> If you download something from a torrent, that's digital ownership too
No, that’s possession. That’s why they call it piracy; you have it but you definitely don’t own it.
No, that’s possession. That’s why they call it piracy; you have it but you definitely don’t own it.
This could apply just as much to "buying" something from the Playstation store.
Legally you can make personal backups of media you purchase, subject to any licensing restrictions.
That said technically it's still piracy if you're sending chunks to other peers since you don't have distribution rights. This is why copyright cases usually go after the seeders
Sure, there technically isn't. But in reality, there's no practical way to enforce this without breaking much bigger laws. So very few companies care about some single person breaking DRM, if they are made aware at all.
The main exception would come from online games. But the "worst" retaliation you'd get is your account being banned. THey may not even bother sending a C&D despite companies technically being able to detect it unless you were cheating (which breaks the EULA, different from DMCA).
If a law is written but never enforced, is it really a law? On a technical level, yes. On a practical level, no. A law that is practically impossible to enforce is at best an add-on charge for someone being thrown the book for an actually enforced law, not one people worry about when weighing consequences.
I don't think it's too productive to only talk in terms of spherical cows in a vacuum, so it's a point worth keeping in mind for anyone interested in such conversation.
True though, but I was hoping the 'subject to licensing restrictions' would cover it
Legally, "owning" an episode of a TV show on Playstation Network (to take the current example) doesn't give you any right to download a copy from elsewhere. Same for owning (this time in a more real sense) a copy on disc. Maybe you could make a fair use argument fly; I'm skeptical.
Yes.
> I have a license for it.
The “it” for which you have a license is not the media you torrented. It’s the version you access from the licensor via the licensed mechanism.
These kind of faux-legal arguments are extremely tiresome because they’re proposing gotcha hypotheticals which are clearly covered in the text of the license.
Edit: there’s no need to give these reminders, btw. Everyone knows that torrents have theoretical uses beyond piracy. Just like everyone knows they’re almost entirely used for piracy.