I Am Not a Number....I'm A Free Man!!

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So...today I get a cease and desist order from CBS and from my Internet provider. Interestingly enough, for downloading CSI.  Wow. It's was the first time I ever downloaded that show..I was bored and wondered what it was like since I haven't watched it in 5 years. Anyway, the point is...I'm Canadian...it's not illegal to download ANYTHING for personal viewing. It's illegal to copy or share it though...so I guess since it was a torrent, I was technically sharing it. So.... I don't know what happens now. If I have to stop downloading shows, then...I don't need an internet connection. I'm sure a lot of other people think that way too...why spend 100 bucks a month on internet just to follow Facebook? I already made my Cable go away and my home phone....my cell is pay as you go. It was getting ridiculous to be entertained. 100 bucks a month for cable, 100 bucks a month for phone, 100 bucks a month for internet. When are they gonna make Tivo illegal? You can skip the commercials if you want...shouldn't that be against the law? I mean, does anybody really watch the commercials anyway? My phone is non stop telemarketers....how come we have to put up with that? We pay good money to have a phone..why isn't it illegal to just call numbers randomly and try and sell you crap?  I am really surprised I got that email from my  CANADIAN provider. Oh well...maybe it's time to go outside and play. 

[Greg]

Crazy.  I don't even know where to begin.  Part of it is companies trying to operate on a business model that doesn't exist any more. 

[mervap]

^^^^What he said!^^^^^

[Kylenz]

Haha, I think you nailed it.. why else are most people on fast broadband plans ..just to receive emails quicker? To load Google quicker? To check their Facebook quicker?

I think a lot of internet subscribers will leave in droves if illegal downloading is totally outlawed. The ISPs are the ones who will suffer. They don't really want to prosecute anybody because it would be like vilifying their own customer base, and they know it.

Sorry you got pinged there, that's terrible.. why should it be illegal to catch up with a tv show?

[Paperback Writer]

Related development, I saw in the paper where LimeWire is in legal litigation, the author predicted a settlement where they will cease their past format and go to a subscriber-type system.......follow the $$$.
No surprise.
All these services are monopolies and in the pocket of politicians, whom they give bug bucks to to keep "the system."

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Remember in the olden days. You put some rabbit ears on your tv and it was FREE to watch. Sure, you had to sit through the commercials(yeah right...bathroom break) but it didn't cost you money to bring the FREE stations into your home. I think Cable and Satellite companies should be made to give the commercial stations free of charge. We are paying twice aren't we? If you don't want specialty channels..then commercial tv should be free. That being said, if I could I would buy a BBC licence fee.. I would. PBS is worth every cent you send them.  I'd say 95% of what I download are British shows. Sure, I can watch them on BBC Canada...FULL OF COMMERCIALS!!  Seriously, TOP GEAR is so cut up, it ruins the whole experience. Commercials will be the death of Commercial television. NOBODY wants to watch commercials...especially when the program is so bad, you forget what you were watching. ;) Have you been to a movie lately? Holy Crap...there are 15 minutes of commercials before the movie starts! Oh well, it gives the guy with the camcorder some time to set up. 

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So the latest is....Canada is trying to pass new laws to make downloading...errr....uploading....err....something illegal. I cant really understand it actually...something about DRM. In fact, they are now trying to get through a law that wont let you put your cd's on your ipod. Get a grip people. Seriously, they are trying to get some sort of code added to tv shows, so that they are impossible to copy....and for people with DVR's(TIVO) they want the recording to self destruct in a few days...if you dont watch it...it erases. Trying to stop people for accumulating library's of shows. Hopefully, some Judge, like that last time will throw all this out. That last Judge had a good point...saying...what am I supposed to do? Dad goes to Blockbuster and brings home a movie...the family watches it.....do I throw them all in jail? Only Dad rented the movie..the rest were breaking the law? The VCR may be having a big comeback.