![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Whilst in Kansas this weekend, my mother-in-law's father stated during dinner that he heard on the news Star Wars Episode III was already on the internet and available for download. Tony and I can't watch a DVD at the ADC without watching the "Piracy is Stealing" public service announcement at the beginning of the disc (the menu is disabled at that point), and an old USAF buddy asked me on the phone, 'Do you still use P2P?' I jokingly reminded him that we were on an 'unsecured' line to which he replied, "I didn't ask you if you'd already downloaded Star Wars," as if the FBI were waiting for those key words to be uttered during their monitoring of cell phones so they could start tracking the call and discover the perpetrator.
Yes, I already have a pirated copy of Star Wars Episode III on DVD. But how is that stealing? I beg anyone to give me the answer. I'm not going to watch it until I first see it at the theater, and I'm sure I'll see it at least a half dozen times while it's in theaters. Furthermore, despite owning this pirated copy of the movie, I'm going to buy it when it comes out on the official DVD release. I'll also likely purchase the special edition which will be released 6 months after the DVD and the box set which will be released a year after that. Again, how the FSCK is my pirated copy stealing?
The problem is not the RIAA or the DMCA. Really. The problem is, people are stupid. And people run the RIAA and authored and passed the DMCA. When I was a young, impressionable boy, my teachers taught me that, "A person isn't stupid, people are stupid." Well, I tried to believe that. But just like introducing homosexual characters on Sesame Street so pre-schoolers can learn that its normal, I found it wasn't true. A person is stupid, and that's why people are stupid. A collection of stupid persons!
I'm done.
Yes, I already have a pirated copy of Star Wars Episode III on DVD. But how is that stealing? I beg anyone to give me the answer. I'm not going to watch it until I first see it at the theater, and I'm sure I'll see it at least a half dozen times while it's in theaters. Furthermore, despite owning this pirated copy of the movie, I'm going to buy it when it comes out on the official DVD release. I'll also likely purchase the special edition which will be released 6 months after the DVD and the box set which will be released a year after that. Again, how the FSCK is my pirated copy stealing?
The problem is not the RIAA or the DMCA. Really. The problem is, people are stupid. And people run the RIAA and authored and passed the DMCA. When I was a young, impressionable boy, my teachers taught me that, "A person isn't stupid, people are stupid." Well, I tried to believe that. But just like introducing homosexual characters on Sesame Street so pre-schoolers can learn that its normal, I found it wasn't true. A person is stupid, and that's why people are stupid. A collection of stupid persons!
I'm done.
