Asalamo Alaikom Dear Brothers and Sisters, Most of KFUPM members know and have probably used the Tracker. There is a wide variety of files on the Tracker, ranging from academically related documents, to movies and MP3s, and to software programs. Needless to say, we are God fearing Muslims, and we live in a society that cares about implementing the Sharia law, or so I choose to believe. An issue has to be addressed, and I have no knowledge whether it has been addressed in the past or not, but I choose to bring it up for discussion here. Have we ever thought whether file sharing on Tracker is legal or not? The act of sharing via P2P (Peer to Peer) programs is not illegal per se. It is the type of files shared that spurs up the questioning of its legality. I leave you here with quoted material from: "http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001042.htm" and I hope this discussion leads us to the conclusion that we must counteract online piracy. Especially here in Saudi Arabia, the cradle of the Islamic civilization. And especially here at KFUPM, one of the most prestigious universities in the Middle East.. Is file sharing illegal? No, it's 100% legal. In no state in the United States or in any other country is file sharing illegal. However, if you're sharing content that is protected by copyrights to other users it is illegal. Below are some good examples of where file sharing becomes illegal in many places around the world. Downloading or sharing a copyrighted movie. Sharing copyrighted songs (music) to other people who have not purchased those songs or downloading songs from other people when you've not purchased that song. Sharing or downloading computer software (programs, games, etc.). Downloading or sharing a copyrighted TV show or program. How do I know if something is copyrighted? A good general rule to follow is to think about if the song, movie, or other software can be purchased. A popular song that you'd buy online or at store, a movie that you'd see at a movie theater or buy on DVD, a TV show that could be sold as a DVD, or a software program or game you'd buy at a store are all good examples of copyrighted or otherwise protected data. Is P2P programs such as DirectConnect, eDonkey, Kazaa, Limewire, Napster, Delgado, etc. or Bittorrent legal? The programs or technologies behind file sharing are not illegal, it's data being shared that may be illegal. Using Bittorrent or other file sharing programs to download a software patch or update a game demo, movie trailer, etc. is legal. However, using that same program to get a new hit song or a movie still in theaters is illegal. After that, the website dwells on what would happen if we get caught committing an online piracy act. Here, I chose not to copy this part. The reason is that we are Muslims. We know that there is punishment for this in the hereafter besides Donya punishments. We know that, even if we didn't get caught, we will be exposed to everyone on the day of Judgment.
I expect that someone will come and say: Rule 1 of the tracker "you only speak about the tracker in the tracker"
Rule 2, Everything is legal in the tracker. Rule 3, Copyrights agreements are not approved in the tracker.
Worship is too strong of a word. Don’t you think? To answer your question, I do not worship intellectual property per se; I just think that as Muslims, we should respect such property. And, to be honest, I myself engaged in such online piracy acts which included using the Tracker both legally and illegally. I agree with you that the issue I am addressing is not of utmost importance. This doesn’t mean, however, that I cannot speak of it, spread awareness about it, and engage in discussions about it, and, hell, even whistleblow it. The university can be sued for allowing such exchange to happen on the university servers. I don’t see why you are criticizing my person and the subject I am discussing at the same time. Do not make it personal. Discuss the subject we are speaking about, but leave my person out of it. I hope this discussion doesn’t take a different route than the intended one. And about making those “sick Hollywood based companies” richer, it shouldn’t be a Muslim’s motto, nor should it be a way of a Muslim’s life to steal from the rich. If you think they are sick, then boycott their products, but don’t steal from them. This is what I want to discuss.
I will act oblivious to the fact that your comment is irrelevant to the topic of the discussion, and I will answer your question. There are females who live on campus, and I don't know if you read what I wrote or not, but I was addressing "KFUPM members". This implies that members include students, faculty, their families.. etc. Also, correct me if I am wrong, but I believe females are allowed to use sKFUPM. Now, I announce this topic to be officially dead. I also pronounce that The English Lounge is a big failure. No one really gives a shit what's going on in here. This comment was the last straw. It made me laugh in real. Moderators, you may close this topic if you wish, and you may leave it as it is if you wish. In both cases, I am out of here. Oops. Couldn't keep my promise and act oblivious to the irrelevance of your comment.
