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Yes, downloading is akin to making a copy without consent of the copyright owner. (Edit: At least according to the Berne Convention, which most countries have s

by johkra 16y ago

Yes, downloading is akin to making a copy without consent of the copyright owner. (Edit: At least according to the Berne Convention, which most countries have signed.) Edit2: I think dchest is right and illegality of the act of downloading does probably not follow from the Berne Convention, sorry. Distribution (offering for download) certainly is and I think at least according to German law the resulting copy has to be destroyed. Mind you, I'm no lawyer and might be mistaken.

dchest 16y ago
I'm pretty sure Berne Convention says nothing about the act of downloading. Your use of "akin" may be incorrect. Of course, different counties have different laws, but if we try to infer legality or illegality of downloading purely from Berne Convention, I'd like to ask this question: how can you make a copy of something that you don't have the original in the first place? Thus, it's more likely that the party who's distributing the work is making a copy, not the downloader.
onnonotme01 16y ago
What about in the US? Can one be tracked/prosecuted simply for downloading?
- HerberthAmaral 16y ago
  Without a doubt. Remember the Anonymous guys arrested by doing DDoS: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/01/two-real-guns-pointed-at-me-how-the-fbi-raided-anonymous.ars http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/01/two-real-gun...
- nailer 16y ago
  Yes, it happens with other copywritten materials frequently.
- cookiecaper 16y ago
  Theoretically yes but usually they target distributors in preference to users. It's easier to get a verdict or judgment against the distributor because it avoids the question of "what is a copy" and how that applies to the digital space and also because people are less sympathetic to distributors. The thing with P2P applications is that everyone is also automatically a distributor.
jrockway 16y ago
Isn't it the server that makes the copy? You don't have anything, so how could you be copying it?
- nailer 16y ago
  You have the copy your hard disk writes.
  - pyre 16y ago
    You have the copy that the server has transmitted to you, but the server still made the copy.
    - nailer 16y ago
      You said 'You don't have anything' Which is false. You have the copy your hard disk wrote.
      - pyre 16y ago
        I said nothing of the sort. Look back at who posted which comments. You responded to my only post in this thread.
        nailer 16y ago
        You're right, I was talking to jrockway. Not really sure why you entered the conversation.

by johkra 16y ago

dchest 16y ago

I'm pretty sure Berne Convention says nothing about the act of downloading. Your use of "akin" may be incorrect. Of course, different counties have different laws, but if we try to infer legality or illegality of downloading purely from Berne Convention, I'd like to ask this question: how can you make a copy of something that you don't have the original in the first place? Thus, it's more likely that the party who's distributing the work is making a copy, not the downloader.

onnonotme01 16y ago

What about in the US? Can one be tracked/prosecuted simply for downloading?

HerberthAmaral 16y ago
Without a doubt. Remember the Anonymous guys arrested by doing DDoS: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/01/two-real-guns-pointed-at-me-how-the-fbi-raided-anonymous.ars http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/01/two-real-gun...
nailer 16y ago
Yes, it happens with other copywritten materials frequently.
cookiecaper 16y ago
Theoretically yes but usually they target distributors in preference to users. It's easier to get a verdict or judgment against the distributor because it avoids the question of "what is a copy" and how that applies to the digital space and also because people are less sympathetic to distributors. The thing with P2P applications is that everyone is also automatically a distributor.

jrockway 16y ago

Isn't it the server that makes the copy? You don't have anything, so how could you be copying it?

nailer 16y ago
You have the copy your hard disk writes.
- pyre 16y ago
  You have the copy that the server has transmitted to you, but the server still made the copy.
  - nailer 16y ago
    You said 'You don't have anything' Which is false. You have the copy your hard disk wrote.
    - pyre 16y ago
      I said nothing of the sort. Look back at who posted which comments. You responded to my only post in this thread.
      - nailer 16y ago
        You're right, I was talking to jrockway. Not really sure why you entered the conversation.