Limiting the size of downloads from non-us sites that are not on a trusted list? But then...there's probably indie filmmakers in Russia or wherever that would get harshed by that.

Yeah, I don't like that idea at all. That would screw over torrents (which have a lot of legit uses). Also, that wouldn't do anything to prevent music piracy. Also, a lot of perfectly legit companies have server farms in other countries, even though they're based in the US (RIM, for instance), so it would just be a mess to sort out.

Quit trying to solve the symptoms and actually cure the disease.
I'm a big PC gamer back before windows existed. Copyright was simple to overcome, because it was mostly knowing answers to questions about the manual that we could figure out...
It took over a decade for it to be solved, and it still is a major issue on PCs, but doesn't affect the bottom dollar. Why? Because gaming shifted to consoles, once consoles were capable of the same graphics and processor speeds (plus it is easier to code and maintain knowing everyone will have the same hardware). It only took 1 generation of XBox and PS before companies knew how to really prevent playing anything copied onto it.

The music industry has already begun its revolution with DMC music and ipods. It isn't perfect by any means, but it is a step in the right direction.
Apple really revolutionized this with their ipod/iphone media players. They also revolutionized the industry by coming up with a better cost/demand solution. I won't go digging around for a pirated song when I can just spend $1 to get it.

The movie industry needs to follow these models. They need to generate new encryption on movies to create DRM. They need to then create hardware that people will want instead of their old DVD and BlueRay players. And lastly, and probably the most important, they need to do a better job pricing their movies. Why do I barely go out to the movies? Because I have to pay $20 per ticket, then forced to watch 4 commercials before the movie even starts.

This problem has been solved (or starting to be solved) by other industries. Going out after the hackers is a bad solution. From someone who watched the internet boom, I can tell you that the harder you squeeze, the worse it will get. They can hide well (and in other countries) and hack impressively fast. The solution isn't to attack them, it is to make the general masses want to buy your goods, instead.

Really it's much easier if big companies just get with the times. I use to watch HIMYM on streaming sites, but CBS has now put it up on their own site. Now I watch it on CBS.com, and all the advertisements I see go to them. Same with Comedy Central Daily Show and the Colbert Report. There's no reason for movies not to be on the internet. The advertisements would pay for the downloads of the movies. People would also flock to legitimate sites instead of hoping that they won't get malware or anything else from all these other sites.

In the end it's just a matter of understanding the internet and the opportunity it provides. Laws like this just show that both the big industries and a lot of lawmakers simply don't understand the time we live in or the amount of opportunity presented by the internet.

DMC == DRM... no idea how THAT happened...

@FK

I half-agree with you. If the Entertainment industry kept up with current technology, this wouldn't be such an issue.

Why can't I pay to watch shows whenever I want? I already happily pay for Netflix. I even tried paying for Hulu, but their selection was awful. I also pay for movies on Amazon. I'm happy to pay for entertainment, but I refuse to be constrained to a decade old model of watching something when the broadcaster determines. About half the shows I'd happily pay for to watch are available nowhere legally online. It's absurd.

I disagree that better/HW-based DRM is the way to go. I (and I think many people) refuse to pay for a crippled product. Look at Amazon: all of their music is DRM-free, and yet they've helped to reduce music piracy. Gaming is a bit different, because there are technical limitations to where you can use it (you can't play an Xbox game on a PS3).

Well, RIM and stuff would be on the trusted list, as would at least some of the legitimate uses of torrents.

@pat

6 seasons of HIMYM are on Netflix. I'm watching it right now, commercial free, for a nominal fee.

"as would at least some of the legitimate uses of torrents."

How do you propose to determine a legitimate use for torrents? Will there be a whitelist? Will every torrent file have to be approved? That's not sustainable.

Movie studios and music labels need to embrace the Internet. Especially movie studios - streaming is the way of the future, yet we continue to move away from the instant streaming model with ridiculous waiting periods for new movies, subpar streaming content, and outrageous demands. With Hulu and Netflix getting ready to release their own online-only TV series, studios need to move into the 21st century or be prepared to be left behind.

torrents you can't whitelist/blacklist by file because of the nature of how it works.
And good luck trying to limit me. I can use onion networks and there are countless other ways to anonymize and encrypt your usage even to your provider.
Again... trying to limit people on the internet will just bring out the worst in everyone.

