then they stole my book. I didn't know that, legally, they've only copyright infringed me.

There's no "only" about it, except one you put there.

Different crimes have different technical legal definitions. Sure, from your point of view, it all feels similar, and all of them are wrong - the terminology isn't a value judgement; "theft" isn't "worse" than "infringement". They're certainly all variations on a theme, but have differences.

In colloquial English - sure, they stole it. But laws aren't written in colloquial English.

 

[Umbran]

OK. I thought that if someone stole my book, then they stole my book. I didn't know that, legally, they've only copyright infringed me.

Copyright is about right to reproduce material.

If they nab the physical had-copy of a book from your bag, that is theft. The information the book contains is not reproduced, so copyright does not apply.

If you download something from the internet, you copy data - reproducing it, so that copyright applies.

Copyright law does *not* depend on you intending to resell the material. Reproducing it and giving it away for free - in either digital or hard copy form, would be copyright infringement.

The whole "digital piracy is theft" thing is not a legal argument, but a moral one, that some folks like to make.

 

[Emirikol]

This is kind of a funny topic idea.

I'm starting to think that we're missing the point: it is clear what is right and wrong ethically and socially, but we're discussing theoretical law

The idiot is being a complete scumbag in requesting that someone help him find pirated materials for him to download. He is being an even bigger a-hole by blatantly advertising this on a public site.

Right and wrong is pretty clear here and this person is blatantly acting unethically. Socially, people need to call him out on it. Legally, the industry needs to start following up on stuff like this and suing for damages. I can only imagine how much $120,000 would mean to a small start up company in damages (for instance..from the other person who posted that they got busted and sued). Isn't there still a game producer association? What the heck are they? A social club?

Recall those people who did get busted...