The official Episode 124 discussion

Coming soon!

Nate, Rory and I discuss stuff. Cuss Facebook, defend The Pirate Bay (well, I do those two) and we run through the news, Crave and handle feedback from these very forums!

Expect it in the next 55.4 minutes.

It's ALIVE!

Thanks Ian,
Downloaded for me. I'll be listening ... sometime before the next episode!

I'm behind with my podcasts.

Didn't take quite 55.4 mins to get posted but I think I'll listen anyway.

Epic forums.cnet.co.uk jingle is epic.

Ian, I was with you on all the debates. In fact, I think I was needed on the podcast to even things up

DavidRGilson says:
Ian, I was with you on all the debates. In fact, I think I was needed on the podcast to even things up

What did you agree/disagree with in particular?

On the Facebook subject, much of that whole mess with image rights could be avoided if Facebook restricted users to only using images on their own account as a profile picture. It's simple as pie and avoids all the legal shenanigans.

On the Pirate Bay, they are not posting illegal material, their users are. You could argue that they then should police what people are posting, put then this would make them an editor, not a search engine. So, for the same reasons that Google doesn't get sued for listing illegitimate material, it's difficult to argue that you can sue the Pirate Bay, (regardless of their name).

We all know what the Pirate Bay think of copyright law and what their probable motivations are, but you can't take someone to court for that.

Also, we all also know that current copyright law is no longer up to scratch for the internet age, it needs reforming, the only problem being nobody, including me, knows what to do about it, yet. Therefore, I think the precedent of convicting the Pirate Bay is a dangerous one, because it reinforces faulty laws.

Then of course, the key factor that undermines all the legal arguments (for & against) is this - What is the sole aim of the music and movie industries? To make money. Does anyone here seriously believe that either industry will see increased profits by shutting The Pirate Bay down? I certainly don't, which makes suing them look like a petty, vindictive & ultimately fruitless exercise.

With regards to The Pirate Bay, I think that it depends on the purpose of the website. The Pirate Bay is obviously set up to help people obtain music, movies or software that you would normally have to pay for for free. I doubt Google, or indeed, any other search engine was set up for the same purpose.

Personally, they could shut down The Pirate Bay, and I wouldn't give a hoot; I don't use it. To me, it seems like a sensible decision to make.