Posts Tagged: theft

Intellectual Property / Music / Technology / Web — 3 Comments
13
May 10

LimeWire Has Officially Been Deemed Illegal (It’s About Time)

LimeLimeWire has finally been found illegal, liable for copyright infringement, a bunch of thieves, etc.

The news of this has been all over the web (WSJ has one of the best pieces of coverage), but I think Patrick Ross of the Copyright Alliance has one of the best responses to it on their blog.

I left my thoughts on the Copyright Alliance’s site, but thought it was worth sharing here as well. So, consider this my official response to the news.

“This is one of the best pieces of news I’ve seen reported in a long time. It’s about time this happened. I remember a few years ago, I was talking to some people I knew and found out that they don’t ever buy music – instead they only download from Limewire (or did at the time). The thing is, when I told them that what they were doing was illegal, they had no idea. Their response was “but I bought some pro version and a plan.” It was only after explaining to them that it still was unlicensed and nothing went to any of the artists or creators that they saw just how misled they had been.

Limewire’s entire business plan was built around the theft of copyrighted materials, and as you said, they were just fine with that. It’s good to see that the Judicial System has stepped up and given them the smack they so deserve.”

It’s about time.

Intellectual Property / Money / Web — 3 Comments
18
Feb 10

People Are Probably Going to Steal Your Stuff Online

If you’re a creator (artist, musician, author, etc.), publisher, copyright holder or anyone else who deals in intellectual property, there’s one basic rule about the Internet that you should pay attention to: People Are Probably Going to Steal Your Stuff Online.

It’s been over a decade since Napster first launched, and although there have been steps forward in policing of intellectual property, new distribution deals and other major changes to the Internet, the fact remains that people steal a lot of stuff online.  Some may argue that sharing files or piracy isn’t stealing, but really, it is (of course with the exception fo file sharing of material that is approved for sharing). The simple fact is there are a lot more people online now, and it’s still easy to access unlicensed copies of copyright-protected material.

The point is to keep this truth in mind as you decide how you’re running your business.  Until there’s some sort of serious crack down by the government, or people suddenly have a major change of heart, they’re going to be taking your stuff without your permission – not everyone, of course, but a lot of people.

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