4 ms·

Ehm, selective enforcement by the state most certainly can be a problem, I cannot, however, see how selective enforcement by people or companies (who, in civil

by hej 14y ago

Ehm, selective enforcement by the state most certainly can be a problem, I cannot, however, see how selective enforcement by people or companies (who, in civil law, are always free to sue or not to sue for whatever reasons) is bad or can even be considered selective enforcement in any way. It’s a pretty central part of civil law, actually (making sure – at least in theory – that only if two parties absolutely cannot agree on their own, the legal system has to kick in), and I think it would be downright evil to require people to always sue everyone. Even state attorneys can pick and chose (to some extent), but to avoid arbitrariness they have to have good reasons for what they do, who they decide to prosecute and not to prosecute. They can’t decide not to prosecute for arbitrary reasons. (I know that’s the case in Germany, I think that's the case in the US, please correct me if I'm wrong.)

asmithmd1 14y ago
This is pretty clearly criminal not just civil. Remember he is stealing from MPAA members and exporting the stolen goods to a foreign country. The US is supposed to be a "country of laws,not men." That means it is NOT supposed to be up to the opinion of one person whether an act is legal or not. What is legal needs to be decided by our elected officials. Anyone who wants to see copyright fixed should be pushing to see this blatant scofflaw thrown in jail, maybe that would focus some attention on the problem. I believe there could be some solution to the US IP legal problems both for patents and copyrights. Have you ever wondered how bands are allowed to "cover" other bands songs, even record and sell those covers? They do not need to seek permission because US law says the owner of the copyright must grant a license to whoever wants to cover the music: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_license#United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_license#United_State... The license fee is 1 1/2 cents per minute of recording per copy. Rather than having completely uncapped damages at stake I can imagine some form of compulsory licensing for patents would stop all this wasted effort on patent lawsuits
eurleif 14y ago
Copyright infringement can be a criminal offense. See: http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap5.html#506 http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap5.html#506 And in particular: > if the infringement was committed [...] by the reproduction or distribution, including by electronic means, during any 180-day period, of 1 or more copies or phonorecords of 1 or more copyrighted works, which have a total retail value of more than $1,000 So his infringement might be criminal, depending on how much he actually did.

by hej 14y ago

asmithmd1 14y ago

This is pretty clearly criminal not just civil. Remember he is stealing from MPAA members and exporting the stolen goods to a foreign country. The US is supposed to be a "country of laws,not men." That means it is NOT supposed to be up to the opinion of one person whether an act is legal or not. What is legal needs to be decided by our elected officials. Anyone who wants to see copyright fixed should be pushing to see this blatant scofflaw thrown in jail, maybe that would focus some attention on the problem. I believe there could be some solution to the US IP legal problems both for patents and copyrights. Have you ever wondered how bands are allowed to "cover" other bands songs, even record and sell those covers? They do not need to seek permission because US law says the owner of the copyright must grant a license to whoever wants to cover the music: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_license#United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_license#United_State... The license fee is 1 1/2 cents per minute of recording per copy. Rather than having completely uncapped damages at stake I can imagine some form of compulsory licensing for patents would stop all this wasted effort on patent lawsuits

eurleif 14y ago

Copyright infringement can be a criminal offense. See: http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap5.html#506 http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap5.html#506 And in particular: > if the infringement was committed [...] by the reproduction or distribution, including by electronic means, during any 180-day period, of 1 or more copies or phonorecords of 1 or more copyrighted works, which have a total retail value of more than $1,000 So his infringement might be criminal, depending on how much he actually did.