RPG Piracy

[Katowice]

What part of I DON"T HAVE THE MONEY didn't you understand? Me with no money and DL books earns WotC (or whomever) EXACTLLY the SAME amount of income to me NOT DL'ing. Squeeze that consumer stone all you want, you won't get blood.

Just because you don't have the money, does give you cause to steal. I also am tight on money. I have to pay rent, put food on the table, clothes on my children, a new transmission in my car, etc., etc., before I can buy RPG books. I don't own a lot of really nice clothes or drive nice, new cars, because I am trying to survive, and unfortunately, that means going without some creature comforts and luxury items.

I'm not trying to belittle you, but that's how the real world works. You need food, clothing and shelter...everything else is a luxury. If you're so broke that you can buy it, you can survive without RPG books (and videos, DVDs, Playstation, for that matter).

Sorry I'm grumpy, I just watched a nicely dressed woman in a grocery store buy munchies and booze with food stamps.

 

[Numion]

If you want to drastically decrease pirating of books there are a couple of things you can do.


For PDF releases:
You can use scripting in a PDF that can send an email through netscape, outlook or outlook express without the reader's knowledge. So you send the email to an email address that has a bot set up to check it which will then compare the from address of the received email against a database of purchasers email addresses. If the email address is not found the person is sent an email asking them to provide proof of purchase with the email address they want assigned to that proof and informing them that if they open the document again without doing this legal action would be taken. No hacking into systems, no worrying about people, no nothing like that.

This has to be illegal. One computer software company tried to do this (kind of, anyway) thing with their game. It was fixed pretty soon after users filed a mass legal case against them. But luckily this couldn't happen in my computer, even though I don't pirate RPGs.

 

[Drawmack]

This has to be illegal. One computer software company tried to do this (kind of, anyway) thing with their game. It was fixed pretty soon after users filed a mass legal case against them. But luckily this couldn't happen in my computer, even though I don't pirate RPGs.

You could to other things too. This was just an off the cuff to show that they can be protected.

 

[Storm Raven]

I'm not really talking about a couple of laws that happened in one country. I'm more of talking about the entire construct from the dawn of human history, all the way to modern times. I'd like to see the increasing crutch that the Humanity organism places on abstract things decribed in full detail, all the way from 2+2=4 to the internet. (Which is obviously not possible on an EnWorld messageboard.)

The thing is, copyright law as an idea is very recent. One thing you note when studying the ancient world is how few works of authorship wer actually produced. It seems, looking back, like lots of stuff was going on because we see it condensed into a short history text, but the truth is, more works of authorship are produced in a single day than might be produced in a year circa 1300. One reason for this is that authored works had no protection, and hence were not really exploitable as a commercial resource. (There were engineering problems as well that contributed to this).

Define both "idea" and "expression" and I may agree with you.

*Tiptoeing lightly through metaphysics*

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I tend not to see a difference between an idea and the expression of an idea. They are one and the same, IMHO.

No, they are not.

An idea is just that: an unformed, undetailed thought. For example, an idea might be: in the world of pre-revolutionary France, a young man seeks to make his way in the royal army aided by a small group of friends and opposed by a powerful political figure. I can write a book on that.

An expression of that idea would be The Three Musketeers.

An idea might be: a young man from an obscure region finds a wise master of a lost mystic art and teams up with a roguish fellow to rescue a princess and defeat the plans of an evil emperor. I can write a book on that too.

An expression of this idea would be Star Wars.

Another idea might be: a hero, damsel and a scientist from earth are drawn to a fawaway world and foil the plans of an evil emperor. I can write on this as well.

An expression of this idea would be Flash Gordon.

Now, I can't write Star Wars or Flash Gordon, they are in copyright. But I could use the ideas behind those stories and write my own version of them.

 

[Numion]

You could to other things too. This was just an off the cuff to show that they can be protected.

Your suggestions are pretty draconian, if we consider that it's not child-porn, drugs or radioactive materials we're talking about. Reasonable measures against reasonable crimes? This isn't the USSR, after all

Should we for example limit the speeds of all cars to 55mph (or whatever is the legal maximum over there), because anyone driving more than is breaking the law. Or should the cars have recorders that secretly email all speedings to police stations that automatically send you fines by e-mail?

 

[Drawmack]

Your suggestions are pretty draconian, if we consider that it's not child-porn, drugs or radioactive materials we're talking about. Reasonable measures against reasonable crimes? This isn't the USSR, after all

Should we for example limit the speeds of all cars to 55mph (or whatever is the legal maximum over there), because anyone driving more than is breaking the law. Or should the cars have recorders that secretly email all speedings to police stations that automatically send you fines by e-mail?

okay, when I get my paycheck from work it is watermarked. Most computer software is protected by similar means today. If what I'm proposing is draconic then your stance is orcish.

This is a matter of the publishers protecting their own interests, that is no more draconian then you putting a silent alarm system on your house that alerts the police when someone breaks in.

Remember that when you purchase a book you are not purchasing that person's PI but rather you are purchasing that specific copy of this person's PI. Therefor if said publisher takes steps to protect their PI they are protecting their own property which is nothing like cars that enforce the speed limit.

Why do people always feel the need to make comparisons that they know are wrong just to attempt to prove a point they aren't making?

 

[Sagan Darkside]

Or should the cars have recorders that secretly email all speedings to police stations that automatically send you fines by e-mail?

In New York- drivers can get electronic items for their cars that allow them to drive through tolls without stopping to hand over cash. They get billed regularly.

Since some tolls change depending on where you are coming from, then it keeps track of all tolls you passed through. See where this is going?

People now get speeding tickets mailed to them if they went between two tolls too quickly.

Granted- no one has to get this item for their car, but it certainly was a subvert way of going about catching more speeders.

I will stand with the idea of blackballing people who do such things. It is not perfect, but more effective then any law.

SD

 

[Regdar]

If you want to drastically decrease pirating of books there are a couple of things you can do.

For PDF releases:
You can use scripting in a PDF that can send an email through netscape, outlook or outlook express without the reader's knowledge. So you send the email to an email address that has a bot set up to check it which will then compare the from address of the received email against a database of purchasers email addresses. If the email address is not found the person is sent an email asking them to provide proof of purchase with the email address they want assigned to that proof and informing them that if they open the document again without doing this legal action would be taken. No hacking into systems, no worrying about people, no nothing like that.

Bah, that's an invasion of privacy issue, and a potential lawsuit waiting to happen.

 

[Breakdaddy]

I know I wouldn't like to be told that I make enough money by someone unrelated to my situation, and I doubt Stephen King or Paul McCartney disagree. Or J.R.R. Tolkien, for that matter.

I dont see Tolkien disagreeing with much lately. It could be that he is DEAD.

 

[smetzger]

Should we for example limit the speeds of all cars to 55mph (or whatever is the legal maximum over there), because anyone driving more than is breaking the law. Or should the cars have recorders that secretly email all speedings to police stations that automatically send you fines by e-mail?

A better system is to have monitors on the highways that photograph license plates and then send you a ticket when you are speeding. This is getting off topic, but I think we should either do this or abolish speed limits. Speed Limit enforcement is presently a joke. If we can't enforce speed limits why should we have them. In most areas it is dangerous to drive the speed limit because most people are going over the speed limit.

Illegal file sharing is fast approaching the acceptance of speeding. Effective enforcement is the only way to stop it.