Torrent throwdown on the Wizards board

[Fifth Element]

Read some Nietzsche or Bertrand Russell and get back to me.

Where's Will Hunting when you really need him?

 

[Vorhaart]

Of the projects on sourceforge, how many are de facto abandoned? How many of those are because the project lead couldn't devote the time to both the project AND earning a living? (And what percentage of succesful projects ultimately gain a commercial angle, from support or documentation or what-not?)

Working in the IT industry professionally in a development role, I see a lot of commercial ideas also end up abandoned due to lack of resources, most of which never get beyond the design phase. This is not endemic to community-supported projects alone.

As a disclaimer, there do seem to be a disproportionally higher number of abandoned projects on sourceforge, so I agree with you in part.

What do you spend when you, say, clean up the junk in my backyard? Time and energy.

What does a writer spend when he creates? Time and energy.

Why do you deserve to get paid for physical labor and the writer not get paid for mental labor?



That's pretty bad, IMO.

A classic argument, and one I fully agree with. However, think of it this way:

I have already paid. They have my money, the reward of my physical/mental labor if you will. They can treat my labor however they want. Spend it on ale and whores, it's not my concern anymore. So why am I being denied the opportunity to use their labor how I want (while still adhering to the principles of copyright law and fair use, of course)? It's not difficult to see why some would consider this somewhat biased.

Again, not trying to antagonize, just providing a different perspective.

And do you think it is coincidence that the rate at which innovation increased coincided with the realization that ideas were property?

Correlation does not (necessarily) mean causation. Some would argue that innovation increased despite this perception.

 

[Felon]

That OP over in the WotC forums--Subedei--is either an evil genius or a tremendous tool. Instead of choosing a discreet manner of contacting WotC, he announces the availability of the illegal copies in a public forum. To get pats on the head? Hungry for attention? Or actually a clever saboteur? I find it hard to believe that the only way he could think of to get WotC's attentions was to post it on the messageboard.

Now there's going to be a bigger rush than ever to the pirate sites.

 

[DerekSTheRed]

This!

I can't understand why people still, after all these years, still think it's relevant at all to discuss whether or not online piracy is "right" or "wrong". Trying to convince people to stop downloading torrents is like trying to convince people to stop masturbating. You can do it with the gravitas of Henry the fifth, with rhetorics that would make Cicero himself green with envy. You can do it in a speech in front of hundreds of thousands of people. Guess what? People would still masturbate.

Oh, warlockwannabe asked for stuff produced in Spain and then exported. To be quite honest, I can't really think of much except for that horrible, horrible song they made all the rest of Europe listen to during the Eurovision Song Contest finals last weekend. Oh, there is something though, a novel written centuries ago about a guy fighting windmills...

Ironically enough, it's public domain and available for download here:
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/996

Masturbating doesn't hurt anyone. Illegal downloads cause financial hardships (for probably most but not all IP creators). Teaching empathy and showing that illegal downloads are not something you would want done to your own IP COULD convince others to stop and actually pay someone a fair price for their work. I know it's not likely, but it's worth a try.

Derek

 

[Dinkeldog]

I'm closing this thread (at least temporarily). If the thread can be deemed reopened, we will do so.

Generally we do not allow threads about piracy of any form here. This thread started skirting the line, but was at least generating more light than heat. However, if this thread topic is reallowed, then we will expect everyone to refrain from political comments and personal attacks.

Thanks,
Dinkeldog/Moderator