Starting to understand why people pirate

Interesting That iTunes doesn’t have that when YouTube does https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=EL3Kjiw24dDw7cGCNJeutASw

I never use iTunes and did not know this. My understanding was it was only possible to download onto a maximum of 5 devices, after that it had to bought again. I had no idea you cast from iTunes either and have no idea how to do that from PC/android. Im firmly embedded in the Google ecosystem with an android phone and tv and Google Home.

My understanding is the Disney Vault only applies to Walt Disney Animation Studios and excludes Pixar and other tv shows. Other shows that air on their US owned network include Grey’s Anatomy, Modern Family and The Good Doctor.

The Australian Law Reform Commission states that Format shifting, eg. VHS/cassettes to digital is legal. But digital to digital isn’t because of encryption. https://www.alrc.gov.au/publications/9-private-and-domestic-use/current-law

4 Likes

I havent had to do anything fancy to copy the DVDs I have, so maybe those arent encrypted. There were a couple I couldnt copy and so… I didnt. and there were aq couple which came with tokens to download digital versions (that was much later). I have not broken any encryption so where does that leave me

2 Likes

You may have and just nor realised it - most DVD ripping software overcomes CSS without any fuss - CSS is scarcely more of an encryption algorithm than ROT13 :wink: but fiercely defended by people who were probably embarrassed by how easy it was to overcome - there’s ‘funny’ stories about people printing the code on t-shirts and ties and being sued.

There are other mechanisms, eg Macrovision et al, that try to circumvent ripping but these are not part of the official Digital Versatile Disc Video standard and as far as I’m aware have all been overcome and are handled transparently by ripping software.

5 Likes

With all the discussion on availability of protected works, are we all making a dangerous assumption?

Is there any right of access to copyright protected content?

The simple answer is that there is not, whether in Aussie law or elsewhere.

Simply put an author, artist or digital rights owner is under no legal obligation to make any copies of an original available. The owner can also determine and control how many copies are available and by which means.

It is a fundamental basis of copyright.

The assignment of limitations to availability based on international borders would on this basis seem absurd and irrational? In my simplistic view however, copyright also attaches national ownership rights. Which is how we get the ludicrous situation be are now discussing. When someone in Australia steals something from someone in the USA it is a crime, as recognised by both nations.

No solution yet for the future 52nd state?

Although the government of old England approved of ‘privateers’ and later the East India Company taking ‘direct action’ to serve the nation, the entertainment of Australians seems to be of lesser importance to government?

I’d ask for a much harder and severe Australian Govt clamp down on pirating as the best way forward. Two benefits might accrue. One of ensuring more Aussie content and less pollution with foreign influences.

Secondly for all the pirates out there, the Aussie Govt might be forced into getting some backbone and politely offering the vested overseas interests two options. One to offer content on the same terms and conditions to Aussies as elsewhere. Or secondly to not enforce any legal undertakings where content pirated has not been made available to Australia on fair and equal terms?

The only real business losers might be the Australian intermediaries who in fact lock up access and take a cut of the distribution rights on top of the OS source. Do we even have the right target by looking OS?

3 Likes

Before Game of Thrones was made commercially available here, Australians were known as the most prolific ‘pirates’ of the show. The makers’ public statements indicated that they loved the fact their TV show was so popular people were downloading it however they could.

Not sure how they’d feel now.

Macrovision was originally a VHS protection mechanism, that was intended to give any copies very poor visuals. The company has apparently moved into the digital age, with a system to prevent copying of DVD to VHS.


Copyright and its avoidance has a long and storied history. Gilbert and Sullivan decided that the first performance of The Pirates of Penzance would be in New York, to try to defeat wholesale US copying of their shows. It didn’t work, and Pirates was incredibly popular in the US due to a bunch of entrepreneurs who put the show on without bothering to licence it. US attitudes to copying technology were similarly laissez-faire - until the country found itself producing things of value to others.

China is now in the position of the US in the 19th century, and of course the latter is doing its best to keep China from becoming the equivalent of the US in the 20th century - often by pushing those same principles the US ignored when circumstances were different.

4 Likes

One needs a screen that has the capability to be cast to (so devices on both ends have the functionality…one casting such as a phone/tablet and one receiving such as a TV). Some more recent smart TVs have the screen casting function

Now, the other problems is that one would need to install iTunes on their android device…what, Apple isn’t supporting a full version of iTunes for Android…well this website indicates how to get around this…

3 Likes

You can buy a Chromecast that will allow casting from your android to the TV, Win 10 natively supports casting to smart TVs but if they don’t like that then a Chromecast will also oblige.

