This has to be the most sensible post about downloading I've ever read

[madamada_chan]

http://free-manga.livejournal.com/6919628.html

It's great to know there are still some people who realize how wrong downloading scanned manga is, no matter how convenient it is for everybody

Comments

[yilei]

I think the FBI cracked down on MU first just because the owner was already a known criminal for other reasons. Plus they had e-mails and stuff showing employees their purposefully uploading copyrighted material and telling friends and family to "let them know" if they want something. Their attitudes about their company just made them an easy target, but for other sites I really agree with you that it's more an issue with the users.

Downloading in the eyes of most governments is less of an issue than uploading and I kind of agree with that if you're not like a total leecher. Some people just mooch off the internet without putting a lot of money back and it's the users that downloaded or uploaded a lot that would probably really be in trouble. I used MU too, but mostly for streaming and I only downloaded from there when it was something I haven't been able to find. I think I had one file that was under my account, but it was something that I copied there from someone's download link by mistake. I think I tried uploading Beck to it to give to my one friend in Hawaii, but that's about it. I don't remember it working either cuz I had a crappy connection that kept disconnecting me. Uploading though is distribution and it's people who take it upon themselves to distribute that is more of a problem. But then, another part of the issue is that no one anywhere has defined what a "copy" is legally. Like I'm allowed to download something if I already own it. Then it's another copy of something I already paid for. But how many digital copies of that am I allowed to have? I would think infinite because you always have to replace your electronic devices. And then, if you bought something, but you want to let your cousin who lives far away from you to hear something you bought and physical item for, what then? Why should I have to pay for another copy just to get one person I know to hear something I bought? The vagueness in the digital age is that there's no clear definition of when it's a library shared only between friends that know each other kind of like kids that buy and trade comic books together with their school friends. It's not realistic for every 10 year old to buy every copy of the X-men. Each friend buys a copy and brings it to school and lets their friends borrow it or read it. So then what's the digital equivalent for that?

Also, for the other legal uses of MU, there are some artists and musicians and other kinds of content holders that uploaded their work there just because it had a great upload limit and some files are just too huge for e-mail. Like for an actual music industry example, if I was trying to e-mail a digital copy of my new music video to different networks or blog sites so that they can review it, I can't send that as an attachment. I have to upload it to a server somewhere and a lot of times for security purposes among other things, it can't be on the company's server. Or like, I don't think OCD used this but let's say YORKE. had an art show and was painting somewhere but he finished some touches on his computer for the next OCD PV and he needed to send it to Sugaya to look over before they put it on the website and MySpace. How would he send it to him securely without any of the fans finding it leaked?