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Film companies demand names of Reddit users who discussed piracy in 2011
(arstechnica.com)
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this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2023
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Piracy: ꜱᴀɪʟ ᴛʜᴇ ʜɪɢʜ ꜱᴇᴀꜱ
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It seems strange to me how many these days openly discuss piracy, and what they are doing, how often, etc.... It's one thing to give vague instructions or point someone towards a website. But to actively say, 'I downloaded X, from Y. It worked great.' and/or 'I've downloaded loads from X, I have over a thousand X, and they all work.' it makes me cringe.
Possibly has to do with age. Piracy started for me by exchanging tapes of Dragon 32 games, and I guess recording the top 40 on a Sunday. You kept a low profile. I didn't think I would get caught. My father was friends with a policeman who was our main source for pirated VHS videos and many games. So I felt whilst it was illegal, nobody gets caught unless you put your head above the parapet. That's the point today, many seem to be a little too carefree. Helping each other out is great, and after all, piracy is about sharing. But do try and cover your tracks. Be sensible.
Silly nonsense. Just cause I said I downloaded something isn't proof I did it. If I said I murdered someone you still have to proof I did it especially if there is no god damn body. In other words: they have to link my comments to a download I did via vpn years ago. Yeah, good luck losers.
I... don't think that's true.
I'd expect to get convicted if I make a (reasonable) confession of murdering someone who vanished, even if there is no single other bit of evidence.
Not if you made that confession outside of any prosecution process and then withdrew it saying you were just making shit up, I wouldn't think.
I would expect that to be true as well.
For some reason I can't really explain anymore, I was thinking of a situation where the confession is made, and reiterated at every step in the prosecutorial process, without any other evidence (for or against) being available for the process.
You won't. It happens all the time. Youd be amazed how many people try to claim credit for crimes they didn't commit.
Right, if you go to the police and confess to the murder of someone who vanished you are going to be in trouble. But we are talking about some reddit comments "confessing" to downloading something illegally. I could have been more specific with the example though.
Actually no. Pretending to have committed a crime is a crime itself. At least here in Germany.
Also: saying you committed a crime is basically the same as a confession and can definitely be used against you
The lawsuit does not involve Germany in the slightest
Sure, but it could still have an Impact on Germany since the copyright law is pretty similar
Also keep in mind that at least in Germany the act of just downloading something is not illegal. Only the uploading/seeding of content is. So just admitting to having downloaded something is not admitting to a crime at all.
No, downloading is illegal too. It's just the uploading/seeding that gets actively enforced since it's a more serious crime
Gotta listen to some Götz Widmann haha.
I do know the law. You should try walking into a police station and saying, 'I murdered someone.I'm just talking shit, there is no corpse or murder, just saying this for shits and giggles.' then see what happens.
Seriously, maybe it's just me, I prefer a quiet life. I don't want the added stress of a corporation or lawyer threatening me, even if it is going to lead nowhere.
Alright buddy, that's a horrendous example. You're comparing MURDER to downloading End Game...
Here's the real comp, go into the police station with a grin and say I just littered 3 towns away in a park, I threw a candy wrapper on the floor, it even has my fingerprint! But you'll never catch me coppers!
They'd shrug and ask you to leave. No-one is starting a manhunt.
They would never get a conviction on the statement alone though. What it probably would do, is lead to them turning over every stone in your life to find proof. They'd do that because it's enough to arouse suspicion but not enough to get you convicted in any way.
Bit of a leap there. I'm talking about confessing to murdering someone on reddit for instance cause that is what we are talking about: comments made years ago on reddit. Yeah, sure, maybe someone will tell the cops and they will have to investigate you based on your comment about murdering someone, but then what? Sure, it will have consequences for me, but they cannot convict me based of a single comment and nothing else. How the hell is that going to hold up in any court?
And now think back on what we are actually talking about: comments admitting to having illegally downloaded some content. I would assume they won't even try to start investigating that. Like how on earth are you going to get proof of that?
If they have no proof prior, they will absolutely wreck you with a comment like that linked to an account you own. That's a confession, which you made, it is idiotic as you gained nothing admitting to it.
Only because many people don't care, doesn't mean it doesn't matter.
A comment on social media is not a confession.
Also it's no proof that any piracy took place. It would be a different thing altogether if they already had evidence and you confessed to it, but as is, not everything said on the internet is true. Here, my "confession"
The fact I said that in a comment on Lemmy doesn't make it true.
...Did you see any alien friends during your raid?
Depends. Are you with the US gov?
Bold statement, i can find countless cases where a confession posted on social media was used as evidence.
Not evidence of a crime.
I came to confess. I was the 2nd gunman on the grassy knoll.
Liar, I shot first. You were third
It's like people are forgetting that piracy is actually illegal.
They're just lying about pirating to look cool.
I highly doubt there are any actual pirates on here, it's just users being edgy. A bunch of dorks that don't even own a boat role playing badass pirates.
I'd like to be that variety of pirate, at least in the older style. Not so much a modern nautical pirate though.
Being a pirate back in the day was also less pleasant than creative media has led us to believe, I'm afraid
Does a canoe count?
What is illegal for Americans is not illegal everywhere.
Now I'm not morally against piracy, pirate away. It's just illegal.
I think many people just couldn't care less about pirating and believe the companies can't figure out who they are. For example, I discuss pirating stuff pretty openly on my reddit account. But every single comment I make, I consciously make sure to not reveal enough for people to dox me.
I also don't have Facebook which is how most people figure out identities.
"Hmm, they're an underwater welder from a specific small town and they have three sons. Well this is the only Facebook profile that matches that so I bet it's this person" type of thing.
You are only truly anonymous if you always use a VPN or Tor. If not, Reddit has your IP and the ISP knows who is behind the IP. If LE knocks at Reddit's door with a warrant, they will give them your IP, with which they go to the ISP to get your name.
You would be suprised of how much less info than that is needed to ID a person. There are studies about ID'ing people via their favorites and last-watched lists on netflix.
Been teaching my kid this. Do what you're expected to do, follow directions from teachers and parents, so that when you do something you're not supposed to and if you get caught, they won't even believe you did it. Hide in plain site and cover your tracks by thinking of what you'd look for trying to catch someone.
I think a lot of it is to do with the actual chance that the individual is going to get charged with it, big companies generally go after the Distributors and not the individuals regarding it. Plus staying online that you did something doesn't prove that you actually did it so they would still have to get solid evidence that you actually did it which costs money A lot of times more money than they would have lost from the pirating activity in the first place which is why a lot of them just settle for sending a dmca to the ISP and the ISP for as it saying LOL you better not be doing this