Grandpa is sued over grandson's downloads

With regards to HandsOff

Yes, if the material in question is copy righted material.

2.a) The legality of downloading depends on your government laws. In Canada it is legal to download but it is illegal to upload copyrighted material.

2b)Depends on who you talk to. Some say only distribution should be illegal (like the upload instance) or both.
When people ask me this I ask them
1."Is it illegal to sell illegal drugs" Yes
2."Is it illegal to possess illegal drugs"Yes
I know some may say this has no bearing but overall it is the exact same thing.

3. Really no idea here. To me the answer would be no. You own a legal copy of the material and as far as I can see you can be able to make as many copies of the said material as long as you do not distribute it to others.

4. Not a clue. It could be interpreted as theft which is an offense which you could then be convicted of but I have no idea if the US courts have actually said that downloading as itself is considered a crime.

As for your rant..... Good one. That is pretty much what the argument is. (If I didnt download it I wouldnt have wasted my money on buying a CD)
As with your remark about the radio and there used to be a big deal about recording off the radio too. Its just like when VCRs that could record came out there was a big fuss from the movie industry that people could copy tapes from friends or ones they rented.

I hope this gives you a clearer picture in an already muddy situation.

 

Oh last thing that I forgot to post

This is no different than saying.

"If I didnt steal the car I wouldnt have wasted my money on it anyway."

So overall is downloading of copyrighted material illegal........... Yes.
Do I care....... No
Until my government explicitly states that I am not permitted under law to download. I will continue to do so.

You know the saying its only bad if your told its bad and then you get punished for it.
PS (I think I made that saying up)

 

Well, it makes sense to me.

The RIAA runs around threatening to sue people, and people give them money. But has anyone ever been convicted of downloading MP3's and been punished? Like I said, I formed my opinion months ago, if not longer, and to me it is sort of like watching a mystery movie, then not getting to see the ending. I just want to know how it ends.

- HandsOff