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Stealing

U

user2207

Member
I would like some advice on stealing, specifically related to video on the internet.

Downloading movies in my mind is no question.. stealing, cause you could buy the dvd. However I was a big fan of "The Practice" tv show back in the 90s and i want to watch the 6th season. Only season 1 is available on DVD as far as im aware and obviously because its an old show, its not shown on tv as reruns anymore. Given that there is no option to buy it, is it stealing or wrong to download it from the internet? Not trying to justify anything, i just really want to know.
 
On my blackberry now, so I can't copy the link, but see my thread in the music forum; " Is it a sin, downloading music". I think the same rules apply. If it's not offered free, it's stealing. Can't say I always practice what I preach.
 
Mike said:
On my blackberry now, so I can't copy the link, but see my thread in the music forum; " Is it a sin, downloading music". I think the same rules apply. If it's not offered free, it's stealing. Can't say I always practice what I preach.
Click to expand...

Definitely makes sense, however im still stuck on the fact that it isnt being offered anymore, period. Not sure about other countries but it was shown here on our free to air network too so if i had recorded it way back when i could be watching it right now. Its confusing.
 
user2207 said:
Mike said:
On my blackberry now, so I can't copy the link, but see my thread in the music forum; " Is it a sin, downloading music". I think the same rules apply. If it's not offered free, it's stealing. Can't say I always practice what I preach.
Click to expand...

Definitely makes sense, however im still stuck on the fact that it isnt being offered anymore, period. Not sure about other countries but it was shown here on our free to air network too so if i had recorded it way back when i could be watching it right now. Its confusing.
Click to expand...
hulu.com watch it for free. i watch a lot of old stuff there now. they have alot more then you think.
 
jasoncran said:
user2207 said:
Mike said:
On my blackberry now, so I can't copy the link, but see my thread in the music forum; " Is it a sin, downloading music". I think the same rules apply. If it's not offered free, it's stealing. Can't say I always practice what I preach.
Click to expand...

Definitely makes sense, however im still stuck on the fact that it isnt being offered anymore, period. Not sure about other countries but it was shown here on our free to air network too so if i had recorded it way back when i could be watching it right now. Its confusing.
Click to expand...
hulu.com watch it for free. i watch a lot of old stuff there now. they have alot more then you think.
Click to expand...

That isnt an option for me as im in australia and that site is restricted here. Is that site considered legal? If so do you think obtaining the show via a torrent would be the same/ok?
 
yes, they dont shows ahead of time, you cant go to www.hulu.com? odd these arent stolen, adverters pay for them! the ads are limited, less then 30 secs or none depending on the options before the show.
 
It's not stealing. Stealing is taking something that belongs to someone else without their permission and without intending to return it. If I steal your TV, then you don't have it any more, but I do. If I steal your car, you don't have a car any more. If I download a DVD from the Internet, what is it that the producers no longer have? Since I haven't actually taken anything from anybody, then I haven't stolen anything. It's similar to me, instead of stealing your TV, somehow magically making an exact copy of your TV and keeping the copy for myslef. Would you accuse me of stealing if I did that?

It's not piracy either. Piracy is robbery on the high seas. If you're not on a boat, you're not a pirate. Some might say that the word "piracy" has taken on a new meaning - to illegally download films, music or other materials off the Internet. But the only reason it has taken on that meaning is because the music, film and software industries have misused the word to make it seem like a much more serious crime than it actually is. But even though it's not piracy or theft, it is still a crime. It's just not those two particular crimes. Illegally downloading films from the Internet is a violation of copyright.

Once you know what the crime really is, there are two ways of looking at it:

  1. Copyright violation is illegal. In Romans, Paul tells us to obey the civil authorities. We should therefore obey the law and not download films from the Internet[/*:1sclln0q]
  2. Copyright laws were first made to ensure that the authors of works could profit from those works. If the films or music in question are not available or if you couldn't buy them for some reason, then you wouldn't really be diminishing the producers income, since you would never buy it anyway. So it can, at least in some cases, be ok to download films from the Internet.[/*:1sclln0q]

It's up to you to decide which you feel is correct. If you go with the second option and it later becomes available on DVD, then the only right thing to do would be to buy it as soon as you are able to.
 
Not sure I could agree with Theo, though it is an interesting view... I attempt to stay clear of torrents, though I am not always successful.

Jason, I think you will find our friends down under have a lot of websites blocked, unlike here (and pretty much only here) most other countries block websites they do not like. The USA is the only place where blocking websites is illegal... unless that stupid law they are trying to pass gets through

Media rights are such a confusing thing... For instance, I own an NASB95 bible. Now to run it on this program I have, called eSword, I had to purchase it. However, because I already own the rights to it me purchasing it was not needed, I already owned the rights to it. I was able to legally go through back channels and obtain it, and it was perfectly legal to do.

The same can be said for someone who has Netflix. If you download a video you would be able to get from netflix than technically you are not breaking any form of law.

Not sure about things that are not even obtainable, though. Check the liscencing? If they are not making DVDs of them, maybe they no longer have the rights, and maybe they are public domain rights. If this is true, download to your hearts content!
 
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