FBI Uses US Patriot Act Against Alleged "Copyright Infringer"

From what I've read about this at <a href="http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/07/27/129219">slashdot.org</a> this guy sounds like a scammer, and the site even provided downloads for the episodes so it's not a harmless fan site. The use of the Patriot Act should be the only issue with this since he's not a terrorist, but he's still guilty of copyright infringement.

I think that is what most people are concerned about; the intricacies of IP law don't appeal to the masses in the same was that an invasion of privacy does. It's a *huge* stretch to say an anti-terrorism law should be used to prosecute a 'crime' that millions of people do daily.

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Jesse

Posting downloads on the site makes it a "dangerous" fan site, dangerous enough to call in the FBI? You're buying into the movie industry's proganda. I've got another one for you: Saddam Hussein had Weapons of Mass Destruction. <p> You are right though, the operator of the website does seem like a <a href="http://www.boingboing.net/2004/07/26/stargate_fansite_ope.html">scammer</a>, possibly having ripped off people on eBay. <p> <i>However</i>--and this is a big one--you have to be careful when you start taking civil rights away from "criminals" with the US Patriot Act. How soon before they start using the Act against "criminals" at anti-globalization protests or perhaps those who make an unauthorized copy of their iTunes download to play in their car. Copyright infringement of even the mildest kind (you don't have to be hosting multiple episodes of Stargate) makes you a felon. And by latest figures, that equals 60 million Americans. That many Americans haven't potentially lacked civil rights since slavery. </p><p>---<br>If you don't like these ideas, I've got others. --Marshall McLuhan

I fail to see how I'm "buying into the movie industry's proganda" all I said was that the website was putting up episodes of the show for download, so it isn't a harmless fan website.

Sorry AJ - putting up episodes for download is copyright infringement in the US. Theft is theft.<p> That being said, copyright laws and IP laws are pretty screwed up. Personally, I download Stargate all the time (right now in fact) because it is not available on Cable for me to watch (funny, since it's produced by Canwest Global...). I've been a fan of the show since it began, and they removed it from my local viewing area so I have no choice but to download it. Which, incidentally, is legal in Canada.<p> But I don't believe using the U.S.A. P.A.T.R.I.O.T. A.C.T. to combat it is right ethier.<p> <p>---<br>"History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme" Mark Twain <br />
"The greatest price of not participating in politics is being governed by your inferiors." Plato

<blockquote>Sorry AJ - putting up episodes for download is copyright infringement in the US. Theft is theft.</blockquote> <p> Gah! Copyright infringement is not theft. It is copyright infringement. There is no Grand Theft Intellectual Property, and for good reason. Even if copying was theft, you wouldn't want to see the PATRIOT act used to track down shoplifters. </p><p>---<br>Jesse <br />

The things is shop lifting is actually a <i>worse kind of theft</i> than digital "copyright infringement". When you shop lift, you actually physically remove an object from a location. The store doesn't have that CD, or book, laptop anymore. When you download a digital copy of Stargate, MGM still has a copy of their show. Yet, which one of these "crimes" is treated as a terrorist-like felony? <p> Whenever big organizations like the MPAA with the support of government begin to send their tentacles into our daily lives and begin to disrupt what is becoming normal behaviour (see Dr. Caleb's comment). We should be worried. Canada will soon be signing treaties that will bring our copyright laws in line with those of the US. Will the RCMP soon be kicking down Dr. Caleb's door? <p> Dr. Caleb's defense might be, well, I can't get Stargate on TV, so I'm just being intelligent consumer using simple technology that's available to everyone. The MPAA doesn't want you to be able to do that. About a year from now, I'll bet Dr. Caleb will be a felon under Canadian law. <p> Carl, I still think you're buying into the propangda. Fans like Dr. Caleb do download episodes that they can't otherwise see. In this case, everyone but a copyright extremist would admit little damage is being done to MGM. No advertising revenue is being lost (though perhaps this is preventing Dr. Caleb from buying Stargate DVDs), and the fan base for the show is being increased. The Stargate episodes in question were posted on servers overseas for download, not actually inside the lucrative American market. You might still say this is "dangerous" to the movie companies, but then they would say the internet itself is "dangerous" and their position is increadingly becoming the prevelant one in law. </p><p>---<br>If you don't like these ideas, I've got others. --Marshall McLuhan

Sorry J - I didn't mean to imply that Copyright infringement was theft - it is a civil matter.<p> I do notice that site however is selling t-shirts to cover their legal defence fund <p> <p>---<br>"History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme" Mark Twain <br />
"The greatest price of not participating in politics is being governed by your inferiors." Plato

Just for the record AJ, I do buy the DVD sets when they become available. The downloads I get have the commercials edited out (who wants to waste the bandwidth?) and are about 50% from SkyOne in the UK anyway . . .<p> Odds are they'll come after me for not regisering my guns first, but who knows <p> <p>---<br>"History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme" Mark Twain <br />
"The greatest price of not participating in politics is being governed by your inferiors." Plato

Hi Doc, <p> I'd disagree about the guns. If I'm not mistaken, not registering firearms is now just a misdemeanor, no longer a felony. But if my prediction is correct, your greater crime a year from now will be downloading a TV program that you probably already own on DVD. That's how messed up things are! <p> For those interested, the foremost expert on these issues is <a href="http://www.lessig.org/blog/">Lawrence Lessig</a>, a Stanford Law professor who argued the <a href="http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/03/01/17/2012259.shtml?tid=99">Eldred copyright case</a> before the US Supreme Court. His recent book <b>Free Culture</b> on theses issue (which is very well-written and conversational) can be downloaded for free in several formats <a href="http://www.free-culture.cc/freecontent/">here</a>. </p><p>---<br>If you don't like these ideas, I've got others. --Marshall McLuhan