Heavy aggro about downloading films and that, vol 432

[Rev+]

Now, I'm sure you're all good boys and girls, but apparently anyone who shared or downloaded the film 'Ava' is in for a world of shit.

Yeah, had to look it up too.  Very much a 'Poundland Debut' feature from the look of it.  Piracy had bugger all to do with it doing poorly.  It's got Colin Farrell in it though, so it's probably good.  Although he's so low in the credits it's probably one scene.  Common's in it.

[Dex Sawash]

I watched Ava and it was bad, Malkovich was bad. Farrel was bad. Common was OK.  Chastain was probably bad, don't remember.

[evilcommiedictator]

ahhh
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-58583601

This old chestnut again? I thought the studios had gotten bored of it?
It says in the article that some people have been arrested, but more for either (a) hosting streaming services for copyright content or (b) seeding for those same things.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I thought the days of litigation over this stuff, surely after the stuff like 'send them letters' and the fact they binned that and the floated 'three strikes' stuff meant they'd given up.

What are they actually doing? Is it real legal proceedings or 'pay us this and we'll leave you alone'? Because the latter is a 'speculative invoice'.

Whilst commercial vpn providers don't really provide any real security, and almost all their marketing about what they do is bullshit, they do provide a level of obfuscation against this exact thing.

[imitationleather]

A few years back didn't Ben Dover try posting demands for hundreds of pounds to people who'd torrented his porn? I know about this because I read about it, not because it happened to me.

The whole thing strikes me as a variant of phishing. They're trying their luck to see if anyone will pay.

[Sebastian Cobb]

A few years back didn't Ben Dover try posting demands for hundreds of pounds to people who'd torrented his porn? I know about this because I read about it, not because it happened to me.

The whole thing strikes me as a variant of phishing. They're trying their luck to see if anyone will pay.

Porn was always a great vehicle for a speculative invoice. Often it was gay porn that seemed to be more likely to get a trigger. Almost as if the business grimly relied heavily on shame and embarrassment. Blindly hoping people would cough up rather than questioning it.

[Inspector Norse]

Fact (Federation Against Copyright Theft)

Are these things (see also FAST, for software piracy) actually federations or do they just want snappy names?

[Paul Calf]

A few years back didn't Ben Dover try posting demands for hundreds of pounds to people who'd torrented his porn? I know about this because I read about it, not because it happened to me.

I BET YOU DID LEATHER YOU DIRTY OLD BOLLOCKS I BET YOU FUCKING DID.

[buttgammon]

Are these things (see also FAST, for software piracy) actually federations or do they just want snappy names?

It sounds too much like something from Brass Eye to be true.

Communities United against Noisy Trucks
Tunbridge Wells Amateur Theatre

[Mister Six]

FACT has been around for yonks. They were putting anti-piracy ads in Your Sinclair and computer game cassette inlays in the 1980s. Funnily enough, I didn't know what an acronym was at the time, and thought they were really emphasising that they did indeed exist: "This message brought to you by the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT)."

Anyway, I use a paid VPN for this kind of thing (and for when I visit China, though not much of that at the mo) and I've never been hit with a warning, even when housemates were being slammed.

Wonder if this is partly a stealth ad for the film? I'd never heard about it until now.

[JesusAndYourBush]

It sounds too much like something from Brass Eye to be true.

Communities United against Noisy Trucks
Tunbridge Wells Amateur Theatre

The War Against Terror

[phantom_power]

It is on Netflix now isn't it? Wonder if it is them flexing their muscles as well as the studio?

I keep forgetting to put my vpn when I download stuff as I thought all that had gone away when they realised the couldn't do anything about it and it wasn't exactly putting them in the poorhouse. I might have to start doing it again

[Ron Maels Moustache]

One of the stories linked from that article is utterly batshit:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-54245479

12 years for filesharing! What kind of Judge Dredd bullshit is this? At the very least the guy could've claimed mental health issues as a mitigating factor, what the fuck was his solicitor doing?

Some delightful details in that article as well:

Another person in the Middle East said he was not afraid to get caught because he was a minor.

He only has electricity for an hour a day, and he downloads it when his internet is switched on, so he can listen to it later.

Mr Bourn agreed the young man was unlikely to be punished because, while the PRS is focused on UK and international enforcement, record labels were more interested in the sites that were offering music than the people taking it.

Oh, how generous!