I don't really understand how torrents work, having never used them, but my understanding is that they don't just emerge from the ether, a relatively traceable source puts them out there. Easy enough to say that if you want to torrent to the US, you need to register your site for trustworthiness. And yes, it's exploitable, and yes, some legit business would get fucked over, but I think it's less messy than anything that's been proposed so far.

I mean, if you want to mail something to the US, you need to sign that you're not sending anything harmful or it just won't get here, I don't know why it would be an issue to verify over the internet the same things.

"torrents you can't whitelist/blacklist by file because of the nature of how it works."

Well, you certainly *could*, but it'd be an absolute disaster.


But, I think we're really on the same page; if content providers made their content accessible at a reasonable price, there would be such an issue with Piracy.

the whole idea of internet piracy is a scam.
20 years ago i could put a textbook into a copy machine and sell the pages for reduced prices but thats not what this is this is transferring ideas and information. the transfer of ideas should never be stifled. its time that these big corporations charging 600 dollars for my Constitutional Law: Principles & Policies 4e remember they are selling information that doesn't belong to them either its merely a copy of other information. what makes what they are doing any different from what torrent sites are doing? and thats not even making for the fact that torrent sites dont charge for their work.

PIRACY TODAY: a young pirate band stole a ship build an exact replica and then gave the new one away for free. (see my point?)

"And good luck trying to limit me. I can use onion networks and there are countless other ways to anonymize and encrypt your usage even to your provider.
Again... trying to limit people on the internet will just bring out the worst in everyone. "

Not everyone. Sure. You'll be able to get past it. Great. But right now, practically every single person who knows that there's such a thing as google can pirate.

"Easy enough to say that if you want to torrent to the US, you need to register your site for trustworthiness."

And how do you stop them from operating if they don't register?

Block DNS? That's bad.
Have Service Providers block IP addresses? That's really bad.
Have Service Providers block ports that are used for torrents? Now you've just broke the Internet.

There is no way to enforce the policy you're suggesting.

@Bite

People should be compensated for their work. It doesn't matter if you're physically stealing something or not; as long as you're preventing someone from being payed for what they've done, it's wrong.

Limit the size of downloads from untrusted addresses. Canada charges for internet by the amount you download, so I know it's possible to trace.

But, as FK said, your location on the Internet can easily be forged. It really isn't hard. You can learn and set it up in under 10 minutes. Limiting downloads will hurt small sites and honest people and do nothing to stop pirates.

yes i agree people should be compensated for their work, however using my example of textbooks, do you know how little work goes into those things? its copies of copies of copies does the original get paid? no cause the corporation now making it is an llc and doesent need to reimburse OC once its license wears out. so where is the billions of dollars said company is making a year go? right into fat wallets

the real defining line needs to come at WHAT is owned content and what is simply another repost

I've seen a lot of things that were supposed to do nothing to stop pirates actually work to curb piracy to some degree. The fact of the matter is that the more complicated you make getting pirated goods, the less people will bother with learning how and the less people will be able to learn how. This site has a lot of people adept at computer science, so I think you overthink/overestimate the average person's ability level/desire to do shit.

Uhh...writing a text book is really, really hard. In my field, at least, the authors received a decent portion of the profits.

Revising a textbook sucks pretty hard too, I've worked on it for two different textbooks.

perhaps law books are different then whatever your field is

Pirating law books makes me chuckle.

And I googled that book, looks like you can get it pretty easily and legally at 60 bucks new, not the quoted 600.

Limiting and censoring isn't the answer. It's tending the symptoms, not curing the illness. If you limit and censor, pirating will become MORE rampant. What do you see in countries with severe control? Organized crime by honest people.

The internet is global, not national. Trying to make a national part is a logistic nightmare and applying national security around it would require 99% of all the top administrators in every company.

How about the companies who are hurt by this stop standing still, embrace technology, and innovate new ways of selling their goods and services at an affordable price?

Look at pirating websites. They are the cesspools of the internet. Nasty porn popups, viruses left and right, unreliable networks, etc... People don't want to get their stuff from the 4chan of the software world. They WANT to get it by legitimate sources. The industry just needs to find better ways to provide these sources.

No, generally, people want to get it free. You made the monetary argument yourself, saying faced with paying $20 you'd rather free.

DC Comics, for instance, have now started doing release date internet sales for cover price and drop a dollar in cost a month later along with robust 99 cent sales...frequently at least 50-100 old comics are on sale for 99 cents each..

Has not decreased internet comic piracy at all.