I thought I'd bring a discussion from last night between me and some friends over here.
Alright, the discussion involved me, Friend A and Friend B. As it turns out, Friend A has an interesting system for himself. He has quite a substantial movie collection and is a bit obsessive about it. As it turns out, what he has started doing is he has taken all of his movies and made copies of them for himself to watch, while leaving the actual DVDs he bought alone. If he does this, he says his DVD collection remains pristine while still maintaining functionality. He only watches his copies of the films. If a friend wants to borrow a movie, he is lent and returns the copy of the film, not the film itself. If a film is lost or destroyed, it's ok, because he still has the original. The actual DVDs remain untouched. He also makes digital copies of many of his films for his iPod and his Apple TV.
Friend B is Captain Download. I don't think he's paid for movies or music in years. We've often both ganged up on him and berated him for his illegal downloading. He took this as the opportunity to strike back at Friend A as advocating piracy. He says Friend A is copying DVDs and therefore is participating in Piracy.
I ask you all what you think. I know that around these parts, piracy is not tolerated, and I feel the same way. I'm just wondering what your consensus is. In our conversation last night, I didn't see A's actions as piracy. He's making copies, yes, but not for distribution or anything, simply for himself. He's paid for the film . . . He doesn't "share" them (I mean any more than any of us share a movie by lending them out from time to time) and he doesn't distribute them. But maybe I'm wrong. But Friend B never made a solid argument last night about how it is piracy. Maybe you all can.
Alright, the discussion involved me, Friend A and Friend B. As it turns out, Friend A has an interesting system for himself. He has quite a substantial movie collection and is a bit obsessive about it. As it turns out, what he has started doing is he has taken all of his movies and made copies of them for himself to watch, while leaving the actual DVDs he bought alone. If he does this, he says his DVD collection remains pristine while still maintaining functionality. He only watches his copies of the films. If a friend wants to borrow a movie, he is lent and returns the copy of the film, not the film itself. If a film is lost or destroyed, it's ok, because he still has the original. The actual DVDs remain untouched. He also makes digital copies of many of his films for his iPod and his Apple TV.
Friend B is Captain Download. I don't think he's paid for movies or music in years. We've often both ganged up on him and berated him for his illegal downloading. He took this as the opportunity to strike back at Friend A as advocating piracy. He says Friend A is copying DVDs and therefore is participating in Piracy.
I ask you all what you think. I know that around these parts, piracy is not tolerated, and I feel the same way. I'm just wondering what your consensus is. In our conversation last night, I didn't see A's actions as piracy. He's making copies, yes, but not for distribution or anything, simply for himself. He's paid for the film . . . He doesn't "share" them (I mean any more than any of us share a movie by lending them out from time to time) and he doesn't distribute them. But maybe I'm wrong. But Friend B never made a solid argument last night about how it is piracy. Maybe you all can.