Also, I've never heard of any of these stream ripping sites, they all sound like the kind of dodgy malware-infested scam sites you'd avoid if you had any sense.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Just downloaded a film while wanking, glistening and basking.

[Midas]

Downloading music without paying for it harms artists because each time a fan listens to a song they enjoy on a paid-for streaming service, the advertising revenue goes to the artist.

$0.0035

[MikeP]

$0.0035

Still infinitely better than $0.00

[popcorn]

Going to use this thread about how to handle TV license cops.

A few months ago I watched some shit on iPlayer. I don't have a TV and almost never watch TV and so I don't have a TV license. Now I've had a couple of threatening emails. Ignorable or give up and buy a TV license for having watched about 3 hours of BBC content?

[Sebastian Cobb]

Still infinitely better than $0.00

Quite a few artists seem to think that Spotify is pretty much paying someone else to steal the music for you. The reason it has taken off is that it for many the negligible cost was acceptable for an experience that was more convenient than Soulseek.

It is definitely a slap in their faces that they're giving millions to wankers like Joe Rogan while claiming they can't afford to pay musicians more fairly.

[MikeP]

If I were to pirate a film or music track - which I wouldn't, obviously - it would truly be a victimless crime. Because if I couldn't get hold of a free copy I certainly wouldn't buy it, except legally from a charity shop. At which point I become a public service to the needy.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I agree it's victimless. Like punching someone in the dark.

[Gurke and Hare]

12 years for filesharing! What kind of Judge Dredd bullshit is this? At the very least the guy could've claimed mental health issues as a mitigating factor, what the fuck was his solicitor doing?

12 months. Which is also bullshit, because let's face it the entire concept of prison is bullshit but given the volume of the infringement a year doesn't seem wholly out of whack for what society seems to accept.

[Fambo Number Mive]

It's disgusting that people are being jailed for copyright infringement, even on a large scale, and that police are wasting time on this when they should be out dealing with people who actually pose a risk to the public.

Detectives from City of London Police's intellectual property crime unit (IPCU) also searched the man's home and seized several computers and mobile devices.

As well as the Top 40 chart, he is suspected of uploading acapella music (songs without instrumental accompaniment), and generating "significant advertising revenue", police said.

Det Insp Mick Dodge, of City of London Police, said: "Today's operation in Liverpool demonstrates how we are prepared to travel nationwide in the pursuit of those suspected of being involved in the illegal distribution of content online.

"This is a crime that is costing the UK creative industry hundreds of millions of pounds."

Interesting how they decided to go all the way to Liverpool rather than just pass the information onto Merseyside Police as well.

[steveh]

Interesting how they decided to go all the way to Liverpool rather than just pass the information onto Merseyside Police as well.

City of London Police are the lead force for fraud and intellectual property crime and are specifically funded for this area by the government - a bit like how the Met has some national roles. They also have a local unit in the North West.

[Huxleys Babkins]

"This is a crime that is costing the UK creative industry hundreds of millions of pounds."

*Looks at the current top 40*

Chinny reckon, mate.

Also, the loss of reciprocal touring visas thanks to Brexit has probably cost it more, but that's handed down from the ruling classes, so no worries about that.

[Midas]

Still infinitely better than $0.00

Nah $0.0035 is insultingly low, much better to recieve nothing and starve with your pride intact.

[Midas]

$0.0035 is like putting tin foil in a busker's hat.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Just downloaded a film while wanking, glistening and basking.

Did it again

[flotemysost]

One of the stories linked from that article is utterly batshit:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-54245479

That's a bit nuts. I know a couple of people who work for PRS - not sure if either are involved in that particular racket currently, but one of them previously worked for a record label chasing up businesses which didn't have a licence to play music in the workplace, and apparently most of her days were spent on the phone haranguing kebab shops and newsagents who dared to allow a bit of tinny radio to waft across the shop floor a few hours a day.

My brother (who's a musician) is represented by them for royalties stuff and apparently they're a bit rubbish at that too.

[dissolute ocelot]

Is there someone who flies around oil rigs hassling them for showing videos without a proper licence?

[MikeP]

Nah $0.0035 is insultingly low, much better to recieve nothing and starve with your pride intact.

I once tried starving with my pride intact, but it wasn't as much fun as it sounds so I went out and took a shit job and never looked back. Since then I've been more survival orientated.

Pride really does come before a fall in those circumstances.