[POLL] In your opinion is it stealing to back up licensed material for personal use?

[The Sauce]

I am not referring to public policy and strict legality as policy in this arena is largely determined by the lobbying efforts and campaign support of corporate sponsored special interest groups - which does not necessarily reflect the ethics of our society (quite the contrary, usually). Rather the question is, what is our societal standard and perception on this issue.

So the question is not "Does the law say it's illegal," but rather "does this activity fit society's definition of stealing."

 

[Linflas]

I won't even abide by the backup fiction. If I have purchased music I have no moral qualms about transferring it to any medium necessary for me to listen to it ie cassette, reel to reel, CD, MP3. This was all settled back in the 70's and 80's and that piece of excrement known as the DMCA has not changed my behavior one bit.

 

[Amused]

So long as you do not distribute it among your friends or sell it, I say it's morally fine.

 

[The Sauce]

This thread was set up in response to a debate in, of all places, hot deals. link.

 

[saechaka]

Originally posted by: Snatchface
I am not referring to public policy and strict legality as policy in this arena is largely determined by the lobbying of corporate sponsored special interest groups - which does not necessarily reflect the ethics of our society (quite the contrary, usually). Rather the question is, what is our societal standard and perception on this issue.

So the question is not "Does the law say it's illegal," but rather "does this activity fit society's definition of stealing."

i whole heartedly agree with you. something that other idiot who keeps arguing with you doesn't seem to understand is that most laws are not set and are constantly changing. whereas whatever code of ethics on has is more static and should have more effect on what one does daily and laws are there to protect you from the other person. i hope this makes sense.

 

[MegaloManiaK]

Haha stealing.

/whip single tear from my eye.

Thats a good one.

 

[DrPizza]

[Poll}?!?! Where?????

 

[Hammer]

morally ok, but as to whether its legal or not...

 

[Anubis]

that falls under the "fair use" agreement thingie

 

[PliotronX]

I don't think anyone in their right mind would believe just backing up *unprotected content is stealing, but after skimming through the flamefest in that thread, I think I know why that member had that viewpoint. DVDs, by their standard, are encoded with copy protection (Content Scrambling System) developed collaboratively with Macrovision to deter copying from the source to a device like a VCR (the signal messes with the color gain and whatnot, resulting in unviewable recordings) but it is also encrypted to thwart digital computer copies (you guys probably already know this). Now, under the DMCA, circumventing any copy protection is deemed less-than-legal, and this is probably that person's beef. The DMCA supercedes the fair use doctrine, thanks to heavy lobbying by large corporations. So even if one is backing up, circumventing the CSS protection is illegal under the DMCA, but it is infringement and still not stealing. However, the software called DVD-X-Copy can back up content without circumventing the CSS protection, so it is legal to use it for backing up, and I'm not sure that person understood this. That's how I see it..

 

[dullard]

If it is truely being used personally and only being used one at a time, then I feel it is our right to do it (and in most cases it is legal to do it as well).

However I bet 99% of the people who claim to only use it personally - don't. They let someone else borrow a copy (the original or the copy) and that is stealing in my opinion.

 

[xXgambitXx]

Originally posted by: Anubis
that falls under the "fair use" agreement thingie

yup, it's fair use yo. but there's a lot of DRM on the horizon that threatens fair use, that's what scares me.

 

[The Sauce]

Nevermind...poll seems to be coming and going.

 

[Tsaico]

I say it is not, so as long as it is not distributed or shared. I back up my games, and play off those cd's just in case I sell the game later... Then again, technically I am stealing since when I sell the game, I still have it installed on my computer... of course by the time that I re-install windows (every 3-6 months) it doesn't get re-isntalled...

 

[Eli]

It is bad Karma.

The Universe will punish you.

 

[Mr N8]

I have all of my music on my Nomad Zen NX, and have to qualms about doing so. The CD's all sit nicely untouched on my CD rack, and I don't share the music through any means (file sharing or directly).

I consider it perfectly legal, and perfectly sensible to back up my music.

 

[Kyteland]

Originally posted by: Snatchface
There WAS a poll....it has been deleted, but not by me. Must be more mod silliness. For those interested, there was not a single vote for "Yes, it is stealing."

I see a poll. I just voted no in it.

 

[The Sauce]

Oops, sorry. Someone complained and then I tried and there was no poll. Must be an intermittent error.

 

[upsciLLion]

Originally posted by: dullard
If it is truely being used personally and only being used one at a time, then I feel it is our right to do it (and in most cases it is legal to do it as well).

However I bet 99% of the people who claim to only use it personally - don't. They let someone else borrow a copy (the original or the copy) and that is stealing in my opinion.

That's not fair. I like to listen to all of my music from five different sources at once.



ups

 

[Kev]

wow, 56 votes and there still hasn't been one jizz bag that votes yes? this must be the first topic with 100% agreement ever

 

[bernse]

You just jinxed it.

 

[AlienCraft]

Originally posted by: Linflas
I won't even abide by the backup fiction. If I have purchased music I have no moral qualms about transferring it to any medium necessary for me to listen to it ie cassette, reel to reel, CD, MP3. This was all settled back in the 70's and 80's and that piece of excrement known as the DMCA has not changed my behavior one bit.

AMEN, preach it!.
agrees 100%

 

[dquan97]

I'm all for the "fair use" policy...

 

[The Sauce]

So how does this play out with regard to Windows XP? Do people feel that it is fair to use the same copy of windows on multiple machines as long as they are not used simultaneously?

 

[The Sauce]

There goes the jinx.