$75 trillion? Holy crap; I didn't even know that numbered existed..

This is my input for this discusion:

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g110/Xycolian/DrEvil.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON-7v4qnHP8

I could just see the music industry all in a boardroom with Dr. Evil as the leader.
We're going to sue Limewire for 500 billion bajillion dollars! Muahhah!

So what about youtube then? Almost all the music you can get there for free. My kids find it easier to youtube thier music right now. So are they going to be sued now?

Put this into perspective though people. The amount of media (music, movies, etc) that Limewire trafficked over the years through illegal downloads of copyrighted material that would have otherwise cost money (and should have cost money) probably touches the mutli-billion dollar mark. Yes, 75 Trillion dollars (lol) is completely outrageous, but this "company" needed to be sued, hands down. For billions at least.
@Davor, what are you talking about? You can't download youtube videos through any legal means. Media hosting is not the same thing as illegal downloads.
But this is all speaking in terms of what's "legal" and what's not. What's free, and what's not free. What's distributed as "free", and what's sold for a price.
Some videos on youtube are illegal, and they got sued for that. Most videos on youtube that are under copyright are taken down days after uploading. But of coarse there are always exceptions.

You mean again?

If I was a band, I'd gig and save up enough money to release records on my own label, and use word of mouth and the internet to distribute it all for free. And make my income from touring.

Record companies and alot of artists are greedy [censored]s.

Give up, nothing will make piracy go away.

How many of those "illegal downloads" of copyrighted material made those companies even more money? You telling me all those things downloaded, nobody has bought anything?

Again, you can't get money that nobody was ever going to buy anyways. So that is money not lost espically since it's not physical, so nothing was ever lost. How much money was gained because people got what they did and then went out and bought it? It's not like a TV was Stolen, or a radio, or a computer, or a watch, something physical. So can't really say it was stolen since you can't touch it, or see it or taste it.


I am sick and tired of all the crap alot of artists put out these days and back then. I am tired that there is only one or two good songs on an album and the rest is garbage. Put out 10 good or awsome songs, not 1 or 2 and then have 8 or so garbage songs. The exact same thing is in Hollywood. So much crap out there, people are sick and tired of paying for crappy movies, crappy music. Make a great movie, and people will go out and see it. This is why I can see alot of people downloading music.

Make something that is actually worth while buying.

It's not the fault of the company that made the program which allows users to download/upload files. It's the person uploading the copyrighted material. Torrents act the same way as Limewire, do we see the people that created torrent clients getting sued? No, it's the people that download/upload the copyrighted material against the laws of their country. P2P sharing has it's legal uses just as it's used for piracy.

From what I know, it's not illegal to download anything. It is illegal to upload things though. So again, isn't youtube illegal then? I know they take things down when they are notified when something is copyrighted, but how come all the music is still there? Funny the music companies don't want to stop that.

Again, easier to get free music from youtube than it is from other sites.

Also don't forget, wasn't it UbiSoft who downloaded music off torrent sites a few weeks ago? So how come nothing was done about that?

You're saying that downloading media is not stealing because it has no physical form? You're stealing the product, end of discussion. If it's worth stealing, it's worth buying. Some people have no morals, I don't know if you do, nor do I care, but that's how it is.

You're basically attempting to say that you think it's ok to illegally download music because an album only has 1 or 2 good songs on it? Ever heard of this thing called iTunes, or some other media purchasing medium, that you can buy songs by the..songs? Not entire albums? You can buy just about any song you want for less than a buck on iTunes. Sounds like a better deal than theft to me.

Where did I say it's ok to steal or download music? Ok, now I see some thing went wrong, and some of what I wanted to say, didn't show up, I editeted it a bit. No where did I say it is ok or it's not ok to do so. So please do not say I have said these things. If I did, please quote it so I can change it.

Please tell me, how is it stealing? Usually when you steal something, you have to physically take it. How are you taking something that is not physical? Also how can you steal something that can be replicated easily over and over and over again?

Morally yes it is wrong. I agree with you there, all I am doing is playing the devils advocate here. Maybe I should have said that the first time. But I would like to know how is it stealing? I had my house and car broken in and physical objects were stolen. CD's were stolen, my stereo was stolen, money was stolen. I can't replace them instantly because we don't have Star Trek replicators.

So how is downloading music stealing? It is no different than what we did years ago, when we borrowed our friends tapes, or cds and copied them to cassettes.

It is in no way stealing, it's piracy. One is a crime, the other is a civil matter.
Theft is theft, piracy is piracy, we have seperate legal terms for a reason.

This I will agree with. When the record companies sue the common person, they don't sue them for downloading. What they sue them for is UPLOADING. Downloading is legal, it is the uploading that is illegal in SOME countries.

That's nothing, I've lost more when reaching into my pocket.

Agreed.

I am one of the many people who instnatly picuted Dr Evil while reading the title.

Stupid record companies, atleast we have a good way too see just how greedy those people are (yes I hate them, but still buy )

75 trillion?, thats a slight bit over the top lol.

Isn't it just a program? Or am I just missing something here.

*sigh* It makes me long for an age where music is always made honestly for the sake of art. (No, I'm not saying artists don't deserve money, because they absolutely do)


I wouldn't be too upset if some of the major labels went completely bankrupt.

It is a mockery of the legal system. And if it is actually taken seriously, it only shows how broken the legal system is.

I don't understand how this is the fault of Limewire. It's simply a program used for P2P sharing. They should go after the people who HOST mass amounts of media on these P2P programs.

It's like suing people who make pipes because some people smoke illegal substances out of it.

It isn't stealing because inventory isn't lost. And "If it's worth stealing, it's worth buying" doesn't hold true. I haven't bought Dragon Age II and I never will, but if EA said I could have it for free then sure I'd try it. Piracy is just a potential loss of a sale which really makes it hard to judge how much impact it has on the profits of an item.