The ongoing and often extreme and overreaching battle against piracy within the audiovisual industry continues to escalate, with recent discussions focusing on devices capable of infringing intellectual property (IP) rights. As stated by Sheila Cassells, Executive VP at the Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAPA), companies in the entertainment sector should be wary of “any technological development” that could potentially grant access to pirated content.

From historical technology like the VCR to modern advances like AI, all technology holds inherent potentials for piracy.

At the center of these discussions are specific devices including set-top boxes, Firesticks, and Android apps, often condemned for enabling piracy. The AAPA’s somewhat radical standpoint is a call to outlaw the production, marketing, and distribution of any such device.

    • BlackEco
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      492 years ago

      And replace them with walled-garden devices that don’t allow you to do anything besides a restricted set of uses defined by manufactures and right holders.

      • @[email protected]
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        2 years ago

        Which just so happen to enforce ultra conservative moral standards and make any discourse about changing the system impossible. Totally coincidentally, of course.

        • @[email protected]
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          82 years ago

          Which is why every text you write needs to be approved by the review board. But it’s totally not censorship.

      • panmeek
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        92 years ago

        I’m pretty sure that you had a certain company in mind when you wrote this

  • @[email protected]
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    1052 years ago

    By that logic pencils are banned since you can plagiarize copyrighted text with them. Can’t teach kids to write, because writing is a tool of piracy.

    • SokathHisEyesOpen
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      112 years ago

      This is how they do it though. “We’re going to ban everything!” Some months later 10 things are banned. Regular people “Whew! Well at least they only banned 10 things and not everything. We’re so lucky!”.

    • @[email protected]
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      42 years ago

      Sand must also be illegal, since we can technically write in sand, which could be used for copyright infringement. What a fucking idiot.

  • @[email protected]
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    552 years ago

    You could use a typewriter to copy any book, so they’re about as dangerous a technology as it gets.

    • @[email protected]
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      152 years ago

      You might use your brain to remember scenes from a movie. You ever heard someone recite movie dialogue? That’s copyright infringemet. Line up for your mandatory brain wipe.

  • SokathHisEyesOpen
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    362 years ago

    The AAPA’s somewhat radical standpoint is a call to outlaw the production, marketing, and distribution of any such device.

    That’s not “somewhat radical”, it’s absolutist insanity. They want full control of everyone, so they can extract maximum profit, individuality and freedom be damned.

    • @[email protected]
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      52 years ago

      This is like those sci-fi settings where they banned AI because it tried to destroy humanity or something except instead they banned turing machines because it hurt the feelings of rich people.

  • @[email protected]
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    342 years ago

    Let’s ban computers then. Oh you can share content from these various technologies ? Ban them ! Your CPU is able to process data of any kind ? Banned ! You made a code project that is able to process and share data ? Banned !

    This whole trend of banning things that “can” be used to make any illegal activities is ridiculous. VPNs are widely used by pirates and criminals to share illegal content on the web but it is also a very powerful tool to escape censorship and obtain a certain of privacy on the web. Tor also falls into it, while ironically being made by the US army, is also a very good free tool for activists of all kind to express their claims and evade censorship as well. Torrent was made to transfer files of any kind as a peer to peer technology and is still very useful outside of sharing illegal content.

    If we start banning every tools used by the common people for normal (and legal) practices because a small group of people use them for illegal purpose, everything will be restricted, banned or heavily regulated.

  • ditto [he/him]
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    302 years ago

    She probably wrote that quote in an email with the signature “From my iPhone”.

    what a dolt.

  • HTTP_404_NotFound
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    302 years ago

    They are going to feel pretty damn stupid when nobody can buy/rent/watch/listen to their content and products…

    Because, ya know… any product which can play any form of media, has the potential to infringe on IP…

    I say, give them EXACTLY what they want. Give them, a week or two with zero profits, and see how quickly they change their tune.