File-sharing pirates attempt new software standard

The Pirate Bay founder hopes to have first version of the software ready early next year and has asked for developers to pitch in.

The story "File-sharing pirates attempt new software standard" published November 7, 2007 at 9:43 AM is no longer available on CNET News.

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[basraw]

Do not host complete file anywhere..

Only when streaming reassemble the files from multiple incomplete sources..

The whole copyrighted file is never in one place at one time.

Wouldn't this be legal?

[sanenazok]

just a quick analogy

Let's say photocopying a given book in its entirety is copyright infringement. Is it any worthwhile defense that you photocopied parts of it from multiple originals that come from multiple sources? Certainly not, me thinks.

[Penguinisto]

No - here's why.

The RIAA/MPAA sues you not for downloading, but for distribution. They do that for a number of reasons, but one of them is this:

In order to seed a file, and right at the very end of downloading the file from BT, odds are very, very good that you 1) have the complete file and 2) are sending it out to others.

Of course, you're not sharing the whole thing until you get the whole thing downloaded. But even with the fastest automated algorithms, or the keenest eyeball/mouse-finger reaction time, you're making available the whole thing for at least the small slice of time between completion of the download and moving it to a protected non-public directory on your machine.

After all, in order to enjoy the benefits of having the thing, you have to at least have the whole thing in your possession.

That said, even sending only parts of it is still infringing, unless you can prove a solid case of Fair Use (good luck there...)

/P

[Penguinisto]

Needs a Correction:

[i]"He and his partners thumb their noses at U.S. and European copyright laws in letters to studios and game makers, who send them cease-and-desist letters that they post on their site."[/i]

Actually, having read the Pirate Bay's legal threats section, they (very) patiently explain (in very easy-to-understand terms, and right before the insults) that in accordance with Swedish law, merely posting a link to infringing material is not considered a copyright violation.

Conceptually, they are correct. the link itself is not an infringing item... an HTTP anchor reference link to an infringing item is obviously not a copyrighted item by the infringed content creator in and of itself... whether the content which that link leads to infringes or not.

This is the entire legal linchpin upon which Pirate Bay exists. Get Sweden's Parliament to make links to infringing content equivalent to actual infringing content, and you might get 'em shut down. Of course, the very through that a mere link is equivalent to the infringed material is rather (IMHO) a dangerous precedent, and (again, IMHO) should be banned from being even considered as such in the US and EU.

Oh, and last time I checked, Sweden is still in Europe. Perhaps you may want to specify EU copyright law as opposed to Swedish copyright law, no?


/P

[Alvarrr]

Never use this virus-trojan site exchange

Watch out with these guys. Once you get in their site your computer will be swamped with multiple trojans. If you happen to download anything without an anti-virus scanning...get ready to format your hard drive.