As examples of Chromecast prices see:

https://www.shopbot.com.au/pp-google-chromecast-price-473624.html

4 Likes

Heh heh - I see what you did there !! :rofl:

4 Likes

Ended up getting a Chromecast after reading your post. With staff discount and the remains of an EBA backpay e-gift card it cost less than $10. Found it provides a better quality image than the pc to tv hdmi. Would still like dvds tho lol.

4 Likes

I am sure you would like the physical media…we sure do at our house (wall to wall cabinets of DVDs), at last count in the region of about 5,000 cases (many are multipacks so many more of the little shiny discs than cases). It does take up large amounts of space however and we do cull titles to try and help manage the monster in the rooms (yes rooms) :smile: The management also for use requires the use of a large spreadsheet to help manage the storage and access to titles.

If you decide you want the series then iTunes gives you that option in many cases to download and store on media such as external hard drives. Netflix, Stan and similar at this point do not do so. There are other services that allow you to download movies you purchase (I think Microsoft allow the downloading of movies purchased through their store as an example of one).

For the example of iTunes you just need to incorporate the external device into the iTunes library catalogue to then use what is stored on it. Not much different to a DVD but perhaps easier as you can categorise the library titles into an order that makes sense to you and allows very quick retrieval of the show/s you want. There is other software that offers similar usability but many are not compatible with iTunes formats but they would suit any other formats that you have in other collections or from other providers.

2 Likes

Posts in this thread are now causing me to go and find my old CDs on which I may (or not) have stored downloaded material from years ago, along with photographs from my first forays into digital photography in the late 90s and early 2000s.

2 Likes

I moved all of these onto a harddrive a few years ago…two copies…one of the pc and one on a external 1TB drive which can be used on the TV media function (noting some video codec needs to be converted to allow direct TV watching).

1 Like

Scary stuff in my drawers. CDs for computers I havent owned for 15 years or more!!!

2 Likes

Check online to see if they are sellable…otherwise a bird deterrent may be the next best option (assuming they work)…

images

2 Likes

I have enough to string about in my pergola, where Indian Mynas want to breed. I think they are fairly successful, in the sense that if you have enough, the birds cant get past them.

They won’t be sellable, they are OS versions for specific computers. Dunno about the old APC disks though, I really doubt that anyone would want (for example) a copy of REdhat 5.

2 Likes

I can attest to their efficacy :slight_smile:

The spinning and shiny reflection is said to be what deters the birds. You don’t need many. 6 did my entire veranda.

2 Likes

If you have an appropriate assortment of printed labels on the top side, perhaps hanging them on the approach to the front door can be used to send a different type of message to would be door knockers?

The imagination is a fertile source for communication. Inviting or otherwise?

Dvd’s would be good right about now. Woke to find that neither the internet or landline are working. Have no idea what has caused it or a timeline to getting it fixed. All i know is my ISP has created a support ticket. Since the landline is thru Telstra rang them after calling my ISP and they said there was no issue on their end

1 Like

I don’t have the disks any more, but I still have the manual for MS-DOS 6… and the CDs for Windows 95, 98, ME, Vista etc. And Office 97 - in an enormous box!

2 Likes

Do first edition box sets become collectors editions, and sell for EBay premiums? I did have Windows 2.0/2.1 somewhere, but not it’s predecessor. It’s not clear to me if Windows ever released Windows 1.0 to retail in Oz?

Of course if they are old enough they might even predate online registration and activation. Those were the days.

Pirate copies of most software were also very common, although it was also a guarantee that eventually your PC might start to behave strangely. Most software, considered very basic by today’s standards was super expensive, and had weak copy protection.

The real cost of software was readily apparent when there was a comparison price between box sets and much lower cost bundles with new hardware. Admittedly Microsoft and others offered a half library shelf of manuals with some packages to make you feel like there was real value. Surprisingly the manuals did not come in digital format. Perhaps a measure to limit sharing of that knowledge too freely?

There are now so many commercial alternatives offering specialised software, data management and report creation tools PC level MS Office might be a remnant of the past. Maintaining data confidentiality, integrity and security a business would prefer to limit all access to server side applications that limit opportunities to scrape or export raw data.

A different type of pirate required?
It is also digitised data like audio and video, only viewed in a slightly different way. While the outcome is not typically described as a pirated copy, it is simply labeled outright theft of protected property? Irrespective of how it has been distributed.

1 Like