$125,000 in fines for D&D pirates? Help me do the math...

[Hussar]

If the ratio of downloads to sales was 3:1 such as the laws in some countries allow for personal use, I don't think anyone would ever bitch about illegal downloads.

delericho - You can't have it both ways though. You claimed that WOTC's pdf's were overpriced and don't sell. That's not true. They were the best selling pdf's. Now, the pdf market is miniscule, I agree, but, that has nothing to do with WOTC's pricing policies.

 

[Jan van Leyden]

Those studies are in Finnish, I think; I can try to locate them for you, if you want to.

Aaahh ... I've got to admit that my Finnish skill is very limited; the only word I've remembered being hyppitansi or something similar.

 

[Storm Raven]

My opinion is of course unchanged, i am only saddened i could not effectively explain my position.

We pretty much already know your position already. It is almost certainly the same one held by the bulk of people who don't understand the purpose of copyright, and don't see why we should compensate authors for creative expression.

 

[Storm Raven]

If it is or not is again not the issue and is merely twisting of words. Copyright law is intended to stop one company from selling another company's products. It has no meaning to the general public and is not intended to.

Umm, yes it does, and yes it is. For example, when photocpoiers came into use, there was significant concern over private individuals using them to copy materials rather than purchasing books. This concern was mostly focused on copiers placed in libraries where patrons could take a book in the library collection and copy the whole thing to take home.

Copyright is concerned with copying, no matter who does it.

 

[Storm Raven]

Here's the thing - if I wanted to, I could download the full character builder and sheet viewer and it's newest update. I could do it in minutes. And I could do it multiple times, each time both files coming from two entirely different sources.

Sure you could. What is stopping you? Could one factor possibly be that you'd run the risk of being liable for many thousands of dollars in damages?

 

[Storm Raven]

Certainly. So far as they pay their own expenses.

Did they pay the rights holder for the use of their property?

No? Then they haven't paid their own expenses.

 

[Storm Raven]

Whether you make $50,000 (approx. average income in US) / year ($26/hour) or 100,000/year, a judgement of $125,000 is alot of money to pay out and will probably take most people many years to pay off. That's disproportionate to the infraction.

Not according to Congress. In fact, the $100,000 settlement is far less than Congress thought the upper range for this sort of thing should be.

 

[Storm Raven]

well I can't talk for everyone, at the age of 30 with the youngest player I know is 22, and the oldest in his 60's. and I have seen a large swath of pays.

I know 3 people who make LESS then 10$ an hour

I myself went from $11 an hour up to $19 an hour, then that lead to me being told that my whole depatment could be done for 1/2 the cost in Texas (I live in CT)...in the 2+ years since then I have taken many temp jobs at 10-11$ per hour.

The most I have seen is 80,000 a year salarey. so well I am sure there are LOTS of people who make more, there are also atleast a good number that make that or less.

The median income in the U.S. for people over 25 is $32,000. That's considerably more than $10/hour.

 

[Cadfan]

The median income in the U.S. for people over 25 is $32,000. That's considerably more than $10/hour.

...right, but that's median. By definition half of the country makes less than that. Or is unemployed and doesn't fall into the statistic at all.

 

[Storm Raven]

...right, but that's median. By definition half of the country makes less than that. Or is unemployed and doesn't fall into the statistic at all.

Actually, the unemployed do fall into the statistic, as they do have income. And $10/hour works out (at 40 hours per week) to about $20K, so even a significant number of those below the median will be above the $10/hour line (in fact, you have to get to the bottom 20% of income earners to get to the $10/hour mark).

So, like I said, it is unlikely that someone will make $10/hour or less throughout their lifetimes. It happens, but it is not common, as 4 out of 5 income earners currently earn more than that.