"Mark Kent" <mark.kent@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:r87mt3-5v3.ln1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
begin oe_protect.scr
Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
QTFairUse6 Updated Hours After iTunes7 Release
,----[ Quote ]
| "Mere hours after iTunes 7's release, QTFairUse6 has received an update
| which enables it to continue stripping iTunes songs of their 'FairPlay'
| DRM. Some features are experimental but at least it's proof that the
| concept still works."
`----
http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/09/13/1354252&from=rss
It's clear that people loathe DRM, no matter how secretly you shove it in
their faces.
One of the first slash postings raises an issue I've thought about many
times, which is that if something's been broadcast, you missed it,
wanted to watch it, so take a copy from online or from a friend, how can
you have done anything wrong? Timeshifting is accepted usage, and this
is merely timeshifting. It's an interesting conundrum, isn't it?
Depends on your definition of "wrong". There's legal wrongdoing and
ethical wrongdoing, and the two don't always coincide.
As an example of when timeshifting might be ethically wrong: Your best
friend occasionally does private broadcasts of a show (perhaps where he
rates books he's read). You ask him for a login to his private server, so
that you can view his show as well. He agrees, but on one condition: He asks
that you please, please, PLEASE, do not timeshift his shows. When asked why,
he says it's for religious reasons (he's quite an eccentric friend). So you
agree, and he gives you a password and login, and you timeshift it anyway.
In this specific scenario, I'd say what you did was ethically wrong. Now
replace "Your best friend" with "HBO" or some other major broadcast network.
Even if you *LEGALLY* have the right to timeshift (under fair use doctrines,
or whatever), does that mean you are ethically right too? If so, what
changed between HBO and your friend? Just that HBO is rich? What if your
eccentric friend happened to be a multibillionaire?
I've downloaded episodes of TV shows before. They're primarily shows
that were broadcast in Japan. Is what I'm doing illegal? I'm not sure, but
I'm leaning towards "Yes". Is what I'm doing morally wrong? I don't know. If
it's a "moral crime", it certainly seems to be victimless as far as I can
see.
- Oliver
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