On Tue, 09 Jun 2009 23:33:15 +0200, andrel wrote:

> My guesses:
> On 9-6-2009 22:49, Shay wrote:
>>   A. Download an out of print album from Usenet.
> I think that used to be legal at least for books. Nowadays it is
> probably illegal. Morally it is no problem. Even cleaner: try to contact
> the artist (not the IP holder if that is a different one) and ask him
> how to pay him directly.

Depends on whether the book is legally out of copyright or not.  There is 
a very large collection of free books at the Gutenberg project, and all 
of them are legally available to be distributed for free.

>>   B. Record a television program with a dvr and skip the commercials.
> Morally and legaly ok, you can always record what is broadcast for
> yourself, don't give or sell to others.

Yep, agreed.

>>   C. Cable f's up during a favorite television program - go find a
>> torrent and download it.
> Morally equivalent to B from your point of view. Illegal from the other
> guys POV.

I think this is quite a bit muddier.  If I paid for a license to view the 
content and I could legally record it (say with my DVR), if the DVR 
screws up, I see very little difference between recording it on my DVR 
and having someone else provide me with a clean copy recorded from their 
DVR.

That said, if it's a program I haven't paid for a license to view (for 
example, something off HBO, since I don't subscribe to HBO), then it's 
much more clear cut.

>>   D. Download an album you know you'd never buy out of morbid curiosity
>> (Chris Cornell with Timbaland)
> I'd say both morally and legally not OK

Curiosity is what in-store previews are for (for example, B&N allows you 
to listen to snips of tracks from music CDs in the store), or asking a 
friend who owns the album to let you have a listen.

>>   F. Play a Shoutcast stream at a party.
> illegal, but that might change. The rules as they are now are
> increasingly illogical. It may also depend on whether the party is
> inside your house for friends only or accessible to anybody.

No, I believe this is legal, as long as the shoutcast stream is also 
legal.  For example, if you run the server in your house, and you legally 
own all the tracks, then how you listen to them is up to you.

If it's a shoutcast server run out of Eastern Europe and they're not 
licensed to broadcast the songs, then they're in the wrong legally and 
you're enabling them, so in the wrong morally.

Jim

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