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Old 02-13-2006, 10:27 AM   #1
rblampain
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Registered: Aug 2004
Location: Western Australia
Distribution: Debian 11
Posts: 1,288

Rep: Reputation: 52
Downloading movies is legal.


Downloading movies is legal.
I understand that LinuxQuestions is run by volunteers but that does not allow amateurs using their poor understanding of the laws and defaming others from behind the anonymity of a nickname.

See the comments by "cs-cam" below. "Downloading movies is illegal. You are a bad, bad man."
I followed up on one of cs-cam's links who has a problem with a car and label those who are supposed to repair it as "idiots". Another link guides you to some (cs-cam?) software, testers are required and there is a comment: "it's all here. have a play yourself, what have you got to lose but your lame desktop?"

At this point, the only sure lame thing is the software that apparently cs-cam hopes will be tested free of charge by "volunteers", and lame or not, people are not prepared to subject their machine the way this link suggests they ought to.

It is a pity to see LinuxQuestions allowing abuses of any kind, and the comment by "trickykid" that he has to agree with "cs-cam" is pathetic since "trickykid" admits it's only illegal to download copyright movies, that's a big difference.

The comments by cs-cam are defamatory - full stop. I was thinking about contributing but this single incident makes me think twice, I have seen other sites where insults are traded as if it was normal, that's not for me.

If LinuxQuestions was concerned about possibly getting involved in illegal activities, all they had to do was to say so, not blindly endorse the view that the intended activity was illegal, this is preposterous. Trickykid wants proof that I am not going to download copyright movies, this shows the amateurism of it all. How can one proves one is not going to do something in the future?

This case also makes me realize that LinuxQuestions is used by some as a cheap business advertising machine. "cs-cam" (and probably others) insert links to businesses that they run or have an interest in and in allowing this, LinuxQuestions give these some credit they may not deserve. The offending comment could well be made by a misunderstanding business person perceiving some threat to the business.

I will be following closely the reaction by LinuxQuestions concerning this post. I expect an apology and I expect cs-cam to be reprimanded.

The following is a copy of the initial posts.

rblampain
Member

Registered: Aug 2004
Location: Western Australia
Posts: 325
Distribution: Fedora 2, Debian Sarge

setting up box for movie downloads
I need to set up a box for movie download and viewing for a disabled person but I have no idea about this.

Could anyone give a hint about a suitable howto or a few advices even if it only answer one of my question?

The box:
ASUS A7V400-MX motherboard - no video card - no sound card
256MB ram
sempron 2300 cpu
350W antec power supply
40G HD
Debian Sarge 3.1
Have a set of stereo computer speakers.

The questions I have are:
What hardware do I need? DVD recorder/player, video card, what recommended brands?
what is a typical movie download in GB or MB?
Can one burn several movies on a single DVD?
What sort of plan would I need with my ISP? (current is 500MB/month)
Would a 60GB/month plan be sufficient?
Anything else I should know?

I found a lot of references to "mplayer" in threads but my distro doesn't have it.
What software do I need?
To download movies.
To watch movies.
Can I set it up so that it's relatively easy to use for a novice? (GUI etc)

Thank you for your help.


cs-cam
Senior Member
Contributing Member

Registered: May 2004
Location: Burpengary, Australia
Posts: 1,916
Distribution: Arch

Downloading movies is illegal. You are a bad, bad man.
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trickykid
Moderator

Registered: Jan 2001
Posts: 20,617
Distribution:

I'd have to agree with cs-cam, asking for advice on how to setup a machine to download movies which I'm sure 99% are copyrighted material is illegal. You're on your own on this one unless you email me and give proof you are seeking help and are not downloading illegal copyright material.

Regards.
 
Old 02-13-2006, 10:35 AM   #2
ethics
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Registered: Apr 2005
Location: London
Distribution: Arch - Latest
Posts: 1,522

Rep: Reputation: 45
so your point was what? public humiliation?? an apology??

As i understand the law is grey on movie DOWNLOADING, those uploading however are definatly in hot water (providing it's copyrighted material).

Either way unless you're paying for the download priveledge (which you did not say) through a bonafide service, it's considered wrong, go ahead, ask your ISP what package you need to download copyrighted movies via them, i'm sure they'll be helpful... the fact its "for a disabled person" does not detract from it's legality in the slightest.

Quote:
If LinuxQuestions was concerned about possibly getting involved in illegal activities, all they had to do was to say so, not blindly endorse the view that the intended activity was illegal
I see trickykids post as quite clearly saying this, he's not willing to advise you incase you're going to persue an avenue of illegality, he wants proof that you will only download non-copyright materials, send him a list of movies you are planning to DL, don't know? send a list of reputable places you will get them from, don't know? find some then come back.

Quite frankly i laughed at this, thought it was a wind up

P.S Check out this fine organisation (sarcasm) they're running a "copyright awareness week" - http://www.mpaa.org/Issues_EduOutreach_Copyright.asp

Last edited by ethics; 02-13-2006 at 10:49 AM.
 
Old 02-13-2006, 11:05 AM   #3
XavierP
Moderator
 
Registered: Nov 2002
Location: Kent, England
Distribution: Debian Testing
Posts: 19,192
Blog Entries: 4

Rep: Reputation: 475Reputation: 475Reputation: 475Reputation: 475Reputation: 475
Excellent thread. Closed. Regardless of the comments you received (and starting a thread to ask about downloading movies, without EXPLICITLY stating that you only want the legal kind, opens you up to all sorts of abuse. OTOH, you and all the people who didn't report the post to a mod are equally at blame.

Anyway, starting a thread to complain about internet people ragging in other internet people is not allowed on LQ. There's no rule, it's just not polite. Stopping this before it turns ugly.
 
  


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