-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Michael M. wrote: > On Thu, 2007-03-01 at 11:49 -0800, Paul Johnson wrote: >> Joe Hart wrote: >> >>> I think you hit it on the head. Because it's available. One of the >>> quirks of living in this liberal country is that it is _not_ illegal to >>> download films and music from the internet. Some loophole in the >>> copyright law. >> I always thought it was a strange dichotomy that I can't get media for free >> off the internet, but I can go to the library and get the same thing that >> way for free. In both cases, the producers are not compensated... > > Laws vary from country to country, but under U.S. copyright law, there > are a number of exceptions carved out for public and private libraries > -- things libraries are allowed to do that private citizens and public > companies are not. For instance, the reason you can't rent audio CDs > like you can rent videos & DVDs is that the recording industry decided > it didn't want to pursue a rental business model, whereas the film > industry decided it did. Copyright law gives the copyright holder the > authority to make that kind of decision. But libraries are nonetheless > permitted to do what they do with all the material they archive, > regardless of what any industry decides should be its business model(s). > >
The libraries here have all sorts of media, including both games for the computer and audio CD's. But then again the copyright rules are different here than in the US :) That's why I can legally install libdvdcss2 and people in the US cannot. Not that the law stops most of the people. Back on topic: Backing up to DVD is a good idea, but the best backup method is to backup to a remote server. That way, if your home/office catches fire, your data is still intact. An external HD or a stack of DVD's are just as likely to burn as the computer. Joe -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFF6DxriXBCVWpc5J4RAtrPAJ9uEyUyi9+MxlUe4o/GcKCs13TOMgCaAngQ mBralZmrYfBidw1JPLarO9g= =5aUi -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
