When I was 15, I used to think the Pirate Bay guys were heroes. Not anymore.
Encouraging piracy and then acting like you're martyrs is not the best way to combat RIAA/MPAA. I really appreciate services like Jamendo, which might not be as effective as straight out theft TPB-style but are actual vehicles which "free" the information that, presumably, wants to be free.
DISCLAIMER: Yes, I download torrents from TPB. I know it's wrong, but they don't air Lost, Scrubs, South Park or any of my favorite shows in India so I have no choice. If they'd air it on TV, I'd be more than happy to pay my DTH provider an extra amount to get those channels. Heck, I'd even purchase episodes from an online retailer if only it didn't have that nasty DRM. (BTW, does anyone know if the iTunes store works in India now?)
Someone has to take and defend the most extreme points of view. I don't agree with most of the viewpoints of (the real) rms, but I'm glad he is out there fighting the good fight.
Well, you're right. But in his fight for what he considers right, he is actually producing something of value (ie, the GNU software suite). RMS and the FSF are well regarded not only because they're fighting towards making technology more open and more accessible, but because they're producing a bunch of great software to prove that they are right. What they said was, basically, this: "You think only large corporations with multi-million research budgets can produce good software? Here, take this compiler, this OS, this text editor and all these cool utilities. We built this in our spare time.", and people went: "Hell, the guy's got a point.". TPB, on the other hand, goes: "Hey! Your business practices are flawed. We'll just steal your stuff until you give up.", and people go: "Yeah! You show them who's boss!".
People seem to love Robin Hood. I prefer John Galt.
The discussion is old and tiring because this problem is like drugs. You can't solve it by fighting against the "torrent".
Pirate bay or no pirate bay, p2p filesharing is here to stay and any truly effective measures to stop it will do more harm than good. So instead of battling it, accept it and find ways to minimize the damage.
Encouraging piracy and then acting like you're martyrs is not the best way to combat RIAA/MPAA. I really appreciate services like Jamendo, which might not be as effective as straight out theft TPB-style but are actual vehicles which "free" the information that, presumably, wants to be free.
DISCLAIMER: Yes, I download torrents from TPB. I know it's wrong, but they don't air Lost, Scrubs, South Park or any of my favorite shows in India so I have no choice. If they'd air it on TV, I'd be more than happy to pay my DTH provider an extra amount to get those channels. Heck, I'd even purchase episodes from an online retailer if only it didn't have that nasty DRM. (BTW, does anyone know if the iTunes store works in India now?)