U.S. Labels Switzerland an Internet Piracy Haven | Hacker News Reader

U.S. Labels Switzerland an Internet Piracy Haven

torrentfreak.com

39 pointsbenevol22 comments

We've been on that list for a few years now, this is not exactly new (the list is updated every year). We like our sensible laws, like allowing people to make backup copies of their media and not going after people that merely download stuff. How could you know it's an illegal or legal source anyways when clicking on a link? Uploading/distributing is still illegal here, and you can absolutely get in trouble for that if you do it on a large/commercial scale.

Also it should be said that due to the very high purchasing power and small wage gap people do in fact buy their movies/music/etc and you won't find fakes of physical items in stores (unlike other countries).

Is it going to change in the future? Probably. It's very possible that the we'll be strong armed into changing the laws as part of some related or unrelated trade negotiations with the US.

If the US had their way, they'd open up an law enforcement branch in every country and prosecute the people right there and then. I for one am happy that hasn't happened yet.

> If the US had their way, they'd open up an law enforcement branch in every country and prosecute the people right there and then. I for one am happy that hasn't happened yet.

I feel so very sad that this rings so very true.

It's surprising that all the other countries have decided to basically toe the line, rather than attempt containment.

> If the US had their way, they'd open up an law enforcement branch in every country and prosecute the people right there and then. I for one am happy that hasn't happened yet.

Please don't forget that the average American citizen does not support this kind of stuff.

Plenty of Americans want to bomb Agrabah: http://www.snopes.com/2015/12/18/agrabah-aladdin-republican-...

If you think that you can draw meaningful conclusions about the population of America from a survey asking random people questions about a fictional location designed to produce a particular politically charged conclusion, I guess I can't help you.

You will note that no one asked for your help. I believe surveys are actually considered more not less sound when participants are chosen at random.

Your response is typical of leftist methods of argument: latch on to a neutral part of my comment, imply that I misunderstand it and incorrectly criticized it, condescendingly correct me, and ignore the relevant parts of my comment, i.e. the fictional location and politically charged conclusion from which no reasonable inferences may be drawn.

In fact, in principle, it's the same flaw in the survey we're discussing, a blatant red herring. It's almost as bad as an exchange like:

"Did you stop beating your wife yet?"

"I'm not married."

"Aha, so you finally stopped!"

And it's interesting to note that you created that account solely to make that comment, and it was upvoted 4 times long after the story was fresh on the front page.

> How could you know it's an illegal or legal source anyways when clicking on a link?

It's often pretty easy to tell. For instance, whenever I'm thinking of seeing a movie that is currently or soon to be in theaters and Google for reviews, I get a bunch of links to sites purporting to have the movie available for download. It does not take a genius to figure out that these are not legal copies.

Well it's good then that I am stupid and can't tell the difference. We are all enabled in different ways. Like the US for instance can't tell the difference between human rights and drone strikes, they are differently enabled in that way.

Oh well, Canada is also on the list:

> After being on the Watch List for some time now, Canada did not do enough in 2015 to get back into favor with the U.S.

So I think it's a case of, "So what?"

If there's any example of a government agency or program that Congress ought to defund, here it is.

"We are so upset with you, you are not sodomizing your citizens at the behest of our corporations and their rights."

I think it factors into trade negotiations and other politics.

So I read this headline as: "Switzerland has great privacy laws; US not happy about them"

Streisand in full effect - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect

The Streisand effect is when trying to hide something becomes publicized and the thing becomes more popular.

This is not that.

Are you sure? I think the parent is saying that calling out Switzerland as safer for pirates will send more there with opposite of intended consequences.

I can relate to the possibility. Previously, I thought Switzerland had strong IP laws given many IP companies go there and figured IP address was public. Now, I know they have a high court ruling semi-protecting piracy. If I were a pirate, I'd strongly consider moving to Switzerland.

Why don't they just add the US to a list of places with oppressive IP laws?

Since I do not know much about the legal side of this issue, how does being put on USTR "priority watch list" affect a country?

I wonder what would happen to record companies if DAT existed in the 1970s (before they really consolidated).

Switzerland has been placed on a US watch list. I imagine the Swiss are absolutely sh#tting themselves now.

That'll teach those cuckoo clock making, tobelorone chomping terrorists.

However one thing in the Swisses favor, they do actually make surprisingly good suits. I recommended the Strellson brand. A bit like Hugo Boss but half the price.

Thats funny because Toblerone is actually a U.S. product produced by Kraft Foods.

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