In past years, I deleted all the illegal content I had, I changed my OS, and preached everyone I met. But now I know that I lack the knowledge to properly discuss this issue All I know is: I feel guilty when consuming the content of a struggling independent creator, or the content of company that adopt user-friendly policies (like CD Project RED). To ease my guilt, I try to help the creators by recommending their content to others who have disposable income (Unlike me. Not having disposable income is the main reason I don't obtain content legally -content that can be obtained in Saudi Arabia, like digital games-) (Out of topic: disabling adblock help content creators who make their content available online)
Ok brother, calm down. I was only trying to lighten the air a little and to be honest I thought only students were able to access the tracker, I didnt know KFUPM members use the treacker as well . If I knew i would be the one who made you reach your boiling point i would have left the topic alone. So I apologize if I made you upset.So to redeem myself and for your sake I will make a comment relevant to the topic I think everybody who use the tracker knows that downloading copyrighted material is illegal and yet everybody does it. so the whole topic you wrote on what is legal and what is not legal is totally unnecessary, its not like people are totally oblivious of this. and i think the reason why no one is addressing this here is because students who live in the dorms simply have no other alternative. The ITC closed most movie streaming websites and all gaming ports and many general purpose websites.We spend our days here away from our hometown confined to our room with very limited internet.So what do you expect us to do? buying the copyrighted material is not an option for most of us students since we have a fixed low income every month.
Ok brother, calm down. I was only trying to lighten the air a little and to be honest I thought only students were able to access the tracker, I didnt know KFUPM members use the tracker as well . If I knew i would be the one who made you reach your boiling point i would have left the topic alone. So I apologize if I made you upset.So to redeem myself and for your sake I will make a comment relevant to the topic I think everybody who use the tracker knows that downloading copyrighted material is illegal and yet everybody does it. so the whole topic you wrote on what is legal and what is legal is totally unnecessary, its not like people are totally oblivious of this. and i think the reason why no one is addressing this here is because students who live in the dorms simply have no other alternative. The ITC closed most movie streaming websites and all gaming ports and many general purpose websites.We spend our days here away from our hometown confined to our room with very limited internet.So what do you expect us to do? buying the copyrighted material is not an option for most of us students since we have a fixed low income every month.
Are you one of those annoying hippie liberal communists?l No, you're not. I doubt those people exist except in the minds of some backward rednecks. . You may be a believer in freedom in sharing, but I am a believer in granting the oppriyunity for a person to live off their ideas. It doesn't matter wether they make millions or thousands, it's their idea they deserve every cent of profit they gain from it. Unlike you, I won't judge you for your beliefs because I also believe that everybody has the choice to criticize other because of their actions. But I implore you to think before you state your opinion to people who try to create and not be poor at the same, please consider not everyone wants to be a pencil pusher to live comfortably.
I agree with you on rule X & Y. Regarding rule Z, we're not children that only focus on one subject at a time. We can focus on multiple issues
I don't like the implication that only Capitalism worshippers hate stealing. The only thing I might agree with you is that everyone has a different definition of stealing.
+1 I do feel guilty too, but only for media that I did enjoy and I feel like that they need the profit. But if I found a band cd that's been out for 39 years, or a movie that came out in 1957 I wouldn't care.
You assume so much about my personality it's laughable. I never said you were a thief. Where did you get that from? I only said that you have a different definition of stealing. Than the people who call piracy stealing, and that's it. Just because I adhere to different perspectives than yours doesn't mean I think I'm perfect. I try to listen to other sides, even in this case where you make judgments based on my screen name. I agreed with and disagreed with you on different points of your discussion. And I would always choose to be unrealistic and be a day dreamer than being bitter and judgmental. See? I'm assuming you're bitter and judge mental even though you're probably just like me and everyone else when we all have different opinions and morals. It's not nice stereotyping people based on one opinion on one subject. My advice: please never make judgments based on one opinion. You might find a surprising lack in the number of people you despise.
I did in my second post, but obviously you didn't read it. Also, in most debates you cannot use assumptions to justify attacking people's personal beliefs that wasn't even raised in the argument. Besides there's a thing called "reading comprehension". If I have to explicitly say that I disagree, the fault is not in my arguments.
I agree with you on that the "elite" as you call them shouldn't be the only audience receiving the information and entrataiment people tirelessly provide for the public. BUT your assumption is that is that without the existence of piracy people wouldn't be knowledgable is partially incorrect. Piracy is rampant in Saudi, yet some people are still ignorant about other subject. Why is that? The answer simply is that piracy is a tool in itself, and not the solution. The solution is for people is to better themselves, and that can be achieved in many ways one of which is piracy. My arguments:- Pro Piracy: Not everyone has a stable financial situation that could allow them to purchase everything they would like to acquire. Against piracy: Everyone has the right to profit from their work and piracy could prevent that.