DonnyEMU wrote:
So if someone calls you a thief without reason you won't be offended?
No and I wouldn't feel bad about asking the company I bought the licensed material for another copy of it. I have to admit something here, I am involved with a company called the 9thXchange (www.9thx.com). We provide our members with downloadable media, and we also provide them a library backup of stuff they have purchased. So if they have downloaded something they always have a backup available from us and a license file if they have legally purchased something. We do DRM right and support the people who buy from us. The company also provides resale of files purchased and provides royalties to the original creators.
If you are not a thief get some backbone, and don't worry about it. If you position is defensible then you are in the right and you shouldn't take it personally or assume someone is calling you a thief.
I don't need to grow a backbone, I don't deal with companies that tell me -in veiled terms- I'm a potential thief that wants to steal their wares. Simple enough. I shouldn't have to ask them for a new license/file to begin with, I payed the original. The file should just work, no excuses, no re-downloading. Period.
Or better said: Yes I am offended by people who
assume I want to do bad things with copyrighted materials. My entire PC and my laptop contains
zero pirated software and
no media I have no rights too. And yet, I still feel this way. I am a customer, I should be treated like one, not like a potential crook.
The basic attitude from the media suppliers is wrong. I'm not the one who should grow the backbone. The people selling media licenses should grow one and refrain from calling me a potential thief.
Another point: In my country there is an FBI warning on DVDs that says copying dvds even in the advent of no monitary gain is illegal and punishable by X number of years in federal prison even if it wasn't done for monitary gain. That tells me that if you bought a dvd it's not covered under fair use, you are simply buying private exhibition license to the content on that particular disc on a specific playback system and it covers nothing including backups or jukeboxes..
The FBI and similar warnings on DVD's are a pet peeve of mine. I know I'm not supposed to copy a disc. I don't need some people telling me I shouldn't do bad stuff every time I put my original DVD in the player.
And you are wrong by the way, a DVD falls under fair use just as much as any other copyrighted object. Only breaking the encryption is illegal when you want to make a backup and there are plenty of ways to copy a disc without breaking the encryption. Which is perfectly legal under the DMCA.
Besides, if I buy a perpetual license (like the one I get when I buy a DVD) the seller had better offer me a perpetual form of access to the stuff licensed. And until they do, backing up my media is a very good and quite legal way to make sure I can watch my legally obtained, licensed media in the future. DRM only makes sure I eventually need to buy my content again.
Like I said, Copyright is not evil. But DRM is.