Man Charged With Putting TV Show He Found On The Web... On The Web?
from the how-much-damage? dept
Apparently federal authorities are charging a man in Chicago with copyright violations for uploading copies of Fox's TV show "24" to the web. There are a few things that don't make sense here. First, the article claims that the guy downloaded the shows off of a website before loading them onto a different website. While that still is copyright infringement, it's not clear why that's such a big catch for federal authorities that they're trumpeting it. The fact that he got the videos from another website also suggests that the "damage" done by this particular guy was probably negligible since the content was already available online elsewhere. On top of that, one could argue that it's unlikely the guy did much to damage the commercial viability of the show, since the show was eventually broadcast for free on TV. Yes, you could claim that people could watch the downloaded version without commercials -- but the same is true of anyone who watched the same show via their DVRs. However, now, the guy is facing three years in jail, which seems like quite an overreaction.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
o_O
2) What website did he obtain the video from? Was it really a website, or an ftp dump or a newsgroup or... you're probably getting my thinking.
3) Three years... for... this? o_O
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
The FBI nabbed a guy selling Surface to Air missiles. Turns out the guy bought them from another guy who was selling them.
Techdirt reports: It's not clear why the FBI is making a big deal about nabbing this guy.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Seriously, do you think this guy uploading 24 to a website really had much of an impact as to it's availability?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
Nevermind, I obviously have to do it for you.
24 is on one website. 100 people see it.
24 is now on two websites. 200 people see it.
So yes, to answer your question, I do think it had an impact on it's availability.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
And of course the early release of this video must have cost at least several hundred people their lives as well as detracted from the popularity of the show.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re:
My point is that you cannot submit the defense that you were merely passing along something that was already stolen and therefore your not guilty of anything.
It's called fencing.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Yeah! a new dorpus!
thank you bonbon, your ridiculous comparisons made me laugh.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Nothing was stolen here.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
something that was already stolen
I fully expect this point will be lost on you, but I'll say it anyway - copyright infringement is not theft. Theft entails the concept of depriving a rightful owner of his/her property. Duplication of an item does not deprive the owner of their property.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
>> entails the concept of depriving a rightful owner of his/her property. Duplication of an item does not deprive
>> the owner of their property.
Was waiting for that train to come in. Man, it's never late.
You mince words.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Yes, he really is that stupid
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
24 is on one website. 100 people see it.
24 is now on two websites. 200 people see it.
You are so right, bonbon. Because, Lord knows, the last thing the producers want is for people to see the show. I mean, really, how hard is that to understand?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Techdirt reports: We're not sure why they're so happy to nab the second guy who was merely passing along what he himself was given for free. In fact the reality is that the child could have just as easily obtained the heroin from the first man is he wanted to.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
bonbon, your analogies are flawed. To say the least.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
soon they will be cutting our hands off for stealing bread...this country is going back in time, our 'holy war' (what i mean by that is, changing the structure of society to our view of good) against iraq, sever punishments for minor crimes, not being able to question authority including the president and many many more things
does anyone else see this happening or am i going crazy?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
your not crazy
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Why this matters
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Bonbon is illogical
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Bonbon is illogical
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
It is information.
In the heroin case you are permanently scaring a small child and possible addicting them for life while padding your wallet because little jimmy is stealing from his parents wallets to finance his new 'candy'.
Where in the copyright infringement case, you are slightly lowering the number of people watching the show, which doesn't affect nielson ratings anyway unless someone who has a neislon box is watching them online vs the TV.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
The only person with a valid point as to the source reupload would be Goblin Juice, in which, How did he obtain it? Did he buy it legally then illegally youtube it?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I hope bonbon is a joke
First of all the idea that selling stolen property is equivalent to copyright infringement is flawed (see Dowling v. United States; while that case itself is about interstate transport it clearly draws a line between stolen property and ).
Is he guilty of copyright infringement? Yeah, as the law's written now, he is. Is it a huge victory for the FBI to bring this man down (i.e. will it stop the spread of the show, or prevent shows from being put online in the future)? Not really, no. Does three years in jail for copyright infringement, that barely hurts the company (and in fact, probably does it good), seem like too harsh of a sentence? To me, yes it does.
So...what's wrong with the article that's presented?
Also, a minor correction to your math:
24 is on 1,000 websites. 400,000 people see it (nearly 300,000 of those coming from one or two popular websites).
24 is now on 1,001 websites. 401,000 people see it.
That's an increase of
(401,000-400,000)/400,000 * 100 % = .25%
Devastating. How will Fox ever handle the added popularity of their product?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
It might be because...
Just like the heroine dealer in some of the earlier comments here. DEA busts the little guy in hopes of establishing a trail that leads to the big fish.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
and this is bad...why?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: and this is bad...why?
YES and and ratings skyrocket when a show is good enough for thousands of people to download "Pirated" pre-releases. Battlestar Galactica is a case which goes to the heart of the issue. 2 months before the 1st season premiere the episode was posted on the internet. Hundreds of Thousands of people downloaded it and the premiere ratings were the Highest of ANY cable show.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
not theft
Come on USA get your justice system sorted I used to love America for its love of freedom now its looking more like a communist dictatorship.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
saved bandwidth
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Way to fire up the hornets nest
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Minced meat.
If I walked into an art store, snapped a picture of a painting, went home and recreated the painting-- would you say I stole the painting? No, you would not.
Is it illegal? Yes.
Is it stealing? No.
Gah, this black propaganda you freely spew forth is sickening. Don't repeat everything you hear the RIAA say, sheep. The law is clear on what theft is-- even if you are not.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]